African Hunter

[Colin Rush]

African Hunter was originally written by Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, and then translated from Swedish to English by FH Lyon in 1938. It was then republished as part of the Peter Capstick Hunting and Adventure Library by Peter Hathaway Capstick and Saint Martins Press in 1986. This book is considered to be a fine example of Africana, with detailed descriptions of Bror Blixen's travels and hunts. It is also a good travel companion for anyone that is visiting the African veldt or desert.

There is an introductory chapter written by the editor, explaining how times have changed, and why the book needs to be viewed through the lens of time.
"If I may have your time as you pour a tall brown one or light your pipe, I should like to make a practical, no-kidding comparison between the days of Blixen when "they slaughtered game" and those of today. Many people today who know little better would call Blixen a "murderer" today, or something equally charming and emotionally inaccurate."

Known as "Wahoga" (the waddler) by the natives, Blix was a robust, stocky man of spring-steel nerves and superb marksmanship. He had the rare combination of being an aristocrat and a bit of a bounder to all who knew him. Blix got along well with the locals, and was involved in a number of schemes over the years, such as growing coffee, leading safaris, becoming a professional hunter, and managing estates for wealthy friends. Blix was the model for Ernest Hemingway's character Robert Wilson in his book The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber. He was "one of the most durable, congenial, promiscuous, and prodigal creatures who ever lived" (according to Judith Thurman in a book about Isak Dinesen). Blix had "a Rasputin-like constitution, which not poison, disease, malaria, war, breaks and gashes of all kinds, nor the most violent general wear seemed able to dent". Unfortunately, a life of adventure was ended like that of General Patton and TH Lawrence, directly or indirectly as a result of a road accident. Said his former wife Karen before she died: "If I should wish anything back of my life, it would be to go on safari once again with Bror Blixen." This she said thirty years after contracting syphilis from Blix. Everybody loved Bror Blixen.

Most of the book talks about hunting, visiting remote locales, his friends, and the animals he sees/shoots, and so on. However, this book has an entire chapter devoted to Bror Blixen's trek across the Sahara Desert in his International truck. Originally brought to Africa by one of the Vice Presidents of IHC, the truck was sold to Blix and his English companion Sir Charles Markham, who also kept a diary of the trip. They drove the truck, a 1928 3/4-ton open-sided 2WD canopy express model, 1,880 miles from Kano to Reggan without a road. This was the first crossing of the Sahara in a vehicle that was not specially-built for the trip. After reading the story, they were lucky to have made it. It is exciting reading. Now I need to find a copy of Markham's diary.

The ISBN-10 is 0312009593, and the ISBN-13 is 978-0312009595, and the Library of Congress number is 85-26075.

For those that are interested in the rest of the Capstick Adventure Series, the titles are The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, and Hunting the Elephant in Africa.