452 
AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 
officer’s mess, so to speak. They were all devoted to their 
duties, and they worked equally hard whether hunting or 
caring for the skins; the day Kermit killed his bull he and 
the gun-bearers and skinners, with Magi as a volunteer, 
worked until midnight at the hide. But they had any 
amount of meat, and we shared our sugar and tea with 
them. On the last evening there was nothing to do, and 
they sat in the brilliant moonlight in front of their tents^ 
while Kassitura played his odd little harp. Kermit and I 
strolled over to listen; and at once Kassitura began to 
improvise a chant in my honor, reciting how the Bwana 
Makuba had come, how he was far from his own country, 
how he had just killed a giant eland, and so on and so on. 
Meanwhile, over many little fires strips of meat were dry¬ 
ing on scaffolds of bent branches, and askaris and por¬ 
ters were gathered in groups, chatting and singing; while 
the mighty tree near which our tents were pitched cast 
a black shadow on the silver plain. Then the shenzis 
who had helped us came to receive their reward, and their 
hearts were gladdened with red cloth and salt, and for 
those whose services had been greatest there were special 
treasures in the shape of three green and white umbrellas. 
It was a pleasant ending to a successful hunt. 
On our return to Gondokoro we found Cuninghame 
all right, although he had been obliged single-handed to 
do the work of getting our porters safely started on their 
return march to Kampalla, as well as getting all the skins 
and skeletons properly packed for shipment. Heller had 
also recovered, and had gone on a short trip during which 
he trapped a leopard and a serval at the same carcass, the 
leopard killing the serval. Dr. Mearns and Loring were 
