Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-29
noceroses sometimes get in the way of ths

| noceroses sometimes get in the way Of thO
engines.
One-half OF Lake Victoria lies in Uganda
and belongs to the British. The other half
| is in German East Africa and is controlled
| by the Germans. Both nations have their
own little steamers, and l shall be able to
| explore many parts OF this lake and to de-
scribe the strange savages living upon its
| shores. Some OF the natives 40 absolutely
naked, with the exception of necklaces and
| anklets of telegraph wire, while others
| shave their heads with glass and dress in
| bullock hides. The people of Uganda wear
bark cloth or cotton gowns. but they take
/ their clothes off when they eat as not to
| soil them Indeed they are quite civilized:
| they have good roads and they raise
many cattle that the English expect them
| to compete with the United States in the
meat markets of Europe.
L expect to visit the source OF the Nile
! during this trip about Lake Victoria. The
| Nile flows out of the lake through Napo-
| leon gulf, over a wonderful falls. with n
1 descent 50 great that an enormous electric
| power can there be developed. This matter
| is now under consideration by the British
| government
! Below Uganda. for hundreds of miles,
there are vast beds Of papyrus reeds, which
! II is thought some day may furnish the
| paper supply of Europe. The ancient Egyp-
| tians made their paper of papyrus. and tho
scrolls of the Alexandrian library OF
! this material The place where il grows
| best is known as the Sudd. a region OF
| swamps, but which in it's paper possi-
| biiltes equals. so 1 am told. that of the
wood pulp forests of Canada and of the
| United States.
Big Things in Africa.
| We are wont to think that We have all OF
the big things of the world. We deal in
superlatives and talk about our big
| country. our Niagara Falls and our great
| lakes. AS 1 have just said it is now
GAINED that Lake Victoria is greater than
Lake Superior. and there is no doubt but
that the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi river
are bigger than Niagara. They are three
times high. and their force is such that
they will develop thirty-five million horse
power. This is five times much the
possible horse power of Niagara. and the
British are preparing to make use of II.
| expect to visit the Falls of the Zambes,
going inland from Portuguese East Africa.
through Mashonaland and Matabeleland to
that point.
Another big thing I shall describe will be
the Nile dam at Assouan. This is high
! as seyen-story house and thick the
widest city street 1t holds back the Atbars
river and enables the valley below to have
a regular water supply without regard 10 Il
high or low Nile. This dam adds fertile
territory to Egypt twice as large
as the state of Connecticut. 1t has cost
millions and the story of how it built
may contain valuable information for our
engineers a Panama, who will have To con-
struct somewhat similar dams al Bohio and
Gamboa.
| 1 shall something OF German East
Africa, and l may possibly visit German
Southwest Africa The Germans are set
ting out cotton plantations along the coast
opposite Zanzibar. and they are planning
railroads to connect the east coast and the
Congo. / shall visit their capital Oar Es
Salaam, and will also go to Bagamoyo, their
chief port at the end of the caravan route
to Lake Tanganyika and the Congo. Por-
tuguese East Africa is almost unexplored
and it will, doubt not, furnish several in
teresting letters.
The New South Africa
Since the Boer war many changes have
taken place in South Africa. The gold
mines Of the Rand are producing never
before. lney have billions In sight and
they may some day make gold cheaper than
silver. The mining is now done by Kaffrs
and the labor problem is interesting.
/ expect to visit Kimberly and show how
the diamond trust is now throwing 81, Co.,
600 worth of these precious stones upon the
worlds markets every year. | shall go
down into the mines and describe how dia-
monds are gotten out, and may he able to
give some points from the diamond experts
as to how to protect the real stones from
the paste.
other letters will be given on the railroad
development of South Africa. the rapid
colonization of Rhodesa and on what has
become of the Beers, and also to Amer
lean trade. There will be descriptions of
the Kaffirs, the Hottentots and Bushmen,
made in their homes and. in short, a series
OF live up-to-date pictures of the southern
part of the African continent as it is to-
day.
1t is impossible, however. to give more
than a suggestion OF the interesting feat
ures of tour like this. The story OF my
travels must develop from week to week.
the subjects and itinerary being changed in
accordance with the news and with what
find on the ground.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.