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CHAPTER XXIII

In the Wilds of British East Africa

HE interesting country through which runs the East African Railway, and in which Colonel Roosevelt hoped to have the time of his life in his hunt after the earth's greatest, savagest and most abundant game, is one whose story has been of late years revealed to the world by a series of famous discoverers, the first of white men to penetrate the secret depths of the Dark Continent and lay bare to mankind its long-hidden mysteries. The names of these great explorers, and especially those of Livingstone and Stanley, are in the same rank as those of Columbus and Magellan. They are among the leading discoverers of the world and their names will always stand high among those who have sought to penetrate the marvels and solve the problems of the earth.

After these pioneers there came into the African wilds a series of daring men of different mould. These were the great hunters, the men who bearded the lordly lion in his den, stood boldly before the horned and ferocious rhinoceros, invaded the path of the furiously charging elephant, fearlessly faced the most savage of animals and lived to tell of their boldness and their triumphs. There have been many of these men, the Nimrods of the African wilderness. We have not told their names nor described their deeds, reserving the story of hunting exploits in Africa for one of the latest and boldest of them all, Theodore Roosevelt, the first great American to meet these savage creatures on their native soil. The records of hunting adventures are much alike, and the exploits of our hero were of the same type as those of his predecessors.

It is well here to say that making preparations for an African hunting trip was formerly a very complicated affair, but the tide of travel has set so strongly in that direction during the last ten years that all possible wants are systematically taken care of by European outfitters. Practically the only necessary thing is to write to one of the

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The large dining tent in the foreground, to the right a mosquito-proof sleeping chair and a smaller sleeping tent.

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EX-PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT LANDING AT NAPLES.

The Mayor of Naples greeting him, and American Ambassador Griscom walking at bis left.

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Once wounded by a hunter the lion of Central Africa becomes a raging demon of destruction. One blow from its paw crushes the body of its victim, one snap of its jaws mangles beyond recognition. In spite of the dangers of this hunt Theodore Roosevelt brought down several of these monarchs of the jungle.

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This enormous brute, the hippopotamus, is amphibious, equally at home in the water as on land. His thick hide shields him from fatal wounds unless delivered by a high-power rifle, while his great strength makes him a terrific antagonist.

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