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S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 1 9 9 T he Victorian and Edwardian eras produced scores of hunters and explorers who ventured into terra incognita in Africa and Asia to search for unparalleled sport. Books describing their adventures were a standard part of the overall picture, and a number of men made a career of hunting, exploring, and writing. One individual squarely in the forefront of their ranks was Sir Samuel White Baker. Often known as Baker of the Nile because of his explorations and service to the Egyptian khedive in the Nile headwaters, Baker was a fascinating figure whose daring and sense of adventure seemingly knew no bounds. Space for this column permits nothing more than a skeletal outline of some of the high points and more interesting aspects of Baker's life, but I would note that he desperately needs a detailed, carefully researched biography. Born in London on June 8, 1821, he was the second son of an affluent ship owner and entrepreneur. When his older brother died in childhood, he became sole heir to the family fortune, which allowed him to reach adulthood and pursue his sporting interests without concern for money. From early youth Baker showed a keen interest in natural history, and during his adolescent years he enjoyed hunting in the New Forest close to where his family leased a second home. By the time he reached adulthood Baker was already reckoned as an expert in guns, ballistics, and load sizes. fired a three-ounce ball with a charge of 16 drams of powder. Baker would later describe the gun, which Africans dubbed "son of a cannon," as being "in advance of the age as it foreshadowed the modern Express." After marriage Baker for a time supervised family plantations on the island of Mauritius, but he soon grew weary of the monotonous existence and absence of hunting opportunities. Seized by what he styled "a spirit of wandering," and troubled by the death of his infant son, he left his family behind and set out for Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka). There, while ostensibly founding a coffee plantation, he devoted much of his time to hunting, and these experiences in the 1840s and beginning of the 1850s generated two books— The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon (1853) and Eight Years Wanderings in Ceylon (1855). Both works enjoyed considerable success, went through many editions, and came to be considered minor classics. They sufficed, along with articles he contributed to The Field magazine, to place him in the forefront of the ranks of that era's sporting writers. Although his acclaim as a sportsman grew, tragedy stalked his personal life. His family joined him in Ceylon, but the climate took a real toll. The death of two daughters followed that of his son, and eventually, weakened by frequent pregnancies and the rigors of life in the tropics from which she never recovered, Sir Samuel White Baker lived on his own terms, which often involved either hunting or writing about hunting. Courtesy baker family o o k s B Jim Casada ew writers of the Victorian Era earned the fame of hunter, explorer, naturalist, and abolitionist Sir Samuel White Baker, pictured here at age 36. This photo, taken in 1957 and perhaps a hand- tinted daguerreotype, ran on the cover of Richard Hall's lovers on the Nile. F A powerfully built individual, he had noted gunsmith George Gibbs build him a massive rifled muzzleloader that