BD018266

Synopsis of Film.
PART I.
Departure from Southampton. Scenes on hoard.
Capetown and Table Mountain.
Cartoon Map showing the size of Africa as compared with other countries.
From Cape Town to Bulawayo.
Bulawayo. Memorial to those who fell in the 1896 Rebellion. Rhodes’ Statue.
in the Matoppos. The “ View of the World.” Shangani Memorial. Jameson’s Grave. Rhodes’s Grave.
The Victoria Falls.
Scenes at Elisahethville, capital of the Katariga Province of the Belgian Congo.
The Luapula River (main tributary of the Congo) at K asenga.
Hippopotami and their hunters.
PART II.
The famous Mission Station of i)r. Dan Crawford at Luanza with peeps at native life and customs.
A native dance in the Luhan hinterland.
The ceremonial of a Luhan witch doctor.
Film development in the heart of the Congo.
The Luvua River and its rapids.
A full-fledged expedition on the march and some of is difficulties.
Camp scenes. Christmas I)ay in the jungle.
Scenes at Kiambi, a Belgian station on the Luvua.
African river transport.
Anchora, at the confluence of the Luvua and Lualaha rivers.
Belgian Askari and native types.
Congo steamers and scenery.
Kab a 10.
Alhertville, an important inland port on Lake Tanganyi ka.
PART III.
Kigoma, the German-built port in Tanganyika Territory. An ivory safari. The strange customs of the Wa-ha.
Cameos of African life in the ancient town of Ujiji, a onetime centre of the slave traffic, and famous as the meeting place of Livingstone and Stanley.
In the late German territory, now administered by Great Britain under Mandate. Scenes on the Central Railway arid at Morogoro.
At Tahora. A German fort. The 2nd King’s African Rifles on parade. The regimental mascot.
With the Sultan Saidi, paramount chief of the Wanyamwezi.
PART IV.
Cartoon Map illustrating the trek from Tahora to Moshi. Across the great Wembarre Steppe with the Sultan
Kisiwa. The troubles and trials of a safari. Elephant, buffalo, zebra and giraffe in their native haunts. Killing a wildebeeste.
Passing through the Wembarre swamp.
Climbing the volcanic ridges which lead to the region of the great craters.
The Hercules beetle.
Sultan Kinga “ the rainmaker.”
The great fort of Mkalama.
The Wambulu or “ people of the mist.”
Herds of game on the high plateaus.
PART V.
The Ngorongoro Crater and its wild inhabitants. Carrion birds at work.
Midst the extinct volcanoes and crater lakes.
Thc great Rift Valley.
With the fighting Masai. Scenes in a cattle manyatta. Masai warriors in their ceremonial dances and preparations for a raid. Masai types.
Mount Meru with Arusha nestling at its feet. An Arusha market.
Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s premier mountain.
PART VI.
On the Uganda Railway. Kikuyu and Lumbwa natives. Sunset over Lake Naivasha. Railway construction in the heart of Africa.
Port Florence on the Victoria Nyanza.
British methods of combating malaria and hubonic plague
Kavirondo types.
Baboons.
Scenes at Mombassa.
H.M.S. Southampton and Colombo.
Kinematograph’ by (;eorge A. Plo’a’n,an.
FiI;)1 Printing by A utomatic Film Printers, Ltd.
The Story of the
Expedition.
LECTURE FILMS LIMITED, the Company responsible for this adventure, is not connected in any way with any other film organisation. It was formed by a few
enthusiasts in the sincere belief that there is a great need and desire for pictures illustrating far-off lands, strange peoples, their habits and customs, which only the fortunate few may ever see, and particularly for pictures showing what life is like in the outposts of our vast Empire.
As a first venture, the filming of some of the lesser
known parts of Africa was decided upon, and an
expedition set out in July, 1921, led by Mr.
Ratcliffe Holmes—whose lecture-picture, “War
at First Hand,” will be remembered—and including Captain C. L. Reid, F.R.G.S., an experienced African traveller, as linguist and safari manager, and Mr. George A. Plowman, a well-known kinematographer.
Landing at Cape Town in the middle of August, the, expedition made its way to Northern Rhodesia, where in the previous year Mr. Ratcliffe Holmes had established a base; tarrying only for the purpose of filming, in the Matoppos, the burial place of those heroes of Empire, Cecil Rhodes and Doctor Jameson; and, on the Zambesi, the wonders of the Victoria Falls.
The very first day’s incursion into the wilds—-
from Elisabethville—brought with it the intervention of the Nemesis which has dogged the footsteps of almost every other African Expedition of a similar character. A skid on a narrow, banked- up road built across a patch of swamp, and the car in which the party was travelling went hurtling over a twelve foot drop. No-one was killed, hut Mr. Plowman received shocking injuries, aggravated by the fact that proper medical aid could not he obtained until three days later. After lying at the point of death for many weeks at
Kasenga, on the Luapula River, it was found possible to move him by water to the famous Crawford Mission at Luanza, on Lake Mweru, where, thanks to the devoted attention of the ladies of the Mission, he was nursed hack to a degree of strength which enabled him to continue. But the shock to his system was so great that he was ever afterwards an invalid and an easy prey to the sickness and disease which beset the African traveller.
Meanwhile the remainder of the party camped on
the high plateau behind Luanza, explored the
hinterland, and gained much insight into native
life and customs and strange fetish practices, and material for the series of articles describing the whole journey, contributed to the “ Daily Telegraph by Mr. Ratclie Holmes and Captain Reid in collaboration, which aroused considerable attention at home.
Here, when the invalid was sufficiently recovered to rejoin the party, a plant was set up in a little
river in the forest, and the development of all
the film exposed up to that time accomplished
successfully—a feat which it is believed is without
precedent.
There followed a ten days’ trek, full of incident,
through the Luvua valley, the safari consisting of
ninety-six porters, to Kiambi, which was reached
on New Year’s Eve, the march that day being one of thirty-six miles.
Travelling up the Luvua in small boats to
Anchora, at the confluence of the Luvua and
Lualaba, the expedition embarked on one of the fine paddle steamers of the Compagnie des Grand Lacs, and proceeded as far north as Kongolo, thence to Kahalo and took train to Alhertville.
Lake Tanganyika was crossed in a tiny seven-tori
outrageously overloaded, in a gale which
would have done credit to the English Channel.
So had were the conditions that it was decided to turn and run for the shore, but an attempt to execute this manceuvre produced obvious proof that if persisted in the little craft would most certainly founder; and, valour being forced upon the voyagers, they perforce continued and arrived safely at Kigoma, the port on the other side of the lake, here some fifty miles in width.
Messrs. The Agence Debrie, 23 Mortimer Street,
w.
Dear Sirs,
Lecture Films Ltd.,
58 Dean Street, W. 1..
January 16th. 1923.
I think it only fair to inform you of the fact that the Debrie Parvo” camera which I purchased in 1920 and which has been in Africa for more than two years has given the greatest satisfaction.
During my last trip, which occupied fifty-one weeks, the camera was in constant use under exceptionally trying conditions and in cltmates which varied from the intense heat of the Rift Valley to the damp and cold of the Great Crater Region. In spite of all this, it never gave the slightest trouble and is practically as good to-day as when it was purchased.
I enclose you herewith a photograph of the Debrie camera being used by Mr. Plowman in the Wembarre Swamp which will probably interest you.
Yours faithfully,
(Sgd) RATCLIFFE HOLMES.
It had been intended to visit the historic and supremely interesting town of Ujiji, famous as the meeting place of Livingstone and Stanley, and continue the journey, via the lakes, westward from them to Ruwenzori, the famed “ Mountains of the Moon,” into the Ituri province of the Congo, and so on to the Nile. But the health of the invalid demanded medical attention which might he procured in Tanganyika Territory; and it was becoming apparent that, if his life was not to he jeopardised seriously, the original project would have to he revised. In addition, the prospect of exploring this great territory, so long in German possession, the scene of much hitter fighting during the war, and now under British rule, appealed very strongly. The Administration afforded wholehearted assistance in planning a route through the terra incognita (to Britishers) of the great Wemharre Steppes and swamp and the impressive region of the great craters. Finally, from the same source, came the offer of the use of a one-time Silesian Mission in the Morogoro Mountains where the invalid might rest awhile and recover his strength, and where, in the ice-cold mountain streams the immense amount of exposed film which had accumulated might he developed
It was therefore decided that this trek should he undertaken, Captain Reid proceeding meanwhile by rail and sea to Nairobi, in order to make arrangements for work which it was decided to carry out in Kenya Colony, before the Expedition continued, via the Victoria Nyanza and Uganda to the route originally planned. From Nairobi Captain Reid returned to join the main party at Mhulu, treking through country which would have otherwise been left untouched and gaining an immense amount of interesting information and data.
The Silesian Mission provided a welcome resting place for several weeks, and here great efforts were
made to carry out the development of the second
hatch of film. The water of the mountain
streams, however, although icy cold, contained sands of mica and strange chemical precipitates, not to mention large numbers of crabs, which welcomed film negative as a new and interesting article of diet.
After a short visit to the capital, Dar-es-Salaam, (“ The Haven of Peace “—famous during the war as the base of German naval activities in this part of the world) a move was made to Tahora, where, with the kind assistance of the local officials, preparations for the long north-easterly trek to Moshi were made. Here, by the courtesy of Lieut - Colonel L. G. Murray, M.C., it was found possible to make a series of films of the 2nd King’s African Rifles, which it is hoped will prove of very great interest.
Raised on January 1st, 1899, at Zomba, in Nyassa land, this native regiment is recruited from that territory, the officers being seconded from the Regular Army. Although temporarily disbanded, for some reason of which we are not aware, from August 17th, 1911, to April 1st, 1916, it has a record of service of which it may well he proud, including as it does, Mauritius, as garrison troops, July, 1899, to February, 1900; Somaliland, 1900; the Ashanti war under Sir James Wilcocks, 1900 (half battalion only), including the advance on Kumasi; the Gambia Expedition, 1901; operations on theGold Coast against the mutineers, 1901, Somaliland wars against the Mad Mullah, 1902-3-4; garrison duty in Nyassaland, British East Africa, and Zanzibar, 1905-11; the Great War, 1916-18, in German and Portuguese East Africa, and the Somaliland operations against the Mad Mullah in 1920. During the war the 2nd K.A.R. was temporarily expanded to four battalions, which took part in a number of engagements, the magnitude of which may he gauged by the fact that thirty-nine officers and 442 rank and file were killed, whilst the total number of wounded was nearly 2,000.
Finely-built, powerful fellows are these Nyassa boys, equal in physique to a battalion of Guards, and even a Chelsea sergeant-major would find hut little fault with their appearance and work on parae.
Travelling with some sixty porters, Mr. Ratclifte Holmes and Mr. Plowman spent several weeks in
exploring the Great Wembarre Steppe, where
many interesting pictures of native and animal
life were obtained, and, Dassing on through the Great Swamp to the “ Winterhochiand “ via Mkalama, were rejoined by Captain Reid at Mbulu, the habitat of that intensely interesting tribe, the Erokh, or “ People of the Mist.”
From Mhulu the journey resolved itself into the
steady climbing of a series of plateaux through
country where the white man is a rara avis, to the
land of extinct volcanic mountains and vast craters, the chief of which is Ngorongoro, some thirty miles in circumference and ten to twelve miles in diameter, and the greatest natural game preserve in the world. Here the expedition camped for some weeks and secured a film record of this wonderful region and its wild life of unusual interest from many points of view.
Descending the eastern escarpment of the Rift Valley, this arid region was crossed, to be followed by a journey through the succeeding highlands, where that interesting nomadic people, the fighting Masai, roam at will with their immense flocks and herds, leading to Arusha, which nestles at the foot of beautiful Mount Meru, the lower slopes of which are famous for the quality of the coffee grown thereon.
A few days’ further march brought the expedition to Moshi, and a view of majestic ice-capped Kilamanjaro. Here the large hand of porters was finally dispensed with and the party journeyed by rail to Voi, on the Uganda Railway; thence northward to the Victoria Nyanza, making many interesting films en route of the Kikuyu, Lumbwa and Kavironda tribes, and at Kisumu, the terminus of the railway on the great lake itself.
It was hoped to take boat across the lake to Entebbe and Jinja, as a prelude to the final stages of the journey across Uganda to the Nile, and so on to Khartoum. But the camera man’s health had never recovered from the disastrous accident months before, and although he himself was as game as ever and ready to go on, it had been obvious for some weeks past that the risk of plunging him into the wilds of Uganda and the Sudan was too great to be taken. It was therefore decided, reluctantly, to cut the expedition short at Kisumu and return home via Mombassa.
For the moment Africa had won, hut thougr
.
partially defeated, the expedition had no reason to consider itself disgraced. The hardest of many hard blows had been struck almost at the commencement of the venture, yet in spite of it and its consequences, the party had struggled on for many thousands of miles, and, against heavy odds, performed the greater part of its self-appointed task. The result of these lahours is now presented to the British public in the sincere hope and belief that they will not go unappreciated.
BOVRIL
IN ANOTHER SPHERE.
TESTIMONIAL.
COPY.
November 28th, 1922.
srs. Bovril Limited.,
l48, Old Street,
I E.C.l.
birs,
“You will be interested to know that uring my recent expedition through Central Africa which entailed very much travelling through “fly” belts and swamps, Bovril was our great standby. I have used it on previous African trips with the greatest success in cases of malaria and dysentery, and. on the occasion under notice it is not too much to say that our camera man, Mr. Plowman, was literally kept alive by Bovril and by Bovril alone.”
Yours faithfully,
(signed.) F. Ratcliffe Holmes.
BOVRIL
PREVENTS THAT SINKING FEELING.