{"id":199,"date":"2025-10-18T14:18:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T13:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/word\/?p=199"},"modified":"2025-10-18T14:18:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T13:18:35","slug":"now-came-the-tug-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/now-came-the-tug-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Now came the tug of war!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Now came the tug of war! Taher Sherrif came close to me, and said, &#8220;You had better shoot the elephant, as we shall have great difficulty in this rocky ground.&#8221; This I declined, as I wished the fight ended as it had been commenced, with the sword; and I proposed that he should endeavor to drive the animal to more favorable ground. &#8220;Never mind,&#8221; replied Taher, &#8220;Inshallah (please God) he shall not beat us.&#8221; He now advised me to keep as close to him as possible and to look sharp for a charge.<\/p>\n<p>The elephant stood facing us like a statue; it did not move a muscle beyond a quick and restless action of the eyes, that were watching all sides. Taher Sherrif and his youngest brother, Ibrahim, now separated, and each took opposite sides of the elephant, and then joined each other about twenty yards behind it. I accompanied them, until Taher advised me to keep about the same distance upon the left flank. My Tokrooris kept apart from the scene, as they were not required. In front of the elephant were two aggageers, one of whom was the renowned Roder Sherrif, with the withered arm. All being ready for action, Roder now rode slowly toward the head of the cunning old bull, who was quietly awaiting an opportunity to make certain of some one who might give him a good chance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now came the tug of war! Taher Sherrif came close to me, and said, &#8220;You had better shoot the elephant, as we shall have great difficulty in this rocky ground.&#8221; This I declined, as I wished the fight ended as&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[4],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.4.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Now came the tug of war!  - Samuel White Baker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/now-came-the-tug-of-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Now came the tug of war!  - Samuel White Baker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Now came the tug of war! Taher Sherrif came close to me, and said, &#8220;You had better shoot the elephant, as we shall have great difficulty in this rocky ground.&#8221; This I declined, as I wished the fight ended as&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/now-came-the-tug-of-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Samuel White Baker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-18T13:18:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"melyn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/\",\"name\":\"Samuel White Baker\",\"description\":\"Victorian explorer &amp; hunter\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/now-came-the-tug-of-war\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/now-came-the-tug-of-war\/\",\"name\":\"Now came the tug of war! - Samuel White Baker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-18T13:18:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-18T13:18:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/#\/schema\/person\/a0c53db4ae65115a8eace8ce7c655de3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/now-came-the-tug-of-war\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/now-came-the-tug-of-war\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/now-came-the-tug-of-war\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Now came the tug of war!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/#\/schema\/person\/a0c53db4ae65115a8eace8ce7c655de3\",\"name\":\"melyn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/1.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aab291c1a5e95ed98dafe92ceaef8653?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/1.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aab291c1a5e95ed98dafe92ceaef8653?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"melyn\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/author\/melyn\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Now came the tug of war!  - Samuel White Baker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/now-came-the-tug-of-war\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Now came the tug of war!  - Samuel White Baker","og_description":"Now came the tug of war! 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Hardly had he uttered these words of caution when the bull gave a vicious jerk with its head, and with a shrill scream charged down upon us with the greatest fury. Away\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nile&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":201,"url":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/round-went-the-mare-as-though-upon-a-pivot-and-away-over-rocks-and-stones-flying-like-a-gazelle-with-the-monkey-like-form-of-little-roder-sherrif-leaning-forward-and-looking-over-his-left-shoulde\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":1},"title":"Round went the mare as though upon a pivot, and away, over rocks and stones, flying like a gazelle, with the monkey-like form of little Roder Sherrif leaning forward, and looking over his left shoulder as the elephant rushed after him.For a moment I thought he must be caught","date":"November 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Round went the mare as though upon a pivot, and away, over rocks and stones, flying like a gazelle, with the monkey-like form of little Roder Sherrif leaning forward, and looking over his left shoulder as the elephant rushed after him.For a moment I thought he must be caught. Had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nile&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":202,"url":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/the-great-bull-elephant-could-not-move-the-first-cut-with-the-sword-had-utterly-disabled-it-the-second-was-its-deathblow\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":2},"title":"The great bull-elephant could not move! The first cut with the sword had utterly disabled it; the second was its deathblow","date":"July 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The great bull-elephant could not move! The first cut with the sword had utterly disabled it; the second was its deathblow. The arteries of the leg were divided, and the blood spouted in jets from the wounds. I wished to terminate its misery by a bullet behind the ear, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nile&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":196,"url":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/our-great-loss-was-barrake\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":3},"title":"Our great loss was Barrake","date":"October 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Our great loss was Barrake. She had persisted in eating the fruit of the hegleek, although she had suffered from dysentery upon several occasions. She was at length attacked with congestion of the liver. My wife took the greatest care of her, and for weeks she had given her the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nile&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":167,"url":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/we-were-thus-leisurely-returning-home-through-alternate-plains-and-low-open-forest-of-mimosa-when-taher-sherrif-who-was-leading-the-party-suddenly-reined-up-his-horse-and-pointed-to-a-thick-bush-b\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":4},"title":"We were thus leisurely returning home through alternate plains and low open forest of mimosa, when Taher Sherrif, who was leading the party, suddenly reined up his horse and pointed to a thick bush, beneath which was a large gray but shapeless mass","date":"September 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We were thus leisurely returning home through alternate plains and low open forest of mimosa, when Taher Sherrif, who was leading the party, suddenly reined up his horse and pointed to a thick bush, beneath which was a large gray but shapeless mass. He whispered, as I drew near, \"Oom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nile&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":108,"url":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/there-were-two-parties-of-hunters-among-the-hamran-arabs-one-under-abou-do-and-the-other-consisting-of-four-brothers-sherrif\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":5},"title":"There were two parties of hunters among the Hamran Arabs, one under Abou Do, and the other consisting of four brothers Sherrif","date":"June 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"There were two parties of hunters among the Hamran Arabs, one under Abou Do, and the other consisting of four brothers Sherrif. The latter were the most celebrated aggageers among the renowned tribe of the Hamran. Their father and grandfather had been mighty Nimrods, and the broadswords wielded by their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nile&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aberth.com\/samuelwhitebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}