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diff --git a/21254.txt b/21254.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..78f1d17 --- /dev/null +++ b/21254.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9381 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, In Africa, by John T. McCutcheon + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: In Africa + Hunting Adventures in the Big Game Country + + +Author: John T. McCutcheon + + + +Release Date: April 29, 2007 [eBook #21254] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN AFRICA*** + + +E-text prepared by Rudy Ketterer and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the numerous original illustrations. + See 21254-h.htm or 21254-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/2/5/21254/21254-h/21254-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/2/5/21254/21254-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Words or phrases in italics are enclosed beetwee + underscores, such as _italic_. + + [Drawing: . . .] indicates a hand-drawn Illustration + + + + + +IN AFRICA + +Hunting Adventures in the Big Game Country + +by + +JOHN T. McCUTCHEON + +Cartoonist of the Chicago Tribune + +Illustrated with Photographs and Cartoons by the Author + + + + + + + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. One Morning's Bag] + + + +Indianapolis +The Bobbs-Merrill Company +Publishers + +Copyright 1910 +The Tribune Company, Chicago + +Copyright 1910 +The Bobbs-Merrill Company + +Press of +Braunworth & Co. +Bookbinders and Printers +Brooklyn, N.Y. + + + + + TO THOSE ADVENTUROUS SOULS WHO + RESENT THE RESTRAINT OF THE BEATEN PATH + THESE OBSERVATIONS OF AN AMATEUR + ARE DEDICATED + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE + + +This collection of African stories has no pretentious purpose. It is +merely the record of a most delightful hunting trip into those +fascinating regions along the Equator, where one may still have +"thrilling adventures" and live in a story-book atmosphere, where the +"roar of the lion" and the "crack of the rifle" are part of the +every-day life, and where in a few months one may store up enough +material to keep the memory pleasantly occupied all the rest of a +lifetime. The stories are descriptive of a four-and-a-half months' trip +in the big game country and pretend to no more serious purpose than +merely to relate the experiences of a self-confessed amateur under such +conditions. + + JOHN T. McCUTCHEON + +_August, 1910_ + + + + + CONTENTS + +CHAPTER ONE Page + The Preparation for Departure. Experiences with Willing + Friends and Advisers 1 + +CHAPTER TWO + The First Half of the Voyage. From Naples to the Red Sea, + with a Few Side-Lights on Indian Ocean Travel 13 + +CHAPTER THREE + The Island of Mombasa, with the Jungles of Equatorial Africa + "Only a Few Blocks Away." A Story of the World's Champion + Man-Eating Lions 28 + +CHAPTER FOUR + On the Edge of the Athi Plains, Face to Face with Herds of + Wild Game. Up in a Balloon at Nairobi 43 + +CHAPTER FIVE + Into the Heart of the Big Game Country with a Retinue of + More Than One Hundred Natives. A Safari and What It Is 65 + +CHAPTER SIX + A Lion Drive. With a Rhino in Range Some One Shouts + "Simba" and I Get My First Glimpse of a Wild Lion. Three + Shots and Out 82 + +CHAPTER SEVEN + On the Tana River, the Home of the Rhino. The Timid are + Frightened, the Dangerous Killed, and Others Photographed. + Moving Pictures of a Rhino Charge 105 + +CHAPTER EIGHT + Meeting Colonel Roosevelt in the Uttermost Outpost of + Semi-Civilization. He Talks of Many Things, Hears that he has + Been Reported Dead, and Promptly Plans an Elephant Hunt 123 + +CHAPTER NINE + The Colonel Reads Macaulay's "Essays," Discourses on Many + Subjects with Great Frankness, Declines a Drink of Scotch + Whisky, and Kills Three Elephants 141 + +CHAPTER TEN + Elephant Hunting Not an Occasion for Lightsome Merrymaking. + Five Hundred Thousand Acres of Forest in Which the + Kenia Elephant Lives, Wanders and Brings Up His Children 164 + +CHAPTER ELEVEN + Nine Days Without Seeing an Elephant. The Roosevelt + Party Departs and We March for the Mountains on Our Big + Elephant Hunt. The Policeman of the Plains 184 + +CHAPTER TWELVE + "Twas the Day Before Christmas." Photographing a Charging + Elephant, Cornering a Wounded Elephant in a River Jungle + Growth. A Thrilling Charge. Hassan's Courage 201 + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN + In the Swamps of the Guas Ngishu. Beating for Lions We + Came Upon a Strange and Fascinating Wild Beast, Which + Became Attached to Our Party. The Little Wanderobo Dog 214 + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN + Who's Who in Jungleland. The Hartebeest and the Wildebeest, + the Amusing Giraffe and the Ubiquitous Zebra, the + Lovely Gazelle and the Gentle Impalla 233 + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN + Some Natural History in Which it is Revealed that a Sing-Sing + Waterbuck is Not a Singing Topi, and that a Topi is Not + a Species of Head-dress 251 + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN + In the Tall Grass of the Mount Elgon Country. A Narrow + Escape from a Long-Horned Rhino. A Thanksgiving Dinner + and a Visit to a Native Village 269 + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN + Up and Down the Mountain Side from the Ketosh Village to + the Great Cave of Bats. A Dramatic Episode with the Finding + of a Black Baby as a Climax 291 + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN + Electric Lights, Motor-Cars and Fifteen Varieties of Wild + Game. Chasing Lions Across the Country in a Carriage 313 + +CHAPTER NINETEEN + The Last Word in Lion Hunting. Methods of Trailing, Ensnaring + and Otherwise Outwitting the King of Beasts. A + Chapter of Adventures 325 + +CHAPTER TWENTY + Abdullah the Cook and Some Interesting Gastronomic Experiences. + Thirteen Tribes Represented in the Safari. Abdi's + Story of His Uncle and the Lions 341 + +CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE + Back Home from Africa. Ninety Days on the Way Through + India, Java, China, Manila and Japan. Three Chow Dogs and + a Final Series of Amusing Adventures 360 + +CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO + Ways and Means. What to Take and What Not to Take. Information + for Those that Wish, Intend or Hope to Hunt in the + African Highlands 384 + + + + + + + IN AFRICA + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PREPARATION FOR DEPARTURE. EXPERIENCES WITH WILLING FRIENDS AND +ADVISERS + + +Ever since I can remember, almost, I have cherished a modest ambition to +hunt lions and elephants. At an early age, or, to be more exact, at +about that age which finds most boys wondering whether they would rather +be Indian fighters or sailors, I ran across a copy of Stanley's _Through +the Dark Continent_. It was full of fascinating adventures. I thrilled +at the accounts which spoke in terms of easy familiarity of "express" +rifles and "elephant" guns, and in my vivid but misguided imagination, I +pictured an elephant gun as a sort of cannon--a huge, unwieldy +arquebus--that fired a ponderous shell. The old woodcuts of daring +hunters and charging lions inspired me with unrest and longing--the +longing to bid the farm farewell and start down the road for Africa. +Africa! What a picture it conjured up in my fancy! Then, as even now, it +symbolized a world of adventurous possibilities; and in my boyhood +fancy, it lay away off there--somewhere--vaguely--beyond mountains and +deserts and oceans, a vast, mysterious, unknown land, that swarmed with +inviting dangers and alluring romance. + +One by one my other youthful ambitions have been laid away. I have given +up hope of ever being an Indian fighter out on the plains, because the +pesky redskins have long since ceased to need my strong right arm to +quell them. I also have yielded up my ambition to be a sailor, or +rather, that branch of the profession in which I hoped to +specialize--piracy--because, for some regretful reason, piracy has lost +much of its charm in these days of great liners. There is no treasure to +search for any more, and the golden age of the splendid clipper ships, +with their immense spread of canvas, has given way to the unromantic age +of the grimy steamer, about which there is so little to appeal to the +imagination. Consequently, lion hunting is about the only thing +left--except wars, and they are few and far between. + +And so, after suffering this "lion-hunting" ambition to lie fallow for +many years, I at last reached a day when it seemed possible to realize +it. The chance came in a curiously unexpected way. Mr. Akeley, a man +famed in African hunting exploits, was to deliver a talk before a little +club to which I belonged. I went, and as a result of my thrilled +interest in every word he said, I met him and talked with him and +finally was asked to join a new African expedition that he had in +prospect. With the party were to be Mrs. Akeley, with a record of +fourteen months in the big game country, and Mr. Stephenson, a hunter +with many years of experience in the wild places of the United States, +Canada and Mexico. My hunting experience had been chiefly gained in my +library, but for some strange reason, it did not seem incongruous that I +should begin my real hunting in a lion and elephant country. + +[Drawing: _Getting Ready for Lion Shooting_] + +I had all the prowess of a Tartarin, and during the five months that +elapsed before I actually set forth, I went about my daily work with a +mind half dazed with the delicious consciousness that I was soon to +become a lion hunter. I feared that modern methods might have taken away +much of the old-time romance of the sport, but I felt certain that there +was still to be something left in the way of excitement and adventure. + +The succeeding pages of this book contain the chronicle of the nine +delightful months that followed my departure from America. + +In the middle of August Mr. Stephenson and I arrived in London. Mr. +Akeley had ordered most of our equipment by letter, but there still +remained many things to be done, and for a week or more we were busy +from morning till night. + +It is amazing how much stuff is required to outfit a party of four +people for an African shooting expedition of several months' duration. +First in importance come the rifles, then the tents and camp equipment, +then the clothes and boots, then the medical supplies, and finally the +food. Perhaps the food might be put first in importance, but just now, +after a hearty dinner, it seems to be the least important detail. + +Many men outfitting for an African campaign among wild animals secure +their outfits in London. It is there, in modest little shops, that one +gets the weapons that are known to sportsmen from one end of the world +to the other--weapons designed expressly for the requirements of African +shooting, and which have long stood the test of hard, practical service. +For two days we haunted these famous gun-makers' shops, and for two days +I made a magnificent attempt to look learnedly at things about which I +knew little. + +[Drawing: _Practising in the Museum_] + +At last, after many hours of gun shopping, attended by the constant +click of a taxicab meter, I assembled such an imposing arsenal that I +was nervous whenever I thought about it. With such a battery it was a +foregone conclusion that something, or somebody, was likely to get hurt. +I hoped that it would be something, and not somebody. + +The old-time "elephant gun" which shot an enormous ball and a staggering +charge of black powder has given way to the modern double-barreled +rifle, with its steel bullet and cordite powder. It is not half so heavy +or clumsy as the old timers, but its power and penetration are +tremendous. The largest of this modern type is the .650 cordite--that +is, it shoots a bullet six hundred and fifty thousandths of an inch in +diameter, and has a frightful recoil. This weapon is prohibitive on +account of its recoil, and few, if any, sportsmen now care to carry one. +The most popular type is the .450 and .475 cordite double-barreled +ejector, hammerless rifles, and these are the ones that every elephant +hunter should have. + +We started out with the definite purpose of getting three .450s--one for +Mr. Akeley, one for Mr. Stephenson, and one for myself; also three +nine-millimeter (.375) Mannlichers and two .256 Mannlichers. What we +really got were three .475 cordites, two nine-millimeter Mannlichers, +one eight-millimeter Mauser, and two .256 Mannlichers. We were switched +off the .450s because a government regulation forbids the use of that +caliber in Uganda, although it is permitted in British East Africa, and +so we played safe by getting the .475s. This rifle is a heavy gun that +carries a bullet large enough to jolt a fixed star and recoil enough to +put one's starboard shoulder in the hospital for a day or so. +Theoretically, the sportsman uses this weapon in close quarters, and +with a bullet placed according to expert advice sees the charging lion, +rhino or elephant turn a back somersault on his way to kingdom come. It +has a tremendous impact and will usually stop an animal even if the +bullet does not kill it. The bullets of a smaller rifle may kill the +animal, but not stop it at once. An elephant or lion, with a small +bullet in its heart, may still charge for fifty or one hundred yards +before it falls. Hence the necessity for a rifle that will shock as well +as penetrate. + +[Drawing: _Advice from a Cheerful Stranger_] + +Several experienced African lion hunters strongly advise taking a +"paradox," which in their parlance is affectionately called a +"cripple-stopper." It looks like what one would suppose an elephant gun +to look like. Its weight is staggering, and it shoots a solid ball, +backed up by a fearful charge of cordite. They use it under the +following conditions: Suppose that a big animal has been wounded and not +instantly killed. It at once assumes the aggressive, and is savage +beyond belief. The pain of the wound infuriates it and its one object in +life is to get at the man who shot it. It charges in a well-nigh +irresistible rush, and no ordinary bullet can stop it unless placed in +one or two small vital spots. Under the circumstances the hunter may not +be able to hold his rifle steady enough to hit these aforesaid spots. +That is when the paradox comes in. The hunter points it in a general way +in the direction of the oncoming beast, pulls the trigger and hopes for +the best. The paradox bullet hits with the force of a sledge hammer, and +stuns everything within a quarter of a mile, and the hunter turns +several back somersaults from the recoil and fades into bruised +unconsciousness. + +We decided not to get the paradox, preferring to trust to hitting the +small vital spots rather than transport the weapon by hand through long +tropical marches. + +The nine-millimeter rifles were said to be large enough for nearly all +purposes, but not reassuring in extremely close quarters. The .256 +Mannlichers are splendid for long range shooting, as they carry a small +bore bullet and have enormous penetrating power. + +The presumption, therefore, was that we should first shoot the lion at +long range with the .256, then at a shorter range with the +nine-millimeter, then at close range with the .475 cordite, and then +perhaps fervently wish that we had the paradox or a balloon. + +After getting our arsenal, we then had to get the cartridges, all done +up in tin boxes of a weight not exceeding sixty pounds, that being the +limit of weight which the African porter is expected to carry. There +were several thousand rounds of ammunition, but this did not mean that +several thousand lions were to be killed. Allowing for a fair percentage +of misses, we calculated, if lucky, to get one or two lions. + +After getting our rifles and ammunition under satisfactory headway, we +then saw that our seventy-two "chop" boxes of food were sure to be ready +in time to catch our steamer at Southampton. + +And yet these preliminary details did not half conclude our shopping +preliminaries in London. There were camping rugs, blankets, cork +mattresses, pillows and pillow cases, bed bags, towels, lanterns, +mosquito boots, whetstones, hunting and skinning knives, khaki helmets, +pocket tapes to measure trophies, Pasteur anti-venomous serum, +hypodermic syringes, chairs, tables, cots, puttees, sweaters, raincoats, +Jaeger flannels, socks and pajamas, cholera belts, Burberry hunting +clothes, and lots of other little odds and ends that seemed to be +necessary. + +The clothes were put up in air-proof tin uniform cases, small enough to +be easily carried by a porter and secure enough to keep out the millions +of ants that were expected to seek habitation in them. + +[Drawing: _Part of the Equipment_] + +Most of our equipment, especially the food supplies, had been ordered by +letter, and these we found to be practically ready. The remaining +necessities, guns, ammunition, camera supplies, medical supplies, +clothes, helmets, and so on, we assembled after two days of prodigious +hustling. There was nothing then to be done except to hope that all our +mountainous mass of equipment would be safely installed on the steamer +for Mombasa. This steamer, the _Adolph Woermann_, sailed from Hamburg on +the fourteenth of August, was due at Southampton on the eighteenth and +at Naples on the thirtieth. To avoid transporting the hundred cases of +supplies overland to Naples, it was necessary to get them to Southampton +on the eighteenth. It was a close shave, for only by sending them down +by passenger train on that morning were they able to reach Southampton. +Fortunately our hopes were fulfilled, and at last we received word that +they were on board and were careening down toward Naples, where we +expected to join them on the thirtieth. + +[Drawing: Map] + +[Drawing: Map] + +[Drawing: _Studying the Lion's Vital Spots_] + +After disposing of this important preliminary, we then had time to visit +the zoo at South Kensington and the British museum of natural history, +where we carefully studied many of the animals that we hoped to meet +later under less formal conditions. We picked out the vital spots, as +seen from all angles, and nothing then remained to be done but to get +down to British East Africa with our rifles and see whether we could hit +those vital spots. + +Mr. Akeley had an elaborate moving picture machine and we planned to get +some excellent pictures of charging animals. The lion, rhino or other +subject was to be allowed to charge within a few feet of the camera and +then with a crack of our trusty rifles he was supposed to stop. We +seemed safe in assuming, even without exaggeration, that this would be +exciting. + +It was at least that. + +At last we said farewell to London, a one-sided ceremony, stopped at +Rheims to see the aviators, joined the Akeleys at Paris, and after +touching a few of the high spots in Europe, arrived in Naples in ample +time to catch our boat for Mombasa. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FIRST HALF OF THE VOYAGE. FROM NAPLES TO THE RED SEA, WITH A FEW +SIDE LIGHTS ON INDIAN OCEAN TRAVEL + + +Lion hunting had not been fraught with any great hardships or dangers up +to this time. The Mediterranean was as smooth as a mill-pond, the Suez +Canal was free from any tempestuous rolling, and the Red Sea was placid +and hot. After some days we were in the Indian Ocean, plowing lazily +along and counting the hours until we reached Mombasa. Perhaps after +that the life of a lion hunter would be less tranquil and calm. + +The _Adolph Woermann_ was a six-thousand-three-hundred-ton ship, three +years old, and so heavily laden with guns and ammunition and steel rails +for the Tanga Railway that it would hardly roll in a hurricane. There +were about sixty first-class passengers on board and a fair number in +the second class. These passengers represented a dozen or so different +nationalities, and were bound for all sorts of places in East, Central, +and South Africa. Some were government officials going out to their +stations, some were army officers, some were professional hunters, and +some were private hunters going out "for" to shoot. + +There were also a number of women on board and some children. I don't +know how many children there were, but in the early morning there seemed +to be a great number. + +These Indian Ocean steamers are usually filled with an interesting lot +of passengers. At first you may only speculate as to who and what they +are and whither they are bound, but as the days go by you get acquainted +with many of them and find out who nearly everybody is and all about +him. On this steamer there were several interesting people. First in +station and importance was Sir Percy Girouard, the newly appointed +governor of British East Africa, who was going out to Nairobi to take +his position. Sir Percy is a splendid type of man, only about forty-two +years old, but with a career that has been filled with brilliant +achievements. He was born in Canada and was knighted in 1900. He looks +as Colonel Roosevelt looked ten years ago, and, in spite of a firm, +definite personality of great strength, is also courteous and kindly. He +has recently been the governor of northern Nigeria, and before that time +served in South Africa and the Soudan. It was of him that Lord Kitchener +said "the Soudan Railway would never have been built without his +services." + +The new governor was accompanied by two staff officers, one a Scotchman +and the other an Irishman, and both of them with the clean, healthy look +of the young British army officer. There would be a big reception at +Mombasa, no doubt, with bands a-playing and fireworks popping, when the +ship arrived with the new executive. + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. "Crossing the Line" +Ceremonies] + +[Photograph: Mr. Stephenson, Mr. and Mrs. Akeley and Mr. McCutcheon. +Courtesy of Boyce Balloonagraph Expedition] + +[Drawing: _Before and After Outfitting_] + +There were also several officials with high-sounding titles who were +going out to their stations in German East Africa. These gentlemen were +mostly accompanied by wives and babies and between them they imparted a +spirited scene of domesticity to the life on shipboard. The effect of a +man wheeling a baby carriage about the deck was to make one think of +some peaceful place far from the deck of a steamer. + +Little Tim was the life of the ship. He was a little boy aged eighteen +months, who began life at Sombra, in Nyassaland, British Central Africa. +Just now he was returning from England with his father and mother. +Little Tim had curly hair, looked something like a brownie, and was +brimming over with energy and curiosity every moment that he was awake. +If left alone five minutes he was quite likely to try to climb up the +rigging. Consequently he was never left alone, and the decks were +constantly echoing with a fond mother's voice begging him not to "do +that," or to "come right here, Tim." One of Tim's chief diversions was +to divest himself of all but his two nearest articles of wear and sit in +the scuppers with the water turned on. A crowd of passengers was usually +grouped around him and watched his manoeuvers with intense interest. +He was probably photographed a hundred times and envied by everybody on +board. It was so fearfully hot in the Red Sea that to be seated in +running water with almost no clothes on seemed about the nicest possible +way to pass the time. + +[Drawing: _Little Tim_] + +There was a professional elephant hunter on board. He was a quiet, +reserved sort of man, pleasant, and not at all bloodthirsty in +appearance. He had spent twenty years shooting in Africa, and had killed +three hundred elephants. On his last trip, during which he spent nearly +four years in the Congo, he secured about two and one-half tons of +ivory. This great quantity of tusks, worth nearly five dollars a pound, +brought him over twenty thousand dollars, after paying ten per cent. to +the Congo government. The Belgians place no limit upon the number of +elephants one may shoot, just so they get their rake-off. In British +territory, however, sportsmen are limited to only two elephants a year +to those holding licenses to shoot. Our elephant hunter friend was now +on his way back to shoot some more. + +[Drawing: _The Elephant Hunter and His Bag_] + +There was another interesting character on board who caused many of us +to stop and think. He was a young British army officer who was mauled by +a lioness several months ago in Somaliland. He now walked with a decided +limp and was likely to lose his commission in the army because of +physical infirmities. He was cheerful, pleasant, and looked hopefully +forward to a time when he could have another go at a lion. This is the +way the thing happened: Last March he was shooting in Somaliland and ran +across a lioness. He shot her, but failed to disable her. She +immediately charged, chewed up his leg, arm and shoulder, and was then +killed by his Somali gunbearer. He was days from any help. He dressed +his own wounds and the natives tried to carry him to the nearest +settlement. Finally his bandages were exhausted, the natives deserted, +and it was only after frightful suffering that he reached help. In three +weeks blood poisoning set in, as is usual after the foul teeth of a lion +have entered the flesh, and for several months he was close to death. +Now he was up and about, cheerful and sunny, but a serious object lesson +to the lion hunters bound for the lair of the lion. + +In the smoking-room of the _Adolph Woermann_ was a bronze bust of Mr. +Woermann presented by himself. Whether he meant to perpetuate his own +memory is not vital to the story. The amusing feature lies in the fact +that some irreverent passenger, whose soul was dead to the sacredness of +art, put a rough slouch hat on Mr. Woermann one night, with +side-splitting results. Mr. W. is a man with a strong, intelligent +German face, something like that of Prince Henry, and in the statue +appears with bare neck and shoulders. The addition of a rakish slouch +hat produced a startling effect, greatly detracting from the strictly +artistic, but adding much to the interest of the bust. It looked very +much as though he had been ashore at Aden and had come back on board +feeling the way a man does when he wants his hat on the side of his +head. Still, what can a shipowner expect who puts a nude bust of himself +in his own ship? + +[Drawing: _Having Fun with Mr. Woermann_] + +[Drawing: _An African Hair-Cut_] + +The ship's barber was the Associated Press of the ship's company, and +his shop was the Park Row of the vessel. He had plenty of things to talk +about and more than enough words to express them. Every vague rumor that +floated about was sure to find lodgment in the barber shop, just as a +piece of driftwood finally reaches the beach. He knew all the secrets of +the voyage and told them freely. + +One day I went down to have my hair trimmed. He asked if I'd have it +done African style. "How's that?" I inquired. "Shaved," said he, and +"No," said I. A number of the Germans on board were adopting the African +style of hair-cut, and the effect was something depressing. Every bump +that had lain dormant under a mat of hair at once assumed startling +proportions, and red ears that were retiring suddenly stuck out from the +pale white scalp like immense flappers. A devotee of this school of +tonsorial art had a peeled look that did not commend him to favorable +mention in artistic circles. But the flies, they loved it, so it was an +ill wind that blew no good. + +The Red Sea has a well-earned reputation of being hot. We expected a +certain amount of sultriness, but not in such lavish prodigality as it +was delivered. The first day out from Suez found the passengers peeling +off unnecessary clothes, and the next day found the men sleeping out on +deck. There wasn't much sleeping. The band concert lasted until +ten-thirty, then the three Germans who were trying to drink all the beer +on board gave a nightly saengerfest that lasted until one o'clock, and +then the men who wash down the decks appeared at four. Between one and +four it was too hot to sleep, so that there wasn't much restful repose +on the ship until we got out of the Red Sea. + +[Drawing: _We Slept on Deck in the Red Sea_] + +Down at the end of the Red Sea are the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. In the +middle of the straits is the island of Perim, a sun-baked, bare and +uninviting chunk of land that has great strategic value and little else. +It absolutely commands the entrance to the Red Sea, and, naturally, is +British. Nearly all strategic points in the East are British, from +Gibraltar to Singapore. A lighthouse, a signal station, and a small +detachment of troops are the sole points of interest in Perim, and as +one rides past one breathes a fervent prayer of thanksgiving that he is +not one of the summer colony on Perim. + +They tell a funny story about an English officer who was sent to Perim +to command the detachment. At the end of six months an official order +was sent for his transfer, because no one is expected to last longer +than six months without going crazy or committing suicide. To the great +surprise of the war office a letter came back stating that the officer +was quite contented at Perim, that he liked the peace and quiet of the +place, and begged that he be given leave to remain another six months. +The war office was amazed, and it gladly gave him the extension. At the +end of a year the same exchange of letters occurred and again he was +given the extension. + +I don't know how long this continued, but in the end the war office +discovered that the officer had been in London having a good time while +a sergeant-major attended to the sending of the biannual letter. I +suppose the officer divided his pay with the sergeant-major. If he did +not he was a most ungrateful man. + +The _Adolph Woermann_ is a German ship and is one of the best ones that +go down the east coast. Its passengers go to the British ports in +British East Africa, to the German ports in German East Africa, and to +several other ports in South Africa. Consequently the passengers are +about equally divided between the English and the Germans, with an +occasional Portuguese bound for Delagoa Bay or Mozambique. + +When we first went aboard our party of four desired to secure a table by +ourselves. We were unsuccessful, however, and found it shared by a +peaceful old gentleman with whiskers. By crossing with gold the palm of +the chief steward, the old gentleman was shifted to a seat on the first +officer's right. Later we discovered that he was Sir Thomas Scanlon, the +first premier of South Africa, the man who gave Cecil Rhodes his start. + +There were many interesting elements which made the cruise of the +_Woermann_ unusual. Mr. Boyce and his party of six were on board and +were on their way to photograph East Africa. They took moving pictures +of the various deck sports, also a bird's-eye picture of the ship, taken +from a camera suspended by a number of box kites, and also gave two +evenings of cinematograph entertainment. + +There were also poker games, bridge games, and other forms of seaside +sports, all of which contributed to the gaiety of life in the Indian +Ocean. In the evening one might have imagined oneself at a London +music-hall, in the daytime at the Olympian games, and in the early +morning out on the farm. There were a number of chickens on board and +each rooster seemed obliged to salute the dawn with a fanfare of +crowing. They belonged to the governor and were going out to East Africa +to found a colony of chickens. Some day, years hence, the proud +descendents of these chickens will boast that their ancestors came over +on the _Woermann_, just as some people boast about their ancestors on +the _Mayflower_. + +[Drawing: _Mauled by a Lion_] + +When we crossed the equator, a committee of strong-arm men baptized +those of the passengers who had never before crossed the line. Those who +had crossed the line entered into the fun of the occasion with much +spirit and enthusiasm. + +On the hottest day of the trip, just as we left Suez, when the mercury +was sputtering from the heat, we heard that the north pole had been +discovered. It cooled us off considerably for a while. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ISLAND OF MOMBASA, WITH THE JUNGLES OF EQUATORIAL AFRICA "ONLY A FEW +BLOCKS AWAY." A STORY OF THE WORLD'S CHAMPION MAN-EATING LIONS + + +In this voyage of the _Woermann_ there were about twenty Englishmen and +thirty Germans in the first class, not including women, and children. +There was practically no communication between the two nationalities, +which seemed deeply significant in these days when there is so much talk +of war between England and Germany. Each went his way without so much as +a "good morning" or a _guten abend_. And it was not a case of +unfamiliarity with the languages, either, that caused this mutual +restraint, for most of the Germans speak English. It was simply an +evidence that at the present time there is decidedly bad feeling between +the two races, and if it is a correct barometer of conditions in Europe, +there is certain to be war one of these days. On the _Woermann_, we only +hoped that it would not break out while the weather was as hot as it was +at that time. + +The Germans are not addicted to deck sports while voyaging about, and it +is quite unusual to find on German ships anything in the way of deck +competition. The German, while resting, prefers to play cards, or sing, +or sit in his long easy chair with the children playing about. The +Englishman likes to compete in feats of strength and takes to deck +sports as a duck takes to water. I don't know who started it, but some +one organized deck sports on the _Woermann_, and after we left Aden the +sound of battle raged without cessation. Some of the competitions were +amusing. For instance, there was the cockfight. Two men, with hands and +knees hobbled with a stick and stout rope, seat themselves inside a +circle, and the game is for each one to try to put the other outside the +circle. Neither can use his hands. + +[Drawing: _The Cock Fight_] + +It is like wrestling in a sitting position with both hands tied, the +mode of attack being to topple over one's opponent and then bunt him out +of the circle. There is considerable skill in the game and a fearful lot +of hard work. By the time the victor has won, the seat of the trousers +of each of the two contending heroes has cleaned the deck until it +shines--the deck, not the trousers. + +In a similar way the deck is benefited by the "are you there" game. Two +men are blindfolded, armed with long paper clubs, and then lie at full +length on the deck, with left hands clasped. One then says, "Are you +there?" and when the other answers, "I am," he makes a wild swat at +where he thinks the other's head to be. Of course, when the man says "I +am," he immediately gets his head as far away from where it was when he +spoke as is possible while clasping his opponent's hand. The "Are you +there" man makes a wild swing and lands some place with a prodigious +thump. He usually strikes the deck and seldom hits the head of the other +man. If one of them hits the other's head three times he wins. In the +meantime the deck has been thoroughly massaged by the two recumbent +heroes as they have moved back and forth in their various offensive and +defensive manoeuvers. + +[Drawing: "_Are You There?_"] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. A Study in Mombasa Shadows] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. Mombasa Is a Pretty Place] + +[Photograph: Transportation in Mombasa] + +[Drawing: _The Spar and Pillow Fight_] + +The pillow fight on the spar is the most fun. Two gladiators armed with +pillows sit astride a spar and try to knock each other off. It requires +a good deal of knack to keep your balance while some one is pounding you +with a large pillow. You are not allowed to touch the spar with your +hands, hence the difficulty of holding a difficult position. When a man +begins to waver the other redoubles his attack, and slowly at first, but +surely, the defeated gladiator tumbles off the spar into a canvas +stretched several feet below. It is lots of fun, especially for the +spectator and the winner. + +Then, of course, there were other feats of intellectual and physical +prowess in the _Woermann_ competition, such as threading the needle, +where you run across the deck, thread a needle held by a woman, and then +drag her back to the starting point. The woman usually, in the +excitement of the last spirited rush, falls over and is bodily dragged +several yards, squealing wildly and waving a couple of much agitated +deck shoes, and so forth. + +Similar to this contest is the one where the gentleman dashes across the +deck with several other equally dashing gentlemen, kneels at the feet of +a woman who ties his necktie and then lights his cigarette. The game is +to see who can do this the quickest and get back to the starting place +first. If you have ever tried to light a cigarette in a terrible hurry +and on a windy deck, you will appreciate the elements of uncertainty in +the game. + +These deck sports served to amuse and divert during the six days on the +Indian Ocean, and then the ship's chart said that we were almost at +Mombasa. The theoretical stage of the lion hunt was nearly over and it +was now a matter of only a few days until we should be up against the +"real thing." I sometimes wondered how I should act with a hostile lion +in front of me--whether I would become panic-stricken or whether my +nerve would hold true. There is lots of food for reverie when one is +going against big game for the first time. + +[Drawing: _Chalking the Pig's Eye_] + +We landed at Mombasa September sixteenth, seventeen days out from +Naples. + +Mombasa is a little island about two by three miles in extent. It is +riotous with brilliant vegetation, and, as seen after a long sea voyage +through the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, it looks heavenly except for +the heat. Hundreds of great baobab trees with huge, bottle-like trunks +and hundreds of broad spreading mango trees give an effect of tropical +luxuriance that is hardly to be excelled in beauty anywhere in the East. +Large ships that stop at the island usually wind their course through a +narrow channel and land their passengers and freight at the dock at +Kilindini, a mile and a half from the old Portuguese town of Mombasa, +where all the life of the island is centered. There are many relics of +the old days around the town of Mombasa and the port of Kilindini, but +since the British have been in possession a brisk air of progress and +enterprise is evident everywhere. Young men and young women in tennis +flannels, and other typical symptoms of British occupation are +constantly seen, and one entirely forgets that one is several thousand +miles from home and only a few blocks from the jungles of equatorial +Africa. We dreaded Mombasa before we arrived, but were soon agreeably +disappointed to find it not only beautiful and interesting, but also +pleasantly cool and full of most hospitable social life. + +When our ship anchored off Kilindini there was a great crowd assembled +on the pier. There were many smart looking boats, manned with uniformed +natives, that at once came out to the ship, and we knew that the town +was _en fete_ to welcome the newly appointed governor, Sir Percy +Girouard. + +He and his staff landed in full uniform. There were addresses of welcome +at the pier, a great deal of cheering and considerable photographing. +Then the rest of the passengers went ashore and spent several hours at +the custom house. All personal luggage was passed through, and we +embarked on a little train for Mombasa. The next day we registered our +firearms and had Smith, Mackenzie and Company do the rest. This firm is +ubiquitous in Mombasa and Zanzibar. They attend to everything for you, +and relieve you from much worry, vexation and rupees. They pay your +customs duties, get your mountains of stuff on the train for Nairobi, +and all you have to do is to pay them a commission and look pleasant. +The customs duty is ten per cent. on everything you have, and the +commission is five per cent. But in a hot climate, where one is apt to +feel lazy, the price is cheap. + +Thanks to the governor, our party of four was invited to go to Nairobi +on his special train. It left Mombasa on the morning of the nineteenth +of September, and at once began to climb toward the plateau on which +Nairobi is situated, three hundred and twenty-seven miles away. We had +dreaded the railway ride through the lowlands along the coast, for that +district has a bad reputation for fever and all such ills. But again we +were pleasantly disappointed. The country was beautiful and interesting, +and at four o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at Voi, a spot that is +synonymous with human ailments. It is one of the famous ill health +resorts of Africa, but on this occasion it was on its good behavior. We +stopped four hours, inspected everything in sight, and at eight o'clock +the special began to climb toward the plateau of East Africa. At nine +o'clock we stopped at Tsavo, a place made famous by the two man-eating +lions whose terrible depredations have been so vividly described by +Colonel Patterson in his book, _The Man Eaters of Tsavo_. These two +lions absolutely stopped all work on the railroad for a period of +several weeks. They were daring beyond belief, and seemed to have no +fear of human beings. For a time all efforts to kill them were in vain. +Twenty-eight native workmen were eaten by them, and doubtless many more +were unrecorded victims of their activity. The whole country was +terrorized until finally, after many futile attempts, they were at last +killed. + +No book on Africa seems complete unless this incident is mentioned +somewhere within its pages. + +We looked out at Tsavo with devouring interest. All was still, with the +dead silence of a tropical night. Then the train steamed on and we had +several hours in a berth to think the matter over. In the early hours of +morning, we stopped at Simba, the "Place of Lions," where the +station-master has many lion scares even now. In the cold darkness of +the night we bundled up in thick clothes and went forward to sit on the +observation seat of the engine. Slowly the eastern skies became gray, +then pink, and finally day broke through heavy masses of clouds. It was +intensely cold. In the faint light we could see shadowy figures of +animals creeping home after their night's hunting. A huge cheetah +bounded along the track in front of us. A troop of giraffes slowly +ambled away from the track. A gaunt hyena loped off into the scrub near +the side of the railroad and then, as daylight became brighter, we found +ourselves in the midst of thousands of wild animals. Zebras, +hartebeests, Grant's gazelles, Thompson's gazelles, impalla, giraffes, +wildebeests, and many other antelope species cantered off and stood to +watch the train as it swept past them. It was a wonderful ride, perhaps +the most novel railway ride to be found any place in the world. On each +side of the Uganda Railroad there is a strip of land, narrow on the +north and wide on the south, in which game is protected from the +sportsman, and consequently the animals have learned to regard these +strips as sanctuary. There were many tales of lions as we rode along, +and the imagination pictured a slinking lion in every patch of reeds +along the way. I heard one lion story that makes the man-eaters of Tsavo +seem like vegetarians. It was told to me by a gentleman high in the +government service--a man of unimpeachable veracity. He says the story +is absolutely true, but refused to swear to it. + +Once upon a time, so the story goes, there was a caravan of slaves +moving through the jungles of Africa. The slave-drivers were cruel and +they chained the poor savages together in bunches of ten. Each slave +wore an iron ring around his neck and the chain passed through this ring +and on to the rest of the ten. For days and weeks and months they +marched along, their chains clanking and their shoulders bending beneath +the heavy weight. From time to time the slave-drivers would jog them +along with a few lashes from a four-cornered "hippo" hide _kiboko_, or +whip. Quite naturally the life was far from pleasant to the chain-gang +and they watched eagerly for a chance to escape. Finally one dark night, +when the sentinels were asleep, a bunch of ten succeeded in creeping +away into the darkness. They were unarmed and chained from neck to neck, +one to another. For several days they made their way steadily toward the +coast. All seemed well. They ate fruit and nuts and herbs and began to +see visions of a pleasant arrival at the coast. + +[Drawing: _They Made Their Way Steadily Toward the Coast_] + +But, alas! Their hopes were soon to be dispelled. One night a deep +rumbling roar was heard in the jungle through which they were picking +their unanimous way. A shudder ran through the slaves. "_Simba_," they +whispered in terror. A little while later there was another rumble, this +time much closer. They speedily became more frightened. Here they were, +ten days' march from the coast, unarmed, and quite defenseless against a +lion. + +Presently the lion appeared, his cruel, hungry eyes gleaming through the +night. They were frozen with horror, as slowly, slowly, slowly the great +animal crept toward them with his tail sibilantly lashing above his +back. They were now thoroughly alarmed and realized to the utmost that +the lion's intentions were open to grave suspicion. Breathlessly they +waited, or perhaps they tried to climb trees, but being chained together +they could not climb more than one tree. And there was not a single tree +big enough to hold more than nine of them. The record of the story is +now obscure, but the horrid tale goes on to relate that the lion gave a +frightful roar and leaped upon the tenth man, biting him to death in a +single snap. The dilemma of the others is obvious. They knew better than +to disturb a lion while it is eating. To do so would be to court sudden +death. So they sat still and watched the beast slowly and greedily +devour their comrade. Having finished his meal the great beast, +surfeited with food, slowly moved off into the jungle. + +[Drawing: _The Lion's Intentions Were Open to Grave Suspicions_] + +Immediately the nine remaining slaves took to their heels, dragging the +empty ring and chain of the late number ten. All night long they ran +until finally they became exhausted and fell asleep. In the afternoon +they again resumed their march, hopeful once more. But alas! again. + +Along about supper-time they heard the distant roar of a lion. Presently +it sounded nearer and soon the gleaming eyes of the lion appeared once +more among the jungle grass. Once again they were frozen with horror as +the hungry beast devoured the last man in the row--number nine. Again +they sat helpless while the man-eater slowly finished his supper, and +again they were overjoyed to see him depart from their midst. As soon as +the last vestige of his tail had disappeared from view they scrambled up +and hiked briskly toward the coast, nine days away. + +[Drawing: _While the Man-Eater Finished His Supper_] + +They were now thoroughly alarmed, and almost dreaded the supper hour. +The next night the lion caught up with them again and proceeded to +devour number eight. He then peacefully ambled away, leaving another +empty ring. + +The next night there was a spirited contest to see which end of the +chain should be last, but a vote was taken and it was decided six to one +in favor of continuing in their original formation. The one who voted +against was eaten that night and the remaining six, with the four empty +rings clanking behind them, resumed their mournful march to the coast, +six days away. + +[Drawing: _Two to One_] + +For five nights after this, the lion caught up with them and diminished +their number by five. Finally there was only one left and the coast was +a full day's march away. Could he make it? It looked like a desperate +chance, but he still had hopes. He noticed with pleasure that the lion +was becoming fat and probably could not travel fast. But he also noticed +with displeasure that he had forty feet of chain and nine heavy iron +neck rings to lug along and that extra weight naturally greatly +handicapped him. It was a thrilling race--the coast only one day away +and life or death the prize! Who can imagine the feelings of the poor +slave? But with a stout heart he struggled on through poisonous +morasses, and pushed his way through snaky creepers. The afternoon sun +slowly sank toward the western horizon and-- + +The locomotive at this point of the story screeched loudly. The wheels +grated on the track and my official friend leaped off the cow-catcher. + +"Here!" I shouted, "what's the finish of that story?" + +"I'll tell you the rest the next time I see you," he sang out, and so I +don't know just how the story ended. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ON THE EDGE OF THE ATHI PLAINS, FACE TO FACE WITH GREAT HERDS OF WILD +GAME. UP IN A BALLOON AT NAIROBI + + +Before Colonel Roosevelt drew the eyes of the world on British East +Africa Nairobi was practically unheard of. The British colonial office +knew where it was and a fair number of English sportsmen had visited it +in the last six or eight years. Perhaps twenty-five or thirty Americans +had been in Nairobi on their way to the rich game fields that lie in all +directions from the town, but beyond these few outsiders the place was +unknown. Now it is decidedly on the map, thanks to our gallant and +picturesque Theodore. It has been mentioned in book and magazine to a +degree that nearly everybody can tell in a general way where and what it +is, even if he can not pronounce it. + +Before coming to Nairobi I had read a lot about it, and yet when I +reached the place it seemed as though the descriptions had failed to +prepare me for what I saw. We arrived under unusual conditions. Files of +native soldiers were lined up on the platform of the station to welcome +the new governor, and the whole white population of the town, several +hundred in number, were massed in front of the building. The roofs and +trees were filled with natives and the broad open space beyond the +station was fringed with pony carts, bullock carts, rickshaws, cameras, +and some hotel 'buses. Several thousand people, mostly East Indians and +natives, were among those present. Lord Delamere, who has adopted East +Africa as his home, and who owns a hundred thousand acres or so of game +preserves, read an address of welcome, and Sir Percy, in white uniform +and helmet, responded with a speech that struck a popular note. There +were dozens of cameras snapping and the whole effect was distinctly +festive in appearance. + +[Drawing: _In the Back Yard of Nairobi_] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. Dressed to Kill] + +[Photograph: Courtesy of Boyce Balloonagraph Expedition. The Balloon +Ascension] + +[Photograph: Courtesy of Boyce Balloonagraph Expedition. The Norfolk +Hotel, Nairobi] + +The town lies on the edge of the Athi Plains, a broad sweep of +sun-bleached grass veldt many miles in extent. From almost any part of +the town one may look out on plains where great herds of wild game are +constantly in sight. In an hour's leisurely walk from the station a man +with a gun can get hartebeest, zebra, Grant's gazelle, Thompson's +gazelle, impalla, and probably wildebeest. One can not possibly count +the number of animals that feed contentedly within sight of the town of +Nairobi, and it is difficult to think that one is not looking out upon a +collection of domesticated game. Sometimes, as happened two nights +before we reached Nairobi, a lion will chase a herd of zebra and the +latter in fright will tear through the town, destroying gardens and +fences and flowers in a mad stampede. We met one man who goes out ten +minutes from town every other day and kills a kongoni (hartebeest) as +food for his dogs. If you were disposed to do so you could kill dozens +every day with little effort and almost no diminution of the visible +supply. + +Nairobi is new and unattractive. There is one long main thoroughfare, +quite wide and fringed with trees, along which at wide intervals are the +substantial looking stone building of the Bank of India, the business +houses, the hotels, and numbers of cheap corrugated iron, one-story +shacks used for government purposes. A native barracks with low iron +houses and some more little iron houses used for medical experiments and +still some more for use as native hospitals are encountered as one takes +the half-mile ride from the station to the hotel. A big square filled +with large trees marks the park, and a number of rather pretentious +one-story buildings display signs that tell you where you may buy almost +anything, from a suit of clothes to a magazine rifle. + +[Drawing: _The Main Street Is a Busy Place_] + +Goanese, East Indian, and European shops are scattered at intervals +along this one long, wide street. Rickshaws, pedestrians, bullock carts, +horsemen, and heavily burdened porters are passing constantly back and +forth, almost always in the middle of the street. Bicycles, one or two +motorcycles, and a couple of automobiles are occasionally to be seen. +The aspect of the town suggests the activity of a new frontier place +where everybody is busy. At one end the long street loses itself in the +broad Athi Plains, at the other it climbs up over some low hills and +enters the residence district on higher ground. Here the hills are +generously covered with a straggly growth of tall, ungraceful trees, +among which, almost hidden from view, are the widely scattered bungalows +of the white population. + +[Photograph: An Embo Apollo] + + +[Photograph: The Askari Patrols the Camp] + +Branching off from the main street are side streets, some of them +thronged with East Indian bazaars, about which may be found all the +phases of life of an Indian city. Still beyond and parallel with the one +main street are sparsely settled streets which look ragged with their +tin shacks and scattered gardens. + +Nairobi is not a beautiful place, but it is new and busy, and the people +who live there are working wonders in changing a bad location into what +some day will be a pretty place. It is over five thousand feet high, +healthy, and cold at night. Away off in the hills a mile or more from +town is Government House, where the governor lives, and near by is the +club and a new European hospital, looking out over a sweep of country +that on clear days includes Kilima-Njaro, over a hundred miles to the +southeast, and Mount Kenia, a hundred miles northeast. + +You are still in civilization in Nairobi. Anything you want you may buy +at some of the shops, and almost anything you may want to eat or drink +may easily be had. There are weekly newspapers, churches, clubs, hotels, +and nearly all the by-products of civilization. One could live in +Nairobi, only a few miles from the equator, wear summer clothes at noon +and winter clothes at night, keep well, and not miss many of the +luxuries of life. The telegraph puts you in immediate touch with the +whole wide world, and on the thirtieth of September you can read the +Chicago _Tribune_ of August thirty-first. + +At present the chief revenue of the government is derived from shooting +parties, and the officials are doing all they can to encourage the +coming of sportsmen. Each man who comes to shoot must pay two hundred +and fifty dollars for his license as well as employ at least thirty +natives for his transport. He must buy supplies, pay ten per cent. +import and export tax, and in many other ways spend money which goes +toward paying the expenses of government. The government also is +encouraging various agricultural and stock raising experiments, but +these have not yet passed the experimental stage. Almost anything may be +grown in British East Africa, but before agriculture can be made to pay +the vast herds of wild game must either be exterminated or driven away. +No fence will keep out a herd of zebra, and in one rush a field of grain +is ruined by these giant herds. Experiments have failed satisfactorily +to domesticate the zebra, and so he remains a menace to agriculture and +a nuisance in all respects except as adding a picturesque note to the +landscape. + +Colonel Roosevelt, in a recent speech in Nairobi, spoke of British East +Africa as a land of enormous possibilities and promise, but in talks +with many men here I found that little money has been made by those who +have gone into agriculture in a large way. Drought and predatory herds +of game have introduced an element of uncertainty which has made +agriculture, as at present developed, unsatisfactory. + +Colonel Roosevelt has become a popular idol in East Africa. Everywhere +one meets Englishmen who express the greatest admiration for him. He has +shrewdly analyzed conditions as they now exist and has picked out the +weak spots in the government. For many years prior to the arrival of Sir +Percy Girouard the country has been administered by weak executives, and +its progress has been greatly retarded thereby. The last governor was +kind, but inefficient, and some months ago was sent to the West Indies, +where he is officially buried. Roosevelt came, sized up the situation, +and made a speech at a big banquet in Nairobi. Nearly two hundred white +men in evening clothes were there. They came from all parts of East +Africa, and listened with admiration to the plain truths that Theodore +Roosevelt told them in the manner of a Dutch uncle. Since then he has +owned the country and could be elected to any office within the gift of +the people. He talked for over an hour, and it must have been a great +speech, if one may judge by the enthusiastic comments I have heard about +it. When an Englishman gets enthusiastic about a speech by an American +it must be a pretty good speech. + +Newland and Tarlton is the firm that outfits most shooting parties that +start out from Nairobi. They do all the preliminary work and relieve you +of most of the worry. If you wish them to do so, they will get your +complete outfit, so you need not bring anything with you but a suitcase. +They will get your guns, your tents, your food supplies, your mules, +your head-man, your cook, your gunbearers, your askaris (native +soldiers), your interpreter, your ammunition, and your porters. They +will have the whole outfit ready for you by the time you arrive in +Nairobi. When you arrive in British East Africa, a-shooting bent, you +will hear of Newland and Tarlton so often that you will think they own +the country. + +Mr. Newland met us in Mombasa, and through his agents sent all of our +London equipment of tents and guns and ammunition and food up to +Nairobi. When we arrived in Nairobi he had our porters ready, together +with tent boys, gunbearers, and all the other members of our _safari_, +and in three days we were ready to march. The firm has systematized +methods so much that it is simple for them to do what would be matters +of endless worry to the stranger. In course of time you pay the price, +and in our case it seemed reasonable, when one considers the work and +worry involved. Most English sportsmen come out in October and November, +after which time the shooting is at its height. Two years ago there were +sixty _safaris_, or shooting expeditions, sent out from Nairobi. When we +left, late in September, there were about thirty. + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. The Great White Way in +Nairobi] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce The Busiest Place in Nairobi] + +[Photograph: Umbrella Acacias] + +[Drawing: _The New Governor Looks Something Like Roosevelt_] + +Each party must have from thirty to a couple of hundred camp attendants, +depending upon the number of white men in the party. Each white man, +requires, roughly, thirty natives to take care of him. In our party of +four white people we had one hundred and eighteen. One would presume +that the game would speedily be exterminated, yet it is said that the +game is constantly increasing. After one day's ride on the railway it +would be hard to conceive of game being more plentiful than it was while +we were there. Mr. Roosevelt carried nearly three hundred men with him, +collected a great quantity of game, and necessarily spent a great deal +of money. It is said that the expenses of his expedition approached ten +thousand dollars a month, but the chances are that this figure is much +more than the actual figure. + +At the time of our arrival there was a shortage in the porter supply, +and we were obliged to take out men from a number of different tribes. +Swahili porters are considered the best, but there are not enough to go +round, so we had to take Swahilis, Bagandas, Kikuyus, Kavirondos, +Lumbwas, Minyamwezis, and a lot more of assorted races. Each porter +carries sixty pounds on his head, and when the whole outfit is on the +trail it looks like a procession of much importance. + +The Norfolk Hotel is the chief rendezvous of Nairobi. In the course of +the afternoon nearly all the white men on hunting bent show up at the +hotel and patronize the bar. They come in wonderful hunting regalia and +in all the wonderful splendor of the Britisher when he is afield. There +is nearly always a great coming and going of men riding up, and of +rickshaws arriving and departing. Usually several tired sportsmen are +stretched out on the veranda of the long one-storied building, reading +the ancient London papers that are lying about. Professional guides, +arrayed in picturesque Buffalo Bill outfits, with spurs and +hunting-knives and slouch hats, are among those present, and amateur +sportsmen in crisp khaki and sun helmets and new puttees swagger back +and forth to the bar. There is no denying the fact that there is +considerable drinking in Nairobi. There was as much before we got there +as there was after we got there, however. After the arrival of the +European steamer at Mombasa business is brisk for several days as the +different parties sally forth for the wilds. + +[Drawing: _At the Norfolk Hotel Bar_] + +On our ship there were four different parties. A young American from +Boston, who has been spending several years doing archaeological work in +Crete, accompanied by a young English cavalry officer, were starting out +for a six-weeks' shoot south of the railway and near Victoria Nyanza. + +Two professional ivory hunters were starting for German East Africa by +way of the lake. Mr. Boyce and his African balloonograph party of seven +white men were preparing for the photographing expedition in the Sotik, +and our party of four was making final preparations for our march. +Consequently there was much hurrying about, and Newland and Tarlton's +warehouse was the center of throngs of waiting porters and the scene of +intense activity as each party sorted and assembled its mountains of +supplies. + +Seager and Wormald got off first, going by train to Kijabe, where they +were to begin their ten days' march in the Sotik. Here they were to try +their luck for two or three weeks and then march back, preparatory to +starting home. + +The professional ivory hunters were slow in starting. There was delay in +getting mules. One of them had shot three hundred elephants in the +Belgian Congo during the last four years, and it was suspected he had +been poaching. The other had been caught by the Belgian authorities on +his last trip, lost all his ivory and guns by confiscation, but was +ready to make another try. The ivory game is a rich one and there are +always venturesome men who are willing to take chances with the law in +getting the prizes. + +The Boyce party with its two balloons and its great number of box kites +and its moving picture equipment and its twenty-nine cameras and its +vast equipment was slow in starting, but it expected to get away on +September twenty-fourth, the day after we left. They planned to fill +their balloon in Nairobi and tow it at the end of a special train as far +as Kijabe, where they were to strike inland from the railway. They were +encamped on a hill overlooking the city, with their two hundred and +thirty porters ready for the field and their balloon ready to make the +first ascension ever attempted in East Africa. + +Throngs of natives squatted about, watching the final preparations, and +doubtless wondered what the strange, swaying object was. On the evening +of the twenty-second the party gave a moving picture show at one of the +clubs for the benefit of St. Andrew's church. A great crowd of +fashionably dressed people turned out and saw the motion picture records +of events which they had seen in life only a couple of days before. +There were moving pictures of the arrival of the governor's special +train, his march through the city, and many other events that were fresh +in the minds of the audience. There were also motion pictures taken on +the ship that brought us down from Naples to Mombasa, and it was most +interesting to see our fellow passengers and friends reproduced before +us in their various athletic activities while on shipboard. Mr. Boyce +gave an afternoon show for children, an evening show for grown-ups, and +was to give another for the natives the following night. The charities +of Nairobi were much richer because of Mr. Boyce and his African +Balloonograph Expedition. + +While in Nairobi we visited the little station where experiments are +being made in the "sleeping sickness." An intelligent young English +doctor is conducting the investigations and great hopes are entertained +of much new information about that most mysterious ailment that has +swept whole colonies of blacks away in the last few years. + +In many little bottles were specimens of the deadly tsetse fly that +causes all the infection. And the most deadly of all was the small one +whose distinguishing characteristic was its wings, which crossed over +its back. These we were told to look out for and to avoid them, if +possible. They occur only in certain districts and live in the deep +shade, near water. They also are day-biting insects, who do their biting +only between eleven o'clock in the morning and five o'clock in the +afternoon. + +In the station there were a number of monkeys, upon which the fly was +being tried. They were in various stages of the disease, but it seemed +impossible to tell whether their illness was due to the sleeping +sickness germ or was due to tick fever, a common malady among monkeys. +In one of the rooms of the laboratory there were natives holding little +cages of tsetse flies against the monkeys, which were pinioned to the +floor by the natives. The screened cages were held close to the stomach +of the helpless monkey, and little apertures in the screen permitted the +fly to settle upon and bite the animal. + +There are certain wide belts of land in Africa called the "tsetse fly +belts," where horses, mules and cattle can not live. These districts +have been known for a number of years, long before the sleeping sickness +became known. In the case of animals, the danger could be minimized by +keeping the animals out of those belts, but in the case of humans the +same can not be done. One infected native from a sleeping sickness +district can carry the disease from one end of the country to the other, +and when once it breaks out the newly infected district is doomed. +Consequently the British authorities are greatly alarmed, for by means +of this deadly fly the whole population of East Africa might be wiped +out if no remedy is discovered. It has not yet been absolutely proven +that East Africa is a "white man's country," and in the end it may be +necessary for him to give up hope of making it more than a place of +temporary residence and exploration. + +We were also shown some ticks. They are the pests of Africa. They exist +nearly every place and carry a particularly malicious germ that gives +one "tick fever." It is not a deadly fever, but it is recurrent and +weakening. There are all kinds of ticks, from little red ones no bigger +than a grain of pepper to big fat ones the size of a finger-nail, that +are exactly the color of the ground. They seem to have immortal life, +for they can exist for a long time without food. Doctor Ward told us of +some that he had put in a box, where they lived four years without food +or water. He also told us of one that was sent to the British museum, +put on a card with a pin through it, and lived over two years in this +condition. It is assumed, however, that it sustained fatal injuries, +because after a two years' fight against its wound it finally succumbed. + +We were told to avoid old camping grounds while on _safari_, because +these spots were usually much infested with ticks waiting for new +camping parties. Wild game is always covered with ticks and carries them +all over the land. As you walk through the grass in the game country the +ticks cling to your clothes and immediately seek for an opening where +they may establish closer relations with you. Some animals, like the +rhino and the eland, have tick birds that sit upon their backs and eat +the ticks. The egrets police the eland and capture all predatory ticks, +while the rhino usually has half a dozen little tick birds sitting upon +him. + +However, we were starting out in a day or so, and in a few days expected +to learn a lot more about ticks than we then knew. + +It is supposed to require a certain amount of nerve to go lion shooting. +It is also supposed to require an additional amount to face an angry +rhino or to attempt to get African buffalo. The last-named creature is a +vindictive, crafty beast that is feared by old African hunters more than +they fear any other animal. In consequence of these dangers we decided +that it might be well to give our nerves a thorough test before going +out with them. If they were not in good condition it would be well to +know of it before rather than after going up against a strange and +hostile lion. + +That is why we went up in the balloon in Nairobi. The balloon was one of +the two Boyce balloons and had never been tried. It was small, of twelve +thousand cubic feet capacity, as compared with the seventy thousand foot +balloons that do the racing. It was also being tried at an altitude of +over five thousand feet under uncertain wind and heat conditions, and so +the element of uncertainty was aggravated. We felt that if we could go +up in a new balloon of a small size it might demonstrate whether we +should later go up a tree or stand pat against a charging menagerie. + +There was a great crowd gathered on the hill where this balloon was +being inflated. Since five o'clock in the morning the gas had been +generating in the wooden tanks, and from these was being conducted by a +cloth tube to the mouth of the balloon. The natives squatted wonderingly +about in a circle, mystified and excited. At three o'clock the balloon +was over half filled and was swaying savagely at its anchorage. A strong +wind was blowing, and Mr. Lawrence, who had charge of the ascension, was +apprehensive. He feared to fill the balloon to its capacity lest the +expansion of the gas due to the hot sun should explode it. + +At half past three the basket was attached and it looked small--about +the size of a large bushel basket, three feet in diameter and three feet +deep. The balloon, heavily laden with sand-bags, was lightened until it +could almost rise, and in this condition was led across to an open spot +sufficiently far from the nearest trees. The crowd thronged up pop-eyed +and quivering with excitement. Then there was a long wait until the wind +had died down a bit, which it did after a while. The eventful moment had +arrived, and Mr. Stephenson, of our party, climbed into the basket. He +is only six feet five inches in height and weighs only two hundred and +thirty pounds. He had on a pair of heavy hunting boots, for we were +leaving for the hunting grounds immediately after the ascension. One by +one the restraining bags of sand were taken off, but still the balloon +sat on the ground without any inclination to do otherwise. + +A wave of disappointment spread over the crowd. Suddenly a brilliant +inspiration struck the gallant aeronaut. He took off one of his heavy +hunting boots and cast it overboard. The balloon arose a foot or two and +then sagged back to earth. Then the other boot was cast over and the +balloon rose several feet, swaying and whipping savagely over the heads +of the crowd. The wind was now blowing pretty hard, and when the wire +was run out the balloon started almost horizontally for the nearest +tree, rising slightly. + +[Drawing: _Throwing Out Ballast_] + +The wire was stopped at once and the balloon thus suddenly restrained, +changed its horizontal course to an upward one. At about sixty feet up +the wire was again paid out and the balloon made a dash for the trees +again. Once more the balloon was stopped and rose to a height of one +hundred and fifty feet, where it swayed about with the pleasant face of +Stephenson looking over the edge of the basket. He had to sit down, as +there was not room to stand. The ascension seemed a failure with the +handicap of two hundred and thirty pounds, and so the balloon was reeled +down to the earth again. It was not a great ascension, but the amateur +aeronaut had gained the distinction of making the first balloon +ascension ever made in East Africa. He would have gone higher if his +shoes had been heavier. + +To me fell the next chance, and I knew that my one hundred and forty +pounds would not seriously handicap the balloon. Once more there was a +long wait until the wind died down, and all of a sudden the cylinder of +wire was released and the ground sank hundreds of feet below me. The +horizon widened and the whole vast plain of the African highlands +stretched out with an ever-widening horizon. New mountain peaks rose far +away and native villages with ant-like people moving about appeared in +unexpected quarters. Away below, the crowd of people looked like little +insects as they gazed up at the balloon. Grasping the ropes that led +from the basket to the balloon, I stood and waved at them and could hear +the shouts come up from a thousand feet below. + +I was not frightened. There was no sensation of motion as long as the +balloon was ascending. Aside from looking at the wonderful scene that +opened out before me, I believe I thought chiefly about where I should +land in case the wire broke. The balloon would undoubtedly go many miles +before descending, and five miles in any direction would lead me into a +primitive jungle or veldt. A hundred miles would take me into almost +unexplored districts in some directions, where the natives would greet +me as some supernatural being. Perhaps I might be greeted as a god +and--just in the midst of these reflections they began to reel in the +balloon. The sudden stopping was not pleasant, for then the balloon +began to sway. Slowly the earth came nearer and the wind howled through +the rigging and the partly filled bag flapped and thundered. The wire, +about as thick as a piano wire, looked frail, but at last after a slow +and tedious descent a safe landing was made amid the wondering natives. +Cameras clicked and the moving picture machine worked busily as the +balloon was secured to earth again. + +To Mrs. Akeley of our party fell the next chance to go up. As she was +lifted into the basket the feminine population of Nairobi gazed in +wonder that a woman should dare venture up in a balloon. The cameras +clicked some more, somebody shook hands with her, and it began to look +quite like a leave-taking. Just when all was ready the wind sprang up +savagely and an ascension seemed inexpedient. There was a long wait and +still the wind continued in gusts. At last it was determined that we +might as well settle down for better conditions, so Mrs. Akeley was +lifted out and we waited impatiently for the wind to die down. + +At last it died down, all was hurriedly prepared for the ascension, and +Mrs. Akeley took her place again in the basket. In an instant the +balloon shot up a couple of hundred feet and was held there for a +moment. The wind once more sprang up and the balloon was drawn down amid +the cheers of the crowd. She had been the first woman to make an +ascension in British East Africa, if not in all of Africa. + +We then mounted our mules and rode out on the open plains. Several hours +before, our entire camp had moved and we were to join them at a +prearranged spot out on the Athi Plains. All our preliminary worries +were over and at last we were actually started. At six o'clock, far +across the country we saw the gleaming lights of our camp-fires and the +green tents that were to be our homes for many weeks to come. Enormous +herds of hartebeest and wildebeest were on each side, and countless +zebras. That night two of us heard the first bark of the zebra, and we +thought it must be the bark of distant dogs. It was one of our first +surprises to learn that zebras bark instead of neigh. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +INTO THE HEART OF THE BIG GAME COUNTRY WITH A RETINUE OF MORE THAN ONE +HUNDRED NATIVES. A SAFARI AND WHAT IT IS + + +When I first expressed my intention of going to East Africa to shoot big +game some of my friends remarked, in surprise: "Why, I didn't know that +you were so bloodthirsty!" They seemed to think that the primary object +of such an expedition was to slay animals, none of which had done +anything to me, and that to wish to embark in any such project was an +evidence of bloodthirstiness. I tried to explain that I had no +particular grudge against any of the African fauna, and that the thing I +chiefly desired to do was to get out in the open, far from the picture +post-card, and enjoy experiences which could not help being wonderful +and strange and perhaps exciting. + +The shooting of animals merely for the sake of killing them is, of +course, not an elevating sport, but the by-products of big game hunting +in Africa are among the most delightful and inspiring of all +experiences. For weeks or months you live a nomadic tent life amid +surroundings so different from what you are accustomed to that one is +both mentally and physically rejuvenated. You are among strange and +savage people, in strange and savage lands, and always threatened by +strange and savage animals. The life is new and the scenery new. There +is adventure and novelty in every day of such a life, and it is that +phase of it that has the most insistent appeal. It is the call of the +wild to which the pre-Adamite monkey in our nature responds. + +Even if one never used his rifle one would still enjoy life on _safari_. +_Safari_ is an Arabic word meaning expedition as it is understood in +that country. If you go on any sort of a trip you are on _safari_. It +need not be a shooting trip. + +Of course everybody who has read the magazines of the last year has been +more or less familiarized with African hunting. He has read of the +amount of game that the authors have killed and of the narrow escapes +that they have had. + +He also has read about expeditions into districts with strange names, +but naturally these names have meant nothing to him. I know that I read +reams of African stuff about big game shooting and about _safari_, yet +in spite of all that, I remained in the dark as to many details of such +a life. I wanted to know what kind of money or trade stuff the hunter +carried; what sort of things he had to eat each day; what he wore, and +how he got from place to place. Most writers have a way of saying: "We +equipped our _safari_ in Nairobi and made seven marches to such and such +a place, where we ran into some excellent eland." All the important +small details are thus left out, and the reader remains in ignorance of +what the tent boy does, who skins the game that is killed, and what sort +of a cook stove they use. + +The purpose of this chapter is to tell something about the little things +that happen on _safari_. First of all, at the risk of repeating what has +been written so often before, I will say a few words about the personnel +of a _safari_, such as the one I was with. + +There were four white people in our expedition--Mr. and Mrs. Akeley, Mr. +Stephenson, and myself. Mr. Akeley's chief object was to get a group of +five elephants for the American Museum of Natural History and +incidentally secure photographic and moving picture records of animal +life. Both he and Mrs. Akeley had been in Africa before and knew the +country as thoroughly perhaps as any who has ever been there. Mr. Akeley +undoubtedly is the foremost taxidermist of the world, and his work is +famous wherever African animal life has been studied. Mr. Stephenson +went for the experience in African shooting, and I for that experience +and any other sort that might turn up. + +To supply an expedition of four white people, we had one head-man, whose +duty it was to run the _safari_--that is, to get us where we wanted to +go. The success and pleasure of the _safari_ depends almost wholly upon +the head-man. If he is weak, the discipline of the camp will disappear +and all sorts of annoyances will steadily increase. If he is strong, +everything will run smoothly. + +[Drawing: _The Cook--A Toto--The Head-Man_] + +Our head-man was a young Somali, named Abdi. For several years he was +with Mr. McMillan of Juja farm, and he spoke English well and knew the +requirements of white men. He was strikingly handsome, efficient, and +ruled the native porters firmly and kindly. Each day we patted ourselves +on the back because of Abdi. + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. It Is Tropical Along the Athi +River] + +[Photograph: Hippos in the Tana River] + +[Photograph: Our Camp Down on the Tana] + +Second in the list came our four gunbearers, all Somalis, they being +considered the best gunbearers. The duty of the gunbearer is always to +be with you when you are hunting, to carry your gun, and to have it in +your hand the instant it is needed. Then there were four second +gunbearers, who came along just behind the first gunbearers. The second +men were, in our case, selected from the native porters, and were +subject to the orders of the first gunbearer. The first gunbearer +carries your field-glasses and your light, long-range rifle; the second +gunbearer carries your camera, your water bottle, and your heavy cordite +double-barreled rifle. In close quarters, as in a lion fight, the first +gunbearer crouches at your elbow, hands the big rifle to you; you fire, +and he immediately takes the rifle and places in your hands the other +rifle, ready for firing. By the time you have fired this one the first +is again ready, and in this way you always have a loaded rifle ready for +use. There frequently is no time for turning around, and so the first +gunbearer is at your elbow with the barrel of one rifle pressed against +your right leg that you may know that he is there. Sometimes they run +away, but the Somali gunbearers are the most fearless and trustworthy, +and seldom desert in time of need. The gunbearer has instructions never +to fire unless his master is disarmed and down before the charge of a +beast. When an animal is killed the gunbearers skin it and care for the +trophy. Usually when on a shooting jaunt of several hours from camp +several porters go along to carry home the game. + +Third in the social scale came the askaris--armed natives in uniforms +who guard the camp at night. One or more patrol the camp all night long, +keep up the fires and scare away any marauding lion or hyena that may +approach the camp. We had four askaris, one of whom was the noisiest man +I have ever heard. He reminded me of a congressman when congress is not +in session. + +[Drawing: _Gunbearer--Askari--Tent Boy--Porter_] + +Then came the cook, who is always quite an important member of the +community, because much of the pleasure of the _safari_ depends upon +him. Our cook was one that the Akeleys had on their former trip. His +name was Abdullah, he had a jovial face and a beaming smile, cooked +well, and was funny to look at. He wore a slouch hat with a red band +around it, a khaki suit and heavy shoes. When on the march he carried +his shoes and when in camp he wore a blue jersey and a polka-dotted +apron which took the place of trousers. He was good-natured, which +atoned somewhat for his slowness. The suggestion may be made that he +might not have been slow, but that our appetites might have been so fast +that he seemed slow. + +The cook usually picks out a likely porter to help him, or a _toto_, +which means "little boy" in Swahili. There are always a lot of boys who +go along, unofficially, just for the fun and the food of the trip. They +are not hired, but go as stowaways, and for the first few days out +remain much in the background. Gradually they appear more and more until +all chance of their being sent back has disappeared, and then they +become established members of the party. They carry small loads and help +brighten up the camp. Then there are the tent boys, personal servants of +the white people. Each white person has his tent boy, who takes care of +his tent, his bedding, his bath, his clothes, and all his personal +effects. A good tent boy is a great feature on _safari_, for he relieves +his master of all the little worries of life. The tent boys always wait +on the table and do the family washing. They also see that the drinking +water is boiled and filtered and that the water bottles are filled each +evening. + +Last of all come the porters, of whom we had eighty. There were +Swahilis, Wakambas, Kikuyus, Masai, Minyamwezis, Lumbwas, Bagandas, +Kavirondos, and doubtless members of various other tribes. It was their +duty to carry the camp from place to place, each porter carrying sixty +pounds on his head. When they arrive at the spot selected for camp they +put up the tents, get in firewood, and carry in what game may later be +shot by the white men. + +Then, lowest in the social scale, are the saises, or grooms. There is +one for each mule or horse, of which we had four. The sais is always at +hand to hold the mount and is supposed to take care of it after hours. + +The foregoing members of our personally conducted party, therefore, +included: + + Head-man 1 + Gunbearers 4 + Askaris 4 + Cook 1 + Tent Boys 4 + Porters 80 + Saises 4 + "Totos" 20 + +The head-man and the four gunbearers get seventy-five rupees a month, +the askaris fifteen rupees, the cook forty rupees, the tent boys twenty +and twenty-five rupees, depending upon experience, the porters ten +rupees, and the saises twelve rupees. The _totos_ get nothing except +food and lodging, as well as experience, which may be valuable when they +grow up to be porters at ten rupees a month. A rupee is about +thirty-three cents American. We were also required by law to provide a +water bottle, blanket, and sweater for each porter, as well as uniforms +and water bottles, shoes and blankets for all the other members of the +party. We also supplied twenty tents for them. + +For the first day or two on _safari_ there may be little hitches and +delays, but after a short time the work is reduced to a beautiful +system, and camp is broken or pitched in a remarkably short time. The +porters get into the habit of carrying a certain load and so there is +usually little confusion in distributing the packs. + +[Photograph: At the Edge of the Athi River] + +[Photograph: The Totos Are Not Fastidious] + +Life and activity begin early in camp. You go to bed early and before +dawn you are awakened by the singing of countless birds of many kinds. +The air is fresh and cool, and you draw your woolen blankets a little +closer around you. The tent is closed, but through the little cracks you +can see that all is still dark. In a few moments a faint grayness steals +into the air, and off in the half darkness you hear the Somali +gunbearers chanting their morning prayers--soft, musical, and soothing. +Then there are more voices murmuring in the air and the camp slowly +awakens to life. Some one is heard chopping wood, and by that time day +breaks with a crash. All is life, and the birds are singing as though +mad with the joy of life and sunshine. A little later a shadowy figure +appears by your cot and says, "_Chai, bwana_" which means, "Tea, +master." + +You turn over and slowly sip the hot tea, while outside in the clear +morning air the sound of voices grows and grows until you know that +eighty or a hundred men are busy getting their breakfasts. The crackling +of many fires greets your ears and the pungent smell of wood fires +salutes your nostrils. You look at your watch and it is perhaps five or +half past. The air is still cold and you hasten to slip out of your cot. +It is never considered wise to bathe in the morning here. + +Your shoes or boots are by your bed, all oiled and cleaned, and your +puttees are neatly rolled, ready to be wound around you from the tops of +the shoes to the knee. Your clean flannels (one always wears heavy +flannel underclothes and heavy woolen socks in this climate) are laid +out and your clothes for the day's march are ready for you. You get into +your clothes and boots, go out of your tent, and find there a basin of +hot water and your toilet equipment. The basin is supported on a +three-pronged stick thrust into the ground and makes a thoroughly +satisfactory washstand. The fire in front of the cook's tent is burning +merrily and he and his assistants are busily at work on the morning +breakfast. Twenty other camp-fires are burning around the twenty small +white tents that the porters and others occupy, and scores of half-clad +natives are cooking their breakfasts. The ration that we were required +to give them was a pound and a half of ground-corn a day for each man, +but in good hunting country we got them a good deal of meat to eat. They +are very fond of hartebeest, zebra, rhino, and especially hippo. In +fact, they are eager to eat any kind of meat, so that anything we killed +was certain to be of practical use as food for the porters. This fact +greatly relieves the conscience of the man who shoots an animal for its +fine horns. Six porters sleep in each of the little shelter tents which +we were required to supply them, and this number sleeping so closely +packed served to keep them warm through the cold African highland +nights. + +By six o'clock our folding table in the mess tent is laid with white +linen and white enamel dishes for breakfast. So we take our places. If +we are in a fruit country we have some oranges and bananas or papayas, a +sort of pawpaw that is most delicious; it is a cross between a +cantaloupe and a mango. Then we have oatmeal with evaporated cream and +sugar; then we have choice cuts from some animal that was killed the day +before--usually the liver or the tenderloin. Then we have eggs and +finish up on jam or marmalade and honey. We have coffee for breakfast +and tea for the other meals. + +While we are eating the tent boys have packed our tin trunks, our +folding tent table, our cots and our pillows, cork mattresses and +blankets. The gunbearer gets our two favorite rifles and cameras, +field-glasses and water bottles. Then down comes the double-roofed green +tents, all is wrapped into closely-packed bags, and before we are +through with breakfast all the tented village has disappeared and only +the mess tent and the two little outlying canvas shelters remain. It is +a scene of great activity. Porters are busily making up their packs and +the head-man with the askaris are busy directing them. In a half-hour +all that remains is a scattered assortment of bundles, all neatly bound +up in stout cords. + +One man may carry a tent-bag and poles, another a tin uniform case with +a shot-gun strapped on top; another may have a bedding roll and a chair +or table, and so on until the whole outfit is reduced to eighty compact +bundles which include the food for the porters, the ant-proof food boxes +with our own food, and the horns and skins of our trophies. The work of +breaking camp is reduced to a science. + +Our gunbearers are waiting and the saises with the mules are in +readiness. So we start off, usually walking the first hour or two, with +gunbearers and saises and mules trailing along behind. Soon afterward we +look back to see the long procession of porters following along in +single file. Our tent boys carry our third rifle, and behind them all +comes the head-man, ready to spur on any lagging porters. + +[Drawing: _Our Safari on the March_] + +The early morning hours are bright and cool, but along about nine +o'clock the equatorial sun begins to beat down upon our heavy sun +helmets and our red-lined and padded spine protectors. But it is seldom +hot for long. A cloud passes across the sun and instantly everything is +cooled. A wave of wind sweeps across the hill and cools the moist brow +like a camphor compress. An instant later the sun is out again and the +land lies swimming in the shimmer of heat waves. Distant hills swim on +miragic lakes, and if we are in plains country the mirages appear upon +all sides. + +We rarely shot while on a march from camp to camp. We walked or rode +along, watching the swarms of game that slowly moved away as we +approached. The scenery was beautiful. Sometimes we wound along on game +trails or native trails through vast park-like stretches of rolling +hills; at other times we climbed across low hills studded with thorn +scrub, while off in the distance rose the blue hills and mountains. To +the northward, always with us, was the great Mount Kenia, eighteen +thousand feet high and nearly always veiled with masses of clouds. On +her slopes are great droves of elephants, and we could pick out the spot +where three years before Mrs. Akeley had killed her elephant with the +record pair of tusks. + +Our marches were seldom long. At noon or even earlier we arrived at our +new camping place, ten or twelve miles from our starting of the morning. +Frequently we loitered along so that the porters might get there first +and the camp be fully established when we arrived. At other times we +arrived early and picked out a spot, where ticks and malaria were not +likely to be bothersome. + +We usually camped near a river. Our first camp was on the Athi Plains, +near Nairobi; our second at Nairobi Falls, where the river plunges down +a sixty-foot drop in a spot of great beauty. Our third camp was on the +Induruga River, in a beautiful but malarious spot; our fifth was on the +Thika Thika River, where it was so cold in the morning that the vapor of +our breathing was visible; and our sixth on a wind-blown hill where a +whirlwind blew down our mess tent and scattered the cook's fire until +the whole grass veldt was in furious flames. It took a hundred men an +hour to put out the flames. + +Our next camp was at Fort Hall, where a poisonous snake came into my +tent while I was working. It crawled under my chair and was by my feet +when I saw it. It was chased out and killed in the grass near my tent, +and a porter cut out the fangs to show me. For a day or two I looked +before putting on my shoes, but after that I ceased to think of it. + +After that time our camps were along the Tana River, in a beautiful +country thronged with game, but, unhappily, a district into which +comparatively few hunters come on account of the fever that is said to +prevail there. We were obliged to leave our mules at Fort Hall because +it was considered certain death to them if we took them into this fly +belt. + +When the porters arrive at a camping place a good spot is picked out for +our four tents and mess tent, the cook tent is located, and in a short +time the camp is ready. In my tent the cot is spread, with blankets +airing; the mosquito net is up, the table is ready, with toilet +articles, books and cigars laid out. The three tin uniform cases are in +their places, my cameras are in their places, as are also the guns and +lanterns. A floor cloth covers the ground and a long easy chair is ready +for occupancy. Towels and water are ready, and pajamas and cholera belt +are on the pillow of the cot. Everything is done that should be done, +and I am immediately in a well established house with all my favorite +articles in their accustomed places. + +[Drawing: _The Safari in Camp_] + +A luncheon, with fruit, meat, curry and a pastry is ready by the time we +are, and then we smoke or sleep through the broiling midday hours. Mr. +Stephenson--or "Fred," as he is with us--and I go out on a scouting +expedition and look for good specimens to add to our collection of horns +or to get food for the porters. Sometimes the whole party went out, +either photographing charging rhinos or shooting, but this part of the +daily program was usually too varied to generalize as part of the daily +doings. Several porters went with each of us to bring in the game, which +there is rarely any uncertainty of securing. + +In the evening we return and find our baths of hot water ready. We take +off our heavy hunting boots and slip into the soft mosquito boots. After +which dinner is ready and our menu is strangely varied. Sometimes we +have kongoni steaks, at other times we have the heart of waterbuck or +the liver of bushbuck or impalla. Twice we had rhino tongue and once +rhino tail soup. We eat, and at six o'clock the darkness of night +suddenly spreads over the land. We talk over our several adventures of +the afternoon, some of which may be quite thrilling, and then, with camp +chairs drawn around the great camp-fire, and with the sentinel askari +pacing back and forth, we spend a drowsy hour in talking. Gradually the +sounds of night come on. Off there a hyena is howling or a zebra is +barking, and we know that through all those shadowy masses of trees the +beasts of prey are creeping forth for their night's hunting. The +porters' tents are ranged in a wide semicircle, and their camp-fires +show little groups of men squatting about them. Somewhere one is playing +a tin flute, another is playing a French harp, and some are singing. It +is a picture never to be forgotten, and rich with a charm that will +surely always send forth its call to the restless soul of the man who +goes back to the city. + +Sometimes the evening program is different. When one of us brings in +some exceptional trophy there is a great celebration, with singing and +native dances, and cheers for the Bwana who did the heroic deed. The +first lion in a camp is a signal for great rejoicing and +celebrating--however, that is another story--the story of my first lion. + +At nine o'clock the tents are closed and all the camp is quiet in sleep. +Outside in the darkness the askari paces to and fro, and the thick +masses of foliage stand out in inky blackness against the brilliant +tropic night. We are far from civilization, but one has as great a +feeling of security as though he were surrounded by chimneys and +electric lights. And no sleep is sweeter than that which has come after +a day's marching over sun-swept hills or through the tangled reed beds +where every sense must always be on the alert for hidden dangers. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A LION DRIVE. WITH A RHINO IN RANGE SOME ONE SHOUTS "SIMBA" AND I GET MY +FIRST GLIMPSE OF A WILD LION. THREE SHOTS AND OUT + + +Like every one who goes to Africa with a gun and a return ticket, I had +two absorbing ambitions. One was to kill a lion and the other to live to +tell about it. In my estimation all the other animals compared to a lion +as latitude eighty-seven and a half compares to the north pole. I wanted +to climb out of the Tartarin of Tarascon class of near lion hunters into +the ranks of those who are entitled to remark, "Once, when I was in +Africa shooting lions," etc. A dead lion is bogey in the big game +sport--the score that every hunter dreams of achieving--and I was +extremely eager to make the dream a reality. + +When speaking with English sportsmen in London my first question was, +"Did you get any lions?" If they had, they at once rose in my +estimation; if not, no matter how many elephants or rhinos or buffaloes +they may have shot, they still remained in the amateur class. + +On the steamer going down to Mombasa the hunting talk was four-fifths +lion and one-fifth about other game. The cripple who had been badly +mauled by a lion was a person of much distinction, even more so than the +ivory hunter who had killed three hundred elephants. + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. Mr. Stephenson's Lion] + +[Photograph: A Post Mortem Inquiry] + +On the railway to Nairobi every eye was on the lookout for lions and +every one gazed with intense interest at the station of Tsavo and +remembered the famous pair of man-eaters that had terrorized that place +some years before. + +In Nairobi the men who had killed lions, and those who had been mauled +by them (and there are many of the latter), were objects of vast +concern, and the little cemetery with its many headstones marked "Killed +by lion" added still greater fire to my interest. + +[Drawing: _The Jolly Little Cemetery_] + +Consequently, when we marched out of Nairobi on the evening of September +twenty-third, with tents and guns and a hundred and twenty men, the +dominating thought was of lions. If ever any one had greater hope and +less expectation of killing a lion I was the one. + +We had planned a short trip of from three to five weeks northeast of +Nairobi in what is called the Tana River country. While there are some +lions in that section, as there are in most parts of British East +Africa, it is not considered a good lion country. Buffaloes, rhinos, +hippos, giraffes, and many varieties of smaller game are abundant, +largely because the Tana River is in a bad fever belt and hunting +parties generally prefer to go elsewhere. This preliminary trip was +intended to perfect our shooting, so that later, when in real lion +country, we might be better equipped to take on the king of beasts with +some promise of hitting him. + +[Drawing: _Peering for Lions_] + +The tree-tops and corrugated iron roofs of Nairobi had hardly dropped +behind a long, sun-soaked hump of the Athi Plains when I began to peel +my eyes inquiringly for lions. All the lion stories that I had heard for +the preceding few months paraded back and forth in my memory, and if +ever a horizon was thoroughly scanned for lion, that horizon just out of +Nairobi was the one. Hartebeests in droves loped awkwardly away from the +trail and then turned and looked with wondering interest at us. Zebras, +too fat to run, trotted off, and also turned to observe the invaders. +Gazelles did the same, and away off in the distance a few wildebeests +went galloping slowly to a safe distance. They were probably safe at any +distance had they only known it, for up to the hour when I cantered +forth from Nairobi in quest of lions and rhinos I had not shot at +anything for three years, nor hit anything for ten. + +Night came on--the black, sudden night of Africa--and we went into camp +four miles from Nairobi without ever having heard the welcome roar of a +lion. It was a distinct disappointment. I remembered the story about the +lions that stampeded the zebras through the peaceful gardens of Nairobi +only a few nights before--also the report that some man-eaters had been +recently partaking of nourishment along the very road upon which we were +now camping. I also remembered hearing that lions had been seen prowling +around the edge of the town and that the Athi Plains are a time-honored +habitat of the lion family. On the other hand, I thought of Mr. +Roosevelt, who had recently been reducing the supply. I also remembered +how many hunters had spent years in Africa without ever seeing a lion, +and how Doctor Rainsford had made two different hunting trips to Africa, +always looking for lions, but without success. + +During our first three days of marching, we looked industriously for +lions. On broad, grassy plain, in low scrub, on the slopes of low +hills--everywhere we looked for them. If a flock of vultures circled +above a distant spot we went over at once in the hope of surprising a +lion at his kill. Every reed bed was promptly investigated, every dry +nullah was explored. McMillan's farm, which is a farm only in name, was +scoured without ever a sign or a hint that a lion lurked thereabouts. +Mr. McMillan has four lions in a cage, but they snarled so savagely that +we hastened away to look for lions elsewhere. The second day we crossed +the Nairobi River, the third day we crossed the Induruga River, and the +fourth day we camped down on the Athi River. Here we struck a clue. Two +English settlers came over and told us that lions had been heard the +night before near their ranch house, on the slopes of Donyo Sabuk, a +high solitary round top mountain rising from the Athi Plains, and we +determined to organize our first lion hunt. It was here that Mr. Lucas +was killed by a lion a short time before. + +A lion hunt, or a lion drive, is quite a ceremony. You take thirty or +forty natives, go to the place where the lion was heard, and then beat +every bit of cover in the hope of scaring out the beasts. Lions are fond +of lying up during the day in dry reed beds, and when you go out looking +for them, you are most likely to find them in such places. + +[Photograph: Mr. Stephenson's Splendid Buffalo] + +[Photograph: "Lion Camp"] + +[Photograph: The Lion and Lioness in Camp] + +We started, three of us, with forty porters, at about daybreak. At seven +o'clock we had climbed up the side of the mountain to the spot where the +lions were supposed to be lurking--a long, reed-filled cleft in the side +of the slope. The porters were sent up to one end of the reed bed, +twenty on each side, while we went below to where the lion would +probably be driven out by their shouting and noise. The porters +bombarded the reeds with stones while we waited with rifles ready for +the angry creature to dash out in our vicinity. It was an interesting +wait, with plenty of food for thought. I wondered why the Englishmen had +not come out to get the lions themselves, and then remembered that one +of them had been mauled by a lion and had henceforth remained neutral in +all lion fights. I wondered many other things which I have now +forgotten. I was quite busy wondering for some time as I waited. In the +meantime the lions failed to appear. + +Bushbuck, waterbuck, and lots of other herbivora appeared, but no +carnivora. We raked the reed bed fore and aft, and combed the long grass +in every direction. A young rhino was startled in his morning nap, ran +around excitedly for a while, and then trotted off. Birds of many +varieties fluttered up and wondered what the racket was about. At ten +o'clock we decided that the lions had failed to do their part of the +program, and that no further developments were to be expected. So we +marched back homeward, got mixed up with another rhino, and finally +gained camp, seven miles away, just as our hunger had reached an +advanced stage. + +The next day we marched to the Thika Thika River, then to Punda Milia, +and then to Fort Hall. Some one claimed to have heard a lion out from +Fort Hall early in the morning, but I more than half suspect it was one +of our porters who reverberates when he sleeps. From Fort Hall we +crossed the Tana and made three marches down the river. Rhinos were +everywhere jumping out from behind bushes when least expected and in +many ways behaving in a most diverting way. For a time we forgot lions +while dodging rhinos. There were dozens of them in the thick, low scrub, +with now and then a bunch of eland, or a herd of waterbuck, or a few +hundred of the ubiquitous kongoni. + +We camped in a beautiful spot down on the Tana. The country looked like +a park, with graceful trees scattered about on the rolling lawn-like +hills. On all sides was game in great profusion. Hippos played about in +the river, baboons scampered about on the edge of the water, monkeys +chattered in the trees, and it seemed as though nearly all of the eight +hundred varieties of East African birds gave us a morning serenade. A +five-minutes' walk from camp would show you a rhino, while from the top +of any knoll one could look across a vast sweep of hills upon which +almost countless numbers of zebras, kongoni, and other animals might be +seen. + +But never a lion. It certainly looked discouraging. + +As a form of pleasant excitement, we began to photograph rhinos, Mr. +Akeley took out his moving-picture machine, advanced it cautiously to +within a few yards of the unsuspecting rhino, and then we tried to +provoke a charge. We took a dozen or more rhinos in this way, often +approaching to within a few yards, and if there is any more exciting +diversion I don't know what it is. I've looped the loop and there is no +comparison. It is more like being ambushed by Filipino insurgents--that +is, it's the same kind of excitement, with more danger. + +One day it was necessary to shoot a big bull rhino. He staggered and +fell, but at once got up and trotted over a hill. Having wounded him, it +was then necessary for me to follow him, which I did for three blazing +hours. From nine o'clock till twelve I followed, with the sun beating +down on the dry, grass-covered hills as though it meant to burn up +everything beneath it. If any one had asked me, "Is it hot enough for +you?" I should have answered "Yes" without a moment's hesitation. The +horizon shimmered in waves of heat. From the top of one hill I could see +my rhino half a mile away on the slope of another. When I reached the +slope he was a mile farther on. I began to think he was a mirage. For a +wounded animal, with two five-hundred-grain shells in his shoulder, he +was the most astonishing example of vitality I have ever seen. He would +have been safe against a Gatling gun. There were more low trees a mile +farther on, and I plodded doggedly on in the hope of getting a little +relief from the sun. As I drew near I noticed a rhino standing under the +trees, but he was not the wounded one. I decided that the shade was +insufficient for both of us and moved swiftly on. Across the valley on +the slope of another blistered hill stood the one I was looking for. He +didn't seem to be in the chastened mood of one who is about to die. He +seemed vexed about something, probably the two cordite shells he was +carrying. I at last came up within a hundred yards of him. He had got my +wind and was facing me with tail nervously erect. The tail of a rhino is +an infallible barometer of his state of mind. With his short sight, I +knew that he could not see me at that distance, but I knew that he had +detected the direction in which the danger lay. By slowly moving ahead, +the distance was cut to about seventy yards, which was not too far away +in an open country with a wounded rhino in the foreground. I resolved to +shoot before he charged or before he ran away, and so I prepared to end +the long chase with an unerring shot. + +Suddenly a sound struck my ear that acted upon me like an electric +shock: + +"_Simba!_" + +It was the one word that I had been hoping to hear ever since leaving +Nairobi, for the word means "lion." My Somali gunbearer was eagerly +pointing toward a lone tree that stood a hundred yards off to the left. +A huge, hulking animal was slowly moving away from it. It was my first +glimpse of a wild lion. He was half concealed in the tall, dry grass and +in a few seconds had entirely disappeared from view. We rushed after +him. The rhino was completely forgotten and was left to charge or run +away as he saw fit. When we reached the spot where the lion was last +seen there was no trace of him. He apparently was not "as brave as a +lion." We followed the course that he presumably took and presently +reached the crest of a ridge. Then the second gunbearer, a keen-eyed +Kikuyu, discovered the lion three hundred yards off to the right. After +reaching the top of the hill the animal had swung directly off at right +angles with the idea of reaching cover in a dry creek bed some distance +away. I started to shoot at three hundred yards, but before I could take +a careful aim the lion had disappeared in the grass. For an hour we +thrashed the high reeds in the dry creek bed with never a sign of the +king of beasts. He had apparently abdicated. He had vanished so +completely that I thought he had escaped toward some low hills a mile +farther on. The disappointment of seeing a lion and not getting it, or +at least shooting at it, was keen to a degree that actually hurt. + +[Drawing: _Game Was Plenty for a Minute or Two_] + +There was nothing left but to resume our chase after the wounded rhino. +It was like going back to work after a pleasant two weeks' vacation. We +presently found him on a far distant hill, and after an hour's tramp in +the sun we came up to him in the middle of the rolling prairie. There +was not a tree for a mile, nor a single avenue of escape in case he +charged. Horticulture had never interested me especially, but just at +this moment I think a tree, even a thorn tree, would have been a +pleasant subject for intimate study. However, to make a long story +longer, I shot him at a hundred yards and felt certain that both shells +struck. Yet he wheeled around and, stumbling occasionally, was off like +a railway train. Again we followed, two miles of desperate tramping in +that merciless sun, up hills and down hills, until finally we entirely +lost all trace of him. It was now two o'clock. I had eaten nothing since +five o'clock in the morning, my water bottle was so nearly empty that I +dared take only a swallow at a time, my knees were sore from climbing +hills and wading through the tall, dry prairie grass, and I decided to +give up this endless pursuit of a rhino who wouldn't die after being hit +with four cordite shells. + +The dry creek bed lay in the course of our homeward march, and we +resolved to take a final look at it. There seemed no likelihood that the +lion was there, and I walked into the place with the supreme courage of +one who doesn't expect to find anything hostile. My head gunbearer and I +had crossed and were walking down in the grass at one side. My second +gunbearer was on the opposite side, and the stillness of death hung over +the burning plain. + +There was not a sign of life in any direction. The second gunbearer was +instructed to set fire to the grass in the hope of awakening some +protest from the lion in case he was still in the vicinity. There was a +dry crackling of flames, and before we could count ten a deep growl came +from somewhere in front of me, evidently on one of the edges of the +creek bed. The second gunbearer was the first to locate him, and he +signaled for me to come over on his side of the creek. In a moment I had +dashed down and had climbed out on the other side and was eagerly gazing +at a clump of bushes indicated by the Kikuyu. At first I could +distinguish nothing, but soon I saw the tawny flanks and the lashing +tail of the lion. His head was hidden by the bushes. At that time we +were about a hundred yards from him and it was necessary to circle off +to a point where the rest of his body could be seen. A little side +ravine intervened, and I had to cross it and come directly down through +the clump of bushes. The grass was high, and it was not until I had come +within forty yards of the lion that I could get a clear view of him. He +was glaring at me, with tail waving angrily, and his mouth was opened in +a savage snarl. I could see that he didn't like me. + +I raised the little .256 Mannlicher, aimed carefully at his open mouth +and fired. The lion turned a back somersault and a great thrill of +exultation suffused me. Already I saw the handsomely mounted lion-skin +rug ornamenting my den at home. We approached cautiously, always +remembering that the real danger of lion hunting comes after the lion +has been shot. We threw stones in the grass where he had lain, but no +answering growl was heard. I thought he was dead, but when we finally +reached the spot where he had been there was no sign of him. He had +vanished again. I searched the ravine and then crossed to the high grass +on the other side. Then we saw him for an instant, half-concealed, just +in front of us. His head was hanging, and he looked as though he had +been hard hit. Again he disappeared and we searched high and low for +him. For several hundred feet we beat the grass without result. + +Then the grass was again fired and again the hoarse growl came in angry +protest. Walking slowly, with guns ready for instant use, we advanced +until we could see him under a tree seventy yards ahead on my side of +the ravine. He was growling angrily. This time I used the +double-barreled cordite rifle and the first shot struck him in the +forehead without knocking him down. He sprang up and the second shot +stretched him out. He was still alive when I came up to him, and a small +bullet was fired into the base of his brain to reduce the danger of a +final charge. + +Old hunters always caution one about approaching a dying lion, for often +the beast musters up unexpected vitality, makes a final charge, kills +somebody, and then dies happy. So we waited a few feet away until the +last quiver of his sides had passed. One of the boys pulled his tail and +shook him, but there was no sign of life. He was extinct. + +A new danger now threatened. The grass fire that the second gunbearer +had started was sweeping the prairie, fanned by a strong wind, and there +seemed to be not only the danger of abandoning the lion, but of being +forced to flee before the flames. So we fell to work beating out the +nearest fires, and trusted that a shifting of the wind would send the +course of the flames in another direction. + +It was now four o'clock. We were nine miles from camp and food, and we +knew that at six o'clock darkness would suddenly descend, leaving us out +in a rhino-infested country, far from camp. The water was nearly gone +and the general outlook was far from pleasing. + +The gunbearers skinned the lion. My first shot had struck one of his +back teeth, breaking it squarely off, and then passed through the fleshy +part of the neck. It was a wound that would startle, but not kill. The +second shot had hit him between the eyes, but had glanced off the skull, +merely ripping open the skin on the forehead for five inches. The third +shell had killed him, except for the convulsive heaving that was finally +stilled by the small bullet in the base of the brain. + +[Drawing: _As I Planned to Look in the Photograph of "My First +Lion"_] + +The skinning was interesting. All the fat in certain parts of the body +was saved, for East Indians bid high for it and use it as a lubricant +for rheumatic pains. The two shoulder blades are always saved and are +considered a valuable trophy. They are little bones three inches long, +unattached and floating, and have long since ceased to perform any +function in the working of the body. The broken tooth was found and +saved, and, of course, a photograph was taken. My gunbearer took the +picture, and when it was developed there was only a part of the lion and +part of the lion slayer visible. It was a good picture of the tree, +however. + +[Drawing: _As I Looked--From Photograph by Gunbearer_] + +At four-thirty the homeward march was begun. At five-thirty two rhinos +blocked the path and one of them had to be shot. At six we were still +several miles from camp, with the country wrapped in darkness. The water +was gone and only one shell remained for the big gun. Somewhere ahead +were miles of thorn scrub in which there might be rhinos or buffaloes. +Two days before I had killed two large buffaloes in the district through +which we must pass, and there was every likelihood of others still being +there. At seven we were hopelessly lost in a wide stretch of hippo +grass, and I had to fire a shot in the hope of getting an answering shot +from camp. In a couple of moments we heard the distant shot, and then +pressed on toward camp. The lion had been carried on ahead while we +stopped with the rhino, and so the news reached the camp before us. A +long line of porters came out to greet us and a great reception +committee was waiting at the camp. It was the first lion of the +expedition, and as such was the signal for great celebration. That night +there were native dances and songs around the big central camp-fire and +a wonderful display of pagan hilarity. + +It had been a hard day. Fourteen hours without food, several hours +without water, and miles of hard tramping through thorn scrub in the +darkness and of long, broiling stretches in the blazing sunlight. It +seemed a good price to pay even for a lion, but that night, as I finally +stretched out on my cot, I was conscious from time to time of a glow of +pleasure that swept over me. It seemed that of all human gratifications +there was none equal to that experienced by the man who has killed his +first lion. + +My second lion experience came three days later. With a couple of tents +and about forty porters our party of four had marched across to a point +a couple of miles from where I had killed the lion. We hoped to put in a +day or two looking for lions, some of which had been reported in that +district. The porters went on ahead with the camp equipment, while we +came along more slowly. Mr. Akeley had taken some close-range +photographs of rhinos, and we were just on the point of starting direct +for the new camp when we ran across two enormous rhinos standing in the +open plain. One was extremely large, with an excellent pair of horns, +and it was arranged that I should try to secure this one as a trophy, +while Mr. Akeley secured a photograph of the event. At thirty-five yards +I shot the larger one of the two, and it dropped in its tracks. The +other started to charge, but was finally driven away by shouting and by +shots fired in the air. The photograph was excellent and quite dramatic. + +For an hour the gunbearers worked on the dead rhino and finally secured +the head and feet and certain desirable parts of the skin. At noon we +resumed our march for camp, two or three miles away. We had hardly gone +half the distance when one of the tent boys was seen far ahead, riding +the one mule that we had dared to bring down the Tana River. It was +evident that something important had occurred and we hurried on to meet +him. + +"_Simba!_" he shouted, as soon as he could be heard. In a moment we had +the details. One of the saises had seen two lions, a large male and +female, quite near the camp. Porters were instructed to watch the beasts +until we should arrive, and now were supposed to be in touch with them. +We omitted luncheon and struck off at once in the direction indicated by +the tent boy. We soon came up to the porters and an instant later saw +the lions. It was a beautiful sight. The two animals were majestically +walking up the rocky slope of a low, fire-scorched hill a few hundred +yards away. The male was a splendid beast, with all the splendid dignity +of one who fears nothing in the whole wide world. From time to time the +two lions stopped and looked back at us, but with no sign of fear. +Several times they lay down, but soon would resume their stately course +up among the rocks. + +I shall never forget the picture that lay before me. It was as though +some famous lion painting of Gerome or Landseer had come to life, +sometimes the animals being outlined clearly against the blue sky and at +other times standing, with splendid heads erect, upon the rocks of the +low ridge that rose ahead of us. + +We stalked them easily. Several porters were left where the lions could +constantly see them, while we three, Akeley, Stephenson and I, with our +six gunbearers, worked around the base of the hill until we were able to +climb up on the crest of it, being thus constantly screened from view of +the lions. At the crest was an abrupt outcropping of blackened rocks, +where we stopped to locate the two animals. They were nowhere to be +seen. Twenty-five yards farther along on the crest was another little +ledge of rocks, and we worked our way silently along to it in the +expectation that the lions might have advanced that far. But even then +our search disclosed nothing. For some time we waited, scouring the +neighborhood with our glasses, and had almost reached the conclusion +that the lions had made off down the other side of the hill and had +reached the cover of a shallow ravine some distance away. Then we saw +them--exactly where we had last seen them before we had started our +stalk. They were still together and showed no sign of alarm nor +knowledge of our presence so near them. At this time they were one +hundred and ten yards away. They lay down again behind the rocks and we +waited twenty minutes for them to show themselves. Off to our right and +in the valley another large male lion appeared and moved slowly away +among the low scrub trees. + +Finally we decided to rouse the two lions by shouting, but before this +decision could be carried out the male rose above the rocks and stood +plainly in view. It had previously been arranged that Mr. Stephenson +should try for the male, while I should try for the female. In an +instant he fired with his big rifle, the lion whirled around and then +started running down the hill to the right. + +Then the lioness appeared and I wounded her with my first shot. She ran +out in the open toward us, but evidently without knowing from where the +firing came. A second shot was better placed and I saw her collapse in +her tracks. Leaving the lioness, I went down to where Stephenson had +followed the lion. Several shots had been fired, but the lion was still +running, although badly wounded. Just as it reached a small tree down on +the slope a shot was put into a vital spot, and the lion went wildly +over on his side. Even then he managed to drag himself under the small +bushes surrounding the tree, where a moment later Mr. Stephenson killed +him with a shot from his .318 Mauser. + +[Drawing: _"A Very Interesting Experience," Said I Coolly, a Couple +of Days Later_] + +We measured and photographed the lion, and then I took my camera to get +a picture of the dead lioness up on the ridge. She was sitting up +snarling, and I was the most surprised person in the world. I shot at +her and she ran fifty yards to a small tree, where she came to a stop. +Two more shots from my big gun finished her, and the photograph was +finally secured. + +Leaving the porters to watch the two lions, we followed the third lion +that had been seen in the valley. He had not gone far and we soon found +him, but too far away to get a shot. For an hour we followed him, but he +finally disappeared and could not be located again. + +It was sundown when our porters reached camp with the two lions, and it +was then that we ate our long-deferred luncheon. + +A week later, while marching from the Tana River to the Zeka River, Mr. +and Mrs. Akeley and I came across a large lion, accompanied by a +lioness. They were first seen moving away across a low sloping ridge of +the plains within a couple of miles of where we had killed the lion and +lioness a week before. We followed them and came up with them after a +brisk walk of ten minutes. Both were hiding in the grass near the crest +of the slope, and we could see their ears and eyes above the long grass. +We crouched down a hundred yards away and the lion rose to see where we +had gone. Mrs. Akeley fired and missed, but her second shot pierced his +brain and he fell like a log. We expected a charge from the lioness and +waited until she should declare herself. But she did not appear and her +whereabouts remained an anxious mystery until she was finally seen +several hundred yards away making her way slowly up a distant hill. +Half-way up she sat down and watched us as we made our way cautiously in +the grass to where her mate lay as he fell, stone dead. We afterward +followed her, but she escaped from view and could not be located. This +lion was the largest we had seen and measured nine feet from tip to tip. + +This was our last experience with lions in the Trans-Tana country. After +that we went up in the elephant country on Mount Kenia, but that is a +story all in itself. + +Lion hunting is the best kind of African hunting in one respect. One +feels no self-reproach in having killed a lion, for there is always the +comforting thought that by killing one lion you have saved the lives of +three hundred other animals. Every lion exacts an annual toll of at +least that number of zebras, hartebeests, or other forms of antelopes, +all of which are powerless to defend themselves against the great +creature that creeps upon them in cover of darkness. So a lion hunter +may consider himself something of a benefactor. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ON THE TANA RIVER, THE HOME OF THE RHINO. THE TIMID ARE FRIGHTENED, THE +DANGEROUS KILLED, AND OTHERS PHOTOGRAPHED. MOVING PICTURES OF A RHINO +CHARGE + + +Down on the Tana River the rhinos are more common than in any +other known section of Africa. In two weeks we saw over one +hundred--perhaps two hundred--of them--so many, in fact, that one of the +chief diversions of the day was to count rhinos. One day we counted +twenty-six, another day nineteen, and by the time we left the district +rhinos had become such fixtures in the landscape as to cause only casual +comment. Perhaps there were some repeaters, ones that were counted +twice, but even allowing for that there were still some left. We saw big +ones and little ones, old ones and young ones, and middle-aged ones; +ones with long ears, short horns, double horns, and single horns; black +ones and red ones--in fact, all the kinds of rhinos that are resident in +British East Africa. One had an ear gone and another had a crook in his +tail. If we had stayed another week we might have got out a Tana River +Rhino Directory, with addresses and tree numbers. We studied them fore +and aft, from in front of trees and from behind them, from close range +and long range, over our shoulders, and through our cameras, every way +whereby a conscientious lover of life and nature can study a prominent +member of the Mammalia. We called the place Rhino Park because the +country looks like a beautiful park studded with splendid trees and +dotted with rhinos. + +[Drawing: _A Morning Walk on the Tana River_] + +When I went to Africa I was equipped with the following fund of +knowledge concerning the rhinoceros: First, that he is familiarly called +"rhino" by the daring hunters who have written about him; second, that +he is a member of the Perissodactyl family, whose sole representatives +are the horse, the rhino, and the tapir; third, that he savagely charges +human beings who write books about their thrilling adventures in Africa, +and, finally, that he looks like a hang-over from the pterodactyl age. +The books and magazine stories that have come out since Mr. Roosevelt +made African hunting the vogue invariably describe the rhino as being +one of the most dangerous of African animals. A charging rhino, a +wounded lion, a cape buffalo, and a frenzied elephant are the four +terrors of the African hunters. All other forms of danger are slight +compared with these, and I was full to the guards with a vast and +fearful respect for the rhino. I fancied myself spinning around like a +pinwheel with the horn of a rhino as a pivot, and the thought had little +to commend itself to a lover of longevity--such as myself, for instance. + +[Photograph: A Comfortable Hammock of Zebra Skin] + +[Photograph: Mrs. Akeley and Her Tana River Monkey] + +After going to Africa and meeting some of the best members of the rhino +set I was able to form some conclusions of my own, chief of which is the +belief that he is dangerous only if he hits you. As long as you can keep +out of his reach you are in no great danger except from the thorns. + +The prevailing estimate of the rhino is that he is an inoffensive +creature who likes to bask under the shade of a tree and watch the years +go parading by. His thick skin and fierce armament of horns seem to make +of him a relic of some long-forgotten age--the last survivor of the time +when mammoths and dinosauruses roamed the manless waste and time was +counted in geological terms instead of days and minutes. His eyes are +dimmed and he sees nothing beyond a few yards away, but his hearing and +sense of smell are keen, and he sniffs danger from afar in case danger +happens to be to windward of him. His sensitive nose is always alert for +foreign and, therefore, suspicious odors, and when he smells the blood +of an Englishman, or even an American, his tail goes up in anger, he +sniffs and snorts and races around in a circle while he locates the +direction where the danger lies--and then, look out. A blind, furious +rush which only a well-sped bullet can prevent causing the untimely end +of whatever happens to be in the way. That is the popular estimate of +the rhino. + +[Drawing: _Popular Conception of Rhino_] + +Here are some of the conclusions I have formed: If the hunter carefully +approaches the rhino from the leeward he may often come within a few +yards of the animal and might easily shoot him in a leisurely way. The +rhino can see only at close range and can smell only when the wind blows +the scent to him. Consequently he would be defenseless and at the mercy +of the hunter if it were not for one thing. Nature, in her wisdom, has +sent the little rhino bird to act as a sentinel for the great pachyderm. +These little birds live on the back of the rhino and, as recompense for +their vigilance, are permitted to partake of such ticks and insects as +inhabit the hide of their host. Whenever danger, or, in other words, +whenever a hunter tries to approach their own particular rhino from any +direction, windward, leeward, or any other way, the ever alert and +watchful rhino birds sound a tocsin of warning. The rhino pricks up his +ears and begins to show signs of taking notice. He doesn't know where or +what the danger may be, but he knows the C.Q.D. code of danger signals +as delivered to him from the outposts on his back and hastens to get +busy in an effort to locate the foe. As a general thing the little +birds, on sight of danger, begin a wild chatter, rising from the back of +the rhino and flying in an opposite direction from the danger. Then they +return, light on the rhino's back, and repeat, often several times, the +operation of flying away from the danger. If the rhino is a wise rhino +he learns from the birds which is the safe way to go and soon trots +swiftly off. In a measure the habits of the rhino bird are as +interesting as those of the rhino itself, and as an example of the weak +protecting the strong, the Damon and Pythias relationship between bird +and beast is without parallel in the animal kingdom. + +[Drawing: _Before and After the Rhino Birds Give the Alarm_] + +The rhino is a peaceful animal. He browses on herbs and shrubs and +dwells in friendly relationship with the rest of the animal kingdom. +Perhaps once or twice a day he ambles down to some favorite drinking +place for a drink, but the rest of the time he grazes along a hillside +or stands or lies sleepily under a tree. At such times as the latter he +may be approached quite near without much danger. Each day he also goes +to a favorite wallowing place, where he rolls in the red dirt and +emerges from this dirt bath a dull red rhino. In the rhino country +dozens of these red dirt rolling places may be found, each one trampled +smooth for an area of fifteen or twenty feet in evidence of the great +number of times it has been used by one or more rhinos. This dirt bath +is a defensive measure against the hordes of ticks that infest the +rhino. It is a subject for wonder that the six or eight tick birds do +not keep the rhino free of ticks, and it has even been argued by some +naturalists that the rhino bird does not eat ticks, but merely uses the +rhino as a convenient resting-place. Also perhaps they enjoy the ride. +We had planned to get a rhino bird and perform an autopsy on him in +order to analyze his contents, but did not do so. + +[Photograph: The Ford of Tana River] + +[Photograph: The Baby Rhino] + +After the rhino has taken his dirt wallow, and looks fine in his new red +coat, he then slowly and painstakingly proceeds to kill time during the +rest of the day. If danger threatens he becomes exceedingly nervous and +excited. His anxiety is quite acute. In vain he tries to locate the +danger, rushing one way for a few yards, then the other way, and finally +all ways at once. His tail is up and he is snorting like a steam engine. +When he rushes toward you in this attitude it looks very much as though +he were charging you with the purpose of trampling you to flinders. As a +matter of fact, or, rather, opinion, he is merely trying to locate where +you are in order that he may run the other way. He looks terrifying, but +in reality is probably badly terrified himself. He would give a good +deal to know which way to run, and finally becomes so excited and +nervous that he starts frantically in some direction, hoping for the +best. If this rush happens to be in your direction you call it a charge +from an infuriated rhino; if not, you say that he looked nasty and was +about to charge, but finally ran away in another direction. In most +rhino charges it is my opinion that the rhino is too rattled to know +what he is doing, and, instead of charging maliciously, he is merely +trying to get away as fast as possible. And in such cases the hunter +blazes away at him, wounds him, and the rhino blindly charges the flash. + +[Drawing: _Trying to Provoke a Charge_] + +It was our wish to get moving pictures of a rhino charge. Mr. Akeley had +a machine and our plan of action was simple. We would first locate the +rhino, usually somnolent under a thorn tree or browsing soberly out in +the open. We would then get to the leeward of him and slowly advance the +machine; Mr. Akeley in the middle and Stephenson and I on each side with +our double-barreled cordite rifles. In case the charge became too +serious to escape we hoped to be able to turn him or kill the rhino with +our four bullets. If we were unsuccessful in doing so--well, we had to +manage the situation by jumping. + +Our first experience was most thrilling, chiefly because we expected a +charge. We thought all rhinos charged, as per the magazine articles, and +so prepared for busy doings. A rhino cow and half-grown calf were +discovered on a distant hillside. We stopped in a ravine to adjust the +picture machine and then crept cautiously up the hill until we were +within about seventy yards of the unsuspecting pair. Then the rhino +birds began to flutter and chatter and the two beasts began to sniff +nervously. Finally they turned toward us, with tails erect and noses +sniffing savagely. Now for the charge, we thought, for it was considered +an absolute certainty that a rhino cow accompanied by its calf would +always attack. We moved forward a few yards, clapped our hands to show +where we were, and their attitude at once became more threatening. They +rushed backward and forward a couple of times and faced us again. + +By this time we knew that they saw us and our fingers were within the +trigger guards. It was agreed that, if they charged, they should be +allowed to come within forty feet before we fired, thus giving the +picture machine time to get a good record. The situation was intense +beyond description, and seconds seemed hours. When they started trotting +toward us we thought the fatal moment had come, but instead of +continuing the "charge," they swung around and trotted swiftly off in an +opposite direction. As far as we could see them they trotted swiftly and +with the lightness of deer, sometimes zigzagging their course, but +always away from us. The charge had failed in spite of all our efforts +to provoke it. The whistling and hand-clapping which we had hoped would +give them our location without doubt had merely served to tell them the +way not to go. + +The moving picture record of a "charging rhino" would have been a +brilliant success but for one thing--the rhino refused to charge. + +During the following ten days we made many similar attempts to get a +charge and always with nearly the same results. Once or twice we got +within thirty yards before they finally turned tail after a number of +feints that looked much like the beginning of a nasty charge. It was +always intensely thrilling work because there was the likelihood that we +might get a charge in spite of the fact that a dozen or so previous +experiences had failed to precipitate one. + +In several cases the first rush of the rhino was toward us, but instead +of continuing, he would soon swing about and make off, four times as +badly scared as we were. It seemed as though these preliminary rushes +toward us were efforts to verify the location of danger in order to +determine the right direction for escape. In all, we made between +fifteen and twenty different attempts on different rhinos to get a +charge, but with always practically the same result, yet with always the +same thrill of excitement and uncertainty. + +[Drawing: _The End of the Charge_] + +Comprehensive statistics on a rhino's charges are hard to obtain. The +district commissioner at Embo told me that he had been ordered to reduce +the number of rhinos in his district in the interest of public safety +and that he had killed thirty-five in all. Out of this number five +charged him. That would indicate that one rhino in seven will charge. +Captain Dickinson, in his book, _Big Game Shooting on the Equator_, +tells of a rhino that charged him so viciously that he threw down his +bedding roll and the rhino tossed it and trampled it with great +emphasis, after which it triumphantly trotted away, elated probably in +the thought that it had wiped out its enemy. A number of fatalities are +on record to prove that the rhino is a dangerous beast at times, and so +I must conclude that the rhino experiences we had were exceedingly lucky +ones, and perhaps exceptional ones in that respect. + +In only one instance was it necessary for us to kill a rhino and even +then it was done more in the interest of photography than of urgent +necessity. On our game licenses we were each allowed to kill two rhinos, +and as I wanted, one of the Tana River variety it was arranged that I +should try to get the first big one with good horns. After a hunt of +several hours we found two of them together out on the slope of a long +hill. Our glasses showed that one of them was quite large and equipped +with a splendid front horn nearly two feet long and a rear horn about a +foot long. At the lower slope of the hill were two or three trees that +screened our approach so that we were easily enabled to get within about +one hundred and fifty yards of them without danger of discovery. From +the trees onward the country was an open prairie for two or three miles. + +Armed with a double-barreled cordite rifle and the comforting reflection +that the chances were seven to one that the rhinos would not charge, I +slowly advanced alone toward the two rhinos. Behind me about fifty yards +was the long range camera and a second gun manned by Mr. Stephenson. +When fifty yards from the rhinos I stopped, but as no offensive tactics +were apparent in the camp of the enemy, I slowly walked forward to +thirty-five yards. Then they saw me. They faced me with what seemed like +an attitude of decided unfriendliness. Their tails were up and they were +snorting like steam engines. When the big one started toward me I fired +and it fell like a log. The other one, instead of thundering away, +according to expectations, became more belligerent. It ran a few steps, +then swung around, and I felt certain that it was going to avenge the +death of its comrade. The camera brigade rushed forward, clapping their +hands to scare it away, as there was no desire to kill both of the +animals. But it refused to go. It would sometimes run a few steps, then +it would turn and come toward us. It was evidently in a fighting mood, +with no intention of deserting the field of action. Finally by firing +shots in the air and yelling noisily it turned and dashed over the side +of the hill. The photograph, taken at the instant the big rhino was +struck, was remarkably dramatic and showed one rhino in an aggressive +attitude and the other just plunging down from the shot of the big +bullet. + +The front horn of the dead rhino was twenty and three-quarters inches +long and in many places the animal's hide was over an inch thick. Strips +of this were cut off to make whips, and a large section was removed to +be made into a table top. These table tops, polished and rendered +translucent by the curing processes, are beautiful as well as extremely +interesting. The rhino's tongue is even more delicious to eat than ox +tongue and rhino tail soup is a great luxury on any white man's table; +while the native porters consider rhino meat the finest of any meat to +be had in Africa. The conscience of one who slays a rhino is somewhat +appeased by the fact that a hundred native porters will have a good +square meal of wholesome meat to help build up their systems. + +[Drawing: _A Real Rhino Charge_] + +Our expedition sustained only one real rhino charge. One day Mr. +Stephenson stumbled on a big cow rhino that was lying in the grass. The +meeting was as unexpected to him as to her, and before he could count +five she was rushing headlong toward him. He clapped his hands, +whistled, and shouted to turn her course, but she came on, snorting +loudly and with head ready to impale everything in its way. Stephenson +did not want to kill her, neither did he desire to be killed, so when +all other means had failed he fired a soft nose bullet into her shoulder +in the hope that it would turn her away without seriously hurting her. +The bullet seemed to have no effect and she did not change her course in +the slightest degree. By this time she was within a short distance of +Stephenson, who was obliged to run a few feet and take refuge behind a +tree. + +[Photograph: The Sultan Looked Like an American Indian] + +[Photograph: In the Thorn Brush on the Tana] + +[Photograph: The Dummy Rhino] + +The gunbearers and porters, who had fled in all directions, thought that +Stephenson was caught, but the rhino, passing him with only a small +margin of five feet, continued thunderously on her way. In a few yards +she slowed down, and when last seen was walking. She had evidently been +hit very hard by the soft nose bullet and was already showing signs of +sickness. Suddenly a terrific squealing made the party aware that the +cow rhino had been accompanied by a little rhino calf. The calf, only a +couple of weeks old, charged savagely at every one in sight and every +one in sight took refuge behind trees and bushes. Instead of trying to +escape, the animal turned and continued to attack in all directions +whenever a man showed himself. When a man leaped behind a tree the calf +would charge the tree with such force that it would be hurled back +several feet, only to spring up and charge again. His squealing could be +heard for a mile. After a long time the porters succeeded in capturing +it and they conveyed it back to camp strung on a pole. If that little +rhino was any criterion of rhino pugnacity, then surely the rhino is +born with the instinctive impulse to charge and to fight as savagely as +any animal alive. + +We fed our little pet rhino on milk and then swung it in a comfortable +hammock made of zebra skin. In this more or less undignified fashion it +was carried by eight strong porters to Fort Hall, two marches away, +where it lived only a week or ten days and then, to our sorrow and +regret, succumbed from lack of proper nourishment. + +[Drawing: _Retiring in Favor of Rhino_] + +Sometimes, when the _safari_ is marching through bush country, the rhino +becomes an element of considerable anxiety; An armed party must precede +the caravan and clear the route of rhinos, otherwise the porters are +likely to be scattered by threatened charges. It is no uncommon sight to +see a crowd of heavily laden porters drop their loads and shin up the +nearest tree in record time. Consequently, strong protective measures +are always demanded when a long train of unarmed natives is moving +through bush or scrub country where there are many rhinos. + +[Drawing: _Favorite Way of Being Photographed_] + +The lower Tana River country is admirably adapted to the life habits of +the rhinos. Formerly the district was well settled by natives, but now, +owing to the fever conditions prevailing there, the natives have all +moved away to more wholesome places and only the forlorn remains of +deserted villages mark where former prosperity reigned. The country has +been abandoned to game, with the result that it has been enormously +increasing during the last few years. In addition to the great numbers +of rhinos there are big herds of buffalo, enormous numbers of hippo in +the river, and many small droves of eland. Waterbuck, bushbuck, +steinbuck, impalla, hartebeest and zebra dwell in comparative immunity +from danger and may be seen in hundreds, grazing on the hills or in the +woods that fringe the river. It is a sportsman's paradise, if he manages +to escape the fever, and we enjoyed it tremendously, even though we shot +only a hundredth part of what we might easily have shot. The charm of +hunting in such a region lies in what one sees rather than in what one +kills. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MEETING COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN THE UTTERMOST OUTPOST OF SEMI-CIVILIZATION. +HE TALKS OF MANY THINGS, HEARS THAT HE HAS BEEN REPORTED DEAD, AND +PROMPTLY PLANS AN ELEPHANT HUNT + + +After one has been in British East Africa two months he begins to +readjust his preconceived ideas to fit real conditions. He discovers +that nothing is really as bad as he feared it would be, and that +distance, as usual, has magnified the terrors of a far-away land. In +spite of the fact that he is in the heart of a primitive country, +surrounded by native tribes that still are mystified by a glass mirror, +and perhaps many days' march from the nearest white person, he still may +feel that he is in touch with the great world outside. His mail reaches +him somehow or other, even if he is in the center of some vast unsettled +district devoid of roads or trails. + +How it is done is a mystery; but the fact remains that every once in a +while a black man appears as by magic and hands one a package containing +letters and telegrams. He is a native "runner," whose business it is to +find you wherever you may be, and he does it, no matter how long it may +take him. A telegram addressed to any sportsman in East Africa would +reach him if only addressed with his name and the words "British East +Africa." There are only four or five thousand white residents in the +whole protectorate, and the names of these are duly catalogued and known +to the post-office officials both in Mombasa and Nairobi. + +[Photograph: _In the Forest_] + +If a strange name appears on a letter or despatch, inquiries are made +and the identity of the stranger is quickly established. If he is a +sportsman, the outfitters in Nairobi will know who he is. They will have +equipped him with porters and the other essentials of a caravan, and +they will know exactly in which section of the protectorate he is +hunting. So the letter is readdressed in care of the _boma_ or +government station, nearest to that section. The letter duly arrives at +the _boma_, and a native runner is told to go out and deliver the +message. He starts off, and by inquiry of other natives and by relying +on a natural instinct that is little short of marvelous he ultimately +finds the object of his search and delivers his message. + +If you look at a map of British East Africa you will be amazed at the +number of names that are marked upon it. You would quite naturally think +that the country was rather thickly settled, whereas in fact there are +very few places of settlement away from the single line of railroad that +runs from Mombasa to Victoria Nyanza. The protectorate is divided into +subdistricts, each one of which has a capital, or _boma_, as it is +called. This _boma_ usually consists of a white man's residence, a +little post-office, one or two Indian stores where all the necessities +of a simple life may be procured, and a number of native grass huts. +There is usually a small detachment of askaris, or native soldiers, who +are necessary to enforce the law, repress any native uprising, and +collect the hut tax of one dollar a year that is imposed upon each +household in the district. + +Other names on the map may look important, but will prove to be only +streams, or hills, or some landmarks that have been used by the +surveyors to signify certain places. In our five weeks' trip through +Trans-Tanaland we found only two _bomas_, Fort Hall and Embo, and three +or four ranches where one or more white men lived. In our expedition to +Mount Elgon we encountered only two places where the mark of +civilization showed--Eldoma Ravine and Sergoi. In the former place the +only white man was the subcommissioner, and in the latter there was one +policeman, and a general store kept by a South African. A number of Boer +settlers are scattered over the plateau, trying to reclaim little +sections of land from its primitive state. + +Between Sergoi and Londiani, on the railroad, ninety miles south, there +is one little store where caravans may buy food for porters and some of +the simpler necessities that white men may require. All the rest of the +country for thousands of square miles is given up to the lion and zebra +and the vast herds of antelope that feed upon the rich grass of the +plateau. + +Yet in spite of the sparsity of settlement the native runner manages to +find you, even after days of traveling, without compass or directions to +aid him. + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. An Askari Who Looked Like a +Tragedian] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. Mr. Akeley] + +Hunters who come to East Africa usually are sent to certain districts +where game is known to be abundant. These districts are well defined and +oftentimes there may be a number of _safaris_ in them at the same time, +but so large are the districts that one group of hunters very rarely +encroaches upon the others. + +Some parties are sent to Mount Kilima-Njaro, in the vicinity of which +there is good hunting. Others are sent out from points along the +railroad for certain classes of game that may be found only in those +spots. Simba, on the railroad, is a favorite place for those who are +after the yellow-maned or "plains" lion. Muhorini, also on the railroad, +is a favorite place for those who want the roan antelope; Naivasha is a +good place for hippo, and south of Kijabe, in what is called the Sotik, +is a district where nearly all sorts of game abound. The Tana River is a +favorite place for rhino, buffalo, nearly all sorts of antelope, and +some lion; Mount Kenia is an elephant hunting ground, and the Aberdare +Range, between Kenia and Naivasha, also is good for elephant. North of +Kenia is the Guas Nyiro River, a rich district for game of many kinds. +And so the country is divided up into sections that are sure to attract +many sporting parties who desire certain kinds of game. + +Our first expedition out from Nairobi was across the Athi Plains to the +Tana River and Mount Kenia, a wonderful trip for those who are willing +to take chances with the fever down the Tana River. In five weeks we saw +lion, rhino, buffalo, and elephant--the four groups of animals that are +called "royal game"; also hippo, giraffe, eland, wildebeest, and many +varieties of smaller game. It is doubtful whether there is any other +section of East Africa where one could have a chance for so many +different species of game in such a short time as the Tana River +country. + +For our second expedition we selected the Guas Ngishu Plateau, the Nzoia +River, and Mount Elgon. It is a long trip which involves elaborate +preparation and some difficulty in keeping up supplies for the camp and +the porters. It is the most promising place, however, for black-maned +lion and elephant, and on account of these two capital prizes in the +lottery of big game hunting occasional parties are willing to venture +the time and expense necessary to reach this district. + +We disembarked, or "detrained," as they say down there, at a little +station on the railroad called Londiani, eight miles south of the +equator and about eighty miles from Victoria Nyanza. Then with two +transport wagons drawn by thirty oxen, our horses for "galloping" lions, +and one hundred porters, we marched north, always at an altitude of from +seventy-five hundred to ninety-two hundred feet, through vast forests +that stretched for miles on all sides. The country was beautiful beyond +words--clean, wholesome, and vast. In many places the scenery was as +trim, and apparently as finished as sections of the wooded hills and +meadows of Surrey. One might easily imagine oneself in a great private +estate where landscape gardeners had worked for years. + +[Drawing: _One of the Transport Wagons_] + +At night the cold was keen and four blankets were necessary the night we +camped two miles from the equator. In the day the sun was hot in the +midday hours, but never unpleasantly so. After two days of marching +through forests and across great grassy folds in the earth we reached +Eldoma Ravine, a subcommissioner's _boma_ that looks for all the world +like a mountain health resort. From the hill upon which the station is +situated one may look across the Great Rift Valley, two thousand feet +below, and stretching away for miles across, like a Grand Canon of +Arizona without any mountains in it. Strong stone walls protect the +white residence, for this is a section of the country that has suffered +much from native uprisings during the last few years. We called on the +solitary white resident one evening, and, true to the creed of the +Briton, he had dressed for dinner. The sight of a man in a dinner-coat +miles from a white man and leagues from a white woman was something to +remember and marvel at. + +Northward from Eldoma Ravine for days we marched, sometimes in dense +forests so thick that a man could scarcely force himself through the +undergrowth that flanked the trail, and sometimes through upland meadows +so deep in tall yellow grass as to suggest a field of waving grain, then +through miles of country studded with the gnarled thorn tree that looks +so much like our apple trees at home. It was as though we were +traversing an endless orchard, clean, beautiful, and exhilarating in the +cool winds of the African highlands. And then, all suddenly, we came to +the end of the trees, and before us, like a great, heaving yellow sea, +lay the Guas Ngishu Plateau that stretches northward one hundred miles +and always above seven thousand feet in altitude. + +Far ahead, like a little knob of blue, was Sergoi Hill, forty miles +away, and beyond, in a fainter blue, were the hills that mark the limit +of white man's passport. On the map that district is marked: "Natives +probably treacherous." Off to the left, a hundred miles away, the dim +outline of Mount Elgon rose in easy slopes from the horizon. Elgon, with +its elephants, was our goal, and in between were the black-maned lions +that we hoped to meet. + +It would be hard to exaggerate the charm of this climate. And yet this, +one thought, was equatorial Africa, which, in the popular imagination, +is supposed to be synonymous with torrential rains, malignant fevers, +and dense jungles of matted vegetation. It was more like the friendly +stretches of Colorado scenery at the time of year when the grasses of +the valley are dotted with flowers of many colors and the sun shines +down upon you with genial warmth. + +[Drawing: _A Night on the Equator_] + +Each morning we marched ten or twelve miles and then went into camp near +some little stream. In the afternoon we hunted for lions, beating out +swamps, scouting every bit of cover and combing the tall grass for hours +at a time. Hartebeest, topi, zebra, eland, oribi, reedbuck, and small +grass antelope were upon all sides and at all times. + +The herds of zebra and hartebeest literally numbered thousands, but, +except as the latter were occasionally required for food for the +porters, we seldom tried to shoot them. Every Boer settler we saw was +interviewed and every promising lion clue was followed to the bitter +end, but without result. Sometimes we remained in one camp a day or more +in order to search the lion retreats more thoroughly, but never a +black-maned lion was routed from his lair. A few weeks later, when the +dry grass had been burned to make way for new grass, as is done each +year, the chances would be greatly improved, and we hoped for better +luck when we retraced our steps from Elgon in December. Before that time +it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack to find a lion in +the tall grass, and a good deal more dangerous if we did find one. There +were lots of them there, but they were taking excellent care of +themselves. In July, three months previous, Mr. McMillan, Mr. Selous, +and Mr. Williams were in this same district after black-maned lions. +They heard them every night, but saw only one in several weeks. This +one, however, made a distinct impression. Williams saw it one day and +wounded it at two hundred yards. The lion charged and could not be +stopped by Williams' bullets. It was only after it had leaped on the +hunter and frightfully mauled him that the lion succumbed to its wounds. +And it was only after months of suffering that Williams finally +recovered from the mauling. + +We felt that if Frederick Selous, the world's greatest big game hunter, +could not find the lion, then our chances were somewhat slim. + +[Drawing: _Lion Hunting in Tall Grass_] + +There had been few parties in this district since McMillan's party left. +Captain Ashton came in two months before us, and we met him on his way +out. With him was Captain Black, a professional elephant hunter, who, +three years before, on the Aberdare, had had a bad experience with an +elephant. It was a cow that he had wounded but failed to kill. She +charged him and knocked him down in a pile of very thick and matted +brush. Three times she trampled him under her feet, but the bushes +served as a kind of mattress and the captain escaped with only a few +hones broken; although he was laid up for five weeks. Ashton and Black +did not have much luck in the present trip and failed to get a single +lion. + +Two Spaniards passed our camp one day, inward bound. They were the Duke +of Penaranda and Sr. de la Huerta, and reported no lions during their +few days in the district. Prince Lichtenstein was also somewhere on the +plateau, but we didn't run across him. In addition to these three +parties and ours, the only other expedition in the Guas Ngishu Plateau +was Colonel Roosevelt's party, toward which, by previous agreement, we +made our way. + +A number of months before Mr. Akeley, who headed our party, was dining +with President Roosevelt at the White House. In the course of their +talk, which was about Africa and Mr. Akeley's former African hunting and +collecting experiences, the latter had told the president about a group +of elephants that he was going to collect and mount for the American +Museum of History in New York. President Roosevelt was asked if he would +cooeperate in the work, and he expressed a keen willingness to do so. +When our party arrived at Nairobi, in September, a letter awaited Mr. +Akeley, renewing Colonel Roosevelt's desire to help in collecting the +group. + +It was in answer to this invitation that Mr. Akeley and our party had +gone to the Mount Elgon country to meet Mr. Roosevelt and carry out the +elephant-hunting compact made many months before at the White House. + +[Photograph: Kermit, Leslie Tarlton and Colonel Roosevelt] + +[Photograph: Winding Through Unbroken Country] + +[Photograph: Our Safari on the March] + +Eleven days of marching and hunting from the railroad brought us to +Sergoi, the very uttermost outpost of semi-civilization. Here we found +another letter in which Mr. Akeley was asked to come to the Roosevelt +camp, and which suggested that a native runner could pilot him to its +whereabouts. The letter had been written some days before and had been +for some time at Sergoi. Whether the Roosevelt camp had been moved in +the meantime could not be determined at Sergoi, and we knew only in a +general way that it was probably somewhere on the Nzoia River +(pronounced Enzoya), two or three days' march west of Sergoi, toward +Mount Elgon. + +So we started across, meeting no natives who possibly could have given +any information. On the afternoon of November thirteenth we went into +camp on the edge of a great swamp, or _tinga-tinga_, as the natives +call it, only a couple of hours' march from the river. Many fresh +elephant trails had been discovered, and the swamp itself looked like a +most promising place for lions. A great tree stood on one side of the +swamp, and in its branches was a platform which an Englishman had +occupied seven nights in a vain quest for lions some time before. A +little grass shelter was below the tree, and as we approached a +Wanderobo darted out and ran in terror from us. The Wanderobos are +native hunters who live in the forests, and are as shy as wild animals. +So we could not question him as to Colonel Roosevelt's camp. Later in +the afternoon a native runner appeared from the direction of Sergoi with +a message to the colonel, but he didn't know where the camp was and +didn't seem to be in any great hurry to find out. He calmly made himself +the guest of one of our porters and spent the night in our camp, doing +much more sitting than running. + +On the morning of the fourteenth we marched toward the river, two hours +away, the native runner slowly ambling along with us. We had been on the +trail about an hour and a half when a shot was heard off to our left; At +first we thought it was our Spanish friends, but a few moments later we +came to a point where we could see, about a mile away, a long string of +porters winding along in the direction from which we came, it was +plainly a much larger _safari_ than the Spanish one, and we at once +concluded that it was Colonel Roosevelt's. + +Three or four men on horses were visible, but could not be recognized +with our glasses. The number corresponded to the colonel's party, +however, which we knew to consist of himself and Kermit, Edmund Heller +and Leslie Tarlton. A messenger was sent across the hills to establish +their identity and we marched on to the river, a half-hour farther, +where we found the smoldering fires of their camp. + +A transport wagon of supplies for the Duke of Penaranda's _safari_ was +also there, and from the drivers it was definitely learned that the late +occupants of the camp were Mr. Roosevelt and his party. In the meantime +the messenger had reached Colonel Roosevelt, and when the latter learned +that Mr. Akeley's _safari_ was in the vicinity he at once ordered camp +pitched forty-five minutes from our camp, and started across to see +Akeley. The latter had also started across to see the colonel, and they +met on the way. And during all this time the native runner with the +message to Colonel Roosevelt was loafing the morning away in our camp. +What the message might be, of course, we didn't know, but we hoped that +it was nothing of importance. It was only when the colonel and his party +reached our camp that the message was delivered. As we stood talking and +congratulating everybody on how well he was looking the colonel casually +opened the message. + +He seemed amused, and somewhat surprised, and at once read it aloud to +us. It was from America, and said: "Reported here you have been killed. +Mrs. Roosevelt worried. Cable denial American Embassy, Rome." It was +dated November sixth, eight days before. + +"I think I might answer that by saying that the report is premature," he +said, laughing, and then told the story of a Texas man who had commented +on a similar report in the same words. + +Colonel Roosevelt certainly didn't look dead. If ever a man looked +rugged and healthy and in splendid physical condition he certainly did +on the day that this despatch reached him. His cheeks were burned to a +ruddy tan and his eyes were as clear as a plainsman's. He laughed and +joked and commented on the news that we told him with all the enthusiasm +of one who knows no physical cares or worries. + +[Drawing: _Reading the Report That He Had Been Killed_] + +"If I could have seen you an hour and a half ago," he told Akeley, "I +could have got you the elephants you want for your group. We passed +within only a few yards of a herd of ten this morning, and Kermit got +within thirty yards to make some photographs." They had not shot any, +however, as they had received no answer to the letter sent several days +before to Mr. Akeley and consequently did not know positively that his +party had reached the plateau. + +The colonel asked about George Ade, commented vigorously and with +prophetic insight on the Cook-Peary controversy, and read aloud, in +excellent dialect, a Dooley article on the subject, which I had saved +from an old copy of the Chicago _Tribune_. He commented very frankly, +with no semblance at hypocrisy, on Mr. Harriman's death, told many of +his experiences in the hunting field, and for three hours, at lunch and +afterward, he talked with the freedom of one who was glad to see some +American friends in the wilderness and who had no objection to showing +his pleasure at such a meeting. + +He talked about the tariff and about many public men and public +questions with a frankness that compels even a newspaper man to regard +as being confidential. Our _safari_ was the only one he had met in the +field since he had been in Africa, and it was evident that the efforts +of the protectorate officials to save him from interference and +intrusion had been successful. + +Arrangements were then made for an elephant hunt. Colonel Roosevelt was +working on schedule time, and had planned to be in Sergoi on the +seventeenth. He agreed to a hunt that should cover the fifteenth, +sixteenth, and possibly the seventeenth, trusting that they might be +successful in this period and that a hard forced march could get him to +Sergoi on the night of the eighteenth. + +It was arranged that he and Mr. Akeley, with Kermit and Tarlton and one +tent should start early the next morning on the hunt, trusting to luck +in overtaking the herd that he had seen in the morning. The hunt was +enormously successful, and the adventures they had were so interesting +that they deserve a separate chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE COLONEL READS MACAULAY'S "ESSAYS," DISCOURSES ON MANY SUBJECTS WITH +GREAT FRANKNESS, DECLINES A DRINK OF SCOTCH WHISKY, AND KILLS THREE +ELEPHANTS + + +On the afternoon of November fourteenth, a little cavalcade of horsemen +might have been seen riding slowly away from our camp on the Nzoia +River. One of them, evidently the leader, was a well-built man of about +fifty-one years, tanned by many months of African hunting and wearing a +pair of large spectacles. His teeth flashed in the warm sunlight. A +rough hunting shirt encased his well-knit body and a pair of rougher +trousers, reinforced with leather knee caps and jointly sustained by +suspenders and a belt, fitted in loose folds around his stocky legs. On +his head was a big sun helmet, and around his waist, less generous in +amplitude than formerly, was a partly filled belt of Winchester +cartridges. His horse was a stout little Abyssinian shooting pony, gray +of color and lean in build, and in the blood-stained saddle-bag was a +well-worn copy of Macaulay's _Essays_, bound in pigskin. Our hero--for +it was he--was none other than Bwana Tumbo, the hunter-naturalist, +exponent of the strenuous life, and ex-president of the United States. + +[Drawing: _Improving Each Shining Hour_] + +If I were writing a thrilling story of adventure that is the way this +story would begin. But as this is designed to be a simple chronicle of +events, it is just as well at once to get down to basic facts and tell +about the Roosevelt elephant hunt, the hyena episode, and the pigskin +library, together with other more or less extraneous matter. + +[Photograph: A Flag Flew Over the Colonel's Tent] + +[Photograph: Kermit and Mr. Stephenson Diagnosing the Case] + +Colonel Roosevelt, his son Kermit, Leslie Tarlton, who is managing the +Roosevelt expedition, and Edmund Heller, the taxidermist of the +expedition, came to our camp on the fourteenth of November to have +luncheon and to talk over plans whereby Colonel Roosevelt was to kill +one or more elephants for Mr. Akeley's American museum group of five or +six elephants. The details were all arranged and later in the afternoon +the colonel and his party left for their own camp, only a short distance +from ours. + +Mr. Akeley, with one of our tents and about forty porters, followed +later in the evening and spent the night at the Roosevelt camp. The +following morning Colonel Roosevelt, Mr. Akeley, Mr. Tarlton and Kermit, +with two tents and forty porters and gunbearers, started early in the +hope of again finding the trail of the small herd of elephants that had +been seen the day before. The trail was picked up after a short time and +the party of hunters expected that it would be a long and wearisome +pursuit, for it was evident that the elephants had become nervous and +were moving steadily along without stopping to feed. In such cases they +frequently travel forty or fifty miles before settling down to quiet +feeding again. + +The country was hilly, deep with dry grass, and badly cut up with small +gullies and jagged out-croppings of rock on the low ridges. At all times +the ears of the hunting party were alert for any sound that would +indicate the proximity of the herd, but for several hours no trumpeting, +nor intestinal rumbling, nor crash of tusks against small trees were +heard. Finally, at about eleven o'clock, Tarlton, who, strangely enough, +is partly deaf, heard a sound that caused the hunting party to stop +short. He heard elephants. They were undoubtedly only a short distance +ahead, but as the wind was from their direction there was little +likelihood that they had heard the approach of the hunters. So Tarlton, +who has had much experience in elephant hunting, led the party off at a +right angle from the elephant trail and then, turning, paralleled the +trail a few hundred feet away. They had gone only a short distance when +it became evident that they had passed the herd, which was hidden by the +tall grass and the thickly-growing scrub trees that grew on all sides. + +The wooded character of the country rendered it easy to stalk the +elephant herd, and with careful attention to the wind, the four hunters +and their gunbearers advanced under cover until the elephants could be +seen and studied. Each of the four hunters carried a large +double-barreled cordite rifle that fires a five-hundred-grain bullet, +backed up by nearly a hundred grains of cordite. + +As was expected, the herd consisted solely of cows and calves. There +were eight cow elephants and two _totos_, or calves, a circumstance that +was particularly fortunate, as Colonel Roosevelt was expected to secure +one or two cows for the group, while some one else was to get the calf. + +For some moments the hunting party studied the group of animals and +finally decided which ones were the best for the group. + +Two of the largest cows and the calf of one of them were selected. It is +always the desire of collectors who kill groups of animals for museums +to kill the calf and the mother at the same time whenever practicable, +so that neither one is left to mourn the loss of the other. It is one of +the unpleasant features of group collecting that calves must be killed, +but the collector justifies himself in the thought that many thousands +of people will be instructed and interested in the group when it is +finished. + +Elephant hunting is considered by many African hunters as being the most +dangerous of all hunting. When a man is wounded by an elephant he is +pretty likely to die, whereas the wounds inflicted by lions are often +not necessarily mortal ones. Also, in fighting a wounded lion one may +sometimes take refuge in the low branches of a tree, but with a wounded +elephant there is rarely time to climb high enough and quick enough to +escape the frenzied animal. In elephant shooting, also, the hunter +endeavors to approach within twenty or thirty yards, so that the bullets +may be placed exactly where their penetration will be the most +instantaneously deadly. Consequently, a badly placed bullet may merely +infuriate the elephant without giving the hunter time to gain a place of +safety, and thus be much worse than if the hunter had entirely missed +his mark. + +Among elephant hunters it is considered more dangerous to attack a cow +elephant than a bull, for the cow is always ready and eager to defend +its calf, hence when Colonel Roosevelt prepared to open fire on a cow +elephant, accompanied by a calf, at a range of thirty yards, in a +district where the highest tree was within reach of an elephant's trunk, +the situation was one fraught with tense uncertainty. + +Colonel Roosevelt is undoubtedly a brave man. The men who have hunted +with him in Africa say that he has never shown the slightest sign of +fear in all the months of big game hunting that they have done together. +He "holds straight," as they say in shooting parlance, and at short +range, where his eyesight is most effective, he shoots accurately. + +This, then, was the dramatic situation at about twelve o'clock noon on +November fifteenth, eight miles east of the Nzoia River, near Mount +Elgon: Eight cow elephants, two _totos_, one ex-president with a +double-barreled cordite rifle thirty yards away, supported by three +other hunters similarly armed, with native gunbearers held in the rear +as a supporting column. + +The colonel opened fire; the biggest cow dropped to her knees and in an +instant the air was thunderous with the excited "milling" of the herd of +elephants. For several anxious minutes the spot was the scene of much +confusion, and when quiet was once more restored Colonel Roosevelt had +killed three elephants and Kermit had killed one of the calves. It had +not been intended or desired to kill more than two of the cows, but with +a herd of angry elephants threatening to annihilate an attacking party, +sometimes the prearranged plans do not work out according to +specifications. + +Kermit was hastily despatched to notify our camp and the work of +preparing the skins of the elephants was at once begun. + +In the meantime, we at our camp, eight miles away from the scene of +battle, were waiting eagerly for news of the hunting party, although +expecting nothing for a day of so. It seemed too much to expect that the +hunt should have such a quick and successful termination. So when Kermit +rode in with the news late in the afternoon it was a time for +felicitation. We all solemnly took a drink, which in itself was an +event, for our camp was a "dry" camp when in the field. Only the killing +of a lion had been sufficient provocation for taking off the "lid," but +on the strength of three elephants for the group the "lid" was +momentarily raised with much ceremony and circumstance. + +The burden of Kermit's message was "salt, salt, salt!" and porters and +second gunbearers to help with the skinning. So James L. Clark, who has +been connected with the American Museum of History for some time and who +was with us on the Mount Elgon trip to help Mr. Akeley with the +preparation of the group, started off with a lot of porters laden with +salt for preserving the skins. It was his plan to go direct to the main +Roosevelt camp, get a guide, and then push on to the elephant camp, +where he hoped to arrive by ten o'clock at night. He would then be in +time to help with the skinning, which we expected would be continued +throughout the entire night. Kermit stopped at his own camp and gave +Clark a guide for the rest of the journey, after which he went to bed. + +At eleven o'clock the sound of firing was heard some place off in the +darkness. The night guard of the Roosevelt camp, rightly construing it +to be a signal, answered it with a shot, and, guided by the latter, +Clark and his party of salt-laden porters once more appeared. They had +traveled in a circle for three hours and were hopelessly lost. Kermit +was routed out and again supplied more guides--also a compass and also +the direction to follow. Unfortunately he made a mistake and said +northwest instead of southeast--otherwise his directions were perfect. + +For three hours more Clark and his porters went bumping through the +night, stumbling through the long grass and falling into hidden holes. +The porters began to be mutinous and the guides were thoroughly and +hopelessly lost. It was then that they one and all laid down in the tall +grass, made a fire to keep the lions and leopards away, and slept +soundly until daylight. Even then the situation was little better, for +the guides were still at sea. About the time that Clark decided, to +return to the river, miles away, and take a fresh start, he fired a shot +in the forlorn hope of getting a response from some section of the +compass. A distant shot came in answer and he pushed on and soon came up +with the colonel and Tarlton returning home after a night in the +temporary elephant camp. The colonel gave him full directions and at +nine o'clock the relief party arrived at their destination. + +In the meantime we, Mrs. Akeley, Stephenson and myself, had left our +camp on the river at six-fifteen, gone to the Roosevelt camp, and with +Kermit guiding us proceeded on across country toward the elephant camp. +On our way we also met the colonel and Tarlton, the former immensely +pleased with the outcome of the hunt and full of enthusiasm about the +adventure with the elephants. But the most remarkable thing of all, he +said, was the hyena incident. He told us the story, and it is surely one +that will make all nature fakers sit up in an incredulous and dissenting +mood. + +During the night, the story goes, many hyenas had come from far and near +to gorge on the carcasses of the elephants. Their howls filled the night +with weird sounds. Lions also journeyed to the feast, and between the +two they mumbled the bones of the slain with many a howl and snarl. +Early in the morning the colonel went out in the hope of surprising a +lion at the spread. Instead, to his great amazement, he saw the head of +a hyena protruding from the distended side of the largest elephant. It +was inside the elephant and was looking out, as through a window. A +single shot finished the hyena, after which a more careful examination +was made. + +There are two theories as to what really happened. One is that the hyena +ate its way into the inside of the elephant, then gorged itself so that +its stomach was distended to such proportions that it couldn't get +through the hole by which it had entered the carcass. + +[Drawing: _The Hyena Episode_] + +The other theory is that, after eating its way into the elephant, it +started to eat its way out by a different route. When its head emerged +the heavy muscles of the elephant's side inclosed about its neck like a +vise, entrapping the hyena as effectively as though it had its head in a +steel trap. In the animal's despairing efforts to escape it had kicked +one leg out through the thick walls of the elephant's side. + +[Photograph: Kermit Roosevelt] + +[Photograph: "Peeling" an elephant] + +The colonel, in parting, asked us to stop with him for lunch on our way +back and he would tell us all about the elephant hunt and show us his +pigskin library. In return we promised to photograph the hyena and thus +be prepared to render expert testimony in case, some time in the future, +he might get into a controversy with the nature fakers as to the truth +of the incident. + +We then resumed our journey and arrived at the elephant camp at +nine-thirty. It was a scene of industry. The skins of the two largest +elephants and that of the calf had been removed the afternoon before and +were spread out under a cluster of trees. Twenty or thirty porters were +squatted around the various ears and strips of hide and massive feet, +paring off all the little particles of flesh or tissue that remained. As +fast as a section of hide was stripped it was thickly covered with salt +and rolled up. This is the preliminary step. Afterwards the skin, in +many places an inch in thickness, is pared down to a condition of +pliable thinness. This work requires hours or even days of hard labor by +many skilful wielders of the paring knife. The skulls and many of the +bones are saved when an animal is being preserved for a museum, but when +we arrived they had not yet been removed from the carcasses. + +Our first object was to visit the hyena, which we found still protruding +from the side of his tomb. We photographed him from all angles, after +which he was disinterred and exposed to full view. He had certainly died +happy. He had literally eaten himself to death, and his body was so +distended from gorging that it was as round as a ball. Colonel Roosevelt +also photographed it, so that there will be no lack of evidence if the +incident ever reaches the controversial stage. + +The third cow killed by Colonel Roosevelt was too small for the group, +so the skin was divided up as souvenirs of the day. We each got a foot, +fifteen square feet of skin, and one of the ears was saved for the +colonel. + +We then started on the long two hours' ride back to the Roosevelt camp, +arriving there at a few minutes before one o'clock. We had not been in +camp ten minutes before a whirlwind came along, blew down a tent, and in +another minute was gone. + +A big American flag was flying from the colonel's tent, and he came out +and, greeted us with the utmost cordiality and warmth. In honor of the +occasion he had put on his coat and a green knit tie. He was beaming +with pleasure at the result of the elephant hunt and seemed proud that +he was to have elephants in the American Museum group to be done by Mr. +Akeley. Heller was stuffing some birds and mice and was as slouchy, +deliberate and as full of dry humor as any one I've ever seen. He is a +character of a most likable type. Tarlton, small, with short cropped red +hair--a sort of Scotchman in appearance--is also a remarkable type. He +has a quiet voice, never raised in tone, and talks like the university +man that he is. He is a famous lion hunter and has killed numbers of +lions and elephants, but now he says he is through with dangerous game. + +"I've had enough of it," he says. + +The colonel, Tarlton, Heller, and Kermit were the only members of the +expedition present, Mearns and Loring having been engaged in a separate +mission up in the Kenia country for several weeks, while Cuninghame had +gone to Uganda to make preparations for the future operations of the +party in that country. + +Mrs. Akeley washed up in the colonel's tent, while Stephenson and I used +Kermit's tent, and as we washed and scrubbed away the memories of the +elephant carcasses the colonel stood in the door and talked to us. + +We told him that each of us had taken a drink of Scotch whisky the +evening before in honor of the elephants--the first drinks we had taken +for weeks. + +"I'd do the same," said the colonel, "but I don't like Scotch whisky. As +a matter of fact, I have taken only three drinks of brandy since I've +been in Africa, twice when I was exhausted and once when I was feeling a +little feverish. Before I left Washington there were lots of people +saying that I was a drunkard, and that I could never do any work until I +had emptied a bottle or two of liquor." + +We told him that we had heard these rumors frequently during the closing +months of his administration, and he laughed. + +"I never drank whisky," he said; "not from principle, but because I +don't like it. I seldom drink wine, because I'm rather particular about +the kind of wine I drink. We have some champagne with us, but the +thought of drinking hot champagne in this country is unpleasant. +Sometimes, when I can get wines that just suit my taste, I drink a +little, but never much. The three drinks of brandy are all I've had in +Africa, and I'm sure that I've not taken one in the last four months. +They had all sorts of stories out about me before I left +Washington--that I was drinking hard and that I was crazy. I may be +crazy," he said, laughing, "but I most certainly haven't been drinking +hard." + +The luncheon was a merry affair. Heller had been out in the swamp in +front of the camp and had shot some ducks for luncheon. + +"On my way in," said the colonel, "I shot an oribi, but when I heard +that Heller had shot some ducks I knew that my oribi would not be +served." + +It was evident that the most thorough good fellowship existed among the +members of the colonel's party. His fondness for all of them was in +constant evidence--in the way he joked with them and in the complete +absence of restraint in their attitude toward him. + +"They were told that I would be a hard man to get along with in the +field," Colonel Roosevelt said, "but we've had a perfectly splendid time +together." + +I asked him whether he had been receiving newspapers, and, if not, +whether he would like to see some that I had received from home. He +answered that he had not seen any and really didn't want to see any. + +"I don't believe in clinging to the tattered shreds of former +greatness," he said, laughing. + +He had not heard that Governor Johnson, of Minnesota, had died, and when +we told him he said that Johnson would undoubtedly have been the +strongest presidential candidate the Democrats could have nominated the +next time. He wanted to know where he could address a note of sympathy +to Mrs. Johnson. + +Later, in speaking of a prominent public man who loudly disclaimed +responsibility for an act committed by a subordinate, he said: + +"It would have been far better to have said nothing about it, but let +people think he himself had given the order. Very often subordinates say +and do things that are credited to their superiors, and it is never good +policy to try to shift the blame. Do you remember the time Root was in +South America? Well, some president down there sent me a congratulatory +telegram which reached Washington when I was away. Mr. ---- of the state +department answered it in my name and said that I and 'my people' were +pleased with the reception they were giving Mr. Root. Well, the New York +_Sun_ took the matter up and when the fleet went around the world they +referred to it as 'my fleet,' and that 'my fleet' had crossed 'my +equator' four times and 'my ocean' a couple of times. It was very +cleverly done and some people began to call for a Brutus to curb my +imperialistic tendencies." + +[Drawing: _Writing His Adventures While They're Hot_] + +He told a funny story about John L. Sullivan, who came to the White +House to intercede for a nephew who had got into trouble in the navy. +John L. told what a nice woman the boy's mother was and what a terrible +disgrace it would be for himself and his family if the boy was dropped +from the navy. "Why, if he hadn't gone into the navy he might have +turned out very bad," said John L.; "taken up music or something like +that." + +We also told him that some of the American papers were keeping score on +the game he had killed, and that whenever the cable reported a new +victim the score up to date would be published like a base-ball +percentage table. In the last report he was quoted as having killed +seven lions, while Kermit had killed ten. This seemed to amuse him very +much, although the figures were not strictly accurate. His score was +nine and Kermit's eight up to date. He was also amused by the habit the +American papers have of calling him "Bwana Tumbo," which means "The +Master with the Stomach," a title that did not fit him nearly so +appropriately then as it might have done before he began his active days +in the hunting field. He said, so far as he knew, the porters called him +"Bwana Mkubwa," which means "Great Master," and is applied to the chief +man of a _safari_, regardless of who or what he is. It is merely a title +that is always used to designate the boss. We told him that many natives +we had met would invariably refer to him as the Sultana Mkubwa, or Great +Sultan, because they had heard that he was a big chief from America. + +He also laughingly quoted the attitude of Wall Street as expressed in +the statement that they "hoped every lion would do his duty." + +Later, in speaking generally of the odd experiences he had had in +Africa, he spoke of one that will surely be regarded as a nature fake +when he tells it. It was an experience that he and Cuninghame had with a +big bull giraffe which they approached as it slept. When they were +within ten feet of it it opened its eyes and stared at them. A slight +movement on their part caused it to strike out with its front foot, but +without rising. Then, as they made no offensive moves, it continued to +regard them sleepily and without fear. Even when they threw sticks at it +it refused to budge, and it was only after some time that it was chased +away, where it came to a stop only fifty yards off. + +"I suppose W.J. Long will call that a nature fake," he said, "and I wish +that I had had a camera with me so that I could have photographed it. +I'm afraid they won't believe Cuninghame, because they don't know him." + +In the course of the luncheon the conversation ranged from politics, +public men, his magazine work, some phases of Illinois politics, as +involved in the recent senatorial election, his future plans of the +present African trip and many of the little experiences he had had since +arriving in the country. Much that was said was of such frankness, +particularly as to public men, as to be obviously confidential. + +[Photograph: Kermit Led the Way to the Elephant Camp] + +[Photograph: The Elephants' Skulls Were Saved] + +[Photograph: Removing an Elephant's Skin] + +He was asked whether he had secured, among his trophies, any new species +of animal that might be named after him. In Africa there is a custom +of giving the discoverer's name to any new kind or class of animal +that is killed. For instance, the name "granti" is applied to the +gazelle first discovered by the explorer Grant. "Thompsoni" is applied +to the gazelle discovered by Thompson. "Cokei" is the name given the +hartebeest discovered by Coke, and so on. If Colonel Roosevelt had +discovered a new variation of any of the species it would be called the +"Roosevelti ----." + +The colonel said that he had not discovered any new animals, but that +Heller, he thought, had found some new variety of mouse or mole on Mount +Kenia. He supposed that it would be called the Mole Helleri. + +He then told about an exciting adventure they had with a hippo two +nights before. Away in the night the camp was aroused by screams coming +from the big swamp in front. Kongoni, his gunbearer, rushed in and +shouted: "Lion eat porter!" The colonel grabbed his gun and dashed out +in the darkness. Kermit and one or two others, hastily armed, also +appeared, and they charged down the swamp, where a hippo had made its +appearance in the neighborhood of a terrified porter. Kermit dimly made +out the hippo and shot at it, but it disappeared and could not be found +again. + +After luncheon the colonel said, "Now, I want to inflict my pigskin +library on you," and together we went into his tent and he opened an +oilcloth-covered, aluminum-lined case that was closely packed with +books, nearly all of which were bound in pigskin. It was a present from +his sister, Mrs. Douglas Robinson. The tent was lined with red, +evidently Kermit's darkroom when he was developing pictures. A little +table stood at the open flaps of the entrance and upon it were writing +materials, with which Mr. Roosevelt already had started to write up the +elephant hunt of the day before. His motto seems to be, "Do it now, if +not sooner." + +[Drawing: _The Pigskin Library_] + +I sat on his cot, Mrs. Akeley on a small tin trunk, and Stephenson on +another. The colonel squatted down on the floor cloth of the tent and +began to show us one by one the various literary treasures from his +pigskin library. The whole box of books was so designed that it weighed +only sixty pounds, and was thus within the limit of a porter's load. +Some of the books were well stained from frequent use and from contact +with the contents of his saddle-bags. Whenever he went on a hunt he +carried one or more of these little volumes, which he would take out and +read from time to time when there was nothing else to do. He never +seemed to waste a moment. + +His pride in the library was evident, and the fondness with which he +brought forth the books was the fondness of an honest enthusiast. + +"Some people don't consider Longfellow a great poet, but I do," he said, +as he showed a little volume of the poet's works. "Lowell is represented +here, but I think, toward the end of his life, he became too much +Bostonian. The best American," he said later, "is a Bostonian who has +lived ten years west of the Mississippi." + +He then showed us his work-box, a compact leather case containing pads +of paper, pens, lead pencils, and other requirements of the writer. I +did not see a type-writing machine such as we cartoonists have so often +represented in our cartoons of Mr. Roosevelt in Africa. But, then, +cartoonists are not always strictly accurate. + +Later on he spoke of the lectures he was to deliver in Berlin, at the +Sorbonne in Paris, and in Oxford the following spring. I told him how +surprised I had been to hear that he had prepared these lectures during +the rush of the last few weeks of his administration. He said that he +probably would be regarded as a representative American in those +lectures and that he wanted to do them just as well as he possibly +could. He knew that there would be no time nor library references in +Africa, and so he had prepared them in Washington before leaving +America. + +In regard to his future movements he seemed sorry that he was obliged to +take the Nile trip, and that he was only doing it as a matter of +business--that he had to get a white rhino, which is found only along +certain parts of the Nile. + +"Going back by the Nile is a long and hard trip. For the first twelve +days we will not fire a shot, probably. It will mean getting started +every morning at three o'clock, marching until ten, then sweating under +mosquito bars during the heat of the day, with spirillum ticks, +sleeping-sickness flies, and all sorts of pests to bother one; then long +days on the Nile, with nothing to see but papyrus reeds on each side." + +And speaking of "rhinos" suggests a little incident that the colonel +told and which he considers amusing. + +"One day one of the party was stalking a buffalo, when a rhino suddenly +appeared some distance away and threatened to charge or do something +that would alarm the buffalo and scare it away. So they told me to hurry +down and shoo the rhino off while they finished their stalk and got the +buffalo. So, you see, there's an occupation. That settles the question +as to what shall we do with our ex-presidents. They can be used to scare +rhinos away." + +On hearing this story I remembered that the thick-skinned rhino is +sometimes used by cartoonists as a symbol for "the trusts," and the +story seemed doubly appropriate as applied to this particular +ex-president. + +Some member of our party then modestly advanced the suggestion that the +colonel might some day be back in the White House again. He laughed and +said that the kaleidoscope never repeats. + +"They needn't worry about what to do with this ex-president," he said. +"I have work laid out for a long time ahead." + +Another member of our party then told about the Roosevelt act in _The +Follies of 1909_, in one part of which some one asks Kermit (in the +play) where the "ex-president" is. "You mean the 'next president,' don't +you?" says Kermit. When Colonel Roosevelt heard this he was immensely +interested, not so much in the words of the play, but in the fact that +Kermit had been represented on the stage--dramatized, as it were. + +And as we left for our own camp the colonel called out: "Now, don't +forget. Just as soon as we all get back to America we'll have a lion +dinner together at my house." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ELEPHANT HUNTING NOT AN OCCASION FOR LIGHTSOME MERRYMAKING. FIVE HUNDRED +THOUSAND ACRES OF FOREST IN WHICH THE KENIA ELEPHANT LIVES, WANDERS AND +BRINGS UP HIS CHILDREN + + +The peril and excitement of elephant hunting can not be realized by any +one who has known only the big, placid elephants of the circus, or fed +peanuts to a gentle-eyed pachyderm in the park. To the person thus +circumscribed in his outlook, the idea of killing an elephant and +calling it sport is little short of criminal. It would seem like going +out in the barnyard and slaying a friendly old family horse. + +That was my point of view before I went to Africa, but later experiences +caused the point of view to shift considerably. If any one thinks that +elephant hunting is an occasion for lightsome merrymaking he had better +not meet the African elephant in the rough. Most people are acquainted +with only the Indian elephant, the kind commonly seen in captivity, and +judge from him that the elephant is a sort of semi-domesticated beast of +burden, like the camel and the ox. Yet the Indian elephant is about as +much like his African brother as a tomcat is like a tiger. + +[Photograph: The Hyenas Had Feasted Well] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. Great Stretches of Dense +Forest] + +[Drawing: _Being Killed by an Elephant Is a Very Mussy Death_] + +Many African hunters consider elephant hunting more dangerous than lion, +rhino, or buffalo hunting, any one of which can hardly be called an +indoor sport. These are the four animals that are classed as "royal +game" in game law parlance, and each one when aroused is sufficiently +diverting to dispel any lassitude produced by the climate. It is wakeful +sport--hunting these four kinds of game--and in my experience elephant +hunting is the "most wakefullest" of them all. + +In my several months of African hunting I had four different encounters +with elephants. The first two were on Mount Kenia and the last two were +on the Guas Ngishu Plateau, near where it merges into the lower slopes +of Mount Elgon. The first and the fourth experiences were terrifying +ones, never to be forgotten. An Englishman, if he were to describe them, +would say "they were rather nasty, you know," which indicates how really +serious they were. The second and the third experiences were +interesting, but not particularly dangerous. + +Mount Kenia is a great motherly mountain that spreads over an immense +area and raises its snow-capped peaks over eighteen thousand feet above +the equator. The lower slopes are as beautiful as a park and are covered +with the fields and the herds of the prosperous Kikuyus and other +tribes. Scores of native villages of varying sizes are picturesquely +planted among the banana groves and wooded valleys on this lower slope, +each with its local chief, or sultan, and each tribe with its head +sultan. + +In a day's "trek" one meets many sultans with their more or less naked +retinues, and every one of them spits on his hand, presses it to his +forehead, and shakes hands with you. It is the form of greeting among +the Kikuyus, and, in my opinion, might be improved. These people lead a +happy pastoral life amid surroundings of exceptional beauty. Above the +cultivated _shambas_, or fields of sweet potatoes and tobacco and sugar +and groves of bananas, comes a strip of low bush country. It is a mile +or two wide, scarcely ten feet high, and so dense that nothing but an +elephant could force its way through the walls of vegetation. Most of +the bushes are blackberry and are thorny. + +[Drawing: _Following the Trail_] + +The elephants in their centuries of travel about the slopes have made +trails through this dense bush, and it is only by following these trails +that one can reach the upper heights of the mountain. Above the bush +belt comes the great forest belt, sublimely grand in its hugeness and +beauty, and above this belt comes the encircling band of bamboo forest +that reaches up to the timber line. There are probably five hundred +thousand acres of forest country in which the Kenia elephant may live +and wander and bring up his children. He has made trails that weave and +wind through the twilight shades of the forest, and the only ways in +which a man may penetrate to his haunts are by these ancient trails. +Mount Kenia, as seen from afar, looks soft and green and easy to stroll +up, but no man unguided could ever find his way out if once lost in the +labyrinth of trails that criss-cross in the forest. + +For many years the elephants of Kenia have been practically secure from +the white hunter with his high-powered rifles. Warfare between the +native tribes on the slopes has been so constant that it was not until +three or four years ago that it was considered reasonably safe for the +government to allow hunting parties to invade the south side of the +mountain. Prior to that time the elephant's most formidable enemies were +the native hunter, who fought with poisoned spears and built deep pits +in the trails, pits cleverly concealed with thin strips of bamboo and +dried leaves, and the ivory hunting poachers. In 1906 the government +granted permission to Mr. Akeley to enter this hitherto closed district +to secure specimens for the Field Museum, and even then there was only a +narrow strip that was free from tribal warfare. It was at that time that +his party secured seven splendid tuskers, one of which, a +one-hundred-fifteen-pound tusker shot by Mrs. Akeley, was the largest +ever killed on Mount Kenia. And it was to this district that Mr. Akeley +led our _safari_ late in October to try again for elephants on the old +familiar stamping ground. We pitched our camp in a lovely spot where one +of his camps had stood three years before, just at the edge of the thick +bush and on the upper edge of the _shambas_. News travels quickly in +this country, and in a short time many of his old Kikuyu friends were at +our camping place. One or two of the old guides were on hand to lead the +way into elephant haunts and the natives near our camp reported that the +elephants had been coming down into their fields during the last few +days. Some had been heard only the day before. So the prospects looked +most promising, and we started on a little hunt the first afternoon +after arriving in camp. + +[Drawing: _The Old Wanderobo Guide_] + +We took one tent and about twenty porters, for when one starts on an +elephant trail there is no telling how long he will be gone or where he +may be led. We expected that we would have to climb up through the strip +of underbrush, and perhaps even as far up as the bamboos, in which event +we might be gone two or three days. In addition to the porters we had +our gunbearers and a couple of native guides. One of these was an old +Wanderobo, or man of the forest, who had spent his life in the solitudes +of the mountain and was probably more familiar with the trails than any +other man. He wore a single piece of skin thrown over his shoulders and +carried a big poisoned elephant spear with a barb of iron that remains +in the elephant when driven in by the weight of the heavy wooden shaft. +The barb was now covered with a protective binding of leaves. He led the +way, silent and mild-eyed and very naked, and the curious little +skin-tight cap that he wore made him look like an old woman. As we +proceeded, other natives attached themselves to us as guides, so that by +the time we were out half an hour there were four or five savages in the +van. + +[Photograph: He Was a Very Important Sultan] + +[Photograph: Saying Good-bye to Colonel Roosevelt] + +[Photograph: A Visiting Delegation of Kikuyus] + +No words can convey to the imagination the density of that first strip +of bush. It was like walking between solid walls of vegetation, matted +and tangled and bright with half-ripened blackberries. The walls were +too high to see over except as occasionally we could catch glimpses of +tree-tops somewhere ahead. We wound in and out along the tortuous path, +and it was also torture-ous, for the thorn bushes scratched our hands +and faces and even sent their stickers through the cloth into our knees. +The effect on the barelegged porters was doubtless much worse. + +After a couple of hours of marching in those canons of vegetation we +entered the lower edge of the forest and left the underbrush behind. We +soon struck a fairly fresh elephant trail and for an hour wound in and +out among the trees, stumbling over "monkey ropes" and gingerly avoiding +old elephant pits. There were dozens of these, and if it had not been +for the fact that our old guide carefully piloted us past them I'm +certain more than one of us would have plunged down on to the sharpened +stakes at the bottom. Some of the traps were so cleverly concealed that +only a Wanderobo could detect them. In places the forest was like the +stately aisles of a great shadowy cathedral, with giant cedars and +camphor-wood trees rising in towering columns high above where the +graceful festoons of liana and moss imparted an imposing scene of +vastness and tropical beauty. In such places the ground was clean and +springy to the footfall and the impression of a splendid solitude was +such as one feels in a great deserted cathedral. At times we crossed +matted and snaky-looking little streams that trickled through the +decaying vegetation, where the feet of countless elephants had worn deep +holes far down in the mud. Then, after long and circuitous marching, we +would find ourselves traversing spots where we had been an hour before. + +[Drawing: _Elephant Pits_] + +The elephant apparently moves about without much definition of purpose, +at least when he is idling away his time, and the trail we were +following led in all directions like a mystic maze. At this time I was +hopelessly lost, and if left alone could probably never have found my +way out again. So we quickened our steps lest the guides should get too +far ahead of us. In those cool depths of the forest, into which only +occasional shafts of sunlight filtered, the air was cold and damp, so +much so that even the old Wanderobo got cold. It made me cold to look at +his thin, old bare legs, but then I suppose his legs were as much +accustomed to exposure as my hands were, and it's all a matter of +getting used to it. + +Our porters, especially those that were most heavily loaded, were +falling behind and there was grave danger of losing them. In fact, a +little later we did lose them. The trail became fresher and, to my +dismay, led downward again and into that hopeless mass of underbrush +which at this point extended some distance into the lower levels of the +forest. We could not see in any direction more than twenty-five +feet--except above. If our lives had depended on it we could not have +penetrated the dense matted barriers of vegetation on each side of the +narrow trail. The bare thought of meeting an elephant in such a place +sent a cold chill down the back. If he happened to be coming toward us +our only hope was in killing him before he could charge twenty-five +feet, and, if we did kill him, to avoid being crushed by his body as it +plunged forward. Without question it was the worst place in the world to +encounter an elephant. And I prayed that we might get into more open +forest before we came up with the ones we were trailing. You can't +imagine how earnestly we all joined in that prayer. + +It was at this unpropitious moment that we heard--startlingly near--the +sharp crash of a tusk against a tree somewhere just ahead. It was a most +unwelcome sound. There was no way of determining where the elephant was, +for we were hemmed in by solid walls of bush and could not have seen an +elephant ten feet on either side of the narrow trail. We also didn't +know whether he was coming or going or whether he was on our trail or +some other one of the maze of trails. + +We quickly prepared for the worst. With our three heavy guns we crouched +in the trail, waiting for the huge bulk of an elephant to loom up before +us. Then came another thunderous crash to our right--and it seemed +scarcely fifty yards away. Then a shrill squeal of a startled elephant +off to our left and still another to the rear. Some elephants had +evidently just caught our scent, and if the rest of the elephants became +alarmed and started a stampede through the bush the situation would +become extremely irksome for a man of quiet-loving tendencies. The +thought of elephants charging down those narrow trails, perhaps from two +directions at once, was one that started a copious flow of cold +perspiration. We waited for several years of intense apprehension. There +was absolute silence. The elephants also were evidently awaiting further +developments. + +[Photograph: A Clearing in the Forest] + +[Photograph: A Kikuyu "Cotillion"] + +[Photograph: Kikuyu Women Flailing Grain] + +Then we edged slowly onward along the trail, approaching each turning +with extreme caution and then edging on to the next. Somewhere ahead and +on two sides of us there were real, live, wild elephants that probably +were not in a mood to welcome visitors from Chicago. How near they were +we didn't know--except that the sounds had come from very near, +certainly not more than a hundred yards--and we hoped that we might go +safely forward to where the bush would be thin enough to allow us to see +our surroundings. But there was no clearing. Several times a crash of +underbrush either ahead or to one side brought us to anxious attention +with fingers at the trigger guards. At last, after what seemed to be +hours of nervous tension, we came to a crossing of trails, down which we +could see in four directions thirty or forty feet. A large tree grew +near the intersection of the trails, and here we waited within reach of +its friendly protection. It was much more reassuring than to stand +poised in a narrow trail with no possibility of sidestepping a charge. +We waited at the crossing for further sounds of the elephants--waited +for some time with rifles ready and then gradually relaxed our taut +nerves. A line of porters with their burdens were huddled in one of the +trails awaiting developments. I took a picture of the situation and had +stood my rifle against the tree, and sat down to whisper the situation +over. All immediate danger seemed to have passed. It seemed to, but it +hadn't. + +[Drawing: _The Porters Came Down the Trail_] + +Like a sudden unexpected explosion of a thirteen-inch gun there was a +thundering crash in the bushes behind the porters, then a perfect +avalanche of terrified porters, a dropping of bundles, a wild dash for +the protection of the tree, and a bunch of the most startled white men +ever seen on Mount Kenia. I reached the tree in two jumps, and three +would have been a good record. The crashing of bushes and small trees at +our elbows marked the course of a frenzied or frightened elephant, and +to our intense relief the sounds diminished as the animal receded. I +don't think I was ever so frightened in my life. But I had company. I +didn't monopolize all the fright that was used in those few seconds of +terror. + +We then decided that there was no sane excuse for hunting elephants +under such conditions. We at least demanded that we ought to see what we +were hunting rather than blindly stumble through dense bush with +elephants all around us. So we beat a masterly retreat, not without two +more serious threats from the hidden elephants. A boy was sent up a tree +to try to locate the elephants, but even up there it was impossible to +distinguish anything in the mass of vegetation around. We fired guns to +frighten away the animals, but at each report there was only a restless +rustle in the brush that said that they were still there and waiting, +perhaps as badly scared as we were. + +My second elephant experience came the next day. + +We started forth again, with a single tent, our guides and gunbearers, a +cook and a couple of tent boys and twenty porters. This time we politely +ignored all elephant trails in the dense bush and pushed on through the +forest. Here it was infinitely better, for one could see some distance +in all directions. We climbed steadily for a couple of thousand feet, +always in forest so wild and grand and beautiful as to exceed all dreams +of what an African forest could be. It more than fulfilled the +preconceptions of a tropical forest such as you see described in stories +of the Congo and the Amazon. + +The air was cold in the shadows, but pleasant in the little open glades +that occasionally spread out before us. Once or twice in the heart of +that overwhelming forest we found little circular clearings so devoid of +trees as to seem like artificial clearings. Once we found the skull of +an elephant and scores of times we narrowly escaped the deep elephant +traps that lay in our paths. Many times we saw evidences of the giant +forest pig that lives on Mount Kenia and has only once or twice been +killed by a white man. Sometimes we came to deep ravines with sides that +led for a hundred feet almost perpendicularly through tangles of +creepers and bogs of rotted vegetation. + +We dragged ourselves up by clinging to vines and monkey ropes. On all +sides was a solitude so vast as almost to overpower the senses. The +sounds of bird life seemed only to intensify the effect of solitude. +Once in a while we came upon evidences of human habitation, little huts +of twigs and leaves, where the Wanderobo, or man of the forest, lived +and hunted. Up in some of the trees were thin cylindrical wooden honey +pots, some of them ages old and some comparatively new. And in the lower +levels of the forest we saw where the Kikuyu women had come up for +firewood. For some strange reason the elephants are not afraid of the +native women and will not be disturbed by the sight of one of them. +After seeing the women I am not surprised that they feel that way about +it, but I don't see how they can tell the women from the men. Possibly +because they know that only the women do such manual labor as to carry +wood. + +In the afternoon we reached the bamboos which lie above the forest belt. +Here the ground is clean and heavily carpeted with dry bamboo leaves. +The bamboos grow close together, all seemingly of the same size, and are +pervaded with a cool, greenish shadow that is almost sunny in comparison +with the deep, solemn shades of the great forest. + +Then we struck a trail. The old Wanderobo guide said it was only an hour +or so old and that we should soon overtake the elephant. It was +evidently only one elephant and not a large one. It is fascinating to +watch an experienced elephant hunter and to see how eloquent the trail +is to him. A broken twig means something, the blades of grass turned a +certain way will distinguish the fresh trail from the old one, the +footprints in the soft earth, the droppings--all tell a definite story +to him, and he knows when he is drawing down upon his quarry. As we +proceeded his movements became slower and more cautious, and the +plodding drudgery of following an elephant trail gave way to suppressed +excitement. + +[Drawing: _It Looked Like the Rear Elevation of a Barn_] + +Slower and slower he went, and finally he indicated that only the +gunbearers and ourselves should continue. The porters were left behind, +and in single file we moved on tiptoe along the trail. Then he stopped +and by his attitude said that the quest was ended. The elephant was +there. One by one we edged forward, and there, thirty yards away, partly +hidden by slender bamboos, stood a motionless elephant. He seemed to be +the biggest one I had ever seen. He was quartering, head away from us, +and we could not see his tusks. If they were big, we were to shoot; if +not, we were to let him alone. As we watched and waited for his head to +turn we noticed that his ears began to wave slowly back and forth, like +the gills of a fish as it breathes. The head slowly and almost +imperceptibly turned, and Akeley signaled me to shoot. From where I +stood I could not see the tusks at first, but as his head turned more I +saw the great white shafts of ivory. The visible ivory was evidently +about four feet long, and indicated that he carried forty or fifty +pounds of ivory. Then, quicker than a wink, the great dark mass was +galvanized into motion. He darted forward, crashing through the bamboo +as though it had been a bed of reeds, and in five seconds had +disappeared. For some moments we heard his great form crashing away, +farther and farther, until it finally died out in the distance. + +It was the first wild elephant I had ever seen, and it is photographed +on my memory so vividly as never to be forgotten. I was more than half +glad that I had not shot and that he had got away unharmed. + +That night we camped in a little circular clearing which the Akeleys +called "Tembo Circus," for it was near this same clearing that one of +their large elephants had been killed three years before, and in the +clearing the skin had been prepared for preservation. All about us +stretched the vast forest, full of strange night sounds and spectral in +the darkness. In the morning we awoke in a dense cloud and did not break +camp until afternoon. Our Kikuyu and Wanderobo guides were sent out with +promises of liberal backsheesh to find fresh trails, but they returned +with unfavorable reports, so we marched back to the main camp again. + +Thus ended our Kenia elephant experience, for a letter from Colonel +Roosevelt, asking Mr. Akeley if he could come to Nairobi for a +conference on their elephant group, led to our departure from the Mount +Kenia country. + +The other two elephant experiences were much more spectacular and +perhaps are worthy of a separate story. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +NINE DAYS WITHOUT SEEING AN ELEPHANT. THE ROOSEVELT PARTY DEPARTS AND WE +MARCH FOR THE MOUNTAINS ON OUR BIG ELEPHANT HUNT. THE POLICEMAN OF THE +PLAINS + + +The Mount Elgon elephants have a very bad reputation. The district is +remote from government protection and for years the herds have been the +prey of Swahili and Arab ivory hunters, as well as poachers of all sorts +who have come over the Uganda border or down from the savage Turkana and +Suk countries on the north. As a natural consequence of this +unrestricted poaching the herds have been hunted and harassed so much +that most of the large bull elephants with big ivory have been killed, +leaving for the greater part big herds of cows and young elephants made +savage and vicious by their persecution. Elephant hunters who have +conscientiously hunted the district bring in reports of having seen +herds of several hundred elephants, most of which were cows and calves, +and of having seen no bulls of large size. + +The government game license permits the holder to kill two elephants, +the ivory of each to be at least sixty pounds. This means a fairly large +elephant and may be either a bull or a cow. The cow ivory, however, +rarely reaches that weight and consequently the bulls are the ones the +hunters are after and the ones that have gradually been so greatly +reduced in numbers. The elephants of this district roam the slopes of +the mountains and often make long swinging trips out in the broad +stretches of the Guas Ngishu Plateau to the eastward, in all a district +probably fifty miles wide by sixty or seventy miles long. + +The hunters who invade this section usually march north from the +railroad at a point near Victoria Nyanza, turn westward at a little +settlement called Sergoi, and continue in that direction until they +reach the Nzoia River. Naturally, these names will mean nothing to one +not familiar with the country, but perhaps by saying that the trip means +at least ten days of steady marching in a remote and unsettled country, +far from sources of supplies, I will be able to convey a faint idea of +how hard it is to reach the elephant country. + +Our purpose in making this long trip of ten weeks or more was to try for +black-maned lion on the high plateau and to collect elephants for the +group that Mr. Akeley is preparing for the American Museum of Natural +History. The government gave him a special permit to collect such +elephants as he would require, two cows, a calf, a young bull, and, if +possible, two large bulls. One or more of these were to be killed by +Colonel Roosevelt and one by myself. It seemed promising that the cows, +calf, and young bull could be got on Mount Elgon, but the likelihood of +getting the big bulls was far from encouraging. Lieutenant-Governor +Jackson thought we might be successful if we directed our efforts to the +southeastern slopes of the mountain and avoided the northeastern slopes +along the River Turkwel, which had been hunted a good deal by sportsmen +and poachers. If we were unable to get the big bulls on Elgon it might +be necessary to make a special trip into Uganda for them. However, we +determined to try, and try we did, through eight weeks of hard work and +wonderful experiences in that remote district. + +[Photograph: A Kikuyu Spearman] + +[Photograph: The Porters Like Elephant Meat] + +[Photograph: My Masai Sais and Gunbearers] + +At Sergoi, the very outpost of crude civilization, we were warned not to +go up the southern side of the mountain on account of the natives that +live there. We were told that they were inclined to be troublesome. We +met Captain Ashton and Captain Black coming out after six weeks on the +northern slopes. They reported seeing big herds, but mostly cows and +calves. At Sergoi we also received word from Colonel Roosevelt and at +once marched to the Nzoia River, where we met him. + +During our march we saw no elephants, but as we neared the river there +were fresh signs of elephant along the trail. It is strikingly +indicative of the "Roosevelt luck" that he saw, on the morning we met +him, the only elephants that he had seen in the district, and that +within twenty-four hours from that time he had killed three elephants +and Kermit one. Of this number two cows killed by Colonel Roosevelt were +satisfactory for the group, and also the calf killed by his son, Kermit. +This left one young bull and two large bulls still to be secured, and to +that end we addressed our efforts during the succeeding weeks. + +For nine days we hunted the Nzoia River region, but without seeing an +elephant. There were kongoni, zebra, topi, waterbuck, wart-hogs, +reedbuck, oribi, eland, and Uganda cob, but scour the country as we +would, we saw no sign of elephant except the broad trails in the grass +and the countless evidences that they had been in the region some time +before. The country was beautiful and wholesome. There was lots of game +for our table, from the most delicious grouse to the oribi, whose meat +is the tenderest I have ever eaten. There were ducks and geese and +Kavirondo crane; and sometimes eland, as fine in flavor as that of the +prize steer of the fat-stock show. Then there were reedbuck and cob, +both of which are very good to eat. So our tins of camp pie and kippered +herring and ox tongue remained unopened and we lived as we never had +before. + +When the day's hunt was over the sun in a splendid effort painted such +sublime sunsets above Mount Elgon as I had never dreamed of. And the +music of hundreds of African birds along the river's edge greeted us +with the cool, delightful dawn. Purely from an aesthetic standpoint, our +days on the Nzoia were ones never to be forgotten, while from the +standpoint of the man who loves to see wild game and doesn't care much +about killing it, the bright, clear days on the Nzoia were memorable +ones. The Roosevelt party went its way back to civilization; the +Spaniards, De la Huerta and the Duke of Penaranda, came and made a +flying trip up the mountain for elephant, then returned and went their +way. The young Baron Rothschild came on to the plateau for a couple of +weeks and then disappeared. And still we lingered on, happy, healthy, +generally hungry, and intoxicated with the languorous murmur of Africa. + +[Drawing: _With Sharp Stakes in Them_] + +Then we marched for the mountain on our big elephant hunt. The details +of those twelve days of adventuring in districts, some of which were +probably never traversed before by white men, our experiences with the +natives, our climb up the side of the mountain and our camp in the +crater; our icy mornings, our ascent of the highest peak, and our +explorations of the ancient homes of the cave-dwellers--all are part of +a remarkable series of events that have nothing to do with an elephant +story. In the forests we saw numberless old elephant pits, and on the +grassy slopes there were mazes of elephants' trails, some so big that +hundreds of elephants must have moved along them. But we saw no +elephants. We scanned the hills for miles and tramped for days in ideal +elephant country, but our quest was all in vain. Then our food supplies +ran low, our last bullock was killed, and we hurried back to the base +camp on the river, a hungry, tired band of a hundred and twenty men. + +The matter of provisioning a large number of porters far from the +railroad is a serious one. In addition to carrying the _safari_ outfit, +the porters must carry their _posho_, or cornmeal ration, and it is +impossible for them to carry more than a limited number of days' +rations. So the farther one gets from the base of supplies the more +difficult it is to move, and a relay system must be employed. Porters +must be sent back for food, often six or eight days; or else a bullock +wagon must be used for that purpose. In our _safari_ we used two wagons, +drawn by thirty oxen, to supplement the porters in keeping up food +supplies, and even by so doing there were times when rations ran low. In +such times we would shoot game for them, either kongoni or zebra, both +of which are considered great delicacies by the black man. + +However, this is not telling about my memorable elephant experiences in +the Guas Ngishu Plateau. + +We got back to the Nzoia River on December third. On the fifteenth, +after many more unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with a herd, Mr. +Akeley and I resolved to try the mountain again. We thought that perhaps +the elephants might have moved northward along the eastern slope, and so +we thought we'd push clear up to the Turkwel River and find out beyond +question. We outfitted for an eight days' march, carried only one tent +and a small number of good porters. Only the absolute necessaries were +taken, for we expected to move fast and hard. The first day we marched +eight hours, crossed the Nzoia River, and by a curious chance at once +struck a fresh trail which was diagnosed as being only a few hours old. +The bark torn from trees was fresh and still moist; the leaves of the +branches that had been broken off as the elephants fed along the way +were still unwithered, and the flowers that had been crushed down by the +great feet of the herd had lost little of their freshness and fragrance. + +The trail led us first in one direction, then in another; sometimes it +was a big trail that plowed through the long grass like a river, with +little tributaries branching in and out where the individual members of +the herd had swerved out of the main channel to feed by the way. And +sometimes when all the herd were feeding, the main trail disappeared, to +be replaced by a maze of lesser trails leading in all directions. But by +the skilful tracking of our gunbearers the main trail would be found +again some distance onward. We followed the trail for hours, and then, +night coming on, we went into camp near a small stream, choked with +luxuriant vegetation. Akeley thought he heard a faint squeal of an +elephant far off, and while the porters made camp we went on for a mile +or so to investigate. But no further sounds indicated the proximity of +the herd. + +Early the next morning we took up the trail again, and in less than an +hour my Masai sais pointed off to a distant slope a couple of miles +away, where a black line appeared. It looked like an outcropping of +rock. Akeley looked at it and exclaimed, "By George, I believe he's got +them!" and a moment later, after he had directed his glasses on the +distant spot, he said briskly, "That's right, they're over there." And +so, for the first time, after having scanned suspicious-looking spots in +the landscape for weeks and always with disappointment, I saw a herd of +real live elephants. To the naked eye they looked more like little +shifting black beetles than anything else, but in the glasses they were +plainly revealed with swaying bodies and flapping ears and swinging +trunks. + +In elephant hunting the first important thing to consider is the wind, +for the elephant is very keen-scented and is quick to detect a breath of +danger in the breeze. Fortunately we had seen them in time. If we had +gone ahead a few hundred yards they would have got our wind and gone +away in alarm, but this had not occurred. We could see that they were +feeding quietly and without the slightest evidence of uneasiness. + +[Photograph: Some Kikuyu Belles] + +[Photograph: Wanderobo Guides] + +We left our horses and the porters under a big tree and told the latter +to come on if they heard any firing; otherwise, they were to await our +return. Then, with only our gunbearers and a man carrying Akeley's large +camera, we circled in a wide detour until we were safely behind the +elephants. The wind continued favorable, and we cautiously approached +the brow of a hill near where we had last seen them. They had +disappeared, but their trail was as easy to follow as an open road. +Before reaching the brow of the next hill one of the gunbearers was sent +up a tree to reconnoiter the country beyond. + +"_Hapa_," he whispered, as he carefully climbed down and indicated with +his hand that they were near. Again we swung in a wide circle and came +over the brow of the next hill. There, four or five hundred yards away, +was the herd of elephants, standing idly under the low trees that +studded the opposite slope. There were between forty and fifty of them, +and from the number of _totos_, or calves, we assumed that many of the +big ones were cows. We studied the herd for some minutes, estimating the +ivory and trying in vain to pick out the bulls. There is very little +difference between the appearance of a cow and a bull elephant when the +latter has only moderate-sized tusks. Usually the tusks of the male are +heavier and thicker, but except for this distinction there is very +little noticeable difference between the two. Of course, an elephant +with gigantic tusks is at once known to be a bull, but if he has small +tusks it is a matter of considerable guesswork. + +[Drawing: _Two Kongoni on Guard_] + +We could not tell which ones of this herd were bulls, but assumed that +there must surely be several small-sized or young bulls among them. We +decided to go nearer, knowing that the elephant's eyesight is very poor, +and with such a favoring wind his sense of smell was useless. It seemed +amazing that they did not see us as we walked up the slope toward them. +When a couple of hundred yards away we climbed a tree to study them some +more. They were in three separate groups, each of which was clustered +sleepy and motionless under the trees. They had ceased feeding and had +evidently laid up for their midday rest, although the hour was hardly +ten in the morning. + +From our "observation tower" in the tree we studied the three groups as +well as we could. So far as we could judge there were at least three +bulls of medium size, but as we looked those three lazily moved off +toward the group on the extreme left. At that time we were within about +a hundred yards of the nearest group with the wind still favorable, and +except for one thing we might easily have crept up through the grass to +within thirty or forty yards. Directly between us and the elephants were +two kongoni, one lying down and the other alert and erect. + +[Drawing: _The Policemen of the Plains_] + +The kongoni is the policeman of the plains. He is the self-appointed +guardian of all the other animals, and for some strange, unselfish +reason, he always does sentinel duty for the others. His eyes are so +keen that he sees your hat when you appear over the horizon two miles +away, and from that moment he never loses sight of you. If you approach +too near he whistles shrilly, and every other animal within several +hundred yards is on the alert and apprehensive. The kongoni often risks +his own life to warn other herds of animals of the approach of danger, +and if I were going to write an animal story I'd use the kongoni as my +hero. The hunters hate him for the trouble he gives them, but a +fair-minded man can not help but recognize the heroic, self-sacrificing +qualities of the big, awkward, vigilant antelope. Why these two +sentinels had not seen us is still and always will be a mystery, but it +is certain that they had not. + +At the same time we knew that any attempt to approach nearer would alarm +them and they in turn would sound the shrill tocsin of warning to the +unsuspecting elephant herd, in which event we might have to track the +elephants for miles until they settled down again. So we cautiously +climbed down, retreated below the edge of the hill, and worked our way +up in the lee of the group farthest to our left in the expectation of +finding the three bulls. From tree to tree, and in the protection of +large ant-hills, we moved forward until we were less than fifty yards +from the elephants. Then we studied them again, but could not locate the +bulls. + +Probably at this time something may have occurred to make the elephants +nervous. Perhaps the warning cry of a bird or the suspicious rustling of +our footsteps in the tall grass, but at any rate the herd began to move +slowly away. Two of the larger groups marched solemnly down the slope +away from us and the other disappeared among the low scrub trees to our +right. We followed the two larger groups and soon were again within a +few yards of them. An ant-hill four or five feet high gave us some +protection, and over the top of this we watched the enormous animals as +they stood under the trees ahead of us. While watching these two large +groups we forgot about the one that had disappeared to the right. + +Suddenly one of the gunbearers whispered a warning and we turned to see +this group only a few yards from us and bearing directly down toward the +ant-hill where we crouched in the grass. They had not yet seen us, but +it seemed a miracle that they did not. If one of us had moved in the +slightest degree they would have charged into us with irresistible +force. We held our guns and our breath while these big animals, by a +most fortunate chance, passed by us to the windward of the ant-hill, not +more than thirty feet away. If they had passed to the leeward side they +would have got our wind and trouble would have been unavoidable. I took +a surreptitious snap-shot of them after they had passed by, and for the +first time in some minutes took a long breath. + +Then we circled the herd again and came up to them. They were now +thoroughly uneasy. They knew that some invisible hostile influence was +abroad in the land, but they could not locate in which direction it lay. +We saw the sensitive trunks feeling for the scent and saw the big ears +moving uneasily back and forth. One large cow with a broken tusk was +facing us, vaguely conscious that danger lay in that direction. And +then, by some code of signals known only to the elephant world, the +greater number of elephants moved off down the slope and up the opposite +slope. Only the big, aggressive cow and four or five smaller animals +remained behind as a rear-guard. She stood as she had stood for some +moments, gazing directly at us and nervously waving her ears and trunk. + +[Drawing: _The Rear-guard_] + +Akeley climbed to the top of an ant-hill and made some photographs +showing the big cow and her companions in the foreground, while off on +the neighboring hillside three distinct groups of elephants were in +view. The latter were thoroughly alarmed and moved away very swiftly for +some distance and then came to a pause. The big cow and her attendants +then moved off, feeling that the retreat had been successfully effected. +Once more we followed them and came up to them, and then once more we +were flanked by a number of elephants that had previously disappeared +over the hill. They had swung around and were returning directly toward +where we stood, unsuspecting. + +We barely had time to fall back to some small bushes, where we waited +while the flanking party approached. They came almost toward us, and +when only about fifty feet away I ventured a photograph, feeling that, +if successful, it would be the closest picture ever made of a herd of +wild elephants. I used a Verascope, a small stereoscopic French machine +whose "click" is almost noiseless. The elephants advanced and we huddled +together with rifles ready in the patch of bushes. It seemed a certainty +that they would charge, and that if our bullets could not turn them we +would be completely annihilated. But as yet there was no sign that they +saw us, or, if they did, they could not distinguish our motionless forms +from the foliage of the scrub. + +At last, the foremost elephant, barely thirty feet from us, came to the +trail in the grass by which we had retreated when we first saw them. The +trunk, sweeping ahead of it as if feeling for the scent of danger, +paused an instant as it reached the trail and then the animal drew back +sharply as though stung. Then it whirled about and the herd went +crashing away through the sparse undergrowth. It was a time of the +utmost nervous tension, and I don't believe the human system could +undergo a prolonged strain of that severity. + +[Drawing: _It Started Back as Though Stung_] + +During all this time we had not succeeded in positively locating a bull +elephant. Of all the forty-four elephants that were visible at any one +time, there was not one that we could feel safe in identifying as the +elephant needed for the group. Three more times we stalked the herd to +very close range, but they were now so restless that nothing could be +ascertained. So finally we decided to get ahead of them and watch them +as they passed us, but just as we had reached a point where they were +approaching, the two kongoni gave a shrill alarm and the entire herd +made off in tremendous haste. Later, on our way back to camp, we came up +with one group of six or seven, but they seemed too angry and aggressive +to take needless chances with, so we watched them a while and then left +them behind. + +During all that day we were with the herd nearly five hours, five hours +of intense nervous strain, during which time there was never a moment +when we were not in some danger of discovery. But in spite of the +aggressive bearing of some of them at one time or another, I had the +feeling that the elephants would run away from us the instant they +definitely determined where we were. And it was while laboring under +this impression that I met my second Mount Elgon herd of elephants and +learned by bitter experience that the impression was wholly false. But +that is still another story, the story of being charged five times in +one day by angry elephants, and how I killed a bull elephant for the +Akeley group. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +"'TWAS THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS." PHOTOGRAPHING A CHARGING ELEPHANT. +CORNERING A WOUNDED ELEPHANT IN A RIVER JUNGLE GROWTH. A THRILLING +CHARGE. HASSAN'S COURAGE. + + +On the night of December the twenty-third I sat out in a boma +watching for lions. None came and at the first crack of dawn my two +gunbearers and I crawled out of the tangled mass of thorn branches, and +prepared to return to camp two miles away. We were expecting my sais to +arrive with my horse soon after daybreak, and while waiting for him to +come, and for my gunbearers to get the blankets tied up, I went across +to a neighboring swamp in the hope of getting a bushbuck. I was about +three hundred yards from the boma when my attention was drawn to a +movement in the trees about a quarter of a mile away. I looked and saw +what I first thought was a herd of zebras coming toward me. They looked +dark against the faint light of early dawn and seemed surprisingly big. +Then I realized! They were elephants! I had only my little gun and my +big double-barreled cordite was at the boma, three hundred yards away. +Breathlessly I ran for it, fearing that the elephants might cut me off +before I could reach it. There seemed to be from seven to ten of them, +but they soon disappeared in the trees, going at a fast swinging walk. +Hassan, my first gunbearer, stopped to slip a couple of solid shells in +the gun while I ran to the top of a hill in the hope of catching sight +of the herd. But they had disappeared entirely. We soon found the trail +strongly marked in the dew-covered grass. My sais then appeared with my +horse. He had seen two elephants and they had taken alarm at his scent +and were rapidly fleeing. So I galloped back to camp to tell the rest of +the party and to prepare for a systematic pursuit. + +After breakfast, with Akeley, Stephenson, Clark and our gunbearers, the +trail was again picked up where I had left it. It was then a little past +nine and the elephants had two hours' start of us. Their trail indicated +that they were moving fast and so we prepared for a long chase. For +nearly two hours we followed, Akeley tracking with remarkable precision. +Sometimes the trail was faint and merged with older trails, but by +looking carefully the fresh trail was kept. Soon we began to see newly +broken branches from the trees which indicated that the elephants were +getting quieted down and were beginning to feed. It must have been about +eleven o'clock when Stephenson saw the herd far across on another slope. +There were two of the animals distinctly visible and another partly +visible. They were resting under some of the many acacia trees that +dappled the slope of the hill. We stopped to examine them with our +glasses. One seemed to have no tusks, but we finally saw that it had +very small ones. The other and larger one had one good tusk and one that +was broken off. After about twenty minutes we left our horses and with +only our gunbearers moved across toward them, thinking that there must +be others that we had not yet seen. The wind was bad, sometimes sweeping +up in our direction through the depression between the two slopes and a +moment later coming from another direction. At one time the wind blew +from us directly toward the elephants and we expected to see them take +alarm and run away. But they did not. We circled around and approached +them from a better direction and advanced to within a couple of hundred +yards without being detected. We then stopped for a conference. If there +was a young bull I was to kill it for the Akeley group; if there was a +large bull Stephenson was to kill it for himself; if there were only +cows we were not to shoot unless absolutely necessary. In this event, +Akeley was to take his camera, and with "Fred," "Jimmy" Clark, and I as +escorts with our double-barreled cordite rifles, was to advance until he +could get a photograph that would show an elephant the full size of the +plate. If the elephants charged we were to yell and try to turn them +without shooting; if they came on we were to shoot to hurt, but not to +kill. + +Fred was on one side of "Ake," Jimmy on another, and I on Fred's left. +Thus we slowly moved toward the elephants. A reedbuck was startled out +of the grass and noisily ran away, giving the alarm. The elephants began +feeling in the air with their trunks and their ears began to wave +uneasily. Finally they turned and seemed about to go away. Then Fred +saw, a short distance to the right, some more elephants that had +previously been hidden by the trees. We both whispered to Ake to stop, +but he either did not hear us on account of his heavy sun hat or else +was too intent upon the elephants in front to heed. + +[Photograph: A Nandi Spearman] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce In the Deep Jungle Growth] + +[Photograph: As the Elephant Fell] + +"Ake," whispered Fred, "there's a good bull over there with good tusks. +Wait a minute." But Ake, camera in position, continued to advance and so +we followed. The elephants, a big cow and a half-grown one, were now +facing us with ears wide spread. They looked very nasty. I thought they +would turn and run away and was not uneasy about the outcome. But to my +great surprise they started toward us, first slowly and then at a rapid +trot, steadily gaining in swiftness. It was a real charge and we yelled +to scare them off. The big cow was in the lead and she had not the +slightest intention of being scared. Her one idea was to annihilate us. +We raised our rifles and continued to yell, but on she rushed. She was +only thirty yards away when Jimmy fired, Fred fired, and then I. The +huge animal sank on her four knees and the half-grown one turned off and +stopped, confused and angry. Akeley had got a splendid photograph of the +charging cow and now he took one of the smaller beast before we +approached the cow. Upon our advance the smaller one ran away but the +big cow never moved again. She was stone dead. The three bullets had +struck her, Jimmy's high as she was head on, Fred's between the eye and +ear as she swung, and mine just behind the orifice of the ear as the +head was still further swung by the shock of Fred's bullet. The elephant +rested on her four knees in an upright position, quite lifelike in +appearance. The small elephant ran off toward those that we had seen on +our right. I suggested that we immediately follow the herd in the hope +that a young bull might be found among them. So off we went and in a few +moments we saw them to our right, apparently returning to where the cow +had been killed. It is entirely likely that the big broken-tusked cow +was going back to make trouble for us. Colonel Roosevelt had a similar +experience with a bull elephant that returned and charged the hunters as +they were standing about one that they had just killed. + +[Drawing: _They Whirled Around_] + +As the elephants moved along slowly we paralleled them and studied them +as well as we could. One was the big cow with the one broken and one +good tusk. She was leading the group, and was doubtless a vicious +animal. She was an enormous beast, probably over eleven feet in height. +Another was the half-grown elephant, then a smaller one, and lastly a +good-sized elephant with two fairly good tusks. We tried to determine +the sex of this last one, I hoping that it was a bull, but fearing +otherwise. Ake thought it was a cow with tusks about twelve or fourteen +inches long, but the fact that its breasts showed no signs of milk +fullness led me to hope that it was a young bull, and I determined to +act on that supposition. I at once advanced with my big gun in +readiness. The two largest elephants at the same moment whirled around +and started swiftly toward us. I rested my gun against the side of a +small tree and after their onward rush had brought them within fifty +yards I fired as Ake suggested, "just between the eye and ear." The +animal swerved but did not fall. Akeley and Stephenson fired at the big +cow and under the shock of their heavy shells she dropped to her knees, +then sprang up and came on again. Once more they shot and she again went +down on her knees, but got up, shaking her head and turned a little to +one side. Stephenson started to shoot her again, but Ake shouted, "Don't +shoot her again. She's got enough." Mr. Stephenson followed her for some +distance and decided that she was going to recover, and so came back. In +the meantime my elephant, with the two smaller ones, was moving off to +the left, and with my small rifle I fired at its backbone, the only +vulnerable spot visible. A spurt of dust rose, but the elephant did not +stop. So, accompanied by Hassan and Sulimani, my two gunbearers, I +started after the wounded elephant and the two younger ones. The big one +was moving slowly, as though badly wounded. The wind was bad, so we +circled around to head them off and in doing so completely lost them. +Presently we struck their trail and followed them by the blood-stains on +the grass. + +After some minutes we saw them moving along in the tall grass near the +Nzoia River. Again we swiftly circled to head them off before they could +cross the river, but when we reached a point where they had last been +seen they had disappeared in the dense tangle of trees and high reeds +that grew at the river's edge. We thought they would cross the river, so +we rushed after them. Suddenly Hassan yelled "Here they come!" and, +ahead of us, came the large elephant, its head rising from above the sea +of grass like the bow of a battleship bearing rapidly down upon us. The +two smaller ones were almost invisible, only the back of one appearing +above the reeds. We were out in the open and the situation looked +decidedly dangerous. I hastily drew a bead on the big one's forehead, +fired, but it didn't stop. There was barely time for us to get out of +the way. I ran sideways toward a little mound that furnished some +protection, while Hassan, with a coolness and courage that I both +admired and envied, stood still until the big elephant was within ten +feet of him and then leaped to one side as the three beasts swept by +him, carried onward by the impetus of their mad rush. As the big one +passed it made a vicious swing at him with its trunk. + +[Photograph: Bow On] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. The Bull Elephant] + +[Photograph: Cooking Elephant Meat] + +Fortunately the elephants continued in their course and we followed them +with my big rifle again reloaded and ready. Once more they turned in +toward the river and were completely swallowed up in the tall reeds. We +again waded in after them and had gone only a few yards when we once +more saw the angry head of the big one looming up as it came toward us. +I fired point-blank at the base of the trunk and the beast stopped +suddenly. Then it slowly turned and as it was about to disappear in the +tall elephant grass again I fired at its backbone. The huge bulk +collapsed and disappeared, buried in the reeds. Hassan yelled that it +was dead, but we couldn't see for the grass. The situation now was +perilous in the extreme. The river made a sharp bend at this point like +an incomplete letter O, with a narrow neck of land through which the +elephants had passed when I had shot. At the narrow neck it was about a +hundred feet across while the depth of the "O" was about three hundred +feet and the width about two hundred and fifty feet. This small +peninsula was matted with a jungle growth of high grass and reeds six or +eight feet tall, while the edges of the river were thickly wooded with +small trees tangled together and interlacing their branches over the +narrow but deep waters of the Nzoia. + +[Drawing: _Awaiting the Charge_] + +Down in the jungle depths of this peninsula there was a violent +commotion among the low branches of these trees, an indication that the +animal was not dead, but was thrashing madly about as if desperately +wounded. Hassan said it was the young elephant and that the older one +was dead, but this could not be determined without pushing on through +the reeds until we would be almost upon them. This course seemed too +dangerous to try. + +The river at this point was absolutely impassable for animals. The banks +were ten feet high and perpendicular. The water was perhaps five or six +feet deep and the width of the swift stream not over twenty or thirty +feet. The trees had interlaced their roots and branches across the river +and in the water. No animal, not a tree climber, could possibly cross +the stream on account of the straight up and down banks. + +So after a time we crept along through the grass at the edge of the +stream until we reached a point probably forty yards from where the +elephants doubtless were, although quite hidden from our view. There was +still a tremendous threshing in the low branches of the trees and in +order to see the animals we had to creep cautiously across the peninsula +to a point about half-way, where a large, rotten, dead tree stood. This +gave us cover and from its screen we could see the three elephants, only +fifteen yards away. The head of the big one was still up and it was +turned directly at us. It was so close and so big that the effect was +terrifying. + +"_Mkubwa_," whispered Sulimani, and that means "big." So the big +elephant, instead of being dead, was still alive, with an impassable +river at its feet on one side, a dense tangle of trees on two other +sides, and with a narrow open aisle between it and ourselves. The two +smaller elephants were at its side. To see to fire I had to step out +from the tree and expose myself, and as I stepped out the wounded beast +saw me and reared its head as if to make a final rush. I fired +point-blank; it swung around and a second shot sent it down. Hassan +grabbed my arm and told me to hurry back before the two smaller +elephants charged. If they did so it might be necessary to shoot them, +which we didn't want to do. So we ran swiftly back to the edge of the +river and waited. But all was quiet, and after a time we climbed across +the river on the interlacing branches, circled around to where the +elephants were visible just across the stream and scared the two smaller +ones away. Once more we swung across from branch to branch over the +swift waters of the river and reached the other bank where lay the +mountainous bulk of the dead elephant. It was a young bull about eight +feet high and with two well-shaped tusks twenty-two inches long in the +open, or approximately thirty-eight inches in all. + +Sulimani was sent to notify Mr. Akeley and Mr. Clark, and after a long +search found them, and together they arrived a couple of hours later, +followed by gunbearers and saises. Mr. Stephenson had gone back to camp +to see that salt and supplies, with one tent, were sent out. + +Then began the work of measuring the elephant, a work that must be done +most thoroughly when the trophy is to be mounted entire. There were +dozens of measurements of every part of the body, enough to make a dress +for a woman, and then came the skinning, a prodigious task that took all +of the late afternoon and evening. We investigated the position of an +elephant's heart which Kermit Roosevelt had said was up in the upper +third or at the top of the second third of the body, a spot which must +be reached by a shot directed through the point of the ear as it lay +back. As a matter of fact, an elephant's heart lies against the brisket, +about ten or eleven inches from the bottom of the breast. A broadside +shot through the front leg at the elbow would penetrate the heart. + +At nine o'clock, Christmas Eve, the tent arrived and was soon put up in +the jungle of high grass at the middle of the little peninsula. A more +African scene can not be imagined. The porter's fires, over each of +which sticks spitted with elephant meat _en brochette_ were cooking, +imparted a weird look to the river jungle grass and spectral trees. + +At ten o'clock we had our dinner and at eleven we put on our pajamas and +with the camp-fire burning before the tent and the armed askaris pacing +back and forth, gave ourselves up to lazy talk, then meditation and then +sound sleep. + +It was a wonderful day--one always to be remembered. + +The next day, Christmas, came without the usual customs of Christmas +morn. In the forenoon we stuck with the bull elephant, getting its skin +and bones ready for transportation back to camp; and in the afternoon +came the work of saving the skull and part of the skin of the cow +elephant. The porters must have thought the day a wonderful one, for +they ate and gorged on elephant meat until they could hardly move. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +IN THE SWAMPS ON THE GUAS NGISHU. BEATING FOR LIONS WE CAME UPON A +STRANGE AND FASCINATING WILD BEAST, WHICH BECAME ATTACHED TO OUR PARTY. +THE LITTLE WANDEROBO DOG + + +One of the most exciting phases of African hunting is the beating of +swamps for lion. A long skirmish line of native porters is sent in at +one end of the swamp and, like a gigantic comb, sweeps every live thing +ahead of it as it advances through the reeds. All kinds of swamp life +are stirred into action, and a fairly large swamp will yield forth the +contents of a pretty respectable menagerie. Sometimes a hyena or two +will be flushed and once in a while a lion will be driven out. + +It is the constant expectation of the last-named animal that gives such +keen and long sustained interest to the work of beating a swamp. One +never knows what to expect. A suspicious stir in the reeds may mean a +lion or only a hyena; an enormous crashing may sound like a herd of +elephants, but finally resolve itself into a badly frightened reedbuck. +Most of the time you expect reedbuck, but all the time you have to be +ready for lion. As a general thing a lion will slink along in the reeds +ahead of the beaters and not reveal himself until he is driven to the +end of the cover. Then he will grunt warningly or show an ear or a +lashing tail above the reeds, and instantly every one is in a state of +intense expectancy. What the next move will be no one knows, but it is +more than likely to be something of a supremely dramatic sort. + +One day we were beating swamps on the Guas Ngishu Plateau. Lions seemed +to be numerous in that district. Two days before I had killed two lions +near by, and during the morning Stephenson and I had each killed a +lioness in the same line of marshy reed beds. We now intended advancing +to the next large swamp of the chain and see whether a large, +black-maned lion might not be routed out. + +Conditions seemed propitious, for in this selfsame swamp Colonel +Roosevelt had seen the best lion of his trip some weeks before. Perhaps +the lion might still be there. + +The campaign was planned with great thoroughness. Forty or fifty porters +were formed into the customary skirmish line and on each side we +paralleled the beaters with our rifles. At the word of command the +column began to advance and the interest reached a fever heat. The swamp +was five or six hundred yards long, and for the first three hundred +yards nothing of a thrilling sort occurred. The shouts of the beaters +blended into a rhythmic, melodious chant and the swish of their sticks +as they thrashed the reeds was enough to make even the king of beasts +apprehensive. + +[Photograph: Abdi, the Somali Head-man] + +[Photograph: Along the Nzoia River] + +[Photograph: Beating a Swamp for Lions] + +Over on my side of the swamp there was a wide extension of dry reeds and +bushes through which I was obliged to go in order to keep in touch with +the skirmish line of porters. We had got three-quarters the full length +of the swamp and any moment might reasonably expect to hear from a lion +if there was one ahead of us. Every rifle was at readiness and the +porters were advancing less impetuously. In fact, they were pretending +to go forward without doing so. + +Suddenly a wild shout from a porter near by, then a hurried retreat of +other porters, and then a cautious advance gave sign that something +desperate was about to happen. We caught a glimpse of reeds moving about +and then saw something crouched in the grass beneath. Two ears were +finally distinguished among the tangle of rushes, and there was no +further doubt about it. It was not a lion. It wasn't even a hyena. + +It was a little dog. His presence in the middle of that swamp was about +as logical as if he had been a musk-ox or a walrus. However, there he +was, gazing up at us from the bulrushes, with mild, friendly eyes and a +little tail that was poised for wagging at the slightest provocation. He +was instantly christened "Moses" for obvious reasons. Later the name was +changed to Mosina, also for obvious reasons. + +After the line of porters had regained their composure the lion beat +continued, but no lion appeared. The sum total of the wild beasts +yielded by that promising swamp was one (1) little black and tan dog +with white feet. + +[Drawing: _It Was Not a Lion_] + +Some of our genealogical experts addressed themselves to the task of +figuring out the why and wherefore of little Mosina and what in the +world she was doing out in a lion and leopard infested place. Leopards +in particular are fond of dogs, not the way you and I are fond of them, +but in quite a different way. A leopard, so it is said, prefers a dog to +any other food and will take daring chances in an effort to secure one +for breakfast, dinner, or supper. Therefore, how little Mosina escaped +so long is a mystery yet unsolved. + +The experts decided after a thorough consideration of the case, viewing +it from all possible angles, that the little dog was a Wanderobo dog. +The Wanderobo are natives who live solely by hunting and generally have +the most primitive sort of a grass hut at the edge of a swamp or deep in +the solitudes of the forest. They put rude honey boxes up in the trees +to serve as beehives, and it is from this honey and from the game that +they kill with their bows and arrows and traps and spears that they +manage to eke out a meager living. + +Like all true hunters, they keep dogs, and it is more than likely that +little Mosina was the ex-property of some wild-eyed, naked Wanderobo who +lived in the swamp. When our great crowd of noisy beaters appeared at +the other end of the swamp the Wanderobo had doubtless crawled out of +his hole and made off for the nearest tall grass. In going he had left +behind Mosina as a rear-guard to cover his retreat or to stay the +invaders' advance until he could reach the nearest spot available to a +hasty man. + +So we adopted this theory as to why Mosina was in the bulrushes, and in +honor of her Wanderobo associations we again changed her name to "Little +Wanderobo Dog." So far as I know, she is the only dog in history who has +had three separate and distinct names within two hours. Of course, there +are people who have called dogs more than three different names in much +less time, but they were not Christian names. One of the bachelor +members of the committee, who is known to be a woman-hater, conferred +the honorary title of the pronoun "he" on Little Wanderobo Dog, and she +has been "he" ever since. But not without a bitter fight by those of the +committee who think the pronoun "she" is infinitely more to be admired. + +Little Wanderobo Dog did not wait to be adopted. He adopted us, but not +ostentatiously at first--just a friendly wag here and there to show that +he had at last found what he was looking for. By degrees he became more +friendly and genial, so that at the end of an hour he was thoroughly one +of us. + +I have never seen a milder-eyed dog than Little Wanderobo. Innocence and +guilelessness struggled for supremacy, with "confidence in strangers" a +close third. You couldn't help liking him, for with those meek and +gentle eyes, together with manners above reproach, he simply walked into +your heart and made himself at home. + +I think that we were a good deal of a surprise to him. In all his short +young life he had probably never known anything but kicks and cuffs. +When he met a stranger he naturally expected to have something thrown at +him, or to have a stubby toe or hard sandal projected into his side. +Imagine his wonderment to find people who actually petted him and played +with him. At first he didn't know how to play, but it was amazing to see +how fast he learned. He was ready to play with any and all comers at any +and all times. You could arouse him from a deep slumber and he would be +ready to engage in any form of gaiety at a second's notice. + +They talk about "charm." Some people have it to a wonderful degree. You +like them the minute you meet them, and often don't really know why. +Perhaps because you simply can't help it. Well, that was the chief +characteristic of Little Wanderobo Dog. He had more charm than anything +I've ever met, and so it is only natural that he should have walked into +our affections in the most natural, unaffected sort of way. + +I don't know what he thought of us, but I really believe that he thought +he had gone to Heaven. We fed him and played with him, and finally he +gained a little assurance, and actually barked. He barked at one of our +roosters, and then we knew that he considered himself past the probation +stage. He had confidence enough to assert himself in a series of lusty +barks without fearing a hostile boot or an angry shout. The first time +he barked we all rushed out of our tents in wonder and admiration. It +was the most important event of the day, and it caused a great deal of +talk of a friendly nature. + +There was one umbrageous cloud on Little Wanderobo Dog's horizon, +however--a cloud that he soon learned to evade. The Mohammedans didn't +like him. It is a part of their creed to hate dogs almost as much as +pork, and to be touched by a dog means many prayers to Allah to wipe +away the stain of contact. But Little Wanderobo Dog was not conversant +with the Mohammedan creed at first, and in his gladness and joy of life +he embraced everybody in the waves of affection and friendliness that +radiated from him like a golden aura. + +The Somali gunbearers were disciples of Allah, and they began to kick at +him before he was within eight feet of them. Two of the tent boys were +also Mohammedans, but they had to be more circumspect in their +hostility. Whenever Little Wanderobo Dog came around they would edge +away, which gave the former a certain sense of importance because it was +flattering to have a number of grown-up men fear him so much. Then there +were a number of the porters who were Mohammedans of a sort, but these +were wont to say, "O, what is a creed among friends?" + +It was quite cold up on the plateau at night. Sometimes the wind swept +down from the distant fringe of mountains and shook the tents until the +tent pegs jumped out of the ground. The night guard would pile more wood +on the big central camp-fire near our tents and the porters, in their +eighteen or twenty little tents, would huddle closer together for +warmth. They were nights for at least three blankets, and even four were +not too many. + +Consequently Little Wanderobo Dog was confronted by the necessity of +adopting a place to sleep where he would be safe from those sharp arrows +of the north wind that swept across the high stretches of the plateau. +So he ingratiated himself into my tent with many friendly wags of his +tail and a countenance of such benign faith in human nature that he was +allowed to remain. At many times in the night I was awakened and I knew +that Little Wanderobo Dog was dreaming about some wicked swamp ogre that +was trying to kick him. + +At first he was not a silent sleeper, but later on these awful +nightmares came with less frequency and I presume his dreams took on a +more beatific character. As a watch-dog I don't believe he had great +value, because of his readiness to make friends with anything and +anybody. If a leopard had come into the tent he would have said, "Excuse +me, but I think you are in the wrong place," but he would never have +barked or conducted himself in an ungentlemanly way. + +One could never tell what was likely to come into one's tent at night, +even with armed askaris patrolling the camp all night long. One cold +night, before Little Wanderobo Dog had come to live with us, I was +awakened by a curious rustle of the tent flaps. I listened and then +watched the tent flap for some moments, thinking that the wind might +have been responsible. But there was no wind and it seemed beyond doubt +that some animal had entered. + +For a long time I listened, but could hear nothing; and yet at the same +time I had a positive conviction that I was not alone in the tent. I +wondered if it could be a leopard, or some small member of the cat +tribe. I knew that it wasn't a dog, for there were no dogs anywhere in +the vicinity of the camp. As the minutes went by without any hostile +move from the darkness, I decided to let whatever it was stay until it +got ready to depart. So I went to sleep. + +Once more in the night I was awakened by a noise in the tent and as +nearly as I could diagnose the situation, the noise came from under my +cot. But, I reasoned, if the animal is there, it's behaving itself and +if it were on mischief bent it would have transacted its business long +before. So I went to sleep again. + +Just at dawn the clarion crow of a rooster came from under my bed. It +was one of the roosters the cook had bought from a Boer settler and had +come in to escape the coldness of the night air without. It was a most +agreeable surprise, for there was a homelike sound in the crow of the +rooster that was pleasantly reminiscent of the banks of the Wabash far +away. + +After Little Wanderobo Dog became "acclimated" to the warm and friendly +atmosphere of hospitality of the camp, he began to show evidences of +tact and diplomacy. He bestowed his attentions, with unerring +impartiality to all of us. In the evening, and frequently during the +day, he would pay ceremonial visits to each of the four tents of the +_msungu_, as the white people are called. First he would approach the +threshold of one tent, cock an inquiring ear at the occupant, and upon +receiving the customary sign of welcome would wag himself in and pay his +respects. After a short call he would wag his way out and call at the +next tent, where the same performance was repeated. + +[Drawing: _A Ceremonial Call_] + +He never burst into a place like a cyclone of happiness, but rather, he +sort of oozed in and oozed out, his mild brown eyes brimming with +gentleness and his tail, that eloquent insignia of canine gladness, +wigwagging messages of good cheer. + +In one of the tents of the _msungu_ there was a pet monkey. It had been +captured down on the Tana River months before and at first was wild and +vicious. As time went by it lost much of its wildness and to those it +liked was affectionate and friendly. To all others it presented variable +moods, sometimes friendly and sometimes unexpectedly and unreasonably +hostile. We feared that Little Wanderobo Dog would have some bad moments +with the little Tana River monkey, and their first meeting was awaited +with keen interest. We thought the monkey would scratch all the +gentleness out of the Little Wanderobo Dog's eyes and that the two +animals would become bitter enemies. + +But nothing of the sort happened. Little Wanderobo Dog managed the +matter with rare tact. He succeeded in slowly overcoming the monkey's +prejudices, then in inspiring confidence, and finally in establishing +play relations. It was worth a good deal to see the dog and monkey +playing together, the latter scampering down from his tent-pole aery, +leaping on the dog, and scampering hurriedly over the latter, with a +quick retreat to the invulnerable heights of the tent-pole. Little +Wanderobo Dog would allow the monkey to roam at will over his features +and anatomy, thereby showing tolerance which I thought impossible for +any animal to show. After Little Wanderobo Dog had paid his devoirs to +his host, which he did each day with great punctiliousness, he would +then retire to some sunny spot and enjoy his siesta. He was great on +siestas and usually had several each day. + +[Drawing: _The Entente Cordiale_] + +In time he learned to distinguish between Mohammedans and other +dark-complexioned people and held himself aloof from the former, thereby +escaping any humiliating races with the heavy boots of the gunbearers +and other followers of Allah. He made friends with little Ali, the +monkey's valet, a small Swahili boy who looked like a chocolate drop in +color, and like a tooth-powder ad in disposition. It was Ali's duty to +carry the monkey on our marches. + +The little gray monkey, with its venerable looking black face fringed +with a sunburst of white hair, would be tied to an old umbrella of the +Sairey Gamp pattern, and would sit upon it as the small boy carried it +along the trails on his shoulder, like a musket. Sometimes when the sun +was strong the umbrella would be raised to shield the monkey's eyes, +which could not stand the fierce glare incident to a long march upon +sun-baked trails. At such times the monkey, who rejoiced in the brief +name of J.T. Jr.--the same being emblazoned on the little silver collar +around its neck--at such times the monkey would scamper from shoulder to +shoulder of the small boy, with occasional excursions up in the woolly +kinks of the heights above. It was a funny picture and one that never +failed to amuse those who watched it. + +Well, Little Wanderobo Dog, by some prescient instinct hardly to be +expected in one brought up in a swamp, decided that little Ali and the +monkey were to be his "companions of the march." So, when the tents were +struck and Abdi, the head-man, shouted "_Funga nizigo yaka!_" and the +tented city of yesterday became a scattered heap of sixty-pound porters' +loads, Little Wanderobo would seek out Ali and prepare to bear him +company during the long stretches of the march. And then when the long +line of horsemen, native soldiers, porters, tent boys, gunbearers, ox +gharries, and all began to wind their sinuous way over veldt or through +forest, there was none in the line more picturesque than Ali and J.T. +Jr. surrounded by the affable Little Wanderobo Dog. + +[Photograph: Being Posed for a Post Mortem Picture] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. The Triumvirate] + +[Drawing: _The Three Comrades_] + +It is little wonder that friendship soon ripened into love, and that we +all became speedily and irrevocably attached to the little swamp angel. +His presence in any gathering was like a benediction of good cheer, and +when his tail was in full swing he looked like a golden jubilee. As I +say, it was no wonder we liked him, and I think I may also say, without +flattering ourselves, that the sentiment was reciprocated. I don't +believe the joy he showed at all times could have been assumed. It must +have been pure joy, without alloy. + +His table manners were above reproach. He would, never grab or show +unseemly greed. He awaited our pleasure and each bone or chop that fell +his way was received with every token of mute but eloquent gratitude. +You were constantly made to feel that he loved you for yourself and not +for what he hoped you would give him. If I were to be wrecked on a +desert island, I believe there is hardly more than one person that I'd +prefer to have as my sole companion than Little Wanderobo Dog. + +Perhaps a few words about the architecture of the little dog might not +come amiss. He was built somewhat on the lines of the German +renaissance, being low and rakish like a dachshund, but with just a +little more freeboard than the dachshund. His legs were straight instead +of bowed, as are those of his distinguished German cousin. His ears were +hardly as pendulous, being rather more trenchant than pendulous, and +therefore more mobile in action. His tail was facile and retrousse, with +a lateral swing of about a foot and an indicated speed of seventeen +hundred to the minute. When you add to these many charms, those mild +eyes, surcharged with love light, and a bark as sweet as the bark of the +frangipanni tree and as cheerful as the song of the meadow-lark, you may +realize some of the estimable qualities that distinguished Little +Wanderobo Dog. + +For some weeks he stayed with us, Tray-like in his faithfulness, and +always in the vanguard when danger threatened the rear. One day our +caravan passed through a group of migrating Wanderobos. There were a +dozen or so of men, all armed with spears and bows and arrows; also +fifteen or twenty women, thirty or forty _totos_, and about a score of +dogs. + +Here was the test. Would Little Wanderobo Dog, reclaimed from the swamp, +harken to the call of the blood and join the band of his own kind? If he +did, we could only bow our heads in grief and submission, for after all +were not we only foster friends and not blood relations? But Little +Wanderobo Dog never wavered in his allegiance to us. He had planted his +lance by our colors and with these he would stick till death. + +He passed those other Wanderobo dogs as if they were creatures from +another world. If he felt tempted to join his fellow dogs, there was no +indication of it, and at night when we reached our camp we found our +faithful follower at his accustomed post, stanch, firm and true to his +colors, which were black and tan. + +But alas, there comes a time when the best of friends must part. And the +dark day came when I saw Little Wanderobo Dog for the last time. It was +at Escarpment. Our long months of hunting were over. Our horses and +porters and all our equipment were on the train bound for Nairobi, where +we were to settle our affairs and leave Africa and its happy hunting +ground. Little Wanderobo Dog had been let out of his first-class +compartment in the train and was running up and down the platform, +wigwagging messages of gladness with his tail and sniffing friends and +strangers with dog-like curiosity. Some friends of ours were at the +train to say howdy-do and to shake our hands, and with these the little +dog was soon on friendly terms. + +When the train whistle blew and the bell was rung and some more whistles +blew and more bells were rung, Little Wanderobo Dog was taken back into +his car. The last good-bys were said and we were off for Nairobi. +Suddenly there was a startled cry, a whisk of a tail, and the dog was +gone--out of the car window. He lit on his nose, but as far back as we +could see he sat in the middle of the next track and gazed at the +receding train. Two days later Mrs. Tarlton came down from Escarpment +and said that she had rescued the dog and that he was installed in the +hospitable home of Mrs. Hampson, where he would remain until he rejoined +those members of our party who were to remain in Africa some months +longer. It is likely that Little Wanderobo Dog may be taken on a great +elephant hunt in Uganda and, who knows, some time he may visit America. +I hope so, for I'd like to give him a dinner. + +[Drawing: _Our Last View_] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WHO'S WHO IN JUNGLELAND. THE HARTEBEEST AND THE WILDEBEEST, THE AMUSING +GIRAFFE AND THE UBIQUITOUS ZEBRA, THE LOVELY GAZELLE AND THE GENTLE +IMPALLA + + +In the course of the average shooting experience in British East Africa +the sportsman is likely to see between twenty and thirty different +species of animals. From the windows of the car as he journeys from +Mombasa to Nairobi, three hundred and twenty-seven miles, he may +definitely count upon seeing at least seven of these species: +Wildebeest, hartebeest, Grant's gazelle, Thompson's gazelle, zebra, +impalla, and giraffe, with the likelihood of seeing in addition some +wart-hogs and a distant rhinoceros, and the remote possibility of seeing +cheetah, lion, and hyena. Of the bird varieties the traveler will be +sure of seeing many ostriches, some giant bustards, and perhaps a sedate +secretary-bird or two. + +[Photograph: Hassan and a Hartebeest] + +[Photograph: The Author's Home in Africa] + +[Photograph: Beautiful Upland Country] + +These animals are the common varieties, and after a short time in the +country the stranger learns to tell them apart. He knows the zebra from +his previous observation in circuses; he also does not have to be told +what the giraffe is, but the other ones of the seven common varieties he +must learn, for most of them are utterly strange to an American eye. + +[Drawing: _Gazelle, with Wildebeest in Background_] + +He soon learns to pick out the wildebeest, or gnu, by its American +buffalo appearance; he comes to know the little Thompson's gazelle by +its big black stripe on its white sides and by its frisky tail that is +always flirting back and forth. The Grant's gazelle is a little harder +to pick out at first, and one is likely to get the Grant's and Tommy's +confused. But after a short time the difference is apparent, the Grant's +being much larger in stature and has much larger horns and is minus the +Thompsonian perpetual motion tail. It certainly is a stirring tail! The +impalla is about the same size as the Grant's gazelle, but has horns of +a lyrate shape. + +The hartebeest is speedily identified, because he is unlike any other +antelope in appearance and exists in such large numbers in nearly every +part of East Africa. Indeed, if a returned traveler were asked what +animal is most typical of the country he would at once name the +hartebeest. He sees it so much and so often that after a time it seems +to be only a necessary fixture in the landscape. A horizon without a few +hartebeests on it would seem to be lacking in completeness. + +Furthermore, the stranger soon learns that the hartebeest is commonly +called by its native name, kongoni, and by the time his shooting trip is +over the sight of the ubiquitous kongoni has become as much of his daily +experience as the sight of his tent or his breakfast table. To me the +kongoni appealed most strongly because of his droll appearance and +because of a many-sided character that stirs one's imagination. + +He is big and awkward in appearance and action; his face is long and +thin and always seems to wear a quizzical look of good humor, as if he +were amused at something. Others besides myself have remarked upon this, +so I am hoping that the kongoni wore this amused look even at times when +he was not looking at me. His long, rakish horns are mounted on a +pedicle that extends above his head, thus accentuating the droll length +of his features. His withers are unusually high and add to the awkward +appearance of the animal. Standing, the kongoni is a picture of alert, +interested good humor; running, he is extremely funny, as he bounces +along on legs that seem to be stiffened so that he appears to rise and +fall in his stride like a huge rubber ball. We made quite a study of the +kongoni, for he is a most interesting animal. He is unselfish and +vigilant in protecting the other creatures of the plain. His eyes are as +keen as those of a hawk, and when a herd is feeding there are always +several kongoni sentinels posted on ant-hills in such a strategic way +that not a thing moves anywhere on the plains that escapes their +attention. Oftentimes I have cautiously crept to the top of a ridge to +scan the plains, and there, a mile away, a kongoni would be looking at +me with great interest. + +If you try to approach he will remain where he is until his warning +sneezes have alarmed all the other animals, and finally, when all have +fled, he goes gallumphing along in the rear. He is the self-appointed +protector of his fellow creatures, the sentinel of the plains. I have +seen him run back into danger in order to alarm a herd of unsuspecting +zebras. + +He leads the wildebeests to water and he lends his eyes to the elephants +as they feed. With nearly every herd of game, or near by, will be found +the faithful kongoni, always alert, watchful, and vigilant, and it is +nearly always his cry of warning that sends the beasts of the plains +flying from dangers that they can not see. + +The sportsman swears at the kongoni because it so often alarms the +quarry he is stalking. How very often it happens! The hunter sees afar +some trophy that he is eager to secure and straightway begins a careful +stalk of many hundred yards. At last, after much patient work, he +reaches a point where he feels that he can chance a shot. He takes a +careful sight and at that moment a kongoni that has been silently +watching him from some place or other gives the alarm, and away goes the +trophy beyond reach of a bullet. And then how the hunter curses at the +kongoni, who has stopped some little distance away and is regarding him +with that quaint, lugubriously funny look. It almost seems to be +laughing at him. + +One day I tried to shoot a topi. It was a broiling hot day and the sun +hung dead above and drove its burning javelins into me as I crept along. +For seven hundred yards, on hands and knees, I slowly and painfully made +my way. The grass wore through the knees of my trousers and the sharp +stubbles cut my palms; once a snake darted out of a clump of grass just +as my hand was descending upon it, and lizards frequently shot away +within a yard of my nose. My neck was nearly broken from looking forward +while on my hands and knees, and it was nearly an hour of creeping +progress that I spent while stalking that topi. + +When I got within two hundred and fifty yards, and was just ready to +take a careful aim, with an ant-hill as a rest, a kongoni somewhere gave +the alarm, and away went the topi, safe and sound but badly scared. The +kongoni went a little way off and then turned and grinned broadly. I was +momentarily tempted to shoot him, but on second thought I realized that +he had acted nobly from the animal point of view, so I forgave him. + +[Drawing: _Outward Bound--Reading Your Thoughts--Concluding your +Intentions Are Hostile_] + +The kongoni seems to be gifted with a clairvoyant instinct. He knows +when you don't want to shoot him and when you do. If you start out in +the morning with no hostile intentions toward him he will allow you to +approach to within a short distance. He will be alert and watchful, but +he will show no anxiety. But just suppose for an instant that you change +your mind. Suppose you say to yourself that the porters have had no meat +for several days and that it might be well to shoot a kongoni. The +latter knows what is passing in your mind long before you have made a +single movement to betray your intentions. He begins to edge away, ready +in an instant to go bounding rapidly beyond rifle shot. + +I've seen a herd of kongoni standing quite near, watching me with +curious interest, but without fear. Perhaps I was intent upon something +else and hardly noticed them. Suddenly a villainous thought might enter +my head, such as "That big kongoni has enormous horns," and instantly +the herd would prick up their ears, run a few steps, and then turn to +verify their suspicions. Then, if the villainous thought still lurked in +my brain, they would sneeze shrilly and go galloping away in the +distance. There is no way to explain this except to attribute it to +thought transference, and this in spite of the fact that the kongoni +doesn't understand English. + +The kongoni is found nearly every place in East Africa. Along the +railway between Makindu and Nairobi the species is called Coke's +hartebeest. Farther up the railway the species is Neumann's hartebeest, +while still beyond, on the Guas Ngishu Plateau and the Mau escarpment, +the species is called Jackson's hartebeest. In the main the three +varieties are almost the same; it is in the horns that the chief +distinction lies, with lesser differences in color and stature. The +hunter has been allowed to kill ten of each on his license, but under +the new game ordinance in force since December, 1909, only four +Jackson's are allowed and twenty Coke's instead of ten. + +[Drawing: _The Young Kongoni Is Very Funny_] + +When we went across the Guas Ngishu Plateau in early November we saw +thousands of Jackson's hartebeest, and never a calf. When we came back +in late December and early January we saw hundreds and hundreds of +calves, many of them less than a day old. The stork must have been busy, +for they all arrived at once. These little calves come into the world +fully equipped for running, and almost immediately after birth go +bounding along after their mothers, so awkward and so funny that I'm not +surprised that their own mothers look perpetually amused. + +The hartebeest, or kongoni, is hard to kill. The Dutch gave him the name +for that reason. It often seems as if bullets have no effect on him. He +will absorb lead without losing a trace of his good-humored look, and +after he has been shot several times he will go bounding earnestly away, +as if nothing was the matter. If he succeeds in joining a herd there is +little way of distinguishing which one has been shot, unless he suddenly +exhibits signs or falls over. Otherwise he is quite likely to gallop +away, far beyond pursuit, and then slowly succumb to his wounds. + +Again I've seen them knocked over and lie as if dead, but before one +could approach they would be up and off as good as ever. This is the +great tragedy of the conscientious hunter's life--the escape of a +wounded animal beyond pursuit--and the thought of it is one that keeps +him awake at night with a remorseful heart and saddened thoughts. +Whenever I shall think of Africa in the future, I shall think of my old +friend, the kongoni, dotting the landscape and sticking his inquiring +ears over various spots on the horizon. In four and a half months I +think I must have seen at least a hundred thousand kongoni. + +The giraffe is also a creature of most amusing actions. You are pretty +certain to see a bunch of them as you come up the railway from the +coast. They were the first wild animals I saw in British East Africa--a +group of four or five quietly feeding within only a hundred yards of the +thundering railway engine. They were in the protected area, however, and +seemed to know that no harm would reach them there. Later on in the +morning we saw other herds, but invariably at long range, sometimes +teetering along the sky line or appearing and disappearing behind the +flat-topped umbrella acacias. + +[Drawing: _They Run Loosely but Earnestly_] + +The giraffe is most laughable when in action. He first looks at you, +then curls his tail over his back, and then lopes off with head and neck +stuck out, and with body and legs slowly folding and unfolding in a most +ungainly stride. It is hard to describe the gait of a giraffe to one who +has never seen it, but any one would at once know without being told +that a giraffe couldn't help being funny when running. + +As a general thing it is difficult to approach a giraffe. With their +keen eyes and great height they almost invariably see you before you see +them, and that will be at seven or eight hundred yards' distance. From +the moment they see you they never lose sight of you unless it is when +they disappear behind a hill a mile or two away. + +When seen on the sky-line a herd of giraffe will suggest a line of +telegraph poles; when seen scattered along a hillside, partly sheltered +under the trees, they blend into the mottled lights and shadows in such +a way as to be almost invisible. I have been within two hundred yards of +a motionless giraffe and, although looking directly at it, was not aware +that it was a giraffe until it moved. It might easily have been mistaken +for a bare fork of the tree, with the mottled shadows of the leaves cast +upon it. + +Along the Tana River I saw several herds of giraffe, perhaps fifty head +in all, but it was on the great stretches of the scrub country that +slopes down from Mount Elgon that I saw the great herds of them. One +afternoon I saw twenty-nine together, big black males, beautifully +marked tawny females, and lots of little ones that loomed up like lamp +posts amidst a group of telegraph poles. Within two hours I saw two +other herds of seven and nine each, and every day thereafter it was +quite a common thing to run across groups of these strange-looking +animals browsing among the trees. + +One is not allowed to kill a giraffe except under a special license, +which costs one hundred and fifty rupees, or fifty dollars. One of our +party had a commission to secure a specimen for a collector and had been +unsuccessful in getting it. That circumstance led to an amusing +adventure that I had with a giant giraffe. One day, with my gunbearers, +I had ridden out from camp in search of wild pigs. Ten minutes after +leaving camp I drew rein hastily, for off to my left and in front a lone +giraffe of great size and of splendid black color was slowly careening +along toward me. If he continued in his course and did not see us he +would pass within a hundred yards of me. So I hastily but quietly +dismounted to try for a photograph as he passed. + +A moment or two later he saw me for the first time and at once swung +into a funny trot. I took the picture, and then the thought struck me, +"Why not drive him into camp, where he could be secured by the one +having a special license?" I jumped on my horse and galloped around him, +but in a few moments struck a ravine so rocky that I had to walk my +horse through the worst of it. By the time I had crossed the giraffe was +some hundred yards ahead. Still farther ahead the prairie was burning +and the long line of fire extended a mile or more across our front. + +I thought this fire would swing the giraffe off, and so it became a race +to reach the fire line first, in order to swing him in the right +direction. The ground was deep with prairie grass, as dry as tinder, and +scattered throughout were innumerable holes in the ground made by the +ant-bears and wart-hogs. Any one of these holes was enough to throw a +horse head over heels if he went into it. I had no gun, having left it +with my gunbearer when I took the picture. So there was nothing to +hinder me as we swept across the great plain. + +We passed the camp half a mile away at a furious pace, the giraffe +holding his own with the horse and keeping too far in front to be +turned. By degrees we approached the prairie fire and the flames were +leaping up three or four feet in a line many hundred yards long. The +giraffe hesitated and then breasted the walls of fire; I didn't know +whether my horse would take the salamander leap or not, and as we rushed +down toward it I half-expected that he would stop suddenly and send me +flying over his shoulders. But he never wavered. The excitement of the +chase was upon him and he took the leap like an antelope. There was a +moment of blinding smoke, a burning blast of air, and then we were +galloping madly on across the blackened dust where the fire had already +swept. + +For two miles I galloped the giraffe, vainly endeavoring to swing him +around, but once a swamp retarded me and another time a low hill shut +the giraffe from view. When I passed the hill he had disappeared and +could not be found again. There was no deep regret at having lost him, +for I felt particularly grateful to him for having given me the most +exhilarating and the most joyous ride I had in Africa. + +The large male giraffes often appear solid black at a distance, for the +yellow bands separating the splotches of black are so slender as to be +invisible at even a short distance. The females are much lighter and +usually look like the giraffes we see in the circuses at home. + +Then there's the ubiquitous zebra, almost as numerous as the kongoni. +You see vast herds of zebra at many places along the railway, and +thereafter, as you roam about the level spots of East Africa, you are +always running into herds of them. At first, the sight of a herd of +zebras is a surprise, for you have been accustomed to seeing them in the +small numbers found in captivity. It is a source of passing wonder that +these rare animals should be roaming about the suburbs of towns in +hundred lots. You decide that it would be a shame to shoot a zebra and +determine not to join in this heartless slaughter. + +Later on your sentiments will undergo a change. Everybody will tell you +that the zebra is a fearful pest and must be exterminated if +civilization and progress are to continue. The zebra is absolutely +useless and efforts to domesticate him have been without good results. +He tramps over the plains, breaks down fences, tears up the cultivated +fields, and really fulfills no mission in life save that of supplying +the lions with food. As long as the zebras stay the lions will be there, +but the settlers say that the lions are even preferable to the zebras. + +Under the old game ordinance expiring December fifteenth, 1909, a +sportsman was allowed two zebras under his license; under the new one he +is allowed twenty! That reveals the attitude of East Africa toward the +jaunty little striped pony. + +[Drawing: _Zebra, Wildebeest and Gazelle (Wildebeest in Middle)_] + +In action the zebra is dependent upon his friend, the kongoni. When the +latter signals him to run, he trots off and then turns to look. If the +kongoni sends out a 4-11 alarm, the zebra will hike off in a +Shetland-pony-like gallop and run some distance before stopping. They +have no endurance and may be easily rounded up with a horse. + +On the Athi Plains may be found the bones of scores of zebras, each spot +marking where a lion has fed; and in the barb-wire fences of the +settlers other scores of withered hides and whitened skulls mark where +they have fallen before the grim march of civilization. + +With each sportsman granted an allowance of twenty zebras, it may not be +so long before the zebra will be forced to seek the sanctuary of the +game reserves, which, happily, are large enough to insure his escape +from extinction. + +The zebra's chief peculiarity, aside from his beautiful markings, is a +dog-like bark which is much more canine than equine in its sound. The +zebra's chief charm is its colt, for there is nothing alive that is +prettier or more graceful than a young zebra a few weeks old. + +The only Grant's gazelles that I saw were those along the railway at +Kapiti Plains and Athi Plains. This animal is graceful and beautiful, +with a splendid sweep of horns. With them, and in much greater numbers, +is the little "Tommy," or Thompson's gazelle, a graceful, buoyant, +happy, bounding little antelope with an ever active tail flirting gaily +in the sunshine. The Tommy is small, about twice as big as a fox +terrier, and is of a fawn color. Along the lower parts of his sides is a +broad white belt, along the middle of which runs a bold black stripe. +The effect is strikingly handsome. + +The impalla is much bigger than the Tommy, and he usually travels in +large herds of fifty or more. It is no uncommon sight to see one buck +with twenty or thirty females, and it is probably due to the fact that +hunters try to get the male specimens as trophies that accounts for the +vast preponderance of females in the various antelope herds. The impalla +is seen along the railroad and in enormous numbers out along the Thika +Thika and Tana Rivers. There are also many up in the Rift Valley and +doubtless in other sections. From my own experience and observation they +were most abundant on the Tana River. + +[Drawing: _Impalla Buck and Lady Friends_] + +The wildebeest, or gnu, is found on the Athi Plains and northward along +the Athi River and the Thika Thika. One need never travel more than two +hours' drive or walk from Nairobi to see wildebeest, but it's a +different thing to get them. You would have to travel many hours, most +likely, before you succeeded in bringing down a wildebeest. + +My first shot in Africa was at a wildebeest at three hundred yards. The +bullet struck, but so did the wildebeest. He struck out for northern +Africa, and when last seen was still headed earnestly for the north +pole. I am consoled in thinking that my shot must have inflicted more +surprise than injury and so I hope he has now fully recovered, wilder +and beastier than of yore. + +My last shot in Africa, the day before leaving for the coast, was at a +wildebeest an hour or so out of Nairobi. This time I missed entirely and +repeatedly and the wildebeest remains unscathed to roam the broad plains +of the Athi until some better or luckier shot passes his way. If I have +anything on my conscience, it is certainly not the remorse of having +reduced the supply of wildebeests. + +[Drawing: _Wildebeest With the White Man Only Eight Miles Away_] + +In our last few days' shooting out on the Athi Plains we saw perhaps +fifty or seventy-five of these great bison-like animals. Their bodies +and legs and tails are slender and graceful, like those of a horse, but +the heads are heavy-featured, heavy-horned and heavy-bearded. They are +wild and when they see you a mile or so away will start and run for the +nearest vanishing point, usually arriving there long before you do. + +The foregoing seven species of animals are the ones most commonly seen +in East Africa. Perhaps something about some of the less common ones +will have some instructive value. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SOME NATURAL HISTORY IN WHICH IT IS REVEALED THAT A SING-SING WATERBUCK +IS NOT A SINGING TOPI, AND THAT A TOPI IS NOT A SPECIES OF HEAD-DRESS + + +While reading an account of the trophies secured by Colonel Roosevelt on +the Guas Ngishu Plateau, I was mystified by seeing the name of an animal +I had never heard tell of--a singing topi. For a time I puzzled over +this strange creature and finally evolved a satisfactory explanation of +how the animal made its appearance in the despatches. Briefly, "there +haint no sich animal," as the old farmer said when he saw his first +dromedary in a circus; it was merely a mistake, due to the telegraphic +abbreviations which foreign correspondents employ to save cable tolls. + +What the correspondent meant to say was that the colonel had secured a +sing-sing waterbuck _and_ a topi. The word "waterbuck" was omitted +because he assumed that everybody at home would know that a "sing-sing" +was a species of waterbuck, wherein he was mistaken, for comparatively +few people in America know what a sing-sing is, or, for that matter, +what a topi is, or what a Uganda cob is. When his despatch had been +transmitted through several operators on its way to the States the word +"sing-sing" became "singing" and was supposed to be an adjective +describing the topi. Hence the "singing topi." + +The American paragraphers also had fun with the word "topi," for they +thought a topi was a sun hat much worn in the hot countries. From this +course of reasoning it was probably assumed that Colonel Roosevelt had +shot some kind of a singing sun hat, which was certainly enough to cause +comment. + +There are two kinds of waterbuck that the East African hunter will find +in the course of his travels, the common waterbuck which we saw in such +numbers on the Tana River, and the Defassa, or "sing-sing" waterbuck, +which is found in the higher altitudes up toward the Mau escarpment and +Mount Elgon. Both of these varieties of waterbuck are beautiful animals, +almost as large as a steer, and with great sweeping horns that often +exceed twenty-five inches in length. In some instances the horns have +been nearly three feet long, but the longest one that our party secured +was only twenty-nine inches in length. As a trophy for a wall there are +few heads in Africa more noble than that of the waterbuck. + +In all our wanderings, during which we saw at least two thousand +waterbuck, we found that the does outnumbered the males by ten to one +and that usually in a herd of twenty there would be only one big male +and one or two smaller ones. We also never saw them in water, but +usually not a great distance from a marsh or stream. They were much +shier than the hartebeest and zebra, and upon seeing our approach would +be the first to run away. And by a curious chance the does seemed to +know that it was the buck only that was in danger. They would often turn +to watch us, while the buck himself would keep on running until he had +put many hundreds of yards between himself and the threatened danger. +Then, and then only, would he turn to watch, and it usually required +careful stalking to get within gunshot of him again. + +[Drawing: _Waterbuck_] + +The doe is not pretty, being thickly and clumsily built, with a heavy, +ungraceful neck, but the buck is like a painting by Landseer, noble, +graceful, and beautifully marked with white and black on his dark gray +coat. + +We didn't kill many waterbuck, because there is no excuse for doing so +except to secure the heads as trophies. The meat is so coarse and tough +that even the porters, who seldom draw the line at eating anything their +teeth can penetrate, do not care for waterbuck meat except under the +stress of great hunger. They do like the skin, however, for it is of the +waterbuck skin that their best sandals are made. Consequently, when a +waterbuck is killed there is a fierce scramble among the porters to +secure portions of the hide for this purpose. + +The male waterbucks are savage fighters among themselves, and it was not +uncommon to see big bulls with one horn gone or with both horns badly +broken or marred as a result of the jealous struggle for dominance of a +herd of does. + +The topi is something like the hartebeest, but much more beautiful and +much more rare. It is over four feet high, with skin of a dark reddish +brown, with a silklike bluish gray gloss. On the shoulders and thighs +are bluish black patches and the forehead and nose are blackish brown. +The under parts are bright cinnamon. We ran across this beautiful +antelope only on the Guas Ngishu Plateau, although it is found in one or +two other districts in East Africa. In all our weeks of rambling on the +high plains near Mount Elgon I think I saw several hundred head of topi, +always shy and quick to take alarm. + +[Photograph: A Uganda Cob] + +[Photograph: By Courtesy of W.D. Boyce The Lordly Eland] + +The meat is the most delicious of any of the large antelopes, and the +skin, when properly cared for, is as soft as kid and as brilliant as +watered silk. The head is a fine trophy on account of its rich coloring +rather than because of its horns, which are not particularly graceful in +curve or proportion, but which are wonderfully ridged. + +[Drawing: _Topi_] + +I am sure that if I were a beautiful topi with a skin like watered silk +I should be deeply humiliated to be mistaken for a singing sun hat. + +The topi's nearest relations are the sasseby, the tiang, and the +korrigum. And now you know all about the topi. The game ordinance allows +the sportsman to kill two topi, and the holder of a license will work +hard to get his two, for they are splendid trophies. + +The duiker is another little antelope that one meets frequently in the +grassy places of East Africa. It is small, with dark complexion, and +goes through the high grass in a way that strongly suggests the diving +of a porpoise at sea. In fact, it gets its Dutch name for that reason, +_duiker bok_, meaning "diving buck" in Dutch. There are a dozen or more +different species of duikers, and they may be found scattered all over +South and East Africa. They are difficult to shoot, for their diving +habits make them a fleeting target; also their size, about twenty or +thirty pounds in weight, makes them a small target. + +Quite often the little duiker will hide in the grass until you have +almost stepped on him, and then, if he considers discovery inevitable, +he will spring away with his little huddled-up back rising and +disappearing over the grass exactly as the porpoise does in the water. +One day while we were beating some tall grass for lions, one of the +porters stepped on a duiker, and its sharp horns, twisting suddenly, cut +him on the ankle. The horns of the bucks are short and straight, from +four to six inches long, but most often about four and a half inches. + +It would take an expert mathematician to keep track of all the different +kinds of duikers, for there's the crowned duiker, the yellow-backed +duiker, the red duiker, Jentink's duiker, Abbott's duiker, the Ituri red +duiker, the black-faced duiker, Alexander's duiker, the Ruddy duiker, +Weyn's duiker, Johnston's duiker, Isaac's duiker, Harvey's duiker, +Roberts' duiker, Leopold's duiker, the white-bellied duiker, the bay +duiker, the chestnut duiker, the white-lipped duiker, Ogilby's duiker, +Brooke's duiker, Peter's duiker, the red-flanked duiker, the banded +duiker, Walker's duiker, the white-faced duiker, the black duiker, +Maxwell's duiker, the black-rumped duiker, the Uganda duiker, the blue +duiker, the Nyasa duiker, Heck's duiker, the Urori duiker, Erwin's +duiker, and I suppose a lot more that the naturalists have not had time +to catalogue. + +[Drawing: _Like a Popular Cemetery_] + +One would assume that with all these duikers there would hardly be room +left in Africa for any other animals. But there is. For instance, +there's the oribi and the dik-dik, to say nothing of the steinbuck and +the klipspringer. The last named is a rock-jumping antelope, the others +little grass antelopes, and all of them are as pretty and cute as +animals can be. They are all small, the dik-dik being scarcely larger +than a rabbit, and they are divided into as many subspecies as the +duiker. A list of the different kinds of oribi would take up several +lines of valuable space without conveying any illuminating intelligence +to the lay mind. + +We found thousands of oribi on the Guas Ngishu Plateau. You couldn't go +half a mile in any direction without stirring up large family parties of +them, and a landscape looked lonely unless one could see a few oribi +bounding over the ant-hills or rising and falling as they leaped through +the grass. When we first went into the plateau the grass was long and +the oribi were for the most part fleeting streaks of yellow over the +tops of it, but later when we came out the grass had been burned and the +young, tender grass had spread a green carpet over the plains. Then the +oribi were visible everywhere, usually in groups of four or six. Also +the mamma oribis had given birth to bouncing baby oribis, and the sight +of the little ones was most pleasing to the eyes. + +[Drawing: _Mamma and the Little One_] + +One day I was hot on the trail of a big waterbuck. The grass was deep at +that part of the plateau and I was pushing rapidly through it. Suddenly +one of my gunbearers, who was behind, called out and pointed to +something in the grass. I hurried back, and there lay a little oribi +only a few hours old and with big, wondering eyes that looked gravely up +at me as I bent over it. It was plenty old enough to run and could +easily have leaped away, but there it lay as tight as if nothing in the +world could make it budge. + +[Photograph: A Museum Specimen Must Be Preserved Entire] + +[Photograph: The Eland Is the Largest of the African Antelopes] + +The whole thing was as plain as could be. It was acting under +instructions. I could almost hear the mother of the oribi tell the +little one when it heard us coming to lay perfectly quiet and not to +move the least bit until she came back. Then mamma hurried away to +cover. The little oribi remembered his instructions and followed them +out to the letter. Its mamma had told it not to move and it hadn't. We +looked at it a little while and then said good-by and went our way. Some +place near by an anxious mother oribi was watching us with her heart in +her mouth, no doubt, and I'm sure that we had not gone many yards before +she was back to see what had happened to the little one. It was quite an +exciting adventure for the little oribi and quite incomprehensible to +the mother that he had emerged from the peril so safely. + +Another night I was going out to watch for lions. A bait had been placed +near the tree where I was stationed and I had some hopes of seeing, if +not killing, a lion. Night had already fallen, but there was still a +trace of twilight in the air as I walked through the low scrub trees +that lay between our camp and the tree, a mile and a half away. As I was +walking along I heard a loud screaming to my left, and, looking across, +I saw an oribi trying to beat off two jackals that had seized her young +baby oribi. The jackals paid little attention to her and she was frantic +in her efforts to save her little one. + +It was too dark to see my sights plainly, but I shot at both of the +jackals and sent them slinking away. I didn't go over to see if the +little oribi was still alive, for I was certain that it had been killed. +If it were dead I didn't want to see it and could not help either it or +its mother; if it were alive its mother could get it safely away from +the jackals. Since that moment I have hated jackals above all animals, +not even excepting the odious hyena, and it is the chief regret of my +hunting experience in East Africa that I did not kill those two cowardly +vandals. + +When the American reader picks up his paper and reads that Colonel +Roosevelt has shot a Uganda cob, it is quite natural that he should not +know what kind of a thing a cob is. If the colonel was out shooting +"singing topis" or "singing sun hats," why, then, should he not also +shoot corn cobs or cob pipes? + +The cob, sometimes spelled kob, however, is only an antelope, although a +graceful and handsome one. It is divided into several subspecies which +live in different parts of the country. In one part will be found the +large cob, almost the size of a waterbuck, which is called Mrs. Gray's +cob, in honor of the wife of one of the former keepers in the London +zoo; in another part is the species known as Vaughan's cob, and in still +other parts are the dusky cob, the puku cob, the lechwi cob, the black +lechwi, the Uganda cob and Buffon's cob. + +It was Lady Constance Stewart-Richardson, the remarkable young English +woman who is now dancing barefooted on the London music stage, who +killed the record head of this last named species in Nigeria. + +[Drawing: _The Gregarious Cob_] + +It is of the Uganda cob only that I am able to write about from my own +observation and experience. We found them only in one place, on the +banks of the Nzoia River near Mount Elgon and the Uganda border. They +never were more than four or five hundred yards from the river and could +not be driven away. If they were startled at one point they would circle +around and quickly get back to the river at some other point. They +seemed to become homesick unless they could see the river near by. We +found them only in a short stretch of five or six miles, although they +doubtless are found all the way down the Nzoia River to Victoria Nyanza. + +The cob is a curiously reliable animal. He likes one certain place that +he is accustomed to, and nothing can drive him away. If you see him +there one afternoon, you are reasonably certain of coming back the next +afternoon and seeing him there again. Usually they graze in some +sheltered meadow along the river's edge, and for recreation, so far as I +could see, amuse themselves by seeing how many can get on top of one +ant-hill at one time. Some of those ant-hills were literally bristling +with cobs, one male to each five females, and in herds of from thirty to +fifty. + +In architecture, the cob is nearly three feet high at the shoulder, has +beautiful, sweeping horns of a lyrate shape, has a white patch around +each eye, a white belly, and a coat of yellow with black on the +forelegs. There is no handsomer antelope in Africa than the Uganda cob, +and because it is found in such a restricted and remote district is +accountable for the fact that one seldom sees a cob head in a collection +of horns. Comparatively few sportsmen have killed them, although they +are not hard to kill if one reaches a district where they are found. The +extreme beauty of this antelope led us to secure a group of them for the +Field Museum. + +The reedbuck is another of the smaller antelopes that carries a +beautiful head, and, like nearly all of the antelopes, comes in many +varieties, or subspecies. + +[Photograph: A Wounded Wart Hog] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce A Grass Fire] + +[Photograph: A Maribou Stork] + +Our own relations with the reedbuck were limited to the high altitudes +near the Mau escarpment and the broad, rolling, grassy downs along the +numerous streams of the Guas Ngishu Plateau. This subspecies is called +the Uganda race of the bohor reedbuck--sometimes abbreviated to "bohor." +If you say you've shot a "bohor" you will be understood to mean a bohor +reedbuck. + +[Drawing: _Reedbuck_] + +You will find the reedbuck in the tall reeds and bulrushes of the swamps +and low places, where he finds good cover and good feeding; and also you +will find him along the low, undulating, grass-covered hills near his +water supply. In the heat of the day they are up in the tall grass, +where they remain until along in the afternoon. They lie close, and, if +discovered, will dart off with neck outstretched in such a way as to +make it difficult to tell which is male and which female. + +I have also seen the females use every means for protecting their lords +and masters, standing up before them as they lie secreted in the grass +and seeking to divert the attention of the hunter from the bucks to +themselves. This desire to protect the male is common to many of the +antelope family, and numberless times I have seen a band of does attempt +to screen the male and shield him from harm. + +The reedbuck never travels in large numbers, seldom more than two or +three, or at most, five or six, being bunched together. + +[Drawing: _They Watched While the Buck Ran Away_] + +We had most of our reedbuck experiences while driving swamps for lions. +On these occasions many reedbuck would be driven out of the cover of the +reeds and rushes, and go crashing up the slopes leading away from the +swamp. On one occasion a reedbuck lay so close that it did not stir +until one of the beaters was almost upon it, when it sprang up, nearly +knocking him over, and escaped behind the skirmish line of beaters. At +other times, after the skirmish line apparently had traversed every foot +of a swamp, reedbuck would spring up after the line had passed, thus +illustrating how close they can lie and how effectually they can escape +detection. + +The reedbuck has short horns, usually between seven and ten inches in +length, but one of our party secured one set of horns ten and a quarter +inches long--an exceptionally fine head. The reedbuck's distinguishing +characteristic is a sharp whistle, which he sounds shrilly when alarmed. + +Another beautiful antelope that we met in small numbers on the Tana +River and on the Guas Ngihsu Plateau was the bushbuck, found in thick +scrub along rivers and also in the swamps and wet places. This animal +belongs to a select little coterie of highly prized and rare antelopes, +all of which have the distinguishing feature of a spiral horn. + +The bushbuck is the smallest, and is found over nearly all of East +Africa except upon the open plains and deserts. The females are of a +dark chestnut color, and the males dark, almost black, with white +markings on the neck and forelegs. A bushbuck with fifteen-inch horns is +considered a fine prize, although horns of nineteen inches are on +record. + +The other members of the same family of spiral-horned antelopes are the +kudu, the lesser kudu, the situtunga, the nyala, the bongo, and the +lordly eland, king of all antelopes in size. The kudu is largely +protected in East Africa, and in my shooting experience I was not in a +district where he was to be found. The same was true with respect to the +lesser kudu. The nyala is a South African species and is not to be found +in British East Africa. The situtunga is a swamp dweller and is found +chiefly in Uganda and, to my knowledge, infrequently in the East African +protectorate. + +The bongo is to the white sportsman what the north pole has been to +explorers for centuries. In all records of game shooting there has been, +until recently, only one white man who has killed a bongo, although the +Wanderobo dwellers of the deep forests have killed many. + +The bongo lives in the densest part of dense forests, can drive his way +through the worst tangle of vegetation, and has a hearing and eyesight +so keen that usually he sees the hunter long before the latter sees him. +A hunt after bongo means long hours or even days of hunting the forests, +with hardships of travel so disheartening that comparatively few white +sportsmen attempt to go in after the elusive antelope. Kermit Roosevelt, +however, with the good fortune that has followed his hunting adventures, +succeeded in killing a cow and calf bongo after only a few hours of +hunting with a Wanderobo. + +A few days after I heard of this piece of good luck I was traveling +across Victoria Nyanza on one of the little steamers that ply the lake. +My cabin mate was a stoical Englishman who told me quite calmly that he +had just killed a large bull bongo a few days before. He had been +visiting Lord Delamere, and after a few hours in the forest had +succeeded in doing what only two white men had done before. + +The Englishman who had this good luck was George Grey, a brother of Sir +Edward Grey, one of the present cabinet ministers of England. + +[Drawing: _Eland_] + +The eland is the largest of all antelopes, and we ran across a few on +the Tana River and a few on the Guas Ngishu Plateau. Under the old game +ordinance the sportsman was allowed to kill one bull eland; under the +new ordinance he is allowed to kill none except in certain restricted +districts and by special license. The eland is as big as a bull, with +spiral horns and beautifully marked skin, and both the male and female +carry horns. Those of the latter are usually larger and slenderer, but +the skin of the female is not so handsomely marked as that of the male. + +It is hard to get near an eland, but as the bull is nearly six feet high +at the shoulders it is not especially difficult to hit him at three +hundred yards or more. The one I shot was three hundred and sixty-five +yards away and carried beautiful horns, twenty-four and one-quarter +inches in length. The head of the great bull eland makes a wonderfully +imposing trophy when placed in your baronial halls. + +In the foregoing list of antelopes I have tried to tell a little about +the types of that class of animal that I met in my African travels--in +all, sixteen species of antelope. My chief excuse for doing it is to +enable people at home to know the difference between a topi and a sun +hat and between a sing-sing and a cob. The names of many of the African +antelope family are strange and confusing, so that it is little wonder +that they mystify people in America. There are a hundred or more kinds, +and no one can hope to know them unless he makes a business of it. + +I have not seen the grysbok, or the suni, or the dibitag, or the lechwi, +or the aoul, or the gerenuk, or the blaauwbok, or the chevrotain, or +lots of others, but who in the world could guess what they were or what +they looked like, judging only from the names? + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +IN THE TALL GRASS OF THE MOUNT ELGON COUNTRY. A NARROW ESCAPE FROM A +LONG-HORNED RHINO. A THANKSGIVING DINNER AND A VISIT TO A NATIVE VILLAGE + + +Mount Elgon is one of the four great mountains of Africa. You can find +it on the map of the dark continent, standing all alone, just a little +bit north of Victoria Nyanza, and surrounded by names that one has never +heard of before. + +The mountain is distinctly out of the picture-post-card belt--in fact, +the only belt that one will find around Elgon is the timber belt that +encircles the mountain, and perhaps also a few that the local residents +wear on Sundays and national holidays. + +The function of the latter class of belt is to keep up a gay appearance. +It is worn for looks, not warmth. + +The traveler who goes to Mount Elgon will not be distracted by sounds of +civilization, except such as he takes with him. He will travel for days +without seeing a sign of human life beyond his own following. The +country west of the Nzoia River is uninhabited and is abandoned to the +elephant and the giraffe and other animals that care not for the madding +crowd. Thomas Cook and Son have not yet penetrated that district with +schedules and time cards and luggage labels; so if your purpose in +traveling is to get a grand assortment of stickers on your trunks and +hand-bags, it is useless to include Mount Elgon in your itinerary. + +There will be days of marching through high grass, often so deep as +almost to bury yourself and your horse; hours of delay at marshy rivers +densely choked with a tangle of riotous vegetation, and much groping +about in a trackless waste for a suitable course to follow. + +Owing to intertribal warfare the Elgon district has been closed for some +time and it has only been during the last year or so that hunting +parties have again been allowed to enter. Since that time a number of +parties have been in, the Duke of Alba among the first, and later Doctor +Rainsford, Frederick Selous and, Mr. McMillan, Captain Ashton, the Duke +of Penaranda, Mr. Roosevelt, and a few others. Colonel Roosevelt went +only as far as the Nzoia River, but most of the others crossed and swung +up along the northeastern slopes of the mountain where elephants are +most frequently found. + +Our party decided to take the southern slope, notwithstanding we were +warned that we might find the natives troublesome and treacherous. We +were also warned that we should be going through an untraveled district +where there were no trails and where native guides could not be secured. + +[Photograph: A Native Granary] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. A Chair Is a Sure Sign of +Rank] + +Nevertheless we started and brilliantly blundered into some most +diverting adventures. + +The first day's march after crossing the Nzoia River was through scrub +country and what we considered high grass. The next day we struck _real_ +high grass! It was so deep that we had to burrow through it. Only the +helmets of those on horseback marked where the caravan was passing. The +long line of porters carrying their burdens were buried from view. It +was a terrible place to meet a rhino and perhaps for that very reason we +promptly proceeded to meet one. + +We were riding ahead, followed by the cook and the tent boys, and behind +them was the long string of a hundred or more porters, askaris, _totos_, +and so forth. The end of the line was some hundred yards behind the +head. Suddenly there was a wild cry of "_faru!_" (rhino). + +It was disconcerting, but after one or two hurried and flurried moments +we got our heavy batteries in readiness and prepared to sell his life as +cheaply as possible. But no rhino came. The grass was too deep to have +seen him if he had come, but we thought it was well to have a reception +committee ready just the same. + +Then the rear ranks began to telescope into the front ranks. They came +forward two or three jumps at a time. They were visibly perturbed, but +presently they recovered enough to give expert testimony. + +A huge rhino had been in the grass by the trail as we came along and had +waited until the whole line had passed. Then he jumped into the trail +and charged furiously after the porters. The latter, severally, +collectively, and frantically, leaped for their lives, dropping packs +and uttering hurried appeals to Allah. + +[Drawing: _He Estimated the Length at Four Feet_] + +After scattering a few dozen of the rank and file from his line of march +the rhino veered off and plunged out of sight in the tall grass. One of +the porters whose veracity is unquestioned by those who don't know him +estimated the forward horn to be four feet long. He said the rhino +charged earnestly and with hostile intent. + +A rhino charging a _safari_ is always a pleasing diversion--pleasing +after it's all over and diverting while it lasts. The cry of "_faru_" is +a good deal like "car coming" at an automobile race. Instantly everybody +is all attention, with the attention equally divided between the rhino +and the nearest tree. If there is no tree the interest in the rhino +becomes more acute. + +The thought of being impaled _en brochette_ on the horn of a rhino is +one of the least attractive forms of mental exertion that I know of. It +is a close second to the thought of being stepped on by a herd of +elephants marching single file. + +Well, we survived the charge of the heavy brigade, and then moved +onward, ever and anon casting an alert glance at the deep clumps of +thicket along the way. Fortunately no more rhinos appeared and the next +thing we struck was Thanksgiving Day. + +The proper way to celebrate that deservedly popular holiday is not by +sitting in tall grass with a can of beans and a bottle of pickles in the +foreground. This is said with all respect to the manufacturers of beans +and pickles who may advertise in the papers. + +For a time, however, beans and pickles seemed to be the nearest outlook +for us, but after a while the cook, whose nerves had been shaken by the +impetuous advance of the rhino, arose to the demands of the occasion and +set up a table upon which soon appeared some hot tea, some bread and +honey, some beans and deviled ham, and a few knickknacks in the line of +jam and cheese. That was luncheon, and we resolved to do better for +dinner. + +We told the cook all about Thanksgiving Day and what its chief purpose +was. We also told him of the beautiful significance of the occasion, +what happy thoughts it inspired, and how much sentiment was attached to +it. Then we told him to get busy. We were in a Thanksgiving mood, being +grateful that we were not riding around on the bowsprit of the rhino, +and also because our relatives and friends at home were well at last +reports, two months old. + +True, our guide, who had never been over the trail before and who was +trying to guess the way by instinct, had got us hopelessly becalmed in a +sea of high grass so that we didn't know where we were. But we knew what +we were. We were hungry! + +In the meantime we planned and carried into brilliant execution a grouse +hunt. There were lots of grouse in the country through which we had come +and all day long coveys of them had been whirring away from our +advancing outposts. It seemed a simple thing to go out and get a few for +our Thanksgiving dinner, so we gave orders to make camp and consecrated +the afternoon to a grouse quest. + +I'll never forget what a formidable looking party it was. When we had +spread out to comb the grass by the river side we looked like a skirmish +line of an army. There were four of us, supported by seventeen +gunbearers and porters. Our battery consisted of four elephant guns, +four heavy rifles, three light rifles, and four shotguns. The latter +were for grouse and the others were for incidental big game which one +must always be prepared for, whether one goes out to shoot grouse or +take snapshots with one's camera. + +[Drawing: _The Grouse Hunt_] + +We spread out and beat two miles of perfect cover. Then we beat it back +again and finally, after all our Herculean efforts, one lonely bird flew +up and was knocked over. That was the astounding total of our slaughter +and when the army marched back into camp with its one little grouse the +effect was laughable in the extreme. I took a photograph of the entire +group and by good luck the grouse is faintly seen suspended in the +middle. + +That night, with the camp-fires burning and with our tents almost buried +in the tall grass, we celebrated Thanksgiving in a way that must have +made old Lucullus fidget in his mausoleum. The wealth of the plains was +compelled to yield tribute to our table; eland, grouse and Uganda cob +appeared and disappeared as if by magic; the vast storehouses of Europe +and America poured their treasures upon our groaning board, and one by +one we safely put away succulent lengths of asparagus, cakes and +chocolate, wine and olives, pickles and honey, nuts and cheese, plum +pudding and coffee, and soup and salad, all in their proper sequence and +in sufficient quantities to go round and round. + +A soft moon shone down from the velvet sky and the trees of the river +bed were bathed in white moonlight as we sat by the great camp-fire and +smoked and talked and dreamed of the folk at home. + +It was an unusual occasion, one that called for a special dispensation +in the way of late hours, so it was almost nine when we turned in and +dreamed of armies of rhinos playing battledore and shuttlecock with our +bulging forms. It was a great dinner, and to be on the safe side we +complimented the cook before we went to bed. + +[Photograph: A Group of Ketosh Ladies] + +[Photograph: Nearly Buried in Grass] + +[Photograph: Building a Grass House] + +A day or two later, after blindly floundering about in a sea of waving +grass for miles and miles, and getting more and more hopelessly lost, we +stumbled upon signs of human habitation. The first sign was a great +stretch of valley in which a number of smoke columns were ascending. +Where there's smoke there's folk, we thought, patting ourselves on the +back for cleverness. We knew we were approaching fresh eggs and +chickens. + +A little later we came upon another sign of human agitation. Over a rise +in a hill we saw a large spear, and in a few minutes we overhauled a +native guarding a herd of cattle. He carried a spear and a shield, and +over his shoulders he wore a loose dressing sack that hung down nearly +to his armpits. Civilization had touched him lightly, in fact it had +barely waved at him as it brushed by. + +We tried him with several languages--Swahili, Kikuyu, the language of +flowers, American, Masai, and the sign language, none of which he was +conversant with. Then we tried a relay system of dialects which +established a vague, syncopated kind of intellectual contact. One of our +porters spoke Kavirondo, so he held converse with the far from handsome +stranger, translated it into Swahili, and this was retranslated into +English for our benefit. + +The stranger was a Ketosh. We didn't know what a Ketosh was, but it +sounded more like something in the imperative mood than anything +ethnological. It developed later in the day, however, that a Ketosh is a +member of the tribe of that name, and their habitat is on the southern +slopes of Elgon. + +[Drawing: _Lady and Gentleman Ketosh_] + +The Ketoshites, or Ketoshians, as the case may be, are a cattle- and +sheep-raising tribe. In other words, a tribe in which the women do all +the manual labor while the men folk sit on a hillside with a shield and +spear and watch the herds partake of nourishment. They are the standing +army. + +[Drawing: _The Standing Army Sat Around All Day_] + +We followed the man with the spear to a little village hard by. The +village, like all the numerous other ones that we came to in the next +few days, was inclosed in a zareba, or wall of tangled thorn branches +that encircled the village. Within the wall were a number of low houses, +six feet high, built of mud and wattle; and within the houses, spilling +over plentifully, were large numbers of children and babies and a few +women. A gateway of tangled boughs led into the inclosure, while in one +part of the village were the curious woven wickerwork granaries in which +the community store of kaffir corn is kept. There were no street signs +on the lamp posts, probably because there were no streets and no lamp +posts. + +In the first village all the men were away, evidently waiting to see +whether our visit was a hostile or a peaceful one. + +We soon established ourselves on a peace footing and after that the +warriors began to appear out of the tall grass in large numbers from all +points of the compass. They all carried spears and shields, neither of +which they would sell for love or money. At least they wouldn't for +money. We resolved not to try the other unless the worst came to the +worst and we had to fall back on it as a last desperate measure. I +suppose they didn't know how soon they might need their weapons, and we +heard that the sultan had just sent out a positive order forbidding them +to sell their means of defense. + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. The Ketosh Are Gracefully +Nonchalant] + +[Photograph: Little Shelters of Mud and Sticks] + +[Photograph: A Family Party] + +The first procedure when entering a district where the natives may be +unfriendly is to send out for the chief, or sultan, as he is known in +Africa. There is always a sultan to preside over the destinies of his +tribe and to take any money that happens along. So we sent for the +sultan, who was off in a neighboring village, so they said. After a long +wait, during which we pitched our camp and offered a golden reward for +eggs and chickens, a sultan drifted in. + +[Drawing: _Slowly Being Cremated_] + +We knew he was sultan because he carried a chair--an unfailing sign of +rank among a nation of expert sitters. He also wore an old woolen +dressing gown that had worked its way from civilization many years +before. It was built for arctic regions, but the sultan of all the +Ketoshians wore it right straight through the ardent hours when the sun +kisses one with the fiery passion of a mustard plaster. He was slowly +being cremated and it was fascinating to watch him sizzle. + +After the sultan came and seated himself with his retinue of spearmen +(dressed in the altogether save for the futile cloth around their +shoulders) grouped around him we took our seats and began a _shauri_. + +_Shauri_ (rhyming with Bow'ry) is a native word meaning a powwow or a +parley and is a word that works overtime. Everything that you do in +Africa has to be preceded by a _shauri_. You have a _shauri_ if you ask +a native which road to take. Other natives hurry up, and then you stand +around and talk about it for an hour or so. + +If you want to buy a chicken or a cluster of eggs there must first be a +prolonged _shauri_ with much interchange of views and conversation and +aerated persiflage. The native loves his _shauri_, and if he asks you a +certain price for a chicken and you give the price without haggling he +is greatly disappointed. In fact I have often seen them offer an article +for a certain price and then refuse to accept the money if it is at once +tendered. Later the native will accept much less if the _shauri_ goes +with it. + +Well, we had _shauris_ to burn for a couple of days. As soon as the +first sultan had departed with presents and words of good cheer there +was a flock of other sultans that hurried in to receive presents and to +assist in _shauris_. They came from far and near, and they all carried +chairs, thus proving that they were not impostors; and the worst of it +was that we couldn't find out exactly which was the real, most exalted +sultan of the bunch. Hence we had to give presents to many who perhaps +were only amateur or 'prentice sultans, sultans whose domains were only +a little village of half a dozen families. + +[Drawing: _The Camp Was Clogged with Sultans_] + +For two days our camp was clogged with _shauris_ and sultans sitting +around. We couldn't step out of our tents without stumbling over a +sultan or two. When we would take our baths in our tents there would be +sultans and warriors peeping in modestly from all sides. There was not a +secret of our inner life that remained intact. Even the ladies, from the +banana-bellied little girls of five and six up to the leathery-limbed +old matrons, inclusive, were not above a feminine curiosity in things +which doubtless interested them, but didn't concern them. The standing +army of the Ketoshians sat around all day wearing out the grass and +being frequently stumbled over. + +If we asked a sultan if there were any elephants in the neighborhood it +meant at least fifteen minutes of loose conversation through a relay of +interpreters, with the final answer boiled down to a "no" in English. +For a language that has only a few words like _shauri_, _backsheesh_, +_apana_, and _chukula_ the native lingo is a most elastic one. + +There were two or three things that we had come to Mount Elgon for and +about which we desired information. The first was "elephants," and we +found, after hours of talk, that there was none in the vicinity. +Secondly, we wanted to get food for our men, and thirdly, we wanted +guides to take us up to the ancient cave-dwellings in the mountain and +more guides to take us up to the top of the mountain itself. + +It seemed almost impossible to get satisfactory information upon either +of the last two subjects. The natives didn't want to part with their +grain, while for their cattle they asked outrageous prices. We were +almost tempted to boycott them by stopping eating meat for two months. +They also seemed reluctant to let us have guides to take us up to the +caves and none of them seemed to know the trails that led up into the +forests and the heights of the mountain. It was evident that only a few +ever had been up the mountain upon the slopes of which they had spent +their lives. + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. At the Entrance of the Great +Cave] + +[Photograph: There Were Granaries in the Cave] + +[Photograph: In One of the Elgon Caves] + +We began to think that they wanted us to stay in their village just so +they could have the pleasure of their daily _shauris_. + +Finally one sultan promised to get us guides and accepted a generous +present on the strength of it; but when the time came he failed to +produce them. It was at precisely this point, to be strictly accurate, +that we abandoned the polite phraseology of the court and told him with +many exclamation points that he would have to guide us himself or we +would take steps to dethrone him. Of course, all of this had to be +strained through two interpreters, but even then I think he caught the +gist of it. He said that he himself would guide us to the nearest and +largest cave. + +We told him that we would be ready to start immediately after luncheon. +Only ourselves and a few men to carry cameras and guns were to +constitute our party, the rest of the _safari_ remaining in camp, from +which certain embassies were sent out to buy grain for the porters' +food. + +Soon after lunch the sultan arrived and we marched away. Little by +little groups of his janissaries, mamelukes, and other members of his +official entourage joined us and by the time we reached the slope +leading up to the great cave-dwelling we had quite an imposing +procession. Most of the natives were armed with spears and knives, and +some of them had painted their bodies with red dirt and mutton grease, +and when this coating had partly dried they had traced with their +fingers many designs in stripes down their arms and legs. Some were a +light mauve in color, but most were of a rich chocolate brown. The +effect of these designs was rather pretty, but the dripping red oil from +their hair was not pretty and on a hot day exuded a strong, overpowering +odor. + +Above us, nearly a thousand feet from where we stood, boldly visible in +the face of the great cliff, was the broad ledge and black opening of +the cave. A short distance to the right of it was a bright waterfall, +looking like a ribbon, but in reality quite broad and dropping in three +stages several hundred feet. An incline of forty-five degrees led up to +the cave, while up beyond that was the great stratum of solid rock that +extends for miles along the south of Mount Elgon and which is +honey-combed with hundreds of prehistoric cave-dwellings. A determined +foe stationed at the mouth of any one of the caves could defend it +against an enormous attacking force. + +It was nearly an hour's climb to the ledge where the cave entrance +appeared. Several naked men armed with spears stood upon the rocks, +outlined in bold and striking relief against the velvety blackness of +the cave entrance. They appeared curious but not unfriendly as we +breathlessly panted our way on to the ledge where they stood waiting, +spears in hand. + +[Drawing: _Like a Great Stage_] + +Our first impression was one of gasping wonderment. We seemed to stand +upon a great stage of an immensity which words can not describe. It was +a stage proportioned for giants. The rock prosscenium arched above us +seventy feet and the stage was nearly two hundred feet wide. As an +audience chamber one could look out over twenty-five thousand square +miles of Central Africa. + +The dimensions and the imposing magnitude of the place almost took one's +breath away. Two regiments of soldiers could have marched upon that +stage. There was even room for a squadron of cavalry to manoeuver. +Upon the well-beaten floor were the tracks of cattle, showing that from +time immemorial the cave people had driven in their herds for shelter or +for safety in times of tribal warfare; and in places the solid rock was +worn smooth and deep by the bare feet of centuries of naked people. + +And yet, in spite of the titanic proportions of the cave, there was +something quite homelike about it. It almost suggested a prosperous +farm-yard. There were chickens walking about, with little chickens +trotting alongside. There were wickerwork graneries standing here and +there, while around the inner edge of the great entrance hall were +little mud and stick woven houses five feet high, which gave the effect +of a small village street. + +From the front of the stage back to the row of little houses was a +distance of about one hundred feet. By stooping down one could enter one +of the little openings, to be surprised to find himself in another +little farm-yard where cattle had been housed and where there were many +evidences of the thrift and industry of the occupants. Gourds of milk +were present in generous numbers, and as one's eyes became accustomed to +the semi-darkness all sorts of domestic paraphernalia were revealed. + +Little separate inclosures were fenced off for human tenantry, and the +glow of embers gave a pleasant, homelike look to the place. Cavern after +cavern extended back into the cliff, a network of them, but how far they +went would be hard to tell. Perhaps the cave in all its subterranean +ramifications has never been entirely explored. + +We wandered back through some of the caverns, sometimes stooping to get +through and sometimes standing beneath domes thirty and forty feet high. +And always that queer, mystical light, with exaggerated shadows and +sometimes black darkness ahead, where could be heard the drip, drip, +drip of water in invisible lakes. In time of siege the holders of this +cave, with granaries filled and with herds of cattle and lakes of water, +could hold the place for ever. + +The tenants of the place soon became pleasant and hospitable. Perhaps +many of them had never seen white people before, but they sat down and +watched us with friendly interest. There were many babies and they were +all bright-eyed and rugged looking. + +While we were there the cattle were out on the open hills grazing, but +in the evening the long herds are driven up to their airy stronghold and +made snug for the night. And who knows but that a great herd of cattle +would add much to the heat of the cave and make its nearly naked tenants +forget that they were high on the chilly slopes of one of Africa's +greatest mountains? + +They certainly do not dress warm. Around their arms and legs are all +sorts of brass and nickel wire wound in scores of circles. Chains of +wire and necklaces of beads encircle the women's throats and elephant +ivory armlets are often clasped about the arms so tight that it would +seem that the natural circulation would be hopelessly retarded. But they +must be healthy, these people who go about with only a thin sheet of +dyed cotton thrown about them, while we northerners shivered with +sweaters and warm woolen things about us. + +It's all a case of getting used to it, just as it is a case of getting +used to seeing people frankly and unconsciously naked, as many of these +people are. But after a while one even gets used to seeing them so and +regards their nakedness as one would regard the nakedness of animals. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +UP AND DOWN THE MOUNTAIN SIDE FROM THE KETOSH VILLAGE TO THE GREAT CAVE +OF BATS. A DRAMATIC EPISODE WITH THE FINDING OF A BLACK BABY AS A CLIMAX + + +For days we had heard of wonderful places higher up in the mountain. The +information had been so vague and uncertain we hardly knew whether to +credit the reports or simply put them down as native folk lore or +superstition. One night we interviewed Askar, one of the Somali +gunbearers. + +He said he had been up the mountain a year or two before with a +Frenchman who wanted to see the mysterious natural wonders of Mount +Elgon. The Frenchman had to threaten to kill his native guides before +they would consent to lead him up in the cold heights of the mountain to +show him the places that filled the native imagination with such fear +and superstitious dread. + +There was one place, Askar said, where the water boiled out of the +ground far, far up in the mountain heights, and any native who looked at +it fell dead. Askar said he went up and looked at it through the +glasses, and then ran away. + +All this queer information came out at one of our evening camp-fire +_shauris_. The great central camp-fire of a _safari_ is usually in front +of the tents of the _msungu_, or white people, and around it in the +evening the _msungu_ discuss the adventures of the day and the plans for +the morrow. Each night Abdi, the _neapara_ or head-man, comes up to get +his instructions for the next morning, and soon afterward Abdullah, the +cook, appears and waits for his orders for the breakfast hour. + +Abdullah is the color of night, and no one ever sees him approach or go +away. He simply appears and often stands only a few feet away before any +one is aware of his presence. And even after he speaks, one sees only a +row of white teeth looming up five feet above the ground. If any +important matters are to be adjusted it is usually at the camp-fire that +the things are settled. If punishment is to be meted out to a +transgressor, it is there that the trial is held and judgment rendered. + +Well, on, this night as we sat talking by the camp-fire, Abdi, our +head-man, suddenly appeared and squatted down. Soon after up came Askar, +who also squatted down, and we knew that we were in for some unusual +sort of a _shauri_. It was then that Askar told of the strange mystery +of the mountain. + +[Photograph: Curious as to Our Home Life] + +[Photograph: On the Rim of the Crater] + +[Photograph: A Birthday Dinner] + +"Askar says," spoke Abdi, interpreting Askar's imperfect English, "that +up in the mountain there is a big door and a great cave. He went up with +a Frenchman, and the guides refused to go. Then the Frenchman threatened +to kill them if they would not go. They were frightened, because all the +natives die who go to the big door and see the boiling fountain through +the door. Askar say all the natives ran away, but the Frenchman go on." + +"Did Askar see the door?" + +"Askar says he see the door and he see the fountain through some +glasses. Then he ran away." + +[Drawing: _Camp in the Forest_] + +"Can Askar take us up to the cave and the big door?" + +There was then a long discussion in Somali between Askar and Abdi, which +finally was briefly rendered into English. Askar would show us the way. + +We then sent for the sultan of the Ketosh tribe and interviewed him. He +was singularly reticent about the subject, and both he and the other +natives called in used all their crude intelligence to discourage any +attempt to go up into those districts that were so full of strange, +forbidding influences. They said there were no trails, and when we said +we would go anyway, they said there was a trail, but that it was so +tangled with undergrowth and vines that one had to creep through it, +like an animal. We still said we would go, and told the sultan to get us +guides, for which we would pay well. + +All this happened while we were in the Ketosh village that lies on the +slope of the mountain just beneath the great rock wall, a thousand feet +high, whose upper rim is honeycombed with the ancient caves of the +aborigines. For days we had stopped there, endeavoring to get food and +guides, and for days the sultan and his people had placed every obstacle +in the way of our ascending higher the mysterious and comparatively +unknown mountain. The great rock escarpment shut off the view of the +peaks beyond, but we felt that if once we could scale the first +precipitous slope we would find traveling much easier on the gentle +slope of the mountain. + +At last, after persuasion, threats, money, and pleading had in turn been +tried, the sultan brought his son and said that his son would guide us. + +The son was the craftiest and crookedest looking native I had seen in +Africa. After one look at him, you were filled with such distrust and +suspicion that you would hardly believe him if he said he thought it was +going to rain, or that crops were looking up. + +With this man as a guide, and with four more who were tempted by the +bright red blankets we gave, our caravan started on one of the strangest +and perhaps most foolhardy trips that presumably sane people ever made. +In the first place, probably fewer than half a dozen white men had ever +ascended Mount Elgon. There were no adequate maps of the region, and the +one we had was woefully inaccurate. It was made as if from telegraphic +description, and the only thing in which it proved trustworthy was that +there was a mountain there and that it was about fourteen thousand two +hundred feet high, and that the line separating British East Africa from +Uganda ran through the crater at the top. + +Our delay at the Ketosh village had greatly reduced our food supplies +for the porters, and there was only enough left to last six days. In +that time we should have to ascend the mountain and descend to some +place where food supplies could be procured. It all looked quite +quixotic. We bought two bullocks, a sheep, and a goat, and, with our +guides ahead, our entire _safari_ of over a hundred souls turned toward +the grim heights that shot up before us. + +[Drawing: _Up to the Rim of the Crater_] + +The trail for the first thousand feet of ascent was steep and hard to +climb. The rocks high above us were specked with natives, who gazed down +in wonder at the strange spectacle. These were the cave-dwellers. After +an hour or more we reached the crest of the rim and then continued +through elephant grass ten feet high, then dense forest, and finally +through miles of clean, cool, shadowy bamboos--always steadily climbing. +The trail was fairly good and our progress was encouraging. + +[Photograph: In the Belt of Bamboo] + +[Photograph: Giant Cactus Growth In the Crater] + +[Photograph: Up Twelve Thousand Feet in the Crater] + +There were many elephant pits in the bamboo forest, but they were all +ancient ones, half-filled with decayed leaves and obviously unused for +half a century or more. From some of them fairly large-sized trees had +grown. Sometimes in the midst of these great, silent, light-green +forests we came upon giant trees, tangled and gnarled, with trunks +twenty or thirty feet in circumference. In vain we looked for the +impassable trail the natives had warned us to expect. + +Late in the afternoon we came to a wonderful cave, over the mouth of +which a wonderful fan-shaped waterfall dropped seventy feet or more. My +aneroid barometer indicated an elevation of eighty-two hundred feet, +showing that we had climbed twenty-seven hundred feet since morning. We +found a little clearing in the bamboo forest and pitched our tents on +ground that sloped down like the roof of a house. The clearing was +barely fifty yards long, yet our twenty or more tents were pitched, our +horses tethered in the middle, and the camp-fires crackled merrily as +the chill air of night came down upon us. From the forest came the +multitude of sounds that told of strange birds and animals that were out +on their nocturnal hunt for food. + +Early in the morning the _safari_ was sent on with the guides while we +remained to explore the cave. It was an immense cavern, with an entrance +hall, or foyer, about thirty feet high and a hundred feet in length. +Along the inner edge were the crumbling remains of little mud and wattle +huts that had been occupied by people a long time before. Beyond this +great entrance hall were passages that led into other vast, echoing +caverns with domes like those of a cathedral. + +Countless thousands of bats darted about us as our voices broke the +silence of ages, and in places the deposits of bats were two or three +feet deep. It staggered one's senses to think how long these creatures +had dwelt within the labyrinth of caverns and passageways. + +We explored the cave for a quarter of a mile or so, stumbling, stooping, +climbing, and sliding down precipitous slopes. Far off in the darkness +sounded the steady drip, drip, drip of water, and several times our +progress was stopped by black lakes into which a tossed stone would tell +of depths that might be almost bottomless. We fired our shotguns and the +loosened dirt and rocks and the thunder of thousands of bats' wings were +enough to terrify the senses. + +There is no telling how many centuries or ages these caverns have stood +as they stand to-day. Doubtless the wild tribes of the mountain have +occupied them for thousands of years, and doubtless a thousand years +from now the descendants of these tribes of people and bats will still +be there in the cisternlike caverns with the broad fan of sparkling +water spreading like a beautiful curtain across the great archway of an +entrance. + +That night, after hours of climbing through great forests and across +grassy slopes gay with countless varieties of beautiful and strange +flowers, we pitched our camp on a wind-swept height eleven thousand feet +up. The peaks of the mountain rose high above us only a mile or so +farther on. + +When the night fell the cold was intense, and we huddled about the +camp-fire for warmth. Around each of the porters' camp-fires the +humped-up natives crouched and dreamed of the warm valleys far below in +the darkness. I suppose the cold made them irritable, for just as we +were preparing to turn in there suddenly came a succession of screams +from one of the groups--screams of a boy in mortal terror. The sounds +breaking out so unexpectedly in the silent night were enough to freeze +the blood in one's veins. I never heard such frantic screams--like those +that might come from a torture-chamber. + +One of the porters had become infuriated by one of the _totos_--small +boys who go along to help the porters--and had started in to beat him. +The boy was probably more frightened than hurt, but the matter was one +demanding instant punitive action. So Abdi immediately inflicted it in a +most satisfying manner. + +Once more the silence of the mountain fell upon the camp, but it was +hours before the shock to one's senses could be forgotten. I never +before, nor never again expect to hear screams more harrowing or +terrifying. + +The next day a Martian sitting upon his planet with a powerful glass +might have seen the amazing sight of three horses, one mule, two +bullocks, a goat, and a sheep, preceded and followed by over a hundred +human beings, painfully creep over the rim of the crater and +breathlessly pause before the great panorama of Africa that lay +stretched out for hundreds of miles on all sides. It was as though an +army had ascended Mont Blanc, and thus Hannibal crossing the Alps was +repeated on a small scale. + +Leaving our horses on the rim of the crater, a few of us climbed the +highest peak, fourteen thousand three hundred and seventy-five feet +high, as registered by my aneroid barometer, and stood where very few +had stood before. Even the official height of the mountain, as given on +the maps, was found to be inaccurate, and illustrated how vaguely the +geographers knew the mountain. + +That night we camped in the crater, twelve thousand feet up, and washed +in a boiling sulphur spring that sprang from the rocks on the Uganda +side. Perhaps this was the boiling fountain the superstitious natives +feared, for it was the only one we saw. And perhaps the great gorge +through which the river Turkwel, or Suam, flowed on its long journey +north was the door that Askar had told us about. It was the only door we +saw, but Askar said the door he meant was away off somewhere else, and +he was so vague and confused in his bearings that we felt his +information was unreliable. + +The crater of Mount Elgon has long since lost any resemblance to a +volcanic crater. It is a great valley, or bowl, surrounded by a lofty +rim that in reality is a considerable chain of mountains. The bowl is +two or three miles long and as much wide, with tall grass growing on the +small hills inside and thousands upon thousands of curious cactus-like +trees. Several mountain streams tumble down from the gorges between the +peaks and, uniting, flow out of the big gap in one stream, the river +Turkwel, which separates Uganda from British East Africa. + +[Drawing: _In the Crater of Mount Elgon_] + +Mount Elgon is not an imposing mountain and on most occasions there is +no snow on its peaks. Only one time during the several weeks that we +were in sight of it was its summit capped with snow. A few species of +small animals live in the crater, but no human beings. At night ice +formed in the little pools where we camped and a furious wind, biting +cold, swept down from the peaks and eddied out of the great gap where +the Turkwel flows. + +To all of our _safari_ it was a welcome hour when we struck camp, +preparatory to leaving the crater for the lower levels. The guides said +there were only two ways out--one by the Turkwel gorge and the other by +the route up which we came. The former might lead us far from any +sources of food supplies, which by that time were becoming imperatively +necessary, and the latter was undesirable unless as a last resort. After +some deliberation we resolved to climb over the eastern rim and strike +for the Nzoia River. No one had ever been known to take this course, but +we felt that we could cut our way out and make trails sufficient to +follow. + +The guides refused to go, because by doing so they would enter a +district where they might encounter tribes that were hostile to their +own. On one side of this mountain there was a bitter tribal war even +then under way. So we cheerfully said good-by to the Elgonyi guides and +slowly climbed the rock rim and started for the unknown. + +[Photograph: A Deserted Wanderobo Village] + +[Photograph: Where We Had Our Thanksgiving Day Lunch] + +For two days we climbed downward, sometimes along ancient elephant +trails and sometimes along the sheep trails made by the flocks of +mountain tribes. Several times we came upon deserted Wanderobo villages, +and it was evident the natives who occupied them were abandoning their +homes in terror before our descending column. Sometimes we groped our +way through great forests in which there was no trail to follow, and +sometimes we cut our way through dense jungle thickets like a solid wall +of vegetation. + +[Drawing: _Galloping Lions_] + +Upon several occasions we came to impassable places where an abrupt +cliff would necessitate a tiresome return and a new attempt. Once we +came to a little clearing in the vast forest where the grass was like a +lawn and where towering trees rose like the arches of a great cathedral +a hundred feet above. It was the most beautiful, serene and majestic +spot I have ever seen. Even the religious grandeur of Nikko's +cryptomeria aisles was incomparable to this. + +One afternoon our column found itself hopelessly lost in a jungle growth +so dense that one could penetrate it only by cutting a tunnel through, +and for hours we hacked and hacked and made microscopic progress. At +last the head of the column came to an abrupt drop of a couple of +hundred feet which seemed an effectual bar to all further progress. The +cliff fell off at an angle of sixty degrees, with the slope densely +matted with heavy scrub and underbrush. It was necessary either to +retrace our steps through that long and heart-breaking jungle or else +find a way down the cliff. The water was gone and the horses must be got +to water before night. + +Then, followed the most dramatic episode of our trip. We simply fell +over the cliff, plunging, caroming, and ricocheting down through the +masses of vegetation. How the horses got down I shall never know and +shall always consider as a miracle. And how the burden-bearing porters +managed to get their loads down is even more of a mystery. + +Somewhere down below we heard the cry of a baby! + +That meant that there must be human habitation near and, of course, a +mountain stream, and perhaps guides to lead us out of the mountain +fastness. A few moments more of falling and sliding and plunging, and +the advance guard came into a tiny clearing where a fire was burning. A +rude Wanderobo shack, built around the base of a towering tree from +which fell great festoons of giant creepers, stood in the center of the +clearing. Some food, still hot, was found in the vessels in which it had +been cooking. The people had fled and had been swallowed up in the +silent depths of the forest. + +[Drawing: _Coming Down the Mountain_] + +We called and shouted, but no answer came. Some of our porters proceeded +to rob the shack of its store of wild honey, but were apprehended in +time and were threatened with violent punishment if it continued. Then +we prepared to make camp. There was no space for our tents, and trees +had to be cut down and a little clearing made. Here the tents were +huddled together, clinging to the sloping mountain side. Darkness fell, +and then a most wonderful thing happened. + +One of the tent boys who was searching for firewood in the darkening +forest found a little naked baby, barely three months old. It had been +thrown away as its mother, as she thought, fled for her life. The baby +was brought into camp, wrapped up, and cared for, and it will never know +how near it came to being devoured by a leopard or a forest hog. It was +the crying of this baby that we heard, and we assumed that its mother +had cast it aside so that its wailing would not betray the hiding-place +of the remainder of her family. One can only imagine what her terror +must have been to make this sacrifice in the common interest. + +Now, a three-months-old baby is a good deal of a problem for a _safari_ +to handle. In our equipment we had made no provision for the care of +infants. We could wrap it up and keep it warm, and feed it canned milk, +but I imagine the proper care of a little babe requires even more than +that. It was imperative that we find the mother before the baby died. + +[Drawing: _A Tent Boy Found It_] + +So we first enjoined our mob of porters, who are chronically noisy, to +be quiet under penalty of a severe _kiboko_ punishment. We then sent out +Kavirondo, the big, good-natured porter who always acted as our +interpreter when dealing with the natives of the mountain district. He +spoke the dialects of the Wanderobo tribes. He was a messenger of peace, +and he was told to shout out through the forest that we were friendly, +that we had the baby, and that the mother should come and get it. We +felt absolutely certain that the sound of his voice would carry to where +the mother was hidden. + +For an hour or more we heard the strong voice of Kavirondo crying out +his message of peace, and yet no answering cry came from the black +depths of the forest. It began to look as if we were one little black +baby ahead. In the meantime the baby was behaving beautifully. It was +wrapped warmly in a bath towel and seemed to enjoy the attention it was +receiving. Some one suggested that we leave it in the shack and then all +retire so that the mother could creep in and recover it. But this had +one objection--a leopard might creep in first. + +We cooked our dinner and away off in the forest came the echoing shouts +of Kavirondo. The camp settled down to quiet and the camp-fires twinkled +among the towering trees. Then some one rushed in to say that the father +and mother had come in. + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. "Kavirondo"] + +[Photograph: Outlined Against the Sky] + +[Photograph: A Reception Committee] + +Kavirondo had restored the baby! There was an instant impulse to rush +down to see the glad reunion, but better counsel prevailed. Such a +charge, _en masse_, even though friendly, might frighten the natives +away. So Akeley alone went down and assured the father and mother that +we were friendly and that nothing would harm them. And when he came back +it was to report that the parents and the little baby were peacefully +installed in their forest home again. + +[Drawing: _She Threw Her Baby Away_] + +Early in the morning we went down to see our strange friends. They had +greatly increased in number during the night. There were now one man, +two of his wives, an old woman, and eight children, and the tiny baby. +All fear had vanished, and they seemed certain that no harm was likely +to come to them. + +The man was a good-looking, strongly built native with fine honest eyes. +The women were comely and the children positively handsome. I have never +seen such a healthy, fine-eyed, well-built assortment of childhood, +ranging all the way from three months up to eight or nine years of age. +He was the president of the Anti-Race Suicide Club. We gave them all +presents--beads to the children and brass wire to the women. We also +made up a little fund of rupees for the baby, although money seemed to +mean nothing to any of them. They had never seen white men before and +probably knew nothing of metal money. Beads and brass wire were the only +currency they knew. We tried to photograph them, but the shades in the +forest were deep and the light too was bad for successful pictures. + +Little by little we got their story. + +There was warfare between the forest people and the savage Kara Mojas to +the north. Neither side could ever tell when a band of the foe would +swoop down upon them, killing the men, stealing the sheep and seizing +the women. Only a few months before one of the Kara Mojas had come in +and stolen some sheep and in return our Wanderobo friend had sallied +forth, killed the Kara Moja, and captured his wife. It was the latter +who was now the mother of the little baby, and she seemed quite +reconciled to the change. + +[Drawing: _The Wanderobos' Home_] + +When, the night before, the little family around the camp-fire heard the +crashing of brushes and the hacking of underbrush and the shouts of our +porters they thought a great force of the Kara Mojas was upon them. So +they fled in terror. The baby cried, and, fearful that its wails would +betray their hiding-place, they had cast it away in the bushes. Then +they had fled into the depths of the forest and, huddled together in +silent fear, waited in the hope that the Kara Mojas would leave. Finally +they heard Kavirondo's shouts and then after hours of indecision they +decided to come in. + +That is the end of the story. The Wanderobo, grateful to us, led us by +secret trails out of the wilderness, or as far as he dared to go. He led +us to the edge of the enemy's country and then returned to his forest +home. + +In a couple of days of hard marching, one of which was through soaking +torrents of rain, without food for ten hours, we reached the Nzoia +River. Our mountain troubles were overs. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ELECTRIC LIGHTS, MOTOR-CARS AND FIFTEEN VARIETIES OF WILD GAME. CHASING +LIONS ACROSS COUNTRY IN A CARRIAGE + + +Nairobi is a thriving, bustling city, with motor cars, electric lights, +clubs, race meets, balls, banquets, and all the frills that constitute +an up-to-date community. Carriages and dog-carts and motorcycles rush +about, and lords and princes and earls sit upon the veranda of the +leading hotel in hunting costumes. Lying out from Nairobi are big +grazing farms, many of them fenced in with barbed wire; and the peaceful +rows of telegraph poles make exclamation points of civilization across +the landscape. It doesn't sound like good hunting in such a district, +does it? Yet this is what actually happened: + +We had discharged our _safari_, packed up our tents, and were just +ready to start to Mombasa to catch a ship for Bombay. A telegram +unexpectedly arrived, saying that the boat would not sail until three +days later, so we decided to put in two or three more mornings of +shooting out beyond the limits of the city. + +We got a carriage, a low-necked vehicle drawn by two little mules. It +was driven by a young black boy, and we got another boy from the hotel +to go along for general utility purposes. Into this vehicle we placed +our guns, and at seven o'clock in the morning drove out of the town. In +fifteen or twenty minutes we had passed through the streets and had +reached the pleasant roads of the open plains. Soon we passed the +race-track and then bowled merrily along between peaceful barbed-wire +fences. Occasional groups of Kikuyus were tramping along the road, +bringing in eggs or milk to Nairobi. A farm-house or two lay off to +either side, and once or twice we passed boys herding little bunches of +ostriches. + +At about a quarter to eight we drove up the tree-lined avenue of a +farm-house and a pleasant-faced woman responded to our knock. We asked +for permission to shoot on the farm and were told that we were quite +welcome to shoot as much as we wished. + +Five minutes later, less than an hour's drive from Nairobi, we drove +past a herd of nearly sixty impalla. They watched us gravely from a +distance of two hundred yards. At this point we left the well-traveled +road and drove into the short prairie grass that carpeted, the Athi +Plains. The carriage bumped pleasantly along, and as we reached a little +rise a few hundred feet away, the great stretch of the plains lay spread +out before us. + +Mount Kenia, eighty or ninety miles north, was clear and bright with its +snow-capped peaks sparkling in the early sunlight. Off to its left rose +the Aberdare Range, with the dominating peak of Kinangop; to its right +rose the lone bald uplift of Donyo Sabuk, and to the east were the blue +Lukenia Hills. The house-tops of Nairobi waved miragically in the +valley, with a low range of blue hills beyond. Across the plains ran the +row of telegraph poles that marked the course of the railway and a +traveling column of smoke indicated the busy course of a railway train. +This was the setting within which lay the broad stretches of the Athi +Plains, billowing in waves like a grass-covered sea. + +[Photograph: A Nest of Ostrich Eggs] + +[Photograph: A Herd of Ostriches] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce We Bumped Merrily Along] + +As we drove along big herds of zebras paused in their grazing to regard +the carriage as it merrily bumped across the hills. As long as we +remained in the vehicle they showed no alarm, for they had seen many +carriages along the neighboring roads. It was only when the carriage +stopped that they showed an apprehensive interest. Great numbers of +Coke's hartebeest watched us with humorous interest. An eland grazed +peacefully upon a distant hill, and a wart-hog trotted away as we +approached. Immense numbers of Thompson's gazelle skipped away merrily +and then turned to regard us with widespread ears and alert eyes. Two +Grant's gazelles were seen, while far off upon a grassy hillside were +many wildebeest--the animal that we were seeking. It was impossible to +get close enough to shoot effectively, and after a time we gave up our +attempts in that direction. + +The wildebeest, although living so near Nairobi, are most wild, and with +miles of plains stretching out upon all sides it is easy for them to +keep several hundred yards of space between themselves and danger. We +spent a couple of hours of fruitless stalking and then were obliged to +hurry back to town in order to be at the hotel when the tiffin bell +rang. + +I had not yet secured a Thompson's gazelle, so we stopped and each of us +shot one on our way to the road. Then we returned to town. People along +the streets regarded us with surprised interest, for there were two +gazelles hanging out of the carriage and our four rifles gave the +vehicle an incongruously warlike aspect. + +[Drawing: _Shooting Wildebeest (Cross Marks Location of Wildebeest, +Outward Bound)_] + +The next morning at seven o'clock we were again in our carriage. We +drove out to the same place and at a few minutes after eight we were +amazed to see a wild dog rise from the grass and look at us. We hastily +jumped out of the carriage and walked toward him. In a moment a number +of others rose from the grass, until we saw seventeen of them. This +animal is seldom seen by sportsmen, and I believe it is considered quite +rare. In four months only one of our party had previously seen any. +Sometimes they savagely attack human beings, and when they do their +attack is fierce and hard to repel. They watched us narrowly as we +approached them and then moved slowly away. They seemed neither afraid +nor ferocious. + +We each shot and missed. The pack split, and Stephenson followed one +little bunch while I followed another. My course led me toward a +shallow, rock-strewn nullah, and once or twice I fired again at the wild +dogs. But I couldn't hit them. There was nothing remarkable in my +failure to make a good shot, but Stephenson, who is a celebrated rifle +shot, seemed to be equally unfortunate in his work. He was some distance +away and his bullets would not go where he wanted them to go. + +Suddenly my attention was riveted upon three forms that walked slowly +out of the nullah and climbed the slope on the other side, about three +hundred and fifty yards away. I was transfixed with amazement and could +hardly believe my eyes. + +They were lions! + +One was a female and the other two immense males. They were walking +slowly, and once or twice they stopped to look back at me. Then they +resumed their stately retreat. + +As soon as I recovered from my astonishment I shouted to Stephenson, who +had been lured far away by the wild dogs. + +"_Simba!_" I yelled, pointing to the three lions. + +He seemed not to comprehend, and I saw him reluctantly turn from the +dogs and fix his glasses upon the direction I indicated. In no time he +was hurrying up to join me, and we hastily formed a plan of campaign. +The lions had now disappeared over the brow of the hill. I looked at my +watch and the hour was not yet nine o'clock. We were still in sight of +the distant house-tops of Nairobi. It seemed unbelievable. + +We crossed the nullah and the carriage jolted down and across a few +minutes later. We took our seats and studied the plains with our +glasses. The lions were not in sight. Then we studied the herds of game +and saw that many of them were looking in a certain direction. We drove +in that direction and whipped up the mules to a lively trot. In a few +minutes Stephenson picked up the three lions far to the left, where they +were slowly making their way toward another ravine a mile or so beyond. + +Then began one of the strangest lion hunts ever recorded in African +sporting annals. + +You may have read of the practice of "riding" lions. Doctor Rainsford, +in his splendid book on lion hunting, describes this thrilling sport in +such vivid words that you shiver as you read them. Mounted men gallop +after the lion, bring it to bay, and then hold it there until the white +hunter comes up to a close range and shoots it. In the meantime the +cornered beast is charging savagely at the horsemen, who trust to the +speed and quickness of their mounts to elude the angry rushes of the +infuriated animal. It is a most spectacular method of lion hunting and +is only eclipsed in danger and daring by the native method of +surrounding a lion and spearing it to death. + +[Photograph: A Kikuyu Woman Uses Her Head] + +[Photograph: On the Athi Plains] + +[Photograph: It Was a Rakish Craft] + +To my knowledge, no one has ever "galloped" a lion in a carriage drawn +by two mules, and probably few hunters have ever galloped three lions at +one time under any conditions. + +It was a memorable chase. The mules were lashed into a gallop and the +carriage rocked like a Channel steamer. We were gaining rapidly and the +distance separating us from the lions was quickly diminishing. It seemed +as if the three lions were not especially eager to escape, for they +moved away slowly, as if half-inclined to turn upon us. + +[Drawing: _It Rocked Like a Channel Steamer_] + +We hoped to overtake them before they reached the ravine or such uneven +ground as would compel us to abandon the carriage. + +Five hundred yards! Then four hundred yards, and soon three hundred +yards. The mules were doing splendidly, and we knew that we should soon +be within good shooting distance. At two hundred and fifty yards the +largest of the two males, a great, black-maned lion, stopped and turned +toward us. His two companions continued moving away toward the ravine. + +Thinking it a good moment to strike, we leaped from the carriage and +knelt to fire. Stephenson shot at the big black-mane and I at the male +that was retreating. Both shots missed. The black-mane resumed his +retreat and we got in a couple more ineffectual shots before the three +lions disappeared over the brow of the ravine. + +[Drawing: _At Two Hundred and Fifty Yards_] + +Once more in the carriage and another wild gallop as far as the vehicle +would go. For a few moments we lost sight of the lions, but presently we +saw them climbing up the opposite slope, four hundred yards away. It was +a long distance to shoot, but we hoped to bring them to bay at least by +wounding them into a fighting mood. The large lion turned and swung +along the brow of the hill; the others disappeared over the opposite +side, but they soon reappeared some distance farther to the right. + +Little spurts of dirt showed where our bullets were striking. Once I +kicked up the ground just under him and once a shot from Stephenson +passed so close to his nose that he ducked his head angrily. + +We became frantic with eagerness and continued disappointment. The +thought of losing the finest lion we had seen on the whole trip was +maddening, yet it seemed impossible to hit him. + +Then he disappeared and probably rejoined his companions in a retreat +that led down into the ravine where it wound far away from us. There +were patches of reeds in the ravine and it was there that I thought they +would hide. + +Sending the carriage in a wide detour, we climbed across a spur of the +ravine and tried to pick up the trail. Once I fell upon the rocks that +lined the steep sides of the gully and cut my hand so deeply that the +scar will always remain as a reminder of that eventful day. Stephenson +kept to the top of the ridge, believing that the lions would continue +across the ravine; I went into the ravine, thinking they would take +cover in the reeds and might be scared out with a shot or two. + +But nothing could be seen of them, and after half an hour we rejoined on +the top of the hill, where a wide view of the whole country was +revealed. + +We sat down in despair. The greatest chance of the whole trip was gone. + +"That's the last we'll see of them," said I oracularly as I sat upon a +stone. My hand was covered with blood, but alas! it was mine and not the +lion's. + +The carriage appeared and we held a prolonged consolation meeting. +Suddenly our general utility boy, Happy Bill, uttered a low cry of +warning. We turned, and there, in the valley ahead of us, the three +lions were again seen. They had evidently passed through the reeds +without stopping and had continued across only a few yards from where we +were now standing. + +Fate seemed determined to give us plenty of chances to get these lions. +Again we opened fire on them at about four or five hundred yards. My +big-gun ammunition was gone, so I fired with my .256. + +No result! The distance was too great and our bombardment was fruitless. +The black-maned lion was in a bad humor and repeatedly turned as if +intent to stop and defend his outraged dignity. In a few moments the +three lions disappeared in the tall grass that fringed a big reed bed +many acres in extent. + +For an hour we raked the reed bed with shot, hoping to drive them from +cover. But that was the last we saw of the lions. A little bunch of +waterbuck does were scared up, but nothing else. The lions were now +safe, for nothing less than fifty beaters could hope to dislodge them +from the dense security of the swamp. + +[Drawing: _It Would Have Been Historic_] + +Talk about dejection! Our ride back to town was as mournful as a ride +could be. We thought of the glory of driving through the streets of +Nairobi with a lion or two hanging over the back of the carriage. It +would have been historic. Citizens would have talked of it for years. It +would have taken an honored place in the lion-hunting literature of +Africa, for no lion hunters have ever pursued a band of lions in a +carriage and brought back a carriage-load of them. + +We almost regretted having had the chance that we so heartbreakingly +lost. + +But we told about it when we struck town, and before the day was over it +was the topic in hotels and clubs throughout the whole town of Nairobi. +Everybody who had a gun was resolved to go out the next day, and +interest was at a fever pitch. + +We went out again the following morning, shot at wildebeests at all +known ranges, from two hundred yards up to five hundred yards--but our +luck was against us. We came back empty-handed, and our chief reward for +the morning's work was the great privilege of seeing both Mount Kenia, +ninety miles north, and Kilima-Njaro, nearly two hundred miles +southeast, as clear as a cameo against the lovely African sky. + +The lesson of this story is not so much a review of bad shooting or of +bad luck. The thing that seems most noteworthy is that within six or +seven miles from Nairobi, nearly all the time within sight of the +house-tops of that town, we had seen fifteen varieties of wild game, +some of which were present in great numbers. + + Wildebeest + Hartebeest + Hyena + Jackal + Thompson's Gazelle + Lion + Rabbit + Waterbuck + Impalla + Giant Bustard + Ostrich + Wart-hog + Wild Dog + Steinbuck + Grant's Gazelle + +Surely there is still some game left in Africa. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE LAST WORD IN LION HUNTING. METHODS OF TRAILING, ENSNARING AND +OTHERWISE OUTWITTING THE KING OF BEASTS. A CHAPTER OF ADVENTURES + + +If some one were to start a correspondence course in lion hunting he +would give diagrams and instructions showing how to kill a lion in about +six different styles--namely: + + The boma method. + The tall grass method. + The riding method. + The tree method. + The lariat method. + The spear method. + +This list does not include the Ananias method, formerly popular. + +The tree and boma methods are much esteemed by those sportsmen who wish +to reduce personal danger to the least common denominator--the sportsmen +who think discretion is the better part of valor and a hunter in a tree +is worth two in the bush. The sportsman who confines himself to the tree +method is entitled to receive a medal "for conspicuous caution in times +of danger," and the loved ones at home need never worry about his safe +return. For safe lion hunting the "tree" method would get "first prize," +while the "boma" method would receive honorable mention. + +The "tall grass" method is less popular in that the lion has some show +and often succeeds in getting away to tell about it. It involves danger +to all concerned. + +[Drawing: _Spearing Lions_] + +The "riding" method is also dangerous, for in it the hunter endeavors to +"round up" or "herd" a lion by riding him to a standstill. When the lion +is fighting mad he stops and turns upon his persecutors. This is when +the obituary columns thrive. + +The "lariat" method is not as yet in general vogue, but I understand +that "Buffalo" Jones, an American, succeeded in roping a lion as they +rope cattle out west. It sounds diverting. + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. A Dead Lion Is a Sign for +Jubilation] + +[Photograph: A Dethroned King of Beasts] + +The "spear" method is that employed by natives, who, armed with spear +and shield, surround a lion and then kill it with their spears. They +invariably succeed, but not until a few of the spear-bearers are more or +less Fletcherized by the lion. This method does not appeal to those who +wish to get home to tell about it, and need not be considered at length +in any correspondence course. + +[Drawing: _The Tree Method_] + +The tree method is comparatively simple. You build a platform in a tree +and place a bait near it. Then you wait through the long, silent watches +of the night for Felis Leo to appear. The method has few dangers. The +chief one lies in falling asleep and tumbling out of the tree, but this +is easily obviated by making the platform large enough for two or three +men, two of whom may stretch out and sleep while the other one remains +awake and keeps guard. + +When I went to Africa I resolved never to climb a tree. Later I resolved +to try the tree method in order to get experience in a form of lion +hunting that has many advocates among the valiant hunters who want lion +skins at no expense to their own. + +Of course, there are some perils connected with this method of lion +slaying. Mosquitoes may bite you, causing a dreadful fever that may +later result in death in some lingering and costly form. Also the biting +ants may pursue you up to your aery perch and take small but effective +bites in many itchable but unscratchable points. These elements of +danger are about the only ones encountered in the tree method of lion +hunting, but then who could expect to kill lions without some degree of +personal discomfort? + +My one and only tree experience was not particularly eventful. A large +and commodious platform was built in the forks of a great tree in a +district where the questing grunt of lions could be heard each night. +The platform was comfortable; it only needed hot and cold running water +to be a delightful place to spend a tropic night. + +I shot a hartebeest and had it dragged beneath the tree. Then my two +native gunbearers and I made a satisfactory ascent to the platform. We +had a thermos bottle filled with hot tea, and some odds and ends in the +way of solid refreshments. We then stretched out in positions that +commanded a view of the hartebeest and waited patiently for an obliging +lion to come and be shot. + +Night came on and soon the landscape became shadowy and indistinct. +Trees and bushes fused into vague black masses and the carcass of the +bait could be located only because it seemed a shade more opaque than +the opaque gloom around it. The more you looked at it the more elusive +and shifting it seemed. The sights of the rifle were invisible, and the +only way one could find the sight was by aiming at a star and then +carefully lowering the direction of the weapon until it approximately +pointed at the carcass. + +Of course, we were very still; even the stars were not more silent than +we. And little by little the noises of an African night were heard, +growing in volume until from all sides came the cries of night birds and +the songs of insects and tree-toads. It was the apotheosis of +loneliness. And thus we sat, with eyes straining to pierce the gloom +that hedged us in. We could see no sign of life, yet all about us in +those dark shadows there were thousands of creatures moving about on +their nightly hunt. + +Suddenly there came the soft crescendo of a hyena's howl some place off +in the night. It was answered by another, miles away; then another, far +off in a still different direction. The scent of the bait was spreading +to the far horizon and the keen-scented carrion-eaters had caught it and +were hurrying to the feast. + +Then, after moments of waiting, the howls came from so near that they +startled us. There seemed to be dozens of hyenas--a regular class +reunion of them--yet not one could be seen in the "murky gloom." And +then, a moment later, we heard the crunching of teeth and the slither of +rending flesh, and we knew that a supper party of hyenas was gathered +about the festal board below us. I was afraid that they would eat up the +carcass and thus keep away the lions, so I fired a shot to scare them +away. There was a quick rush of feet--then that dense, expectant silence +once more. Soon some little jackals came and were shooed away. Then more +hyenas came, were given their conge, and hurried off to the tall grass. +And yet no lion. It was quite disappointing. + +At midnight, far off to the north, came the grunting voice of a lion. I +waited eagerly for the next sound which would indicate whether the lure +of the bait was beckoning him on. And soon the sound came, this time +much nearer, and after a long silence there was a sharp, snarling grunt +of a lion, followed by the panic-stricken rush of a hundred heavy hoofs. +The conjunction of sounds told the story as definitely as if the whole +scene lay bared to view. The lion had leaped upon a hartebeest, +probably instantly breaking its neck, while the rest of the herd had +galloped away in terror. And it had all happened within two or three +hundred yards of the tree--yet nothing could be seen. + +At two o'clock the grunt of a lion was again heard far off to the south. +It came steadily toward us, and at last there was no doubt about its +destination. It was coming to the bait. How my eyes strained to pierce +the darkness and how breathlessly I waited with rifle in readiness! But +the lion only paused at the bait, and as I waited for it to settle down +to its feast it went grunting away and the chance was gone. Perhaps it +had already fed, or perhaps it was an unusually fastidious lion which +desired to do its own killing. + +An hour or two later, both gunbearers asleep and one snoring peacefully, +I became aware of a large animal feeding at the bait. Although no sound +had preceded its coming, I thought it might be a lion, but feared that +it was a hyena. I fired at the dark, shifting, black shadow and the roar +of the big rifle shattered the silence like a clap of unexpected +thunder. Then there was such a dense silence that it seemed to ring in +one's ears. + +Had I hit or missed? That could not be decided until daybreak, for it is +the height of folly to climb down from a tree to feel the pulse of a +wounded lion. + +When daybreak came we made an investigation. Only the mangled remains of +the carcass lay below. Later in the day some members of our party came +across the dead body of a hyena lying about a hundred yards from the +tree, partly hidden by a little clump of bushes. Its backbone was +shattered by a .475 bullet. + +Thus ended my first and only adventure in the "tree method." + +The boma method is slightly more dangerous and much more exciting. A lot +of thorn branches are twisted together in a little circle, within which +the hunter sits and waits for his lion. As in the tree method, a bait is +placed near the boma, twelve or fifteen yards away, and a little +loophole is arranged in the tangle of thorn branches through which the +rifle may be trained upon the bait. + +[Drawing: _The Boma Method_] + +The lion can not get into the boma unless he jumps up and comes in from +the top. It is the function of the hunter to prevent this strategic +manoeuver by killing the lion before he gets in. If he does not, he is +likely to find himself engaged in a spirited hand-to-hand fight with an +unfriendly lion in a space about as big as the upper berth of a +sleeping-car. + +My first boma was a meshwork of thorns piled and interwoven together +with the architectural simplicity of an Eskimo igloo. When it was +finished there didn't seem to be the ghost of a chance of a lion getting +in; but at night, as I looked out, it seemed frail indeed. Some dry +grass was piled inside, with blankets spread over it to prevent +rustling; and when night came we three, myself and two gunbearers, +wormed our way in and then pulled some pieces of brush into the opening +after us. The rifles were sighted on the bait while it was still +daylight and at a spot where the expected lion might appear. Then we +waited. + +The customary nocturne by birds, beasts and insects began before long, +and several times hyenas and jackals came to the bait, but no lions. The +boma was on the edge of a great swamp, miles in extent and a great +rendezvous for game of many kinds. Theoretically, there couldn't be a +better place to expect lions, but nary a lion appeared that night. + +Upon a later occasion--Christmas night, it was--I watched from a boma +near an elephant we had killed, but except for the distant grunting of +lions, there was nothing important to chronicle. + +Lion hunting goes by luck. One man may sit in a boma night after night +without getting a shot, while another may go out once and bring back a +black-mane. I spent two nights in a boma without seeing a lion; +Stephenson spent seven nights and saw only a lioness. He held his fire +in the expectation that the male was with her and would soon appear. +Presently a huge beast appeared, vague in the dark shadows; he thought +it was the male lion, shot, and the next morning found a large dead +hyena. + +Mrs. Akeley went out only once, had a night of thrilling experiences, +and killed a large male lion. The lion appeared early in the evening and +her first shot just grazed the backbone. An inch higher and it would +have missed, but as it was, the mere grazing of the backbone paralyzed +the animal, preventing its escape. All night long it crouched helplessly +before them, twelve yards away, insane with rage and fury. Its roars +were terrifying. A number of times she shot, but in the darkness none of +the many hits reached a vital spot. Once in the night two other lions +came, but escaped after being fired at. + +As soon as daylight appeared and she could see the sights of her rifle +she easily killed the lion. It was the largest one of the eleven killed +in our hunting trip, and was killed with a little .256 Mannlicher, the +same weapon with which she shot her record elephant on Mount Kenia. + +In the tall-grass method, native beaters are sent in long skirmish line +through swamps and such places as lions like to lay up in during the +hours of daylight. The beaters chant a weird and rather musical refrain +as they advance and thrash the high reeds with their sticks. Reedbuck, +sometimes a bushbuck, frequently hyenas, and many large owls are driven +out of nearly every good-sized swamp. The hunters divide, one or more on +each side of the swamp and slightly ahead of the line of beaters. As the +lion springs out it is up to the hunter nearest to it to meet it with +the traditional unerring shot. + +[Photograph: The Tree Method of Lion Shooting] + +[Photograph: Dragged a Zebra to the Boma] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. The Rifle Was Sighted on the +Bait] + +In our experience we beat dozens of swamps and reed beds. Stephenson +would take one side of the swamp, I the other, while Akeley with his +moving-picture machine, would take the side best suited to photographic +purposes. He got some wonderful results, two of which were records of +the death of two lionesses. + +Upon the first of these occasions the beaters had worked down a long +stretch of swamp and had almost reached the end. Suddenly they showed an +agitated interest in something in front of them. They thought it was a +lion until an innocent by-stander made an unauthorized guess that it was +a hyena. This reassured the beaters and they advanced boldly in the +belief that it was a harmless hyena. My valor rose in proportion and for +the same reason, and I strolled bravely over to the edge of the reeds +where a little opening appeared. It was something of a shock to see two +lions stroll suddenly into view. I fired, hitting the last one. Then +they both disappeared in the reeds ahead. + +It was amazing to note the sudden epidemic of caution upon the part of +all concerned. The beaters refused to advance until Stephenson joined +them with his big rifle. I moved forward on the side lines and the +moving-picture machine reeled off yards of film. + +A man has to appear brave when a camera is turned on him, but with two +lions a few feet away there was not a tendency to advance with that +impetuous dash that one would like to see in a moving picture of +oneself. Anyway, I tried to keep up an appearance of advancing without +actually covering much territory. + +One of my gunbearers suddenly clutched my arm and pointed into the +reeds. There, only a few feet away, was the tawny figure of a lion, +either lying down or crouching. I fired and nearly blew its head off. It +was the one I had wounded a few minutes before. + +[Drawing: _Photographed in Times of Danger_] + +There was still the other lion in the reeds. So I joined the beaters +while Stephenson came out and took a commanding position at the side of +the reeds. In a moment or two there was a tawny flash and the lion was +seen as it broke from the reeds and sprang away up the hill. It was on +the opposite side of the reeds from Stephenson, but his first shot hit +it and it stopped and turned angrily. In another instant it would have +charged, but a second shot from his rifle killed it instantly. Both of +the animals were young lionesses of the same age and nearly full grown. + +Sometimes, when a lion is driven to bay in the tall grass at the end of +a swamp, the beaters refuse to advance, and it then becomes necessary +for the hunter to go in and take the lead. An occasion of this sort was +among the most thrilling of my African experiences. + +An immense swamp had been beaten out and nothing had developed until the +beaters were almost at the end of the swamp. Extending from the end and +joining it was a patch of wire-like reeds, eight or ten feet high and +covering two or three acres. This high grass was almost impenetrable by +a man, and it was only possible to go through it by throwing one's +weight forward and crushing down the dense growth. The grass grew from +hummocks, between which were deep water channels. An animal could glide +through these channels, but a man must batter his way through the +stockade of dense grass that spread out above. + +It was in this place that the lion was first heard and the beaters +refused to follow it in. Guttural grunts and snarls came from that +uninviting jungle, and we knew that the only way to force the lion out +was to go in and drive it out. + +At about this time another lion came out of the swamp behind and loped +up the hill. The saises were sent galloping after it to round it up, but +they reappeared after a few moments and reported that it had got away in +the direction of a huge swamp a mile or so beyond. We began to think we +had struck a nest of lions. + +Then we went in to drive out that lion in the deep grass. The native +beaters, encouraged by seeing armed white men leading the way, came +along with renewed enthusiasm. That grass was something terrible. One +would hardly care to go through it if he knew that a bag of gold or a +fairy princess awaited him beyond; with a lion there, the delight of the +job became immeasurably less. We could not see three feet ahead. From +time to time we were floundering down into channels of water hidden by +the density of the grass. Some of these channels were two feet deep. And +with each yard of advance came the realization that we were coming to an +inevitable show-down with that lion. Akeley and I were in with the +beaters, Stephenson was beyond the patch of grass to intercept the lion +should it break forth, from cover. + +It was not until we had nearly traversed the entire patch of reeds that +the lion was found. It evidently lay silently ahead of us until we were +almost upon it. Then, almost beneath my feet, came the angry and ominous +growl, and my Somali gunbearer leaped in terror, falling as he did so. I +expected to see a long, lean flash of yellow body and to experience the +sensation of being mauled by a lion. All was breathlessly silent for a +moment. Then a shot from Stephenson's rifle said that the lion had burst +from the reeds and into view. + +We pushed our way out to see what had happened. + +The lion had come out, then turned suddenly back into the cover of +reeds, working its way along the front of the beaters. For an instant +Stephenson saw it and fired into the grass ahead of it without result. + +The track of the lion was followed, but the animal had succeeded in +getting around the beaters and back into the swamp. Fires were lighted, +but the reeds were too green to burn except in occasional spots. + +A few minutes later the saises, posted like sentinels high on the hills +that flanked the swamp, saw the lion again and galloped down to head it +off. It left the swamp and continued on down the rush-lined banks of a +stream, zigzagging its way back and forth. After a pursuit of a couple +of miles it was cornered in a small patch of reeds. Further retreat was +impossible and it knew that it had to fight. + +The moving-picture machine was set up on one side and I was detailed to +guard that side. If the lion came out it was to be allowed to charge a +certain distance, within forty feet, before I was to fire. If it didn't +charge at us, but attempted to escape, it was to be allowed to run +across the strip of open ground in front of the camera before I was to +shoot. + +Stephenson took his place on the other bank, twenty-five or thirty yards +from the edge of the reeds. Then the beaters were told to advance, and +they moved forward, throwing rocks and sticks into the reeds ahead of +them. The lion appeared on Stephenson's side. Like a flash it sprang +out. He fired and the lion stopped momentarily under the impact of a +heavy ball. Then it sprang a few yards onward, when a second shot laid +it out. The last shot was fired at less than twenty yards. + +The moving-picture machine recorded the thrilling scene and there was an +hour of great rejoicing and jubilation. The animal was an old lioness +and the first shot had torn her lower jaw away and had gone into the +shoulder. It is amazing that she was not instantly killed--but that's a +way lions have. They never know when to quit. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ABDULLAH THE COOK AND SOME INTERESTING GASTRONOMICAL EXPERIENCES. +THIRTEEN TRIBES REPRESENTED IN THE SAFARI. ABDI'S STORY OF HIS UNCLE AND +THE LIONS + + +Our cook was a dark-complexioned man between whom and the ace of spades +there was considerable rivalry. He was of that deadly night shade. He +was the darkest spot on the Dark Continent. After dark he blended in +with the night so that you couldn't tell which was cook and which was +night. + +His name was Abdullah, his nature was mild and gentle, and his skill in +his own particular sphere of action was worthy of honorable mention by +all refined eaters. He was about fifty or sixty years of age, five feet +tall, with a smile varying from four to six inches from tip to tip. It +was a smile that came often, and when really unfurled to its greatest +width it gave the pleasing effect of a dark face ambushed behind a row +of white tombstones. + +When Abdullah joined our _safari_ it was freely predicted that he would +do well for the first month or so, after which he would fade away to +rank mediocrity; but, strangely enough, he became better and better as +time went on, and during our last two weeks was springing culinary coups +that excited intense interest on our part. He had a way of assembling a +few odds and ends together that finally merged into a rice pudding par +excellence, while his hot cakes were so good that we spoke of them in +rapt, reverential whispers. There wasn't a twinge of indigestion in a +"three by six" stack of them, and when flooded with a crown of liquid +honey they made one think of paradise and angels' choruses. + +Quite naturally, in my wanderings of nine months there were moments when +my thoughts dwelt upon such material things as "vittles," and it was +instructive to compare the various kinds of food served on a dozen +ships, a score of hotels, and a hundred camps. Some were good and some +were bad, but as viewed in calm retrospect I think that Abdullah +excelled all other chefs, taking him day in and day out. + +Upon only three occasions was he vanquished, but these were memorable +ones. As food is a pleasant topic, perhaps I may be pardoned if I dwell +fondly upon these three red-letter days in my memory. + +One was in Paris. The night that we started for Africa a merry little +company dined at Henry's. That distinguished master was given _carte +blanche_ to get up the best dinner known to culinary science, and he had +a day's start. Everything was delicious. The dinner was a symphony, +starting in a low key and gradually working up in a stirring crescendo +until the third course, where it reached supreme heights in climacteric +effect. That third course, if done in music, would have sent men +cheering to the cannon's mouth or galloping joyously in a desperate +cavalry charge. + +[Photograph: One of Our Askaris] + +[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. Hassan Mohammed] + +The dish was called "poulet archduc," although I should have called it +at least poulet archangel. In this divine creation Henry reached the +Nirvana of good things to eat. I beseeched him for the recipe, which he +cheerfully wrote out, so now I am happy to pass it along that all may +try it. It really ought to be dramatized. + +I transcribe it in M. Henry's own verbiage: + + The chicken must be well cleaned inside. Next put in it some butter, + salt and pepper, a little paprika, and into full of sweet corn, then + close the chicken. Next put it in a saucepan with other more sweet + corn, against butter, salt, pepper, a little whisky; cook about half + of one hour. + + The best sweet corn is the California sweet corn in can. + + The sauce is done with white of chicken. Squeeze two yolks of eggs and + butter like for a sauce mousseline and finish it with a little whisky. + +And there you are. + +The second occasion came some months later. We had been on _safari_ for +several weeks and had returned to Nairobi for two or three days. It was +the "psychological moment" for something new in the way of food. The +stage was all set for it, and it came in the form of a pudding that +would have delighted all the gastronomes and epicures of history. We +called it the Newland-Tarlton pudding, because it was the joint creation +of Mrs. Newland and Mrs. Tarlton. One wrote the poetry in it and the +other set it to music. We ate it so thoroughly that the plates looked as +clean as new. Cuninghame was there, dressed up for the first time in +months, and the way that pudding disappeared behind his burly beard was +suggestive of the magic of Kellar or Herrmann. + +The recipe of this pudding is worthy of export to the United States, so +here it is. It really is a combination of two puddings, served together +and eaten at the same time. + + THE NEWLAND BANANA CUSTARD + + Boil three large cupfuls of milk. Mix a tablespoonful of corn flour + with a little cold milk just to make it into a paste. Add four eggs + well beaten and mix together with three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Put + into the boiled milk and stir until it thickens, but don't let it + boil. When taken off add one teaspoonful of vanilla essence. Cut up + ten bananas and put in a dish. Pour custard on when cool. + + PRUNE SHAPE (A LA TARLTON) + + Stew one-half pound prunes until quite soft. Remove stones and cut + prunes small. Dissolve one-half ounce gelatin and add to one-quarter + pound sugar, prunes, and kernels. Pour into wetted mold to cool, first + adding one-half glass of sherry. Must be served with banana cream (the + Newland). + +The third occasion made memorable by a delicious epoch-making dish I +shall not specify, as we have dined with many friends during the last +nine months. Let it be sufficient if I say that it was at one of these +dinners or luncheons. + +In our varied gastronomical experiences we found that the cooking on the +English ships was usually bad, while that on the German ships was good, +excepting the ship that took us from Naples to Mombasa. The Dutch ships +were the best of all and the Dutch hotels in Java were the best we +struck outside of Paris and London. In comparison with the Hotel des +Indes, in Batavia, all the rest of the hotels of the Orient can be +mentioned only in a furtive way. It was a revelation of excellence, in +perfect keeping with the charm and beauty of Java as a whole. + +But we were speaking of things to eat. + +At the Hotel des Indes they served us a modest little dish called rice +tafel, or "rijs-tafel." You have to go to luncheon early in order to eat +it before dinner time. It was served by twenty-four waiters, marching in +single file, the line extending from the kitchen to the table and then +returning by a different line of march to the kitchen. It was fifteen +minutes passing a given point. Each waiter carried a dish containing one +of the fifty-seven ingredients of the grand total of the rice tafel. You +helped yourself with one arm until that got tired, then used the other. +When you were all ready to begin your plate looked like a rice-covered +bunker on a golf course. + +[Drawing: _The Rice Tafel in Java_] + +Rice tafel is a famous dish in Java. It is served at tiffin, and after +you have eaten it you waddle to your room in a congested state and sleep +it off. After my first rice tafel I dreamed I was a log jam and that +lumber jacks with cant hooks were trying to pry me apart. + +As the recipe for rice tafel is not to be found in any cook book on +account of its length, we give it here even if you won't believe it. To +a large heap of rice add the following: + +MEAT AND FISH + + Spiced beef, deviled soup meat, both fried with cocoanut shreds. + + Minced pork, baked. + + Fried fish, soused fish, and baked fish. + + Fried oysters and whitebait. + + +SPICES + + Red fish. + + Deviled shrimps, chutney. + + Deviled pistachio nuts. + + Deviled onions sliced with pimentos. + + Deviled chicken giblets. + + Deviled banana tuft. + + Pickled cucumbers. + + Cucumber plain (to cool the palate after hot ingredients). + + +FOWL, FRUIT, ETC. + + Roast chicken, plain. + + Steamed chicken with chilis. + + Monkey nuts fried in paste. + + Flour chips with fish lime (called grapak and kripak). + + Fried brinjals without the seeds. + + Fried bananas. + + +JUICES + + Yellow--(One) of curry powder with chicken giblets and bouillon. + + Brown--(Two) of celery, haricot beans, leeks and young cabbage. + + + One quart of American pale ale to drink during the "rice tafel." + +Our cook Abdullah was not the only interesting type in our _safari_. +Among our dusky colleagues there were thirteen different tribes +represented. It was a congress of nations and a babel of tongues. Some +of the porters became conspicuous figures early in the march, while some +were so lacking in individuality that they seemed like new-comers even +after four months out. + +[Drawing: _The "Chantecler" of Our Safari_] + +Of this latter class Hassan Mohammed was not one. + +Hassan was my chief gunbearer, and for pious devotion to the Mohammedan +faith he was second to none. He was the "Chantecler" of our outfit. +Every morning at four o'clock, regardless of the weather, he would crawl +out of his tent, drape himself in a white sheet, and cry out his prayers +to Mecca. It was his voice that woke the camp, and the immediate answer +to his prayers was sometimes quite irreverent, especially from the +Wakamba porters, who were accustomed to sit up nearly all night +gambling. + +Hassan was a Somali, strictly honest and faithful. He had the Somali's +love of a rupee, and there was no danger or hardship that he would not +undergo in the hope of backsheesh. It is the African custom to +backsheesh everybody when a lion is killed, so consequently the Somalis +were always looking for lions. Perhaps he also prayed for them each +morning. + +When we started we had four Somali gunbearers, each of whom rose at dawn +to pray. As we got up in the high altitudes, where the mornings were +bitter cold, the number of suppliants dwindled down to one, and Hassan +was the sole survivor. No cold or rain or early rising could cool the +fierce religious ardor that burned within him. + +Long before daybreak we would hear his voice raised in a singsong prayer +full of strange runs and weird minors. The lions that roared and grunted +near the camp would pause in wonder and then steal away as the sound of +Hassan's devotions rang out through the chilly, dew-laden dawn. And as +if fifteen minutes of morning prayer was not enough to keep him even +with his religious obligations, he went through two more long recitals +in the afternoon and at night. + +I sometimes thought that behind his fervent ardor there was a +considerable pride in his voice, for he introduced many interesting +by-products of harmony that sounded more or less extraneous to both +music and prayer. Nevertheless, Hassan was consistent. He never lied, he +never stole, and it was part of his personal creed of honor to stand by +his master in case of danger. Somali gunbearers are a good deal of a +nuisance about a camp, partly because they are the aristocrats of Africa +and demand large salaries, but chiefly because they require certain +kinds of food that their religion requires them to eat. This is often +difficult to secure when far from sources of supplies, and in +consequence the equilibrium of camp harmony is sorely disturbed. + +They are avaricious and money loving to a deplorable degree, but there +is one thing that can be said for the Somali. He will never desert in +time of danger and will cheerfully sacrifice himself for his master. He +has the stamina of a higher type of civilization, and in comparison to +him the lately reclaimed savage is not nearly so dependable in a crisis. + +I sometimes suspected that Hassan was not really a gunbearer, but was +merely a "camel man" who was tempted from his flocks by the high pay +that African gunbearers receive. Notwithstanding this, he was +courageous, faithful, willing, honest, good at skinning, and personally +an agreeable companion during the months that we were together. I got to +like him and often during our rests after long hours afield we would +talk of our travels and adventures. + +[Photograph: Jumma, the Tent Boy] + +[Photograph: Abdullah, the Cook] + +One day we stopped at the edge of the Molo River. A little bridge +crossed the stream and I remembered that the equator is supposed to pass +directly across the middle of this bridge. It struck me as being quite +noteworthy, so I tried to tell Hassan all about it. I was hampered +somewhat because he didn't know that the world was round, but after some +time I got him to agree to that fact. Then by many illustrations I +endeavored to describe the equator and told him it crossed the bridge. +He got up and looked, but seemed unconvinced as well as unimpressed. +Then I told him that it was an imaginary line that ran around the world +right where it was fullest--half way between the north pole and the +south pole. He brightened up at this and hastened to tell me that he had +heard of the north pole from a man on a French ship. As I persevered in +my geographical lecture he gradually became detached from my point of +view, and when we finished I was talking equator and he was talking +about a friend of his who had once been to Rotterdam. + +The lecture was a "draw." But I noticed with satisfaction that when we +walked across the bridge he looked furtively between each crack as if +expecting to see something. + +It was rather a curious thing, speaking of Hassan, to observe the +respect with which the other natives treated his daily religious +devotions. He was the only one in camp who prayed--at least openly--and +as he knelt and bowed and went through the customary form of a +Mohammedan prayer there was never the slightest disposition to make fun +of him. In a camp of one hundred white men I feel sure that one of them +who prayed aloud three times a day would hardly have escaped a good deal +of irreverent ridicule from those about him. The natives in our camp +never dreamed of questioning Hassan's right to worship in any way he +pleased and the life and activities of the camp flowed along smoothly as +if unconscious of the white-robed figure whose voice sang out his +praises of Allah. The whole camp seemed to have a deep respect for +Hassan. + +Abdi, our head-man, was also a Somali, but of a different tribe. He was +from Jubaland and had lived many years with white men. In all save color +he was more white than black. He was handsome, good-tempered, efficient, +and so kind to his men that sometimes the discipline of the camp +suffered because of it. It was Abdi's duty to direct the porters in +their work of moving camp, distributing loads, pitching camp, getting +wood for the big camp-fires, punishing delinquents and, in fact, to see +that the work of the _safari_ was done. + +One night after we had been most successful in a big lion hunt during +the day Abdi came to the mess tent, where we were lingering over a +particularly good dinner. Abdi asked for his orders for the following +day and then, seeing that we were in a talkative mood, he stopped a +while to join in the stories of lion hunting. + +After a time he told two of his own that he had brought from his boyhood +home in Jubaland. They were so remarkable that you don't have to believe +them unless you want to. + +[Drawing: _Abdi's Uncle and the Man-Eaters_] + + +ABDI'S STORY ABOUT HIS UNCLE AND THE LIONS + + "Once upon a time my uncle, who was a great runner, encountered six + man-eating lions sitting in the road. He took his spear and tried to + kill them, but they divided, three on each side of the road. So he + took to his heels. To the next town it was twelve hours' march, but he + ran it in ten hours, the lions in hot pursuit every minute of the + time. When he reached the town he jumped over the thorn bush zareba, + and the lions, close behind him, jumped over after him and were killed + by his spear, one after the other." + + +ABDI'S STORY ABOUT THE WILY SOMALI AND THE LION + + "Once upon a time there was a Somali who was warned not to go down a + certain road on account of the man-eating lions. But he started out, + armed with knife and spear. For a week he marched, sleeping in the + trees at night and marching during the day. One day he suddenly came + upon a big lion sitting in the road. He stopped, sharpening a little + stick which he held in his left hand. Then he wrapped his 'tobe' or + blanket around his left hand and arm. He then advanced to the lion and + when it opened its mouth to bite him he thrust the sharp stick inside, + up and down, thus gagging the lion. Then with his two hands he held + the lion by its ears for three days. He couldn't let go because the + lion would maul him with its heavy paws. He was thus in quite a fix. + +[Drawing: _He Hastily Cut a Stick_] + + "Finally another Somali came along and he asked the new-comer to hold + the lion while he killed it with his spear. The other Somali consented + and seized the lion by the ears. Then the first Somali laughed long + and loud and said, 'I've held him three days, now you hold him three + days.' Then he strolled down the road and disappeared. For seven days + the second Somali held the lion and then by the same subterfuge turned + it over to a third Somali. By this time the lion was pretty tired, so + after one day the Somali shook the lion hard and then took out his + knife and stabbed it to death." + + * * * * * + +Sulimani was my second gunbearer. His name wasn't Sulimani, but some one +gave him that name because his own Kikuyu name was too hard to pronounce +and impossible to remember. Sulimani was quite a study. He had the +savage's love of snuff, and when not eating or sleeping he was taking +pinches of that narcotic from an old kodak tin. In consequence he had +the chronic appearance of being full of dope. He walked along as though +in a trance. He never seemed to be looking anywhere except at the +stretch of trail directly in front of him. His thoughts were far away, +or else there were no thoughts at all. I often watched him and wondered +what he was thinking about. + +Sulimani was really one of the best natural hunters in the whole +_safari_. He had a native instinct for tracking that was wonderful; he +had courage that was fatalistic, and he seemed to know what an animal +would do and where it would go under certain conditions. Beneath that +dopy somnolence of manner his senses were alert and his eyes were +usually the first to see distant game. + +He had originally been a porter when we started out, but I gave him a +new suit of khaki and promoted him to the position of second gunbearer. +As long as we were in touch with civilization he kept that khaki suit in +a condition of spotlessness, but when we got out in the wilds, away from +the girls, it soon became stiff with blood-stains and dirt. The natural +savage instinct became predominant; he reverted to type. + +His jaunty red fez was replaced by a headgear made of the beautiful skin +of a Uganda cob. Ostrich and maribou feathers stuck out from the top, +while upon his feet were sandals made from the thick skin of a +waterbuck. A zebra tail was fashioned into a sheath for his +skinning-knife, so that, little by little, he resolved himself back into +a condition of savage splendor. He usually did most of my skinning, and +that being dirty work, I was disposed to be tolerant with the +disgraceful condition of his khaki suit. + +Finally we approached civilization once more, and I told Sulimani that +he'd have to clean up, otherwise the girls wouldn't like him. I gave him +half a day off to wash his clothes, and he dutifully disappeared from +society for that period. When he once more turned up he was resplendent +in his clean clothes. As we marched along toward Nairobi he broke his +long silence by bursting into song. For a day or two it was the wonder +of the camp, but he was quite unconscious of it. Music was in his soul +and the germ of love was churning it up. And so he sang as he marched +along, and his thoughts were racing ahead of him to the "sing sing" +girls who wait in Nairobi for returning porters with rupees to spend. + +The general average of health in the _safari_ was high. Only one porter +died in the four months or more that we were out. But in spite of the +low mortality there were many cases that came up for treatment. Akeley, +with his long experience as a hunter and explorer, acted as the health +department of the camp. His three or four remedies for all ills were +quinine, calomel, witch-hazel, and zinc oxide adhesive plaster. And it +was simply amazing what those four things could do when applied to the +naturally healthy constitutions of the blacks. He cured a bowed tendon +with witch-hazel and adhesive plaster in three or four days. A white man +would have gone to a hospital for weeks. + +There were two common complaints. One was fever, but the fiercest fever +took to its heels when charged by General Quinine and General Calomel. +The other and more common complaint rose from abrasions and cuts. There +was always a string of porters lined up for treatment and each went away +happy with large pieces of adhesive plaster decorating his ebony skin. A +simple piece of this plaster cured the worst and most inflamed cut, and +it was seldom that a man came back for a second treatment. The plaster +remained on until, weeks afterward, it fell off from sheer weariness. + +And once in a while there would be knife wounds, for whenever we killed +a zebra as meat for the porters there would be a frenzied fight over the +body. Each man, with knife out, was fighting for the choice pieces. It +was like a scrimmage of human vultures--fighting, clawing, slashing and +rending, with blood and meat flying about in a horrifying manner. I used +to marvel that many were not killed, because each one was armed with a +knife and each one was frenzied with savage greed. However, only once in +a while did we have to treat the injured from this cause. Two men could +fight for ten minutes over a piece of meat or a bone, but when finally +the ownership was settled the victor could toss his meat to the ground +with the certainty that no one else would take it. + +Jumma was my tent boy--a Wakamba with filed teeth. Jumma is the Swahili +word for Friday and is about as common a name in East Africa as John is +in white communities. I suppose I ought to call him "my man Friday," but +he was so dignified that no one would dream of taking such a liberty +with him. Jumma's thoughts ran to clothes. He wore a neat khaki +suit--blouse and "shorts," a pair of blue puttees, a pair of stout +shoes, and a dazzling red fez, from which sprang a long waving ostrich +feather. My key ring hung at his belt, while around his wrist a neat +watch was fastened. The longest march, through mud and rain and wind and +sun, would find him as trim and clean at the finish as though he had +just stepped out of a bandbox. Jumma had the happy faculty of never +looking rumpled, a trick which I tried hard to learn, but all in vain. +He was as black as ebony, yet his features were like those of a +Caucasian; in fact, he strikingly resembled an old Chicago friend. + +[Photograph: Sulimani--Second Gunbearer] + +[Photograph: The Mess Tent] + +[Photograph: Where the Equator Crosses the Molo] + +Among our porters there were many types of features, and in a curious +way many of them resembled people we had known at home. One porter had +the eyes and expression of a young north-side girl; another had the walk +and features of a prominent young Chicago man; and so on. + +Saa Sitaa was one of our brightest porters. His name means "Six O'clock" +in Swahili, six o'clock in the native reckoning being our noon and our +midnight. Just why he was given this significant name I never +discovered. Perhaps he was born at that hour. It always used to amuse me +to hear Abdi calling out, "_Enjani hapa, Saa Sitaa_"--"Come here, Six +O'clock." + +Baa Baa was a porter who always used to sing a queer native chant in +which those words were predominant. He would sing it by the hour while +on the march, and before long his real name was replaced by the new one. +Henceforth he will, no doubt, continue to be Baa Baa. He was promoted +from porter to camera-bearer, but one day he could not be found when +most needed, and he was reduced back to the ranks. I never heard him +sing again. His heart was broken. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +BACK HOME FROM AFRICA. NINETY DAYS ON THE WAY THROUGH INDIA, JAVA, +CHINA, MANILA AND JAPAN. THREE CHOW DOGS AND A FINAL SERIES OF AMUSING +ADVENTURES + + +At last the day came for us to say good-by to the happy hunting grounds +and return to the perils and dangers of civilization. Occasional +newspapers had filtered into the wild places and in the peaceful +security of our tents we had read of frightful mining disasters in +America, of unparalleled floods in France, of the clash and jangle of +rival polar explorers, of disasters at sea, of rioting and lynching in +Illinois. Automobile accidents were chronicled with staggering +frequency, and there were murmurs of impending rebellions in India, +political crises in England, feverish war talk in Germany, volcanic +threats from Mount Etna, and a bewildering lot of other dreadful things. + +In contrast to this dire picture of life in civilized places, our +pleasant days among the lions and wild beasts of Africa seemed curiously +peaceful and orderly. Now we were to leave--to go back into the +maelstrom of the busy places and bid farewell to our friendly savages +and genial camp-fires. The Akeleys were remaining some months longer, +but Stephenson and I were scheduled to leave. + +[Photograph: Just Before Saying Good-by to My Horse] + +[Photograph: Manila Bay] + +[Photograph: The Boro Boedoer Ruins] + + +There were a few busy days in Nairobi. The horses were sold, the porters +were paid off, the trophies were prepared for shipment, and our camp +outfits and guns were either sold or packed for their journey homeward. +There were affectionate and rather tearful partings from good friends, +then a quick railway trip to the coast and a day or two of waiting in +Mombasa. The hunting was over. Now it was a mere matter of getting home +in ninety days, and for variety's sake we elected to go home through +India, Java, China, and Japan. I was curious to note the changes that +those countries had undergone since I had last seen them years before. + +We had some mild adventures. The first occurred in Mombasa, and concerns +the strange conduct of two little white dogs that flashed in and out of +our lives. + +One day when I returned to my room in the hotel at Mombasa I was +surprised to find that two small dogs had established themselves +therein. The room boy knew nothing about them; the people around the +hotel did not remember having ever seen them before. No clue to their +owner was obtainable, and we regarded their advent as something of a +mild kind of miracle. They played about the room as if they had long +been there. When we went out they were at our heels and in the course of +our wanderings through the old streets of the town the two dogs were +always close at hand, or, rather, close at feet. When I worked in the +room at the hotel they lay on the floor or played near my table and made +no effort to rush away to the many temptations of the warm sunshine +outside. I became much attached to them. Such steadfast devotion from +strange dogs is always flattering. + +Then our ship, the _Umzumbi_, South Africa to Bombay, came into the +harbor and anchored a quarter of a mile out from the custom-house dock. +We decided to go out and visit her and accordingly shut the door to +prevent the two little dogs from joining us. Before we reached the dock +they were with us, however, having escaped some way or other. And when +we got into the rowboat to go out they looked appealingly after us from +the dripping steps of the boat landing. We were sorry, but really we +couldn't take them to the ship. + +[Drawing: _The Two Dogs of Mombasa_] + +Suddenly there was a splash, and one of the little dogs was bravely +swimming after us. He wasn't built for swimming, but he was making a +gallant effort. We stopped and picked him up, a drippy but grateful +little creature. Then we had to row back to get the other one. By much +strategy we succeeded in getting on board the _Umzumbi_ without taking +them with us, but as we were not sailing until the afternoon we stayed +on board only long enough to see that our state-room arrangements were +satisfactory and to meet the chief steward. + +On our way back through the town the dogs got lost from us, but when we +reached the room at the hotel they were comfortably installed in the +square of sunshine that streamed through the window. They refused to +break home ties. Several more times that day we executed elaborate +manoeuvers to lose them without the painful formality of saying +good-by. But all in vain. We tried to give them away and finally +succeeded in persuading one woman from up Uganda way that they would be +useful to her. + +She was considering the matter when we, feeling like heartless +criminals, stole away from the room, leaving it locked, and leaving two +trustful and trusting little dogs incarcerated within. We told the +proprietor of our dastardly conduct, but cautioned him not to liberate +the captives until the steamer was hull down on the horizon. So by this +time I suppose there are two little white dogs searching Mombasa for two +missing Americans and wondering at the duplicity of human nature. + +We imagined that the ship from Mombasa to Bombay would be nearly +uninhabited by passengers. Few people are supposed to cross that part of +the Indian Ocean. But when we embarked on the _Umzumbi_ on February +first we found the ship full. There were British army officers bound for +India, rich Parsees bound from Zanzibar to Bombay, two elderly American +churchmen bound from the missionary fields of Rhodesia to inspect the +missionary fields of India; two or three traveling men, a South African +legislator bound for India on recreation bent, and a few others. + +After leaving Mombasa our travels were upon crowded ships, on crowded +trains, and from one crowded hotel to another crowded hotel. It seemed +as if the whole world had suddenly decided to see the rest of the world. + +Bombay was crowded and we barely succeeded in getting rooms at the Taj +Mahal. There were swarms of Americans outward bound and inward bound. +You couldn't go down a street without encountering scores of new sun +hats and red-bound "Murrays." The taxicabs were full of eager faces +peering out inquiringly at the monuments and points of interest that +flashed past. + +The train to Agra was crowded and we succeeded in getting reservations +only by the skin of our teeth. Also the hotels at Agra were jammed and +many people were being turned away, while the procession of carriages +jogging out toward the Taj Mahal was like an endless chain. Upon all +sides as you paused in spellbound rapture before the most beautiful +building in the world, you heard the voice of the tourist explaining the +beauties of the structure. + +[Drawing: _During the Tourist Rush_] + +The Taj Mahal is justly called the most beautiful edifice in the world. +It is so exquisite in its architecture and its ornamentation that one +may believe the story that it was designed by a poet and constructed by +a jeweler. It was built by Shah Jehan as a memorial to his wife and for +centuries it has stood as a token of his great love for her. + +When I visited it this year I was surprised to find that Lord Curzon had +placed within the great marble dome a hanging lamp as a memorial to his +own wife. It seemed like a shocking piece of presumption--much as if the +president of France should hang a memorial to one of his own family over +the sarcophagus of Napoleon, or a president of the United States should +do the same at Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon. It seemed like an +inexpensive way of diverting the most beautiful structure of the world +to personal uses. + +And yet later I was compelled to modify this opinion when I saw how much +excellent work Lord Curzon did toward restoring the old palaces of Agra +and preserving them for future generations. As a reward for this work, +perhaps, there may have been some justification in placing a memorial +lamp in the dome of the Taj, especially as the lamp is exquisite in +workmanship and adds rather than detracts from the stately beauty of the +interior. But just the same the first verdict of the spectator is that +Lord Curzon displayed a colossal egotism in so doing. + +The tourist's beaten track in India was as thronged with American +sightseers as the chateau country in France. Lucknow was crowded, +Benares was crowded, Calcutta was crowded, and the trains that ran in +all directions were crowded. A traveler wore a look of perpetual anxiety +lest he should fail to get hotel or railway accommodations. + +The India of one's imagination--the somber land of mystery, of untold +riches, of eastern enchantment, of far-away romance--was gone, buried +under picture post-cards, hustling tourists, and all the commonplaces of +a popular tourist track. It was distinctly disappointing from one point +of view, and yet, I suppose, one should rejoice that his fellow +countrymen have cash and energy enough to travel in distant places, even +though they destroy the romantic charm of those places by so doing. + +[Drawing: _Tourists in India_] + +The rush of Americans through India was as brisk as was the rush of +Americans through Europe ten years ago. Age was no handicap. There were +old couples, sixty, seventy, and eighty years old, jogging along as +eagerly and excitedly as young bridal couples. The conversation one +encountered was always pretty much the same--how such a train was +crowded, how accommodations could not be secured at such a hotel, how +poor the hotels were, and how long they would have to wait to get a +berth on some outgoing ship. There were many people hung up in Bombay +and Calcutta vainly trying to get away, but the boats were booked full +for two or more voyages ahead. + +One of the peculiarities of Indian travel has been the fact that most +tourists plan to be in India during December, January and February. +Hence they arrive in bunches, and try to get away in a bunch, which is +impossible owing to the limited capacity of the steamships. This year +the swarms of tourists have been so great that many of them could not +get out of the country until late in March and along in April. + +The Americans have become the great travelers of the world. In India +there are two American tourists for one of all other nationalities. The +hotel registers bristle with U.S.A. addresses and the shops and hotels +regard the American trade as being the most profitable. One desirable +result of the American tendency to fare afield has been the steady +improvement in hotel and railway accommodations in the Far East. + +We said good-by to India without much regret; in fact, we were elated to +secure accommodations on a small Indo-China boat that made the run to +Penang and Singapore in about eight days. No berths could be secured on +the ships that go by the way of Burma. Those ships were booked full for +several trips ahead. So we settled down comfortably on the good ship Lai +Sang and droned lazily down through the Bay of Bengal. There were +accommodations for only twelve first-class passengers, and there were +only six on board. We had elbow room for the first time since leaving +Africa. + +When we stopped at Penang there were two distinct sensations. One was +that Georgetown, the capital of the Island of Penang, is the prettiest +tropical city I have ever seen; and the other was the first shock of the +rubber craze. From that time on we were constantly in a seething roar of +rubber talk; everybody was buying rubber shares and everybody else was +talking about starting rubber plantations. The fever was epidemic. +Planters were destroying profitable cocoanut groves in order to replace +them with rubber trees. Nearly every local resident was putting his last +cent in rubber shares and the tales of suddenly increased wealth +inflamed the imaginations and cupidity of every one who heard them. I +mentally jotted down the names of one or two companies that are going to +declare enormous dividends soon, but that's as far as I've got in my +rubber investments. + +Penang, like Hongkong, is an island. The city on the island is +Georgetown, while the city on Hongkong is Victoria; but you will never +hear any one speak of Georgetown or Victoria. It is just Penang and +Hongkong, and the other names are useless incumbrances. + +Singapore was crowded with Americans fighting for accommodations on the +China and Japan steamers; other Americans fighting to get reservations +on the Java steamers; still other Americans who, in despair, were going +to Hongkong by way of Borneo and the Philippines. They were willing to +go first, second or third class--any way at all to get on a ship. + +[Drawing: _At Raffles' Hotel_] + +The Singapore hotels were crowded and we got the last room in the +Raffles Hotel. The great and stately veranda, which serves the double +purpose of a bar and an out-of-door reception-room, was usually crowded. +That veranda is the redeeming feature of Raffles Hotel. In other +respects this great hotel, situated at the cross-roads where East and +West and North and South meet, is not up to what a good hotel should be. + +We got the last state-room on a steamer to Java, and to our great +surprise we found the ship to be the nicest we had traveled on, and the +cooking to rival that of the great restaurants of Paris. + +Cholera was rampant in certain parts of Java, but that didn't stop the +sightseers. Nothing less than an earthquake or a lost letter of credit +could have stopped them. + +Our adventures in Java were a repetition of "crowds." The Hotel des +Indes in Batavia was crowded and we got the last room. The railways were +crowded, but not so much as the ones in India, and the carriages are +most comfortable. + +For a week we did volcanoes and gorgeous scenery, and realized what a +delightful place Java is. It is even nicer than Japan, and the hotels +are the best in the East. + +My chief purpose in going to Java was to get a Javanese waterwheel. They +had one at the world's fair in Chicago, and I have remembered it ever +since as one of the most musical things I have ever heard. A friend of +mine wanted me to get him one and I volunteered to do so. I supposed +that we would hear waterwheels just as soon as we got off the ship. But +I was evidently mistaken. + +Nobody in Java, so far as I could discover, had ever seen or heard of a +Javanese waterwheel. I inquired of dozens of people--people who had +lived there all their lives--but they looked blank when I spoke of +waterwheels. I drew pictures of it, but that didn't enlighten them. + +Finally in despair, after a week of vain searching, I drew the plans for +a waterwheel and had it made. And I am taking it home with me, hoping +that it may make music. Next year, owing to the demand I created for +waterwheels, I suppose the Javanese will start making them for the +tourist trade. + +[Drawing: _Java in a State of High Cultivation_] + +Just as Russia is the land of "nitchevo," Spain the land of "manana," +and China the land of "maskee," so Java is the land of "never mind." You +will hear the expression dozens of times in the course of a talk between +residents of Java--at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of +sentences. + +"I think it will rain to-morrow, but--never mind." + +"I missed the train, but--never mind." + +"I'm not feeling well, but--never mind." + +You hear it all the time, all through Java. + +In Java we had the best coffee we had struck since leaving Paris, in +fact, the first real good coffee we had found. Even worthy Abdullah, our +camp cook, was considerable of a failure at coffee making. The Boro +Boedoer ruins are among the most stupendous in the world; the volcanoes +of Java are like chimneys in Pittsburg, the terraced rice fields are +beautiful beyond belief, but--never mind. I think I shall remember Java +chiefly for its delicious coffee and for my house-to-house hunt for a +waterwheel. + +I was sitting one day in the Singapore club talking to Colonel Glover of +the British army, when a hand tapped me on my shoulder. I looked around +and there stood the King of Christmas Island. I no more expected to see +him than I did the great Emperor Charlemagne, for it had been many years +since we were college mates at Purdue University. His story is romantic. +He is the nephew of Sir John Murray, who owns immense phosphate deposits +in Christmas Island, two hundred miles south of Java Head. Years ago he +went out to help work these great deposits and has climbed up until now +he is the virtual head of the island. His authority is absolute and he +has come to be called the King of Christmas Island. His every-day name +is that of his distinguished uncle, Sir John, but his Sunday name is +"King." + +For a day or two we motored around Singapore and it was worth seeing to +note how the tourists stared when I casually said, "Well, King, let's +have a bamboo." In a day or two he was going to meet his wife, who was +just coming from England with a little three-months-old crown prince +whom he had not yet seen. Then, together, the royal family was going +back to Christmas Island on one of the king's ships. + +[Drawing: _The Call of the East_] + +The China coast is distinguished for its excellent United States +consular officials. And it hasn't been so for many years. Our +representative in Singapore, Mr. Dubois, is one of the best men I have +yet encountered in one of our consulates. He is a new-comer in Singapore +and yet in his few months he has added more prestige to our consulate +general than all the former men put together. One can not but wonder why +he is not a minister or an ambassador, instead of only a consul general. + +Hongkong has been fortunate in having an excellent representative in Mr. +Rublee, and his recent untimely death is a distinct loss to the country. +Mr. Wilder is in Shanghai and he is decidedly a man of the best mental +and temperamental equipment. So now an American traveler may go up and +down the China coast and "point with pride" to his nation's +representatives. How different it was ten or twelve years ago! + +We barely managed to get on board the _Prinz Ludwig_--Singapore to +Hongkong. It is one of the N.D. Lloyd's crack ships and everybody tries +to take it. We got the last cabin, as usual, and spent hours thanking +our lucky stars. + +The China Sea is chronically disposed to be disagreeable, but on this +occasion it was quite well behaved. There were three days of delightful +sunshine and then a sudden blighting chill in the air. We landed in +Hongkong with overcoats buttoned up and with garments drenched by the +rains and mist clouds that battled around the great peaks of this little +island. The hotels were jammed to the sidewalks and we got the last room +at the Hongkong Hotel, while throngs were turned away; the steamers for +the States were booked full for several voyages ahead and tourists were +rushing around in despair. The _Asia_ had been booked up to the limit +for weeks and it seemed as if we might have to wait a long time before +getting berths on any ship. But some one unexpectedly had to give up a +state-room and we were fortunate in getting it. + +I had a great desire to see Manila again. It had been ten years since I +left there in the "days of the empire" and everything in me quivered +with longing to revisit the place where I spent my golden period of +adventure. We booked on the old _Yuen Sang_, a friend of former days, +and the skipper, Captain Percy Rolfe, handsome, cultured, and capable, +was still in command. He loves the China Sea and has steadfastly refused +to be lured away by offers of greater ships and more important commands. +When we engaged our passage the agent warned us that the vessel was +carrying a cargo of naphtha and kerosene and that we might not wish to +risk it; but we went. A Jap and a Chinaman were the only two other +passengers, and they were invisible during the sixty hours to cross. + +We steamed out of Hongkong in a chilling wind and at once plunged into a +fog, but the next morning we ran into smooth seas and warm weather. A +full moon hung over the empty waste of waters and the nights were +gorgeous. + +As we neared the coast of Luzon I became much excited, for in my memory +were those vivid, expectant days of old when our little American fleet +crossed this selfsame stretch of sea to find and destroy the Spanish +ships. I lived over again those boding days when the air was electric +with impending danger. + +It was long before daylight when the _Yuen Sang_, at half-speed, arrived +at Corregidor. The captain wished to report his number to the signal +station, and we had to wait until light had come before the ship could +enter. So the engines were stopped and for an hour we drifted on under +the ship's momentum. The silencing of the engines on a ship is always +ominous, and just now, with the dim bulk of Corregidor looming grimly +before us, it seemed as if there was something particularly sinister +about our stealthy approach. + +From five o'clock onward we stood on the bridge, our voices +unconsciously hushed as we spoke. Here was where the _Baltimore_ had +dropped a Greek fire life preserver and for a long time it had bobbed +about on the tumbling sea, weird and terrifying to those who didn't know +what it was. There was where the soot in the McCulloch's funnel had +suddenly blazed up like the chimney of a blast furnace. And over there +on the lower edge of the black bulk of the island was where a little +signal light had flared up and then died out, leaving every man on our +ships tense with expectant dread, and all about us here had reigned a +silence so penetrating that it in itself was harder to bear than the +thunder and flash of guns. + +And still we drifted on, nearer and nearer to Boca Chica, the northern +passage into Manila Bay. Dawn and light came slowly. In poetry the dawn +of the tropics may come up like thunder and the transition of darkness +to light may be startling and sudden, but in my own experience the +tropic dawn comes slowly and pervadingly. First a faint grayness, +gradually growing brighter until the sun shoots up joyous and golden in +its glory, painting the skies with flaming banners and penciling the +tips and edges of clouds with the fires of morning. When we lazily +drifted in toward Corregidor from the China Sea that morning, it was +light enough to see distinctly for nearly an hour before the sun rose. + +Presently a fluttering string of signal flags appeared on the top of the +island, and a moment later our engines resumed their throbbing and we +headed boldly into Boca Chica. Here on the left was Mariveles Bay, the +scene of the famous German ship, _Irene_, incident, which electrified +the world. + +Every point that rose before my eyes was pregnant with historic memories +and suggestions. I was thrilled and yet I half-dreaded my return to +Manila, for fear that the peace and commercialism of the present days +would be disappointing to one who knew it when each day was filled with +trouble and threats of trouble; when the city lay always as if under an +impending cloud and when the borders of the bay rang with the thunder of +guns and the sputter of musketry. + +As the _Yuen Sang_ steamed across the twenty-five miles of the bay it +seemed as if it were only yesterday that I had been there. The waters +were glassy and smooth, just as the bay used to be every morning of the +long blockade, when the air was still and the broad glistening water was +tranquil and at rest. + +The surprises came in Manila. Great changes had taken place in the +harbor, new breakwaters were where there had been none before, new +buildings were up, and still more were building. Big electric cars +rushed along where formerly the snail-like horse cars crept painfully +by. The city was unbelievably clean and the main streets were full of +busy life. + +I visited the old houses where we had once lived in economical splendor, +with servants and carriages and expenses that were microscopic as +compared to those of the present day. Upon all sides were the visible +evidences that some day Manila will be the finest city of the Orient if +the time ever comes when capital may feel assured that our occupation +has some prospect of permanence. + +In my old days I used to know a beautiful Mestiza girl in Manila. She +was very pretty and very nice. I used to draw pictures of her and +struggle bravely with the Spanish language. And she was kind and patient +with my efforts to learn. Her name was Victoria and she kept a little +shop where she and her ancestors for generations before had sold silk +jusi and pina cloth. I visited her often there and sometimes went out to +her home, a beautiful big Spanish house in Calle Zarigoza. + +I determined to find her and went over to her shop. Fatal mistake! Ten +years and the tropics work many changes in the soft-eyed daughters south +of the fifteenth degree of latitude. + +I once read a story by Pierre Loti, a sad and haunting story of how he +sought, after years of absence, to find an old-time sweetheart in +Stamboul. He didn't find her and he should be grateful for his failure. + +[Drawing: _Ten Years After_] + +I found Victoria. She recognized me at once, although I hardly knew in +her the slender, pretty Victoria of old. Her eyes were soft and nice, +but smallpox had pitted her nose and cheeks and the deadly incubus of +flesh had upholstered her in many soft and cushiony folds. I asked her +if she had married and she said she never had, which information I +matched with promptness. She spoke English quite well and seemed +prosperous and--yes, motherly. There's no other word for it, although +she is now hardly thirty. + +It was a terrible disappointment, a collapse of delightful memories, and +as I walked away from her little silk shop with a vague promise to call +again I knew perfectly well that I should never go back. + +I left Manila after less than two days and rolled and plunged and +tumbled back across the China Sea to Hongkong. I bought a little chow +dog puppy from the Chinese steward on board, but I suppose it will grow +up and get fat one of these days, too. Allison Armour and his nephew, +Norman Armour, were with us and in Hongkong the latter bought two chow +dog puppies to send home. They looked exactly like teddy bears. Later he +resolved that the trouble and risk were too great, inasmuch as he was +not returning by the Pacific, so he gave them to me. And with three chow +dogs and my friend Stephenson I embarked on the _Asia_ for the +twenty-eight day trip to Frisco. + +The ship was jammed and we found a little fat man consigned to the sofa +in our state-room. He was pleasant looking, but we little realized what +hours of nocturnal horror were in store for us. He was the champion +snorist of the five continents. He could snore in all keys, all +languages, all directions, and it was like trying to sleep in the same +room with a fog-horn. Nothing could waken him and he went to sleep +before he struck the bed. And from that moment on through the night he +tried the acoustic properties of that end of the ship to the utmost. +After two or three nights of sleeplessness we resolved to rebel, mutiny, +revolt, and if necessary joyfully to commit justifiable homicide. + +[Drawing: _Never an American Flag_] + +One night Stephenson turned on the light and reached for his cane. "What +are you going to do? Kill him?" I asked eagerly. But he only poked at +the quivering form to awaken it, and merely succeeded in changing the +key from B flat to a discord of minors. + +At Yokohama somebody got off and by buying an extra berth we moved into +another state-room and slept for twenty-four hours. We called him +"Snoring Cupid," because of his cherubic appearance and proficiency in +snoring. + +It was the cherry blossom season in Japan. Through the constant rain we +saw the hillsides pink with loveliness. But it was cold and +disheartening and after five days in Japan we turned with relief to the +voyage homeward. And it was very pleasant. Lots of pleasant things +happened, but nothing more. + +It is good to be back where the American flag is a familiar sight and +not a curiosity. We saw thousands and thousands of merchant ships, but +except in Manila and Honolulu we never saw a solitary American flag on +one of them. + + * * * * * + +And that's the end of our hunting trip. We are now back where we have to +pay two or three times as much for things as we did in the Orient. A +cigar that costs three cents gold in Manila costs twelve and one-half +cents gold in San Francisco! But--never mind. A pleasant time was had. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +WAYS AND MEANS. WHAT TO TAKE AND WHAT NOT TO TAKE, INFORMATION FOR THOSE +THAT WISH, INTEND OR HOPE TO HUNT IN THE AFRICAN HIGHLANDS + + +When one returns to America after some time in the African game country, +he is assailed by many questions from others who wish, intend, or hope +to make a similar trip. Almost without variation the questioner will ask +about the cost, about the danger from fever and sickness, about snakes +and insects, about the tempers of the tribes one encounters, and then, +if he be a specialist, he will ask about the rifles and the camp +equipment. As these familiar and oft repeated inquiries have been made +by friends who had read my African letters, I must assume that the +features of an African hunting trip, about which people are most +curious, were very imperfectly answered in the preceding chapters. +Hence, this supplementary chapter, dealing briefly with the ways and +means of such a trip, is added for the enlightenment of such readers as +may be planning a journey into those fascinating regions of Africa where +I have so recently been. + +As to the cost of a trip of three or more months in the field I should +say that about one thousand dollars a month would amply cover the total +expenses from New York back to New York. This amount would include +passage money, guns, ammunition, landing charges, commissions, camera +expenses on a reasonable scale, tents, customs--in fact all the +incidental items which are not customarily included in the estimate +given by the Nairobi outfitters. These firms, chief of which are the +Newland, Tarlton and Company, Limited, which directed Colonel +Roosevelt's _safari_, and the Boma Trading Company, which directed the +Duke of Connaught's hunt, agree to outfit a party at a cost of about +five-hundred dollars a month for each white man. For this amount they +furnish everything except your ammunition, clothes, medicines, camera +supplies, export and import duties, mounting of trophies, passage money +to and from Africa, and such items. To particularize, they agree to +supply for this amount, a complete outfit of tents, foods, porters, camp +attendants, gunbearers, horses, mules or ox teams, as may be required, +and a native head-man or overseer. + +One who wished to do so could telegraph ahead to have one of the Nairobi +outfitting firms prepare a one, two or three months' hunt, or _safari_, +and then, with only a suit-case he could arrive, with the certainty that +everything would be in readiness. There would be no worry or concern +about any feature of that part of the work. He would be relieved of the +anxiety of preparation, and it is hardly likely that he would ever +regret having taken this course. The dealings of our _safari_ with +Messrs. Newland and Tarlton were most satisfactory in all respects and +the charges they made were entirely reasonable. To the one who desires +to make this trip in this, the simplest way, there is the need of giving +only one suggestion: Let him write to one of the outfitting firms, +stating the length of time that he can spend in the field, the class of +game that he chiefly wishes to get, the number of white men in his +party, and the season of the year that he plans to be in Africa. The +outfitters will then answer, giving all the particulars of cost and +equipment. This is the course that I should recommend for the average +hunter who has had no previous experience in Africa. It will save him +the trouble of making an endless amount of preparation, much of which +will be useless because of his ignorance of conditions in that field of +sport. + +In the case of our own _safari_, we bought our guns, tents, ammunition, +foods and entire equipment in London and had it shipped to Nairobi. This +equipment contemplated a trip of six months in the field, and included +sixty-five "chop boxes" of sixty pounds each, containing foods. These +chop boxes were of wood, with lids and locks, twenty of which were tin +lined for use in packing specimens later in the trip, and all marked +with bands of various colors to identify their contents. The boxes +contained the following supplies: + + +TWENTY CASES (RED BAND) + + Two tins imperial cheese. + One pound Ceylon tea. + One three-quarter pound tin ground coffee. + One four-pound tin granulated sugar. + Two tins ox tongue. + One tin oxford sausage. + Two tins sardines. + Two tins kippered herrings. + Three tins deviled ham (Underwood's). + Two tins jam (assorted). + Two tins marmalade (Dundee). + Three half-pound tins butter. + Three half-pound tins dripping. + Ten half-pound tins ideal milk. + Two tins small captain biscuit. + Two tins baked beans, Heinz (tomato sauce). + One half-pound tin salt. + One two-pound tin chocolate (Army and Navy). + Two parchment skins pea soup. + One one and one-half pound tin Scotch oatmeal. + + +TWENTY CASES (BLUE BAND) + + Two tins baked beans (Heinz) (tomato sauce). + One tin bologna sausage. + One tin sardines. + One tin sardines, smoked. + Two one-pound tins camp, pie. + Five tins jam, assorted. + Two tins marmalade (Dundee). + Five half-pound tins butter. + Three half-pound tins dripping. + Ten half-pound tins ideal milk. + Two tins imperial cheese. + One one and one-quarter pound tin Ceylon tea. + One three-quarter pound tin ground coffee. + One four pound tin granulated sugar. + One quarter-pound tin cocoa. + Two tins camp biscuit. + One half-pound tin salt. + One one and one-half tin Scotch oatmeal. + One one-pound tin lentils. + One tin mixed vegetables (dried). + One two-pound tin German prunes. + Six soup squares. + One ounce W. pepper. + Two sponge cloths. + One-half quire kitchen paper. + One two-pound tin chocolate (Army and Navy). + + +SIXTEEN CASES (GREEN BAND) + + Three fourteen-pound tins self-raising flour. + Two cases (black band) containing fifteen bottles lime juice (plain) + Montserrat. + Two cases, each containing one dozen Scotch whisky. + Two cases (red and blue band) thirty pounds bacon, well packed in + salt. + Two cases (yellow and black band) five ten-pound tins plaster of + Paris for making casts of animals. + One case (red and green band) fifty pounds sperm candles--large size + (carriage). + Four folding lanterns. + +The following items to be equally divided into as many lots as necessary +to make sixty-pound cases: + + Eight Edam cheeses. + Twenty tins bovril. + Twenty two-pound tins sultana raisins. + Ten two-pound tins currants. + Ten one-pound tins macaroni. + Thirty tins Underwood deviled ham. + Eighty tablets carbolic soap. + Eighty packets toilet paper. + Ten bottles Enos' fruit salt. + Twenty one-pound tins plum pudding. + Six tins curry powder. + Twenty one-pound tins yellow Dubbin. + Six one-pound tins veterinary vaseline. + Six one-pound tins powdered sugar. + Six tin openers. + Twelve tins asparagus tips. + Twelve tins black mushrooms. + Six large bottles Pond's extract. + Twelve ten-yard spools zinc oxide surgeon's tape one inch wide. + Two small bottles Worcestershire sauce. + +In addition to the foregoing we added the following equipment of table +ware: + + Eight white enamel soup plates--light weight. + Eight white enamel dinner plates--light weight. + Three white enamel vegetable dishes--medium size. + Six one-pint cups. + Eight knives and forks. + Twelve teaspoons. + Six soup spoons. + Six large table-spoons. + One carving knife and fork. + Six white enamel oatmeal dishes. + +As our tent equipment and some of the miscellanies necessary to our +expedition, the subjoined articles were procured: + + Four double roof ridge tents 10 by 8--4 feet walls, in valises. + One extra fly of above size, with poles, ropes, etc, complete. + Five ground sheets for above, one foot larger each way, + _i.e._, 11 by 9. + Four mosquito nets for one-half tents, 9 feet long. + Four circular canvas baths. + Twelve green, round-bottom bags 43 by 30. + Four hold-all bags with padlocks. + Two fifty-yard coils 1 1-4 Manila rope. + One pair wood blocks for 1 1-4 brass sheaves, strapped with tails. + Four four-quart tin water bottles. + Two eight-quart Uganda water bottles. + Four large canvas water buckets. + One gross No. 1 circlets. + One punch and die. + +The foregoing lot of supplies were ordered through Newland, Tarlton and +Company's agent at 166 Piccadilly, London, and were ready when we +reached London. + + +Medicines and Surgical Equipment + +It is well to provide a good store of medicines and some instruments, +even though, as in our case, we had little occasion to use any of it. +One of the Burroughs and Wellcome medicine cases "for East Africa" is +compact and well selected. In addition there should be plenty of zinc +oxide adhesive plaster, some bandages and some hypodermic syringes for +use in case of wounds which might lead to blood poisoning. In our first +experience with lions we always went prepared for wounds of this sort, +but later we took no precautions whatever and fortunately had no +occasion for heroic measures. At the same time, it is far wiser always +to be prepared. + +We were also well supplied with tick medicines, but in spite of the fact +that we encountered millions of ticks, they gave us no concern and no +tick preventatives were used. Quinine and calomel are essentials and may +be bought in Nairobi. + + +Rifles + +It is important that each hunter include in his battery one heavy +double-barreled cordite rifle for use at close quarters where a shocking +impact is desirable. Each of our party had a .475 Jeffery, which we +found to be entirely satisfactory, and which served us as well as though +we had used the more expensive Holland and Holland's .450. I do not +presume to know much about the relative merits of rifles, but after an +experience of four and a half months with the Jeffery's .475, I feel +justified in saying that this type would meet all requirements reliably. +These rifles cost thirty-five guineas each. + +Mr. Akeley and I each had a nine millimeter Mannlicher, which we found +to be unsatisfactory, either through fault of our own or of the rifle. +We had a feeling that the weight of the ball was too great for the +charge of powder. Others may favor it, but I should not include it in my +battery if I were to go again. This type costs twelve guineas. + +Mr. Stephenson used a .318 Mauser, which he found most satisfactory. We +also had three .256 Mannlichers, which in my experience is a type for +which too much praise can not be given. It is also a twelve guinea +rifle. + +In mentioning these three rifles of foreign make, I do not wish to imply +that they are superior to our own American guns. Colonel Roosevelt used +a Winchester .405 and a Springfield, both of which he considered most +desirable. I think if I were to go again I should take a .405 as my +second gun, heavy enough for all purposes except the close-quarter work +where the big cordite double-barrels are necessary. + +The matter of a battery is one which each sportsman should determine for +himself. There are many good types and a man is naturally inclined to +favor those with which he is familiar. + +We also carried shot guns, one ten-gauge which, with buck shot, makes a +formidable weapon for stopping charges of soft-skinned animals at close +range; and two twenty-gauge Parkers for bird shooting. + +In addition, we included revolvers, none of which we fired or needed at +any time in Africa. Perhaps a heavy six-shooter might some time be a +valuable reserve, but our experience leads me to think that it would +generally repose quietly in camp at all times. + +In the way of ammunition for a six-months' shoot, we took for each +cordite rifle, 200 full mantle, 200 soft nose and 100 split cartridges. +For the 9 millimeter, we took for each rifle 450 solids, 500 splits and +500 soft-nosed bullets, and practically the same for the .256 +Mannlichers. We found that we had far more ammunition than we required, +especially the solids for the smaller rifles, but it is better to have +too much than to have the fear of running short. One should not forget +that he is likely to shoot more than in his wildest dreams he supposed +possible and the meanest feeling on a hunt is to have constantly to +economize cartridges. + +None of us used telescope sights but by many sportsmen they are +considered highly desirable in African shooting where often the range is +great and the light confusing. + + +Personal Equipment + +When we stopped in New York on our way to Africa, we talked with Mr. +Bayard Dominick, who had just returned from such a trip as we had in +mind, and from him secured a list of articles which he found to be +sufficient and equal to all needs. We used this list to guide us and +except in minor details, assembled a similar equipment: + + Two suits--coat and breeches--gabardine or khaki. + One belt. + Two knives--one hunting-knife, one jack-knife. + Three pair cloth putties. + Three flannel shirts (I actually only used two). + Six suits summer flannels, merino, long drawers. + Three pair Abercrombie lightest shoes (one pair rubber soles). + Three colored silk handkerchiefs. + Two face towels--two bath towels. + Three khaki cartridge holders to put on shirts to + hold big cartridges, one for each shirt. + One pair long trousers to put on at night, khaki. + Two suits flannel pajamas. + Eight pair socks (I used gray Jaeger socks, fine). + One light west sweater. + One Mackinaw coat (not absolutely necessary). + One rubber coat. + One pair mosquito boots (Lawn and Alder, London). + Soft leather top boots for evening wear in camp. + Five leather pockets to hold cartridges to go on belt. + Three whetstones (one for self and two for gunbearers). + One helmet (we used Gyppy pattern Army and Navy stores). + One double terai hat, brown (Army and Navy stores). + One six-_or_eight-foot pocket tape of steel to measure horns. + One compass. + One diary. + Writing materials. + Toilet articles. + +Articles for personal use, however, may be determined by the wishes and +experiences of the individual. + +We each had good Zeiss glasses, which are essential, and later, in +Nairobi, were able to obtain a satisfactory replenishment of hunting +clothes and shoes. + + +Cameras + +Everybody who goes shooting will want at least one camera if only for +the purpose of having his picture taken with his first lion, if he is +successful in getting one. Mr. Akeley made special preparations for +taking fine photographs, and for this reason carried a complete outfit, +even to a dark-room equipment for developing negatives and moving +picture films in the field. He carried a naturalist's graflex, a small +hand camera and a moving-picture machine. Mr. Stephenson had a 3A Kodak, +I had the same and also a Verascope stereoscopic camera. We used films +and plates and found no deterioration in them even after several months +in the field. Films and camera supplies may be purchased in Nairobi; and +also the developing and printing may be done most satisfactorily in the +town. + + +Fevers and Sickness + +It is my belief that the dangers of this sort are magnified in the +imaginations of those who contemplate a trip to East Africa. Very little +of the hunting is done in jungles--in fact there are few jungles except +on the slopes of the mountains and along the course of streams. Our +_safari_ went into the Athi Plains, along the Athi River down the Tana +River, up on Mount Kenia and later on the Guas Ngishu Plateau, along the +Nzoia River, and up Mount Elgon. Coming out of this district, we passed +through the Rift Valley and part of our _safari_ went up to Lake +Hannington. So, from personal experience, I can speak with knowledge of +only these sections. Along the Tana we were in fever country, the +altitude being only about thirty-five hundred feet. And yet only two of +our party had touches of fever, so light that they readily yielded to +quinine. This was tick country, and we had been led to believe that we +should be fearfully pestered with these insects. But there was almost no +annoyance from them, due, perhaps, to a good deal of care in keeping +them out of our clothes. There were many mosquitoes in this section, but +effective mosquito nets over our cots protected us from them. + +On Mount Kenia, the high Guas Ngishu Plateau and Mount Elgon, the +thought of sickness was entirely absent. These districts were found to +be salubrious and free from ticks and mosquitoes. + + +Snakes + +Before going to Africa, I must admit that the thought of serpents +occasioned much anxiety. I didn't like the idea of tramping around +through grass and reeds where poisonous snakes might be found. And yet, +after a few days in the field, I never seriously thought of snakes as a +possible, or rather probable, source of danger. In four and a half +months, in all kinds of country, much of the time on foot, I saw only +six live snakes. They were all small and only two, a puff adder and a +little viper, were known to be venomous. Our porters, with bare feet and +legs, penetrated all kinds of snaky-looking spots and yet not one was +bitten. In fact, I have never heard of any one being bitten by snakes in +East Africa, and for this reason I can not avoid the conclusion that the +fear of snakes need not be seriously considered as an element of danger +in the country. + + +The Natives + +So many hunting parties have gone over the game fields that the natives +are familiar with white men and are not at all likely to be hostile or +troublesome. Our _safari_ at one time went into a district where we were +warned to expect trouble, but there was none and I think there never +need be any if the white men are considerate and fair. If a district is +known to be particularly troublesome, the government authorities would +not permit a hunting party to go into it, so for that reason the hunters +need apprehend no dangers from that source. + + +Game + +Game is found in varying degrees of abundance in most parts of the East +African highlands. Within two hours of Nairobi the sportsman may find +twelve or fifteen species, while within the space of four weeks a lucky +hunter might secure elephant, lion, rhinoceros, buffalo, eland and +hippopotamus. It is hardly _likely_ that he would, but it is quite +within the range of possibilities. It all depends upon luck. The hunter +is allowed under his two hundred and fifty dollar license, about one +hundred and ninety-five animals, comprising thirty-five species, and not +including lion, leopard, wart-hog and hyena. There is no restriction on +the number of these last-named species that one is allowed to shoot, but +there is on the number that he gets the opportunity of shooting. + +The success of an expedition should not be measured by the number of +trophies, but rather by the quality of them. For example, the new +license allows twenty zebras, but no one would want to kill more than +two unless as food for the porters. The same is true of many other +species, and a temperate sportsman should have no desire to kill more +than a couple of each species, say sixty or eighty head in all, unless, +of course, he is making collections for museums or for other scientific +purposes. + +The gunbearers are usually fairly good skinners and if carefully watched +and directed can treat the heads and skins so that they may be safely +got in to Nairobi. Here they should be overhauled carefully and packed +in brine for shipment out of the country. The agents in Nairobi should +be consulted about these details and will give competent instructions +covering this phase of the work. + + +GAME LAWS + +These are of necessity under frequent revision, but the latest available +information allows the holder of a fifty-pound license, which lasts for +one year from date of issue, to kill or capture the following: + +Buffalo (Bull), 2; [A]Rhinoceros, 2; [A]Hippopotamus, 2; [A]Eland, 1; +Zebra (Grevey's), 2; Zebra, (Common), 20; Oryx callotis, 2; Oryx beisa, +4; Waterbuck (of each species), 2; Sable antelope (male), 1; [A]Roan +antelope (male), 1; [A]Greater Kudu (male), 1; Lesser Kudu, 4; Topi, 2; +Topi (in Jubaland, Tanaland and Loita Plains), 8; Coke's Hartebeest, 20; +[A]Neumann's Hartebeest, 2; Jackson's Hartebeest, 4; Hunter's Antelope, +6; Thomas' Kob, 4; Bongo, 2; Impalla, 4; Sitatunga, 2; Wildebeest, 3; +Grant's Gazelle (Typica, Notata Bright's, Robertsi), each, 3; Gerenuk, +4; Duiker (Harvey's, Isaac's, and Blue), each, 10; Dik-dik (Kirk's, +Guenther's, Hinde's, Cavendish's), each, 10; Oribi (Abyssinian, +Haggard's, Kenia), each, 10; Suni (Nesotragus Moschatus), 10; +Klipspringer, 10; Reedbuck (Ward's, Chanler's), each, 10; Gazelle +(Thompson's, Peter's, Soemmering's), each, 10; Bushbuck (Common, +Haywood's), each, 10; Colobi Monkeys, of each species, 6; Marabou, 4; +Egret, of each species, 4. + +[Footnote A: Can not be killed in certain districts.] + +SPECIAL LICENSES + +These can be taken out for ten pounds each and entitle the holder to +kill or capture: + +Elephant with tusks over thirty pounds, each, 1; Bull Giraffe in certain +districts, 1. + +A second elephant is allowed on payment of a further fee of twenty +pounds, this fee being returnable in the event of the elephant not being +obtained. + +Lions and leopards are classed as vermin, and consequently no license to +kill them is required. + + +The Season for Shooting + +"Practically any time of the year will do for shooting in British East +Africa, but the season of the 'big rains' from the end of January to the +end of April, is not one to choose willingly from the point of view of +comfort. There is also a short spell of rainy weather about October and +November which, however, is not looked upon as an obstacle to a +_safari_, and we may say that from May to February constitutes the +shooting season." + +The foregoing is quoted from a pamphlet on East Africa game shooting. In +our own experience the weather between September and February was +perfectly delightful and I judge, from reading accounts of Colonel +Roosevelt's trip, that his operations between April and December were +never seriously hampered by bad weather. From the experiences of these +two _safaris_, one might reasonably conclude that any time is good +except February, March and April, the season of the "big rains." + + +Heat + +On the Athi Plains in September, we found the heat in the middle of the +day to be very ardent, to say the least. But with the exception of fewer +than a dozen days in all, we never were obliged to consider this phase +of the hunting experience as an objectionable feature. We found the cold +of the high altitudes to be severe in the evenings and in contrast to +it, the warm days were most welcome. Along the coast, of course, the +heat is intense, but all of the shooting is done at altitudes exceeding +thirty-five hundred feet and one merely pauses at the coast town long +enough to catch his train. In September even Mombasa was delightful, but +in January it was very hot. + +In conclusion, I might say that all one needs for an African hunting +trip is sufficient time, sufficient money, and a fair degree of health. +Also the services of a reliable outfitting firm which will furnish +enlightenment upon all subjects not specifically included in the +foregoing chapter of advice and information. + + + + _With the exception of the photographs, all of which are here + reproduced for the first time, a great part of this material appeared + originally in The Chicago Tribune, and is now published in book form + by the courtesy of that paper._ + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN AFRICA*** + + +******* This file should be named 21254.txt or 21254.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/2/5/21254 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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