II 



TRAVELS m EASTERN AFRICA 



79 



best suits him ; and having found it, niy advice is for 

 him to stick to it, and not be moved from his position 

 by theorists. A rifle which, on a sliooting-ground in 

 Europe and from a rest, will do marvellous work 

 against a steel target, may, and most probably will, 

 under the changed conditions of shooting in the field, 

 particularly when such field is the tropical climate of 

 Africa, prove a most treacherous object upon which to 

 place reliance. At least, this has been my experience. 

 Some military man has said: "It is not more the 

 power or accuracy of the gun than the man behind 

 the gun, which achieves satisfactory results." 



Lieutenant von Hohnel, in the early part of his 

 shooting experiences during this journey, used only 

 his express rifle. It was not until he almost by acci- 

 dent discovered the accuracy and power of the Mann- 

 licher rifle, that he came to have confidence in that 

 weapon. However, when once he had tried it, the 

 express rifle was laid aside. 



During my stay in Africa I wrote a letter to the 

 London Field, stating what satisfactory results we had 

 achieved with both Winchester and Mannlicher, and 

 expressing our preference for these weapons over the 

 express. This letter provoked a vigorous, and, in some 

 cases, highly amusing correspondence. One would 

 almost think that I had assailed the British Consti- 

 tution, so bitter were some writers against me ; but 

 it was matter of extreme gratification to me, upon my 

 return to Europe, to learn that the very gun-makers 

 most ardent in their condemnation of my views, were 

 turning out as many small-bore rifles as their work- 

 shops could produce. 



