Narrative of travels and discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824Denham, Dixon
History
Narrative of travels and discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824
Denham, Dixon
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Africa, North -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Africa, North
Length from the proboscis to the tail 25 6
Proboscis 7 6
Small teeth 2 10
Foot longitudinally 1 7
Eye 2 by 1½
From the foot to the hip-bone 9 6
From the hip-bone to the back 3 0
Ear 2 by 2 6
I had seen much larger elephants than this alive, when on my last
expedition to the Tchad; some I should have guessed sixteen feet in
height, and with a tusk probably exceeding six feet in length. The
one before me, which was the first I had seen dead, was, however,
considered as of more than common bulk and stature; and it was not
until the Kanemboo of the town of Bree came out, and by attracting
his attention with their yells, and teasing him by hurling spears
at his more tender parts, that the Shouaas dared to dismount; when,
by ham-stringing the poor animal, they brought him to the ground,
and eventually despatched him by repeated wounds in the abdomen and
proboscis: five leaden balls had struck him about the haunches, in
the course of the chase, but they had merely penetrated a few inches
into his flesh, and appeared to give him but little uneasiness. The
whole of the next day the road, leading to the spot where he lay,
was like a fair, from the numbers who repaired thither for the sake of
bringing off a part of the flesh, which is esteemed by all, and even
eaten in secret by the first people about the sheikh: it looks coarse,
but is better flavoured than any beef I found in the country. Whole
families put themselves in motion, with their daughters mounted on
bullocks, on this occasion, who, at least, hoped as much would fall to
their share as would anoint their heads and persons plentifully with
grease at the approaching fsug. The eyes of this noble animal were,
though so extremely small in proportion to his body, languid and
expressive even in death. His head, which was brought to the town,
I had an opportunity of seeing the next day, when I had it opened;
and the smallness of the brain is a direct contradiction to the
hypothesis, that the size of this organ is in proportion to the
sagaciousness of the animal. His skin was a full inch and a half
in thickness, and dark gray, or nearly black, hard, and wrinkled:
his ears, large and hanging, appeared to me the most extraordinary
part about him, particularly from the facility with which he moved
them backwards and forwards: his feet are round, undivided, and have
four nails, or hoofs, for they cannot be called toes, two in the
front of the foot, about an inch in depth, and two inches in length,
which join each other, with two smaller ones on each side of the
foot. In Africa they are scarcely ever taken alive, but hunted as
a sport, for the sake of their flesh; and also in order to obtain
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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