The Irish republic. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1867-18??, 1868-01-11


poyed gapng the sword by the handle and about fourteen
inches of the blade covered with whpcord This part he
takes in his right hand without any danger of being hurt by
it, and though the edges of the lower part of the sword
sharp razor he carries without scabbard Having
found the elephant the horseman rides before him. crying
out rrtate and make him follow which he does seeking
seize him with his proboscis when After having made
him twice in pursuit of the horse the horseman
rides close up alongside of him. and drops his companion
Just behind the off side and while he engages the ee
plants attention upon the horse the fooman behind gives
him drawn stroke just above the heel what in man is
called the tendon of Achilles This the critical moment
the horseman Immediately wheels round and takes his
panion up behind him. and rides off full speed after the rest
of the herd if they have started more than one and
times an expert Agageer will kill three out of herd If
the sword good and the not afraid the tendon is
monty entirely separated and if it is not cut through it
generally so far divided that the animal with the he
puts upon breaks the remaining part asnder In either
he remains incapable of advancing step till the horse
returns, his companions coming up pierce him
through with avens and ances he then fasto the ground
and expires with the loss of blood" We will give Sir
Samuel Bakers account of his swordhunters the Hamran
Arabs who he says distinguished from the other tribes
by extra length of har parted down the CENTER and
arranged in long curls otherwise there percepbe
difference in their appearance from other Arabs They are
armed all Others with swords and Shields the latter
circular and generally formed of rhnoceros hide
Them after describing the "wo forms of shields used by the
various tribes of Arabs he proceeds thus Although there
patterns of shields among the Arabs there is
difference in the form of their swords which simply vary in
size according the strength of the The blade is
long and straight twoedged with simple cross handle
having other guard for the hand than the plain bar
which, righangles with the hilt forms the be-
leve this form adopted after the Crusades when the
long straight blades of the Christian knights
left impression behind them that established the fashion
All these blades manufactured at Sollingen, and
exported Egypt for the trade of the interior OF
they differ in quality and price, but they of excellent
temper The cabbards of the Arabs next described
with suggestive remarks thereon and also the
of the sword among the tribes generally Passing these
the most important part OF the authors decrp
tion "The elephant agageers exhibited their
swords which differed in respect from those usually worm
but they bound with cord very closely from the guard
! nil enable
grasped by the right hand while the h held by the
left the weapon thus converted into twohanded
sword The scabbards strengthened by extra
erng formed of the skin of the elephants ear Next fol-
lows description of the various methods of killing the
elephant with the sword The first is that of the poorer
hunters who not having the of purchasing horses
hunt foot in parties not exceeding two persons The
"hgher branch of the art is thus described provided
with horses the party of hunters should exceed four
They before break and ride slowly throughout the
country in search of elephants generally keeping along the
of river until they upon the tracks where
herd single elephant have drank during the night
When upon the tracks, they follow fast towards the
rereaing game The elephants may be twenty miles dis
tant but it matters little to the agageers AT length they
discover them, and the hunt begins. The first step is to
single the bull with the largest usk this is the
of the fight After short hunt the elephant
upon his pursuer who scatter and fly from his head
long charge until he gives up the pursuit. he at length turns
bay when again pressed by the hunters 1t is the duty of
in particular to ride up close to the head OF the
elephant thus absorb its attention upon himself This
nsure desperate charge The greatest GOODNESS and dex
terty are required by the hunter who now the hunted
must adapt the speed of his horse the pace of the ele
phant that the enraged beast gains in the until almost
reaches the tail of the horse In this the race
tnue In the meantime hunters gaop up behind the
elephant by the animal whose attention is completely
directed the horse almost within his grasp With extreme
agility when close to the heels of the elephant of the
hunters while full speed springs to the ground with his
drawn sword his companion sezes the Bride and with
dexteros twohanded blow he the back sinew
He Immediately jumps out of the way and remouns his
horse but if the blow is successful the elephant becomes
disabled the first pressure of its foot the ground the
weight of the animal dslocates the joint and it is
rendered helpless The hunter who has hitherto led the
elephant Immediately turns and riding to within few feet
of the trunk he induces the animal to attempt another charge
This cumsiy made affords an easy opportunity for the
behind slash the new of the remaining Leg and
the immense brute reduced standstil it dies of loss
of blood in short time thus positively killed by
with two strokes of the sword !'-Sir Samuel Baker,