THE LONG TRAIL 



After we had once finished the discussion 

 and settled that I was to go, father never 

 referred to it again. He then set about 

 preparing for the expedition. Mr. Ed- 

 ward North Buxton was another African 

 hunter whom he greatly admired, and it 

 was to him and to Selous that he chiefly 

 turned for aid in making his plans. It was 

 often said of father that he was hasty and 

 inclined to go off at half-cock. There was 

 never anyone who was less so. He would 

 gather his information and make his prep- 

 arations with painstaking care, and then 

 when the moment came to act he was thor- 

 oughly equipped and prepared to do so 

 with that lightning speed that his enemies 

 characterized as rash hot-headedness. 



Father always claimed that it was by 

 discounting and guarding against all pos- 

 sible causes of failure that he won his suc- 

 cesses. His last great battle, that for pre- 

 30 



