Evening star., 1909-04-18

walls of crystal they must surmount finally to
say Excelsior Sella, with his instruments
recorded the height, temperature and other
needed data. as his camera made pictorial his
tory An ample force of porters followed in
their footsteps So carefully was it all planned,
that each days distance to be covered was cal
culated in advance
Their Trip for the Pole
MO wonder the hardy Norsemen cheered
Abruzzi and his comrades they passed
through the streets of Christiania on that sep
tember day in 1900 Nansen himself leading the
applausel These searchers in the unknown had
planted ltalys flag nearer the North Pole than
other pioneers of the Arctic; but victory came
to them because of the same care in preparing
for. this voyage to the ice wastes The Duke
was two years arranging his plans During
that time he not only secured his ship and
equipped the craft, but sought out Nansen.
Nordenskjold, and others who had gone before
them to learn from their own lips the reasons
they gave for success failure Thus he had
the benefit of their experience as well as his
own judgment. His belief that the Pole can
be reached, if at all only by dog sleds is the
belief of nearly all Arctic wanderers to-day.
With food and other supplies for two years.
the expedition that left Christiania in June,
1899. is acknowledged to have been the mcst
complete IN men and equipment that ever
sought the northern ocean Thus it was that
Captain Cagni and three others of the Abruzzi
thirty miles of the goal a record never equaled
until Peary's last voyage.
After the Mountains of the Moon
on the earth is usually specialist. confning
himself to climbing round the roof of the world
perhaps burying himself far back in its des-
erts or forests or sailing on strange waters but
this prince of adventures has done all of these
and more for the quest of the truth about the
Mountains Of the Moon hr,ed
through the jungle into the heart of the Dark
Continent and passing through the mist veil
that has enshrouded this region in so much
mystery True. 1T was known that there were
or of what altitude Stanley, Stuhlmann, Sir
Harry Johnson, and other explorers had pene
trated to the foothills Some had ascended part
of the distance, only to be turned back by
Nature whimsical mood, cropping their way on
the return like blind men because of the cloud
curtain
Hardly had the Duke reached home on his
return from the Arctic before he began to think
of this new field for conquest, and June of 1906
found him and his party at the foothills of
Ruwenzori With Petigax the ever faithful, he
ascended. and found a plateau which afforded
camping spot although nearly covered with
perpetual snow Here the carriers conveyed
the supplies, and from it went the explorers in
search of the truth In one day Abruzzi,
Cagni, Sella, and two Italian mountaineers
climbed distance of fifteen miles round little
mountain range consisting of five peaks which
were from eleven thousand to twelve thousand
feet altitude. These, with the double peak of
Ruwenzori itself, formed the Mountains of the
Moon. which Ptolemy wrote extended clear
across Central Africa The two SUBMITS of
Ruwenzor were ascended for the first time, the
highest being sixteen thousand nine hundred
feet During the month in which the explorers
were above the cloud curtain concealing the
foothills. they had secured so much knowledge
of unknown Africa that the future geography
of the continent will have to be radically
changed.
The Hero of Turin
SUCH are only few chapters from the life Of
this Prince. The personality of the man who
has sought the world beyond civilization and
revealed 50 many OF its important secrets,