CHAPTER IV 



BIG GAME 



" Big game ! " How these words bring back to the 

 memory past episodes and adventures, or conjure up 

 to the imagination great deeds to be done, where 

 every stalk is successful and every head a record ! 



Around your own fireside or at the club, when 

 the talk is on Overseas sport, how quickly the con- 

 versation turns to the larger beasts, to successful and 

 unsuccessful stalks, the arguments on the different 

 bore rifles, on camp and camp-equipment, native 

 servants, and last but not least, the different sporting 

 qualities of various countries and various beasts ! 



To the " old hand " memories crowd thick and fast, 



and he sees himself again in many a wild spot and 



remembers only too well how the best heads always 



managed to get away — they always are the best that 



are missed, or only just sighted after a long and 



arduous stalk ; how many a long day was spent 



without drink in a dry and arid country or in the 



cold or wet, among the snows or in the vast swamps ; 



how delightful the camp was on the return ; how fit 



52 



