God of the White Nile

The Clyde Beatty Show! Girls Greatest Wild Animal Trainer Clyde Beatty with an exciting adventure from his brilliant career. The circus means thrills, excitement, snarling jungle beasts. The circus means fun for young folks and old, but under the big top you see only a part of the story.

The real drama comes behind the scenes where 500 people live as one family, where Clyde Beatty constantly risks death in the most dangerous act on earth. This master of the big cats has journey to Africa and India, hunting down his beasts in their native jungle.

All of this is part of the Clyde Beatty story. Here in Mr. Beatty's own words is the adventure he calls, God of the White Nile. Contrary to popular opinion, lions and tigers in captivity do not make good performers under the big top.

Actually, I consider them far more unpredictable and dangerous than those born and raised in their native jungle. For this reason I almost never use anything but jungle bread animals in my act. Most of my charges are purchased from wild animal dealers, but sometimes I mix business with pleasure and spend my vacations on extended hunting expeditions.

One such memorable trip took place several years ago in central East Africa. My wife Harriet and a group of companions journeyed with me to Cairo by air, then by steamer to Djibouti, the capital of French Somaliland, situated in the Gulf of Aden.

The evening before starting off into the jungle, we were dining in Djibouti's finest hotel. We were in a merry mood and eager to begin our adventure. Well eat, hardly and drink deeply comrades, for tomorrow we begin dining out of tin.