Home › Cape Whale Coast › Gansbaai › Local Stories › General
Blog

The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter

The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter

Ian Martin in Pearly Beach

I bought this for R10 at the second-hand book stall outside the Standard Bank in Hermanus one Saturday morning about 25 years ago. It was first published in 1923 and my copy is the 1958 edition. After many years of being out of print it was brought back as an annotated digital version by Big Game Books in 2018.  Favourable reviews of the book can be found on Goodreads.

I regard hunting as deplorable, and when I read that the book is ‘Lavizhly illustrated from on-the-spot sketches by the author,’ my low opinion of hunters, including WDM Bell, was confirmed. The cover drawing, which shows a tiny figure with a rifle confronting a charging elephant of laughably enormous proportions, is clearly meant to demonstrate courage of the intrepid white man as he holds his ground and takes aim. However, I did find the book fairly well written, entertaining and factually as well as historically interesting.

Read the full article here.

(You can read Sell Me a Gun for free on Smashwords HERE.)

To view my longer work as an author, you can find me on Smashwords here.

The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter

Ian Martin

This is my writer's blog and it's a pleasure to have your company. You’ll see that the site is designed to showcase my writing.

View Profile

What is Xplorio?

Xplorio is your local connection allowing you to find anything and everything about a town.

Watch the Gansbaai Video
Read More

Other Articles

Letting Go of the Past and Moving Forward in Life

Letting Go of the Past and Moving Forward in Life

It is not so much about knowing the past or understanding it. It is about letting it go so you can be free.

Transform Your Life and Find Happiness

Transform Your Life and Find Happiness

Have you ever wished that life could be different? Perhaps easier? What about kinder?

Where to Enjoy Craft Beer in Gansbaai and Stanford

Where to Enjoy Craft Beer in Gansbaai and Stanford

Looking for a local spot to enjoy a craft beer?

Help Beautify Gansbaai - Support the Greater Rewilding Project

Help Beautify Gansbaai - Support the Greater Rewilding Project

Gorgeous Gansbaai ARTS Project (GGAP) invites everyone to support the Greater Rewilding Gansbaai Project...

Overstrand UIF dates for November 2026

Overstrand UIF dates for November 2026

The Department of Labour will be in the Overstrand on the following dates.

Western Veil Nebula Captured from Pearly Beach

Western Veil Nebula Captured from Pearly Beach

We had some pretty dark and reasonably clear skies in the run-up to New Moon, which was today (09/11) at 09:02.

See All Articles