THE LAST FRONTIER 



Then I would give him his reward. It was either 

 the word "assanti," or the two words "assanti sana," 

 according to the difficulty and importance of the 

 task accomplished. They mean simply "thank 

 you" and "thank you very much." 



Once or twice, after a particularly long and diffi- 

 cult month or so, when Memba Sasa has been al- 

 most literally my alter ego, I have called him up for 

 special praise. "I am very pleased with you, 

 Memba Sasa," said I. "You have done your cazi 

 well. You are a good man." 



He accepted this with dignity, without depre- 

 cation, and without the idiocy of spoken gratitude. 

 He agreed perfectly with everything I said! "Yes" 

 was his only comment. I liked it. 



On our ultimate success in a difficult enterprise 

 Memba Sasa set great store; and his delight in 

 ultimate success was apparently quite apart from 

 personal considerations. We had been hunting 

 greater kudu for five weeks before we finally landed 

 one. The greater kudu is, with the bongo, easily the 

 prize beast in East Africa, and very few are shot. 

 By a piece of bad luck, for him, I had sent Memba 

 Sasa out in a different direction to look for signs the 

 afternoon we finally got one. The kill was made 

 just at dusk. C. and I, with Mavrouki, built a fire 

 and stayed, while Kongoni went to camp after men. 



60 



