FAREWELL TO AFRICA 427 



with earth all right, but instead of wheeling the load, 

 they placed the barrow and its contents atop their 

 heads and carried it to the dumping place I 



On another occasion it became necessary to trans- 

 port a heavy flywheel for some distance through the 

 jungle. At considerable trouble and expense he had 

 built a four-wheel cart, upon which was loaded the 

 flywheel. Giving instructions to his headman to have 

 this pulled out to a certain location, he proceeded to 

 his headquarters shack. Several days passed without 

 any sign of the blacks and the much needed flywheel, 

 so he went out to look for them, and, after a few hours 

 travel on horseback, beheld what looked Hke a huge 

 serpent crawling through the bush and upon closer 

 approach he heard the chanting of many men. Com- 

 ing up to this strange human centipede, he found a 

 whole army of black men bearing upon their heads a 

 cross-work of poles, and on top of tliis reposed the four- 

 wheeled cart, with the wheels tied to keep it from 

 rolling, and inside the cart was the flywheel! 



An Irishman then related how he had sent his house 

 boy after some postage stamps. The boy was gone 

 a long time, as usual, but eventuaUy reappeared, carry- 

 ing on top of liis head a large flat stone weighing about 

 fifty pounds. When asked where the stamps were, he 

 pointed to the stone, saying, "There they be, Master," 

 and calmly lifting this slab of granite, he put it on the 

 floor, with the explanation that the wind kept blowing 

 the stamps off his head, so he had placed the rock 

 there to hold them down I 



These things seem foolish to a white man, but 

 their explanation lies in the fact that these Negroes 

 have no pockets, and disdaining to carry any tiling in 



