The Elephant 31 



forests, where they will be found feeding or standing about in the heat of 

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

 will find that the forests they frequent, composed of large " guda " thorn- 

 trees with an undergrowth of pointed aloes, are difficult to negotiate when 

 the attention has also to be given to the sport in hand. 



By far the most successful mode of hunting elephants in Somaliland is 

 for the sportsman and his gun-bearers, themselves on foot, to co-operate with 

 about a dozen horsemen drawn from the nearest mounted tribe, and this 

 method will now be described in detail. 



Assuming that the right season has been chosen — any months will 

 do except the dry "jilal " season — the headquarters camp is established 

 at a spot as far as possible equidistant from two or three forests which 

 elephants are known to frequent. A good headquarters is a tract which 

 affords opportunities of looking for koodoo, lesser koodoo, or oryx while 

 waiting for news of elephants from the more distant jungles. 



The twelve horsemen may be sent out, say, in parties of four in three 

 different directions, to look at watering-places for fresh elephant tracks 

 of the night previous ; when they are found, two horsemen take them up, 

 while the other two gallop back to the headquarters camp with the news. 

 Everything is of course ready for sleeping out for a night or two, and, 

 mounted either on trotting camel or pony, with the two horsemen as 

 guides and his gun-bearers and trackers, also, if possible, mounted, the 

 sportsman will have started from camp half an hour after hearing the 

 news ; the camp being struck at the same time, to follow on more slowly. 



By fast travelling, the watering-place where the tracks were found 

 will be reached in two or three hours, and if followed up quickly — for 

 great caution in this case will not be necessary, — the jungle where the 

 herd is feeding will be gained and the two horsemen who are watching 

 the herd sighted early in the afternoon. 



The news is then exchanged, the camels or ponies are sent to the 



