JUNGLE STRATAGEMS 43 
saw a native about to shoot his old muzzle-loader, I 
yelled to him to wait until I got well behind, because 
the thing sometimes exploded. It was a wonder to 
me that it didn’t always explode. Except when he 
was after small game, a native loaded his gun 
nearly to the end of the muzzle with powder before 
putting in the wads and a huge slug of metal. When 
he pulled the trigger, he closed his eyes and 
flinched because the recoil always knocked him flat. 
But he expected that and cheerfully picked himself 
up from the ground with the question, “Did I hit 
it?” And often he did hit it—if the barrel did not 
explode. I have seen some of the natives with 
ordinary iron pipe fitted on their guns to replace 
the barrels that had not been able to stand the 
strain. 
I learned in the jungle that the hunter must 
always be on the lookout for the unexpected. At 
first it was difficult for me to distinguish between 
all the sights and sounds and to interpret each of 
them, but I soon learned under the tuition of the 
natives. One great danger came from the leopards, 
both spotted and black, who lie along the limbs of 
trees and spring without warning. A tiger slinks 
away when disturbed in the daytime, but a leopard 
almost always stands his ground and springs as one 
passes beneath him. And he can do more biting and 
scratching in one minute than a tiger can in three 
or. four minutes. 
Ali’s alertness saved me one day from a terrible 
