264 THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 



Home is very much interested in opening his dis- 

 trict by means of good roads (in the native sense). He 

 tried in vain to get the chiefs interested; and finally hit 

 on the happy idea of a bicycle for each chief and an 

 askari to teach him to ride. Now it is not unusual to 

 see a naked savage hiking along in the depths of Africa 

 on a glittering wheel. And every time he comes a crop- 

 per he gets out a thousand men or so to fix the road! 

 There has been a good deal of interest for some time 

 over a reported new animal in the back country. There- 

 fore a certain official was more than delighted when two 

 of his askaris came in to report that they had been 

 chased by and had shot such an animal. Being an 

 official he sent forth official commands that any dead 

 animal found anywhere near that place belonged to 

 him; and he sent out parties in all directions to search. 

 After all these preparations had been made up comes a 

 sad-eyed Indian. 



"Please, bwana,^^ says he, "I want 50 rupees be- 

 cause your askari kiUs my donkey.'' 



As illustrating settler methods Home told us of the 

 man who was digging a well and ran into a rock twenty 

 feet down. Drilled it, put in dynamite, but was un- 

 able to touch it off for lack of enough fuse. The usual 

 asinine bystander had a bright idea. They arranged 

 the detonators, rolled a big rock to the edge of the hole, 

 stood at a distance and thrust it in with a pole. The 

 rock failed to explode the detonators, but most effect- 



