4 MATABELE LAND. 



DAILY NEWS. 



The inspiring passion of the late Mr. Frank Oates was a love of 

 natural history, and it was consequently as a naturalist, in the first 

 place, that he regarded the country of his explorations. He was, 

 however, essentially a skilled observer, and though his diary is written 

 with a freshness and a picturesque touch which render the book very 

 attractive reading, it is strictly the work of a scientific mind. . . . The 

 country traversed cannot be said to be strictly virgin soil, but the 

 journals and letters home add much to our knowledge of its condition, 

 and, above all, of its natural history ; while incidentally these materials 

 afford pleasure by the unconscious self-portraiture which they neces- 

 sarily afford. 



MORNING POST. 



This sad and premature termination of what certainly would have 

 proved a brilliant career in the annals of African travel, imparts a 

 painful interest to the narrative. ... A life which, had it been spared 

 for a few years more, would have ranked among those of the most 

 enterprising and most devoted of Englishmen. 



PALL MALL GAZETTE. 



Frank Oates's life was one of those splendid failures which are at 

 least as impressive in their way as any possible measure of mere 

 success. . . . The large and valuable collection of birds, insects, 

 skins, and plants, which were sent back to England after his death, 

 sufficiently shows how useful and capable an explorer we have thus 

 lost. . . . Moreover, Frank Oates himself, with his Oxford cheeriness 

 and his ready fashion of roughing it with uncomplaining good humour, 

 is one of the pleasantest travelling companions we have come across 

 for many a long day. Nothing seems to come amiss to him ; or, if 

 it does, he bravely conceals his hardships in his letters home. . . . 

 Above all, we hear little or nothing of difficulties with the natives — no 

 night surprises, no firing of kraals, and side by side with this experi- 

 ence no vituperation of the heathen savage. This is the great test of 

 natural fitness for the work of exploration. 



MODERN REVIEW. 



The book has many features of special interest. It is one in which 

 we can read "between the lines " ; and we should value it were it only 

 for the introduction it gives us to the fine, manly young fellow — so 

 frank, brave, and open-hearted, who is self-pictured in the unaffected 

 pages from his letters and diaries. ... In every case of hindrance 



