Saturday, December 29, 2007

Free eBook download: The Man-Eaters of Tsavo and Other East African Adventures

In 1898, during the building of the Kenya-Uganda Railway, during the construction of a railway bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya, 135 Indian railway workers were killed by two lions, which dragged men from their tents at night and devoured them. Although the workers built thorn fences around their camp to keep the lions out, still the maneaters continued to break through and continue the attacks. The leader of the work party, a Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson, set traps and spent many sleepless nights waiting with his rifle, in hopes of stopping the pair. Finally, after many months he was able to kill one of the lions. Three weeks later, he killed the other one.

In 1907, Patterson published this book about his experiences. Two movies, "Bwana Devil" in 1952 and "The Ghost and the Darkness" in 1996, have been produced based on the book.

The entire book is presented here in plain text format;
it may be read online or copied and pasted into any
text program.

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