592 ifcinas of tbe 1Rofc, IRifle, an& (Bun 



and hunters suffered from this scepticism of superior 

 persons at home, who, because the marvellous incidents 

 narrated were outside the scope of their own experience, 

 pronounced them to be mere " travellers' tales." Bruce, 

 Mungo Park, and Gordon Gumming were all ridiculed 

 and branded as liars for statements which are well- 

 known now to have been not even exaggerations of 

 the truth. Fortunately, the Bakers and Selous and 

 Stanleys of a later day have found the public too 

 enlightened and well-informed to be guilty of such 

 gross injustice. 



To Sir Samuel Baker's qualities as a sportsman 

 Lord Wharncliffe pays this tribute : 



" The most conspicuous elements in Baker's character 

 as a sportsman were his extraordinary coolness in face 

 of danger and his great aversion to the destruction of 

 animal life without sufficient cause or justification. He 

 was a man of very powerful build : not above, I believe, 

 5 feet 9 inches or 5 feet 10 inches in height, with very 

 broad shoulders and deep chest. His capacity for 

 enduring fatigue was extraordinary." 



To this let me add Sir H. M. Stanley's estimate of 

 Sir Samuel Baker as an explorer : 



" He was a glorious Englishman, typically manly 

 and straightforward. He did his work well ; few 

 could have done it so well. The task he was called 

 upon to undertake was unusual ; and the success he 

 achieved was solely due to his native masterfulness 

 and his untiring energy. In olden times he would 

 have been deified for his vigour, indomitable bearing, 

 physical strength, and exploits. Now we can only 



