more in accordance with European ideas of a legitimate trade.
The greater part of this ivory is obtained from dead elephants.
There are in this region certain places where the elephants are
said to go to die. A locality in one district pointed out to
me as such a place, was a great swamp in the forest. A
swamp that evidently was deep in the middle, for from out its
dark waters no swamp plant, or tree grew, and evidently its
shores sloped suddenly, for the band of swamp plants round
its edge was narrow. It is just possible that during the rainy
season when most of the surrounding country would be under
water, elephants might stray into this natural trap and get
drowned, and on the drying up of the waters be discovered, and
the fact being known, be regularly sought for by the natives
cognisant of this. I inquired carefully whether these places
where the elephants came to die always had water in them, but
they said no, and in one district spoke of a valley or roundshaped
depression in among the mountains. But natives were
naturally disinclined to take a stranger to these ivory mines,
and a white person who has caught——as any one who has been
in touch must catch— ivory fever, is naturally equally disinclined
to give localities.
A certain percentage of ivory collected by the Fans is
from live elephants, but I am bound to admit that their method
of hunting elephants is disgracefully unsportsmanlike. A herd
of elephants is discovered by rubber hunters or by depredations
on plantations, and the whole village, men, women, children,
babies and dogs turn out into the forest and stalk the monsters
into a suitable ravine, taking care not to scare them. When
they have gradually edged the elephants on into a suitable
place, they fell trees and wreathe them very roughly together
with bush rope, all round an immense enclosure, still
taking care not to scare the elephants into a rush. This fence
is quite inadequate to stop any elephant in itself, but it is made
effective by being smeared with certain things, the smell
whereof the elephants detest so much that when they wander
up to it, they turn back disgusted. I need hardly remark that
this preparation is made by the witch doctors and its constituents
a secret of theirs, and I was only able to find out
some of them. Then poisoned ^plantains are placed within
the enclosure, and the elephants eat these and grow drowsier
and drowsier; if the water supply within the enclosure is
a pool it is poisoned, but if it is a running stream this
cannqt be done. During this time the crowd o men
and women spend their days round the enclosure, ready to
turn back any elephant who may attempt to break out, going
to and fro to the village for their food. Their nights they spend
in little bough shelters by the enclosure, watching more vigilantly
than by day, as the elephants are more active at night,
it being their usual feeding time. During the whole time the
witch doctor is hard at work m a k i n g incantations and charms,
with a view to finding out the proper time to attack the
elephants. In my opinion, his decision fundamentally
depends on his knowledge of the state of poisoning the animals
are in, but his version is that he gets his information from the
forest spirits. When, however, he has settled the day, the
best hunters steal into the enclosure and take up safe positions
in trees, and the outer crowd set light to the ready-built fires,
and make the greatest uproar possible, and fire upon the
staggering, terrified elephants as they attempt to break out.
The hunters in the trees fire down on them as they rush past,
the fatal point at the back of the skull being well exposed to
When the animals >are nearly exhausted, those men who do
n o t possess guns dash into the enclosure, and the men who
do, reload and join them, and the work is then completed.
•One elephant hunt I chanced upon at the final stage had taken
two months’ preparation, and although the plan sounds safe
enough, there is really a good deal of danger left in it with all
the drugging and ju-ju. There were eight elephants killed
that day, but three burst through everything, sending energetic
spectators flying, and squashing two men and a baby as flat
a s botanical specimens. f - !
The subsequent proceedings were impressive. The whole
o f the people gorged themselves on the meat for days, and
o-reat chunks of it were smoked over the fires in all directions.
A certain portion of the flesh of the hind leg was taken by
the witch doctor for ju-ju, and was supposed to be put away
by him, with certain suitable incantations in the recesses of