CAIRO TO CAPE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16677, 26 February 1920, Page 4

CAIRO TO CAPE.

ENGINES EOR SILVER QUEEN. By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. CAIRO, Feh. 22. A new Vickers Vimy aeroplane, to which engines and other equipment for the Silver Queen were transferred, started for Khartoum early to-day. Mitchell reached Kisumu after two forced landings. Ho camped ogt two nights, and lions disturbed his rest.— Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. DESCRIPTION OF ROUTE. A GREAT BRITISH ENTERPRISE. The British Air Ministry recently issued some details of the air route from Cairo to the Cape. For the purposes of survey and the making of landing places Africa was divided into three sections, north, central and, south. The first section was from Cairo to Nimule, some 1500 miles in a straight line. Nimule is a small port on the White Nile, a hundred miles N..N.W. of Albert Nyanza. The second section was over the 900 odd miles from Nimule to Abercorn, Northern Rhodesia a station established by the Chartered Company in 1889 near the southern end of Lake Tanganyika. The third section, from Abercorn to Capetown,, is tho longest, roughly 2000 miles. This work of exploration, survey, and preparation represents a year .of hard toil, of which wc have heard little. As the official announcement does not give tho name of any of the officers engaged in the work, it is as well to point out that Sir J. M. Salmoud immediately took advantage of the favourable opportunity which presented itself after the armistice with Turkey to select parties to survey possible air routes across Africa.

This. was quickly done, and in December, 1918, the party to survey the northern section left Cairo under Die command of Major Long, D.S.O. „No. 2 party, which surveyed the centra! section, was under the command of Major Emmett, a well-known big-game hunter, and' reached Mombasa via India. No. 3 party was commanded by Major CourtTreatt, who had previously travelled through the Sahara- to Tirahuctoo. For convenience, this southern party was subdivided, Captain Shortridge being responsible for the section from Abercorn to Bulawayo. Major Court-Trcatt started work fi'om Capetown ; Captain Shortridge from Louronco Marques. The results of the labours of those officers and. their assistants come at the end of a year that has been the richest in the history of aero-nautical enterprise and achievement. One would think that there does not exist in the whole world a place less naturally inviting and helpful to the airman than Central Africa, hut to-day there is a way out for him through its core. We read of white ants and mosquitoes and the tsetse fly—sufficient to indicate in little what hardships these pioneers have faced and overcome. Their work is a contribution to Imperial enterprise as 11 inch as it is to aeronautical science and the very best must ho made of the route they have surveyed, THE ROUTE SELECTED. The route follows the Nile from Cairo to Wady Haifa, thtenco the_ railway to Sliereik, from which place conforms to the course of the Nile to Khartoum. From Khartoum the course is to the west of the White Nile to Eleri, and then almost, due south through the Uganda Protectorate to the northern shore of Lake Victoria. Partly owing to the extremely disturbed nature of the atmosphere above the lake the rente skirts it on the eastern side, passes over what was formerly German East Africa to the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, and thence crosses Northern Rhodesia to Livingstone, whence a southeasterly course is followed to Bulawayo. The next town of importance on the route is Pretoria, and so by Johannesburg and Bloemfontein across Cape Colony by Beaufort West to Capetown. PREPARING LANDING GROUNDS, The preparation of many of the landing grounds has involved a great deal of labour. In places it has been necessary to cut aerodromes out of dense jungle, to fell thousands of trees and dig up their roots, while the soil of innumerable anthills has had to be removed by hand, being carried in native baskets, as practically no barrows or other equipment were available. Moreover, where tsetse fly prevailed no cattle could be utilised for’ carriage purposes. To those unacquainted with this country it will come as a surprise to learn that ant hills are often'2sft.' in height and between 35ft. and 45ft. in diameter. As one cubic yard of ant-hill weighs 26701 b., some idea may be gathered of the labour necessary to" clear the ground at such a place as, for instance, that at N’dola, in Northern Rhodesia, where 700 natives were working from April to August of this year and roughly 25,000 tons were removed from the ground cleared. Blasting was tried, but was found to ho unsuitable. However, now that the initial work of clearing has been completed, it is not anticipated that the cost of maintenance will bo heavy. Native labour is generally abundant and cheap, and it is estimated locally that even in the worst cases—i.o., those of landing grounds situated in the fast-growing bush and forest country, only small annual charges will be incurred. In practically every case land was provided free of cost or at purely nominal rent by the local’ administrations, who hare arranged to guard the stores deposited at the aerodrome and to assist in keeping the aerodromes and landing grounds cleared of hush. In some cases landing grounds were prepared entirely by such local authorities. . For instance, at Serowe (Beehuanaland) Chief Khama laid out such a ground at his own expense in order that his district should be linked up with the route. He also rendered considerable assistance in preparing that at Palapwe. 1 It has been arranged for the survey parties to return shortly, and the intention is to organise the route into six areas, each under the general supervision of a British official. DIFFICULTIES IN CENTRAL .ZONK The first portion of the journey along the Nile Valley should present no particular difficulties to air traffic. Communications by telegraph, river, and railway are fairly good, and landings can he safely effected, if necessary, at many places, apart from the prepared grounds. In the central zone, however, difficulties axe more numerous. Most of this

is covered with dens© bush and tropical forest and landings at other than the prepared grounds, will be exceedingly dangerous, if not impossible. In some parts there is no land transport, with the resultant difficulty of providing the necessary stores at the aerodromes. Moreover, at some places tsetse fly prevents the use of cattle, .so that, failing the provision of light motor transport—for which special roads would 1 have to be prepared over some sections—native bearers will have to be used for the carriage of stores. Shortage of water and the frequent occurrence of areas infested by mosquitoes and white ants increase the difficulties. The fact that the survey parties have, in the face of such obstacles, completed their work within 12 months is worthy of notice. For most of the southern section with the exception of Northern Rhodesia, conditions are considerably .bettor. Rnilway and telegraph facilities are- good, anil stores can be distributed without much difficulty. The climate, too, is ■healthy, and forced landings could be negotiated in many places without serious danger. THE SAVING OF TIME. There are wireless stations at various points within touch of the chain of gionnds. Generally speaking, cable and land- line communications are good, with the exception of those across certa in sections, such as that between Abercorn and N’dola and others in Central Africa where considerable delay may bo experienced. In view of the saving of time which will be effected by the eventual opening of this air route, it is of interest to compare the time at present required to complete the journey overland. Tile, distances and method of overland journey, following as nearly as possible suggested aerial route, are; — Cairo to Khartoum.—l 342 miles—3J to 4 days.—Rail, Cairo to Shcllal (Assuan), 555 miles, 23 hours; steamer, Shellal to Haifa, 208 miles, 42 hous; rail, Haifa to Khartoum, 579 miles, 24 hours.

Khartoum to Lake Albert. —1411 miles, 21 to 24 days.—Steamer, Khartoum to Rejaf, 1096 miles, _l4 days; ground transport, Rejaf to Nimule, 150 miles. 5-8 days; .steamer, Nimule to Bntiaha, 165 miles, 2 days. Lake Albert to Lake Victoria. —350 miles, five to 12 days. Ground transport, Bntiaha. to Entebbe, 100 miles, 4-10 days. Steamer, Entebbe to Mwanza, 170 miles, 1-2 days. Lake Victoria to Lake Tanganyika.— 810 miles, 15 days. Ground-transport, Mwanza to Taborn, 200 miles. 10 days. Rail, inborn to Kigoma: (Ujiji), 260 miles, two days. Steamer, Kigoma to Abercorn,- 850 miles, three days. The steamer service is uncertain, (Abercorn is actually 14 miles from the shores of the lake.) Abercorn to Broken Hill. —475 miles, 10-15 days. Ground- transport, 475 miles, 10-15 days. Any estimate of time must tally ho very approximate, .ns a journey would be governed by the state of the track.

Broken Hill to Capetown,—lß3<J miles 4J days. Rail, Broken Hill to Bulawayo, 473 miles, H days. Rail, Bulawayo to Capetown, 1362 miles, three days. (“Ground transport” may include nlotor, horse, or bullock wagon, or any form of local transport.) Thus the total distance by existing methods of communication' is 6223 miles, for which, 59 to 74£ days would bo required. Against this the total Hying distance of the aerial route should, not exceed 5200 miles, as the pilot will stop only at the main stations. Taking 100 miles an hour as fair average Hying speed, under favourable conditions, and when the route has become firmly established, only 52 hours actual flying time would be required to traverse the entire Continent, or, say, about a week, flying eight hours per day. The survey parties everywhere met with the greatest assistance and cooperation from the various local authorities, who evinced the utmost enthusiasm for the project. Such whole-hearted assistance has been invaluable, and it is certain that bad it not been forthcoming the work could never have progressed as it has done.

Tliis co-operation indeed has been a roost encouraging feature throughout the period of prospecting and is a, happy omen for the successful opening of the route.