XIV ON SAFARI 167 



bondage, but in past years slaves were important articles 

 of trade. 



A safari is often organised for hunting purposes : 

 then, in addition to the liunter, it will include native 

 trackers, gunbearers, skinners, and men to assist in 

 finding game, to drive it to the hunter if necessary, to 

 follow it when wounded and act as retrievers when it is 

 shot. In fact the trained natives take the place of 

 sporting dogs in Europe, but they are more useful as they 

 bear guns and carry the quarry to camp. These men 

 also skin the animals and birds, and some are able 

 to prepare the hides and skins for preservation. 



Sometimes a safari will be run merely for pleasure, 

 much in the same waj^ as a camping party or a picnic 

 may be arranged in England, but there is no wayside 

 or o'eneral store to furnish egirs, butter, milk, or bread 

 when the caravan runs short of food. The chief object 

 of concern to the headman is water, and in movino- 

 camp from one place to another, it is a prime necessity 

 to select a spot where water exists. The length of a 

 day's journey when " on safari " is invariably determined 

 by the locality of water holes and rivers. Every safari 

 or caravan is armed, for in Eastern Ethiopia travellers 

 are liable to be attacked by natives. Firearms are also 

 require<l for protection against wild beasts, as well as 

 to provide food for the porters. 



One of the objects of my visit was to obtain first- 

 hand some knowledge of the country, the natives, the 

 beasts, the birds, and the trees ; therefore the safari 

 was arranged to meet these intentions. It consisted of 

 Dr. Comyns Berkeley, Mr. IT. F. Henderson, and 

 myself ; two white hunters and my servant, accompanied 

 by a headman and eighty natives. The comjiosite 

 character of this crowd may be inferred from the 

 following list : — 



The headman and the o'unbearers were Soraalis ; the 

 tracker was an Ndorobo, the cook a Goanese, and the 

 skinner a Kikuyu man : the table boys and the syce 



