Page 53 - Adventures in Africa

Taking a stick he ran it through the foot so that
I could the more easily carry it, lie then having1

shouldered one of the tusks, we set out for the camp,
well satisfied with our day's sport*
As soon as we arrived we sent off Jan for th£ other

tusk, as he could easily find the way by the track we
had made ; while my uncle dug a hole close to the
fire, into which he raked a quantity of ashes, and then
covered it up. After some time he again scraped out

the ashes, and having- wrapt the foot up in leaves,
he put it into the hole, and covered it up with hot
earth. On the top of all he once more lit a lire, and

kept it blazing away for some time.
The fire had well-nigh burnt out when Jan returned
with the other tusk. He told us that on his way back

he had seen the spoors of the elephants, and that if
we chose to follow them, he was sure that we should
come up with them, and should most probably iind

those we had wounded.
We now uncovered our elephant’s foot, which Jan
pronounced to he as satisfactorily cooked as his own

countrymen could have done it. The flesh was soft
and gelatinous greatly resembling calves-head, and
was so tender that we could scoop it out with a

spoon, I don't know that I ever enjoyed a meal
more. Although we could not venture to load our
ox. with more than the two tusks we had already
obtained, my uncle, hoping soon to fall in with Mr,

Welbourn, determined to try and obtain the tusks
from the other two elephants wTe had wounded, and to

leave them concealed, until we could send for them.
There was the risk, of course, of their being dis­