PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3510, 21 June 1921, Page 60

PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

JLiko a wanderer who has returned to his ov. ix country r am Duck <iga:ii to renew a-c(|uamtaii'c-e wic-tt my boys, oicl and young, and with, a wider uuuooK lei us none, i nave been in two oi rVustiaiia s atates, and nave marked a great uinereuee between wiUlfc 1 have seen ai.J What 1 saw some ru years ago. aow and again i put down some ox my impressions. rout 1 am marking time inis week by (piloting prom an interesting letter i irate seen, uoxn a Dunedin buy now in tire wilds oi Africa, and wrtnout any ineiiniiiiaries 1 give eomprenensiv-e gu.uations : "i suppose you have been wondering what lias na j /u.-ned to mi, but 1 was not really able to write. \\ lien .a wrote last in January, 1 said eve nad t.-raied a syndicate, out that fell tnruugii, and i had almost decided to go clown iu t'oraigne-e least A Rica ; but i mot be nvy, a luiinng engineer and inetaliiu-i.it, a \try deiem chap, and ire asked us it we would care to have a look at a iurin lie was wishing to soli. jlo cut matters short, Valp.iv anu my mate, -Major Jebson, ol a Canterbury Regiment, decided to go to tno larni which they eventually bouu'it. On February 7, tins year, they set out from -Nairobi tor Doudiani about 600 miles up the Dine. Loudiani is about fcfOOOit up and rather chiliy; but though it is a small place it is an imp rtaut one, the entrance to the Nasin Gisiui JL’lateau and the Trans \\ zoio beyond. As the rate of exchange was ruinous, men spending about half of their capital in exchanging for rupees, young Vaipy, who had g, through the .Palestine campaign, had to count his bawbees, and he writes of iiis African, experiences: “it is possible to go up either by car, which costs £6 to Eidoret, 65 miles; by post cart £4, and that is a small four-wheeled buggie drawn by relays of trotting bullocks which takes 30 hours continuous travelling; or it is .possible to go up) with some of the store wagons, which usually went up every fortnight. This only costs £2. Besides being the most economical way of covering the ground, it gave the roost experience, so we decided upon the store wagons. As some were leaving that day, 4 wagons with 14 bullocks, loaded with about three tons of stores; we decided to go with them. There are two natives to each span, one driver and one boy. They do not use reins, but drive with the whip and voice. Of course, there are no seats or anything like that on the wagons. You have just to perch yourself wherever it is possible. The driver carries a huge whip and walks alongside the oxen, belting them the whole time. . We walked on ahead that afternoon, but the wagons stopped for the the night about four miles out. They draw up in a line about Bft apart and let the oxen loose to graze. We set the boy on to work getting tucker ready and made our beds on the ground under one of the wagons. The nigs (niggers) slept under the others. Our cook was not a startling success, but as he could boil vegetables, and boil or roast meat we got on in a sort of a fashion. All the next morning we passed over a plain, but towards lunch time we started to climb and entered the forest The hill was rather steep, and they had to double back some of the teams to get the wagons up to the topi, so we did not make much progress. My mate and I walked all the afternoon picking blackberries growing by the side of the road. We stopped for the night right on top of the hill about SOGO ft up), and it was very chilly. Ve had tea and got to bed about 7.30 p.m. “Next day after the p.m. inspa-nning we went after buck, but they were very wild. As it was getting dusk I managed to shoot a water buck. By this time tile wagons were three miles off and it was quite dark when we came up to them. When the nigs heard we had shot a buck, they were terribly keen to get it, and wanted us to go after it, and wanted us to come too, for they- were afraid of lions. It ended in our ,going and carrying a lantern. The nigs almost go frantic for meat, but not being allowed to carry guns are dependent upon the white man’s gun. I knew very little nigger language, and my chum knew lass, but we managed to get on. We got the buck all right, back to camp about 9 p.m., had tea and tumbled in dog tired. “Next morning, there being no water for breakfast we had a dry meal until we came to a stream. Plain living and high thinking! After lunch wo came to a fair stream and the boys decided to camp. We had the first wash since leaving Londiani. Of course, we weren’t troubling to shave and looked sketches in shirts, shorts and leggings. We went out after buck again that night and got an oribi, a small kind of gazelle, very good eating. “The next day we descended on to the plain again, and the weather became warmer. We came across an Indian duka or shop, the first habitation we had seen, and bought a few odd stores we wanted, and paid exorbitant prices for them. All that aft- moon we were passing through a big game reserve so could do no shooting though we had a good ride. Next morning we celebrated by a shave, and a big job it was ! We were now passing over fiat country with plenty of game showing. In the afternoon, T managed to get another oribi : indeed, all through T managed to get enough buck to supply ourselves and the nigs. “Tied- night wo outspanned about four miles from Eidoret, the only town in the Nasin Oidui. It consists of an hotel, about six white stores, a few Indian ones, a District Commissioner, a few shanties and a school and post office! We were horribly disgust'd to see someone in a white collar and tie! As one of the wagons went through the town we went with it. Our next stop was at Soy. The country was gradually improving, and half way across the plateau,

we came across an ugly piece of country—ugly because it had been burnt off as is Uone every year before the rains. By the by, Soy is not a town, but an estate with an hotel, store and post office. “Here we met a couple of light vehicles, each drawn by four oxen, sent to meet us by the one in charge of the ground we were to see. The road to our destination was about 45 miles, but we were told ox a short cut saving five miles which we decided to take, it turned out all right. “We wore now in the Trana-Moia district, and fine country it is. Very heavily bushed, but magnificent soil. We now commenced to climb a bit and reached Chesnaye’s about noon. Chesnaye is a very decent man about 50 years of age, of which about 30 have been spent in Africa. In Jus youth lie was an officer in the English Army. He knows little about farming being really a miner and a prospector. We had lunch with him and then went over his farm. He lias a line little ];!•• pertv of about 6CO acres, fairly well planted. He bad planted about 60acres in cos fees, but only about loaif of this is growing, as he planted at tiro wrong time. Tiie farm is about 126 miles from the railway, 40 odd miles from the nearest store. 6CGoi't up, 50 miles from the Equator, and is on the .-dopes of Mount Eigen 14,GC0it high, an the boundary between British East Africa and Uganda. The view and situation are both magnificent. The soil, well, it could hardly be beaten anywhere, it's very healthy, and not too hot or cold. It's just pleasant ; and when Chesnave pressed us to stay for a while we agreed to. .As he didn’t have a cook, I set. my boy on to it. By the way, we taught him quite a- lot on the rend, so he is quite a passable cook now. We set out visiting a number of settlers, and without giving you any further information, I’ll close now.” What I have given will give you an idea of what Vaipv and his friend had experienced so far, and what lias been done in British Central Africa, by a Dunedin born and bred, to extend our Empire on the fields of Palestine, and elsewhere, and then following up with the plough. It simply shows how the British “do their bit” and then settle down to the arts of peace. “THE MOST FAVOURED ISLAND ON EARTH.” This title is taken from an Australian paper and refers to Ireland, but please do not think that i am going to touch upon political or religious questions, though a politician said to me recently that as people migrated West, Ireland had the flotsam and jetsam (or odds and ends, remnants, etc.), and that the whole island should be towed out into the Atlantic and scuttled! Very complimentary, isn’t it? Would you believe it; but Ireland, though poor in minerals, for its size, is one of the wealthiest places in the world. Like the lady who wanted a divorce, she cannot be bribed “by the offer of a new frock and a champagne luncheon.” .She is suffering from incompatibility of temper! But though I am not going to say any more about Ireland’s political or religious position, that does not say I'll not say a little about her productivity, and it is its productivity that gives it its name “The most favoured Island on Earth.” Ireland now beats Scotland in the production of wheat, barley, oats (fancy beating in oats!) potatoes nearly fourfold (that we can understand), and bay, nearly fivefold). But one is surprised to know that it has 1,600,000 more cattle than N.S. Wales, and even more astonishing, five times as many fowls; and N.S. Wales is 10 times as large! And one would naturally say that pigs “the animal that pays the rent” are more than in any Australian State, but to say it has more than the whole Commonwealth seems to be a fairy story. It has twice as many sheep as Tasmania, and it isn’t curved as Australia, is, with bloated cities, for though it is not very short of Australia’s population,, yet its. biggest centre isn’t half the size of Sydney, and its third large city is not much more than a quarter of .Australia’s third (Adelaide). We generally think of Ireland as being a poor country, but the Irish banks hold aim ost as much gold and silver as all the joint-stock banks of .Australia, though Ireland has no .gold mines, and Australia is noted for its gold mining towns. Ireland exports her own produce to the extent of £24 10s per head per annum ; but Australia only £l9- 10s. These figures show what can be done by a nation tilling the soil .and not controlled by middlemen. Of course, during the . past five years Ireland has not had the burden of military service.