24 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
Africa, though I had heard many reports on the unhealthiness 
of the country. | 
With the collector’s urge to get something new and exciting, I 
boarded the train at Cape Town en route for Beira. This took me 
through Bechuanaland and Rhodesia over a route more than 
2,000 miles long, at that time a five-day journey. I was scanning 
the scenery for bird-life nearly the whole of the way and toward 
the end was getting very weary, so the final descent from the 
pleasant atmosphere of the Rhodesian plateau to the oppressive 
heat of the Beira littoral was all that was needed to put the cap 
on a tiring journey. 
We eventually reached the limit of British territory at Umtali, 
which is the eastern gateway to Rhodesia. It is a delightful spot 
situated in picturesque mountainous country. After leaving this we 
descended to Manicaland through typical savanna country and 
then through the magnificent Amatongas forest, which shows 
some fine examples of the African mahogany tree. 
Beira in those days had no docks and was rather a dirty town 
with sandy streets. The only means of conveyance was by trolleys 
on a Deceauville railway which ran along every street. These 
trolleys were all privately owned, and every householder had two 
boys who were detailed to do the pushing at a jog-trot whenever 
one had to make an excursion. There was only one good hotel, 
which I could not afford, and so I was reduced to another which 
accommodated a very mixed clientele. 
On making inquiries, I learned that Vila Pery was a good spot 
for birds and had the advantage, from my point of view, of 
having some English farmers in the district. The town is on the 
Umtali-Beira railway about one hundred and twenty-five miles 
inland, and fortunately the station-master there owned a farm 
twenty-five miles from the railway and close to the Revue River. 
This seemed an ideal out-of-the-way spot for collecting, so I 
got in touch with him, and was told that I could stay out there 
with his manager as long as I wished. This meant retracing my 
steps towards the Rhodesian border and I reached Vila Pery rather 
late at night. I was saved the trouble of asking which hotel it 
was impossible to live in so that I could choose the other, as there 
