CHAPTER VII 



BACK TO DUTY 



Fully recovered, I returned to the front via 

 Dar-es-Salaam, which I now viewed under happier 

 circumstances. The beautiful little natural har- 

 bour is rather small, and apparently the narrow 

 entrance has its drawbacks. 



From Dar-es-Salaam I went to report to my 

 chief, the C.I.O., who was with the column at 

 Matandawala. There I found my old comrade, 

 " Buster " Brown, and had a lunch with him that 

 was remarkable for one of his cook's masterpieces, 

 a blanc-mange pudding flavoured with chopped 

 onion. 



My first duty, after getting six or seven I.D. 

 askaris and half a dozen porters, was to go north 

 and learn if there appeared any likelihood of a 

 German force working around from the north- 

 west to our lines of communication from Kilwa. 

 My six porters were Kavirandos — very black and 

 of the truest negro type. The Kroo boy is 

 generally quoted as being the purest type of 

 negro, but the Kavirando also appears to be a 

 very pure species. They are fine porters — happy, 

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