THE KILLING OF A SECOND ELEPHANT—HOW BULL ELEPHANTS FIGHT—THE CONTEST FOR THE LEADERSHIP OF THE HERD—OSHORIA’S GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF A BATTLE ROYAL WITNESSED BY HIM—RETURN TO THE PLANTATION.

Quabi and Ngola went to reconnoitre during the day, and came back with the news that further down the prairie there was a little lake, the shores of which were entirely covered with elephants’ tracks, and that the forest near there showed that elephants had been in that region during the night.

We all went to sleep, so that we might be in good trim for the coming night. When we awoke, the sun had disappeared in the west behind the trees of the forest. We cut some of the meat of the bull elephant we had killed into thin slices, and roasted these on charcoal. The meat was very tough, but fortunately I had good teeth and a splendid digestion.

The eating of coarse food is very healthful and helped me to lay in a good store of health for future years; and to this day I have never suffered from a single attack of dyspepsia. During my explorations, I only drank the delicious water of the springs, or crystal-like rivulets of the forest.

After our supper we left for the little lake of which Quabi and Ngola had told us. Night overtook us on our way. We skirted the border of the forest, so as to be in the shadow of the trees and so as not to be discovered by elephants or other animals. The grass was not more than a foot and a half in height, and it was pleasant to walk freely without meeting fallen trees, or stepping upon roots, and without bending over, jumping, or climbing, and it was pleasant, too, to have for companions the lovely stars twinkling above our heads.

After walking about six miles we came in sight of a little lake nestled in the midst of undulating hills. We concluded not to remain by the lake, but to hide under the trees near by. There we waited for the rising of the moon with the expectation of seeing elephants again. Towards eleven o’clock the moon rose, and as it was on the wane it was not as light as the preceding night.

We waited and waited, but no elephants came, and it got to be nearly four o’clock. We were on the point of giving up the hope of seeing any when we discerned the black form of one walking toward the lake. We looked all round to discover if there were any herd in sight, but there was none. The one before us was evidently a bull that had been driven away from a herd by a stronger bull and was wandering solitary. Then I said: “Ogoola, Quabi, and Ngola, upon you will devolve the task of killing this elephant, as Oshoria and I have killed one. Prove that you are great hunters.”

Oshoria, with an imploring look said to me: “May I not go also?”

“No,” I replied. “Three men even are too many, for the grass is so short; besides, we must give them a chance to say, on their return, that they killed an elephant when they were hunting with the Oguizi. We will watch them.”

“You are right, Oguizi,” replied Oshoria.

I was always right with these dear fellows.

The three hunters started. They bent over so low that their heads and shoulders only appeared above the grass; they were going directly towards the lone elephant. At times they would lie flat on the ground and disappear entirely from sight, then reappear again. The wind was in their favor, for it blew from the elephant towards them, so the huge beast could not scent danger. Fortunately also, they and he were going in the same direction, towards the lake. I whispered to Oshoria: “I am glad that the men will be in such a position that when they shoot the elephant, he will not be able to see them and charge.”

For before saying this it had suddenly come across my mind that the elephant might suddenly turn and follow them and that it would have perhaps been better if we had shared the danger with them, for nothing can be more dangerous than to face an elephant in an open space, and give him a straight shot. It requires then a very cool head, and a very quick eye to move just in time to avoid the charge of the huge creature.

The three men approached nearer and nearer, for the elephant had stopped several times, evidently to find out if there were any cows near that loved him better than the bull that had driven him away from the herd. At last the men came within gunshot. The elephant stood still, looking at the water of the lake. He was evidently thinking of taking a bath. Two of the hunters were on his left side, the other on his right. We watched them with breathless attention. All at once we saw them stand up,—then three flashes, followed by the detonations of their guns. Then we saw the huge beast falter and fall. We ran towards our three friends as fast as our legs could carry us, and when we came near them the three were seated on the body of the elephant. They shouted to us: “We are men! We are men!” And we shouted back to them: “You are men! You are men!” Then we all shouted together: “We are men!”

The elephant was a bull, but not so large as the one killed the night before. We had our axes with us and after some hard blows succeeded in getting out the two small tusks. We took no meat with us, for we had all we wanted. When we returned to our camp it was broad daylight, and we turned in and slept almost the whole day.

That evening, as we were seated silently round a huge fire, Oshoria suddenly said: “Oguizi, it is a great sight to see two bull elephants fight together for the mastery of the herd. The solitary one has generally been driven away from another herd by a stronger bull, and wanders in the forest all alone until he sees another herd; then he tries his luck again with the ruling bull. Twice in my life I have seen such a fight.”

“Tell me all about it,” I said.

“I will,” he replied, and after a pause he began: “One evening at dusk, not far from where we stand, I saw a big herd of elephants emerging from the forest. They walked slowly and silently in the middle of the prairie on their way towards the lake. They stopped twice, squealed and trumpeted, and then continued their march. Suddenly the bull stopped again, and the cow elephants came near him.

“At the same time I saw emerging from the forest on the opposite side a huge bull elephant. He was alone, and no herd followed him. The bull which had a herd trumpeted fiercely, as they do when they are angry and want to fight. The solitary bull answered in the same way, signifying that he also was ready to fight. The cows gave forth piercing squeals, and remained by themselves.

“Then the two bulls ran towards each other. It was fine to see them. The solitary bull had evidently not forgotten his previous ignominious defeat, and wanted to avenge himself, hoping to be the victor this time and have a herd of his own. They squealed and trumpeted in the fiercest manner as they approached each other. I could see that the cow elephants were very uneasy, for they rocked and swayed quickly to and fro, their trunks also waving rapidly.

“As the two bulls neared each other their speed increased. Then I heard a thumping, booming sound, like two big trees knocking against each other. Their heads had met with terrific force. For a while they pushed each other, neither of them moving backward or forward, but at last the solitary bull retreated slowly, facing his enemy. He proved the weaker. The victorious elephant stood his ground looking at his enemy, who halted after a while, and stood still. They looked at each other steadily, then each uttered a long trumpeting of defiance.

“The cows remained at the same place all the time, waiting for the victor to come to them. Then the two bull elephants charged again. The leader of the herd by a clever movement succeeded in grazing the body of his antagonist, inflicting a fearful gash with his right tusk all along his side. The great object of the bull elephant in fighting is to exhaust his rival and pierce his side with his tusks. Elephants when they charge cannot stop suddenly and turn back, the momentum occasioned by their weight being too great to allow them to do so.

“Once more the two bulls looked at each other. The wounded elephant did not want to give up the fight before another trial of strength. He felt that this was his last chance. They came towards each other at a furious rate. The two heads met with tremendous force, and a sound like the sudden rolling of thunder far away in the forest. A man caught between those two heads would have been mashed as flat as the hide of an antelope. The solitary bull was stunned by the blow. He staggered an instant, and it was all over with him. He had not the strength to flee for his life, and at that moment the other charged him on the flank. The two enormous tusks went through his side, and he fell dead. The tusks had penetrated nearly three feet into the body. The victor returned to his herd, which received him with loud trumpetings of joy.

“Often,” concluded Oshoria, “one finds big tusks of ivory in the forest. These come from elephants killed in like manner. Some also come from elephants who have died of old age or of their wounds some time subsequent to such a fight as this one.”

We remained three more days on the prairie; but no more elephants were to be seen. They had all evidently left that part of the country. So we determined to return to the plantation, with our four tusks. When we came to Crocodile Lake we found our canoes; we were glad to continue our journey by water, for not only had we the tusks to carry, but also plenty of smoked elephant meat.

When we reached King Regundo’s plantation we were received with great demonstrations of joy by Regundo, his wife, and all the slaves. They exclaimed: “Will not our master’s heart be glad when he sees these large tusks, for he will get many goods when he barters for them.”