BRITISH EAST AFRICA 207 



and is filled with everlasting remorse, for instead of 

 the forty-five inch, rough and scarred horns of which 

 he has dreamed so long, he sees, despite the big body, 

 the smooth short horns of a young bull. It is true 

 that a good taxidermist can make a wonderful job 

 of it and send him a magnificent bull's head on which 

 to dilate to his friends, but it isn't quite the same 

 thing! Now, I do not say that this kind of thing 

 does happen, but it is quite possible. A great deal 

 of hardship is involved, and under the circumstances 

 many men would leave their buffalo where he fell, 

 go on and kill another. Of course, in open country, 

 there is no excuse, but in thick bush it is another 

 matter. I got up quite close to a herd of buffalo one 

 day and was within a few yards of a large cow. 



" Shoot ! Shoot ! " hissed Hassan. 



I told him to keep quiet, and asked him after why 

 he wanted me to shoot a cow. 



" Oh ! " said he, "I was so anxious for the Bwana 

 to kill something ! " 



Would it not be possible to make an alteration in 

 the game laws by which any one, under a genuine 

 misapprehension, killing a buffalo below a certain 

 measurement, could forfeit the head and obtain per- 

 mission to shoot a second one ? No one, I should 

 think, wants deliberately to shoot a small head, 

 though in the excitement of the moment horns are 

 apt to enlarge ! 



The crux of the matter, of course, rests in the 

 words "genuine misapprehension." 



