SOME NEW BOOKS 



Discovery of Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie, a narrative of Count Samuel Teleki's 

 exploring and hunting expedition in Eastern Equatorial Africa in 1887 and 1888. 

 By his companion Lieut. Ludwig von Hohnel. Translated by Nancy Bell 

 (N. d'Anvers). 2 vols. London: Longmans, 1894. Price 42s. 



The lately issued English translation of Ritter v. Hohnel's narrative 

 of the discover)' of Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie has brought this most 

 interesting expedition before the notice of the British public, and 

 gives us an opportunity of taking stock of the principal results arrived 

 at. It will be obvious to any one who reads the volume, or who 

 knows anything of the history of the business, that Count Teleki's 

 main object in starting it was " sport " — that is, the killing and slaying 

 of the larger mammals. The hunting passion is still so prevalent, 

 even among the most highly-civilised races of mankind, that parties 

 of American, German, Austrian, Italian, and, above all, British 

 sportsmen are every year engaged in hewing their way into the still 

 untraversed interior of the Ethiopian Continent in order to shoot the 

 elephant, the giraffe, the rhinoceros, and specimens of the hundred 

 species of antelopes by which it is so abundantly tenanted. To 

 give some idea of the exuberance of mammal life in Africa as soon as 

 the ordinary tracks are left, we have only to turn to the writings of 

 any of the latest explorers. Vice-Consul Sharpe, speaking of a recent 

 journey to Lake Mweru {Geogv. Journ., vol. i., p. 524) says, " I doubt if 

 game can, anywhere in Central Africa, be more plentiful than in the 

 Mweru and Luapula countries, though there may be districts which 

 have a greater variety. Cohus vardoni and C. lechee run in enormous 

 herds. Buffaloes and zebras are also there in vast quantities." 

 Captain Swayne gives a similar account of the abundance of larger 

 animals in the interior of Somali-land, which he has lately visited. 



In the present instance, however, unlike some of his brother 

 shooters. Count Teleki was not wholly devoted to sport. He had the 

 good sense to take with him Ludwig, Ritter von Hohnel, a lieutenant 

 in the Austrian navy, whose acknowledged abilities have converted 

 what was planned primarily as a sporting excursion into a scientific 

 expedition of first-rate importance, it having resulted in the discovery 

 of two new large African lakes previously only known in Europe from 

 vague rumours. 



Count Teleki and Lieutenant von Hohnel started from Zanzibar 

 with a full equipment, including, among other articles, a large 

 canvas boat, in February, 1887. Landing at Pangani, in German 

 territory, they made the best of their way to Taveta, the " hunter's 

 paradise " as it has been termed, at the foot of Mount Kilima-njaro. 

 Hence, a slight detour to Kilima-njaro and the adjoining smaller 

 volcanic crater of Meru was successfully carried out. The summit of 

 Kilima-njaro was not quite attained, but Count Teleki reached a 

 (calculated) height of 17,387 feet, and a collection of the highest- 

 growing plants was made. 



