490 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 27, 1909. 
Three days’ easy marching brought us into 
another fine game country, and here I saw any 
number of impala. These are indeed a pretty 
buck, and the way they jump is simply aston¬ 
ishing. They appear exactly as if they were on 
springs. One I wounded and had a fine course 
after it with the deerhounds, but they had an 
easy task and pulled him down without any 
trouble. If he had not been badly wounded, he 
would, no doubt, have made a good fight for 
it, but against two dogs would not have stood 
much chance. On m3' way back to camp I 
came across fresh lion spoor, and followed for 
some miles, but without success. That night 
it was dark, out they came, all sizes and de¬ 
scriptions. To me a rat is a most revolting 
animal, and I cannot stand them around. The 
dogs after a while took no notice of them and 
went to sleep, and putting the blankets over my 
head, I tried to do the same, but could feel 
them running over me, and it gave me the 
shivers. I' woke the boys up early, and we 
■marched as soon as it was daylight. 
Two more days brought us to the caravan 
road running north, and we took the southerly 
direction. I was now beginning to feel myself 
again, and was sorry I had turned back, but I 
daresay that after all, it was for the best. My 
A Polar Voyage. 
Captain Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian 
Arctic explorer, who made the Northwest Pas¬ 
sage, and whose interesting volumes on “The 
Northwest Passage” has recently appeared, hopes 
next year to start on an exploration of the 
Polar Sea. His project is to take Nansen’s 
famous ship, the Fram, fitted up especially for 
ice work, and then to enter the polar ice and to 
drift with it. The Storthing has voted Captain 
Amundsen a subsidy of $18,000 to outfit the 
old ship and his starting is therefore assured. 
Captain Amundsen writes: 
“It is my intention to drift with the ice from 
MCDERMOTT LAKE AND THE MOUNTAINS BEYOND. 
Swift Current Valley, Montana. 
they came around the camp, and early next 
morning telling the boys that we would not 
trek, I made a large detour, but as far as lions 
are concerned, was again unsuccessful, but 
bagged a good roan bull. He was lying down, 
and I came right on him, and slipping off my 
horse, fired. My gunbearer could not make out 
what I was shooting at, and could not see the 
antelope until I pointed it out to him. There 
were a good many buck here, especially roan. 
I found them scarce in other parts of Africa, 
but certainly in Northeastern and Northwestern 
Rhodesia they are fairly plentiful, and a fine 
animal they are, coming very close to a sable. 
Koodoo are scarce in Rhodesia, but in Abys¬ 
sinia I have seen large herds, both the greater 
and the lesser. Most people, I suppose, con¬ 
sider the greater koodoo with its magnificent 
head and beautiful skin, the finest buck in 
Africa, but I give the palm to the sable. 
The two natives that had last joined me de¬ 
parted, seemingly very pleased with themselves; 
and a blanket apiece quite overwhelmed them. 
We made our camp that night at a large village, 
and sorry I was for it afterward. The place 
3yas simply infested with rats, and as soon as 
little experience has taught me that it is no 
good to take chances of any kind. 
Although we kept to the road, there was 
plenty of game, and I had no difficulty in keep¬ 
ing the caravan supplied. Two days after, 1 
met two wagons coming north and camped with 
them. It is astonishing how pleased one is to 
meet companions in the wilds and hear all the 
latest news. They told me they had been 
bothered a good deal by lions, and at night had 
to keep a sharp lookout for their oxen. They 
were very much struck by my deerhounds and 
offered me a good price for them. I eventually 
sold the two young pointers and the two deer¬ 
hounds. They told me that with ox transport 
dogs are more than useful, and the risks are 
greatly lessened by having them with the 
wagons. One of them, a tall Boer, had killed 
a lioness two days previously, making the tenth 
he had shot in two years, and he did not look 
for them, more than going out now and again 
when his trek was done for the day. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
the north of Cape Barrow, and I quite agree 
with Melville’s suggestion about the right place 
to start and hope to be pushed (with the ice) 
the right way. As for my plans, I expect, after 
the Frgm gets fixed in the ice, to be drifted 
to the north over the polar waters and out again 
in open waters somewhere between Greenland 
and Spitzbergen. 
“I expect the drifting in the ice will take 
about five years, but I propose to take with me 
provisions for seven years and a crew of ten 
men. The object of my expedition is a thor¬ 
ough exploration of the ice-bound Polar Ocean, 
especially with regard to oceanographical ques¬ 
tions. 
“Soundings and dredgings will be made the 
whole way, and also examinations of the tem¬ 
perature and salinity of the water in the various 
depths, and biological, meteorological and mag¬ 
netic investigations. 
“The direct object is not the search of the 
North Pole, but if the expedition comes in the 
neighborhood of the pole, the necessary investi¬ 
gation will naturally be made. 
“I hope to cross America before leaving for 
the North in ipiQ,” 
