ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 

 BULLETIN 



Published by the New York Zoological Society 



Vol. XVIII. 



MAY, 191.5. 



Number 3 



A WOXDERFIL CAiMEHA JOl RXEV THROTCiH CENTRAL 



AFRICA* 



IN A|)ril, 1913, Mr. .lames Banii's, actoni 

 ])anied by Mr. Cherry Keartoii. started 

 irom Mombassa in British East Afriea, on 

 the shore of the Indian Ocean, and in May, 

 1911, readied the mouth of the Congo River on 

 tlie Atlantic sliore. The year's trip, covering 

 nearly four thousand miles, included a two 

 months' sojourn in the little-known and still nn- 

 m;i])i)ed country up toward the Abyssinian bor- 

 der, many excursions through the hunters' 

 paradise of British East Africa, a six weeks' 

 march through Uganda, and thence traversing 

 the northernrr ost spurs of the Rewenzori range, 

 across the Semliki River into the Belgium Congo 

 territory. From here the journey led down the 

 Ituri and Aruwirai Rivers by forest trail and 

 canoe, to the Congo. A great part of tlie route 

 covered by the expedition of which Mr. Barnes 

 was the head, followed the trail of the great 

 ex])lorer, Stanley, who in 1888 came in from 

 the westward on the famous expedition to the 

 relief of Emin Pasha. 



It was the intention of the Barnes-Kearton 

 Expedition to bring out motion pictures of the 

 native and animal life of this central portion of 

 the great continent; a task that from the outset 

 l)rcsented many difficulties. Only by careful 

 ))re))aration were these difficulties to be overcome. 

 There was much to be thought out — much to be 

 studied — for aside from the hardships incidental 

 to such a journey there had to be combatted 

 from the very outset those two great enemies of 



*A11 the illustrations that appear in this article arc 

 from a book that will shortly appear, entitleil, "Through 

 Central Africa from Coast to Coast", and they are copy- 

 righted by James Barnes, 1915, with all rights reserved. 



pliotograi)hy in the trojjics, heat and humidity. 

 The most carefully selected material and the 

 most skilfully constructed cameras would count 

 for nothing if by carelessness or oversight the 

 [jreservation of the films were neglected. 



Water tight steel boxes lined with pasteboard 

 and felt were con.structed in London and these 

 again were surrounded in wooden cases with a 

 padding of heavy blanketing to keep out the 

 heat ; and so successful were the preparations 

 that there was a loss of scarcely five per cent. 

 of the exposed film. Three moving ])icture cam- 

 eras were taken and a battery of ordinary 

 cameras with the most carefully selected lenses, 

 all packed and cased to stand the rough journey 

 that lay ahead. It was by due attention to de- 

 tails and preliminary precautions that the expe- 

 dition was successful. Now the ))ublic is enabled 

 to visualize every stage of the journey. 



There was no intention on the part of the 

 expedition to obtain any record of slaughter or 

 to search for dramatic moments or })repared 

 tableaux. The animals were to be photographed 

 unharrassed and undisturbed in their natural 

 surroundings. Native life was to be free from 

 a suggestion of Earl's Court or Coney Island. 

 Onlv bv such restrictions would the records be 

 of value in the future, as much of the wild game 

 is doomed for extinction and the native life will 

 change with the influx of civilization. It is the 

 intention to present a duplicate set of these 

 films for free exhibition to every great museum 

 of the world — a jiroposal that has been accepted 

 enthusiastically by the museiun authorities of 

 Europe and America. 



