AFRICAN CAMP FIRES 



"Jambo, bwana m'kubzua! (Greeting, great mas- 

 ter!)" said he. 



"Jambo," said I, as though his existence were 

 not in the least surprising, and went on reading. 

 This showed him that I was indeed a great master. 



After a suitable interval, I looked up. 



"Wataka neenee? (What do you want?)" I de- 

 manded. 



"Nataka sema qua heri (I want to say good- 

 bye)," said this astonishing individual. 



I had, until that moment, been quite unaware of 

 his existence. As he had therefore not yet said 

 "How do you do," I failed to fathom his reasons 

 for wanting to say "good-bye." However, far be it 

 from me to deny any one innocent pleasure, so I 

 gravely bade him good-bye, and he disappeared into 

 the howling wilderness whence he had come. 



One afternoon we came upon two lemurs seated 

 gravely side by side on a horizontal limb ten feet up 

 a thorn tree. They contemplated us with the preter- 

 natural gravity of very young children, and without 

 the slightest sign of fear. We coveted them as 

 pets for Billy, but soon discovered that their apparent 

 tameness was grounded on good solid common sense. 



The thorns of that thorn tree ! We left them 



sitting upright, side by side. 



234 



