1954-11-20 — Page 8

THE CHINAS MAIN, SATHEDAY: NOVE

THE QUESTIONS THEY KEEP ASKING US NOW

KEEP ASKING US NOW WE ARE BACK

IT may be a won derful idea to pack the wife and kids into a amall truck and tour Africa... but is it › practicable? How do you organise life for three adults and three children on such a journey through the jungles? Hore-by

How did you run

your daily

life?

And how did that

a man who did it car behave?

and enjoyed it

are the answers...

by

F. SPENCER

CHAPMAN

Concluding

AND THE

FAMILY

CAME TOO!

66T

મ it morning time, Mummy ?" That

ing as soon as the had started their song. And then commenced.

As

why our

Weren't you troubled in Mau Mau country?

חנו

thing, and everything in its the rod by 8.m.--Faith and

Valerie "doing" their fees place."

The move, und complaining batterly dit 1 never gave them une to wash m TOD their hein

And ∞, at about 6 a.m., 1 Valerie, would shout whose small tent was pitch- ed alongside-hough in lion or Mau Mau country she slept underneath in the van.

our

After 100 miles or so. Palth and i dong it in turn to drive

with bed while Valnie roped

children, we would perdi te

the

1 shares of a tree for a halt-

Tuah loterval.

It was cooler art more com- Jogable to stay hide the van te we ate bread and butter

Then I would shave and pack up the tent whlie awaket- Valeria dressed the children bullrals and Faith cooked breakfast

over two pressure stoven, stine kund and cheese washeti lay Sting round

Jesmon ང{LL༤「1

For

thawn

and bam,

<ur pale blue down ble

the van. 151

samps Woth start the dny with a good break- of sausages of eggs asyl Ioard ON

yacht, fost

and everything depended in the be followed be coffee

tomat and marmalade. of efficiency

daily Our

Then wr would wash routine "a place for every- pack up the vaa. and be

A shirt of character

This com seyle Yan Heusen *Harding' Brand shirt it în floe poplin, fully shrunk, The umbrinkabile neckband is torga po the catre,

like the Van Herrn collar—for which to te esperaly designed. Cuffs, too, am of Van Heusen amot-stiff fabric. A in whose unblemished character

is evident in every nitchi

O Van Heusen

LET'S HAVE #OMETHING SPECIALĮ

THEN MINE'Y

To a mad with a disqermésar plate, whisky is not merely ‹Scenic. He looks for the finer points and mames His preference White Horse. Every drop is perfecond and amass sired untille fame than a wžiaky, aj évet bulk out of Scotland.

Air, good shinga: Neva w naming:

de fcotch tih name hit Agasi

WHITE HORSE Tootch Whisky

FOR IT BY NAME:

tinned a

.11

Clothes, even woollens, inusi tways be ironed and should never be put on the ground to dry, for the pulse or mango By may lay their eggs In the Rarment, and unless they are killed by a hot iron they hatch oực beneath the sun and form bolis,

The childern were 5001 very well trained. Christopher used To 52, "Are

there HRANY here?” as he stepped out of the van,

this hertzi " Winter?** it We came tex Th stream.

WITH

beer.

No

illness

up.

LITE

The Now before low-b the worst of the day, for then the sun was at its hottes and the children

bored with whatever they were doing

<mly Christopher und

would kleep during the day. Sometimes 1 used to tell stories to them, beguiling 1725 there until we felt we huch Cained our mid-day halt.

Was

133

We

due

TTOWEVER,

alt H

In spite of these porrible ufiction, um the trip itself, thanks to our taking

Snake

IN the

danger

would niternoon We drive for another four hours. unill, un hour or two before

to fall, darkness was due

wo would start searching the a multe All we needed

before we startert the trip, thes

all u srith were

cmeritis, middle-ear trouble, or (onxlillti-

in

AFRICAN INFLUENCE

Our three children "dressed

on the tip" voyage home... and

memories

obviously with

of the African tribes atin fresh in their minds

PLET

they determined that if they survived", this

night. nothing would persuade them to repeat the experienes.

Next day, therefore, once the van was repaired (an oll pipe had apparently broken in- #do the sump). Faith 201d Valerie set off to drive 380 miles to Mombaka to give the children some sea-bathing. I showed them how to work my carbine and although the "little rains" had brecen and cars were dally galting stuels in the mud, they reached the cident.

coast without in-

I spent another week at Nairobi, tectura:g and broad- casting, and then set off with two friends to climb Kiliman- jero, 10,563, the highest mountain in Africo.

Of the three great glacialed peaks ot Central Airien, Kilimanjaro is the least attroc tive to a mountainer; but Mount Kenya was out of bounds owing to the Mau Mau emergency, and was not the right time of sha year to attempt Ruwenzori,

3,000 miles

¡JE had, in fact, spent several

WE

weeks in the vicinity of the Mountains of the Moon, first on the Congo elde and then In Uganda, but the range Was continually shrouded in cloud

and we could understand how the early explorers had fer long refused to believe tu the exis

tence of these fabulous showy mountains within a fow miles of the Equator.

Kilmanjaro Is Just a long and tedious walk. bul to reach the rumenit in the time at We were not too happy about our disposal we ascended

house,

peruicularly as 16,000ft. of altitude in just over 1 should have to leave the 50 hours and suffered very much family there while I was away from mountain-sickness soro lecturing, often til late at night. throat, loss of appetite, and The garden was surrounded by a appalling headaches, derse hedge which completely

we always carried several days' supply of ford and water, his would have had no serious consequences, though it would have been very annoying.

precautions, the On anoth occasion chikiren never had a moment's Upadeka, h mysterious Strew

eut us cft from other dwellings, Huving rejoined the family at Illness, though at Cape Town, fell aus of the carburetter. The

and the wooden walls of the Mombasa, we

theo rot oit to dtagram in the manual did not

house were loss than 10 yards drive the whole length of Tan- This screw much even mark

trom tho barbed-wire tence sunyika and Nyasaland, and less indicate what ils purpose

the Kikuyu across Portuguese East Africa Was: and after spending some

through the Mau Mau country

Sallsbury and Umtali in People very naturally assum time fruitlessly

fox searching

to Nairobi.

That night Some rother Southem Riwjesin — a distviço that because I drove our van

up and down the road E

At the top of the Mau escarp- peculiar things happened. First of more than 3,000 miles, almost 17,000 miles

a passing ment round South and accepted an from

Kikuyu arrived with an Central Africa

some entirely on dirt ronda, to Masaka. altitude of have must

and returned LIT

9,000ft, und then meat. We could not communi- considerable mechanical know- 22 miles distant.

From Beira. floor cate with him but he insisted to the

we returned by Perhaps it had sca to England--and our jeumey of the Hift Valley. replace

It was de- on leaving it. screw, but an Indian mechanic ghtful country, with immenso been ordered by the D.O.-but was over. told me that its function was felds of wheat, onis, and maize, surely they knew he was away.

Was it a with the occaskral um Jecked like or was it poisoned? to hold up the float, and if

Shaped thorn irtes and would made one of wood, It serve its purpoße equally well.

ledge. Stach a conclusion could not be further from the truth.

Unfortunately,

although

1

And

wood

[uble camp site.

medium,

1

sympathete allergic

to

IVILS a level space, open possible to obviate the

jf

machinery.

danger

from sunkes, and 50 yards so off the road.

Then the children would rushi round for an hour before supper and would pitch Valerte's int our loose genr, and stow all either below the van or, if there was dunger from thieves, in the front seats.

..ווז ין

Supper, ix tween G aunch 7

eunsisted

olew 1. kind. with rice mocaroni taking the place

uf

potatoes, followed by stewed or

fresh fruit and custard-Chris- topher almost lived on custard. Then we would bath all the children in a plastic bowl 2ft. in length and put them to bed. When possible We would sit outside untit they were all asleep, then turn in ourselves, usually before p..

We did not have to depend on finding water at our camping sites as we carried 12 guilons with us in milk cuns which we used to fill up at a hause or garuge during the day.

Bilharzia

ONE

of the Kers

Kreatest

13 frum bilharzia;

dan-

The ceiling of my ability

1+1

this direction is to take out and clean the plugs-though, thank Roodness, never once bad do uils.

10

I

coul!

not

the road reached

descended steeply

the

Arrounding "That Reserve.

ruse to CO

What wo

clumps of coral-red aloer, while Then, seen after 9 pat, all the distance the Aberdare ghts fused and as I prowled

thetast An African lorry driver gave Mountains

round the houre with my car- blue me a lift back and fashioned summits into the cloud-scattern bine at the ready (thoroughly every moment of it, but another

Com- enjoying myself, I must

beautiful hardwood screw- sky.

their

OOKING back over our trip, wo feel it was a great suc- Gess, anɛl wo enjoyed almost

time we would not stay away 30

enough.

Yes, it is lovely to be back ic England.

But we are already studying tho

maps of South Americh this tinci

but petrol still poured out. In We had driven from Kitale Nas!) there were sounda of long-BİX months Is quite desperation 1 took the

Crumning and chanting that day, and fter many weeks cur

just buretter હ. રૂડી formidable on the rough, narrow dirt roads over the fence in the reserve,

which In spite of the most appalong undertaking

I hope of the Berglan Congo and and all the dogy were barking. have to tever

ruth and Valerie, who were repeat Uganda, we roads, the van weal rhivous- shelf

were looking for- and

return ward to the superb tarred road listening at the window, were once

10 again that ran for the last 150 miles sure oath administering care- Masaku, this time to Nairobi. But no sooner had

monies were taking place in a car very full we reached it than we noticed of Indian Arad- this drop in the oil pressure and darc not drive at more than

KILIMANJARO

This time the family

wwww.g

ir

You

cause

most

ΑΓΗ,

The gorage soon made me a New Screw,

again [ thumbed 3 Lift

40 miles an hour.

A revolver

buck. I replaced WE reached Nakuru

uf

the carburetter

▼ 2 o'clock on a Saturday after- but, alas, petrol noon and eventually traced the still flooded out mochante to his house on the

and for the

third time I re-

ko,

Tunt

to spent

outskirts of the town,

MUSIC

OF THE PAMPAS

By JAMES WICKENDEN

TAVEN Latin American them.

the

of pampas

I was somewhat startled when

The maracas, for in- turned to Masa- he opened his door to find my music has not escaped stance, make the sighing swish grass on the plains. self locking into the barrel of a from

craze to make unlike many modern maracas, IC transpired

loaded revolver. But we soco everything sound the same, they should not have didn't come too...

a tinny that the Indian Hot used to this: in this part of ly and we managed to prevent mechanic had replaced the flant Kenya everybody carries arms So we have learned to like clocking sound.

on the mambo -- a tautened, went, and and having put wherever they

The cloves, the anything going wrong by having upside down,

two stick's the engine thoroughly over this little matter right, I drove lenely farms particularly every brassy version of what were struck together, form the mester

had to be taken once folk melodies.

bent which gives time to the hauled

every few thousand for the seventh time along this precaution miles; and although we had u 22-mile stretch of road and against surprise.

They repre- The mechanie could not ac then it became a

At first it was exciting, but rhythm section. selection of spare parts ranging this

ime

everything worked

crunt for the drop in oil or une could escape from.

monster no sent the cricket's song. from springs to pistons, we did beautifully.

With

The bongos or little drums, ture, and seemed to think that not even have to unpack them

similar benzednine-style Latin held Batween But it was now evening, and as long as we drove slowly Americana, it cuated the older which the expert produces the the lances, from most of Africa which was just as well, bea Iti

the night should reach Nairobi safely and better music. I had no list of what we

pip-pllp-plopp noise and bursts pat

had been supplied and I had no by the roadside, driving on to sure enough, having driven 270

In fact, thore' are many who at staccato beats are inspired by what Lea

miles in the day, we crossed the of the Kampala next day.

Kikuyu Reserve and reached have never heard Latin Ameri- the woodpecker in top form, curiously shaped bits of metal were for,

The children had had to spend the capital of Kenya, in the can music as it is in its genuine

form. Like most art which host Then there is the guiro, of the evening. the whole day sitting in We had also been supplied van in blazing sunshine, but the

walls at roof of the van were du Nairobi we found that the grown amidst nature far from which less than a dozen, genuine cities, it was' simple. It had examples exist in Europe. This Education with set of oversized tyres, well insulated with an inch and which I was doing some leelur- the timeless charm of open is gourd with rows of grooves burnt into Is These scraped and these were so good that in a half of a plastic material, and ing, bad provided

with a stick in the right. spite of miles of vile corrugd it was cool enough for Valerie officer's empty house for our u90

give the grunt of the bullfrog, tions and roads in which rits to hold a school for Nicholas at Kiambu, 10 miles north of

which penetrates through of naked rocks protruded, the anxt Stephen, while Christopher the city. This was a notorious

It demands of the listener rhythm and gives it body. covers, at the end of 17,000 stopt soundly on the mattresses. troubio-spot, and when I went

Generally, these Instrumenta Malarth we avoided by hav- miles, hardly showed any gh

one thing, the ability to They also amused themselves to the police station for the key only ixig neta- made to t

each of wear, aud. we had only one with modeling clay usually of the house I noticed that it cease thinking and twitching formed the backbone of all

listen;

really window

which and by taking palu- puncture on the whole trip. making clephats and rhines or was surrounded by barbed wire and

and

that inside it drine regularly. Then there are

barricades

aboriginal other animals they had seen.

wodd. It is a ties {'jiggor=fleas,, which you can pick. In some party of Central

One of

annoying was a group of uchoppy-looking bird song in a jup by walking barefooted, and Africa: we could! see no other things that happened W49 curfew-breakers awaiting interpolse dysentery and enteric fevers car all day, and had this sudien and unaccountable drop rogakoa, Tha walls wero, paper- ¡goltén az most of us Hirve for. of Mexiban sivic trumpet and from drinking unboiled water happened to us then, we might be the all pressure, and it was ed with "Hue and Cry notices The typical instrumenti were de eating raw fruit and veget- wall have had to spend several. unfortunate that this occurred offering 10,000 chillings reward designed to take the sounds of ables,

make music days by the roadside-but an on the very day that we drove for wanted murderers,

drink from, of even your hand in, a lake or river that has been infected by the sonit which carries this disease. ,parasitic worms may enter your blood-stream, whence they And their way to your liver and attack your bladder or bowels, So every drop of water had to be balled and the children had to be kept out of all lakes and rivers.

·

JOHNNY' HAZARD.

YOU DRIVE A AFTER BANJO PAYS OFF, HARD BARGAIN, Y'LL TELL YOU WHERE · CONTESSAI WHY (HAZARD) 19) KIDDING.NOT AT DAN'T YOU BE

BEFORE

NICH?

THOSE ARE THE TWO THUGS WHO TRIED TO KILL THE MAN I NOW HIDE IN MY APARTMENT"" AND THE CONTESSA SEEKS TO BETRAY HIM!

the most

Department,

for

a district spaces,

REALLY LISTEN:

By Frank Robbins

"HI" IS NO CONUER: SAFFE ¿THERE?" UNLESS I WARN

HIMWICHE E A DEAD MANJ VVURUBE THE BACK EXITE:

i like

'an

nature and

listen, Latin American music.

to

„this situation

calls:

Miguel

from

h

ย

way

tho

„many quilo distinct 'varic- A guitar and some kind

a flute were also common.

IN THE BLOOD”

It moana, that six to' «l«ft' is about: the right" number: to, pro- duod

Lažotingh, firé, musíducto shuffing feet and song "that sverdi to, take time' trón”, KÖNIGS.

innate in man's blood.

thing ost flourishing", "perio

of this muse has now

Variation. Buoy numbers "Lamesto Esclavos” arte

#01

Now

skarces, mostly

[swishing rhyth