MOTOR THROUGH AFRICAN DESERT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 177, 25 July 1908, Page 15

MOTOR THROUGH AFRICAN DESERT.

GERMAN OFFICER'S ADVENTURES. Lieut. Paul Graetz, of the German army, who is riding by motor car through, the heart of Africa, from Dar-es-Salaaui, on the east coast, to Swakopmund, on the west, lias, according to a letter sent by him to the "Dully JIall," reached Sereuje, in Khodesla. The lieutenant's progress in his great feat has been slow, owing to the tremendous obstacles ottered by the African wilderness, and he was for over a mouUi kept in the bush for want/of petrol. In his letter, which is dated May 2U, and was forwarded via Fort Jameson on June 9th, Lieut, (jraetz alludes to the prophecies that he would never reach Serenje. because of the wildness of the country, which has neither roads, tracks, nor maps. All the same, he has got through iv good health, and with his car iv excellent condition, and was welcomed by the natives as a being from another world. Uf the journey from Fort Jameson 1o Serenje, which is west of the Loangwa Uiver, he says:—"We had to tight our way day by day. Mile after mile we constructed a track for the car. and 1 had to trust the fifteen natives accompanying mc for quid ance, for they have a marvellous instinct of locality. We built all sorts of wood paths and bridges, and the motor passed over them I like a hu;;h roller. Time after time we had our hearts in our mouths, for the peril was great. We had also to climb steep hills which seemed to be made entirely of rock, anid when we went down on the other side we would see at the foot of a terrific slope a threatening torrent. ■Then, as wo cnnie nearer to our goal, ISerenje, our petrol supply became exhausted. This was worse than all. 1 had to dispatch some natives iv .advance to fetch the necessary petrol, and we had to waii patiently in the wilderness. It was really maddening. The days passed, week after week went by, and still no petrol, no liberty. "We did not know what to Invent to while away the time. We played all sorts uf absurd games there in the bush of Central Afnea. We played draughts ou a board Willi screws and bolts taKcu from the car. "flic maddest ideas entered onr minds.. One of us amused himself by putting insects lo sleep with chloroform, another played Sherlock Holmes all by himself in the bush, following up mysterious tracks. A third would hunt for extra food, and thus to our tedious nieuu were added frogs' logs, a very special kind of cruyllsa, and other delicacies which 1 had belter not describe. "At last, after we had waited for over a month, the petrol arrived. Forward or.co more, through the thk-k bush, through tale land of the Wiilahm. over the Muchingn mountains, ou to Sereuje."