EPIC MOTOR TRIP

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 87, 22 October 1928, Page 3

EPIC MOTOR TRIP

ACROSS AFRICAN DESERT THEN LOST IN A CITY! THRILLING ADVENTURES A remarkable story of thrilling adventure and endurance was told by a party of four Belgian motorists on their arrival at Johannesburg, South Africa, recently, after a 10,000-mile trip in two light 10 h.p. cars across African desert wastes and swampy marshes. The object of the expedition was to survey a practical air and road route between Belgium and the Congo. The party was three months on the journey, and passed through country overrun by brigands, other parts filled with wild game, and large stretches were roadless, waste and wild. The members of the expedition, which was an official one from the Belgian Government, were Lieutenant Jacques Lamarche (32), the leader, an officer of tho Belgian Air Force who won fame as a flying ace in the Great War and subsequently became known internationally as a racing car driver; Lieutenant Fabry (28), an instructor in the Belgian Air Force who some years ago made a daring journey by motor-cycle and sidecar through the French and Belgian Congo; Lieutenant Hubert Carton de Wiart (26), a former secretary of the Belgian Colonial Office; and M. Crouquet, a journalist. Before reaching the seaboard at Marseilles after motoring from Belgium, the party was officially received by the League of Nations at Geneva. They travelled by boat to Algiers, and left Algiers on 27th May, experiencing some of the greatest dangers of their travels when crossing tho "Land of Thirst," as the Tanezrouft Desert is called by those acquainted with it. Here the normal temperature during the day was 14S degrees Fahrenheit, and for 800 miles no water was encountered. To get beyond this waste the ears were driven for thirty hours by day and night Avithout a stop. The heat was so great that the .skin was burned when any of the metal parts of the .cars were touched. ROADLESS DESERT. Tho desert for the most part was roadless, discarded petrol and oil tins here and there marking the path which others had followed. To add to the difficulties of the travellers, sand storms rose to a height of many feet, enveloping the vehicles and . obscuring tho horizon. Following the desert, ou reaching the French Sudan and French Niger territory, tho expedition found itself in -a waterlogged waste. Heavy black turf held the wheels, streams had become rivers which covered the roads, and bridges had to be improvised and rafts constructed to take the cars across. Detours had to be made, but when Lake Chad was encountered on 2nd June the travellers found themselves at the worst portion of their whole journey. The lake had extended to twice its normal size, the ground was swampy, and such roads as had existed were submerged. The ears were held fast in tho mud. All efforts to free them proved unavailing, and Lieutenant de Wiart and M. Crouquet set out on foot over the empty spaces to find assistance. They walked for several miles, when, they heard the sound of tom-toms. "That sound sent a thrill of joy through us," said Lieutenant do Wiart, and after they had covered nine miles they reached a native village. Lieutenant de Wiart, the linguist of the party, took the precaution whenever entering native territory to draw up a glossary of tho native words which he might require to explain his wishes. Tho native chief was friendly. M. Crouquet, who was suffering from fever, was put to bed, and,, Lieutenaat de Wiart was provided with a camel with which to return to his companions at tho cars. Ho was footsore, for in travelling over the swampy ground boots had been found to be useless, and, going barefoot, ho had injured his feet. It was evening, and he rode on through the moonlight, but even the camel could not keep his balance in the swampy ,ground, and twice fell. He recovered his foothold quickly, and the journey was continued; but suddenly the animal reared, and, looking down, Lieutenant de Wiart saw a huge snake encircling the right foreleg of the camel. Barefoot, the danger to himself was great, and Lieutenant de Wiart had to act rapidly to avert it. With the stick which he- used for driving the camel ho struck at the snake and it dropped, and tho camel succeeded in bringing him back to his friends. The next morning the native chief sent a large number of boys to the cars, and'with their aid the vehicles were freed and again put on their journey. SLEPT IN THE CABS. The roads were bad. Throughout the desert the natural difficulties were great, but other dangers also existed. The party slept in the cars, which were specially fitted for the purpose, and frequently at nights liona and leopards approached the vehicles. Leopards were even seen by day, and one day an old rhinoceros charged one of the cars. He was blind, however, and missed the car by many yards. When about to make their way across the Sahara the members of the expedition were warned to change their route because of tho prevalence of brigands and marauding Arabs. Near the wells Nomads, a goodly folk, frequently made their halts. They brought cattle with them, and frequently the brigands swooped down upon them across countless miles of desert, robbed them of their cattle, and returned across the wastes to their own homes. Often, too, they captured women, girls, and boys, whom they used as slaves. When the opportunity offered they also captured white women and girls and young men whom they held captive and in. slavery. Once, when crossing French Nigeria, tho party was without water for a whole day. They reached a native village at length, and their first request from a native whom they encountered was for water. The native pointed to a well, and tho travellers quenched their thirst and took away with them extra supplies of water. Hours later they reached a French station where, in. reply to a question, they recounted

their experience. They , were then in-, formed that the well where they had obtained water supplies was situated in a leper village. Fortunately, no illoffoets followed from this unpleasant experience. BESET WITH DANGER. Arusha was readied on 20th July, and beyond'this, on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, the road was beset with dan- : ger. Even at a pace of five miles per hour the journey was not safe. After touching at Dodoma on 24th July, Irin-' ga was reached two days later, and midway between this and Malangali, oii the morning of 27th July, the first and only serious misadventure' befell the. company. On either side of the track which the ears were following a huge veldt fire was raging. New farms were being taken up, and the farmers were clearing the ground. Lieutenant Fabry, who was driving the front ear, endeavoured by zigzagging across the * track to avoid the fire, but it swept completely across the road, and in a moment the engine was aflame. It was too late to attempt to do anything. The brake was red hot, and could not be touched, and steering towards a tree to stop the ear, Lieutenant Fabry. and Crouquet jumped out, after. having received burns.' , The other ear, which was 300 yards behind, succeeded in passing through, the fire, and the occupants, with fire extinguishers and the reserve of water from the tanks, endeavoured to check the flames which were demolishing the first car. Their efforts were unavail-. ing, and the car and its contents were reduced to ruins, valuable documents and other possessions being destroyed. Lieutenant de AViart walked through, the terrific heat I' 4 miles to the nearest village, where he communicated with the Commissioner of the British Tanganyika, and a lorry was sent out to the assistance of the stranded men, who made their way to Johannesburg without further adventure. Crouquet, who contracted fever after the burning of the car, was left behind at Elizabethville. After finding their way through thousands of miles of uncharted desert tho party lost their way when they reached Johannesburg from Pretoria in tho. early evening of 20th August, and spent nearly an hour finding their waythrough the city to their hotel!