CHAPTER II 



THE CARAVAN OR " SAFARI " 



Safari is a Ki-Swahili word, which is commonly used 

 not only for designating the caravan itself, meaning 

 thereby all the people who serve as headmen, gun bearers, 

 porters, etc., but it also means traveling by any other 

 means than by railroad or steamer. If it is said, for in- 

 stance, that anyone is " out on safari," it conveys the idea 

 that the person in question is out on a trip with porters, 

 oxen, mules, horses, or donkeys; in one word, moving 

 about the country living in his tent. " Safari," therefore, 

 is one of the first words the traveler learns of the useful 

 Ki-Swahili language, the lingua franca of the whole East 

 and Central Africa. In fact, I have heard hunters say that 

 they were surprised to find this language so serviceable 

 to them even far in the interior of the Congo Free State. 

 On account of this great usefulness of the Ki-Swahili lan- 

 guage, there will be a chapter at the end of the book de- 

 voted to the rudiments of grammar, words, and phrases 

 most necessary for the hunter, who would be independent 

 of irresponsible and often inefficient interpreters, and who 

 also wishes to get his information about the game and 

 paths at Hrst hand from the natives of the different 

 tribes. This is often of the greatest importance to the 

 sportsman. 



20 



