22 AFRICAN ELEPHANT 



continually south and east by hunting parties from Berbera, and south- 

 west by others from Zeyla, they have, however, retired from all the 

 above-named districts, except, maybe, a few herds still lingering in 

 the Gadabursi country, now reserved for the Aden garrison. There 

 is thus practically no elephant-shooting north of the waterless plateau 

 of the Haud or in the Haud itself, while in the south-eastern Haud 

 and the coast-country east of Berbera there never were elephants. 



" In the rugged gorges descending from the Abyssinian highlands 

 to Ogaden, as well as near the headwaters of the Webbe Shebeley and 

 Juba rivers, elephants are, however, still numerous, although they are 

 in the Abyssinian sphere of influence. A few herds, it is believed, 

 also wander down the river-valleys to the Marehan district, far to the 

 south-east of Berbera, reached by crossing the broadest part of the 

 Haud. 



" The Somali elephant is a mountain-dweller, and although bulls 

 attain a height of about 10 feet 6 inches at the shoulder, the tusks 

 are small compared with those from East Africa. From 35 to 70 Ib. 

 a pair, and a length of from 4 to 5 feet for each tusk, are about the 

 average weight and measurement, though much larger tusks are 

 occasionally obtained. 



" Elephants may be killed by watching at pools on moonlight 

 nights in the dry ' jilal ' season, when water is scarce, pools are few and 

 far between, and the game visit the same pool night after night. 

 More generally they are hunted in the daytime either on horseback 

 or on foot. Drinking-places frequented by elephants are visited in the 

 early mornings, and if fresh tracks are found, showing that the game 

 has been there the night before, they are followed to the forests, where 

 the elephants themselves will be found feeding or standing in the heat 

 of the day. The European sportsman, unless mounted on a clever 

 pony, will, however, find that the large ' guda ' thorn-trees with an 

 undergrowth of pointed aloes are a serious difficulty, when attention 

 has to be given to the sport. The most successful mode of hunting 

 elephants in Somaliland is, however, for the sportsman and his gun- 

 bearers, on foot, to co-operate with about a dozen horsemen from the 

 nearest mounted tribe. 



" Assuming the right season to have been chosen (any months will 

 do except the dry ' jilal ' season), a camp should be established at a 

 spot nearly equidistant from two or three forests where elephants are 

 known to occur. The twelve horsemen may be sent out in parties of 

 four in three directions to search watering-places for fresh elephant- 

 tracks ; when these are found two of the party follow them, while the 



