The men chosen were natives of the Hinterland of the Gold Coast, to whom, since they for the most part live beyond the range of the tsetse fly and the Trypanosoma, horses are more or less familiar animals. About 10 per cent. of them could ride in the hunched-up, Tod Sloan-like fashion peculiar to folk to whom saddles are unusual luxuries; but not a man among them had the vaguest ideas concerning horse-mastership and management.
Four riding-schools were constructed near the camp, upon the top of the hill which slopes on the one side to the waters of the Indian Ocean, and on the other falls in a sheer cliff to the beach at Port Amelia; and daily for hours at a time the European officers and non-commissioned officers shouted themselves hoarse, while the men bumped round the manèges. A certain number were incurably horse-shy, and had to be “returned to store,” but the majority were quite fearless and enjoyed their daily ride, and though horses had not been received at Port Amelia until the end of March, by the 30th May No. 1 Troop of the Mounted Infantry of the Gold Coast Regiment was declared to be fit to take the field.
This troop, under the command of Lieutenant Drummond, consisting of 1 British non-commissioned officer, 41 rank and file, 51 horses, 2 mules, and 2 camp-followers, left Port Amelia on the above-mentioned date, and rode up the well-worn track from Mtuge to Medo, and thence to Wanakoti, General Edwards’ Headquarters. The troop arrived at this place just as the Gold Coast Regiment was about to begin its march back to the coast from Korewa.
It is not possible to follow the history of this troop in detail without embarking upon a full account of the campaign in the Province of Mozambique, to which the British were committed after the Germans had retreated across the Lurio River, and this forms no part of the plan of the present work. It must, therefore, suffice to note that “Kartucol” from this time onward followed hard upon the heels of the enemy forces, pursuing them without intermission nearly as far south as Kilimane. A little north of this place one and a half companies of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd King’s African Rifles, with a much larger force of Portuguese encamped at Nhamaccura, were attacked by the enemy, who, having possessed himself of the guns belonging to the Portuguese, nearly annihilated the small British detachment, Colonel Gore Brown, who was in command, being himself killed with a large number of his men.
After this the enemy went north once more, still pursued by “Kartucol,” which had now cut loose from its transport and was living on the country; and the Germans shortly afterwards attacked and invested Namirrue, a place near the centre of the province, which was being held by a company of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd King’s African Rifles, under Captain Bustard.
Drummond’s Troop of Gold Coast Mounted Infantry had worked its way down in a southerly direction from Wanakoti to Namirrue, scouting for the columns, and doing some excellent work; and it had joined up with Captain Bustard’s little force just before the latter was surrounded.
Finding that the position which he occupied at the moment of the enemy attack was commanded by the German guns, Captain Bustard occupied a higher hill near at hand; and, though hopelessly outnumbered, cut off from water, and bombarded by a Stokes gun which had been captured by the Germans, he made a gallant fight of it, and held out for three days.
Meanwhile the three remaining troops of the Gold Coast Mounted Infantry, under Captain Parker, had sailed from Port Amelia on the 1st July, arriving on the following day at Mussuril Bay, in the entrance to which lies the island of Mozambique. The force consisted of 8 British officers, 10 British non-commissioned officers, 137 rank and file, 84 East Africans, 2 Indians, 11 other details, with 133 horses, 50 mules, and 141 donkeys.
The Mounted Infantry were disembarked at Lumbo, on the northern shores of the bay, and on the 5th July marched twenty miles to Monapo, where their depôt was established. On the 8th July the Squadron began its march to Nampula, eighty miles further inland, where at this time General Edwards had his Headquarters; and travelling an average of about twenty miles a day, it reached its destination on the afternoon of the 11th July. Here Captain Parker learned that No. 1 Troop was with Captain Bustard at Namirrue, and that it was thought that the small post established there would embarrass the retreat of the enemy, who was known to be advancing from the south.
On the following days the Squadron pushed on in the direction of Chinga, which lies five-and-forty miles to the west of Nampula, walking and leading most of the time, for sore backs among the horses were already giving occasion for anxiety. From Chinga on the 15th July the Squadron marched sixteen miles to Marrupula; and here on the following day Captain Parker received orders to press forward as rapidly as possible to Metil, and thence to take up certain positions on the Ligonha River. Three days’ rations were drawn, and though the nights were very cold, the capes and spare clothing were all left behind, the men being cut down to their body-clothes and one blanket each, in order to ease the horses of as much weight as possible.