Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-23
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
THE MAP THAT Is HALF UN
ROLLED. e. Alexander Powell
The Century Company,
!. C.. M.

THE MAP THAT Is HALF UN-
ROLLED. K. Alexander Powell.
The Century Company.
Alexander Powell frankly owns up
&c being no more than an incurable
traveller upon whom the far and I'M
freQuented quarters of earth work
spell with which no other interest or
pursuit can compare. That the pur-
poses and spirit of either explorer
or pioneer animate him he openly dis
claims. In lieu Of such intent he con-
cedes to himself only an Unsuitable
curiosity about any part Of the earth
upon which the civilizing hand of
man has not fallen too heavily. How
these relatively unmoiested places
look, how they feel and think and do
this is his supreme preoccupation.
Indeed, Col. Powell repudiates for
himself the generally alluring role of
adventurer, agreeing In this respect
with famous explorer that "adven-
lures are a mark Of Incompetence.
due to ignorance Of the conditions one
is to encounter. and to a lack Of prep
aration." A stirring controversy
might be set up. In its proper place.
upon this neat humdrum theory of
glamourous adventure as the product
OF only hindsight and clumsy ad-
justment of means to ends.
This author, you see, makes certain
personal denials, such as the common
run Of travel writer's are glad to turn
into acceptances for their own support.
Besides this. he agrees to a dust-dry
theory Of adventure as the natural on
spring Of mischance and folly. AS
matter Of fact, he throws away every
advantage except the single one that
he Is merely a traveller spurred on
oy>A hty chronic
curiosity. Such modesty calls for out
side support. What about the energy,
the Zest. the overriding OF endless
obstacles to reach the desired end?
What about the dramatic seizure of
innumerable situations of fact and i'm
plicatton in those far settings OF hui
man existence? What about the gift
to build moving pictures out Of words?
What about putting into print the
color of primitive human feelings and
the strange features of far landscapes?
Col. Powell's travel books-this one
and many others-are the best Of an
swers to the rather self-effacing atti-
tide Of the author himself. All Of
them hold a deep interest whose
source Is fresh and important infor-
nation projected in a vivid photo
graphic artistry. All Of them are vi
tally concerned with the human ele-
ment that gives to each region its spe-
cial characteristic of race and custom
end kinship to the rest Of the world.
1.-The Map That Is Half Unrolled"
covers a journey across equatorial
Africa. The trail begins at Dar-eS-
,5alaam, on the Indian Ocean, a port
that German efficiency bulit when inns
region was German East Africa In
q
kongo and continues on to Bona,
port of the Atlantic coast. The jour
ney starts off in something of a hurry,
Tor. according to Col. Powell. this was
the last call" Civilization is strid.
ing across the continent in seven
league boots Within the memory Of
most Of US the hinterland of Africa
held deserts that We're uncrossed, for
ests UNEMPLOYED, tribes undiscovered,
rivers unnamed. But today every des-
er has been Travelled. not only by
caravan, but by motor car and air
plane. Today we have surveyed the
forests and estimated the number OF
board feet they contain. We have
traced the courses Of the rivers and
named them and set them down upon
our maps. We are familiar with near.
ly every African tribe. its habitat.
language and customs. And. barring
Any SSlllld, nearly every 1OOt OIL terri
tory on the continent has passed under
the control Of some European nation
as colony. protectorate or mandate"
Therefore it Is high time to be on the
way to equatorial Africa.
Yet, despite this travellers anxiety to
get there while still a part of Africa
remained in a state of nature, he did
arrive In time to find enough, not only
to satisfy his own curiosity for the
time being, but enough also to
pass on 10 readers in a book of ire
mendous stir and interest. Here are
accounts of primitive lie, some of it
savage life, deep in superstitions and
customs that are strange and fan
tastic and fierce. No stranger, no
fiercer. however. than is the story re-
peatod here of civilization working in
the Kongo to exploit the rubber re-
sources of this region. The chief
wealth OF the kongo then consisted of
It's millions of wild rubber trees. Then
began the exploitation of this wealth
by the most mercileSS of methods. a
new life began for the natives of the
Kongo, who. instead of dwelling in the
state of carefree idleness to which
they had been accustomed, were
thenceforward subjected to great ex-
actions and expressions. Agents were
given a free hand. Sending for the
chiefs of their respective districts,
they ordered them to deliver stipu-
ated quantities Of rubber latex at the
government posts by certain dates
under pain of Imprisonment. f1ogging,
torture. Each chief in turn assessed
his subjects, so that for the unhappy
natives the Kongo quickly became a
hell on earth. II a native failed to
| supply his chief with the full quota of
| rubber required OF him, that native
was punished for his remissness by
some one of the flendishly ingenious
fortunes known to the African savage.
And II the chief failed to deliver his
quota to the local government agent
he was subjected to punishments
which his white superiors had either
adopted outright from the black man
)r had improved upon. Thousands of
| helpless natives were flogged into in
sensibility or died under the LASH 9th
"rs were horribly mutilated. which ex-
plains why one frequently sees in the
Kongo today men and women minus a
lose or an ear, hand or a foot; scores
were shot or hanged SO that their fell
lows might be spurred to greater in
dustry by the grim object lessons thus
provided"
The Kongo Free State, under these
ministrations of civilization, enjoyed
about as much freedom as Roman gal
ley slaves; they were systematically
Icivilized with the knife, the kiboko, the
gallows and the machine gun. But
black mems lives were cheap and rub
Der was valuable"-and gold came roll
ing in. There are many sketches here
of savage and primitive customs-but
none really more savage than this
story of the rubber fields. No wonder
that even to this day the natives
secretly do the rubber trees to death
because of the old fears that they in