NEW ZEALANDERS IN RHODESIA.

Otago Witness, Volume 26, Issue 2419, 26 July 1900, Page 28

NEW ZEALANDERS IN RHODESIA.

(Fboh Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, July 23. The following extracts from a letter of recent date received by Mr Malcolm Ross from his brother at Marandellas will give some little idea of the doings of the New Zealanders in the Rhodesian force up to that point: — "A number of the troopers are bid up with fever and dysentery. Wo had about three weeks at Beira, and I assure you we were all very pleased to get away. It is an awful place, and a regular hotbed for fever. The inhabitants are chiefly Portuguese and "niggers, and I don't think there is much love lost between them and the British. From Beira we went on to Bamboo Creek, where we put in about another week. There are so many troops coming in this way that the railway department are unable to cope with the traffic, and consequently we are making very slow progress, and of course we are all anxious to get along a little faster. From Beira to Bamboo Creek the trains are run on a very narrow gauge, arid are in a dilapitated condition. From Bamboo Creek it is the broad gauge, and everything is in a much better stale. There are all sorts of game at Bamboo — lions, deer, leopards, zebras, etc. We have seen several lions about the horse lines at night, but we failed to bag any. Occasionally hunting parties were sent out from camp and returned with venison, which was a welcome .change from bully beef. On the 24-th May we were all lined up before the colonel — the Imperial Yeomanry, Royal Artillery, and ourselves, — and he addressed us and called for three cheers for the Queen, which, needless to say, we heartily responded to. That night we had a big bonfire, and we all gathered round and had a ' sing-song,' the Yeomanry contributing most of the vocal items ; some of them proved to be very good singers, and very hard cases. Most of them have been pretty well-to-do at dome, and considering that they have not roughed it much, they seem to stand tho hardships of a soldier's life very well. One of them was shot in the leg by an officer, who mistook him for some animal at night. From Bamboo Creek to here we had a pretty rough time. The journey took us two days by rail. There were about 50 of us packed in an open truck, and we spent two nights without being able lo stretch our legs or get any sleep. Before starting away we were supplied with three days'' provisions, bully beef and biscuits. ' We arrived here at 1 a.m. Then we had to unship our horses, and take them about a mile to camp. Then some of us spread our blankets and lay alongside the trucks till daylight. Next night I was on guard, but the following night I made up for lost time. Since then we have had a very fair time. We have been supplied with magazine rifles, and the drill now is slightly different to what we have been used to. Here we have a canteen, and can buy anything we want. Of course the prices are high. For a pound loaf we pay 6d; jam. Is 6d a tin; milk, Is 6d a tin ; and syrup is 3d for a pound tin. There are a great many Imperial officers here, and some of them are Aery smart fellows. We have been inspected several times by a colonel. Captain Fulton, of our company, seems to hold his own, and although he is sometimes severe on us, we know that we deserve it, and I don't think we could have had a better man. General Carrington, in charge of the Rhodesian Fcild Force, lives here, and a few of our number are put on to guard his house. It is very cold here at night, though fairly warm through the day. We are about 8000 ft higher than Beira, and this place is much healthier. Our horses have suffered very much since their arrival here. They had been sent on from Bamboo Creek with- No. 10 Company, and came on a few days before us. They were turned out of the stable in a mob, and stampeded. Some of our boys galloped after them and brought most of them back, but I hear they drank water, and, being in such a heated state at the time, some of them were foundered. They have all fallen away very much, and have very bad colds. The officers have drafted out the worst of them, and they are to be specially treated. We were naturally very much disgusted to find them in such a state after the trouble and care we had taken to look after them."