4o8 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



necessary for such a European to settle among these 

 people for many years, and in a great degree to 

 adopt their customs. Their thorough knowledge of 

 the country to the north, and their willingness and 

 ability to undergo fatigue and privation, render them 

 the best possible escort. 



With bow and arrow they are excellent shots; so it 

 would not be necessary to arm them with rifles. 

 Though they are averse to carrying loads for others 

 than themselves, they are capable of marching at an 

 astonishing rate of speed with thirty or forty pounds 

 upon their backs. Most of them have at one time 

 or another visited the coast for the purpose of selling 

 their ivory ; many of them are acquainted with Swahili, 

 and all of them realize the power of the European. 

 I feel sure that at some time in the near future, after 

 the British become better acquainted with the capa- 

 bilities of this tribe, they will make use of its mem- 

 bers as troops ; for there is no race in East Africa 

 like them for undergoing privations, for fighting, and 

 at the same time bearing upon their backs sufficient 

 food for a forty or fifty days' march. 



At 1 1 A.M., September 30, I reached the Tana. I 

 cautiously went in advance of my men, and saw the 

 heads of about thirty hippopotamuses above the sur- 

 face of the stream. I sought shelter behind a log 

 and blazed away at them, hitting in all five. When 

 hippopotamuses are startled by a., shot, they invariably 

 duck their heads beneath the surface of the water, 

 and there remain for a long time ; some times half 

 an hour will elapse before they reappear. When they 

 rise to the surface, they give a loud snort, and if 



