Companhia do CAMINHO de FERRO de BENGUELA. Notas sobre a Construcção deste Caminho de Ferro e seu grande valor para o desenvolvimento da Africa do Sul e Central. Publicado com autorização do Conselho de Administração da Companhia do Caminho de Ferro de Benguela. (London) Hudson & Kearns, Ltd. 1928
4to. 68 pp. With 5 coloured maps (1 folding), 1 full-page coloured illustration, & numerous illustrations in the text. Original printed wrappers.
The Benguela railway was the most important line in Angola and, with international connections, the only one to extend across Africa from east to west. Sir Cecil Rhodes had sent Robert Williams, a mining engineer, to prospect for copper, which he found in the region of Katanga. Because of the difficulties of transporting mineral to the sea, Williams resolved to build a railway from the Congo to Benguela, rather than to the Mozambique port of Beira, requiring a longer sea voyage. Though started in 1904, the difficulties of construction and finance were far greater than had been foreseen, and the project was not finally completed until 1927. Some slight foxing & discolouration.
£65
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