CHAPTER XX. 



Roosevelt a Skii^eul and Untiring Hunter — Oee eor the 

 SoTiK District — Two Days and a Hale in the Scorching 

 Sun — Hears His Prowess as a Lion Kieler told in Song 

 AND Sketch — In Search oe a White Rhinoceros. 



'T'^HE Kijabe camp was astir at an early hour on the morning of 

 ^ June 5, and the work of loading the camp effects on the backs 

 of the sturdy porters required several hours. As fast as the men 

 were loaded they set out for the west. By one o'clock the caravan 

 was well under way for the several weeks stay in the Lumbwa 

 district. 



Chief among the necessities for such a journey was a sufficient 

 supply of water. The caravan started with a supply of one hundred 

 and twenty-live gallons of water as part of the cargo, which was 

 intended to last the members of the party during their two days 

 march across the great " thirst-belt " of the western part of the 

 protectorate. 



The ex-President and his caravan received a royal send-oft', the 

 natives singing and cheering as East Africans rarely do. There 

 was general sorrow expressed at the departure of Bwana Thumba, 

 and the best wishes were volunteered for his success in the proposed 

 hunt for elephants. 



The trip to Sotik was fully as interesting, though perhaps more 

 arduous, than any previously undertaken by Colonel Roosevelt, since 

 his arrival in Africa. For two days and a half the march was 

 through an almost impassable wilderness, under the scorching rays 

 of a burning hot sun, while the wonderful African light, noted for 

 its powerful effect upon human eyesight would have blinded them 

 had they not taken precaution to guard against it. 



The heat of the day was so intense that it was unendurable, 

 and consequently much of the journey had to be made by night 

 travel. Although decidedly more comfortable from a physical point 



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