The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, MAY 12th, 1925. ACROSS AFRICA.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 May 1925, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, MAY 12th, 1925. ACROSS AFRICA.

Mu Hkr.max Xorukn, says a reviewer, is an American who has travelled extensively in different parts of the world, and who. though a bird of passage, is a shrewd observer. Not long ago he crossed Africa from east to west, and in a previous took gave an account of his experiences in British territory, “Fresh Tracks in the Belgian Congo’’ takes up the tale where the other left off, and describes the remainder of his journey to the Atlantic. No sooner had he crossed the border than he was conscious of a difference in the methods of administration. Under the Belgian regime the native carriers receive only half the British rate of pay. The Belgian officials and traders make no

m- let of their belief that the native must he firmly handled, and they told the author that he must not hesitate to inflict punishment. Mr Xolden himself mu floggings to the tune ol 19 lashes being administered and beard cl ot lav's. Y-'t- it must not be suppo-cg that the Hclgiaiis are inliuniiin. or that the natives are subjected i i vanillin ill-treatment. If the punishment was harsh it had been •■al lied by i UMibordilutt ion or ilelin<|Ucney. Though M-vere. the Belgians are net unjust. Sonic years ago there "ere sensational a I lego t ions ol atnictic, in tin- Belgian Congo. No J.iubt <;i.-e, exist,,.|. 1, 1,1 .Mr Ni.rdel,’.- 1-011-stdered ojiinioii Is ilia! til--y v. ere exceptional. and ili.al "in the main things u ere no vans- than they had In be if the wealth of Central \lrica "as ever to he o| eneii t. the ii.-cs of the "lute race. Am!, further, that the outcry due h-.- i , outraged humanity than to the jealousy ol the other Pi,.-o r.-, 'i lien- .. eiis to i,.- no doulit that the v.er-.f of tin- airoeilies the f;t ua I in r, tiHi t mis -.-ere , hole b.v native soldi,-i - ml leader- and by Aril's.” Ilf ooilfse. the (In.ellltui'ii! mini take i lie iillim.ife r-.-pansi-bilily for these, for v, lia! the law tolera I It I ondon- .s. and bcbitnl all uas the lie: erm iinl ie n to e\i loil the Congo f't wlm Ic\ el co-l i,I human life. Bui the r-i mpii ity of the (lovt-riiiiii-iit, oats not dire t. Mr .Yorden's journey lay along the dreaded “l.eopnrd U-'fid.” where many a traveller has losj jus Lie. IL- veiled tile country by Lake 'l angany ika, which, formerly (Icrman territory is now held liy Belgium under mandate, lie saw few signs iif progress, hut attributes this to tho feeling of the Belgiums that their tenure is insecure. lie met ivory hunters, .speculators. miners, adventurers of every kind, who all agreed that Belgian Congo had little to offer. The prospeets in Moro.eo or AL-xien, they said, were hotter. He wits entertained liv lonely officials in incredibly isolated stations. Many of them had been in the eolonv for years, hut with ti single exception they were desperately home sick, and yearned for the day when their exile would end. And so he made his way to the mighty Congo, “the river” par excellence, which is to Central Africa what- the Nile is to Egypt. Theme-fc-rwanl it wai plain sailing to the port of Banana, where he embarked

for F.umpo, after an expedition tha had been full of incidents.