ady written on South Africa. To fill in this detail has been
my endeavour.

I must impress upon all those who purpose a campaign against the _ferae_
of Africa the necessity there is for using weapons of a large calibre; a
gun with the common sixteen or fourteen-bore is a disheartening weapon
when used against large game.

It is difficult to say what causes instantaneous death--whether the hole
that the bullet makes and the vessels it cuts in its course, or the
shock that is given to the stricken animal by its momentum. I am
disposed to think it is as much the latter cause as the former, having
so frequently witnessed cases in which an ounce ball striking an animal
has merely served to increase its pace, while a two-ounce bullet
striking in the same part a similar animal would drop it dead. With
elephants the size of the bullet is even more essential--the small ones
as Gordon Cumming describes it, "merely telling on their constitutions."
It is almost useless to recommend a particular sort of gun, as people
generally choose for themselves after all. Were I again to visit
Africa, I would take a double-barrelled smooth bore of ten or eight to
the pound, having strength and plain good workmanship as its only
recommendations. A double-barrelled rifle of about the same calibre
would be useful, taking care to have two stocks for each gun, and that
the barrels could fit into either stock. I have more than once suffered
from smashed stocks, and they are not easily replaced in Africa. A
Colt's revolver would also be a very useful weapon, especially when used
in the saddle against elands. It might be fired when going at speed,
and with greater accuracy than could be attained, under similar
conditions, by an ordinary gun.

When I speak of the game in the immediate vicinity of the two towns of
D'Urban and Pietermaritzburg, I refer to 1849 and '50, but I am given to
understand that there has not been very much decrease since that time.
The emigrant has other work to accomplish, and cannot be always
shooting. A great deal of hard work must also be gone through before
success in sport is certain, and sportsmen therefore are more scarce
than would be at first considered probable. During the first three
months that I tried my hand at buck shooting, I shot only five. After
twelve months' experience, my bag, during ten weeks, was forty-seven;
and I had refused several certain shots at antelopes during that time,
as I was on th