Books of sporting, travel, and adventure in countries little known to the average reader naturally fall into two classes. Neither class, with a very few exceptions, is of great value. One class is perhaps the result of the other.
Of the first type is the book that is written to make the most of far travels, to extract from adventure the last thrill, to impress the awe-stricken reader with a full sense of the danger and hardship the writer has undergone. Thus, if the writer takes out quite an ordinary routine permit to go into certain areas, he makes the most of traveling in "closed territory." This implies that he has obtained a special privilege and has gone where few have gone before him. As a matter of fact, the permit is issued merely so that the authorities can keep track of who is where. Anybody can get one. This class of writer tells of shooting beasts at ranges of four and five hundred yards.
