TREK AND CAMP. I9I 



garrulous. However smart they may be at bushcraft, they almost always give 

 themselves away by loud talking and wrangling. I have located natives hundreds 

 of times by this trait of theirs, whilst they have been in ignorance of my presence. 

 On many of these occasions it has been greatly to their disadvantage to make 

 a noise, such as when they have been stealing the meat from an animal shot 

 or when trying to shirk work. 



I should have the utmost confidence in making a bolt alone through the country 

 of the most hostile of African tribes, feeling certain that I should always hear a party 

 talking before I was myself seen, or at any rate, if surprised, I should hear them 

 arguing as to who should shoot first. The Wanyamwezi are no exception to this 

 rule, and on the line of march shout and sing without cessation, and if they see 

 any game yell at it; one would think that their chief ambition was to scare all 

 the game out of the neighbourhood. However much work they have done during 

 the day and however tired they ought to feel, they are still able to sing and dance 

 far into the night, and to beat tins and play all manner of devilish noise-producing 

 instruments calculated to drive the average person insane. Their knowledge of 

 country is poor, ridiculously poor for African natives, and if left to themselves they 

 are in danger of being lost. 



As to game, they are generally ignorant of all animals' names, habits, spoors, 

 or anything about them. I have often marvelled how it is that some of these 

 porters having spent their whole lives with different caravans, many of which were 

 big-game-shooting expeditions, yet have learnt nothing about the game which 

 has been all about them. It is no exaggeration to say that many of these natives 

 do not know the difference between a buffalo and an eland or a bushbuck and a 

 lesser kudu. 



Of the more local and untrained porters there are the Wakikuyu and the 

 Wakamba. These generally prefer to carry a load on the back fastened by a 

 strap round the forehead. The former are good in hilly country, but neither of 

 these tribes are capable of carrying the weight or marching the distances that 

 the Wanyamwezi can accomplish. Moreover, they are unreliable and frequently 

 run away, sometimes during the first few days and at other times owing to a 

 sudden panic or for no seeming cause whatever towards the end of a journey 

 when pay is due to them. In either case it is most provoking, as one may be 

 left stranded anywhere with no porter to take the loads. 



The Wakikuyu are about the most undecided people it is possible to find. 

 A party will trek an immense distance to some Government station to get work, 

 where they may get " written-on," given food and a place to sleep, and in the 



