The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-02-08

Leader of the Columbian Museum Expedition
Central Africa.
curate information concerning the dis
position Of the natives. This will deter
mine the point Of entrance into the dark
continent, the present preference being
Zanzibar or Beira. The OK carts, horses,
tents, weapons and equipment will be
bought in Cape Town, and the usual
gu ard and escort Of 200 Or 300 savages
Will be enlisted.
This project has been under advisenlent
for some time. 1t was suggested by the
difficulty of securing rare specimens of
the sub-tropical animals, a difficulty
which. In some directions can no longer
be solved, even by paying exorbitant
picked up around the world, piece
wherever dealer or a collector had a
duplicate to trade or sell. Additions
came slowly. They would be slower each
year, a fact which convinced the Exeou-
tive Committee that it was wise thing
to adopt the professors suggestion TO
beat the African woods.
Director in Chief Skiff will not be
one of the members. He does not share
the professors delight in flushing a
double-horned rhinoceros in a swamp de-
voted to the culture of serpents, miasma,
and fever. He will direct operations at
the home base of supplies and is certain
that all the world will be sounding the
praises of the great movement in the
cause Of science. MIR. Skiff and the rro-
lesser have worked carefully over the
project, providing for all imaginable OBJ
staoles. There will be taken supplies for
blight months work, but the difficulty of
bhe Invasion may keep the men away for
more than a year.
OF exploration. He has hunted over
most Of the countries, from Montana to
Siam. His game sack contains almost
every thing in the animal kingdom I'D to
elephants This time he hopes to bag
few OF these. He proposes to shoot every
thing which passes his way of worth to
Sha mussum. The list of things he ex.
poets TO find includes all the big fellows
girafIes, gnus, zebras, wart hogs, lions.
antelopes. hippopotaMai sables, leopards
ayenas and others of this set, besides all
manAer OF snakes and flying creatures.
Itsts new determined, in case the con-
aition Of the country permits, to estab-
lish tbs permanent headquarters at Fort
Salisbury. an English outpost. This will
be the centre OF operation. and, leaving
this BARRACKS early In June, the professor
and Mr.. Ahsley will cut themselves from
the civilized world for a period of six
months. They will have two wagons,
especially constructed for the work, and
each drawn by twenty oxen. Kaffir drivers
alone can be trusted. The immediate
assistants will be chosen from that race,
and 80 many OF the barbarians Ewlll be
asked to join the caravan as can be
tempted by promise of food.
Only the guides and native hunters
Will be provided with weapons. The ret
inue, which usually reaches about 3Oo
will be expected to do the work. make
tha roads, and help in the search for
game. Bach wagon will have a carrying
capacity of three tons. All care will be
taken not TO secure common specimens,
and duplicates will DO brought home to
excange for other pelts in the European
and American collections. The value of
this trading is promised to more than
equal the COST of the expedition.
Mashonaland, according to the plans,
offers the most attractions A man who
writes from that benighted country de-
csaxes the forests contain about all the
mammals, reptiles and birds taken into
thefark Prof. Elliot will try this hunt
ing ground, and push north and west to
tho edge of Observation-Disclosures. This will
bs'the furthermost territory since most of
the men who have dared to go into this
province have remained there. The
people have no courtesies for white men.
MIR. Akeley will.make an especial study
of the habitat of the animals, that the
groupings in the museum may be natu-
raj. There will be an abolition of the
style Of "etuffed" animals which stand
on pegs and seem to have hides OF cloth
and vftals Of sawdust. This means that
when the expedition find happy group
OF hippopotami basking in the sun, all
the snakes hanging from the boughs, all
the crocodiles, the birds and lizards will
be secured forssan appropriate setting.
Prof. Elliot came to Chicago little
more than year ago. His ideas in zool-
egy are the law in this branch. He was
born in New York city. European gov
ernments have bestowed upon him deon-
rations for scholarship. He is the author
of many books dealing with his special
field. He Is a member Of the Royal So
oiety OF Edinburgh and of the geological
societies of London and France. He is
courageous, fearless and vigorous, despite
his hair is as white as mans of sixty
years. Mr.. Akeley is thrty-one years old,
also New Yorker by birth, ana knows
the hardships of life in the woods. Prof.
Elliot leaves a family. Mr.. Akeley is a
bachelor.