136 THE BONDS OF AFRICA 



built by private enterprise, so the people of 

 England had not to put their hands in their 

 pockets for the benefit of a far-away colony. 

 Perhaps no railway line in the world was con- 

 structed under greater difficulties. It is on the 

 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, and may be truly said to begin 

 nowhere and end nowhere. It is just one link 

 in a commercial chain which will have to be 

 forged in full if we are to reap the real benefits 

 of the Nyasaland harvest. Like the Uganda 

 Railway, wood fuel is used, and the majority 

 of the station-masters, engine-drivers, etc. are 

 Indians, of whom there are large numbers in the 

 Protectorate. 



There are some pretty bits of true, typical 

 African scenery along the Shire Highlands line, 

 but from a spectacular point of view it can in 

 no wise compare with the Uganda Railway. There 

 are no grand, snow-capped peaks like Kilimanjaro 

 or Kenia to be viewed, no expansive views like 

 that which one obtains from the top of the Ki- 

 kuyu Escarpment across the Great Rift Valley, no 

 wonderful zoological sights such as the Athi and 

 Kapiti plains afford. Five miles from Blantyre 

 the high station of Limbi is reached, where the 

 railway headquarters and workshops are situated. 

 Mikolongwe, Luchenza, and M'Lange Road are 

 passed, and then the train steams into Chiromo, 

 situated at the confluence of the Shire and Ruo 

 rivers in country covered with stately palms. 

 Near Chiromo is the Elephant Marsh Reserve, 

 which affords sanctuary to a very large number 

 of buffaloes. Chiromo was at one time the base 

 of the railway and a very important place — as 

 important places go in Central Africa. Now it 

 is given over almost entirely to banyan traders, 

 and the climate of both this place and Port 



