I recall an unfortunate incident that occurred in the Congo.
Having spent several days waiting for supplies on the bank of a large tributary of the Congo, they finally arrived on the opposite shore and were then placed upon the raft and shipped across to us, however, halfway across, the blasted raft struck a rock and then proceeded to fall apart. The contents of the raft and the local porters were all pitched into the raging muddy torrent and swept away.
There was much ado on the banks, not least around my pavilion, as some of the locals attempted to use the guide ropes for the rescue effort, I flatly refused as I had no wish of getting sunburn again. Instead the Major immediately organised a search party to go down river and pick up any survivors that the crocodiles had not eaten.
This was a great personal tragedy, as I lost all four porters and more importantly our whole consignement of gin for that month.
The rest of the day was spent shooting monkeys out of the jungle canopy as they had a rather nasty habit of pelting the Major with nuts.
The Colonel
