"Open
Invitation"
Oil on canvas panel, 16x20
SOLD
My painting depicts the opening scene
of what became one of the great legendary stories of British
East Africa.
John Henry Patterson had been engaged
on the construction of the Lunatic Express, the Uganda
Railway and arrived in Tsavo in 1898. His specific job was to
oversee the construction of a permanent bridge over the River
Tsavo. Patterson, who it was discovered later, was of dubious
British ancestry, proved nevertheless to be a brave sportsman
in the fight to rid the area of man-eating lions.
There were reports of workers on the
railway mysteriously disappearing without explanation. Initially
this was thought to be the work of foul play by fellow workers.
Then reports spread of workers being carried off into the night
and devoured by lions.
In my painting it is the prelude to the
reign of terror, which ensued in December 1898. I have depicted
the scene just prior to the first confirmed attack. Illuminated
by moonlight the lion follows the railway track and looks to
the open tent for his prey. The victim was the Jenadar Ungan
Singh who was snatched by the lion from his tent in front of
his fellow workers around midnight. The next day the pug marks
were plainly visible round the tent adjacent the railway track
and the blood trail of the unfortunate Singh led Patterson to
an awful sight where the man had been devoured.
So began Pattersons quest to find
and kill the man-eaters of Tsavo.
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