DEVIL'HAUNTEK LAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2388, 7 December 1899, Page 34

DEVIL'HAUNTEK LAND.

STRANGE EXPERIENCE IN AFRICA:

Reuter's representative has had an interview with Captain Wellby, who has just arrived from" his remarkable expedition in the unknown portions of Abyssinia and the countries lying north of Uganda between Lake ' Rudolf and the Nile Valley.

Captain Wellby has mapped on -a scale of four miles to the inch the whole of the unknown country traversed, the greater portion of which had never been indicated on any map. He has accurately located and mapped a whole chain of lakes between the Abyssinian capital and Lake Rudolf, and has discovered two of the sources of the ,Soij:ifc River.

The most curious adventure of Captain Wcllby was in Walamo, which has the reputation of being the haunt of demons. Here is the explorer* account of his experiences :—: —

" The first sign of anything wrong was when one of my Somali escort rushed into cfinp shouting" 'Walamo, Walamo!' He was irightfully excited ; he shook violently and ldciced like a madman, and in the intervals between hi* shrieks he told me that he was possessed by a devil. The whole of that niifht he was neither more nor less than a -maniac, bufc the next day he was perfectly well. While on the, march he had another access of this curious madness, in. the course* of which he drew a knife, and, rushing about, threatened to kill everybody. It took several men to hold him down.

" It is sl -voosed to be especially dangerous to eat food in the presence of tho Walamo people, and on one occasion one or my Soudanese saw a Walamo gazing intently upon him while lie was having his meal. Nothing untoward occurred at the time, but two days later this man became a raving lunatic. 5

" The latest victim, who was my head man, had always been a peaceable, orderly fellow, but he professed to know before the outbreak that he had become .possessed. Certain it is that lie, like the Somali, kicked and yelled and exhibited Bimilar symptoms to the other unfortunate. Without intermission he shouted ' Walamo ! ' afc the top of his voice, and in his madness injured three men. Eventually he had J ,o be tied up, but the next day he was perfectly well.

" Thinking I could, perhap*, do something to explain these extraordinary occurrences, I resolved to eat a meal in the presence of the Walamo myself. When all was prepared I had something like a hundred of these people watching me. In due time the meal was over, and I thought no more about it. Here I should state that I had not had a day's illness during the journey, and was in the best of health at the time. The next day, however;, I felt thoroughly ill. Needless to (say, I did not let any of my people know that anything was wrong, nor can I attempt to expfain the cause. I was quite unable to find a cause for this mysterious business. I merely confine myself to a bare, statement of the facts." .

Stono's Otago and Southland ABC Guide and Diary for December ie to hand.

■Mr B. W. Winn was elected Mayor of Lawrence last week, polling -162 votes, while Mr J. C. Arbuckle received 95 votes.

A tailor at Ryde, named Thomas James Astington, has met his death by falling downstairs when walking in his sleep.

London is about to witness a jubilee of the coal trade. Fifty years ago, the Coal Exchange, which had been erected at a cost of about £130,000, was opened by the late Prince Consort. At that time its extent was probably not more than 3,000,000 tons yearly. Now ifc reaches an annual total of something life* 15,000,000,