KAFIR SERVANTS. 17 



Very often the boy, after being absent an 

 enormous time, will bring back a broken garrafao 

 instead of the water one is anxiously waiting for, 

 with a piteous tale of a soldier pushing him, 

 or some one else's boy kicking his bottle over, 

 which may or may not be true. 



Kafir servants are a great trial, and an enor- 

 mous amount of patience must be exercised if 

 one wishes to go on at all smoothly. To begin 

 with, they are very, very slow in all they do, 

 and do not seem to understand the meaning of 

 the word hurry or the value of time. Many 

 are also habitual thieves and liars, and most are 

 very artful. A Kafir boy I know told his master 

 openly that all Kafirs steal if they dan find the 

 opportunity, and that they expect the white 

 man to see that they cannot in fact, to look out 

 for himself. They will even appropriate little 

 things that can never be of any use to them, but 

 penknives and small bottles fit for holding snuff 

 t have an irresistible charm. Food or drink (espe- 

 cially drink), and cigars and tobacco, are equally 

 tempting to the Kafir mind, or fingers, and it 



