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. These rock-rabbits
are more like big rats than rabbits, and are found
in great numbers among the rocks along the banks
of the rivers. They are not at all bad eating, but
the Swahili will not touch them. They call them
tupu (shameless, naked things), owing to their
lack of a tail, of which indeed they possess not
even a vestige.
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