I am Tarmangani. Any Mangani who wished to, could enter your camp
almost at will; but if you have them for sentinels no one could
enter without their knowledge."
"What are the Mangani?" asked the colonel. "Perhaps we might enlist
a bunch of the beggars."
Tarzan shook his head. "They are the great apes," he explained; "my
people; but you could not use them. They cannot concentrate long
enough upon a single idea. If I told them of this they would be
much interested for a short time-I might even hold the interest
of a few long enough to get them here and explain their duties to
them; but soon they would lose interest and when you needed them
most they might be off in the forest searching for beetles instead
of watching their posts. They have the minds of little children
--that is why they remain what they are."
"You call them Mangani and yourself Tarmangani--what is the
difference?" asked Major Preswick.
"Tar means white," replied Tarzan, "and Mangani, great ape. My name--the
name they gave me in the tribe of Kerchak--means White-skin. When
I was a little balu my skin, I presume, looked very white indeed
against the beautiful, black coat of Kala, my foster mother
and so they called me Tarzan, the Tarmangani. They call you, too,
Tarmangani," he concluded, smiling.
Capell smiled. "It is no reproach, Greystoke," he said; "and, by
Jove, it would be a mark of distinction if a fellow could act the
part.
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