NAIROBI AND MT. KENYA 107 



the tigers of Africa, and there appear to be others who hold the same 

 beHef. It may be said, however, that no tiger skin appears among the 

 trophies of the Roosevelt expedition and that its leader had no thought 

 of adding so great a treasure to his list. If there are any tigers in 

 Africa, they have succeeded for centuries in keeping out of sight, and 

 had Roosevelt succeeded in bagging such a prize as a genuine African 

 tiger, the Smithsonian Institution would have valued it far beyond 

 all the other zoological treasures sent to America. 



But while African hunters are not likely to be assailed by tigers 

 and have little fear of lions except when these creatures are cornered 

 and enraged, there is one brute for which they entertain a wholesome 

 respect — the rhinoceros. Letting this great brute alone does not act 

 to calm its temper and it is apt to charge the passer-by and seek to 

 impale him on its dangerous horn at a moment's notice or without any 

 notice at all. The Masai natives, who do not eat and therefore do not 

 kill game, fear no wild beast but the rhinoceros. All other creatures, 

 if let alone, rarely seek to make an attack on man, but the surly rhi- 

 noceros makes absolutely unprovoked charges, and at times gores a 

 man before he can get out of the way. By good fortune these huge 

 beasts are stupid and short-sighted. They seem able to see nothing 

 clearly that is ten yards or more away, and if the hunter perceives a 

 charge in time he can easily spring out of the way. Yet while their 

 sight is so poor, their sense of smell is remarkably keen, and the hun- 

 ter who would successfully cope with the rhinoceros must avoid ap- 

 proaching him from the windward side. 



Another tenant of the wilds that is not imprudently to be trifled 

 with is the fearless and surly wart-hog. All is right so long as the 

 hunter keeps on his horse. But if by any contingency he is unhorsed 

 when hunting these animals he runs great risk of receiving a dan- 

 gerous wound. 



Pig-sticking — chasing the hog on horseback and bringing it 

 down with a spear — is a favorite sport alike in India and East Africa, 

 and in both countries it is one in which the fighting powers of the 

 animal have seriously to be reckoned with. Certainly no one can 

 afford to disdain the courage and ferocity of the African wart-hog. 

 And the danger is greatly added to by the roughness of the country it 



