The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1912-07-13


district. 1 threatened with instant death and
torture II caught again by them.
Then began six days journey through the
blazing African with all my clothes in rags.
no helmet and no hat, water, and no food ex-
cept what l could find my the way. which
very little, seeing that / had no rife All my
camp equipment, stores and rifles had been taken
away from me and had lost all my ivory the
result of many months arduous work in the
Congo
"At last, after days of infinite torture
reached the camp Of Belgian official near Ma
hagi, who clothed and fed me, promising me that
the natives would be punished. This was indeed
kind of him. for 1t must be remembered that I
was poacher in the Belgian territory and liable
to ten years imprisonment If captured by the
Belgians in the act of poaching ivory. I have
to Butiaba to try to get together another
outfit and return to the Mahagi district to
place my losses. am determined to make up my
lost time and feel confident that do So.
wish that l could tell the tale with the un-
affected simplicity and nothing out of-the ordinary
manner in which Bennett told it to me
The next day I left by launch for Koba. the first
government post on the Nile. Here | found
small village of white elephant poachers, but all
of them away after ivory in the Congo at
the time of my visit. They live on the British side
of the Nile and make periodical excursions into
the Congo after ivory. The British government
allows Congo ivory to pass through Its territory
on payment of twenty-five per cent custom duty,
and in way this encourages the poachers, for
they allowed to shoot only two, or at most
three elephants each year in Est Africa or
Uganda on payment OF a $3.50 l.cense In the
Congo no license is necessary and they may shoot
as many tuskers they can, without license, il
they evade being captured by the Belgians
the natives
Each man takes untold risks when he follows
this calling. Not only does he chance ten years
Imprisonment in chain-gang in the interior Of
the Congo if caught by the Belgians, but he also
takes his life in his hands every time he shoots
elephant. for he crawls into herd through
the fifteen or twenty-foot grass, selects the big
gest bull and then shoots it at of from
ten to fifteen yards. No who has not tried
elephant shooting realize the terrifying aspect
of herd of elephants when you close to
them They move so silently. and yet each one is
capable of crushing the life out of any man who
dares disturb their peace
At Koba found the houses, made Of grass and
mud of John Boyes. the Honorable Rupert Craven.
and OF Pickering and Buckley. "Karajoma' Bell
had given up poachng for the time being. he
had made more than sufficient out of it to satisfy
all his desires Bell is young Englishman, who
has big estate in England and annual rent
roll Of some $4,000 He out to Central AZ
rica seeking adventure in 1902, when only eight
years of age, and at once turned his attention
to elephant hunting
am told that in the last eight years Bell has
spent 100000 in seeking ivory and has made
5000 O0O SO that he has cleared one hundred per
cent.
John Boyes, alias king of the Kikuyu' was,
unfortunately. poaching in the Congo I should
have liked to renew my acquaintance with him.
for he is remarkable character Boyes at
time an able-bodied seaman on a merchant
vessel and wrecked, or deserted. know not
which, at Zanzibar. many years previous to
first meeting with him in 1904 He had spent all
his time catte-trading and ivory hunting in the
wilds, and for many years made the territory of
the Akikuyu tribe his headquarters He had be-
come blocd-brother to their king Kinaniui. and
then had made himself virtually their king