TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. 439 



Two gun-bearers, with teeth filed to a point, seemed on springs, 

 ready to act whenever the master ordered. They are described as 

 fearless, but like children, who frequently are naughty, and must 

 be punished. At the same time they are faithful. Colonel Roose- 

 velt entertains a real attachment for the blacks and regretted the 

 separation when they returned to Mombosa. 



As an indication of the hardships suffered one of the members 

 of the party tells of a trip Colonel Roosevelt undertook lasting three 

 days, during which he struggled afoot through a thick jungle under 

 the burning equatorial sun searching for game. He was afoot 14 

 hours the first day, 13 hours the second day, and 12 hours the third 

 day. 



" Bwano Tumbo is a mighty hunter," said Cuninghame with a 

 smile, *' but if his laurels have been imperihed at all on this expedi- 

 tion it has been by Kermit, who is one of the deadliest shots and 

 nerviest men, young or old, I ever met." 



RECEPTION AT THE AMERICAN MISSION. 



Colonel Roosevelt and his party left Taufikia on the night of 

 March 9, and arrived at Kodok at eight o'clock the following morn- 

 ing. At the American mission at Doleib Hill on the Sobat river 

 the travelers were received with much enthusiasm. During the 

 stop at Taufikia all of the officers of the garrison were invited to 

 meet Colonel Roosevelt at tea. 



Doleib Hill is the northernmost missionary outpost of the 

 United Presbyterian Church in Africa, and was visited by Dr. 

 Charles P. Watson, secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of 

 the United Presbyterian Church, several years before. The entire 

 region. Dr. Watson said, was infested with poisonous snakes, which 

 come out of the ground when the wet season sets in, and literally 

 swarm over the hill or knoll upon which the mission buildings stand. 



Most of these snakes, he said, were poisonous, and the bite of 

 a certain species produced almost instant death. The bites of 

 another species were equally fatal, he added, but the victim usually 

 suffered intensely for several hours before death brought the only 

 known relief. Many of the exciting experiences which the mis- 



