CHAPTER XL 



VARIOUS SUBJECTS FOR THE SPORTSMAN AND 

 NATURALIST. 



I. Protective colouration of animals. 

 II. Preservation of trophies. 

 III. Buying secondhand guns and rifles. 

 IV. Native implements, foods, price of labour, etc. 

 V. Health in the tropics, and climatic influences. 

 VI. Different routes to Central Africa. 

 VII. Information for the settler regarding the leasing and purchase 



of land. 



VIII. The literature of big game shooting. 

 IX. A few remarks on rifles and equipment. 



I. PROTECTIVE COLOURATION IN ANIMALS. 



A GOOD deal has been written of late on this subject in 

 the columns of the Field newspaper, and it would seem 

 that the hunters of big game, such as Mr. F. C. Selous and 

 C. H. S., who lately wrote a very interesting article on the 

 subject in the paper mentioned, disagree almost wholly 

 with the ideas of the closet naturalists and entomologists 

 who have also been writing on the same subject. 



The theory when applied to insects may hold good to a 

 certain extent, as birds which feed on insects doubtless 

 seek their food by sight. 



It is the opposite with animals, as they hunt by night 

 and by scent ; and it makes no difference to them whether 

 their prey has a black, red, or white coat, or whether it is 

 marked with all the colours of the rainbow, if such an 

 animal were possible. 



Animals were doubtless antecedent to man on the face 

 of the globe, so why should man suppose that his existence 



