Books which consist largely of accounts of big-game hunting are
obviously of very limited appeal, unless they happen to possess such qualities of style and matter as give them general interest. Death by Moonlight (Collins, r5s.) has a small measure of these qualities, just enough to prevent it being boring to the uninitiated. For one thing Darfur, the scene of the author's trip, is a comparatively little-known part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and the home of the nomadic Moslem Baggara tribe. The author devotes only one chapter to these most interesting people, in which he gives a sketchy outline of their family life. And perhaps we can hardly expect more in a book whose title implies that it is mainly concerned with killing lions at night. But that one chapter, and the interludes of exploration between hunts which are amusingly described, justify one in classifying it as a travel book of at least average merit. Mr. Henriques was accompanied by his wife and two friends, one a young Oxford man and the other an ex-member of the Sudan Veterin- ary Service who knew the country well and was leader of the party. Between them they disposed of fourteen lions and nineteen leopards, as well as other miscellaneous game. These feats are told in detail. They provoke the reflection that big- game hunting must be more exciting than it sounds.
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