228 WAR: CAMPAIGNING IN EAST AFRICA 



During our return journey, though we avoided 

 all villages as far as possible, we went through 

 one ruled by a Jumbe bibi (a woman headman). 

 I am no believer in women's franchise, but I must 

 own that the village was far tidier and the huts 

 much neater than usual. The Bibi, decidedly 

 handsome, was lighter in colour than most of 

 the inhabitants in that region — owing no doubt to 

 some strain of Arab blood. She was, too, most 

 friendly to us, the first Englishmen, probably, 

 that she had ever seen, and showed us the way 

 herself for one long day's march. I wished, when 

 she left us next day, there had been some little 

 trinket that I could have given her for a present. 



As we began to work round Mweri again on our 

 way home, it became more necessary than ever to 

 be careful, especially with one of us sick and being 

 carried. It happened, and we could tell from the 

 guns that there was fighting, that we were very 

 close to Mweri on the day our Pemba column drove 

 the enemy from his position there. Kohl's six 

 companies, with the advantage of being in good 

 positions, put up a good fight all the morning, but 

 eventually began to get rather a rough handling 

 and had to fall back towards Maria. Our little 

 party, catching a German askari of the 17th 

 Company, learnt from our prisoner what German 

 pickets in front of us were to be avoided, and 

 thus we got through without any trouble. Three 

 more days later (after a third unsuccessful attempt 

 on the old fox Nabom) saw us at Manumbiri, which 



