 Sperber arrived in Zanzibar on 26 October ; four days earlier , the protectorate of Wituland had been granted to Germany . Sperber 's first assignment upon reaching East Africa was to conduct a formal survey of the border between Wituland and British Kenya . Sperber was also to conduct the formal flag raising in the new protectorate . Starting on 1 November , Sperber joined the fight against the rebels . In early December , Sperber and her sister ship Schwalbe were present at ceremonial reception of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition at Bagamoyo . Both ships were also involved with settling the border of Wituland on 27 – 29 December . In mid @-@ January 1890 , Pfeil , Leipzig , and Sophie left East Africa , leaving Schwalbe , Sperber , and Carola on the station . 
