THREE-YEAR-OLD David Rand first took up residence in the jungle when his father had crashed his light plane into a small clearing bordering on a lake deep in the Belgian Congo. John Rand, David's father, was a young American adventurer with wide shoulders and muscles of whipcord and steel. He had been flying his wife, Constance, and their young son from their home in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Cario, where Connie's father had taken seriously ill.

John Rand had received a few scratches when his plane came down, and young David had a nasty bump on the head, but Constance had suffered a fractured leg. Connie's bad leg delayed any plans that Rand might have to hike the hundreds of miles of trackless jungle to the nearest civilized enclave. Forced to rely on rescue by search planes sent out to look for them, John and Connie watched in dismay as the few planes that flew into their area continued on their way without spotting the hapless Rands.

Although John Rand was concerned for the safety of his wife and child, and Constance feared for the safety of her son, young David Rand showed an early affinity for jungle life. An affinity that would serve him in good stead in the times to come.

Like that other jungle lord, Tarzan, young David soon lost his mother--Constance succumbed to a jungle fever early on in the Rand family's struggle for survival. Unlike Tarzan, however, David Rand was fortunate in having his father to watch out for him during his developing years--though in a somewhat dimished capacity. While preparing for the long journey that he and his son must take to make it back to civilization, John Rand had been struck a glancing blow by the limb of a falling tree and was never quite the same again. After his injury, John Rand lost all interest in returning to civilization--though luckily for David, his father retained enough of his faculties to well provide for the growing boy.

As he grew older, young David became more and more an inhabitant of the jungle--the only home that he could ever remember. On one of his solitary walks through the jungle, David came upon Zar, the lion, floundering in a patch of quicksand. David cut boughs and brush from the surrounding foliage and threw them out to Zar. Finding purchase on the debris, Zar was able to pull himself from the quicksand--never forgetting the kindness that David had shown him.

When he was thirteen, David lost his father, and found himself alone in the depths of the Belgian Congo. Remembering his friendship with Zar, David moved into the lion's cave--sharing it with his leonine friend and Sha, Zar's mate. With his last connection to civilzation lost, David adopted the name of Ka-Zar, brother to Zar the mighty.