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. It was a case of
the survival of the fittest, as of course it was quite
impossible for the whole caravan to halt in the
wilderness where neither food nor water was to
be had. There was only one European with the
party, and although he worked like a slave he
could do very little among such a number, while
the Basoga themselves seemed quite indifferent
to the sufferings of their comrades. Thirteen
poor wretches fell out to die close to my tent;
they were in the most hopeless condition and far
too weak to be able to do anything at all for
themselves.
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