118 
ON SAFARI 
uncounted ages of slavery and savagery have left the 
impress deep in their breasts.” 
These simple harmonies, not without their charm, 
grow upon one as evening after evening they soothe 
the stillness of the tropical night. Droned out with 
intervals strange to European ear, those savage ditties 
have oft recalled the couplets and malaguenas we are 
long accustomed to hear sung by our camp-fires in far¬ 
away Spain. Far away, yet there may be a common 
source. The cross-bred Swahili, half-Arab, half-African, 
springs in part from a race that has left many another 
mark on the Spain of to-day. 
The Swahili language also rings gracefully and 
euphoniously, while many of their names for places, 
animals, birds, etc., are certainly prettier than those we 
use—often borrowed from uncouth Dutch ! Place- 
names throughout East Africa (though these are not 
Swahili) also deserve note, such as Elmenteita, Nakuru, 
Naivasha, Laikipia, Kamasea. Can any language claim 
more euphonious form ? 
Sooner or later, the whole country within reach of 
any one camp has been traversed in every direction, 
explored and hunted. Desired specimens have either 
been secured or proved to be impracticable at this point. 
It has become necessary to try fresh fields, and the order 
issues :—Strike camp at dawn.” That next morning 
you may take “ an easy,” since much work has to be 
done before the start, and it is an absolute rule never to 
attempt hunting while on the march. 
On turning out towards sun-up (thus seeing the 
camp by day-dawn for the first time), already the canvas 
city of yesterday has disappeared. The circle of tents 
surrounding a central mountain of stores has vanished. 
Not one, save your own, remains standing, and every¬ 
where black men are bustling about, each knowing his 
duty and doing it—packing, strapping, mobilising. 
Hardly had you quitted the blankets than your bed is 
seized, dismantled, folded and stowed in its valise. 
