362 
THE MIGHTIEST NIMROD OF MODERN TIMES. 
time takes him home, to the soft, long sleep, to the broad, sweet 
bosom of death.” 
Natives live in abject terror of the sickness in the districts 
where it occurs. On its approach, they dismantle their villages and 
rush away. But the fatal fly follows them, and its area of opera¬ 
tions is continually being extended. 
When people first hear about '' going out on safari,” they often 
have the impression that safari must be some particular forest or 
vast tract of land where game can be found, but the simple truth is 
that safari is merely the native word for an overland expedition 
with porters. They sometimes last only a few days, though other 
more extensive ones like Colonel Roosevelt’s are organized to last 
months. 
It is a picturesque sight to see natives draw up in front of a 
safari outfitter’s, waiting for their loads to be prepared and for 
instructions to start. They gather chattering under the trees in the 
dusty road, and crack jokes as each chop box is brought out. 
GETTING READY TO START ON AN EXPEDITION; 
These chop boxes contain all sorts of tinned things, coffee, tea, 
butter, vegetables, meat, fruit, often delicacies, and always a store 
of bread; the maximum load of each is sixty pounds, which the 
natives carry on their heads if they are Bwangandas, and on their 
necks and backs if they are Kikuyus. 
The Kikuyu system has the disadvantage of cutting into the 
back if the box is too long or if it is improperly loaded, but nothing 
will induce them to change their tribal custom. 
The number of porters taken varies according to the duration 
of the expedition, to the resources of the country through which it 
is to pass, and also according to the tastes and habits of the organ¬ 
izers. When a government safari starts out on some official busi¬ 
ness the allowance is one head man and fifteen porters for each 
official. The porters carry the chop boxes for their master, and 
the tents, blankets, cooking utensils and personal kit. 
The amount of food carried depends on the appetite of the 
white men, of course; some men want to eat on safari as if they 
