A Natural Wonder
The Zambezi River
The Victoria Falls
Formation of the Victoria Falls
People of the Victoria Falls
Enter the Ndebele
Discovery of the Victoria Falls
In Livingstone's Footsteps
Development of the Railway
To the Banks of the Zambezi
Development of the Falls
To The Congo
Development of Tourism
Development of Victoria Falls Town
Recent History
Further Information
Collectables

    
Discover the Victoria Falls with the Zambezi Book Company

To The Victoria Falls

Development of the Victoria Falls



The following text is adapted from 'To The Banks of the Zambezi and Beyond - Railway Construction from the Cape to the Congo (1893-1910)', researched and written by Peter Roberts and first published in 2021. Please visit the Zambezi Book Company website for more information.



The Line to the Falls

In November 1899 it was reported that provisional surveying of the proposed line to the Victoria Falls was underway, connecting the Hwange coalfields on the way. At the time the line was envisaged terminating at the Falls, with the Railway Company still looking for a potential crossing point further downstream.

"An important piece of work is soon to be commenced, namely the survey of the extension of the route for the line northwards to the Victoria Falls. In a few days Mr D Chester, with Messrs Mageoan and Jeffroys start north to be accompanied by about ten natives, with probably two wagons. The time they will be away will of course depend on their rate of progress and that will depend on the nature of the country which is largely an unknown quantity. The season is hardly the best one to choose for a start, but the railways have to be pushed on at all costs." (Bulawayo Chronicle, November 1899)

A Change of Plan

In August 1900 the Bulawayo Chronicle published details of a significant shift in the plans for the railway to the north.

"It appears that the original idea of running two lines northwards to the Zambesi from Bulawayo has been altered. It will be remembered that the main line, commonly called the Cape to Cairo railway, was to be continued through Gwelo in an almost directly northern direction to the Zambesi. Thence the line was to continue passing Lake Tanganyika on the eastward side, and thus passing through German territory. Another line was to be laid to the Victoria Falls, via Wankies, tapping the vast coalfields in the last mentioned district, and stopping at Victoria Falls for the present.

"In all probability, however, the last named line will be the main line to the north, and instead of stopping at the Falls, the line will be carried across a little below where the river narrows, instead of running to the east of Lake Tanganyika, the railway will go west through the Congo Free State, the west coast belonging to that State, the east to German East Africa, and the south to British Central Africa. The line will pass between the Lake and the sources of the mighty Congo... It by no means follows that the Zambesi is not to be crossed later on at a point considerably to the east as originally intended by an extension via Gwelo. But for the present this will remain in abeyance... The length of the line to Wankies will be some 200 miles [322 km], and thence to the Falls another 80 miles [129 km] or so." (Bulawayo Chronicle, August 1900)

Rhodes on Rail

In 1900 Rhodes accepted an invitation to write a forward for the book ‘From Cape to Cairo; the first traverse of Africa from south to north’ by Grogan and Sharp. Together the two men had undertaken the epic overland journey from the southern Cape to the Egyptian city of Cairo, although Grogan was the only one to complete the entire journey and thus become the first man to do so. They travelled by train, boat and other means of transport where they could, but walked for much of their journey across the African continent. Grogan had set out to prove his worth and win the hand of his love in marriage. The journey took three years, finally reaching Cairo in 1900, and he married soon after.

Rhodes’ introduction, written in September 1909, is an interesting statement of his vision:

"Everyone supposes that the railway is being built with the only object that a human being may be able to get in at Cairo and get out at Cape Town. This is, of course, ridiculous. The object is to cut Africa through the centre, and the railway will pick up trade all along the route. The junctions to the East and West coasts, which will occur in the future, will be outlets for the traffic obtained along the route of the line as it passes through the centre of Africa. At any rate, up to Bulawayo, where I am now, it has been a payable undertaking, and I still think it will continue to be so as we advance into the far interior. We propose now to go on and cross the Zambesi just below the Victoria Falls. I should like to have the spray of the water over the carriages." (Grogan and Sharp, 1900)

Rhodes recognised the potential of the railway as the means to connect and consolidate his, and British, interests beyond the Cape, and bridging the Zambezi River was a key landmark in this vision.

Route Agreed

Sir Charles Metcalfe became convinced that this was the route for the railway north. He twice surveyed the country between Bulawayo and the Zambezi on foot, in spite of the roaming wild animals and hostilities, and reported that it presented few difficulties.

In his address to the Sixth Ordinary General Meeting of Rhodesia Railways Ltd, held in London on 18th June 1901, the Chairman Mr Alfred Beit reported:

"Further exploration undertaken with a view to decide the route for the extension from Bulawayo towards Tanganyika showed that, after crossing the Zambezi via Mafungabusi very heavy expenditure would be necessary, owing to the country north of the Zambezi at the point being very difficult for railway construction and further, that the indications of coal in the Mafungabusi District although numerous have not led, up to the present, to discoveries of proved commercial value.

"Your Directors influenced by the above facts and having regard to the discovery of important coal deposits in the Wankie District were led to consider another route further to the West which would traverse that district and enable the Zambesi to be crossed at the Victoria Falls. The preliminary reports on Wankie coal furnished by Mr Harvey were exceedingly satisfactory, but your Directors postponed their decision to adopt the western route until the coal had been further reported upon by another expert of the highest standing, to be selected with the approval both of this Company and the British South Africa Company. The Mashonaland Agency Company, the then owners of the Wankie Coal deposits, accordingly arranged with Messrs Forster, Brown and Rees to send out their representative, Mr Price, to make further investigations on the understanding that a favourable report from that firm would satisfy both this Company and the British South Africa Company. Mr Price has now returned and a report has been received from Messrs Foster, Brown and Rees fully confirming the favourable reports upon the coalfield that had been previously received. Your Directors have, therefore, now agreed to construct the railway from Bulawayo through Wankie District to the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi." (Taylor, 2005)

The line would continue north from Wankie to the Victoria Falls, crossing the Batoka Gorge just below the falls and penetrating into North-Western Rhodesia, where deposits of copper were rumoured and later confirmed.

Crossing the Zambezi

In 1901 the Rhodesia Railways board gave the go ahead for the railway extension to the Zambezi, crossing the river immediately below the Falls. In May the Illustrated London News reported.

"The Cape to Cairo Railway will cross the Zambezi River at the Victoria Falls, approximately 800 miles [1,287.5 km] north-west of Bulawayo. It would appear as though a foreseeing providence had arranged the matter, for only a few hundred yards below the Falls, and at the commencement of a wonderful gorge that goes twisting away for thirty miles [48 km], the railway engineers have chosen a spot where a single span of 600 ft. [182.8 m] will bridge the whole river. All the exposed banks of river, chasm, and gorge are of solid black basalt, substantial material to found the piers upon; and we believe it is intended to employ as little superstructure as possible in the construction." (The Illustrated London News, May 1901)

The original examination and selection of the site for the Bridge was carried out by Sir Charles Metcalfe in June 1901, who reported that it would not present any insuperable engineering problems (Rhodesia Railways Magazine, November 1965). Rhodes, despite never visiting the Falls, had been clear where the Bridge was to be built. Mr G A Hobson, credited with designed the Bridge, recorded in his report on the construction of the Bridge to the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1907:

"In 1901... [Rhodes] was shown at his office in London a sketch of the bridge it was then proposed to build. Although he had never visited the locality, he was sufficiently familiar with it from travellers’ descriptions and engineers’ surveys to indicate in a general way the point of crossing. He determined that passengers in the trains going over the bridge should have a view of the Falls; and as the site on which the bridge now stands is practically the only one which could fulfil this purpose, it may be said to have been chosen by him... The preliminary design of the bridge above referred to was prepared to meet Mr Rhodes’s views, and it received his approval." (Hobson, 1907)

The final choice of site was governed by the natural formation of the rock walls of the Batoka Gorge, advantage being taken of the minimum distance to be spanned, combined with the soundest foundations obtainable. Sir Charles returned to England to raise funds for the project, but as news of the site of the Bridge reached London, there was an outcry.

"The site chosen had given rise to much adverse criticism both in England and in Africa, the critics saying that such a natural wonder as the Falls should not be allowed to be desecrated by any of man’s handiwork - that the bridge ought not to be within sight of the cataract." (Prince, 1906)

The Bulawayo Chronicle Christmas Annual of 1901 contained an artist’s impression of the Bridge, in full colour and with the caption ‘a glimpse into the near future,’ which provoked much local disbelief, partially due to the artistic licence taken with the subject matter (Rhodesia Railways Magazine, July 1955).

Back in England an article published in The Times newspaper claimed the finished Bridge would be "a blot on the landscape." At least one reader agreed, noting in a letter to the paper: "That man Rhodes," is a "vandal" and a “desecrator of all that is beautiful in nature" (Rhodesia Railways Magazine, August 1955). The African Review later recorded: "There were not wanting people who suggested that to bridge the gorge at all would be an act of vandalism, and Sir Charles Metcalfe and his assistants... came in for a great deal of unpleasant criticism." (South Africa Magazine, April 1905)

Sir Charles would later write “no part of the railway was made for sentimental reasons,” but the Victoria Falls Bridge is the one exception to his statement. As Frank Varian, an engineer who worked on the Bridge and railway line north later observed:

"The choice of its site was more for sentiment than for practical reasons... A simpler crossing could have been achieved six miles [9.6 km] further up, [near Kandahar Island] where the longest span need only have been 150 feet [45.72 m]." (Varian, 1953)

Hobson maintained that the site chosen was the best possible for the Bridge.

"I am of the opinion that it is the best possible position for a bridge near to the Falls. The very beauty of the spot has, however, created objections to its selection. The situation is briefly this: The scene is laid within the tropical zone. At a place where the river is a mile in width, the bright and lovely Zambezi, whose gentle rippling waters flow sparkling in the sun, is precipitated suddenly into a dark chasm which lies square across its path, and through only one constricted outlet down below the whole body of water forces its agitated way into a narrow deep and sinuous gorge beyond. The bridge crosses this gorge." (Hobson, 1923)

Death of Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes died on 26th March 1902, aged 49, from the heart-related illness which had limited much of his latter years. He is buried in the Matobo Hills at a place he named ‘World’s View,’ his estate bequeathed to the nation and now the heart of the Matobo National Park.

Rhodes final journey north was on the railway he created, and, ironically, took place in the Train de Luxe on which he had never travelled during his lifetime. The Boer War was in its closing stages, and two armoured trains, one ahead and one behind, escorted the funeral train from Mafeking to Palapye, where the line ran close to the Transvaal border. The train reached Bulawayo on 7th April 1902 and the bier lay in state in the Drill Hall while his burial place was prepared on the great granite dome in the Matopas Hills which he himself had chosen.

"‘I admire the grandeur and loveliness of the Matopas in Rhodesia... I desire to be buried on a hill which I used to visit and which I called the View of the World.’

"On 10 April twelve black oxen hauled the gun carriage up the steep slope of Malindidzium. As the coffin of local teak wood was lowered into the granite vault, the Matabele roared their farewell - the royal salute ‘Bayete!’" (Jones, 1997)

Railway construction



Next page: Connecting the Gorge

References

Bulawayo Chronicle (November 1899) Northern Extension - Important Work to be Commenced. 18th November 1899.

Bulawayo Chronicle (August 1900) Cape to Cairo Line - Altered Plans. 25th August 1900.

Grogan, E. S. and Sharp, A. H. (1900) From the Cape to Cairo. Hurst and Blackett.

Hobson, G. (1907) The Victoria Falls Bridge. Institution of Civil Engineers, Session 1906-1907, Part IV, Section 1. Minutes of Proceedings, 19th March 1907 (Paper No 3675). Volume 170, p.1-49.

Hobson, G. (1923) The Great Zambezi Bridge - The Story of a Famous Engineering Feat. [In Weinthal, L. [Editor] (1923), Vol.II]

Jones, D. (1997) 100 Years The Railway in Zimbabwe 1897-1997. Pangolin Press, Harare.

Prince, A. T. (1906) Bridging the gorge of the Zambezi. The World’s Work, Vol.12, No.2, June 1906, p.7637-7647. Doubleday, Page & Company, New York.

Rhodesia Railways Magazine (July 1955) Fifty Years - The Story of a Bridge (Part 1). Vol.4, No.3, p.21-23. [BRMA]

South Africa Magazine (April 1905) Zambesi River Bridged at Last, 8th April 1905.

Taylor, R. D. (2005) Bulawayo Victoria Falls Railway, Friends of the Bulawayo Railway Museum Newsletter, Volume 7, Issue 2, November 2005.

The Illustrated London News (May 1901) The Progress of the Cape to Cairo Railway, 18th May 1901, p.707.

Varian, H F (1953) Some African Milestones Wheatley : George Ronald. (Reprinted 1973 Books of Rhodesia).

Weinthal, L. (1923) The Story of the Cape to Cairo Railway and River Route from 1887–1922 (Pioneer Publishing Co)

Further Reading

Roberts, P. (2021) To The Banks of the Zambezi and Beyond Railway Construction from the Cape to the Congo (1893-1910). Zambezi Book Company.

To The Banks of the Zambezi and Beyond Railway Construction from the Cape to the Congo (1893-1910)


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Discover the Victoria Falls with the Zambezi Book Company

'To The Victoria Falls' aims to bring you the wonder of the Victoria Falls through a look at its natural and human history.

This website has been developed using information researched from a wide variety of sources, including books, magazines and websites etc too numerous to mention or credit individually, although many key references are identified on our References page. Many of the images contained in this website have been sourced from old photographic postcards and publications and no infringement of copyright is intended. We warmly welcome any donations of photographs or information to this website.

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