4 THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 



it was inhabited or desert; whether it was a good or bad 

 game country, we were unable to find out. No Eng- 

 lishman or American had been in there, and as far as 

 we could find out only the German military reconnois- 

 sances of many years previous possessed even the slight- 

 est knowledge of what the country might be like. This 

 intrigued our curiosity. We resolved to go in. 



In the meantime both Cuninghame and myself tried 

 every possible source of knowledge, but in vain. As 

 far as we could find out no sportsman or traveller had 

 ever traversed this territory save the two or three 

 officials mentioned. The net results of the latter's 

 efforts — for the outside world — ^were in two maps, 

 which we procured. They were of great assistance, 

 and were in the main quite accurate for the line of 

 route actually trodden by their makers. Outside of 

 that they were to be trusted only in general. To all 

 intents and purposes we were the first to explore the 

 possibilities of this virgin country. If not its discov- 

 erers, we were at least its rediscoverers. 



I think this was the very last virgin game field — of 

 any great size — remaining to be discovered and opened 

 up to sportsmen. There are now no more odd corners 

 to be looked into. 



That at this late stage of the world's history such a 

 place still remained to be disclosed is a very curious 

 fact. The natural question that must arise in every 

 one's mind, and that must first of all be answered, is 



