In the Heart of Africa 
186 
constantly set at nought. Yet these reserves are of use, for the 
natives know that they will be heavily punished in cases of 
infringement of the laws should they be detected. Those 
elephants which make serious havoc in the banana fields may be 
killed by special permission. European hunters are not allowed 
to enter the Congo territory without producing their licences from 
Brussels, and even then special sanction is needed for the killing 
of an elephant. A departure from this rule was made in favour 
of myself and the members of the expedition in a very obliging 
manner, so that we were enabled to devote a few exceedingly 
pleasant days to hunting the most mighty beast existing. 
From among the many exciting incidents and interesting 
episodes which occurred, I take the following: 
At daybreak on the i8th of December Veriter and I proceeded 
to the farther bank of the Semliki in order to enlist as guide the 
youthful chief of a settlement which lay in a deep gorge. We 
were going after a herd of elephants that day, expecting to find 
them five hours’ journey farther northwards, where they haunted 
the banana plantations of a hamlet lying close to the river. The 
animals were so daring, that they not only destroyed the banana 
trees in the front of the village, but even attacked the huts. A 
man told us that he had had to fly from his dwelling whilst an 
elephant was tearing off the thatched roof. When we arrived the 
animals had left the immediate neighbourhood of the village, 
but our guide soon brought us in sight of the herd. We 
observed seven animals, one of whom, to all appear¬ 
ances a very powerful bull, detached himself from the 
rest and made rapidly for the protecting forest. Pursuit was 
useless, so we let him go. We then turned to the six others, 
whose massive, colossal bodies stood out in marked relief against 
a broad grass patch, which had been burnt away the day before 
and was now coal-black. As the scene made a splendid picture 
for the camera, I stalked up with that only in my hand, my boy 
with my gun close behind, to a bush near the elephants, when the 
pachyderms caught our scent, trod uneasily to and fro, and then 
lumbered off amidst a cloud of dust towards the Semliki. Two 
