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The horse, Aggahr, must have found his way without difficulty, as he had arrived a little before sunset.
We started from Geera on the 23d of December, with our party complete. The Hamran sword-hunters were Abou Do, Jali, and Suleiman. My chief tracker was Taher Noor, who, although a good hunter, was not a professional aggahr, and I was accompanied by the father of Abou Do, who was a renowned "howarti" or harpooner of hippopotami. This magnificent old man might have been Neptune himself.
The hunting of Taher Sheriff 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 most, whether the coolness and courage of him who led the elephant, or the extraordinary skill and activity of the aggahr who dealt the fatal blow.
I ordered Taher Noor and Bacheet each to take a horse and rifle, and to lead them, together with my hunter Aggahr, about a hundred yards behind me, while I advanced towards the elephants on foot. At the sound of the first shot they were to mount, and to bring my horse and spare guns as rapidly as possible.
This was quickly replied to, and I repeated the well-known signal, until in about ten minutes I met my wife, who had been wandering about the country half distracted for hours, searching for me in every direction, as my horse Aggahr had returned to the camp with the bridle broken, and the empty saddle scratched by the boughs of trees; she had naturally concluded that some accident had happened.
We discovered that the bullet had passed through the great artery of the heart, which had caused the instantaneous death of the elephant I had shot. We were now at least seventeen miles from camp, and I feared that Aggahr would be lost, and would most likely be devoured by a lion during the night: thus I should lose not only my good old hunter, but my English saddle.
The prices were high for this part of the world where dollars are scarce; but to me, they appeared to be absurdly cheap. The bay horse was a regular strong-built cob; for him I paid nineteen dollars about 4l. including a native saddle and bridle; for the greys, I paid fifteen and thirteen dollars, saddles and bridles also included. Tetel was a trained hunter, as was Aggahr likewise.
According to my agreement, I went to the aggageers' camp at 5 A.M. with Hadji Ali and Hassan, both mounted on my two horses, Aggahr and Gazelle, while I rode Tetel. Taher Sheriff requested me not to shoot at anything, as the shots might alarm and scare away elephants; therefore I merely carried my little Fletcher, in case of meeting the Base, who hunted in this country.
I therefore mounted Aggahr, and with my tracker, Taher Noor, and the Tokrooris as gun-bearers, I crossed the river and rode straight into the interior of the country. This was now thoroughly clear, as the fire had consumed the grass, and had left the surface perfectly black. Upon the ashes, the track of every animal could be seen distinctly.
I at once started off Hassan, who could run like an antelope, in search of Tetel, while I despatched another man to the summit of the peak to see if the rhinoceros were in view; if not, I knew they must be among the small trees and bushes at the foot of the hill. I thus waited for a long time, until at length the two greys, Aggahr and Gazelle, arrived with my messenger from the camp.
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