ot from whence they
had first fired, and where they had such a fine prospect of the valley.
Not an elephant was to be seen in it; nothing but the ravages which the
herd had committed upon the trees, many of which, of a very large size,
had been borne to the ground by the enormous strength of these animals.
They then proceeded to the spot where the great bull elephant had fallen
by the rifle of Major Henderson.
They found that the ball had entered just under the eye. It was a
monster that must have stood sixteen feet high by Bremen's calculation,
and it had two very fine tusks. While they were standing by the carcass
of the animal, the armed Hottentots returned from the pursuit, and
stated that seven elephants had been dispatched, and others were so
wounded that they could not live. They now set to work to take the teeth
out of the animal, and were very busy, when a Hottentot came running up,
and reported that the herd of elephants in their retreat had dashed
through the camp, and done a good deal of mischief; that a male elephant
had charged the wagon of Major Henderson, and had forced his tusk
through the side; that the tusk had pierced one of the casks of liquor,
which was running out, although not very fast, and that the wagon must
be unloaded to get out the cask and save the rest of the liquor.
Several Hottentots immediately hurried back with him to help in
unloading the wagon, and by degrees they all slipped away except Bremen,
Swanevelt, who was cutting out the tusks, and Omrah, who remained
perched upon the huge carcass of the animal, imitating the trumpeting
and motions of the elephant, and playing all sorts of antics. A party of
Caffres soon afterward came up and commenced cutting up the carcass, and
then our travelers walked away in the direction of the camp, to
ascertain what mischief had been done.
On their return, which, as they stopped occasionally to examine the
other animals that had fallen, must have taken an hour, they found that
the Hottentots had not commenced unloading the wagon; although they had
put tubs to catch the running liquor, of which they had taken so large a
quantity that some were staggering about, and the rest lying down in a
state of senseless intoxication.
"I thought they were very officious in going back to assist," observed
the Major; "a pretty mess we should be in, if we were in an enemy's
country, and without our Caffre guard."
"Yes, indeed," replied Alexander, turning o
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