IV PT^EFACE. 



liis ]ietiti()iK'i-'s vontlifnl appearance and to regard tlie idea of liis 

 attacking an elejjliant with derision. He gave the desired 

 permission, wliich was taken advantage of proin])tly ; not only did 

 Selous hag many ele])hants hefore lie came of age, hnt hy the 

 time he was live-and-twenty he was known far and wide in 

 South Africa as one of tlie most successful ivory Inuiters of 

 the day. 



Ahout this time many of the Boer elejjhant Inniters wen- 

 giving up the profession ; the elephants liad given up theii' old 

 haunts of the o])en veld and the herds had retreated to the forest 

 country. Here the use of liorses was impossihle, and malarial and 

 other fevers took toll of the hunters ; a few of the holder spirits 

 made up their minds to stick to elephant hunting, and it was 

 among these hardy and experienced men that Selous speedily made 

 a great reputation for courage, hushcraft and endurance. A man 

 of l)eautiful proportions, with a chest of extraordinary depth and 

 hreadth, he is descrihed as the hest white runner that the Matahele 

 had ever seen, and more than once he owed his life to his ])ower of 

 sprinting, jumping and swerving. The life of constant hardslii]) 

 toughened him, and he seldom suffered from fever. 



Until 18S1 Selous devoted himself mainly to elephant hunt- 

 ing, save for one holiday to England in IST-J. In the former year 

 he returned home for the second time, and shortly afterwards 

 published ' A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa,' a hook which ran 

 through five editions, and took rank immediately among the 

 classical works on African hunting. His keen interest in to])(>- 

 graphy led to a succession of eoiitrihutions to tlie Journal of 

 the lioyal (jleographical Society, whicli in due lime awarded him 

 its gold medal. By the end of ISSI he was l>ack at the Cape, and 

 for the next six years wandered ahout the Matahele and other 

 territory to the Zambesi, devoting himself mainly to procuring 

 specimens of the African fauna for museums and jirivate collections 

 at home. Many of the finest specimens to be seen in the Xatural 

 History Museum were jirociu'ed by Selous during these years. 



In 18SS, in passing through the Mashukulumbwi teiTitory, 

 Selous was set upon by that tribe; his caravan was jilundered, 

 many of his followers were killed, and he himself, escaping with 



