204 SPORT IN ASIA AND AFRICA 



very sucessfuUy. The portion amputated was 

 buried, but as soon as the man came to he asked 

 what had been done with it ; and on hearing that it 

 had been buried, he insisted upon it being dug 

 up again. Apparently he was afraid that he 

 might follow it below ground. He was, however, 

 a gallant fellow and behaved very well, marching 

 along daily, with his arm bandaged and an um- 

 brella over his head, until we reached Nairobi. 



As his employer, I felt that I had some responsi- 

 bility, and on arrival at Nairobi, at the suggestion 

 of Colonel Montgomery, the Land Commissioner, 

 who was an old friend of mine, I took the man 

 to the District Officer, and requested him to de- 

 cide what I ought to do under the circumstances. 

 By the custom of the Wakamba, the loss of an 

 arm must be compensated for by a payment of 

 a certain number of cattle. As I pointed out, 

 however, I had not asked the porter to go into 

 the water. On the contrary, I had repeatedly 

 warned the porters of the danger they were in, 

 when bathing and fishing, from attacks by croco- 

 diles, although, until this accident occurred, no 

 one of us had appreciated the full extent of the 

 danger. The District Officer recognised the force 

 of this contention, and asked the man what 

 compensation he required for the injury, and the 

 man himself assessed the amount at thirty rupees. 

 I gave him fifty rupees, and he departed apparently 

 well satisfied. 



The man's forearm, as he crawled up the bank, 

 was a horrible sight ; and after this catastrophe 

 we all avoided the river, and only entered the 

 water when it was necessary. On our return 



i 



