32 THE LAND OF THE LION 



we neared it, over us drew one of those dark, gray lipped 

 clouds that here mean a torrent. Many of the men were 

 sick and suffering from the severe cold and rain, for a 

 month "African fountains" had not been "sunny," and 

 in the evening and at night you needed a suit of fur-lined 

 underclothes, some one said. To get these men dry to 

 bed was all important, for we would be out of potio, if we 

 delayed, and there was no game just there. It was a 

 race against time and storm. The pipers piped up man- 

 fully, the sefari came in after a long march at its best pace, 

 and I counted fourteen tents and our three big ones, pitched 

 perfectly and trenched completely so that they could stand 

 any weather, in eight minutes from the time the first bundle 

 was thrown down by the first porter marching on the ground. 

 That such a feat could be accomplished many will not 

 be prepared to believe, but I timed the men watch in 

 hand. I shall have other stories to tell of what the native 

 can accomplish when he likes his job. 



The headman practically decides, till you get to know 

 the men yourself, who needs punishment when (it is to 

 be hoped very rarely) punishment has to be meted out. 

 Disobedience to definite orders and theft must be punished 

 at once. But if the influences of the sefari are good, 

 there are scarcely such things as either disobedience or 

 theft. In thirteen months of sefari life I was obliged to 

 koboko three or four men for disobedience, and had one 

 case of theft. 



I cannot for myself see how any one can travel with 

 his sefari for even a few weeks and not be interested in 

 all these things, and numberless others besides. 



Your next ally in the managing of the sefari, and your 

 hourly instructor in the way in which you should go, is 

 your tentboy. If you have friends in the country, write 

 beforehand and beg them to choose for you the man 

 you want. He can be found. There are many excellent 



