272 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
spearing fish in a swamp; they appeared to have made a good 
bag, and had, besides a number of silurus, another species with 
a smooth mottled skin. Some of them would, I think, have 
scaled eight or nine pounds. 
During and Martin arrived next morning, when I told Martin 
to at once commence buying food, which the chief had promised 
me should be in readiness. O11 asking him where the food 
was, he denied that he had any, and altogether refused to help 
us in any way. We at once saw that something was amiss, 
and after an investigation came to the conclusion that our 
Galla guides were endeavouring to stop our further progress 
into the interior by persuading the natives to “boycott” us. 
This is a very common practice in Africa, and is often most 
effective against travellers with small caravans. Seeing the 
turn affairs had taken, I had our men drawn up before the 
chief armed with their sniders, and told him that unless food 
arrived within two hours we should send our men into the 
standing corn to help themselves, and pay him at the rate of 
a bullock * a day, which would have been a fair rate of pay 
for food for our caravan. The Galla guides were threatened 
that in case of any further trouble they would have stones 
fastened round their necks and be thrown into the river. 
This demonstration had a very good effect, and food began 
to come in, which we continued to buy during the afternoon, 
and next morning it consisted of rice ( mpungct ), maize ( mahincLi ), 
and small beans ( kundi ). In the afternoon we left During, 
who returned to Golbanti, and marched up the southern bank 
of the river with our men and two days’ supply of food, the 
rest being brought up the river in our canoes. 
The country about here consists of thick evergreen bush and 
swamps covered with high grass, extending from a quarter to 
three quarters of a mile on each side of the river, after which 
the dry land is reached, which is either dry open plain or 
thick thorny bush, in some places a mass of cactus and 
* The expression of a bullock in Africa means generally the value of one 
in iron wire, cotton, or other trade goods. 
