HUNTING AND CATCHING WILD ELEPHANTS
Let us examine the first. Certain wild tribes, far up the Nile, bordering on Equatorial Africa, hunt elephants on horseback and also on foot.
A traveller gives these two accounts of what he saw. The Hamran Arabs, a brave and warlike tribe, use horses in their hunt. Mounting the fleetest beasts they have, they start for the long grass where the elephants are usually to be found. They first send out scouts to locate the herd, and see that they do not scatter. The hunters always try to attack the animals suddenly, and from several joints at once. They dash boldly forward and tackle the nearest at hand. These men arm themselves with long, heavy,
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double-edged swords, which they wield with great dexterity. They gallop among the elephants, shouting and yelling. The big beasts become panic-stricken and try to get away. The object of the natives is to slash the elephants in the lower part of the legs and try to hamstring them. Once the tendons are cut the elephant is helpless, and can be killed at leisure. Only brave men can follow this sport, for the wild elephant is very savage and cunning, and can run like a steam-engine.
The same traveller relates that while visiting other tribes he had an
