In Wildest Africa -^ 



in this way. But I would wish for the German sportsman 

 that he may, so far as is possible, visit the splendid 

 hunting grounds that he can now find in the German 

 colonies, and there become familiar with the chase in 

 forms that our homeland can no longer offer to him. 

 The more brethren of the green-coated guild go abroad 

 nowadays, and bring us tidings of the fauna and of the 

 hunting grounds of the German colonies, the more will 

 our knowledge of this difficult subject be enlarged, and 

 we shall be in a better position for working out practical 

 protective regulations for the preservation of these splendid 

 hunting grounds. 



And what a deep charm for the hunter there is in 

 pursuing the chase in such regions ! It is true that 

 circumstances have so greatly changed in a few decades 

 of years that the old hunters — say those of fifty years 

 ago — would probably not be able to take the same deep 

 delight in the sport of to-day that they felt in their own 

 time. It was quite a different matter to go out to meet 

 the dangerous wild beasts of Africa with the simple 

 weapons, the muzzle-loaders, of that time. True, the 

 African hunters, whom Professor Fritsch made acquaint- 

 ance with in Cape Colony about the time of the 'sixties, 

 already possessed long-range weapons. They used 

 '' small-bore rifles " firing an elongated bullet that carried 

 up to 1,500 yards. These rifles were fitted with ivory 

 sights and silver sighting-lines, for shooting at night. A 

 hunter named Layard was at that time famous in Cape 

 Colony for having brought down an ostrich at 1,750 

 yards ! 



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