A Thousand Miles in a Machilla 



where the tall pines rear their heads a hundred feet 

 in the air. It cannot vie in beauty with our English 

 woods, mostly composed of massive oaks, stately 

 elms, graceful beech or birch, firs, and other trees, 

 which have been carefully planted and tended for 

 centuries. In Central Africa the forest trees are 

 small and even sometimes insignificant, being as a 

 rule only slender stems growing from three to five 

 feet apart, sufficiently close to hide from view any- 

 thing twenty yards off, but far enough to allow a 

 walk between them. There is little undergrowth; 

 and although not greatly varied, African trees have 

 yet a beauty all their own. 



Just as A was starting off again at 4 p.m. 



we heard a distant sound of singing, which gradually 

 drew nearer, and to our intense satisfaction a quarter 

 of an hour later our new porters from Mpika 

 appeared. After a cursory inspection they were sent 

 off to settle down in their camp and rest, and on 



A s return at dusk were at once paraded, but on 



a closer examination they proved to be a sorry lot. 



The fifteen strongest-looking men were selected 

 for A s machilla team, with a long-legged, well- 

 made, manly young savage, six feet at least in 

 height, as capitao. His appearance had quickly 

 attracted our attention, and his evident desire to be 

 appointed capitao was apparently acquiesced in by 

 his comrades. He proved himself to be an excellent 

 servant, was always cheery and good-tempered, and 

 did his best to keep his somewhat unruly team in 

 order. The snort of disdain and contempt which 

 he emitted when dissatisfied with any of them was 



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