Mpifca to Kopas 



he would try and induce his comrades to rush 

 the machilla along the path, charging any men 

 with loads who were in the way, much to their 

 disgust and indignation, and also to my great dis- 

 comfort. 



To complete the team we took the most likely- 

 looking Mpika boys; then the remaining porters 

 stood out in all their barrenness a more miserable 

 lot it has never been our fate to see. John nearly 

 wept. 



Early morning of the Qth saw us at work. The 

 prospect before us was not altogether promising. 

 We had exactly thirty days to cover the three 

 hundred odd miles between Kulukenias and Broken 

 Hill; or, as Mkushi to Broken Hill was known to be 

 a six days' stage on the regular post-road, we had 

 twenty-four days to get to Mkushi by native tracks. 

 With good porters and under normal circumstances 

 the time was ample, leaving a nice balance for a 

 little shooting en route. But, then, were our porters 

 good ? They did not look it. And would circum- 

 stances prove to be normal ? There was no certainty 

 of that either. Mr. Melland's personal knowledge 

 of the country did not carry him beyond Chitambo, 

 where his district ended. From Chitambo to 

 Mkushi, as the crow flies, was a hundred and forty 

 miles. We gathered that native tracks probably ran 

 direct, but did not know their condition, the nature 

 of the country, or the food supplies available. 

 Should we be able to march direct ? that was the 

 question. Shortness of food or heavy rains might 

 necessitate a diversion from the Luambwa river to 



171 



