WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS: REMINISCENCES OF EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA and AMERICA. By Sir Samuel W. Baker. Briar Patch Press Edition.

(1890) 1988 new edition. 8vo (162 x 235mm). Ppxxxii,455. Illustrations from engravings. Fully bound in black bonded leather, gilt hippo scene and titles to upper board, spine titled in gilt, three raised bands, printed marble-effect end-papers, silk marker ribbon, all edges gilt.

New introduction by Jim Casada. Sir Samuel White Baker was something of a personality in his day and known to the newspapers as Baker of the Nile. His career took him to Ceylon and India and then many different parts of Africa, in the possessions of both the British and the Turkish empires. This book consists of a very varied set of accounts of imperial derring-do, categorised by the various species involved. Baker includes great of deal of material on the local people he encountered, especially their methods of hunting, and many observations of wildlife. Chapters include: The rifle of a past half century; The elephant (two chapters); The tiger (three chapters); The leopard; The lion; The bear; The hippopotamus; The crocodile; The buffalo; The American buffalo; The rhinoceros; The boar; The hyaena; The giraffe; The antelope; African antelopes; The deer (two chapters); The wapiti; The sambur; The spotted deer and hog deer. A fascinating and absorbing read by an engaging writer.