THREE LIONS AND NO RIFLE! 



away, while Manly and I sought shelter from the driving 

 storm under the grass banda. At length the storm 

 cleared away, and on inspecting the wreckage I was glad 

 to find that nothing had suffered. 



Instructing Matakanga (acting headman in place of 

 Salem, whom I had left sick at Wadelai) to supervise 

 the re-erection of the tent, I proceeded with Manly to 

 his camp, situated further towards the Boma, and we 

 found that it had also been torn down by the gale. In 

 spite of the inclemency of the weather, his cook managed 

 to bake a batch of bread, and presented us with an excel- 

 lent dinner that evening, all cooked out in the open. I 

 wonder what our chefs at home would do and say if they 

 were told to prepare a meal with a driving rain and a 

 small hurricane raging around the pots and pans ? The 

 native cooks are, indeed, weird mortals ; the greatest 

 difficulty that presents itself to them in the Congo is to 

 find something to cook. Often enough my cook has 

 had to put up with the most extraordinary interruptions. 

 I remember on one occasion he had to leave the fire 

 for a few moments ; no sooner was his back turned than 

 a goat came along and knocked over the saucepans 

 and pots containing my dinner. Again, when up the 

 Kembe river he was baking bread, cooking meat, boiling 

 cornflour and custard. Everything was just half-cooked 

 when a runner came in to report elephants some miles 

 off and travelling away from us. In an instant poor 

 Pishi had to follow the example of all and pack away the 

 half-prepared food, while the other boys were busying 

 themselves taking down and packing up the camp equip- 

 ment preparatory to the long march before us. In a 

 few minutes we were all on the road, but Pishi looked sad, 

 and remarked to me — 



" Bwana, you not hit me if food bad to-day." 

 Poor devil ! it was no fault of his if things were not 

 always up to the mark. He was, indeed, often a victim 



133 



