The Eastern Congo 



The lake being in restful mood, we passed a comfortable 

 night, waking next morning to find Cape Bangwe right ahead 

 and the sun just rising above it. In a little inlet before 

 reaching the bay proper lies the Baron von Gbtzen, sunk there 

 by the Germans ; she is a steamer of about one thousand 

 tons and had just been completed when war broke out. 

 When we passed by, her gunwales were just showing above 

 water, as a result of the efforts of Belgian engineers. Whether 

 they salved her eventually I never heard. 



Kigoma Bay is the finest harbour on the lake. Just 

 before war broke out the Germans had been busy improving 

 it with stone wharves, slip-ways and other facihties for the 

 handling of cargoes and repairing of ships. A huge hotel 

 built more on the lines of a fortress, as was the Germans' 

 wont, was also in course of construction. This massive 

 building at the time of our visit had been completed, together 

 with other works in the harbour, by the Belgians, and was 

 in use as a hospital. All buildings and works in the harbour 

 are of such a substantial and costly nature that one cannot 

 help wondering what were they all for ; where were the big 

 freights to come from, and where destined, and what were 

 they to consist of ? 



Three miles away from Kigoma and connected with it 

 by a good motor road made by the Belgians, lies the old 

 Arab town of Ujiji, famous as the meeting-place of Living- 

 stone and Stanley in 1871. One is rather astonished to 

 remember that this is only forty-nine years ago, and what 

 rapid strides have been made in the opening up of the 

 African interior since then ! It is easy as one stands here 

 to conjure up the meeting of the two travel- worn men, both 

 rather dilapidated, with clothes very much the worse for 



14 



