Preface -»> 



men of note and voliiil;' schoolboys alike — -who ha\'e 

 written to me to express their appreciation ot my achieve- 

 ments. Their praises have gone to my heart. I owe 

 a special word of thanks to President Roosevelt, who 

 smoothed the way for my book in the United States by 

 his reference to me in his own volume Outdoor Pastimes 

 of an ADicricaii Ilmitcr. 1 take the more pleasure in 

 dischar^inL;- this deljt in that I had long derived intense 

 enjoyment from President Roosevelt's masterly descriptions 

 of wild life and sport in America. President Roosevelt 

 has always been one of the foremost pioneers in the 

 movement for the preservation ot nature in all its torms, 

 and has made every possible use of the resources placed 

 at his disposal by his high position to further this end. 



This new book of mine is in form a series of impres- 

 sions and sketches, loosely strung together ; but it will 

 serve, I hope, indirectly to win over my readers lo the 

 one underlying idea — the idea upon which I harp so often 

 — of the importance of taking active steps to prexent the 

 complete extermination of wild life. 



Like With Flashlight and Rifle, this supplenientary 

 work can claim to stand out from the ranks of all other 

 volumes of the kind as regards the charactc-r (>f its illustra- 

 tions. All those photographs which I ha\"e taken myst-lt 

 are reproduced from the original negatives without re- 

 touching of anv kind. lA'ery single one, therefore, is an 

 absolutely trustworthy record of a scene visible at a given 

 hour upon the African velt by day or by night. I insist 

 upon this point because herein lie both the value and the 

 fascination (jI ni\ pictures. 



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