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 



