Elephants 



some six tons and was impossible to move as it then lay) 

 to be turned over. Into this job were put " all hands and the 

 cook," and as, by then, I had a following of several hundred 

 niggers all crying out for meat, there was such a scramble 

 for the job that in less time than it takes to tell the carcass of 

 the dead pachyderm was entirely blotted out from view behind 

 a screen of wildly excited natives, brandishing dangerous- 

 looking knives and axes in their endeavours to find a place to 

 cut at. In the middle of this indescribable confusion there 

 was an explosion resembling a big locomotive letting off 

 steam, as the pent-up stomach gases escaped under the 

 onslaught of spears and knives, sending a shower of the 

 contents of the stomach mixed with blood over the perspiring 

 humanity around. By sundown, with the assistance of 

 " the crowd " I had the remainder of the carcass turned over 

 and ready for the skinning of the other flank. 



This proved to be fairly easy, so on the day following 

 I had the satisfaction of seeing the complete skin being 

 hauled and lifted on to the drying platform and work begun 

 on the feet that still retained their flesh and bone, on the 

 head that required attention, and on the curing process that 

 consisted in rubbing in a mixture of three parts of salt, salt- 

 petre and alum. 



Under the hot sun the dr3dng process went on apace, and 

 in a week's time the skin had shrunk to half its size and was 

 ready to be folded into a more or less rectangular package, 

 ready for the cross-country journey to Fort Jameson and 

 for which, in places, I had to form a special road. Forty 

 of my best Angoni and Achewa carriers, in two relays, were 

 detailed for this work. When it reached the township, the 

 skin being dry enough for transport to the coast, I first took 



235 



