nghame had
gone to Uganda to make preparations for the future operations of the
party in that country.

Mrs. Akeley washed up in the colonel's tent, while Stephenson and I used
Kermit's tent, and as we washed and scrubbed away the memories of the
elephant carcasses the colonel stood in the door and talked to us.

We told him that each of us had taken a drink of Scotch whisky the
evening before in honor of the elephants--the first drinks we had taken
for weeks.

"I'd do the same," said the colonel, "but I don't like Scotch whisky. As
a matter of fact, I have taken only three drinks of brandy since I've
been in Africa, twice when I was exhausted and once when I was feeling a
little feverish. Before I left Washington there were lots of people
saying that I was a drunkard, and that I could never do any work until I
had emptied a bottle or two of liquor."

We told him that we had heard these rumors frequently during the closing
months of his administration, and he laughed.

"I never drank whisky," he said; "not from principle, but because I
don't like it. I seldom drink wine, because I'm rather particular about
the kind of wine I drink. We have some champagne with us, but the
thought of drinking hot champagne in this country is unpleasant.
Sometimes, when I can get wines that just suit my taste, I drink a
little, but never much. The three drinks of brandy are all I've had in
Africa, and I'm sure that I've not taken one in the last four months.
They had all sorts of stories out about me before I left
Washington--that I was drinking hard and that I was crazy. I may be
crazy," he said, laughing, "but I most certainly haven't been drinking
hard."

The luncheon was a merry affair. Heller had been out in the swamp in
front of the camp and had shot some ducks for luncheon.

"On my way in," said the colonel, "I shot an oribi, but when I heard
that Heller had shot some ducks I knew that my oribi would not be
served."

It was evident that the most thorough good fellowship existed among the
members of the colonel's party. His fondness for all of them was in
constant evidence--in the way he joked with them and in the complete
absence of restraint in their attitude toward him.

"They were told that I would be a hard man to get along with in the
field," Colonel Roosevelt said, "but we've had a perfectly splendid time
together."

I asked him whether he had been receiving newspapers, and, if not,
whether he would like to see s