CHAPTER VII.

The English Captain, Burton, in one of his works, advances the theory that the elephant possesses an instinct quite equal to the natural intelligence, not only of the Africans, but also of numbers of Europeans. We are, therefore, at liberty to devote a page or two to an animal created by nature to humiliate us. And, to begin with, it cannot fail to be a matter of astonishment that the elephant is not in Africa, as in Asia, trained to the service of man. One reason given for this contrast is, that the African elephant has so much more savage a nature than his Asiatic brother, that it is impossible to tame or train him. This view cannot be seriously entertained for a moment, seeing that there are plenty of stone carvings and medals to show that in ancient Egypt, in the time of the Pharaohs, and later still, under the Roman rule, the elephant was reduced to the condition of a beast of burden. The real secret of his being useless is to be found in the sluggish, careless, inert character of the Arab, Turk, and negro. They would never have patience to await the complete development of an animal which comes to maturity slowly and without hurrying itself in the least, by reason of the length of life allotted to it, for it is admitted that in certain regions the elephant attains to the patriarchal age of three hundred years. The commercial spirit and rapacity of the African tribes have also contributed to convert the elephant into an article of merchandize, and his strength and often surprising activity are unheeded. The animal disappears and his ivory alone remains. To procure and supply the ever insatiable merchants with the number of tusks they require, and to get in exchange the coveted bracelets and necklets in copper or iron, the natives organize extensive battues, wholesale slaughterings, which will soon make the elephant as scarce as was the mastodon in antediluvian times.

When we reflect that ivory is a luxury, an ornament merely, prescribed by fashion alone, and even then to a very limited extent, we cannot help deploring the rapid extinction of one of the noblest of the animal species bestowed on us by nature, and a feeling of regret must arise when we think of the fatigue, hardships, and sufferings undergone by thousands of human beings in order to satisfy one of the many fanciful tastes of Europe. When we see, in the boudoir of some fair dame, the ivory-bound prayer book, our imagination transports us at once to the heart of Africa, and there we behold long caravans of slaves bending under the weight of the elephants' tusks with which their oppressors have overloaded them. We see a hundred tribes ever fighting to enrich themselves at the expense of their neighbours by means of ivory. We repeat, the greater part of the internecine wars which are depopulating this part of the world are caused by the slave and ivory merchants—these two death-dealing trades are inseparable from and spring out of each other.

But, instead of bestowing any further pity on the African, let us turn our attention to his cruel battues and the ferocity he shows in his expeditions against the elephant.

Hunters like Baldwin, the brothers Poncet, Baker, or Cumming, boldly attack the animal and try to shoot him behind the ear, or in the shoulder, when, as a rule, he falls in a heap, without pain or suffering. If they miss, their danger is extreme; the colossus makes at them, and in open ground the best runners are unable to get away from him. This fair fight between a man and an enemy of strength and intelligence is above criticism.

A few natives also risk their lives, and sometimes lose them in the pursuit; but in battues on a large scale, they enclose the quarry gradually in a confined area, which they surround by night with a fencing made by binding the creepers together. Then they summon the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, draw near to the palisading, and endeavour to despatch the enemy with their arrows. But if the barrier placed in his path is enough to retard his flight, it is utterly futile against his anger and thirst for revenge. Frequently he overturns all obstacles, hurls himself against his assailants, and commits fearful havoc amongst the crowd.

In other districts the hunters on horseback try to tire the elephant out by driving him before them. As soon as they see that he is exhausted, one of them makes his appearance right in front of him, to induce him to start off in pursuit and fix his attention on one single point. Another dismounts, runs towards the animal, and stabs him from behind with a lance, made from three to four yards long so as to reach his vitals. If the elephant is not killed at once the hunter is at the mercy of his infuriated foe.

But the negroes of Central Africa are, as a rule, too cowardly to run any such risks, and too lazy to hunt a single animal. Their idea is a wholesale massacre, a vast hecatomb, where courage does not count, victory is certain, and the profit considerable.

At the first warning of the presence of a herd of elephants, the men collect by thousands to the beat of the drum, just as if they were called upon to defend their country from invasion. They drive their enemies before them, and the animals eventually take refuge either amongst the high grass in the plain, or in the forest. Then the natives set fire to the vegetation, and the elephants soon find themselves surrounded by a circle of fire and smoke, which gradually contracts and bars all escape. Suffocated and half-roasted, they die in horrible agony.

MM. de Morin, Périères, and Delange relied, as far as their elephant hunt was concerned, on their skill, coolness, and courage alone, albeit they had not thought themselves called upon to follow the advice given by Livingstone, who says—"The war-cry of an enraged elephant sounds in the ear of his foe just like the whistle of a French locomotive would on that of a man who found himself on the line without any means of escape. I advise all Nimrods who wish to experience this hazardous hunting to nerve themselves to it by standing on a line of rails and there remaining until an approaching train is only a very short distance from them."

We have already said that Madame de Guéran and Miss Poles, if they did not intend to hunt, were still bent on accompanying the hunters; and the two interpreters, with a dozen Dinkas and a like number of Nubians selected from the escort, made up the party. Nassar was obliged to remain at Port Rek to attend to the preparations for departure, and to keep watch over the forty soldiers and the bearers, old and new, left under his care. It would have been imprudent to have left these people to themselves during the absence of their masters, for they would assuredly have picked a quarrel with the natives, and so have compromised the Europeans.

M. de Morin, assured that his valet would not be of any use during the excursion, had given him leave of absence, but in the breast of Joseph a love of ivory triumphed over all idleness and timidity. He begged that he might be allowed to go, and his master, taking for devotion what in reality was greed, permitted him to join the hunters. These latter, all on horseback, not excepting even Miss Poles, who was, with considerable difficulty, made to understand that she would delay matters if she went on foot, started about 5 a.m. After having left the marshes and the banks of the stream, the party made their way in the direction of a plain on the outskirts of a forest, where, it was reported, a large number of elephants had taken up their abode. The natives, informed on the previous evening of the arrival of the Europeans, hurried to meet them, accompanied by their sorcerer, each tribe possessing an elephant charmer, who has to be consulted before any hunt is undertaken. If he says that it cannot take place without risk, lances, and bows and arrows are laid aside, and every man betakes himself to his own house. If, on the contrary, the sorcerer says that the fates are propitious, arms are brandished valiantly, and the march against the enemy begins. As soon as the animal is sighted, the charmer addresses him as follows:—"Oh, chief! we are come to kill you. Oh, chief! like so many others, you are about to die. The gods have so declared to me this night, and before the end of the day we shall eat you."

Notwithstanding this magniloquent discourse, the natives, as a rule, take to flight at the first approach of the huge beast, if he rushes out into the open and no safe cover is at hand. And this is exactly what happened at the beginning of the hunt we are about to describe. Whilst the Europeans were preparing to enter the forest, a loud noise was heard in the neighbouring thickets, out of which a female elephant, followed by her young one, emerged almost immediately. The natives, including the sorcerer, took to their heels at once in all directions, and left their guests to take care of themselves.