Two days later the advance was continued towards Kamina, near the Government station of Atakpame, at the railhead. Here the enemy had dug trenches, built blockhouses, laid in provisions, and made other preparations to stand a siege. During the advance our men spent two or three nights in the mud huts of filthy native villages. Several rivers, swollen into rushing torrents by the heavy rain, impeded the advance, for the Germans had blown up the road and railway bridges. Meanwhile the advance guard pushed forward, and as they did so the enemy sent two men with a flag of truce to Colonel Bryant, offering to surrender on certain terms and with the usual honours of war. Colonel Bryant told them that they were not in a position to ask for terms, and that they must surrender unconditionally. Next day (10th August) the enemy agreed to do so. A telegraphist with the Togoland Field Force thus describes the surrender: "I rode in with the Headquarters Staff, and, arriving at Kamina, found the Germans, all white men (their native troops having deserted), drawn up in front of the acting Governor's residence, with himself, a smart-looking man, at their head, and all their rifles, machine guns, ammunition, and other weapons of war piled in front of them. "We formed up on the other side in the shape of a triangle--the British troops on the right, French on the left, guns at the apex, and Headquarters Staff in the centre. Our adjutant, with the Union Jack in one hand and the French flag in the other, accompanied by a native soldier of each nation, planted the two flags in front of the massed troops, who all presented arms. We saluted, and in that brief half-minute, while we were at the 'present,' Togoland, which had been a German colony for over thirty years, passed into the hands of Britain and France. It was most impressive, and something I am not likely to forget. We took at this place alone 206 white German prisoners, three machine guns, hundreds of rifles, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. "The Germans had destroyed their powerful wireless station--a tremendous place, three miles long, with nine masts 250 to 410 feet high--two days before we arrived; otherwise I might have been able to get into communication with Whitehall direct, instead of sending the news of the surrender to the Secretary of State on a little field buzzer set, tapped in on the telegraph wire by the side of the road. "This town, Atakpame, is in the half of Togoland allotted to the French, so the British troops have left the place. It is now occupied by Senegalese (French native troops, and fine fighting men). . . . This is a magnificent country, and Atakpame is beautifully situated up in the hills. . . . This letter leaves by the last English mail out of Atakpame, which has been under three different flags in less than three weeks--German, British, and French. "Quick work, eh?" * * * * *