Part 13 (1/2)

Was this the work of a gunbearer?”

The three seasoned men looked at each other with shocked astonishhtened, he gave back Winchi with the exploded cartridge in her Was that the work of a gunbearer?”

”No, bwana,” said Fundi huunbearers, have been called because ish to knohat should be done with this man Fundi”

It should be here explained that it is not custounbearer class They respect the, and would never stand that sort of punishenerally sufficient; a more serious fault may be punished on the spot by the white man's fist; or a really bad dereliction radation frounbearers Memba Sasa spoke

”Bwana,” said he, ”this er a true porter He carries a gun in the field, like a gunbearer; and he knows unbearer Also he does not run away nor cliunbearer He is half porter and half gunbearer”

”What punishment shall he have?”

”Kiboko,” said they

”Thank you Bass!”

They went, leaving Fundi We surveyed hiunbearer!” said we at last ”Me You are all porter; and you know no more than they do It is in oura load If you do not wish to taste the kiboko, you can take a load to-morrow”

”The kiboko, bwana,” pleaded Fundi, very abashed and huly, ”you did not even hit the rhinoceros!”

So with all cereood, and toned down his exuberance so, just as does a pro in its first season Generally his faults were of over-eagerness Indeed, once he gotjust out of reach with the heavy rifle, instead of sticking close to ot the rhino, and advanced on Fundi with the full intention of knocking his fool head off

Whereupon this six feet so of most superb and insolent pride wilted down to a small boy with his elbow before his face

”Don't hit, bwana! Don't hit!” he begged

The whole thing was so co by virtuous and scornful, that I had hard work to keep fro

Fortunately the rhinoceros behaved himself

The proud moment of Fundi's life hen safari entered Nairobi at the end of the first expedition He had gone forth with a load on his head, rags on his back, and his only glory was the self-assumed one of the na a rifle, rigged froarments and fancy accoutreht fro pot for him To the friends who darted out to the line of h, and had no tie

I did not take Fundi on unbearer Several times subsequently I saw hireet ive him a job This I was unable to do When we paid off, I had es, and had written hiunbearer with further training It would have been unfair to possible white employers to have said more Fundi hen I left the country, precisely in the position of any young ain take a load as porter, and he was not yet skilled enough or known enough to pick up le and hard tihly considered profession if he won through Behind him was steady ithout outlets for ambition It was distinctly up to him to prove whether he had done well to reach for ambition, or whether he would have done better in contentood deal like our oorld isn't it?

XVII NATIVES

Up to this ti of our trip, we had seen no natives at all Only lately, the night of the lion dance, one of the Wanderobo-the forest hunters-had drifted in to tell us of buffalo and to get some meat He was a simple soul, small and capable, of a beautiful red-broith his hair done up in a tight, short queue

He wore three skewers about six inches long thrust through each of his ears, three strings of blue beads on his neck, a bracelet tight around his upper arle around his ankle, a pair of rawhide sandals, and about a half yard of cotton cloth which he hung from one shoulder

As weapons he carried a round-headed, heavy club, or runga, and a long-bladed spear He led us to buffalo, accepted a thirty-three cent blanket, and made fire with two sticks in about thirty seconds The only other evidences of human life we had come across were a few beehives suspended in the trees These were logs, bored hollow and stopped at either end So in the trees like strange fruits

Noever, after leaving the Isiola, ere to quit the ga le

A few preliminary and entirely randoround for a conception of these people These observations do not pretend to be ethnological, nor even co for an Aro population came mainly from the West Coast, and differed utterly frohlands in the East Therefore one ro ”dressed up” in savage garb Many of these tribes are not negro at all-the Somalis, the Nandi, and the Masai, for exaroid and Nilotic races Their colour is general cast h the Kavirondos and soh The texture of their skin is very satiny and wonderful This perfection is probably due to the constant anointing of the body with oils of various sorts As a usual thing they are a fine lot physically The southern Masai will average between six and seven feet in height, and are almost invariably well built Ofand graceful; and a great h-breasted physique in marked contrast to the blacks of the lowlands Of the different tribes possibly the Kikuyus are apt to count the h some of these people, perhaps a majority, are well made