New Britain herald., 1914-07-03
the National

in a comm |. |.IIl'&5 t}le Nstionai
 Geographic society at Washington. D.
 C., tells of an elephant first laid bri-
 gade," made up of the female ele-
 phants of a herd, which not only at
 tempted to give succor to their
 wounded sultan" but went on 'pa-
 trol duty in an effort to punish his
 assailant.
 While hunting elephants in Uganda
 MT. Akeley came upon a herd in
 clearing, rounded up in. close forma-
 tion, conscious of the presence of an
 unseen enemy There were about
 twenty-five elephants, mostly cows,
 and just. as was on the point or
 backing off to a safer distance, think
 ing there were no big bulls in the lot,
 fine pair of tusks appeared on the
 near side,'' he says. "A clump or
 bushes offered cover for a near ap-
 proach, and I went in quickly to with in twenty yards of him, and as his front leg was thrust forward offer ing a good opportunity for heart shot I fired both barrels of the dou- ble rife in quick succession. All was commotion as l seized my second rifle, and seeing there was no direct charge. retreated some fifty wards toi the top of an ant hill, from which I could see what was going on. I then witnessed a scene such as had heard described and which I had been keen to verify. A number of cows were clustered about the bull, | for he had fallen thirty yards from | where he was shot, and with their | tusks and trunks were doing their l best to get him upon his feet; the re- | mainder of the COWS were doing pa | trol duty, rushing about in an in creasing circle, searching for the l source of the trouble. That meant me, so I retired to safe distance ana l waited for the atmosphere to clear. This bull stood eleven feet four inches 1 high at the shoulders, and the tusks l weighed ninety-five and 1l0 pounds | respectively, while the circumference l of the front foot at the sole was sixty
 seven inches, the largest recorded believe.
 | Tt is generally understood that i large bull elephants are more fre- uuently to be found apart from the herds, but our experience does not bear this out. Three bulls that We
 have shot, having tusks each weigh |
 bulls. We have found the large old
 bulls enjoying the society and protec-
 ton of large herds of COWS and young
 animals. One splendid old bull we'll known in Uganda who has been seen i by many hunters. is so well protected | by a large herd of most aggressive l COWS. who charge at the slightest in> 1 timation of danger, that he still sur 1 wives These old bulls are very rare, l for when one has developed tusks or ] fifty pounds he becomes the target for l every hunter, native or white. who | sets eyes on him; thus it is only the more crafty or timid individuals that | seeking the protection of large herds | or clinging to the more inaccessible
 regions, such as dense forests. man. l age to survive to a ripe old age and l develop full growth of ivory.
 | "At another time I was watching herd from an ant hill when from the l cows there was low, ominous rum
 ble like distant thunder, which was
 plain talk and meant trouble. A | basty glance around convinced us that | there was but one thing to do, to stand and meet the charge from the | elevation where we were and from l which we could see. If we tried to | escape to one side or to the forest we could not see them over the high | grass before they were upon us They charged toward us came halfway and | stopped They had lost the wind, but | immediately caught it again, ana,
 roaring and screaming with redoubled | energy. came into view over d slight 1 rise. It was a disconcerting spectacle