April 13, 1870.
Clear weather, moderate temperature.
The surging, majestic waters of the Zambezi River hurtled along the cliff face like ten thousand galloping horses, plunging straight into the bottomless depths of the gorge. Under the refraction of sunlight, the immense mist formed a beautiful rainbow bridge.
The falls roared like thunder. The tremendous crash of water could be heard for several kilometers along both banks, and standing at the water's edge, one could only be awed by nature's divine craftsmanship.
I stood atop a massive boulder, looking down over the entire waterfall complex, and for the first time felt my own insignificance. Even after more than twenty years of military service, after countless choices between life and death, I had never felt this way before.
War had brought me nothing but numbness. Or rather, it was my work, my only means of making a living.
Yet this wondrous spectacle of nature struck my numbed soul with tremendous force, cleansing a spirit blackened by the smoke of war.
—Excerpt from The Diary of Felix, Commander-in-Chief of the East African Kingdom Army
Felix's diary became one of the few detailed written historical records of later East Africa, showing through Felix's eyes how East Africa expanded across Africa and ruled the local populations.
It could also be considered a rare written piece of evidence of East Africa's colonial crimes. The later East African authorities did not deny it; Ernst merely gave the matter the cold shoulder.
Once someone wanted to understand East African history, they could not avoid Felix's diary. However, the copyright was held by the royal family, and its price was set extremely high. Ordinary people mostly learned of this period of history through sensationalist media accounts.
And apart from Felix's diary, there truly was no better avenue. The East