54 



HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 



wood fire, all this makes the wild life which the 

 hunter only knows more enjoyable than ever. 

 What a glorious change ! The freedom one per- 

 ceives, to be away from the formality of city-life 

 with its white table cloths and serviettes. To be 

 able to sit on a log and eat with what nature pro- 

 vided, namely, fingers; and no one to pass re- 

 marks about bad behaviour. 



The meal over we are on the move again, 

 the boys tracking the spoor, the dogs tugging 

 away at their chains knowing excitement is near 

 at hand. Again striking the thick Bush, my 

 clothes, which had already began to show signs 

 of bad treatment, suffered more than ever, and 

 two large rents soon showed themselves in the 

 jacket (luckily an old one). Little did I think 

 when I bought that very suit a few years ago in 

 Los Angeles, Cal., U.S.A., I would end its career 

 chasing elephants in the Addo Bush, but one 

 never knows what fate has in store. 



Signs now begin to show of the close prox- 

 imity of the herd. The Major mounts his porta- 

 ble observation ladder which is always taken 

 along, and with an experienced eye scans the 

 Bush, determining by what seems instinct gained 

 by years of experience, the exact part where the 

 elephants were to be found. Resuming the chase 

 we soon heard rumbling sounds; we now knew 

 the close vicinity of our quarry; everyone is alert 

 and rifles are ready for immediate action. 



When hunting elephant the direction of the 

 wind has to be most carefully observed, and on 

 this particular day it was very variable, which 

 caused the herd to get our scent and arouse sus- 

 picion. By careful movement, however, we got 

 close up to them unobserved. There were about 

 twenty, young and old. The one nearest the 

 Major soon got the benefit of the .550 Express 

 bullet which dropped him never to rise again; 

 another was hit and lay for several seconds but 

 managed to get up ; and move off. Immediately 

 firing started the herd let out a terrific scream 

 which rent the whole Bush, and broke up. We 

 then followed up the blood spoor of the wounded 

 elephant which was bleeding very freely. We 

 had not gone far before we encountered a fine 

 young bull sniffing the air. We were about nine 

 yards away when we first spotted him. Soon as 

 he saw us, he trumpeted loudly and charged. It 

 was now a moment when the utmost presence of 

 mind w r as required, a false move and all would be 

 over for at least one of us. The Major immed- 

 iately dropped on the knee, as owing to a tree 

 being just between him and the elephant a stand 

 up shot was impossible so> he had to fire through 

 a space between the branches, and once again the 

 .550 did its work well. The first shot through the 

 skull dropped him but not fatal. He was just 

 getting up when a second well placed shot found 



the brain and all was over. All this was the 

 work of a few seconds, but what those seconds 

 meant can only be realised by those present. 

 The distance was exactly six paces. 



I would here like to' state that the Major fol- 

 lows the motto of all true sportsmen : " Hunt to 

 kill but not to torture," although wounding an 

 animal and its getting away is unavoidable, as 

 this story will show. 



Many people do> not seem to realise the dan- 

 ger of hunting in the Addo Bush. There are no 

 long range shots, except by a great off chance. 

 Before you see the elephants you have to get 

 right close up, and the maximum distance one 

 can reach is about twelve yards. So you see if 

 you are charged by more than one, it is a case 

 of watch your step. 



We now continued our tracking of the 

 wounded cow elephant but could not find bier. 

 The amount of blood she was losing showed she 

 must have been badly wounded but our search 

 was futile. 



Returning to the first elephant the boys were 

 set to work on the operation of removing the in- 

 side. Flags were placed above the Bush over 

 each elephant to mark their respective positions 

 to be found the following day. Major and my- 

 self then partook of some coffee from a Thermos 

 flask which in our parched condition was very 

 welcome. The boys drank bloodi from the 

 stomach which, according to the native idea, will 

 make them strong like an elephant. The dogs 

 were so parched that they could not work, so 

 water from the stomach was a welcome drink to 

 them. 



Leaving the boys to work on the elephant, 

 search for the wounded one is resumed, but in 

 spite of considerable blood spoor we could not 

 find the brute. While on this search, all of a 

 sudden the dogs start barking, indicating some 

 animal had been located, which we at first thought 

 must be the wounded one. 



Proceeding to the spot as quick as possible, 

 we heard the shriek of what we knew was a 

 young elephant, and made the capture, the Major 

 grabbing him by the tail. He was a little chap, 

 just over three feet high, and his hide was almost 

 white, as nearly a White Elephant as anyone I 

 ever saw. Unfortunately the little chap was in- 

 jured in the shoulder but not badly, and the 

 Major considered it would soon be all right. The 

 little fellow soon made friends and followed us 

 through the Bush just like a dog. This was 

 about 2.30 p.m. 



We next determined to return to camp and 

 let a few of the boys bring the baby along, the 

 remainder finishing off the Avork on the dead 



