FROM NEW YORK TO MOMBASA 
83 
Darkness had fallen, but Roosevelt and his son lost no time in 
leaving the ship, being taken ashore in the commandant’s surf boat 
and carried to a place of shelter in chairs on the shoulders of stalwart 
natives. 
Such was the landing on Africa’s shores, at night, in a downpour 
of rain, and on the shoulders of natives of the soil. But Colonel Roose¬ 
velt had no thought of bad omens. He was in splendid health and 
eager fofrthe start to the hunting grounds, which he said he could not 
reach a minute too soon. 
A military guard was drawn up to receive him and a picturesque 
crowd of Europeans, East Indians and negroes crowded to gaze upon 
the famous American potentate, while the governor of the place gave 
him a cordial welcome. He had intended to stay two days at Mom¬ 
basa, but the flood of rain induced a change of plan, and on the fol¬ 
lowing day he set out on a special train for the ranch of Sir Alfred 
Pease, where his first fortnight was to be spent. 
With this story of how Roosevelt reached Africa, let us proceed to 
describe the make-up of his expedition and the purpose for which this 
long journey was undertaken. That the desire to see the greatest 
animals of the world in their native haunts and to enjoy the exciting 
experience of facing these great creatures in a state of freedom, with 
an opportunity to fight for their lives, was a moving influence in his 
journey no one can justly doubt. But that he sought the African jun¬ 
gle moved solely by what the censorious Frenchman said was the Eng¬ 
lishman’s spirit: “Good morning; it is a fine day; let us go out and kill 
something,” we should be loath to affirm. For back of Roosevelt’s 
journey was a scientific purpose, for which we must give him due 
credit. 
It is not “The Roosevelt African Expedition,” but rather “The 
Smithsonian African Expedition,” with which we are concerned, for 
it was outfitted by the Smithsonian Institution and its underlying pur¬ 
pose was to collect specimens of the African mammalia for this great 
educational institution. Mr. Roosevelt, it is true, proposed to pay his 
own expenses and those of his son Kermit, including their outfit and 
transportation, but he simply proposed to obtain an adult specimen of 
each sex of the big African game, and also of the smaller mammals 
