Hunting Elephants in 1936

THE PLANTS OF A SILTED POND.

171

only what one would expect; and doubtless, in the course of a few ycars, the Flora of this piece of land will become uniform with that of the surrounding parkland.

CATALOGUE

(sec. London Cat.).

Ranunculus acris, bulbosus, ficaria and *circinatus; Papaver rhceas (one plant); Radicula Islandica, Druce ; Capsella bursapastoris; Coronopus didymus and procumbens, Gilb.; Cerastium vulgatum, L., Geranium Robertianum, Erodium cicutarium, Acer pseudo-platanus (seedlings only), Medicago lupulina ; Trifolium pratense and r e p e n s ; Potentilla Anserina and reptans ; Dipsacus fullonum* (one p l a n t ) ; Bellis perennis, Gnaphalium uliginosum, Achillea millefolium; Seneciรถ Jacobsea and vulgaris; Carduus crispus* ; Cirsium lanceolatum*, arvense and palustre* ; Centaurea nigra, Leontodon autumnalis, Taraxacum vulgare ; Myosotis palustris and versicolor ; Solanum dulcamara* and n i g r u m * ; Veronica beccabunga, anagallis, scutellata and agrestis ; Mentha piperita and aquatica, L. ; Bartsia odontites*; Plantago lanceolata, media and *major ; Chenopodium polyspermum; Polygonum persicaria and aviculare; Rumex crispus and acetosa; Salix fragilis and caprea.

HUNTING ELEPHANTS in 1936.

BY THE REVD. A .

H.

PAGET W I L K E S , M . A . ,

(Member

M.B.O.U.,

etc.

1932-3).

THF. best time of year to shoot African Elephants is from December to April when the grass has been burnt off, the rains are over, and both water and grazing are becoming increasingly local, f o r the movements of all game are thus more restricted than when grass and water may be found everywhere.

On 1 January last my wife and I had a report of a small herd of Elephants' feeding and sleeping regularly in the River Ii valley, not very far from this mission Station where I write at Movo, which is situated in the West Nile area of Uganda, comprised in what used to be known as the Lado Enclave.

That night we sent out a scout to ascertain the herd's movements and early in the morning be returned saying he had seen the Elephants moving about that valley. Taking his word we went with gunbearers bv car along the main road south f r o m Moyo. At a point which he indicated we stopped, having come within easy distance of the Ii River, and looked a r o u n d ' t o see

172

HUNTING ELEPHANTS IN

1936.

what we could find. In Uganda, as in other parts of East Africa, roads follow watersheds wherever possible and this, from Moyo to Arua, lies on the watershed between the Ii and Lea rivers: ' Lea ' (pronounced as lair) is the Madi word for Elephant, which pachyderms tend to eat and sleep in the warm, low Valleys where undergrowthisluxuriantand water handy,especially where they can find the fruit of the Indian ' toddy' palm, Borassus flabellifer.

Accordingly we made our way to rocks overlooking the shallow Ii V a l l e y , where we were so fortunate as to find a vantage point whence we could easily see through binoculars over twenty miles of country, a rare circurastance in this district. As I was Walking over to another outcrop, I saw what I thought to be some large black rocks on the piain, lying amongst big trees with a single Borassus-palm on their right. 1 pointed these out to my tracker, Patake, and he suggested that they were not rocks but the herd we were looking for, resting in the shade of the big trees ; for about Iiam Elephants usually select shade and sleep through the hot part of the day, starting to graze and travel between three and four p.m. Then is the best time to make certain of an accurate shot, when they are least on guard.

W e moved to the north n e x t ; but unfortunatelv the wind changed, and, though we were well over a mile away, one of the bulls caught our scent and trumpeted, so the whole herd began to slowly move away. We slipped down from the ridge at once and, keeping well down wind, approached to within a quartermile of them when they came to a stand-still after the first alarm and were once more asleep under various big trees. I had located one large bull from the rocks, and now sent Patake forward to find him again. T h e tracker took my ash-bag and crept forward, shaking it occasionallv for the ash to fall out and show whence the wind blew. All was well; and we could hear the rumble of food and wind in the Elephants' gigantic stomachs. Four bulls were Standing only fiftv yards away, in the shade of a small clump of trees ; the nearest one was kneeling and obviously carrying the heaviest ivory of the four.

It was a thrilling moment, as my wife and I went cautiously forward to the tree from which we could get a sight of the animal Patake had again located ; this was most conveniently situated and had a hole in its trunk for a step, to climb up into the first fork, which afforded an excellent place whence to take a steady shot. It was not possible to shoot from the ground, since at that spot the grass had not been burnt and the Elephants were completelv obscured by it. T h e bull in question was sideways to us, presenting a perfect opportunity for brain or neck s h o t : the former aims at an imaginary circle of some six inches diameter, lying halfway between eye and ear-hole. My first shot sent him to the ground, and, as he seemed about to rise,

HUNTING ELEPHANTS IN 1936.

173

a second in the vertebral column settled t h e matter. T h e other Elephants, on hearing the first report, immediately crashed off northerly ; this m e a n t that they had travelled down wind, which is not usual, but possibly the direction taken was due to only their first impulsive r u s h of alarm. T h e y halted some h u n d r e d vards away to see what was happening, and shortly afterwards disappeared. As soon as they had gone, we made our way to the dead animal and f o u n d him to be an old bull, whose tusks, w h e n weighed, proved to be fifty-six and fifty-two p o u n d s respectively ; one tusk had been badlv broken long ago, and two old bulletwounds showed that his life had not been an u n e v e n t f u l one.

We walked back to o u r car, and reached t h e Station at a b o u t f o u r p.m., after one of t h e most speedy h u n t s I have ever had, often having vainly looked for Elephants for three or four weeks at a time.

Elephants still breed in great n u m b e r s ; a n d the vast herds, yet to be f o u n d in m a n y parts of Africa, would do considerable damage to native villages and standing crops if it were not for the very efficient system of Elephant-control adopted by the game d e p a r t m e n t . Europeans are employed, as well as natives, as rangers and game-guards all over this huge African territory.

In the Protectorate of Uganda, white residents of the countrv are allowed to shoot three Elephants in the course of a year ; the first two are covered by one licence, and the third by a second licence. However, before taking out any such, it is necessary to obtain a general game licence, to which the Elephant ones are s u p p l e m e n t a r y . — T h e other dav I was down on the Nile bank and went off, in two dugout canoes lashed together, in search of Hippopotami.

I shot two of t h e m ; t h o u g h unfortunately I could recover neither. But now, here at Moyo on 31 M a r c h , we see practically no one except our own fairly large staff and t h e surrounding other natives. W e are just starting to plant seeds m our g a r d e n : Clarkia, cornflower, Sweet Sultan, Nemesia, sweet peas, Balsam, Gaillardias, Yerbena, Nicotiana, A n t i r r h i n u m , love-in-the-mist, Salpiglossis, N a s t u r i u m , etc. T h e Dahlias are beginning to grow and, of course, we have a lot of tropical plants as well.