x PREFACE. 



for their courteous permission to republish here. The 

 story in Chapter XL, A Secret of the Orange River, 

 first appeared in a slightly condensed form in Chambers^ 

 Journal; and my thanks are similarly due to the Editor 

 of that magazine for permission to reprint in these pages. 



In conclusion, let me say to those sportsmen who think 

 of exploiting the Cape, let not your motto be " slay and 

 spare not," but rather, when possible, spare the rarer and 

 nobler game now daily becoming more and more scarce. 

 Remember that you may exterminate, but you can never 

 restore. The fauna of South Africa have, during these 

 last hundred years, after the peaceful sleep of long 

 centuries, had a terrible awakening ; it is high time they 

 obtained some respite. 



Procure necessary specimens, or meat for your camp 

 if you will ; but remember always that the game animals 

 yet remaining to those once crowded wilds, are far more 

 beautiful, far more useful in life, than they can ever be in 

 death. Happily, before it is too late, preservation is 

 coming to the rescue, and even the Dutch colonists begin 

 tardily to acknowledge its necessity. 



H. A. BRYDEN. 



November, 



1889. 



