On 9th September I had not strength to walk, and later in the morning I was taken to hospital. I was beaten, hopelessly overcome, though no man likes to give in. General O’Grady came to see me when I lay on my stretcher at the Field Hospital—perhaps the bravest man I have fought under, and the kindest—and, in my weakness, when he had gone, I hid my face in the gloom of the low grass hut and broke down like a woman. I had worked under his direction many times, on reconnaissance and other special work, when he was Chief of Staff, and when he commanded a brigade, and now he was sorry I was _done_—and I, ah well! my heart was breaking because I could not stay on, as he and the last of my comrades were doing. [Sidenote: THE END] There remains little more to add. By stages I was transported by ambulance to Lindi, and thence by sea to Dar-es-Salaam, where at the end of September I lay for a few days dangerously ill, and was pulled through only by the tireless care of the doctor and sisters. On 2nd October I was borne aboard the _Oxfordshire_ and sailed for South Africa. My actual experience of the German East Africa campaign thus ended. The Lindi column were, at the time of my departure, reinforced by the Nigerians, and fighting of the same severe nature as I have described, against Von Lettow and his concentrated forces, continued 1½ month more in the fever-stricken Lukuledi Valley before the Kilwa and the Lindi forces effected a junction. Not long after that was accomplished, on 25th and 26th November, Von Lettow avoided final surrender by crossing the Rovuma River south-west of Massassi, and escaped up the Luyenda River into Portuguese territory; while Tafel’s force—of some 2,000 to 3,000—which, too late, tried to effect a junction with the main force, was cut off, and on 28th November surrendered unconditionally. On our side, there is one sorrowful disaster to record which touches this narrative deeply. In the final action which my unit undertook—the only one after my departure—the remnants of the band, steel-true men who had come through everything till then, were pitted against overwhelming odds, when covering a retirement, and fought till they were cut to pieces. It was a tragic ending. CHAPTER VIII NATURE NOTES It would be difficult to picture East Africa without her vivid abundance of Nature, for it is “the creatures of the earth” that for ever astonish all who enter this country of vast wildernesses and few habitations of white men. In this connection I will endeavour to describe some of the forms of wild life that were most closely associated with camp and trek during the campaign. [Sidenote: NATIVES OF EAST AFRICA]