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fo accompany them into the retreats which they have chosen for themselves ;—to follow them into the deep cayerns,—and to attend them 
on the frightful precipices where they enjoy unbounded liberty.” Devoted to wood-craft from the cradle, my predilection for sylvan sports 
has afforded me all the opportunites, alluded to by the great Naturalist, of waxing intimate with the dappled denizens of the grove and 
waste to an extent, which abler artists and more finished Zoologists have necessarily been denied. I have beheld the venerable and 
half-reasoning Rlephant browsing in native majesty among his own contemporary trees, “in his huge strength impregnable ;"—have torn 
the much-prized ivory from his giant jaws, and plucked the horn from the saucy nose of the Rhinoceros. I have stripped the proud 
spolia from the shaggy shoulder of the “king of beasts, who clears the desert with his rolling eye ;"—have humbled the haughty head of 
the forest bull ;—and though “she scorneth the horse and his rider,” have despoiled the fleet Ostrich of her costly plumes. More—I have 
dragged forth Behemoth, “ whose ribs are like bars of iron,” from his hiding placeTunder the shady trees, in the covert of the reed and 
fens,—and have ridden familiarly by the side of the towering Zamor, the colossat glory of the wilderness, long classed with the wild 
chimeras of men’s brain. 
The leading features of my Expedition, undertaken chiefly for these purposes, in the company of an esteemed and valued friend, 
haye already been placed before the public in the Narrative above referred to;* and it is therefore only necessary for me now to remark, 
that throughout the following views, which were all executed on that occasion, my object has beén to combine to the fullest practicable 
extent, information which might prove acceptable to the naturalist, the sportsman, and the lover of wild scenery. Adapted to one 
standard, and corrected by actual measurement, they comprise faithful portraits of every game quadruped yet known to inhabit Southern 
extra-tropical Africa, including one which has been pronounced an unique and splendid discovery of my own ;} and, as neither the relative 
size of the animals, the characteristics of their favourite haunts, nor their manner of congregating, has in any instance been lost sight of, 
the series will be found to convey an accurate and tangible idea, not only of the ordinary bulk of each, and of its gregarious, 
monogamous, or solitary habits, but also of the aspect and geographical features of the region to which it is restricted, 
Those of my readers who, like myself, have been accustomed to the trappings and luxurious magnificence of Indian hunting 
expeditions, and who haye enjoyed the sumptuous accommodation afforded by Oriental tents and retinue, can form but a feeble conception 
of the ten thousand difficulties, distresses, and drawbacks—the toils, trials, and troubles, that beset the wanderer in the African desert. 
He who would accomplish hig object wader the manifold disadvantages that there exist, must be well impressed with the maxim, 
Omnia vineit labor, labor ehim ipsé voluptas ; 
aud I claim some share of merit for having in the domains of sayage nature, not been disheartened from the exercise of the pencil 
under so many disadvantages. All the first sketches of my drawings were commenced either in the open air with the animal before me, 
in the scene of slaughter, or under the shelter of some neighbouring bush, and were completed upon my knees in the waggon, often 
amidst rain and wind. The indolence and apathy of our Hottentot attendants, who resemblesthe wild beasts as nearly in habits as in 
features, invariably obliged me to carry the appliances for drawing, as well as the embryo portraits upon my person; and that they 
should have been preserved to assume their present shape will probably excite surprise, when I add, that 1 often wended my solitary way 
from the sporting field, not only encumbered with my weapons and hunting gear, but also laden with venison, and staggering under the 
weight of the ponderous trophies which had fallen to my rifle. 
Before concluding this introduetion, I feel a proud satisfaction in publicly acknowledging the enthusiastic reception which has 
been accorded to my Narrative by my brother officers in India, with whom I have the gratification of knowing it has exalted me in credit 
aud consideration ; nor must I omit to express my obligation to the critics of Europe for the favourable manner in which my work has 
been received in my native land. It would have been too much to expect that my sylvan exploits should have enlisted the sympathies, 
or drawn forth the approbation of every reader, and if I am occasionally charged with lavish slaughter, I must e’en shelter myself behind 
the renowned deeds of bold Robin Hood and his gallant yeomen in the “ greene forrést of Sherwood,” 
| or summon on my behalf the 
still more sanguinary exploits of the famed heroes of Chevy Chase, as transmitted in ballads of the olden time ; 
* Sut Tong petete High noone then hav 
Ane Hundred fat buckes slate ; 
Then habing Tine, the vrooyers went 
Tao rouge the Veare againe.” 
From those kindred and congenial spirits, however, to whom especially I have inscribed the following pages—and who will not 
fail to interpret aright the intent of my dedication—I feel confident of approval. They, I know, will accord to their ancient ally, that 
> 
fellow feeling of which others may be niggard or unsusceptible ;—neither amongst my brother votaries of the Chase, shall there be 
found one, who turning over these leaves, will fail to participate in the enviable feelings of liberty and excitement which pervaded my 
breast, whether “ pricking at a righte merrye pace” with my fellow-voyageur, over the broad bosom of the flower-decked prairies of 
Southern Africa, or engaged in “ chance medley” with the four-footed giants that divide amongst themselves the empire of that hunter's 
Elysium. ' 
* Narrative of an Expedition into Southern Africa, through the territories of the Chief Moselekatse 
’ 
} Vide Trans. Zool. Society, Vol. II, Plate 39, Page 216, 
to the Tropic of Capricorn, &c, 
