103 



Minister? So I told him something of why I had not, and he 

 agreed with my view. He suggested that Paul Sauer, Minister of 

 Transport, might be able to do something. As far as he knew, he 

 was still in Pretoria. Why not try him ? Best of luck. 



Back to the starting-post once more. Holidays ! Christmas holi- 

 days! Would the Post Office please find me Minister Paul Sauer, 

 believed to be in Pretoria. Again I paced up and down that con- 

 fined space, my brain going over the matter for the thousandth 

 time. It was a long-drawn-out agony. I could not leave that bridge 

 and had no food and no desire for food, even the tea they had 

 brought me remained untouched. The telephone ! The Post Office 

 to say that there was no reply from Minister Sauer's office or from 

 his house in Pretoria. Should they go on trying there ? Yes 1 Do 

 anything, only find him. Up and down, my mind as hard at work 

 as my feet. Sauer ! My mind went back to our University days, 

 and right back to the first Sauer, 'Red Blanket' Sauer, noted poli- 

 tician of pre-Union times. Paul Sauer the younger soon made his 

 mark at the University as a facile speaker. Some years before the 

 war I was travelling with a former senior member of our University 

 staff", a versatile man whose knowledge covered a wide field, some- 

 thing of an expert on wines, and with an extensive if not undue 

 practical experience of them. We met Paul Sauer in the dining- 

 saloon and lunched together, and those two were soon off on a 

 technical discussion of wines beyond my ken. I noted with some 

 amusement that my colleague had met his match, in knowledge at 

 least. He remarked later that it was surprising to find a South 

 African who knew so much about wines. 



The sun went down, the lights came on, and they brought me 

 more tea on a tray. I must have walked many miles on that bridge. 

 It was quite late when they finally succeeded in tracing Minister 

 Sauer and got him on the telephone. So off I started and outlined 

 the matter again to him, but Sauer was immediately emphatic 

 that he could do nothing, he could not authorise any civil plane 

 for such a purpose, he had none to spare, anyway. Why not try 

 to use the French airlines, he believed that they might serve the 

 Comores, they certainly had regular services to Madagascar, but 

 I could rule his Department out. There might possibly be some 

 hope with the French. Had I tried them ? Well, see what you can 

 do there and good luck. 



