The natives of this country are far more industrious than those of Kordofan, and pay much greater attention to agriculture, and the cultivation of cotton, than their neighbours; they also manufacture the cotton themselves into stuffs, and produce other articles of commerce. They have few, but very beautiful horses; and a man must be a bold as well as an excellent rider to keep his seat on these spirited animals, which the natives prize very highly, for they will not readily part with them. In fact, an opportunity only offers itself of purchasing one of their horses when, in a depredatory invasion by the Bakkara, or in a conflict with their neighbours, a man of Takele has been killed, and his horse becomes the booty of the conqueror. I believe that the pedigree of these horses must be sought in Darfour. These negroes hunt elephants, and carry on a trade in ivory with Kordofan. In those parts of the country where there are no horses the elephants are caught in pits, but where the inhabitants possess horses the following plan is pursued:—Two men, mounted on horseback, go hunting together, and generally pick out a full-sized elephant, because the larger animals prove the more profitable. When they have discovered an elephant, one man rides at a distance of about a hundred paces in front of him, so that he keeps in full view of the beast. The other rider approaches to within a hundred paces of the animal from behind, dismounts from his horse,—for he is sure that it will stand quietly,—stealthily approaches it from the rear, and with one cut with a sharp sabre, severs the back sinews of its heel-joint. Infuriated to the utmost by the violent pain, and seeing the rider before it, the animal rushes instantly in pursuit of him, whilst the man who inflicted the wound gains time to vault upon his horse, and make off. The elephant cannot follow the rider far, partly because the latter has the advantage of a start,—and the horse is, moreover, fleeter than the elephant,—partly because he is, in a certain measure, lamed; thus he ultimately treads off his foot, and sinks exhausted with the loss of blood, an easy prey to the huntsman.