October 31, 1918 
LAND 6? WATER 
17 
With a Motor Convoy in German East Africa 
LEATHER clothing, woollen sweaters, five blankets 
each, and an enormous brazier made from an old 
twenty-gallon oil-drum with holes in it, burning in 
the banda, or grass hut, does not suggest Tropical 
Africa ; but it was with difiiculty that we were 
able to keep warm in our camp on the aerodrpme at Loll- 
kissale. There was a dense fog until tlje sun rose, and this, 
together with the high altitude, chilled the atmosphere. 
Before leaving. Corporal Fuller, who spoke several native 
languages, had a talk with one of the natives in a village near 
b^', and heard the following story, which he translated for 
our benefit : 
" Away by big water, long way away, big bird fly over big 
village screaming for its food. All the people run indoors, and 
big bird find no food, so it lay four eggs, and each egg set light 
to dig iilla)ie." _ - 
Evidently this was one of our seaplanes which had bombed 
Tanga, four hundred miles away, and the news had travelled 
that distance by word 
of mouth in ten days. 
Ufiomi was our next 
objective, and the 
road lav over dry river 
beds and black cotton- 
soil swamps, baked 
hard by the tropical 
sun. Engine troubles 
were the order of the 
day, and it was ex- 
hausting work getting 
forward. 
At noon we came 
upon a water hole. It 
was filthy water, but 
we were glad to find 
it, for our supply was 
low and the engines 
had boiled the whole 
div long. Dry bones 
of all kinds of animals 
sh'jwed us that this 
was the only pool for 
many miles. Poor 
beasts, they had 
crawled towards the 
water at some past 
time, probably only to 
find the spring uned up, and had died, leaving their bones to 
bleach in the sun. Dead horses lay about everywhere ; cer- 
tainly van Deventer had left his trail of white bones across 
Africa ! Horses had perished in thousands in his great advance. 
Tsetse fly, horse-sickness, and want of food and water had 
taken their toll of them. The hole was a ghastly place to 
camp, but the dread of running short of water was always 
uppermost in every man's mind, for in such an advance, 
through unknown country, and under a tropical sun, there 
was no certainty of finding spring or river. 
After a short halt we again pushed forward, and saw Ufiomi 
mountain in the distance. When we began to climb we came 
upon a well-defined track, but as the bush on all sides was 
very dense, night found us eight miles away from the native 
settlement. 
Next morning one of our cars refused to start, and though 
we worked until ten a.m., we were obliged to leave the jibber 
behind to be towed in later in the day. The country on all 
sides was well cultivated, millet and Indian corn being grown 
by the natives ; , and high upon the slope of the mountain 
we could see the mission station, towards which we climbed, 
camping beside a little stream. This was the best camp we 
ever found in German East ; we had good water and fresh 
fruit and vegetables from the garden of the mission station, 
which was afterwards taken over as a hospital. Whole 
native villages were hidden in the fields of millet, which stood 
from ten to twelve feet high, and it was strange to hear the 
chattering which went on at night and to see no sign of any 
one. Later on the whole place developed into a big supply 
camp and motor transport depot. 
Before leaving Ufiomi I learned that I had some mountain 
passes to negotiate before reaching Kondoa Irangi, so I 
decided to strip the cars of all woodwork, leaving only the 
flat platforms and no sides or hoods. 
Two days later we set out for Kondoa Irangi, Nanson 
having gone forward in a Crossley to inspect the aerodrome, 
MT. KILIMANJARO 
This photograph was taken from a distance of 15 miles in the'.early morning 
and to make all preparations for our aeroplanes wliich were 
to fly over immediately. 
After passing through groves of banana and sugar-cane we 
found ourselves in the mountains, and after two hours came 
to the foot of Pinas Heights. 
The gradient was one in four for three hundred yards, then 
one in eight for another two hundred yards, and about one in 
three for one hundred yards — and this, over -a rocky track 
and no road, was some performance ! 
.We had a wonderful view when we reached the top. Before 
us as far as the eye could see lay the vast Masai plain as yet 
unexplored by white men, and away to the south and west, 
sixty or seventy miles distant, mountain after mountain, 
unmarked on any map, and covered with dense tropical 
trees and thornbush. An unnamed river wound its way at 
the foot of the hills, and through our glasses we could see 
tall trees growing upon its banks. 
Near our halting place we discovered a Dutch settlement 
consisting oft|Boer 
families who had 
trekked ' north after 
the South African 
War and who were un- 
willing to live under 
British government. 
They were dissatisfied 
and discontented, and 
the Germans had 
found them bad 
colonists. Later on 
these Dutchmen were 
sent back to the north, 
as they were sus- 
pected of communi- 
cating with the enemy. 
We bought miik 
and eggs from them 
and moved forward. 
Thousands of dead 
horses and oxen lay 
rotting upon the hill 
top ; it was a horrible 
sight and the stench 
was awful. The poor 
beasts had toiled up 
the mountain after 
filling themselves 
with water at the pond, and had died, cither of fly or of horse- 
sickness, or had burst their hearts. We all experienced 
hearts at this altitude as we struggled forward across the 
mountains. The cars were continually in difficulties and one 
after another required help. The Daimler fell through into an 
ants' nest, and sank down three feet until she was resting upon 
her chassis. We had to dig her out, and the ants were not 
at all friendly ; then we coupled three Crossleys on to her 
and tugged her free. We found a double block purchase 
was one of the most useful things we had brought. 
These adventures took a long time, and we only advanced 
twelve miles after fourteen hours of incessant work, and 
night found us among big trees, too done up to build a zareba 
round our camp. We formed the cars into a square and 
slept inside it, setting two sentries, and trusting to Blotto 
to give us warning should anyone approach. He had proved 
himself a wpnderful watch dog and would awaken the camp 
at the slightest movement outside the ring fence. We had 
grown to trust his senses, and though he often got sworn 
at, we frequently blessed him, which I hope recompensed him. 
The convoy, now reduced to my Ford, three Crossleys, 
and the Daimler, toiled forward, up and down' hills 
and across dongas until about twenty-five miles from 
Kondoa, where I was met by Sub-Lieutenant Gallihawk, 
who had come to tell me that the road was impossible for 
the heavy lorries, and that six wagons and teams of mules 
were on the way to take off the loads. I learned at the same 
time that our two aeroplanes with Flight-Lieutenant Moore 
and Sub Lieutenant Dawson had flown successfully from 
Imbuyuni to Lollkissale, had landed there to take on oil and 
petrol, and had set out for Kondoa. They had been sighted 
to the east of the German position, and then had vanished 
into the blue, and nothing further had been seen or heard of 
them ! This was an awful blow ! Our first two machines 
had failed to get through, and all the division had been 
counting on them ! They were our only chance of locating 
