A Parisian Sultana, Vol. 2 (of 3)

by Adolphe Belot

But the negroes of Central Africa are, as a rule, too cowardly to run any such risks, and too lazy to hunt a single animal. Their idea is a wholesale massacre, a vast hecatomb, where courage does not count, victory is certain, and the profit considerable.

At the first warning of the presence of a herd of elephants, the men collect by thousands to the beat of the drum, just as if they were called upon to defend their country from invasion. They drive their enemies before them, and the animals eventually take refuge either amongst the high grass in the plain, or in the forest. Then the natives set fire to the vegetation, and the elephants soon find themselves surrounded by a circle of fire and smoke, which gradually contracts and bars all escape. Suffocated and half-roasted, they die in horrible agony.

MM. de Morin, Périères, and Delange relied, as far as their elephant hunt was concerned, on their skill, coolness, and courage alone, albeit they had not thought themselves called upon to follow the advice given by Livingstone, who says—"The war-cry of an enraged elephant sounds in the ear of his foe just like the whistle of a French locomotive would on that of a man who found himself on the line without any means of escape. I advise all Nimrods who wish to experience this hazardous hunting to nerve themselves to it by standing on a line of rails and there remaining until an approaching train is only a very short distance from them."

We have already said that Madame de Guéran and Miss Poles, if they did not intend to hunt, were still bent on accompanying the hunters; and the two interpreters, with a dozen Dinkas and a like number of Nubians selected from the escort, made up the party. Nassar was obliged to remain at Port Rek to attend to the preparations for departure, and to keep watch over the forty soldiers and the bearers, old and new, left under his care. It would have been imprudent to have left these people to themselves during the absence of their masters, for they would assuredly have picked a quarrel with the natives, and so have compromised the Europeans.

M. de Morin, assured that his valet would not be of any use during the excursion, had given him leave of absence, but in the breast of Joseph a love of ivory triumphed over all idleness and timidity. He begged that he might be allowed to go, and his master, taking for devotion what in reality was greed, permitted him to join the hunters. These latter, all on horseback, not excepting even Miss Poles, who was, with considerable difficulty, made to understand that she would delay matters if she went on foot, started about 5 a.m. After having left the marshes and the banks of the stream, the party made their way in the direction of a plain on the outskirts of a forest, where, it was reported, a large number of elephants had taken up their abode. The natives, informed on the previous evening of the arrival of the Europeans, hurried to meet them, accompanied by their sorcerer, each tribe possessing an elephant charmer, who has to be consulted before any hunt is undertaken. If he says that it cannot take place without risk, lances, and bows and arrows are laid aside, and every man betakes himself to his own house. If, on the contrary, the sorcerer says that the fates are propitious, arms are brandished valiantly, and the march against the enemy begins. As soon as the animal is sighted, the charmer addresses him as follows:—"Oh, chief! we are come to kill you. Oh, chief! like so many others, you are about to die. The gods have so declared to me this night, and before the end of the day we shall eat you."

Notwithstanding this magniloquent discourse, the natives, as a rule, take to flight at the first approach of the huge beast, if he rushes out into the open and no safe cover is at hand. And this is exactly what happened at the beginning of the hunt we are about to describe. Whilst the Europeans were preparing to enter the forest, a loud noise was heard in the neighbouring thickets, out of which a female elephant, followed by her young one, emerged almost immediately. The natives, including the sorcerer, took to their heels at once in all directions, and left their guests to take care of themselves.

CHAPTER VIII.

The elephant did not appear to be aware of the presence of the hunters. She was playing with her mammoth baby, about three years old, flourishing her trunk in evident enjoyment, fanning herself with her huge ears, and whisking her tail to and fro to show how thoroughly comfortable she was. When she was tired of these amusements she drew near a tree, called by the Arabs hegelig, and appeared to relish highly its fruit, known under the name of lalôb. Her appetite was, no doubt, rather tickled than satisfied, and very soon she was seen to wend her way towards a swamp, where, after having gambolled for a short time, she set to work on the seeds of the papyrus, souteb in Arabic, which the African elephants on the banks of the Nile prefer even to the lalôb.

M. de Morin, as the most experienced sportsman of the community, assumed the direction of the hunt, and, first of all, warned the escort not to fire until he gave the word. But a Dinka, more hot-headed than his comrades, disobeyed him and let fly with his carbine.

The mother at once suspended her repast, raised her head, and tried to discover her enemy. In that she could not succeed, for an elephant's sight is defective, though the keenness of their scent more than makes up for that deficiency. The animal smelt the powder, and without any hesitation or apparent fear of failure she rushed off towards the spot whence the shot had been fired, followed by her baby.