MYSTERIOUS AFRICA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19221, 9 January 1926, Page 12

MYSTERIOUS AFRICA.

AMERICAN EXPEDITION. FORGOTTEN BUSHMAN AGE. ISOLATED AREA VISITED. [fko.u our own correspondent. ] CAPETOWN, Nov. 20. A party of American scientists—the Denver African Expedition—is travelling in the remote parts of South-west Africa, studying bushmen life. The leader of tho expedition, Mr. C. Ernest Cadle, 8.A., has succeeded in interesting several ricli Americans in the possibilities of South Africa, flo was interviewed on the adventures of the expedition on the arrival of the party at Windhoek, the capital of South-west Africa. " The first section of the expedition journeyed a month ago into the Kokoavelt, known to the people of these parts as tho Mystery Land," he said. " The object of this first trip was to film tho life background of a now dead and forgotten bushman age. It is the only place in South Africa where we could find tho environment of the bushman of fifty or a hundred years ago. " Of all the isolated places in the world there is probably none so remote. From Outjo oiks does not come into contact with any traces of civilisation until ono reaches the borders of Angola and the Cunene River, a distance of 600 miles. The only inhabitants are tho wild men of the mountains, a species of the Herero and bushmen families gono wild, and a few regular Hereros, who keep horned cattle and goats around the scattered water-holes. " The animals of the Mystery Land includo most of the royal game of the south-west, such as the elephant, rhino, hippo, lion, zebra, gemsbok, kudoo and many other smaller varieties. iSncounter With a Suake. " We were very lucky in every rospect; not that we did not have unpleasant experiences, but we got back to Outjo without any serious mishap. Several times -we had to rouse oursolves by night, stand to arms and stir» the fires when visited by inquisitive elephants, and prowling lions and hyenas. An old bull elephant with a 16in. spoor visited the camp in the small hours of the morning. He had come to within about ten yards of the dying embers of the campfire. His advances were stopped, strange as it seems, by the fierce attack of Bobbie, our Airedale, who was determined at least to awaken the camp. " Mr. Hoefler, our cameraman, nearly lost- his eyes one night. He washed his hands outside his tent and went in to get a towel from his handbag. As he reached down ho felt something splash on his face, but, thinking it to bo water from his hands, he reached the second time for the bag. Again he felt the splash, and this time a burning sensation in his eyes. " He had never heard of a ringhals before, but;, driven by a dreadful burning in his eyes, he ran out screaming, calling for ms. " Mr, Bam, an old "South African, first came to his assistance. A solution of permanganate of potash was poured into his eyes repeatedly, and finally I we bathed his eyes in luko-warm water and then applied olive oil. Three days afterwards he was practically as well as ever. " When I got to the tont a few minutes after tho incident the snake had not yet been attended to. Taking a Coleman lamp, I went cautiously to the door of the tent. Sure enough, there was the snake, standing with almost one-third of its body raised from the ground, with its head flattened for striking, its body meanwhile going through a short contortion each time it spat. I pressed down on its back about six inches behind its head, and succeeded in getting it out of the insect-proof tent. Although the snake's body was broken, it still succeeded in spitting for a distance of twelve inches. Splendid Film Studies. " Our adversities in the Kokoavolt were well repaid by the splendid film studies wo made of tho wild life. Elephant, rhino, giraffe, kndoo, gemsbok and many other noble species of game were recorded, as well as the floral background of tho existing life. The wild men of the mountains, of mixed bushman-Herero and KlipKaffir blood, were also studied by the party. "From Outjo tho expedition will travel at once to the Etosha l'ui, where the Heikum Bushman will be studied. There we shall endeavour to record every custom and ceremony, as well as a graphic portrayal of the manner in which the bushman obtains his food —chiefly in the chase, " From the Etosha Pan the party will go through Ovambaland to the borders of Angola on the south, and thence hack* to Windhoek. Finally we shall wind up our work at Gobabis, on the western border of the Kalahari Desert. " Some of the subjects we are planning to study are roughly included in the following list:— " 1.. The history of bushman life. "2. Tho previous investigations of the tribes under observation. What has been done to record the life of the tribes? "3. The general tenor of the bushman's life. Contrast and comparison with other negroid races. "4. Clothing: (a) Disguise for tho chase; lb) for ceremonies, dances, etc. "-■5. Stature. Contrast and comparison with other peoples, and other buTimen. What mixing of bloods have produced changes in stature. " 6. ■ Study of cultured and racial influences of other tribes on the bushman life. "7. Has the bushman any conception of a supernatural being? What does he worship'! What does he believe in regard to a future life? The influences of environment on bushman life, and the modification of these in his conceptions of the Deity and a future life. Are some anthropologists justified in saying that' the bushman is the missing link ? "8. Immunity from disease. "9. Powers of endurance. " 10. The bushman's powers of imng- | ination." ~ !