The Field-Book of a Jungle-Wallah – Charles Hose (1929) (1st ed.)

S$83.00

The Field-Book of a Jungle-Wallah – Charles Hose (1929) (1st ed.)

S$83.00

Title: The Field-Book of a Jungle-Wallah, being a Description of Shore, River & Forest Life in Sarawak

Author: Charles Hose

Publisher: H. F. & G. Witherby, London. 1929. First edition.

Condition: Hardcover, good. Noticeable bumping, wear, and sunning to cover. Text clean, binding tight. With numerous black-and-white plates and a colour frontispiece. 216pp. App. 9″ by 5.5″.

A fun and readable natural history travelogue, in which Charles Hose writes about the animals, flora and fauna, people and villages he encounters in Borneo. Peppered with fun trivia and personal anecdotes, the book is a great introduction to the natural history of the region, along with Hose’s methods of studying the animals.

Excerpt:

“All around the scenery and vegetation were gorgeous; the forest was still dense, but we encountered a succession of mountain streams with beautiful waterfalls. Towards evening, before halting for the night, we came across a small party of Punans who had been out hunting with their blow-pipes and had obtained two specimens of that pretty little grey monkey, Semnopithecus hosei. The Punans eat the flesh of this and other monkeys, which they roast whole after burning off the hair. Knowing of this method of cooking I begged for the skins, which they were pleased to give me. In a very few minutes I had the skins carefully taken off and the skull and bones of the leg and arm removed…”

About Charles Hose (from Wikipedia):

Charles Hose FRGS. FLS (12 October 1863 – 14 November 1929) was a British colonial administrator, zoologist and ethnologist.

Several species named to commemorate his work as zoologist:

Amphibians

Hose’s Frog, Odorrana hosii found in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia
Hose’s Tree Frog, Philautus hosii endemic to Borneo: Indonesia and Malaysia prob. Brunei.
Hose’s Toad, Pedostibes hosii, toad in Southeast Asia: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand

Birds

Hose’s Broadbill, Calyptomena hosii endemic to Borneo.
Black Oriole, Oriolus hosii endemic to Borneo.

Mammals

Hose’s Shrew or Bornean Pygmy Shrew, Suncus hosei endemic to Malaysia.
Hose’s Pygmy Flying Squirrel, Petaurillus hosei endemic to Malaysia.
Four-striped Ground Squirrel, Lariscus hosei endemic to Borneo.
Hose’s Palm Civet, Diplogale hosei endemic to Borneo: East Malaysia and Brunei.
Fraser’s Dolphin, Lagenodelphis hosei
Hose’s Leaf Monkey, Presbytis hosei endemic to Borneo.