At the commencement of the war our light cruiser _Königsberg_ had left the harbour of Dar-es-Salaam and had, on the 29th September, surprised and destroyed the English cruiser _Pegasus_ at Zanzibar. Then several large enemy cruisers had arrived and industriously looked for the _Königsberg_. On the 19th October, at Lindi, a pinnace steamed up to the steamer _Praesident_, of the East African Line, which was concealed in the Lukuledi river. The local Defence Force raised at Lindi, and the Reinforcement Company, were at the moment away under Captain Augar, to repel a landing expected at Mikindani, so that nothing could be undertaken against the pinnace. It was not till the 29th July, 1915, that several whalers went up the Lukuledi and blew up the _Praesident_. After successful cruises in the Indian Ocean the _Königsberg_ had concealed herself in the Rufiji river, but her whereabouts had become known to the enemy. The mouth of the river forms an intricate delta, the view being obstructed by the dense bush with which the islands are overgrown. The various river-mouths were defended by the “Delta” Detachment, under Lieutenant-Commander Schoenfeld; this detachment consisted of Naval ratings, European reservists, and Askari, and its strength was about 150 rifles, a few light guns, and a few machine guns. The enemy made many attempts to enter the river-mouths with light craft, but was invariably repulsed with severe loss. The _Adjutant_, a small steamer which the English had taken as a good prize, and armed, was recaptured on one occasion, and was used thenceforward by us as an auxiliary man-of-war on Lake Tanganyika. Some English aircraft had also come to grief in the Rufiji delta. A blockship, which the English had sunk in the most northerly of the river-mouths, did not close the fairway. The frequent bombardments by ships’ guns, which he had no means of opposing, Lieut.-Commander Schoenfeld defeated by the skilful design of his positions, and by shifting them in time. Early in July, 1915, the English had brought to the Rufiji two shallow-draught gun-boats, armed with heavy guns. On the 6th July they made the first attack with four cruisers and other armed vessels, and two river gun-boats. The enemy bombarded the _Königsberg_, which was at anchor in the river with aeroplane observation. The attack was beaten off, but when it was repeated on the 11th July, the _Königsberg_ suffered severely. The gun-detachments were put out of action. The severely wounded captain had the breech-blocks thrown overboard and the ship blown up. The loss of the _Königsberg_, though sad in itself, had at least this advantage for the campaign on land, that the whole crew and the valuable stores were now at the disposal of the Protective Force.