Roads And Bridges Had To
Be Constructed, Houses And Work-Shops Built,
Turntables And Station Quarters Erected, A Water Supply
Laid on, and a hundred and one other things done
which go to the making of a railway township.
Wonderfully
Soon, however, the nucleus of the
present town began to take shape, and a thriving
"bazaar" sprang into existence with a mushroom-like
growth. In this, however, a case or two of
plague broke out before very long, so I gave the
natives and Indians who inhabited it an hour's
notice to clear out, and on my own responsibility
promptly burned the whole place to the ground.
For this somewhat arbitrary proceeding I was
mildly called over the coals, as I expected; but
all the same it effectually stamped out the plague,
which did not reappear during the time I was in
the country.
With a little persuasion I managed to induce
several hundred of the Wa Kikuyu, in whose
country we now were, to come and work at
Nairobi, and very useful and capable they proved
themselves after a little training. They
frequently brought me in word that the shambas
(plantations, gardens) at the back of the hill on
which my camp was pitched were being destroyed
by elephants, but unfortunately I could never
spare time to go out in quest of them. On one
occasion, however, I passed the news on to my
friend, Dr. Winston Waters, with the result that
he had a most exciting adventure with a big bull
elephant.
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