A TERRIBLE DAYS MARCH 



and Pishi cut bundles of grass and bush and stacked them 

 into a heap on which to rest some of the loads. It took 

 nine of us to lift the poor brute up again. Having 

 relieved it of the load, which was now distributed between 

 Monica and Salem, we again proceeded to carve our way 

 through the treacherous tangled roots that abounded 

 amidst the long grass and bush. Before long the poor 

 beast fell again and again, eventually succumbing to the 

 terrible ordeal. His feet had sunk deep in the mud at 

 every step, and for some days past he had been suffering 

 from the attacks of the flies. He had become such a 

 companion to me by this time that I felt his loss keenly, 

 and turned away with a lump in my throat after making 

 sure that he was dead by putting a -450 bullet into him. 

 Shortly after leaving the mule we came upon a large 

 clump of bush standing on a little knoll a few feet above 

 water-level. It was about fifty feet in circumference, 

 and afforded room for about twelve people to stand on 

 at once. Syce, who was a nimble fellow, clambered up 

 a tree that stood like a lighthouse with a sea of waving 

 grass round it, from the top of which he reported a rise 

 in the country to the west about three miles off ; but it 

 took us from two p.m. until nine p.m. to cover that 

 distance. 



Pishi and I went ahead with stout sticks, and did 

 our best to clear a track through the long tangled grass 

 and swamp. I shall never forget how frantically we 

 worked our way along, often taking half an hour to do 

 fifty yards. By sundown — six p.m. — we were within 

 half a mile of the plateau, but not until nine o'clock did 

 our feet touch dry land. Had any one been there to 

 see us step out of the swamp on to real dry and hard 

 ground he must have thought we had taken leave of 

 our senses, for the boys danced and shouted with delight. 

 Pishi and I had suffered most of all, for we had had a 

 terrific struggle, forcing a path through the swamp, and 



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