on foot, and
the sharp sword slashed the remaining leg.

The great bull-elephant could not move! The first cut with the sword had
utterly disabled it; the second was its deathblow. The arteries of
the leg were divided, and the blood spouted in jets from the wounds.
I wished to terminate its misery by a bullet behind the ear, but Taher
Sherrif begged me not to fire, as the elephant would quickly bleed to
death without pain, and an unnecessary shot might attract the Base, who
would steal the flesh and ivory during our absence. We were obliged to
return immediately to our far distant camp, and the hunters resolved to
accompany their camels to the spot on the following day. We turned our
horses' heads, and rode directly toward home, which we did not reach
until nearly midnight, having ridden upward of sixty miles during the
day.

The hunting of Taher Sherrif and his brothers was superlatively
beautiful; with an immense amount of dash there was a cool,
sportsman-like manner in their mode of attack that far excelled the
impetuous and reckless onset of Abou Do. It was difficult to decide
which to admire the more, the coolness and courage of him who led the
elephant, or the extraordinary skill and activity of the aggahr who
dealt the fatal blow.

After hunting and exploring for some days in this neighborhood, I
determined to follow the bed of the Royan to its junction with the
Settite. We started at daybreak, and after a long march along the sandy
bed, hemmed in by high banks or by precipitous cliffs of sandstone, we
arrived at the junction.

Having explored the entire country and enjoyed myself thoroughly, I
was now determined to pay our promised visit to Mek Nimmur. Since our
departure from the Egyptian territory his country had been invaded by a
large force, according to orders sent from the Governor-General of the
Soudan. Mek Nimmur as usual retreated to the mountains, but Mai Gubba
and a number of his villages were utterly destroyed by the Egyptians. He
would under these circumstances be doubly suspicious of strangers.

We were fortunate, however, in unexpectedly meeting a party of Mek
Nimmur's followers on a foray, who consented to guide us to his
encampment. Accordingly on March 20th, we found ourselves in a rich and
park-like valley occupied by his people, and the day following was spent
in receiving visits from the head men. Messengers soon after arrived
from Mek Nimmur inviting us to pay him a visit at his resi