V NDOROBO ELEPHANT-HUNTING 115 



dent on their memories and establish their confidence in my 

 powers. 



Among those of El Bogoi, Lesiat was the leading man 

 and my especial confederate. I think an Ndorobo becomes 

 the head of a community by being a slayer of elephants, etc., 

 his following increasing in proportion to his success in the 

 chase. 



Lesiat had for long been bothering me to give him a 

 charm to increase his power in this pursuit. My assurances 

 that I had no such occult powers merely made him the more 

 importunate. He regarded my objections as a refusal to help 

 him, and a proof of unfriendliness to him. When I was about 

 to leave he became more pressing, promised to keep ivory for 

 me against my return, as an acknowledgment, should I 

 consent, and assumed a hurt air at what he regarded as my 

 unkind obstinacy. Squareface interceded for him, explaining 

 to me that Swahilis always accede to such requests, the most 

 approved charm being a verse of the Koran, written in Arabic 

 on a slip of paper. Not wishing to appear unfeeling, and 

 seeing that no harm could come of it at all events, it occurred 

 to me that a line or two of Shakespeare would probably be 

 quite as effective. Bearing in mind that the Ndorobo hunter 

 owes his success — when he has any — mainly to the powerful 

 poison with which his weapon is smeared, if he can only 

 manage to introduce it, in the proper manner, into the animal's 

 economy, it struck me that the following quotation would be 

 appropriate ; and I accordingly wrote it on a slip of paper, 

 illustrating it with a little sketch of an elephant : — 



I bought an unction of a mountebank, 

 So mortal that, but dip a knife in it. 

 Where it draws Ijlood no cataplasm so rare, 

 Collected from all simples that have virtue 

 Under the moon, can sa\e the thing- from death 

 That is but scratched withal ; I'll touch my point 

 With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly. 

 It may be death. 



