BREAKING CAMP 
81 
CH. IV] 
lack of which they despise as weakness. Any little 
change or excitement is a source of pleasure to them. 
When the march is over they sing; and after two or 
three days in camp they will not only sing, but dance 
when another 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 exaspera¬ 
ting 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 represents 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 ex¬ 
peditiously 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 porters, 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 tom¬ 
toms ; and at intervals this would be renewed again and 
again throughout the march ; or the men might sud- 
6 
