HUNTING IN AFRICA 123 
the same story; and men are yearly run down and gored 
or trampled to death by rhino. Buffalo are scarce, but no 
wounded animal in Africa is perhaps quite as dangerous 
or so cunning or determined. ‘These facts are well known, 
and do not need confirmation by anyone. 
Therefore I say again, it is for the man himself to 
decide whether he goes hunting alone, or whether he 
takes, to back him, a hunter of tried nerve and a steady shot. 
Mr. Buxton in his delightful book, “‘Short Stalks,” 
tells (I hope he will not be offended with me for saying) 
in a somewhat too flippant strain it seems to me, the 
story of the “‘boys” adventure with a buffalo on the 
White Nile. The lad wounded the animal, followed him 
up, and was promptly charged. Failed, of course, to 
stop him, and was thrown into the air. His escape 
was wonderful. Not one man so caught in five escapes 
with his life. 
Inexperienced shots, intent on making real hunting 
trips, are to my mind foolish indeed to hunt in Africa 
alone. They may not be guilty of the folly of certain 
ladies who have lately told of their extraordinary experi- 
ences in another part of Africa, and who seem to have 
run up to bushes where they had seen two lions enter, and 
only shot at one. Or who took their unfortunate 
gunbearers into thick scrub after rhino, and as soon as 
they saw the big brown hide, blazed into it, anywhere, 
not having any idea whether they were shooting at rump 
or shoulder. Small wonder indeed that one of these 
wretched men was gored and stamped to death. Such 
action is criminal in its folly. The African scrub is no 
place for a woman anyway. 
The surprises of the country are so many and so sudden, 
that I should advise most men, to avail themselves of 
experience maturer than their own. Be it remembered, 
too, that apart from its danger and pain, a serious accident 
