. The popular natural history . Zoology. 206 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT. seen by casual travellers, owing to its great vigilance and its wonderful power of moving through the tangled forests without noise and without causing any perceptible agitation of the foliage. In spite of its enormous dimensions, it is one of the most invisible of forest creatures, and a herd of Elephants, of eight or nine feet in height, may stand within a few yards of a hunter without being detected by him, even though he is aware of their presence. The Kaffirs are persevering elephant hunters, and are wonderfully exppr^ in
. The popular natural history . Zoology. 206 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT. seen by casual travellers, owing to its great vigilance and its wonderful power of moving through the tangled forests without noise and without causing any perceptible agitation of the foliage. In spite of its enormous dimensions, it is one of the most invisible of forest creatures, and a herd of Elephants, of eight or nine feet in height, may stand within a few yards of a hunter without being detected by him, even though he is aware of their presence. The Kaffirs are persevering elephant hunters, and are wonderfully exppr^ in tracking any individual by the "spoor" or track, which is made by its footsteps. The foot of a male is easily to be distinguished by the roundness of its form, while that of the female is more oval, and the height of the animal is also ascertained by measurement of the footmarks, twice the circumference of the foot being equal to the height at the AFRICAN KLEFHAt^T. —(Loxueionfa Afrkana.) The death of a large Elephant is great matter of congratulation among the natives, who rejoice at the abundant supply of food which will fall to their share. Almost every portion of the animal is used by the Kaffirs, whose strong jaws are not to be daunted by the toughest meat, and whose accom- modating palates are satisfied with various portions which would be rejected by any civilized being. Some portions of the Elephant are, however, grateful even to European palates, and the foot, when baked, is really delicious. This part of the animal is cooked by being laid in a hole in the earth, over which a large fire has been suffered to burn itself out, and then covered over with the hot earth. Another fire is then built on the spot, and permitted to burn itself out as before, and when the place is thoroughly cool, the foot is properly cooked. The flesh of the boiled foot is quite soft and gelatinous, something resem- blmg calf's head, and is so tender that it can be scooped
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
