SEEKING ROMANTIC ADVENTURES. 69 



must give him are fixed. He must have a blanket, tent, and water- 

 bottle from you, even if he is engaged for but a few weeks. He is 

 supposed to be examined and passed as fit to work — by the medical 

 officer. He "signs on" for so long a time wath you, and at the end 

 of that time, if he demands them, you must pay him his wages. You 

 are supposed not to punish him, but hand him over, in case he mis- 

 behaves, to the civil authorities. But as you are likely to be often 

 more than a hundred miles from any court, a reasonable enforce- 

 ment of discipline, when necessary, is expected from you, and not 

 resented by him. 



So much about present safari life. Every would-be traveller 

 soon learns. He knows his own amount of baggage. He knows it 

 to the pound, and to his cost, if he pays his steamer bills at Mom- 

 basa before coming up country, and a further interview with the 

 railroad authorities on the c|uestion of baggage is likely to impress 

 him still more. He reads in books or hears from friends that he 

 will need so many men, and that he had better engage them at 

 Nairobi rather than at Mombasa, and so save the $5 fare per man. 

 That is about all he knows. 



PREPARING FOR A TRIP. 



He chooses his agent at Nairobi and seeks advice, says how 

 long he intends to be out and what he wants to go and get ; whether 

 he will ride or walk; whether he is determined to go far afield and 

 stay away from the railroad for several months at a time, or make 

 shorter trips, moving his safari by rail from place to place. 



These matters settled, his agents undertake to do the rest, 

 and promise in so many days to have everything ready for a start. 

 Tell your agent at Nairobi that above all other things they must 

 give you a really honest and reliable "head man." Your head man 

 will make you or mar you. The problem of potio is quite beyond 

 even the most painstaking investigator at first. You will have to 

 do as you are told, and get the hang of it soon as you can. 



At the beginning of safari life you will have to be guided by 

 your head man. Show him your baggage. Tell him roughly what 

 you wish to do and where to go. He, on his part, will tell you where 



