Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-29
Party of Hunters Africa Is Chased by Herd of Wild Ell

and a conference while the eggs and
bacon were cooking.
After we had eaten. some of the
boys reported that the elephants
were in saka about two hundred
yards away. Guns were taken from
their cases and carefully cleaned and
examined. Fresh ammunition was
distributed In loops and vests.
The gun-bearerS were called UP "a
I see that thev had the right cartridges
for the rifles they were to carry. Tho
dogs were put on their leashes. Each
dog boy" had four dogs. two on a
1leash and one leash to each hand.
| Everything was ready.
We started in a line. following Jim,
| the tracker. Behind him was Harry.
| then his gun-bearer. Then l with my
gun bearer, and behind me Mackie
and his gun-bearer. Then came a
| long line of natives with dogs, water
bags. rawhide ropes and nOoses.
Every one in the .safari was in on the
hunt. including even my cook and
| Harry's table boy"
| Almost Immediately we entered tho
deep gloom of the thick saka. Not a
sound as we moved slowly forward,
now crawling under a branch. then
stepping carefully over some fallen
| tree or trailing vine. Every few Yards
we stopped and listened to see If we
could not catch some sound which
would betray the whereabouts of the
silent elephants. We must have gons
two hundred yards in this way.
Suddenly a stick snapped. Every
one stiffened and stared with one
accord straight ahead. After a fun
minute of tense waiting no more
sounds were heard, and we moved
again.
Surely the elephants must he very
they We're almost watching me as |
squirmed and twisted along under IN"
thOrns We had gone about fifteen
yards beyond the ant hill n terrific
scream burst forth. 1t shattered the
saka on our left.
saw Harry disappearing i'm the
distance ahead of me. The "hnys''
had vanished. l whipped around AMI
fed for the ant hill. Just as l turned.
an elephant burst out of the sakA
about ten yards from me and came
charging down. It's ears were spread
cut, it's trunk dangled wickedly, and
It's eyes were rolling redly with rage.
A pack of dogs were swapping and
barking around its legs. Their nois,
mingled with the SCATTERING scream
of rage. i do not think any one ever
covered twenty yards as fast as
made the distance to that ant hill.
| INFORMS ana vines were Inltk. buC !
made the distance in several seconds
less than nothing at all. Arrived
there, l realized that Mackie was
with me. How he got there I didn't
know. | had been too busy to watch
him.
ID OCND and round us tore that i'll
furiated elephant. Screams and
roars. yelps. barks. and the crash Of
trees mingled with the sounds of
distant shooting. We. on top. whirled
with the elephant. keeping him COW
cred and at the same time trying In
dodge falling trees and keep from
being seen. We were nearly on "A
| level with his eyes. as the ant hill was
a very low one. We didn't shoot. II
was the young nine-foOt bull. The
one we wanted was the enormous
! eleven-foot cow.
] More shots came from the end IF
the saka. Harry was having a 60 ~
| his own. Then we heard the dogs
barking and the baying moved off
| Harry and the dogs were chasing
something-probably the young ole
plant Abruptly our elephant dashed
off. We tore down the anthill. only
to meet it coming back. Back again
we flew. He was a COMPOUNDED NUS
ance. All. off again. This time we
| gu ava anu OlIJ VI TIE Sdkd.
| Once clear. we stopped and listened
No sounds of any kind Gathering
some natives and dogs. We started
| running In the direction we thought
| Harry had gone. over ridges and
| through thornS we went as fast as
| our painting chests would let us. II
was 100 in the shade this time Of day
At the spring near the saka from
which we had started we found Harry.
the dogs and the rest of our natives.
He reported that a six-foot elephant
which he had failed to hit was in the
bush nearby. We decided to try 10
catch 1t was noOses
We each selected a tree and climbed.
cheering on the dogs. Immediately
screams and trumpeting burst forth
as the dogs rushed the elephant. The
crash Of trees. banks and yelps and
the yelling of the natives rose and
swelled in volume as the elephant
fought and chased the dogs 1t seemed
to stay chiefly in one place. so we
white men decided to try to get closer
Harry" | called. II am going to
try and get into that big mabula tree
near the elephant
"All right. Dave: go ahead But
you'll have To run for it,"
1 slid down my tree and prepared Ia
make a dash. | had just gotten
started when that COMPOUNDED animal
elected to come out. But he didn't
see me. / was already back and up
into my original perch. Then Harry
made dash. He managed it, and we
saw him climb hurriedly out Of the
elephants reach.
The elephant then made a dash to
ward Harry's tree. We could see
Harry bracing himself and getting
} ready with his moose. But something
happened. lie stiffened and contracted
as If in pain. The branch on which
he had his foot had broken. lie only
kept himself from falling by gripping
the trunk with his knees and hands
For more than an hour the fight
and hubbub kept up. The elephant
would rush to one part of the saka
and come charging back. But it never
came under the trees where we were
waiting. No one dared risk il on the
ground. 1t was too big The dogs
began to tire and give out in the un
equal fight. They kept continuall,
returning To the spring to lie painting
in the wet mud.
Who would take a chance and era y
at that swinging tail? No one there
Eventually the elephant took himself
off. The last we saw of him he was
passing over a ridge. tail out ears
out and trunk hanging down nonchal-
antly. with three dogs. their tongues
hanging out. trotting hopelessly he
hind. The dogs came back. but We
never saw that elephant again.