A NEW DE ROUGEMONT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 258, 22 March 1913, Page 1 (Supplement)

A NEW DE ROUGEMONT

WONDROUS TALES 1-RO.M AFRICA. "Gulliver's Travels" aiid "Sinbud the Sailor" would look like kindergarten books compared with the breezy narrative brought by Robert 0. Taite oil board the Lapland, of the lied Star Line, wliieli recently arrived in Xew York. -Mr. Taite not only found tbe River of lipid in Africa, tbe shorn of which are paved with nuggets the size of a man's fist, but he had hand-to-hand battles with hordes of natives; be saw bis black porters swallowed alive by crocodiles, lie swam ashore on the backs of raving hippopotami, he saw a gorilla carry his body ■ servant oil' into the jungle, and he lost 001b in weight. .Mr. Taite, who says be is the son of a retired miner in Los Angeles. Co., went to Africa ten years ago as a civil engineer, but his first nine years there did nat count. It was only since a year ago, when be met a Scotchman, Gordon Campbell, at Zanzibar, that bis real adventures began. Gordon Campbell was a name to inspire any Scotchman, and' Mr. Taite admitted it rang true to him. "With ten native porters we started across Africa by way of VictoriaXy an/a, and after many weeks' hardship we reached the Congo at Stanley Fall-." Mr. Taite said. "While braving the dangers of the deadly tse-tse fly and the huge mosquitoes which spread malaria, we found a small stream flowing into Lake Tanganyika, the bed of which was covered with gold nuggets. There is nothing but gold there. One needs only to pick it up,, in its virgin state, and bring it away. "But tbe tse-tse fly was so dangerous we did not stop. We decided to get to civilisation and organise a better expedition. We started down tbe Congo' in a raft, when we were attacked hv thousands of hippopotami and rhinoceronses. They upset the raft, and before our eves two of the natives were swallowed hole by crocodiles. "Campbell and T sprang to the backs the hippopotami, and with our pistols guided them ashore, where we landed. Three other natives l|ad been killed, which left us only five porters. Two more were eaten by wild animals before we could build another raft. "Then we ran into cannibal tribes and 1 in fierce hand-to-hand battles with the savages we lost two of our negroes. They were promptly cooked and eaten bv the cannibals, which gave us a chance to escape. "Our last native was carried out of camp one night by a giant gorilla. We gave him battle, shooting many bullets into him, but he broke the native's back over his knee and then carried him into the jungle to eat him. "We were finally found by a Belgian rubber expedition and sent to the West Coast. Tam now going home to get capital to go back and get that river of gold."