Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-01-09
Soldiers Tramp Through Africa.

. test d SgSNCLu VI uASl VI ~ dAuluS, uul
[ simply from love cf adventure. He
/ has been a soldier and scout since
he was Il, serving in the second
Matabele campaign in 1893, the
Uganda rebellion of 1S97-99 and the
South African war.
He started from Capetown and
walked. all alone, right through the
Cape province and the Transyaal 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
TO a correspondent OF the London
Standard, was simply TO be the first
man to accomplish the feat. am
proudest of having walked across the
Nubian desert. That was the hardest
tramp of all"
Until he left Elizabethyille in the
Belgian Congo he had a comparative
ly easy time. for he could obtain sup
plies, good food and good water; but
beyond that point he had a very try
ing time. He had no porters. carry
ing all his own impedimenta, weigh
ing 20 pounds. This alone is no
mean task in a tropical and wild
country. But he could get no natives
to accompany him, owing to tribal
hostilities being in progress.
During most of the time Mr.. Lund
was obliged to be a vegetarian, but
he always had meat when he could
get it. Sometimes" he said, Il shot
buck, but l could only eat the liver,
which l broiled in the ashe sof my
fire. Having no salt, l cannot say
that l enjoyed my food In passing
through the great forests l camped
on the ground, lighting a large fire
to keep off the wild animals. l had
to be very careful to keep this going
throughout the night. At early
dawn l renewed ny search, tramping
continuously till about II o'clock.
After that | used to hunt round. col
lect wood and cock my one daily
meal. Then l slept till 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 good many lions,
but was never attacked by one. The
idea that water will protect one from
a lion is, he says, erroneous. for
lions are excellent swimmers. In the
katanga district he was bitten bv
black mamba snake and would prob
ably have died but he reached a
native kraal and was treated by a
woman who applied a decoction of
herbs to the wound and cured him.
She steadfastly 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 expert
ences. He came across a powerful
tribe, under the command of a very
suspicious chief, who, before he
would listen to him, put him through
the ordeal by dirt" This consists
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 or
deal and does not speak the truth
will be condemned to an eternal diet
of dirt. The ordeal is called "nkola
donga."
One of the worst troubles with
which Mr.. Lund had to contend was
the venomous flies and insects which
." a. III III NAOplIdl AL lCd. Tie was
bitten near the eye by a certain kind
of malignant tick, and for time
was nearly blind. If he had not
shortly afterward reached Fort Por-
tai and obtained medical treatment
he would probably have lost the sight
of at least one eye.
A little farther in the course of
his walk he fell i'll with the Baluba
and Valessi cannibals. When they
have cannibal feast the victim is
usually man accused of some crime.
In such case the man is offered a
draught of poisonous decoction. If
he takes a long drink the poison is
imperative, producing merely nau-
sea. But if, from timidity or guilt,
he drinks but a small portion, the
effect is almost Immediately fatal.
Women are excluded from these
feasts.
Making a wide detour of Lake
Albert, Mr.. Lund eventually arrived
on the Nile, which he followed TO
Abu Hamed and then struck across
the Nubian desert and came to the
Nile again at Wady Halfa. There