99 
ch. iv] NATIVE NATURALISTS 
pleasant adventure. He slept in his own tent, and his 
Wakamba skinners slept under the fly not far off. One 
night they let the fires die down, and were roused at 
midnight by hearing the grunting of a hungry lion 
apparently not a dozen yards off in the darkness. 
Heller quickly lit his lantern, and sat up with his shot¬ 
gun loaded with bird-shot, the only weapon he had with 
him. The lion walked round and round the tent, 
grunting at intervals. Then, after some minutes of 
suspense, he drew off. While the grunting had been 
audible, not a sound came from the tent of the Wakarn- 
bas, who all cowered under their blankets in perfect 
silence. But once he had gone, there was a great 
chattering, and in a few minutes the fires were roaring, 
nor were they again suffered to die down. 
Heller s skinners had learned to work very well when 
under his eye. He had encountered much difficulty in 
getting men who would do the work, and had tried the 
representatives of various tribes, but without success, 
until he struck the Wakamba. These were real savages, 
who filed their teeth and delighted in raw flesh, and 
Heller’s explanation of their doing well was that their 
taste for the raw flesh kept them thoroughly interested 
in their job, so that they learned without difficulty. 
The porters speedily christened each of the white men 
by some title of their own, using the ordinary Swahili 
title of Bwana (master) as a prefix. Heller was the 
Bwana Who Skinned ; Loring, who collected the small 
mammals, was named, merely descriptively, the Mouse 
Master, Bwana Pania. I was always called Bwana 
Makuba, the Chief or Great Master ; Kermit was first 
called Bwana Medogo, the Young Master, and after¬ 
ward was christened “ the Dandy,” Bwana Merodadi. 
From Potha the safari went in two days to 
