Notwithstanding the war, 200 miles of the Cape to Cairo Railway in
Africa were laid in the last four years, and a total of 450 miles in
the last eight years from the Rhodesian frontier to the navigable
waterway of the Congo. The latest section of the Katanga Railway
reached Bukama, on the Congo River, May 22.
The railway starts from Cape Town and crosses Bechuanaland and
Rhodesia; it reached the Congo frontier in 1909. The first section
(158 miles) reached the copper mines of the Star of the Congo in
November, 1910, where Elizabethville, a populous town, inhabited by
1,400 white men, has since developed. The railway was pushed in 1913
as far as Kambové, another important mining district, (99 miles.) In
spite of the difficulties caused by the war, a third section was open
to traffic north of Kambové, reaching Djilongo (68 miles) in July,
1915. It was through this road that the two English monitors, under
the direction of Commander G. B. Spicer Simson, reached the waters
of Lake Tanganyika, which they cleared of enemy craft. Understanding
the advantages which the line would afford, the Belgian Colonial
Government opened new credits for the completion of the railway
as far as Bukama, (125 miles.) The building started from Djilongo
and Bukama at the same time, and, in spite of the difficulties of
the ground and the scarcity of labor in the region traversed, has
now been successfully completed. More than 30,000 tons of copper
are annually transported from the Congo copper mines.