390 THE LAND OF THE LION 



conversation ended before proceeding. Each of them 

 balanced his load with one hand while he held a long pipe 

 of tobacco to his mouth with the other. One by one they 

 tilted their loads on to the heap of earth. I examined the 

 loads carefully, they did not average five pounds. I could 

 scarcely believe my eyes, but so it was. Some one of their 

 number had settled for all the gang what the load should 

 be; there was scarcely an ounce of difference in the weight, 

 and the Waganda were intelligent enough to know what 

 not to do. Their wage was twopence a day, it was not 

 worth a penny. A few hours afterward I found myself 

 in a 'rickshaw bound for Mengo, the native capital, twenty- 

 four miles away one Waganda in the shafts, three behind. 

 The road for this country was good but very hilly, and in 

 places very soft. The 'rickshaw was a clumsy native-made 

 affair, the wheels heavy enough for a pony-cart, and far 

 heavier than those of a well-made American buggy. I 

 weighed two hundred pounds, my friend one hundred and 

 forty; and we had cameras and two good-sized bags, a heavy 

 load for men to draw in a truly awful machine from a 

 traction point of view. Our few Waganda, however, 

 made nothing of it, and went off in the sweltering heat, 

 chanting one of their endless, grunting songs. When the 

 road was good we made at least eight miles the hour. We 

 did the twenty-four miles with one change of men, without 

 one moment's stop in four hours. Considering the cir- 

 cumstances, this was surely extraordinarily good going. 

 The men at first sweated profusely, but before covering 

 twelve miles they had run themselves dry. Only one of the 

 eight men employed, so far as I could see, drank a drop of 

 water during the whole run. The willingness and hearti- 

 ness with which the whole thing was done, and their evident 

 content with the modest tip given them, of three shillings 

 for the whole eight, was impressive. The men came from 

 the same tribe and had about the same physique as my 



