HARTEBEESTE AND WATER-BUCK 



Close to this place I found a sort of wild cucumber 

 which looked very good to eat, but Salem and others 

 strongly cautioned me not to try it, or I would need 

 " dawa " (medicine) the next day. I took their advice, 

 for it is always well to remember that you can learn a 

 tremendous amount from your boys or the natives about 

 the ins and outs of the country that is of the greatest 

 importance to the welfare of the safari. Not a few of the 

 white men who have lost their lives in Africa have done 

 so by disregarding the warnings or despising the counsel 

 of people who know their own country better than the 

 stranger. The blacks may be dunderheads in many 

 ways, but where the tracking and stalking of game are 

 concerned we can well afford to learn from the people 

 who have spent their lives in the wilds. 



To reach the village, close to which I intended camp- 

 ing, we had to climb a fairly steep wooded slope and 

 force our way through a big patch of what Stanley called 

 "acacia horrida" (thorn bush). Although it sheltered 

 us to a certain extent from the sun, it greatly impeded 

 our progress, for many of the loads became entangled 

 in the branches, and I was compelled to walk as the 

 trees were a mass of thorns. 



The people here seemed to be far more communicative 

 than those we had passed on the march. I ordered 

 the boys to drop their loads beneath a large tree, and 

 placing my chair under the shade of the branches, I sat 

 and smoked, watching the boys build a square grass hut 

 for me. Several of the villagers, men, women and children, 

 volunteered to assist in cutting grass and firewood, and 

 I was surrounded by a gay chattering mob of people all 

 anxious to shake hands. Presently the village headman, 

 rejoicing in the name of " Singooma," a pleasant old 

 fellow fullv seventy years of age, tall and muscular, stood 

 before me and gravely saluted by holding aloft his bow, 

 after which he shook hands. Making use of the cook as 



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