Supplement to Nature, March 21, 1901. 



Vll 



Until the appearance in 1894 of his chapters on hunting 

 in Africa (written, after much persuasion, at the instance 

 of Sir Samuel Baker) in the " Big Game " volume of the 

 Badminton Library, the world knew practically nothing 

 of Oswell's South African explorations and experiences, 

 except what can be gleaned from Livingstones " Mis- 

 sionary Travels." ^ The information given in the present 

 volumes, though far less full than could be desired, tells 

 the story of his adventures in considerably more detail 

 than is the case in the articles referred to, and its publi- 

 cation is therefore a distinct gain to our knowledge of the 

 early days of African exploration. 



Oswell's persistent refusal to take any share in the 

 honours attaching to the discovery of Lake Ngami, and 

 his self-abnegation in permitting nothing from his own 

 pen to forestall the appearance of Livingstone's volume, 

 are now matters of history, and are alluded to in some 

 detail in the introduction by Mr. Francis Galton to the 

 work under review. But there can be no hesitation in 

 admitting that as Oswell originated the idea and fitted 

 out the expedition at his own cost, the honour and glory 

 of the discovery should by rights have been his and his 

 alone. Indeed, this is practically admitted by Living- 

 stone himself. And here it may be said that we are not 

 for a moment casting the slightest reflection on the great 

 missionary explorer. The account of the discovery of 

 Lake Ngami had to be written and published, and as 

 Oswell refused to undertake the task it was the bounden 

 duty of Livingstone to do so. The destruction of his 

 own journals by Oswell, in case they should be published 

 ! before the appearance of Livingstone's work, is, however, 

 a matter which must always remain one for serious regret. 



In this connection, it may not be out of place to 

 mention that there is a discrepancy between the accounts 

 of Livingstone and Oswell as to the precise date on 

 which the great lake was discovered. Livingstone - 

 states that "it was on the ist of August [1849] that we 

 reached the north-east [or lower] end of the Ngami." 

 Oswell, on the other hand, as quoted on p. 201 of the 

 first volume of the work under review, says that 



"We started on the i6th of July, and after twelve days' 

 march arrived at the half tribe of the Bamanguato, who 

 call themselves Batouani. We outspanned nearly abreast 

 of the town at the lower end of the Lake." 



This would make the date of its discovery July 28. It is, 

 of course, a matter of slight moment, but it would be 

 interesting to find whether original manuscripts throw 

 any light on the reason of the discrepancy. 



It is to the African adventures of Oswell that our re- 

 maining space will be restricted. Several of his en- 

 counters with, and escapes from, wild animals mentioned 

 in the present work have been already narrated in the 

 Badminton Library, from which the illustrations have 

 been reproduced. These latter were drawn by Joseph 

 Wolf under the personal supervision of Oswell himself, 

 and may be taken to be as truthful representations of 

 the actual scenes as could be obtained without the aid 

 of photography. It must, however, be confessed that, 

 either from the wearing of the blocks or from the fault 

 of the printer, the reproductions are by no means equal 



1 In the popular edition of that work, published in 1861, Oswell's name 

 is not even mentioned in the index, although it occurs on certain of the 

 plates. 



2 Op. cit. p. 46.. 



NO. 1638. VOL. 63] 



to the original plates. This inequality will be manifest 

 if the plate facing p. i6 of vol. ii. of the work before us 

 be compared with its prototype facing p. 128 of vol. i, 

 on " Big Game Shooting " in the Badminton Library. 



Like Cornwallis Harris and his own companion, Frank 

 Vardon, Oswell was in the service of the Hon. East 

 India Company, although in a civilian instead of a 

 military capacity, and it was ill-health in India that led 

 him to recruit his energies in the Cape. Both on his 

 first expedition with Murray, and on his second with 

 Vardon in 1844 and 1845, Oswell, to quote his own 

 words, 



"penetrated far beyond the utmost limits of previous 

 geographical knowledge, exploring, hunting, revelling 

 with them in shooting such as no men ever had before 

 or will ever have again, the first Europeans and the first 

 guns among the myriads of animals." 



His acquaintance with Livingstone commenced in 

 1845 ^"d continued till the death of the latter. On his 

 return to Africa in 1848 from a short sojourn in India, 

 the great expedition to Lake Ngami was organised and 

 brought to a successful conclusion, his companions being 

 Livingstone and Murray. The triumph of the march 

 was the crossing of the Kalahari desert, for when the 

 Zouga — the effluent of Ngami — was reached, the diffi- 

 culties were over, and patience and perseverance were 

 alone necessary. The fourth expedition, undertaken, 

 alone, was mainly occupied in shooting on previous 

 routes ; but in the fifth, which was undertaken witb 

 Livingstone, the course of the Zambesi and its tributaries 

 was mapped for the first time, and the myth that the 

 former discharged at Delagoa Bay disposed of for ever. 



Although, unfortunately, neither of the quartet was a 

 naturalist in the true sense of the term, their expeditions 

 largely extended our knowledge of South African animals. 

 During the third expedition, those beautiful antelopes 

 the lichi ijCobus leche) and puku (C vardoni) were dis- 

 covered ; and it seems that Livingstone or Oswell were 

 really the discoverers of the nakong,or situtunga antelope, 

 or, at all events, of the Chobi representative of the same, 

 although the animal was named from specimens brought 

 home at a much later dale by Speke. A rhinoceros was 

 also named after Oswell by Gray, being regarded as 

 distinct from Rhinoceros simtis on account of the forward 

 direction of the front horn, which is always worn at the 

 tip by being pushed along the ground. Later writers, 

 and even Oswell himself, have, however, denied the 

 distinctness of this form. But Oswell's notes tell us 

 that the quebaaba — ^as this animal is always called by 

 the natives — was never found- below the southern tropic^ 

 If it had been the sole white rhinoceros north of the 

 tropic, it would have undoubtedly been entitled to rank 

 as a local race. And even as matters now stand its 

 true affinities are worth the attention of naturalists. 



Another piece of information afforded us by Oswell's 

 notes is the fact that elephants from different localities in 

 South Africa present certain points of difference. He 

 says, for instance (vol. i. p. 205), that on the Zouga " the 

 elephants are a distinct variety from the Limpopo ones -^ 

 much lower and smaller in body (10 feet is a large bull), 

 but with capital tusks." This also is worthy the best at- 

 tention of zoologists, although it is to be feared that it is 

 now late to differentiate local races of the species, if such 



