218 LARGE GAME. chap. iv. 



panied by one of these brutes. I am sure that if the 

 statistics of the accidents that occur in elephant-hunting 

 could be learned, the greater proportion of them would be 

 found to be caused by these females. 



I have said nothing about shooting elephants from 

 horseback, partly because I have a prejudice against it, 

 partly because I have never seen it done. There is, how- 

 ever, no doubt that in many districts more may be killed 

 in that way than in any other, though it labours under 

 the very serious disadvantage of almost certain death to 

 the horses employed, as well from the " sickness " which 

 is so fatal in some parts, as the tsetse fly found in others. 



It may be interesting to give some account of this 

 disease, commonly known in South Africa as the "horse 

 sickness," and which bears a curious affinity to the "tsetse " 

 in that, though existing separately, they are always worst 

 when found together. It is next to impossible to say 

 what it is caused by, for while there are theories innumer- 

 able, two people can hardly be found to agree on the 

 matter. As regards locality, it is most common on the 

 coast lands, or on such in the interior as bear a similar 

 character. As with tsetse, though found on the plains or 

 hills bordering a low-lying country, it is most virulent in 

 the thorn districts, and it also presents a similar resem- 

 blance in that though almost dormant during winter, in 

 many places being quite so, it is bad during the whole of 

 summer and worst in autumn. Certain conditions have 

 been discovered by experience to be nearly certain to 

 produce it, among which exposure to the night air during 

 that time of the year has been found most fatal. At the 

 same time, the animal is in comparative safety so long as 



