With Flashlidit and Rifle -* 



use of camels. The carrier system is far preferable cer- 

 tainly in the regions over which I travelled, where I 

 found my men zealous and devoted. Each carried his 

 load of sixty pounds or more. There are endless 

 difficulties and an endless amount ol detail connected 

 with a caravan of pack-camels. 



Few have had so comprehensive an experience with 

 regard to the conveyance of caravan-loads by camels and 

 mules as the late Baron Carlo Erlanger (whose early death 

 is a matter tor deep regret) ; his bold expedition through 

 the south ot Somaliland will maintain a place of honour 

 in the history of African exploration ; or as Oscar Neu- 

 mann, during his journey of two years in Abyssinia and 

 Somaliland. And these two travellers found that, apart 

 from all the trouble involved in the loading of this kind 

 of caravan, the way the animals suffered from varieties 

 of climate was a strong argument in favour of carrier 

 caravans. 



The camel is an ideal means of transport over the arid 

 desert, but not in countries where the climate varies. 

 Human carriers I found, when properly taken care of, 

 were always ready for the road in the shortest possible 

 time — were willing, unexacting, and, above all, extra- 

 ordinarily reasonable. Travellers will always be obliged 

 to depend largely upon this institution, for the character 

 of the arid desert country must prove an insuperable 

 obstacle to the railway projects already in progress. The 

 traveller is soon at ease in his mind as to the capability of 

 these natives. Either they themselves know the caravan- 

 routes exactly, or they learn them en route, and manage 



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