TREK AND CAMP. 203 



monotonous scale to the accompaniment of beaten tins, sticks and boards, or 

 the shaking of grain in a wickerwork or wooden receptacle. The topical songs 

 are improvised from time to time and touch on the events of the trek. I give here 

 two examples : — 



I. 



When we climbed up Nguzeru 



The tears came forth because of the cold. 



For necessities we were hard put to it. 



Then came forth Hasan Ali and said : 



" My children, when you return to Nairobi you will forget all this." 



II. 



The Bwana (master) has shot a marua (bongo). 



The Bwana has shot a marua. 



When he told us we thought he was playing with us, 



But now we see it is true. 



Behold he is a son of wealth. 



East Africa is becoming more and more settled over from day to day, and 

 nowadays to find solitude, peace, and quiet, you have to go far afield. In any 

 unoccupied country near at hand you will find, perhaps, a dozen shooting-parties 

 following one another round like foursomes on a crowded golf-link. However, 

 for the ungregarious, there are still the unhealthy or waterless tracts, shunned 

 by the many, to fall back upon. 



To conclude this chapter, I will endeavour to give a few tips conducive to 

 comfort when on trek. I have often met with people who, with exactly the same 

 means at their disposal, live a life of discomfort because they have never been 

 shown how to improve matters. 



Some of the little expedients used in the bush are so simple that a child 

 ought to be able to invent them ; yet it is a fact that they are seldom thought 

 of before one has been shown them by someone else. I claim no originality 

 for my tips, as they have almost all been suggested to me by others, and any 

 conclusions not so suggested have probably been arrived at by hundreds of 

 sportsmen. 



First of all, as to the selection of a site for camp. A flat surface is required on 

 which to pitch the tent, but not a stony or rocky surface, or the pegs cannot be 

 driven in. If travelling in very rocky country iron pegs should be taken. A pleasant 

 addition to the camping site is a big shady tree, if such can be found, and the tent 

 should be placed so that it is shaded from the midday sun, otherwise it becomes 

 unbearably hot inside, to the detriment of stores. It should also be arranged so that 



