THE RECOLLECTIONS OF WILLIAM FINAUGHTY: ELEPHANT HUNTER 1864-1875 ST. MARTIN'S PRESS 1991 21 x 14 cm. New introduction by Peter Capstick + 242 pp. WHEN William Finaughty, a member of an 1820 Settler family from Grahamstown, made his first of several hunting trips to Mzilikazi's Matabeleland in 1864, at the age of 21, the land teemed with wild life. For the 11 years covered by his Recollections he traded and shot for ivory, mainly in the south-west of Rhodesia and in Botswana along the Shashi river. Skilled in bushcraft, fit and fearless, he hunted on horseback, using an old muzzle-loader. In five years he killed about 500 elephants, 10 falling to his gun in one day. On another afternoon he bagged six lions. He preceded Selous in Matabeleland and his exciting tale of personal encounters with wild animals is the more interesting because he introduces contemporary hunters, missionaries, traders and explorers, among them Jan Viljoen, Henry Hartley, Thomas Baines, Chapman, Francis, Sam Edwards, Leask, Phillips, Wood, Mauch, Mohr and many others. His unadorned descriptions of the harsh realities of bush life are as stark as the ever-present dangers from marauding lions, fever, the lack of water and the tsetse fly. How demanding life was of those who ventured into the 'far interior' is dramatically illustrated in his chance meeting with Mrs. Harmse who lost her husband and five children through fever; and by the immobilised party held captive in their zariba for two months by lions. Garnish is added to the hunting fare by his stories of the Matabele — he met Mzilikazi and Lobengula — the crafty Bushmen, veld lore, and such incidents as the gun-running of three old ship's cannon. Finaughty's Recollections were first recorded by R. N. Hall in instalments in The Rhodesian Journal and in 1916 they were published in book form by an American sportsman, G. L. Harrison, in an edition of only 250 copies.

THE RECOLLECTIONS OF
WILLIAM FINAUGHTY:

ELEPHANT HUNTER
1864-1875

ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
1991

WHEN William Finaughty, a member of an 1820 Settler family from Grahamstown, made his first of several hunting trips to Mzilikazi's Matabeleland in 1864, at the age of 21, the land teemed with wild life. For the 11 years covered by his Recollections he traded and shot for ivory, mainly in the south-west of Rhodesia and in Botswana along the Shashi river.

Skilled in bushcraft, fit and fearless, he hunted on horseback, using an old muzzle-loader. In five years he killed about 500 elephants, 10 falling to his gun in one day. On another afternoon he bagged six lions. He preceded Selous in Matabeleland and his exciting tale of personal encounters with wild animals is the more interesting because he introduces contemporary hunters, missionaries, traders and explorers, among them Jan Viljoen, Henry Hartley, Thomas Baines, Chapman, Francis, Sam Edwards, Leask, Phillips, Wood, Mauch, Mohr and many others. His unadorned descriptions of the harsh realities of bush life are as stark as the ever-present dangers from marauding lions, fever, the lack of water and the tsetse fly. How demanding life was of those who ventured into the 'far interior' is dramatically illustrated in his chance meeting with Mrs. Harmse who lost her husband and five children through fever; and by the immobilised party held captive in their zariba for two months by lions.

Garnish is added to the hunting fare by his stories of the Matabele — he met Mzilikazi and Lobengula — the crafty Bushmen, veld lore, and such incidents as the gun-running of three old ship's cannon.

Finaughty's Recollections were first recorded by R. N. Hall in instalments in The Rhodesian Journal and in 1916 they were published in book form by an American sportsman, G. L. Harrison, in an edition of only 250 copies.

21 x 14 cm. New introduction by Peter Capstick + 242 pp.

Very good + condition, pages slightly age toned but otherwise like new.






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