A Thousand Miles in a Machilla 



to be. He had suddenly discovered that he wanted 

 to see the Victoria Falls, and that afterwards he 

 would like to earn six months' wages at Buluwayo 

 before returning to Nyasaland. 



Our train left at lo a.m. on the 9th December, 

 1908. All our boys came with us to the station to 

 see us off, looking sad and depressed at the idea 

 that their job was really over and their employers 

 departing. After they had each been given a 

 fortnight's wages as a parting gift I took a photo- 

 graph of them assembled on the platform. Un- 

 fortunately, photographs of black men seldom do 

 them justice ; their naturally ugly features are 

 reproduced in the pictures without the jovial 

 expression and the shiny black skins which make 

 their countenances pleasant and animated. 



We parted with sincere regret, and retain the 

 pleasantest recollection of their service and attention 

 during the four months they were with us. John 

 was a capital fellow, and knew his work well ; a bit 

 lazy at times, perhaps, and requiring a firm hand 

 over him, but full of humour. The way he chuckled 

 and said, " Oh, Bwana ! " whenever his master said 

 anything to tickle his fancy invariably made me 

 laugh. He was recommended to us by the African 

 Lakes Company as a reliable man to conduct our 

 caravan through Africa, and we may therefore 

 presume that his Nyasaland character was a good 

 one. In North- East Rhodesia it transpired that 

 he had had a '' past," though what that ''past" w^as 

 we never ascertained. However that may be, he 

 took us safely from Blantyre to Broken Hill He 



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