CHAPTER XVII 



HOW WE CURED THE CHIEF 



One day, when approaching a large village near which 

 we had heard that there was a Belgian rest camp, we got 

 rather a scare. Peeping through the trees we saw, a 

 couple of miles away, a patch of something red. Thinking 

 that the Belgians were in occupation of the camp, and 

 not particularly wishing to meet any of them, we held 

 counsel and discussed the situation. On nearing the 

 village, however, the " patch " turned out to be a tree 

 covered with red blossom, and not, as we had thought, 

 the red blanket of an Askari spread out to dry. 



The people around the Kibali and the Welle and 

 towards the north wear nothing more than a few leaves 

 strung on a grass cord around the waist. Salem when in 

 this part of the country became imbued with a high sense 

 of vanity, and one day appeared in a pair of trade cloth 

 or " americani " pants, very baggy. For hours he could 

 do nothing else but parade up and down the camp, the 

 cynosure of all eyes. Personal adornment in this case 

 evidently came before the necessities of life, and Salem 

 had not realized that the trousers were made out of his 

 posho (food rations), and represented seven days' pro- 

 visions, therefore when his salt was finished the trousers 

 gradually diminished as each day he would tear a small 

 piece off either leg and barter it among the shinzis for 

 food. 



In one case where we found a sick native with a 

 gaping wound in his arm, we bandaged him up with a 



198 



