The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-05-18

u " y /
his shoes and a puttee. -,
~ knew nothing about 1t until
morning, when we found MS tracks,
he explained. I'VE hunted about n
I even sent men along the trail TO see
il he could be found, for the hyenas
are fond of using the trails when the
grass is high. But l never got my
shoe and puttee." 1t was only after
much fencing that he would admit
Tia hyenas have often attacked
sleeping men, and hat the natives
barricade the entrance to their nuts
usually to keep them out. No adven-
lures,
When Fire Threatened Destruction.
TIC be awakened in the middle OF
the night, while their caravan was
camped in an open space in the l
grass, INC to find h a one Of the
shelter hutS of grass raised by the ma
tives had caught fire and the entire
camp was in danger Of being swept by
the flames, did not seem to be an adj
venture to him, either. That was
only an incident" he demurred. He
told how the natives are accustomed,
because of the cool nights to light
fires in their huts. 1t was n Of
| these fires that had set the hut ablaze.
The grass started, and it was only
by energetic work and skillful burn
ing of back fires to obtain a clear
space across which the flames could
not jump that they were able to
escape the fire and save their tro-
plies. No adventures!
They had one of their bearers killed
by a lion, but he would not give any
Of the details. He also told Of lions
that were said to have killed a num-
Der of the natives, but they did not
have much trouble with them. They
could be heard roaring occasionally,
he said.
PythOns in FcstOOns.
When questioned about the snakes
in the region through which the ex-
petition lac gone, Mr.. Chaplin admit
ted that there were great numbers Of
them, most Of which were poisonous.
The water snakes, however, were not.
'Still,' he added, naively, las n
could meet almost any kind near the
water, it was not we'll to take it for
granted that they were really water
snakes"
OF pythons they saw numbers, and
killed many. zone could see them Of
ten, f%estooned in the branches Of the
trees. hen the natives would come
running and tell us of a python and
We would shoot it. None of them
were more than six yards long" I'm
agine tramping through jungle where
six-yard pythons hung Topped from
tAlC I1SSos AHC OldSh SOO1d, q ICCI
relative Of the deadly cobra di capellc
of India, is a very common variety OF
poisonous snake in the kongO, he
said.
Hard to Battle With Crocodiles.
The subject Of c~rocodiles came w
when he said that he was so glad tt
be able to get back to the swimming
tank at Columbia, where he has take1
up his studies where he left off 81,
l VIC NC 0O tA~o o ~or11
chance to swim in a country infested
with ~crocodiles. I used to do the bes
I could, but the ve-y thought of tn
old college tank fairly made me itcl
all over. l managed to get in a few
, swims, though" He said that tn
natives were often eaten by crocodiles
r AS far as bathing went the hardes
> great that n would be bathed il
: perspiration, he said. 1t was hard t
T dry clothing that had been washed
: also, on account Of the humidity i
v the air, unless in a clearing by
village, where the suns rays had dl
I rect access.
8 During the years spent in Africa
Mr.. Chaplin became very well &C
quainted with numbers of the native.
O The expedition had all sorts of trim
!, kets dear to the savage heart, whic
n they were ready to barter for valU
n able specimens. This, in fact, was tn
o method through which they got the
okapi, which has never been seer b
r. a white man at large in it's habita
d Chaplin endeared himself to the blact
by giving them fish hooks. TT
Kongo native, he said, while an a.
d dent fisherman, has but the mo
meager equipment. A bent pin {
needle or a piece Of copper wire
his hook, and he loses more fish tina
IF he manages to pull in. A real ifs
"a hook, therefore, is most highly prize
% "M'toto ma Langi," which, transla
ed, means "the son of Lang was II
name bestowed upon Mr.. Chaplin /
"A the natives. The name stuck, and
M'toto ma Langi he is known fro
one end Of the Kongo to the othe
70 Conditions are primitive in the Kon.
sS basin. Every one knows every Oh
else, and, although the posts a
ID widely separated, there is the san
community of interest and gossip
>, in a little village.
>, Motion Pictures For Natives