ELEPHANTS FOUND--THE HUNT--THE EVENING AT THE CAMP--AN ELEPHANT
ADVENTURE--ENCOUNTER WITH A KAFFIR SPY--MORE ELEPHANTS--STRANGE MEN--
HANS MADE PRISONER.
During the first few days of their journey the only game that the
hunters encountered were elands, buffaloes, and antelopes of various
kinds. Of these numbers were killed, so as to supply the camp with
food, and also to lay in a stock of beltong for the future; for in some
parts of Africa the game suddenly disappears, apparently without cause,
and the hunter finds it extremely difficult to obtain even the
necessaries for his daily meals. More than once there had been
expectations raised in consequence of elephants' footmarks having been
discovered, but on examination these proved to be old, and the elephants
were evidently journeying northwards when they left their traces on the
ground. The party had now reached the sources of the Pongola river, and
the traces of elephants were most numerous.
"We must have passed many herds of elephants in the forests," said
Victor, as he rode beside Hans, and followed the spoor of some bull
elephants which was very fresh, and which had been traced since
daybreak. "We should have stopped and hunted them."
"We can do that on our return, if we do not obtain enough ivory
hereabouts to fill our waggons; but I think this country much better
suited for hunting than the thicker bush further down. We can always
ride our horses here, which we could not in the bush we have passed; and
so our success here will be probably greater. We ought soon to sight
these elephants, for the spoor is quite fresh. Hark! did you not hear a
trumpet? There are elephants near, and we shall get them to-day. Where
are the rest of our party?"
"They have all gone after the spoor that led along the river's bank, and
I don't think that was as fresh as this; but need we wait for them?
They may have found their game, and will not wish to join us."
"We will ride on," said Hans. "It was among those trees in that slope I
heard the trumpet, and see! there is a bull elephant. Pull up; let us
watch him awhile; he is a magnificent tusker, and there are at least
half-a-dozen others. Victor, we must get nearly all these. We shall
have a good day's work to do that, though, for they will carry away many
bullets. Ah! there was a shot from down to leeward: so the others have
found elephants. See! the bull has heard the shot, and is alarmed."
It was true that the sound of a gun, though probably not an unusual
sound, was yet one that alarmed the elephants, for they collected
hurriedly together, and strode away at a rapid pace.
"I wish we could have lodged our bullets in them before they became
alarmed," said Hans; "but we may do that now, if we ride on before them,
and keep a little wide. The elephant has very bad sight, and he may not
see us."
Hans and Victor galloped forward in the direction in which they had seen
the elephants, taking care not to follow exactly in their footmarks, and
in a very short time they saw the huge animals had collected under some
spreading acacias, and were elevating their ears to endeavour to hear if
any danger threatened them, whilst their trunks were raised to catch the
scent of any foe.
"Now," said Hans, "we may drop an elephant before we give them the
alarm. They don't know what to fear; they only know not what to make of
the sound of a gun. They have not been much hunted, it is evident, or
they would not stop so soon after being alarmed. We will now fasten our
horses to these trees, and stalk the elephants; then we can retreat to
our horses, and follow them on horseback."
"We ought to put four bullets into that large bull first," said Victor;
"then the others, not having a leader, will not know what to do."
"We will stop his getting away, Victor. I can hit him in the leg, and
can then take him between the eye and the ear. Unless your bullet is
very large, it is between the eye and the ear that you had better shoot,
on the chance of a death-shot. I have killed many of my elephants by
hitting them there."
The two hunters fastened their horses to a tree at about 300 yards from
the elephants, and then commenced stalking their noble game. The
elephants, although but lately disturbed by the discharge of a gun, had
recovered from their alarm, and stood beneath the trees, occasionally
raising their ears to listen; but the cautious advance of Hans and his
companion was conducted so quietly that even the acute hearing of the
elephant could not discover that an enemy was near him, and the two
hunters succeeded in reaching a tree that was within eighty yards of the
largest bull without being seen or heard by their formidable game. The
stake for which these men were playing was too important a one to allow
of a single chance being thrown away. Thus no word was uttered by
either, and merely a signal was given by one or the other to draw
attention to some fact which it was necessary to notice. The breaking
of a dead stick by treading on it would have been fatal to their
success, and thus it was necessary to watch where each foot was placed,
in order to avoid such a contingency.
Upon reaching the corner of the tree Hans signalled to Victor that they
would fire at the same time, and without delay; for the elephants were
getting uneasy, and were uttering short sharp cries, which seemed
signals of danger. The great bull of the herd, whose polished white
teeth protruded far out of his mouth, stood broadside to the hunters;
but his watchful manner and uneasy movements indicated that he might at
any moment turn and retreat, or at least alter his position; so Hans,
taking aim between the eye and the ear, fired, whilst Victor, aiming at
his fore-leg just above the knee, fired at the same instant. The aim of
Hans was true, and his bullet found its way through a mass of bone to
the elephant's brain, for it fell dead to the shot, and there was,
therefore, no need for the second bullet. The instant the sound of the
guns was heard, the remaining elephants retreated over the bushy ground
with a headlong, reckless speed. Trees that stood in the way were
knocked down, the noise of their being broken sounding like the crack of
a rifle. There are few things which give one a greater idea of animal
power than the headlong rush of a troop of elephants through a forest.
The elephant is usually a quiet animal, and when it moves through the
bush it proceeds with scarcely any noise, its feet being well suited for
walking quietly. When alarmed, however, it rushes forward almost
blindly, for its great weight causes it to move onwards in nearly a
straight line, rapid turns being almost impossible. Thus if a tree
stand in its way, and is of moderate size only, the elephant runs
against it, and breaks it off. On several occasions we have had
opportunities of measuring the diameter of the stems of trees thus
broken off, and we have found many which were eight inches in diameter.
The noise caused by a number of such trees being snapped in two, one
after the other may be readily imagined.
As soon as Hans saw the elephant fall, he said, "Bring up the horses,
Victor; I'll cut off the tail, in case any one comes this way."
Hans had completed his work before Victor had reached him with the
horses; so, having reloaded his gun, he ran back to meet Victor. The
two then mounted their horses, and rode after the remaining elephants,
which by this time had gained a long start; but elephants which have led
a quiet, unhunted life for a considerable time soon get too fat to keep
up a rapid pace for any length of time, and stand no chance with a
horse, except for a few hundred yards. If, however, the huge animals
are not hurried, they will continue striding on at a speed of eight or
ten miles an hour for some time. After about a mile's gallop, the
hunters were once more near their game, and now quite a different kind
of sport commenced to the stalking which had been previously practised.
Riding forward, so as to be slightly in advance of the elephants, the
hunters pulled up their horses, jumped off, and as the animals shuffled
past, sent their four bullets into the largest elephant that remained.
Feeling itself hit, the creature turned on its assailants, and with
upraised trunk and shrill piercing shrieks rushed on. To mount their
horses and gallop off was a momentary proceeding with both Hans and
Victor; but so furious was the savage animal's charge, that it was
nearly catching Victor's horse, and did not cease to pursue until it had
followed its enemies for several hundred yards, when, finding further
pursuit useless, it followed the other elephants. It was not allowed to
go so quietly, however; for the hunters, having reloaded, followed it,
and with a second volley brought it to the ground.
"We must let none of those elephants escape," said Hans, when a second
tail was added to that previously taken. "Bernhard is with the other
party, and depend upon it they will kill more than an elephant each.
There are fine tusks in those elephants' heads on before us, and the
creatures are so blown they cannot run fast now. Two more each will
make it a good day's sport."
Setting spurs to their horses, the pursuit was once more carried on, and
with a discharge of several bullets four more elephants were laid low.
"Now," said Hans, "I will say the sport is good. We can return to our
outspan to-night, and can tell what we have done, not boastfully, but as
men who have done well. I hope the others have been as successful."