Evening star., 1898-05-21

In the latter part of the year 1890 it came
10 the knowledge of Karl Hamrach & Co.
that the one firm which they regarded as a
formidale rival, that of Moss & Crawley of
Liverpool and New York. at frequent
intervals receiving choice consignments Of
wild beasts from the east coast of Africa
This bald fact, and the Intelligence that one
of the vessels which brought shipment of
animals had touched at the port of Nom
basa, was the extent of their information
The matter was allowed to rest until Mat
thew Qun returned from the Rocky
mountains Then his employers consulted
him. and the upshot of 1t that Karl
Ham-ach & Co sent the shrewd little agent
off to Mombasa. where he arrived in the
spring of 1871. And this led to his first en-
counter with man whom he wos destined
to be pitted against Oh future occasions-a
man as clever himself. and thoroughly
unscrupulOus in the bargain
At the time of which 1 write the Imperial
British East Africa Company had been
chartered for several years, and had done
much to develop the resources of their ter
ritory- large export trade was carried
on at Mombasa, which the capital of
the protec.orete. and had the finest haI bor
along the entire east coast Qutn found
quarters In the town-this was his first visit
and then spent a week in looking about
and picking up scraps of information. That
interval sufficed to satisfy him that Nom
basa was not the port from which wild
beasts were shipped to Moss q Crawlcy,
but his failure was tempered by discovery
of d different nature, and one that caused
him to alter his plans for the present. He
learned that caravan was now on us way
down TO the coast laden with such export
goods ivory, hides and rubber, ana that
chi iaf in M had SDlen-
did Gagged lions which he hoped to dispose
of at Mornbasa. The source of this news
was an Arat trader just arrived IRON the
interior. He had passed the SioW-traVellnS
caravan l5O miles up country, and he de-
c,ared that it would reach Mombasa In
about four more days
Hero was an opportunity that promised
better results than the search for the mar
ket where Moss & Crawley were procuring
their animals. Quin acted with his usual
promptness and forethought. homeward-
bound vessel lay in the harbor, ana 1he
skipper agreed to take the lions TO i-nSianu
II they should be delivered on board within
a weeks time. From another acquaintance,
a Scotchman named Menzies, gum learned
that the caravan route passed. close Z. d
certain point twenty miles up the Guba
river which stream had Its mouth ten
miles north of Mombasa and penetrated the
country in a northwesterly direction
MenZies owned a good-siZed stern-wheei
steamer and he was about to start 1or a
native village forty miles up the GuDa, lot
the purpose of buying a cargo OF gums ana
spices Quin decided to accompany hlm
half way up the river. stop off there and in
terceu- the caravan, and board the steamer
again on its return. He chose this course
because he feared that an agent OF MOSS x
CrawIey's might be in the nelghporhoou'
aware of the caravans approach. and in
tending TO meet it-indeed. he halr sus-
pected that he was already on the track OF
the mysterious shipments made to the rival
firm at Liverpool. If all went well, ana ne
succeeded in purchasing the lions, Quin
was resolved to take them at once and
transport them down the river on the
steamer Thus he would be the more GER
tain of getting them aboard the nome
Werd-bound vessel in time. and he had
other and weghuer reasons In mind as
well.
Within a few hours after hearing the
Arab traders story Quin had perfected his
arrangements and hired four lean. brown
SwahiH porters. Early the next morning,
with his men and heavy box OF silver dol
lars he was on board Donald Menzies
steamer 1t was a quick run up the coast,
and the day was still young when the
mouth of the Cuba was reached The
steamers whistle screecEed noisy salute
TO II. NJ. s. Darius, an old line-of-battle
ship that had seen its best days, and was
now rnoored hard and fast in the offing. II
was there to prevent the traffic in black
ivory" for the Cuba river, with its shell
teriug maze of creeks and islands. was
known 10 be a resort of many slave-dealing
Arabs and their white-sailed dhOws.
Up the fnuddy Cuba. between distant
shores fringed with green jungle and man
grove swamp, the steamer plOWed its way.
Toward the close of the afternoon Quin and
his men were landed at q small clearing in
the forest. where the bank shelved into
deep water. I'm be back for you in three
days at the most Mcnzies promised, and
he and his helpers waved farewell as the
steamer carried them out of sight around a
bend. Then Quin and the Swahilis cheer