68 SAFARI 



did not seem to arouse that sense. The white man 

 was superior; it was his place to look out for the 

 weak, though often he robbed right and left. He 

 was your employer, therefore what he did for you was 

 no more than yoiu- right. And if the black ever gave 

 you a present, he would expect an equivalent in 

 return. 



There were exceptions, of course. One day, on 

 safari, I found a fine sheep before my tent, and on 

 inquiry I learned that it had been left by a desert 

 chief who offered by the way of explanation that I 

 was his best friend. Two days later, a donkey was 

 delivered by his men. All through that month's 

 safari I was befriended in this strange w^ay by my 

 unknown benefactor. It was quite a mystery, par- 

 ticularly since none of the natives of his tribe ever 

 waited for anything in return, not even a handful of 

 salt or sugar which they often beg for from caravans 

 on safari. Osa at last solved the riddle, after some 

 questioning of Boculy. 



" Don't you remember," she said to me one night in 

 our tent, "that chief you saved from the K.A.R. (the 

 King's African Rifles) ? Well, he's the one." 



So it all came back to me. I had been out with 

 Carl Akeley, the great naturalist, when I came across 

 a company of K.A.R. who were commandeering 

 a great number of a chief's cattle. Now they had 

 a right to do this, for they were on government 



