HUNTING TRIPS IN NORTHERN RHODESIA. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE GAME COUNTRY AND GAME HUNTER. 



NORTHERN RHODESIA (North-Eastern and North-Western) is a huge 

 territory, having an area of perhaps 300,000 square miles, so it can be 

 imagined how the conformation of the country varies, and what a wealth of 

 big game haunts its wilderness of forest, mountain, and plain. 



North-Eastern Rhodesia, about which this book mainly deals, is bounded on the 

 north-east by German East Africa, on the north-west by the Congo Free State, 

 on the east by Nyasaland, on the west by North-Western Rhodesia, on the 

 south-east by Portuguese East Africa, and on the south by Southern Rhodesia. 

 As the territory of North-Eastern Rhodesia stretches farther to the north than 

 the north-western section, I have called the country "Northern Rhodesia" for 

 the purpose of abbreviation. 



The best shooting time is the dry season from May to December, the rains 

 taking place between December and April. During the rainy season little game 

 can be found, for water is so plentiful that all the game has scattered. The grass 

 and vegetation are so rank and thick at this time of year that it is also a difficult 

 matter getting through the country ; and, to add to this, the discomforts of shooting 

 in the wet are so great that few men start out before May. 



The annual grass fires take place about the month of July, sometimes a little 

 sooner if the rains stop early. Shortly afterwards the fresh green grass begins to 

 spring up, when the game collect to eat it and to lick the ashes for the salt that 

 is found in them. 



The hottest months are September, October, and November, just before the 

 rains break, and at this time the heat can be terrific in the low country. 



Violent thunderstorms take place in the beginning of the rainy season, and 

 continue up to February, and these are sometimes accompanied by hail ; but I 

 have never seen it as large as I have seen in Eastern India, where it causes great 

 damage to the tea bushes, and other crops. 



B 



