Perth Amboy evening news., 1903-11-16
TO FEAR.
Women Who Are Famous as Ex-
plorers of Far Countries.
Although DeIicately Nurtured and
Fragile They Face Death in
Many Forms without
"a

Ing forms is usually a delicately nurL
tured, fragile, essentially feminine Wom-
an, and as far removed as possible from
the amazon one might naturally picture
her, is a fact likely to upset all ones
preconceived ideas about her. TINS is
true of nearly all famous woman eXplor-
ers, from Mary Motfat and Lady Baker
to Miss Kingsley and Mrs. Theodore
Bent of later days.
Lady Baker was such an absolute
stranger to fear thai she would Walk
alone into the tents of the most ruthless
of slave dealers and calmly lead off his
captives from under his very eyes, and
| Mrs. Marion Mulhall, who risked death
q dozen times and triumphed over hard
ships that might nave killed the strong
est man, in the dark, wild country that
lies between the Amazon and the Andes,
is a woman of such q fragile and deli
cate appearance that one might think
a March wind would blow her away.
Miss Gordon-Cumming was born
with an adventurous strain in her blood,
for her very name recalls thrilling sto-
ries of fights with wild animals in little
! known lands, and she has proved her
| self worthy of her parentase. 1t is diff
ficult to say what dark corners of the
earth this daring woman has no in
Vaded. She has rambled thousands OF
miles in China; was the first white wom-
an to penetrate the mysteries of Thibet;
she has seen the sun rise from the gran
tie crags of California, has climbed the
Himalayas, looked on the fire fountains
of Hawaii, played at Robinson Crusoe
on scores of Pacific islands, has made
herself quite at home in the heart Of
Fiji and New Zealand, and is as ia
miliar with India and Ceylon in their
least known districts as with Bond
street. The story of her adventures
reads like a thrilling romance-from
her brushes with death among the Pa
mfrs to her experiences of Somoan reb-
els.
A more fearless explorer, male or fe- |
male, than Miss Mary Kingsley, niece
of Canon Kingsley. has probably never
lived. She perfectly reveled in eXplor-
ing countries in which no European had
ever set foot, and instead of avoiding
danger seemed actually to court 1t.
Everyone thought her mad when she
started on her journey of exploration
in the elephant and gorilla countries of
South Africa, with an escort Of treach-
erous natives. In the rapids of N'ojole
her was upset three times and each
time she narrowly escaped death by
clinging to o rock until she was rescued.
On one occasion she faced alone al
fierce and enormous gorilla, while her
cowardly escort tool to their heels; and,
later, she spent some weeks among the
cannibals in the Rembwe country, max
ing friends of the natives whose larders
were stocked with human joints. in
this country" Miss Kingsley wrote, "the
dead are cut up and kept in larders, pre-
cisely as civilized people keep their fresh
meat. The bones are scattered about
the country, which is difficult of loco
ton on account of the vast number of
concealed man traps"
Mrs. Theodore Bent, another woman
whose, appearance suggests rather the
drawing-room than the trackless des-
erts, has outstripped many a male ex-
p plorer in her daring and her defiance of
fatigue and danger.
Not long ago, when she was travelling |
with her husband in South Arabia, she
had many a narrow escape from coward
ly bullets, and once she was ordered 20
dismount in order that her throat
might be cut" Mrs. Bent, it may be in
teresting to add, travels in a tweed
coat and skirt coming well over the
knees, brooches, CATERS and shoes" She
wears a pith hat and always sleeps in
a hammock.
Mrs. Isabella Bishop. the daughter of
a Cheshire rector, has a rare record of
travel and adventure. She has spent
eight years in exploring the least known
parts of Asia-fve Of these years since
she was left a widow. Thibet is an open
book to her, and so are Persia, Kurdis-
tan, Corea, Siberia and China. She has
spent long months among the Rockies,
has climbed the highest peak in Colora-
do, has been kidnapped and nearly shot,
has lived six months in the Sandwich
islands, followed unbeaten tracks in
Japan and has explored every corner of
the Yangtso valley.
Lady Florence Dixie has ridden thou
sands of miles on ~bare-backed horses,
has shot big game and made herself
quite at home among the fierce savages
in Patagonia; and Mrs. Moir has risked
her life scores of times through the
dark jungles and swamps Of central
Africa.
Disappearance of Natural Dyes.
A recent report on the chemical in
dustries of Germany shows how rapid
ly artificial colOring agents are taking
the place of the natural dye formerly
employed. The change is indicated by
the decrease of imports of various dye
woods Among these are hluaMnnd