New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-08-27
Literary Nese's and Criticism

q distance OF fifty yards and then leiS-
urelv walked away. Wildebeest are the
oldest in nature and conduct OF al!
African game. Their movements when
approached by the hunter are eccentric,
incaIcuiabIe. and battle all attempts TO
understand their meaning and purpose.
They viii start TO run, suddenly wheel
and so off in the opposite direction, then
stop 10 stare. so off again and repeat
the first maneuvre. running in zig
Gags.
The enemy whom African game fear
most is not man, but the lion. The dan
ger of sudden. violent death. is always
with them.
Watching the game. one was struck oy
the intensity and eyanescence of their
emotions. Civilized man now usually
passes his life under conditions Whicn
eliminate the intensity OF terror fet ps
his ancestors. when death by violence was
their normal end and threatened tneia
during every hour OF the day ana hlsHt-
IL is only in nightmares that the aFelaSe
dweller in civilized countries now unoer-
goes the hideous terror which was the
regular and frequent portion OF ms ages,
vanished forefatherS and which IS SUI
an everyday incident in the hyes OF HOS
wild creatures. But the dread is snort
lived and its horror yaniShes with instant
tareoVs raridfty. In these wilds the game
dreaded the lion and the other feSh-eatlng
l,aaSIs rather than man The game
is always alert against this greaIeSt OF
foes and every herd. every Individual Is
In imminent and deadly peril every lew
DAYS or nights. and of course suffers IN
addition rrcm countless false alarms But
no sooner is the danger over than the ami
mails resume their feeding or their hght-
ing among themselves. Two bucks VIII DO
battle the minute the herd has stopped
running from the foe that has seized one
Of its number.
Tempta tons to quote occur on nearly
every page. whether it be the lion, the
elephant. the Gland or the hippopotamus
Mr.. Roosevelt is writing about. or the
smallest member of the fauna of that
PARADISE of the naturalist and the
hunter. OF the honeybird he tells US:
one day Kermit had our first character
iStic experience with a hoheEolrdi Il
sraailish bird with its beak like a gTosbeaks
and its toes like woodpeckers. whose ex-
traordinary habits as a honey guide are
known 10 all the natives Of Africa through,
out its range. Kermit had killed an Gland
sull. ana while he was resting his gun
bearers drew his attention to the calling
Of the honeybird in tree near by. De
got UP. and as he approached the bird 1t
few into another tree in front and again
be gan its twitter. This was repeated again
and again Kermit walked after it
r
followers. in the direction from which they
had come; and for moment they thought
it had played them false But Immediately
afterward they saw that it had merely
overshot its mark, and had now flown back
a few rods to the honey tree, round which
il vas fitting, occasio o twiteer rIIsS
silent and motionlesS in another, and thus
continued while they took some honey
They did not observe what the bird
then did. but Cunninghame told me. that
in one instance where a honeybird led
him 10 the honey he carefully watched it
and saw it picking up either bits OF honey
and comb. or else more probably, the bee
grubs out of the comb, he could not be GER
tain which.
african Game Trails" let it be re-
peated. is not a mere record of hunting
with a gun. It's author hunted also with
a pair of trained, observant, interested
ewes. and his son and companion with an
excellent camera Reference may be
made here. in passing, to an account OF
a highly dramatic native hon hunt with
shield and spear: and it may not be
aniss TO quote Mr.. RooSevelt's state
ment at the end Of the book that prac-
ticallv all the game shot by him and his
son was for museum pieces and food.
Between them they brought home only
ABOUT q OOLen pSTSolldl liopiiitS VI ZIG
African chase-certainly modest bag
Mr. Kermit Roosevelt's photographs
are most interesting. the smaller ones
being admirably clear. Mr. Philip r
Goodwin's drawings, based on other
photographs taken by the Junior mem
Der of the expedition, and executed ac-
cording to his descriptions. have artistic
quality There are several appendices,
one giving complete list of all the diff
ferent mammals shot, another giving
Mr.. Roosevelt's views on protective col
Grafton at considerable length, and
third being devoted TO the now Well
known --pigskin library with some re-
marks on selections of ''best books and,
in particular, on Mr.. EIiots five-foot
library.