African Camp Fires eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 275 pages of information about African Camp Fires.

African Camp Fires eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 275 pages of information about African Camp Fires.

By dodging from street to street Mohammed and I succeeded in circling the whole disturbance, and so came at length to a public square.  Here was a vast throng, and a very good place, so I climbed atop a rescued bale of cotton the better to see.

Mombasa has no water system, but a wonderful corps of water-carriers.  These were in requisition to a man.  They disappeared down through the wide gates of the customs enclosure, their naked, muscular, light-brown bodies gleaming with sweat, their Standard Oil cans dangling merrily at the ends of slender poles.  A moment later they emerged, the cans full of salt water from the bay, the poles seeming fairly to butt into their bare shoulders as they teetered along at their rapid, swaying, burdened gait.

The moment they entered the square they were seized upon from a dozen different sides.  There was no system at all.  Every owner of property was out for himself, and intended to get as much of the precious water as he could.  The poor carriers were pulled about, jerked violently here and there, besought, commanded, to bring their loads to one or the other of the threatened premises.  Vociferations, accusations, commands arose to screams.  One old graybeard occupied himself by standing on tiptoe and screeching, “Maji! maji! maji!” at the top of his voice, as though that added anything to the visible supply.  The water-carrier of the moment disappeared in a swirl of excited contestants.  He was attending strictly to business, looking neither to right nor to left, pushing forward as steadily as he could, gasping mechanically his customary warning, “Semeelay!  Semeelay!” Somehow, eventually, he and his comrades must have got somewhere; for after an interval he returned with empty buckets.  Then every blessed fool of a property owner took a whack at his bare shoulders as he passed, shrieking hysterically, “Haya! haya! pesi! pesi!” and the like to men already doing their best.  It was a grand sight!

In the meantime the fire itself was roaring away.  The old graybeard suddenly ceased crying “maji,” and darted forward to where I stood on the bale of cotton.  With great but somewhat flurried respect he begged me to descend.  I did so, somewhat curious as to what he might be up to, for the cotton was at least two hundred feet from the fire.  Immediately he began to tug and heave; the bale was almost beyond his strength; but after incredible exertions he lifted one side of it, poised it for a moment, got his shoulder under it, and rolled it over once.  Then he darted away and resumed his raucous cry for water.  I climbed back again.  Thrice more, at intervals, he repeated this performance.  The only result was to daub with mud every possible side of that bale.  I hope it was his property.

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African Camp Fires from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.