TRANSPORTING A NAVY THROUGH JUNGLES OF AFRICA 



359 



following message was received by Com- 

 mander Spicer Simson from Buckingham 

 Palace : 



"His Majesty the King desires to 

 express his appreciation of the won- 

 derful work carried out by his most 

 remote expedition." 



"kingani" is raised and refitted 



The Kingani was quite an asset, being 

 much larger than either of the British 

 boats, and therefore capable of carrying 

 a larger gun. No time was lost in raising 

 her and getting her thoroughly over- 

 hauled and repaired. A 12-pounder gun 

 was dismounted from one of the shore 

 forts and mounted aboard the captured 

 German vessel. 



To our knowledge, the Germans still 

 had two vessels to be accounted for — the 

 Hedwig von Wissmann and Graf von 

 Gotson. Both were larger than the Kin- 

 gani and carried more guns of a larger 

 type. In addition to this, the Germans 

 had a number of small armed dhows. 



During the time the Kingani was be- 

 ing made seaworthy, the other German 

 boats appeared from time to time on the 

 horizon. Possibly they were searching 

 the lake for the missing Kingani, but 

 they always kept well off shore. 



Apparently the fact that the Mimi and 

 Toa-Tou had reached the lake was still 

 unknown to the Germans, according to a 

 statement made by the survivors of the 

 Kingani. They had been astonished when 

 pursued by our boats, and informed us 

 that the German authorities on the other 

 side were in entire ignorance regarding 

 our arrival. 



The excitement now died down, more 

 or less, barring an occasional night 

 alarm, which meant turning out ; but this 

 was no great hardship, as the persistent 

 attentions of myriads of insects of all 

 sizes and varieties usually made us glad to 

 get up from bed to have a rest ! 



During this period of waiting the mem- 

 bers of the expedition took the opportu- 

 nity to indulge in hunting for elephant, lion, 

 leopard, buffalo, and numerous species 

 of buck, which abounded not far inland. 

 Lions and leopards were particularly 

 troublesome and daring, often penetrat- 

 ing our camp after dark and consider- 



ably depleting the numbers of our goats, 

 cattle, and poultry. 



Before our second engagement on the 

 lake, an incident occurred which illus- 

 trates the superstition of the natives and 

 which will show how British prestige was 

 much enhanced in this part of the country. 



Our commander had occasion to take 

 a trip down the lake to Mpala, a Belgian 

 post, and as he approached he stood up 

 and semaphored a message with his arms 

 to the effect that he was coming ashore. 

 Semaphore signaling being unknown to 

 the natives, they put their own interpre- 

 tation on it, and the news went through 

 all the native villages that the Great 

 White Chief had been seen making signs 

 to his Ju-ju (God) in the sky, calling 

 upon him to deliver another enemy ship 

 into his hands. 



our commander becomes a ju-ju to 

 the natives 



This happened two days before the 

 commander was successful in sinking the 

 Hedwig von Wissmann, which convinced 

 the natives that the Great White Chief 

 had not prayed to his Ju-ju in vain. 

 They were so impressed that they molded 

 images of the commander in clay (and 

 good likenesses, too) which they wor- 

 shiped in their villages as their new Ju- 

 ju. This was very well for Commander 

 Spicer Simson, but it must have proved 

 rather disconcerting to the Belgian White 

 Fathers (a religious order) of the native 

 mission — who had spent years and years 

 in an effort to open the native mind to 

 Christian teachings — to find their black 

 flock suddenly turning to a new Ju-ju in 

 the form of a British naval commander 

 in clay ! 



SEAPLANES CREATE WIUD PANIC AMONG 

 NATIVES ' 



Up to the time of the arrival of the 

 British motor-boats and traction engines, 

 the only method of propulsion known to 

 the natives was the paddling of their 

 canoes. The traction engines especially 

 were a great source of wonder to them. 

 Imagine, then, the effect on these people 

 of seaplanes soaring in the air above their 

 villages ! 



It was simply amazing. Four "Short" 

 seaplanes had been sent out and arrived 



