204 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



states that even the ten bore, reinforced by a powerful 

 four hundred cordite, both hitting a charging Hon at short 

 range in the head, but missing the brain, failed to stop him 

 for even a moment. Surely this shows that even the most 

 powerful rifles may do no more than lighter ones, under 

 the very — and only — circumstances when the big rifles are 

 supposed to be superior. A Springfield with the pointed 

 bullet, or a Winchester .405 with a soft-nosed bullet, 

 could not have done any worse than the two big rifles 

 in the above instance, and we believe they would have 

 done better; at any rate, even at close range, they are 

 almost, if not quite, as good as the very heavy rifles, and at 

 all ordinary ranges are far superior. Personally we regard 

 the mere fact of a rifle being a magazine gun as conclusively 

 establishing its superiority over a double barrel for lion 

 hunting, if both are good modern weapons. While we were 

 in East Africa a Mr. Williams, a friend of Mr. McMillan, 

 was badly bitten by a lion, because with his two barrels he 

 slightly wounded it at a distance, and was seized before he 

 could reload, whereas if he had been using a magazine rifle 

 he would probably have stopped his assailant. The experi- 

 ences of the two cowboys. Loveless and Means, who with 

 Buffalo Jones roped the lioness, south of Kijabe, a few 

 months after we were there, shows that a lion cannot catch 

 a really good horse, already at full speed, even if it has only 

 a few yards start. Doubtless a lion can catch an ordinary 

 African hunting pony, which is standing or has to wheel when 

 the lion starts, if it is under a hundred yards off. But the 

 cow-punchers with Jones were riding big American cow 

 horses of the best type, fast, agile, and thoroughly trained. 

 The lioness was at bay under a bush, and the punchers kept 



