CHAPTER IV 



THROUGH RUANDA TO LAKE KIWU 



The month of August found us in Ruanda, that land of fable 

 which we had been longing to see. 



Ruanda is certainly the most interesting country in the German 

 East African Protectorate — in fact, in all Central Africa — chiefly 

 on account of its ethnographical and geographical position. Its 

 interest is further increased by the fact that it is one of the last 

 negro kingdoms governed autocratically by a sovereign sultan, 

 for German supremacy is only recognised to a very limited extent. 

 Added to this, it is a land flowing with milk and honey, where 

 the breeding of cattle and bee-culture flourish, and the cultivated 

 soil bears rich crops of fruit. A hilly country, thickly populated, 

 full of beautiful scenery, and possessing a climate incomparably 

 fresh and healthy ; a land of great fertility, with watercourses 

 which might be termed perennial streams ; a land which offers 

 the brightest of prospects to the white settler. 



For our first knowledge of Ruanda our thanks are due to the 

 report of Count von Gotzen, the former Governor of German East 

 Africa and the present German Ambassador to the State of 

 Hamburg. Since 1894, when Count von Gotzen passed through 

 this territory, en route to Kiwu, its conditions had apparently 

 changed very little. The hostile attitude adopted by the in- 

 habitants at that period has, however, given place to a more 

 friendly one, a condition of things due to the increasing European 

 influence. Later on we gained further information concerning 

 this wonderful country through Dr. Kandt, who has narrated 

 his experiences in that admirably written work " Caput Nili." 



Kandt is well known as one of the greatest authorities on 



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