As always with these kinds of books one is just left stunned by how very much more wildness there used to be in the world. Try this:
We had scattered out, Mr Price being on my right, when he came racing along by the side of about 300 to 400 giraffe. It was a wonderful and beautiful sight. It seemed a pity to shoot them, but we bottled up sentiment and got five of them.
300-400 giraffe?!? I’ve never seen a group larger than about 10. I didn’t even know they would naturally herd in that size, because I guess there just aren’t enough of them alive to do so. He also at one point sees an elephant herd a MILE AND A HALF LONG. Even if he’s exaggerating, it’s still enormous.
I learnt a lot from this book, not least that older male giraffe do not make good eating, and so are colloquially known as ‘stinkbulls.’ It is sad to note the collapse of the ecosystem even in his lifetime. When he first came, he could shoot into a herd and elephants would not even run, they were so unused to bullets. After ten years, if you sounded a gun anywhere, you wouldn’t even see any elephants for days.
Apparently he went on to gold prospecting and gambling addiction. A full life.