468 



NA TURE 



[March 19, 1896 



observer. His book is somewhat lengthy, and consists 

 in the main of descriptions of successful stalks, night- 

 watches, and exciting encounters in the chase of the 

 various classes of game. Every page will be of interest 

 to sportsmen; while the notes on the habits of the game, 

 and the. descriptions of variations from the normal forms, 

 render it of importance to naturalists. 



The book is divided into two parts. The first describes 

 shooting in the "Krantz" and the " Kloof " countries ; 

 the second, that of the Bush-veldt. As the district is 

 settled, and the natives friendly, and as the railway to 

 Pretoria passes along the southern border of the country, 

 the conditions of life are very comfortable. The author 

 shot with dogs, generally on horseback, and in the case 

 of smaller game, had the help of large parties of beaters. 

 But the sport was not always by any means of the battue 

 type. Five chapters out of the thirteen in the first part 

 of the book are devoted to leopard hunting, which is 



day-time," is not supported by recent accounts from 

 Equatorial Africa. Some lions there recently, in broad 

 daylight, attacked and routed a hundred men belonging 

 to a Uganda caravan. The last chapter in the book 

 is a discussion of the respective merit of rifles, in which 

 the author takes the side of heavy weapons. He de- 

 clares the '303 to be a very over-rated gun, and most of 

 his arguments seem to me quite sound, at least as far as 

 concerns the professional sportsman. The author, how- 

 ever, perhaps does not sufficiently consider the case of 

 those with whom sport is only secondary to other work. 

 He says that the advantages claimed for the "303, owing 

 to its lightness and absence of recoil, are fictitious ; for 

 sportsmen must be so strong, that the few extra pounds 

 make no difference, and that they do not feel the recoil 

 of a "577. This is no doubt true, if potting game is a 

 man's sole occupation ; but if in addition to a rifle he 

 has to carry a butterfly-net and a satchel of coUecting- 



FiG. 2.— A Scene on the Game Fields. 



always arduous, and one to buffalo hunting, which is 

 generally dangerous. The author has great respect for 

 the leopard, and protests against its being described, as 

 he says it generally is, as " a contemptible sneak " and 

 " utter coward." He describes it, on the contrary, as 

 " an incredibly daring brute," and says it " will usually 

 show fight where a far larger and more powerful animal | 

 would try to back out of it." But we thought that this 

 estimate of the courage of the leopard was generally I 

 accepted, although the author describes the other as 

 that which is invariably held. The five chapters on lions 

 and lion-hunting, in the second part, will probably be the j 

 most generally attractive in the work. The author 

 scorns the idea that the lion is not the king of beasts, and 

 his experiences certainly show that its courage is some- 

 times superb. His remark, however, that in the case of 

 lions, " if not interfered with or actually in a starving state, | 

 there is absolutely nothing to fear from them if met in the 



NO. 1377, VOL. 53] 



bottles, every pound saved is of great importance. It is 

 no doubt true, that during the excitement of the chase, 

 a sportsman does not feel any inconvenience from half- 

 a-dozen blows from a '577 ; but if, during the next few 

 hours, the traveller tries to take an altitude, or read a 

 round of angles with a theodolite, he will find that he 

 has felt the recoil, and has to pay for his sport by less 

 accurate observations than he might otherwise have 

 taken. 



The interest of the book is greatly enhanced by Mr. 

 Charles Whymper's illustrations, which are a valuable 

 addition to that artist's series of studies of wild animal 

 life. By the courtesy of the publishers two are here re- 

 produced as examples. In the picture of the game-fields, 

 the artist has well. illustrated the inquisitive zebras' stupid 

 habit of swinging round occasionally to satisfy their 

 curiosity as to danger, from which they might otherwise 

 escape. 



