THE PLAINS. 97 



nature; they kill and kill, yet seem unable to kill in excess of nature's powers of 

 reproduction, for the game remains the same in number. It is the rifle in the 

 hands of civilised man or the trained native that so completely upsets the balance 

 of nature. 



As to the plain-dwellers, they rank lowest in intelligence of all game animals 

 and lead the most commonplace of existences. They seem to be devoid of the 

 imagination required to be able to dwell upon or brood over the dangers they 

 run. When the danger is actually at hand they are, indeed, frightened enough, 

 but the moment it is over their fright seems to vanish. 



The sound of the lion's roaring, one would imagine, must be a terrible enough 

 sound to them, but they generally take not the slightest notice of it. It is to 

 them an oft-heard sound and conveys little to their imaginations. The more 

 wary animals of the bush are apt to be startled at it or, at any rate, to take 

 heed of it, but those of the plains are too stoical and too dull-witted to mind it. 

 Moreover, there appears to be a perfect understanding between the lion and 

 other game. When he is not on the war-path perhaps he can show a " no- 

 danger" signal, for he may pass across a plain closely crowded with game and 

 hardly an animal will take the trouble to so much as raise its head to look at him. 

 At other times they seem to show quite a lively interest in him, but such interest 

 seems to have little of fear in it. 



I have seen game following a lion at quite close quarters, for all the world 

 as if they wanted to make friends or plav with him. Perhaps they knew by his 

 look or his last night's doings that he had fed and was no longer dangerous ; 

 whatever the reason of it some of them seemed to let him come perilously near. 



Again, I have seen a lion pass so close to game that one spring could have 

 landed him on the top of an animal. I could give a number of instances of lions 

 not only passing close to herds of game, but actually passing through their midst 

 and remaining unheeded. Sometimes I have seen one of the herd standing in 

 his path give way a yard or two to let him pass, in just the same manner as 

 one pedestrian makes way for another who is determinedly bearing straight down 

 the middle of a pavement. 



Perhaps the lion is a chivalrous gentleman and never hunts without first 

 giving warning, or it may be that by the tone of his roaring game are made aware 

 of his intention to hunt or of his having successfully hunted. Of course the 

 lion practically never hunts by day, though he will occasionally wait at a water-hole 

 to jump out on anything coming near his retreat. It may be then that game are 

 so confident that they can outdistance him by day, or so sure that he will not 



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