xxii After Big Game in Central Africa 



about 4000 miles were traversed in that way. In 

 many respects, M. Foil's journey well merits com- 

 parison with that which Dr. Sven Hedin made about 

 the same time across Asia. 



The Foa expedition consisted of 380 men, twenty- 

 five of whom were well armed. Leaving the River 

 Chinde at the mouth of the Zambesi, in August 1894, 

 in company with two old African travellers, M. E. 

 de Borely and M. Camille Bertrand, the first of 

 whom went as far as Lake Nyassa, the second as 

 far as Lake Tanganyika it followed the course of 

 the Zambesi for several months. A stay of more 

 than one year was made in the partly unexplored 

 country north and north-east of the Zambesi in search 

 of big game. Mountainous in parts and flat in others, 

 densely covered with vegetation here, waste and 

 marshy there, these regions were crossed and recrossed 

 many times by the hunter. Pushing still farther 

 north, he explored, when passing through the 

 Makanga, Maravia, and Angoni countries in the 

 direction of Lake Bangweolo, various tributaries of 

 the Zambesi, principally the Aroangwa. This great 

 stream had already been visited several times before ; 

 but most of its length and its source were in- 

 dicated on maps as unexplored. M. Foa crossed it 

 several times in various districts, and visited its source. 

 Later he explored the shores of Lake Nyassa in a 

 gunboat, The Pioneer, which was lent to him by 

 Mr. M. Alfred Sharpe, the Governor of British 



