BY AIR TO CONGO

Hokitika Guardian, 25 June 1932, Page 6

BY AIR TO CONGO

HIGH SPEED TRAVEL. BELGIAN KING’S TOUR. LONDON, May 4. The King of the Belgians, who employs the aeroplane as a means of travel more than any other head of a State, has completed a notable journey to the Belgian Congo, in the course of which he covered nearly 10,000 miles in British passenger-carrying and service aircraft. Though he was absent from Belgium only one month, the regular African air line operated by Imperial Airways enabled the King to spend seventeen days in the Congo. Incidental, the journey in one direction alone by surface vehicles occupies as long as the whole period of liis absence from Brussels.

There could be no better example of the value of air transport and °f its spectacularly rapid development. Where, the King flew comfortably in a large air liner was untravelled jungle country and desert at the beginning of the century. The days when the white man and his urge for movement had not disturbed the primitive life of Central Africa are so recent that the King was able to gaze down from the saloon windows on great herds of elephants, and on myriads of buffalo, giraffe, antelope and other wild game. Yet at night he and his fourteen fel-low-travellers rested at comfortable hotels, some of which were erected in places far away in the jungle and separated by weeks of arduous giound travel from the nearest town.

Actually the King spent one week in transit in each direction between Brussels and the marvellous Pare National Albert—one of the finest •ranie preserves in the world-—that was bis ultimate destination. Travelling on an ordinary ticket like every other passenger King Albert went in the giant four-engined flying boats across the Mediterranean, and on down the Nile to Uganda and the Congo in multi-engined land-planes. At Khaitoiim he ascended in a Royal Air Force day bomber for flights over the country between Khartoum and Lake Albert. Since hs return hime, he has expressed in enthusiastic terms his appreciation of the British air service. He was eulogistic about the efficiency of (ho organisation, the comfort of tho big air liners, and the great skill and knowledge of the pilots. 'l’he new African air route lias opened up a way to the Belgian Congo that promises' to attract more and more poo'-le, Some of tile passongois who travelled with the King from Brindisi were Belgians hound for Congo destination. The advent inre Conferred bv Hie airways is sufficiently striking; the Belgian with interests in the Congo finds himself within seven days’ journey of the African State, compared with four weeks by surface transport. His letters equally move four times as swiftly. Thus the airway, if Kipling’s tag is true, is bringing to the “darkest. Africa” of a few decades ago that ease of transportation which is real civilisation.