viii AFRICAN NATURE NOTES 



1 found that President Roosevelt's knowledge of 

 wild animals was not confined to the big game of 

 North America, with which he has made himself so 

 intimately acquainted by long personal experience, 

 but that he also possessed a most comprehensive 

 acquaintance with the habits of the fauna of the 

 whole world, derived from the careful study of 

 practically every book that has been written on the 

 subject. 



In the course of conversation, President Roosevelt 

 remarked that he wished I would bring out another 

 book, adding to the natural history notes which I 

 had already written on the big game of South 

 Africa ; and on my telling him that I had some 

 manuscript notes on the lion and other animals 

 which I had once intended to publish, but had 

 subsequently put on one side, he requested me to 

 let him see them. On my return to England I at 

 once posted these articles to President Roosevelt, 

 who was kind enough to say that he had found 

 them so interesting that he earnestly hoped I would 

 add to them and bring out another book. Thus 

 encouraged, I set about the revision of all my 

 recent writings dealing with the natural history of 

 South African animals which had not been published 

 in book form, and after arranging them in chapters, 

 sent the whole of the manuscript to President 

 Roosevelt, at the same time asking him to be good 

 enough to look through them, if he could find the 

 time to do so, and telling him that if he thought 

 them of sufficient interest to publish in the form of 

 a book, how much I should appreciate it, if he were 

 able to write me a few lines by way of introduction, 

 since the publication of the book would be entirely 



