FOREST AND STREAM 



C"Maroh 27, 1890. 



mnt and %nt\. 



"FOREST AND STREAM" GUN TESTS. 



'TMTE following guns have been tested at the Forest and 

 J. Stream Range, and reported upon in the issues named. 

 Copies of any date will be sent on receipt of price, ten cents: 



Com 12, July 25. Pahkeb 13, hammerless, June 6. 



Colt 10 and 12, (Jot. 21. Remington Ifi, May 30. 



Folsom 10 arid 13, Sept. 2«. Remington 12, Dec. 5, JTe)>. 6. 



Fbancotte 12, Deo. 18. Remington 10, Dec. 26. 



Greener 12, Aug. 1. .Scott in, Sept. 5. 



Greener 10. Sept. 12, Sept. 19. L. C, Smith 12, Oct. 10. 



Hollis 10, Nov. 7. Whitney Safety 12, March (5. 



Lefever 15, March 13. Winchester 10 and 12, Oct. 3. 

 Parker 10, himmur, June 6. 



BIG GAME IN EAST AFRICA.* 



WHEN a man starts out for big game in. east Africa 

 he does not travel with a long string of ox teams 

 nor wagons nor even of pack animals; he goes on foot 

 and all his baggage is carried on the beads of native por- 

 ters whose training enables them to make long journeys 

 under a load of 651bs. If the journey is to be of long 

 duration,, the number of men in such a caravan must be 

 large. 



An interesting account of such a trip is given, in Sir 

 John Willoughby's recently published book on "East 

 Africa and its Big Game." Three of the party whose ad- 

 ventures are here recounted left England Nov. 5, 1886, 

 and went to Zanzibar, whence after a short stay they 

 proceeded to the mainland, and on Dec. 10 started for the 

 interior. Their company was made up almost entirely of 

 natives, of whom 250 were Zanzibari porters. At first 

 they lost some men by desertion, and had some trouble 

 through lack of water, but a few days brought them into 

 a country aboundiug in game. Here they made a per- 

 manent camp, and from this point as a center made short 

 trips of a week or two's duration into the neighboring 

 region. 



There is perhaps no way of conveying to the reader so 

 clear a notion of the sport which they had and the 

 methods pursued in hunting, then to give some extracts 

 from the volume. Here are two accounts of rhinoceros 

 hunting: 



"Our camp was charmingly situated, and partly encir- 

 cled by a sudden bend in the river, which enabled us to 

 manage with only a thorn fence for the protection of our 

 front. Here I had a great day's sport. Starting early I 

 crossed the river, and after knocking over a steinbock 

 within two hundred yards of camp, proceeded for about 

 five miles over an open piain, seeing nothing but granti 

 and hartebeest, until I caught sight of an immense rhino 

 standing about half a mile off. Quickly concealing my- 

 self I watched until he lay down, and though a party of 

 natives on the way to cut grass passed quite close to him, 

 he showed no sign of being disturbed. Favored by a 

 slight depression in the ground, I managed to get within 

 thirty yards of him, and placed a bullet from my .577 

 rifle behind the shoulder as he lay broadside. At once 

 jumping up and wheeling around with a snort he galloped 

 off, and I gave him the other barrel as he passed; but he 

 only ran about two hundred yards, and then stopping 

 short, faced around, and after swaying from side to side 

 for a second fell dead. He proved to be a grand jjrize, 

 and was evidently a very old beast, the thick fronthorn 

 measuring 27in. in length, and being much more promin- 

 ently placed on his nose than usual; the back horn was 

 also very thick, though it had been curiously worn away 

 on the top and slightly damaged in front. On cutting 

 him up we found two of B.'s steel-tipped bullets in his 

 neck, one just behind the ear and the other lower down, 

 and it was surprising that neither seemed to have done 

 him harm. He was clearly the enormous rhino B. told 

 me he had wounded during his trip with Jackson, and I 

 think he was most unlucky not to have secured him. I 

 have no great faith in the value of steel-tipped bullets, 

 and although I have killed some rhinos with a single shot 

 in the neck, I do not consider it offers anything like the 

 chance of the one behind the shoulder." 



"At about 10 A. M. some natives reported 'two big 

 rhinos quite close,' so after them I started in all haste, 

 lightly equipped in a suit of pyjamas. But, as usual, 

 'quite close' meant a long four miles, and my annoyance 

 at having allowed myself to be hoaxed into believing any- 

 thing ever could be 'quite close' was deciding me to 

 abandon the hunt, when I sighted them standing under 

 a solitary tree in the open plain, attended by a half grown 

 offspring about the size of a big bullock. They were 

 awkwardly placed, and after getting to within a hundred 

 yards I had to wait some time, as the two big ones were 

 actively engaged in carrying on an animated flirtation. 

 At length they lay down, thus enabling me to crawl 

 within thirty yards, at which distance all three rose sud- 

 denly and faced me, an anxious moment, during which I 

 feared a charge or a bolt before I could get in a shot. 

 For about one minute, which seemed to me many, tbey 

 were motionless, and then turned inquiringly toward eacli 

 other. Seizing the first opportunity of a broadside shot, 

 I bowled the cow over with a bullet behind her ear. The 

 bull ran some twenty yards and then stood, until a shot 

 from my second barrel took effect in his neck and brought 

 him also to the ground. Wishing to spare the half -grown 

 one, I tried to drive him off , but at twenty yards he came 

 for me, so I had to stop him with a bullet in the chest. 

 Thinking he was done for, I reloaded and approached 

 him, upon which he rose and again charged with a ven- 

 geance. I fired my first barrel without effect, but 

 knocked him over with the second when he was within 

 five yards of me. It was, perhaps, fortunate this shot 

 dropped him, as, although I jumped aside after firing, I 

 think it very doubtful whether my activity would have 

 proved equal to his. 



"I now proceeded to examine my prizes. The cow 

 proved a splendid beast with symmetrical horns measur- 

 ing 21 and 23in. The bull was also a fine specimen as 

 well as an anatomical curiosity, for in addition to short 

 anterior and posterior horns, he had developed a third 



*East Africa and its Big Game | The Narrative of a Sporting 

 Trip from Zanzibar | to the Borders of the Masai | By I Captain 

 Sir John C. Willoughby, Bart, j Royal Horse Guards | With Post- 

 script by Sir Robert G. Harvey, Bart. | Illustrated by G. D. Giles 

 and Mrs. Gordon Hake | Those of the Latter from Photographs 

 taken by the Author | London I Longmans, Green & Go. I and 

 New York: Pp. XII.-|-312; 14 full-page illustrations, IV. plates of 

 heads, and map. 



horny excrescence far back, sufficiently distinct to en- 

 title him to be considered as a unique example of the 

 PJtinoceroz tricoi "ivis. " 



Rhinoceroses were the most important game found 

 abundant in the country where this party hunted, and 

 were therefore the most eagerly pursued. The result of 

 tbis was the killing of 06 of these great beasts— more than 

 20 per cent, of the game secured— during the five months 

 that their trip lasted. 



The African buffalo (Bnbahis eaffir) were quite abund- 

 ant in the country, but owing to 'their shyness and the 

 fact that they pass much of their time in the thick brush, 

 not very many were secured. The author gives this ac- 

 count of the death of one of these animals which shows 

 the tenacity of life of this species: 



"The last day of our stay here I shot another very fine 

 buffalo, and in rather a lucky way. I walked a long 

 distance without seeing anything but mpallah and water- 

 buck, though from a rocky ride I could view a magnifi- 

 cent plain crawling with zebra, hartebeest, buffalo, 

 ostriches, mpallah*. and in the far distance a big herd of 

 eland; but as they were not on my beat I was unable to 

 whet my appetite for sport, and went down to the river 

 to get a drink. While scooping up the water a splendid 

 buffalo bull jumped up on the opposite bank about 70vds. 

 off, and having only the .45 express in my hand I shot at 

 his neck as he was making off. Whether the bullet took 

 effect I do not know, but after floundering about among 

 some thick bushes under the trees he retraced his steps 

 and passed me broadside; With two shots from the 8- 

 bore I broke his shoulder and sent a ball through the 

 lungs: but this was not enough, as he charged down the 

 bank and began crossing the river straight for us. I then 

 gave him another shot, which made him lie down in the 

 water, where after prolonged bellowing he expired. He 

 had a very fine massive head, 38in. across the widest 

 part." , 



The lion was not uncommon here, but its habits made 

 it very hard to find. Only three were killed on the trip. 

 Of one of these the author says: 



"I now come to one of my great days, when J shot my 

 first and only lion. I had started out to the left of the 

 river and was skirting the far side of the plain, in the 

 hopes of coming across buffalo near the edge of the busb. 

 As I went along I put up from under a tree an enormous 

 leopard, about the size of a moderate lioness, and I put 

 in a snap shot, with no apparent effect, as 'the creature 

 rapidly disappeared. Having proceeded about a quarter 

 of a mile further, I saw some ostriches, and was debating 

 whether I should try and stalk them or not, when one of 

 my men gave a low whistle to attract my attention, and 

 standing broadside to me, not 40yds. away, was a mag- 

 nificent lion: he was looking at the ostriches, and, like 

 myself, so busy debating the chances of a good stalk, that 

 he neither saw nor heard me. He looked truly magnifi- 

 cent and quite the king of the forest at that mo'ment: but 

 though full of admiration, I lost no time in letting ofl' my 

 .450 rifle. With a deep roar he bounded off, and' fearing 

 that I had not planted the bullet in the right place, I 

 gave him the other barrel. This time I aimed for the 

 back of his head, and, as I afterward found, with great 

 accuracy, though the bullet had only penetrated the 

 skin and then glanced all along his skull, coming out 

 just above the upper lip. As he disappeared after this 

 shot in a thick clump of brush some 20yds. off, I waited 

 a quarter of an hour before taking up the tracks; I then 

 did not have to penetrate far before I came upon him 

 stone dead, my first bullet having penetrated the heart. 

 He measured 9ft. 5in. from the tip of his nose to the tip 

 of his tail as he lay, and the skin when removed, with- 

 out any stretching, measured lift., and that, too, with 

 rather a short tail . He had a fair amount of mane, which 

 is rare, as it generally gets torn out by the bushes. 1 was 

 immensely pleased, as I had given up almost all hoDes of 

 ever getting a good chance at a lion, for it is pure luck 

 stumbling on them in these parts where bush is every- 

 where thick and vast." 



Although the travelers found elephant tracks in plenty 

 they saw but few of the animals. However, they suc- 

 ceeded in getting two, and the author tells the story of 

 the encounter in quite graphic language. He says: 



"At the end of these few days of fruitless search, as I 

 was somewhat better, though still very weak and pulled 

 down, we struck camp, and after a march of some miles 

 came upon a small herd of giraffe, three of which C. 

 shot, as we were greatly in need of meat. H. and I— the 

 two cripples, for H. was also down with the fever- 

 pushed on, while the other remained behind to cut up the 

 meat, as we were both anxious to get to our new camp, 

 where we could lie clown. I was mounted on our only 

 smviving donkey, while poor H. hobbled slowly by my 

 side, and although every few yards we came upon fresh 

 elephant spoor, we were far too seedy to think of follow- 

 ing them up. Before we had traveled in this melancholy 

 fashion more than a mile beyond where C. had shot 

 giraffe, we were suddenly invigorated by the sounds of 

 crashing branches, and the unmistakable grivnting of 

 elephants feeding on mimosa bushes. 



"Here was an opportunity not to be missed, even by 

 two such poor creatures as w r e believed ourselves to be, 

 and undoubtedly were, so we at once made shaky signals 

 to our servants to bring our rifles. Unfortunately H.'s 

 man, thinking him too ill to shoot, had packed up all 

 his cartridges and his complete battery excepting a ,577 

 rifle. So after borrowing some of my cartridges we ad- 

 vanced on our unseen quarry, H. with his .577 rifle and I 

 with my 8-bore. The elephants, when we first heard 

 them, could not have been more than 60yds. off, and our 

 feeble limbs had not carried us much further than a third 

 of that distance before a grand cow with one uncom- 

 monly long tusk pushed her way through the covert and 

 offered a fair broadside shot at her head. Aiming for 

 the center of the ear I pressed for the trigger, and have 

 a dim recollection of something like a loud thunder clap 

 in my ear and of being sent flying head over heels any- 

 where. Both barrels of the rifle, loaded with 20 drams 

 of powder, had exploded at the same time, an active 

 remedy for a sportsman fever-stricken and suffering 

 from a splitting headache. However, my first elephant 

 was more completely bowled over than myself, for she 

 had gone down never to rise again. 



"At the report of my rifle a magnificent bull with 

 splendid tusks showed his head, and H., with a shot from 

 his .577 rifle, stunned him for a second and brought him 

 to the ground; but no sooner had he recovered himself 

 than he came straight for us with ears cocked and trunk 



erect, and evidently in high dudgeon. Our gun-bearers 

 wisely fled, followed by H.. who was, of course, helplesa 

 with only one barrel of his, comparatively insufficient, 

 weapon loaded. Luckily I had first managed to pick 

 myself up and to reload, and when the beast was within 

 twenty yards I put a bullet in the center of his chest, 

 which immediately checked his charge and made him 

 turn back into the bush. Had I been quick enough 1 

 think I might have got in a broadside shot as he swung 

 around, but I missed the opportunity, and in what seemed 

 to me the twinkling of an eye he was out of sight. We 

 followed him for about a quarter of a mile, but were 

 much bothered by the attendance of a well grown off- 

 spring accompanied by a suckling, which snuffed about 

 and kept up that low internal rumbling peculiar to ele- 

 phants when excited or alarmed. As both declined to be 

 driven away, and even made a threatening response to 

 our efforts in that direction, we were obliged to shoot the 

 larger one in self-defense. 



"After that we took up the blood track of the big bull, 

 without further interference, until its traces ceased and 

 the spoor was obliterated by that of numerous others who 

 had either followed or intersected its path. Then, feel- 

 ing utterly exhausted, we returned to examine the cow , 

 whose measurements proved to be 9ft. 7in. from toe to 

 wither. The right tusk when removed was exactly Oft. 

 in length, while the left, which had been, broken off, 

 measured only 4ft. Both were, of course, delicate, 

 weighing respectively only 27 and 181bs., the former 

 being a rather unusual weight for female elephant ivory. 

 As we could only find the trace of one bullet I suppose 

 the explosion of the second barrel was not exactly coin- 

 cident with that of the first, but any such mathematical 

 refinement was a scientific waste as far as I was con- 

 cerned, for the effects of a simultaneous explosion had 

 fully operated upon me. 



"During the rest of the march toward our new camp, 

 which lay east of the Kilima Mombasa Hill, it was a pleas- 

 ant surprise to note the remarkable change the rains had 

 worked in the aspect of the country during the last three 

 months. Then, everything was dried up and in places 

 the ground scorched and bare; now, the surrounding 

 country was covered with fresh-grown grass from four 

 to five feet in height, all the bush was getting out in buds 

 and leaves, and even the tops of the dry old baobab trees 

 were fairly well clothed with verdure. It was a curious 

 fact that the excitement attendant to our falling in with 

 elephants made me feel fifty per cent, better, and the 

 letting off of twenty drams of powder drove my head- 

 ache completely away instead of aggravating it, and I 

 am quite convinced that there is nothing like excitement 

 to help one throw off fever. The whole secret is not to 

 give way to, but to struggle against the almost painful 

 lassitude that succeeds an acute attack, for the more one- 

 gives in the worse one feels." 



Only in one or two places did the party find hippopota- 

 mus, and in these places the conditions were not favor- 

 able for getting shots. The author, however, overcame 

 this difficulty by having a raft built, on which he was 

 poled out into the shallow lake in which the hippos lived. 

 But we will let him tell his own story: 



"On April 14 we were leaving the camp Taveta, so 

 early in the morning our raft was launched, and boarded 

 by myself and two gun-bearers who shared my keen de- 

 sire to secure a hippo. Although the raft floated capi- 

 tally, our progress was naturally slow, as her ends were 

 square, but the two men were able to punt her along, 

 keeping about two hundred yards from the shore, the 

 water being nowhere deeper than from 7 to 8ft, We 

 passed hundreds of large alligators, floating on the sur- 

 face of the lake, and just showing a portion of their long- 

 heads above the water, but as we approached them they 

 sank out of sight without making the slightest splash. 



"Before long we viewed a small school of hippos, so 

 we all crouched down, while the men punted me cau- 

 tiously toward then*. They did not seem to mind our 

 approach in the least degree, but continued to enjoy 

 themselves by puffing and snorting and blowing water, 

 in jets, from their nostrils, and now and again sinking 

 clown, to reappear at the end of two or three minutes, 

 and, with their heads half out of water, to take a look 

 round. When we were within 30yds. they ceased their 

 gambols to gaze with astonishment at what I supposed 

 was a first attempt to navigate these waters. Drawing 

 a bead on the eye of a big fellow quite near me I fired. 

 The effect was a terrific plunge and an immediate absence 

 of anything like a hippopotamus's head to be seen any- 

 where. After about fifteen minutes patient waiting 

 heads began to pop up all round me, but another shot 

 was followed by another plunge and another complete 

 disappearance. This time I had only to wait a few min- 

 utes before the heads reappeared, for I fired my second 

 shot before they had time to take in enough air for a long 

 dive. After my first shot I think their first impulse of 

 curiosity gave way to a sense of danger, as, before reap- 

 pearing, they placed a long distance between themselves 

 and the raft, and were making hard for the middle of 

 the lake. I now decided to give up the hunt and employ 

 my time, while hopefully awaiting the appearance of 

 some hippo carcasses. The fish, however, were not 

 hungry, or my bait was not sufficiently attractive; but I 

 continued to practice the 'gentle art'" until the smooth 

 surface of the water was broken by a small round disc, 

 the first appearance of a dead hippo." 



During their five months' trip the party killed, as 

 shown by the list given at the end of the volume, 350 

 head of game^a slaughter which would seem unpardon- 

 able if we did not recollect that there was an army of 

 300 men to be fed. When we think that a two weeks' 

 trip from their main camp yielded 75 head of game, of 

 which 43 were rhinoceros, we are inclined to wonder 

 how long the big game of Africa will last. 



In one especial particular the present volume deserves 

 great praise. It is provided with an annotated list of the 

 game mammals and birds seen on the trip, giving the 

 scientific names of the species and a good deal of inter- 

 esting information about them. Unfortunately the 

 proofs of these pages have not been carefully read. 



The postscript by Sir E. G. Harvey, giving an accouut 

 of his trip up the Tana River, is interesting. 



The illustrations of this work are extremely good. 

 The plate which faces the title page is very striking, 

 giving as it does not only a conception of the enormous 

 abundance of animal life, but of its variety as well. 

 The four lithographic plates of heads are worthy of care- 

 ful study by all who are interested in big game. 



