WILD LIFE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23108, 6 February 1937, Page 4

WILD LIFE IN SOUTH AFRICA

THE STORY OF A BABOON "Buffo: The Baboon." By W. S. Chadwick. Illustrated. London: Melrose, 17s. Mr W. S. Chadwick's story of wild life in South Africa has a particular as well ,as a general interest as the result of the divisions into which his book naturally falls. Part One deals with the life story of a baboon, and Part Two tells of the adventures in big game hunting of the boy whose life was saved in infancy by the baboon. Each part is obviously the work of a man well-informed of every detail of his subject, and it will be merely a matter of preference if the first part of the book is thought to be of greater merit than the second. The story of Buffo, who is captured in infancy and trained to domestic life, escapes to the pack, and finally returns to the company of men is fascinating, but undoubtedly the greatest impression will be made by the final chapters of the second part in which are narrated happenings which must too often be the epilogue to the sport of a biggame hunt. Tales of the intelligence ot baboons are numerous, but some of the incidents told by Mr Chadwick outdo these

campfire stories. He assures his readers, however, that every incident is based on his own observations or on those of others. The fact that the book first won popularity as a serial in a South African paper, the Outspan. is some guarantee of its authenticity, since inaccuracies, if any, on its first appearance would be readily challenged through such a medium. Details of the life of a baboon pack are convincingly told, and the instances of intelligence shown by the leaders in their attacks on farms should have more than a passing value for the student of what Kropotkin called "Mutual Aid." It is to the author's credit that he has been consistently sincere in his narration, and avoided the pitfall of sentimentalising his subject—one of -the chief dangers to the writer about animal life. "Watchers of the Wild," the second part of the book, is more like the diary of a big-game hunter, but still the incidents are pervaded by the author's love of his subject, so that it becomes something of a protest against the useless pursuit of many of these animals. The final chapters of the book, already referred to, tell of the wanderings of a lion wounded in a hunt, and of its lingering death. It is a fine, moving piece of work which should evoke a measure of understanding and admiration for the survivors of the remarkable wild life of this country.' The book is illustrated by Dorothy Kay. D. G. B.