Editing Gerald Durrell (section)

== Early expeditions ==

=== Cameroons 1947–1948: Bakebe, Mamfe and Eshobi ===

Durrell planned to visit the [[British Cameroons]] in West Africa. He teamed up with [[John Yealland]], an ornithologist with some collecting experience, and several British zoos expressed interest in seeing whatever they were able to bring back.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 104–105.</ref>  The planning took over a year, and during that time Durrell met and fell in love with a woman in London that he refers to in his writings only as "Juliet".  Durrell considered marrying her, but she ended the affair after a couple of years.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 106–107.</ref>{{Multiple image
| image2            = Angwantibo 1963.jpg
| alt2              = Black and white photograph of an animal like a small monkey
| image1            = ArctocebusCalabarensisWolf.jpg
| alt1              = Colour painting of an animal like a small monkey
| footer            = The angwantibo: an 1864 painting ''(left)'' and a 1963 photograph
}}
Durrell and Yealland left from Liverpool on 14 December 1947.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 109–111, 115.</ref>  The ship broke down three times, but eventually reached the coast of the Cameroons at about the turn of the year.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 115–116.</ref>  The two men stayed in [[Limbé, Cameroon|Victoria]], on the coast, buying supplies, planning trips to the interior, and learning [[Cameroonian Pidgin English|Cameroonian pidgin]].<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 117–119.</ref>  In early January they stopped in [[Bakebe]] for three days, acquiring a [[hairy frog]] and a baby [[Drill (animal)|drill]], among other creatures, and then went on to [[Mamfe]], where they spent a week.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 120–123.</ref>  In mid-January Yealland returned to Bakebe to establish a base, and Durrell went on to Eshobi, with people carrying his equipment as there was nothing resembling a road.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 125–127.</ref>  He spent months there, collecting hundreds of animals, and the return to Mamfe required him to hire sixty people to carry them all, with Durrell suffering from [[Pappataci fever|sandfly fever]] during the trip.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 133–135.</ref>  He rested at Bakebe for a few days to recover, and while he was there a hunter brought in an [[angwantibo]], one of the animals Durrell was keenest to obtain, as he knew [[London Zoo]] were looking to acquire them.  [[Cecil Webb]], a well-established animal collector, arrived in the Cameroons intending to catch angwantibos shortly afterwards; he considered Durrell and Yealland to be inexperienced and amateurish, and Durrell was delighted to be able to tell him when they met that the angwantibo was prospering.  Durrell gave Webb a chimpanzee, named Cholmondely, to take back to London Zoo.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 136–137.</ref>

In July, as they began making arrangements to return, Durrell realised they did not have enough money.  He wired home for a loan; Leslie's girlfriend, Doris Hall, sent £250 (equivalent to £{{formatprice|{{inflation|UK|250|1948|r=-2}}}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}}) immediately.  Durrell came down with [[malaria]] just before the return home.  He was told by a doctor that he would die if he insisted on travelling to the coast and boarding the ship, rather than resting.  Durrell ignored the advice, and sailed from [[Tiko]] with the animals on 25 July, recovering on the voyage.  They arrived in Liverpool on 10 August, with nearly two hundred animals, which were dispersed to various English zoos.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 138–139.</ref>

=== Cameroons 1949: Mamfe, Eshobi and Bafut ===
The expedition had been successful but not profitable; it had absorbed half of Durrell's inheritance of £3,000.  British zoos would pay £1000 (equivalent to £{{formatprice|{{inflation|UK|1000|1948|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}}) for a gorilla, a hippo, or an elephant, and Durrell planned a second trip which would target these larger animals.  [[Herbert Whitley]], the owner of a private zoo,{{#tag:ref|Whitley's collection later became [[Paignton Zoo]].<ref name=":5" />|group = note}} promised to buy at least half of whatever animals Durrell brought back.<ref name=":5">Botting (1999), p.143.</ref> Yealland was not available for another expedition, but Ken Smith agreed to join Durrell, and the two made plans to return to the Cameroons, this time intending to go further north, into the grasslands of the central Cameroons.<ref name=":5" /> They left from Liverpool in early January 1949, arriving in mid-February,<ref>Botting (1999), p. 144.</ref> and reached Mamfe on 20 February.  There they set up a base camp, and Durrell went to Eshobi again, where he was greeted warmly by the villagers, who had profited handsomely by selling him the animals they captured during his first expedition.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 146–148.</ref>  The villagers quickly acquired first one and eventually dozens of [[Flying mouse|flying squirrels]] for Durrell, one of the species he was keenest to obtain.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 148–151.</ref>  These proved to be difficult to keep in captivity as they were fussy eaters, and only four remained alive by the time Durrell returned to the coast in August.<ref>Durrell (1954b), pp. 209–210, 225.</ref>[[File:Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) 2.jpg|alt=A large lizard|thumb|A Nile monitor]]In mid-March they went north to [[Bafut, Cameroon|Bafut]], where the [[Fon (title)|Fon]] (the local ruler){{#tag:ref|This was Fon [[Achirimbi II]] of Bafut.<ref>Botting (1999), p. 635.</ref>|group = note}} had agreed to rent them a house in his compound.<ref>Botting (1999), p. 151.</ref>  On arrival Durrell met with the Fon, explaining what animals he was seeking, and drawing sketches of them.  On advice from the [[district officer]] (the local British colonial administrator) Durrell had brought a bottle of [[Irish whiskey]], and the two men drank it over the course of the evening.<ref>Botting (1999), p. 152.</ref>  Durrell and the Fon became firm friends, and often drank together in the evenings.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 152–158.</ref>  The Fon's influence meant that there was a constant stream of hunters coming to the house with animals for Durrell, augmenting what Durrell was obtaining from the hunts he himself went on.  Acquisitions included a [[Cane rat|great cane rat]],{{#tag:ref|Durrell gives the cane rat's scientific name as ''Praomys tullbergi tullbergi'', but this refers to [[Tullberg's soft-furred mouse]], a much smaller rodent.<ref>Botting (1999), p. 154.</ref><ref>Beolens et al. (2009), p. 555.</ref>|group = note}} [[Woodland dormouse|pygmy dormice]], [[hyrax]]es, [[pouched rat]]s, an [[Allen's galago]], [[skink]]s, a [[Nile monitor]], [[sunbird]]s, and a [[African golden cat|golden cat]].<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 153–154.</ref><ref>Botting (1999), p. 161.</ref>  Hunters frequently brought snakes, and Durrell was bitten by a [[burrowing viper]], requiring an emergency trip to [[Bamenda|Bemenda]], forty miles away, for [[antiserum]].<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 159–161.</ref>

They again ran out of money, and had to wire home for a loan (again arranged via Leslie), though they hoped that selling the collection in England on their return would at least recoup their expenditures.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 162, 168.</ref>  They knew that obtaining one of the high-value animals would resolve their financial problems, so Durrell canoed downriver to Asagem, where there was a hippo herd.  It was considered impossible to capture a hippo calf without killing the parents, as hippos are very dangerous animals, so Durrell shot both the bull and cow.  A crocodile killed the hippo calf almost immediately, before it could be captured.  Durrell did not have a permit to kill any further hippos, and was deeply distressed by having had to kill two animals at all, let alone in a failed attempt to obtain their calf.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 162–168.</ref>  A promise of a young gorilla persuaded Durrell and Smith to stay in Mamfe past their intended departure date, but it never appeared.  Durrell was forced to sell equipment, including guns, to raise money, and eventually they left Tiko in early August.  Most of the animals survived the journey, but the last flying squirrel died just one day from docking at Liverpool on 25 August.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 168–171.</ref>

Despite the failure to obtain the more valuable animals, the expedition had brought back several species never previously seen in Britain, including a hairy frog, and had turned a small profit.  Reporters from most of the British papers came on board the ship to interview them when they docked at Liverpool, and Durrell told them that he and Smith had already begun planning another trip, this time to South America.<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 171–173.</ref>

=== British Guiana 1950 ===
In January 1950 Smith and Durrell arrived in [[British Guiana]].<ref>Botting (1999), p. 176.</ref>  Smith stayed in [[Georgetown, Guyana|Georgetown]], the capital, while Durrell made collecting trips—to [[Adventure, Guyana|Adventure]], a town near the mouth of the [[Essequibo River|Essequibo]] river; along the seashore to catch freshwater wildlife in the creeks; and to a ranch on the [[Rupununi savannah]].<ref>Botting (1999), pp. 176–178.</ref>  The collection grew to include [[Paradoxical Frog|paradoxical frogs]], [[margay]]s, [[Bothrops|fer-de-lance]], [[armadillo]]s, [[macaw]]s, [[tree porcupine]]s, and [[anacondas]].<ref>Durrell (1954a), pp. 180–182, 194–195.</ref>  Again money ran short, and Durrell returned to Britain in April to sell some of the animals so he could wire the profits to Smith.<ref>Botting (1999), p. 179.</ref>