HUNTING GIRAFFES--NOVEL MODE OF CAPTURE--A BIG SNAKE.
The elephant presented a good broadside toward me, and I fired; or
rather I went through the motions of firing, without doing so. The
cartridge was defective, and the hammer of the rifle gave forth, as
it descended, the disappointing thud with which every hunter is
acquainted. It is not much of a sound, but it was enough to send the
elephant scampering through the forest.
My disappointment can be, as the reporters say, "more easily imagined
than described." Not only was I disappointed, but I was angry--angry
all through; and if the maker of that cartridge had been in my reach
I am sure I could have wrung his neck.
I followed up the elephants, but it was no use; they had taken the
alarm, and were making off through the forest a great deal faster
than I could go.
When fully satisfied of the vanity of my pursuit I turned about and
started for camp. It was too late for me to join my friends in the
hippopotamus-hunt, and so I remained around camp until they arrived.
They had not much to boast of--only one hippo between them; but they
proposed that we should try it again the next day, unless something
better offered in the meantime. I assented, and added that I thought
a change of game would be beneficial, as elephants were getting
monotonous. When we went to bed we were fully possessed of the
determination to pursue the hippos; but Africa is a good deal like
other countries--you never know what a day will bring forth.
So it was in our case. While we were preparing for our day's work
one of out runners came in and reported a herd of giraffes in the
open country to the south. That was a new kind of game for us, and
we determined to go for them. Giraffe-hunting requires some good
work on horseback, and also requires good shooting.
We struck out in the direction indicated by the Kafirs, and about
three miles from camp came upon the spoor of the giraffes. The
country was thorny and stony, and pretty bad traveling generally, but
we managed to get over it somehow or other. As we rose over the
crest of a ridge I was ahead, and the first to catch sight of the
animals; there were eight or ten of them in the group, and they were
fully five hundred yards away from us. We struck into a gallop,
paying little attention to the obstructions, and gained on them at a
good rate; but it is the unexpected that always happens.
My horse had never seen a giraffe before, and when I came within
about twenty yards of the herd he stopped and trembled with fear. I
drove the spurs into him and managed to start him, but he was as
scared as a country girl when she thinks she sees a ghost.
Harry passed me and ranged up close to the giraffes, which had
materially widened the distance between me and them. The sight of
the other horse gave mine confidence, and away he went as though he
had suddenly found out that a giraffe is as harmless as a sheep.
Harry picked out the very animal that I had selected for myself--a
handsome cow. I picked out a bull which was running away from the
herd and making a course for himself; he was a splendid fellow, and
could go at great speed, covering as much ground with one bound of
his long legs as my horse could cover with three.
When I got the bull separated from the herd my horse seemed to enter
into the spirit of the thing, and dashed on through everything. I
had brought along a Winchester, thinking it would be better for the
business in hand than a Remington, and it did not take me long to
find out that I was right. There was no possibility of dismounting
to take aim, and, moreover, the giraffe was such a huge beast that it
seemed as if he could be hit as easily as the side of a barn. But,
after all, he is not very vulnerable, and a bullet must be well
planted to disable him.
Ranging up alongside of him, and not more than ten yards away, I
fired, hitting him somewhere in the neck. The shot did not seem to
have any effect on him, except to turn him in my direction. Whether
he intended to charge, or just made a movement of observation, I do
not know; but his great head and neck towered above me like a huge
tree over a small house. It seemed as if, by stooping and laying my
face close to the horse's neck, I could have gone under him without
touching his belly. I never realized that any animal which walked
was as large as that beast.
I gave him four or five shots, planted as best I could plant them,
but without any very serious effect. The next shot, however, brought
him down, as it hit him in the fore-shoulder and smashed it all to
pieces. When I fired that shot I do not think I was more than two
yards from him. The horse stopped as the giraffe fell, and he looked
the strange beast all over with the curiosity of a countryman at a
menagerie. He did not seem so much alarmed at the appearance of the
beast as he was at the powerful odor which arose from him. There is
a strong smell about the giraffe, which doubtless the reader may have
noticed when looking at these creatures in a show.
Harry brought down his game about half a mile farther back than where
I shot mine. Jack was equally fortunate, as he killed a cow; in
fact, he was more fortunate than either Harry or myself, as his cow
was the slickest and fattest of the three animals. I cut off the
mane and tail of my giraffe as a trophy, and also took out the
tongue, which is the most delicate portion of the creature. In fact,
this rule holds good about most of the African game.
We saved the meat from Jack's cow, and found it very tender and good;
the other two giraffes we skinned, and left the meat for the natives
and wild animals. There was a Kafir village a mile or so from where
our hunt took place, and you can be sure that not much of that meat
was wasted. If there are any natives in the vicinity where you have
shot an animal, the lions, hyenas, and jackals have very little
chance for a feed, as the negroes speedily dispose of all they can
hold--which is a great deal--and what they cannot hold they carry
away.
Giraffe-hunting is very good sport, but it is less dangerous than
hunting elephants and buffaloes, for the reason that the giraffe is
naturally an inoffensive animal. He can go at a smashing pace, and
it is only by fast riding that he can be overtaken. At one time I
shot six of them in three days, but I used up two horses pretty
thoroughly in doing it.
I had a stern chase after one of them, which I came in sight of one
day while the wagons were on the road. It occurred to me that I
would follow the example of the man in California who was chased by a
bear one morning directly into camp, his friends shooting the beast
just as he arrived there. The man ran through the camp, and paused
as he heard the shots. Coming back, he quietly remarked, "I bring in
my game alive!" I thought I would manage it so as to fetch that
giraffe to the wagons before killing it.
I headed him after the first shot, and, by keeping wide away from him
and shouting occasionally, drove him in a circle, and fired a
finishing shot within two hundred yards of the wagons. We went into
camp at once, and had a grand feast without the necessity of carrying
the meat any appreciable distance.
Another of the giraffes that I killed at this time plunged headlong
into a tree when he received the finishing shot. His head caught in
a fork of the tree about twelve feet from the ground, and remained
there wedged fast. I can hardly say that that giraffe died "with his
boots on," but he certainly died standing on all-fours, and remained
there till he was cut down.
The next day was the time set for our visit to the camp of the
ladies, and for luncheon with them. Over our supper after the
giraffe-hunt we had an extended debate on the subject; a considerable
part of the debate had reference to our costumes, and consisted
principally of lamentations.
"What swells we would be," said Jack, "if we only had our New York
and London wardrobes!"
"I'm afraid we'd get a mob of the niggers after us if we should come
out fitted for a promenade on Broadway or Pall Mall," replied Harry.
"These people are patient and long-suffering in enduring the vagaries
of foreigners that come here, but they never could stand that."
"Isn't it quite possible," I added, "that our hosts might not
appreciate our efforts in their behalf if we arrayed ourselves in
gorgeous style to appear before them!"
"They would appreciate the effort," said Harry, "though they might
not admire the taste. Anyway, I'll warrant they'll be dressed a good
deal more after civilized fashion than after that of South Africa.
But as to our get-up, they didn't seem to take any offense at it when
they called upon us, and it certainly wasn't of the kind suited to a
fashionable parlor."
After a good many arguments it was settled that we would get
ourselves up in the best of our outfits, including the checked shirts
that had come into use on the day of our luncheon. We had already
had our best suits sponged down and made fairly presentable, and on
these we hung our fate.
When we were saddling up next morning, preparing to start, Harry
suggested that we take our rifles along, and perhaps do a little
stroke of hunting on the way. I opposed this, and then we had
another brief discussion, which ended in a compromise: we did not
take any of the heavy weapons, but only our lighter pieces, Jack and
I carrying our smallest rifles and Harry equipping himself with a
shot-gun. We were thus kept out of the temptation of chasing any big
game that might fall in our way, but would be able to cope with
game-birds and small animals.
In our ride across the country toward our destination we had proof of
the correctness of the adage, "What odd things we see when we haven't
got a gun!" Off to the south we could make out a troop of giraffes;
to the north, at the edge of the forest already described, half a
dozen elephants were in sight, and offering a splendid chance to the
hunter properly equipped for them. When within about two miles of
the amazonian hunters we descried a herd of buffaloes, and also, half
a mile away from them, a herd of elands--a dozen at least. What
splendid sport there was within our reach! But our weapons were not
adapted to it.
Jack remarked that the game "would keep," and we might have a chance
for some fun the next day.
Harry suggested that we send back to our camp for our heavy rifles,
and then invite the ladies to take a run with us after luncheon,
cutting that meal a little short to suit the circumstances.
Jack replied that we might be treading on dangerous ground to do so.
By making the suggestion we might force them to do something much to
their dislike; declining to do so, they would show the white feather
as hunters; and they might not be at all desirous of letting us see
their skill, or the lack of it.
"That's so," said Harry; "I didn't think of that feature of it.
Guess we'll say nothing about it, nor about the game that we saw on
our way."
"Oh, as to that," said Jack, "there's no harm in mentioning the game
in a careless sort of way, just as though it were an every-day affair
with us; and we can add that there will be a good chance for sport
to-morrow. Then, if they choose to propose a joint hunt, you bet
we'll accept the suggestion and lay our plans accordingly."
We had a use for our small arms, though not in the way we had
expected. The sun was hot, and we rode in under a little clump of
trees to rest awhile in their shade. We dismounted, and were about
to throw ourselves on the ground when Jack espied an enormous snake
directly above us, and darting his head as if he resented the
intrusion we had made upon his domain.
"Now for your shot-gun, Harry," said Jack, as he called attention to
the reptile; "give him both barrels!"