Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-05
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Special Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence of The Star.
LONDON, December %, 1907
- Jour genuine soldier of fortune
u usually is a shy. modest indi-
vidual, woefully lacking in self
III appreciation. AS Il rule Some
finds him totally unlike the men
tai picture one has formed of him. Sir
Claude Champion de Crespigny. who, after
| forty years of daredevil recklessness, is
preparing. at sixty-five. for Il dash across
the hitherto UNEMPLOYED Kalahari desert of
South Africa, proves no exception to the
rule. He has had more narrow escapes
than he has inches of stature to boast of
were he inclined that way-yet when l
| met him at his London club by appoint
ment, to put together some kind of i
connected story of his wonderful career
he opened up with the amazing assertion
that he didn't think he had anything of
interest to tell. This from veteran who
probably is the best example in Eng
land of the man who lives for adventure
alone, and who, in the comparative quiet
of English life, is like a duck out of
| water.
in crossing the Kalahari desert is not
plain. He does not know himself. Very
probably it is because it has bafT1ed all
the attempts that heretofore have been
e1nade to eXploIG it, No white man ever
has reached the central regions. and the
prospect of htherto~untasted adventures
lures the intrepid spirit of this English
baronet The practical non-existence of
water in this SECOND Death Valley does
not deter him. Quite the opposite for it
seems to add zest to the trip. 1t formed
the point of a jest from his lips when he
mentioned it,
II don't mind admitting" he said as he
outlined his plans, that my chief inter-
est in seeing the famous Kalahari desert
is not exploration. L will leave that end
of the business to Maj. J. r. Scott late
of the Sd Hussars, who will accompany
me. We will have third member, but
the man We have in mind has not yet been
sounded, and SO l am not. at liberty to
mention his name. But go primarily fo-
big game shooting. Around the edges OF
the desert all kinds of African game
abound, and that's where ] expect TO get
the return for my time and trouble.
1.-THE date of the departure has not been
decided yet, but it will be some time next
spring. We shall start from Palachwe, at
the eastern margin of the desert worI
due east for about 30 miles ,and then
southwark to the junction of the Nosob
and the Molopo rivers. The total distance
covered will be something like COO miles.
THE fact that a large portion of the
desert is waterless will. of course. make
progression slow. We shall use cames
which are known to thrive on the borders
of this peculiar region. Water posts will
be esta blished in chosen places and sup
piled from previous posts by means of
camel transport. We do not expect to
make more than ten miles day. so you
see the full trip across the desert will
! take us all of two months.
Maj Scott wants to look for coal; he
was on the borders of the desert several
| years ago with his regiment and his
curiosity was aroused Now he wants to
satisfy it. His stories of the good shoot
ing there have aroused my curiosity. or.
might say, have made my mouth water.
Danger? Oh. yes. there's danger of our
being very thirsty sometimes.
Although Sir Claude dismissed my ques-
| ton to the risks in a rather airy fash
| ion if he and his two equally daring COM
panions succeed in crossing the desert they
will accomplish a feat that has cost many
lives. The natives who live on the border
call it the Desert of the Countless
| Dead" and the folk lore of the tribes for
miles around abound i'm stories of the
weird entertainments and awful dangers
that threaten those who venture within
the confines of the trackless waste. 1t is
interviewer with their religion, and in its
center is supposed to reside their boss
deity and his court.
So strong is THIS feeling that Sir Claude
and his party will not depend upon the
tribes living near the desert for carriers
and guards, but will bring blacks from the
coast to do the work The savages living
in the immediate vicinity believe that an
excursion into the desert will bring mis-
fortune to the family of the transgressor
forever afterward