The Elbert County tribune., 1909-05-20

rivers and their tributaries. and about
the tributaries of the Zambesi, on
its easterly course. large herds Of
buffalo are stiil to be found. This
country. however. is only accessible
during the African winter-April TO
October-unless the risk of deadly
fever be taken. There are still brffa-
10 to be found. to. about the Chobe
river. in the far-off swamps and
marshes of the Upper Okavango. In
these regions the tsetse fly is certain
to be found in the buffaloes' haunt.
and the hunter must perforce do all
his work on foot.
AS the African buffalo Is one of the
toughest and most difficult of all game
animals to bring to bag, so that hand
some creature. Burchell's zebra
tEquus BurchellD, the zebra OF the
plains, is by far the most easily de-
stroyed. A single $50 EXPRESS or Mar
tini-Henry bullet will at once turn
this fleet and handsome animal OF the
troop. an easy victim or not eady
killed outright) to the hunters next
shot. With a broken leg the zebra
is instantly helpless. with a broken
limb. and shot through the body to
boot. one of the larger African an
telopes, such as a hartebeest or brin-
died gnu, Will often run for miles, and
finally escape the hunter altogether.
AS an almost invariable rule Burch-
ellis zebras are hunted on horseback:
they are fleet and enduring. and even
first-class South African hunting
pony must be in very good form, and
upon hard even ground, to carry his
rider within hail of them. Most usu-
ally these animals are to be met with
feeding on open grassy plains, or in
open bush, where large glades and
clearings are to he found In a TALON
end chase across flats. with fair
start, they can usually gallop clean
away from the mounted man. II It
were not for habit of curiosity, they
would. indeed. be "lxittle cattle" to
come up with on the great plains.
But their curiosity is often their un-
doing. / have many times galloped
steadily behind troop of these ze-
bras, and then halted for q moment.
The zebras would then wheel quickly
round in line and stand for a minute
to have a good look at tho pursuer.
This was the time to put in a steady
shot. Sometimes, even when the hum
ter is galloping. they will turn round
and stand for moment, apparently
out of sheer curiosity.
Exterminating the African Zebra.
In semi-bushy country, where their
view is more circumscrlbed, these se-
bras are without much difficulty shot.
| In Mashonaland large numbers of
i
the last few years by the pioneers
and settlers. / have found that by
making long our and getting be-
tween them and the bush to which
they run for shelter, these animals
when feeding in the open can be
driven about and shot pretty much at
will. They seem for the time to be-
come Clustered, lose their heads, try
to make short cuts past thu mounted
men, and so fall victims. In former
days these magnificent beasts ran In
immense numbers in all the open
country from the Orange river to the
Zambesi. They are still to be found
in large troops in the Ngamiland coun-
try. In remoter parts of Mashonaland.
and in still l.rger numbers east and
northeast of Mashonaland, toward
the coast. Beyond the Zambesi they
are widely distributed in Africa, be-
coming exceedingly plentiful again
upon the great plains between the
east coast and Uganda. South of the
Orange river they seem seldom. II
ever. to have ranged. Burchells 70
bra is not to be confounded with
the more asinine black cnd white
mountain zebra (E Zebra), which is
perfectly striped all over. The rch-
ellis zebra is best ;nown to the Brit
ish public of all this handsome group,
good examples being Away on view
in the Geological society's gardens.
AS a general rule this zebra Is not
perfectly banded down the legs-as is
its mountain cousin-but a variety,
sometimes called by scientists" Chap
mans ZEBRA" Is to be found In the
interior, with the white gs pretty
generally banded as far down as the
fetlocks. The average European
sportsman. having shot few Of these
beautiful creatures as specimens, will
usually stay his hand and spare them,
unless meat for his followers is abso-
lutely needed. The Boer and native
hunter, on the contrary. shoot them
whenever they get the chance, merely
for the price of the skin--a matter OF
a few shillings up country. And 50
the species becomes exterminated. II
is thousand pities! OF all sights
in the fair veldt-and there are many
to charm the eye-I know of few no.
bier than a good troop of Burchell's
zebras, creatures which seem to have
been created for on other purpose
than to adorn the wilderness.