Though Port Amelia had been reported to be threatened by von Lettow-Vorbeck’s marauders, the arrival of the British troops caused no apparent excitement; but Signor Abilio de Lobao Soeiro, the Governor of the Nyassa Company’s territory, was very civil and obliging, and on the day following Colonel Rose’s arrival he placed the Portuguese gunboat Chaimite at his disposal to transport him and Major Shaw and to tow three or four dhows containing 250 men of the Gold Coast Regiment across the bay to Bandari.
Colonel Rose, however, found himself almost as completely paralyzed as Major Shaw had done, for still no carriers were forthcoming; and though alarming rumours were current concerning the doings of von Lettow-Vorbeck’s raiding parties at Mkufi and Lurio, it was only possible to send an Intelligence Department agent with forty scouts down the coast to report what was going on. This agent kept in touch with Colonel Rose by telephone, and the reports which he sent back were very far from being reassuring; but as a matter of fact the German patrols sent to loot the coast stores to the south of Port Amelia were never more than thirty or forty men strong, though they brought with them or impressed sufficient porters to carry away everything likely to be of service to them upon which they could lay their hands. This was the report returned from Mkufi by Captain Harris, who, with a party of thirty rifles, was sent to that place from Port Amelia to ascertain the real state of affairs.
The main body of the Gold Coast Regiment reached Port Amelia without further mishap on the 7th January. It was forthwith disembarked and marched up the hill to the camp which had been established by Major Shaw. On the following day A Company, under Captain Wheeler, marched down the coast road from Port Amelia to Mkufi. Captain Wheeler was instructed to patrol the country in the neighbourhood of the Magaruna River and of Chiure, which lies about forty miles inland from Mkufi. He was also to send patrols south along the coast as far as Lurio and Lurio Bay. A post consisting of thirty rifles, under Captain Harris, had already been established at Mkufi before the arrival of the main body of the Regiment, and it was instructed to remain there with Captain Wheeler and A Company.
On the 9th January two Stokes guns and the Battery, under Captain Parker, were sent across the bay to Bandari by dhows, and from that place they joined Major Shaw’s detachment at Mtuge. On the following day the Headquarters of the Gold Coast Regiment with I Company and details left the camp at Port Amelia at 6.30 a.m. en route for Mtuge. They marched along the motor-road already described, descending to the level of the bay and thereafter skirting its shores. The grass on either side of the road was impenetrable, the black loam underfoot made heavy going, and the heat and the exhausted atmosphere, which in the tropics is peculiar to a narrow path through grass, rendered the march more than ordinarily trying. The road itself was much overgrown—symptomatic of the decay by which Port Amelia appeared to be stricken; but it was later cleared and repaired, and throughout the expedition to this part of Portuguese East Africa, it was the only route available for the passage of motor-vehicles from Port Amelia to the troops at the front. The Regiment camped for the night at a point fourteen miles along the road, and reached Mtuge next day. The Pioneer Company and two Stokes guns remained at Port Amelia, and the other details left there were formed into a sub-depôt under the command of Captain Watt.
The force at Mtuge, after the arrival of Colonel Goodwin on the 11th January, consisted of the Headquarters of the Regiment, I Company, B Company, and two Stokes guns.
From Mtuge two roads run inland in a westerly direction. Of these one is the main road from Mtuge to Medo, which place is distant about eighty-four miles from Mtuge. The other is a telegraph road, originally designed for motor traffic, but at this time much overgrown, which also runs in a westerly direction, rejoining the main road at Nanunya, a place distant some seven and twenty miles from Mtuge. From Nanunya the telegraph line follows the main road as far as Meza, which is about thirty-four miles further on.
Major Shaw’s detachment had been patrolling the country in the neighbourhood of Mtuge since its establishment at that place, but on one occasion only had the enemy been met, a patrol under Lieutenant Robertson having come into contact with a small party of Askari on the telegraph road above mentioned.
On the 12th January a party consisting of 145 rifles, 1 Lewis gun and 1 machine-gun, under Captain Dawes, left Mtuge to patrol by native paths to Pumone, a place which is situated about ten miles to the south of the main road and some forty-five miles south-west by west of Mtuge. Here it was known that the enemy had a post, and Captain Dawes was ordered to eject him from it if possible.
On the 13th January Captain Foley reached the camp at Mtuge with two Stokes guns from Port Amelia, and assumed command of the Battery.
On the 14th January a party of fifty men belonging to I Company was sent, under Lieutenant Clarke, to patrol toward Sanananga, which lies on the telegraph road about ten miles to the south of the main road and is distant about sixteen miles from Mtuge. At Sanananga Lieutenant Clarke came into contact with an enemy patrol, and a fight took place in which one carrier was killed and two soldiers wounded. The enemy was believed to have lost five killed, the number of his wounded being unknown; and he retired, Lieutenant Clarke remaining at Sanananga and consolidating his position.