A Warning

Bwana Tumbo’s armed again,

     And right upon his job;

He put to flight a dozen brutes,

     A whole blamed hippo mob.

Afloat, ashore, it matters not

     Where’er the scrap may tend;

Bwana Tumbo’s in the game,

     And in it to the end.

What use for hippos, lion or gnu,

     Two-legged ones or four,

To charge the battlement where stands

     Our valiant Theodore?

Avast! All ye who have believed

     B. Tumbo cannot shoot;

Beware, lest your poor hide adorns

     The famous institute!

July 22, ‘09

When Theodore Roosevelt went on his African safari, the locals who were hired as guides and workers took to calling him “Bwano Tumbo.” Roughly translated, that Swahili phrase means something like “portly master.”

http://www.anderson-auction.com/lot-75732.aspx

“institute” – T.R.’s year-long safari was sponsored by the Smithsonian, which in turn was recipient of the thousands of ‘specimens” brought back from the expedition.