^26 ROOSEVELT'S JOURNEY FROM UGANDA DOWN THE NILE 



journey back to civilization by way of the famous Nile, long one of 

 the greatest of geographical mysteries but now known throughout its 

 full extent from Ripon Falls to the Delta. Its discovery is one of 

 the great triumphs of modern exploration. Colonel Roosevelt had 

 reached Uganda after a December hunt with Lord Delamere at Njoro, 

 which event brought to an end his hunting experience in British 

 East Africa. This had been a long one, extending over nearly eight 

 months, and had afforded him an opportunity to cope with nearly all 

 the great game of the earth which remained after his American ex- 

 periences in the hunting field. We must except in this the Bengal 

 tiger and the Polar bear, animals worthy of his prowess, with which 

 he will perhaps make acquaintance in coming years. That the love 

 of hunting and of facing danger in the open was the main incentive 

 to the African outing of our ex-President no one will doubt, but it was 

 made conducive to science in supplying the Smithsonian and National 

 museums with splendid specimens of all the great and nearly all the 

 small African mammals, greatly adding to the value of their zoological 

 collections. 



Completing this long hunt by mid-December, the embrowned 

 adventurer took the steamer at Port Florence for Uganda. Of the 

 character of this steamer and its equipment for the comfort of its 

 passengers we have already spoken on page 117, and need but say 

 here that Mr. Roosevelt found as civilized appointments in this pioneer 

 craft in the center of East Africa as he could have found in the floating 

 palaces of one of our American lakes. That he enjoyed the trip across 

 this splendid inland sea, with its cool climate, its fine scenery, its 

 beautiful islands, goes without saying. Through the journey from Port 

 Florence to Entebbe presents but a partial glimpse of the lake and its 

 surroundings, it is an illuminating one, and Roosevelt, with his warm 

 love of nature in her every mood, enjoyed it with his usual outspoken 

 zest. 



As for Uganda — beautiful Uganda, as it is commonly termed — 

 an anchorite could scarce fail to view it with enthusiasm, and a nature 

 lover like Theodore Roosevelt was sure to greet it with warm expres- 

 sions of delight. Entebbe presented itself to him with a glow of floral 

 beauty, the native adornment of that tropic realm to which winter 



