Soldiering and Sport in Uganda 



He recounted to me several narrow shaves which 

 had recently taken place among the elephant-hunters 

 of his acquaintance. One man had fallen between 

 the fore legs of an elephant; the latter had dug the 

 ground several times with his tusks, missing the 

 man by the hair of his head, and then gone off. 

 Another hunter had been knocked over by an 

 infuriated beast, who then drove his tusk through 

 the man's thigh and hurled him into a bush. This 

 case was more unfortunate, as the victim did not 

 come round till some considerable time afterwards. 



Another man was hot on the track of an elephant, 

 when the latter rushed out from behind some bushes 

 quite close to him, and passing him, turned round 

 and faced the man within two yards and did not 

 see him. 



I afterwards verified all these three incidents. 

 They certainly prove that the excitement of hunting 

 elephants is mingled with no little danger. I believe 

 after an elephant has charged, he will never return 

 on his tracks, but circles round, and that the correct 

 thing to do is to fall off the line of the elephant and 

 to lie " doggo " in the grass, or whatever the cover 

 may be. If he sees you he merely picks you up in 

 his trunk and goes off without ever checking his 

 pace — an idea too awful to think about. After tea 

 I cycled out along the Hoima road to catch up my 

 " safari," which had gone on in the morning. Hoima 

 is about thirty-four miles from Masindi, but the 

 road is quite unique, being an unbroken series of 

 hills and valleys, so that when I talk of cycling 



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