TRANSPORTING A NAVY THROUGH JUNGLES OF AFRICA 



341 



hawser would then be fastened to the 

 boat carriage at the foot of the hill, the 

 other end being fastened to the drum on 

 the traction engine. The drum would be 

 made to revolve, thereby drawing the 

 boat to the top of the slope, the tractor 

 remaining stationary and the hawser coil- 

 ing on the drum. 



This method was, of course, fraught 

 with risk, as the snapping of a hawser 

 would mean destruction to the boats. 



FORTY-TWO TREK OXEN REPLACE 

 TRACTION ENGINES 



When we neared the top of the plateau 

 the nature of the formation of the road 

 made cabling and double banking impos- 

 sible ; cabling, because of the turns in the 

 route, and double banking, because the 

 road was too narrow for the engine to 

 return. 



Trek oxen and a block and tackle 

 were therefore brought into use. We 

 had three "span," 42 animals in all (14 

 to a "span"). Oxen are, of necessity, 

 slow, but of paramount value in pulling 

 great burdens on straight roads, and we 

 got over the turns by the following 

 method : 



A stout tree was selected about 20 yards 

 ahead of the spot where the boat stood 

 on its carriage in the trail. A block and 

 tackle — that is, a pulley block with roll- 

 ers, such as is used aboard any ship — 

 was fixed to the tree. One end of the 

 rope was attached to the boat carriage, 

 the other end passed through the pulley 

 block and attached by a cross-bar to the 

 rearmost pair of oxen. The oxen faced 

 downhill, in the opposite direction from 

 and parallel with the boat. 



All being ready, the native drivers then 

 began laying their long whips on the 

 oxen. The animals strained at the rope, 

 and slowly, bit by bit, the boat was drawn 

 up the hill until almost level with the 

 tree to which the block and tackle were 

 secured. The wheels of the boat car- 

 riage were then chocked up, the block 

 and tackle fastened to a tree farther up 

 the hill, and the whole performance re- 

 peated. 



Thus by a series of tugs and jerks, ac- 

 companied by the cracking of many 

 whips, the gradient was negotiated. The 

 road then becoming straighter, the block 



and tackle were dispensed with and the 

 oxen actually harnessed to the boats. 



BIG TREE SAVES WILD ENGINE FROM A 

 PRECIPICE 



Farther on, the road once more became 

 sufficiently hard for the tractors, and 

 after some heavy work we reached the 

 top of the plateau, 6,400 feet above sea- 

 level, on September 8, 1915. 



This, however, did not mean that our 

 difficulties were at an end. The down- 

 ward trek from the plateau provided 

 plenty of hard work and many thrills, a 

 great deal of cabling being done in easing 

 the boats down steep slopes. On one oc- 

 casion a traction engine got out of control 

 going down a hill, fortunately running 

 into a huge tree, which prevented it from 

 going over an almost perpendicular bluff 

 several hundred feet high. Again one 

 of the boats slewed across a bridge and 

 stopped only a few feet from the edge, 

 narrowly escaping a fall into the river 

 beneath. 



Bush fires annoyed us a good deal, and 

 we frequently had to make a hurried shift 

 to avoid being burnt out. 



Progress now became painfully slow, 

 indeed. Some days we hardly covered a 

 mile, although traveling from 5 o'clock 

 in the morning, through the heat of the 

 day, until 9 o'clock in the evening. The 

 king of the bush, the African lion, showed 

 his resentment of our intrusion upon his 

 domain by long, loud roars during the 

 night, but the glare from the campfire 

 held him at a safe distance. 



NATIVE VILLAGES WIPED OUT BY SLEEPING 

 SICKNESS 



A part of our route lay through the 

 areas infested by the tsetse-fly, the car- 

 rier of the dread African scourge, sleep- 

 ing sickness. From time to time we 

 passed through deserted native villages, 

 the inhabitants of which had long been 

 wiped out by this ravaging disease. 



Although all of us were badly bitten by 

 tsetse-flies, none suffered any ill conse- 

 quences, except by the discomfort and 

 pain caused by the bite. It is like the 

 prick of a red-hot needle. The flies can 

 bite through clothing quite easily, and 

 actually have to be knocked off, it being 

 impossible to shake them clear. 



