Through Timbuctu and across the great Sahara /

by A. H. W. Haywood

In an incredibly short space of time the whole herd had disappeared, the only sign of their recent visit being the clouds of dust, the trampled soil, and the dead elephant.

While this scene had been going on the hunter, my servant, and my following had bolted in all directions, alarmed, I suppose, lest the elephants should rush through the camp. When quiet had been restored the natives began to return. The excitement had been rather trying, and there was nothing further to be done that night. I gave orders for an early start in the morning in pursuit of the wounded elephant, while the men left in camp were to cut up the dead animal.

Accompanied by the hunter I started before daylight, following the tracks which were fairly visible. The wounded animal had kept company with the rest of the herd, for, within a mile or two of camp, all the separated tracks of the scattered elephants reunited. As the day dawned it became clear from the blood that he had been severely wounded. I thought that the first shot had hit him in the head, and the second a little below the heart as he turned broadside to me, but of this I could not be sure. We were able to follow the tracks at a gentle amble, so distinct were they. After proceeding thus for about seven miles, we arrived at the top of the rising ground and on to the plateau, which I have previously mentioned. The scrub now got thicker, but there was no difficulty in riding anywhere. Proceeding another five miles or so, we suddenly came across the wounded elephant standing under a small tree, sheltering from the sun, for it was getting hot and was now nine o’clock. There had been nothing to indicate that his footsteps were lagging. However, he must have got tired and been unable to keep up with the rest of the herd any longer.

The hunter was carrying my big rifle at this time, while I had the ·303 slung at my saddle. Seizing the ·450 from him I rapidly dismounted, while all this time the elephant appeared not to have noticed us, having its back turned in our direction. I skirted through the bush in order to get a shot at its brain, the animal being, I suppose, not more than thirty yards away. As I faced it it suddenly perceived me and lifted up its trunk as if to charge; I was then not twenty yards off. I fired under its uplifted trunk, when it swerved aside, the blood streaming from its mouth. A second shot penetrated its brain, and it fell to the ground quite dead.

The tusks of this elephant weighed fifty-two pounds each, while the other had ivory weighing just over forty-five pounds on either side. The ivory was not big, but I was given to understand that, for that country, the tusks were very fair, and that it was rare to get tusks weighing even sixty pounds; so under the circumstances I was fortunate.

It is a curious fact that the elephant of this region do not carry big ivory, although possibly the explanation is a simple one. There are no big trees in the country, which is an extraordinarily open one for elephant, consisting of sandy soil, light scrub and, in places, mimosa or other trees never more than thirty or forty feet high. Such is the district in which these animals are here found; besides, water is scarce. Away from the lake there is no water of any description for nearly forty miles.

Having found the line of retreat of the elephant, and knowing that it lay through a waterless tract of country, I decided to provision myself with water next day and attempt to come up with the herd again. Accordingly, the following morning very early, equipped with three days’ water supply, I set out in pursuit of the herd. It seemed evident that they must have a permanent feeding-ground, which could supply them with better provender than was obtainable in the country I had seen, and the chances were that if I could discover this feeding-ground I should also find the elephant. The tracks were plainly discernible nearly the whole way; only once did we lose them for a short time on some stony ground. Proceeding for about six miles beyond the place where I had found the wounded elephant, I noticed the country becoming much more wooded. We were now about eighteen miles from Lake Niangaye. Here the tracks of the elephant branched off in various directions, and it was without doubt their feeding-ground.

Picking up the biggest tracks we could see, we followed these for some distance through this wooded region. The ground here was quite rocky in many places, the sandy soil having disappeared. I had noticed that the ivory of my tusks was chipped, and it seemed that this must be the solution. Probably these elephant broke their tusks on the hard, rocky surface of their feeding-place. This wooded country appeared to extend for a considerable distance in a southerly direction.

Still following the tracks of this animal, which led to a place where he had evidently slept the previous night, we suddenly crossed some perfectly fresh tracks of another elephant. It was some hours later, when following this elephant, which I had wounded, that I came across a strange tribe of people who dwell in caves. The elephant’s tracks had led me to the foot of the Hombori Mountains, and it is here that these people live. They wear practically no clothing, and are very timid. Probably they had hardly seen a white man in those parts before. They are called the Habbés. They live chiefly by hunting round the shores of a lake called Kurorua, lying at the foot of the hills. I could not understand their language, and being short of provisions I had to curtail my stay in their country. This place is about forty miles from Lake Niangaye, and it seemed that the elephant used to drink at one or other of these lakes, according to circumstances, their feeding-ground being nearly half-way between the two.

The Habbés use bows and arrows, but also have old-fashioned guns, for which they manufacture their own powder out of saltpetre, found locally. Their bullets are more often made of small, sharp stones than of lead, but any rough missile will serve them.