Mohave County miner. [volume] (Mineral Park, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1882-1918, 1917-02-10
BOER LEADER REPORTS
ON OPERATIONS IN AFRICA

months. General van DeVenUerS Dill
liant march to Kondoa Irangi is de-
scribed. He reached that place, after
continuous marching and fighting, in
May. His horses were exhausted;
hundreds of the animals had succumb-
ed to the dreaded "horse sickness"
during the advance Of some 200 miles
from Moschi in four weeks. The
troops too were worn out. The rain
came with great violence.
''The numerous rivers came down
in flood and swept away almost all
our laboriously built bridges, the roads
became impossible mud tracks, and
transport became physical impossi-
bility. The rains fell steadily day aft
er day, sometimes four inches in one
day and the low-lying parts Of the
country assumed the appearance Of
lakes. Fortunately, the railway had
by this time reached Taveta, where
sufficient supplies could be dumped
for our resting troops. Van Deven-
ter's division in the interior was cut
off, but managed to live for weeks
on such supplies as could be collected
locally, or carried by porters 120
miles"
Several units were reduced 70 per
cent by malaria. The troops had often
to cut their way for miles through
almost impenetrable bush, constantly
engaging the enemy in his prepared
rear guard positions. There were seri-
Gus transport and supply difficulties,
and frequent shortages Of water for
men and horses. The railway lines
were under water for long distances,
and the attention Of thousands Of la
borers was constantly required to pre-
vent its complete disappearance.
As soon as the rains abated, SHUTS
took in hand the task Of clearing the
lenemy from the Pare and Usambra
mountains. The rapidity of the ad-
vance exceeded expectations. The
Usambara was reached in ten days
over $50 miles of trackless country.
Several columns were operating at this
time, and there were constant engage
ments with the enemy. When Kanga
mountain was reached the transport
had got to the utmost radius of its
capacity, and the troops operating here
had been on half rations for some
time.
While these troops were resting and
refitting, General SHUTS arranged for
landing near Tanga and a stimuli
taneous attack on that port by land
and sea. Fighting proceeded almost in
the neighborhood of the Great Lakes,
where the advance of the Belgian
forces was assisted. The largest is
land in Lake Victoria was attacked
and captured. It produced much of
the rice which formed the staple diet
of the enemy's native troops.
Meanwhile Van Deventer advanced
to the central railway, and reached the
foot Of the Nguru mountains. Pushing
up the railway from here, it was found
that practically every bridge and cul-
vert had been blown up. The prob
lem of transport Van Deventer solved
in an ingenious manner. He restored
bridges with spidery construction from
local material to carry about six tons.
Then instead Of using railway locomo-
tives, he narrowed the gauge Of his
heavy motor cars so that they could
run on light railway wheels over the
line.
In the Nguru mountains the diff
culties increased. Some routes were
entirely impracticable for wheeled diff
ficulties of any description, and plans
had to be altered. Meanwhile SHUTS