A Herd Of Antelopes, A
Hundred Yards Off, Gazed At Us As We Moved Along The Winding Path,
And Timidly Stood Their Ground Until Half Our Line Had Passed, But
Darted Off The Instant They "Got The Wind," Or Caught The Flavour Of
Those Who Had Gone By.
The sport is all up with the hunter who gets
to the windward of the African beast, as it
Cannot stand even the
distant aroma of the human race, so much dreaded by all wild animals.
Is this the fear and the dread of man, which the Almighty said to
Noah was to be upon every beast of the field? A lion may, while
lying in wait for his prey, leap on a human being as he would on any
other animal, save a rhinoceros or an elephant, that happened to
pass; or a lioness, when she has cubs, might attack a man, who,
passing "up the wind of her," had unconsciously, by his scent,
alarmed her for the safety of her whelps; or buffaloes, amid other
animals, might rush at a line of travellers, in apprehension of being
surrounded by them; but neither beast nor snake will, as a general
rule, turn on man except when wounded, or by mistake. If gorillas,
unwounded, advance to do battle with him, and beat their breasts in
defiance, they are an exception to all wild beasts known to us. From
the way an elephant runs at the first glance of man, it is inferred
that this huge brute, though really king of beasts, would run even
from a child.
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