18 
LAND fe? WATER 
October 31, 1918 
the enemy's long-range guns and of bombing his positions. 
It cast a gloom over every one ; there is a terrible mystery 
about a machine lost in the blue ; pictures arise of the pilots 
stranded in the jungle, struggling forward without food and 
water, pushing on as best they can, with hope gradually 
dwindling, weak, a prey to wild beasts, and always before 
them the vision of death from thirst. 
I now decided to leave the Daimler behind to await the 
mule convoy, and to reduce tht^ loads on the Crossleys to 
700 lbs; each, and on the Ford to 300 lbs., only taking with 
us the absolute necessities for ourselves and for the advance 
party in Kondoa, who were on very short rations and in 
urgent need of suppHes The road was terrible, we crossed 
mountain passes at 10,000 feet up, and shd down steep liills 
and across rivere, until we finally descended into the valley 
fifteen miles from oyr objective. We were then obhged to 
follow the sandy bed of the river, and it was awful work 
getting along Deep dongas intercepted our path and wide 
sand patches without bottom. When the cars stuck it was 
heavy work getting them out 
Over the sand the Ford proved invaluable, and seldom got 
into trouble. The heavier Crossleys had twin rear wheels 
which helped them, but they constantly stuck and had to 
be dug out. For good all-round work in* difficult country 
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HON WORK IH GBRMAM EAST APSICA 
A railway bridge destroyed and seven trains driven in 
I cannot speak too highly of a Ford car, and the utility of 
our convoy would have been considerably minimised had it 
not included one of these strong and rehable, yet light weight, 
motors amongst its mmiber. 
Night set in before we arrived at the river bank outside 
Kondoa, and we took up a position close under a thick hedge, 
where we hoped the Germans who were only two miles away, 
could not see us. 
The town of Kondoa Irangi consisted of about twelve 
European houses, a church, an old Arab slave trading fort, 
and a nigger village on the opposite side of the river. The 
large native barracks had been burned by the Germans, and 
the 'church damaged by shell fire. It was a weird settlement 
and full of memories, being .situated on the old slave route 
from the Congo and West Africa, to Bagamayo on the east 
coast ; the latter having been at one time the biggest slave 
trading centre in Africa. Here at Kondoa Irangi in past 
days slaves from the Congo and West Coast met slaves from 
Uganda and the north, all, poor devils, marching together 
to the sea at Bagamayo to be sold by their Arab captors. 
"Ayah! Ayah!" "Forward! Forward!" The old dreaded 
call of the Arab dealers is still part of the native language, 
and many are the tales of cruelty and suffering which hnger 
in the district. 
The niggers were of a very poor type, having been 
thoroughly cowed by the Ga^mans, who had flogged them 
and taken away all their cattle, except a few goats. Cloth- 
A BUSH STATION 
Provisions and stares arriving. Natives travel on top o{ the truclts 
ing among them was'a minus quantity ;T_some had scraps of 
loin cloths but the majority wore nothing. We traded cotton 
with them for food, and a yard of calico bought three chickens. 
On the afternoon of our first day at Kondoa, word was 
brought that Fhght-Lieut. Moore and Flight-Sub. Lieut. Daw, 
son who had started to fly from Lollkissale were'safe. Moon- 
had crawled in to Ufiomi more dead than alive, and Dawson 
had been left beliin4 with some natives who had water, 
and who were to carry him in as soon as he recovered 
consciousness. 
I at once drove opt to our camp with the good news, and 
shortly afterwards Moore's report came to hand. 
Both machines had landed close together thirty-five miles 
out on the Masai plain. The pilots had lost their way, and 
had hunted for Kondoa Irangi far off to the east. Being 
unable to strike it, they had set out to return to Lollkissale, 
but had run short of petrol, and had taken accurate bearings 
of the position before beginning to trek to Ufiomi; This 
they had been obhged to do on foot, and it had taken them 
thirty-four hours to come in, the last fifteen without food 
or water. In the early dawn when the dew was on the grass 
•they had sucked the bottoms of their slacks to get moisture, 
but when the sun rose and the day grew hot, their tongues 
swelled and their sufferings increased. 
They were safe however, which was the chief thing, and it 
now remained to salve the aeroplanes, which as Kipling 
says "is another story!" It was done however by means 
of forced marches, and \Vithout loss to us, except a few 
unfortunate niggers who deserted or succumbed from sickness. 
The journey from Imbuyuni to Kondoa Irangi was a great 
trek. We had done three hundred and twenty miles in 
thirteen days. We had crossed swamps, riverg, and moun- 
tains, and had found a route for motor transport, where 
few if any white men had ever been before, and certainly 
no cars. Our track was used until the opening of the road 
to Dar-es-Salaam, some six months later, when pioneers were 
employed to build bridges, and to make a road ; and within 
a month cars were going backwards and forwards in six days. 
I. M B. 
HUN WORK IN GERMAN EAST AFRICA 
Another view ol railway bridge and trains destroyeaV 
