INTREPAD HUNIRESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3101, 20 August 1913, Page 76

INTREPAD HUNIRESS.

ADVENTURES IX THE JUNGLE

If woman wants to free herself once and for all from the dread servant problem, all that she has to do is to give up metropolitan life and start out to be an elephant-stalker in the wilds of West Africa. For there aren’t any servant problems out in the jungle, observes a writer in the New York Herald. That is one of the joys of tracking elephants and lions in West Africa and Uganda, according to the experiences of Mrs Carl AktJey, the wife of the explorer, sculptor, and taxidermist.

Mrs Akeley occupies a unique position among sports wo men. One of the elephants brought down by her, the largest ever shot by the family, stood lift Sin high at the shoulder, and its head towered to 13ft. One of the animal’s tusks weighed 1121 b and the other 1151 b. These tusks were Bft long, magnificent specimens of ivory, such as would supply the dressing-tables of half a hundred society dames.

Another ferocious beast was brought down by Mrs Akeley while her husband was away from home on an elephant-trail-expedition. Mrs Akeley thought she would do a little big shooting on her own account, and with an escort from the main cam]) she started out for Irons. She brought down the savage creature of which she was in search from the shelter of a thorn-bush hut, called by the natives “Boma.” The shelter is just large enough to permit one person to crawl under it. One side is open, so that the lion may be sighted and shot while the pursuer is under cover.

Nearly Skewered.—

The most remarkable tiring which happened during the last jungle trip of the Akeleys was Mrs Akoley’s march across the wilds> 20 miles from the home camp, in search of her husband, who had been frightfully gored and was at the point of death in a little tent such as is carried on the actual tracking expeditions. The sculptor and several black boys were tramping through the wilds when the great beast suddenly made the attack. No one had seen him or heard him until suddenly the great form loomed over Mr Akeley and the huge tusks descended on him. The man fell to-the ground beneath the elephant’s head. The tusks were driven into the ground, crushing the body of the victim, who saw only the tip of those frightful tusks. Then the wounded man became unconscious, and the giant animal went on its way. In the meanwhile the frightened black boys had fled for their lives. They were not particularly cow'ardly, and they were devoted to their employer, but when a -wild elephant charges, those who are at home in the jungle and familiar with its horrors get out of the way as speedily as possible. It was high moon when the explorer went down before the elephant, and all the rest of the day he lay alone in the great wilds, unconscious most of the time. Then toward dusk, when he was feebly aware of what had happened, and was able to call out huskily, the black boys came creeping back They had been lurking in the neighbourhood waiting to summon courage to go hack to their master. They picket! up the shuddering wreck of humanity and carried him into, the little tent.

Although they had not displayed any great heroism on their own account, they had done their best in other ways to help the man in whose party they had travelled for many months. As soon as they drew a safe breath after the encounter of the enraged beast with their master, they had started running back through ' the jungle to the main camp 20 miles away to tell Mrs Akeley what had happened. They had been with the Akeley marty enough to know that the wife of the wounded man would be able to deal with the situation, bad as it appeared, as skilfully as any man. Cool in Emergenc3 r . — Their confidence w r as not misplaced. When Mrs Akeley received the terrifying message she set about her mission of rescue as steadily -as if she had been brought up in that part of the world and knew all the forces which should be set in motion for saving a desperately-wounded man. The first firing to do was to despatch faithful runners to the Government agency which was nearest at hand with orders to bring a doctor into the wilderness in the quickest possible time. Then the supplies were gathered and packed—all the supplies that could be of any possible use in such an emergency, and the. intrepid woman set off with her boys to make her way to the little tent in which her husband lay groaning and longing for her. Mrs Akelev’s elephant-stalking costume includes knickerbockers, a sportsman’s coat, puttees, and a pith helmet. She always keeps a skirt on hand so that if any white folk appear unexpectedly from around a thorn bush or beyond a grass hummock she will b.; able to slip _it on and welcome them as a convenientlyattired hostess. Except when they are after elephants or lions. Mrs Akeley does most of her tracking alone, accompanied only bv her bo vs. so that her husband is able to pursue his researches at his own will. The tracker exercises & little housewifely oversight in camp matters; but not much is necessary, as the black boys are both well trained and faithful in their duties. They have mostly been trained by British army officers or missionaries, and their sense of duty, even when the camp is far afield does not permit any slackening of household devotion.