Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 190, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1910 — A GALLA ELEPHANT HUNT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A GALLA ELEPHANT HUNT

Major W. C. Harris.

■HHHKBaa RE the sun had risen, Ethe party were In the wilderness where neardouble the number of Galla had been assembled by the chiefs Bofroo and Abbo, to whom, before' commencing the labors of day, suitable gifts were presented. The swamps of the southern side of the waste having drawn unsuccessfully, columns of dust which arose from

the opposite quarter high above the trees, were pronounced to indicate the tramp of a troop of elephants; and thither the hunters hurried. Resolved to prove that the Oyptzis would not place others In a position which they scrupled themselves to occupy, the hunt was continued for some hours with those of the Amhara who possessed sufficient courage to enter the haunts. At length, about two in the afternoon, came a summons to the presence of the governor, who, being much fatigued, was seated beiow a spreading tree, and about to propose a return to the tents. In a long-studied speech he set forth “that his follQwers had done their utmost also for that day, and had driven the elephants, which wete countless as the forest leaves, from place to place, as though they had been village kine, but that the Europeans—” here his harangue wa3 cut short by the appearance of a Galla acout, who galloped furiously up, ex- | n " ■ .

claiming, “They drink, they drink, in the Jow-waha!” The council instantly dissolved. Inspired by a new ray of hope, the hunters leaped again into the saddle, and, carrying their rifles across their shoulders, made at full speed for the river. A 'feallop of three miles through a dense covert, consisting of strong, elastic wants, interlaced with prickly weeds and coarse spear grass, left the crowd far in the rear; and, arriving at the spot where the animals had been viewed, “Yellow Horse,” with half a score of his wild riders, was alone present The deep holes left by the feet of the monstrous animals in the wet sand at the water's edge, were still bubbling from below; and from the summit of a tree, the broad backs of a herd being'presently identified at some distance, by the measured flapping of their huge ears, it was resolved that the native allies should tarry where they were, while two of the party proceeded quietly to the attack on foot before the governor, with his noisy retinue, should arrive from thefrap. THE QUARRY FOUND. After much opposition on the part of old Boroo, who vowed that the despot Would hold him responsible for the accident which the rash measure was certain to entail, the arrangement was "finally carried. A stealthy ad- ; vance up the wind, under cover of the

copsewood, soon revealed a small open area I 'which had been trampled completely bare, and in its center, beneath the scanty shade of a venerable camel thorn, which had been well polished by continual rubbing, stood a gigantic bull, surrounded by four of his seraglio. British credit was now completely at stake. Creeping, therefore, to the extreme verge of the covert, in order to render certainty more sure, a twoounce ball, planted in the only small fatal spot presented by the huge target, laid low the mighty patriarch of the herd, whose fall made the earth to Tremble. One of the survivors, rushing toward the ambush, received a volley of hard bullets in her broad forehead, which turned the attack, and brought her also to the ground, after a flight with her companions of BO yards. She, however, rose after some minutes, and escaped into the thick forest to die, attention being meanwhile entirely engrossed by the tusker, the nobler party, who, although prostrate on his side like a fallen tower, manifested in his dying moments, by sundry portentous noises and uncouth..struggles, an Inclination to resume an erect position. His destruction was speedily'completed; but it was still Impossible to leave the spot from a conviction that the braggart Amhara rabble would not**fail to claim the honor and the credit of having slain the prize with their powerless spears should any per-

chance find the carcass during the absence of the lawful proprietors—a surmise which was fully confirmed by the appropriation of the tail as a trophy by the very first man who made his appearance. DEED CREATE 3 SENSATION. The death of this lordly monster, to which so little importance would have been attached in those parts of the African continent where the event is one of diurnal occurence, created In the mind of every beholder a sensation of astonishment and admiration hardly to be described. The fame of the exploit, carried by express couriers, spread from corner to corner of the empire;, and although far from universally credited, it produced even more than the good effect anticipated. Those who, when the storming party first entered the covert, had sought safety in trees, could with difficulty be prevailed upon to descend, in order to approach the > mountain of flesh from which life was said to have departed; and finally mustering courage to do so, In the frenzy of excitement launched their spears and discharged their matchlocks, to the imminent peril of the, bystanders and of each other. On Che first intimation of the animals having, after two days’ diligent search, been actually discovered, three-fourths of the whole party had incontinently disappeared. The Galla horsemen, who had previously boasted the destruction of elephants with

their spears, did not venture to approach for a full hour after their ears had been saluted by the reports of the rifles; and even the warrior who vaunted himself the “hereditary chieftain of all the braves of the Amhara nation,” long clung pertinaciously to his secure seat among the topmost branches. As the fact of the downfall of the noble beast became more widely credited, and the scattered forces gradually rallied around it, chief after chief offered his hand in congratulation of the, in his eyes, daring exploit; expressing wonder and amazement that a small rifle-ball had been able to accomplish the annihilation of the build and life of 70 seasons, and extolling the prowess of the king's European visitors in the encounter with so formidable a monster whose colossal strength could have carried him trampling through a whole array of their own host, dealing death and destruction wheresoever his will Impelled him. While dancing and howling around the carcass, amid the crimson torrent which deluged the ground, they affirmed the deed to be the work of> genies, and of supernatural beings, and complimented the doers as the “bra zest of the brave,” under the titles of "Figa” and “Gobez,” declaring that "the mold whereof the Gyptzis were fashioned must be of a rare quality, and that if all the subjects of Shoa were but composed of the same material, the dominions of Sahela Selassie would know no limit." (Copyright, Wi, by Beitf. B. HamotoiU