44 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
evenings were given up to settling disputes among 
the coolies, hearing reports and complaints from 
the various jemadars and workpeople, and_ in 
studying the Swahili language. Preparations, too, 
for the principal piece of work in the district—the 
building of the railway bridge over the Tsavo river 
—were going on apace. These involved much 
personal work on my part; cross and oblique 
sections of the river had to be taken, the rate of the 
current and the volume of water at flood, mean, 
and low levels had to be found, and all the necessary 
calculations made. These having at length been 
completed, I marked out the positions for the 
abutments and piers, and the work of sinking their 
foundations was begun. The two centre piers in 
particular caused a great deal of trouble, as the 
river broke in several times, and had to be dammed 
up and pumped dry again before work could be 
resumed. Then we found we had to sink much 
deeper than we expected in order to reach a solid 
foundation. Indeed, the sinking went on and on, 
until I began to despair of finding one and was 
about to resort to pile-driving, when at last, to my 
relief, we struck solid rock on which the huge 
foundation-stones could be laid with perfect safety. 
Another great difficulty with which we had _ to 
contend was the absence of suitable stone in the 
neighbourhood, It was not that there was none to 
