CLOSING INCIDENTS. 413 



velt, twenty-five of the natives marched up and solemnly answered to their 

 names. 



The sick report returned by the Uganda herdmen showed remarkably 

 little illness and only a few deaths. This was largely owing to the unre- 

 mitting care and vigilance of Mr. Cunninghame. 



As the last man with a sack of flour was disappearing over the range 

 and the breeze brought back the faint echo of the African marching song, 

 and the little group of white men gave a cheer, Dr. Mearns swallowing a 

 lump in his throat. Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit returned unexpectedly 

 from their hunting expedition on the Belgian gunboat, Boch, all looking well. 

 They were sorry not to have been present at the farewell. 



Both were enthusiastic and Colonel Rc-osevelt said that he was greatly 

 pleased at the success of his hunting expedition to Raj of, as they secured 

 the only complete specimens of the giant eland ever taken out of the Congo 

 by white men. The animals were magnificent — as large as Rhinos, with 

 huge, graceful spreading horns, and are truly the finest trophies to be se- 

 cured in Africa. The colonel killed one bull giant eland while Kermit killed 

 a bull and a cow. They had spent from twelve tO' fourteen hours daily in the 

 chase. 



Kermit superintended the work of preserving the skins of the elands, 

 which will be one of the most valuable and beautiful contributions to the 

 museum of the Smithsonian Institution. 



The Stars and Stripes which was carried by the expedition was the 

 first seen in the Congo since the days of Stanley. Many of the natives, 

 which the Colonel met, recalled him as king, and asked whether the members 

 of the party were relatives of the great explorer. 



The Colonel said that he would hunt no further unless Lake Wo, on the 

 lower reaches of the Nile, offered an easy opportunity to get some speci- 

 mens of rare animals which they had failed to get so far. The great 

 Smithsonian scientific expedition that was practically ended, and the ex- 

 President and Kermit were ready to start on their voyage down the Nile. 



The results from the standpoint of the hunter and the scieutist have 

 exceeded all expectations. Colonel Roosevelt and his son Kermit have killed 

 500 specimens of large mammals. The bag includes the following: Seven- 

 teen lions, eleven elephants, ten buffaloes, ten black rhinoceroses, nine white 

 rhinoceroses, nine hippopotami, nine giraffes, three leopards, seven Chee- 

 tahs, three giant elands, three sables, one sita-tungo, two bongos. All these 



