The San Francisco call., 1908-07-19

hear the expressions herds OF a mil
lion." and elephants by the thou
sands"
One continental sportsman who ended
a six months trip at Quilimane sew
eraI years ago offered to take oath be-
fore the writer that he had seen 10000
elephants In one single herd in the
Marololo district. OF buffalo and deer
and game of other species he had seen
millions"
A titled Englishman who passed
year in British East Africa before the
new railroad had frightened much OF
the game to adjoining states was more
conservative. but declared he had fire.
quently seen gatherings of various
kinds of animals that he estimated TO
be upward of 5000 in number. AS trO-
phies of his hunt he brought aboard the
steamship at Tanga 81 huge packing
cases filled with tusks. horns, skulls
and hides, besides the skins OF IS lions
that he himself had killed
\ UTHORITY on wild animals OF
a German and British East Africa is
Percy Prinsle, a young Africander.
who for 10 years has been managing an
ostrich farm at the foot of Mount Kill
manjaro. near the border of the two
colonies. Disappointed in an affair OF
the heart in Cape Colony, he left his
home to forget his troubles by geing
into the wilds. Accompanied only by a
few blacks, he settled in the interior.
about $50 miles from Dar-es- -Salaam.
once the Arab slave headquarters. now
the German colonial capital. and en-
tered upon the exciting pastime OF
catching ostSiches alive. After the first
year he had so Of the plumaged birds
in his corral, and now he has so many
that il was impossible for him to count
them with any degree OF defniteness.
Although he and his men are kept busy
plucking the birds. the plumage Of one
Of which is worth from $3.50 to 5000 he
nnds time twice a year to go farther
into the interior to shoot game.
Il have just returned from the Kara
moyo mountains" he writes IN letter
recently received. "and / had splendid
success. I added eight elephants 10 my
list and could have killed probably a
dozen others. One OF them tossed me
and nearly broke my skull. Ny boys
carried me home in my nashela (ham-
mOck). On none of my other trips
have seen so much game. and / beAevs
that instead of growing fewer in num-
bers it is increasing Lions are more
numerous than when I came here and
there is hardly a night that we do not
hear them near our cattle kraals
Since I wrote to you last I havs
OF old KILL (Kilimanjaro), but I did
not succeed. As soon as we reached
the snow my poor boys began to suf-
fer. more from fright than from tho
cold. and we were forced to come back.
Your description Of the new 40 story
building in New York city sounds as
though 1t might be true. but you ought
not to test the loyalty OF an old friend
in that way, especially when he is a man
who in 10 years has not seen a building
that Is higher than one story and attic.
I believe your story. however. and to
match it 7 will tell you something
about East Africa.
1T was the dry season when we re-
turned from the north and game Wa.
gathering at the ri~ers. One morning
when 1 awoke the boys carried me TO
the top OF kopje so that ] could see
what was in the valley. I win never
forget the scene. I do not believe anv
living man ever saw so nanv fine ami
mails together at one time. There was
only one herd of IA elephants, but OF
every other conceivable kind OF same
there were 50 many that il would have
been Impossible TO count them. I be-
lieve in a day even If they had stood
like so many thousands Of ants on a
heap.
There were buffalo. giraffe, eiand.
zebra and practically every kind of box
in the country-and there was / laid up
in the mashela with a sp-ained ankle.
1 tell you. it fairly made my mouth
water to see a valley about five miles
wide and miles and miles long lust
filled up with all kinds of shootable
things and then be unable to walk a
STEP"