LIFE IN THE WILDS OF CENTRAL INDIA. By J.D. St Joseph.

2001 1st edition. 8vo (157 x 242mm). Ppxviii,428. B/w photographs, maps. Blue faux leather boards, upper board and spine titled in gilt.

Reminiscences of life and sport in India around the turn of the century. The author was a contemporary of Jim Corbett, both attending the same school, Boy's Diocesan School in Naini Tal, and both being born just two years apart. The vast majority of the book concerns the author's shooting memoirs covering tiger, bear, panther and various species of deer. "J.D. St. Joseph belonged to one of the domiciled British families of Victorian India. He went to school at Naini Tal and undertook as his profession the conservation and management of the forests of Central India from 1891 until the outbreak of the First World War. He worked chiefly in the Aravalli, Satpura and Vindhya mountain ranges and the valleys of the Narbada, Machara, Tapti and Chambal rivers. A man of great perspicacity, he kept meticulous records and was on good terms with everyone he worked with including the native peoples and particularly with the Bhils, Gonds and Korkus. He studied all the plants he found and, having recorded their medicinal uses, forwarded them to the Imperial Botanist at Dehra Dun, who occasionally sent them on to Kew for identification. More than a century after he embarked on his career this book has been published by his daughter-in-law, Daphne St. Joseph, as a tribute to his life and work and as evidence of a time and way of life long gone. This book will be of interest not only to all lovers of India but also to those involved in scholarship or practice in many subjects that are being debated today, such as dams, conservation of forests and wild life, the rights of tribals and alternative medicine." Chapters include:- A general sketch; Camp requisites; Early reminiscences; Incidents in camp life; Beats; Stalking; Still shooting; Shooting; Animal cures for wounds; Tiger; Panther; Bear; Sambar; Cheetal; The gaur; Miscellaneous incidents. Appendices include:- Working with the Bhils - relevant letters and reports; A Bhil legend, chosen from J.D. St J's collections; The Barwani State forests; Medicinal plants and their uses: relevant correspondence; Places of interest: extracts from The East India Company.