African Hunting, From Natal To The Zambesi: Including Ngami, The Kalahari Desert, Etc. (1863) Paperback – September 10, 2010

As schoolboys from Leyland in Lancashire our headmaster used to take us for annual school holidays to Keswick in the English Lake District, then after a day’s hiking, we’d settle into bed in the dormitories and he’d sit in a chair in the middle of the room and tell us the story of a man from Leyland who travelled to Africa and had amazing adventures, including being only the second European to see the Victoria falls, most fell asleep before hearing the end of the stories. For years I’d wondered about this man, and whether the stories were just fiction, but thanks to a group on facebook, I found out that he did indeed exist and these are his memoirs.This is an unintentionally funny book, it of course as one would expect, written in Victorian days it is a long way from being politically correct and the body count of animals shot, would not make it good reading for animal lovers. But as a historical document it is fantastic.