Nor Had I Long To Wait; For
I Soon Caught Sight Of A Solid Mass Of Palm
Stems And Railway Sleepers Sweeping With Almost
Irresistible Force Round The Bend Of The River
Some Little Distance Above The Bridge.
This I
knew was the debris of the trolley crossing
furthest up the river.
On it came, and with it
an additional bank of stormy-looking water. I
held my breath for the space of a moment as it
actually leaped at the second frail structure; there
was a dull thud and a rending and riving of
timbers, and then the flood rolled on towards me,
leaving not a vestige of the two bridges behind
it. The impact, indeed, was so great that the
rails were twisted round the broken tree-trunks
as if they had been so much ordinary wire. The
double tier of wreckage now swept forward,
and hurled itself with a sullen plunge against
the cutwaters of my stone piers. The shock was
great, but to my immense satisfaction the bridge
took it without a tremor, and I saw the remnant
of the temporary crossings swirl through the
great spans and quickly disappear on its journey
to the ocean. I confess that I witnessed the
whole occurrence with a thrill of pride.
We were never long without excitement of some
kind or another at Tsavo. When the camp was
not being attacked by man-eating lions, it was
visited by leopards, hyenas, wild dogs, wild cats,
and other inhabitants of the jungle around us.
These animals did a great deal of damage to the
herds of sheep and goats which were kept to
supply the commissariat, and there was always
great rejoicing when a capture was made in one
of the many traps that were laid for them.
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