But We Did Not Know That The
Stream Had Succeeded In Washing Away The
Foundations Of One Of The Log
Supports; and as
the weight of the trolley with the stone came
on the undermined pier, the rails tilted up
And
over went the whole thing into the river, just
as I snapped the picture. Heera Singh made a
wild spring into the water to get clear of the
falling stone, while Purshotam and the rest fled
as if for their lives to the bank. It was altogether
a most comical sight, and an extraordinary chance
that at the very moment of the accident I should
be taking a photograph of the operation.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the slightest, and
the stone was recovered undamaged with but
little trouble.
Not long after this occurrence my own labours
were one day nearly brought to a sudden and
unpleasant end. I was travelling along in an
empty trolley which, pushed by two sturdy
Pathans, was returning to the quarry for sand.
Presently we came to the sharp incline which led
to the log bridge over the river. Here it was the
custom of the men, instead of running beside the
trolley, to step on to it and to let its own
momentum take it down the slope, moderating
its speed when necessary by a brake in the shape
of a pole, which one of them carried and by which
the wheels could be locked. On this occasion,
however, the pole was by some accident dropped
overboard, and down the hill we flew without
brake of any kind. Near the bridge there was
a sharp curve in the line, where I was afraid
the trolley would jump the rails; still, I thought
it was better to stick to it than to risk leaping
off. A moment afterwards I felt myself flying
head first over the edge of the bridge, just missing
by a hair's breadth a projecting beam; but luckily
I landed on a sand bank at the side of the river,
the heavy trolley falling clear of me with a dull
thud close by. This accident, also, was happily
unattended by injury to anyone.
CHAPTER V
TROUBLES WITH THE WORKMEN
It seemed fated that the building of the Tsavo
Bridge should never be allowed to proceed in
peace for any length of time. I have already
described our troubles with the lions; and no
sooner did the beasts of prey appear to have
deserted us, for the time being at any rate, than
other troubles, no less serious, arose with the
workmen themselves. After I had discovered
the stone for the bridge, I sent down to the coast
for gangs of masons to work and dress it. The
men who were sent me for this purpose were
mostly Pathans and were supposed to be expert
workmen; but I soon found that many of them
had not the faintest notion of stone-cutting, and
were simply ordinary coolies who had posed as
masons in order to draw forty-five instead of
twelve rupees a month.
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