A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL 

 LAND 



CHAPTER I 



THE DESIRE FOR ADVENTURE 



SOMETIMES when I look through the catalogues 

 of the great Tring Museum and see so many butterflies 

 and birds with " meeki " as specific names, I confess 

 I feel a little ashamed, as though I were sailing under 

 false colours. These insects and birds named after 

 me seem to proclaim that I am a scientist ; and that, I 

 cannot honestly claim to be. The honour of those 

 names I have not really earned. The desire for an 

 adventurous life rather than a passion for science 

 has been the guiding principle of my life. When 

 I am asked how I came to be a naturalist I am in- 

 clined therefore to disavow the title, and to answer 

 that I am more a lover of wild life and a student of 

 nature than a scientific observer. 



My father, it is true, was a naturalist ; profession- 

 ally so, for he made his livelihood for many years 

 as a dealer in Natural History specimens, and as 

 a collector of British lepidoptera. I have early 

 recollections of going out collecting with him on 

 various expeditions in different parts of the British 



