I feared that modern methods might have taken away much of the old-time romance of the sport, but I felt certain that there was still to be something left in the way of excitement and adventure.
The succeeding pages of this book contain the chronicle of the nine delightful months that followed my departure from America.
In the middle of August Mr.Stephenson and I arrived in London.

Mr.
Akeley had ordered most of our equipment by letter, but there still remained many things to be done, and for a week or more we were busy from morning till night.
It is amazing how much stuff is required to outfit a party of four people for an African shooting expedition of several months' duration.
First in importance come the rifles, then the tents and camp equipment, then the clothes and boots, then the medical supplies, and finally the food.

Perhaps the food might be put first in importance, but just now, after a hearty dinner, it seems to be the least important detail.
Many men outfitting for an African campaign among wild animals secure their outfits in London.

It is there, in modest little shops, that one gets the weapons that are known to sportsmen from one end of the world to the other--weapons designed expressly for the requirements of African shooting, and which have long stood the test of hard, practical service.
For two days we haunted these famous gun-makers' shops, and for two days I made a magnificent attempt to look learnedly at things about which I knew little.
[Drawing: _Practising in the Museum_] At last, after many hours of gun shopping, attended by the constant click of a taxicab meter, I assembled such an imposing arsenal that I was nervous whenever I thought about it.

With such a battery it was a foregone conclusion that something, or somebody, was likely to get hurt.
I hoped that it would be something, and not somebody.
The old-time "elephant gun" which shot an enormous ball and a staggering charge of black powder has given way to the modern double-barreled rifle, with its steel bullet and cordite powder.