The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-01-08

boys Iney always sing anC keep In
time by giving the boat thud with the
paddles between each stroke. The river
is over half mile wide and it widens
out to three miles in some places, but is
so shallow in some places that boat
coming up from the sea must not carry
more than fifteen inches of water About
mile above the ferry is the entrance to
the gorge. At this place the great vol
ume Of water rushes between two noun
tains in space but few rods wide.
The current is very swift at any point.
We went to Feira by canoe in As min
utes and it took US four hours to return.
We still had sixty miles to travel before
arriving at our destination
On May 9th we slept under the spread
ing boughs of large bao- bob Tor cream
of tartar tree. at the village of Mapan-
chas, where our home was to be for the
next year The first thing for US to do
was to clear piece Of ground and build
huts. The boys soon built few round
nuts without the use of saw hammer or
nails. Upright poles, inches in the
ground and tied together with the split
bamboo running vertically. and bark
rope. Rafters Of bamboo and covered
with coarse grass. The women from the
kraal doggered the walls and floors, that
is, p'astered them with clay.
About this time Nichols had good
dose of fever and he had no sooner re-
covered than what should Lee do but
follow suit with mild attack Of what
we thought was mild attack Of ty-
phoid, though we had no physician au-
thority for calling it thus
There is any amount and good vari
ETY. of game in this valley. The general
term in this country for Gland, dyker,
klipspringer, widebeest, hartebeest,
mpallah, koodu, bushbok. etc., is chuck"
These range in size from 25 to 1900 lbs,
the Gland being the largest. We have
been doing great deal Of hunting and
specimens of horns and skins of each
kind. have been brought into
camp. Lee seemed to have all the luck
at first, at least that is the way termed
it, as [ hated to own up to that [ was
such poor shot. | was the first one to
see big buck though. AS it was be-
hind one of the big ant heaps that are
so common in this country, [ had ad-
vanced to within fifty yards before saw
the brute. AS big as large OK and I
was as much surprised to see him as he
was to see NE, for I never thought of
shooting until he was off in the bushes,
although I had the incest chance in the
world | have had better luck since,
and have brought in my share of the
game. Would willingly change some
venison for cut Of beef.
There are any amount of flesh eating
animals in the neighborhood. Lions
have gone into one of the nearest kraals
and taken women in broad daylight
One Of our own boys was chased up
tree about two miles from camp one day
by lion, and had to stay there till sun
set, when the lion left. He seemed to
have been quite fed up" by that time
with waiting for the coon to come down.
It is very interesting to listen to the
wild animals at night. A lion roaring in
the distance and in such way that it
almost makes the ground culver. The
howl of the hyena or the bark of the
bush box being chased.by a leopard or
some other blood thirsty animal is very
thrilling. Lee has shot three hyenas by
putting a piece of meat short distance
from the huts, on moonlight night and
they are sure to come and get 1.-THE
meat and charge Of buck-shot.
1t is generally conceded that the birds
in Africa are not charming songsters,
but to even up things, some Of them are
adorned with the most beautifully
blended colors imaginable and would
surely make suggestion to a milliner's
window.
Birds of certain peculiarities are the
go-away bird, which distinctly says ''go-
away" and is bit Of nuisance when
we are out hunting, as he seems to warn
the game that there is danger Anoth
err, has such a long tail that it must fly
against the wind to keep in balance.
The "wozwa flies backwards to keep the
dust out of its eyes-this bird we have
not seen as yet. A bird about the size
of common crow with a head that is
all bill, makes noise so much like
crying baby that you have to look around
to make sure, even though you are in
thick jungle. The honey guide is per-
haps the most extraordinary bird. The
instant the tiny little fellow gets a
glimpse of man, he greets him with an
invitation to follow him, and he will take
you to bees hive. If you accept his
invitation and follow him he will, fly in
the proper direction, chirp until he is
sure you are coming and then fly on to
another tree, and so on, until be shall
guide you to the spot, whete you are
sure to find honey.
We were fairly settled in our new
home when on the tenth of June at mid
night we were burned out. We luckily
saved few personal belongings, but as
to provisions and ammunition we had to
get along the best way possible until we
could get fresh supply from the store,
which took seven days.
While my fellow countrymen were
celebrating the fourth of July, l was
having hot time" too, but in differ
ent way; it was a dose of fever and
temperature of 104. So / had my turn
as we'll as Lee and Nichols. With the
exception of these three cases we have
been enjoying good health. We have a
medicine chest and are prepared to be
our own doctors as far as we are able to
do so, in case of a necessity. To par
TALLY guard against fever, which is so
common in this country, we take five
grains of quinine daily and sleep under
mosquito LETS to protect us from the in
fictitious insects
The natives bring us sweet potatoes.