LAKE WARFARE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 10526, 2 December 1916, Page 10

LAKE WARFARE.

HOW WERE The fighting on Lake Tanganyika bena . val history , ,20 .Sues after the action began,-.while the o?.S the Yoa Weissmann, was sunk jaithe end of .a running hght extending oV The 3 Britis e i S ; boats, named Mimi and.Touf ifi IrVntq Several alteration? wti/ of 18 knot,. p hj were ae|( * made m the j J diti th f out to South Africa. i d ' c builders S B^ JSSed cradles fo, Itd.) supplied specai w the overland transport _ „.. PP , without danger. ° Deta Is of the transports were given in „ recentissue- of the Yorkshire Telegraph. on June 12. l9 After reaching Capetown, the party, with i«.motorbil ; was railed to Fungurumee, S^as a roctderwith,.nthe r suppliS of ammunition, stores, etc., being 'sen forward through the bush over a roue previously selected, by an advance oar v Hundreds of natives, under white ne vision, had befen employed m making . 1 fm- the passage of traction engines La Sight Although this hack led through areas infested with the dreaded African scourge, sleeping Sickness the expedition as a whole enjoyed good hje On Au«MMt 13 Fungurumee was left and die parrV started on.the 146-m.le trek to Saukosia accompanied by a guard o! na tive Belgian soldiers. The first day ,12 miles were covered, but'later, delays owing to traction engine troubles were met with and the water problem caused more loss ° ! In" negotiating steep inclines the cradle, containing the boats were hauled or lowered bv means of cables attached to the drum of the'traction engines. Harly■m September the foot of the plateau was reached, and it became necessary to utilise the services of oxen, of which the pari* had *2 Thev could, however, be used only where the road was sufficients straight for them to pull in unison, block and tackle having to be used to get the boats round sharp curves. On September 8 after strenuous efforts, the top of the plateau was reached, and two days later the highest point, 6-100 feet above sea-level, was attained. \ - The downward journey of 146 miles was difficult, the scorching sun making comb tions vei,v. trying for the. expedition. Even tuallv, Sankosia was reached on Septembi 23, and here the hoars were put on the rail for Bukama. on the Lualaba river, a distance of 13 mile-, reaching there o;i September 30. On October 5 die party began its 350mile voyage on the Luulaba river for Ktballo. Iron drums were fixed to the keeh of the boats as a precaution against rock?. A channel had been marked out in_ the river with poles, but owing- to the shifting of the channel great difficulties were encountered, the boats running aground as often as a dozen times a day. . Kabalie was reached on October 22, and hero the boats were taken off rhe steamer and put on the rail for Lake Tanganyika, leaving on October 25. • They were taken to Lukuga, a few~niil.es 'from rhe lake, and a camp was formed. Owing to the violence of the storms prevalent on the Commander Simeon decided to construe) a harbour before putting hh boats in the water. Hundreds of natives were put on without delay obtaining stone with which ro build the hbibour. By. December 22 .-•jfficienfc of tha ■harbour had been formed-to afford shelter, ' and the Mimi was launched, followed next day by the.. Toutou. Guns were mounted, and on Dfccembei? 24 trial run? were made and the guns tested. On Bering Day the guns began operations by capturing the German gunboat Kungani, while on February 10 tha British flotilla chafed the Von Weissmann for about 30 .niles and sank her. The distance covered from Capetown 1 o Lake Tanganyika waa 3175 miles, which, added to the distance from England to the Cape, takes up nearly 10,000 miles. No previous expedition has taken iti boats overland intact and utilised so many methods of transport. Excepting th& air, every known method was used.