CHAPTER XII. 



REMARKS ON THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ITS TUSKS. 



THE elephant of Africa is still more plentiful than many people imagine, for they 

 still haunt large tracts of country in the wilder parts of Northern Rhodesia, 

 Nyasaland, and Portuguese East Africa. 



Most of the larger bulls are getting shot out, but there are still great numbers of 

 young bulls, cows, and calves ; and, under the present game restrictions, it will be 

 many years indeed before the elephant ceases to exist in this part of Africa. 



Nowadays the old bull elephant is not such a fool as many people suppose, for 

 he has learned, through constant persecution, to take care of himself. 



Before elephants were hunted as much as they are at the present day, they were 

 easy beasts to get up to, but within the last few years they have been harried to such 

 an extent that they now trek farther before settling down to rest. In their natural 

 lives they fear no enemy but man, and the smell of one of those bipeds is enough to 

 cause an elephant to go fifty miles without stopping. 



Elephant hunting is the hardest sport that exists. I mean, of course, elephant 

 shooting on foot, for it is only on foot that elephants can be followed in this country. 



The hunter lives poorly, as probably he will have run out of most of his luxuries, 

 such as flour, tea, sugar, and salt. (These are termed the plainest necessities at 

 home.) With constant hard work and discomforts he will probably be feeling 

 feverish or overworked. Under these conditions, to follow an elephant for mile after 

 mile under the scorching rays of an October sun, through the roughest of country, 

 may, I think, be called the most arduous of sports. 



Then, when the animal is within range, one has to shoot with great accuracy ; 

 and, perhaps, if the animal is only wounded, have an exhausting run after 

 him. Until a man has experienced elephant hunting in tropical Africa, I do not 

 consider he knows what hard sport means. Perhaps markhor, ibex, or Rocky 

 Mountain sheep shooting may be as hard, as far as physical exercise is concerned, 

 but these sports are experienced in a cold climate with a plentiful water supply, and 

 the game is not dangerous. 



The elephant hunter's principal suffering will be the want of good cold water, for 

 any he can carry soon gets tepid and almost undrinkable, to anyone except a man 



