THE SPORTSMAN'S POINT OF VIEW 103 



balance between the hunter and the hunted is close enough, 

 so that the chances are about even, the sport is greatly 

 increased, but when everything favours the hunter, and the 

 animal has practically no chance of escape, I cannot see 

 where the sport or the fun comes in. For example, 

 releasing tame pigeons from traps is certainly not sport, no 

 matter what anyone may say to the contrary. It has none 

 of the advantages resulting from good, healthy out-in-the- 

 woods hunting which, though perhaps a survival of ancient 

 savagery, does much good in stimulating our senses and 

 making healthy men of us. The killing that is done is only 

 an incident, often regretted the next moment by the man 

 who does it. But killing is universal, from the highest to 

 the lowest ; it has been arranged in the general order of 

 nature, so it cannot be quite so bad as some people would 

 have us believe. Of course, man, with his inventive and 

 mechanical genius, is able to put the advantage too much on 

 his side, so that if he wishes to enjoy sport to the utmost 

 and make it a fair competition between man's brains and 

 animal's instinct he must avoid the most deadly weapons, 

 otherwise the killing becomes so easy that it is no longer 

 sport. If the hunter has true sporting instincts and the game 

 laws are conscientiously respected, there is no reason why, 

 within certain limitations, shooting should not be regarded as 

 a wholesome sport. From my own point of view, the camera 

 is a better weapon than the rifle, as it gives far more 

 pleasure, requires infinitely greater skill and patience, not 

 only from the technical ability to use the camera efficiently, 

 but in the art of stalking, and it gives results that are far more 

 satisfactory. There is no close season for the camera, no 

 restrictions as to the size of the " bag," and no animal or 

 bird is too small or too big to be worth photographing. I 

 have tried both shooting and camera hunting, with the 



