BACK TO DUTY 199 



trip, we made back to our main camp in the bush 

 near Mponda creek. My white subordinate (I 

 had been given an officer's commission after 

 getting away from the Germans) now came up 

 to join me, and it was a pleasant change to have 

 a white man with me, though we were not very 

 often together. 



From that time onwards I was engaged on 

 short trips similar to those described. Another 

 small column, under Lieutenant Thornton (a very 

 able I.D. officer), was working north of us not 

 many days away, and as they were working down 

 towards Madaba and Mlembwe, we went across 

 and cut that road in the bush above Mlembwe, 

 picking up a few prisoners. All the natives were 

 very friendly, and in each village there were sure 

 to be relatives of the ruga-ruga with me. At 

 one village I noticed particularly a man with 

 two frightful old scars on his head ; it was 

 horrible to look at them ; the skull seemed to 

 have been, at some time, cut open in two places 

 with a chopper. He told me that a leopard had 

 seized him when a child. 



In those days the local inhabitants always gave 

 us splendid information of the German's move- 

 ments, and I think but very little of our move- 

 ments were made known to the enemy. We 

 were entirely dependent on the local people for 

 information, and it makes all the difference to an 

 Intelligence man when he has the native residents 

 whole-heartedly on his side. 



