ELEPHANT HUNTING ON MOUNT KENYA 
place the “big one’’ had lain down (an 
unusual act for an elephant) flat on his 
side, the imprint of his great body, head 
and tusks being clearly outlined on the 
soft earth, while the zone of flattened 
vegetation marked the reach of his 
proboscis. 
The game of blind man’s-buff contin- 
ued until we were well-nigh discouraged; 
for roaming about in this way, we were 
in constant peril of getting to the wind- 
ward of the animals who would then 
move away and leave us far behind — 
before we would discover what had 
happened. At last as we were working 
about in scattered formation, trying to 
solve the puzzle, one of the Kikuyu 
guides came scuttling back to us with 
distorted features and frenzied gesticu- 
lations. We promptly dropped to a 
kneeling position as a signal to the por- 
ters behind us, who noiselessly deposited 
their loads and themselves about the 
base of a tree. We crept carefully 
forward to the second Kikuyu, who had 
remained on guard and now stood with 
his eyes riveted to some object beyond 
a clump of dense high bush. As we 
approached him there dawned upon our 
vision, through the mist, the indistinct 
outline of the great rounded back of a 
“big un.” He was feeding, quite uncon- 
scious of approaching danger, as he 
moved leisurely along a few steps at a 
time, reaching this way and that with 
his trunk, breaking off choice bits of 
food. There was little time for con- 
templation of the picturesque however, 
for the wind was shifty and he was work- 
ing dangerously near to the concealed 
porters. He might at any moment 
crash away without giving us a view of 
his ivory, the size of which might be an 
important factor in the determination 
of his fate. 
With Bibi in the choice of positions, 
we crept carefully forward behind the 
329 
low-hanging branches of a vine-draped 
tree to within forty feet of where the 
giant stood. Breathlessly we waited 
until, as he moved slowly forward, there 
came into view a splendid pair of tusks 
followed by the massive head and great 
flapping ears of the best elephant we had 
seen. What a monster he looked as 
Bibi raised her rifle and with steady 
aim, placed a bullet in just the right 
place. As he collapsed two more like 
messages were despatched and a few 
minutes later, Bibi stood beside the 
prostrate form of her prize. He was a 
fine specimen, standing ten feet and ten 
inches high at the shoulders and carry- 
ing one hundred and eighty pounds of 
ivory. 
We promptly decided to preserve the 
skin for mounting. A series of photo- 
graphs, sketches and measurements nec- 
essary in mounting were then made. 
The guides were sent back to the main 
camp to bring up additional porters with 
a full camp equipment; and the opera- 
tion of removing a two-thousand-pound 
skin was begun. To preserve an ele- 
phant skin is no easy task, even under 
the most favorable conditions, and es- 
pecially is it difficult in a dense forest 
on a mountain side in the interior of 
Africa. The skin must be put in shape 
to be carried by native porters down 
through the mountain forests and 
jungles, many miles, on through the 
open hill-country to the plains, and then 
a hundred miles farther, to the railway. 
We began our task at twelve o’clock, 
noon, and we worked without stopping 
even for food until four o’clock, next 
morning. The skin was then off, in 
three parts, lying on the cool, damp 
ground, and the carcass was left to the 
scavengers — natives, leopards, hyenas 
and the smaller carnivorous animals. 
When we returned to our work next 
morning, it was apparent that the hungry 
