RECRUITING 



they darted away, running up and down the side 

 streets, beating on the doors, screaming at the tops 

 of their lungs the word "Cazi"* over and over again. 



The village hummed like a wasp's nest. Men 

 poured from the huts in swarms. The streets were 

 filled; the idle sauntering youths were swamped and 

 sunk from view. Clamour and shouting arose 

 where before had been a droning silence. The mob 

 beat up to where we stood, surrounding us, shouting 

 at us. From somewhere some one brought an old 

 table and two decrepit chairs, battered and rickety 

 in themselves, but symbols of great authority in a 

 community where nobody habitually used either. 

 Two naked boys proudly took charge of our bicycles. 



We seated ourselves. 



"Fall in!" we yelled. 



About half the crowd fell into rough lines. The 

 rest drew slightly one side. Nobody stopped talking 

 for a single instant. 



We arose and tackled our job. The first part of 

 it was to segregate the applicants into their different 

 tribes 



'^Monumwezi hapa!^\we yelled; and the command 

 was repeated and repeated again by the headman, 

 by his four personal assistants, by a half dozen lesser 

 headm en. Slowly the Monumwezi drew aside. 



♦Work. 



137 



