THE NATIVES' IDEA OF DISTANCE 



he got one no amount of sophistry could disguise the 

 fact that the bird was dead. It was a very sad 

 Mussulman who squatted by the fire that night eating 

 rice and ghee, and watching the cook and headman 

 devouring chicken. As a solace I gave him a rupee, 

 wherewith he could probably have purchased three 

 more fowls. The amusement I got out of the incident 

 was cheap at the price, and incidentally it raised 

 Mahomed in my estimation. At least, he was true 

 to the letter of his creed. 



It rained all night, and the weather was damp 

 and misty when we broke camp next morning. For 

 the first two or three hours it was wet and the going 

 again heavy, then we found ourselves clear of forest 

 country and out on what seemed to be an interminable 

 plain. However, there was one relief, game was 

 now plentiful. Moreover, it was tame, and we were 

 able to get quite close to several herds of zebra 

 and kongoni. We saw numbers of Kavirondo crane, 

 vultures, marabou, secretary birds and other interesting 

 fowls. 



According to the guides we were now only a short 

 distance from Mr. Cole's camp, not more than four 

 hours' trek, in fact ; but it turned out to be the longest 

 four hours in my experience. You do not expect 

 a native to tell the truth about distances, he seems 

 congenitally incapable of so doing, but these were 

 exceptionally bad liars. At last I got weary of it, 



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