Put up just what is necessary.
About a month before sailing from England a letter
should be sent to the agents, stating the date of arrival
and what porters, etc., will be required. The sportsman
will then find everything ready for him, so that an
immediate start may be made.
Unless money is no object, I should not advise anyone
to engage porters at Mombasa, as equally good men
can be obtained at Nairobi, thus saving 20 rupees per
head in return railway fares. It must be remembered
that for transport work men are infinitely preferable
to donkeys, as the latter are exasperatingly slow and
troublesome, especially on rough ground or on crossing
streams, where every load has to be unpacked, carried
over, and then reloaded on the animal's back. The
caravan for one sportsman - if he intends going far
from the railway - is usually made up as follows, though
the exact numbers depend upon many considerations:
1 Headman ................ 50 rupees[1] per month.
1 Cook ................... 35 " "
1 Gun-bearer ............. 20 " "
1 "Boy" (personal servant) 20 " "
2 Askaris (armed porters). 12 " " each.
30 Porters ................ 10 " " each.
[1] The rupee in British East Africa is on the basis of 15 to
the pound sterling.
The porters are all registered, the Government taking
a small fee for the registration; and according to
custom half the wages due for the whole trip are
advanced to the men before a start is made. The
sportsman is obliged to provide each porter with a jersey,
blanket and water-bottle, while the gun-bearer and
"boy" get a pair of boots in addition. A cotton
shelter-tent and a cooking pot must also be furnished
for every five men.
The food for the caravan is mostly rice, of which
the Headman gets two kibabas (a kibaba is about 1-1/2 lb.)
per day; the cook, gun-bearer, "boy" and askaris one
and a half kibabas, and the ordinary porters, one kibaba,
each per day.
It is the duty of the Headman to keep discipline on
the safari (caravan journey), both in camp and on the
march, and to see to the distribution and safety of the
loads, the pitching and striking of camp, the issue of
posho (food) to the porters, etc. He always brings up
the rear of the caravan, and on him depends greatly
the general comfort of the sportsman. For our trip at
the beginning of 1906, we managed to secure a splendid
neapara, and never had the least trouble with the porters
all the time. His only drawback was that he could not
speak English, but he told me when he left us that he
was going to learn.
