Hunters three: Sport and adventure in South Africa

SPORT AND ADVENTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA
THOMAS W. KNOX
AUTHOR OF THE BOY TRAVELLERS, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY WILLIAM M. CARY
NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY 31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 1895
Copyright, 1895, BY E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY.
INTRODUCTION
For the last fifty years or more South Africa has been an attractive field for the hunter in search of large game. Along in the middle of the century it was the paradise of the sportsman, as the readers of hunting-stories of that time can well understand; as time has gone on the game has steadily diminished, and the hunter of to-day makes but a poor record in comparison with Cumming, Andersson, and other men of the early times. But even at present South Africa is not without attractions for the hunter, though he can never hope for successes like those which have been mentioned.
The customary methods of hunting in South Africa were, and still are, for the hunter to outfit in one of the principal towns along the coast or in the interior, equipping himself with wagons, oxen, and horses, and hiring the necessary number of people to accompany him in a journey up-country. The lading of the wagons consists of provisions and ammunition for the hunter's use, together with various kinds of goods to be used as presents or for trading-purposes among the natives. As fast as the provisions are consumed and the goods are used up, the wagons are loaded with the ivory of elephants and the skins of other beasts, such as can be sold in the outfitting market. The party will be absent from the point of outfitting all the way from four months to a year or more, depending upon the luck of the hunter in the slaughter of game, and also upon the preservation of his oxen and horses. Not infrequently he meets with disaster, his animals dying in the wilderness and leaving him without motive power for his wagons. In such an event he must act according to his judgment; sometimes he may leave his property in the care of a friendly chief, but if no such personage can be found he must destroy the fruits of his expedition. It is a rule all through Africa never to abandon goods and allow them to fall into the hands of the natives. If goods must be left behind, the true African traveler always sets fire to them, or in some other way renders them worthless.