Dear members,
I have compiled a few notes from a book I have had for the past 35 years, but never finished reading. When I started this winter, I remembered why I stopped reading. Hope you find the reading interesting. Some of the stories listed may be true, but because I do not shoot that well, some seem to be stretching the truth.
Book: Killers in Africa: The truth about animals lying in wait and the hunters lying in print.
Written by Alexander Lake. The author poses with an open bible on his desk while pretending to write.
Published London, 1953.
1) p31: Author traveled (perhaps circa 1920 -1930?) straight west from Fort Johnston, at the foot of Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi), for more than 200 miles through Northern Rodesia (Zambia), and saw springbok (?) and quaggas (zebra?). Later they shot 5 springbok from a running heard (he was using open sighted 303 rifle).
2) p47: Elephant hunting: “…the hunter often has a chance to get in a deadly shoulder shot. Because of the mass of blood vessels and nerves in the shoulder, two or three shots placed there will kill the elephant with shock before he can move fifty feet. (Remember the .303 he used.)
P48: “…when an elephant keeps on coming, trunk up and mouth wide open, the hunter can place a soft-nosed bullet smack into the back of the animal’s mouth, step aside quickly, and watch the elephant crash forward and skid to a crumpled stop.”
3) p54: “Hippos are such mild, inoffensive brutes and give up easily when cornered….hunting them is like shooting cows in a pasture. When the beast saw he was cut off from the river, he ( a big bull) sat down .. and stared at me. …His mate….came waddling out of the reeds, saw her husband, walked over to him, and lay down beside him… and went to sleep.”
4) p71: Shooting a baboon with the open sighted 303 at a distance of 840 yards (he had taken a ranging shot the previous day, at the tree in which the baboon sentry sat, and saw the bark fly!).
P73 He shot another baboon on a rock which he knew was “…exactly 278 yards away.”
5) Notes on shooting rhino: p77 “You are shooting a .303 with 215 grain bullet…”
p84“…side-step a rhino travelling at only 20 miles an hour and as he passes you stick your rifle muzzle in his ear”.
P89: “Male rhinos are not permitted bear the little ones. They sometimes eat them.”
7) p95: Crocodiles: “…was a four-foot-high crocodile’s egg nest made of mud and decaying vegetable matter.”
8) p112: “Once when being chased by natives who were after my scalp, I rubbed honey on my head and face and squatted in a river, with butterflies swarming so thickly about the honey that my pursuers never found me.”
9) p127: “I prefer a military Lee-Enfield.303. Ten cartridges in the magazine and one in the chamber. Eleven shots.” ….. “I used a wide V back-sight.”
10) p131: Talking of British clients “ …. Each had a .510 Rigby and a .600 Express.”
11) p150-155: Talks of helping a baby baboon that had eaten poisoned mealie kernels, and the behaviour of the troop indicated they wanted his help. He poured “ …bitter-strong coffee down his throat…” The baby coughed up the poisoned mealies, and the mother …” rushed and gathered up her baby and, holding him in one arm, jolted away on three legs”. Remember he had hunted these baboons previously for the bounty paid for a tail!
12) p159: Buffalo can make it tough on a man… Take a blanket, and just before the charging animal lowers his head for a thrust, hold the blanket in front of you and step quietly sideways. The buffalo will go after the blanket. You could, if you wanted, do a bullfighter’s simple Veronica and lead the buffalo into a series of futile attacks.”
13) p160: A good hard smack on the tip of a buffalo’s nose takes all the fight out of him.
Also talking about natives hunting buffalo with poisoned arrows, the hunter plays dead, and …”the buffalo puts his nose against the body and snorts and grumbles. He walks away, turns suddenly, and eyes the corpse. Sometimes he comes back and sniffs and snorts some more. He moves away, collapses, groans and dies”.
14) p198: Talking about a big baobab tree in 1912, on a tributary of the Zambezi river…”about sixty-five feet in diameter at the base.”
15) p212: Refers to …impala (springbok)… See #1 above. There was another reference later in the book where the author used springbok (impala) as being the same animal.
16) p 214: Hunting hartebeest: …”within 150 yards, (I) lay down and dropped her with a head shot.”
17) p219: “Usually the eland….leave a single horse-like droppings.”
18) p246: Author mentions he was 18 years old in 1911.
19) p249-250: His Zulu tracker catches a 15 pound tiger fish: “Inc by inch he reached toward the drowsing tiger fish. …Ubusuku turned his hand palm up and scratched the fish’s belly. The fish opened its mouth as if grinning. … The dark brown hand moved toward the forepart of the fish. Then, with Ubusuku’s first two fingers in the gill, the fish was out of the water…”
20) p251-252: You will have to read the last few pages to see how Ubusuku, 195 pounds and six foot four, manages to fight bare handed with, and survive, a leopard which had a paw print 5 ¼ “ long, and which had jumped on Ubusuku’s back and bit into Ubusuku’s shoulder. Men are not made that way any more.
Those were the days.Regards,
RSA1
I have compiled a few notes from a book I have had for the past 35 years, but never finished reading. When I started this winter, I remembered why I stopped reading. Hope you find the reading interesting. Some of the stories listed may be true, but because I do not shoot that well, some seem to be stretching the truth.
Book: Killers in Africa: The truth about animals lying in wait and the hunters lying in print.
Written by Alexander Lake. The author poses with an open bible on his desk while pretending to write.
Published London, 1953.
1) p31: Author traveled (perhaps circa 1920 -1930?) straight west from Fort Johnston, at the foot of Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi), for more than 200 miles through Northern Rodesia (Zambia), and saw springbok (?) and quaggas (zebra?). Later they shot 5 springbok from a running heard (he was using open sighted 303 rifle).
2) p47: Elephant hunting: “…the hunter often has a chance to get in a deadly shoulder shot. Because of the mass of blood vessels and nerves in the shoulder, two or three shots placed there will kill the elephant with shock before he can move fifty feet. (Remember the .303 he used.)
P48: “…when an elephant keeps on coming, trunk up and mouth wide open, the hunter can place a soft-nosed bullet smack into the back of the animal’s mouth, step aside quickly, and watch the elephant crash forward and skid to a crumpled stop.”
3) p54: “Hippos are such mild, inoffensive brutes and give up easily when cornered….hunting them is like shooting cows in a pasture. When the beast saw he was cut off from the river, he ( a big bull) sat down .. and stared at me. …His mate….came waddling out of the reeds, saw her husband, walked over to him, and lay down beside him… and went to sleep.”
4) p71: Shooting a baboon with the open sighted 303 at a distance of 840 yards (he had taken a ranging shot the previous day, at the tree in which the baboon sentry sat, and saw the bark fly!).
P73 He shot another baboon on a rock which he knew was “…exactly 278 yards away.”
5) Notes on shooting rhino: p77 “You are shooting a .303 with 215 grain bullet…”
p84“…side-step a rhino travelling at only 20 miles an hour and as he passes you stick your rifle muzzle in his ear”.
P89: “Male rhinos are not permitted bear the little ones. They sometimes eat them.”
7) p95: Crocodiles: “…was a four-foot-high crocodile’s egg nest made of mud and decaying vegetable matter.”
8) p112: “Once when being chased by natives who were after my scalp, I rubbed honey on my head and face and squatted in a river, with butterflies swarming so thickly about the honey that my pursuers never found me.”
9) p127: “I prefer a military Lee-Enfield.303. Ten cartridges in the magazine and one in the chamber. Eleven shots.” ….. “I used a wide V back-sight.”
10) p131: Talking of British clients “ …. Each had a .510 Rigby and a .600 Express.”
11) p150-155: Talks of helping a baby baboon that had eaten poisoned mealie kernels, and the behaviour of the troop indicated they wanted his help. He poured “ …bitter-strong coffee down his throat…” The baby coughed up the poisoned mealies, and the mother …” rushed and gathered up her baby and, holding him in one arm, jolted away on three legs”. Remember he had hunted these baboons previously for the bounty paid for a tail!
12) p159: Buffalo can make it tough on a man… Take a blanket, and just before the charging animal lowers his head for a thrust, hold the blanket in front of you and step quietly sideways. The buffalo will go after the blanket. You could, if you wanted, do a bullfighter’s simple Veronica and lead the buffalo into a series of futile attacks.”
13) p160: A good hard smack on the tip of a buffalo’s nose takes all the fight out of him.
Also talking about natives hunting buffalo with poisoned arrows, the hunter plays dead, and …”the buffalo puts his nose against the body and snorts and grumbles. He walks away, turns suddenly, and eyes the corpse. Sometimes he comes back and sniffs and snorts some more. He moves away, collapses, groans and dies”.
14) p198: Talking about a big baobab tree in 1912, on a tributary of the Zambezi river…”about sixty-five feet in diameter at the base.”
15) p212: Refers to …impala (springbok)… See #1 above. There was another reference later in the book where the author used springbok (impala) as being the same animal.
16) p 214: Hunting hartebeest: …”within 150 yards, (I) lay down and dropped her with a head shot.”
17) p219: “Usually the eland….leave a single horse-like droppings.”
18) p246: Author mentions he was 18 years old in 1911.
19) p249-250: His Zulu tracker catches a 15 pound tiger fish: “Inc by inch he reached toward the drowsing tiger fish. …Ubusuku turned his hand palm up and scratched the fish’s belly. The fish opened its mouth as if grinning. … The dark brown hand moved toward the forepart of the fish. Then, with Ubusuku’s first two fingers in the gill, the fish was out of the water…”
20) p251-252: You will have to read the last few pages to see how Ubusuku, 195 pounds and six foot four, manages to fight bare handed with, and survive, a leopard which had a paw print 5 ¼ “ long, and which had jumped on Ubusuku’s back and bit into Ubusuku’s shoulder. Men are not made that way any more.
Those were the days.Regards,
RSA1
