136 JOURNEY WITHOUT MAPS

tinuous trouble. He was strong, reliable, the best-
looking man of a rather weedy set, but he had no
sense of humour and they teased him mercilessly
until he got into a sullen rage.

Mark and Amah had nearly three hours' start, for
the chief s hospitality was by no means over. He gave
my cousin a hideous leather satchel made in the
village in the bright crude colours of Italian leather
work, and his son gave me a bundle of knives from
the smithy. Unfortunately his hospitality included
the carriers, and he provided them with a large meal
before they started.

The character of a carrier is childlike. He enjoys
the moment. He cannot connect cause and effect
He is used to one meal in the day at evening, he lives
on the edge of subsistence, and it would be a hard
master who grudged him the unexpected pleasure of
an extra meal. The chief's kindness made them for
a few minutes gloriously happy; and when almost
immediately they suffered from walking with heavy
loads on a full stomach, they didn't connect their
suffering with their pleasure. They simply felt with
minds clouded by indigestion that somebody was
treating them badly. It was always tie same through-
out the four weeks of marching; whenever they had
a breakfast they worked badly, grumbled and made
palavers; when food became scarce they worked well
and were happy. On one occasion they spent
nearly forty-eight hours without food and at the
end of that time they were fresher than they had
ever been.

I had been warned of .this; I knew what to expect;
the food hadn't been in their bellies five minutes