Crocodile Fever

Book excerpt: Crocodile Fever, first published in 1954, is a fascinating look at the life and adventures of Bryan Herbert Dempster. Dempster, born in South Africa, was perhaps the first white man to successfully hunt crocodiles, not for sport but to obtain their skins for his livelihood. The book details the risks and special techniques he developed by long trial-and-error to hunt these river creatures, as well as his personal struggles with his failing health, his estranged family, and impassive government officials. Much of the hunting took place in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi River, now completely inundated by the Kariba Dam and part of the world's largest man-made lake. Included are 16 pages of photographs. Author Lawrence Earl was an internationally known journalist, novelist, and photographer.