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MAMBAS AND MAN EATERS by C. J. P. Ionides

MAMBAS AND MAN EATERS

By

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Famed British wild animal hunter Ionides writes uninhibitedly about happy bachelorhood in Tanganyika, snakes, and man-eaters animal and human. While his hand is always deft in describing gazelles and gorillas, he is quite nakedly wicked in portraying partners who failed him, officers who refer to their Better Half, and fat sophisticates on safari. Partly Greek, Ionides is a rarity among African game wardens and hunters in that he is also a naturalist. Most game wardens know more about bottles than beetles, while Ionides is an avid collector and sorter. For vacation, he will hunt rare animals in the Sahara and track a spoor for weeks. Although Ionides has his arguments, some readers will cluck when he shoots a really rare beast and ships its mounted hide off to a museum. However, much more of the book is given over to hunting rogues and predators, especially elephants and leopards. (One leopard he tracked had eaten 90 people, mostly girls and children.) He also undertook the slaying of 1,200 raider elephants. Upon retiring, Ionides took up African herpetology and began supplying museums with reptiles including that country's most poisonous snake, the black mamba. The writing is sunlit and no anecdote misfires.