1925 Ndolo Airport – First Flight from Belgium

At 11:00 on the morning of April 3, 1925, a three-motor biplane droned into the skies over Kinshasa. The cream of colonial society was waiting and a band struck up strains of the Belgian national anthem, “La Brabanconne”.  The aircraft, a Handley-Page, nicknamed “Princesse Marie-Josée” left Brussels in mid-February and completed its journey under the command of Lt. Thieffry in 75 hours of flying time (over 50 days).  This audacious effort was the beginning of SABENA’s colonial service (the colony had contributed 25% of the capital when the new Belgian airline was created in 1923).  Three other aircraft were shipped by sea.  Over the next two years, SABENA would establish 80 air links within the colony.

The Handley Page "Princesse Marie Jose" in Kinshasa - April 3, 1925

The SABENA fleet at Ndolo

SABENA was created two years earlier out of a consortium that had tried to launch air service from Leopoldville to Stanleyville (Kisangani) using World War One-era flying boats (See. Feb. 24 2012).   Three weeks after the “Marie Josée’s” arrival, SABENA launched service to Luebo in Kasai as part of a planned route linking the capital at Boma with Elisabethville in Katanga province.  The flight took 6 hours and 45 minutes and carried 5 passengers and 195 kilos of mail.

Kinshasa 1925 - Spectators at the airfield

Kinshasa 1926 - Ceremony commemorating Thieffry's Flight

The aerodrome was located on 100 hectares at Ndolo, “a few miles out of Leopoldville”, with a 33 by 40 square meter hangar, brick buildings with an office, staff quarters, and fuel storage.  On the first anniversary of Thieffry’s flight, a commemorative plaque was installed at the Sabena building at the airport.

The airport restaurant - early 1920s

In 1926, service to Boma began and the following year the connection with Elisabethville was completed.  Emergency landing strips had to be built every 30 kilometers along the route.  Regular flights to Coquilhatville on the Congo River were inaugurated in 1928.  During King Albert’s visit to the colony in July 1928, he flew in the “Marie Josée” to visit the diamond mines at Tshikapa.

The King and Queen board a Handley Page for their flight to Kasai in 1928

The next challenge was to bring Congo within flying distance of Europe.  On December 15, 1930, aviators Vander Linden and Fabry landed at Ndolo in a Breguet-19 bi-plane.  In contrast to Thieffry’s six-week odyssey, Fabry and VanderLinden’s flight took only 8 days.  The flyers returned the next day to Brussels, having proved the feasibility of the link.

The Breuget-19 at Ndolo

I reported previously (See. Jan. 6, 2011) that the airfield was relocated from Kalina to Ndolo at this time, based on Marc Pain’s comprehensive study of Kinshasa.  This would be consistent with the need to develop Kalina as the new colonial administrative center, but subsequent research has confirmed that an airstrip was in use at Ndolo as early as 1925.  If both are correct, it would suggest that landing strips could be laid out here and there without constituting an airport.

The next transcontinental flights were more of a record-setting nature as further development of air travel between Congo and Europe was limited by the Depression and Sabena was actually cutting back service rather than expanding.  In March 1934, aviator G. Hansez and his wife made a mail run to Congo from Antwerp in five days, but this was not expected to become a regular service, as Sabena held the mail contract.  In December 1934, Waller and Franchomme delivered the Christmas mail in less than four days in a DeHavilland DH-88 Comet race plane named for Queen Astrid.

Local officials pose in front of the DeHavilland Comet in the hangar at Ndolo

 

SABENA inaugurated regular passenger service from Europe in February 1935 with the arrival of the Fokker F-VII tri-motor. The plane, named “Edmond Thieffry”, carried a crew of three and a passenger, Tony Orta, SABENA’s director of operations in Africa.  Orta had served in the colonial air force as a young aviator in the campaign against the Germans on Lake Tanganika during World War I.   By 1937, with operations well established, SABENA built a Guest House between the airport and downtown to serve its transit passengers (See March 29, 2011).  By November 1938, Sabena had completed 100 flights between Belgium and Leopoldville.  In December of that year, the Council of Ministers discussed acquiring new aircraft for SABENA, considering the relative merits of the Junkers JU-52 and the American Douglas DC-3.  The German-made Junkers was cheaper, and while outdated, it could be used effectively in Congo.  The Council opted to order two DC-3s for use in Europe.

The crew of the Fokker F-VII "Edmond Thieffry"

 

The F-VII crew and admirers before leaving Belgium

The German invasion of Belgium in May 1940 cut the colony off from regular air service with Europe. SABENA, considering war in Europe inevitable and with Belgium surrounded by belligerents, had already transferred the European terminus of its African service to Marseille during the “phoney war”. At the same time, unable to continue service to Europe, SABENA joined in the war effort, ferrying personnel and supplies along the West Africa-Cairo route established by the Allies, as well as service to Johannesburg and Cape Town via Elisabethville. Serving domestic and international flights, Ndolo airport was a key hub in the African air network. In March 1941, Tony Orta and Gaston Perier transferred the remainder of the SABENA fleet from Marseille to Leopoldville, establishing the airline’s headquarters in Congo.  The airline operated three types of tri-motor planes; the Fokker V-II, Junkers 52 and Italian-made Savoia-Marchetti 73. By the end of the year, SABENA was consolidating its operation, obtaining a building permit to rehabilitate four houses near the airport to accommodate its staff. 

 

A Savoia-Marchetti at Ndolo -- Fokker F-VII behind it

The arrival of the Pan American Clipper flying-boat in December 1941 (See. Feb. 20, 2011), suggested a water-based landing mode might predominate (BOAC flying boats were also serving Leopoldville between West Africa and Egypt), but the importance of a landing field was critical for new aircraft designs coming into production and plans to use Leopoldville as a refueling stop on the ferry route for fighters to the Middle East.  Initially, the Allies considered the airfield at Pointe Noire in French Equatorial Africa (now Congo Brazzaville) as key to the West Africa–Egypt route, given the ease of delivering fuel at the ocean port.  In April 1942, the US obtained access to the Pointe Noire airfield in exchange for 8 Lockheed bombers.  At the same time, the US Government agreed to open a Consulate in Brazzaville, which was previously served by Leopoldville (See. Jan. 29, 2011).  

A British Overseas Airways flying boat off Leopoldville

 

By July, the French were still holding out for more benefits, claiming the US base would make it a target for Axis retaliation.  Exasperated by the vacillating attitudes of the French, the US Army decided to establish its Central African base, including hospital, post office and other support facilities at Leopoldville. At the end of the month, frustrated with French intransigence and impediments over unloading, US Army Engineer Capt. Vann ordered the SS “Calhoun” carrying the US expeditionary force from Pointe Noire to Matadi.  Pointe Noire would only be a refueling station (See May 23, 2011). The U.S. engineers completed the construction of Ndolo airport in record time.  The runway was extended to a length of 2,300 meters and 30 meters wide.

A Sabena Lockheed at Ndolo - Junkers JU-52 rear left

 

Throughout the war, Sabena’s domestic service expanded significantly to meet war needs.  In addition, the company contracted with the British Air Ministry of to operate air service between Takoradi in Ghana and Juba in southern Sudan.  This line primarily transited to the north of the colony through Coquilhatville and Stanleyville rather than Leopoldville, but a Leopoldville-Lagos link established July 1940 across French Equatorial Africa was an important Allied service. By the end of 1943, the Belgian Council of Ministers began to look at reopening service to Europe.  Since Belgium was still occupied by Germany, the flights would have to go through Britain. Congo was concerned not to ruffle US feathers (which also operated the flying boat line to Congo), as the US had done so much to improve Ndolo airport and was Sabena’s main supplier of aircraft.  During 1944, Sabena received 5 Lockheed Lodestar aircraft for its Africa service and ordered 4 Douglas DC-4 airliners. On September 13, 1944 a Sabena Lockheed Lodestar reopened service to Europe via Lagos, Casablanca and Lisbon.  In February 1945, Sabena began flights to Paris, and passengers could continue to Brussels by train.  Finally, on July 8, the first direct flight to Brussels left Ndolo airport.  The Lodestar carried 15 passengers, including Sabena’s Vice President, Gaston Perier. 

The Lockheed Lodestar (OO-CAV) which made the first flight to Europe at the end of WWII

But the era of the Lockheeds, Junkers and Fokker F-VII was passing.  On January 16, 1946 the first Pan American DC-4 arrived at Ndolo (See May 23, 2011), followed the next month by SABENA’s first DC-4. In July, Air France inaugurated Paris-Leopoldville DC-4 service until the Brazzaville airport could be upgraded to handle the larger aircraft.  Sabena introduced the Douglas DC-6 in 1947 and Pan American and KLM began using Lockheed Constellations.  Construction of control new tower was launched in September 1949.  The same year, the Force Publique established an air base for its Aviation Militaire at Ndolo.

 

New Control Tower at Ndolo, completed in November 1950

Busy day at Ndolo in the late 40s – Air Congo Avro Anson (foreground), Air France DC-4,

Sabena DC-4, Lockheed Lodestar, at right the striped tail section of a Pan Am Constellation
 

The big passenger planes required a longer runway, and the impracticality of extending the existing Ndolo strip into the cité led planners to look for a new site.  Initially, plans were developed to build a new airport at Lemba, approximately where the Lumumba monument and FIKIN are now located (See Aug. 20, 2011).  Costing 7 million pounds, it was to be the largest airport in the world.  There were concerns that the new airport would constrain the growth of the city while others felt that Ndolo airport could adequately handle the traffic.  Eventually, a site for a new airport was identified at Ndjili and work commenced on a facility that would have the longest runway in the world.

Planners' depiction of the challenges of extending the Ndolo runway towards the west

In preparation of King Baudouin’s visit in 1955, however, a major upgrade of Ndolo airport was completed including construction of a large hangar and technical block, new pavement, offices and storage facilities. 

 

King Baudouin arrives at Ndolo May 16, 1955

Ndolo airport apron mid-1950s -- The Congo River visible at the east end of the runway

 

Construction of the new airport at Ndjili began in 1954. When the first Sabena Douglas DC-7 landed at Ndolo in January 1957, it had to fly to Ndjili to refuel for its return flight to Belgium because the aircraft would have been too heavy for the short runway.  In February 1959, the new International Airport opened at Ndjili. Sabena and Pan American were the primary carriers.  Our family marked this transition, flying out of Ndolo aboard a Pan Am DC-7 Clipper in 1958 and returning to Leopoldville in 1959 to land at Ndjili.

The Sabena terminal at Ndolo Airport - 1957

A SABENA DC-7 in front of the new control tower at Ndjili Airport

 

Sources:

·         www.belgian-wings.be

·         Ferry, Vital, 2005. Ciels Imperiaux Africains, 1911-1940, Le Gerfaut.

·         Flight, Nov. 26, 1925.

·         Foreign Relations of the United States.1942, Vol-II, p.570-84.

·         Pain, Marc. 1984. Kinshasa: La Ville et la Cite. Eds. de l’ORSTOM.

·         www.rva-rdc.com



Leopoldville 1902 – First Hospital for Congolese

The first hospital for African - Hopital de la Rive

The first hospital for Congolese opened in Leopoldville in 1902, built by Cdt. Mahieu along a strip of land downstream from the port between Mount Leopold and the rapids (See Mar. 5, 2011). Considering the fact that the colonial settlement on Ngaliema Bay had been already been established for 20 years and the first hospital for Europeans was only created a decade earlier, it is important to understand that concern for the health of Congolese was closely linked to awareness that sick Africans could transmit their illnesses to the vulnerable European population.  This perceived (though erroneous) threat represented the justification for the creation of “neutral zones” between the two communities (See July 31, 2011). 

The two medical services continued to be closely linked, notwithstanding the segregation inherent in their respective operations, and played exemplary roles in delivering health care to the growing city.  Dr. Gustave Dryepondt established the hospital for Europeans in 1891, in a paillote near the river.  Six years later, the Association Congolaise et Africaine de la Croix Rouge (a charity founded by Leopold II in 1887), opened a hospital at the top of Mount Leopold on the Caravan Road. 

The Red Cross Hospital

This was followed in 1899 by a Laboratoire Médicale established by Dr. Van Campenhout. (replaced the following year by Alphonse Broden). This complex became the foundation for medical services in Leopoldville and the wider urban area until the 1930s.  The original laboratory was built on swampy ground near the Baptist Mission (See Apr. 30, 2011) but was temporarily relocated to Boma while a new facility was being built adjacent to the hospital on the hill.

The Bacteriological Laboratory - now Commune de Ngaliema

Malaria among Europeans was an initial preoccupation, but sleeping sickness affecting Congolese necessitated particular attention as the spread of the disease affected the workforce.  When the Dutton-Todd expedition arrived in Leopoldville in November 1903 to study Trypanosomiasis (the scientific name for sleeping sickness) the doctors worked with Dr. Broden for seven months at the Hôpital des Noirs, as it was called, even sending several patients to Liverpool for treatment.  A contemporary observer noted that Leopoldville’s population had declined to only 100 African residents due to the disease.  Thousands of local Teke people were reported to have succumbed to the sickness.

Serious progress was made in expanding the hospital during 1906.  US Consul Smith visited Leopoldville from Boma in August 1907, reporting, “decently constructed buildings” on the river below town.  The patients were well-treated by a “skillful” physician interested in the work. In the same year, Dr. Jerome Rhodain joined Broden and took over the hospital and Lazaret.  A new Lazaret was built on the Kilimani plateau above the river and connected to the town’s water supply.

The Sleeping Sickness Lazaret

Interior of a lazaret

In 1907 as well, the Catholic order of the Soeurs Franciscains de Marie came to Leopoldville to work in the Red Cross hospital and Lazaret, and establish an orphanage. During 1911-13, a new Provincial doctor, René Mouchet, continued research into trypanosomiasis.  Queen Elisabeth provided funds to build a model Lazaret and establish a training school for African Medical Assistants.

Tuberculosis camp

As Kinshasa began to grow in importance and rival the original settlement at Leopoldville (Mar. 13, 2011), a Dispensary for Africans was established in Kinshasa in 1912 on the site of the current Hôpital Général de Réference (formerly Mama Yemo).  Three years later, the Soeurs Franciscaines were assigned to work at this hospital, as well.

Entrance to the Hopital des Noirs in Kinshasa

In 1920, Louise Pearce, an American researcher assigned by the Rockefeller Foundation arrived in Leopoldville to test tryparsamide as a treatment for sleeping sickness.  She observed that the 3-room ground floor of the Laboratory was nearly finished; the equipment was fairly good, though there was no electricity.  By 1922, the Laboratory was completed, although space was limited and plans were underway to move the facility to Kinshasa.  A new doctor at the hospital in Kinshasa allowed Dr. Van Hoof to devote full time to the Laboratory.  The following year, three new medical pavilions were opened next to the dispensary in Kinshasa.

New wings in the Hopital de Noirs -- 1920s

Another view of the Hopital des Noirs -- 1920s

The Kinshasa hospital was expanded in 1925 and modern radiology equipment was ordered.  By 1926, the hospital had 192 beds for men and 48 for women and children.  The following year, when a yellow fever epidemic threatened the city, the first cases of typhoid were also reported, suspected to have been transmitted by the opening of SABENA’s new air link to Elisabethville in Katanga. 

The dining hall

During King Albert and Queen Elisabeth’s visit to the city in July 1928, the Queen urged that a more commodious medical facility be constructed for the European population.  This led to a decision to construct a modern hospital in Kalina District, which became the Clinique Reine Elisabeth (August 5, 2011).  At this point as well, plans were finalized to move the Laboratory to Kinshasa while the original Congolese hospital by the river became a facility treating lepers.  The hospital in Kinshasa became the primary facility providing treatment to Congolese until the Kintambo hospital opened in 1958 (April 30, 2011). 

Queen Elisabeth visits the hospital -- 1928

Hopital de la Rive -- 2010

Commune de Ngaliema, formerly the Red Cross Hospital -- 2009

Commune de Ngaliema, former Bacteriological Laboratory -- 2006

Hopital General de Kinshasa, formerly Hopital des Noirs -- 2010

 

Sources:

·         Foreign Relations of the United States, 1907, Vol.II.

·         Janssens, Edouard, 1912. Les Belges au Congo, Vol III.

·         Moulaert, Georges, 1948.  Souvenirs d’Afrique.

·         www.wikinshasa.com

Kinshasa 2012 – Plus ça change…

I had an opportunity to return to Kinshasa last week and see how things have evolved since I attended the TASOK Reunion in June 2011 (July 3, 2011).  There is a bit of “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” about Kinshasa, but there is definitely change.  I stayed at the Memling Hotel (Mar. 29, 2011).  The constant passage of shoe shiners clicking their boxes on the street below sounded like horse-drawn carts on cobbled streets, of which the latter can still be found in this part of Kinshasa (June 18, 2012).

Ave. Plateau, looking towards the Boulevard

First, an update on Boulevard du 30e Juin (Jan.23, 2011).  The eight-lane highway handles a huge volume of traffic as the primary east-west artery serving the downtown.  It can be congested at peak times in the day, but traffic moves smoothly for the most part.  The placement of brick-colored sidewalk tiles being laid last year is largely completed from Socimat intersection to the Gare Centrale, providing a boon to Kinshasa’s majority pedestrian population.  The square emplacements for trees placed at regular intervals along the sidewalk, however, remain empty and have become targets for tossing trash.  I hope the municipal authorities will take advantage of the upcoming rainy season to plant trees along the Boulevard to restore the stately lines of the Limba trees planted in the mid-1950s when the Boulevard was first constructed.

Boulevard du 30e Juin -- sidewalks

There are stop lights on the Boulevard.  High tech affairs which show direction permitted and time remaining before the light changes, as well as time for pedestrian crossing.  There appear to be two schools of thought on this development among Kinois.  One group, by no means minority, behaves as if these directions should be complied with.  A second faction, holdouts from a different era, still run lights or dash across the road against the light.  I heard numerous critical observations of such behavior by pedestrians as we stood waiting patiently for our light.  Even where there are no stoplights, drivers will stop for pedestrians as they venture across the zebra crossings.

Blvd. 30e Juin & Ave. Port

Does this blog have any influence in Kinshasa’s development or is it just a nostalgia buff’s preoccupation with Lipopo and Kin-la-belle?  In the series on hotels in March last year (Mar. 27, 2011), I looked at the second Hotel Stanley, which served as the French Embassy for 50 years until it relocated to UtexAfrica last year (July 3, 2011).  Since its construction in the late 1950s, the hotel presented an unadorned back-side to the Boulevard.  Now, an investor is completing an engaging 4-story “flat-iron” office building in the triangle converging on 30e Juin.

New construction on Blvd. 30e Juin & Ave. Plateau - former French Embassy in background

In March this year, I featured the dilapidated and featureless former office of the L.C. Gillespie company on Ave. Ebeya (Mar.14, 2012).  In the 1920s, Gillespie was the local representative of the Ford Motor Company.  Recently, AMC opened a Ford showroom there. Plus ca change…

The Ford dealership on Ave. Ebeya

Returning to the Boulevard, the building on the site of the former Albertum Cinema (and later Cinemax), which I found suspended last year, is now rising above the Boulevard in an engaging, semi-circular structure, said to be a hotel built by former President of the Federation des Entreprises Congolaises (the Chamber of Commerce), Kinduelo.  The structure presents a new face on the Boulevard while at the same time maintaining scale with its neighbors and the Hotel de Postes across the street.

Cinema Cinemax, ex-Albertum on the Boulevard

New building on Blvd. 30e Juin

Down the street from the Kinduelo project, in front of the Police office occupying the old Cercle de Kinshasa (Mar. 19, 2011), a sign promotes the “Hub d’Affaires du Leopoard Volant”.  Given the location, I declined to pull out my camera, but it appears to be the resurrection of the Claude Laurens’ Hotel Aviamar complex (Aug. 15, 2011).  The “Leopard Volant” refers to Lignes Aeriennes Congolaises (Air Congo) and the proposed project promises a 7-star hotel, 300 offices, 1500 parking spaces, an Olympic swimming pool, as well as residential and commercial space.  I was not able to find anything about the project on an initial search of the web, however.

Congolese music, Congo Jazz, is experiencing a return to its roots.  Contempoary musician Koffi Olomide recently organized a concert to recognize veteran musician Tabu Ley.  He now has a concert planned to interpret and commemorate the late Franco Luambo Makiadi’s music.

On this trip, I made a point of visiting the Botanical Garden a few blocks from downtown (Feb. 6, 2011).  Created in 1933, the park experienced a decline as a haven for street children and prostitutes until its rehabilitation in June 2010 as part of the 50^th Independence Anniversary celebration.  I paid my Fr.2000 ex-pat entrance fee and entered an urban oasis of greenery and calm on the edges of Kinshasa’s frenetic urban scene.  The garden continues to be well-maintained and workers were watering and tending to the plants.  It also attracts impassioned believers who audibly and earnestly profess their faith among the shrubbery. I found the same phenomenon at the National Arboretum in Nairobi where I lived before moving back to Congo this year.

Botanical Garden -- rear entrance

Leopoldville 1913 - SYNKIN Begins Operations

As Kinshasa began to supplant Leopoldville as the economic center of the future capital, local authorities developed plans to relocate the port upstream to Kinshasa (See Mar. 13, 2011).  A new company, the Syndicat d’Etudes et d’Entreprises au Congo, known as Synkin, was established in February 1913 in hopes of securing the contract to construct the port.  The Ministry of Colonies decided not to go forward with the port project at that time, so Synkin opted to extend its reach into the construction industry; selling construction materials, equipment and tools of all kinds, establishing a sawmill and carpentry shop, operating a shipyard, and securing a forest concession at Lukolela some 200 kilometers up the Congo River to supply its operations in the city.

The SYNKIN store viewd from Ave. Cerckel (Ave. de la Paix)

Synkin established its offices at the corner of Ave. Beernaert (Equateur) and Cerckel (Paix) in a Romanesque arcaded building that wrapped around the street corner with a curious tower structure in the center. An early director was Joseph Rhodius, a former rail superintendent on the Matadi-Leopolville line, who joined the firm after building the Hotel A.B.C. in 1914 (See Mar. 27, 2011).  Under his direction Synkin built many houses in the town as well as the offices of the Intertropical-Comfina trading firm.  After World War I, Rhodius left Synkin to found the Texaf textile factory and build the Sanga hydro-power station that would later become part of today’s SNEL (Jan. 9, 2011). He was succeeded at Synkin by Leon Biron who played an important role in municipal affairs and directed the company’s activities for 25 years, before retiring as Director General in 1946. 

The SYNKIN store from Ave. Cerckel (R) and Beernaert (L)

In 1920 Synkin carried out a feasibility study to provide potable water to the town.  At this point, the ABC Hotel was sending a truck to Leopoldville every day to bring water in dame-jeanne jugs.  By 1923, the water plant was providing 800 cubic meters of treated water daily, drawn from the Congo River.



The water tower on Ave. VanGele (Lukusa) - House in foreground approximate location of Citibank today



In October 1923, a journalist for the Nation Belge, Roger de Chatelux – known by his nom de plume Chalux -- visited Kinshasa.  Taking into account the decision the previous year to name Kinshasa as the future capital (See Sep. 12, 2011), Chalux was impressed by the significant construction activity under way in Kinshasa and adjacent Kalina.  He found Synkin to be in the middle of it all.  When he got off the train from Matadi, he had to detour around an “army” of Congolese placing the mauve cobble stones which can still be found in parts of downtown.  Chalux noted that Synkin was involved in water supply, ship building, sale of construction materials, construction of most housing in Leopoldville and Kinshasa, and a range of public works projects.

SYNKIN store looking down Ave. Cerckel -- Note Texaco gas pump on corner

When Oscar Chinn first arrived in Kinshasa in 1930, he initially began his ship-building operation at the Synkin yard in Ndolo (See.Oct. 31, 2011).  Synkin was also the representative of Texaco, with a gas pump on the corner of Aves. Beernaert and Cerckel.

SYNKIN -- 1930s

After WWII, Otraco acquired the Synkin shipyard at Ndolo in order to expand its shipyard from 2.6 hectares to 10 ha and gain 350 meters of river frontage.  In the 1950s, Synkin rebuilt its store on Ave. Cerckel with a modern brick façade not often seen in commercial structures in Leopoldville.

The SYNKIN store prior to reconstruction

The SYNKIN store undergoing reconstruction

The completed SYNKIN store

The new store viewed from Ave. Cerckel

The old store from Ave. de la Paix

When foreign businesses were nationalized under Mobutu’s Zairianization program in 1973, Synkin became Zamat.  Its first Congolese Director General was Jean Bolikango (See Sep. 30, 2011), a contender for Prime Minister in 1960 and later Minister of Information.  Like many Zairianized businesses, when Mobutu offered the firms back to the original owners in 1976, there were no takers.  Most recently, the building housed a furniture store which did a slow business selling imported Italian furniture.

The SYNKIN store in 2004

Sources:

·         Chalux, 1925. Un an au Congo Belge. Librairie Albert Dewitt.

·         Lederer, 1965. Histoire de la Navigation au Congo, Musée Royale de l’Afrique Centrale.

·         Moulaert, Georges. 1948. Souvenirs d’Afrique 1902-1912. Eds. C. Dessart.