

PREFACE 



My Dear Friend. 



Have you done well in asking me to introduce to 

 the public the charming volume in which you relate 

 the history of the three years of your eventful and 

 useful life which you spent in Mozambique ? It is 

 not without misgiving that I have decided to write 

 this introduction, a task which should have fallen 

 rather to one of your seniors in the exploration of the 

 Dark Continent, if not to one of your rivals in hunting 

 lions and other African big game. 



If I yield to your affectionate entreaties it is because 

 I feel that the work will be a real pleasure besides a 

 duty of friendship ; and, conscious of my incompetence, 

 I also find encouragement and consolation in the 

 thought that the reader who has read many others 

 will not cut the pages of this preface, but will quickly 

 pass on to the animated pages of your book. 



For the sake of those brave and conscientious 

 readers who will wade right through this preamble, 

 I want to give you the reasons for this whim, which 

 has nothing paradoxical about it. 



As you are aware, I have never done any shooting 

 in the tropics, and sportsmen will understand the 

 extent of my regret. I am not, however, jealous ! 

 I have eagerly read all the accounts of the travels 

 and hunting experiences of great explorers, of those 

 lucky sportsmen, those " fine shots " who have 

 enjoyed most delightful sport in all parts of the world. 



Intense as are the emotions of the sportsmen of old 



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