Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-08-08
IGZAG AFRICAN JOURNEYS
FIVE YEARS IN THE WTDS IN SEARCH or MINERALS.
Belgian Explorer Visited Many Places Never Before Seen by White Man
Revival OIL MSferO-KOma and the GermanS-GOh Carries OH Woman

lie Movement Geographique, OF
Brussels, Belgium, fills half Of its last
issue with an article by A. ]. Wau
ters, the well-knOwn geographer, de.
scribing the adventures of Belgian
named Adler, who has made a jour.
ney of 1000 miles In Africa In the
wide regions between the routes OF
explorers and prospectors, Adler'f
idea was to discover new mineral
districts and to sell the knowledge
he acquired to the colonial govern
ments or to mining companies.
Leaving Cape Town in March,
1908, he reappeared in Brussels in
April last, Ave years and a month
after he set out on his African wan
derings. He was a prospector with
out grub stakes, and for four-flftha
of his long journey he depended upon
the resources OF the country and the
helpfulness of the natives to whom
he gave medical services, to supply
himself and his half dozen porters
with food. He travelled on foot most
of the way, and as he advanced north
he zlzzagged far east and west. AS
he was looking for new mineral
sources he kept as much as possible
in unknown regions. He has made
the longest journey ever accom-
plished by one man In Africa and
has seen an important area of en-
tlrely new country.
Adler's story as to his route is con-
firmed by letters from colonial off,
Gals, missionaries and traders whom
he met on the way. AS to the results
of his search for minerals, he Ia un-
communicative except that he says
they are important and will be re-
vealed, when he had made arrange
ments, to those who are interested.
He traversed the whole of Portu-
guese East Africa from south to
north, followed a tortuous route
back and forth in the mountainous
southwestern part of German East
Africa, spent many months in the ex-
IRENE eastern part of the Congo
State in the region north of the
Lukua River, where the streams are
still marked on the maps In broken
lines because they have not been ex-
plored, and finally made his way
down from the Congo to the Atlantic.
At the start two other prospectors
were with him as his partners, but
when difficulties began to thicken
they abandoned the enterprise and
he went ON his way alone.
Reaching a mining camp not far
from the delta of the Zambesi
River, he found the miners consider
ably excited over the discovery of a
piece of gold, which, they said, bore
the effigy of King Solomon and was
another proof that this region was
the ancient Ophir and the domain of
the Queen of Sheba, At the north end
of Lake Nyassa Adler met DR.. Koch,
who was studying the causes of the
cattle disease which had wiped out
hundreds of thousands of the native
cattle. Adler says he found every
where that the rinderpest had been
equally destructive to the big game.
He found, however, great herds of
antelope, and in the southwest part
of German East Africa lions, Loop
ards, eheetahs, hyenas and jackals
are the plague of the country, prey
ing upon game and cattle. The gov
eminent had offered a premium of
fifteen rupees for each lion and ten
rupees for each leopard killed.
He spent some time in the country
of Merero, of whom we have heard
very little since many pages of
book were given to him some twenty
years ago. Adler says that Merero
and a neighboring potentate, Roma.
IRE the two most powerful chiefs in
German East Africa and that each
can bring to his suppost about CO.,
900 spears in time of war. Roma
has given the Germans no end of
trouble, but he was finally convinced
that his spears were no match for