730 THE ECONOMIC CONQUEST OF AFRICA BY THE RAILROADS. 



East of Stanleyville this Belgian transcontinental ronte, with its 

 alternate locomotives and steamboats, will spread out, fanlike, in 

 three directions. The line in the center, with the assistance of the 

 German roads, will go direct to the east coast; the two extreme 

 routes will open out on the English system, so as to establish unin- 

 terrupted traffic with Cairo on the north and the Cape on the south. 

 The accomplishment of this project, as a whole, would bring about 

 a complete transformation of the equatorial regions, which would 

 in turn affect every part of tlie African continent. 



Before the opening of the lower Kongo line the transportation of 

 a ton of merchandise from Stanley Pool to Matadi took twenty-one 

 days and cost $-200. Now the journey is made in twenty-one hours, 

 with a proportionate reduction in cost. The effect of this on the 

 production of rubber is significant. In 1887 there were exported 

 30 tons, with an aggregate value of $21,355; in 1900 the amount 

 shipped exceeded 5,300 tons, and was valued at $7,974,801. 



Adequate transportation from Stanley Pool to Stanley Falls is 

 assured by the presence of a fleet of over 100 steamers. The largest 

 of them belong to the Kongo Free State, which owns nearly 30 ; the 

 Belgians operate a score, and the French 40 or more. 



The work on the line between Stanley Falls and Mahagi is now 

 completed. Although the way had to be cut through the virgin for- 

 est the task was not an extraordinarily hard one. Except for the 

 swamps there were no real obstacles. The passage over the Blue 

 Mountains between the valleys of the Kongo and the Nile entailed a 

 great expense, but failed to raise any difficult problems in engineer- 

 ing. Mahagi. the northernmost of the Belgian stations on the Nile. 

 looks down upon Lake Albert. Having an excellent climate, good 

 air, and atmospheric conditions favorable to Europeans, it is emi- 

 nently suitable for the terminal depot of a great railroad. 



Meanwhile the P^nglish have got the start on the Belgians in the 

 region of the great equatorial lakes. Early in 1902 the locomotive 

 made its appearance on the border of Victoria-Nyanza ; the last rails 

 of the Uganda Kailroad had just been laid. This enterprise may 

 well be considered the greatest triumph of African railroad construc- 

 tion. It offers a unique example of a single stretch of nearly (500 

 miles of rail run through an absolutely uncivilized country, where 

 obstacles of every kind accumulated in a manner truly extraordi- 

 nary." 



For the first 180 miles the engineers had to contend with the terrible 

 climate of the low coast regions, as deadly to man as was the tsetse 

 fly to the beasts of burden. The mortality among the latter, imported 



a Correspondence concerning the Uganda Railway. Report to Parliament, 

 July, 1901. 



