134 AFRICA SPEAKS 



That night I was up until about ten o'clock devel- 

 oping negatives. Shortly after putting myself to bed, 

 a bloodcurdling chorus came from the native boys' 

 quarters. I had been between the two scratchy blan- 

 kets hardly long enough to get warm when the shrieks 

 broke the night's stillness. Such a clamor from the 

 combined throats of eight natives could only be occa- 

 sioned by a mortal fright. That its cause was at 

 least a lion standing right over some hapless black 

 man and gazing soulfully into his eyes, I was all ready 

 to believe. 



My rifle was by my cot side, so grabbing it and a 

 lantern, I rushed forth to save the man's Hfe. On the 

 way I stumbled over pishi who was crawling back into 

 his own private lean-to. In answer to my inquiry as 

 to what all the row was about, he told me that one of 

 the boys had been bitten by a scorpion. This was the 

 anticHmax. Here I was armed with a rifle and pre- 

 pared to do battle with a prowling king of the jungle 

 when it was the medicine chest I reaUy needed. 



I summoned old Manila, gave him the rifle to return 

 to my tent, and told him to fetch the n 'dower, or medi- 

 cine, bidding him hurry; because if I did not soon quiet 

 the tumult, they would certainly scare all the wild 

 beasts off the Serengetti plains. Making my way to 

 the boys' quarters, where presently Maniki joined me 

 with the first-aid Idt, I found the scorpion's victim 

 tossing on the ground and right manfuQy holding up 

 his end of the din. When I could make myself heard 

 I asked him if the scorpion was as big as a faru, which 

 is Swahili for rhino, and my sarcasm had the efi'ect of 

 getting a laugh from the other boys and bringing down 

 the volume of noise at least a few pitches. 



