54 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
selves to be scared from the prospect of a royal 
feast on elephant meat by any vague mumbo-jumbo 
concerning the spirit of a departed chieftain, his 
astute mind took a delightfully ingenious turn. He 
all at once discovered that he could make a 
medicine which would set Kom-Kom’s spirit to rest 
on the score of a hearty consumption of its erstwhile 
earthly home. Some hours afterwards, my boy 
Tumbo, whom I had brought home with me on 
this occasion, informed me that the old fellow had 
begged for a little salt (a scarce commodity in these 
regions), wherewith to flavour the concoction which 
was to prove a soothing syrup to Kom-Kom’s 
wounded feelings. Rather curious as to the nature 
of this elixir, I strolled over to where he was busily 
engaged in some mysterious operation over a fire. 
To my surprise, I found that the old humbug, 
having made the medicine, was now toasting a 
newly-killed puff-adder on a spit. When he had 
thoroughly cooked this delicacy, he devoured it and 
washed it down with copious draughts of an evil¬ 
looking brew, which, my boy told me, he had pre¬ 
pared by boiling the bark of the mlseravana tree in 
water and seasoning the mixture with an addition of 
monkey-nut oil. Next, he anointed himself all over 
with Kom-Kom’s coagulated blood, and while the 
villagers stood gravely around, solemnly invoked 
the Mighty One not to be a bad elephant again. 
