the askari

"They made slow progress despite the officers' shouting and their canes. There was little respite from the under-officers' blows, as the ombasha and the shaush seem to have lost their minds too, goaded into worse ferocity by the Feldwebel. After a while the march settled into a reluctant shuffle despite the best efforts of the tiring under-officers. They stopped often, to rest or to adjust loads, and at every stop there were grumbles and scowling looks. They were not spared the usual perils of the march — the bites and the heat — the intermittent heavy rain, the aching feet from walking in worn-out boots, the exhaustion. All these were even more intolerable to the askari than usual now that they were forced to do menial work. When they finally stopped to make camp in the late afternoon, there was a tense expectation of trouble."

~~ from Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah