As we had cut him off from following his companions, he took the direction leading to where we had left the mule and the footmen: they quickly fled in all directions; and my man Columbus (the mule not being inclined to increase its pace) was so alarmed, that he did not get the better of it for the whole day. We pressed the elephant now very close, riding before, behind, and on each side of him; and his look sometimes, as he turned his head, had the effect of checking instantly the speed of my horse—his pace never exceeded a clumsy rolling walk, but was sufficient to keep our horses at a short gallop. I gave him a ball from each barrel of my gun, at about fifty yards’ distance; and the second, which struck his ear, seemed to give him a moment’s uneasiness only; but the first, which struck him on the body, failed in making the least impression. After giving him another spear, which flew off his tough hide without exciting the least sensation, we left him to his fate. News was soon brought us that eight elephants were at no great distance, and coming towards us: it was thought prudent to chase them away, and we all mounted for that purpose. They appeared unwilling to go, and did not even turn their backs until we were quite close, and had thrown several spears at them; the flashes from the pan of the gun, however, appeared to alarm them more than any thing: they retreated very majestically, first throwing out, as before, a quantity of sand. A number of the birds here called tuda were perched on the backs of the elephants; these resemble a thrush in shape and note, and were represented to me as being extremely useful to the elephant, in picking off the vermin from those parts which it is not in his power to reach. When the heat of the sun was a little diminished, we followed the course of the water; and had it not been for the torment which the mosquitoes and flies occasioned, there were spots in which I could have pitched my tent for a week. I saw several Balearic cranes, but I was too far off to get a shot at them. Having proceeded nearly eight miles along the shores of the Tchad, in which there is no sort of variety either in appearance or vegetable production, a coarse grass, and a small bell-flower, being the only plants that I could discover, about an hour before sunset we left these banks, and arrived at Koua, a small village to the north; where, the kaid of the town being absent, we were glad to take up our quarters within the fence of rushes that went round his hut, and after making some coffee, I laid myself down for the night: about midnight he returned, and we then got corn for our horses, and fowls and milk for ourselves. Both this town and Bree were quite new, and peopled by the Kanemboos, who had emigrated with the sheikh from their own country; and I never saw handsomer or better formed people.