I Am Glad To Say, However, That Owing
To The Establishment Of Several Mission Stations
Amongst Them, The Wa Kamba
Are quickly
becoming the most civilised natives in the
country; and the missionaries have adopted the
sensible course of teaching
The people husbandry
and the practical arts and crafts of everyday life,
in addition to caring for their spiritual needs.
CHAPTER XII
A NIGHT AFTER HIPPO
During my stay at Tsavo I made many
little excursions into the surrounding country,
and used to go off on a short shooting and
exploring expedition whenever I had the
opportunity. I was especially anxious to bag
a hippopotamus, so I made up my mind to try
my luck on the banks of the Sabaki.
Unfortunately, I possessed no heavy rifle, which is
almost a necessity for hippo shooting, but it
occurred to me to supply the deficiency by
manufacturing a few cartridges for my
smoothbore. In these I had double charges of powder
and a hardened bullet made of lead mixed
with about an eighth part of tin. I well
remember the anxiety with which I fired the first
round of my home-made ammunition. As I more
than half expected that the barrel would burst, I
lashed the gun in the fork of a tree, tied a piece
of string a hundred feet long to the trigger, and
then - taking shelter behind a friendly stump -
pulled off. To my great satisfaction the barrel
stood the test perfectly. More than that, on
trying the penetrative effect of my bullets, I found
that they would smash through a steel plate an
eighth of an inch thick at thirty yards' range.
This was quite good enough for my purpose,
and gave me great confidence in the weapon.
All the same, I had a very narrow escape one
day while manufacturing some of this ammunition.
My plan was to remove the shot from the cartridge,
put in the additional powder, and ram this well
in before replacing the wad and putting in the
bullet. I had clamped my refilling machine to
my rough-hewn table, and was stamping the
double charge of powder well down into the
cartridge, when suddenly, for some unknown
reason, the whole charge exploded right into
my face. Everything became pitch dark to
me, and I groped my way about the little hut
in agony of mind as well as of body, for I thought
I had been blinded. I am thankful to say,
however, that gleams of light soon began to
return to my eyes, and in a few hours' time I
was almost all right again and able to go on with
my cartridge making.
All my preparations having been made, I set
out for the Sabaki, taking with me my Indian
gun-bearer Mahina, my cook Mabruki, a bhisti
(water-carrier), and a couple of natives to carry
our odds and ends. On these occasions I usually
took no tent, but bivouacked in the open. We
took some bread and a few tinned provisions
with us, but I could always depend upon getting
a paa, guinea-fowl, partridge or rock-rabbit for
the larder on the march.
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