1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Anyone with a younger sibling knows how hard 7 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: it is to keep prying eyes from glimpsing their diary 8 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: or rooting around in their closet. It's not always possible 9 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: to lock something valuable away, because someone nosy enough will 10 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: always find a way to get to it. Scribes in 11 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: the Middle Ages had similar problems. They were typically monks 12 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: who were experts in the art of handwriting and calligraphy. 13 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: Churches at the time housed most books and would send 14 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: their scribes to other churches to copy important manuscripts for 15 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: their own libraries. A dedicated monk would spend morning till 16 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: night hunched over a desk, fingers gripping their pen until 17 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: the sun disappeared. Candles were too dangerous to use around 18 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: the manuscripts for obvious reasons. Many books from that era 19 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: had been lost due to fires, some accidentally, some set deliberately, 20 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: so when darkness fell it was time to retire. The 21 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: work would then begin with the sun the next day. 22 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: When a scribe finished a book, he might write a 23 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: little note at the end to let the reader know 24 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: who copied it and what they had endured. Some messages 25 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: were even amusing, like the one that read, please give 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: me a drink. Elsewhere the comment let my right hand 27 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: be free from pain conveyed in simple words a sad 28 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: truth about the real cost of these volumes. Books of 29 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: this time period were typically made of parchment, a kind 30 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: of paper made from animal skin. This material was crafted 31 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: by skilled tradesmen, which meant it cost quite a bit 32 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: of money to procure. Ascribe would then copy an important 33 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: manuscript onto it, such as the Bible. All of this 34 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,959 Speaker 1: specialized labor made books collectors items for the wealthy. However, 35 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: since these objects were usually found only in monasteries and 36 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: certain private collections, they also became prime targets for thieves, 37 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: and it was easy picking too. These scribes didn't have 38 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: a proper way to safeguard their works in progress, and 39 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: their libraries didn't have the space or resources to keep 40 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: every volume behind lock and key. Instead, they came up 41 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: with a more inventive way to discourage people from stealing 42 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: their books. They used their words. At the beginning of 43 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: a volume, and sometimes even at the end, the scribe 44 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: or the book's owner would write a curse for any 45 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:48,559 Speaker 1: would be thief. Punishments wished upon them ranged from excommunication 46 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: from the church or anathema, a special formal curse issued 47 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: by someone powerful like the pope, two more um creative 48 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,839 Speaker 1: methods of retribution. For example, one third teenth century text 49 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: kept at the Vatican cursed anyone who stole it with 50 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: having their eyes torn out. Others warn of being hanged 51 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: or eaten by pigs, or drowned, sometimes all three together. 52 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: And book curses weren't bestowed only upon thieves. If a 53 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: book was borrowed and not returned, or if it was damaged, 54 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: then that person might invite all kinds of torture upon themselves. 55 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: They could be sentenced to the pits of hell, where 56 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: they would be poked with forks by demons. Some books 57 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: just flat out implied that the offending person would die immediately. 58 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: Of course, scribes didn't spend much of their time coming 59 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: up with a large variety of curses to put in 60 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: their books. Most medieval text features similar warnings within their pages. 61 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: The messages were just meant to be a simple deterrent. 62 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: At the time, something as serious as anathema or excommunication 63 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: was enough to ward off all but the greediest defenders. 64 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: For them to lose a connection to the church was 65 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: punishment worse than death. Still, it's clear by of the 66 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: more detailed curses that scribes and book owners took at 67 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: least a little pleasure in explaining exactly how a thief 68 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: was supposed to die. In one copy of the Christian Bible, 69 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: written during the late eleven hundred, ascribe wrote the following, 70 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: if anyone take away this book, let him die the death, 71 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: let him be fried in a pan. Let the falling 72 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 1: sickness and fever sees him. Let him be broken on 73 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: the wheel and hanged effective. Well, it's hard to say 74 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: for sure, but curious you better believe it. There's a 75 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: reason people are afraid of the dark. It's our fear 76 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: of the unknown, what might be lurking in the shadows, 77 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: waiting to strike. Sure, our parents tell us, as they 78 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,239 Speaker 1: tuck us into bed, that there's nothing to worry about, 79 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: that the dark can't hurt us, But oh how wrong 80 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: they are. In Kenya, in the British began construction of 81 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: a railway bridge over the Tsavo River. The project was 82 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: part of a massive undertaking to connect Uganda with the 83 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: Indian Ocean. Miles of camps were set up and thousands 84 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: of Indian laborers moved in to start work on the bridge. 85 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 1: Heading up the project was John Henry Patterson, a lieutenant 86 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: colonel with the British Army, but just days after his arrival, 87 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: the disappearances started. For nine months, workers were snatched from 88 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,119 Speaker 1: their tents each night. Sometimes there would be no trace 89 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: of them, but occasionally the remains would be found just 90 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: outside of camp. And nothing they did to keep their 91 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: attackers at bay worked. The campfires they built couldn't protect them, 92 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 1: neither could the barricades they made using the local whistling 93 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: thorn trees. No matter how hard they tried to protect themselves, 94 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: it just wasn't enough. Whatever was stocking them in the 95 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:57,600 Speaker 1: darkness was determined to get them. The disappearances did eventually stop, temporarily, 96 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: at least, which relieve the laborers who thought the worst 97 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: was finally behind them. Sadly, whatever had been taking them 98 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: had moved on to a nearby encampment instead. Once they'd 99 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: grown board, the attackers returned and the abductions increased. Every night, 100 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: another worker disappeared into the African wilderness, never to be 101 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: seen again. But Patterson eventually figured out what was going on. 102 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 1: There had always been two assailants, he said, but in 103 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: the beginning only one would enter the camp while the 104 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: others stayed behind. Once they'd gotten comfortable, both of them 105 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: entered together, picking people off too at a time. The 106 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: laborers believed that they were plagued by a demonic force 107 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,480 Speaker 1: brought on by Patterson's arrival. After all, the disappearances had 108 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 1: started shortly after he'd come to Tsavo. They were terrified, 109 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: so much so that many started to leave the work camp, 110 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: which put the project on hold, and of course, Patterson 111 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,480 Speaker 1: was also afraid he was at risk of both being 112 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: mutinied by his workers and of being snatched by what 113 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 1: lurked in the darkness. The British authorities stepped in to 114 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: put a stop to the killings, but don't think of 115 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: them as a night in shining armor coming to rescue 116 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: the workers. They were more worried about the financial straits 117 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: of the project. Caused by the shutdown, so they sent 118 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: an officer named Mr. Whitehead along with his assistant to investigate, 119 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: but just after arriving Methodsavo train station, Whitehead was attacked. 120 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: He suffered multiple lacerations to his back while his assistant 121 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: was carried off. Words soon got back to the main 122 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: office and Indian soldiers were quickly dispatched to hunt down 123 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,239 Speaker 1: who or what was plucking these workers from their tents. 124 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: But rather than weighed around and watched the infantrymen fall 125 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: like toy soldiers one by one, Patterson decided to take 126 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: matters into his own hands. He was a hunter and 127 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: this would prove to be his most dangerous game. After 128 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: setting a trap, he climbed up into a tree and 129 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,880 Speaker 1: took his position for the night. When the killers arrived 130 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: as expected, Patterson named his rifle and fired the bullet 131 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: hit one attacker in the leg, wounding it. Sometime later, though, 132 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: it came back, and when it did Patterson was ready. 133 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: He fired another round, as time through its shoulder and 134 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: straight into its heart, instantly killing it. Its partner was 135 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: more resilient, though it took almost two weeks, nine bullets 136 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: and three rifles before it was finally put down for good. 137 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: The workers soon returned to camp, and the bridge was 138 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: completed in February, and Patterson became a hero, a kind 139 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: of living legend. No one knew exactly how many laborers 140 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: had been killed in the end, but Patterson estimated around 141 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: a hundred and thirty five casualties. The actual numbers, though, 142 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: are thought to be much smaller, perhaps around thirty victims 143 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: in total. As for the attackers, well, they were skinned 144 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: and used as rugs in Patterson's home. Today, they're reconstructed 145 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: bodies as well as their actual skulls, are all on 146 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: display at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. Visitors can 147 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: find them in the Animal Hall. The camps hadn't been 148 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: attacked by angry locals who didn't want a bridge built, 149 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: nor a competing construction company. In fact, the laborers hadn't 150 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: been killed by people at all. Lieutenant Colonel Patterson had 151 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: faced down two killers that had discovered what an abundant 152 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: hunting ground a work camp could really be lions. I 153 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,359 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 154 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 155 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: the show by visiting curiosities podcast dot com. The show 156 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how 157 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 158 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show and 159 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:38,680 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 160 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:43,119 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.