The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-04-21
Feeding Roosevelt in Africa
tPstsr hse1ussn. r. R. G. s.. In Ls.Ils's wsshy.)
A hunting party usually carries a

A hunting party usually carries a
bountifully supply Of rice, which can
be bought in any of the Indian stores
at Mombasa or even at Taveta. Chop
boxes, containing sixty pounds of
canned goods, will also be purchased
in Mombasa. Among these canned
goods will be found pears, peaches,
and apricots from California; picked
tongues from South America, corned
beef from Australia, and deviled ham
and chicken from Chicago. Extract
of beef must be a fayorite with the
hunters, for I saw many Of the ma
lives, whose ear lobes are abnormal
ly pierced, wearing a condensed milk
can in one ear and an extract Of beef
jar in the other. An abundant sup
ply of condensed milk is necessary
for the journey, and plenty of tea,
coffee, and cocoa-especially tea.
With the rice one should take chut-
ney, a hot sauce made in India from
the mango fruit mixed with red pep
per. This chutney is said to be a
great preventive of fever. When
starting from large towns like Nom
hasa or Nairobi, the party will carry,
as food for the porters, a large guam
tity of bananas. cocoanuts, and long
stalks of the sugar cane. Some OF
the native tribes, like the Wataveta,
the Wachagga, and Kikuyu, can live
almost entirely upon a few heads a
day of common, coarse maize or corn.
Along the way they will purchase
from native vendors round balls. re-
sembling popcorn balls, made from a.
mixture of white ants and cassava
-four. This cassava -four is beaten
up in mortars, and is made from the
cassava root, which grows in all gar
dens. The natives eat these puff
balls with eager voracity.
When the ex-President starts from
Kisumu for the Nandi plateau and
the Elgon district, his attendants can
buy their food in the market place
Of the Kavirondo, naked natives on
the shores of Lake Victoria Nyanza.
The NASSAU will sell them curdled
milk in long gourds. In districts
where English farmers have settled,
the white men Of the party will be
able to procure good milk and but
ter. At Nakuru, near the railway,
in the region of the Rift valley, there
are five hundred Boer farmers, and
good fresh meat will be easily OBJ
tanned for expeditions toward the
Mau escarpment and Eldama ravine.
In the neighborhood of Nairobi there
are nearly a thousand Englishmen,
and at such farms as that Of Mr..
Heatley, nearly all the English cere-
ais can be bought. The potatoes of
the Nairobi district are becoming
famous throughout East Africa. They
cost about two dollars and a half per
bushel. The Hindus have splendid
vegetable gardens at Nairobi, where
celery, Brussels sprouts, potatoes. to-
matoes, and nearly all the garden
vegetables of the temperate zones are
grown. In the wilder districts around
Mount Elgon there is plenty Of honey
to be had from the wild natives OF
Bukedi. Native sheep and goats will
be found in nearly all the villages,
even in the widest parts, The ma
tiyes, however, do not like to sell any
OF their domestic cattle, because such
animals are used in the purchase of
wives and are supposed to be a sign
of wealth.
In the Uganda country there are
good Indian stores, both at Kampala
and at Entebbe. There are also Eng
lish and Italian merchants in both
of these Uganda towns. Plenty Of rice
and canned goods can be purchased
at Entebbe for the ex-President's
hunting trip through Uganda to the
Congo forests. There is a 'rickshaw
line being established for 1903,
across Uganda nearly two hundred
miles, to Lake Albert Nyanza. All
the country abounds in game, and
there are plenty Of wild guinea fowl
and plantain eaters, besides abun-
dance of cartridges and pigeons.
Among the animals they will be able
to shoot in Uganda are the Speke's
IIdScldpu Va WolCl living ohiA1oh',
of a dark, mouse brown or chestnut
color; the Pallah antelope, Bakers
roam antelope, the white cared kob of
'Unyoro, the steinbuck, the Duyker
antelope of the unwooded plains.
These are some of the game which
will provide the party with food on
its journey through Uganda.
1T is said the eX-President's par
ty will need to pay forty dollars per
day for each white man of the party.
This, I think is an exaggeration. My
friend, Mr.. Dutkewich, and myself
travelled very comfortably through
most of the country yer which the
ex-President is going, and it did not
cost US over ten or twelve dollars
apiece. I should say, then, that twen-
ty dollars per day for each Of the
white men of the party would be an
abundant allowance, even if the price
of chickens went up to sixteen cents
. apiece, which they are very likely to
do with such a distinguished party.
Eggs may even attain a rate of three
n apiece, and potatoes may cost
five cents per pound. A good deal Of
the food Will be supplied by the ma
tive chiefs, who will expect rather
elaborate presents in return. But l
remember receiving a very handsome
goat from Sultan Sulima, of the Wa
choppa trihe for which 7 gave him