148 WAR: CAMPAIGNING IN EAST AFRICA 



they came opposite us, and an officer, a man 

 with a greyish beard and felt hat, carrying a 

 sporting rifle, stepped out under a shady tree. 

 Speaking to his men, he said, " Fall out, boys, and 

 come under the shade out of the sun ; we may 

 perhaps be here for some little time/ 1 He was 

 easy to recognise, that officer — had not I read and 

 loved every one of his books ? — F. C. Selous. 



That day I also had to go across to a King's 

 African Rifles battalion, which was with our 

 brigade. Great fellows were those original K.A. 

 Rifles. Alas ! there were not many of them or 

 their white officers alive by the end of the cam- 

 paign. Another incident that day remains in my 

 memory. The Germans were firing with one of 

 the 4*i guns off the Konigsberg more or less all 

 day, and their shells made a lot of noise but did 

 mighty little damage. When one burst some- 

 where in the vicinity, not really too close, at the 

 noise of the explosion a native, who was leading 

 two mules with water- tanks alongside us, got 

 such a fright that he fell flat beneath one of his 

 mules. He looked so comical that I could not 

 help laughing at him ; whereupon the nigger, 

 catching my eye and seeing my expression, im- 

 mediately broke into a grin himself and jumped 

 up, ready to enjoy the joke also. The negro is 

 not overburdened with nerves, and hence, when 

 trained, makes a first-class soldier. 



After a hard fight all day (during which General 

 V. Deventer, attempting with a large force of 



