8 
IN AFRICA 
cordite. They use it under the following condi¬ 
tions : Suppose that a big animal has been wounded 
and not instantly killed. It at once assumes the ag¬ 
gressive, and is savage beyond belief. The pain of 
the wound infuriates it and its one object in life is 
to get at the man who shot it. It charges in a well- 
nigh irresistible rush, and no ordinary bullet can 
stop it unless placed in one or two small vital spots. 
Under the circumstances the hunter may not be able 
to hold his rifle steady enough to hit these aforesaid 
spots. That is when the paradox comes in. The 
hunter points it in a general way in the direction 
of the oncoming beast, pulls the trigger and hopes 
for the best. The paradox bullet hits with the force 
of a sledge hammer, and stuns everything within 
a quarter of a mile, and the hunter turns several 
back somersaults from the recoil and fades into 
bruised unconsciousness. 
We decided not to get the paradox, preferring 
to trust to hitting the small vital spots rather than 
transport the weapon by hand through long tropical 
marches. 
The nine-millimeter rifles were said to be large 
enough for nearly all purposes, but not reassuring 
in extremely close quarters. The .256 Mannlichers 
are splendid for long range shooting, as they carry 
a small bore bullet and have enormous penetrating 
power. 
The presumption, therefore, was that we should 
first shoot the lion at long range with the .256, then 
at a shorter range with the nine-millimeter, then at 
