THE NATURE OF THE BEAST

by T. Murray Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The author draws on over forty year's experience in Africa as a big game hunter, safari organizer, and game warden for these personal reminiscences. His adventures range over many parts of Africa including the Belgian Congo, Dakar and East Africa and his exciting anecdotes of encounters with wild animals, many of which feature his friend and tracker, Manda, are interspersed with incidental animal intelligence. We learn that a lion has the fastest charge at seven seconds per hundred yards, but a cheetah is the fastest animal; just how lethal a kick from a giraffe can be; that elephants talk in low ventriloquist rumbles. A labored style obstructs the narrative in this undistinguished but genuine factual addition to the many wild animal stories flooding out of Africa. The text is accompanied by mainly poor, dark photographs with one or two exceptions such as the shot of young lions making a kill and the rescue operations of a baby elephant trapped in the mud. These criticisms aside, the book is suitable for animal lovers of all ages as well as the natural history enthusiast.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 1849239657

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward-McCann

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION