Evening star., 1923-10-14

that two can play the hunting
game, and find yourself pretty
actively hunted by the elephants.
This. Notwithstanding that in the
open. according to my experience,
they would rather leave than pro-
woke fight.
II the elephants after you are max
ing a noise 1t gives you good chance.
When they silently wait for you the
game is much more dangerous.
One old bull, who Is now in the
center of the elephant group in the
Museum of Natural History, tried to
get me by this silent method. / was
out on trail and / saw that big
bunch of animals was near. / wasn't
following any particular trail, for
they had moved about so that signs
were everywhere and much confused.
Finally came to gully. 1t wasn't
very broad or very deep, but the trail
was on turned up ii to where
crossing could be made on the level.
The forest here was high and very
thick, and consequently 1t was quite
dark
AS I looked up the trail saw
group Of big shapes through the
branches / thought they were ele-
plants and peered carefully at them,
but they turned out to be howlders.
A minute later I saw across the gully
another similar group of boulders. but
as ! peered at them / saw through
little opening in the leaves, plain and
unmistakable, an elephants tusk. l
watched it carefully. It moved lit
tie. and behind 1t / caught a glimpse
Of the other tusk. They were big, and
I decided that he would do for my
group.
I couldn't get a glimpse of his eye
or anything else to sight by. so 1
carefully calculated where his brain
ought to be from the place where his
tusk entered his head. and fired. Then
there was the riot of an elephant herd
suddenly starting. A few seconds
later there was crash. Hes down."
thought, and Bill. the gun boy, and
ran over to the place where the ami
mails had been. We followed their
tracks a little way and found where
one of the elephants had been down,
but he had recovered and gone on.
However he had evidently made of
by himself when he got up. for, while
the others had moved down an old
trail, he had gone straight through
the jungle. breaking new way as he
went With Bill In the lead, we
pushed along behind him. 1t was a
curious trail. for it went straight
ahead without deviation as IL it had
Nm
by and then another We had settled
down for a long tramp. The going
wasn't very good and the forest was
so thick that we could not see In any
direction. We were pushing along in
this fashion when, with a crash and
a suueal, an elephant burst across our
path within fifteen feet of us.
x X 4 j:
UT was absolutely without warning
L and had the charge been straight
on US we could hardly have escaped.
AS il was, 1 fired two hurried shots as
he disappeared in the growth on the
opposite side of the trail. The old
devil got tired of being hunted and
had doubled back on his own trail to
wait for u.s. He had been absolutely
silent we hadn't heard a thing. ana
his plan failed, think, only because
the growth was so thick that he
charged on scent or sound without
being able to see us.
heard him go through the forest a
ways and then stop. I followed until
found a place a little more open
than the rest, and with this between
me and the trees he was in, l waited.
] could hear him grumbling in there
from time to time. 1 didn't expect
him to last much longer SO I got my
lunch and ate It while listened and
watched.
had Just finished and had puff or
two on my pipe when he let out an
other squeal and charged. He evil
IDENTIFY had moved around until he had
gotten wind of me. 1 didn't see him,
put heard him, and, grabbing the
gun, I stood ready. But he didn't
come. Instead l heard the breaking
of the bushes as he collapsed. His
last effort had been too much for him.
A country that elephants have long
inhabited takes on some of the par
ticular interest of the animals them
selves. believe that before the white
man came to East Africa the ele-
phant was nearly as much a plains
animal as a forest animal. but he now
tends to stay in the forests, where
the risk Is not so great. On the
plains there are no elephant paths
now, IL there ever were, for in open
country elephants do not go in single
file.
But in the forests there are ele-
phant paths everywhere. In fact, IL
1t were not for the elephant paths,
travel in the forest would be almost
impossible, and above the forests, In
the bamboo country, that Is equally
true. One travels practically all the
time on their trails and they go
everywhere except In the tree ferns.
Tree fern patches are not very ex-
tensive. but have never seen an e1e-
phant track or an elephant In them.
The elephants are constantly chang
ing the paths for various reasons;
among them because the natives are
sn the habit OF digging elephant pits
in the trails. But there are some
trails that have evidently been used
for centuries.
One time we had pursued a band OF
elephants on the Aberdare plateau,
and had deviied them until they be-
gan to travel away. We followed un-
ell the trail LED through a pass In
me mountains, and we realized that
they were going into a different re-
gion altogether. That trail in the
pass was little wider than an ele-
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