CHAPTER XLIV 
Roosevelt in the Wilds of British East Africa 
I N Book Three of this work the remarkable animals of Africa were 
described; in Book Four we gave the story of the great African 
discoverers, those daring men who penetrated the wilderness 
of the dark Continent, faced its dangers, and made clear the mystery 
which had long troubled the mind of civilized mankind. The 
names of these great explorers, and especially those of Livingstone 
and Stanley, stand in the same rank as those of Columbus and Magel¬ 
lan. They are among the leading discoverers of the world and their 
names will always be famous among those who have sought to pene¬ 
trate the marvels and solve the problems of the earth. 
After these pioneers there came into the African wilds a series of 
daring men of different mould. These were the great hunters, the men 
who bearded the lordly lion in his den, stood boldly before the horned 
and ferocious rhinoceros, invaded the path of the furiously charging 
elephant, fearlessly faced the most savage of animals on the earth and 
lived to tell of their boldness and their triumphs. There have been 
many of those men, the Nimrods of the African wilderness. We have 
not told their names or described their deeds, reserving the story of 
the hunter of the lion and rhinoceros for one of the latest and boldest 
of them all, Theodore Roosevelt, the first great American to face 
these savage creatures on their native soil. The records of hunting 
adventures are much alike, and the exploits of our hero must serve 
as a type of those of his predecessors. 
In Book Two of this work the reader will find a rapid survey of 
Roosevelt’s year in Africa, a picturesque description of the country 
he traversed, the sights he beheld, the scenes of animated nature which 
met his eyes, a vivid photograph of the remarkable country through 
which he passed from the port of Mombasa on the coast of British 
East Africa to the lakes at the head of the Nile and the broad current 
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