TRANSPORTING A NAVY THROUGH JUNGLES OF AFRICA 



149 



AGROUND ON A SAND-BANK IN THE IyUAEABA RIVER 



The sandy bottom and banks of this river are very fickle and sometimes shift with sur- 

 prising suddenness. Daily the good-natured native paddlers of the expedition had to shift the 

 gear in the boats and jump into the shallows to heave the craft over the sand-bars. 



countered a tropical storm. It broke over 

 our camp in a hurricane of wind accom- 

 panied by ear-splitting, bursts of thunder 

 and vivid lightning, which illuminated the 

 country for miles. The lake itself became 

 a raging sea, enormous breakers rolling 

 up and crashing on the shore, uprooting 

 trees, and demolishing native huts. 



We were thankful that our boats had 

 not been launched; and in view of the 

 violence of the storm, the commander 

 decided not to launch them until a harbor 

 had been devised, there being no shelter 

 of any description for boats. 



The lake roughly is 420 miles in length 

 and varies in width from 20 to 50 miles. 

 It is situated 2,800 feet above sea-level 

 and in some places bottom has not been 

 reached at 400 fathoms. 



The water is not salt and can be drunk. 

 This being a private fishery of the King 

 of the Belgians, we were not allowed to 

 use rod and line, but bought our fish. 



The east coast, from one end of the 

 lake to the other, was German territory, 

 and the west coast was Belgian Congo. 



Our depot on the Belgian side was about 

 half-way up, at a place almost opposite 

 the German base known as Kigoma. The 

 lake at this point was about 40 miles 

 across. On a clear day the high hills on 

 the German coast could be seen distinctly 

 from our depot. 



OBJECTIVE OE THE EXPEDITION 



Perhaps mention should be made here 

 of the real objective of our expedition. 

 From time to time during the military 

 operations in the vicinity of the lake, ef- 

 forts had been made by British and Colo- 

 nial forces to advance from either end 

 along the German coast, the idea being 

 to join forces at the German depot at 

 Kigoma and drive the enemy away from 

 the lake, back to the seacoast, and even- 

 tually out of Africa. 



All such attempts had been futile, ow- 

 ing to the fact that at any time our troops 

 attempted an advance along the German 

 coast they were subjected to a bombard- 

 ment from the German vessels on the 

 lake. 



