Every white man had a "mansion," which consisted of a straw house about
twenty feet wide by thirty feet deep, and was divided into two rooms.
In such houses they lived and slept, and in one of them they kept the
money which had been brought across the desert in trunks on the backs
of camels.
No attempt was made to hide it, nor was there any secrecy as to where
it was packed during the long journey. So honest were the native blacks
that not a dollar was lost by carelessness or theft. Frequently there
would be ten thousand of these silver dollars in the hut, with only one
or two white men in camp, surrounded by negroes, Arabs and half-breeds;
yet no attempt at robbery was ever made. The half-civilized natives,
knowing they were not entitled to a dollar until they had earned it,
never tried to get it in any other way. The natives slept where and as
they pleased, and three times a day were given a fair supply of Indian
corn, which they would grind and, after adding a little water, would
cook over their own fires, making a sort of biscuit. The white men had
negro cooks and lived luxuriously. They had eggs, coffee and Indian
corn biscuit for breakfast, with a broiled chicken for a relish
whenever desired. For dinner, maize and beef or mutton made up the
usual bill of fare. A well-conditioned ox cost only four dollars, and a
"good eating-goat" was to be had for fifty cents. No meal was complete
without plenty of onions. After supper, the German hunter's inseparable
evening friend, his long-stemmed china pipe, invariably appeared.
[Illustration: CAPTURING WILD ANIMALS FOR THE SHOW.]
The interior of the huts would have charmed an artist. Elephant tusks,
lion and leopard skins, hunting-hats and coats, tall wading-boots,
rifles and pistols, bright-colored flannel shirts and bits of harness
were scattered about in picturesque confusion. In a safe place, where
it could not possibly be scratched or disfigured, was the choicest
treasure within the four strong walls, a large German accordion. In the
long evenings, after the perils and labors of the hunt, Lohse played
this instrument by the hour to his hunters as they puffed great clouds
of smoke and dreamed of the Fatherland.
The camp was pitched in a clearing on the bank of a little river and
was closed by a high and thick hedge of a native thorn. At night, after
the pack animals had been fed, watered and housed or tethered, great
fires were built at irregular intervals about the grounds to scare off
wild beasts, and the watch was set. Then began the dismal howl of the
hyena, the roar of the lion, and the shriek of the wildcat. About five
o'clock in the morning the camp was again astir and the business of the
day was begun. The native hunters formed in companies of about twenty,
with a white leader, and started off in different directions. Those
left in camp put in the time cleaning it, caring for the beasts, and
making boxes for transportation of the animals, and cages for the
reception of freshly captured beasts.
In capturing wild animals the rule is to kill the old ones and secure
the young; for after any of the beasts have grown old enough to become
accustomed to the free life of the forests, and to hunt their own food,
they are treacherous and worth little for purposes of exhibition.