A Soldier in Africa

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18950, 20 May 1933, Page 11 (Supplement)

A Soldier in Africa

MEMOIRS written by retired Colonels make, as a general rule, the dullest possible reading: ‘‘Far Bugles” Is au exception to this rule. Lieutenant-Colonel Harding’s narrative holds our attention from the first page to the last. „ .. . To many thoughtful people the history of the white man’s Invasion of Africa rouses little enthusiasm. In It we see the predatory impulses of primitive man directed towards the removing of boundary stones, towards the acquisition of vast territories for the purpose of modern exploitation, .—which from the point of view of higher moral values form depressing reading. Again and again, reading between the lines of this volume one sees “the brute and boistrous force of violent men” pitted against the innocent populations of this tragic continent and nothing said. in the whole record of colonial expansion the subtle and determined machinations of wealthy commercial-minded pioneers have never been more apparent, it Is often the good fortune of such Ruthless Representatives of Vested Interests to have ns llieir servants and administrators humane and honourable men whose simple loyally and patriotism can be relied upon to forward causes that would not support any close civilised examination. Colonel Harding was required to use dvnamlte to dislodge natives from their 'la’st refuges, the eaves of their mountains. He was called upon to hang and shoot Negro patriots whose influence had been In opposition to white interests. Though In the performance of what lie considered his riutv to his King and country Colonel Harding'never wavered, yet still he never lost a certain very personal sense of honest dealing and fair play. When his black enemies came into his power he would as ■orten as not let them go free, facing as best he might the disapproval felt by his superiors because he had not “killed the blighters.” On one occasion, on hearing the cry of a black child in one of the eaves they were preparing if dynamite, lie rushed into the darkness and ended ,1 u.l. I.; safely Indeed. in Ihe end he was re, in d o>!, HMhl\ on IJio plea of retrenehnu'nl, roil, in netiMl rael." because lie had been simple-minded enough In explain In I lie administrative auOinrit ies lhal. in Ids opinion. eerlain natives whose ' h. uses he had been sen! In hum down were Inn poor In pay the exorbitant laves that were being demanded ot Mu in. T/ie ipinialii Us lhal he givs Irom his Personal Diary Arc Revealing:— >•1 ~f |!11• opinion lied the people here Pave no liinne; and. Iherefoi-. i\uun»* pay 11,,- lax due. Tiie w ■ men and men all wear skins, and you hardly see a piece ui calico

Dark Side of Expansion : Problems of Conscience.

(By Llewelyn Powys in John o’ London.)

amongst them. . . . After searching the huts and securing assegais and guns, I, acting oh the wish of the Assistant District Commissioner, proceeded to burn the kraal and three smaller kraals close by. The hut of the chief was pointed out, and &a he had paid his tax I did not burn it, but eventually it was ignited by sparks from the neighbouring huts. However, I secured another man’s hut which was handed ever to the chief. The people offered no resistance, In faot, a more friendly lot of natives I hfive not seen for a long time." I have made these quotations to ehow how near this gallant Englishman was to understanding a wisdom not of this world. “And the dwarf said, ‘Something human is dearer to me than all the wealth in the world.’ ’’ The reader, however, must not get the impression that this hook Is lacking in Adventure and Hairbreadth Escape® of every kind. Of all the lion-mauling stories I heard when I was in Africa not one is as ■ terrifying as Colonel Harding's. Colonel Harding had wounded a lion and was tracking it down: “1 can see, as I write, Iho lion in the air, hurtling with the velocity ami accuracy of a discharged arrow, direct at my head, and I remembered dodging, like a clever pugilist . . . the next thing I remember was a sledge-hammer blow along my right shoulder, delivered by the lion's paw. It had aimed at my head, bait my dodging saved my head and, instead of knocking out my brains, it smashed my shoulder. The blow sent me reeling to' the ground with the lion over me. ... I remember to this hour the stench of the lion's breath on my face, and fox many a night ‘ during my subsequent illness my rest was disturbed by the vision of its eyes. . . . “Apparently the fight I put up compelled the lion to change its lines of attack, for later I remember it shaking me as a oat would a mouse, and with evident relish Eating the Thigh of My Right Leg. After a time the lion left me and. with unsteady gait, rehrnod to the cover of the ant-hill heap. Rashly, 1 endeavoured to get up . when, seeing' my movement. llic lion quietly sauntered hack and, with its paw. deliberately kept me down and again slued over me. This lime it did nut bile or elaw me, luil simply stood over mo and walehed. I now remained us still ns death, and thinking, 1 presume, that 1 was actually dead, (he lion left mo and again returned tq its hiding-place." From Hie day when, as a boy, he .jumped ins pony over liio iron railings of Mnnlaeule Park iill he won Iho D.S.O. in Ihe Circa I War. Colin Harding lias shown Ihe undlle uf Ihe Knglisn ■ pastures. 11 j s i»f i:<>l• > 111 • i Harding's slamp wlm justify the rest uf us in uur English pride.