INTRODUCTION 
Or Books on African sport and travel truly there is no 
end. What excuse then, can I make for adding another 
to their number? Frankly, my first reason was the pleasure 
the writing of these notes afforded me. 
My memory has never been a good one, and after years 
of somewhat hard work, I find, alas! it is less and less 
serviceable. If I wish to retain vivid impressions myself 
of what seems worth remembering, or if I wish to convey 
the result of my impressions to others, I find it necessary 
to make copious notes at the time. In this way I fell into 
the habit of writing down as I went along, some account 
of what I saw, and sometimes of what I heard. 
Then you cannot travel every day and all day, in Africa. 
There are long hot afternoons to be passed, and occasionally 
long wet days to be wiled away, and since it is not always 
easy to carry many books, writing of some sort seems 
the natural thing to do. 
I fear the results of such a method of writing will be only 
too apparent in these notes of mine. For notes they were 
in the first instance, made on horseback (more accurately, 
mule back) as my faithful burden bearer walked soberly 
along, or jotted down on my knee, as I| called my gunboys 
to a halt under the shade of some rock or tree, while I did 
my best to put into hasty form, some word sketch of the 
strange or beautiful things before me. When I sat down 
more at my leisure, to reduce to orderly form what I had 
written, I did not find it always possible to do so. 
I can only, then, plead for the indulgence of my reader, 
and add, by way of excuse, that what is here put down 
may claim at least the merit, such as it is, of being the 
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