BOOK NOTICES. 



A NOTABLE BOOK ON AFRICAN HUNTING. 



In many respects Mons. Edouard Foa's 

 book, "After Big Game in Central Africa," 

 is a fair model for books of its kind. It is 

 so seldom that the adventures of a French 

 sportsman are translated into English that 

 I took up this handsome volume with keen 

 interest, read it greedily, and laid it down 

 with a feeling of profound satisfaction. 



In nearly every respect it is a genuine 

 treat. It is bound with sense and good 

 taste, its edges are cut, thanks to the 

 printer! its paper and typography leave 

 nothing to be desired, it is crowded with 

 illustrations which show that only the finest 

 have been chosen out of a large collection, 

 and the text is as interesting as "David 

 Harum." There are measurements of big 

 game in full detail, much valuable informa- 

 tion about hunting and camping, no end of 

 facts relating to the habits of African wild 

 beasts, and the only poor features about the 

 whole book are the route map and index, 

 both of which are inadequate for such a 

 work. 



M. Foa is really a hunter of a new type, 

 and in order fully to appreciate the man, 

 the reader should peruse every line of Mr. 

 Lee's introduction. Of the author's 14 

 years in Africa, the last 6 were spent under 

 the patronage of the French Government, 

 which supplied the funds for the best-man- 

 aged expedition that ever went to the dark 

 continent. M. Foa applied to African trav- 

 el the same painstaking forethought and 

 study, the attention to every detail, the 

 choice of companions, and the tireless en- 

 ergy combined with splendid physical en- 

 durance which gave Nansen his success in 

 the dash for the North Pole. But there are 

 others who could do such things if funds 

 were equally plentiful and cost a matter of 

 no consequence. 



The author's last expedition consisted at 

 the outset of 380 men; and he crossed Af- 

 rica. He does not, however, for one mo- 

 ment attempt in the volume before me to 

 describe his journey. His very extensive 

 geographical work, and his astronomical 

 and meteorological observations are not 

 even mentioned. This is a book about the 

 most interesting of his hunting experiences, 

 and the finest of the big game that fell to 

 his many rifles. The pictures of his colos- 

 sal elephant (page 258, 12 feet 2^ inches 

 high at the shoulders!) his giraffe, rhinoc- 

 eroses, buffalo and antelope fairly make 

 one's mouth water, and I am heartily glad 

 that through M. Foa so many fine African 

 animals found their way into the zoolog- 

 ical museums of France. It is, however, 

 a source for keen regret that all the au- 



thor's beautiful photographs of big game 

 are representations of dead animals. Had 

 he but caught the spirit of the West for 

 photographing live animals in their haunts, 

 what a wealth of negatives he could and 

 would have secured. 



After Big Game in Central Africa. By 

 Edouard Foa, F. R. G. S., with 71 illus- 

 trations and a sketch map. Large 8vo. 

 pp. xxvii, 330. London: Adam & 

 Charles Black; New York: The Mac- 

 millan Co. Price, $2. 



A BOOK ABOUT EUROPEAN BIG GAME. 



One of the most interesting of recent 

 publications is entitled "Die Hohe Jagd." 

 This beautiful book contains over 500 

 pages, is published by Paul Pavey, in Ber- 

 lin, and contains contributions by at least 

 a dozen distinguished personages. It is 

 adorned by many beautiful illustrations, 

 some of which are colored. The introduc- 

 tory chapters relate to dogs and guns. The 

 first animal described is the "elch." This 

 is practically the same as the American 

 moose. The term "moose" is strictly Amer- 

 ican and comes, it is said, from the Algon- 

 quin "musu," which means "woodeater." 

 Then come descriptions of the red deer, 

 fallow deer and roe deer. These are fol- 

 lowed by descriptions of the wild . boar, 

 chamois, wild goat or paseng, and the muf- 

 lon, a wild sheep of the mountains of Sar- 

 dinia and Corsica. Kangaroo, bear, lynx 

 and seal hunting are also described. 



This book also includes a great deal of 

 interest in reference to crane and bustard 

 shooting. The bustard is a bird related to 

 the plover and the crane, and is of high re- 

 pute as a game bird. 



Then come interesting descriptions of 

 the famous "auerhatu," about which one 

 hears so much in the Black forest, the 

 "birkhahn," "haselhahn/' and pheasant. 

 The American turkey is also described. 

 Everywhere throughout Europe one sees 

 many pheasantries where pheasants are 

 propagated on a large scale and where large 

 tracts of land, planted with the proper 

 species of food and shelter plants, are man- 

 aged for the purpose. Hunting in Europe 

 is not everybody's privilege. In America 

 hounding, etc., will soon exterminate all 

 game. In a short ride outside of the city 

 of Munich last winter I counted 35 deer 

 within 2 miles of the city limits, feeding 

 unconcernedly on the firelane along the 

 railroad track. They are almost domesti- 

 cated, and it is not uncommon for a well- 

 to-do farmer to have his own private herd. 



Game and fisheries in European forests 

 are generally included among the minor 



151 



