Ivory, However, That Is Obtained By Murder Is Private Ivory.
The
public ivory trade among the Fans is carried on in a way more in
accordance with European ideas of a legitimate trade.
The greater
part of this ivory is obtained from dead elephants. There are in
this region certain places where the elephants are said to go to
die. A locality in one district pointed out to me as such a place,
was a great swamp in the forest. A swamp that evidently was deep in
the middle, for from out its dark waters no swamp plant, or tree
grew, and evidently its shores sloped suddenly, for the band of
swamp plants round its edge was narrow. It is just possible that
during the rainy season when most of the surrounding country would
be under water, elephants might stray into this natural trap and get
drowned, and on the drying up of the waters be discovered, and the
fact being known, be regularly sought for by the natives cognisant
of this. I inquired carefully whether these places where the
elephants came to die always had water in them, but they said no,
and in one district spoke of a valley or round-shaped depression in
among the mountains. But natives were naturally disinclined to take
a stranger to these ivory mines, and a white person who has caught -
as any one who has been in touch must catch - ivory fever, is
naturally equally disinclined to give localities.
A certain percentage of ivory collected by the Fans is from live
elephants, but I am bound to admit that their method of hunting
elephants is disgracefully unsportsmanlike. A herd of elephants is
discovered by rubber hunters or by depredations on plantations, and
the whole village, men, women, children, babies and dogs turn out
into the forest and stalk the monsters into a suitable ravine,
taking care not to scare them. When they have gradually edged the
elephants on into a suitable place, they fell trees and wreathe them
very roughly together with bush rope, all round an immense
enclosure, still taking care not to scare the elephants into a rush.
This fence is quite inadequate to stop any elephant in itself, but
it is made effective by being smeared with certain things, the smell
whereof the elephants detest so much that when they wander up to it,
they turn back disgusted. I need hardly remark that this
preparation is made by the witch doctors and its constituents a
secret of theirs, and I was only able to find out some of them.
Then poisoned plantains are placed within the enclosure, and the
elephants eat these and grow drowsier and drowsier; if the water
supply within the enclosure is a pool it is poisoned, but if it is a
running stream this cannot be done. During this time the crowd of
men and women spend their days round the enclosure, ready to turn
back any elephant who may attempt to break out, going to and fro to
the village for their food.
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