Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/554642
newspapers, traveled to Scotland each autumn for hunting, and made no less than seven trips to India, and over the course of his life killed 22 tigers. The Bakers made a lengthy journey around the world in the late 1870s, Sam took a bear-hunting trip in the Rockies, and at one time or another he savored the sport of almost every European country. But other than spending three winters on the Nile (Florence refused to venture into the uncharted interior again), Africa became a nostalgic memory for him. Throughout his years he remained a prolific writer, with his two-volume Wild Beasts and Their Ways: Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa and America (1890) being of particular note for lovers of sporting literature. Other Baker books include Cast up by the Sea (a novel, 1868), Cyprus As I Saw It in 1879 (1879), True Tales for My Grandsons (1883), and The Egyptian Question (1884). Even in his later years Baker was known for his immense strength and courage. On one occasion, he chuckled at the efforts of a carnival strong man during a fair near his country estate. The showman, outraged, challenged Baker to do better. Baker accepted the challenge, which involved breaking a thick chain the man had been using. The strong man had done it by pulling. Baker simply wrapped it tightly around his bicep and flexed his powerful upper arm to snap the chain. Baker died in 1893 following a massive heart attack. His beloved Flooey (as he called Florence, although the name Africans gave her, "Morning Star," is even more appealing) would live another 23 years as the Grande Dame of Sanford Orleigh. Baker, ever a bon vivant, went out in style. He had ordered a 50-gallon cask of fine claret and left instructions for the butler to put it to fitting use with mourners as well as his staff. B aker's books are all highly collectible in early editions, and those that deal primarily with sport are must-reads for the serious student of shikar and safari. Although he still needs a definitive S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 2 0 4