THE DISCOVERY 'OF LAKES RUDOLF AND STEFANIE.* THIS is the
record of a voyage of discovery undertaken by a wealthy Austrian, Count Teleki, who so greatly loved big game and adventures in strange lands that he fitted out a caravan at his own expense and spent two whole years in the interior of Africa in hunting and exploring. In the under- taking he was helped by an Austrian naval officer, Lieutenant Ludwig von Holanel, who acted throughout as Count Teleki's chief of the staff, and to whom was afterwards entrusted the task of recording the results of the expedition. The part of Africa chosen for the exploration was that angle of land which can best be described as lying between Abyssinia and the north end of Lake Victoria Nyanza. In the sphere of discovery which Count Teleki thus mapped out for himself, he managed to accomplish exactly what he wanted. He found two great lakes, and named one of them after his friend, Prince Rudolf, and the other after the Princess Stefanie.
Next he discovered mountains and volcanoes, which had never been seen before by the eyes of white men. Then he killed rhinoceroses, elephants, hippopotamuses, and other big game in such quantities as to pass beyond the wildest dreams of the gun-room. Again, he and his friend managed to rule their unruly followers with firmness and success, and to conduct their negotiations with the natives through whose lands they passed in such a way that they seldom encountered opposition. Lastly, they managed to escape all the perils that they incurred from hunger, thirst, fever, wild beasts, and wild men, and to reach the coast able to say that they had spent two years in the darkest part of Darkest Africa without any serious disaster. That is a wonderful boast to have been able to make, and shows how well planned and well managed was the expedition.
But though our admiration is called forth by the success of the expedition, it is difficult to speak with any great enthu- siasm of the book in which its story is told. In spite of the extraordinary wealth of illustration and of the sincerity and simplicity of the narrative, it is in no sense a good book of travel. We miss the something that sets apart the great examples of travel-literature. The gloom and depression of which all African travellers complain seem to have got into the pages of the book, and though Lieutenant von Hohnel is by no means given to complaints or to the exhibition of bad spirits, his work is distinctly dreary. He was apparently deeply interested in all he saw and heard, but somehow he fails to impart that interest. It is conceivable that this may in part be due to the fact that the work before us is a translation ; but we hardly think so, for the English rendering seems, on the whole, very well done; and there are few or none of those slovenlinesses and imperfections which are apt to weary and disgust in translations. There is, however, one lighter element in the book, for which our thanks must be tendered. One of the chief persons of the caravan was the pet ape Ramis." Hernia' was a fellow of infinite jest, if something of an aristocrat, and his good things are duly chronicled throughout the book.
One of the most curious things in the book is the account of Taveta. This is a kind of Forest Venice,—a settlement of fugitives in the heart of the great forest of the Lumi. Taveta, which is not very far from the coast, is thus described : "It is but a short time since the grandparents of the present inhabitants of Taveta, driven from their previous homes by their powerful neighbours, took refuge in the shady woods by the Lumi. The absolute quiet reigning in the depths of the forest, the clear waters of the stream, the fruitful soil, which repaid a hundredfold the tillage bestowed on it—in a word, everything combined to tempt them to found a new settlement here, and so with eager haste they quickly made a clearing with axe and fire, sowed their crops, and settled down. Here, out off from all the world, the woodlanders led their simple, peaceful life till they Were one day discovered by some traders from the coast. Hence forth they were constantly visited by caravans, and Taveta, with its shady banana-hedges„ became a favourite halting-place. The natives welcomed the traders, as they felt safer whilst they were with them 1 and they gladly exchanged for stuffs, beads, weapons, and ammunition the superfluous produce of their fields, and the new settlement rapidly increased in prosperity, till it became what it now is—a beautiful, thriving, Arcadian colony, eagerly looked forward to alike by outgoing and home-returning caravans, for it is the last link with civilisation to the former and the first * Discovery( of Laos Rudolf and Siofamill : a Narrative of Count Sumuot ToZoki'a Exploring and erwaling EapOdrotion in Eastern Equatorial Africa i„,1857,88. By his Companion, Lieutenant Ludwig you Translated by Nancy Bell (N. d'Anvers). With 170 Illustrations and five Maps. In 2 vols. London : Longman and Co. halting-place in the final stage of the wanderings of the latter. The forest, which is in case of need so great a protection to the people of Taveta, is carefully preserved by them. They have plenty of weapons, and they are really pretty safe from attack, as it is well known that there are generally people from the coast with them. The clearings are picturesquely situated in the depths of the wood, so that they are surrounded on every side by impene- trable vegetation. Only three narrow, tortuously winding paths lead through the forest, and even these are carefully patrolled by wood-beaters and closed to passengers at night, The huts of the natives are hidden amongst the shady trees like the nests of birds - one has to hunt for them, as well as for the equally well-concealed plantations of maize, yams, and sugar-cane. The banana-palms, however, the fruit of which is the staple food at Taveta, cover vast tracts of ground, forming thick, shady groves, the protection afforded by the background of trees preserving the huge leaves intact ; whilst a perfect network of rivulets intersect the whole settlement in picturesque fashion."
The picture of one of the entrances to this Robin Hood settlement is very attractive. It shows a sort of pointed Gothic arch, made of interlaced tree-branches, through which passes the road to Taveta. The hunting exploits of Count Teleki do not lend themselves very well to quotation. They will, however, be read with interest by sportsmen who love and have hunted big game, either in imagination or in fact, and in some of them the general public will find entertain- ment. There is, for example, a curious story of a wounded elephant who charged a boat and broke it into what Americans call "kindling wood." We prefer, however, to quote sub account not of the destruction of elephants, but of some curious observations as to their habits :— " Later discoveries pointed to the fact that our elephant had just left a rendezvous when he fell a victim to us, for, going a few hundred paces further, we caught sight, between the bushes, of the grey bodies of quite a little herd of elephants. Cautiously we approached nearer, and made out two males, four females, and two half-grown little ones, which had, none of them, been in the least disturbed by the firing going on close by. We were now able to watch the group in all the ease of familiar family life. The mothers grazed, suckling their young now and then, or drove off the males if they came too near their offspring. The young bulls fought for the favour of the fair young females, not using their tusks against each other, but butting with their heads, each trying to push the other away, the struggle going on till the females separated them. It is wonderfully interesting to watch these huge and powerful animals in their home life in the solitudes of the forest, and more so, perhaps, that they make absolutely no noise. We could see the shadowy grey forma moving to and fro, lifting up and setting down their huge feet without a sound, though we listened with suspended breath. It seemed as if we ourselves must be suddenly smitten with deafness whilst retaining intact all our other powers, and presently it was borne in upon us, as we noted the little grey eyes fixed on us without any change of expression, that the elephants were all blind. Or was it merely that we were quite beneath their notice, accus- tomed as they were to reign in undisputed sway in their own realm ? We had watched the animals for so long with strained attention that it was almost a relief when the females began to move off, and thus gave the signal for opening fire."
The accounts of the natives and their manners and +mato= are somewhat disappointing. Though the expedition encoun- tered a tribe—the Reshiat—on the shores of Lake Rudolf, which had never before been in contact with white men, the information we are given in regard to them is somewhat cold and colourless. Apparently, the writer of the work before us had not that wonderful gift of penetrating the savage mind which was given to Burton, to Speke, to Baker, and to Living. stone. We feel in Lieutenant von HohnePs accounts that we never get below the surface. He tells us how much interested he was, but somehow never manages to infect us with a similar feeling. To a considerable extent, then, the expedition was a wasted opportunity. The travellers have only raised a very tiny corner of the African veil. Perhaps, however, they will reply that they take their stand on their maps and their scientific observations. Here we cordially admit they did good work. All we complain of is a certain dullness and greyness about the record of their discoveries. We must also make a protest against the unnecessary slaughter of big game which too often took place. We fear, too, that the Austrian hunters were not careful enough in. observing the rule which prohibits the sportsman from firing unless he can be reason. ably sure of killing. We hear far too often of wounded animals.
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