2 02 Journal of Travel and Natural History 



juster simile to say tliat tlie plums have l)een picked out of an 

 enormous pudding of heterogeneous materials ; for the editor tells 

 us that the plan which Mr Forester adopted, and which he has 

 necessarily had to follow, was to confine his labours almost entirely 

 to the work of curtailment and omission, so as much as possible to 

 leave Mr Chapman to tell his own tale in his own words. 



That tale presents him under various phases. We have him in 

 that of a trader, that of a hunter, of a geographer or physical geo- 

 grapher, and of a naturalist — in all of which he shews to advantage. 



We shall present him to the reader in each of these aspects. In 

 all they will find his narrative unaffected, intelligent, and interest- 

 ing ; and we venture to say that whoever reads them will close the 

 volumes with respect and liking for the author. 



One of the first requisites for success in any pursuit is said to be 

 predilection for it. If it goes against the grain, it will be neglected, 

 and failure in it will be the consequence. Whether intentionally 

 or not, virtually it was on this principle that Mr Chai)man selected 

 the business of trader or dealer in ivory. His passion for hunting 

 could in it be gratified on the grandest scale, and at the same 

 time combined with duty and attention to business. The more 

 elephants he hunted and killed, the more attentive and devoted to 

 business he shewed himself. Of his attention to business, thus 

 understood, the strictest disciplinarian could find nothing to com- 

 plain ; and the daring coolness and perseverance which he 

 shewed in his encounters with wild animals was equally shewn in 

 his dealings with the scarcely less dangerous children of the desert. 



One most remarkable thing, which must strike every one who 

 reads this narrative, is the impunity with which white traders pene- 

 trate into the territories of those savage people, put themselves and 

 their goods into their power, in fact almost literally put their head 

 into the lion's mouth, and yet come forth unscathed. Even in 

 the wars and dissensions among themselves, in which whites have 

 taken a side, the neutrality of other whites has been recognised, 

 and their persons and property respected. It is a curious pheno- 

 menon, and certainly not due to any foresighted calculation of 

 future advantage, or fear of prospectixe retribution on the part of 

 the blacks. The chief Sekeletu, for instance, although anxious to 

 secure trade with the whites, is, we are told, driving it away by 

 rcfiisiiig t(j deal with them except on terms so exorbitant that the 

 traders could not purcliase their goods in Natal for anything like 

 the value he will give for them. Notwithstanding that he sees the 



