ON SAFARI. RHINO AND GIRAFFE 
83 
When the march is over they sing; and after two or three 
days in camp they will not only sing, but dance when an¬ 
other march is to begin. Of course at times they suffer 
greatly from thirst and hunger and fatigue, and at times 
they will suddenly grow sullen or rebel without what seems 
to us any adequate cause; and they have an inconsequent 
type of mind which now and then leads them to commit 
follies all the more exasperating because they are against 
their own interest no less than against the interest of their 
employer. But they do well on the whole, and safari life 
is attractive to them. They are fed well; the government 
requires that they be fitted with suitable clothes and given 
small tents, so that they are better clad and sheltered than 
they would be otherwise; and their wages represent money 
which they could get in no other way. The safari repre¬ 
sents a great advantage to the porter; who in his turn alone 
makes the safari possible. 
When we were to march, camp was broken as early in 
the day as possible. Each man had his allotted task, and 
the tents, bedding, provisions, and all else were expeditiously 
made into suitable packages. Each porter is supposed 
to carry from fifty-five to sixty pounds, which may all be 
in one bundle or in two or three. The American flag, which 
flew over my tent, was a matter of much pride to the por¬ 
ters, and was always carried at the head or near the head 
of the line of march; and after it in single file came the 
long line of burden bearers. As they started, some of them 
would blow on horns or whistles and others beat little 
tomtoms; and at intervals this would be renewed again and 
again throughout the march; or the men might suddenly 
begin to chant, or merely to keep repeating in unison some 
