RAILWAY COMPANY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24633, 14 June 1941, Page 12

RAILWAY COMPANY

NEW ZEALANDERS IN ERITREA SURVEY WORK FOR BRITISH FORCES (N.Z.E;F. Official News Service,) *,■ ' : CAIRO, May 3. . Travelling by train, river 'boat, and desert: convoy, men of p New Zealand Railway - Survey Company; penetrated far into Eritrea in order to survey a new railroad for British forces operating in East Africa; Captain Halley and Lieutenant J. Macky, .two West Coast Public Works Department engineers, led a siirvey party into country “Which was far' different from the green hills of Westland. From Kassala on the Sudanese- frontier they penetrated through desert and thick thorny scrub into the highlands of Eritre?, working among, great dome-like mountains 1 of Stone bungalow-of an Italian road engineer they, established their headquarters halfway between Kassala and Keren. Receiving rations from an Indian .Division and supplied with fresh meat from the great herds of gazelle which roam at large in these regions, they lived well. The hard physical work was done by a gang of 30 “ fuzzy wuzzies" whom they employed. These natives have great crops or fuzzy black hair, *which hangs in ringlets down their shoulders. They keep a long wooden fork stuck into their hair- so that they can have a scratch every now arid again. . ;; . Eritrea is a land of. great mountains with fertile, cultivated pockets of soil in the valleys. Game is abundant, and at night a watch has to be kept for wild animals. . ‘ The men can tell an amusing story about the fall of Asmara. The British troops entered the town in the evening, and as it had ‘been declared, an open town, the Italians at Massawa had to provide Asmara with power to light up the roads for the incoming British troops. Power arid water was supplied ,to the British by the Italians, m MaSsawa as it was the source of Asmara’s supply. - ■ .. ' The survey job is done and the party is back at base ready for adventures in some other part of the Middle. East. ,