vi PREFACE 



relates his own. personal experiences, have always 

 appeared to me to bethe most interesting; provided, 

 of course, that the narrative bears the stamp of 

 truth, and that failures as well as successes are 

 faithfully recorded. 



The book has been written partly in the hope 

 that it may be of interest to some readers, and 

 partly with the object of placing the events 

 narrated on record before my recollection of them 

 becomes dim Olim meminisse juvabit. 



I do not pretend to have ever been a good 

 shikari. I began big-game shooting too late in 

 life to become an expert in the business ; and 

 I am not specialty observant, and was handicapped 

 to some extent by deafness. In forest hunting, 

 good hearing is almost as important as good 

 sight. I was, however, a fairly good rifle shot, 

 especially at stationary objects, and was a good 

 walker and had a considerable amount of endurance 

 and pretty good nerves. My native hunters, 

 whether they were Indians, Africans, or Chinese, 

 have usually worked well for me ; and I was 

 fully conscious of my own limitations, and was 

 not too proud to obtain help from others to make 

 good my own deficiencies. With these qualifica- 

 tions, I managed to have some very good sport, 

 to secure some fine trophies, and to come unscathed 

 through some fairly exciting adventures. 



If a perusal of the book gives to any of my 

 readers a tithe of the pleasure which some of the 

 experiences have given to me I shall not have 

 written in vain. 



