THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W.KOFOID ' WILD LIFE IN CENTRAL AFRICA. WILD LIFE IN CENTRAL AFRICA. WILD LIFE IN CENTRAL AFRICA DENIS D. LYELL, Author of "Hunting Trips in Northern Rhodesia^ " Ny as aland for the Hunter a?id Settler' 1 etc. ILLUSTRATED BY PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR. LONDON : THE FIELD & QUEEN (HORACE COX) LTD. WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS E.C. PRINTED BY THE FIELD & QUEEN (HORACE COX) LTD. WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, LONDON, E.G. I DEDICATE THESE PAGES ON WILD LIFE AND SPORT TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN MEMORY OF PAST HAPPY DAYS. M372637 INTRODUCTORY. THIS book is a simple account of the ripe experience of ten years spent in Central Africa, which is the tract of country known as Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia. The former protectorate used to be known as British Central Africa, and the latter territory is now amalgamated with North-Western Rhodesia, known collectively as Northern Rhodesia, to distinguish it from Southern Rhodesia, which embraces the old-time territories of Matabeleland and Mashonaland. For the last ten years I have spent a wandering sort of life in Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia, so, to get a short and descriptive title, I use the title " Wild Life in Central Africa." I am afraid this is rather a disjointed kind of volume, digressions are frequent, and possibly there is a certain amount of repetition. For this I can only plead that I have suffered much from malarial fever, both in India and Central Africa, and my memory is such that I sometimes forget what I have written soon afterwards. Some people may think that this is rather a matter-of- fact kind of volume; but, then, I am a matter-of-fact sort of person, and dislike embellishing my writing with fanciful or fictitious matter, or to read such literature written by other authors on sport and travel. These pages are intended for the nomad big-game hunter, who loves to get away from the beaten track, where he can be free of the irksome conventionalities of civilised life, and where he can find a freedom that is impossible in more settled countries. viii Introductory. There is no country in Africa more isolated and cut off than are the territories I write of, and, in the parts away from the townships and settled districts, the hunter and traveller will rind the country and people in the primeval state they were before Europeans first settled in these regions. In this volume I write rather pointedly and emphatically on some subjects connected with sport, and I lay great stress on the iniquity of firing long-range shots at game when it is usually not difficult to get fairly close and do good work. My reason for doing so is that such a lot of rash and careless shooting takes place that many harmless animals are sent off to die a slow and lingering death, unless they have the good fortune to be killed quickly by some prowling lion or leopard that may come on them. I do not lay claim, especially in my earlier days of hunting, to bagging everything I fired at ; but, with experience, I found that it pays to get to close quarters and make certain of my shot, with the consequence that I hardly ever lose anything I fire at nowadays. The beginner is apt to get excited, and shoot carelessly, without taking pains to align his sights on a certain spot, and he usually thinks it sufficient if he manages to hit the beast anywhere in its body ; but this is not good shooting, and neither will it lead to clean killing. What he should do is to pick the exact spot and aim at that ; so close quarters are necessary if he is to see the exact angle at which the game is standing. It is all a matter of angle ; for game is not always found waiting broadside on, and many positions are presented to the hunter. A good range for antelopes is 100 to 150 yards ; and for large game like elephant, rhino, or buffalo, a range of sixty or seventy yards is best, as the first bullet is the all-important one ; and the subsequent following up of a wounded dangerous beast is not so risky as when long shots are fired. It is perhaps needless to remark that animals styled ''dangerous game" are seldom dangerous until they are Introductory. ix interfered with or wounded ; and the only animals that may act offensively are man-eating lions at night, animals with young which are closely approached, or those that have been recently wounded and left by another hunter. The following pages have been written in the bush, and I have had no opportunity of getting at books of reference, though these were not much required, as the book deals almost solely with my own experiences. Having kept diaries for the ten years I have spent in Central Africa, I have found it difficult, out of so many notes, to find the most interesting ; so I have given the most recent, as they will give the sportsman a better idea as to the conditions pertaining at the present day, though the country has changed little since I first knew it in 1903 ; and there are still hundreds of square miles that have hardly ever been trodden by the foot of civilised man, and there game will be found in abundance by anyone who takes the trouble to go and look for it. This is a country where camping out causes little hardship in the dry season, which is from May to December ; and the three great essentials of camp life shade, fuel, and water are plentiful, while native labour is cheap and- abundant. The country has not yet been spoiled, as British East Africa has been, by the influx of wealthy sportsmen who have throw r n their money about without a thought for those who may follow them. Besides giving a certain number of shooting experiences, I give other information on licences, tracking, the natives and other matters which may be of interest to my readers, and if my ideas do not meet with approval, I can only say that they are the thoughts of a single individual, though I have tried not to let my pen run away w T ith me when discussing any matter that may have several sides. Perhaps the lonely life I have led for so long in the silence of the bush is apt to make a man dogmatical and opinionative ; but I like people who have decided opinions, so I hope my reader will make allowances if he does not agree with all I write. x Introductory. The trophy hunter who comes here should manage a six months trip for a sum of 50 monthly, including passages from, and return to, home ; and if he goes about on his feet instead of engaging twelve to sixteen men to carry him in a machilla, he would have no difficulty in doing the trip for the sum stated. He should bring his rifles, cartridges, tent, camp outfit, and clothes and boots, from home, as these things are difficult to procure here. Foodstuffs can be got in the townships, but they, too, would cost less to bring out and they would be fresh. The Army and Navy Stores and other firms know how to pack provisions in useful cases not weighing more than 5olb. each, which is the usual weight of a porter's load, though I think 4olb. better if long marches are taken. Such cas-es when empty are very useful for sending home small horns, curios, or headskins of small size ; and for the larger trophies nothing can beat large green canvas bags. I give some pages on camp outfit and rifles, so need not discuss the subject now at any length. The best time to arrive here would be the month of June, as the grass fires do not usually take place much before July, and the best route is from England to Chinde. If a sportsman could only afford three months in the country, he should get all the game he wants in the Chiromo district, which is only four or five days' journey from Chinde by river steamer ; and the game includes elephant, buffalo, eland, waterbuck, hartebeest, zebra, sable antelope, bushbuck, reedbuck, duiker, oribi ; and a possibility of lion, leopard, kudu, and other animals. In conclusion, I have to thank the proprietor and the editor of the Field newspaper for permission to use some articles I wrote for that periodical at different times. Also I am obliged to a good sportsman who writes to that journal in the name of "Mannlicher" for having given me permission to quote a short letter about " Photographing Big Game." Introductory, xi My friend George Garden, of Mlanje, Nyasaland, has again allowed me to use some of his fine photographs, and I would like to acknowledge his kindness here. I may say that most of the photographs of game are by myself, but some are not as good or clear as I would like, which is doubtless due to the effect of a damp climate on the films. The photographs of the situtunga, sassaby, black and red lechwe have been kindly sent me by Mr. J. E. Hughes, who has had much experience of the country bordering Lake Bangweolo, and who is, I believe, prepared to act as guide to any sportsmen wishing to make a shooting trip in these regions. D. D. LYELL. Bua River, Nyasaland. March 20, 1913. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION v jj CHAPTER I. Remarks on Sport and Making a Home in the Bush i CHAPTER II. Shooting in Central Angoniland I5 CHAPTER III, Further Shooting Experiences in Central Agoniland 33 CHAPTER IV. Hunting Elephant and other Game ... 52 CHAPTER V. The Risks of Big-Game Shooting 80 CHAPTER VI. Tracking Game, Licences^Camp Notes, etc.... ... 105 CHAPTER VII. Memories of Big-Game Hunting ... 127 CHAPTER VIII. Field Notes on the Game XIV Contents. CHAPTER IX. PAGE Field Notes on the Game (continued j... ... 193 CHAPTER X. Native Characteristics, Customs, and Beliefs ... ... 213 CHAPTER XI. Various Subjects for the Sportsman and Naturalist ... ... 236 APPENDIX. Ballistics of the best known High Velocity Rifles ... ... 274 INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. A fine single-tusked elephant shot in Nyasaland . . Frontispiece. My permanent hunting camp ... ... ...Facing page i Crossing Bua river, near Likasi, Central Angoni- land ... ... .... ... ... ... ,, ,, 2 Showing how palm-pole door is made ... ... ,, 10 The Mlanje mountains, Nyasaland ... ... ,, 17 Zebra (Burchell's) shot in Nyasaland ... ... ,, ,. 26 Horns of kudu bull shot in North-Eastern Rhodesia ... ... ... ... ... ,, ,, 30 Very old eland bull shot in Nyasaland ... ... ,, .. 35 My camp in Central Angoniland... ... ... ,, ., 37 Roan bull shot in North-Eastern Rhodesia ... ' ,, 41 Elephant bull shot in Nyasaland 58 Fence round dead elephant ,, ,. 62 Sable bull shot in North-Eastern Rhodesia ... ,, 69 Hippo shot in the Bua river, Nyasaland ,, 74 Trees broken by an elephant ... ... ... ,, ,. 97 Lioness (photo by G. Garden) ... ... ... ,, ,, 101 i. Spoors of antelopes in miniature ... ... ,, ,, 104 2. Spoors of game in miniature... ... ... ,, ,, 105 3. Spoors of pachyderms ... ... ... ,, ,, 106 4. Spoors of the carnivora, etc., in miniature ... 107 A favourite haunt of hippo in the Bau river, Nyasaland 115 The Luangwa river, North-Eastern Rhodesia ... ,, 128 Baobab tree in Nyasaland ., 133 Bushbuck and impala rams ... ,, 141 Rhino shot in Northern Rhodesia 143. xvi Index to Illustrations. Buffalo bull shot in Nyasaland Facing page 145 Buffalo cow shot in Nyasaland ., 147 Tree broken by an elephant ... ... ,. ., 149 A hunting camp in the bush ... ... ... ,, ,. 151 Eland bull being skinned for preservation ... ,, 153 Kudu bull shot in Nyasaland ... ... ,, ,, 154 Sable bull (photo by G. Garden)... . . .,. ,, ,, 174 Sassaby (photo by J. E. Hughes) ... ,, ,, 180 Situtunga (photo by J. E. Hughes) ,, ,, 182 Red lechwe ij)hoto by J. E. Hughes) ... ... ,, ,, 184 Reedbuck ram shot in Nyasaland ,, 185 Impala (photo by G. Garden) ... ,, ,, 186 Warthog boar ... ... ... ... ,, ,, 202 Mkumbi, an old Angoni chief ... ... ... ,, ,, 218 A son of Africa Central Angoniland ,, 228 Fig. I. Eland bull, showing the way to take measurements for specimens intended for mounting in museums... ... ... ... ... 239 Fig. II. Impala head and neck, showing the way to take head skin ... ... ... ... ... }> 241 Fig. III. Reedbuck, showing the way to take whole skin ^ 242 Roan antelope head, showing the method of removing horns from core ... .. ...Facing ,, 241 Black lechwe (photo by J. E. Hughes) ... ... ,, ,, 253 Bullets cut from game ... ... ... M )} 26^ The Author v ^ 274 O ^j Wild Life in Central Africa. CHAPTER I. REMARKS ON SPORT AND MAKING A HOME IN THE BUSH. British East Africa and Central Africa compared Long-range shooting at game Somali hunters compared with other natives Life in a tent unhealthy Village life and tropical pests Rats White ants Fleas killing ducks and fowls Bees and hornets Snakes Hut building Cutting poles Native bark string Grass cleaning Grass seeds Knowledge of use to young colonists The best type of man for a colonial life. .THERE are few countries among our British possessions that can offer a better field for the hunter or field-naturalist than do the territories in Africa known as Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, the latter formerly known as North-Eastern, and North- Western, but now under one administration. There the sportsman or traveller will, in the wilder parts of the country, see the land and people under primeval conditions, and the cost of such travel will not be so excessive as it has become in British East Africa, where wealthy men have foolishly squandered their superfluous wealth to the detriment of poorer, though often better, sportsmen than themselves. In 1911 I visited British East Africa, and I am bound to admit that it is a splendid game country, although the conditions of shooting on the plains are not nearly so sporting as they will be found in the country I am to write of in this volume. On the plains a man usually rides about on a pony or mule, and it is customary to fire very long shots at game ; in fact, the animals there seem to have learned the range of modern rifles to a nicety, and it is difficult for the man who B 2 Wild Life in Central Africa. likes to take his shot at between 100 and 200 yards to get as close as that without much trouble. With modern high velocity small bores, some of which shoot point-blank to about 300 yards, there is not a great difficulty in hitting a large animal like a zebra or wildebeest at that range, but it is more difficult to make good shooting on medium or small-sized animals, such as Grant's and Thomson's gazelles, and I, personally, think it a great shame that this long-range shooting should be practised, for many men who could not hit an i8in. bull at 400 or 500 yards think nothing of pumping several clips of cartridges into herds of animals at these absurd ranges. After killing a great quantity of African game, I have found that if an animal is much over 150 yards off it is a very difficult matter to discern the true angle at which it is standing, and if this cannot be ascertained it is nearly impossible to place the bullet in a vital spot, and so kill it neatly and humanely. The eyesight of mankind is not capable of seeing true angles much over 150 yards, especially when using the ordinary open or peep sights usually fitted to sporting rifles, although a telescopic sight might be a help in doing so ; but these sights are too bulky, and too easily damaged, and very few practical men with average eyesight use them. In a later chapter I intend to write fully on sporting rifles, as I consider the subject one of great interest to all sportsmen. I also intend to treat of the natives further on, but I will mention here that I found the natives of British East Africa very poor hunters and trackers. The Somalis have proved themselves useful to sportsmen, and some of them are very plucky ; but so are many races of African natives, and bravery in danger is not the pre- rogative of any single race of mankind. Personally, I found the Somalis a veritable nuisance, as they do not get on well with the natives, and they are perpetually grumbling and wanting something. In fact, they have been so spoilt by kind and generous treatment that they expect to be Spooring the Game. 3 treated like Europeans, so they demand, and receive, all kinds of luxuries such as flour, tea, sugar, ghee, salt, seasonings, rice, etc., not to mention European clothing, such as boots, putties, hats, shooting coats, and other things. What a difference such a swaggering specimen of humanity presents to the Nyasaland or Northern Rhodesian tracker, with his yard or two of cloth or a skin round his loins, who tramps about on bare feet, and can often track game as well as a Bushman of the Kalahari Desert, and who is charmed if he is presented with an old worn out blanket and an empty flour tin to cook his porridge in. The Central African gunbearer or tracker does not ask a tent, water bottle, cooking pot, or any of the luxuries expected by the Somalis, and neither does he get from 50 to 100 rupees a month, but is pleased with a humble fee of from four to six shillings and a yard of cloth, or some salt every week to buy food, though the old hand gives his men meat to barter with the villagers for their flour, sweet potatoes, ground nuts, etc. It is known that the natives of British East Africa are the poorest trackers or hunters in any territory in Africa ; so I cannot understand why people praise them ; but then such Europeans cannot have hunted with really good native trackers in a bushed country or they would know better. In Central Africa the game has often to be spoored, especially large antelopes such as eland, kudu, sable, and roan ; and of course big game like elephants, rhino, and buffalo are nearly always tracked, as they are not often come on by chance. This spooring work lends the chief interest to big game hunting, as anyone who is a fair shot can align a rifle barrel straight and kill game if he only keeps cool and gets close enough. In Central Africa most shots will be obtained at a distance of 150 yards or less, and I have not often found it necessary to fire at 300 yards or over, unless in the case of following up a wounded beast. This is, I think, the only excuse for long-range shooting, as all men deplore losing a hit animal, which will go off and be shunned and turned out B 2 4 Wild Life in Central Africa. of the herd by its comrades, and will eventually die a slow, painful death, unless it is killed by a lion, leopard, hyena, or pack of wild dogs. Having compared British East Africa with this country, I will now go on to give an account of making a camp in the wilderness. In North-Eastern Rhodesia and Nyasaland I have made several big camps, as it is most uncomfortable being in a tent always. A tent is either too hot or too cold, and it is always a cramped abode for anyone liking a fair amount of space. Besides, a man cannot keep healthy in a tent during the rainy season, as the ground is usually damp and sodden. So, without a preliminary description of how I got there, except to say that it was on my legs and not by machilla, I will bring my reader to a spot in the African bush situated near the source of the Bua River in Nyasaland. On the journey from Blantyre I had shot a considerable amount of game for my " boys " (all native servants are called "boys" here), and once I had heard a lion grunting early in the morning near the Rivi-Rivi stream. I left the path to look for this lion, but he did not " speak" again, and as the ground was hard and stony I could not find his tracks, so I failed to get a shot. On getting to Memeza's village (this chief is a son of Mpseni, the late paramount chief of the Angoni race living in this district), I rented a fair-sized native hut, as I knew it would take about two months to build my camp, and my single fly "Whymper" tent was rather old and weather-worn, and I wished to keep it for further shooting trips. Besides, as I have mentioned, life in a tent is uncomfortable over a long time. A thatched hut, if clean and free from fleas and other human tormentors, is a much better habitation in every way, but I knew from much past experience that the rats and village dogs and pigs would prove a nuisance. Of all tropical pests I w T ould give the ubiquitous rat first place, as these dirty vermin are fearful destroyers of all property. I have had the following and other articles gnawed Tropical Pests. 5 and destroyed by them, so it will be seen that a rat's "menu" is probably one of the most varied of any living creature. To enumerate some of these articles, I can mention rifle stocks, the rubber heelplates often fitted to heavy weapons, leather and web slings of rifles and bags, putties, clothes, sponges, corks of waterbottles, lead articles, books (for the gum or glue in the binding), vulcanite pipe stems and other articles made of that substance, indiarubber articles, leather body belts, hats (it is most cheering to find a hole the size of a crown piece in a new double "Terai" which cost a guinea), skins, horns, all food stuffs, etc. I could easily give a page full of other articles if I cared to, and it is enough to state that rats, and next to them white ants, cause a great amount of loss to the settler here. Traps are of little use, as they get too wary after a time, and there is generally plenty of food kept in the native bins, and offal in quantity for them to feed on. Cats reduce their numbers and make them clear out, although they often get very cute and keep aloft in the thatch where the felines cannot reach them. Other pests, such as mosquitos, fleas, hornets, tarantula spiders, scorpions, centipedes, snakes, biting ants, and other tormentors, do not compare with rats and white ants. With the latter one can take care not to build over a nest, although some parts of this country are so bad that it is difficult to keep clear of them. I have noticed that white ants and fleas are most troublesome in the dry season, whereas snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and some other insects are worse in the rains. Even after taking great care to build my huts in a place apparently clear of white ants, they eventually found their way in, and came up through the mud on the floor, eating skins and boxes, and on the walls they got up the poles and would come out and eat things hung on pegs or nails. It is a good plan to put one's cherished possessions in watertight tin boxes which are impervious to rats or ants, and every night before I turn in I have a look round and lock things up. Unfortunately, one is inclined to leave this 6 Wild Life in Central Africa. until an article has already suffered a certain amount of damage, and most of my belongings bear the marks of rats' teeth, or pieces eaten out of slings and bags by white ants. It is worth mentioning that neither rats nor white ants care to eat green Willesden canvas, such as tents and guncases are made of, and this is a much better material than leather or brown canvas for the tropics. When bees make up their mind to hive they can prove a great nuisance, and I once lost over ten fowls which were stung to death by a swarm. Eventually, they settled in a brick chimney (I was then living in a brick house in Zomba), and in the evening I smoked them out and they dropped into my bedroom by the hundred, which I discovered later when I went to bed, for many were only dazed and stupefied with the smoke, and they soon woke up and began to crawl about. Black ants are bad biters, and I was seldom more amused than when an officer of the King's African Rifles in Zomba, who apparently had never had any previous knowledge of their ways, stood over a line of the " warriors " until many of them had -climbed up the legs of his pants. Then he jumped and rushed into his house and undressed quicker than I ever saw a man do before. His " boys " and I then helped to unload him, which was a difficult business, as he was unable to stand still for long. These ants have very strong mandibles, and if a man were too sick to move, or tied up, a swarm would soon kill him. I have had several ducks and fowls killed by them, and once they nearly killed a calf which they had attacked. Lately, a swarm of fleas appeared at my camp and settled on the ducks and fowls, and the birds' necks and heads got covered with them. They were so numerous that they resembled fine bead work. In three months I had lost nine ducks and about a dozen fowls, when I tried to kill the fleas by rubbing on various strong solutions of corrosive sublimate, permanganate of potash, or boracic acid ; and on one duck I tried a rubbing of paraffin oil, which quickly killed the fleas; but it killed the duck also, for it gave a few shivers and expired. I fancy that when the fleas felt the oil, in Hornets and Snakes. 7 their dying struggles they all began to bite hard, which proved too much for the duck. Hornets, especially a variety, native name magu, sting most painfully, and if a bush is touched where they are hanging to their paper-like nests they dart out and sting. 1 have still a lively recollection of two fastening on to the lobes of my ears and the shooting pain that followed. Why each hornet chose an ear lobe I cannot say; but the fact was evident, and the pain did not cease for several hours. In India, a variety (possibly more than one variety) builds its nests in the tea bushes, and the Indian women get badly stung at times. In fact, I have seen several women nearly killed by them, and I have heard of a few cases where people died from the numerous stings inflicted, and in one instance a pony was stung to death. As these insects generally attack the necks of their victims, death is often caused by suffocation, as violent inflammation and swelling results. I have not found that snakes are so dangerous as statistics would cause one to believe, for I spent nearly seven years of my life as a tea-planter in Cachar, Assam, Sylhet, and the Terai Dooars. During that time I only heard of two or three cases of death from snake-bite, so I cannot understand how the Government can issue statistics of thousands of deaths annually. Like others, I can only believe that the majority of deaths are murders pure and simple, which are reported to the authorities as snake bites. While working in a tea-garden snakes are often disturbed, and I suppose I have killed over 300 Indian snakes, and the worst varieties were cobras and banded kraites. In Africa, by far the worst snake is the puff-adder, as he is usually in a torpid condition, with heat or cold, so is much more liable to be touched. His skin, too, greatly resembles dried dead leaves, and it takes quick and clear eyesight to spot him as he lies quiescent. Some of the water snakes are very deadly and so are the mambas (of three varieties, I think). Personally, I have had narrower escapes from snakes than wild animals, for I can remember three narrow 8 Wild Life in Central Africa. shaves from puff-adders, two from mambas, and one from a deadly type of water snake. I will now leave the subject of pests and mention the building of my camp, which may be of interest to any wanderer who intends to live or settle here for a time. It was in May, 1912, when I started operations, having already been ten years in Central Africa, so I was quite well experienced in this kind of work. The first thing I did was to get labourers, and there was no difficulty about this, as scores of natives came to me to apply for work. In 1903 I had lived in this district and they knew that there would be plenty of meat going, for nothing attracts a native here more than nyama (meat or game). Some of my carriers wished to stay on for a month, and, including them, I wrote on over fifty men and boys. The women here do not work much for Europeans, as they do in India, for they have their own duties to perform. However, when I wanted grass for thatching purposes later on, they brought me thousands of bundles, receiving for each load a lump of fresh meat, or in some cases partially cooked meat, which is the best way to preserve it here. I make stands with fires underneath and cut the meat in long strips, gashing it all over so that the heat and smoke can get well into it. In this condition it lasts for several months, and if it gets slightly " high," this is no matter, as the natives like their meat with a strong gamey flavour. After noting the names of the labourers, I went off with a few men to look for a site not too far from the Bua River. The first spot I picked was unsuitable; as the natives informed me it had been used as a cemetery, so I selected another site near it. Even here there were three old graves within 50 yards, but as I am not superstitious, and as the natives said that they had no objections, I got the men to come along and clear the ground of all grass and bushes, and I had to fell some trees also. In a dambo, or open grassy space, pretty clear of bush and usually wet in its lower parts in the rainy season, I found a Erecting Huts in the Bush. nice spring of clear water, which was a lucky incident, as it is better not to have to drink water from a running stream where the natives wash constantly. As a matter of fact I seldom drink water unless in the shape of tea or coffee. Tea I consider the best drink for tropical countries, as the water to make it with must be boiled. It assuages thirst better than cold water, and also induces a perspiration, which is a good thing in the tropics. Coffee is rather a bilious compound to be drinking constantly, and cocoa induces thirst and is too fat and heavy a fluid for frequent use. After I had cleared about two acres of ground I sent the men off to cut poles, and to get that indispensable material for binding known to the natives as maluzi. This string is the inner shreds of bark, which are pulled off in lengths of from 5ft. to loft, or more, and is taken from the bovu tree. When wanted very strong it is twisted up in strands. The natives use it for all kinds of binding, for nails are never used by them for hut building. The best trees for poles are the masuko and maula, both of which are impervious to the borer insect, which soon gets into soft wood and riddles it with hundreds of holes. Besides, soft woods such as the bovu, which supplies the bark string, do not stand the damp, and soon get rotten. It is best to remove all the bark from the poles, and this is done by hammering it with a piece of wood, or with the back of the axe. If the poles are not cleaned the bark opens and proves a receptacle for all kinds of pests, and the mud of the walls is apt to crack when the bark opens with changes of climate. When the men cut the poles in the bush they should be cut rather long, then cleaned, and afterwards cut to the proper length, after being inspected. I have found it useless to expect the natives to cut them off to the exact length wanted, unless they are marked for them. The best height for the walls of the dining and sitting hut is about gft., and as the poles will be sunk in a trench about i Sin. deep, they should be trimmed to lo^ft. A round hut is measured out by getting two sharp pegs and a long piece io Wild Life in Central Africa. of string. A small loop is made and put over the centre peg, and when the exact diameter wanted is fixed, another loop is made and the other peg inserted, and a circular line made. The space for the door should be marked, but in cutting the trench for the poles the earth should be left intact in the doorway. For the verandah another line is made, and this can be marked by deepening the line with a hoe, so that while at work the men's feet will not obliterate the mark. I made my hut 2yft. wide inside, with a verandah of gft., which made a total diameter of 45ft, as of course the verandah goes right round. Then I made a smaller hut near, 6ft. less inside, with a verandah all round, and the two huts I joined with a passage. I had some difficulty in knowing what kind of doors to make, as the ordinary native door is made from the stalks of maize when dry (called impaissi), and these are loose affairs and soon get broken. At last I thought of getting the poles of the Chiwali palms, which I knew grew near the Bua, a few miles off, so I sent men to cut them, and when they had arrived I got two men to tackle the doors, which are made by putting five or six stakes into the ground and then making holes in the palm sticks and pushing them on. A strong wooden pole is put on as a backstay, and then a strip of palm stick is nailed on. I managed to get some nails from the Government officer at Fort Manning (six miles off), and also some rough boards out of which I fashioned a table, a few racks, and some small windows. He also kindly lent me a saw, plane, two augers, and a few tools. Having no hammer, I did the best I could with a small American axe I possessed, and I may say such a tool is most useful in the bush for all kinds of work. The natives are very expert axemen in a way ; although they doubtless could not compete with the European bushmen of Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. The natives' axes are made of soft wrought- iron, and are seldom wider than liin. in the blade. Some of the African trees are very hard and they will splinter a hard-tempered European axe. In building huts or a house, H M W Building the Permanent Camp. u one has to study the prevailing winds, and the natives will be able to say from what direction they usually come. The door should be placed on the lee side so that the wind will not rush in and bring dirt with it, and blow out the lamps or candles. When the poles for the walls had been cut and trimmed to the right length they were put in the ground, and strips of bovu wood were brought and the poles firmly bound in four circles. Then long poles for the roof were procured, and care should be taken not to get wood that the borer will eat into. Masuko and maula are best, as these are common trees over most parts of the country. To get the pitch of the roof, four men hold up a pole each while another stands about 25 yards off to see that the angle is right. Then these four sticks are firmly tied and others are put in between and tied. Some of these poles, especially the first four, have forked ends which are pushed into one another and the spaces form gaps to insert other poles into. Then, when the poles are about a foot apart on the tops of the wall poles, the roof is fastened with strips of wood firmly tied with maluzi string. The floors of the huts should be raised about 9 inches or a foot, and then children can be got to hammer it with slabs of wood flattened at the ends. The verandah is made by placing poles from one of the circular strips of binding on the roof to poles laid across the upright verandah poles, and these should be at nearly the angle of the upper part of the roof. I was fortunate enough to find some white clay in a dambo not far away, which was of a nice French grey colour when it had dried on the walls of the huts. I got native women to smooth up the floor with flat stones, and to do this they got some dark coloured earth, which was made into a paste, and when half dry the flat stones were rubbed over it, making a fine polished surface, which, however, did not last long, even when covered with mats and skins. I am afraid this account of hut building will prove rather tedious and dry reading, and though I would like to get on 12 Wild Life in Central Africa. to the shooting I must still give a few lines about the thatching of the roof. If the grass is wanted very clean it is possible to comb it out on a kind of large hackle, but more than half of it will disappear in doing this, as it is full of short fibre. So as to have the interior nice, I got about twenty-five bundles of sicaira grass, which is naturally clean, of a pale yellow colour, and very strong and long. This I put on under the ordinary grass and it prevented short stalks and grass seeds from falling into the hut. The grass here usually seeds about May or June, so it is best, if it is full of seeds, to leave it lying for a few days in the sun and then shake it Well, to get rid of the thousands of sharp seeds, which are very disagreeable if they fall on one's blankets, clothes, or into the food. It is most interesting superintending such work, and if the natives are stupid or aggravating it is best to be patient and try to teach them. The climate often makes Europeans most irritable, and the intensely aggravating qualities of some natives make it very hard for a man to keep his temper, especially if he be of a quick, sensitive, and energetic nature. If a native gets more than one order at a time he will only remember the last. A white man, if he is asked to do three things, usually does them in the order named ; not so a native, for he would likely forget the two former orders, and possibly the last, too, as he would get hopelessly muddled. I think all young men who intend to live in a wild country should have some knowledge of the following subjects : I. Gunnery shooting with rifle and gun. 2. Zoology and taxidermy. 3. Mechanics, including motor and ordinary cycle repairing. 4. Carpentry and wood work. 5. House building, brick making, and some knowledge of surveying. 6. Horses, riding, and some knowledge of veterinary work. 7. Stock such as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. 8. Medicine and rough surgery. Knowledge Settlers Require. 13 9. Gardening, especially vegetable growing and planting. 10. Boating and fishing, ii. Rough camp life and cookery. 12. Skinning and butcher work. Any youth who has some practical knowledge of these subjects will make a most capable colonist. In wild countries I have often met men who could not use a saw, hammer, or file ; and as for using an axe or adze, they would probably have amputated a toe at the first attempt. Some could not even clean a rifle or gun properly, and their knowledge of all useful subjects was practically nil. In most of our best schools boys are now taught many useful subjects, and in most cases such knowledge will be vastly more useful to them in after life than a knowledge of extinct languages, such as Latin or Greek. Certain very sensitive and refined persons might turn up their noses at taxidermy, or skinning and butcher work ; but it is quite possible to retain refinement, and yet have a knowledge of how to use one's hands and brains ; and it will certainly lead to comfort in the long run. There are doubtless thousands of Britons living at home who would be glad to leave their occupations and go abroad ; but circumstances prevent them doing so, and they get rid of superfluous energy by playing games such as football and cricket. But such games, strenuous exercise though they may be, are a very inferior training for a wild natural life in a primeval country. It has often been proved that the best men for a rough life abroad are the moderate sized, wiry individuals, and not the large, lusty men, who usually are the first to break down under prolonged hardship and discomfort. The same applies to the natives of Central Africa, and when starting out on a hard trip I usually pick out the smaller men, some of whom show little fat or muscle on their bodies. [Since the completion of this volume a new regulation has come into force in Nyasaland regarding the occupation 14 Wild Life in Central Africa. of Crown lands, and a man can no longer build a permanent hunting camp in the bush, or he will be liable to a penalty of 100 fine and a further penalty of 10 a day after notice to quit has been given. I think this is rather a harsh and unjust law when applied to parts far removed from civilisation, and it is evident that there is one law for the blacks and another for the whites, for the former can go where they like, build villages, and cut timber on Crown lands. Land is no longer sold here by the Administration as it used to be, and it can now only be leased for a term of seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years ; so if a man wishes to buy land, he can only do so from people who acquired it before the new regulations came out. Of course a man can still travel about and pitch a tent ; and, I suppose, make a rough shelter, and use timber for firewood ; but, as I have said, he cannot erect a permanent shooting camp here, and spend his time hunting and making notes on natural history, as I did, without special permission, and this, I fancy, it would be difficult to get at the present time.] CHAPTER II. SHOOTING IN CENTRAL ANGONILAND (NYASALAND). A slight description of Central Angoniland Nyasaland well watered and thickly bushed The rainy and dry seasons Grass fires Cold at night Plateaux in Nyasaland Distance walked in Central Africa Some rules for hunting Two elands shot One wounded and found dead Pain suffered by wounded beasts Vital shots at game Tenacity of life in game Elephants and rhinos easy to kill Mr. Selous's opinion of tenacity of life in lions The first bullet the all-important one Close quarters best with dangerous game Fine sable antelope shot Horns and ivory shrinking with age and heat Natives' fondness for meat The best country for large sable heads Eland cow and bull shot Good cow eland horns Remarks on hunting game Three zebras killed Zebra meat causing rash Cutting the throats of game Good hunting tribes Search for an elephant Hartebeest shot Vegetable nuisances Some good kudu heads got in Central Africa Abundance of kudu. CENTRAL ANGONILAND is perhaps one of the best game countries left in Africa, as it is still in the same primeval condition as it was before the whites came to the country some twenty years ago. As I will enumerate the game in later chapters, I will only say that nearly all the species known to exist in Nyasaland are found here, and the only species that are absent are the Nyasaland gnu and the inyala. The puku is found on the Bua River, the only locality where it is known to exist here ; although it is extremely abundant in the adjoining territory of North- Eastern Rhodesia. The topographical aspects of the country are on the whole a vast undulating extent of bush, with a dambo here and there, and many hills. I have mentioned before that the word " dambo " means a grassy space, sometimes clear of trees, but often with bushes or trees here and there, and 1 6 Wild Life in Central Africa. usually there are plenty of ant hills, which form fine stalking cover for approaching game. The drainage of the surrounding bush finds its way to these places, and many of the rivers in this country have their source in some such marshy hollow. Compared to many of our other possessions in Africa, Nyasaland is well favoured with trees and a good water supply, and the rains being regular, the natives are able to depend on the soil producing a plentiful supply of food. In the course of time the amount of timber they cut to make their gardens will doubtless affect the rainfall, although they naturally never go very far from water. They are very wasteful with the timber, as they collect it in heaps and burn it, for they believe that the wood ashes make the soil more productive, and, certainly, vegetables such as pumpkins seem to grow best where there are plenty of ashes. The rains usually break about the beginning of December, and they last until April or May. About August all the grass has got yellow and dry, and the natives then burn it, and this is ruinous to the growth of the trees in the dryer parts of the country. They start these fires so as to get the field mice, which are burnt to death ; and millions of reptiles, insects, and birds must be killed also ; and in some cases I have heard of young elephants and antelopes being burnt to death. The hottest months are those of September, October, and November, and at this time the heat can be terrific in some parts of the country, such as the Chiromo marsh. In North-Eastern Rhodesia, the valley of the Luangwa River is very hot, and the same can be said of the valley of the Zambesi River. In May, June, and July the nights are often cold, and fires are a comfort, but about August the weather gets hotter by day and night, although the nights are never uncomfortably hot on the higher levels. There are many ranges of hills and detached kopjes scattered all over Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia. In Nyasaland the best known mountains are the plateaux on Mlanje and the Zomba range, and people often go to The Mlanje Plateau. 17 these places for a change. The cold during June and July can be bitter on either of these plateaux, and natives taken there should certainly be provided with a blanket, for cold generally crumples up a native, although he can usually stand any amount of heat. The scenery on the Mlanje Plateau is very beautiful and many cedar wood forests will be seen, and there are also many clear streams of pure, cold water. Any visitor to Nyasaland, or even people who settle there, should make a journey to this plateau, for the climate and vegetation are quite different from any other that will be experienced or seen in the country. The plateau has, besides the cedar forests, many beautiful heaths, and the air is cool and crisp and quite exhilarating after the atmosphere of the plains. In this chapter I intend to give some account of my experience of game in Central Angoniland, so I will now begin to do so. While my huts were building I often went for a walk into the surrounding bush, and my favourite time was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun began to lose its power and sink in the west. The only disadvantage about the afternoon shoot is that game killed has to be left out for the night, especially if it is a large bodied beast, and from the European point of view this does not improve the meat for the table, but natives do not mind it in the least. I have often wondered how many miles I have walked through rough bush and along native paths in Central Africa. Having lived in the country for ten years, I must surely have covered quite 20,000 miles on foot. I have never kept a record of the distance covered, although in my old diaries, most of which are at home, I have kept notes of most of the game I have shot, and of all my many journeys after game. When living in some lonely hut or house, very few days pass that I do not go out into the bush with my rifle. Life in such a place, far from civilisation and libraries, would be intolerably slow if one did not spend the time in this way. It is interesting to take notes of the game, and for a couple c 1 8 Wild Life in Central Africa. of years or so I was constantly taking rough sketches of their footprints, or spoor, as well as sketching their droppings and making notes on their habits. There are three important rules that should be observed by all who hunt big game, and these are : i. Observance of the direction of the wind. 2. To make as little noise as possible. 3. Get close for the shot so as to hit a vital spot. There are plenty of other rules, but these are certainly the most important ; at least, they are according to my ideas. On May 25, 1912, I went out with several men carrying the cartridge bag, camera, and an axe, and we went along slowly for it is useless walking quickly, as one makes too much noise and cannot scan the country for game and especially on the look out for elands, as a great number of these animals had lately been visiting the native maize gardens in the vicinity of Memeza's village. Every morning their fresh tracks could be seen, and a herd of these large antelopes will do as much damage as an equivalent number of cattle, and in a further chapter I will mention the amount of damage done to the natives' crops by elephants and other game. It is enough to mention here that the natives are not allowed to kill large animals, and they usually only hunt pig and small buck with their pariah- like dogs, and run the animals down by speed of foot and terminate the business with their soft iron spears or knobkerries. As it was late when I left the village I did not intend to go far, but this was not necessary, for after leaving the maize fields and getting into the bush for less than a mile I saw some large animals about 300 yards off, and knew at the first glance that they were elands. I may mention that seeing game is more a matter of habit and knowing what game looks like than exceptional power of eyesight. A white man can become just as quick as a native in this respect after plentiful experience ; and having shot a great deal of game, and seen much more, I find I usually see it now before the natives who accompany me. Spooring Elands Shot. ig game is a more difficult matter, but the European can learn to do this also if he only makes a proper study of the subject. On seeing the elands I told the natives to lie down, and I proceeded to stalk them, and after some difficulty I got to within 150 yards, which is near enough to make good shooting at animals of their size. The game was suspicious, so seeing a good bull that presented a fair shot, I aimed at his shoulder and pressed the trigger. He immediately gave a shiver and raised his forelegs from the ground, as elands often do when hit well forward, and dashed off with most of the herd, but another bull was a bit slow in moving, and I immediately fired at him also. The herd consisted of over thirty animals, and the wounded beasts, were soon lost to sight, so I took the spoor and soon found blood, and after tracking for a short time I found the animal lying dead. This was the second bull fired at, and as I could not find any more blood on the tracks, and it was rapidly getting dark, I covered up the dead eland and went back to the village, deciding to return the next morning to look for the first animal I had hit. After a wash and a good dinner, succeeded by several pipes, I went to bed and was up at cock crow next morning. As I can never eat much early in the morning, two cups of tea and some toast was all I waited to dispose of, arid then I started for the dead game, accompanied by over fifty natives. We soon reached the eland and found it had not been interfered with by carnivorous animals during the night, although I noticed fresh hyena spoor in the sand near it. I always hang my pocket handkerchief over game, and this usually serves to keep off lions, leopards, or hyenas. While I was measuring the horns of the eland and taking a snapshot with my Kodak, a man who had wandered about 200 yards off called out that he had found the other eland lying dead, and so it proved, and on following his tracks backwards I found he had only run about 100 yards from where he was hit and then fallen dead. He did not go off C 2 20 Wild Life in Central Africa. with the herd, but took a line of his own, which was the reason we had failed to notice his spoor in the grey light of the previous evening. This was satisfactory, as I knew that I had not lost a wounded beast, although if he had gone off I would have spent the whole of the day in trying to find him. The worst feature about shooting is wounding and losing a fine animal, as its sufferings must be great. The other herd animals shun it, because, I think, the smell of fresh blood is disliked by them ; so it has to lead a solitary existence until it dies from its wound, or death in some other shape or form puts a termination to its sufferings. This eland had been hit through the large arteries leading into the heart, and this is quite as good a shot as the heart one. In some ways it is better, for if the bullet strikes a little back the lungs will probably be punctured. Game shot in the heart, or in the big arteries above that organ, usually give a shiver and draw them- selves together, and dash off at a quick pace and fall dead within a short distance. If struck in the lungs they may go farther and leave a more plentiful blood spoor, and this blood will be light- coloured and frothy. A shot in the kidneys usually kills game pretty quickly, as such a wound has a sickening effect and it causes severe internal haemorrhage. Shots in the brain, centre of neck, and in the spine usually drop game where they stand, and, of course, animals often drop with shots in other parts ; but they will probable get up again and run off. If an animal is found lying stretched out on its side it is usually done for, and on the point of death ; but if sitting up, it will likely have the strength to get on its legs and bolt. Sometimes a wound seems to paralyse a beast's nervous system, and it is then able to stand several subsequent wounds in deadly parts of its body without showing much distress for some time. It is wonderful how tenacious of life wild animals are, and the small duiker, considering its diminutive size, is an example of this. It is difficult to say what is the toughest species, but the kob family is probably the most tenacious of life ; Long Range Shooting. 21 and waterbuck and puku are two of the toughest I have met with, although if properly hit with the first bullet they are as easily killed as anything else. Although lions are said to be pretty tough if not hit well forward, a deep wound will probably cause their death ; for being carnivorous feeders their wounds are more liable to suppurate and cause inflammation in a very short space of time. Elephants and rhinos are easy to kill, and so are buffaloes if well hit ; although an old buffalo bull can carry off a lot of lead if he is not struck well forward. Mr. F. C. Selous has mentioned that he has found lions easy to kill, and most people who have shot elephants have found it very easy to kill them with small or medium bore rifles. Of course it is imperative to get close if one is to expect to place the bullet well, and certainly the most important shot with all game is the first one. People who fire long range shots at dangerous game, and then have to follow up the animals, really take much more risk in doing so than they would do in approaching close for the first shot, when they could make tolerably certain of placing their bullet in a vital spot. Also it must be remembered that a small bullet in the right place is always better than a large one in the WTong place. After seeing the natives started on cutting up the elands, one of which I had given complete to Memeza to divide with his brother and one or two other headmen of adjoining villages, I started off to try to find some more game, and soon reached a dambo, where, however, nothing was visible. I walked along the edge of the timber, and every now and then I turned round and looked back, when suddenly I saw a bull sable leave the bush on the opposite side and begin to cross the dambo towards my side. It was a good 600 yards off when I first caught sight of it, so I turned back and ran inside the thick bush, for I wanted to get a shot at it before it reached thick cover. When I thought I was about 200 yards from the place I made for the open again, and saw the sable walking slowly towards the bush. I sat down 22 Wild Life in Central Africa. and fired at it with the 200 yards leaf up as it was walking, and I missed. The sable stopped, so I quickly pumped another cartridge into the magazine of my 7-9 mm. Mauser rifle and fired again, this time with better results, as I heard the bullet make the welcome " phut." The sable started forward and was soon into the bush, so I followed, and suddenly saw him standing looking back. I fired quickly, he dropped, and I thought I had broken his backbone. On approaching close he suddenly jumped up and ran off at a great pace, and I missed him. I felt disgusted at my bad shooting, but I determined that I would follow him all day if necessary. From the glances I had had of his long curved horns I knew he had a good head, so I was soon on his tracks, which were easy to follow as long as he was running, for a sable cuts deep into the soil, and his hoofs spread much when he is moving quickly. At last he began to walk slowly, but he got into country where the ground was covered with a thick carpet of dry fallen leaves, perhaps the most difficult type of country to spoor in that it is possible to find. Then we lost the spoor completely, and I thought I was to lose the sable, but I spread out the men and told them to look for the tracks, and to keep their eyes open for the game. I was w r alking in the centre of the line when I caught sight of the sable standing nearly 200 yards away. There was no time to sit down and take a steady shot, so I fired standing, and very quickly, and I was delighted to see him drop, and on going up to him I found that the last bullet had entered close to the point of his shoulder and got him in the heart a particularly good shot, but at the same time a very lucky one, for I could not depend on shooting so straight every time. The horns were a fine pair, measuring close on 42in. on the curve, and they eventually dried to 4iiin., as all horns do after being kept for a time. Ivory also dries up, and a 5olb. tusk may sometimes go dow r n to 461b. or so if kept in a hot, dry climate. Horn and ivory substance is full of moisture, and as this evaporates there is a slight decrease in weight and measurements. Natives Great Meat Eaters. 23 As we had not brought out any water with us we were all rather thirsty and tired, so after photographing the dead sable we started back for the village, which was only about four miles off. How different are one's feelings when returning successful from what they are after a fatiguing day when some fine animal has been missed or, worse still, wounded and lost ! In the latter case every step is tiring, and one's own feelings are reflected on the men, who keep silent and glum. Sometimes when a large animal, such as an elephant, has been killed, the natives will sing and carry the tail, and wave it as they get near the village. Possibly another man has got a load of meat and the villagers will run out and beg a bit. All natives are extremely fond of meat and the amount they are capable of eating at a sitting is prodigious, and I am sure some of them could dispose of ten pounds without feeling in any way uncomfortable. After a succession of great gorges natives will become dazed with too much flesh ; in fact they get drunk with meat. Elephant meat they are very fond of, as they believe that eating it gives them strength. The sable antelopes in the Eastern and Southern parts of Central Africa, such as in Nyasaland, for instance, seldom grow very long horns, and a head of 42in. or 43in. may be considered an exceptional one. I saw a head in Fort Jameson which measured 4yin., and this trophy was picked up near the Mangazi valley. On the plateau above Lake Tanganyika some sable with very large horns have been shot, but the best place for large sable trophies is North-Western Rhodesia, where heads of 45in. are common, and where they have' been shot up to 5oin. and slightly over. As I always give natives most of the meat of any game I shoot, only keeping part of it and the head and skin for myself, this large quantity of meat was soon finished, and I still wanted many bundles of grass for my huts, so on the 29th I went out again to try to fill the larder. 24 Wild Life in Central Africa. I had walked some way before I saw any game, when suddenly I saw an eland feeding not far off. On getting near enough for the shot, I saw it was a cow with a particularly good head, so I fired at her neck and made a good shot, for she dropped in her tracks. Then a bull appeared and ran off, but stood and looked back from a distance of slightly over 200 yards, and I also fired for his neck, but made a bad shot, for the bullet took him under the ear. He dropped dead, which was satis- factory ; but I like to hit where I aim. The cow was still alive when I came back to examine her, so I ended her pain with a bullet behind the shoulder. She had horns measuring 3i|in. on the straight, but the right horn had an ugly inward twist which spoilt the symmetry of the trophy. The question of giving pain to animals is the worst feature about game shooting, and yet after all it is necessary to get meat, and a well-placed bullet kills humanely. Many people who have never experienced the fascinating and exhilarating sport of big-game hunting allege it is cruel ; but I fancy that these people are not averse to eating a nice bit of roast beef or tender mutton, and if they do not kill the cattle and sheep themselves, others do it for them. The killing is usually the most distasteful part of the business to the hunter, and it is quite a mistake for people to say that sportsmen are devoid of kind or humane feelings, for every good sportsman likes to give a beast a chance for its life. Our remote ancestors had to hunt to get meat to eat, and this spirit has been handed down to many of us, and it will be a long time before it disappears. Big game hunting is good training for young men, and a man learns a lot when busy at it, so it is to be hoped that the splendid game countries we possess in Africa, Asia, and Canada will be preserved for generations yet to come. A man who is expert at circumventing animals in their natural haunts will likely prove as efficient when the game is two instead of four- footed; and there is no better training field for officers than the haunts of wild game. Game inhabits all types of country, Stalking and Tracking Game. 25 from the mountainous ridges of the Himalayas to the long flat stretches of desert found in parts of Africa. In hilly country the game will be searched for with a glass and then stalked, and this is probably the highest form of big game shooting. In Central Africa, unless an animal is tracked up step by step, it will probably be shot by tramping about the bush, and compared to hill stalking or the steady spooring work necessary in tracking, this bush tramping is really poor sport, as the animal is seen all of a sudden, and the shot fired almost immediately, without any preliminary work except some rough walking. Consequently, I put deer stalking in Scotland or any other country, and markhor and ibex shooting in the Himalayas, on a much higher plane than the generality of African shooting ; although to be successful in the latter, one has to exercise much care to go quietly, as at certain times of the year the ground is covered with hard, brittle leaves, some of which go off like a pistol if they are trodden on. Most people who shoot in Central Africa wear heavy boots, and often riding breeches and gaiters, and it is impossible to " still hunt" in such a dress. The best foot- gear is either thick rubber-soled boots or shoes, or others with chrome soles; and the nether garments should be pants, known as " shorts/' and I have found it best to shoot in bare legs. Sometimes it is pretty hard on the skin, although, with practice, the legs get hard, and one's eyes become used like a native's to choose an easy path. A European who has not been accustomed to walk about in rough country usually keeps his eyes in the air, but a good bushman's eyes are all over the place, for he will glance down and seek a path free from holes or obstructions, and the next second his eyes will be ranging the country ahead and to the sides in search of game. If I had not accustomed myself, after ten years of rough bush walking, to keeping a good look out where I put my feet, I would probably have been bitten several times by poisonous snakes, such as puff-adders, or I would have 26 Wild Life in Central Africa. broken my legs by putting them into old ant-bear holes r which are often quite hidden by thick grass growing round them. This is a great country for honey, and the natives range the bush looking for it in holes in trees, and sometimes they put out bark tubes for the bees to hive in. They usually collect it in a dirty manner and bring it full of bark and grass chips, and also full of maggots, but it can be strained, and a piece of old mosquito netting is useful for this. As most of the game meat got here lacks much fat, except the eland's, which often has a lot, the system needs two substances, and these are fat and sugar. I am certain sugar is a great strengthener for those taking hard bodily exercise ; in fact, one often gets a craving for sweet things ; so nothing could be better or more wholesome than honey, which it is usually easy to procure during the dry season. After a spell of looking after the work at my camp I sallied out again on June 2, and came on a herd of zebras, and shot three of them. I cannot say I like shooting these harmless, beautiful animals, and many is the herd I have passed by without harming them, although in some districts they prove a nuisance, as they make a great noise when running, especially on hard, stony ground, and they thus disturb more valuable game. Many is the elephant that has been lost owing to a rushing herd of zebras, for the noise they make frightens other game and makes them bolt too. Many of the natives refuse to eat zebra meat as they say it gives them a rash or itch, and the young children are said to suffer from this rash more than the adults ; but perhaps this skin rash is caused more by over- eating than by the kind of meat partaken of. Again, different families of natives eschew the flesh of some species of game. Some will not eat bush-buck, others bush-pig, and so on. This is not a caste prejudice, but purely a personal one. Mohammedans will not eat pig and sometimes refuse to touch the animal, and hippo is often barred. In Nyasaland Best Native Game Spoor ers. 27 the Yao tribe called Ajawa by the natives are Moham- medans, and unless the throat of an animal is cut they will not eat the meat. The throat has to be cut when there is life in the animal ; but the Yaos are not so particular in this respect as the Indian Mohammedans, for I have seen them cut the throats of dead animals, although they always- pretend that they are not quite dead. This throat cutting is often a nuisance to the sportsman who wants to keep the masks of game for setting up, and in such a case the African Mohammedan will usually be satisfied if he is allowed to stab the beast's throat near its junction with the chest. In India this rite is called " hallalkaro." When a beast falls it is a mistake to allow the men to rush forward, as the animal may get up again, so I always restrain my men and approach first, and it is needless to remark that one should never approach an animal, especially a dangerous animal, with an empty rifle. Many fine trophies have been lost by omitting to follow this simple rule, and quite a number of elephants have got up and been lost by not making sure they were dead by putting in a final shot. The best races of natives I have met for bush and spooring work are the Awemba, who live in northern parts of North-Eastern Rhodesia, but I have also seen excellent hunters and trackers belonging to such tribes as the Akunda, Awisa, Achewa, Angoni, Asenga, and Yaos. It usually depends on whether a native lives in a good game district, and whether he is fond of hunting. As to pluck, this is not singular to any particular race of savages, although the paramount races, such as the Awemba, Angoni, and Yaos, are more likely to act bravely in an emergency than members of slave tribes. On June 7 I went out to try to find some elephants that had been coming to the fallen maize stalks near Kamwendo's village. I had Kamwendo with me and he is one of the best elephant trackers I have ever seen, and once he gets on the spoor of a good bull he is almost 28 Wild Life in Central Africa. certain to take one up to him. He has been with me on several trips and most of the Europeans who have hunted elephants here have had him with them, and he must have seen over fifty big bulls shot, if not more. He is an Achewa headman, and his village is about eight miles south of Fort Manning. He is always ready to go out with sportsmen, so if anyone comes here who wants a shot at an elephant Kamwendo will take him to the best places and do the tracking work. Besides being a good spoorer, he is an agreeable native to get on with as he is always civil, and he knows all the villages and elephants' haunts for many miles around, and he is very popular with the natives as he is fond of beer, and often goes off on visiting rounds to look for it. A native will often travel twenty or thirty miles to a village where there is beer, and I know several headmen who are constantly on the move to try to find it. Kamwendo took me to his gardens and we found the spoor of a single bull elephant, but the tracks were two days old, so we went off to a drinking hole about six miles away and on getting there we found the night's tracks of three small elephants, two bulls and a cow, but Kamwendo agreed with me that they were not worth following, as the tusks would not be more than 2olb. to 25lb. each. It does not follow that the best tuskers have the largest feet, but there is a limit, and any elephant with tracks less than 5oin. in circumference is not likely to be a very large one. An average measurement for a big bull's front feet will be about 54in. in circumference, and some of the largest will measure 56in. or 58in. As we were looking round, I spotted a herd of hartebeests feeding near the top of the dambo, and as my men asked me to shoot one I went off to stalk them. I may say here that there is only one variety of hartebeest in Central Africa, Lichtenstein's, and in referring to hartebeests this is the variety that is meant. With some trouble I got to within 150 yards, as I think the game had seen us at the water hole and were slightly Obnoxious Vegetation. 29 suspicious. I fired at one which dropped in its tracks and then fired at another which also fell to the shot, but it jumped up at once and ran off. The first one very soon expired, so I started off to try to find the other. I put it up once, and, judging by the way it ran, it did not seem to be badly damaged. As we were all thirsty and rather tired, we returned to the water hole, where I made some tea in a small kettle I had brought out, and demolished some bread, a tin of sardines, and three hard-boiled eggs. Then, after a smoke, I left some of the men to cut up the dead harte- beest, and went off with Kamwendo and another man to try to find the wounded animal. Once again, about 4 p.m., we disturbed it, and as it was going strong, and the sun was sinking, we had to leave it and get back. I had spent a good six hours on its tracks, so had done my best to find it, for I loathe wounding and losing a beast. It was past sundown when I got home, and by this time the nightjars were hovering round in the open spaces after moths, and the frogs in the Bua were croaking hard. Darkness soon comes on there, and, if there is not a good moon, it is uncomfortable being benighted in rough bush country ; and many is the fall and hard bump I have received when stumbling back to camp in the dark. Bare legs are certainly best for daytime when one can see where he is going, but at night a pair of putties or light gaiters would be a comfort and save some painful stabs and scratches. There is a vile vegetable growth in this country which is called chitaisi, and its pod is covered with numberless fine hairs, which cause a most painful itching and rash. On a wintry day, and when these pods are ripe and ready to fall, the minute hairs get blown all over the place, and if they get into clothes or blankets they prove a great nuisance. When following elephants into thick cover the hairs will drop on one's arms and neck, and I can assure the reader that they are just like hundreds of sharp needles, with some irritating acid put on them, being pressed into one's flesh. The itch ceases in a few hours and leaves a rash like nettle stings, but it does no further damage ; although if a 30 Wild Life in Central Africa. man's blood was in bad order, and he scratched the skin off to get relief, it might end in an attack of blood poisoning. There is another variety of this buffalo bean Angoni name, kasi which the natives eat by breaking the pods and cooking the beans, from which they remove the hard skins after boiling well. The Achewa race call the bean chitaidza. One of the worst districts here for the buffalo bean is Mlanje, where the vegetation is rank and tropical. Scrubb's ammonia eases the itching, but then a sportsman cannot carry a bottle of it with him when tramping in the bush, so he will need to put up with it, and he is sure to meet it sooner or later if he shoots here when the grass is long. There is another plant which flowers annually which is very irritating and makes one cough hard as the dust gets down one's throat, but this bush is only present in some districts. Of course there are plenty of thorns and stinging plants, which, not being a botanist, I cannot give the scientific names of ; but after a few years, insects that sting and plants that irritate are not much noticed, as the skin gets hardened and inured to them. The newcomer always suffers more than the old hand, as his skin is soft and his blood rich, a fact that insects seem to find out soon. June 13 saw me on the tramp again, and on this day I went through some lovely undulating country, just like a wild, untended park at home, although, of course, the vegetation was very different. I saw several oribis and let them go, for it is a mistake firing at such small fry, as the shots put other game on the qui vive. I have often thought a " Maxim Silencer" fitted to the rifle would be handy, and yet it does not seem quite sport to use such a contrivance, as the game has quite a heavy enough handicap against it already, with rifles of great velocity and killing power. While going along we suddenly disturbed a kudu bull in some thick bush, and as kudu bulls do not usually give one O *j ffi Q, 1/3 5 Kudu Horns. 31 much time for contemplation, I fired at him quickly and saw a sapling between us shake and then drop over. He started forward and then turned and ran, but stopped after going about fifty yards and looked back, when I got him in the lungs, and he fell and died in less than a minute. His head was not a very good one, but it is very difficult seeing the horns of an antelope which is startled, as he holds his head high with the horns laid over his back. The first bullet, which had cut the sapling, had splintered and left several scores along his back, one of which had cut the skin for a length of a foot. Once when marching to Tete I shot a very fine bull kudu with 5yin. horns, and in this case, also, the bullet penetrated a small sapling and then hit the kudu in the lungs, making a hole as large as a i2-bore spherical bullet. This kudu fell in his tracks and died almost immediately. The best kudu head I have seen in Central Africa was one belonging to a kudu shot by Captain C. H. Stigand, near the Shire River, in Nyasaland, and as far as I can remember its horns measured as follows : Curve 63fin. Straight ... 45 ,, Tip to tip ... 45 i,, I have never had the good fortune to shoot such a fine kudu as this, although I shot two kudus in North-Eastern Rhodesia, on October 10, 1908, one of which exceeded Captain Stigand's head in two of its measurements. The dimensions were as under : 4 Curve 54^in. Straight 46^ , , Tip to tip 49!,, Circumference ... ... ... ... lof ,, This head was an abnormal one, as it will be seen that there is only a difference of Sin. between the curve and straight measurements, whereas the usual difference is quite a foot. 32 Wild Life in Central Africa. The other kudu I shot at the same time as the above head had also a fair pair of horns, as they measured : Curve 53i in - Straight 41^ ,, Tip to tip ... ... 32^,, Circumference ... ... ... ... ni,, These measurements show a more normal head in every way, and the circumference measurement also shows that the animal was older than the one bearing the abnormally wide horns. A kudu head is certainly one of the finest trophies a sportsman can hope to get in Africa, and these animals being very wary, as a rule, and not so often shot as many of the antelopes inhabiting more open country, they are still numerous in parts of Nyasaland, Portuguese territory, and North-Eastern Rhodesia, and will likely remain so for many years to come. I think, as do the majority of men who have shot in Africa, that the kudu is quite the finest antelope there,, although a few hunters might give first place to the sable antelope or the gemsbuck. A kudu's horns look well on a wall, and so do a gemsbuck's, but a sable head, owing to the great backward curve, does not show up as well as the other two heads mentioned. Owing to their wary and retiring habits, kudu are more difficult to find and bring to bag than most antelopes, but this only enhances the value of the trophy to the lucky sportsman who manages to bag a good head. I have heard men say that kudu are scarce in Central Africa, but they are really one of the most numerous species, and there are plenty of them, only they inhabit rough, broken country where the walking is often hard, at least to people who like to find their sport easy. CHAPTER III. FURTHER SHOOTING EXPERIENCES IN CENTRAL ANGONILAND. Two bull elands shot One a very large one Measurements given Weight of a large eland Rich fat obtained from elands Change to my new camp List of huts made and cost An insolent native False evidence The best way to treat an insolent native Oribi and reed- buck shot Hartebeests companionable animals Roan antelope wounded and found later Two roan antelopes killed Collecting blood smears of game A fine roan lost in North-Eastern Rhodesia Good trophies shot by chance A splendid pair of elephant tusks obtained by Mr. Melland in North-Eastern Rhodesia A friend shoots two lions on his first trip Loneliness of life in the wilds A fine lion missed A tropical storm Game in heavy rain A fine impala lost Articles quoted from the Field: "Long Shots at Big Game," " Photographing Big Game," " Measurements of African Crocodiles." I WAS on the trail again on the i5th, as the elands had been coming every night to the gardens to eat the fallen and dried maize stalks, and it did not take me long to get on the spoor of a large herd, which, judging from the large footprints of some of them, contained some big bulls. On fairly soft ground elands are very easy beasts to spoor, as, being very heavy, they leave deep footprints. We had gone perhaps four or rive miles when I caught sight of the herd, just as Kadango, the best man I had with me, saw them. As the game had not seen us, I told the men to lie down and keep low ; for they often put their heads up to watch proceedings, and this has sometimes scared the game and frightened them away as I was D 34 Wild Life in Central Africa. crawling up close. By the time I had got to within 150 yards the elands were beginning to think all was not right, for some of them faced in my direction with their horns laid back. I fancy they heard an occasional leaf crack, as all the vegetation was very dry and brittle. Suddenly they ran, and I saw a very large blue bull trotting clear of the others and fired twice at him, hearing both bullets tell. Then I lost sight of him for a time, but, seeing another bull with the herd which had a fine pair of horns, I waited for them to slow down, which they soon did. I fired at him, and he went off looking very groggy. I ran after him, telling Kadango to go after the big bull and keep it in sight if possible. I soon got closer to my animal, which had stopped after running about 300 yards and looked back, and I fired a steady shot at its shoulder at a range of seventy yards or so. It did not move, but I saw it shiver slightly, so I immediately fired again for the same place, and it fell on its side, and was soon dead. On going up to it I found that it had three bullets all within 6in. of each other, just about right for the heart, except that the first one was about 4in. too far back. As I was looking at this fine animal, I heard Kadango calling me, so I went towards the sound and soon saw him running. He said the big eland was lying down, but was still alive, so I went back and soon saw it sitting with its forelegs under it ; but one hind leg stretched out in an unnatural position, and I knew this limb was broken. It had probably been splintered by my first shot and then broken under the great weight of the animal. I soon put the poor beast out of its misery, and then sat down to rest and have a smoke. This was by far the heaviest eland I had ever shot, or seen, but I foolishly allowed him to lie as he was, and so I could not get an exact measurement of his height, as the muscles and sinews had stiffened up by the time the men had returned with the villagers I had sent them back for. i n c P 2 i! SI w *j Great Size of Elands. 35 Here are the measurements, which were most carefully taken with a steel tape : FT. IN. From nose to end of flesh on tail ... ... ... 13 4 From nose to root of tail II 5 Circumference of body at middle... ... ... 9 6 Circumference of neck at middle ... ... ... 70 Height from top of shoulder to heel of fore foot... 6 o Horns on straight ... ... ... ... ... 2 2 About two years ago I shot another large bull eland, which gave a height of 6ft. o|in. at the shoulder, and he measured 8ft. Sin. round the middle of the body and 5ft. gin. round the centre of his neck, and his horns were 29^in. on the straight. He was certainly a younger bull than the very large one I have given detailed measurements of, but, like all full- grown beasts, he had the thick tuft of matted hair on the frontlet of his skull. Whether the measurement of a dead animal's height is a true index as to the height he stands when alive I cannot say, although I do not suppose the difference can be possibly more than one or two inches. The eland which I hit with three bullets grouped close together was also a fine beast, full-grown, but not aged, and his height was an inch less than the old bulPs, but his horns were longer, as they measured 29^in. and had amber-coloured tips. Elands that are very old sometimes wear their horns down to less than 2ft. in length, as they are constantly rubbing them on trees, and they are also often splintered and broken as well. Elands are such grand, inoffensive animals that one regrets killing them, and yet they give good sport in tracking, and the meat and fat they yield is often needed by the hunter. I got over i5lb. of fine, rich fat from the old bull, and this has to be boiled down in pots and the refuse skimmed off. The fat should first be chopped up into small pieces and boiled for several hours, and it should not be washed in w r ater, as this tends to make it go bad. D 2 36 Wild Life in Central Africa. Moreover, it should not be stored in tins, and the best receptacles are large native earthenware pots. Pieces of strong paper or cloth can be tied round the rims of the pots to keep the contents clean. This large bull eland took twenty-five men all their time to remove to the village, some four miles off, and none of them carried less than yolb., and in the case of two men carrying a leg slung on a pole they had considerably more, so this bull must have weighed between iSoolb. and 2ooolb. as he stood, for in such a large beast there is a great loss of weight in blood and the contents of the paunch when cutting up. A large bull's skin is very heavy, and it took two strong men to carry this one slung on a pole with the fat, heart, kidneys, and liver enclosed. The skin of the neck is almost as thick as the hide on a hippo's back, which is slightly over i^in. Bull elands are much taller and heavier than the cows r and the three animals where the male exceeds the female to the most noticeable extent are the elephant, eland, and kudu. The sexes in other game do not appear to vary so much; at least, this is my opinion, which is founded on considerable experience of African game. The tracks of male elephants and elands are also much longer and broader than those of the cows, but in kudu there is not a great difference, although the bull is slightly larger. On the 28th I was out again, and saw two warthogs,. both of which I hit hard. One ran about 120 yards and fell dead, but the other I could not find, although I spent several hours tracking it. Next day I sent a native head- man, named Shauri, with some other men and a lot of dogs, to try to find it, but they returned unsuccessful, so I can only suppose that it was slightly hit, as the 7*9 mm. Rigby- Mauser rifle I generally use makes a very severe wound in all game if the bullet strikes full in the body. In a further chapter I intend to write a few pages on my experiences with high velocity rifles, as I think it a very interesting subject to all big-game men. Description of My Camp. 37 On the 29th I transported all my goods from the village to my new camp, as the huts were fairly dry, although they were rather damp and chilly during cold nights. However,_ large log fires soon dried them, and I was much more comfortable here away from the rats, pigs, and dogs which haunted the village. The air smelt sweeter, too, for a native village is a dirty odoriferous place, not to mention the filth and dust that is always blowing about. My camp had taken about a month to build, and the labour necessary cost me j ios., and for this moderate amount I had the following huts : i. One large round hut 45ft. across the verandahs. 2. One smaller hut (joined to the former by a passage). 3. One guests' hut. 4. Three boys' huts. 5. One kitchen. 6. One store. 7. Two labourers' huts. 8. One goat and sheep hut (oblong and divided in the centre). 9. One fowl and pigeon cote. 10. One large shed for storing horns and skins. This certainly seems a lot of work, but the smaller huts did not have much time or trouble spent on them, except that I saw that they were strongly made and well thatched, and I mudded them all, and put a coat of grey mud on them so that they would all be the same colour. When I came from Blantyre I brought a Yao man with me who had come to ask for work. He was a huge fellow, quite 6ft. in height and strong in proportion, and he was a " gay Lothario " with the women and particularly fond of native beer. This he used to buy with money and barter for meat, but one day when I was out shooting he left his work and, in sight of other men working for me, paid several visits to a stand where I had stored a lot of half-cooked meat. 38 Wild Life in Central Africa. Then he left his work and went off to barter the meat for beer, and he thus got very tipsy. Ubibu, the name he went by, was when sober a kind of mountebank, as he used to make a fool of himself and try to make the natives laugh. On getting back to the village from the bush where I had been shooting, the natives told me that Ubibu had stolen the meat, so I sent to the place where he ought to have been working to call him, but he was absent. At last he was found, and came swaggering up in a very cheeky manner and asked what I wanted with him. I then asked him why he had left his work and why he had had the impertinence to steal my meat, when he usually got a very plentiful share, as he was strong and accustomed to carry heavy loads. He was very insolent, so I lost my temper, very naturally, and told some men to get hold of him, for he had moved off, shouting as he went. The men came back w r ith him ; at least, he was walking in the centre singing and shouting. Now, I did not wish to take the law into my own hands, but I knew from past experience that if he was allowed to go without being hurt 1 would lose respect and control ; so I told the men to lay him down and instructed my head capitao, Nterimanja, to give him eight strokes with the thin end of a knobkerry. Nterimanja, having served as an askari (soldier), was a pretty lusty fellow, and he knew his duty, so he laid on pretty hard, but Ubibu got up smiling, and went off cursing Nterimanja, who was a Yao like himself, and saying he would bewitch him. As Ubibu had been paid for his previous month's work the day before, there was nothing due to him, so I told him he was dismissed. At that time there were several natives returning from the South African mines with a good deal of money and a box of clothes, and Ubibu met one of these fellows in an adjoining village, and this man after several days had elapsed persuaded him to go to the Boma (Government office) and report me. Natives Not Truthful. 39 This would have been all right if Ubibu had seen fit to tell the truth, but he lied horribly and informed the Assistant Resident that I had given him forty strokes with the chikoti (hide whip, called sjambok in South Africa). Now, I did not even possess a chikoti at that time, but the Assistant Resident did not know this, and he believed Ubibu's story, although he was a clever official and a very sensible man. I wonder why he did not examine the man's body, for a native who got even twenty strokes would likely be unable to walk well for some time. Thinking the case was too serious for him to adjudicate on, he gave Ubibu two shillings and a letter, and sent him to Lilongwe, the head station of Central Angoniland, and some seventy miles off. The Resident (or Magistrate) passed Ubibu on the road without getting the letter, but I had gone to Fort Manning, where I had seen both the Resident and Assistant Resident, and told them the true facts of the matter, so, on the Resident getting back to Lilongwe, he sent back Ubibu to Fort Manning. On the day the case was heard I gave the knobkerry to the owner to carry off to the Boma, as he was a witness. All my witnesses admitted that Ubibu had been beaten with the knobstick, and when this was produced it was found to be badly splintered. This, it was easy to notice, had been done on a rock, as the marks showed ; but it also shows how natives will often not only lie, but will combine to blacken a case. The court capitao and interpreter belonged to the same tribe as Ubibu, and I heard afterwards that when I was sitting with the Assistant Resident in his house, before we went up to his office, the interpreter, at the instigation of Ubibu, hammered the knobkerry on a rock they were sitting on. As I had taken the law into my own hands, very foolishly, but I think very naturally, I had the pleasure of paying Ubibu three shillings in cash and refunding the two shillings given him by the Assistant Resident to pay for his food on the road to Lilongwe. On July 2 I shot an oribi and also a reedbuck ram that was running with four does. Reedbuck and oribi are 40 Wild Life in Central Africa. usually seen in couples, although one sometimes sees from three to five of each species together. The medium and smaller sized antelopes do not seem to care to intermingle with other species as do sable, hartebeest, gnu, and zebras. Perhaps the most companionable antelope is the harte- beest, and solitary bull gnus are also fond of seeking the company of a herd of hartebeests, as I have noticed on several occasions. On the gth I wounded a bull roan, and although I tried my best to find it I was unsuccessful, as I lost the spoor on some hard ground, for the animal began to walk slowly and leave very shallow impressions behind. Being unwell on the following day, I sent out a man named Zovi with some other men to look for the roan, as he had been with me when I hit it and knew where to go. They found it and finished it with a few spear thrusts, so I only kept the hind legs, skin, and head, and gave the natives the rest of the meat. At this time I was collecting blood smears of game for the Sleeping Sickness Commission, which had a big camp at Kasu Hill, away to the south ; and for this purpose I had got permission to shoot game above the number allowed on my licence. However, I did not need to shoot much extra game, and I only did so when I got into other parts of the country where there was a better chance of finding parasites in the blood of the game. As there were few tsetse flies in this locality, it was most improbable that any parasites of sleep- ing sickness would be found in the blood of game here; and so it proved, for all the slides I sent to Sir David Bruce were found to be free of trypanosomes. In taking blood smears it is usual to take two from each animal. One is called a thin smear and the other a thick smear. To take the former a drop of blood about the size of a S.S.G. shot is dropped on one end of the slide, and with the smooth edge of another slide this is flattened and spread on the glass. A larger drop of blood is used for the thick smear, and it is allowed to partially dry before rubbing, so that it will be thicker in form. Fine Roan Antelope Seen. 41 As there were more roan antelopes about and I wanted their blood for smears, I went out on the nth, and when tramping along with Zovi I saw a herd of the wanted animals, so I shot two, a bull and a cow. The bull had a pretty, though not long, pair of horns, as they only measured 26in. on the curve. The best roan head I ever saw is, unhappily, not in my collection, as he went off, taking with him a really fine pair of horns. It was on a wet day, as I was tramping from the Luangwa River to Fort Jameson, in North-Eastern Rhodesia, and I was within eight miles of Sasare Mine at the time. As I led the party, with a man behind carrying my rifle in its cover to protect it from the wet, I suddenly saw the roan standing in a small dambo within seventy yards of the road. He saw us at the same moment, but did not run at once. I sprang for the rifle and dragged it from its cover and pumped a cartridge into the barrel from the magazine. Just at this moment the roan turned and went off very fast, and I am sorry to say that I missed him clean. If I had not been very tired at the time, for I had come a long way that day, I would have followed him up and tried my best to kill him, as I saw that he had a lovely head. I had just got this rifle out from home, and did not know its shooting well, or I might have made a slightly better shot. It is often the way that the best heads are presented to one like this, and all the best trophies I have heard of as being .shot in Central Africa have been due to lucky chances, and not to persistent efforts in tracking up, or looking for, an exceptional animal. Captain Stigand's kudu was come on by chance, and the best buffalo head procured in North-Eastern Rhodesia was shot by a Mr. Grimes the poor fellow soon after contracted sleeping sickness, of which he died who was told by the natives that a big buffalo had been coming to their gardens, near where his camp was pitched. He went out and killed it with a '405 Winchester nitro rifle, and its horns measured over 48in, outside measurement, and, moreover, they were beautifully shaped and more closely resembled 42 Wild Life in Central Africa. the heads shot in Uganda than the usual type of this country, which are seldom wide. Again, Mr. Melland, of the Northern Rhodesian Adminis- tration, shot a grand bull elephant with a single "400 bullet before he noticed the size of the ivory. It ran off hard hit and was found later, and its tusks weighed close on i2olb., but they dried to about u61b. Many men who have never killed an animal of a certain species sometimes have the luck to get a very fine trophy at the first go off, and not long ago a friend of mine (Mr. W. P. Ronaldson) went to the Chiromo Marsh to shoot r and on his first day bagged two large lions. Now, I have been there several times, and I have heard lions roaring and grunting at night, but I have not had the luck to meet any in that locality, although it is a famed haunt of these large felines. I could give many other instances of men getting fine trophies or shooting some rare species (such as the inyala) purely by chance. I would give something to shoot an inyala, but as yet I have not seen one alive, and yet several men, some of whom have had slight experience, have been fortunate enough to shoot one in Nyasaland. So it is in many circumstances of life, for those who want a thing do not get it, and those who care not are more fortunate. At a certain moment one man may be soaked with rain, and at the same moment another man somewhere else on the face of the globe may be dying of thirst. It is a world of contrasts, but to meet them one has usually to go to the wild, unfenced wilderness. Those whose untamed spirits urge them to travel such country usually see the best and the worst, for their lives are spent amongst vivid contrasts. This spirit the Germans aptly call it "wanderlust/' I think dwells in the hearts of many at home who must long, at times, to get to the vast spaces of the earth. Those are the lucky ones who can go and return as they wish. Sometimes it is possible to get too much of the wilds, for comforts are rare and discomforts common. I think, Loneliness of Bush Life. 43 judging from my own experience of tropical Africa, that one longs for the cold, exhilarating ,air of home more than for good food ; although this, too, is often desired when one is low with fever and satiated with unpalatable stuff. The intense loneliness and monotony of a solitary life, away from others of their own kind, have a bad effect on the minds of many men, as they get morbid and inclined to suffer from melancholia, when they often act foolishly. About the year 1905 I spent twelve months at a place called Mzazas, on the Luangwa River, and during that time only four men visited me, and once I went away to see a man I kne.v some sixty miles off. As Mzazas was not a health resort and I underwent an attack of blackwater fever there, I was naturally pretty bad at times ; but I cannot say I regret the loneliness, as I was out in the bush every day looking tor game and making a collection of drawings of game spoor. Sometimes, when a man is beginning his shooting ex- periences, over-keenness may lose him an animal he is very anxious to bag. Besides the large-horned roan antelope I have mentioned, I can remember several other trophies that I should have bagged if I had shot more steadily. Once when on a shooting trip, in December, 1903, to the country bordering Lake Chiuta, w r ith Captain Mostyn, of the King's African Rifles, I lost a lion in the following way. Every day my friend and I used to go off in a different direction and meet in the afternoon or evening when we returned to camp. One day I had got on the fresh spoor of a herd of buffalo, which took me across the mud and swamp of the lake, and I had followed them many miles when my men and I noticed the tracks of some Portuguese native hunters, who had cut the spoor of the buffaloes just ahead of us. We then stopped and began to return to the tents, and we had just reached the swamp when we disturbed a fine, light-maned lion which was lying in a low hollow, with some tall grass in its centre. I had 44 Wild Life in Central Africa. handed over my rifle to my gun-bearer a few minutes before and was walking a short distance in front, and, instead of passing through the tall grass in the hollow, I passed to one side. The men following went right through it, and I suddenly heard a series of hoarse grunts, so, naturally, stopped and turned round to look. The lion must have seen or heard me pass, but he was so excited with the shouts of the men that he forgot my existence and ran towards me, looking back at the natives. I gave a shout, and the lion then noticed me and stopped and crouched, putting his head on his paws. I regretted not having my rifle in my hand, for he was only about two paces from me, and I could easily have brained him. I held out my hand for the rifle, and the man who was carrying it very pluckily carne round with it. Just as I got it in my hand the lion bolted to the right, and I foolishly fired a running shot at him, instead of waiting for him to stand, which I think he would have done within 100 yards or less. My bullet must have passed just in front of his face, for he swerved sharply and was soon into some thick bush, where I lost sight of him, and, although the men and myself beat up the bush, we never saw him again. When the lion bolted I was amused at the action of a boy who had a soft iron knife in his hand, for he gave a yell and ran after the lion. What he thought he could do if the lion had stopped and waited for him I cannot say. When we were crossing the swamp one of the worst tropical storms of thunder, lightning, and rain that I have ever seen came on, and the lightning was so close that I feared some of us would be struck. While tramping along in the mud and lashing rain I noticed several herds of game, and they stood like horses or cattle with their tails to the driving storm, and would hardly move out of our way. I saw several reedbucks, also, and I remember one male had a very fine head, but he was more lively than most of the other game, for he ran off before I could get the rifle from its cover. We got home at dusk soaked and Fine Impala Seen. 45 tired, and this was one of the black days in my diary and one of the hardest. Just after this experience I was shooting near the Shire River, and one day I saw the largest horned impala I have ever seen in Central Africa. His head more resembled the size of the British East African type, though I cannot say what it measured, as I missed a fairly easy chance at him at about seventy yards range. Again, in North-Eastern Rhodesia I wounded and lost a very fine bull sable antelope, whose horns were much better than a 43in. head I had bagged about a month before. I knocked this sable down and had walked up to within twenty yards of him, and then turned my back to pull my Kodak from its case to get a snapshot. While I was doing this I heard the thud of his feet and turned round to see him disappearing into the thick bush near. I followed this sable for two days and never saw him again, and I believe my bullet grazed his spine, which dropped him and caused paralysis for a few moments. The loss of this beast was, of course, due to my own carelessness, although if the boy who was carrying the camera had been a sharp-witted lad he would have told me the sable was getting up and running off, as he was looking at it. Then I would likely have had time to get in another shot with the chance of killing or crippling it. Anyhow, 1 lost the best pair of horns I have seen on a living sable antelope, and I am sure they were not much less than 46in. Every incident such as this is a fine lesson, and it is generally remembered when a similar incident arises ; and of course there would not be much interest in game shooting unless there was a certain amount of uncertainty. The lucky days are not perhaps so common as the unlucky ones, but the luck is sure to change if one keeps hard at it. The best hunter, if not always the best shot, is the man who is hard-working and persevering. Before closing this chapter I will give a few of my articles which have appeared in the Field newspaper at different 46 Wild Life in Central Africa. times, as I have the kind permission of the proprietor and editor of that journal to do so. Here is one about long range shooting at game which may be of interest : LONG SHOTS AT BIG GAME. SIR, In your issue of July 9 I notice a letter by " Canities Adest " entitled 41 Long Shots at Stags." I have also seen other letters on the same subject, one by Mr. Dunbar-Brunton referring to some long shots he made at game in North-East Rhodesia. I have had considerable experience of big-game shooting in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, and I have seldom found it necessary to shoot at a greater range than about 200 yards, and most shots will be taken at 100 or 150 yards. I do not consider it sportsmanlike for a man to make a practice of shooting at game over 150 yards, and if he cannot get to within that distance he cannot be a good hunter. Even on the big plains (called dambos here) there is usually enough covert to enable one to get a reason- ably close shot, and only on a very few occasions have I found it necessary to shoot at game over 200 yards off. Of course, some men might be able to kill a buck better at 300 yards than another man would at 100 yards, and with modern rifles, such as the '280 Ross, '256 Mannlicher, or '275 Mauser, a matter of fifty yards or so may not make so much difference when a man is blessed with good eyesight, and when the game is standing in the open. In the old days in Southern Africa the Boers used to fire at springboks at distances over 500 yards, and often kill them, but I believe that for one buck they killed they missed or wounded many. A springbok is about the size of an impala, and the heart of the latter measures 5in. long by 3fin. broad, so it would need a remarkably good shot to hit it at a distance of over 150 yards. The lungs are larger, but under the ordinary conditions of shooting in this country it is unsportsmanlike, I consider, to shoot at a buck over 150 yards, unless meat is urgently required or the beast has been wounded by a previous shot. Many men who know they could not hit a ift. "bull" at 300 or 400 yards think nothing of pumping a magazine full of cartridges at a buck at that distance, whether it is standing or running. When a man has been walking for some distance in a hot tropical sun, and is perhaps shaky with fever or exertion, he cannot expect to shoot as well as he would at a gunmaker's range on a cool day at home. It is all very well to say that rifles are so accurate and have such a flat trajectory nowadays that it is easy to kill game at 300 and 400 yards ; but the question of eyesight comes in. Any good modern rifle with a velocity of 2OOoft. per second is capable of killing an animal a mile off; but that is no reason why animals should be shot at when it is impossible to locate their vital organs or to discern the true angle at which they are standing. The ignorance displayed by some men who ought to know better is amazing. For instance, men will fire at hippos from a river steamer in motion and expect to put a bullet into a circle of about 5in., which is, roughly, the size of a hippo's brain. For one hippo that they kill by a fluke they will wound over twenty. The wounded animals retire into the weeds Long Shots at Game. 47 and attack the first native canoe that passes near, probably drowning the poor native, or, at least, causing him the loss of his canoe and its contents. Some people who go after buck, when asked if they got anything, will say, " No, but I hit several," apparently very proud of the performance. If he had said, " No, but I wounded one, and followed it until I lost the spoor, or darkness came on," he might be called a sportsman, for even the best of hunters will have the bad luck to wound and lose an animal at times. In the hands of a man who knows what he is doing a magazine rifle is a great advantage, but in the hands of a tyro who loses his head and gets excited it becomes a curse. I really think that the administration of the different protectorates in Africa should make it unlawful for a man who knows nothing of big-game shooting to use a magazine rifle until he is accomplished enough to use it properly. A single loader or double is not only better for him, but for the game. If he had a single loader he would naturally take more trouble to get closer, and fire with greater care. A man once said to me : " I never try to get close, for I have five shots in my magazine, and surely I can hit a beast with five shots ! " He may have hit some of them, but he did not bag many, unless he counted the wounded as "bagged." Men who go in for big-game shooting and are well up in their subject are generally humane and kind-hearted men, and all of them deplore the loss of a wounded animal, for they know the sufferings that it has to undergo,, and in hourly terror from carnivorous beasts, which can take it at a disadvantage. A modern expanding bullet makes a fearful wound, for the diameter increases as the bullet penetrates. In some cases the exit hole in a small antelope will be as large as a saucer. Such a wound in the body of a large antelope like a roan, kudu, sable, or waterbuck will almost invariably cause its death. I have shot a great number of antelopes, and I have seldom found other bullets than my own in the animals, so I presume that nearly all wounded beasts die sooner or later. I quite agree with " Canities Adest," and his letter applies to Central Africa just as much as it does to deerstalking at home, for the amount of rash -hooting that goes on out here is appalling. Field, October 8, 1910. D. P. L. I now give two letters from tne same newspaper about photographing big game and the dangers incurred while doing so, and I have the permission of " Mannlicher " to give his ideas on the same subject. PHOTOGRAPHING BIG GAME. SIR, In your issue of January 20 I notice a paragraph entitled " Mr. Kearton's Cinematograph." I quote the last sentence: "Mr. Kearton and his brother, who has helped him, have done wonders, and when we remembe that a photographer has to approach very much nearer to his subject than a sportsman does to his game, we cannot but admire the 48 Wild Life in Central Africa. personal courage that has led them to incur a real risk in the pursuit of science." Now, I quite agree with this, but I would like to point out that animal photographers really take less risk than do men whose desire it is to kill the game they hunt. Most hunters know that few wild animals are really dangerous until they are wounded, and it is usual for them to make a bolt as long as they have the strength to do so. Mr. Radclyffe Dugmore, in his interesting book " Camera Adventures in the African Wilds," makes some rather derogatory remarks about the man with the rifle, and there can be no doubt that he and his comrade, as well as Mr. Kearton and his brother, all took great risks in photographing lions and rhinos ; more especially the latter, as in certain parts of British East Africa these animals are known to charge without provocation. Perhaps getting to within twenty yards of a crusty rhino might, however, be sufficient excuse for it to charge, and so we can hardly blame the animal for acting on the defensive. Men who take telephotographs do not need to get much closer than a man who is trying to kill with a rifle. When a lion, buffalo, elephant, rhino, or leopard is wounded and followed into dense grass or bush, I am certain the risk is infinitely greater than it is to try to photograph any of those animals which are unwounded, and I am sure that all practical hunters will agree with me. I do not for a moment wish to detract from the dangers undergone by big-game photographers, for it needs much courage to go close to dangerous game with a camera; but I contend that the danger is really less than it would be if the game had been wounded and was being fol'owed with a rifle. A famous surgeon who visited British East Africa wrote some derogatory remarks about lion shooting. Following lions on horseback with a pack of dogs may not be very dangerous, or following them with a crowd of natives and four or five guns may also lack much danger ; but to follow a wounded lion, buffalo, elephant, or rhino into dense covert by oneself accompanied by only a second gunbearer is very dangerous. The graves of many good sportsmen all over Africa prove it, and so does the record of those who have had the bad luck to get mauled. Field, April 20, 1912. D. D. L. SIR, As one who, like Mr. Lyell, has had long experience of hunting great game in most parts of the African continent, I heartily endorse his remarks as to the nonsense that is talked about the danger incurred in getting these photographs. I also agree with him that getting close-range photos of rhino, particularly in East Africa, involves more risk than any other animal. With a telephoto camera it is not necessary to get anything like so close to the really dangerous animals as a really good man does when hunting alone. A telephoto lens will give excellent results of elephants at 100 yards ; but the old hand after elephants gets vastly closer than this before taking his shot, ditto with rhino. I have shot rhino in various parts of Africa, and never found them particularly dangerous till I went to East Africa, for the first and only time, twelve years ago. As regards lions, in broad daylight the danger is practically nil until the animal has been Length of Crocodiles. 49 wounded, or at least shot at. It is true that with a vast crowd of beaters and the backing of several reliable guns the danger is but small; while the dog method, about which we have heard so much lately in connection with a holocaust by an American hunter, which included a few good lions, but many of a tender age, is almost devoid of danger, and, far from being a new thing, was on one occasion utilised by that good sportsman Mr. Butter with great success. The large number of fatal accidents, though in many cases due to the inexperience and want of steadiness of the sufferers, shows how true it is that the genuine sportsman, who hunts single handed and on foot, runs the very greatest risk when following up wounded animals into more or less dense covert. MANNLICHER. Field, April 27, 1912. Then to conclude this chapter I will give other articles from the same newspaper about the length of African crocodiles. I sent a query to the Field of March 12, 1910, asking if anyone could say whether an African crocodile had been killed measuring over 22ft., and here are the replies by the best authorities on the subject, and a further letter I wrote on the same subject : MEASUREMENTS OF AFRICAN CROCODILE. In reply to his question on this subject I may refer Mr. D. Lyell to the late Dr. John Anderson's "Reptiles of Egypt," in which (pp. 11-12) the statements made by travellers or other observers regarding the length of Crocodilus niloticus, the common crocodile of Africa, are quoted and discussed. Although there have been reports of crocodiles 5oft. long, Dr. Anderson concludes that there is no record of the actual measurements of any Nile crocodile over lyft, and that the greater size attributed to other specimens has been all guesswork. The limit of growth, however, is quite unknown. G. A. BOULENGER. In reference to Mr. LyelPs query in last week's Field it may be mentioned that it is very difficult to obtain trustworthy information with regard to the maximum dimension of crocodiles of any kind, and that this is especially so in the case of the African Crocodilus niloticus. Those who shoot them seldom take the trouble to measure such as are brought to land. That Indian crocodiles commonly attain a length of from I5ft. to 2oft. is well known, and there is little, if any, doubt that they sometimes grow to a much greater size. It is stated, for instance, in Gunther's " Reptiles of British India," that both C. porosus and C. palustris sometimes grow to3oft, and there is in the British Museum a skull of the first-named species killed in Bengal in 1840, which was stated by the donor to have belonged to a E 50 Wild Life in Central Africa. reptile measuring 33ft. in length. On the other hand, there does not appear to be any record of the African crocodile attaining anything approaching such dimensions. The largest specimen of this species in the British Museum, at the date when the Catalogue of Chelonians and Crocodiles was published, measured just under I5ft. (4^ metres) in length; and Dr. Voeltzkow, who made a special study of these reptiles in Madagascar a few years ago, states that the largest specimen he measured was I3ft. long. Again, writing of Egyptian crocodiles, Dr. J. Anderson, in his " Reptiles of Egypt," states that there is no authentic record of any specimen exceeding iyft. in length. Mr. Selous, on page 291 of his " Hunter's Wanderings," refers to a I3ft. crocodile as a large one. So far as I can discover there appears to be no record of an African crocodile 22ft. in length. R. L. Field, March 19, 1910. SIR, I must thank Mr. G. A. Boulenger and Mr. R. Lydekker for their answers in the Field of March 19 with reference to the length of the African crocodile. I have shot a number of crocodiles in the Zambesi and Luangwa rivers, and the largest one I taped measured I4ft. Once on the Zambesi, while travelling in the river steamer Hamburg, I saw and wounded a much bigger one. It was lying asleep on a sand bank about midday, and 1 used a '303 rifle with a soft-nosed bullet. When the bullet struck, the crocodile raised its tail in the air and brought it down with a thump, as these reptiles often do when well hit. Thinking it was dead, I picked up a pair of binoculars, and through them I saw the blood pouring out of the wound between the neck and shoulder. While I was looking I heard the crack of two Snider rifles, and on turning round I found that two Portuguese soldiers had both fired. Their bullets did not strike the crocodile, but passed over it and raised the sand some distance beyond. However, the crocodile seemed to revive, and was quickly in the water before I could reload and fire again. This was by far the largest crocodile I have ever seen, either in India or Africa, and it seemed half as long again as the I4ft. one that I measured. Its bulk and girth were enormous and far exceeded an i8ft. garial I once measured in the Brahmaputra River in Assam. The skipper of the Hamburg, who had been some time on the Zambesi, told me that he had never seen one approaching it in size. It was well hit with a raking shot, and I fancy it died, but shall always regret that I did not fire again and make sure of this, for I could have persuaded the skipper to stop the steamer and put me ashore so that I might have taped the animal. In fact, he said he would have done so had the crocodile not escaped. The i8ft. garial I measured in the Brahmaputra was a large one, but I believe I have seen a few bigger. In 1894 these animals were very plentiful, although in five or six years they got scarcer, as many people used to fire at them from the passing steamers. I have an idea that the late Sir Samuel Baker mentions a large crocodile in his book on the sources of the Nile, but it is so many years since I read the work in question that I have forgotten the facts. Large Crocodiles. 51 A crocodile is an awkward animal to skin, for the skin is very firmly attached to the body. A good many natives are killed by these animals every year, and in places where they are dangerous the natives make a circular fence in the water to protect themselves when bathing and drawing water. Shire River, Nyasaland. D. D. L. [The passage referred to by our correspondent is, no doubt, that in " Wild Beasts and their Ways " (ch. xiii.), where Baker wrote of having seen on a bare patch of grey granite on an island in the Victoria Nile " two vast forms each as thick as the body of a hippopotamus, and of enormous length. These two antediluvian monsters glided slowly and fearlessly along the gently sloping granite, and when half beneath the water they exposed a breadth of back which was the most extraordinary sight I have ever seen in my long experience of crocodiles." The canoe in which he was travelling at the time was about 3oft. long, and he judged the surface of the granite at about 6oft., but "would not presume to estimate the length of these extraordinary creatures." ED.] Field, July 16, 1910. E 2 CHAPTER IV. HUNTING ELEPHANT AND OTHER GAME. A good locality for elephants A large race of elephants Stretching skins of game The spoor of three elephants found One a very large one Good tracking Damage done by elephants Easily killed with small bores The largest bags of elephants in a day The use of anthills to. spy from An elephant lost through the carelessness of a native Lose a shot at moving elephants Mistake of firing uncertain shots Excite- ment of elephant shooting Hot weather Try a different direction The spoor of a good tusker found Follow him and find him in a bad bit of country Hit him, and he runs and falls dead A good tusk Old wounds in elephant Actions of an elephant shot in the lungs Elephants die hard Measurement of the cavity of an elephant's brain Size of elephant's feet Position of elephant's heart Good quality ivory found in Nyasaland and adjacent countries Bad smell of dead elephants after lying in the sun Noise made by opening elephant's stomach Natives cut themselves A lively night with hyaenas Weird noises made by hyaenas I sight a small herd of buffalo and see a herd of sable antelopes Central Africa a network of paths "Closing" paths Usual time of year for grass burning Destruction caused by grass fires Hot ground Shoot a kudu bull Carry off elephant meat Another trip Two sable antelopes shot Wound a bull and lose it Elephant scared Meet a white man and his wife Two eland bulls shot Fat got from elands Natives- dirty butchers Noting position of vital organs in game Change camp and see spoor of lion and buffalo Young eland killed by lion Extreme heat at end of dry season Go after hippo Shoot one Time taken by hippo to rise when shot Four hippos shot in Zambesi River Crocodiles in the Bua River Go after game and find it wild A tropical storm Damage done to native crops by elephants, hippos, and other game The appetite of elephants Elands and pigs destructive " Garden " elephants dangerous animals Poachers of game Boers great destroyers of animal life Reserves for game Connection of game and sleeping sickness Impossibility of exterminating game in Central Africa. ON September 16, 1912, after having engaged a few carriers,. I started off for Maponda's village, and Kamwendo, the good elephant spoorer, arranged to meet me there on the evening Tall Elephants. 53 of the same day. Some years before, in 1904, I had shot a fine 5o-pounder near the same village, and Maponda (a woman chief) and her people remembered the fine feeds of meat, so were very glad to see me come along again. The vicinity of her village is in one of the best elephant localities in Nyasaland, and I suppose over twenty large bulls have been shot there by Europeans at different times. I know that many skulls can be seen ; that is to say, if one happens to pass where they are. The elephants in this district are a lanky, tall type of animal, and the one I shot in 1904 must have reached lift, or slightly more, and the natives told me he was the tallest elephant they had ever seen. He fell dead in a kneeling position against a small tree, so I could not get his shoulder measurement. Mr T. A. Barns (who shot the large elephant now in the South Kensington Museum) has killed several in that locality measuring close on lift., and the height of the elephant mentioned, in the Natural History Museum, is stated to have taped lift. 4in. when shot. An elephant or giraffe skin, or, indeed, the skin of any large beast, can be stretched a considerable amount w r hen being set up in a wet condition, and it would be an easy matter for a taxidermist to mount a I2it. elephant out of an I ift. skin. If a lion's skin is immersed in water for a day or two it could be made to stretch quite a foot, although the width measurement would likely decrease somewhat if the length were increased. Thus, unless the hunter is a principled man, he could add on several inches to the height of a trophy without the most expert naturalist or taxidermist being able to detect it, as skins intended for natural history specimens are not pegged out, and they shrink considerably in drying. I have no doubt that there are several speci- mens in different museums which represent taller animals than they were when alive. I believe it is possible to stretch a game head by soaking it for a long time and then hanging heavy weights to the tips of the horns. Of course, no self-respecting sportsman or taxidermist would do this, but a few trophy dealers in South Africa would likely be 54 Wild Life in Central Africa. quite willing to take the trouble if it enhanced the value of a head and brought them a pound or so extra. I was up before dawn on the morning of the lyth, and Kamwendo took me to some maize-fields where the elephants often came at night to eat the dried-up stalks. All game are fond of maize and millet stalks, and they come a long distance to feed on them, as well as invading the growing crops, unless the natives sit up on stands with a drum or old tin, which they beat at times all through the night. We were very lucky, as we found the spoor of three elephants, one a fine, big fellow, judging from the size of his footprints. Again, I was much interested in noticing Kamwendo's fine tracking,/ for he instinctively seemed to know where the elephants would leave the garden, and he took me to the bush, where we cut the spoor at once. Following a large bull elephant is the most exciting sport there is in the world, for one has so many oppor- tunities of seeing what such a beast is capable of. Trees that seem unbreakable are sometimes broken and splintered, and one marvels at such power, and perhaps a new hand might feel a shiver go down his backbone when imagining the grip of such a trunk being placed on his neck, or thinking what would happen to his body if the mighty foot was suddenly placed upon it. Yet, with all his immense strength, the elephant is a wonderfully easy animal to kill, if one can only hit him properly. Even a -256 Mannlicher will kill an elephant most efficiently when in the hands of a good, cool shot. That six to seven tons of bone, flesh, and muscle should drop to a projectile weighing I58grs. seems something like a miracle, but it has been made possible by the ingenuity of civilised man. More elephants have been shot in Central Africa with 7-9 mm. Mausers than with any other weapon, and the bullet only weighs 225grs. The largest bags of elephants which I have read of as being made in one day were eighteen shot by Mr. Viljoen Elephant Country. 55 in Southern Rhodesia, and that famed elephant-hunter, the late Mr. A. H. Neumann, once bagged sixteen in a day, using a -303 and a lo-bore rifle. But after this wandering from the tracks, I must get back again to the elephant I was after. The fresh spoor led us into some bad country, bad for puny man, but, of course, nothing to the elephant; and some of the long, half-dry grass towered over our heads, and I hoped when I got into this kind of country that the elephants would stand in more comfortable surroundings for the last round. In such grass it is often difficult to move, once one leaves the broad tracks of the elephants, and I have found that elephants are much more inclined to be disagreeable in such country than they are in more open timber land. Therefore it is a very sound plan to climb anthills to look round or send men up trees for the same purpose, so as not to get right under the animals before being aware that they are so close. Not far from this place, and when approaching an elephant which had been blowing red anthill dust all over himself, I once mistook the animal for an anthill, and got so close that I could have touched his stern with the muzzle of my rifle. Luckily the elephant was asleep, and I and the man with me were able to retreat and get to the anthill which I knew was near the elephant. On crawling to the top of it, he was still asleep and swaying gently backwards and forwards, and my sight was just on the orifice of his ear when my gunbearer, in his eagerness to see results, cracked a stick or bit of dry reed. At the sound the elephant twisted right round (just like a top being spun), and the bullet that I fervently hoped would have punctured his brain went into his side somewhere, and he went off ; and, although I did my best to find him, I failed. Kamwendo took me along splendidly until, at about I 1 a.m., we suddenly saw the three elephants wandering about, feeding. I told the men who were carrying some 56 Wild Life in Central Africa. lunch and water to sit down and wait, and gave Kamwendo the -400 single cordite and took the 7-9 mm. Rigby, and we approached the monsters. Suddenly the elephants began walking fast in our direction, and, as the grass was long, Kamwendo and I made for a more open part where there was some timber, and when we reached a fairly large-sized tree I stopped. The game did not seem to be much alarmed, and I thought they would stand every moment. The three beasts, the largest being a splendid bull with long white tusks quite 6olb. each, passed me at a fast walk ; and I have regretted many times since that I did not fire at him then, as I might have got to his heart or lungs. However, as I object to fire risky moving shots at such fine animals, I waited for him to stand. Instead of doing so, the elephants suddenly got the wind of the men I had left behind, and they suddenly put up their tails and started off at full pace, and then got into the thick grass. I had spoilt a fine chance in not taking a snapshot, and lost two splendid tusks, so I was not in a good temper when I sat down to have some food after a most tiring and exciting morning's work. A smoke soon put me into a better frame of mind, and I thought I might see the same elephant again some day ; which was really not much satisfaction, as elephants travel long distances and do not come to be shot. After lunch I took the spoor and followed for about four miles, but the elephants never slowed down, and I knew they would not likely stop for many miles, so I trudged back to camp without the tail which is usually cut off to show that there is an elephant less in Africa. Every sportsman has to put up with misfortune, and I was no stranger to it ; but 1 knew the luck would change with some more hard leg work. Elephant spooring is hard work, for the country to be traversed is often very stiff going, and it is this that makes the disappointments in elephant shooting so hard to bear. It is not usual to get up to an elephant without going through dense country, and the prolonged excitement tires one almost as much as the Oppressive Heat. 57 strenuous exercise. If one actually sights the animals, and for some reason cannot get a shot, the remembrance is inclined to be tantalising. However, I had the consolation of knowing that I had not wounded a splendid beast and lost it, which is always the worst remembrance of all. It was late in the afternoon when I reached my tent, and during the day's w r alk I had seen eland, kudu, and other game, although I did not fire at any of them, not wishing to frighten any elephants that might be within hearing. The sun is dreadfully hot in the months of September, October, and November ; and the atmosphere is particularly sultry and oppressive in the latter month, just before the rains break. People at home occasionally experience this oppressiveness just before a thunderstorm ; but it is very much more intensified in Central Africa. It is usually hotter to sit in camp than tramp about in the sun, as the exercise induces perspiration, and this makes the body feel cooler. This may seem a paradoxical remark, though it is true nevertheless. On the following day I was out of my camp bed as early as usual, which was at first cockcrow, about half an hour before sunrise. I was feeling slightly feverish with the previous day's work, but it never does much good to lie up, unless one is so bad that movement is impossible ; and, besides, I have often noticed that there is nothing so good as a stiff walk to get rid of fever. Kamwendo suggested that we should go in a different direction, to which I was quite agreeable, as I hoped that direction might be easier country than I had been tramping through the day before. I think Kamwendo was feeling a bit tired also, for he certainly led me through much more open country, but we found no fresh elephant spoor until about 1 1 a.m. ; by which time we had made a long semicircle of quite fifteen miles. Then Kamwendo, who was leading the way, gaveagruntand pointed down, and there I saw the absolutely fresh tracks of a fine bull elephant. He had not passed more than twenty minutes before, and his droppings were 58 Wild Life in Central Africa. steamy and hot. This was a piece of good luck, as I had given up hopes of seeing any spoor on this day, and I had no idea I should have the good fortune to find absolutely fresh tracks. Both Kamwendo and myself knew that we would soon see this elephant, for he had been moving slowly along, feeding occasionally, and he was bound to rest soon, as the sun was intensely hot, and elephants, like human beings, prefer to slow off a bit about midday in tropical Africa. The men were told to wait, and Kamwendo carried the '400 with strict injunctions that he was not to fire unless I told him to, a thing I have never yet asked a native to do. Then we walked along steadily, and in about ten minutes saw the elephant standing on the opposite side of a large dambo in some long grass. On our side the grass had all been burned by the natives, but the fire had not touched the opposite side, which was annoying. The elephant looked huge as he stood flapping his ears against his sides, and every now and again blowing dust over his body with his trunk. As we were crossing the open to reach an anthill not far from the elephant, he began to move slowly into the tree bush near, stopping here and there to pick a few leaves from the trees. As the grass was very long among the trees and I knew it would be difficult to see him from the ground when enveloped in the grass, I moved to another anthill farther on and just ahead of the elephant. He then began to ram a tree with his forehead, and he seemed to have something wrong with him, as he was never still a moment. I changed ground again to yet another anthill, and it was fortunate I did so, as the elephant began to move to an open space about 100 yards from me. As he was busy picking some leaves, I took a steady aim for his brain and fired. Instead of dropping in his tracks, as I had hoped, he gave one or two painful grunts and dashed past me, getting the four remaining shots in the magazine as he J