INTRODUCTION 17 



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hours of freedom for all the luxuries of civilized 

 life; and unnatural and extraordinary as it may 

 appear, yet such is the fascination of the life of 

 the mountain hunter, that I believe not one in- 

 stance could be adduced of even the most polished 

 and civilized of men, who had once tasted the 

 sweets of its attendant liberty, and freedom from 

 every worldly care, not regretting the moment 

 when he exchanged it for the monotonous life of 

 the settlements, nor sighing and sighing again 

 once more to partake of its pleasures and allure- 

 ments.' 



" On his return to Europe from the Far West, 

 Mr. Ruxton, animated with a spirit as enterpris- 

 ing and fearless as that of Raleigh, planned a 

 scheme for the exploration of Central Africa, which 

 was thus characterized by the President of the 

 Royal Geographical Society, in his anniversary 

 address for 1845 : ' To my great surprise, I re- 

 cently conversed with an ardent and accomplished 

 youth, Lieutenant Ruxton, late of the 89th Regi- 

 ment, who had formed the daring project of 

 traversing Africa in the parallel of the southern 

 tropic, and has actually started for this purpose. 

 Preparing himself by previous excursions on foot 

 in North Africa and Algeria, he sailed from Liver- 

 pool early in December last, in the Royalist, for 

 Ichaboe. From that spot he was to repair to 

 Walvish Bay, where we have already mercantile 

 establishments. The intrepid traveler had re- 



