Ill 
THE ELEPHANT 
107 
that the worm is at work, and is seeking for a means 
of escape from the body. He accordingly burns 
half a dozen holes with a red-hot iron or ramrod. 
In a few days the head of the guinea-worm appears ; 
it is immediately captured by a finely-split reed, 
and by degrees is wound like a cotton thread by 
turning the reed every day. This requires delicate 
manipulation, otherwise the worm might break, and 
a portion remain in the flesh, which would increase 
the inflammation. An average guinea-worm would 
be about three feet in length. Animals do not 
appear to suffer from this complaint, although they 
are subject to the attacks of great varieties of 
parasites. Elephants are frequently troubled with 
internal worms. I witnessed a curious instance of 
the escape of such insects from the stomach through 
a hole caused by a bullet, nevertheless the animal 
appeared to be in good condition. 
It was a fine moonlight night on the borders of 
Abyssinia that I sat up to watch the native crops, 
which were a great attraction to the wild elephants, 
although there was no heavy jungle nearer than 
20 miles. It was the custom of these animals to 
start after sunset, and to arrive at about ten o’clock 
in the vast dhurra fields of the Arabs, who, being 
without fire-arms, could only scare them by shouts 
and flaming torches. The elephants did not care 
much for this kind of disturbance, and they merely 
changed their position from one portion of the 
cultivated land to another more distant, and caused 
serious destruction to the crop {Sorghum vulgare\ 
