BOOKS.

HUNTING LIFE IN SOUTH AFRICA.*

RDUALYFN GORDON CUVIIING of Altyre, a kinsman of Argyle, was born with as innate a love for sport as Virgil's bees for making, honey. At home he became a first-rate angler, sportsman, an deer-stalker; in the pursuit of .00logy he braved the risks of the hardy sea-bird fowler—" descending the loftiest preeipiees 'with -a rope round his waist." In 1839 he sailed to join his regi- ment in India, and laid the foundation of a collection Of trophies of the chaee which has since swelled to gigantic proportions. The climate, however, disagreed with Mr. Cumming, and. he returned to Britain and its sports ; till the restrictions of preserves game- keepers; boutidarlew and: what not, disgusted him. " I:onging once more for the freedom of nature and the life of the wild hunter—so far prefe140.(o that of the more sportsman," he re,- solved to visit "the roiling prairies and Rocky Mountains of the Far West." With this view, the sportsman obtained a commie- Bien, in the Royal Veteran Newfoundland Companies ; but "speedily discovered that the prospect of getting from the bar- rack-square would be small." He effected an exchange into the Cape Riflemen; but neither did this service permit the sort of free-and-easy life which he desired. He therefore sold out; and, after employing himself in purchasing waggons and oxen, hiring serViinta and preparing arms and outfit, he started from Graham's Town for the interior, in October 1843; and was so well satisfied with his first adventure, that he passed five suceessive years alto- gether in sporting excursions in thelinterier of South Africa. The direction in which Mr. Cumming travelled from Graham's Town was North-north-east. The extent was about thirteen degrees of latitude from 31 to 21° South, and about ,eight Of longitude--24° to Ub, East. Beyond the post: of Colesberg and the Orange River the ,.country is unsettled; but missionary sta- tions are found within 'One hundred and' fifty miles of the Lim- popo'; along whose banks Mr. Cumming proceeded for several hu.indEd miles, diverging, as was his practice on all occasions, t4".,the.right or left aceorlling as the probability of finding game tempted him. Unless long exposure had blunted the sportsman to hardship, and the rugged desert emmtry that intervened be- tween the settlements and his hunting-grounds had biassed his judgment, the country seems better watered and less sterile than one would expect in the heart of Africa in the vicinity of the tropic of Capricorn. Nor would it appear to be unhealthy; for although Mr. Cumming was attacked by rheumatism and fever,. Jsis exposure and exertions must he borne in mind, as well as that

rheumatism is independent of African malaria. -

Sport and the free life of the hunter, not geographical descrip- tion or discovery, were the objects of Mr. Gumming; and he enjoyed them to the fullest extent. In the neighbourhood of the British frontier various kinds of antelopes, and those strange African animals that often combine, in themselVes the features of horse, ox, and stag, were rife. As he advanced, buffaloes, hyienas, leopards, lions, rhinoceroses, giraffes, elephants, and at last, upon the banks and in the waters of the far 'Limpopo, the hippepotanins thid. art:ideal°, rewarded his exertions. And these not few and far 'between, but in numbers -which made his attacks upon the noblest game look more like a battue than hard-working sport. Mr. Cumming has knocked over half-a-dozen elephants or more at a time, chased and slaughtered camelopard§ in like manner, killed and carried off hippopotamuses as men do deer at home ; and grew so bold that two or three lions were less to him than an over- driven ox to a London Alderman. He met the kings of beasts in open plain, rode with them, at them, across them, and round them, in the execution of his tactics ; knocked them over right and left, —and, like Coriolaims among the Vol:scions, alone he did it. Mr. Cumming ascribes more courage. to the lion than some modern travellers have :allowed._ - His narratives certainly support this view to some extent; but the courage seems rather the product of ignorance. The lion- despised the natives ; he knew not the power and prowess of the Gumming till too late, -very. often. As soon as he "got a wrinkle" ;upon the matter, he endeavoured to escape his fate. The following is it case adduced in proof of the courage of the king of beasts; but it rather shows his skill. It was a de- monstration to cover a retreat.

"At no time is the lion so Much to be dreaded as when his partner has got small young ones. At that season he knows no fear, and, in the coolest and most intrepid manner, he will face a thousand men. A remarkable in- stance of this kind came under my own observation which confirmed the re- ports I had before heard from the natives. One day, when out elephant- hunting in the territory of the Baseleka, accompanied by two hundred and fifty men; I was astonished suddenly to behold a Majestic lion slowly and steadily advancing towards us with a dignified step and undaunted bearing, the most noble and imposing that can be conceived. Lashing his tail front side to side, and gvowling haughtily, his terribly, expressive eye resolutely fixed upon us, and displaying - a show of ivory well calculated to inspire terror amongst the timid Bhuanas, he approached. A headlong flight of the two kindred and fifty 'limn was the iinmediate result ; and, in the confusion of the mement, four couples of my dogs, 'which they had been leading, were allowed-to eseane in their couples. These instantly faced the lion ; who, finding that by-his bold bearing he had succeeded in putting his enemies to flight, now became solicitous for the safety of his little family, with Which the lioness was retreating in the background. Facing about, he followed after them with a haughty and independent step, growling fiercely at the dogs which trotted along on either side of him. Three troops of elephants having been discovered a few minutes previous to this, upon which I was

• Five Year of a Hunter's Life in the Far interior of South Africa- With No- tices of the Native Tribes, and Anecdotes of the Chase of the Lion, Elephant, Hip- popotamus, Giraffe, Rhinoceros, &c. By Roualeyn Gordon Gumming, Esq., of Altyre. With Illustrations. In two volumes. Published by Murray.

marching for the attack, I, with the most heartfelt reluctance, reserved my fire. On running down the hill-side to endeavour to recall my dogs, I ob- served for the first time the retreating lioness with four cubs.' About twenty minutes afterwards, two noble elephants repaid my forbearance."

- In this instance the monarch and tainilY retreated before the hunter ; and well would it have been for the lions had they always made a run of it when rarer game was not in ken.. See what hap- pened to two out (If .four,. from their committing the error of Sir John Moore in Spain and not sufficiently soon determining upon " a movement in retreat." A. report- hadtheen brought into camp that four kings were holding a royal feast over some slain zebras in the-neighbourhood. . I instantly Saddled up two horses, and, directing my boys to lead after itie as quickly as possible my small retnamieg pack of sore-footed dogs, I rode forth, accoMpanied by Carey, carrying a. spare gun, to give battle to the four grim. liens.. AS I rode out of the peninsula they showed tfiem- Selves on the bank Of the river and, gueasimethat their first move would be a.disgraceful retreat, I deterzemed to -ride so pan make them think that I had not observed them until,' should be able to.out off their retreat !rem the river, across the openn vley, to the endless forest beyond.That point being gained, I knew that they, „still doubtful of my having observed them, would hold their ground on the river's bank until my dogs came up, when I could more advantageously Make the attack. I cantered along, holding as if I meant to pass the lions at a distance. of a quarter of a mile, until I was opposite, to them, when I altered my course . and inclined a little nearer. The liens then showed symptoms of .uneasi- uess ; they rose to their feet, awl, overhauling us for half a MinUta'

ilisep-

peered over the bank. They reappeared,- however, directly ,a little

i further

down ; and finding that their present position was ,bare, they walked majes- tically along the top of the bank to a spot a few hundrei yards lower, where the bank was well wooded. Here they seemed half inclined to .await my attack ; two stretched out their massiee 41128,_ 24,1 lay down in the grazes, and the other two sat up,Iike dogs,epeu their hautiehee. • Deeming it pro- bable that when my dogs crime up and I approached they would still retreat and make a bolt across the open vley, I directed:Carey- to canter forward and take up the ground' in the centre of the vley about four hundred yards it advance ; whereby the liens woul,i be compelled' either. to give. us battle or awim the river, Which, although narrow, I.knew they would be very re-

luctant to do. . "—'

" I now sat in nay saddle, anxiously- awaiting the arrival of the dogs ; and whilst thus momentarily disengaged, I was much struck with the majestic and truly appalling .appearance which these four noble lions exhibited. They were all full-grown immense males; and I felt, I muzieconfees, a. little nu, vous, and very uncertaiu as to whet might be the issue of the attack. When the dogs came up I rode right in towards the .lions, They sprang to their feet, and trotted slowly down along the bank of the river, once or twice halt- ing and. facing about for -half a minute. Immediately below them there was a small determined bend in the stream, forming a sort of peninsula. Into this bend they disappeared ; and :neat moment I was upon theta with .my dep. They had taken 'shelter in a dense angle of the peninsula, well.shele tered by high trees and reedn pito this retreat the dogs.at once boldly. fol- lowed them, meking, a loud basking; which-was instantly followed by the terrible voices of the lions, which Awned about and charged to the edge of the cover.- Next moment, however, 1 heard them plunge intothe river; when I sprang from my horse, ancl running to the topof the bank, Leave three of there ascending the opposite bank, the doge following. One of then( bounded away across the open plain at top eked.; bathe other two, -fuuting themselves followed by the dogs, i . mmediately turned to bay: It was now my turn; in zekine them coolly right and left with my little rifle; I made. the Most glorious double shot that a sportsman's heart-could-dash*, rEse abling them both in the shoulder before they were even aware of may posi Ulm ; then snatching my other gun from Carey, who that moment had rid- den up to my. assistance I finished the first lion with a shot about the heart, and brought -the second a etandetill by disabling him in his hind-quarters. He quickly crept into a dense .. wide, dark green bush, in which for a long' time it was impossible to ebt-Mn a glimpse of him; at length; a clod of eatth falling near his hiding-place, he made a more which disclosed to Me. hie potation, when I finished him with three more shots, all along the middle of his back. Carey swam across the river to flog off the dogs ; and when, these came thmegh to me I beat .up the peninsula in quest af . the fourth lion ; which had, however, made off. We then ceossed the river a little higher up, and proceeded to inspect the noble .prizes I had won. Both lions were well up in their years : I kept the skin and skull of the finest specimen, and only the nails and tail of the other,. one of whose canine teeth was worn down to the socket with caries, which seemed vertmuch to have effected his general

condition." . • • - -

This was distant firing. At times, however, it came to closer quarters with 'elephants; and to positive faction ivith. our travel- ler's first captured hippopotamus, when he performed whathe calla. "a waltz in the water. .

"I took the sea-cow next me, and with my first ball I gave her a mortal wound, knocking loose a great plate en the top of her skull: • She at once commenced plunging round and round, and then occasionally remained still, sitting for a few minutes on the same spot: On hearing- the report of my rifle, two of the others took up stream, and the fourth dashed•down the river ; they trotted along, like oxen, at a smart pule, 88 1011g as the water was shallow. I was now in a state of very great anxiety about may wounded sea- cow, for I feared that she would get down into deep water, and be lost' like the last one • her struggles were still carrying her down stream, and the water was becoming deeper. To settle the matter, I accordingly fired a second shot from the bank ; which, entering the roof of her skull, passed out through her eye ; she then, kept continually splashing round and round in a circle in the middle of the river. , I had great fears of the crocodiles, and I did not know that the sea-cow might not attack me. My anxiety to secure her, however, overcame all hesitation • so, divesting myself of my leathers, and armed with a sharp knife, I dashed into the water, which at first took me up to my arm-pits, but in the middle was shallower. . As I approached Behemoth, her eye looked very wicked. I. halted for moment, ready to dive under the water if she attacked ins ; but she was stunned, and did-net know what she . was doing; so, running- in Upon hery and seising her short tail, I attempted to incline her course to land. It was extraordinary what enormous strength she still had in the water. I could not guide her in the slightest ; and she oontinued to splash, and plunge,- and blow, and make her circular course, carrying me along with her .as if I was a fly on her taiL , Finding . her tail gave me but a poor hold, as the only means of securing any prey, I took out my knife, and, cutting two deep pae rallel incisions through the skin on her rump, and lifthig this skin from the flesh, so that I could get in. my two hands, I made use of this as a handle and after some deoperato hard work, sometimes pushing and sometimes pulling, the see-cow -continuing her circular couree all the time and I holding on at her rump like -grim Death, eventually I succeeded in bringing this gigantic and most . powerful animal to the bank. Here the bushman quickly brought Ma a stout buffalo-rheim from ray horse's neck, which I passed through the opening in the thick skin, and moored Behemoth to a tree ; I then took my rifle and sent a ball through the centre of her head, and she was numbered with the dead."

These extracts will serve to furnish a notion of the sort of sport enjoyed by Mr. Cumming, but will give no idea of its variety, or of his adventures sometimes only the common occurrences of the wilderness, at other times incidents pregnant with danger and pri- vation, which must have ended fatally to a man less hardy and experienced than himself. The novelty of the sports and the variety of adventure impart, of course, considerable interest to the book ; but its great attraction is its freshness and nature. As soon as the reader finds himself across the frontier, he feels himself in a rtew region. The animals, the vegetation, the scenery, the modes of living, are all novel and striking—" free as Nature first made man " ; and the ve faults of Mr. Cumming tend to hring out the qualities of his subjects. The closest approach to him in subjects mid adventure is Major Harris ; though we think Mr. Cumming has the advantage in the wildness and freshness of his scenery, as H.arris excels Cumming in literary judgment and art. At the same time, the coarseness, the repetitions, and the barrack and sporting mind of the latter, conjoined as they are with considerable vigour and a faculty of observation, seem to give a truer reflex of the nature he is describing than the more skilful depiction of Harris. We luxuriate in the exuberance of animal and (where there is water) of vegetable life; we are disposed to place more reli- ance upon. the pictures of Cumming, save a grain of wonder at some of the sporting stories. This reliability is increased by the absence of scientific objects, and indeed the author's unacquaint- anee with science, as well as by his perfect apparent openness, not merely in his confessions of nervousness but of impositions upon the natives by encouraging their superstitions and providing them with charms. A less open person, too, would have softened the style of his slaughter ; for the size of the animals protracts their death-struggles, while the lordly lion and the "half- reasoning elephant" meet their end with a kind of dignity, or sub- mission to destiny, which excites the reader's sympathy for any- thing but their destroyer. This want of literary art leads to repetitions of the seine kind of thing in his different journies and

ventures, and to a good deal of minuteness ; which, however, serves to exhibit more completely the life the author was leading.

This book is a singular illustration of "how use doth breed a habit in a man." By long custom Mr. Cumming got to face the fiercest beasts of prey, and the mightiest animals—the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the hippopotaxnus—as a matter of course ; en- couraging the idea, that when the civilized mind is seated in a sound body, and assisted by machinery, (for a gun is a machine,) there is hardly any feat of endurance, exertion, or victory over brute mind and matter, to which it may not be brought. At last he absolutely got to play with dancer, but ready at the instant for the deadly conflict. As I was examining the spoor of the game by the fountain, I suddenly detected an enormous old rock-snake stealing in beneath a mass of rock beside me. He was truly an enormous snake, and, having never before dealt with this species of game, I did not exactly know how to set about capturing him. Being very anxious to preserve his skin entire, and not wishing to have re- course to my rifle, I cut a stout and, tough stick about eight feet tang,, and having lightened myself of my shooting-belt, I commenced the attack. Sczzmghunbythetail,Itriedto get him out of bis place of refuge : bat I hauled in vain—he only drew his large folds firmer together; I could not move him. At length I got a litchi' round one of his folds about the middle of his body, and Kleinboy and I commenced hauling away in good earnest.

"The snake, finding. the ground. too hot for him, relaxed his coils, and, sud- denly bringing round his head to the front, he aprangout at us like an arrow, with his immense and hideous mouth opened to its largest dimensions ; and before I could get out of his way, he was clean out of his hole, and made a second spring, throwing himself forward about eight or ten feet, and snapping his horrid fangs within a foot of my naked legs. I sprang out of his way, and getting a hold of the green bough I had cut, I returned to the charge. The snake now glided along at top speed : he knew the ground well, and was making for a mass of broken rocks where he would have been beyond my reach : but before he could gain this place of refuge, I caught him two or three tremendous whacks ou the head. He, however, held on, and gained a

1 of muddy water ; which he was rapidly crossing when I again belaboured , and at length reduced his pace to a stand. We then hanged him by the neck to a bough of a tree, and in about fifteen minutes he seemed dead ; but he again became very troublesome during the operation of skinning, twisting Ins body in all manner of ways. This serpent measured fourteen feet."

The most valuable parts of Mr. Ctunming,'s book are those which describe the habits and appearances of the animals ; as he saw them under more favourable circumstances than perhaps any other observer 'with equal powers of observation. We can only quote ane of these sages from among the many we had noted. The spring k is so termed by the colonists on account of its peculiar habit of springing or taking extraordinary bounds, rising to an Incredible' height in the air, when pursued. The extrordinary manner in which spring- boks are capable of springing is best seen when they are chased by a dog. On these occasionst away start the herd, with a succession of strange perpen- dicular bounds, rising with curved loins high into the air, and at the same time elevating the snowy folds of long white hair on their haimeltes and along their back, which imparts to them a peculiar fairylike appearance, different- from any other animal. They bound to the height of ten or twelve feet, with the elasticity of an India-rubber bail; clearing at each spring from twelve to fifteen feet of ground, without apparently the slightest exertion. In performing the spring„ they appear for an instant as if suspended in the air, when down come all four feet again together, and, striking. the plain, away they soar again as if about to take flight. The herd only adopt this motion for a few hundred yards, when they subside into a light elastic trot, arching their graceful necks and lowering their noses to the ground, as if in sportive mood. Presently pulling up, they face about, and reconnoitre the object of their alarm. In crossing any path or waggon-road on which men have lately trod, the springbok invariably clears it by a single surprising bound ; and when a herd of perhaps many thousands have ta cross a track of the sort, it is extremely beautiful to see haw each antelope performs this feat, so suspicious are they of the ground on which their enemy, man, has trodden. They bound in a Etimilar manner when Ramiro' to leeward of a lion, or any other animal of which they entertain an instinctive dread."