i68 
EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
XIV 
were Wakamba: the three camp policemen (or AYa- 
askari) and the stable boys we employed for the mules 
were Kavirondos, and some fifty or sixty Swahili porters 
carried the loads. 
The Swahili porter is the pack animal of East Africa 
and he carries the load upon his head. The average 
load for a porter is 60 pounds, and he will carry it 
10—15 miles a day without complaint over grass plains, 
through scrub, marshes or forest regions. The porter 
walks with bare feet; he may often be seen, with the 
load on his head, pick up a stick, a cigarette, or some 
similar trifle from the ground, with his toes. 
It is a fashion in some parts of England to allow 
children to run about with bare feet. The chief draw¬ 
back to this custom in civilised communities is the 
frequency with which the skin on the under surface of 
the big toe and the ball of the foot is cut with glass. 
The chief enemy of the barefooted porter when walking 
through the forest and scrub is the long, strong and sharp 
thorns which lie about the tracks. It is quite common 
when the caravan is on the move to come across a 
porter sitting by the side of the track endeavouring to 
extract a thorn from his foot. 
As soon as the porters arrive at the place selected for 
the camp the loads are quickly dropped. One set of 
men fix up the tents ; others obtain wood from the 
neighbouring forest; the cook and his staff make a fire, 
and when the boys return with water the kettle soon 
boils and efforts are made to prepare the meal. 
The boys in charge of the “ chop ” boxes arrange 
the table, and when things go well, by the time the sun 
slips behind the rim of the world for the night, the 
camp fires are lighted to warm men’s bodies and to 
scare away marauding beasts. A good appetite is the 
best sauce and dispels squeamishness : the dinner is a 
funny meal to those accustomed to the luxurious 
restaurants and hotels of large cities, but after a long 
walk and when thoroughly tired from hunting and 
