The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter online

THE WANDERINGS OF AN ELEPHANT
HUNTER ***






THE WANDERINGS OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER

[Illustration: COUNTRY LIFE]

_First published in 1923_




[Illustration: THE NATIVE ATTACK.

_Frontispiece._]




THE
WANDERINGS OF AN
ELEPHANT HUNTER

BY
W. D. M. BELL

LONDON

PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICES OF “COUNTRY LIFE,” LTD.,
20, TAVISTOCK ST., COVENT GARDEN, W.C.2, AND BY
GEORGE NEWNES, LTD., 8-11, SOUTHAMPTON ST., STRAND, W.C.2
NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS

MCMXXIII

_Printed in Great Britain._




CONTENTS


PAGE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii

CHAPTER

I. HUNTING THE BIG BULL ELEPHANT 1

II. THE BRAIN SHOT AT ELEPHANT 5

III. THE BODY SHOT AT ELEPHANT 8

IV. AFRICAN “MEDICINE” OR WITCHCRAFT AND ITS BEARING ON SPORT 12

V. KARAMOJO 20

I. INTO THE UNKNOWN 20

II. IVORY AND THE RAIDERS 31

III. THE COMING OF PYJALÉ 44

VI. DABOSSA 59

VII. THROUGH THE SUDD OF THE GELO RIVER 78

VIII. THE LADO ENCLAVE 87

IX. HUNTING IN LIBERIA 105

X. BUBA GIDA, THE LAST AFRICAN POTENTATE 128

XI. BUBA GIDA AND THE LAKKAS 135

XII. THE ASCENT OF THE BAHR AOUCK 149

XIII. BUFFALO 170

XIV. AFRICAN LIONS 175

XV. RIFLES 179

XVI. AFRICAN ADMINISTRATIONS 184

INDEX 188




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


PAGE

The Native Attack _Frontispiece_

The Falling Spear: the Deadliest Native Elephant Trap _Facing_ 2

The Marauding Bull ” 3

Spear Weighing about Four Hundred Pounds ” 3

The Deadliest and Most Humane Method of Killing the
African Elephant ” 6

The Brain Shot from Behind ” 6

The Position of the Brain when the Head is Viewed from
the Front ” 6

Locating the Brain with the Side of the Head to the Sportsman ” 6

The Elephant, after the Brain Shot, Dies Quietly ” 7

The Angry Bull ” 8

Where the Windpipe enters the Body is the Spot to Hit ” 8

Elephant in the Country Most Suited to the Body Shot ” 8

With One Eye Shut ” 8

With Both Eyes Open ” 8

The Dotted Lines show the Position of the Heart and Lungs ” 8

With the Herd in the Pairing Season ” 9

Elephant Slinking Away, Warned of the Approach of Man by
Honey-Guides ” 14

Medicine indeed! ” 15

He Shook His Head so Violently in the Death Throes that
a Tusk Flew Out ” 16

A M’Boni Village ” 17

M’Sanya Bow and Poisoned Arrow ” 18

A Patriarch ” 18

“A Small Native Boy was in the Act of Pinking an Enormous
Elephant” ” 19

Poor Karamojans, showing Periwigs ” 34

Carrying the Ivory ” 35

Elephant Snare Net Set, but not yet Covered ” 36

Karamojan Warrior ” 37

That Lunatic Pyjalé Spears an Elephant ” 44

Longelly-Nymung, the Author’s Blood Brother ” 56

The Return of the Safari ” 57

“The Elephant nearly fell over with Fright” ” 64

Watching the Northern Trail for the Returning Raiders ” 65

From the Look-out Hill ” 72

The “Elephant Cemetery” ” 73

The Camp Chronicler ” 76

Abyssinian Slavers ” 77

A Shot from the Shoulders of a Tall Native ” 86

Telescope Tripod as Stand in High Grass ” 87

Elephant in the Upper Nile Swamp ” 94

In the Lado Enclave: White Rhino, Lion and Elephant ” 95

Looking into the Brilliantly Lit Open Space from the
Twilight of the Forest ” 102

Suliemani bumps into his Bull ” 104

The Arrival in West Africa ” 105

A Colony of “Chimps” Fruit-gathering ” 118

Small Elephant of Liberia ” 119

The Palaver with the King ” 124

The Silent Town ” 128

Outside the Walls ” 129

Commanders of Regiments ” 130

Chiefs in Armour with Arrow-proof Quilts ” 131

An Enormous Man, Fully Seven Feet High, rose from
a Pile of Rags ” 132

Whenever the King Sneezes, Coughs or Spits the Attendant
Slaves break into Loud Wailing ” 133

In Buba Rei ” 136

A Foot Soldier ” 137

Lakkas, Shy and Nervous ” 140

Buba Gida’s Elephant Hunters ” 141

He Disappeared into the Thick Stuff ” 146

There He was now Facing Me ” 147

Gallery Forest and Baboon ” 150

Camp on Lake Léré ” 151

A Man-Eater, from whose Inside a Woman’s Bangle was
taken ” 152

Native Decoys ” 154

Whistling Teal and Locust Storks ” 154

Rolling up Hippo ” 154

The Small Canoe Up-streaming ” 155

Hippopotamus in the Shallows ” 156

W., in the Small Canoe, runs into a Rising Hippo ” 157

Spur-winged Geese ” 158

Male Egyptian Geese in Breeding Season ” 159

Sky Black with Wildfowl ” 160

Rhino nearly have our Cook ” 161

Musgum Village ” 162

Mud Huts: Musgum ” 163

A Water Buck ” 164

Female Water Buck on Sandbank ” 165

Doe Kob and Calf well Camouflaged ” 166

Cow Hippo and Calf ” 167

Arab Spear for Ham-stringing Elephant ” 168

Portaging Canoes ” 168

The Kilangozi or Head Porter who carried this Tusk
(148 lbs.) for Sixty-three Consecutive Marching Days ” 169

In Thick Stuff ” 170

Worthy Game ” 170

Some Retreating Cleverly Backwards and Receiving the
Charging Animals’ Rushes on their Shields ” 171

Driven Out of the Reed Beds ” 176

“A Magnificent Male deliberately Turned and Stood
Facing Me” ” 176

Chasing Off an Intruder ” 176

Spotted! ” 177




THE WANDERINGS OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER




I

HUNTING THE BIG BULL ELEPHANT


The most interesting and exciting form of elephant-hunting is the pursuit
of the solitary bull. These fine old patriarchs stand close on twelve
feet high at the shoulder and weigh from twelve thousand to fourteen
thousand pounds or more, and carry tusks from eighty to one hundred
and eighty pounds each. They are of great age, probably a hundred or a
hundred and fifty years old. These enormous animals spend their days
in the densest part of the bush and their nights in destroying native
plantations.

It is curious that an animal of such a size, and requiring such huge
quantities of food, should trouble to eat ground nuts—or peanuts, as they
are called in this country. Of course, he does not pick them up singly,
but plucks up the plant, shakes off the loose earth and eats the roots
with the nuts adhering to them. One can imagine the feelings of a native
when he discovers that during the night his plantation has been visited
by an elephant.

The dense part of the bush where the elephant passes his day is often
within half a mile of his nightly depredations, and it is only through
generations of experience that these wicked old animals are enabled to
carry on their marauding life. Many bear with them the price of their
experience in the shape of bullets and iron spear-heads; the natives
set traps for them also, the deadliest one being the falling spear. Of
all devices for killing elephants known to primitive man this is the
most efficient. The head and shank of the spear are made by the native
blacksmith, and the whole thing probably weighs about four hundred
pounds and requires eight men to haul it into position. To set the trap
a spot is chosen in the forest where an elephant-path passes under a
suitable tree. A sapling of some twelve feet in length is then cut. One
end is made to fit tightly into the socket of the spear-head and to the
other end is attached a rope. The spear end of the rope is then placed
over a high bough at a point directly over the path, while the other
end is taken down to one side of the path, then across it and made fast
to a kind of trigger mechanism. It is placed at such a height from the
ground as will allow buffalo and antelope to pass under it but not a
full-grown elephant. He will have to push it out of his way. This part of
the rope is generally made of a bush vine or creeper. If all goes well,
an elephant comes along the path, catches the creeper on his forehead or
chest, pushes it sufficiently to snap it off, and then down hurtles the
huge spear, descending point first with terrific force on neck, shoulder
or ribs. I have seen taken from an old bull’s neck a piece of iron three
feet long and almost eaten away. The wound had completely healed and it
may have been there for years. If, however, the spear strikes the spine,
death is instantaneous.

[Illustration: THE FALLING SPEAR: THE DEADLIEST NATIVE ELEPHANT TRAP.]

[Illustration: THE MARAUDING BULL.]

[Illustration: This spear, weighing about four hundred pounds and
provided with a twelve-foot shaft, is hung head downwards from a tree.
The rope, of vine or creeper, which holds it up, is stretched across an
elephant-path, so that, in passing, the animal must snap it, liberating
the spear to drop upon his own head or ribs.]

To get within hearing distance of these old elephants is comparatively
easy. You simply pick up the enormous tracks in the early morning and
follow them into their stronghold. Sometimes, after going quite a short
distance through fairly open forest, you begin to find it more and more
difficult to force your way along. The tracks are still there, but
everything gives way before the elephant and closes in behind him again.
Here in the dark cool parts there are no flies, so that the flapping
and banging of ears, the usual warning of an elephant’s presence, are
lacking. The light begins to fail; air currents are non-existent, or so
light they cannot be felt; the silence is profound. Monkeys and parrots
are away in the more open parts. You may expect to hear your game at
any moment now. You hope to see him, but your luck is in if you do. At
the most you will see a high and ghostly stern flitting through the
undergrowth, sometimes disconcertingly close in front of you. Literally
nothing indicates the presence of such an enormous animal, and if it
were not for the swish of the bush as it closes in behind him you would
find it hard to believe that he was so close. His feet, softly cushioned
with spongy gristle, make no sound. He seems to know that his stern is
invulnerable alike to bullets or spears; while his huge ears, acting
as sound-collecting discs, catch with their wide expanse the slightest
sound of an enemy. He shows no sign of panic; there is no stampede as
with younger elephants when they are disturbed; only a quiet, persistent
flitting away. You may concentrate on going quietly; you may, and
probably do, discard your leg gear in order to make less sound; you
redouble your stealth; all in vain. He knows the game and will play
hide-and-seek with you all day long and day after day. Not that this
silent retreat is his only resource—by no means—he can in an instant
become a roaring, headlong devil. The transformation from that silent,
rakish, slinking stern to high-thrown head, gleaming tusks and whirling
trunk, now advancing directly upon you, is a nerve test of the highest
order. The noise is terrific. With his trunk he lashes the bushes. His
great sides crash the trees down in every direction, dragging with them
in their fall innumerable creepers. The whole forest is in an uproar.
Much of this clatter the experienced hunter writes off as bluff, for
after a short, sharp rush of this sort he will often come to a dead stop
and listen intently. Here, again, his long experience has taught him that
his enemy will now be in full retreat, and in most cases he is right.
Certainly no native hunter waits to see, and most white men will find
they have an almost uncontrollable desire to turn and flee, if only for a
short way. With the deadliest of modern rifles it is only a very fleeting
chance that one gets at his brain. The fact that the distance at which
his head emerges from the masses of foliage is so small, and the time so
short until he is right over you, in fact, makes this kind of hunting
the most exciting and interesting of any in Africa, or the world, as I
think most men who have experienced it will agree. If the shot at the
brain is successful the monster falls and the hunter is rewarded with two
magnificent tusks. And great will be the rejoicing among the natives at
learning of his death, not only for the feast of meat, but also to know
that their plantations have been rid of the marauding pest.




II

THE BRAIN SHOT AT ELEPHANT


The hunting of the African elephant is now restricted in so many ways
that it is difficult for anyone to gain experience in the shooting of
them. In most of the protectorates or dependencies of the European powers
a licence to kill two in a year costs from £40 to £80. It therefore
behoves the sportsman to make a good job of it when he does come face to
face with these splendid animals.

Twenty-five years ago parts of Africa were still open to unrestricted
hunting, and it is from a stock of experience—gathered during years
devoted to this fascinating pursuit—that I am about to draw, in the hope
that it may assist the sportsman to bring about a successful termination
to his hunt and perhaps save some unfortunate animal from a lingering
death due to wounds.

In hunting elephant, as in other things, what will suit one man may not
suit another. Every hunter has different methods and uses different
rifles. Some believe in the big bores, holding that the bigger the bore
therefore the greater the shock. Others hold that the difference between
the shock from a bullet of, say, 250 grs. and that from a bullet of, say,
500 grs. is so slight that, when exercised upon an animal of such bulk
as an elephant, it amounts to nothing at all. And there is no end to the
arguments and contentions brought forward by either side; therefore it
should be borne in mind when reading the following instructions that they
are merely the result of one individual’s personal experience and not the
hard and fast rules of an exact science.

As regards rifles, I will simply state that I have tried the following:
·416, ·450/·400, ·360, ·350, ·318, ·275 and ·256. At the time I
possessed the double ·400 I also had a ·275. Sometimes I used one and
sometimes the other, and it began to dawn on me that when an elephant was
hit in the right place with the ·275 it died just as quickly as when hit
with the ·400, and, _vice versa_, when the bullet from either rifle was
wrongly placed death did not ensue. In pursuance of this train of thought
I wired both triggers of the double ·450/·400 together, so that when I
pulled the rear one both barrels went off simultaneously. By doing this
I obtained the equivalent of 800 grs. of lead propelled by 120 grs. of
cordite. The net result was still the same. If wrongly placed, the 800
grs. from the ·400 had no more effect than the 200 grs. from the ·275.
For years after that I continued to use the ·275 and the ·256 in all
kinds of country and for all kinds of game. Each hunter should use the
weapon he has _most confidence_ in.

The deadliest and most humane method of killing the African elephant is
the shot in the brain. Its advantages over the body shot are numerous,
but among them may be mentioned that it causes instantaneous death, and
no movement of the stricken animal communicates panic to others in the
vicinity. The mere falling of the body from the upright to a kneeling
or lying position does not appear in practice to have any other effect
than to make the others mildly curious as to what has happened. On the
other hand, if there are several elephants together and the heart shot
is employed, the one hit almost invariably rushes off with a groan and
squirm for fifty or a hundred yards, taking with him his companions,
which do not stop when he stops, but continue their flight for miles.
Another great advantage that the brain shot has over the heart shot is
that with the former there is no search for the dead animal, whereas
with the latter it is sometimes extremely difficult to find it in thick
bush even when lying within fifty or sixty yards of the spot from which
the shot was fired. Again, the smallest bore rifles with cartridges of a
modern military description, such as the ·256, ·275, ·303 or ·318, are
quite sufficiently powerful for the brain shot. The advantages of these I
need hardly enumerate, such as their cheapness, reliability, handiness,
lightness, freedom from recoil, etc. For the brain shot only bullets
with an unbroken metal envelope (_i.e._, solids) should be employed; and
those showing good weight, moderate velocity, with a blunt or round-nosed
point, are much better than the more modern high velocity sharp-pointed
variety. They keep a truer course, and are not so liable to turn over as
the latter.

[Illustration: THE DEADLIEST AND MOST HUMANE METHOD OF KILLING THE
AFRICAN ELEPHANT IS THE SHOT IN THE COMPARATIVELY SMALL BRAIN CONTAINED
IN HIS GIGANTIC HEAD.]

[Illustration: THE BRAIN SHOT FROM BEHIND.]

[Illustration: THE POSITION OF THE BRAIN WHEN THE HEAD IS VIEWED FROM THE
FRONT.]

[Illustration: LOCATING THE BRAIN WITH THE SIDE OF THE HEAD TO THE
SPORTSMAN.]

[Illustration: THE ELEPHANT, AFTER THE BRAIN SHOT, DIES QUIETLY AND THE
OTHERS DO NOT TAKE ALARM.]

The greatest disadvantage the brain shot has is the difficulty of
locating the comparatively small brain in the enormous head. The best way
is, of course, to kill an elephant by the heart shot and very carefully
to dissect the head, thereby finding out the position of the brain in
relation to the prominent points or marks on the head, such as the eyes
and ear holes. Unfortunately for this scheme, the head is never in the
same position when the animal is dead as when alive, as an elephant
hardly ever dies kneeling when a body shot has been given him.

The experienced elephant shot can reach the brain from almost any angle,
and with the head in almost any position. But the novice will be well
advised to try the broadside shot only. Having mastered this and studied
the frontal shot, he may then try it. When successful with the above
two shots he may be able to reach the zenith of the elephant hunter’s
ambition, _i.e._, to kill instantaneously any of these huge pachyderms
with one tiny nickel pencil-like bullet when moving or stationary and
from any angle.

From the point of view of danger to the hunter, should a miss occur, an
ineffective shot in the head does not appear to have the enraging effect
a body shot elsewhere than in the vitals sometimes has. Should the bullet
miss the brain, but still pass sufficiently close to it to stun the
animal, he will drop to every appearance dead. If no convulsive jerking
of the limbs is noticed he is only stunned, and should be given another
shot, as otherwise he will soon get up and make off as if nothing had
touched him.




III

THE BODY SHOT AT ELEPHANT


Although the brain shot is speedier in result and more humane if bungled
than the body shot, yet the latter is not to be despised. Many hunters
employ no other. These will generally be found to be adherents to the
“Big Bore” school. The heart and lungs of an elephant present, together
with the huge arteries immediately adjacent, a large enough target for
anyone, provided his or her nerves are sufficiently controlled to allow
of the rifle being aimed at the correct spot. If this is not the case,
and the whole animal is treated as the target, to be hit anywhere, then
the result will be flight or a charge on the part of the elephant. Should
the latter occur in thick stuff or high grass—12 ft. or 14 ft.—the novice
will have a very unpleasant time indeed. An angry bull elephant is a
magnificent sight, but an extremely difficult animal to deal with, even
for the practised shot. For one thing, he is generally end on and the
head is at a high angle and never still. If the novice comes through the
encounter undamaged he will either leave elephants severely alone for the