THE WHITE-EARED COB 175 



no stampede ensued, nor (so far as we could see) was 

 there any sign of alarm or even of recognition. When 

 first seen, these lions would be from 400 to 500 yards 

 distant beyond all reasonable range, yet still offering 

 a bare off-chance. For the second time in my life with 

 lions (see On Safari, p. 246), I was so intent on watching 

 an entrancing scene that the rifle was forgotten. 



I have not thought it necessary to add further 

 particulars from a purely sporting point of view, because 

 I have always found the white-eared cob fairly easy of 

 access. This, however, may not be a universal rule, and 

 other sportsmen have expressed an opposite opinion. It 

 is, I think, largely a question of locality. There are 

 certain well-known resorts where the " teel" have been 

 heavily hunted, and there they are probably wild enough. 

 We studiously avoided these oft-exploited points, despite 

 the entreaties of our men, who love best the beaten track. 

 At the spots where these notes were gathered together, I 

 conceive it quite possible that no white man had hunted 

 before. It must be borne in mind that the game-country 

 of White Nile covers hundreds of miles (on both banks), 

 and that a landing except at the well-known spots 

 referred to usually presents very considerable difficulties. 

 These may prove absolutely insuperable ; yet the effort is 

 always worth making, since success spells nothing less 

 than gaining a hunter's paradise, stocked with unsophisti- 

 cated game intact in all their native grace and beauty. 

 It is not that I fear tackling the wildest of wild game 

 and being beaten ; but I love yet more to wander around 

 amidst Nature's pristine conditions, where the wild 

 beasts never having heard the report of a rifle allow 

 one to study them at leisure, and to select, with discrim- 

 ination, such specimens as may be required. 



Though the evidence is obviously incomplete (owing 

 to circumstances beyon*d my control that is, the War), I 

 will venture to insert this provisional diagnosis : (i) That 

 northern individuals of the white-eared cob while in no 



