Warfare near Lake Victoria was for us very difficult; there was always the danger that the enemy might land at Muansa, or some other place on the south shore, seize Usukuma and threaten Tabora, the historic capital of the country. If, however, our troops remained near Muansa, the country round Bukoba, and therefore also Ruanda, would be in danger. The best results in this area were to be expected from active operations under a united command. But the execution of this idea was not quite easy either, for Major von Stuemer, who was the most obvious officer to be entrusted with it, was tied by his work as Resident to the Bukoba District, while that of Muansa was the more important of the two. At the end of October, 1914, an attempt to take back part of the troops in boats from Muansa to Bukoba had been frustrated by the appearance of armed English ships at the former place. Apparently the enemy had deciphered our wireless messages and taken steps accordingly. On the 31st October a force of 570 rifles, 2 guns and 4 machine guns, left Muansa for the relief of Bukoba on board the steamer _Muansa_, 2 tugs and 10 dhows, but was scattered the same morning by hostile steamers which suddenly appeared; they were, however, collected again at Muansa without loss soon afterwards. On the same day the English tried to land at Kayense, north of Muansa, but were prevented; a few days later, the English steamer _Sybil_ was found on shore at Mayita and destroyed. On the 20th November, in a twelve-hours’ action, Stuemer’s detachment repulsed the English troops who had penetrated into German territory, north of Bukoba, and defeated them again, on the 7th December, at Kifumbiro, after they had crossed the Kagera river. On the 5th December, the English bombarded Shirarti from the Lake, without success, and Bukoba on the 6th. Minor encounters between patrols constantly took place east and west of Lake Victoria. On the 8th January the enemy attempted a more ambitious operation; he bombarded Shirarti from the Lake with six guns and with machine guns, and landed two companies of Indians as well as a considerable number of mounted Europeans. Lieutenant von Haxthausen, who had only 22 rifles, gave way before this superior force after fighting 3-1/2 hours. The enemy’s strength was increased during the next few days to 300 Europeans and 700 Indians. On the 17th January, von Haxthausen defeated 70 Europeans and 150 Askari with 2 machine guns on the frontier, and on the 30th January the enemy left Shirarti and embarked for Karungu. I believe this withdrawal was a result of the severe defeat sustained by the enemy at Jassini on the 18th. He considered it desirable to re-concentrate his forces nearer the Uganda Railway, where they would be more readily available. On the west side of the Lake, Captain von Bock surprised a hostile post of 40 men north of Kifumbiro and drove it off with a loss of 17 killed.