A Thousand Miles in a Machilla 



porters and see that the men carrying the tents 

 and bedding bundles were immediately behind him. 

 John was ordered to march in rear of everybody, 

 and to keep two or three men with him, whose 

 loads could be added to in the event of a casualty. 

 It is an excellent plan to give the leading porter a 

 flag, as all natives delight in one and think it adds 

 distinction to their caravan ; unfortunately, we had 

 forgotten to bring one with us. 



From seeing them continually at their work \ve 

 soon got to know a number of the porters (known 

 locally as " tenga-tenga ") well, and quickly recog- 

 nized the best among them. Maso waj most 

 attentive ; he was promoted my machilla capitao 

 later on in the Wawembe country, and remained 

 with us to Broken Hill. Gua, a nice-looking little 

 man who made himself very useful, attracted my 

 attention by coming to me and pointing pathetic- 

 ally to his rags, asking me to sell him some calico 

 for a dotee. I gave him a remnant, with which 

 he was delighted ; we liked him very much, and 

 were sorry when he left us at Fort Jameson. 

 Mgombo was an excellent worker, who followed 

 us to Broken Hill. Roberti, a good-looking fellow 

 with regular features, hailing from Lake Nyasa, 

 had for his sole garment, on joining the caravan, a 

 chocolate-coloured loin cloth ; but as time went on 

 he greatly improved his attire. He was promoted 

 gun-bearer after Fort Jameson, and came with us to 

 Broken Hill. Many of the men had curious names, 

 as "Railway," "Cawnpore, " "Steamer," and 

 " England." When we found Chinganje words too 



36 



