The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-05-11
Lieutenant Cameron's Explorations In
Africa.

The principal discoveries made by
Lieut.. Cameron on his foot journey
across the continent of Africa were
made known, before the explorers ar
rival in England, by the letters which
he forwarded from Benguela. They
entitled him to a hearty welcome IN
London, and he has received it. Inc
Royal Geographical Society invited him
TO address them at special meeting
held in a larger hall than their own, 10
accommodate the throng of listeners,
and presided over by royal Duke'Who
introduced the speaker; and at the close
of the evening he was awarded the So
ciety's gold medal, the highest honor
of geographical science.
Lieut.. Gameron's speech was inter-
esting in its details, though its main
features naturally lacked novelty, ow-
ing TO the previous publication of his
letters. The skeleton sketch of explo-
ration is now filed in, however, with
lights and shades and colors which
make it effective, and we learn some
thing about what walk of three thou
sand miles through the interior OF a
mysterious continent really is. And it
is serious affair, though sometimes
funny enough. AT least the Royal Geo
graphical Society seemed to think it was
funny, for they roared with laughter at
the statement that in Ugogo the chief
and all hands were drunk and would
not allow the party to pass on the day
! they arrived, and the next day the
chief would receive the tribute only
through his prime minister, and he
was TOO drunk to transact any
business, and SO it went on from day to
\ day. More amusement was caused by
Lieut.. Cameron's account of the peo-
pie of Uguhha. He said they were dis
tinguished by the peculiar and tasteful
manner in which they dress their hair,
and by the elaborate tattooing on the
women's stomachs. Their clothing
then appeared to him remarkable, but,
compared with what he saw further on
was ample. This remark excited great
laughter.
In another tribe the women arranged
their hair in a most extraordinary man
ner, with head-dresses looking like al
old-fashioned bonnet with the back out
and long ringlets falling over the. neck
/ This was in q district west Of the grea
Tanganyika lake, and where the expe
dition first encountered hostilities
from the natives. The leather coat
which Lieut.. Cameron wore saved hin
from being wounded by the arrows
which were suddenly showered upor
them as they were traversing strip OF
! Jungle. Some counter manifestation
was necessary, but the explorer was un
willing to use firearms. He had re,
course to the good old English weapons
employed in the manly art of self-de
Tense. 81 ran this man down." hi
saws, "and gave him a thrashing
Tcheersl but would not allow any one
to fire in return, and walked straight VI
to some people who were in front OF US
We tried to make a palaver, in which,
after a time, we were successful, and
we went on with the natives as the best
of friends"
A pet goat named Dinah, which
accompanied Lieut.. Cameron, was
the cause of the next difficulty, which
was more serious. The goat had
slept outside the camp, and in the
morning her master went to look fol
her. Approaching the neighboring vii
lage, entirely unarmed and unsuspect,
ing harm, he inquired of the natives
concerning his goat, when all at once
they began firing upon him. They then
advanced, about five hundred strong,
in a most threatening manner, but he
secured his rife in time and was obliged
to wound a few of his foes through the
legs before they would desist from the
attack. This demonstration appeased
their ardor somewhat, and negotiations
for peace were in progress when anoth-
er party of natives came up and foment-
ed discord again. Spear throwing be-
gan, and Lieut.. Cameron found it nee
essary to check it by burning down the
village. A fortifcation was thrown up
on its site-afterward named Fort Di-
nah, in honor of the goat-where the
expedition was virtually imprisoned
for five days. 1t became evident that
they must perish unless they resorted
to harsher measures, and at last they
fired upon the besiegers with fatal eff
feet This at once brought about peace.
The hostile chiefs offered indemnity,
but this was declined, though presents
we're exchanged as an evidence of
friendship. In this instance the use OF
the rifle seemed essential to safety, but
throughout the march Lieut.. Cameron
carefully abstained from giving the
slightest cause of offense to the inhab-
itants, and he never made any hostile
1 ,,,1o-, Tha Ir-oc Of hic
party were imperiled.
Sir Henry Rawlinson truly remarked
that Lieut.. Cameron was not one OF
those explorers who carry their eyes in
their pockets. Some of the vegetation
he met with, however, would hardly
have escaped the attention even of such
explorers. In Ugogo he encamped I'M
der one of three enormous trees-his
own caravan and two others which ac-
companied it, comprising about five
hundred men in all, resting under the
shade of single tree. And if the trees
were like temples, the grass was like
trees; for we are told of plains on
which the grass was twelve feet high,
with stalks of corresponding magni-
tude.
Z
Everywhere that Livingstone had
been he was well and acknowledgements
bered. The Arabs showed great re-
spect to his memory, and near the west
coast the fact that he rode on an OK had
made lasting impression on the PEG.
pile. One of the most curious relics OF
the great explorer recovered by Lieut.
Cameron is the chronometerw which Liv-
ingstone playfully called his dead chro.
nometer, because, although it ran per.
fectly for three hours and half day,
it would run no more. This character
istic of the instrument was verified by
Lieut.. Cameron, who used the same
thermometer in some of his own observa.
tions.-Ne1O York Sun.
A Renaissance Of the Alamo.