The Portland daily press., 1896-08-22
EN- ROUTE FOR RHoDEsIA.
Travel is Slow and Distances Enormous
Over "a Representation Plain.
{ From the Pail Mall Gavst4o

Elchl tIc OH MAIL dNZDtfa
A journey form Cape Town IN oountry
to the region upon which, with about
equally mingled rashness and imperti-
nenoe, an English adventurer has tried
to fasten his own now discredited name
substituting Rhodesia for Matabeieland,
was never easy TO make, and is now har-
der than ever before. correspondent
of the Lon lon Chronicle who has lust ac-
oomplished it gives graphic description
IF the difficulties encountered and the
WEAKNESS undergone. He says that soon
after starting he became impressed with
the fact that at least one GLASS of the com
munity has grown fat and prosperous on
the ills of the remainder. The ass-yoeles,
or yultures are, indeed, having time
of peace and plenty such as they never
knew before.
| The raYages of the rinderpest are simply
appalling. From Abyssinia the scourge
has spread south and westward at terri
BILE pace. and with dire results. During
the winter it crossed the Zambesi. and
has rushed southwark through Matabele-
| land ana Msshonaland at the rate of
something like twenty-five miles day,
and scarcely beast of the ruminant
order is spared.
Oxen and sheep fare worse, scarcely
per cont. escaping. But ovats and ganle
are also decimated. Buffalo and buck of
every kind are threatened with final
determination. Luckily horses, mules
and donkeys have not SO far suffered.
For the moment, thanks to vigorous
police measures, the disease has been
checked on the northern border of The
Transvaal and on the borders of Bechu-
analand. But should the infection chance
to pass this line, as most probably it will
do, the result will be appalling. 1t is bad
enough to sea the results in this more
sparsely populated section of the country,
namely, Bechuenaland. Khama alone is
said to have lost some 30. coo head.
Of course the plague has paralyzed the
t.ade. and even communication with
Matabeleland and Mashonaland, since
the supplies of almost every kind have
to he transported over an enormous
length Of road By OK wagons. Indee1,
the distance that divides Cape Town
from its far dependencies is very feeply
realized in England.
Leaving Cape Town by the mort hern
mail at night, you take your rest in turn
down beds as hard as iron. By morning
you find you have climbed the 'sghauts"
and are on the main plateau of the high
veldt, where the air blows fresh and
clear, and the sun shines sire ng and
pleasantly.
For the whole of that day you rattle
across the stony red desert region of the
''karco," with wondrous lights and
shades upon it's rocks and koppies. And
near the line you note occasionally pretty
heaths and flowers. interspersed with the
rusty kerosene tins and broken Square
faoe" BOTTLES of the railway working
gangs.
The only incident to break the monoto-
ny of our journey is the occasional TWEEN
ty-ininutes stops at the roadside stations
where you get your meals. Then on
again through another hard, cold night,
another day, and open grass pl aims, and
vet third night ere you find yourself at
Mafsking, the present terminus of the
railway in Bechuanaland.
Mafeking is group of tim (corrugat-
cd irony stores andLpiles of goods, all
sbrouded in tarpaulins awaiting trans
port TO Mashonnland.
And then we enter on the longest por-
tion Of cur journey. True, we have como
O0A ,,,i1ac frop, Capo Town in tho s,,oy,,
but the 900 still before US are different
matter. They have to be negotiated in
coach-and such coach, regular Buff
falo BilTs "Deadwood, on It's massive
leather springs, with ten poor looking
mules to drag it. Outside are packed our
packed our miserable selyes-eleven of us
as close as we can go.
A crack of the immense whip, foot
of the bugle, q cheer from the population
Of Mafeking, and we are off in q swirl of
dust across the yellow, grassy veldt
At gentle trot our team takes the
great machine along, pattering oheerily
along the hard road until after few
miles it degonerates into a more crumb-
led and sandy track. Then the team
drops into walk, and drags us heavily
along.
At every ten or fifteen miles we get
change of mules, but as we proceed these
changes are scarcely for the better.
Horse sickness has been at work, water
is scarce, famine Is at hand, and, what
is worse, the rinderpest has stopped the
transport wagons bringing up their loads
of corn and forage, and consequently the
mules are starved and weakly-picking
up what sustenance they oan among the
withered heritage of the plain.
Anon our average pace has dwindled
down to three aud even two, short miles
per hour; and though We travel on by
day and night our drive will OCCUPY at
least tsn or twelve days. Never a nights
rest, jolting over an unmade road, drag
ging through the burning heat Of the
day, and chilled with nipping air at
night, packed the while like sardines