Soldiering and Sport in Uganda 



be doctored; they both had been shot through 

 the arm, and that of the man was swollen to an 

 enormous size. They stated that a Congo "askari" 

 had fired at their village at hap-hazard, and the 

 bullet had hit the man and his wife while they were 

 asleep in their hut. We were naturally very in- 

 dignant, as the affair took place quite close to our 

 position, and wrote for an explanation. The Belgian 

 doctor tried to deny the' wounds were caused by 

 bullets, and suggested that their arms had been 

 pierced by an arrow. This argument was too 

 childish to hold water for a moment, and we agreed 

 to meet each other at the village and to take down 

 evidence. We stipulated ten rifles a side, but they 

 took the precaution of sending fifty men in reserve 

 behind a hill in close proximity to the village. I 

 was in charofe of our escort, which consisted of ten 

 Sikhs. The Congoese arrived under cover of the 

 "Red Cross" and carrying another large blue 

 Belorian flaof. Their men wore a Haussa costume 

 of blue serge with scarlet tarbushes and waist-sashes, 

 and their officers were dressed in white with blue 

 facings. The conversation was carried on in French, 

 and I do not think they could have ever entertained 

 any doubt about the result of the deliberation. 

 They all wore medals shaped as a star with light 

 blue ribbon ; these, I believe, are given for so many 

 years' service in the colony. The meeting between 

 Belgian Congolese and British troops, of which 

 there is an illustration, led to more amicable rela- 

 tions between the opposing forces. The disputed 



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