416 CLOSING INCIDENTS. 



At the landing stage the strapping Congolese soldiers, under Command- 

 ant Rekke, formed a guard of honor and escorted Colonel Roosevelt from the 

 steamer, while hundreds of the inhabitants of the nearby villages following 

 in procession, anxious to see the Khaki-shirted "King of Americani," 



Colonel Roosevelt was entertained at luncheon by the commandant, the 

 company numbering ten in all. 



The Colonel was in his happiest mood, speaking French exclusively and 

 keeping the company laughing with his humorous tales of hunting in Ameri- 

 ca and Africa. 



He had only a few hours respite before reaching Mongalla, where the re- 

 ception was much more elaborate, as Colonel Owen, Governor of the Prov- 

 ince, had been for years an admirer of Colonel Roosevelt's words and deeds. 



A huge American flag flew from a special flagstaff. It fluttered between 

 the red-crossed emblem of the Soudan and the Union Jack of Great Britain. 



After dinner at the Governor's residence, the guest of honor witnessed 

 a native dance arranged for his entertainment. A thousand or more native 

 warriors in wonderful ostrich head-dresses and with their bodies decorated 

 here and uncovered there, after the African native mode. 



The natives exhausted their repertoire of dances for the visitor and it 

 was the finest display Colonel Roosevelt had seen in Africa. The party left 

 the same day for Lake Wo. 



Colonel Roosevelt's proverbial luck in safely escaping the dangers of the 

 African climate was pathetically illustrated during his stay in Mongalla in 

 the death of Dr. Prosch, the French missionary who was for two years sta- 

 tioned in Rhodesia, and who was trekking home to retire and end his days 

 in peace. Dr. Prosch and others were the guests of Colonel Roosevelt at 

 luncheon. The doctor seemed in excellent spirits and had a lengthy talk 

 with the ex-President about missionary work, proving himself a man of liberal 

 ideas. Dr. Prosch and Colonel Roosevelt expected to meet again in Paris. 



Later Dr. Prosch collapsed and died within a few minutes. At sunset 

 he was buried on the very spot where he died, bugles sounding taps over the 

 newly-made grave. 



Within a stone's throw of Colonel Roosevelt's headquarters lay English 

 and Italian sportsmen seriously ill and the district commissioner was down 

 with fever. All were inured to the rigors of the African climate, where they 

 had been for years, yet Colonel Roosevelt escaped practically without a single 

 ill. In fact, he emerged from the jungles of Africa healthier than he went in. 



