Unmolested by the enemy, I now made for the fertile district of Kwiri, south of Mahua, and from thence on to the Lurio. It turned out, however, that some of our seriously wounded and sick would not be able to endure several days of such marches in their “Maschille” (litters). Nor was it easy to ensure medical attention. We had too few attendants to be able to leave the sick behind individually. So there was nothing for it but to collect our invalids from time to time, turn them into a complete Field Hospital, under a single medical officer, and take our leave of them finally. Even the senior medical officer of the Protective Force, Dr. Meixner, was left behind at Kwiri with one such hospital. On that occasion I said farewell to Lieutenant Schaefer who had rendered us such exemplary service in the preparations for the action at Jassini, and was now stricken with black-water fever. This experienced “African” was fully aware of his situation, but was as cheerful as ever and faced his inevitable end, which was approaching fast, with composure. I did not wish to linger long north of the Lurio, for I thought that this river, which had been very high only a short time before, would be a serious obstacle. For that reason I proposed to cross it with our large quantity of transport quickly and without let or hindrance. When we actually reached the Lurio it appeared that at this time of the year there were plenty of fords which offered a comfortable crossing. We left some of our troops on the northern bank without anxiety as to the drawbacks involved, and established a camp for the main body on the southern bank. The country was very fertile and the inhabitants trusted in us; good relations had been established by the earlier visits of the patrols and raiding parties. One of my orderlies had a hearty reception from some old acquaintances. I was pretty sure that the English would attack us here and be compelled to bring up ever more troops. If I only withdrew slowly enough, the strong enemy forces would, I believed, probably follow, but in view of their immense supply difficulties, it would be in vain. In this way I might achieve my main purpose of gaining enough time to raid the weaker hostile camps and posts further south. Captain Müller’s detachment, which had been sent south, discovered one such camp at Malema, the same place where our troops had won heartening successes before. After fighting for several days Captain Müller captured the Boma Malema. It had been occupied by an English half-battalion which retired south at night. Simultaneously a Portuguese patrol had gone north from the Boma Malema and returned. Captain Müller took the latter for the retreating English, attacked them on the march and was very astonished to find that the killed were Portuguese.