Aug. 27, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
329 
Rudolph, and it is between these two lakes that 
report speaks of the gold. Yet as the country 
is very rough and hilly and exceedingly difficult 
to travel over, I now determined to round the 
northern end of Rudolph and return on the 
western shore through Turkanaland and then 
strike out for Gondokoro. This I did, and I 
reached there in about six weeks’ march, thor¬ 
oughly worn out and done up. Here I paid off 
all the porters with the exception of about three 
and made my way down by water to Lake Al¬ 
bert Nyanza, where at Nsabe I branched off 
into the Congo Free State. 
The Congo Free State is a very funny sort of 
place to be in and one must be most careful. 
The Belgians do not like to have foreigners com¬ 
ing into their country. They have always treated 
me with the greatest kindness and consideration, 
but I have heard of other people who have not 
received the same treatment and who were 
mighty glad to get across the border again. 
Their laws are rather arbitrary and in some re¬ 
spects peculiar. They will not allow you to camp 
for two nights in the same place. You must 
practically move on all the time, and this with 
a person who wishes to shoot and collect speci¬ 
mens is practically an impossibility and spoils 
the whole trip. There are plenty of elephants 
in the Congo State, and could one only get per¬ 
mission from the authorities to have a little 
license or freedom, a most profitable trip might be 
made, but the whole thing is hedged in with red 
tape and is practically impossible, besides which 
in some parts the natives are decidedly treacher¬ 
ous and dangerous. This country is well watered 
and traveling comparatively easy, but though 
there was every chance of getting good elephant 
shooting,, I pushed on, my objective now being 
Lake Tanganyika. At Sambaresi on the north end 
of the lake I sold my ivory to a German trader 
and no questions asked. It was a matter of 
great relief to me when in exchange I received 
good old English sovereigns. He made a good 
profit and so did I. Of course, Tanganyika is 
in the Congo Free State, but still you are in 
touch with the white people. 
I was now in a position to pay up everybody 
and then to make a fresh start, but my illusions 
about gold were dispelled, and although I had 
not found what I was searching for, I had no 
fault to find, and my trip up to now had been 
from a financial aspect a success, besides which 
I had enjoyed first rate sport. Eli told me that 
whatever I decided to do, he wanted to stay with 
me, but I made up my mind before I made an¬ 
other move to remain a few weeks with some 
Englishmen who had very kindly invited me, 
and who were working for the Tanganyika Con¬ 
cessions Company, Limited. Two weeks was all 
I wanted of rest, and my friends very kindly let 
me have all the necessaries that I required in 
the way of fresh stores, and I made my adieus, 
my present route being directly through North¬ 
eastern Rhodesia and Portuguese East Africa to 
Beira, where I could take a steamer and either 
return to England by the eastern route, or go 
south to Cape Town. 
Northeastern Rhodesia is a very hard country 
to beat as regards sport and a good many other 
things besides. The Government officials from 
the highest to the lowest are ready to do any¬ 
thing to oblige or further your interests—some¬ 
thing I am sorry to say you do not find in all 
the British protectorates. My trip up to now 
had taken me ten months and I reckoned to 
Beira the distance to be about 850 miles more, 
which would take say four to five months, doing 
it easy. The license in both Northwestern and 
Eastern Rhodesia is only £25, covers everything, 
allowing exactly the same privileges as you have 
to pay £50 for in British East Africa, and it is 
in every respect a cheaper country to travel in, 
and the negro is decidedly better kept in 
order. 
I had only fifteen porters and Eli when I 
started, as it would be an easy matter to in¬ 
crease the number if necessary, as labor is cheap 
and plenty. I had been in Rhodesia, both north¬ 
western and northeastern, before, and it made 
matters very much lighter for me. 
To a sportsman travel in Rhodesia is enjoy¬ 
able from start to finish. April and May are 
bad months on account of the very high grass, 
but there are drawbacks to everything, and these 
after all are very slight difficulties and easily 
overcome. From the commencement up to the 
time I got in practically to Beira, we were in a 
fine game country, but of a different kind. For 
instance, Jackson’s hartebeeste was no longer in 
evidence, but Lichtenstein’s had taken its place 
and the reedbuck were not of the same species, 
but had longer horns. There were many more 
sable to be slain. In the north they are only 
found on the coast and heads are not nearly as 
large as further south. Africa is Africa all 
over, only Rhodesia, I think, is more fertile than 
many other parts. 
In traveling in Rhodesia one has not the same 
difficulties to contend with as up further north, 
especially in the matter of food. The natives 
plant crops and nearly all have herds of cattle 
and goats. If I had been able I. should certainly 
have got myself a horse, as I was very tired of 
“shank’s mare,” but they assured me it would 
only be money wasted, as tsetse fly was all over 
the country. He would be certainly struck and 
my money thus thrown away. Besides, a horse 
up there except in a settlement was an unknown 
quantity. In these days we were in a buffalo 
country, but they were very difficult to locate 
and kept to the high reeds and almost impene¬ 
trable bush. It was both hard and dangerous 
to go after them. I went out twice, but never 
saw an animal,, though we jumped them on each 
occasion. The head boy of the porters told Eli 
that we need not bother; we should find buffalo 
practically all the way down. 
In two more days we reached higher ground and 
I told Eli to make a decent camp here, as there 
was game sign of every description and I should 
put in a few days’ hunting. Shortly after we 
had made everything snug a negro turned up, 
and although it was simply sizzling with heat, he 
wore an old military overcoat—I should imagine 
to keep out the heat. He had worked in the 
mines at Johannesburg for some years and turn¬ 
ed out to be an amusing fellow, very eager, but 
very sly and lazy. As he knew the whole coun¬ 
try I took him on to show us where to go for 
different things. I think he was an Angoni. 
but could never make out, as he was extremely 
reticent as to his past. 
We went out the following day and he cer¬ 
tainly knew where to find game, but he was not 
very wise on the question of shikar; in fact, I 
was surprised that a native should be so lacking 
in the ordinary ways of getting up to game. We 
found a nice herd of roan, but they were very 
wild and saw us before we did them and went 
off. I told him to let them go, that later on we 
would make a detour and get round them and 
come up against the wind. This struck him as 
quite funny for a minute, but when I took some 
sand in my hand and threw it into the air, he 
grasped the idea at once, and always after that, 
when going after game, he would do the same 
thing. We found the roan and I had an easy 
shot at a bull which I killed. From that moment 
he was my' shadow. Although he had been to 
Johannesburg and worked for several years in 
the mines, that had not taught him manners, and 
he had the most savage customs in the matter 
of eating raw meat and things of any native I 
have ever come across. 
I asked him about elephants and he answered 
that by marching about four days we should 
find them, as they used a certain part of the 
country at this time of the year, and that to get 
shots was a practical certainty. I decided to go 
there, especially as it was to the south, and to 
a certain extent on our way. We marched 
through a perfect country, but game was not 
plentiful, and on my asking the reason he an¬ 
swered that two years before they had had rin¬ 
derpest, that thousands of head of all kinds of 
game had died, and that they were just begin¬ 
ning to recover. Rinderpest is of course the 
scourge of this country, and although at the 
present moment cattle are inoculated against it, 
the loss to game is frightful, and it takes years 
to make up the loss. 
We soon came to a hilly country covered with 
small timber, but plentifully watered, and in the 
small valleys swampy pieces of ground, an ideal 
place for elephant, but though there was con¬ 
siderable sign, it was not fresh. It was not 
until the fifth day that we came across fresh 
spoor where a herd of over twenty had fed dur¬ 
ing the night. My friend of the overcoat was 
now all excitement, but when we struck the 
spoor it was too late to think of going after 
them that night. We made camp where we were 
and made it as sheltered as possible, so as not 
to alarm them in any way, or let them suspect 
danger. Elephants are very shy, and if disturbed 
will travel miles before stopping. 
At daylight we were up and away. I took Eli 
and another boy with me, so that in case of suc¬ 
cess I should have a messenger to send back to 
camp for boys to come and cut out and carry 
in the ivory. It was noon before we came across 
really fresh spoor and we had been marching 
steadily all the morning. When we struck the 
herd they were already on the move, though not 
frightened. We walked on for three hours or 
more and had not sighted them. I was done up 
and sent back the messenger to tell the boys to 
break camp and to come on to us. I lay down 
in the shade of a big tree and was asleep in a 
few minutes. I was awakened by Eli who said 
he had located the herd about three miles further 
on in a swamp, but it was then nearly dusk and 
too late to reach them that evening. The outfit 
did not get in till nearly dark. We made a 
makeshift camp, got away early and overtook 
the herd at about eight. 
It was a fine sight; there were thirteen large 
ones and a few smaller ones, some browsing and 
others standing in a small stream of water play¬ 
ing and squirting water over one another. A big 
bull I could not see, but my friend of the over¬ 
coat pointed out one that was standing by him- 
