THE LION 193 



when the target is coming on at a gallop — may mean a 

 mauling; but most accidents occur because of some bit of 

 carelessness or recklessness, some lack of caution or prepa- 

 ration, of the kind that ordinarily brings no retribution, but 

 which it is always possible will invite disaster. 



The fault may lie in the overeagerness and ignorance 

 of a beginner; it may be due to lack of nerve or timidity — 

 and sometimes vanity will induce timid men to venture into 

 a field for which they are totally unfit; or the mischance 

 may occur to a keen, experienced hunter whose skill, hardi- 

 hood, and prowess have finally led him to feel an unwar- 

 ranted contempt for the game. This last was the cause of 

 the lamented death of George Grey, the brother of Sir Ed- 

 ward Grey, the British Minister of Foreign Affairs, who 

 was killed by a lion the year after we left East Africa, while 

 out hunting with Sir Alfred Pease and Mr. Harold Hill, 

 the two men in whose company I killed my first six lions, 

 and not more than half a mile from where my first big 

 male lion was killed. We had met George Grey in Africa 

 and again in London; he was a singularly fine type of 

 man, very modest, utterly fearless, as hard as nails, and 

 probably as good a man in a serious emergency as was to be 

 found in all Africa. Shortly after Kermit killed his two 

 bongo, a cow and a yearling. Grey killed a bongo bull, 

 which he gave to us to complete our group for the National 

 Museum. He had done much hunting of dangerous game 

 and was so fearless and possessed such prowess that he un- 

 derestimated their dangerous qualities; elephants he held 

 in some slight respect, but we heard him say that he did not 

 regard buffalo as more dangerous than tame cattle, and he 

 cared but little for lion, and nothing for rhinoceros. 



