i6 4 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
term be generously applied to the hunting down of 
lions with dogs, for, while the lion’s attention is 
occupied with his canine opponents, to shoot him is 
a matter of comparative ease and attended with 
very little risk. 
Lion-hunting entails a considerable amount of 
risk when a wounded animal seeks cover in long 
grass or dense bush, and the hunter follows his 
quarry on foot with only his tracker carrying a 
spare rifle. This requires a combination of nerve 
and cunning and is excellent sport. The same may 
be said of buffaloes and, in a greater degree, of 
elephants. 
It is my opinion that the risk attached to the 
shooting of the rhinoceros is very small, for he la.cks 
the intelligence and cunning of the aforementioned 
animals, and, though I have shot scores of them, on 
no occasion has one charged me. 
The hunting of the hippopotamus is the very 
tamest of sports, and even when shooting from a 
native canoe, the hunter is comparatively safe, for in 
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the beast, when 
wounded, will make every effort to escape without 
showing fight. 
Taking all smaller game into consideration, I 
cannot say that their pursuit is fraught with much 
peril to the sportsman. Quite recently, I have read 
what I can only term as somewhat hysterical accounts 
