Allan Quatermain and F.C. Selous: Real and Fictional Influencers.

He was, to the pre-war generation, the Indiana Jones of his day and his exploits provided an example of moral courage, instilled the importance of character and the charm of an active, outdoorsy life, full of thrills and derring-do.

Quatermain was the creation of British novelist H. Rider Haggard and he appears in eighteen of his books, published between 1886 and 1926. His stories are set in the years between 1850 and 1899 and the series starts when he is eighteen years old and ends when he is sixty-eight.

Quatermain’s exploits in Africa bring him into contact with native Africans, like the Zulus, wild animals, lost civilisations and treasure. His is a world of culture clash; notably western civilisation with traditional tribal Africa, but also with the Boers and with the different concepts of religion, morality and superstition that swirled around the edges of the personal experiences of educated adventurers inhabiting a different world.

To a modern audience, Quatermain represents a manly, traditional, somewhat un-stuffy and enlightened, version of the colonial fortune hunter. He is man who lives on the frontier, surviving off his wits and his skill with a rifle.

Haggard’s themes included admiration of martial races, like the Zulu, a disillusion with the influence of western civilization and trade on the character of the native African, and an awareness of the destruction inflicted on the wild places of Africa by rapid colonial expansion.

The late Victorians were inspired by tales of lost cities and treasure buried in the ruins of ancient empires. In a world in which social advancement was by no means easy, the lure of adventure, of risking everything to chase the pipe dream of instant riches, inspired many an adventurer to head into the jungle never to be seen again.

Quatermain was inspired by a real-life character; Frederick Courteney Selous, who lived a life of adventure in Africa before his death in action during the First World War, in Tanzania.

More recent iterations of Quatermain have emerged in books and films, like King Solomon’s Mines (2004) the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986) and it could be argued that not only Indiana Jones, but even Lara Croft owes a lot of her DNA to the character and his attitudes.

 

Somehow, the Quatermain spirit lives-on in the twenty-first century. Its legacy is as tenacious as the character himself and the image of the white hunter/explorer crossing to and fro between civilization and the untamed wilderness still attracts devotees.

Selous and Quatermain resemble one another physically, as well as in skill and lifestyle. Both were unconventional, appreciated the local customs and the warrior spirit of their oft-times adversaries and had little time for life indoors or within the confines of a modern city.

Sartorially, they sported the kind of safari kit that has become timeless, though it originated in the mid 1860s as modified tropical military uniform, the latest versions of which are embodied by the Safari garments on sale at Westley Richards.

The safari look goes beyond the pure hunting safari and ventures into the realm of the adventurer, prospector, explorer and professional hunter. Selous embodied all that, as did Quatermain. The real-life adventures Selous chronicled were embellished by Haggard in the shape of the fictional Quatermain and the legend of the archetype has held a spell over our sector of the clothing industry ever since.

Safari clothing is Westley Richards’s top selling line. It consistently out-performs everything else year after year. We think it does so in no small part to the legacy of the characters of the golden era of African sport and exploration, embodied by real characters like Selous as well as fictional ones like Quatermain.

Their influence does not appear to be waning. We have illustrated this article with some examples of the more traditional Safari clothes we offer, inspired by the golden age of African adventure and its characters.

Not only does the Quatermain look remain timeless, it encompasses some very practical necessities incorporated in tropical weather clothing. Features that kept the Victorian hunter protected and comfortable will do the same for his modern equivalent.

The Quatermain legend has continued in the modern era with Hollywood films starring Richard Chamberlain, Patrick Swayze and even Sean Connery taking the lead role and introducing Haggard's hero to a new generation of would-be adventurers.

 

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