It is a diary account of a famous 19th Century explorer named Sir Samuel White Baker who made it his career to explore and hunt in some of the wildest places on earth when they really werewild. Reading his account of hunting in Ceylon in 1846 - modern day Sri Lanka - one is transported back to a time of breathtaking natural abundance which Sir Baker manages to evoke with his careful descriptions of the landscape. The book is an account of the pristine landscapes he discovered there, interspersed with detailed and fascinating accounts of how he attempted to destroy ever living creature he came across.