442 THKOUGH AFRICA FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO. 



white men, we had the privilege of paying a £25 license, which enabled 

 us to shoot two elephants; but our sport Avas spoilt by bands of Waganda, 

 who had crossed the frontier and were shooting indiscriminately any- 

 thing with a trunk, regardles of sex or age. Needless to say they paid 

 nothing. Nothing could be more acceptable than game laws and game 

 preserves intended to restrict the indiscriminate shooting of l)ig game; 

 but ))efore the Government is capable of enforcing them or even of 

 knowijig when they are ignored, 1 think they are premature. Here, 

 to my great regret. Sharp \\as forced to return home, and I had to 

 continue my journc}' alone, riiirty of our Manjema volunteered to go 

 on with me as far as Wadelai, and with this reduced caravan I marched 

 by the little \-oU-anic lakes Vijongo and around tlie northern spur of 

 Ruwenzori to the Semliki Valley, which I crossed, climbing up again 

 on to the Kongo ))lateau. ]Ier«>. on the west side of Mboga, I stayed 

 for three weeks hunting elephant, my best tusks being \)H pounds and 

 S6 pounds; these, curiousl}' enough, were obtained the same day from 

 two siiigkvtusked ele])hants, one ))eing a right tusk and the other a left, 

 and each measured T feet 1<> inches. 



In this country the j)revailing type of elephant differed considerabl}' 

 from the 'I'oro and Nile type. Full-grown bulls carrying 70, SO, and 

 90 pounds tusks stood no higher than H feet at the shoulder; whereas 

 two of the other type I measured were a fidl 11 feet 6 inches, and 

 several over 11 feet. The ivory was also ((uite different — the Mboga 

 tusks being long, thin, and almost straight, ver}' white, and free from 

 cracks; as opposed to the curly, dull white tusks, covered with small 

 cracks, of the heavier beast. The tusks of the INlboga elephant are 

 set in the skull at a different angle and hang straight down, giving the 

 beast the appearance of having three trunks; while the tusks of the 

 more general type curl out in front almost at right angles. 



The Balegga who inhabit the hills of the north, and Avho were suffer- 

 ing terribly from the effects of the long drought, looked upon me as a 

 great institution, and swarmed down in hundreds for the meat. A 

 weird sight it was. Stark naked savages, with long, greased plaits of 

 hair hanging down to their shoulders, were perched on every available 

 inch of the carcass, hacking away with knives and spears, yelling, 

 whooping, wrestling, cursing, and munching, covered with blood and 

 entrails; the newcomers tearing off' lumps of meat and swallowing 

 them raw, the earlier arrivals defending great lumps of offal and other 

 delicacies, while others were crawling in and out of the intestines like 

 so many prairie marmots. Old men, young men, prehistoric hags, 

 babies, one and all gorging or gorged, smearing themselves with blood, 

 laughing, and fighting. Pools of blood, strips of hide, vast bones, 

 blocks of meat, individuals who had not dined wisely but too well, lay 

 around in bewildering confusion, and in two short hours all was fin- 

 ished. Nothing remained but the great gaunt ribs like the skeleton of 

 a shipwreck, and a few disconsolate-looking vultures perched thereon. 



