PREFACE ix 



hairsbreadth escapes, nor are there records of 

 ' '^^g'g^d ' elephants and Hons. The first half of the 

 book is occupied with the time spent by the British 

 Museum Expedition in Ruwenzori, while the rest 

 treats of the countries through which Carruthers 

 and I passed on our way from Uganda to the West 

 Coast. Though geographical research was not a 

 part of the object of the expedition, many of the 

 districts which we visited are almost unknown to 

 Europeans, to Englishmen least of all, and are here 

 described for the first time. I have avoided, as 

 far as possible, the journal method of writing, and 

 have merely introduced a thin thread of narrative 

 to connect the description of one region with 

 that of another. If I appear to give an unduly 

 favourable impression of the Congo Free State in 

 Chapter XVIII., it is because the other side of the 

 case is the only one which is ordinarily presented 

 to English readers. 



The last part of a Preface is easier, and requires 

 less explanation. I am indebted to the Editor of 

 the Westminster Gazette for permission to publish 

 parts of Chapters II. and IX., which originally 

 appeared in that journal. Signor Vittorio Sella, 

 who accompanied the Duke of the Abruzzi on his 

 Ruwenzori expedition, has most kindly allowed me 

 to reproduce the beautiful photograph which appears 

 at p. 92. My thanks are due to Mr. R. B. Woosnam 



