2l8 THE GAME OP BRITISH EAST AERICA. 



On the other hand, we have the much abused elephant-hunter, who hunts to 

 shoot a fair number of good bulls. I will try to give a description of what he 

 generally has to undergo before bagging a single animal. 



First, there is the long march to the hunting ground, generally performed on 

 foot. This may be anything from a few days to a few weeks, during which time he 

 f^ will daily be pushing through thick grass that reaches high above his head and quite 

 jj'"^ conceals his path and prohibits all view. Every morning he will get wet to the 

 skin with the dew that falls from the overhead grass as he pushes it aside, and his 

 boots will get sodden and cut to pieces by the edges of the same grass. Later in 

 the day the sun will beat down so fiercely that the exertion of pushing through 

 the grass will be redoubled. Underfoot will be stones, stumps, and holes, forming 

 regular traps for unwary feet, and hard to avoid, as they will be invisible by 

 reason of the all-pervading grass. As soon as his boots become hard and 

 cracked with the heat, as likely as not he' will find that his path leads him through 

 a swamp of evil-smelling black mud, or across a swollen river, and so he must renew 

 the discomforts of w£t feet and clothing. 



On arrival at his hunting-ground he will realise of what inestimable value, after 

 all, was the much-abused track he has been following. For then he will have to 

 push through the thick vegetation in earnest ; through grass entwined with creepers, 

 convolvulus, and buffalo beans, and brambles, together with occasional thorn-bushes, 

 often hidden from view, and all manner of scratching, tearing, and stinging things 

 that impede his progress. 



He then settles down to search for fresh spoor, and the time he takes to find it 

 will be proportionate to his luck, skill, and the distance he covers. At last, having 

 found some, he will then have to decide if it is worth the following up or not, and 

 when once his mind is made up that the track is fresh enough to afford a reasonable 

 chance of his overtaking the quarry he must be prepared to spend a night away from 

 camp if necessary. 



Sometimes only a few hours may elapse before he overtakes the animal, at other 

 times he may find himself at nightfall, hungry, tired, disappointed, and many miles 

 from camp. 



Hunting in tropical Africa is very different to hunting in the northern and 

 southern ends of the continent, which are more healthy. So in unhealthy climates 

 the hunter must do his utmost to regain his camp during the night, as sleeping in 

 the bush and possibly getting wet-through is conducive to all manner of ills, 

 which will quickly put an end to his prospective hunting, or at any rate will seriously 

 delay it. 



