ELEPHANT HUNTS

Patea Mail, 13 November 1939, Page 4

ELEPHANT HUNTS

THEILLS IN aFSIGA NEW ZEALIANDEK ’G STOEY ANIMAL ,1.1 FEEL HIGH SHOT Experiences in stalking herds oi elephants in equatorial regions in Africa, during which he crossed the equator three times in one day, shot an elephant: that stood 10ft llin high to the withers, and on one expedition lost his companion, who later turned up riding a bicycle he lad borrowed from a. native chief, are interestingly related by Mr. Eric Mulligan, of Maylield, near Ashburton, in a letter he has sent to his father, Mr. E. J. Mulligan. The largest of several he has shot, the elephant referred to had a length of 15ft 3in without trunk or tail; the tusks had a circumference of 151 in., showing 3ft Sin, with, as much covered by skin.- The cars hud n spread of 9ft, and they were 4ft Tin from 'top to bottom. It took 12 shots to bring the monster down. “He was very sick after the first shot," Mr. Mulligan writes, “but he was running away and it was hard to get in an effective shot from behind. In the end I got him, and he is my third."

MOTORING IX MOUNTAINS Mr. Mulligan went to Africa with Mr. Gerald Westenra, of Dunsandel, and their expedition appears to have been most successful. They have covered a huge tract of country and hive used a car to convey themselves from one place to another, preferring tnc less frequented tracks to the tourist lanes. Motoring they found to be very dangerous in some places, and the mountain roads"gave them a good deal to thinh about. At Lake Kivu t'ey came to a downward run, where they travelled five miles on 'three occasions with the engine shut off us they coasted to the shore through scenery of great beauty. Held ip) at a toll gate one day, the New Zealanders, debarred by a native from crossing into a more profitable shooting country, produced as a last resort, a New Zealand lamb tag which the native took to lie some sort of official badge, for he at once opened the gate for them to pass. Hi Jvl All AXIS ' KM M X A (AM XT Although marly “blind as bats/' J as the writer of the letter puts it, elephants have a •wonderfully keen scent, and the hunters' greatest difficulty was in getting to positions where they could shoot with some chance of success. In the steaming heat of the bush they found hunting extremely •Irving, and it avas on one more than usually exhausting day that Mr. Westenra, separated from his friend, was forced with a long walk buck to camp. U 'was then tint he found that a chief in a nearby village had a bicycle, which was borrowed to bring, the Nea Zealander back to camp. On the border of the Congo and Uganda the party sko't several elephants although the stalking of the animals entailed walks of up to 11 miles at at time. Trailing one herd, they came on them only 40 yards away when a bull at once took the hnnteis scent and charged, being brought down by Mr. Mulligan with a shot in the head. 'The second shot finished it. The tusks of this elephant, ’Weighed 25 pounds each. Boon after tins cue fell to his gun, Mr. Mulligan was successful with a ' 35-pounder, using four shots. PYGMY VILLAGE Mr. Mulligan tells in his letter of the feasts the native indulge in after elephants have been shot, the natives coining ■ from long distances and l ' appearing magically out of: the forest to cut Up the carcases. The party visited also a. pygmy village in the Ituri Forest, ami tried out the bows and arrows, lire natives displaying much excitement when the while men hit a target. At the time of writing the New Zealanders have still a considerable area of .Africa to visit.