It Was A Strange And Amusing Sight
To See These Shelters Perched On The Top Of
Water-Tanks, Roofs And
Girders - anywhere for
safety - while some even went so far as to dig pits
inside their tents, into which they
Descended at
night, covering the top over with heavy logs of
wood. Every good-sized tree in the camp had
as many beds lashed on to it as its branches
would bear - and sometimes more. I remember
that one night when the camp was attacked,
so many men swarmed on to one particular tree
that down it came with a crash, hurling its
terror-stricken load of shrieking coolies close to
the very lions they were trying to avoid. Fortunately
for them, a victim had already been
secured, and the brutes were too busy devouring
him to pay attention to anything else.
CHAPTER VII
THE DISTRICT OFFICER'S NARROW ESCAPE
Some little time before the flight of the
workmen, I had written to Mr. Whitehead, the
District Officer, asking him to come up and assist
me in my campaign against the lions, and to
bring with him any of his askaris (native soldiers)
that he could spare. He replied accepting the
invitation, and told me to expect him about
dinner-time on December 2, which turned out to
be the day after the exodus. His train was
due at Tsavo about six o'clock in the evening,
so I sent my "boy" up to the station to meet
him and to help in carrying his baggage to the
camp. In a very short time, however, the
"boy" rushed back trembling with terror, and
informed me that there was no sign of the train
or of the railway staff, but that an enormous lion
was standing on the station platform. This
extraordinary story I did not believe in the
least, as by this time the coolies - never remarkable
for bravery - were in such a state of fright
that if they caught sight of a hyena or a baboon,
or even a dog, in the bush, they were sure to
imagine it was a lion; but I found out next day
that it was an actual fact, and that both stationmaster
and signalman had been obliged to take
refuge from one of the man-eaters by locking
themselves in the station building.
I waited some little time for Mr. Whitehead,
but eventually, as he did not put in an appearance,
I concluded that he must have postponed his
journey until the next day, and so had my
dinner in my customary solitary state. During
the meal I heard a couple of shots, but paid no
attention to them, as rifles were constantly being
fired off in the neighbourhood of the camp.
Later in the evening, I went out as usual to
watch for our elusive foes, and took up my
position in a crib made of sleepers which I had
built on a big girder close to a camp which I
thought was likely to be attacked.
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