The San Francisco call., 1909-02-21

L
II The idea has savored of romance and
! achieyemen ever since the exploration
days Of Stanley. while the actual expert
ence has added fame to a few and fame to many
Of already exalted or distinguished name Not few
book heroes have struggled through the thrilling
life and gone home ignore loftily claim easily
q charming participation in a lovers quarrel
Is the adventure today all that it was some years
ago when equatorial Africa was less settled and civ
uized? Is big game as plentiful there?
A few Hagonbeck hunters have ventured the opinion
70 that The country was shot out" but be
said that in each case their hunting experience was
more or less orcumscribed and their geographical and
general knowledge not so exact
The hunting grounds Of Africa comprise about
ll500000 square miles, and any who can really
grasp the extent OF such territory needs no special
data to assure himself that Africa IS "shot OUT
It takes bat few years Of open seasons to shoot
out the Adirondacks the Maine woods, but each
locality is greater than some single African jungle
which may still be unexplored.
Many Species of Beasts
It was comparatively easy TO shoot out" the
buffalo, but they single species of wild beast
while Africa boasts more than 100 and, again, the
buffalo hunter needed little more than an overland
train and wagon fare and the possession of COW
pony and Winchester. The hunter of big game in
Africa requires retinue of servants, battery of
arms, varied lot of ammunition and bank deposit
Of several thousand dollars
Then, too there arc two kinds of Africa and two
kinds of hunting there just there are two different
Alaskas and New Yorks; one is the inkstand kind
and one the real variety
You can journey comfortably to some point on the
Uganda railway start your luxurious caravan there
and reach your hunting grounds in hammock slung
pole, which is borne upon the shoulders of two
sturdy natives Your headman will lead you right up
10 the game your gun bearers will cock and hand you
the right rife and instruct you where to aim. You
viii shoot-and MISS and then they will obligngly
bag the game for you. Your FIRST aid" ta,dderm
remedies viii be correctly applied your agents will
do the rest and you can shortly go back with enough
trophies adorn house and enough inkstand cxpe-
riences TO Eli book.
Perhaps the "inkstand" hunting regions are fairly
"shot out" but unquestionably the real boundess
Africa isn't
There the same impenetrable interior forests
and limitess veldts, with their malignant miasma,
sleeping sickness and veldt sores; the same enormous
insects and reptiles, the cane brakes with grass
20 feet high, and pig eyed rhinoceros waiting
stealthily in the of a runway; the same alli-
gator and hippo pools and the same bad tempered
bull tuskers and wounded she cats For one who
undertakes real expedition such as Roosevelt has
planned, there are game and danger for the most
cxaoting
AS matter Of fact Africa has experienced for the
son" During the recent war the rifles of the Beers
the best African huntsmcn, were turned altogether
against the English, and for several years following
the cessation Of hostlities they were forbidden to
carry firearms by the articles of surrender
OVerrun With Game
1t takes but short time to build UP game coun-
try again, even if it quite we'll shot out" and
thousands Of herds in Africa were never greatly az
fected Recent reports would indicate that the coun-
try needs professional hunters-n fact at times for
nal appeals have been sent to the government
Elephants the rampage it would SEEM so.
too the hppopotami and rhinoceros Alligators
hungering for prey. Lions are creeping down
upon the native villages at night and carving off
cattle. Hundreds of lives are in danger in many
localities.
The situation is somewhat analogous to that which
prevailed in Wyoming few years ago A closed
season for elk increased the herds to such an extent
that the farming country rose in arms against them
and demanded permission to shoot and kill One
rancher in the big Horn" to prove his claims for
warded photo to Washington showing herd of
more than 100 elk calmly eating up his hay stacks
The details of expedition sofar as it is styled
IN the vernacular OF East Africa are interesting
and expensive This latter item, it may be remarked
in passing IS the greatest safeguard of African big
game The heavy license fee of $3.50 helps restrict
hunting but is rather calculated enrich treasures
than game