Evening star., 1926-09-07
EXPEDITION SAILS
FOR AFRICA TODAY
Head of Abyssinian Party
Announces Plans for Three
Inland Trips.

Special Dispatch TO The Star.
NEW YORK. September 7.-Dr
N'ilfred Osgood and Alfred NJ. Bailey
of the Field Museum of Natural His
tory set out today on the Olympic
on a trip that will carry them into the
remotest wilds of Abyssinia on a six
month hunt for rare beasts, a secret
city. strange peoples and stirring ad
venture.
With Mr.. Bailey, a reporter. photo
erapher and a famous ornithologist,
DIR. Osgood expects to make three
excursions from the capital of Abys.
einia into the wild hinterland. Their
adventures and discoveries will be
writer exclusively for The Star and
the North American Newspaper ALI
Hnce by Jack Baum, reporter Of the
expedition.
On the scientific side the com.
nander Of the expedition hopes 10
bag a nyala. among other things. The
nyala is a big. beautiful antelope with
q magnificent sweep of horns. It Is
found only in the Arussi Mountains of
central Abyssinia, so far as naturalists
know. although it may live also in
some of the unexplored mountain
country the expedition 1t to tackle.
The Queen of Shebas s antelope" it is
called. A mounted nyala, of which
only few exist. may he one of the
expeditions trophies.
smooth Rhino Sought.
The rare. bare-hreaste Celia da
hahoon is another AbysSinian animal
for which the Chicago explorers VIII
hunt Others are the smooth-skinned
rhinoceros. which may have been the
original of the mythical unicorn; the
Abvssinian ibex, rarest of all mount
ain goats; the reticulated giraffe;
strange egg eating snake. equipped
with an esophaguS that shreds eggs,
strains them and elects the pieces OF
shell: the vicious mankilling buffalo,
and. perhaps. creatures of whlch
biologists are still unaware.
Baum is TO report the exploits of
the expedition for The Star and North
American Newspaper Alliance, and
Suydam Cutting. millionaire sports
man. will he the official photograp pher
The first adventure will not be In
the jungle. The explorers will go into
Il with silk toppers on their heads
and swallow.tails on their backs. IT
will he a meeting with Ras Tafar
prince regent OF Abyssinia, in his
strange medieval court at Adds
Ababa. the capital of the country. The
Eas. who rules $4,000. 900 persons. will
welcome the explorers to his palace.
Adds Ababa to be Base.
>ddis Aba ba. $50 miles inland, is to
be tho exp"ti IONS base of operations
Ahvssinia in the northeaste
quarter ot .'.tra. shut off from the
Fed Sea ana the Gulf of Alden by
Italian. French and British protecto
rates and separated from the Nile
plain on the other side, by Jagged
escarpment 500 miles long and 5000
feet high. That isolation, which Is
natural. as well as political. explains
why the zoology of Abyssinia is as
peculiar and unknown as It's medieval
sociology.
The expedition will land in libuti
In French malilan nd. and go thence
by rail 10 Adds Ababa.
The tentative plan Is to go south
from Adds Ababa 10 Lake Zwai.
thence to the Arussi Mountains, where
the nyala is TO be found. and so on 10
the mountains of JummJumm, the
center of marvellous big game
country of which not much is known.
DIR. Osgood. the commander OF the
expedition said. we shall be gone
perhaps. six weeks on this first side
trip"
Back to Adds Ababa then. with
mule train and gear to ship out spec
mems and make ready for the sec
ond expedition which will be north
ward. in the direction Of the towering
Simyen Mountains-the Abyssinian
"Mountains of the Moon which
some peaks are Is. 900 feet high. The
Simyen Mountains are a months hard
travelling from Adds Ahaba. 1t is
probable. therefore that DR. Osgood
will turn off first into the fastness
Of the Gojjam Mountains. near Lake
Tsana leaving the Simvens for work
later if time is availab bic.
From the northern trip the eXplor
ers will return for the last time tC
Adds Abaha. Their third and fina
move will he westward TO Mount Tulu
Walel. ma ajestiC peak that towers
above the plateau to an altitude oi
II 600 feet Tulu Walel has never
been climbed DR. Osgood and his
party will try. the ascent.
Apart from the sport of it, the
climb will yield rich scientific results
Dr. Osgood thinks. On the slopes oi
the mountain the fun Samut of Abys
sinian animal life will he found. a
bamboo forest. teemins with tropica
birds. snakes and beasts. surrounds
the base of the mountain. At the crest
which may have cap OF snow, sub
arctic forms will be found. Between
will be creatures adapted to a tenn
perate climate.
Dr. Osgood sees a possibility OF
10 9 hxFS jy1io
teens with peculiar forms OF life
much of the country Is uneXplored
II Ia not unlikely that the expedition
will run on to creatures never before
seen by biologists.
rcpyrieht 1925 hy North American News
paper Alliance.