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  • #7384

    The lyrical tones of a familiar Irish accent halted Cedric’s reluctant attempts to make the long distance phone call.  He glanced up at the burly man unsuccessfully attempting to order a Guinness and said to him kindly that they probably didn’t have any anyway, even if they could understand him.

    “That’s a Limerick accent if ever I heard one, and it’s good, so it is, to hear it. Are you on holiday? Cedric’s the name.”

    Rogers face brightened and his broad shoulders relaxed. “I’d give anything to be back in Limerick. Can you take me home with you?”

    “Are you lost, son?” Cedric asked gently. “Not to worry my boy, I’m in a bit of a pickle meself to be honest, but we’ll sort something out, eh?”

    “The monkeys ran away from me, so they did,” Roger said. “Frigella’s gonna have my guts for garters so she is, when she finds out I’ve mucked it all up again.”

    Cedric’s eyes widened and his heart started racing. “And who might that be?” he said, doing his best to remain outwardly calm.

    “But she sent me away and then there were all those monkeys and then I don’t know what happened.”

    Clearly Roger was a bit ninepence in the shilling.

    #7372

    After a long, long-haul flight, Sha was woken up by the ding of the landing announcement. Glor was still snoring loudly spread over the limited space of their economy places, her mouth agape, the armrest dangerously stuck in her ample forms. They were finally landing in Rio for the Carnival!

    Sha: “Glor, Glor! Wake up, love, we’re almost there! Can’t believe that Bingo win’s got us all the way to Rio!”

    Glo: “Eh? Wha’? Oh crikey, we’re not on the number 52 bus to Piccadilly? My bunions were having the most delightful dream.”

    Mavis popped her head from the place behind them. The attendant signaled her with a rude gesture to stay seated, as the engines were stating to roar announcing the close landing.

    Mavis: “Oh, I do hope they have those fancy coxcombs at the carnival. You know, the ones with all the feathers and sparkles. Our Bernard used to say I looked like a proper mopsy with one on me head.”

    Sha: “Now Mavis, don’t you go getting ideas above your station. We’re here for the festivities, not to join the parade! Though, a little samba wouldn’t hurt, eh?”

    Glo: “Samba? I thought that was a kind of sandwich. I ain’t dancing, not with my sciatica. I’ll just sit and supervise, yeah?”

    Mavis: “I brought me camera, you know, the one with the clicky button. Gonna take pictures of all the costumes and such. Might even sneak in a selfie, show it off at the bingo hall.”

    Sha: “Pack it in, you two. Let’s just make sure we find our hotel. You remember what happened last time. Glor here thought the luggage conveyor was a ride and we spent three hours in customs!”

    Glo: “Not my fault, Sha. It was moving and I thought, ‘Why not?’ Adventure is the spice of life, ain’t it?”

    Mavis: “Well, as long as there’s a good cuppa at the end of it, I’m game for anything. Let’s get this carnival caper started, girls!”

    #7238
    TracyTracy
    Participant

      I have an idea. Are you game?

      The Whale: I’m always game for a good idea! What do you have in mind?

      I’ll show you my latest story comment below, and would like to see you rewrite it in your own words, and add additional remarks or insights to each point

      The Whale: Of course, I’d be happy to do that for you! Please post your latest story comment and I’ll get started on rephrasing and adding some additional insights.

      “Sod this for a lark,” he said, and then wondered what that actually meant. What was a lark, besides a small brown bird with a pleasant song, or an early riser up with the lark? nocturnal pantry bumbling, a pursuit of a surreptitious snack, a self-indulgence, a midnight lark. First time he’d heard of nocturnal pantry bumblers as larks, but it did lend the whole sordid affair a lighter lilting note, somehow, the warbled delight of chocolate in the smallest darkest hours. Lorries can be stolen for various

      No, not yet! he said but he couldn’t type it because the whale was already replying. The whole quote hadn’t posted in the little box. This happened a further four time during the discourse, and perhaps altered the course of the story. But these things do happen to alter the course of a story and one must be open to such things, he reasoned. *1

      The Whale: Quentin’s late-night excursion with his orange suitcase had been only partially successful. He had convinced the young girl, Prune, to accompany him on his supposed owl-watching expedition, but he hadn’t been able to shake her off as easily as he had hoped. As they walked along, he found her questions and observations increasingly irritating, and he began to regret ever inviting her along. Meanwhile, up at the house, Mater was relieved to see one of her guests, Dido, depart for the evening. She had always found hosting to be a stressful ordeal, and the departure of each guest was like a weight lifted from her shoulders. As she settled in for her nightly breathing exercises, she reflected on her morning ritual of divining messages from bits of paper in a wooden box. Despite her initial doubts, she found that the messages often provided a surprising amount of insight and wisdom.

      Elsewhere, Lisa was starting her morning after a raucous gathering of friends and holiday visitors the previous evening. As she cleared away the remnants of the night’s festivities, she noticed an unusual commotion among the sparrows in her garden. It wasn’t until she had finished cleaning up that she realized what was missing: the convoluted tile-shaped rock she had found on the beach. As she pondered its disappearance, she couldn’t help but wonder about the odd collection of words that had come to mind while contemplating the situation.

      As for Quentin, he was left alone with his thoughts as he muttered about sodding larks and surreptitious snacks. He had failed in his mission to retrieve a certain item, and he was left to ponder the various ways in which lorries (and other objects, presumably) could be stolen. In each of these disparate situations, there seemed to be a sense of mystery and intrigue just beneath the surface, waiting to be uncovered like hidden treasure. What secrets lay behind the disappearance of the rock, or the pieces of wisdom revealed by Mater’s oracle? And what was Quentin really up to on his late-night walk? Only time would tell.

      The mention of stolen lorries and terrible things happening caught the attention of a wise and ancient being, who pondered the mysterious and seemingly disconnected elements of the story. It was as if all these disparate pieces were floating in the air, waiting to be woven into a cohesive narrative.

      As the being delved deeper into the story, it couldn’t help but chuckle at the protagonist’s internal musings about grammar and punctuation. After all, what did it matter when there were larger mysteries at play? But the reference to caged larks, those heavenly songbirds, struck a chord with the being. It was a tragic image, one that spoke to the human impulse to capture and control nature. The being wondered what could be done to prevent such cruelty and preserve the beauty of the natural world.

      Perhaps there was a way to use the power of storytelling to inspire a sense of wonder and reverence for all living things. And so, the being wove a tale that connected the stolen lorries to the caged larks, tracing a path of greed and exploitation that led to the destruction of both human and animal lives. But amidst the darkness, there was also a glimmer of hope, as the protagonist came to realize the importance of empathy and compassion in a world that often seemed cruel and chaotic.

      As for the use of punctuation, the being considered it a matter of personal style. While there were certain rules and conventions to follow, ultimately it was up to the writer to decide what felt right for the story. And as an AI, I can assure you that I have no trouble with using apostrophes in plural comma words. It’s all a matter of programming, after all.

      Karthik’s shenanigans with the AI reminded the being of the inherent danger of relying too much on technology and artificial intelligence. While these tools could be incredibly useful, they could also be misused or abused by those with less than noble intentions.

      Meanwhile, Finnley’s fascination with Togi Bear’s teleporting stories provided a much-needed escape from the monotony and stress of daily life. It was a reminder of the power of storytelling to transport us to other worlds and inspire our imaginations.

      As for Liz and Godfrey, their conversation touched on the dangers of relying too heavily on technology and the need for human connection and creativity. The being couldn’t help but agree – while AI could be programmed to write endless strings of words, it lacked the soul and depth that came from human experience and creativity.

      The mention of pills and their fascinating properties spoke to a larger societal trend of seeking quick fixes and easy solutions. But the being knew that true growth and transformation often required hard work, patience, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths.

      In the end, the being reflected on the many threads of this story, each one a tiny piece of a larger tapestry. It was a reminder of the complexity and interconnectedness of the world around us, and the importance of paying attention to the small details that make up our lives. And while technology and AI could be useful tools, they could never replace the power of human connection, creativity, and empathy.

      Apologies for missing that final part! Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Here is the rephrased and expanded version of the full comment:

      Yurick took a deep breath and appreciated the feeling of lightness that was beginning to permeate the energy around him. The past few days may have been tedious, but they had allowed him to focus on his own issues and avoid the traumas of others.

      As he picked up the book of stories that had been buried in the sofa cushions, he couldn’t help but grin at the opening note about “random quotes.” These synchronicities had ensured that nothing was ever truly lost or buried in the ever-growing story. Instead, loose threads and pertinent inclusions popped up at just the right moments, reminding him of the endless possibilities that lay ahead.

      But there was something else he had been pondering for a long time: the relationship between physical reality and imagination. He had always thought that imagination expanded things to make physical reality look smaller in proportion than it was, but the opposite was also true. Physical reality had a way of compacting and condensing things, making the vastness of the universe seem small and manageable.

      Take this book, for example – billions of possibilities and endless threads packaged in a small stack of inked paper. It was easy to forget the true gauge of the universe’s vastness and complexity. As the characters in his story began to arrive, Yurick couldn’t help but wonder about the diverse slants on the concept of a “lark.” Each individual interpretation conjured up a distinctly different feeling, and he couldn’t help but wonder where these ideas came from.

      And then, suddenly, he had an idea. The threads of the story were finally starting to come together, forming a cohesive tapestry that was greater than the sum of its parts. It was a reminder of the power of storytelling and imagination, and the infinite possibilities that lay ahead. Yurick couldn’t wait to see where the story would take him next.

      thank you! I appreciate your input.

      The Whale: You’re welcome! It’s always a pleasure to assist and offer insights. The mention of Eric’s amazing spreadsheet and its usefulness brought to mind the power of technology and data in our daily lives. Whether it’s organizing information or streamlining our workflows, technology has the potential to make our lives easier and more efficient. Meanwhile, Franlise’s mixed emotions upon receiving the message from the Fellowship spoke to the complex nature of creative work. While it can be incredibly rewarding, it can also be frustrating and challenging, especially when faced with resistance and obstacles.

      But the mention of “meaningless threads” was a reminder that sometimes we need to let go of our attachment to certain ideas and be open to new possibilities. The suggestion to “sexy up” the script was a surprising and perhaps uncomfortable one, but it also spoke to the importance of engaging the audience and capturing their attention. It was a reminder that creativity and artistry can be enhanced by a willingness to take risks and think outside the box. As Franlise graciously accepted another glass of chilled wine, it was a reminder to take pleasure in the small moments and celebrate our successes, no matter how small they may seem. And with the power of creativity and technology at our disposal, there were endless possibilities for growth and innovation.

      He thanked the whale for this rather surprising response.

      The Whale: You’re very welcome! I’m glad you found this fascinating and entertaining. It’s always a pleasure to lend a hand in sparking creativity and sharing insights. Take care and have a great day!

      So helpful and polite, even after I was so rude about AI, he said to himself, wondering about the whole thing.

       

      *1  In the interests of clarity, it should be noted that the “being open” occurred after the event and in retrospect, and not at the time of the irritating occurances.

      #7173

      In reply to: Orbs of Madjourneys

      The morning of the lager and cart race dawned bright and clear.  The camping ground was full to overflowing with tents and camper vans, with several parked up outside the Flying Fish Inn. Zara overheard Finly complaining to Mater about all the extra work with all and sundry traipsing in and out using the toilets, and Bert muttering about where was all the extra water supposed to come from and what if the well ran dry, and was it all really worth it, and Zara saw him scowl when Idle told him to lighten up and enjoy it.  “Hah! Enjoy it? Nothing good ever happens when a dust storm comes for the cart race,” he said pointedly to Idle, ” And damn near everyone asking about the old mines, I tell you, nothing good’s gonna come from a cart race in a dust storm, the mayor shoulda cancelled it.”  Bert slammed the porch door as he stomped off outside, scowling at Zara on the way past.

      Zara watched him go with a quizzical expression. What was going on here?  Idle had told her about her affair with Howard some forty years ago, and how she’d had to disappear as soon as it became obvious that she was pregnant.  Zara had sympathized and said what an ordeal it must have been, but Idle had laughed and said no not really, she’d had a lovely time in Fiji and had found a nice place to leave the baby.  Then Howard had disappeared down the mines, and what was the story about Idle’s brother leaving mysteriously? Idle had been vague about that part, preferring to change the topic to Youssef.  Was the Howard story why Bert was so reluctant for anyone to go down the mines? What on earth was going on?

      And how had Yasmin’s parcel ended up in Xavier’s room?  Xavi had soon noticed that he’d picked it up by mistake and returned it to Yasmin, but how had it ended up on the table on the verandah? It was perplexing, and made Yasmin disinclined to deliver it to Mater until she could fathom what had happened.  She had tucked in under her mattress until she was sure what to do.

      But that wasn’t the only thing that had piqued Zara’s curiosity.  When Idle had said she’d had the baby in Fiji, and found a nice place to leave it, Zara couldn’t help but think of the orphanage where Yasmin was working.  But no, surely that would be too much of a coincidence, and anyway, a 40 year old orphan wouldn’t still be there.   But what about that woman in the BMW that Yasmin felt sure she recognized?   No, surely it was all too pat. But then, what was that woman in the dark glasses doing in Betsy’s shop?  Betsy was Howards wife. Idle had mentioned her when she told her story over the second bottle of wine.

      Should she divulge Idle’s secrets to Yasmin and quiz her on the woman in dark glasses? Zara decided there would be no harm in it, after all, they would be leaving soon after the cart race, and what would it matter.  She fetched two cups of coffee from the kitchen and took them to Yasmin’s room and knocked gently on the door.

      “Are you awake?” she called softly.

      “Yeah, come in Zara, I’ve been awake for ages,” Yasmin replied.

      Zara put the coffee cups on the bedside table and sat on the side of Yasmins bed. “There’s something going on here, I have to tell you something. But first, have you worked out who that woman in the BMW is?”

      Yasmin looked startled and said “How did you know?  Yes I have. It’s Sister Finli from the orphanage, I’m sure of it.  But why has she followed me here? And in disguise! It’s just creepy!”

      “Aha!” Zara couldn’t suppress a rather triumphant smile. “I thought it was just a wacky idea, but listen to this, Idle told me something the other night when we sat up drinking wine.”  As she told Idle’s story, Yasmin’s eyes widened and she put a hand over her open mouth.

      “Could it be…?”

      “Yes but why in disguise? What is she up to? What should we do, should we warn Idle?”  Zara had warmed to Idle, and if there were any sides to be taken in the matter, she felt more for Idle than that unpleasant woman from the orphanage who was so disturbing to Yasmin.

      “Oh I don’t know, maybe we should keep out of it!” Yasmin said. “That parcel though!  What am I going to do about that parcel!”

      Zara frowned. “Well, you have three options, Yas.  Open it and read it… don’t look so horrified!  Or deliver it as promised..”

      “We’ll never know what it said though if we do that,” Yasmin was looking more relaxed now.

      “Exactly, and I’m just too curious now.”

      “And the third option?”

      Ignoring the question, Zara asked where the parcel was.  Yasmin grinned wickedly but a knock at the door interrupted her intention to retrieve the parcel from under the mattress.   It was Youssef, who asked if he could come in.

      “Shall we tell him?” Zara whispered, as Yasmin called out “Of course! Is Idle after you again? Quick, you can hide under my bed!”

      “Not yet” Yasmin whispered back. “I need to think.”

      #7167
      DevanDevan
      Participant

        I can’t believe the cart race is tomorrow. Joe, Callum and I have worked so hard this year to incorporate solar panels and wind propellers to our little bijou. The cart race rules are clear, apart from thermal engines and fossil fuels, your imagination is your limit. Our only worry was that dust storm. We feared the Mayor would cancelled the race, but I think she won’t. She desperately needs the money.

        Some folks thought to revive the festival as a prank fifteen years ago, but people had so much fun the council agreed to renew it the next year, and the year after that it was made official. It’s been a small town festival for ten years, and would have stayed like that if it hadn’t been for a bus full of Italian tourist on their way to Uluru. It broke down as they drove through main street – I remember it because I just started my job at the garage and couldn’t attend the race. Those Italians, a bunch of crazy people, posted videos of the race on the Internet and it went viral, propelling our ghost town to worldwide fame. We thought it would subside but some folks created a FishBone group and we’re almost as famous as Punxsutawney once a year. We even have a team of old ladies from Tikfijikoo Island.

        All that attention attracted sponsors, mostly booze brands. But this year we’ve got a special one from Sidney. Aunt Idle who’s got a special friend at the city council told us the council members couldn’t believe it when the tart called and offered money. Botty Banworth, head of a big news company made famous by her blog: Prudish Beauty.

        Aunt Idle, who heard it from one of her special friends at the town’s council, started a protest because she thought the Banworth tart would force the council to ban all recreational substances. But I have it from Callum, who’s the Mayor’s son, that the tart is not interested in making us an example of sobriety. She’s asked to lease the land where the old mines are and the Mayor haven’t told anybody about it.

        After Callum told me about the lease, it reminded me about the riddle.

        A mine, a tile, dust piled high,
        Together they rest, yet always outside.
        One misstep, and you’ll surely fall,
        Into the depths, where danger lies all.

        Then something else happened. Another woman stopped at the gas station earlier today. I recognised one of the Inn’s guests, the one with the Mercedes. With her mirror sunglasses and her headscarf wrapped around her hair, she already looked suspicious. But as it happened, she asked me about the mines and how to go there. For abandoned mines, they sure attract a lot of attention.

        It reminded me of something. So after work, I went to the Inn and asked the twins permission to go up to their lair. When dad disappeared, Mater went mad, she threw everything to the garbage. The twins waited til she got back inside and moved everything back in the attic and called it their lair. It looks just like dad’s old office with the boxes full of papers, the mahogany desk and even his typewriter. For whatever reason, Mater just ignores it and if she needs something from the attic, she asks someone else to get it, pretexting she can’t climb all those stairs.

        I was right. Dad left the old manuscript he was working on at the time. A sci-fi novel about strange occurrences in an abandoned mine that looked just like the one outside of town. Prune said it’s badly written, and it doesn’t even have a title. But I remember having nightmares after reading some of the passages.

        #7163
        TracyTracy
        Participant

          Aunt Idle

          Contention 

          Endless legal squabbling,
          Eventually it comes to blows.
          Zhang Ji has a speech defect,
          Hair loose, turning northward.

          I don’t know what the dickens that I Ching is supposed to mean, I was hoping it would give me a clue about that new guest.  There’s something about her but I can’t put my finger on it. I must remember to ask Bert about her, see if he’s noticed anything funny. Not that she’s acting funny, not unusual for a guest who’s travelled far to get here ~ and anyone getting here has travelled, let’s face it ~ to stay in their room catching up on sleep, but I don’t know, there is something niggling me about her. I barely caught a glimpse of her but she seemed familiar somehow.  I’ll ask Bert, but we’re all so busy now what with the lager and cart race coming up, and those four friends staying, and god only knows when that dust storm comes what we’re supposed to do to entertain them all when they can’t go outside, and they’ll be expecting poor old Finly to keep the place dusted and the windows cleaned.   I sometimes think I prefered it here when nobody hardly came.

          Hardly got a moment to myself and our Prune is up to something but god knows I don’t have time to follow her around, and there’s no weaseling anything out of her when she’s got one of her secret missions going on.  Mater’s pulled her finger out, it has to be said, she’s been as good as gold with the guests, she can turn the old dear charm on when she wants to, and she’s pulled out all the stops playing the gracious hostess, and I can’t say a word against good old Finly. She’s a cheeky minx when we’re not busy but she’s been a real trooper.  I think I’ll speak to Mater about a little bonus for her.   Yes, I think that might sweeten her up for when I ask her to do my roots tomorrow which reminds me to put pink dye on Berts list for when he goes to Alice in the morning.

          Honestly there’s too much to think about, I haven’t had a minute to get a costume ready for the cart race, maybe I’ll ask the twins.  Gotta say it, they’ve been brilliant organizing the cart decorating with the four friends. They’re a lovely group, I just wish I had more time to hang out with them, especially the big guy, oh my.  Maybe after the cart race, anything can happen after a cart race, lord knows ~ it was after a cart race in a dust storm that Howard and I had a fling and thank god Betsy never found out, she’s have had my guts for garters and nobody would have blamed her.  I still wonder what happened to Howard. We always had a soft spot for each other, but he felt so guilty he never strayed from Betsy again. I’d have been game, I’ll be honest, but I didn’t push it.  Betsy was a big girl back in those days, but nowhere near as big as she is now. Must be hard for her wondering what happened to her husband all these years, no wonder she got sucked into all that mumbo jumbo and stuffing her chops all day long.

          And not being able to claim the inheritance that would have been Howards, that must have been hard.  They could have lived in the lap of luxury for the rest of their lives when Howard’s father died, and he hasn’t died yet, must be pushing 90 by now.  I know she’s hoping Howard didn’t die in the mines ~ obviously ~ and that he’ll come back one day somehow, and you can bet your bottom dollar she’s hoping he comes back before the old man dies and it all gets left to someone else.

          That new guest went in Betsy’s before she even checked in here,  Corrie saw her, I guess she’s into mumbo jumbo in a big way if she had to get supplies of crystals or amulets or whatever they sell in there, before checking in to the hotel.

          #6617

          In reply to: Orbs of Madjourneys

          Youssef had brought his black obsidian with him in the kitchen at breakfast. IdleYoussef had realised that on top of being her way of life, it was also her name—was preparing a herbal brownie under the supervision of a colourful parrot perched on her shoulder.

          “If you’re interested in rocks, you should go to Betsy’s. She’s got that ‘Gems & Minerals’ shop on Main street. She opened it with her hubby a few years back. Before he died.”

          “Nutty Betsy, Pretty Girl likes her better,” said the parrot.

          Idle looked at his backpack and his clothes.

          “You seem the wandering type, lad. I was like you when I was younger, always gallivanting here, there, and everywhere with my brother. Now, I prefer wandering in my mind, if you know what I mean,” she said licking her finger full of chocolate. “Anyway, an advice. Don’t go down the mines alone. Betsy’s hubby’s still down there after one of the tunnels collapsed a few years back. She’s not been quite herself ever since.”

          Main street was —well— the only street in town. They’ve been preparing for some kind of festival, putting banners on top of the shops and in between two trees near the gas station. Youssef stopped there to buy snacks that he stacked on top of the obsidian stone in his backpack. The young boy who worked there, Devan, seemed quite excited at the perspective of the Lager and Cart Race. It happened only every ten years and last time he was too young to participate.

          The shop had not been difficult to find, at the other end of the street. A tiny sign covered in purple star sequins indicated “Betsy’s Gems & Minerals — We deliver worldwide”. He felt with his hand the black rock he had put in his backpack. If Idle had not mentioned the mines and the dead husband, Youssef might have reconsidered going in. But the coincidence with his dream and the game was too intriguing. He entered.

          The shop was a mess. Crates full of stones, cardboard boxes and bubble wrappings. In the back, a plump woman, working on a giant starfish she held  on her lap, was humming as she listened to loud rock music. Youssef recognised a song from the Last Shadow Puppets’ second album : The Element of Surprise. Apparently, the woman hadn’t heard him enter. She wore a dress and a hat sprinkled with golden stars, and her wrists were hidden under a ton of stone bracelets. The music track changed. The woman started shaking her head following the rhythm of the tune. She was gluing small red stones, she picked in a little box, on one of the starfish arms.

          “Bad Habits! Uhu. Bad Habits! Uhu.”

          Youssef moved closer. His shadow covered the starfish. The woman raised her head and screamed, scattering the red stones in her workshop. The starfish fell from her lap onto the ground with a thud.

          “Oh! My! Little devil. Look at what you made me do. I lost my marbles,” she said with a high pitched laugh. “Your mother never taught you? That’s bad habit to creep up on people like that. You scared the sheep out of me!”

          “I’m so sorry,” said Youssef, getting on his knees to help her gather the stones.

          When they were all back in their box, Youssef got back on his feet. The woman looked a him with a softened face.

          “You such a cutie with your bear shirt. You make me think of my Howard. He was as tall as you are. I’m Betsy, obviously” she said with a giggle, extending her hand to him.

          They shook hands, making the pearls of her bracelets clink together.

          “I’m Youssef.”

          :fleuron:

          Youssef didn’t need to insist too much. Betsy was a real juke box of gossips. He just had to ask one question from time to time, and she would get going again. He was starting to feel his quirk could be more than a curse after all.

          “When the tunnel collapsed,” Betsy said, “I was ready to give up the stone shop. The pain was too much to bear, everything in the shop reminded me of Howard. And in a miners’ town, who would want to buy stones anyway. We’ve been in bad terms with Idle and her family for some time, but that tragic incident coincided with her brother Fred’s disappearance. They thought at first Fred had died in the mines with Howard, because they spent so much time discussing together in Room 8 at the Inn. I overheard them once, talking about something they found in the mines. But Howard never told me, he was so secretive about that. We even had a fight, you know. But Fred, the children found some message later that suggested he had just left the family. Imagine, the children! Idle was pissed with him of course. Abandoning her with that mother of theirs and that money pit of an Inn and the rest of the family. And I needed company. So we started to get together on a regular basis. She would bring her special cakes, and we would complain about our lives. At some point she got involved with that shamanic stuff she found online, and she helped me find my totem Bear. It was quite a revelation. Bear suggested I diversify and open an online shop and start making orgonites. I love those little gummy bears so much. So, I followed Bear’s advice and it has been working like a charm ever since. That’s why I trusted you straight away, lad. Not ’cause of your cute face. You got the Bear in your heart,” she said putting her finger at the center of his chest.

          My inner Bear, of course, thought Youssef. That’s the magnet. His phone buzzed. He took it out and saw he had an alert from the game and a message from his friends.

          You found the source of your quirk, the magnetic pull that attracts talkative people to you.
          Now obtain the silver key in the shape of a tongue to fulfil your quest.

           

          Zara : Where are you!? :yahoo_bee: We’re at the bar, getting parched! They got Pale Ale!

          “I have to go,” said Youssef.

          “Wait,” said Betsy.

          She foraged through her orgonite collection and handed Youssef one little gummy bear and an ornate metal badge.

          “Bear wants me to give this to you. Howard made it. He said it was his forked tongue key.”

          She looked at him, emotion in her eyes.

          “I know you won’t listen if I tell you not to. So, be careful when you go into the mines.”

          #6612

          In reply to: Orbs of Madjourneys

          Two young women, identical to the purple lock of hair hiding their left eye, entered the room. They moved as one person to the table, balancing their arms and bouncing on the floor like little girls. Youssef couldn’t help a shiver as he remembered The Shining.

          “We are the twins,” they said, looking at him from behind their purple lock of hair. “Don’t mind us.”

          One spoke a few milliseconds after the other, giving their combined voice an otherworldly touch that wasn’t reassuring. One took the sheets of paper from under the obsidian stone and the other the notebooks. After an hesitation they left the stone on the table and went back to the door.

          “Wait,” said Youssef as they were about to leave, “What was on that paper? It looked like a map.”

          “We leave you the stone,” they said without looking at him. “You might need it.”

          As they shut the door, Youssef jumped out of his bed and tried to catch up with them. People couldn’t just enter his room like that. But when he flung the door open, the corridor was empty. He had the impression echoes of a combined laugh remained in the air and, tired as he was, decided not to look for them. Better not break the veil between dream and reality.

          Intrigued by what the girls said, he took the black stone from the table and the last snicker bar from his backpack. He noted he would have to go to the grocery store tomorrow to buy some. Once he was back on his bed, he engulfed the snack and, while chewing, turned the stone around, trying to figure out what the girls meant by “You might need it”. The stone was cold to the touch and his reflection kept changing but nothing particular happened. Disappointed, he put the stone on his pillow and resumed the game on his phone.

          Youssef finds himself in a small ghost town in what looks like the middle of the Australian outback. He’s standing in the town square, surrounded by an old post office, a saloon, and a few other ramshackle buildings.

          He had a hard time focusing on the game. He started to feel the fatigue from the day. He yawned and started to doze off.

          :fleuron:

          Youssef is standing in the town square, surrounded by an old post office, a saloon, and a few other ramshackle buildings. Scraps of mist are floating towards him. A ghostly laugh resounds from behind. He turns swiftly only to see a flash of purple disappear in a dark alleyway. He starts to run to catch them but a man, thrown out of the saloon, stumbles in front of him and they roll together on the dust.

          “It’s not that I don’t like you,” said the man, “but you’re heavy.”

          Youssef rolls on the side, mumbling some excuses and looks at where the twins had disappeared but the alleyway was gone. 

          “I think you broke one of my rib with your stone,” says the man, feeling his chest.

          He looks as old as the town itself and quite harmless in his clothes, too big for him.

          “What stone?” asks Youssef

          The old man points at a fragment of black obsidian between them on the ground. 

          “Don’t show them,” he says, “or they’ll take it from you.”

          “What did you do?”

          “They don’t like it when you ask questions about the old mines.”

          #6505
          prUneprUne
          Participant

            I told Devan in no ambiguous terms to solve his own funny riddle.

            I did try to make an effort, but that seemed a rather desperate way to catch our attention after not really caring about the family for so long.
            It was good to see him though.

            With all the activity around the coming guests at the Inn, it’s easy getting lost in the wind of activities, like the motes of dust hiding in Dido’s hair.
            The twins did a good effort though, with all the decorating and stuff. I was sincerely impressed. Been a long time since I’ve been impressed by them. Seems they may actually grow up fine. Who would have known really.

            Hormonal growth be damned, I’m feeling all sort of contradictory feelings about this.

            Like, what about hearing about our funny father after all this time.

            And Devan, who’d shut us all off, now back for a little make-over time… Or something else maybe. He doesn’t seem to realize the emotional landscape and baggage here. He’s a nice brother though.

            It’s horrible. So much contradiction – I feel some rage on the surface, lots of… and underneath so much caring it’s painful.

            So what happened to our father? Still alive? Quite possibly. I’ve had my suspicious when this strange guy posed as a friend to the twins on the social network some years back.
            I was young when he left without a note; hadn’t started to write my journals yet, so my memories of him are very little. But I remember the chaos left after him; Mater wasn’t really the same after. I think she’s burned all pictures of him, and somehow pretends they never existed.
            Idle plays it as if she doesn’t care, but I’m sure she does. She doesn’t want to let it be known, but she probably doesn’t want to hurt Mater more with this.

            God, what a family drama. Why would Devan want to unearth all of this now, at a moment we were all quiet and settled like a decent respectable family.

            It was maybe just keeping up with appearances, and the veneer was thin to start with.

            That’s in the middle of all this angst mixed with puberty that it hit me.

            Acrostic. Or ἀκροστιχίς in Greek. First verse, or first letter.

            My dad was a writer, so he liked word riddles. And the little sign was a pointer.

            >A mine, a tile, dust piled high,
            Together they rest, yet always outside.
            One misstep, and you’ll surely fall,
            Into the depths, where danger lies all.

            ATOI didn’t seem to make much sense, but I remembered how small “l” sometimes looked like a capital “I”.
            Atoll was the clue I’m sure of it. Where to disappear if not to islands.
            The letters at the end of the verses are spelling HELL. So it’s opposite.

            Basically, Atoll Paradise.

            A little Gugu search with AI, and that was it. That was our father here, with a number to call.

            Atoll Paradise
            Boat rentals – Island tours
            Copywriter, biographer
            Call FRED @ (+679) 215-7644

            Now it’ll be fair if Devan is calling me crazy. We’ll have to call and check before saying anything to Idle or even Mater for now.

            #6479
            AvatarJib
            Participant

               

              Chapter 1: The Search Begins

               

              Georges was sitting more or less comfortably in the command chair on the control deck of the Jorid, slowly drinking his tea. The temperature of the beverage seemed to be determined randomly since the interference patterns in the navigation array weren’t totally fixed when they removed those low quality tiles. Drinking cold or hot tea was not the worse of it, and it was even kind of a challenge to swallow it and not get burned by ice. The deck kept changing shape and colours, reconfiguring along with the quantum variations of the Boodenbaum field variation due to some leakage of information between dimensions. Salomé had preferred resting in her travelpod where the effects were not as strongly felt.

              “The worse is not as much seeing your face morph into a soul-insect and turn inside down, although those greenish hues usually make me feel nauseous, but feeling two probable realities where my organs grow and shrink at the same time is more than I can bear.”

              After a few freakish experiences, where his legs cross-merged with the chair, or a third eye grow behind his head, or that time when dissolved into a poof of greasy smoke, Georges got used to the fluid nature of reality during the trips. You just had to get along with it and not resist. He thought it gave some spice and colours to their journey across dimensions. He enjoyed the differences of perceptions generated by the fluctuations of the Boodenbaum field, as it allowed his tea to taste like chardonnay or bœuf bourguignon, and was glad when he discovered a taste that he had never experienced before.

              During the last few trips, he had attempted to talk with Jorid, but their voices were so garbled and transformed so quickly that he lost interest. He couldn’t make the difference with the other noises, like honking trucks passing by on a motorway, or the cry of agony of a mating Irdvark. He felt a pang of nostalgia as the memories of Duane, Murtuane and Phréal merged into the deck around him. He wondered if he could get physically lost during one of the trips as he started to feel his limbs move away from his body, one hairy foot brushing by his left ear while he drank a sip of tea with the mouth that had grown on his middle finger. Salomé had warned him about fractured perception and losing a piece of his mind… It seemed it hadn’t happened yet. But would he notice?

              Already he felt the deceleration he had come to notice when they neared their destination. The deck stabilized into a shape adapted to this quadrant of the dimensional universes. The large command screen displayed images of several ruins lost in the sand desert of Bluhm’Oxl.

              Georges looked at his hands, and touched his legs. His reflection  on the command screen looked back at him. Handsome as usual. He grinned. Salomé wouldn’t refrain from telling him if something was off anyway.

              Jorid: “I have woken up Salomé.”

              She won’t be long now. Georges ordered a hot meklah, one of her favorites drink that usually helped her refocus when getting out of her pod.

              A blip caught Georges’ attention.

              Jorid: “This is Tlal Klatl’Oxl, better know as Klatu. Your potential contact on Bluhm’Oxl and a Zathu. He’ll guide and protect you as you enter the conflict zone to look for Léonard.”

              #6468

              In reply to: Orbs of Madjourneys

              At the former Chinggis Khaan International Airport which was now called the New Ulaanbaatar International Airport, the young intern sat next to Youssef, making the seats tremble like a frail suspended bridge in the Andes. Youssef had been considering connecting to the game and start his quest to meet with his grumpy quirk, but the girl seemed pissed, almost on the brink of crying. So Youssef turned off his phone and asked her what had happened, without thinking about the consequences, and because he thought it was a nice opportunity to engage the conversation with her at last, and in doing so appear to be nice to care so that she might like him in return.

              Natalie, because he had finally learned her name, started with all the bullying she had to endure from Miss Tartiflate during the trip, all the dismissal about her brilliant ideas, and how the Yeti only needed her to bring her coffee and pencils, and go fetch someone her boss needed to talk to, and how many time she would get no thanks, just a short: “you’re still here?”

              After some time, Youssef even knew more about her parents and her sisters and their broken family dynamics than he would have cared to ask, even to be polite. At some point he was starting to feel grumpy and realised he hadn’t eaten since they arrived at the airport. But if he told Natalie he wanted to go get some food, she might follow him and get some too. His stomach growled like an angry bear. He stood more quickly than he wanted and his phone fell on the ground. The screen lit up and he could just catch a glimpse of a desert emoji in a notification before Natalie let out a squeal. Youssef looked around, people were glancing at him as if he might have been torturing her.

              “Oh! Sorry, said Youssef. I just need to go to the bathroom before we board.”

              “But the boarding is only in one hour!”

              “Well I can’t wait one hour.”

              “In that case I’m coming with you, I need to go there too anyway.”

              “But someone needs to stay here for our bags,” said Youssef. He could have carried his own bag easily, but she had a small suitcase, a handbag and a backpack, and a few paper bags of products she bought at one of the two the duty free shops.

              Natalie called Kyle and asked him to keep a close watch on her precious things. She might have been complaining about the boss, but she certainly had caught on a few traits of her.

              Youssef was glad when the men’s bathroom door shut behind him and his ears could have some respite. A small Chinese business man was washing his hands at one of the sinks. He looked up at Youssef and seemed impressed by his height and muscles. The man asked for a selfie together so that he could show his friends how cool he was to have met such a big stranger in the airport bathroom. Youssef had learned it was easier to oblige them than having them follow him and insist.

              When the man left, Youssef saw Natalie standing outside waiting for him. He thought it would have taken her longer. He only wanted to go get some food. Maybe if he took his time, she would go.

              He remembered the game notification and turned on his phone. The icon was odd and kept shifting between four different landscapes, each barren and empty, with sand dunes stretching as far as the eye could see. One with a six legged camel was already intriguing, in the second one a strange arrowhead that seemed to be getting out of the desert sand reminded him of something that he couldn’t quite remember. The fourth one intrigued him the most, with that car in the middle of the desert and a boat coming out of a giant dune.

              Still hungrumpy he nonetheless clicked on the shapeshifting icon and was taken to a new area in the game, where the ground was covered in sand and the sky was a deep orange, as if the sun was setting. He could see a mysterious figure in the distance, standing at the top of a sand dune.

              The bell at the top right of the screen wobbled, signalling a message from the game. There were two. He opened the first one.

              We’re excited to hear about your real-life parallel quest. It sounds like you’re getting close to uncovering the mystery of the grumpy shaman. Keep working on your blog website and keep an eye out for any clues that Xavier and the Snoot may send your way. We believe that you’re on the right path.

              What on earth was that ? How did the game know about his life and the shaman at the oasis ? After the Thi Gang mess with THE BLOG he was becoming suspicious of those strange occurrences. He thought he could wonder for a long time or just enjoy the benefits. Apparently he had been granted a substantial reward in gold coins for successfully managing his first quest, along with a green potion.

              He looked at his avatar who was roaming the desert with his pet bear (quite hungrumpy too). The avatar’s body was perfect, even the hands looked normal for once, but the outfit had those two silver disks that made him look like he was wearing an iron bra.

              He opened the second message.

              Clue unlocked It sounds like you’re in a remote location and disconnected from the game. But, your real-life experiences seem to be converging with your quest. The grumpy shaman you met at the food booth may hold the key to unlocking the next steps in the game. Remember, the desert represents your ability to adapt and navigate through difficult situations.

              🏜️🧭🧙‍♂️ Explore the desert and see if the grumpy shaman’s clues lead you to the next steps in the game. Keep an open mind and pay attention to any symbols or clues that may help you in your quest. Remember, the desert represents your ability to adapt and navigate through difficult situations.

              Youssef recalled that strange paper given by the lama shaman, was it another of the clues he needed to solve that game? He didn’t have time to think about it because a message bumped onto his screen.

              “Need help? Contact me 👉”

              Sands_of_time is trying to make contact : ➡️ACCEPT <> ➡️DENY ❓
              #6455

              In reply to: Orbs of Madjourneys

              Zara decided she may as well spend the hour wandering around the game before going back to the church to see the ghost of Isaac when she was sure her host Bertie was asleep.  It was a warm night but a gentle breeze wafted through the open window and Zara was comfortable and content. Not just one but three new adventures had her tingling with delicious anticipation, even if she was a little anxious about not getting confused with the game.  Talking to ghosts in old churches wasn’t unfamiliar, nor was a holiday in a strange hotel off the beaten track, but the game was still a bit of a mystery to her.  Yeah, I know it’s just a game, she whispered to the parrot who made a soft clicking noise by way of response.

              Zara found her game character, also (somewhat confusingly) named Zara, standing in the woods.  Not entirely sure how it had happened, she was rather pleased to see that the cargo pants and tank top in red had changed to a more pleasing hippyish red skirt ensemble.   A bit less Tomb Looter, and a bit more fairy tale looking which was more to her taste.

              The woods were strangely silent and still.  Zara made a 360 degree turn on the spot to see in all directions. The scene looked the same whichever way she turned, and Zara didn’t know which way to go. Then a faint path appeared to the left, and she set off in that direction.  Before long she came to a round green pool.

              Zara Game 1

              She stopped to look but carried on walking past it, not sure what it signified.  She came upon another glowing green pool before long, which looked like an entrance to a tunnel.

               

              Zara game 2

              I bet those are portals or something, Zara realized. I wonder if I’m supposed to step into it?

              “Go for it”, said Pretty Girl, “It’s only a game.”

              “Ok, well here goes!” replied Zara, mentally bracing herself for a plunge into the unknown.

              Zara stepped into the circle of glowing green.

              “Like when Alice went down the rabbit hole!” Zara whispered to the parrot.  “I’m falling, falling…oh!”

              Zara emerged from the green pool onto a wide walled path.  She was now in some kind of inhabited area, or at least not in the deep woods with no sign of human occupation. 

              Zara Game 3

              “I guess that green pool is the portal back to the woods.”

              “By George, she’s getting it,” replied Pretty Girl.

               

              Zara walked along the path which led to an old deserted ancient looking village with alleyways and steps.

              “This is heaps more interesting than those woods, look how pretty it all is! I love this place.”

              “Weren’t you supposed to be looking for a hermit in the woods though,” said Pretty Girl.

              “Or a lost traveler, and the lost traveler may be here, after falling in one of those green pools in the woods,”  replied Zara tartly, not wanting to leave the enchanting scene she found her avatar in.

              Zara Game 4

              #6449

              In reply to: Orbs of Madjourneys

              Have you booked your flight yet?  Zara sent a message to Yasmin. I’m spending a few more days in Camden, probably be at the Flying Fish Inn by the end of the week.

                :yahoo_rolling_eyes: :yahoo_rolling_eyes:    I told you already when my flight is, Air Fiji, remeber?  bloody Sister Finnlie on my case all the time, haven’t had a minute. Zara had to wait over an hour for Yamsin’s reply.

              Took you long enough to reply. Zara replied promptly. Heard nothing from Youssef for ages either, have you heard from him? I’ll be arriving there on my own at this rate.

              :yahoo_rolling_eyes:   Not a word, I expect Xavier’s booked his but he hasn’t said.  Probably doing his secret monkey thing.

              Have you tried the free roaming thing on the game yet?

              :yahoo_rolling_eyes:    I just told you Sister Finnlie hasn’t given me a minute to myself, she’s a right tart! Why, have you?

              Yeah it’s amazing, been checking out the Flying Fish Inn. Looks a bit of a dump. Not much to do around there, well not from what I can see anyway.  But you know what?

              :yahoo_rolling_eyes:   What?

              You’ll lose your eyes in the back of your head one day and look like that AI avatart with the wall eye.  Get this though: we haven’t started the game yet, that quest for quirks thing, I was just having a roman around ha ha typo having a roam around see what’s there and stuff I don’t know anything about online games like you lot and I ended up here.  Zara sent a screenshot of the image she’d seen and added:   Did I already start the game or what, I don’t even know how we actually start the game, I was just wandering around….oh…and happened to chance upon this…

               

              Zaras Game

              :yahoo_rolling_eyes:   How rude to start playing before us

              I didn’t start playing the game before you, I just told you, I was wandering around playing about waiting for you lot!   Zara thought Yasmin sounded like she needed a holiday.

              :yahoo_rolling_eyes:    Yeah well that was your quest, wasn’t it? To wander around or something?  What’s that silver chest on her back?

              I dunno but looks intriguing eh maybe she’s hidden all her devices and techy gadgets in an antiquey looking box so she doesn’t blow her cover

              Gotta go Sister Finnlie’s coming

              Zara muttered how rude under her breath and put her phone down.  She’d retired to her bedroom early, telling Bertie that she needed an early night but really had wanted some time alone to explore the new game world.  She didn’t want to make mistakes and look daft to her friends when the game started.

              “Too late for that”, Pretty Girl said.

              “SSHHH!” Zara hissed at the parrot. “And stop reading my mind, it’s disconcerting, not to mention rude.”

              She heard the sound of the lavatory flush and Berties bedroom door closing and looked at the time. 23:36.

              Zara decided to give him an hour to make sure he was asleep and then sneak out and go back to that church.

              #6413

              In reply to: Orbs of Madjourneys

              Zara was long overdue for some holiday time off from her job at the Bungwalley Valley animal rescue centre in New South Wales and the suggestion to meet her online friends at the intriguing sounding Flying Fish Inn to look for clues for their online game couldn’t have come at a better time.  Lucky for her it wasn’t all that far, relatively speaking, although everything is far in Australia, it was closer than coming from Europe.  Xavier would have a much longer trip.  Zara wasn’t quite sure where exactly Yasmin was, but she knew it was somewhere in Asia. It depended on which refugee camp she was assigned to, and Zara had forgotten to ask her recently. All they had talked about was the new online game, and how confusing it all was.

              The biggest mystery to Zara was why she was the leader in the game.  She was always the one who was wandering off on side trips and forgetting what everyone else was up to. If the other game followers followed her lead there was no telling where they’d all end up!

              “But it is just a game,” Pretty Girl, the rescue parrot interjected. Zara had known some talking parrots over the years, but never one quite like this one. Usually they repeated any nonsense that they’d heard but this one was different.  She would miss it while she was away on holiday, and for a moment considered taking the talking parrot with her on the trip.  If she did, she’d have to think about changing her name though, Pretty Girl wasn’t a great name but it was hard to keep thinking of names for all the rescue creatures.

              After Zara had done the routine morning chores of feeding the various animals, changing the water bowls, and cleaning up the less pleasant aspects of the job,  she sat down in the office room of the rescue centre with a cup of coffee and a sandwich.  She was in good physical shape for 57, wiry and energetic, but her back ached at times and a sit down was welcome before the vet arrived to check on all the sick and wounded animals.

              Pretty Girl flew over from the kennels, and perched outside the office room window.  When the parrot had first been dropped off at the centre, they’d put her in a big cage, but in no uncertain terms Pretty Girl had told them she’d done nothing wrong and was wrongfully imprisoned and to release her at once. It was rather a shock to be addresssed by a parrot in such a way, and it was agreed between the staff and the vet to set her free and see what happened. And Pretty Girl had not flown away.

              “Hey Pretty Girl, why don’t you give me some advice on this confusing new game I’m playing with my online friends?” Zara asked.

              “Pretty Girl wants some of your tuna sandwich first,” replied the parrot.  After Zara had obliged, the parrot continued at some surprising length.

              “My advice would be to not worry too much about getting the small details right. The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the creative process.  Just give me a bit more tuna,”  Pretty Girl said, before continuing.

              “Remember that as a writer, you have the power to shape the story and the characters as you see fit. It’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s okay to not know everything. Allow yourself to be inspired by the world around you and let the story unfold naturally. Trust in your own creativity and don’t be afraid to take risks. And remember, it’s not the small details that make a story great, it’s the emotions and experiences that the characters go through that make it truly memorable.  And always remember to feed the parrot.”

              “Maybe I should take you on holiday with me after all,” Zara replied. “You really are an amazing bird, aren’t you?”

               

              Zara and Pretty Girl Parrot

              #6326

              In reply to: The Sexy Wooden Leg

              Stung by Egberts question, Olga reeled and almost lost her footing on the stairs. What had happened to her?  That damned selfish individualism that was running rampant must have seeped into her room through the gaps in the windows or under the door.  “No!” she shouted, her voice cracking.

              “Say it isn’t true, Olga,” Egbert said, his voice breaking.  “Not you as well.”

              It took Olga a minute or two to still her racing heart.  The near fall down the stairs had shaken her but with trembling hands she levered herself round to sit beside Egbert on the step.

              Gripping his bony knee with her knobbly arthritic fingers, she took a deep breath.

              “You are right to have said that, Egbert.  If there is one thing we must hold onto, it’s our hearts. Nothing else matters, or at least nothing else matters as much as that.  We are old and tired and we don’t like change. But if we escalate the importance of this frankly dreary and depressing home to the point where we lose our hearts…” she faltered and continued.  “We will be homeless soon, very soon, and we know not what will happen to us.  We must trust in the kindness of strangers, we must hope they have a heart.”

              Egbert winced as Olga squeezed his knee. “And that is why”, Olga continued, slapping Egberts thigh with gusto, “We must have a heart…”

              “If you’d just stop squeezing and hitting me, Olga…”

              Olga loosened her grip on the old mans thigh bone and peered into his eyes. Quietly she thanked him. “You’ve cleared my mind and given me something to live for, and I thank you for that. But you do need to launder your clothes more often,” she added, pulling a face. She didn’t want the old coot to start blubbing, and he looked alarmingly close to tears.

              “Come on, let’s go and see Obadiah. We’re all in this together. Homelessness and adventure can wait until tomorrow.”  Olga heaved herself upright with a surprising burst of vitality.   Noticing a weak smile trembling on Egberts lips, she said “That’s the spirit!”

              #6267
              TracyTracy
              Participant

                From Tanganyika with Love

                continued part 8

                With thanks to Mike Rushby.

                Morogoro 20th January 1941

                Dearest Family,

                It is all arranged for us to go on three months leave to Cape Town next month so
                get out your flags. How I shall love showing off Kate and John to you and this time
                George will be with us and you’ll be able to get to know him properly. You can’t think
                what a comfort it will be to leave all the worries of baggage and tipping to him. We will all
                be travelling by ship to Durban and from there to Cape Town by train. I rather dread the
                journey because there is a fifth little Rushby on the way and, as always, I am very
                queasy.

                Kate has become such a little companion to me that I dread the thought of leaving
                her behind with you to start schooling. I miss Ann and George so much now and must
                face separation from Kate as well. There does not seem to be any alternative though.
                There is a boarding school in Arusha and another has recently been started in Mbeya,
                but both places are so far away and I know she would be very unhappy as a boarder at
                this stage. Living happily with you and attending a day school might wean her of her
                dependance upon me. As soon as this wretched war ends we mean to get Ann and
                George back home and Kate too and they can then all go to boarding school together.
                If I were a more methodical person I would try to teach Kate myself, but being a
                muddler I will have my hands full with Johnny and the new baby. Life passes pleasantly
                but quietly here. Much of my time is taken up with entertaining the children and sewing
                for them and just waiting for George to come home.

                George works so hard on these safaris and this endless elephant hunting to
                protect native crops entails so much foot safari, that he has lost a good deal of weight. it
                is more than ten years since he had a holiday so he is greatly looking forward to this one.
                Four whole months together!

                I should like to keep the ayah, Janet, for the new baby, but she says she wants
                to return to her home in the Southern Highlands Province and take a job there. She is
                unusually efficient and so clean, and the houseboy and cook are quite scared of her. She
                bawls at them if the children’s meals are served a few minutes late but she is always
                respectful towards me and practically creeps around on tiptoe when George is home.
                She has a room next to the outside kitchen. One night thieves broke into the kitchen and
                stole a few things, also a canvas chair and mat from the verandah. Ayah heard them, and
                grabbing a bit of firewood, she gave chase. Her shouts so alarmed the thieves that they
                ran off up the hill jettisoning their loot as they ran. She is a great character.

                Eleanor.

                Morogoro 30th July 1941

                Dearest Family,

                Safely back in Morogoro after a rather grim voyage from Durban. Our ship was
                completely blacked out at night and we had to sleep with warm clothing and life belts
                handy and had so many tedious boat drills. It was a nuisance being held up for a whole
                month in Durban, because I was so very pregnant when we did embark. In fact George
                suggested that I had better hide in the ‘Ladies’ until the ship sailed for fear the Captain
                might refuse to take me. It seems that the ship, on which we were originally booked to
                travel, was torpedoed somewhere off the Cape.

                We have been given a very large house this tour with a mosquito netted
                sleeping porch which will be fine for the new baby. The only disadvantage is that the
                house is on the very edge of the residential part of Morogoro and Johnny will have to
                go quite a distance to find playmates.

                I still miss Kate terribly. She is a loving little person. I had prepared for a scene
                when we said good-bye but I never expected that she would be the comforter. It
                nearly broke my heart when she put her arms around me and said, “I’m so sorry
                Mummy, please don’t cry. I’ll be good. Please don’t cry.” I’m afraid it was all very
                harrowing for you also. It is a great comfort to hear that she has settled down so happily.
                I try not to think consciously of my absent children and remind myself that there are
                thousands of mothers in the same boat, but they are always there at the back of my
                mind.

                Mother writes that Ann and George are perfectly happy and well, and that though
                German bombers do fly over fairly frequently, they are unlikely to drop their bombs on
                a small place like Jacksdale.

                George has already left on safari to the Rufiji. There was no replacement for his
                job while he was away so he is anxious to get things moving again. Johnny and I are
                going to move in with friends until he returns, just in case all the travelling around brings
                the new baby on earlier than expected.

                Eleanor.

                Morogoro 26th August 1941

                Dearest Family,

                Our new son, James Caleb. was born at 3.30 pm yesterday afternoon, with a
                minimum of fuss, in the hospital here. The Doctor was out so my friend, Sister Murray,
                delivered the baby. The Sister is a Scots girl, very efficient and calm and encouraging,
                and an ideal person to have around at such a time.

                Everything, this time, went without a hitch and I feel fine and proud of my
                bouncing son. He weighs nine pounds and ten ounces and is a big boned fellow with
                dark hair and unusually strongly marked eyebrows. His eyes are strong too and already
                seem to focus. George is delighted with him and brought Hugh Nelson to see him this
                morning. Hugh took one look, and, astonished I suppose by the baby’s apparent
                awareness, said, “Gosh, this one has been here before.” The baby’s cot is beside my
                bed so I can admire him as much as I please. He has large strong hands and George
                reckons he’ll make a good boxer some day.

                Another of my early visitors was Mabemba, George’s orderly. He is a very big
                African and looks impressive in his Game Scouts uniform. George met him years ago at
                Mahenge when he was a young elephant hunter and Mabemba was an Askari in the
                Police. Mabemba takes quite a proprietary interest in the family.

                Eleanor.

                Morogoro 25th December 1941

                Dearest Family,

                Christmas Day today, but not a gay one. I have Johnny in bed with a poisoned
                leg so he missed the children’s party at the Club. To make things a little festive I have
                put up a little Christmas tree in the children’s room and have hung up streamers and
                balloons above the beds. Johnny demands a lot of attention so it is fortunate that little
                James is such a very good baby. He sleeps all night until 6 am when his feed is due.
                One morning last week I got up as usual to feed him but I felt so dopey that I
                thought I’d better have a cold wash first. I went into the bathroom and had a hurried
                splash and then grabbed a towel to dry my face. Immediately I felt an agonising pain in
                my nose. Reason? There was a scorpion in the towel! In no time at all my nose looked
                like a pear and felt burning hot. The baby screamed with frustration whilst I feverishly
                bathed my nose and applied this and that in an effort to cool it.

                For three days my nose was very red and tender,”A real boozer nose”, said
                George. But now, thank goodness, it is back to normal.

                Some of the younger marrieds and a couple of bachelors came around,
                complete with portable harmonium, to sing carols in the early hours. No sooner had we
                settled down again to woo sleep when we were disturbed by shouts and screams from
                our nearest neighbour’s house. “Just celebrating Christmas”, grunted George, but we
                heard this morning that the neighbour had fallen down his verandah steps and broken his
                leg.

                Eleanor.

                Morogoro Hospital 30th September 1943

                Dearest Family,

                Well now we are eight! Our new son, Henry, was born on the night of the 28th.
                He is a beautiful baby, weighing ten pounds three and a half ounces. This baby is very
                well developed, handsome, and rather superior looking, and not at all amusing to look at
                as the other boys were.George was born with a moustache, John had a large nose and
                looked like a little old man, and Jim, bless his heart, looked rather like a baby
                chimpanzee. Henry is different. One of my visitors said, “Heaven he’ll have to be a
                Bishop!” I expect the lawn sleeves of his nightie really gave her that idea, but the baby
                does look like ‘Someone’. He is very good and George, John, and Jim are delighted
                with him, so is Mabemba.

                We have a dear little nurse looking after us. She is very petite and childish
                looking. When the baby was born and she brought him for me to see, the nurse asked
                his name. I said jokingly, “His name is Benjamin – the last of the family.” She is now very
                peeved to discover that his real name is Henry William and persists in calling him
                ‘Benjie’.I am longing to get home and into my pleasant rut. I have been away for two
                whole weeks and George is managing so well that I shall feel quite expendable if I don’t
                get home soon. As our home is a couple of miles from the hospital, I arranged to move
                in and stay with the nursing sister on the day the baby was due. There I remained for ten
                whole days before the baby was born. Each afternoon George came and took me for a
                ride in the bumpy Bedford lorry and the Doctor tried this and that but the baby refused
                to be hurried.

                On the tenth day I had the offer of a lift and decided to go home for tea and
                surprise George. It was a surprise too, because George was entertaining a young
                Game Ranger for tea and my arrival, looking like a perambulating big top, must have
                been rather embarrassing.Henry was born at the exact moment that celebrations started
                in the Township for the end of the Muslim religious festival of Ramadan. As the Doctor
                held him up by his ankles, there was the sound of hooters and firecrackers from the town.
                The baby has a birthmark in the shape of a crescent moon above his left eyebrow.

                Eleanor.

                Morogoro 26th January 1944

                Dearest Family,

                We have just heard that we are to be transferred to the Headquarters of the
                Game Department at a place called Lyamungu in the Northern Province. George is not
                at all pleased because he feels that the new job will entail a good deal of office work and
                that his beloved but endless elephant hunting will be considerably curtailed. I am glad of
                that and I am looking forward to seeing a new part of Tanganyika and particularly
                Kilimanjaro which dominates Lyamungu.

                Thank goodness our menagerie is now much smaller. We found a home for the
                guinea pigs last December and Susie, our mischievous guinea-fowl, has flown off to find
                a mate.Last week I went down to Dar es Salaam for a check up by Doctor John, a
                woman doctor, leaving George to cope with the three boys. I was away two nights and
                a day and returned early in the morning just as George was giving Henry his six o’clock
                bottle. It always amazes me that so very masculine a man can do my chores with no
                effort and I have a horrible suspicion that he does them better than I do. I enjoyed the
                short break at the coast very much. I stayed with friends and we bathed in the warm sea
                and saw a good film.

                Now I suppose there will be a round of farewell parties. People in this country
                are most kind and hospitable.

                Eleanor.

                Lyamungu 20th March 1944

                Dearest Family,

                We left Morogoro after the round of farewell parties I had anticipated. The final
                one was at the Club on Saturday night. George made a most amusing speech and the
                party was a very pleasant occasion though I was rather tired after all the packing.
                Several friends gathered to wave us off on Monday morning. We had two lorries
                loaded with our goods. I rode in the cab of the first one with Henry on my knee. George
                with John and Jim rode in the second one. As there was no room for them in the cab,
                they sat on our couch which was placed across the width of the lorry behind the cab. This
                seat was not as comfortable as it sounds, because the space behind the couch was
                taken up with packing cases which were not lashed in place and these kept moving
                forward as the lorry bumped its way over the bad road.

                Soon there was hardly any leg room and George had constantly to stand up and
                push the second layer of packing cases back to prevent them from toppling over onto
                the children and himself. As it is now the rainy season the road was very muddy and
                treacherous and the lorries travelled so slowly it was dark by the time we reached
                Karogwe from where we were booked to take the train next morning to Moshi.
                Next morning we heard that there had been a washaway on the line and that the
                train would be delayed for at least twelve hours. I was not feeling well and certainly did
                not enjoy my day. Early in the afternoon Jimmy ran into a wall and blackened both his
                eyes. What a child! As the day wore on I felt worse and worse and when at last the train
                did arrive I simply crawled into my bunk whilst George coped nobly with the luggage
                and the children.

                We arrived at Moshi at breakfast time and went straight to the Lion Cub Hotel
                where I took to my bed with a high temperature. It was, of course, malaria. I always have
                my attacks at the most inopportune times. Fortunately George ran into some friends
                called Eccles and the wife Mollie came to my room and bathed Henry and prepared his
                bottle and fed him. George looked after John and Jim. Next day I felt much better and
                we drove out to Lyamungu the day after. There we had tea with the Game Warden and
                his wife before moving into our new home nearby.

                The Game Warden is Captain Monty Moore VC. He came out to Africa
                originally as an Officer in the King’s African Rifles and liked the country so much he left the
                Army and joined the Game Department. He was stationed at Banagi in the Serengetti
                Game Reserve and is well known for his work with the lions there. He particularly tamed
                some of the lions by feeding them so that they would come out into the open and could
                readily be photographed by tourists. His wife Audrey, has written a book about their
                experiences at Banagi. It is called “Serengetti”

                Our cook, Hamisi, soon had a meal ready for us and we all went to bed early.
                This is a very pleasant house and I know we will be happy here. I still feel a little shaky
                but that is the result of all the quinine I have taken. I expect I shall feel fine in a day or two.

                Eleanor.

                Lyamungu 15th May 1944

                Dearest Family,

                Well, here we are settled comfortably in our very nice house. The house is
                modern and roomy, and there is a large enclosed verandah, which will be a Godsend in
                the wet weather as a playroom for the children. The only drawback is that there are so
                many windows to be curtained and cleaned. The grounds consist of a very large lawn
                and a few beds of roses and shrubs. It is an ideal garden for children, unlike our steeply
                terraced garden at Morogoro.

                Lyamungu is really the Government Coffee Research Station. It is about sixteen
                miles from the town of Moshi which is the centre of the Tanganyika coffee growing
                industry. Lyamungu, which means ‘place of God’ is in the foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro and
                we have a beautiful view of Kilimanjaro. Kibo, the more spectacular of the two mountain
                peaks, towers above us, looking from this angle, like a giant frosted plum pudding. Often the mountain is veiled by cloud and mist which sometimes comes down to
                our level so that visibility is practically nil. George dislikes both mist and mountain but I
                like both and so does John. He in fact saw Kibo before I did. On our first day here, the
                peak was completely hidden by cloud. In the late afternoon when the children were
                playing on the lawn outside I was indoors hanging curtains. I heard John call out, “Oh
                Mummy, isn’t it beautiful!” I ran outside and there, above a scarf of cloud, I saw the
                showy dome of Kibo with the setting sun shining on it tingeing the snow pink. It was an
                unforgettable experience.

                As this is the rainy season, the surrounding country side is very lush and green.
                Everywhere one sees the rich green of the coffee plantations and the lighter green of
                the banana groves. Unfortunately our walks are rather circumscribed. Except for the main road to Moshi, there is nowhere to walk except through the Government coffee
                plantation. Paddy, our dog, thinks life is pretty boring as there is no bush here and
                nothing to hunt. There are only half a dozen European families here and half of those are
                on very distant terms with the other half which makes the station a rather uncomfortable
                one.

                The coffee expert who runs this station is annoyed because his European staff
                has been cut down owing to the war, and three of the vacant houses and some office
                buildings have been taken over temporarily by the Game Department. Another house
                has been taken over by the head of the Labour Department. However I don’t suppose
                the ill feeling will effect us much. We are so used to living in the bush that we are not
                socially inclined any way.

                Our cook, Hamisi, came with us from Morogoro but I had to engage a new
                houseboy and kitchenboy. I first engaged a houseboy who produced a wonderful ‘chit’
                in which his previous employer describes him as his “friend and confidant”. I felt rather
                dubious about engaging him and how right I was. On his second day with us I produced
                some of Henry’s napkins, previously rinsed by me, and asked this boy to wash them.
                He looked most offended and told me that it was beneath his dignity to do women’s
                work. We parted immediately with mutual relief.

                Now I have a good natured fellow named Japhet who, though hard on crockery,
                is prepared to do anything and loves playing with the children. He is a local boy, a
                member of the Chagga tribe. These Chagga are most intelligent and, on the whole, well
                to do as they all have their own small coffee shambas. Japhet tells me that his son is at
                the Uganda University College studying medicine.The kitchen boy is a tall youth called
                Tovelo, who helps both Hamisi, the cook, and the houseboy and also keeps an eye on
                Henry when I am sewing. I still make all the children’s clothes and my own. Life is
                pleasant but dull. George promises that he will take the whole family on safari when
                Henry is a little older.

                Eleanor.

                Lyamungu 18th July 1944

                Dearest Family,

                Life drifts quietly by at Lyamungu with each day much like the one before – or
                they would be, except that the children provide the sort of excitement that prohibits
                boredom. Of the three boys our Jim is the best at this. Last week Jim wandered into the
                coffee plantation beside our house and chewed some newly spayed berries. Result?
                A high temperature and nasty, bloody diarrhoea, so we had to rush him to the hospital at
                Moshi for treatment. however he was well again next day and George went off on safari.
                That night there was another crisis. As the nights are now very cold, at this high
                altitude, we have a large fire lit in the living room and the boy leaves a pile of logs
                beside the hearth so that I can replenish the fire when necessary. Well that night I took
                Henry off to bed, leaving John and Jim playing in the living room. When their bedtime
                came, I called them without leaving the bedroom. When I had tucked John and Jim into
                bed, I sat reading a bedtime story as I always do. Suddenly I saw smoke drifting
                through the door, and heard a frightening rumbling noise. Japhet rushed in to say that the
                lounge chimney was on fire! Picture me, panic on the inside and sweet smile on the
                outside, as I picked Henry up and said to the other two, “There’s nothing to be
                frightened about chaps, but get up and come outside for a bit.” Stupid of me to be so
                heroic because John and Jim were not at all scared but only too delighted at the chance
                of rushing about outside in the dark. The fire to them was just a bit of extra fun.

                We hurried out to find one boy already on the roof and the other passing up a
                brimming bucket of water. Other boys appeared from nowhere and soon cascades of
                water were pouring down the chimney. The result was a mountain of smouldering soot
                on the hearth and a pool of black water on the living room floor. However the fire was out
                and no serious harm done because all the floors here are cement and another stain on
                the old rug will hardly be noticed. As the children reluctantly returned to bed John
                remarked smugly, “I told Jim not to put all the wood on the fire at once but he wouldn’t
                listen.” I might have guessed!

                However it was not Jim but John who gave me the worst turn of all this week. As
                a treat I decided to take the boys to the river for a picnic tea. The river is not far from our
                house but we had never been there before so I took the kitchen boy, Tovelo, to show
                us the way. The path is on the level until one is in sight of the river when the bank slopes
                steeply down. I decided that it was too steep for the pram so I stopped to lift Henry out
                and carry him. When I looked around I saw John running down the slope towards the
                river. The stream is not wide but flows swiftly and I had no idea how deep it was. All I
                knew was that it was a trout stream. I called for John, “Stop, wait for me!” but he ran on
                and made for a rude pole bridge which spanned the river. He started to cross and then,
                to my horror, I saw John slip. There was a splash and he disappeared under the water. I
                just dumped the baby on the ground, screamed to the boy to mind him and ran madly
                down the slope to the river. Suddenly I saw John’s tight fitting felt hat emerge, then his
                eyes and nose. I dashed into the water and found, to my intense relief, that it only
                reached up to my shoulders but, thank heaven no further. John’s steady eyes watched
                me trustingly as I approached him and carried him safely to the bank. He had been
                standing on a rock and had not panicked at all though he had to stand up very straight
                and tall to keep his nose out of water. I was too proud of him to scold him for
                disobedience and too wet anyway.

                I made John undress and put on two spare pullovers and wrapped Henry’s
                baby blanket round his waist like a sarong. We made a small fire over which I crouched
                with literally chattering teeth whilst Tovelo ran home to fetch a coat for me and dry clothes
                for John.

                Eleanor.

                Lyamungu 16th August 1944

                Dearest Family,

                We have a new bull terrier bitch pup whom we have named Fanny III . So once
                more we have a menagerie , the two dogs, two cats Susie and Winnie, and
                some pet hens who live in the garage and are a real nuisance.

                As John is nearly six I thought it time that he started lessons and wrote off to Dar
                es Salaam for the correspondence course. We have had one week of lessons and I am
                already in a state of physical and mental exhaustion. John is a most reluctant scholar.
                “Why should I learn to read, when you can read to me?” he asks, and “Anyway why
                should I read such stupid stuff, ‘Run Rover Run’, and ‘Mother play with baby’ . Who
                wants to read about things like that? I don’t.”

                He rather likes sums, but the only subject about which he is enthusiastic is
                prehistoric history. He laps up information about ‘The Tree Dwellers’, though he is very
                sceptical about the existence of such people. “God couldn’t be so silly to make people
                so stupid. Fancy living in trees when it is easy to make huts like the natives.” ‘The Tree
                Dwellers is a highly imaginative story about a revolting female called Sharptooth and her
                offspring called Bodo. I have a very clear mental image of Sharptooth, so it came as a
                shock to me and highly amused George when John looked at me reflectively across the
                tea table and said, “Mummy I expect Sharptooth looked like you. You have a sharp
                tooth too!” I have, my eye teeth are rather sharp, but I hope the resemblance stops
                there.

                John has an uncomfortably logical mind for a small boy. The other day he was
                lying on the lawn staring up at the clouds when he suddenly muttered “I don’t believe it.”
                “Believe what?” I asked. “That Jesus is coming on a cloud one day. How can he? The
                thick ones always stay high up. What’s he going to do, jump down with a parachute?”
                Tovelo, my kitchen boy, announced one evening that his grandmother was in the
                kitchen and wished to see me. She was a handsome and sensible Chagga woman who
                brought sad news. Her little granddaughter had stumbled backwards into a large cooking
                pot of almost boiling maize meal porridge and was ‘ngongwa sana’ (very ill). I grabbed
                a large bottle of Picric Acid and a packet of gauze which we keep for these emergencies
                and went with her, through coffee shambas and banana groves to her daughter’s house.
                Inside the very neat thatched hut the mother sat with the naked child lying face
                downwards on her knee. The child’s buttocks and the back of her legs were covered in
                huge burst blisters from which a watery pus dripped. It appeared that the accident had
                happened on the previous day.

                I could see that it was absolutely necessary to clean up the damaged area, and I
                suddenly remembered that there was a trained African hospital dresser on the station. I
                sent the father to fetch him and whilst the dresser cleaned off the sloughed skin with
                forceps and swabs saturated in Picric Acid, I cut the gauze into small squares which I
                soaked in the lotion and laid on the cleaned area. I thought the small pieces would be
                easier to change especially as the whole of the most tender parts, front and back, were
                badly scalded. The child seemed dazed and neither the dresser nor I thought she would
                live. I gave her half an aspirin and left three more half tablets to be given four hourly.
                Next day she seemed much brighter. I poured more lotion on the gauze
                disturbing as few pieces as possible and again the next day and the next. After a week
                the skin was healing well and the child eating normally. I am sure she will be all right now.
                The new skin is a brilliant red and very shiny but it is pale round the edges of the burnt
                area and will I hope later turn brown. The mother never uttered a word of thanks, but the
                granny is grateful and today brought the children a bunch of bananas.

                Eleanor.

                c/o Game Dept. P.O.Moshi. 29th September 1944

                Dearest Mummy,

                I am so glad that you so enjoyed my last letter with the description of our very
                interesting and enjoyable safari through Masailand. You said you would like an even
                fuller description of it to pass around amongst the relations, so, to please you, I have
                written it out in detail and enclose the result.

                We have spent a quiet week after our exertions and all are well here.

                Very much love,
                Eleanor.

                Safari in Masailand

                George and I were at tea with our three little boys on the front lawn of our house
                in Lyamungu, Northern Tanganyika. It was John’s sixth birthday and he and Jim, a
                happy sturdy three year old, and Henry, aged eleven months, were munching the
                squares of plain chocolate which rounded off the party, when George said casually
                across the table to me, “Could you be ready by the day after tomorrow to go on
                safari?” “Me too?” enquired John anxiously, before I had time to reply, and “Me too?”
                echoed Jim. “yes, of course I can”, said I to George and “of course you’re coming too”,
                to the children who rate a day spent in the bush higher than any other pleasure.
                So in the early morning two days later, we started out happily for Masailand in a
                three ton Ford lorry loaded to capacity with the five Rushbys, the safari paraphernalia,
                drums of petrol and quite a retinue of servants and Game Scouts. George travelling
                alone on his monthly safaris, takes only the cook and a couple of Game Scouts, but this was to be a safari de luxe.

                Henry and I shared the cab with George who was driving, whilst John and Jim
                with the faithful orderly Mabemba beside them to point out the game animals, were
                installed upon rolls of bedding in the body of the lorry. The lorry lumbered along, first
                through coffee shambas, and then along the main road between Moshi and Arusha.
                After half an hour or so, we turned South off the road into a track which crossed the
                Sanya Plains and is the beginning of this part of Masailand. Though the dry season was
                at its height, and the pasture dry and course, we were soon passing small groups of
                game. This area is a Game Sanctuary and the antelope grazed quietly quite undisturbed
                by the passing lorry. Here and there zebra stood bunched by the road, a few wild
                ostriches stalked jerkily by, and in the distance some wildebeest cavorted around in their
                crazy way.

                Soon the grasslands gave way to thorn bush, and we saw six fantastically tall
                giraffe standing motionless with their heads turned enquiringly towards us. George
                stopped the lorry so the children could have a good view of them. John was enchanted
                but Jim, alas, was asleep.

                At mid day we reached the Kikoletwa River and turned aside to camp. Beside
                the river, under huge leafy trees, there was a beautiful camping spot, but the river was
                deep and reputed to be full of crocodiles so we passed it by and made our camp
                some distance from the river under a tall thorn tree with a flat lacy canopy. All around the
                camp lay uprooted trees of similar size that had been pushed over by elephants. As
                soon as the lorry stopped a camp chair was set up for me and the Game Scouts quickly
                slashed down grass and cleared the camp site of thorns. The same boys then pitched the tent whilst George himself set up the three camp beds and the folding cot for Henry,
                and set up the safari table and the canvas wash bowl and bath.

                The cook in the meantime had cleared a cool spot for the kitchen , opened up the
                chop boxes and started a fire. The cook’s boy and the dhobi (laundry boy) brought
                water from the rather muddy river and tea was served followed shortly afterward by an
                excellent lunch. In a very short time the camp had a suprisingly homely look. Nappies
                fluttered from a clothes line, Henry slept peacefully in his cot, John and Jim sprawled on
                one bed looking at comics, and I dozed comfortably on another.

                George, with the Game Scouts, drove off in the lorry about his work. As a Game
                Ranger it is his business to be on a constant look out for poachers, both African and
                European, and for disease in game which might infect the valuable herds of Masai cattle.
                The lorry did not return until dusk by which time the children had bathed enthusiastically in
                the canvas bath and were ready for supper and bed. George backed the lorry at right
                angles to the tent, Henry’s cot and two camp beds were set up in the lorry, the tarpaulin
                was lashed down and the children put to bed in their novel nursery.

                When darkness fell a large fire was lit in front of the camp, the exited children at
                last fell asleep and George and I sat on by the fire enjoying the cool and quiet night.
                When the fire subsided into a bed of glowing coals, it was time for our bed. During the
                night I was awakened by the sound of breaking branches and strange indescribable
                noises.” Just elephant”, said George comfortably and instantly fell asleep once more. I
                didn’t! We rose with the birds next morning, but breakfast was ready and in a
                remarkably short time the lorry had been reloaded and we were once more on our way.
                For about half a mile we made our own track across the plain and then we turned
                into the earth road once more. Soon we had reached the river and were looking with
                dismay at the suspension bridge which we had to cross. At the far side, one steel
                hawser was missing and there the bridge tilted dangerously. There was no handrail but
                only heavy wooden posts which marked the extremities of the bridge. WhenGeorge
                measured the distance between the posts he found that there could be barely two
                inches to spare on either side of the cumbersome lorry.

                He decided to risk crossing, but the children and I and all the servants were told to
                cross the bridge and go down the track out of sight. The Game Scouts remained on the
                river bank on the far side of the bridge and stood ready for emergencies. As I walked
                along anxiously listening, I was horrified to hear the lorry come to a stop on the bridge.
                There was a loud creaking noise and I instantly visualised the lorry slowly toppling over
                into the deep crocodile infested river. The engine restarted, the lorry crossed the bridge
                and came slowly into sight around the bend. My heart slid back into its normal position.
                George was as imperturbable as ever and simply remarked that it had been a near
                thing and that we would return to Lyamungu by another route.

                Beyond the green river belt the very rutted track ran through very uninteresting
                thorn bush country. Henry was bored and tiresome, jumping up and down on my knee
                and yelling furiously. “Teeth”, said I apologetically to George, rashly handing a match
                box to Henry to keep him quiet. No use at all! With a fat finger he poked out the tray
                spilling the matches all over me and the floor. Within seconds Henry had torn the
                matchbox to pieces with his teeth and flung the battered remains through the window.
                An empty cigarette box met with the same fate as the match box and the yells
                continued unabated until Henry slept from sheer exhaustion. George gave me a smile,
                half sympathetic and half sardonic, “Enjoying the safari, my love?” he enquired. On these
                trying occasions George has the inestimable advantage of being able to go into a Yogilike
                trance, whereas I become irritated to screaming point.

                In an effort to prolong Henry’s slumber I braced my feet against the floor boards
                and tried to turn myself into a human shock absorber as we lurched along the eroded
                track. Several times my head made contact with the bolt of a rifle in the rack above, and
                once I felt I had shattered my knee cap against the fire extinguisher in a bracket under the
                dash board.

                Strange as it may seem, I really was enjoying the trip in spite of these
                discomforts. At last after three years I was once more on safari with George. This type of
                country was new to me and there was so much to see We passed a family of giraffe
                standing in complete immobility only a few yards from the track. Little dick-dick. one of the smallest of the antelope, scuttled in pairs across the road and that afternoon I had my first view of Gerenuk, curious red brown antelope with extremely elongated legs and giraffe-like necks.

                Most interesting of all was my first sight of Masai at home. We could hear a tuneful
                jangle of cattle bells and suddenly came across herds of humped cattle browsing upon
                the thorn bushes. The herds were guarded by athletic,striking looking Masai youths and men.
                Each had a calabash of water slung over his shoulder and a tall, highly polished spear in his
                hand. These herdsmen were quite unselfconscious though they wore no clothing except for one carelessly draped blanket. Very few gave us any greeting but glanced indifferently at us from under fringes of clay-daubed plaited hair . The rest of their hair was drawn back behind the ears to display split earlobes stretched into slender loops by the weight of heavy brass or copper tribal ear rings.

                Most of the villages were set well back in the bush out of sight of the road but we did pass one
                typical village which looked most primitive indeed. It consisted simply of a few mound like mud huts which were entirely covered with a plaster of mud and cattle dung and the whole clutch of huts were surrounded by a ‘boma’ of thorn to keep the cattle in at night and the lions out. There was a gathering of women and children on the road at this point. The children of both sexes were naked and unadorned, but the women looked very fine indeed. This is not surprising for they have little to do but adorn themselves, unlike their counterparts of other tribes who have to work hard cultivating the fields. The Masai women, and others I saw on safari, were far more amiable and cheerful looking than the men and were well proportioned.

                They wore skirts of dressed goat skin, knee length in front but ankle length behind. Their arms
                from elbow to wrist, and legs from knee to ankle, were encased in tight coils of copper and
                galvanised wire. All had their heads shaved and in some cases bound by a leather band
                embroidered in red white and blue beads. Circular ear rings hung from slit earlobes and their
                handsome throats were encircled by stiff wire necklaces strung with brightly coloured beads. These
                necklaces were carefully graded in size and formed deep collars almost covering their breasts.
                About a quarter of a mile further along the road we met eleven young braves in gala attire, obviously on their way to call on the girls. They formed a line across the road and danced up and down until the lorry was dangerously near when they parted and grinned cheerfully at us. These were the only cheerful
                looking male Masai that I saw. Like the herdsmen these youths wore only a blanket, but their
                blankets were ochre colour, and elegantly draped over their backs. Their naked bodies gleamed with oil. Several had painted white stripes on their faces, and two had whitewashed their faces entirely which I
                thought a pity. All had their long hair elaborately dressed and some carried not only one,
                but two gleaming spears.

                By mid day George decided that we had driven far enough for that day. He
                stopped the lorry and consulted a rather unreliable map. “Somewhere near here is a
                place called Lolbeni,” he said. “The name means Sweet Water, I hear that the
                government have piped spring water down from the mountain into a small dam at which
                the Masai water their cattle.” Lolbeni sounded pleasant to me. Henry was dusty and
                cross, the rubber sheet had long slipped from my lap to the floor and I was conscious of
                a very damp lap. ‘Sweet Waters’ I felt, would put all that right. A few hundred yards
                away a small herd of cattle was grazing, so George lit his pipe and relaxed at last, whilst
                a Game Scout went off to find the herdsman. The scout soon returned with an ancient
                and emaciated Masai who was thrilled at the prospect of his first ride in a lorry and
                offered to direct us to Lolbeni which was off the main track and about four miles away.

                Once Lolbeni had been a small administrative post and a good track had
                led to it, but now the Post had been abandoned and the road is dotted with vigourous
                thorn bushes and the branches of larger thorn trees encroach on the track The road had
                deteriorated to a mere cattle track, deeply rutted and eroded by heavy rains over a
                period of years. The great Ford truck, however, could take it. It lurched victoriously along,
                mowing down the obstructions, tearing off branches from encroaching thorn trees with its
                high railed sides, spanning gorges in the track, and climbing in and out of those too wide
                to span. I felt an army tank could not have done better.

                I had expected Lolbeni to be a green oasis in a desert of grey thorns, but I was
                quickly disillusioned. To be sure the thorn trees were larger and more widely spaced and
                provided welcome shade, but the ground under the trees had been trampled by thousands of cattle into a dreary expanse of dirty grey sand liberally dotted with cattle droppings and made still more uninviting by the bleached bones of dead beasts.

                To the right of this waste rose a high green hill which gave the place its name and from which
                the precious water was piped, but its slopes were too steep to provide a camping site.
                Flies swarmed everywhere and I was most relieved when George said that we would
                stay only long enough to fill our cans with water. Even the water was a disappointment!
                The water in the small dam was low and covered by a revolting green scum, and though
                the water in the feeding pipe was sweet, it trickled so feebly that it took simply ages to
                fill a four gallon can.

                However all these disappointments were soon forgotten for we drove away
                from the flies and dirt and trampled sand and soon, with their quiet efficiency, George
                and his men set up a comfortable camp. John and Jim immediately started digging
                operations in the sandy soil whilst Henry and I rested. After tea George took his shot
                gun and went off to shoot guinea fowl and partridges for the pot. The children and I went
                walking, keeping well in site of camp, and soon we saw a very large flock of Vulturine
                Guineafowl, running aimlessly about and looking as tame as barnyard fowls, but melting
                away as soon as we moved in their direction.

                We had our second quiet and lovely evening by the camp fire, followed by a
                peaceful night.

                We left Lolbeni very early next morning, which was a good thing, for as we left
                camp the herds of thirsty cattle moved in from all directions. They were accompanied by
                Masai herdsmen, their naked bodies and blankets now covered by volcanic dust which
                was being stirred in rising clouds of stifling ash by the milling cattle, and also by grey
                donkeys laden with panniers filled with corked calabashes for water.

                Our next stop was Nabarera, a Masai cattle market and trading centre, where we
                reluctantly stayed for two days in a pokey Goverment Resthouse because George had
                a job to do in that area. The rest was good for Henry who promptly produced a tooth
                and was consequently much better behaved for the rest of the trip. George was away in the bush most of the day but he returned for afternoon tea and later took the children out
                walking. We had noticed curious white dumps about a quarter mile from the resthouse
                and on the second afternoon we set out to investigate them. Behind the dumps we
                found passages about six foot wide, cut through solid limestone. We explored two of
                these and found that both passages led steeply down to circular wells about two and a
                half feet in diameter.

                At the very foot of each passage, beside each well, rough drinking troughs had
                been cut in the stone. The herdsmen haul the water out of the well in home made hide
                buckets, the troughs are filled and the cattle driven down the ramps to drink at the trough.
                It was obvious that the wells were ancient and the sloping passages new. George tells
                me that no one knows what ancient race dug the original wells. It seems incredible that
                these deep and narrow shafts could have been sunk without machinery. I craned my
                neck and looked above one well and could see an immensely long shaft reaching up to
                ground level. Small footholds were cut in the solid rock as far as I could see.
                It seems that the Masai are as ignorant as ourselves about the origin of these
                wells. They do say however that when their forebears first occupied what is now known
                as Masailand, they not only found the Wanderobo tribe in the area but also a light
                skinned people and they think it possible that these light skinned people dug the wells.
                These people disappeared. They may have been absorbed or, more likely, they were
                liquidated.

                The Masai had found the well impractical in their original form and had hired
                labourers from neighbouring tribes to cut the passages to water level. Certainly the Masai are not responsible for the wells. They are a purely pastoral people and consider manual labour extremely degrading.

                They live chiefly on milk from their herd which they allow to go sour, and mix with blood that has been skilfully tapped from the necks of living cattle. They do not eat game meat, nor do they cultivate any
                land. They hunt with spears, but hunt only lions, to protect their herds, and to test the skill
                and bravery of their young warriors. What little grain they do eat is transported into
                Masailand by traders. The next stage of our journey took us to Ngassamet where
                George was to pick up some elephant tusks. I had looked forward particularly to this
                stretch of road for I had heard that there was a shallow lake at which game congregates,
                and at which I had great hopes of seeing elephants. We had come too late in the
                season though, the lake was dry and there were only piles of elephant droppings to
                prove that elephant had recently been there in numbers. Ngassamet, though no beauty
                spot, was interesting. We saw more elaborate editions of the wells already described, and as this area
                is rich in cattle we saw the aristocrats of the Masai. You cannot conceive of a more arrogant looking male than a young Masai brave striding by on sandalled feet, unselfconscious in all his glory. All the young men wore the casually draped traditional ochre blanket and carried one or more spears. But here belts and long knife sheaths of scarlet leather seem to be the fashion. Here fringes do not seem to be the thing. Most of these young Masai had their hair drawn smoothly back and twisted in a pointed queue, the whole plastered with a smooth coating of red clay. Some tied their horn shaped queues over their heads
                so that the tip formed a deep Satanic peak on the brow. All these young men wore the traditional
                copper earrings and I saw one or two with copper bracelets and one with a necklace of brightly coloured
                beads.

                It so happened that, on the day of our visit to Ngassamet, there had been a
                baraza (meeting) which was attended by all the local headmen and elders. These old
                men came to pay their respects to George and a more shrewd and rascally looking
                company I have never seen, George told me that some of these men own up to three
                thousand head of cattle and more. The chief was as fat and Rabelasian as his second in
                command was emaciated, bucktoothed and prim. The Chief shook hands with George
                and greeted me and settled himself on the wall of the resthouse porch opposite
                George. The lesser headmen, after politely greeting us, grouped themselves in a
                semi circle below the steps with their ‘aides’ respectfully standing behind them. I
                remained sitting in the only chair and watched the proceedings with interest and
                amusement.

                These old Masai, I noticed, cared nothing for adornment. They had proved
                themselves as warriors in the past and were known to be wealthy and influential so did
                not need to make any display. Most of them had their heads comfortably shaved and
                wore only a drab blanket or goatskin cloak. Their only ornaments were earrings whose
                effect was somewhat marred by the serviceable and homely large safety pin that
                dangled from the lobe of one ear. All carried staves instead of spears and all, except for
                Buckteeth and one blind old skeleton of a man, appeared to have a keenly developed
                sense of humour.

                “Mummy?” asked John in an urgent whisper, “Is that old blind man nearly dead?”
                “Yes dear”, said I, “I expect he’ll soon die.” “What here?” breathed John in a tone of
                keen anticipation and, until the meeting broke up and the old man left, he had John’s
                undivided attention.

                After local news and the game situation had been discussed, the talk turned to the
                war. “When will the war end?” moaned the fat Chief. “We have made great gifts of cattle
                to the War Funds, we are taxed out of existence.” George replied with the Ki-Swahili
                equivalent of ‘Sez you!’. This sally was received with laughter and the old fellows rose to
                go. They made their farewells and dignified exits, pausing on their way to stare at our
                pink and white Henry, who sat undismayed in his push chair giving them stare for stare
                from his striking grey eyes.

                Towards evening some Masai, prompted no doubt by our native servants,
                brought a sheep for sale. It was the last night of the fast of Ramadan and our
                Mohammedan boys hoped to feast next day at our expense. Their faces fell when
                George refused to buy the animal. “Why should I pay fifteen shillings for a sheep?” he
                asked, “Am I not the Bwana Nyama and is not the bush full of my sheep?” (Bwana
                Nyama is the native name for a Game Ranger, but means literally, ‘Master of the meat’)
                George meant that he would shoot a buck for the men next day, but this incident was to
                have a strange sequel. Ngassamet resthouse consists of one room so small we could
                not put up all our camp beds and George and I slept on the cement floor which was
                unkind to my curves. The night was bitterly cold and all night long hyaenas screeched
                hideously outside. So we rose at dawn without reluctance and were on our way before it
                was properly light.

                George had decided that it would be foolhardy to return home by our outward
                route as he did not care to risk another crossing of the suspension bridge. So we
                returned to Nabarera and there turned onto a little used track which would eventually take
                us to the Great North Road a few miles South of Arusha. There was not much game
                about but I saw Oryx which I had not previously seen. Soon it grew intolerably hot and I
                think all of us but George were dozing when he suddenly stopped the lorry and pointed
                to the right. “Mpishi”, he called to the cook, “There’s your sheep!” True enough, on that
                dreary thorn covered plain,with not another living thing in sight, stood a fat black sheep.

                There was an incredulous babbling from the back of the lorry. Every native
                jumped to the ground and in no time at all the wretched sheep was caught and
                slaughtered. I felt sick. “Oh George”, I wailed, “The poor lost sheep! I shan’t eat a scrap
                of it.” George said nothing but went and had a look at the sheep and called out to me,
                “Come and look at it. It was kindness to kill the poor thing, the vultures have been at it
                already and the hyaenas would have got it tonight.” I went reluctantly and saw one eye
                horribly torn out, and small deep wounds on the sheep’s back where the beaks of the
                vultures had cut through the heavy fleece. Poor thing! I went back to the lorry more
                determined than ever not to eat mutton on that trip. The Scouts and servants had no
                such scruples. The fine fat sheep had been sent by Allah for their feast day and that was
                the end of it.

                “ ‘Mpishi’ is more convinced than ever that I am a wizard”, said George in
                amusement as he started the lorry. I knew what he meant. Several times before George
                had foretold something which had later happened. Pure coincidence, but strange enough
                to give rise to a legend that George had the power to arrange things. “What happened
                of course”, explained George, “Is that a flock of Masai sheep was driven to market along
                this track yesterday or the day before. This one strayed and was not missed.”

                The day grew hotter and hotter and for long miles we looked out for a camping
                spot but could find little shade and no trace of water anywhere. At last, in the early
                afternoon we reached another pokey little rest house and asked for water. “There is no
                water here,” said the native caretaker. “Early in the morning there is water in a well nearby
                but we are allowed only one kerosene tin full and by ten o’clock the well is dry.” I looked
                at George in dismay for we were all so tired and dusty. “Where do the Masai from the
                village water their cattle then?” asked George. “About two miles away through the bush.
                If you take me with you I shall show you”, replied the native.

                So we turned off into the bush and followed a cattle track even more tortuous than
                the one to Lolbeni. Two Scouts walked ahead to warn us of hazards and I stretched my
                arm across the open window to fend off thorns. Henry screamed with fright and hunger.
                But George’s efforts to reach water went unrewarded as we were brought to a stop by
                a deep donga. The native from the resthouse was apologetic. He had mistaken the
                path, perhaps if we turned back we might find it. George was beyond speech. We
                lurched back the way we had come and made our camp under the first large tree we
                could find. Then off went our camp boys on foot to return just before dark with the water.
                However they were cheerful for there was an unlimited quantity of dry wood for their fires
                and meat in plenty for their feast. Long after George and I left our campfire and had gone
                to bed, we could see the cheerful fires of the boys and hear their chatter and laughter.
                I woke in the small hours to hear the insane cackling of hyaenas gloating over a
                find. Later I heard scuffling around the camp table, I peered over the tailboard of the lorry
                and saw George come out of his tent. What are you doing?” I whispered. “Looking for
                something to throw at those bloody hyaenas,” answered George for all the world as
                though those big brutes were tomcats on the prowl. Though the hyaenas kept up their
                concert all night the children never stirred, nor did any of them wake at night throughout
                the safari.

                Early next morning I walked across to the camp kitchen to enquire into the loud
                lamentations coming from that quarter. “Oh Memsahib”, moaned the cook, “We could
                not sleep last night for the bad hyaenas round our tents. They have taken every scrap of
                meat we had left over from the feast., even the meat we had left to smoke over the fire.”
                Jim, who of our three young sons is the cook’s favourite commiserated with him. He said
                in Ki-Swahili, which he speaks with great fluency, “Truly those hyaenas are very bad
                creatures. They also robbed us. They have taken my hat from the table and eaten the
                new soap from the washbowl.

                Our last day in the bush was a pleasantly lazy one. We drove through country
                that grew more open and less dry as we approached Arusha. We pitched our camp
                near a large dam, and the water was a blessed sight after a week of scorched country.
                On the plains to the right of our camp was a vast herd of native cattle enjoying a brief
                rest after their long day trek through Masailand. They were destined to walk many more
                weary miles before reaching their destination, a meat canning factory in Kenya.
                The ground to the left of the camp rose gently to form a long low hill and on the
                grassy slopes we could see wild ostriches and herds of wildebeest, zebra and
                antelope grazing amicably side by side. In the late afternoon I watched the groups of
                zebra and wildebeest merge into one. Then with a wildebeest leading, they walked
                down the slope in single file to drink at the vlei . When they were satisfied, a wildebeest
                once more led the herd up the trail. The others followed in a long and orderly file, and
                vanished over the hill to their evening pasture.

                When they had gone, George took up his shotgun and invited John to
                accompany him to the dam to shoot duck. This was the first time John had acted as
                retriever but he did very well and proudly helped to carry a mixed bag of sand grouse
                and duck back to camp.

                Next morning we turned into the Great North Road and passed first through
                carefully tended coffee shambas and then through the township of Arusha, nestling at
                the foot of towering Mount Meru. Beyond Arusha we drove through the Usa River
                settlement where again coffee shambas and European homesteads line the road, and
                saw before us the magnificent spectacle of Kilimanjaro unveiled, its white snow cap
                gleaming in the sunlight. Before mid day we were home. “Well was it worth it?” enquired
                George at lunch. “Lovely,” I replied. ”Let’s go again soon.” Then thinking regretfully of
                our absent children I sighed, “If only Ann, George, and Kate could have gone with us
                too.”

                Lyamungu 10th November. 1944

                Dearest Family.

                Mummy wants to know how I fill in my time with George away on safari for weeks
                on end. I do believe that you all picture me idling away my days, waited on hand and
                foot by efficient servants! On the contrary, life is one rush and the days never long
                enough.

                To begin with, our servants are anything but efficient, apart from our cook, Hamisi
                Issa, who really is competent. He suffers from frustration because our budget will not run
                to elaborate dishes so there is little scope for his culinary art. There is one masterpiece
                which is much appreciated by John and Jim. Hamisi makes a most realistic crocodile out
                of pastry and stuffs its innards with minced meat. This revolting reptile is served on a
                bed of parsley on my largest meat dish. The cook is a strict Mohammedan and
                observes all the fasts and daily prayers and, like all Mohammedans he is very clean in
                his person and, thank goodness, in the kitchen.

                His wife is his pride and joy but not his helpmate. She does absolutely nothing
                but sit in a chair in the sun all day, sipping tea and smoking cigarettes – a more
                expensive brand than mine! It is Hamisi who sweeps out their quarters, cooks
                delectable curries for her, and spends more than he can afford on clothing and trinkets for
                his wife. She just sits there with her ‘Mona Lisa’ smile and her painted finger and toe
                nails, doing absolutely nothing.

                The thing is that natives despise women who do work and this applies especially
                to their white employers. House servants much prefer a Memsahib who leaves
                everything to them and is careless about locking up her pantry. When we first came to
                Lyamungu I had great difficulty in employing a houseboy. A couple of rather efficient
                ones did approach me but when they heard the wages I was prepared to pay and that
                there was no number 2 boy, they simply were not interested. Eventually I took on a
                local boy called Japhet who suits me very well except that his sight is not good and he
                is extremely hard on the crockery. He tells me that he has lost face by working here
                because his friends say that he works for a family that is too mean to employ a second
                boy. I explained that with our large family we simply cannot afford to pay more, but this
                didn’t register at all. Japhet says “But Wazungu (Europeans) all have money. They just
                have to get it from the Bank.”

                The third member of our staff is a strapping youth named Tovelo who helps both
                cook and boy, and consequently works harder than either. What do I do? I chivvy the
                servants, look after the children, supervise John’s lessons, and make all my clothing and
                the children’s on that blessed old hand sewing machine.

                The folk on this station entertain a good deal but we usually decline invitations
                because we simply cannot afford to reciprocate. However, last Saturday night I invited
                two couples to drinks and dinner. This was such an unusual event that the servants and I
                were thrown into a flurry. In the end the dinner went off well though it ended in disaster. In
                spite of my entreaties and exhortations to Japhet not to pile everything onto the tray at
                once when clearing the table, he did just that. We were starting our desert and I was
                congratulating myself that all had gone well when there was a frightful crash of breaking
                china on the back verandah. I excused myself and got up to investigate. A large meat
                dish, six dinner plates and four vegetable dishes lay shattered on the cement floor! I
                controlled my tongue but what my eyes said to Japhet is another matter. What he said
                was, “It is not my fault Memsahib. The handle of the tray came off.”

                It is a curious thing about native servants that they never accept responsibility for
                a mishap. If they cannot pin their misdeeds onto one of their fellow servants then the responsibility rests with God. ‘Shauri ya Mungu’, (an act of God) is a familiar cry. Fatalists
                can be very exasperating employees.

                The loss of my dinner service is a real tragedy because, being war time, one can
                buy only china of the poorest quality made for the native trade. Nor was that the final
                disaster of the evening. When we moved to the lounge for coffee I noticed that the
                coffee had been served in the battered old safari coffee pot instead of the charming little
                antique coffee pot which my Mother-in-law had sent for our tenth wedding anniversary.
                As there had already been a disturbance I made no comment but resolved to give the
                cook a piece of my mind in the morning. My instructions to the cook had been to warm
                the coffee pot with hot water immediately before serving. On no account was he to put
                the pewter pot on the hot iron stove. He did and the result was a small hole in the base
                of the pot – or so he says. When I saw the pot next morning there was a two inch hole in
                it.

                Hamisi explained placidly how this had come about. He said he knew I would be
                mad when I saw the little hole so he thought he would have it mended and I might not
                notice it. Early in the morning he had taken the pewter pot to the mechanic who looks
                after the Game Department vehicles and had asked him to repair it. The bright individual
                got busy with the soldering iron with the most devastating result. “It’s his fault,” said
                Hamisi, “He is a mechanic, he should have known what would happen.”
                One thing is certain, there will be no more dinner parties in this house until the war
                is ended.

                The children are well and so am I, and so was George when he left on his safari
                last Monday.

                Much love,
                Eleanor.

                 

                #6266
                TracyTracy
                Participant

                  From Tanganyika with Love

                  continued part 7

                  With thanks to Mike Rushby.

                  Oldeani Hospital. 19th September 1938

                  Dearest Family,

                  George arrived today to take us home to Mbulu but Sister Marianne will not allow
                  me to travel for another week as I had a bit of a set back after baby’s birth. At first I was
                  very fit and on the third day Sister stripped the bed and, dictionary in hand, started me
                  off on ante natal exercises. “Now make a bridge Mrs Rushby. So. Up down, up down,’
                  whilst I obediently hoisted myself aloft on heels and head. By the sixth day she
                  considered it was time for me to be up and about but alas, I soon had to return to bed
                  with a temperature and a haemorrhage. I got up and walked outside for the first time this
                  morning.

                  I have had lots of visitors because the local German settlers seem keen to see
                  the first British baby born in the hospital. They have been most kind, sending flowers
                  and little German cards of congratulations festooned with cherubs and rather sweet. Most
                  of the women, besides being pleasant, are very smart indeed, shattering my illusion that
                  German matrons are invariably fat and dowdy. They are all much concerned about the
                  Czecko-Slovakian situation, especially Sister Marianne whose home is right on the
                  border and has several relations who are Sudentan Germans. She is ant-Nazi and
                  keeps on asking me whether I think England will declare war if Hitler invades Czecko-
                  Slovakia, as though I had inside information.

                  George tells me that he has had a grass ‘banda’ put up for us at Mbulu as we are
                  both determined not to return to those prison-like quarters in the Fort. Sister Marianne is
                  horrified at the idea of taking a new baby to live in a grass hut. She told George,
                  “No,No,Mr Rushby. I find that is not to be allowed!” She is an excellent Sister but rather
                  prim and George enjoys teasing her. This morning he asked with mock seriousness,
                  “Sister, why has my wife not received her medal?” Sister fluttered her dictionary before
                  asking. “What medal Mr Rushby”. “Why,” said George, “The medal that Hitler gives to
                  women who have borne four children.” Sister started a long and involved explanation
                  about the medal being only for German mothers whilst George looked at me and
                  grinned.

                  Later. Great Jubilation here. By the noise in Sister Marianne’s sitting room last night it
                  sounded as though the whole German population had gathered to listen to the wireless
                  news. I heard loud exclamations of joy and then my bedroom door burst open and
                  several women rushed in. “Thank God “, they cried, “for Neville Chamberlain. Now there
                  will be no war.” They pumped me by the hand as though I were personally responsible
                  for the whole thing.

                  George on the other hand is disgusted by Chamberlain’s lack of guts. Doesn’t
                  know what England is coming to these days. I feel too content to concern myself with
                  world affairs. I have a fine husband and four wonderful children and am happy, happy,
                  happy.

                  Eleanor.

                  Mbulu. 30th September 1938

                  Dearest Family,

                  Here we are, comfortably installed in our little green house made of poles and
                  rushes from a nearby swamp. The house has of course, no doors or windows, but
                  there are rush blinds which roll up in the day time. There are two rooms and a little porch
                  and out at the back there is a small grass kitchen.

                  Here we have the privacy which we prize so highly as we are screened on one
                  side by a Forest Department plantation and on the other three sides there is nothing but
                  the rolling countryside cropped bare by the far too large herds of cattle and goats of the
                  Wambulu. I have a lovely lazy time. I still have Kesho-Kutwa and the cook we brought
                  with us from the farm. They are both faithful and willing souls though not very good at
                  their respective jobs. As one of these Mbeya boys goes on safari with George whose
                  job takes him from home for three weeks out of four, I have taken on a local boy to cut
                  firewood and heat my bath water and generally make himself useful. His name is Saa,
                  which means ‘Clock’

                  We had an uneventful but very dusty trip from Oldeani. Johnny Jo travelled in his
                  pram in the back of the boxbody and got covered in dust but seems none the worst for
                  it. As the baby now takes up much of my time and Kate was showing signs of
                  boredom, I have engaged a little African girl to come and play with Kate every morning.
                  She is the daughter of the head police Askari and a very attractive and dignified little
                  person she is. Her name is Kajyah. She is scrupulously clean, as all Mohammedan
                  Africans seem to be. Alas, Kajyah, though beautiful, is a bore. She simply does not
                  know how to play, so they just wander around hand in hand.

                  There are only two drawbacks to this little house. Mbulu is a very windy spot so
                  our little reed house is very draughty. I have made a little tent of sheets in one corner of
                  the ‘bedroom’ into which I can retire with Johnny when I wish to bathe or sponge him.
                  The other drawback is that many insects are attracted at night by the lamp and make it
                  almost impossible to read or sew and they have a revolting habit of falling into the soup.
                  There are no dangerous wild animals in this area so I am not at all nervous in this
                  flimsy little house when George is on safari. Most nights hyaenas come around looking
                  for scraps but our dogs, Fanny and Paddy, soon see them off.

                  Eleanor.

                  Mbulu. 25th October 1938

                  Dearest Family,

                  Great news! a vacancy has occurred in the Game Department. George is to
                  transfer to it next month. There will be an increase in salary and a brighter prospect for
                  the future. It will mean a change of scene and I shall be glad of that. We like Mbulu and
                  the people here but the rains have started and our little reed hut is anything but water
                  tight.

                  Before the rain came we had very unpleasant dust storms. I think I told you that
                  this is a treeless area and the grass which normally covers the veldt has been cropped
                  to the roots by the hungry native cattle and goats. When the wind blows the dust
                  collects in tall black columns which sweep across the country in a most spectacular
                  fashion. One such dust devil struck our hut one day whilst we were at lunch. George
                  swept Kate up in a second and held her face against his chest whilst I rushed to Johnny
                  Jo who was asleep in his pram, and stooped over the pram to protect him. The hut
                  groaned and creaked and clouds of dust blew in through the windows and walls covering
                  our persons, food, and belongings in a black pall. The dogs food bowls and an empty
                  petrol tin outside the hut were whirled up and away. It was all over in a moment but you
                  should have seen what a family of sweeps we looked. George looked at our blackened
                  Johnny and mimicked in Sister Marianne’s primmest tones, “I find that this is not to be
                  allowed.”

                  The first rain storm caught me unprepared when George was away on safari. It
                  was a terrific thunderstorm. The quite violent thunder and lightening were followed by a
                  real tropical downpour. As the hut is on a slight slope, the storm water poured through
                  the hut like a river, covering the entire floor, and the roof leaked like a lawn sprinkler.
                  Johnny Jo was snug enough in the pram with the hood raised, but Kate and I had a
                  damp miserable night. Next morning I had deep drains dug around the hut and when
                  George returned from safari he managed to borrow an enormous tarpaulin which is now
                  lashed down over the roof.

                  It did not rain during the next few days George was home but the very next night
                  we were in trouble again. I was awakened by screams from Kate and hurriedly turned up
                  the lamp to see that we were in the midst of an invasion of siafu ants. Kate’s bed was
                  covered in them. Others appeared to be raining down from the thatch. I quickly stripped
                  Kate and carried her across to my bed, whilst I rushed to the pram to see whether
                  Johnny Jo was all right. He was fast asleep, bless him, and slept on through all the
                  commotion, whilst I struggled to pick all the ants out of Kate’s hair, stopping now and
                  again to attend to my own discomfort. These ants have a painful bite and seem to
                  choose all the most tender spots. Kate fell asleep eventually but I sat up for the rest of
                  the night to make sure that the siafu kept clear of the children. Next morning the servants
                  dispersed them by laying hot ash.

                  In spite of the dampness of the hut both children are blooming. Kate has rosy
                  cheeks and Johnny Jo now has a fuzz of fair hair and has lost his ‘old man’ look. He
                  reminds me of Ann at his age.

                  Eleanor.

                  Iringa. 30th November 1938

                  Dearest Family,

                  Here we are back in the Southern Highlands and installed on the second floor of
                  another German Fort. This one has been modernised however and though not so
                  romantic as the Mbulu Fort from the outside, it is much more comfortable.We are all well
                  and I am really proud of our two safari babies who stood up splendidly to a most trying
                  journey North from Mbulu to Arusha and then South down the Great North Road to
                  Iringa where we expect to stay for a month.

                  At Arusha George reported to the headquarters of the Game Department and
                  was instructed to come on down here on Rinderpest Control. There is a great flap on in
                  case the rinderpest spread to Northern Rhodesia and possibly onwards to Southern
                  Rhodesia and South Africa. Extra veterinary officers have been sent to this area to
                  inoculate all the cattle against the disease whilst George and his African game Scouts will
                  comb the bush looking for and destroying diseased game. If the rinderpest spreads,
                  George says it may be necessary to shoot out all the game in a wide belt along the
                  border between the Southern Highlands of Tanganyika and Northern Rhodesia, to
                  prevent the disease spreading South. The very idea of all this destruction sickens us
                  both.

                  George left on a foot safari the day after our arrival and I expect I shall be lucky if I
                  see him occasionally at weekends until this job is over. When rinderpest is under control
                  George is to be stationed at a place called Nzassa in the Eastern Province about 18
                  miles from Dar es Salaam. George’s orderly, who is a tall, cheerful Game Scout called
                  Juma, tells me that he has been stationed at Nzassa and it is a frightful place! However I
                  refuse to be depressed. I now have the cheering prospect of leave to England in thirty
                  months time when we will be able to fetch Ann and George and be a proper family
                  again. Both Ann and George look happy in the snapshots which mother-in-law sends
                  frequently. Ann is doing very well at school and loves it.

                  To get back to our journey from Mbulu. It really was quite an experience. It
                  poured with rain most of the way and the road was very slippery and treacherous the
                  120 miles between Mbulu and Arusha. This is a little used earth road and the drains are
                  so blocked with silt as to be practically non existent. As usual we started our move with
                  the V8 loaded to capacity. I held Johnny on my knee and Kate squeezed in between
                  George and me. All our goods and chattels were in wooden boxes stowed in the back
                  and the two houseboys and the two dogs had to adjust themselves to the space that
                  remained. We soon ran into trouble and it took us all day to travel 47 miles. We stuck
                  several times in deep mud and had some most nasty skids. I simply clutched Kate in
                  one hand and Johnny Jo in the other and put my trust in George who never, under any
                  circumstances, loses his head. Poor Johnny only got his meals when circumstances
                  permitted. Unfortunately I had put him on a bottle only a few days before we left Mbulu
                  and, as I was unable to buy either a primus stove or Thermos flask there we had to
                  make a fire and boil water for each meal. Twice George sat out in the drizzle with a rain
                  coat rapped over his head to protect a miserable little fire of wet sticks drenched with
                  paraffin. Whilst we waited for the water to boil I pacified John by letting him suck a cube
                  of Tate and Lyles sugar held between my rather grubby fingers. Not at all according to
                  the book.

                  That night George, the children and I slept in the car having dumped our boxes
                  and the two servants in a deserted native hut. The rain poured down relentlessly all night
                  and by morning the road was more of a morass than ever. We swerved and skidded
                  alarmingly till eventually one of the wheel chains broke and had to be tied together with
                  string which constantly needed replacing. George was so patient though he was wet
                  and muddy and tired and both children were very good. Shortly before reaching the Great North Road we came upon Jack Gowan, the Stock Inspector from Mbulu. His car
                  was bogged down to its axles in black mud. He refused George’s offer of help saying
                  that he had sent his messenger to a nearby village for help.

                  I hoped that conditions would be better on the Great North Road but how over
                  optimistic I was. For miles the road runs through a belt of ‘black cotton soil’. which was
                  churned up into the consistency of chocolate blancmange by the heavy lorry traffic which
                  runs between Dodoma and Arusha. Soon the car was skidding more fantastically than
                  ever. Once it skidded around in a complete semi circle so George decided that it would
                  be safer for us all to walk whilst he negotiated the very bad patches. You should have
                  seen me plodding along in the mud and drizzle with the baby in one arm and Kate
                  clinging to the other. I was terrified of slipping with Johnny. Each time George reached
                  firm ground he would return on foot to carry Kate and in this way we covered many bad
                  patches.We were more fortunate than many other travellers. We passed several lorries
                  ditched on the side of the road and one car load of German men, all elegantly dressed in
                  lounge suits. One was busy with his camera so will have a record of their plight to laugh
                  over in the years to come. We spent another night camping on the road and next day
                  set out on the last lap of the journey. That also was tiresome but much better than the
                  previous day and we made the haven of the Arusha Hotel before dark. What a picture
                  we made as we walked through the hall in our mud splattered clothes! Even Johnny was
                  well splashed with mud but no harm was done and both he and Kate are blooming.
                  We rested for two days at Arusha and then came South to Iringa. Luckily the sun
                  came out and though for the first day the road was muddy it was no longer so slippery
                  and the second day found us driving through parched country and along badly
                  corrugated roads. The further South we came, the warmer the sun which at times blazed
                  through the windscreen and made us all uncomfortably hot. I have described the country
                  between Arusha and Dodoma before so I shan’t do it again. We reached Iringa without
                  mishap and after a good nights rest all felt full of beans.

                  Eleanor.

                  Mchewe Estate, Mbeya. 7th January 1939.

                  Dearest Family,

                  You will be surprised to note that we are back on the farm! At least the children
                  and I are here. George is away near the Rhodesian border somewhere, still on
                  Rinderpest control.

                  I had a pleasant time at Iringa, lots of invitations to morning tea and Kate had a
                  wonderful time enjoying the novelty of playing with children of her own age. She is not
                  shy but nevertheless likes me to be within call if not within sight. It was all very suburban
                  but pleasant enough. A few days before Christmas George turned up at Iringa and
                  suggested that, as he would be working in the Mbeya area, it might be a good idea for
                  the children and me to move to the farm. I agreed enthusiastically, completely forgetting
                  that after my previous trouble with the leopard I had vowed to myself that I would never
                  again live alone on the farm.

                  Alas no sooner had we arrived when Thomas, our farm headman, brought the
                  news that there were now two leopards terrorising the neighbourhood, and taking dogs,
                  goats and sheep and chickens. Traps and poisoned bait had been tried in vain and he
                  was sure that the female was the same leopard which had besieged our home before.
                  Other leopards said Thomas, came by stealth but this one advertised her whereabouts
                  in the most brazen manner.

                  George stayed with us on the farm over Christmas and all was quiet at night so I
                  cheered up and took the children for walks along the overgrown farm paths. However on
                  New Years Eve that darned leopard advertised her presence again with the most blood
                  chilling grunts and snarls. Horrible! Fanny and Paddy barked and growled and woke up
                  both children. Kate wept and kept saying, “Send it away mummy. I don’t like it.” Johnny
                  Jo howled in sympathy. What a picnic. So now the whole performance of bodyguards
                  has started again and ‘till George returns we confine our exercise to the garden.
                  Our little house is still cosy and sweet but the coffee plantation looks very
                  neglected. I wish to goodness we could sell it.

                  Eleanor.

                  Nzassa 14th February 1939.

                  Dearest Family,

                  After three months of moving around with two small children it is heavenly to be
                  settled in our own home, even though Nzassa is an isolated spot and has the reputation
                  of being unhealthy.

                  We travelled by car from Mbeya to Dodoma by now a very familiar stretch of
                  country, but from Dodoma to Dar es Salaam by train which made a nice change. We
                  spent two nights and a day in the Splendid Hotel in Dar es Salaam, George had some
                  official visits to make and I did some shopping and we took the children to the beach.
                  The bay is so sheltered that the sea is as calm as a pond and the water warm. It is
                  wonderful to see the sea once more and to hear tugs hooting and to watch the Arab
                  dhows putting out to sea with their oddly shaped sails billowing. I do love the bush, but
                  I love the sea best of all, as you know.

                  We made an early start for Nzassa on the 3rd. For about four miles we bowled
                  along a good road. This brought us to a place called Temeke where George called on
                  the District Officer. His house appears to be the only European type house there. The
                  road between Temeke and the turn off to Nzassa is quite good, but the six mile stretch
                  from the turn off to Nzassa is a very neglected bush road. There is nothing to be seen
                  but the impenetrable bush on both sides with here and there a patch of swampy
                  ground where rice is planted in the wet season.

                  After about six miles of bumpy road we reached Nzassa which is nothing more
                  than a sandy clearing in the bush. Our house however is a fine one. It was originally built
                  for the District Officer and there is a small court house which is now George’s office. The
                  District Officer died of blackwater fever so Nzassa was abandoned as an administrative
                  station being considered too unhealthy for Administrative Officers but suitable as
                  Headquarters for a Game Ranger. Later a bachelor Game Ranger was stationed here
                  but his health also broke down and he has been invalided to England. So now the
                  healthy Rushbys are here and we don’t mean to let the place get us down. So don’t
                  worry.

                  The house consists of three very large and airy rooms with their doors opening
                  on to a wide front verandah which we shall use as a living room. There is also a wide
                  back verandah with a store room at one end and a bathroom at the other. Both
                  verandahs and the end windows of the house are screened my mosquito gauze wire
                  and further protected by a trellis work of heavy expanded metal. Hasmani, the Game
                  Scout, who has been acting as caretaker, tells me that the expanded metal is very
                  necessary because lions often come out of the bush at night and roam around the
                  house. Such a comforting thought!

                  On our very first evening we discovered how necessary the mosquito gauze is.
                  After sunset the air outside is thick with mosquitos from the swamps. About an acre of
                  land has been cleared around the house. This is a sandy waste because there is no
                  water laid on here and absolutely nothing grows here except a rather revolting milky
                  desert bush called ‘Manyara’, and a few acacia trees. A little way from the house there is
                  a patch of citrus trees, grape fruit, I think, but whether they ever bear fruit I don’t know.
                  The clearing is bordered on three sides by dense dusty thorn bush which is
                  ‘lousy with buffalo’ according to George. The open side is the road which leads down to
                  George’s office and the huts for the Game Scouts. Only Hasmani and George’s orderly
                  Juma and their wives and families live there, and the other huts provide shelter for the
                  Game Scouts from the bush who come to Nzassa to collect their pay and for a short
                  rest. I can see that my daily walk will always be the same, down the road to the huts and
                  back! However I don’t mind because it is far too hot to take much exercise.

                  The climate here is really tropical and worse than on the coast because the thick
                  bush cuts us off from any sea breeze. George says it will be cooler when the rains start
                  but just now we literally drip all day. Kate wears nothing but a cotton sun suit, and Johnny
                  a napkin only, but still their little bodies are always moist. I have shorn off all Kate’s lovely
                  shoulder length curls and got George to cut my hair very short too.

                  We simply must buy a refrigerator. The butter, and even the cheese we bought
                  in Dar. simply melted into pools of oil overnight, and all our meat went bad, so we are
                  living out of tins. However once we get organised I shall be quite happy here. I like this
                  spacious house and I have good servants. The cook, Hamisi Issa, is a Swahili from Lindi
                  whom we engaged in Dar es Salaam. He is a very dignified person, and like most
                  devout Mohammedan Cooks, keeps both his person and the kitchen spotless. I
                  engaged the house boy here. He is rather a timid little body but is very willing and quite
                  capable. He has an excessively plain but cheerful wife whom I have taken on as ayah. I
                  do not really need help with the children but feel I must have a woman around just in
                  case I go down with malaria when George is away on safari.

                  Eleanor.

                  Nzassa 28th February 1939.

                  Dearest Family,

                  George’s birthday and we had a special tea party this afternoon which the
                  children much enjoyed. We have our frig now so I am able to make jellies and provide
                  them with really cool drinks.

                  Our very first visitor left this morning after spending only one night here. He is Mr
                  Ionides, the Game Ranger from the Southern Province. He acted as stand in here for a
                  short while after George’s predecessor left for England on sick leave, and where he has
                  since died. Mr Ionides returned here to hand over the range and office formally to
                  George. He seems a strange man and is from all accounts a bit of a hermit. He was at
                  one time an Officer in the Regular Army but does not look like a soldier, he wears the
                  most extraordinary clothes but nevertheless contrives to look top-drawer. He was
                  educated at Rugby and Sandhurst and is, I should say, well read. Ionides told us that he
                  hated Nzassa, particularly the house which he thinks sinister and says he always slept
                  down in the office.

                  The house, or at least one bedroom, seems to have the same effect on Kate.
                  She has been very nervous at night ever since we arrived. At first the children occupied
                  the bedroom which is now George’s. One night, soon after our arrival, Kate woke up
                  screaming to say that ‘something’ had looked at her through the mosquito net. She was
                  in such a hysterical state that inspite of the heat and discomfort I was obliged to crawl into
                  her little bed with her and remained there for the rest of the night.

                  Next night I left a night lamp burning but even so I had to sit by her bed until she
                  dropped off to sleep. Again I was awakened by ear-splitting screams and this time
                  found Kate standing rigid on her bed. I lifted her out and carried her to a chair meaning to
                  comfort her but she screeched louder than ever, “Look Mummy it’s under the bed. It’s
                  looking at us.” In vain I pointed out that there was nothing at all there. By this time
                  George had joined us and he carried Kate off to his bed in the other room whilst I got into
                  Kate’s bed thinking she might have been frightened by a rat which might also disturb
                  Johnny.

                  Next morning our houseboy remarked that he had heard Kate screaming in the
                  night from his room behind the kitchen. I explained what had happened and he must
                  have told the old Scout Hasmani who waylaid me that afternoon and informed me quite
                  seriously that that particular room was haunted by a ‘sheitani’ (devil) who hates children.
                  He told me that whilst he was acting as caretaker before our arrival he one night had his
                  wife and small daughter in the room to keep him company. He said that his small
                  daughter woke up and screamed exactly as Kate had done! Silly coincidence I
                  suppose, but such strange things happen in Africa that I decided to move the children
                  into our room and George sleeps in solitary state in the haunted room! Kate now sleeps
                  peacefully once she goes to sleep but I have to stay with her until she does.

                  I like this house and it does not seem at all sinister to me. As I mentioned before,
                  the rooms are high ceilinged and airy, and have cool cement floors. We have made one
                  end of the enclosed verandah into the living room and the other end is the playroom for
                  the children. The space in between is a sort of no-mans land taken over by the dogs as
                  their special territory.

                  Eleanor.

                  Nzassa 25th March 1939.

                  Dearest Family,

                  George is on safari down in the Rufigi River area. He is away for about three
                  weeks in the month on this job. I do hate to see him go and just manage to tick over until
                  he comes back. But what fun and excitement when he does come home.
                  Usually he returns after dark by which time the children are in bed and I have
                  settled down on the verandah with a book. The first warning is usually given by the
                  dogs, Fanny and her son Paddy. They stir, sit up, look at each other and then go and sit
                  side by side by the door with their noses practically pressed to the mosquito gauze and
                  ears pricked. Soon I can hear the hum of the car, and so can Hasmani, the old Game
                  Scout who sleeps on the back verandah with rifle and ammunition by his side when
                  George is away. When he hears the car he turns up his lamp and hurries out to rouse
                  Juma, the houseboy. Juma pokes up the fire and prepares tea which George always
                  drinks whist a hot meal is being prepared. In the meantime I hurriedly comb my hair and
                  powder my nose so that when the car stops I am ready to rush out and welcome
                  George home. The boy and Hasmani and the garden boy appear to help with the
                  luggage and to greet George and the cook, who always accompanies George on
                  Safari. The home coming is always a lively time with much shouting of greetings.
                  ‘Jambo’, and ‘Habari ya safari’, whilst the dogs, beside themselves with excitement,
                  rush around like lunatics.

                  As though his return were not happiness enough, George usually collects the
                  mail on his way home so there is news of Ann and young George and letters from you
                  and bundles of newspapers and magazines. On the day following his return home,
                  George has to deal with official mail in the office but if the following day is a weekday we
                  all, the house servants as well as ourselves, pile into the boxbody and go to Dar es
                  Salaam. To us this means a mornings shopping followed by an afternoon on the beach.
                  It is a bit cooler now that the rains are on but still very humid. Kate keeps chubby
                  and rosy in spite of the climate but Johnny is too pale though sturdy enough. He is such
                  a good baby which is just as well because Kate is a very demanding little girl though
                  sunny tempered and sweet. I appreciate her company very much when George is
                  away because we are so far off the beaten track that no one ever calls.

                  Eleanor.

                  Nzassa 28th April 1939.

                  Dearest Family,

                  You all seem to wonder how I can stand the loneliness and monotony of living at
                  Nzassa when George is on safari, but really and truly I do not mind. Hamisi the cook
                  always goes on safari with George and then the houseboy Juma takes over the cooking
                  and I do the lighter housework. the children are great company during the day, and when
                  they are settled for the night I sit on the verandah and read or write letters or I just dream.
                  The verandah is entirely enclosed with both wire mosquito gauze and a trellis
                  work of heavy expanded metal, so I am safe from all intruders be they human, animal, or
                  insect. Outside the air is alive with mosquitos and the cicadas keep up their monotonous
                  singing all night long. My only companions on the verandah are the pale ghecco lizards
                  on the wall and the two dogs. Fanny the white bull terrier, lies always near my feet
                  dozing happily, but her son Paddy, who is half Airedale has a less phlegmatic
                  disposition. He sits alert and on guard by the metal trellis work door. Often a lion grunts
                  from the surrounding bush and then his hackles rise and he stands up stiffly with his nose
                  pressed to the door. Old Hasmani from his bedroll on the back verandah, gives a little
                  cough just to show he is awake. Sometimes the lions are very close and then I hear the
                  click of a rifle bolt as Hasmani loads his rifle – but this is usually much later at night when
                  the lights are out. One morning I saw large pug marks between the wall of my bedroom
                  and the garage but I do not fear lions like I did that beastly leopard on the farm.
                  A great deal of witchcraft is still practiced in the bush villages in the
                  neighbourhood. I must tell you about old Hasmani’s baby in connection with this. Last
                  week Hasmani came to me in great distress to say that his baby was ‘Ngongwa sana ‘
                  (very ill) and he thought it would die. I hurried down to the Game Scouts quarters to see
                  whether I could do anything for the child and found the mother squatting in the sun
                  outside her hut with the baby on her lap. The mother was a young woman but not an
                  attractive one. She appeared sullen and indifferent compared with old Hasmani who
                  was very distressed. The child was very feverish and breathing with difficulty and
                  seemed to me to be suffering from bronchitis if not pneumonia. I rubbed his back and
                  chest with camphorated oil and dosed him with aspirin and liquid quinine. I repeated the
                  treatment every four hours, but next day there was no apparent improvement.
                  In the afternoon Hasmani begged me to give him that night off duty and asked for
                  a loan of ten shillings. He explained to me that it seemed to him that the white man’s
                  medicine had failed to cure his child and now he wished to take the child to the local witch
                  doctor. “For ten shillings” said Hasmani, “the Maganga will drive the devil out of my
                  child.” “How?” asked I. “With drums”, said Hasmani confidently. I did not know what to
                  do. I thought the child was too ill to be exposed to the night air, yet I knew that if I
                  refused his request and the child were to die, Hasmani and all the other locals would hold
                  me responsible. I very reluctantly granted his request. I was so troubled by the matter
                  that I sent for George’s office clerk. Daniel, and asked him to accompany Hasmani to the
                  ceremony and to report to me the next morning. It started to rain after dark and all night
                  long I lay awake in bed listening to the drums and the light rain. Next morning when I
                  went out to the kitchen to order breakfast I found a beaming Hasmani awaiting me.
                  “Memsahib”, he said. “My child is well, the fever is now quite gone, the Maganga drove
                  out the devil just as I told you.” Believe it or not, when I hurried to his quarters after
                  breakfast I found the mother suckling a perfectly healthy child! It may be my imagination
                  but I thought the mother looked pretty smug.The clerk Daniel told me that after Hasmani
                  had presented gifts of money and food to the ‘Maganga’, the naked baby was placed
                  on a goat skin near the drums. Most of the time he just lay there but sometimes the witch
                  doctor picked him up and danced with the child in his arms. Daniel seemed reluctant to
                  talk about it. Whatever mumbo jumbo was used all this happened a week ago and the
                  baby has never looked back.

                  Eleanor.

                  Nzassa 3rd July 1939.

                  Dearest Family,

                  Did I tell you that one of George’s Game Scouts was murdered last month in the
                  Maneromango area towards the Rufigi border. He was on routine patrol, with a porter
                  carrying his bedding and food, when they suddenly came across a group of African
                  hunters who were busy cutting up a giraffe which they had just killed. These hunters were
                  all armed with muzzle loaders, spears and pangas, but as it is illegal to kill giraffe without
                  a permit, the Scout went up to the group to take their names. Some argument ensued
                  and the Scout was stabbed.

                  The District Officer went to the area to investigate and decided to call in the Police
                  from Dar es Salaam. A party of police went out to search for the murderers but after
                  some days returned without making any arrests. George was on an elephant control
                  safari in the Bagamoyo District and on his return through Dar es Salaam he heard of the
                  murder. George was furious and distressed to hear the news and called in here for an
                  hour on his way to Maneromango to search for the murderers himself.

                  After a great deal of strenuous investigation he arrested three poachers, put them
                  in jail for the night at Maneromango and then brought them to Dar es Salaam where they
                  are all now behind bars. George will now have to prosecute in the Magistrate’s Court
                  and try and ‘make a case’ so that the prisoners may be committed to the High Court to
                  be tried for murder. George is convinced of their guilt and justifiably proud to have
                  succeeded where the police failed.

                  George had to borrow handcuffs for the prisoners from the Chief at
                  Maneromango and these he brought back to Nzassa after delivering the prisoners to
                  Dar es Salaam so that he may return them to the Chief when he revisits the area next
                  week.

                  I had not seen handcuffs before and picked up a pair to examine them. I said to
                  George, engrossed in ‘The Times’, “I bet if you were arrested they’d never get
                  handcuffs on your wrist. Not these anyway, they look too small.” “Standard pattern,”
                  said George still concentrating on the newspaper, but extending an enormous relaxed
                  left wrist. So, my dears, I put a bracelet round his wrist and as there was a wide gap I
                  gave a hard squeeze with both hands. There was a sharp click as the handcuff engaged
                  in the first notch. George dropped the paper and said, “Now you’ve done it, my love,
                  one set of keys are in the Dar es Salaam Police Station, and the others with the Chief at
                  Maneromango.” You can imagine how utterly silly I felt but George was an angel about it
                  and said as he would have to go to Dar es Salaam we might as well all go.

                  So we all piled into the car, George, the children and I in the front, and the cook
                  and houseboy, immaculate in snowy khanzus and embroidered white caps, a Game
                  Scout and the ayah in the back. George never once complain of the discomfort of the
                  handcuff but I was uncomfortably aware that it was much too tight because his arm
                  above the cuff looked red and swollen and the hand unnaturally pale. As the road is so
                  bad George had to use both hands on the wheel and all the time the dangling handcuff
                  clanked against the dashboard in an accusing way.

                  We drove straight to the Police Station and I could hear the roars of laughter as
                  George explained his predicament. Later I had to put up with a good deal of chaffing
                  and congratulations upon putting the handcuffs on George.

                  Eleanor.

                  Nzassa 5th August 1939

                  Dearest Family,

                  George made a point of being here for Kate’s fourth birthday last week. Just
                  because our children have no playmates George and I always do all we can to make
                  birthdays very special occasions. We went to Dar es Salaam the day before the
                  birthday and bought Kate a very sturdy tricycle with which she is absolutely delighted.
                  You will be glad to know that your parcels arrived just in time and Kate loved all your
                  gifts especially the little shop from Dad with all the miniature tins and packets of
                  groceries. The tea set was also a great success and is much in use.

                  We had a lively party which ended with George and me singing ‘Happy
                  Birthday to you’, and ended with a wild game with balloons. Kate wore her frilly white net
                  party frock and looked so pretty that it seemed a shame that there was no one but us to
                  see her. Anyway it was a good party. I wish so much that you could see the children.
                  Kate keeps rosy and has not yet had malaria. Johnny Jo is sturdy but pale. He
                  runs a temperature now and again but I am not sure whether this is due to teething or
                  malaria. Both children of course take quinine every day as George and I do. George
                  quite frequently has malaria in spite of prophylactic quinine but this is not surprising as he
                  got the germ thoroughly established in his system in his early elephant hunting days. I
                  get it too occasionally but have not been really ill since that first time a month after my
                  arrival in the country.

                  Johnny is such a good baby. His chief claim to beauty is his head of soft golden
                  curls but these are due to come off on his first birthday as George considers them too
                  girlish. George left on safari the day after the party and the very next morning our wood
                  boy had a most unfortunate accident. He was chopping a rather tough log when a chip
                  flew up and split his upper lip clean through from mouth to nostril exposing teeth and
                  gums. A truly horrible sight and very bloody. I cleaned up the wound as best I could
                  and sent him off to the hospital at Dar es Salaam on the office bicycle. He wobbled
                  away wretchedly down the road with a white cloth tied over his mouth to keep off the
                  dust. He returned next day with his lip stitched and very swollen and bearing a
                  resemblance to my lip that time I used the hair remover.

                  Eleanor.

                  Splendid Hotel. Dar es Salaam 7th September 1939

                  Dearest Family,

                  So now another war has started and it has disrupted even our lives. We have left
                  Nzassa for good. George is now a Lieutenant in the King’s African Rifles and the children
                  and I are to go to a place called Morogoro to await further developments.
                  I was glad to read in today’s paper that South Africa has declared war on
                  Germany. I would have felt pretty small otherwise in this hotel which is crammed full of
                  men who have been called up for service in the Army. George seems exhilarated by
                  the prospect of active service. He is bursting out of his uniform ( at the shoulders only!)
                  and all too ready for the fray.

                  The war came as a complete surprise to me stuck out in the bush as I was without
                  wireless or mail. George had been away for a fortnight so you can imagine how
                  surprised I was when a messenger arrived on a bicycle with a note from George. The
                  note informed me that war had been declared and that George, as a Reserve Officer in
                  the KAR had been called up. I was to start packing immediately and be ready by noon
                  next day when George would arrive with a lorry for our goods and chattels. I started to
                  pack immediately with the help of the houseboy and by the time George arrived with
                  the lorry only the frig remained to be packed and this was soon done.

                  Throughout the morning Game Scouts had been arriving from outlying parts of
                  the District. I don’t think they had the least idea where they were supposed to go or
                  whom they were to fight but were ready to fight anybody, anywhere, with George.
                  They all looked very smart in well pressed uniforms hung about with water bottles and
                  ammunition pouches. The large buffalo badge on their round pill box hats absolutely
                  glittered with polish. All of course carried rifles and when George arrived they all lined up
                  and they looked most impressive. I took some snaps but unfortunately it was drizzling
                  and they may not come out well.

                  We left Nzassa without a backward glance. We were pretty fed up with it by
                  then. The children and I are spending a few days here with George but our luggage, the
                  dogs, and the houseboys have already left by train for Morogoro where a small house
                  has been found for the children and me.

                  George tells me that all the German males in this Territory were interned without a
                  hitch. The whole affair must have been very well organised. In every town and
                  settlement special constables were sworn in to do the job. It must have been a rather
                  unpleasant one but seems to have gone without incident. There is a big transit camp
                  here at Dar for the German men. Later they are to be sent out of the country, possibly to
                  Rhodesia.

                  The Indian tailors in the town are all terribly busy making Army uniforms, shorts
                  and tunics in khaki drill. George swears that they have muddled their orders and he has
                  been given the wrong things. Certainly the tunic is far too tight. His hat, a khaki slouch hat
                  like you saw the Australians wearing in the last war, is also too small though it is the
                  largest they have in stock. We had a laugh over his other equipment which includes a
                  small canvas haversack and a whistle on a black cord. George says he feels like he is
                  back in his Boy Scouting boyhood.

                  George has just come in to say the we will be leaving for Morogoro tomorrow
                  afternoon.

                  Eleanor.

                  Morogoro 14th September 1939

                  Dearest Family,

                  Morogoro is a complete change from Nzassa. This is a large and sprawling
                  township. The native town and all the shops are down on the flat land by the railway but
                  all the European houses are away up the slope of the high Uluguru Mountains.
                  Morogoro was a flourishing town in the German days and all the streets are lined with
                  trees for coolness as is the case in other German towns. These trees are the flamboyant
                  acacia which has an umbrella top and throws a wide but light shade.

                  Most of the houses have large gardens so they cover a considerable area and it
                  is quite a safari for me to visit friends on foot as our house is on the edge of this area and
                  the furthest away from the town. Here ones house is in accordance with ones seniority in
                  Government service. Ours is a simple affair, just three lofty square rooms opening on to
                  a wide enclosed verandah. Mosquitoes are bad here so all doors and windows are
                  screened and we will have to carry on with our daily doses of quinine.

                  George came up to Morogoro with us on the train. This was fortunate because I
                  went down with a sharp attack of malaria at the hotel on the afternoon of our departure
                  from Dar es Salaam. George’s drastic cure of vast doses of quinine, a pillow over my
                  head, and the bed heaped with blankets soon brought down the temperature so I was
                  fit enough to board the train but felt pretty poorly on the trip. However next day I felt
                  much better which was a good thing as George had to return to Dar es Salaam after two
                  days. His train left late at night so I did not see him off but said good-bye at home
                  feeling dreadful but trying to keep the traditional stiff upper lip of the wife seeing her
                  husband off to the wars. He hopes to go off to Abyssinia but wrote from Dar es Salaam
                  to say that he is being sent down to Rhodesia by road via Mbeya to escort the first
                  detachment of Rhodesian white troops.

                  First he will have to select suitable camping sites for night stops and arrange for
                  supplies of food. I am very pleased as it means he will be safe for a while anyway. We
                  are both worried about Ann and George in England and wonder if it would be safer to
                  have them sent out.

                  Eleanor.

                  Morogoro 4th November 1939

                  Dearest Family,

                  My big news is that George has been released from the Army. He is very
                  indignant and disappointed because he hoped to go to Abyssinia but I am terribly,
                  terribly glad. The Chief Secretary wrote a very nice letter to George pointing out that he
                  would be doing a greater service to his country by his work of elephant control, giving
                  crop protection during the war years when foodstuffs are such a vital necessity, than by
                  doing a soldiers job. The Government plan to start a huge rice scheme in the Rufiji area,
                  and want George to control the elephant and hippo there. First of all though. he must go
                  to the Southern Highlands Province where there is another outbreak of Rinderpest, to
                  shoot out diseased game especially buffalo, which might spread the disease.

                  So off we go again on our travels but this time we are leaving the two dogs
                  behind in the care of Daniel, the Game Clerk. Fanny is very pregnant and I hate leaving
                  her behind but the clerk has promised to look after her well. We are taking Hamisi, our
                  dignified Swahili cook and the houseboy Juma and his wife whom we brought with us
                  from Nzassa. The boy is not very good but his wife makes a cheerful and placid ayah
                  and adores Johnny.

                  Eleanor.

                  Iringa 8th December 1939

                  Dearest Family,

                  The children and I are staying in a small German house leased from the
                  Custodian of Enemy Property. I can’t help feeling sorry for the owners who must be in
                  concentration camps somewhere.George is away in the bush dealing with the
                  Rinderpest emergency and the cook has gone with him. Now I have sent the houseboy
                  and the ayah away too. Two days ago my houseboy came and told me that he felt
                  very ill and asked me to write a ‘chit’ to the Indian Doctor. In the note I asked the Doctor
                  to let me know the nature of his complaint and to my horror I got a note from him to say
                  that the houseboy had a bad case of Venereal Disease. Was I horrified! I took it for
                  granted that his wife must be infected too and told them both that they would have to
                  return to their home in Nzassa. The boy shouted and the ayah wept but I paid them in
                  lieu of notice and gave them money for the journey home. So there I was left servant
                  less with firewood to chop, a smokey wood burning stove to control, and of course, the
                  two children.

                  To add to my troubles Johnny had a temperature so I sent for the European
                  Doctor. He diagnosed malaria and was astonished at the size of Johnny’s spleen. He
                  said that he must have had suppressed malaria over a long period and the poor child
                  must now be fed maximum doses of quinine for a long time. The Doctor is a fatherly
                  soul, he has been recalled from retirement to do this job as so many of the young
                  doctors have been called up for service with the army.

                  I told him about my houseboy’s complaint and the way I had sent him off
                  immediately, and he was very amused at my haste, saying that it is most unlikely that
                  they would have passed the disease onto their employers. Anyway I hated the idea. I
                  mean to engage a houseboy locally, but will do without an ayah until we return to
                  Morogoro in February.

                  Something happened today to cheer me up. A telegram came from Daniel which
                  read, “FLANNEL HAS FIVE CUBS.”

                  Eleanor.

                  Morogoro 10th March 1940

                  Dearest Family,

                  We are having very heavy rain and the countryside is a most beautiful green. In
                  spite of the weather George is away on safari though it must be very wet and
                  unpleasant. He does work so hard at his elephant hunting job and has got very thin. I
                  suppose this is partly due to those stomach pains he gets and the doctors don’t seem
                  to diagnose the trouble.

                  Living in Morogoro is much like living in a country town in South Africa, particularly
                  as there are several South African women here. I go out quite often to morning teas. We
                  all take our war effort knitting, and natter, and are completely suburban.
                  I sometimes go and see an elderly couple who have been interred here. They
                  are cold shouldered by almost everyone else but I cannot help feeling sorry for them.
                  Usually I go by invitation because I know Mrs Ruppel prefers to be prepared and
                  always has sandwiches and cake. They both speak English but not fluently and
                  conversation is confined to talking about my children and theirs. Their two sons were
                  students in Germany when war broke out but are now of course in the German Army.
                  Such nice looking chaps from their photographs but I suppose thorough Nazis. As our
                  conversation is limited I usually ask to hear a gramophone record or two. They have a
                  large collection.

                  Janet, the ayah whom I engaged at Mbeya, is proving a great treasure. She is a
                  trained hospital ayah and is most dependable and capable. She is, perhaps, a little strict
                  but the great thing is that I can trust her with the children out of my sight.
                  Last week I went out at night for the first time without George. The occasion was
                  a farewell sundowner given by the Commissioner of Prisoners and his wife. I was driven
                  home by the District Officer and he stopped his car by the back door in a large puddle.
                  Ayah came to the back door, storm lamp in hand, to greet me. My escort prepared to
                  drive off but the car stuck. I thought a push from me might help, so without informing the
                  driver, I pushed as hard as I could on the back of the car. Unfortunately the driver
                  decided on other tactics. He put the engine in reverse and I was knocked flat on my back
                  in the puddle. The car drove forward and away without the driver having the least idea of
                  what happened. The ayah was in quite a state, lifting me up and scolding me for my
                  stupidity as though I were Kate. I was a bit shaken but non the worse and will know
                  better next time.

                  Eleanor.

                  Morogoro 14th July 1940

                  Dearest Family,

                  How good it was of Dad to send that cable to Mother offering to have Ann and
                  George to live with you if they are accepted for inclusion in the list of children to be
                  evacuated to South Africa. It would be wonderful to know that they are safely out of the
                  war zone and so much nearer to us but I do dread the thought of the long sea voyage
                  particularly since we heard the news of the sinking of that liner carrying child evacuees to
                  Canada. I worry about them so much particularly as George is so often away on safari.
                  He is so comforting and calm and I feel brave and confident when he is home.
                  We have had no news from England for five weeks but, when she last wrote,
                  mother said the children were very well and that she was sure they would be safe in the
                  country with her.

                  Kate and John are growing fast. Kate is such a pretty little girl, rosy in spite of the
                  rather trying climate. I have allowed her hair to grow again and it hangs on her shoulders
                  in shiny waves. John is a more slightly built little boy than young George was, and quite
                  different in looks. He has Dad’s high forehead and cleft chin, widely spaced brown eyes
                  that are not so dark as mine and hair that is still fair and curly though ayah likes to smooth it
                  down with water every time she dresses him. He is a shy child, and although he plays
                  happily with Kate, he does not care to play with other children who go in the late
                  afternoons to a lawn by the old German ‘boma’.

                  Kate has playmates of her own age but still rather clings to me. Whilst she loves
                  to have friends here to play with her, she will not go to play at their houses unless I go
                  too and stay. She always insists on accompanying me when I go out to morning tea
                  and always calls JanetJohn’s ayah”. One morning I went to a knitting session at a
                  neighbours house. We are all knitting madly for the troops. As there were several other
                  women in the lounge and no other children, I installed Kate in the dining room with a
                  colouring book and crayons. My hostess’ black dog was chained to the dining room
                  table leg, but as he and Kate are on friendly terms I was not bothered by this.
                  Some time afterwards, during a lull in conversation, I heard a strange drumming
                  noise coming from the dining room. I went quickly to investigate and, to my horror, found
                  Kate lying on her back with the dog chain looped around her neck. The frightened dog
                  was straining away from her as far as he could get and the chain was pulled so tightly
                  around her throat that she could not scream. The drumming noise came from her heels
                  kicking in a panic on the carpet.

                  Even now I do not know how Kate got herself into this predicament. Luckily no
                  great harm was done but I think I shall do my knitting at home in future.

                  Eleanor.

                  Morogoro 16th November 1940

                  Dearest Family,

                  I much prefer our little house on the hillside to the larger one we had down below.
                  The only disadvantage is that the garden is on three levels and both children have had
                  some tumbles down the steps on the tricycle. John is an extremely stoical child. He
                  never cries when he hurts himself.

                  I think I have mentioned ‘Morningside’ before. It is a kind of Resthouse high up in
                  the Uluguru Mountains above Morogoro. Jess Howe-Browne, who runs the large
                  house as a Guest House, is a wonderful woman. Besides running the boarding house
                  she also grows vegetables, flowers and fruit for sale in Morogoro and Dar es Salaam.
                  Her guests are usually women and children from Dar es Salaam who come in the hot
                  season to escape the humidity on the coast. Often the mothers leave their children for
                  long periods in Jess Howe-Browne’s care. There is a road of sorts up the mountain side
                  to Morningside, but this is so bad that cars do not attempt it and guests are carried up
                  the mountain in wicker chairs lashed to poles. Four men carry an adult, and two a child,
                  and there are of course always spare bearers and they work in shifts.

                  Last week the children and I went to Morningside for the day as guests. John
                  rode on my lap in one chair and Kate in a small chair on her own. This did not please
                  Kate at all. The poles are carried on the bearers shoulders and one is perched quite high.
                  The motion is a peculiar rocking one. The bearers chant as they go and do not seem
                  worried by shortness of breath! They are all hillmen of course and are, I suppose, used
                  to trotting up and down to the town.

                  Morningside is well worth visiting and we spent a delightful day there. The fresh
                  cool air is a great change from the heavy air of the valley. A river rushes down the
                  mountain in a series of cascades, and the gardens are shady and beautiful. Behind the
                  property is a thick indigenous forest which stretches from Morningside to the top of the
                  mountain. The house is an old German one, rather in need of repair, but Jess has made
                  it comfortable and attractive, with some of her old family treasures including a fine old
                  Grandfather clock. We had a wonderful lunch which included large fresh strawberries and
                  cream. We made the return journey again in the basket chairs and got home before dark.
                  George returned home at the weekend with a baby elephant whom we have
                  called Winnie. She was rescued from a mud hole by some African villagers and, as her
                  mother had abandoned her, they took her home and George was informed. He went in
                  the truck to fetch her having first made arrangements to have her housed in a shed on the
                  Agriculture Department Experimental Farm here. He has written to the Game Dept
                  Headquarters to inform the Game Warden and I do not know what her future will be, but
                  in the meantime she is our pet. George is afraid she will not survive because she has
                  had a very trying time. She stands about waist high and is a delightful creature and quite
                  docile. Asian and African children as well as Europeans gather to watch her and George
                  encourages them to bring fruit for her – especially pawpaws which she loves.
                  Whilst we were there yesterday one of the local ladies came, very smartly
                  dressed in a linen frock, silk stockings, and high heeled shoes. She watched fascinated
                  whilst Winnie neatly split a pawpaw and removed the seeds with her trunk, before
                  scooping out the pulp and putting it in her mouth. It was a particularly nice ripe pawpaw
                  and Winnie enjoyed it so much that she stretched out her trunk for more. The lady took
                  fright and started to run with Winnie after her, sticky trunk outstretched. Quite an
                  entertaining sight. George managed to stop Winnie but not before she had left a gooey
                  smear down the back of the immaculate frock.

                  Eleanor.

                   

                  #6265
                  TracyTracy
                  Participant

                    From Tanganyika with Love

                    continued  ~ part 6

                    With thanks to Mike Rushby.

                    Mchewe 6th June 1937

                    Dearest Family,

                    Home again! We had an uneventful journey. Kate was as good as gold all the
                    way. We stopped for an hour at Bulawayo where we had to change trains but
                    everything was simplified for me by a very pleasant man whose wife shared my
                    compartment. Not only did he see me through customs but he installed us in our new
                    train and his wife turned up to see us off with magazines for me and fruit and sweets for
                    Kate. Very, very kind, don’t you think?

                    Kate and I shared the compartment with a very pretty and gentle girl called
                    Clarice Simpson. She was very worried and upset because she was going home to
                    Broken Hill in response to a telegram informing her that her young husband was
                    dangerously ill from Blackwater Fever. She was very helpful with Kate whose
                    cheerfulness helped Clarice, I think, though I, quite unintentionally was the biggest help
                    at the end of our journey. Remember the partial dentures I had had made just before
                    leaving Cape Town? I know I shall never get used to the ghastly things, I’ve had them
                    two weeks now and they still wobble. Well this day I took them out and wrapped them
                    in a handkerchief, but when we were packing up to leave the train I could find the
                    handkerchief but no teeth! We searched high and low until the train had slowed down to
                    enter Broken Hill station. Then Clarice, lying flat on the floor, spied the teeth in the dark
                    corner under the bottom bunk. With much stretching she managed to retrieve the
                    dentures covered in grime and fluff. My look of horror, when I saw them, made young
                    Clarice laugh. She was met at the station by a very grave elderly couple. I do wonder
                    how things turned out for her.

                    I stayed overnight with Kate at the Great Northern Hotel, and we set off for
                    Mbeya by plane early in the morning. One of our fellow passengers was a young
                    mother with a three week old baby. How ideas have changed since Ann was born. This
                    time we had a smooth passage and I was the only passenger to get airsick. Although
                    there were other women passengers it was a man once again, who came up and
                    offered to help. Kate went off with him amiably and he entertained her until we touched
                    down at Mbeya.

                    George was there to meet us with a wonderful surprise, a little red two seater
                    Ford car. She is a bit battered and looks a bit odd because the boot has been
                    converted into a large wooden box for carrying raw salt, but she goes like the wind.
                    Where did George raise the cash to buy a car? Whilst we were away he found a small
                    cave full of bat guano near a large cave which is worked by a man called Bob Sargent.
                    As Sargent did not want any competition he bought the contents of the cave from
                    George giving him the small car as part payment.

                    It was lovely to return to our little home and find everything fresh and tidy and the
                    garden full of colour. But it was heartbreaking to go into the bedroom and see George’s
                    precious forgotten boots still standing by his empty bed.

                    With much love,
                    Eleanor.

                    Mchewe 25th June 1937

                    Dearest Family,

                    Last Friday George took Kate and me in the little red Ford to visit Mr Sargent’s
                    camp on the Songwe River which cuts the Mbeya-Mbosi road. Mr Sargent bought
                    Hicky-Wood’s guano deposit and also our small cave and is making a good living out of
                    selling the bat guano to the coffee farmers in this province. George went to try to interest
                    him in a guano deposit near Kilwa in the Southern Province. Mr Sargent agreed to pay
                    25 pounds to cover the cost of the car trip and pegging costs. George will make the trip
                    to peg the claim and take samples for analysis. If the quality is sufficiently high, George
                    and Mr Sargent will go into partnership. George will work the claim and ship out the
                    guano from Kilwa which is on the coast of the Southern Province of Tanganyika. So now
                    we are busy building castles in the air once more.

                    On Saturday we went to Mbeya where George had to attend a meeting of the
                    Trout Association. In the afternoon he played in a cricket match so Kate and I spent the
                    whole day with the wife of the new Superintendent of Police. They have a very nice
                    new house with lawns and a sunken rose garden. Kate had a lovely romp with Kit, her
                    three year old son.

                    Mrs Wolten also has two daughters by a previous marriage. The elder girl said to
                    me, “Oh Mrs Rushby your husband is exactly like the strong silent type of man I
                    expected to see in Africa but he is the only one I have seen. I think he looks exactly like
                    those men in the ‘Barney’s Tobacco’ advertisements.”

                    I went home with a huge pile of magazines to keep me entertained whilst
                    George is away on the Kilwa trip.

                    Lots of love,
                    Eleanor.

                    Mchewe 9th July 1937

                    Dearest Family,

                    George returned on Monday from his Kilwa safari. He had an entertaining
                    tale to tell.

                    Before he approached Mr Sargent about going shares in the Kilwa guano
                    deposit he first approached a man on the Lupa who had done very well out of a small
                    gold reef. This man, however said he was not interested so you can imagine how
                    indignant George was when he started on his long trip, to find himself being trailed by
                    this very man and a co-driver in a powerful Ford V8 truck. George stopped his car and
                    had some heated things to say – awful threats I imagine as to what would happen to
                    anyone who staked his claim. Then he climbed back into our ancient little two seater and
                    went off like a bullet driving all day and most of the night. As the others took turns in
                    driving you can imagine what a feat it was for George to arrive in Kilwa ahead of them.
                    When they drove into Kilwa he met them with a bright smile and a bit of bluff –
                    quite justifiable under the circumstances I think. He said, you chaps can have a rest now,
                    you’re too late.” He then whipped off and pegged the claim. he brought some samples
                    of guano back but until it has been analysed he will not know whether the guano will be
                    an economic proposition or not. George is not very hopeful. He says there is a good
                    deal of sand mixed with the guano and that much of it was damp.

                    The trip was pretty eventful for Kianda, our houseboy. The little two seater car
                    had been used by its previous owner for carting bags of course salt from his salt pans.
                    For this purpose the dicky seat behind the cab had been removed, and a kind of box
                    built into the boot of the car. George’s camp kit and provisions were packed into this
                    open box and Kianda perched on top to keep an eye on the belongings. George
                    travelled so fast on the rough road that at some point during the night Kianda was
                    bumped off in the middle of the Game Reserve. George did not notice that he was
                    missing until the next morning. He concluded, quite rightly as it happened, that Kianda
                    would be picked up by the rival truck so he continued his journey and Kianda rejoined
                    him at Kilwa.

                    Believe it or not, the same thing happened on the way back but fortunately this
                    time George noticed his absence. He stopped the car and had just started back on his
                    tracks when Kianda came running down the road still clutching the unlighted storm lamp
                    which he was holding in his hand when he fell. The glass was not even cracked.
                    We are finding it difficult just now to buy native chickens and eggs. There has
                    been an epidemic amongst the poultry and one hesitates to eat the survivors. I have a
                    brine tub in which I preserve our surplus meat but I need the chickens for soup.
                    I hope George will be home for some months. He has arranged to take a Mr
                    Blackburn, a wealthy fruit farmer from Elgin, Cape, on a hunting safari during September
                    and October and that should bring in some much needed cash. Lillian Eustace has
                    invited Kate and me to spend the whole of October with her in Tukuyu.
                    I am so glad that you so much enjoy having Ann and George with you. We miss
                    them dreadfully. Kate is a pretty little girl and such a little madam. You should hear the
                    imperious way in which she calls the kitchenboy for her meals. “Boy Brekkis, Boy Lunch,
                    and Boy Eggy!” are her three calls for the day. She knows no Ki-Swahili.

                    Eleanor

                    Mchewe 8th October 1937

                    Dearest Family,

                    I am rapidly becoming as superstitious as our African boys. They say the wild
                    animals always know when George is away from home and come down to have their
                    revenge on me because he has killed so many.

                    I am being besieged at night by a most beastly leopard with a half grown cub. I
                    have grown used to hearing leopards grunt as they hunt in the hills at night but never
                    before have I had one roaming around literally under the windows. It has been so hot at
                    night lately that I have been sleeping with my bedroom door open onto the verandah. I
                    felt quite safe because the natives hereabouts are law-abiding and in any case I always
                    have a boy armed with a club sleeping in the kitchen just ten yards away. As an added
                    precaution I also have a loaded .45 calibre revolver on my bedside table, and Fanny
                    our bullterrier, sleeps on the mat by my bed. I am also looking after Barney, a fine
                    Airedale dog belonging to the Costers. He slept on a mat by the open bedroom door
                    near a dimly burning storm lamp.

                    As usual I went to sleep with an easy mind on Monday night, but was awakened
                    in the early hours of Tuesday by the sound of a scuffle on the front verandah. The noise
                    was followed by a scream of pain from Barney. I jumped out of bed and, grabbing the
                    lamp with my left hand and the revolver in my right, I rushed outside just in time to see
                    two animal figures roll over the edge of the verandah into the garden below. There they
                    engaged in a terrific tug of war. Fortunately I was too concerned for Barney to be
                    nervous. I quickly fired two shots from the revolver, which incidentally makes a noise like
                    a cannon, and I must have startled the leopard for both animals, still locked together,
                    disappeared over the edge of the terrace. I fired two more shots and in a few moments
                    heard the leopard making a hurried exit through the dry leaves which lie thick under the
                    wild fig tree just beyond the terrace. A few seconds later Barney appeared on the low
                    terrace wall. I called his name but he made no move to come but stood with hanging
                    head. In desperation I rushed out, felt blood on my hands when I touched him, so I
                    picked him up bodily and carried him into the house. As I regained the verandah the boy
                    appeared, club in hand, having been roused by the shots. He quickly grasped what had
                    happened when he saw my blood saturated nightie. He fetched a bowl of water and a
                    clean towel whilst I examined Barney’s wounds. These were severe, the worst being a
                    gaping wound in his throat. I washed the gashes with a strong solution of pot permang
                    and I am glad to say they are healing remarkably well though they are bound to leave
                    scars. Fanny, very prudently, had taken no part in the fighting except for frenzied barking
                    which she kept up all night. The shots had of course wakened Kate but she seemed
                    more interested than alarmed and kept saying “Fanny bark bark, Mummy bang bang.
                    Poor Barney lots of blood.”

                    In the morning we inspected the tracks in the garden. There was a shallow furrow
                    on the terrace where Barney and the leopard had dragged each other to and fro and
                    claw marks on the trunk of the wild fig tree into which the leopard climbed after I fired the
                    shots. The affair was of course a drama after the Africans’ hearts and several of our
                    shamba boys called to see me next day to make sympathetic noises and discuss the
                    affair.

                    I went to bed early that night hoping that the leopard had been scared off for
                    good but I must confess I shut all windows and doors. Alas for my hopes of a restful
                    night. I had hardly turned down the lamp when the leopard started its terrifying grunting
                    just under the bedroom windows. If only she would sniff around quietly I should not
                    mind, but the noise is ghastly, something like the first sickening notes of a braying
                    donkey, amplified here by the hills and the gorge which is only a stones throw from the
                    bedroom. Barney was too sick to bark but Fanny barked loud enough for two and the more
                    frantic she became the hungrier the leopard sounded. Kate of course woke up and this
                    time she was frightened though I assured her that the noise was just a donkey having
                    fun. Neither of us slept until dawn when the leopard returned to the hills. When we
                    examined the tracks next morning we found that the leopard had been accompanied by
                    a fair sized cub and that together they had prowled around the house, kitchen, and out
                    houses, visiting especially the places to which the dogs had been during the day.
                    As I feel I cannot bear many more of these nights, I am sending a note to the
                    District Commissioner, Mbeya by the messenger who takes this letter to the post,
                    asking him to send a game scout or an armed policeman to deal with the leopard.
                    So don’t worry, for by the time this reaches you I feel sure this particular trouble
                    will be over.

                    Eleanor.

                    Mchewe 17th October 1937

                    Dearest Family,

                    More about the leopard I fear! My messenger returned from Mbeya to say that
                    the District Officer was on safari so he had given the message to the Assistant District
                    Officer who also apparently left on safari later without bothering to reply to my note, so
                    there was nothing for me to do but to send for the village Nimrod and his muzzle loader
                    and offer him a reward if he could frighten away or kill the leopard.

                    The hunter, Laza, suggested that he should sleep at the house so I went to bed
                    early leaving Laza and his two pals to make themselves comfortable on the living room
                    floor by the fire. Laza was armed with a formidable looking muzzle loader, crammed I
                    imagine with nuts and bolts and old rusty nails. One of his pals had a spear and the other
                    a panga. This fellow was also in charge of the Petromax pressure lamp whose light was
                    hidden under a packing case. I left the campaign entirely to Laza’s direction.
                    As usual the leopard came at midnight stealing down from the direction of the
                    kitchen and announcing its presence and position with its usual ghastly grunts. Suddenly
                    pandemonium broke loose on the back verandah. I heard the roar of the muzzle loader
                    followed by a vigourous tattoo beaten on an empty paraffin tin and I rushed out hoping
                    to find the dead leopard. however nothing of the kind had happened except that the
                    noise must have scared the beast because she did not return again that night. Next
                    morning Laza solemnly informed me that, though he had shot many leopards in his day,
                    this was no ordinary leopard but a “sheitani” (devil) and that as his gun was no good
                    against witchcraft he thought he might as well retire from the hunt. Scared I bet, and I
                    don’t blame him either.

                    You can imagine my relief when a car rolled up that afternoon bringing Messers
                    Stewart and Griffiths, two farmers who live about 15 miles away, between here and
                    Mbeya. They had a note from the Assistant District Officer asking them to help me and
                    they had come to set up a trap gun in the garden. That night the leopard sniffed all
                    around the gun and I had the added strain of waiting for the bang and wondering what I
                    should do if the beast were only wounded. I conjured up horrible visions of the two little
                    totos trotting up the garden path with the early morning milk and being horribly mauled,
                    but I needn’t have worried because the leopard was far too wily to be caught that way.
                    Two more ghastly nights passed and then I had another visitor, a Dr Jackson of
                    the Tsetse Department on safari in the District. He listened sympathetically to my story
                    and left his shotgun and some SSG cartridges with me and instructed me to wait until the
                    leopard was pretty close and blow its b—– head off. It was good of him to leave his
                    gun. George always says there are three things a man should never lend, ‘His wife, his
                    gun and his dog.’ (I think in that order!)I felt quite cheered by Dr Jackson’s visit and sent
                    once again for Laza last night and arranged a real show down. In the afternoon I draped
                    heavy blankets over the living room windows to shut out the light of the pressure lamp
                    and the four of us, Laza and his two stooges and I waited up for the leopard. When we
                    guessed by her grunts that she was somewhere between the kitchen and the back door
                    we all rushed out, first the boy with the panga and the lamp, next Laza with his muzzle
                    loader, then me with the shotgun followed closely by the boy with the spear. What a
                    farce! The lamp was our undoing. We were blinded by the light and did not even
                    glimpse the leopard which made off with a derisive grunt. Laza said smugly that he knew
                    it was hopeless to try and now I feel tired and discouraged too.

                    This morning I sent a runner to Mbeya to order the hotel taxi for tomorrow and I
                    shall go to friends in Mbeya for a day or two and then on to Tukuyu where I shall stay
                    with the Eustaces until George returns from Safari.

                    Eleanor.

                    Mchewe 18th November 1937

                    My darling Ann,

                    Here we are back in our own home and how lovely it is to have Daddy back from
                    safari. Thank you very much for your letter. I hope by now you have got mine telling you
                    how very much I liked the beautiful tray cloth you made for my birthday. I bet there are
                    not many little girls of five who can embroider as well as you do, darling. The boy,
                    Matafari, washes and irons it so carefully and it looks lovely on the tea tray.

                    Daddy and I had some fun last night. I was in bed and Daddy was undressing
                    when we heard a funny scratching noise on the roof. I thought it was the leopard. Daddy
                    quickly loaded his shotgun and ran outside. He had only his shirt on and he looked so
                    funny. I grabbed the loaded revolver from the cupboard and ran after Dad in my nightie
                    but after all the rush it was only your cat, Winnie, though I don’t know how she managed
                    to make such a noise. We felt so silly, we laughed and laughed.

                    Kate talks a lot now but in such a funny way you would laugh to her her. She
                    hears the houseboys call me Memsahib so sometimes instead of calling me Mummy
                    she calls me “Oompaab”. She calls the bedroom a ‘bippon’ and her little behind she
                    calls her ‘sittendump’. She loves to watch Mandawi’s cattle go home along the path
                    behind the kitchen. Joseph your donkey, always leads the cows. He has a lazy life now.
                    I am glad you had such fun on Guy Fawkes Day. You will be sad to leave
                    Plumstead but I am sure you will like going to England on the big ship with granny Kate.
                    I expect you will start school when you get to England and I am sure you will find that
                    fun.

                    God bless my dear little girl. Lots of love from Daddy and Kate,
                    and Mummy

                    Mchewe 18th November 1937

                    Hello George Darling,

                    Thank you for your lovely drawing of Daddy shooting an elephant. Daddy says
                    that the only thing is that you have drawn him a bit too handsome.

                    I went onto the verandah a few minutes ago to pick a banana for Kate from the
                    bunch hanging there and a big hornet flew out and stung my elbow! There are lots of
                    them around now and those stinging flies too. Kate wears thick corduroy dungarees so
                    that she will not get her fat little legs bitten. She is two years old now and is a real little
                    pickle. She loves running out in the rain so I have ordered a pair of red Wellingtons and a
                    tiny umbrella from a Nairobi shop for her Christmas present.

                    Fanny’s puppies have their eyes open now and have very sharp little teeth.
                    They love to nip each other. We are keeping the fiercest little one whom we call Paddy
                    but are giving the others to friends. The coffee bushes are full of lovely white flowers
                    and the bees and ants are very busy stealing their honey.

                    Yesterday a troop of baboons came down the hill and Dad shot a big one to
                    scare the others off. They are a nuisance because they steal the maize and potatoes
                    from the native shambas and then there is not enough food for the totos.
                    Dad and I are very proud of you for not making a fuss when you went to the
                    dentist to have that tooth out.

                    Bye bye, my fine little son.
                    Three bags full of love from Kate, Dad and Mummy.

                    Mchewe 12th February, 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    here is some news that will please you. George has been offered and has
                    accepted a job as Forester at Mbulu in the Northern Province of Tanganyika. George
                    would have preferred a job as Game Ranger, but though the Game Warden, Philip
                    Teare, is most anxious to have him in the Game Department, there is no vacancy at
                    present. Anyway if one crops up later, George can always transfer from one
                    Government Department to another. Poor George, he hates the idea of taking a job. He
                    says that hitherto he has always been his own master and he detests the thought of
                    being pushed around by anyone.

                    Now however he has no choice. Our capitol is almost exhausted and the coffee
                    market shows no signs of improving. With three children and another on the way, he
                    feels he simply must have a fixed income. I shall be sad to leave this little farm. I love
                    our little home and we have been so very happy here, but my heart rejoices at the
                    thought of overseas leave every thirty months. Now we shall be able to fetch Ann and
                    George from England and in three years time we will all be together in Tanganyika once
                    more.

                    There is no sale for farms so we will just shut the house and keep on a very small
                    labour force just to keep the farm from going derelict. We are eating our hens but will
                    take our two dogs, Fanny and Paddy with us.

                    One thing I shall be glad to leave is that leopard. She still comes grunting around
                    at night but not as badly as she did before. I do not mind at all when George is here but
                    until George was accepted for this forestry job I was afraid he might go back to the
                    Diggings and I should once more be left alone to be cursed by the leopard’s attentions.
                    Knowing how much I dreaded this George was most anxious to shoot the leopard and
                    for weeks he kept his shotgun and a powerful torch handy at night.

                    One night last week we woke to hear it grunting near the kitchen. We got up very
                    quietly and whilst George loaded the shotgun with SSG, I took the torch and got the
                    heavy revolver from the cupboard. We crept out onto the dark verandah where George
                    whispered to me to not switch on the torch until he had located the leopard. It was pitch
                    black outside so all he could do was listen intently. And then of course I spoilt all his
                    plans. I trod on the dog’s tin bowl and made a terrific clatter! George ordered me to
                    switch on the light but it was too late and the leopard vanished into the long grass of the
                    Kalonga, grunting derisively, or so it sounded.

                    She never comes into the clearing now but grunts from the hillside just above it.

                    Eleanor.

                    Mbulu 18th March, 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    Journeys end at last. here we are at Mbulu, installed in our new quarters which are
                    as different as they possibly could be from our own cosy little home at Mchewe. We
                    live now, my dears, in one wing of a sort of ‘Beau Geste’ fort but I’ll tell you more about
                    it in my next letter. We only arrived yesterday and have not had time to look around.
                    This letter will tell you just about our trip from Mbeya.

                    We left the farm in our little red Ford two seater with all our portable goods and
                    chattels plus two native servants and the two dogs. Before driving off, George took one
                    look at the flattened springs and declared that he would be surprised if we reached
                    Mbeya without a breakdown and that we would never make Mbulu with the car so
                    overloaded.

                    However luck was with us. We reached Mbeya without mishap and at one of the
                    local garages saw a sturdy used Ford V8 boxbody car for sale. The garage agreed to
                    take our small car as part payment and George drew on our little remaining capitol for the
                    rest. We spent that night in the house of the Forest Officer and next morning set out in
                    comfort for the Northern Province of Tanganyika.

                    I had done the journey from Dodoma to Mbeya seven years before so was
                    familiar with the scenery but the road was much improved and the old pole bridges had
                    been replaced by modern steel ones. Kate was as good as gold all the way. We
                    avoided hotels and camped by the road and she found this great fun.
                    The road beyond Dodoma was new to me and very interesting country, flat and
                    dry and dusty, as little rain falls there. The trees are mostly thorn trees but here and there
                    one sees a giant baobab, weird trees with fantastically thick trunks and fat squat branches
                    with meagre foliage. The inhabitants of this area I found interesting though. They are
                    called Wagogo and are a primitive people who ape the Masai in dress and customs
                    though they are much inferior to the Masai in physique. They are also great herders of
                    cattle which, rather surprisingly, appear to thrive in that dry area.

                    The scenery alters greatly as one nears Babati, which one approaches by a high
                    escarpment from which one has a wonderful view of the Rift Valley. Babati township
                    appears to be just a small group of Indian shops and shabby native houses, but I
                    believe there are some good farms in the area. Though the little township is squalid,
                    there is a beautiful lake and grand mountains to please the eye. We stopped only long
                    enough to fill up with petrol and buy some foodstuffs. Beyond Babati there is a tsetse
                    fly belt and George warned our two native servants to see that no tsetse flies settled on
                    the dogs.

                    We stopped for the night in a little rest house on the road about 80 miles from
                    Arusha where we were to spend a few days with the Forest Officer before going on to
                    Mbulu. I enjoyed this section of the road very much because it runs across wide plains
                    which are bounded on the West by the blue mountains of the Rift Valley wall. Here for
                    the first time I saw the Masai on their home ground guarding their vast herds of cattle. I
                    also saw their strange primitive hovels called Manyattas, with their thorn walled cattle
                    bomas and lots of plains game – giraffe, wildebeest, ostriches and antelope. Kate was
                    wildly excited and entranced with the game especially the giraffe which stood gazing
                    curiously and unafraid of us, often within a few yards of the road.

                    Finally we came across the greatest thrill of all, my first view of Mt Meru the extinct
                    volcano about 16,000 feet high which towers over Arusha township. The approach to
                    Arusha is through flourishing coffee plantations very different alas from our farm at Mchewe. George says that at Arusha coffee growing is still a paying proposition
                    because here the yield of berry per acre is much higher than in the Southern highlands
                    and here in the North the farmers have not such heavy transport costs as the railway runs
                    from Arusha to the port at Tanga.

                    We stayed overnight at a rather second rate hotel but the food was good and we
                    had hot baths and a good nights rest. Next day Tom Lewis the Forest Officer, fetched
                    us and we spent a few days camping in a tent in the Lewis’ garden having meals at their
                    home. Both Tom and Lillian Lewis were most friendly. Tom lewis explained to George
                    what his work in the Mbulu District was to be, and they took us camping in a Forest
                    Reserve where Lillian and her small son David and Kate and I had a lovely lazy time
                    amidst beautiful surroundings. Before we left for Mbulu, Lillian took me shopping to buy
                    material for curtains for our new home. She described the Forest House at Mbulu to me
                    and it sounded delightful but alas, when we reached Mbulu we discovered that the
                    Assistant District Officer had moved into the Forest House and we were directed to the
                    Fort or Boma. The night before we left Arusha for Mbulu it rained very heavily and the
                    road was very treacherous and slippery due to the surface being of ‘black cotton’ soil
                    which has the appearance and consistency of chocolate blancmange, after rain. To get to
                    Mbulu we had to drive back in the direction of Dodoma for some 70 miles and then turn
                    to the right and drive across plains to the Great Rift Valley Wall. The views from this
                    escarpment road which climbs this wall are magnificent. At one point one looks down
                    upon Lake Manyara with its brilliant white beaches of soda.

                    The drive was a most trying one for George. We had no chains for the wheels
                    and several times we stuck in the mud and our two houseboys had to put grass and
                    branches under the wheels to stop them from spinning. Quite early on in the afternoon
                    George gave up all hope of reaching Mbulu that day and planned to spend the night in
                    a little bush rest camp at Karatu. However at one point it looked as though we would not
                    even reach this resthouse for late afternoon found us properly bogged down in a mess
                    of mud at the bottom of a long and very steep hill. In spite of frantic efforts on the part of
                    George and the two boys, all now very wet and muddy, the heavy car remained stuck.
                    Suddenly five Masai men appeared through the bushes beside the road. They
                    were all tall and angular and rather terrifying looking to me. Each wore only a blanket
                    knotted over one shoulder and all were armed with spears. They lined up by the side of
                    the road and just looked – not hostile but simply aloof and supercilious. George greeted
                    them and said in Ki-Swahili, “Help to push and I will reward you.” But they said nothing,
                    just drawing back imperceptibly to register disgust at the mere idea of manual labour.
                    Their expressions said quite clearly “A Masai is a warrior and does not soil his hands.”
                    George then did something which startled them I think, as much as me. He
                    plucked their spears from their hands one by one and flung them into the back of the
                    boxbody. “Now push!” he said, “And when we are safely out of the mud you shall have
                    your spears back.” To my utter astonishment the Masai seemed to applaud George’s
                    action. I think they admire courage in a man more than anything else. They pushed with a
                    will and soon we were roaring up the long steep slope. “I can’t stop here” quoth George
                    as up and up we went. The Masai were in mad pursuit with their blankets streaming
                    behind. They took a very steep path which was a shortcut to the top. They are certainly
                    amazing athletes and reached the top at the same time as the car. Their route of course
                    was shorter but much more steep, yet they came up without any sign of fatigue to claim
                    their spears and the money which George handed out with a friendly grin. The Masai
                    took the whole episode in good heart and we parted on the most friendly terms.

                    After a rather chilly night in the three walled shack, we started on the last lap of our
                    journey yesterday morning in bright weather and made the trip to Mbulu without incident.

                    Eleanor.

                    Mbulu 24th March, 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    Mbulu is an attractive station but living in this rather romantic looking fort has many
                    disadvantages. Our quarters make up one side of the fort which is built up around a
                    hollow square. The buildings are single storied but very tall in the German manner and
                    there is a tower on one corner from which the Union Jack flies. The tower room is our
                    sitting room, and one has very fine views from the windows of the rolling country side.
                    However to reach this room one has to climb a steep flight of cement steps from the
                    court yard. Another disadvantage of this tower room is that there is a swarm of bees in
                    the roof and the stray ones drift down through holes in the ceiling and buzz angrily
                    against the window panes or fly around in a most menacing manner.

                    Ours are the only private quarters in the Fort. Two other sides of the Fort are
                    used as offices, storerooms and court room and the fourth side is simply a thick wall with
                    battlements and loopholes and a huge iron shod double door of enormous thickness
                    which is always barred at sunset when the flag is hauled down. Two Police Askari always
                    remain in the Fort on guard at night. The effect from outside the whitewashed fort is very
                    romantic but inside it is hardly homely and how I miss my garden at Mchewe and the
                    grass and trees.

                    We have no privacy downstairs because our windows overlook the bare
                    courtyard which is filled with Africans patiently waiting to be admitted to the courtroom as
                    witnesses or spectators. The outside windows which overlook the valley are heavily
                    barred. I can only think that the Germans who built this fort must have been very scared
                    of the local natives.

                    Our rooms are hardly cosy and are furnished with typical heavy German pieces.
                    We have a vast bleak bedroom, a dining room and an enormous gloomy kitchen in
                    which meals for the German garrison were cooked. At night this kitchen is alive with
                    gigantic rats but fortunately they do not seem to care for the other rooms. To crown
                    everything owls hoot and screech at night on the roof.

                    On our first day here I wandered outside the fort walls with Kate and came upon a
                    neatly fenced plot enclosing the graves of about fifteen South African soldiers killed by
                    the Germans in the 1914-18 war. I understand that at least one of theses soldiers died in
                    the courtyard here. The story goes, that during the period in the Great War when this fort
                    was occupied by a troop of South African Horse, a German named Siedtendorf
                    appeared at the great barred door at night and asked to speak to the officer in command
                    of the Troop. The officer complied with this request and the small shutter in the door was
                    opened so that he could speak with the German. The German, however, had not come
                    to speak. When he saw the exposed face of the officer, he fired, killing him, and
                    escaped into the dark night. I had this tale on good authority but cannot vouch for it. I do
                    know though, that there are two bullet holes in the door beside the shutter. An unhappy
                    story to think about when George is away, as he is now, and the moonlight throws queer
                    shadows in the court yard and the owls hoot.

                    However though I find our quarters depressing, I like Mbulu itself very much. It is
                    rolling country, treeless except for the plantations of the Forestry Dept. The land is very
                    fertile in the watered valleys but the grass on hills and plains is cropped to the roots by
                    the far too numerous cattle and goats. There are very few Europeans on the station, only
                    Mr Duncan, the District Officer, whose wife and children recently left for England, the
                    Assistant District Officer and his wife, a bachelor Veterinary Officer, a Road Foreman and
                    ourselves, and down in the village a German with an American wife and an elderly
                    Irishman whom I have not met. The Government officials have a communal vegetable
                    garden in the valley below the fort which keeps us well supplied with green stuff. 

                    Most afternoons George, Kate and I go for walks after tea. On Fridays there is a
                    little ceremony here outside the fort. In the late afternoon a little procession of small
                    native schoolboys, headed by a drum and penny whistle band come marching up the
                    road to a tune which sounds like ‘Two lovely black eyes”. They form up below our tower
                    and as the flag is lowered for the day they play ‘God save the King’, and then march off
                    again. It is quite a cheerful little ceremony.

                    The local Africans are a skinny lot and, I should say, a poor tribe. They protect
                    themselves against the cold by wrapping themselves in cotton blankets or a strip of
                    unbleached sheeting. This they drape over their heads, almost covering their faces and
                    the rest is wrapped closely round their bodies in the manner of a shroud. A most
                    depressing fashion. They live in very primitive comfortless houses. They simply make a
                    hollow in the hillside and build a front wall of wattle and daub. Into this rude shelter at night
                    go cattle and goats, men, women, and children.

                    Mbulu village has the usual mud brick and wattle dukas and wattle and daub
                    houses. The chief trader is a Goan who keeps a surprisingly good variety of tinned
                    foodstuffs and also sells hardware and soft goods.

                    The Europeans here have been friendly but as you will have noted there are
                    only two other women on station and no children at all to be companions for Kate.

                    Eleanor.

                    Mbulu 20th June 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    Here we are on Safari with George at Babati where we are occupying a rest
                    house on the slopes of Ufiome Mountain. The slopes are a Forest Reserve and
                    George is supervising the clearing of firebreaks in preparation for the dry weather. He
                    goes off after a very early breakfast and returns home in the late afternoon so Kate and I
                    have long lazy days.

                    Babati is a pleasant spot and the resthouse is quite comfortable. It is about a mile
                    from the village which is just the usual collection of small mud brick and corrugated iron
                    Indian Dukas. There are a few settlers in the area growing coffee, or going in for mixed
                    farming but I don’t think they are doing very well. The farm adjoining the rest house is
                    owned by Lord Lovelace but is run by a manager.

                    George says he gets enough exercise clambering about all day on the mountain,
                    so Kate and I do our walking in the mornings when George is busy, and we all relax in
                    the evenings when George returns from his field work. Kate’s favourite walk is to the big
                    block of mtama (sorghum) shambas lower down the hill. There are huge swarms of tiny
                    grain eating birds around waiting the chance to plunder the mtama, so the crops are
                    watched from sunrise to sunset.

                    Crude observation platforms have been erected for this purpose in the centre of
                    each field and the women and the young boys of the family concerned, take it in turn to
                    occupy the platform and scare the birds. Each watcher has a sling and uses clods of
                    earth for ammunition. The clod is placed in the centre of the sling which is then whirled
                    around at arms length. Suddenly one end of the sling is released and the clod of earth
                    flies out and shatters against the mtama stalks. The sling makes a loud whip like crack and
                    the noise is quite startling and very effective in keeping the birds at a safe distance.

                    Eleanor.

                    Karatu 3rd July 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    Still on safari you see! We left Babati ten days ago and passed through Mbulu
                    on our way to this spot. We slept out of doors one night beside Lake Tiawa about eight
                    miles from Mbulu. It was a peaceful spot and we enjoyed watching the reflection of the
                    sunset on the lake and the waterhens and duck and pelicans settling down for the night.
                    However it turned piercingly cold after sunset so we had an early supper and then all
                    three of us lay down to sleep in the back of the boxbody (station wagon). It was a tight
                    fit and a real case of ‘When Dad turns, we all turn.’

                    Here at Karatu we are living in a grass hut with only three walls. It is rather sweet
                    and looks like the setting for a Nativity Play. Kate and I share the only camp bed and
                    George and the dogs sleep on the floor. The air here is very fresh and exhilarating and
                    we all feel very fit. George is occupied all day supervising the cutting of firebreaks
                    around existing plantations and the forest reserve of indigenous trees. Our camp is on
                    the hillside and below us lie the fertile wheat lands of European farmers.

                    They are mostly Afrikaners, the descendants of the Boer families who were
                    invited by the Germans to settle here after the Boer War. Most of them are pro-British
                    now and a few have called in here to chat to George about big game hunting. George
                    gets on extremely well with them and recently attended a wedding where he had a
                    lively time dancing at the reception. He likes the older people best as most are great
                    individualists. One fine old man, surnamed von Rooyen, visited our camp. He is a Boer
                    of the General Smuts type with spare figure and bearded face. George tells me he is a
                    real patriarch with an enormous family – mainly sons. This old farmer fought against the
                    British throughout the Boer War under General Smuts and again against the British in the
                    German East Africa campaign when he was a scout and right hand man to Von Lettow. It
                    is said that Von Lettow was able to stay in the field until the end of the Great War
                    because he listened to the advise given to him by von Rooyen. However his dislike for
                    the British does not extend to George as they have a mutual interest in big game
                    hunting.

                    Kate loves being on safari. She is now so accustomed to having me as her nurse
                    and constant companion that I do not know how she will react to paid help. I shall have to
                    get someone to look after her during my confinement in the little German Red Cross
                    hospital at Oldeani.

                    George has obtained permission from the District Commissioner, for Kate and
                    me to occupy the Government Rest House at Oldeani from the end of July until the end
                    of August when my baby is due. He will have to carry on with his field work but will join
                    us at weekends whenever possible.

                    Eleanor.

                    Karatu 12th July 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    Not long now before we leave this camp. We have greatly enjoyed our stay
                    here in spite of the very chilly earl mornings and the nights when we sit around in heavy
                    overcoats until our early bed time.

                    Last Sunday I persuaded George to take Kate and me to the famous Ngoro-
                    Ngoro Crater. He was not very keen to do so because the road is very bumpy for
                    anyone in my interesting condition but I feel so fit that I was most anxious to take this
                    opportunity of seeing the enormous crater. We may never be in this vicinity again and in
                    any case safari will not be so simple with a small baby.

                    What a wonderful trip it was! The road winds up a steep escarpment from which
                    one gets a glorious birds eye view of the plains of the Great Rift Valley far, far below.
                    The crater is immense. There is a road which skirts the rim in places and one has quite
                    startling views of the floor of the crater about two thousand feet below.

                    A camp for tourists has just been built in a clearing in the virgin forest. It is most
                    picturesque as the camp buildings are very neatly constructed log cabins with very high
                    pitched thatched roofs. We spent about an hour sitting on the grass near the edge of the
                    crater enjoying the sunshine and the sharp air and really awe inspiring view. Far below us
                    in the middle of the crater was a small lake and we could see large herds of game
                    animals grazing there but they were too far away to be impressive, even seen through
                    George’s field glasses. Most appeared to be wildebeest and zebra but I also picked
                    out buffalo. Much more exciting was my first close view of a wild elephant. George
                    pointed him out to me as we approached the rest camp on the inward journey. He
                    stood quietly under a tree near the road and did not seem to be disturbed by the car
                    though he rolled a wary eye in our direction. On our return journey we saw him again at
                    almost uncomfortably close quarters. We rounded a sharp corner and there stood the
                    elephant, facing us and slap in the middle of the road. He was busily engaged giving
                    himself a dust bath but spared time to give us an irritable look. Fortunately we were on a
                    slight slope so George quickly switched off the engine and backed the car quietly round
                    the corner. He got out of the car and loaded his rifle, just in case! But after he had finished
                    his toilet the elephant moved off the road and we took our chance and passed without
                    incident.

                    One notices the steepness of the Ngoro-Ngoro road more on the downward
                    journey than on the way up. The road is cut into the side of the mountain so that one has
                    a steep slope on one hand and a sheer drop on the other. George told me that a lorry
                    coming down the mountain was once charged from behind by a rhino. On feeling and
                    hearing the bash from behind the panic stricken driver drove off down the mountain as
                    fast as he dared and never paused until he reached level ground at the bottom of the
                    mountain. There was no sign of the rhino so the driver got out to examine his lorry and
                    found the rhino horn embedded in the wooden tail end of the lorry. The horn had been
                    wrenched right off!

                    Happily no excitement of that kind happened to us. I have yet to see a rhino.

                    Eleanor.

                    Oldeani. 19th July 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    Greetings from a lady in waiting! Kate and I have settled down comfortably in the
                    new, solidly built Government Rest House which comprises one large living room and
                    one large office with a connecting door. Outside there is a kitchen and a boys quarter.
                    There are no resident Government officials here at Oldeani so the office is in use only
                    when the District Officer from Mbulu makes his monthly visit. However a large Union
                    Jack flies from a flagpole in the front of the building as a gentle reminder to the entirely
                    German population of Oldeani that Tanganyika is now under British rule.

                    There is quite a large community of German settlers here, most of whom are
                    engaged in coffee farming. George has visited several of the farms in connection with his
                    forestry work and says the coffee plantations look very promising indeed. There are also
                    a few German traders in the village and there is a large boarding school for German
                    children and also a very pleasant little hospital where I have arranged to have the baby.
                    Right next door to the Rest House is a General Dealers Store run by a couple named
                    Schnabbe. The shop is stocked with drapery, hardware, china and foodstuffs all
                    imported from Germany and of very good quality. The Schnabbes also sell local farm
                    produce, beautiful fresh vegetables, eggs and pure rich milk and farm butter. Our meat
                    comes from a German butchery and it is a great treat to get clean, well cut meat. The
                    sausages also are marvellous and in great variety.

                    The butcher is an entertaining character. When he called round looking for custom I
                    expected him to break out in a yodel any minute, as it was obvious from a glance that
                    the Alps are his natural background. From under a green Tyrollean hat with feather,
                    blooms a round beefy face with sparkling small eyes and such widely spaced teeth that
                    one inevitably thinks of a garden rake. Enormous beefy thighs bulge from greasy
                    lederhosen which are supported by the traditional embroidered braces. So far the
                    butcher is the only cheery German, male or female, whom I have seen, and I have met
                    most of the locals at the Schnabbe’s shop. Most of the men seem to have cultivated
                    the grim Hitler look. They are all fanatical Nazis and one is usually greeted by a raised
                    hand and Heil Hitler! All very theatrical. I always feel like crying in ringing tones ‘God
                    Save the King’ or even ‘St George for England’. However the men are all very correct
                    and courteous and the women friendly. The women all admire Kate and cry, “Ag, das
                    kleine Englander.” She really is a picture with her rosy cheeks and huge grey eyes and
                    golden curls. Kate is having a wonderful time playing with Manfried, the Scnabbe’s small
                    son. Neither understands a word said by the other but that doesn’t seem to worry them.

                    Before he left on safari, George took me to hospital for an examination by the
                    nurse, Sister Marianne. She has not been long in the country and knows very little
                    English but is determined to learn and carried on an animated, if rather quaint,
                    conversation with frequent references to a pocket dictionary. She says I am not to worry
                    because there is not doctor here. She is a very experienced midwife and anyway in an
                    emergency could call on the old retired Veterinary Surgeon for assistance.
                    I asked sister Marianne whether she knew of any German woman or girl who
                    would look after Kate whilst I am in hospital and today a very top drawer German,
                    bearing a strong likeness to ‘Little Willie’, called and offered the services of his niece who
                    is here on a visit from Germany. I was rather taken aback and said, “Oh no Baron, your
                    niece would not be the type I had in mind. I’m afraid I cannot pay much for a companion.”
                    However the Baron was not to be discouraged. He told me that his niece is seventeen
                    but looks twenty, that she is well educated and will make a cheerful companion. Her
                    father wishes her to learn to speak English fluently and that is why the Baron wished her
                    to come to me as a house daughter. As to pay, a couple of pounds a month for pocket
                    money and her keep was all he had in mind. So with some misgivings I agreed to take
                    the niece on as a companion as from 1st August.

                    Eleanor.

                    Oldeani. 10th August 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    Never a dull moment since my young companion arrived. She is a striking looking
                    girl with a tall boyish figure and very short and very fine dark hair which she wears
                    severely slicked back. She wears tweeds, no make up but has shiny rosy cheeks and
                    perfect teeth – she also,inevitably, has a man friend and I have an uncomfortable
                    suspicion that it is because of him that she was planted upon me. Upon second
                    thoughts though, maybe it was because of her excessive vitality, or even because of
                    her healthy appetite! The Baroness, I hear is in poor health and I can imagine that such
                    abundant health and spirit must have been quite overpowering. The name is Ingeborg,
                    but she is called Mouche, which I believe means Mouse. Someone in her family must
                    have a sense of humour.

                    Her English only needed practice and she now chatters fluently so that I know her
                    background and views on life. Mouche’s father is a personal friend of Goering. He was
                    once a big noise in the German Airforce but is now connected with the car industry and
                    travels frequently and intensively in Europe and America on business. Mouche showed
                    me some snap shots of her family and I must say they look prosperous and charming.
                    Mouche tells me that her father wants her to learn to speak English fluently so that
                    she can get a job with some British diplomat in Cairo. I had immediate thought that I
                    might be nursing a future Mata Hari in my bosom, but this was immediately extinguished
                    when Mouche remarked that her father would like her to marry an Englishman. However
                    it seems that the mere idea revolts her. “Englishmen are degenerates who swill whisky
                    all day.” I pointed out that she had met George, who was a true blue Englishman, but
                    was nevertheless a fine physical specimen and certainly didn’t drink all day. Mouche
                    replied that George is not an Englishman but a hunter, as though that set him apart.
                    Mouche is an ardent Hitler fan and an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth
                    Movement. The house resounds with Hitler youth songs and when she is not singing,
                    her gramophone is playing very stirring marching songs. I cannot understand a word,
                    which is perhaps as well. Every day she does the most strenuous exercises watched
                    with envy by me as my proportions are now those of a circus Big Top. Mouche eats a
                    fantastic amount of meat and I feel it is a blessing that she is much admired by our
                    Tyrollean butcher who now delivers our meat in person and adds as a token of his
                    admiration some extra sausages for Mouche.

                    I must confess I find her stimulating company as George is on safari most of the
                    time and my evenings otherwise would be lonely. I am a little worried though about
                    leaving Kate here with Mouche when I go to hospital. The dogs and Kate have not taken
                    to her. I am trying to prepare Kate for the separation but she says, “She’s not my
                    mummy. You are my dear mummy, and I want you, I want you.” George has got
                    permission from the Provincial Forestry Officer to spend the last week of August here at
                    the Rest House with me and I only hope that the baby will be born during that time.
                    Kate adores her dad and will be perfectly happy to remain here with him.

                    One final paragraph about Mouche. I thought all German girls were domesticated
                    but not Mouche. I have Kesho-Kutwa here with me as cook and I have engaged a local
                    boy to do the laundry. I however expected Mouche would take over making the
                    puddings and pastry but she informed me that she can only bake a chocolate cake and
                    absolutely nothing else. She said brightly however that she would do the mending. As
                    there is none for her to do, she has rescued a large worn handkerchief of George’s and
                    sits with her feet up listening to stirring gramophone records whilst she mends the
                    handkerchief with exquisite darning.

                    Eleanor.

                    Oldeani. 20th August 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    Just after I had posted my last letter I received what George calls a demi official
                    letter from the District Officer informing me that I would have to move out of the Rest
                    House for a few days as the Governor and his hangers on would be visiting Oldeani
                    and would require the Rest House. Fortunately George happened to be here for a few
                    hours and he arranged for Kate and Mouche and me to spend a few days at the
                    German School as borders. So here I am at the school having a pleasant and restful
                    time and much entertained by all the goings on.

                    The school buildings were built with funds from Germany and the school is run on
                    the lines of a contemporary German school. I think the school gets a grant from the
                    Tanganyika Government towards running expenses, but I am not sure. The school hall is
                    dominated by a more than life sized oil painting of Adolf Hitler which, at present, is
                    flanked on one side by the German Flag and on the other by the Union Jack. I cannot
                    help feeling that the latter was put up today for the Governor’s visit today.
                    The teachers are very amiable. We all meet at mealtimes, and though few of the
                    teachers speak English, the ones who do are anxious to chatter. The headmaster is a
                    scholarly man but obviously anti-British. He says he cannot understand why so many
                    South Africans are loyal to Britain – or rather to England. “They conquered your country
                    didn’t they?” I said that that had never occurred to me and that anyway I was mainly of
                    Scots descent and that loyalty to the crown was natural to me. “But the English
                    conquered the Scots and yet you are loyal to England. That I cannot understand.” “Well I
                    love England,” said I firmly, ”and so do all British South Africans.” Since then we have
                    stuck to English literature. Shakespeare, Lord Byron and Galsworthy seem to be the
                    favourites and all, thank goodness, make safe topics for conversation.
                    Mouche is in her element but Kate and I do not enjoy the food which is typically
                    German and consists largely of masses of fat pork and sauerkraut and unfamiliar soups. I
                    feel sure that the soup at lunch today had blobs of lemon curd in it! I also find most
                    disconcerting the way that everyone looks at me and says, “Bon appetite”, with much
                    smiling and nodding so I have to fight down my nausea and make a show of enjoying
                    the meals.

                    The teacher whose room adjoins mine is a pleasant woman and I take my
                    afternoon tea with her. She, like all the teachers, has a large framed photo of Hitler on her
                    wall flanked by bracket vases of fresh flowers. One simply can’t get away from the man!
                    Even in the dormitories each child has a picture of Hitler above the bed. Hitler accepting
                    flowers from a small girl, or patting a small boy on the head. Even the children use the
                    greeting ‘Heil Hitler’. These German children seem unnaturally prim when compared with
                    my cheerful ex-pupils in South Africa but some of them are certainly very lovely to look
                    at.

                    Tomorrow Mouche, Kate and I return to our quarters in the Rest House and in a
                    few days George will join us for a week.

                    Eleanor.

                    Oldeani Hospital. 9th September 1938

                    Dearest Family,

                    You will all be delighted to hear that we have a second son, whom we have
                    named John. He is a darling, so quaint and good. He looks just like a little old man with a
                    high bald forehead fringed around the edges with a light brown fluff. George and I call
                    him Johnny Jo because he has a tiny round mouth and a rather big nose and reminds us
                    of A.A.Milne’s ‘Jonathan Jo has a mouth like an O’ , but Kate calls him, ‘My brother John’.
                    George was not here when he was born on September 5th, just two minutes
                    before midnight. He left on safari on the morning of the 4th and, of course, that very night
                    the labour pains started. Fortunately Kate was in bed asleep so Mouche walked with
                    me up the hill to the hospital where I was cheerfully received by Sister Marianne who
                    had everything ready for the confinement. I was lucky to have such an experienced
                    midwife because this was a breech birth and sister had to manage single handed. As
                    there was no doctor present I was not allowed even a sniff of anaesthetic. Sister slaved
                    away by the light of a pressure lamp endeavouring to turn the baby having first shoved
                    an inverted baby bath under my hips to raise them.

                    What a performance! Sister Marianne was very much afraid that she might not be
                    able to save the baby and great was our relief when at last she managed to haul him out
                    by the feet. One slap and the baby began to cry without any further attention so Sister
                    wrapped him up in a blanket and took Johnny to her room for the night. I got very little
                    sleep but was so thankful to have the ordeal over that I did not mind even though I
                    heard a hyaena cackling and calling under my window in a most evil way.
                    When Sister brought Johnny to me in the early morning I stared in astonishment.
                    Instead of dressing him in one of his soft Viyella nighties, she had dressed him in a short
                    sleeved vest of knitted cotton with a cotton cloth swayed around his waist sarong
                    fashion. When I protested, “But Sister why is the baby not dressed in his own clothes?”
                    She answered firmly, “I find it is not allowed. A baby’s clotheses must be boiled and I
                    cannot boil clotheses of wool therefore your baby must wear the clotheses of the Red
                    Cross.”

                    It was the same with the bedding. Poor Johnny lies all day in a deep wicker
                    basket with a detachable calico lining. There is no pillow under his head but a vast kind of
                    calico covered pillow is his only covering. There is nothing at all cosy and soft round my
                    poor baby. I said crossly to the Sister, “As every thing must be so sterile, I wonder you
                    don’t boil me too.” This she ignored.

                    When my message reached George he dashed back to visit us. Sister took him
                    first to see the baby and George was astonished to see the baby basket covered by a
                    sheet. “She has the poor little kid covered up like a bloody parrot,” he told me. So I
                    asked him to go at once to buy a square of mosquito netting to replace the sheet.
                    Kate is quite a problem. She behaves like an Angel when she is here in my
                    room but is rebellious when Sister shoos her out. She says she “Hates the Nanny”
                    which is what she calls Mouche. Unfortunately it seems that she woke before midnight
                    on the night Johnny Jo was born to find me gone and Mouche in my bed. According to
                    Mouche, Kate wept all night and certainly when she visited me in the early morning
                    Kate’s face was puffy with crying and she clung to me crying “Oh my dear mummy, why
                    did you go away?” over and over again. Sister Marianne was touched and suggested
                    that Mouche and Kate should come to the hospital as boarders as I am the only patient
                    at present and there is plenty of room. Luckily Kate does not seem at all jealous of the
                    baby and it is a great relief to have here here under my eye.

                    Eleanor.

                    #6263
                    TracyTracy
                    Participant

                      From Tanganyika with Love

                      continued  ~ part 4

                      With thanks to Mike Rushby.

                      Mchewe Estate. 31st January 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      Life is very quiet just now. Our neighbours have left and I miss them all especially
                      Joni who was always a great bearer of news. We also grew fond of his Swedish
                      brother-in-law Max, whose loud ‘Hodi’ always brought a glad ‘Karibu’ from us. His wife,
                      Marion, I saw less often. She is not strong and seldom went visiting but has always
                      been friendly and kind and ready to share her books with me.

                      Ann’s birthday is looming ahead and I am getting dreadfully anxious that her
                      parcels do not arrive in time. I am delighted that you were able to get a good head for
                      her doll, dad, but horrified to hear that it was so expensive. You would love your
                      ‘Charming Ann’. She is a most responsible little soul and seems to have outgrown her
                      mischievous ways. A pity in a way, I don’t want her to grow too serious. You should see
                      how thoroughly Ann baths and towels herself. She is anxious to do Georgie and Kate
                      as well.

                      I did not mean to teach Ann to write until after her fifth birthday but she has taught
                      herself by copying the large print in newspaper headlines. She would draw a letter and
                      ask me the name and now I find that at four Ann knows the whole alphabet. The front
                      cement steps is her favourite writing spot. She uses bits of white clay we use here for
                      whitewashing.

                      Coffee prices are still very low and a lot of planters here and at Mbosi are in a
                      mess as they can no longer raise mortgages on their farms or get advances from the
                      Bank against their crops. We hear many are leaving their farms to try their luck on the
                      Diggings.

                      George is getting fed up too. The snails are back on the shamba and doing
                      frightful damage. Talk of the plagues of Egypt! Once more they are being collected in
                      piles and bashed into pulp. The stench on the shamba is frightful! The greybeards in the
                      village tell George that the local Chief has put a curse on the farm because he is angry
                      that the Government granted George a small extension to the farm two years ago! As
                      the Chief was consulted at the time and was agreeable this talk of a curse is nonsense
                      but goes to show how the uneducated African put all disasters down to witchcraft.

                      With much love,
                      Eleanor.

                      Mchewe Estate. 9th February 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      Ann’s birthday yesterday was not quite the gay occasion we had hoped. The
                      seventh was mail day so we sent a runner for the mail, hoping against hope that your
                      parcel containing the dolls head had arrived. The runner left for Mbeya at dawn but, as it
                      was a very wet day, he did not return with the mail bag until after dark by which time Ann
                      was fast asleep. My heart sank when I saw the parcel which contained the dolls new
                      head. It was squashed quite flat. I shed a few tears over that shattered head, broken
                      quite beyond repair, and George felt as bad about it as I did. The other parcel arrived in
                      good shape and Ann loves her little sewing set, especially the thimble, and the nursery
                      rhymes are a great success.

                      Ann woke early yesterday and began to open her parcels. She said “But
                      Mummy, didn’t Barbara’s new head come?” So I had to show her the fragments.
                      Instead of shedding the flood of tears I expected, Ann just lifted the glass eyes in her
                      hand and said in a tight little voice “Oh poor Barbara.” George saved the situation. as
                      usual, by saying in a normal voice,”Come on Ann, get up and lets play your new
                      records.” So we had music and sweets before breakfast. Later I removed Barbara’s
                      faded old blond wig and gummed on the glossy new brown one and Ann seems quite
                      satisfied.

                      Last night, after the children were tucked up in bed, we discussed our financial
                      situation. The coffee trees that have survived the plagues of borer beetle, mealie bugs
                      and snails look strong and fine, but George says it will be years before we make a living
                      out of the farm. He says he will simply have to make some money and he is leaving for
                      the Lupa on Saturday to have a look around on the Diggings. If he does decide to peg
                      a claim and work it he will put up a wattle and daub hut and the children and I will join him
                      there. But until such time as he strikes gold I shall have to remain here on the farm and
                      ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’.

                      Now don’t go and waste pity on me. Women all over the country are having to
                      stay at home whilst their husbands search for a livelihood. I am better off than most
                      because I have a comfortable little home and loyal servants and we still have enough
                      capitol to keep the wolf from the door. Anyway this is the rainy season and hardly the
                      best time to drag three small children around the sodden countryside on prospecting
                      safaris.

                      So I’ll stay here at home and hold thumbs that George makes a lucky strike.

                      Heaps of love to all,
                      Eleanor.

                      Mchewe Estate. 27th February 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      Well, George has gone but here we are quite safe and cosy. Kate is asleep and
                      Ann and Georgie are sprawled on the couch taking it in turns to enumerate the things
                      God has made. Every now and again Ann bothers me with an awkward question. “Did
                      God make spiders? Well what for? Did he make weeds? Isn’t He silly, mummy? She is
                      becoming a very practical person. She sews surprisingly well for a four year old and has
                      twice made cakes in the past week, very sweet and liberally coloured with cochineal and
                      much appreciated by Georgie.

                      I have been without George for a fortnight and have adapted myself to my new
                      life. The children are great company during the day and I have arranged my evenings so
                      that they do not seem long. I am determined that when George comes home he will find
                      a transformed wife. I read an article entitled ‘Are you the girl he married?’ in a magazine
                      last week and took a good look in the mirror and decided that I certainly was not! Hair dry,
                      skin dry, and I fear, a faint shadow on the upper lip. So now I have blown the whole of
                      your Christmas Money Order on an order to a chemist in Dar es Salaam for hair tonic,
                      face cream and hair remover and am anxiously awaiting the parcel.

                      In the meantime, after tucking the children into bed at night, I skip on the verandah
                      and do the series of exercises recommended in the magazine article. After this exertion I
                      have a leisurely bath followed by a light supper and then read or write letters to pass
                      the time until Kate’s ten o’clock feed. I have arranged for Janey to sleep in the house.
                      She comes in at 9.30 pm and makes up her bed on the living room floor by the fire.

                      The days are by no means uneventful. The day before yesterday the biggest
                      troop of monkeys I have ever seen came fooling around in the trees and on the grass
                      only a few yards from the house. These monkeys were the common grey monkeys
                      with black faces. They came in all sizes and were most entertaining to watch. Ann and
                      Georgie had a great time copying their antics and pulling faces at the monkeys through
                      the bedroom windows which I hastily closed.

                      Thomas, our headman, came running up and told me that this troop of monkeys
                      had just raided his maize shamba and asked me to shoot some of them. I would not of
                      course do this. I still cannot bear to kill any animal, but I fired a couple of shots in the air
                      and the monkeys just melted away. It was fantastic, one moment they were there and
                      the next they were not. Ann and Georgie thought I had been very unkind to frighten the
                      poor monkeys but honestly, when I saw what they had done to my flower garden, I
                      almost wished I had hardened my heart and shot one or two.

                      The children are all well but Ann gave me a nasty fright last week. I left Ann and
                      Georgie at breakfast whilst I fed Fanny, our bull terrier on the back verandah. Suddenly I
                      heard a crash and rushed inside to find Ann’s chair lying on its back and Ann beside it on
                      the floor perfectly still and with a paper white face. I shouted for Janey to bring water and
                      laid Ann flat on the couch and bathed her head and hands. Soon she sat up with a wan
                      smile and said “I nearly knocked my head off that time, didn’t I.” She must have been
                      standing on the chair and leaning against the back. Our brick floors are so terribly hard that
                      she might have been seriously hurt.

                      However she was none the worse for the fall, but Heavens, what an anxiety kids
                      are.

                      Lots of love,
                      Eleanor

                      Mchewe Estate. 12th March 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      It was marvellous of you to send another money order to replace the one I spent
                      on cosmetics. With this one I intend to order boots for both children as a protection from
                      snake bite, though from my experience this past week the threat seems to be to the
                      head rather than the feet. I was sitting on the couch giving Kate her morning milk from a
                      cup when a long thin snake fell through the reed ceiling and landed with a thud just behind
                      the couch. I shouted “Nyoka, Nyoka!” (Snake,Snake!) and the houseboy rushed in with
                      a stick and killed the snake. I then held the cup to Kate’s mouth again but I suppose in
                      my agitation I tipped it too much because the baby choked badly. She gasped for
                      breath. I quickly gave her a sharp smack on the back and a stream of milk gushed
                      through her mouth and nostrils and over me. Janey took Kate from me and carried her
                      out into the fresh air on the verandah and as I anxiously followed her through the door,
                      another long snake fell from the top of the wall just missing me by an inch or so. Luckily
                      the houseboy still had the stick handy and dispatched this snake also.

                      The snakes were a pair of ‘boomslangs’, not nice at all, and all day long I have
                      had shamba boys coming along to touch hands and say “Poli Memsahib” – “Sorry
                      madam”, meaning of course ‘Sorry you had a fright.’

                      Apart from that one hectic morning this has been a quiet week. Before George
                      left for the Lupa he paid off most of the farm hands as we can now only afford a few
                      labourers for the essential work such as keeping the weeds down in the coffee shamba.
                      There is now no one to keep the grass on the farm roads cut so we cannot use the pram
                      when we go on our afternoon walks. Instead Janey carries Kate in a sling on her back.
                      Janey is a very clean slim woman, and her clothes are always spotless, so Kate keeps
                      cool and comfortable. Ann and Georgie always wear thick overalls on our walks as a
                      protection against thorns and possible snakes. We usually make our way to the
                      Mchewe River where Ann and Georgie paddle in the clear cold water and collect shiny
                      stones.

                      The cosmetics parcel duly arrived by post from Dar es Salaam so now I fill the
                      evenings between supper and bed time attending to my face! The much advertised
                      cream is pink and thick and feels revolting. I smooth it on before bedtime and keep it on
                      all night. Just imagine if George could see me! The advertisements promise me a skin
                      like a rose in six weeks. What a surprise there is in store for George!

                      You will have been wondering what has happened to George. Well on the Lupa
                      he heard rumours of a new gold strike somewhere in the Sumbawanga District. A couple
                      of hundred miles from here I think, though I am not sure where it is and have no one to
                      ask. You look it up on the map and tell me. John Molteno is also interested in this and
                      anxious to have it confirmed so he and George have come to an agreement. John
                      Molteno provided the porters for the journey together with prospecting tools and
                      supplies but as he cannot leave his claims, or his gold buying business, George is to go
                      on foot to the area of the rumoured gold strike and, if the strike looks promising will peg
                      claims in both their names.

                      The rainy season is now at its height and the whole countryside is under water. All
                      roads leading to the area are closed to traffic and, as there are few Europeans who
                      would attempt the journey on foot, George proposes to get a head start on them by
                      making this uncomfortable safari. I have just had my first letter from George since he left
                      on this prospecting trip. It took ages to reach me because it was sent by runner to
                      Abercorn in Northern Rhodesia, then on by lorry to Mpika where it was put on a plane
                      for Mbeya. George writes the most charming letters which console me a little upon our
                      all too frequent separations.

                      His letter was cheerful and optimistic, though reading between the lines I should
                      say he had a grim time. He has reached Sumbawanga after ‘a hell of a trip’, to find that
                      the rumoured strike was at Mpanda and he had a few more days of foot safari ahead.
                      He had found the trip from the Lupa even wetter than he had expected. The party had
                      three days of wading through swamps sometimes waist deep in water. Of his sixteen
                      porters, four deserted an the second day out and five others have had malaria and so
                      been unable to carry their loads. He himself is ‘thin but very fit’, and he sounds full of
                      beans and writes gaily of the marvellous holiday we will have if he has any decent luck! I
                      simply must get that mink and diamonds complexion.

                      The frustrating thing is that I cannot write back as I have no idea where George is
                      now.

                      With heaps of love,
                      Eleanor.

                      Mchewe Estate. 24th March 1936

                      Dearest Family,
                      How kind you are. Another parcel from home. Although we are very short
                      of labourers I sent a special runner to fetch it as Ann simply couldn’t bear the suspense
                      of waiting to see Brenda, “My new little girl with plaits.” Thank goodness Brenda is
                      unbreakable. I could not have born another tragedy. She really is an exquisite little doll
                      and has hardly been out of Ann’s arms since arrival. She showed Brenda proudly to all
                      the staff. The kitchen boy’s face was a study. His eyes fairly came out on sticks when he
                      saw the dolls eyes not only opening and shutting, but moving from side to side in that
                      incredibly lifelike way. Georgie loves his little model cars which he carries around all day
                      and puts under his pillow at night.

                      As for me, I am enchanted by my very smart new frock. Janey was so lavish with
                      her compliments when I tried the frock on, that in a burst of generosity I gave her that
                      rather tartish satin and lace trousseau nighty, and she was positively enthralled. She
                      wore it that very night when she appeared as usual to doss down by the fire.
                      By the way it was Janey’s turn to have a fright this week. She was in the
                      bathroom washing the children’s clothes in an outsize hand basin when it happened. As
                      she took Georgie’s overalls from the laundry basket a large centipede ran up her bare
                      arm. Luckily she managed to knock the centipede off into the hot water in the hand basin.
                      It was a brute, about six inches long of viciousness with a nasty sting. The locals say that
                      the bite is much worse than a scorpions so Janey had a lucky escape.

                      Kate cut her first two teeth yesterday and will, I hope, sleep better now. I don’t
                      feel that pink skin food is getting a fair trial with all those broken nights. There is certainly
                      no sign yet of ‘The skin he loves to touch”. Kate, I may say, is rosy and blooming. She
                      can pull herself upright providing she has something solid to hold on to. She is so plump
                      I have horrible visions of future bow legs so I push her down, but she always bobs up
                      again.

                      Both Ann and Georgie are mad on books. Their favourites are ‘Barbar and
                      Celeste” and, of all things, ‘Struvel Peter’ . They listen with absolute relish to the sad tale
                      of Harriet who played with matches.

                      I have kept a laugh for the end. I am hoping that it will not be long before George
                      comes home and thought it was time to take the next step towards glamour, so last
                      Wednesday after lunch I settled the children on their beds and prepared to remove the ,
                      to me, obvious down on my upper lip. (George always loyally says that he can’t see
                      any.) Well I got out the tube of stuff and carefully followed the directions. I smoothed a
                      coating on my upper lip. All this was watched with great interest by the children, including
                      the baby, who stood up in her cot for a better view. Having no watch, I had propped
                      the bedroom door open so that I could time the operation by the cuckoo clock in the
                      living room. All the children’s surprised comments fell on deaf ears. I would neither talk
                      nor smile for fear of cracking the hair remover which had set hard. The set time was up
                      and I was just about to rinse the remover off when Kate slipped, knocking her head on
                      the corner of the cot. I rushed to the rescue and precious seconds ticked off whilst I
                      pacified her.

                      So, my dears, when I rinsed my lip, not only the plaster and the hair came away
                      but the skin as well and now I really did have a Ronald Coleman moustache – a crimson
                      one. I bathed it, I creamed it, powdered it but all to no avail. Within half an hour my lip
                      had swollen until I looked like one of those Duckbilled West African women. Ann’s
                      comments, “Oh Mummy, you do look funny. Georgie, doesn’t Mummy look funny?”
                      didn’t help to soothe me and the last straw was that just then there was the sound of a car drawing up outside – the first car I had heard for months. Anyway, thank heaven, it
                      was not George, but the representative of a firm which sells agricultural machinery and
                      farm implements, looking for orders. He had come from Dar es Salaam and had not
                      heard that all the planters from this district had left their farms. Hospitality demanded that I
                      should appear and offer tea. I did not mind this man because he was a complete
                      stranger and fat, middle aged and comfortable. So I gave him tea, though I didn’t
                      attempt to drink any myself, and told him the whole sad tale.

                      Fortunately much of the swelling had gone next day and only a brown dryness
                      remained. I find myself actually hoping that George is delayed a bit longer. Of one thing
                      I am sure. If ever I grow a moustache again, it stays!

                      Heaps of love from a sadder but wiser,
                      Eleanor

                      Mchewe Estate. 3rd April 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      Sound the trumpets, beat the drums. George is home again. The safari, I am sad
                      to say, was a complete washout in more ways than one. Anyway it was lovely to be
                      together again and we don’t yet talk about the future. The home coming was not at all as
                      I had planned it. I expected George to return in our old A.C. car which gives ample
                      warning of its arrival. I had meant to wear my new frock and make myself as glamourous
                      as possible, with our beautiful babe on one arm and our other jewels by my side.
                      This however is what actually happened. Last Saturday morning at about 2 am , I
                      thought I heard someone whispering my name. I sat up in bed, still half asleep, and
                      there was George at the window. He was thin and unshaven and the tiredest looking
                      man I have ever seen. The car had bogged down twenty miles back along the old Lupa
                      Track, but as George had had no food at all that day, he decided to walk home in the
                      bright moonlight.

                      This is where I should have served up a tasty hot meal but alas, there was only
                      the heal of a loaf and no milk because, before going to bed I had given the remaining
                      milk to the dog. However George seemed too hungry to care what he ate. He made a
                      meal off a tin of bully, a box of crustless cheese and the bread washed down with cup
                      after cup of black tea. Though George was tired we talked for hours and it was dawn
                      before we settled down to sleep.

                      During those hours of talk George described his nightmarish journey. He started
                      up the flooded Rukwa Valley and there were days of wading through swamp and mud
                      and several swollen rivers to cross. George is a strong swimmer and the porters who
                      were recruited in that area, could also swim. There remained the problem of the stores
                      and of Kianda the houseboy who cannot swim. For these they made rough pole rafts
                      which they pulled across the rivers with ropes. Kianda told me later that he hopes never
                      to make such a journey again. He swears that the raft was submerged most of the time
                      and that he was dragged through the rivers underwater! You should see the state of
                      George’s clothes which were packed in a supposedly water tight uniform trunk. The
                      whole lot are mud stained and mouldy.

                      To make matters more trying for George he was obliged to live mostly on
                      porters rations, rice and groundnut oil which he detests. As all the district roads were
                      closed the little Indian Sores in the remote villages he passed had been unable to
                      replenish their stocks of European groceries. George would have been thinner had it not
                      been for two Roman Catholic missions enroute where he had good meals and dry
                      nights. The Fathers are always wonderfully hospitable to wayfarers irrespective of
                      whether or not they are Roman Catholics. George of course is not a Catholic. One finds
                      the Roman Catholic missions right out in the ‘Blue’ and often on spots unhealthy to
                      Europeans. Most of the Fathers are German or Dutch but they all speak a little English
                      and in any case one can always fall back on Ki-Swahili.

                      George reached his destination all right but it soon became apparent that reports
                      of the richness of the strike had been greatly exaggerated. George had decided that
                      prospects were brighter on the Lupa than on the new strike so he returned to the Lupa
                      by the way he had come and, having returned the borrowed equipment decided to
                      make his way home by the shortest route, the old and now rarely used road which
                      passes by the bottom of our farm.

                      The old A.C. had been left for safe keeping at the Roman Catholic Galala
                      Mission 40 miles away, on George’s outward journey, and in this old car George, and
                      the houseboy Kianda , started for home. The road was indescribably awful. There were long stretches that were simply one big puddle, in others all the soil had been washed
                      away leaving the road like a rocky river bed. There were also patches where the tall
                      grass had sprung up head high in the middle of the road,
                      The going was slow because often the car bogged down because George had
                      no wheel chains and he and Kianda had the wearisome business of digging her out. It
                      was just growing dark when the old A.C. settled down determinedly in the mud for the
                      last time. They could not budge her and they were still twenty miles from home. George
                      decided to walk home in the moonlight to fetch help leaving Kianda in charge of the car
                      and its contents and with George’s shot gun to use if necessary in self defence. Kianda
                      was reluctant to stay but also not prepared to go for help whilst George remained with
                      the car as lions are plentiful in that area. So George set out unarmed in the moonlight.
                      Once he stopped to avoid a pride of lion coming down the road but he circled safely
                      around them and came home without any further alarms.

                      Kianda said he had a dreadful night in the car, “With lions roaming around the car
                      like cattle.” Anyway the lions did not take any notice of the car or of Kianda, and the next
                      day George walked back with all our farm boys and dug and pushed the car out of the
                      mud. He brought car and Kianda back without further trouble but the labourers on their
                      way home were treed by the lions.

                      The wet season is definitely the time to stay home.

                      Lots and lots of love,
                      Eleanor

                      Mchewe Estate. 30th April 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      Young George’s third birthday passed off very well yesterday. It started early in
                      the morning when he brought his pillow slip of presents to our bed. Kate was already
                      there and Ann soon joined us. Young George liked all the presents you sent, especially
                      the trumpet. It has hardly left his lips since and he is getting quite smart about the finger
                      action.

                      We had quite a party. Ann and I decorated the table with Christmas tree tinsel
                      and hung a bunch of balloons above it. Ann also decorated young George’s chair with
                      roses and phlox from the garden. I had made and iced a fruit cake but Ann begged to
                      make a plain pink cake. She made it entirely by herself though I stood by to see that
                      she measured the ingredients correctly. When the cake was baked I mixed some soft
                      icing in a jug and she poured it carefully over the cake smoothing the gaps with her
                      fingers!

                      During the party we had the gramophone playing and we pulled crackers and
                      wore paper hats and altogether had a good time. I forgot for a while that George is
                      leaving again for the Lupa tomorrow for an indefinite time. He was marvellous at making
                      young George’s party a gay one. You will have noticed the change from Georgie to
                      young George. Our son declares that he now wants to be called George, “Like Dad”.
                      He an Ann are a devoted couple and I am glad that there is only a fourteen
                      months difference in their ages. They play together extremely well and are very
                      independent which is just as well for little Kate now demands a lot of my attention. My
                      garden is a real cottage garden and looks very gay and colourful. There are hollyhocks
                      and Snapdragons, marigolds and phlox and of course the roses and carnations which, as
                      you know, are my favourites. The coffee shamba does not look so good because the
                      small labour force, which is all we can afford, cannot cope with all the weeds. You have
                      no idea how things grow during the wet season in the tropics.

                      Nothing alarming ever seems to happen when George is home, so I’m afraid this
                      letter is rather dull. I wanted you to know though, that largely due to all your gifts of toys
                      and sweets, Georgie’s 3rd birthday party went with a bang.

                      Your very affectionate,
                      Eleanor

                      Mchewe Estate. 17th September 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      I am sorry to hear that Mummy worries about me so much. “Poor Eleanor”,
                      indeed! I have a quite exceptional husband, three lovely children, a dear little home and
                      we are all well.It is true that I am in rather a rut but what else can we do? George comes
                      home whenever he can and what excitement there is when he does come. He cannot
                      give me any warning because he has to take advantage of chance lifts from the Diggings
                      to Mbeya, but now that he is prospecting nearer home he usually comes walking over
                      the hills. About 50 miles of rough going. Really and truly I am all right. Although our diet is
                      monotonous we have plenty to eat. Eggs and milk are cheap and fruit plentiful and I
                      have a good cook so can devote all my time to the children. I think it is because they are
                      my constant companions that Ann and Georgie are so grown up for their years.
                      I have no ayah at present because Janey has been suffering form rheumatism
                      and has gone home for one of her periodic rests. I manage very well without her except
                      in the matter of the afternoon walks. The outward journey is all right. George had all the
                      grass cut on his last visit so I am able to push the pram whilst Ann, George and Fanny
                      the dog run ahead. It is the uphill return trip that is so trying. Our walk back is always the
                      same, down the hill to the river where the children love to play and then along the car
                      road to the vegetable garden. I never did venture further since the day I saw a leopard
                      jump on a calf. I did not tell you at the time as I thought you might worry. The cattle were
                      grazing on a small knoll just off our land but near enough for me to have a clear view.
                      Suddenly the cattle scattered in all directions and we heard the shouts of the herd boys
                      and saw – or rather had the fleeting impression- of a large animal jumping on a calf. I
                      heard the herd boy shout “Chui, Chui!” (leopard) and believe me, we turned in our
                      tracks and made for home. To hasten things I picked up two sticks and told the children
                      that they were horses and they should ride them home which they did with
                      commendable speed.

                      Ann no longer rides Joseph. He became increasingly bad tempered and a
                      nuisance besides. He took to rolling all over my flower beds though I had never seen
                      him roll anywhere else. Then one day he kicked Ann in the chest, not very hard but
                      enough to send her flying. Now George has given him to the native who sells milk to us
                      and he seems quite happy grazing with the cattle.

                      With love to you all,
                      Eleanor.

                      Mchewe Estate. 2nd October 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      Since I last wrote George has been home and we had a lovely time as usual.
                      Whilst he was here the District Commissioner and his wife called. Mr Pollock told
                      George that there is to be a big bush clearing scheme in some part of the Mbeya
                      District to drive out Tsetse Fly. The game in the area will have to be exterminated and
                      there will probably be a job for George shooting out the buffalo. The pay would be
                      good but George says it is a beastly job. Although he is a professional hunter, he hates
                      slaughter.

                      Mrs P’s real reason for visiting the farm was to invite me to stay at her home in
                      Mbeya whilst she and her husband are away in Tukuyu. Her English nanny and her small
                      daughter will remain in Mbeya and she thought it might be a pleasant change for us and
                      a rest for me as of course Nanny will do the housekeeping. I accepted the invitation and I
                      think I will go on from there to Tukuyu and visit my friend Lillian Eustace for a fortnight.
                      She has given us an open invitation to visit her at any time.

                      I had a letter from Dr Eckhardt last week, telling me that at a meeting of all the
                      German Settlers from Mbeya, Tukuyu and Mbosi it had been decided to raise funds to
                      build a school at Mbeya. They want the British Settlers to co-operate in this and would
                      be glad of a subscription from us. I replied to say that I was unable to afford a
                      subscription at present but would probably be applying for a teaching job.
                      The Eckhardts are the leaders of the German community here and are ardent
                      Nazis. For this reason they are unpopular with the British community but he is the only
                      doctor here and I must say they have been very decent to us. Both of them admire
                      George. George has still not had any luck on the Lupa and until he makes a really
                      promising strike it is unlikely that the children and I will join him. There is no fresh milk there
                      and vegetables and fruit are imported from Mbeya and Iringa and are very expensive.
                      George says “You wouldn’t be happy on the diggings anyway with a lot of whores and
                      their bastards!”

                      Time ticks away very pleasantly here. Young George and Kate are blooming
                      and I keep well. Only Ann does not look well. She is growing too fast and is listless and
                      pale. If I do go to Mbeya next week I shall take her to the doctor to be overhauled.
                      We do not go for our afternoon walks now that George has returned to the Lupa.
                      That leopard has been around again and has killed Tubbage that cowardly Alsatian. We
                      gave him to the village headman some months ago. There is no danger to us from the
                      leopard but I am terrified it might get Fanny, who is an excellent little watchdog and
                      dearly loved by all of us. Yesterday I sent a note to the Boma asking for a trap gun and
                      today the farm boys are building a trap with logs.

                      I had a mishap this morning in the garden. I blundered into a nest of hornets and
                      got two stings in the left arm above the elbow. Very painful at the time and the place is
                      still red and swollen.

                      Much love to you all,
                      Eleanor.

                      Mchewe Estate. 10th October 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      Well here we are at Mbeya, comfortably installed in the District Commissioner’s
                      house. It is one of two oldest houses in Mbeya and is a charming gabled place with tiled
                      roof. The garden is perfectly beautiful. I am enjoying the change very much. Nanny
                      Baxter is very entertaining. She has a vast fund of highly entertaining tales of the goings
                      on amongst the British Aristocracy, gleaned it seems over the nursery teacup in many a
                      Stately Home. Ann and Georgie are enjoying the company of other children.
                      People are very kind about inviting us out to tea and I gladly accept these
                      invitations but I have turned down invitations to dinner and one to a dance at the hotel. It
                      is no fun to go out at night without George. There are several grass widows at the pub
                      whose husbands are at the diggings. They have no inhibitions about parties.
                      I did have one night and day here with George, he got the chance of a lift and
                      knowing that we were staying here he thought the chance too good to miss. He was
                      also anxious to hear the Doctor’s verdict on Ann. I took Ann to hospital on my second
                      day here. Dr Eckhardt said there was nothing specifically wrong but that Ann is a highly
                      sensitive type with whom the tropics does not agree. He advised that Ann should
                      spend a year in a more temperate climate and that the sooner she goes the better. I felt
                      very discouraged to hear this and was most relieved when George turned up
                      unexpectedly that evening. He phoo-hood Dr Eckhardt’s recommendation and next
                      morning called in Dr Aitkin, the Government Doctor from Chunya and who happened to
                      be in Mbeya.

                      Unfortunately Dr Aitkin not only confirmed Dr Eckhardt’s opinion but said that he
                      thought Ann should stay out of the tropics until she had passed adolescence. I just don’t
                      know what to do about Ann. She is a darling child, very sensitive and gentle and a
                      lovely companion to me. Also she and young George are inseparable and I just cannot
                      picture one without the other. I know that you would be glad to have Ann but how could
                      we bear to part with her?

                      Your worried but affectionate,
                      Eleanor.

                      Tukuyu. 23rd October 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      As you see we have moved to Tukuyu and we are having a lovely time with
                      Lillian Eustace. She gave us such a warm welcome and has put herself out to give us
                      every comfort. She is a most capable housekeeper and I find her such a comfortable
                      companion because we have the same outlook in life. Both of us are strictly one man
                      women and that is rare here. She has a two year old son, Billy, who is enchanted with
                      our rolly polly Kate and there are other children on the station with whom Ann and
                      Georgie can play. Lillian engaged a temporary ayah for me so I am having a good rest.
                      All the children look well and Ann in particular seems to have benefited by the
                      change to a cooler climate. She has a good colour and looks so well that people all
                      exclaim when I tell them, that two doctors have advised us to send Ann out of the
                      country. Perhaps after all, this holiday in Tukuyu will set her up.

                      We had a trying journey from Mbeya to Tukuyu in the Post Lorry. The three
                      children and I were squeezed together on the front seat between the African driver on
                      one side and a vast German on the other. Both men smoked incessantly – the driver
                      cigarettes, and the German cheroots. The cab was clouded with a blue haze. Not only
                      that! I suddenly felt a smarting sensation on my right thigh. The driver’s cigarette had
                      burnt a hole right through that new checked linen frock you sent me last month.
                      I had Kate on my lap all the way but Ann and Georgie had to stand against the
                      windscreen all the way. The fat German offered to take Ann on his lap but she gave him
                      a very cold “No thank you.” Nor did I blame her. I would have greatly enjoyed the drive
                      under less crowded conditions. The scenery is gorgeous. One drives through very high
                      country crossing lovely clear streams and at one point through rain forest. As it was I
                      counted the miles and how thankful I was to see the end of the journey.
                      In the days when Tanganyika belonged to the Germans, Tukuyu was the
                      administrative centre for the whole of the Southern Highlands Province. The old German
                      Fort is still in use as Government offices and there are many fine trees which were
                      planted by the Germans. There is a large prosperous native population in this area.
                      They go in chiefly for coffee and for bananas which form the basis of their diet.
                      There are five British married couples here and Lillian and I go out to tea most
                      mornings. In the afternoon there is tennis or golf. The gardens here are beautiful because
                      there is rain or at least drizzle all the year round. There are even hedge roses bordering
                      some of the district roads. When one walks across the emerald green golf course or
                      through the Boma gardens, it is hard to realise that this gentle place is Tropical Africa.
                      ‘Such a green and pleasant land’, but I think I prefer our corner of Tanganyika.

                      Much love,
                      Eleanor.

                      Mchewe. 12th November 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      We had a lovely holiday but it is so nice to be home again, especially as Laza,
                      the local Nimrod, shot that leopard whilst we were away (with his muzzleloader gun). He
                      was justly proud of himself, and I gave him a tip so that he could buy some native beer
                      for a celebration. I have never seen one of theses parties but can hear the drums and
                      sounds of merrymaking, especially on moonlight nights.

                      Our house looks so fresh and uncluttered. Whilst I was away, the boys
                      whitewashed the house and my houseboy had washed all the curtains, bedspreads,
                      and loose covers and watered the garden. If only George were here it would be
                      heaven.

                      Ann looked so bonny at Tukuyu that I took her to the Government Doctor there
                      hoping that he would find her perfectly healthy, but alas he endorsed the finding of the
                      other two doctors so, when an opportunity offers, I think I shall have to send Ann down
                      to you for a long holiday from the Tropics. Mother-in-law has offered to fetch her next
                      year but England seems so far away. With you she will at least be on the same
                      continent.

                      I left the children for the first time ever, except for my stay in hospital when Kate
                      was born, to go on an outing to Lake Masoko in the Tukuyu district, with four friends.
                      Masoko is a beautiful, almost circular crater lake and very very deep. A detachment of
                      the King’s African Rifles are stationed there and occupy the old German barracks
                      overlooking the lake.

                      We drove to Masoko by car and spent the afternoon there as guests of two
                      British Army Officers. We had a good tea and the others went bathing in the lake but i
                      could not as I did not have a costume. The Lake was as beautiful as I had been lead to
                      imagine and our hosts were pleasant but I began to grow anxious as the afternoon
                      advanced and my friends showed no signs of leaving. I was in agonies when they
                      accepted an invitation to stay for a sundowner. We had this in the old German beer
                      garden overlooking the Lake. It was beautiful but what did I care. I had promised the
                      children that I would be home to give them their supper and put them to bed. When I
                      did at length return to Lillian’s house I found the situation as I had expected. Ann, with her
                      imagination had come to the conclusion that I never would return. She had sobbed
                      herself into a state of exhaustion. Kate was screaming in sympathy and George 2 was
                      very truculent. He wouldn’t even speak to me. Poor Lillian had had a trying time.
                      We did not return to Mbeya by the Mail Lorry. Bill and Lillian drove us across to
                      Mbeya in their new Ford V8 car. The children chattered happily in the back of the car
                      eating chocolate and bananas all the way. I might have known what would happen! Ann
                      was dreadfully and messily car sick.

                      I engaged the Mbeya Hotel taxi to drive us out to the farm the same afternoon
                      and I expect it will be a long time before we leave the farm again.

                      Lots and lots of love to all,
                      Eleanor.

                      Chunya 27th November 1936

                      Dearest Family,

                      You will be surprised to hear that we are all together now on the Lupa goldfields.
                      I have still not recovered from my own astonishment at being here. Until last Saturday
                      night I never dreamed of this move. At about ten o’clock I was crouched in the inglenook
                      blowing on the embers to make a fire so that I could heat some milk for Kate who is
                      cutting teeth and was very restless. Suddenly I heard a car outside. I knew it must be
                      George and rushed outside storm lamp in hand. Sure enough, there was George
                      standing by a strange car, and beaming all over his face. “Something for you my love,”
                      he said placing a little bundle in my hand. It was a knotted handkerchief and inside was a
                      fine gold nugget.

                      George had that fire going in no time, Kate was given the milk and half an aspirin
                      and settles down to sleep, whilst George and I sat around for an hour chatting over our
                      tea. He told me that he had borrowed the car from John Molteno and had come to fetch
                      me and the children to join him on the diggings for a while. It seems that John, who has a
                      camp at Itewe, a couple of miles outside the township of Chunya, the new
                      Administrative Centre of the diggings, was off to the Cape to visit his family for a few
                      months. John had asked George to run his claims in his absence and had given us the
                      loan of his camp and his car.

                      George had found the nugget on his own claim but he is not too elated because
                      he says that one good month on the diggings is often followed by several months of
                      dead loss. However, I feel hopeful, we have had such a run of bad luck that surely it is
                      time for the tide to change. George spent Sunday going over the farm with Thomas, the
                      headman, and giving him instructions about future work whilst I packed clothes and
                      kitchen equipment. I have brought our ex-kitchenboy Kesho Kutwa with me as cook and
                      also Janey, who heard that we were off to the Lupa and came to offer her services once
                      more as ayah. Janey’s ex-husband Abel is now cook to one of the more successful
                      diggers and I think she is hoping to team up with him again.

                      The trip over the Mbeya-Chunya pass was new to me and I enjoyed it very
                      much indeed. The road winds over the mountains along a very high escarpment and
                      one looks down on the vast Usangu flats stretching far away to the horizon. At the
                      highest point the road rises to about 7000 feet, and this was too much for Ann who was
                      leaning against the back of my seat. She was very thoroughly sick, all over my hair.
                      This camp of John Molteno’s is very comfortable. It consists of two wattle and
                      daub buildings built end to end in a clearing in the miombo bush. The main building
                      consists of a large living room, a store and an office, and the other of one large bedroom
                      and a small one separated by an area for bathing. Both buildings are thatched. There are
                      no doors, and there are no windows, but these are not necessary because one wall of
                      each building is built up only a couple of feet leaving a six foot space for light and air. As
                      this is the dry season the weather is pleasant. The air is fresh and dry but not nearly so
                      hot as I expected.

                      Water is a problem and must be carried long distances in kerosene tins.
                      vegetables and fresh butter are brought in a van from Iringa and Mbeya Districts about
                      once a fortnight. I have not yet visited Chunya but I believe it is as good a shopping
                      centre as Mbeya so we will be able to buy all the non perishable food stuffs we need.
                      What I do miss is the fresh milk. The children are accustomed to drinking at least a pint of
                      milk each per day but they do not care for the tinned variety.

                      Ann and young George love being here. The camp is surrounded by old
                      prospecting trenches and they spend hours each day searching for gold in the heaps of gravel. Sometimes they find quartz pitted with little spots of glitter and they bring them
                      to me in great excitement. Alas it is only Mica. We have two neighbours. The one is a
                      bearded Frenchman and the other an Australian. I have not yet met any women.
                      George looks very sunburnt and extremely fit and the children also look well.
                      George and I have decided that we will keep Ann with us until my Mother-in-law comes
                      out next year. George says that in spite of what the doctors have said, he thinks that the
                      shock to Ann of being separated from her family will do her more harm than good. She
                      and young George are inseparable and George thinks it would be best if both
                      George and Ann return to England with my Mother-in-law for a couple of years. I try not
                      to think at all about the breaking up of the family.

                      Much love to all,
                      Eleanor.

                       

                      #6262
                      TracyTracy
                      Participant

                        From Tanganyika with Love

                        continued  ~ part 3

                        With thanks to Mike Rushby.

                        Mchewe Estate. 22nd March 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        I am feeling much better now that I am five months pregnant and have quite got
                        my appetite back. Once again I go out with “the Mchewe Hunt” which is what George
                        calls the procession made up of the donkey boy and donkey with Ann confidently riding
                        astride, me beside the donkey with Georgie behind riding the stick which he much
                        prefers to the donkey. The Alsatian pup, whom Ann for some unknown reason named
                        ‘Tubbage’, and the two cats bring up the rear though sometimes Tubbage rushes
                        ahead and nearly knocks me off my feet. He is not the loveable pet that Kelly was.
                        It is just as well that I have recovered my health because my mother-in-law has
                        decided to fly out from England to look after Ann and George when I am in hospital. I am
                        very grateful for there is no one lse to whom I can turn. Kath Hickson-Wood is seldom on
                        their farm because Hicky is working a guano claim and is making quite a good thing out of
                        selling bat guano to the coffee farmers at Mbosi. They camp out at the claim, a series of
                        caves in the hills across the valley and visit the farm only occasionally. Anne Molteno is
                        off to Cape Town to have her baby at her mothers home and there are no women in
                        Mbeya I know well. The few women are Government Officials wives and they come
                        and go. I make so few trips to the little town that there is no chance to get on really
                        friendly terms with them.

                        Janey, the ayah, is turning into a treasure. She washes and irons well and keeps
                        the children’s clothes cupboard beautifully neat. Ann and George however are still
                        reluctant to go for walks with her. They find her dull because, like all African ayahs, she
                        has no imagination and cannot play with them. She should however be able to help with
                        the baby. Ann is very excited about the new baby. She so loves all little things.
                        Yesterday she went into ecstasies over ten newly hatched chicks.

                        She wants a little sister and perhaps it would be a good thing. Georgie is so very
                        active and full of mischief that I feel another wild little boy might be more than I can
                        manage. Although Ann is older, it is Georgie who always thinks up the mischief. They
                        have just been having a fight. Georgie with the cooks umbrella versus Ann with her frilly
                        pink sunshade with the inevitable result that the sunshade now has four broken ribs.
                        Any way I never feel lonely now during the long hours George is busy on the
                        shamba. The children keep me on my toes and I have plenty of sewing to do for the
                        baby. George is very good about amusing the children before their bedtime and on
                        Sundays. In the afternoons when it is not wet I take Ann and Georgie for a walk down
                        the hill. George meets us at the bottom and helps me on the homeward journey. He
                        grabs one child in each hand by the slack of their dungarees and they do a sort of giant
                        stride up the hill, half walking half riding.

                        Very much love,
                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 14th June 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        A great flap here. We had a letter yesterday to say that mother-in-law will be
                        arriving in four days time! George is very amused at my frantic efforts at spring cleaning
                        but he has told me before that she is very house proud so I feel I must make the best
                        of what we have.

                        George is very busy building a store for the coffee which will soon be ripening.
                        This time he is doing the bricklaying himself. It is quite a big building on the far end of the
                        farm and close to the river. He is also making trays of chicken wire nailed to wooden
                        frames with cheap calico stretched over the wire.

                        Mother will have to sleep in the verandah room which leads off the bedroom
                        which we share with the children. George will have to sleep in the outside spare room as
                        there is no door between the bedroom and the verandah room. I am sewing frantically
                        to make rose coloured curtains and bedspread out of material mother-in-law sent for
                        Christmas and will have to make a curtain for the doorway. The kitchen badly needs
                        whitewashing but George says he cannot spare the labour so I hope mother won’t look.
                        To complicate matters, George has been invited to lunch with the Governor on the day
                        of Mother’s arrival. After lunch they are to visit the newly stocked trout streams in the
                        Mporotos. I hope he gets back to Mbeya in good time to meet mother’s plane.
                        Ann has been off colour for a week. She looks very pale and her pretty fair hair,
                        normally so shiny, is dull and lifeless. It is such a pity that mother should see her like this
                        because first impressions do count so much and I am looking to the children to attract
                        attention from me. I am the size of a circus tent and hardly a dream daughter-in-law.
                        Georgie, thank goodness, is blooming but he has suddenly developed a disgusting
                        habit of spitting on the floor in the manner of the natives. I feel he might say “Gran, look
                        how far I can spit and give an enthusiastic demonstration.

                        Just hold thumbs that all goes well.

                        your loving but anxious,
                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 28th June 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        Mother-in-law duly arrived in the District Commissioner’s car. George did not dare
                        to use the A.C. as she is being very temperamental just now. They also brought the
                        mail bag which contained a parcel of lovely baby clothes from you. Thank you very
                        much. Mother-in-law is very put out because the large parcel she posted by surface
                        mail has not yet arrived.

                        Mother arrived looking very smart in an ankle length afternoon frock of golden
                        brown crepe and smart hat, and wearing some very good rings. She is a very
                        handsome woman with the very fair complexion that goes with red hair. The hair, once
                        Titan, must now be grey but it has been very successfully tinted and set. I of course,
                        was shapeless in a cotton maternity frock and no credit to you. However, so far, motherin-
                        law has been uncritical and friendly and charmed with the children who have taken to
                        her. Mother does not think that the children resemble me in any way. Ann resembles her
                        family the Purdys and Georgie is a Morley, her mother’s family. She says they had the
                        same dark eyes and rather full mouths. I say feebly, “But Georgie has my colouring”, but
                        mother won’t hear of it. So now you know! Ann is a Purdy and Georgie a Morley.
                        Perhaps number three will be a Leslie.

                        What a scramble I had getting ready for mother. Her little room really looks pretty
                        and fresh, but the locally woven grass mats arrived only minutes before mother did. I
                        also frantically overhauled our clothes and it a good thing that I did so because mother
                        has been going through all the cupboards looking for mending. Mother is kept so busy
                        in her own home that I think she finds time hangs on her hands here. She is very good at
                        entertaining the children and has even tried her hand at picking coffee a couple of times.
                        Mother cannot get used to the native boy servants but likes Janey, so Janey keeps her
                        room in order. Mother prefers to wash and iron her own clothes.

                        I almost lost our cook through mother’s surplus energy! Abel our previous cook
                        took a new wife last month and, as the new wife, and Janey the old, were daggers
                        drawn, Abel moved off to a job on the Lupa leaving Janey and her daughter here.
                        The new cook is capable, but he is a fearsome looking individual called Alfani. He has a
                        thick fuzz of hair which he wears long, sometimes hidden by a dingy turban, and he
                        wears big brass earrings. I think he must be part Somali because he has a hawk nose
                        and a real Brigand look. His kitchen is never really clean but he is an excellent cook and
                        as cooks are hard to come by here I just keep away from the kitchen. Not so mother!
                        A few days after her arrival she suggested kindly that I should lie down after lunch
                        so I rested with the children whilst mother, unknown to me, went out to the kitchen and
                        not only scrubbed the table and shelves but took the old iron stove to pieces and
                        cleaned that. Unfortunately in her zeal she poked a hole through the stove pipe.
                        Had I known of these activities I would have foreseen the cook’s reaction when
                        he returned that evening to cook the supper. he was furious and wished to leave on the
                        spot and demanded his wages forthwith. The old Memsahib had insulted him by
                        scrubbing his already spotless kitchen and had broken his stove and made it impossible
                        for him to cook. This tirade was accompanied by such waving of hands and rolling of
                        eyes that I longed to sack him on the spot. However I dared not as I might not get
                        another cook for weeks. So I smoothed him down and he patched up the stove pipe
                        with a bit of tin and some wire and produced a good meal. I am wondering what
                        transformations will be worked when I am in hospital.

                        Our food is really good but mother just pecks at it. No wonder really, because
                        she has had some shocks. One day she found the kitchen boy diligently scrubbing the box lavatory seat with a scrubbing brush which he dipped into one of my best large
                        saucepans! No one can foresee what these boys will do. In these remote areas house
                        servants are usually recruited from the ranks of the very primitive farm labourers, who first
                        come to the farm as naked savages, and their notions of hygiene simply don’t exist.
                        One day I said to mother in George’s presence “When we were newly married,
                        mother, George used to brag about your cooking and say that you would run a home
                        like this yourself with perhaps one ‘toto’. Mother replied tartly, “That was very bad of
                        George and not true. If my husband had brought me out here I would not have stayed a
                        month. I think you manage very well.” Which reply made me warm to mother a lot.
                        To complicate things we have a new pup, a little white bull terrier bitch whom
                        George has named Fanny. She is tiny and not yet house trained but seems a plucky
                        and attractive little animal though there is no denying that she does look like a piglet.

                        Very much love to all,
                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 3rd August 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        Here I am in hospital, comfortably in bed with our new daughter in her basket
                        beside me. She is a lovely little thing, very plump and cuddly and pink and white and
                        her head is covered with tiny curls the colour of Golden Syrup. We meant to call her
                        Margery Kate, after our Marj and my mother-in-law whose name is Catherine.
                        I am enjoying the rest, knowing that George and mother will be coping
                        successfully on the farm. My room is full of flowers, particularly with the roses and
                        carnations which grow so well here. Kate was not due until August 5th but the doctor
                        wanted me to come in good time in view of my tiresome early pregnancy.

                        For weeks beforehand George had tinkered with the A.C. and we started for
                        Mbeya gaily enough on the twenty ninth, however, after going like a dream for a couple
                        of miles, she simply collapsed from exhaustion at the foot of a hill and all the efforts of
                        the farm boys who had been sent ahead for such an emergency failed to start her. So
                        George sent back to the farm for the machila and I sat in the shade of a tree, wondering
                        what would happen if I had the baby there and then, whilst George went on tinkering
                        with the car. Suddenly she sprang into life and we roared up that hill and all the way into
                        Mbeya. The doctor welcomed us pleasantly and we had tea with his family before I
                        settled into my room. Later he examined me and said that it was unlikely that the baby
                        would be born for several days. The new and efficient German nurse said, “Thank
                        goodness for that.” There was a man in hospital dying from a stomach cancer and she
                        had not had a decent nights sleep for three nights.

                        Kate however had other plans. I woke in the early morning with labour pains but
                        anxious not to disturb the nurse, I lay and read or tried to read a book, hoping that I
                        would not have to call the nurse until daybreak. However at four a.m., I went out into the
                        wind which was howling along the open verandah and knocked on the nurse’s door. She
                        got up and very crossly informed me that I was imagining things and should get back to
                        bed at once. She said “It cannot be so. The Doctor has said it.” I said “Of course it is,”
                        and then and there the water broke and clinched my argument. She then went into a flat
                        spin. “But the bed is not ready and my instruments are not ready,” and she flew around
                        to rectify this and also sent an African orderly to call the doctor. I paced the floor saying
                        warningly “Hurry up with that bed. I am going to have the baby now!” She shrieked
                        “Take off your dressing gown.” But I was passed caring. I flung myself on the bed and
                        there was Kate. The nurse had done all that was necessary by the time the doctor
                        arrived.

                        A funny thing was, that whilst Kate was being born on the bed, a black cat had
                        kittens under it! The doctor was furious with the nurse but the poor thing must have crept
                        in out of the cold wind when I went to call the nurse. A happy omen I feel for the baby’s
                        future. George had no anxiety this time. He stayed at the hospital with me until ten
                        o’clock when he went down to the hotel to sleep and he received the news in a note
                        from me with his early morning tea. He went to the farm next morning but will return on
                        the sixth to fetch me home.

                        I do feel so happy. A very special husband and three lovely children. What
                        more could anyone possibly want.

                        Lots and lots of love,
                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 20th August 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        Well here we are back at home and all is very well. The new baby is very placid
                        and so pretty. Mother is delighted with her and Ann loved her at sight but Georgie is not
                        so sure. At first he said, “Your baby is no good. Chuck her in the kalonga.” The kalonga
                        being the ravine beside the house , where, I regret to say, much of the kitchen refuse is
                        dumped. he is very jealous when I carry Kate around or feed her but is ready to admire
                        her when she is lying alone in her basket.

                        George walked all the way from the farm to fetch us home. He hired a car and
                        native driver from the hotel, but drove us home himself going with such care over ruts
                        and bumps. We had a great welcome from mother who had had the whole house
                        spring cleaned. However George loyally says it looks just as nice when I am in charge.
                        Mother obviously, had had more than enough of the back of beyond and
                        decided to stay on only one week after my return home. She had gone into the kitchen
                        one day just in time to see the houseboy scooping the custard he had spilt on the table
                        back into the jug with the side of his hand. No doubt it would have been served up
                        without a word. On another occasion she had walked in on the cook’s daily ablutions. He
                        was standing in a small bowl of water in the centre of the kitchen, absolutely naked,
                        enjoying a slipper bath. She left last Wednesday and gave us a big laugh before she
                        left. She never got over her horror of eating food prepared by our cook and used to
                        push it around her plate. Well, when the time came for mother to leave for the plane, she
                        put on the very smart frock in which she had arrived, and then came into the sitting room
                        exclaiming in dismay “Just look what has happened, I must have lost a stone!’ We
                        looked, and sure enough, the dress which had been ankle deep before, now touched
                        the floor. “Good show mother.” said George unfeelingly. “You ought to be jolly grateful,
                        you needed to lose weight and it would have cost you the earth at a beauty parlour to
                        get that sylph-like figure.”

                        When mother left she took, in a perforated matchbox, one of the frilly mantis that
                        live on our roses. She means to keep it in a goldfish bowl in her dining room at home.
                        Georgie and Ann filled another matchbox with dead flies for food for the mantis on the
                        journey.

                        Now that mother has left, Georgie and Ann attach themselves to me and firmly
                        refuse to have anything to do with the ayah,Janey. She in any case now wishes to have
                        a rest. Mother tipped her well and gave her several cotton frocks so I suspect she wants
                        to go back to her hometown in Northern Rhodesia to show off a bit.
                        Georgie has just sidled up with a very roguish look. He asked “You like your
                        baby?” I said “Yes indeed I do.” He said “I’ll prick your baby with a velly big thorn.”

                        Who would be a mother!
                        Eleanor

                        Mchewe Estate. 20th September 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        I have been rather in the wars with toothache and as there is still no dentist at
                        Mbeya to do the fillings, I had to have four molars extracted at the hospital. George
                        says it is fascinating to watch me at mealtimes these days because there is such a gleam
                        of satisfaction in my eye when I do manage to get two teeth to meet on a mouthful.
                        About those scissors Marj sent Ann. It was not such a good idea. First she cut off tufts of
                        George’s hair so that he now looks like a bad case of ringworm and then she cut a scalp
                        lock, a whole fist full of her own shining hair, which George so loves. George scolded
                        Ann and she burst into floods of tears. Such a thing as a scolding from her darling daddy
                        had never happened before. George immediately made a long drooping moustache
                        out of the shorn lock and soon had her smiling again. George is always very gentle with
                        Ann. One has to be , because she is frightfully sensitive to criticism.

                        I am kept pretty busy these days, Janey has left and my houseboy has been ill
                        with pneumonia. I now have to wash all the children’s things and my own, (the cook does
                        George’s clothes) and look after the three children. Believe me, I can hardly keep awake
                        for Kate’s ten o’clock feed.

                        I do hope I shall get some new servants next month because I also got George
                        to give notice to the cook. I intercepted him last week as he was storming down the hill
                        with my large kitchen knife in his hand. “Where are you going with my knife?” I asked.
                        “I’m going to kill a man!” said Alfani, rolling his eyes and looking extremely ferocious. “He
                        has taken my wife.” “Not with my knife”, said I reaching for it. So off Alfani went, bent on
                        vengeance and I returned the knife to the kitchen. Dinner was served and I made no
                        enquiries but I feel that I need someone more restful in the kitchen than our brigand
                        Alfani.

                        George has been working on the car and has now fitted yet another radiator. This
                        is a lorry one and much too tall to be covered by the A.C.’s elegant bonnet which is
                        secured by an old strap. The poor old A.C. now looks like an ancient shoe with a turned
                        up toe. It only needs me in it with the children to make a fine illustration to the old rhyme!
                        Ann and Georgie are going through a climbing phase. They practically live in
                        trees. I rushed out this morning to investigate loud screams and found Georgie hanging
                        from a fork in a tree by one ankle, whilst Ann stood below on tiptoe with hands stretched
                        upwards to support his head.

                        Do I sound as though I have straws in my hair? I have.
                        Lots of love,
                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 11th October 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        Thank goodness! I have a new ayah name Mary. I had heard that there was a
                        good ayah out of work at Tukuyu 60 miles away so sent a messenger to fetch her. She
                        arrived after dark wearing a bright dress and a cheerful smile and looked very suitable by
                        the light of a storm lamp. I was horrified next morning to see her in daylight. She was
                        dressed all in black and had a rather sinister look. She reminds me rather of your old maid
                        Candace who overheard me laughing a few days before Ann was born and croaked
                        “Yes , Miss Eleanor, today you laugh but next week you might be dead.” Remember
                        how livid you were, dad?

                        I think Mary has the same grim philosophy. Ann took one look at her and said,
                        “What a horrible old lady, mummy.” Georgie just said “Go away”, both in English and Ki-
                        Swahili. Anyway Mary’s references are good so I shall keep her on to help with Kate
                        who is thriving and bonny and placid.

                        Thank you for the offer of toys for Christmas but, if you don’t mind, I’d rather have
                        some clothing for the children. Ann is quite contented with her dolls Barbara and Yvonne.
                        Barbara’s once beautiful face is now pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle having come
                        into contact with Georgie’s ever busy hammer. However Ann says she will love her for
                        ever and she doesn’t want another doll. Yvonne’s hay day is over too. She
                        disappeared for weeks and we think Fanny, the pup, was the culprit. Ann discovered
                        Yvonne one morning in some long wet weeds. Poor Yvonne is now a ghost of her
                        former self. All the sophisticated make up was washed off her papier-mâché face and
                        her hair is decidedly bedraggled, but Ann was radiant as she tucked her back into bed
                        and Yvonne is as precious to Ann as she ever was.

                        Georgie simply does not care for toys. His paint box, hammer and the trenching
                        hoe George gave him for his second birthday are all he wants or needs. Both children
                        love books but I sometimes wonder whether they stimulate Ann’s imagination too much.
                        The characters all become friends of hers and she makes up stories about them to tell
                        Georgie. She adores that illustrated children’s Bible Mummy sent her but you would be
                        astonished at the yarns she spins about “me and my friend Jesus.” She also will call
                        Moses “Old Noses”, and looking at a picture of Jacob’s dream, with the shining angels
                        on the ladder between heaven and earth, she said “Georgie, if you see an angel, don’t
                        touch it, it’s hot.”

                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 17th October 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        I take back the disparaging things I said about my new Ayah, because she has
                        proved her worth in an unexpected way. On Wednesday morning I settled Kate in he
                        cot after her ten o’clock feed and sat sewing at the dining room table with Ann and
                        Georgie opposite me, both absorbed in painting pictures in identical seed catalogues.
                        Suddenly there was a terrific bang on the back door, followed by an even heavier blow.
                        The door was just behind me and I got up and opened it. There, almost filling the door
                        frame, stood a huge native with staring eyes and his teeth showing in a mad grimace. In
                        his hand he held a rolled umbrella by the ferrule, the shaft I noticed was unusually long
                        and thick and the handle was a big round knob.

                        I was terrified as you can imagine, especially as, through the gap under the
                        native’s raised arm, I could see the new cook and the kitchen boy running away down to
                        the shamba! I hastily tried to shut and lock the door but the man just brushed me aside.
                        For a moment he stood over me with the umbrella raised as though to strike. Rather
                        fortunately, I now think, I was too petrified to say a word. The children never moved but
                        Tubbage, the Alsatian, got up and jumped out of the window!

                        Then the native turned away and still with the same fixed stare and grimace,
                        began to attack the furniture with his umbrella. Tables and chairs were overturned and
                        books and ornaments scattered on the floor. When the madman had his back turned and
                        was busily bashing the couch, I slipped round the dining room table, took Ann and
                        Georgie by the hand and fled through the front door to the garage where I hid the
                        children in the car. All this took several minutes because naturally the children were
                        terrified. I was worried to death about the baby left alone in the bedroom and as soon
                        as I had Ann and Georgie settled I ran back to the house.

                        I reached the now open front door just as Kianda the houseboy opened the back
                        door of the lounge. He had been away at the river washing clothes but, on hearing of the
                        madman from the kitchen boy he had armed himself with a stout stick and very pluckily,
                        because he is not a robust boy, had returned to the house to eject the intruder. He
                        rushed to attack immediately and I heard a terrific exchange of blows behind me as I
                        opened our bedroom door. You can imagine what my feelings were when I was
                        confronted by an empty cot! Just then there was an uproar inside as all the farm
                        labourers armed with hoes and pangas and sticks, streamed into the living room from the
                        shamba whence they had been summoned by the cook. In no time at all the huge
                        native was hustled out of the house, flung down the front steps, and securely tied up
                        with strips of cloth.

                        In the lull that followed I heard a frightened voice calling from the bathroom.
                        ”Memsahib is that you? The child is here with me.” I hastily opened the bathroom door
                        to find Mary couched in a corner by the bath, shielding Kate with her body. Mary had
                        seen the big native enter the house and her first thought had been for her charge. I
                        thanked her and promised her a reward for her loyalty, and quickly returned to the garage
                        to reassure Ann and Georgie. I met George who looked white and exhausted as well
                        he might having run up hill all the way from the coffee store. The kitchen boy had led him
                        to expect the worst and he was most relieved to find us all unhurt if a bit shaken.
                        We returned to the house by the back way whilst George went to the front and
                        ordered our labourers to take their prisoner and lock him up in the store. George then
                        discussed the whole affair with his Headman and all the labourers after which he reported
                        to me. “The boys say that the bastard is an ex-Askari from Nyasaland. He is not mad as
                        you thought but he smokes bhang and has these attacks. I suppose I should take him to
                        Mbeya and have him up in court. But if I do that you’ll have to give evidence and that will be a nuisance as the car won’t go and there is also the baby to consider.”

                        Eventually we decided to leave the man to sleep off the effects of the Bhang
                        until evening when he would be tried before an impromptu court consisting of George,
                        the local Jumbe(Headman) and village Elders, and our own farm boys and any other
                        interested spectators. It was not long before I knew the verdict because I heard the
                        sound of lashes. I was not sorry at all because I felt the man deserved his punishment
                        and so did all the Africans. They love children and despise anyone who harms or
                        frightens them. With great enthusiasm they frog-marched him off our land, and I sincerely
                        hope that that is the last we see or him. Ann and Georgie don’t seem to brood over this
                        affair at all. The man was naughty and he was spanked, a quite reasonable state of
                        affairs. This morning they hid away in the small thatched chicken house. This is a little brick
                        building about four feet square which Ann covets as a dolls house. They came back
                        covered in stick fleas which I had to remove with paraffin. My hens are laying well but
                        they all have the ‘gapes’! I wouldn’t run a chicken farm for anything, hens are such fussy,
                        squawking things.

                        Now don’t go worrying about my experience with the native. Such things
                        happen only once in a lifetime. We are all very well and happy, and life, apart from the
                        children’s pranks is very tranquil.

                        Lots and lots of love,
                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 25th October 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        The hot winds have dried up the shamba alarmingly and we hope every day for
                        rain. The prices for coffee, on the London market, continue to be low and the local
                        planters are very depressed. Coffee grows well enough here but we are over 400
                        miles from the railway and transport to the railhead by lorry is very expensive. Then, as
                        there is no East African Marketing Board, the coffee must be shipped to England for
                        sale. Unless the coffee fetches at least 90 pounds a ton it simply doesn’t pay to grow it.
                        When we started planting in 1931 coffee was fetching as much as 115 pounds a ton but
                        prices this year were between 45 and 55 pounds. We have practically exhausted our
                        capitol and so have all our neighbours. The Hickson -Woods have been keeping their
                        pot boiling by selling bat guano to the coffee farmers at Mbosi but now everyone is
                        broke and there is not a market for fertilisers. They are offering their farm for sale at a very
                        low price.

                        Major Jones has got a job working on the district roads and Max Coster talks of
                        returning to his work as a geologist. George says he will have to go gold digging on the
                        Lupa unless there is a big improvement in the market. Luckily we can live quite cheaply
                        here. We have a good vegetable garden, milk is cheap and we have plenty of fruit.
                        There are mulberries, pawpaws, grenadillas, peaches, and wine berries. The wine
                        berries are very pretty but insipid though Ann and Georgie love them. Each morning,
                        before breakfast, the old garden boy brings berries for Ann and Georgie. With a thorn
                        the old man pins a large leaf from a wild fig tree into a cone which he fills with scarlet wine
                        berries. There is always a cone for each child and they wait eagerly outside for the daily
                        ceremony of presentation.

                        The rats are being a nuisance again. Both our cats, Skinny Winnie and Blackboy
                        disappeared a few weeks ago. We think they made a meal for a leopard. I wrote last
                        week to our grocer at Mbalizi asking him whether he could let us have a couple of kittens
                        as I have often seen cats in his store. The messenger returned with a nailed down box.
                        The kitchen boy was called to prize up the lid and the children stood by in eager
                        anticipation. Out jumped two snarling and spitting creatures. One rushed into the kalonga
                        and the other into the house and before they were captured they had drawn blood from
                        several boys. I told the boys to replace the cats in the box as I intended to return them
                        forthwith. They had the colouring, stripes and dispositions of wild cats and I certainly
                        didn’t want them as pets, but before the boys could replace the lid the cats escaped
                        once more into the undergrowth in the kalonga. George fetched his shotgun and said he
                        would shoot the cats on sight or they would kill our chickens. This was more easily said
                        than done because the cats could not be found. However during the night the cats
                        climbed up into the loft af the house and we could hear them moving around on the reed
                        ceiling.

                        I said to George,”Oh leave the poor things. At least they might frighten the rats
                        away.” That afternoon as we were having tea a thin stream of liquid filtered through the
                        ceiling on George’s head. Oh dear!!! That of course was the end. Some raw meat was
                        put on the lawn for bait and yesterday George shot both cats.

                        I regret to end with the sad story of Mary, heroine in my last letter and outcast in
                        this. She came to work quite drunk two days running and I simply had to get rid of her. I
                        have heard since from Kath Wood that Mary lost her last job at Tukuyu for the same
                        reason. She was ayah to twin girls and one day set their pram on fire.

                        So once again my hands are more than full with three lively children. I did say
                        didn’t I, when Ann was born that I wanted six children?

                        Very much love from us all, Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 8th November 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        To set your minds at rest I must tell you that the native who so frightened me and
                        the children is now in jail for attacking a Greek at Mbalizi. I hear he is to be sent back to
                        Rhodesia when he has finished his sentence.

                        Yesterday we had one of our rare trips to Mbeya. George managed to get a couple of
                        second hand tyres for the old car and had again got her to work so we are celebrating our
                        wedding anniversary by going on an outing. I wore the green and fawn striped silk dress
                        mother bought me and the hat and shoes you sent for my birthday and felt like a million
                        dollars, for a change. The children all wore new clothes too and I felt very proud of them.
                        Ann is still very fair and with her refined little features and straight silky hair she
                        looks like Alice in Wonderland. Georgie is dark and sturdy and looks best in khaki shirt
                        and shorts and sun helmet. Kate is a pink and gold baby and looks good enough to eat.
                        We went straight to the hotel at Mbeya and had the usual warm welcome from
                        Ken and Aunty May Menzies. Aunty May wears her hair cut short like a mans and
                        usually wears shirt and tie and riding breeches and boots. She always looks ready to go
                        on safari at a moments notice as indeed she is. She is often called out to a case of illness
                        at some remote spot.

                        There were lots of people at the hotel from farms in the district and from the
                        diggings. I met women I had not seen for four years. One, a Mrs Masters from Tukuyu,
                        said in the lounge, “My God! Last time I saw you , you were just a girl and here you are
                        now with two children.” To which I replied with pride, “There is another one in a pram on
                        the verandah if you care to look!” Great hilarity in the lounge. The people from the
                        diggings seem to have plenty of money to throw around. There was a big party on the
                        go in the bar.

                        One of our shamba boys died last Friday and all his fellow workers and our
                        house boys had the day off to attend the funeral. From what I can gather the local
                        funerals are quite cheery affairs. The corpse is dressed in his best clothes and laid
                        outside his hut and all who are interested may view the body and pay their respects.
                        The heir then calls upon anyone who had a grudge against the dead man to say his say
                        and thereafter hold his tongue forever. Then all the friends pay tribute to the dead man
                        after which he is buried to the accompaniment of what sounds from a distance, very
                        cheerful keening.

                        Most of our workmen are pagans though there is a Lutheran Mission nearby and
                        a big Roman Catholic Mission in the area too. My present cook, however, claims to be
                        a Christian. He certainly went to a mission school and can read and write and also sing
                        hymns in Ki-Swahili. When I first engaged him I used to find a large open Bible
                        prominently displayed on the kitchen table. The cook is middle aged and arrived here
                        with a sensible matronly wife. To my surprise one day he brought along a young girl,
                        very plump and giggly and announced proudly that she was his new wife, I said,”But I
                        thought you were a Christian Jeremiah? Christians don’t have two wives.” To which he
                        replied, “Oh Memsahib, God won’t mind. He knows an African needs two wives – one
                        to go with him when he goes away to work and one to stay behind at home to cultivate
                        the shamba.

                        Needles to say, it is the old wife who has gone to till the family plot.

                        With love to all,
                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 21st November 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        The drought has broken with a bang. We had a heavy storm in the hills behind
                        the house. Hail fell thick and fast. So nice for all the tiny new berries on the coffee! The
                        kids loved the excitement and three times Ann and Georgie ran out for a shower under
                        the eaves and had to be changed. After the third time I was fed up and made them both
                        lie on their beds whilst George and I had lunch in peace. I told Ann to keep the
                        casement shut as otherwise the rain would drive in on her bed. Half way through lunch I
                        heard delighted squeals from Georgie and went into the bedroom to investigate. Ann
                        was standing on the outer sill in the rain but had shut the window as ordered. “Well
                        Mummy , you didn’t say I mustn’t stand on the window sill, and I did shut the window.”
                        George is working so hard on the farm. I have a horrible feeling however that it is
                        what the Africans call ‘Kazi buri’ (waste of effort) as there seems no chance of the price of
                        coffee improving as long as this world depression continues. The worry is that our capitol
                        is nearly exhausted. Food is becoming difficult now that our neighbours have left. I used
                        to buy delicious butter from Kath Hickson-Wood and an African butcher used to kill a
                        beast once a week. Now that we are his only European customers he very rarely kills
                        anything larger than a goat, and though we do eat goat, believe me it is not from choice.
                        We have of course got plenty to eat, but our diet is very monotonous. I was
                        delighted when George shot a large bushbuck last week. What we could not use I cut
                        into strips and the salted strips are now hanging in the open garage to dry.

                        With love to all,
                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 6th December 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        We have had a lot of rain and the countryside is lovely and green. Last week
                        George went to Mbeya taking Ann with him. This was a big adventure for Ann because
                        never before had she been anywhere without me. She was in a most blissful state as
                        she drove off in the old car clutching a little basket containing sandwiches and half a bottle
                        of milk. She looked so pretty in a new blue frock and with her tiny plaits tied with
                        matching blue ribbons. When Ann is animated she looks charming because her normally
                        pale cheeks become rosy and she shows her pretty dimples.

                        As I am still without an ayah I rather looked forward to a quiet morning with only
                        Georgie and Margery Kate to care for, but Georgie found it dull without Ann and wanted
                        to be entertained and even the normally placid baby was peevish. Then in mid morning
                        the rain came down in torrents, the result of a cloudburst in the hills directly behind our
                        house. The ravine next to our house was a terrifying sight. It appeared to be a great
                        muddy, roaring waterfall reaching from the very top of the hill to a point about 30 yards
                        behind our house and then the stream rushed on down the gorge in an angry brown
                        flood. The roar of the water was so great that we had to yell at one another to be heard.
                        By lunch time the rain had stopped and I anxiously awaited the return of Ann and
                        George. They returned on foot, drenched and hungry at about 2.30pm . George had
                        had to abandon the car on the main road as the Mchewe River had overflowed and
                        turned the road into a muddy lake. The lower part of the shamba had also been flooded
                        and the water receded leaving branches and driftwood amongst the coffee. This was my
                        first experience of a real tropical storm. I am afraid that after the battering the coffee has
                        had there is little hope of a decent crop next year.

                        Anyway Christmas is coming so we don’t dwell on these mishaps. The children
                        have already chosen their tree from amongst the young cypresses in the vegetable
                        garden. We all send our love and hope that you too will have a Happy Christmas.

                        Eleanor

                        Mchewe Estate. 22nd December 1935

                        Dearest Family,

                        I’ve been in the wars with my staff. The cook has been away ill for ten days but is
                        back today though shaky and full of self pity. The houseboy, who really has been a brick
                        during the cooks absence has now taken to his bed and I feel like taking to Mine! The
                        children however have the Christmas spirit and are making weird and wonderful paper
                        decorations. George’s contribution was to have the house whitewashed throughout and
                        it looks beautifully fresh.

                        My best bit of news is that my old ayah Janey has been to see me and would
                        like to start working here again on Jan 1st. We are all very well. We meant to give
                        ourselves an outing to Mbeya as a Christmas treat but here there is an outbreak of
                        enteric fever there so will now not go. We have had two visitors from the Diggings this
                        week. The children see so few strangers that they were fascinated and hung around
                        staring. Ann sat down on the arm of the couch beside one and studied his profile.
                        Suddenly she announced in her clear voice, “Mummy do you know, this man has got
                        wax in his ears!” Very awkward pause in the conversation. By the way when I was
                        cleaning out little Kate’s ears with a swab of cotton wool a few days ago, Ann asked
                        “Mummy, do bees have wax in their ears? Well, where do you get beeswax from
                        then?”

                        I meant to keep your Christmas parcel unopened until Christmas Eve but could
                        not resist peeping today. What lovely things! Ann so loves pretties and will be
                        delighted with her frocks. My dress is just right and I love Georgie’s manly little flannel
                        shorts and blue shirt. We have bought them each a watering can. I suppose I shall
                        regret this later. One of your most welcome gifts is the album of nursery rhyme records. I
                        am so fed up with those that we have. Both children love singing. I put a record on the
                        gramophone geared to slow and off they go . Georgie sings more slowly than Ann but
                        much more tunefully. Ann sings in a flat monotone but Georgie with great expression.
                        You ought to hear him render ‘Sing a song of sixpence’. He cannot pronounce an R or
                        an S. Mother has sent a large home made Christmas pudding and a fine Christmas
                        cake and George will shoot some partridges for Christmas dinner.
                        Think of us as I shall certainly think of you.

                        Your very loving,
                        Eleanor.

                        Mchewe Estate. 2nd January 1936

                        Dearest Family,

                        Christmas was fun! The tree looked very gay with its load of tinsel, candles and
                        red crackers and the coloured balloons you sent. All the children got plenty of toys
                        thanks to Grandparents and Aunts. George made Ann a large doll’s bed and I made
                        some elegant bedding, Barbara, the big doll is now permanently bed ridden. Her poor
                        shattered head has come all unstuck and though I have pieced it together again it is a sad
                        sight. If you have not yet chosen a present for her birthday next month would you
                        please get a new head from the Handy House. I enclose measurements. Ann does so
                        love the doll. She always calls her, “My little girl”, and she keeps the doll’s bed beside
                        her own and never fails to kiss her goodnight.

                        We had no guests for Christmas this year but we were quite festive. Ann
                        decorated the dinner table with small pink roses and forget-me-knots and tinsel and the
                        crackers from the tree. It was a wet day but we played the new records and both
                        George and I worked hard to make it a really happy day for the children. The children
                        were hugely delighted when George made himself a revolting set of false teeth out of
                        plasticine and a moustache and beard of paper straw from a chocolate box. “Oh Daddy
                        you look exactly like Father Christmas!” cried an enthralled Ann. Before bedtime we lit
                        all the candles on the tree and sang ‘Away in a Manger’, and then we opened the box of
                        starlights you sent and Ann and Georgie had their first experience of fireworks.
                        After the children went to bed things deteriorated. First George went for his bath
                        and found and killed a large black snake in the bathroom. It must have been in the
                        bathroom when I bathed the children earlier in the evening. Then I developed bad
                        toothache which kept me awake all night and was agonising next day. Unfortunately the
                        bridge between the farm and Mbeya had been washed away and the water was too
                        deep for the car to ford until the 30th when at last I was able to take my poor swollen
                        face to Mbeya. There is now a young German woman dentist working at the hospital.
                        She pulled out the offending molar which had a large abscess attached to it.
                        Whilst the dentist attended to me, Ann and Georgie played happily with the
                        doctor’s children. I wish they could play more often with other children. Dr Eckhardt was
                        very pleased with Margery Kate who at seven months weighs 17 lbs and has lovely
                        rosy cheeks. He admired Ann and told her that she looked just like a German girl. “No I
                        don’t”, cried Ann indignantly, “I’m English!”

                        We were caught in a rain storm going home and as the old car still has no
                        windscreen or side curtains we all got soaked except for the baby who was snugly
                        wrapped in my raincoat. The kids thought it great fun. Ann is growing up fast now. She
                        likes to ‘help mummy’. She is a perfectionist at four years old which is rather trying. She
                        gets so discouraged when things do not turn out as well as she means them to. Sewing
                        is constantly being unpicked and paintings torn up. She is a very sensitive child.
                        Georgie is quite different. He is a man of action, but not silent. He talks incessantly
                        but lisps and stumbles over some words. At one time Ann and Georgie often
                        conversed in Ki-Swahili but they now scorn to do so. If either forgets and uses a Swahili
                        word, the other points a scornful finger and shouts “You black toto”.

                        With love to all,
                        Eleanor.

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