INTRODUCTORY 7 



cessful hunter of big game, a man must be prepared 

 to rough it, to put up with hard and laborious days 

 in an exhausting climate, to cut himself off from all 

 luxuries, and to sacrifice his food, his comfort, and 

 his convenience to the one object of attaining sport. 

 Even in the best days of South African shooting a 

 man had to be a keen sportsman, a good rider, of 

 tough constitution, and of active habit, to stand the 

 wear and tear of a hunter's life. The sportsman 

 has now, as the writer can testify, to work far 

 harder than of old to attain his object and bag his 

 game. 



Big-game hunting in Africa, as elsewhere, is a fine 

 education. It necessitates a clean, hard, and self- 

 denying life. It renders a man strong, self-reliant, 

 quick, and courageous. It toughens the nerves and 

 improves the constitution, and the sportsman returns 

 from the hunting veldt a far better and more capable 

 being than before he entered it. Notwithstanding 

 the wonderful improvements effected in firearms, 

 even within the last few years, it may still be said 

 with truth that the hunter who follows the elephant, 

 the buffalo, the lion, the leopard, and the rhinoceros 

 takes his life in his hand. His quarry is, if nerve, 

 eye, or judgment be wanting, as likely to kill him as 

 not. Many a good man has fallen, and is likely yet 

 to fall, in such encounters. One can recall, even 

 within recent years, the deaths of such men as the 

 Hon. Guy Dawnay, Mr. F. L. James, Mr. Ingram, 

 Mr. Sandbach, and others who have forfeited their 

 lives in the pursuit of dangerous game. 



