Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-02

stall, he darted into little grove Of cocoanut
trees and instantly reappeared bearing III MS
are known as .'madafoo.'' They contain moth
ing but milk. The white nut is not yet formed,
and the shell is as soft as the rind of turnip.
With dexterouS slash or two OF knife my
Young friend sliced off the upper end of the
madafoo, and presented me with goblet OF
cool, delicious drink.
Every evening after this the young slave would
be ready with nice cooled madafoo when l
passed his stall. used to give him a COIN now
and then for mis- trouble and thoughtfulress, and
one evening il occurred to me to ask him how
he managed TO climb the tall cocoanut palms
from which my evening beverage was obtained
Only too happy to show his skill As climber
to the white man, the youth, with very broad
grin, set about bringing down cocoanut. he
slipped his feet into moose or loop OF rope
about three feet in circumference. Instead of
corkscrewing his legs about the tree as an
American boy does he half eEcircled 1t with feet
and rope. and alternately advancing feet and
hands, hoped upws I'd in frog-like jumps. The
ease and rapidity with which he mounted the
tall cocoanut palm was hardly to be surpassed
by monkey.
Another youth whom have very vivid recol-
lection of was my own tent boy, Alfred Christo-
pher. Alfred was older than the Zanzibar slave
boy and was a protege OF the missionaries at
Frere Town, Mombasa. When a small boy he
had been captured by Arab slave raiders in
Kavirondo, near the Victoria Nyanza. The
slavers brought him, with many others, down
to the coast, and putting him on dhow, or ma
tive vessel, attempted TO convey him to the slave
market on The Island OF Pemba. whence comes
most OF the cloves we use in America. The slave
dhow was captured by a British man of-war,
and the slaves liberated and the Arabs pun
ished. The boys were turned over to the mis-
sionaries at Frere Town to be educated and
taken care OF Christian names were bestowed
upon them, and the youth in question was
called Alfred Christopher in honor OF some be-
nevolent person in England who helped support
the mission
was camped near Frere Town, looking out
for men, and also for boy who could speak
English. One morning there came shyly MP to
my tent very black youth. with small. beady
black eyes that were almost sunk in his head.
None of the whites were visible and | thought
him strangely like the missing link OF the
hand rude sling, made OF piece of leather
and two strings. Seeing him reluctant to speak
first, asked MIN what he wanted. grin that
seemed to sever his black face in half and to
Come now," said I, "what Is it?''
ALFRED Christopher, SIR said he, "good
morning"
'.You' re fine looking young mau,'' re-
sumed, in q bantering tone what can you
do?''
81 can kill Nasal warriors with this sling.
slr''
Nasal warriors are the terror Of East Africa
Their very name sets the knees of the other
inhabitants to quaking with fear. Alfred would
one behind him shouted ''Masai. -
The story of David and Goliah. which he had
probably heard in the mission schools that
very day. had evidently taken possession of his
about thirty yards sway. The stone came
nearer hitting my tent than the tree. but Alfred
still INFESTED upon it that he could hit MRsia. If
he couldn't aim well enough to hit single war
rior he said he could cast stones among crowd
and hit some of them.
was not in quest of modern David, even
had he been able to hit anything with his sling:
hnt as Alfred nould talk fairly good English