PREFACE 



THIS republication of a selection of the illustrations from Captain Williamson's celebrated 

 work on Oriental Field Sports has been undertaken in the hope that such graphic records 

 of past days in India may still successfully appeal to a wide circle. 



The original edition, published in 1807 by Edward Orme, containing forty plates with 

 descriptive letterpress to each, and dedicated to His Majesty King George the Third, has 

 long been a scarce book, fetching an ever-increasing price on the rare occasions when 

 copies have been available at book auctions or elsewhere. 



In their original form, the plates, coloured mezzo-tint engravings from drawings by 

 Samuel Howett after the author's designs, measure eighteen inches by thirteen, and in 

 the reductions of them now offered to the public no efforts have been spared to reproduce 

 all the artistic features of the originals in a convenient size, and at a moderate price. 



The work of selecting the illustrations to be reproduced has been no easy task, but it 

 is believed that the result presents a typical collection which may perhaps be added to 

 hereafter. 



The descriptions .of the plates, based to some extent on the original letterpress, have 

 been carefully prepared to meet the requirements of those to whom sport in the East and 



