THE AFRICAN EXPEDITION AND ITS OBJECTS 23 



We were told of the arrival at Naivasha of a member of the expedition, 

 who came to the town in unloitering haste, being chased in by five lions. 

 Roosevelt at the same time had his most threatening experience. He 

 had set out on a hippopotamus hunt on the waters of Lake Naivasha 

 in a small boat with two native attendants, and unexpectedly found 

 himself assailed by a dozen of these huge water monsters. The situ- 

 ation was one of extreme peril and the natives were thrown into a 

 panic, especially when some of the brutes dove under the boat and 

 sought to lift it on their clumsy heads. 



Coolness and nerve were needed at this moment of peril and they 

 did not fail Colonel Roosevelt. He shot two of the largest of the hip- 

 popotami, scared away the others, and came triumphantly ashore, 

 towing in his prizes. But if the United States was to have the benefit' 

 of his future services it was very desirable that he should not repeat 

 such experiences. A's for his son Kermit, it was said that this youth- 

 ful hunter had shown more enthusiasm than caution in the pursuit of 

 African game, some of his animal encounters approaching reckless- 

 ness and calling for caution from his experienced father. 



We may conclude this chapter with a few remarks on a co-ordi- 

 nate topic, that of the ethical bearing of a hunter's life. It cannot be 

 denied that, aside from all purposes of scientific reward from the use 

 of his rifie, our hunter was largely moved by the desire for pure sport, 

 the bloodthirst that has animated the hunter in all ages. 



Yet is this as reprehensible as it is held to be by many? Is the 

 life of one of these brute tenants of the African wilds a matter of 

 ethical moment? "They toil not, neither do they spin." They live 

 mainly to eat and reproduce their kind. No useful powers of thought 

 animate their undeveloped brains, no provision for the morrow dis- 

 turbs their narrow intellects ; when they fall before the hunter's bullet 

 it is with as little disturbance of the economy of nature as when a huge 

 oak falls before the forester's axe. To destroy an entire forest may 

 be a serious injury. To annihilate an animal species may disturb the 

 balance of nature. Yet to fell an individual tree or rhinoceros can have 

 no such effect, and aside from the passing spasm of pain in the latter 

 instance it does not appear to have any ethical significance. That 

 is, so far as the animal is concerned, since it may be saved by the 



