Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-20

volver and four or five bowie knives
concealed about our persons. So 1t was
merely matter of minutes before we
found ourselves in the showroom of an
arms company. There we found nc
difficulty in exchanging some innocent
playful-looking banknoteS for SophiS-
ticated, Misunderstanding automatic.
AS we were leaving the clerk re-
marked:
Going away?" 6
Africa" replied carelessly.
"Have you got one of our four hun
dred and fives' for heavy game?" he
queried, with something resembling q
challenge in his voice.
mo, I thought I'd"
"Of course, you know that Roosevelt
swore by them?" he interrupted Sc
Eyes" said, but you SEE III
.."'You don't mean to say that you were
going to Africa without a -four hundred
and five-Roosevelt fayorite, gun?
His rising voice was incredulous. ,ev.
by the bones of st. Cuthbert! No!''
I cried How much are they without
the bailistics?" I figured the ballistics
at the other place had cost me f25.
And if Roosevelt took concert piano
to Africa, let me know now while my
heart is light and carefree." began to
feel like a janitor in an arsenal. My
son, on the other hand, was IN paradise.
The way he fingered our armament
made my blood run cold.
X X X X
THEN we went to a colonial outfit
ters. 1t was our undoing. ~.
Destination, sir?" queried the en-
gaging young man who waited on us.
Africa" I answered.
Doubtless you have made up list
he said. -.
black piece of paper.
This is as complete a list as I've
ever seen," he remarked cheerfully, put
YOU must have overlooked, say--two
Roorki chairs, mosquito boots, Stacks,
shorts. tunics, Bedford cords, BASIN
bath and stand-I found this nvalu-
able in Mespo, sir--chlorodyne, emetine,
dental floss, morphine and a house,
wife-as you probably know we were
outfitters for Col. Roosevelt and
"Enough!" shouted, "if 1t was good
enough for the colonel, it's good enough
for me-"
The next afternoon we sailed.
For 81 days the British merchant
marine elaborated nobly in, trans
porting us stwo-thirds of the way around
Africa. = ~'.s -4av
AT Mozambique my son and donned
our fun tropical regifnentals' for the
first time. Ever since we left, Madeira,
they had swayed gently back ana forth
on the clothes hooks in our cabins,
working their spell on u.s. There was
no gaipsaying itr-they were rakish
garments.
Until now, however, it had never
seemed quite tropical enough to VEN
ture out in them. But here the sunsets
were sanguinary and the tropics had
an odor all their own" 1t was more
than enough. So we slipped everything
on, and took 10 grains of quinine
apiece to throw us into the spirit OF
the thing. it
Starting from the head and working
downward with modern disregard
for modesty we had on sun helmets
though the sun had set; flannel shirts
with "spine-pads" attached, to- keep our
spines from melting: khaki, military
Jackets, mostly pockets shorts" very
Boy Scottish, that were noticeably too
long.
Then there were patented spiral
puttees-guaranteed not to slip, regard
less of the physique; and hob-nailed
boots. Around our waists were care
lessly girdled our empty cartridge belts.
don't know how looked; felt COM
pletely diabolical
We were dressed to the big-game
hunters taste when we arrived at Nom
bosa. And there it was hot. At noon
our thermometers registered 10 de-
grees. Then we knew it was hot.
Previously it had been all guesswork.
Three days later we got our pores under
control. After that we never let them
get look at thermometer again.
x x x x
OUR trip to the big-game country
was made by the Uganda Railroad.
At the terminal our baggage was run
over scales and charged for by the
pound. From this moment it took on a
new importance in our eyes and was
referred to as "kag" or "dunnage."
We examined the train eagerly. The
engine burned wood. It burned holes,
too, we discovered next morning when
we looked at our bed rolls 1870
Next the engine came small box cars,
full of hard, wooden benches for the
Negroid races. Then similar cars but
with seats probably made out of softer
wood, served the higher-grade races.
such as the Indians, Goanese and
MulligataWny.
The rules were simple: All assagais,
harpoons, dirks and can-openers had to
be checked in the luggage van. No
strangling with the bare hands was
allowed between stations. Dead bodies
could not be thrown on the right of