Forming Camp 



white one, known at home, I believe, as the 

 "Garden White." I threw some water on the 

 ground just outside my tent, and very soon the 

 spot was alive with them. 



As soon as we arrived in camp my head man, 

 as usual, told off the different jobs to the porters. 

 Two were sent for water, half-a-dozen to pitch my 

 tent, half-a-dozen to build a banda where I could 

 get protection from the sun, yet another half-dozen 

 to erect bandas for my cook and boys, the remainder 

 to clear the camp and cut paths about it. As they 

 are well aware that the sooner they complete their 

 work the sooner they can get away, it is surprising 

 with what celerity they perform their tasks, and they 

 make you as comfortable as possible in the twinkling 

 of an eye. These bandas are very handy. They 

 build them by first sticking boughs into the ground 

 in an upright position, to which they bind bamboos 

 or reeds transversely with strips of banana leaf, 

 inserting dried grass between ; they then roof the 

 grass hut in the same manner, so that you can rest 

 within the banda protected from the sun, and enjoy 

 all your meals in the greatest comfort. They are 

 little or no protection against rain, unless you tie a 

 water-proof sheet over the top. 



The usual native chief, or trader I might almost 

 call him, brought me lemons, bananas, papaw (a 

 most delicious fruit with the early morning cup of 

 tea), eggs, fresh milk, and some very sweet brown 

 substance in a tea-pot, which I took to be native 

 sugar. In return I gave him European sugar, 



55 



