JUNGLE STRATAGEMS 43 



saw a native about to shoot his old muzzle-loader, I 

 yelled to him to wait until I got well behind, because 

 the thing sometimes exploded. It was a wonder to 

 me that it didn't always explode. Except when he 

 was after small game, a native loaded his gun 

 nearly to the end of the muzzle with powder before 

 putting in the wads and a huge slug of metal. When 

 he pulled the trigger, he closed his eyes and 

 flinched because the recoil always knocked him flat. 

 But he expected that and cheerfully picked himself 

 up from the ground with the question, "Did I hit 

 it ?" And often he did hit it if the barrel did not 

 explode. I have seen some of the natives with 

 ordinary iron pipe fitted on their guns to replace 

 the barrels that had not been able to stand the 

 strain. 



I learned in the jungle that the hunter must 

 always be on the lookout for the unexpected. At 

 first it was difficult for me to distinguish between 

 all the sights and sounds and to interpret each of 

 them, but I soon learned under the tuition of the 

 natives. One great danger came from the leopards, 

 both spotted and black, who lie along the limbs of 

 trees and spring without warning. A tiger slinks 

 away when disturbed in the daytime, but a leopard 

 almost always stands his ground and springs as one 

 passes beneath him. And he can do more biting and 

 scratching in one minute than a tiger can in three 

 or four minutes. 



Ali's alertness saved me one day from a terrible 



