Author: Jim Corbett
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 604
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0195627628
Description
Jim Corbett’s riveting accounts of shikar in the Himalayan foothills have kept generations of readers enthralled. The Jim Corbett Omnibus includes three enduring tales of Corbett’s encounters with man-eaters.
Man-eaters of Kumaon contain fascinating stories of tracking and shooting of man-eaters in the Indian Himalayas during the early years of the last century. The stories in The Temple Tiger display Corbett’s acute awareness of sights, sounds, and life in the Indian forests, as well as his love for the human beings living in the human terrain. Finally, perhaps the most exciting of all of Corbett’s jungle tales, The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag is a gripping narrative of a notorious leopard which spread terror in the hills of the colonial United Provincs.
Dramatic yet reflective, Corbett’s writings are coloured by his deep concern and sympathy for the natural world as well as the local people and their traditions and customs. This vividly illustrated collection will appeal equally to Corbett lovers and to those concerned with the environment and wildlife.
COMMENTS AND REVIEWS
‘[Corbett] has written with rich insight and deep intimacy about the wild animals of the forest. …When Man-eaters of Kumaon was published, the book became a worldwide best-seller, was translated into a dozen languages, and even [made into] a Hollywood film.’
- Ramachandra guha In Lives in the Wilderness
‘Here is…the quintessential Corbett…. [The Temple Tiger] is a delight. …Corbett is acutely aware of the damage …being wrought to the forests by human interference. …We are thankful to him for allowing us to accompany him…into a realm that only a generation or two ago covered most of India.’
- The Indian Express
‘The Rudraprayag leopard is but one of the scores of animals Corbett shot. …What emerges with this image of action is…a man who valued, perhaps more than anything else, patience, courage and a Spartan hardiness.’
- The Independent
Contents
MAN-EATERS OF KUMAON
Author’s Note
The Champawat Man-eater
Robin
The Chowgarh Tigers
The Bachelor of Powalgarh
The Mohan Man-eater
The Fish of My Dreams
The Kanda Man-eater
The Pipal Pani Tiger
The Thak Man-eater
Just Tigers
THE TEMPLE TIGER AND MORE MAN-EATERS OF KUMAON
The Temple Tiger
The Muktesar Man-eater
The Panar Man-eater
The Chuka Man-eater
The Talla Des Man-eater
Epilogue
THE MAN-EATING LEOPARD OF RUDRAPRAYAG
The pilgrim Road
The Man-eater
Terror
Arrival
Investigation
The First Kill
Locating the Leopard
The Second Kill
Preparations
Magic
A Near Escape
The Gin-trap
The Gin-trap
The Hunters Hunted
Retreat
Fishing Interlude
Death of a Goat
Cyanide Poisoning
Touch and Go
A Lesson in Caution
A Wild Boar Hunt
Vigil on a Pine-tree
My Night of Terror
Leopard Fights Leopard
A Shot in the Dark
Epilogue