White hunters were colorful and romantic figures, often from privileged English backgrounds, who embraced a life of danger and adventure. In 1909, a £50 hunting license in the East Africa Protectorate entitled its purchaser to kill two buffaloes, two hippos, one eland, 22 zebras, six oryxes, four waterbucks, one greater kudu, four lesser kudus, 10 topis, 26 hartebeests, 229 other antelope, 84 colobus monkeys, and unlimited lions and leopards (lions and leopards killed livestock and were classified as vermin). The British colonial government also turned big-game hunting into a source of revenue, charging the tourists and hunters licensing fees for permission to kill the game animals. Before the mass importation of motor vehicles, most safaris traveled on foot and horseback and could employ anywhere from 50 to several hundred African workers. Porters, tent attendants, armed guards (known as askaris), horse-trainers, and gun-bearers, all worked under the supervision of a "headman". in Nairobi) the outfitter would make the local arrangements, gathering and packing supplies and hiring the many African workers without whom a safari was impossible. Typically, the hunter was hired or booked by an outfitting company (the first and most famous of these was Newland, Tarlton & Co. The white hunter served these paying customers as guide, teacher, and protector. The completion of the Uganda Railway in 1901 provided easier access to the interior highlands of British East Africa (also known then as the East African Protectorate, and now as Kenya), where large game, especially elephants, lions, Cape buffalo, and rhinoceroses, was plentiful. President Theodore Roosevelt's 1909 hunting trip helped popularize the African safari.Īround the start of the 20th century, East African hunting safaris became a fashionable pursuit among members of the privileged classes, particularly in Britain and the United States. As the story goes, in order to avoid confusion, the Somali was referred to as the "black hunter", and Black was called the "white hunter". Delamere employed both Alan Black and a native Somali hunter to lead safaris in Somaliland. Black was hired in the 1890s by Lord Delamere. Īlthough the origins of the phrase cannot be confirmed, the first European to go by the title of "white hunter" is generally considered to have been Alan Black. There were many factors that led to the spread of big-game hunting in East Africa, but two were foremost among them: first, a romantic European conception of hunting that combined aristocratic privilege and sportsmanship, and second, the desire by the colonizing powers to create new agricultural economies, to which unchecked animal populations posed a serious threat. By the start of the 20th century, as part of the " scramble for Africa", European colonial powers had taken possession of territories on the eastern half of the continent-territories now recognized as the nations of Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. But the region most associated with the term "white hunters" is East Africa. White men from Western countries had been hunting big game in Africa throughout the 19th century, particularly in the more settled southern portion of the continent. Depending on the author and intention, the term can be used straightforwardly, in parody, or as a criticism. The term " great white hunter" emphasizes the racial and colonial aspects of the profession, as well as its colorful aspects. White hunters derived their income from organizing and leading safaris for paying clients, or from the sale of ivory. The activity continues in the dozen African countries which still permit big-game hunting. White hunter is a literary term used for professional big game hunters of European descent, from all over the world, who plied their trade in Africa, especially during the first half of the 20th century. Captain Duquesne, of the Boer Army, having shot a black rhinoceros, circa 1900
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