3 08 
IN AFRICA 
imperative that we find the mother before the baby 
died. 
So we first enjoined our mob of porters, who 
are chronically noisy, to be quiet under penalty of 
a severe kiboko punishment. We then sent out 
Kavirondo, the big, good-natured porter who al¬ 
ways acted as our interpreter when dealing with 
the natives of the mountain district. He spoke the 
dialects of the Wanderobo tribes. He was a mes¬ 
senger of peace, and he was told to shout out 
through the forest that we were friendly, that we 
had the baby, and that the mother should come and 
get it. We felt absolutely certain that the sound of 
his voice would carry to where the mother was hid¬ 
den. 
For an hour or more we heard the strong voice of 
Kavirondo crying out his message of peace, and 
yet no answering cry came from the black depths 
of the forest. It began to look as if we were one 
little black baby ahead. In the meantime the baby 
was behaving beautifully. It was wrapped warmly 
in a bath towel and seemed to enjoy the attention it 
was receiving. Some one suggested that we leave 
it in the shack and then all retire so that the mother 
could creep in and recover it. But this had one 
objection—a leopard might creep in first. 
We cooked our dinner and away off in the forest 
came the echoing shouts of Kavirondo. The camp 
settled down to quiet and the camp-fires twinkled 
among the towering trees. Then some one rushed 
in to say that the father and mother had come in. 
