272 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT chap. 



my kodak to the Eastman Company in London, to 

 ascertain that there had been no fihn in my appara- 

 tus ; consequently all my efforts had been in vain ! I 

 know, however, of one gentleman (Mr. Baumann, the 

 Austrian traveller), who achieved the most satisfactory 

 results from a large kodak, while upon a journey last- 

 ing more than a year. 



It is really impossible for an African traveller to 

 be an expert in all the different branches of science 

 and art found useful during his journeys. To be a 

 perfect traveller one should be a geographer, doctor, 

 surveyor, mineralogist, photographer, ethnologist, min- 

 ing expert, philologist, entomologist, and zoologist. 

 These are but a few of the qualifications required for 

 the best results from effort. Added to these, there 

 should be knowledge of the natives, a strong consti- 

 tution, determination to proceed at any cost, money, 

 diplomacy; and last, but by no means least, patience 

 and humanity are necessary. The ideal explorer has 

 as yet to be born. But bearing in mind the inability 

 of two or three Europeans to comprise in their per- 

 sons all the knowledge and qualities essential to ideal 

 success, there still exists no reason that one should 

 confine his efforts only to those subjects with which 

 he is thoroughly familiar. Even the most limited 

 success, attended by no matter how great effort, is of 

 value in adding to the world's knowledge. To me at 

 least, the words of Robert Louis Stevenson seem 

 true : " It is not by success alone that one should 

 judge useful effort." 



Mr. Stanley said, I think, that the time had not 

 yet come for the scientific traveller to visit Africa, 



