PREFACE 



Since Baldwin's book upon African hunting appeared, 

 now nearly twenty years ago, no work has been 

 published which can be considered in any way as a 

 guide for men who are about to visit the interior of 

 South Africa in search of sport, and would wish to 

 know the state of the country at the present day 

 from a sportsman's point ot view. 



This want I hope that the present volume may 

 to some extent supply, for as during eight years I 

 have led the life of a professional elephant-hunter, 

 my pages are naturally chiefly devoted to the fenc 

 naturcf^ amongst which I have been constantly living. 

 Some of my conclusions with regard to lions, rhino- 

 ceroses, or other animal, may differ from those 

 arrived at by other men equally competent to give 

 an opinion ; but, at all events, they are the result of 

 a long personal experience of the beasts themselves, 

 and have not been influenced in any way by the 

 often unreliable stories of " old hunters." 



The seven plates of antelopes' heads form a 



vii 



