The start was to be on a Monday. On the previous Friday morning I found myself without house-boys. Two of the three had gone for causes which need not be intruded here, and Oje was manfully going through the daily task single-handed pending the arrival of assistance. Friday morning Oje announced his wish to leave “for 10 days.” It was not the labour he had to do which prompted the step; in fact, he had asked to continue alone. The story he gave—I am convinced the true one—was that a man who owed him £4, 16s. was at Zaria—at least 3 days’ journey for him, though he used the railway—and he desired to go and claim the money. No persuasion or sternness could induce him to stay. I offered to give him the £4, 16s. He was worth that and more. No use. Go he would. He knew the serious trouble he would give me and said he was sorry, but nothing could alter his attitude. It was one of those strange aberrations of the native from down country which defy reading by the white man, however experienced; for between the lad and myself there was a strong attachment. Evidence of it had occurred unmistakably a few days earlier.
He wanted to leave next day, by which time, he explained, he would find me a cook. When I saw it was hopeless to make him remain, in order to show independence I told him he could go at once. He did, notwithstanding he thought he might be forfeiting several sovereigns I was keeping for him. Although I knew it was not easy to obtain house-boys at short notice at Naraguta, I hoped to, and whether I did or not, I was set on starting Monday morning. It was a serious position to go without at least one, but I would be deterred by no inconvenience—to use a moderate expression—taking my chance of picking some up en route. So much for human calculations.
Next day occurred a much more severe blow to the plans. One pony which had not been very well became seriously ill and the other suddenly went quite lame. It was clear to even my limited veterinary knowledge that neither could be taken out for more than a week. To obtain fresh ones in the required time at Naraguta was out of the question. I was for walking. A man to whom I mentioned this spoke of it as “downright madness under the conditions.” He said I would be meeting disaster and that I ought to regard myself as fortunate if I were as much as carried back.
Moreover, the servant difficulty was not easily adjusted. The first applicants were obviously to be shunned at any cost. Their presence would prove a great deal more trouble than their absence. For three days I was completely without house-help of any kind. For those three days, with the anxiety on my hands of a horse becoming weaker and weaker, in spite of all done for the poor animal, I had nothing to eat beyond hard, thick, dry cabin biscuits and a cup of tea morning and another in the evening. This was the only time I could spare from writing to make up a fire. There was a single deviation from the diet. It was a morning when I had been invited to breakfast. I had to walk nearly two miles in the heat and glare of 9 a.m. without the preliminary morning tea. My host, Mr F. Beckles Gall, the Resident at Naraguta, one of the kindest of men, will on seeing these lines in print learn to his surprise in what a plight was his guest of that morning.
It may be asked whether I could not avoid so much discomfort and prevent such risks in a country where food is a prime consideration for health. The answer is that I had gone up under the impression that anything could be bought near, whereas transport of supplies was not then in the more advanced state to which it has since been brought, and although fresh meat and poultry are for sale in the public market, there are some things a white cannot do; one is to go to market. You might as lief see a Duchess on knees cleaning her doorstep in Belgrave Square.
There were, possibly, several men within a radius of five miles—which here corresponds to the distance of a short street in England—who would have had me at their table had they known. But one does not care to run about with all one’s small worries. There is so much done by some people for a stranger that he does not wish to put their goodness at undue strain.
Yes, in Naraguta, which away from a town is regarded as rather a large centre, I have endured—I will not say suffered, for I do not make a suffering or a trouble of it—I have undergone more hardships in the matter of food than anywhere in the whole course of this journey. My inconveniences are given in detail as a signal to others, though probably they will not be subject to the same limitations. Expansion of purchasable supplies is likely to be full.
Oje returned Sunday afternoon, very tired, downcast and contrite. He had been overcome by a kind of home-sickness and at Rahama turned from his purpose. He begged hard to be taken back. I subsequently learnt, not from him, that although money was in his pocket, he had had no food for two days. Water had been his only sustenance.
Still without house-boys, I rejoiced at seeing him, though sorry for the hard time he had evidently experienced. My liking for Oje was too strong to be destroyed even by the way he had acted. I was convinced he had been led to it by somebody who hoped to victimise him.
But it would not do to let him see forgiveness could be had on request, so I sternly told him I would not have him again.