ThefirsttwoorthreebucksIeversawgavemebuckfeverbadly，butafterIhadgainedexperiencewithordinarygameIneverhadbuckfeveratallwithdangerousgame。Inmycasetheovercomingofbuckfeverwastheresultofconsciouseffortandadeliberatedeterminationtoovercomeit。Morehappilyconstitutedmenneverhavetomakethisdeterminedeffortatall——whichmayperhapsshowthattheaveragemancanprofitmorefrommyexperiencesthanhecanfromthoseoftheexceptionalman。
Ihaveshotonlyfivekindsofanimalswhichcanfairlybecalleddangerousgame——thatis，thelion，elephant，rhinoceros，andbuffaloinAfrica，andthebiggrizzlybearaquarterofacenturyagointheRockies。Takingintoaccountnotonlymyownpersonalexperience，buttheexperiencesofmanyveteranhunters，IregardallthefourAfricananimals，butespeciallythelion，elephant，andbuffalo，asmuchmoredangerousthanthegrizzly。Asithappened，however，theonlynarrowescapeIpersonallyeverhadwasfromagrizzly，andinAfricatheanimalkilledclosesttomeasitwaschargingwasarhinoceros——allofwhichgoestoshowthatamanmustnotgeneralizetoobroadlyfromhisownpersonalexperiences。Onthewhole，Ithinkthelionthemostdangerousofallthesefiveanimals；thatis，Ithinkthat，iffairlyhunted，thereisalargerpercentageofhunterskilledormauledforagivennumberoflionskilledthanforagivennumberofanyoneoftheotheranimals。YetIpersonallyhadnodifficultieswithlions。I
twicekilledlionswhichwereatbayandjuststartingtocharge，andIkilledaheavy-manedmalewhileitwasinfullcharge。ButineachinstanceIhadplentyofleeway，theanimalbeingsofaroffthatevenifmybullethadnotbeenfatalIshouldhavehadtimeforacouplemoreshots。TheAfricanbuffaloisundoubtedlyadangerousbeast，butithappenedthatthefewthatIshotdidnotcharge。Abullelephant，avicious“rogue。”whichhadbeenkillingpeopleinthenativevillages，didchargebeforebeingshotat。MysonKermitandIstoppeditatfortyyards。Anotherbullelephant，alsounwounded，whichcharged，nearlygotme，asIhadjustfiredbothcartridgesfrommyheavydouble-barreledrifleinkillingthebullIwasafter——thefirstwildelephantIhadeverseen。Thesecondbullcamethroughthethickbrushtomyleftlikeasteamplowthroughalightsnowdrift，everythingsnappingbeforehisrush，andwassonearthathecouldhavehitmewithhistrunk。Islippedpasthimbehindatree。PeoplehaveaskedmehowIfeltonthisoccasion。MyanswerhasalwaysbeenthatIsupposeIfeltasmostmenoflikeexperiencefeelonsuchoccasions。Atsuchamomentahunterissoverybusythathehasnotimetogetfrightened。Hewantstogetinhiscartridgesandtryanothershot。
Rhinocerosaretruculent，blusteringbeasts，muchthemoststupidofallthedangerousgameIknow。Generallytheirattitudeisoneofmerestupidityandbluff。Butonoccasionstheydochargewickedly，bothwhenwoundedandwhenentirelyunprovoked。ThefirstIevershotI
mortallywoundedatafewrods’distance，anditchargedwiththeutmostdetermination，whereatIandmycompanionbothfired，andmorebygoodluckthananythingelsebroughtittothegroundjustthirteenpacesfromwherewestood。Anotherrhinocerosmayormaynothavebeenmeaningtochargeme；Ihaveneverbeencertainwhich。Itheardusandcameatusthroughratherthickbrush，snortingandtossingitshead。