New-York tribune., 1909-03-18
OVER ROOSEVELT ROUTE
U7inston Spencer ChmchWs african
Trip Recalled.

Winston Spencer Churchill. British Minister Of
Colonies. gives account Of his expedition in
British East Africa which traces almost exactly
the route Mr. Roosevelt purposes to follow. Dur
ing his trip an English servant Of Mr.. Churchill
succumbed to a swiftly fatal and mysterious fever
hut the other members of the party suffered no
evil consequences.
According 10 Mr.. Churchill It would seem that
by far the interesting portion Of the Roose-
welt trip will be through the Uganda Protectorate.
where travel is by foot bicycle or caravan. unless
one elects to ride upon seat borne on the shou-
ders Of Latives. The Uganda Railroad does not
penetrate Uganda but only reaches to H. lis nland
terminus being at Port Florence, on Lake Victoria.
Not until the railroad has been left behind ana
the party enters Uganda proper, the garden OF
flowers and butterflies. will the supreme posi-
bilities of the exploration be realized SINISTER
beasts there are without number. but the forests
that conceal them are Of surprising grandeur and
the foliage of indescribable beauty The natives
are friendly gentle Of manner and Of considerable
intelligence The air is soft and cool
Vet the contrast between appearance and reality
is striking. Every white man seems to tcel 4
sense Of undehnable oppression and Mr.. ChurcAlll
saws that It will never be a white mans country.
"A cut will not heal; a scratch testers In the
third year Of residence even small wound be-
comes running sore. one day a man feels per-
fectlv well: the next. for apparent cause, he
is PROSTATE with malaria and with malaria OF
pecuitarIv persistent kind, turning often in the
third or fourth attack TO blackwater fever.
daily dose of ten grains of quinine served 10 ward
off malaria in the Of the Churchill party.
The impression gained from Mr. Churchill is that
The traveller has less to fear from beasts than
from the fever transmitted by the tsetse fly. which
when infected In a manner yet undetermined hy
scientists becomes a deadly assassin But the zone
of the fly is known; his home is In the trees
and bushes and near the water. and he may ne
avoided According 20 Mr.. Churchill this deadly
insect first appeared in the Kingdom of Uganda IN
the summer Of 1901 and within five years had hll'eu
two out of three of all the inhabitants no less
than two hundred thousand persons. dying from
the poison u hiCh he spread.
But II will he some time before the party reaches
Uganda and for the first six months headquar-
ters viii be Nairobi. from which point mum
berIess excursions will be made. Nairobi Is the
capital OF the East African Proectorate ana Is dz
miles from Mombasa by rail. It is built on lowland
and is not particularly healthful, and of its 1900
residents less than 600 white. There are 1000
natives. and the remainder are Indians
Here Is stationed brigade of the Kings Afri-
can Rifles. and the town is the headquarters OF
the administration and the central office Of the
Uganda Railroad. Before Nairobi is reached the
Roosevelt party will have interesting railroad
Journey When Mr Churchill made this trip he occu-
pied seat on the pilot Contrary popular opinion.
perhaps the courage OF the Roosevelt party will
not be by its encounters with lions, for this
beast beats a hasty retreat when approached, anu
only shows its fighting qualities when at bay.
Rather will vslor be shown in the Staying or a
rhinoceros. The huge body offers an easy mark
but the bulrs-eye is the eye heart. Unless you
hit vital spot ne takes his turn at you promptly
Mr.. Churchill got a rhnoceros out Of herd OF
three He says:
Great is the moral effect OF foe wha advances.
Every body fred. Sttl the ponderous brute came on
a. II he were invulnerabIe. as If he we're engine
or some great steam barge imptrvious 20 bullets
insensible 10 pain fear. Thirty seconds more
and nc Will close. An impalpable curtain seems 10
roll itself Up the mind, revealing mental picture
strangely lighted Yet very still. where objects have
new values and whore a patch OF white grass In
the foreground four or five yards away seems 70
possess astonishing significance.
1t is there that the last two shots that yet re
main before the resources Of civilization are ex-
hausted must be fired. There is time 70 reflect
With some detachment that, after ALL We are the
agEressors: We II Is who have forced the conflict
by an unprovokei assault with murderous intent
as,on peaceful herbivore; that II there is such
thing as right and wrong between man and beast
and who shall say there rot?-right Is plainly on
his side: there is time for this before / perceive
that stunned and dazed by the frightful concus-
sions of modern firearms, he has sweTved sharp 10
the right and is now moving across our front.
hroadsde on the same swift trot.
More firing and as 1 reload some one says he is
down. and fire instead at his smaller companion.
already some distance of upon the plain. But one
rhinoceros hunt is like another. except in its de
tails and l Will occupy the reader with the
account % this new pursuit and death Suffice 1t
10 say thar in the elements Of neurotic expert
ence such an encounter 81 30 me fully equal -
half an hours brisk skirmish at six or seven hun
dred yards-and with an important addition. In
war there IS a cause. there is duty. there is hope
Of glory. for who tell what may be won before
night? But here AT the is only hide horn
and carcass over which the vultures have al
ready begun 70 wheel