The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1916. GENERAL SMUTS' TASK.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 57, 12 February 1916, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1916. GENERAL SMUTS' TASK.

While everyone will regret that illhealth has compelled General Sir Horace Smith-Dorien to relinquish command of the East African campaign .there must be great satisfaction in | knowing that such a born leader as General Smuts will succeed him. It I is considered by those who know the country and the hold the Germans have got on it that a big and arduous campaign i s ahead. The local knowledge winch General Smuts possesses is inestimable in value, and this was fully recognised by the Imperial authorities who offered the Boor leader ! the command last November, but for certain reasons he was not at that time prepared to accept the position. A Hand Daily Mail contributor, who spent about two years in German East Africa regards it as the finest tract of land in all Africa, which is certainly high praise. He holds that no better cattle country is to be found, and the variety of products and the great range of elevation, and I consequently of climate, together with the uniformity or the supply of mois-j Iture, make the colony wonderfully, I rich. The paradise of East Africa is I said to be the rolling hill country lying ! south-east of Kilimanjaro. It has an ! equable and even temperate climate. | To the south is a hotter "tnU't, consisting of vast undulating grassy plains, ! teeming with game and cattle. Except for the hot winds and the high temperature generally this would be excellent country for the rancher, for apparently it is healthy and comparajtivfly Tree I'rom pests. The eastern ! half of the colony is divided by the route of the main railway from l)ar-es-Salaaiu. To the north of the railway the country is good and the climate healthy, though the Pangam ami Usambara districts suffer from excessive heat. To the" south of the railj way the conditions are less satislac- ' lory, and apparently a great area is still imperfectly explored, though modern maps show a number of the better known trade routes. Fuller informa- ! tion is available concerning the southwestern districts, for I he regular rou- . tes between the northern end of |La#l Nyassa and the sea coast pass

The western districts arc exceedingly ' fertile and well-watered. The Etiro- ! pean population is '■aid to b e between i 13,000 and 14,000, and it hag been 'estimated that with trained Somali, e Arabs, and Swahili, there are about a hundred thousand native troops available for the Germans. The task of conquest will not be a matter of a few weeks it is feared, and General *' Smuts is nrobably quite aware that a e pretty powerful force is necessary to carry out the work to which he has . been appointed. On all sides it is : * felt that the Empire has chosen well lin selecting him.