ZEALOUS MR. SELOUS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 75, 24 April 1909, Page 3

ZEALOUS MR. SELOUS.

STORIES OF THE KINO OF BIG | CAME. | England's greatest hunter, Mr. F. C. Scions, -who was to accompany 'Ml'. Roosevelt to Hast Africa ana Uganda, is not at all the buld. fierce-looking individual one might expect to find a man who has spent the greater part of his life among wild animals ana wild men. He is soft-voiced and mild-eyed, modest in bearing and ill speech. : But Mr. Sel' iis's courage, and sagacity have stood the test of a thousand perilous adventures, and in tile early days gained for him among the natives the reputation of being a wizard—a reputa- ' tioit which once led to an amusing incident, THE SACRED COWS. j Some white men had aroused the resentment of liing Lobengula by shooting for food a number of his sacred "river ' cows"—hippopotami. This he had ex-j prcssly forbidden, except in exceptional cases." One of Selous's native "boys" had killed a hippopotamus for this purpose, and because the ilusky monarch had been put into a bad humor, the English hunter was arraigned, with the other offenders, before tic King and his chief counsellors. One of the latter, ill all excited speech, called upon Mr. Sclous to employ his j witchcraft to bring back to life and into the tamp all the King's wild animals that he had slaia. But the intrepid hunter soou reduced him to silcnco by getting to his feet, as though lm meant business, and demanding whether, in t ; he event of his causing, all the lions he had killed to march into camp in procession, the late speaker would stop to count them. I

Eventually, Mr. Selous had lo pay a line of £OO, and even to this day the event is a sore point with him. Mr. Selous's most terrible experience befell him north of tile Zambesi; and, curiously enough, die was warned by automatic .writing when ou the point of departing on the fatal expedition, which cost the lives of twelve of his party.

IX HIDING. When on the western 'border of Zambesi, he was persuaded by a lady to try to get a message by automatic writing. Holding u pencil in his hand, he waited, and presently the message came: "David Thomas. Selous, go out of the country." The hunter said he would like to know why, and the message continued: '•Because you will be murdered by the natives." Naturally, although David Thomas's warning was repeated several times, Mr. Selous took little notice of it, and proceeded. Some weeks after, his camp was rushed in the night by the Mashukulumbwc, incited by rebel Barotse, who wished to secure his powder, guns, and assegais. Rille iu hand, the hunter retreated backwards; but it was pitch dark, and he was afraid to fire, lest ho should wound his own men. All at once lie tripped and fell, and two natives rolled over him.

He got to his feet, and sought tlio shelter of the long grass, which effectively concealed him. Ho reached the river. He knew it was infested by crocodiles, but lie had to take the chance. He swam it three times, in order to get, first, his riile anil four remaining cartridges, and then liis clothes over, dry. All next day he remained in hiding, but managed, witli the expenditure of only one of his precious cartridges, to kill a deer, from which lie cut enough meat for three days. Soon after, attracted by a fire which would warm his benumbed frame, he approached a village that had previously been friendly. But his riile was treacherously stolen from him, aud he escaped being shot only by rushing, even while a native was taking aim, once more to the shelter of the long grass. Without his riile to provide him with food or protect his life from wild beasts and wilder fr.es; without even a blanket to shelter his half-clad figure from tlio bitterly cold nights, his position was terrible indeed; and it was not until fourteen days after the attack on his camp that he fell in with some of ibis own people, who welcomed him with great joy, having long before given him up for dead. Before lie was a hunter, Mr. Selous was a naturalist, und perhaps even yet he is a naturalist lirst and a big-gaiue hunter next. While at liugby, lie used frequently to break bounds to go birdnesting: and in his wanderings in the wildest countries of the world : !iis buttor-fty-netii have been a"s prominent as his rifles among the few necessities lie carries.

WiIEX "BAGS" WERE 810. \\ hen this great pioneer lirst penetrated into South Africa he didn't burden hiniselt with a costly outiit and a waggon-load of ironmongery. As often ■as not he hunted on foot, and with guns that to-day would be considered crude. But the list of his "bag." when, in the early 'seventies, he was making hit* living hunting elephants and collecting natural history trophies, would make the modern fashionable big-game hunter green with envv. v

Comprising 548 head, it includes twenty elephants, eighteen giraffes, one hundred hull'aloes, and thirteen lions.— Home paper.