42 WAGNER and TREVOR 



up to 30 miles per diem. An able-bodied man naturally resents 

 being carried about in this manner, but the machilla is very useful 

 in case of sickness or accidents, or when there are ladies travelling. 



6. MOTOR TRANSPORT 



Of recent years the motor car has completely revolutionised veld 

 travelling and is now used throughout the length and breadth of 

 the sub-continent. Indeed, except in certain mountainous and swampy 

 areas, in the sand desert of the Namib, the dune belts of the 

 Kalahari and the forests of Angola and East Africa, motor transport 

 may now be said to be practicable anywhere in Southern and Eastern 

 Africa. Its remarkable spread has been partly due to the great 

 improvements effected in motor cars of recent years, but in the 

 main to the astonishing achievements of motor transport in the 

 campaigns of South "West and East Africa, when cars successfully 

 negotiated roads and tracks o^er which previously it would have 

 been considered madness to attempt to take them. 



The main result of this increased use of motors and the establishment 

 of service stations all over the country has been an enormous reduction 

 in the time taken for making journeys of any length. Thus a trip 

 which formerly took weeks is now made comfortably in a couple 

 of days, the net result being a great saving in every way. 



The dependability of modern cars notwithstanding, the danger of 

 breakdowns, is too great to rely on a single car for main transport, 

 and it is probable that in future the transport of all well equipped 

 expeditions will consist -- where it is possible to use motor cars - 

 of a tented wagon, drawn by oxen or donkeys, and a motor car 

 for personal conveyance and for local journeys; or a motor lorry 

 and motor car; the wagon or lorry, as the case may be, serving 

 as a basis of operations and petrol depot. The great advantage of 

 the former arrangement is that if the car gets stuck the draught 

 animals are always available to pull it out. 



With regard to the class of car none has yet been found more 

 suitable than the Ford. The engine is absolutely reliable, the clearance 

 exceeds that of almost any other car, and repairs to body or wheels 

 can generally be done on the spot by one device or another. The 

 lightness of the car moreover renders it possible to work it out of 

 difficulties in a way that is impossible with heavier cars. 



A recent memorable exploring trip by a Ford car is that of 

 Major Leipoldt, who motored all the way from Tsumeb, in South 

 West Africa, to Humpata in Angola, a distance of over 1 .000 miles, 



