350 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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Well, it was to be 



our job to destroy the 

 German fleet, and thus 

 assist in making ef- 

 fective the activities of 

 land forces operating 

 against the enemy on 

 their own coast; in 

 fact, we were to be 

 the key to the whole 

 situation. 



ARRANGING A. BASK 



But to return to the 

 building of the harbor. 



Tons of rock were 

 blasted locally, and 

 then taken down to the 

 lake in trucks and 

 dumped into the water. 

 Gradually the rock 

 piled up and extended 

 out into the water, 

 until finally a suitable 

 breakwater and harbor 

 were formed. This 

 operation gave the na- 

 tives the impression 

 that we intended to 

 build a road across the 

 lake to the German 

 coast, 40 miles away, 

 and march across. 



Time after time dur- 

 ing the course of con- 

 struction the break- 

 water was washed 

 away by the violence 

 of the waves, and it 

 was not until Decem- 

 ber 23 that the boats 

 were actually launched 

 — nearly seven months 

 from the date of leav- 

 ing England. 



In the meantime the 

 German vessels often 

 came close to the Bel- 

 gian coast, and on one 

 occasion the Kingani 

 came well within range 

 of the guns of the 

 Belgian forts. These 

 guns had been placed 

 in the fort only re- 

 cently and the enemy 



