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African Adventures
From the Foreword:
African Adventures has been written mainly in response to the request of those friendly readers of my previous book, African Buffalo Trails, who asked for more fare of a similar nature. These were the readers who joined me on one of the branch roads of adventure which took us to the Kivu, the Ituri Forest and the Ubangi—the native haunts of the gorilla, the pygmy and the cannibal.
In the present volume we return to the main road which starts in the desolate Karoo country and leads through the Kalahari Desert, the Back Congo, and on to the Lupa Goldfield in Tanganyika, where some of the strangest characters imaginable become fellow travellers. It is here that we meet a motley crowd, drawn from every strata of society, and the search for the elusive yellow metal takes us, on a black and eerie night, to the grave of an old native queen where a hoard of gold lies buried beside her.
On another side road we accompany the world’s most fantastic snake-man and see him capture and take bites from the deadly mamba and cobra. In the dense forest of the cannibal we sit at night and listen to the savage drummers sending out their messages, which we interpret successfully.
Although to some extent biographical, the adventures I have recorded here are not in chronological order, but I have presented them in a sequence which I hope will afford pleasure and excitement to readers as they follow me on the many different trails. -
African Hunter
African Hunter is a classic among African safari literature. Blor Blixen is perhaps most famous for being the husband of writer Karen Blixen, who wrote her hauntingly beautiful swan song to Kenya Out of Africa (under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen). Bror, however, was best known among his contemporaries as a brilliant and adventurous hunter who guided, among others, the Prince of Wales on his 1928 and 1930 safaris.
Seemingly physically indomitable, yet somehow impecunious throughout his career despite his success as a hunter, he sought adventure wherever he could, including the unforgiving heat and sands of the Sahara.
One-time lover and famous aviatrix Beryl Markham said of Blixen in her book West with the Night, “He is six feet of amiable Swede and, to my knowledge, the toughest, most durable White Hunter ever to snicker at the fanfare of safari or to shoot a charging buffalo between the eyes while debating whether his sundown drink will be gin or whisky.”
Blixen is one of the legends of the Golden Age of safari and African Hunter deserves a spot on any safari enthusiast’s bookshelf.
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Carl Akeley's Africa - The Account of the Akeley-Eastman-Pomeroy African Hall Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History
Carl Akeley's Africa is Mary L. Jobe Akeley's first-hand account of the 1926 Akeley-Eastman-Pomeroy African Hall Expedition on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History. The expedition sought to complete world-renowned taxidermist and sculptor Carl Akeley's vision of creating lifelike dioramas to display Africa's most iconic species in their natural habitats for all the world to see. An ardent conservationist, Carl Akeley was keenly aware of the impact that encroaching civilization and loss of habitat would have on wildlife, with no greater example being the mountain gorilla. Decades before George Schaller and Dian Fossey, Akeley trekked to the Virunga mountains and captured—for the first time on film—the reclusive mountain gorilla. Based on his experience, Akeley advocated for the establishment of what is now Volcanoes National Park.
In its latter stages, the 1926 expedition retraced Akeley's earlier footprints to the Virungas, where, while recounting to his wife Mary the magic of the land he loved so well, Akeley fell ill and died. Mary, undaunted, laid her husband to rest in Kabara Meadow and continued the expedition in his honor so that his wishes for the African Hall might be granted.
From Mombasa to the Athi Plains, to Uganda and the Belgian Congo and back, the expedition traversed some of the most iconic landscapes in Africa, and along the way encountered legendary hunters like Percival, Ayer, Tarlton, Ritchie, and Black — names that will be familiar to all safari enthusiasts.
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The Corbett Collection - Volume 1: The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag and My Kumaon - Now Available on Audiobook!
From the original US edition: This is the story of the most publicized jungle animal that ever lived. In his best-selling Man-Eater's of Kumaon, Jim Corbett told of his battles with many man-eating tigers. In this book he tells a sustained and climactic story of his hard-won battle with a single leopard. Leopards very rarely become man-eaters, but those few that do are the peers of the man-eating tigers in ferocity and possess an even greater cunning.
Roaming over an area of five hundred square miles, the Rudraprayag leopard brought terror to the inhabitants of Garhwal for eight years. It killed, according to official Government record, 125 human beings. Its victims were generally seized from inside their houses, a fact that caused the people to barricade their homes even during the most stifling weather. Year after year all efforts fo kill the man-eater failed, including those of sixteen India shikaris organized by the Government for the purpose. Twice the leopard was caught, once in a trap and once in a cave, only to escape and continue its depredations. The villagers came to regard the beast as endowed with supernatural powers.
Off and on, Corbett stalked the Rudraprayag leopard during the last two years of its career, finally destroying it at the end of an uninterrupted ten-week pursuit, on a spot where it had killed three victims in rapid succession. His account of the chase is as thrilling as anything to be found in Man-Eaters of Kumaon.
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The Corbett Collection - Volume 2: Man-Eaters of Kumaon, My India, and Jungle Lore
Man-Eaters of Kumaon:
One of the most famous true stories about the pursuit of man-eating tigers and leopards. Jim Corbett relates his experiences tracking man-eating tigers and leopards between the years of 1907 and 1938 in the Kumaon region of northern India. Told without fanfare and with the authoritative voice of experience and true knowledge, Corbett invites the reader to experience the thrill of the chase as he seeks relieve the terror of local villagers.
My India:
In My India, Jim Corbett turns his focus to the people with which he chose to live in the shadow of the Himalaya. His sympathetic tales of the "poor of India" as he calls them, give us a greater understanding of the personalities and lives of these sturdy and humble people who live meagerly and wrest a living from the land.
Jungle Lore:
A subtext any close Corbett reader will glean - beyond his tracking prowess - is his remarkable relationship with nature. Such relationships are not casual occurrences, but the result of keen observation and lifelong study. In Jungle Lore, Corbett traces his path through the forests and jungles, starting in his childhood, introducing the reader to the jungle as it was introduced to him. We see Corbett's developing sensitivities to the plants and animals that will come to shape his life, and that he will use later to free the jungle of the threats that lie within. A must-read for the Corbett enthusiast.
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All Ratings Authorized - The Extraordinary Flying Career of Captain Harry Bernard
Told from the perspective of one who was there, All Ratings Authorized recounts the events that shaped an aviator and to some extent history.
From the seat of over 120 different types of airplanes and helicopters with nearly 35,000 flight-hours tallied, Harry Bernard’s flight experience is among the last of those true pioneers to come out of the Golden Age of aviation.
Born in Scotland just after World War I and growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, Harry quickly became interested in aviation and began flight lessons on July 22, 1940 at the age of twenty. His aptitude quickly showed and in less than two years, Harry had 300 hours of flight time and a contract to fly for Pan Am in their support mission during World War II in northern Africa.
His love of flight continued after the war as Harry logged thousands of hours with the Navy, as well as United and Pan Am, eventually becoming Chief of Flight Standards at the FAA.
Along the way were his share of near misses and adventure, and through it all, his love of flight endured.
