48 TRAVELLING IN UGANDA 



cultivation to provide food for porters. The camping- 

 place consists of a cleared compound surrounded 

 by a reed fence, in which are a large rest-house, 

 made of mud and thatched with grass, for the 

 European traveller and his baggage, a small cook- 

 house, and numerous mud or grass houses for the 

 porters, sometimes within and sometimes outside 

 the fence. If the rest-house is clean — some are 

 very much the reverse — it is probably a good deal 

 cooler there during the day than in the tent, which 

 need only be used for sleeping. Supposing that 

 a fairly early start has been made, and there is no 

 necessity to travel very quickly, one tries to arrive 

 in camp by twelve o'clock at the latest, so as to 

 avoid marching through the hottest hours of the 

 day. These hours are spent by the porters, and 

 sometimes by the European too, in sleep. Every 

 self-respecting Uganda porter carries a sleeping- 

 mat, which he rolls up, with his property inside it, 

 and ties on to his load. Arrived in camp, he 

 unfurls his mat, stretches himself upon it in a shady 

 place, and is soon asleep. 



This is the quietest hour of the day or night, and 

 one can read or dream in peace for a time, and 

 forget the petty worries of African travel — they are 

 none the less annoying because they are so small. 

 But it is over all too soon ; the camp wakes up 

 about four o'clock, and the noise and wrangling 

 begin once more. Many of the porters perform 

 quite an elaborate toilet after the midday siesta. 



