Frederick Selous
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Frederick Courteney Selous | |
|---|---|
| (31 December 1851 - 4 January 1917 | |
 |
|
| Place of birth | London, England |
| Place of death |  Behobeho, German East Africa (now the Selous Game Reserve in southeastern Tanzania) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Rank | Captain |
| Commands held | Bulawayo Field Force, Matabeleland ; 25th Royal Fusiliers, East Africa |
| Battles/wars | First Matabele War, Second Matabele War, World War I: --East African Campaign |
| Awards | Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, British South Africa Company Medal Distinguished Service Order |
| Other work | Famous African Hunter and Explorer Conservationist, Writer |
Frederick Courteney Selous DSO (31 December 1851 - 4 January 1917) was a British explorer, hunter, and conservationist famous for his exploits in Southern Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir H. Rider Haggard to create the fictional Allan Quatermain character.[1][2] Selous was also a good friend of Theodore Roosevelt and Frederick Russell Burnham. He was the older brother of ornithologist and writer Edmund Selous.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Selous was born in London, and was educated at Rugby and in Germany. His love for natural history led to his resolve to study the ways of wild animals in their native haunts. Going to South Africa when he was nineteen, he travelled from the Cape of Good Hope to Matabeleland, which he reached early in 1872, and where he was granted permission by Lobengula king of the Ndebele to shoot game anywhere in his dominions.
From then until 1890, with a few brief intervals spent in England, Selous hunted and explored over the then little-known regions north of the Transvaal and south of the Congo Basin, shooting elephants, and collecting specimens of all kinds for museums and private collections. His travels added largely to the knowledge of the country now known as Zimbabwe. He made valuable ethnological investigations, and throughout his wanderings - often among people who had never previously seen a white man - he maintained cordial relations with the chiefs and tribes, winning their confidence and esteem, notably so in the case of Lobengula.
[edit] Rhodesia
In 1890 Selous entered the service of the British South Africa Company, acting as guide to the pioneer expedition to Mashonaland. Over 400 miles of road were constructed through a country of forest, mountain and swamp, and in two and a half months Selous took the column safely to its destination. He then went east to Manica, concluding arrangements there which brought the country under British control. Coming to England in December 1892, he was awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of his extensive explorations and surveys, of which he gave a summary in "Twenty Years in Zambesia" (Geo. Journal 1893).
He returned to Africa to take part in the First Matabele War (1893), being wounded during the advance on Bulawayo. While back in England he married, but in March 1896 was settled with his wife on an estate in Matabeleland when the Second Matabele War broke out. He took a prominent part in the fighting which followed, serving as a leader in the Bulawayo Field Force, and published an account of the campaign entitled Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia (1896).
[edit] Later life and death
Following the consolidation of white rule in Rhodesia, Selous settled in England. He continued, however, to make shooting and hunting expeditions, visiting Asia Minor, Newfoundland, the Canadian Rockies and other parts of the world.
Contrary to popular belief, Selous did not lead Theodore Roosevelt’s 1909 expedition to British East Africa, the Congo and Egypt. While Selous was a member of this expedition from time to time and helped organize the logistics of the safari, it was in fact led by R. J. Cunninghame. This was possibly the largest safari ever, with a retinue of some 300 people. The official purpose of the expedition was to collect specimens for the Smithsonian Institution. During the trip, Roosevelt and his son Kermit shot over 500 animals. Roosevelt wrote of Selous;
- Mr. Selous is the last of the big game hunters of Southern Africa; the last of the mighty hunters whose experience lay in the greatest hunting ground which this world has seen since civilised man has appeared herein.
On his return Roosevelt published an account of the adventure in his 1910 book African Game Trails.
In World War I Selous participated in the fighting in East Africa as a Captain in the 25th (Frontiersmen) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, a unit he joined when he was 64 years of age. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1916. He was killed by a German sniper in a minor engagement at Behobeho, along the banks of the Rufiji river, in January 1917. His son was also killed in action in France in 1918.
Selous was one of the first conservationists. In none of his expeditions was his object the taking of a big bag, but as a hunter-naturalist and slayer of great game he ranked with the most famous of the world's sportsmen. In leading so many hunting expeditions, Selous noticed over time how the impact of European hunters was leading to a significant reduction in the amount of game available in Africa. In 1881 he returned to Britain for a while, saying;
- Every year elephants were becoming scarcer and wilder south of the Zambezi, so that it had become impossible to make a living by hunting at all.
The Selous Game Reserve in southeastern Tanzania is a hunting reserve named in his honor. Established in 1922, it covers an area of more than 17 000 m² (44 800 km²) along the rivers Kilombero, Ruaha, and Rufiji. The area first became a hunting reserve in 1905, although it is rarely visited by humans due to the strong presence of the Tsetse fly. In 1982 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the diversity of its wildlife and undisturbed nature.
[edit] Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts were a special forces regiment of the Rhodesian Army and operated from 1973 until the country's independence as Zimbabwe in 1980. They were named after Selous and their motto was pamwe chete, Shona for "all together" or "together only". Unlike the Rhodesian Light Infantry, the Selous Scouts were a mixed race force and had many black Rhodesians in its ranks. This force became extremely effective in fighting Communist Soviet financed Black Nationalist guerillas (ZANLA/ZANU) during the period known as the Second Chimurenga or "bush war".
The name Selous Scouts was also given to the short-lived Rhodesian Armoured Car Regiment, a regiment in the Army of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland between about 1960 and 1962.
[edit] Television accounts
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV-Series, 1992-1993) ; played by Paul Freeman
- British East Africa, September 1909 (1992)
- Young Indiana Jones and the Phantom Train of Doom, German East Africa, November 1916 (1993)
- Rhodes (TV Mini-Series, 1996) ; played by Paul Slabolepszy
[edit] Chronology of works
- A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa: Being a Narrative of Nine Years Spent Amongst the Game of the Far Interior of South Africa (1881)
- Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa: Being the Narrative of the Last Eleven Years Spent By the Author on the Zambesi and Its Tributaries; With an Account of the Colonisation of Mashunaland and the Progress of the Gold Industry in That Country (1893)
- Sunshine & Storm in Rhodesia: Being a Narrative of Events in Matabeleland Both Before and During the Recent Native Insurrection Up to the Date of the Disbandment of the Bulawayo Field Force. (1896), ISBN 978-1-60355-059-8
- Sport & Travel East and West (1900)
- Living animals of the world; a popular natural history with one thousand illustrations (1902)
- Newfoundland guide book (1905)
- Recent Hunting Trips in British North America (1907)
- African Nature Notes and Reminiscences. Foreword By Theodore Roosevelt (1908)
- Africa's Greatest Hunter: the Lost Writings of Frederick C Selous, Edited by Casada, James A Dr (1998)
Besides the works mentioned, Selous made numerous contributions to The Geographical Journal, the Field and other journals.
[edit] References
- Roosevelt’s quest for wilderness: a comparison of Roosevelt’s visits to Yellowstone and Africa
- Taps for the Great Selous, essay by Major Frederick Russell Burnham, D.S.O., and published in Hunting Trails on Three Continents, Grinnell, George Bird, Kermit Roosevelt, W. Redmond Cross, and Prentiss N. Gray (editors). A Book of the Boone and Crockett Club. New York: The Derrydale Press, (1933)
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] See also
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
