MY BROTHER HUGH May 1948.
So we continued and finally reached Fort Jameson where we contacted the Agricultural Officer, Mr Aan Carr who was a friend of Mike’s and curiously by another co-incidence his wife had a brother who had been my best friend at Harper Adams before the war and with whom I had stayed in Nyasaland on my way down from Kenya. Alan kindly put us up for a while and then arranged for us to rent a farm about 50 miles away in the bush by the river in the middle of nowhere in an area full of game. We worked like hell ploughing and preparing the land and planting it up with tobacco which grew well and looked set to give us a good crop.
We had no sooner arrived and started work that we were joined by Angela Abbott and ex- London actress who we had briefly met before. She was one of those super intelligent people who drifted around Africa at the time. She had a husband somewhere, and letters would periodically arrive from Kenya, south Africa or where ever. She was wonderful company when sober or had only a bit to drink. Suddenly soon after we had arrived, we got a telgram from her and a few hours later she was with us. We both pointed out that it was a very Spartan and basic existence that we led with no frills or any amenities, and so we took her to some friends to stay where conditions were better. But to no avail she said that she had been recently been involved in a road accident, that she had a row with her husband, and all she wanted was to get away from civilization and have a complete mental rest. Our situation was for her just what the doctor ordered and so she set to, cleaning tidying and being cook housekeeper to us. Initially she came for three weeks, but this went on and on and she was never scared of being left alone, or the loneliness whilst we would often be away either shooting or selling a bit of tobacco in town. She cooked well and would entertain us at meal times and in the evening with a string of stories and would recite endless verses of poetry that kept us going.
3 Snake One day Mike and Angela went off to town leaving me alone and so I decided that I would quietly do some paperwork and accounts etc. I sat at my desk and put my hand deep into the drawer to pull a bundle of old receipts etc which I tipped out onto the floor. As I moved the papers to one side with my foot, a good accounting filing system!, I felt a sudden sharp sting on the back of my calf, and then looking down was just in time to see a small green snake disappearing into a crack in the floor –boards. It was a very small snake not more than 13 or 14’’
long, and not much thicker than my little finger. To me it looked like a very small sort of adder, and I was not too concerned because being small it could not have that much venom. It stung me a bit where I was bitten, but the pain quickly wore off and so I decided about half an hour later to go for a dip in the river which was about 150 yds away for a nice relaxing swim. The river was gorgeous and I paddled and swam around in the beautiful clear water for about a quarter of and hour and dried myself and went to put my shoes on. To my surprise, because I was not in any pain, I found that both my feet had swollen to such and extent, that it was impossible to fit them on and so stepping carefully I walked back home barefoot. By now it was about 10 o’clock in the morning, and I continued to swell all over for the next 12 hours or so until the peak was at midnight and I reached the maximum. Both my feet then, my knees and hands were puffed up like footballs. My hands were so swollen it was impossible to light or even hold a cigarette. By midnight my face was so swollen I could hardly see out of my eyes and my huge puffed up lips had turned black. The whole of my body ached now and I now came out in huge blue blotches of burst blood vessels on the skin inside my thighs, under my arms, and across the chest, and one huge one across my back. At that point I really thought I was approaching the end, and there was nothing I could do with Mike away with the transport, and so I just