Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute - Acta Nostra Yearbook (Guelph, Ontario Canada)

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70 ACTA NOSTRA, 1926 British Museum, the Historical tower-London is too vast to begin to describe. A day at XN'indsor showed us the Castle and the Queen's Dolls' House, wonderfully planned and complete to the minutest details, Another day we spent at Oxford and its Colleges. W'e tiew 'past Belgium. catching a glimpse of Brussels. Ostend and the desolate country about Ypres and Hill Sixty. where bodies are still being unearthed. This district is still in a state of devastation and very awful, with its fields and Helds of sad .little crosses. The Belgians did not attract me as a people, not only because they are small and thick-set, but because of their selfish. shrewd natures. September the third saw us in the most fascinating. most alluring and most beautiful city in the wo-rld, Paris. The Champs-Ely- sees is a wide and beautiful avenue with shops and mansions on either side. with its Arc de Triomphe at one end of it. where a fire in memory of the Unknown Soldier is forever lit. and the Place de la Concorde and the Obelisk at the other end of it. The Louvre Museum, formerly a palace. is fascinating-an imimense palace-and there we saw the famous XYinged Yictory and the Venus de Milo. and many Yan Dykes. Gruzes. Reubens. Millets. Fra .-Xngelicos, and other great and world-famed pictures. The Luxem- bourg and the Cluny. the latter once Roman fbaths, later a palace. and now a museum. are smaller and almost as interesting. The churches of Paris are gems: mighty Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle. with its exquisite glass. Saint Germain, Saint Severin. very an- cient. and Saint Etienne. with its lacy carved in the interior. The most beautiful house in the world. the Pantheon. Na- stone opera poleon's Tomb, the Seine River. the amazing Tower are part of the myriad charms Eiffel of Paris. A short week-end. we spent at the delight- fulivillage of Barbizon, the home of Millet and Rousseau. and we walked through the mighty forest of Frontainbleau and saw the famous palace. Q Yersailles is very grandiose. About the palace are wonderful gardens. fountains. ponds. a canal and forests. and as it is built on a height. it faces a gorgeous view. looking d-own the canal. The palace in the interior is quite bare as so much in it was destroyed in the Revolution. The French people are exceedingly in- dustrious. quick. clever. and always busy. a very fine creative people in every way, es- pecially in decorative arts. Yery early on the morning of September the 25th. when dawn was beginning to break. we boarded our boat at Cherbourg and looked back upon that town. still asleep. bathed in the sunrise. with a pang of regret, yet with a secret joy at the thought of home. :Xs our steamer came in sight of Cana-da the worlds of Scott came to my mind: Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath. said. This is my own, my native lanidf' lVhose heart hath ne'er within him burned. As home his footsteps he hath turned. From wandering on a foreign strand. A DAY ON SAFARI' tllfritten for Acta Nostra by H. Wfestoby, Chairfman Finance Committee, Board of Edu- cation.J Four o'clock in the morning. The air was chill-even cold-and. as we came out of our tents we discovered a sky all sapphire and honey. Big Macgregor, the elephant hunter, tndovu-mwaam-unu. 'the Swahili porters called html. was swearing at the niggers, .and callin-g to them Upesi lhurry upl, since we were to start as soon as things could be packed. VVThat a day! Before us was Mount Keyna. the dome of Africa. grand. solitary, stupendous. with a summit like silver thrown from a mould. Soon great bars of pink and violet were seen streaming from its top. and then the sun Hamed up. and gilded the vtree tops in a most engaging manner. Thousands of monkeys were soon chattering among -the woods. and millions -of bright colored insects began to Hy in all directions. lt was the dawn of a new day. XYe wore pithy helmets. and duck suits. all but Macgregor. who was an sight t-o behold. He stood more than six 'feet l-l'l1l'1Elgl1llf, and wore a double terai tdoubile felt hat with a broad briml. with a strip of leopard's skin around it. Clad in khaki shorts. and shirt, and armed with a rifle. he looked what he was, the elephant hunter to the very life. The natives were clad in a loin cloth, and wreathed in broad smiles. In less than an hour we had eaten. and were off. Mac went in front. with XYhite. the Safari followed, and -loyce and I brought up the rear. all being armed with rifles. Soon numbers of hartee- beasts. giraffes. and waterbucks were seen. but no lions. or leopards. or even a stray elephant. Mac had warned us about the buifaloes. which he said were the wickedest things in East Africa. since they would hide in a clump of bamboo. and dash out with red eyes, all afire, thirsting for blood. The lordly lion is differ- ent. He will hunt by night. often leaping a high fence, kill with a stroke of his paw a cow, and then spring back, carrying the cow with him. If you encounter him by day perihaips he will run away. when accompanied by a lioness. the rules are shoot the female. and leave the lion itill the last. lYoe be unto you if you don't. Shoot the lion, and the lioness will he on you like a flash. all claws. and fight. Shoot the lioness. and the lion will likely skulk away. to hide where he can. It's a known

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72 AOTA NOSTRA, 1926 law of the forest. We sloon came upon a leopard. 'hiding under a thorn bush. and s-pit- ting like a cat. In vain we tried t-o get it out. It was soon lost in the bus.hes. Later on White wounded a wildebeast. which is like a cow. The poor thing sank down and looked at us in a pitiful sort of way. Afterwards .Ioyce killed a cheetah. which is mu-ch like a tiger. and does a lot of harm to the settlers' fowls. In the early afternoon VVade killed a rhino, He was alone in a clearing at the time. and tive rhinos charged him at once. These animals can smell for more than five hundred yards, but they can only see about thirty-five yards. The killing requires nerve, and cool- ness. because you let them rush by. side-step. and -then wheel and take a shot as they go. Wade was an experienced hunter. He shot in the right place, just behind 'the ear. and wlhen we ran to him. there he was, sitting on -top of a two-ton rhino. with the niggers all around. rubbing their tummies in gleeful an- ticipation. The rhino had one large horn. and two smaller ones. and it looked a very ugly beast. We were walking beneath some trees when Macgregor suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder. In a moment he had fired. and nineteen feet of snake fell out of a tree. It was a python. beautifully colored and with sharp teeth. turned backward. so that there was no escape for prey. The keen eyes of Mac had spotted it before it could even offer up a prayer. if snakes ever pray. In that district pythons do a lot of harm. often measur ing over forty feet in length. and are several feet round. IVe were about to camp for the night when one of the boys calle-d out sud- denly ndovu. I knew this to mean elephan-t. Huyu mdiji. said the others. and big Mac pointed to where they .had said. There stood a single elephant. flapping its great ears, and apparently quite unaware of our presence. since we were about five hundred yards away. Lower down in Portuguese East Africa I had killed a three ton hippopotamus. and I was called hip-po as a consequence. Here's your chance. Hippo. said Macgregor to me. VVe'll steal up to within say about two hund- red yards. and then get ready. A young cannon was handed to me. It was a double barrelled elephant gun. I tried to level it. but failed, hence on reaching the allotted space, well to windward. I lay down. and took care- ful aim. There was a loud roar, a sheet of flame. and I found myself hurled over and over backward. amlong the thorn bushes. I had pulled both triggers at once. and .had missed the animal entirely as well. VVhen I was picked up. the elephant was lying dead. shot by my friends. but all I got was a laugh. Alas. I lost two teeth, and a lot of prestige. by that unlucky shot. But some d-ay I am going 'back to Africa. and then who knows? A big tropical moon Hooded the heavens that night. XVe heard the native drums calling persistently. The sound was strange. even awe inspiring. It gradually grew lou-der and lou-d- er. as the native dance reached the height of its revel. when it seemed as if -the dfrumis we-re bein.g beaten almost at on'e's elb-ow. Then it gradually faded away, until once more all was silent and mystical. 'Twas an African night. alluring. unforgettable. captivating. Big Macgregor told us hunting stories about the camlp fires. One was about some English lads, wlho worked in a bank in Niarobi. and who had gone crocodile hunting. They had shot a croc, and pulled it into their -dug-out canoe. and were paddling back, one in the bow. and one in the stern. when the lad in the stern of the canoe shouted out: Good heavens. the thing's still alive. Both stopped paddling. The boy behind pumped lead into the Croc, and also through the bottom of the canoe, aft-er which it was a race for the shore. wirtih a now dead crocodile. and many live 'ones waiting in the muddy waters for a little white meat. The boys won out. They reached the bank just as the canoe sank. What a fine tale to write about to their parents in far-off Eng- land? Another of his stori-es was about a friend of his. who. with him was pus-hing through a great thicket of bamboo. when sud- denly they had come upon a big bull elephant. calmly awaiting their approach. having got their scent so-me time ago. There was no time for this friend to fire. and all he cou.ld do was to fall prone to the ground. and trust in some miraculous manner -t-hat he mighlt es- cape being impaled on those long tusks, in the mad rush that he knew would follow. He was too late. The elephant smashed through the few yards that separated them, an-d in an instant had seized hold of his friend with hi.s great trunk. and began hurling -him around and around, prior to dashing him with violen.ce to the ground. Macgregor hurried forward. He was at first afraid to fire. for 'fear of shooting his friend. and it was not until -the maddened animal had hurled him away, and was preparing to stamp on him 'that he did so, His shot went through the heart. killing the huge beast instantly. Hastening to his friend's side. he found the poor fellow dreadfully in- jured. and although he was hurried to the hos- pital he died shortly afterwards from his in- juries, Somehow elephant 'hunting -didn't have the same glamor for us after tlhat. VVvhile we were chatting. a deep-throated roar. that was suspiciously near. somewhat startle-d us. Very complacently Macgregor said it was a lion calling for his m-ate. To me it seemed more as if he were calling for his meat, and I was glad we were so many, and had such fine shots. Someday, perhaps. some of you boys and girls will visit Africa. I don't mean the north and south so much. but the wild interior. If you do you will find it a most attractive place. full of strange mystery and charm. It's hot, of course. but life is very interesting. In parts the wild life is amazing. and especially in the