THE THIEVING W’ARUSHA. 
203 
the stampede one of them had thrown away the legs 
of B— —’s camera as well as his own rifle with the view 
to making the best possible running. Such conspicu¬ 
ous gallantry clearly demanded some recognition on 
our part, especially as his comrades declared he had 
scarcely seen the enemy before he flung down his 
weapon and his burden, and made off at a splendid 
pace, shouting loudly that “he was already killed.” 
A reward of many stripes, in the form of an immediate 
“ licking,” was followed by a special order that, as a 
mark of his distinguished service, he should in future 
carry the big tent. We then sent off some men to 
track the W’Arusha and endeavour to recover the 
lost property, should they prove to have taken it. 
Before long they came up to three of the stragglers, and 
seizing their spears and shields, told them they were 
confiscated until they recovered the missing camera-legs 
and rifle, and returned them into our camp. 
These unfortunate wretches appeared before long, 
bringing with them the camera-legs and some cloth, 
but no rifle; so our Masai interpreter, deeming 
this a good opportunity to air his knowledge of the 
language, harangued away for two hours, and then, con¬ 
scious of having produced a great impression, awaited 
the W’Arusha reply. This was to the effect that they 
had stalked up to our men, and pounced out upon 
them, by way of having a little innocent fun to relieve 
the monotony of their march, and at most only desired 
to produce a slight sensation of alarm. They wondered 
why our specially distinguished hero ran away, for had 
