viii PREFACE. 



in any way bore upon the subject of large-game shooting 

 in Soutb-Eastern Africa, or upon such points of Natural 

 History in connexion with it as bad come under my own 

 observation, and tbe result bas been these pages. 



It has been my principal object to write for the infor- 

 mation of such of my fellow-sportsmen as may be tempted 

 to pay a visit to this, the finest game country in the 

 world, and I have attempted to give them as good an idea 

 as is possible on paper of what they may expect to find 

 when in pursuit of each of the large animals they will find 

 there ; and should what I have written prove o^ practical 

 use, even in a single instance, I shall have had my reward. 

 It is, however, necessary for any one who, taking these 

 pages as his guide, goes out to South Africa to shoot, to 

 bear two things in mind : firstly, that day by day, almost 

 hour by hour, and with ever increasing rapidity, the game is 

 being exterminated or driven further back, and that on the 

 ground about which I write, where I have seen almost count- 

 less herds of buffalo and antelopes of various kinds, their 

 numbers have very seriously diminished ; and secondly, 

 that my experiences are merely those of one individual, 

 and that, as I have elsewhere remarked, different people 



