24 Wild Life in Central Africa. 



I had walked some way before I saw any game, when 

 suddenly I saw an eland feeding not far off. On getting 

 near enough for the shot, I saw it was a cow with a 

 particularly good head, so I fired at her neck and made a 

 good shot, for she dropped in her tracks. 



Then a bull appeared and ran off, but stood and looked 

 back from a distance of slightly over 200 yards, and I also 

 fired for his neck, but made a bad shot, for the bullet took 

 him under the ear. He dropped dead, which was satis- 

 factory ; but I like to hit where I aim. The cow was still 

 alive when I came back to examine her, so I ended her 

 pain with a bullet behind the shoulder. She had horns 

 measuring 3i|in. on the straight, but the right horn had an 

 ugly inward twist which spoilt the symmetry of the trophy. 



The question of giving pain to animals is the worst 

 feature about game shooting, and yet after all it is necessary 

 to get meat, and a well-placed bullet kills humanely. 



Many people who have never experienced the fascinating 

 and exhilarating sport of big-game hunting allege it is 

 cruel ; but I fancy that these people are not averse to 

 eating a nice bit of roast beef or tender mutton, and if 

 they do not kill the cattle and sheep themselves, others do 

 it for them. The killing is usually the most distasteful part 

 of the business to the hunter, and it is quite a mistake for 

 people to say that sportsmen are devoid of kind or humane 

 feelings, for every good sportsman likes to give a beast a 

 chance for its life. 



Our remote ancestors had to hunt to get meat to eat, and 

 this spirit has been handed down to many of us, and it will 

 be a long time before it disappears. Big game hunting is 

 good training for young men, and a man learns a lot when 

 busy at it, so it is to be hoped that the splendid game 

 countries we possess in Africa, Asia, and Canada will be 

 preserved for generations yet to come. A man who is expert 

 at circumventing animals in their natural haunts will likely 

 prove as efficient when the game is two instead of four- 

 footed; and there is no better training field for officers than 

 the haunts of wild game. Game inhabits all types of country, 



