Travels in the White Man's Grave

by Donald Mac Intosh (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1998

  $3.38

  At the beginning of the 1950s, the interior of West and Central Africa was still known to most of the outside world as The White Man's Grave , and there were still large parts where its forests were primeval. These forests inhabited the minds of most Westerners as places of foreboding. To Donald MacIntosh - a 23-year-old Gaelic-speaking Scottish forester - however, it was a dream come true when he found himself posted to the humidity of the fabled lands. During the next 30 years he was to wander through some of the most remote areas of West Africa, stretching along the shores of the Gulf of Guinea from Liberia to Gabon, where he operated as a surveyor, tree prospector and forest botanist. There he listened to the tales of ancient Africa from the lips of hunters, fishermen, chiefs and witch doctors from a vast variety of tribes in myriad encampments, drinking palm wine with them, attending their village dances and ceremonies under the tropic moon, or often simply lying on his own in the village clearing, listening to the tattoo of distant drums sounding through the columnar mahoganies. MacIntosh had many adventures with the creatures of the forest, from leopards to homicidal buffalo, and from vipers to spitting cobras. Each tale is recounted in this volume in an odyssey which he describes as fun and adventure all the way . Despite its reputation, MacIntosh was rarely ill in the White Man's Grave and he encountered a host of characters along the way - Old Man Africa , Magic Sperm , Famous Sixpence and Pisspot among them. His story is of an Africa which no longer exists, providing a glimpse into the region's vanished past.

• Used

  Paperback
  2000

  $3.38

  At the beginning of the 1950s, the interior of West and Central Africa was still known to most of the outside world as The White Man's Grave , and there were still large parts where its forests were primeval. These forests inhabited the minds of most Westerners as places of foreboding. To Donald MacIntosh - a 23-year-old Gaelic-speaking Scottish forester - however, it was a dream come true when he found himself posted to the humidity of the fabled lands. During the next 30 years he was to wander through some of the most remote areas of West Africa, stretching along the shores of the Gulf of Guinea from Liberia to Gabon, where he operated as a surveyor, tree prospector and forest botanist. There he listened to the tales of ancient Africa from the lips of hunters, fishermen, chiefs and witch doctors from a vast variety of tribes in myriad encampments, drinking palm wine with them, attending their village dances and ceremonies under the tropic moon, or often simply lying on his own in the village clearing, listening to the tattoo of distant drums sounding through the columnar mahoganies. MacIntosh had many adventures with the creatures of the forest, from leopards to homicidal buffalo, and from vipers to spitting cobras. Each tale is recounted in this volume in an odyssey which he describes as fun and adventure all the way . Despite its reputation, MacIntosh was rarely ill in the White Man's Grave and he encountered a host of characters along the way - Old Man Africa , Magic Sperm , Famous Sixpence and Pisspot among them. His story is of an Africa which no longer exists, providing a glimpse into the region's vanished past.

• New

  Paperback
  2001

  $16.96

  At the beginning of the 1950s, the interior of West and Central Africa was still known to most of the outside world as the 'White Man's Grave' and consisted of vast expanses of mysterious and threatening primeval forest. When Donald MacIntosh, 23-year-old Gaelic-speaking Scottish forester, was offered a position in Nigeria in 1954, it was a dream come true and he found himself posted to the hot, cloying humidity of those fabled lands. During the next 30 years he was to wander through some of the most remote areas of West Africa where he operated as a forest botanist. There he listened to the tales of ancient Africa from the lips of hunters, fishermen, chiefs and witch doctors from a vast diversity of tribes in myriad encampments. He drank palm wine with them and attended their village dances and ceremonies under the tropic moon. He had many adventures with the creatures of the forest, from the magnificent leopard to the instantly fatal spitting cobra. The sinister arcanum of primitive Africa is never too far away from the surface in this book, encountering a host of characters along the way - with exotic names like 'Magic T. Sperm' and 'Famous Sixpence' - whose stories are all told here.