2004 - Mimi and Toutou Go Forth (31 page)

Apparently some part of the superstructure used to stick up, but it was now covered by sand. Whether it had belonged to
Ujerumani
or
Uingereza
, they did not know.

It was just the boat of some white men who had fought near here, long ago.

T
his is a fugitive tale, and I have employed a large number of sources in pursuing it. By far the most important of these is Peter Shankland’s marvellous
The Phantom Flotilla
(1968). I hope that I have been able to add usefully to his account. I would also like to recognise the generous assistance of the individuals who have aided me during the writing of this book, in particular Rowland White (whose idea it was), Derek Johns, Ian Pindar, Steve Caplin, who compiled the ‘Catalogue of Vessels’, Sarah Day, Elisabeth Merriman, Katy Nicholson, and Terence McNamee of the Royal United Services Institute. Imtiaz and Sextus from Kigoma Hilltop were of invaluable help on a difficult journey in Tanzania. Brian Furner of the London School and Hospital of Tropical Medicine and Andrew Crymble of the Royal Society of Medicine assisted me in tracking down an obituary of Dr Hanschell. Thanks are also due to Ian Jack of
Granta
and Sarah Spankie of
Conde Nast Traveller
, Sandra Piscedda of Murenga Ridgebacks, and Linda Costa. The book would be a much lesser thing without its illustrations by Matilda Hunt. The author and publisher are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material: quotations from
The Phantom Flotilla
by Peter Shankland © Peter Shankland (1968) reproduced by kind permission of Harper-Collins Publishers Ltd; quotations from
The Great War in Africa (1914–18
) by Byron Farwell © Byron Farwell (1987) reproduced by kind permission of Penguin Books Ltd; quotations from ‘The Operations on Lake Tanganyika in 1915’ by Geoffrey Spicer-Simson (
RUSI
Journal, Vol. 79, November 1934) reproduced by kind permission of the Royal United Services Institute; quotations from
An Open Book
by John Huston © John Huston (1980) reproduced by kind permission of Da Capo Press; quotations from
Remote People
by Evelyn Waugh © Evelyn Waugh Settlement (1931) reproduced by kind permission of PFD (www.pfd.co.uk) on behalf of the Beneficiaries of the Evelyn Waugh Settlement; quotations from
London to Ladysmith via Pretoria
by Winston Churchill © Winston Churchill (1900), reproduced by kind permission of Curtis Brown Ltd, London, on behalf of the Estate of Sir Winston Churchill; quotations from
Die lange Fahrtder Graf Götzen ©
ECO Media TV-Produktion (2001) reproduced by kind permission of Stephan Lamby. The endpaper photograph of Spicer semaphoring from the
Dix-Tonne
to
Mimi
and
Toutou
, taken by Frank Magee, is reproduced by kind permission of the National Geographical Image Collection.