TRANSPORTING A NAVY THROUGH JUNGLES OF AFRICA 



CARVING A PASSAGE: THROUGH THE} AFRICAN BUSH : BRIDGE-BUILDING 



Blistered by the glare of a tropical sun and tortured by insect pests, the expedition 

 doggedly hewed a 146-mile road over hill and through valley, across river and stream. Slopes 

 too steep to climb were leveled ; bridges, constructed of timber growing on the spot, were 

 thrown across river beds ; gorges were filled in with trunks of trees, and rocks, boulders, and 

 giant trees were dynamited to clear a path. 



to be strained through mosquito netting 

 before it was fit to drink. 



Once the engines ran dry. This was a 

 serious matter, and native women from 

 local villages were commandeered to fetch 

 water. They carried it in gourds and 

 jars on their heads from a water-hole 

 eight miles away, and had to make the 

 journey several times before a sufficient 

 supply was procured. 



That the gentle susceptibilities of white 

 folk may not be unnecessarily aroused by 

 the fact that the native women were 

 "rounded up" to fetch water, it may be 

 said that the work in this country is 

 done by the women of the native villages, 

 while the men loaf — sad yet true. 



Onward and upward to the top of the 

 plateau the struggle continued, day and 

 night, the noise of our engines rudely 



disturbing the slumbers of herds of ele- 

 phants and other denizens of the bush, 

 and driving them from their lairs. 



BOATS HAULED UPHILL WITH CABLES. A 

 DANGEROUS METHOD 



So steep were some of the slopes that 

 "double banking" had to be resorted to. 

 That is to say, owing to one tractor's being 

 incapable of hauling its load of one boat, 

 the two engines were hitched to one boat. 

 Afterwards both would return to bring 

 up the second boat. 



Another method used, when the road 

 was too steep and soft for the tractor's 

 wheels to get a grip, was by "cabling." 

 The engine would leave its load at the 

 foot of the hill and climb to the top, 

 where a hole would be dug large enough 

 to take the tractor. One end of a wire 



