1919-] Ohit 11(1 I'll . 3.'39 



with quarrelsome interest. ^^ — lutroductiuu to " Tropical Wild 

 Life in British Guiana/ by William Beebe (]yi7). 



Although it must be acknowledged that Roosevelt's 

 favourites amongst wild ci'catures were the larger mam- 

 mals, aud especially the dangerous ones, which afforded 

 opportunities in the excilemeut of" the chase of thrilliug 

 moments, his delight in the birds of Africa and America 

 always displayed the feelings of the true naturalist, whose 

 chief instinct is not to slay but to sit down and study the 

 ways of wild creatures in their natural homes. In spite of 

 his abundant energy the President had also a reflective side 

 to his character and a very real appreciation of all that is 

 best in Art and Nature. He loathed what w^as false and 

 untrue to life as sincerely as a man like Selous. As an 

 instance of this, liis excellent papers on the falsity of 

 protective coloration are a good example, and did much 

 to controvert the crystallized opinions of theoretical men of 

 science, who for the most part had no knowledge of the 

 action of Nature on the spot. 



On occasion Roosevelt was inclined to be dogmatic and; as 

 I have remarked, somewhat inconsistent. I remember once, 

 after he returned from his African trip aud his excellent 

 book {' African Game-trails ') had been published, giving me 

 a lecture of about twenty minutes (with scarcely a pause to 

 take breath) on the superiority of pictures done on the 

 spot by a zoological artist over all forms of instantaneous 

 photography. At last, when I managed to get a word in^ 

 it Avas impossible to reft'ain from saying^ " If these are your 

 opinions, wdiy did you not take an artist with you instead of 

 a photographer^'? ''Well, you have got me there," lie 

 admitted, laughing, " I could not have found the right 

 man, and if I had it is doubtful if he would have come.^' 

 "What w'as the matter with Carl Rungins? Did you ask 

 him?" I suggested. There was no answer to this, for had 

 Roosevelt taken Rungins to Africa with him w^e should have 

 had a magnificent pictorial record of the larger mammals of 

 Africa, which would have made his book one of permanent 

 interest, and then we should have been spared that dreadful 



