278 
ON SAFARI 
However, I must get the rifle loosed off this year. It 
doesn’t do to keep a weapon that (they say) will drive 
through twenty-four inches of solid oak, eating its 
head off.” 
In a later note:—“ Yes, I undertake to see after 
getting the necessary medical stores, etc., but hardly 
understand what ‘ special remedies ’ you refer to—if by 
‘ horn-pricks ’ you mean a hoist by a rhino, the only 
useful article I can suggest is an oak suit with brass 
mounts.” 
Well, since then we have twice experienced in actual 
practice the true degree of all these foreboded risks and 
ills. The tropical heats, the mountain-forest, the mala¬ 
rial breeze, the savage beasts and the subtle—we 
encountered them all, and under a gracious Providence, 
have not required the brass-bound suit. 
We encountered, nevertheless, during two com¬ 
paratively short expeditions (and outside all such risks 
as fever and the like), several instances of tangible danger 
from wild beasts, as hereinbefore recorded. 
II. Danger 
What degree of danger is there encountered in 
African hunting? Many who have not had practical 
experience, and whose knowledge is confined to reading, 
are apt to exaggerate it. On the other hand, those 
who know, perhaps minimise the contingent risks partly 
through a fear that they may be suspected of extolling 
their own exploits or personal courage. Then there is 
that third section—those who do not survive to tell the 
tale. And one cannot spend much time in Africa with¬ 
out being surprised at the number of “ accidents ”— 
many of them fatal accidents—that are always occurring, 
and of which no word reaches home. The casual 
wanderer, the adventurous spirits of the hinterland, 
these meet sudden deaths—or die of wounds or gangrene 
—and no record remains. 
My own impression tends to the belief that there is, 
