Soldiers' Wives 



One night I had retired to bed, and was quietly- 

 reading a volume of Byron, when I heard a great 

 clamour. Then followed a bugle-call turning out 

 the guard. The next moment in rushed my old 

 orderly, armed to the teeth, and telling me the 

 whole camp was in an uproar. Snatching up my 

 revolver and hastily loading it, I put on a few 

 clothes and made for the guard. Here I found 

 them all in a state of masterly inactivity. They 

 told me that all the women were storming round the 

 lines. I had them all chased back to their quarters, 

 and put their husbands on guard over them. Now, 

 although the matter was thus peaceably terminated, 

 I could well see that had they been successful in 

 winning over their husbands to aid and abet them, 

 the disturbance would have had most serious 

 consequences. 



I paraded the whole company, and spoke very 

 plainly to them about the husband's duty of keeping 

 his wife in order. But as they were never allowed 

 to beat their wives, the duty was exceedingly 

 difficult for them to carry out. The family of a 

 soldier of the King's African Rifles is shown in the 

 photograph, taken in the military lines at Hoima. 



After a few weeks of dull routine, during which 

 I had often cast longing eyes in the direction of the 

 Albert Nyanza, I determined to spend a week-end 

 on the banks of that famous lake. 



I accordingly went down to the Boma and 

 engaged a dozen porters. Giving them half a 

 rupee each as "potia" money — i.e., to purchase 



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