1 86 In the Heart of Africa 



constantly set at nought. Yet these reserves are of use, for the 

 natives know that they will be heavily punished in cases of 

 infringement of the laws should they be detected. Those 

 elephants which make serious havoc in the banana fields may be 

 killed by special permission. European hunters are not allowed 

 to enter the Congo territory without producing their licences from 

 Brussels, and even then special sanction is needed for the killing 

 of an elephant. A departure from this rule was made in favour 

 of myself and the members of the expedition in a very obliging 

 manner, so that we were enabled to devote a few exceedingly 

 pleasant days to hunting the most mighty beast existing. 



From among the many exciting incidents and interesting 

 episodes which occurred, I take the following : 



At daybreak on the i8th of December Veriter and I proceeded 

 to the farther bank of the Semliki in order to enlist as guide the 

 youthful chief of a settlement which lay in a deep gorge. We 

 were going after a herd of elephants that day, expecting to find 

 them five hours' journey farther northwards, where they haunted 

 the banana plantations of a hamlet lying close to the river. The 

 animals were so daring, that they not only destroyed the banana 

 trees in the front of the village, but even attacked the huts. A 

 man told us that he had had to fly from his dwelling whilst an 

 elephant was tearing off the thatched roof. When we arrived the 

 animals had left the immediate neighbourhood of the village, 

 but our guide soon brought us in sight of the herd. We 

 observed seven animals, one of whom, to all appear- 

 ances a very powerful bull, detached himself from the 

 rest and made rapidly for the protecting forest. Pursuit was 

 useless, so we let him go. We then turned to the six others, 

 whose massive, colossal bodies stood out in marked relief against 

 a broad grass patch, which had been burnt away the day before 

 and was now coal-black. As the scene made a splendid picture 

 for the camera, I stalked up with that only in my hand, my boy 

 with my gun close behind, to a bush near the elephants, when the 

 pachyderms caught our scent, trod uneasily to and fro, and then 

 lumbered off amidst a cloud of dust towards the Semliki. Two 



