44 IV. JULY, 1913— JANUARY, 1914 
rowers give a yell of triumph, while black hands without 
number reach out for the boxes, the beds, the bags, 
and the vegetables we have brought from Samkita. 
" This is Mr. Christol’s.” “ This is Mr. Ellenberger ’s.” 
” This is the Doctor’s.” ” Two of you to that ; it’s too 
heavy for one ! ” “ Don’t drop it ! ” “ Be careful with 
the guns ! ” “ Wait ; not here ; put it over there ! ” 
and so on. At last the whole cargo has been distributed 
to the right places, and we go joyfully up the hill. 
Our immediate task now was to level the site for the 
hospital by the removal of several cubic metres of soil. 
After a world of trouble the Mission managed to secure 
four or five labourers whose laziness was perfectly 
magnificent, till my patience* at last gave way. A 
timber merchant whom we knew, Mr. Rapp, had just 
arrived with a working party in order to examine the 
neighbouring forest, in which he wanted to secure a 
concession, and he was staying at the Catholic mission 
in order to clear off his correspondence. At my request 
he put eight of his sturdy carriers at my disposal. I 
promised them handsome pay and took a spade in hand 
myself, while the black foreman lay in the shade of a 
tree and occasionally threw us an encouraging word. 
With two days of steady work we had got the soil 
cleared away and the spot levelled. The labourers 
went off with their pay, but on the way back, I regret 
to say, they stopped at a store and, in spite of my 
warnings, turned it all into spirits. They reached 
home in the middle of the night, blind drunk, and the 
next day were fit for nothing. But we were now in a 
position to begin building the hospital. 
