Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-03-25
WINSTON CHURCHILL DESCRIBES
COUNTRY WHERE RooSE-
WELT WILL HUNT.
FORESTS OF SURPRISING GRAND
URE CONCEAL BEASTS OF
SINISTER NATURE.
TELLS OF BATTLE WITH RHINOC
EROSION NOT DANGER
Gus FOE.

, London, March 18.-The accoun;
given by Winston Spencer Churchill
, British minister of colonies, of his ex
petition in British East Africa traces
almost step by step the route to be
followed by the Roosevelt party. Dur
ing his trip Mr.. Churchills English
servant succumbed to a mysterious
and swiftly fatal fever, but the minis.
accompanied him suffered no i'll eff.
fects from their equatorial journey.
According to Mr.. ChurchilI's obser.
Vations, it would seem that by far the
most interesting portion of the Roose-
welt trip will be through the Uganda
bicycle or caravan, unless one elects
to ride upon a seat bourne on the
shoulders Of natives. The Uganda
railroad, contrary to the suggestion Of
its name, does not penetrate Uganda,
but only reaches to it, its inland term
L
Victoria. Not until the railroad has
been left behind and the party enters
Uganda proper, the garden of flowers
and butterflies, will the supremest
possibilities of the exploration be real
lied. Sinister beasts there are with
out number, but the forests that con-
ceal 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
Yet the contrast between appearance
and reality is striking, for this en-
chanted land is cursed with malign-
ant attributes. Every white man
seems to feel a sense of undefnable
oppression, and Mr.. Churchill says
that 1t will never be white mans
country. "a cut will not heal;
residence even a small wound becomes
running sore. One day a man feels
perfectly we'll; the next, for no appar-
ent cause, he is PROSTATE with malaria
and with malaria of a peculiarly per-
sistent kind, turning often in the
third or fourth attack to blackwater
fever" A daily dose of ten grams
of quinine served to ward off malaria
in the case of the Churchill party.
The impression gained from Mr..
Churchill's writings is that the travel
Ter has less to fear from the ferocious
beasts that inhabit the alluringly
beautiful fastness than from the fever
transmitted by the tsetse-fiy, which,
when infected in a manner yet unde-
| termined by scientists, becomes a
deadly assassin. But the zone of the
tsetse-fy is known his home is in
| the trees and bushes and near the wa
| ter, and he may be avoided. Thus the
danger from this source, broadly
| speaking, may be said to be proper
Tomato with the risk which the explor-
er voluntarily assumes in the pursuit
of his explorations, allowance being
made always for bad judgment and the
unexpected fortunes of the hum. Then
there are leg-long boots, gloves that
reach to the elbow and wells to COM
pletely protect the head and neck.
Mosquito netting incIoses the camper
at night, and in the morning he hab-
! itually empties his boots of any I'M
desirable tenant that may have
wiggled in under cover of darkness.
In the case of the Roosevelt party Ma
! jor Edgar A Mearns will be always
. OF hand with his oDtiCpntiHs
When Mr.. Churchill made his trip
/ he occupied a seat on the cOwcatcher,
and it is safe to say that the Amerie
cans will sbe satisfied with no lesser
point of vantage. The magazine
reader may expect before long to see
pictured the members of the Roose-
welt expedition viewing the country
perhaps from an old-fashioned church
pew fastened above the cowcatcher o.
an engine AS the land unfolds itself
before the travellers, game OF endless
variety will be seen, and deep gorges
crossed while occasional plantations
of cotton, rubber and fibre and trim
little railway stations will give a
touch of modern color to the other
wise prehistoric scene. On either side
of the train may be seen an endless
| procession Of wild animals, which
seem to have learned that the fOrmid-
able looking locomotive cannot leave
the rails over which it moves through
their domain. Troops of zebras,
herds of red antelope, black wild.
beestes, herds of red kongoni and, in
fact, most every imaginable beast IS
to be seen, with the exception Of the
lion, the rhinoceros and the elephant.
Good fortune may even bring these
within the ken of the railway passen-
ger. and at Simba, popularity known as
the place of lions" the guides gener-
/ ally promise the sight of the regal ami
NAL But this is exceptional, and the
paucitv of this game is due to the
greed of the hunter, for not so long
ago it was the practice to stop these
trains wherever opportunity offered to
shoot a lion or two. The royal YER
min have profited by the experience Of
unfortunate relatives. and now the
stopping of a train or wagon Is the
cue for the exit from the scene of this
willy animal Hunters travelling by
/ caravan upon sighting lion are said
now 10 drop unobserved from their
wagon while the vehicle itself con-
tinues in motion The absence of
the rhinoceros from this railway re-
view is popularity credited to the fate