Show n J I Ii r. r r Jr Ji i r N T L' L 3 yr N i iJ J r rr r I r N. N i f r rr it Jf c J r J l lj jJ rr ly r 1 JJ iJ S i Jf r ti k Y r r ra J r J v r fJ Sp r J fl rf rr IJ lj 1 j e f c rr vJ f r t F k ff r f rr IJ f J r 1 r i i r j Z CHA CHAPIN- CHAPIN Y w wIS IS roTHE ro- ro I r t 1 J n i R J f t f fJ ff fv d f v lw 1 J i r n v T t i r cJ f ti c 7 1 riy r Z w rJ k 1 i a THE fEATHER J s j- j n api 1 t l f By Bv Ernest Dupuy HUBE thousand miles of wear weary tramping through fever fen r haunted jungles in the miasmic heart of the I T I Congo ba basin in strange straub g encounters with savage san beasts II I and anti with human beings almost as savage the tile discovery dis covery elJ and classification for science under enor enor- African flora and all 7 molls mons difficult of rare the tile foot of i fauna in spots never el before trodden b by white man all man all these things belong in the a adventures ven tures tubes of James Chapin the Staten Island boy hOJ who with Ic 1 Herbert Lang has obtained for the American Museum of Natural History in Sew ew York cit city y the most must complete collection of natural history specimens sped depths of the tile mens glens that has lias ever eer been heen wrested n res from the mysterious m s toil under the of work of worn of exhausting dark ark Continent il Six years ears b grilling sun un and aud teeming g rains of equatorial Africa were Africa were n nt necessary before the great task was completed Now Chapin 1 is S back hack with the first instalment of the great collection collection ville is superintending the tile final tion while I Lang ang still in Stanleyville fruits of th the expedition fortY edition forty five tons in packing of the rest of of the eI p fol th thousand separate specimens specimen all and consisting o oThe of f more than forty The rare okapi the bongo almost as rare but less widely I known the dwarf elephant pant of the Congo b basin a species p that for many years fi scientists have al' al alb argued Hued about r black square mouthed and white cab t ant Cult cater eater buffalo giant eland and heretofore almost unknown unknown varieties of dainty r antelope arc represented in the that when at last brought here full of trophies huge g packing g ca cases es es will necessitate te the buil building ing of or a new wing by the Museum authorities author author- tics ties in which to display them properly Chapin 1 a l tall loosely knit knit young oung chap of twenty five lie was n nineteen n when he left Columbia University Um in Africa with Africa with his junior year to go 0 to of frowning frowning frown frown- steady blue eyes and a n trick ill ing when Then he is iff engaged in thought thought- blazing sunlight sun sun- probably baLb learned in the light of Africa does docs docs not at first glance resemble a t l man who lu has s hiked his wa way through the African wild His skin while wIlile tanned is not of the hue that one olle would eq expect ct from one who has lived d and worked under the equator But Hut for all his lib youthful face he be carries himself like one oue accustomed to g giving gin in orders while as for the thc tan he has had his Ion long sea trip from Borna Boma via ia Liverpool Liver Li pool to New cw York in which to get rid of the effect of the suns sun's rays He was as already an 10 ornithologist of some note in scientific circles before he left the United States He was a 1 member of the Staten Island Association n of Arts and Sciences when he heRS was RS fifteen years old and had at that time one ono of the most complete collections of North orth American bird hird life in iii existence Some of the rarest specimens spec spec- mens weDS at present in the American Museum Mu- Mu J seum were presented to it b by him Young Chapin is very cry modest and refuses to b believe that le e has himself accomplished anything wonderful although although al al- al though he gives gl great praise e to Mr Ir Lang for what he has done As for adventures adventures en atI tures he shook his head and laughed when I asked RISked him if he lle- had bad had any unusual unusual un un- un usual experiences Xo So I never nefer was in tn great danger he be said And I 1 had no adventures How about about- animals Well Nell the nearest I ever came to a wild animal was when Den I e shot ot a bird that dropped in a thicket about thirty feet away As I walked toward it what 1 I had taken for a Leap heap of brush suddenly suddenly sud sud- denly resolved ed itself into n a rhinoceros who clambered to his feet looked me over snorted and ran away Of course It all depends upon the point of view So far f r as the writer ia is concerned if a perfectly good rhinoceros should hould suddenly appear and snort at him from a distance of thirty feet well feet well r modesty forbids boasting of the speed records record's that would be broken No adventures ad He lie also told of how while asleep ina in ina ina a village in iu the district a 11 hyena entered his room ate atc a n. number of birds birda he was going to stuff and und cn ended by making mak fug ing ill away with one of his bis hoes and a I puttee I 1 knew nothing about It t until morning morn I iu lug ing when wilen we found his bis tracks h bi ex Ve We 0 hunted about and I even tint sent men alou along alone the trail to see sec if he hc could coul be found for the hyenas are fond antI of using the trails when the grass is high But Bul I 1 never got m my shoe an and puttee It was only after much fencing that he would admit that hyenas have often attacked attack d sleeping men and that the natives s barricade the thc entrance to their huts usually to lo keep them out Xo No adventures adventures ad ad- ventures To be n awakened in the middle middie of the night while their caravan was camped in an open pen space in the high grass and to find that th-at one of the shelter huts of grass raised b by the natives es hud had caught fire and the entire camp was in dan danger er of bein being swept by the flames did not seem to be an on adventure to him either That ThatUs was Us on only an nn incident he de de- He tol told 1 how the natives are arc accustomed because of the cool nights night to light fires ires in their huts It was one of these fires that had set the hut but ablaze The grass stared stand d and it was only by energetic work and skilful burning of back fires to obtain a clear space across which the flames could not jump that they were able to escape the fire firc and save their trophies Xo No o a adventures ventures They had one of their bearers killed by a lion Hon but he would not give c any of the details He also told of lions that were said to have c killed a n. number of f the natives nati but the they did not ha have e em m much ch trouble with ith them r They hey could be heard roaring occasion occasionally lly he said When questioned about the snakes inthe in inthe inthe the region through which the c expedition edition had bad gono gone Mr lr Chapin admitted that there were great numbers of them most of which were poisonous The water liter ISn snakes however were not Still he added naively as one could meet almost any kind near the tho water it was not well weB to take it for granted that they were i ally water snakes Of ot pythons the they saw aw numbers and killed many One could eec ace them often fe festooned in the branches of the trees Then the natives would come tome running and tell us of n a python and we would hoot it None of them were more than six lx yards long lon Imagine tramping through a n jungle where six yard pythons hung looped from the trees The ho black cobra a a. near relative e of the deadly cobra di dl of at India is a avery avery Ocr very common variety of poisonous snake in the Congo he lie said The subject of crocodiles came carne up when he said Enid that he lie was wa-j wn so tiO glad to be beable beaLle beable able aLle to get back buck to the swimming tank at Columbia where he lIe leas has taken token up his llis studies where he left off six 3 years ears cars 1 r f s r Y Y a i ia a ac c f t t 4 r f y f i 4 v t r 4 4 I r S 4 r t ee 1 c p. p 4 t r r f r Ji i r J r r r r y r rt 1 1 ci f T. S 1 t rt 6 r y A Jrr J Ij 4 THE KAKE AND ELUSIVE r ago One cannot get et much chance to swiLl in ill a country countr infested with croco diles dines I 1 used to do the be best tl I could but the very cry thought thou ht of the old college tank fairly made me itch all over oyer I 1 man mann managed aged to get ct a n few swims though He Hc said that the natives nan were ere often eaten by crocodiles As far as bathing went nt the hardest part was drying off The heat was M so great that one would be Le Lathed in perspiration he said It was nard to dry clothing that had bad been was washed ed also on account of the humidity in the air unless s in a 0 clearing by Ly a village vil vil- iI lage inge where the suns sun's rays had direct access During the years spent in Africa Mr Ir Chapin became very well acquainted with numbers of the natives The expedition expedition expedition ex ex- ex- ex hud had all sorts orts of trinkets dear to the savage heart which they were read ready to barter for valuable sped mens wens This in fact was the method through which they got their okapi which has never been seen b by a n hiteman white hite whiteman whiteman man at large in Its habitat Chapin endeared himself to the blacks b by giving ing thorn them fish hooks s. The Congo native he hc said saM while an ardent fisherman has but the most meagre equipment A Abent Abent Abent bent pin or needle nc-edle or a piece of copper wire Ire is his hook and he loses more wore bites than he be manages to pull in A real fish Ish fishhook fishhook hook therefore is most highly prized ua nn Langi which translated means the son of ot Lan Lang was the name bestowed upon Mr Ir Chapin by the natives The name stuck and n as na nil Langi he is known from one end of the Congo to the other Conditions Condi Condl Conditions arc primitive primitivo in the tho Congo basin Every one ODe knows er e every one else and a although al nl though the posts are arc widely widel separated there is the same community t of interest and sip gossip aa as S in a little village Mr Il Chapin reIned some ludicrous happenings happenings hap Imp that resulted when a a. Belgian consular official travelling tr through the Uele Uela district who had with him a n. small cinematograph outfit gave some picture shows to the natives One of the films depicted King Kins Solomon Solomon Solo Solo- mon m n and his court every efer one bowing to lo lothe the floor when tho rho King put in an appearance A un native thc who iho ho hud had seen tho film arriving at a R distant post ahead of the Consul informed tho the chef de dc poste porte that there was a white man coming who hud had the Lord Lold with him in inan inan an au iron box Lox Another film I remember showed 1 troupe of trained elephants As the ele- ele coming into the thc foreground in increased increased increased in- in creased in size Si e they would be greeted with resounding cheers by the natives One part showed an elephant emerging from a tank of water after n a plunge o. o When I asked 1 one out of our out workmen wh wiry why the elephant grew rew so tiO large after coming out of the tho water seater he at al once replied t that a there was WIS medicine in the water water The celebration of midnight mass on Christmas eve 1913 1013 in the depths of the African forests was another experience experience of Mr Ir Chapin This was at the mission church at A The church not yet completed was roofless The deep blue of the star studded sky above the walls of the church said tho the mind the young explorer brought to church in this cit city The church was decorated with palm fronds and canna lilies and the thc illumination was by candles and rude oil lamps It was most impressive si e and antI beautiful The only trouble was that we were nearly nearl frozen The nights are arc very ery cold there at times After the mass we were glad to sit b by a roaring log fire at nt the padres padre's house and warm ourselves up Interesting details of the hunting huntin of the okapi which is found in the Ucle district and Ind the Haute Huri were given by Mr Ir Chapin The beast Is either cither shot or trapped he lie said In the first method the work is done b by one olle man who must be a skilful skilful skilful ful hunter Armed with his old muzzle muzzle- loading landing musket the native e will m roam roans through the forests until he picks up an nn okapi trail Sometimes the man will follow the trail for da days s 's before he pets gets within gU gunshot gun shot of the shy by beast There are arc a few hunters but they are rare Some of oC our specimens were vere obtained this wu way The common way ny how however Cr is to trap them either cither b by dead falls h by pits or by Ly means of noo nooses es which catch their legs Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Some Some- times thc they arc me alive e when found and for Cor forn CorL n L short time timo Mr Ir Lang Ding kept a young one oue captive but it died at ot last lost We Ve obtained our okapi from rom the ua na native tine tive hunters by hy barter baiter Brass curtain rings salt snIt copper caliper wire cloth and galvanized galva galva- iron wire were our wc mediums of exchange 11 We c e sow saw the snares and also saw a w pits but never were able to see sec a n pit prepared for the animal Most of if out our animals were obtained d through the native nathe hunte hunters Wo Yo were not there to todo todo todo do nil all the hunting ourselves for we Iud hud much other work to do so we depended on the ti nl natives s for much of the hunting The They knew Mr Ir Lang wanted specimens specimen so tiO whenever the they got nn anything the they would bring it in Jus Just how man many okapi the expedition got ot Mr Chapin Chupin would not say m nor iu ill fact would he give I e the exact number of any of the groups group's declaring that the museum would announce tho d details l at attIle atthe atthe the tIle proper time The writer was able to ascertain from other sources however howe that the okapi group which will bo be the best Lest group of the animal in any museum will contain six fine specimens Most curious perhaps of the tIle many mans strange c birds that 5 secured cured in Iu hs l exploration work is the tro trogon on tho tI tropical bird whose plumage falls falls out when it is handled The African au t va- known in fn scientific tine terms ns as r c J J y 4 J f r I f J J 1 y J JJ J dl JJ JA CHAPIN J BE lEFT FO is not uncommon in the Congo basin but because of the great difficulty in preserving ing and mounting the skin and plumage not a n. single spec spec- specimen men has ever e been brought unharmed to this country before Several Se trogons were obtained by bS Chapin but despite his skill as an nn orth orth- t he be was only able to mount one which will be one of the museums museum's most valued exhibits The plumage pluma e of the trogon is most flu Ranging n in in iu color from golden green to crimson and from Crom steel blue to 0 yellow some varieties are barred with stripes of white The trogons trogon's coloring stands out ont against the jungle foliage with da dazzling ne brilliancy The contour feathers which furnish the coloring colorin are arc so RO loosely attached to the sKin that unless 8 handled with the greatest care they ther full fall out in tufts It was as only b by dint of the most mOlt skilful handling that Chapin Challin managed to obtain a perfect skin Mr Ir Chapin also said that they had obtained obtained ob ob- a n fine group ot of square mouthed rhinoceros and und of giant eland viand A l h huge whites bull rhinoceros from the vicinity of the Lado Enclave was obtained in the Uele Ucle district and is be he 8 n u magnificent cent lS specimen The Tho front horn measures B centimetres or a little more than thon a 3 yard ard |