Gunnison news-champion., 1908-07-17

lt seems 10 be generally accepted
a. a definite plan OF President Raose-
welt that with the close OF his term Of
'u'tCe next March hs will go % Africa
to try his sportsmans skill upon the
hig game 0f the DARK continent Hav-
1ng conquered all the known varieties
ui Wild animals in America our siren
nous president would search out the
biggest game 10 be found in the world
and try his luck with lions. tigers. Gle
uhants rhinocer0ses. etc Time was
when Sir George Gore came to the
Rocky mountains to get the ultimate
thriller in the way of hunting expedi
tiOn. Now our western country has
lost all its prestige. with its stupid
bobcats and inoffensiye coyotes. since
II is conceded that the most wary
hunter is he who can shoot prairie
dog without knocking 1t over into its
own impregnable hole in the ground
A prairie dog Is such a trophy as once
the ferocious grizzly was thought to
be. And. besides. the president has ey-
hausied all the possibilities of his own
hunting grounds.
Unless something not now anticipat.
ed transpires on his political or per
sOnal horizon, President Roosevelt will
set sail the first of April next for the
north coast of Africa. thence to make
"a trip of something over 1000 miles
partly by boat. partly by the Cape to
Cairo railroad the rest of the way on
foot on horseback and any other way
possible II is his intention to take
his son Kermit with him, and he may
also be accompanied by several
famous hunters; but Il is distinctly un-
derstood that there are to be no news
paper men and no camera fiends II
anything now Unforeseen should arise
to prevent the consummation of this
plan next April. It will he carried out
at a later date. The president has his
heart set on hunting big game in cen
tral Africa. and nothing but the un-
looked-for failure of his great vital
ity will ultimately deter him from
gratifying this ambition.
II is asserted that he will go TO So
maitland A glance at the map is
rather disconcerting when one at
tempts TO satisfy his mind as to the
exact location of Mr. Roosevelts out
Sng. There is so much territory that
Is occupied by Somali tribes under
one protectorate or another. that a
year and half seems all too short to
hunt all over this land. Later infor-
nation has it that the hunt will be in
Uganda
In the era of Greek power II was
universally believed that the Nile was
without any visible source, that it had
rushed inland and hidden its head in
the earth when Phaethon. that imper-
tinent son of Apollo. precipitated the
sun down into the desert of Sahara.
Now it is known, in vague sort Of
way. that Father Nile has as many
heads as an hydra. although they are
even yet pretty successfully hidden.
II is 10 the vicinity of these enormous
lakes that the president will go In or
der 10 put himself on record among
the mighty Nimrods of history. It is
generally conceded among hunters
that a man has really not hunted at
all until he has tried his hand in AZ
rica, and it is the consensus of opin-
ion among African hunters that the
cream of the sport is to be had in
Uganda.
To locate this section of the Dark
continent definitely. ii is only neces-
sary 20 remark that ii is surrounded
by UGyoro. Uson CORA. Usoga and Uzin.
ja-sort of family resemblance among
those names, Should the fastidiOus
demand further boundary marks. II
might be well to add that Uganda is
part Of British East Africa, that il
touches the northeastern part of the
Congo Free State and Is bounded on
the south by German East Africa and
Victoria NyanZa, the greatest and
most picturesque Of all the lakes OF
interior Africa From the port on this
lake 70 Mombasa. the eastern terruin
us Of the British railroad on the In
dian ocean. is a distance Of 600 miles
and the hunting ground is fully POI
miles farther inland II has been cal
culated that the distance the president
viii travel. from Cairo TO Mombasa
is exactly 1891 miles. allowing for nc