PREFACE. ix 



in the same country, and under apparently similar condi- 

 tions, often arrive at widely different results, a fact that 

 I hope such of my critics as I may have the misfortune to 

 differ from may take into consideration. 



The experiences upon which my book is founded ex- 

 tended over a period of some five years, ending in 1872 

 (though one or two incidents belong to a prior period), 

 during which time, to all intents and purposes, I lived 

 amongst the natives and the game, rarely, except when 

 visiting the colony to dispose of cattle or hides, and to lay 

 in a fresh stock of goods, sleeping under other covering 

 than that of heaven, with the distant muttering of the 

 Hon or the mournfiil howl of the prowling hyena as my 

 lullaby ; and I can truthfully say, that the memory of those 

 five years, spent in that wild land under the shadow of 

 the Southern Cross, is a very pleasant one. 



It is perhaps as well to mention at once, that, except 

 at very short ranges, I can lay no claim to being a good 

 rifle shot, and that whatever success I may have had as a 

 hunter was entirely due to what I learned from professional 

 natives, who, though as a rule very ordinary shots, make 

 up for every deficiency by their wonderful skill in still 



