The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-03-27
CONCERNING
EXPEDITION
IN AFRICA
Winston Spencer Churchill
Traces Route Roosevelt
Party Must Take

| Iue dcCOuul gwen ny the 1tlSHl
Hon. Winston Spencer Churchill, Brit
ish minister Of colonies, OF his eXpedi
tion In British East Africa traces al.
most step by step the route to be fol
lowed by the Roosevelt party. During
his trip Mr.. Churchills English sery.
ant succumbed TO a mysterious and
swiftly fatal fever, but the minister
and the other two white men who ac.
compaBied him suffered no i'll effects
| from their equatorial journey.
According 10 Mr. Churchill's obser.
yations, 1t would seem that by far the
most interesting portion of the Roose.
welt trip Will be through the Uganda
protectorate, where travel Is by foot.
bicycle or caravan. unless one elects
10 ride upon seat borne on the shoul-
ders OF natives, The Uganda railroad.
contrary 10 the suggestion of It's name.
does not penetrate Uganda. but only
reaches TO IT. It's inland terminus be-
ing at Port Florence, on Lake Victoria.
Not until the railroad has been left
behind and the party enters Uganda
proper, the garden Of flowers and but
terflies, will the supremest possibili-
ties of the exploration be realized Sin
lister beasts there arc without mum.
ber but the forests that conceal them
are of surprising grandeur and the
foliage of inJescrlbable beauty. The
natives are friendly, gentle of man.
ner and of considerable intelligence
The air is soft and cool. Yet the con-
trast between appearance and reality
Is striking, for this enchanted land is
cursed with malignant attributes. Ev-
cry white man seems 10 feel a sense
of undehnable oppression, and Mr.
Churchill says that II will never be a
white mans country. "A cut will not
heal; scratch testers. In the third
year of residence even small wound
becomes a running sore. One day a
man feels perfectly well; the next, for
10 apparent cause, he Is PROSTATE with
malaria, and with malaria OF a pc
culiarly persistent kind turning often
in the third OF fourth attack TO black
water fever" A daily dose of ten
grains of quinlnc served TO ward off
malaria in the case of the Churchill
party.
The impression gained from Mr.
Churchill's writings Is that the travel
or has less to fear from the ferocious
beasts that inhabit the alluringly beau
tlful Businesses than from the fever
transmitted by the tsetse fly. which,
when infected in a manner yet unde-
termined by scientists. becomes a
deadly assassin. But the zone Of the
tsetse fly is known; his home is in
the trees and bushes and near the
water and he may be avoided Thus
the danger from this source. broadly
speaking. NAV be said to be proper
tionate with the risk which the cxplor-
er voluntarily assumes in the pursuit
OF his explorations. allowance being
made always for bad judgment and
the unexpected fortunes of the hunt
Then there are leg-long boots, gloves
that reach 10 the elbow and wells to
completely protect the head and neck
Mosquito netting incloses the camper
AT night. and in the morning he habit
ually emptics his boots of any unde-
sirable tenant that may have wiggled
I'm under cover of darkness. In tho
case of the Roosevelt party Major Ed
gar A. Mearns will be always at hand
with his antiseptics.
But. however handicapped the tsetse
fly may be In the future pursuit OF his
nefarious calling, his assassinations of
the past are worthy of record. Ac-
corjing to Mr.. Churchill, this deadly
insect first appeared In the kingdom
Of Uganda in the summer OF 1901, and
within five years had killed two out
of three OF all the inhabitants. no less
than 100000 persons dying from the
poison which he spread. 1T might
have been expected wrote Sir H.
Hesketh Bell, the governor of Uganda,
on the subject, that, even though the
negroes showed inability to grasp the
theory of the transmission of disease
by the agency OF insects, the undenia-
BILE deadliness OF the countries bor-
derlng on the lake shore would have
induced them 10 fec from the stricken
land and to have sought in the health
ier districts inland 4 refuge from the
pestilence that was slaying them by
thousands. An extraordinary fatalism,
however, seems to have paralyzed the
natives. and while deploring the sad
ness OF their fate, they appear TO have
accepted death almost with apathy.
But the hclplessness of the native
has given place TO the knowledge OF
the white man, before which the tsetse
fly has fallen back, and the sleeping
sickness IL not conquered, is less TO
be feared than few years ago. Miles
OF brush, fertile breeding places of
disease, have been cut away, and in
its place is growing the vigorous cit
ronella grass.
But II will be some time before the
party reaches Uganda and for the first
six months headquarters will be at
Nair6bi. from which point numberless
excursions will be made Nairobi Is
the capital Of the East African pro-
toctorate. and is 327 miles from Nom
basa by rail 1t is built on lowland
and is not particularly healthful. and
OF Its $4,000 residents less than COO
are white. There are 10000 natives
and the rest are Indians Here is sta
toned a brigade of the kings African
rifles, and the town is the headquar-
ters OF the administration and the cen
trail Office OF the Uganda railroad. Be
fore Nairobi is reached the Roosevelt
party will have an interesting railroad
journey. which will be accomplished
| with less discomfort than one might
| imagine would be possible over a road
the locomotives of which depend upon
wood for fuel. Built by the British
government and steadily improved. the
road has reached a state OF crejitable
efficiency. Tho rosdbed is good and
the gradual incline is overcome al
| fairly good speed When Mr.. Churchill
made this trip he occupied a scat on
the cowcatcher. and 1t is safe To say
| that the Americans Will be satisfied