The Majority Of
These Porters Were Basoga, But There Were Also
Fair Numbers Of Baganda (I.E. People Of Uganda)
And Of The Natives Of Unyoro, And Various
Other Tribes.
Of course none of these wild men of
Central Africa had either seen or heard of a
railway in
All their lives, and they consequently
displayed the liveliest curiosity in regard to it,
crowding round one of the engines which happened
to be standing at the station, and hazarding
the wildest guesses as to its origin and use in
a babel of curious native languages. I thought
I would provide a little entertainment for them,
so I stepped on to the footplate and blew off the
steam, at the same time sounding the whistle.
The effect was simply magical. The whole crowd
first threw themselves flat on the ground howling
with fear, and then - with heads well down and
arms well spread out - they fled wildly in all
directions; nor did the stampede cease until I
shut off steam and stopped the whistle. Then,
their curiosity gradually overpowering them, very
cautiously they began to return, approaching
the locomotive stealthily as though it were some
living monster of the jungle. Eventually, two of
their chiefs summoned up courage enough to climb
on to the engine, and afterwards thoroughly
enjoyed a short run which I had to make down
the line in order to bring up some construction
material.
Just after this caravan had moved on we were
subjected to some torrential rain-storms, which
transformed the whole plain into a quaking
bog and stopped all railway work for the time
being. Indeed, the effect of a heavy downpour
of rain in this sun-baked district is extraordinary.
The ground, which is of a black sub-soil, becomes
a mass of thick mud in no time, and on attempting
to do any walking one slides and slips about in
the slush in a most uncomfortable manner.
Innocent-looking dongas, where half an hour
previously not one drop of water was to be seen,
become roaring torrents from bank to bank in an
incredibly short time; while for many hours or
even a few days the rivers become absolutely
impassable in this land of no bridges. On this
account it is the custom of the wise traveller
in these parts always to cross a river before
camping, for otherwise a flood may come down
and detain him and his caravan on the wrong
side of the stream for perhaps a week. Of
course when the rain ceases, the floods as quickly
subside, the rivers and dongas dry up, and
the country once more resumes its normal
sun-cracked appearance.
On leaving my tent one morning when work
was at a standstill owing to the rain, I noticed
a great herd of zebra about a couple of miles
away on the north side of the railway. Now,
it had long been my ambition to capture one of
these animals alive; so I said to myself, "Here
is my chance!" The men could do nothing
owing to the rain, and the ground was very
boggy, so I thought that if we could surround
the herd judiciously and chase the zebra up and
down from point to point through the heavy
ground, some of them would soon get exhausted
and we should then be able to catch them. I
selected for the hunt a dozen fleet-footed Indians
who were employed on the earth works, and who
at once entered with great zest into the spirit of
the scheme. After having partially surrounded
the herd, the half-circle of coolies began to
advance with wild shouts, whereupon the zebras
galloped madly about from side to side, and then
did just what we wished them to do - made
straight for an exceptionally boggy part of the
ground, where they soon became more or less
helpless. We singled out a few young ones and
succeeded in running them to an absolute
standstill, when we threw them down and sat on their
heads until the other men came up with ropes.
In this way we captured no less than six: they
were very wild and fractious, giving us a great
deal of trouble in getting them along, but
eventually we managed to bring them in triumph to
the camp, where they were firmly secured. The
whole expedition lasted little more than a couple
of hours.
Three of the captured zebras I kept for myself,
while the other three were given to the Surfacing
Engineer, whose men had assisted in the hunt.
Two of my three unfortunately died very shortly
after; but the third, a sturdy two-year-old,
flourished splendidly. At first he was
exceedingly vicious, biting and kicking everyone who
approached him; indeed, he once planted both
his hind feet on my chest, but did me no serious
damage beyond throwing me heavily to the
ground. In time, however, he became very
tame and domesticated, allowing himself to be
led about by a rope and head collar, and would
drink from a bucket and eat from my hand.
He used to be left to graze picketed by a long
rope to a stake in the ground; but one
afternoon on returning to camp I found, much to
my annoyance, that he had disappeared. On
making enquiry, I learned from my servants that
a herd of wild zebra had galloped close by, and
that this had so excited him that he managed to
tear the picketing peg out of the ground and so
rejoin his brethren in freedom.
Some few days after our successful sortie
against the zebra, the great caravan of Basoga
porters returned from the coast on their way back
to their own country; but alas, with what a terrible
difference in their appearance! All their gaiety
and lightheartedness was gone, and the poor
fellows were in a pitiable state. A frightful
epidemic of dysentery had broken out amongst
them, doubtless caused by their having eaten
food to which they were entirely unaccustomed,
their simple diet in their own homes consisting
almost entirely of bananas, from which they also
make a most refreshing and stimulating drink.
The ranks of the caravan were terribly decimated,
and dozens of men were left dead or dying along
the roadside after each march.
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