An Uganda Farm 



rubber as an experiment, which was likely to turn 

 out very profitable. I called at the house of their 

 representative, and after we had lunched together he 

 took me round the plantations, some of which were 

 cotton. He showed me the oxen and ploughing 

 machinery. I was rather astonished when, on 

 pointing me out some seemingly fine specimens of 

 oxen, he told me they were about to die, as the 

 Commission had found out that they had been bitten 

 by the fatal "sickness fly." I believe the natives 

 scoffed at his prophetic warnings, and when 

 eventually the cattle did go under were struck dumb 

 with amazement. In the meantime they were 

 getting as much work as they could out of the cattle. 

 After our tour round the farm my friend suggested 

 shooting a buck, to which proposal I readily agreed. 



Buck roamed round the plain in great numbers, 

 and we did not have to go very far before we were 

 successful. My orderly taught me a lesson over the 

 incident, or rather, to be more accurate, I taught 

 him one, for when we both rushed up to the spot 

 where a buck had been fired at he ran off in the 

 direction in which it had disappeared without look- 

 ing for the tracks, and naturally was unsuccessful in 

 finding- it. I called him back and made him track 

 the beast properly, and within one hundred yards 

 he came upon it lying full length in the long grass, 

 dead. On my arrival back in camp I sent some of 

 my porters to bring in the meat. 



The next morning, after a very hurried breakfast 

 of bacon and eggs, I set out with my orderly and 



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