MEETING COLONEL ROOSEVELT 



131 



with its elephants, was our goal, and in between 

 were the black -maned lions that we hoped to meet. 

 It would be hard to exaggerate the charm of this 

 climate. And yet this, one thought, was equatorial 

 Africa, which, in the popular imagination, is sup- 

 posed to be synonymous with torrential rains, 

 malignant fevers, and dense jungles of matted 



A Night on the Equator 



vegetation. It was more like the friendly stretches 

 of Colorado scenery at the time of year when the 

 grasses of the valley are dotted with flowers of 

 many colors and the sun shines down upon you 

 with genial warmth. 



Each morning we marched ten or twelve miles 

 and then went into camp near some little stream. 

 In the afternoon we hunted for lions, beating out 



