306 MY SOMALI BOOK 



Buffalo and gaur are heavy beasts and require to be 

 treated as such. At close quarters, its handiness would 

 make the new Explora with brass-capped bullet worth 

 trying, and I fancy it would prove equal to the occasion. 

 Otherwise I think nothing less powerful than the '400 

 cordite would be safe : preferably the •470. 



In a discussion of this subject I have heard the 

 remark — the speaker was distinctly young — that so 

 long as one had a fairly serviceable weapon it was 

 unsporting to give so much attention to the question 

 of safety — as I, for instance, have done in this chapter. 



It was a foolish remark and based on ignorance, 

 but it illustrates the quaint ideas that are to be met 

 with as to what constitutes " sportsmanship " — 

 blessed word ! One thing the youngster forgot was 

 that when a man goes out to shoot big game, he could 

 often achieve little but for the assistance of his followers, 

 men who cheerfully risk their lives to provide his sport 

 and whose safety may depend upon him. Another 

 thing he did not think of, was that the qualities of a 

 rifle which make for safety are likewise those which 

 tend to prevent the escape of wounded beasts ; while 

 in the case of those that do temporarily escape, the 

 greater haemorrhage and the greater external bleeding 

 caused by a large calibre bullet frequently help to 

 bring them ultimately to bag. And the first object 

 of the big game hunter who is a sportsman should be 

 to kill and not to wound. 



It may be remarked that the cult of the small bore 

 magazine rifle obtains, naturally enough, in greatest 

 degree in Africa, where there is more long range shoot- 

 ing than elsewhere. I will therefore take the liberty of 



