CHAPTER VI 



A CAPTURE 



The natives knew us, of course, only by the names 



they themselves gave us, and these names mainly 



represented personal characteristics. We once 



called up Mayindoo for an explanation of what 



our names all meant. Johnson was " Kapitulo," 



the man who wears shorts like a policeman ; West 



was " Saccarima," which I think really means 



one who walks rather heavily, ploughing along. 



Mayindoo said it meant, " Badeko moosha 



kaienda" ("not walk weir'). " Santantorra " 



was Lewis's name, and this meant, according to our 



interpreter, " Moosha maboie " (" good to the 



boys ") — i.e. does not swear at or get angry with 



them. " Masitaterro " was Rensberg's, being very 



similar to Lewis's, and really meaning " the quiet 



man." My name was " Surumatow," or, as 



Mayindoo explained, " Neemai kaienda " (" the 



lion came ") — more accurately, " the man whom 



the lion bit." The one and only Mafoota means, 



of course, " fat," and poor Sinclair, always a great 



and tireless walker, had been known as " Inzea " 



("the locust"). 



Johnson, after a day's spell, now went back 



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