288 CHOICE OF WEAPONS 



sacrificed by so much as an iota the length of body 

 which conferred upon them their immense range, 

 flat trajectory, and tremendous muzzle velocity. 

 It is, I think, no small stride to have increased 

 within living memory the flight of a rifle bullet 

 from the 1650 feet per second of the old -577 

 express, to the 3500 feet per second of the modern 

 cordite-propelled projectile ; and although it is as 

 unsafe as it is undesirable to dogmatise upon a 

 matter such as this, where constant experiment 

 aims at still higher things, it is perhaps probable 

 that, in point of killing efficiency, the game rifle 

 of to-day is almost as near perfection as it is 

 destined to reach. 



Glancing now at the question of the arms with 

 which shooting in Africa should to-day be under- 

 taken, it is, of course, difficult if not impossible to 

 lay down any definite rule. Opinion upon these 

 points is extremely divided, and a weapon which 

 in the hands of one man would prove all that was 

 desired, might in those of another be found dis- 

 appointingly ineffective. Still, generally speak- 

 ing, in the selection of a battery the following 

 elementary considerations should be carefully 

 borne in mind. First of all the character of the 

 game likely to be encountered. In the case of 

 beasts of dangerous type and great vitality, it is 

 obviously essential to be provided with at least 

 one weapon which combines great penetration 

 with tremendous shock. Penetration alone, in 

 the cases ot animals from which a charge may be 

 expected, is by no means the only quality for 

 which to bargain ; what is far more necessary is 



