208 WAR : CAMPAIGNING IN EAST AFRICA 



It was indeed a Promised Land into which the 

 war-weary and ragged German askaris had been 

 led ; plenty of food (" We are tired of chickens," 

 said one captured askari to me), loot from the 

 Indian stores and Portuguese bomas, with women 

 in abundance. " Never," said a captured Ger- 

 man's diary of this period, " have we fared so well 

 during the last four years." 



The enemy soon got to hear that we were in 

 their neighbourhood, especially as we were getting 

 in the Government tax food from the various 

 villages, to prevent it falling into the enemy's 

 hands. However, we had our own troubles close 

 at hand, for a few days after making our temporary 

 camp and erecting shelters, a leopard, coming 

 into the camp at night (we had, of course, no 

 fires), seized and terribly mauled my white com- 

 panion. The horrible beast, sneaking in, had 

 seized his victim by the head, and, dragging him 

 off his stretcher, had actually taken him away 

 some fifteen yards before we were able to help him. 

 Being asleep at the time, I was rather muddled 

 for a few seconds when his shrieks started, and 

 I fear was all too slow in coming to his assistance. 

 It was not till he had cried out " chui " (leopard) 

 that the situation was made plain to me, and 

 meanwhile the man-eater was worrying him. 



Calling out to Henocksberg so as to get his 

 position (it was drizzling and pitch dark), I fired 

 to the left of his voice, and thereupon the beast 

 left him and made off. The poor fellow was very 



