134 ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA chap. 



The two and a half months which I spent in Mombasa, 

 now, were a pleasant change to me ; change of diet, manner of 

 life, and surroundings, with the opportunity of speaking my 

 native language and enjoying the hospitality of kind friends. 

 But it was not an idle time, far from it, nor was the work of 

 reorganising my caravan uninteresting to me, though I fear it 

 would be so to the reader were I to go into many details about 

 buying and packing the {^w goods I needed. Beads were the 



AUTHOR'S Porters depositing his Tusks at Custom-House. 



(From a Photograph by Mr. J. R. W. Pigott.) 



principal item, as medium for barter in the interior, our small 

 change in fact ; while, for myself, an ample supply of tea, salt, 

 and soap were almost the only groceries I took. 



Most of my best porters " wrote on " again, and the few 

 new ones engaged were all accredited as first-class men : my 

 servants were the same as before. I kept down the number 

 this time to thirty-five, all told. It was a little party to start 

 with, for so long a journey, and of course its weakness involved 

 a certain amount of risk. Formerly I had imagined a much 



