i68 EASTERN ETHIOPIA xiv 



were Wakamba ; the three camp policemen (or AVa- 

 askari) and the stable boys we employed for the mules 

 were Kavirondos, and some fifty or sixty Swahili porters 

 carried the loads. 



The Swahili porter is the pack animal of East Africa 

 and he carries the load upon his head. The average 

 load for a porter is 60 pounds, and he will carry it 

 10 — 15 miles a day without complaint over grass plains, 

 through scrub, marshes or forest regions. The porter 

 walks with bare feet; he may often be seen, with the 

 load on his head, pick up a stick, a cigarette, or some 

 similar trifle from the ground, with his toes. 



It is a fashion in some parts of England to allow 

 children to run about with bare feet. The chief draw- 

 back to this custom in civilised communities is the 

 frequency with which the skin on the under surface of 

 the big toe and the ball of the foot is cut with glass. 

 The chief enemy of the barefooted porter when walking 

 through the forest and scrub is the long, strong and sharp 

 thorns which lie about the tracks. It is quite common 

 when the caravan is on the move to come across a 

 porter sitting by the side of the track endeavouring to 

 extract a thorn from his foot. 



As soon as the porters arrive at the place selected for 

 the camp the loads are quickly dropped. One set of 

 men fix up the tents ; others obtain wood from the 

 neighbouring forest ; the cook and his staff make a fire, 

 and when the boys return with water the kettle soon 

 boils and efforts are made to prepare the meal. 



The Ijoys in charge of the " chop " boxes arrange 

 the table, and when things go well, by the time the sun 

 slips behind the rim of the world for the night, the 

 camp fires are lighted to warm men's bodies and to 

 scare away marauding beasts. A good apjjetite is the 

 best sauce and dispels squeamishness : the dinner is a 

 funny meal to those accustomed to the luxurious 

 restaurants and hotels of laro'C cities, but after a lonp' 

 walk and when thoroughly tired from hunting and 



