176 WAR: CAMPAIGNING IN EAST AFRICA 



officers, of whom about fifteen were there, in 

 company with two Portuguese and two Belgian 

 officers. I, as the only English non-officer 

 prisoner in the place, was kept in a cell in the 

 actual boma building, outside of which was a 

 barbed-wire fence. The English officers were 

 not allowed to speak to me, but I found I had 

 fellow-prisoners in the shape of two Portuguese 

 infantrymen. They, however, were not so strictly 

 guarded as I was, for they were allowed to go out- 

 side the boma, and to speak to their officers. I 

 tried hard to persuade my companions to teach 

 me their language, but they were evidently not 

 inclined to do this. Through the freedom allowed 

 to the Portuguese, I managed to answer, of course, 

 in secret, a series of questions from the British 

 officers, who, naturally, were hungry for news : 



1. Is it true Kitchener is dead ? 



2. Which ships did each side lose in the Jutland 

 fight? 



3. Has the Canal been taken by the Turks ? 



4. Where are our troops now in G.E.A. ? 



5. How long do you think it may be before we 

 are relieved ? 



A young Konigsberg sailor was in charge of our 

 food and domestic arrangements : quite a nice 

 lad, who was anxious to learn English, and looked 

 forward to going to Australia " when the war 

 was over." But instead of going to Australia, 

 he died later of blackwater. Our food was at 

 first both good and plentiful, but I own I hardly 



