126 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS part ii 



impedimenta, a toothpick and a quid of tobacco, in the 

 expanded lobe of his left ear. So after the cloth had been duly 

 stroked, and patted, and licked, it was tied up into a bundle 

 and left safely at home in Njemps. His only weapon was a 

 bow and arrows, but he was such an appallingly bad shot that 

 he could not have carried these except to charm his lady friends 

 and frighten his foes. His intellectual attainments were as 

 simple as his personal adornments. His vocabulary was most 

 limited ; he could only count up to five, and had no idea of 

 distance ; everything that was not in sight was " loqua " (far 

 off), a word he used so much that we gave it him as a nickname. 

 His appetite was insatiable, and nothing to him was unclean, 

 at least when away from the eyes of the Mrs. Grundy of 

 Njemps ; and when properly fed, he was a splendid walker and 

 simply did not know the meaning of fatigue. Within a narrow 

 range, his knowledge of the country was surprisingly exact, 

 though he knew nothing of the Masai-haunted countries beyond 

 one day's march to the south and east. He had the morals of 

 a child of five ; he begged for everything he saw, and was 

 never abashed by refusal. He would eat three roast duck 

 straight off before my eyes, and then declare with tears and 

 lamentations that he was dying of starvation. He could be 

 terrorised by the men into saying anything, and while they were 

 listening would lie by the yard. But for all this, he had a 

 simple instinct of duty which nothing could shake ; as far as it 

 went, he followed it with a blind faithfulness and carelessness 

 of consequence that won my admiration and regard. 



Under the guidance of this psychological curiosity we 

 crossed the open plain, until the scrub thickened and passed 

 into the forests beside the Tigirish, We made very little pro- 

 gress that day. The men, except Fundi, were all as angry as 

 they could be ; they seized every possible excuse for delay, and 

 it was past noon before we reached Njemps Mkubwa, or 

 " Njemps the Larger," and crossed the Tigirish to the north of 

 the town. The ford was deep, the current swift, and the banks 

 were steep and formed of slippery greasy clay, while the 

 abundance of crocodiles did not add to the pleasure of the 

 passage. I shot a couple of the brutes, to the intense delight 

 of the natives. 



The men objected to going any farther that day, as they 



