CAPE TO CAIRO BY MOTORCAR.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10578, 6 October 1910, Page 6

CAPE TO CAIRO BY MOTORCAR.

, One of the most remarkable expeditions that have ever set out from lingland will leave in November next to attempt to carry the Union -Jack by motor-car all the way from Capetown to Cairo, a distance of more than 6000 mile.?.

The journey, which, if carried to a successful conclusion,, ivill falsify Cecil Rhodes' prediction-that no one would cross Africa on wheels until the Cape-to-Cairo railway had been constructed, is expected to last four months. That tlicy; may be four months of almost incredible hardships and dangers is acknowledged bj the members 01 the party. Hundreds of miles of unexplored country will* have to-be crossed, and the party-will* be . exposed night and day to• attacks from natives. Pesti-, lential swamps must ,be < negotiated, | dense jungles penetrated; dreary deserts crossed, and wild- 'beasfe; encountered, i with, d(Svth in the form of- various fevers, thirst, starvation, poisoned arrows, and, snake-bites 1 lurking everywhere. 1 1 » > - Unlike the builders of -JJie •Cape-to*-Cairo railw ay, who hadj the benefit of an advance guard of-1000.-native. the present party, if the hearer-boys exchanged from time to time be excepted, will travel alone. The members of the party will be.-only-.four. <ui imm-' her, and each will carry his- life -in "his hands. 5 > , The two principal members' of -fclieparty will be Mr U. J. - («'•: Bentley and' Captain 11. N. Kelsev. Mr Bentlev, who is tlie leader of th" expedition, is an ;-explorer .and ardent motorist. He has- already covered the \rir>ter part oi Abyssinia in a niotor;:uid was the, .first to initiate .King aicitdok -into the nnstcnes of medium-, cat j lopulsion. - \ He h.ught: in the South African war,

■Mini .-since then lias .made several.,joniv nevs ot explication. He is the son ox the arclutcc tin the Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral.

Captain Jielsey is thirty years old; and is n native or Somerset. He fought in the principal :engagements of the SouSh African war, and was wounded on. several occasions. .>

.-i..-It:was Captain- Kelsey who started the Territorial recruiting office in Cecily : Court and secured 1700 recruits ui:. ten

days'. He is much interested in aviation, aiid has been for some time ctmJiectcd with the Aerial League of the. .British Empire. These two, with a journalist and a bioscope op: rator, will" make up the entire party. . The expedition w ill be the outcome of ma.:. months if carcl'ul preparation. More than a hundred depots* have been i arranged at convenient distances along i the route. Food petrol, and repairing accessories will he denosited at all these depots, and a transport expert .will go out in advance to supervise the preparations. . It is anticipated that! the advantages 01 t!avelhng by motor-ear will be . more than counterbalanced by the' many

drawbacks. Some notion tif the 'difficulties attaching to the journey will be o'st- hied from the statement that no ..-• than twenty rivers and four lakes

..'ill b:- crcssed oil tho journey. At all these places a pontoon of local tisr.b. r, i.-n which the motor-car will be tarried, must be constructed on - the

spot. The brushwood must 'also be dor. red when it is too dense to' push through. - ; ■-_"- :':■■;;■■.' Again, it- is feared that- the sight of a mechanically propelled vehicle, will arouse the hostility of certain tribes of natives in Central Africa, through v.'ho;;- territory the expedition must pass. .Mountain ranges will be, avoided as lunch possible. and the expedition will endeavor fo follow the route markre! csit fc:r the .Cape-to-Gairo railway. As at present arranged, the route northward will be.as follows: Capetown Lake Tanganyika, Middelbtirg Yishumbi jilocmfonteiu Kodok Victoria Falls Khartum • Livingstonia Wadi Haifa Bii.inaikburgh Cairo One of the worst portions of the journey v.ill be the crossing of the Kalahari • Desert, a vast and sandy plain whifli stretches' between the Zambesi and ,Orange- Rivers, for a distance- of about COO miles. While lagoons and "salt-pans" are frequent in some parts of the desert, it is practically destitute of water. '. ..

Tire expedition expects to spend Christmas" in the .neighborhood, of Victoria Falls, and to reach Cairo .about rhc middle of March next. The party have alrvady received promises of assistance from the Colonial Office and the

South African, German, Belgian, i'Jj-yptian, and Soudan authorities, as v.<ll as from the Chartered Company. it-. is estimated that 5000 gallons of petrol will be tised. All four members of the party will be inoculated against fever.

Of one thing the members of the party are determined —the car carrying the Union' Jack will go through to Cairo at-..a1l hazards, even -if there is only one man left to accompany it. For this reason any ojhv ot the four is capable not only ol driving, but.of acting as a- mechanic in emergencies. The expedition will carry express rifles and revolvers,, as well as a- plentiful supply of ammunition, and it' is hoped 7 that big-game shooting will be cnjoyi-d.. . : : ■