AUTHOR’S PREFACE 
W HEN Theodore Roosevelt after having swung the big stick 
over the heads of the evil-doers and dealt ont a square deal to 
everybody for the space of seven years, covered with glory 
and beloved as no other President had ever been, retired to private life, 
he did not go to enjoy a well-needed rest in some of the paradises of 
France or Italy or idle away his leisure hours among the crowned heads 
of the old world—-No, his active and restless spirit was clamoring for a 
still more strenuous life than before. 
From early youth Roosevelt had been deeply interested in hunting, 
natural history and scientific pursuits. This domineering trait in his 
character came to prominence already during his college years at 
Harvard. His early youth, therefore, was divided between bookstudies, 
athletic sports and hunting expeditions. And were it not for his strong 
sense of duty to his country and his public-spirited nature it is very 
likely that he never would have accepted the public offices, which un¬ 
sought came to him. It therefore was in perfect accord with his previous 
history when the papers announced that he was going straight from 
Washington and his beloved Oyster Bay as the head of an expedition 
undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution, to explore the wilderness of 
the Dark Continent and enrich our country with new and valuable spec¬ 
imens of the animal world of this wonderful region. 
This was the original and unexpected answer Roosevelt gave to the 
many questions as to what he would do when his term of office had ex¬ 
pired. It cannot be said that his enterprise was paved with unanimous 
approval. Thousands had expected him to spend his time at home and 
after a few weeks rest again enter the political arena, and voices of 
warning were heard from near and far. A journey in Africa is some¬ 
thing very different from a pleasure trip through Europe or America. 
Instead of gliding smoothly along in a luxurious parlor car, stopping 
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