VI 
PREFACE 
a total of upwards of fifty distinct varieties of big game 
in three trips. This compares with fourteen species, the 
net result of many years’ strenuous hunting in Europe. 
And, quite recently, three Spanish friends have returned 
from British East Africa with a total of thirty-five 
species secured in a single season. 
The antelope-tribe alone counts upwards of forty 
members—from elands of 2000 lbs. to dikdiks of under 
ten; then there are the beasts of prey, the three 
great pachyderms, giraffes and zebras, buffaloes, and a 
mixed multitude besides. Beyond all stand out on the 
hunter’s horizon the elephant and the lion. These 
two constitute his supreme triumph, being not only the 
most difficult to encounter, but the most dangerous to 
attack. 
Then these equatorial forests shelter two great wild 
animals, to the full as interesting as the much-discussed 
okapi, yet practically unknown, to wit:—that splendid 
bovine antelope the Bongo, a bull of which has never 
yet fallen by white hunter’s hand; and the Giant 
Forest-hog (Hylochoerus ), a first example of which has, 
I hear, been obtained while these sheets are in Press. 
The author’s companion throughout nearly the whole 
of his East-African wanderings was his brother, Walter 
Ingram Chapman, with whom he had previously com¬ 
pleted many hunting-trips, chiefly in Northern Europe, 
Newfoundland, etc. 
The illustrations are drawn almost exclusively from 
rough sketches made by the author in Africa—some on 
the actual scene, others in camp immediately thereafter 
while impression remained vivid on the mental retina. 
To ensure a higher level of artistic excellence in re¬ 
production, the aid was invoked of Mr. E. Caldwell, 
himself fresh from a year spent among African game. 
His skilled and patient collaboration, extending over 
several months, has evolved this series of drawings, that 
faithfully depict in life many of the most magnificent 
wild beasts that to-day remain existent. That none 
more true have ever before appeared on paper is the 
