EAST AFRICAN CONFLICT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 179, 7 January 1915, Page 6

EAST AFRICAN CONFLICT.

TRIALS OF BRITISHERS. A LAKE ENCOUNTER. (Extracts from an interesting letter received from a volunteer in Bowker's Horse, British East Africa, by his father in England.) Nairobi (British East Africa), September IS.

We (Bowker's Horse) were suddenly called out at midnight (end of 'August) and told to entrain with our horses at once, which we did. We had to catch a party of 20 Germans advancing to wards mile 28 on the Magadi Line. My squadron went down to mile 28 to get round behind them, and the other squadron went to Kiu to meet them in the front. We arrived at mile 2S at about 4 p.m., were given two days' rations, and told to take nothing but blanket and ground sheet on the saddle. We rode until 1 a.m. anil camped. We got up at 8 and started off again, but found from the Masai the Germans had had a scare and gone back. We went after them down the German border, but they had got right back. It took us three days. By the time we had reached the border there was not an ounce of food among the lot of us. We had to live on meat for three days. At the end of the third day the (provision) waggon arrived; but instead of putitng food in it the fools had put in all our sparp kit, and one bag of rice, and one bag of mouldy poclio which the dog refused to eat. So for the next three or four days, we had to live on meat and rice, not a scrap of sugar, salt, milk, tea, or coffee, no knives, forks, spoons or plates. We cooked, ate. and drank out of our one ration tin. bits of stick and bowie knives serving aT knives and forks. You have no idea of how sickening it is to live on tough meat with not even ! a scrap of salt or bit of bread. Evcry- ] body got sick to death and cursed every- | body else. After seven days of this, we ' got'some, food, and were ordered back j to mile 26 on the Magadi Line, whither the headquarters and whole camp had moved. We started back with light hearts and lighter stomachs, thinking ' of the feed we should have when we got I there. All the ground we covered was in the game reserve, so we saw heaps of game mostly giraffe and eland. Every ' night we had to put four pickets round • the camp. These were placed about half - a mile away, and were not allowed ftres. ') Each picket had four men, one watch- ' | ed while the other three slept, and by ! )jove! it was a nerve-racking business. > \ The night I was on I did not actually see any lions, but they were roaring round me too near for my peace of mind

Tt was a pitch-dark nigbt, and pretty thick bush, and with the roars and noise in the lmsli, it was enough to raise your hair above the clouds. Other picket? were not so fortunate, Sorer? 1 , tini'M' they were sent up trees by lions appearing within twenty yards of them, anl one picket was chased by a huge rhino. We were, of course, forbidden to shoot, which made things ten times worse.

The trip knocked up several of the Nairobi nuts. I haven't slept under cover for three weeks. It is lovely to wake up and find oneself wet through from rain in the night; but, in spite of everything, I have never felt belter. When v?e got back to camp and headquarters at mile 20 on the Magndi line and were dismissed, we all (100) stormed the canteen, bought all the tasty sweet things we could get hold of, and proceeded to make pigs of ourselves. H was 4 o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived in camp. We ate and drank 0"' and 011 until about 8 o'clock and then turned in. At midnight we were told to tret in the train at or.ee with kit, but no horses; we were going to r"pulse a party of Cermans and nigger who were advancing on the town o ! Kismmi. We arrived in Kisumu at midnight, and found that the Germans bad been driven back bv the K.A.K.'a and s> few local volunteers. We embarked on one of the lake steamers, .and about (i in the morniiv: started down the east side of the lake in order to land at Kurugu (our destination) about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. When a mile or two off the shore, v,-e jaw the Herman flag (lyintr, hut no notice was taken of this, as the Hermanwere known to have gone awnv a few days before, and the place looked deserted. Everybody was either dozing ot eating, and we were (100 or 700 yards from shore, when suddenly two shots rang out and we heard the bullets sing over us.

Thcre were about 100 of us; we dashed to our rifles, and had barely lain down on deck, when three guns and n Maxim opened fire on us; the Maxim and a nine-poundesr on shore and two S'/j-pounders on a little boat which had been hidden in the reeds. .We were lying along the deck rails without a par tide of covering. We had a Maxim and a 21 pounder on board, and we all opened fire on them. Their shells began to drop around, but we were not hit. Suddenly we heard their Maxims

ring out, and I thought, "ITere's to death and glory boys," but we heard the

bullets sing over our heads, and found afterwards that they had punched a line of holes in the awning just above in. We put their Maxim out of order with a shell. One of their smaller shells burst on the funnel about 8 feet above where I lay. Luckily it burst behind

some woodwork, ami nobody was seriously Imrt. I felt a shower of t;j)lintors hit me, but only two or three went into my arms. This was the only time that they hit the ship with their guns. Their shooting was atroeious, otherwise they would have blown us to bits. As it was they managed to get away without much damage done. It was impossible to land, as their guns were so much superior. We are convinced that the first two shots were fired by mistake by frightened niggers. If these shots 'had 'not beeu lired, we should have steamed to within about 150 yards of the shore in total ignorance of their presence, and they could have sun': us in two minutes. This must have been their intention, and we are all thanking the two scared niggers for saving us from a watery and bnllety gra\e.

We Went on and picked up another

boat with a nine-pounder eun on board, and returned before daylight intending to b'ot them out, but lYoni! that they had evacuated the place immediately we had gone. We learned from the Indians that we had killed their commander and seriously wounded two others. ! enjoyed the three days on the lake immensely; it is simply lovely. We may be called out again any minute, as a big party of fiermans is supposed to be on the way here.