Customer Reviews

Maneaters and Marauders

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John "Pondoro" Taylor writes in Maneaters and Marauders of the many years he spent in the former Portuguese East Africa hunting elephant, buffalo, maneating lion and leopard. For much of that time, he shot elephant for their ivory (which was legal for sale at the time) but it is also obvious that even when the price of ivory dropped low enough during the Great Depression to make it difficult to make a profit, Taylor continued to shoot large numbers of elephant and buffalo. The reason he gives in Maneaters and Marauders is that he was doing his best to help his native African friends by shooting animals, especially elephant, that were raiding their crops and in the process, killing villagers that were trying to prevent the destruction of their food supplies. I have no reason to doubt him but it's also obvious Taylor loved the hunt and loved living in Africa. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he considered the native Africans his friends and held them in high esteem.

Which makes Maneaters and Marauders all the more interesting because it gives the reader a glimpse of what life was like in some of the poorest regions of colonial Africa and the hazards the people there faced on a daily basis. There is a hint of Taylor's eccentricity on the last page when he makes a brief mention about not having to take regular baths because he wasn't wearing any clothing and although he doesn't go into detail about it, I can only imagine what people must have thought when they saw a white man in deepest, darkest Africa walking around stark naked carrying an elephant gun. If you are interested in African hunting, at least the way it was done over 80 years ago, pick up this book and read it.

This book is a truly magnificent bit of history. The dangers of Africa from the viewpoint of people who were there... back in the days before emergency rescue services existed.

This is a must read for any Africa buff, history buff or dangerous game buff.

This book is one of those that inspired me to write the book, rexGun by Stephen Templar Rexgun.

I also recommend: African Rifles & Cartridges

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Few have done so much for people, who at that time had no advocate. John Taylor should be knighted by England's Queen.. I challenge animal worshippers to read it!!