EXPLORATIONS IN CENTRAL EAST AFRICA 



DR. DONALDSON SMITH has 

 returned to Philadelphia from a 

 journey of 1,500 miles through 

 Central Africa, from Berbera, on the 

 Somali coast, to the Nile via Lakes Ru- 

 dolf and Stephanie; the last half of the 

 journey was over new country never be- 

 fore explored. 



After considerable difficulties with the 

 local officials, which involved the fitting 

 out of three distinct expeditions, Dr. 

 Smith started from Berbera on August 

 I, 1899. Owing to the desertion of his 

 Sikh followers, he began to cross the 

 Haud with only seventeen Somalis and 

 as many Gurkhas and Sikhs, besides his 

 assistant, Mr. Frazer, and a Goarnese 

 cook. The expedition marched by way 

 of Milmil, Sesahane, and Sheneli to the 

 Shebeli River, the followers being in- 

 creased to forty-eight on the way. The 

 Shebeli was reached on September 8th 

 at a spot called Godi, over four hundred 

 miles from Berbera by road, and on 

 September nth the expedition started 

 west again, and between Gohulle and El 

 Dere followed the line of march traversed 

 by Dr. Smith in 1895. 



In the first journey he saw the worst 

 side of the Abyssinian method of annex- 

 ation, but his more recent observations 

 showed him that the Abyssinians' treat- 

 ment of tribes once brought thoroughly 

 to submission was commendable. In the 

 first attacks the Abyssinians were cer- 

 tainly very cruel, but later they restored 

 to the natives a large proportion of their 

 belongings and very nearly their original 

 self-government, only a moderate tax 

 being imposed. From the Somalis to the 

 Boran he was surprised to find the na- 

 tives quite as rich apparently as they 

 were before they came under Abyssinian 

 rule. 



Leaving El Dere, which is about equi- 

 distant (750 miles) from Berbera and 

 the Nile, the expedition marched through 



broken and very wooded country, 

 abounding in elephants, and here the 

 Somali followers gave much trouble. 

 They were never satisfied unless they, 

 had over ten pounds of camel meat or 

 mutton a day each, and when food was 

 scarce Dr. Smith had to be on the alert 

 constantly to prevent them from poison- 

 ing transport animals or stealing sheep. 

 But the Somalis were not such miserable 

 thieves as most of the Indians, and their 

 superb physical condition, swift-footed- 

 ness, endurance, and intelligence were 

 remarkable. Of the nine Gurkhas four 

 only were pure blooded, and these were 

 among the best men in camp. But the 

 others, with some of the Sikhs, continu- 

 ally tried to hide if the march were long, 

 and had to be hunted up. Two who 

 evaded the search parties were never 

 heard of again. 



After leaving Goff, the expedition 

 reached an altitude of over 5,000 feet in 

 the Boran highlands, when suddenly the 

 caravan was brought to an abrupt halt 

 by a precipice that sheered off almost 

 perpendicularly to a broad plain 1,700 

 feet below. Five marches were occupied 

 in crossing this plain, where Dr. Smith 

 obtained a specimen of a tiny gazelle 

 which had been proved to be new to sci- 

 ence. 



On November 26th the valley of Lake 

 Stephanie was entered, and here the 

 expedition endured much hardship by 

 the burning of the camp and the short- 

 ness of water, for the water of the lake 

 was found to be so briny that it was un- 

 drinkable. Lake Rudolf was reached' 

 on December loth. The formerly rich 

 tribe of Rusia was found no longer to 

 exist, and no human beings were seen 

 until the river Nianam was reached. 



A remarkable change in the fauna was 

 now observed. Between the Nianam and 

 the Nile there was not only a completely 

 different set of birds, but scarcely any of 



