FROM NEW YORK TO MOMBASA 85 



of antelope at his instant command and bore a picture in his mind of 

 every kind of creature that through his instrumentahty might be added 

 to the National Museum's stores. During his last months in the White 

 House a portion of the President's time was given over to the study of 

 the fauna of that part of Africa which the American caravan would 

 traverse. The smaller mammals and the birds had not been left out of 

 Mr. Roosevelt's calculations. The scientific interest in a wild creature 

 is not gauged by its size; the mouse has its interest no less than the 

 lion. 



The expedition into Africa was thoroughly equipped. Every- 

 thing that knowledge of conditions could suggest had its place in the 

 outfit. The quarry that was secured was instantly prepared for trans- 

 portation. The skins and the hides were well salted and dried, and 

 packed in a way that made their preservation certain. Such skeletons 

 as were to be saved, and the skulls which were of first value for com- 

 parative purposes, were cared for as only field scientists knew how, 

 and the collected treasures of the African trip were brought to Wash- 

 ington in a condition to delight the hearts of the government scientists. 



We give below the names and personality of the members of the 

 Smithsonian African Expedition. Of Theodore Roosevelt it is not 

 necessary to write. What he has done as a scientist and as a hunter 

 is known to all. 



Dr. and Colonel Edgar A. Mearns, United States army (retired), 

 is a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York 

 City. He has been in the military service for twenty-six years and 

 during that time while on field duty and on detached service he has 

 pursued his zoological studies. Admittedly Dr. Mearns is one of the 

 first field naturalists of the country, and his reports and books are ac- 

 knowledged authorities. His publications include studies of mammals, 

 birds and plants. He was the naturalist accredited by the govern- 

 ment to the Mexican boundary expedition, and as the result of his 

 researches the scientific world has the work entitled "Mammals of the 

 Mexican Boundary of the United States." This work includes a 

 summary of the natural history of the region covered, with a list of 

 the trees of the country adjacent to the boundary. Dr. Mearns knows 

 birds as he knows mammals, and his knowleds:-e of American ornith- 



