732 THE ECONOMIC CONQUEST OF AFRICA BY THE RAILROADS. 



Nairoli, chosen on account of its healthfnlness as the center of 

 operations for the road, is a bustling little city of 5,000 inhabitants 

 in a spot where solitude once reigned supreme. 



In the Kikuyu region agriculture has made decided progress. In 

 the extensive gardens there are raised nearly every variety of the 

 vegetables and fruits of Great Britain. 



At Port Florence a wooden pier extends 130 feet into the lake, so 

 that the steamers can land without difficulty. 



The Uganda Protectorate owns two steamboats of 600 tons dis- 

 placement; these draw less than 5 feet of water, but can carry 12 

 first-class and 100 deck passengers, besides a good cargo. Stopping 

 at the principal points, it takes three days to make the trip from Port 

 Florence to Entebbe, halfway round the lake. 



Taking into consideration, therefore, the whole of this new state 

 of affairs which has come into Uganda and the Upper Nile with the 

 opening of the railroads, one can but see that it will not be long 

 before England's financial sacrifice will be rewarded by the rapid 

 economic advance of these rich provinces which have been enabled 

 to enjoy quick and reasonable transportation. The aftermath will 

 be a continued growth of shipments by rail and a corresponding 

 growth in the receipts of the railroad. 



Having looked at all the English and Belgian projects for a trans- 

 continental road from east to west, there still remain to be considered 

 two colonies on opjwsite coasts — German East Africa and the Portu- 

 guese colonies on the Atlantic. 



The projects most favored in Berlin are intended primarily to 

 join Tanganyika with the Indian Ocean. But the lack of enthusiasm 

 shown by the Reichstag for African enterprises has not encouraged 

 the administration to ask for the necessary funds. Only the most 

 modest enterprises have been undertaken, although, according to 

 governors von Liebert and Goetzan, the rapid development of rail- 

 roads is a question of life and death for the eastern colony. The 

 embryo system of German East Africa now consists of the first sec- 

 tion of the Usambara railroad, the fifty miles getween Tanga and 

 Korogwe. Begun in March, 1902, this portion has cost thus far 

 6,500,000 marks; it will be extended 40 miles to Mombo. Owners 

 of coffee phmtations in the colony expect to derive great benefits when 

 this line finally put in working order. Just now the efforts of the 

 colonists are directed toward obtaining permission from the Reich- 

 stag to construct immediately the 142-mile line between Dar-es-Sa- 

 laam and Mrogoro. 



On the Atlantic coast the Portuguese have for a long time operated 

 the line from Loando to Ambaka, an important industrial center; 

 this is to be extended eventually to Mnlanji, but there is no thought of 

 crossing the continent in this enterprise. 



