The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-07-28
CATCHING WILD ANIMALS
New York Graphic.

menageries the world over with wild animals. He started in life as an at- tendant at the Reiches establishment in Alfeld, Germany. Sixteen years ago he was put in charge of their German expeditions, and this is how he con- ducts one, so he told an interviewer ~I pick out two or three Germans" he began, "and start out about Mo- vember. We take 10000 pounds in silver with us in old Austrian money, the Maria Theresa dollars. We go to Trieste, thence through the Suez canal to Suez. There we take an Egyptian steamer and go to Suakim. At Suakim we have to buy dozen or more camels to carry the baggage, ammunition, rifles, etc., and we have to hire drivers also. It takes four cam- els to carry the silver. Camels used for carrying purposes cost ten pounds each, while riding camels are worth twenty five pounds each.
 "From Suakim we journey across the Nubian desert, trip of eighteen or twenty days. We travel only in the night, on account of the fierce heat, in the daytime making a shelter for ourselves against the suns blasting rays. Sometimes we encounter a si- rocco, a terrific whirlwind that sweeps the sand before it in binding blasts. There are twelve military stations along the route, garrisoned with soldiers, who protect the tele- graph. Our destination is Kassala, an old Egyptian post of 10000 inhabi- tants. There we purchase an extra supply of twenty or thirty camels, some lumber for crates and take in new supply of provisions. The game has long ago been shot off the desert, and we have to live on preserved meats. Next we strike out towards the east, and after journeying five or six days we arrive at the district of Hamrahan, on the Setite river, our final destination" a.
 Here is where the work of the year begins. The country is owned by sheikhs, each district being governed by sheikh, and Lohse has to pur- chase permission from the sheikh of Hamrahan to work there. Lohse brings with him presents with which to propitiate his dusky friends. He has silks, cloths, calicoes, rifles, revol- vers, ammunition, sweetmeats and beads. Lohse is foxy and he has no difficulty in working on the affections of his dark brothers with beads and sweet meats. The sheikh is the big gun and he readily gives Lohse 100 acres for an encsmpment and furnishes him with 100 men to hunt and help with the work. First the underbrush is burned off the land and then the cleared space is encircled with thorn fence eight feet high to protect the ~seriffa" from the attacts of wild anil mals at night. It is terrible piece of work to construct this fence, but once up it ser yes for seven months.
 Next Lohse must buy horses for his native hunters. The natives have sev- eral peculiarities. They wont do any, thing for themselves. Lohse they call "Touil," "The Long Man." that is why they look up to him, sQ to speak, tor he must know about everything. The natives follow the traditions of Adam and Eve, and are too lazy to cultivate the soil, though it is rich and fertile. About all that they are good for is hunting, so Lohse has to set their machinery going by sending to Abyssinia for horses. No native is too poor to own slave, and Lohse is forced sometimes to go to Abyss for his horses. It takes day to go from this part of Nubia to Abyssinia. The horses are bought for four to five pounds apiece, and then the hunting expeditions are at once organized.
 Lohse talks as if elephant hunts were not particularly exciting, mere matter of killing mosquitoes. He takes ten or twenty horsemen with him and number of footmen. "Four of the horsemen," Lohse explained, @1sre to tease the elephants, necessary feature of the hunt, as you will see. The animals herd in fifties and sixties, and live in the interior during the daytime. At night they come to the river, sometimes remaining in the wa ter all night. We trace the herd from the river, and when we find them, the teasers, who are the most courageous of the hunters, begin to tease the leaders of the herd. The bulls soon become angry and excited, and give chase to the teasers. Each leader is followed by his family, relatives and friends, and soon the herd is strung out-just what we want. Then the hunters ride up aud hamstring the males, letting the females go, for they have but little ivory. All is confu- sion, and the elephants are flying hither and thither. Alter the ham, stringing is over the hunters jump from their horses on the backs of the baby elephants, lasso them, and twist ropes around their feet and trip them up, when they are tied to tree The