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Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14326, 17 October 1910, Page 3

a daring expedition, •TOURNEY BY MOTOR. One of tlie most- remarkable expe- | ditions that have over set out from : England will leave next month to uttempt to carry tho Union Jack oy motor csir all the way from Capetown to Cairo, a distance of more tluui oOO') miles. The journey, which, ii" carried to a successful conclusion, will falsify Cecil Rhodes*' prediction that no one would cross Africa on wheels until the Cape-to-Caiaro railway had been constructed, is expected to last four months. That they may be four months of almost incredible hardships and dangers is acknowledged by the members of the party. Hundred-; of miles of unexplored country will have to be crossed, and the party will be exposed night and day to attacks from hostile natives. Pestilential swamps must be negotiaied. dense jungles penetrated, dreary deserts crossed and wild beasts encountered. with death in the form of various fevers, thirst, starvation, poisoned arrows, and. snake bites lurking everywhere. XO NATIVE GUARD. "Unlike tho builders of the Capc-to-Cairo railway, who had the beneiit of an advance guard of IUOO native troops, the present party, if the hearer beys exchanged from timo to time be excepted, will travel alone. The members or the party will be only four in number, and. each will carry his life in his hands. Tho two principal members of the party will be Mr B. J. V. Bentley and Captain !!. X. Kersey. Mr Bentlev, who is the leader of the expedition, is an explorer and ardent- motorist. He h is already covered the grater part of Abyssinia in a motor car. and was the fsr-tf to initiate King Menelok into the mysteries of mechanical propulsion. He He fought in the South African war. and ?;nre then has made several journeys of exploration. He is the ion of the arrhitect of the "Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral. Capt-mi Ke'sey is 30 years old. and is a native of Somerset-. He fought in the principal engagements of the South African war. and was wounded on several occasions. Theso two. with a journalist and a bioscope operator, will make up the entire partv. A HUNDRED DEPOTS. Tho expedition will be the outcome of many months of careful preparation. More than a hundred depots have been arranged at convenient distances along the route. Food supplies, ammunition, petrol, and repairing accessories will be deposited at all these depots, and a transport expert will go out in advance to supervise the preparations. It is nntieiiJated that the advantages of travelling by motor car will be more than counterbalanced by the many drawbacks. Some notion of the difliculties attaching to the journey will lie obtained front the statement that no fewer than *2O rivers and four lakes will be crossed on the journey. At- places a pontoon of local timber, on which the motor car will bo carried, must be constructed on the spot. The brushwood must also b»> j chared when it is too dense to push through. Again, it i< feared that the sight of ! a mechanically-propelled vehicle will | arouse the hostility of certain tribes of natives in Central Africa, through I whose territory the expedition must pass. Mountain ranges will bo avoided as much as possible, and the expedition will endeavour to follow tho route marked out for the Cape-to-Cniro railway. THE ROUTE. As at present arranged, the route northward will be as follows:—Capetown, IWiddlehurg, Bloemi'ontrin, Victoria Falls, Livingstrmia, Bismarkhnrgh. Lake Tanganyika. _JVi s ' u unbi. , Kodak. Khartoum, Haifa. Cairo. Oils of tho worst portions of the journey will lie tho crossing of the Kalahari Desert, a vast and sandy plain wliifli .stretches" between the Zambesi and Orange Rivers for a distance of about GOO miles. AVhile lagoons and "salt-pans" are froqnent in some parts of the desert, it is practically destitute of water. The expedition expects to spend Christmas in the neighbourhood of Victoria Falls, and to reach Cairo about the middle of March next. The party have already received promises of assistance from the Colonial Office. and the South African. German. Belgian, Egyptian, and Soudan authorities, as well as from the Chartered Company. It is estimated that oUOO gallons of petrol will be i: cd. All four meml>ers of the pnrtv will bo inoculated against fever. Of one thing the members of the party are determined —the car carrying the Union Jack will go through to j Cairo at all hazards, even if there is ! only 0110 man left to accompany it. i'or this reason any one of the four is capable not only of driving, but of acting as a mechanic in emergencies. The expedition will carry express rifles and revolvers, as well as a plentiful supply of ammunii ion. and it is hoped that big game shooting will be enjoyed.