Memories of an African Hunter — Denis D. Lyell

THE following pages contain my memories of many years spent in the African bush, where I did little else than hunt game and study their habits and tracks.

In 1906 my friend the late Major (then Captain) C. H. Stigand and myself brought out Central African Game and its Spoor, and then we both wrote further volumes on the game independently. I doubted whether I had enough material for another volume, but on looking up my diaries I found that there was quite a lot I had left unsaid.

The first chapter deals with some of my experiences when tea-planting in Eastern India, but I had so little opportunity there to get really good sport that I think it best here to mainly confine my attention to Africa, where I had a glorious time

Eastern India is so jungly that without the use of trained elephants it is impossible for a man to do much with the rifle. On the other hand, Central Africa is a country where anyone can get (or perhaps I should say could get) as much shooting as he wants if he is a good walker and able to rough it in a bad climate; for it is not a health resort.

Naturally a hunter's life in tropical Africa is not “roses all the way,” although there are wonderful compensations for the hardships and fevers