HUNTING BIG GAME. The Laurel and Gold Series Volume 175. By John A. Jordan.

1956 1st edition. 12mo (102 x 158mm). Pp192. B/w illustrations. Gilt titles to orange boards.

Tales of derring do from the African frontier with suitably dramatic illustrations. Aimed at a juvenile readership. The author's African career is outlined in the introduction. Jordan's life was extremely varied and consisted of such things as unsuccessful prospecting, opportunistic employment with colonial governments in emergencies, hunting pest species for the government bounty, exploration and ultimately, big game hunting as a PH without any real success. This must have been fairly representative of the careers of many would-be African colonials, and this is the source of much of the interest in this book. It is instructive that Jordan's account was chosen to include in a series of school text books, rather than some other biography culminating in fame and immeasurable wealth. Chapters include: An introduction to the author; A cunning man-eating lion; Thrills without profit; Trading for ivory; Water or gold?; The lone bull buffalo; Among man-eating crocodiles; Hunting lions; Attacked by wild dogs; Gorilla - powerful and ferocious; Jungle feuds; The unfortunate motor boat; Claw and fang; A wandering elephant hunt; Shooting hippopotamus for meat; Warriors versus rhinoceros; Wild people of the forest; Trials of a professional big-game hunter; Unknown animals of the African wilds.