OBITUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20922, 11 July 1931, Page 11

OBITUARY.

MR. ALOYSIUS HORN. LONDON, July 9. The death occurred recently in a nursing home afc Tankerton, Kent, of Mr. Aloysius Horn, aged 82 years. Alfred Aloysius Horn, trader and wanderer in Africa and author, was born in Lancashire in 1851 and 20 years later went out to West Africa in the service of a Liverpool steamship company. He was appointed to the Ivory Coast and began by assisting the company's agent in developing the ivory and rubber trade. Then he started trading on his own account and for years cut himself off almost entirely from civilisation. He went as near to becoming a native as a white man could, and his intimacy with the native chiefs was only equalled by his intimacy with wild animals. When the world-war was in progress he returned to England and tried by stating his ago at 20 years less than it was to enlist in the Army, But he was not sufficiently convincing and was rejected. He managed, however, to do some war-work as a member of the crew of a mine-sweep-ing vessel. Some years after the war was over Mr. Horn, then an old, grey-bearded pedlar, walked through Johannesburg trying to sell gridirons. Among the houses at which ho called was that ;of Mrs. Ethelreda Lewis. From gridirons their conversation turned to natives in various parts of Africa anl Mr. Horn's talk- became so interesting that Mrs. Lewis arranged to see more of him. The result was the production in 1927 of a volume of his reminiscences of life on the Ivory Coast in the old days under the title of " Trader Horn." It was a strange book tolling of extraordinary experiences and throwing novel sidelights on West African life, with touches of philosophy peculiar to the author. But although Mr. Horn had the gift for telling tales of thrilling adventure, his education had not gone, far, and Mrs. Lewis had refrained from interfering with his odd twist of language and quaint ways of expressing • himself. The very naivet of the work led some readers to declare, while admitting it to be highly entertaining, that it was "too good to bo true." This Mr. „„Horn resented and immediately showed himself to, the world by making, a long lecturing tour, particularly in the United States. The result was an enormous sale for the book. His other works include " Harold the Webbed," a rambling story of Vikings, Romans and ancient Britons. In 1929. Mr. Horn visited Hollywood in connection with a film which was being made on his adventures, and-later visited New Zealand and Australia.