XVlll OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



Old Shekarry's name is still a pass-word amidst tribes of savages far beyond 

 the most advanced outposts of civilisation ; and passing travellers say tbey 

 constantly bear him spoken of in terms of the deepest affection and regard. 

 His favourite haunts and bivouacs in the forest, and the scenes of many a 

 wild adventure, are still remembered and pointed out, whilst his daring 

 achievements form the subject of many a spirit-stirring tale told round the 

 hunter's fire. 



Besides being the mightiest himter of his day, the Old Shekarry may 

 well claim to be one of the greatest of modem travellers, for the crack of 

 his deadly rifie has been heard in almost every quarter of the globe ; and 

 for the last twenty years we have been constantly reminded of his wander- 

 ings, either by some piquant description of adventure amongst strange 

 people, or by an equally graphic sketch of some out-of-the-way place. For 

 instance, the last numher of the " Illustrated London Neivs" contained an 

 engraving from one of his drawings (Fernando Po), and this moiiiing in 

 the papers relating to the imprisonment of British subjects in Abyssinia 

 just presented to the House of Commons by command of Her Majesty, I 

 find he has offered his services to Earl EusseU for the purpose of negocia- 

 ting the release of Captain Cameron, Her Majesty's Consul, and the other 

 persons now in confinement in that country. Although only lately returned 

 from the West Coast of Africa (where he was severely wounded by an iron 

 projectile in the head during a desperate skirmish against savage hordes 

 near Lagos), we find him again proffering his services in a perilous enter- 

 prise for the purpose of delivering a brother officer from an ignominious 

 captivity. Were the noble Earl to search the country through, nowhere 

 would he find a man more likely to succeed in such a mission than the Old 

 Shekarry. A good oriental linguist, and acquainted with the habits of the 

 people, accustomed to depend upon himself and his own tact, of undaunted 

 resolution, and indefatigable in expedients, he would find no difficulty in 

 making his way to Gondar, either via Adulis or Massowah, and would 

 succeed with King Theodoros, if it were within the boimds of possibility. 

 Whatever the intentions of the Government may be, it is imperative that 

 " energetic measures be at once taken in this matter, as it is a disgrace to 

 the country that the representative of Her Majesty should be allowed to 

 linger in chains without the most strenuous efforts being made to deliver 

 him. 



For descriptions of forest-life and hunting adventures, the Old Shekarry 

 is unrivalled, and his book teems with interesting matter. Whether de- 

 scribing the beauties of nature, the manners of wild races of men, the habits 

 of the most ferocious of animals, the voluptuous allurements of Oriental 

 Ufe, or the fascinations of his forest home, the same fluent yet powerful 



