Page:Hunting and trapping stories; a book for boys (IA huntingtrappings00pric).pdf/36

HUNTING AND CATCHING WILD ELEPHANTS what is going on, the scheme will be is so much work is thrown away.

On one occasion the chief of a native tribe constructed a large elephant pit. The next day he came down with a number of his warriors to see if there was any game in it. He found only one small part of the top covering disturbed, and kneeling down he peeped in. There was a loud roar and the next instant the chief screamed and disappeared head first through the opening. The warriors rushed forward and tore the covering away. They found that the pit contained a beautiful leopard. They soon killed it with their spears, but not quickly enough to save the chief, who had already been clawed to death. It is not an uncommon thing to find several wild animals caught in a trap in this way. Here however, in spite of the leopard being such a good climber, it could not get out. It could gain no foothold in the soft, crumbling earth. The walls of the pit showed evidences of its frantic efforts to get out, while the hole was to deep for a spring.

Another hunting scheme used in Africa is this. The natives take a baulk of wood about ten inches in diameter and about five feet long, tapering at one end. At the thick end they place a sharpened barbed spear head, covered with deadly poison. This is suspended from a tree branch over a path that elephants are known to use. The end of the suspension cord is cleverly concealed, and brought down so that it crosses the path about a foot from the ground, and so arranged that when an elephant passes underneath it, the cord is broken, loosening the heavy piece of wood which promptly falls, burying the poisoned barb in the animal's shoulder or back. But even here the elephant is alert and often shows its shrewdness by spying the trap before it is too late.

It is the demand for ivory that is causing the death of the elephant, and already ivory is much higher in price than it was years ago. Whenever man runs short of anything he is sure to invent a substitute Now, in the case of ivory a clever vegetable imitation has been placed on the market. It so closely resembles the animal product that ordinary people cannot tell the difference. Of course, it is much cheaper than animal ivory, and this fact may yet save the elephant. The ivory from walrus tusks is worth more than that of the elephant, because it is whiter and keeps its color better. Walrus tusks are small and much harder to get, and therefore more costly.

The shooting of elephants has to be done just right, or disaster ensues, as the following story will show. A hunter in Uganda in Equatorial Africa tried to bring down, with a single shot, an enormous bull elephant. He fired at long range, and the bullet failed to kill. Immediately the elephant