''The Bafut Beagles'' by British naturalist

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell, (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo on the Channel Island ...

tells the story of Durrell's 1949 expedition to the

Cameroons British Cameroon or the British Cameroons was a British Empire, British League of Nations mandate, mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of th ...

collecting animals for zoos, made with Kenneth Smith.The Bafut Beagles
/ref> Published in 1954, it was Durrell's third book for popular audiences. Particularly notable was his depiction of a native ruler, the

Fon of Bafut The Fon of Bafut is the fon or Mfor (traditional ruler) of the town of Bafut and its adjoining areas in the Northwest Province, Cameroon, which comprise the erstwhile Fondom of Bafut. At present, the Fon of Bafut is still a local ruler, but und ...

, who proved so popular that Durrell visited him again in ''

A Zoo in My Luggage ''A Zoo in My Luggage'' by British naturalist Gerald Durrell is the story of Durrell's 1957 animal collecting trip to British Cameroon, the northwestern corner of present-day Cameroon. First published in 1960, it is one of a half-dozen books abo ...

''. The book portray the Fon mostly in a humorous fashion, discussing his

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...

anglophile An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. Etymology The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "frien ...

perspective, and high tolerance for

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

, but also in more flattering ways. The Fon awarded Durrell the ceremonial dress and staff during his second expedition. The Fon, although not named, was

Achirimbi II Achirimbi II was the tenth Fon ("King") who ruled over the town of Bafut and adjoining areas (the Fondom of Bafut) in a semi-autonomous fashion. His reign lasted from 1932 to 1968, and included the time of handover from the British trust territ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bafut Beagles 1954 non-fiction books Books about Cameroon Books by Gerald Durrell 1949 in British Cameroon Rupert Hart-Davis books