Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1913-06-07
LUNUs LONG WALK
Five Thousand Mile Hike Through
Widest Africa.
Carried Seventy Pound XII and Had
Adventures With Animals. Snakes
and cannibal Trlbes--Feat Not
TO Win a Wager.

/ ~ WV = NFehN
Emil Lurd, Rhodesian settler o.
thirty-six, has Just completed a wall
rom Cape Town to Cairo, not In fulfill
ment of a wager OF without money
or to test a system of diet or training
but simply from love of adventure. He
has been a soldier and scout since
he was seventeen. serving In the sec
ond Matabele campaign In 1893, the
Uganda rebellion OF 1S97-99 and the
South African war.
He started from Cape Town and
walked all alone right through the
Cape province and the Transvaal to
Rhodesia- Thence he continued
through the Congo state, tn Sudan and
the Nubian desert to Egypt, distance
of nearly 5000 miles as the crow
flies. my WISH" he said, in telling
the story of his great walk to a CORE
spondent of the London Standard,
was simply to be the first man to ac-
complish the feat. / am proudest Of
having walked across the Nubian des-
ert That was the hardest tramp Of
| all.
Until he left Elfzabethville, in the
Belgian Kongo, 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 impediments, weigh
ing seventy pounds. This alone is
no mean task in tropical and wild
country. But he could get no natives
to accompany him, owing to tribal hos
Titles 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 1t. Sometimes" he said, Il shot
buck; but could only eat the liver
which ! broiled in the ashes of my
fire. Having no salt, cannot say that
enjoyed my food. In passing through
the great forests / camped on the
ground, lighting a large fire to keep
OF the wild animals. had to be very
careful to keep this going throughout
the night. At early dawn ! renewed
my march. tramping continuously till
about IL o'clock. After that l used
to hunt round, collect wood and cook
my one daily meal Then / slept till
shutdown. Lions and other carnivora
do not usually attack In the heat OF
the day-they are asleep-and 1t 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 lion
is, he says, erroneous, for lions are
excellent swimmers. In the Katanga
district he was bitten by black NAM
ba snake and would probably have
died, but he reached a native kraal
and was treated by woman who APP
piled a decoction of herbs to the
wound and cured him. She steadfast-
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, un-
uCl bhC OOlhAlAAlu vi a NCAg oPlClOu6
chief, who, before he would listen to
him. put him through the ordeal of
dirt" This consists of eating a mouth
full of earth picked up from the
ground.
In the native mind this constitutes |
any one who undergoes the ordeal and |
does not speak the truth, will be con-
demned 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 veno-
nous flies and insects which swarm
in tropical Africa. He was bitten
near the eye by certain kind of mall
ignant tick, and for a time was near
ly blind. If he had not shortly after
ward reached Fort Portal 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 in with the Baluba and
Valessi cannibals When they have |
a cannibal feast the victim is usually ]
a man accused of some crime In such |
a case the man is offered a draft of a
poisonous decoction. If he takes a
long drink the poison is imperative,
producing merely nausea. But il,
from timidity or guilt he drinks but
a small portion, the effect is almost
fatal. Women are exclud.
ed from these feasts.
Making a wide detour of Lake Al
bert, Mr.. Lund eventually arrived on
the Nile, which he followed to Abu
Hamed and then struck across the NJ
bian desert and came to the Nile again
at Wady Halfa There are but two
wells on the route across the desert.
and he had TO carry with him three
days food and water supply. But he
safely crossed the desert and reached
Khartum. where he went into the hos
nffa1 n match bfunca1f mn for the Loot /