Ere the sun had risen the ensuing morning, we were again in the
wilderness, where nearly double the number of Galla had been assembled
by the chiefs Boroo and Abbo, to whom, before commencing the labours of
the day, suitable trinkets were presented. The swamps on the southern
side of the waste having been drawn unsuccessfully, columns of dust
which arose from the opposite quarter high above the trees were
pronounced to indicate the presence of a troop of elephants; and thither
we all hurried. But the performance of the beaters was even inferior to
that of the preceding day. Half the number, visibly shaking with fear,
ascended the tallest trees, whilst those who had again induced us to
precede them through the ocean of tangled flags, where to kill or even
to see a wild beast was perfectly out of the question, used their utmost
endeavours, by talking and shouting, to give warning of our approach.
But we were resolved to prove that the Gyptzis would not place others in
a position which they scrupled themselves to occupy, and the hunt was
continued for some hours with those of the Amhara who possessed
sufficient courage to accompany us. The sun was oppressively hot, and
our side arms, which were insisted upon as a measure of precaution
against the treachery of the allies who had been summoned to assist,
proved peculiarly cumbersome and distressing; but swamp after swamp was
beaten unsuccessfully, and forest after forest traversed without one
glimpse being obtained of the desired quarry.
At length, about two in the afternoon, I was summoned to the presence of
the governor, who, being much fatigued, was seated below a spreading
tree, and about to propose a return to the tents. In a long studied
speech he set forth "that his followers had done _their_ utmost also for
that day, and had driven the elephants, which were countless as the
forest leaves, from place to place, as though they had been village
kine, but that the Europeans--" Here his harangue was cut short by the
appearance of a Galla scout, who galloped furiously up, exclaiming,
"They drink, they drink, in the _Jowwaha_!" The council instantly
dissolved. Inspired by a new ray of hope, we leaped again into the
saddle, and, carrying our rifles across our shoulders, made at full
speed for the river.
A gallop of three miles through a dense covert, consisting of strong
elastic wands, interlaced with prickly weeds and coarse spear grass,
left the crowd far behind us; and, arriving at the spot where the
animals had been in view, "Yellow Horse," with half a score of his wild
riders, was alone present. At the water's edge numerous deep holes in
the wet sand were still bubbling from below, and after following the
fresh foot-marks a few hundred yards, I ascended a tall tree, from the
summit of which, with the aid of my pocket telescope, I presently
identified the broad backs of a herd standing at the distance of half a
mile. Unconscious of the presence of any foe, they were quietly grouped
under a solitary acacia, and but for the flapping of their huge ears,
might have been mistaken for masses of rock. Descending as soon as I
had thoroughly reconnoitred the land-marks, I made very light of what I
had seen, and affecting to doubt the evidence of my eyes, carelessly
proposed that the native allies should tarry where they were, whilst
Douglas Graham and myself proceeded into the jungle on foot, before the
governor with his noisy train should arrive from the rear.
After much fruitless opposition on the part of old Boroo, who saw
through the plot, and vowed that his despotic master would hold him
responsible for the accident which he considered our rash intention to
be certain to involve, my arrangement was finally carried. Armed with
two rifles each, we stealthily advanced against the wind, under the
cover afforded by the dry copse wood, which yielded up a cloud of
impalpable dust, and rendered the inclination to sneeze incessant. I
had marked a scrubby thorn-bush, which served as a beacon, and on
climbing silently to the top, we commanded a view of a small open area
that had been trampled completely bare. High cane-like wands and
withered grass environed it on all sides, and in the centre, beneath the
shade of a venerable camel-thorn, whose stem had been well polished by
continual rubbing, stood a gigantic bull elephant, surrounded by four of
his seraglio.
Thus far we were undiscovered, and British credit being now completely
at stake, we paused to take breath, and examine our weapons. Measures
having been concerted in a whisper, we then crept upon our hands and
knees to the extreme verge of the covert, carefully avoiding the
thickest patches, and keeping the tree still always to windward, until,
through a beaten track which led towards it, the dark figure of the
patriarch of the herd was at last revealed at the distance of only
fifteen yards. His trunk was curled around one of his long white tusks;
his ears and his under jaw moved at long intervals; and as he swung
lazily from side to side to throw his weight on alternate legs, his head
was soon turned in the exact position to ensure success. Having first
looked at my companion for an assenting nod, I laid my heavy rifle over
a forked wooden rest, set the hair-trigger, and planted a two-ounce ball
in the only small fatal spot behind the ear which was presented by the
monstrous target.
A heavy fall announced the effect of the shot, and confusion instantly
followed. One of the females whose front had been towards our ambush,
rushed forward, and received a volley of hard bullets in her broad
forehead, which turned the attack, and brought her also to the ground,
after a flight with her companions of fifty yards. She, however, rose
after some minutes, and rushing past the cavalcade collected on the
outskirts, escaped into the thick forest to die, attention being
meanwhile entirely engrossed by the tusker, the nobler quarry, who,
although prostrate on his side like a fallen tower, manifested in his
dying moments, by sundry portentous noises and uncouth struggles, an
inclination to resume an erect position. His destruction was speedily
completed; but it was still impossible to leave the spot, from a
conviction that the braggart Amhara rabble would not fail to claim the
honour and the credit of having slain the prize with their powerless
spears, should any perchance find the carcass during the absence of the
lawful proprietors--a surmise which was fully confirmed by the
appropriation of the tail as a trophy, by the very first man who made
his appearance.
The death of this lordly monster, to which so little importance would
have been attached in those parts of the African continent where the
event is one of diurnal occurrence, here created in the mind of every
beholder a sensation of astonishment and admiration hardly to be
described. The fame of the exploit, carried by express couriers, spread
from corner to corner of the empire; and although far from universally
credited, it produced even more than the good effect anticipated. Those
who, when the storming party first entered the covert, had sought safety
in trees, could with difficulty be prevailed upon to descend, in order
to approach the mountain of flesh from which life was said to have
departed; and finally mustering courage to do so, in the frenzy of
excitement, launched their spears and discharged their matchlocks, to
the imminent peril of the bystanders and of each other. On the first
intimation of the animals having, after two days' diligent search, been
actually discovered, three-fourths of the whole party had incontinently
disappeared. The Galla horsemen, who had previously boasted the
destruction of elephants with their spears, did not venture to approach
for a full hour after their ears had been saluted by the reports of our
rifles; and even the warrior who vaunted himself the "hereditary
chieftain of all the Braves of the Amhara nation," long clung
pertinaciously to his secure seat among the topmost branches.
As the fact of the downfall of the noble beast became more widely
credited, and the scattered forces gradually rallied round it, chief
after chief offered his hand in congratulation of the, in his eyes,
daring exploit, expressing his wonder and amazement that a small
rifle-ball had been able to accomplish the annihilation of the bulk and
life of seventy seasons, and extolling the prowess of the king's
European visitors in the encounter with so formidable a monster, whose
colossal strength could have carried him trampling through a whole array
of their own host, dealing death and destruction wheresoever his will
impelled him. Whilst dancing and howling around the carcass, they
affirmed the deed to be the work of genii, and complimented us as the
"bravest of the brave," under the titles of "Figa" and "Gobez;"
declaring that "the mould whereof the Gyptzis were fashioned must be of
a rare quality; and that if all the subjects of Shoa were but composed
of the same material, the dominions of Sahela Selassie would know no
limit."
Boroo, the brave chief of the Soopa, who, before our shots were heard,
had with extreme difficulty been restrained from galloping into the
jungle at the head of his gathered retainers, and thus alarming the
quarry by the noise and confusion of many hundred horsemen, was more
particularly earnest and vehement in his congratulations on our victory.
He had himself anticipated none but the most fatal results from what he
termed so rash an attack upon the hitherto unsubdued monarch of the
wilderness, and had trembled for the royal vengeance which any accident
to the party would infallibly have drawn upon his devoted head. "The
world was made for you alone," concluded the old warrior in a perfect
ecstasy of delight, "and no one else has any business in it."
The trunk and ear of the beast so much dreaded throughout the district
having been hewn from the carcass, upon the iron folds of which neither
the swords nor the lances of the assembled Galla and Amhara could make
the smallest impression, were finally borne off in triumph; and as we
returned to the encampment on the hill-top, the same honours were paid
us which are exacted by the despot on his triumphal entry after a
successful expedition against the heathen. Horsemen galloped in every
direction, shouting the prowess of the Gyptzis, and announcing that
"those who had gone forth to slay the mighty elephant had successfully
performed the quest." Groups of women and girls lined the hill-side,
and as the hunting-party crowned the steep, raised their shrill voices
in praise and welcome. The tents were entered amid the deafening chorus
of a war song. Bullocks were instantly slaughtered for all the
followers. Double the daily liberal supplies of every description were
poured in. Sprigs of green asparagus were presented by the sons of the
delighted governor, to ornament our hair in earnest of victory. Dame
Twotit composed a new extemporaneous sonnet upon the occasion, which she
rehearsed during half the night; and until the cock crew, every quarter
of the village of Manya resounded with wild dancing, martial music, and
war songs, in celebration of an achievement, now for the first time
witnessed by the Christian population of Shoa.
Volume Two, Chapter XLI.