The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-31

DQ6IHSSS III 1CTUldn East AITlCd.
 The German officials here seem to be well satisfied with their colony. They say it is richer than British East Africa and In support of their statement point Q the fact that it already has larger na- tive population. British East Africa has something like four millions, and this country has seven or eight millions. The most of the colony Is high and healthy. It has extensive grass lands, and many of the natives are more than ordinarily thrifty.
 Take, for instance, the lands along the Kagera river, which flows into the lake on the edge of Uganda. I met two officers here who have been stationed in that country. They tell me that the soil Is fertile, and that 1t is covered with g. thick sod of fine rich grass. Much of the country is a mile above the sea and Is well suited to be the residence of white men. These officers tell me that when railway communication can be made Ger man colonists will come in, and the country will be developed az an agri- cultural and stock rasiing region. At present 1t is thiclSly populated by natives who rear many cattle. sheep and goats.
 The kagera River.
 The Kagera river rises not far from Lake Tanganyil.a and the lower portion
 
 It flows not far from the line of the Cape to Cairo road, and 1t may form im- portant link in the chain of rail and water which is to go north and south through this continent It will connect that road with Victoria Nyanza. l am told that if the bar at its mouth Is dredged out, boats of considerable draft can steam 30 near to Lake Tanganyika that the building bf fifty miles or so of railroad will practi- CallV connect the two lakes.
 As 1t Is now, 1t Is the intention of the railroad builders to use Lake Tangan- yika, which is 400 miles long, and Lake Albert Edward and Albert Nyanza, both quite extensive, as a part of the Cape to Cairo system. They are all deep and easily navigable. Indeed the richest part of that route will be through the Nile and it's waterways. The road Is now within about 400 miles from the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, and 1t will need only short strip to join this chain of lakes, and another short strip from the end of Albert Nyanza to Gondokoro, where there is steam navigation for a thousand miles down the Nile to Khartum, the end of the Egypt and soudan railway system.
 Bismarck In Africa.
 The Germans have erected a monument to Prince Bismarck out here on the south ern shores of Victoria Nyanza. It stands with its back to the lake and its face towards the town of Mwanza. It consists of a bronze medallion as big around as the head of flour barrel, bearing the bust of the great chancellor. This me- dallion Is cemented to a pyramid or obelisk which stands in beautiful grove. Just back of it there Is a great rock 100 feet high, and all about are trees and banana plants. l understand there are other monuments to Bismarck in some of the German towns along the coast Of the Indian ocean, and that & fine statue of him has been erected at Oar es Salaam.
 The Native Soldiers.
 The Germans are organizing native army out here, which shows the effect of their system of military training. They already have 2500 native soldiers, off cered by about 300 Germans. The men are put through the same exercises as the soldiers at home. They are big fellows, well set up and very muscular, many being over six feet In height and large in proportion The most of them have brutal faces, and they look as though they might be butchers in battle l have gone about through the villages with some of these troops during my stay. Each man carries a hippopotamus whip with him and so uses it that he has no trouble in making himself respected by the ordi- nary native.
 In the Basukuma Towns.
 The people here are not as wealthy as those of Uganda. They wear less cloth ing, and their houses are poorer The average Uganda hut looks picturesque. It is made of cane, bent and woven to- gether and matched with straw, the roof extending down to the ground. The huts of the Basukumas have walls of stic,ls set upright in the earth, and laced with vines running in and out through them. After this the walls are chinked with mud and a cone-shaped roof IS put on. The doors are so low that one has to stooD to enter them, and 1t requires some en- gineering to go in and out, as the door may swing either way Sometimes it Is swung at the top and sometimes at tue bottom, or 1t may be lifted in and out at will. The huts are seldom more than 10 or 10 feet In diameter, and each IS divided into rooms for sleeping and COOK irg. The cooking is done in the center or the hut on a fire built over stones, which rest on the ground. The cooking utensils are usually clay pots and the chief food is porridge made of stewed milet.
 The people also have corn and peanuts in addition to millet, and they grind all three by pounding them in mortar and rubbing them between stones. In one iIclosure 1 saw a girl of 15 pounding peanuts in mortar with wooden pestle, and in another a woman knelt Gown and ground millet by rubbing the grains between stones. The stones looked though they might have been picked up from the wayside. The lower one rested on the edge of a basket and as the flour was ground it fell down into the basket
 I find but little furniture in any of the bouses The people sleep on the ground and they squat about on the floor at their meals. They have no tables and no chairs. A few houses contain stools eight or 10 inches high, and in one or two 1 saw low frameworks of poles GOV cred with skins which were evidently used as beds. The Basakumas are skilled in making baskets, and they manufacture all kinds and all sizes, including enor- nous grain baskets of fine straw. The latter are used in nearly every hut for storing millet and corn and other such things. 1 saw one which measured five feet in height and at least eight feet in diameter. It would, l venture, hold ! good-sized COW and leave room to spare.
 With the Witch Doctors.
 In one of the yards l entered this morn- ing l found a group of men on their knees about woman. seated on q low stool. The woman was of an ebony blackncss but here eyes were rlgned With white paint, and across her cheeks were streaks of the same materials She had white feathers in her hair and other adornments which made her look hido- ous. She was a witch doctor, and had