Koualegn George <3orfcon Cummtno 27* 



when the more delicate treat of eland steaks or buffalo 

 hump was wanting. If it be Christian charity to feed 

 the hungry, Gordon Gumming surely had a good and 

 sufficient answer to give those who accused him of a 

 wanton and intemperate passion for the chase. As one 

 of the charges brought against him was his wanton 

 and wasteful slaughter of game, it is only fair to let 

 him rebut that charge. 



"It was ever," he says, " to me a source of great 

 pleasure to reflect that, while enriching myself in 

 following my favourite pursuit of elephant-hunting I 

 was feeding and making happy the starving families of 

 hundreds of the Bechuana and Bakalahari tribes, who 

 invariably followed my waggons, and assisted me in my 

 hunting, in numbers varying from fifty to two hundred 

 at a time. These men were often accompanied by their 

 wives and families, and when an elephant, hippopotamus, 

 or other large animal was slain, all hands repaired to 

 the spot, when every inch of the animal was reduced to 

 biltongue, viz., cut into long narrow strips, and hung in 

 festoons upon poles, and dried in the sun : even the 

 entrails were not left for the vultures and hyenas, and 

 the very bones were chopped to pieces with their hatchets 

 to obtain the marrow, with which they enriched their 

 soup." 



Finding that his Scottish costume created an impres- 

 sion both among the Boers and natives, Gordon Gumming 

 stuck to it both on foot and horseback, despite the fact 

 that the kilt afforded no protection to his legs, which 

 were consequently torn and lacerated by the terrible 

 thorns. The retention of the Highland garb was more 



