first to be removed. But Swartboy was
not to be deterred by a little trouble; so climbing into the interior of
the huge carcass, he commenced cutting and delving, and every now and
then passing a multitude of "inwards" out to the others, who carried
them off out of the way.

After a long spell of this work, the fat was secured, and carefully
packed in a piece of clean under-skin; and then the "butchering" was
finished.

Of course the four feet, which along with the trunk are considered the
"tit-bits," had already been separated at the fetlock joint; and stood
out upon the bank, for the future consideration of Swartboy.

The next thing to be done was to "cure" the meat. They had a stock of
salt--that precious, though, as lately discovered, not indispensable
article. But the quantity--stowed away in a dry corner of the wagon--was
small, and would have gone but a short way in curing an elephant.

They had no idea of using it for such a purpose. Flesh can be preserved
without salt; and not only Swartboy, but Von Bloom himself, knew how to
preserve it. In all countries where salt is scarce, the process of
"jerking" meat is well understood, and consists simply in cutting it
into thin strips and hanging it out in the sun. A few days of bright
warm sunshine will "jerk" it sufficiently; and meat thus dried will keep
good for months. A slow fire will answer the purpose nearly as well; and
in the absence of sunshine, the fire is often resorted to.

Sun-dried meat in South Africa is called "biltongue." The Spaniards of
Mexico name it "tasajo," while those of Peru style it "charqui." In
English it is "jerked" meat.

Several hours were spent in cutting the elephant-beef into strips, and
then a number of forked poles were set up, others were laid horizontally
over the forks, and upon these the meat was suspended, and hung down in
numberless festoons.

Before the sun went down, the neighbourhood of the camp presented a rare
appearance. It looked somewhat like the enclosure of a yarn-bleacher,
except that the hanging strips, instead of being white, were of a
beautiful clear ruby colour.

But the work was not yet completed. The feet remained to be "preserved,"
and the mode of curing these was entirely different. That was a secret
known only by Swartboy, and in the execution of it the Bushman played
first fiddle, with the important air of a _chef de cuisine_.

He proceeded as follows:--

He first dug a hole in the ground, abou