OCR Text |
Show t & ?Vz-4 CENTRAL, AFRICAN LANDSCAPE ON foot through Africa, . from the Cape to Cairo, with no white companion no one save the negro bearers who carried car-ried his camp equipage this is the record "hike" of Earnest Sevier Cox, young Tenneseeean, now in Washington Washing-ton to put the results of his wanderings wander-ings and investigations into book form. A "race sociologist," Mr. Cox calls himself, modestly adding that the title is one of his own coining and that it better expresses the idea he wishes to convey than any other he has yet thought of. "King of the wanderlust-ers" wanderlust-ers" might more expressively describe de-scribe those of His achievements that may be expected to appeal most strongly to the average reader. Not only has he walked, unaccompanied unaccom-panied by any other white person, almost al-most the length of the dark continent from south to north, but he has also performed a pedestrian feat of greater magnitude thaQ even that stupendous hike he has crossed, afoot and by canoe, ca-noe, the continent of South America, from the west coast to the mouth of the Amazon river, climbing the Andes, striking the headwaters of the great river at one of its multitude of sources deep in the South American forests, and this venture, too, unaccompanied by any person of his own race, and in the company of none but native bearers. bear-ers. And, greatest of all, he has made these travels afoot and other wanderings wander-ings along coast lines for thousands of miles, to the antipodean continent of Australasia, the islands of the East Indies, Japan, Hawaii girdling the ing with malarial fever, he traveled at night to avoid the heat of the sun, he and his party had such an experience. Arousing his bearers shortly after midnight, mid-night, by wielding a long Btick inside the hut in which the black boys slept, regardless of whom it might hit, he directed the packing of the baggage boxes and started the bearers off. . Just then a lion roared in the bush near .by. Another answered from the opposite direction, and others roared in the jungle all around. The bearers, terrified, refused to proceed, but Mr. Cox, by threats, compelled them to move, and the night's journey, by the feeble light of a waning moon, was begun between prowling man-eaters only kept off by the size of the party. Malaria and Tsetse Fly. For more than four hundred mifes Mr. Cox traveled while In the grip of malarial fever. Such a feat, to the average person, seems incredible. The fever, however, is intermittent, and does not waste the sufferer's strength rapidly. First-class physical condition to begin with, the character of the fever, fe-ver, and the fact that during this time most of his traveling was done at night, enabled Mr. Cox to cover the 400 miles. Part of this Journey was through the belt infested by the dreaded tsetse, the fly that causes the African sleeping sleep-ing sickness, and from the bite of which there is no recovery. Leagues and leagues of the country in this infested in-fested zone, Mr. Cox said, was deserted desert-ed by all domestic animals. No natives na-tives could or would live there, and it was only by the use of threats and promises of extraordinary rewards Hm:- w -rWr f NATIVES DANCING Anxra Kll-I-ING A LION globe and covering a distance far greater than would have been required in simply circumnavigating the world wholly at his own expense. How He Made the Trip. It was while studying at the University Uni-versity of Chicago that the opportunity offered for the journey that finally resulted re-sulted in the Cape-to-Cairo tramp, from the southern tip to the northern extremity ex-tremity of Africa. Mr. Cox used his own funds in getting to Cape Town, taking a third-class passage, and arriving ar-riving at his destination with less than $100 in his pocket. Funds were necessary if the remainder remain-der of the journey was to be made. So Mr. Cox went to the Kimberley diamond dia-mond mines, where, under an American Ameri-can mine superintendent, ho worked as boss of a gang of black diamond diggers for a year. From Kimberley he went to the Rand gold mines, where he again bossed a crew of negro miners. min-ers. Here he worked for 14 months, without missing a day, often far underground, under-ground, handling drills, superintending actual mining work in an environment such as few white men can work in and survive, and coming cut in such physical condition as to enable doctors doc-tors who examined him before he started on his long trip afoot to pronounce pro-nounce him perfect. Wages of mine bosses in the diamond dia-mond mines and the gold fields are high, and Mr. Cox, as may bo imagined, imag-ined, had no habits such as would lead him to waste his earnings or impair his health. With the money earned and saved in this hardest of all physical phys-ical toll he financed the hike through the heart of Africa. In his tramp through the heart of the region where man-eating lions abound Mr. Cox and his bearers were tnany times threatened with attack. Once at Ujijl, at a time when, sutfor- that his own bearers were induced to traverse the tsetse belt. At Ujiji, the place where Stanley found Livingstone, lion-infested territory terri-tory was crossed. At Livingstone, near Stanley falls, he visited the church built by English residents after conditions imposed by church authorities authori-ties in England had been rejected. This church is near the spot where the noted explorer died. During his journey Mr. Cox was given giv-en ample opportunity to make comparisons compar-isons of the English, German and Belgian Bel-gian colonial policies. The Germans, he declares, control their possessions better than do the, administrators of any other European nations. Absolute, Abso-lute, unswerving justice, he asserted, is the keynote of the German administration admin-istration in African possessions of the kaiser. Striking the sources of the Nile in equatorial Africa, Mr. Cox followed the historic stream down to its mouth and to Cairo. From there he traveled by steamer down the east coast of Africa, Btopping at every important port. A map of his trip down the coast Is a continuation of loops, with a stopping stop-ping point for every city, town or important im-portant village on the coast line along the Indian ocean. From Cape Town, to which he returned, re-turned, Mr. Cox went to Australasia, where for a time he lectured, though he Is not a professional lecturer. |