ch. xxix ANIMALS OF THE BACK BLOCKS 283 
decreased to a minimum ; further, it is only in the 
more remote corners of the Protectorate that elephant 
can be found elsewhere than in thick bush or in 
forest. Again, many of the herds of cows, having 
been much persecuted, are getting exceeding savage 
and prone to charge at sight or rather at scent. 
All these reasons combine to prevent its being 
worth the settler’s while, except in rare instances, to 
take out a licence with the view of getting a little 
surplus cash. There can, I think, be little doubt 
nowadays as to the danger of elephant shooting, and 
none as to its excitement. Both elements are greatly 
increased in the Protectorate since the days of that 
great hunter, the late Mr. Neumann. In his day, the 
unprovoked attack of a herd was practically unknown, 
and also nearly all the shooting was done in fairly 
open country. Thus Neumann says that he has 
never known a charging elephant which would not 
turn if a bullet was placed in its chest—though it 
must be borne in mind that he himself was nearly 
killed by the charge of a wounded cow. Also that 
after a day or two of hunting in the bamboo forests of 
Kenia nothing on earth would induce him to do so 
again. The most desirable place to encounter ele¬ 
phants would be open forest with big trees and little 
undergrowth. After that, open plain. Next, thin 
bush. Last of all would be selected elephant grass, 
thick thorn bush and bamboo. Elephant hunting is 
a sport which involves the necessity of a cool head 
coupled with great activity and endurance, and is held 
by some, such as Stigand, to be the finest of all 
African hunting. There is no doubt in my own mind 
that it is the hardest and most dangerous form, but 
possibly it requires less of that desirable element which 
