196 LAKE KIVU 



ment, neither side profited in the least by remaining 

 there, and it seemed an absurd and very expensive 

 thing for them to be sitting there doing nothing, 

 when they might just as well have retired until the 

 question is settled. 



Close to the place where we first came down to 

 the north shore of the lake was the temporary 

 Congo post of Ngoma. We found there a small 

 garrison and one Belgian officer living in miserable 

 grass huts on a tiny patch of cleared ground between 

 a plain of solid lava on one side and the lake on the 

 other. What purpose they could possibly serve by 

 being there it was difficult to imagine. 



A couple of miles along the shore, near the north- 

 east corner of the lake, was the German post of 

 Kissegnies. A more complete contrast to the Congo 

 post it would have been impossible to find. The 

 Germans had settled upon a beautifully fertile piece 

 of land, which they had cleared and cultivated ; they 

 had made roads and planted trees. The brick-built 

 house of the commanding officer was a miracle of 

 solid walls and of coolness inside, and the houses of 

 the askaris were better than many houses of the 

 Europeans which we had seen in posts of the Congo 

 State. The whole place had a thoroughly well- 

 ordered appearance, as though nothing had been 

 forgotten and no expense spared ; if Kissegnies is 

 typical of the posts of German East Africa, it may 

 be supposed that the Colonial bill is no small matter. 

 The soldiers whom we saw were fine-looking men, 



