One old hunter is supposed to have
said to an enthusiastic newcomer, who had heard of a lion in the
vicinity, and immediately asked the old stager if he were going after
it: "I have not lost any lions, therefore I am not looking for any";
but, all the same, to kill one or more fine specimens will ever remain
the summit of the ambition of the hunter, and unquestionably the spice
of danger is one of the attractions.
At the time of which I write the township of Kalomo consisted of about
twenty white people, including the Administrator, his secretary and
staff; the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or Accountant, who controlled
the purse; a doctor, whose time was fairly well taken up; an aspiring
light of the legal profession, who made and interpreted the laws; and,
finally, the gallant Colonel and officers of the North-Western Rhodesia
Native Police, a smart body of 380 natives, officered by eleven or
twelve Englishmen. To Colonel Colin Harding, C.M.G., was due the credit
of recruiting and drilling this smart corps, and it was difficult to
believe that these soldierly-looking men, very spruce in their dark blue
tunics and caps, from which depend enormous red tassels, were only a
short time ago idling away their days in uninviting native kraals.
I was much impressed in a Kalomo house with the small details of a
carefully arranged dinner-table, adorned with flowers and snowy linen;
the cooking was entirely done by black boys, and of these the "Chinde"
boys from the Portuguese settlements are much sought after, and cannot
be excelled as cooks or servants, so thoroughly do the Portuguese
understand the training of natives.
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