The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-09-27

along fairly we'll. The announcement
that lunch was ready brought this
interesting morning to an end.
CHAPTER XVI
Off to the Elephant Country
The rain did not cease all day, and
Roosevelt decided not to go shooting
that afternoon.
There were only few more speci-
mems that were wanted here, mostly
birds, and they could wait until it
was fine weather. So we sat round
the luncheon table in the hotel din
ing room and exchanged stories
about hunting and other things con-
nected with the country.
Next day was fine and the sun was
shining, and it did not rain during
the remainder of our Brief stay at
Naivasha. Every morning, after that
first wet day, Colonel Roosevelt and
Kermit rode off on shooting trip
One day Roosevelt brought back
with him great prize, which greatly
delighted the heart of Mearns. He
had had the great good fortune to
discover and kill fine specimen of
the rarest of all African birds, the
Jabiru. Its scientific name is Ethio-
phiorhyncus Senegalensis. That is
what Mearn said it was-and his
identification is beyond all question.
On another occasion, Mearns, Lor-
ing, Kermit and myself took Colonel
Roosevelt out to try his luck by
moonlight with the willy spring haas
and the African fox. At first he was
somewhat nonplussed by the unac-
customed nature of the sport, but he
was soon hard at work and was most
successful. He achieved better re-
suits, before the evenings sport end.
ed, than anyone else had accom-
plished. He told me that he was
highly amused by the novel expert
ence.
At last, the day of departure for
the elephant country dawned. The
huge caravan started off, with much
trumpeting of native horns and much
singing 1t gave me the impression
of huge, winding snake as it crept
away in single file over the brown
veldt toward Nyeri.
Colonel Roosevelt, Kermit, Heller,
Cunninghame and Tarlton rode off
on the trail of the porters after they
had lunched at the Rift Valley Hotel.
Their first camp was to be spot
some few miles away from the Moro
River.
Colonel Roosevelt killed his first
bull elephant near kenya. l knew
how keen he had been to get com
plete group of these elephants for
the museum, and how anxious he
had been to kill them in a cooler
climate so that Heller could have a
better chance of saving the COM
plete skins and in good condition.
Although elephants are much big
ger and have larger tusks in Uganda,
yet the difficulties of preserving the
skins in that country are enormous,
owing to the terrific heat. Colonel
Roosevelt, therefore, had been most
anxious to secure his group in the
less torrid climate of East Africa
To skin an elephant takes, at the
no matter how proficient the skin
ners may be; and from this it may
readily be understood that Heller
and Cunninghame had no light task
to perform.
While Cunninghame was helping
Heller to save this first elephant
skin, Colonel Roosevelt went off to-
MV,nr co
and Leslie Tarlton hunted toward the
northern Guaso Nyiro country. As
usual, they were phenomenally sue
cessful. Colonel Roosevelt killed his
second bull elephant near Mweru
and Kermit killed five more lions
and three more buffalo in the north
ern Guaso Nyiro.
After this great fortune they re-
turned to the government Bona al