Wild Beasts and Their Ways, Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa and America — Volume 1

by Sir Samuel White Baker

The experience of modern practice has hardly decided the vexed question "whether the African species is more difficult to train than the gentle elephant of Asia." In a wild state there can be no doubt that the African is altogether a different animal both in appearance and in habits; it is vastly superior in size, and although of enormous bulk, it is more active and possesses greater speed than the Asiatic variety. Not only is the marked difference in shape a distinguishing peculiarity,—the hollow back, the receding front, the great size of the ears,—but the skin is rougher, and more decided in the bark-like appearance of its texture.

The period of gestation is considered to be the same as the Asiatic elephant, about twenty-two months, but this must be merely conjecture, as there has hitherto been no actual proof. My own experience induces me to believe that the African elephant is more savage, and although it may be tamed and rendered docile, it is not so dependable as the Asiatic. Only last year I saw an African female in a menagerie who had killed her keeper, and was known to be most treacherous. Her attendant informed me that she was particularly fond of change, and would welcome a new keeper with evident signs of satisfaction, but after three or four days she would tire of his society and would assuredly attempt to injure him, either by backing and squeezing him against the wall, or by kicking should he be within reach of her hind legs.

Few persons are aware of the extreme quickness with which an elephant can kick, and the great height that can be reached by this mischievous use of the hind foot. I have frequently seen an elephant kick as sharp as a small pony, and the effect of a blow from so ponderous a mass propelled with extreme velocity may be imagined. This is a peculiar action, as the elephant is devoid of hocks, and it uses the knees of the hind legs in a similar manner to those of a human being, therefore a backward kick would seem unnatural; but the elephant can kick both backwards and forwards with equal dexterity, and this constitutes a special means of defence against an enemy, which seldom escapes when exposed to such a game between the fore and hind feet of the infuriated animal.

Although it is generally believed that an elephant moves the legs upon each side simultaneously, like the camel, it does not actually touch the ground with each foot upon the same side at exactly the same moment, but the fore foot touches the surface first, rapidly followed by the hind, and in both cases the heel is the first portion of the foot that reaches its destination. The effect may be seen in the feet of an elephant after some months' continual marching upon hard ground: the heels are worn thin and are quite polished, as though they had been worn down by the friction of sand-paper,-in fact, they are in the same condition as the heels of an old boot.

The Indian native princes do not admire the African elephant, as it combines many points which are objectionable to their peculiar ideas of elephantine proportions. According to their views, the hollow back of an African elephant would amount to a deformity. The first time that I ever saw a large male of that variety I was of the same opinion. I was hunting with the Hamran Arabs in a wild and uninhabited portion of Abyssinia, along the banks of the Settite river, which is the main stream of the Atbara, the chief affluent of the Nile.

As before stated, I have already published an account of these wonderful hunters in the Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia, and it is sufficient to describe them as the most fearless and active followers of the chase, armed with no other weapon than the long, straight, two-edged Arab sword, with which they attack all animals, from the elephant and rhinoceros to the lion and buffalo. The sword is sharpened to the finest degree, and the blade is protected for about six inches above the cross-hilt with thick string, bound tightly round so as to afford a grip for the right hand, while the left grips the hilt in the usual manner. This converts the ordinary blade into a two-handed sword, a blow from which will sever a naked man into two halves if delivered at the waist. It may be imagined that a quick cut from such a formidable weapon will at once divide the hamstring of any animal. The usual method of attacking the elephant is as follows:-Three, or at the most four mounted hunters sally forth in quest of game. When the fresh tracks of elephants are discovered they are steadily followed up until the herd, or perhaps the single animal, is found. If a large male with valuable tusks, it is singled out and separated from the herd. The leading hunter follows the retreating elephant, accompanied by his companions in single file. After a close hunt, keeping within 10 yards of the game, a sudden halt becomes necessary, as the elephant turns quickly round and faces its pursuers.

The greatest coolness is required, as the animal, now thoroughly roused, is prepared to charge. The hunters separate to right and left, leaving the leader to face the elephant. After a few moments, during which the hunter insults the animal by shouting uncomplimentary remarks concerning the antecedents of its mother, and various personal allusions to imaginary members of the family, the elephant commences to back a half-dozen paces as a preliminary to a desperate onset. This is the well-known sign of the coming charge. A sharp shrill trumpet! and, with its enormous ears thrown forward, the great bull elephant rushes towards the apparently doomed horse. As quick as lightning the horse is turned, and a race commences along a course terribly in favour of the elephant, where deep ruts, thick tangled bush, and the branches of opposing trees obstruct both horse and rider. Everything now depends upon the sure-footedness of the horse and the cool dexterity of the rider. For the first 100 yards an elephant will follow at 20 miles an hour, which keeps the horse flying at top speed before it. The rider, even in this moment of great danger, looks behind him, and adapts his horse's pace so narrowly to that of his pursuer that the elephant's attention is wholly absorbed by the hope of overtaking the unhappy victim.

In the meantime, two hunters follow the elephant at full gallop; one seizes his companion's reins and secures the horse, while the rider springs to the ground with the same agility as a trained circus-rider, and with one dexterous blow of his flashing sword he divides the back sinew of the elephant's hind leg about 16 inches above the heel. The sword cuts to the bone. The elephant that was thundering forward at a headlong speed suddenly halts; the foot dislocates when the great weight of the animal presses upon it deprived of the supporting sinew. That one cut of the sharp blade, disables an animal which appeared invincible.

As the elephant moves both legs upon the same side simultaneously, the disabling of one leg entirely cripples all progress, and the creature becomes absolutely helpless. The hunter, having delivered his fatal stroke, springs nimbly upon one side to watch the effect, and then without difficulty he slashes the back sinew of the remaining leg, with the result that the animal bleeds to death. This is a cruel method, but it requires the utmost dexterity and daring on the part of the hunters, most of whom eventually fall victims to their gallantry.

I was accompanied by these splendid sword-hunters of the Hamran Arabs in 1861 during my exploration of the Nile tributaries of Abyssinia; and upon the first occasion that I was introduced to an African male elephant, the animal was standing at the point of a long sandbank which had during high water formed the bed of the river, where a sudden bend had hollowed out the inner side of the curve and thrown up a vast mass of sand upon the opposite shore. This bank was a succession of terraces, each about 4 feet high, formed at intervals during the changes in the level of the retreating stream. The elephant was standing partly in the water drinking, and quite 100 yards from the forest upon the bank. The huge dark mass upon the glaring surface of white sand stood out in bold relief and exhibited to perfection the form and proportions of the animal; but it was so unlike the Indian elephant of my long experience that I imagined some accident must have caused a deformity of the back, which was deeply hollowed, instead of being convex like the Asiatic species. I whispered this to my hunters, who did not seem to understand the remark; and they immediately dismounted, exclaiming that the loose sand was too deep for their horses, and they preferred to be on foot.