NAIROBI AND MT . KENYA 
107 
the tigers of Africa, and there appear to be others who hold the same 
belief. It ma}^ be said, however, that no tiger skin appears among the 
trophies of the Roosevelt expedition and that its leader had no thought 
of adding so great a treasure to his list. If there are any tigers in 
Africa, they have succeeded for centuries in keeping out of sight, and 
had Roosevelt succeeded in bagging such a prize as a genuine African 
tiger, the Smithsonian Institution would have valued it far beyond 
all the other zoological treasures sent to America. 
But while African hunters are not likely to be assailed by tigers 
and have little fear of lions except when these creatures are cornered 
and enraged, there is one brute for which they entertain a wholesome 
respect—the rhinoceros. Letting this great brute alone does not act 
to calm its temper and it is apt to charge the passer-by and seek to 
impale him on its dangerous horn at a moment’s notice or without any 
notice at all. The Masai natives, who do not eat and therefore do not 
kill game, fear no wild beast but the rhinoceros. All other creatures, 
if let alone, rarely seek to make an attack on man, but the surly rhi¬ 
noceros makes absolutely unprovoked charges, and at times gores a 
man before he can get out of the way. By good fortune these huge 
beasts are stupid and short-sighted. They seem able to see nothing 
clearly that is ten yards or more away, and if the hunter perceives a 
charge in time he can easily spring out of the way. Yet while their 
sight is so poor, their sense of smell is remarkably keen, and the hun¬ 
ter who would successfully cope with the rhinoceros must avoid ap¬ 
proaching him from the windward side. 
Another tenant of the wilds that is not imprudently to be trifled 
with is the fearless and surly wart-hog. All is right so long as the 
hunter keeps on his horse. But if by any contingency he is unhorsed 
when hunting these animals he runs great risk of receiving a dan¬ 
gerous wound. 
Pig-sticking—chasing the hog on horseback and bringing it 
down with a spear—is a favorite sport alike in India and East Africa, 
and in both countries it is one in which the fighting powers of the 
animal have seriously to be reckoned with. Certainly no one can 
afford to disdain the courage and ferocity of the African wart-hog. 
And the danger is greatly added to by the roughness of the country it 
