Gwamu's headman was still with us, and he brought in many of the surrounding chiefs. At first they were very friendly and brought us plenty of supplies for sale, the article of exchange in greatest request being salt. Judging from their phenomenal mendacity, I can quite understand their need of it.
Here we purchased several bows made by the dwarfs. They are quite distinct from any other bow that I have seen. The arc is in two pieces, an outside sheath of split cane with another piece of wood let in to the groove; both are neatly bound together by reed, and the string is composed of one blade of a very tough reed which grows in the forest. We also procured some strings of beads which the natives said had come from the west; they are very primitive, and appear to have been made of some kind of shell.
The following morning we went out in search of elephant.
The forest was full of traps set by the Pigmies. The ordinary type was a bamboo bent towards the game-path with a string fastened to the ground, where it was tied in a running noose; by this means, I am informed, they catch many pigs and small quadrupeds of the forest. They also fix spears, weighted with heavy blocks of wood, in the trees, and the elephant passing underneath releases the spear by breaking the cord with which it is attached; but I think their usual method of slaying elephant is by firing poisoned arrows into them--having done which, they follow the unfortunate beast for days, until it drops.
The country was so impenetrable that hunting was a practical impossibility, so two days later I started with ten boys to see if I could find an easier hunting-ground. I passed round to the north of Mount Eyres, and pitched my camp on an eminence of 9,000 ft., overlooking the Rutchuru Valley. Here I immediately found fresh elephant-tracks. A herd of ten had passed towards the north, and a solitary old bull had gone towards the forest on the mountain slope. This I elected to follow, and in an hour and a half I could hear him not far away, tearing down branches of trees. His spoor was bigger than any spoor I have ever seen, and the size of the brute, when I first saw him, filled me with astonishment. Unfortunately he was not standing broadside on, and it was impossible for me to go round. From where I stood, I could see the small glade in which he was standing, but could only see a portion of his head and the ridge of his back. I watched him for some time picking the leaves off a tree; then, having eaten all the leaves within reach, without apparent effort he seized the trunk of the tree about 16 ft. from the ground and laid it flat. The tree had a diameter of more than 2 ft. Fearing that he might move into the impenetrable jungle that surrounded us, I took the shot, difficult as it was; he fell, but instantly recovered himself and dashed away, getting the second barrel in his flank as he did so. For several hours I followed him, without getting another shot, though I found where he had again fallen down and lost much blood. A few hundred yards further on I heard him in some very thick bush; my guide, who was following on the spoor, refused to advance, and I had perforce to take the lead. The wind was very shifty, and he suddenly detected our presence, venting his disapproval in a series of unpleasant grunts. Suddenly, hearing a great crashing of bushes, I thought that he was moving away, and hurried forward as fast as the difficult track would allow, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of him. The noise was terrific, and it suddenly dawned upon me that, so far from moving off, he was coming on. I was powerless to move--a fall would have been fatal--so waited; but the forest was so dense that I never saw him till his head was literally above me, when I fired both barrels of the double .500 magnum, which I was carrying, in his face. The whole forest seemed to crumple up, and a second later I found myself 10 ft. above the ground, well home in a thorn-bush, while my gun was lying ten yards away in the opposite direction; and I heard a roar as of thunder disappearing into the distance. A few seconds later, the most daring of my boys, Zowanji, came hurrying along with that sickly green hue which a negro's face assumes in moments of fear, and with his assistance I descended from my spiky perch. I was drenched with blood, which fortunately proved to be not mine, but that of the elephant; my gun, which I recovered, was also covered with his blood, even to the inside of the barrels. The only damage I sustained was a slightly twisted knee. I cannot say whether the elephant actually struck me, or whether I was carried there by the rush of country.
Following on his tracks, I found enormous pools of blood, and half a mile further on I again heard grunts, which showed that he had caught my wind. He rushed about, uttering those strident shrieks that are so terrifying, but, after his last experience, refused to charge. I spent an exceedingly nervous five minutes, while he devastated half an acre of forest. Then he moved on again, and it was not till two hours later that I caught him up. He was standing in a dense bamboo thicket, and I fired the .500 at his head; he fell to the shot, but quickly recovered and went away. Yet another time I caught him up, and approached within ten yards, but the thicket was so dense that I could not see an inch of his body. I might have turned his flank, but in so doing should have given him my wind, and I funked it. He shortly moved on, and after twice falling pulled himself together, and went through the bamboo forest at an increased pace. I followed hard, but never saw him again, and at sunset was compelled to give up the chase.
We were at an altitude of 9,000 ft. and spent the night sitting naked round a fire, while the rain beat out any lingering sentiments for elephant-hunting that had survived the day's work. The old volcanic soil of these forests is so porous that above the valley there are no streams. We had had nothing to eat or drink since 6 a.m., and it was not till 11.30 the following morning that we found a cattle-station in the forest. Here we drank a quantity of milk, and eventually arrived in camp at two in the afternoon. My boys were almost dead with fatigue, and I myself slept for fifteen hours without rocking.
In following elephant through these forests it was necessary to cut one's way with a native axe on the path that the elephant had traversed only five minutes before. At times, for many yards one never touched the ground, but had perforce to climb along the tree-trunks, and the dense vegetable growth, constantly slipping and falling into thorn-bush and nettles, all of which the elephant would take in his stride; while the bush was so solid that, after the elephant had brushed it aside, it flew back to its original position.
This nettle, which, I believe, is peculiar to these volcanoes, is the most appalling creation that I have ever dreamed of. Some were 10 ft. in height, and it was impossible to brush them aside; they were covered with myriads of long, almost invisible, spines, which penetrated khaki, flannel, and everything except leather. The pain produced by contact with them was nearly unbearable, but fortunately subsided in about ten minutes. At times they were so bad that my natives could no longer move, and I had to beat down a track before they could pass. Many times they sat down and howled like babies. Some of the trees that had been torn down by the elephant were of enormous dimensions, and I had never before even guessed at the stupendous power of the African elephant.
I found that the country here was no easier than that which I had just left, and therefore marched north down the long sloping spur that leads into the valley of the Kako.