The Virginia enterprise., 1909-07-09

hoofs, the swirling dust. the Rhythmic
hang of the ! many rifles, and the
wAtstling Of stray bullets made a veri-
table battle scene: " One after Anoth-
er! We picked1 out our living targets
and down they went, the stampeding
mass of life behind falling over. them
In struggling, confusion: ,.>. I,
At last the tail end Of the herds,
galloped past, leaving; a few, wound
ed stragglers enveloped in the dust
.burdened air: We gave our burning
rifles a rest, wiped the CRIME from
our: faces and surveyed the results Of
our bloody attack. :;,..
The Cheetah and Van Keenan,.
r he weld was spotted with car
casses, and here and there an animal
struggled In pain. from a cruel, dis
ablfng wound. The hundreds of ma
tives with the expedition poured over
the weld and commenced skinning.
The scientists took measurements and
photographs, and by night the hides
were all in camp.
f. When the bugle blew at meal time
van Reenan was missing. ques-
toned the natives, but none Lad any
news, Of him. We lit huge fires to
guide him to the camp. There was no
possibility OF his being lost, for he was
a Boer and knew the weld like a KAT
fir: All night we expected him to turn
up ;at the camp. The, lions and leop-
ards roared, the hyenas laughed.
jackals snarled and q thousand dis
NAL howls made night f1endish, as the
animals fought over the carcasses left
after our hunt.
Daylight broke on a disappointed
camp and at once searching parties
were formed to find the missing hun
ter. I made for the spot where I had
seen the giraffes before the hunt,
knowing that van Reenan had gone
In that direction to get a shot at
them. After getting to the place and
searching a little I discovered the
body of my friend with a dead Chez
tab across it. OF course, I can only
guess what happened.
examined his rifle and found only
cne cartridge expended from the mag
azine. There was a wound in the
cheetah's breast. The animal had been
wounded at close quarters evidently,
ana had sprung on it's aggressor be-
fore he could get in another shot.
Poor van Reenan was frightfully
chewed. The cheetah had died in the
act Of killing him, one Of the many dou-
bic tragedies that illustrate the dan.
gers of hunting on the Dark Contin.
Cit
The Giraffe - Awkward and
Harmless.
II is peculiar that such savage
brutes as leopards and cheetahs are
marked much like the giraffe, the
most awkward and harmless animal
In Africa. At one time the giraffe
was common down as far as Cape
Town, but now it is found no farther
south than the Transvaal. Gradually
it is being driven into the interior.
The giraffe makes it's home in the
desert country, being able to go for
long periods without drinking There
are large herds on the Kalahari des-
ert, where they are practically safe
from the hunters rifle. Giraffes are
also very common in the country to
which Mr.. Roosevelt is going. They
are easy hunting. Before the passage
of the game protection laws I have
seen one party bring down 20 giratfes
In day.
It is easy to form an idea of the
giraffe's awkwardness when you take
into consideration that the animal is
from 18 to 20 feet high, measuring
from the ground to it's head, and it is
mostly legs and neck, the legs being
longer than the neck. When a giraffe
drinks it must spread its legs out an
an angle of about 80 degrees to lower
its body sufficiently to reach the wa.
ter.
The favorite method of the Beers in
hunting the giraffe is to ride it down
on horseback. This affords great sport
and good horse will overtake one of
these animals after long chase. The
giraffe presents a peculiar spectacle
when it is running. The body seems
to gain on the head, which waves to
and fro and is jerked into position at
every second step. Mr.. Roosevelt will
have to depend solely on shooting for
his giraffe sport, as the country he
will visit in is not favorable to horse
hunting.
A source of amusement to the aver.
age European sportsman who visits
East Africa is hunting the wart hog.
Although the Africander does not care
about hunting this animal, the Euro.
pean seems to delight in it, perhaps
on account of the animals ferocious
and ugly appearance. 1t is armed with
pair of formidable tusks which it
can use with great effect on either
horse or man when it is cornered.
have seen native gored 80 badly by
one that he died in an hour.
Each African colony has game laws
based on the prevalence or scarcity of
certain species of animals. Where
Mr.. Roosevelt is going to hunt it costs
$3.50 for a huntsman's license. This
license under the British East Afri-
can game laws gives the following
privileges:
Each white man-rifle hunter-that
hunts in East Africa, is allowed to kill
two of each Of the following animals:
Elephants (tusks weighing not less
than 60 pounds). rhinoceri, hippopot-
ami, zebra, oryx, callotis oryx bestia,
koodoo, topi, Neumann's hartebeest,
co1obus and other fur monkeys, aard-