OF A HUNTER'S LIFE IN THE FAR INTERIOR OF SOUTH AFRICA. WITH NOTICES OF THE NATIVE TRIBES, AND ANECDOTES OF THE RHINOCEROS, &c. BY ROUALEYN GORDON CUMMING, Esq., OF ALTYRE. With Ellustrations. IN TWO VOLUMES.-VOL. I. SECOND EDITION. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1850. TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF ARGYLL. MY DEAR DUKE, I dedicate my 'ADVENTURES IN AFRICA' to your Grace for two reasons,-to mark my respect as a kinsman, and because I know the interest you take in the sports of the field and in the habits of wild animals. My volumes lay claim to no other merit than that of a faithful narration of facts as they occurred and having been written far away from literary appliances, and often on occasions when the cravings of hunger were a more pressing consideration than the graces of composition, I trust to your indulgence to overlook in the success of my rifle the failure of my pen. I am always, my dear Duke, Your affectionate Kinsman, ROUALEYN GORDON CUMMING. Altyre, June, 1850. INTRODUCTION. As the reader who purposes to follow me through the five adventurous years I spent in the untrodden wilds of Southern Africa might like to know something of my previous career, I shall briefly state that the early portion of my life was spent in the county of Moray, where a love of natural history and of sport early engendered itself, and became stronger and more deeply rooted with my years. Salmon-fishing and roe-stalking were my favourite amusements; and, during these early wanderings by wood and stream, the strong love of sport and admiration of Nature in her wildest and most attractive forms became with me an all-absorbing feeling, and my greatest possible enjoyment was to pass whole days and many a summer night in solitude, where, undisturbed, I might contemplate the silent grandeur of the forest and the ever-varying beauty of the scenes around. Long before I proceeded to Eton I took pride in the goodly array of hunting trophies which hung around my room. In 1839 I sailed for India, to join my regiment, the 4th Madras Light Cavalry. Touching at the Cape of Good Hope, I had an opportunity of hunting several |