a well-nigh
irresistible rush, and no ordinary bullet can stop it unless placed in
one or two small vital spots. Under the circumstances the hunter may not
be able to hold his rifle steady enough to hit these aforesaid spots.
That is when the paradox comes in. The hunter points it in a general way
in the direction of the oncoming beast, pulls the trigger and hopes for
the best. The paradox bullet hits with the force of a sledge hammer, and
stuns everything within a quarter of a mile, and the hunter turns
several back somersaults from the recoil and fades into bruised
unconsciousness.

We decided not to get the paradox, preferring to trust to hitting the
small vital spots rather than transport the weapon by hand through long
tropical marches.

The nine-millimeter rifles were said to be large enough for nearly all
purposes, but not reassuring in extremely close quarters. The .256
Mannlichers are splendid for long range shooting, as they carry a small
bore bullet and have enormous penetrating power.

The presumption, therefore, was that we should first shoot the lion at
long range with the .256, then at a shorter range with the
nine-millimeter, then at close range with the .475 cordite, and then
perhaps fervently wish that we had the paradox or a balloon.

After getting our arsenal, we then had to get the cartridges, all done
up in tin boxes of a weight not exceeding sixty pounds, that being the
limit of weight which the African porter is expected to carry. There
were several thousand rounds of ammunition, but this did not mean that
several thousand lions were to be killed. Allowing for a fair percentage
of misses, we calculated, if lucky, to get one or two lions.

After getting our rifles and ammunition under satisfactory headway, we
then saw that our seventy-two "chop" boxes of food were sure to be ready
in time to catch our steamer at Southampton.

And yet these preliminary details did not half conclude our shopping
preliminaries in London. There were camping rugs, blankets, cork
mattresses, pillows and pillow cases, bed bags, towels, lanterns,
mosquito boots, whetstones, hunting and skinning knives, khaki helmets,
pocket tapes to measure trophies, Pasteur anti-venomous serum,
hypodermic syringes, chairs, tables, cots, puttees, sweaters, raincoats,
Jaeger flannels, socks and pajamas, cholera belts, Burberry hunting
clothes, and lots of other little odds and ends that seemed to be
necessary.

The clothes were p