Page:First Footsteps in East Africa, 1894 - Volume 1.djvu/140

colt, which by the by they manage to lose before midnight. My other attendants must now be introduced to you, as they are to be for the next two months companions of our journey. First in the list are the fair Samaweda Yusuf, and Aybla Farih [4], buxom dames about thirty years old, who presently secured the classical nicknames of Shehrazade, and Deenarzade. They look each like three average women rolled into one, and emphatically belong to that race for which the article of feminine attire called, I believe, a "bussle" would be quite superfluous. Wonderful, truly, is their endurance of fatigue! During the march they carry pipe and tobacco, lead and flog the camels, adjust the burdens, and will never be induced to ride, in sickness or in health. At the halt they unload the cattle, dispose the parcels in a semicircle, pitch over them the Gurgi or mat tent, cook our food, boil tea and coffee, and make themselves generally useful. They bivouack outside our abode, modesty not permitting the sexes to mingle, and in the severest cold wear no clothing but a head fillet and an old Tobe. They have curious soft voices, which contrast agreeably with the harsh organs of the males. At first they were ashamed to see me; but that feeling soon wore off, and presently they enlivened the way with pleasantries far more naive than refined. To relieve their greatest fatigue, nothing seems necessary but the "Jogsi:" [5] they lie at full length, prone, stand upon each other's backs trampling and kneading with the