While he was enjoying these expeditions as relaxation from the cramping work of office, he was at the same time picking up valuable information concerning the enemy.

During this grind at the office B.-P.

used to long for the lunch hour; "it sounds greedy," he says, "but it is for the glimpse of sunlight that I look forward, _not_ the lunch." On one occasion his work as Chief of the Staff was so severe that he was unable to leave the office for four days.

He was feeling "over-boiled," and got rid of this stuffiness of mind in his own characteristic way.

After dinner on the fourth day he saddled up and rode off to the Matopos, spent the night there, and was back in the office by 10.30 on the following day, "all the better for a night out." All this time the office work increased, and the anxiety of the General and his staff was doubled by reports of rebellion in Mashonaland.