XV RETURN TO LAKE RUDOLPH 367 



the authorised Government load are not, in my opinion, worth 

 their " posho " (ration) as porters.^ 



That it is no hardship to good ones to do so, with the 

 addition of gun, cartridge-belt, and sometimes several days' 

 rations, as well as their own odds and ends, is proved by what 

 I have stated above, and also by the fact that I had mostly 

 the same men on the second expedition who had been with 

 me before. The hardship will be rather when they lose their 

 occupation ; for they engage in it voluntarily, in preference to 

 other work, and I had several mechanics in my caravan — a 

 stone mason, a cobbler, etc. — who preferred the free life of a 

 caravan porter to working at their trades. 



That porters are sometimes cruelly used by unprincipled 

 Europeans when beyond the influence of public opinion is true 

 enough, but such employers will not get Swahilis to engage 

 with them a second time nowadays ; and injustice and harsh 

 treatment often bring their own retribution by causing the 

 failure of the expedition. For my part, I do not believe in 

 excessive strictness. I find I can always get more out of men 

 by treating them with consideration, and it is much pleasanter 

 when a kindly feeling exists. Of course if any one is so 

 unfortunate as to get a bad lot of men, severity may be 

 necessary ; but mine never gave me any trouble, and I don't 

 believe there are any Africans that will follow one so faithfully 

 and patiently into remote regions as these Swahilis, or Zanzi- 

 baris, or whatever you may please to call the mixed lot of men 

 who constitute the regular caravan porters one gets in East 

 Africa. As to punishments, I rarely have occasion to inflict 

 any ; and flogging I never resort to except in the most ex- 

 treme cases, such as looting from natives or grossly insulting 

 one's headman, proved by ample evidence. A punishment for 

 minor offences I found most suitable was adding some article 



' Of course with a heavily -loaded caravan it is necessary to travel slowly. If a 

 cjuicker pace and longer marches are desired, the loads must be reduced by nearly one- 

 half. 



