86 THE GAME OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



The dangerous game of Africa are: Lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, and buffalo. 

 Hunting-dog and cheetah are by many included as dangerous game. These are 

 undoubtedly very formidable animals, and the behaviour of the former, at any rate 

 when encountered, is calculated to impress one with the idea that they needed 

 but little provocation to induce them to attack human beings. However, in spite 

 of their aggressive demeanour and the slowness with which they retire, it appears 

 that they do not care about attacking mankind. In fact, I have been unable 

 to hear of an authenticated instance of their ever having done so. The much- 

 despised hyaena is responsible for more damage to mankind than either hunting-dog 

 or cheetah, for he will occasionally attack a sleeping man. 



Some people also include hippo and crocodile in the list of dangerous creatures. 

 The former of these is generally harmless enough, though he may occasionally 

 upset a canoe, sometimes in anger and sometimes as a joke. The latter reptile is only 

 dangerous as a snake might be, that is to say, if you walk in the grass with bare 

 feet you may tread on a snake, and if you bathe in a deep pool or fall overboard 

 you may be taken by a crocodile. The shooting of neither hippo nor crocodile is 

 attended by much danger.* 



As to the really dangerous game, no hunter who has shot much will deny that 

 there is considerable risk in hunting them. It would be difficult to find anyone 

 who has hunted most of his life in Africa who had not at some time been damaged by 

 some animal, besides having had many close shaves. It is, of course, quite possible 

 for a man to have shot several dangerous animals and never to have been in 

 much danger. He might be a very careful hunter and have let several chances 

 go by, as safer left alone. A man who has seen a large troop of lions and thought 

 it best not to fire may decry the hazards run by a brother sportsman, but he will 

 never be able to convince himself that there is no real danger in shooting these 

 animals. A "narrow escape" is an unmeasurable quantity. It assumes large or 

 small proportions according to temperament. A most harmless event may, to 

 some, assume the proportions of a very near thing, whilst others do not realise 

 the danger run. Very few men can assess a " narrow escape " at its true value ; 

 moreover, it is a very difficult thing to judge what an animal's conduct would have 

 been if circumstances had been slightly otherwise, and speculations are no use 

 in determining the relative amount of danger risked from each kind of animal. 

 It is the long list of killed and wounded which proves the dangerous qualities of 



* Since writing this a hippo in the Nile, unprovoked by me, lifted a large canoe that I was in, almost 

 bodily out of the water, and a day or two later another seized a native close to my camp and nearly 

 severed his arm with two enormous gashes. 



