In the Grip of the Nyika. Further Adventures in British East Africa (1909) by Lieut.-Col. J.H. Patterson, author of "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo",
Published by Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1909, numerous photographic plates and illustrations, 104 photogravure illustrations (some full-page) 8 maps and General Map of British East Africa at end, 9 maps in all, 389 pages, rebound in half brown leather with matching cloth boards, titled gilt on the spine, tan end papers, 15 cms x 21.7 cms x 3.8 cms, one library stamp to reverse of title page, also stamped number to lower margin, title page, otherwise condition: very good.
The author, J. H. Patterson, was a British soldier, hunter, author and Christian Zionist, best known for his book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo (1907), which details his experiences while building a railway bridge over the Tsavo river in Kenya in 189899. In this follow up book, he
"endeavoured to give a plain account of the trials and adventures which befell me on two recent expeditions through the nyika, or wilderness, in British East Africa. On the first trip there were three of us, and all returned safely to civilisation, although dangers were not wholly absent. On the second and longer expedition there were also three Europeans, but, alas! only two got back, the nyika having claimed the third; nor was the god of the wilds content with this sacrifice, for, in addition, he claimed several of my native followers. He laid his deadly grip on me as well, but I was wrested from him by the care and attention of my companion, to whose skilful nursing I feel I owe my life. In relating the events of the journey I have considered it incumbent on me, not only to tell the exciting adventures among the wild men and wild beasts of the regions traversed, but also to give some of the more tiresome detail connected with a safari in the nyika, as my object all through has been to describe everything exactly as it actually happened."
Patterson revisits the infamous sites of Tsavo which he describes in his first book, then treks into the Nyika, or wilderness of British East Africa. Near the Karusi River, he bagged bushbuck, eland and kudu, and had numerous encounters with lions. Along the Guaso Nyiro, oryx and gerenuk were collected, and rhinoceros in the Samuru lands. There is also a feverish encounter with a rogue elephant that killed Aladdin, Pattersons steed.
An annotated Bibliography of African Big Game hunting Books, 1785 to 1999, Dr.Kenneth Czech
Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, DSO (1867-1947), known as J. H. Patterson, a British soldier, hunter, author and Christian Zionist, best known for his book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo (1907), which details his experiences while building a railway bridge over the Tsavo river in Kenya in 1898-99. In the First World War, Patterson was the commander of the Jewish Legion.
