" Hey , you chaps !sx " he shouted across .sx " I've got plenty of booze and tobacco over here !sx " .sx Our mouths watered .sx We looked at the river , swollen by recent rains , and looked at each other .sx Certainly there was some way to get across .sx We held a consultation , and a little red-haired man from E Troop declared that he would swim the river with a small rope .sx With it he promised to pull a larger rope over , make a crude suspension-bridge to which non-swimmers could cling and progress hand over hand .sx He stripped , tied a long cord to one wrist , and plunged in , yelling and slapping the water .sx I can see him yet , his red hair bobbing along that muddy stream , head thrown back , mouth wide open in yells , his hands pounding the water while he propelled himself with his legs .sx His particular deity was watching over him , for he escaped the jaws of crocodiles and landed a quarter of a mile downstream .sx Out he came , his white body glistening as he raced up the bank toward the trader's wagon .sx There he stopped , shouting mingled abuse and invitation at us , and between words he gulped heavily from the trader's bottle .sx " Pull across the rope !sx " we bellowed at him .sx " Pull across the rope or we'll murder you !sx " Taking his own good time , the trooper eventually pulled across a heavier rope and tied it to a tree .sx The bridge was completed , and there was a grand rush to cross it , but wiser heads ruled .sx " One at a time , " they warned .sx " That rope sags so much that the crocs can grab a leg or two .sx " The crocs appeared unconcerned about it all , however , and soon twelve or fifteen of us were across .sx The trader , a hairy-faced man with a gigantic wart on his cheek , did a tremendous business .sx He couldn't bring out the liquor and tobacco rapidly enough .sx His profit on each bottle or package was three or four hundred per cent .sx , but he reckoned he had earned it .sx That trek northward had been fraught with danger every step .sx Easily enough a raiding party of natives could have murdered him and taken all his goods .sx Our men drank and smoked to their hearts' content .sx They sang and danced , became increasingly hilarious .sx The trader in some subtle way seemed to link them to that civilization which they had left so far behind them ; his presence , the mere thought that he could bring up supplies , elevated their spirits .sx Never was there a happier afternoon than that on the banks of the Limpopo , The warm sunlight , the soft air , the gorgeous beauty of it all , were intoxicating ; the trader's liquor was even more so .sx The troopers began to load up for the return journey .sx They hung bottles of liquor around them like necklaces and tied big packages of tobacco to their shoulders .sx Jack Tomlinson hadn't crossed the river with me , and after the third or fourth drink I became conscience-stricken .sx It seemed unfair that I should .sx be having such a good time while he was out of it .sx Accordingly , I loaded myself with five bottles of liquor and a carton of tobacco and started back .sx Perhaps that meagre sense of loyalty to Tommy saved my life , for I recrossed the rope bridge soon after noon , arriving on the camp side soaked and breathless , but unharmed .sx The others began to straggle across .sx The first two or three arrived safely .sx Suddenly a scream sounded from mid-river , a blood-curdling yell of fright and agony .sx A man dangled out there on the rope bridge , most of his body under water .sx Downstream a huge green log turned over .sx It split in two , and suddenly became the gaping jaws of a crocodile .sx They closed .sx The man screamed again , releasing his hold on the rope .sx The light brown of the stream became splotched with darker brown .sx Another log plunged into the air as if it were being tossed by a turbulent current .sx It split , and closed round a man at the waist , tugged a minute , and the man was left hanging to the rope only half a man now .sx For some strange reason the tragedy which had claimed the men in mid-river started a stampede among those on the opposite side .sx Perhaps they wished to discover the worst .sx Across the rope they started , pell-mell .sx Forgotten now were their precious packages of liquor and tobacco , forgotten the hilarity of the past hours , the hilarity which they hoped to continue through the night .sx The rope sagged into the water with the weight of theirbodies , sagged deeply , lowering them toward dripping jaws .sx Now the crocodiles were holding a convention of death .sx The river suddenly seemed alive with them .sx As though they had waited quietly all day for this moment , they pounced on our men , clipped them off the rope .sx The screams of agony and fright , the shouts of warning , the futile attempts to frighten the crocodiles away with splashings of legs and hands , added to the horrible bedlam .sx On our side of the bank men ran up and down , shouting futilely , firing guns into the muddy water , swearing at their impotence .sx The rope bridge was clear at last , but four men had paid the extreme penalty .sx Others were torn , maimed .sx The little red-haired trooper who had crossed the river so bravely that morning was now a little white heap on the bank , crying as if his heart had broken , swearing between sobs .sx Men irreplaceable were gone , and the most dangerous portion of the trek remained ahead of us .sx Less than a week later we were doomed to lose eleven troopers and seventeen camp-workers in a five-minute period .sx The intervening time was not a happy one .sx We moved on up to Fort Tuli , and the daylight hours were spent supervising the blacks at work on the fort or in hunting .sx The nights were hideous .sx Unlike civilization , or at least that part of it which quiets down at night , the African wilds leap into full life with the setting of the sun .sx A lion .sx roars .sx It is not the roar one hears in the modern zoo , but an outburst which starts with a strange grunt or growl and swells and booms until the air vibrates .sx The very earth shakes , for the lion always roars with his nose to the ground .sx Immediately following the lion's roar comes a period of absolute silence , a fitting tribute to the king of beasts .sx Human ears strain to catch more sound ; there is nothing except the beating of one's own heart .sx Slowly , tentatively , the night noises begin again .sx Birds twitter and screech , hyenas howl , baboons bark .sx Beasts of prey move stealthily , and all the time jungle and forest seem to be creeping up slowly , insidiously , to clutch victims .sx Our morale was not high in that camp at Fort Tuli .sx We had time there to count our losses , which were not small ; time , too , to analyse the dangers and discomforts .sx Immediately after nightfall always occurred the `jigger parade,' when each man knelt before the fire and dug jiggers from under his toe-nails with a jack-knife , Next we complained of the day's encounters with venomous snakes and poisonous insects , or perhaps a chance acquaintance with a lion or rhinoceros .sx The officers strove to raise our spirits .sx Rum was doled out , nicely spiced with quinine .sx Singing started , and every man was supposed to try his luck .sx The human voices , striving to drown the barking of baboons and the howling of hyenas , defeated their own purpose of cheerfulness .sx Suddenly from the corral came a terrific braying .sx A lion had smelled a donkey and the donkey had smelled the lion .sx We realized that probably before morning another of our faithful little pack animals would be gone , for of all meats the lion is fondest of zebra and donkey .sx " Damn those baboons !sx " Tommy would mutter , half inviting me to go out and kill the nearest of a hundred barking baboons in an attempt to silence them all .sx But I had tried that once and would never try it again .sx The crying of a wounded baboon is like the crying of a baby .sx Soon the men around the camp-fire dispersed .sx Wearied by the day's activities , they craved sleep , but sleep was not easy to woo .sx Days in camp were not so bad .sx True , millions of stinging insects formed in clouds around us and we were constantly fighting them .sx For protection every trooper had let his hair grow on face and head in mattress-like profusion an obstruction which the stinging insects could not penetrate , but which harboured other parasites to an uncomfortable degree .sx In appearance we were uncouth , almost horrible , but we were bothered far less by gnats and mosquitoes than the horses , which were stung unmercifully and goaded to utter wildness .sx All were not heavy-hearted in that camp .sx The scheming of practical jokes occupied the hours of many troopers , and we had more than one good laugh .sx There was the day , for instance , when the bugler was thrown into the guard-house for failure .sx to sound reveille .sx He was one of the world's most conscientious men .sx Short , fat , round-faced , he took his work as seriously as the sky-pilot .sx Never was he a minute early or a minute late in sounding the calls , and he blew them with all the proper flourishes and lingering minor notes .sx Then came the day when he failed utterly .sx We were all watching him as he stepped between the flaps of his tent and raised the bugle to his lips .sx His cheeks bulged and he puffed tremendously into the horn .sx No sound came .sx He took a deep sucking breath to try again .sx Instantly he choked and coughed .sx A veritable spasm claimed him .sx He doubled up in his agony and tears ran down his face .sx Captain Chamley Turner , investigating the tardiness of the call , found him in that condition , and ordered that he be thrown into the guard-house .sx There the cause of the dereliction in duty was discovered .sx Some practical joker had filled the throat of the bugle with native snuff , that horrible combination .sx of dried frogs , lizards , and worse things .sx The long-drawn breath of the bugler had sucked the mixture into his throat and lungs .sx No matter if he almost died from the effects , the troop had a laugh on him for many days .sx One of the worst jokers in camp was an American named Forrestal .sx He was a short , heavy-set fellow and very proud of his country .sx " I can lick any damned Britisher , by God , or any naturalized American in camp , " was his customary boast after the second drink .sx No matter that many Britishersproved to him that his boast was idle , he continued to make it .sx One of his favourite stunts was to bring harmless snakes into camp and turn them loose in the tents .sx " Snake !sx " The cry , laden with fright , sounded in the middle of the night .sx Out sprawled a tent of troopers in different stages of undress .sx A general search began , but generally it took many shivering minutes before the serpent was discovered and killed .sx When Forrestal couldn't find snakes for his favourite joke he would sneak to a neighbouring tent after the camp was asleep , poke his head between the flaps , and bellow the feared cry , " Snake !sx " Before the troopers could leap from their beds Forrestal was back in his own tent , apparently sleeping soundly .sx This procedure became a little monotonous , and one night our tent went on guard .sx Two men faced the opening , flat on the ground .sx When Forrestal poked his head between the flaps to let out the yell they caught him by the ankles and pulled him over backward .sx Now they , in their turn , made use of pretence .sx Shouting that they had caught a native who was attempting to steal , they pummelled Forrestal unmercifully and tossed him into the brush beyond the camp .sx Thereafter the camp was surprisingly free of snakes .sx Occasional raids by `driver' ants brought both curses and blessings .sx First thousands of white ants would suddenly pounce upon the camp , going .sx through wood , leather , everything except iron .sx After them came the driver ants , which we welcomed because they cleaned out every white ant , and , in addition , ate every cockroach , flea , and louse .sx " Driver ants coming !sx "