| Show AFRICAN expeditions for every african expedition that is heard of by the general public there are probably half a dozen that are organized come to griet and are never heard beard of outside of zanzibar and a limited circle who were immediately connected with their inception cep tion all the failures are brought about by the of the negroes whom you have to depend on to carry the supplies as a first cause and as a second the unfitness of the white man in charge to control and command that class of people some men are peculiarly fitted to manage a crowd ot of half civilized rattlebrained africans others are wo fully out of place trying to cm command anything less civilized than their tailor the great outfitting outwitting out fitting place for expeditions ions starting into the interior from the east coast is zanzibar notice is circulated that men are wanted for a white man mans manis Is expedition in a very short time ever body in zanzibar is talking about it young men desirous of acting as porters go to your agent and have their names put down three months wages are paid them in advance to bind them to their contract from the day of signing until the starting of the expedition whether it be a week or six months each man draws about five cents a day bosho or ration money the wages of the porter is 5 a month and rations the old maria ther esa dollar is still the unit of account in zanzibar although the currency is rupees in the interior there is no money the currency of the interior is american or bombay domestics domestico manchester che ster prints a and nd handkerchiefs beads of many kinds and colors and iron and copper wires it is the absence of money and the bulky nature of these supplies that make travel in central africa so difficult and expensive instead of putting a roll of notes or a purse of gold in your pocket you have to buy bales of cloth sacks of beads and coils of f wire and hire a rabble of zanzibar porters to accompany you and carry them on their heads the regulation porter load weighs sixty pounds lighter loads and better food are expected from a european than from an arab A load of domestics domestico costs cost in zall zanzibar zi bar about 15 a load of beads bom 15 to 50 according to quality a load of benages or birou ware 7 and a load of copper wire 30 your load of benege for which you have paid 7 in zanzibar will cost you from 40 to 50 to transport it to UJ aj I 1 and 75 to uganda much care and forethought have to be exercised in the selection of the various kinds of beads certain tribes will take only certain kinds savages are most conservative people in the matter of trade and will no more think of accepting a necklace of beads to which they have not been accustomed than an american shopkeeper would of accepting accenti ng across his counter a russian rouble many an all explorer has bitterly rued his ignorance of this nice point when hundreds of miles beyond the possibility of rectifying rectify ing the mistake ta ke became the beads he be had bad taken with him were not current in EI gunin count in 1878 was compelled to make war on the natives and seize food to prevent his people from starving unscrupulous bead merchants take advantage of the unsophisticated new arrival to unload on him their old stock and interested parties will give him misleading information about the kind of beads he requires it if you are going on an expedition that will last about a year you have probably engaged a dozen askari or soldiers and three bead men in addition to the supplies above mentioned are boxes of european stores for your own use medicine chests ammunition tents axes and lastly guns for arming the men every member of the ex expedition must have a gun information on this latter subject may save gave much expense and annoyance the best rifle for the men is the british government governa P nt Snit ler I 1 tried a few winchester carbines but found them altogether too good and expensive a weapon for the careless and destructive Zanza Zan barl in spite of the utmost precaution on our part the porters will use their guns for turning over their loads and for all sorts of things for which a gun was never made A little influence in london will enable one to obtain and ship to zanzibar all the sniders needed at a cost of about 7 apiece landed in zanzibar the porters are very like animals I 1 in n the matter of never looking beyond the wants of the moment rhey require as much attention from their leader as the same number of mules would often a great deal more they ha have ve a marvelous capac capacity itZ for doing things the wrong way tf if a box is breakable it is very certain to be smashed before the end of the first day if the weather is rainy your gun case portmanteau camera etc will be sure to be carried upside down so BO that the water gets in under the lid the wretch carrying your drinking water to tide you over the first four days will lag behind and empty half of it away to lighten his load ere you are an hour on the road no matter how irritated or dismayed you may feel however at the dismal exhibition of incapacity asinine ablaine stupidity laziness drunkenness rebelliousness and other admirable traits feromone from oue end of your caravan to the other as it files along the winding footpath on the memorable first morning of your march let not the slightest symptoms of either one or the other betray themselves to your men keep cool let your first mornings march be short and easy at this stage of the expedition the zanzibar porters are slippery and uncertain to a degree one out of every six has joined the expedition for no other purpose than getting the three months pay in advance they intend to desert at the first favorable op opportunity ty treat them royally and take palus pains to have it circulated through the crowds that you love the african anti and are chiefly interested in making them all fat and wealthy some who have intended to desert within the fiest three marches may then their minds another sensible precaution of yours has been the employment of a hundred auxiliary carrier sat a mouths pay each to help you along for the first ten days consider yourself lucky luchy if no more than half a dozen of your regular peg azzis have deserted from the first nights camp of the auxiliaries you have but a dozen only one box has been lost and only one man crippled by the accidental discharge of a gun much very much depends u upon 0 n the selection of a headman head man nian the the headman head man is a go between the connecting link between the awana bwana and the porters by secretly intriguing tri guing with the men against you he can do more towards smashing up your expedition than any other agency with a faithful competent headman head man roan all things are possible with a treacherous imp ho is always conspiring with the men to thwart your ambition purgatory I 1 is a mild sort of place compared with an african caravan in a case of general insubordination which is sure to occur sooner or later instead of attempting to punish the lot the wisest plan is to select the ringle ringleader der and punish him until you are ashamed of yourself then give the others to understand that this is a mere hint bint of what will happen to the first one who fails to jump as quickly as he knows how at the word of command witness Stan stanleys leys hanging of the ringleader of emins conspirators and of two or three of his own men at various times A general revolt occurred among my men in Mas salland dr abbott and I 1 were compelled to use our shotguns on them one was killed and another wounded the whole crowd were by these summary proceedings ce quickly brought into a reasonable frame of mind there comes a period in the life of every african expedition when there is ie a struggle le for the mastery between the european european leader and his people the european must be prepared to gain the upper hand no matter what the cost or the expedition will very likely go to smash treat the african kindly even indulgently dul gently like child children en for that is what they are but the rod must be ever within retch reach if he fears you he will also love you if he thinks you incapable of punishing him he will treat you with contempt and try his bapst 1 st to bring about your ruin ane A story of stanley and emin is the finest essay on the african character that tha t I 1 know inow of thomas stevens in A V Y world |
