THE CARAVAN, HEADMAN, GUN-BEARERS, ETC.
BY F. J. JACKSON
The sportsman having decided on the districts which he intends to
visit, and on the time to be spent approximately in each, and having
obtained all the latest information as to the quantity and quality
of goods required for barter purposes, presents, &c., the caravan
(‘safari’) must be got together and organised. The first thing to
be done is to engage a really good headman (‘neapara’). Should the
sportsman be fortunate enough to have such a one recommended to him
who both knows the country and his work--the latter being far more
important than the former--it would be advisable to engage him even
though the pay he demands be high. So much depends on the headman that
a really good one is worth a dozen who call themselves neapara, but
who in reality are little better than porters. A good neapara not only
knows his position in the caravan, but will take care to maintain his
authority and command respect from those under him. One who hob-nobs
and plays cards with the porters--and this is by no means an uncommon
practice--soon loses all control over them, and will become wearisome
with his complaints of their insubordination and indolence. The duties
of a headman are not only to look after his master’s property, but to
see that everybody else does his duty, and he is responsible for the
general working of the caravan. The headman superintends the buying of
food and the issuing of ‘posho’ (daily allowance of food) to the men.
In this matter, if he is dishonest, he has every opportunity of
pilfering; but at the same time it is better to trust him, as should he
find that his master is suspicious, and goes too much into details, it
is quite certain that he will ‘do’ him in other ways. All orders should
be given to him direct. Whatever his pay may be--and there is no fixed
rule--he is only entitled by custom to double a porter’s posho, whether
it be rice, flour, beans, potatoes, or bananas, or cloth or beads to
buy it with. Once a week, or every ten days, it is as well to give him
a few strings of beads or a piece of cloth to buy ‘kitiweo,’ which
may be anything he can get, such as a fowl, honey, &c., to make his
meal of flour or beans more palatable, when there is no meat in camp.
It is a recognised thing that each headman is allowed one porter to
carry his tent (which he supplies and makes himself), bedding, &c., and
if he thinks himself a great swell he may ask for two porters--if he
does, and he is really a good man, it is as well to let him have them.
Besides carrying his belongings, these porters will cook his food,
collect firewood, and fetch water for him. One neapara is enough for
every fifty ‘pagazi’ (porters) and ‘askari’ (soldiers).
[Illustration: CAMP WITH BOMA AT SIDE, KIKUNYA FOREST]
A caravan askari is in reality a spare man, and there should be one
askari to every ten porters. When the porters have been divided into
companies or messes of ten men, each of these messes is put in charge
of an askari. This man receives into his care one ‘sufria’ (cooking
pot), one ‘senia’ (plate to eat off), and two axes to cut firewood,
&c. He also receives from the headman the whole of the posho for his
company, and is also responsible for the loads his men carry, and for
their general good behaviour. Apart from seeing that the men of their
own companies do their work, the duties of the askaris are various.
They keep watch at night, turn and turn about, superintend the men
building the ‘boma’ (zereba); stack the loads in camp, and give their
own men their proper loads in the morning; carry the load of a porter
(not necessarily one of their own company) into camp, should he be
taken ill or become lame on the march, and run messages, &c. Although
it is not the custom, it is not a bad plan to allow one porter to
every four or five askaris, to carry their food, sleeping mats, &c.
This would save a good deal of grumbling and discontent amongst the
porters, as it would prevent the askaris from taking advantage of
them by piling their private kits and food on to the load of a porter
already heavily laden. By right, askaris should carry their own kits,
but in a shooting trip, when perhaps the sportsman wishes to get as
far and do as much as he can in a given time, it is well to avoid all
causes of friction amongst the men as much as possible by a little
judicious leniency of this kind. The pay of an askari is 12 rupees per
month, and his posho is half as much again as a porter’s--that is, one
and a half ‘kibaba’ or its equivalent. On the coast their posho is 12
pice.
The porters (‘pagazi’), of whom there are several grades, good, bad
and indifferent, although they often exasperate their master even to
the verge of desperation, are, as a rule, first-rate fellows. A porter
will do, considering his pay and food, what few other men, if any, will
or can do. He is naturally cheerful and easily pleased, but no one
can be more sulky and obstinate. Provided, however, that his stomach
is kept full, it is possible to do almost anything with him. On the
march--and a march varies considerably, from six to eighteen miles,
and sometimes more--the porter will carry, besides his regulation load
of 65 lbs., his sleeping-mat, with ten days’ posho on the top of it, a
Snider carbine, and belt with ten rounds of ammunition, and also his
water calabash (‘mbuyu’). At the end of the march it is his duty to cut
down thorn-trees and bushes, and drag them into camp to make the boma,
when his work for the day is over, excepting that he has to collect
firewood and water for himself and his mess. Should the sportsman
go out to shoot, he is ever ready to follow his master for the sake
of the meat. I have known many porters, even at the end of a long,
tiring, waterless march, who, after quenching their thirst, have filled
their calabashes and gone back several miles, of their own accord, to
help the stragglers into camp. A porter’s wage is 10 rupees per month
and his posho, one ‘kibaba’ (a measure holding about one and a half
pound) of whatever can be bought from the natives--flour, beans, &c.
On the coast his posho is 8 pice per diem. In a trip of six months’
duration or more, all the men in the caravan, from headman to porter,
will demand, and are entitled to, three months’ pay in advance. Three
months’ wages in advance is the most ever paid, however long the trip
may be. For trips of less than six months, a proportionate advance is
made. The principle is a bad one from a European point of view, but it
is the custom, and in this respect, as in many others in East Africa,
custom is law.
We now come to the ‘safari’ (caravan) as a whole. After the headman
has been engaged and an approximate list of loads made out, including
everything--barter goods of beads, cloth, and wire, private kit,
tents, stores, ammunition--both private and for defensive purposes,
cooking gear, &c., the headman should be told how many porters and
askaris will be required, and it is well to let him engage as many of
them as he can himself in order that he may know something of their
antecedents. As they are brought up by the headman to be engaged, they
should be entered in the list in companies of ten men, each company
under an askari. They then receive their advance pay, and can be either
told off to do any work there may be for them to do, or they can have
their posho given them at once and may be left to their own devices.
As long as they are in Mombasa, or any coast town, they should be
mustered every morning for any work there may be, and again in the
evening to receive their posho. It is always advisable to engage two
or three extra porters over and above the estimated number of loads,
as even in the best organised caravans, and when all the porters are
present at the last moment, something is sure to turn up that has
been overlooked, such as a bundle of rope, a basket of potatoes and
onions, or a crate of fowls. The two latter comestibles, although they
have never been given a thought since the cook received the order to
get them, are of much importance, and help considerably to save the
tinned provisions and to reconcile a man to the miseries of the first
few days in the wilderness, after the fleshpots of Mombasa. The first
day of getting under way will perhaps be found the most trying of any
to the patience and temper, unless some little trouble is taken to
minimise the confusion generally attending the start of a caravan for
‘up-country.’ To effect this, the whole of the men should have at least
two days’ notice beforehand of their master’s decision to start on a
certain day, and the night before the start the whole caravan should
be told, when they come for their posho, to muster and fall in in the
morning at least a couple of hours before they are actually wanted. The
whole of the loads should then be laid out in lots of ten. The porters
having fallen in to their respective companies with their askari,
and having answered to the roll-call, the rifles and cartridge-belts
should be distributed amongst them. Their posho in rice should then be
issued to them, and may vary in quantity according to the destination
of the safari; but should it be anywhere along the Teita route, ten
days’ posho is usually given, which will last them well over the Maungu
wilderness, till Teita is reached, where food of various kinds is
procurable. Ten days’ food is as much as a porter can be expected to
carry on leaving the coast, when he is soft and out of training, though
up country, in places like the Masai district, where no vegetable food
is procurable, he will not only carry twelve to fifteen days’ food, but
also an extra heavy load into the bargain. Each company should then be
told off to a lot of ten loads, and every man should be ordered to put
some private mark of his own on his allotted load so as to recognise
it again. This is important, as it not only prevents confusion, but a
good deal of quarrelling amongst the men when moving camp each morning,
sometimes in the dark, should there be a long waterless march ahead.
In the matter of food for the men when up country, this should, when
feasible, be bought by the headman and collected in bulk, as it is much
cheaper to buy it so; but when on the march and in a hurry to get on,
cloth or beads should be issued to the men, who will buy whatever they
like or can get. Cloth is given out in pieces of four hands, each of
which is called a ‘shuka’, this being a measure from the elbow-joint
to the tip of the middle finger. A porter’s allowance is one shuka; an
askari’s, one and a half, or six hands; and a neapara’s, two, or eight
hands, which is called a ‘doti.’ As, however, the price of food varies
in different places, and also according to the crops, information
should be obtained on the coast as to the number of days one shuka
will last in a certain district, as it will be a check to a certain
extent on the headman, and will prevent him from taking advantage of
his master. In order to curry favour with the porters--and some headmen
do--he might say that one shuka will only buy four days’ food, whereas
it might buy six. Formerly, at Taveta, a shuka was equal to six days’
food, but it will in all probability be more expensive now. Beads are
given out in strings, and it is very necessary to ascertain before
leaving the coast how many strings of each different kind of beads are
equal to a shuka.
With regard to the arming of the men in a caravan for defensive
purposes, and the number of rifles it would be necessary to take, it
will entirely depend on the country in which the shooting trip is going
to be made and the disposition of the natives of the country itself,
as also of the natives of the countries or districts the caravan would
have to pass through to get there. For a trip up to Taveta and the
adjacent country, as far north as Kimangelia, a short way beyond Useri,
twenty-five rifles would be quite enough; but for a more extended trip
to the Njiri plains and beyond, it would perhaps be better to take
fifty, or at the most eighty, armed men.
I have always considered the El Moran or Masai warrior a very much
over-rated individual, neither do I think he ever could have been so
awe-inspiring and terrifying as some writers have represented him.
Still, as the porters have a very exaggerated idea of his fighting and
bloodthirsty propensities, it is best to inspire them with confidence
by arming them well, thus assuring them that in the event of an attack
they are at least in a position to defend themselves.
For a trip to the Suk country, beyond Lake Baringo, it would be better
to have at least 80 to 100 armed men, as the natives are not only very
treacherous, but much more fearless of firearms than other tribes. For
the Tana river twenty-five rifles would be ample, provided the caravan
did not go more than one day’s march from the river on the north bank.
If the trip should be extended further north into the Somali country,
it would not be worth while running the risks of entering the country
of such grasping, treacherous, religious fanatics as the southern
Somalis are with an escort of fewer than 150 rifles.
All arms should be breechloading. Carbines are much handier for the
porters than long rifles, though the askari can be armed with the
latter. It would add to the dignity of the headman (at all events in
his own opinion) if he were allowed a Winchester repeater. Sniders are
much safer in the hands of the men than rifles of any other make, and
are also cheaper. Although it is more than probable that the weapons
will never be called into requisition for defensive purposes, the moral
effect of a well-armed party on the natives is good, and they are far
less likely to try any bouncing or bullying if they see that the party
is strong enough not only to defend itself but to turn the tables on
them. If there is not a rifle, belt and pouch for every porter in
the caravan after the headman and askaris have received theirs, the
rest should be equally distributed amongst the companies. This should
not be done, however, until the day of starting, and just before the
loads are allotted. On no account issue ammunition to the porters
until nearing the Masai country, as there is nothing to be feared from
any other natives, excepting the Somalis, north of the Tana river;
the Suks, north of Lake Baringo; and the Wa Nandi between Elgeyo and
Kavirondo. It is then necessary to be prepared in the event of falling
in with a roving band of warriors and cattle-lifters. Ten rounds per
man is enough for porters; the headman and askaris can each have twenty
rounds, and these can be issued to them before leaving the coast. A
small fine, say half a rupee, should be levied for every cartridge
lost, or supposed to be lost, as the men are much given to selling
their cartridges to the natives for food and ‘pombe’ (native beer), the
natives buying them for the sake of the powder and lead.
Gun-bearers are rather difficult to find; that is to say, good ones.
Any number of men will come forward and offer their services, although
they have never acted as gun-bearers before, and know absolutely
nothing about their duties. They do this because they prefer to carry
a rifle, waterbottle, and cartridge-bag (in all some 25 lbs.), rather
than a full load of 65 lbs. to 75 lbs., and because they know that they
will have altogether an easier time of it than a porter or askari.
On the other hand, men who have been gun-bearers to Europeans whom
they either know personally or by reputation, and whom they would
follow into any kind of danger, will not volunteer their services
as gun-bearers to men they do not know, and in whom they have no
confidence.
Most Africans are gifted with not only long but very quick sight, are
capital walkers at their own pace, are often extraordinarily keen about
sport, and will wish to go on after game when their master is dead beat
and wants to return to camp. They are wonderfully patient followers on
a blood spoor, and if they have confidence in their master will follow
him anywhere after wounded game, and can be relied upon not to run away
at a critical moment. Europeans, however, often complain that their
gun-bearers do not keep up with them when out shooting; but this is
very often their own fault. East Africa is a land of thorns and prickly
spikes of every description. Europeans who are booted and clothed
cannot well expect an almost bare-footed and bare-legged man, with
only a thin cotton shirt on and a pair of sandals, to follow close at
their heels (the proper place for a good gun-bearer) through clumps of
thorns and sharp spiky aloes. To enable the two principal gun-bearers
to keep in their proper positions they should each be provided with
a suit of clothes, of the same material and make as their master’s,
with leather knee-caps, &c., and either a pair of boots or, better
still, leather socks and sandals. They should also be provided with any
kind of old shooting cap, but not a red fez or white cap, the common
headgear of the porters. In fact, a gun-bearer should be as little
conspicuous and as thorn-proof as his master, and if this is seen to
it will prevent disappointments, both from being sighted by game when
stalking it or from losing wounded game through the gun-bearers being
unable to keep in their proper position with either a spare rifle or
ammunition. Gun-bearers should be provided with a good butcher’s knife
apiece, and care should be taken that these are kept sharp, as the
African native is naturally cruel, and will cut and hack at the throat
of a wounded beast with a knife no sharper than a piece of hoop iron. A
good butcher’s steel should be always taken out; it can be carried by
one of the attendant porters, as it is rather an awkward thing for a
gun-bearer to carry.
Besides the ordinary duty of gun-bearing when out shooting and when
on the march, gun-bearers have other duties to perform. First, on
arriving in camp they help to put up their master’s tent, and see that
a small trench is dug round it to carry off the water in case of a
downpour of rain. They then clean all their master’s rifles and guns,
and, as a rule, do this well. It is also their duty to skin any heads
and clean the skulls of the game shot, and attend generally to the
trophies, though they always get friends to help them. When a beast has
been killed, and their master has had the first choice of the meat,
the perquisites to which gun-bearers are entitled, and which are now
looked upon as theirs by ‘dusturi’ (custom), are the heart, liver,
kidneys, &c., and any scraps of inside fat, and they take very good
care to uphold their claims to these tit-bits. After a cold wet day or
a first-rate day’s sport, a little tobacco as ‘backsheesh’ will delight
them, and can do no harm by causing jealousy amongst the other men, as
gun-bearers are looked upon in a caravan as favoured individuals.
In the matter of pay, unless other arrangements are made when engaging
them, their wages and food are the same as an askari’s.