GIFT OF PROFESSOR C,A, KOF3ID SPORT, TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE Recent Volumes of Sport, Travel & Adventure ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE: Scott's Northern Party. By RAY- MOND E. PRIESTLEY. Illustrated. Cloth. 15/- net. PEAKS AND PRECIPICES: Scrambles in the Dolomites and Savoy. By GUIDO REY. Translated byj. E.C.EATON. Illustrated. Cloth. 10/6 net. ON THE CONGO FRONTIER: Exploration and Sport. By Major E. M. JACK, R.E. Illustrated. Cloth. 10/6 net. TREKKING THE GREAT THIRST : Sport and Travel in the Kalahari Desert. By Lieut. ARNOLD W. HCDSON. Illustrated. Cheap Edition. Cloth. 5/- T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD., LONDON THE CHILCOOT PASS. SPORT, TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE EDITED BY A. G. LEWIS WITH 58 ILLUSTRATIONS T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD. LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE (3 GIFT 01 C.A. KOFO/D /Htrj/ published in 1915 (All rights reserved) INTRODUCTION WHILE there is an enormous number of books by individual travellers, there does not appear to be any collection of such stones as are here related — stories of the hairbreadth escapes of the big-game hunter, the thrilling adventures of the explorer of unknown lands, or the great risks faced by the climber in his attempt to conquer some virgin peak. Again, in many of the books written by early ex- plorers are valuable descriptions of native life and of primitive customs, which have, through various causes, either undergone great change or died out altogether. Some of the volumes containing this important material are out of print, and a selection of the most interesting pages has been made. Owing to the very large number of books quoted from, it is impossible to mention them separately here, but the editor wishes to take this opportunity of thanking the authors for their kind permission to make extracts from their books, and also to express his indebtedness to Mr. T. Fisher Unwin for so generously placing his fine library of travel-books at his disposal. Thanks are also due to The Century Company (New York) for permission to quote from " Ranch Life and 5 M216941 6 INTRODUCTION the Hunting Trail " by Theodore Roosevelt, " A Vagabond Journey Round the World " by Harry A. Franck, " Hunting with the Eskimos " by Harry Whitney, " In Search of a Siberian Klondyke " by Washington B. Vanderlip and H. B. Hulbert ; to Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons (New York) for permission to quote from " Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada " by Clarence King, " The Congo and Coasts of Africa " by Richard Harding Davis, " The Wilderness of the Upper Yukon " and " The Wilderness of the North Pacific Coast Islands " by Charles Sheldon ; to Messrs. Dodd, Mead & Co. (New York) for permission to quote from " High Mountain Climbing in Peru and Bolivia " by Annie S. Peck ; to the American Tract Society (New York) for permission to quote from ' Through the Wilderness of Brazil by Horse, Canoe, and Float " by W. A. Cook ; to the Methodist Book and Publishing House (Toronto) for permission to quote from " Across the Sub- Arctics of Canada " by J. W. Tyrrel. The work is offered to the public in the hope that it will encourage readers to turn to the books them- selves. A full bibliography is given at the end -of the volume. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION .... -5 CHAPTER I. HUNTING THE LION . . . . .II II. AMONG THE PYGMIES . . . . 29 III. THE ARCTIC AND THE ANTARCTIC . . -44 IV. ON THE OCEAN WAVE . . . . .66 V. ADVENTURE WITH BUFFALO . . . .88 VI. AMONG THE CANNIBALS .... 104 VII. NATIVE HUNTING METHODS .... 122 VIII. MARRIAGE CUSTOMS ..... 140 IX. HUNTING THE ELEPHANT . . . .158 X. CLIMBING ADVENTURES . . . 174 xi. THE EXPLORERS' CHRISTMAS .... 196 XII. ADVENTURE ON THE HIGHWAY . . . 209 XIII. CARNIVALS IN MANY LANDS .... 228 XIV. HUNTING THE BEAR ..... 246 8 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XV. AMONG THE COWBOYS .... 263 XVI. ADVENTURES IN TIBET .... 275 XVII. LOST ....... 2Q4 XVIII. CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS . . • 312 XIX. CAMP FIRE YARNS ..... 332 ILLUSTRATIONS THE CHILCOOT PASS ...... Frontispiece FACING PAGE THE LIONESS ........ 21 THE LION KILLER ........ 22 TYPICAL TORO HUT ........ 22 PYGMIES OF UGANDA WITH THEIR BISHOP . . . .36 THE PYGMY HUNTSMAN, AKWEBADU, WITH HIS BOW AND POISONED ARROWS ......... 40 AFTER NINE MONTHS WITHOUT A WASH OR CHANGE OF CLOTHES . 44 THE " TORPEDO " HATCH AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE SHAFT . . 48 THE HIGHEST CAMP IN ANTARCTICA . . . . .48 SPANNING A LEAD WITH DOG-SLED . . . . -52 ON THE SAFE SIDE OF THE PASS AGAIN . . . . -65 HARRY A. FRANCK ON TRAMP ...... 78 THERE WAS BARELY TIME TO PULL THE TRIGGER WITH THE STOCK UNDER MY ARMPIT ....... Q2 A BUFFALO ......... 98 SOLOMON ISLAND WAR CANOE ...... IO6 PASSING THROUGH CANNIBAL LAND . . . . . Il8 BANGWA CHIEFS . . . . . . . . Il8 INDIAN SHOOTING ARAPAIMA ...... 124 NATIVE SPEARING FISH ....... 127 ESKIMO SEAL HARPOONS ....... 136 FINE FEATHERS MAKE FINE BIRDS . . . . .142 TYPES OF BEDOUIN WOMEN ...... 146 A CHINESE WEDDING CHAIR ...... 148 KALMUCKS, AKKEM VALLEY (SIBERIA) . . . . .152 A ROGUE ELEPHANT SCATTERS THE CARAVAN .... l6o JUMBO DOWN AFTER THE HUNT . . . . . . 165 AFTER THE ELEPHANT HUNT ..... l68 9 10 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE A QO-LB. TUSKER ........ l68 A DIFFICULT PIECE OF CLIMBING ...... 174 " SWINGING IN THE AIR " . . . . . . .176 UP THE SHOULDER OF THE MATTERHORN IN A STORM . . • l82 UNDER THE SHOULDER OF THE MATTERHORN . . . . l82 MR. SAMUEL TURNER CLIMBING AN AWKWARD PINNACLE WITH ROUND TOP ......... 188 PORTER MISSES HIS FOOTING AND DANGLES OVER 5,OOO FEET OF PRECIPICE ........ 188 "DESOLATE CAMP," TENT ON MORAINE, AND BELUKHA WEST PEAK . IQ4 A 70% SLOPE ON MOUNT HUASCARAN . . . . -194 MOUNTED ARAB SHEIKHS ....... IQ7 A FANTEE BELLE ........ 20O " AN ELEPHANT, WITH A MAHOUT DOZING ON HIS HEAD, WAS ADVANC- ING TOWARDS US." . . . . . . .210 MYSELF AFTER FOUR DAYS IN THE JUNGLE, AND THE SIAMESE SOLDIERS WITH WHOM WE FELL IN NOW AND THEN BETWEEN MYAWADI AND REHANG. I HAD SOLD MY HELMET . . . . 2IO THE DANCING PROCESSION ....... 228 A MONGOLIAN BAND ....... 236 DANCE MASKS ........ 239 THE WAR IN HEAVEN ...... . 244 THE BEAR ......... 2$3 HOISTING A POLAR BEAR ON BOARD ..... 2$8 ONE OF THE " BOYS " ....... 264 A "BRONCO-BUSTER" AT WORK ..... 268 DRAGGING A LAZO'D CALF ....... 272 PIALARING A LAZO'D CALF ....... 272 COMMANDANT D'OLLONE OFFERING THE SCARF OF FELICITY TO THE DALAI LAMA ........ 276 A TIBETAN VILLAGE ....... 282 TIBETAN HORSEMEN . . . . . . .282 PIKE QUESTIONING TIBETANS ...... 288 MAGICIAN WRITING A CHARM ON A SAUCER .... 322 A WITCH-DOCTOR ........ 330 THE HIPPOPOTAMUS THAT DID NOT KNOW HE WAS DEAD . . 337 SIBERIAN DOGS ....... 344 Sport, Travel, and Adventure CHAPTER I HUNTING THE LION THE records of big-game hunting are rich in thrilling stories of adventure with lions, most of the famous hunters having at least one exciting experience to relate. That serious accidents are so few and far between is due to the remarkable coolness displayed by the sportsmen under the most trying conditions. An excellent example of this is Mr. Vaughan Kirby's hairbreadth escape while lion-hunting in the Kalahari Desert, the account of which is given in Lieut. Arnold W. Hodson's volume of sport and travel.1 He says : " About 4 p.m. we set out for the baits, each taking a span of eight oxen, with driver, leader, and a spare boy. I had not intended accompanying them, thinking that if I sent the native hunter, Seba- ha, who was with me in the morning, he could fix everything up, and thus give me a chance to collect a few birds. Fortunately at the last moment I changed my mind and set out with the span on foot, carrying my old single '461 Metford. There was no sign of lions near the dead sassaby 1 See Bibliography, i. 11 , AND ADVENTURE when we reached it, so we cut the belly open and made the trek-chain fast to the neck. Instructing the driver to follow me with the drag, I led off by a circuitous route, in order to cover as much ground as possible. The sun was just about to set when I headed back for camp, and came out upon the slightly wooded hollow where the sassaby had fallen, but several hundred yards higher up. Before dipping into this hollow I turned to satisfy myself that the drag was following, and saw that it was some hundred yards behind. I therefore halted till it should come up, but suddenly, as I glanced across the hollow, some objects moving through the long grass about three hundred yards distant arrested my attention. It required but a few seconds' observa- tion to determine that these were four lions — a young male, a lioness, and two large cubs. They were making across the hollow towards the dense bush, alternately walking and trotting, and in the glare of the setting sun looked particularly red in colour. But I did not stay long to inspect them at that distance, preferring a somewhat closer interview, though, be it said, not anticipating how unpleasantly close that interview was to be. Running at my best speed, I lost sight of them for a time in the long grass, then came on them about a hundred and eighty yards off. Even amid the pleasurable excitement of the situa- tion I could admire their lithe, graceful contours, the glorious bronze-red sheen which the light in the western sky threw upon their sleek hides, and the unfettered freedom of their long strides. They saw me at once, and the lioness and cubs made off at top speed, but the lion pulled up and stood broadside with lowered HUNTING THE LION 13 head, growling. I still ran on in the hope of lessening the distance between us by fifty yards or so, when the lion turned his head and looked in the direction in which the lioness had retreated. Thinking he also would make a bolt, I took a rather quick and unsteady aim and fired. With a loud grunt he stumbled forward, then recovered himself and made off, limp- ing on one foreleg. I reloaded before he reached the bush, but was still unsteady after my long run, and for the life of me could not get the sight on him as he dodged in and out between the low bushes, finally disappearing in the thick cover. A brief examination of the spot showed that he had entered a detached clump of very thick bush, which was separated from a much larger and equally dense one by an open glassy glade, some thirty yards across. To enter such a place on the heels of a wounded lion was no part of my present programme, particu- larly as the shades of evening were already falling, the gloom being intensified under the large trees. So I walked up to the open glade, looking carefully for blood-spoor, in order to determine whether or not he had left his first retreat. I had covered perhaps a hundred yards or so when a low growl to my right brought me up with a round turn. My eyes instantly fell upon the head, or rather the eyes and upper portion of the head, of a lion watching me from out of some long grass. Naturally I took it to be my wounded beast, though I admit the thought flashed through my mind that there was not much the matter with him. Being nearly dark and having only an old-fashioned, 14 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE single, black-powder rifle in my hands, and a lion watching me within sixty yards, it didn't look quite like a walk-over ! I felt it would be cutting it too fine to aim between the brute's eyes, but as the growling in- creased and the tail jerked up over the grass I had to do something. So I made a guess for the shoulder, and with the report of the weapon a violent agitation of the grass, above which I got a glimpse of clutching paws and a whisking tail, assured me that my shot had been a good one. But this was only the first round, as I realized when I saw an indistinct mass with a tail at one end disappear in the larger patch of bush. What next? It was incumbent on me to make the next move, and to make it quickly, if I would save the little light now left. Still believing this last lion was the young male first wounded, I repeated my former tactics, keeping to the open glade, skirting the bush, and looking for blood-spoor leaving it. Thus I actually crossed the blood-spoor of the lion where he had left his first cover and entered the larger bush. I was on the alert, as I thought the lioness might be somewhere near at hand, and thus I worked my way round a projecting tongue of bush only to find my way barred by a narrow but very dense strip of bush, which divided the large patch (into which both lion and lioness had gone) from another of equal size. The shape of the two bushes and the connecting strip was, in fact, roughly that of a dumb-bell. As I approached the narrow strip a large thorn-tree, de- nuded of bark and looming white in the poor light, HUNTING THE LION 15 stood in front of me. I walked up to it and actually put one hand upon it as, stooping, I sought for an opening through which I could pass. A dense mass of grass and creepers grew around its base, and in this — shall I venture the apparently absurd exaggeration? — six feet from me lay the wounded lioness. I will not pretend to say why she did not instantly seize me, as she could so easily have done; she merely growled furiously, and I backed promptly, for of course I did not even get a glimpse of her among her tangled surroundings. Ten, fifteen yards, still too close to be pleasant. Another few feet, and I was up against the projecting tongue of bush, with a fallen tree across the middle of my back. Glancing over my shoulder to see the nature of the obstruction, I heard in the bush behind me the deep growl of a lion, and then for the first time I realized that I had two wounded beasts to deal with. The growl was followed by a heavy rush which turned me cold from head to heel. Luckily the rush was away from me ; his heart had failed him, and I last heard him in the vicinity of the lioness. * Woh-k, ah now 1 ' How friendly and reassuring sounded the driver's call to his oxen and the tinkle of the ox-bell, as the span came to a halt by the point of the projecting tongue of bush 1 A growl from the lioness had caused them to pull up short and had sent Seba-ha, the hunter, flying away in terror. Not so the plucky driver, Pokane (a trooper in the Bechuanaland Protectorate Police), who walked boldly up to me, whip in hand, and a broad grin overspreading his ugly, good-natured face. A brief 16 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE consultation upon the situation was cut short by an exclamation from him, ' Look out, sir, she's coming I ' Grunting furiously, her tail waving over the grass- tops marking the line of her rush, she came out straight at us. There was no room for even a pace backwards, though I knew that the oncoming beast would be less than twenty feet from my rifle when she burst out of the long grass. * Now, then, old single Metford, you've accounted for twenty-eight lions since I bought you, but you've never been in a tighter corner.' I could not see the sights, but, levelling for her head as the lioness broke cover nine- teen feet distant, I fired. She fell on her nose, turned a complete somersault, regained her legs, rearing up and clawing wildly at me, while blood and saliva dropped from her jaws. Once again the old single spoke up, and a moment later the lioness was struggling on the ground at the point of death, while Pokane was plying his long whip across her flanks. We did not seek farther for the lion that night, but, while the boys attended to the skinning, I struck a match and cautiously examined the spot from which the charge had been made. No wonder that in the gloom of evening she had been invisible, even at six feet, for the matted vegetation had formed a roof, under which she had crept, and I think it was fortu- nate for me that the thorn-tree was immediately between us. My first shot had broken her near fore- shoulder, while the second, fired as she charged, had entered at the back of the ear, passed over the back of the skull, and into the neck. She was a very old lioness and small, but I had no tape with me to j " T HUNTING THE LION 17 measure her. I judged her to be about 8 feet 2 inches; her fangs were yellow and broken." Some three days after the foregoing incident Lieut. Hodson himself had an even closer interview with a lioness. In his account of the adventure he says : " I called to Mosueu, my servant, to bring up my horse as soon as possible, and when he arrived I cantered on ahead in the hopes of catching the lions up, but without success. It was now about i p.m., and very hot, but I decided we would take their spoor again and have one more try at them, as I did not think they would go very far in the great heat. There was one full-grown lioness and her two cubs, one of the latter being nearly full- grown. This time I rode my horse. No. 2 again went on the spoor, which now began to turn and twist a good deal, showing that the lioness wished to lie up. W/e presently left the mopane forest and came to a piece of turf with very long grass growing on it. W,e had gone only a few hundred yards into it when we heard the old lioness growling, his piece of ground was fearfully holey, but I put spurs into my pony and cantered towards the place where the lioness was growling. I must admit that I thought she was making away towards the forest, but to my surprise I suddenly came on her in the long grass. She did not run away, but waited for me, and the merest neophyte could have seen that she meant busi- ness. She really looked very unpleasant, and what was worse was the noise she made. I tried to pull up, but only managed to do so when I was about ten yards off her. I could see that it was only a question of moments before she charged, and I tried 18 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE to get my good little pony to keep steady. He behaved wonderfully, but when I put my rifle up to fire I could not get a steady aim as he was blowing too much. All this happened in a few seconds, and I can't really say whether the lioness charged first or whether I fired first. I only know that I fired, and that she was then on top of me. She did not spring at first, but came flat along the ground and then rose up as quick as lightning. She put her left claw under the pony's neck and seized his right shoulder with it. With her right claw she tore a piece out of my legging and then caught the pony by the right shoulder while she mauled him on the same shoulder with her teeth. My rifle was a magazine, and as quickly as possible I loaded again and shoved the barrel into her right shoulder with one hand and fired. She then fell off and rolled about six yards and lay quietly growling. I then dismounted and gave her her quietus. Poor little No. 2, very frightened and subdued, and Mosueu, who had watched the whole performance not very far behind, then came up, and it warmed my heart to see how genuinely pleased they were at my lucky escape. I think this was rather an interesting experience as showing that sometimes lions do charge without being wounded. In this case, of course, the lioness was very angry at being constantly disturbed during the heat of the day when she wanted to sleep, and having cubs made her doubly savage. My pony was badly mauled, and the brute's big front teeth and claws had gone very deep into his HUNTING THE LION 19 shoulder. We set to, then and there, to skin the lioness. We took her skull and some of her fat, which Mosueu wanted for medicine, and, leaving the rest of the carcass, returned to camp, which we reached late in the afternoon. My pony reached Deka, where he died. We buried him there and put plenty of stones over his grave. No man ever rode or shot from a better or kinder animal, and when I think of the many gallops after game we have had together my heart, as a native would say, feels very sad." Not many big-game hunters have been knocked over by a lion and escaped injury, yet this is the thrilling experience Lord Hindlip had while hunting in British Africa.1 In his account of the adventure he says : " While waiting for the shikaris to return, I went up a small hill near camp, and, looking round through my glasses, I spotted three lions slinking away from the lake (where they evidently had been drinking), no doubt on their return to some lair to sleep during the heat of the day. I attracted the attention of Darod Nur, Lady Hindlip's shikari, and told him to saddle the remaining ponies. Luckily at that moment Owad and Aidid were seen return- ing, and in a very short time I had Aidid and Bodley mounted and ready to round up the lions while I with Owad and Darod started to try and find them. For some time we hunted about in a nullah, up which we thought they must have gone, but could find no trace, and I began to fear that we should not find them. Aidid and the skin-man, Bodley Warsama (who had 1 See Bibliography, a. 20 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE been with me in Abyssinia), were then told off with the ponies to scour the plain in front of us, and with the usual Somali yells and whoops they galloped off in a state of high excitement. For some time they were lost to sight, and we tramped in the direction they had taken, till presently Bodley galloped furiously back and said that they had cornered one lion, but that the other two had got clear away. Hurrying to the spot indicated, we came in sight of the Somalis on their ponies, shouting and irritating the lion, which we could hear growling savagely in the long grass. Having made out more or less where the animal was, we carefully went forward and got on a low ant-heap, from the top of which I had a fair view of the beast, which turned out to be a lioness. I was carrying a Ross straight-pull -370 magazine, while Owad had a •400 Jeffery cordite, and Darod a Paradox by Purdey. We were only about sixty yards or less distant from our quarry, but, probably owing to the excitement,, and to the fact that I was blown from my walk, my first shot missed clean. My, second, better aimed, caught the lioness in the lungs, whereupon she began running round and round in a circle, biting at her flanks and growling and snarling furiously. At this critical moment Owad and Darod foolishly let drive, and, as was to be expected, missed. Then she saw us and promptly charged. It was a fine sight to see her lithe body, with head and tail out and lips drawn back from the teeth, charging through the long grass, while we three fools solemnly missed her. Matters had now become decidedly serious, for the Somalis' rifles were empty and mine was not a very HUNTING THE LION 21 heavy one for the work in hand. Waiting till I felt I could not miss the mark, I let drive at the shoulder of the advancing animal. As I pulled the trigger I jumped to my left, and at that moment the lioness passed between Owad and myself, sending us spinning in different directions. I found myself sitting up facing the animal in her death throes, a dozen yards away, while an inch of dirt had plugged up the muzzle of my rifle. Owad had already picked himself up, while Darod the imper- turbable apparently had not moved a step*, but was no doubt, with Owad, as glad as I was that the inci- dent was over and that we were all unhurt. Aidid and Bodley, who had galloped up to the animal ,as she charged, were now examining the skin. It was a narrow shave, for the lioness had come between Owad and myself, knocking us both down, though I think that, as my bullet smashed her off shoulder and penetrated the heart, she must have been powerless from the moment I pulled the trigger. " Mr. A. B. Lloyd tells the following thrilling story in his book of a boy's successful fight with lions : i " .While staying in one of thie suburbs of the capital I was one morning called up by the chief to come at once and shoot a lion that was doing great damage in the district and had just killed a poor woman while cultivating her garden. She was stooping down pulling up some weeds, when in front of her she heard the awful roar of a lion. Look- ing up in speechless horror, she saw in the grass a few yards away a huge male lion, apparently about 1 See Bibliography, 3. 22 SPORT TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE to spring upon her; but just at that moment the lioness, which had crept up behind her, sprang out., and with one terrible stroke of the forepaw killed her where she stood, and then carried her off into the thicket. As soon as I heard this story I started off with a couple of my boys to hunt the lion; but although I spent the whole day searching never a lion did I see. The mangled remains of the poor woman we discovered, but the lions avoided us. However, a few days later a party of native hunters, returning from their day's hunt after small antelope, were attacked by the same lions. Walking in single file through the long grass on the narrow path, the man at the end of the line was suddenly seized from behind by the lioness and instantly killed and carried off. The rest of the party made off with all haste, excepting one little boy, the son of the man killed, and he, amazingly plucky little fellow that he is, actually turned back, and, armed with nothing but a small spear, followed the blood-stained track through the thicket. After a little while he came upon the lioness in the act of devouring his father. Without a moment's hesitation this brave little chap rushed at the huge beast, and the lioness, becoming aware of his approach, left the prey and sprang upon the boy. By a merciful Providence the spear which the boy carried entered its breast, and by the animal's own weight was forced right into its body, piercing the heart, and the great creature rolled over stone dead. The boy was utterly unharmed. Rapidly withdrawing his little weapon, he went and knelt by the mangled remains of his father, and while bending over him in his sorrow the male lion came roaring THE LION KILLER. TYPICAL TORO HUT. To face p. 22. HUNTING THE LION 23 through the thicket. The grief -stricken lad sprang up and with almost superhuman courage rushed towards the second lion, waving aloft his blood-stained spear and shouting, ' Come on, come on; I'll kill you also ! ' But the lion was so discomfited by the unexpected approach of the lad that he turned tail and fled, leaving his partner dead by the side of her mangled prey. The boy then went home to his village and called his friends to come and bring the dead lioness to the king, and this was done. The brave little fellow was suitably rewarded by Kasagama for his wonderful pluck, and he made him his own page." The following passage from Mr. F. R. N. Findlay's volume on big-game shooting in South-East Africa is interesting as showing the occasional boldness of lions : I "I was shooting at the time in the Goron- goza district, and had left my assistant, Prinsloo, with three boys in charge of the head camp. It must have been about twelve o'clock one night when he was awakened by the loud and continuous roaring of several lions close to camp. On looking out of the door of the small patrol- tent he saw the boys were already up and busy kindling several large fires to scare them away. Telling a boy to place a kettle of water on the small fire in front of the tent, he sat down with my old Gibbs "450 rifle across his knees and enjoyed a quiet pipe of Transvaal tobacco. After a time the lions ceased roaring, the boys crept once more into their mafumbas, and the little kettle commenced to sing gaily. Prinsloo had just removed it from the fire, and was about to prepare some coffee, when he was startled by several loud growls and roars in the 1 See Bibliography, 4. 24 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE direction of the river, followed by the bellowing of a buffalo and confused noises. The desert rang With clanging sound of desperate strife, as if several lions were attacking a buffalo. After a time all was quiet and he turned in, having seen that the fires were replenished. He had slept for perhaps an hour or two, when he was rudely, awakened by the cries of the boys, who, the next moment, together with two local natives, rushed into the small tent shouting out that several lions were in the camp. Prinsloo, although by no means averse to company when lions were about, objected to five natives crowding into the tiny tent, in which two men could hardly move about, and so, by dint of well-directed kicks, he cleared them out. The boys promptly swarmed up the nearest tree, which happened to be a very slender one, so that when the valiant five perched themselves aloft to watch develop- ments they began to realize with fear that it was quite on the cards that the branches would break, for the one would beseech the other to get down and climb up another tree. In the meantime the three lions which the boys had seen approached until they stood on a slightly elevated spot on which we used to peg out skins to dry, about ten yards from the tent, and were at times plainly visible by the flickering light of the dying fires. Two other lions were heard growling on the other side of the camp, and presently one of them came forward, and the boys in the tree informed Prinsloo that they could make it out lying in the grass behind one of their huts. HUNTING THE LION 25 No sound could be heard except the whispers of the boys in the tree. The excitement was intense. Stepping from the tent door, Prinsloo was preparing to fire at one of the three lions, when, with a deep growl, they disappeared in the grass to the right, and seemed to be making for the back of the tent and the tree in which the boys were perched. Hastily lighting a blue light, he saw the lion which the boys had seen in the grass spring to its feet. The next moment he fired. The bullet ' Mapped ' loudly, and when the smoke lifted, to his surprise he saw the lion standing almost on the same spot, growling and snarling savagely; and before the light went out he caught a glimpse of a lioness a few paces to the right watching her lord and master. The light flickered and died away, leaving an intense darkness. Prinsloo had used the only blue light he had, and now there was nothing left for him but to retreat into the tent, which he did with considerable expedi- tion. As he sat there in the dark he heard the wounded lion continue for some time to moan and growl in a terrifying manner, evidently on the same spot where it had stood when it received the bullet. Prinsloo's position would have tried the strongest nerves. Finally the lion drew off, evidently accompanied by the lioness. The other three lions did not threaten an attack again, but roared occasionally in the neigh- bourhood until dawn. I happened to arrive at the head camp that morning, and received from Prinsloo and the natives a most graphic account of the night's excitements . At sunrise Prinsloo discovered much blood where the wounded lion had stood, and on making a search 26 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE in the direction of the river found the remains of a full-grown buffalo bull, which the five lions had killed and eaten. The buffalo had evidently given a good account of itself, judging by the trampled state of the reeds and long grass. It had been one of a small herd of about eight, and its companions had evidently made off at the first onset, instead of assist- ing their stricken companion by a combined attack upon the lions, as they occasionally do. The neck of the buffalo, which had not been entirely eaten, showed a terrible bite about three inches behind the ears and several under the neck, but the face and nose showed but few claw marks, which seemed to prove that death was caused by strangulation, and not by dislocation of the neck. On my arrival at camp Prinsloo had just returned from tracking the wounded lion. He had taken the blood-spoor to the edge of a dense patch of swamp- grass, and there abandoned it. We spent the rest of the morning in tracking it for a couple of miles beyond that spot, through scrub, grass, and swamp, towards the western edge of the Cheringoma forest. The work was slow and dangerous, but not without excitement. The quantity of blood the lion had lost was astounding. At first we found pools of blood every ten or twenty yards, where he had lain down at short intervals; but afterwards he had evidently, partially recovered his strength, the profuse bleeding having almost ceased. We eventually had to give up the pursuit, having lost the spoor in some short grass within two hundred yards of the forest, and being unable to cut it again." Mr. A. B. Lloyd is probably the only cyclist who HUNTING THE LION 27 has had a narrow escape from a collision with a lion. " A bicycle/' l he says, " had been sent to me during my stay in Uganda and was constantly used by me in taking my journeys abroad, and often I have had most exciting times when on the wheel. One morning I started off to visit a village some few miles away from the Mission station. The road was well culti- vated and about five feet wide. It was, in fact, the main road leading to Uganda. I had reached the top of a long hill, and on the other side was a gentle slope into the valley beyond ; I knew the road well, having often passed that way, and I therefore pre- pared myself for a * coast.' Near the foot of the hill was a slight turn in the road, and as I approached it I put my feet again on to the pedals. I was going at a great speed, and as I rounded the corner* an awful sight met my gaze. Not twenty yards in front there lay in the centre of the path a huge lion, with head down upon his paws, facing the direction from which I was coming. It was impossible for me to stop the machine, the speed was too great. To the left of the path1 was a high wall of rock tower- ing some twenty feet above my head; on the right was a steep incline down, down, down for a hundred feet to the river. I had scarcely a second to take in the situation and to make up my mind as to what course of action to pursue. It was a critical moment. What could I do? To turn to the right down the steep incline would have meant almost certain destruction ; to attempt to stop, even if suc- cessful, would have meant pulling up at the entrance to the jaws of the king of the forest. I therefore 1 See Bibliography, 3. 28 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE did the only thing that was possible — I rang my bell, and, shouting at the top of my voice, then let the ' bike ' go at its topmost speed. As I shot into view the lion raised his huge, shaggy head, and seeing this unearthly creature come racing towards him, making so strange a cry, he lifted up his voice and gave forth a most blood-curdling yelp. The apparition was too much even for him, and when I was about five yards from him he leaped on to the right of the path, and I just had room to scramble past him. Once beyond, I pedalled away as I never had before, not even looking round to see what next happened to the startled lion/' CHAPTER II AMONG THE PYGMIES ALTHOUGH H. M. Stanley, the great explorer, actually met with the Pygmies in 1888, very little was really known of the dwarf race of Africa until many years later. One of the earliest and best accounts of their habits and customs is given by Mr. A. B. Lloyd, the famous missionary traveller, in his volume of African exploration. I He says : " We had been in the forest for six long days, and had never once seen the slightest sign of Pygmies, and I began to half believe that after all the Pygmy stories were not true.; but on this particular day I was converted to believe most thoroughly in Pygmies. I was still at the head of the caravan, rifle in hand, looking out for a shot at some wild pigs that had been seen a little while before. The forest was not so dense as it had been in the earlier part of the day, and we were making our way along a small antelope track which was in the direction we were going. My boy, who was just behind me, sud- denly stopped and pointed out to me what he described as a ' man -monkey.' I looked up the tree at which he was pointing, and there, near the top of a high cotton-tree, I saw what I thought must be, from the 1 See Bibliography, 3. 29 30 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE boy's description, a gorilla. In the thick foliage it was impossible to get a clear view, and I could only see that it was some creature of large dimensions, to be so near the top of a tree like that. I therefore raised my rifle to my shoulder, took steady aim, and prepared to fire. I had been unsuccessful in killing the wild pig, and I thought at any rate monkey would be better than nothing, and it would not have been the first time that we had been reduced to that. I had very nearly pulled the trigger — indeed, my finger was actually upon it— when my boy, who was still carefully studying the creature up the tree, suddenly pulled my arm and said, ' Don't fire — it's a man 1 ' I almost dropped my gun, so great was my astonishment. Could it possibly be so? Yes, there he was ; I could now clearly distinguish him. He had discovered us, had heard my boy speak to me, and while with breathless horror we stood there gazing, the little man ran along the branch on which ^ve stood, and jumping from tree to tree, soon disappeared. It was a Pygmy, and how nearly had he paid the penalty of climbing trees ! What the result would have been if I had killed him I cannot say, for, as I found out afterwards, he was not alone, and had he been shot the whole tribe would have been down upon us, and with their deadly little weapons would soon have put an end to us. But now my boy was literally shaking with fear. ' We have seen a Pygmy, we have seen a Pygmy ; we shall now see sorrow.' It was an old idea of the Watoro that the Pygmies were Bachwezi (devils), and they always spoke of them with bated breath, and declared that no. one ever saw one and lived to tell the story.; that to see one was to die. I laughed at him and told AMONG THE PYGMIES 31 him it was all right ; God would protect us, and we should get through the forest in safety ; had He not preserved us thus far from dangers on every hand? and we must trust Him to keep us all the way. Five o'clock came and it was time to pitch camp. We found a nice spot which was tolerably clear from undergrowth, although it was quite thick overhead ; and here we put the tent, and the porters built their little huts. I then sat down at my tent door ,an,d tried to read. Presently, upon looking up from my book, I became aware of a number of little faces peering at me through the thicket. Just in front of me was the trunk of a huge tree, and around one side of it peeped a tiny figure. For a moment I was completely taken aback ; it was like being in fairyland and having visits paid to one by the fairies themselves. My boys, who were sitting near at hand cooking some food for our evening meal, also caught sight of these strange little beings and came at once to my side. I told one of them to go and fetch the little people, that I might talk with them, but he was too much afraid and refused to leave my side. Indeed, I did not wonder at his fear, for I, too, began to have strange apprehensions as to the character of my visitors. I did not know whether they had not come to attack me, and how soon I might find myself pierced with a deadly arrow. At last I called out in the language of the people of Toro just the ordinary salutation of the country, and to my great astonishment and pleasure one little man returned my greeting. I then said to him, ' Come here and let us talk together.' This I shouted out several times, and then, very slowly and very shyly, he came creeping towards me, fol- 32 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE lowed by the others. When he got into the open space before my tent he seemed very unhappy, and stared at me in blank amazement and hid his face behind his hands. Some of his companions dodged behind each other, while the majority remained partly hidden in the jungle. I now had a complete view of my visitors, and what struck me first of all was naturally the shortness of their stature. But although they were so very short (about four feet, by subsequent measurement), yet there was a powerfulness about their build that is not often seen in African races. Broad-chested, with muscles finely developed, short, thick neck, and small bullet head, the lower limbs were massive and strong to a degree. The chest was covered with black, curly hair, and most of the men wore thick black beards. Each carried either bow and quiver and arrows, or short thro wing-spears. Round their arms they wore iron rings, and some of them had these around their necks also. I chatted away to the little man who knew the Toro language, and I was very much amazed at the smart way in which he answered my questions. His knowledge of the language was not perfect by any means, and he often used words that were strange to me, and savoured of Pygmy Land, yet he spoke sufficiently well for me to be able to follow him. None of his followers — for he was their chief — seemed to know the Toro language at all, and merely stood looking on, lost in wonder at the white man's appear- ance. He, the chief, had at some time or other come in contact with the people of Toro, possibly at Mboga, and had there learned their language. I asked him all sorts of questions relating to the forest and to AMONG THE PYGMIES 33 themselves, most of which he answered with marvel- lous intelligence, speaking in a rapid, sing-song way. I asked him the extent of the forest, as occupied by the Pygmies, and he described the distance by telling me the number of days it would take to pass through : from east to west seven days, and from north to south about six days, and, roughly speaking, about one hundred and forty by one hundred and twenty miles broad— that is, counting twenty miles as an average day's march, which would be fairly good walking even for a native of the forest. I next asked him the number of his people, and he took a piece of stick and broke it up into little pieces, about forty in all, and said that each piece represented a chief ; and he then went on to tell me the number of followers of each — some had two hundred, others only fifty, and a few as many as five hundred. It was very simple then to calculate that the total number would be somewhere about ten thousand. Then the Pygmy chief told me that he knew long ago of my coming, and I asked him ' How? ' He said that several days ago he saw me. ' Saw me? ' I said ; ' when did you see me? ' 'I have seen you in the forest for six days.' ' But I did not see you/ I said ; and then he laughed most heartily and said, ' No, I could not see him, but he saw me.' Upon further inquiry I found that a large party of these little creatures had been watching our every move- ment through the forest, while we were in the most blissful ignorance of the fact. At every camp they had hovered about us, peering at us through the thicket as we passed. Why did they not attack us? is the question that kept coming into my mind. If they 3 34 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE are the thievish, wicked little people that they have been represented, why did they not molest us? We were entirely in their power, and had been for the past six days. Perhaps it was our very helplessness that protected us — they saw that we were not as the other white men who had passed through their forest, armed with guns, and having a big following of soldiers ; or perhaps I had been overheard speaking in the language 'of Toro to my boys, and this had given them confidence. I firmly believe, however, that they are not untrustworthy folk, as is usually sup- posed, but, like most Africans, when not interfered with they are perfectly harmless. I cannot say which of these answers meets the case ; I leave the readeri to, judge for himself. At any rate, upon this and subsequent occasions when I had intercourse with them in the great forest, I was most kindly treated. The little chief brought me a forest antelope for food, also a large pot of honey, that I requested him to taste first. Before they retired for the night I asked them to come again in the morning to see me, and the chief said he would do so, and the next day I therefore had further conversation with these strange little folk. Their mode of living is extraordinary ; they never cultivate the ground, but wander from place to place, gathering fruit, nuts, etc., from the trees, and the wild honey. The animals they shoot with their bows and arrows, and the hunt was most graphically described to me. Often they follow a wounded elephant for days, shooting into it hundreds of their little iron-tipped arrows, until the poor creature dies from sheer exhaustion. They then make their little camp all round the carcass, and live upon the flesh AMONG THE PYGMIES 35 as long as it will last, and then away they go again to, seek other food. Their method of catching wild pigs and forest antelope is very interesting. Two or three of the more agile of the men are sent off into the thicket to search for the animal. These little fellows sometimes climb the trees, and move along the branches from tree to tree, peering down into the dense undergrowth. In the meantime a large net made out of creepers is held in readiness, and men, women, and children alike arm themselves ready for the fray, some with sticks, but most of the men with bows and arrows. After a little time a shrill, bird-like whistle is heard from the forest ; it is the signal from the searchers that game has been found. Away the little army goes, all noiselessly picking their way through the jungle and tangled undergrowth, in the direction of the whistle. As they get near to the spot they quietly surround it, each man or woman keeping within sight of the next ; the net is fixed up on to the bushes, on one part of the circle, and then when all is ready the whole party commences a great shouting, beating the thicket, and very slowly driving all before them into; the net, where stand the men with bows and arrows. Into the net rushes the pig or antelope, which is immediately shot through and through by the expert marksmen, and the hunt is finished. The meat is carried back to the camp, the blood being specially preserved for the chief. In the morning I tried to photograph my little friends, but it was quite hopeless. It was too dark in the forest itself, and I could not persuade them to come out into a clearing where I might get light enough. I tried time after time, but always failed. I exposed 36 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE nearly a dozen plates, but with no good results ; snap- shots were useless, and I could not get them still enough for a time exposure. One day after leaving Mawambi we met another little troop of Pygmies. They were not at all sur- prised to see us ; they said that they knew of pur coming, and had been told about us by their own people. I was greatly surprised at this, and asked to see the man who had spoken about us, and he was, brought — the very same little chief who had treated me so kindly before. He was so amused when I told him of my astonishment at finding him here, and he laughed most heartily and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the joke. I believe it was Dr. Moffat who once said that whenever he found a native in Africa who could laugh, he had hope for that man. A native who can see a joke and enjoy a laugh is usually a man who has not lost heart and become entirely absorbed in the problem of life, as to how to procure for himself a sustenance. And so this little Pygmy greatly enjoyed the simple joke of having passed us in the forest without our having seen him, and of being able to tell us of all our experiences since he left us ; even the places where we camped he knew, and the animals we shot en route for food. Again the little man showed his good feeling towards me by presenting me with two bows and a quiver full of arrows, to some of which the deadly poison was still adhering. The arrows were of great variety, the simplest being merely sharpened sticks of hard wood, and these I found were the poisoned ones. Others were made with iron heads of different shapes, from the simple leaf shape to the six -barbed arrow ; one or two I saw had double AMONG THE PYGMIES 37 heads, and some had, instead of sharp, rounded tips ; others had two long barbs, one on either side, both at least half an inch in length. The poisoned arrows are no doubt used when at war, while the others are reserved for the hunt. All had, instead of a feather, a leaf fixed at the end of the shaft. The quivers in which they were kept were made some of antelope hide and others of monkey skin. In addition to the arrows, I procured from the Pygmies a horn of ivory used in the chase, a whistle made of wood for the same purpose, and two thro wing - spears. All these articles, made by the Pygmies them- selves, show a certain amount of skill and intelligence. The horn, for instance, is nicely carved out of the solid tusk of an elephant, and the spears are slightly ornamented on the blades. I asked these little people tcx take me to one of their encampments, but they said they could not do so, that they never liked strangers to see where they lived. However, quite by chance one day while out hunting in the forest with one of my boys, I came upon one of their settlements. It was in a very dense part of the jungle, and I could see at once that it could belong to no other tribe of people under the sun than the Pygmies. There were very tiny little huts or shelters, varying from three to four feet in height, thatched with giant leaves from trees of the forest ; a few broken clay pots, evidently used for cooking purposes ; and scattered about the place in all direc- tions were the husks of a tree-bean and the stones from the forest fruits. Apart from these few signs of human habitation, there was nothing to denote that here the Pygmies lived. I moved away from this 38 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE strange deserted camp, feeling as if I had reached a corner of fairyland. I now had the opportunity of seeing some Pygmy Women ; hitherto I had seen only the men, but now, so very friendly were they, that they brought even their women to see me. They were very comely little creatures and most attractive, with very light skins, lighter even than the men, being a light tan colour ; the usual flat nose and thick lips of the negro, iand black curly hair ; but their eyes were of singular beauty ; so bright and quick and restless were they that not for a second did they seem to fix their gaze upon anything. They were smaller than the men, and would average about 3 feet 10 inches in height. One of the women had a little child fastened to her back with a bit of bark cloth — a pretty little boy. I wanted to nurse him, but she very quickly turned away and took the child from out of my reach. She was only a Pygmy, but she had a mother's heart ; she loved her babe, and feared lest I might injure it. One of the Pygmy women was found at Mboga by Bishop Tucker when he visited the place in 1898, and she was photographed by his side. Her height was just under four feet ; she had well -developed limbs and a bright, intelligent mind. She had lived for some years amongst the people of Mboga as a slave, but seemed to be quite contented with her lot. Strange as it may seem, these Pygmies have their religion ; it has been said that they have none, but in passing through the forest I often found signs of Pygmy worship. At the foot of some of the huge trees I picked up several times little bundles of food neatly tied up in rough bark cloth, sometimes a few AMONG THE PYGMIES 39 forest beans or a little handful of rice. I also saw little pots of honey placed at the foot of these forest giants. It seemed as if the Pygmies venerated the spirit of the great trees amongst which they made their home. I also found some little temples, very neatly made, that could not have belonged to any but the Pygmies. Upon their arms and round their necks some of them, especially the women, wore charms —little pieces of carved wood from some sacred tree, or else a leopard's claw or tooth. The latter, I learned, were to ward off the leopards which are roaming in the forest, and with which the Pygmies constantly wage war, the former to keep disease away, especially smallpox." Further information about the Pygmies is supplied by Mr. T. Broadwood Johnson in his record of African travel. It is interesting to note the difference of opinion in regard to their religious beliefs.1 " An object of great interest for us was a little fellow coming along the road laden with a basket of rubber! on his back. The bearer, apart from a little madman at Mbeni, was the first Pygmy we had so far en- countered. Watitaru, as he called himself, was of the Batwa tribe, like the baptized boy we had at Kabarole:, of fair, smooth, chestnut-coloured skin, and though a fully grown young man, came only up to the second button from the top of my jacket. The rubber that he was carrying looked, to use a homely comparison, like long strips of potato chips. It is sometimes used by them, he informed us, for burning in strips as torches, but this was more likely needed to make up the quota of tribute required from his village at the Government fort. * See Bibliography, 5. 40 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE Farther on we came suddenly upon another of these little folkj who, immediately on perceiving us, flung away his tiny bow and arrows into the bushes and bolted. But a little later we were gratified at the appearance of another and more sociable specimen. He was somewhat bigger than the other, and of the tribe of larger .Wamputti, who people the recesses of the forest all the way down the Congo, a month's journey and more, to Stanleyville. This one, Akwehadu, was a hunter, with his little bow and two iron-shafted arrows ready in his hand, and a wicker basket of food hanging on his shoulder. He also carried a little bundle of more deadly weapons, with the ends carefully bound round with a leaf, and this was his stock of still wet freshly poisoned arrows. Strangely enough, the poison doesn't seem to affect the whole- someness for food of the game which falls to them'. The bearded little man followed us to the camping- place, where we arrived just at midday ; and here the captain, though not raising our hopes very highly as to the prospect of success, kindly sent to search for the chief of these Pygmies in his village several hours away in the depth of the forest. Towards evening the chief of these; Wamputti Pygmies arrived, his high-sounding title of * Sultan ' being evidence of the influence in former days of the Arab in the district. In height he stood about 4 ft., looking quite big beside his fellow. The conversation we had with him — passing backwards and forwards between five intermediaries — was inevitably limited. Mr. Geil would put to me a question which I passed on in French to Captain S., and he turned it into Kiswahili for his interpreter, who understood a little AMONG THE PYGMIES 41 of the Pygmy language. But though of necessity, limited, the conversation elicited some interesting facts. .When asked questions, the little man laughed a timid, simple sort of laugh, and with his hand over his mouth answered in a gentle, sing-song voice. In answer to the question how old he was, he replied, ' Many moons.' He has oYily one wife (according to their usual practice) and two children (three being considered an unusually large family) ; it is little wonder, therefore, that they are not multiplying and overrunning the forest. His encampment was about six hours away, so he explained by the sun ; but they only encamp in one place a short while — a few days it may be, or up to three months — when they pass off to seek other hunting- grounds. They never build in trees, but occasionally climb into them and remain for a few hours aloft when watching for their prey. Their religious belief is practically nil, though they, have at least one idea of a charm ; pounding up the bark of a tree, they make a red or black liquid, and, smearing it in certain lines over the face, suppose it will ensure strength for the journey or the hunt. After the death of a member of the tribe, and Jris burial at a considerable distance from his temporary home, a start is made on a long journey to seek some new place for sojourning in. After death they believe that the person is absolutely gone, never to return, or, in other words, worn out. The captain added that they engage in no agriculture, never staying long enough to gather in a crop, but, like some wandering people in Europe, are not above re- lieving their neighbours of a fowl or two at night. When asked as to the game he shoots, he began to 42 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE reckon on his fingers (in place of the more familiar way with little bits of stick), buffalo (showing the crushing his shoulder had received from one), antelope, monkeys (but these not very often, because of the loftiness of their leafy haunts), wild pig, and occasion- ally elephant. When a herd passes through their dis- trict they hover on its flanks, and as one of the great beasts lifts his hind leg they discharge their poisoned arrows into his foot, and after a few hours the poor thing topples down, overpowered by the deadly poison." AMONG THE PYGMIES 43 THE PYGMY AKWEBADU'S Bow AND ARROWS. Two of the arrows are iron pointed, and the other two simply hardened wood and poisoned, but so deadly as to bring down an elephant. The bow measures only 26 inches in length. The knife is for cutting up the meat or peeling plantains. CHAPTER III THE ARCTIC AND THE ANTARCTIC THE story of the Northern party of Captain Scott's last expedition is one of the most thrilling chapters in the history of Polar exploration. In January 1912 the party, consisting of six men and with only six weeks' food supply, were landed from the Terra Nova for what was intended to be a short sledging journey. The ship was unable to return to relieve them, and consequently they were compelled to prepare to face the winter with inadequate equipment and provisions. A cave home, in which it was impossible to stand upright, unceasing and nerve-destroying wind, blind- ness from the fumes of blubber lamps, half rations of unpalatable food, and continual frostbites were a few only of the discomforts which had to be endured. The story is fully told by Raymond E. Priestley, in his book "Antarctic Adventure," ' but a short quota- tion will give an idea of the severity of the winter they lived through: "By March I7th our cave was suffi- ciently advanced for Campbell, Dickason, and myself to move in, and we therefore decided to cart over our stuff to the drift and settle down there. We should then be able to camp in the cave for the night and 1 See Bibliography, 6. 44 l^tff* Levick. Brownim Abbott. Campbell. Dickason. AFTER NINE MONTHS WITHOUT A WASH OR CHANGE OF CLOTHES. To face p. 44. THE ARCTIC AND THE ANTARCTIC 45 have our meals there, and if the weather was very bad we should still be able to work under shelter. We therefore struck camp in the morning and spent the whole day bringing our gear over, and I don't think any of us would care to repeat the day, which I will describe as it is recorded in my diary. 7 p.m. — Strong south-west breeze all day, freshening to a full gale at night. We have had an awful day, but have managed to shift enough gear into the cave to live temporarily. Our tempers have never been so tried during the whole of our life together, but they have stood the strain pretty successfully. After break- fast Abbott and Browning came over and started to carry the sugar and chocolate boxes to the cave. Then I went over to their tent and took them three or four days' biscuit ration and their chocolate and brought back a tin of oil and my carrier. By the time I got back the others had struck camp and piled everything on the sledge, and we sledged everything along the edge of the glacier until we were as near the drift as possible. The wind, which had lulled a little, was again beginning to freshen when I started,, a few minutes before the others, with my pack for the cave, and then rose rapidly to 'gale strength, with heavy drift in the gusts. My pack, a sleeping-bag, rucksack, and bag of notebooks, etc., was very unwieldy, and was rendered more so within the first hundred yards, when the sleeping-bag unshipped its moorings and came loose. I then slung the latter round me to windward, and it was handicapped in this manner that I finished the trip. May I never have such another three trips as were those to-day. Every time the wind lulled a little I fell 46 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE over to windward, and at every gust I was pitched to leeward, while a dozen times or more I was taken off my feet and dashed against the ground or against unfriendly boulders. The other two had equally bad times. Dickason hurt his knee and ankle and lost his sheath-knife, and Campbell lost a compass and some revolver cartridges in the two trips they made. Altogether it was lucky we got across at all. Abbott and Browning were compelled to depot the boxes, but they returned for our primus and cooker, and by the time they had completed this first trip it was so late that we had only time to send them for some sea water and blubber before they had to return to their own tent. We got most of our necessary articles over, however, and have enjoyed a thoroughly good though insufficient hoosh in our new home, the first of many equally good, I hope and expect, for I 'don't think there is the slightest chance of the ship coming. We then spread a seal- skin on the floor, sat on it until we had thawed out the humps, spread two floor-cloths over it, and turned in, first converting the tent into a door to keep out most of the drift. It is good to lie in one's bag and not to hear the flapping of the tent, but until we get the insulation finished the cave is going to be very cold. I have eaten a pint of blubber to-night in great thick slices, and feel much the better for it, but I have also antici- pated to-morrow's biscuit allowance, for we had to bring it over loose, and this was too much for my fortitude. We sang some hymns to-night, but could not remember many. The gale raged without cessation during the i8th, but we were able to work steadily at the cave, which THE ARCTIC AND THE ANTARCTIC 47 by this time had reached its final dimensions, twelve feet by nine feet, but still wanted a foot or two in height. It was fortunate that we were able to devote our whole attention to this work on this and the followingi day, for on the evening' of the 1 9th Levick, Abbott, and Browning arrived at the cave thoroughly exhausted and without any of their equipment. Early in the morning the gale had reached its climax, and in one of