330 
AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 
bold, fierce temper. One of those which Kermit shot was 
only crippled by the first bullet, and charged the gun- 
bearers, squealing savagely, in addition to using its horns; 
an angry roan, like a sable, is said sometimes to bite with 
its teeth. Kermit also killed a ratel or honey badger, in a 
bamboo thicket; an interesting beast; its back snow white 
and the rest of its body jet black. 
As on the Aberdares and the slopes of Kenia, the nights 
among these mountains were cold; sometimes so cold that 
I was glad to wear a mackinaw, a lumberman’s jacket, which 
had been given me by Jack Greenway, and which I cer¬ 
tainly never expected to wear in Africa. 
The porters always minded cold, especially if there was 
rain, and I was glad to get them to the Uasin Gishu, where 
the nights were merely cool enough to make one appre¬ 
ciate blankets, while the days were never oppressively hot. 
Although the Swahilis have furnished the model for all 
East African safari work, and supply the lingua franca for 
the country, they no longer compose the bulk of the por¬ 
ters. Of our porters at this time about two-fifths were 
stalwart M’nuwezi from German East Africa, two-fifths 
were Wakamba, and the remainder Swahilis with half a 
dozen Kavirondos and Kikuyus. The M’nuwezi are the 
strongest of all, and make excellent porters. They will often 
be as much as two or three years away from their homes; for 
safari work is very attractive to the best type of natives, as 
they live much better than if travelling on their own account, 
and as it offers almost the only way in which they can earn 
money. The most severe punishment that can be inflicted 
on a gun-bearer, tent boy, sals, or porter is to dismiss him 
on such terms as to make it impossible for him again to be 
