But one more word upon the subject of rifles and I
have done. There has always been a vast deal of talk
about “ shock,” and not only of its value in stopping
the rush of large animals, such as elephants and rhinoceroses,
but also of the means to adopt in order to
ensure this quality in a rifle. I am afraid that I must
frankly state that I am not an ardent believer in shock,
at least as produced by a weapon which one is capable
of carrying in one’s hands. Even the smallest bullet,
provided it is possessed of sufficient penetration when
directed against a nerve centre such as the brain or
spine, will produce the same shock as a cannon-ball.
But if the bullet does not strike a nerve centre, even
though a four-bore and propelled by fifteen drams of
powder, it will not give sufficient shock to either the
rhinoceros, which weighs about two tons, or the elephant,
which weighs in many cases five tons, to stun
or disable it.
To my mind, “ shock” is a gun-maker’s phrase. A
man of average weight, at a shooting ground, upon
the discharge of an eight-bore, or even a .577 express,
having felt against his shoulder the recoil of one of
these heavily charged weapons, is in a fit frame of
mind to absorb with facility and credulity the theory.
of shock, as expounded by the merchants desirous of
selling him an expensive express rifle.
In one word: As speed is the most necessary quality
in a race-horse, so is accuracy the first requisite of
a rifle; provided that, when used against big game it
is possessed of sufficient penetrative quality. This
quality cannot be measured at a shooting ground by
a comparison of the size or depth of holes made in a
steel target by the impact of a bullet.
Happily, even the mightiest pachyderm
is not possessed of a steel hide; and if
the bullet of a .45/90 Winchester is sufficient
to break the leg of a rhinoceros, it
possesses sufficient penetration, at least
to my mind, for all practical purposes.
On December 5, Lieutenant von Hohnel
and I, with eighty men and ten donkeys,
left Hameye. We took all the Soudanese
and four Somali, and, in order that we
might travel as quickly as possible, we
took only a few loads of trading-goods
and ammunition. It is astonishing how
even a slight rest from the fatigues of
marching will throw one out of condition;
and so for the first day we made but little
progress.
The rains had changed the appearance
of the desert so much, that it then appeared
almost a Paradise. What before
had been a desert, with a scant sprinkling
of dried acacias, looking like the
skeletons of giant umbrellas, had now
become vividly green parachutes, every
leaf and twig of which gave forth a delicious
odour. Many little flowers peeped
up out of the sand, — one like a small
tiger lily, and others coloured white, blue,
and red. Butterflies were everywhere, and
from tree to tree stretched great spiderwebs.
The desert was a desert no longer.
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