I had reviewed a movie “The Ghost and the Darkness” on an earlier occasion and wholeheartedly recommended it – especially animal and nature lovers. The movie is in no way a pleasant one as it is based on one man’s pursuit to build a railway bridge across the river Tsavo in Kenya and how his efforts are stymied by two man eating lions that wreak havoc on the work force.
This movie was exciting, scary and also beautifully made. It takes some imagination to write a script so compelling and nerve wrecking as it is wilder than the most gruesome nightmare one can get except that this script was not purely based out of a script writer’s imagination but on a true story that happened in the year 1898 in Africa.
Today I shall review the book “Man Eaters of Tsavo” written by Col John Patterson on the events that happened in Tsavo between 1898 and 1899. John Patterson was a civil engineer who was commissioned by the British Government to build a bridge across the river Tsavo for the Kenya – Uganda railway line which was important for both strategic and economic reasons for the British government.
Patterson starts his book with description of the port city of Mombasa; he has described it in all its Victorian glory with insights into the city’s history of a never ending race among foreign powers to seize it until it came under British control. Patterson stays in Mombasa for a few weeks before receiving his marching order to go to Tsavo to initiate his assignment.
Tsavo is a small village town with a very small indigenous population; it has a huge workforce of Indian workers who were brought in from British India into East Africa as coolies, foremen, timekeepers, water bearers and so on and so forth. This makes Tsavo a multicultural and multi lingual town. However, where there are too many people from too many different communities, tensions are bound to rise. Patterson finds that his position is tough at Tsavo and soon after his arrival at Tsavo, he gets a very unwelcome news of one of his workers being dragged out of his tent and eaten by a lion. At first Patterson thinks that the man was a victim of foul play as is common when the workforce has all sorts of crooks with an eye on another man’s wallet. But this proves to be wrong as Patterson finds the pug marks of not one but two lions. He follows the drag marks to the dead body of the deceased. It is a gruesome sight as he describes it; the poor man with his eyes open and except for his head, his entire body is eaten.
In the following days, the attacks which were not always successful and very sporadic become recurrent. The lions become more determined with every passing day and break into tents of the workers and grab a poor wretch almost every night. Patterson stays awake all night watching over the campsite while perched on trees, but somehow the lions always attack the part of camp that is farthest from where he is.
In the middle of this crisis, Patterson is confronted by another crisis when some of the workers who are lazy shirkers decide to kill Patterson. Patterson diffuses the situation but comes very close to getting killed by the mob. He sends the trouble makes out of Tsavo and keeps only those workers who are determined to work honestly.
There is a hospital in the area built to treat ill and wounded workers, this hospital is attacked by the lions one night, the following morning Patterson decides to build a new hospital while he himself choses to stay in the old hospital waiting for the lions to come so that he can shoot one or if luck shines one him, both the lions. However, the devils somehow sense this danger and instead attack the new hospital.
On another ill-fated night, the main camp which is also the biggest and closest the Tsavo railway station is attacked by the lions which is one of the most daring attacks, people who manage to escape climb a tree, the tree becomes so heavy, that it comes crashing down with the people in it. This event forces the remaining workforce to call it quits. They make it very clear that they came on contract to build the railway bridge and not as food for the local lions. The entire workforce boards the train and leaves Tsavo.
Patterson is left behind with very few workers who are brave enough to stay. During the course of these events, he builds many contraptions and traps to bag the lions, but they all fail. Finally he builds a “machan” to sit up on a donkey kill. That night, one of the lions shows up and in the dark of the night, Patterson fires the deadly shot followed by another shot which kills the first lion. The second lion is killed a few days later, but this big cat gets fired at over 9 times before losing its life, one can say – one shot for each of its nine lives.
Finally Patterson is victorious, the workforce returns and the bridge is completed. The survivors present a silver bowl to Patterson with the following inscription in Hindi translated as:
“SIR, We, your Overseer, Timekeepers, Mistaris
and Workmen, present you with this bowl as a token
of our gratitude to you for your bravery in killing
two man-eating lions at great risk to your own life,
thereby saving us from the fate of being devoured
by these terrible monsters who nightly broke into
our tents and took our fellow-workers from our side.
In presenting you with this bowl, we all add our
prayers for your long life, happiness and prosperity.
We shall ever remain, Sir, Your grateful servants,
BaboO PURSHOTAM HURJEE PURMAR,
Overseer and Clerk of Works,
on behalf of your Workmen.
Dated at Tsavo, January 30, 1899.”
Patterson has described this silver bowl as the most highly prized and hardest earned possession.
Analysis: The book is a fantastic read, the lions take up only the first nine chapters, the rest of the book has chapters on African people, cities, towns, wildlife and many adventures and colorful descriptions. The book was an instant hit and some say that Patterson exaggerated the events, no one will know for sure how many people died in that one year, and the estimates go from 35 to 135. One point to be noted is the way Patterson hunted the lions, if one has read the books written by Jim Corbett or Kenneth Anderson, one will know that a good hunter is someone who can think like a Lion or a Tiger; he can read the signs and even forecast an imminent attack from the front, the side or the back. Big cats will either follow their prey or lie in wait for an ambush, in both cases they will stay against the wind. A good hunter’s preparation before going in for the hunt especially if the prize is a man-eater; is quite thorough considering all eventualities. Patterson as I can tell by his narration is not a seasoned hunter; he is more of a Hobby hunter who had to take up the unwelcome task of slaying the man eaters. I have not a jot of doubt on his commitment towards his workforce or his empathy towards their suffering. On many occasions he himself came close to being on the Lion’s dinner plate.
Legacy: This story had a profound effect in the entertainment industry and also on other writers. The story was adapted into 3 movies the last of which was the movie “The Ghost and the Darkness” which I had reviewed earlier. The movie and the actual story have some similarities, most movies are made with a commercial interest, and if we are talking about big stars among the star cast, then we can assume that they would demand a bigger role. This corroborates the role of Michael Douglas who plays the role of an American hunter in the movie – which was completely fictitious although it was great fun to watch him.
What happened to the lions: The Lions after being killed were skinned by Patterson and acted as his wall rugs. Patterson had retired in America and the Field museum of Chicago purchased these skins from Patterson back in the 1920s. They were stuffed and made into life size exhibit
My Thoughts about hunting: I am a lover of nature and not a fan of any kind of hunting for sport. I can understand a bushman or a tribal engaging in hunting to feed his family, otherwise I detest the activity, except when the animal in question is a threat to human beings. In which case I would support it being put to sleep for good. Patterson has described hunting other animals too. One example is that of an Ostrich, a fine bird which he and his friend brought down while they were in a train. Such mindless killing back then has resulted in animals going extinct now.
