PREFACE 



I DO not know if any words of apology are needed 

 for the mediocrity of the portion of this work which 

 I have contributed. If they are necessary, however, 

 this may be found in the plea that my vocation and 

 lessons in life have been chiefly concerned with the 

 use of the sword before that of the pen. Nothing 

 save the urgent request of my fair co-author would 

 have induced me to undertake such a task. Once, 

 therefore, having committed the awful deed of " put- 

 ting pen to paper," I can merely crave the indulgence 

 of my readers when they compare my lack of descrip- 

 tive power with the more accomplished productions 

 emanating from the pen of my colleague. If I have 

 failed in jus et norma loquendi, I may claim in ex- 

 tenuation of the offence that my contributions to 

 this book try to represent a true picture of the habits 

 of men and animals as I saw them in the wastes and 

 forests of the dark and silent North. 



A SHIKARI 



