PREFACE 13 



protection has, even at the eleventh hour, 

 become apparent in the nation which drove the 

 wild buffalo of the prairies off the face of the 

 earth. 



At the same time, it is necessary to use 

 common sense in framing these regulations 

 and to recognise that the injunction to spare 

 life cannot be worded as peremptorily in the 

 African or Indian jungle, as, for instance, in 

 Epping Forest. For one thing, many of the 

 wild animals are exceedingly savage and 

 dangerous. The lion, tiger, and leopard, to 

 quote only three, do not hesitate to attack 

 natives and annually destroy immense quantities 

 of cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry. Euro- 

 peans, it is true, are, as a rule, not molested 

 by these animals unless they wound them first, 

 though even to this immunity there are excep- 

 tions. But Europeans are morally responsible 

 for the safety and well-being of those whose 

 birthright they administer, and they should 

 consider themselves bound to shoot every lion 

 or tiger they may come across, even at some 

 personal risk and discomfort. In the chapter 

 entitled " Vengeance of the Wild" the reader 

 will find details of terrible encounters with 



