IRoualegn <3eor0e Gordon Cummins 263 



that day. And the man himself corresponded with the 

 popular notion of a daring hunter and adventurer. He 

 was a splendid fellow physically a veritable king of 

 men of towering height, of massive yet symmetrical 

 frame suggestive of immense strength, with a bold, 

 handsome face, the proud bearing of a Highland chief, 

 and an eye bright and piercing as an eagle's. Arrayed, 

 as he always was in public, in full Highland costume, he 

 made a picturesque and striking figure in whatever 

 company he was. There were some, no doubt, who 

 thought him a flashy and theatrical poseur ; but I think 

 they went as far wrong in one direction as those whose 

 admiration elevated him into a hero of romance went in 

 the other. What he really was I shall endeavour to 

 show by a brief sketch of his career, illustrated by 

 extracts from his own book. 



Roualeyn George Gordon Gumming was a younger 

 son of Sir William George Gordon Gumming, Bart., 

 of Altyre and Gordonstown. His mother was Eliza 

 Maria, daughter of Colonel John Campbell, of Islay, 

 who married Lady Charlotte Campbell, daughter of the 

 sixth Duke of Argyll. Born on March I5th, 1820, 

 Roualeyn was sent at the age of nine to Eton. Even as 

 a boy he distinguished himself in his Highland home by 

 his passion for sport and his precocious skill both in 

 deer-stalking and salmon-fishing. A commission was 

 purchased for him in the Honourable East India 

 Company's service, and at the age of eighteen he was 

 gazetted cornet in the Madras Cavalry. On his way 

 out he stopped for some time at the Cape and had his 

 first experience of South African sport. On arriving in 



