Travel in the White Man's Grave

Book excerpt: Posted to Nigeria in 1954, the author, a Scottish forester, spent the next thirty years traveling through the "white man's grave"--The vast, mysterious, primeval forests of West and Central Africa. He heard tales of ancient Africa from the lips of hunters, fishermen and witch doctors; encountered the incredible creatures of the forest, from the magficent leopard to the homicidal buffalo;and befriended a range of remarkable and eccentric characters such as "Old Man Africa"," Magic T. Sperm", "Famous Sixpence" and "Pisspot". With the forests now sadly decimated, this is a rare, poignant and sometimes hilarious glimpse into Africa's vanished past.