Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1920-09-09
HUNTING FROM
AN AUTOMOBILE.
Thrilling Description of Unique
Sport in the Moroccan
Desert.
FOUR GAzELLES ARE BAGGED
Fast Driving Over Stony Plain to Get
Within Range-Great Skill on the
Part of chauffeurs Necessary
to Handle Cars.

l.ondon.-The Morocco correspond
scription of hunting gazelles by auto
mobile. He writes:
There are four Of us. Hadii THANH
CLAWS, the Basha of Marrakesh; Kaid
Hammou of the Atlas, Sid Ayadi, Kaid
Of Rahamna, and your correspon-
dent.
1t is time to start. There is a, car for
each of us four sportsmen, and at the
invitation Of my hosts / take my seat
beside the chauffeur, with two beauti-
fully dressed black slaves in the back
seat in attendance. The kaids enter
their cars and we set out.
The cultivated lands are quickly left
behind and the great plain of Raham-
ma lies stretching away before us with
the snow peaks of the Atlas bounding
its southern horizon.
Kaid Ayadi gives the signal and the
four cars spread out-a few hundred
yards apart-and proceed ut Il slower
pace, about fifteen miles an hour. The
ground is stone-strewn and rough, and
careful steering is necessary. There are
boulders of every shape and size loose
ly strewn over the plain, and little
channels worn by water insignificant
enough in themselves but highly dam
aging to motorcars If not skillfuly
Unanswered. Our chauffeurs, three
Frenchmen and an Algerian, are skill
full drivers and accustomed to this
snort of the "Great Kaids"
Sighting the Game.
Suddenly one of the slaves in my
car cries out and away ahead of me
see a herd Of gazelle bounding over
the plain. My car is on the extreme
left of the line and our object is to
head off the herd from the more stony
ground and turn them to the right,
where the plain is more level. Edging
away always to the left our car quick
ems its pace, rolling from side to side
and humping. Selling every opportu-
nifty of a few yards Of good ground, we
squirt forward, only to have to slow
down again to manipulate some awk-
ward spot The gazele are out of
range, for II Is only with q shotgun
loaded with solid bullet or buckshot
that they can be got To shoot with a
rifle out of a car going at from forty to
fifty miles an hour over rough ground
Is too much to ask or expect. There
are less stones now and we are making
hcadway.
The three cars on my right keep a
little in the rear, in order TO facilitate
my turning movement. but they too are
making good pace. AT times. for a few
minutes, we are travelling at over forty
miles an hour, and once or twice the
gaZele are almost within range; then
some little watercourse or some extra
stony patch gives them their chance
md they Increase the distance again.
At length our course seems clear and
the car bounds forward. The pace Is
splendid but rather terrifying. Half
standing, half kneeling Oh the seat, ]
wait to get my chance of shot, then
suddenly the car swerves in a way that
nearly throws me out-and stops. A
yard or two ahead is a dry water
course meter wide perhaps, and half
meter deep and full Of boulders. an
impossible barrier-or rather barrier
the passing of which neceSsitateS a
search for a practical passage. and al
lows the escape of the gazele. whose
course toward the stony ground is
now easy. A few minutes later we see
them appear on the outline of low
hill. bounding over the rocks.
1t was not long before fresh herds
were put up. but always breaking
away to the left they succeeded In
reaching the low stony slopes that
form the northern boundary of the
Rahamna plain. At signal from
Kaih Ayadi we turn southwark to seek
more advantageous ground. and emerg-
ing from the stones our cars roll
across the level plain at pace of 80
miles an hour. Game, however, Is
scarcer here-though a great bus:ard
falls to my gun, brought down by
Charge of buckshot. At length. how
ever, herd of dozen gazelle Is
sped in the open, and at an increased
speed the cars rush forward. The
speedometer of my car marks 40 miles
an hour, but we are not gaining on the
gazclle, Who appear easily to keep
their distance of four or FIVE hundred
yards ahead of us. At another sig
nal VIC increase the pace to so miles
nm hour. The plain is level. but there
Or" stones and little fluctuations and
mary small watercourses, merely little
dcclivities in the surface, but none the
less exciting to pass over, and the
exhilaration is intense.
Four Killed, One Taken Alive.
1t is wonderful driving on the part
: of the chauffeurs. and the cars sway
from side to side, and rise and fall.
like boats in a rough sea. We are
closing upon the herd now. and 1t
looks as though 1t will he my car that
will he the first to come up with them.
but suddenly they turn aside to the
right. and pass down the line of ad-
vanclng cars.
The Basha of Marrakesh's 1.-THE fig
ure Is clearly visible as he stands In
his swaying car. The gazelle pass
him, and with right and left he brings