THE LION 185 



after being wounded, he finally makes up his mind to fight; 

 but a buffalo is not nearly as apt to charge as a lion, and is 

 far more easily seen and far less quick in his movements, 

 and in most cover is more easily evaded ; so that on an aver- 

 age we do not consider that the buffalo is as dangerous. 

 Elephants are much more apt to charge than buffaloes; a 

 herd will charge under circumstances when even lions would 

 slink quietly off; and in consequence to hunt them seems to 

 us about as dangerous as to hunt buffalo; but the actual 

 charge of a single elephant does not seem as dangerous as the 

 actual charge of a lion or buffalo. The rhinoceros we regard 

 as on the average much less dangerous than lion, leopard, ele- 

 phant, or buffalo; in fact, as only about as dangerous as, 

 or very little more dangerous than, the grizzly bear. But 

 it must be remembered that these are only our personal 

 views; and while we believe that they are shared by the 

 majority of the big-game hunters most competent to speak 

 on the subject, we are well aware that many equally experi- 

 enced and observing hunters are on record as expressing 

 widely different views. Good authority can be produced 

 for the statement that the buffalo, or the elephant, or even 

 the rhinoceros, is the most dangerous, and the lion or the 

 leopard the least dangerous; and different observers have 

 arranged the five animals in every conceivable order, as ad- 

 versaries. The truth is that in this matter there is such 

 wide, individual variation, both among the hunters and the 

 hunted, that every general statement must be made with 

 full knowledge of the many exceptions that exist thereto. 

 There are circumstances or occasions under which the chase 

 of each of the five animals — six including the white rhi- 

 noceros — may be very dangerous; while under other con- 



