Chapter 18 - The Jungle

Summary

Upcountry from Kamburi the same highway ran from Thā Makham for seven or eight kilometres, crossing the river West of the town. It was a narrow road with an uneven surface, and in heavy rain one got muddy and vehicles had difficulty in passing each other. The engineers repaired it as best they could because it was the overland route for lorry transport. Local inhabitants drove narrow-axled bullock-carts with wheels of large diameter, and these could move in the mud on the road surface. When the road was repaired the engineers commandeered a number of bullock-carts to transport rations and materials. A single bullock-cart load was not much, and the cart being slow it took a week for a load of rice to arrive at its destination: and because the herdsman carried a load of rice as fodder for the bullock, people said the rice delivered was half what it should have been. The way over the unfinished bridge was made of heavy slats made of bamboo. When the river was in flood they sank below the surface so that often in the rainy season there was no transit. In fact, movement of goods by road ceased and in the strong current of the Kwae Noi transport by small boats was the only way, and in September, when trains first ran as far as Kamburi, transport of materials and rations was achieved by loading them into sampans hauled by pompom-powered motorboats.

In the jungle forest the engineers’ and the prisoners’ quarters were tents from which the prisoners marched out daily to the work sites. We selected for these quarters well-drained spots, felled trees and shrubs, made clearings, and in no time at all tents became our mode of living. In the undergrowth of dense forest we survived in the jungle, for cover collecting branches from the tall trees and it all made a strange sight. We mowed down the undergrowth and within a day or so weeds of which I didn't know the names lay buried in the ground.

A day in the jungle: first the rays of the morning sun began to sparkle and dazzle on the leaves of the trees and shrubs. Cicadas sang with their customary vigour. With the heat the damp ground grew hotter, the fragrance of the grass was stifling and even if you didn't move sweat poured out.