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Jock of The Bushveld
Hunting stories, like traveller's tales, are proverbially dangerous to reputations, however literally true they may be ...' So wrote J Percy FitzPatrick of his perennial best-seller, never out of print in the century since its first publication. Here is the story of the 'Boy' who went to seek his fortune and of his bull-terrier, the plucky runt of the litter; of Marokela, the champion Zulu haulier; of Jantje, the Bushman with all his lore; and of pioneer types from previous goldrushes in California and Australia. A tribute to the life of the 1880s in the outposts of the agrarian Transvaal, this complete edition includes for the first time the author's 'Postscript' and 'The Creed of Jock'.
145 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1907
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About the author
J. Percy FitzPatrick
11 books6 followersSir James Percy FitzPatrick, KCMG, known as Percy FitzPatrick, was a South African author, politician, mining financier and pioneer of the fruit industry. He authored the classic children's book, Jock of the Bushveld (1907).
The Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town was named in his honour.
Motor trails in the eastern part of South Africa follow the trails used by Fitzpatrick and Jock in their travels between the gold mines and the harbour at Delagoa Bay in Mozambique. The most well-known of these are those in the Kruger National Park.
The Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town was named in his honour.
Motor trails in the eastern part of South Africa follow the trails used by Fitzpatrick and Jock in their travels between the gold mines and the harbour at Delagoa Bay in Mozambique. The most well-known of these are those in the Kruger National Park.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews
December 30, 2013
What we have here is a bona fide local classic. The tale of Jock of the Bushveld is as proudly South African as biltong and beskuit. Or perhaps not as proudly: the original version (which I obtained from the Gutenberg project) is absolutely rife with racial slurs. Here’s the thing: even though apartheid is an Afrikaans word, it was never an Afrikaans invention, as this book (which was written at about turn of the century) unflinchingly illustrates. The colonials at the time, and especially, it seems, the British, were actively laying the groundwork for this country’s current ugly legacy (which our generation now has to deal with). Gobshites!
The book is also jam-packed with passages describing all kinds of cruelty to animals: antelopes have their legs shot off; a dog is kicked against the head by antelope (causing permanent deafness); dogs are butchered by baboons (and, eventually, vice versa), and everything that moves is either shot by hunters or attacked by their “loveable” hunting dogs and mauled. In South Africa we have a big problem with poaching. We also have a fairly shocking endangered species list, because of the hunting habits of the colonials, which caused a lot of damage before it was eventually governed. Again, the novel serves to illustrate. Gobshites!
I am a white South African, and I am the owner of a Canis Africanis. She is beautiful, loyal and has a lovely disposition. My wife and I adopted her from a rescue dog shelter. In Jock of the Bushveld these “native” dogs are depicted as cowardly and rubbish and the author tells with some glee how Jock attacks (and often kills) them just for the apparent hell of it.
And that ending! Of all the bloody stupid things to do! Are some people just born daft!
The writing is quite powerful and the adventures are often enjoyable. Is it a good book? It probably is. Did I enjoy it? Not really - there were just too many things that annoyed me on some level…
I will likely revisit this review at some point, once I’ve cooled off a bit
Edit 1: I probably missed the whole point of the book, but I'm still sticking to my guns (no pun intended)
The book is also jam-packed with passages describing all kinds of cruelty to animals: antelopes have their legs shot off; a dog is kicked against the head by antelope (causing permanent deafness); dogs are butchered by baboons (and, eventually, vice versa), and everything that moves is either shot by hunters or attacked by their “loveable” hunting dogs and mauled. In South Africa we have a big problem with poaching. We also have a fairly shocking endangered species list, because of the hunting habits of the colonials, which caused a lot of damage before it was eventually governed. Again, the novel serves to illustrate. Gobshites!
I am a white South African, and I am the owner of a Canis Africanis. She is beautiful, loyal and has a lovely disposition. My wife and I adopted her from a rescue dog shelter. In Jock of the Bushveld these “native” dogs are depicted as cowardly and rubbish and the author tells with some glee how Jock attacks (and often kills) them just for the apparent hell of it.
And that ending! Of all the bloody stupid things to do! Are some people just born daft!
The writing is quite powerful and the adventures are often enjoyable. Is it a good book? It probably is. Did I enjoy it? Not really - there were just too many things that annoyed me on some level…
I will likely revisit this review at some point, once I’ve cooled off a bit
Edit 1: I probably missed the whole point of the book, but I'm still sticking to my guns (no pun intended)
February 4, 2022
For sure one of the best books I've ever read. Jock of the Bushveld is a true story written by the South African writer Percy FitzPatrick. FitzPatrick during the time the book takes place was a transporter, guys who basically ran groups of oxen and natives transporting goods back and forth across the wilderness of South Africa a hundred-something years ago. I didn't know a lot about South Africa when I went into this, but basically they have their own version of the American wild west, with warring natives that may as well exist in a different world from the Europeans who have moved in, wild animals, frontier justice (and injustice), etc.
The Jock of the title was a dog that belonged to FitzPatrick, and almost the entire book is made up of hunting stories with this dog. While actually a transporter, hunting was by far Fitzpatrick's main passion during this time, and, though his writing is a little stilted by time, his descriptions of the hunts are brutal and exhilarating at the same time. The modern reader will probably be struck at times by the callousness of the hunters, but, like Hemingway's hunting stories, there is still a joy and respect for the wild in these stories that keeps the narrator from seeming like a mass murderer, haha. He does actually kill for food and safety.
His love of Jock is on every page, and the book goes from Jock's birth as a runty little dog no one wanted into Jock's prime when he's the baddest dog on the trail to Jock's brush with death by kick to the head which left him deaf, to Fitzpatrick's life finally moving away from the bush and into the towns, and the decline of Jock's usefulness and ultimate, painfully needless death by accident. His love of Jock, his relationship with the dog, is the stuff of Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows, but has a ring of authenticity that those books naturally lack because they were purposefully written as relationships with dogs, whereas this was actually just describing one that existed. Also, and this is a major, MAJOR part of the value of this badass book, the bushveld was a dangerous, unforgiving place, death was common, the wildlife was really fucking wild, this was very extreme life, where the wild, primal, fullest part of both dog and man had infinite space to stretch out. The unspoiled beauty of the wild, the danger and excitement of the hunt, the simplicity of relationships; it's a kind of life that is almost never ever enjoyed by humans anymore. There is an almost Nietzschean hardness and dedication to the fullest life that applies to the natives, Jock, and FitzPatrick himself. Though he comes across as a very friendly man, there is also an almost comical toughness and deep, deep love of all of life in him.
Some quotes showing this kind of writing:
"From time to time you do meet people like that. The world's their oyster, and the fit of a masterful and infinite confidence opens it every time: they walk through life taking of the best as a right, and the world unquestionably submits."
"The swims were very delightful but somewhat different from ordinary bathes; however remote may have been the risk of meeting a crocodile when you dived, or of being grabbed by one as you swam, the idea was always there, and made it more interesting."
"It had never occurred to me that anyone would be such an idiot as to go into water after a wounded crocodile. There was no need to finish off this one, for it was bound to die, and no one wanted the meat or sin. Who, then, would be so mad as to think of such a thing? Five minutes earlier I would have answered very confidently for myself; but there are times when one cannot afford to be sensible. There was a world of unconscious irony in Jim's choice of words, 'Come on!' and 'Baas!' The boy giving the lead to his master was too much for me; and in I went!"
"Weeks had passed without a hunt, and Jock must have have thought there was a sad falling away on the part of his master; he no longer expected anything; the rifle was never taken down now except for an odd shot from the outspan or to put some poor animal out of its misery. Since the night with the lions, when he had been ignominiously cooped up, there had been nothing to stir his blood and make life forth living..."
"I raised myself by inches, close to the rock, until I could see over it. A magnificent waterbuck bull, full-grown and in perfect coat and condition, was standing less that five years away and a little to the right, having already passed me when he came to a stop; he was so close that I could see the waves and partings in his heavy coat; the rise and fall in his flanks as he breathed; the ruff on his shaggy bearded throat, that gave such an air of grandeur to the head; the noble carriage, as with head held high and slightly turned to windward he sniffed the breeze from the valley; the nostrils, mobile and sensitive, searching for the least hint of danger; and the eye, large and full and soft, luminous with watchful intelligence; and yet mild and calm - so free was it from all trace of a disturbing thought. And yet I was so close, it seemed almost possible to reach out and touch hum. There was no thought of shooting: it was a moment of supreme enjoyment. Just to watch him: that was enough."
FitzPatrick describing one of his native workers, an old alcoholic Zulu warrior everyone calls Jim: "Once before he had broken out like this. I had asked him something about the Zulu war; and that had started a flood of memories and excitement. In the midst of some description I asked why they killed the children; and he turned his glaring eyes on me and said, 'Inkos, you are my Inkos; but you are white. If we fight tomorrow, I will kill you. You are good to me, you have saved me; but if our own king says "Kill!" we kill! We see red; we kill all that lives I must kill you, your wife, your mother, your children, your horses, your oxen, your dog, the fowls that run with the wagons - all that lives I kill. The blood must run.' And I believed him; for that was the Zulu fighting spirit. So this time I knew it was useless to order or to talk: he was beyond control, and the fit must run its course."
And on the life of Jock post-hunting, when it's looking like he's going to be living a life of inactivity in the town, and in my opinion the most important lines in the book: "I had often thought that it might have been better had he died fighting - hanging on with his indomitable pluck and tenacity, tackling something with all the odds against him; doing his duty and his best as he had always done - and died as Rocky's dog had died. If on that last day of our hunting together he had got at the lioness, and gone under in the hopeless fight; if the sable bull had caught and finished him with one of the scythe-like sweeps of the scimitar horns; if he could have died - like Nelson - in the hour of victory! Would it not have been better for him - happier for me? Often I thought so. For to fade slowly away; to lose his strength and fire and intelligence; to outlive his character, and no longer be himself! No, that could not be happiness!"
A couple of other notes about the book. There are a ton of outdated, local, or Afrikaans words in this book. My Kindle's dictionary could tell me about half of them, and about half I had to guess at. I didn't realize until I got to the end of the book that there was a glossary disguised as "Chapter 29." I had the free version from Gutenburg.org that included the original illustrations, which are wonderful, I recommend this version. Also it's the original uncut and unedited version. This is a book written by a white man in Africa more than 100 years ago, so the word "nigger" is pretty prevalent, but not as much as the word "kaffir." Not being South African, the word to me is just a kind of lime, and certainly doesn't cause the visceral reaction in me that South Africans today would get from it. My friend who introduced Jock to me is South African, and he can barely even get the word out it's so offensive to him. So, if you are really upset by racial epithets from history, especially the "k-word," steer clear, this book is absolutely FULL of them. As lighthearted as FitzPatrick is, this book is brutal and extremely racist. But absolutely incredible at the same time.
The Jock of the title was a dog that belonged to FitzPatrick, and almost the entire book is made up of hunting stories with this dog. While actually a transporter, hunting was by far Fitzpatrick's main passion during this time, and, though his writing is a little stilted by time, his descriptions of the hunts are brutal and exhilarating at the same time. The modern reader will probably be struck at times by the callousness of the hunters, but, like Hemingway's hunting stories, there is still a joy and respect for the wild in these stories that keeps the narrator from seeming like a mass murderer, haha. He does actually kill for food and safety.
His love of Jock is on every page, and the book goes from Jock's birth as a runty little dog no one wanted into Jock's prime when he's the baddest dog on the trail to Jock's brush with death by kick to the head which left him deaf, to Fitzpatrick's life finally moving away from the bush and into the towns, and the decline of Jock's usefulness and ultimate, painfully needless death by accident. His love of Jock, his relationship with the dog, is the stuff of Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows, but has a ring of authenticity that those books naturally lack because they were purposefully written as relationships with dogs, whereas this was actually just describing one that existed. Also, and this is a major, MAJOR part of the value of this badass book, the bushveld was a dangerous, unforgiving place, death was common, the wildlife was really fucking wild, this was very extreme life, where the wild, primal, fullest part of both dog and man had infinite space to stretch out. The unspoiled beauty of the wild, the danger and excitement of the hunt, the simplicity of relationships; it's a kind of life that is almost never ever enjoyed by humans anymore. There is an almost Nietzschean hardness and dedication to the fullest life that applies to the natives, Jock, and FitzPatrick himself. Though he comes across as a very friendly man, there is also an almost comical toughness and deep, deep love of all of life in him.
Some quotes showing this kind of writing:
"From time to time you do meet people like that. The world's their oyster, and the fit of a masterful and infinite confidence opens it every time: they walk through life taking of the best as a right, and the world unquestionably submits."
"The swims were very delightful but somewhat different from ordinary bathes; however remote may have been the risk of meeting a crocodile when you dived, or of being grabbed by one as you swam, the idea was always there, and made it more interesting."
"It had never occurred to me that anyone would be such an idiot as to go into water after a wounded crocodile. There was no need to finish off this one, for it was bound to die, and no one wanted the meat or sin. Who, then, would be so mad as to think of such a thing? Five minutes earlier I would have answered very confidently for myself; but there are times when one cannot afford to be sensible. There was a world of unconscious irony in Jim's choice of words, 'Come on!' and 'Baas!' The boy giving the lead to his master was too much for me; and in I went!"
"Weeks had passed without a hunt, and Jock must have have thought there was a sad falling away on the part of his master; he no longer expected anything; the rifle was never taken down now except for an odd shot from the outspan or to put some poor animal out of its misery. Since the night with the lions, when he had been ignominiously cooped up, there had been nothing to stir his blood and make life forth living..."
"I raised myself by inches, close to the rock, until I could see over it. A magnificent waterbuck bull, full-grown and in perfect coat and condition, was standing less that five years away and a little to the right, having already passed me when he came to a stop; he was so close that I could see the waves and partings in his heavy coat; the rise and fall in his flanks as he breathed; the ruff on his shaggy bearded throat, that gave such an air of grandeur to the head; the noble carriage, as with head held high and slightly turned to windward he sniffed the breeze from the valley; the nostrils, mobile and sensitive, searching for the least hint of danger; and the eye, large and full and soft, luminous with watchful intelligence; and yet mild and calm - so free was it from all trace of a disturbing thought. And yet I was so close, it seemed almost possible to reach out and touch hum. There was no thought of shooting: it was a moment of supreme enjoyment. Just to watch him: that was enough."
FitzPatrick describing one of his native workers, an old alcoholic Zulu warrior everyone calls Jim: "Once before he had broken out like this. I had asked him something about the Zulu war; and that had started a flood of memories and excitement. In the midst of some description I asked why they killed the children; and he turned his glaring eyes on me and said, 'Inkos, you are my Inkos; but you are white. If we fight tomorrow, I will kill you. You are good to me, you have saved me; but if our own king says "Kill!" we kill! We see red; we kill all that lives I must kill you, your wife, your mother, your children, your horses, your oxen, your dog, the fowls that run with the wagons - all that lives I kill. The blood must run.' And I believed him; for that was the Zulu fighting spirit. So this time I knew it was useless to order or to talk: he was beyond control, and the fit must run its course."
And on the life of Jock post-hunting, when it's looking like he's going to be living a life of inactivity in the town, and in my opinion the most important lines in the book: "I had often thought that it might have been better had he died fighting - hanging on with his indomitable pluck and tenacity, tackling something with all the odds against him; doing his duty and his best as he had always done - and died as Rocky's dog had died. If on that last day of our hunting together he had got at the lioness, and gone under in the hopeless fight; if the sable bull had caught and finished him with one of the scythe-like sweeps of the scimitar horns; if he could have died - like Nelson - in the hour of victory! Would it not have been better for him - happier for me? Often I thought so. For to fade slowly away; to lose his strength and fire and intelligence; to outlive his character, and no longer be himself! No, that could not be happiness!"
A couple of other notes about the book. There are a ton of outdated, local, or Afrikaans words in this book. My Kindle's dictionary could tell me about half of them, and about half I had to guess at. I didn't realize until I got to the end of the book that there was a glossary disguised as "Chapter 29." I had the free version from Gutenburg.org that included the original illustrations, which are wonderful, I recommend this version. Also it's the original uncut and unedited version. This is a book written by a white man in Africa more than 100 years ago, so the word "nigger" is pretty prevalent, but not as much as the word "kaffir." Not being South African, the word to me is just a kind of lime, and certainly doesn't cause the visceral reaction in me that South Africans today would get from it. My friend who introduced Jock to me is South African, and he can barely even get the word out it's so offensive to him. So, if you are really upset by racial epithets from history, especially the "k-word," steer clear, this book is absolutely FULL of them. As lighthearted as FitzPatrick is, this book is brutal and extremely racist. But absolutely incredible at the same time.
June 16, 2024
"Jock of the Bushveld" is an ode to the joy of the blood sport of hunting and remarkably racist even by the standards of the less enlightened era that it was written in.
The book is a set of recollections about the adventures of the author, Percy FitzPatrick, with his dog Jock in the Transvaal Republic during the 1880s. In the work FitzPatrick makes a remarkable exposition of his vision of the world whereby men have the right to rule over animals and white men have the right to rule over black men.
Curiously enough FitzPatrick is silent on the third element of his credo; that is to say, that the English have the right to rule over the other white men of this planet. FitzPatrick in his youth had been a major player in the conspiracy to provoke a crisis in the Transvaal Republic (with a Dutch speaking population of Afrikaaners) that would compel the British to invade and annex it to their other South African possessions. He belonged to the Reformers who mounted the famous Jameson Raid against the Transvaal in 1895. He then spent the next four years working as the go between the major mining gold mining companies in the Transvaal and the Reformers agitating for more rights for the Uitlanders (i.e. outlanders or foreigners working in the Transvaal gold fields.) FitzGerald finally got the result they wanted. In 1899 the Boer ar began and by 1902 the Transvaal was annexed by the British Cape Colony. Given FitzPatrick's personal history and the fact that the events take place in the Transvaal, it is very surprising that there are no Afrikaaner characters in Jock.
While Jock of the Bushveld is unquestionably an odious book by an evil man, it is quite brilliant. The greatness of Jock is that he possesses in abundance the killer instinct needed to survive and prosper in this world. The book is essentially about how FitzGerald acquired this same instinct under the guidance of his dog.
At the start of the book, the author is a lost young man who has left the Cape Colony to seek his fortune in the Transvaal Republic where he flounders. Fortunately, a kindly miner employs as his helper. Later the author obtains employment working on a wagon transport company. There he buys Jock and starts to find himself. After several years of hunting with Jock, the author has become a man capable of functioning in society. He moves to a town where he discovers that Jock cannot cope. He places Jock with a farmer while he sets about building a career. The last news that he hears of the Jock is that he has killed a wild dog that had tried to attack the farmer's chickens.
FitzPatrick's extraordinary powers of observation and memory for detail are what make Jock such a great classic. The various creatures of the Bushveld (impalas, crocodiles, meerkats, koodoos, duikers, wildebeest, buffaloes, leopards, baboons and others) are described with tremendous subtlety. The hunting scenes are thrilling and remarkably violent. One the best chapters is one in which he describes the different behaviours of every species of animal, bird, reptile and insect as they flee from an advancing fire. FitzPatrick is adept at portraying not only the violent actions but also the sufferings of the animals. One of the best passages of the book is one which FitzPatrick describes the physical pain endured by of the oxen pulling the wagons of the transport convoys crossing the bushveld.
There is no denying the extremely racist tone of the book. The word count function of my Kobo found the "N'" word 19 times. Although FitzPatrick clearly considers blacks to be less gifted intellectually than whites, he still acknowledges that some possess moral virtue. At one stage, he tells the story of how a Zulu named Jim risks his life to prevent a white man from killing his beloved Jock. This does not make Jim intelligent simply brave and loyal.
FitzPatrick's big message is that the world is cruel and that young men must learn to be brutal. His book is wildly out of tune with current values and I have no idea how it can properly presented to the current generation of young readers who will find it shocking.
The book is a set of recollections about the adventures of the author, Percy FitzPatrick, with his dog Jock in the Transvaal Republic during the 1880s. In the work FitzPatrick makes a remarkable exposition of his vision of the world whereby men have the right to rule over animals and white men have the right to rule over black men.
Curiously enough FitzPatrick is silent on the third element of his credo; that is to say, that the English have the right to rule over the other white men of this planet. FitzPatrick in his youth had been a major player in the conspiracy to provoke a crisis in the Transvaal Republic (with a Dutch speaking population of Afrikaaners) that would compel the British to invade and annex it to their other South African possessions. He belonged to the Reformers who mounted the famous Jameson Raid against the Transvaal in 1895. He then spent the next four years working as the go between the major mining gold mining companies in the Transvaal and the Reformers agitating for more rights for the Uitlanders (i.e. outlanders or foreigners working in the Transvaal gold fields.) FitzGerald finally got the result they wanted. In 1899 the Boer ar began and by 1902 the Transvaal was annexed by the British Cape Colony. Given FitzPatrick's personal history and the fact that the events take place in the Transvaal, it is very surprising that there are no Afrikaaner characters in Jock.
While Jock of the Bushveld is unquestionably an odious book by an evil man, it is quite brilliant. The greatness of Jock is that he possesses in abundance the killer instinct needed to survive and prosper in this world. The book is essentially about how FitzGerald acquired this same instinct under the guidance of his dog.
At the start of the book, the author is a lost young man who has left the Cape Colony to seek his fortune in the Transvaal Republic where he flounders. Fortunately, a kindly miner employs as his helper. Later the author obtains employment working on a wagon transport company. There he buys Jock and starts to find himself. After several years of hunting with Jock, the author has become a man capable of functioning in society. He moves to a town where he discovers that Jock cannot cope. He places Jock with a farmer while he sets about building a career. The last news that he hears of the Jock is that he has killed a wild dog that had tried to attack the farmer's chickens.
FitzPatrick's extraordinary powers of observation and memory for detail are what make Jock such a great classic. The various creatures of the Bushveld (impalas, crocodiles, meerkats, koodoos, duikers, wildebeest, buffaloes, leopards, baboons and others) are described with tremendous subtlety. The hunting scenes are thrilling and remarkably violent. One the best chapters is one in which he describes the different behaviours of every species of animal, bird, reptile and insect as they flee from an advancing fire. FitzPatrick is adept at portraying not only the violent actions but also the sufferings of the animals. One of the best passages of the book is one which FitzPatrick describes the physical pain endured by of the oxen pulling the wagons of the transport convoys crossing the bushveld.
There is no denying the extremely racist tone of the book. The word count function of my Kobo found the "N'" word 19 times. Although FitzPatrick clearly considers blacks to be less gifted intellectually than whites, he still acknowledges that some possess moral virtue. At one stage, he tells the story of how a Zulu named Jim risks his life to prevent a white man from killing his beloved Jock. This does not make Jim intelligent simply brave and loyal.
FitzPatrick's big message is that the world is cruel and that young men must learn to be brutal. His book is wildly out of tune with current values and I have no idea how it can properly presented to the current generation of young readers who will find it shocking.
July 18, 2021
so .... I kind of picked this up without know anything about it and didn't really look into this book beyond "its a South African classic" and thought it would be interesting to read - I mean, who wouldn't like a book about a dog? So because of all the news recently I thought maybe I should pick it up, but then I saw the note at the start of the book that basically said something along the lines of "this version of the book was edited to be less racist and more readable" which, okay its fair enough to remove old racists stereotypes from books - so I decided to look into it to see what else I might expect, and what I found was...well not great? but I decided to look into it to see what happens? So some good things about this book are the fun illustrations (although some were kinda....racist and violent and not great) and I do think the book embodies the sense of adventure both of which are the only reason it gets even one star. That being said the book is filled with a lot of violence and just, animal curelty and some kinda gross descriptions of that which I just skipped over while reading. The sense of adventure that I liked didn't last very long.
Also the ending is stupid. I would've DNFed.
Also the ending is stupid. I would've DNFed.
August 3, 2010
Fair warning: This book may be about a dog, but it's more about hunting with him than anything else. Which has it's good side, in that it gives you a good feel for the countryside and the amazing animals with their incredible capability to fade into the background - but once you've been given such an appreciation for them, it is hard to take the terrible gore of the actual killing. It's a very beautiful book, in a lot of ways, but it has this way of putting two opposite views so closely together as to make me very uncomfortable at times - so, appreciation for the animals and their beauty, and then the sheer brutality of the hunt; or, the introduction of an astounding Zulu character, and his repugnant hatred for "kaffirs".
And maybe this is the truth about Africa, how am I to know? Maybe beauty and violence, passion and cruelty are bound together in every story about her. I don't know.
I will say that this was a very good book, although the fact that it was intended for children does not sit well with me. I especially loved the chapter about getting lost in the bushveld - one of my favorite themes in literature ever - how we see what we expect to see, rather than what is really there.
And maybe this is the truth about Africa, how am I to know? Maybe beauty and violence, passion and cruelty are bound together in every story about her. I don't know.
I will say that this was a very good book, although the fact that it was intended for children does not sit well with me. I especially loved the chapter about getting lost in the bushveld - one of my favorite themes in literature ever - how we see what we expect to see, rather than what is really there.
February 3, 2013
I normally avoid animal books as a genre and I'd never even heard of this book until being prompted by a South African workmate who had heard it as a boy and had fond memories of it.
I'm glad I read it. Its an enjoyable story. Clearly it was written in very different times to today. They really had a very tough life. I doubt I would have prospered under the same conditions.
It took a bit of getting used to the names they called the natives but I understand that those terms haven't always been disrespectful and the 1880's is a long time ago.
The description of the hunting scenes is superb. Its hard to imagine the author remembering it all in such vivid detail. You could really feel the tension as they pursued the animals.
It wont suit everyone but I enjoyed it.
Cheers to volunteers at Librivox that read this audiobook version and made it available for free.
I'm glad I read it. Its an enjoyable story. Clearly it was written in very different times to today. They really had a very tough life. I doubt I would have prospered under the same conditions.
It took a bit of getting used to the names they called the natives but I understand that those terms haven't always been disrespectful and the 1880's is a long time ago.
The description of the hunting scenes is superb. Its hard to imagine the author remembering it all in such vivid detail. You could really feel the tension as they pursued the animals.
It wont suit everyone but I enjoyed it.
Cheers to volunteers at Librivox that read this audiobook version and made it available for free.
August 14, 2018
For anyone who has spent time in the bush - Percy is succour to any hankering your soul may have for the open skies. His descriptions are rich and wonderful. Some pretty awful encounters and out dated attitudes, but the book still sings. It is quite unfathomable to think there was so much game around then. His last chapters were possibly his best. I'd have loved it even better if he'd included a map with the book.
October 3, 2023
not my usual read, but i found this on my dad’s bookshelf and it has been passed down through his family for generations. a (true) tale of what life was like hunting in the bushvelt, which is not far from where my dad grew up. i admittedly did not ever think i’d need to know that much about hunting, but this read felt special to me, like a part of my family’s history. and what a fantastic dog <3
December 26, 2020
A delightful read of an old classic. I enjoyed imagining our golden doodle (who is afraid of rubbage bins) showing "pluck" and survival instincts as we hunt big game in the South African bushveld together.
April 29, 2011
Groot jeug favourite. Verbaas my 'n bietjie nou maar toe was dit geweldig en ook nog vertaal in Afrikaans.
September 12, 2011
I read this for geographic and historical perspective on the pioneer days of South Africa.
September 11, 2025
If you want a book to ruin your day, this book is for you! If you hate dogs, this book is for you. If you like reading about animals being hunted down in great detail, this book is for you! Well, it is not for me! I am too much of an animal lover to enjoy a lot of this book. It started off great and kept me interested. But the graphic hunting scenes are not my cup of tea. And the ending might have been the worst ending of any book I have ever read. This book was given to me as a gift. I now know, that person hates me!
April 20, 2024
What do you want me to write? All I want to write are the words doggie, woofie, woofles etc. Unfortunately it sadly shows that we live in a world where whoever made it, you get angry because of the rules of nature. Living things hunting and eating each other. And you can guess my feelings at the end, but I can’t write the word because a bit of the book will be spoiled.
October 21, 2025
A very enjoyable man-and-his-dog type story, set in the South African bush at the turn of the century. Good for anyone who enjoys hunting or outdoor adventure stories.
Be forewarned: the language reflects the time. Be sure to use the glossary as you read, as parts of the story are rather opaque without it.
Be forewarned: the language reflects the time. Be sure to use the glossary as you read, as parts of the story are rather opaque without it.
September 21, 2013
Jock of the Bushveld is a beautiful story that not many children read and definitely not here in Australia. This is a book about a dog called Jock in South Africa around the 1880's. I recommend this book because it based on true life events and can be classified as a non-fictional narrative. (Gamble and Yates 2008) I believe this is true literature at its best, children will be intrigued by the story of a man and his best friend. This story has recently been released as an animated film. This will allow the students to explore written literature as well as digital media.
It was written by Sir James Percy Fitzpatrick who also happened to be the owner of Jock. Jock is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Percy worked as a storeman, prospector assistant and journalist on the ox-wagon trails that went through the Bushveld of the Transvaal in South Africa. How exciting for students to hear all these new words, we can openly discuss what they are and a brief history of South Africa and how things might have worked in those times to create a better in picture in their minds. (Jones and Derewiank 2012)
Jock was the runt of the litter and Percy took him on because in those days they would drown the runt, only the best were kept to pass on to others. These dogs were important in those days as they protected the people on their trails and helped hunt. A runt would not be useful at all, nevertheless Percy was happy to keep him as his own and train him. Jock became a loyal friend for all of his days with his master. They had many adventures together, one of these adventures was Jock getting into a fight with a baboon and he won, now if you have ever seen a baboon you will know that this is a great victory as a baboon can be very fierce and dangerous. Another adventure is how jock got kicked in the head by Kudu while they were on a hunting trip, this left him deaf, but this deafness did not deter Jock and his amazing love and loyalty for Percy.
This story or novel came about because Percy once he had retired and moved to the city would often tell his children of his adventures with Jock in the veld (bush) that he eventually decided to put them to paper for all to enjoy. (Miller 2009)
As a teacher reading this aloud to students will touch all of your hearts and give this feeling of warmth and love for this dog who became a hero to all the people he came in contact with. (Gottschall 2012)
It was written by Sir James Percy Fitzpatrick who also happened to be the owner of Jock. Jock is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Percy worked as a storeman, prospector assistant and journalist on the ox-wagon trails that went through the Bushveld of the Transvaal in South Africa. How exciting for students to hear all these new words, we can openly discuss what they are and a brief history of South Africa and how things might have worked in those times to create a better in picture in their minds. (Jones and Derewiank 2012)
Jock was the runt of the litter and Percy took him on because in those days they would drown the runt, only the best were kept to pass on to others. These dogs were important in those days as they protected the people on their trails and helped hunt. A runt would not be useful at all, nevertheless Percy was happy to keep him as his own and train him. Jock became a loyal friend for all of his days with his master. They had many adventures together, one of these adventures was Jock getting into a fight with a baboon and he won, now if you have ever seen a baboon you will know that this is a great victory as a baboon can be very fierce and dangerous. Another adventure is how jock got kicked in the head by Kudu while they were on a hunting trip, this left him deaf, but this deafness did not deter Jock and his amazing love and loyalty for Percy.
This story or novel came about because Percy once he had retired and moved to the city would often tell his children of his adventures with Jock in the veld (bush) that he eventually decided to put them to paper for all to enjoy. (Miller 2009)
As a teacher reading this aloud to students will touch all of your hearts and give this feeling of warmth and love for this dog who became a hero to all the people he came in contact with. (Gottschall 2012)
May 11, 2013
The author's experiences from his years of living in the bush and the hunting dog that he had from the time it was a puppy.
This kept showing up as a Goodreads recommendation. I was unable to find it anywhere here in the States so when I had opportunity to find it during a layover in Johannesburg, I decided to buy it. I'd had the idea it was fiction, but in reading the preface discovered it was book form of stories he'd told numerous times from his experiences - the ol' "you need to put these together in a book" line. I started reading it while waiting out a (what became) 7 hour airport layover, and although I didn't read the entire time, I read about the first quarter of the book. I've seen other reviews that talk about the racist comments and OK, it's a bit dated, but it has to be taken in the context of when it was written. This particular edition says "100 year celebration 1907 - 2007". If you read it with that in mind, the language fits. While I don't think this is something that I'd read again, it was interesting and was a glimpse into life in the South Africa bush in the late 1800's.
This kept showing up as a Goodreads recommendation. I was unable to find it anywhere here in the States so when I had opportunity to find it during a layover in Johannesburg, I decided to buy it. I'd had the idea it was fiction, but in reading the preface discovered it was book form of stories he'd told numerous times from his experiences - the ol' "you need to put these together in a book" line. I started reading it while waiting out a (what became) 7 hour airport layover, and although I didn't read the entire time, I read about the first quarter of the book. I've seen other reviews that talk about the racist comments and OK, it's a bit dated, but it has to be taken in the context of when it was written. This particular edition says "100 year celebration 1907 - 2007". If you read it with that in mind, the language fits. While I don't think this is something that I'd read again, it was interesting and was a glimpse into life in the South Africa bush in the late 1800's.
Read
September 12, 2016Oh Jock...
July 7, 2014
I can see why this would be a hit with children, being about a boy and his loyal dog companion's exploits in the African bushveldt. While vividly describing the untamed wilderness and it's many inhabitants, the book is also about courage, being literally the underdog and overcoming that to rise above everyone else - surely a positive role model for kids! The extent to which Jock goes to tackle quarry many times his size, seemingly heedless to danger is exciting to behold, his tenacity legendary. We are also taught bushcraft on the many vicarious hunting trips, how to become attuned to the environment in order to pick up the faintest signals. The reason I do not rate the book any higher is the stiff competition it faces in the genre of colonial outdoor sporting adventure books I have had the pleasure of reading, where a more adult audience is targeted. For younger readers new to such themes this would surely be a thoroughly enjoyable introduction.
May 14, 2021
Book: Jock of the Bushveld
Author: Percy FitzPatrick
Language: English
Publisher: Andesite Press (8 August 2015)
Hardcover: 212 pages
Item Weight: 476 g
Dimensions: 15.6 x 1.27 x 23.4 cm
Price: 799/-
‘Little by little the book has grown until it has come perilously near the condition in which it might be thought to have Pretensions. It has none! It is what it was: a simple record, compiled for the interest and satisfaction of some Little People, and a small tribute of remembrance and affection offered at the shrine of the old life and those who made it—tendered in the hope that some one better equipped with opportunities and leisure may be inspired to do justice to it and to them for the sake of our native land.’ – Introduction
This is the true story of South African author Sir Percy Fitzpatrick who later recounted these stories as bedtime stories to his four children. In the days of the Transvaal gold rush in the 1880s, ox-wagon trains went back and forth to the mines with essential supplies.
The book was reprinted four times before 1907 was out – a significant accomplishment even by today’s standards – and it would go on to become an international classic, with over 100 editions printed during the 20th century and translations into scores of languages.
In the Background to the tome, the author writes:
‘Of the people who live lonely lives, on the veld or elsewhere, few do so of their own free choice. Some there are shut off from all their kind—souls sheathed in some film invisible, through which no thrill of sympathy may pass; some barred by their self-consciousness, heart hungry still, who never learned in childhood to make friends; some have a secret or a grief; some, thoughts too big or bad for comradeship. But most will charge to Fate the thoughtless choice, the chance, or hard necessity, that drew or drove them to the life apart; they know the lesson that was learned of old: “It is not good for man to be alone.”
Go out among them, ever moving on, whose white bones mark the way for others’ feet—who shun the cities, living in the wilds, and move in stillness, self-contained. Who knows what they think, or dream, or hope, or suffer? Who can know? For speech among that hard-schooled lot is but a half-remembered art.’
These journeys were long and hard. The men driving the wagons needed to hunt for meat to eat, which required a dog. The unnamed narrator of this story saves the runt of a litter from being drowned, even though he could have had the best of the litter.
He calls him Jock and, in spite of being thin and ugly, the petite puppy grows stronger and survives. Jock, a Staffordshire bull terrier, repays his new master by becoming his stanch companion and warrior.
There are many instances in the story of Jock refusing to give up on the hunt and finishing the quarry. He even chases a crocodile downriver and fights a baboon. When he becomes deaf after being kicked by a kudu antelope, Jock overcomes his disability and makes his other senses work overtime.
In due course, after the oxen die from being bitten by tsetse flies, the narrator has to find other employment, and he unenthusiastically finds Jock a new home. There, Jock dies, erroneously shot while defending his new master's property from another dog.
Jock’s end has been painted by the author with much pathos –
‘He was then in the very prime of life, and I still hoped to get him back to me some day to a home where he would end his days in peace. Yet it seemed impossible to picture him in a life of ease and idleness—a watch-dog in a house sleeping away his life on a mat, his only excitement keeping off strange kaffirs and stray dogs, or burrowing for rats and moles in a garden, with old age, deafness, and infirmities growing year by year to make his end miserable. I had often thought that it might have been better had he died fighting—hanging on with his indomitable pluck and tenacity, tackling something with all the odds against him; doing his duty and his best as he had always done—and died as Rocky’s dog had died. If on that last day of our hunting together he had got at the lioness, and gone under in the hopeless fight; if the sable bull had caught and finished him with one of the scythe-like sweeps of the scimitar horns; if he could have died—like Nelson—in the hour of victory! Would it not have been better for him—happier for me? Often I thought so. For to fade slowly away; to lose his strength and fire and intelligence; to outlive his character, and no longer be himself! No, that could not be happiness!’
A fascinating tale associated with this book is that had it not been for Rudyard Kipling, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick would never have written it. Kipling, the leading writer in English of the Victorian age – the man whom George Orwell would one day call “the prophet of British imperialism” – was a bosom friend of Fitzpatrick’s. He’d heard the old prospector, journalist and transport-rider tell bedtime stories to his children about the remarkable dog, and he heartened the man to write the stories down.
As an aside, Kipling won the Nobel Prize in Literature the same year that ‘Jock of the Bushveld’ came in print.
Fitzpatrick, in this book, recalls a way of life long gone and a tender friendship between man and his best friend in this timeless classic.
‘The morning sun slanting across the yard shone in Tom’s eyes as he pushed the reed gate open and made his way towards the fowl-house. Under the porch, where the sunlight touched it, something shone like burnished gold.
He was stretched on his side—it might have been in sleep; but on the snow-white chest there was one red spot.
And inside the fowl-house lay the kaffir dog—dead.
Jock had done his duty……’
This book makes you all warm and happy and mushy within. Read it and recommend it to others.
Author: Percy FitzPatrick
Language: English
Publisher: Andesite Press (8 August 2015)
Hardcover: 212 pages
Item Weight: 476 g
Dimensions: 15.6 x 1.27 x 23.4 cm
Price: 799/-
‘Little by little the book has grown until it has come perilously near the condition in which it might be thought to have Pretensions. It has none! It is what it was: a simple record, compiled for the interest and satisfaction of some Little People, and a small tribute of remembrance and affection offered at the shrine of the old life and those who made it—tendered in the hope that some one better equipped with opportunities and leisure may be inspired to do justice to it and to them for the sake of our native land.’ – Introduction
This is the true story of South African author Sir Percy Fitzpatrick who later recounted these stories as bedtime stories to his four children. In the days of the Transvaal gold rush in the 1880s, ox-wagon trains went back and forth to the mines with essential supplies.
The book was reprinted four times before 1907 was out – a significant accomplishment even by today’s standards – and it would go on to become an international classic, with over 100 editions printed during the 20th century and translations into scores of languages.
In the Background to the tome, the author writes:
‘Of the people who live lonely lives, on the veld or elsewhere, few do so of their own free choice. Some there are shut off from all their kind—souls sheathed in some film invisible, through which no thrill of sympathy may pass; some barred by their self-consciousness, heart hungry still, who never learned in childhood to make friends; some have a secret or a grief; some, thoughts too big or bad for comradeship. But most will charge to Fate the thoughtless choice, the chance, or hard necessity, that drew or drove them to the life apart; they know the lesson that was learned of old: “It is not good for man to be alone.”
Go out among them, ever moving on, whose white bones mark the way for others’ feet—who shun the cities, living in the wilds, and move in stillness, self-contained. Who knows what they think, or dream, or hope, or suffer? Who can know? For speech among that hard-schooled lot is but a half-remembered art.’
These journeys were long and hard. The men driving the wagons needed to hunt for meat to eat, which required a dog. The unnamed narrator of this story saves the runt of a litter from being drowned, even though he could have had the best of the litter.
He calls him Jock and, in spite of being thin and ugly, the petite puppy grows stronger and survives. Jock, a Staffordshire bull terrier, repays his new master by becoming his stanch companion and warrior.
There are many instances in the story of Jock refusing to give up on the hunt and finishing the quarry. He even chases a crocodile downriver and fights a baboon. When he becomes deaf after being kicked by a kudu antelope, Jock overcomes his disability and makes his other senses work overtime.
In due course, after the oxen die from being bitten by tsetse flies, the narrator has to find other employment, and he unenthusiastically finds Jock a new home. There, Jock dies, erroneously shot while defending his new master's property from another dog.
Jock’s end has been painted by the author with much pathos –
‘He was then in the very prime of life, and I still hoped to get him back to me some day to a home where he would end his days in peace. Yet it seemed impossible to picture him in a life of ease and idleness—a watch-dog in a house sleeping away his life on a mat, his only excitement keeping off strange kaffirs and stray dogs, or burrowing for rats and moles in a garden, with old age, deafness, and infirmities growing year by year to make his end miserable. I had often thought that it might have been better had he died fighting—hanging on with his indomitable pluck and tenacity, tackling something with all the odds against him; doing his duty and his best as he had always done—and died as Rocky’s dog had died. If on that last day of our hunting together he had got at the lioness, and gone under in the hopeless fight; if the sable bull had caught and finished him with one of the scythe-like sweeps of the scimitar horns; if he could have died—like Nelson—in the hour of victory! Would it not have been better for him—happier for me? Often I thought so. For to fade slowly away; to lose his strength and fire and intelligence; to outlive his character, and no longer be himself! No, that could not be happiness!’
A fascinating tale associated with this book is that had it not been for Rudyard Kipling, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick would never have written it. Kipling, the leading writer in English of the Victorian age – the man whom George Orwell would one day call “the prophet of British imperialism” – was a bosom friend of Fitzpatrick’s. He’d heard the old prospector, journalist and transport-rider tell bedtime stories to his children about the remarkable dog, and he heartened the man to write the stories down.
As an aside, Kipling won the Nobel Prize in Literature the same year that ‘Jock of the Bushveld’ came in print.
Fitzpatrick, in this book, recalls a way of life long gone and a tender friendship between man and his best friend in this timeless classic.
‘The morning sun slanting across the yard shone in Tom’s eyes as he pushed the reed gate open and made his way towards the fowl-house. Under the porch, where the sunlight touched it, something shone like burnished gold.
He was stretched on his side—it might have been in sleep; but on the snow-white chest there was one red spot.
And inside the fowl-house lay the kaffir dog—dead.
Jock had done his duty……’
This book makes you all warm and happy and mushy within. Read it and recommend it to others.
February 2, 2022
I read this book as a child ... and now that Leonie insists on hearing it at bedtime, I'm quite distressed at the stories FitzPatrick tells. We move from one hunting scene to the next, some quite gruesome. The title might state: "Jock", but listening it to it today, I almost want to "retitle" it. Perhaps something along the lines of: "The Hunting Exploits of Sir Percy"; or "How to trek through Africa with a Dog".
I have to admit that Fitzpatrick has some truly beautiful descriptions of his surroundings - an art I'd love to acquire!
In the meantime you can read about the postcards I've made with Jock on here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/story-...-
I have to admit that Fitzpatrick has some truly beautiful descriptions of his surroundings - an art I'd love to acquire!
In the meantime you can read about the postcards I've made with Jock on here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/story-...-
May 26, 2025
Jock is the dog J. Percy FitzPatrick is given as a young man and FitzPatrick and Jock head out on a series of adventures together in the 1880s across the Transvaal, now part of South Africa. Even in this edited form, there are some uncomfortable moments in the interactions between peoples.
December 27, 2013
I think this story should have been left as FitzPatrick first created it: a series of bedtime short stories for his children. It's strength lies in the descriptive detail of each episode, and not in its combined effect as a novel. The ending is abrupt and unsatisfactory, demonstrating that the author possessed neither the skill nor the inclination to weave the truth into a satisfying work of fiction, allowing it to totter somewhere between the two. What a pity, as a hero with the potential for great fiction like Jock doesn't come around that often!
May 4, 2010
Enjoyable tale about a plucky bull terrier in the bushveld. While it may have been a boy's tale back in the day, it's probably a little too gritty for today's pampered weenies.
The next to last chapter where Jock's owner tries to get his wagon train to market is one of the best of the best Man vs. Nature stories I've ever read. Brutal and unsentimental.
The drawings are numerous and excellent.
The volume itself is not well edited and is full of typos.
The next to last chapter where Jock's owner tries to get his wagon train to market is one of the best of the best Man vs. Nature stories I've ever read. Brutal and unsentimental.
The drawings are numerous and excellent.
The volume itself is not well edited and is full of typos.
June 1, 2018
An endearing book about a young man and his dog in South Africa it was highly recommended by our guide when I went there earlier this year. We were traveling through the bushveld described in the book. It’s an old book, but it’s well done and I can easily imagine young children reading Jock’s story.
January 14, 2008
It's a dog book, it's about South Africa, it's about a travelling trader/hunter... it's everything I ever wanted in a book!
Won't break your heart a la "Old Yeller", but a touching book about a dog indeed. And full of good South African history/vocabulary.
Won't break your heart a la "Old Yeller", but a touching book about a dog indeed. And full of good South African history/vocabulary.
January 31, 2018
The story of Jock of the Bushveld has been republished numerous times due to the popularity of the book. Book is about the life of an early transport rider in the Lowveld and his adventures with his dog Jock. Based on the true story of Jock, and gives an insight into a bygone era.
March 30, 2019
A nonfiction South African classic, written in 1907 about the adventures during the early gold rush days of a young man (the author) and his dog Jock. I read this in preparation for an upcoming trip to South Africa and found it both enjoyable and enlightening.
December 27, 2018
One of my all time favourites!!
November 1, 2019
I’ll begin with a warning: this book won’t be for everyone. I almost stopped reading myself at one point, as there are some quite brutal hunting scenes. Being an animal-lover, these were difficult to take.
It was written in 1907 and, bearing in mind when and by whom it was written, it’s the story of a hunter and his hunting dog in an era when goods were transported by oxen and men lived off the game they hunted. Fitzpatrick hunted for the pot; but he also enjoyed the excitement and the challenge of it.
However, the story is full of vivid and memorable descriptions of animals, both the wild and the tame; both those that are brought down – often fighting with a courageous desperation that touches the heart – and those, like the impala who fled into the camp to escape a pack of wild dogs, that are set free. There are those which Fitzpatrick doesn’t even consider shooting, being so caught up in the breathless beauty of the moment. There are those which are domesticated, whether it be dogs, horses, or oxen. Fitzpatrick gives a compelling portrait of them all, down to the faithful, steadfast lead ox Zwaartland. In a moving passage near the end he remembers lying on the road while the chains were being coupled, looking up “into old Zwaartland’s eyes, deep, placid, constant, dark grey eyes – the ox-eyes of which so many speak and write and so few really know. There was trouble in them. He looked anxious and hunted, and it made me heartsick to see it.”
The style speaks of a past era, but it’s very readable; also partly because, as it says in the book’s dedication, Jock belongs to the Likkle People. The author, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, was finding that as he narrated Jock’s exploits to groups of eager children, certain embellishments were starting to creep into the story cycle as fact. So he decided to write Jock’s story down, and to tell it true.
The prose is wonderfully descriptive, whether of wildlife, landscape, bushfire or storm. The opening chapter Fitzpatrick tells in third-person, his own background, with a lyrical lilt that shifts to a more matter-of-fact style as he moves to a first-person narrative.
And what of Jock? He began life known to all as “the odd puppy,” weak and bullied by the others. But he was brave, and of necessity tough and clever, and when Fitzpatrick – who had taken him under his wing – was given the chance to have the pick of the litter, he declined, electing instead to stick with Jock. So began a relationship that was wonderful in its reciprocal trust and devotion, as they embarked together on a life that knew no limit to its adventure. The book follows these adventures, chapter by chapter, and along the way we get to know Jock very well, and he quickly captures the heart just as he caught the imagination of those children so long ago.
I don’t generally read animal stories – you know there can be only one outcome, eventually. So I confess I read the end before I began. Again, perhaps owing to those Likkle People, Fitzpatrick tells it in the same matter-of-fact way in which he tells the rest. But it’s still sad, with the poignancy which comes from the fact that all things must end. And their life in the bushveld had come to an end a couple of years previously, in a trek which they both survived but which had been a truly harrowing ordeal.
But what a life it had been. Peopled with fascinating characters, which find their place in the narrative. A life rich with shared experience. The life of a man and his dog, and an unforgettable one at that.
It was written in 1907 and, bearing in mind when and by whom it was written, it’s the story of a hunter and his hunting dog in an era when goods were transported by oxen and men lived off the game they hunted. Fitzpatrick hunted for the pot; but he also enjoyed the excitement and the challenge of it.
However, the story is full of vivid and memorable descriptions of animals, both the wild and the tame; both those that are brought down – often fighting with a courageous desperation that touches the heart – and those, like the impala who fled into the camp to escape a pack of wild dogs, that are set free. There are those which Fitzpatrick doesn’t even consider shooting, being so caught up in the breathless beauty of the moment. There are those which are domesticated, whether it be dogs, horses, or oxen. Fitzpatrick gives a compelling portrait of them all, down to the faithful, steadfast lead ox Zwaartland. In a moving passage near the end he remembers lying on the road while the chains were being coupled, looking up “into old Zwaartland’s eyes, deep, placid, constant, dark grey eyes – the ox-eyes of which so many speak and write and so few really know. There was trouble in them. He looked anxious and hunted, and it made me heartsick to see it.”
The style speaks of a past era, but it’s very readable; also partly because, as it says in the book’s dedication, Jock belongs to the Likkle People. The author, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, was finding that as he narrated Jock’s exploits to groups of eager children, certain embellishments were starting to creep into the story cycle as fact. So he decided to write Jock’s story down, and to tell it true.
The prose is wonderfully descriptive, whether of wildlife, landscape, bushfire or storm. The opening chapter Fitzpatrick tells in third-person, his own background, with a lyrical lilt that shifts to a more matter-of-fact style as he moves to a first-person narrative.
And what of Jock? He began life known to all as “the odd puppy,” weak and bullied by the others. But he was brave, and of necessity tough and clever, and when Fitzpatrick – who had taken him under his wing – was given the chance to have the pick of the litter, he declined, electing instead to stick with Jock. So began a relationship that was wonderful in its reciprocal trust and devotion, as they embarked together on a life that knew no limit to its adventure. The book follows these adventures, chapter by chapter, and along the way we get to know Jock very well, and he quickly captures the heart just as he caught the imagination of those children so long ago.
I don’t generally read animal stories – you know there can be only one outcome, eventually. So I confess I read the end before I began. Again, perhaps owing to those Likkle People, Fitzpatrick tells it in the same matter-of-fact way in which he tells the rest. But it’s still sad, with the poignancy which comes from the fact that all things must end. And their life in the bushveld had come to an end a couple of years previously, in a trek which they both survived but which had been a truly harrowing ordeal.
But what a life it had been. Peopled with fascinating characters, which find their place in the narrative. A life rich with shared experience. The life of a man and his dog, and an unforgettable one at that.
January 1, 2025
Jock of the Bushveld by James FitzPatrick is a true story about his adventures with his dog Jock in the South African wilderness in the late 19th century. It is now considered a children’s book, but I think the story could be enjoyed by anyone. The version I read also included little pencil drawings on most of the pages which were nice. The story is dull in some points, but overall this is a solid book.
The plot does not really have any typical structure, as it is more a memoir than anything else. It starts with the narrator getting the worst of the litter of fresh puppies, and goes through the adventures and failures of the narrator and Jock. Some of the events are connected, most of them are not. The story is fun however, and I enjoyed reading it. The ending is not fun, but it was still well written.
The setting is the South African bush in the late 19th century, particularly around Swaziland. The narrator is a part of many treks through the wilderness, bringing along Jock for hunting. The setting is well written and from the context I have gathered from reading other works of African Literature accurate, although the author displays a pro-colonialism attitude, and writes the African characters as intellectually inferior, which obviously is a outdated trope, but the book is over 100 years old, so what are you going to do?
The characters are not really important, as the only real recurring ones are the narrator, Jock, and Jim. The narrator is fine, as he is the only characters whose thoughts we know, and he does change over the story, becoming wiser and closer with Jock. Jock is the best character, who despite being a dog still has the best depth and characterization, and he shows the most emotion of any character. Jim was the stereotypical African character, and was overall forgettable.
Overall, this book was fine. Not overly memorable, probably not a book I will rush to read again, but it was still a good book. If you like dogs, or stories set in South Africa, you will probably enjoy this book.
The plot does not really have any typical structure, as it is more a memoir than anything else. It starts with the narrator getting the worst of the litter of fresh puppies, and goes through the adventures and failures of the narrator and Jock. Some of the events are connected, most of them are not. The story is fun however, and I enjoyed reading it. The ending is not fun, but it was still well written.
The setting is the South African bush in the late 19th century, particularly around Swaziland. The narrator is a part of many treks through the wilderness, bringing along Jock for hunting. The setting is well written and from the context I have gathered from reading other works of African Literature accurate, although the author displays a pro-colonialism attitude, and writes the African characters as intellectually inferior, which obviously is a outdated trope, but the book is over 100 years old, so what are you going to do?
The characters are not really important, as the only real recurring ones are the narrator, Jock, and Jim. The narrator is fine, as he is the only characters whose thoughts we know, and he does change over the story, becoming wiser and closer with Jock. Jock is the best character, who despite being a dog still has the best depth and characterization, and he shows the most emotion of any character. Jim was the stereotypical African character, and was overall forgettable.
Overall, this book was fine. Not overly memorable, probably not a book I will rush to read again, but it was still a good book. If you like dogs, or stories set in South Africa, you will probably enjoy this book.
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