a partridge to a lion is so trying that the 

 beginner is wound up like an alarum clock and 

 goes off at the first touch. He is not fit to hit 

 a haystack at twenty yards ; will fire without 

 looking or aiming at all ; jerk the rifle as he 

 fires ; forget to change the sight after the last 

 shot ; forget to cock his gun or move the safety 

 catch ; forget to load ; forget to fire at all : nothing 

 is impossible nothing too silly. 



On a later trip we had with us a man who was out 

 for the first time, and when we came upon a troop 

 of koodoo he started yelling, war-whooping and swear- 

 ing at them, chasing them on foot and waving his 

 rifle over his head. When we asked him why he, 

 who was nearest to them, had not fired a shot, 

 all he could say was that he never remembered his 

 rifle or anything else until they were gone. 



These experiences had been mine, some of them many 

 times, in spite of Rocky's example and advice ; and they 

 were always followed by a fresh stock of good resolutions. 



I had started out this day with the same old deter- 

 mination to keep cool, but, once into the reeds, Jim's 

 account of how he had stepped on the crocodile put 

 all other thoughts out of my mind, and most of my 

 attention was given to examining suspicious-looking 

 rocks as we stole silently and quietly along. 



Jock was with me, as usual ; I always took him out 

 even then not for hunting, because he was too young, 

 but in order to train him. He was still only a puppy, 

 about six months old, as well as I remember, and had 

 never tackled or even followed a wounded buck, so 

 105 



