We Stay at Blantyre 



Hill; he could not say '' Breeches," so always spoke 

 of himself as ** Itches." He was fond of giving 

 orders in a loud tone of voice, but I think every- 

 body liked him. 



Making up the baggage into loads is of course 

 the headman's business, but it is just as well to 

 supervise the arrangement whenever a fresh start 

 is being made. The headman naturally wishes to 

 have a large number of porters, and in order to 

 induce one to engage them he will make up as 

 many loads as he thinks will pass, so that if one 

 is not careful some of them will be too light ; a 

 good plan is to carry a spring-balance, to prevent 

 any disputes as to weight. The official porter's 

 load is sixty pounds; good men, thoroughly accus- 

 tomed to the work, will often carry seventy or even 

 eighty pounds without a murmur, but untrained 

 men cannot be expected to carry more than about 

 fifty or fifty-five pounds. 



Loads should be small and compact ; bulky 

 articles are always unpopular, and should be avoided 

 as much as possible. Tents and bedding bundles 

 come under this category, but are of course un- 

 avoidable. *' Chop " boxes, about fifty-five pounds, 

 make ideal loads, and there is always competition 

 to get hold of them. Anything decidedly over sixty 

 pounds is strung on a pole and given to two men 

 to carry; we had two or three of these double loads 

 — our tin bath filled with all sorts of odds and ends, 

 and the ammunition box. So far as I can recollect 

 the baggage was made up into thirty loads, much 

 as follows : — 



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