With Gun Pick and Pen in Rhodesia 1912-1959 (ePub)

Hostes Nicolle was born on the 17th of May 1912, nineteen years after Rhode's Pioneers defeated the Matabele to complete their takeover of Rhodesia.

His public life in Rhodesia reflects the story of the many exciting and important projects he was involved in as an official in the Rhodesian Ministry of Native Affairs, in particular, the economic development of the Tribal Trust Areas where the native Africans resided, and the evolution sought to uplift them to participate in a fast-advancing world economy.

This book, possibly the only one of its kind, records many African customs and spiritual superstitions encountered in this exercise and the need for diplomacy in handling this intricate and sensitive field.

The author was not only an able administrator who rose through the ranks to become the head of the largest and most important Ministry in Government but also a very keen and observant naturalist who loved and enjoyed walking hundreds of miles through the vast and wild areas of the country where game species abounded.

This book is a record of many of these exploits, in particular vivid images of elephant hunting, often under extremely dangerous circumstances. Nicolle specialised in dealing with crop-ravaging elephant bulls that every year raided the croplands in remote areas. His techniques of dealing with this pest were so successful that he soon became a renowned elephant hunter whose assistance was eagerly sought by District Administrators for the protection of crops in their districts.