282 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
Hova nobility and their descendants in particular, had come to 
look upon the British as a superior race. 
When troops of any nationality arrive in a foreign land, away 
from the restrictive influence of the social conventions of their 
own country, they are apt to go haywire and have fun. Mada- 
gascar was no exception, and so the almost mythical idea that had 
arisen through the years as to the gentlemanliness, the culture 
and fine ideals of the English people was rudely shattered. 
When everything was in full swing and army supplies were no 
longer a problem, I was engaged by the Royal Engineers as 
timber-buyer. It had been decided to maintain a big garrison at 
Diego Suarez and to build extra barracks and other quarters, for 
which large quantities of timber were urgently required. So I had 
the assignment of getting all the timber I could in the way of 
planks and quarterings from the timber cutters operating in the 
eastern forests, railing truckloads to Tananarive, getting the 
timber to the quayside, and making all arrangements for the 
shipment to Diego Suarez. This kept me busy, and from time to 
time I had to write reports for the High Command on the timber 
situation in Madagascar. 
This went on for some months and then there was one wonder- 
ful interlude when I was asked to accompany a captain of the 
Royal Engineers as interpreter and guide on a road reconnais- 
sance. By now it had been decided to evacuate most of the troops 
to Diego Suarez and hand back the running of the rest of the 
island to the French. Shipping was short, so the High Command 
wanted to find out if the formidable array of army vehicles could 
make the journey of 500 miles by road instead of by sea. 
Ferries, fords, and hundreds of small bridges had to be in- 
spected over a distance of some four hundred miles. As it was the 
commencement of the dry season, the road was not yet fit for any 
vehicular trafic, and we had a strenuous time with the aid of 
local villagers making diversions round the bog-holes and filling 
swampy places with branches, so that our one-ton lorry could 
pass. Finally we were compelled to resort to palanquins, and al- 
together spent a week traveling by this means. 
Back in the capital life was never dull. One day I was busy in 
my hotel bedroom, which I used as an office, when a great com- 
