The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-16

Cape Town Correspondence London Standard
 "MIL LUND. a Rhodesan settler or H 36, has just completed walk from
 A Capetown to Cairo, not in fulfill
 ment of a wager, or without money or
 a test of system of diet or training, but simply from love of adventure. He has been a soldier and scout since he was II, serving in the Second Matabele campaign in 1893, the Uganda rebellion Of lSsi-ss' and the South African war
 He started from capetown and walked all alone, right through the Cape Province and the Transvaal to Rhodesia. Thence he continued through the Congo state, the Sudan, and the Nubian desert to Egypt' a distance of nearly 5000 miles as the crow flies. My wish" he said, in telling the story of his great walk, was simply 10 be the first man to accomplish the feat. | I am proudest of having walked across l the Nubian desert. That was the hardest tramp of all" Until he left Elizaneth- vile, in the Belgian Congo, he had com paratively easy time, for he could obtain supplies, good food and good water, but beyond that point he had very trying time. He had no porters, carrying all kis own impedimenta. weighing 70 pounds. This alone is no mean task in tropical and wild country. But he could get no natives to accompany him owing to tribal hostilities being in progress.
 l During most of the time MT. Lund was obliged to be a vegetarian, but he always Ia fret stSOmR- ] times" he said, .I shot buck; but l could only eat the liver. which l broiled 1 in the ashes of my fire. Having no salt, l I cannot say that I enjoyed my food. In passing through the great forests l | camped on the ground. lighting large l fire to keep off the wild animals. l had l to be very careful to keep this going throughout the night At early dawn l renewed my march, tramping continuous | fv until about Il o'clock. After that l used to hunt round, collect wood, and cook my one daily meal. Then l slept ill sundown. Lions and other carnivora do not usually attack in the heat of the day-they are asleep, and it Is only when night falls that they set out in search of prey" He met with a good many lions, but was never attacked by one. The idea | that water will protect one from lion is.
 he says, erroneous, for lions are excellent | swimmers. In the Katanga district he was bitten by black mamba snake, and would probably have died, but he reached
 a native kraal and was treated by wom-
 an. who applied decoetion of herbs to
 the wound and cured him. She steadfast- l ly refused to say what herbs she used or
 how she prepared them.
 | From Albertville the traveller made for Lake Albert, and here he had one of his most unpleasant experiences. He came across a powerful tribe under the com- mand of a very suspicious chief, who, tbefore he would listen to him, put him
 through the ordeal by dirt This con- l sists of eating a mouthful of earth picked up from the ground. In the native mind
 this constitutes a form of oath, and it is
 believed that anyone who undergoes the ordeal and does not speak the truth will
 be condemned to an eternal diet of dirt. The ordeal is called ''nlxola donga" One | of the worst troubles with which MT. Lund had to contend was the venomous | flies and insects which swarm in tropical Africa. He was bitten near the eye
 by certain kind of malignant tick, and 1 for time was nearly blind. If he
 had not shortly afterward reached Fort
 Portal and obtained medical treatment he
 would probably have lost the sight of at Ileast one eye.
 he fell in with the Baluba and valessi