116 THROUGH ANGOLA 



Route " fell through, owing to German opposition. 

 Rhodes turned to Williams to find an alternative 

 route through the friendly country of the Belgian 

 Congo, an alternative rendered commercially ad- 

 vantageous by Williams' and Grey's discovery 

 of the immensely rich Katanga territory, through 

 which the line could pass on its way to the navigable 

 Congo, and thence by a short line to the navigable 

 Nile. Williams overcame the political difficulties, 

 but was temporarily unable to supply the financial 

 needs of the new route. 



In the enforced interval, unsupported and 

 undaunted by the check, he sought, found, and 

 obtained the concession for a western gate and 

 railway avenue to his El Dorado of Katanga, a 

 shorter railway route and avenue than either 

 the southern, which ended at Cape Town, or the 

 eastern at Beira. lie had ensured a quicker sea 

 journey to the markets of Europe than was 

 possible for Beira or Cape Town, and avoidance 

 of the heavy Suez Canal dues which an East 

 African port must face. 



Williams had found for the seaward gate of 

 this western railway avenue the greatest harbour 

 of West Africa. Lobito Bay ; had wrought even 

 better than he knew, for he had not only initiated 

 a great commercial and strategic railway and 

 harbour scheme, but forestalled Germany, to whom, 

 in its blindness, the British Government had 

 apparently, as far back as 1898, bequeathed its 

 political interests in Angola. 



Through the friendship of the Portuguese 

 Government, the wisdom oT Kinu' Leopold of the 



