African Nature Notes and Reminiscences (The Library of African Adventure) [Hardcover]

Frederick Courteney Selous (Author), Theodore Roosevelt (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1993 | Series: The Library of African Adventure

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1908. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XVIII THE LAST OF SOUTH AFRICAS GAME HAUNTS Decrease of game in South Africa--Journey from Mashunaland to the East African coast--Find country full of game--Elephants --Great herds of buffaloes--Five old bulls--Bushbucks--Other antelopes and zebras--Curiosity of the latter animals--Warthogs, bush-pigs, and hippopotamuses--Numbers of carnivorous animals--Three lions seen--Fine male wounded, and subsequently killed. During the twenty years succeeding my first arrival in South Africa in 1871, I had constantly wandered and hunted over vast areas of country, from the Cape Colony to far away north of the Zambesi, and in that time had seen game of all kinds--from the elephants, rhinoceroses, and buffaloes of the forest regions north of the Limpopo river to the wildebeests, blesboks, and springbucks of the southern plains--gradually decrease and dwindle in numbers to such an extent that I thought that nowhere south of the great lakes could there be a corner of Africa left where the wild animals had not been very much thinned out, either as a result of the opening up and settlement of the country by Europeans or owing to the extensive acquisition of firearms by the native tribes. In the year 1891, however, when attempting, on behalf of the British South Africa Company, to discover a route free from the tse-tse fly between Ch. Xviii COUNTRY TEEMING WITH GAME 303 Mashunaland and the East African coast, I walked into a country still teeming with big game, for no white man, as far as I am aware, had ever hunted there before the time of my visit,1 and the fell plague of rinderpest, more potent for mischief than many legions of human game-destroyers, had only recently commenced its ravages, thousands of miles away on the plains of Masailand. Moreover, the natives living in this low-lying, ...

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 356 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312092415
• ISBN-13: 978-0312092412
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,317,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gentleman-hunter and naturalist records his thoughts, March 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: African Nature Notes and Reminiscences (The Library of African Adventure) (Hardcover)

Frederick C. Selous was one of the giants of Vitorian Africa and in this work, written at the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt, he compiles many of his most keen observations about life and wildlife in Africa. Fascinating not only as a period piece, Selous's thoughts are remarkably prescient about the state of game in Africa even today. Though it was written before the rise of the commercial poaching that has ravaged so much of the continent, the book gives an excellent insight into the need to carefully observe, record, and interpret the ecological signs found in the wild. Clear and lively in style, the tales told within encompass everything from dietary habits of hyaena to the effects of sleeping sickness on agriculture. Especially interesting are the authors remarkably forward-thinking ideas on race relations, ideas that would not become the rule in southern Africa for over 75 years. An altogether satisfying read.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My comments on this Selous book., March 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: African Nature Notes and Reminiscences (The Library of African Adventure) (Hardcover)

I have read plenty of elephant hunting volumes in the likes of Bell, Stigand and several others but this Selous book is different. It's not entirely an account of Selous' adventures with his rifle but rather as the first portion of the book's title suggests, an informative wrap-up of the ways and characteristics of various African game. Selous is a unsurpassable raconteur when it comes to telling of big game, as this book proves. There's a chapter on Selous' search for the elusive inyala antelope, and it is of great interest. A book well worth parting with your cash for. Simply a true must-buy !