On Safari With George Eastman: Part 4

The Eastman Party was the largest motor safari to leave Nairobi up to that time. It had, at one time, 13 cars, 80 natives, 28 camels and 5 mules. It would split into smaller expeditions and spend intervals in Nairobi, as much for constant car and truck repair as for refreshment. The group traveled approximately 4,000 miles, which, considering the terrain and the cars of that time, was a lot of ground.

The complete party (but not all of the natives are pictured)

The months fell into a routine of breakfast at dawn, early morning hunting and lunch at noon, followed by a siesta. Hunting resumed at 4:00 and until 7:00, then allowing for a bath and Scotch highballs before dinner at 7:30 or 8:00. George Eastman slept on an air bed and said it was the best night's sleep he'd had in 20 years.

Dr. Audley Stewart's presence was of great importance, not just because he treated wounds (sometimes with the "new" antiseptic, Mercurochrome), but also because he was treating everyone for malaria with six grains of quinine every night.

Dr. Audley Stewart

Osa Johnson with a nest of ostrich eggs

As one reads George Eastman's own recounting of the safari, the one personality that really shines through is that of Osa Johnson. Osa was a full partner in the adventures and documentary-making of Martin Johnson. She comes across as vivacious, fun, spunky and helpful — a can-do spirit. I imagine that she'd be a fine addition to that proverbial dinner party where one could invite anyone from any time period. When George Eastman didn't like the food prepared by the camp cook, Osa was quick to set up a separate cook tent and get Eastman to join her in the cooking. Soon Eastman was making pastry shells in saucers and lemon meringue pies, and blowing ostrich eggs with Osa — he reported that they tasted like the hen eggs from home.

But Osa was out on the hunts, too, and helping Martin with the filming of the hunt, which was of special interest to Eastman.

Martin's "new" car, one he outfitted for filming

The safari hunted everything in sight, bagging more than 100 specimens. They shot topi, rhinos, impalas, eland, wart hogs, jackals, wildebeest, gazelles, cheetahs and lions — to name a few. Even though they would see herds numbering in the thousands, even by the 1920s, the African governments were putting restrictions on certain animals. The limit for lions was five per person! And George Eastman shot five lions, one of which was nine feet long. He desperately wanted to shoot an elephant as well, but he never got close enough to one deemed worthy.

By August of 1926, the party was in agreement that they had bagged enough trophies, and that the rest of the trip should focus on filming.

At that time, there were three African tribes that still hunted lions by spear — the Lumbwa and their allies, the Naudi and the Masai. These tribes hunted lions to protect their livestock, and Eastman, Akeley and the Johnsons realized that it was a way of life that would be gone within a generation. They wanted to record a lion hunt, and Johnson especially wanted good footage of a lion charging towards his auto. That was not an easy task because lions, particularly those in danger, want to stick to the thick cover of the donga (a donga is a shallow gulch that consists of thick brush and high grass).

Is it dead yet?

Celebrating the killed lion

As the safari came to a close, George Eastman celebrated with a dinner that consisted of hors-d'oeuvres, stuffed eggs, fruit cocktails, cream of tomato soup, gazelle chops (breaded and garnished with fresh vegetables), sweet potatoes, corn and cold beets, individual mince pies, pecans, almonds, ripe olives and coffee.

Osa and Martin Johnson stayed in Africa after George Eastman went home, and they made many more visits to Africa, shooting documentaries. They both learned to fly, and one of their documentaries became the first in-flight movie. Osa wrote I Married Adventure, which was the biggest selling non-fiction book of 1940. Today you can visit the Martin and Osa Safari Museum in Chanute, Kansas, Osa's hometown.

Carl Akeley, the famous sculptor and taxidermist, was in an accident during the safari that ripped his chest muscles. He died later the same year in the Congo, from a fever.

Daniel E. Pomeroy donated his trophies to the American Museum of Natural History, of which he was a big supporter.

On March 14, 1932,  Dr. Audley D. Stewart made the announcement that George Eastman had committed suicide. In the six years after the safari, Eastman's health had declined radically.

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On Safari With George Eastman: Part 3

In my last posting, George Eastman and his friends Audley Stewart and Daniel Pomeroy had arrived by their private train in Nairobi.

En route to Limuru: the Johnsons, George Eastman, Daniel Pomeroy and Audley Stewart

There they joined a party of more professional explorers for a safari that would last eight months ...

Mark D. Ruffner

... meandering through Kenya and Tanganyika. They had arrived during a prolonged rainy season, so the area around Nairobi was very muddy. While Pomeroy went with Carl Akeley to the artists' camp, George Eastman, Audley Stewart and the Johnsons went in the direction of Limuru, on sort of a trial run before they headed north to Lake Paradise. They were happy to get 20 miles by car.

Detraining cars at Limuru

This initial outing was to a camp where the Baileys (of another safari) had been about a week before. Mrs. Bailey had gone hunting without her husband (who had gone off in another direction), and she came upon two resting rhinos. When she shot at them, the rhinos charged — side by side — and one gored and partially scalped her. The attack had caused Mrs. Bailey to be tossed through the air, and then she was trampled. She was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered, and later resumed her safari! The Eastman Party came along after all the excitement, and camped in the very same spot. George Eastman later published the entire Nairobi newspaper account of Mrs. Bailey in his book.

Dr. Audley Stewart writing in his diary, at the Bailey Camp

George Eastman (right) with his guide, Phil Percival, at the Bailey Camp

Mr. Eastman had much in the way of supplies, but he noted that for this short expedition he brought along only two saddles, two camp tables, six chairs, hot water plates, cups with rubber separating rings, two candle lanterns, pneumatic beds, cots and bedding, a No. 12 kitchen table, an egg box and two pairs of food boxes.

It was while at the Bailey Camp that George Eastman shot his first lion. It had been with a lioness and two cubs, and as the others ran off, the lion had stood his ground. After that kill, Eastman went after the lioness, who eluded him (apparently, orphaning cubs was not a problem for Eastman).

"Country where I got my first lion"

To be continued . . .

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On Safari With George Eastman: Part 2

From Southampton, George Eastman and his party went to London, where Mr. Eastman had meetings relating to dentistry (making x-rays perhaps?). He did no sightseeing but took time to test British-made, double-barreled elephant guns. He wrote in a letter that, "British workmen have no rivals in gun-making by hand."

Eastman had more business meetings in Paris (though he was retired, he was always interested in new technological developments), and while there, he allowed for one hour to visit the Louvre.

George Eastman visits the Louvre

From Paris the Eastman Party motored to Genoa, opting to ride in a closed car because of all the dust. Eastman wondered why Italian authorities wanting to lure tourists didn't "oil the roads."

In Genoa, they boarded the Llanstephan, and today's cruise passengers might be interested to know that George Eastman found his 6'3"x8'6" cabin "convenient and most satisfactory." That a friend had sent two cases of French and Italian wines was probably also most satisfactory. On board were other hunting parties, including one known as the Chrysler Party.

Mark D. Ruffner

The Llanstephan sailed through the Suez Canal and Red Sea to Mombasa, which Eastman thought lovely, and compared to Coral Gables, Florida. In Mombasa, the Eastman Party was met by Mrs. Carl Akeley, who had secured a house in Nairobi for use as the safari headquarters; the Martin Johnsons, who would be making a documentary of the trip; and the Phil Percivals. Mr. Percival would be Mr. Eastman's "white hunter," while Mr. Pomeroy would have his own guide, Pat Ayre.

Pomeroy, Eastman and Stewart

From Mombasa to Nairobi, the now extended Eastman Party took its own train, which consisted of a passenger car, a dining car and a baggage car. Perhaps you are starting to see that this safari was no small affair.

Martin and Osa Johnson | africaobscura.com      Carl Akeley | wikipedia

While George Eastman was famous for his work with photography, Osa and Martin Johnson were famous as explorers, and for their documentary films. Carl Akeley, who was in his last year, was the father of modern taxidermy. He was a fine sculptor, and so his taxidermied animals had the properly muscled under structures to make them appear very lifelike. For the Eastman Safari, Akeley had hired two taxidermists and two artists who had gone ahead and set up their own camp.

The Eastman Party employed a Boer chauffeur and 30 native Africans, including valets, cooks, porters, gun-bearers, skinners and syces (mule handlers).

The safari headquarters in Nairobi, for which Mrs. Akeley had arranged

  To be continued . . .

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On Safari With George Eastman: Part 1

For the next few posts, I'm going to share a safari adventure that George Eastman, the pioneer of modern photography, took in his retirement. But I'll begin by giving a little of the back story of how I came to own a relatively rare book that George Eastman self-published.

My Grandfather Ruffner was an early employee of George Eastman's, starting as a salesman with Kodak in 1901. Because he started in the early days of the company, he had a large territory to cover. How large was it?

His territory was somewhat larger than that which Thomas Jefferson bought from the French by the Louisiana Purchase. His route coursed from Fargo, North Dakota, to Seattle; down the Pacific Coast to San Diego, California, inland again to El Paso, Texas; north to Denver, west through Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Washington; down the coast once again and inland through New Mexico and Arizona, both of which were then territories, not states. Essentially his territory was everything west of the Mississippi River.

In those days, he traveled through the West mostly by railroad, calling on professional photographers, giving demonstrations, selling Kodaks, putting metal signs in windows, and distributing advertising from a trunk that weighed 250 pounds. However did he manage that trunk?

Eventually my grandfather returned to Rochester, New York — the headquarters of the Eastman Kodak Company — and like my great-grandfather, became an editor. For years he published company magazines, and he eventually was responsible for introducing Kodak's Ektachrome color film to professional photographers.

And so, when George Eastman returned from a 8-month safari trip and wanted to publish a book of his experiences for his friends, he turned to my grandfather to edit and print the project. Of course my grandfather retained one of those books, which I've been enjoying rereading lately. So, let's go on a safari with George Eastman!

In 1926, George Eastman (1854-1932), planned an extended safari to East Africa. He was joined by two younger friends, Daniel E. Pomeroy and Dr. Audley D. Stewart. Pomeroy was a New York banker and sportsman who helped found a couple of New York golf courses, and Stewart was Eastman's personal physician.

Douglas Fairbanks and Billie Dove in The Black Pirate  |  dvdbeaver.com

Before embarking for England, the three spent a little time in New York City. Eastman watched Douglas Fairbanks' film, the The Black Pirate and said it was "all in color, the best thing in color photography so far."

On March 13, 1926, the party departed from New York for Southampton on the Majestic.

Tea with the ship's captain, aboard the Majestic

left to right: Dr. Audley D. Stewart, George Eastman, Daniel E. Pomeroy

Now let us suppose that you have a friend who is going to make a trans-Atlantic crossing and then go on to a safari. You want to surprise him when he gets to his cabin, so what should be delivered to the ship? Well, here's what awaited Mr. Pomeroy in his cabin, much to the amusement of Mr. Eastman:

• 6 baskets of fruit
• 6 bouquets of flowers
• 3 boxes of cigars
• 1 basket of mushrooms
• 20 French artichokes
• 1 bunch of rhubarb
• 2 baskets of peas
• 1 basket of radishes
• 5 baskets of string beans
• 6 baskets of Lima beans
• 16 heads of cauliflower
• 3 baskets of Bermuda potatoes
• 2 baskets of tomatoes
• 8 bunches of asparagus
• ½ barrel of oysters
• 4 lbs. of caviar 

More of the Eastman trip in the next post . . .

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