Book Condition: As New. Kuala Lumpur 1993 235 pp., 20 pp. illus., 1 folded map of Borneo and Dyak areas, 130 x 195 mm, pbk. Weight 0.385 Kgs. Second Impression, 2001. In the course of two years spent in the Jungle, William T. Hornaday travelled through India, Ceylon, Malaya, and Sarawak, leaving behind him a trail of blood and eviscerated oriental fauna. His purpose was to hunt down and murder large animals - crocodiles, tigers, elephants - for the vicarious enjoyment of bloodthirsty curators at American museums. He was also a rather cunning and astute observer of the places and people he visited, despite being an American, it must be said. In some ways, his life eerily echoes modern US military adventurism with all its hypocrisy and carnage. Anyway, back to this fascinating book: it is a paperback reprint of parts III and IV (the Malay Peninsula and Borneo) of the original book, first published in 1885. It offers a lively account of animals, hunting, peoples, and places, and the experiences of a gifted man who professed a deep love and respect for nature but never hesitated to organise the butchery of our animal friends in Borneo and elsewhere. To his credit, it must be said that later in life he voiced conservationist sentiments and regrets. In 1896, Hornaday was named the founding director of the New York Zoological Park, the Bronx Zoo. From this platform he campaigned for the end of large-scale hunting and for the conservation of animal populations. This narrative comes early in his career; he was only twenty-three when he toured SE Asia "collecting" faunal and floral specimens.
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