Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous, D.S.O., Capt. 25th Royal FusiliersMillais, John Guille
Philosophy
Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous, D.S.O., Capt. 25th Royal Fusiliers
Millais, John Guille
Selous, Frederick Courteney, 1851-1917; World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Africa
A fortnight after leaving Bulawayo Selous and Wood reached Linquasi,
where they began to hunt, and two days later they killed two fine bull
elephants. Here they established their main hunting-camp and made raids
into the "fly." During this season of four months Selous killed
forty-two elephants and George Wood fifty. They also accounted for a
good many rhinoceros and buffalo. Their main hunting veldt was the "fly"
region between the rivers Zambesi and Gwai. It was a broken country full
of hills, "kloofs," dense bush and park-like opens. This area was
formerly inhabited by the Makalakas, but these had been driven across
the Zambesi by raiding Matabele. These regions were consequently a great
game preserve and full of elephant, black and white rhinoceros, buffalo,
zebra, sable, roan, koodoo, impala, reedbuck, klipspringer, grysbok,
bushbuck, waterbuck, and other antelopes. In "A Hunter's Wanderings"
Selous gives many interesting accounts of his hunts after elephants, but
perhaps his best is the splendid narrative of his great day, of which I
am permitted to give his own description.[8]
"As soon as the day dawned, we sent a couple of Kafirs down to
the water to see if any elephants had been there, and on their
return in a quarter of an hour with the joyful tidings that a
fine troop of bulls had drunk during the night, we at once
started in pursuit. We found they had come down from the
right-hand side, and returned on their own spoor, feeding along
nicely as they went, so that we were in great hopes of
overtaking them without much difficulty. Our confidence,
however, we soon found was misplaced, for after a time they had
ceased to feed, and, turning back towards the N.E., had taken to
a path, along which they had walked in single file and at a
quick pace, as if making for some stronghold in the hills. Hour
after hour we trudged on, over rugged stony hills, and across
open grassy valleys, scattered over which grew clumps of the
soft-leaved machabel trees, or rather bushes; but, though the
leaves and bark of this tree form a favourite food of elephants,
those we were pursuing had turned neither to the right nor to
the left to pluck a single frond.
"After midday, the aspect of the country changed, and we entered
upon a series of ravines covered with dense, scrubby bush.
Unfortunately the grass here had been burnt off, but for which
circumstance the elephants, I feel sure, would have halted for
their midday sleep. In one of these thickets we ran on to three
black rhinoceroses (_R. bicornis_) lying asleep. When we were
abreast of them they got our wind, and, jumping up, rushed close
past the head of our line, snorting vigorously. It was a family
party, consisting of a bull, a cow, and a full-grown calf; they
passed so near that I threw at them the thick stick which I used
for a ramrod, and overshot the mark, it falling beyond them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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