19340419 Soane Cambell to EVC
P.O. Mongu
written – April.19.34 Barotseland
N.Rhodesia
Recd 29.5.34
not by air
Dear Mrs Clay,
In a spirit of bravado I told your son I should write to you. He has asked me several times if I have done so & I have had to reply “in the negative”. So now I take my courage & pen in hand & address you most respectfully, being fairly sure however that you will not be able to decipher most of my hieroglyphics.
I feel sure you will be glad to hear how extraordinarily kind he has been to me. I shall never be able to repay him. Had he been a relative he could not have been more thoughtful and generous. Mr Curtis, who is cadet here, has also been perfectly charming. I have lived in Barotse land for nearly 30 years & it is a great pleasure to me to see such good fellows taking the places of the “old hands”. Barotseland has always been celebrated for the hospitality of the officials, but the tradition is more than worthily carried on by these boys.
I have been sitting in the office with Gervas while he has been investigating a most perplexing case of the death of a woman who was found with her throat cut. I have been much impressed
with the acuteness of his cross-examination of witnesses & general conduct enquiry. As I have acted as an assessor on more murder cases than I can remember, I think I am entitled to express an opinion. I can assure you that he will go far and he has the courage of his convictions.
We played two-handed bridge very frequently, as Mr Curtis is out on tour (the news here we play three-handed) but your young man is too good for me. I find two-handed more difficult than either three-handed or four-handed. Although one knows what cards the opponent has, it is impossible to know their distribution.
Your boy brought a ripping little Chita (Cheetah) kitten today. He is much pleased. They are charming little things about the size of four months old kitten. Thick grey fur from head to tail & darkly spotted underparts. They “spit” like a cat, make a “churring” noise exactly like a monkey, & most peculiar loud “chirp” like a bird. They do not attempt to bite or scratch & our most fascinating things. They would not drink milk but sucked it out of a salt spoon! The boy who brought them said they had eaten raw meat, so I think they will
live all right. Gervas is quite fit & very energetic. We go out most evenings with a gun. We got a brace of guinea-fowl apiece a few nights ago & a brace of red-wing partridges last p.m. so we are pretty well in the food line.
Mr Curtis has been ordered to Kalabo, to our sorrow, but we have discovered what looks like a case of foot & mouth disease in a calf in the government’s herd here. This may prevent Curtis travelling with a long string of carriers as there must be considerable danger of spreading the disease. Anyway we both hope it will stop him. We are a very happy family. A messenger has gone into Mongu to the Provincial Commissioner to report the matter. I expect a Vet or Stock Inspector will come over shortly.
I hope you & Mr Clay & your younger son are very fit & well! I must thank you again for your good son.
& am
very sincerely yours
Soane Cambell
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