"Open Invitation" Giclée canvas print: 16"x20", edition size 100 s/n $775 unframed

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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 Patterson’s quest to find and kill the man-eaters of Tsavo.