294 IfttnGS of tbe 1Rofc, IRifle, anfc (Bun 



out of public recollection, for during his later years 

 he lived a secluded life up in Fort Augustus. There 

 was something mysterious and uncanny about this 

 big man who roamed the hills and moors alone, 

 with the step and bearing of a chieftain, with a strange 

 fire burning in his eyes, and a half-rapt look of exal- 

 tation in his strongly marked face. The Highlanders 

 believed that he had the gift of second sight, and this 

 belief was confirmed by the circumstances surrounding 

 his death. 



One day, when he was apparently in perfect health, 

 he went to the village carpenter and ordered his coffin. 

 His instructions were that it was to be completed 

 and sent up within four days. His orders were 

 obeyed the coffin was sent, and twenty-four hours 

 later Roualeyn George Gordon Gumming was dead. 

 He died from purely natural causes, but he must have 

 had some strange premonition of his end. By a will, 

 made on the same day on which he ordered his 

 coffin, he left all that he possessed to his little 

 daughter, twelve years of age. His death took place 

 March 24th, 1866, nine days after he had completed 

 his forty-sixth year. 



It is only as a sportsman pure and simple that 

 Gordon Gumming has any claim to be remembered. He 

 made no pretence to be an explorer, and he added little 

 of scientific value to our knowledge of the natural 

 history of South Africa. But he had the qualities which 

 go to the making of a great hunter courage, nerve, 

 endurance, and an adventurous spirit. There was some- 

 thing romantic and attractive, too, about his personality. 



