The times., 1901-03-31
IN THE DARK CONTINENT.
Work of Surveyors in the Trans
African Telegraph Service.
lfrom &c London - }

tffom Jhe LONDON news
Utiji, Lake Tanganyika, German East
Africa, Dec. TO- 19G9-The surveying party
for the African and TranScOntinentat
Telegraph line arrived here on the Sd in
stant. having partly surveyed the coun-
try from karema. AT the present mo-
ment the line has been laid fer about
sixty miles north OF KassanGa-that is,
1t now runs from Edtuta, at the south
end Of Lake Tanganyika, eighty miles
UP the east coast of that lake. The sur
vey is pegged out to Karema, $50 miles
north of kituta, and the preliminary sur
Vey between karema and UiiU Is being
made. The line will then go from Till
round the southeast coast of the Vie
toria NyanZa, cross the Uganda Railway,
skirt the country west of Lake Rudolph.
and then follow the AbysSinia frontier
and work round slightly to the west aud
so to the Nile The country between
karcnla and Ujiji is extremely noun
famous, ard in order to find a suitable
route a wide extent Of country must be
Surveyed.
The surveyors found the natives be-
tween Karema and Cjiii, inland. extreTni-
y shy Of Il white man Arabs or rather
half-caste Arabs, and coast natives
abound everywhere. hardly a village be
ins passed without some of these people
being located in DEMONSTRATING rubber
with the natives. These villages are. by
the bye, very strongly stOckaded. and the
natives own quantities of guns. Powder
is however. scarce, and bits of stones oft
en- do duty as bullets. The guns are muz-
zle-lOaderS. with flint locks and caps. and
are calculated to do mere harm to the
man at the butt end than to the target
whatever it may be Ujiji is a Very inter
eSting native and Arab centre The stand
Ing white population numbers on an av-
erdSe ten. seven being German Govern
mSnt OfIici2lS-all military men-and three
Greek traders Arabs are very plentiful
a number being men of considerable
wealth The chief trade is in ivory and
rubber, the former crossing the lake and
coming mostly from the Congo Free
state. The total population Of UjiH is s.
'sV 1t Is the second largest native and
Arab town in Central Africa. TabOra
Hhlch IS also German Government sta
ton, IS the largest. and has a population
of lu,O0. The Bona. or Government en-
closure. is a well-built stone building The
Greek stores are also weil-buiIt twO-stury
stone houses. and the principal Arabs own
similar dwellings, The native huts are
scattered all around these Arab houses
The currency throughout German East
Africa Is the German rupee and copper
coins called peSas, going sixtv-four 10 The
rupee. Fifteen German rupees go to the
pOung sterling The Germans paw their
workers and SOudanese soldiers very
high wages Tor Africa, and so one sees
nearly all the natives about here clothed
well and Cleduly in cotton. white and col
ored goods. The language is SwahiIi
Scattered al over Ujiji. which lies gen
orally about one mile from the lake shore
on undulatiuS country. are mango trees
These. with their thick and dark green
foliage, present a pleasing appeaTance
and just now, the coming season. when
the grass all around is green. and the
q atmosphere, in between the showers. So
very clear, Ujiji is "a very pretty place,
and the view of the mountains across the
lake Is simply enchanting The new Ger
man steamer HedWig Won WiSSmann has
made its trial trip. and has proved a
great success. The other two steamers.
the FlOtilla COmpanys and the Tangan-
yika Possession COmpany's, are well on
the way to being launched. All is again
quiet at the north end of the lake There
is some more trouble brewing with the
natives bordering the lake between here
and karema. and some sort of an eXpedi-
tiOn viii be sent against the chief often
der. katunka. who ran away when Wis
tied two or three months ago by Lieu
tenant Funck