cordite powder. It is not half so heavy
or clumsy as the old timers, but its power and penetration are
tremendous. The largest of this modern type is the .650 cordite--that
is, it shoots a bullet six hundred and fifty thousandths of an inch in
diameter, and has a frightful recoil. This weapon is prohibitive on
account of its recoil, and few, if any, sportsmen now care to carry one.
The most popular type is the .450 and .475 cordite double-barreled
ejector, hammerless rifles, and these are the ones that every elephant
hunter should have.

We started out with the definite purpose of getting three .450s--one for
Mr. Akeley, one for Mr. Stephenson, and one for myself; also three
nine-millimeter (.375) Mannlichers and two .256 Mannlichers. What we
really got were three .475 cordites, two nine-millimeter Mannlichers,
one eight-millimeter Mauser, and two .256 Mannlichers. We were switched
off the .450s because a government regulation forbids the use of that
caliber in Uganda, although it is permitted in British East Africa, and
so we played safe by getting the .475s. This rifle is a heavy gun that
carries a bullet large enough to jolt a fixed star and recoil enough to
put one's starboard shoulder in the hospital for a day or so.
Theoretically, the sportsman uses this weapon in close quarters, and
with a bullet placed according to expert advice sees the charging lion,
rhino or elephant turn a back somersault on his way to kingdom come. It
has a tremendous impact and will usually stop an animal even if the
bullet does not kill it. The bullets of a smaller rifle may kill the
animal, but not stop it at once. An elephant or lion, with a small
bullet in its heart, may still charge for fifty or one hundred yards
before it falls. Hence the necessity for a rifle that will shock as well
as penetrate.

[Drawing: _Advice from a Cheerful Stranger_]

Several experienced African lion hunters strongly advise taking a
"paradox," which in their parlance is affectionately called a
"cripple-stopper." It looks like what one would suppose an elephant gun
to look like. Its weight is staggering, and it shoots a solid ball,
backed up by a fearful charge of cordite. They use it under the
following conditions: Suppose that a big animal has been wounded and not
instantly killed. It at once assumes the aggressive, and is savage
beyond belief. The pain of the wound infuriates it and its one object in
life is to get at the man who shot it. It charges in