Hunting The Elephant and Other Game In Africa - with Recollections From Years of Safari by Stigand Captain C. H

Author:Stigand, Captain C. H. [Stigand, Captain C. H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heart and Mind Publishing
Published: 2011-05-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XII

Elephant Hunting In The Lugware Country

(Continued)

This elephant hunt began before Hart arrived back, but as it finished after he left again, I have kept it in one to make it more consecutive.

Whilst at the camp I had made at Gessi, a native came in to tell me about one lone elephant who lived by himself and never moved from a certain spot. I have so often heard about him that I begin to know him well, although I have never met him. I have heard about him in Uganda and in Nyasaland, but here he seems specially to thrive. He is so old that he can hardly move, his tusks touch the ground as he walks, he is always by himself, and stands about in the same place for months at a time.

I was taken down to a village three hours distant and from here we commenced our search. After wandering about for many hours we had come on no more recent tracks than some three days old. These had been seen the day before, and the rest of the story had been built up on this foundation.

We arrived back at the village at 3 P.M. and the chief brought out food for the porters with me. As we were sitting at this village some men came in from another and said that they had seen ten elephant close to their village. On receipt of this news, we immediately started off again.

Now I think a hunter who has been going from sunrise to 3 P.M. on false news and then, whilst still three hours away from his camp, starts on new khabar at that time, either deserves some great reward, or ought to be restrained under lock and key.

We followed our new guide through a few villages, and then met two men who rushed sweating out of the bush and said, "There they are just there." We followed these new men for an hour and they led us to a place where elephant had been standing for their midday halt, but had evidently moved on some three hours ago.

Still undaunted, we proceeded till sunset and were then just about to abandon pursuit, when I heard something move in front. I listened and heard the rustling of a big body pushing through the bushes. I hurried on and found that one big bull had detached himself from the spoor of the remainder, and he it was that we had heard. He had evidently got our wind and was moving on fast. I raced down his track and it led us round in a semicircle till it joined the spoor of the others again. Once more I heard a rustling ahead and so ran on.

Now an old bull very often cannot be bored to go right away when he gets your wind, but he will stampede perhaps eight hundred yards and then stop, and listen for you and try to get your wind. If he finds that he is still being followed, he will do another stampede and wait again.

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