78 
SEEKING ROMANTIC ADVENTURES. 
The worst-used fofo I ever knew was such a one. I found 
him one dreadfully hot day when we were marching, without 
water, for eight hours, struggling along two miles behind his 
useless father, who, since he was an askari, carried not one ounce 
himself but his short Schneider carbine. That half-starved child 
was struggling under four men’s potio for eight days— e., forty- 
eight pounds of meal—besides a large sufaria and his father’s sleep¬ 
ing-mat—quite sixty pounds in all. I was very ignorant, as I say, 
of African matters then, but that day taught me a lesson, and ever 
after I made a point of turning up unexpectedly at the tail of the 
column and staying there sometimes for hours, when long marches 
have to be made. 
No tot os should be admitted to any safari till they have passed 
the bzvana's inspection, and the men who engage them should be 
obliged to come forward and show themselves. Nor should these 
men be paid their wages (this is very important) when the safari 
is paid off, till you are sure the foto has received his modest and 
well-earned dole. 
In this poor child’s case I was able to see rough justice done. 
We had fully two hundred miles steady marching ahead of us, and 
for every mile of it his father carried that load, while he marched 
free. I got him to hospital on my return, and after long sickness 
he at last recovered from that awful day’s march. 
