"What a splendid beast!" said Kennedy, "what a mass of
flesh! I never saw an elephant of that size in India!"
"There's nothing surprising about that, my dear Dick;
the elephants of Central Africa are the finest in the world.
The Andersons and the Cummings have hunted so incessantly
in the neighborhood of the Cape, that these animals
have migrated to the equator, where they are often met
with in large herds."
"In the mean while, I hope," added Joe, "that we'll
taste a morsel of this fellow. I'll undertake to get you a
good dinner at his expense. Mr. Kennedy will go off and
hunt for an hour or two; the doctor will make an inspection
of the balloon, and, while they're busy in that way,
I'll do the cooking."
"A good arrangement!" said the doctor; "so do as
you like, Joe."
"As for me," said the hunter, "I shall avail myself of the
two hours' recess that Joe has condescended to let me have."
"Go, my friend, but no imprudence! Don't wander
too far away."
"Never fear, doctor!" and, so saying, Dick, shouldering
his gun, plunged into the woods.
Forthwith Joe went to work at his vocation. At first
he made a hole in the ground two feet deep; this he filled
with the dry wood that was so abundantly scattered about,
where it had been strewn by the elephants, whose tracks
could be seen where they had made their way through the
forest.
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