I just finished reading The Man-Eaters of Tsavo by J.H. Patterson. The main story occurs in 1898 in Tsavo where Patterson, a British Colonel who was responsible for building a railroad through Uganda. The workers were being eaten by two lions (The Ghost and the Darkness, of the movie). Patterson said about 40 workers were eaten. In a book by Phillip Caputo it is speculated that as many as 132 people were eaten.
Patterson's book is a view into a earlier time with different sensibilities. He kills all sorts of animals (including an ostrich!). Mostly for fun, very occasionally for meat.
If you can put the hunting in historical perspective, it is a very interesting book, and available, pretty much for free, on the Kindle.
We watched the movie a week or so ago. It was enjoyable. The Michael Douglas character was not in the book, and only had a small part in the original script until Douglas took over production of the film.
ReplyDeleteThose two lions are in the Field Museum in Chicago -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/default.htm
Book Review: The Accurate Reloading Africa Book
ReplyDelete"On the twelfth day of the hunt, we picked up the early morning spoor of the same group of dagga boys we had followed before shooting the leopard. We tracked them for three hours, without seeing them. They were not aware we were on their track. We walked up the side of a wooded hill, and at the edge of a deep ditch, we saw a buffalo bull fifty yards away side on. He was the big boy that had eluded us a few days previously. The P.H. whispered "Take him." I placed the crosshairs just behind his shoulder, a third of the way up, and fired. At the impact, he dropped, and I lost sight of him. I chambered another round, and as I did so, he got up and charged. Without thinking, and in one movement, I mounted the rifle and shot him in the head, just above the nostrils. He fell, rolled down the slope a couple of times, and lay very still....I spent the flight back home, re-living an incredible experience and planning my next trip.--P. Godsell
Hunting stories and loading for African game. Something for everybody.