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secured his first specimen he determined to kill no more 

 but only admire. Yet he stalked his quarry with no less 

 pain and trouble, often for hours ; and when he had 

 gained a magnificent position, he raised his rifle, took 

 deadly aim, but merely touched the trigger which was at 

 half cock, and away went the " buffalo " unharmed. 

 "This sort of stalking," he says, "afforded me much 

 pleasure, but it did not suit my American attendant, 

 ' Well, if you come all the way from the Old Country 

 to shoot and you won't shoot when you've got the 

 chance, you'd have done better to stop at home.' This 

 was the consolation I received for my self-denial in 

 sparing buffaloes ! " 



In his Devonshire home, among his beautiful gardens 

 at Sandford Orleigh, which were the pride and pleasure 

 of his later days, Sir Samuel Baker was the most 

 delightful of hosts. Children, and especially boys, 

 adored him, and he was never tired of devising plans for 

 their amusement. His stirring tales of adventure, told 

 with wonderful spirit, fascinated old and young alike. 

 His lovable nature won the hearts of English men and 

 women and English boys and girls as it had aforetime 

 won the hearts of the dusky natives of Ceylon and 

 Central Africa. " I hardly ever knew a more lovable 

 character," wrote Lord Wharncliffe, who had shared with 

 him the perils and excitement of big game shooting in 

 the far East. 



A Bohemian he was to the core, and his heart always 

 went out to fellow-Bohemians wherever he met them. 

 On one occasion down in Devonshire he passed two 

 itinerant singers, a man and woman, in the village. 



