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arranged for them to be sent to the nearest port. At Cape Town, 

 Port EHzabeth, East London, and Durban there would be gener- 

 ous consignments ready for La Contenta. At Louren90 Marques 

 there was more equipment and that ton of explosives, whose part 

 as essential to the expedition had been established between us 

 before I accepted Stuttard's offer. In addition to all this, our 

 Government had kindly conceded a number of special concessions 

 for La Contenta' s visit that would mean a great deal to Stuttard 

 as well, as to the expedition. 



At that stage, 8th July 1953, it was clear that even to attempt 

 the by then enormous task of getting all this dispersed stuff to 

 Port Amelia within six or seven weeks to meet this abrupt change 

 of plans was too much. The Portuguese authorities had been 

 quite explicit that it was virtually impossible to arrange for the 

 transport of the ton of explosives from the Government magazine 

 in Louren90 Marques to a port in the north and to store them there. 

 I knew what transport along the East African coast was like at 

 that time, and short of chartering a special vessel or by other ex- 

 penditure on a quite unwarranted scale, it would have been 

 virtually impossible to do so. I should have to consult those who 

 had provided the money, but on general principles I was opposed 

 to the risk of spending in that way so much of the funds that had 

 been donated, for even if I succeeded in this formidable and 

 apparently impossible task and got the essential goods there by 

 the stated date, sea travel in a small vessel is so uncertain that 

 there could be no guarantee that Stuttard would arrive in time to 

 carry out the expedition, or indeed at all. With the best will in 

 the world he could never guarantee to do so. I could picture our 

 party perched on top of a pile of partly perishable baggage in the 

 humid torridity of a remote East African port, while this small 

 vessel battered its bows southwards against the powerful monsoon- 

 impelled waves and the current of the long stretch down the 

 East African coast. We should have no redress if Stuttard did not 

 arrive, it might prove beyond his powers or control, and all that 

 tremendous effort and expenditure would be wasted. From my 

 experience and knowledge, I was quite firm in my opinion that 

 what Stuttard now asked would be almost impossible without 

 unjustifiable expenditure, that it lacked certainty as justification, 

 and in short to attempt it at all would be folly. 



