THE RAILWAY INVASION OF CENTRAL AFRICA
It was intended, in the first instance, that Chiromo should be the base for constructional operations, the primary idea being to connect Blantyre with the river at this point. This represented the building of about 84 miles of line, and promised to remove the isolation and inaccessibility of the capital. At this time a cart road was the sole means of communication, and when this could not be used everything had to be carried on the heads of native porters, while passengers had to travel to and fro by “machilla,” a kind of hammock slung from a pole.
But access to Chiromo was found to be so unreliable, owing to the shallow depth of water in the river and the numerous sandbanks upon which the vessels became stranded, that it had to be abandoned as a base. A further 30 miles of line had to be added to the project, to enable it to be carried northwards from Port Herald. The contractors found themselves hampered at every turn, and it is probable that no railway was ever constructed under such peculiar and exasperating difficulties. Railways, as a rule, have been carried from a base on the coast, where supplies could be landed without very great difficulty, but in this instance this was quite impossible. Then, again, the work was being carried out at an extreme distance from home, and an elaborate organisation was requisite to keep the forces in the field supplied with every little necessity.
When the line was commenced the country was in a very primeval condition. Skilled labour was quite non-existent, and unskilled labour was very scarce. This problem was accentuated by the fact that Nyasaland was being drained of its resources in this respect by agents from the Transvaal, who had received permission to recruit negro labour in this country. The railway authorities endeavoured to meet this situation by importing coolies from India for the purpose of construction, but this action was sternly forbidden by the Government authorities.
The effort to provide the country with the very communication it needed so sorely to bring about its settlement, furthermore, was hampered in another direction. The Government authorities in London insisted that the railway should be built according to the standard of the Rhodesian railways, notwithstanding the fact that Rhodesia was in a very much more advanced position economically, whereas Nyasaland had not reached the moulding stage. This was a somewhat inexplicable attitude to assume, and was of a nature that might have jeopardised private enterprise in this field of endeavour. However, the engineers and builders accepted the terms and the work proceeded.
Under this arrangement the 3 feet 6 inches gauge was adopted as on the Rhodesian railways, so that in the dim future, when the two systems are connected, through running will be possible. The rails weigh 41¼ pounds per yard, and as timber is devoured by white ants and boring beetles, it could not be used in any form. Consequently, steel sleepers, or ties, had to be adopted.
Everything required in connection with the undertaking had to be shipped from England; the country did not assist the builders one little bit. Not an ounce of coal could be obtained locally, there was no lime, and bricks could not be made to assist in the erection of the piers. The country is even deficient in a good quality of stone suited to building purposes, so masonry work was equally out of the question. The only alternative was the utilisation of concrete. The Portland cement for this purpose, by the time it gained Port Herald, cost between five and six times the price for which it could be bought in England—in other words, the expense of carriage was from four to five times the value of the article. This applied to other material beyond cement. In fact, the transportation to such a remote district was a heavy item. The articles were dispatched to Beira, where they were transhipped into coasting steamers, and five hours later were landed at Chinde, where they were loaded upon the shallow-draught river boats and conveyed to Port Herald.
THE IRON HORSE IN CENTRAL AFRICA
Arrival of the passenger train at Port Herald on the Nyasaland Railway. Beira on the coast is reached from this point by steamer via the Shiré and Zambesi rivers.