FREDERICK COURTENAY SELOUS AT THE AGE OF 59 _Frontispiece_ TO FACE PAGE THE PLAINS OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE IN 1871 64 SELOUS AS A YOUNG MAN, IN HUNTING COSTUME 80 ELEPHANTS 112 BUFFALOES ALARMED 144 ON THE MASHUNA PLATEAU 176 THE BATTLE OF THE STRONG 192 LIONS CHASING A KOODOO BULL 224 THE WANDERING MINSTREL 240 OSBORN'S CARIBOU 256 MT. KENIA FROM THE SOUTH 272 BULL MOOSE ABOUT TO LIE DOWN 288 MT. KILIMANJARO FROM THE NORTH 304 A SHOT ON THE PLAINS, BRITISH EAST AFRICA 320 FARU! FARU! 336 THEY CANNOT BREAK HIS SLEEP 368 THE LIFE OF FREDERICK COURTENAY SELOUS, D.S.O. CHAPTER I 1851-1865 Men of all ages are apt to set up for themselves heroes. It is their instinct to worship exceptional force of character and to follow a leader; but as we survey the tempest of human suffering we are now more apt to wonder if there are any great men left in the world and think that perhaps, after all, we have made a mistake in putting on pedestals the heroes of the past; for tried in the light of the present day they would, perchance, not have proved heroes at all. The cynic may even sneer at this lovable trait in human nature and affect to place all men in a commonplace ratio, but then it is easier to be a cynic than a man of faith. Nevertheless, Humanity must have something to trust, to acclaim and admire, and so millions of all ages cling to their worship of the hero, even though he may wear top hat and trousers. There will always be great men amongst the mass of pygmies, though many say the age of hero-worship has gone--doubtless swamped in the scale of colossal events. Still, if the great men of the past were not as large as they seemed, the little men of to-day may be greater, in spite of the fact that the chief actors in the modern drama of life are nations and not individuals.