JIM CORBETT Tribute

In the past 50 years, I came in contact with a number of relatives and friends closely associated with Jim Corbett. All of them offered great stories while recalling their friendship with him. F.W. Champion (author of With a Camera in Tigerland, and Jungle in Sunlight & Shadow) and his brother Sir Harry Champion (scholar and author of books on Forestry) were the first to help. F.W. Champion died in Scotland in 1970. Ramsay Tainish OBE, a veteran doctor who served the war in Burma was a close friend of Corbett, so was his father- died in Sweden in 1998; Eric Risley former DC of Tanganyika and later Kenya had spent considerable time with Corbett - died in 1995, a year after I had lunch with him at his home in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi, and his wife Bridget Risley died shortly after. Jennifer Stutchbury,( wife of Brian Stutchbury -the great nephew of Jim Corbett) passed away just a few years ago. She accompanied me with her husband during a safari in 1994. Joy Adamson (of Born Free fame) with whom I corresponded and exchanged ideas about African wildlife was murdered in 1980, her husband George too was killed by Somali bandits (shifta) in 1989. George Adamson had a small library and I was able to acquire five of them with his signature, and a complete set of Joy Adamson's books signed by her. British tea planter and author of Wild Life of India, Mr. E.P. Gee was also very helpful while I was a Forester in India. Gee died in 1968 while I was in Canada. Another colorful character I came across was Dr. J.B.S. Haldane, an outspoken British scientist who ran Orissa's Biometry Lab in the 1960s, He used to inject cobra vemom on himself and studied the reaction firsthand. The day he died, he announced his death on television by recording it previously. Geoffrey Cumberlege was Corbett's publisher at the Oxford University Press (UK), who also was a friend. After his death, Cumberlege met with Maggie in Kenya and collected a large number of photos, letters, telegrams and other biographical material on Corbett. He used it in the introduction to the worlds classic edition of Man eaters of Kumaon and Temple Tiger (1960). Cumberlege died in 1979. Roy Hawkins was not only was Corbett's editor, he was a close friend of Jim and Maggie. When Jim died, he flew to Kenya and spent sometime with Maggie and made biographical notes which he used in his book Jim Corbett's India (1979). I corresponded with Hawkins, who was living in Bombay at the time, several times until his death in 1989.
Brig. Gen.Geoffrey Beyts who ran a farm in Mweiga, near Nyeri, Kenya with Jim Corbett and his nephew Thomas Corbett. Geoffrey and his wife Ruby Beyts were close to Jim and Maggie. They left Kenya when the country gained freedom in 1963, eventually settling in Spain. They too passed away some years ago. Sir William Ibbotson (Ibbie) and his wife Jean were also good friends with Corbett in India and again in Kenya. They met occasionally for lunch and tea. Corbett and Ibbotson were also served as directors for Safariland - hunting outfitters- for a time. They too left Kenya by 1963 settling in South Africa where they died. Maurice Nestor was a relative of Corbett and knew him during his Kumaon days. Maurice was very helpful while I was preparing the book on Jim Corbett (Under the Shadow of Man eaters). He died at the age of 98 in England.
There are many others I have personally met or corresponded with, primarily discussing Jim Corbett. Although they are long gone, I have fond memories of them.

After following Corbett's footsteps and visiting several areas mentioned in his books, I was thrilled to spend an entire day at the Gurney House, his former home in Naini Tal which was currently owned by Mr. Prakash Verma who lived in New Delhi. Fortunately he was spending a few days in Naini Tal to escape Delhi's severe heat in April 2002. The building was kept vacant most of the time, except when visited by Prakash or his sister. It was amazing to see that almost all the original furniture left by Corbett was still there, including the hand made chair seats by Maggie, and several antlers and deer heads from Corbett's hunting days. A leopard skull was kept on the mantle, and a heavy book shelf made from a single log brought in by Corbett from Mokameh Ghat by train and by cart. Another shelf was filled with their crockery, used daily in their household. The piano belonged to Maggie was gone to Mr. Verma's sister's home. The Gurney House was sold to Mrs. Verma by Jim Corbett in 1947 before he left India for Kenya. Corbett offered one of his hunting rifles to Prakash who declined to accept it and now regretfully stated that it was the biggest mistake in his life.

I visited Kenya twice, and both times, Corbett's grave was repaired and restored in 1994 and 2002. I spent two nights in Paxtu cottage by special arrangement with the Hotel management. Corbett spent his final years from 1948 to 1955 in this cottage, part of it is now a museum named after Baden powell. A color portrait of Corbett I hung on the mantle of this cottage in 1994 had disappeared in 2002. The hotel staff and management had no idea how it went missing.

Corbett was a frequent visitor to the Tree Tops, a game lodge made famous by queen Elizabeth. I visited Tree Tops three times and photographed a very large group of Cape Buffaloe, few elephants, waterbuck, wild pigs and several baboons. An old log book kept at the Tree Tops had several entries made by Corbett, one in particular made on 5th February 1952 when a young lady climbed the tree as a princess, and climbed down from the tree next morning as a queen. That page was signed by the queen, prince Philip, Pamela Mountbatten, Commander Parker, Eric and Lady Sherbrooke Walker and Jim Corbett. It was here when Corbett called up a leopard right in front of the hut for other visitors to see. (For details about this incident and much more about Corbett, please consult the book: UNDER THE SHADOW OF MAN EATERS: THE LIFE & LEGEND OF JIM CORBETT(1997) by Jerry A. Jaleel, available through Jim Corbett Foundation, 1306- 39 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T6L 2M7, Canada (email: safaribooks@shaw.ca).

Visiting places where Corbett lived and roamed brought great pleasure to me, as I have been a great fan of his ever since I first read his MAN EATERS OF KUMAON in 1958, My curiosity took me to several lands where I met his surviving friends and relatives, and received first hand information about the man and the legend. Establishing the Jim Corbett Foundation was a very long dream for me until it was materialized in 1994. Hope you will join the Foundation and extend your support for a noble cause.
Thank you,
Jerry A. Jaleel F.R.G.S.
Director
The Jim Corbett Foundation (Canada)