R. J. D. "Samaki" Salmon

Salmon was born in Auckland in 1888, being educated and spending his early life there. Salmon stood around 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm) and was strongly built, he was described as cool and unexcitable with nerves of steel and a great sense of humour. In 1911 at the age of 23, Salmon boarded a ship for Africa in search of adventure, disembarking in Mombasa later in the year, he remained there for almost a year conducting a variety of jobs. In 1912 Salmon set out for the remote Uganda Protectorate with the intention of becoming a coffee grower, his initial efforts at growing coffee in the Busoga district were unsuccessful, so he moved to the area of Fort Portal where he enjoyed more success and settled permanently.[1][2]

In 1914 with the outbreak of World War I, Salmon volunteered for service and was commissioned in December 1914 into the King's African Rifles. Initially serving under Tracy Philipps, Salmon served throughout the East African Campaign, participating in a number of raids into German East Africa. In 1917 Salmon was awarded the Military Cross for his actions, the citation stating:[1][2][3][4][5]

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He swam a rapid and crocodile-infested river by night, two hundred yards from an enemy post, taking a rope with him with which he afterwards pulled a boat across. He then armed himself with bombs and proceeded to scout up the enemy's side of the river. This fearless act enabled us to cross the river, which otherwise presented many difficulties.[6]

By war's end Salmon achieved the rank of captain, he was not demobilised until 1920, returning to his coffee plantation afterwards. It was during his wartime service that Salmon received the nickname "Samaki", Swahili for fish, a name that was to stick to him for the remainder of his life.[1][2][7]

As the owner of a coffee plantation, Salmon was able to obtain a planter's elephant hunting licence, this allowed the license holder to shoot 20 elephant a year to protect their plantations from the depredations of elephant. Salmon gained a reputation as a skilled elephant hunter, always filling his quota quickly and efficiently.[2]

In 1924, in an effort to combat the destruction to cropping and fencing caused by elephant that prevented the development of agriculture, the Ugandan Government created the Uganda Game Department, appointing Captain Charles R.S. Pitman as chief game warden. The entire Protectorate was divided into four large districts and a white hunter with extensive experience, along with a large native staff, was recruited as a game ranger to control the elephant numbers in each district. Salmon was recruited, along with Captain C.K.D. Palmer-Kerrison and veteran ivory hunters and poachers Pete Pearson and F.G. "Deaf" Banks. At the time there were estimated to be over 16,000 elephant in Uganda, with an annual increase of 12%, and the elephant control section found it necessary to shoot 13,096 head between 1925 and 1935 in order to keep the population within defined parks and areas of unused land. The four white hunters were provided with a salary of £50 a month, and to further improve their lot, in 1925 the Governor of Uganda, Sir William Gowers, made them Colonial Civil Servants by official decree, ensuring a lifetime pension.[2][3][7]

Royal guide

Salmon, 1928

In 1924 Salmon, along with Pete Pearson, accompanied a safari for the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother) as hunting guides during their visit to Uganda. In 1928 Salmon, again with Pearson, organised an 8 day hunting safari for the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) during the Uganda leg of his East African royal tour. On the last day of the safari the royal party were following the tracks of a bull elephant near the Murchison Falls when they were charged by another rogue bull, Pearson grabbed the Prince and flung him to safety (into a thorn bush) then he and Salmon fired simultaneously at the elephant, which crashed dead to the ground 4 yards (3.7 m) from the Prince.[2][3][8][9]

Salmon again guided the Prince of Wales on a safari during a royal tour of Uganda in 1930 (this time without Pearson who died in 1929). A notable incident during that tour occurred when the prince requested to see Fort Portal in the fabled Mountains of the Moon, Salmon began guiding the royal party from their boat on the Semliki River, not having been in that area for five years and realising the paths had become overgrown, as dusk approached Salmon begrudgingly admitted he was lost. The entire party, including the prince, spent the night huddled in the rain sharing a bottle of whiskey, the prince amused at Salmon's discomfort at getting the heir to British throne lost in the jungle.[2][3][8]

In 1932 Salmon guided King Albert I of Belgium on a safari and in 1938 Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.[2]

In 1931 at the age of 43, Salmon met a young South African woman Celia de Groot, who had been travelling alone from Durban to Port Said in her small car, the pair marrying soon afterwards. Celia was a slim woman of medium height who was always impeccably dressed and who was herself a keen hunter and expert shot. Every year Celia hunted three elephant, as were permitted with a sporting license, always with her right handed 7x57 Mauser rifle, despite her being left handed. Celia always shot her elephant in the head, and always hunted with only a native tracker, she shot around 50 elephant over the course of her life. The pair had one child, a daughter Charmain.[2][7]

Upon his retirement from the Uganda Game Department, Salmon and Celia moved to South Africa, purchasing a farm in Natal where Salmon died six years later in 1952.[2][3]

• List of famous big game hunters
• W.D.M. "Karamojo" Bell
• James H. Sutherland