ON SAFARI. RHINO AND GIRAFFE 119 



explanation of their doing well was that their taste for the 

 raw flesh kept them thoroughly interested in their job, so 

 that they learned without difficulty. The porters speedily 

 christened each of the white men by some title of their 

 own, using the ordinary Swahili title of Bwana (master) as 

 a prefix. Heller was the Bwana Who Skinned; Loring, 

 who collected the small mammals, was named, merely 

 descriptively, the Mouse Master, Bwana Pania. I was 



The Percival family 

 From a photograph by Edmund Heller 



always called Bwana Makuba, the chief or Great Master; 

 Kermit was first called Bwana Medogo, the young mas- 

 ter, and afterward was christened " the Dandy," Bwana 

 Merodadi. 



From Potha the safari went in two days to McMillan's 

 place, Juja Farm, on the other side of the Athi. I stayed 

 behind, as I desired to visit the American Mission Station 

 at Machakos. Accordingly, Sir Alfred and I rode thither. 

 Machakos has long been a native town, for it was on the 

 route formerly taken by the Arab caravans that went from 

 the coast to the interior after slaves and ivory. Riding 

 toward it we passed herd after herd of cattle, sheep, and 

 goats, each guarded by two or three savage herdsmen. 

 The little town itself was both interesting and attractive. 



