The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-16

The zebra is a different animal when found far from the railroad, but on the whole he Is easy to kill. He seems to have discovered that he will not be shot on the great game reservations which ex- tend for one mile on each side of the Uganda track. Away from them he will run like a deer, and as zebras usually go in droves the excitement of following them over the plain Is intense. Zebra skins tanned with the hair on are fine trophies and I am told that zebra steak is excellent eating. The flesh tastes like beef, with flavor of game. The animals S are so beautiful, however, and so much like horse that only brute would kill them for sport.
 Elephant Hunting Pays.
 In hunting elephants many a sportsman makes enough to pay good share of his African expenses. He can shoot only two elephant bulls, but if he gets good ones their tusks taken together may sell for $1,5O0 or 5000. The African elephants have the largest tusks of their kind. l have seen some which weighed 150 pounds each, and tusks have been taken which weigh up to 200 pounds. African ivory is the best and it brings the highest prices. It is difficult to get the tusks out. The porters may be half day chopping away the meat, and 1t will take about four men to carry tusk of the size l have men, toned There are men here who hunt elephants for their ivory, but the most of the licenses are taken out by sportsmen, who care more for the honor of having made good shot than anything else.
 How to Shoot Elephants.
 One of the best places to shot an ele- phant is through the eye or half way between the ear and eye. Another good shot is just back of the flap of the ear and a third is in a place on one side or the tail so that the ball will run along the spine and enter the lungs. Large bull lets and heavy guns are used. It is ex- ceedingly dangerous to shoot when the animal is close and not kill him. The elephant when injured is very revenge full He will throw his trunk into the air, scream, hiss and snort and rush af- ter the hunter knocking him down with a blow of his trunk and charge upon him with his great tusks. If the man falls. the great beast is liable to kneel upon him and mash him to jelly.
 One of the difficulties of elephant hunt ing is that it is not easy to distinguish the animals in the woods. as they are of much the same color as the trees A traveller here tells me that he once al most walked into a big elephant while going through the forest He was stoop-
  him when he saw the elephants legs and took them for tree trunks. The average elephants of this region can easily make six miles an hour while on the march. They usually travel in herds. the young and old moving along together. The ani- mals can swim. notwithstanding their enormous weight; and they can easily cross the largest rivers.
 I understand that the most of the ele- phants which used to nfest these plains have been driven away. They have now to be hunted for in the woods; but there are plenty In the forests between here and Uganda, and about the slopes of Mount Kenia and Mount Kilimanjaro. There are also many in the south near the Zambesi, and west of Lake Tangan- yika, in the forests along the Kongo. At present about 65.000 African elephants are being killed every year, and there is a danger that they will eventually be- come as scarce as buffaloes are in the United States.
 Hippopotami and Rhinoceroses.
 As to hippos and rhinos, there are plen- ty of them still left along the streams and about the great lakes of the trop- cal parts of the continent. There are rhinoceroses almost everywhere in the woods between Nairobi and Uganda. I have seen a number of hippos, and were I a hunter, which I am not, could, I