TRADER HORN

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 152, 19 February 1932, Page 2

TRADER HORN

(By W. S. van Dyke-

THE SAFARI ENDS partt's equipment lost in a train wreck. SOME APRICAN CONCLUSIONS.

— Copyright.)

MOMBASA, No. 28. |~)URING the last stage of our journey from Nairobi here, we psased another reminder of Africa's Uncertainty. It might have happened anywhere, but it was a fitting culmination to other tMngs. We came back on the wreck of the freight train, on which the first part of our equipment was sent down from Nairohi. Sixteen g.oods waggons were tied up in a ndat bow-knot on the fight-hand side of the road. Most of them were on their sides, or upside down in the soft mud. The engine had made the curve successfully, but every car in the train had gone off the rails. A temporary siding bad been built in the few hours .since the wreck occurred, and as we crawled by we loolced at the bursting doors, and nnder the edges of immense tarpaulins that had been .spread to keep the rain out,' we could see our arc lights and the electpical equipment with which he had brought the Californian sunlight to Africa. An army of natives in breechclothes were labouring to restore the railway line. These Indian locomotive drivefs they have here must be fatalists, for they do not slow up for soft track. A good part of the road bed along here has been rock-ballasted. I looked in vain for a sign of a rockcrusher along the right-of-way, but saw encampments of natives by the hundred, pounding the granite with small hammers, which, they carry in a tin basinful at a time to the roadbed. African Railways. The railways that exist in Africa are wisely built with steel ties. The ravages of insects and climate soon demonstrated that wooden railway ties would never do. The ties are not long, as the railways are narrow guage. They are hollow and come nested from iron foundries in England. Each "sleeper" is provided with stamped lugs, and the lower flange of the rails is slipped through these lugs and a small metal wedge is driven in at the side of the rail and it holds, with the advantage that the work can all be undone again, following a shifting of the track, which frequently occurs when the soft ballast is washed away by rains, and when it is so dried out by heat that it loosens up. The hollow side of the iron ties is downward, producing a suction that to some extent keeps the tracks in place. Among the enemies of any kind of wood construction in Africa are the white ants. The name is descriptive enough, though they are neither ants nor white. They are scientifically known as "termites," and their colour is a pale cream. These ants will get into your tent and eat the stoek off your gun, if the gun is not kept out of reach and frequently oiled. Ordinary wooden boxes kept on the tent fioor to keep your possessions away from the moisture are chewed through in a few days, It is said that a chair is sometimes hollowed out hy white ants working up inside the legs, and the chair will show no exterior evidence of their work. But if a ra m sits on the chair it will crumble mgloriously, almost to dust. We did not have that experience with our foidmg camp chairs, as they were moved about so often. Great Game Herds. The great game herds that startled us so when we first came to Africa are still teaming along the railway. We gazed at them, and vivid memories of our close-hand association with them through the past months recurred to me. I confess that Mombasa looks like quite a city to my eyes now, though it looked primitive when I first arrived. Mutia and Riano were to be seen at station stops, for they were riding in the native cars ahead. Tliey wiil ride on the same ship with us, and will look after our not inconsiderable livestock of lions, leopards and monlceys. Tliey are not at all exciled about the adventure, as far as one may judge. I have been trying to set down some general conclusions regarding Africa, as it has impressed a member of the "Trader Horn" expedition, but it is hard to get down to generahties about this continent. - For one thing, opinions differ, and there is nothing conclusive about Africa. African Conclusions. The average visitor to Africa is apt to form positive conclusions in the light of the experiences he has personally enjoyed. In a few weeks the tourist begins to consider himself an authority on all things African. This is rather didactic tendency and it has its spring in the natural laziness of the human minds. It is human nature, in other words, to draw iron-clad conclusions. Just as "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing," are a few experiences apt to be misleading. In the contact with Afri6a, which has been my good fortune to enjoy, one thing stands out elearly, hnd may be taken as an axiom, I i believe. This is, that all the larger animals are individuals. Within the limits of their natural instincts as a species, one lion will attack — another will conceal himself iri the grass — and another will walk away with dignity. You cannot figure in advance what any one individual will do. Of a group of lions, as you approach them, one or two may sit down like cats, one may stare, one may lick his coat quite unconcerned, and one may face you and hegin that lashing fo his tail which is sometimes, but not always, a sign that he is about to charge. Lions may come charging without preliminary liotice of their intention. In our company we call anyone who pretends a certain knowledge of the eountry a "native Son" adopting a well known Californian expression. Harry Carey is the only one who can conscientiously deserve the term, since he has been made a "bloodbrother" of the Kavirondo tribe. Espeeialiy in liunting stories, the1

tendency exists to exaggerate the importance of personal experience. The question of "which is the most dangerous animal in Africa" will never he settled. The old-timer, called liave the "old "stager," is the only man in Africa who will admit that he does not know the eountry. I was talking to one such old stager on the trairi. Instead of simplifying the African question, he gave me a new subject to poiider about. He has heard and is of the opinion that there is a human woman living in captivity among gorillas. Possibly she is a native woman. Hunters are said fco have glimpsed her among them. He was quite surprised that he had been abel to make motion pictures of gorillas, as we did in the Congo, and to make a sound record as well. Yaried Experiences. I run over in my mind our varied experiences in making "Trader Horn." I have covered around 4200 miles in Africa. We have been on speaking terms with lions, elephants, crocodiles, rhinos, a phython, giraffes, ostriches, leopards, hippos, and all sorts of savageS, including the pygmies. It is rather hewildering to start in with the conscious idea of making any comment that will summarise our experiences (as I should like to do as a fitting conclusion to this series of artieles). Thfe individual circumstances of each encounter stand out by themselves. The usually unexpected conduct of the animals in question is perhaps the most typical ohservation I can make. The fact that Africa is interesting, sounds trite hnd ffat." In some ways it is overwhelming. My experience with making 'Trader Horn" talkie has been fascinating in the extreme. 1 The End