HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 



43 



dead in a thick bush, and a study of the locality 

 has satisfied me that* at least twenty or thirty of 

 these monsters were charging through the bush 

 when the Major brought down his victims. The 

 empty cartridge cases and the spoor of the hun- 

 ters shew that the distance between him and his 

 quarry was only six paces;, and the distance be- 

 tween the dead animals was about ten yards. 

 This is accounted for by the fact that one of the 

 elephants struggled on before being brought 

 down bv a second shot. There has been a good 

 deal of adverse criticism of the Major's methods 

 in a certain section of the press,, but these have 

 their origin either from ignorance or jealousy. I 

 have had the opportunity of closely studying 

 Major Pretorius' work, and I can only say that if 

 there is a man in Africa more capable than he 

 of undertaking the task of dealing with the Addo 

 elephant menace I would a ery much like to meet 

 him. 



My trip was the result of a long standing in- 

 vitation from Major and Mrs. Pretorius to visit 

 their home in the Addo Bush, and our party of 

 four, including two ladies, left Uitenhage on the 

 afternoon of Wednesday, 20th August, for Addo. 

 On reaching the latter place we were met by the 

 Major's waggonette and team of four horses, 

 but as the hour was late and the road reported 

 to be bad, it was decided to remain over night 

 at Mr. Harvey's hotel, and proceed to the camp 

 in the morning. Our experiences next morning 

 amply bore out the bad character given to the 

 road.' As a matter of fact, only a man with a 

 vivid imagination could mistake it for a road. A 

 portion of it could very well pass for an irrigation 

 canal, another part of it is an excellent imitat'on 

 of the trench system in Flanders, but in no place 

 does it even remotely resemble a road. The only 

 conveyance which could comfortably negotiate it, 

 is an- aeroplane, provided it flew high enough to 

 avoid the bumps. In spite of these drawbacks, 

 however, we covered the ten miles which separate 

 the camp from Addo after two hours strenuous 

 labour. On arrival we were most hospitably re- 

 ceived by Major and Mrs. Pretorius. The camp 

 is a verv commodious and comfortable one and 

 consists of a large officers' mess tent which is 

 nicely furnished as a lining and sitting room, 

 while large size bell-tents are made use of as 

 sleeping quarters, and are furnished with com- 

 fortable camp beds. A galvanized iron kitchen 

 stands near the mess tent which is supplied with 

 a cooking stove. 



The equipment and appointments of the 

 camp are complete and up-to-date, and visitors 

 are made most comfortable. A wire-netting en- 

 closure some little distance away contains the 

 skeletons and hides of the elephants already shot. 

 These are in course of preparation for different 

 museums. 



The Major's pack of dogs are a splendid lot 

 and consist of three members of the wolf hound, 

 airdale and Irish terrier breeds. They are used 

 to harass the elephants when they are encoun- 

 tered in the bush. This has the effect of keeping 

 the latter from breaking away, and has on several 

 occasions enabled the Major to increase his bag. 



A resident of the camp who deserves a short 

 notice is "Lambie," a pet sheep, with a most: 

 ub'quitous appetite. It is the self-appointed camp 

 scavenger and greedily consumes all odd scraps, 

 of paper found lying about. Its favourite food is. 

 tobacco, and cigarettes, and it will eat as. many 

 of the latter as it can lay its teeth on. A visitor 

 to the camp while changing his clothes laid a five 

 pound note and his tobacco pouch on the bed in 

 his tent. While he was shaving, "Lambie," who 

 has a knack of entering silently, came along and 

 at once appropriated the fiver. He was indus- 

 triously chewing the pouch when its owner hap- 

 pened 'to look round, and was just in time to see 

 the last remnant of his property disappear. 

 "Lambie" and the dogs are great friends, and 

 are frequently to be seen playing together in the 

 early morning after the fashion of pupp'es. 



A representative from the Veterinary Re- 

 search Department, Pretoria, is staying at the 

 camp. He is an inveterate punster but otherwise 

 quite harmless. His job is to hunt for new species 

 of lice and other parasites which infest the fauna 

 of th : s country. The first morning we were 



there a Kaffir brought in a wild cat which had 

 been caught in a jackal trap, the Bug Hunter, as 

 we nick-named the Research Officer, spent the 

 morning picking minute specimens from the fur 

 of the deceased cat with a pair of forceps and 

 placing them in small phials containing spirts. 

 These are forwarded to the Pietoria Laboratory 

 for classification. 



On Friday news reached Major Pretorius 

 that the elephants had removed to Kinkel Bush, 

 some 18 miles away, and it was decided to follow 

 them up. Arrangements were consequently made 

 to trek the following day. 



Saturday morning was occupied in loading 

 up an ox wagon with tents, camp equipment, pro- 

 visions, etc., for our trek to Kinkel Bosch. This 

 included camp tables, stoves and beds which fold 

 into the smallest possible compass, and are easily 

 packed for transport. The beds are wonderfully 

 complete, and have a canopy of strong canvas 

 over them with an opening at each side to admit 

 the occupant. These beds do away with the ne- 

 cess'ty of tents, even in wet weather, and al- 

 though a tent was available s preferred sleeping 

 in the open air, and can safely say I have never 

 slept more soundly or more comfortably in my 

 life. During the morning the Major and the Bug 

 Hunter set a number of jackal traps in the bush, 



