CHAP. XVI THE FLOGGING SYSTEM 301 



to send a message to Omari ; his stern voice would ring 

 through the camp, " Kilele, kilele " (Silence, silence), and every 

 sound would be hushed. 



The change from the Somali to the Zanzibari was so 

 pleasant, and the behaviour of these latter so satisfactory 

 during our return march to the coast, that I resolved to 

 employ them exclusively on my second expedition. The 

 Somali wanted to go with me, for they were returning to Aden 

 penniless ; many of them begged to be employed, and some 

 even offered to serve for nothing. But I would not take one 

 at any price. I trusted entirely to Zanzibari, and well indeed 

 did they justify my trust. 



When comparing experiences with others who have used 

 Zanzibari, I feel that I was fortunate in getting a good set of 

 men ; and the fact that I had not a single deserter shows that 

 I did not get any of the riff-raff of Mombasa or Zanzibar, for 

 they would have bolted at the start. Yet my men were not 

 by any means a picked staff; being in a hurry to start I had 

 at the last to take any porters I could get, to supplement those 

 chosen from the first expedition. That the men did not desert 

 later on was probably due to the fact that the caravan was 

 worked on a different principle from that often adopted. 

 Several men of great experience had given me advice as to 

 how to treat Zanzibari. Prince Boris Czetwertynski, for 

 example, had told me that the only way to make a Zanzibari 

 respect you is to flog him. Yet this system of management 

 is not always successful. A caravan had gone into the interior 

 just before me, the leader of which, a very experienced man, was 

 reported to have adopted the " flogging " system. He had lost 

 so many men by desertion, that he had been obliged to camp 

 for two months in the " barra " waiting for reinforcements to be 

 hired and sent up to him. I could afford neither the time nor 

 the money involved in such a delay, and realised that it would 

 be better to lead the caravan than to drive it. The result was 

 we had very little trouble. The men made a march of un- 

 precedented swiftness, and had a really hard time of it. When 

 asked by Hobley how they had got on, upon their return to 

 the coast, Omari's reply, " Teli khazi, teli khazi ! " (Much hard 

 work, very much hard work !) ; " teli mvua ! " (much rain !), ex- 

 pressed the general opinion. Nevertheless throughout the men 



