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egends L One of the first hunters to take advantage of the "Ivory Rush" in the Lado Enclave, John Boyes soon learned just how dangerous his new occupation could be. T he death of King Leopold of Belgium in 1909 created an elephant hunters' free-for-all in the Lado Enclave, a 100-square-mile corner north of Lake Albert in Uganda. The area was home to some of East Africa's largest elephant herds, which had thrived under the King's protection. After he died, the local politicians couldn't decide what to do with the Lado, and so it became a "no man's land," without any direct rule. Off-limits to hunters for many years, suddenly it became open to them. Their only obstacle was the cadre of loyal Belgian police who, acting on their own authority, tried their utmost to protect the elephants from poachers flooding into the area from British East Africa. Once a hunter crossed the Nile, he was taking his life in his own hands. Although the rewards were great, he was no longer protected by British authorities and faced many dangers in pursuit of the "white gold." The elephant hunters devised a variety of elaborate schemes to avoid the Belgian police. If a hunter didn't know the area, he would probably search in vain for the elephants, and if he wasn't arrested, he'd probably die of black-water fever. O ne of the first adventurers to take advantage of the "ivory rush" was John Boyes, who owned a farm in BEA. Immediately after the King's death, he headed out to try his luck in the Lado. He first went to the Belgian commissioner and told him that he wanted to trade in the Enclave, but was nervous about camping among so many elephants. He asked the commissioner to point out on a map where most of the elephants were found so he could avoid them. The commissioner was more than happy to oblige. Armed with this information, Boyes set off to hunt elephants! The would-be elephant hunter was a hardy frontiersmen, but he lacked the bushcraft of men like "Karamojo" Bell and Bill Judd. Nonetheless, Boyes hurriedly put together a group of natives and headed off into the bush. Apparently he did a good job of selecting his porters and gunbearers, because with their help he bagged 3,000 pounds sterling (roughly $13,000 at that time) worth of S P O R T I N G C 26 L A S S I C S of the Hunt By John Seerey-Lester