THE operations of the last few months had narrowed the area from which supplies for the troops could be obtained. The productive areas of Lupembe, Iringa, Kissaki and the lower Rufiji had been lost, and the newly-occupied districts included wide stretches of barren land. The productivity of the more fertile areas was for the most part unknown; for instance, it was not known until during the subsequent operations what yield could be expected south-west of Kilwa and south-west of Livale, for example. At that time I only had a general idea that the eastern part of the Lindi area was very fertile and known as the granary of the colony. But this fertile region, owing to its nearness to the coast, was in a very precarious position, and it was already necessary to consider what should be done if it were lost. Our eyes naturally turned to the Portuguese territory across the Rovuma, but we had even less information about this than about parts of the German colony. Fortunately, however, a number of Portuguese chiefs had immigrated into German territory out of hatred for their oppressors, and, apart from this, we Germans enjoyed a very good reputation among the intelligent natives of Portuguese East Africa, many of whom worked on German plantations. Thus we were able to get at least an approximate picture of the district east of Lake Nyassa, and to take it as probable that south of the steppe-like zone of the Rovuma, in the neighbourhood of Mwembe, several days’ march, broad and thinly populated, lay a fertile region. An expeditionary force of a few hundred rifles under Major von Stuemer, crossed the Rovuma south of Tundura, and quickly took possession of Mwembe from where our patrols explored the banks of Lake Nyassa as far as the neighbourhood of Fort Jackson, and east half-way to Port Amelia. [Illustration: Fig. xvi. March of Main Force during operations on interior lines west of Lindi, June to November, 1917.] [Illustration: Fig. xvii. Battle of Mahiwa.]