TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. 441 



the Egyptian Soudan. " Full speed," was the order issued by the 

 captain of the Dal at the Colonel's request. 



In tow of the steamer was a barge containing thousands of 

 Ihe specimens which Colonel Roosevelt came to Africa to bag. They 

 constitute the largest collection of specimens ever taken out of 

 Africa. In it were some extremely rare specimens ; the first whole 

 rkin of the great eland which was killed by Colonel Roosevelt and 

 Kermit, after great hardships ; a white eared kob, a Gray's waterbok, 

 a shoebill stork and a dik-dik, an antelope about the size of a jack- 

 rabbit. Eleven Africans who accompanied the expedition were in 

 charge of the barge and specimens. Colonel Roosevelt lauds the 

 courage and faithfulness of the Africans. 



ROOSEVELT PROUD OF HIS SUCCESS. 



The barge looked like a crowded animal cemetery with the lid 

 ofif. Colonel Roosevelt surveyed it triumphantly. He was very 

 proud of his success and of Kermit's. 



He passed most of the time on the Dai's deck, from ^^■hich, not 

 infrequently, he saw in the Nile hippopotami as huge as those for 

 which he journeyed so much further. AVater fowl were abundant 

 and a variety of small game constantly excite a stranger's interest. 

 But Colonel Roosevelt was no longer Bwana Tumbo. His eager- 

 ness to kill for the sake of science was ended. 



He found jo}'' enough basking in the fine weather. The mer- 

 cury sometimes flirts around lOO in the shade in the afternoons, but 

 the cool nights and mornings give ample opportunity to recuperate. 



Truly remarkable was the health enjoyed by Colonel Roosevelt 

 and his son, practically the only two members of the expedition, 

 among the vv^hites, at least, who escaped sickness. Slight attacks, 

 such as most of the party experienced, were only natural, in view 

 of the hardships endured, heat of the tropics, noisome places through 

 which the expedition was compelled to pass at times, and deadly 

 insects. 



The Sesse islands, through which the steamer threaded on the 

 trip to Eutebbe, are a monument to the devastation wrought by the 



