THE CALL OF THE WILD 



Cloud ships that come and go, 

 Wraithlike, o'er silent seas. 



" Ocean of crag and peak, 



When ends thy mystery? 

 When shall thy breakers speak, 

 Startling eternity?" 



Withjihe passing years the fascinating wild life which 

 West at that periodbegat a longing to 



see the fauna of another great continent in a similar 

 state of nature. 



The Red Gods had for years been calling me to a 

 " trusty, nimble tracker that I know" on the great 

 plateaus of Africa, where the herds of bovidae, cervidae, 

 and various carnivora are little disturbed by the native 

 negroes and the very few white men^who have made a 

 lodgment at comparatively few points of vantage. 



No^other continent offers as great jtjiumber of game 

 animals, or such differentiation in species, or such 

 splendid individual specimens as Africa; the range in 

 mammals is from dik-dik to elephant; in carnivora, from 

 lion to jackal. Here_the panorama of wild life possesses 

 greatest variety and greatest fascination, and offers most 

 to the student of nature, as well as the sportsman. 

 Every sportsman must be a student of nature in a de- 

 gree in order to succeed, and when he is so in the higher, 

 better sense he possesses qualities of sterling manhood. 



Every wholesome, well-equipped man possesses an innate 

 desire to match his strength against the forces of nature. 



" Do you fear the force of the wind, 



The slash of the rain? 

 Go face them and fight them, 

 Be savage again; 



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