166 IN THE GRIP OF THE NYIKA CHAP. 



and in the evening came to me and requested 

 the privilege of carrying a sixty-pound load on 

 their heads rather than again drive half-a-hundred 

 devils. 



I may mention here that m the course of a few 

 days these donkeys became quite tame, and bore their 

 burdens patiently and well. All the same, they 

 were a very great nuisance at times, as whenever a 

 river or steep donga was meet with, all the loads had 

 to be taken off their backs and carried across, and 

 then repacked again on the far side. We also found 

 it very necessary to guard them closely at night to 

 prevent lions from getting at them, as the love of 

 these brutes for donkey flesh is notorious, and they 

 will run any risk to obtain their favourite food. 

 Throughout our journey the guard was fairly 

 successful in keeping them off, and although lions 

 often tried to get into our bomas, yet they only 

 succeeded in one solitary instance, when, on a dark 

 and stormy night, they managed to seize a victim, and 

 get clear away with it. 



On the whole, I cannot recommend donkeys 

 to the sportsman, as they are slow, troublesome, 

 and often a very great nuisance. They need 

 much care, and if one travels through a tsetse-fly 

 country are liable to get bitten and die. Their chief 

 advantage is that they are economical, for they carry 

 twice as much as a man and do not require any 



