THE LAND OF FOOTPRINTS 



accident, a man is sure to come out all right provided 

 he does accurately the right thing. In other words, 

 it is a dangerous game of skill, but it does not possess 

 the blind danger of a forest in a hurricane, say. 

 Furthermore, it is a game that no man need play 

 unless he wants to. In the lion country he may go 

 about his business — daytime business — as though 

 he were home at the farm. 



Such being the case, may I be pardoned for in- 

 truding one of my own small ethical ideas at this 

 point, with the full realization that it depends upon 

 an entirely personal point of view. As far as my 

 own case goes, I consider it poor sportsmanship ever 

 to refuse a lion-chance merely because the advan- 

 tages are not all in my favour. After all, lion hunt- 

 ing is on a different plane from ordinary shooting: 

 it is a challenge to war, a deliberate seeking for mortal 

 combat. Is it not just a little shameful to pot old 

 felis leo — at long range, in the open, near his kill, 

 and wherever we have him at an advantage — nine 

 times, and then to back out because that advantage 

 is for once not so marked? I have so often heard 

 the phrase, "I let him (or them) alone. It was not 

 good enough," meaning that the game looked a little 

 risky. 



Do not misunderstand. I am not advising that 

 you bull ahead into the long grass, or that alone 



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