HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 



29 



ing tragedies are enacted in which the man figures 

 as the victim. These latter events have made the 

 Addo Bush notorious; so much so that few will 

 enter it, notwithstanding the teeming game with- 

 in its heart. Its quality is best gauged from the 

 remark of that greatest of hunters, the late Fred- 

 erick Courteney Selous, after he had spent a day 

 struggling through the fearful barriers it presents 

 to confound the hunter. "When I go hunting," 

 he said, "I like the odds to be on the side of the 

 hunter; not all on the side of the game." And he 

 went on to say that the man who went hunting 

 therein for pleasure was tired of life. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSH. , 

 To-day writes the Port Elizabeth correspon- 

 dent of the "Cape Times," it is estimated that 

 there are from 150 to 200 elephants located in the 

 Bush. The Bush itself is roughly about forty 

 miles long by twenty miles wide. It lies just to 

 the east of the Sundays River. In some parts 

 the thorn bush is fairly scattered, so that it is 

 easy to move about, but great areas of it are 

 composed of dense growth of mimosa and prickly 

 pear, inextricably bound together by strong creep- 

 ers. To force one's way through it the assist- 

 ance of an axe is needed. The bush grows from 8 

 to 15 feet in height, with the result that while 

 the man, laboriously forcing his way along, oi 

 threading tortuous pathways which end in a cul- 

 de-sac, can see nothing beyond the limit of the 

 bushes on either hand, the wily elephant, by 

 reason of his superior height, can keep easy 

 watch on his movements and bide his time for 

 a rush if he is in a bellicose mood. 



FATAL LAPSE OF MEMORY. 



It is not known how many natives have been 

 done to death by rogue elephants (vicious bulls 

 who have been forced by their brothers to leave 

 the herd and become outlaws), but in recent years 

 at least three Europeans have lost their lives at 

 their hands. In only one case was the man act- 

 ually hunting the elephants. This was the late 

 Mr. Attrill, whose farm encroached on the Bush 

 and who had suffered greatly through the depre- 

 dations of the huge animals. One day he ar- 

 ranged with two friends to form an expedition 

 and enter the Bush for the purpose of driving the 

 herd from that particular locality. Starting early, 

 they had downed a bull elephant by eight o'clock 

 in the morning. 



Later, Attrill followed a wounded cow and 

 was suddenly confronted by the enraged brute in 

 full charge. Taking quick aim, he pulled the 

 trigger, but he had forgotten to release the safely 

 catch, and in another moment he was in the 

 grip of the animal's trunk, and had been dashed 

 senseless to the ground. His end was horrible 

 in the extreme, the infuriated cow literally tread- 

 ing him into the earth. 



In the other two cases where Europeans lost 

 their lives they were not hunting the beasts, but 

 were caught unawares by rogue bulls and wan- 

 tonly crushed to death. In the case of Vermaak, 

 he was out hunting hares, and had only a shot- 

 gun loaded with No. 6 shot with which to protect 

 himself. He was tracked and murdered by Blink- 

 voet, a notorious rogue who subsequently met 

 his death at the muzzle of a set-gun. Pienaar 

 fell victim to a rogue at night. He and his two 

 brothers foolishly entered the Bush in the dark, 

 and when the huge bull charged it was certain 

 death for one of the party. Pienaar climbed into 

 a thorn bush, but was dragged forth, flung to 

 earth, and savaged in a frightful manner. 



TWO MIRACULOUS ESCAPES, 



Other men have had wonderful escapes. 

 There is no more famous Addo hunter than Nat 

 Harvey, and even he has on more than one occa- 

 sion nearly paid for his intrepidity with his life. 

 One such experience was when on a certain day 

 he passed around a thick bush to find himself 

 face to face with an elephant. There were not 

 many yards separating them, and the mammoth 

 charged on the instant. When Nat Harvey pulled 

 trigger but seven yards stood between him and 

 death. His shot went true, but the tremendous 

 momentum of the onrushing- beast carried it on. 

 A portion of its head struck the hunter and flung 

 him dazed to earth. When he recovered his 

 scattered wits he found himself lying at the side 

 of his prostrate victim. 



FARMERS' GRIEVOUS LOSSES. 



These incidents, all of which are easily veri- 

 fied, should give some indications of the terrors 

 awaiting the unwary hunter in the fastnesses of 

 the Addo Bush. And because of them and of 

 the enormous damage done on the surrounding 

 farms by the elephants, it has been decreed by 

 the Cape Administrator that the Addo elephants 

 are to be exterminated. They cause damage in 

 two ways. An elephant is above such trifles as 

 a wire fence. Hence, when in his promiscuous 

 travels he happens upon one, he tears up the posts 

 and flings the wire to one side. One farmer alone 

 estimates that he has been obliged to replace 250 

 miles of destroyed fencing, and he avers that latelv 

 the animals have taken to digging his anchor 

 posts up by the roots. 



The more serious source of damage occurs 

 in the dry season, when the water holes within 

 the Bush which usually supply the elephants with 

 drinking water, fail. It is then their custom to 

 wander at large in search of water. Long custom 

 has given them a knowledge of every dam on 

 every farm. Thus a herd numbering, perhaps, 

 seventy animals, will descend on a farm at night, 

 wreck all the fencing en route, and completely 

 empty the only dam on which the farmer's cattle 



