For Days At A Time We Have
Kept Our Men Travelling At Good Speed By Commenting, As Though By
The Way, After We Had Arrived In Camp, On Which Tribe Happened To
Come In At The Head.
"Ah! Kavirondos came in first to-night," we would remark.
"Last
night the Monumwezis were ahead."
And once, actually, by this method we succeeded in working up
such a feeling of rivalry that the Kikuyus, the unambitious, weak
and despised Kikuyus, led the van!
But the first hint of insubordination, of intended insolence, of
willful shirking must be met by instant authority. Occasionally,
when the situation is of the quick and sharp variety, the white
man may have to mix in the row himself. He must never hesitate an
instant; for the only reason he alone can control so many is that
he has always controlled them. F. had a very effective blow, or
shove, which I found well worth adopting. It is delivered with
the heel of the palm to the man's chin, and is more of a lifting,
heaving shove than an actual blow. Its effect is immediately
upsetting. Impertinence is best dealt with in this manner on the
spot. Evidently intended slowness in coming when called is also
best treated by a flick of the whip-and forgetfulness. And so
with a half dozen others. But any more serious matter should be
decided from the throne of the canvas chair, witness should be
heard, judgment formally pronounced, and execution intrusted to
the askaris or gunbearers.
It is, as I have said, a most interesting game. It demands three
sorts of knowledge: first what a safari man is capable of doing;
second, what he customarily should or should not do; third, an
ability to read the actual intention or motive back of his
actions. When you are able to punish or hold your hand on these
principles, and not merely because things have or have not gone
smoothly or right, then you are a good safari manager. There are
mighty few of them.
As for punishment, that is quite simply the whip. The average
writer on the country speaks of this with hushed voice and
averted face as a necessity but as something to be deprecated and
passed over as quickly as possible. He does this because he
thinks he ought to. As a matter of fact, such an attitude is all
poppycock. In the flogging of a white man, or a black who suffers
from such a punishment in his soul as well as his body, this is
all very well. But the safari man expects it, it doesn't hurt his
feelings in the least, it is ancient custom. As well
sentimentalize over necessary schoolboy punishment, or over
father paddy-whacking little Willie when little Willie has been a
bad boy. The chances are your porter will leap to his feet, crack
his heels together and depart with a whoop of joy, grinning from
ear to ear. Or he may draw himself up and salute you, military
fashion, again with a grin.
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