30 



HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 



can rely for drink to see them through the 

 drought. The result is that his cattle die of thirst 

 and he suffers grievous losses. , 



The attitude of the cattle themselves towards 

 the elephants is eminently respectful. When they 

 hear the approach of the mammoths they amble 

 off to a safe distance. Nevertheless, now and 

 again, a farmer will find that he has lost a 

 valuable animal, generally a bull. On one occa- 

 sion an Addo farmer had a specially imported 

 bull grazing with his herd. A troop of elephants 

 hove in sight, and all but the imported bull moved 

 off. This fellow stood his ground. He had never 

 seen an elephant, and he didn't care a hang for. 

 them. When the troop approached within such 

 distance as he choose to consider constituted an 

 insult to his aristocratic lineage, he lowered his 

 head with a roar, and dashed straight for the 

 flank of the nearest invader. The elephant was 

 quick to accept the challenge, and, swinging 

 around, met the bull with his tusks. The bull, 

 when found the following morning, was horribly 

 gored. 



A BIG TASK. 

 The task of ridding the Bush of these dan. 

 gerous beasts has been entrusted to Major Pre- 

 torius, one of the most famous of the present-day 

 big game hunters. In the course of the twenty- 

 three years which this remarkable man has spent 

 in Central and East Africa he has killed no fewer 

 than 339 elephants, excluding all other types of 

 game. He has been charged repeatedly, and has 

 had many narrow escapes as the average man has 

 disappointments. In the East African campaign 

 he became famous for his intelligence work. He 

 was the terror of the German forces, and he was 

 paid the compliment of having a big price put on 

 his head. They nearly got him once. They shot 

 him through both legs, and he escaped by jumping 

 into the Rovuma River. Thereafter he discovered 

 the location of the cruiser Konigsberg for the 

 British naval authorities, and accomplished sun- 

 dry other dare-devil tasks, which materially as- 

 sisted in driving Von Lettow southwards. The 

 C.M.G. and D.S.O. with bar testify to the value 

 of his services. 



AN ENCOUNTER AT DUSK. 



To him has been assigned the matter of deal- 

 ing with the Addo elephants. He recently ar- 

 rived on the scene, accompanied by his wife, her- 

 self a daring huntress, and a taxidermist assigned 

 to the party by the South African Museum (Mr. 

 Drury). Their camp is located about a mile and 

 a half from Addo Station, within the outskirts 

 of the Bush. Up to now he has contented him- 

 self with reconnoitring the bush, and ascertain- 

 ing the lay of the land, although he has had his 

 initial shot at the elephants, inflicting a mortal 

 wound on a vounp' bull. 



For the next month or two Major Pretorius 

 will be occupied in cutting paths through the 

 densest portions of the bush to the various hills 

 from which the movements of the three herds 

 which are known to exist may be watched. When 

 this task is completed he will commence the 

 serious business of systematically hunting the ele- 

 phants and shooting them off. And if any fuller 

 conception of the magnitude of his commission 

 is necessary it should be found in his estimate that 

 it will take him two years of hard work before he 

 can claim to have disposed of the last of the ele- 

 phants. 



When that day comes Major Pretorius will be 

 able to claim the huge individual bag of over five 

 hundred African elephants. 



IMPORTANT NOTICE. 



Just at the moment of going to press, my 

 Agent in Cape Town cables that he has secured 

 one young male Elephant, the only one so far 

 captured in the Addo Bush. 



This little fellow should prove very interest- 

 ing to Zoological Science, and would also be a 

 tremendous attraction to any Gardens, Circus or 

 Menagerie. 



Due notice of its arrival will be announced 

 in the Daily Press. Price on application. 



A NOTABLE ARRIVAL OF FOREIGN 

 BIRDS. 



NEARLY 2,000 IN ONE CONSIGNMENT. 



No' section of bird-keepers has been so ham- 

 pered in its hobby during the past five years 

 as the foreign bird section. Canaries and British 

 birds are home productions, and although thou- 

 sands of Canary breeders answered the call of 

 their country and many, alas ! have given their 

 lives in its defence, still there were those remain- 

 ing to carry on. British bird keeping is in a 

 degree dependent upon the catchers,' and the short- 

 age of supply has been felt to the detriment of 

 the classes at such shows as have been held. The 

 foreign bird section, however, is almost entirely 

 supported by imports, for the few foreign birds 

 that are bred in this country are mostly in the 

 hands of non-exhibitors. 



As a consequence, while the Canary section 

 at our shows has maintained a vitality marvellous 

 in the circumstances, and the British bird section 

 has survived in a degree, foreign birds have been 

 conspicuous by their absence, and anything which 



