Excerpt from East African Mammals in the United States National Museum, Vol. 1: Insectivora, Chiroptera, and Carnivora

A few mammals collected by the Hon. Hoffman Philip, minister resident and consul general, Adis Ababa, Abyssinia, were presented by him to the Museum in 1910.

The Hon. Alexander W. Weddell, American consul at Zanzibar, sent to the National Museum as a gift a few mammals collected by himself during the year 1911.

By far the most important contributions to the East African col lection were made by two larger and more thoroughly equipped expeditions in the field from 1909 to 1912 - the Smithsonian African Expedition and the Paul J. Rainey Expedition.

The Smithsonian African Expedition, which was first officially proposed by President Roosevelt in a letter to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution dated June 20, was made possible through the generosity of friends of the Smithsonian Institution, who provided a special fund to pay for the outfitting and to meet the expenses of the naturalists who accompanied the expedition. The management of the expedition was under the direction of Col. Theo dore Roosevelt, who defrayed all of his own expenses and those of his son, Mr. Kermit Roosevelt. The naturalists who accompanied him in the interests of the museum were Lieut. Col. Edgar A. Mearns, United States Army, retired; Mr. Edmund Heller; and Mr. J. Alden Loring. Doctor Meams gave special attention to birds; Mr. Heller to the preservation of the larger mammals killed by Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt; and Mr. Loring devoted his time mainly to the collection of small mammals.

The party sailed from New York on March 23, 1909, landed in Mombasa on April 21, and journeyed over the Uganda railroad to Kapiti Plains, British East Africa, where a preliminary camp was established. Actual work commenced on the near by Athi Plains on April 24, when Colonel Roosevelt procured the first antelopes for the collection. Hunting and collecting were carried on in this general region until almost June 1, during which time the country east and northeast of Nairobi was well covered.

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