A Guide to the Beasts of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson Read Free Book Online

line’ from the Indian Ocean to Lake Victoria. Originally
     built on a modest five acres of ground on the outskirts of what was then known as the
     ‘Indian Quarter’, it was by now surrounded on all sides by a modern city.
     Instead of a bare track in front, there was a sealed road; instead of a wire fence round
     it, there was a thick hedge; instead of coffee plantations on three sides, there were
     the mansions of the rich and powerful. It boasted a large bar, a dining room and a
     purpose-built photographic darkroom (though, with digital photography, who uses a
     darkroom these days?), as well as six squash courts, two tennis courts, a swimming pool
     and a billiard room with four full-sized tables (only one at the Muthaiga Club now,
     alas).
    Those of you unfamiliar with billiards might
     think thata game played between two people with two sticks and three
     balls on a twelve-foot table would not be the most thrilling of pastimes. You might
     imagine that it would not have quite the excitement of snooker, say, with its fifteen
     red balls and six colours, or the pizzazz of American eight-ball, with all those spots
     and stripes and dreaded black ball packed on to a nine-foot table. But billiards is a
     game of great subtlety and skill. Sinking balls is only part of it; the in-off shot is
     usually of more value than the straight pot, and you can also score with a cannon
     (hitting both the other balls with your cue ball). To some extent it is a game of simple
     physics – of force and momentum, angles and spin. But, above all, billiards is a
     philosopher’s game – and I suspect that this is largely why it has long been the
     game of choice among members of the Asadi Club. Though billiards may be a simple game,
     it is by no means easy.
    ‘Foul stroke,’ said the Tiger.
     ‘Two points to Khan. Khan eighty-six points, Malik fifty-three.’
    ‘Getting a little excited there,
     Jack.’
    The annoying thing was that Harry Khan was
     quite right. Mr Malik had no one to blame for the miscue but himself. He had been doing
     well throughout the game so far – nothing ambitious, nothing rushed. But now, in trying
     to push his cue ball through for a simple follow-on cannon, he had hit it twice. No, he
     had no one to blame but himself.
    Here’s a tip I learned from my friend
     Kennedy. If you elect to take a spot after your opponent has played a foul, place your
     own ball one and a half ball-widths from the right side of the D, then line up on the
     right edge of your opponent’s white ball and play your own ball straight – bottom
     or side spin is not required for this shot. Your ballwill bounce off
     your opponent’s and sink neatly in the top right pocket. If you calculate the pace
     correctly the other white will, at the same time, trickle up the table, bounce off the
     top cushion and come to rest near enough the red to offer a cannon for the next shot, or
     even another in-off. Harry Khan must have known this too. He took the spot and
     calculated the pace correctly. He sank his ball, hit the cannon, then another. Three
     more reds made the winning score of 101.
    ‘Looks like you lose this time, eh,
     Jack?’
    ‘Yes. Well played, Khan. Can I buy you
     a drink?’
    ‘JD on the rocks. No, wait a
     minute.’ He looked at the gold Rolex on his wrist. ‘Make that a rain check,
     I’ve got to get back to town.’
    ‘Well, come back, won’t
     you?’ said Mr Patel. ‘Malik can always use another lesson.’
    ‘You know, I might do that. I kind of
     like this old place.’ He looked around the room. ‘But ever thought of having
     it spruced up a bit? Like, modernized?’
    Mr Malik followed his gaze. Well, perhaps
     some of the rooms could do with some fresh paint – though the whole place had been
     redone after the kitchen fire and that was only … gosh, was it really twelve
     years ago?
    ‘It’s not easy to get things
     changed around here, I’m afraid,’ said Tiger Singh.
    ‘That’s