THE KING OF HUNTERS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 383, 10 July 1889, Page 4

THE KING OF HUNTERS.

5 ,»-?'.■"«> .Return of Mb Sblous to England Afteb Many Yeaks Amonw Lkxns xVnd Elephakts.

I Mk Fred C. Selous, the great African hunter, has returned to England after twenty years spent in the wilds! of ' the* Dark Continent., Itis believed,, that jnqn.e of the great explorers vever -travelled *• so many mile 3 in' the African wilderness a s • this, famous' hunter. -'His trips afield have, sometimes .occupied two .years, ' during, which nothing has been heard' r of him.' Probably every native chief in the"bes r fc hunting'region of Sonth Africa, from Cape - Colony to the Zambesi, knows Selous. He' is a particular, favourite with tlie King of Matebele land, Lo , Bengula, and for yeai's he was the, only white man who , was free to enter the .territory of that savage ruler. Lo Bengula's name for the young hunter is ' The Lion.' Selous yas a mere boy, less than 20 years , old, when he went to Africa. „ The greate&b game the country affords has been his tfre'y. The outfit for his long journeys, including ox waggons, servants, ammunition and goods to barter lor food, often represented an outlay of several thousands of dollars.' But Selous made it pay. When he emerged^ from savage regions into civilisation again his waggon was always heavily laden with ivory, ostrich feathers, and valuable skins. His cargo usually paid the expenses of his trips and a handsome profit besides. In the gold regions he often sold the fruit of his rifle to natives for gold dust. When he first went to Africa his well-to do father now and then sent him remittances. But Selous invariably put the money in a Natal Bank and supported himself wholly by his rifle. Of course, he has had many remarkable adventures. Once he was lost and wandered for several days in an almost impenetrable, thorny forest, with nothing to eat and no resource save to tighten his belo whenever his stomach protested' too angrily. But the most thrilling adventure of his life was one that befell him last summer ; and if it had not been for that mishap he would now be in the heart of the continent, among the headwaters of the Congo, in stead of home in England. Elephants are getting very scarce south of the Zambesi, and so Selous determined to make another trip north of that river and to strike for the Garenganze country, northwest of Lake Batfgweolo, whore elephants are very plentiful, This very interesting region is still only partly known to us. The C4erman explorer, Reichard, and the Portuguese travelers, Capello and Ivens, spent a little time there, but most of our information about, the country has been derived from the intrepid young Scotch missionary, Mr Arnot. It shows the daring nature of Selous that' he determined to push for this region through the country of the fierce Mashukulumbwe tribe, who have never yet permitted a white man to pass through their district, and who brought the Holub expedition, fitted out at an expense of to such a disastrous end. The Mashukulumbwe live about 170 mile&northeastofthefamous Victoria Falls in the Zambesi. With an equipment that cost him about $2,000, Selous pushed into the forbidden land, and had nearly crossed it when his advance northward came to a sudden end. On July Bth last he was in camp at the village of Chief Minenga. The chief - appeared very friendly. Selous shot some zebras and an antelope and. gave all therneafc to the chief, who promised next day to send his son to guide him through the country. That night Selous was getting ready for bed, when he was told that all the women had left the village. That^ was a sign of trouble. Selous dressed hurriedly. He had - his rifle, but there were only four cartridges in his belt. He had just started for some ammunition when the Mashukulumbwe suddenly poured into the camp in swarms, hurling as they came hundreds of barbed as&egais. Twelve of his twenty-five people were killed on the spot, and five more were wounded. All who could escaped in the darkness. Selous, unscathed, got clear of the camp and hung ai'ound out of sight for hours, hoping to find some of his men. He could hear the treacherous savages jubilating over their booty, but not a soul of his party did he meet. So he started alone for the Zambesi. The next day he shot a wildebeest, broiled some of the meat, and shouldering as much of the carcass as he could carry went on his way. Soon after he was nearly murdered. At midnight he entered a village where he thought the people would be friendly. It was an unusually cold night, and he could not resist the temptation to waim himself at a fire that was blazing in the centre of the town. Some of the people heard him, but they did not seem unfriendly, and he lay down and went to sleep by the fire. He was soon awakened by some men coming to the fire. He sat up. and just then a man rushed in behind him and seized his rifle. At the same time a man at the fire threw a bundle of gra&s on the embers, and by the bright light Selous saw a fellow crouched under the thatch of a hut, about thirty feet distant, taking aim at him with an old musket. Selous bounded through- thefence and was outside the kraal in an instant. He now had no weapon, and made the rest of the journey to friends south of the Zambesi amid terrible • hardships. One by one/the remnant of the party came straggling in. He had been three weeks without, a blanket in the middle of the cold season, and his fare had been anything but sumptuous. " Some ten years ago Selous made a , shor* visit home, when he wrote the volume 'tha^ has become the textbook not only for hunters in Central and South Africa, but' also f o.r explorers and naturalists. ' His scientific attainments have enabled him to add much to our knowledge of Africa. Some of his routes appear on all the best maps, and his charts and records have for years been published in geographical magazine's. But it is as a born hunter that he 1 is best known, and he is the central figure among the best sportsmen of the world. He has been' T to the Transvaal and the Zambesi basin what Daniel Boone was to Kentucky. It is understood that Selous now thinks of remaining in England ; but he is yet hardly 40 years old, and no one will be surprised if his adventurous disposition carries him back to the scenes where he has had much glorious sport and encountered some thrilling dangers. ,

The statistics of the Australasian colonies for 1888, just published, show a>total..inorease of population of 126,000 people. New Zealand heads the < list in excess, of birbhs over deaths. The trade ,of the various colonies has amounted' to £121,859,000, which is equal! . to.j a little over £35 per head.- .Viotoria .has imported most "largely, t exceeding ,' her exports by £10,000,000. . With . , ;< the exception South Australia ,and ;T ,New Zealand all the colonies have/imported more than • they have ..exported. !-, (i South Australia shows the largest trade return, which is equal to £39 per head.. -New Zealand stands sixthion the list in this respect, ■ with £20 13s pen head. The total, .tonnage cleared in the colonies. during the year ( was 14,689,000 tons. .. ,• ,<--;« r , n ' W