The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-13


 country can be covered by rafl. but the last stage viii be by caravan. when he gets to the end of his rail> road journey he win find native port CTS ready to accompany him. The custom is to take about thirty of these for every white man fh the party. and they are paid rom ss.eo to te per month for their services. For the first thirty miles or SO. Mir Roosevelt | will have to watch out for dssertions from his ranks. It Is one of the rules that the porters must be paid a. months wages in advance. and the WI ly Africans are not averse to deserting . day or two after their service De- gins ii is said that one of the sssentiai things to q successful limiting trip to the interior of Africa is an abupdant supply of glass beads and cheap alarm clooks Dismonds have no such yalpe to the interior natives as these pos sess. and Theodore Rooseveltr VIII probably give the world first class imitation Of Christopher, Columbus and Captain John Smith In trading with the aborigines. It is related py Columbus In his diary that he felt ma ny panss of conscience for trading worthless trinkets for valuable gold, but Captain John" Smith has not be- aueathed to posterity single word of regret at being able to drive so good bargain srf
 One of the worst things MT. Roose- veit will have to contend with on his expedition Ia the white ants. These In sects travel in vast hordes. over running everything that comes their way. They can eat anything but stone and metal, and even a snit oi clothes left in their path at night will he no more than tangled bunch or threads next morning. Then there are the poisonous insects with which he will have to contend. Not long ago party of hunters happened to pc In the very section to which MT. Roosevel Is going. One happened to notice something like . mosquito bite on his hand. Ammonia was put on 1t. but the arm began to swell' re- sisting every sort of treatment. FL naiiy 1t was decided to amputate the scared with fire. Even this heroic treatment did not avail. and the vic- tim finally died in unutterabie agony. Up to three generations ago the in- terior of Africa was as unknown as the region of the South Pole Is today No matter that for centuries before the coast regions of Africa had been the seat of civilization which ac- cornplished great things. No mater if the Valley of the Nile Is even to- day teeming with the magnificent ruins of temples, tornbs. and towers surpassing anything the modern hand has yet reared. No matter if the an cient Egyptian knew secret of em- balming that has preserved his body intact to the present day--just beyond these things the dark interior Of AT rica remained undisturbed.
 How comes it that America and Australia, both so recently discovered, fairly teem with cities? That the iron horses speed from end to end or both continents? That the herds of buffalo are almost exterminated? That thou sands of dollars are spent on the education of the Indian? And vet Africa, known from renotest ages. can boast only few miles of railroad. Hiephants and Hons roam over her auninhabitabie downs." while the sons of Fam, unpunished, still, calmly de- your the white man who runs across their track? Al
 sions into Central Africa. Herodotus told some tales that were long re- garded with suspicion, although they probably contained grains Of the truth. The well-knewn story of the five young men who were captured by the dwarfs was entirely discreoi- ted until the recent discovery or the
 
 certainly no one can dfsproye the taie of the Phoenician vessels which sailed down the Red Sea and returned through the Pillars of Hercules.'
 About the seventh century the Arabs joined forces with the Moors and con auered Spain. southern Italy and the whole of northern Africa. With the asset of their nomadic character, they found little difficulty in pushing into the heart of the dark continent. They took possession of many towns, ana some of their writers left very good descriptions of the interior of Africa Trade and commerce were encouraged under Arab rule and Timpuctoo arose to It's great height.
 Prince Henry of Portugal gave great impetus to navigation and exploration. He waged a war against the Moors, and captured Ceuta, the fortified pro- ! montory opposite Gibralta. Among his prisoners were some very learned
 men, From these he heard or the depths of Africa, of Timbuctoo wtn It's ivory palace and Its salt mines. He immediately established school of navigation and fitted out expedi- tions. He was in search of snort route to India, and of the aforesaid ivory and salt. He was also In search of Prester John, a fabled monarch or untold wealth, who like Paul, became
  rumor had placed his monarchy ip india. That country being pretty well explored in the fifteenth century and Prester John still missing rumor simply. transferred his Kingdom to Africa, somewhere in the region Of Abyssinia. It all resulted in De Cana rounding the Cape of Good Hope put the interior was still a great unknown Towards the end of the eighteenth cent1ry, James Bruce, a cannie scotch man, traced the source of the Blue Nile under the impression that he was following the course of the great lriver itself. At one time he kept hIm- [ self In favor with the natives by shoot | ing a tailow candle through wooden table. Returning. he was censured for giving the information that one
 savage tribe ate raw meat cut from
 the living animal An; account of
 Bruce says: "5e Is the tallest man you ever saw gratis" ., Finally Mungo Park. also a Scotch
 man, was chosento discover the source | of the, Niger. After an absence Of year and half, he returned. Through | untold suffering. he learned much Of | the geography and natural history Of | Africa. Seven years later. he was in-
 duced to try again. This expedition | ended disastrously. one bv one, the members of the party died. and at | last Park himself was drowned. hav-
 ing Jumped from his canoe to escape
 an attack from the shore. %
 The next important expedition was
 led by Major Denham and Captain, Chappsrton. This resulted In the discovery of Lake Chad. believed to be the source of the Niger. The Geos
 -~H. AnA ARP nA