THE EISE OF 
 QUE EAST AFEICAX EMPIEE 
 
 Volume I. 
 
 V> 
 
 NYASALAND AND EASTERN AFRICA 
 
 WITH CHAPTERS ON 
 COMMERCE, SLAVE-TRADE, AND SPORT 
 
 » Reuter's Agency learns that Captain Lugarcl 
 will very shortly leave England for Ngamiland to take 
 1 charge of aa expedition whose object is to op^n up the 
 country and develop its resources for British trade. 
 Lieutenant E.J. Lngard, D.S.O., will accompany his 
 brother as second in command. The work of the 
 expedition will include a geographical eurvey of the 
 country and the testing of its mineral resources. The 
 views of the promoters of the expedition are in 
 entire accord with Mr. Chamberlain's policy regarding 
 " undeveloped estates." Captain Lugard is free to 
 resifjn the command of the expedition whenever the 
 Government may require his services iu East Africa or ; 
 eluewiiore. V f., ! 
 
 "^ 
 
 >/> y-
 
 DT 
 
 V, / 
 
 Dctiicntfti 
 
 TO 
 
 MY UNCLE, 
 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 GENERAL SIE EDWAED LUGARD, G.C.B. 
 
 WHOSE EXA:\1PLE and CHAKACTEi; 
 
 IT HAS BEEN MY GREATEST AMBITION 
 
 TO EMULATE.
 
 INTEODITCTION. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Uganda and East Africa have recently excited such 
 ^ a widespread interest, that I venture to hope my 
 SS humhle attempt to record the story of past endeavours, 
 3 and my fe^arnest effort to throw some Hght upon the 
 questions which remain for sohition regarding their 
 ^' future administration and cajmbiUties, will meet with 
 f. the apjDroval of those who have shown so strong an 
 '^ interest in their fate. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government have lately sent a Com- 
 mission of Inquiry to Uganda ; and I hope that the 
 account contained in these pages of the series of events 
 which led to the political situation which Sir Gerald 
 Portal was sent to examine, may be read with some 
 interest in conjunction with his report. At the present 
 time, moreover, when we have already declared a pro- 
 tectorate over Nyasaland and Zanzibar, and it is not 
 beyond the bounds of probability that East Africa and 
 Uganda may before long share the same advantages, 
 the various 2>i't>blems which present themselves for 
 solution in these infant empires in East Africa de- 
 
 
 83851
 
 Vlll INTEODUCTION. 
 
 mancl our most serious attention. Since there is no 
 specialist attached to the mission who can furnish an 
 authoritative report on the capabiUties of the soil and 
 climate for various agricultural products of commercial 
 value — on the animal fodder, &c. — I venture to hope 
 that my own observations — albeit not those of an ex- 
 pert — may under the circumstances be of some use. 
 
 My aim, therefore, in these volumes, has been not so 
 much to set forth a narrative of personal adventure, 
 sport, and travel — a species of writing with which the 
 public has been regaled by those who have far more to 
 tell than I — but rather to place before thinking men 
 subjects of more serious concern, both to ourselves in 
 our dealings with Africa and to the subject races for 
 whose welfare we have made ourselves responsible. 
 
 The rapid increase of population, the closing of the 
 hitherto available outlets for emigration and for in- 
 dustrial extension, as well as of the markets for our 
 goods, and the sources of supply of our needs, indicate 
 that the time is not far distant when the teeming 
 populations of Europe will turn to the fertile highlands 
 of Africa to seek new fields for expansion. It is pos- 
 sible, therefore, that British Central and British East 
 Africa may be the embryo empires of an epoch already 
 dawning — empires which, in the zenith of their growth 
 and development, may rival those mighty dependencies 
 which are now the pride of the Anglo-Saxon race. It 
 behoves us, then, to take heed to the small beginnings 
 of these great things, and in laying the foundations, 
 to ensure that the greatness of the structure shall 
 not suffer from lack of realisation on our part in the 
 j)resent. ) /
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 ( ( There are many who have seemed to look on Africa 
 as merely a field for romance and adventure — as a 
 great blank continent on which explorers or adven- 
 turers were free to write their own names in capital 
 letters. With the last decade of the nineteenth 
 century I trust that a new era has dawned for the 
 African, and a new conception of our duties with 
 regard to him has dawned upon ourselves. If these 
 pages shall make it clearer what those duties are, and 
 if the suggestions (which I offer with diffidence) shall 
 to some extent be found feasible and worthy of 
 acceptance, my aim in writing these volumes Avill be 
 accomjjlished and my ambition fulfilled. 
 
 I well know, of course, that the views which I have 
 expressed may be open to dissent. I have had, how- 
 ever, the privilege for many years of enjoying the 
 friendship of Sir John Kirk, than whom no living man 
 knows moi-e of these matters, and of the Rev. H. 
 Waller, and others who have devoted their time and 
 attention to African affairs. I have, so far as time 
 lias permitted me, endeavoured to collate the oi^inions 
 (•f Avcll - known writers, such as Gordon, Livingstone, 
 Speke, Grant, Baker, and more modern travellers, and, 
 A\'here possible, I have quoted my authority. Above 
 all, I have had the great advantage of going into these 
 questions myself on the spot, and hearing the views 
 of others in Africa itself 
 
 I would plead for tlic indulgence due to the first 
 literary attempt of one whose life has been more full of 
 action than of leisure. This must stand as my a])ology 
 for defects of style and lack of literary merit. Those 
 who have lived year after year in the surroundings of
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 civilisation can hardly appreciate, perhaps, the effect of 
 a total exclusion from all sources of literature. For 
 some sixteen years my life has been a series of wander- 
 ings on service in the field, in various parts of India 
 and in Africa, far from libraries, and often even from 
 periodical literature. 
 
 Nor have I the presumption to suppose that a book 
 which has extended to the length of the present vol- 
 umes will be read consecutively through from cover to 
 cover, except by a very few. I hope, however, that with 
 the assistance of the index, upon which special care has 
 been bestowed, those who are interested in any one of 
 the various problems to which I have alluded (com- 
 merce, labour, transport, administration, slave - trade, 
 missions, &c.) will be able with little trouble to refer to 
 such portions of the book as may have a special in- 
 terest for them. Others who may be concerned in the 
 religious controversy which has arisen regarding the 
 treatment of the sects in Uganda, or in the narrative 
 of travel, the war against the slavers in Nyasaland, or 
 in sport, the domestication of the African elephant, 
 &c., will, I trust, find something of interest on each of 
 these subjects in the following pages, and pardon the 
 inclusion of matter outside the sphere of their own 
 individual sympathy. 
 
 In the mere narrative of travel, I have endeavoured 
 not so much to describe the ethnological characteristics 
 or the social peculiarities of the peoples of Africa — I 
 have even omitted the chapter on the customs and 
 traditions of the Waganda and neighbouring countries, 
 — for these have been again and again exhaustively 
 described by such ^vriters as Burton, Livingstone,
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 Schweinfurth, Junker, Speke, and many others : I 
 have rather attempted, with perhaps indiflPerent suc- 
 cess, to present a view of Africa and its people, and 
 of the hfe of the European in that country, which will 
 convey a distinct conception to the reader, and enable 
 him to conjure up a mental picture of daily life in 
 Africa, and the round of daily work or travel. For 
 it has often seemed to me that travellers have been 
 so engrossed with the stirring events in which they 
 have borne a part, that they have given prominence 
 to these, to the exclusion of the petty and daily 
 incident ; and that, writing long after the conclusion 
 of their travels, when such daily routine had become 
 familiarised to their minds by constant habit, they 
 have presupposed an elementary knowledge of the 
 nature and features of the country and its people, and 
 of the modes and initia of travel, which the average 
 reader does not j^ossess — or possessing, cannot with 
 certainty adapt to the special part of the country of 
 which he may be reading. For this reason I have 
 ])urposely quoted freely from my diary, that the first 
 impressions of the moment may be photographed in 
 my Images. 
 
 A word as to the spelling of African names. 1 have 
 adopted, for the most part, the Swahili prefix, since 
 this language is a type of the Bantu tongues, and has 
 been called the lingua franca of Africa, In the Swahili 
 vocabulary the name of a country begins with U, of 
 an individual with M, of individuals (plural) with Wa-, 
 of a language with Ki-, thus : — 
 
 ['j;ando, fount ry. MijamUi, an imlividual. Maf/KHdo, the people. A"(>i(i'?o, the language. 
 Vsoga, .1 Msoga, « }]'a$o(io, <• A'l.-oj/rt, .. 
 
 Ukamlxi, n Mkamba, <• Walcinnho, <• Ki-I.nmlxt, <•
 
 Xll INTEODUCTION. 
 
 These prefixes are locally changed, and this causes con- 
 fusion. Thus in the language of Uganda, the country 
 is called Buganda, Busoga, Buddu. The jDeople, Ba- 
 ganda, Bahuma, Basoga. The language, Luganda, &c. 
 So again in Nyasaland the plural W is dropped, and 
 Wankonde becomes 'Ankonde, Atonga, Angoni, &c. ; 
 as also the singular M, and one speaks of a 'Nkonde 
 man, an Atonga, &c. In some cases it has been 
 necessary to defer to these variations, where names 
 have become well known through the writings of 
 others (as Buddu, Wankonde, &c.) I may add that 
 i' and I are completely interchangeable in the Bantu 
 languages, so that the natives will use the forms 
 Ingleza, Ingreza, Ankoli, Ankori, in the same breath, 
 without apparently any perception of a difference in 
 sound. 
 
 Two or three African words, being of very constant 
 use and expressive, have been admitted. Thus mi- 
 randu of Nyasaland, and shauri of East Africa — the 
 former Chinyanja, the latter Swahili — mean a con- 
 ference, a discussion, a palaver, or a council. The 
 former comes to mean a "quarrel" as the result of an 
 argument, and so the threat " I'll have a mirandu if 
 you do not do so," is the exact equivalent of " I shall 
 have something to say to you if," &c. A shainha is 
 a plantation, and means also cultivation generally. In 
 Uganda it is used as the equivalent of hycdo, and may 
 mean an estate from the size of a garden to a large 
 district containing very many smaller hyalo or shambas. 
 A safari is a caravan. Ashari are an intermediate 
 rank below the headmen, but above the porters ; they 
 carry no loads, and are available for special duties.
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 Askari also means a soldier — amone' the Sudanese, 
 ashar. Aithain (Sudanese, viz. Arabic), the widows 
 and belongings of a dead man. 
 
 The maps have been specially prepared by Mr E. 
 G. Ravenstein, from all available sources, and he has 
 most kindly embodied in them much information not 
 otherwise obtainable. Probably no man in England 
 is better acquainted with every detail of East African 
 geography than Mr Ravenstein, who has made it a 
 special study, and the reader may therefore rely on 
 these maps as being more exactly accurate and more 
 " up to date" than any which have yet been jDublished. 
 Mr Stanley, Dr Stuhlmann, and other great explorers, 
 have, I believe, placed their charts at his disposal at 
 various times, and as cartographer to the Imperial 
 British East African Company he has had access to 
 tlie numerous local maps made by emiyloyes of the 
 Company : his opportunities and his knowledge are 
 therefore unique. Moreover, he has had similar in- 
 formation at his disposal with regard to Nyasaland 
 and the intermediate district, and I therefore feel that 
 by obtaining his services for the compilation of my maps 
 the very best possible results have been ensured. 
 
 Of my own route from the coast to the farthest 
 point of my travels in East Africa, I prepared a road 
 cliart, on the scale of four miles to the inch, upon 
 which I inserted copious notes of the soil, vegetation, 
 &c. These have, of course, been utilised by Mr Raven- 
 stein, and the area to the west of the Nile, up to 
 Ivuwciizori and the frontiers of the Congo State, has 
 l)een reduced to twelve miles to the inch, and repro- 
 duced as a facsimile of my chart by the Intelligence
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Department War Office under my own supervision ; 
 and they, by the kindness of Colonel Trotter, have 
 suj)plied Messrs Stanford with transfers for the produc- 
 tion of the map in this volume. Captain Williams, 
 R.A., has kindly inserted upon it the divisions of the 
 various provinces of Uganda, according to his idea of 
 their delimitation, and in conjunction with the notes 
 made by myself. He has also sketched in the Sesse 
 group of islands in the Victoria Lake. 
 
 The illustrations have been undertaken by my sister- 
 in-law, Mrs E. J. Lugard, by Mr G. D, Rowlandson, 
 and by Messrs Ross and Hare of my regiment. They 
 have been produced from a vast number of photo- 
 graphs and drawings, for which I am indebted to 
 Bishop Tucker, C.M.S., Mr F. C. Smith, C.M.S., Cap- 
 tain Pringle, E,.E. (of the Railway Survey), and many 
 other friends. Each artist has taken the most infinite 
 pains in the production of the pictures — often redraw- 
 ing the picture several times — under my personal su- 
 pervision, until every detail corresponded as exactly 
 as possible with the actual scene as I remember it. 
 For their untiring patience, and their willingness to 
 sacrifice time and labour and even "artistic effect" 
 to my desire for accuracy, I owe them my hearty 
 thanks. 
 
 13 Bury Street, St .James', 
 LoNDox, October 1893.
 
 COXTENTS OF THE FIRST TOLUME. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 IXTRODUCTIOX, . ...... vii 
 
 I. START FOR AFRICA ARRIVE QUILIMAXE, ... 1 
 
 II. QUILIMAXE TO BLANTYRE, .... .22 
 
 III. THE ORIGIN OF THE WAR — SLAVE-TRADE AND MISSIONS, 51 
 
 IV. BLANTYRE TO KARONGA's, . . . . . 77 
 V. THE ATTACK ON THE SLAVERS LIFE AT KARONGa's, . 107 
 
 VL EVENTS AT KARONGA's NYASALAND TO ENGLAND, . 137 
 
 VIL AFRICAN SLAVERY, . . . . . .168 
 
 VIII. METHODS OF SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE - TRADE ARMS 
 
 AND LIQUOR-TRADE, . . . . .196 
 
 IX. SAIL AGAIN FOR AFRICA MOMBASA TO MAKONGENI, . 217 
 
 X. LIFE IN THE JUNGLE, 
 XI. MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO's AND BACK TO MOMBASA, . 26 
 
 XII. WORK IN MOMBASA — START AGAIN FOR INTERIOR 
 
 MOMBASA TO MACHAKO's, 
 XIII. MACHAKO's TO THE LILWA RIVER, . 
 XIV. LILWA RIVER TO UGANDA, 
 ""^ XV. COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF EAST AFRICA, 
 ^ XVI. EAST AFRICA AS A FIELD FOR DEVELOPMENT, 
 
 XVII. METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT, . 
 ^ XVIIL LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA, 
 
 243 
 
 293 
 322 
 348 
 379 
 404 
 439 
 471
 
 XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 XIX. THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA, . . . 492 
 
 XX. SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS, . . . . 517 
 
 XXI. SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS — Continued, . . 544 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 A. THE INDIAN ACT (v. OF 1843) ABOLISHING THE LEGAL 
 
 STATUS OF SLAVERY, . . . . .561 
 
 B. THE ANTI-SLAVERY EDICT OF AUG. IST, 1890, . . 562
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 CAPTAIX F. D. LUGARD, 
 
 RIVER SCENE OX THE KWAKWA, 
 
 CANOEING ON THE SHIR:6 RIVER, 
 
 MASSACRE OF THE WANKOND^, 
 
 LAKE NYASA BY MOONLIGHT (LIVINGSTONIA BAY), 
 
 THE FIRST ATTACK ON KOPA-KOPa's, . 
 
 SUNRISE ON THE LAKE, 
 
 SHELLING THE STOCKADES OF THE SLAVERS, 
 
 MAKONGENI STOCKADE, 
 
 LOST IN A BURMESE FOREST, . 
 
 MARCHING ALONG THE SABAKHI, 
 
 FOOD-PURCHASE IN UKAMBA, . 
 
 GAME ON THE ATHI PLAINS, . 
 
 ARRIVAL IX KIKUYU, . 
 
 BUILDING DAGORET[ STOCKADE, 
 
 DUALLA A VICTIM, 
 
 CROSSING THE NILE, 
 
 HORNS OF ANTELOPE, BUFFALO, ETC., . 
 
 BUCHANAN'S COFFEE PLANTATIONS, 
 
 HORNS OF ANTELOPE, . 
 
 HORNS OF ANTELOPE, . 
 
 HORNS OF ANTELOPE, . 
 
 Frontis'piece 
 To face -page 24 
 30 
 54 
 78 
 114 
 142 
 150 
 236 
 262 
 272 
 274 
 322 
 324 
 334 
 346 
 374 
 384 
 388 
 400 
 416 
 448
 
 XVlll 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 HORNS OF ANTELOPE, . 
 
 BURMESE KHEDDAH OPERATIONS, 
 
 SHUKRI CHARGED, 
 
 A RHINO ON THE RAMPAGE, . 
 
 ANTELOPES, 
 
 ANTELOPES, 
 
 ANTELOPES, 
 
 To face inuje 464 
 n 504 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. 
 
 LIFE ON BOARD, 
 
 ASCENDING THE SHIR^ PLATEAU, 
 
 BLANTYRE CHURCH (INTERIOR), 
 
 MANDALA HOUSE, 
 
 A WANKOND^ VILLAGE, 
 
 DR D. KERR CROSS, 
 
 MLOZI, . 
 
 A BAOBAB TREE, 
 
 DR LAWS, 
 
 AN ANGONI, 
 
 STEAMING BY NIGHT ON THE ILALA, 
 
 A NATIVE OF NKOND^, 
 
 A SLAVER IN CAPTIVITY, 
 
 NIGHT-WATCH AT KARONGa's, . 
 
 attack on a dhow, . 
 
 slave caravan on the march, 
 
 mombasa harbour, 
 
 a swahili, 
 
 " dum spiro spero," . 
 
 face to face, . 
 
 a foolhardy encounter, 
 
 masai and wakamba warriors, 
 
 slave caravan at tsavo river, 
 
 Wilson's illness, 
 
 nzoi peak — the gate of central africa, 
 
 blood-brotherhood ceremonies, 
 
 returning by night through kikuyu forest.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 THE TRACK OF THE PLAGUE, . 
 ENTRANCE TO A VILLAGE (kAVIRONDO), 
 OUR WELCOME TO WAKOLl's, . 
 
 blantyre church (exterior), 
 african and indian elephants, 
 a solitary bull buffalo, . 
 
 357 
 362 
 369 
 474 
 498 
 523 
 
 COLOURED MAPS. 
 
 PART OF EAST AFRICA, TO ILLUSTRATE THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN 
 
 F. D. LUGARD, . . . In poclct (it beginning of volume 
 
 PART OF EASTERN AFRICA, SHOWING THE ROUTES OF CAPTAIN F. D. 
 
 LUGARD, ........ 218 
 
 THE POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF AFRICA (EUROPEAN TREATIES), . 384 
 
 ROAD CHART, SHOWING ROUTES OF CAPTAIN LUGARD IN UGANDA 
 
 AND UNYORO AND ADJOINING TERRITORIES, In pocJcet cit end of wlicme 
 
 MAPS IN TEXT. 
 
 NORTHERN END OF LAKE NYASA, ..... 94 
 
 ROUGH SKETCH OF SLAVERS' STOCKADES, AND ROUTE OF NIGHT 
 
 RECONNAISSANCE, . . . . . . .103
 
 USWa fihv odv eycuy' €\0,TToviJ.ai, . . . on (pvaei -KaffLV avdpdnrois vTripx^i 
 Twv jxev \oi5opiwv Kal twv KaT7]yopLwv aKOViiv ^Secos, tois S' enatvovaiv 
 av70vs axdeaOuL . . . Kav fjnv . . . euAajSon/ie^'os toCto /jlti Xeyw to 
 Tmrpayfxiva. e/xavrw, ovk ^X^"' awoAvcraadaL to. KaT7]yop7i/j.iva 5o'|a) . 
 iav 5' €<p' a Kal Tre-rroirjKa Kal irfTToXiTevfj.ai ySaSi^&i, iroWaKis X^y^iv avayKaa- 
 Bricrofxat irepl efxavTov. — DEMOSTHENES, -jrepl (rncpdvov, yS'. 
 
 I am at a disadvantage in many Avays. It is human nature that 
 we all listen gladly when any one is abused or accused, but are 
 impatient of any one praising himself. If to avoid this I refrain 
 from speaking of what I have done, I shall seem to be unable to 
 rebut the accusations ; but if I enter upon an account of my actions 
 and policy, I shall be compelled to speak rejoeatedly about myself. 
 — Demosthenes, De Corona.
 
 THE RISE OF 
 OUR EAST AFRICAN EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Fth. "lih— April "Jth, 1888. ♦ 
 
 START FOR AFRICA — ARRIVE AT QUILIMANE. 
 
 Return from Burma — Health impaired — Necessity for active work — Go on 
 half-pay — Arrive at Naples — My services refused by Italians — Life on 
 board — Extraordinary kindness — Arrive at Italian camp — No prospect 
 of service — General Baldisera — Portal's mission — Italian soldiers — 
 Their efjuipment — Arrive at Aden — Embark for Zanzibar — Scheme 
 of elephant-hunting, and future employment — German emigrants — 
 Zanzibar — General Mathews — The Baghdad — Sail for Quilimane — 
 Portuguese and slavery — O'Neill — The fighting at Karonga's — An in- 
 solent native — Gold prospectors and their methods — The Dunkeld — 
 Arrive at Quilimane — Doubts about the Karonga war. 
 
 In August 1887 I returned from the Burma campaign, 
 in wliicli heavy work and a bad climate had shattered 
 my health. Unwilling, by going on sick-leave, to be 
 again an absentee from my regiment — from wliich I 
 had been already separated while serving in tlie Sudan 
 and Burma campaigns unseconded, wliereby my absence 
 involved extra duty on the others — I effected an ex- 
 change to the battalion at home, and reached England 
 VOL. I. A
 
 2 START FOR AFRICA. 
 
 ill September 1887. The few weeks' leave, which was 
 all that was granted me, after many continuous years 
 in the East, — including two campaigns of nearly a year 
 each, in perhaps the worst climates in the world, — had 
 not sufficed to restore my health, when I found myself 
 again under orders for foreign service, and embarked 
 with my regiment for Gibraltar on Dec. 22d. 
 
 Finding myself unfit to discharge purely routine 
 duties satisfactorily, I applied to be placed on tem- 
 porary half-pay, and this course was permitted to me 
 on the recommendation of a medical board. The ques- 
 tion then was. What should I do ? What I felt I 
 needed was active hard work — rather than rest — in 
 order to recover from the strain. So with fifty sov- 
 ereigns in my belt, and with practically no outfit at 
 all except my favourite little "450 rifle, — which had 
 done me service already in many countries, for some 
 years, — I got on board the first passing ship, as a 
 second-class passenger, and sailed I knew not whither. 
 It was a strange experience, beginning life all over 
 again, as it seemed, with only an old rifle, paid for — 
 in the absence of funds — by shooting a man-eating tiger 
 with a reward on his head ! 
 
 We got to Naples, to which port the ship was 
 bound. I had done my utmost before leaving England 
 to obtain permission to join the Italians, then fight- 
 ing against the Abyssinians, and smarting from their 
 recent reverse at Dogali. I had failed, and was told 
 the thing was impossible. So having come to Italy, 
 I now took the night train to Rome, and once more 
 offered my services, pleading the five medals and 
 decorations which I already wore (including the 
 D.S.O., then recently instituted) as my only claim for 
 consideration. 
 
 They would have none of me, and told me that I 
 should be arrested as a spy immediately on my arrival
 
 LIFE ON BOARD. 3 
 
 ill Abyssinia; that the only "foreigner" there, was 
 the ' Times' correspondent, and even he had only won 
 permission after eight days of negotiation, backed by a 
 letter from her Majesty's Government and the ' Times' 
 influence. I returned by the night mail, and found my 
 ship on the point of sailing. Embarking, I went in her 
 as far as Suez. I led here a very curious life, a chapter 
 indeed in itself; but I am not ^^Titing an autobiography, 
 and must pass on. My sovereigns were running down, 
 and I was driven to strange shifts and expedients. By- 
 and-by a ship came in bound for Massowa, and laden 
 with timber. In the exigency of the diminishing re- 
 sources, I took this time a deck passage, and slept 
 at haphazard among the timber. The necessities of 
 the case drove me for my morning bath to the fore- 
 castle and a b\icket of water among the sailors, and 
 for my meal of broken victuals with the Italian cook, 
 to the cook's galley alongside the engines, — in the 
 Red Sea ! where the heat was such as would try a 
 black stoker. 
 
 "Adversity finds us strange bedfellows," and in a 
 somewhat varied experience it has struck me as most 
 wonderful what an amount of human kindness and 
 genuine true-heartedness comes to the surface under 
 such circumstances, hidden often under the roughest ex- 
 teriors. My diary bears witness to this again and again, 
 — how always in my extremity I met nothing but gener- 
 osity, how every one on all occasions treated me with 
 a singular kindness, which, in my lonely position, made 
 me often feel almost foolishly grateful. A fine stalwart 
 fellow — an Italian who spoke some English, the boat- 
 swain of tlie crew — had become my friend. Rough he 
 was, but he treated me with a respect to which my posi- 
 tion laid no claim. I saw him but seldom, but though 
 I was herded witli Arab coolies and Italian roughs, he 
 saw through my disguise, and told me he knew I was
 
 START FOR AFRICA. 
 
 a gentilhomme, and did all he could to make my way 
 easy. His story he confided to me, and, poor fellow, it 
 was a sad one indeed. Impulsive but sincere, he sur- 
 prised me one evening by suddenly saying, with a fervid 
 imprecation, "I do anything for YOU. You want shirt, 
 I give you my own shirt off my back [seizing it in his 
 hand], because you have good heart," and he turned 
 abruptly away to hide his emotion. I suffered much 
 from sleeplessness, and the well-meant sympathy of this 
 good-hearted fellow touched me deeply. It was not a 
 
 Life u.\ Board. 
 
 voyage de luxe, as would appear from the only de- 
 scriptive passage I can find in my diary. "At last, 
 at 8.30, I made up my bed. The very coolies on board 
 have a mattress of sorts, or a gudcli (quilted mat). I 
 have only a rug, and the iron ledge on which I sleep 
 has some nuts in it, which are uncomfortable, and a 
 pipe sticks out behind my head, and again at my knees, 
 so I have only about 4 ft. of length and one of breadth, 
 and my legs have to hang over, but it is cleaner than
 
 START FOR THE ITALIAN CAMP. 5 
 
 the deck." In another passage I find a description of 
 the process of washing my own clothes, an art I now 
 essayed for the first time ! But I will not detail the 
 incidents of the voyage, vivid though they are in my 
 memory. We arrived at Massowa on Feb. 25th. 
 
 My resolve had been to join the Italian expedition ; 
 and, denied in my attempts hitherto, I had come here in 
 jjursuance of my original plan. Landing in the evening 
 at Massowa, I went to a cafe, and learnt that there 
 was a railway as far as Dogali, and that the Italian 
 advanced camp lay at Saati beyond. I managed to 
 pick up a Somal who, hailing from Aden, had acquired 
 a knowledge of Hindustani ; and promising him a liberal 
 reward (which I could ill afibrd), I secured his services. 
 We mounted a train, and presently an Italian ofiicial 
 came and demanded our passports. I affected a crass 
 ignorance. He gesticulated in various languages, and I 
 responded in English or Hindustani, volubly assuring 
 him it was all right in a language he did not under- 
 stand, and ignoring his earnest efforts to induce me to 
 comprehend that he wanted a passport. I was as 
 courteous as jDossible — in Hindustani — but as stupid as 
 a mule, and failed to perceive that I must innne- 
 diately get out or ])roduce the desired document. The 
 train began to move. The exasperated official, finding 
 himself in a dilemma, gave me up as hopeless, but there 
 was no mistaking liis meaning that he would oust the 
 Somal at any rate. I told the latter (in Hindustani) 
 to "hang on"; the official tried to pull him <nit ; I 
 expostulated, as though my feelings were nuich Imrt. 
 The train moved faster and f\ister, till tlie official was 
 compelled to drop off; and I expect it was just as well 
 that 1 did not understand liis language, and so could 
 not gather the tenor of his observations, but I guessed 
 tliem ! 
 
 We reached I)oi>ali. and started our iiiLfht walk by
 
 6 STAKT FOR AFRICA. 
 
 the light of a nearly full moon, along the broad road 
 made by the Italian troops, passing in some manner 
 various sentries. From time to time we found tem- 
 porary sheds by the roadside, where all kinds of im- 
 possible and particoloured drinks were sold. At one 
 of these we stopped, and the Somal explained to me 
 that a small boy, who knew some Italian, and spoke 
 Arabic (as did the Somal), lived here, and that if we 
 could secure him, we might get through the sentries ; 
 otherwise it would sfo hard with us. The nigfht was 
 intensely hot, and I invested in some cheap drink, and 
 opened negotiations with the cr</e-keeper. They were 
 eventually successful, and we started now with the boy 
 attached. It had become night long since, and the 
 road was lonely, except for an occasional soldier, and he 
 seldom sober. What the precise danger was I am not 
 aware — whether from hostile natives or the fear of an 
 Italian sentry shooting us ; for, of course, we knew no 
 countersign, or even the ordinary pass- word. Anyway, 
 it began to be obvious that the boy was in a desperate 
 fright, and even the stout Somal began to show signs of 
 wishing he wasn't there. So I amused myself by tell- 
 ing him stories of heroic deeds of my own, of campaigns 
 and battles, and of tigers and bears, till I had demon- 
 strated that there surely never was so brave or so 
 wonderful a man as myself All this he detailed in 
 Arabic to the open-eyed boy, till they both fancied 
 that with such a Baron Munchausen in their company 
 we might survive after all ; and they did not bolt, as I 
 had feared they might. 
 
 We succeeded, I don't quite know how, and, jDassing 
 all sentries, I eventually found myself at the tent of 
 the English correspondent of the ' Times,' in a very 
 bedraggled and travel-stained gear. His astonishment 
 was great, but he received me courteously, and I was 
 })resently introduced to General Baldisera, command-
 
 GENERAL BALDISERA — PORTALS MISSION. 7 
 
 ing the brigade, and his staff. They offered me 
 refreshments. I had eaten nothing since daybreak, 
 and not much then ; and I could have eaten, I thought, 
 a whole leg of mutton ! At all events, I did not leave 
 much of the thin slice of Italian sausage and the 
 poached egg which their hospitality provided. Nothing- 
 could exceed their courtesy, and I had a long and most 
 agreeable conversation. General Baldisera, both from 
 his face and from his refined and courteous manner, 
 reminded me much of my quondam chief. Sir Martin 
 Dillon. 
 
 Mr (now Sir Gerald) Portal had just completed his 
 mission to the King of Abyssinia, of which the Italian 
 officers freely expressed their disapproval. Operations, 
 they said, had been interrupted the j^revious cold 
 weather. They had sweltered through the deadly heat 
 and the unliealthy climate the whole hot weather, in 
 the confident assurance of a brisk campaign in the cold 
 season, and an advance into Abyssinia, to take vengeance 
 for the massacre of Dogali. But now British diplomacy 
 had interfered. The winter had all but passed, and as 
 fighting was not to take place until the result of Mr 
 Portal's embassy was known, it was now too late to 
 begin although it had failed. Meanwhile the troops 
 were being invalided by shiploads, and there were 1000 
 men in hospital at that time ; they could not invalid 
 tliem fast enough. All the force was to retire in tlu^ee 
 weeks, after completing a permanent fort, and oiilv 
 tlie Corps d'Africpie would remain. Bitterlv thev 
 resented it, — "English officers," they courteously said, 
 " we welcome and love ; but English di])lomacy we 
 detest. " Such was the Italian view of the Eiiglisli 
 mission. 
 
 I offered my services, but was tokl that I must see 
 tlie General Commanding -in -Chief (General Mazaro) 
 on the subject, though 1 was welcome to stay as long
 
 8 START FOR AFRICA. 
 
 as I liked in the meantime. All next day I thought 
 the matter over. I was assured there was not the 
 slightest possibility of active service. I offered to scout 
 independently towards the enemy. I was told this 
 service was most efficiently done by the Italian cavalry, 
 and was eagerly sought after as an alternative to 
 ennui. I offered my services in any capacity to the 
 ' Times ' correspondent, on condition that I should 
 engage in any action. But I saw that the prospects 
 were not encouraging, and the life would be the reverse 
 of that constant hard work and action which I sought 
 — with intense heat and swarms of flies thrown in. So 
 I reluctantly abandoned the undertaking which I had 
 used such efforts to engage in, and returned to Masso- 
 wa — this time with a passport from General Baldisera, 
 and a riding-mule which Mr Yizetelly kindly lent me. 
 He had, moreover, most generously ofiered to allow me 
 to share his tent if I remained. Long after, in Uganda, 
 I heard the story of these adventures from a group 
 of Somals, who learnt them from my guide, and their 
 astonishment was great to find that / was that " self- 
 willed Englishman." 
 
 The thing that struck me most in this trip to the 
 Italian outposts w^as the extraordinary capacity of the 
 Italian soldier for field-work. The whole of the rail- 
 way, which in some places had involved very heavy 
 embankments, necessitating the carriage of enormous 
 quantities of earth and stone, had been made entirely 
 by the soldiers. The country was one endless series 
 of interminable small hills, yet every height of import- 
 ance was crowned with a strong masonry fort, with 
 larger ones at Mikullu and Otumlo, and a very strong 
 masonry wall frequently ran along the crest-line and 
 down the side of the slope. The Italian soldier worked 
 in the great heat with apparently the utmost goodwill, 
 and most effectively ; nor could I help contrasting in
 
 QUALITIES OF THE ITALIAN SOLDIER. 9 
 
 my mind — much to their disadvantage — the capacity of 
 our own soldiers in this respect. 
 
 I recalled the long months in Afghanistan, where I 
 had so often superintended working-parties at road- 
 making, and levelling of forts, &c., — work of a far 
 lighter nature than this, executed in a climate where 
 the l)itter cold (the ground was frozen and covered 
 with snow) made work a pleasure, to say nothing of 
 the stimulus of extra " working pay." Yet the results 
 were almost nil, and no interest was taken in the task. 
 In the Sudan we dare not even attempt to get our 
 soldiers to construct field - works. Special corps of 
 engineers undertook even the smallest redoubts, and 
 gangs of the idlest of navvies, paid at extraordinary 
 rates, and fed and jDampered, and generally drunk, were 
 imported by Messrs Lucas & Aird to begin the construc- 
 tion of the Suakim-Berber railway, through a country 
 offerino- far fewer natural difficulties than this. There 
 is something wrong in our system, when a contrast so 
 painfully to our disadvantage as this can be drawn 
 between our soldiers and those of Italy, in a matter 
 of such gi-eat moment and significance. The Italian 
 soldier works willingly and contentedly, and requires 
 very little supervision. Disci2:)line is very strict, yet 
 there exists what seems to an Eno-lish officer an 
 almost extraordinary familiarity between the officers 
 and men. 
 
 The country as far as Mikullu consists of low un- 
 dulating sterile hills, very wild and desolate. Thence 
 onwards (inland) the hills are nuich higher and wilder 
 — of black igneous rock. The vegetation at first con- 
 sists of scrub acacia and a few kinds of cacti ; but as the 
 ] I ills become bolder, the trees also are larger, and in the 
 khovs or water-courses is some fair-sized timber. An 
 Italian officer, who was a keen sportsman, and had been 
 here three years and done mucli scouting, said that
 
 10 START FOR AFRICA. 
 
 antelope, gazelle, a very large pheasant, and a bustard 
 were to be got, also a kind of small wild cattle.^ These 
 last greatly excited my curiosity, and I was inclined 
 to be sceptical about them ; but I was assured by every 
 one that they had been seen, though rarely, and were 
 very wild. I wish it had been possible for me to shoot 
 one of these animals ; but I was told there were none 
 to be found now in the vicinity. There were also wild 
 boar, and innumerable sand-grouse. 
 
 As far as I could judge, the Italian field-equipment 
 seemed very complete. The electric search-lights played 
 at the base ; a captive balloon was used for scouting ; 
 the commissariat and other departments, I was told^ 
 worked admirably, while in smaller details I noticed 
 that their means of water-carriage (flat zinc cylinders 
 and wooden kegs) were the same as were used by us at 
 Suakim. They had but one — a very rough and tem- 
 porary — field telegraph, from which I inferred that there 
 was less aimless multiplication of messages between the 
 front and the base than, unfortunately, prevails in our 
 service, monopolising the time of so large a staff" of 
 valuable men in transmitting useless messages to satisfy 
 the claims of red-tapeism. I regretted I had no oppor- 
 tunity of seeing their system of transport gear (in which 
 department I had much experience), but I noticed that 
 such horses as I saw were weedy-looking brutes, and 
 the nmles were all of the large European class. I 
 passed on my way back a large number of graves, 
 apparently of some age, and was told that they were 
 those of English soldiers, forgotten and unknown, — I 
 supjDose men who died in Lord Napier's Abyssinian 
 expedition. 
 
 On arrival at Massowa, I again embarked on board 
 the Pandora, which was still unlading timber, and 
 putting away my suit of white uniform, my sword, and 
 
 1 Probably the Bos galla.
 
 NEW PLAXS EMBARK FOR E. AFRICA. 11 
 
 my identity as an Englisli officer, I returned once more 
 to my quarters among the cargo, and my meals in the 
 cook's galley. We arrived at Aden on March 1st. It 
 had never been my idea to permanently join the Ital- 
 ians. J\Iy hope was, that I might embark in some useful 
 undertaking in Africa, if possible in connection with 
 the suppression of the slave-trade. With this object 
 in view I had written to Sir John Kirk, and to Mr 
 Holmvvood, at that time acting Consul-General at Zan- 
 zibar. I had intended, if I found there was any hope 
 whatever of seeing any active service with the Italian 
 army, to join them while awaiting replies to these 
 letters, and the confirmation of my recommendation to 
 be placed on half-pay. I had also an idea of joining 
 Emin Pasha in his province ; and the steps I took 
 to accomplish this would not improbably have suc- 
 ceeded in taking me thither (in which case I should 
 have arrived when Mr Stanley was there), had not 
 subsequent events called me elsewhere. Now, how- 
 ever, that my hopes had failed in regard to the Ital- 
 ian expedition, and the letters I expected not having 
 arrived, I was once more without plans or resources, 
 wliile the sovereigns in my belt had dwindled very 
 perceptibly. 
 
 In this dilemma I thought over various schemes, and 
 had nearly embarked on an Arab dhow, when the arrival 
 of tlie British India boat, bound for Zanzibar, induced 
 me to alter my intention, and take a second-class pass- 
 age (for European deck-2)assengers were not allowed) 
 to that place. On board I found Colonel (now Sir 
 Charles) Euan-Smith and his wife, Mr Berkeley (lately 
 assistant Commissioner with Sir G. Portal in Uganda), 
 and other passengers. Between myself, however, as a 
 second-class passenger, and them, there was of coiu'se 
 but little comnuniication. I recjuested an interview 
 with Colonel Euan-Smitli, and told him of mv desire to
 
 12 START FOR AFRICA. 
 
 take part in some useful work in Africa. At his wish 
 I wrote to the Colonel of my regiment to ask him to 
 state that the reason of my leaving my regiment was 
 in no way detrimental to my character. His reply 
 reached me long after the purpose for which I asked 
 it had ceased to exist, but the terms in which he spoke 
 of me, for the years he had known me, I shall always 
 recall with pride and j^leasure. 
 
 Colonel Euan-Smith told me of the projected forma- 
 tion of the " East African Association " (now the Imperial 
 British East African Company), and promised to use his 
 efforts to obtain for me such employment in their service 
 as would suit me. This, however, was in the future, 
 and I wanted immediate active work. I now heard 
 from a passenger on board that a Company (called the 
 African Lakes Company) existed on the Lake Nyasa, 
 and that they would supply heavy rifles and all 
 requisites for elephant-hunting, if they were convinced 
 that the applicant was likely to make a successful 
 elephant-hunter. The Company had the right to buy 
 all the ivory shot at a reduced rate, and made a very 
 handsome profit, while the hunter took a share of the 
 proceeds. This scheme seemed to suit me admirably, 
 as a temporary means of employing my time and of 
 recruiting my health, and would give me the excite- 
 ment and the active hard life I had come to seek. 
 I could thus await the replies to the letters which I 
 expected — and the formation of the Company on the 
 East Coast, in whose service (through the kind offices 
 of Sir John Kirk and Colonel Euan-Smith) I hoped to 
 be able to engage in some useful and responsible work. 
 A long experience of big -game shooting, and some 
 knowledge of rifles and of jungle life, together with 
 the " cast-iron " constitution I was supposed to have, 
 would, I felt sure, stand me in good stead now. 
 Should all these plans prove abortive, I had still the
 
 PROFESSIONAL ELEPHAXT-Hl XTIXG. 
 
 13 
 
 hope that the scheme I had 
 set on foot for joining Emin 
 Pasha might succeed. 
 
 We arrived in the pictur- 
 esque harbour of Mombasa on 
 March 14th. The native vil- 
 lage lay nestling among its 
 palms and mango - trees on 
 our left, and the mission sta- 
 tion fronted us at the end of 
 the bay. The foliage and 
 creepers drooj^ed over the 
 rocky banks, and stooped to 
 kiss the blue water of the 
 ocean, secure in their hold 
 in tlie soil above, and hence 
 uiiwithered by the brine of 
 the sea. This proxhnity of 
 verdure to the water of the 
 sea strikes the eye and en- 
 gages the admiration the 
 more readily from its rarity. 
 Mombasa was, as you might 
 have found it any time for 
 half a century back, innocent 
 as yet of steam -cranes, and 
 cargoes of iron rails, and the 
 white man's tele- 
 graphs and tele- 
 phones and im- 
 plements wliich 
 were to follow 
 so soon. 
 
 Thence we 
 
 '^''- . steamed 
 
 . . •• oil t(^
 
 14 START FOR AFRICA. 
 
 Zanzibar. We had several German emigrants on board, 
 of a class who appeared to me the most ill suited for 
 the life they proposed to engage in that it is possible to 
 conceive. Apparently without money or any capital 
 whatever, without any natural aptitude either of in- 
 telligence or of experience, unacclimatised, and of poor 
 physique, they had rushed out to try their fortunes as 
 planters. I inquired how they fared, and was told that 
 very frequently they collajDsed at once, and relied on 
 their Consul to find the passage-money to send them 
 back to Euro23e ! Few, however, apparently live to 
 return ; for my informant, an officer of the ship, who 
 had been long on this coast, said that it was remarkable 
 that though they brought out very many, it was very 
 rarely that they took any back, yet he did not know of 
 any settled down and doing well in Africa. " They 
 die like flies," he briefly remarked. Their presence 
 must have been very embarrassing to the German 
 officials, and the disposal of them a difficult problem. 
 In Zanzibar I had the pleasure of meeting " General " 
 Mathews, the commander of the Sultan's army. He 
 had been a naval officer on board H.M.S. London, and 
 had spent some years in cruising for slaves on this 
 coast. When the London was paid out of commission 
 in 1883, he took service under the Sultan, and raised, 
 drilled, and equipped an "army" for him, which, I 
 believe, consists of some 1000 regulars, about 5000 
 irregulars, with another possible 5000 to be raised 
 on the mainland. The appearance of these Zanzibar! 
 soldiers was decidedly clean and smart. " Running 
 amok," General Mathews told me, was, however, so 
 frequent, that only officers were allowed to retain their 
 ammunition. Like every one, without exception, who 
 has visited East Africa, I was treated with much 
 courtesy by General Mathews, and I experienced also 
 the greatest kindness and hospitality from Mr Sutton.
 
 PORTUGUESE AND SLAVERY. 15 
 
 Before 1 sailed, Colonel Euan-Smith inquired of me 
 whether I really wished to find an opening for service 
 in Africa, or meant to devote myself to elephant- 
 hunting. I replied that I engaged in this hunting 
 merely to find occupation while I was Avaiting ; that it 
 was entirely subsidiary, and I would at once leave it 
 (as soon as any temporary engagement I might form 
 expired) to undertake any useful work Avliich might 
 offer. On this understanding he most kindly promised 
 to do his best to forward my desires. 
 
 We stayed in Zanzibar about a week, and then re- 
 embarking on March 22d in the Baghdad, I proceeded 
 on my way to Mozambique. I offer no description of 
 the town or island of Zanzibar, because every AAriter of 
 African travel has considered them to be a natural 
 preface, and the reader is therefore probably familiar 
 with their outlines. The Baghdad Avas a terrible ship : 
 rats and cockroaches SAA^armed to such an unprecedented 
 extent that they must haA^e added appreciably to the 
 Aveight of cargo the A'ile old boat carried. The second- 
 class accommodation Avas execrable. One mornino- Avhen 
 bathing I flung my sponge at a rat Avhich had the 
 audacity to sit on the edge of my bath, and killed it. 
 That night almost the entire tops of my boots, and 
 the binding of a book I Avas reading, Avere eaten by 
 rats, AA'hile my hat and socks Avere almost destroyed 
 by cockroaches. I AA'as graA^ely told by the Goanese 
 *' steward " that this AA^as because I had killed a rat, 
 and that it Avas an iuA'ariable rule that, if one AA'ere 
 killed, his conn-ades took A'engeance. — ap])arentlA' they 
 had an understanding also Avith the cockroaches on the 
 subject ! These old boats have long since been replaced 
 by neAV vessels. 
 
 I find in my diary an incident recorded on our voyage 
 towards Mozamljique AA'hich may be Avorth quoting : " A 
 long string of (apparently) slaves in charge of a Por-
 
 16 START FOR AFRICA. 
 
 tuguese soldier, all tied together, have just come on 
 board (viz., at one of the small seaports). The first 
 officer refused to take them unless untied, since, if an 
 English man -o' -war found them bound in this fashion 
 on board the Baghdad, she would be treated as a 
 slaver ! But it makes little difference whether tied 
 or loose, since if they attempted escape they would, 
 I suppose, be shot down by the soldier who mounted 
 pfuard over them with a rifle. Of course he swore 
 they were ' prisoners.' I am told that these Portu- 
 guese are inveterate slavers. They make a rule that 
 no one is allowed inside the gates of their forts without 
 a ' pass.' Then after disregarding the rule for a period, 
 they suddenly close the gates, and capture all those 
 who are there without ' passes ' — go through a form of 
 trial, perhaps — and consider them as ' prisoners,' and 
 draft them off to some other port to serve as soldiers. 
 I am told this is their sole way of recruiting their 
 native army. Thus our English ships actually become 
 the medium of carrying slaves for the Portuguese ; for 
 how can they be refused as passengers, or the question 
 of their being prisoners inquired into, by the ship's 
 officers, whose hands are only too full of work in port 
 with their cargo and with other passengers ? I think 
 no man — negro or European — whether freeman or slave, 
 should be allowed to be kept as a prisoner on board a 
 British ship on the high seas, except under the warrant 
 of a competent British authority, nor do I think that 
 without it detention is legal." I cannot vouch for the 
 statement contained in this extract — I only noted it 
 down when told me as a well-known fact, on the spot ; 
 and I have little doubt but that it is true in substance. 
 I continue the extract, in order to show the views on 
 slavery with which I started on my travels to Africa — 
 views in the inain which I still continue to hold to-day. 
 " Slavery is laughed at here by every one ; they say
 
 O'XEILL FIGHTIXG AT KARONGa's. 17 
 
 family ties are very lax, and the slaves do not care to 
 be freed. This is a difterent question altogether, and I 
 believe it is true ; but as long as we keep men-o'-war 
 cruising about to stop the slave-trade, the methods of 
 the Portuguese which I have described need investiga- 
 tion and remedy. As regards the root of the question, 
 whether slavery is the evil it is represented, my opinion 
 is that the liberation of men who are once brought down 
 from the interior is of minor importance. They cannot 
 return, and if they did, would find everything lost 
 and ruined. We must go to the root of the evil, and 
 crush the traders. Doubtless the difficulties of export- 
 ing slaves have hampered the trade, so our work is good ; 
 but the best work will be the operations inland, where 
 they are captured. Liberating them on the coast or 
 at sea is useless to the slaves, and only indirectly good 
 as involving loss to the traders and throwing obstacles 
 in their way, while the grave matter of the disposal of 
 these liberated and starving men then remains, and 
 this is one of the difficult questions of the day here." 
 
 Calling at the various ports on our wav — at Kilwa, Lin- 
 (li, Ibo, &c. — we eventually I'eached Mozambique. Here 
 I said farewell, and not unwillingly, to the Baghdad, 
 which returned to Zanzibar, while I embarked on the 
 Castle Line 1)oat Dunkeld. We stayed several days 
 in Mozambique, and I had time to form not merely the 
 acquaintance of, but a warm friendship with, the Consul, 
 Mr O'Neill (late E,.N., and an old shipmate of General 
 Mathews on the London), and his wife. Mr O'Neill 
 ranks high in the roll of those who have been original 
 explorers of Africa and have left their mark behind 
 them. But his work has been of that quiet unostenta- 
 tious character which is satisfied with good results and 
 seeks no notoriety. He accomplished several journeys 
 from the Mozambique coast to the Nyasa and Shirwa 
 lakes, through country till then unexplored ; and finally, 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 18 START FOR AFRICA. 
 
 with infinite pains, by means of several thousand ob- 
 servations, he absolutely fixed the position of Blantyre 
 (which has been accepted as a secondary meridian), so 
 that future explorers may here in the very heart of 
 Africa adjust their chronometers, and start on further 
 exploration with their instruments corrected. 
 
 O'Neill told me of the fighting which had recently 
 been taking place at Karonga's, to the north of Lake 
 Nyasa, from whence he had just returned, and of which 
 events he could truly say, quorum pars magna fui : 
 how that a body of slave-raiders had gratuitously at- 
 tacked a small British station, after ravaging and laying 
 waste the country ; how a gallant defence had been 
 made ; and how even now an expedition was being pre- 
 pared to prosecute the war. He added, " You would 
 be a godsend to them." Here, I thought, is the very 
 opportunity I have sought, of taking part in a good 
 cause against the slave -raiders, " in the place itself 
 where the slaves are captured." However, though 
 eager to lend my services, I felt that it would be im- 
 possible for me to do so, unless the fighting was fully 
 justified in my own view. I therefore questioned Mr 
 O'Neill as to the origin of these troubles, and the mode 
 in which the fighting had been conducted, whether 
 any provocation had been given to the slave -raiders 
 before they attacked, and what was the attitude of the 
 Mission and of the Consular authorities. His replies 
 completely satisfied me, and I determined to proceed at 
 once with all haste and offer my services. 
 
 Mozambique is an extremely picturesque island, and 
 the harbour is very beautiful. On the point of the 
 island stands an old Portuguese fort, dating back to 
 the sixteenth century, and said, but erroneously, to be 
 built of stone brought all the way from Portugal. The 
 town is singularly clean, the pavements are of concrete, 
 and the streets lined with avenues of gold-mohur,
 
 AN INSOLENT NATIVE. 19 
 
 banian, and other fine and beautiful trees. The 
 houses are mostly coloured with a pale tint, which 
 takes oflP the glare which so distresses the eye when 
 looking on the white coral-houses of the coast-towns 
 from Suakim southwards. The soldiers are neatly 
 dressed m a uniform of brown holland, with forage-cap 
 and long sword-bayonet, and look clean and smart. A 
 band-stand faces the long pier, which runs out to the 
 sea to form a landing-jetty. 
 
 On March 31st I said good-bye to O'Neill, and 
 embarked on board the Dunkeld, where again I met 
 \\'ith tlie very greatest kindness from Captain Broadfoot, 
 who insisted on my transferring to the after -part of 
 the ship. Before leaving Mozambique an unfortunate 
 incident occurred. An Indian Mohammedan trader had 
 Ijrought some goods on board for shipment. The officer 
 of the vessel had been working for many hours in the 
 heat transferring cargo, and had sat down for a few 
 minutes to rest. The trader demanded in an insolent 
 manner that he should immediately rise and attend 
 to him. He declined, and the native then made some 
 gross remarks in Hindustani, which I understood, but 
 the officer did not. Extremely indignant at such an 
 affront, I asked him if he could tamely submit to be thus 
 insulted by a native ? He replied that if he resented 
 it, he would be "run in" and would lose his ship ; that 
 the Portuguese authorities encouraged such action, and 
 were absolutely sure to take the part of the native 
 against an Englishman, and tlie British India Com- 
 pany would hear no excuses. I, however, had no ship 
 to lose, and I cared not for the Portuguese authorities. 
 I therefore told the Buniali, in Hindustani, tliat had he 
 used one-half the insolence to me that I had heard him 
 use towards the ship's officer, he would have had cause 
 to regret it. Thereupon lie included me. Not hking 
 to strike a native with my fist, I gave liini a lieavy
 
 20 START FOR AFRICA. 
 
 box on the ear. He seemed inclined to show fight, for 
 he was a strong-built man, but received another similar 
 cuff, which effectually silenced him, but unfortunately 
 broke a bone in my hand, spraining also my thumb 
 and wrist against his cast-iron head. This caused me 
 very great pain subsequently, and my hand became 
 perfectly useless, nor did I regain the full use of it for 
 a month or more. 
 
 On board the Dunkeld I met for the first time a 
 South African " gold-j)rospector." He had travelled 
 repeatedly, he said, across Africa, south of the Zambesi, 
 generally with not more than half-a-dozen men. He 
 told me success in African travel depended entirely on 
 prompt and resolute action. He begged me to remember 
 his words — " On the first signs of insolence," he said, 
 " or even of familiarity, kick them under the jaw (when 
 sitting) or in the stomach. In worse cases shoot, and 
 shoot straight, at once. Your life in Africa depends 
 on such prompt measures ! " He told me of strange 
 adventures, — of a mutiny he had thus quelled ; of lion- 
 shooting ; and of the mode of gold-jDrospecting, and the 
 formation of companies. I can imagine that there may 
 be times when prompt and decisive action is necessary ; 
 but more pernicious advice than his, given to an intend- 
 ing traveller as a general rule of action, I cannot con- 
 ceive. The dodges he described as used by fraudulent 
 gold-seekers were some of them very clever, such as 
 blowing a small charge of gold-dust out of a gun into 
 the crevices of a rock, and then accidentally " discover- 
 ing " it, in the presence of others, with the particles of 
 gold adhering so closely as to appear embedded in the 
 quartz. His stories of the means used to prevent 
 native labourers from secreting- diamonds on the work- 
 ings, were no less quaint and interesting, but on his 
 methods and advice I placed my own valuation. 
 
 He told me, however, some details which more nearly
 
 GOLD-PROSPECTOES AXD THEIR METHODS. 21 
 
 affected myself. The African Lakes Company, he said, 
 had enhsted a number of desperadoes from the gold- 
 fields to fight at Karonga's. They had a number of 
 grievances, and fancied they had been grossly deceived, 
 and were probably already in a state of mutiny. He 
 added that he should not be at all surprised to hear 
 that they had turned upon the Company, and captured 
 and looted its chief station, Mandala ! No epithet he 
 could find was too bad for this African Lakes Com- 
 pany. As these mercenaries had come up in the Dun- 
 keld (disembarking at Quilimane), and he had been 
 with them during the voyage, and most of what he 
 said was borne out by the officers of the ship, I began 
 to think that I should not have a bed of roses in my 
 new undertaking. 
 
 On April 5th we arrived at Quilimane, and I disem- 
 barked for good. Investing almost the whole of my 
 remaining cash in some necessaries for the journey, I 
 prepared to start inland at once. My route lay u^) the 
 Kwakwa river (which flows more or less parallel to the 
 Zambesi) as far as Mopea, some five days' journey. In 
 Quilimane I heard much to the same eftect as I had 
 heard on board the Dunkeld. The Company appeared 
 to be in very bad odour. In S2)ite of my belief in 
 O'Neill I began to feel uneasy, and I determined only 
 to accept the passage ofiered to me (by the Company's 
 agent) as far as Mopea, and then to be guided by 
 events. In case I found that there was anv truth in 
 these reports, I could then cut mvself adrift entirely at 
 any moment by merely refunding my passage-money 
 for this short distance. I made a friend in Quilimane, 
 who gave me invaluable assistance in making my few 
 necessary piu'cliases, &c. ; and with as liglit a kit as 
 I su})pose almost any man ever started on so long a 
 journey, I embarked on my new undertaking.
 
 ^^^^: 
 
 Ascending the 
 Shire Plateau. 
 
 Z CHAPTER II. 
 
 April 7th — May 12th, 
 
 1888. 
 
 QUILIMANE TO 
 BLANTYEE. 
 
 Canoeing on the Kwakwa — The 
 harula — An-ive at Mopea — Mr A ddison 
 — Continued kindness — Opinions on the 
 slave-trade — I join the Steblenskis — 
 The Portuguese — Sena — The Morambala 
 marshes — Precautions against fever — Mos- 
 quitoes — Stebleuski's scare— Foolhardy lion- 
 hunting — Dawa — Mlauri — Hj'enas — The natives — 
 Fenwick's death — African vegetation — Arrive at Ka- 
 tunga's — Sharpe — Blantyre — Views of missions regard- 
 ing the war — My letter to the Consul — Causes and objects 
 of fighting — Asked to take command — The Missions appeal 
 to the Consul — The Consul's reply — All parties reconciled. 
 
 It was at 10 p.m. on the 7th April that I started 
 by starlight with the turn of the tide on my journey 
 up the Kwakwa river. Mr Stevenson (African Lakes
 
 CANOEING ON THE KWAKWA 23 
 
 Company), who had shown me much kindness, came 
 to see me off. I had no servant, though my right 
 hand was still useless, and no interpreter, though not a 
 soul in the boat knew a word of Engflish. I, however, 
 felt glad that the long period of inactivity and uncer- 
 tainty (two full months had elapsed smce I left Gib- 
 raltar) was now at an end, and my restlessness found 
 a relief in my very difficulties. 
 
 The boatmen dashed their paddles in the water, keep- 
 ing time to the refrain of a chorus, and we started off 
 in the night. I travelled in a small open boat, over 
 the stern of which a few sticks and grass formed an 
 awning to keep off the sun, which was very fierce 
 by day. The Patrao (headman of the crew) steered, 
 another with a punting-pole stood in the bows, and 
 three paddlers occupied each side, each one being also 
 provided with a punting-pole. Mr O'Neill, with kind 
 forethought, had insisted on giving me a small canoe 
 mosquito-net (which has stood by me in my wander- 
 ings up till now), and a small guddi or mattress. The 
 former was invaluable, for the mosquitoes were in 
 clouds, and very fierce. I fomid also that the boat 
 was infested with noxious insects of another class ! We 
 anchored at 1 A.M., and were off again early next day. 
 
 Each day, till we reached Mopea (the end of our 
 Kwakwa journey), saw the same routine. The boat- 
 men paddled or j)unted, chanting their musical refrain ; 
 the Patrao singing the solo, which would be taken up 
 and repeated by the whole crew, while he sang a sort 
 of guttural second. These refrains consisted of a sen- 
 tence repeated over and over again, and the air was 
 constantly changed, and very musical. When fresh, 
 the men would l)eat a vigorous time to the rhythm 
 with the strokes of their })addles ; when tired, the 
 ])addles were merely dij^ped to the cadence, and only 
 each alternate dip was a vigorous stroke.
 
 24 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 All along the Kwakwa the scenery was lovely, for 
 the banks are fringed with fine trees which droop 
 down into the water, and are festooned with masses 
 of mauve convolvulus and other creepers, which shut 
 out all view of the flat country beyond, for at this 
 time the water was low, and I noticed flood-marks as 
 much as 1 2 ft. above, on the branches of the trees. In 
 one spot where I took my morning bath, I recollect 
 a palm growing some 12 ft. out in the river, whilst 
 a dense roof of creepers connected it with the vege- 
 tation on the bank and formed a natural arbour. A 
 number of very beautiful kingfishers and gay - col- 
 oured reed-sparrows gave life to the scene; while in- 
 numerable cormorants, bitterns, storks, and other water 
 birds, watched eternally for their prey in the water. 
 King of them all, the great fish-eagle (Haliaetus vocifer) 
 sat aloft on some withered branch, uttering from time 
 to time his weird note, more typical of African soli- 
 tudes and more striking to the ear than even the lion's 
 roar. My morning bath was perhaps attended by some 
 risk, for the river was said to swarm with crocodiles, 
 and the natives feared to enter the water. 
 
 It was hot by day, and several varieties of the 
 harula or hippo -fly lent their eflbrts to enliven the 
 emiui. The bite of this large fly is excessively sharp, 
 and his proboscis makes an incision like the stab of a 
 small penknife, from which the blood flows freely. As 
 soon as the sun goes down the harula ceases to torment, 
 but it is replaced by myriads on myriads of mosquitoes, 
 so that I was driven to eat my evening meal in my 
 small mosquito-net, and even with the utmost precau- 
 tions I would generally find thirty or forty blood- swollen 
 mosquitoes inside the net in the morning. This evening 
 meal consisted of a little rice, and a portion of one of the 
 tough and tasteless fowls of the country, several of which 
 I had brought with me. Having no cook, one of the
 
 GENEROSITY OF SAVAGES. 25 
 
 boatmen prepared it in the roughest possible manner. 
 These natives have voracious appetites ; every chicken- 
 bone that I left was crunched up and eaten ; any kind 
 of bird (such as cormorants and bitterns) was eagerly 
 devoured, often in a state of absolute putrefaction. I had 
 a few cigars, and the stumps of these were much prized, 
 albeit less than an inch long. When so short as to be 
 impossible to hold between the lips, they placed them 
 between their teeth (the lighted end being inwards), and 
 closing their mouths altogether, smoked them in this 
 extraordinary fashion ! 
 
 They are a happy, careless people, and I noticed that 
 whatever any individual got, he invariably shared among 
 the others, often leaving none at all for hunself : if it 
 was a lump of sugar, or a chicken-bone, it would be 
 broken up and divided ; if a cigar-end, each would 
 smoke it in turn, — and this was done with no as- 
 sumption of generosity, but as a matter of course. In 
 spite of the harula fly, mosquitoes, and heat, it was 
 pleasant to lounge in the boat, and lazily listen to 
 the boatmen's chorus, while hour by hour we passed 
 through ever new glimpses of lovely scenery. 
 
 One day we met a large barge coming down the river, 
 in charge of an Indian in Portuguese uniform, and with 
 liim a lot of natives. He had been so lono- in Africa 
 tliat lie remembered but little of Hindustani ; his original 
 language, moreover, being probably Gujerati. " I asked 
 him how he liked the Portuguese service. He replied, 
 ' Sivhir hai' (It is the Government), and from his tone I 
 guessed his meaning, and said, 'Ah! you cannot speak 
 disloyally?' To which he assented emphatically — a 
 thoroughly /ncZiVm answer ! I asked him if the natives 
 in the boat were really prisoners or slaves. Lowering his 
 voice, he replied they were slaves!" Thus I passed on, 
 spending my time in reading, writing the diary, and 
 occasionally shooting birds of sorts for the men, and
 
 26 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 thoroughly enjoying the beauty of the river. The sun- 
 rise and the sunset were beautiful beyond description, 
 and I watched the changing tints grow more and more 
 lovely till they faded away. 
 
 On the 11th we arrived, late in the evening, at 
 Mopea, where I was most hospitably received by Mr 
 Addison, the managing director of an Opium Company, 
 which owned some 500 acres of land here, prepared and 
 irrigated for the cultivation of the popjoy. I spent the 
 most pleasant of evenings in his company, talking of 
 books and of classical literature, themes which already 
 seemed to me to belong to some other and bygone life. 
 His kindness knew no bounds, and he insisted on my 
 taking from his admirable library more books than I 
 knew how to carry. It is impossible for me to convey 
 to the reader the impression which such kindness and 
 hospitality makes on a lonely stranger. Books are not 
 to be procured round the corner in Central Africa, and 
 Mr Addison, I could see, valued his as only a ^A^ell-read 
 man cut off from civilisation can. 
 
 But so it always was, wherever I went. At Massowa, 
 at Aden, at Suez, at Zanzibar, at Mozambique, on board 
 the ships I had sailed on, everywhere I met with a kind- 
 ness which touched me more than I could say. It was 
 not merely that natural courtesy and hosj)itality which 
 might possibly be expected towards a fellow-country- 
 man far from home. It was far more than this ; nor 
 was it only from my own countrymen, for already I had 
 experienced it at the hands of the poor German book- 
 seller at Suez, the boatswain of the Italian boat, the 
 Pole at Quilimane, Mr Mackonochie at Aden, Mr Sutton 
 at Zanzibar, and now again here this English gentleman 
 at Mopea, not one of whom knew aught of me, or ever 
 expected to see my face again. Often indeed I thought 
 that if no other thing resulted from my wanderings, I 
 should be a richer man all my life for having proved
 
 OPINIONS ON THE SLAVE-TRADE. 27 
 
 how much goodness and unselfishness there is in human 
 nature. 
 
 We discussed the question of African slavery — the 
 subject which now had a paramount interest for me. I 
 found that here, as elsewhere, the reaction brought about 
 by the contrast between the facts as they are, and as 
 they are represented at home, had produced its natural 
 revulsion of feeling. But I held to my own A^ew, 
 that thouofh much well-meanino- b^mkum is undoubt- 
 edly talked at home, nevertheless, as I say in my diary, 
 " every little well-directed effort tells, and a man on the 
 spot who is in earnest is of more use than a dozen com- 
 mittees at home, and I hope to do my best in a small way." 
 I learnt much from Mr Addison and Mr Henderson (who 
 had made the heroic defence against the Messangane 
 tribe, when all the Portuguese fled). They told me of 
 the enormous power of the slave-trading "Arabs" on 
 Nyasa and South Tanganyika : that mdividuals among 
 them could put 5000 guns in the field — guns purchased 
 from the British and Portuguese, and even, to a small 
 extent, from this very African Lakes Comj^any who 
 were now fighting them ; and that a combination 
 among them would mean the extermination of the 
 Europeans in those parts, and of the London missions 
 on Tano-anyika. 
 
 Consideration of the pro])lem has brought two things 
 home to me. 1st, That our horror-stricken outcries in 
 Europe against the unspeakable atrocities of the "Arab " 
 slave-raider ill become us when we look back at the his- 
 tory of the past, and recall the fact that for two and a 
 half centuries we ourselves stained our hands with this 
 traffic, and })ocketed the gold which was the price of 
 human blood. We have thus a duty of expiation to 
 perform towards the African. 2d, That in our efforts 
 to perform this duty, we must recollect how the African 
 has been wedded to slaverv throuirh centuries on cen-
 
 28 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 turies, so that it has become the product, as it were, 
 of the blood-stained soil of the land. It has been said 
 that, if you freed three slaves to-day, two of them 
 (given the opportunity) would sell the third to-morrow.^ 
 The nature of the African, moreover, is not of that 
 stamp which chafes at the yoke, like the nations of 
 Teutonic blood. Let us accept all this, and clear the 
 ground of all high-coloured nonsense — of "kingly hearts" 
 beating in the bosoms of slaves, and so forth ; and 
 taking the African as he is — as centuries of wrongs 
 have made him — ap2Dly ourselves to raise him to a 
 higher level. I will not, however, here digress on this 
 question, and will merely beg my reader to peruse the 
 separate chapters I have devoted to this most import- 
 ant subject. 
 
 Next day I marched across from the Kwakwa to the 
 Zambesi, some four miles, and met the brothers Steb- 
 lenski, to whom I had a letter of introduction. They 
 pressed me to join them, as they were on the jDoint 
 of starting up-river ; and finding I should in no way 
 inconvenience them, I accepted their kindness, and 
 abandoned my intention of proceeding by the African 
 Lakes Company's steamer, being unwilling to be pledged 
 to the latter until I had verified or disproved the dis- 
 paraging statements about them, and the doubts of 
 the hona-Jides of the war, which here again I heard 
 from several sources. I therefore merely sent on a 
 letter to the manager to say I was coining, and joined 
 the Polish brothers. 
 
 The Zambesi is an immensely broad river (here about 
 1000 yards), with a strong current, low banks, and a 
 changing bed. There were at this time two steamers 
 of the African Lakes Company upon it. The country is 
 covered with rank grass, and there is no timber. We 
 arrived at Shamo, where my friends lived, next day, 
 
 1 " Experience," says Dr Laws, " amply confirms this."
 
 THE PORTUGUESE HALF-CASTE. 29 
 
 having been entertained en route by the head of a 
 Dutch house, where after-dinner songs were sung in 
 twelve different languages. 
 
 As we approached our destination towards sunset 
 on 13th April, an exquisite new moon was visible in 
 the glory of the fading sunset — a crescent of hope, I 
 thought, for my future. " It was a lovely sight : the 
 huge expanse of the Zambesi, the beautiful verdure 
 of grass and trees, the hills overtopping each other 
 close in front, and tinted with the colours of the sunset, 
 the sun dipping beneath the waters of the river, and 
 above its tints the lovely new moon in the blue sky, 
 contrastinp- with the gflowino- colours beneath — her re- 
 flection just visible in a 2)ath of liglit in the rippling 
 water to our feet — while all around was silence, but for 
 the rhythm of the boatmen's chant, and the regular dip 
 of their paddles." 
 
 I stayed ten days at Shamo, A\liile the younger 
 Steblenski prepared his effects for the onward journey, 
 and the kindness and hospitality with which these 
 Polish gentlemen, of high birth but exiled from their 
 country for political reasons, treated me, literally knew 
 no bounds. I had a special liking for the elder, Mr 
 Casimir Steblenski, and we made an expedition together 
 tlu'ough tlie narrow channel, which runs from the Shire 
 to the Zambesi above the junction of the rivers, to the 
 Portuguese headquarters at Sena. It was deplorable 
 to note the harm which had been done to the natives 
 of these countries by the wholesale import and sale 
 of ardent spirits, and of guns and powder, and the 
 pernicious influence of that worst of European produc- 
 tions, the Portuguese half-caste.^ The country is mapped 
 
 ^ ^Ir .J. Thomson, travelling west of Nyasa in September 1890, found 
 that the district was ravaged by them, and states tliat Kabwirc was com- 
 pelled to place himself under the protection of an Arab trader, " in order to 
 defend himself against the bloody slave-raids of a half-caste Portuguese " !
 
 30 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 out into prazos, or estates. Our host, a young Dutch- 
 man, informed me that his prazo was rented from the 
 Portuguese, and to recoup himself a poll-tax was levied 
 on the natives of $2 per head, which, he said, would 
 amount to double the rent, if fully collected. He de- 
 scribed to me the dodges used by the wretched people 
 to escape this imposition, for which, as far as I could 
 see, they received no equivalent of any sort ; for neither 
 were they protected from their enemies, nor was the 
 country opened up by roads, bridges, railways, or any 
 other works. He told me he pursued them into the 
 swamps and wilderness to collect the tax. Meanwhile 
 a brisk trade was carried on in ground-nuts, rubber, 
 bees- wax, and other products, in exchange for coloured 
 cloths, spirits, guns and powder. This one ijrazo, I was 
 told, was twice as large as the Netherlands ! Its ruler, 
 our host, was twenty-three years old ! 
 
 Senhor (Colonel) de Lima, Government inspector of 
 the ^9r«2;o.s', joined us for some distance, and was the 
 first real Portuguese gentleman I had met, for, unfor- 
 tunately, the representatives of that nation in these 
 distant dependencies are not as a rule gentlemen. In 
 fact, Quilimane was originally a convict settlement, and, 
 I suppose, the existing half-castes are the descendants 
 of these individuals, " who left their country for their 
 country's good," but certainly, I think, not for Africa's. 
 I heard very much, in particular, of Don Miguel Antonio, 
 
 "This Matakenya lias depopulated an enormous tract of country in the 
 Loangwa valley, making Zumbo his headquarters." Arrived at Mkwemba, 
 "we were once more in the pestiferous sphere of influence of the slave-raid- 
 ing Portuguese half-caste, who has sjaread death and desolation over many 
 thousand miles of the Zambesi basin." They are called the Shakundas. 
 Later, Mr Thomson was compelled to alter his course, since they had made 
 the country a depopulated wilderness. Kabwire is some 220 miles north- 
 east of Zumbo ; Mkwemba 200 miles north-west. Hence, even supposing 
 their raids to extend no farther than these points, we have an equilateral 
 triangle (with its apex at Zumbo), with sides 200 miles long, devastated by 
 them. — Fio?e Mr Thomson's paper, Geographical .Journal, vol. i. jjp. 10.3, 112.
 
 THE MORAMBALA MARSHES. 31 
 
 a half-caste or Goanese, and his cruelties, and absolute 
 indifference to human life ; his name has of late become 
 notorious from his collision with the South African 
 Company. I had met the man at Mozambique. The 
 perennial war, waged, I believe, since early in the 60's, 
 with Bonga was still the leading topic. I called on 
 the Jesuit Mission, which dates back for an enormous 
 series of years, probably as long as the Portuguese 
 have been in Sena, some 300 years, and I was received 
 with great courtesy by the Fathers.^ 
 
 It w^as with regret that I parted from my kind host 
 the elder Steblenski, when his brother and I started 
 up-river on the 24th. I had made several alternative 
 plans, as I had now many misgivings that the cam- 
 paign, in which I had looked forward to taking a 
 part, was not such as I could honourably engage in, 
 but I postponed any definite decision until I should 
 have seen Mr Scott (the head of the Blantyre Mission), 
 of whom all spoke well, and the acting Consul. 
 
 Once more in an open boat we ascended the river, 
 entering the great Morambala and Elephant marshes. 
 Hei'e the banks were level with the river, and an endless 
 expanse of marsh, covered with a bottomless mass of 
 
 ^ For an examination of the effects of Portuguese domination in E;ist 
 Africa, vide 'Tropical Africa,' Professor Drumiuond, p. 209. The writer 
 summarises his indictment thus : "They have done nothing for the people 
 since the day they set foot in Africa. They have never discouraged, but 
 rather connived at, the slave-trade. Livingstone himself took the Governor 
 of Tete's servant red-handed at the head of a large slave-gang. They have 
 been at perpetual feud with the native tiibes. They have taught them to 
 drink. Their missions have failed. Their colonisation is not even a name." 
 This judgment is a very sweeping one, for the wi'iter was but a short 
 time in Africa, and passed rapidly through Portuguese territory. On the 
 West Coast they have done much more (while we have done but little), and 
 more recently they have shown some signs of activity and enter])rise in East 
 Africa also. 
 
 So also Mr llaukin (Scottish Geographical Magazine, vol. ix. p. 220), 
 who has travelled in their territory, says that " the convicts and semi-con- 
 victs, who form the mass of their colonists, are opposed to all reform, as are 
 the petty officials." Vide also 'Zambesi Basin,' pp. 241 et seq.
 
 32 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 matted vegetation, extended for miles on every side. 
 It was the haunt of elephants, who were being shot 
 down by endless parties of natives, and other hunters 
 from every quarter. These marshes are very malarious, 
 especially, as now, ivhen drying up after the rains, at 
 the beginning of the hot weather, and I suffered from 
 several attacks of very heavy fever, mainly however, I 
 think, caused by our somewhat erratic mode of life. 
 A long residence in India has made me conversant 
 with every kind of fever ; that most deadly of all 
 forms, " Peshawur fever," — the symptoms and eflPects of 
 which closely resemble cholera, — clung to me for a year 
 in Afghanistan, and nearly cost me my life. Sudan 
 fever, Burma fever, Denghi fever, ordinary malarial 
 fever, have victimised me at various times, and taught 
 me certain common-sense precautions in tropical coun- 
 tries, which may be of value to intending travellers. 
 
 1. Avoid all unnecessary exjDosure to the sun, when 
 not in active exercise. When the skin is moist from 
 perspiration, the rays of the sun have not the same 
 power for ill. More harm is done by standing in the 
 sun, or running out of the tent for a few minutes in the 
 sun with no hat or only a small cap, than by any number 
 of hours' walking in the hottest hours of the day. For 
 this reason I believe that, when walking, thirst should 
 be freely quenched with water (or very weak tea), since 
 the moisture thus imbibed simply goes to replace the 
 waste from perspiration, and keej)s the skin (especially 
 of the head) in a moist condition, which renders it almost 
 proof against the sun. When in hard exercise, it does 
 not matter greatly about the quality and purity of the 
 water one drinks ; but when leading a sedentary life, 
 stagnant or impure water should be boiled before being 
 used. Removing the hat (to adjust it) in the sun, is a 
 folly I see daily perpetrated. It does not take an hour's 
 exposure to effect a sunstroke ! If it is necessary to
 
 PRECAUTIONS AGAINST FEVER. 33 
 
 remove the hat, even momentarily, it should be done 
 under the shade of a thick tree, 
 
 2. It is essential in tropical countries to protect the 
 stomach, liver, and spleen. This should be done by- 
 wearing a thick cummerhund of flannel (I always 
 used a strip of blanket). The thin " cholera belts " 
 sold in England are useless. I recommend that this 
 cummerhund be worn outside the underclothing, so 
 that if a long delay before changing is unavoidable, 
 after the clothes have become wet with perspiration — 
 owing, for instance, to a return to camp after dark, 
 when the night chills and dew have rej)laced the fierce 
 sun, or a long row home in a boat, or a bivouac with no 
 change of clothes in the forest — the cummerhund is 
 still dry, and can be taken off and put on next the skin 
 (under the wet clothes), and all fear of a chill is 
 avoided. It is from a chill of these organs, I believe, 
 that most of the fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, and 
 cholera which occur in the tropics are induced ; and I 
 doubtless owe my extraordinary exemption from these 
 diseases in Africa, as much to the observance of these 
 simple precautions, as to a very tough and wiry con- 
 stitution. 
 
 3. Never stir abroad until you have had a substantial 
 meal. Practice will enable the traveller to accommodate 
 liimself to this regime. However early I march, I 
 always eat a meat breakfast first, even if it be at 4 or 
 5 a.:m., as it often has been. Exposure to the sun on an 
 empty stomach is certain to induce fever. It was this, 
 as I well knew, which gave me fever now, for my com- 
 rade Mr Steblenski was very erratic about his meals, 
 and we sometimes did not breakfast till 12 or 2 p.m.; 
 and as I was, as it were, a guest", I could not unduly 
 press for an observance of my own regime, the more 
 so that from early morning till about 2 P.M. I was 
 ill constant expectation tliat we were about to land 
 
 VOL. F. C
 
 34 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 and cook our meal, as he assured me. The result was 
 immediate fever. 
 
 4. I l^elieve in the efficacy of many camp-fires lighted 
 in a circle, when camped in a very unhealthy spot, to 
 dispel the malarious night vapours ; also, in the smok- 
 ing of tobacco ; and in a mosquito-net, to shut out, to 
 some extent, the night dews and air. Unfortunately, 
 in swamp-land fuel is generally difficult to procure, 
 and ffi^es are, therefore, often hard to keep up. The 
 necessity of immediately changing damp clothes on 
 return to camp, and suchlike common-sense rules, are 
 too obvious to need reiteration. 
 
 If one feels " cheap," with the irritability, lack of 
 energy, and other symptoms so admirably described 
 by Professor Drummond,^ a dose of quinine (say 5 
 grains) should be taken early in the morning, and 
 again later in the day, on an empty stomach, with an 
 energetic walk to induce a violent perspiration. When 
 fever actually comes on, turn in and pile on every 
 blanket, waterproof- sheet, sail-cloth, sacking-bag, and 
 available covering, and sweat it out. It is a violent but 
 most effiictual remedy. Remain under this covering 
 — not allowing the neck or hands (and hardly even the 
 face) to be exposed — for upwards of an hour, whatever 
 the heat of the latitude may be. You will rise several 
 pounds lighter in weight possibly, and " as weak as a 
 rat," but your fever will be gone, and with due pre- 
 caution you may avoid its return. As soon as the 
 fever goes, take quinine in small doses two or three 
 times a-day on an empty stomach, for three or four 
 days. 
 
 The Zambesi mosquitoes are a visitation from purga- 
 tory ! At Shamo we ate our evening meal surrounded 
 by small fires of green grass, &c., to make a thick smoke, 
 and if the breeze were not sufficient to blow this towards 
 
 ^ Tropical Africa, Prof. Drummond, p. 42.
 
 MOSQUITOES — STEBLENSKl's SCARE. 35 
 
 US, and envelop us in it, a native was told off to fan it 
 in the direction of our table. This green-wood smoke 
 is veiy trying to the eyes, and as it is difficult to regu- 
 late it properly, one is continually suffering, either from 
 the attacks of myriads of mosquitoes (which bite with 
 ease through the stoutest cloth or ^voollen socks), or from 
 a plethora of smoke which causes the tears to stream 
 from one's eyes. My old plan of eating my food inside 
 my mosquito-net was hardly more successful, for they 
 swarmed outside it in a dense cloud, and found means 
 of ingress, however carefully the net was tucked in under 
 me, and if I put out my hand to take in a plate, &c., 
 a whole covev would come in with it, which had to be 
 laboriously killed off one by one. The discomfort, too, of 
 eating in a recumbent position in a small boat is great. 
 These mosquitoes (like the flies at Suakim) had no care 
 for their lives, and would not fly away when they had 
 settled. Probably the ennui in the Morambala marshes 
 had rendered them indifferent to the charms of life. I 
 have noticed that during a residence in the tropics one 
 undoubtedly becomes inoculated to the venom, not only 
 of the mosquito, but of other noxious insects, or the 
 attenuation of the blood reduces the irritation that one 
 feels when newly out from Europe. 
 
 Our journey up the Shire was of the same class as 
 that \\\) the Kwakwa. vSedentary life in an open boat ; 
 a long mid-day rest for the men to cook ; a bivouac by 
 niirht on some small island, where we could find a few 
 square yards of dry ground to make our cam]) ; an 
 early start next morning, and a repetition of the day 
 before. Incidents were few. My com})anion had a 
 mania for settino- the m-ass on Are, which his native 
 sohi'iquet embodied, and one evening, when engaged 
 ill this task, he trod on a ])uff-adder — that most deadly 
 of snakes. It did not move, and not recognising what 
 it was, he stoo))ed and picked it up, as it lay stiffiy
 
 36 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 coiled. Seeing then by the dim hght what he had in 
 his hand, he dropped it hastily, and it made off into the 
 grass. He now noticed a suspicious-looking scratch on 
 h-is arm, of which he had not been previously aM^are, and 
 was convinced it was a bite from the venomous reptile. 
 The wound began to throb and smart, whether natu- 
 rally or because of the intense concentration of thought 
 which he fixed upon it — in confirmation of Bulwer 
 Lytton's assertion in ' A Strange Story ' — it is impos- 
 sible to say. I was in high fever in the boat, so he 
 told me nothing of it, but sat by the fire with the 
 natives, awaiting the result (which he anticij^ated would 
 be death) with stolid pluck I After waiting in vain till 
 the small hours of the morning, he saw his fears were 
 groundless and turned in. 
 
 I remember just such an incident in India, when a 
 friend was skinning a cobra. I had hardly given vent to 
 a warning to be careful with his knife, when cutting 
 through the poison-fang — for a scratch from it would be 
 the same thinsf as a bite from the snake — when his 
 knife slipped and cut his hand in the very act, and after 
 sucking the wound, we similarly sat in grim silence, 
 awaiting the denoument, but our fears were happily 
 disappointed. 
 
 Emerging from the marshes, and leaving the great 
 mountain of Morambala (4000 ft.) behind us, after a 
 week's sojourn in these inhospitable swamps, we came 
 out into the higher and drier country l^eyond, where 
 game was plentiful. Steblenski went ashore to shoot — 
 he would meet the boat in the evening at camp ; but I 
 was too weak, from fever and my drastic remedies, to 
 attempt it. He came upon four lions, who were sitting 
 over the carcass of an antelope, in very dense high grass. 
 They would not move, and growled angrily. On arrival, 
 he told me of this ; and with some difiiculty, by offering 
 a reward, and assuring them that I did not want them
 
 FOOLHARDY LION-HUNTING. 37 
 
 to come a yard farther with me than they cared to, I 
 got some of our men to return with me and show me the 
 spot. Arrived, I left them at a distance, where they 
 clambered on an ant-hill to see the fun, and I advanced 
 alone into the thick patch of grass (6 to 8 ft. high), 
 where the lions were supposed to be, with my trusty 
 little "450 rifle. I felt it to be a case of vestigia nulla 
 retrorsum! and had they been there, it is of course 
 extremely improbable that I should have come out 
 alive. I am deaf in one ear, and was therefore unable 
 to distinguish the direction from which a premonitory 
 sound might come (even supposing I heard it), and 
 eyesight was useless where the dense grass obscured 
 everything. 
 
 Such foolhardy actions are in no sense plucky, 
 and, in my case at any rate, it was prompted by mere 
 recklessness. There is, however, a curious shrink- 
 ing from death in an unknown and probably cruel 
 form. The intense, absorbing excitemeiit of the 
 moment, when one is face to face with death, and 
 every nerve is strained, and the attention concentrated, 
 banishes for the moment every other thought, however 
 dominant. I believe, if a gladiator had entered the 
 arena, in the old days in Rome, intent on mere suicide, 
 every preconceived intention would vanish when he 
 found himself face to face with death in tlie form of a 
 growling and excited lion, and the mere animal instinct 
 of self-preservation, from destruction in a mode so 
 repugnant to those instincts, would impel him to use 
 every means to protect himself, to the oblivion of all 
 his previous intentions. 
 
 I searched every square yard of the ground, but the 
 lions liad left, scared by some burning grass Steblenski 
 had fired. They were close by, however, for the buck 
 they liad killed was almost warm, and one of the men 
 actually saw one of them. I found liis footsteps o\er 
 
 8S851
 
 38 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYEE. 
 
 the ashes of the grass just burnt, and followed them 
 into a similar dense patch of reeds and grass, but again 
 without success. We returned with the water-buck the 
 lions had killed, and a small antelope I had shot, and 
 the men were in great glee at the prospect of unlimited 
 meat. The lion, unlike the tiger (who invariably begins 
 at the buttock), first eats the ears of his prey, and then, 
 I think, usually attacks the entrails. 
 
 Little surprise at my somewhat eccentric actions was 
 evinced by the natives, for they implicitly believe in 
 daiva (charms) against danger. Each form of danger 
 must, however, have its particular daiva. Seeing me, 
 apparently without fear (though such, indeed, was any- 
 thing but the case), face four lions under circumstances 
 where escape was impossible (since the burning grass 
 around and my intrusion at their meal would ensure a 
 charge), they merely assumed that I had taken a daiva 
 against lions, of such potency that I was invulnerable to 
 them, and had therefore nothing to fear I But I heard 
 long afterwards, when passing here homeward bound, 
 that this episode had earned me the sobriquet of " the 
 man who tries to catch lions alive in his hands," and I 
 was remembered in connection with it. The Makololo 
 chiefs, however, despise these superstitions, and say that 
 their daiva in war or sport consists in a brave heart. 
 
 These Makololo are the remnants of the followers 
 whom Livingstone brought from near the sources of 
 the Zambesi, and left here. Of a far braver race than 
 the Manganja (who inhabit these countries), they soon 
 became chiefs, and subdued the surrounding tribes. 
 Some five of them are head chiefs, of whom Ramakukan 
 (Kasisi) and Mlauri were the most influential. They have 
 always been most friendly to Europeans, especially to the 
 British ; and old Mlauri loves to chat of Livingstone 
 in a broken English, which was absolutely unintelligible 
 to me, though Steblenski understood it I In the recent
 
 MLAUEI — HYENAS. 39 
 
 troubles with Portugal on the Shire, Mlauri declared 
 for us ; and I greatly regret that, in spite of his con- 
 tinued loyalty for thirty years, his country has been 
 handed over to the Portuguese, whose yoke he detests, 
 and to whom he says he will never submit. It was 
 with indio-nation that I read, lono- after I had left this 
 country, of the wanton attack by Major Serpa Pinto 
 (in 1889) on these brave people, and of the wholesale 
 slaughter inflicted on them by quick-firing guns. 
 
 Mlauri is a great sportsman, and claims the "ground 
 tusk" — viz.. the one towards the o-round when the 
 elephant falls — from all men, black or white, who shoot 
 in his country, as a mark of his sovereimity ; and 
 I think that this is a fair o-ame-law. Water -buck 
 abound in this country, but there are few other ante- 
 lope. The river literally swarms with monstrous croco- 
 diles, which in the scarcity of other prey become very 
 dangerous to the natives, of whom they kill many, 
 especially women when they come to draw water. 
 Hippo abound, and the old bulls are sometimes dan- 
 gerous, and charge boats passing up-river, sinking them 
 and precipitating the occupants among the crocodiles 
 in the river. We escaped any such misfortune here, 
 thougii later in the Upper Shire we were charged. On 
 that occasion I shot the ill-tempered brute. 
 
 There are numbers of hyenas, and I was told that 
 they have a very nasty trick of biting the face off a 
 sleeping man, which made me chary of detaching myself 
 far from my men at nio-jit. Tlie natives obviate this 
 danger, and, at the same time, get rid of the mosquitoes, 
 by slee})ing in afumha. This is a mat bag 6 ft. square. 
 Getting in at the open side, the occupant wriggles to 
 the far side, and tlien taking a turn over (mat and all), 
 eti'ectually closes the entrance by lying on it. Some- 
 times two or more boys will occujjy the same fumha, 
 and wliy they are not stifled is a mystery. One niglit
 
 40 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 a boy had a dream that he was attacked by a leopard, 
 and his piercing yells from inside his fumha awoke the 
 camp. The leopard (wliich he had seized) turned out to 
 be his " stable companion " in t\\Q fumha ! 
 
 The men of these tribes are magnificent in physique. 
 The women are mostly ugly, except Portuguese half- 
 castes, and make themselves intensely hideous by wear- 
 ing the pelele, a wooden disc inserted in a slit made 
 in the upper lip, and which is continually stretched 
 and enlarged till it measures sometimes an inch and a 
 half or more in diameter, and protrudes in a ghastly 
 way at right angles to the face below the nose. The 
 younger women, however, rarely wear this. Both sexes 
 are decently clothed, and the younger women usually 
 cover their breasts. Both men and women join in the 
 constant dance, and the happiness of these people is 
 quite j)henomenal. Nothing seems to distress them for 
 long, and ties of love and affection sit lightly upon 
 them. Their intellects are not strong enough to 
 enable them to suffer acutely from the anticijKition 
 of evil, nor to realise danger till it is actually before 
 them. Hence they live a careless, happy life, laughing 
 incessantly all day, dancing all night ; supremely happy, 
 if meat is abundant ; able to endure hunger like the 
 beasts of the field, if food is not to be got ; plucky, 
 because believing themselves invulnerable by reason of 
 their daiva ; undisturbed by hopes or fears of a here- 
 after ; rarely subject to those ills that flesh is heir to 
 — -headaches, toothaches, and their kindred woes — by 
 reason of their strong animal physique. Such are the 
 Manganja, and with some minor alterations in detail, 
 such is the typical savage of Africa. 
 
 My companion had a fancy for strange company, 
 and a Rajpoot Hindu convict, with a Portuguese half- 
 caste whom he had begged out of jDrison, had joined 
 our cortege ! It was droll to watch him in their
 
 FEXWICK S DEATH. 4 i 
 
 company fishing with a hook 5 in. long by 2^ broad, 
 — he never caught anything. The scenery again be- 
 came lovely. The banks wooded with beautiful trees, 
 hills in every perspective — some quite close and others 
 distant — and no longer a forest of grass so high as to 
 hide every house and tree. Such is the landscape as 
 we paddle up the river to the chorus of the boatmen's 
 song, a light breeze blowing (in the morning), and the 
 sun not too hot, — lounging in a boat fanned by the 
 breeze, the glorious blue skv overhead with its billows 
 of white clouds, fever past, the splitting headache 
 gone, and everything around "clapping its hands for 
 
 We passed the mouth of the Ruo (now the Portu- 
 guese boundary), opposite to Avhich stood Chipitula's 
 hut, a ruined monument of a sad and a terrible tragedy. 
 Fenwick, an Englishman, so the story goes, had bought 
 some goods in Quilimane with ivory for this chief 
 Chipitula accused him of having kept back a portion. 
 Possibly both were excited by drink ; words ran high ; 
 Chipitula called Fenwick some insulting name. The 
 latter drew his revolver, shot the chief dead, and rush- 
 ing to the river-bank, seized a canoe and got across to 
 an island full of reeds. The tribe rose, but dared not 
 a])proach, as Fenwick was known to be a dead sliot, 
 but they kept watcli. In the evening the wretched 
 man crawled forth to drink, and a volley was poured 
 into liini. His l)odv was dismembered and cut to 
 ])ieceH, and tlie way to Blantyre was closed by the 
 excited tribes. Such is one of many almost forgotten 
 African tragedies. 
 
 After a sliort stay at Mlauri's, we went on to 
 Katiniga's, the end of our river journey for the present, 
 and distant some 220 miles from the coast. 1 liad 
 tried a little shooting, b\it the country is very close 
 indeed, and covered witli eitlier " elephant grass "
 
 42 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 [matete), or the spike-leaved reed {mahanga), both of 
 which grow from 8 to 15 ft. high, and are so dense 
 as to be absolutely impenetrable. Tracks of elephant, 
 hippo, and buffalo intersect the bush in every direction, 
 but these are rather tunnels than paths. The dense 
 vegetation unites above, some 4 ft. from the ground, 
 and progress is wearisome when one has to proceed 
 in a stooping posture or on all-fours. Without such 
 a path or tunnel, it is only possible to struggle along 
 at a foot-pace with immense exertion, by pressing down 
 the vegetation and clambering over it. These high 
 reeds and grasses are full also of a creeper which we 
 call in India " co watch," having a bean covered with 
 a lovely velvet coating, exactly resembling "old-gold" 
 coloured plush. The microscopic spines on this bean 
 adhere to the flesh, and set up an intense, almost 
 maddening irritation. The mosquitoes, too, in the 
 thick vegetation, are very bad, even by day. In other 
 places is the mahonda, a marsh plant which covers 
 the Morambala swamps. It forms a mass of springy 
 but bottomless roots and stalks, over which it is pos- 
 sible to walk, but the foot is continually slipping deep 
 down and getting inextricably caught among the tough 
 stalks. In such country it is almost impossible to 
 shoot game, as it is invisible, however plentiful. 
 
 At Katunga's the ComjDany's steamer overtook us, 
 and l)y it came Mr Sharpe (now Vice-Consul in British 
 Nyasaland). He told me the full story of the fighting 
 at Karonga's (in which he had borne a share), its 
 causes and results. His views were almost identical 
 with Mr O'Neill's, and he looked on the fighting as 
 absolutely necessary to save the missions on Nyasa 
 from annihilation. For, if Karonga's were abandoned, 
 he deemed it a certainty that there would be a general 
 combination of the hostile "Arab" elements, and that 
 they Avould kill all Europeans, and open a new great
 
 SHARPE BLANTYRE. 43 
 
 slave-route. The Consul (Mr Hawes), he said, liad 
 approved and joined in the fighting, and only opposed 
 its continuation at the moment, because the force was 
 inadequate. Sharpe considered that the force now 
 assembled was sufficient. He himself would join the 
 expedition, if under a leader he approved, but would 
 under no circumstances, he said, fight under existing 
 arrangements. 
 
 I was relieved to hear these views from one whose 
 whole demeanour proclaimed him at once a thorough 
 gentleman, and a practical, shrewd, common-sense man ; 
 for, of late, after hearing contrary reports from a score 
 of difl:erent sources, I had been compelled to place some 
 credence in them, and was even (as I admit in my 
 diary) "ashamed" of my anxiety to join the expedition, 
 and had almost given up my intention of doing so. 
 Saying a cordial good-l^ye for the present to Steblenski, 
 I walked half-way to Blantyre on May the 11th with 
 Sharpe and Burton (a friend of his, who had engaged 
 for the expedition on the same terms as the men from 
 Natal). We climbed the very steep gradients, which 
 led us up to the plateau of the Shire highlands, — slept 
 where we could under a tree, and ate what we could 
 get (purchased with Sharpe's pocket-handkerchief), and 
 next day arrived at Blantyre and Mandala. The former 
 is the name of the Mission of the Established Church of 
 Scotland, the latter of the Lakes Company's station. 
 'I'he two estates are divided l)y tlie Mudzi stream. 
 
 Blantyre is a charming s})ot in tlie heart of the Shird 
 hiiihkinds. It consists of a series of houses in the form 
 of a rectangle, most admirably built of sun-dried bricks, 
 witli sawn-wood joists, and very neat thatches. The 
 fomidations of the houses are raised some four or five 
 ste})S al)Ove the surrounding ground, and tlie broad 
 verandahs are paved with burnt bi-icks, Tlie interior of 
 tlie s(|nare is a \'ei'v ])rettilv laid-out garden, inigated
 
 44 
 
 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 by water-channels brought from a distant brook. One 
 side of the rectangle is open, and on this side was 
 
 Blantyre Church (Interior). 
 
 the site now occupied by the magnificent brick church, 
 designed and built by the Hev. Clement Scott. ^ Be- 
 
 ^ Regarding the construction of this church see chapter xviii. (Labour).
 
 VIEWS OF MISSIONS REGARDING THE WAR. 45 
 
 yoncl is his large and well-built house, and beyond that 
 again the house of Dr Bowie, of whose recent death I 
 heard with sorrow. Mandala consists of a fine house, 
 in which lived Messrs John and Fred Moir — the joint- 
 managers of the African Lakes Company — and their 
 wives. There is also a store, and several cottages 
 occupied by the employes of the Company. 
 
 On arrival I called on Mr Moir, who offered me com- 
 mand of the expedition then on the point of starting 
 for the north end of the Lake Nyasa, and expressed a 
 strong desire tliat I would accept it. I called also on 
 Mr Scott, and we discussed the subject of the war, and 
 I learnt from him and others the story of the fighting, 
 and the grounds on which they supported its continu- 
 ation. He told me that the missions had had some 
 misgivings as to the conduct of the expedition, but that 
 if I consented to go in command, they would give me 
 their entire support. I thereupon wrote to the acting 
 Consul, Mr Buchanan, who lived at Zomba, some little 
 distance off, requesting his concurrence and sanction. 
 Li mv letters I o-ave a detail of all I had heard con- 
 cerning the war — its origin and the necessity of con- 
 tinuing it — so as to draw from him an expression of his 
 views, in case they should difier from what I had heard, 
 or the facts should be other than what I had stated, and 
 I requested his official opinion as to whether I ouglit to 
 join the expedition. 
 
 The situation described in these letters was as follows : 
 The Slavers had attacked a British station unprovoked ; 
 reprisals had been attempted, and in these Consul 
 Hawes of the Nyasa district, as well as Consul O'Neill, 
 had taken a part. A council was tlien convened, and a 
 promise was made, and subsequently given in writing 
 to those who were left at Mwini- Wanda, of relief and sup- 
 l)ort ; a definite number of men, arms, and annnunition 
 being specified, with the ap})arent object of (hiving the
 
 46 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 Arabs out of their stockades, the garrison l^eing left to 
 hold the district and to retain the confidence of the 
 natives, till the expedition arrived. No force equivalent 
 to that specified had as yet been sent. Of this council 
 both Consuls were approving members. Subsequently 
 negotiations had been undertaken by the acting Consul 
 himself without success ; and finally, the war had been 
 reopened by Mr F. Moir. Several men had again been 
 left to represent the British, at the north of the lake ; 
 their position was precarious, and they had only volun- 
 teered to stay on the understanding that reinforcements 
 should be sent up as soon as possible. It was the 
 unanimous opinion of both the Free Church and Estab- 
 lished Church Missions, and of other European residents, 
 that the fighting was absolutely necessary, and a meet- 
 ing had been held at Blantyre (which the acting Consul 
 attended, and whose decision he apparently endorsed), 
 at which this conclusion was arrived at on the following 
 grounds : — 
 
 1. Unless a decisive blow^ was inflicted on these Slavers, 
 the missions on both shores of Nyasa, and also those of 
 the London Missionary Society near Tanganyika, would 
 be in a most precarious condition, and it apj)eared more 
 than probable that they would be attacked and de- 
 stroyed ; and in such a case even the mission and 
 consulate at Blantyre would be in danger. 
 
 2. The quarrel at present was confined to a very 
 small section, under an Arab named Mlozi, and many 
 influential Arabs had expressed their disapproval of his 
 action, and dissociated themselves from him. If the 
 war was now prosecuted, it was held to be probable 
 that the quarrel would be isolated ; but by an exhibition 
 of weakness or vacillation it was feared that many 
 Slavers, who had hitherto held aloof, would join Mlozi, 
 considering him the victor, and so a general combina- 
 tion would be formed too powerful to be opposed.
 
 CAUSES AND OBJECTS OF FIGHTIXG. 47 
 
 3. In such a case the whole of the west of the 
 lake would fall under the domination of the '"' Arabs," 
 and a new and most imj^ortant slave-route would be 
 opened. 
 
 4. That friendly tribes through whose assistance the 
 lives of the o-arrison at Karono-a's had been saved, 
 would be abandoned to the mercy of the Slavers, to 
 be massacred and sold into slavery. 
 
 5. That already the effect of the temporary success of 
 the Slavers had been to engender in the tribes friendly 
 to them a most marked and unprecedented spirit of 
 aggression and hostility to Europeans, so that recently 
 the actino- Consul himself had been the victim of a otoss 
 outrage when visiting a neighbouring chief in a purely 
 official capacity. 
 
 The immediate object of the fighting was to defend 
 the station of Karonga's, to achieve which result it was 
 necessary to oust the Slavers from the stockades they 
 had built close by. The Lakes Company could not 
 afford to maintain a strong permanent garrison there, 
 and hence, unless a decisive blow was now struck, they 
 must evacuate that station (for it would be impossible to 
 leave an inadequate garrison, exposed to the vengeance 
 of the Slavers), in which case the Stevenson Road would 
 be abandoned, and the deplorable results I liave tab- 
 ulated would be brought about. The destruction of 
 tliese stockades of the Slavers had formed the object 
 of Consul Hawes' attack, and the basis of the actiiii!' 
 Consul's subsequent negotiations. It was therefore a 
 question of fighting or at once withdrawing from Karon- 
 ga's, and had to be regarded solely from that point of 
 view ; nor was there time to refer the question to Eng- 
 land for decision, for immediate action one way or 
 the other was imperative. News of these events had 
 already reached England, but no decided expression of 
 iippioval or dissent from the policy hitherto followed
 
 48 QUILIMANE TO BLANTYRE. 
 
 had been expressed by her Majesty's Government, 
 who, in reply to a question in the House, had merely 
 answered that these districts were beyond her Majesty's 
 dominions. 
 
 I added that I considered it my duty to join the 
 expedition under such circumstances, and requested the 
 Consul's official sanction. This synopsis of the situation 
 was given in these letters, not only, as I have said, in 
 order to ascertain Mr Buchanan's views, but also that 
 when forwarded to England with his official despatches, 
 they might be explanatory of the causes and objects of 
 the fighting, and the reasons which had prompted me 
 to take part in it. Mr Hawes, the Consul, before leav- 
 ing the country, had instructed Mr Buchanan to take 
 no active steps, but await orders from home. Feeling 
 himself bound by these instructions (though the situ- 
 ation had much altered since Mr Hawes left), Mr 
 Buchanan was at first unwilling to call upon me to lend 
 my services. He was also justly indignant at never hav- 
 ing been informed of the projected expedition, and that 
 his sanction and his opinion had not been asked until 
 my arrival. He came to Blantyre, and we had much 
 conversation on the subject, and several meetings of 
 residents were held at Mr Scott's house. The members 
 of the Blantyre Mission and two of the Livingstonia 
 Mission who happened to be present, thereupon ad- 
 dressed to him through myself the following letter : — 
 
 "Blantyre, May 17, 1888. 
 
 " Sir, — The present condition of affairs seems to us, members 
 of the British community here, to be most serious ; and in the 
 presence of Captain Lugard, who has expressed himself wilHng 
 to take command of the expedition at present formed by the 
 Lakes Company, if called upon to do so, it seems to us that an 
 opportunity presents itself of keeping the expedition on the same 
 lines as those on which the missionaries at Blantyre a short time 
 ago gave their countenance to the action formerly proposed, and 
 of lifting the whole expedition into the sympathy and moral
 
 OFFICIAL SANCTION OBTAINED. 49 
 
 support of the whole community. "We therefore desire to express 
 hereby our whole-hearted concurrence in the call which has 
 been addressed to Captain Lugard by the Lakes Company, and 
 to record our thanks to him for what is self-sacrifice for a national 
 duty. — We are, your obedient servants, 
 
 David Clement Scott, B.D., Ordained Mia., Biantyrc. 
 David Kerr Cross, M.B., CM., ] ordained Min., 
 George Henry, M.A., M.B., CM., \ LiviwjKtonia Mission. 
 Joiix Bowie, M.B., CM," 
 
 (And three other names.) 
 
 In reply I received the following letter : — 
 From Acting Consul, Nijasa District, to Ccqit. F. D. Lugard, D.s.o. 
 
 "MuDiE, May 18, 1888. 
 
 " Sir, — 1 have the honour to acknowledge your letter of May 
 12th, also your letter in continuation of the same, dated May 16th, 
 with copy of letter, dated jNIay 17th, signed by the leading members 
 of the Blantyre ]\Iission, giving their whole-hearted concurrence 
 in the call wliicli has been addressed to you by the African Lakes 
 Company. 
 
 " 2. Pending further instructions from the Foreign Office, I 
 reserve the discussion of your letter till a future period. It is 
 my duty to inform you that her IMajesty's Government will not 
 be held responsible for this expedition. I express my strong, 
 hearty approval of your going as commander of the expedition, 
 provided you undertake to observe the following conditions : 
 1st, That you bear in mind that the expedition is having the 
 support of the English community here, and my approval, purely 
 as a defensive measure — viz., defending a . . . [original dam- 
 aged and illegible]. 2d, That you will confine your operations 
 to the so-called ' Arab ' chiefs Mlozi, Kopa-Kopa, and Msalema, 
 and their allies, who were engaged in the attack on Karonga's, 
 the station of the African Lakes Company, and endeavour by all 
 means in your power to confine the scope of the war. 3d, That 
 in procuring native allies from the Wa-mwamba and other tribes 
 at the north of the lake, you will be particularly careful to 
 observe the German sphere of influence, as shown on the most 
 authentic maps, to prevent complications in that quarter. — I am, 
 Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 "John Buchanan, //w .Vajrsty'.'i Arli>i</ C'on.nd, Xyasa." 
 VOL. T. D
 
 50 QUILIMANE TO BLAXTYRE. 
 
 I pressed Mr Buchanan to come himself with us, but 
 he said his large plantations of coffee at this season 
 required liis whole care, and he could not neglect 
 them. I therefore promised to supply him with full 
 official reports of all that took place, that he might be 
 able to report fully, as Consul, to the Foreign Office. 
 This I did, in three lengthy reports detailing events 
 during the next year. 
 
 I had found much division at Blantyre on my arrival. 
 The missions, the Consul, and the Company, each in- 
 dividually thought the war unavoidable and necessary, 
 but for various reasons there was a lack of accord, and 
 of confidence in the Company's expedition. My first 
 task was to remedy this, and the result was not 
 achieved without great difficulty. Mr Buchanan did 
 not at first desire to accept the responsibility of offici- 
 ally sanctioning my going, but in the last resort I would 
 have gone, even without such approval, and at the risk 
 of my conmiission — so serious did the crisis seem to 
 me. A complete accord ivas, however, effected, and 
 we left Blantyre with the most cordial good - wishes 
 of all parties, and the prayers of the missions for our 
 success.
 
 
 ^';^> 
 
 y 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE WAR — SLAVE- 
 TRADE AND MISSIONS. 
 
 British and "Arabs" arrive in Nkondc — The Wahenga — Mas- 
 sacre of Wankonde — Karonga's threatened — O'Neill arrives — Besieged 
 — North-enders to the rescue — Karonga's abandoned — Consul Hawes' 
 arrives — Attack on Mlozi — Divergent views at Blantyre — Mr F. 
 Moir's attack — Buchanan's negotiations — The Nyasa "C'onsul" — 
 Reason of appointment — Powers — Results of slave-trade squadron — 
 Life at Blantyre — Arrive at Matope — Mendiers of the expedition — Dr 
 Cross — Value of Medical missions — Industrial missions — Schools for 
 children — Administrative missions — Missionary qualifications — Mr 
 Sharpe. 
 
 tolluws 
 
 The story of the origin of tlie war was a.s fc 
 Some six years prior to the time of which T write, the 
 African Lakes Company liad founded a small tradint;-
 
 52 ORIGIN OF THE WAR. 
 
 station at Karoiiga's, towards the north-west end of the 
 Lake Nyasa. About the same time a small party of 
 slave-traders settled in Mpata and built their villages 
 seven miles from Karonga's on a very important site, 
 which connnanded the road to Tanganyika by con- 
 trolhng l^oth the ferry of the river and a pass. They 
 had few followers, and settled here by the jDermission 
 of the local tribe, the Wankonde — a peaceable agricul- 
 tural people, who were also rich in cattle. For some 
 time all went well. Soon the Slavers made excuses 
 for putting an enclosure round their village, on the plea 
 of the fear of lions, &c. This gradually grew into a 
 stockade. 
 
 The Nkonde valley was a singularly peaceful spot, 
 shut in by ranges of high hills from the warlike tribes 
 around. It was extensively cultivated by the indus- 
 trious people, and the far-reaching banana groves were 
 kept in scrupulous order. The Wankonde are very 
 clean in their habits, and their huts are the neatest 
 and most wonderfidly built of any I have seen in 
 Africa, excepting only the houses of the king and 
 chiefs in Uganda. Settled among the Wankonde were 
 an alien tribe, named the Wahenga. These people 
 had fled before the powerful and dreaded (Zulu) tribe 
 of the Angoni, and had claimed and received the 
 hospitality of the Wankonde, who allowed them to 
 live among them. Though inferior in numbers, they 
 w^ere superior in fighting capacity to their hosts. With 
 these people the Slavers now began to intrigue. The 
 Wankonde were armed with nothing but spears. The 
 Wahenga had the guns of their allies, who promised 
 them the land if they would assist them to drive out 
 and enslave the Wankonde. They readily agreed, and 
 fire and sword was carried from village to village. The 
 men were shot down, and the women and children carried 
 off into slavery, to be sold for fresh supplies of guns
 
 IXTRIC4UE OF THE SLAVERS. 
 
 53 
 
 and powder, wherewith to enable the Slavers to make 
 still more extended raids. 
 
 The British emjjloye of the Lakes Company at Kar- 
 onga's, Mr L. Monteith, who has since written a book 
 on the incidents of this war,^ an ex - foreman from a 
 ship-building yard in Glasgow, was a 
 man of strong character, actuated hy 
 high principles, and he had a very great 
 influence with the tribes around. He 
 
 A Wankonde Village 
 
 had l)een on most friendly tei-ms for vears with the 
 "Arabs," who sold tlieir ivory to ln*m, and. 1 legret 
 to say, sometimes received powder in exchange for it. 
 Even Kabunda, a very powerful chief at the south of 
 the Tanganyika lake, who could, it was said, put several 
 
 ' Advfiitures in Nyasalaml.
 
 54 ORIGIN OF THE WAR. 
 
 thousand guns in the field, and who acknowledged the 
 rule of Tippoo Tib, sent down consignments of ivory to 
 Karonga's under a lieutenant named Ramathan, a Beluch. 
 Monteith expostulated at the wholesale destruction in- 
 flicted on the Wankonde by the Slavers, but he could 
 do no more. Karonga's consisted of a few mud-houses, 
 with a garrison of some sixty " station-boys " (native 
 employes), and there was no stockade or defence, and 
 no force to oppose to an enemy. 
 
 At length these barbarities culminated in an act of 
 singular brutality. The Wankonde who had fled were 
 decoyed by promises of peace and friendship to a place 
 near an arm of the lake called the Kambwe Lagoon. 
 The banks of this bay were fringed with dense reeds, 
 now dry in the hot weather ; its shallow water swarmed 
 with crocodiles. The wretched Wankonde were treacher- 
 ously attacked, and volley after volley was fired into 
 the dense crowds of men, women, and children, who had 
 fled to conceal themselves in the reeds. To these the 
 Slavers set fire, and gave the wretched people the option 
 of rushing into the bay to be devoured by the crocodiles, 
 or of being roasted alive, or of coming out to be shot 
 down wholesale, or captured and enslaved, while their 
 assailants climbed the trees to watch the butchery, and 
 fire with more advantage on the terrified masses among 
 the reeds. 
 
 The Slavers now having overrun the whole country 
 up to the very gate of Karonga's, their leader, Mlozi, 
 proclaimed himself Sultan of Nkonde, and demanded 
 acquiescence and the' payment of a tribute from Mon- 
 teith. This the latter refused. The " Arabs " now 
 daily began to throw ofl" any disguise of friendship for 
 the white men, and to use insulting words, and even 
 openly threatened that the turn of Karonga's was soon 
 to come. Monteith's companion, Mr Nicoll, was away 
 on lousiness, so he sent to Mr Bain of the Free Church
 
 karonga's threatened — o'neill arrives. 55 
 
 Mission at Mwiiii- Wanda (on the Nyasa-Tanganyika 
 plateau), begging him to come and advise him. Mr 
 Bain at once came, and Mr Nicoll also arrived about 
 this time. The steamer of the Company, the Ilala, 
 had just come up to Karonga's. By her Monteith sent 
 word down the lake of his critical position, and, mean- 
 while, steps were taken to endeavour to construct some 
 defence. The Slavers affected to take this as a chal- 
 lenge, and resented it. A large papnent, however, 
 was due to Ramathan (who seems to have been the main 
 instigator of the war) for ivory sold by him to Monteith. 
 Possibly he thought that, if Karonga's was attacked, 
 the store might be fired, and he would lose both his 
 ivory and its payment, or that in the general loot he 
 would come short of his fair share. However that may 
 be, the Slavers contented themselves with insults, which 
 daily grew more pronounced, but the actual attack was 
 postponed. 
 
 Tlie little Ilala steamed fast southwards. At Livino-- 
 stonia, at the south of the lake, she found Mr O'Neill, 
 Consul of Mozambique, who, with his wife and brother- 
 in-law, the Rev. Lawrence Scott, had come for a holiday 
 trip to Nyasa, .botanising, &c. Mrs O'Neill was at the 
 moment at Blantyre. O'Neill, hearing of the critical 
 condition at the north end, determined on his own 
 responsibility to take the steamer back ; and sending 
 letters to inform the manager, Mr Moir, of the state 
 of affairs and of his action, he prepared with Mr Scott 
 to return at once and offer his services. Mr Sharpe was 
 at that time engaged in elephant-shooting for ivory in 
 tlie neighbourhood. He also immediately volunteered 
 to go, and brought witli liini all his ginis and heavy 
 ammmiition. At Karonga's there was very little annnu- 
 nition indeed, and the steamer brought practically none, 
 except this. Their arrival was a great relief to the 
 tliree men at Karonga's, Mr Bain saying that they
 
 56 ORIGIN OF THE WAR. 
 
 had come "just in the nick of time." And so it 
 ajDpeared. Payment was made to Ramathan by Mr 
 O'Neill's advice — for he now practically assumed com- 
 mand — and shortly afterwards the Slavers, with all their 
 allies, came down to attack. A hasty defence was run 
 up, consisting of bales of cloth piled on top of each 
 other, and a ditch was dug inside to give more shelter. 
 In rear was the shore of the lake. Inside this rough 
 defence, or camped on the beach, there were, I believe, 
 some 1500 Wankonde refugees. The garrison consisted 
 of six white men and some sixty natives, with but 
 little anmiunition. 
 
 At the extreme north end of the lake was another 
 section of the Wankonde tribe. These people were 
 more warlike than their tribesmen around Karonga's, 
 and in infinitely greater numbers. They were under 
 three great chiefs, and were armed only with spears, 
 but were brave in war. They had long been on the 
 most friendly terms with Monteith. As soon as the 
 Slavers showed unmistakable signs that they were about 
 to commence hostilities, O'Neill despatched Nicoll to 
 try and obtain assistance from these " north-enders." 
 He proceeded along the lake shore and passed the 
 Wahenga village of Kanyoli, whose inhabitants were 
 already turning out for the attack ; but taken, probably, 
 completely by surprise at seeing him, they did not mo- 
 lest him. 
 
 Meanwhile the attack on Karonga's began. The 
 force of the Slavers surrounded it in front and on the 
 flanks ; in rear was the lake. The enemy built plat- 
 forms in the trees, so as to look down into the stockade 
 and fire into it. The garrison replied by deepening 
 their ditch around their bales, and digging holes and 
 trenches in the sand for the refugee Wankonde to 
 screen themselves in. Constant desultory firing went 
 on day and night ; but the Slavers, ap^^arently, had such
 
 BESIEGED — XORTH-ENDERS TO THE RESCUE. 57 
 
 fear of the white men, or such confidence in being able 
 to starve them out, that they did not attempt to rush 
 the puny defence. Meanwhile, only the best shots — 
 O'Neill and Sharpe— were allowed to fire, so as to save 
 the ammunition ; and these two marksmen picked ofi" a 
 number of men who exposed themselves for a moment, 
 and created so wholesome a fear among the enemy that 
 they dared not come to close quarters. The old store and 
 other buildings were outside the defence, and from in- 
 side this and behind it the "Arabs" poured a harassing 
 fire. On one occasion the enemy crowded into it to 
 escape rain, and Sharpe fired point-blank at the heavy 
 wooden door with an elephant rifle and heavy charge. 
 That shot was said to have killed six men I They 
 streamed out, and eventually one of the natives of the 
 garrison succeeded, under a heavy fire, in going out and 
 setting fire to the thatch, and thus got rid of it. 
 
 The ammunition now began to give out, and the end 
 seemed near. Just as all were becoming convinced that 
 nothing could now save them, Nicoll appeared with 5000 
 Wankonde from the north end of the lake. The Slavers 
 and their allies fled to their stockades, without waiting 
 to fight, and Karonga's was relieved. Unfortunately, 
 instead of advancing at the moment to drive the slave- 
 traders out of the country, a slight delay took place, and 
 the Wankonde began at once to disperse. It was im- 
 possible for the brave garrison to remain behind with 
 no ammunition, and the "station-boys," who had be- 
 haved so well throughout, declined to do so. So O'Neill 
 and his five conn-ades set fire to the stores, and left for 
 tlie north, where they took up tlieir abode in some 
 wretched hovels, near the frontiers of the country of 
 their allies, the " north-end Wankonde " ( Wa-nmamba). 
 
 Meanwhile, the steamer luid taken down the news 
 to Blantyre and Mandala of the critical position of the 
 Karonga garrison. Consul Hawes, Mr Moir, and several
 
 58 ORIGIN OF THE WAR. 
 
 others hastened to the rescue. They arrived to find 
 Karonga's burnt to the ground (for the Slavers had come 
 back after it was evacuated, and destroyed what re- 
 mained of it), but the garrison were safe at the Songwe 
 river. O'Neill was dow^i with severe fever. The aid 
 of the " north-enders " was again called in, and Consul 
 Hawses led an attack against Mlozi and his allies. 
 Their stockades were at this time mere fences, and the 
 prestige of the white men w^as still so high that the 
 Slavers dared not fiice them in fight. The Wankonde 
 in their thousands swarmed into the slave-traders' vil- 
 lage, and drove back its inhabitants. Kamathan was 
 shot in the ankle, and speared. But these naked 
 savages had come for loot only. Each man seized an 
 ox, or a cow, or a captive, and started off in a bee- 
 line for home. The "Arabs" had only been driven to 
 the back of their village, and as the Wankonde dis- 
 persed, they gained courage and again came forw^ard. 
 The white men had little ammunition, and this was 
 almost exhausted. They drove the enemy back, but 
 were forced to retire themselves, and hence the total 
 result of the attack was, that the Slavers lost a great 
 deal of property, but remained in possession of their 
 villages. In this attack Mr Sharpe received a slight 
 wound in tlie heel, and Mr Moir got a bullet through 
 the fleshy part of his leg. 
 
 The white men now left for Mandala, it being ar- 
 ranged that a big expedition should be equipped, with 
 adequate arms and ammunition, to return and oust the 
 Slavers. Consul Hawes said that, if such an expedition, 
 with adequate men and resources, were organised, it 
 w^ould have his supjDort. Mr Moir undertook to form 
 it by the end of April, but meantime promised to hasten 
 back with all speed in fourteen days with food and 
 ammunition. On this understanding' Messrs Monteith 
 and Nicoll, with Dr Cross (avIio had been compelled to
 
 DIVERGEXT VIEWS AT BLAXTYRE. 59 
 
 fly from his mission-station at Chirenji, where he was 
 the colleague of ]\Ii- Bain), undertook to remain, and so 
 give confidence to the natives, and show that the white 
 men had not run away and left for good. They were 
 without stores, or necessities of any kind. The steamer 
 left on Jan. 5th, 1888. 
 
 On arrival at Blantyre an unfortunate difference of 
 opinion arose. Consul Hawes thought nothing should 
 be done until a fully equipped expedition could start ; 
 that to attempt anything further with inadequate re- 
 sources Avould only lead to disaster, or a loss of prestige. 
 Consul O'Neill held that tliey were bound by their 
 solemn pledges to those left behind in a most precarious 
 position ; that, since it would take several months to 
 get the expedition together, they ought, in the mean- 
 time, to send up what assistance and supplies they 
 could, and so redeem their promise. He was ready 
 himself to return with any such reinforcements. So far 
 as I understand, the opinion of all — the Company, the 
 missions, and others — was with O'Neill. Mr Hawes at 
 this juncture availed himself of a period of leave wliich 
 had been granted to him, and left the country for Eng- 
 land. Mr O'Neill, feeling himself in a most delicate 
 ])Osition, ]>eing out of his own consular jurisdiction, and 
 in that of another man whose views did not agree 
 witli his own, saw no option left him but to return 
 to Mozamljique. Mr Buchanan, who had formerly been, 
 attached to the Blantyre Mission, was appointed acting- 
 Consul, and he understood from Mr Hawes that he was 
 to do notliing, pending arrival of instructions from home. 
 
 Meanwliile, close on ten weeks had been lost before 
 Mr F. Moir, having collected a considerable (piantity 
 of guns and ammunition, and with six white men and 
 reinforcements of natives, was ready to go back to 
 Karonga's, and take the necessaries and stores promised 
 to Monteith and tlie others. Tliis was, of course, in
 
 60 ORIGIN OF THE WAR. 
 
 pursuance of the views held by Mr O'Neill and the other 
 European residents in Nyasaland, and was in antici- 
 pation of the large expedition which was to follow. 
 This temporary relief, owing to these causes and also 
 to other inexplicable delays en route (Mr Lindsay being 
 sent ofp to look for gold, &c.), did not arrive till March 
 3d, though it had been positively promised by Jan. 
 19th, and in the meantime Dr Cross, Monteith, and 
 Nicoll had led a life of extreme hardship and danger. 
 Mr Buchanan shortly afterwards arrived, and endeav- 
 oured in his consular capacity to bring about peace. 
 The Slavers agi'eed to evacuate their positions, but 
 afterwards declined to carry out this undertaking. He 
 then gave up the fruitless negotiation and returned to 
 Zomba. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr F. Moir's force had been recruited ta 
 the number of about 500 natives (270 guns), with eight 
 Europeans. He determined to conclude the war with- 
 out waiting for the big expedition, thinking his force 
 equal to the task. They returned from the north end 
 of the lake, and rebuilt the stockade at Karonga's. 
 Mlozi and his party had made no adequate prepara- 
 tions ; their stockades were not so strongly fortified as 
 they subsequently became. A friendly Arab, Majid, 
 endeavoured to secure peace ; but the British fancied 
 themselves absolutely sure of success, and they were 
 eager to fight and take vengeance on the slave-traders 
 for the past. An indemnity in ivory was demanded^ 
 which I believe was more than Mlozi had it in his 
 power to pay : so they prepared to fight it out. 
 
 Mr F. Moir, by an ingenious device of firing darts 
 out of a large-bore rifle, with lighted bark-cloth at- 
 tached, succeeded in setting fire to the village. He 
 shoM^ed much personal courage himself, but received 
 a bullet which shattered his rieht arm. From the 
 terrible nature of the wound, it was surmised that it
 
 THE XYASA COXSt^L. 61 
 
 must have been a wild shot from a breechloader of one 
 ■of his own men. This sad contr^etemps completed the 
 failure of the attack, and the British force retired. 
 The Slavers, emboldened, came out of their stockades and 
 made a counter-attack on the retreating force, but were 
 repulsed. Mr F. Moir returned to Mandala at the end 
 of April, leaving six men behind to hold Karonga's. The 
 Slavers no^\' seeing that the white men meant to prose- 
 cute the war on these terms, began to fortifv them- 
 selves by building formidable stockades, and laving 
 down thorns, &c. The loss of prestige we had recently 
 suffered by the foilure of the late attack had, moreover, 
 given them a great increase of confidence. 
 
 Such was the series of events which had happened 
 prior to my own arrival in the country. At the time 
 1 reached Blantyre (May 12th), Mr F. Moir had just 
 been brought back wounded, and the larger expedition 
 was on the point of starting. Mr Buclianan represented 
 tlie consular authority, and the steps I took to obtain 
 his concurrence and support I have already described. 
 
 I have spoken a good deal of the " British Consul,'' 
 and it may have struck my reader as strange that here, 
 in a country in wliich her Majesty's Government ex- 
 pressly repudiated any responsibility (see p. 48), there 
 should be a " Consul." His appointment denoted the 
 last phase of our slave-trade ])olicy. I would once more 
 beg my reader to turn to the cha})ters on the slave- 
 trade, without a perusal of which it would hardlv be 
 possible to thoroughly realise the position whicli 1 now 
 found in Nyasalaiid. 
 
 In 1883 H.M.S. London, the most important vessel 
 of the slave-trade squadron, which was equipped with 
 an effective "mosquito fleet," was paid out of connnis- 
 sion. Tho.se best informed state that tliis was inter- 
 pieted by the slave-traders as an indication of the wane 
 of our interest in tlif .su])])ression, and was immediately
 
 62 ORIGIN OF THE WAK. 
 
 followed by a marked recrudescence of the slave-trade. 
 The area in Nyasaland devastated between 1883 and 
 1887-88 was stated by them to be not less than 
 1000x400 miles. Public feelhig in England, however, 
 strongly supported the ellbrts to suppress this traffic, and 
 in place of the London the three Vice-Consulates on the 
 coast, and the Consulate on Nyasa, were established. 
 
 The appointment of a Consul to the Nyasa district, 
 admittedly the headquarters of the slave-raiders, marked 
 the first faint inception of the idea that a mere coast 
 supervision was inadequate, and the results achieved 
 disproportionate to the outlay. It was, however, an 
 abortive and ill-matured plan. For her Majesty's agent 
 was styled a " Consul," yet he was accredited to no locaj 
 authority. His position was, therefore, anomalous and 
 unparalleled. He had no legal standing and no juris- 
 diction. Ostensibly he was accredited to the " native 
 chiefs," but these chiefs had not accepted his appoint- 
 ment, nor indeed were there any native chiefs in the 
 district in which his headquarters were situated. The 
 nearest chiefs were those engaged most actively in the 
 slave-trade, and were styled " Arabs," since they aped 
 the manners and proclivities of the coast traders. Even 
 as regards European settlers the " Consul " was without 
 jurisdiction. The district was " No-man's Land," and 
 the missionaries, who had established settlements there, 
 were free to consider themselves independent of the 
 Consul. 
 
 x\t Blantyre a colony had grown up around the mis- 
 sion station in a country previously uninhabited. The 
 Consul had no legal right to interfere with the mission 
 administration, or with their right to make their owii 
 statutes, enforce punishments, delegate authority, or hold 
 lands acquired by treaty. The colony consisted largely, 
 if not entirely, of fugitive slaves from the neighbouring 
 tribes. Difficulties, of course, arose with these tribes.
 
 England's slave-trade policy hitherto. G3 
 
 which were dealt with, I beheve, solely by the head of* 
 the mission. The Consul was, moreover, without anv 
 adequate force to maintain what authority lie might 
 claim, or even to defend the consulate should it be 
 attacked in any tribal raid. More than once the Zomba 
 residency was threatened. On one occasion when her 
 Majesty's acting Consul went to pay a visit to a neigh - 
 bouring " native chief," in a purely official capacitv, he 
 was seized, stripped, and bound, his servant was killed, 
 and he himself narrowly escaped with his life, and had 
 to pay a ransom in cloth, and paint " to paint the slave- 
 dhows " as a writer graphically expressed it.^ This 
 insult remained wholly unavenged. 
 
 Such was the position of her Majesty's so-called 
 Consul, one of the equivalents for the abolition of the 
 London. He had been ordered to furnish reports on 
 matters concerning the slave-trade, but I never heard 
 that they effected any purpose of greater utility than 
 to fill the Foreign Office pigeon-holes, or provide its 
 clerks with a little desultory reading of an extra-routine 
 class. Meanwhile, more expensive and less useful ships 
 took the place of the London. 
 
 To summarise the results of our " slave-trade policy " 
 at this period. The supervision of the coast, althougli 
 useful in the beijfinnino", had been admitted as now in- 
 adequate, and costly in a degree dispro})ortionate to 
 tlie results achieved. Even the far more complete 
 blockade on the West Coast was computed by tlie 
 officers eniiaiJred to have been effective onlv to tlie 
 extent of five per cent of the exported slaves.- More- 
 over, the new departure of constituting an inland con- 
 sulate in an unappropriated country was both misoimd 
 in theorv and useless in practice. 
 
 The result of my contemplation of tliese measures 
 
 * Rev. H. Waller, Some African Entanglements, jt. 4. 
 
 2 H. E. O'Neill, R.N., ^fozaniMque Slave-trade, &c., p. 17.
 
 64 SLAVE-TRADE AND MISSIONS. 
 
 was to confirm me in my views that the money ex- 
 pended on the suppression of the slave-trade was not 
 apphed to the best advantage, that tlie only effective 
 means was to attack the evil nearer its source, and 
 apply a portion of the money, now spent solely on the 
 coast, to a scheme which should have this object in 
 view. In joining an expedition to fight against the 
 slave-raiders in their own headquarters, I felt myself to 
 be on the path which should lead me to verify by fuller 
 exjoerience the theories I had already formed. Of these 
 I will speak later. 
 
 My week at Blantyre had been most pleasantly 
 spent, in spite of the constant work and thought nec- 
 essary to the task in hand. I was the guest of Mr 
 Moir, manager of the Lakes Company, and I spent 
 most of my time at the house of the Rev. Clement 
 Scott, head of the Blantyre Mission. Here in the 
 heart of Central Africa one was suddenly translated into 
 the surroundings of home civilisation. Mrs Scott's 
 drawing-room, full of pretty knick-knacks, of pictures 
 and books, and English furniture, might have contrast- 
 ed not inifavourably with a sitting-room in Edinburgh ; 
 the snow-white table-cloths, and the flowers which 
 brightened her dining-table, made it hard to realise 
 that this was life in Africa ! The same usages of home 
 life made the charm of Dr Bowie's house. Both he and 
 Mr Scott were " reading men," and after the months I 
 had spent herding with sailors and third class passengers 
 on board ship, and with rough though kind and hospi- 
 table friends in Africa, the intellectual treat of inter- 
 esting conversations, and the discussion of the various 
 problems of Africa, was a contrast and a pleasure it is 
 hard to describe. 
 
 Mr J. Moir, Dr Cross, and myself started on May 
 18th to overtake the others, who had already gone. 
 All difficulties had been smoothed. Those left behind
 
 ON THE ROAD TO MATOPE, 65 
 
 cordially and unanimously wished us well, while the 
 inenibers of the expedition itself were all animated by 
 good feeling, and were confident of success, Moir had 
 two horses, and we rode as far as the Lunzu river — 
 fourteen miles. Beyond this the tsetse-fly prohibited 
 the use of horses. Our destination was Matope, on the 
 river Shire above the rapids, where all the white men, 
 and the stores and provisions, were awaiting us, with 
 the little steamer which was to convey us to the north 
 of the lake. 
 
 The descent to Matope from the highlands of Blan- 
 tyre is gradual, unlike that towards the lower Shire, 
 which we had ascended to reach the plateau. More- 
 ovei-, the elevation of the Shire at Matope, above the 
 Murchison Falls, is, of course, much greater than at 
 Katunga's, where navigation from the sea ceases. The 
 difference is close on 1000 feet. The first portion 
 (which we rode) to the Lunzu is for the most part 
 tlirougli sparse jungle-forest. The trees are not thickly 
 grown, there is little or no jungle undergrowth, and the 
 timber is very small, few trees being more than six 
 inches in the diameter of the bole. All the forest 
 on the Shire highlands has the appearance of being- 
 young, ill 1(1 (if comparatively recent growth. There 
 are singularly few birds, and no game. The scenery 
 is lovely, with continual glimpses of blue hills in the 
 distance crowned with forest. 
 
 Arriving at the Lunzu at sunset, we had a moutliful 
 of food, and sending back the horses, proceeded on foot, 
 'J'racks of all kinds of game become more and more 
 frequent, aiid the vegetation of the hills gives place 
 to tliat of the plains, Higli " elcpliant-grass " shuts 
 out everything from view, and where the path passes 
 throuijfh this o-rowth, one's attention is concentrated 
 in ])ushing aside the heavy stalks, which lean across 
 and obliterate the path, and tower many feet above 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 66 SLAVE-TRADE AND MISSIONS. 
 
 one's head. By 11 p.m. we reached a gigantic baobab 
 tree, where arrangements had been made for a cup of 
 tea, and thence we pushed on to Matope, which we 
 reached at 1 A.M. at night, drenched to the skin by 
 the heavy dew on the dense grass and bushes : we 
 had left Blantyre at 1 P.M. The months I had spent on 
 board, and in canoe and boat work, had made me some- 
 what out of condition for walking — which a new pair 
 of badly fitting boots did not improve — and I arrived 
 with my feet in a literally raw and bleeding state. 
 The distance accomplished was fourteen miles on horse- 
 back and twenty-two on foot. 
 
 Here we found fourteen white men awaiting us, of 
 whom seven had been engaged in South Africa for the 
 fighting. One of the latter, Binns, Avho had come to 
 the Cape in the hopes of getting an appointment in 
 the j^olice — a man with a good deal of confidence in 
 the muscular power of his own right arm — I found a 
 most useful and loyal man ; but, as the representative 
 of the grievances against the Lakes Company, he had 
 previously been looked upon as a difiicult man to deal 
 with. Another — by name Wilson — was a troublesome 
 factor, and inclined to be quarrelsome, as later events 
 will show. He said he had been a medical student, 
 and many other things. Two others had been gold 
 prospectors : Pigott, an Australian, was an oldish man, 
 and looked on his employment in a fighting expedition 
 as a grievance ; Rolfe, the younger, was a handy 
 carpenter, a keen sportsman, and had long led the 
 careless, wild life of the South African gold - fields. 
 Auld was an old soldier, who had served through 
 many of the South African wars as a non-commis- 
 sioned officer in the higher grades, and as an old 
 campaigner he was one of the very few who under- 
 stood what discipline meant, and was content from
 
 MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION. 67 
 
 the first to obey orders implicitly. Jones, another old 
 soldier, was a quiet retiring man, of whom no one 
 heard or saw anything ; while Mr Raw, also of much 
 South African experience, and a particularly smart and 
 useful man, completed the number. Burton, a gentle- 
 man who had held an appointment on the Congo for 
 three years, was a capital but a somewhat easy-going 
 fellow. 
 
 The employes of the Company who were enrolled in 
 the expedition included the manager, Mr John Moir. 
 He was a man whom it was impossible not to like. I 
 have rarely met any one who showed such an absolute 
 disregard of danger. It seemed to me that he lacked 
 the sense of personal fear, and was unable to realise 
 the existence of danger. It was different from pluck, 
 it amounted to a physical characteristic. Unselfish 
 to a deor-ree, he would invariably contrive to leave his 
 own personal comfort entirely out of consideration, and 
 not till the last-joined and most junior of those j^resent 
 was accommodated, would he think either of his food or 
 his place to lie down. His character was one of the 
 most extraordinary I have ever met with in my life ; 
 for with all these admirable characteristics, he seemed 
 to blend most of their opposites, and acting on the 
 impulse of the moment, he would lose sight of pre- 
 vious promises, — a trait whicli caused us many diffi- 
 culties later. The other " Company's men " were Smith, 
 Moore, Stewart, Nisbet, and Watson. 
 
 Ill addition, there were three volunteers. These 
 were Dr Kerr Cross, of the Livingstonia (Free Church) 
 Mission (minister and surgeon), for whose services as 
 a non-combatant medical officer I later applied officially 
 to Dr Laws, the head of the mission. T)r Cross's station 
 was at Mwini-Wanda (or Chirenji), on the plateau be- 
 tween Nyasa and Tanganyika. On the outbreak of
 
 68 
 
 SLAVE-TEADE AND MISSIONS. 
 
 Dr D. Kerr Cross. 
 
 hostilities between the Slavers and the British, his 
 station was threatened by roving bands of the enemy, 
 
 and he was compelled to 
 fly, at the time when his 
 colleague, the Rev. A. J. 
 Bain, with his five com- 
 rades, under O'Neill, had 
 made their o^allant de- 
 fence of Karonga's. He 
 joined them after their 
 evacuation, in their camp 
 on the Songwe, juvst be- 
 yond the district devas- 
 tated by Mlozi. He had 
 been present when Con- 
 sul Hawes arrived to lead 
 the counter - attack on 
 the Slavers' stockade, 
 and when that gentle- 
 man and the others with him returned to Blantyre, he 
 had volunteered, with Monteith and NicoU, to remain 
 in the country till the more powerful expedition should 
 arrive. Mr F. Moir came, as I have already nar- 
 rated, and Dr Cross was again present at the attack 
 on Msalema's stockade. He nursed Mr F. Moir when 
 his arm was shattered, and the bone split, by a bullet 
 in that action. Finding his patient in a precarious 
 state, he deemed it necessary that he should at once be 
 sent back to Blantyre, and himself accompanied him 
 thither, till he could })lace him in the hands of Dr 
 Bowie. It was there I met him, and he again volun- 
 teered his services as minister and surgeon, which I 
 gratefully accepted with Dr Laws' concurrence. My 
 later story will show how much I owe personally to 
 Dr Cross. He is one of those missionaries whom I 
 heartily ajjpreciate ; and though I do not indiscrimin-
 
 VALUE OF MEDICAL MISSIONS. 69 
 
 ately admire all missionaries, I am free to say that, 
 among such of the Scotch missionaries as I met in 
 Nyasaland, there was not a single one whom I did 
 not esteem. I have nothing but praise both of their 
 methods and their work. 
 
 A word as to missions in Africa. Beyond doubt I 
 think the most useful missions are the Medical and the 
 Industrial, in the initial stages of savage development. 
 A coml)ination of the two is, in my opinion, an ideal 
 mission. Such is the work of the Scotch Free Church 
 on Lake Nyasa. The medical missionary begins work 
 with every advantage. Throughout Africa the ideas 
 of the cure of the body and of the soul are closely allied. 
 The "medicine man" is credited, not only with a know- 
 ledge of the simples and drugs which may avert or 
 cure disease, but owing to the superstitions of the 
 people, he is also sujojDosed to have a knowledge of the 
 charms and daiva which will invoke the aid of the 
 Deity or appease His wrath, and of the witchci'aft and 
 magic [tdu] by which success in war, immunity from 
 danger, or a supply of rain may be obtained. As the 
 skill of the European in medicine asserts its sujDeriority 
 over the crude methods of the medicine man, so does 
 lie in proportion gain an influence in his teaching of 
 the great truths of Christianity. He teaches the sav- 
 age where knowledge and art cease, how far natural 
 remedies produce their effects, Independent of charms 
 or suj)ernatural agencies, and where divine power 
 overrules all human efforts. Such demonstration from 
 a medicine man, whose skill they cannot fail to recognise 
 as superior to their own, has natyrally more weight than 
 any mere preaching. A mere preacher is discounted. 
 and his zeal is not understood. The medical missionary, 
 moreover, gains an admission to the houses and liomes 
 of the natives by virtue of his art, which would not 
 be so readily accorded to anotlier. He becomes their
 
 70 SLAVE-TRADE AND MISSIONS. 
 
 adviser and referee, and his counsels are substituted 
 for the magic and witchcraft which retard develop- 
 ment.^ 
 
 The value of the Industrial mission, on the other 
 hand, depends, of course, largely on the nature of the 
 tribes among whom it is located. Its value can hardly 
 be over-estimated among sucli people as the Waganda, 
 both on account of Their natural aptitude and their 
 eao'er desire to learn. But even the less advanced and 
 more primitive tribes may be equally benefited, if not 
 only mechanical and artisan v^ork, such as the car- 
 penter's and Uacksmith's craft, but also the simpler 
 expedients of agriculture are taught. The sinking of 
 wells, the system of irrigation, the introduction and 
 planting of useful trees, the use of manure, and of 
 domestic animals for agricultural purposes, the im- 
 provement of his implements by the introduction of 
 the primitive Indian plough, &c., — all of these, while 
 improving the status of the native, will render his 
 land more productive, and hence, by increasing his 
 surplus products, will enable him to purchase from the 
 trader the cloth which shall add to his decency, and 
 the unplements and household utensils which shall 
 produce greater results for his labour and greater 
 comforts in his social life. 
 
 Of the success of such missions we have examples 
 which jDrove these contentions not to be merely theo- 
 retical. The Lovedale Mission in South Africa, founded 
 and developed by Dr Stewart, who has recently started 
 a similar mission in East Africa, is a striking example 
 of success ; and so, I hear, is the Bagamoyo Mission 
 on the coast (opposite Zanzibar), established by the 
 " Black Fathers." As I have already said, these 
 methods are also largely followed by the Free Church 
 of Scotland Mission on Nyasa, under that most practical 
 
 ^ " Medical treatment is the best of all methods for winning the affections 
 of the natives of Africa." — Wilson, Uganda, &c., vol. i. p. 247.
 
 INDUSTRIAL MISSIONS SCHOOLS. 71 
 
 and ideal missionary, Dv Laws. I strongly advocated 
 the establishment of such a mission in Uganda, than 
 ^^•hich, as I have said, no country in Africa offers greater 
 })romise of success. Though I have myself a great 
 respect for mission work, and appreciate the noble 
 devotion of the men who engage in it (both Protestant 
 and R. Catholic), I have seen the terrible evils brought 
 about by the inculcation of purely sectarian doctrine, 
 involving bitter religious rivalries and jealousies, and 
 ending at last in a deplorable war between nominally 
 Christian sects. To me, as an outsider, it appears a 
 matter of great regret that a people so eager for know- 
 ledge, and so anxious to improve themselves, had not 
 rather been led to a higher plane by the methods of an 
 industrial mission. This, while teaching simple religious 
 truths, might perhaps have limited rivalry to a legiti- 
 mate competition in mechanical and agricultural skill, 
 without exciting jealousies, founded solely on sectarian 
 differences between the two great Churches of the 
 Christian faith. 
 
 In my view, moreover, instruction (religious or secu- 
 lar) is largely wasted upon adults, who are wedded to 
 custom and prejudice. It is the rising generation who 
 sliould be educated to a higher 23lane, by the establish- 
 ment of schools for children. They, in turn, Avill send 
 their cliildren for instruction ; and so a progressive 
 advancement is instituted, whicli may produce really 
 great residts. I see, in a recent letter, that Dr Laws 
 supports tliis view, and appositely quotes the parallel 
 of the Israelites after their exodus from Egy])t, who 
 were detained for forty years in the desert, until the 
 generation who had been slaves in Egypt had })assed 
 away.^ The extensive schools at his mission at Bandawi 
 were evidence of the practical a|)})lication of his views. 
 Tliese schools were literally thronged with thousands of 
 children, and cliiefs of neighboin-ing tril)es were eagerly 
 
 1 Vide also Life of Mackay, p. 4.")!i.
 
 72 SLAVE-TRADE AND MISSIONS. 
 
 offering to erect schools in their own villages at their 
 own cost. 
 
 The Established Church of Scotland Mission at Blan- 
 tyre was (if I may so call it) an administrative mission. 
 It was started under a wholly different set of conditions. 
 The site of the mission, instead of being in a densely 
 populated country, like the Free Church mission-stations, 
 was in a district largely depopulated. Around the 
 mission grew up a population chiefly consisting of 
 fugitive slaves. This initial mistake led to serious 
 difiiculties later, and I believe the resentment of the 
 tribes from whom these slaves had run away was 
 eventually disarmed only by the payment of ransom- 
 money by the mission. Thus the missions became the 
 administrators and lawgivers of the native community 
 which grew up around them. Just as the mission 
 houses and plantations were themselves an object-lesson 
 to the natives of Africa, so the little colony became 
 itself a model. The spotless clothes of the children, 
 the neatness, and order, and discipline enforced, were 
 like nothing I have ever seen elsewhere in Africa. The 
 children in the schools were boarders ; native chiefs 
 from surrounding tribes sent their sons to live in Blan- 
 tyre, and be taught in the schools ; neighbouring chiefs 
 came to the white man of Blantyre, as arbitrator in 
 disj^utes ; his intervention on more than one occasion 
 prevented war. The great coffee-plantations and build- 
 ings of the missions, the Lakes Company, and Messrs 
 Buchanan, were the means of instituting on a large 
 scale the experiment of free labour in Africa, and natives 
 came from great distances, even from the warlike 
 Angoni tribe, to engage themselves for regular wages 
 (see chap, xviii.) 
 
 An administrative mission can, of course, only be 
 founded in a country not under the aegis of any 
 European Power. Under such circumstances, a mission
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE MISSIONS. 73 
 
 may be justifiecl in undertaking to some extent ad- 
 ministrative functions, pending the absorption of the 
 country under European protection, especially where no 
 central native authority exists, and there is no cohesion 
 to repel the attacks of slave-traders, or the tyranny of 
 the dominant tribe. This is, of course, more especially 
 the case when tlie community has grown u}) in a pre- 
 viously unpopulated country, as at Blantyre. But 
 when a secular administration is established, it appears 
 to me that the missions should resign entirely into the 
 hands of the authorised executive Government all func- 
 tions pertaining to administration. 
 
 Such were the Scotch missions on Nyasa^ — eminently 
 practical in their inception, and, so far as an outsider 
 can judge, admirably adapted in their methods to the 
 needs of the natives, and each of them types, in their 
 different ways, of what a mission in Africa should be. 
 
 I offer no comments on the operations of the Univer- 
 sities Mission, for their headquarters were at Likonia 
 Island on the lake, and all their stations were along 
 the eastern shore, and therefore distant from the route 
 I travei'sed. 
 
 One word as regards missionaries themselves. The 
 essential point in dealing with Africans is to establish 
 a. respect for the European. Upon tliis — tlie prestige 
 of the white man — depends his influence, often his 
 very existence, in Africa. If he sliows by his sur- 
 roundings, and by his assumption of superiority, that 
 he is far al)ove the native, lie will ])e respected, and 
 liis influence will be ])r()portionate to the superiority 
 he assumes and bears out V)v his higher accom])lish- 
 ments and mode of life. In my opinion — at any rate 
 with reference to Africa — it is the greatest possible 
 
 ' All this is more than endorsed by Mr Thomson, who visited Blantyre 
 ill 1890, and speaks "in superlatives " of the astounding work that mission- 
 aries, traders, anrl planters have accom])lished there — Geog. .Tournal, vol. i. 
 p. 101. It is also recognised by Major Wissmann.
 
 74 SLAVE-TRADE AND MISSIONS. 
 
 mistake to suppose that a European can acquire a 
 greater influence by adopting the mode of life of the 
 natives. In efPect, it is to lower himself to their plane, 
 instead of elevating them to his. The sacrifice involved 
 is wholly unappreciated, and the motive would be held 
 by the savage to be poverty and lack of social status in 
 his own country. The whole influence of the European 
 in Africa is gained by this assertion of a superiority 
 which commands the respect and excites the emulation 
 of the savage. To forego this vantage-ground is to lose 
 influence for good. I may add, that the loss of prestige 
 consequent on what I should term the humiliation of 
 the European afiiects not merely the missionary himself, 
 but is subversive of all eflbrts for secular administration, 
 and may even invite insult, which may lead to disaster 
 and bloodshed. To maintain it a missionary must, 
 above all things, be a gentleman ; for no one is more 
 quick to recognise a real gentleman than the African 
 savage. He must at all times assert himself, and repel 
 an insolent familiarity, which is a thing entirely apart 
 from friendship born of respect and aflection. His 
 dwelling-house should be as superior to those of the 
 natives as he is himself superior to them. And this, 
 while adding to his prestige and influence, will simul- 
 taneously promote his own health and energy, and so 
 save money spent on invalidings to England, and re- 
 placements due to sickness or death. In these respects 
 the Scotch missions in Nyasaland have shown a most 
 useful example. 
 
 I am convinced that the indiscriminate apjDlication of 
 such precepts as those contained in the words to " turn 
 the other cheek also to the smiter," and to be " the 
 servant of all men," is to wholly misunderstand and 
 misapply the teaching of Christ. The African holds 
 the position of a late-born child in the family of nations, 
 and must as yet be schooled in the disci j)line of the 
 nursery. He is neither the intelligent ideal crying out
 
 MISSIONARY QUALIFICATIONS. lb 
 
 for instruction, and capable of appreciating the subtle 
 beauties of Christian forbearance and self-sacrifice, which 
 some well-meaning missionary literature would lead us 
 to suppose ; nor yet, on the other hand, is he universally 
 a rampant cannibal, predestined by Providence to the 
 yoke of the slave, and fitted for nothing better, as I 
 have elsewhere seen him depicted. I hold rather with 
 Lono-fellow's beautiful lines — 
 
 o 
 
 " In all ages 
 Every human heart is human ; 
 That in even savage bosoms 
 There are longings, yearnings, strivings 
 For the good they comprehend not. 
 That the feeble hands and helpless, 
 Groping blindly in the darkness. 
 Touch God's right hand in that darkness." ^ 
 
 That is to say, that there is in him, like the rest of us, 
 both good and bad, and that the innate good is capable 
 of being developed by culture. My allusion to our mis- 
 sionary volunteer, Dr Kerr Cross, has led me into a 
 long digression ! In offering his services, he not only 
 voluntarily undertook to face danger and hardships of 
 an exceptional kind, but risked the great probability of 
 misrepresentation and condemnation at home for join- 
 ing a fighting expedition ; and this, to him, was of still 
 greater moment. 
 
 The other volunteer (besides myself) was Mr Sharpe, 
 \\\\o had formerly been resident in Fiji. He had come 
 to Nyasaland in order to shoot elephants and trade in 
 ivory, and with these objects he had made an arrange- 
 ment for mutual profit with the Lakes Company. Mr 
 Sharpe is now Yice-Consul \mder the present Govern- 
 miMit administration, and a better man it would be 
 li.-irfl to find. He spoke the language — Chinyanja— 
 ;iiid liad verv OTeat influence with the natives, who 
 .-ipprcciatt'd liis firm and decisive methods and his 
 
 1 Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha.
 
 76 SLAVE-TRADE AND MISSIONS. 
 
 fearless pluck. In this expedition he had little heart, 
 for although he had borne a leading part (as I have 
 narrated) in the previous stirring events at Karonga's, 
 he now professed himself sick of the mismanagement 
 of the whole thing, aiid disgusted by the disregard of 
 numerous promises to himself, made only to be broken. 
 Throughout the time I spent in Nyasaland we were 
 always friends, and from him I learnt much about 
 African life ; while our mutual devotion to sport formed 
 a bond between us. 
 
 As regards myself, I of course received no remuner- 
 ation of any kind whatever, and I bought and paid 
 for any such necessaries as I required, excepting only 
 the food, which I shared with the other members of the 
 expedition. My broken hand was now much better, 
 and I was rapidly regaining the use of it. 
 
 Such was the European portion of the expedition 
 assembled at Matope on May 19th, 1888. The little 
 steamer — the Ilala — which was to carry us up the 
 Shire and the lake was about 65 ft. in length, and 
 her carrying capacity some three tons. The hold 
 was full of the powder, rifles, ammunition, and neces- 
 sary supplies we were conveying to Karonga's, There 
 was little room for jDersonal effects even had we 
 possessed any, but of such things there were practi- 
 cally none. Every available foot of space, both in 
 the hold and on deck, was occupied with the wood 
 fuel for the steamer. We numbered eighteen white 
 men, including the engineer of the steamer. In ad- 
 dition were several native servants and others, and 
 the native crew of the steamer ; there was therefore 
 hardly standing-room on board. The Ilala was origin- 
 ally brought out in 1875 by Mr E. D. Young, R.N., 
 one of Dr Livingstone's staff. He launched the first 
 steamer that ever touched lake water in Africa, and 
 assisted in founding the Scotch missions at Blantyre.
 
 11 
 
 CHAPTER lY 
 
 BLANTYRE TO KAROXGA S. 
 
 Start from Matope — Up the Shire in the Ilala — Scenery at Livingstonia 
 — Description of Nyasa — Arrive at Bandawi — Dr Laws — Enlist 
 
 Atonga — Mr Bain — The 
 Angoni — Tyianny of the 
 dominant tribes — Pursue 
 a hostile caravan — Seize 
 rice at Bvua — Arrive at 
 Karonga's— Description of 
 Slavers — An ideal to the 
 African — A dreaded power — 
 Disj)osal of slaves — Slaves not 
 primarily for transport — The 
 term "Arab '' — Send for Mirambo 
 — State of Karonga's — Careless- 
 ness about powder — Improve- 
 ments— Good feeling — My little 
 speech — A night reconnaissance 
 — Description of Slavers' stock- 
 ades — Misjudge their construc- 
 tion —Monteith won't budge — 
 A narrow escape — Sickness — 
 Pijfott's death. 
 
 At noon on Mjiy 19tli we 
 
 started, just a week since my 
 
 first arrival in Blantyre. Little time 
 
 had been lost. We steamed \\\) the 
 
 Shire, j^assing much lovely scenery on our way. and 
 
 stopped from time to time at villages to take in wood, 
 
 which the natives cut and placed ready on tlie river's 
 
 Mlozi.
 
 78 BLANTYRE TO KARONGA's. 
 
 bank, the price (in calico) being a fixed and understood 
 ratio. At night, as there was absokitely no space to 
 He down, some of us went ashore, and I shared Sharpe's 
 httle tent with himself and Burton ; while the grunting 
 and bellowing of the hippos, within a few yards of us, 
 would have made sleep impossible to less tired men. 
 
 So we steamed along. The day passed in conver- 
 sation, and in making various arrangements for the 
 conduct of the expedition, while we watched the 
 changes of river scenery. The huge crocodiles bask- 
 ing on the sand-banks disappeared in the river with 
 a swirl and a splash as the steamer approached, and 
 the schools of hippo, leading their somnolent life in 
 the shallows of the river, raised their monstrous heads 
 to gaze at us as we passed. These animals are much 
 dreaded by boats and canoes ; the bulls often charge 
 such small craft and sink them, when the danger from 
 crocodiles is great. But our heavily laden steamer 
 could afford to ignore them ; and though one did charge 
 us, he probably damaged his head on the sharp keel 
 of the Ilala much more than he hurt the vessel. The 
 country along the banks of the Upper Shire is much 
 infested by lions, and at times I went ashore and 
 succeeded in shooting some of the game which abounds. 
 Besides buffalo, water-buck, mpallah, and many other 
 kinds of antelope, guinea - fowl and other game - birds 
 are to be met with. The country is for the most 
 part Avooded ; but the forest is of small trees, with no 
 dense undergrowth, and frequently breaks into open 
 country, studded with bush and jungle. We passed 
 through the shallow lake of Pamalombi, past the 
 villages of the " Arab " slaver Mponda, at the exit 
 of the Shire from the lake, crossed the "bar" (for 
 the sand appears to be silting up as though to im- 
 pede, ere long, the free passage from the lake into the
 
 SCENERY AT LIVINGSTONIA. 79 
 
 Upper Shire ^), and at 10 p.m. on the 21st we steamed 
 by moonUght into Livingstonia, the deserted station of 
 the Free Church Mission, at the southern extremity 
 of Lake Nyasa. 
 
 This station had been found very unhealthy, and 
 it was therefore decided to abandon it in favour of 
 Bandawi (now the mission headquarters), which is 
 situated about half-way up the lake (S. lat. 12°). 
 The substantial sun - dried brick houses, with glazed 
 windows, and casements fitted with a joiner's skill ; 
 tlie neat thatches, the ceilings, and floor mattings of 
 split hanga reeds ; the gardens planted with orange, 
 and lime, and other trees, — all gave evidence of the 
 thoroughness with which the Scotch missions had, as 
 usual, planted the outward signs of civilisation here ; 
 Avliile the native school (still continued with success 
 under a native teacher) showed that the results of 
 their teaching AAere no more ephemeral than their 
 buildings and their gardens. There was a deserted 
 air about the whole place, because, owing to the war, 
 the Ilala had been too much engaged to bring up the 
 whole of the furniture and books, &c., of the missions, 
 which still remained in statu quo. 
 
 Here we found two other members of the expedi- 
 tion — Kauffmann and Hooper — both from Natal, who 
 had been sent on ahead with a lari^fe consiirnment of 
 stores and arins. These stores we put in the Herga, 
 — a large steel boat presented by the Harrow boys to 
 Mr Cotterill, a former visitor on the lake, — which was 
 kindly ])laced at our disposal by the Free Church 
 Mission, She was made fast to the Ilala, to be taken 
 in tow to Karonga's. 
 
 ' I'ecent letters Lriiig the information tliat the gunboat now on the 
 lake has found a channel with a niininiuni depth of G ft. — Times, 30th 
 Sept. 18i)3.
 
 80 
 
 BLANTYRE AT KARONGA S. 
 
 Livingstonia is a lovely spot. The lake is here so clear 
 that the bottom is visible in comparatively deep water, 
 and the many-colom-ed fishes glide about among the 
 rocks and pebbles like gold-fish in a glass globe. Fairy 
 islands, covered with trees, are studded in the fore- 
 ground ; and giant boulders, which have weathered the 
 
 storms of years on 
 years, long before 
 the foot of the white 
 man trod these sol- 
 itudes, rear their 
 craggy peaks from 
 the blue water of 
 
 A Baobab Tree. 
 
 the lake. Perched 
 aloft sits the mag- 
 nificent fish - eagle, 
 and, every now and 
 then, his weird cry 
 pierces the still- 
 ness, and makes it 
 felt. King -fishers 
 
 of many kinds, and cormorants, and divers, wait patient- 
 ly at their chosen posts, till, like a flash, they dart into 
 the water to seize their prey, and returning to their 
 posts, all is once more motionless and still. The waves 
 lap gently on the yellow sand, which glistens with 
 crystals of white quartz and yellow mica. The deserted 
 mission-houses bear witness to the life and energy that
 
 SUNSET ON NYASA. 81 
 
 have gone, and emphasise the contrast of to-day ; while 
 behind them rises a giant mass of rock, crowned with 
 euphorbia and silent cactus growth, which offers no leaf 
 to the gentle breeze, to detract, by the motion and the 
 rustle of vegetable life, from the stillness of the scene. 
 Hard on the left towers a gigantic baobab, that strange 
 tree which possesses no twigs, and rarely leaves, and 
 looks like some vegetable remnant of a jDre- Adamite age, 
 when giant reptiles and huge saurians roamed on lands 
 where man was not. Such feelings seem to fill one's 
 mind, though, in the work and thought of the day, their 
 presence is hardly acknowledged. 
 
 But, when the bustle of the day's work is over, one 
 has time to yield to their influence. The sun sinks in 
 magnificent sj)lendour on the other side of the bay, and 
 the purple islands stand out in the glorious colours of 
 the dying day, Avhich mingle and change as they fade 
 and grow dim. The fleecy clouds take new shapes, pro- 
 ducing a thousand beauties of colour and of form, as 
 they reflect the unspeakable glory of the sunset tints. 
 
 One feels as though the hour were sacred, too solemn 
 and beautiful to be spent except in solitude, away from 
 the duties and the trivialities of the day ; as though 
 this were a sign in the sky, sent at the close of each day 
 direct from the Deity, to remind us of all that is most 
 beautiful, and furtliest from the roinid of daily work 
 and commonplace thoughts, and so to touch in our 
 inmost souls those chords which vibrate to the higher 
 sensil)ilities of our nature, and fill us with 
 
 " A feeling of longing and sadness, 
 Which is almost akin to pain, 
 And resembles sorrow only 
 As the mist resembles rain." 
 
 And so we sit absorbed, and the moon rises over the ])road 
 ex})anse of the lake with a new beauty, and the ripples 
 VOL. I. F
 
 82 BLANTYRE TO KARONGA's. 
 
 on the water reflect her hght — " in one long path of 
 glory, leading on into the infinite of ideas. "^ Memories 
 throng around us, till one's manhood and resolution 
 speak, and tell us it is time to forego, lest we become 
 the slaves of memory. But one is better for that hour 
 alone with nature, and more capable of ignoring the 
 little rubs and frictions and pettinesses of life. 
 
 At Livings tonia I made out lists of all articles (stores 
 and necessaries) which were to be got in readiness for 
 the return of the Ilala ; for most of my suggestions 
 (made before I finally accepted command) had been un- 
 fortunately forgotten, and the cargo of supplies we car- 
 ried consisted of a most extraordinary selection, in which 
 wholly unnecessary articles largely predominated over 
 ordinary necessaries. We steamed from Livingstonia 
 till 3 A.M. on our voyage up the lake, and as we now 
 numbered twenty white men, besides natives, on board, 
 the crush was very great. I slej)t stretched on the jib- 
 boom, while around me on the roof of the little cabin 
 lay my comrades, packed like sardines. We stopped 
 at Bana to wood once more, and I found many beautiful 
 flowers in the ojDen, park-like jungle on shore, while the 
 tracks in every direction showed that game abounded. 
 The scenery along the lake is very, very beautiful. The 
 wooded shores on the west slope down to the water's 
 edge, and the open jungle looks at a distance like heavy 
 forest, with its thousand tints of foliage, while pic- 
 turesque islands stud the bosom of the lake. On the 
 east runs a range of hills, whose blue outline is sharply 
 defined against the sky. Excellent grass afibrds un- 
 limited pasture for the game, and it is rarely that reeds 
 or water-growth shut in the margin of the lake, which, 
 for the most part, consists of a narrow sandy beach 
 fringed with the verdure of forest and veldt. 
 
 It is a curious thing that, though the Rukuru, the 
 
 1 Lytton, A Strange Story.
 
 DR LAWS — EXLIST ATONGA. 
 
 83 
 
 Songwe, and other rivers which pour their turbid streams 
 into the lake, carry down large quantities of vegetable 
 refuse — trunks of trees, water-plants, reeds, &c. — one, 
 nevertheless, sees no floating wood, or any such debris 
 on the waters of the lake, nor yet is there any cast 
 up on its shores. As a rule, a narrow line of fresh- 
 water sea-weed alone marks the farthest Ihnits of the 
 waves. The water 
 under analysis has 
 been found to be 
 singularly pure and 
 wholesome. 
 
 Late in the even- 
 ing, on the 24th, we 
 arrived at Bandawi, 
 and I met Dr and 
 Mrs Laws of the Free 
 Church Mission, and 
 shared their generous 
 hospitality. Dr Laws 
 is a remarkable man, 
 and his well - worn 
 library, including lit- 
 erature on a very 
 wide ranofe of sub- 
 jects, evidenced the 
 
 extent of his reading. To his careful observation is due 
 much of the accurate knowledge we have, both of the 
 lake and of the mainland. He warmly sup})orted the 
 ol)jects and aims of the expedition, and consented to 
 Dr Cross accompanying us as non-combatant medical 
 officer. It was here that we were to enlist our native 
 allies, and we had much discussion on the comparative 
 merits of the Angoni and Atonga. Eventually, mainly 
 on the advice of Dr Laws, I decided on the latter, and 
 left Sharpe to enlist tliem, and march overland w itli his 
 
 Dr Laws.
 
 84 BLANTYRE TO KARONGA's. 
 
 force to join us later at Karoiiga's. Every one had 
 unlimited confidence in Sharpe, If he undertook a 
 thing, it was immediately considered as tantamount to 
 accomplishment ; yet we were here within an ace of 
 losing his valuable services, for he considered that a 
 promise made to him by the Company had been set 
 aside. Eventually all was jDut right, and he undertook 
 the enlistment of the men, for whose equipment we left 
 a hundred guns and adequate ammunition. 
 
 I gave him full instructions, and he cordially j^romised 
 to endeavour on the march to organise the men into 
 batches of some forty or fifty, under the best men, 
 and to teach them roughly how to hold and fire their 
 guns. He would also jDurchase and bring up as much 
 food as possible, and special precautions were noted 
 against desertion on the march, ' scouting in case of 
 meeting the Slavers or Angoni, and intimation to be 
 given when he neared Karonga's. 
 
 At Bandawi also I met Mr Bain, whose sad death 
 was recently announced. Here is my note about him, 
 quoted from my diary of the time ; and further know- 
 ledge of him only strengthened my first impressions : 
 " He is a first-rate fellow, a strong, sensible man without 
 any hyper-pious nonsense about him. I am told he is 
 most patient, and kind to the natives, and has great 
 influence with them. If only more men of the strong- 
 willed, sensible type came out, instead of the ' turn-the- 
 other -cheek- also ' stamp, missionary enterprise would 
 succeed much better, for the first essential to a negro is 
 to have a strong respect for the white man." He was 
 eager to accompany us, and I was anxious for him to do 
 so ; but I could invent no good reason why, as a mission- 
 ary, he should, and as his services could ill be spared, 
 Dr Laws (quite rightly I think) forbade it. We had at 
 this time four men down with fever, and others also 
 were occasionally ill — an awk\vard state of things in the
 
 THE ANGONI. 
 
 crush on the Ilala. I myself retained my health and 
 energy, and my tough constitution, and acclimatisation 
 to malaria, helped me to defy the fever which attacked 
 the others In succession, in spite of my recent break- 
 down. 
 
 On the 26th we arrived in Ruarwi Bay, where, like 
 the lake-dwellers in our own islands in bygone days, 
 the wretched inhabitants had erected refuges on piles, 
 far out in the lake, 
 to which they re- 
 tired Ijy night for 
 fear of the Angoni. 
 Such huts as there 
 were on shore were 
 perched on inacces- 
 sible crags among 
 the hills, which 
 here skirted the 
 lake. 
 
 These Angoni ^ 
 were the terror and 
 curse of all this 
 country. Swoop- 
 ing down V)y night 
 ill their fantastic 
 garb of war, with 
 the unearthly yells, 
 
 grunts, and groans witli whicli they accompany tlieir 
 attack, they would ftill upon villages and loot every- 
 thing, — sheep, goats, fowls, and crops. Sometimes they 
 would carry off captives of war. At other times they 
 seem possessed with a lust for carnage only, and kill 
 
 ' The Angoni are an offshoot of the Zulu tribe, who crossed the Zambesi 
 northwards in two migrations. They were settled in four sections under 
 four different chiefs : (1) Mombera, near Bandawi ; (2) Chiweri, west of 
 Leopard Bay ; (3) Mpeseni, farther soutli-west, — these all belonged to tlie 
 first migration ; (-1) Chikusi, south-west of Nyasa. — Dr Laws. 
 
 An Angoni.
 
 86 BLANTYRE TO KAEONGA's. 
 
 man, woman, and child, without distinction, leaving not 
 a living soul behind on the scene of their brutal attack. 
 These awful bursts of savage slaughter, combined with 
 their character for invincible courage, the apj)alling 
 sounds they utter, and the garb they wear in war, 
 have struck such terror into the surrounding tribes that 
 resistance is rarely oifered to an Angoni raid. When 
 the dread cry is raised that the Angoni are coming, a 
 blind panic seizes the helpless villagers, and each thinks 
 only of flight and concealment, unless, as more often 
 happens, the surprise is complete by night, and there is 
 no time for escape. 
 
 Even now, in our " British Central African Protec- 
 torate," not in the far interior, but on the very shores of 
 the lake — our highway of communication — these raids 
 are still taking place, as witness the following account 
 lately received (March 25th, 1893) from one of the 
 garrison at Karonga's : — 
 
 "Last Friday night, 18th November, the Angoni came down 
 to the lake shore in great numbers, and attacked the village of 
 Kayuni. Tliey entered the village silently, and each warrior 
 took up his position at the door of a hut, and ordered the inmates 
 to come forth. Every man and boy was speared as he emerged, 
 and every woman was captured. News of this disaster soon 
 reached the three white men stationed at Karonga's in the employ 
 of the Lakes Company. One of their number set out immediately 
 with fifty guns to recapture the women, who, to the number of 
 200 or 300, were being carried off. Li the afternoon they met 
 the Angoni and opened fire. Taken by surprise, the raiders 
 made off, but, not being able to carry both the booty and 
 the women, they began immediately to spear the latter. A hor- 
 rible scene then ensued. In half an hour they were beaten off 
 and the women rescued. I was at the scene of the disaster three 
 days after, and counted forty-seven wounded. The others had 
 either died or been carried off by friends. One man had fifteen 
 spear-wounds ; a child of two years had seven. What impressed 
 me most was the number of young girls and children (even on 
 the breast) who were speared. The poor creatures were afraid to
 
 TYRANNY OF DOMINANT TRIBES. 87 
 
 go to their village, and were living in the reeds lining the lake 
 shore. As far as can be ascertained, the following is the list of 
 dead : Men, 29 ; women, about 100 ; girls, 32 ; boys, 16 ; Angoni, 
 about 30." 
 
 Surely people in England will presently begin to 
 realise that the Arab slave-raider is not the only curse 
 of Africa, but is rivalled, as I have elsewhere said, 
 by the awful and intolerable tyranny of the dominant 
 tribe. It is from this tyranny, no less than from the 
 slaver, that our administration, and the dawn of an era 
 of law and order, is to deliver the more peaceable and 
 industrious agricultural tribes of Africa. Each district 
 has its own dominant tribe, which lives its day, and gives 
 place to another : in Nyasaland the Angoni, in British 
 East Africa the Masai. Here is a description (one of 
 many) of the last returned traveller from Africa (Com- 
 mander Dundas, R.N.), relative to the doings of the 
 Masai : — 
 
 " On our return through the ^Ibe countrv, a most harrowing 
 sight presented itself : what only a few days before were prosper- 
 ous villages, standing amid fields of grain, were now smoking 
 ruins ; bodies of old men, women, and children, half-burnt, lay in 
 all directions ; here and there might be seen a few solitary indi- 
 viduals, sitting with their heads buried in their hands, hardly 
 noticing the passing caravan, and apparently in the lowest depths 
 of misery and despair. On questioning several of these unhappy 
 beings, I was informed that the Masai had unexpectedly arrived 
 one morning at dawn, spearing and burning all before them, and 
 carrying off some 250 women, and large herds of cattle. Only 
 a few of the unfortunate people had escaped by flying to the 
 mountains." ^ 
 
 And so again with the Somals, and the Suks, and 
 others. 
 
 At Ruarwi Bay I went ashore to have room to 
 stretch myself at length, and spent the night under 
 a spreading tree, having no tent. Next day we arrived 
 
 ^ Scottish Geog. Magazine, March 189.3.
 
 88 BLANTYEE TO KARONGA S. 
 
 at Deep Bay, late at night. This place merits a word 
 of description. The lake narrows here to some fifteen 
 miles only in breadth, and hence large sea-going canoes 
 are able to make the passage across when the weather 
 is calm. This ferry renders Deep Bay a point of great 
 strategic importance, as the subsequent history of the 
 expedition will show. We heard that an olenclo (cara- 
 van) had just crossed, laden with arms and powder, 
 
 Steaming by Night on the Ilala. 
 
 from the East Coast Arabs, for our antagonist Mlozi. 
 I therefore made a plan to surprise and capture it, 
 and having arranged that the steamer should take us 
 as far as a headland, and there remain out of sight, 
 I lay down for a few minutes' rest. Unfortunately, 
 the plan was misunderstood and bungled, and the 
 caravan seeing the showers of bright sj^arks which 
 rained from the steamer's funnel in the darkness of 
 the night, broke up and escaped.
 
 SEIZE RICE AT BYUA. 89 
 
 We landed and scoured the bush, charp'ino- with PTeat 
 elan into a deserted village, and altogether accomplish- 
 ing a ridiculous night's folly. There was, however, some 
 excitement, as the path lay among the densest reeds, 
 and we were continually being told we were close on the 
 Arab encampment, so that, at each turn of the jDath, we 
 were in a pleasing uncertainty as to whether we might 
 be greeted with a volley. Moir and Kauffmann showed 
 great dash, and I had much difficulty in restraining 
 them, till the former, being very short-sighted, fell into 
 a big hole or ravine. Had he been any one else than 
 John Moir, he would assuredly have broken his neck. 
 Eventually, I sent back every one to the steamer, but 
 Moir remained. Some natives told us that the village 
 of a close relation of Mlozi's was hard by ; and we 
 two, in a lit of extra folly, started to inspect it. Moir 
 was carried away by his impetuous and feai'less dis- 
 position, and as I verily believe he would have gone 
 alone had I refused, I accompanied him, and insisted 
 on leading the way, on the grounds that he, as a 
 married man, had no right to run unnecessary risks ! 
 After several miles, by which time we had completely 
 lost the steamer and our comrades, we came on the 
 \illage (Bvua), and the amount of cultivation around 
 showed it to be a very big one. It was now early 
 morning. The " Arabs," supposing, I presume, that we 
 were but tlie advance of a large war - party, fled, 
 leaving their pots cooking on the fire, which we, with 
 inimitable effrontery, appropriated. As these were close 
 allies of Mlozi's, I set fire to the houses, and having sig- 
 nalled to the steamer, we secured a very large quantity 
 of rice, which was invaluable to us at Karonga's. A 
 shot or two was fired at us from a distance, and it is 
 strange that the Slavers did not attack us, while Moir 
 and I sat waiting for the steamer. The stowing of this 
 rice on board delayed us most of the morning, and we
 
 90 BLANTYRE TO KARONGA's. 
 
 did not arrive at Karonga's till the evening of the 28th 
 May. 
 
 On arrival I found six more employes of the Lakes 
 Company. Monteith was the senior, and had been in 
 charge of the station for six years. He had never left 
 his post, and had been through the siege and subse- 
 quent attacks. His assistant, Mr Nicoll, had also been 
 here from the beginning. He was a man of strong re- 
 ligious feeling and of high principle, and had originally 
 belonged to the missions. His role with Monteith was 
 mainly one of self-effacement. I found him a most will- 
 ing and loyal man ; but he did not jduU well with the 
 men from Natal, and their differences subsequently gave 
 me great trouble. Lindsay, an ex-planter from India, 
 was a very plucky, good fellow, and my diary describes 
 him as " energetic, and as hard in constitution as Mon- 
 teith, always working, and never sick, with a good 
 head on his shoulders." A fourth was Mr Bell, a civil 
 engineer ; the others were Messrs Morrison and Peebles. 
 
 A word as to who and what were these Slavers, 
 against Avhom our little campaign was directed. I shall 
 distinguish in a subsequent chapter between the two 
 main divisions of slavery — the domestic institution, 
 and the acquisition of raw slaves to meet the demand 
 at the coast. This demand is met by slave-trading or 
 slave-raiding. Of the latter I will say a few words 
 here, in order to exjDlain to my readers the character 
 and methods of our present antagonists. I have al- 
 ready told of the incidents which led up to the fight- 
 ing at Karonga's, and the story is a typical instance 
 of the modus operandi. At first, a slave-trader comes 
 as a friend, and settles down in the country by the 
 permission and with the goodwill of the natives. He 
 calls himself a Mzungu (white man), and the deference 
 he exacts from his followers invests him with the ap- 
 pearance of being in reality a great chief His dress,
 
 THE SLAVER, — THE BEAU IDEAL OF THE SAVAGE. 91 
 
 and his guns and powder, his caHco and his goods, 
 cause the savage chiefs around to look on him as the 
 representative of an unknown power — and, indeed, in all 
 these respects his prestige is founded on precisely the 
 same basis as that of European settlers. He is on 
 terms of familiarity with his chief men, who eat Avith 
 him, and with whom he discusses his plans. His lan- 
 guage, Swahili, is soon acquired by his followers, whose 
 native tongue is jDrobably closely allied to it. His 
 friends, the surrounding chiefs, are treated hospitably 
 by him, and buy his cloth with their ivory. There is 
 not so great a gulf between him and them as there is 
 between the African and the European ; and so it 
 happens that he soon becomes a heau ideal to the 
 savage. They imitate his dress, assume his name in 
 lieu of their own ; they covet his guns and powder, and 
 are imjiressed with his absolute power over his slaves. 
 
 He begins by a little slave-trading, perhaps. Savage 
 chiefs can easily procure men, women, and children, 
 and for these he oifers cloth or even arms in exchange. 
 Soon he collects sufficient to send a slave convoy to a 
 colleague on the way to the coast, and in return he gets 
 consignments of arms and goods. Meanwhile, he has 
 made himself acquainted with all tribal quarrels, for 
 unfortunately (and almost of necessity where there is no 
 paramount central authority) every tribe is at chronic 
 feud with its neighlwurs. He espouses one side, and 
 to that alone he sells arms. By-and-by a bargain is 
 struck, and he joins his allies to make war on a neigh- 
 bouring tribe, who have done him no wrong. His guns 
 and his superior intelligence are irresistible. His share 
 of the booty consists of the captives, and perhaps a 
 largesse of ivory as well, and on return from the foray 
 his village is full of slaves ready for export. 
 
 He has now become, not merely the J>eau ideal, but 
 a dreaded power in the land, whose friendshi}) must
 
 92 BLANTYRE TO KARONGA's. 
 
 be won at all hazards by presents of women and ivory. 
 Chiefs are eager to be in alliance with him, and he 
 has no difficulty in recruiting his band of " Ruga-ruga," 
 whom he will arm with guns and despatch to raid 
 for slaves. To be enlisted in this body becomes the 
 ambition of the young bloods. Our slaver need no 
 longer command his forays in person ; his " Ruga-ruga" 
 are his dogs of war, ripe for carnage, revelling in blood. 
 What can any individual chief of a petty tribe do now ? 
 The slaver's foot is on his neck, he must yield to his 
 every demand. Such were the methods by which Mlozi 
 became " Sultan of Nkonde." The modes of the Congo 
 slave-raiders appear identical, as I saw on the banks 
 of the Semliki (see vol. ii. p. 177). They have powerful 
 centres (described by Mr Stanley) at Ugarrowa, Ipoto, 
 &c., and from thence they send parties of their trained 
 Manyuema to occupy fresh posts, far afield. They col- 
 lect ivory, as hongo (blackmail), from all surrounding 
 districts, and slaves, whenever they want them, by raids 
 on the neighbouring tribes, establishing their influence 
 and power by the means I have described. 
 
 Mlozi sent his slaves to Kapandansaru and the East 
 Coast Arabs. The Manyuema at Ruwenzori sent theirs 
 to their chief Kilongalonga at Ipoto towards the West 
 Coast. The middle-man collects large gangs from vari- 
 ous quarters, and in turn passes them on to a dealer 
 at the coast. Each makes a handsome profit. At the 
 coast the bulk are, probably, got rid of to owners of 
 plantations along the seaboard, and a small residuum 
 are smuggled to Zanzibar and Pemba (running the 
 gauntlet of our cruisers), where the high j)rice fetched 
 will cover the losses and risks of the transaction. From 
 the more southern ports the export takes place direct 
 to Madagascar,^ and even to more distant destinations. 
 
 ^ Various writers (including Mr Johnston and Bishop Smythies, the 
 latter of whom, in a letter to the 'Times,' makes a strong and definite
 
 THE TERM " AKAB." 93 
 
 The idea used to be jorevalent that the slaves were 
 only obtained in order to transport ivory from the 
 interior to the coast, and writers with little knowledge 
 of their subject have thus wholly misled the public. 
 Professor Drummond in his widely read book ^ even 
 goes so far as to advocate the extinction of the African 
 elephant, in order that the raison d'etre of the slave- 
 trade may cease ! From what I have written it will 
 be evident that slaves are acquired for their own value, 
 and any conveyance of ivory by them is a mere acci- 
 dental advantage. This is strongly enforced by Com- 
 mander Cameron,^ and supported by the railway survey 
 from their inquiries, and on this point, which directly 
 affected the value of the railway, their accounts bear 
 exceptional weight.^ Many other writers state the same 
 thing, 
 
 A final word as to who are these "Arab" slavers in 
 the interior. I know no more misleadino- term than 
 
 o 
 
 this word " Arab." The Bedouins of the Sahara, the 
 true Arabs, a high - bred race of great courage, and 
 often of statuesque beauty ; the Sudanese black tribes 
 (the " Fuzzies," as they were known to us in the '85 
 campaign), from whom the Mahdist troojDS were re- 
 cruited ; the natives of Arabia, of whom there may 
 be a very inappreciable few in East Afiica ; the con- 
 quering race from Muscat in the Persian Gulf, which 
 subdued Zanzibar and the East Coast, and founded 
 the joresent dynasty ; the mongrel, woolly-headed slaver 
 in the interior, whose mother was some poor slave-girl, 
 and whose sire may have been fortieth cousin to a 
 
 charge) agree in stating that a great export of slaves takes place to 
 Matlagascar, and tliat the dhows employed in this traffic constantly fly 
 the French flag, and gain immunity from search thereby. The rejily given 
 in the House of Commons on March 9th, 1893, regai-ding the reason of the 
 iininunity from search in Madagascar waters was incorrect. 
 
 ' Tropical Africa, pp. 20, 21. 
 
 - Manchester Guardian, Aug. 17th, 1888. ^ Report, pj). 96, 100.
 
 94 
 
 BLANTYRE TO KARONGA S. 
 
 Muscat Arab, — all are alike called "Arabs," yet they 
 clifier as much among themselves as they individually do 
 from the " street arab" of London. The term "Arab," 
 therefore, in East Africa, should rightly be applied 
 
 THE NORTHERN END 
 
 OF 
 
 illustrating the 
 
 DEFENCE OF KARONGA 
 1887-89. 
 
 Scale; laOOO.OOO (16- lin 
 StaJut^ M'iles 
 
 EG.R. G.Philip iSoTi, 
 
 only to the pure - bred descendants of the invaders 
 from Muscat, 
 
 The coast population are termed Swahilis. Some de- 
 scription of their language and origin will be found 
 in chapter vii. Many of them have some admixture
 
 SEND FOR MIRAMBO. 95 
 
 of Arab blood. These Swahilis form the majority of 
 the slave-raiders resident in the interior, and, of course, 
 they ape the dress and standing of the Arabs. There 
 are also many of the latter, often bad characters whose 
 retm^n to the coast is prohibited, either because they 
 have been outlawed for some crime, or are defaulters 
 who cannot pay the large loans they have contracted 
 from Indian merchants. Salim bin Nasur of the Senga 
 country ; Mlozi, the head of the faction with whom 
 we were fighting ; Kapandansaru, and many others on 
 the East Coast, were Arabs. Kamathan, the deputy of 
 Kabunda of Tanganyika, was a Beluch ; for a number 
 of Beluchis had come over in the train of the Muscat 
 conquerors. Kopa - Kopa and Msalema, Mlozi's two 
 colleagues, were ordinary Swahilis, undistinguishable 
 in features from natives, but calling themselves (like 
 all their crew) " Wazungu," or white men. 
 
 To return to Karonga's. A fresh difficulty, regarding 
 promises made and broken, awaited me on arrival. It 
 appeared that there was an Arab called Mirambo, who, 
 with another named Majid, formed a curious exception 
 to this gang of slave-raiders. I was told he did no 
 slave-raiding, — tluit he even purposed freeing his own 
 slaves on his return to the coast. He strongly dis- 
 approved of Mlozi's conduct, and had sent two messen- 
 gers to expostulate. As they never returned, it was 
 supposed they had been murdered. Mirambo was in- 
 censed, and told Monteith that, if the war was renewed, 
 he would join tlie white men against Mlozi. He lived 
 on the other side of the lake, and a promise had been 
 made to send the steamer for him ; but she was now 
 pledged to return for Sharpe's goods. I solved the dif- 
 ficulty by sending her witli both steel-boats in tow. As 
 the wind l)lew constantly from the east, the boats would 
 have no difficulty in returning, though the sails had 
 been carelessly left behind. The steamer having dropped
 
 96 BLANTYRE TO KARON GA's. 
 
 the boats on the East Coast, was to proceed on her way- 
 south, in fulfihnent of the promise to Sharpe. Nicoll 
 was sent on this mission, and as the north-east coast 
 was ah^eady at this time claimed as German territory 
 (though no German had ever been there), I gave him 
 most careful instructions regarding his action. 
 
 Karonga's — the trading station of the Lakes Com- 
 pany — was a very small stockade, made of upright poles 
 two or three deep, and about 12 ft. long, forming an 
 irregular enclosure open to the lake in rear. Inside, it 
 was a mass of filthy native huts, built wherever the fancy 
 of the occupant could find space : there was no passage 
 or gangway, and huddled up among these native huts 
 were those of the white men. Every hut had its fire, 
 at which the natives cooked their food, and the wind 
 blew the sparks and flames in every direction. Dry 
 grass and drier thatches of the houses were on every 
 side ! How the place had escaped being burnt to the 
 ground in a week was a miracle. Yet, inside this small 
 enclosure was the store containing a great quantity of 
 bales of goods (for payment to the natives as wages and 
 for food-purchase), and, here in Central Africa, of great 
 value ; and — yet more extraordinary — here, in the very 
 midst of these open fires, and huts of reeds and dry 
 grass, were many hundreds of pounds of powder, pro- 
 tected only by common wooden kegs, which often leaked, 
 so that absolutely loose powder lay about ! Had this 
 taken fire, not a fragment of a white man would have 
 been found within some distance of Karonga's. 
 
 The carelessness as regards powder Avas really phe- 
 nomenal. On our voyage wp, the hold of the Ilala 
 was nearly filled with kegs of powder — enough to have 
 blown the vessel across the lake. Yet, as the hatch 
 had fallen overboard, the hold lay open (except for a 
 rough tarpaulin, which was frequently withdrawn and 
 not replaced), and showers of sparks, and small pieces
 
 IMPROVEMENTS AT KARONGA's. 97 
 
 of glowing charcoal, rained down in ceaseless profusion 
 from the funnel of the steamer, owing to her fuel being 
 wood : I even found one of the men, coiled up in the 
 hold among the powder-kegs, smoking his pipe placidly ! 
 On another occasion, I saw the hold emptied to get 
 at something below, and the powder - kegs stacked 
 alongside the little stove on board, where they were 
 actually heated by its fire ! The kegs in store were 
 some of them open and many broken, yet the store- 
 man had always been accustomed, as I found, to sit 
 among them and smoke. So the danger to life was 
 not limited to Arab bullets ! 
 
 I immediately began the construction of a small fire- 
 proof magazine, outside but close to the stockade, and I 
 turned out all the natives except a small guard, and so 
 got the place into a somewhat more sanitary condition. 
 We managed to find shelter for all the Europeans (except 
 at first for Kauffmann and myself), and I planned 
 several new houses for their accommodation. I also 
 laid out a zeriba for the native fighting - men, at a 
 little distance from ours, and constructed a table in the 
 shape of a hollow square, with an awning of dry grass 
 supported on a frame over it. These tasks occupied our 
 whole time, and, by working very hard myself, I suc- 
 ceeded in infusing a considerable amount of zeal among 
 the men. The rumours I liad lieard, that those from 
 Natal would decline to do any manual work, had no 
 foundation, for all worked energetically and willingly. 
 
 Bt^fore many days there was a complete revolution 
 in tlie appearance of Karonga's. Two large houses, 
 forming two sides of a hollow square facing the lake, 
 accommodated most of the men, and the third side 
 consisted of tliree tents. The rough stockade was 
 strengthened, the guns overhauled and repaired, and 
 neatly arranged with all ammunition and powder in 
 the new, sun-dri(Hl brick magazine. Many sanitary 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 98 BLANTYRE TO KAUONGA's. 
 
 arrangements were instituted, and things began to look 
 a little " ship-shape." Meanwhile, a roster of duties 
 was established, in which we all took our turn. Three 
 white men relieved each other on watch during the 
 night, and went round the outlying sentries. Orders 
 for alarm-posts, in case of sudden attack, were carefully 
 drawn up, so that on my giving the signal by a pistol- 
 shot every man knew exactly where to go, and which 
 part of the stockade was under his immediate charge, 
 while a detachment was told off to proceed at once to 
 similar posts in the native zeriba. A daily "detail- 
 book" was established, in which I wrote the duties for 
 the ensuing day, and any notices and orders. 
 
 The Ilala had gone back, and, while engaged in this 
 daily work, we awaited Sharpe's arrival with the natives 
 from Bandawi, who were to form the bulk of our fight- 
 ing force. A thorough good feeling existed, notwith- 
 standing that the two sections of the European com- 
 munity were of somewhat incongruous types. The 
 African Lakes Company had been originally started as 
 a lay mission society, to transport goods for the missions. 
 Its employes were bound by the terms of their agree- 
 ment to preach to the natives, and conduct schools, &c., 
 in such time as they could spare from their duties as 
 traders and mechanics : there Avas, therefore, among 
 them a very strong religious element. The men from 
 Natal and the gold-fields were not remarkable for any 
 such tendency, and their language was often forcible, to 
 a degree that offended the ears of the others ; but they 
 were, for the most part (with, perhaps, only two ex- 
 ceptions), a right good lot. All deferred absolutely to 
 myself, and it required very little concession on either 
 side to produce an excellent camaraderie, more esjDeci- 
 ally seeing that, before many days were past, we ex- 
 pected to be fighting shoulder to shoulder together, and 
 none of us knew who would return.
 
 MY LITTLE SPEECH. 99 
 
 To promote this harmony, I said a few words to my 
 comrades one evening, though anything hke " speechi- 
 fying" is a duty I dread, and would prefer to shirk. I 
 pointed out that our Httle campaign had four main ob- 
 jects to achieve — viz., to suppress slave-raiding; to save 
 the Wankonde, who had helped us ; to save the mis- 
 sions from extinction ; and to vindicate British honour : 
 that, in face of a common danger, and in the ho^De of 
 succeeding in a cause so worthy, we must give and take, 
 and tolerate each other's foibles, for we could not afford 
 to quarrel, when we did not know whether we might 
 not shortly be standing by the grave of the man with 
 whom we had differed on some petty triviality. I 
 added, that my own position of command was held 
 entirely on sufferance, and at their own desire, and I 
 asked for a promise that all would loyally obey me, 
 since it rested in each one's power to make my position 
 a pleasant or an intolerable one. This promise they gave 
 me heartily and unanimously. 
 
 I had my bar of medal ribbons with me, for I liad 
 brought it in case I joined the Italians at Massowa. 
 I wore it on this occasion for the first time since the 
 decorations had been won, calculating on its effect as a 
 mere factor to secure an influence among strangers, till 
 we should have had time to know each other better. 
 The five ribbons were evidence of experience already 
 gained in several campaigns, and this was a lever not 
 without its value to me in gaining an ascendancy over 
 the men I had to deal with. My jwsition demanded 
 that I should use every means in my jjower to secure 
 this end, since in a few days they were to be led 
 by me in action, and I considered absolute confidence 
 ill tlieir leader to be a necessity for success. So I en- 
 deavoured by example, and Ijy personally accepting tlie 
 roughest and the hardest portion, to secure this trust 
 and confidence : tliat I succeeded was proved to me by
 
 100 BLANTYRE TO KARONGA's. 
 
 subsequent events, and I am prouder of this than of 
 anything else in a somewhat varied life. 
 
 I made certain rules for the distribution of any wind- 
 fall in the event of success, and gained certain little 
 concessions from Mr Moir in regard to the terms of 
 enlistment of the Natal men : these petty matters dis- 
 posed of, cordiality was completely established. Binns 
 was much looked up to by the Natal men, — his muscular 
 manhood commanded respect, and as he was devoted to 
 me, he became a most useful ally ; while Mr John Moir's 
 self-negation and extraordinary unselfishness shamed all 
 into contentment. 
 
 On June the 1st I went out to make a reconnaissance of 
 the Slavers' stockades, taking with me Monteith and five 
 picked natives. We started at midnight, by the light 
 of a half-moon much obscured by clouds. The stockades 
 were seven miles from Karonga's, along the so-called 
 " Stevenson Road." The track was completely over- 
 grown with high elephant - grass, through which we 
 forced our way ; indeed, so entirely was even the path- 
 way obliterated, that it was difficult to follow it. Mos- 
 quitoes and spear-grass added to the disagreeables, and 
 my feet were yet raw from the walk to Matope. 
 
 Arrived at Msalema's, — the smaller stockade, — I 
 found that it was at most 150 by 100 yds. The high 
 grass was cleared away some 500 yds. in front, and 
 the ground strewed with the dry stalks, which crackled 
 like sheets of corrugated iron if one trod on them in 
 the silence of night. In the centre of the front face 
 was a lofty watch-tower, which commanded a view of 
 the country, and from which the sharp-shooters would 
 endeavour to pick off the Europeans. I had been told 
 there were covered pits in front, with bamboo stakes 
 at the bottom ; and it was mainly to see if any such 
 impediment to an advance existed that I resolved to 
 go forward alone and inspect the ground. The sentries
 
 DESCRIPTIOX OF SLAVERS STOCKADES. 101 
 
 kept up ail occasional shouting, and my slight deafness 
 was a serious disadvantage, since it would prevent my 
 detecting any whisper, or other indication that I was 
 seen, and it was too dark to rely on one's eyesight. 
 
 I extract from my diary the description of the results 
 of my investigations (written at the time), to show that 
 I did my best, before attacking, to ascertain fully the 
 nature of our task : " When I got within about 10 yds., 
 I found that on this (left) face there was a sheer drop of 
 10 or 12 ft. The stockade was built to the edge of it, 
 and it towered over me in the moonlight. So I deter- 
 mined to go round the corner, and up to the front face, 
 ascending the steep sloj)e. This was very diHicult work, 
 as the dry stalks were everywhere, and a false step 
 would, probably, have given the alarm : the green stuff, 
 too, was very dense, and knee-deep. Feeling for pits, I 
 got slowly up, and though I did not like the idea that 
 a fellow might be watching me, and only waiting till I 
 almost touched the muzzle of his gun before he fired it off, 
 I was resolved to go on, and I did so. It is curious how 
 our animal instincts rebel ao-ainst risk to our lives ! Here 
 was I ... in a regular funk of the unseen danger, 
 with every nerve strained to tension, taking as great 
 care as though my life were of extraordinary value ! 
 But facing danger unseen in the dark is perhaps the 
 hardest form of facing it. And besides, what about 
 Monteith if I was hit ? 
 
 " I went on till I touched the logs of the stockade 
 with my short spear. I saw that there was no ditch on 
 this side ; that there was mud thrown up against it from 
 the inside, about 3 ft. high ; that the logs were very 
 high, with thorns among them ; that the slope up to the 
 stockade was steep, and entirely commanded by the fire 
 from the defenders ; tliat there was no appearance at all 
 of ])its, and that the huge "look-out tower" was close 
 to me on my left. When already cauti<»uslv returning,
 
 102 BLANTYRE TO KARONGA's. 
 
 a loud shout went up from the stockade. I hurried to 
 Monteith, and we sat in the high stuff out of sight. 
 There was a lot of shouting and chanting of songs, and 
 soon it died away, and we knew that they were only 
 changing sentries, and that we were not discovered. I 
 then again went up to the stockade, to make sure that 
 the steep drop on the left face extended all along its 
 lencrth. 
 
 " We now returned as we had come, and went on 
 parallel to the front of Msalema's, towards Kopa-Kopa's. 
 I inspected the ' pit ' into which Monteith had fallen on 
 a previous reconnaissance, and which had given rise to 
 the belief in the pits and stakes. It was a mere natural 
 fissure in the ground, and I do not now think there are 
 any ^^its at all. When abreast of Kopa-Kopa's we 
 struck a large well-beaten path leading from Msalema's. 
 I went alone along this path some distance towards 
 Msalema's (right face). After getting close to the 
 stockade I turned to my left to see how far in rear the 
 river Avas. I was a long way from Monteith and the 
 natives, and a little apprehensive of losing them in the 
 darkness and among the number of paths about. 
 
 " One of the Atonga now came to recall me in haste, 
 for, near to where Monteith was sitting waiting, there 
 was a sentry singing at the top of his voice. We 
 could not make out much of his chant, but Monteith 
 had heard him say, " I have seen the Mzungu " (white 
 man), and he thought, of course, he was giving the 
 alarm. Owing to this wakeful sentry, whom we could 
 not localise, I could not see much of the left face of 
 Kopa-Kopa's (towards Msalema's), nor could I find out 
 all the details I wished regarding this side of the stock- 
 ade, which was, however, of minor importance. The 
 river was near us, and aj)peared to run some 100 yards 
 in rear of Msalema's, and quite close to Kopa-Kopa's. 
 Proceeding along the front of Kopa-Kopa's, we found a
 
 DESCRIPTIOX OF SLAVEES STOCKADES. 
 
 103 
 
 deep ravine running apparently nearly parallel to and 
 about 400 yards from the stockade. The country here 
 
 Rough Sketch of Si.avkrs' Stockades, and 
 Route of Night Reconnaissance. 
 
 Scale — 200 yards = i inch {af-prox.) 
 
 was comj)letely void of grass or scrub, but covered with 
 isolated trees and stumps, and very level. The stochade 
 is apparenthj huilt on a high rising hank, ivhich is so
 
 104 BYANTYRE TO KARONGA's. 
 
 regular and so steep that it looks artificial.^ I did 
 not go very close, as Monteith had begged me not 
 to be away many minutes, for the dawn was near 
 breaking. 
 
 " On my return we agreed to get into a tree and await 
 the break of day, see the stockades from the tree by a 
 good light, and then go home. We went back a little, 
 found a tree, and got up. I had been most anxious 
 to examine the right face of Kopa - Kopa's, since on 
 that side, if possible, must be the attack ; but the 
 approach of dawn made it impossible. Kopa-Kopa's 
 appeared to be an enormous place, well stockaded, and 
 with three or four towers. As I was proposing to get 
 down, a man appeared in front of the stockade ; he did 
 not see us, but a second one did, and stopped and 
 pointed us out. For some time they seemed unable to 
 believe their eyes. We, however, stood watching them, 
 for Monteith would not move, but stood there saying 
 he would not let them think he was running away ! 
 Presently the man from the fort shouted that he saw us. 
 Our men replied that the speaker was a Mhenga, and 
 that he was a fool to throw in his lot with the Slavers, 
 whom the white men would kill. He rej^lied that they 
 were fools for sticking to us, and that we were afraid — 
 else why did we sit at the lake, and not come and fight ? 
 I urged Monteith to come on, as the stockades were now 
 alarmed ; and we slowly and deliberately marched off, 
 with many pauses. As w^e went across the open a great 
 party streamed out of Msalema's, headed by a man in 
 white, and stood looking at us. Our men began to 
 dance the most grotesque war-dances with the most 
 extraordinary attitudes, and to jeer the enemy, and 
 
 ^ This eventually proved to be a mud-wall ; but in the dim light I had 
 supposed it to be an embankment, and therefore assumed it would not be 
 continuous on the far side (on which we attacked) : it was this misconception 
 which nullified our attack. It was the object of the subsequent futile 
 reconnaissance to ascertain fully the nature of this farther side.
 
 A NARROW ESCAPE. 105 
 
 tell them to come out and fight, we had more men 
 behind, and would kill them all ! &c. 
 
 " A good deal of this went on on both sides, and 
 then the Slavers, exasperated at our slow retreat, 
 and the derisive dance of the natives, rushed into the 
 stockade to fetch their guns. They opened fire on 
 us at about 300 or 400 yards, and ran down towards 
 our front, as though to cut us off. Nothing could 
 have been easier, for the continuation of our path lay 
 as near to them as to us, and all around was impene- 
 trable grass, in which we could not possibly go a yard. 
 Things to me looked exceedingly critical. Monteith, 
 however, apparently knew these fellows better. The 
 fire was kept up very strongly by them, and was very 
 straight, one Imllet cutting through the grass with 
 a swish about 18 inches in front of my nose. A hair's- 
 breadth difference in sighting and it would have killed 
 us both at a shot ! They now pressed closer on us 
 behind, and we dropped a man to fire a shot from a 
 knoll and check them. As we crested each rising ground 
 the fire became brisk, but not till we had left them well 
 behind us (instead of on our flanks, and, indeed, almost 
 ahead of us) did I reply with a shot. Hitherto we had 
 walked on at a regular pace. Some of them had run 
 down into the jungle, and were firing at about 700 or 
 800 yards, when I turned to fire a return shot. Behind 
 them in the open, out of real range, was a big cluster of 
 men, among whom I could distinguish the white shirt. 
 I guessed the distance to be 1000 yards, })ut up that 
 sight, and fired with a Martini (from the shoulder, stand- 
 ing) at that range ! Apparently it was a wonderfully 
 lucky shot, for a few seconds after firing there was a 
 great stampede in all directions of the knot of men I had 
 fired at. We fired, in all, about half-a-dozen rounds in 
 reply to all tlieirs. Going tlirough a delicate place we 
 looked out for an aiiil)us1i, in case anv men liad run
 
 106 BLANTYRE TO KARONGA's. 
 
 round by another path and got in front of us ; but noth- 
 ing occurred, and we got back at about 8.30 A.M., very- 
 hungry, " 
 
 I worked incessantly all day, and for three nights 
 had practically had no sleep. One night I was flooded 
 by a storm, for I lay on the ground (there being as 
 yet no hut for me), and woke to find myself in several 
 inches of water, which I spent most of the rest of the 
 night in baling out, in bare feet and driving rain. The 
 next night was entirely spent in this reconnaissance, 
 and I had never lain down at all. On the third there 
 was a night alarm, — some scouts from the Slavers being 
 surprised and fired on. The day following was Sunday, 
 and I at last had some much-needed rest. The climate 
 and the hardships incidental to the life had already told 
 very heavily on the others. Monteith was covered 
 with boils. When Sharpe arrived he had, we found, 
 been daily prostrated with fever. In fact, every single 
 man, except myself and two others, had been knocked 
 over, while some two - thirds were constantly sick. 
 Even Kaufimann could not stand the test of working 
 with me in the magazine, where the hot sun on the 
 newly constructed mud-roof and walls made the interior 
 full of steamy air, like a hothouse, and he too broke 
 down. Pigott, the old Australian gold prospector, got 
 worse and worse, and on the 9th he died. I read a 
 service over him (he was a R. Catholic) — a duty I had 
 often had to perform in cholera-camp in India — and we 
 buried him under the old baobab tree on the shores 
 of Nyasa.
 
 \ Native of Xkonde. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ATTACK ON THE SLAVERS — LIFE AT KARONGA S. 
 
 Sliarjie arrives — An important capture — Preparations for war — The refugees 
 — We forbid capture of women — Night-march — Checked at the stockade 
 — I am put out of action — Lost in the bush — Rolfe and Jones wounded 
 — A curious wound — A wonderful recovery — Monteith in command — 
 Alternative plans of action — Critical position from sickness of garrison 
 — I receive extraordinary kindness — Ilala arrives — All want to go — 
 My condition — A terrible accident — A mutiny imminent — Guerilla 
 warfare — A weary life — Expedition to Deep Bay — Rats and snakes — 
 I resume work, but collapse — Ilala returns — Nearly swamped — Cross
 
 108 ATTACK ON THE SLAVERS. 
 
 and I leave — Arrive at Blantyre — Slave-trade scheme — Return to 
 Karonga's — I join Sharpe at north end — A projected duel — Arrival 
 of the Sultan's envoy — Negotiations — The Ilala again — Disheartening 
 news — I go to Deep Bay. 
 
 On the 6th (June) Sharpe arrived with 190 Atonga. 
 This made our total of Atonga about 220. Of the 
 Ajawa tribe we had some 50, as well as 50 wild Mambwe 
 from the Tanganyika plateau. Altogether we had some 
 300 natives ; and of these, roughly speaking, about 
 one-third were armed with breechloaders, one-third 
 with muzzle - loaders, and the remaining third were 
 unarmed. While proceeding, Sharpe had fallen in with 
 a caravan from Mlozi at Deep Bay, on its way to pro- 
 cure arms and powder from the Arabs on the east of 
 the lake, and taking down slaves in exchange. He 
 attacked it, and re - captured three slave girls, who 
 were being sent for this purpose. A wretched little 
 slave boy, being in a " gori-stick " and unable to run 
 away, was accidentally shot by our own men. Much 
 of his chest and arm was blown away, but under the 
 care of Dr Cross he made a wonderful recovery, and the 
 poor little skeleton gradually put on flesh and led a 
 happy life in our stockade. Two of the girls, being 
 Waiikonde, I restored to their friends ; the third, an 
 Atonga, joined her own tribe. 
 
 But the most important ca^Dture was Muntu-Mw^ema 
 (" the good man " !), leader of the caravan, and a 
 brother or close relative of Kopa - Kopa — Mlozi's 
 lieutenant. There was quite a clamour that he should 
 be hung on the spot ; but I declined to sanction this 
 in hot blood on native evidence only, and by sunset 
 next day (the time I had named for his trial) not a 
 voice demanded his death. Personally, I had no 
 intention of executing him, for I foresaw he might 
 be of use. I chained him to a central post under 
 the awning in " the white man's square," that he
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 
 
 109 
 
 might realise what he had inflicted on so many human 
 beings before, and in deference to the strength of the 
 feeling of anger against him, which I could not afford 
 to ignore entirely ; but I clothed him and made him 
 fairly comfortable, and ultimately used him as our 
 guide when we made our attack. 
 
 \Jp to the time of Sharpe's arrival, we had been 
 building the huts and zeriba for the natives, and were 
 engaged in a score of other tasks. At last we had both 
 the white and the black men housed, a good fireproof 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 *^ 
 
 rn^nm^: '^r-^'"'^'H. JL^i^^'-^ 
 
 A Slavkk in Cai'tivity. 
 
 magazine, the stockade in a clean and sanitary state, 
 and the arms and ammunition sorted and distributed. 
 I now devoted my attention to more immediate pre- 
 parations for fighting. The Atonga were divided into 
 five parties, under Sharpe, Lindsay, Peebles, Smith, 
 and Nicoll. Monteitli took tlie Mambwe, Moir the 
 Ajawa, and Morrison a l)atch of casuals. All of these 
 com]iany commanders could speak the language, and 
 with each company were associated two other Euro- 
 peans. Bell assisted the doctor, and two others would
 
 110 ATTACK ON THE SLAVERS. 
 
 remain with Morrison's batch to guard Karonga's. 
 Bullets for the muzzleloaders were being cast in great 
 quantities ; and hand-grenades, made out of jam-tins, 
 fired by a fuze, and rammed with quartz pebbles and 
 clay from an ant-hill, were found to succeed well. The 
 best invention, however, Avas in connection with some 
 solid brass steamer tubing. This we cut into lengths 
 of about a foot, and filled with powder, nails, rivets, 
 &c., and rammed tight, lighting by fuse. The explo- 
 sive force of these was enormous. A great part of 
 our ammunition consisted of sporting cartridges, but I 
 would not allow any explosive bullets to be taken 
 into action against human enemies. Each day a 
 rough drill was carried out, mainly with a view to 
 teaching these raw savages how to hold and point 
 a gun — aiming was of course beyond them — and how 
 to advance in something like line, their usual method 
 being to crowd into a dense mass when advancing to 
 charge. 
 
 The Mambwe men were the wildest of savages, 
 almost or completely naked, with the most fantastic 
 head-dresses, a favourite one being a strip of skin cut 
 from the mane of a zebra and tied round the head, so 
 that the lona: hair stood out like a halo round the skull. 
 The Atonga were headed by Dzenji, a gigantic savage, 
 son of the great Atonga chief ; he and his brothers were 
 among the bravest natives I have ever met. I was 
 most anxious to avoid a single day's delay which could 
 possibly be helped, for the sickness among the white 
 men was getting daily more serious, and I felt that, 
 unless I at once took advantage of the enthusiasm and 
 morale of both Europeans and natives, I should lose 
 the right moment, and with it half the chance of 
 success. For this reason I determined on an immediate 
 attack ; though, had I had disciplined troops and officers 
 to deal with, I should have preferred a more accurate
 
 FORBID CAPTURE OF WOMEX. Ill 
 
 knowledge of the enemy's position, and a more matured 
 and careful plan. 
 
 Along the shore of the lake, extending for perhaps 
 two miles from our stockade, was the long bivouac en- 
 campment of Wankonde refugees — the survivors from 
 the raids of the Slavers. These were the people who 
 had lately inhabited the Nkonde valley, a stretch of 
 country some 24 x 6 miles, which had then been a 
 garden of fertility and prosperous villages, but was now 
 a jungle of dense grass and blackened ruins. The self- 
 sown grain mingled with the jungle growth on what 
 were once their fields, and such of the banana groves as 
 remained, choked with rank vegetation, yielded only a 
 semi-wild fruit. On such precarious means of subsist- 
 ence, eked out by borrowing from their friends at the 
 north of the lake, these wretched people lived. I had 
 forbidden them to accompany us in the attack, knowing 
 that, if these hordes came too, I could preserve no kind 
 of discipline, and could not prevent atrocities in case of 
 success ; also, that all my men would rush to the loot, 
 to secure it from the Wankonde, and so I should lose 
 all chance of really ousting the Slavers, and following 
 up any success we gained. 
 
 I had a most important mirandu (council) on this 
 subject with the leaders of the Atonga. I deter- 
 mined to prevent the carrying off of women, both on 
 moral grounds, and because I knew it would be sub- 
 versive of all control and discipline ; but Sharpe and 
 Monteith, tliough warmly in accord with my views, 
 pronounced the thing impossible. To attempt to upset 
 so radical a custom of native warfare would lead, they 
 said, to certain mutiny. On tlie excuse of examining 
 the rifles, I disarmed tlie Atonga, and made my attempt. 
 I pointed out that they were paid levies, Avho nuist 
 obey our orders, not free-lances led to war bv us for 
 their ow ii gain ; that all loot would be e(|uallv divided,
 
 112 ATTACK ON THE SLAVERS. 
 
 except guns captured in individual combat, and men 
 stopping to loot would be shot ; that they could neither 
 feed women captured nor convey them to Bandawi ; 
 that the women were mostly Wankonde, and only by 
 promising to restore them could I restrain this tribe 
 from following us, and if they did so and attempted to 
 plunder, they would be fired on ; and lastly, I would 
 not, I said, allow the capture of women, whether they 
 liked it or not. By skilfully playing on their feelings, 
 we succeeded in our object ; nor shall I readily forget 
 that council, held at night in a native hut by the light 
 of a solitary candle — Sharpe, Monteith, and I — and the 
 wild enthusiasm and war-cries of the Atonga chiefs, 
 as they talked of the coming battle, and hugged each 
 other in the frenzy of their excitement. 
 
 Nicoll meanwhile had returned. He had. been un- 
 successful in finding the friendly Arabs, Mirambo and 
 Majid. I think, in the present difficulties in Nyasa- 
 land, much might be effected by utilising these two 
 loyal and intelligent chiefs. Mr Moir had proceeded 
 to the north end of the lake with the steel boat, and 
 brought a supply of food for the natives, sufficient 
 for about three weeks. I had attempted a second re- 
 connaissance with Sharpe and Lindsay, to inspect the 
 right face of Kopa-Kopa's, on which I had determined 
 to deliver the main attack ; but it was not very suc- 
 cessful, and both my companions suffered from illness, 
 in consequence of the fatigue and exposure. I now 
 determined to march out on the night of June 15th, 
 and I issued to each fighting man of the natives a band 
 of bright-coloured cloth, about two inches broad, to be 
 tied on his head, so that in any confusion or inelee we 
 might know friends from foes. The exact day of 
 attack had been kept absolutely secret till the morn- 
 ing on which we started. 
 
 At 10 P.M. we marched out, company by company;
 
 NIGHT MARCH — THE ATTACK. 113 
 
 in all about seventeen combatant white men. Dr Cross 
 and Bell were to halt about 1000 yds. in rear at the 
 " hospital tree," and were provided with stretchers, 
 water, medical appliances, &c. The natives numbered 
 nearly 300. Each company had spare men carrying- 
 axes, a keg of powder, and some of the tubular and 
 other projectiles, under the immediate eye of the com- 
 mander. A full plan of the attack, with a diagram 
 showing position of each company, had been circulated. 
 Muntu-Mwema guided us, being told that instant death 
 was the penalty for any attempt at treachery, and an 
 Atonga with a sharp spear was beside him to carry it 
 out. He had been well treated, and fed from our own 
 table, and professed great gratitude for our mercy, 
 wliich he could not but contrast with the fate which 
 any one of us would have met with if we had fallen 
 into Mlozi's hands. We reached the hospital tree at 
 2 A.M., and from thence made a lono- circuit in the 
 jungle. With infinite difficulty, in the darkness of 
 night, I aligned each company in its place round two 
 faces of the larger (Kopa-Kopa's) stockade, at about 
 200 yds. distance from it. As each took up its j^osi- 
 tion the men were ordered to sit down ; and such is the 
 extraordinary inability of the savage to realise danger 
 which is not actually face to face with him, that every 
 single man was asleep the next moment ! My clothes 
 and hands were much torn by tlie dense thorn-bushes in 
 the darkness, and it was just daAvii before all was ready, 
 and I returned to my post. Smith, with his company, 
 had been sent towards Mlozi's stockade (distant some 
 seven miles from these t^^"()) to drive back any attempt 
 at reinforcement from that quarter. 
 
 As tlie first streak of dawn appeared, we advanced 
 to within 50 yds., and I then raised a ciieer and led 
 the cliarge. The ground was full of ravines, which we 
 could not ])roperlv see. and these checked our rush. 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 114 ATTACK ON THE SLAVERS. 
 
 Clambering down and up again, we gained the stockade, 
 only to find that what we had taken to be a bank was 
 a soUd mud-wall, some six feet high, and perforated 
 w^ith minute loop-holes ! Above the wall rose the poles 
 of the stockade, some 14 ft. high, intertwined with 
 thorns. As I had been led to expect, the large majority 
 of the natives shirked the charge, and remained behind. 
 The description of the next ten minutes, as far as I saw 
 it, I quote from my diary : "It was still too dark to see 
 anything distinctly, but flashes of flame in the wall 
 showed us that it was loop-holed, and manned on the 
 other side by the Slavers, who had been sleeping on their 
 posts with their guns beside them. I asked Sharpe 
 where Avere his axes, powder-keg, &c. ; but the men 
 carrying these were not to the front, and apparently 
 no other company had kept sight of theirs either. 
 (Had we been able to insert the tubular explosives 
 in the loop-holes, it is possible we might have blown 
 down the wall and eflected a breach.) There was a 
 very heavy fire kept up through these invisible loop- 
 holes ; every now and then a flash in front of one 
 showed that another step forward would have resulted 
 in a ball through one's body. Passing a loop-hole a 
 gun was discharged full in my face, almost knock- 
 ing me down, and the smoke of the gunpow"der nearly 
 choked me. I suppose there was either no bullet, or 
 else it must have passed in front of me. 
 
 " It was diflicult to know what to do. I thought the 
 only way was to go straight over ; so I shouted to every 
 one to clamber over, and began to do so myself. I had 
 laid hold of a thorn bough to pull myself up by, when 
 a shot struck me, and I fell in a heap in a sitting 
 position, feeling the stinging, burning sensation of a 
 wound at the base of my chest, — both arms being 
 completely paralysed, or rather having fallen useless 
 by my side. I thoTight I was shot through the body.
 
 w:w^m^^^m^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 
 ^' f '^. ^^"^%?-^- >i 
 
 ::^:
 
 I AM PUT OUT OF ACTIOX. 115 
 
 and of course mortally wounded. Had I reached the 
 top of the stockade-work, I should have had my head 
 riddled with bullets as soon as it apj^eared above the 
 mud- wall, and have been instantly killed. I fear that, 
 even had I got over, none of the natives would have 
 followed. ... I said to Sharpe that I had ' got it.' 
 He asked me ' where,' in great distress. I said, ' Right 
 through the stomach, — both arms are paralysed.' ^ I 
 added that, as I was done for, and could be of no more 
 use, I would go towards the hospital tree ; but of course 
 I never expected to reach it. 
 
 " Sharpe showed much emotion, and would not hear of 
 allowino- me to i>'o awav alone, and it was onlv when 
 I begged him to take command in my place, and asked 
 it • as a last request,' and said 1 was all right, and quite 
 able to get to the doctor, that he consented. He re- 
 called the men from the stockade, and rallied them in 
 a deep nullah about eighty yards oif. I begged him to 
 see it through, and not give in if possible. I then went 
 off to the rear, as the fire was very heavy where Ave 
 were standing." I so well lemember that scene I Dear 
 old Sharpe felt several bullets whizz close past his head, 
 and instinctively turned u]) his coat-collar and pulled 
 down the brim of his broad felt hat, as though to ward 
 off driving rain 1 So little did he pause to recollect how 
 different from mere rain was tlie hail of bullets, in his 
 .solicitude for me. I urged liim to get luider cover, as 
 he was still unwounded, whereas it would not matter 
 (I thought) liow many more Imllets hit me. 
 
 ■'After sliouting for some time, I got my native ser- 
 vant Mahea, and we started oif to the hospital tree. 
 We forced our way without a path, on and on througli 
 
 ' I thought tlie bullet liail grazed the spine, eau.siiig this paralysis ! for I 
 was quite unaware that I was shot througli the arms. The absurdity of 
 this mistake is sufficiently obvious on calm consideration ; but at such a 
 moment it can be understood that any hypothesis was possible to account 
 for my inability to move either arm.
 
 116 ATTACK ON THE SLAVERS. 
 
 thick jungle and long spear-grass and thorns, and at 
 last got into very broken country, where I had to cross 
 steep ravines, and could not protect my face from the 
 boughs of trees or long grass, both arms being useless. 
 I had lost a great deal of blood, and a parching thirst 
 set in ; but there was no water nor living object, and 
 my fellow appeared to have quite lost his way. I 
 was at first very much astonished at being so strong 
 on my legs, and exj)ected every moment to collapse ; 
 but finding I did not do so, and looking at my arms, 
 I could see that I had been shot through both of them. 
 I now guessed that the wound in the chest was a graze, 
 and that, therefore, I was probably not mortally wounded. 
 But it was too late to turn back, for already we were 
 lost in the bush, and I was much exhausted ; so I could 
 only regret the misconception which had caused me 
 to leave, and to ask Sharpe to take command. After 
 walking thus for, I suppose, two or more hours, we 
 at length struck the road about a mile below the hos- 
 pital tree. Mahea ran on to get me some water, . . . 
 while I walked up and down. Firing still continued 
 in the distance, and I began to fear the ammunition 
 would run out completely." 
 
 I sat down till Mahea returned with water, and I 
 then started off to walk to Karonga's (seven miles). I 
 was in a sorry plight, for I had dropped my cap, and the 
 sun was fiercely hot on my bare head. I continued to 
 bleed heavily, and began to find the distance to Ka- 
 ronga's more than my strength could manage. A native 
 whom we met wearing a scarlet " Tam o' Shanter " 
 woollen cap, transferred it to my head, and I had already 
 covered about half the distance to Karonga's, when I 
 found the dizziness was becoming so great that I had 
 to pause frequently to pull myself together, and I was 
 right glad when the doctor and others came by with a 
 spare stretcher. Ague, arising from loss of blood and
 
 ROLFE AND JONES WOUNDED. 117 
 
 my saturated clothes, added to my troubles by shaking 
 the fractured bone in my arm, and it was not till 3 p.m. 
 that we arrived at Karonga's, which we had left the pre- 
 vious evening. I tried to cheer them all ; but I fear 
 it was a poor attempt, for a sudden faintness seized 
 me, and I had to collapse and lie down. My clothes 
 were cut off me, and I tinned in, having been on my 
 legs for some thirty-three hours consecutively, at the 
 hardest conceivable work, both mental and physical. 
 
 Finding the stockade quite impregnable, the force 
 withdrew in an orderly manner, after Smith had re- 
 joined with his company. I found that two other 
 Europeans were Avounded. Jones, who was still alive, 
 was shot through the centre of the head, and Rolfe 
 had a scalp- wound over the right eye. The bullet had 
 passed out. Several had had their hats knocked off 
 by shots at close quarters, and there were many very 
 narrow escapes. Of the natives, five were killed and 
 nine wounded. Of the latter, several died later. The 
 British behaved with the utmost gallantry, and I can 
 only explain the small number of casualties on the 
 assumption that the Slavers, in their hurry, fired off 
 their guns without putting in bullets. Poor Jones's state 
 threw a gloom over us all ; he never recovered con- 
 sciousness, and, a week later, we laid him beside Pigott, 
 under the old baobab tree. Kolfe's condition was very 
 critical too ; but he made a wonderful recovery, and 
 though the brain was exposed by the shot, he de- 
 veloped a most extraordinary and really unnatural 
 appetite in a day or two, and was to be seen roam- 
 ing about as cheery as possible, with his head tied 
 up ill a l)ath-towel. 
 
 As to myself, I found I had received a very singulai* 
 wound. The muzzle of the gun must have been placed 
 a few inches from my body, for the coarse grains of 
 "trade jjowder" liad entered thp I'iglit i\vu\ (wliicli liad
 
 I 1 8 ATTACK ON THE SLAVERS. 
 
 been bared to the elbow) like a charge of shot, and 
 could not be dislodged, while two big lumps of wadding 
 were extracted from the wound. The bullet had en- 
 tered the elbow-joint (which fortunately escaped frac- 
 ture, or I should have lost my arm), had struck the 
 main artery, but pushed it aside without cutting it, — or 
 I must inevitably have bled to death ; it then struck 
 my chest, apparently in a direct line for the heart, but, 
 glancing off a rib, passed along under the skin, and 
 came out at the top of my breast-pocket, making a 
 long, tearing flesh-wound in its exit. Then it struck 
 the wrist of my left hand, carrying into the wound 
 a portion of some letters which were in my breast- 
 pocket. It "pulverised" the main bone of this arm, 
 cutting also a minor artery. This latter wound is — 
 even now in 1893 — still open, and pieces of bone still 
 come away, though it is five years since I was hit. 
 
 It was a curious coincidence that the previous even- 
 ing we had been talking about wounds, and I had 
 then lightly said that a fatal wound was preferable to 
 mutilation, and I would sooner lose my life than my 
 right arm. Cross, like an enthusiastic surgeon, began 
 to explain the wonderful surgical operations lately per- 
 formed by Dr M'Ewan of Edinburgh, and added that 
 modern surgery could almost certainly repair a wound- 
 ed arm more or less eftectively. " There is only one 
 spot," he added, " where a bullet would be disastrous." 
 I bared my arm, and he laid his finger on the centre of 
 the elbow-joint. " If hit there," he said, " we must 
 amputate, or excise the elbow-joint." On the precise 
 spot on which he laid his finger I received the bullet 
 next day ! 
 
 Next morning Dr Cross was able to attend to his 
 patients, white and black. My turn came, and I was 
 laid out as if for a ^wst-tnortem. There was no second 
 doctor to help, but Cross pluckily decided to give
 
 NEW PLAN OF CAMPAIC4N. 119 
 
 chloroform himself" ^^'ith Moirs assistance, and he 
 dressed and bandaged the wounds. Later, Avhen I 
 became conscious, it was an anxious moment while I 
 awaited his reply as to whether I should lose both 
 arms I He reassured me respecting the right arm, and 
 in my relief at that news, I hardly cared if I lost the 
 left. He was doubtful of that one, but hoped for the 
 best : a less skilful surgeon would probably have am- 
 putated it. I believe that the wonderful recovery of the 
 use of the left arm is a medical curiosity, seeing that 
 the bullet tore through all the tendons and sinews of 
 the wrist, and shattered the bone. I have the com- 
 jjlete use of the hand, fingers and wrist, though, of 
 course, there is little strength in the arm. I was as 
 weak as an infant from loss of blood, and lost all sense 
 of taste, and besides, the drain on my strength from 
 the sloughing from six bullet -holes was very great. 
 
 Next day, 17th, I called a meeting of all the Euro- 
 peans, and told them that nothing could have exceeded 
 the pluck they had shown, and that we had been 
 baffled only by the impossible ; that I had never seen 
 a hotter ten minutes, even in " MacNeil's zeriba," and 
 [ uiged them not to be discouraged. Indeed, by Mi- 
 Nicoll's account, we were within an ace of success, foi- 
 the stockade had, he said, caught fire where he was, and, 
 if our side had not received a check by my l)eing dis- 
 abled, he was confident we should have carried it. 
 I advised the strengthening of our stockade, in case of 
 a counter-attack by the Slavers at the full moon, and 
 said I thought that, without disci})lined troops, the 
 stockades were impracticable unless we got a cannon, 
 and I advised that this should be immediately procured. 
 Mr Moir undertook to get one from England, and Mr 
 Raw said he knew of one in Soutli Africa whicli had 
 been surreptitiously imported in a recent war, and which 
 he could obtain very clieaplv. He offered to bring this
 
 120 LIFE AT KARONGA's. 
 
 to Karonga's in four months, accepting- all risks inciden- 
 tal to smuggling it through Portuguese territory ; for, 
 at this time, the Portuguese were claiming the control 
 of the Zambesi, and were placing very great difficulties 
 in the way of our obtaining the necessary ammunition 
 to defend our lives. I added that the shock of the 
 wounds received the day before had so prostrated me, 
 that I felt hardly equal to the responsibility and in- 
 cessant work of command, and I therefore deputed 
 Monteith to executive control, though he would consult 
 me on any important step. 
 
 Next day Dr Cross broke down entirely with fever, 
 and became delirious ; so Rolfe and I and the wounded 
 natives had now to depend on Mr Bell, who had been 
 through an ambulance class, and knew something of 
 bandaging. He was a civil engineer, and a very good 
 fellow indeed. For my own part, I found that the treat- 
 ment of wounds is not a pleasant operation, especially 
 the syringing with Condy's fluid ! The small part of 
 the ulna (at the wrist) was intact, but its support to the 
 hand was almost nil, and the arm and hand had to be 
 supported at exactly the same level while the dressing 
 was being done. The hand that held them for me 
 sometimes trembled with fever, and this involved much 
 pain. 
 
 The very day after I appointed Monteith to replace 
 me a difficulty occurred with one of the men, and I 
 therefore found it necessary to resume command (20th). 
 I reorganised the alarm-stations, called a second meeting 
 of my comrades, and asked them to decide on our plan 
 of operations. Two courses recommended themselves 
 to me : ffi^st, to adopt a guerilla warfare, sending out 
 war-parties and harassing the slavers, cutting off their 
 supplies, &c., while we awaited the gun ; or, secondly, 
 to again adopt a IdoM course, and build a small stockade 
 close to theirs (within gunshot), and so render their
 
 SICKNESS OF GARRISON. 121 
 
 position untenable, by commanding the gates of their 
 stockades. I said that, as I was myself unable to 
 actively take part in either scheme (both arms being- 
 rigid in splints), I would offer no opinion on their com- 
 parative merits, lest I should seem to urge others into 
 a danger I could not share. The former plan was un- 
 animously agreed to. 
 
 Things at this time became somewhat critical. Sharpe 
 had left us the day after the attack (16th) to go 
 elephant-shooting ; Jones died on the 22d ; Dr Cross, 
 Lindsay, and Moir were very ill ; Rolfe and myself 
 badly wounded ; Bell had also gone sick ; so there was no 
 one to dress wounds, and every one else in the stockade, 
 except Binns, was ill off and on. Smith had resigned, 
 and awaited the steamer to leave the country. Mon- 
 teith, fortunately, was fairly well, and the entire control 
 of the natives — food-issue and superintendence, &c. — 
 was in his hands. He was a man of untiring energy 
 and of liigli principle, but of quick temper, which had 
 earned him among the natives the name of " Thunder 
 and Lightning." I therefore had to use great tact in 
 dealing witli liim ; but he was invaluable, and I greatly 
 liked and respected liim, and, so far as I could, I left 
 to him the entire management of the natives. Such 
 was tlie condition of affairs on Julv 1st, when the Ilala 
 arrived. 
 
 The kindness I exi)erienced from my comrades touched 
 me greatly. Kauffmann and Bell, who shared mv hut, 
 left on some excuse, and took shelter where they could, 
 lest they should disturb my brief snatches of sleep by 
 night. The house was of reeds and grass ; one end had 
 never been completed, and there was no door; the 
 howling wind rushed tlnough, and a candle could not 
 be lighted in the hut, 1 found this gap was repaired 
 without my orders ; the cook-house close by, with its 
 cliatteriui'- natives and swaiins of Hies, was removed
 
 122 LIFE AT KARONGA's. 
 
 elsewhere, that I might not be disturbed. As so often 
 in my diary, I find my gratitude expressed in its silent 
 pages : " It is thus that every one shows me kindness, 
 and makes even rough times to have their bright side 
 in memory of such universal kindness." 
 
 It was well that I had acquired an influence, for the 
 coming of the Ilala was a signal for trouble. Almost 
 every one clamoured to go. Sharpe went to shoot 
 farther south, and so was no longer within call in case 
 of emergency. Moir and Raw went to get the cannon. 
 Lindsay was too ill to stay. Bell exchanged with 
 Wilson of the steamer. He was a great loss, as Dr 
 Cross still remained very ill, with fever, dysentery, 
 and symptoms of jaundice. Morrison and Smith also 
 left ; so our numbers were very greatly reduced, and 
 with great difficulty I retained the others. The fact 
 was, that while I was ill much fiiction had occurred ; 
 nor was this to be wondered at, for most of the men 
 suffered off and on from fever, than which nothing 
 produces more proneness to irritability. Some of the 
 Natal men had even talked of making a raft and 
 going, if denied a passage in the steamer ; serious 
 quarrels were of daily occurrence, and the anxiety 
 and worry of them told heavily on me in my shat- 
 tered state. Matters also were critical as regards 
 myself; but I saw that if I went, not a single man 
 would remain. All the Natal men declined to obey 
 Monteith, and my going would, I feared, be the signal 
 for a universal exodus. Monteith, Nicoll, Auld, and 
 one or two others, who were not clamouring to go, 
 would be unable to stay by themselves, and so our 
 repulse at the Slavers' stockade would be followed by 
 flight. British prestige would be gone for ever, and 
 the whole of the imperative reasons for which Ka- 
 ronga's had been held for near a year in the face of 
 extraordinary difficulties and hardships would be lost.
 
 ALL WANT TO LEAVE. 123 
 
 No man with the spirit even of a cur could accept 
 such an alternative, and I said that, of course, I would 
 stay. My generous comrades expostulated. Sharpe 
 told me I should get a stiff arm for life ; all urged 
 me to go. The impulsive Kauffmann came to tell me 
 that they had agreed to swear to me that, if I went 
 they would pull together in my absence and have no 
 more quarrels. Binns and others gave up the raft 
 idea, and swore they would not leave me. I had 
 had a rough time, which had told even on my iron 
 constitution, and this evidence of the real feeling for 
 me on the part of my comrades touched me deeply. 
 All day, and generally all night, I sat in a chair for 
 a month on end and more ; for spinal Aveakness from 
 loss of blood, or rheumatism caused by the draughts, 
 or some such thing, rendered a lying -down position 
 intolerably painful. My arms were rigid ; I could not 
 feed myself, or even brush a mosquito or fly from my 
 face ! I was too weak to stand, and as I could wear 
 no clothes, and had only a trade blanket thrown 
 around me, I got continual bouts of fever and ague, 
 which were very painful to the shattered arm, and 
 made one weak and "down on one's luck"; while the 
 long days and nights, with little sleep, gave time 
 for many depressing thoughts. Added to this were 
 the worries of the constant difficulties and quarrels, 
 and the anticipation of a night attack by the Slavers 
 — when (in case of temporary reverse) I could not 
 rise from my chair, or raise a finger to defend my 
 life. All these causes told against my health. 
 
 As I write, I feel continually how egotistic my nar- 
 rative is, and at times am tempted to destroy the 
 MSS. ; but this is the innate difficulty of telling a 
 " personal story." If I have interested my reader, 
 and lielped him to realise African life, and to appreci- 
 ate some of the difficulties tlirouirli whicli success has
 
 124 ' LIFE AT KARONGA's. 
 
 been achieved, I shall have gained my object, — and 
 this I cannot do by generalisation. It is the " personal 
 story" which holds the attention, and so I give my 
 own individual experiences, and trust my reader will 
 be lenient, and not condemn me as a self-satisfied 
 egotist because my story is of I, I, I.^ 
 
 The Ilala left on the 4th, taking in tow the steel 
 boat, crowded with natives, many being sick and 
 wounded. There was also a war-party on board, which 
 I was sending down to Deep Bay to hold the ferry 
 there. A sad accident occurred on this occasion. Each 
 man wore round his neck a little bag containing the 
 powder, bullets, &c., for his rifle. The sparks from the 
 steamer showered into the boat, and alighted on one of 
 these, when instantaneously there was an explosion, the 
 powder on each one of the closely packed natives catch- 
 ing fire. The men plunged into the lake. A high sea 
 was running. The boat was cast adrift, for probably 
 Moir and the rest did not appreciate the seriousness 
 of the mishap, and the Ilala steamed away with much of 
 our reserve ammunition and rifles on board, and many 
 of our able fighting men (sent down for the Deep Bay 
 expedition). Eventually the boat with great difficulty 
 reached Karonga's, and a most frightful sight met our 
 eyes. Sixteen men were badly burnt. Some died 
 soon after in agonies ; others presented the most ghastly 
 appearance, the skin scorched off* their faces, and chests, 
 and backs : the worst cases were half flayed. 
 
 Both Wilson and Kauffinann, who were in the boat, 
 and all the natives, were in a highly excited state, in 
 which Monteith and others joined. They fancied they 
 had been ruthlessly deserted by the Ilala, and that 
 the white men on board were I'unning away, and would 
 
 ' Vide quotation facing page 1 — iav 5' e(p' a koI imroi-qKo. koX TmToK'mv^i.ai 
 ^aBi(a>, TToWaKis \4yetv avayKacrByjaofxai nepl ifiavTov. — Demosthenes, Trepl 
 
 (TT€<pdl'OV, yS'.
 
 MUTINY IMMINENT A WEARY LIFE. 125 
 
 not pause for a moment to see to their safety, or tow 
 them inshore out of the heavy sea. Again I had to 
 face what ahnost amounted to a mutiny. The Atonga 
 said they would leave us en masse, and march over- 
 land, with their arms, to Bandawi. I had very great 
 difficulty in pacifying them, but at last succeeded. 
 Meanwhile, these poor mutilated men had no doctor 
 to attend them, for Cross was now dangerously ill 
 and, generally, delirious ; while I was myself unable to 
 stand, and so could not personally superintend them at 
 this crisis. We got a little oil from the Wankonde 
 to put on the burns, but even this soon ran out. We 
 thought of sending for Dr Laws, but doubted his being- 
 able to come. Dr Cross was opposed to this also ; 
 and as it would involve the absence for a long time of 
 the steel boat, on which depended our communication 
 with the north end, and our food-suj^plies for the 
 natives, the idea was abandoned. 
 
 The days passed by somewhat wearily. Malarial 
 winds from the south-east had continued to blow vio- 
 lently all day, since the middle of June, and prostrated 
 everybody. One after another the Avhite men broke 
 down and were dangerously ill, but each pulled through ; 
 though, in several cases, we had almost given up hope. 
 Binns alone did not succumb. It was with difficulty 
 we could keep up our nightly watch. On July 14th, 
 just a month since I was Avounded, I managed, for the 
 first time, to put on some clothes, and come out of my 
 house for a few minutes into the fresh air ; but my right 
 arm was still rigid, and fixed at an angle, and my left 
 was, of course, unhealed. 
 
 I re-formed the natives into three large companies, 
 now that most of the old commanders had gone, and 
 sent out war-parties daily, to search for food, or attack 
 any bands of the Slavers. On one of these occasions, 
 Dzenji, tlie chief of the Atonga, defeated a party of the
 
 126 LIFE AT KAROXGA's. 
 
 enemy, killing several, and capturing- seven of their women 
 slaves. I oflfered these their liberty ; but they preferred 
 any fate to returning to the Slavers, and, since they had 
 been captured as children and their tribe destroyed, they 
 had neither home nor relatives, and nowhere else to go 
 to. They preferred to join our native village, when 
 assured that we would not eat them, as they had been led 
 to expect. I had much trouble with the Atonga respect- 
 ing my right to free them, had they desired to go ; for 
 during my illness they had apparently become somewhat 
 independent. This report, that Europeans are cannibals, 
 has been carried through Central Africa by the Arabs 
 and Slavers to prejudice the natives against us, and is 
 very widely spread. When coming up country I had 
 discovered, on one occasion, that even my own men, 
 seeing me eat some American tinned beef, thought that 
 it was potted man — its red colour being strange to 
 them — and that I had brought it to satisfy ray craving 
 for human flesh, since, for some reason, I did not wish 
 to openly indulge my tastes by cooking one of the 
 onlookers ! 
 
 I sent at this time (July 17th) a new expedition to 
 Deep Bay, under Monteith, Kauffmann, and Binns. It 
 was entirely successful, and several big canoes, in which 
 the slaves are conveyed across the lake, were captured. 
 A considerable amount of loot was taken, mostly cloth, 
 and the equitable distribution of this among the fighting 
 men engaged in this expedition had an excellent effect, 
 and I had no difliculty on this occasion in freeing the 
 women captives (Wahenga). 
 
 Dzenji behaved with great gallantry. He landed on 
 the island, which was full of the enemy, with only two 
 followers, and shot dead a chief who was about to kill him. 
 His fearless courage, together with the sight of the canoes 
 following full of armed men, caused a panic, and the 
 Slavers fled to their canoes. The island — the key to the
 
 DEEP BAY EXPEDITION — RAT8 AND SXAKES. 127 
 
 feiTV, and a point of very great importance — remained 
 in our hands. The objects of the expedition, as given 
 in my written orders, were to reassure the friendly 
 natives (on whom the steamer depended for fuel), to 
 oust the Slavers, and secure command of the ferry. I 
 also gave the most emphatic orders, verbally and in 
 writing, that bloodshed was to be avoided, as far as 
 possible, by every means. 
 
 Other parties were sent in every direction, so that the 
 country was dominated by us, and the Slavers dare not 
 meet us in the open. Of these minor expeditions the 
 most important was under Nicoll, who marched along 
 the shore to the north end of the lake, to clear the road 
 of the enemy. For they had been accustomed to lie in 
 wait in the thick reeds, and shoot down the Wankonde 
 on their way to the north for food. 
 
 The hot weather was now (end of July) upon us, and 
 we fired the grass so as to destroy the cover for the 
 enemy. We had long been troubled with a perfect 
 plague of rats, and the burning of the grass made them 
 worse than ever, for as all the villages had been burnt, 
 these vermin were starving, and flocked into our stockade. 
 They simply swarmed, running over one all night, and 
 playing about my chair as I sat there hour by hour. 
 They were followed by the snakes which prey upon 
 them — cobras and pufi:-adders — of which we killed 
 great numbers. Auld found one of the former in his 
 bed, and we had some near escapes on more than one 
 occasion. The natives make most ingenious traps for 
 rats ; but any such process was too slow, and on 
 the days of food -issue to the natives, the store was 
 cleared out, and natives, armed with sticks, killed 
 them. As many as severnl liundred were thus de- 
 stroyed m a niorning. 
 
 In consequence of a serious quarrel among the men, 
 and of a still more serious difficulty with Monteitli, I de-
 
 128 LIFE AT KARONGA's. 
 
 termined, towards the end of July, to resume the entire 
 direction of affairs, and again to take my turn at night- 
 watches ; but in my first attempt the stumbhng along 
 the rough paths in the dark so jolted my wounded arm 
 as to cause me intense pain, and a relapse, which confined 
 me again to my hut. The paper (from the letters in my 
 pocket), which had been carried into the Avound, set up 
 fresh inflammation, and, having made its way along the 
 arm, had to be extracted lower down. 
 
 The Ilala again arrived, and brought ujd Messrs Bain 
 and Murray. They desired Dr Cross, who was now 
 convalescent, to accompany them in order to select a new 
 mission station. He thought it his duty to go, but said 
 that my wounds were in so very critical a state that he 
 could not leave me without attendance. I was willing to 
 defer to his orders, since I owed him a debt which I could 
 never repay ; and he thereupon ordered me to proceed 
 south, where I could be attended to. He would accom- 
 pany me to Bandawi, and hand me over to the care of 
 Dr Laws. The steamer would there load up with food, 
 and return to Karonga's. My comrades as before pressed 
 me to comply. 
 
 On Aug. 5th, late at night, we put off in the little 
 boat for the Ilala, which was lying about half a mile 
 from shore, for the bay was shallow. It was pitch-dark, 
 and a very high sea was running. The Ilala showed 
 no light, and when we had got far out we found that 
 the boat, which was greatly overladen, was rapidly filling 
 with water from a leak, and we could not bale it out 
 as fast as it came in. Burton had come with us to lift 
 me on the Ilala, as my arms were still useless. The 
 position was critical ; for if we attempted to turn round 
 to make for shore, the chances were that a big wave 
 would strike the little boat broadside, and fill and swamp 
 her. Burton, with quiet pluck, took off his coat and 
 boots and prepared for the worst without a word. My
 
 I LEAVE FOR BAND AWE. 129 
 
 arms being useless, I coiild not have swum a yard. By 
 great good fortune we got the boat round, and just suc- 
 ceeded in reachino' the shore as she sank. I was drenched 
 tlirough, but could not change, as that was a work of 
 several hours to me ; so I sat by the watch-fire with 
 Bain, and we chatted for a long time. It was the last 
 
 Night-watch at Karonga's. 
 
 time I saw him alive ; the charm of his manner and 
 conversation remains vividly in my memory. 
 
 Next day we left, and duly arrived at Bandawe, where 
 Dr and Mrs Laws treated me with a kindness which 
 was almost embarrassing. My left arm was daily dressed 
 with the utmost care and gentleness ; while the rest 
 from responsibility and anxiety, and the pleasure of 
 conversing with so well-read and practical a man as Dr 
 
 VOL. L I
 
 130 LIFE AT KARONGA's. 
 
 Laws, made the time pass quickly, till the Ilala returned 
 some three weeks later, and took me on to Blantyre. 
 The s^Dlint on my left arm was so arranged for this ten 
 days' voyage, that I could change the bandages without 
 removing it from the upper side of my arm and hand ; 
 but when it came to be unfastened by Dr Bowie, I found 
 the joints of my fingers were absolutely inflexible, and 
 the whole arm rigid. Dr Bowie was more than kind ; 
 he spared no trouble, and was constant in his atten- 
 tion to my wounds ; and so, between his house and Mr 
 Scott's, whose guest I was, I spent the most peaceful 
 and the pleasantest days I had known for two years — 
 since I started for Burma in October 1886. While 
 here, I received a letter from the Imperial British 
 East Africa Company (then in jDrocess of formation at 
 Mombasa), offering me command of the expedition which 
 was about to start into the -interior to explore the 
 country, and to look for Stanley and Emin Pasha. I 
 was compelled to decline it, for I could not desert my 
 present task. 
 
 At Blantyre I employed myself in drawing up a 
 scheme for the suppression of the slave-trade in Nyasa- 
 land, to which I devoted myself for the next four weeks 
 incessantly. The outline of this scheme I will sketch in 
 the chapters on the slave-trade. 
 
 After a month's rest at Blantyre I started back again 
 to Karonga's, and arrived there on Oct. 24th, 1888. I 
 found a good deal of disagreement among the Europeans, 
 and some very serious accusations were brought to me 
 regarding certain matters connected with the natives. 
 Binns, who alone had hitherto retained his health, had 
 broken down, and had been seriously ill. War parties 
 had scoured the country, with the result that the Slavers 
 were reported to be in a serious plight, and dared not 
 show themselves out of their stockades. Meanwhile, it 
 was said that the long-expected cannon would arrive
 
 RETURX TO KAROXGAS — SHOOTTXG AT XORTH-EXD. 131 
 
 in January, and that the Sultan of Zanzibar was sending 
 up an envoy to order the Slavers to desist from war, and 
 to give in. 
 
 Finding that in the interim I could be of little use at 
 Karonga's, and that for some reasons it would perhaps be 
 better if I were not there, I went on Nov. 7th to the 
 north-west end of the lake to join Sharpe and his col- 
 league (a new arrival named Austin) to try and shoot. 
 I found, however, that my arms were incapable of 
 holding an 8 -bore rifle, and the attempt to fire one 
 proved disastrous. 
 
 The country of the Wankonde at the north of Nyasa 
 in which we were, has now been ceded to Germany. I 
 greatly regret this, for these tribes had always been 
 very closely associated with us, and it was largely to 
 protect them from the vengeance of the Slavers that 
 we struggled on for so long at Karonga's. They owned 
 enormous herds of cattle, and it is sad to hear that the 
 great cattle plague which has devastated East Africa has 
 at last reached them, and their cattle — their sole wealth 
 — are dying by thousands. For a few inches of the 
 commonest calico, milk by the quart or gallon could 
 be bought ; eggs and fowls, and even goats and cattle, 
 were excessively cheap. The villages are very large, 
 and nestled for mile after mile among groves of bananas. 
 The huts are beautifully and very ornamentally built, 
 and are scrupulously clean ; even the banana groves 
 are swept clean around the villages. The soil is very 
 rich. Like the Waganda, these Wankonde, though 
 possessing great herds of cattle, are largely agri- 
 cultural, and live mainly on bananas, roots, and grain. 
 Food is excessively cheap. The people (who from their 
 word of salutation are often called " Sokilis ") are very 
 friendly ; but their familiarity is sometimes rather trying 
 — as Avhen a savage, out of pure goodwill, wanted to take 
 my pipe out of my mouth to have his turn at a smoke.
 
 132 LIFE AT KARONGA's. 
 
 or when visitors insisted on my sharing their snuff. 
 However, I defeated these by giving them white pepper 
 as the white man's equivalent ! Great crowds turned 
 out to see and accompany me, with dances and songs 
 and musical pipes. 
 
 The country is densely populated. The men go naked, 
 and the women also save for a few inches of bark cloth. 
 Armed only with sjoears, from their numbers and bravery 
 they had hitherto held their own against Angoni or 
 Awemba raiders ; but we knew they would not stand 
 against the cunning and the guns of the Slavers. For 
 between their three great chiefs there already existed a 
 bitter jealousy; and the "Arabs," according to their 
 custom, would only need to foster this feeling, and to 
 combine with one or other against their neighbours. 
 Thus they would inaugurate a civil war, which would 
 destroy this fine race, and leave them a prey to their 
 insidious enemy. I stayed here, making daily excursions 
 after game, for three weeks. We were constantly 
 following the trail of elephants, but did not shoot any, 
 my bag being limited to several buffalo, water-buck, &c. 
 The buffalo gave me many exciting moments, but I have 
 no space for the narration of shooting incidents in this 
 chapter. On one occasion I was only just in time to 
 stop a fight between my Atonga and Mambwe followers, 
 and only succeeded in doing so by seizing a spear myself 
 and smashing it over the ringleader. On another, when 
 in a canoe on the lake, a very heavy squall nearly finished 
 our careers in " a watery grave " ! For the rains were 
 now (middle November) setting in, and appalling storms 
 of thunder, lightning, and drenching rain were of daily 
 occurrence, and often flooded our tents by night ; with 
 them came clouds of mosquitoes. Meanwhile I was in 
 constant communication with Karonga's, and ready to 
 go back there at a moment's notice. 
 
 Wilson and Kauffmann came up to the north end
 
 A PROJECTED DUEL. 133 
 
 to purchase food, and I got a peremptory letter saying 
 both were very ill, and begging me to come to them. 
 I went, and we returned to Karonga's together (on 
 Nov. 28th), for I heard that the Sultan's envoy 
 Ali bin Surur had arrived. In the boat on our way 
 back a serious difference occurred between Wilson 
 and Kauffmann, and shortly after we arrived at 
 Karonga's, Monteith came running to me in great 
 excitement to say that they were quarrelling, and 
 about to fight a duel. I found both with loaded pistols 
 — Wilson's at full cock. I took away their arms ; 
 told them that I considered it a disafraceful thins: 
 for two Europeans to thus demean themselves before 
 natives ; that the story of such doings would of course 
 reach the Slavers, and convey to them the impression 
 that we were all at loggerheads, and give them a great 
 access of confidence. I decided that both should leave the 
 stockade. Kauffmann I ordered to Dr Cross's mission 
 station at Mwini- Wanda, where his broken health 
 might be recruited in the hills ; and Wilson to Deep 
 Bay, where he would have the companionship of NicoU, 
 who held our station on the island there. Kauffmann, 
 who was little I think to blame in the matter, instantly 
 agreed, and placed himself unreservedly in my hands. 
 He said that he had been grossly insulted by Wilson, 
 and compelled to retaliate in self-defence. Wilson 
 demurred ; I gave him twenty-four hours to decide if he 
 would obey orders. All the white men were loyal to me, 
 and said they would see my orders executed, even were 
 force required, and the stalwart Binns, as usual, was 
 eager to prove his sincerity. Next day we put Wilson 
 in a canoe and started him off, without listening to 
 argument. 
 
 During my absence great progress had been made with 
 my plan for the stockade. A solid, burnt-brick, front 
 wall, loop-holed and surrounded by a broad fosse, took
 
 134 LIFE AT KARONGA's. 
 
 the place of the crooked poles which harboured snakes, 
 vermin, and filth : the side walls were of sun-dried brick. 
 Ali Surur, the envoy, was a man of great importance 
 in his own estimation. He was a mere Swahili, and it 
 was much to be regretted that a man of such inferior 
 standing had been sent by the Consul to treat with pure 
 Arabs like Mlozi and Salim bin Nasur, who of course 
 despised him, and probably doubted if such an envoy 
 had really come from the Sultan of Zanzibar. He said 
 that he had the Sultan's orders to compel absolute sub- 
 mission on the part of the Slavers ; that, if ordered to 
 do so, they should pay an indemnity for the war, and 
 bring all their arms and throw them into the lake. 
 He ridiculed the idea of their demurring to listen 
 to the Sultan's orders : I said I hoped he was right, 
 but I doubted it. I added that I had no wish to 
 impose humiliating or impossible terms. I demanded 
 no indemnity, and sought no seizure of arms. From 
 the first I had said that Mlozi and Co. must remove 
 from Mpata, where they commanded the road to 
 Tanganyika, and where their presence had become im- 
 possible in such close proximity to Karonga's and to the 
 Nkonde valley, after the events of the war and their 
 devastation of the Wankonde villao-es. For neither would 
 caravans dare to march through the Mpata pass, lest 
 there should be treachery from the Slavers ; nor, on the 
 other hand, could I induce the natives to resume occupa- 
 tion of their villages and lands close to the Slavers' 
 stockades, after their recent experiences. Ali Surur 
 insisted that if that was all I demanded I might regard 
 it as un fait accotni^li', and indeed he seemed almost 
 disappointed that I would ask no more stringent terms, 
 that he might display his power and authority. I fur- 
 ther pledged my honour that, if the Slavers evacuated, I 
 would absolutely refrain from any attack u2Don them 
 during their march out, and that from the moment
 
 THE sultan's envoy. 135 
 
 negotiations began I would cease from war, and call in 
 mj war parties, &c. 
 
 He went on his first embassy on Dec. 2d. About 
 this time Nicoll returned from Deep Bay, leaving Wilson 
 to himself. Since he was reported ill, I determined to 
 go down there myself to look after him and the garrison, 
 while the envoy prosecuted his mirandu with the Slavers. 
 The rains were now in full force, and very heavy storms 
 and squalls were experienced on the lake. I slept ashore 
 at night, only to find in the morning that my canoe had 
 gone down in a squall (in shallow water) with my pet 
 rifle inside and its ammunition. It took me a long time 
 to dry everything and repair damages. Shortly after 
 arriving at Deep Bay the steamer reached us from the 
 south, and I returned in her to Karonga's, having only 
 been at the island two or three days, — which I spent 
 alternately in hunting and in nursing Wilson. 
 
 Once more I found that all were eager to leave the 
 war. The truth was, that all were greatly disheartened 
 by the non-arrival of the exjDected cannon, and I find 
 the following note in my diary : 
 
 " The white men are quite disheartened by broken 
 promises and the scarcity of food. All the onus and 
 responsibility is thrown on me, while others remain at 
 Mandala. Yet what can I do ? I am pretty well played 
 out, but if I went, how could I expect the half-dozen 
 sick survivors to stay on at Karonga's ? and if thei/ 
 went, and we gave in utterly, the results would be dis- 
 astrous indeed. Mlozi and the Senga Arabs would build 
 and occupy impregnable stockades on all the north- 
 western shores. Kapandansaru and the Arabs from the 
 east of the lake would occupy Deep Bay ferry, and 
 heaven knows how they could ever be got out again. 
 The Angoni would probably come down on Bandawo, 
 and it would go very hard with the Mission. Lake 
 Nyasa would be lost to us — we should simply be kicked
 
 136 LIFE AT KAKONGA's. 
 
 out by the Arabs. God, who defends the right, prevent 
 this ! ... only half a dozen white men, and those all 
 sick, and many of them disheartened, and wanting to 
 go ; natives we can't rely on, and discontented to boot ; 
 bad guns, bad ammunition, no bayonets, no entrenching 
 tools, and so vast an area to guard, and so powerful an 
 enemy. It is an uphill task ! " 
 
 Thus at times it seemed as though the odds against 
 success were almost too great, and I felt myself so much 
 pulled down by the strain and life, that I often thought 
 it was time a new commander, full of fresh enthusiasm 
 and health, should come to take my place. Our rifles 
 were of so poor a class that my time was continually 
 occupied in repairing them ; the ammunition (being mere 
 paper cartridges) often would not go into the chamber ; 
 and I had been urgently asking for tools, &c., during 
 eio-ht months. 
 
 The steamer was sent to bring food from the north, 
 and Dr Cross came back to us in her. She then again 
 went south, taking down Wilson and four others, includ- 
 ing Binns, who, as I said, had at last broken down. 
 I returned in her to Deep Bay to take charge of the 
 garrison there, while the envoy prosecuted his negotia- 
 tions with Mlozi. The Slavers delayed on the plea that 
 they had sent for Salim bin Nasur and the Senga 
 Arabs, and could decide nothing till they arrived.
 
 Attack on a Dhow 
 
 of my mission - 
 cussions — Start 
 Consul — Arrive 
 
 EVENTS AT KARONGA S — NYASA- 
 LAND TO ENGLAND. 
 
 Arrival of a hostile dhow — We drive her back 
 
 — The Eastern Arabs profess friendship — 
 
 Life on the Island — Sunrise on Nyasa — 
 
 Return to Karonf^a's — The Envoy fooled 
 
 — Preparations for war — A post-mortem 
 
 — Treatment of a spy^ — Pluck of Natives 
 
 — Nemesis overtakes the liar — We shell 
 
 the stockades — Salim arrives — Etiect of 
 
 news of the Coast war — Shell them again 
 
 — I decide to leave — Reasons, and object 
 
 -My last night at Karonga's — Arrive Blantyre — Dis- 
 
 for tlie Coast — Arrive Zanzibar — My request to the 
 
 in England — Efforts for Karonga's — Portugal's aggres-
 
 138 EVENTS AT KARONGa's. 
 
 sion precipitates crisis — Subsequent events at Karonga's — Mr Johnston's 
 mission— His treaty with INIlozi — Nyasaland made a protectorate — Johnston 
 appointed commissioner — His action — -Capt. Maguire's success — His death — 
 Eeverses — Mlozi ignores the treaty — Position in northern Nyasaland — Gun- 
 boats demanded — They arrive — Mr Johnston's difficulties — His successes. 
 
 I LIVED on the little island at Deep Bay, and spent 
 my time in shooting on the mainland. On Dec. 23d, 
 the day after the steamer had gone, messengers came 
 running after me when I was roaming about with my 
 rifle, to say that the enemy were upon us. I hastened 
 back, not knowing whether my camp had been captured. 
 I found on arrival that a large Arab dhow was lying to, 
 out at sea, waitiDg for night to approach the shore. 
 There was no doubt that she was hostile, for, had 
 she been friendly, they would undoubtedly have sent 
 messengers ahead to announce their arrival. More- 
 over, the native chief Mandovi now informed us that he 
 had news that the Slavers thought there was now no 
 European here, and intended to bring war, and re-occupy 
 the island — ousting and killing the native garrison. 
 Their arrival immediately the steamer was out of the 
 way was a further confirmation. So I prepared to 
 receive them. 
 
 I posted sentries at the various points where a landing 
 could be effected, but the night w^as pitch dark, and the 
 rain came down in torrents. The men were paralysed 
 with cold and wet, and would do nothing but coil them- 
 selves up and sleep. As more even than our own lives 
 depended on the result of the watch we kept, I threat- 
 ened to blow out the brains of any man I found asleep 
 on his post, and arming myself with a portentous club, 
 I went from post to post. About 2 a.m. a faint moon 
 showed, and the rain ceased. The dhow got under 
 weigh, and I lined the beach in readiness. I had twenty- 
 five Atonga with some eighteen rounds apiece only, so I 
 armed five others (servants, &c.) with my sjDorting rifles.
 
 WE DRIVE BACK THE HOSTILE DHOW. 139 
 
 Behind each great rocky I30 older crouched a man, ready to 
 resist the landing of the Slavers on the island. How- 
 ever, they passed us, and made for the lake shore, where a 
 sandy bay offered a landing-place. From the mainland 
 jutted out a long promontory a mile or so in length, and 
 some 500 yards from the point of this cape was our 
 island. Seizing our canoes we paddled rapidly across, 
 and ran along the cape, through the dense forest and 
 tall grass which covered it, to reach the little bay at its 
 base, for which point the dhow was making. 
 
 Arrived on the spot, we found the dhow was still a 
 good way off. I aligned the men behind bushes, and we 
 awaited the event. The dhow anchored, and the crew 
 got out in tlie shallow water, and began unlading her. It 
 was hard to judge of her exact situation in the faint moon- 
 light. When once I heard the anchor chain let go, I was 
 convinced she must be close inshore, knowing that a dhow 
 would only anchor in shoal water. I therefore advanced 
 to attack. Firing as we went, we rushed into the lake, 
 and I found to my disgust, when I had already got up 
 to my chest in water, that a very deep channel separated 
 us from the dhow, which otherwise I had hoped to 
 capture by a charge. Undoubtedly the Slavers had 
 been ignorant of this (as they were unlading to carry 
 their cargo of arms ashore), and had accidentally anchored 
 on a sandbank, which proved their salvation. 
 
 On this occasion, owing to the small numbers of my 
 force, I had, as I have said, brought my sporting rifles 
 into requisition. The heavy 3-oz. bullets of the elephant 
 rifle riddled the dhow, while my little *450, in my own 
 hands, tore up the boarding with its express bullets. 
 The enemy were panicstricken at first, but presently 
 returned the fire briskly. Afraid of exhausting my few 
 rounds of ammunition, I drew off my men. They were 
 eager to pursue the dhow in canoes, so we sent for them. 
 But the plucky fellows implored me not to come, saying
 
 140 • EVENTS AT KARONGA's. 
 
 that, if the canoe were upset when boarding the dhow, I 
 should be drowned with my wounded arms, while they 
 could swim like fish, carrying their rifles out of water. 
 Of course I would not assent to this, and stripping off 
 my dripping clothes I entered the canoe in bathing 
 drawers only, among my naked men. It was a droll way 
 of spending Christmas (for this was Christmas Eve), and 
 surely the day dawning on Lake Nyasa had never opened 
 on a picture more quaint. Sitting in the bottom of a 
 canoe half full of Avater were a row of naked savages 
 and a naked white man I 
 
 Flashes of smoke from the disabled dhow marked 
 the shots they continued to fire at us. Small craft 
 as she was, viewed from our cockle-shell in the trough 
 of the waves, she tow^ered aloft like an ocean vessel 
 above a shore boat. As we neared her, the firing 
 became so heavy that the natives, finding there was 
 more opposition remaining than they anticipated, no 
 longer showed any eagerness for coming to close quarters, 
 and I myself looked on the attempt merely as suicidal. 
 We therefore left her to struo-o-le back across the 
 lake, and we heard later, that she only just arrived 
 — the holes of the bullets being plugged with cloth — to 
 sink in the port, and though afterwards hauled up was 
 very badly damaged. Twelve were killed and six more 
 fatally wounded and dying ; among the dead was the 
 "White "Arab in command (Kapandansaru's brother). 
 There were, I heard, thirty-five fighting men on board. 
 Such was the story which some of Mandovi's men, who 
 were present in the crowd on the shore when she 
 returned, brought to us. 
 
 In spite of our all-night work, my men began the most 
 frantic war-dancing on return, and their excitement grew 
 almost to madness. Sleep was out of the question, so I 
 went ofi" hunting on the mainland. A j)risoner was 
 brought to me in the evening by the natives, a Swahili,
 
 THE EASTERN ARABS PROFESS FRIENDSHIP. 141 
 
 who had swum ashore from the dhow in the panic. 
 They were on the point of killing him, but thought 
 I would like to have the pleasure of executing him 
 myself, and so brought him, most painfully and cruelly 
 bound, and stark naked, to me for disposal. I undid 
 his bonds, and told him that I would send him back 
 safely to the east coast of the lake with letters, and that 
 I had no vindictiveness ac^ainst mere subordinates like 
 him, for he had but obeyed his chief's orders. By day 
 he was free, though I warned him that any attempt to 
 escape, by swimming to the mainland, would mean 
 instant death — and I meant it. I had gained a fictitious 
 reputation with my rifle by shooting a vulture on the 
 top of a distant tree, and this stood me in good stead, 
 for, repeated and exaggerated by the natives, it led my 
 friend to abandon any thoughts he might have had of 
 flight. By night I put him in a slave-stick, as I could 
 not aftbrd to keep up a night guard on his especial behalf 
 He was eventually sent back in safety with letters 
 from myself (which I had sent to Karonga's to be written 
 in Arabic-Swahili) together with others from the Sultan's 
 Envoy. I said that I had no quarrel with the Arabs 
 on the east of the lake, and I desked none, but that 
 if they brought war I should fight, and that I would 
 allow no consignments of arms or powder to Mlozi and 
 my enemies. In reply, I received letters assuring me of 
 friendship ; denying that the dhow had come with war 
 (since, however, Mandovi's men had seen a small cannon 
 taken out of her this is absurd), and protesting that in 
 future there should be peace between us. The prisoner 
 was received as one who had come back from the dead, 
 and, I believe, his account of the good treatment he had 
 received, and the story he told of our reasons for fight- 
 ing, went far towards preventing the Eastern Arabs 
 from declaring against us. We continued to exchange 
 fi-iendly messages for a long time after this, and the
 
 142 EVENTS AT KARONGA's. 
 
 messengers came without fear, having absohite trust in 
 our good faith, and the inviolabiUty of our word. So 
 ended the incident with these people. 
 
 I remained at Deep Bay, — having got a Httle ammuni- 
 tion from Karonga's — and at first I daily expected 
 reprisals from the Arabs on the east of the lake. They 
 had, however, no other dhow to take the place of this, 
 which was now liors de combat, and the satisfactory con- 
 clusion of the negotiations relieved me from anxiety on 
 this score. Meanwhile I continued to hunt daily, and shot 
 various game — eland, zebra, &c., to feed my men. It was 
 a rough life that I led, sometimes not returning to my 
 island till long after night had fallen, and then generally 
 drenched to the skin. The shooting was, however, 
 deprived of some of its attraction, as I did not know 
 whether at any moment I might run into an ambuscade 
 or raiding party of the enemy, and be hunted in my 
 turn ! Latterly, I was seriously warned by the native 
 chiefs, who said the Slavers knew my custom, and would 
 lie in wait for and murder me. I got to know my men 
 more intimately in such a mode of life than I could 
 otherwise have done. Their faults lay on the surface, 
 and when once they found I would not be fooled, and 
 my orders must be obeyed, I had little difficulty with 
 them. So ready and willing and cheery are they, that 
 it is impossible to live with them and not like them. 
 One especially, I remember, whom I named " Barkis," 
 because he was always " willing," — a name he was 
 extremely proud of, and I daresay retains to this day ! 
 
 I did not long continue my solitary existence at Deep 
 Bay, for after some ten days I got news that the Envoy 
 had returned, and I found it necessary to go back to 
 Karonga's, on Jan. 2d, leaving a garrison at Deep Bay. 
 I started in the afternoon, and pushed on during the 
 night, but it was excessively dark, with no moon or 
 stars, and owing to the drenching rain and heavy swell
 
 LIFE ON THE ISLAND. 143 
 
 on the lake — which occasionally washed over the canoe 
 — I spent a Avet and j)Oor night. Towards morning we 
 pulled ashore, and I sat, drenched and shivering, waiting 
 for daylight. I vividly recollect that day-dawn (among 
 many such memories), for it was one of the loveliest I 
 have ever seen. One forgot the discomforts of dripping 
 clothes and an empty stomach in the glorious beauty of 
 the scene. 
 
 Gradually, in the east, behind the lofty mountains 
 which border the lake, a faint blush began to light up 
 the sky across the water. Behind me, in the west, the 
 dense storm clouds had banked themselves in black 
 masses, and against their dark outline shone a rainbow, 
 — most vivid and briofht in its colourinof — reflected from 
 the sun below the horizon, as yet invisible to us. As the 
 " E^^^y ligl^t " grew stronger, and the glorious colours of 
 the sunrise tinted the clouds, their colouring and their 
 marvellous beauty were reflected in the still waters of the 
 lake. The black clouds behind borrow^ed the silver and 
 the golden lining from the eastern sky, and the rainbow 
 showed two perfect arcs, and a portion of a third. Such 
 a scene is rare, — a rainbow before the sun has risen, — a 
 line of mountains blending their rugged and picturesque 
 outlines with the eastern clouds around the rising- sun, 
 — a vast, still lake, fringed with beautiful trees and 
 verdure, — fairy islands crowded with forest lying sleep- 
 ing on its bosom, — and all the silence and the mystery of 
 the unknown ages, during which day by day the sun has 
 risen on this scene of beauty, while " the world " of his- 
 tory knew nothing of these solitudes, and the passions 
 of men, unbridled and lawless, carried death and desola- 
 tion over peaceful areas, to satisfy savage greed or lust. 
 
 On arrival at Karonga's I found Monteith very ill, and 
 also Mr Crawshay (who had come up by the last steamer 
 to join us). Three others were also ill, off and on. The 
 Envoy returned on the Gth wdth l)ad news. IMlozi
 
 144 EVENTS AT KARONGA's. 
 
 and Co. had fooled him with promises of compliance 
 for now over a month. During all this time, at his 
 earnest entreaty, we had refrained from any act of aggres- 
 sion. The Slavers had previously been in great straits 
 for food there, were rumours that their Wahenga allies 
 were deserting them (rumours which had led me to take 
 steps to open communications with the latter), and by 
 their cunning they had obtained a respite for over a 
 month, in which to procure supplies, &c. They now took 
 a different tone, and talked in a haughty way of evacuat- 
 ing after fifty days. I replied they must begin at once. 
 That if I saw they were in process of going I would not 
 be in haste, but if they did not begin, war should be re- 
 opened the day the steamer arrived. The Envoy returned 
 to them, and henceforward his motives and actions did 
 not appear to me to be quite so hond Jide, and I began 
 to fear there was some collusion going on between him 
 and Mlozi. At first he said he would not go again, but 
 on the arrival of a messenger he suddenly became most 
 eager to do so. The fact is (as I have said) the man was 
 not at all the class of person who should have been sent. 
 He was a Swahili — viz., a coast African — a class looked 
 down upon as inferiors by the " White " Arabs. Had 
 the Consul at Zanzibar insisted on a high-class Arab 
 being sent, who would have commanded the respect of 
 Mlozi and Salim bin Nasur, our difficulties might have 
 been satisfactorily settled, for I believe it would have 
 taken no very great amount of pressure to induce Mlozi 
 to go, for he had suffered very heavily by the war, and 
 there was great hunger in his camp. At this time I was 
 myself prostrated with fever. 
 
 .On Jan. 16th the steamer arrived, bringing the long- 
 expected cannon — a 7-lb. b.l. screw gun. There was 
 one new arrival, Mr Kydd — Mr Moir and the others, 
 remained at Mandala. Mlozi, who the day before had 
 sent a second message to say he would not go for fifty
 
 THE ENVOY FOOLED. 145 
 
 days, now (according to the Envoy) had sworn an oath 
 to go on the 31st — the new moon. I demanded a 
 hostage, or that he should destroy part of his stockade, 
 so as to prove his bona fides. Meanwhile I repaired our 
 stockade, put the gun together, and began a drill with 
 it, superintended by Mr Crawshay. We had now some 
 seven white men (besides Dr Cross and myself), of whom 
 five were ill. The natives numbered about 250, and I 
 divided them into three companies, each about seventy 
 strong, and a gun-party of forty. I also began to prepare 
 a road for the gun towards the enemies' stockades. The 
 Slavers were reported to be looting food in every direc- 
 tion, and their poorest slaves were starving ; some of 
 these we captured, and fed well, and took care of. 
 The Envoy implored delay, and as I was still unready, I 
 assented ; but the new moon, on Jan. Slst, came and 
 went, and there was no sign of their going. The Arabs 
 on the east of the lake continued to send peaceful 
 messages. 
 
 But the white men had now little heart in the war, 
 and many were wavering ; the Atonga, our bravest 
 natives, were despondent, in spite of the gun, and the 
 Mambwe men were utterly demoralised by a disease 
 which broke out among them and carried off many. 
 They supposed it to be witchcraft, and I feared they 
 would desert en masse if more deaths occurred. So I 
 had a big mirandu, and proposed that the doctor should 
 cut open the last man who had died, and ascertain 
 exactly the cause of death. To our surprise we carried our 
 point, and six men were deputed to watch the operation. 
 This, I suppose, was the first i^ost mortem in Central 
 Africa, — it was certainly the first (and the last) I have 
 ever attended, and I liave no wish to see anotlier ! The 
 disease was a violent inflammation of the lower bowel, 
 and this ascertained, the doctor was more fortunate in 
 his treatment of the invalids. We buried the man, and 
 
 VOL, L K
 
 146 EVENTS AT KARONGa's. 
 
 most of the Europeans attended the funeral. " One 
 man made a funeral oration over, or rather to, the corpse 
 m the grave, the while slowly sprinkling burnt oofa 
 (flour) into the head of the grave. He said, I believe, 
 that the dead man had come a long w^ay from his home 
 to die here ; he hoped he would have rest and peace, 
 although so far from home ; that the white men had 
 done their best for him, but his fate was to die, &c. 
 They also oiled the body, and fired some shots over the 
 grave " (diary). 
 
 After this the Mambwe men ceased to talk of witch- 
 craft, and the fear of their desertion passed away. I 
 strongly suspected the disease to have arisen from some- 
 thing administered by emissaries from the Slavers, for I 
 found that there were many women in our native camp 
 who had come from them. They managed to have spies 
 in our camp continually, for it was well known that our 
 methods were not the same as their own. No man dare 
 go to spy in their stockades, for death with torture 
 would certainly have been his fate if discovered. I 
 caught one undoubted spy in Karonga's, a Mhenga 
 who was known and recognised as having been among 
 those who fought against us at Deep Bay. He was 
 at a loss when asked his business, and said he had 
 come for "medicine against hyenas." I told him I 
 knew him to be a spy, that my methods were not 
 the methods of the Slavers, and I did not mind people 
 looking at our fort. I then showed him round, and ex- 
 plained how impregnable w^ere our defences, and intro- 
 duced him to the cannon, and showed him a shell and 
 explained its action. He was much pleased, and very 
 loquacious. I then asked if he had got all the informa- 
 tion he wanted, and he said " yes." I added I would 
 now give him the " medicine for hyenas." Selecting 
 Makui, a young Nkonde giant, whose house this very 
 man had pillaged, as executioner, I tied the Mhenga up.
 
 "medicine for hyenas." 147 
 
 and Makui thrashed him till he could stand no more ; I 
 then gave him five minutes to " clear," after which I 
 said I would shoot him if in sight. Disabled though he 
 was by the severe flogging, he was over the horizon in 
 about three minutes ! The Wankoncle chiefs, who all 
 knew this man w^ell as a ringleader of the worst of the 
 AVahenga in alliance with Mlozi, had accompanied us 
 round the stockade, and seeing my courtesy to the spy 
 had been astounded and disgusted at the inexplicable 
 methods of the wdrite man. When they saw the denoue- 
 ment, and the sarcasm of the thing dawned upon them, 
 their uncontrollable mirth was very ludicrous. They 
 literally fell into each others arms and shrieked with 
 laughter, and danced \\'ith joy. I had to haul off Makui 
 by force, or he would have flogged the man to death. 
 
 These Wankonde at times showed great pluck in their 
 own way. Though they would not face the stockades 
 and the fire of the Slavers, on two occasions it tran- 
 spired that a single individual had gone by night, and, 
 digging under the enemy's stockade, had pulled out one 
 or two poles, under the very noses of their sentries, 
 and, squeezing through, had abstracted a cow from inside 
 and driven it ofl"! They value life very lightly indeed, 
 and regard a cow as of more value than a man ; — a 
 naked Ijlack man in the darkness of night is, moreover, 
 as slippery as a snake to deal with. If the alarm be 
 given he vanishes in the darkness into the dense grass, 
 and is gone. Even if seen, he may pass himself off at 
 the moment as " one of the crowd." Still, the act showed 
 wonderful pluck and daring. 
 
 The two tribes who formed our native force were con- 
 tinually falling out, and gave us some trouble occasionally. 
 On one occasion the Nemesis which overtakes the liar 
 was illustrated in a way which I would reconnnend to 
 those who delight in stories to point a moral for the 
 "young idea." An Atonga and a Mamljwe man <|uar-
 
 148 EVENTS AT KARONGa's. 
 
 relied, and the latter was, undoubtedly, solely to blame. 
 The Atonga got his opponent down on his back, and 
 handled hiin roughly. The Mambwe shouted to a small 
 boy of his to get his gun out of his hut and slioot the 
 Atonga. The small boy obeyed orders, — got the gun, 
 and firing point blank, at a distance of two or three feet, 
 at the Atonga, as he rolled on the ground with the 
 Mambwe, missed his object, and shot straight into the 
 open mouth of his friend the Mambwe, who was busy 
 shouting with his jaws wide open ! The shot carried 
 away a tooth, and took it through the man's cheek, in- 
 flicting no other damage. After careful inquiry, I found 
 the facts to be as I have stated, and administered a little 
 further correction to the man who had already had a 
 bullet and a tooth through his cheek. So the "good 
 boy " scored, and the " naughty boy " did not, in spite of 
 Mark Twain's dictum. However, to return to the history 
 of events. 
 
 We completed the road for the gun, and selected a 
 knoll about 900 yards from Msalema's, and 1400 from 
 Kopa-Kopa's, which commanded the stockades. Mean- 
 while the Envoy had taken up his c[uarters with Mlozi, 
 and the tone of his letters now bordered on the in- 
 solent. I had deferred attack while our preparations 
 were being made, and more especially on account of the 
 sickness of the garrison, both British and natives, and 
 it was not till the 20th (Feb.) that we started for our 
 assault, — more than a month after the arrival of the 
 steamer, the date on which I had declared the truce at 
 an end. I had thus given the Slavers every possible 
 chance of fulfilling their oath to evacuate, but it had 
 now become obvious that all this delay, of close on three 
 months, had been solely a treacherous means of gaining 
 time to gather supplies, and they now defied us again ; 
 apparently the Envoy had identified himself with them. 
 Sharpe happened to come from the north end on the
 
 WE SHELL THE STOCKADES. 149 
 
 14th, and joined us, but lie and all the others were of 
 opinion that to charge the stockades, as we had done 
 eight months before, was useless. It was decided that 
 the attack should be limited to shelling them. I re- 
 peatedly warned the Envoy that I would not be 
 responsible for his life unless he returned. As my own 
 departure was imminent, I put the question to the vote 
 as to whether we should attack again at once, not wish- 
 ing to act counter in any way to the views of those who 
 would be left when I went. The votes for and against 
 were exactly equal, and my casting vote was given in 
 favour of an attack. 
 
 Once more we started by night — about two a.m. — and 
 got the gun into j^osition before dawn, the companies of 
 the natives taking up their alignment in the open in 
 front of the stockades, below the knoll on which the gun 
 was placed. We were joined by a body of the North- 
 end Wankonde. The grass was very long and the cover 
 dense, and after opening fire with the gun, I was com- 
 pletely employed in looking after our men. On more 
 than one occasion a party of our allies was mistaken by 
 another party for the enemy, and fired on, but fortun- 
 ately their firing is so wild that no one was hit. The 
 control of a long line of men in such dense country is 
 extremely difiicult, for it is impossible to move about 
 rapidly through the dense and high grass to different 
 parts of the line, and each party loses all touch of the 
 rest. Various contretemjys nearly occurred, but fortu- 
 nately no serious mishap took place. Sharpe, starting 
 overnight, had taken up a position in ambush near Mlozi's 
 distant stockade, to intercept reinforcements. A large 
 body of the enemy started when the report of the cannon 
 shots was heard, and, coming right on the top of Sharpe's 
 ambush, were scattered in a ])anic with much loss. Not 
 one in ten of the friction tul3es went ofi*, and I was 
 nervous lest, witli an unreliable escort and such ammu-
 
 150 EVENTS AT KARONGA's. 
 
 nition, any disaster might befall the unwieldy gun, in 
 case of counter attack in so dense a country, where a 
 body of men were absolutely invisible in the grass, 
 until they suddenly came face to face with you. After 
 nearly three hours' firing (twenty-six shots only, owing 
 to the bad friction tubes) we returned to Karonga's, 
 The enemy never showed outside their stockades, and 
 made no demonstration on our retiring. 
 
 I wished to go up almost daily and shell the villages, 
 so as to make them quite untenable, and compel the 
 Slavers to evacuate or come out and fight us in the open, 
 but the sickness of the men and our small amount of 
 ammunition prevented it, and the general feeling was 
 against the plan. On Feb. 25 th we got news that Salim 
 bin Nasur and the Senga Arabs — so long expected — had 
 at last arrived. They sent civil letters, to which I replied 
 that I earnestly desired j^eace, that the war was not of 
 our seeking, and that I had no quarrel with the Senga 
 Arabs, whom I invited to Karonga's to arrange terms of 
 peace. Above all, I strongly insisted that it was not a 
 racial war, or a war of creed v. creed ; for at this time 
 the news of the outbreak of hostilities at the coast be- 
 tween the Germans and the Slavers, and the blockade by 
 the combined fleets for the prevention of the importation 
 of arms and powder, had just reached Nyasaland. It 
 was this piece of bad luck, which again, I am convinced, 
 robbed us of a successful termination to the war. I have 
 little doubt that Salim bin Nasur had come all the way 
 from Senga solely to make j^eace, and the reports, from 
 various sources, that the Slavers were packing up their 
 things, and that there was every sign of their going, con- 
 firmed our belief. But there is in my mind no doubt 
 whatever that at this crisis news arrived from the coast 
 with (in all probability) strong injunctions to our 
 antagonists to continue the war at all hazards. 
 
 I took advantage also of Salim's presence to inform
 
 EFFECT OF NEWS OF THE WAE AT THE COAST. 151 
 
 our opponents that Dr Cross would treat their sick and 
 wounded, and for fear they should be afraid to bring 
 them to us, I arranged they should leave them at an 
 appointed spot half-way, and we would come for them. 
 They did not, however, avail themselves of our ofter. 
 In the meantime, great sickness prevailed amongst our- 
 selves. I was, as usual, almost the only one fit for work, 
 though myself much pulled down. Hector, our latest 
 arrival, lay dangerously ill. Salim's tone suddenly 
 changed, and on the 11th March he sent a most insult- 
 ing letter, and informed us Mlozi would fight. This 
 sudden change of front can only be explained, as I have 
 said, on the hypothesis of news from the coast, probably 
 of a perverted nature, saying the Slavers were driving 
 the white men out of Africa, &c. 
 
 On March 13th, therefore, I again led my little force 
 against the enemy, and again ^ve shelled the stockades. 
 On this occasion the gun was served by Mr Auld with 
 much greater success than had attended CraM'shay's 
 efforts. Shell after shell crashed into the stockades, 
 now into Msalema's, now into Kopa-Kopa's ; hardly one 
 missed its mark out of the thirty fired. But no breach 
 in the stockade could be effected, for the extremely high 
 velocity of the shells caused them to pass through the 
 poles and Ijurst beyond. Had the walls been of masonry 
 we might have knocked them down, but as it was, a shot 
 merely carried away an isolated pole. The Slavers came 
 out in the open, but were driven back with loss. 
 
 It had been decided that I shoidd go south, and the 
 steamer, which had arrived a short time before, had 
 been detained till the attack should be over. Already 
 L had overstayed my time in the extreme urgency of the 
 case, and the loss of my commission would be a very 
 serious matter indeed to me, — and now all my conu-ades 
 agreed in wishing that I should go down and see if I 
 could not secure tlie des[)atc]i from Mandala of the equip-
 
 152 EVENTS AT KARONGA's. 
 
 nieiit and necessaries we required, and also effect a satis- 
 factory arrangement in Zanzibar or in England. Con- 
 stant rumours had reached us that the African Lakes 
 Company was in a state of insolvency, and men were 
 naturally unwilling to expose their lives, and undergo 
 strain and hardship, when any day might bring orders 
 for unconditional evacuation. All were eager to know 
 whether the necessary ammunition and requisites would 
 be supplied, and whether it was intended to prosecute 
 the war to the end, or whether those who stayed at 
 home in comfort were half-hearted, and meant to with- 
 hold their support. 
 
 We had just received news of Cardinal Lavigerie's 
 crusade, and of the rumoured help for Karonga's which 
 Commander Cameron was trying to organise. If this 
 hel23 was really to be sent, my advice in its equipment, 
 especially as regards any heavy guns, was essential. 
 The ammunition we required for our gun and small arms 
 was now blocked at the Zambesi by the Portuguese ; 
 and these restrictions must be removed if Karonga's was 
 to be maintained. I had, moreover, great hopes that if 
 I could secure from the Consul- General at Zanzibar the 
 services of a member of the consular staff who could 
 speak Swahili, sujDported by a really influential Arab, a 
 termination might be put to the war without difficulty, 
 for the Slavers had lately suffered terribly, both from 
 our shell fire and from hunger, and they dared not show 
 outside their stockades. I believe at this time they 
 would have been only too glad to accede to any terms, 
 and would have evacuated with delight ; but after their 
 treachery to us they could not conceive it possible that 
 when they left their stockades w^e should not fall upon 
 them and massacre them in revengfe. A British and an 
 influential Arab envoy would, by their presence, and by 
 themselves superintending and guaranteeing the safety 
 of the evacuating garrison, have disarmed these fears.
 
 DECIDE TO LEAVE MY LAST NIGHT. 153 
 
 So I decided to 2'0. Mv first mission was to Mandala, 
 where I w^as to insist on the immediate despatch of the 
 ammunition and suppUes required ; thence I would, if 
 necessary, proceed to Zanzibar, after hearing the views 
 of all the Europeans at Blantyre. If I failed to secure 
 the embassy I required from Zanzibar, and the removal 
 of the restrictions imposed by the Portuguese on the 
 import of arms and ammunition up the Zambesi, I would 
 go on to England, and endeavour there to rouse an in- 
 terest in our efforts at Karonga's, or to direct into the 
 most useful channels any efibrts I might find already 
 beinof undertaken. I was to leave on March 15th. 
 
 On the evening of the 12th — the night before our 
 last assault — I was invited to be present at a " sing- 
 song," to be held in our big house. Tliese were of 
 frequent occurrence, and therefore I was surprised to 
 find that proceedings of a somewhat formal character 
 were on this occasion the order of the evening. Dr 
 Cross rose to make a speech on behalf of my comrades. 
 I shall never forget the terms in which he alluded to 
 me, for the memories of that evening are among the most 
 valued of my life. His words were to the effect that I 
 had won the universal respect and affection alike of the 
 natives and of my comrades. Monteith added that my 
 rule had been to do what was right regardless of other 
 considerations ; and he then told me they had decided 
 to present me with a sword and a pair of binoculars as 
 mementoes of our campaign together. All were poor 
 men — they were facing constant fever, and exposing their 
 lives for a miserable pittance ; yet every one of them 
 gave a large subscription. I value these gifts more than 
 any other tiling I possess. They bear the inscription — 
 
 "From the members of the Karoiiga Expedition, to Captain F. D. 
 Lngarfl, D.S.O., Xorfolk Kegt., Commanding the Expedition, as a 
 token of their esteem. 
 
 Karonga, Lake Xyasa, Centnil Africa, March 12th, 1889."
 
 154 EVENTS AT KARONGA'b. 
 
 We passed one of those evenings which can only be 
 known under such circumstances when 
 
 '• We've shared our peril and shared our sport, 
 Our sunshine and gloomy weather ; 
 Shoulder to shoulder too have fought, 
 Struggled and toiled together. 
 In happier moments lighter of heart, 
 Stouter of heart in sorrow, 
 We 've helped each other, and now we part 
 For ever, perchance to-morrow.'' ; 
 
 You will hear rough men in their shirt-sleeves, amid 
 the strange surroundings, sing long-forgotten Christy 
 Minstrel airs, or tlie old sweet melodies of Scotland and 
 Ireland ; and the words, so long unheard, bring back 
 memories of other times and other places. The smoke 
 curls slowly from the pipes of the listeners, and you can 
 read in their faces that their thoughts are far away. 
 The familiar chorus of ' Dear Old Pals ' died away on 
 the night breeze, and my last evening at Karonga's was 
 spent and gone. Perhaps never again shall I see the 
 well-known place ; certainly never again will the group 
 assemble that sat around the watch -lire that night, for 
 already there are gaps in its ranks. I can recall many 
 such evenings in campaigns in other countries, and in 
 shooting parties in the jungles of India, but none like 
 those in the days I have spent in Africa. None in 
 whicb a camaraderie could be so cemented as that 
 which holds a handful of white men together in a land 
 far from all communication with the civilised world, 
 where a common task, the common weal, and per- 
 haps a common danger, binds men in the closest of 
 unions. 
 
 Seven men, including Dr Cross, were left at Karonga's, 
 and seven were on the steamer — all ill except myself. 
 We were, of course, very crowded ; and as it was now 
 
 1 Gordon's Poems, Old Leaven (slightly altered).
 
 ARRIVE BLANTYRE — LEAVE FOR THE COAST. 155 
 
 the season of the rains, there was naturally great dis- 
 comfort. The sick men were stowed in the Ilala's tiny 
 cabin, and I recollect sleeping myself on deck, with no 
 kind of shelter, in the pouring rain. I had long ago, 
 however, been pronounced to be " made of cast-iron 
 inside and out ! " We j^^issed Bandawe, where I said 
 good-bye to my kind friends, Dr and Mrs Laws, and we 
 proceeded on our way. En route I received a letter 
 from the War Office granting me a year's leave, but 
 my plans were already formed, and I went on to ac- 
 complish my mission. 
 
 We arrived at Blantyre on March 28th, and had much 
 discussion over the " North-end difficulty." Opinion 
 was divided as to the advisability of continuing the war, 
 but I could myself see no honourable alternative. The 
 missions declared that if I left they withdrew their sup- 
 23ort. Mr ]\Ioir was strongly for fighting, and said he 
 was expecting from England eleven more " assistants" to 
 replace the sick, and he also decided to engage fourteen 
 more men from Natal. John Mou^ was never a man to 
 give in ; I always had the greatest admiration for his 
 indomitable pluck ! Nothing had been heard of Raw, 
 and the cannon he had gone to get, but I met him later 
 in (^uillinane. Having made all arrangements for the 
 requirements of the Karonga garrison, by the advice and 
 at the wish of all, I proceeded on my way to Zanzibar. 
 We left Blantyre on April 9th, 1889, after saying a 
 cordial farewell to all my kind friends — the Clement 
 Scotts, the Bowies, the Moirs, and others. 
 
 Hharpe accompanied me, and he was very ill with con- 
 stant fever, to Avliich I too was temporarily a victim. 
 We travelled down by canoe as ra})idly as possible to 
 catch the steamer at the coast. On our way down we 
 met my old friends and quondam hosts, the two Polish 
 gentlemen, Steblenski, who welcomed me cordially, and 
 offered their services in the Ho-htino- conditionallv on
 
 156 NYASALAND TO ENGLAND. 
 
 my return. Long afterwards I heard from the younger 
 brother (and Kauffmann) offering me their services hi 
 Uganda. We embarked on board ship from Quihmane, 
 and Sharpe now became very ill indeed. 
 
 Arrived at Zanzibar, I found Colonel (now Sir C.) 
 Euan-Smith was away on leave, his post being occupied 
 by Mr. (now Sir G.) Portal. I represented the matter 
 to him, and he said he would telegraph to England. The 
 points I was particularly anxious to have a decided reply 
 upon were (1) Whether the Lakes Company had the 
 means and the determination to prosecute the war ener- 
 getically; and (2) Whether Government would afford any 
 assistance by deputing an influential embassy from Zan- 
 zibar, and insisting on the free transit of necessary 
 ammunition through the Portuguese zone at the coast. 
 Mr Portal telegraphed to England, and a reply was 
 received that the Directors of the Lakes Company 
 would be glad if I would return home by the steamer 
 just leaving Zanzibar, and consult with them. They 
 afterwards told me they had never heard of my 
 special questions, and were only informed that I had 
 arrived in Zanzibar ! I had left the steamer hoping to 
 attain my object here, and ready, if necessary, to return 
 with an embassy to Karonga's. But I was in a very 
 unfit state to do so, for the long strain and hard life had 
 told even upon me. On receipt of this rejDly from the 
 Foreign Ofhce, I had of course no option but to proceed 
 to England, and I bundled my few belongings on board 
 again, and started. 
 
 At Zanzibar I met for the first time Mr W. Astor 
 Chanler, a young American gentleman, who was about 
 to make his first acquaintance with Africa, on a shooting 
 expedition, and I was prejDossessed by his frank, open, 
 and brave face. He pressed me to join him as his guest 
 for the rest of my leave ; but, fascinating as the proposal 
 was to so keen a sportsman as myself, it was not, of
 
 UNSUCCESSFUL AT ZANZIBAR — LEAVE FOR ENGLAND. 157 
 
 course, to be considered for a moment while yet Karonga's 
 remained unrelieved. On my return from Uganda three 
 years later I again met Mr Chanler, who was on the 
 point of starting on his expedition through Somaliland 
 to Lake Rudolf — an enterprise of very great danger 
 and risk in the present hostile attitude of the Somals. 
 I learnt that he had planned, at his own expense, to come 
 to my relief in Uganda, when reports had reached Europe 
 that I w^as hard pressed there. As I write, he is still 
 in the far interior, and we are ignorant of his welfare ; 
 but the last reports, dated June 21st, 1893, spoke of 
 success up to the time of their despatch.^ With my 
 cordial Avishes for his success we parted. I met also, 
 on my homeward journey from Nyasaland (May 1889), 
 Mr Jackson, who was about to start on his expedition. 
 Like all who know him, I recognised in him a true 
 sportsman, and as kind-hearted a man as ever entered 
 Africa. He was, moreover, a keen observer, and had no 
 mean knowledge of African natural history, the study of 
 which was the passion of his life, and in which depart- 
 ment he has added very greatly to our knowledge. Of 
 his exj)edition (which preceded mine to Uganda) I shall 
 have much to say in later chapters. 
 
 Arrived at home (June 5th, 1889), I felt myself 
 bound in honour to the comrades I had left behind. I 
 wrote the story briefly in the ' Contemporary Ileview ' " 
 and appealed for the sympathy and help of those in 
 England. In Manchester, at the British Association 
 (where I read a paper on the commercial possibilities 
 of the country), in ' Blackwood,' &c., I made similar 
 efforts to awaken an interest in the little campaign 
 against the slave-traders, which should })revent the 
 abandonment of Karonga's, and with it the objects for 
 which we had fought so long — to save Nyasaland from 
 becoming a Mohammedan empire, with slave raiders for 
 
 ' Geographiciil Journal, vol. ii. \\ 3(;7. - Sept. 1889.
 
 158 NYASALAND TO ENGLAND. 
 
 its kings. I found, in Scotland especially, a deep and 
 strong feeling in response to my efforts. 
 
 Meanwhile the current of events favoured my cause. 
 The utilisation of the Chincli channel of the Zambesi — a 
 navigable mouth giving direct access to the sea — together 
 with the outrageous claims and suicidal aggressions of 
 Portugal, caused Lord Salisbury to insist on the free 
 navigation of the Zambesi, while the international 
 blockade of the East Coast for the prevention of the 
 importation of arms and ammunition into Africa, directed 
 public attention strongly to the question of the slave- 
 trade. Lord Salisbury's firm attitude tow^ards the 
 ridiculous pretensions of Portugal ^vas met by that 
 Power with open defiance. Serpa Pinto marched up the 
 Shire, shot down our allies the Makololo, and threatened 
 Blantyre. The cjuestion of the rights of England in the 
 Shire Highlands and in Nyasaland had passed into the 
 region of Foreign Office investigation, and national 
 indignation was excited by the action of Portugal. 
 
 Mr Khodes was at this time in England, and had 
 heard the outlines of my scheme for controlling the 
 waters of Nyasa and Tanganyika, and establishing a land 
 force for the suppression of the slave-trade there {vide 
 chap. viii.). He asked me if I would undertake to put it 
 in operation, at the estimated cost of £20,000 down, and 
 c£9000 a year. I agreed to his proposal, but asked that 
 I should be allowed to choose my own ofiicers, and be 
 directly responsible to the Board of the South African 
 Company. Mr Phodes, with his princely methods of do- 
 ing business, had offered a considerable sum for the pur- 
 chase of the goodwill and effects of the Lakes Company. 
 He told me it had been accepted, and that there was no 
 hitch in the negotiations for their absor^^tion into the 
 Chartered Company, but the Lakes Company continued 
 to procrastinate, ajDparently without cause, and to defer 
 final conclusions, until at last Mr Phodes' patience
 
 EFFORTS IX ENGLAND — MR RHODES' OFFER. 159 
 
 was exliausted. These plans thus hung fire till the 
 autumn, when he was compelled to leave for the Cape, 
 and I lieard no more about them. 
 
 While all this was going on, Mr Johnston, who had 
 succeeded O'Neill as Consul at Mozambique, had pro- 
 ceeded up tlie Shire and made treaties with many of the 
 riverine chiefs, and thence had gone to Lake Nyasa and 
 to Karonga's, where he arrived on Oct. 15th. The 
 garrison there, during the six months that had elapsed 
 since I left, had been carrying on an energetic 
 guerilla warfare by means of parties of natives, who 
 scoured the country in every direction. Deep Bay had 
 been held in spite of many attempts of the Slavers to 
 secure a footing in that vicinity. Engagements between 
 parties of the followers of the Slavers and the natives of 
 the garrison had been of very frequent occurrence ; our 
 casualties had ]jeen few, while the enemy had suffered 
 very heavily. Starving women constantly deserted to 
 Karonga's, but as it was supposed that they were sent 
 in order to introduce the small-pox (which was raging in 
 the Slavers' stockades) among the Wankonde and the 
 garrison, they Avere rarely received. Similarly, when I 
 was there, women had undoubtedly been sent to intro- 
 duce another disease. 
 
 About the time Mr Johnston arrived, the occupants 
 of the hostile stockades were, according to Mr Mon- 
 teith's account,^ in desperate straits from hunger, and 
 could not have continued the war much longer. On the 
 other hand, they had made raids on the Tanganyika 
 plateau, carrying off great numbers of slaves and cattle, 
 and threatening the missions at Fwambo, and it was 
 rumoured that they contemplated bringing down the 
 tierce Awemba tril)e from the north-west to join them as 
 allies in the war. Tlie Senga Arabs were, moreover, sup- 
 l)orting them with powder and materiel, as was proved 
 
 ^ Adventures in Nyasaland, p. SO.').
 
 160 XYASALAND TO ENGLAND. 
 
 by letters from Salim bin Nasur to Mlozi, which fell into 
 the hands of a raiding party of the garrison. One more 
 attempt to shell the stockades with the cannon had been 
 made a day or two after I left with much success, but it 
 was considered too risky to take the heavy gun into 
 dense jungle seven miles away, and henceforth no 
 further use was made of it, the war being carried on 
 by independent parties of natives acting under native 
 leaders. 
 
 Mr Johnston's first step on entering Nyasaland was 
 to call at Kota-Kota, the village of Jumbe, the most 
 noted slaver on the lake. He concluded a friendship, 
 subsidised him, gave him presents, and besought his 
 good offices in the conclusion of a peace w^ith Mlozi. 
 Jumbe sent his headman with Mr Johnston for this 
 purpose, and accepted the subsidy of £300 a year to fly 
 the British flag ! This subsidy he draws to the present 
 day ; but a correspondent writes that he has not 
 abandoned his slave-trading proclivities. 
 
 Arrived at Karonga's, Mr Johnston entered into 
 negotiations with Mlozi, through Jumbe's headman, 
 and on October 22d, 1889, a treaty was signed. 
 Monteith says^ that the main articles of this treaty 
 were : — 
 
 1. That the Wankonde be allowed to return to their villages. 
 
 2. That they will not then be molested by the "Arabs" or their 
 allies. 
 
 3. That neither the Slavers nor their allies will build north of 
 the Eukuru Piiver, or south within three miles of the Tanganyika 
 road. 
 
 4. That within a year either Kopa-Kopa's or Msalema's village 
 be evacuated. 
 
 5. The African- Lakes Company to be responsible for the acts 
 of their allies. 
 
 6. Any hostile act against the natives on the part of the Slavers 
 will be regarded as an act of hostility towards the Company. 
 
 1 Adventures in Nyasaland, p. 279.
 
 THE TREATY WITH MLOZT. 161 
 
 Such was the treaty. Sakites were fired in its 
 honour, and the day given up to gratulation and 
 rejoicing. The crucial points about it are : — 
 
 1. That the point for which the two years' war was 
 prosecuted — viz., the evacuation by the Slavers of 
 Nkonde, was abandoned. In its place was substituted 
 the curious clause 4, by which one stockade was still 
 allowed to dominate the road and ferry. All, there- 
 fore, that the Slavers were to do was to amalgamate 
 Msalema's little village with Kopa-Kopa's (which is 
 within 400 yards of it), and abandon the exact site of 
 the little stockade. For this a years delay was granted. 
 To this day, this — the only stipulation to save our credit 
 and support the contention that the treaty was not an 
 absolute surrender — has remained a dead letter, and the 
 power of the British Commissioner has remained defied. 
 All the other clauses (except, perhaps, clause 3) of the 
 treaty are merely circiunlocutory phrases for saying that 
 if there is peace neither side is to attack the other 
 or its allies. How these pledges of peace and guarantees 
 not to molest the Wankonde have been treated by the 
 Slavers I shall presently describe. After concluding 
 this treaty Mr Johnston left for the north to make 
 treaties with native chiefs, and then returned to England. 
 
 I have endeavoured to interest my reader in the 
 events in Nyasaland which fell under my own observa- 
 tion, and innnediately preceded tlie formation of the 
 I Protectorate, but, before passing to another portion of 
 the continent, let us glance for a moment at the subse- 
 (juent development of events in that interesting country, 
 now the " British Central African Protectorate," the 
 home of constantly increasing numbers of British 
 settlers, and of an administration under the Crown. ^ 
 
 ' Blue-book Africa, No. 5 of 1892. The Zanzibar Gazette, Feb. 1st, 1893, 
 states the number of Europeans in Nyasaland at that date to be 174, as against 
 55 in 1891. 
 
 VOL. 1. L
 
 162 NYASALAND TO ENGLAND. 
 
 Mr Johnston returned to Nyasaland in July 1891, hav- 
 ing been appointed Imperial Commissioner and created 
 C.B. (Mr Buchanan, the late Acting Consul, was at 
 the same time created C.M.G.). The task of the new 
 Administrator was one of no ordinary difficulty, and 
 demanded the exercise of great tact and foresight. 
 With characteristic pluck Mr Johnston threw down the 
 gauntlet to the Slavers. Hostilities were begun against 
 Mponda, Makanjila, and many other chiefs in Southern 
 Nyasaland, who were engaged in the slave-trade. The 
 Commissioner had only at his disposal a handful of 
 Sikhs and Zanzibaris, in all some 200 men, with a 
 7-pounder and (later) a Maxim gun, under the com- 
 mand of that brave soldier Captain Maguire.^ The 
 African Lakes Company's new trading steamer the 
 Domira was chartered for a time to assist in the 
 operations. 
 
 Owing to the masterly way in which this little force 
 was handled, and the really heroic gallantry of CajDtain 
 Maguire, success everywhere attended the operations, 
 and, towards the end of the year, some progress seemed 
 to have been made towards coercing the Slavers by force 
 of arms. Then occurred a disaster which, even as told 
 in the official wording of a Blue-book," makes one 
 shudder with the horror and ghastliness of the tale. 
 Maguire was killed, MacEuan and a Parsee doctor were 
 massacred in cold blood, nine soldiers killed, and two 
 other Europeans and nine natives wounded. Nor was 
 the Commissioner in a position to exact any vengeance 
 for this disaster, and the treachery of Makanjila. This, 
 
 ^ The Scotsman of Sept. 27tb, 189.3, states " on excellent authority " that 
 hitherto Mr Johnston has only had "an average of fifty Sikhs and a few 
 Zanzibaris as his fighting force," and denies that H.M.'s gunboats on the 
 lower river have ever in any degree whatever come into contact with the slave- 
 trade, or have ever been able to render any assistance." This hardly seems to 
 tally with other accounts. 
 
 " Blue-book Africa, No. 5, 1892.
 
 MR JOHNSTON AS COMMISSIONER — REVERSES. 163 
 
 again, was followed by a second reverse, in which six 
 soldiers were killed, two Europeans and four soldiers 
 wounded, and the 7-pounder gun and a quantity of 
 Snider ammunition fell into the hands of the enemy 
 (Zarah). This was early in 1892, and owing to the 
 necessity for awaiting reinforcements, the Commissioner 
 had to remain inactive. 
 
 Up to the end of 1892 the British Administration 
 was apparently powerless to exact reprisals for these 
 reverses, though the opportune arrival of Commander 
 Keene, and the gunboats on the Zambesi, enabled Mr 
 Johnston to maintain his ht^ld on Fort Johnston and 
 the Upper Shire. In Jan. 1893 further severe fighting- 
 took place, and Captain Johnson, who had replaced 
 Captain Maguire, was almost overpowered by a Yao 
 chief named Liwonde, who captured a Lakes Company's 
 boat, and closed communications for a time between 
 Blantyre and the lake. The steamer Domira had gone 
 aground, and Liwoncle threatened to capture her. The 
 Commissioner and Mr Sharpe with the greatest courage 
 made their way to the scene through the hostile 
 country, and then, having built a small stockade, were 
 practically besieged, and in imminent danger, till 
 rescued by Baron von Eltz of the German Anti-Slavery 
 Society, who was shortly afterwards followed by a party 
 of blue-jackets, under Commanders Carr and Robertson, 
 from the Shire o'unboats. The combined force then 
 attacked and destroyed several of the Slavers' villages, 
 and Liwonde sued for peace. The Upper Shire was 
 again opened for navigation ; but beyond maintaining 
 his position, the Commissioner was unable to efl:ectively 
 deal with the Slavers pending the arrival of substantial 
 reinforcements.^ He had been compelled to appeal to 
 Government for tAvo gunboats to be placed on the lake 
 (in addition to those already on the Shire), and opera- 
 
 ' Zanzibar Gazette, April 5th, 1893.
 
 164 NYASALAND TO ENGLAND. 
 
 tioDS are apparently at a standstill pending their 
 arrival/ 
 
 Meanwhile, Northern Nyasaland had to take care of 
 itself, and the situation grew more and more serious. 
 In June 1891 Dr Cross ^ wrote: " Mpata is wholly 
 given over to Arab influence, and, indeed, to fighting. 
 The Wankonde chiefs I met there complained most 
 bitterly that Mlozi and his fighting men were pushing 
 them out of their own country." An attack had even 
 been contemplated upon Dr Cross's unprotected mission 
 party. He goes on to say : "In my opinion Mpata is, at 
 the present moment,, absolutely unsafe for any European. 
 There are few Wankonde people, and these few are 
 gradually being driven out. . . . We will have a renewal 
 of the troubles of Karonga s. . . . The Nyasaland Arab 
 question is assuming more and more gigantic proportions. 
 Slave-dealing Arabs are predominant all over the country 
 . . . there never was a time in the history of the lake, 
 when so many guns and so much powder were in cir- 
 culation. Indeed, certain tribes (the Awemba) are being 
 
 1 A letter, dated June 21st (Times, SejDt. 30th, 1893), announces that "the 
 British ensign flying in a man-of-war floats above the waters of Lake Nyasa," 
 for the gunboat Dove has been successfully launched. Already its moral efi"ect 
 has made itself felt, and one of the worst of the Slavers, Zarafi, is reported to 
 have said that he intended to make peace, and it is even stated that he shot his 
 fixther, Makanjila — perhaps the worst of the Yao chiefs — because he opposed 
 his intention. Though I have elsewhere (p. 204) given reasons why I think that 
 gunboats on Lake Nyasa would be a great tax on imperial resources, and that 
 the money could be more eff"ectively employed in other ways, it is of course 
 necessary to bear in mind that the peculiarities of our Constitution render it 
 easy to spend from ^100,000 to £200,000 per annum on slave-trade sup- 
 pression {vide p. 197), so long as the vote is included in the naval estimates, 
 while it would be hard to obtaiii a direct grant of £20,000 for the Administra- 
 tion of the Protectorate and the upkeep of an adequate land force. Moreover, 
 if the suggestion made in the Times, that the second gunboat shall be 
 transported to Lake Tanganyika be adopted, the scheme would ofl'er greater 
 advantages, and the whole waterway from the mouth of the Zambesi to the 
 north of Tanganyika will then be patrolled by ovir navy. Independently of the 
 question of cost, no one will be found to deny the enormous benefit such a 
 naval supervision would exercise in the suppression of the slave-trade. 
 
 - Free Church Monthly, Nov. 1892.
 
 STATE OF XORTHEEX NYASALAND. 165 
 
 armed." And he sums up : "The Wankonde are being- 
 pushed out of Mj)ata, the Arab villages are being en- 
 larged and fortified as they never were before, the 
 number of fighting men is greatly increased, while 
 ammunition seems to be very abundant." Other infor- 
 mation (dated Aug. Gtli, 1893) is to the eftect that 
 Deep Bay is now being used as a slave ferry by the 
 Slavers, and Major Weissman lately caught a caravan 
 at this place, wliile another ferry has been opened at 
 Chintechi, ten miles from Bandawe. 
 
 Such is the nett result of the treaty concluded on 
 Oct. 22d, 1889. The acts of aggression towards the 
 natives, which were to be reo-arded as overt acts of 
 hostility against us, are of daily occurrence. So far from 
 one Arab stockade being evacuated, they are being 
 " fortified as they never were before," and " are there 
 to-day." This letter is dated over one and a half years 
 after the treaty was signed. Latest mails (of half a 
 year later) give a still more gloomy account, and there 
 are indications that the i-eal sio'nificance of the situation 
 is not appreciated by the authorities. Those w^ho bore 
 the long strain against physical and moral difiiculties at 
 Karonga's, and who felt themselves within a measurable 
 distance of triumph, may be pardoned for their natural 
 disappointment that this should be the outcome of their 
 efforts. British prestige was sacrificed by the conclusion 
 of the treaty on Oct. 22d, 1889. Every one knew that 
 Mlozi was still less likely to evacuate a stockade after 
 the year's delay had allowed him to strengthen himself 
 and import arms, than he was when his garrison were 
 starving and mutinous, and his munitions expended. He 
 had held out because of the war between the Europeans 
 and Slavers on the coast. The success of these operations 
 by the Germahs should have been an excellent lever in 
 the hands of the Commissioner. 
 
 But, though I may hold that an error of judgment
 
 166 NYAS ALAND TO ENGLAND. 
 
 was made in this instance, I would not that it should 
 appear as though I underrated Mr Johnston's difficul- 
 ties in his present post. Probably few can appreciate 
 them better than myself. The root of the matter 
 lies in the fact that he has not adequate resources 
 with which to maintain a sufficient force. It surely 
 is unbecoming that the Imperial British Commissioner 
 should be "extricated from a difficult and dangerous 
 position by the German Anti- Slavery ExjDedition." 
 Beyond all question, the most sensible, and, indeed, 
 the only way of dealing with the situation, is to 
 establish a firm administration in the south, radiating 
 from the Government headquarters at Zomba, and so 
 gradually and effectually to extend northwards, making 
 sure of each stej) in advance. Karonga's, however, 
 from the strategic importance of its position (between 
 the northern and southern detachments of the Slavers) 
 should be held in force, in my opinion, and the moral 
 effect of a garrison there would not be barren of results. 
 That Mr Johnston has already in some measure succeeded 
 in the south is borne witness to by Dr Laws, who writes 
 that "the results of his efforts are that no slaving chief 
 on the lake is likely to dream of attempting to send a 
 caravan through British territory to the coast." ^ We 
 may anticipate that now that he has a largely increased 
 force of Sikhs, and two gunboats will presently be afloat 
 on the lake, he will be able to effectively extend the 
 Pax Britannica throughout " British Central Africa." 
 No one more cordially wishes him success than myself 
 
 The panacea for the troubles further afield is said to be 
 the arrival of the gunboats, but I have (on pp. 203-204) 
 stated my own view, which is that, by naval action on the 
 
 ^ Recent news (Times, Sept. 30th, 1893) tells of much progress made, and 
 of a substantial fort built on " the only possible slave route " tov aids the south, 
 so now, with the gunboats on the lake to assist the Administration, we may 
 hope that the rule of the slave-traders may soon be a thing of the past.
 
 :\rr. johxsioxs difficulties— and successes. 167 
 
 lake, we are but repeating the mistake we have persevered 
 in for over half a centiuy on the coast, and as in that case 
 so in this, we shall live to prove by experience that the 
 cost in money and in the death-roll of our men could 
 have been more advantageously applied. But we are 
 an obstinate nation, and, because the cry has long been 
 that gunboats alone are the desideratum, we will hear 
 no other argument, and having made up our minds that 
 they alone can destroy the slaving dhows, it becomes 
 quite a secondary consideration how many dhows there 
 are to destroy !
 
 -^■^i 
 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 .,.-/) /7 Confusion of terms 
 [dyy- 1'^' ^ I -^ —Domestic slav- 
 ery — Objections 
 to — Nature of — 
 Aliens and deni- 
 zens — Slavery at the coast — 
 Palliations — In Uganda — 
 Serfdom — Among savage 
 tribes — Probably not indi- 
 genous^ — Methods of repression. 
 I. Compulsory freedom, Abolition 
 — Compensation — Not applicable to East 
 Africa — Slaves held illegally — The question 
 of expediency — Prior intimation — Euin 
 of the West Indies not due to compensation. 
 II. Permissive freedom, Abolition of legal 
 status — Effect — Civil r. legal status — 
 Feasibility — Efficacy proved — The Indian 
 Act — Eights as British subjects — Legal status 
 in the interior — Only permissible in Moham- 
 medan countries — Effect in Uganda, &c. — In Nyasaland — Not recognised by 
 myself — Importance of early legislature. III. Edicts — of Aug. 1890 — of 1873 — 
 of Sept. 1891 — Point of view of the slave — Disposal of liberated slaves — Colo- 
 nies — Industrial missions — Compulsory religion — Nature of the slave — The 
 
 A Slave Caravan on 
 March.
 
 SLAVES, ALIENS OR DENIZENS. 169 
 
 real task to be achieved — Enlightened views among the Arabs, &c. — Among 
 the slaves — Other phases of slavery — Acquisition of slaves, 1. Slave-raiding. 
 2. Slave-trading — Kidnapping. 
 
 I WILL beg my reader's indulgence while I devote a few 
 pages to the examination of the much misunderstood 
 question of slavery in Africa, in the endeavour to exj^lain 
 as briefly as possible both what " slavery " is, and what 
 are the means that have been used in the past, and are 
 proposed in the future for suppressing it. In the first 
 place, it is necessary to distinguish the proper meaning 
 of certain terms too often carelessly and confusion oc 
 inaccurately used, and to discriminate be- Terms. 
 tween various phases of the cjuestion. 
 
 The general term, " an anti-slavery policy," comprises 
 the two great and totally distinct questions of domestic 
 ■slavery and the acquisition of slaves. Domestic slavery 
 includes household, agricultural, and harem Domestic 
 slaves (females and eunuchs). The two main ^i^^ery- 
 objections to this institution are : 1st, On moral grounds 
 — viz., that we have no right to buy and sell human 
 beings, and treat them as mere domestic 
 
 . , . n . nil Objections to. 
 
 animals, especially m respect of the last- 
 named class. This requires no comment from me. 
 2d, That since it is a known fact that slaves do not 
 increase naturally to any appreciable extent, therefore 
 to countenance domestic slavery is to afford an 
 incentive to the supply of new slaves, with all the 
 horrors attendant on their acquisition, in order to meet 
 1 lie demand. 
 
 Ther^ is one great crucial point as regards domestic 
 slavery which I have never seen adequately 
 
 . T . , . N.ituie of. 
 
 noticed, and that is, whether the slaves in aucus or 
 question are aliens, acquired and imported 
 and retained as slaves by a people with whom they 
 have nothing in common — no community of language, 
 customs, and prejudices — or whether they are " sons of
 
 170 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 the soil," of the same race as the masters, and merely 
 merit the term "slaves" because their chief has an 
 absolute right over them, and because they are compelled 
 to work, not for any fixed wage, but for contingent and 
 equally definite advantages, and form, in fiict, but the 
 lowest grade in the social scale. In the first case there 
 is an a priori probability that the slave will be more 
 harshly treated and more readily sold ; in the second 
 case the probabilities are the reverse. 
 
 These, then, are the two extremes of domestic slavery. 
 In the one case the slave is an alien, his loss is supplied 
 by importation of fresh slaves, he does not breed, and 
 is generally short-lived (on the coast it has been com- 
 puted that the length of a slave's life rarely exceeds 
 eleven years) ; he is subject to harsh usage, is a mere 
 chattel, and cannot appeal to the law ; and in the case of 
 a woman, all moral sense may be destroyed by transfer 
 or loan, till the woman becomes, in fact, a prostitute by 
 order. In the other case the converse is for the most 
 part true. Between these two extremes may exist any 
 number of intermediate grades. 
 
 The slaves of the Arabs at the coast are, of course. 
 Slavery at ^ alieus, seized forcibly in the interior. 
 
 Coast. ^j^(j imported for sale. It is to such a state 
 
 of domestic slavery that the various measures of re- 
 pression which I am about to examine are applicable. 
 Naturally, then, here at the coast we may expect the 
 lot of the slave to be the hardest ; yet in very many 
 instances among the Arabs on the coast, I believe that 
 there are masters whose kindness to their slaves has 
 won them their strong affection. Even among the 
 Arabs on Nyasa there was a man whose slaves were so 
 attached to him that they would probably have looked 
 upon manumission as a misfortune. I have myself been 
 embarrassed by finding that a slave whom I wished 
 to free was entirely opposed to the idea. Captain
 
 SLAVERY AT THE COAST. 171 
 
 Willoiio-hbv o-ives an instance of the same thino-.^ For 
 the slave, if in the hands of a fairly good master, has 
 many advantages. If, as is the case with the Zanzi- 
 baris almost without exception, he wishes to satisfy the 
 extraordinary craving for travel which possesses these 
 people almost like a mania, he can leave his wife and 
 child in his master's safe-keeping during his absence. 
 In ill health his master looks after him ; in a row his 
 master takes his part. On the other hand, in tribal 
 slavery in the interior there may be instances, as I 
 believe is the case among the Sudanese, where the 
 slaves, though of the same tribe as their masters, are 
 treated with harshness and cruelty. Each case, there- 
 . fore, must be treated on its own merits. 
 
 As regards the status of slavery in Uganda, I wrote 
 in a report to the Directors as follows : " So 
 far, however, as my observation goes, domes- 
 tic slavery among the Christians in Uganda approximates 
 rather to a system of serfdom, or a feudal system, than 
 to what in Europe is conveyed by the idea of ' slavery.' 
 Such a system is possibly as good a one, in the early 
 development of civilisation, as any other, if, indeed, it is 
 not (as would appear from the history of our Western 
 civilisations) a natural stage in the evolution from 
 savagery to civilisation. It has, therefore, its advan- 
 tages in the prevention of idleness, and the enforcing of 
 respect for rank, Mliich alone enables the government of 
 a semi-savage country to be carried on." " 
 
 The ' Times ' correspondent argues that there is a 
 very onerous slavery in Uganda, for Avithin his own 
 experience he has seen cruelty to slaves. This is irrele- 
 vant, for cruelty can be practised towards serfs or 
 
 ' Sport in East Africa, p. 259. 
 
 - I have more recently noticed that Mr Wilson uses the identical compari- 
 son, and in speaking of slaves in Uganda likens their status to that of Bussian 
 serfs. He says that they are fairly well oft", and not treated badly, being often 
 considered as part of the family (Uganda and Egyptian Sudan, vol. i. p. 186).
 
 172 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 servants. What constitutes the status of " slavery " I 
 shall presently describe. Captives m war are slaves, 
 properly so called, in Uganda, and the lowest class in 
 the social scale are ranked as slaves. But whether we 
 employ the term "serf" or "slave" is a matter of no 
 importance whatever; for the "slave" hi Uganda has a 
 civil status ; he has his wife and his home ; he lives on 
 his master's estate, which provides him food, his duty 
 being merely to bring a certain amount of produce at 
 stated intervals for the owner's consumption, and in 
 return he has the protection of the powerful chief. 
 Nay, more, from our European standjDoint it is hard to 
 fix where this status of slave in such a constitution 
 begins and ends. In a case which I shall quote in the 
 chapters on Uganda (vol. ii. j^. 405), where even a para- 
 mount chief had to pay his own daughters as ransom to 
 the king — should we not regard a man subject to such a 
 penalty as a mere slave ? Yet he would be a chief more 
 powerful probably than the king of any neighbouring 
 country subject to Uganda. Moreover, though it 
 should be possible for a paramount chief to sell, ex- 
 change, or give away a slave, such action would not 
 necessarily involve the importation of raw slaves, nor, 
 I think, does it actually do so in practice. 
 
 At a discussion in Uganda on Mar. 17th, 1892, regard- 
 ing the manumission of slaves captured from the Moham- 
 medans, the Protestant chiefs declared themselves willing 
 to abolish the status of slavery entirely, so far as their own 
 faction was concerned. Pending, however, a fuller know- 
 ledge of the institution of so-called "domestic slavery" 
 in Uganda, and of the effect that its sudden abolition 
 would have on the industries of the country, I did not 
 think the moment ripe for the measure, or consider it 
 advisable to introduce such an innovation in the province 
 of one faction only, until I knew whether it would be 
 feasible in those of the K. Catholics and Mohammedans.
 
 SLAVERY IN THE IXTERIOR. 173 
 
 Such changes are, in my opinion, only to be under- 
 taken when one has an exhaustive knowledo-e of the 
 bearings of the question, and has seen one's way clearly 
 to provide a remedy for any necessity which may arise, to 
 prevent a dislocation of social and industrial interests. 
 
 The general character of the institution in Uganda, 
 then, is that of servitude to superiors of the same race ; 
 for captives are usually from Unyoro, Usoga, Koki, and 
 other closely allied tribes, and are incorporated into the 
 population. The Wahuma, who are supposed to be the 
 slaves of the Waganda, actually look down on their 
 masters, and will not eat the flesh and food-stuft' which 
 they eat, while it seemed to me that the Waganda 
 regarded them as a superior race. They tended the 
 cattle, and with the death of these they have largely 
 disappeared. Bishop Tucker states in the ' Times ' ^ that 
 the Protestants decided, on April 7th, 1893, to manumit 
 their slaves, thus carrying out their original proposal. 
 We hear also that both sects have declined to restore 
 fugitive slaves to the Mohammedans. Apart from the 
 advisability or otherwise of the step, it is a notable com- 
 mentary on our own quibbles about " technical slavery " 
 and the like, that these so-called savages should have so 
 far become imbued with the teachings of Christianity as 
 to set free all slaves of their own sole initiative. 
 
 Such is domestic slavery among a semi-civilised people 
 like the Waganda. Among tlie purely sav- Among Savage 
 age tribes the institution is not unknown, i'"^'*-"'^- 
 and appears to have originated through the incorpora- 
 tion into a tribe of captives of war. Originally aliens, 
 these in the majority of cases become part of the tribe, 
 and their status is that of the lowest social grade, or, in 
 the case of women, generally identical with that of the 
 women of the tribe. In East Africa there is, I think, 
 comparatively little internal slavery among the purely 
 
 ' Times, .July 14ili, 18!):j.
 
 174 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 savage tribes. In Nyasaland, on the other hand, Dr 
 Laws, the highest authority, writes : " Domestic slavery, 
 so far as I know, exists among all the tribes, and varies in 
 severity from a nominal connection to the power of life 
 and death, exercised 1)y the master. Yet, even where it 
 is at its worst, there are checks of a social kind, which go 
 a long way to modify its severity." As an instance, he 
 quotes the fact that fugitive slaves are not restored. He 
 points out that domestic slaves among these tribes are 
 generally not aliens, but of the same tribe, and often 
 relations of the owners. 
 
 The Angoni are the most powerful tribe in Nyasaland. 
 The real Angoni do not sell their captives in war ; but 
 the tribes incorporated with them and assuming their 
 name do sell their prisoners,^ — such Yao chiefs as Makan- 
 jila and Mponda being the medium for the Slavers. Mr 
 H. H. Johnston, in a recent letter, emphatically states 
 that these Yao chiefs are the curse of the country under 
 his administration.^ But it must l^e remembered that 
 this tribe has become saturated for very many years 
 with the influence of the "Arab" slave-traders resident 
 among them, and that they have become their pupils and 
 tools in the traffic. I am speaking here of the institution 
 of domestic slavery among the savage tribes of Africa, 
 and this participation of the Yaos and others in the 
 slave-trade is a wholly difterent thing — to which I have 
 alluded only to emphasise the difference. Other tribes, 
 such as the Wanyoro, Waganda, and Wahuma, have 
 also participated in the trade in slaves, but of this I will 
 speak later. 
 
 Where domestic slavery exists among native tribes, 
 Probably not ^^ ^^ ^^^^ wliolly iuipossible that in the 
 Indigenous. South (Nyasa) it may have been learnt 
 
 from the Arabs, and in the North (Sudan) from the 
 Turks. In East Africa, as I have said, I do not 
 
 ^ Matapwiri, Kawinga, Zaraii, and Makanjila he uames as the worst.
 
 ABOLITION — COMPENSATION. 175 
 
 think slavery exists to any appreciable extent as a 
 natural institution among the tribes with which we 
 have so far come into contact. I found, however, 
 that the Sudanese from Equatoria, themselves aliens, 
 and hailing from a country for decades the hunting- 
 ground of the Turkish slave-raiders from Egypt, had 
 domestic slaves, and that the idea of slavery was in- 
 grained in them, as was to be expected. They were 
 harsh and cruel to their slaves, manv of whom were not 
 of their own tribe. It was my intention, had I been 
 called upon to continue the administration of Uganda, 
 to make every effort, either to liberate these slaves, or to 
 ameliorate their condition by certain regulations in their 
 favour. And here we touch the solution of the whole 
 problem of domestic slavery. 
 
 A word, then, as to the means of dealing with this 
 institution. 
 
 1. The first method is aboHtion, compulsory alike on 
 owner and slave — viz., neither can an owner 
 
 ^ . , , . . Mftliods of 
 
 retani a slave, nor can slaves remain m Repression- 
 slavery whether they desire their freedom 
 or not. This plan was adopted by us in 1833, when 
 slavery was abolished in tlie West Indies. In declaring 
 thi.s emancipation, however, our statesmen recognised 
 that immediate abolition involved great losses to owners, 
 and admitted their claims to compensation. 
 
 "■ Conipensatiou. 
 
 Ihe grounds upon which compensation was 
 granted to slave-owners," says Lord Grey, "were very 
 simple. This nation, by its Government and Parliament, 
 was at. least as responsible as the planters and C^olonial 
 Legislatures for the existence of slavery in the Colonies, 
 and it was therefore contended, plausibly enough, that 
 the sacrifice involved in the emancipation of the slaves 
 ought to fall in part, at all events, on the nation." ^ Mr 
 Sturge points out, however, that the enormous sum 
 
 ^ Compensation to the Owners of Slaves. E. Sturj^e, June 181*3, p. 13.
 
 176 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 jDaid (£20,000,000) has only worked ruin to all con- 
 cerned,^ and Lord Grey's plan of a temporary assistance, 
 to the extent of a loan of ten millions to the planters, 
 would have had, as he foresaw at the time, a vastly 
 more beneficial result. 
 
 With regard to the question of compensation to present 
 slave-owners, Lord Grey, in the same letter, puts in a 
 nut- shell what many of those interested have long felt. 
 He points out that the case made out, as above, for 
 compensation to the West Indian planters, " affords no 
 precedent for a grant to the slave-traders, who have for 
 long been carrying on a trade which civilised nations 
 have for years concurred in denouncing as a crime, and 
 to reward them for having done so would be monstrous." 
 Gordon's idea ^ of thus bribing the slave-traders to dis- 
 continue their raids stands condemned on the grounds 
 of morality, expediency, and common-sense. Thus, to 
 summarise ; compensation, or at least temporary assist- 
 ance, may justly be claimed where the planters are 
 hereditary and legal owners, with large vested interests, 
 and where the nation which gives the compensation was 
 itself involved in bringing about the situation. It is 
 not due (and it is most inexpedient to create a precedent 
 by granting it) in the case of those who trade in slaves 
 and those who, in the face of the unanimous protest of 
 Europe, and in most cases in violation of treaties, have 
 illegally acquired slaves in recent years. 
 
 Let us see how this dictum affects the East Coast 
 Notappiicwe slave-owuer. In 1873 Seyyid Barghash, by 
 to East Africa, treaty with Great Britain, made illegal " the 
 export of slaves from the coast of the mainland of 
 Africa," whether to the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba 
 or elsewhere. In 1876 an edict went further and 
 forbade " the arrival at the coast of slave caravans from 
 the interior." It has been proved fairly conclusively 
 
 1 Compensation, &c. E. Sturge, p. 11. - Ibid., p. 16.
 
 SLAVES IX THE SULTAXATE HELD ILLEGALLY. 177 
 
 that the length of hfe of slaves in captivity rarely exceeds 
 eleven years, also that slaves do not have children born 
 to them to any appreciable extent. Consequently eleven 
 years after this edict — viz., in 1884 — the previouslv 
 existing domestic slaves may be assumed to have prac- 
 tically died out in Zanziljar — and three years later on 
 the coast — for the edict of 1876 was in effect an applica- 
 tion of the 1873 treaty to the coast. It is now twenty 
 years since the first edict was made, and therefore the 
 slaves now held legally in Zanzibar — viz., those alive and 
 in captivity in 1873, and their children — must be so 
 reduced as to be practically non-existent. The whole of 
 the domestic slaves in the Zanzibar Sultan- skveshew 
 ate, therefore, are illegally held. The owners 'i^*^s»i'>- 
 have no claim whatever to any compensation, and no 
 just ground for complaint should abolition be enforced 
 to-morrow. 
 
 But apart from theoretical justice, there is the ques- 
 tion of expediency. Sudden emancipation, The Question of 
 enforced alike on owner and slave, causes a Expediency. 
 complete dislocation of existing social conditions. Un- 
 less adequate provision were made for the slaves, it 
 would be regarded by the majority as a misfortune ; and 
 thongh we ourselves may be able to clearly see the 
 justice of such a measure as regards the owners, it is 
 beyond doubt that they, being ignorant for the most 
 part of the reasons on which our action was based, would 
 consider compulsory abolition to be an arbitrary and 
 despotic measure, and this would lead to discontent and 
 distrust. For in the abstract, the holding of slaves is 
 legal to the Arab, and is sanctioned by his religion and 
 by the custom of his forefathers for ages.^ His social 
 standing is estimated by the number of his slaves. He 
 
 ' The Koran, wliile recognisiug the domestic institution of slavery — as also 
 St Paul does— and the right to enslave infidel captives of war, does not support 
 the raiding of slaves per se. On the contrary, it condemns ic specifically. 
 VOL. I. M
 
 178 AFEICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 received them as actual property from his fether, repre- 
 senting a certain market vahie. His inalienable right 
 to them is implanted in liis mind, and has grown up 
 with him from childhood, just as, in your opinion, the 
 property left you in his will by your father is yours 
 fairly and legally, and arbitrary deprivation would be 
 regarded by you as manifest spoliation. He is wholly 
 dependent on slaves to cultivate his estates, and for 
 household service, for there is little free labour available, 
 and ruin and starvation would result from their loss. 
 
 If, however, he has himself acquired any, he must of 
 course have been aware that both their import and their 
 purchase was illegal. Many Arabs are kind masters, 
 and are often thorough gentlemen of enlightened views. 
 Some have even said of late that they would prefer free 
 labour if it were procurable, as being cheaper, more 
 effective, and involving less responsibility. 
 
 It being admitted, then, that abolition, though in- 
 volving no actual injustice, would nevertheless give rise 
 to much misunderstanding and ill-will, and that it 
 would cause a dislocation of social conditions, it becomes 
 ]. Prior intima- ©videut that sucli a step ought to be pre- 
 *^''"- ceded by an intimation, in order that owners 
 
 may have time to make provision for the impending 
 change, and accustom themselves to its contemplation ; 
 or that some less revolutionary measure (whose effect 
 should nevertheless be identical) should be substituted 
 for sudden and compulsory manumission. The former 
 course was adopted by Portugal in 1858, who being 
 unable to pay a heavy compensation, decreed the aboli- 
 tion of slavery in her possessions on a prospective 
 date (April 29th, 1878) — viz., after a period of twenty 
 3^ears.^ 
 
 Before leaving the question of abolition, however, it is 
 
 1 The Mozambique and Nyasa Slave-trade. Lieut. H. E. O'Neill, R.N., 
 H.M.'s Consul, Mozambique. July 1885.
 
 SUDDEN MANUMISSION INEXPEDIENT. 179 
 
 most important to note that the impression, which is so 
 commonly held by Englishmen, that the ruin of the 
 suffar industries in the West Indies was due 
 
 °, IT- PI • • 1 Ruin of West 
 
 to the abolition ot slavery, is entirely erro- lu.iies uot due to 
 neons. A most able and important letter 
 from Lord Brassey to the 'Times' (July 1892) has been 
 made the text of a small pamphlet by Mr Sturge, which 
 has appeared since these chapters were begun. ^ The 
 whole question of the effect of abolition on West Indian 
 industries is there admirably and tersely examined, and 
 supported by letters from Lord Grey — himself not only 
 one of the statesmen who were primarily connected 
 with the measure in 1833, but by far the best informed 
 on the subject — and events have proved how much more 
 truly he gauged the situation than any of his contempo- 
 raries, and how wonderfully accurate was his forecast 
 of events. " The misfortunes of the planters were not 
 caused by the manumission of the slaves," says Lord 
 Brassey, and adds : "At the present day labour is not 
 more costly than when slaves were employed." Mr 
 Sturge's figures go to prove that the ruin of the planters 
 liacl begun in 1824, long prior to the abolition, and was 
 due to the decline of the sugar exports and the evils of 
 absentee ownership. It was probably hastened, instead 
 of ameliorated, by the grant of t\\'enty millions sterling 
 and the apprenticeship scheme. Abolition, tlierefore, 
 has been most conclusively proved to exercise only a 
 temporary and not a permanently bad eftect on the 
 labour-market. 
 
 2. Th^ second method of dealing with the question 
 of domestic slavery is by granting per >/u\s.sar 2. Permissive 
 freedom. This can be effected by the aboli- ^''■'^^*^°"'- 
 tion of the legal status of slavery — that is to say, that 
 in any action at law the court refuses to recognise the 
 status of a " slave," and allows to him the civil and legal 
 
 ' Compensation. By E. .Sturge. June 1893.
 
 180 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 lights possessed by any other class of the community. 
 To appreciate this we must recall for the moment what 
 Meaniuc^of ^^^^ status of slavery means. A slave is 
 'Slavery." unclcr special restrictions and is subject to 
 
 special disabilities. He has no civic rights, and cannot 
 sue in a law-court. He is held to be the legal property 
 of his master, equally with his horse or his camel. He can 
 be severely punished for running away. If stolen, the 
 thief must render him up, and is liable for theft: so also 
 the master of a slave is liable to others for the wrongful 
 act of his slave ; just as you would prosecute me and 
 not my horse, if the latter trespassed on your estates.^ 
 
 The abolition of the legal status, then, means that a 
 Abolition of slavc at ouce acquires civil rights. He can 
 Legal status. g^g ]^jg master for ill-treatment. He can 
 leave his master, and the latter has no power to seize 
 him. A case comes before the judge, and the owner 
 pleads his right to capture his runaway slave. The 
 judge replies, " We know of no such thing as slavery in 
 the eye of the law." If the slave has been ill-treated, 
 the owner is convicted of assault and battery. Should a 
 master seize a runaway, the slave obtains his liberty and 
 redress from his late owner on the same grounds. The 
 holding of slaves as such thus ceases, and the law treats 
 the institution as non-existent. Slaves, on the 
 other hand, who are happy and contented, 
 and have no ground of complaint, and no wish to leave 
 their masters, remain of their own accord in statu quo ante. 
 
 ^ The status of the slave is well described by Dr Pruen (Arab, and Af., 
 p. 235) : " A slave is of course the absolute property of his master ; and 
 though that does not necessitate his being ill treated, it gives him no guarantee 
 of good treatment, and it takes away all rights from him, and all responsibility. 
 He may perhaps marry, but at any moment he may have his children taken 
 from him, or sold elsewhere, or his wife sent away. He may be beaten, 
 tortured, or even killed, j^rovided it is done quietly enough if on the coast, or 
 under an excuse of witchcraft if in the interior. A slave is not necessarily a 
 man ill treated, but he is a man without rights. He has no law to protect 
 him, no creature to whom he can appeal."
 
 ABOLITION OF LEGAL STATUS. 181 
 
 Such an enactment would affect the kmd master but 
 little ; it would be most potent against the cruel one. 
 
 In thus advocating permissive freedom, we must bear 
 in mind that slavery has been an African institution for 
 1000 years, and if a slave is kindly treated he often has 
 no wish to change his state, and has become so imbued 
 with his master's rights over him, that he considers he 
 would wrong him if he should run away. I have seen 
 this even among the most intelligent men — in one 
 instance a slave preferred to hand over half his pav 
 to his master rather than purchase his freedom with 
 one-third the sum he gave ! For a discussion of the 
 causes and remedies of this, see page 484. 
 
 So long as Zanzibar was a Mohammedan state, under 
 an independent Sultan of that creed, and under 
 Mohammedan law, slavery naturally existed as a legal 
 institution ; nor could England do more than bring 
 diplomatic influence and pressure to bear upon the 
 Sultan — instituting meanwhile repressive measures at 
 sea, with a view to checkinej the import and 
 
 , (, -, -VT- , IP 1 Feasiliilitv. 
 
 export 01 slaves. let even beiore the pro- 
 tectorate was proclaimed — so long ago as 1884 — Earl 
 Granville instructed the Consul-General, Sir J. Kirk, to 
 lose no opportunity of bringing the question of the 
 abolition of the legal status before the Sultan. The 
 Consul had already pointed out to the Foreign Minister 
 the advantafjfes of such action, in inducino- free men to 
 come over to Zanzibar and Pemba without fear of beinif 
 seized as slaves, and thus creating a free labour-market. 
 It was again supported Ijy Lord Salisbury in 1889, who 
 gave similar instructions to the Consul. The day, 
 therefore, that the Sultanate became a British pro- 
 tectorate, and our action was no lono-er confined to 
 diplomatic pressure and repressive measures on the 
 high seas only, the legal status ought to have been 
 abolished, and such a moment would have been a fitting
 
 182 AFEICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 one, and less likely to canse irritation among the owners, 
 than if it were first recognised and then suddenly 
 abolished by the jjrotecting Power. 
 
 It is a o-ross scandal that British officials should 
 undertake the whole administration of the Sultanate, 
 and yet recognise the legal status of slavery. Sir John 
 Kirk, wdio from his twenty years' residence there is best 
 qualified to judge on all matters connected with East 
 Africa, and who is the greatest authority, living or dead, 
 we have ever had on all subjects connected with African 
 slavery, has given it as liis opinion, that Zanzibar and 
 East Africa are now ripe for the introduction of this 
 great reform : and this opinion is supported by residents 
 in the island, with knowledge of local feeling. Nor 
 would any injustice be done to the owners, since, as I 
 have sho^\•n, all slaves are to-day iUegaUy held in the 
 Sultanate.^ Simultaneously with the abolition of the 
 legal status, a prospective date for total emancipation 
 could be named, if thought advisible. 
 
 We are never tired of accusing Portugal of participation 
 in the slave-trade, yet the legal status was 
 
 Efficacy proveil. iti i,i ^ , iit^ i 
 
 abolished throughout all Portuguese posses- 
 sions in April 1878." This is the plan which we adopted 
 for putting an end to slavery in India, and so effective was 
 its working, that no act of emancipation was ever needed, 
 though its action w^as reinforced by various sections of 
 the penal code.^ It was similarly applied to our colonies 
 of Lagos and the Gold Coast on the west of Africa with 
 entire success. It is the application of this short 
 Indian Act'* to East Africa which all those who are 
 
 ^ It has been lield by some tliiit the abortive proclamation of Aug. 1, 1890, 
 furnished grounds to the owners for claiming thnt the legality of their owner- 
 ship had been at least indirectly iulmitted. This is not so, as appears clearly 
 from the second clause, " All slaves lawfully posses^xed on this date," &c. Vide 
 App. I. (/3). 
 
 - O'Neill, p. 8. Eastoe Teall. Slavery and Slave-trade, 1889, p. 33. 
 
 ^ Slavery and Slave-trade, p. 56. For text of Act vide App. I. (a). 
 
 "* See Appendix I.
 
 THE INDIA ACT ABOLISHING LEGAL STATUS. 183 
 
 deeply interested in the question so greatly desire, 
 being confident that slavery would then (as in India) 
 die a natural death. Nor does there seem to be any 
 intellia'ible reason for refusino" to the slaves in our 
 Zanzibar protectorate the advantages of the clause, under 
 which an act that would be a penal offence against a 
 free man is equally so against a slave. In speaking of 
 slavery in India, I may remark (as it is not generally 
 known) that there was at one time an import to India 
 of African neo-roes.^ The advantao-es of this method are, 
 that its operation is gradual and permissive, and causes 
 neither the social dislocation nor the friction of emanci- 
 pation. It has the merit of having been proved efficacious 
 by actual trial. 
 
 A similar scheme, differino- in method rather than 
 in operation, would be the extension to the natives of a 
 British protectorate of the advantages and Rigi.ts as British 
 rights of British subjects. I shall discuss Sui-je^-ts. 
 this subject more fully in the chapter on Administra- 
 tion (xlii. pp. 628 et seqq.). Were these rights allowed 
 to the African, we should insist on the same restitution 
 and indemnity for the seizure and export of a slave 
 (being a British subject) as we should do in the case of 
 similar seizure of a British Indian or European. In the 
 case of an African, for instance, who was a native of the 
 protectorate of Xyasaland being found in Zanzibar, 
 he would not be rightly considered, as now, to be with- 
 out domicile, but would be held to be a British subject 
 beyond tlie limits of the jurisdiction of his own domicile, 
 and therefore he would Ije held to come under the 
 
 ' There were colonies of tliese African slaves in India, long after they had 
 ceased to exist in their former status, and Burton came on traces of their 
 language. With that extraordinary linguistic facility for which he was so 
 remarkable, he mastered the language of these " Ceedees" and reduced it to a 
 kind of granimar as a literary curiosity, being ignorant at the time of the 
 origin of these people. His astonishment was great when, on coming to 
 Africa, he found the language lo be Swahili !
 
 184 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 operation of the law, not of the State in which he 
 chanced to be (Zanzibar), but of Enghsh law. 
 
 There is a further point in connection with this question 
 Legal Status in 0^ the legal status of slavery. Though it is 
 Interior. -|-^,^g ^\-^^^ ]^-^ ^j-^g British Protectorate of 
 
 Zanzibar and Pemba we admit the legality of slavery, 
 since these are under Mohammedan law, there is no reason, 
 in my opinion, why we should extend this admission into 
 the interior, beyond the limits now laid down by inter- 
 national agreement as the boundaries of the Sultan's 
 dominions. If we declare a protectorate over a country 
 in which there is a civilised-^even though oriental — 
 
 o 
 
 code of law, by which law the status of a slave is well 
 defined, and he is deprived of all civic rights, there may 
 (or may not) be a valid reason for acquiescing in such a 
 pre-existing laAv. However repugnant it may be to our 
 sense of right, that British officials should enforce the 
 despotism of the owner over his slave or chattel, or that 
 an appeal to a British official against the seizure of his 
 goods, or against brutality and cruelty, should be void 
 if made by a slave, because he has no rights, and ranks 
 precisely as his master's dog or horse — save that they 
 are dumb animals and he is hinnan — however repugnant 
 to us this state of things may be, the fact remains that 
 it is the case, and has been the case in the Zanzibar 
 Sultanate any time during the last twenty-six years. 
 For we were compelled until the date of the proclamation 
 of our protectorate to recognise and conform 
 
 Only permissible i i t p 
 
 in Moiianiniedan to the laws and usa^fes of a countrv over 
 
 lands. . . "^ . y 
 
 which we had till then acquired no right of 
 control, and whose indeiDendence we were bound by 
 treaties to respect. But I fail to see the morality or 
 necessity of introducing this legal recognition of slavery 
 into countries where no pre-existing treaties, or recog- 
 nised law compel it. In such countries as are inhabited 
 by purely savage tribes, and in which we have assumed
 
 LEGAL STATUS NOX-EXISTENT IN THE IXTERIOR. 185 
 
 a direct and exclusive control, tlie acknowledo-ment of a 
 legal status of slavery is surely altogether unnecessar}'- 
 and gratuitous. Indeed it M^as ruled by the Consul- 
 General (Sir J. Kirk) many years ago, that no slave 
 could be the legal property of a Pagan, since such people 
 could not claim rights under the Mohammedan law, 
 which extended to Moslems only. 
 
 In Uganda, for instance, where an embryonic civilisa- 
 tion and law exist, cases arising out of the 
 
 , . PI r» 1 • Elk'et ill Uganda. 
 
 relation oi the seris to their masters are, or 
 were in my time at least, dealt with under the native law, 
 administered by the chiefs and the king. In such few 
 cases as might come before me, I saw no necessity why I 
 should recognise a legal status. The revolution effected 
 in Uganda by the war made any jurisdiction as I might 
 choose to exercise in such a matter feasible and natural. 
 Such action would not involve premature friction ; 
 even with so powerful a tribe as the An- ^.ffwi m 
 goni, wlio practise domestic slavery, for the ^'>=i''=^i="»'^- 
 cases which would come under the cognisance of the 
 law as appeals would be few in the early develop- 
 ment of administration. In the case of Arabs and 
 Swahilis resident in Nyasaland, and of tribes affiliated 
 to them — who are for the most part slave-dealers — the 
 same thing would apply; viz., on the one hand being 
 resident beyond the limits of the Sultanate they could not 
 claim rights under Mohammedan law, nor on the other 
 hand would cases of appeal be frequent at first. When 
 the administration had become more powerful, and more 
 able to act with a strong hand. Law would become more 
 effective, and protection more frequently invoked. In 
 a word, the non- recognition of the legal status, unlike 
 manumission, does not involve tlie overthrow of existing 
 social institutions in tlie interior any more than on the 
 coast. Its operation is only invoked on appeal. The 
 initiative lies witli the slave and not witli ihe law.
 
 186 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 Hence its operation is progressive with the development 
 of law and civilisation, and not aggressive and drastic. 
 A case in point occurred in Uganda. After the Avar 
 several slaves claimed protection. They 
 were for the most part women, who had 
 been captured from the Arabs in the fighting with the 
 Mohammedans. Their status as aliens was altogether 
 apart from the Wagancla "slaves." I enacted, there- 
 fore, in full baraza of the chiefs at the capital, a law, by 
 which not only was the legal status of Swahili captives 
 abolished, but they were manumitted without ransom. 
 Any such slave appealing to me could ol)taiu a paper of 
 freedom and protection at Kampala. This was entered 
 as a law in the statute-book in English and Kiganda. 
 Some fifty, I think, had been set free under this law 
 up to the time of my departure, and many of these 
 accompanied me to the coast. 
 
 I have permitted myself to enlarge on this subject 
 i.nportance of without apology, for my aim is to attempt. 
 Early Legislature. l;towever inadequately, the explanation of 
 some African problems, prominent among which is slavery, 
 rather than to dilate upon my own doings, which are of 
 minor importance. And this question of the non- 
 recognition i)i the interior of the legal status of slavery 
 — a status hitherto acknowledged on the coast — is a 
 matter of supreme importance at a moment when African 
 administration both in East Africa and in Nyasaland is 
 in its infancy ; and as we now shape our methods, so 
 shall future administrators be compelled to act. 
 
 3. The third method of dealino- with domestic slaverv 
 is that hitherto adopted by us — viz., the 
 
 Three Edicts. . ^ . n i ' i t Tj. 1 
 
 issue 01 a series oi high-sounding edicts cal- 
 culated to ameliorate the position of the slave if enforced, 
 and not merely produced for home consumption. Such 
 edicts were all very well so long as Zanzibar was an 
 independent Sultanate; but they are entirely out of
 
 PROMULGATION 1'. ENFORCEMENT (oF EDICTS). 187 
 
 date since Zanzibar became a British protectorate. The 
 
 1. 
 
 last of these edicts was issued on Aug. 1st, 1890, and it 
 embodies this kind of legislation in a most comprehensive 
 form.^ 
 
 This edict, had it ever been really put into execution, 
 would not only have immediatel f/ hwi:)YOYed That of Aug. 
 the position of the slave, but in course of ^'^^'^' 
 time would have practically put an end to domestic 
 slavery, and that without prejudice to the vested rights 
 and claims of owners. It was, how^ever, largely super- 
 seded by a secret proclamation dated twenty days later, 
 which annulled some of its most important clauses; nor 
 am 1 aware that even the remainder of the Act has ever 
 been put into force effectively, so that any single slave 
 has gained his freedom in respect of it. I have called 
 the subsequent edict " secret," because over two years 
 later (Sept. 1892) even the Administrator of the Imperial 
 British East Africa Company had not been made officially 
 aware of its existence, and indeed had only heard of it 
 by rumour. Yet the Administrator — Mr Berkeley — was 
 Vice-Consul in Zanzibar at the very time of this second 
 proclamation. It is said that the feeling in Zanzibar 
 ran so liigh, that a repeal of this edict was necessary to 
 prevent a rising. If so, it only seems to me that a want 
 of foresight was shown in promulgating it ; but once 
 promulgated in a British protectorate, on a small island 
 off which lay our men-of-war, it shoidd never have been 
 repealed, oi-, if repealed, the annulling edict should 
 have been as public as was the first. 
 
 The treaty of 1873, to which I have already frequently 
 alluded, has not been effective in its results, ^ ^.^ 
 
 , 111 Tl'-'t of 18(."S. 
 
 since " Ihere is little room to doubt that some 
 :1000 slaves a year have been snuiggled into Zanzibar."^ 
 It has Ijeen ineffective, therefore, in the sense that there 
 are as many slaves in tlie island as ever, l)iit it has 
 
 1 ]'ule AppeiKlix I. O). - Tiiiu's, Feb. 14tli, 1893.
 
 188 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 formed the only check in operation against the slave- 
 trade, and has seriously hampered it. The enforcement 
 of this edict lay with our cruisers, and the action of the 
 Slave Court in Zanzibar when any cases of slave exporta- 
 tion were brought before it. This was done most 
 thoroughly and loyally by our naval officers and men on 
 the one hand, and Sir J. Kirk on the other. The edict, 
 however, of Aug. 1890, just referred to, and quoted in 
 extenso in the Appendix, affected the status of slavery 
 in Zanzibar — the sale and exchange of slaves, the right 
 of self-emancipation and of appeal, &c. Its enforce- 
 ment lay, not with our cruisers, but with our consular 
 authorities, and it has been a dead letter — only recently 
 the Sultan's own steamer, the Kilwa, was captured 
 conveying slaves ! 
 
 A still more recent edict, that no labour whatsoever 
 TLatofSept. sliould be euHsted for service beyond the 
 ^^^^- Sultan's dominions is equally a dead letter 
 
 (see chap, xviii). It cannot be too often pointed out 
 that it is premature and ridiculous to go into ecstasies 
 over proclamations, and to idolise their originators. 
 The real crux lies in their application and enforcement, 
 and the real credit is to those who achieve this enforce- 
 ment. While we have been busy smothering the 
 real state of the case in edicts and philanthropy, the 
 Germans have taken practical steps to make it easy for 
 slaves to obtain their freedom. A writer from German 
 East Africa (Magila) says that applicants can usually 
 obtain their freedom, and even the liwali (Arab magis- 
 trate) can free any who have just cause of complaint. 
 
 I have shown how the institution is reg-arded from 
 Point of View ^^^^ point of view of the Arab; — we must 
 ot the Slave. ^-^^^ overlook the point of view of the African 
 native. I have stated that the slave, unless treated 
 with exceptional cruelty, often appears to 23refer his 
 bondage to freedom. And so it happens that the
 
 DLSrOSAL OF FREED SLAVES. 189 
 
 entitiisiastic philanthropist, full of those sentimental and 
 highly-coloured pictures of the abject misery of the 
 slave^i^tls himself thwarted where he least expected it, 
 andjfijMPth^ps, with immature experience, and less than 
 a lial^bfeJii^v ledge of the facts, goes back to state in 
 Eurujadtfei the ^\'hole thing is a fraud, born of senti- 
 ment ajiiJllfeagi nation ! I have said enough already to 
 prove c^bilrtflfce horrors of slave acquisition are no mere 
 fancy, and the mass of evidence at our disposal from 
 travellers, missionaries, and traders of all nationalities 
 is conclusive on this point. 
 
 As regards the slave when once he has been acquired, 
 the case is different, and admits of serious disposal of 
 thought— (1) with regard to the means and Liberated slaves. 
 extent of liberation of slaves already domesticated ; 
 (2) the disposal of raw slaves before domestication, 
 liberated by force either on the seas or from convoys on 
 land. On the first subject I have already expressed my 
 view, and at the risk of repetition I will once more 
 reiterate, that liberty should be optional to the slave — 
 a result practically established by («) the abolition of 
 the legal status of slavery, (h) or by the extension to 
 him of the rights of British subjects. In default of 
 either of these enactments, the slave should at least 
 have the power to purchase his own freedom at a 
 reasonable rate, to be assessed by law. On the second 
 point my own opinion is, that the disposal of the classes 
 of slaves which I have named, together with others who 
 have obtained their freedom under the conditions of 
 (1), can best be effected by placing them either in 
 colonies, under the supervision of a European, or in 
 Ind list rial Missions. 
 
 Such colonies I endeavoured to establish in Uganda, 
 and the comi)letion of this scheme was only 
 
 , . , , , 'if Colonies. 
 
 interfered Avith by the necessity tor my 
 
 return to England. I had also proposed the plan to
 
 190 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 the Administrator for the disposal of fugiti\<' slaves 
 who reo-ained their freedom under the scheme of sdf- 
 redemption. It was warmly apj^roved and ad^ted by 
 Mr George Mackenzie. The "stockades" I^'tfe^Jlt in 
 the uninhabited country along the Sabakhi ftpfe#Were 
 primarily intended for the protection of tli<fei#d8lbnies, 
 and were located in fertile situations, solely i#lfeitfti view 
 to the necessities of agriculture, &c. When iM" l^Ackenzie 
 left Africa, and I left for the interior, this plan, to my 
 great regret, fell through. It has been superseded in 
 some degree by placing liberated slaves on the Company's 
 plantations at Magarini, where, according to Mr Fitz- 
 o-erald, they are doing extremely well. 
 
 I think that no better plan for the good of the natives 
 iii.iustiiai exists than industrial missions, I should 
 
 Missions. greatly like to see one established on the 
 
 coast, and a second in Uganda. They might become 
 not merely centres for educating the natives of the 
 district in useful crafts, but small colonies of liberated 
 slaves as well. A mission of this class has been founded 
 at the Kibwezi, some 200 miles from the coast, mainly 
 under the auspices of Sir W. Mackinnon, but it is not 
 in any way an asylum for freed slaves. 
 
 The domesticated slave does not, as a rule, take kindly 
 Compulsory ^^ ^^^® mctliods of the European, and hence 
 Religion. j^j^g frequent preference for his Arab master. 
 
 There is too great a distance between master and man 
 when he is associated with Europeans. The Arab 
 master, though sometimes harsh, is at the same time 
 more familiar, and mixes with his slaves, and eats with 
 them. Moreover, it should not, I think, be an inevit- 
 able concomitant of liberation that the slave should be 
 compelled to undergo a course of religious teaching, as 
 is the case if slaves, when liberated, are handed over to 
 the charge of missions (other than Industrial). Religious 
 instruction is a very good thing, and so is freedom; but if
 
 METHODS MUST BE SUITED TO THE PEOPLE. 191 
 
 liberation from slavery involves compulsory religious train- 
 ing, it cannot be rightly called "freedom." For the rest, 
 if we are in earnest in our eftbrts to benefit the slaves, we 
 must be content to accept, as a part of the Mature of the 
 task, the natural apathy of the people, and ^^'■^^''^• 
 their indifference to a yoke^ which to us would be terribly 
 galling. We must realise that the ties between husl)and 
 and wife are often of the loosest kind ; that a greater 
 affection is said to exist between man and man than 
 between the sexes (as is often seen among the lower 
 animals) ; that mothers, and more especially fathers, do 
 not feel so intense a love for their children as Europeans 
 generally do, and hence ruthless separation from relatives 
 or family, though it may involve some grief, cannot be 
 said to be so terrible an ordeal as we should imagine by 
 analogy with our own feelmgs ; that wlien once these 
 ties are ruptured, and the slave transported miles from 
 his own home, he has no resource in himself, no object 
 in the recovery of his freedom, and thus his master's 
 house is his sole refuge. His apathetic and submissive 
 nature adapts itself to his surroundings, and he often 
 ceases to desire to be free. ■ 
 
 We must recollect, moreover, that some of those 
 accpiired by purchase in the interior are probably the 
 scum of the villages — criminals or loafers, sold to the 
 Slavers by their tribesmen for the good of the com- 
 munity. The existence of these black sheep, however, 
 does not constitute the whole Swahili population a 
 colony of blackguards, as Professor Drunnnond makes 
 out. We must recall the fact that often the Slavers 
 have instilled into their minds a dislike and fear of the 
 European — even spreading throughout Central Africa 
 the report that we are cannibals. When we have realised 
 all this, and made up our minds to accept The ivai task to 
 the African as he is, and not as we imagined ^^^ "^^i^^ved. 
 lie ouglit to be, and have, in spite of disillusions, resolved
 
 192 AFBICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 to set him free from the curse of slavery, and to elevate 
 him to a higher plane, we shall then no longer limit our 
 efforts to effecting the liberation of slaves by sea, nor yet 
 by land, but we shall set ourselves to solve the problem 
 on which I have offered a few suggestions — of how best 
 to dispose of the slave when we have freed him, and of 
 how to gain an influence with the African (whether slave 
 or free) which shall supersede that of the Slaver, and 
 give the lie to his calumnies. 
 
 Already there are signs that a more enlightened feel- 
 ing is springing up among the coast men, as 
 Views among is eviuccd by the declaration of some of the 
 ' '''' ' Arabs, that they would prefer free labour 
 
 to employing slaves, were it procurable ; and in the 
 energetic repudiation by the Indian community of 
 Zanzibar of the charge that they supply money loans to 
 aid in the prosecution of the slave-trade.^ A few years 
 ago they would not have regarded this as a calumny. 
 And thus it is that Sir John Kirk, as I have already 
 said, holds that the time is rif)e for the abolition of 
 the legal status of slavery. Enlightenment 
 
 Among Slaves. -■ -, • i">r , i ^ i 
 
 among the slaves is enected by every day 
 of our residence in East Africa — as they learn that 
 freedom is valid, and appreciate the advantages of equal 
 laws and of a justice of which, till now, they have had 
 no experience or conception. It is effected by seeing 
 how utterly we ignore the difference between slaves and 
 free men when in our employment on caravan duty ; how 
 we promote a man to higher rank for merit, and do not 
 know or care if he be a slave. It is effected by our open 
 opposition to all slave-raiding, oiu' attacks on slave cara- 
 vans, and our refusal to make captives. Thus, in my 
 expedition to Uganda, my men were aware that any 
 news of slave -dealing would be welcomed by me for 
 investigation. They were ready at all times to fight 
 
 1 Blue-book Africa, No. 4, 1892.
 
 THE ACQUISITION OF SLAVES. 193 
 
 against Slavers as against a natural foe. And Dr 
 Laws, writing of Nyasaland, in a recent letter says : — 
 
 " It is hardly possible that the knowledge that they had a right 
 to be free should not be widely diffused in a district where there 
 is scarcely a village from which one or more men did not go to 
 Karonga's to take part in the fighting against the slave-traders." 
 
 There are various special phases of the slavery ques- 
 tion which I will deal with elsewhere. Thus, the 
 employment by Europeans of slave-labour ("technical 
 slavery") is spoken of in the chapter on labour (xviii.), 
 and the fugitive slave c|uestion is examined in my de- 
 scription of my dealings with the runaways of Fuladoyo 
 (chapters ix. and xii.). 
 
 I have said that domestic slavery was especially to be 
 deplored because it directly encouraged the 
 
 IP 1 ATiT-xl P 1 Aciiuisition of 
 
 supply 01 new slaves. yV itli a tew words siaves-i. siave- 
 on the methods by which slaves are pro- 
 cured to meet this demand I will close this chapter. The 
 acquisition of raw slaves is effected by (1) Slave-trading; 
 (2) Slave-raiding. The nature of the latter is already 
 well known from the writings of many travellers, and I 
 have described both the methods employed (chapter iii.), 
 and the nature and origin of the men who are engaged 
 in it on pages 90 to 95. 
 
 Slave-trading is carried on by voluntary purchase 
 from the natives and by kidnappinp* and is 
 resorted to by the Slavers m the case oi all 
 tribes too powerful to be raided. Most tribes of Africa 
 are willing to sell individuals of their tribe, who may pro- 
 bably be either outlaws and criminals, friendless persons, 
 or sick men left in their charge by passing caravans.^ 
 More commonly, however, those sold as slaves to the 
 trader are captives in war from another tribe. Where 
 the slave-traders are in force, this form of acquisition 
 becomes, in fact, slave-raiding by proxy, for powerful 
 
 1 rnien, Tlie Arab ami African, p. 209 
 VOL. I. N
 
 194 AFRICAN SLAVERY. 
 
 tribes (such as the bastard Angoni, the Aweniba, &c.) 
 become slave-raiders in order to supply the demand of 
 the traders and obtain their goods, since slaves and ivory 
 are found to have a purchasing value.^ The tribes im- 
 mediately surrounding such headquarters of the slave- 
 traders, like the Yaos of South-East Nyasa, become 
 Raiain<>-iiv affiliated to them, and are at once raiders for 
 
 P''^-'^^'- slaves, and the medium of the barter with 
 
 powerful tribes around. Thus slave-trading is carried on 
 simultaneously with raiding, but it is, of course, the 
 method more naturally adopted where the Slavers are 
 not in sufficient force to raid, or the tribes are too 
 powerful. 
 
 Throughout East Africa (as distinct from Nyasaland) 
 this is almost the sole mode of acquisition, though Mr 
 Jackson reports that small raids have been made in 
 isolated districts, such as Kitosh. But it is im^Dortant 
 to notice that whereas in Nyasaland and other parts of 
 Africa, large numbers of Arab and Swahili slave-traders 
 have permanently settled down in the country, and 
 prosecuted this traffic, and taught the native ti'ibes to 
 pEVrticipate in it, British East Africa is entirely free of 
 any such resident slave-traders. In former years Arabs 
 were settled in Uganda and Unyoro, and carried on a 
 laro'e slave-trade there ; " but there are none now in these 
 Lake districts, and there never Avere any in the inter- 
 mediate country between the Lake Victoria and the 
 coast. Slave- trading is, therefore, carried on entirely 
 by caravans proceeding into the interior nominally to 
 trade for ivory — an evil far easier to deal with. The 
 
 ^ As an instance, vide Sliarpe's description of the Awemba (Geog. Jour., 
 vol. i. p. 525), who raid the whole of the country north-west of Nyasa for 
 slaves, and are hence hostile to Europeans. This country, says Sharpe, has 
 become by this means a great centre of supply of slaves for the Slavers, to 
 whom the Awemba sell them. 
 
 - Mackay estimates the number exported in his time at 2000 from Uganda, 
 and an equal number from Unyoro. Life of Mackay, p. 433.
 
 E AIDING, TRADING, AND KIDNAPPING. 195 
 
 Sudan is entirely cut off from communication with, the 
 East Coast, and the outlet of its slave-trade is to the 
 north, and is entirely distinct from the East Coast traffic. 
 The East Coast Arabs have not penetrated to the Sudan, 
 nor north of N. Lat. 4°. 
 
 Kidnapping of women and children is also freely 
 resorted to. I found the Wakamba on 
 the qui rive lest I should thus carry off 
 their people, before they j^ei'ceived that ours was 
 not a Swahili caravan. Captain Pringle, R.E., speaks 
 to the same thing in Sotik.^ His report adds, that 
 at several places slaves joined the railway survey 
 who had run aw^ay from Swahili caravans, and that 
 in the opinion of one of the oldest employes of the 
 Company this form of slave-trade is increasing in East 
 Africa. It were easy to adduce further evidence.^ Slaves 
 are thus accumulated up country by a Swahili caravan, 
 and smuggled to the coast by various devices.'' Purchase 
 and kidnapping are resorted to even on the coast. The 
 very last report from Zanzibar^ says, " In Zanzibar . . . 
 it is no difficult matter to purchase or kidnap children," 
 and a description of the methods employed follows. 
 
 ' Survey Keport, p. L»7. 
 
 -' " Natives are enticed into a caravan to sell food, and aj-e then seized ; or 
 else, in time of scarcity, the people of a half-starved village are encouraged to 
 join themselves to a caravan on the assurance that there is plenty of food a 
 few miles ahead. . . . Lastly, in time of famine parents sell their children for 
 food to passing caravans." — Pruen, Arab and Af., 213. Vide also p. 215. 
 
 3 Survey Keiwrt, p. 97 ; Pruen, p. 218. The resume of the methods em- 
 ployed for this purpose, given on page 97 of the Survey Report, and taken 
 from the accounts of Messrs .Jackson and Martin, is concise and graphic. 
 Some statements, however, such as that slave-raiding was prevalent in East 
 Africa prior to the advent of the Company, and regarding the treatment and 
 disposal of slaves, &c. &c., are open to dissent, and any dogmatism on this 
 subject without the closest possible study is to be deprecated in an official 
 report to Government. 
 
 * Blue-book Africa, No. G, August 1893. Recent news from Zanzibar (dated 
 .")th April 1893) informs us of a dhow captured by H.M.S. Phiiointl with 
 kidnapped slaves on board, and she was apparently cruising round the islands 
 to fill up with others so obtained.
 
 196 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 METHODS OF SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE-TRADE ARMS AND 
 
 LIQUOR-TRADE. 
 
 Past methods — The slave-trade squadron — Direct cost — Money, how expended 
 — Indirect cost — Results — Percentage slaves rescued — Disposal of slaves 
 — Good results of naval action — Consulates vice H.M.S. London — Neces- 
 sity of check at source — Summary — My scheme for control of lakes — Ob- 
 jections to gunboats — Armed trading steamer — The land force — Land 
 convoys stopped — Scheme a gi'adual one — Cost — Cardinal Lavigerie's 
 scheme — Use of force jier se — Effect of the defence of Karonga's — Urgency 
 of the matter — The Brussels Act — Its stipulations — Import of arms and 
 liquor — East Africa — West Africa — Extent of the trade — Nature of the 
 liquor — Professions v. practice. 
 
 We have glanced at the nature and extent of slavery in 
 the preceding chapter, and I have indicated the methods 
 of doing away with domestic slavery. It remains to say 
 a few words relative to the modes of preventing the 
 acquisition and the export of slaves. In the past our 
 efforts have been solely confined to the latter, and we 
 have allowed both slave-trading and slave- raiding to go 
 on completely unchecked in the interior, limiting our 
 action solely to the coast and the export of slaves by sea. 
 For over half a century Great Britain has maintained 
 a squadron in East African waters for the 
 
 Past Methods— . f» x1 1 x J T^l 11 
 
 Slave-trade suppression 01 the slave-trade. I lie small 
 
 quacrou. number of ships employed prevented this 
 
 being even as efiective a blockade as was established 
 
 on the West Coast. Thus O'Neill points out ^ that the 
 
 1 The Mozambique and Nyasa Slave-Trade. H. E. O'Neill, E.N., 1885, p. 8.
 
 PAST METHODS THE SLAVE-TRADE SQUADRON. 197 
 
 number in Mozambicjue waters was usually two, and 
 the lenotli of coast to be watched was equal to that 
 from Land's End to the Shetland Isles, It must be 
 borne in mind also that a warship, to be of any use in 
 this task, had need to be especially equipped with a 
 "mosquito fleet" of steam-pinnaces and small craft, 
 capable of entering the shoal water in the creeks, where 
 boats of greater draught could not penetrate. " The cost 
 of this squadron in pounds sterling cannot, during the 
 past fifty years," says O'Neill (writing in 1885), "have 
 been much less than five millions, whilst the loss of life 
 from fevers and other diseases consequent upon the 
 peculiar nature of the service, and the hardships of boat- 
 work upon a dangerous coast, have formed a sacrifice the 
 value of which is unappraisable." ^ This is the verdict 
 of a man himself engaged for many years in the task, 
 and subsequently for five or six years Consul at Mozam- 
 bicjue — the very heart and headquarters of the slave- 
 trade, to which he devoted his especial attention. 
 O'Neill is, moreover, the last man in the world to 
 overstate a case, or to make an assertion without the 
 closest possible investigation and the fullest statistics. 
 His estimate of the cost of the squadron, on an average 
 of fifty years, is .£100,000 per annum. It 
 has been more frequently estimated at 
 £150,000.'- Another estimate, emanating from an official 
 source, gave the cost as £80,000 per annum for the 
 period between 1880 and 1890;'^ but this probably 
 took no count of anything beyond the bare upkeep of 
 
 1 The Mozambique and Nyasa Slave-Trade. H. E. O'Neill, R.N., July 
 1885, p. 9. 
 
 2 Statement of Directors, Imperial British East Africa Company, May 
 30th, 18!>3. 
 
 ^ Ivory, Apes, and Peacocks. Rev. H. Waller, p. 44. The writer adds : 
 "In the ten years preceding midsummer 18!J(), we lost 282 officers and men, 
 not including a great number of seamen wiio were invalided home, and of 
 whom many were so wrecked by fever, sunstroke, and dysentery that they 
 retired from the service to live on a small pittance at home."
 
 198 METHODS OF SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 the squadron, while the very latest writer on the sub- 
 ject ^ names the sum expended during the last twenty 
 years as "something like four million sterling of public 
 money," which gives a yearly average of £200,000. 
 Money— how Tliis euormous sum was expended as 
 
 expeiuled. foUoWS i— 
 
 1 . The cost of the squadron in East African waters. 
 
 2. Prize-money awarded to officers and men. 
 
 3. Bonus per head given of late years to the missions 
 and others for the disposal of liberated slaves (£5 per 
 slave). ^ 
 
 4. The maintenance of the Nyasa Consulate. 
 
 5. Three Vice-Consuls on the coast. 
 
 6. Mail service alono- the coast. 
 
 Indirectly there ^^'ere further taxes on our 
 
 Indirect Cost. '^ 
 
 resources : — 
 
 1. The health of our naval officers and men suffered 
 severely in the prosecution of their duties, involving an 
 enormous amount of invaliding to England. Many lives 
 were sacrificed from the same cause, involving («) a 
 drain on oUr reserves of men ; (h) j^ensions to widows, &c. 
 
 2. The consular and judicial staff' in Zanzibar was 
 largely employed in trying cases arising out of captures 
 of dhows, assessing prize-money, and disposal of liberated 
 slaves. 
 
 3. The home offices had the extra work of revising 
 these cases, and of dealing with reports, &c., arising out 
 of slave-trade operations. 
 
 1 Times, Aug. 29th, 1893. 
 
 2 The Church Missionary Society in East Africa received no slaA-es prior to 
 1875, up to which date they were all sent to Bombay. From 1875 to 1884 
 their returns are approximate only, and give the number at 921. From 1885 
 to 1890 their returns are more accurate. In 1888 they received 152. In the 
 other years the numbers received were very small. The largest numbers ever 
 received were in 1875 (305) and in 1884 (209). In 1890 the bulk were sent to 
 Mauritius. No slaves have been registered as received by this Society since 
 1890. They state that the majority of slaves have been handed over to Pi. 
 Catholic and other bodies.
 
 RESULTS EFFECTED BY PAST METHODS. 199 
 
 For this direct and indirect exj)enditure both of 
 money and Hfe, a very small percentage of 
 slaves were liberated per annum — so small, 
 indeed, as to be almost inappreciable in comparison with 
 the numbers exported from the interior. A new difficulty 
 and responsibility as regards the disposal of the liberated 
 slaves was also incurred — a difficulty which was never 
 satisfactorily solved. The first plan was to hand them 
 over to the missions (Protestant and R. Catholic), with- 
 out paying the societies. But this plan laid Govern- 
 ment under an obligation to the missions, and within the 
 last few years a grant has been made for each slave taken 
 over. The system was, I believe, unpopular with the 
 missions, and I think I may add in a general way, 
 unsatisfactory as regards the slaves themselves. 
 
 In considering the efficocy of the operations by sea, it 
 is necessary to bear in mind that the iium- Percentage 
 bers that perish on the march from the far Rescued, 
 interior — known to be an exceedingly heavy percentage- 
 are left out of sight, as are also the numbers of other 
 natives killed in the process of capturing the slaves. 
 Dr Livingstone calculated (and he was a most careful 
 man in his statements) that for 50,000 slaves l)rought 
 to the coast, some 500,000 other natives come by their 
 deaths, owing to the slaughter at the raid, the sub- 
 sequent inevitable famine, and the diseases that break 
 out where famine is, together witli the deaths on the 
 march to the coast ; nor would tliis seem to be by 
 any means an excessive estimate. When one hears of 
 40,000 slaves passing a single mission station per 
 annum,^ by one only of a network of jxxrallel routes, 
 
 I This was the miinbcr stated to me by a member of the I'liiversities 
 Mission as the approximate total that passed his station— Masasi— situated 
 on one of the niuiierows roads from the south of Nyasa to tlie coast. Dr 
 Prnen (The Aral) and African, p. 224) estimates that some 30,000 passed his 
 station— Mpwapwa~in German East Africa, and lie puts <lowii tlie output of
 
 200 METHODS OF SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 and one considers that tliis is going on over a vast 
 area of Africa, and has been continued for over three 
 centuries (for the Arab but followed in the steps of 
 the European), one wonders that the country has not 
 long since been depopulated, and one realises the 
 wonderful procreative power of the native, and the 
 enormity of the evil. I have not myself ascertained the 
 actual number of slaves liberated by our cruisers out of 
 these millions affected by the slave-trade, but I see it 
 is stated (I presume on accurate authority) by the com- 
 piler of the Railway Survey Rej^ort to Government to be 
 120 per annum on an average.^ 
 
 After arrival at the coast, the large majority are 
 Disposal of required by local landowners on the main- 
 
 siaves. land to replace the deaths in their agricul- 
 
 tural and household slaves. The residue are exported 
 either to Zanzibar and Peml^a, or (from the more south- 
 ern ports) direct to Madagascar, Arabia, Persia, &c. 
 In spite of the utmost vigilance, it is almost impossible 
 to suppress the traffic from the mainland to Zanzibar, 
 since the slaves ''on calm days can be taken over by 
 ones and twos in canoes, and surreptitiously landed 
 about the islands " ; ~ or they may be detained on the 
 coast till they pick up a little Swahili, and then shipped 
 across openly, being described as natives of Zanzibar 
 returning from the mainland.^ The incidental risks 
 merely enhance the price of the slave. The proof of it 
 is in the fact that, although — in consequence of the 
 Sultan's decree of 1873 — all domestic slaves should have 
 practically died out in Zanzibar in eleven years (1884), 
 even now, after twenty years, the number of slaves shows 
 
 slaves on the East Coast alone as not likely to be less than 100,000 a year. 
 These two lines of export are Avholly distinct — the one from Nyasa to Lindi, 
 &c. ; the other from the north of Tanganyika to Bagamoyo, &c. 
 
 1 Page 101. 
 
 2 Mr. Rodd to Lord Rosebery, Blue-book Africa, No. 6, 1893, p. 1. 
 ^ Pruen, The Arab and African, p. 223.
 
 COAST SUPPRESSIOX PROVED INADEQUATE. 201 
 
 no ajDpreciable diminution, and the j^rice is said to be the 
 same, though the demand has increased. Nay, there is 
 even a surphis, as of old, for over-sea export ! (See p. 
 187.) This proves that, as regards the export of slaves 
 from the mainland to these islands, all the vigilance of 
 our cruisers has been completely powerless to efiect any 
 appreciable result, and that therefore we must consider 
 that our effective action by sea has been wholly limited 
 to decreasing the small residuum of the over-sea-borne 
 slaves, which doubtless it has.^ And so the vast 
 majority of the slaves required for use on the coast 
 plantations, and in the clove estates and the house- 
 holds in Zanzibar and Pemba, remain wholly unaffected 
 by our slave-trade j^olicy, which, moreover, as I have 
 said, effects nothing towards the mitigation of the 
 atrocities committed in the raids, or the horrors and the 
 deaths en route to the coast. 
 
 It is not to be inferred, however, that I, or any one 
 else, advocate that the naval supervision of q^^^^ Results of 
 the coast should be abolished in toto ; for it ^''^^'^^ Action. 
 is, and always was, a great check to the sea-borne traffic, 
 especially off the Portuguese littoral, and acts as a deter- 
 rent to slave exportation. It tends to keep alive that 
 national enthusiasm in a noble and disinterested object 
 which will assuredly, in the years that are to come, form 
 a bright page in the records of the nineteenth century. 
 Much has been achieved, under circumstances singularly 
 difficult. The sea-borne traffic might, however, be abso- 
 lutely crushed at once, were the nations of Europe to 
 unite in unanimously declaring the traffic to be piracy. 
 It was useless for us and some others to do this (in 
 1824)- so long as the example was not followed hy all 
 
 ' Mackay describes our action by means of a "slave-trade squadron" on the 
 coast as plutfging up the aperture of a wound, that the pus may find no exit. 
 (Life of Mackay, pp. 347, 427.) See also Wilson, Uj^'anda, &c., vol. i. p. 344. 
 
 2 Eastoe Teall, Slavery and the .Slave-Trade, p. 20.
 
 202 METHODS OF SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 other nations, for our sole declaration did not give us 
 the right to touch a foreign vessel engaged in the slave- 
 trade. 
 
 I have (p. 61 et seqq) discussed the question of the 
 Nyasa Consulate, and shown that its establishment was 
 absolutely useless so far as the slave-trade was con- 
 cerned, and merely led to new difficulties and anomalies. 
 It marked, however, a new departure, and indicated the 
 growing prevalence of the conviction that our action by 
 sea was insufficient. 
 
 I have already narrated that these views were more 
 or less present to my own mind even before I landed at 
 Quilimane, and the conviction that the evil should be 
 dealt with nearer its source, and a portion of the money 
 now spent solely on the coast applied to a scheme which 
 should have this object in view, had become strengthened 
 by a fuller knov^ledge of the matter. When I returned 
 from Karonga's to Blantyre in Aug, 1888, on account of 
 the critical condition of my wounds, I set to work, 
 during my four weeks' rest there, to draw out a scheme 
 for the suppression of the slave-trade along the water- 
 way of the lakes. 
 
 This scheme, which I drew up in two long articles full 
 Scheme for con- o^ statistics of cost, &c., I will briefly sum- 
 troi of Lakes. niarise here. I advocated that two light- 
 draught steamers should be placed on the Lakes Nyasa 
 and Tanganyika, each about 65 ft. long and 30 tons 
 weight. I obtained from those, whose experience best 
 enabled them to afford accurate information ^ (and who 
 had actually superintended the building of such a 
 steamer in Glasgow, and its transj)ort to Nyasa), the 
 fullest statistics regarding initial cost in Glasgow, freight 
 to Africa and cost of transport w.^ country, and of 
 placing them on the lakes. They would have a special 
 armament for fighting purposes, but would be primarily 
 
 1 To Mr. Frederick Morrison I was especially indebted.
 
 MY OWX SCHEME FOE SUPPRESSION AT SOURCE. 203 
 
 intended as a means of transport. The real coercive 
 force would consist of a body of soldiers, Avhose head- 
 quarters would be on the plateau bet^^'een the lakes — 
 a cool and bracing situation, where their health would 
 in all probability be excellent. The upkeep of the 
 steamers, including replacements of men, wear and tear 
 of all gear, &c., the pay of the men, a fund for casualties, 
 invahdings, &c., were all carefully made out. 
 
 I have always been opposed to the idea of placing 
 gunboats on the lake. I can fully appro- objections to 
 ciate (l) the enormous moral effect they s^^J^^o^ts. 
 will produce ; (2) the value of the base of operations 
 — a movable base, — which they will constitute on the 
 waters of the lake ; (3) the guarantee they give that 
 the British Government is wholly committed to a 
 forward policy ; (4) the incalculable effect of naval 
 discipline and organisation. But — and it is a very 
 serious but — (l) I hold that the enormous outlay 
 on their maintenance, not to speak of their initial 
 cost, and the expense of placing them on the lake, 
 could be more advantageously utilised. (2) That the 
 invalidings of officers and men, in such a climate, will 
 Ije a terrible drain both in men and money. (3) That 
 it will practically involve an impossible dual command, 
 (-t) That with the destruction of the few dhows (pro- 
 bably not half a dozen) on Nyasa in the first ten 
 days, their task will be practically accomplished, and 
 their utility minimised. That this can be done by an 
 ordinary trading steamer has already been proved by 
 the Domira. (5) The shape of Nyasa — its great length 
 (3G0 miles) and its narrowness (60 to 15 miles)— 
 renders it peculiarly unadapted for gunboat operations : 
 for, even in the absence of dhows, large canoes could 
 make the passage of the narrow ferry by night, while 
 dhows could elude capture, even by day, with a favour- 
 ing wind, by running into shoal water. {(')) Tlie scope
 
 204 METHODS OF SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 of their operations would, of course, be confined to 
 the lake, or within a very narrow radius by land, for it 
 would hardly be maintained that the primary object of 
 a gunboat was to carry out land operations. What is 
 wanted, however, is a land control, and effective adminis- 
 tration. (7) It is possible to conceive that the methods 
 and example of British blue-jackets would not be wholly 
 in accord with the peculiar influence extended through 
 a number of years over Nyasaland by the English and 
 Scotch missions, who form a powerful element. The 
 scheme I proposed appeared to me- to afford the advan- 
 tages claimed for the gunboats, without the serious 
 disadvantages which I have pointed out. 
 
 An equally effective base would be afforded by the 
 Armed tradin<' amicd trading steamer, which, while afford- 
 steamer. jj-^g gj-gg^^gr facility and accommodation for 
 
 the transport of troops, would not be open to the ob- 
 jections I have specified. Moreover, such a transport 
 steamer would be available for trade and conveyance of 
 stores, when not required for operations against the 
 slave-trade, and could thus partially defray the cost of 
 her maintenance. That a gunboat would not be avail- 
 able for such purposes is demonstrated by the fact that 
 a small transport steamer is to be placed on the lake, in 
 order to supply the wants of the gunboats. 
 
 In my alternative scheme I estimated for the main- 
 tenance of a sufficient native force, of which. 
 
 The land force. .- , , -, . 
 
 II jDossibJe, a nucleus and the non-commis- 
 sioned officers and native officers should be recruited in 
 India, and the rest locally. The headquarters, as 
 already stated, would be on the Nyasa-Tanganyika 
 plateau, in a strong and impregnable position. Small 
 subsidiary garrisons would be placed at certain strategic 
 points on both lakes (prominently the two ferries on 
 Nyasa). Effective communication would be maintained 
 with headquarters by means of heliographs, for which
 
 GUNBOATS V. A TRADING STEAMER, AND LAND FORCE. 205 
 
 the liills ^vlncll surround the lake offer facilities. A 
 system of spies to furnish information concernino- 
 the movements of slave caravans was also suggested. 
 If news reached any outpost of the arrival of a caravan 
 of slaves at any point (either before or after they 
 had crossed the lake), it would be at once flashed 
 to headcjuarters, and the steamer would embark an 
 adequate force, and sail for the spot. If the demand for 
 the liberation of the slaves were not complied with, the 
 force would attack by land, and the guns of the steamer 
 would open fire from the lake side. The village must 
 of necessity surrender before the well-directed attack of 
 disciplined and well-armed troops, supported from the 
 lake by the steamer. By way of punishment, any village 
 thus caught in flagrante delicto would have its stockades 
 levelled, and a jjrohibition enforced against their re- 
 construction, and all dhows and sea-going canoes, capable 
 of crossing the lake, destroyed. One or two such 
 examples would suffice, and the conveyance of slaves 
 across the lake would be finally abandoned — the two 
 or three existing dhows having been burned, and the 
 fortified villao-es of the Slavers dismantled. 
 
 The steamer, except when engaged in transporting 
 troops, would be available for carrying cargo. L^nd convovs 
 The Nyasa steamer would have the sup- stopped. 
 plies for the miUtary force and for the Tanganyika 
 steamer to convey, but the latter would he compara- 
 tively free to prosecute a trade around the shores of the 
 Tanganyika, and even to foster the legitimate trade of 
 the " Arabs " by conveying their goods. The produce so 
 collected would be carried down on the return journeys 
 of the Nyasa steamer : this would materially diminish 
 the expenses of their maintenance. 
 
 Of course, as soon as the slave-traders found that 
 the passage of the lake was blocked, they would march 
 their caravans round the lake, as indeed very many of
 
 206 METHODS OF SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 them did, even when there was no obstacle to the lake 
 passage. In this case, the gunboat becomes a " white 
 elephant " : its raison d'etre has ceased. By the scheme 
 I proposed, however, as soon as the spies or scouts 
 brought information that a slave convoy was marching- 
 eastwards, say from the Senga country to the coast, 
 round the north of the lake, the troops would be at 
 once despatched, with the same result as though the 
 passage of the lake had been attempted. By this 
 means I hojDed that an impassable barrier would be 
 extended from the north end of Tanganyika, along 
 its waters and across the plateau between it and Nyasa 
 (150 miles) — where the headquarters of the force would 
 be (with a, station on each lake), — thence along the 
 waters of Nyasa, and down the Shire to the Murchison 
 Rapids, — a total distance of over 1100 miles. As there 
 are no slave routes south of the Murchison Rapids,^ and 
 various boats and steamers patrol the waters of the 
 lower Shire and Zambesi, the cordon drawn would be 
 practically from the sea, along the Zambesi, Shire^, and 
 lake waterway, to the north of Tanganyika. 
 
 I did not advocate hot-headed and over-hasty mea- 
 schenie a sures ; for I pointed out that a considerable 
 
 gradual one. time must elapse before the Nyasa steamer 
 could be placed on the lake — probably eight months or 
 a year. This period I intended to devote to the raising, 
 equipping, and drilling of the native force, which would 
 number at first as many as 1000 men. By the selection 
 of energetic and capable officers (I already had offers from 
 one or two first-rate men to take service under me in this 
 task), together with native officers and non-commissioned 
 officers from India — where I anticipated that I could per- 
 sonally enlist some good Pathans, who had served under 
 me, were I allowed to do so — I hoped that by the time 
 
 1 It would appear that a route southwards does exist, but it is stated that 
 it has been effectually closed by a fort lately built by IVIr Johnston.
 
 SCOPE AND OBJECT OF THE SCHEME. 207 
 
 the Nyasa steamer was ready the force would be in a 
 fairly efficient state. Operations would then be begun 
 on Nyasa, with the whole force devoted to this portion 
 of the line alone. Meanwhile, this steamer would be 
 utilised in pushing up gradually the sections of the 
 second steamer, and the force on the plateau would 
 superintend its further conveyance to Tanganyika. 
 This, I calculated, would take a year or eighteen months 
 at the very least, by which time we should, I hoped, be 
 ready to commence operations on the northern lake. My 
 calculations were very carefully made. 
 
 The initial cost of the steamers was known, since 
 similar vessels had already been built for 
 Lake Nyasa. The carriage up country was 
 calculated on actual experiment, and was further sub- 
 stantiated by contracts offered me (which I still hold). 
 The estimate for the upkeep of the steamers, the 
 annual replacements (invalidings, &c.), was based on 
 the result of experience, and submitted to the criticism 
 of those who had resided longer in Nyasaland than I 
 had, and who had themselves had charge of steamers, 
 and could estimate the sum necessary for repairs and 
 maintenance. The cost of the force was worked out, in- 
 clusive of pay of all ranks, equipment, stores, medicines, 
 and medical attendance, &c. 
 
 This scheme, drawn out in the form of two articles for 
 the press, was submitted to the ' Contemporary Review '; 
 but, in its present form, it was too technical, and dealt 
 too fully with minutiae to be suitable for a monthly 
 magazine. The Kev H. Waller then, at the request of 
 the editor, wrote the article entitled "Two Ends of a 
 Slave Stick," Avhich appeared in the ' Contemporary ' for 
 April 1889, in which he reviewed the scheme, and quoted 
 long extracts from it. Tliis he was well (pialitied to do, 
 both from his personal residence in Nyasaland, and his 
 lifelong devotion to the anti-slavery cause, which had
 
 208 METHODS OF SLTPPRESSING THE SLAYE-TEADE. 
 
 constituted him an acknowledged authority on the 
 su1)ject. He described the scheme as the "right end of 
 the stick " ; the measures hitherto undertaken being the 
 " Avrong end." 
 
 Meanwhile, at the very time that 1 had been matur- 
 inof these plans in Africa, and transmitting: 
 
 Cardinal o i ' o 
 
 Lavigerie's them to England, by a curious coincidence 
 
 scli6in6. 
 
 a movement had been set on foot through- 
 out Europe by Cardinal Lavigerie, who had undertaken 
 to preach an " Anti-Slavery Crusade."^ He, too, had 
 advocated measures of repression at the source of the 
 evil ; but his scheme of independent crusading-parties 
 did not recommend itself to many of those who were 
 best informed on the conditions of the question." 
 
 It is true that I myself advocated the use of force, but 
 it was force supported by a very definite and complete 
 organisation. In the main it was defensive rather than 
 aggressive. "It is my belief," I wrote, "that a con- 
 sistent, conciliatory attitude, combined with a stern pro- 
 hibition against the slave-trade, the disregard of which 
 would involve war and a Nemesis of loss and destruction, 
 would soon lead to the abandonment of the slave-trade 
 in this part of Africa." Legitimate commerce and trade 
 should, I urged, be promoted by every possible means, 
 while a line would be drawn along the heart of Africa, 
 Use of Force ^^^^^ ^^J attempt of the Slavers to break 
 -?^^''*^- through that line would be met l)y force. 
 
 Thus peaceful methods would go hand in hand with 
 prohibition supported by force. The latter would be 
 applied only in resistance to aggression : it was not 
 unlawful, since Nyasaland was as yet " No-man's 
 Land" — moreover, hostilities had been gratuitously 
 begun by the Slavers, and Lord Salisbury, the Premier 
 
 1 Mackay supported this scheme. — Letter in Times, .Jan. 1889 ; Life, 
 p. 4.34. 
 
 2 Vide Coercive Measures against the Slave-Trade, bv Captain Lugard, p. 13.
 
 POINTS OF DIFFERENCE FROM LAVIGERIE's SCHEME. 209 
 
 and Foreign Minister, speaking of the fighting on 
 Nyasa, had stated in tlie House of Lords, that the pro- 
 secution of the "noble efforts" against Slavery in this 
 locality "must be left to private enterprise."^ Lastly, 
 the mode in which I advocated that force should be 
 applied was essentially unlike any independent fili- 
 bustering scheme, with no base of operations nor any 
 adequate organisation and communications. The scheme 
 depended for its feasibility on the fact of a through 
 communication with the sea, along a waterway fur- 
 nished with steamers, and a transport service in the 
 hands of well-established Companies. It had a definite 
 object, — the protection of the lives of the white men 
 settled all alonsf its leno-th : the formation of a harrier 
 to the slave-trade, and a check to that great combina- 
 tion of the forces of Islam and of the slave-traders, the 
 danger of which is not even now past, and Avhich, I fear, 
 the courageous but ill-advised attempts of Crusaders 
 may only precipitate. 
 
 In my opinion, if I may say so, the stand we made at 
 Karonga's staved off this combination for 
 
 1 • ^ • ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ii /•• Eflect of the 
 
 the tmie, which else had already been unjait Defence of 
 
 7 • -ri 1 J 1 J -^ n • • Karonga's. 
 
 accompli, ror we know that Mlozi was ui 
 league with Jumbe to the south, whose plans to march 
 overland and join him were known to me. Jumbe 
 was hand-in-glove with Mponda and Makanjila, to south 
 and east. On the north-east, Mlozi was supplied with 
 men and arms by Salim bin Nasur of Senga, and I heard, 
 on the best authority, that it was he who had told 
 Mlozi to attack the Britisli. On the north-west, 
 Kamathan, the lieutenant of Kal^unda, one of tlie most 
 powerful of the slavers of Tippoo Tib, was actually the 
 leader in Mlozi's attack, and was eventually killed. 
 Karonga s was a point of tlie utmost strategic importance; 
 it commanded the ferr}- at Deep Bay, and separated tlie 
 
 » Times, July 7th, 1888. 
 
 VOL. r. o
 
 210 METHODS OF SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 iiortlierii body of slave-raiders, against whom we were 
 fighting, from the southern. The Slavers knew this, or 
 they would never have fought as they did, spending 
 money and men on a protracted war ; nor could a man 
 of yesterday, like Mlozi, have held out had he not been 
 supported by far more powerful allies. 
 
 Moreover, the gratuitous attack of the Slavers upon 
 the British was a wdiolly new and unprecedented depar- 
 ture in African history. Never, up to the time of this 
 attack, had the Arabs or Slavers dared to engage in war 
 with the British, whose influence they knew to be 
 supreme at Zanzibar. Such an attack, therefore, meant 
 no common quarrel, and indicated the inception of a 
 great movement. And so Karonga's " held the Gate," 
 and Nyasaland, thank God, is to-day the "British 
 Central African Protectorate," instead of a great slave- 
 raiding, Mohammedan empire, stretching from Stanley 
 Falls to the Zambesi, and embracing both shores of 
 Nyasa, as I firmly believe — and so do several far-seeing- 
 men, who have had every local means of forming a 
 judgment— that it was within an ace of becoming. The 
 grand waterway of the Zambesi, and Shire, and Nyasa, 
 to Tanganyika is reserved to Great Britain. In looking 
 back on the events wliich led to these results, I feel 
 proud that my services have been found worthy to 
 be utilised to some small extent in so great an achieve- 
 ment. 
 
 If I have unduly digressed, I must crave my reader's 
 pardon. My object w^as to show how the organisation 
 of these various slaving parties is carried on, and how 
 they render each other support, and what is the ulti- 
 mate goal towards which this organisation and these 
 ramifications are tending. As I write I feel a strong- 
 desire to throw into the fire the mere tale of my per- 
 sonal travels — to abandon my intention of writing on
 
 IMPORTANCE OF DEFENCE OF KARONGA's. 211 
 
 the commercial prospects of East Africa, to 'slide' 
 the story of ' adventure ' and of sport, and to limit 
 myself solely to this engrossing subject of urgency of the 
 the slave-trade. The subject is so large, ^^'^"•^r. 
 and it is so pitiful. Even those in England who, amid 
 the engagements and pleasures of their social posi- 
 tions, find time to champion the cause of the slave, 
 understand so little of the real state of the case. So 
 much nonsense and " bunkum " is talked I Vivid appeals 
 are made to the imagination, and to mere sentiment and 
 horror-mongery — as though, forsooth, we must have our 
 palates tickled by a few blood-curdling atiocities (thougli 
 of these, as I and others have shown, there are plenty), 
 and our pharisaical philanthropy quickened by pictures 
 of agonised slaves in impossible fetters (which would 
 anchor a man-o'-war), pleading with clasped hands, before 
 we can put our hands into our pockets and produce the 
 coin which stamps our sympathy as sincere, or give our 
 efiorts to the advocacy of a cause which, without these 
 embellishments of blood and thunder and clankino^ 
 chains, should appeal to our mere humanity, simply 
 because it is the cause ^of those who have no champion 
 — nay, who do not even know the depth of their own 
 degradation, because they have never experienced its 
 contrast I 
 
 These plans, however, are out of date, and a matter of 
 ancient history. Africa has now been almost completely 
 divided u[) among the nations of Europe. Nyasaland 
 has become a British Protectorate. Europe and America 
 have sent their representatives to a great International 
 Conference. Seventeen delegates of the Great Powers 
 have met at Brussels, and examined the whole question 
 of the slave-trade, and the means for its suj)- 
 
 rni • 1 • 1 T 1 I'l*^' Hnissels Act. 
 
 pression. Iheu" conclusions are embodied 
 
 in tlie "General Act of Brussels," whicli the Powers
 
 212 METHODS OF SUPPRESSIXG THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 represented have ratified, and pledged themselves to 
 carry out. It prohibits tlie import of arms (including 
 percussion guns, and excluding only flint-locks with 
 unrifled barrels) into districts declared to be infested by 
 the slave-trade. It lays down the principle that the 
 slave-trade must be suppressed by the development of 
 commerce ; by the improvement of communications by 
 roads, railways, kc; and by the establishment of fortified 
 posts and effective administration in the interior. All 
 this we are now pledged, by international treaty obliga- 
 tions, to undertake. And finally, let us note that the 
 Brussels Act takes count of no distinction between 
 spheres of influence (whether under chartered com- 
 panies or not), jDrotectorates, or possessions. For the 
 purposes of the Act, a Power is pledged to carry out 
 all its obligations, in any country whatsoever, in which 
 it claims to have an exclusive influence. 
 
 Let us pause for a moment to see how these international 
 treaty obligations, incurred at a conference 
 
 Its stiijulatious. i *^ j j i • i r> r^ 
 
 summoned at tne instance or our C^ueen, 
 have been carried out by ourselves. The general 
 scope and nature of our pledges, I shall discuss in 
 chapter xli. (pp. 573-578). The maintenance of eflec- 
 tive administration and the establishment of fortified 
 posts, as Avell as the construction of railways and 
 roads, are also dealt with elsewhere (see chapters xlii., 
 xliii.; also chapter xvii.). The promotion of legitimate 
 commerce is synonymous with the establishment of effec- 
 tive administration. We will here glance only at the 
 last point — the importation of arms — premising that 
 inipoitofarms o^^^' Wcst Africau Protectoratcs are within 
 and liquor. j^^ie slavc-trade zone. Linked with the 
 
 question of the import of arms is that of the traffic 
 in spirituous liquors — also legislated against by the 
 Brussels conference.
 
 THE BRUSSELS ACT. 213 
 
 I am o-lad to be able to bear witness, that in all 
 that crreat iDortion of Africa of which I 
 
 . . East Africa 
 
 am writing — Nyasaland and British East 
 Africa — so far as I know, the British have not im- 
 ported, for sale to the natives, one single pint of in- 
 toxicating liquor. Moreover, in Aug. 1892 the Sultan 
 of Zanzibar placed his dominions within the zone 
 of the prohibition of the sale of spirits, under the 
 terms of the Brussels Act. Liquor is imported up the 
 Zaml3esi by traders of other nationalities, and the vile 
 concoctions sold by the Dutch and Portuguese at Sena 
 (as I have seen), have already lowered both the vendor 
 and the buyer. ^ 
 
 I wish I could say that our hands are as clean on the 
 West Coast. There — to take one instance 
 only — in our Oil Rivers Protectorate (Old 
 Calabar), a revenue of £87,695 per annum has lately 
 been ' created ' by customs levied on imports alone. Out 
 of this large sum £68,740 is realised by the duties on 
 arms, j)0wder, and spirits (and this does not include ale, 
 beer, porter, claret, ammunition and cartridges, &c., for 
 Europeans), The total value of the spirits which are 
 allowed to be imported into this British Protectorate 
 (exclusive of all wine, ale, beer, which amount to £5011) 
 is £125,116, representing l,3o0,7ol gallons of gin and 
 rum, besides other spirits. Of this, £21,735 Extent of the 
 worth is exported from Great Britain. As *™"^"^- 
 regards arms and ])o\vder, the total value of the unports 
 during this one year (Aug. 1st, 1891, to Aug, 1st, 1892) 
 was £41,021, which does not include 33 J million gun- 
 caps (value £1890), of which close on 33 millions came 
 from England ; iiur does it include £593 worth of ammu- 
 nition and cai'tridges inqtorted (like the caps) free. The 
 
 1 Mr. Rankin (Scottish Geoj^rapliical Mac,'azine, vol. ix. p. -I'ib) indorses 
 this in the strongest possible terms from his own observation.
 
 214 THE ARMS AND LIQUOR TRADE. 
 
 sum I have named represents a total import for one 
 year of 62,272 guns (16,398 being from England), 
 665,785 lb. of gunpowder, all from England, and 
 90,982 lb. of lead, of which 87,142 lb. is from England. 
 I quote these figures from the statistics of the Oil River 
 Protectorate, because it is the very latest return (last 
 year's ^) we have from West Africa, and because the 
 success of our " commercial development " there has 
 recently been the subject of great gratulation. Add to 
 these figures the imports of arms and spirits through 
 Lagos, the Gold Coast, and Sierra Leone, all of them 
 British colonies, and we shall realise the extent of the 
 evil." 
 
 Possibly my readers may not know what kind of 
 Natiuc ot the stufftliis giu is wliicli is imported into West 
 Li.iuor. Africa? In November 1892 I was stay- 
 
 in o- with a Glasofow merchant, one of the class of men 
 it does one good to meet — practical, honest, and straight- 
 forward. He told me that he had been engaged, not in 
 the manufacture of the liquor, but merely in its trans- 
 port ; yet, when he discovered the real facts about it, 
 he resigned all connection, however remote, with its 
 exportation, rather than soil his hands in such traffic. 
 A Liverpool merchant, trading A\'ith the West Coast of 
 Africa, carried out a similar resolve. The former one 
 day stated to a friend, that a whole case of this stuff, 
 as it stood on the ship's deck, did not cost more than 
 2s. The friend was incredulous. To prove the truth 
 of his statement, he had the exact details calcu- 
 lated. The total cost was Is. 9^d. ! This included the 
 
 1 Foreign Office Annual Series, No. 1144. Africa. 
 
 - Capt. Jacques, who is fighting against the slave-traders in the Nyangwe 
 district, complains bitterly of the supplies of arms and powder which reach 
 them. Lieut. Dhaniss, who defeated them at Kasongo, is said to have captured 
 500 guns imported frovi Zanzibar (Zanz. Gaz., April 5th, 1893) ; and Dr 
 Cross says that in Nyasaland "there never was a time in the history of the 
 lake when the Slavers were so well supplied with arms and powder." These 
 are the results of this vast importation.
 
 EXTENT OF THE TEADE — NATURE OF THE SPIRITS. 215 
 
 wood, the making of the packing-case, the nails, bottles, 
 corks, labels, tians^iort charges, and the liquor. De- 
 ducting all the extra items, what was the cost of the 
 actual spirit ? He told me it was, absolutely and 
 literally, poUon. 
 
 And we, who, as a nation, posed at the Brussels Con- 
 ference as champions of the natives of Africa professions r. 
 — we who were loudest in our assertions, P^'''^cti<^«^- 
 that the greatest curse to Africa was the importation 
 of spirits — who held Mansion-House meetings to urge 
 on the Conference the exjDediency of including the pro- 
 hibition of the import of spirits in the scope of the work 
 of the delegates, and j^rotested at the hesitation of other 
 nations to accept our dictum — this is our liractice ! — 
 not merely in " No-man's Land," or a sphere of influence, 
 l)ut in British Crown Colonics and in a British Pro- 
 tectorate ! 
 
 Look at }'our atlas, and you will find that in a map a 
 foot square of the African continent you could cover the 
 whole Oil Rivers Protectorate with a split pea ! Yet the 
 Foreign Office returns which I have qucfted show that in 
 a single year — last year — the import amounted to over 
 1 1 million gallons of cheap liquor, 62,272 guns, and over 
 lialf-a-millioii Ux of powder. It is true that this import, 
 ]>rior to April 1892 (the date of the final ratification of 
 the Brussels Act), was not an absolute breach of inter- 
 national treaty, but its continuance since that date is in 
 direct violation of our pledges. 
 
 AVe, above all others, have protested the evils of the 
 import of arms. Yet, as you travel through Africa, and 
 look at the guns of the slave-raiders, or the natives, in 
 the far interior, you will find the vast majority to be of 
 British maimfacture. Nor, when I was on Nyasa in 
 1888. did the African Lakes Company refrain IVom this 
 traffic, for they sold both guns and powder, and their 
 stores were full of both for sale. 'Hie ImperiMl British
 
 216 THE ARMS AND LIQUOR TRADE. 
 
 East Africa Company have strictly prohibited this sale. 
 They have also taken means to prevent the importation 
 of arms by Arabs or traders. In the chapters on 
 Uganda I have alluded to the sale of arms in German 
 territory. This, up to April 1892, was no breach of 
 the Brussels Act, which had not come into force up to 
 the time I left Uganda ; moreover, the sale or barter, 
 by natives, of arms already in their possession, across 
 an inland frontier, is a matter wholly apart from the 
 question of the import of munitions into Africa.
 
 217 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SAIL AGAIN FOR AFRICA — MOMBASA TO MAKONGENI. 
 
 Nyasa scheme postponed — Sail for Africa — Arrive Mombasa — News of Nj'asa- 
 land — And Uganda — Mr Mackenzie suggests my going there — Scheme for 
 opening up Sabakhi — And trying animal transport — Fugitive-slavequestion 
 — Its history — INIissions harbouring slaves — Saved by Kirk — The Aral)s 
 hostile — ^Mission pledges forgotten — Slaves redeemed — Results — Fugitive 
 slaves legal property — My scheme of self-redemption — Slaves as fcro! 
 natunr — Wilson — Start for the interior — The Giriama — Customs, &c. — 
 Description of country — Shauri at Fuladoyo — The scheme accepted — The 
 Arabs agree — Road-cutting — Arrive Makongeni — Nature of the country — 
 Return to jNIombasa — Madrassee servants — Back to Makongeni — Success 
 so far — Willingness of the men — Drummond on the Zanzibari — His origin 
 and character — Language — Makongeni people accept the scheme. 
 
 Mr Rhodes having proceeded to tlie Cape, I ascer- 
 tained that no final amalgamation of the South African 
 and African Lakes Companies was likely to be effected 
 till the spring of the following year (1890), and tliat 
 meantime Mr Johnston had gone to Karonga's to effect 
 a settlement. My undertaking with Mr Rhodes, there- 
 fore, remained in abeyance, and, as the wound in my left 
 arm began to break out with tlie cold of the coming- 
 winter, I gladly accepted a kind offer from Sir W. 
 Mackinnon of a passage to Mombasa and back for my 
 health in one of liis ships. I was still at liberty, for, 
 thougli the War Office had cancelled the year's leave 
 granted to me, I was unattaclied for duty, awaiting the 
 return of my regiment from India in the early spring. 
 1 purposed, therefore, only a few^ weeks' stay in Mom-
 
 218 
 
 SAIL AGAIN FOR AFRICA. 
 
 basa. I was anxious in some way to acknowledge my 
 free passage, and therefore gladly undertook to make 
 any suggestions regarding the operations of the Imperial 
 British East Africa Company which some experience of 
 campaigning and of work similar to this might prompt. 
 
 On these terms I started on Nov. 3d, 1889, having 
 spent five months in England since my return from 
 Nyasalancl. My fellow-passengers on the Aruwimi in- 
 cluded Sir Charles Euan-Smith, who was on his way to 
 
 Mombasa Hakbouk. 
 
 Zanzibar to resume the duties of his appointment as 
 Consul-General, and with him was Mr E. J. L. Berkeley, 
 Senior Vice-Consul. Mr G. S. Mackenzie, who was about 
 to take up the duties of Administrator of the Imperial 
 British East Africa Company for a short period, was 
 also a passenger, and he was accompanied by a number 
 of j unior oflicers of the same company. 
 
 On Dec. 6th we arrived at our destination. News 
 met us by Renter's telegrams of the Portuguese aggres- 
 sions on the Shire, and the energetic action of our
 
 WiUiajn Blackwood £ Son& Rdiuburgh.
 
 ARRIVE MOMBASA NEWS OF UGANDA. 219 
 
 Government with regard to them. I saw with pleasure 
 that Great Britain was now fully alive to the importance 
 of the question, and that our work at Karonga's, and the 
 interest it had awakened, had aided in some degree 
 in opening the eyes of those at home to the subject of 
 the slave-trade, and the urgency of retaining our hold on 
 tlie west shore of Nyasa, if the missions were to survive, 
 and European influence was not to give place to the 
 aggression of the slave-raiders and the Islam creed. I 
 saw, also, that my own services in respect of Mr Ehodes' 
 ])roposals were no longer required ; indeed, shortly after- 
 wards, on the formation of the British Central African 
 Protectorate, Mr Johnston was appointed Imperial 
 Commissioner, and Mr Rhodes engaged to provide him 
 with £10,000 per annum, the sum which he had offered 
 to place at my disposal to carry out the previous scheme. 
 We also heard news from Uganda. The Rev E. C. 
 Gordon, a missionary, wrote the story of the revolutions 
 whicli had occurred in that country, the deposition of 
 Mwanga, and the ousting of the Christians by the 
 Mohammedans, &c. Colonel Euan-Smith and Mr Mac- 
 kenzie were both strongly of opinion that an effort 
 sliould be made to establish the Company's administra- 
 tion there ; and Mr Mackenzie at this early date 
 (Nov. 1889), sounded me as to my willingness to com- 
 mand an expedition to Uganda. My interests were 
 all in Nyasaland, but tlie task proposed to me seemed 
 one which was as great, and offered as much scope, as 
 the one I had at first expected to luidertake on Nyasa, 
 Ijut which now had been confided to another. I there- 
 fore readily accepted his proposal, with the proviso that 
 if I should l)e required in Nyasaland — for as yet the 
 Protectorate had not been declared, nor had Mr 
 Johnston been appointed, and I did not know whether 
 I should still be called upon to fulfil my obligations w ith 
 Mr Rhodes — I should be free to go there, |)rovided the
 
 220 START AGAIN FOE, AFRICA. 
 
 plans for Uganda had not taken definite shape, and 
 provided, of course, that the War Office sanction was 
 obtained. It had been decided — I do not know for 
 what reason— to defer any immediate action ; perhaps 
 news was expected from Mr Jackson (who was in com- 
 mand of a large expedition in the interior) which might 
 modify the views of the directors. 
 
 Meantime, Mr Mackenzie proposed to me to under- 
 take the exploration of the Sabakhi river, and to open it 
 up as a route into the interior, to supersede the old 
 trade route rid the Taru desert, in which the scarcity of 
 water (especially during the hot months) caused the 
 greatest possible difficulties to caravans. My idea of 
 the method to be followed in opening up a country like 
 Africa, was to build small stations as centres of trade, 
 colonisation, &c., and so, by extending slowly but effec- 
 tually from our base on the sea-board, to build up a 
 wedge of civilisation which should gradually extend 
 further and further into the interior, each furthest out- 
 post being connected with a series of stations behind it, 
 up to which an effective administration should have 
 already made itself felt. This was the plan long ago 
 advocated by Gordon. The Company, however, already 
 had a detached post at Machako's, 350 miles inland, and 
 Mr Jackson was to build another in Kavirondo, on the 
 lake shore, unconnected with the base, and 660 miles 
 from the coast. Between Machako's and the sea there 
 was no connecting link at all — no roads and no adminis- 
 tration. The object of my present journey was to con- 
 nect this station with the coast administration ; and 
 should I find that the Sabakhi offered a feasible route 
 for transport, I had authority to establish small stations 
 at intervals along the line. 
 
 These, I proposed, should be some 50 miles (viz., four 
 marches) apart in the first instance, and should consist 
 of small stockades, in which should be placed a few of
 
 SCHEME FOR OPENING UP THE SABAKHI. 221 
 
 the Company's ashirl (undrillecl soldiers), under the 
 command of selected and trustworthy native headmen, 
 with a European at the more important posts. These 
 garrisons would merely constitute a defensive force to 
 give confidence to the villagers w^ho were to settle 
 around the post under the Company's auspices ; for 
 the Sabakhi, along its whole length, flowed through 
 country entirely uninhabited. The main object, there- 
 fore, was rather to select sites adapted to agriculture, 
 and ofiering advantages of soil, pasture, water, fuel, and 
 timber, with a healthy climate, &c., than strong defen- 
 sible posts. Such was the task I proposed to myself, and 
 I use the phrase advisedly, for Mr Mackenzie, with that 
 kind confidence and trust which he showed towards all 
 the Company's officers, and in a marked degree towards 
 myself, and which won him the personal affection of all 
 who served under his administration, had left the matter 
 almost entirely in my own hands, and furnished me with 
 no orders or instructions, merely saying he gave me an 
 entirely free hand to carry out the exploration of the 
 Sabakhi, and cordially agreeing with the plans I proposed. 
 There were two other matters which excited my keenest 
 interest. One was the employment of transport animals 
 to replace porterage by man — a system which had already 
 broken down (vide chapter xvii.). The Company had, 
 prior to this, imported a considerable number of camels, 
 mules, and ponies. The camels, being without skilled 
 attendants, and there being no one who understood their 
 wants and diseases, had all died except tln-ee, as had also 
 tlie other animals. A fresh consignment of some dozen 
 mules from Aden had recently arrived. I obtained per- 
 mission to take these animals with me, in order to make 
 tlie practical experiment as to whether animal transport 
 could not be advantageously used in East Africa ; for 
 the ill- success which had so far attended their intro- 
 duction liad prejudiced the administration against them.
 
 222 START AGAIN FOR AFRICA. 
 
 The other subject of great interest to me was the 
 difficulty regarding the fugitive slaves (through whose 
 villages I should pass), who had, years before, established 
 stockades at Fuladoyo and elsewhere, and between whom 
 and their late Arab masters there existed a chronic feud, 
 which at this time threatened once more to break out 
 into a serious war. When the British East African 
 Company was formed, this was almost the first difficulty 
 with which the Administrator had to deal on arrival in 
 Mombasa. As this is a phase of the question but little 
 understood, I will endeavour briefly to explain the 
 matter. Many years ago, in the earlier days of the 
 Church Missionary Society's advent in East Africa, the 
 mission stations had become refuges for runaway slaves. 
 I have already fully explained {p. 170, &c.) that the slave 
 was (and is still) the legal property of his master, and 
 that, from the point of view of the Arab, to steal a slave 
 (or harbour him if he runs away, which is practically the 
 same thing) is identical with the theft of a horse, sheep, 
 or ox in England. The Arab saw his slaves appropriated 
 by the missionaries. By them they were given work to 
 do, and made to obey rules, and not allowed to run away.^ 
 He could see no difference in their status. " I buy my 
 slaves with my own hard cash, or I expose my life and 
 fight for them," he bitterly said, " and then you mis- 
 sionaries steal them from me, and make them your own 
 slaves without purchase." 
 
 For a time the storm gathered but did not burst. 
 Missionary caravans even broke up, and dispersed slave 
 caravans by force. At length the Arabs could stand it 
 no longer, they declared their intention of attacking the 
 mission station, and recapturing their legal property. 
 The missions even prepared for war with a flag inscribed 
 
 1 Willoughby narrates that a missionary was indignant at liis having 
 enlisted mission men without his permission, and he draws the conckision 
 that the liberated slave was hardly more free under mission surveillance than 
 before he obtained his " freedom.'' — Sport in East Africa, p. 35.
 
 ORIGIN OF THE "FUGITIVE SLAVE QUESTION." 223 
 
 Ungivana (freedom) ! Sir John Kirk, the Consul, was 
 informed of the dilemma, and he told the missions that, 
 if the owners came with the Sultan's officials, he could 
 not resist the law of the land ; but he restrained the 
 Arabs for forty-eight hours, and the missionaries gave 
 a distinct pledge that they would never again harbour 
 slaves.^ The fugitives were warned to escape, and most 
 of them joined an outlaw Arab chief, named Mal^aruk, 
 while a few returned to their masters, and the missions 
 were saved.'- Several years passed by ; the missions 
 had forgotten their pledges. By carelessness, or by a 
 thoughtless and misdirected zeal, they again allowed 
 slaves to take refuo-e in their stations. The Arabs 
 behaved with, much forbearance, and took no measures 
 of reprisal But suddenly the war broke out in 1888-89 
 between the Arabs and the Germans. Several nations 
 of Europe, England among the number, blockaded 
 the coast of Africa ; the Arab was denied arms and 
 powder where^'ith to fight against the Germans, and 
 we were foremost in our vioilance. Arabs were shot 
 down and hung. The Germans were, of course, at this 
 time held in bitter execration, nor were the English 
 popular. Were we not the friends of the Germans ? 
 Were we not blockading the coast and preventing them 
 getting arms to defend themselves ? 
 
 ' As late as the present year, we still find the missions (Methodist) harbour- 
 ing fugitive slaves, and even offering armed resistance to their re-capture 
 (Daily Chronicle, April 10, 1893). The status of slavery being legal, the 
 Administration has no option but to enforce the rights of the owners, yet in 
 the House of Commons in answer to questions which betrayed the most com- 
 plete ignorance of the matter, her Majesty's minister replied that the action 
 of the Company would be investigated. However laudable the sympathy of 
 the nii>sions with these fugitives, it is surely unquestionable thiit they must 
 obey the law of the land in which they are e.stablished, unless they are i>re- 
 pared to constitute themselves into a fighting force, opposed not only to the 
 Sultan, but to her Majesty's officers and the Company's officials administering 
 under the authority delegated to them by the Sultan. 
 
 - Viih Philemon 10 and Hi, whore St. Paul sends back n fugitive slave to liis 
 master.
 
 '224 START AGAIN FOR AFRICA. 
 
 The British Company had only just been formed ; in 
 its very infancy it was threatened with extermination. 
 The Germans had troo23S, officers, and cannon to hold 
 their own. The British Company had not a single 
 soldier, nor rifles, nor ammunition, nor cannon. The 
 position of the Englishmen in Mombasa, and of the mis- 
 sionaries at Babai and Frere Town, was precarious in the 
 extreme. Shots were fired into the house of the Acting- 
 Administrator (Mr Buchanan). The white men went 
 armed, and no man knew at what moment the storm 
 might burst. The Arabs wanted an ostensible cause of 
 quarrel ; they had it in the harl)o\ning of the slaves by 
 the missions, in spite of their pledge. There was no 
 option but to hand over the slaves or to redeem them 
 by payment to the owners. The Company advanced the 
 money, £3000, of which the missions repaid £1400, and 
 Government paid £800. Fourteen hundred slaves were 
 liberated and given freedom papers, the danger was 
 averted, and the Arabs were pacified. But there still 
 remained a feAv other fugitive slaves harboured by the 
 Methodist Mission at Bibi, &c. 
 
 There were also several colonies of these runaway 
 slaves, who had built large stockaded villages, not far 
 from Mombasa — at Fuladoyo and Makongeni, &c. They 
 had defied the Arabs, and some few years before had 
 fought a battle with them, in which, I believe, the Arabs 
 got the worst of it. At the time of my arrival in East 
 Africa, the Arabs were talking of again taking war 
 against Fuladoyo. This was the difficulty which the 
 Company's Administrator had to deal with. On the one 
 hand the Compajiy were powerless to prevent hostilities, 
 for they had no force of their own at all. On the other 
 hand they could not well allow a sanguinary war to 
 spring uj) at the very gates, so to speak, of their head- 
 quarters, while they posed as the administrators and 
 paramount power of the country. Mr Mackenzie saw
 
 THE COMPANY S INITIAL DIFFICULTY. 225 
 
 no way out of the dilemma except by ransoming these 
 fugitives, and so, again, buying off the owners. One's 
 sympathies were, naturally, with the slaves, who had, 
 from our jDoint of view, every right to their freedom; 
 but the plan of buying off the Arabs, or of giving the 
 slaves the money gratis, did not recommend itself to 
 my mind. On the one side it was a concession (very 
 like a submission) to the Arabs, for which they had no 
 claim, as they certainly had in the case of the slaves 
 harboured by the missions. On the other side, such 
 gratuitous ransom was, in its tendency, demoralising to 
 the slaves, and would only encourage all the lazy black- 
 guards at the coast to run away and get ransomed also. 
 A slave thus redeemed would not value his freedom, and 
 the precedent was bad. 
 
 An extract from my diary when first I came among 
 these people — at the mission station of Eibi, thirteen 
 miles from coast — and could practically test my views 
 by the light of facts, gives an insight into the actual 
 working results of such a system: — 
 
 "Rev. Heroe tells me that, as I expected, the slaves 
 freed by Mr Mackenzie value their freedom so little 
 that two he knows well, Ferunzi and Abechizi, went 
 back of their own accord to their master Mabaruk l)in 
 Kashid.^ The wife of one of them (Ferunzi) was also a 
 freed slave, and she cared so little for the fieedom paper 
 (for which $25 had been paid), that she left it unclaimed 
 in Heroe's house, when she joined her husband in slavery 
 again ! Heroe quite agreed with my view, that this 
 paper has a market value, which these fellows will not 
 be slow to find out. The liberated slave will sell his 
 paper to another man, and spend the proceeds in eating 
 and drinking (and in this country, where you can find 
 twenty men of tlie same name in a square mile, how 
 
 ' This man was in the Company's pay, and shortly afterwards took command 
 of the first expedition against Witn. 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 226 • START AGAIN FOR AFRICA. 
 
 can you swear to the real owner ? besides, names are 
 changed daily). He will then either voluntarily go into 
 slavery to his old master, or join the nearest village of 
 runaways. This causes a triple confusion. The man, 
 who has jDarted with his paper, is no one's property (and 
 can say that he has lost his paper, and claim a new one 
 by proving his identity). The man who has bought it 
 has j^nrchased his own freedom, in his own opinion at 
 least, and identification of either is very, very difficult. 
 Lastly, supposing he sells himself again, which is the 
 most likely course for him to pursue, he gets double 
 value for his paper, and the whole mess is inextricable ! 
 
 " Another point, too, jDresents itself to me. Owners 
 will co-operate in this swindle ; and, arranging that 
 their slaves shall return to them, will get the price 
 of their liberation, and their slave as well. I maintain 
 that only such picked men should be liberated as have 
 proved their real anxiety to be free. . . . Those willing 
 to work out their own freedom will be w^orthy of it. 
 ... In the case of those already remitted, photographs 
 should be taken, so as to identify the men. If the 
 Company establish villages on their estates of these and 
 other freed slaves (captured at sea), whoever super- 
 intends the estate would get to know them." 
 
 As regards the legality of the ownership of these 
 slaves, all fugitives (or others) who could prove that 
 they had been deported from the interior, subsequent to 
 the decree of 1873, were not legally held. The same 
 thing, of course, applied to the fugitives at the mission 
 stations, and therefore the gratuitous ransoming of 
 these, though prompted by necessity, was unfortunate 
 in this respect also, that it aftbrded a very direct ac- 
 knowledgment of the claims of ownership by the Arabs 
 over their slaves. The Arab, however, was probably 
 in most cases wholly unaware of this technical disability. 
 The law courts of Zanzibar and Mombasa daily re-
 
 SELF-EMANCIPATION SCHEME. 227 
 
 cognised the validity of the claims of ownership, and 
 the owner had every ground for supposing that we 
 held the decree of 1873 as invalid in theory as we did 
 in practice. I have alluded to this point, unnecessary 
 as it seems, because certain well-meaning people have 
 cavilled at the action of the Company, on the grounds 
 that the legality of the ownership was recognised by 
 these methods, and have left out of sight the fact that 
 since the legal status was still acknowledged and no 
 question had ever been raised as to the legal acquisition 
 of any individual slave, the Administration was bound to 
 recognise them as legally held, unless it proclaimed aboli- 
 tion on the grounds of the 1873 decree — a measure which 
 would, undoubtedly, have been injudicious at the moment. 
 I proposed to Mr Mackenzie that the slaves should 
 be induced to work out their own freedom. This seemed 
 a fair solution, for even if it w'ere granted that the 
 slaves had the right to be free (on the grounds of the 1873 
 Edict), they would by this payment secure themselves 
 from the attack of the Arabs and from a war whose issue 
 was doubtful, and which would in any case mean the 
 destruction of their crops. Since, however, they were as 
 a matter of fact recognised as the legal property of their 
 masters, if they came to the coast towais to purchase 
 goods, or for other purposes, they were liable to seizure 
 by their former owners, who would be suj^ported in their 
 action by the law. Thus they were absolutely debarred 
 from visiting the coast, and it was wortli a sum of money 
 to them to obtain this freedom of access, and the Ic(/al 
 recoo-nition of their riohts as free men. Granted the 
 legality of slavery — and l^earing in mind that this 
 legality had never been disputed on the grounds of 
 acquisition subsequent to the 1873 Edict — it will be seen 
 that the status of these fumtive slaves was a delicate 
 one, which could be viewed logically from two wholly 
 different standpoints — that of the master and that of
 
 228 MOMBASA TO MAKONGENI. 
 
 the slave. Had they settled beyond the Sultan's domin- 
 ions, the case would have been different. Being, in fact, 
 held in the eye of the law to be ferae naturae,^ held in a 
 state of domestication, their escape beyond the borders 
 of the Sultanate ought to entitle them to the ruling 
 given in Indian law ^ in the case of an elepliant who has 
 returned to his native haunts, over whom the original 
 owner can claim no rights of ownership ! Be it remem- 
 bered that it is we who, in a British Protectorate and in 
 British courts of law, thus recognise a fellow human being 
 as having no more rights than a mere beast of burden ; 
 indeed, it is doubtful whether, in the case I quote, we 
 should uphold his equal rights with the elephant.^ 
 
 I now undertook to go to Fuladoyo, and to endeavour 
 to bring about a solution of the fugitive slave difficulty 
 on the basis of self-redemption. Mr Mackenzie would 
 deal with the masters, and assess the price of the ransom. 
 As my assistant in my work, I had the good fortune to 
 hit on Mr George Wilson, an Australian gentleman, 
 who had come to Africa with his brother independently 
 of the Company about a year previously. He was a 
 
 1 In applying this term I do not, of course, mean that we ever recognised 
 the right of the shxve-raiders in East Africa to shoot down or caj^ture natives, 
 or the right of owners to l\ill slaves at their pleasure when domesticated. The 
 term, therefore, is not wTiolIy applicable ; but, except in the matter of life and 
 death, it perhaps expresses more nearly than any other the status of the slave. 
 For until recently we ignored the question of capture in the interior, and the 
 edicts of the Sultan were merely concerned with the arrival of slaves within 
 the boundaries of the Sultanate, while the law granted them no rights other 
 than those possessed by domesticated animals, and took no cognisance of how 
 they were acquired, nor vindicated their right to freedom on the grounds of 
 recent importation ; and, like ground-game, on change of residence they could 
 claim no rights as subjects of the [British] protectorate they had left, but 
 came under the law of the country in which they were found. 
 
 2 Thirteen Years among the Wild Beasts of India, Col. Saunderson, p. 77. 
 
 ^ Vide infra. This right (to revert to his previous state) was not upheld in 
 the case of the Makongeni fugitives, settled beyond the limits of the Sultanate, 
 and hence by the recognition of the rights of ownership of the masters over 
 them, tluy luere actually i^laced on a lower j)latform than ferae naturae., as 
 illustrated by the law quoted.
 
 WE START FOR MACHAKO's. 229 
 
 man of about twentj-five years old, with a face which 
 one mstinctively " cottoned to." When I called on 
 him, I found him eno^ao-ed in a boxino'-match with a 
 missionary, and both of them seemed somewhat taken 
 aback at the entrance of a stranger. I declared my 
 errand. My name, in connection with Nyasaland, was 
 already familiar to Wilson, and he at once declared 
 himself ready to come with me. 
 
 We immediately began to enlist porters, and to make 
 such simple " line gear " as was necessary for the animals 
 — head and heel ropes, head-stalls, saddlery, &c. We 
 indented for the ordinary requisites ; a few porter loads 
 of goods to buy food with in the interior ; many loads 
 of rice for food for the men while cutting a road through 
 the forest ; axes, spades, hoes, crowbars, saws, &c., for 
 l)uilding stockades and road-cutting ; and a few Euro- 
 pean necessities — very few, indeed, for we were both of 
 us long used to jungle life and fare. In the course of a 
 week the rough line gear was completed, and we started. 
 Together with men enlisted at Ribi and elsewhere, our 
 caravan ultimately consisted of about 120 Swahilis 
 (mostly free men from liabai and Mombasa), together 
 with nine Persian transjDort attendants and agricul- 
 turists. 
 
 Our route led NNW. The strip of cultivation which 
 extends along the coast is very narrow, except at certain 
 points like Kabai, where a big estuary of the sea extend- 
 ing inland renders possible the cultivation of the coco- 
 nut palm (which only grows close to the sea). Passing- 
 through these plantations, full of coco-nut palm, mango, 
 cashew nut, and other trees [vidv chap, xvi.), we emerge 
 in a close country, where the high grass and dense sage 
 bush, seven or eight feet high, shut out the view. Tliis 
 is the country of the Giriama, a section of the Wanyika 
 tril)e. Tlie men are tall and wiry, clothed only in a small 
 loin-cloth, and armed with bows. They are much
 
 230 MOMBASA TO MAKONGEXI. 
 
 addicted to drunkenness, and one constantly meets long 
 strings of tliem carrying fowls, or calabashes fall of corn, 
 to exchange for the fiery temho of the coast, made by the 
 slaves from the sap of the palm. The women wear little 
 double petticoats, reaching from the waist to half-way 
 above the knee. E-ound the waist they festoon strings 
 of coloured beads, and in the ears, and round the neck 
 and ankles they wear great quantities of brass and iron 
 wire, and the chain brought for trade from the coast. 
 
 Enormous areas are cultivated by them, but the rain- 
 fall is uncertain, and tlie fields constantly suffer from 
 drought. The country is very hilly, Avitli patches of 
 forest constantly occurring. There is little or no game, 
 except the tiny ^^a/i antelope. The soil is fairly good, 
 but light and sandy, and occasionally rocky. The flowers 
 are very beautiful and of great variety, as are the ferns 
 and mosses in the patches of forest. Orchids occur, but 
 are rare ; the borassus palm takes the place of the coco- 
 nut, and jungle trees, many of them bearing beautiful 
 flowers, replace the mangoes and cashew. There is a fair 
 amount of fodder grass in places, largely mixed with, and 
 spoilt by, the growth of coarse and bad grasses, jungle 
 plants, and weeds. The streams are all brackish and dis- 
 agreeable, but the water is good enough for cooking, and 
 can be drunk on emergency. This belt of country is 
 intermediate between coast civilisation and the interior 
 of " savage Africa." Its people, the Wanyika (divided 
 into the great tribes of Wa-Duruma, Wa-Giriama, &c.), 
 are to some extent familiar with coast usages, though 
 their dress and mode of life are entirely those of savages. 
 They seem to be a very superstitious tribe, and you will 
 constantly meet with little miniature huts, consecrated 
 to the Deity, or areas marked off" as sacrosanct, around 
 some great tree or rock, whose violation will bring out 
 the warriors in a fury. Many of their religious (or rather 
 superstitious) customs are very quaint and interesting,
 
 THE WAXYIKA. 231 
 
 but space forbids me to dwell on the subject, and indeed 
 these people, who are within a stone's throw of civilisa- 
 tion (so to speak), have already been the subject of 
 much study by the missionaries who reside among 
 them. 
 
 The Giriama are not a singularly brave people, and 
 before their cattle died they lived in dread of the raids 
 of the Masai. Their villages are hidden away in the 
 forest, the only approach often being by circuitous paths 
 hardly visible, and are strongly fenced round with poles 
 and thorns. Outside the village there is generally a long 
 hut built for councils or for drinking-bouts. It is a 
 quaint commentary on the tribal character that these 
 huts have doors all along both front and rear to provide 
 means of rapid exit in case of a row or an alarm ! The 
 huts are poor in style, conical, and with the thatch con- 
 tinued to the oTound. 
 
 Our progress was slow, for I was recalled to Mombasa 
 to meet Mr Stanley, who had just returned from his 
 " Darkest Africa " expedition. I had not the j^leasure, 
 however, of seeing him. I returned as quickly as pos- 
 sible, arriving at Fuladoyo, where Wilson was halted 
 with the caravan, on Jan. 1st, 1890, and here I had 
 conferences with the chief of the settlement regarding 
 the scheme of self-redemption. Mr Wilson was well 
 known among these runaway slaves. He had lived five 
 months among them, teaching their children, and trying 
 to wean them from drunken habits. He had acquired 
 great influence with them, so that they wished to make 
 him their chief. His co-operation was of great value, 
 and he was enthusiastic in the matter. My scheme 
 was gladly accepted, though at first there was some dis- 
 appointment, for by Mr Mackenzie's order all their 
 names had some time previously been taken down, and 
 they had understood they would be ransomed gratuitously. 
 I pointed out to them, however, the difference between
 
 232 MOMBASA TO MAKONGENI. 
 
 themselves and the Rabai slaves. These had been 
 allowed to settle under the missions, who in consequence 
 had become responsible for them, and who were now in 
 the position of having either to fight the Arabs or pay 
 for the slaves they had adopted. They very readily 
 saw this, and agreed that they had no kind of claim 
 on us. 
 
 I proposed that they should take service, either as 
 coolies in the works going forward in and around Mom- 
 basa, or as porters in caravans. They should be paid 
 wages as free men, and in every way be treated as 
 free men ; and, when they had accumulated sufficient 
 money to buy their freedom, they should themselves 
 pay their own master, and would receive freedom 
 papers, signed by the Luvali (the Sultan's deputy) and 
 a representative of the Company. This Euro]3ean would 
 merely be a witness to the transaction, and certify that 
 
 money had been paid over in his presence by X 
 
 (the slave) to Z (the owner), on account of which 
 
 the latter acknowledged that all claims, of whatever 
 nature, which he had over the payer were discharged 
 in full. 
 
 I was particularly insistent on one or two points : (1) 
 That the Company in no way recognised the man as a 
 slave, legal or otherwise. It would hold money (a por- 
 tion, for instance, of the monthly pay) for the slave till 
 the sum he required was complete, when it would be 
 repaid to him, to be handed over to his master in pur- 
 chase of his freedom. (2) That the Company should 7iot 
 advance money to the slave to purchase his freedom. 
 At first sight there might appear to be no harm in doing 
 this, but such action would be liable to misconstruction, 
 and might lay the Company open to the charge of in- 
 volving these men in indebtedness, and so obtaining a 
 lien on their services and a monopoly of labour. This 
 accusation was, in point of fact, made subsequently, and
 
 DETAILS OF SELF-REDEMPTION SCHEME. 233 
 
 my course of action, therefore, admitted of the fullest 
 refutation being at once given to such a charge. (3) 
 That the Company should not pay the redemption-money 
 to the master, but that the slave should do so himself. 
 By the influence and exertions of Mr Mackenzie, a very 
 low all-round rate was fixed with the owners — viz., 
 ^15 (=E,s. 32 = £2). For this sum (being the equivalent 
 of three months' pay of the lowest ranks, exclusive of 
 food) the slave could obtain the legal recognition of his 
 freedom. The Company undertook to find him work, 
 and to hold the money in safe keeping. 
 
 The owners aofreed that, while he was in the course of 
 working out his fi'eedom, he should not be seized or 
 molested at the coast. The fugitive slaves readily 
 grasped the plan, and eagerly agreed to adopt it, recog- 
 nising that, though we discountenanced slavery, we did 
 not at present desire to violently upset the dustiirt 
 zcimani (ancient custom) of the country. It promised 
 excellently. The Arabs, reassured that it was intended 
 merely as an equitable means of meeting an existing 
 difficulty, and that slaves who should run away, subse- 
 quent to the date on which both parties agreed to it, 
 woukl not be entitled to claim its provisions, were very 
 pleased. Her Majesty's Consul-General at Zanzibar, and 
 the Company's Administrator at Mombasa, heartily 
 approved the plan. The people of Mwaiba (another 
 large fugitive- slave village), also sent messages to me, to 
 say they would willingly accept my proposals. Thus 
 in Dec. 1889 I had every reason to anticipate success : 
 I shall, however, later have occasion to allude again 
 to the results of my efforts in this matter. 
 
 We arrived at Makongeni, another fugitive -slave 
 settlement on the Sabakhi, on Jan. 16th. The diffi- 
 culties had been great, for the route lay almost entirely 
 through forest and cactus jungle. The former was not 
 heavy, and gave comparatively little trouble, but the
 
 234 MOMBASA TO MAKONGENI. 
 
 cutting of a road, through which laden camels could pass, 
 in the dense wall of cactus, was very hard work indeed. 
 I had, moreover, no proper tools, and only some half- 
 dozen available men, for I had sent down to Kilifi for 
 food while at Fuladoyo, and every porter was exces- 
 sively loaded with these supplies. Wilson had been 
 very ill, and I had to nurse him day and night. He 
 had periods of unconsciousness, which were very 
 alarming to a man like myself with no medical know- 
 ledge. Almost all my Persians were prostrated too, for 
 the work was very trying. Fortunately a.s usual I 
 retained my health and energy, but my hands were very 
 full. The veterinary work with the animals also 
 demanded much time, for I had many sore backs and 
 girth-galls, in consequence of the lack of proper gear. 
 Wilson was carried when we left Fuladoyo, being 
 unable to walk : but once out of Fuladoyo he recovered 
 quickly. We worked very hard ourselves, with blistered 
 hands, hewing down cactus with sword bayonets, to 
 effect a passage for the animals, and easing places too 
 difficult for the camels. Occasionally men got the 
 cactus milk in their eyes, and it caused intense agony, 
 but the natives showed me a bulb which grew in the 
 cactus jungle, and was full of a thin white jelly, whicli 
 was a wonderful cure if its juice was squeezed into 
 the eye. 
 
 The men worked admirably, and loads half as heavy 
 again as regulation were carried without a murmur, the 
 trying marches, with long delays for jungle cutting, were 
 accomplished in good time, and the willingness shown in 
 cutting fodder for the animals, preparing their rough 
 lines, cleaning the camping ground, and making a 
 rough zeriba, was really most gratifying. Our daily 
 routine — involving very much more than is customary 
 on an ordinary safari — was quickly accepted, the 
 rapidity with which duties were performed on arrival in
 
 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRY. 235 
 
 camp was wonderful, and there was little occasion for 
 punishment. 
 
 At Makongeni there was a very great deal of cultiva- 
 tion, but little or no food for sale. There had been a 
 failure of crojDS at Fuladoyo, and hence all the extra 
 grain of the Makongeni men had been bought up. 
 We had accomplished over eighty miles from Mombasa, 
 but, as our route lay northwards, we were still only half 
 that distance from Malindi. Our slow progress, road cut- 
 ting through a country without supplies, had exhausted 
 most of the food brouoht from Kilifi. I therefore 
 arranged to get a fresli supply from Malindi, and the 
 day after arrival I was myself compelled to return to 
 Mombasa, to ascertain if the War Office had permitted 
 me to remain in Africa. 
 
 The country we had traversed beyond Fuladoyo (to 
 Makongeni) was mostly of opfin forest, with little or no 
 undergrowth, and small-sized trees. The soil was often 
 sandy, and, generally speaking, poor. Beautiful flowers 
 and most gorgeous butterflies abounded, together with 
 many shrubs with extremely lovely or sweet-scented 
 flowers. Where stretches of cactus jungle intervened 
 (especially parallel to the base of Mt. Mongea) the forma- 
 tion was of quartz and rock, and the soil poor and parched. 
 In the open forest, game tracks abounded — of elephant, 
 bufl'alo, the large and small antelope, &c. On our jour- 
 ney up, an unfortunate accident occurred one day while 
 road-cuttino-. I had left the men for a few minutes to 
 inspect the route ahead, when a party of them began to 
 examine and fool with their rifles. One of them had 
 placed a cartridge in his, and forgotten it, and a friend 
 when lookinp- at it let it ofl', and blew out the brains of 
 another porter who was standing near. As he was a 
 Christian, Wilson read a service in Swahili over his 
 grave. 
 
 I left the sick Persians at Makongeni to rest and
 
 236 MOMBASA TO MAKONGENI. 
 
 recruit their health, and, taking only six or eight men, 
 marched very fast for Mombasa. I had two Madrassee 
 servants, who were very ill, and required constant atten- 
 tion, but their pluck and devotion to me, and anxiety to 
 do their work in spite of fever and illness, caused me to 
 think better of the Madrassee than I had ever done 
 before. I managed to bring them safely to Mombasa, 
 where Permal, the tent-boy, died not long after of 
 pleurisy. It was now arranged that I should leave the 
 animals at Makongeni, to push up supplies from Malindi, 
 and Mr JMackenzie gave orders that a garrison of the 
 Sultan's soldiers should also be sent up, to occupy the 
 stockade I would build. This post would become a most 
 important one, if the Sabakhi route were adopted as the 
 caravan line to the interior, for it would be the junction 
 of the roads from Malindi and Mombasa, and it marks the 
 present limit of cultivation and food. To replace the 
 animals, I enlisted some seventy more men, and, having 
 obtained the War Office sanction, I marched back to 
 rejoin Wilson at Makongeni. The country at this time 
 of year (Jan. — Feb.) is completely dried up, and the 
 grass mostly burnt. The Giriama make water-holes, 
 in which tliey collect the rainfall, and, on one occasion, 
 I had great difficulty in avoiding trouble with these 
 excitable and uncivil people, owing to their refusal to 
 let my thirsty men drink. 
 
 The results of our expedition Imd not been unsuccess- 
 ful so far. The animals, after a rest at Makongeni, 
 were in excellent condition ; and the sore backs, girth- 
 galls, &c., were for the most part completely healed. 
 Almost all had carried their loads throughout, and I had 
 lost but one donkey, and that at starting. It was 
 hopelessly diseased at the time it was purchased. When 
 it is remembered that this result was effected under 
 exceptional difficulties, I think I may claim that the 
 experiment showed that, Avith proper system, there is
 
 SUCCESS OF ANIMAL TRANSPORT. 237 
 
 no reason to suppose that animal transport would not 
 succeed in Africa. 
 
 My diary constantly remarks on the disadvantages 
 under which the equipment was tried : — " Sending a 
 small batch of animals like this [I write] is useless. No 
 veterinary medicines; absolutely worthless and pernicious 
 saddlery; insufficient supervision; no road, and hardly any 
 tools to cut one with ; and no men to do it. We have 
 succeeded, however, and every animal is at Makongeni, 
 Every camel has carried six men's loads, every donkey 
 would have carried two men's loads, and every mule 
 four, had I not forbidden those badly galled and sore- 
 backed to do so. These are mostly old sore-backs and 
 galls, and the abominable gear is also responsible. 
 Where twenty have passed two hundred could have 
 passed. But we must do the thing rationally with 
 adequate men. All but two of the Persians are down 
 with fever, and, of course, the Swahilis cannot be 
 expected to know anything about animals. . . . When 
 the grass is burnt up, it is ridiculous to suppose that 
 animals can exist without food, and do the work of from 
 two to six men each without a grain ration," There is 
 good fodder throughout the country from Mombasa to 
 Makongeni, however, throughout most of the year. 
 
 During my absence Wilson had cleared an admirable 
 site for the stockade, — a rido-e of low hills toucliino- a bend 
 in the river, and commanding a lovely view for a great 
 distance up and down the stream. We worked very 
 hard clearincj the dense forest, and buildin<>- a Avail of 
 huge slabs of rocks dug out of the hillside — the rear face 
 being of pointed poles [loop-holed] seven feet high. Such 
 work was an entirely new departure for caravan porters, 
 who had never yet in Kast Africa been called upon to do 
 muie than build temporary houses in a camp, but the 
 utmost willingness and emulation prevailed among them, 
 and though our routine hours of daily work were long,
 
 238 MOMBASA TO MAKONGENI. 
 
 and the heat now very great, there was no grumbUng or 
 trouble, mainly owing to the tact of Mr Wilson, and 
 his admirable methods of dealing with the men. To 
 him I owe my first lessons in my dealings with the 
 Swahili, and I gratefully acknowledge the benefit they 
 were to me. 
 
 The Zanzibari has been described by Professor 
 Drummond thus : — 
 
 " In Zanzibar these black villains, the porters, the necessity 
 and the despair of travellers, the scum of old slave gangs, and 
 the fugitives from justice from every tribe, congregate for hire. 
 And if there is one thing on which African travellers are for once 
 agreed, it is that for laziness, ugliness, stupidness, and wickedness 
 these men are not to be matched on any continent on the 
 world." ^ 
 
 Such an indictment is a strong one from a man who 
 never had any acquaintance with them other than that 
 supplied by hearsay, books, and imagination. I can 
 recall many individuals to whom the description is fairly 
 applicable, but as a class I think it requires modification, 
 and I speak from experience. I know no such typical 
 raw material in the world : you can mould them as you 
 will. Some of them have even the making of heroes in 
 them, as many instances vivid in my memory attest; 
 some of them have the qualifications for all that is the 
 reverse ; most of them are singularly easily trained to 
 be willing workers, most patient of hardships, plucky, 
 and ready to expose their lives, adaptable to routine 
 and discipline however novel and unwelcome. The 
 rapidity with which these men had accustomed them- 
 selves to the white man's routine and discipline struck 
 me as a singular phenomenon. 
 
 A word in passing as to who these Swahilis are. In 
 the year 1698 the Imaum of Oman sailed from Muscat, 
 in the Persian Gulf, and conquered Zanzibar, which 
 
 ^ Tropical Africa, p. 5.
 
 ORIGIN AXD DESCRIPTION OF SWAHILIS. 
 
 239 
 
 henceforth became a dependency of Muscat. The East 
 Coast of Africa gradually fell under their dominion, until 
 (after constant friction) the Sultanate of Zanzibar 
 became an independent power, and was recognised by 
 Great Britain as such. These Muscat Arabians (or 
 Persians) settled along the islands and the coast of 
 the mainland. Brave and adventurous, they pene- 
 trated into the then totally unknown interior, and 
 
 A SWAHILI. 
 
 iDegan that system of slave buying and slave catching 
 whicli, until their advent, had never assumed such pro- 
 portions on the East Coast. Boy slaves brought down 
 from the interior, and belonging to various tribes from 
 the Zambesi to the Tana, grew up in their households, 
 and took their ideas from them, and too often their 
 vices and their foul diseases. There was also a per- 
 centage of half-breeds, tlie offspring of Arabs by slave 
 concubines.^ 
 
 * Handbook of East Africa, War Office Intelligence Division, p. 12, is in 
 error both as regards the descrijition of tlie Swaliili and the diflusion of the 
 language.
 
 240 MOMBASA TO MAKOXGENl. 
 
 A language grew up, founded on the various tongues 
 spoken by these captured slaves, who usually belonged 
 to the great negro stock, Avith woolly heads, and flat, 
 boneless noses ; for these races, from their splendid 
 physical development and great bodily strength, fur- 
 nished the best type of manhood for the Slaver's 
 purpose. Moreover their childlike docility and adapt- 
 ability, and their eager imitation of their masters, 
 made them pre-eminently suitable for slaves. The 
 other races, the Somals, Gallas, Masai, Wahuma (pro- 
 bably of Abyssinian origin), with the Angoni and 
 Magwangwara, &c. (of Zulu stock), spoke languages of a 
 different origin, and these have left no mark on Swahili, 
 proving that these tribes were little used as slaves, 
 though doubtless some of their women (being far hand- 
 somer than those of the negro races) were brought down 
 for the coast harems. Side by side with the Arabic 
 spoken by the Muscat Arabians, and the dialects of the 
 native tribes, was a third element. Great numbers of 
 Indians from Hindustan — mainly from Cutch and 
 Goojerat— had migrated to the East Coast of Africa. 
 Though speaking for the most part Goojerati, their 
 lingua franca was Hindustani. From these three 
 sources the Swahili language took its origin. The con- 
 struction of the language and its grammar were based on 
 the native languages — tense, mood, person, and location 
 of verbs, number and concord of nouns and adjectives, 
 being all indicated by prefixes to the root, while the 
 vocabulary was largely recruited from Arabic and Hin- 
 dustani. The words thus amalgamated in the language 
 were naturalised (so to speak) by being made to end in 
 a vowel, and having the accent on the penulti^nate (as is 
 the case with all Swahili words) ; they then followed the 
 grammatical rules of the native dialects. 
 
 This language has been called the lingua franca of 
 Africa ; and the coast population who spoke it became
 
 ADAPTABILITY OF THE SWAHILI. 241 
 
 the followers of the Arabs into the mterior. Their 
 physique and their origin alike rendered them peculiarly 
 adapted for the task. Taught from their childhood to 
 carry heavy burdens, they bore on their heads the goods 
 necessary for barter in the interior, and the other para- 
 phernalia of their masters, in loads of from 60 to 80 lb. 
 Plucky and delighting in war, tliey formed under Arab 
 leadership, and armed with guns, an irresistible force in 
 any slave-raiding forays, while their various origin 
 jH'ovided the Arab with natural interpreters in almost 
 every country or tribe which he visited. 
 
 Such are the people who call themselves " Wangwana " 
 or loatu ica pwaui (coast men), and called by us Zanzi- 
 baris, or Swahihs. The common negroid race from 
 wliich they sprang has been termed the ''Bantu" stock, 
 — the word Bantu (people), or, some modification of 
 it, being common to all their dialects. They include, as 
 I have shown, the pure-bred native of the interior 
 (naturah'sed at the coast), and also every degree of 
 admixture of Arab blood, from the half-breed downwards. 
 Hah'-l^reeds would generally be free men, and arrogate 
 to tliemselves a much higher position than the common 
 Swahili. The large majority, however, are pure natives. 
 
 I called together the chiefs of Makongeni, and dis- 
 cussed the scheme by which they should work for their 
 own emancipation. They accepted it with eagerness, 
 and said 400 men were ready to come forward and 
 engage in agriculture for the Company, in road-making, 
 jungle-clearing, building, &c., provided they were not 
 ordered to some far distant place, and so compelled to 
 leave their wives and children to be seized by the preda- 
 tory Gallas, and sold by them as slaves in Malindi. I 
 got from ]\Ialindi a small garrison of the Sultan's troops 
 — -called Viroboto (fleas), from their extraordinary antics 
 w hen dancing — and established them in the new stockade. 
 They were a troublesome set of men, undisciplined and 
 VOL. r. Q
 
 242 
 
 MOMBASA TO MAKONGENI. 
 
 aiTogant, and I feared would do much harm unless kept 
 in thorough supervision by the Company's agent at 
 Malindi, under whose orders they would be. They are 
 low-class aliens from Arabia, Persia, &c. 
 
 The Persians had become greatly attached to us, and 
 were much distressed at being left behind with their 
 animals. I took on two (agriculturists) to form their 
 opinion of the sites in which I intended to build stock- 
 ades, with a view to the subsequent establishment of 
 one or more Persian colonies, in pursuance of a scheme of 
 Mr Mackenzie's. Arrangements having been completed 
 with the Company's agent at Malindi for rationing the 
 Viroboto, and storing food in readiness against my 
 return, we marched out of Makongeni, leaving the last 
 traces of coast civilisation behind us on Jan. 30th, 
 1890. 
 
 ;^- 
 
 " DuM Spiro Spero." 
 
 [From the "Fusiatna Cabinet." Norfolk Regt.\
 
 243 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 Tlie morning start — A gun-bearer — The deserted camp — Kites in India — The 
 march — African paths — Halts on the march— Arrival in camp — Porters' 
 bivouac — Mode of passing the time — Nightfall in camp — Camp-fire stories 
 — A supernatural tiger — A narrow escape — A man-eater — Pig-sticking — 
 An awkward charge — A sportsman's stories — Alone in the night — Starlight 
 memories — Lost in a Burmese forest — Cruelties of the Shans — Welcome 
 by the Cxhoorkhas — A fireman's life — " fJalloping" — The African porter. 
 
 ThePvE is a charm in the feehng of independence which 
 a farewell to civilisation brings with it, and in the know- 
 ledge that henceforward one has to rely solely on one's 
 own resources, and that success or failure depend on one's 
 self. At rare intervals opportunities may occur of send- 
 ing mails and reports to the coast, but between these 
 times — few and far between — the tyranny of the pen is 
 overpast, saving only for the daily diary and the mapping 
 work. 
 
 Daybreak brings a stir among the sleeping forms ; 
 in later expeditions the Sudanese reveille roused the 
 camp generally before the earliest sign of dawn. You 
 tumble out of your last unfinished dream and your camp- 
 cot, and sul^stitute the realities of a heavy pair of boots, 
 leggings, knee-breeches, and karki jacket, with a pith 
 "solar" hat, shaped like the substantiation of the ethereal 
 halo round the head of a saint in a stained-glass catlie- 
 (hal window. You buckle around you the belt, which
 
 244 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 contains your hunting-knife and rounds of Winchester 
 ammunition : you fill your haversack with the para- 
 phernalia which only long experience has taught you to 
 select — a tobacco-pouch and pipe, matches, a small file, 
 a spare foresight, a bit of bee's-wax, a measuring-tape, 
 the road-book for surveying, a couple of dry biscuits, 
 and a cloth cap (in case accident or design should keep 
 you late), two or three small straps, a bit of whijD-cord, 
 a tiny bit of chalk, a small screw- driver, and I know not 
 what queer knick-knacks besides, understandable only 
 " by the trade," 
 
 The man you call your gun-bearer presents himself, 
 and you proceed to dress him up like an (African) 
 Christmas tree. The costume would delight our gilded 
 youth at a fancy ball. In front of his loin-cloth he 
 ties an untanned goat-skin to save him somewhat 
 from the thorns and spear-grass, and the creej)ers he 
 will have to brush through in the narrow path or in 
 the jungle, should you diverge from the march to follow 
 game. As he leads the way in the early dawn through 
 the high matted grass this skin will be soaked with the 
 dew, and become as it was the moment it left its parent 
 goat, 4- a smell. Later in the day it will become a 
 petrified board in the scorching sun. But to return to 
 our Christmas tree. Over his shoulders we sling the 
 haversack, the aneroid, and the prismatic compass, each 
 with its separate strap ; round his waist he fastens 
 his own belt and hunting-knife ; over this comes the 
 belt and cartridge-pouches, containing the ammunition 
 of the gun he carries ; fixed somehow among these 
 appurtenances is a huge calabash for water — his inevi- 
 table companion. In it he probably carries the balance 
 of his day's ration of dry grain. If your caravan is 
 heavily loaded, and his own gear has to be carried as 
 well, he will have a bundle on his head or strapped 
 across his shoulders, consisting of his mat, his little
 
 AN AFRICAN GUN-BEARER. 245 
 
 tent, and a bone or two of the last iDeast shot (probably 
 " high"). Nailed on, so to speak, wherever he can find 
 a few inches of space about his person, you will see 
 a native pipe, a flageolet made from a hollow reed, a 
 chunk of meat, possibly a cooking-pot, and other orna- 
 ments. Above all he shoulders your rifle, and " stands 
 confessed," " a thing of shreds and patches " and what- 
 nots innumerable. 
 
 The dawn has hardly broken when we emerge from 
 our tents to give the order to the caravan headman 
 " to take up loads." These, during the night, have been 
 stacked under the guard in front of the tents, and while 
 you and I were rapidly dressing, the caravan ashari, 
 according to custom, have laid them out one by one in 
 long rows on the ground. At the word there is a rush 
 from all parts of camp ; every porter seizes his own load, 
 and he seems to have a dread lest it should be appro- 
 priated by another, however heavy and unwieldy it be, 
 and carries it ofl" to lash on to it his mat and his cooking- 
 l)ot and his little all, and that done, to sit upon it and 
 discuss the delicacy of a few roasted grains of mahindi 
 (maize), or to gnaw the white bones of last night's 
 nymna (game). Still in the grey dawn, while the askan 
 are striking the tents, and the servants and the porters 
 who are to carry them are tying up your bed and bed- 
 ding, &c., and the other men adjusting their loads, we 
 sit down to discuss a chunk of meat and a cup of tea — 
 generally in my own case the meal wliich is to last me 
 till evening. 
 
 Just as the sun appears abo\e the horizon i lead 
 the way, followed by a few askari. Every porter 
 shoulders his load, the Wanyamwezi strike up their 
 strange but musical chant, and in two minutes the camj), 
 but now a scene of animated life, is deserted, the 
 smouldering fires die out with the rising sun, and the 
 infinite Ijut silent life of the forest replaces the chatter
 
 24() LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 and the hum of human hfe. Giant beetles come from 
 every quarter to roll up into balls and carry away the 
 bits of offal about the camp. Small mammals steal out 
 to gnaw the bones, on which but little is left by the 
 savage. A gaunt hyena, looking suspiciously up and 
 down, snatches at a bone and dashes back into the 
 jungle. The chiels and the " Pharaoh's chickens," which 
 have long been soaring in scores overhead, contract the 
 circles of their flight, and the former swoops by with a 
 rush of wings, carrying off into the blue sky a bit of 
 offal in his talons, which he proceeds to eat in the air ; 
 the latter settles heavily down, and walks around to see 
 what loathsome filth he can find for breakfast. The 
 ravens and the jackdaws alone break the silence, and 
 tucking up their wings, and walking about on tiptoe, as 
 it were, in that quaint way which only these birds adopt, 
 converse noisily together, and make opprobrious remarks 
 to the disadvantage of a safari which could not afford 
 to leave behind them a better breakfast than this ! 
 
 Talking of chiels (kites) reminds me of an incident in 
 Indian jungle life. A friend and I had been shooting 
 for ten days, and had lived on the roughest of fare. 
 The morning came for our return, our small kit was 
 packed, our ways diverged. Before parting my friend 
 produced, as a honne houche for our last breakfast 
 together, a tin of English bacon. We faced each other 
 on two camp-stools, a narrow box which served as table 
 between us. He had seized his knife and fork and was 
 about to plunge them in the "blushing ham." A blow 
 from the wingf of one of these kites across his shoulders 
 at this moment almost upset my friend, who was of very 
 diminutive stature, and he recovered his balance to find 
 our piece of bacon far up in the blue vault of heaven, 
 and a chiel discussing our breakfast in our stead ! 
 
 One could recall many incidents in connection with 
 these audacious birds. T remember one seizing a tame
 
 AUDACITY OF KITES. 247 
 
 parrot, which was fluttering about with his wings cut, 
 on a tennis lawn. His gyrations in the air when the 
 parrot "froze on" to his toe were \\^onderful I At last 
 he dropped the hot morsel and the parrot too let go. 
 Fluttering downwards he was seized in mid-air by 
 another cfdel, who found his bargain no better than 
 No. 1 had ! Indian urchins delight to tie separate bits 
 of meat to each end of a piece of string. A kite seizes 
 the bait and sails aloft with it, pursued of course by a 
 rival claimant. No. 2, however, seemg the other piece of 
 meat dangling in the air seizes and swallows it. No. 1, 
 fearful lest he should be deprived of his prize, hurriedly 
 swallows the piece he has seized. Thereupon ensues the 
 tableau which pleases the Indian urchin ! But I digress. 
 Meanwhile we are on the march, following a narrow 
 path, and pushing our way through bushes and thorns, 
 or tall, rank grass, as the case may be, or, worst of all, 
 tunnelling through " elephant reeds," which close over 
 our heads, and shower down the cold dew on our faces. 
 Before the sun is well up, we in front are as wet up 
 to the waist as though we had been wading in a river. 
 There is always a path. In country absolutely unin- 
 habited there are the paths followed by game. When 
 you have lived in Africa some time you will be able to 
 distinguish to some extent ivhose path it is. We all 
 know a mans path. An elephant's is different. It is 
 some eighteen inches broad (a man's is generally not more 
 than eleven or twelve) ; it has no central depression, 
 l:)ut its distinctive difterence is that the edges are clean 
 cut ; there is wo imrtli) trampled vegetation at the side, 
 and the higher grasses lean over from the sharply de- 
 fined margin. It is a peculiarity of game that it thus 
 follows ])aths. Thoug-h an elephant should |)ass across 
 a piece of open veldt, with grass but a foot high, which 
 would be alisolutely unfelt by him in walking, he will 
 invariably follow a beaten track. If scared, he may
 
 248 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 rush across country, and then the densest jungle and 
 most impenetrable scrub give way before him like dry 
 flax before fire ; but, however panic-struck, he will fol- 
 low the first track he crosses. These tracks intersect 
 each other in an elephant country in all directions, and 
 it is difficult to decide with what object they first 
 became well-used paths. A hippo path is different. 
 This animal does not put one foot into the footprint of 
 the last, like an elephant, but his near and off" feet 
 each make paths for themselves, so to speak, so that 
 generally there is a narrow ridge of grass or soil in 
 the centre. E-hinoceros again are different, and they 
 use their paths to connect their dunging- places. On 
 the bare plains, where the grass is no higher than the 
 turf on a lawn, you may see the game tracks, worn still 
 more bare by the hoofs of countless animals. In high 
 grass, in forest, through tangled scrub and brushwood, 
 of course the rule applies with still more force. Even 
 the very field-mice and vermin keep to their runs, though 
 the ground be flat and without a blade of grass. 
 
 If the caravan is proceeding along game tracks (as 
 now on our journey up the Sabakhi) I select such as 
 bear in the direction I wish to go by my pocket com- 
 pass. Each path that branches awa.y is " closed " by 
 the men who follow me. This is done either by throwing 
 upon it a few green twigs, leaves, or grass, or by 
 drawing a line across it — if no leaves are handy — with 
 a stick or spear. By this means, should you wish to 
 follow up the track of the caravan, you can do so with 
 ease among a network of paths ; and thus, should a 
 gap occur in the caravan, those behind have no difficulty 
 in selecting the path we have followed. 
 
 After an hour and a half or two'hours' march we halt. 
 By this time the caravan has 0]3ened out ; men who are 
 sick, or who have stopped to adjust a load, &c., and 
 the lazy or weak ones have lagged behind. Before long
 
 DAILY ROUTINE OF AFRICAN TRAVEL. 249 
 
 thev are all up, and the rearguard, whose orders are 
 on no account whatever to allow a single man to remain 
 behind them, arrive, and report all present. A few 
 more minutes' rest, and we are off again ; and probably 
 if M'e have started early, and the men are in good 
 marching condition, our next stretch brings us into 
 camp. If the march is over ten or eleven miles, a 
 second intermediate halt is necessary, and this delays 
 arrival for over an hour, and tries the men greatly in 
 the tierce mid-day sun. In such cases the custom is 
 usually to teJeJ^ezcC — viz., to make a long halt of three 
 or four hours, while the men make fires and cook some 
 food: and then marchino- aoain at 2 or 3 P.M., to halt 
 for camp towards sundown. I have done this day after 
 day when marching hard ; and a Swahili porter, when 
 — by an early start and judicious halting, &c. — his 
 endurance is best utilised, can carry a load of from 70 lb. 
 and upwards for twenty miles, and even more ! 
 
 Arrived in camp, the site for the tents is indicated 
 by me with small flags ; later, when I had companies of 
 Sudanese and Zanzibari soldiers, the line for each and the 
 limits of camp M'ere simihxrly marked by flags. In an 
 incredibly short time — half-an-hour or so — the tents are 
 })itched, the bed and tent gear arranged, the loads 
 counted and stacked, and the party whose duty it is to 
 construct the homa or zeriba round camp is engaged in 
 chopping boughs, and dragging them in to form the 
 fence. Meanwhile the cook has made his little fire and 
 boiled a kettle of water, and a refreshing cup of tea is 
 ready, and cold meat and chippatis if you want them. 
 
 Each little coterie of men select the small site for 
 their bivouac ; one uoes off* to collect material to build 
 the huts, another to draw water, another for firewood 
 and stones on wliich to place the cook-pot. A\ hen the 
 caravan has but just left the coast most of the men have 
 little tents. These consist of a sheet of drill some G ft.
 
 250 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 square; two little props are stuck in the ground about 
 3 ft. high and 6 ft. apart, on these is laid the ridge- 
 pole, and over it is drawn the sheet of drill. This at the 
 edges is furnished with loops, and pegged down to the 
 ground. If it is the season of the rains, plantain leaves, 
 if available, or grass, are spread over it to help to carry 
 off the water. If it is cold, grass is cut and placed all 
 round the edges to keep out the wind. Dry grass is 
 placed inside for bedding, and two men share the shelter. 
 If the weather is very fine, and rain by night impro- 
 bable, the men will sleep in the open ; and when march- 
 ing hard and arriving near sunset, since there is no time 
 to make a bivouac, the jDorter has to lie in the open, 
 whether it be fine or wet, and apparently sleeps as well in 
 pouring rain, with no covering, as he does when snugly 
 housed. Those who have no tents — generally the major- 
 ity when we have been long away from the coast, and 
 cloth is scarce — build, as I have said, little huts. They 
 are of every form of architecture and of every size, accord- 
 ing to the number of men they are to accommodate. The 
 commonest are the circular and the A-sha]3ed. For the 
 former a number of supple wands are collected and 
 stuck in the ground in a circle of the required size ; the 
 ends are then bent over, and the opposite ones lashed 
 together with creepers or tree bark ; round the base 
 grass is carefully placed in an upright position, and on 
 the top of the framework a second layer, which reaches 
 down to the first, and completes the walls. This is 
 held in position by rope of creepers tied round the hut. 
 A big bunch of grass is then fixed on to the top, com- 
 pleting the cone. The A-shaped hut is made, like the 
 tent, of two small uprights and ridge-pole, against which 
 on either side are laid a series of wands, which are 
 covered with plantain leaves or grass bent over the 
 ridge-pole and covering both sides. 
 
 The bivouac made, homa completed, and firewood
 
 THE DAILY LIFE OF THE PORTEPv. 251 
 
 and water ready for the evening meal, the men disperse 
 in every direction to fish, or j^ick up what they can get. 
 Here, on the Sabakhi, fishing was the great resource, 
 and I have seen individual men returning to camp, after 
 one or two hours' fishing, with as many as fifteen or 
 sixteen fish, varying from some 6 lb. weight, and 18 in. 
 in length. This, of course, is a great addition to their 
 small daily ration of corn. The fish are mostly cat-fish, 
 and are very delicate, and delicious eating. They are 
 caught with lines of Nkonge fibre, baited with the 
 entrails of a fowl or fish. Other kinds, about twelve 
 inches long, like perch, with scales and a dorsal fin, of 
 a pale pink and a purplish tint, were also caught. 
 
 If there is no river near, the men lounge about in 
 camp, talking or sleeping, or wander about setting traps 
 for small mammals, &c. It is astonishing what distances 
 they will go after a fatiguing march ; but mere walking, 
 if unloaded, appears absolutely unfatiguing to a savage. 
 They prowled about in the dense reeds along the Sa- 
 bakhi, and, as the place was full of buftalo, it was mar- 
 vellous they never came to grief One day a Nyamwezi, 
 who was rather a favourite of mine, came in dripping with 
 water, and somewhat perturbed. He had been charged 
 by a l)uffi\lo, and so close was the animal that his horn had 
 bruslied past the skin of the stomach, leaving a surface 
 mark. The man jumped into the water (a shallow pool), 
 and lay at the bottom. The l:)uffalo, he said, waited a 
 bit, but gave it up and went oft', just as the porter's 
 stock of breath under water was about exhausted ! The 
 man had his rifle and ammunition with him, but no one 
 was allowed to fire, and the annnunition was carefully 
 counted, so he did not dare to do so. On another occa- 
 sion a porter casually remarked to me that a solitary 
 bull buftiilo was lying asleep in the reeds on a tiny 
 island up stream. How he could possil)ly have ascer- 
 tained this 1 do not know, luiless he had actually been
 
 252 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 in among the reeds, for they were so dense that to see 
 inside them was impossible. It was, however, perfectly 
 true, for I went and stood on a high boulder close by 
 and threw a stone into tlie precise spot indicated by 
 the man. Apparently it hit the buffalo, for he came 
 charging out with a tremendous ado. He was a magni- 
 ficent old bull. I did not fire, as I should only need- 
 lessly have hurt him Avith the light Snider I had, for I 
 could only have got the frontal shot. 
 
 While the men thus employ themselves, the ashari, 
 who have carried no loads, have other duties. They 
 have to look after the loads, sew up rents in the bags of 
 flour or grain, build the cattle zeriba — if we have a flock 
 - — perform a host of minor duties, and guard the loads. 
 I have heard of some travellers spending the afternoon 
 on their beds with a book. We never found time for 
 this. Generally, after a hurried cuj^ of tea, I was off 
 to search for game ; then dinner at sunset. Often till 
 far into the night I would be working at plotting out 
 the route traversed, and entering all notes on soil, 
 nature of rock, forest, pasture, &c., in my road-chart, 
 or writing up my diary. If there was no game in the 
 vicinity these tasks amply filled my time, together with 
 the ordinary work of the caravan — inquiries into offences 
 or quarrels, re-adjusting loads partly used, issuing posAo 
 (food) to the men, forming calculations of our position, 
 and the direction of the forward march, &c. 
 
 Sharp at six the sun sets, the headman blows his 
 whistle and asks if all are present, a lusty chorus replies 
 from every little fraternity of messmates, and he comes 
 and reports to me, and I'eceives the orders for next 
 day's march, or any others I may have need to issue. 
 As you listen to the cry that goes up in answer to his 
 whistle and his query, "Wote wapo?" ("Are all 
 present ? ") you can gauge the sjDirit of the men. If 
 meat has been shot, or from scarcity we have come into
 
 . CAMP-FIEE STORIES, 253 
 
 plenty, there is a jDerfect babel of voices, '^ Eh-ivalla 
 hivana, pom-pom, pom-pom'' ("Pots full"). If the 
 march has been very long and hard, or if food has been 
 issued for a specified number of days, of which this is 
 the last, and many have anticipated their ration, and are 
 in consequence short, isolated voices rej)ly, and perhaps 
 one bolder than the rest says, " I am hungry ; " on 
 which the headman — the faithful little " Banduki " — 
 abuses him for a wasteful glutton, who nmst needs 
 gol)ble up all his rations at once, and hopes he '11 feel it 
 so strongly in his inside this time as to learn more sense 
 another day ! We sit down shortly to our evening 
 meal, while the porters in little parties are grouped 
 round their huge pot of porridge, and stir it on the fire 
 with a biof wooden ladle. And then, when the diai"v 
 and the mapping are done, we sit and chat together over 
 the camp-fire with our pipes, and indulge in that 
 sportsman's weakness — a recitation of the events of the 
 day, the way we stalked each animal, the result of the 
 shot, the stern chase, &c. Or if there has been no 
 sport to-day we recall the incidents of long ago. 
 
 Prompted l)y questions, I relate how once, in the 
 Central Proxinces (in India), my brother and I went 
 after the Lohighur tiger, who had but recently baffled 
 the efforts of a large party of hunters. We made our 
 plans, as we flattered ourselves, in a more sj)ortsman- 
 like and judicious way, with the result that we marked 
 him down successfully, A line of hills debouched sharply 
 on the plain, in a series of horse-shoe-shaped indenta- 
 tions ; the slopes of these were steep and covered with 
 thick forest, but a sheer Avail of rock — 12 to 20 ft, — 
 surmounted the slope, and formed the edge of the 
 plateau above. In one of these recesses of the hills the 
 tiger had taken refuge, gorged to repletion with an ox he 
 had eaten. We had an elepli.inl \\ ith us, on which I was 
 mounted. My brother took his station at the point of the
 
 254 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 rock above. I, on the elephant, guarded the foot of the 
 slope below. The beaters, starting on the fiu'ther side of 
 the horse-shoe, hurled down rocks from above and beat 
 their drums, &c., to drive the tiger out, when he would 
 of necessity pass round the point we guarded, to gain the 
 shelter of the next horse-shoe. Nothing transpired, and 
 it was said he had broken away up a small water-course 
 on to the uj)per plateau. 
 
 We left our posts to inspect it, whereupon the tiger, 
 who had been lying watching us in thick jungle, tried 
 to slip past and get round the point. We caught 
 sight of him, and my brother arrived at his former 
 post, out of breath, barely in time to get a rapid shot at 
 the tiger, which was almost vertically below him at the' 
 base of the cliff, and only some 30 ft. distant. He 
 thought he had shot him tlu'ough the head, for he rolled 
 down the slope, but recovering himself, turned round, 
 and went slowly in the direction he had come from. I 
 was hastening back on the elephant, and he gave me a 
 clear view. I drew a careful trigger on him, and was 
 convinced I had hit him fair behind the shoulder. Still 
 he gave no sound, but went slowly on. A number of 
 native shikarries with guns were on the cliff above, and 
 as he walked slowly along at its base, only some 
 30 ft. below them, one after another they fired at 
 10 yds. distance I Thirteen shots I counted. Standing 
 up in the howdah I saw him go into a dense thicket of 
 thorns on the hillside, and he did not come out beyond. 
 We concluded he was riddled with bullets, and had 
 crawled in here to die. I hastened up. My brother 
 and the natives above threw down great rocks and 
 boulders, which went crashing through the thicket, but 
 the tio'er did not come out. We concluded he was dead. 
 
 The elephant began to ascend the steep slope. No 
 one who has not seen it can credit the extraordinary 
 manner in which an elephant can make its Avay in ap-
 
 THE DEATH OF THE LOHIGHUR TIGER. 255 
 
 parently impossible places. The steep slope was covered 
 with loose rocks and boulders. Going down on her 
 knees she would gain a firm footing with her hind legs. 
 Then rising on her fore legs she would again bring up 
 her hind, and take the forward step up the slope on her 
 knees. Thus slowly and with immense difficulty she 
 at length neared the thicket. This I now saw consisted 
 of a gigantic black rock festooned with dry thorns, 
 under which bears had scooped a small cave. I fired 
 into the mouth of the cave, reserving the second barrel 
 for the tiger if he charged ; but had he done so, there is 
 no doubt whatever that the elephant, balanced on her 
 hind Jeo's and fore knees, would have flinched and rolled 
 to the bottom of the hill, crushing us in the howdah ; 
 for even on level, open ground I had known this same 
 elephant try to bolt from a tiger when it spoke, even 
 before it charged. 
 
 We were so close that the elephant ^^ ith her trunk, 
 at the command of the mahout, drew away the thorns 
 from the entrance of the cave. The howdah, owing 
 to the slope of the hill, was on the same level as the 
 cave, and the tiger could have walked out of it into 
 the howdah ! But we thought he was dead, and he 
 gave no sign. As the elephant drew away the bushes 
 I saw Ijetween the crevices of the rock two green 
 eyes looking at me. I shouted to my brother that the 
 tiger was not dead, since he was slowly blinking ; had 
 he l)een very severely wounded he would not be placidly 
 l)linking. I had been on the point of descending from 
 the elephant to enter the place, but I shouted that I 
 must shoot first. " Fire if you must," said my brother, 
 " but his skin will be so riddled with ])ullets it won't be 
 worth a cent." I "drew a bead" on the eyes and fired 
 at about four paces distance. There was no reply any 
 more than there had been to the previous shots into the 
 cave. The strange supernatural beast neither moved
 
 256 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 nor spoke ! The smoke hung in the mouth of the 
 crevice, and as it slowly cleared away I saw the eyes 
 were no longer there. 
 
 I got down, and taking my knife in my teeth, I 
 lay flat on my stomach and proceeded to try and 
 wi'iggle under the ledge of rock into the cave. The 
 passage was barely large enough for my body, and it was 
 extraordinary how a large tiger had got in. I was 
 wedged in, and could not move except by wriggling, 
 and propelling myself by the points of my toes. The 
 tiger was in front of me. I took hold of his toe and 
 pulled it, for though convinced he was dead, I felt what 
 a very awkward predicament I should be in if he had 
 even strength to move a paw. He did not resent it, 
 and took no notice of a small pebble I jerked forward 
 with my wrist, and which hit him on the head, so I 
 gathered courage, wriggled in and lifted his head. 
 He was stone dead. We dragged him out with difli- 
 culty, and found that my brother's bullet had only 
 touched the tip of his left ear, and he had no other 
 bullet whatever in him except my final one between the 
 eyes, which had killed him stone dead I It had been a 
 curious escape for me, for had I not caught sight of the 
 eyes, or had I missed a fatal shot in the darkness of the 
 cave, I should have encountered in the cave an abso- 
 lutely unwounded tiger. 
 
 On another occasion I had several adventures with a 
 man-eating tiger. I followed him for a month, tracking 
 him from water to water, sleeping in trees over the pool 
 at which I expected him to drink, and rarely returning 
 to my camp, from which I was absent for a week at a 
 time. At last I walked him up face to face ! Even at 
 this lapse of time I feel the bitter remorse of my dis- 
 appointment ! My foot slipped on a stone, and I nearly 
 fell in stepping back to get a clear view of him (a tree 
 had been between us), and I lost my shot. The tiger
 
 PIG-STICKIXt; IN INDIA. 
 
 'l3l 
 
 hesitated whether to charge, Ijut my brave natives stood 
 their ground ; and he turned, and with a magniticent 
 l)ound cleared the surrounding bushes, and disappeared 
 in the forest. I measured where we stood ; we had been 
 but 20 yds. apart. 
 
 Yet again I recall a scene when a magniticent tigress 
 came out of a cave to which I had tracked her, and, 
 jumping on a rock (part of the pile on which I was), 
 stood within live yards of me, for some seconds clearly 
 defined against the sky-line. I never saw a finer sight I 
 
 Face to Face. 
 
 I lost my chance, for 1 liad that moment given my riHe 
 to my sliikavrii, thinking she was "not at liome," and 
 I liad no weapon in my hand. She turned without 
 cliarging. 
 
 I have tiie<l many forms of excitement, but T know of 
 iKjne in the world wJiicli comes near the mad exhilaration 
 of " pig-sticking." Scenes in the past, in the days when 
 we did not know wliat " nerves" were, rush back on my 
 memory as we sit over tlie cam})-fire, and I am asked to 
 describe the sport. The camp at Bustipur is pictured 
 before me as vividly as though I had left it but yester- 
 day — the white tents under the clump of trees near the 
 VOL. I. E
 
 258 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 piece of water where the wild duck cross in the evening, 
 and the flight-shooters made many a good hag. I recall 
 the day when Mayne, and Winn, and I, went out " to see 
 if the country was rideable," and if there were pig ; how 
 the long line of coolies put up a huge boar, and we pressed 
 him hard — I on the proverbial old grey mare, Delusion, 
 leading till I disappeared, horse and all, in the depths of 
 the blind Bustipur nullah ; how Mayne was first on the 
 next boar, and speared him, while Winn and I were 
 back with the line ; how he and his horse turned a 
 somersault over the charging pig, on ground as hard as 
 granite ; how we were just in time to save him being 
 ripped, and laid hirn, half conscious, under a bush, while 
 I caught the nasty-tempered beast Borderer before he 
 got into his stride, or had made up his mind to fight ; or 
 how, again, at that same Bustipur nullah, Mayne and I 
 were alone on a huge grey boar, riding neck and neck 
 down a hill of loose rocks, absolutely re(;kless of anything, 
 and mad with the excitement of the rivalry ; how Bor- 
 derer beat Delusion by a neck, and gained the narrow 
 path which the pig had taken, Avhich led through walls 
 of scrub jungle ; how suddenly the path wound sharply 
 roimd a dense her bush of wait-a-bit thorn. Borderer 
 rose at the impossible jump, for the bush was as high as 
 a cottage and twenty feet through, if it was a foot ! He 
 got hung up in the middle : I do not believe a leg of him 
 touched the ground. Delusion, unavoidably, owing to 
 the narrow path, was close on his tail, and rose at the 
 jump as he had done, and cannoned him out on the other 
 side ! 
 
 My first attempts at pig-sticking were in the Central 
 Provinces. Nothing but my ignorance of what a boar 
 really is, and the temporary insanity which the sport 
 produces on young hot blood, can excuse the mad pranks 
 we played ; for I recall dismounting to dislodge a vicious 
 old sow from a bush on foot ! I got caught by the eye-
 
 THE FREE -MASONRY OF SPORT. 
 
 259 
 
 lid by a wait-a-bit thorn. FortuDately I got free before 
 she charged, and still more fortunately — for it is impos- 
 sible to calculate on clearing a pig's face with the spear 
 when he charges, and if it struck there, it would merely 
 glance upwards, as off a plate of iron — fortunately, 
 then, I received her on the spear, though the force of 
 the charge drove me backwards off my ground. 
 
 A roOMlAKDV 1:N(0LNTKK. 
 
 One could till a volume, or several with these "camp- 
 lire memories"! Told thus in bald j»riiit, I fear they 
 would but earn for one a reputation for " embroidery," 
 and be looked on as brag. The pleasure of recalling 
 such scenes lies in tlie place and surroundings. The 
 man who has been with you in similar scenes, who knows
 
 260 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 you — lic knows whether your story is true, as you do 
 when he chimes in Avith an incident of his own. Sports- 
 men have a freemasonry of their own : in live minutes you 
 will know if your listener or the narrator is of the guild. 
 Men have told me that so-and-so is reticent, and will 
 never speak of his sporting adventures. Place him in a 
 group of men who have themselves the same knowledge 
 and the same instincts, and you shall see I He tells you 
 he wounded a buffalo and folloived. He need say no 
 more; we know just ivhat that means and what it does 
 not mean ; we know at each pause of his story, in each 
 set of circumstances, Avhat were the chances for and 
 against, what the buffalo, or the boar, or the elej^hant 
 might be expected to do, and what the nerve required 
 for the task was. We know at once if the narrator is 
 exaggerating. I have rarely — I think never — met a real 
 sportsman who did. Sucli men do not exaggerate. They 
 are generally unwilling to talk of these incidents, except 
 to men like themselves, who can appraise the whole thing 
 rightly — its merits and its demerits — and to such there 
 is no use in exaggerating ; but when they get together, 
 and the ice is broken, the hours roll by without count ! 
 
 Thus we would beguile the hours by the camp-hre; 
 for Wilson was never tired of " shooting yarns," and 
 would draw me on to recall such incidents as I have 
 narrated above, and in his turn, would tell me tales of 
 Australian life. Himself a keen horseman, he loved to 
 hear of gallops over rough country in India after wild 
 boar ; and often we found that the small hours of the 
 morning were upon us ere w^e separated after a hard 
 African day's work ! 
 
 Wilson, at length, ^vould turn in, and leave me sitting 
 by the silent fire alone, the sleeping camp around me, the 
 glorious heavens of the tropics above, studded with mil- 
 lions on millions of stars ; and often 1 would sit on, and 
 think of difierent scenes which those very stars recalled.
 
 GUIDED BY THE STARS. 261 
 
 I remember once, in Burma, when I owed my life to the 
 Pleiades. We were on the way to the Ruby Mines. 
 Dense bamboo forest extended interminably over hill 
 and dale. The Shans were stockaded close in our front, 
 and next day we expected a brush with them. I liad 
 been at the base, Kyenyat ; the advance party were 
 some sixteen miles ahead. Late in the afternoon I rode 
 out to join them. I reached our first stockade, at eleven 
 miles, at sundown, and pushed on into the perpetual 
 shade of the giant bamboos as the sun dipped. Soon it 
 ^\as dark in the dense forest. 
 
 I followed, through the clumps of bamboo, the marks 
 of the cart-wheels of our force. But, unknown to them 
 or to me, a convoy of provisions from a treacherous Shan 
 village on the Irawaddy, which we supposed friendly, had 
 that day started for the Shan encampment. Coming on 
 our trail, they had crossed it, and made a detour through 
 the forest (for under the bamboo clumps there is little 
 or no undergrowth), and, striking the rough forest road 
 again above our camp, had gone on to the enemy's posi- 
 tion. Accidentally, in the fading light, I followed these 
 cart-marks, and thus made the same detour, and passed 
 our camp. On and on I pushed my tired horse, till I was 
 seized with misgiving that I had, in some unaccountable 
 way, missed the camp. It was now night, and such 
 darkness had fallen as only can exist in tlie depths of 
 forest, where the trees meet overhead. I "left it all to 
 the mare " Delusion. Thorny creepers, or bamboo poles 
 leaning athwart the path, struck me in the face till I was 
 scratched and bleeding ; but I could see nothing, not 
 even my mare's ears. We crossed many streams ; we 
 got into a narrow gorge full of great boulders, with a tree 
 trunk lying across from bank to bank above, under wliich 
 we passed. In that gorge, tumbling about over the 
 rocks, the poor old mare lost three shoes and went lame. 
 
 I decided to turn round, and try and find my way
 
 262 LIFE IN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 back, convinced, at last, that I must have passed the 
 camp, and that our rough road-making operations had 
 not reached to here, though the darkness prevented 
 my seeing the axe or spade marks, which else had 
 been a sure guide. Even these had misled me before 
 darkness fell, for the working party had gone far ahead 
 of camp, and I had seen their marks when I struck 
 the real road, above the detour made by the Shans. I 
 noted at my furthest point that one great tree had fallen 
 against another. We passed that spot later when we 
 advanced, and it was close to the Shan camp. Had I 
 gone but a little further, I should have fallen into their 
 hands I I turned my horse round, but we had not gone 
 far when she ran her head into a bamboo clump, and, 
 rearing up, pirouetted round. When she once more 
 stood still, I had not the remotest idea which way I had 
 come, in w4iat direction the Shan camp lay, or what were 
 the points of the compass ! I dismounted, and felt for 
 the cart ruts with my hands to see if I were on the path. 
 I went on, absolutely at sea as to whether I ought to 
 turn to the right, the left, or the right-about ! 
 
 If my reader has never been really lost in an intermin 
 able forest like this, I think it is almost impossible for him 
 to realise the appalling misery of it. All those qualities 
 which go to form our manhood are valueless ; resolution, 
 endurance, common sense, resource, self-reliance, are each 
 and all useless. One is the victim of mere doubt. Half- 
 a-dozen steps in one direction, and one becomes convinced, 
 as though by supernatural intuition, that that direction 
 is but leading us directly aivay from our goal ! If we 
 reverse our steps, the same conviction steals on us again ! 
 Reduced to the helplessness of a child, a child's fancies 
 and fears throng the l^rain ; aimless wandering, death by 
 starvation, torture by the Shans, seem the only alterna- 
 tives 1 Already I was dead beat with the fatigue of a 
 long and very hard day's work ; I had eaten nothing
 
 
 ;7 /v / 
 
 C/J;)M 
 
 *^^ 
 
 
 \ 'f 
 
 LOST IN A HUKMESE FOKKST.
 
 A fireman's life. 263 
 
 since mornino-, and it was no mere fancy that the Shans 
 would have a " high old time '" with me if they got me. 
 These people are very cruel. Their methods of killing 
 their enemies are not pleasant to contemplate. Among 
 those wliich we had heard of as authentic were the follow- 
 ing : Tying the victim to a tree, and cutting open his 
 stomach with a single dah-cut, so that he Avas eaten alive, 
 like Prometheus, by vultures and ants ! tying him over 
 a young bamboo shoot, so that it grew throuijli him (as 
 the growth of a young bamboo is extremely rapid) ! 
 thrusting bamboo splinters between the nail and the 
 flesh of the hand, &c. Morbid fancies apart, however, I 
 was terribly hungry, and in about as awkward a case as 
 one could well imagine. 
 
 Luckily, a jungle instinct had led me to notice, 
 while yet I knew the direction I had come from, that 
 I was riding with the Pleiades in front of me. Now, 
 when I had lost all count of direction, I eagerly looked 
 out for a break in the bamboo tops, and I found I 
 was once more going straight towards the Pleiades, 
 and hence towards the Shan camp ! For the second 
 time I reversed my steps. We wandered on ; a faint 
 moon rose and glimmered through the foliage, and 
 at last I sighted the stockade I had passed at eleven 
 miles from Kyenyat. I shouted my best, and moment- 
 arily expected a bullet in reply ; for the little Ghoorkhas 
 who manned it I knew well, and they stand on no cere- 
 mony. Had they heard a voice or seen a figure in the 
 forest in the night, they would of course conclude it 
 was the enemy, and greet me with a volley. Fortune 
 favoured me, and I was soon standing by a roaring lire 
 in the stockade, half naked, while I dried my soaking 
 clothes at the fire. For the first and last time in my 
 life, 1 broke into Government stores ! The stockade 
 contained stacks of boxes of Armour's " l)ully beef," 
 containing thousands of tins. My hunger knew no law.
 
 264 LIFE IM THE JUNGLE. 
 
 There was nothing to open the tin with, so I solemnly 
 laid it on the ground and chopped it bodily in half with 
 a Ghoorkha's hooherie. 
 
 Yet again my thoughts wander with the memories 
 recalled by the stars. I conjure up a picture of myself, 
 dressed in fireman's kit, seated straddle-legged on the 
 topmost roof of a house in the East of London. It 
 was a huge fire, — one of the biggest known for years. 
 Oil-matting factories had got ablaze, and tanks of oil 
 defied all attempts to extinguish them. Every station 
 in London had sent engines, and the sea of roaring 
 flame, and the molten mass of red-hot brick and flaming 
 gas-jets was a sight I shall not readily forget. There 
 are moments, of course, when the fireman is exposed 
 to heat, but, paradoxical as it may seem, the exposure 
 is rather to cold and wet. The torrents of water 
 played by the hoses drench you through and through, 
 and chill you to the bone. A small neighbouring house 
 was alight in the roof, and as I was the -only one who 
 happened to be present who could draw myself through 
 a tiny trap-door in the ceiling, I went uj) to work the 
 hand-pump and unroof the tiles from the rafters. Below 
 and in front of me lay the Gehenna of flame ; hoses from 
 fifty quarters played vainly upon it. Occasionally a jet 
 of water would be turned towards my direction, drench- 
 ing me to the skin, and it was cold, wet work for a 
 November night in London ! 
 
 There is pleasure in " galloping," as it is called. 
 The alarm-bell has sounded ; in less seconds than it 
 takes to tell it, the horses are in and the men seated, 
 and we are tearing down the road. " Make way for 
 the engine ! ! ! " No need for the cry ! Like Fate it 
 rushes on, and all must yield the road. Round the 
 corners we go without a check — these firemen drive 
 superbly — in the stillness of night. The uncertainty 
 of the v/ork before us, the dash and verve of the
 
 THE VARIOUS CLASSES OF PORTERS. 265 
 
 thing, lend a charm all its own to a fireman's life. I 
 recall many friends I made among the men — sailors all 
 of them — in the long nights when I came each evening, 
 and left in the morning, to live mv other phase of 
 life. 
 
 I have allowed myself to wander among these memo- 
 ries, recalling one here and one there, for I have set 
 myself to give a faithful description of a day of African 
 life, and these hours of camp-fire thoughts form no un 
 appreciable part of it, and cannot be excluded.^ Gazing 
 into the embers, scene on scene goes by. Wanderings 
 in Afghanistan ; events in the Suakim campaign ; shoot- 
 ing and jungle life. But those who have wandered 
 among such scenes know well that my picture is not 
 vliolly true to life. As one sits in reverie over the 
 dying embers, when the day is dead, alone in the still- 
 ness, it is rarely on such scenes that the memory dwells. 
 Nature's harmony lies in contrast. If our daily life be 
 full of rouo-h work our thouo-hts will turn to memories 
 which are their opposite, and which our lips never voice, 
 till the passing night warns us to take the necessary rest 
 before the early reveille of the morrow, and we lie down 
 to continue them in our dreams. 
 
 Such is the daily life of African travel, or such, at least, 
 was the daily routine of my own caravan. A word as to 
 the men, and we must push on our way, for I have three 
 years of continual work and travel before me to condense 
 as best I may. I have already described who and wliat 
 is ordinary " Zanzibari."' In addition to these, of late 
 years large numbers of free Wanyamwezi, from the 
 country south of Victoria, and of Manyuema, come down 
 to the coast to hire themselves as porters, and these too 
 take the name of Swahilis, or "coast men," and look down 
 on the " Washenzi " (savages) of the interioi-. A last 
 
 ' If I have wearied niy reader, it is by the fault of a friend, who, reading 
 my MSS., comphiined I had left out the " incident " !
 
 266 LIFE TN THE JUNGLE. 
 
 section are the mission men — the inhabitants of mission 
 viUages hke Kisaoni (Frere Town) and Kabai- — most of 
 whom are raiisomed shxves. Since the Swahihs are of 
 various tribes of the interior there is never any difficulty 
 in finding interpreters in the various countries passed 
 through, and even though you may not have a man of 
 the tribe in your caravan, there are sure to be several who 
 have picked up a little of the language on some former trip. 
 These languages are very similar, and the Swahili is 
 marvellously quick at accpiiring them, so that after a brief 
 sojourn in a country you will find your men conversing 
 with the natives as though to the manner born. As a 
 I'ule, they are singularly good-tempered. Quarrels are 
 very rare indeed among themselves, or even with the 
 natives. Occasionally I would issue a few strings of 
 beads apiece in lieu of _po.s/io, and let the men buy food 
 for themselves, to get a change of diet. Tlius in Ukamba 
 I write as follows : — " I feared that the men would try 
 and get things by force or threats, and spoil the market, 
 and make trouble by quarrels and rows with the natives. 
 Quite the contrary is the case, however. The Wakamba 
 are very independent, yet the men bargain in ones and 
 twos amicably, and not a single row, or even altercation, 
 has taken place, though 200 men armed with rifles, 
 undisciplined, and left to their own resources to l)uy 
 their food, have daily turned out to bargain with a 
 people whose language they don't understand." I have 
 already spoken of their amenity to discipline, and their 
 general characteristics.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 MAKONGEXI TO MACHAKO's 
 AND BACK TO MOMBASA. 
 
 The barren zone— Use of vegetable 
 armament — Nature of the jungle 
 — A lovely spot — Disputed pos- 
 session — Baboons — Glades — The 
 Sabaklii River — The Masai— Ariive Kibwezi — Method of food purchase — 
 Articles of barter — Distribution of jyosho — Advantage of messes — Description 
 of Wakainba — Lava streams — Kilimanjaro — Game at Mikundu — ^Yilson ill — 
 Character of Wilson — "Here comes the 'Express'" — Description of Ukamba 
 — Arrive Machako's — African unrest — N'sibu— Buihl a stockade — Return 
 journey — Quicksands — African cheerfulness— Build stockade No. 5 — Sub- 
 sequent abandonment of these posts — Arrive back at Kibwezi — Orders for 
 Uganda — I leave Wilson, and march rapidly to the coast— African cobras — 
 Disagreeables of being carried — Fuladoyo deserted — Arrive Mombasa. 
 
 Passing through the viUages of Makongeni, with their 
 rich soil and extensive cultivation, we plunged into 
 heavy forests of gigantic trees, festooned with creepers, 
 where the silence is unbroken, even by the footfall of 
 the traveller on the bottomless carpet of decaying
 
 268 MAKOXGENI TO MACHAKO's. 
 
 leaves and vegetation. Beyond lies the scrub jungle, 
 typical of the barren zone (see chapter xvi.). As 
 far as the eye can reach extends the forest of 
 cactus and thorn bush. It is a study in thorns. 
 Each bush rivals its neighbour. The acacia takes the 
 lead, with a straight thorn three or four inches in 
 length, and for fear this should be broken ofP, Nature 
 has supplied another variety with a bulb at its base as 
 big as a marble ; they are as hard and as sharp as though 
 of cast steel. Other bushes grow a combination of both 
 the straight and the hooked (or wait-a-bit) thorn, as 
 though to inflict a wound, however approached. The 
 decayed cactus rots and dies, but its thorns (like the 
 ivory of an elephant) seem impervious to decay, and 
 litter the ground in masses. From below — to meet the 
 thorn-bushes from above — springs the spiked Nkonge 
 aloe, with a blade like a triangular bayonet, tipped 
 with a hardened spike, which will penetrate even the 
 strongest shoe leather. 
 
 It is a marvel how game, less thick-skinned than a 
 rhino, can live in this inhospitable jungle. The 
 delicate little pah gazelle, no bigger than a rabbit, its 
 skin no thicker than a kid glove, bounds oif like 
 lightning among the aloes and the cacti. One looks 
 to see it impaled like a butterfly on a pin ; but Nature 
 has taught her creatures to live with safety among 
 their surroundings, though it is hard to gauge the 
 reason for this prodigal wealth of vegetable armament, 
 or to understand against what enemy its terrors are 
 directed. Buffalo and rhinoceros swarm, tracks of 
 elephant abound. Fresh footprints of zebra and many 
 antelope, from the great water-buck to the tiny jpali, 
 show clear on the path we follow, but the denseness of 
 the jungle rai'ely admits of our seeing the animals them- 
 selves. A magnificent lion walked across my front 
 from the river's edge, where he had been to drink, but
 
 ALONG THE SABAKHI RIVER. 269 
 
 he disappeared into the depths of the wood ere I could 
 seize my rifle. 
 
 Flowering j)lants are few, though there are many 
 How^ering shrubs. The shrub cactus, the milk-hedg-e, and 
 the varieties of creeping cacti share the forest with the 
 hheir bush and acacia. The feathery foliage and purple 
 blossom of the former contrasts with the gnarled and 
 knotted tw^igs and sponge-like wood of the Haga. 
 This tree perhaps forms the bulk of the forest, and its 
 ]3eculiar cramped shape makes it look as though it had 
 been reared under a pie-crust, where its boughs and 
 twigs had not had room to expand, and liad become 
 crooked and bad-tempered from the hardness of their 
 lot. Euphorbias grow in abundance on the north side 
 of the river, but not on the south. The acacias are of 
 various kinds : one grows like an inverted cone, another 
 is table-topped or umbrella-shaped, and their regularity 
 of outline remind us of the quaint peacock yews, and 
 pyramid hollies of old English gardens. Their yellow 
 and white button-shaped blossoms lade the air with the 
 fracifrance of Encrlish hawthorn. The singular bush, 
 which exudes a flow of sap from its smallest twig with an 
 overflowing aroma of palm oil, adds its thorn to the rest. 
 
 The river bank offers a pleasing contrast. 'Y\iejhow- 
 bush grows thickly at the water's edge, and, at some 
 150 miles from the coast, the graceful date-palm, with 
 its })lume-like fronds, first appears at an altitude of 
 1 700 ft. Here magnificent feathery acacia — over 2 ft. 
 in diameter of the bole — tower above the clusters of 
 Hyphoene, and (more rarely) borassus palm. The large 
 baboons come here in droves, with the lesser monkeys, 
 to eat the fruit of the latter tree. A fine tree with 
 a delicious fruit, like a plum or loquotz, the lovely 
 tamarind, the Misanguti ^ (which however is rare), and 
 
 ' Tlic nutives here uppoar ij,Mior:iiit of the uses of this tree. The oil extracted 
 (l>y boiling) from the scarlet pips sets tirmly in u moderate temperature, and
 
 270 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO's. 
 
 further up the river a beautiful poplar-hke tree, with 
 bhiish-green foUa,ge, and straight-grown stems, fringe 
 the margin of the riv^er, and Jean over its silent pools 
 and rushing waterfalls. 
 
 One such spot I recollect well. In the hopes of securing 
 game, I had pushed ahead alone. At the place I selected 
 for the raid- day halt, I stopped under a huge, spreading 
 tamarind tree, which leant over a deep and silent pool 
 between the bank and an island in the stream. A 
 series of waterfalls 100 yds. up-stream glistened and 
 S]3arkled in the sun, while several patches of sand 
 between the rushing streams glittered Avith minute 
 grains of yellow mica, like sands of gold. Heated and 
 tired, I threw oif my clothes and plunged into the pool. 
 I put my naked foot on a slippery thing, which I took 
 to be the end of a water-logged pole. Slowly it 
 appeared end foremost on the surface : I caught hold 
 of it, to throw it out of the watei^, and found it was the 
 snout of a small crocodile ! It got my hand in its 
 mouth, and tore my finger, but I managed to snatch it 
 out. I never had a conception before how extraordin- 
 arily sharp these creatures' teeth are ; it made several 
 vicious snaps at me, but I left the pool with some 
 agility, recollecting, as Mark Twain would say, that I 
 had no special reason for stopping there, and that there 
 was a lot of room for bathing elsewhere in the river. 
 I went and bathed on the golden sands — sitting 
 under the splash of the M'aterfall — since named after 
 me, I hear, by the liailway Survey — and left the 
 crocodile in undisputed ]3ossession. 
 
 Occasionally, we saw droves of great baboons. One 
 does not care to shoot these animals, and, indeed, it is 
 strange that, alike in India and in Africa, the natives 
 
 is useful for making candles and soap ; the dye obtained from its b:irk ap- 
 parently resists decay, and is used by fishermen on Nyasa for dyeing their 
 nets. Its wood is also valuable.
 
 DISPUTED POSSESSION. 271 
 
 look on the apes and monkeys (except in the case of the 
 colobus and others possessing a particularly fine skin), as 
 something near akin to the human race, and deplore their 
 murder. I, however, was anxious to shoot one large 
 baboon for examination, and I dro2:)ped one on two occa- 
 sions with a rifle-shot, but could never secure him. These 
 animals are dangerous occasionally. On Nyasa, poor 
 Thelwall shot one, and was immediately attacked by the 
 drove. The males have huge canine teeth, and are very 
 powerful and fierce ; a single one would be a powerful 
 antagonist, and one could do little against many. 
 Thelwall clubbed his rifle to defend himself; it was 
 loaded and went off", and the bullet, passing through his 
 liver, killed him. 
 
 I have said that the zone, througli ^^•hich we are pass 
 ing, was sterile and rocky with quartz, red and grey 
 granite, conglomerate, a kind of slaty shale, useful for 
 building, and limestone, in Avhich were fossils : constant 
 glades, however, intervene with rich soil and beautiful 
 pasture grass. In some of these the grass was of a kind 
 1 have rarely seen in Africa, like English meadow-grass 
 — free from " spears ; " it was in such situations that I 
 selected the sites for the two stockades, or stations, I 
 had decided to make, between Makongeni and Ukamba 
 (Kibwezi). My Persian agriculturist was delighted 
 with them, and agreed with me that a system of irriga- 
 tion from the river would be easy of accomplishment. 
 Now, in the month of February, the hot weather had 
 parched up the ground. By day the thermometer 
 registered from 79° to 104°, by night about 70°. A 
 strong wind blew regularly from the east and north-east. 
 
 As the Sabakhi receives no perennial tributaries except 
 the Tsavo, its volume becomes greater as we ascend the 
 river. It is probably navigalile for canoes for a hundred 
 miles from its mouth. The main body of water which 
 forms the river comes from the Tsavo, a deep and cold
 
 272 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO's. 
 
 stream flowing from the snows of Kilimanjaro. Above 
 the junction of the Tsavo, the river, which has still the 
 same characteristic channel with high banks some 50 
 yds. apart, takes the name of the Athi, and in the hot 
 weather the stream is reduced to a few shallow channels, 
 flowing in the broad ex^^anse of sand. In the rains it is 
 a boiling, turgid stream, with a fast current and muddy 
 brown water. Towards the eastern reaches of the 
 Sabakhi the watershed is from north to south, and 
 hence, south of the river, the fall is towards the Voi. 
 Gradually, as we ascend the river, going westwards, the 
 watershed from the south falls to the Sabakhi and Athi. 
 Many dry beds of mountain torrents are crossed, but 
 the flrst perennial stream is the Tsavo, the next is 
 the Kibwezi. All these streams become excessively 
 swollen in the rains, the flood-mark on the Tsavo 
 being G to 8 ft. above the low-water level. Here, 
 at the Tsavo, had been an old camping-ground, and 
 remnants of slave-sticks told their own eloquent tale. 
 
 Many Masai "war-paths" cross the Sabakhi — one 
 especially is much dreaded. These are the routes 
 followed by the warriors in their forays into the 
 countries to the north of the Sabakhi. The prestige 
 acquired by the Masai in bygone days has made 
 them a terror to the tribes of East Africa. Like all 
 dominant tribes in Africa, however, their supremacy 
 is not absolute, and the loss of their cattle by the 
 plague has tamed their arrogance, and largely deprived 
 them of their means of subsistence. In their own 
 country they are not so much to be feared as when met 
 with in parties " on the war-path." There they have 
 their flocks, their women, and their villages to guard ; 
 here they have no impedimenta. Half-maddened, as 
 Mr Thomson tells us, by drinking blood ^ and gorging 
 flesh, they are sworn to attack whomsoever they may 
 
 1 Masailaiid, Jos. Thomson, p. 430.
 
 MASAI WAR-PATHS. 273 
 
 meet, and hence the caravan is well on the alert when 
 crossing one of their highways of blood and slaughter. 
 Contact, however, with caravans, led by Europeans, who 
 were not to be bullied by their bluster and arrogance, 
 together with occasional experience of the terrible exe- 
 cution whicli breech-loading rifles can eftect, has taught 
 them of late better manners, and, although Dr Peters' 
 methods were not such as recommend themselves to 
 our entire approval, there is no doubt, I think, that his 
 fearless attitude and ao-o-ressive action tauofht the Masai 
 a lesson they will not lightly forget. 
 
 We crossed their war-paths without encountering any 
 hostile force, and leaving the Athi below the junction of 
 the Kibwezi, struck across to meet the trade-route (vid 
 the Taru desert) from the coast, where it crosses that 
 stream. We arrived at the Kibwezi on 4th March, being 
 nineteen days from Makongeni, in spite of the delays 
 caused by road-cutting, and the unnecessary windings 
 along the river — the distance actually marched from 
 Makono^eni beinor about 200 miles. Here we once more 
 reached a land of plenty, and replenished our food-sup- 
 plies. The method of food purchase merits a word if my 
 reader wishes to realise a traveller's daily life in Africa. 
 
 Arrived in camp we fire a couple of shots as signals ; 
 soon the Wakamba, men and women, begin to stream in 
 with little baskets or bags (beautifully woven of Nkonge 
 fibre) full of grain or flour {ivimhi and mtama), with 
 potatoes and fowls, and, perhaps, a pot or two of honey. 
 1 tell off" a headman, with a party to assist him, and 
 ho takes up his position under a tree, with a tai'paulin 
 s[)read on the ground in front of him. After much 
 liaggling a standard is fixed — a small basket, holding 
 perhaps two large cotfee-cu[)S of flour, is exchanged for 
 a " string " (about a foot long) of small red beads. 
 Sometimes we cannot come to terms at all the first day, 
 if (bod is not plentiful, or if a " Swahili caravan "--viz., 
 vol.. I. S
 
 274 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO's. 
 
 under native leadership — has preceded us and spoilt the 
 market. When once the standard is fixed matters pro- 
 ceed merrily. Each vendor fills the measure till it over- 
 flows, and receives his or her equivalent in beads. The 
 ratio varies greatly. Here we paid nearly six times the 
 price I afterwards gave in Kikuyu, Kavirondo, Usoga, 
 &c. ; but, of course, the further into the interior one 
 penetrates, the more valuable the barter-goods become. 
 The price in the places I have named — perhaps a 
 fair normal average price in the interior — is about 
 4 lb. to the string (or 12,000 lb. to the porter's load) of 
 beads. Thus, exclusive of presents and other contin- 
 gencies, a load of beads should provide food for a caravan 
 of 200 men for a month. 
 
 Each tribe has its particular fancy — the Wakamba 
 will take only red and white beads, the Wasoga only 
 dark blue, the Wakavirondo only pink. The Masai will 
 trade only in iron wire, the Waganda only in cloth. 
 Cloth is everywhere in requisition, and more eagerly 
 taken than beads ; but its purchasing value per load is 
 hardly so great as the latter, since it is not so easily 
 divisible into minute quantities. Iron and brass wire, 
 and trade " chain," are much sought after, but these and 
 such " notions " as small looking-glasses, copper coins 
 (used only as ornaments), hardware, &c., are reserved 
 for the purchase of oxen, sheep and goats, fowls, honey, 
 and such extras. The reception of novel articles is often 
 quaint and amusing. In Kikuyu, I have seen the natives 
 fly in terror at seeing their own faces in a looking-glass, 
 considering it probably a species of unholy magic ! Thus 
 also a stampede is often caused among the gazing crowd, 
 if one takes up a pair of binoculars or an aneroid. The 
 day's purchase completed, the averages for each class of 
 goods and class of food are worked out by me and noted 
 in my pocket-book, the flour or grain is put into bags, 
 and weighed oftMnto loads of 65 lb. each.
 
 BUYING AND ISSUING FOOD. 275 
 
 And now for the mode of distribution. At first, each 
 man's name was called, and he received his ration (a 
 large coffee-cup for a day=l^ Ih.); generally three or 
 four days' j^'^^^^o would be issued at a time. Later, I 
 divided the men into batches, or messes, of from seven 
 to eleven. All the men of one " camp," as they were 
 called, must belong to the same headman's company, 
 otherwise they could chum as they liked, and each head- 
 man would have some four " camps " under him. From 
 each camp I selected a good man as chief He was 
 vested with no authority, but simply drew the number 
 of ^:>05Aos (rations) in bulk according to the number of 
 men in his camp, and thus time and trouble were saved, 
 both to ourselves and the men. At the evening muster 
 it lay with the head of the camp to reply to the head- 
 man's query \\^liether all were present. The system 
 worked admirably, and saved infinite trouble in posho 
 issue, and especially in dividing any game shot. In this 
 case we used simply to issue, as far as the meat would go, 
 at a certain quantum per head in rotation through the 
 different companies and messes. Hence there was never 
 any quarrelling or gi-uml)ling, for each man knew that, 
 if he got none to-day, his turn would come to-morrow. 
 
 This system, too, facilitated discipline, the detailing of 
 men for work, &c., and I adopted it the whole time I was 
 in Africa, whether marching or stationary. It is a boon 
 to men without friends, as they are thus included in a 
 common fraternity, and get the use of a cooking pot; such 
 men would otherwise often eat their food raw, and thus 
 invite disease. It also checks the premature consump- 
 tion of the ration issue, and, in the case of meat or cloth, 
 a small quantity can be issued per mess, which would be 
 useless if the indi\ idii.il were the unit. The system of 
 issuing in liulk to headmen is very bad, and leads to much 
 unfairness in the distribution, and consecpient hunger. 
 The head of the camp being one of themselves, a mere
 
 276 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO's, 
 
 porter, dare not and could not appropriate any portion. 
 During a halt for the purchase of food there is endless 
 detail work to do : rifles to be overhauled and repaired, 
 loads readjusted, diaries and maps to be completed to 
 date, shauris (conferences) to be held with native chiefs, 
 and presents exchanged, defaulters to be told off, lists of 
 deserters (in the early stages), or of casualties, &c., to be 
 made up, and a thousand minor things. One's own kit 
 has to be attended to, and odd moments would find us re- 
 pairing our boots, loading cartridges, or mending clothes ! 
 The men would have light Avork to keej) them employed 
 if the halt was longer than two days, such as building 
 rough huts, cleaning camp, or stringing beads, &c. 
 
 The Wakamba, the tribe that occupy Ukamba — the 
 country extending from the Kibwezi to Kikuyu — are 
 a large and powerful people. My first impressions of 
 them, as noted in my diary, are as follows : — ■" The men 
 a,re quite naked, except for a ring, or several, of brass or 
 iron round their waists, like the Wankond^, and a great 
 quantity of chain (iron and brass ' trade ' watch-chain) 
 round their necks, and hung through and over their 
 ears, and hanging generally in festoons everywhere. 
 Their only cloth is a strip, with a very long fringe at 
 each end, worn over the right shoulder and across the 
 breast, like an officer's sash. They wear also amulets 
 and bracelets of brass or iron, and festoons of beads 
 in place of the chain, if the latter is not available. 
 Especially curious is the arrangement of ivhite beads, 
 which they wear tight round the ankle to the instej), 
 and upwards half-way to the knee, looking exactly like 
 a clean white spat. This on a naked savage has, at a 
 little distance, a most grotesque appearance. They 
 smear themselves over with red clay and castor-oil, 
 which makes them of a dark, brick-red colour, and they 
 have handsome, glossy skins. They wear their hair in 
 endless tassels, mop-fashion, but not long. Their features
 
 THE WAKAMBA AND THEIR WAYS. 277 
 
 are generally good, and the forehead high and intelligent. 
 Their figures are tall, upright, and thin. Some are very 
 well-built, fine men, but slight — calves and arms small 
 but muscular. They seem by nature inveterately lazy. 
 They generally stand in couples gazing at one. The 
 attitude is typical — one leg is used to stand on, the 
 other is hitched up, the sole of the foot resting on the 
 knee, or thereabouts, of the other leg. Then they lean 
 against each other, with their arms over each other's 
 shoulders, looking the picture of laziness, 
 
 " They are too lazy to make paths, following the sandy 
 or rocky bed of a river-course in preference to making a 
 sound path on the ground above. The women wear a 
 very small square piece of cloth or leather as an aj^ron, 
 it is about 4 or 5 in. in depth by 7 in. or so in 
 breadth, and generally covered with bits of bright brass 
 or beads. Behind they wear a long V-shaped strip of 
 thin leather, ending in a point, and split up the centre, 
 reaching^ down to the back of the knees or lower. It is 
 literally a pair of swallow-tails, and presents a ridiculous 
 appearance waving in the breeze as they run. They do 
 not seem to tatoo much, and I have not yet seen them 
 smoking. They drink ^90>y//>(', I am told, but apparently 
 very little. In addition to the tiny apron, many of the 
 ladies wear an oval liide on the riglit hip, reaching below 
 the knee and above the waist, coloured chocolate like all 
 their belongings and themselves. They are generally 
 festooned with beads, especially round the hips. Here 
 we first came across cattle, for at this time the plague had 
 not yet made its terrible ravages. They seem to possess 
 large herds. The animals are fine, of the shape and size 
 of the Indian ox, fairly well-bred, varying in colour, 
 humped, and some tolerably large. They are hornless, 
 or with short, sharp horns, just like Indian cattle. They 
 want exorbitant prices for them." 
 
 The Wakamba are of Bantu orioin, and are agricul-
 
 278 . MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO S. 
 
 tural, though they possess large herds and flocks. Their 
 language is extraordinary : the words are drawled out to 
 an extent which is almost incredible to one who has not 
 heard it. Almost an entire inhalation of breath will be 
 devoted to one short word ; the result is most ludicrous. 
 They occasionally organise a party to the coast, to ex- 
 change cattle, or for goods ; but as they make no adequate 
 provision for food supply on the return journey, when 
 laden, they often sufter great hardship. A caravan of 
 this sort overtook us on the Sabakhi ; part had passed on 
 ahead, leaving two men dead from starvation on the road. 
 
 The valley of the Kibwezi stream (which is of the 
 purest and clearest water imaginable) is of molten lava. 
 Huge lava waves from Kilimanjaro must have flowed 
 down the valley, seething and eddying like a mountain 
 stream, and in these shajies they have solidified. The 
 honeycombed rock is impregnated with iron. It must 
 have been a strange, wild sight, in those prehistoric days, 
 when the molten, fiery mass swept forest a,nd life before 
 it ! For years — nay, for centuries — it must have re- 
 mained a sterile, blackened plain, and even now the soil 
 is but a surface coating on the lava rock. Along the 
 Kibwezi grow some fine timber trees, including a large 
 rubber tree. It is here that the East Africa Scottish 
 Industrial Mission has since made its headquarters. 
 
 Passing onwards from here we catch a glimpse of tlie 
 great snow-capped mountain of Kilimanjaro, I cannot 
 say it impressed me much. It is shaped like a gigantic, 
 white-topped hay-cock. Those crags and peaks which 
 pierce the clouds in Ruwenzori are wanting here, nor is 
 tliere (as in that mountain) any series of lesser hills 
 and blue-topped mountains to lead the eye ujiwards, 
 and help it to gauge the great height and the stupend- 
 ous grandeur of the snow peaks, which, overtopping and 
 dwarfing all the lofty mountain heights, watch in eternal 
 snow over the storms that rao-e beneath.
 
 THE EDGE OF THE INTERIOR PLATEAU. 279 
 
 At tlie Salt River (Long. 37' 45' ; Lat. 2° 10' 8.) we have 
 attained, by an imperceptible rise, a height of 3000 ft. 
 above the sea, the distance being, in a direct line from 
 Mombasa, about 200 miles. It is to this point that I 
 advocate that the first section of the railway should be 
 constructed (see chap. xvii.). Our route here crosses 
 the Mikindu (date-palm) plain, where every kind of game 
 abounds. It is a matter of great importance to shoot 
 meat occasionally for the men. A leader who can thus 
 secure game is very popular, and service under him is 
 eagerly accepted, the men are happy and contented, and 
 one can thus reward, by an extra allowance, those men 
 ^vho have shown zeal or done extra work. I here shot 
 the spotted hyena and the wild dog of Africa (see chap, 
 xxi.). Lions abounded. We Avaited near the water in 
 the evenino- to see if one would come to the carcass of 
 an animal I had shot, and we heard them give tongue 
 ill three different directions quite close to us. This in 
 the dark was more than we had bargained for. 
 
 Crossing the Salt Iliver we begin to ascend ra]:)idly, 
 for here is the edge of the inner high plateau of the 
 interior. In front of us towers the gigantic granite rock 
 of Nzoi, which stands out as a sentinel of the mountain 
 niiisses ])ehind. Almost every tree contains the mzinga, 
 or hollow log of wood, suspended by the Wakamba for 
 tlie wild bees to hive in. The soil is everywhere im- 
 pregnated with iron, and in places the ore appears very 
 rich. Firewood and timber is very scarce, and is brought 
 fiom great distances by the natives, and sold in little 
 bundles. The goolah fig, and the misanguti tree form 
 tlie only shade. Mountains surround us on every side, 
 as we toil in the heavy, yielding sand up the bed of a 
 mountain stream ; for, though the country is densely 
 ])opulated, and villages nestle on every hillside, and 
 down among the valleys, there is no other path ! 
 
 My com|>aiiioii, Wilson, had been constantly ill. and
 
 280 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO's. 
 
 on the occasion of these attacks he would become un- 
 conscious, and his head and neck would grow so hot 
 as often to cause me gTea\t anxiety. I applied violent 
 blisters, which gave him great relief. Never in my life 
 have I met a man who took his illness so pluckily, except 
 Sharpe in Nyasaland. Nothing would induce him to lie 
 down, till he could no longer stand. I would sit by him, 
 when racked with a splitting head and high fever, to try 
 and brighten him up, and he would go into such fits of 
 laughter at my anecdotes that it was difficult to realise 
 the pain he suffered all the while. But he was a man of 
 exceptional courage. In his first trip into Africa he had 
 been attacked by a large body of Masai. His handful 
 of men all bolted, and he remained absolutely alone. By 
 some strange chance, in the dusk, the Masai did not see 
 him among the bushes, and he shot many of them, event- 
 ually rallied his men, drove off the enemy, and recovered 
 most of his loads. On another occasion the Wakamba, 
 some 600 strong, on their way to fight the Masai, were 
 eager to take vengeance on the white man for a matter in 
 which Wilson had had no hand or part. Hearing of his 
 arrival in the vicinity with a mere handful of men, they 
 lay in wait for him. Wilson got news of it. Alone and 
 unarmed he walked into their camp, and the matter ended 
 in their making friends with him. I found that he had 
 thus acquired an extraordinary influence with them, 
 and now chiefs from considerable distances came almost 
 daily to see him, bringing presents, and showing almost 
 ludicrous pleasure at meeting him again. No other man 
 in the country has ever acquired such an influence with 
 the natives. At this time he was too ill to stand, but 
 managed to sit on our one wretched donkey, falling 
 when it fell, but never giving in, and thus he arrived 
 at Machako's. 
 
 I myself, on the contrary, was fortunately extremely 
 full of health and energy. It became my custom to walk
 
 AMONG THE ULU MOUNTAINS. 281 
 
 ahead of the caravan at a pace Avhich very few of the 
 natives could keep up with, and I have often found them 
 on the run behind me. Thus gaining a considerable 
 distance, I would have time to write up my road-book, 
 take bearings with the compass, examine rocks and 
 flowers, &c., before the caravan came up, and so I 
 avoided delaying them. Long afterwards I found that 
 this peculiarity had been noticed by each section of my 
 men ; the Sudanese called me (in Arabic) " the express 
 train," and the Swahilis had a similar name, and they 
 would make chaffing remarks to my gun-bearers as we 
 passed, asking them to remember them to their friends 
 on the other side of Africa! I thus had time to accom- 
 plish mapping work on the march, which otherwise 
 I should have found it difficult to do. This work in 
 the open country, with many striking objects on which 
 to take bearings, now became much easier and more 
 accurate. Along the Sabakhi, when cutting a road 
 through dense jungle, and superintending a caravan, it 
 was difficult to calculate both distance and direction, and, 
 having no proper instruments, the latter was mainly 
 judged Ijy sun-shadow. The chart, however, I was glad 
 to find, tallied fairly accurately with the subsequent 
 careful survey by engineers. 
 
 Here among the Ulu mountains the population was 
 dense, and the cultivation extended in every direction. 
 The hills are of red marl, but " black cotton " soil alter- 
 nates with it in a curious way. The excellent mountain 
 grass was cropped short Ijy the flocks and herds of the 
 natives. The plague had not yet made its terrible visi- 
 tation, and single herds of cattle numbered perhaps not 
 less than 1000 head. Granite of many kinds, quartz, and 
 the slaty rock, with which we built the fort at Makon- 
 geni, indicated the geological formation, and limestone 
 no longer appeared. Apropos of this, 1 quote a passage 
 from my diary, written near the Kibwezi : — " A crumbly
 
 282 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO S. 
 
 stone, so fragile and brittle that it could hardly be called 
 stone at all. On close examination I could see the 
 outline of reeds and grass, and even moss and twigs, 
 imbedded in it. It was just a coating of lime on moss, 
 grass, and reeds, which had settled as lightly as hoar- 
 frost, so that the intricate network of dead vegetation 
 was still left intact. Where pressure had come on it, 
 it formed blocks of crumbly lime, with small quartz, 
 pebbles, &c., imbedded in it, and shows a strong lime in 
 the water." 
 
 The Wakamba were most friendly, but the people of 
 the proverbial village of Kilungu, who are at war with 
 all others, and have given trouble to every traveller 
 (Thomson, Jackson, and others), played their usual 
 thievish games on us, both when w^e passed and repassed. 
 Their method was to circulate freely in camp (no zeriba 
 being possible, as there is no bush), and then, snatching 
 up some article, to rush off with it. Instantly there is 
 an outcry ; every one, ignorant of the cause, seizes his 
 gun, and pursues the flying natives. The article in 
 question turned out on this occasion to be an old pair of 
 bathino- drawers of mine, which were recovered without 
 bloodshed 1 I cautioned the headman of the village 
 against any such attempts on European caravans in the 
 future. 
 
 On March 15th we reached Machako's. The " station," 
 which consisted of a rough house with a trench round it, 
 was occupied by one European and a small j)arty of about 
 a dozen Swahilis. Beyond buying flour for caravans, 
 little was eftected by this isolated post, 350 miles from 
 the coast. The Company had no connecting link between 
 it and Mombasa. It was powerless to protect the natives, 
 and was not intended as a trading depot. I had the option 
 of continuing on to the Lake Victoria Avith no jDrecise 
 object, but I thought I could do more real good by form- 
 inp' a chain of stations to connect Machako's with the 
 
 c5
 
 AFRICAX UNREST. 283 
 
 coast, and so establish a system of connected administra- 
 tion. The Administrator had promised to garrison the 
 posts I should establish, and thus I hoped some real 
 effective work would result from our labours. The 
 station was built on a plain (5000 ft.), surrounded 
 by hills, except towards the west, where it extended 
 interminably towards Masailand and Kikuyu. These 
 plains are mostly of black cotton soil, and are covered 
 with excellent grass, cropped short near the Wakamba 
 settlements by the flocks and herds, and further afield, 
 — where the natives dare not drive their herds for fear of 
 the Masai — by countless head of game. The plain in the 
 dry Aveather looks parched and arid, but where it is 
 intersected by mountain rills the bananas and crops grow 
 luxuriantly. Here, for the first time in Africa, I saw a 
 system of irrigation channels, most cleverly and effec- 
 tively planned. 
 
 " These Wakamba are at constant war wdth the 
 Masai. They have scouts out along the hills and on the 
 l)orderland, by day and night, I believe, so that the 
 approach of any Masai is at once known, and they 
 assemble in enormous numbers, almost instantaneously, 
 to fight them. Moreover, every day little parties pass 
 my camp on their Avay to loot cattle from the Masai — 
 tlu'ee or four at a time, perhaj)s, massing further on 
 (where they put on their war-dress). It is a daily sight, 
 and one sees them going and returning all day long on 
 these expeditions. Altogether, they seem to make it 
 pretty hot for the Masai about here. In turn the Masai 
 loot Wakamba cattle, &c." (diary). 
 
 Such is African life, for the African knows no peace. 
 One day you may see peace and i)leuty, well-tilled 
 fields, and children playing in the sun ; on the next you 
 may find the corpses of the men, the bodies of the 
 cliildien half burnt in the flames which consumed the 
 village, while the women are the captives of the victorious
 
 284 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKo's. 
 
 raiders. Not against the slave-trade alone are our efforts 
 needed, as I have already in these pages so often said. 
 The Pax Britannica which shall stop this lawless raiding 
 and this constant inter- tribal war will be the greatest 
 blessing that Africa has known through the ages since 
 the Flood. 
 
 We remained at Machako's for a fortnight, building a 
 large earthwork stockade. Of course, the w^ork was 
 entirely new to the men, and every smallest detail 
 required constant supervision. I made great friends with 
 the local chief, N'sibu, a fine old man, who brought his 
 strapping sons, and even his wife and daughters, to see 
 me, that I might know all his family wherever I might 
 meet them, and no one should deceive me by saying he 
 was his child who was not. They, on their part, were to 
 see me in order that, being an old man, they might hear 
 all his words to me, and fulfil them when he was gone, 
 and that never between his family and ourselves should 
 there be aught but peace ; for he had given himself (he 
 said), his lands and his cattle and his all to the white 
 man. Strikinof words from an African savao-e ! And in 
 return we pretended to afford him " protection." What 
 could a solitary white man and a dozen porters do in case 
 of a Masai raid in force ? But here there was at least 
 this " station," whereas more distant tribes under our 
 " protection " by treaty had not even that advantage. 
 I would not make a treaty on such terms, but I gave 
 him a flag as an emblem of friendship and alliance. 
 
 The rains broke on our arrival at Machako's, and 
 descended in torrents, day and night, making our work 
 difficult, and causing much sickness. The sick were, of 
 course, attended by ourselves, as we had no doctor. 
 Large sloughing ulcers, lung disease, inflamed eyes, and 
 rheumatism were the most common ailments, and were 
 prescribed for in a rough-and-ready, but effective fashion. 
 I find the following note at the end of a day's list of
 
 BUILD MACHAKOS RETURN TO THE COAST. 285 
 
 prescriptions: — "An inveterate shirker with 'stomach- 
 ache ' got a strong emetic — mustard and water and salt, 
 mixed thick, followed by hot water. He said it was ' a 
 very fierce medicine,' came for no more, and has worked 
 regularly ever since." 
 
 We finished the stockade, and made a pretty pole bas- 
 tion, with sod-wall entrance, enfilading the broad and 
 deep ditch, which had a live thorn hedge at bottom, 
 and bristled with chopped thorns and spikes. We then 
 left (March 29th) on our return journey to the coast. 
 The appearance of the country was now completely 
 changed. Bare hills were covered with green verdure, 
 and lovely flowers had sprung up everywhere. Dry water- 
 courses had become rushing torrents, dow^n which came 
 *' flushes " of water after heavy rain, sweeping all before 
 them. The caravan, when marching down the bed of the 
 liver, was nearly swept away by one such torrent, and the 
 men were up to their waists before they could struggle 
 to the bank. Quicksands had formed in the river-bed 
 of a most treacherous nature, which must have been 
 caused by subterraneous streams. They are really very 
 curious. The middle man of three, walking abreast, would 
 perhaps suddenly sink, while the other two were on firm 
 ground ! or one leg would sink, and the other be all riglit. 
 And tliis was absolutely continuous : every yard had to 
 be tested. I myself got bogged endless times, for these 
 quicksands are in tlie very bed of the river, through 
 which we waded, and one could not, of course, see under 
 the thick, rushing, muddy water, red with the marl of 
 the hills. Consequently one M-as wet up to the waist 
 with the stream, and drenched equally above with the 
 rain. The men, however, took it all as a joke, and there 
 were shrieks of laughter when any one got bogged by 
 trying to make a short cut instead of following in the 
 footsteps of the last man, and a rush of askari to seize 
 him and his load before he sank too far or dropped it.
 
 286 BACK TO MOMBASA. 
 
 The greater the discomfort with driving rain, cold wind, 
 and shppery paths, the more these children of nature 
 sang and laughed as a protest against their misfortunes. 
 
 Of one of the worst of such days I write : — " It cleared 
 up a bit, and we halted, and the men (who had marched 
 with loads on paths as slippery as glass for some two 
 and a half hours) actually began to dance — Abedi 
 mimicking a tired man, with a load on his head and 
 laden with rifles, which every man hung around some 
 part of his person. He danced really well, amidst 
 shrieks of laughter. He must have had 150 lb. on him. 
 It is ludicrous how seductive the dance is to the African. 
 One by one (of whatever tribe), as if impelled irresistibly 
 and literally fascinated, they rise and rush oft" to it, 
 and those who, on the narrow hillside path, could not 
 crowd into the dance circle itself, jerked their bodies 
 about, and beat time to the cadence, outside, with 
 faces of intense abstraction and absorption. The giant 
 Chiwarchi, almost naked, doing this on his own account, 
 presented so absurd an appearance that I don't think 
 I have laughed so heartily for some time." 
 
 We reached Nzoi, but as this place is densely popula- 
 ted, I decided to build the next stockade further on, 
 where admirable soil and plenty of timber for building 
 and fuel would be advantages to the colonists who were 
 to settle around these stations, and where the ground 
 would not already be monopolised by the natives. 
 The little fort was built of pallisading (split poles) 8 ft. 
 high and loop-holed. The butts of the uprights were 
 charred, and the pallisading kept off" the ground ta 
 preserve it from white ants. It was very hard 
 work teaching my rift'raft' of savages how to construct 
 the homa. Some of the most necessary of the tools 
 (augers, &c.) I had been unable to jDrocure at the coast; 
 those I had (axes, &c.) were of the worst possible kind, 
 and almost useless. I had no native artisans to teach
 
 STOCKADE BUILDING. 287 
 
 the men the simplest thing, and so every smallest detail 
 had to be done by ourselves. We made onr own rope 
 (for measuring and tying) from Nkonge fibre, and our 
 own nails from wooden pegs. 
 
 No caravan had ever attempted such work before, 
 and we had to keep the men contented and willing, 
 by constant example, while on one or two occasions I 
 had let them see I would stand no nonsense but 
 meant to be obeyed. For instance, once or twice, 
 when a quarrel among the men had arisen, we did 
 some execution with our own fists to restore order ; 
 nor did they ever find that grumbling produced the 
 slightest concession, but the reverse. Meanwhile my 
 success in shooting a giraffe, water-buck, hartebeest, &c., 
 had made them happy with meat. But they only require 
 a little tact, and in spite of the fact that we had a 
 most mixed lot — loafers from Mombasa (even chain-gang 
 criminals), worthless Wanyika, fugitive slaves, &c. — 
 there had never yet been a single case of flogging in the 
 caravan since I left the coast, and very little punishment 
 of any sort. 
 
 In twelve days we completed the stockade, and so 
 well did it look that the men themselves were delighted, 
 walking round and round it, and exclaiming " Kazi 
 U/ai/a" ("The work of the white man"). Wilson, as 
 usual, worked incessantly and indefatigably, though 
 constantly ill and sensitive to the fierce sun, which now 
 had succeeded the first bout of rain ; indeed without him 
 it could never have been done. These little forts are now 
 all abandoned. In fact they cannot be said to have ever 
 l»een occiq>ied in the sense in which I had intended them. 
 A few of the Sultan's "Viroboto" troo[)s, who were a 
 lawless and mutinous rabble, were sent up to occupy 
 them ; not a single European was stationed along the 
 line (.350 miles rid Sabakhi) to attend to their wants, 
 and supply them with food, as I liad recommended. No
 
 288 BACK TO MOMBASA. 
 
 colonists or agiicultuiists were settled around them, 
 tliongli the Persians imported by Mr Mackenzie were 
 eagfer to come, and redeemed slaves and others would 
 also have been available. The Viroboto, of course, 
 deserted ; it was the result foreseen and desired, and 
 was made the reason for ousting them from the Com- 
 pany's employ and pay. To-day, the stockades we 
 laboured to build — as no money recompense would have 
 made us labour — are deserted, and passing caravans pull 
 down the rails we carried from great distances and adzed 
 down with infinite trouble ourselves — to light their 
 tires ! Our assertions to the Wakamba, that these were 
 the practical evidences of British occupation and adminis- 
 tration remain a dead letter, and along this route from 
 Mombasa to Machako's there is no European, and no 
 station except a mission.^ 
 
 We completed the stockade and marched to the 
 Kibwezi. Having now no maj^ping work to prevent me 
 from leaving the line of march, or to compel me to 
 remain plotting in details in camp, I was able to do a 
 little shooting on the road, and several times I did not 
 return till long after dark, Avhen Wilson would send a 
 party with a lantern, who would make for the sound of 
 a signal-shot and guide us back to camjD, without which 
 assistance we should have lost our way. I bagged 
 giraffe, eland, hartebeest, water-buck, and various small 
 antelope, and so kept the caravan in meat. We arrived 
 at the Kibwezi on 19th, and next day mails reached me 
 from the coast. The Administrator was anxious I should 
 at once proceed to Uganda, and suggested that if I 
 thought it necessary, I should return to the coast and 
 organise an expedition for which 200 fresh men were 
 beinof enlisted. This I decided to do at once, in order 
 that I might obtain the War Office sanction, and get the 
 
 1 A small station was subsequently made (under native supervision) on the 
 Taru route, at the Tsavo River, between Mombasa and the Kibwezi.
 
 URGENT ORDERS FOR UGANDA. 289 
 
 necessary men, arms, and supplies. We were, however, 
 loth to abandon uncompleted the task we had undertaken. 
 
 " I go with reluctance [I wrote], for I detest leaving a 
 thing half done. We undertook to open up this line, and 
 try transport animals. The last we have done success- 
 fully as far as Makongeni. I have made a chart with 
 notes of the road up to Machako's, and conveyed thither 
 double the loads I undertook to take, besides those 
 for Jackson. j\Iachako's stockade is done, also the 
 fifth stockade. The fourth (Kibwezi) is under way. 
 Makongeni is done ; there only remain the third and 
 second stockades " (diary). 
 
 I decided therefore to return via the Sabakhi with 
 seventy men, leaving the bulk of the caravan with Wilson 
 to complete the Kibwezi fort. I would choose the site 
 of the third stockade, and convey thither as much food 
 as my men could carry, in readiness for Wilson, detaching- 
 ten men to guard it till his arrival. Marching on raj^idly 
 to Makongeni, with the men empty-handed, I would 
 select on my Avay the site of the second (and last) 
 stockade, and send on fifty men to Malindi to procure 
 food, who would return to the second stockade to await 
 Wilson's arrival there. While these fifty men were 
 going to Malindi and returning, Wilson w^ould, we calcu- 
 lated, have completed the third stockade, and would 
 meet them at the site of the second. Meanwhile I would 
 continue my journey from Makongeni to Mombasa with 
 the remaining ten. 
 
 Such were my plans. On the 20th I received the 
 mails, and on the 2 2d I started. Before I left I selected 
 the site of the stockade at Kibwezi, laid it out, and 
 decided on its mode of structure (logs), and had a long- 
 conference with tlie Wakamba chiefs relative to the 
 acquisition of the land. It is a good example of the 
 simplicity of these ignomnt savages, that their sole 
 anxiety Avas centred in the honey-pots in the trees ! 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 290 BACK TO MOMBASA. 
 
 " They have no conception of the scope of the question. 
 Here was I, wishing to take over a vahiable tract of 
 ground, and to gain legal possession of the site, on which 
 I wish to build the fort, together with adjoining lands, 
 including the regular camping-ground, and the reply is, 
 that there is a honey-pot in the tree on the site ! The 
 fact is that waste land in Africa is literally ' no-man^s- 
 land,' and a neioiibourino- small villao-e headman has no 
 more claim over it than you or I" (diary). 
 
 I urged that a European and a doctor should be 
 stationed here at the Kibwezi on account of its central 
 position (half-way to Machako's, and at the junction of 
 the Taru and Sabakhi routes), and the good water, 
 abundant food, &c. Thouo-h this was never carried out 
 by the Company, the suggestion was followed by the 
 establishment of the East Africa Scottish Industrial 
 Mission. 
 
 I carried out my plan exactly as I had arranged, 
 marching very rapidly (in torrents of rain), and reaching 
 Makongeni on May 5th. The forest was now dense with 
 foliage, and where before the ground was burnt up, it 
 was now carpeted with the most lovely flowers. The 
 Sabakhi was a roaring river of immense volume. Buffalo 
 and rhino had come down to the riverine forest in great 
 numbers, and it was a matter of some danger passing 
 through their haunts at the head of my little caravan, 
 with only a small "440 Winchester for defence. The 
 ground was literally trampled down by them, like a 
 cattle-yard. However, though a rhino charged through 
 the caravan on one occasion, and a buffalo made for a 
 porter on another, we were singularly fortunate, and 
 met with no contretemps. 
 
 I note in my diary a quaint custom or superstition 
 with regard to the cobra, which I noticed on this 
 march : — " A very big black snake crossed my path 
 slowly, and getting a man's sword-bayonet I let him
 
 FORCED MARCHES TO MOMBASA. 291 
 
 have it on the tail-end. He reared, and expanded a big 
 hood, hke the picture- l^ook cobra. I did not know there 
 was so well-hooded a cobra in Africa. He spat furiously, 
 on which my men with great energy spat back ! Nor 
 could I get them to speak until he (and they) had 
 finished. He did not attack further, though he looked 
 like it at first, and went his way in the thick grass." 
 From the manner of tliis performance it was evident 
 that the men seemed to think their safety lay in spitting 
 back at the reptile. 
 
 During this march I was much distressed by a bad 
 foot, a very large thorn having entered the sole and 
 broken off there. My l^oots were completely worn out, 
 in spite of all my cobbling, and I had to march more 
 than once with bare feet. The thing became so painful 
 that for a couple of marches (for the first and last time 
 in Africa, except when brought wounded to Karonga's) 
 I had to submit to be carried. This, however, is no 
 great luxury in such a district as the Sabakhi valley, as 
 my diary testifies : — " It is rough work brushing through 
 the thorns, which tear one's arms, and sometimes one's 
 face. This jungle here is full of wait-a-bit thorns, and 
 my bare feet, &e., can't wait a bit when I am carried 
 through by main force in a blanket slung on a pole. 
 Not an easy conveyance, unless you know how to 
 dodge it — legs hanging out on one side, and head on 
 the other, is the only way ; for you must wear a big 
 hat in this fierce sun, and the hat won't go under the 
 j)ole or accommodate itself to the shape of the blanket." 
 I was, in fact, rather a cripple at this time, for the 
 wound in my left arm had broken out and become ex- 
 cessively painful, and I took several considerable pieces 
 of bone from it, and had to wear it in a sling to get 
 relief, though I still used my rifle when I got a chance, 
 and secured a very fine water-buck — perliaps the longest 
 lioi'iis I liave.
 
 292 BACK TO MOMBASA. 
 
 Arrived at Makongeni, I wrote full instructions to the 
 Company's agent at Malindi regarding the despatch of 
 the Viroboto to garrison the forts, supplies of food, &c., 
 and I then pushed on to Mombasa. Passing Fuladoyo, 
 I found most of the villages deserted. There had been 
 a failure of crops, and the chief headman and most of 
 the people had gone off to the mission station of Rabai, 
 in spite of the promise of the missions never again to 
 harbour fugitive slaves. Other matters had interfered, 
 and nothing practical had been done in the scheme, which 
 promised so well when I left — re their working for their 
 own ransom- money. The man who was now chief wel- 
 comed me eagerly, and said that six villages (about 200 
 men) were all ready to begin at once to work for their 
 freedom. The truth was that the gratuitous redemption 
 of the Rabai slaves had done great harm, and had given 
 rise to the idea that, if they could only succeed in 
 smuggling themselves there, they would be harboured 
 and redeemed gratuitously. 
 
 My excellent men marched splendidly, in spite of the 
 pouring rain, from morning till night. We usually 
 camped at sunset, and they had no time to make any 
 shelter, but lay in the open, often in torrents of rain, 
 without a murmur. Indeed, it was as much as they 
 could do to kindle a fire to cook their food. Lack of 
 tobacco was their chiefest grief, and I supplied them 
 with what I could. I found they had even broken up 
 an old and very rank pipe, and smoked the pieces in 
 lieu of tobacco. Being an inveterate smoker myself, I 
 could fully sympathise with the craving ! On May 11th 
 we arrived in Mombasa.
 
 WORK IX MOMBASA — 
 START AGAIN FOR IN- 
 TERIOR MOMBASA 
 
 TO MACHAKO'S. 
 
 Prepare for Uganda — 'Sir Mackenzie 
 leaves — ^ly orders — Sir Francis de 
 Wintoa arrives — Orders reversed — 
 I resign the Company's service — 
 Devote myself to the Fugitive-Slave 
 scheme— The Arabs shirk their com- 
 pact — Register fugitives at Kabai — 
 And Fuhidoyo — Withdraw my re- 
 signation — Start for the Interior — 
 Constitution of the expedition — Dualla — Past methods in Africa — Desertions 
 — -Bad equipment — Deficiency of men — Makongeni porters — Copper-poisoning 
 — African instability — Meet a slave caravan — The best method of stopping 
 them— Our "nursery" — Reason slaves run away — Advance party joins us 
 ^'^^'ils.ln at the point of death — An awkward predicament — Work at 
 Machako's— Grievances of the Wakamba— Leave Machako's — Discipline in 
 a caravan — Mauyuema — Sport. 
 
 Masai and Wakamba Warriors (p. 283 ». 
 
 (3n arrival in Mombasa (May i 1th) 1 fourul tlie Adminis- 
 trator anxious that I should start for Uganda as soon 
 as possible. Leave was obtained from the War Office, 
 but news was now received from England that Sir
 
 294 WORK IN MOMBASA. 
 
 Francis De Wiiiton, R.A., C.B., K.C.M.G., &c., was on 
 his way out as Administrator and himself intended going 
 to Uganda. I therefore devoted my time while Mr 
 Mackenzie was away in Zanzibar to reproducing my 
 road-chart of the Sabakhi route as far as Machako's, and 
 to writing a report of my journey and work. I also 
 enlisted and superintended the despatch of a caravan, 
 under Mr Neumann, to cut a road along the Athi, and 
 gave fall instructions to him and to Mr Anstruther, 
 who was road-cutting on the Sabakhi, and got the 
 Viroboto sent off to garrison the forts. These tasks, 
 together with mucli work connected with the scheme for 
 the fugitive slaves, kept me employed all day and much 
 of the night, till the return of the Administrator a fort- 
 night later, at the end of May. 
 
 Now again I was told to prepare a caravan to go to 
 Uganda, of which I should be in command. I sent 
 messages to call Wilson, who returned with the caravan 
 in the middle of June, having in the meantime built the 
 intermediate stockades, so that now our first task was 
 completed. In all we had built No. i. at Makongeni, 
 II. and III. on the Sabakhi, iv. at Kibwezi, v. on 
 Wakufokoa (or Dangi) River, and vi. at Machako's. 
 Wilson had been again very ill after I had left him, 
 and his life was despaired of by the men, whose affec- 
 tion for him was so great, that some were even weeping 
 in his tent wlien they thought him dying. He had also 
 been charged unexpectedly by a buffalo, and had a 
 very narrow escape of his life. 
 
 My orders were received on May 30th, and having 
 completed all the necessary arrangements in Mombasa 
 as rapidly as I coukl, I left for Zanzibar on June 4th, to 
 recruit men. Mr Mackenzie, the Administrator, left for 
 England, after giving me an official letter in which I was 
 directed to lose no opportunity of making treaties with 
 the native cliiefs on ]jehalf of the Company, and of
 
 PREPARATIONS TO GO TO UGANDA. 295 
 
 obtaining as much ivory as possible to recoup expenses. 
 For the rest I was given an " absokitely free hand," and 
 intrusted with the fullest powers, both as regards the 
 formation of the expedition, its route and conduct in the 
 interior, and the steps I should take on arrival in 
 Uganda. Mr Mackenzie simply said, " as the credit of 
 success will be yours, so will you have to bear the blame 
 of failure," and I was instructed (telegram, April 20th 
 1890) to assure Mwanga of our " protection and jDOM^erful 
 assistance." His kindness to me, and the confidence he 
 placed in me from the time of our arrival together in 
 Dec. 1889 till his departure at the end of May 1890, 
 were altogether exceptional. I had found in him 
 a warm personal friend, whose dej^arture I, together 
 with every European in East Africa, greatly regretted. 
 
 I succeeded in getting a number of men in Zanzibar, 
 where I was treated with the utmost hospitality by 
 Colonel (now Sir Charles) Euan-Smith, in whose house I 
 spent some very pleasant days. He was strong in his 
 opinion that no time should be lost in occupying Uganda, 
 — for it was at this time that we heard of the arrival 
 of Dr Carl Peters in that country on behalf of Germcin 
 interests, and Emin Pasha had just started towards the 
 same point with a strong caravan from the German 
 coast ; nor as yet had the Anglo-German agreement 
 (July 1st, 1890) been negotiated. 
 
 On June 14th I returned to Mombasa. Sir F. De 
 AVinton had just arrived, and now once more my orders 
 were cancelled, and I learned that the Administrator 
 himself intended to go, and had brought a staff of 
 officers to accompany him. I therefore tendered my 
 resignation, which was accepted ; but I wished, whether 
 in the Company's service or not, to at least reorganise 
 the scheme for the fugitive slaves, which had completely 
 collapsed during my absence in the interior, and I stayed 
 (»n to undertake it. Mr Mackenzie luul brouo-ht from
 
 296 WORK IN MOMBASA. 
 
 Persia a number of agriculturists. Some had accom- 
 panied me (as I have narrated) along the Sabakhi, and 
 I had acquired a considerable influence with them, and 
 they were willing to settle where I put them. These 
 men, together with self- ransomed slaves, I hoped, as I 
 have said, to establish around my posts in colonies, and 
 so to secure an efiective line of stations and garrisons 
 with a system of food supply, communication, and ad- 
 ministration as far as Machako's. 
 
 The Arabs had tried to go back on the agreement 
 they had made with Mr Mackenzie to accept an all- 
 round sum of $15 per head for the fugitive slaves. 
 They wished to make its acceptance optional with the 
 owner, which would entirely destroy the scheme. I 
 was myself at the haraza (council) at whi€h this was 
 proposed, and I strongly pointed out to the Adminis- 
 trator (Sir F. De Winton) how disastrous an acquiescence 
 would be. The Arabs then wished that all those who 
 agreed to the original plan should sign a document, and 
 all who wished should dissent. This was another ruse put 
 forward by an old Aral), who, of course, saw clearly that, 
 through the loyalty and public spirit of the minority 
 of the Arabs, the strength of the fugitives would be 
 broken by the self-redemption of many of their leaders, 
 and so he would be able to seize his own by force, or get 
 a much higher price for them. I declined to accept 
 any such modifications, for I saw their real meaning 
 and results. I appealed to the liivali as to whether 
 it was not true that the scheme had been ao^reed 
 to by himself and the other leading Arabs present 
 at a large haraza held by Mr Mackenzie, not as 
 individuals, but as representing the whole of the Arabs 
 of Mombasa. He agreed that it was so. I was warmly 
 supported by Mohamed Ali — the finest Arab I have 
 met in Africa, and a man of very broad and enlightened 
 views — who said that, for his part, he would not go back
 
 REORGANISE FUGITIVE SLAVE SCHEME. 297 
 
 ou his contract. I found the slaves also much disheart- 
 ened with the scheme, and fearful lest the freedom 
 papers should not he really valid. 
 
 So Wilson and I set to work to reorganise the matter. 
 I pointed out to Bishop Tucker that long ago the 
 Church Missionary Society had given a pledge to Sir 
 John Kirk, when he extricated them from the reprisals 
 threatened by the Arabs, that they would never again 
 harbour runaway slaves. This pledge had not been kept, 
 and its violation had led to the difficulty in 1888, when, 
 for the second time, they had been extricated, by the 
 free ransom of the slaves, on the initiative of the Com- 
 pany. They then again repeated their pledge for the 
 future. I stated that already (early in 1890) this pro- 
 mise had again been broken ! This was denied. I went 
 to Habai, and there in the presence of Mr Fitch, the 
 resident missionary — who helped me in every way, and 
 was not in any way responsible in the matter, since he 
 had onlv recentlv taken charo-e of the station — I enrolled 
 the names of 154 fugitives, including the chief of Fula- 
 doyo. All these were now told that they must leave 
 Rabai, unless they registered themselves to work out 
 their freedom, as slaves could not be harboured by the 
 missions. They readily agreed to the latter course. 
 
 With some difficulty I got the missions to consent to 
 allow the Kev Jones, an ordained native, to superin- 
 tend the scheme during my absence in the interior, 
 and, as he was enthusiastic about it, and personally 
 knew most of the |)eople, and understood their language, 
 and customs, and the modes of employment most suited 
 to them, a better man could not have been found. Sir 
 Francis De Winton ])romised his cordial help and con- 
 currence, and offered to find work for them to enal)le 
 them to earn the requisite money. A philanthropic 
 lady generously placed £100 at my disposal at this 
 time for the furtherance of this scheme in any way I
 
 298 WORK IN MOMBASA. 
 
 considered best. I placed this sum in trust with the 
 Company, and suggested the formation of a committee 
 to organise the scheme, and expend the money on lines 
 which I indicated. The main difficulty Avas to find 
 employment for the women slaves, but I arranged that a 
 village should be established near where the projected 
 railway was to be begun, or where a road was being cut 
 throuoii the bush on the Taru desert. Sir Francis De 
 Winton kindly consented that the women should be 
 employed in carrying water to the men, and in other 
 tasks suited to them. Mr Jones was to superintend 
 this village on the ostensible grounds of ministering to 
 their spiritual needs. 
 
 On our return from Kabai Mr Wilson was sent by 
 the Administrator to Zanzibar to engage porters, and 
 I proceeded alone to the fugitive slave villages of 
 Fuladoyo and Mwaiba. Here I increased the roll of 
 those willing to work out their own freedom to 280, 
 and once more all seemed to augur well for success. 
 Confidence was restored among the slaves themselves, 
 when they found that they had to do with Mr Wilson 
 and myself, whom they knew and trusted, and by my 
 taking one man (who had been on caravan work with me, 
 and had earned more than the requisite money) before 
 the liivali (magistrate) myself. He himself paid his 
 master in presence of the Arab haraza, and was presented 
 with a certificate of freedom, which I witnessed and 
 signed. When he found that this was really valid, and 
 he could go where he liked as a free man without fear of 
 seizure, he went off" to tell his friends, and to get all the 
 others to adopt the same plan. I arranged also that the 
 Company's chief magistrate should keep a register of the 
 men who had thus freed themselves, so as to protect 
 them from injustice. I ^vorked hard at this, preparing 
 rolls of the names of the slaves and of their owners to be 
 posted in the coast towns, together with notices in
 
 SUBSEQUENT FATE OF THE SELF-REDEMPTION SCHEME. 299 
 
 Arabic and English, intimating that these were working- 
 out their freedom, and were, therefore, not to be seized. 
 Meanwhile, new changes of programme had occurred, 
 and I agreed to withdraw my resignation, and pro- 
 ceed with a caravan some little distance into the in- 
 terioi'. For this purpose Wilson and I re-engaged our 
 old men, who were eager to serve with us again, and we 
 superintended the despatch of a caravan in advance, ac- 
 companying it as far as Ral^ai. I returned from Fuladoyo 
 about July 21st, and was fully occupied in preparing the 
 slave lists for posting in tlie coast towns. The Adminis- 
 trator now desired me (on 26th) to start immediately 
 for the interior with such men as were available. These 
 amounted to some 150. My instructions were to pro- 
 ceed to Ngongo Bagas, in Masailand, some four marches 
 beyond Machako's, and there to build a station. If my 
 resources permitted it, I was to proceed again a little 
 farther and build another post, and there await Sir F. 
 De Winton's arrival. 1 worked very hard, up to the 
 night before I started, to complete my arrangements 
 regarding the Fuladoyo fugitives, and we left the 
 scheme in the hands of Mr Jones with a fair pro- 
 spect of success. I regret, however, to say, that long- 
 afterwards (when in Uganda) 1 had a desponding 
 letter from Mr Jones, saying the scheme had fallen 
 through. On my way back, I made inquiries from Mr 
 Fitch and Mr Jones at Rabai, and they told me that 
 by the aid of the documents I had left in their hands 
 they had succeeded in arranging for a few men to work 
 out tlieir freedom, but they gave me to understand that 
 the scheme, in its entirety, and as I had left it, was non 
 existent. ()ii aiiival at the coast, I was overwhelmed 
 with work, and as 1 left for England by the first steamer, 
 in order to re[)ort on matters connected M'ith Uganda, J 
 had no time to enter once more into this important and 
 most interesting question.
 
 300 START AGAIN FOR THE INTERIOR 
 
 In accordance with my orders I now got my men 
 together, took what loads there were, and left Mombasa 
 on Auo". 6th. With me were Mr Wilson (second in 
 command), Mr F. De Winton, and Mr Grant, also 
 Mr Brown, wdiose destination was Machako's. I had 
 seventy Sudanese, under a native officer, Shukri Aga, 
 who had come down from the Equatorial Province 
 with Emin and Stanley. These men had been enlisted 
 in Egypt by Captain Williams, E.A. (who had come 
 out with Sir F. De Winton). I had also the Maxim 
 gun which J\lr Stanley had taken in his trip across 
 Africa. It was worn out and almost useless, nor had I 
 any men who understood it. 
 
 With me was a man named Dualla, a Somal by 
 birth, who had been for many years with Stanley on the 
 Congo. Later he had been with Count Teleki, on his 
 remarkable journey to Lake Rudolf, and on many other 
 expeditions ; there is probably no living man who has 
 travelled so much in Africa. Though a zealous Moham- 
 medan, he was free from bigotry, and could recognise 
 the merits of Christianity, as w^ell as what he would 
 term its demerits. He was extremely shrewd and 
 intelligent, spoke English, Arabic, Swahili, and Somali 
 with almost equal fluency, had travelled, I believe, in 
 Europe and America, and had lived in England. His 
 home was in Aden. He was the most energetic, valuable 
 native I have ever met, thoroughly trustworthy, and 
 very conscientious and willing. His fault lay in his 
 rouo-h and arbitrarv methods with the men. In former 
 expeditions he had, I believe, generally been his own 
 master, and, indeed, in Count Teleki's expedition he 
 had, I understand, complete control of the whole of the 
 men and goods. He w^as feared and disliked by the 
 men, and I had heard a short time before, that when it 
 became known to a caravan that he was going with it, 
 the men in a body declined to start.
 
 DUALLA. 301 
 
 For this Dualla is not to blame. His methods were 
 those which had hitherto been followed in African travel, 
 and which even yet, I am sorry to say, I do not think 
 are wholly extinct. Porters were treated as mere 
 beasts of bnrden. Flogging — somethnes with great 
 cruelty — chaining of men together in gangs, often for 
 comparatively trivial offences, beating men who lagged 
 behind in the rear of the caravan, abandoning others on 
 the march who were nnable to come on — such things 
 have been frecjuent in the history of African travel. 
 
 Every one who has travelled in Africa, or, indeed, been 
 on a campaign, knows that methods are often necessary, 
 which those who sit in arm-chairs at home may cavil at 
 and condemn. Insubordination must be crushed at once 
 with a strong hand, discipline — where the good (and 
 often the lives) of many solely depends on the will, 
 and the resource, and foresio-ht of one — inust be main- 
 
 o 
 
 taiued ; thieving and gross negligence must be effectually 
 shown to l)e " not worth the candle." And where 
 fining is impracticable, and imprisonment often impos- 
 sible, corporal punishment is, at times, a necessity. The 
 remedy against the abuse of power and the infliction of 
 unnecessary or excessive punishment lies in a nutshell. 
 Select a gentleman for the command of an expedition, 
 and one who will remember in all times and places that 
 he is an English gentleman. Let him be withal a man 
 of tact, resource, and resolution, though the leader of a 
 caravan need be no Lawrence or Napoleon (as, judging 
 by some recent ebullitions of enthusiasm, one would 
 almost imagine). 
 
 Dualla and I settled conclusions pretty early in the 
 day. I saw him strike a native, and told him before the 
 whole of the men that I would not allow it. It was a 
 very nasty jdIII to the proud Somal, but Dualla's charm 
 lay in the fact that a hint was always enough, and I 
 never had to speak to him again during the two years
 
 302 MOMBASA TO MACHAKO S. 
 
 we were tosfether. He was one of the bravest and best 
 fellows I have ever had to deal with. I have quite a 
 personal affection for him, which I know he returned 
 with devotion. 
 
 Mr Mackenzie, speaking at the Royal Geographical 
 Society (Nov. 7th, 1892), said that he thought "no 
 caravan had ever left the coast so ill-equipped in 
 every way " as the one of which I now took command, 
 and there was much truth in the statement. Many of 
 the men were not porters at all ; they lay about in the 
 path groaning, and saying they were dying, and they 
 deserted in twos and threes daily, I made the marches 
 very short indeed. I humoured the men in every way I 
 could, but the result was the same. Many, I think, had 
 only come in order to draw the three months' advance 
 of pay, and desert with rifle and ammunition, and by 
 the time I left Makongeni I had lost about fifty, or one- 
 third of my men, and they still continued to desert in 
 ones and twos. Wilson was again ill, but we had no 
 doctor, few medicines, no medical comforts, and a ridi- 
 culously small allowance of provisions and necessaries. 
 
 I was told that very many hundred loads had been 
 conveyed in readiness to Machako's, but I eventually 
 found only about 100 there — largely of useless goods. 
 Stokes had taken up 300 loads by the German route, 
 and Mr Stanley was said to liave left large quantities ; 
 but all these were at the south of the lake — 200 miles 
 from Uganda. However, my orders from the Adminis- 
 trator were distinct that I was not to go to Uganda, 
 and I was told I should not probably be away more than 
 six months ; so my hands were tied, and though private 
 news from England led me to conclude that I should 
 later receive orders to go on, I was, of course, unable 
 under the circumstances to equi23 my caravan with that 
 object, or to point out the insufficiency of the supplies. 
 
 On arrival at Makongeni, on the Sabakhi, my caravan
 
 TEIP TO MALINDI. 303 
 
 had become so reduced by desertions that I decided to 
 go to Mahndi, the seaport at the mouth of the Sabakhi, 
 to endeavour to recruit more, and to obtain food, which 
 was to have been sent liere to await me. Moreover, I 
 was now in great difficulties to carry the food supply 
 necessary for the foodless stretch along the Sabakhi, for 
 I had only sufficient men to carry the caravan loads. I 
 therefore sent on seventy men under Grant and Brown 
 as far as the second stockade (fifty miles). These would 
 return, leaving the Europeans and ten Sudanese in 
 charge of the goods. The rest of the expedition accom- 
 panied me to Malindi, while Wilson, who was ill, and 
 De Winton remained in Makongeni to prepare food for 
 the march, and to try and get some Makongeni men for 
 porters. I made a very rapid march to Malindi and 
 back (seventy-four miles), being absent only five days, 
 though we had to j^urchase the grain and adjust the 
 loads, &c., for, again, nothing was ready. 
 
 While here I took the opportunity of having a long- 
 talk with the liivali (Arab governor), a thorough native- 
 gentleman, about the fugitive slave question. It had 
 never been properly explained to him before, and I was 
 disappointed to find that my carefully prepared lists 
 had never been sent to him. When he understood that 
 the scheme only applied to the old fugitives — viz., to 
 those who had run away prior to Aug. 1st, 1890, and that 
 slaves would not, therefore, be encouraged to desert ; also 
 that the Arabs would have the right of entry into these 
 villages when once the men had obtained their freedom 
 (for the villages would then be of free men under the 
 Company's Hag), he was enthusiastic about it, and 
 promised Ins cordial co-operation. It will be remem- 
 bered that, on Augf. 1st, the edict aoainst slavery 
 obtained by Colonel Euan-Smith came into force. This 
 edict, if enforced, would practically have extended the 
 l>enefits of the scheme for fugitives to all slaves.
 
 304 MOMBASA TO MACHAKO's 
 
 On my return to Makongeni, I found Wilson had been 
 very ill indeed with lung disease and jaundice, but was 
 convalescent. The Makongeni people had benefited 
 very greatly by the little fort we had built on our 
 first trip. Since its garrison arrived, the Gallas, who 
 formerly stole the women and cliildren (for sale in 
 Malindi), and helped themselves as they pleased to the 
 crops, and of whom the Makongeni people stood in 
 abject terror, had entirely disappeared. As I had 
 obtained no porters in Malindi, I now called on these 
 people to help me by supplying a few men to accom- 
 pany me, at a liberal hire, for six days. They demurred, 
 being a set of cowardly, thieving rascals — the refuse of 
 Malindi, &c. I therefore compelled them to oblige me. 
 Thirty-four came as far as the second stockade (four 
 days), and promised to accompany me as far as the 
 Tsavo, but the moment the promise was made they all 
 cleared out and left me in the lurch ! 
 
 I was myself taken ill on my return to Makongeni, 
 but experience of camp-life in India enabled me at once 
 to diagnose that I was suffering from copper-poisoning, 
 (due to the copper cooking-pots from which the galvanis- 
 ing had worn ofi:'), for I have simila^rly suffered before. 
 Knowing the antidote to be iodide of potassium (of 
 which we had a little in our chest), I prescribed it — for 
 De Winton and Wilson were similarly affected. Its effect 
 was an almost immediate cure. De Winton, who f)re- 
 sided over the medicine-chest, weighed out the dose 
 (20 grains). I was on the point of swallowing what he 
 gave me, but thinking it looked somewhat large, I took 
 the scales and myself weighed it. I found he had en- 
 tangled the balances accidentally, and the dose given 
 me was about 300 grains, which I suppose would have 
 pretty effectually disposed of me I I recommend this 
 antidote to travellers, for copjDer cooking-pots are de 
 regie in the tropics, and poisoning, more or less severely.
 
 DIFFICULTIES FROM DESERTION. 305 
 
 is therefore not uncommon. The cure I learnt on board 
 a steamer on the Irawaddy, where I alone, from previous 
 experience, had diagnosed our malady, and a doctor then 
 prescribed the antidote. The symptoms are unmistak- 
 able, for a bad case of copper-poisoning produces the 
 same eftects as cholera. 
 
 On arrival at the second stockade, the distance of 
 which was now reduced to some forty-three miles from 
 Makongeni by point to point marching, I found Grant 
 dangerously ill, and he had to be carried on the forward 
 march. This added a difficulty, for I had not a man to 
 spare. I had seventy loads to pick up here, my 
 thirty-four Makongeni porters had deserted, and I had 
 been unable to get a single man in Malindi. How- 
 ever, we met our difficulties somehow, and determined 
 to push through as fast as possible by morning and 
 afternoon marching {telekeza) before the food should 
 give out. 
 
 The African is "unstable in all his ways"! Two 
 of my most trusted askari — one of them a man whom 
 I thought devoted to me, who had shown such great 
 grief on Wilson's illness, and had confided to me 
 all about his home and his little child, and for whom I 
 had done much, bolted with a bag of rupees I I think 
 the solution is not that the African, as a rule, is of a 
 deeply ungrateful or treacherous nature ; quite the re- 
 verse. I have already described his inability to appre- 
 ciate danger. It is part of liis character ; he cannot 
 realise consequences of any kind. He will yield to 
 momentary temptation, whether it be to run away 
 with rupees, or to overeat himself. lieflection will 
 proljably bring bitter remorse when it is too late. 
 
 The Sudanese proved terribly l)ad at marching, but 
 
 by dint of judicious halts and all-day travelling, together 
 
 with the reduced distance by the new path, we made 
 
 good progress. A constant east wind (we were march- 
 
 VOL. I. u
 
 so 6 . MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO S. 
 
 ing west) spoilt any chance of securing game for 
 meat, though I regularly scoured the country in the 
 evening after arrival in camp. I had now an excellent 
 battery, consisting of my valued little '450 (Tolley), a 
 "577 express, and a 10-bore. The two latter, both by 
 Holland & Holland, I had bought in Zanzibar from a 
 Russian sportsman. 
 
 The day we arrived at the Tsavo three Sudanese 
 were missing. I sent back a strong search party to look 
 for them. They found one, and it was supposed the 
 others had deserted and returned to the coast. Long 
 afterwards another turned up, but the third had died. 
 Meanwhile, after crossing the Tsavo, when I had seen 
 the last man out of camp, as was my custom, I hastened 
 on at furious j^ace to overtake the head of the caravan. 
 " As I came up I saw two Swahilis in front with guns, 
 and Brown standing opposite them with his legs apai^t, 
 looking as though he had seen a ghost, and utterly 
 bewildered what to do. It turned out that as they were 
 carrying Masai spears he thought he had run into Masai, 
 though their dress and long rifles and their faces ad- 
 mitted, I should have thought, of no mistake " (diary). 
 I questioned the men, and noticed that others as they 
 came up were slmking off into the bush. " Then two 
 porters, with fearfully emaciated children on their 
 backs, appeared. One was a boy — a living skeleton, 
 a really ghastly object, simply skin and bone, shins 
 and arms like slate-pencils, and a keen, wolfish 
 expression of face. Another child, a girl, limping along 
 with a swollen foot, was in better condition ; a third, a 
 tiny child, very pretty, with long eyelashes and curly 
 soft hair — not wool — which showed it to belonsf to the 
 race from which the Gallas, Somals, Masai, etc., are 
 sprung — was also very thin. Seeing all this, I turned 
 sharply to the men and asked, what children were these ? 
 They said the children of one of themselves. I said they
 
 WE CAPTURE SOME SLAVERS. 
 
 307 
 
 lied ; these children were not Swahilis, nor were they all 
 of the same tribe. It was now obvious it was a slave 
 caravan " (diary). 
 
 I disarmed the men and put them under a guard of 
 Sudanese, and sent Wilson on ahead to capture any 
 more of the caravan he could, while I despatched a 
 
 Slave Caravan at Tsavo Rivek. 
 
 messenger to Shukri, Avho, as I have said, had marched 
 back to our previous camp with a strong party of 
 Sudanese to search for the missing soldiers. I ordered 
 him to lie in wait for this slave caravan when they 
 should have reunited, and seize their leaders and their 
 arms and all slaves. Meanwhile I brought on the chil- 
 dren and the prisoners and our own caravan, and then 
 went rapidly ahead to see what Wilson had V)een doing.
 
 308 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO's. 
 
 We found a man in a slave-stick and a slave woman 
 with a baby, and the headman in front had also seen 
 fifteen girls in slave-sticks, who fled into the bush. 
 I took several more prisoners and arms. These I 
 subsequently examined separately in camp, when, find- 
 ing they could not concoct a story together, they in- 
 dividually had to tell the truth. I disarmed and released 
 the common porters — I had no food to feed many 
 prisoners — and retained the leading men, and ultimately 
 sent them down with a European to the coast, together 
 with the full evidence obtained from the released 
 prisoners regarding the owners of the caravan, who were 
 all Mombasa men. 
 
 It is needless to point out that slave caravans are 
 illegal under Seyyid Barghash's proclamation of 1876, 
 to say nothing of the edict of Aug. 1st, 1890, then 
 just issued. My action, therefore, as an agent of the 
 Administration, was perfectly legal in dispersing this 
 caravan ; but being in the straits I was for food, and 
 depending on the British jurisdiction under the Com- 
 pany, my main object was to gain full evidence, on which 
 a conviction of the leading Arabs concerned in the mat- 
 ter could be effected, rather than to capture a number 
 of irresponsible hired porters. This evidence, as I have 
 said, I obtained and submitted, duly verified and wit- 
 nessed, together with the prisoners as further evidence ; 
 yet I regret to say that, for reasons I do not know, no 
 conviction was ever eftected. Such procedure, followed 
 by a conviction of the principals at the coast, would, I 
 am convinced, have a greater eftect in stopjoing this trade 
 than the issue of edicts to the sound of trumpets, or 
 the mere dispersal of an occasional caravan. 
 
 In case it may interest the reader to hear more of the 
 slaves we liberated, I quote a few extracts from my 
 diary : — " At the mid -day halt I gave the children a good 
 square meal, cooking a chicken I had got from one of the
 
 SO-CALLED "INGRATITUDE." 309 
 
 Slavers. I do not suppose the poor little devils have had 
 such a meal since they were born. The boy is desperately 
 ill — starvation mostly — and. can barely stand." Again, on 
 Sept. 5th : — " My little children are getting on first-rate. 
 The boy nearly died, but is jDuUing round. The little 
 girls are getting quite free and happy, and one hears 
 them speak now ; before they never spoke or made any 
 sound. I cover them up nightly with a water-jDroof 
 sheet — woman and baby and all. The woman went off 
 to-day, and is supposed to be with the Wakamba. She 
 is a fool, and will only be sold again. The Wakamba, 
 I hear, think the children are my own, since they are 
 allowed inside my tent ! " 
 
 Again, on Sept. 10th, I have the following note : — "I 
 looked after my ' nursery ' too, and had their filthy rags 
 replaced by clean little white coats, which I have had 
 made, and gave them the blanket of the dead Sudanese 
 soldier ; so now they are as snug as doi'mice. The lady 
 with the croup-coughing baby, who had disappeared, was 
 found in the hut of a native, and brought back. ... I 
 told her she was free to go or stay, but could get no 
 answer, beyond a giggle, as to what she wished to do. 
 Eventually she got her issue of food for seven days for 
 the onward march, and then cleared off, taking with her 
 the eldest girl, for which I was extremely sorry, as she 
 was a jolly little thing, and I know she will only be sold 
 into slavery again. 
 
 " Some good folk would cry, ' Base ingratitude ! ' I 
 do not. These savaofes do not think or act as we do. 
 They are, in truth, like ' dumb driven cattle.' With the 
 slave caravan they suffer uncomplainingly starvation, the 
 scourge, and all the painted horrors of so many writers. 
 They meet a European s<ifori,i\w{\ tliey hide in the jungle 
 and rejoin the Slavers. Like cattle, they will face any 
 misery, but dread the unknown. They are brought on 
 by us — fed, clotlied, and spoken kindly to ; they bolt.
 
 310 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO S. 
 
 Why ? Perhaps tliey are suspicious of what all this 
 may mean, and, as in Nyasaland, think they are being 
 fattened to be eaten. I think, however, it is merely the 
 dumb brute's instinct to wander which makes them go. 
 The long, hot, dusty march, &c., is a bore. They wander 
 off as cattle do, regardless of stall and food, of danger 
 from lions, of danger of a cruel master, instead of a kind 
 one. The very immediate present is the only thought, 
 and sooner than march to-morrow to the unknown, they 
 slip oif to-day, and follow the caged bird's instinct, and, 
 like it, they perish in their ill-advised liberty ; but, who 
 blames the foolish bird ? " 
 
 I have copied the passage verhatim, though it is some- 
 what lengthy, and perhaps those who read it will begin 
 to understand that the African must be treated differ- 
 ently from the European with centuries of culture to his 
 making, and that coercion is sometimes necessary for 
 their own good. The children were taken to the Com- 
 pany's station at Machako's. The tiny one shared a 
 donkey with a wizened old Sudanese soldier, who was 
 too ill to walk. They were then handed over by me 
 to the safe keeping of the Company's agent. What has 
 become of them since I do not know. 
 
 Grant was now able to ride a donkey ; but Wilson, 
 who had been ill ever since we left the coast, and had 
 only kept himself together by mere pluck, was getting 
 worse daily. We crossed the Masai roads safely, though 
 we only missed running into a very powerful war-party 
 by a few hours apparently. We passed a very large 
 Swahili trading caravan, and arrived at the Kibwezi on 
 Sept. 5th, our food having held out with a small margin. 
 
 Here I found the caravan I had despatched in advance 
 on July 1st, under Mr Auburn, an ex-cavalry soldier. He 
 told us of strange adventures. He had been lost in the 
 jungle for five days when out shooting, and his wretched 
 men, as I long afterwards overheard from their conversa-
 
 OVERTAKE ADVANCE CARAVAN. 311 
 
 tion together, had been panic-struck, fearmg lest they 
 should be accused of having murdered him. He, more- 
 over, casually mentioned that he " had been tossed 
 several yards into the air by a rhino." He returned 
 from here to the coast, taking the prisoners (slave- 
 traders) with him. His caravan included most of the 
 men of our former caravan, and they professed much 
 delight on meeting Wilson and myself. Most of them 
 were armed with muzzle-loaders, and a new instalment 
 of sixty more, who now arrived, had no arms at all. 
 
 The Sudanese collapsed here, and a very great many 
 were seriously ill. There were now some 5 Europeans and 
 450 natives, and yet no doctor. Grant and De Winton 
 were as yet ignorant of the work ; when Wilson was well 
 enough to do anything, he was worth ten ordinary 
 men, but as he now completely broke down, the 
 whole work devolved on Dualla and myself, and it was 
 almost more than we could accomplish. The sickness of 
 the Sudanese compelled me to halt for five days before 
 they could possibly march, and in this time I reorganised 
 the whole caravan, divided them into companies and 
 " camps," checked and entered all rifles, re-sorted and 
 ascertained the nature of all loads, bought food, wrote 
 voluminous mails and despatches for the coast, and with 
 a thousand other details occupied my time completely. 
 In addition, we had to tend the sick. 
 
 None of the little forts except Makongeni and the 
 " fifth stockade " contained any garrison. Our old friends 
 amono- the Wakamba chiefs came and brouo-ht us their 
 little presents — a sheep, sugar-cane, grain, and what 
 not — and received an equivalent (and no more) in cloth 
 or beads — a more satisfactory system than the virtual 
 blackmail demanded in Nyasaland. On the 11th Sept. 
 we marched. Our cheery old Wanyamwezi porters, who 
 had been with us before, carried Wilson with positive 
 eagerness, though he weighed, I su])pose, fourteen stone.
 
 312 
 
 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO S. 
 
 We arrived at the Mikundu plain, where game abounds, 
 and I decided to halt one day to secure a little meat for 
 the men. 
 
 Finding Wilson was much better and quite cheery, 
 I started off at 11 A.M. to shoot. I had walked several 
 miles and fired several shots, when men came running 
 towards me, out of breath, to say Wilson was very ill, 
 and wished to see me. Knowing it must be very serious 
 for him to have sent such a message, I hurried as fast as 
 
 c <$ 
 
 •#'-^<" T^ .<t^ .^ 
 
 -, ^,«i>-'!/ 
 
 
 Wilson III. 
 
 I could towards camp. I quote the passage from my 
 diary, written when the memory was vivid in my mind : — 
 " I shall never in my life forget the sight I saw. 
 There in the middle of camp was Wilson. Grant and 
 Brown and some men were holding his arms up over his 
 head ; his head was dropped on his chest, his lifeless 
 hands fell limp, and his knees were bent and not sup- 
 porting his body. I rushed to him, and found him un-
 
 WILSON AT DEATHS DOOR. 313 
 
 conscious. Every one gave way to me, for they were 
 helpless and bewildered. I had him carried at once 
 into my tent, and took his shoes and socks off, and 
 rubbed his feet with whisky. I poured a little neat 
 brandy down his throat ; I found he had taken a good 
 deal. He revived for a moment, and I got men to rub 
 his legs and hands, and especially his feet. I made a very 
 strong solution of carbolic oil, and rubbed him violently 
 all over, holding his arms above his head. It saved his 
 life. Every few moments he drank more brandy, iDut 
 had lost his sense of taste entirely, and, though it was 
 neat, he did not taste it at all. His heart had apparently 
 ceased to beat, when he swooned, and I could detect no 
 pulse. After he came to, he shivered and i-evived like a 
 dead man come to life. Then he got better ; but it was 
 toucli and go for several hours ; constant brandy, till he 
 had drunk nearly half a bottle ; hand-rubbing on the feet 
 and legs, and his pulse just flickering and stopping, and 
 then flickering on again. But he got better, and mut- 
 tered, ' By George ! I am glad you came ! I was deter - 
 mined not to (jo till you came ; and when I saw you, I 
 knew it was all right, and I lost all consciousness at once.' 
 I knelt by him, and directed operations, till at last he 
 was able to take a strong cup of Liebig. He picked up 
 considerably, and I gave him Liebig to moisten his mouth 
 continually. I kept cheering him on to fight it out, and 
 he just did it by main pluck. After I had gone shooting 
 in the morning, he took a bad turn, and had either three 
 or fo\u' attacks similar to the one in which I found him, 
 swooning and heart stopped. Determined not to give in, 
 he made them take him out in the open air, and keep 
 moving, lest he should die. He directed everything — - 
 holding up the arms to ease the heart and lungs, rul>- 
 bing the chest, &c. — until he lost consciousness ; and, 
 doubtless, had I not come when I did, that attack had 
 been his last, as it was the worst.
 
 314 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO S. 
 
 " After this he had two or three relapses ; but I saw 
 his eyes going, and redoubled the rubbing. It was twelve 
 o'clock when I got in, and by evening he was better, and 
 able to talk and to taste the spirit at last. Still, his 
 pulse was very, very weak, and he dreaded the night. I 
 left him for a few minutes, and he had again a bad turn ; 
 but when I returned, he cheered up again. It was 
 extremely curious ; my presence just then seemed to be 
 life to him, and he could not bear the idea of any one 
 else having anything to do with him, except under my 
 directions. ... I sat up with him, though very tired, of 
 course, not only with the physical work, but the strain 
 of many hours when his life depended on me. So I sat 
 up the long night through (and it was a long one), and 
 drank strong coffee to keep oflP the sleepiness. I talked 
 to him for some time, and the subject turned on his and 
 my past. I did it purposely, to take him out of himself, 
 and told him I had done something like this once before 
 in my life. 
 
 "His life was barely flickering, for he was weaker than 
 ever now, though the stroke was past ; and many times 
 I could not detect a pulse at all — and such a fluttering 
 and stopping one at best. We did not dare that he 
 should sleep, except for a very short period at a time, 
 lest he should just pass the border in his sleep, and I 
 should find myself watching a dead man ! So all through 
 the night I hardly took my eyes off his face ; and when 
 he dozed, 1 felt his pulse, and watched his breathing 
 till it flickered, and then I woke him. At intervals I 
 fed him with Liebig. Towards daybreak he fell into 
 what seemed to me a far easier and healthier sleep, and 
 I watched and let him sleep. He awoke very much 
 better, and I rigged up a really most admirable dhoolie 
 of the bed as it stood, and, by a good device, fixed the 
 pole so that when the bed was put down it stood on its 
 own legs, and the pole, too, did not fall. The same con-
 
 AN AWKWARD PREDICAMENT. 315 
 
 trivance prevented the possibility of the bed's toppHng 
 over. I fitted him up with bottles of Liebig and lime- 
 juice, and he went off. Then I got the caravan off." 
 
 The march was a rough one, and I walked beside the 
 bed on which Wilson was carried to steady it, stumbHng 
 through and over the thorn-bushes to hold it up. This 
 was terribly fatiguing work. " Near camp, a very fine 
 rhino came trotting past the safari. Wilson's porters 
 were scared, and dropped him, giving him a bad shaking 
 and hurting him much. I had just then gone ahead to 
 select camp. The rhino came past me at twenty yards. 
 I went towards him with the "577, and he swerved 
 towards me, and looked like charging. I thought it was 
 all right with the "577, and stood fast. Luckily, he did 
 not charge, for, a few seconds later, I covered him care- 
 fully and fired, and found no cartridges in the rifle ! My 
 gun -bearer had extracted them without orders (and 
 against orders). It would have been bad for me if he 
 had charged when I was under the impression an empty 
 gun was loaded. I was very riled at losing him " (diary). 
 
 The extremely heavy work of forcing my way through 
 bushes, &c., to hold on to Wilson's bed, had tired me 
 out completely, and I add : — "I meant sitting up again 
 with Wilson, and started to do so, but fell dead asleep 
 after watching for some time ; and on his urgent re- 
 quest, and assurance that he was very much better, I 
 allowed a Somal to take my place, with orders to wake 
 me on the slightest possible occasion, and I slept like a 
 dead man." 
 
 Next day we arrived at the fifth stockade. There 
 was a garrison here, but the ahida in conunand told me 
 that the men had already declared their intention of 
 leaving (without orders), being ill supplied with food and 
 necessaries. I took away their arms, but subsequently 
 gave them muzzle-loaders in exchange. I left them 
 goods to buy food, and warned them not to desert, but
 
 316 
 
 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO S. 
 
 to make any complaints they had in a regular manner, 
 when they would be attended to. This stockade, like 
 the others, was soon afterwards abandoned, and I 
 found it falHng into decay on my return from Uganda. 
 
 On arrival at Nzoi, I found that the Wakamba were 
 scared at the approach of my Sudanese, and had fled. 
 This caused me some delay, as I wished to purchase food 
 here, and it was a day or more before I could reassure 
 the natives. I had many of the Sudanese sick here. 
 Having halted for three clays to buy food, we pushed on. 
 
 Nzoi Peak— the Gate of Central Africa. 
 
 It may be of interest to mention the rate of food ])\xy- 
 chase. After mucli bargaining our standard was fixed, 
 and I found, on weighing up afterwards, that it came to 
 7 lb. of flour for a yard of the commonest caHco. This 
 calico — Madreput — is narrow, and so flimsy that you can 
 almost see through it. Our requirements were about 
 822 lb. jDer diem.
 
 WOEK AT MACHAKOS. 317 
 
 Leaving the grand old Peak of Nzoi, — the massive 
 granite sentinel, as it were, that guards the gate to the 
 heart of Africa, and the range on range behind, which 
 form the plateau of the interior — we arrived at Machako's 
 on the 20th. Wilson had o-ood fortune in havino- cool, 
 cloudy weather for the march, which we accomplished 
 in three days, and a hartebeest I had shot rewarded his 
 wiUing carriers. He was better now, the only danger 
 being that in his sleep he should turn on his left side. 
 Many Wakamba chiefs had come to welcome me during 
 the march and make friends. On one occasion a very 
 wild bull was brought as a present. He ran amok 
 through camp, scattering men and cooking-pots in every 
 direction. De Winton, who had lono- been ran china- in 
 Manitoba, undertook to lasso him, but got charged and 
 upset, and we eventually had a considerable bit of fun 
 with him before we overpowered him, and converted 
 him into beef. 
 
 Arrived at Machako's, I found that, as the station was 
 now the only one the Company possessed in Africa beyond 
 the coast, the earthwork we had built was too small for 
 the requirements of a central depot for the goods for 
 Uganda and the interior. I therefore undertook to 
 again double it. It had originally been doubled, and 
 was therefore a lono; rectanole. This we now converted 
 into a square of about 70 yds. sides (interior measure- 
 ment), more than four times the original area. The 
 men worked most willingly and well. We were en- 
 gaged from early morning till late at night in re-sorting 
 the bales of goods (of which there Avere some 80 instead 
 of 500) awaiting us here, stamping and repairing rifles, 
 stringing beads, writing mails, organising the caravan, 
 and a thousand other details, in which Dualla was 
 absolutely invaluable. I sent back the men enlisted 
 only as far as Machako's, and we gradually evolved some
 
 318 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO S. 
 
 order, by dint of hard work, out of the chaos we found. 
 Nothing talhed with the invoices — beads were unstrung 
 and all mixed in a mass, cloth was equally mixed. Mean- 
 while I awaited the mails I daily expected from the coast. 
 
 The agent here reported acts of hostility on the part 
 of a section of the Wakamba tribe, and begged me to 
 send an ultimatum, as he assured me had been done 
 before, and as I know has been done more than once 
 since, and then go and " hammer them." A trivial in- 
 cident, where a native was caught who was said to have 
 fired an arrow at one of our men, showed me the loose 
 methods employed in dealing with such cases. I inquired 
 into the matter, and found that the arrow in question did 
 not tally with those in the man's quiver, and the evidence 
 altogether broke down ; yet had I not myself gone into 
 the question, the asseverations of excited and untruthful 
 Swahilis would have been accepted, and the man would 
 probably have been flogged. So also in this more serious 
 matter. I sent Dualla with a party to the so-called 
 " hostile " villages ; he met with nothing but friendship. 
 I called all the chiefs in for a conference on the matter, 
 and they came from great distances. 
 
 They then put forward their case. They comj^lained 
 of continual outrages by caravans ; their women had 
 been violated (a case of this by one of the Machako's 
 garrison occurred while I was there), food brought 
 in for sale had been forcibly seized, crops stolen, 
 &c. I believe, from inquiry, that there was much 
 truth in their indictment. Against myself they com- 
 plained that I had brought up "coast Masai " (Sudanese), 
 who daily came out and flourished their arms as a 
 challenge to war. (The Sudanese, to keep them out 
 of mischief, had been daily drilled, and part of their 
 drill was the bayonet exercise, which the Wakamba 
 had taken as a challenge to war ! ) They added that I
 
 DISAFFECTION OF WAKAMBA CHIEFS. 319 
 
 had made a fence round my camp, and would not allow 
 them, accordmg to custom, to enter it. I explained that 
 this was done purposely, in order that there might be no 
 quarrels or cheating ; that as all bargaining between my 
 men and their people had to be done in the open, I could 
 at once check any unfair play. It was part of my regular 
 custom, and was done solely on their behalf They were 
 most friendly, and begged me to make blood-brotherhood 
 with several of the chiefs, who had not hitherto made 
 alliance with the Company. I did so, and we parted on 
 the best of terms. 
 
 In order to await the arrival of these men, I had to 
 prolong my halt at Machako's some days ; but the 
 thousand and one things demanding my attention (too 
 numerous and uninteresting to detail here) fully occu- 
 pied my time, and it was not till October 4th that we 
 continued our forward march. I had built a comfortable 
 house for Wilson, and left him behind, as he was not fit 
 to come on. 
 
 We marched out 3 Europeans, G6 Sudanese and 
 Somals, and 324 Swahilis (including headmen, ashari, 
 porters, servants, &c.) ; in all, 390 natives, carrying some 
 200 loads of trades goods (for food purchase, &c.), 
 besides provisions, tools (for fort-building), European 
 gear, ammunition, &c. By this time, too, the caravan 
 had begun to fall into the regular dusturi. An orderly 
 parade for posho was superintended by the headmen and 
 askari, and the issue was invariably made by one of our- 
 selves. The rules for the march — the pitching of camp, 
 stacking of loads, &c. — were conformed to without 
 trouble, and punishment was rarely necessary. I had, 
 however, to flog a man (my own servant) for stealing by 
 force from the natives, and this was only the second 
 instance of flogging, though I had been ten months in 
 the country.
 
 320 MAKONGENI TO MACHAKO's. 
 
 It had been anticipated that we should have great 
 difficulty in advancing beyond Machako's (as the Masai 
 country, which we now enter, is greatly dreaded), and 
 that there would be wholesale desertions ; but I do not 
 remember (nor do I find any note in my diary) of a single 
 instance. The men were all thoroughly willing, and the 
 best of feeling prevailed ; nor had we even any trouble 
 whatever in setting them to work at digging and fort-mak- 
 ing from early morning till evening — tasks which are most 
 unpopular, and not considered by the porter, hitherto, as 
 coming within the scope of the work for which he was 
 engaged. I am proud that this result was achieved by 
 Wilson and myself without finding any necessity for 
 continual punishments. Indeed, when I reduced a head- 
 man to askari for laziness and eye-service, his excuse was 
 that I was " too gentle, and would not let him strike the 
 men, and without that he could not get them to obey him." 
 
 A batch of Manyuema porters alone gave me any 
 trouble. So far back as my trip to Malindi they had 
 attempted insubordination, but found it would not pay. 
 Occasional ebullitions, even up to this date, occurred, 
 and I find a note in my diary that their leader refused 
 to obey the order to go for the meat shot by De 
 Winton. All the headmen and askari were afraid of 
 the Manyuema, who are a fearless, brave lot, but they 
 had learnt it was best to obey orders, so that, on this last 
 occasion, I merely gave the word to seize the man, and 
 in a couple of seconds he was on his back and pinioned. 
 He was almost a giant in stature, and both he and his 
 friends were so taken aback by this summary procedure, 
 that I saw no further steps were necessary ; besides, I 
 liked the man, and I released him with a warning. I 
 never had any further bother with them, and in subse- 
 quent troubles in Unyoro and Uganda they were perhaps 
 the best men I had.
 
 A HEAVY BAG. 321 
 
 While at Machako's I managed to get one day after 
 game, as the men had had no meat for a very long time, 
 and succeeded in bagging a rhino and nearly full-grown 
 calf, a hartebeest and gazelle; total, 1549 lb. of clear 
 meat, besides heads, hide, feet, &c. De Winton and 
 Bateman also went out, and shot a rhino, wdiich, how- 
 ever, very nearly finished off Bateman. It chased and 
 caught him, when a lucky shot from De Winton settled 
 it. The meat they shot, however, was too far off (some 
 twelve or more miles) to be of use to us. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 322 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MACHAKO'S TO THE LILWA RIVER. 
 
 Athi plains — Eeasons for going to Kikuj'u — Game-pits — Modes of expressing 
 friendship in Africa — Arrival in Kikuyu — The camp — Description of the 
 people — Character — Fertility of country — The women — Treaty-making — 
 Ceremony of blood-brotherhood — Select site — Build stockade at Dagoreti 
 — Benighted in the forest — Various routes to Uganda — Wilson left at 
 Dagoreti — His subsequent success — Reverses — Cause — Flora of Kikuyu — 
 Leave Kikuyu — African grass — Halting without water— Caravan on the 
 march — The Masai — Lake Naivasha — Fauna — Make for the Pass — Guides 
 not to be got — The Wandorobo — Lake Nakuru — Ascend Mau hills — 
 Attempt to cut through forest — Abandon the attempt — Shoot a buffalo — 
 Dualla charged. 
 
 We left Machako's on Oct. 4th, loeing three white 
 men and 390 natives, with nine donkeys. Passing 
 along the rolling plains, continually, though gradually, 
 ascending, we directed our course towards the southern 
 borders of Kikuyu, where it abuts on Masailand. Dualla, 
 who had been this way before, acted as guide. These 
 vast plains are literally covered with game. Phino, 
 ostrich, vast herds of zebra, and many different kinds of 
 antelope will be visible at one time ; but there is 
 absolutely no bush or ant-hill to afford cover to the 
 sportsman to stalk. As I had now to begin my mapping 
 work again, I was debarred from attempting any sport, 
 or swerving from my direction. It was often hard to 
 find a point on ^^diich to direct our forward bearing, and 
 I remember, on one occasion, sighting on a tiny black 
 speck on the horizon. As we neared it, there was much
 
 THE KIKUYU FOREST. 323 
 
 conjecture as to what it was, nor was it until we w^ere 
 quite close that I discovered it to be a rhino lying down 
 asleep ! I shot him stone dead, with a single bullet 
 from the '577, before he had time to wake and make 
 himself disagreeable ; and my men were able to carry off 
 their fill of meat without even going off the path to fetch 
 it. Shukri, the Sudanese native officer, was a capital 
 game-shot, and secured several animals for his men. I 
 allowed no native, except him and Dualla, to fire at game. 
 
 My instructions had been to build a station at Ngongo 
 Bagas ; but this is mere waste land, uninhabited except 
 by passing Masai, who graze their flocks and herds there 
 during the season. There would be no object in build- 
 ing a station at such a place. The object of a station is 
 to form a centre for the purchase of food for caravans 
 proceeding to Uganda, &c. Kikuyu was reported a 
 country where food was extraordinarily abundant and 
 cheap. In Masailand, on the contrary, there would not 
 be food, even for the garrison, except such as the Wa- 
 Kikuyu might bring ; for the Masai do not grow a single 
 blade of corn, and exist entirely on their flocks and 
 herds. I therefore decided to build at the southern 
 extremity of Kikuyu, as close as possible to Masailand, 
 so as to get in touch with that tribe, but within the 
 borders of the rich and fertile, food-producing country. 
 
 Kikuyu is surrounded by magnificent primeval forest, 
 and probably owes its rich soil to the existence of former 
 forests, which have been replaced by cultivation, only 
 the skirts being allowed to remain as a protection against 
 the Masai. These forest paths are full of deep pits for 
 buftalo, elephant, &c., which are concealed with such 
 consummate skill that though I was aware there were 
 many about, and was on the look-out, and considered 
 myself \)y no means a novice at jungle-craft, it was not 
 long before I precipitated myself into one 1 The common 
 custom is to dig the pit close to where a trunk of a tree
 
 324 MACHAKO'S TO LILWA RIVER. 
 
 has fallen across the path. To step over this involves 
 a lengthened pace, and consequently, when the foot 
 descends through the thin covering of twigs and grass 
 which conceals the pit on the far side, it is impossible to 
 recover one's balance and withdraw it. If the trunk is 
 a large one, wild animals would carry both fore-feet over 
 together, and thus go headlong into the trap. 
 
 We caught sight of a single native, and approached 
 him with a bunch of green leaves in token of peace, and 
 continual ejaculations of Mahrdtd, MahrCitd (friend). 
 After much trouble and gesticulation we induced him to 
 guide us through the l3elt of forest. The traveller soon 
 learns the Avord which is the symbol for friendship and 
 peace in each tribe as he passes through Africa. As 
 Tommy Atkins in Burma was taught to shout Kimya to 
 the flying villagers, so here each tribe has its password 
 of peace. SoJceli among the Wankonde of Nyasa, Rajiki 
 near the coast, Mahrdtd among the Kikuyu, Shore 
 among the Masai, Hore among the Wahuma, and so on 
 for every tribe to the far borders of Ruwenzori, we 
 eventually got to know the right salutation for each. 
 After an energetic exchange of this password most 
 savages shake hands. 
 
 ]\Ir Thomson narrates that the Masai expectorate 
 in your face by way of expressing good feeling.^ I 
 cannot say that I ever saw this, nor can I quite decide 
 how I should have responded to such a demonstration ! 
 The Wa-Kikuyu, whose dress and customs are in most 
 things identical with the Masai, spit on their hands 
 before shaking hands, or at least they do so when they 
 mean to be exceptionally cordial, and are delighted to 
 see you. It is, however, as a rule, a mere formality, a 
 spray at most. Savages, however, so far as I have 
 met them, do not affect that barbarism of society — 
 shaking hands by clasping, the fingers and wagging 
 
 1 Thomson, Masailand, p. 443.
 
 fre 
 
 -^ '^ \ 

 
 MODES OF AFRICAN SALUTATION. 325 
 
 the wrists UDcler each other's chins ; they shake hands 
 in a good, honest, sensible fashion. Very mtimate 
 friends clasp each other round the body ; in Uganda 
 they embrace, laying their heads over each other's 
 shoulders alterna,tely ; they will then shake hands 
 vehemently, and again embrace. I have never seen 
 kissing practised in Africa, though both the Swahili and 
 Kiof'anda lano-uao-es have several words for it. 
 
 When we emerged from the forest, and entered the 
 cultivation, " There was soon a big crowd, and warriors 
 came rushing in from every direction. Huge excite- 
 ment prevailed. Many young bloods were the worse 
 for liquor, and wanted to fight, others held them back. 
 After several parleys among themselves, they demanded 
 lioiKjo ( . Jblaolimai l). I refused, and said that I was going 
 to camp near, and they could come there and say all 
 their words" (diary). 
 
 As soon as my men had all arrived I marched on, and 
 the storm of excitement and make-pretence of war died 
 away. Several of the village chiefs recognised Dualla, 
 and escorted us on our way. We camped on a knoll, 
 which I thus describe in my diary : — " It was one of the 
 most charming camps I ever was in — Mogok at the Ruby 
 Mines in Burma, with its wild roses, and arbutus and 
 myrtle included. The soft velvet turf was so springy 
 that it was like nothinof I have ever seen out of Eno-land, 
 I think, and the air so keen and cold that I shivered in 
 my thick velvet cords." This spot is the one on which 
 Fort Smith was afterwards built by Captain Smith. 
 HoiKjo was again demanded ; but I declined to pay it, 
 saying that L intended to build a station here, and if 
 tliey would give me ground for a site, I would then give 
 a present in return. 
 
 I did not myself approve of this place as a site for the 
 station, because it was situated in the very heart of the 
 villages and fields of the Wa-Kikuyu. This 1 knew
 
 326 MACHAKO'S TO LILWA RIVER. 
 
 would lead to constant trouble. Caravans from the 
 coast, halting at the station, would inevitably pilfer 
 from the crops, or cause trouble with the women. More- 
 over, the place was somewhat cramped, and firewood not 
 obtainable for a considerable distance. I spent some 
 time in examining the surrounding country towards the 
 forest, under the guidance of the local chief Eiyeki and 
 his brothers, and eventually selected a charming site at 
 a little distance from the cultivation and villao'es. A 
 clear mountain stream flowed at the foot of the slope ; 
 beyond was the dense forest, in rear was another stream. 
 Timber and fuel were of course in abundance. The name 
 of the place was Dagoreti. 
 
 The Wa-Kikuyu are a fine, intelligent-looking race, 
 with high foreheads and well-formed heads. The men 
 carry the same shield as the Masai — an oval made of 
 ox-hide about 5 ft. long and 2 in breadth, decorated 
 w4th designs in white and red chalk — squares, crosses, 
 and crescents, like heraldic quarterings. They have nlso 
 bows and arrows, spears some 6 ft. long, with a broad 
 9 in. blade, and a short sword. They go naked except 
 for a small skin worn over the shoulder. They festoon 
 themselves with wire and chain like the Wakamba, 
 especially in the ears, which are slit, and often hang- 
 down nearly to the shoulder with the weight of metal. 
 They are fond of ^^ainting the face with red clay and 
 white chalk, producing sometimes the most ludicrous 
 and grotesque effects. Their hair is generally the wool 
 of the Bantu races. Some shave the greater part of the 
 head, leaving sometimes no hair, sometimes a j^atch on 
 the top or back of the skull. Others twist it into long* 
 tags, and apparently add to it artificially, plastering it 
 M'ith red clay and oil, as do most of the savage tribes of 
 Africa. This clay and oil is by no means a mere extrava- 
 gance of fantastic ornament. Where men go naked, and 
 are exposed to a hot sun by day, and the bitter cold
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WA-KIKUYU. 327 
 
 nights which are experienced on these lofty plateaux, 
 this custom of rubbing the skin with oil supplies the place 
 of clothing, and modifies the effects both of heat and cold. 
 The war-dress of the Masai is largely adopted — the oval 
 head-dress of ostrich plumes which encircles the face, and 
 the bunches of long flowing colobus monkey hair. They 
 circumcise in an extremely peculiar manner. 
 
 Later events in Kikuyu have earned for these people 
 a character for inveterate hostility and treachery. I can 
 only speak of my own experience. I lived among them 
 for close on a month, and I was more favourably im- 
 pressed by them than by any tribe I had as yet met in 
 Africa. We became the greatest of friends, and I had 
 no hesitation in trusting myself almost alone among 
 them, even at considerable distances from camp, as I 
 shall presently narrate. I found them honest and 
 straightforward ; I had very little trouble of any sort 
 among them. Some sheep were stolen from me by people 
 from a village unfriendly to those around me, and as 
 this was a test case, they all looked to see how the 
 ^^•llite man would stand such treatment. I had no 
 hesitation in dealing' with it in a determined manner. 
 I imposed a fine, which, together with the sheep stolen, 
 A\as to be paid within a given time, under penalty of 
 my attacking the village. They deferred till the last 
 moment, to see if 1 were in earnest, and then paid my 
 demand, which was not exorbitant. In fact, I took a 
 great fancy to the local chief Eiyeki, and especially to 
 his brother Miroo. Tliey were extremely intelligent, 
 good-mannered, and most friendly. I lay some emphasis 
 on this, because I shall later have to allude to the extra- 
 ordinary events which subsequently happened in Kikuyu. 
 
 These people are at constant war with the Masai, who 
 periodically raid the country in strong war-parties. The 
 Wa-Kikuyu, however, hold their own, unless surprised or 
 attacked in overpowering force. I saw along one of the
 
 328 MACHAKO'S TO LILWA RIVER. 
 
 main roads a series of pits concealed in the rank vegeta- 
 tion by the side of the path, and was told that, in the 
 event of a Masai raid, warriors would conceal themselves 
 in each of these pits, and spear the Masai as they passed ! 
 
 The cultivation in Kikuyu is prodigiously extensive ; 
 indeed, the whole country may be said to be under 
 tillage. Beans of various kinds are the staple food, 
 grain being comjDaratively little grown at present. I 
 have spoken more fully on this subject in the chapters 
 on the commercial and agricultural prospects, where I 
 have quoted the opinions of other travellers. We bought 
 some 20,000 lb, of grain and beans (mostly the latter) 
 in a few days, before starting on the onward march, and 
 at excessively cheap rates, and this in sj^ite of the fact 
 that a flight of locusts had recently devastated the 
 country, that Mr Jackson's caravan had bought up large 
 quantities, and that this Avas not the best time of year 
 for food purchase. They have, moreover, a very well- 
 contrived system of irrigation. The common agricultural 
 implement appears to l^e a long-pointed pole. 
 
 The women (like those of the Masai) are clothed in 
 skins, which are thin and soft, but very black with age, 
 grease, and filth. I write of them as follows in my 
 diary: — "The women are not bad-looking, and apj)arently 
 modest, but are spoilt by the large launches of beads, some 
 3 or 4 in. in diameter, which they wear in their ears, 
 and whicli make them stick out like an excited elephant's. 
 Long pendant weights, too, are hung in the lobe, and 
 coils of iron and brass wire round their necks, like the 
 Masai women. The wire is twisted round and round, 
 close and flat, like a circular dish- mat, and as large as a 
 dinner-plate, the woman's neck being in the centre (this 
 wire is the common trade wire, and is as thick as a slate- 
 pencil). The weight of the bangles of iron and brass, the 
 heavy pendants in the ear, and the bands of iron wire 
 above the calf, often with bunches of ornaments attached,
 
 AFRICAN TREATIES. 329 
 
 must together be really prodigious. Round tlie waist 
 are endless strings of all sizes of beads, some very large, 
 cowries, &c. The brass discs in the ear, worn in addi- 
 tion to the beads, are about 4 in. in diameter, and 
 coiled flat-wise like a watch-spring (concentrically)." 
 The Wa-Kikuyu appear much addicted to drink, and I 
 saw a good deal of drunkenness. Liquor made, I believe, 
 chiefly from the sugar-cane (which grows most luxu- 
 riantly), was excessively cheap, and its sale in my camp 
 gave me much trouble, especially with the Sudanese. 
 
 We moved to the site of the intended station, and 
 began work energetically. I warned the men that any 
 case of thievino' from the natives, or causino- trouble in 
 any other way, would be dealt with very severely, nnd I 
 had practically no complaints of any sort from the people 
 during the whole of our stay. I made treaties with 
 Eiyeki and several other chiefs, who came from con- 
 siderable distances to perform the ceremony of blood- 
 brotherhood. I have ex})lained at some length already 
 the meaning and the mode of performing this rite in 
 a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society.^ 
 The fact is that, though I was provided with " treaty 
 forms," I did not see my way to using them. In the 
 first place, I felt I could not honourably pledge the Com- 
 pany's protection to distant tribes, whom they had no 
 means whatever of protecting from their enemies, while 
 tlie cession of all rights of rule in his country was, in my 
 opinion, asking for more than was fair from a native chief, 
 and more, I am confident, than was ever intended by the 
 Directors. Secondly, the nature of a written compact 
 was wholly beyond the comprehension of these savage 
 tribes. The most solemn form of compact for friendship 
 that exists amono- them is that known as " blood- 
 brotherhood," and this I therefore adopted, as suited at 
 once to their comprehension, and as enabling me to say 
 
 ' G'eog. Journal, Jan. 1893.
 
 330 
 
 MACHAKO S TU LILWA RIVER. 
 
 just SO much, aud no more, as seemed a fair and honest 
 baro'ain. I then reduced to writino- our mutual under- 
 takings, and the treaty was witnessed by my comrades, 
 and the chiefs made their marks. Such are the treaties 
 conchided by myself, and sent to England, which have 
 been approved and registered at the Foreign Office, and 
 
 
 Blood-bkotherhood Ceremonies. 
 
 more binding treaties could not have been executed in 
 savage Africa. 
 
 The method of making blood-brotherhood varies 
 slightly among various tribes, but is the same in all 
 essentials. We sit down cross-legged on mats and skins, 
 and each of us cuts our forearm till the blood flows ; the 
 arms are then rubbed together to mix the blood, and two 
 small pieces of meat are supposed to be touched with the 
 blood : he eats the piece which has my blood on it off 
 the palm of my right hand, and I eat the piece which has 
 his blood on it from his palm. (Dualla, holding the mea.t
 
 THE BLOOD-BROTHERHOOD CEREMONY. 331 
 
 in Lis hand, would cunningly substitute Ins finger, and 
 so avoid the actual blood touching the meat sometmies 1) 
 Sometimes salt or a coffee-berry (in Uganda and Unyoro) 
 is substituted for the meat. Sometimes the incision for 
 bleedino- is made elsewhere than on the arm. The head- 
 men of the chief take his weapons of war — his spear and 
 sword and bow — and holdino- them over his head make 
 a long speech, praising the warrior's valour and exploits, 
 and swearino- that henceforward we are brothers. His 
 lands and food and house are mine by day or night, and 
 he will for ever be my friend. To make the sj)eech more 
 effective, the arms held over his head are struck continu- 
 ally (to emphasise the point of each sentence) with a 
 spear or sword. 
 
 In like manner, when the chief's oath is done, my in- 
 terpreter holds my rifle over my head and repeats what 
 I tell him to say, of which the following was here the 
 substance : " That he bound himself to supply us with 
 food (on payment), to demand no hongo, to do no harm 
 or damage to our station, to be our friend and ally, and 
 Nve promise not to harm or molest him and his people ; 
 and, if the Masai raid close to our station, to help him 
 to drive them back " (diary). I also pledged him to 
 make peace with the Wakamba, and for this purpose I 
 sent down Miroo himself, and several leading chiefs, to 
 Machako's with 140 of my own men, whom I sent at 
 this time to bring up all the remaining goods from there. 
 
 Meanwhile we worked very hard at the stockade. So 
 many of the men from my first expedition were with me 
 that I had less trouble in teachino- them the work. 
 'J'imber was abundant in the forest, and the work pro- 
 gressed rapidly, in sj^ite of lack of tools and other diffi- 
 culties. On the 18th (Oct.) the men I had sent to 
 Machako's returned, brinnfintr the mails from the coast, 
 and with them came Wilson, who was now much better, 
 lliough still an iii\;ilid. By this time we had almost
 
 332 MACHAKO'S TO LILWA RIVER. 
 
 completed our work ; the little " fort " was the greatest 
 success we had yet achieved, and really looked very 
 smart, though we paid the penalty of disturbing the 
 virgin soil (as subsequently at Fort Edward and Kam- 
 pala) in a certain amount of fever in the caravan. It 
 was absolutely impregnable to spearmen. 
 
 The mails brought me orders to proceed to Uganda, 
 but to take only 2 1 5 porters, leaving the rest under 
 Wilson, to build a fort in Kikuyu, instead of Ngongo 
 Baofas. As T was directed to take more Sudanese than 
 were actually available, and some four times the 
 amount of ammunition in existence, and since the fort 
 was already practically built, and ivas in Kikuyu, I 
 decided to leave Wilson a garrison of some thirty odd 
 rifles, which we considered adequate, and to march, as 
 soon as possible, with the rest of the expedition. I at 
 once sent off parties into the interior of Kikuyu to pur- 
 chase, as quickly as possible, the necessary food to carry 
 us across the foodless stretch of country before us, and 
 meantime we worked very hard to complete the stockade, 
 the dwelling-houses, native houses, store, &c. Corre- 
 spondence for the coast, and the selection and ^repacking 
 of all loads of goods, which I intended to take forward 
 with me, and the making of correct lists of everything I 
 left behind, also kept us busy, 
 
 I made a survey to Ngongo Bagas, which was only 
 some five miles distant beyond the belt of forest. 
 This spot had been marked by Teleki, Thomson, Han- 
 nington, and other travellers, and I, therefore, was 
 anxious to insert it in my chart as a point for comparison 
 and check. I went with Wa-Kikuyu for my guides. 
 There was much game on these plains, so I shot two 
 zebra and a hartebeest for meat for my men, and we 
 started back rather late. The native guides lost their 
 way in the forest, " and the savages led me through the 
 very densest undergrowth of thorn-creepers, &c., through
 
 VISIT NGONGO BAGAS. 
 
 333 
 
 which, for hours, we only made our way yard by yard, 
 the men, too, being heavily laden with meat. All the 
 
 Return by Night through 
 KiKUvu Forest. 
 
 not fit to come on. 
 
 last part of 
 
 the way I 
 
 literally 
 
 clambering over 
 
 the top of the dense 
 
 wall of scrub, 
 
 which Miroo threw 
 
 liiinself on to, and beat 
 
 down a little, and 
 
 crawled over on his stomach, 
 
 while I carried my rifle, his 
 
 spear, and water-jar, and even 
 
 some meat, at one time ! I was 
 
 liungry, very cold, tired, and 
 
 footsore, and we did not arrive 
 
 till 1 r:30 to eat a late dinner 
 
 at midnight. The stinging 
 
 nettles Avere excessively sharp 
 
 and painful in the dark," 
 
 I was very sorry indeed to 
 
 leave Wilson behind, but he was 
 
 The cold, bracing air of Kikuyu
 
 334 MACHAKO'S TO LILWA EIVER. 
 
 subsequently efFected a wonderful change in his health, 
 and, as long as he remained here, he was as strong and 
 hearty as though he had been in England. 
 
 I had three or four routes to choose from in directing 
 my onward course from Kikuyu to the lake. First, the 
 route due wesfc, striking the lake at the very southernmost 
 point of British territory (1° S. lat.). By this route I 
 should traverse country hitherto entirely unexplored by 
 Europeans. The distance would be only some 170 miles, 
 of which perhaps 120 would be through foodless country, 
 but we had already traversed successfully the 200 miles 
 without food along the Sabakhi. I was very greatly 
 tempted to adopt this route, since I considered that, if 
 steamers were to be at once placed on the lake (as was 
 at this time contemplated), this most direct and shortest 
 line would eventually become the highroad to Uganda, 
 the latter part of the journey being by steamer across 
 the lake. I would very greatly have liked to open up 
 this route, and by founding a station on the lake shore, 
 and perhaps one between it and Kikuyu, I should have 
 completed my chain of forts from the coast to the Vic- 
 toria. So far the series was complete as far as Dagoreti 
 (some 350 miles), which was the seventh station built. 
 
 I knew, however, that in crossing an entirely unknown 
 country, and a lofty range of hills, unforeseen delays 
 were certain to occur. Moreover, as there was no 
 steamer now on the lake, and my route would therefore 
 lie round its northern shores, this was not my shortest 
 way. The second, slightly to the north of this, was the 
 route which had l^een taken by Mr Jackson (through 
 Lumbwa and Sotik). He had had constant trouble with 
 the natives, and had carried off enormous numbers of 
 their sheep and cattle. The country was therefore 
 excessively hostile. The remaining routes both led north 
 to Nakuru — viz., either round by Lake Baringo — the road 
 taken by Thomson, and by Jackson on his return
 
 .j#<ri-n(i—i 
 
 .^->!f^- - 
 
 '^y ^ j-' " -^'<-'^ ^" !! ^f..'*(v^-_ :>j«y^' 
 
 '^J'M^Mv» 
 
 m
 
 WE LEA\T: KIKUYU— WILSON REMAINS. 335 
 
 journey — or as flir as Nakuru Lake only, and thence 
 branchino' off westwards to the Victoria. 
 
 Now that I had at last (on Oct. 18th, 1890) got my 
 orders to go to Uganda — orders first given me on March 
 22d, and constantly reversed since — I determined that 
 T would march thither as fast as I possibly could, by 
 whatever route would take me there quickest, abandon- 
 ing any idea of exploration, &c., on the way. For I had 
 been told that Stokes, a trader, was conveying very 
 large consignments of arms and powder to Uganda (he 
 had started, I believe, in the previous July), and my 
 object was to arrive there if possible before him ; or if 
 that, owing to all these delays, were now impossible, as 
 soon after him as I could, and then to use every effort 
 to prevent the sale of these munitions in the country. 
 
 By the time the requisite food was bought the 
 stockade was completed, together with the rough houses 
 for store, native quarters, &c. The natives continued 
 to be most friendly, more so perhaps than any other 
 tribe I had met in Africa. I left Wilson in charge of 
 the station here with some thirty men, mostly the refuse 
 and sick of the caravan. He succeeded admirably with 
 the Wa-Kikuyu, and even got them to engage as porters 
 for the coast, and had extended our influence far into 
 the interior of the country. As usual, he olDtained an 
 extraordinary personal influence with them. Moreover, 
 he succeeded in establishing similar relations witli tlie 
 Masai — the first time that any European had ever suc- 
 ceeded in winning their confidence and friendship. His 
 own health improved rapidly in the cold bracing air of 
 these mountains, and he became strong and well. There 
 was no more promising field for development anywhere, 
 and it was with the greatest possible pleasure that I 
 heard of the growing importance of the station, which 
 had become the central depot in East Africa. 
 
 I shall have to narrate how this promising state
 
 336 MACHAKO'S TO LILWA RIVER. 
 
 of things was suddenly and rudely reversed. From 
 what I can gather, the fault did not lie with Wilson. 
 He held his position manfully, till compelled to retire 
 from lack of ammunition, and subsequently having 
 obtained a small supply, he returned with thirty volun- 
 teers, and re-asserted his position in the most plucky 
 way. Owing, however, to false reports, spread by the 
 men who had refused him ammunition and men in his 
 extreme need, a perverted account of affairs reached the 
 Directors, who immediately dismissed Wilson from their 
 service without a proper inquiry, and thus lost the 
 services of the most hard-working and conscientious man 
 (and withal the most successful with the natives) in 
 their employ. He then entered the service of the East 
 African Scottish Mission, in which he still remains. 
 But the story of these doings belongs to a later period. 
 
 In a private letter to me he said, that he had ever 
 tried to keep in mind a maxim, Avhich, he says, I laid 
 down, " Always leave a country the better, if possible, 
 for your having been in it," and I know that was the rule 
 of conduct he laid before himself. I have told here, and 
 I shall describe more fully later, simply what I believe 
 to be the literal story, in the endeavour to do justice to 
 a man who has been doing most excellent work for five 
 consecutive years, for little pay and less acknowledgment, 
 in spite of continual break-downs of health, each of 
 which has gone near ending his life. 
 
 I have briefly alluded to the subsequent history of 
 Kikuyu before passing onwards, for I very greatly 
 deplore the mismanagement which has practically closed 
 a country which bade fair to be the most promising for 
 commercial development between the coast and the lake, 
 and has converted the fair promise of friendship and peace 
 into hostility and bloodshed, so that the people have 
 become a treacherous and embittered enemy, who now 
 massacre any detached men they can catch, in spite of the
 
 THE SUDANESE SERG.-MAJOR PUT IN IRONS. 337 
 
 strong fort garrisoned by 150 rifles, wliere formerly 
 Wilson, with no fort at all, was safe with 30 ill-armed 
 men. It is not my wish to indicate upon whose shoulders 
 the blame should lie. My object in presenting this book 
 to my readers is to give as impartial an account as I 
 can of events in East Africa, in order that, by a fair 
 summary both of success and failure in the past, a just 
 estimate may be formed of the nature of the task which 
 lies before us in the future administration of this great 
 country. 
 
 Kikuyu, in my opinion, is a country of very great 
 possibilities. Its climate, as I have said, is charming. 
 The nights are so cold that there is occasionally even 
 a slight frost, and it is even possible that in the far 
 future it may be found to be suitable for European colo- 
 nisation. Cactus and even acacia are no longfer met 
 with, and are replaced by evergreen shrubs. The black- 
 Ijerry, stinging-nettle, forget-me-not, clematis, jessamine, 
 trefoil, clover, night-shade, thistle, and many other 
 English plants abound. The forest contains magnificent 
 timber trees, its large open glades between the patches 
 of heavy wood are of the richest soil, and the country 
 is well watered. A fuller description of its physical 
 characteristics is given in Chap xvi. 
 
 I had some trouble with my Sudanese here, and 
 eventually I succeeded in tracing the whole of the 
 mischief to the Bishowish (sergeant-major), the next in 
 rank to Shukri Aga, the Ushasha (captain). I convicted 
 him of robbery of sheep (forcing the sentries) from our 
 little fold, of inciting the men to mutiny and desertion, 
 ;ind of threatening to murder those who informed. 
 1 left him in irons with Wilson, to be sent to the coast 
 and dismissed, but he was eventually brought on by 
 Captain Williams. This matter occupied me till very 
 late the night before starting. We had now completed 
 our work, got the necessary food, packed it into 140 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 338 ■ MACHAKO'S TO LILWA RIVER. 
 
 loads, and selected the necessary goods for our forward 
 march (44 loads). 
 
 On Nov. 1st we broke camp, and marched for two 
 and a half miles only, to clear the forest. We numbered 
 3 Europeans, 66 Sudanese and Somals, and about 285 
 Swahilis (headmen, askari, porters, and servants, &c.). 
 Each man carried eight days' food in addition to his load. 
 Wilson, as I have said, remained in charge of Kikuyu 
 station. 
 
 Descending the escarpment, we camped in the 
 Kedoung valley, and once more found ourselves in a 
 country swarming with game. Hills and mountains 
 were in every perspective, and our line of march led over 
 undulating plains of waving grass some 2 ft. high, 
 which, leaning over, conceals the path from view ; there 
 is, however, no difficulty in following it. This growth is 
 usually of the spear-grass genus. When tall and rank it 
 is little affected hj game, which prefers the young green 
 pasture which springs up after the older grass has been 
 fired. To burn the grass in Masailand is to give great 
 cause of offence to these pastoral people; the Wa-Kikuyu, 
 however, fire all the grass in their vicinity to prevent 
 the Masai coming to graze their herds upon it. 
 
 In four days we arrived at Lake Naivasha, crossing 
 over the pass between Mounts Kejabe and Longonot. 
 At times the sea of grass gave place to long stretches 
 covered with the melalesha bush, a very aromatic shrub, 
 whose soft downy leaves give a bluish-grey tint to the 
 landscape. On one of these marches we had to camp 
 without water, a not infrequent necessity in African 
 travel. It is of course a hardship, especially if not 
 anticipated ; but if we know from our native guides, oi- 
 those who have traversed the route before, that the next 
 water is too distant to be reached in the day's march, 
 every man comes provided with a little in his hollow- 
 gourd calabash, or we halt and cook at the last water
 
 MARCHING THROUGH MASAILAND. 339 
 
 we pass, and then marching hard till sundown, camp, 
 and press on very early next day, and cook again when 
 we reach the distant water. The Swahilis are indeed 
 marvellous in their abilitv to foreo-o food and water 
 for long periods, in spite of their heavy loads and the 
 fierce heat of the sun. I shot some zebra to hel}) out our 
 food-supply, and though buffalo and rhino tracks were 
 everywhere, w^e fell in with none before reaching the 
 lake. The beautiful dark-green murju, from which the 
 savages obtain the poison to smear on their arrows, Avas 
 the most noticeable tree ; but over most of these open 
 undulating pasture-lands trees are rare, and acres of 
 ^vavino• o-rass or o'l'ev melalesha bush extend to the foot 
 of the distant hills. 
 
 Through such a country you may picture the long- 
 caravan winding its w^ay in single file. Myself in front, 
 followed by the Sudanese advance-guard, and the lom>- 
 line of porters, each with his load on his head, and far 
 nwayatthe end of the line the rear-guard closing the 
 cortege. Huge porcujjine-holes 4 ft. deep concealed in 
 the grass, would occasionally entrap me, when w^e fol- 
 lowed no path, and the excavations showed the great 
 depth and richness of the soil. My comrades, De Winton 
 and Grant, were now^ beginning to understand and take 
 their share in the duties of safari work. All food issues 
 became Grant's special care ; w'hile De Winton played 
 the rdle of doctor, in which I too assisted. Each day's 
 duties of marching and camp work found us tired and 
 i-eafly for sleep Avhen night fell, but I myself seldom 
 turned in till 12 or 1 a.m., as I had nightly to plot in 
 and write up the details of my majD, which I rarely 
 finished till then. Daybreak would see us once more on 
 the march. 
 
 Near Naivasha we met for the first time the much- 
 talked-of Masai. Most of the Mo7'an, or warriors, were 
 aw;iy raiding, or in Leikipia with the cattle and the
 
 340 MACHAKOS TO LILWA RIVER. 
 
 young women (called Ditto). Large flocks of sheep grazed 
 on the Naivasha plam, m charge of the old or married 
 men. From one kraal o^ Moran some warriors came out 
 to meet us, got up in their fantastic war-dress, with 
 their huge spears and gaily painted 5 ft. shields. They 
 had an extremely insolent and arrogant air. They 
 demanded hongo, or defied us to pass. I replied that I 
 gave no hongo, and they would see us pass, for I should 
 not halt to talk. They returned to their kraal in great 
 dudgeon, and I heard reports that they intended to 
 attack us, and none came to visit our camp according to 
 custom. However, Ave marched early as usual, and saw 
 no more of them — possibly they came to find us gone. 
 They are a fine-looking race, well built, w^ith intelligent 
 faces. The men go naked, but the women are clothed in 
 soft skins. I will say little here about these people, 
 since they have been so fully described by Mr Thomson. 
 The Lake Naivasha is covered with water-fowl of all 
 kinds. Myriads of duck, geese, and teal of many varieties 
 flock to its waters, and the great level plain which sur- 
 rounds it is covered with various kinds of antelope and 
 zebra, also a few ostrich, &c. These wild animals mingle 
 fearlessly with the cattle and flocks of the Masai, who do 
 not appear to molest them. It is curious that they ap- 
 parently do not make any attempt whatever to entrap 
 them, either in enclosures or by pitfalls, and are content 
 with the meat of their cattle for food and their hides for 
 dress. Perhaps, like the Wa-Kikuyu, they do not eat the 
 flesh of game ; for the latter, though they are keen 
 hunters, and catch game in pits, &c., do not eat the 
 meat, I believe (exce^^t of the buffalo), and value the 
 game only for their hides. The Masai do not use the 
 bow and arrow — their only weapons are the spear and 
 shield — and hence they never hunt game. Now that 
 their cattle are dead, they will eat any meat or offal 
 left from game slaughtered.
 
 ANIMAL LIFE IN MASAILAND. 341 
 
 The Gilgil, Malewa, and other rivers flow in deep 
 chasms 100 ft. to 200 ft. below the general level, even 
 the tops of the lofty trees which fringe their banks 
 being invisible on the plain above. "These shady 
 chasms, in which the rivers flow, are aviaries of 
 birds ; the steel-blue and green minah, with scarlet 
 breast — a most handsome fellow — is especially common, 
 and, like all his class, breaks the silence with his 
 perpetual clamour and chatter. Yellow - wagtails, 
 pigeons, and doves are the commonest birds here ; 
 also reed-sparrows and weaving-birds." (diary). There 
 are many kinds of hawks, and of course endless water- 
 birds. Great numbers of zebra and laro-e herds of 
 the little Thomson's gazelle are met with through all 
 this country. At the little salt lake of Elmeteita I 
 wiite : — " Hyenas are a feature of this place ; you can 
 see two or three at a time all day, and they actually got 
 into camp, through the zeriba and among all the fires, 
 and under the sentries' noses bit a hunk out of the 
 lilnd-quarters of our white donkey." 
 
 Here we found the mpalla antelope for the first time. 
 Here also I saw the first herds of buflalo I had seen in 
 this part of Africa, having hitherto encountered solitary 
 bulls or small groups only, and we secured a couple, 
 which were most welcome to our huno-ry men. At this 
 point (Nakuru Lake) Coke's hartebeest ceases, and is 
 replaced by Jackson's. At times the game was extra- 
 ordinarily tame, and stood and watched us as Ave filed 
 past ; but I made it a rule never to fire unless close to 
 camp, as I could not leave the caravan and my mapping 
 duties to follow a wounded animal, nor did I wish to 
 delay the safari on the march to divide up meat. 
 When, however, game was scarce, and meat urgently 
 required, I had of course to break through this rule. As 
 we neared the Nakuru Lake we left behind us the soft 
 velvet turf wliicli borders Naivaslia, and the t-lose-cropped
 
 342 MACHAKO'S TU LILWA RIVER. 
 
 plains of the Gilgil and Elmeteita, and once more entered 
 on the patches of melalesha bush and the sea of waving 
 grass, often in this rich soil nearly waist high. We 
 now diverged from the well-known route which led 
 northwards to Baringo, and, striking due west, hoped to 
 find our way direct across to the lake. To the north 
 would lie the country of Nandi, whose peoj)le are re- 
 ported to be excessively hostile and fierce, and no 
 caravan, European or native, had ever yet dared to 
 cross their hills. To the south the equally hostile and 
 exasperated tribes of Lumbwa and Sotik. Between 
 these two mountainous countries it was rumoured that a 
 pass existed by which we might cross the giant range of 
 Man. This would be the prolongation of the direct 
 line from Mombasa to the north of Victoria Lake, and, 
 pending the arrival of a steamer, would he the shortest 
 route to Uganda. 
 
 Through the forests which clothe the Man hills roam 
 a wandering tribe called the AVanclorobo. They live 
 entirely by hunting and following game, and every path 
 of the forest and every pass in the mountains is known 
 to them. All travellers have fallen in with these j)eople, 
 and I counted upon it as a certainty that we should 
 meet some of these hunters, and persuade them to guide 
 us through the route I desired. But through all my 
 wanderings in Africa I have been singularly unfortunate 
 in obtaining guides, and hitherto and subsequently we 
 traversed unknown countries with no better guide than 
 a compass, and a very, very vague and hazy idea of the 
 general direction we wished to pursue. Perhaps the 
 reason was that I shrank equally from using violence 
 to the natives to compel them to guide us, and from 
 the extortionate demands for excessive payment in 
 advance, which they made if asked to come as guides 
 without compulsion. On this occasion, however, when, 
 more than ever before or since, guides were a necessity.
 
 ATTEMPT TO CKOSS DIRECT TO THE LAKE. 343 
 
 we had not the good fortune to fall in with a living 
 soul. 
 
 The lake Nakuru reposes among surrounding moun 
 tains, nestling at the foot of the forest-clad slopes of the 
 lofty Mau mountains. Its stillness is broken only by 
 the voices of birds and of game, and, more rarely, by the 
 Wandorobo hunters, as wild and untameable as they. 
 Trading caravans leave it far to the west as they pass at 
 rare intervals on their way to Baringo, and we were, 
 perhaps, the first to pass beyond its ^A-estern shores. 
 Standing knee-deep in the water at its margin were 
 flights of scarlet flamingoes, whose vivid colouring 
 afibrded a lovely contrast in the distance. I do not re- 
 member to have seen these birds anywhere else in 
 Africa. Enormous flocks of water-fowl rose in clouds 
 on our approach, only to settle again a few^ yards in front 
 of us, and startled hyenas scamjjered oft' in every du-ec- 
 tion. AntelojDCs were scarce and wild, probably owing 
 to the presence of these carnivora and the depredations 
 of the Wandorobo. The water of Nakuru is undrink- 
 able, and the strong deposit of alkali on its shores gives 
 them a frosted appearance. 
 
 We camped on a small stream which flows into the 
 lake, and next day pursued our course by compass due 
 west. No game paths led in the required direction, so I 
 had to force my way through the tangled mass of grass. 
 My gun-bearers, though following in my wake, were 
 compelled to give up all attempt to keep up with me, 
 and when I abused them hotly because by their slowness 
 I lost chance after chance at game (which in our anxiety 
 to obtain food was a matter of regret), they fi'ankly told 
 me they were physically incapable of going my pace, 
 since they could not in the dense grass make up by run- 
 ning what they could not achieve by pace in walking. 
 The caravan, however, did not suft'er for lack of a path ; 
 for \)y the time the party, with mvself, liad ])loughed a
 
 344 MACHAKO'S TO LILWA RIVER. 
 
 way through the dense grass, followed by the Sudanese 
 advance-guard and by all such headmen, askari, sick, 
 &c., as had no loads, the loaded j)orters, led by the 
 strongest men in the caravan, found a well-beaten path. 
 For those in front, however, it was very hard physical 
 exertion ; and after some hours of it one's muscles 
 would get so tired that one hardly had the power to 
 lift one's legs ! 
 
 Gradually ascending, we reached inappreciably an ele- 
 vation of over 8000 ft., and camped on the skirt of a 
 dense forest. Noticing the direction in which the game- 
 tracks led, I sent men to search for water, which they 
 found at some distance. It was bitterly cold, but, 
 curiously, we were here bitten by mosquitoes, from 
 which we had not suffered since we left the coast. 
 These insects, however, are always to be found (at any 
 elevation and temperature) in the damp undergrowth of 
 heavy, jDrimeval forest. Next day, with a folly which I 
 am at a loss to account for, I attempted to cut my way 
 clue west through the pathless forest. It was too dense 
 to crawl into except on one's stomach. By near mid-day 
 we had accomplished but a couple of miles. Range on 
 range lay before us, all clothed in the same interminable 
 forest, and I saw that I had attemj)ted the impossible. 
 Our food would give out, and there was no supply nearer 
 than Kikuyu, and, above all, my resolution to reach 
 Uganda without an hour's unnecessary delay would be 
 frustrated ; so I abandoned the task, and steered north- 
 east, with the intention of again striking the Baringo 
 route. Only a mile or so of this new direction brought 
 us to an opening in the forest, and innumerable game 
 paths of elephant and buffalo all led westwards ! Here 
 was the spot, undoubtedly, where I should have made 
 my attempt, and I was greatly tempted to repeat it. 
 My determination once formed, however, I was resolved 
 not to change. Subsequently Mr Martin, having ob-
 
 BUFFALO IN DENSE BUSH. 345 
 
 tained guides who knew this route, came across close to 
 this point (now known as the Guaso Ngishu route), by 
 which I returned from Uganda, and the surveyors have 
 found that it offers an excellent route for the railway. 
 
 Halting at mid-day in a grove of trees of the juniper 
 class, which surrounded a j^ond, I went off, as usual, to 
 try for game, and shot zebra and antelope for my hungry 
 men. It was here that the Lilwa River rose, and rushed 
 northwards through l^lack igneous rock, which formed 
 curious pillars like jDost-boxes. A little further on we 
 jDassed through some dense melalesha bush, and I put up 
 a coui^le of old bull-buffalo. I hit both very hard, but, as 
 they separated, I could only follow^ one, and in such 
 cover it is, of course, dangerous work. However, I killed 
 him without mishap, though he was a nasty tempered 
 brute, old and sulky. Owing to the dense cover, which 
 prevented my seeing him properly, so as to aim at a 
 vital sjDot, he cost me some fifteen rounds of ammunition 
 ])efore he ultimately succumbed, after attempting to 
 charge at the last moment ! The meat (1300 lb.) was 
 distributed on the spot, and, as the men had eaten 
 most of their food too quickly, it was most welcome ; 
 the skin also was eagerly appropriated for sandals. 
 
 Pushing on ahead with Dualla, the gun-boys, as usual, 
 dropped behind. " We were passing through melalesha 
 scrub, when, suddenly, a few yards in front, up jumped 
 a buffalo, possibly the one I had wounded. He came 
 straight for us, and I had nothing in my hand except 
 my road (mapping) pocket-book. Dualla had only a 
 Winchester. I doubled out of the way pretty rapidly, 
 iDut felt that, in my heavy and very sli^^i^ery boots, my 
 chance was a small one. Dualla hesitated (lost his 
 liead, I suppose), and the buffalo leaving me went for 
 him, [ind was on him in a moment. I saw him rush at 
 him and plunge his head down, and I was powerless to 
 lielp, and thouglit to see Dualla gored to death, and
 
 346 MACHAKOS TO LILWA RIVER. 
 
 crushed before my eyes. However, after tossing him 
 once the buffalo went ofiP; all I could do was to yell 
 at him ! I found Dualla groaning and writhing on the 
 ground. I camped close by without water, and sent 
 men to carry him in " (diary). No bones were broken, 
 though the horn liad penetrated his back. 
 
 The sequel of this story was a most extraordinary 
 one. Next day Dualla was carried in a hammock, being 
 unable to walk. 1 had gone a little off the line of march, 
 and put up two bull- buffalo in the grass. They went 
 charging down the slope, straight for the long line of 
 the caravan, which was concealed by the undulations of 
 the ground. "They had come straight for Dualla and 
 his hammock. The men carrying him dropped him and 
 fled, and he fell on the sharp rocks on his bad side. The 
 buffaloes jumped over him, and one showed his contempt 
 in a way I can hardly describe here. He was very bad, 
 indeed, from his fall, and I gave him opium and Liebig. 
 He eats nothing, but writhes and groans ; it is most 
 distressing to be near him" (diary). He ultimately 
 recovered completely, and I suppose no man can boast 
 of so extraordinary a double escape. 
 
 In fact, this dense bush was full of buffalo, and as I 
 was generally alone in front, there was a considerable 
 probability of meeting them. The very next day I find 
 the following note in my diary : — " Suddenly one jumped 
 up a yard or two in front of me — another or two and I 
 should have trodden on him — fortunately he went the 
 other way towards Shukri and De Winton. I heard 
 several shots and much shouting, and could hear the 
 buffalo plunging about in the bush, coming my way at 
 one time. It would have been bad for us had he seen 
 us when wounded and cornered. I went to Shukri, and 
 found him blazing away from the top of an ant-hill. I 
 saw the buffalo, and put in a 10-bore bullet, which 
 dropped him. The advance-guard had come up, and, as
 
 THE CARAVAN IN A PANIC. 347 
 
 the buli'alo had gone very close to them, they lost their 
 heads and opened a fusilade in the air at nothing in 
 particular, and it is a wonder they did not shoot some 
 of lis in the bush. The porters had dropped their loads 
 and bolted. Apparently Shukri's first shot had broken 
 his fetlock, and he had turned to bay, and meant 
 mischief. He had one (or two) of my 10-bore bullets 
 behind the shoulder. Considering the extremely dense 
 scrub, we were very lucky indeed to bag a solitary 
 bull without any accident." And I add (speaking of 
 mapping work) : " It really is very distracting, when 
 one's head is fidl of computations of distance marched, 
 time from last halt, direction, and road notes on country, 
 to know that at any moment, unless you are very wide- 
 awake, you may be charged and killed by a bufialo. "
 
 348 
 
 CHAPTEE XIY. 
 
 FROM THE LILWA RIVER TO UGANDA. 
 
 The white ant — Drummond's theory — The rhino — Lost — A fine head— Swahili 
 caravans — Their methods — Cross the Kaniasia range — Excitable natives 
 — Description of people — Ascend Man — Description of the plateau — 
 Arrive Kavirondo — The people — Swahili settlers — Leave for Uganda — 
 Usoga — Customs of the people — Description of the country — Hospitality 
 — Mbekirwa — A guide for Uganda — The watershed — Cheeriness of the 
 men — Cross the Nile — Description of Uganda — Letters of welcome — 
 Arrive at the Capital — Native leeches. 
 
 The undulating grass plains over wliicli Ave had passed, 
 and which extend onwards over the Mau-Elgeyo plateau, 
 are of singularly rich pasture and soil, and are well 
 watered. White ants are scarce, indeed we had 
 hardly seen an ant-hill since leaving Machako's. Mark 
 Twain describes the ant "as a much overrated bird," 
 and I am inclined to think that the white ant (which, 
 by the way, is not an ant at all) is equally deserving of 
 the description. Professor Drummond ^ propounds the 
 theory that these animals take the place in the economy 
 of nature which Darwin has shown to be fulfilled by 
 earth-worms. The author of this theory was Dr 
 Livingstone,^ and though Drummond does not tell us 
 so, it was Dr Laws on Nyasa who suggested it to him. 
 With such an array of scientific authorities against me, 
 I feel it is bold to assail the position of the white ant. 
 
 ^ Tropical Africa, Prof. Drummond, p. 124-158. 
 2 Vide Missionary Travels, Livingstone, p. 540.
 
 THE WHITE ANT r. THE EARTH-WORM. 349 
 
 I hold him a pestilential curse, however, and as Mark 
 Twain did not fear to impugn the wisdom of Solomon, 
 I may be pardoned for doubting that of Professor 
 Drummond. 
 
 If I read Darwin's theory aright, it is that the 
 earth-worm is not merely the agent of a constant pro- 
 cess of the revolution of the soil, but that, by passing it 
 through his own interior economy, he fertilises and revi- 
 vifies it. Now the white ant does not pass soil through 
 its body, but merely manipulates minute portions of 
 earth or clay in his forceps for the jDurpose of building 
 his dwelling. In doing so he impregnates each minute 
 portion with formic acid or other juices, and therefore, 
 so far from fertilising it, he sterilises it to such a degree 
 that you will never see any vegetation growing on an 
 ant-hill, even for long after it has been abandoned, and 
 not until the rain and weather have washed out the 
 poisonous juices and formed a new surface-soil. More- 
 over, the operations of the white ant are not ubiquitous, 
 like the earth-worm's, but confined to one particular 
 spot, where an enormous excavation is made, and the 
 earth brought from it is formed into a hollow and honey- 
 combed erection above it. The moles, small mammals, 
 porcupines, &c., all do infinitely more than the white 
 ant as mere revolutionisers of the soil ; but as they bear 
 no share in its fertilisation, they were for the moment 
 put aside by Darwin. 
 
 Drummond's theory, moreover, starts on a fallacy. 
 He says that the white ant takes the place of the earth- 
 worm because these latter do not exist in Africa. Now, 
 as a matter of fact, they swarm in Africa, and are of 
 many varieties. The rdle in nature of the termite, or 
 white ant, is that of a great leveller and scavenger. He 
 attacks the fallen tree-trunks in the forest, and converts 
 the hardest iron-wood into dust, and l)y-and-l)y into 
 soil. He will ascend trees and remove the dead wood
 
 350 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA . 
 
 — and I believe will even attack green and living 
 wood.^ 
 
 I have been told by an eye-witness that the acacia 
 forest lying between Teb and Tokar, in the Eastern 
 Sudan, has been entirely killed by white ants, a fact Avhich 
 was corroborated by the Arabs of the desert. I cannot 
 sav that T recollect to have seen any such evidences 
 towards Tamai, and in that portion of the district which 
 I have traversed ; but, if it be true, it is worthy the 
 attention of Mr Floyer as a third cause of the destruc- 
 tion of the vegetation, and the desiccation of these 
 countries, added to the axe of the Arab and the appetite 
 of the camel. 
 
 Near the Lihva we came upon elephant, for here 
 acacia scrub, on which they feed, abounds. They do 
 not eat the melalesha, and the succulent Nkonge aloe is 
 only chewed and ejected. It is a compliment to the 
 toughness of its fibre— which I have elsewhere spoken 
 much of — that the elephant, whose favourite food is the 
 tough rope-bark of the fig-tree species, refuses to 
 attempt its digestion ! Guinea-fowl are in enormous 
 flocks throughout this country, of the S23otted variety, 
 the vulturine being confined, as far as I know, to the 
 Sabakhi ; quail of several varieties abound, and also 
 partridges and chikor, blue pigeon, with occasional 
 florican and bustard. De Winton, looking about for 
 something to shoot, got charged suddenly one day by a 
 rhino with a calf He fired his gun in her face and bolted, 
 and she went past without attempting to injure him. 
 
 From the Lilwa we struck into an abominable jDiece 
 of country, of continual ranges of low hills running north 
 and south, with no surface-soil, and formed of loose 
 rocks, hidden by thin spear-grass and parched and 
 withered plants. Acacia, euphorbia, and all the thorn- 
 
 ^ Buchanan relates that white ants killed the living eucalyptus trees in 
 Nyasaland. Geog. Journal, vol. i. p. 252.
 
 THE HABITAT OF THE EHINO. 351 
 
 trees, which thrive wliere nothino- else can otow, 
 flourished here, and among them wandered the rhino, 
 who, Hke them, seems to thrive without water and sus- 
 tenance, and to dehght in l^arren rocks' and a fierce sun. 
 He is a beast with no fine feelings, he has no eye for 
 scenery, no manners if you meet him unexpectedly. 
 His palate lacks discrimination, unless it be in the com- 
 parative merits of thorns as ap]:)etisers. He is a pachy- 
 derm inside and out with whom I have no sympathy, 
 and, Uke some people one has met, enforces his repartee 
 with the point of his horn, and rehes for his emphasis 
 on tlie ponderous bulk of his own mass of insuscepti- 
 bihties. I must beg my reader's pardon, for I have no 
 right to Hnger on either wdiite ant or rhino, and the 
 thousand other subjects of interest — animal and vege- 
 table — on which I would like to pause. 
 
 Steaming on ahead in the desire to complete a given 
 distance on a bearing I had taken on a small peak, I got 
 detached from the caravan, and awoke to the fact that 
 my gun-bearer, a Somal, and myself were imdoubtedly 
 lost. My diary written at the time describes the inci- 
 dent thus : — " To be lost in such a vast wilderness of 
 Ijarren hills, interminably spreading on every side, is 
 most dispiriting — worse than in a forest or on a plain, 
 for one feels such an atom. It w^ould be impossible to 
 see any camp, however close. The near hills were on 
 fire, so we could not tell a grass-fire from a signal-fire. 
 ( )ne could not hear a gun in such a country, and there 
 was no water and no food, and already I was very empty 
 and hungry." 
 
 My main anxiety was concerning the caravan, for 1 
 felt confident I could myself find my way to the 
 Lilwa and Baringo, and the presence of two companions 
 makes all the difi'erence in such a case. We were lucky, 
 however, in striking a right direction, and eventually in 
 finding the caravan. The same evening I shot a bufialo
 
 352 FflOM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 with such very exceptionally fine horns that I after- 
 wards sent them to England, and had the skull not 
 been broken, and subsequently removed, they would 
 not improbably be the best on record. It was a difficult 
 shot, and, curiously, the danger lay not to myself but to 
 others. I had come on one side of a gigantic and very 
 deep ravine, the caravan was on the other, and the 
 buffalo was on the slope of the opposite bank near the 
 safari. He was some 250 yds. off, and if I fired and 
 missed or wounded him, he would inevitably charge up 
 the slope into my men, who could not see him, and 
 were not aware of his being there. However, meat was 
 most urgently required, so I took the chance, and put 
 two well-placed shots into him, disabling him on the 
 spot, and I then went down and finished him off. 
 
 Passing the warm springs, and following up the 
 beautifully wooded stream of the Eonge, we emerged 
 into the Njems plain, where again game abounded, and 
 I secured hartebeest, &c., for my men. Eland and pig 
 (wart-hog) were especially abundant. Again, in follow- 
 ing a wounded antelope, T ran into buffalo in dense bush, 
 but again escaped without a charge. I lost a fine rhino 
 here and several hartebeest. These latter take an extra- 
 ordinary amount of lead. Owing to the necessity for 
 shooting meat for my men, I had relaxed my rule of not 
 firing at game unless close to camp or after arrival, Avhen 
 I w^as free from my mapping duties. Consequently, 
 being unable to delay very long to follow a wounded 
 animal, especially if it headed back in exactly the 
 opposite direction to that in w^hich we were going, I 
 often had to abandon animals I should otherwise have 
 secured to a certainty. "It is miserable work [I write] 
 wounding game and leaving it ; but we are butchers 
 now, not sportsmen, shooting for so many pounds of 
 meat, and weighing and issuing it. My consolation is 
 that the game is so plentiful that a few more or less
 
 EVILS OF " SWAHILI CARAVANS." 353 
 
 make no clifterence, and tlie lions and hyenas will have a 
 better feed than usual, or perhaps, by following the 
 wounded game, Avill spare the lives of those they would 
 othei'wise have killed." 
 
 One of my men described to me an active volcano he 
 had seen near here, and the whole of this country around 
 the warm springs at Ronge shows signs of comparatively 
 recent volcanic action. 
 
 On Nov. 14th we arrived at Njems, a village of 
 Wakwavi. These people are an offshoot of the Masai, 
 and differ from them only in being settled and, to a small 
 extent, agricultural, instead of nomadic, and purely pas- 
 toral. Here we found a very large Swahili caravan 
 encamped. It was the same that had long ago passed 
 us when we w^ere building forts on the former expedition, 
 and they said they had received all tlieir goods and 
 advances for trading from the Company. Elsewhere 
 I have strongly expressed my opinions as to the great 
 liarm done by these caravans in the interior, where 
 they are away from all supervision and control. Their 
 ostensible ol)ject is the acquisition of ivory ; yet the 
 charter of the Company indicates that the elephant is 
 not to be destroyed wholesale. Europeans of the highest 
 character (like my friend Sharpe of Nyasaland) were 
 refused permission to shoot elephants on these grounds, 
 though reliance could be placed on them not to ruth- 
 lessly destroy calves and immature cows, yet every 
 facility is given to the Swahili. 
 
 I shall presently (chap, xvii.) show that, if the pro- 
 clamation of Sept. 11th, 1891, were logically carried 
 out, these caravans would be unable to recruit porters, 
 and lience the evil would cease. It is certain, moreover, 
 that these Swahili caravans, supplied by ourselves with 
 the means, engage in the slave-trade. In fact, the slave 
 caravan I met in the Sal)akhi was a part of this very 
 one, and the Waioto we captured recognised Wilson 
 
 VOL. F. Z
 
 354 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 and myself ! Everything cannot be achieved in a day ; 
 '•but [as I say in my diary], I think that now the 
 time has come when every Swahih caravan leaving the 
 coast should register its arms ; that every Company's 
 caravan should have the authority to seize arms in the 
 possession of any one in the interior unregistered, and 
 to inspect their registration papers." 
 
 We halted here for a day and a half, and were busily 
 engaged, as usual, in food issue, sewing up the loads torn 
 by the acacia-thorns, doctorhig sick men, and (in my case) 
 completing maps and diaries, &c., to date, while the 
 men caught some excellent fish in the rushing mountain 
 river. I much regretted that my constant duties per- 
 mitted me so little time for acquiring information about 
 the country, and plotting in the surroundings of the 
 camp in my map ; but, after all, time, however elastic, 
 has a limit, and I rarely concluded my work till 1 a.m., 
 though we were up daily at dawn. Our food was well 
 in hand, and the game shot had made it go further than 
 we expected, so we had still ample for our forward 
 journey. The whole country here was overrun with 
 rats, mice, and " such small deer " in countless numbers. 
 Guinea-fowl were literally in swarms. Both the Tigiri 
 and Lilwa are well-wooded rivers, and very picturesque, 
 with beautiful rushing cold water. The great Masai 
 plain we had crossed had a general elevation of over 
 6000 ft., but the last march or two had brought us 
 down to the level of Baringo Lake (3300 ft.). In 
 front of us towered the Kamasia range, running north 
 and south, like almost all the hills, great or small, 
 in Africa. We crossed it, obtaining lovely views of 
 Baringo and its islands, and, descending from the pass 
 (6600 ft.), we camped in the deep valley (3700 ft.) 
 which runs between Kamasia and Elgeyo, which ranges 
 unite southwards in the Mau Mountains. 
 
 The natives of Kamasia, as also those of Elgeyo,
 
 NATIVE 1. BEITISH CARAVANS. 355 
 
 demanded liongo. The former were not difficult to deal 
 with, as a man from the Swahili caravan, who had accom- 
 panied ns, knew their language, and interpreted my 
 words. I said tliat the sooner they learnt the ways of 
 the white man the Ijetter for them ; that we did not fear 
 them, and would pay no liongo ; but, on the other hand, 
 we stole no crops, took no slaves, paid fair for all the food 
 we wanted, and wished only for peace, though \\q would 
 fight if we were attacked, and if we did, we would give 
 them a lesson they would not soon forget. At first they 
 replied that if we would pay no liongo, we should have 
 no food, I answered that I wanted none, and was already 
 provided. This was a revelation ; and it is thus that tlie 
 pernicious Swahili trader spoils the natives wherever he 
 goes. His arrangements are so bad that his caravan is 
 always in a chronic state of starvation. If unable to use 
 force, and loot or steal from the natives, he must sub- 
 mit to whatever exorbitant or ridiculous demands they 
 make ; and, in retaliation, before he leaves he probably 
 "takes the change out of them" by kidnajDping a few of 
 their children for slaves. 
 
 This caravan at Njems was a case in point. Here was 
 a huge body of men, armed with guns and loaded up 
 with great quantities of ivory, in the heart of Africa, and 
 I lieard that they had completely run out of trades goods 
 for food purchase, or for the payment of hongo (which 
 they submit to at the will of the natives, for fear they 
 should get no food, or be attacked and lose their ivory). 
 There is no discipline in their loose caravans; each head 
 of a handful of men bids against his fellows, and even 
 the very porters are traders on their own account. Mis- 
 trusted by their own men and natives alike, it is no 
 wonder that they find tlieir difficulties many and great. 
 I was, therefore, never tired of trying to imj)ress on the 
 natives the difference between a British and a Swahili 
 caravan, and of disassociating our methods from theirs.
 
 356 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 The natives of Elgeyo were more noisy and trouble- 
 some. They are at war with the Wa-Kamasia, and 
 ordered me to prepare my hongo before I crossed the 
 boundary river — the Karen — in the valley. When I 
 turned a deaf ear to their arrogant nonsense, the slirill 
 keJele went up, which summons the tribes to battle I 
 However, our stolid indifference had its effect, and before 
 long the excitable chief laid down his spear and shield 
 in the path, and stepped over them, as an oath of peace : 
 we did the same with a walliing-stick, and his ardour for 
 battle was appeased. These people are probably a distinct 
 race, but are so mingled with Wakwavi that the Masai 
 dialect is almost universally understood. They carry the 
 spear, however, of the Suks of Lake Rudolf and the 
 north, with a 6 ft. shaft and a narrow ribbed blade, 
 some 8 in. long by 2 in. broad. 
 
 The Kamasia range is covered with the bright ever- 
 green murju tree, the melalesha bush, and acacia. 
 Flowers are in great profusion, many of them familiar to 
 us in England, while patches of heavy forest, of the 
 stately juniper tree, occur at intervals, and give shade 
 and moisture to innumerable lovely ferns and mosses. 
 The hills consist of rocky shale, at a high angle of dip, 
 together with black volcanic rocks and boulders. Here, 
 for the first time, we began to find carcasses of buffalo, 
 recently dead of the plague, and, as we passed onwards, 
 they daily became more numerous, and w^e found that 
 this dreadful epidemic had swept off all the cattle and 
 the wild buffalo, and much of the other game beside. 
 The vultures and hyenas were too surfeited to devour 
 the putrid carcasses, Avhich lay under almost every ti'ee 
 near water. 
 
 We ascended the black mountains of Elgeyo, and 
 a savage showed us a rocky bed of a mountain stream, 
 by which we might scale the beetling cliffs, which formed 
 the edge of the escarpment. We climbed from rock
 
 THE ASCENT OF MAU. 
 
 357 
 
 to rock on our hands and knees. How the porters, 
 with their heavy loads, and the two donkeys, whicli still 
 remained with the caravan (in view of this ascent, I had 
 sold the rest at Njems), managed to gain the summit 
 was a mystery ; but slowly and one by one they emerged 
 on the top, at 7800 ft., till we were all mustered com- 
 
 ^ 
 
 *., 
 
 
 
 'f 
 
 ~^ 
 
 If-! 
 
 
 The Track of the 1'i.ague. 
 
 plete. Curiously enough, it was the very day of the 
 year (Nov. 21st) on which Thomson had climbed these 
 hills : but the cataracts he describes as descending 
 the hills were represented only by a tiny stream, which 
 trickled from rock to rock. We marched through a mile 
 of typical tropical forest, of giant trees festooned with 
 mosses and orchids, dripping moisture continunlly on the 
 dense mass of crowded vegetation below. :iii(l emerged
 
 358 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 on the great rolling plains of grass beyond, which form 
 tlie Mail plateau. 
 
 The villages of the Wa-Elgeyo, which we had passed 
 in our ascent, appear to consist of single houses, fenced 
 round strongly with a homa of thorns and logs. They 
 are dotted everywhere on the hillside, and the natives 
 may be seen grazing their small herds of sheep and goats 
 on the sweet mountain grass. We had obtained from 
 them a little flour, &c., which was a welcome change 
 from Kikuyu beans. Before ascending the Elgeyo hills 
 we came to a wonderful goi-ge, running north and 
 south, about 1000 ft. deep, and crossed it by a narrow 
 tongue of land, not more than GOO or 800 yds. across. 
 The western edge of the ravine was precipitous, the 
 eastern nearly so, but possible of descent. Down below 
 were villages and cultivation and forest. The country 
 was very broken and wild ; and a violent storm, with a 
 hurricane of wind and rain, seemed a fitting accompani- 
 ment to our passage through these wild regions, where 
 lofty mountains and granite j)eaks towered above us to 
 the sky, and mighty chasms yawned below. 
 
 On the rolling plain, which we found at the top of 
 Elgeyo, were a few hartebeest, and signs of elephant 
 abounded. The grass was the same excellent pasture — 
 now (in its second year) a dense and matted tangle — 
 which I have desciibed on the slopes we ascended above 
 Nakuru. We had no guides, and I steered by compass 
 due west, ploughing my way in front through the thick 
 grass. For two days firewood was scarce, and, indeed, 
 non-existent, till we reached the hills of Nandi, which 
 were clothed with patches of forest. We had descended 
 impei'ceptibly 1600 ft. in some forty miles (viz., from 
 7800 ft. to 6200 ft.). Ascending again to 6800 ft. in 
 crossino- the Nandi hills, we found ourselves at leno-th on 
 the edge of the range, with the Kavirondo plain spread 
 out, some 1200 ft. below us, to the far horizon ; for I had
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF MEAT. 359 
 
 abandoned the route followed bj Thomson, Fischer, and 
 Jackson, which circles round the north of the Nandi 
 hills, and descends into the valley of the Nzoia. Striking 
 a little south of west, we emerged to the south even 
 of the route from Xakuru (now selected for the pro- 
 jected railway), having crossed the northern part of 
 Nandi. We had not met a livino- soul since we chained 
 the summit of Elgeyo. 
 
 Through all this great plain we passed carcasses of 
 buffalo ; and the vast herds of which I had heard, and 
 which 1 hojjed would feed my hungry men, were gone ! 
 The breath of the pestilence had destroyed them as 
 utterly as the Winchesters of Buffalo Bill and his crew 
 and the corned-beef factories of Chicago have destroyed 
 the bison of America. In Nandi, how^ever, we came on a 
 huge herd of hartebeest grazing on the young shoots 
 where the grass ha<l been burnt, and four fell to my rifle, 
 and rewarded the toiling men. I issued tlie meat pro- 
 })ortionately ; those who had marched most willingly, 
 carrying the heaviest loads, and giving no trouble, 
 received the largest share, while some, who had been 
 laggards and grumblers, got none. Such a division, of 
 course, takes much time ; but I found that there is no 
 more effective way of maintaining a good spirit in the 
 caravan, and of savino- the necessitv of floo-o-ino- and such 
 like punishments. The common custom, 1 believe, is for 
 the meat to be thrown, as it were, to the dogs — either 
 scrambled for or left t<> the headmen to divide with 
 what favouritism or carelessness they like — and hence it 
 becomes a source rather of discontent and (quarrels than 
 of reward and incentive. If a caravan leader has the 
 good of his men at heart he will not think it too great 
 a drudgery to devote his time to details, and the result 
 will be sufficiently apparent in the S})irit and the dis- 
 cipline of his safari. Grant and De Winton were ever 
 ready to superintend all such work, and I made it a rule
 
 360 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 that no food of any kind — be it the regular poslio or the 
 distribution of meat — should be issued except under 
 the superintendence of one of ourselves, armed with the 
 nominal roll by "batches" and by "camps "(messes) of 
 the whole expedition. At this time I discovered that 
 much unfairness in food issue had been going on among 
 the Sudanese (for I had given to them in bulk, trusting 
 the honesty of the non-commissioned officers), and I 
 adopted, therefore, henceforth the same system for them 
 as for the caravan. 
 
 On these hio-h altitudes we ci'ossed several bad 
 swamps, and endless rivers and brooks, some of which 
 were fringed with beautiful trees of very many varieties, 
 among which the ngomorsl, with its medlar-like fruit, 
 was a great attraction to the men. Blue corn-cockles 
 were to l^e seen in the grass, and a very handsome 
 orange and yellow gladiolus, as well as the ground 
 orchis, yellow, white, purple, and variegated. Ilartebeest 
 (Jackson's) were practically the only game, though 
 elephant tracks abounded, and one rhinoceros was seen. 
 Giraffe we had not seen since the Mikindu plain, 200 
 miles from the coast, nor wildebeest since the Athi 
 plains, near Kikuyu. On these bleak, grass plains there 
 were many circular hollo^vs, around which we could 
 trace the remnants of stone walls, the villages of a race 
 that had gone, who had thus formed their habitations 
 below the surface to be sheltered from the cutting winds. 
 Now deserted, they afforded a foothold to a beautiful 
 evergreen shrub with a Avhite flower, like the jessamine 
 in its shape and powerful scent, the only bush which 
 could withstand the biting winds. The people who 
 formerly lived here are supposed to have been Wa- 
 kwavi, and they told Mr Jackson they would like to 
 return if they were offered protection. A tree like the 
 shumac, date-bushes, wild plantain, and table-topped 
 acacia formed the fringe to the water-courses ; but the
 
 DESCENT TO THE KAVIKONDO PLAIN. 361 
 
 forest on the Nandi hills I thus describe : — " Huge, dense, 
 African forests of colossal stems, creepers like trees, ferns, 
 orchids, lichens, and mosses ; gloom and shade and damp 
 below, with the feeling of being inside a hothouse, and 
 with the luxuriant vegetation such forest grows. A 
 Ijright, full moon made it very beautiful by night, but 
 it was intensely cold." 
 
 We reached, as I have said, the edge of the hills, and 
 descended the precipitous slope. " It took one all one's 
 time getting down empty handed, and in places one 
 crawled down the face of smooth rocks. Fortunately, 
 long grass grew on the hillside, by catching hold of 
 which one could steady ones-self and save a fall. The 
 loose rocks and stones in the grass, which gave way or 
 twisted under one's feet, increased the difficulty. It 
 was not, of course, a feat to descend one's-self, but I 
 dreaded to think how the porters and loads would come 
 down. Down they did come, however, and not a load 
 hurt ! It took some six hours to accomplish this bit, 
 represented on the map by a half a mile at most. So 
 much for estimating the length of marches across country 
 M ith a pair of compasses on a map at the coast ! " 
 
 We found that the grass in the plain, which from 
 ;(l)ove had looked like green sward, w^as 10 ft. higli and 
 more. Dense forest stretched on our left. Follow^ing 
 the broad, well-beaten elephant paths till they diverged 
 into the forest, struggling through the dense grass till 
 we struck another elephant path, and so making our 
 way, we reached, on the outskirts of Kabaras, the first 
 village and people we had seen for a week of constant 
 and rai)id marching. Two more days through a densely 
 populated country brought us to Kwa Sundu, or 
 Mumia's, where the Company's flag flew over the village, 
 and a garrison of some ten men, with a quantity of 
 goods, had been left by Mr Jackson. To this point our 
 march had been more rapid than any previous caravan
 
 362 
 
 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 in East Africa. Our heavily laden safari left Kikuyu 
 on Nov. 1st, and arrived here on 29th. Deducting the 
 two (very hard) days' detour at Nakuru, this gave 
 twenty-seven days for the journey, without guides, and 
 across the Kamasia and Elgeyo ranges, or, deducting- 
 halts, twenty-five days for some 280 miles. Yet I 
 resolved that our halt here to rest and ^^i^irchase food 
 should not exceed three days. 
 
 The country in which we had 
 now arrived is called Kavirondo. 
 It stretches along the east shore 
 of the lake Victoria as far as the 
 German boundary, and round the 
 north-east corner as far as Usoga. 
 "The villages are very different from 
 anything yet passed on this side of 
 Africa. They are surrounded by 
 a mud wall at least 6 ft. high, 
 with a ditch on the outside, and 
 a well-made, arched gateway. The 
 men go naked, except, perhaps, for a 
 bit of skin worn over the shoulders, 
 as a protection from the cold. All 
 the young women are naked also ; 
 they have good figures, and, ap- 
 parently, with no idea of any im- 
 propriety, they stand on the walls 
 of the village in pur is naturalihus 
 with charminof insouciance to see 
 
 i^^4 
 
 y-^\ 
 
 •// 
 
 w; 
 
 ■'■\fr-. 
 
 Entrance to a Kavironuu Village.
 
 FRIENDLY AND PRIMITIVE SAVAGES. 363 
 
 the caravan go by. The old Momen wear a tuiv fringe 
 or tassel." 
 
 These people are extremely friendly, and it was, I think, 
 for the first time in Africa that I saw natives leaving 
 their spears at home and going entirely unarmed. We 
 reached the first village in a deluge of rain. '" At last 
 one man came out and then another, and seemed not the 
 least surprised, going round from one porter to another 
 and shaking hands with a ludicrous 'How-d'ye-do' wag 
 of the hand, and a smirk which was veiy funny, just as 
 though it was the regular thing, daily, to see white men 
 and Sudanese and a large caravan coming in I We per- 
 suaded two men to show us the way, and they came 
 cheerf'idly, quite unarmed, and fearlessly ! One curious 
 and distinctive feature of every village is a long pole (or 
 several) hung with tiny cages, containing quail as decoys, 
 below are snares. Honey is abundant, also millet, maize, 
 and wimbi grain, beans, and pojo (pulse), fowls and eggs, 
 also semsem. They formerly had great herds of cattle, 
 but these are no\N- all dead. Among the Wa-Kavirondu 
 are settled great numbers of Wakwavi. The soil is 
 lich, though rock crops out continually on the surface. 
 There does not appear to be nuich land under cultiva- 
 tion — extremely little, considering the population. Fuel 
 is scarce, and is sold in small bundles" (diary). 
 
 Wlien Mr Jackson had passed here in June the large 
 herds of cattle were still alive, though his own were 
 dying of the plague. Now, in November, I. did not sec 
 a single ox throughout Kavirondo, and their skulls and 
 bones strewed the ground. Except elephant, which 
 roam thnjugh the great forests and uncultivated areas 
 of liigli grass, there is little game; a few hippo and 
 Nsunu antelope [kohus koh) frequent the Nzoia, but 
 1 saw neither. Tlie ])eople smoke long pipes, and much 
 tobacco is grown. The enormous (puintities of flour 
 ])rought in for sale, and the clicaj) late at which it is
 
 364 FROM THE LILWA TO UC4ANDA. 
 
 obtainable, prove that this country produces a very 
 large surplus of food beyond the wants of its population, 
 and being well watered, and with rich soil, it is capable 
 of producing very much more, since (along our route at 
 least) there are very large areas as yet unreclaimed. 
 
 Sakwa and Mumia, the two chiefs of this part of 
 Kavirondo, welcomed us warmly. I found here quite a 
 small colony of Swahilis, deserters from Jackson's and 
 from Swahili caravans. They were a nest of the greatest 
 scoundrels unhung, and were doing much harm in the 
 country. Among them was a " mission boy " who spoke 
 some English ! They assumed great airs among the 
 simple natives, and swaggered into my camp to discuss 
 the question as to whether they should join me. I at 
 once disarmed any who did not enlist (their rifles were 
 all stolen property), and two, who wished to argue, found 
 themselves under the Sudanese afuard with handcuffs. 
 As I was on my way to Uganda, I could not deal with 
 these men as I would have wished, but subsequently I 
 requested Mr Gedge on his way down to clear them 
 oat entirely. I enlisted a considerable number, but 
 they deserted again for the most part. 
 
 During our three days halt here for rest and food pur- 
 chase, I enquired into the state of the goods left by Mr 
 Jackson, and found a great amount of robbery had been 
 going on. I took on all loads with me, except a few of 
 iron wire, broke up the settlement of Swahilis, and paid 
 off the garrison, or took them on with me. As usual, we 
 spent a busy time, completing maps and diaries, conduct- 
 ing shcmris with native chiefs, and enquiring into causes 
 of trouble. One of these was rather serious, for a Swahili 
 who had belonged to the Company's caravan had let oft' 
 his gun and shot four men, one of whom had died, and 
 " blood-money " was demanded. We lived in compara- 
 tive luxury now, on the honey, pojo, fowls, &c., of the 
 country, and when we marched, on the 4th December,
 
 A GOOD SPIRIT IN THE CARAVAN. 365 
 
 the men were eager and willing, and the trouble I had 
 anticipated, when they found that Uganda was our 
 destination, was replaced by eagerness and emulation. 
 Uganda had at this time got a very bad name as a 
 country of war and famine only. When Mr Jackson 
 had attempted to march thither, a hundred men, under 
 responsible headmen, had made an organised mutiny 
 and deserted with their arms, and a further outbreak, 
 which would probably have ended in the entire break 
 up of the expedition, was only prevented l3y the men 
 being deprived of their arms. Three or four Sudanese, 
 strange to say, deserted us here, and one or two V)lack 
 sheep among the porters, but the best feeling pervaded 
 the caravan, and though three days' halt was a very 
 short rest indeed after so hard a march as we had made, 
 there was no grumbling or trouble whatever. Mr 
 Jackson had taken three months to reach this from 
 Machako's, and we had taken but one ; he halted here 
 for five weeks as against our three days, but he had no 
 incentive for haste as I had. I now occupied myself in 
 reading his report (which hitherto I had not had time to 
 do), and all letters, &c., relating to Uganda, that I 
 migiit make myself au couraut with events in the 
 country, prior to my arrival, and the present position ; 
 but I did not obtain much insiirht into the real state of 
 affiiirs from these papers, which were necessarily brief 
 
 The lesser rains were now breaking, and hurricanes of 
 wind, accompanied l)y deluges of rain and thunder and 
 lightning, came on daily about 4 P.M. We managed to 
 ford the Nzoia waist-deep, and passed through a waste 
 and uncultivated country till we came to the village 
 and fields of Tindi. Here gigantic boulders were scat- 
 tered on the plain, one vast rock being balanced on the 
 iipex of another, as though thus ])oised by some melting 
 iceberg in bygone ages. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine 
 wliat force it was, here in the very heart of Africa,
 
 366 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 wliicli placed these gigantic masses in this strange posi- 
 tion. Tliroughout Kavirondo, and onwards througli 
 Usoga, Uganda, and Ankoli, the prevalent rock, which 
 frequently appears on the surface, is a copper-coloured 
 and honeycombed lava, which obviously owes its colour 
 to the iron it contains. When these lava waves rolled 
 over the land this rock must have been a boiling mass 
 of melted iron and stone fused together. Throughout 
 my road- chart I have called it iron ore lava (or slag for 
 brevity's sake). Granite boulders and red marl formed 
 the general character of the ground. 
 
 As we crossed the boundary of Usoga " the country 
 suddenly changed most completely. The rough, coarse 
 grass and treeless undulations gave place to endless 
 banana groves. The Great Unclad were replaced by a 
 race of more intellectual appearance, completely clothed 
 in voluminous bark-cloth. They appeared far less 
 ' savage ' in every way, neither scared at the white men, 
 Sudanese, and guns, nor intrusively curious. They 
 assembled round me where I halted, but sat respectfully 
 around, and answered my questions concisely and 
 intelligently. Their quick eyes and high foreheads 
 bespoke a higher standard of intelligence than the Wa- 
 Kavirondo. In their customs Dualla noticed a striking 
 resemblance, he said, to the Abyssinians — in their dress, 
 manner of saluting, &c. The latter is much the same as 
 in Burma. An inferior approaches in a crouching attitude, 
 with hands folded. Every inferior on the road thus 
 comes forward and salutes the chief as he passes, and says 
 the respectful words 'Gud-jay' (like our ' Good-Day'). 
 
 " The shady banana groves are a great relief after the 
 l:)urning sun, and the good j^aths after the jungle we have 
 passed through ; but they exclude the view, and make 
 mapping difficult. The groves are wonderfully well 
 kept ; all old trees are promptly cleared away ; the 
 leaves are neatly strewn on the ground in regular lines
 
 THE VILLAGES AND PEOPLE OF USOGA. 367 
 
 — to keep down weeds, and as manure, I suppose. They 
 rival the banana groves of the Wankonde on Nyasa I 
 The villages are dense, and unprotected by any stockade 
 or fence ; but very neat hedges are made in every direction 
 between plantations, of a, straight-growing plant with 
 juicy leaves. . . . The houses are the simple, dome- 
 shaped bee-hive, the thatch reaching the ground. They 
 are very lai-ge and high. The more pretentious ones have 
 the conical roof supported on walls, and extremely well 
 made, with great regularity of work; but they do not 
 compare with the beautiful little houses of the Wan- 
 konde. 
 
 '•' The people are very much addicted to the banana 
 wine {pnmhe). Even on the march a man carries a kitoma 
 with a tul)e in it, and sucks ; when talking, he sucks at 
 intervals. He sucks, apparently, ' from early dawn till 
 dewy eve,' and when he is not sucking he is smoking a long- 
 pipe— of bhang, I think. The liquor, however, appears 
 to be very harmless, and I have not seen any one visibly 
 the worse for drink, or boisterous and quarrelsome, as 
 from the effects of temho at the coast. The pipe is 
 curious, too ; a prettily-made clay bowl, with a long tube 
 in it, is the usual one. Dried hemp leaves are put in it, 
 and a live charcoal on the top. Sometimes a separate 
 perforated tray, or false top, contains the live coal, the 
 bhang being underneath. The people are very fond of 
 music, and you may hear the ' penny- whistles,' made 
 from reeds, from morning till night. 
 
 " The women have extremely good figures, and are 
 very lithe and active. Apparently there are very many 
 of them, and I saw some 400 in a crowd at Wakoli's, all 
 of whom (and many more) were his wives, 1 was told. 
 The upper part of the body is not generally covered 
 (except among women of high rank). The liair of these 
 people is the genuine African wool, very short and close, 
 :nid ciis^), unlike the soft, wavy, curly hair of the Somals.
 
 368 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 Gallas, Wahuma, &c." Trees of the Ficus class are 
 common (goolah, pakhar, &c.) including the bark-cloth 
 tree, of which there are many varieties. The com- 
 monest attains a girth in the bole of a foot or even 
 more, but is generally some 6 in. only ; it has a 
 bright-green leaf, exactly like the Indian jamun, or 
 the arbutus. Throughout the banana groves the 
 bhang-hemp and bird's-eye chili are grown. The soil 
 varies. In places it is rocky and poor, or of red 
 marl only ; elsewhere it is extremely rich, especially in 
 the depressions, and there it is much cultivated, with 
 sweet potatoes, yams, millet, and wimbi ; also semsem 
 and tobacco. The castor -oil plant grows wild on the banks 
 of the Nile, as throughout East Africa, and it is much 
 grown in Uganda and Usoga ; but these people do not 
 use it to mix with red clay to plaster over their bodies 
 (as do all the tribes from here to the coast), being very 
 clean and well-dressed in their admirable bark-cloth. 
 Sheep and goats, and all kinds of food, are excessively 
 cheap, but the cattle all died of the plague. 
 
 I had much difficulty in pushing on to Wakoli's, the 
 principal chief of Usoga. Each of his chief men and 
 sons insisted on my staying at his place ; but I was deaf 
 to all entreaty, and arrived on Dec. 7th. Here I 
 halted for two days to purchase food and see Wakoli. I 
 wrote also a letter to Mwanga announcing my arrival, 
 and asking for canoes to take us across the Nile. Escorted 
 by throngs of his " wives," singing and dancing, and with 
 a few Sudanese for show, we went to see Wakoli, whom 
 we found extremely aifable, though somewhat fuddled 
 With. 2^oriibe. Next day I saw him again, described to him 
 the objects with which the Company had Ijeen formed, 
 and the task entrusted to me — ^viz., to try and restore 
 peace and good order to Uganda. I told him we should 
 settle in it, and not merely pass through and go away as 
 former white men had done. I said we desired only peace.
 
 WAKOLI OF USOGA. 
 
 369 
 
 but asked if he would help us if war came. He said he 
 would, and we made blood-brotherhood on the contract. 
 The ceremony is somewhat different here ; a coffee-berry 
 is used, and we rub each other's shoulders with the right 
 hand, and then shake hands vehemently, &c. 
 
 Wakoli showed the utmost fear of Mwanga and the 
 Waganda, and told me envoys had gone to the coast to 
 ask if Uganda was to be under France or England. Food 
 was very abundant, and we secured enough for our re- 
 
 OuR Welcome to Wakoli's. 
 
 qiiirements in our two days' halt, obtaining (without 
 notice to distant villages) some 2500 lb. of flour in the day. 
 The price was more than three days' ration per man for 
 a string of small beads. As before, I went through all 
 goods left in Wakoli's charge, and took on the garrison 
 with me, leaving only two or three men for food purchase. 
 We received endless deputations from Wakoli's relatives 
 and chiefs, and occupied ourselves in our usual tasks. 
 
 Henceforward we travelled throuo-li a countrv where 
 firearms were carried, and I much regretted that snider 
 rifles had been given as presents. Very many had also 
 VOL. I. 2 a
 
 370 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 been sold by deserters or stolen. Consequently I had a 
 new source of trouble in the sale (or theft from each other) 
 of cartridges among the men. I overhauled the whole 
 of the ammunition, counting every man's rounds, and 
 depriving all those of their rifles who were deficient. 
 The men without guns were called ujDon to do any 
 extra jobs about camp, so that the punishment was not 
 in mere dissfrace alone. I warned the men that I would 
 take very strong measures, for we did not know what w^as 
 in front of us, and these very cartridges might be used 
 against us. We presented Wakoli with a small present, 
 which Dualla manipulated with such skill — dwelling on 
 each article and spreading it out — that the chief was 
 in ecstasies. 
 
 Marching thence, we passed through Mbekirwa's ter- 
 ritory, and I made blood-brotherhood and a treaty with 
 him (which was translated and explained sentence by 
 sentence), on the understanding that he should collect 
 and send me food to Uganda, for all reports agreed that 
 there was famine and starvation in that country. Wakoli 
 had also promised the same. Meanwhile the men had 
 bought sheep and goats with bits of cloth — and possibly 
 with cartridges — and had had a gorge such as they love, 
 with plenty of meat, pomhe, and victuals. Mbekirwa 
 was a remarkable-looking man, of great intelligence. 
 " He was dressed in a flowing white cloth of good stuff", 
 and over his shoulders and chest was a leopard-skin, 
 prettily surrounded by the long white hair of a goat or 
 monkey. It was a striking costume, and he was, from 
 head to foot, perfectly got up. I felt quite ashamed of 
 my karki breeches, which were in patches " and tatters, 
 with a gaping rent in front. The rapid and decided way 
 in which he walked (most unusual in a savage chief) was 
 an index of much character and personality" (diary). 
 He gave us much food, and presented us with a milch 
 cow — a most valuable gift.
 
 EXCUSES FOR DELAY. 371 
 
 An envoy of Mwanga's was here collecting tribute, 
 and he sent " a guide " to escort me ; but I guessed that 
 his real object was to delay me till he should ascertain 
 the attitude of the king ; and this, in the critical con- 
 dition of affairs in Uganda, might mean an outbreak 
 between the Christian factions, and an invasion of the 
 Mohammedans, before I could arrive to endeavour to 
 find a solution other than war. My surmise was correct. 
 " First, he said it was absolutely imperative that I 
 should sleep at the village of Wakoli's mother, or she 
 would be offended. I decHned. Then, that it was 
 going to pour with rain, and our goats would not keep 
 up ; then, that Wakoli had made a special request I 
 would not pass his boundary to-night. But these pleas 
 were unavailing, and I pushed steadily on. Then they 
 tried to lead us a dance in all directions, and kept 
 branchino' off to the rio-ht, but I steered a little south 
 of west by my comj^ass, and would agree to no other 
 direction." 
 
 We travelled mostly along the "great Uganda road " 
 — a lane with regular hedges — quite a novelty in Africa. 
 I noticed many very handsome trees, which were 
 new to me, and were equally unfamiliar to Dualla, 
 in spite of all his travels. As we went westwards the 
 soil became richer and deeper, and the hollows or valleys 
 were swampy, with a black and fetid ooze. The bananas 
 and crops were more luxuriant, the tobacco being 4 
 or 5 ft. high. Throughout Usoga, alternating with 
 the dense cultivation, were areas of jungle, forest, and 
 waste land. Among a variety of birds, I noticed for 
 the first tirile the grey parrot (so much domesticated in 
 England), which is indigenous here, also the hooded 
 raven, and a great variety of hawks. The date-palm — 
 here a well-grown tree — was the commonest product of 
 the valleys. All through Usoga there is little or no 
 running water, till the Nile is reached, flowing north-
 
 372 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 waL'cls out of the lake, whereas the Nzoia flows south 
 into it. The first running stream in Uganda (after 
 crossing the Nile) also flows south into the lake, while 
 further on the Mianja, and almost all the watershed of 
 Uganda (as also of Usoga) flows north to the Kafu 
 and the Nile ! It is a most singular watershed, and one 
 never knows which way any stream may be flowing till 
 one actually crosses it. 
 
 Daily the men whom I had enlisted in Kavirondo, or 
 brought on from Usoga (mostly of Mr Jackson's cara- 
 van), deserted, and occasionally took off" one or two of my 
 men with them. " Desertion [I w^rite] is disheartening, 
 but it is absolutely a part of the Swahili's character, just 
 as much as his innate love of travelling, and he is quite 
 indifferent whether he has arrears of pay due to him. 
 This land of abundance, and the great number of Swahili 
 loafers settled here, form great incentives. Those of 
 Bishop Hannington's men who escaped massacre are 
 settled here ; the Swahili caravan which broke up 
 through hunger in Ngoboto has supplied a large con- 
 tingent, and Jackson's a still larger. If I come back, I 
 hope to clear them out." 
 
 But an excellent spirit prevailed among the men, and 
 they sang cheerily as ^^ e daily marched along. On the 
 same page as the note I have quoted, I describe an 
 arrival in camp after a particularly trying day, when the 
 caravan had missed the road, and made a long and useless 
 detour, in pouring rain, on slippery ground, and arrived 
 to find the ground they must lie upon sodden with rain, 
 and the fuel too wet to light the camp-fire — some not 
 getting in till 5 p.m., when it was near sunset. " I went 
 back myself to meet them, and bustled about in the 
 rain, and what with one thing and another, all the askari 
 got to yelling, and laughing, and rushing at each man, as 
 he came up, to seize his load, and a general chaff and fun 
 was the result, and I never saw the men in better spirits."
 
 WE FORCE THE PASSAGE OF THE NILE. 373 
 
 He is a Avonderful fello^Y the Swahili, and has his good 
 points as well as his bad ones, like the rest of us I 
 
 We passed Ukasa, and reached the Nile, where it was 
 understood we should halt, pending replies from Mwanga, 
 and permission to cross. But I knew that matters were 
 in a most critical position in Uganda ; that the king was 
 a mere puppet in the hands of the Wct-Fixinsa faction, 
 and, moreover, most vacillating and irresolute, and I 
 rightly anticipated that in all probability I should be 
 kept waiting here, while constant messages and excuses 
 were sent, and that meantime my supply of food would 
 be finished. Stokes would have arrived with his arms, 
 and all the hardships the men had undergone in order to 
 arri^'e with the utmost speed, without the loss of an 
 hour, would be foregone in the forced delay at the very 
 threshold of our destination. 
 
 Our arrival was quite unexpected, for as usual I had 
 pushed ahead with a handful of men. I found a tiny 
 canoe at the ferry, and at once put a guard over it. I 
 sent messages to the local chief, requesting him to lend 
 me canoes to cross, but this, of course, he dare not do 
 without orders from the king. Groping about in the 
 jungle which bordered the lake, we found another canoe, 
 but without paddles. The natives looked on stolidly, 
 thinking, of course, that we were baffled. I went across 
 myself in the tiny cockle-shell of a canoe, and as we 
 neared the opposite bank, two men with rifles rose from 
 behind a boulder and walked off. I landed, and the canoe 
 returned, and I went up on the high ground beyond, and 
 selected a camp. Sharing the paddles between the two 
 canoes, we made journey after journey, till I had quite a 
 handful of men on my side, sufficient to protect canq,). 
 The local chief now, seeing he could not prevent us, made 
 a virtue of necessity, and sent two or three big canoes. 
 Dualla was in his element, and did the work often men, 
 paddling backwards and forwards, and arranging the
 
 374 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 cargo of each canoe. All worked with enthusiasm, and 
 when darkness fell the Avhole expedition had crossed, 
 except our flock of sheep and goats and our cow, over 
 which I left a guard of Sudanese, and they crossed at 
 daybreak next day. Thus we had marched ten miles at 
 least, and crossed the Nile in a single day, in spite of the 
 absence of canoes and canoe-men. The night of Dec. 
 13th saw us camped in Uganda, and we were now indif- 
 ferent to whatever caressing evasions might issue from 
 Mwanga, for we had crossed the impassable barrier 
 without his aid. 
 
 The Nile, where it issues from the Victoria Lake, is a 
 deep, broad stream from 500 to 800 yds. across, with a 
 strong current towards the Ripon Falls. The scenery 
 is very beautiful, for the banks are high and densely 
 wooded, and small islands dot the bay (Napoleon Gulf), 
 or stand out to sea in the blue distance. Large schools 
 of hippo snort and grunt in the water, and the old 
 familiar cry of the kwazi (fish-eagle) recalls unforgotten 
 scenes on the Nyasa Lake, while the vast expanse of 
 water to the far horizon reminds us of the ocean. The 
 river contains enormous quantities of fish, which are 
 speared, and then dried and exchanged for other pro- 
 duce. There seemed to be no limit to the number the 
 natives could catch (or rather spear) if wanted, and many 
 were of enormous size and weight. 
 
 Early next morning we were off again. The country 
 we were now in was an endless series of hills and val- 
 leys, the former being some 300 ft. above the general 
 level of the country (4000 ft.) I thus record my first 
 impressions : " The ground is mostly marl and gravel, 
 but the dips have very rich black soil. The view from 
 the top of the low hills is very pleasing ; the valleys 
 are spread out below, with endless banana groves and 
 villages, or else jungle, which from above looks like 
 heavy forest, and is variegated with the scarlet blossom
 
 FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF UGANDA. 375 
 
 of a very handsome flowering-tree like the palas (Butea 
 frondosa). The hillsides usually present a gentle slope 
 of bright green ; the rank grass having been burnt, the 
 vivid green of the young shoots gives the hills the 
 appearance of being covered with green turf. To the 
 south the hills are close, and shut out the lake from 
 view, except at occasional places where they break, and 
 show a vista of water and wooded islands. Though 
 usually marly and rocky, much of the ground is rich soil, 
 especially in the valleys and' lower slopes. Bananas and 
 sweet potatoes seem to be the universal crop." 
 
 Everywhere I noticed that crops were being planted, 
 and the country did not bear the appearance of that 
 theatre of war, desolation, and famine which I had 
 anticipated, though frequent skulls and bones of men 
 marked the scene of some conflict. According to the 
 custom of Uganda, food was brought to me daily in 
 camp (for which I gave a small return present), but in 
 nothing like suflicient quantity for our necessities ; so it 
 was fortunate I had come provided. The soil in the 
 plantations was generally a very rich, deep, black loam ; 
 where surface rock appeared it was usually lava (impreg- 
 nated with iron), which had flowed over the older strata 
 of granite. 
 
 I continued to see sniders in the hands of the Waganda 
 every day, all bearing the Company's brand, and I took 
 more stringent measures than ever to prevent the sale or 
 loss of ammunition by my men. They were still in the 
 best of spirits, singing and shouting all day on the 
 march. On the 15th we met the king's messenger on his 
 way to the Nile, and he desired to show me the places 
 at which I should camp ; but I declined to halt at 
 such sliort distances as he desired, and pushed on daily 
 to the full limit to which my men could march. On 
 the IGth a second messenger arrived with letters from 
 the king, welcoming me to his country, and henceforth
 
 376 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 a continual series of letters (all written in Swahili) 
 continued to reach me. I also had cordial and most 
 courteous letters from Mgr. Hirth, the French bishop, 
 and from the English missionaries. The king's envoy 
 now escorted us, and, as is usual in Uganda, his 
 minstrels played before him on the march, with flutes 
 made of the elej^hant-reed, and drums, and many strange 
 stringed instruments like harps and banjos, ornamented 
 with beads and skins of snakes, and with tufts and 
 tassels of long white or black goat's hair. At the halts 
 they danced the extraordinary dance of the Waganda ; 
 the little bells or hollow balls, filled with iron shot, tied 
 round their calves and ankles, keeping time with their 
 tinkling sound to the motion of their bodies. A dancer 
 in Uganda moves his feet but little, and does not change 
 ground ; the dance consisting mainly of throwing the 
 body into the most extraordinary contortions, and stamp- 
 ing the feet in unison. 
 
 It rained daily, this being the season of the lesser 
 rains (October to December), and the muddy water in 
 the pools and swamps which formed our supply in camp 
 was of the worst possible description. Now w^e passed 
 through patches of forest, now through long groves of 
 bananas ; beyond perhaps we crested a line of low hills 
 covered with pasture-grass, to descend into a valley, 
 and wade through a black swamp and ascend the slope 
 beyond, and so we neared the capital. 
 
 I went on ahead w^ith a few Sudanese in their best 
 turn-out, and when I got close to Mengo great crowds 
 assembled to see me, but there was an almost ominous 
 silence as I passed them. A messenger came from the 
 king to show me a j)lace to camp. It was a wet and 
 dirty hollow, and I declined to accept it, nor yet another 
 place shown me. Eventually I went on the top of a low 
 gravelly knoU of waste land, and said I would camp 
 there. Its name was Kampala. I got message after
 
 WE ARRIVE AT THE CAPITAL. 377 
 
 message from the king urging me not to use this spot, 
 but I was obstinate, and decHned to move. Not only 
 was it the only clean and healthy spot around, but I 
 intuitively saw that if I was to do any good in this 
 country it was essential that I should assert my inde- 
 pendence from the first, and it appeared to me that 
 Mwanga was even now already engaged solely in finding- 
 out to what extent he could order me about, and whether 
 I was afraid of him. Later experience showed me I had 
 gauged his motives aright, nor did he cease thus to 
 endeavour to badger me and pit himself against me in 
 matters of trivial importance, as well as in greater, until 
 he learnt to his cost that his policy was a mistake. The 
 way we had crossed the Nile was his first lesson,— that 
 what we judged right and best we should do without 
 cringing to him for jDermission ; our rapid march here, 
 and this matter of the camping-ground, were no less part 
 of the role I had now set myself to play. 
 
 I sent courteous messages to the king with salaams, 
 saying we were tired and wet, and I would defer my 
 visit to him till next day. In the afternoon the English 
 missionaries, the Rev Messrs Gordon and Walker, came 
 to see us, and stopped and dined. The French bishop 
 and R. Catholic Fathers also called upon us, and wel- 
 comed us most courteously. De Winton, who had been 
 ailing some days, broke down on arrival ; but there was 
 no doctor in Uganda, and I had to prescribe for him 
 myself He had, I think, got a chill and a slight^sun- 
 stroke. I got an expert among my men to^Dleed him, 
 and Grant and I watched by him during the night. 
 Perhaps it may be of interest to describe the native 
 process of bleeding, so I copy the passage from my 
 diary: "He had several small cows' horns about 4 
 in. long, the points being bored through and covered 
 with bees'-wax. He puts one on the place he means to 
 bleed, and sucks through the small hole, and then her-
 
 378 FROM THE LILWA TO UGANDA. 
 
 metically seals it with the wax. The suction produced 
 by the exhausted air causes the blood to run to the 
 place. Then he takes it off, makes a number of little cuts 
 with a knife, and replaces it, repeating the suction pro- 
 cess. By-and-bye he takes it off by opening the hole at 
 the top with a porcupine- quill, and removes the clotted 
 blood it contains. Again and again he repeats the pro- 
 cess, and, when no more blood will flow, he starts again 
 in a new place. Sometimes he puts on two or three at a 
 tune in different places." 
 
 And so we had arrived at the capital of Uganda just 
 two months exactly — including all delays — from the day 
 I got my orders. Henceforward began a new chapter in 
 my experience of African work.
 
 379 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 Verdict of Chambers of Commerce— Of Statesmen — Advantage to ourselves — 
 To Africa — Climate and location — Rainfall — Fertility — Trans^jort — 
 Labour — Communications — Extent of waterways — Railway — Future 
 extensions — Nyasaland a parallel — Buchanan's verdict — ^ Minerals — 
 Commercial staples — Peculiar advantages — Freedom from insect pests — 
 The tsetse — Summary — European colonisation — Reasons of apparent un- 
 healthiness — Diseases of East Africa — Native tribes — Ports — Population 
 and areas — Comparison with others — Conclusions supported by many — 
 Miscellaneous industries — Environs of the Sudan — Sudan soldiers — 
 Threat from Moslems — Imports — Wants of aliens — Contrast with Ger- 
 mans — Basis of development. 
 
 Before proceeding further with the story of the Uganda 
 expedition I will beg my readers' indulgence, while I 
 make a few notes and remarks on the possibilities for 
 development of the country included in " British East 
 Africa." 
 
 The Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom 
 have unanimously uro'ed the retention of ,^ ,. 
 East Africa on the grounds of commercial chambers of 
 advantage, ihe presidents ot the London 
 and Liverpool chambers attended a deputation ^ to her 
 Majesty's Minister for Foreign Affairs to urge " the 
 absolute necessity, for the prosperity of this country, 
 that new avenues for commerce such as that in East 
 Equatorial Africa should be opened up, in view of the 
 hostile tariffs with which British manufactures are being 
 
 1 Oct. 20th, 1892.
 
 380 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 everywhere confronted." Manchester followed with a 
 similar declaration ; Glasgow, Birmingham, Edinburgh, 
 and other commercial centres gave it as their opinion 
 that " there is ^practically no middle course for this 
 country, between a reversal of the free-trade policy to 
 which it is pledged, on the one hand, and a prudent but 
 continuous territorial extension for the creation of new 
 markets, on the other hand."^ Such is the view of the 
 Chambers of Commerce, and I might quote endless para- 
 graphs from their resolutions and reports in the same 
 sense. 
 
 This view has been strongly endorsed by some of our 
 Verdict of leading statesmen. Space forbids me to 
 
 statesmen. quoto cxtracts fi'om speeclics by our greatest 
 
 politicians, which I might else adduce as proof that they 
 held the opinions of the Chambers of Commerce, which 
 I have quoted, to be sound and weighty. The late 
 Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, L ord Salisbmy, 
 spoke strongly in this sense at Liverpool.^ The present 
 Foreign Secretary spoke in no less forcible terms at the 
 Imperial Institute.^ Mr Chamberlain pointed out at 
 Birmingham how directly to the advantage of the work- 
 ing men this policy of prudent but continuous exten- 
 
 ^ London Chamber of Commerce Annual Report (section Uganda), dated 
 April 20th, 1893. The quotation continues as follows : "This policy is not so 
 much one of our own selection, although it is practically a continuation of the 
 Elizabethan policy inaugurated by Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, as one forced ixpon us by the exclusive economic systems of other 
 countries, including our own colonies. In fact, the experience of the Elizabethan 
 era goes far to confirm us, to-day, in persevering in the same direction. _New 
 colonial developments cannot be expected to pay at once, but almost invariably 
 they do pay in the long run. The uniform experience of this country from 1568 
 down to the present reign is, that colonies amply repay the first expenditure in 
 blood and money, and that they pay both by extension of trade and shipping, 
 and in the growth of national poM'er and status. In regard to Uganda it is not 
 easy — nor'is it even material — to estimate when the country, if annexed, is likely 
 to pay. It should be sufficent for us to know that investments of this class are 
 invariably good in the long run, and that a few years more or less are immaterial 
 from a national point of view." 
 
 - Feb. 6th, 1892. 
 
 » March 2d, 1893. Vide, chap. xli. vol. ii. p. 585.
 
 NECESSITY FOR COMMERCIAL EXPANSION. 381 
 
 sion is.^ The " Scramble for Africa '" by the nations oi 
 Europe — an incident without parallel in the history 
 of the world — was due to the growing commercial 
 rivalry, which brought home to civilised nations the 
 vital necessity of securing the only remaining fields for 
 industrial enterprise and expansion. It is well, then, 
 to realise that it is for our advantage — and not alone at 
 the dictates of duty — that we have undertaken respon- 
 sibilities in East Africa. It is in order to foster the 
 growth of the trade of this country, and to find an 
 outlet for our manufactures and our surplus energy, 
 that our far-seeing statesmen and our commercial men 
 advocate colonial expansion. 
 
 Money spent in such extension is circulated for the 
 ultimate ad van tage of th e masses. It is, Aavantac^es to 
 then, beside the mark to argue that while Ourselves. 
 there is want and misery at home money should not be 
 ^pent in Africa. It has yet to be proved that the most 
 effective way of relieving poverty permanently, and in 
 accordance with sound political economy, is by distrib- 
 uting half-pence in the street. If our advent in Africa 
 introduces civilisation, peace, and good government, 
 abolishes the slave-trade, and eftects other advantages 
 for Africa, it must not be therefore supposed that this 
 was our sole and only aim in going there. However 
 greatly such objects may weigh with a large and power- 
 
 ^ "I should like to say to you in passing that this question of Uganda, and all 
 questions which affect the extension of the Empire, have a very pi'essing interest 
 for working men. Those people who want you to have a little Empire must 
 make up their mind that with a little Empire will go a little trade. This 
 United Kingdom of ours is, after all, but a small place — it is but a mere 
 speck upon the surface of the globe— and it would be absolutely impossible that 
 from our own resources alone we could find employment for our crowded 
 population of forty millions of souls. No ; your hope of continuous em- 
 ployment depends upon our foreign commerce, and now that other nations 
 are closing their ports to us, and eserywliere we see that they are endeavouring 
 to create a monopoly for their own benefit — I say that the future of tiie working 
 classes of tliis country depends upon our success in maintaining the Empire as 
 it at present stands, and in taking every wise and legitimate opportunity of 
 extending it." — Times, June 2d, 1892.
 
 382 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 ful section of the nation, I do not believe that in these 
 days our national policy is based on motives of philan- 
 thropy only J' Though these may be our duties, it is quite 
 possible that here (as frequently if not generally is the 
 case) advantage may run parallel with duty. There are 
 some who say we have no right in Africa at all, that " it 
 belongs to the natives." I hold that our right is the 
 necessity that is upon us to provide for our ever-growing 
 population — either by opening new fields for emigration, 
 or by providing work and employment which the de- 
 velopment of over-sea extension entails — and to stim- 
 ulate trade by finding new markets, since we know what 
 misery trade depression brings at home. 
 
 While thus serving our own interests as a nation, we 
 Advantages i^^Jj ^J solectiug men of the right stamp for 
 to Africa. ^^iQ coutrol of uew territories, bring at the 
 
 same time many advantages to Africa. Nor do we 
 deprive the natives of their birthright of freedom, to 
 place them under a foreign yoke. It has ever been the 
 key-note of British colonial method to rule through 
 and by the natives, and it is this method, in contrast 
 to the arbitrary and uncompromising rule of Germany, 
 France, Portugal, and Spain, which has been the secret 
 of our success as a colonising nation, and has made us 
 welcomed by tribes and peoples in Africa, who ever rose 
 in revolt against the other nations named. In Africa, 
 moreover, there is among the people a natural inclination 
 to submit to a higher authority. That intense detesta- 
 tion of control which animates our Teutonic races does 
 not exist among the tribes of Africa (see p. 191), 
 and if there is any authority that we replace, it is the 
 authority of the Slavers and Arabs, or the intolerable 
 tyranny of the ''dominant tribe " {vide pp. 86, 87). The 
 experiment of an autonomous and civilised African 
 state of freed negroes, such as was founded in " Liberia " 
 in 1820 by the Washington Colonisation Society, and
 
 THE CLIMATE AND POSITION OF EAST AFRICA 383 
 
 recognised as an independent state by Europe in 1847, 
 " can hardly be said to have been a success." ^ Such 
 {questions, however, as Mr Keltie says, it is now too late 
 to discuss, and they have but an academic interest. 
 
 The disadvantages which are urged as against British 
 East Africa are as follows : First, its lati- ciimate and 
 tude, bisected as it is by the equator. This, location, 
 it is assumed, means a sweltering tropical heat, malarial 
 fevers, and so forth. This question of salubrity of climate 
 is dealt with in more detail in the succeeding chapter, 
 since the altitude has so direct a bearing upon it, and 
 districts vary so greatly in this respect that it becomes 
 impossible to deal with the whole en hloc. Speaking 
 generally, however, we may say that of all this vast con- 
 tinent there is probably no part, with the exception of 
 the extreme south, and possibly of the highlands to the 
 north of the Zambesi, which enjoys such natural advan- 
 tages of climate — consequent on its high altitude. The 
 plateaux, which begin only 150 miles from the coast and 
 culminate in Mau, I shall describe more fully presently. 
 On the higher portions, even frost is not unknown, 
 and the air is bracing and healthy like that of Europe. 
 Of the more inland districts (Uganda, &c.) around the 
 Lake Victoria, and northwards near the Nile, Avhich 
 do not enjoy so high an altitude, and which are close to 
 the equator, Speke, a most competent observer, writes 
 in glowing terms as regards the climate and rainfall.^ 
 The Rev. C T. Wilson, the first European resident in 
 
 • Keltic, Partition of Africa, p. 283. Ho also Silva White, Development of 
 Africa, p. 2.37, and Mackay, Life, p. 459. 
 
 - " At 5° south latitude, for the whole six months that the sun is in the south, 
 rain continues to fall, and I have heard that the same takes place at 5" north ; 
 whilst on the equator, or rather a trifle to noi'thward of it, it rains, more or less, 
 the whole year round, but most at tlie equinoxes. . . . The w inds in the drier 
 season blow so cold tliat the sun's heat is not distressing, and in consequence of 
 this, and the average altitude of tlie plateau, wliich is 30<Mj ft. [-■/'], the general 
 temperature of the atmosphere is very pleasant, as I found from experience ; for 
 I walked every inch of the journey dressed in thick woollen clothes, and slept 
 every niglit between blankets." — Speke's Journals, Introduction, p. 15.
 
 384 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 Uganda, writes in similar terms. ^ As regards fertility 
 of soil and sufficiency of rainfall I shall speak of each 
 district separately, and the testimony of every traveller 
 through these regions can, without exception, be adduced 
 to support the claims for extraordinary advantages in 
 this respect which have been advanced as regards East 
 Africa. Speaking generally of the entire equatorial 
 zone, Speke gives reasons for this " surprising fertility," ^ 
 and I hear that the members of Sir G. Portal's commis- 
 sion were equally impressed with its richness, while 
 those who had been in India contrasted it favourably 
 with that country. 
 
 2. The lack of transport has justly been urged as a 
 
 great drawback to the value of East Africa, 
 and as retarding its commercial development. 
 With this subject I have dealt in chapter xvii. 
 
 3. A similar objection, on the score of absence of local 
 
 labour, has been put forward, and I have 
 
 Labour. . ^ ■"■ . />-> • 
 
 considered this question also of sumcient 
 importance to merit a separate examination in chapter 
 xviii. 
 
 4. East Africa labours under the natural disadvantage 
 
 of haviiiP' no g'reat navigfable rivers which 
 
 Commumcations. iii i I'l 
 
 could become the highways of commerce 
 and steam navigation. It is true that the Juba and 
 Tana have been navigated by a steamer 86 ft. long, 
 
 ^ He reached the country from what is now German teiritory, and writes : 
 " A wealth of vegetation for which I was quite unprepared. Indeed, no traveller 
 in Africa can form any just estimate of the fertility and luxuriance of the vege- 
 tation within the rainy belt, unless he has actually visited it." — Uganda and 
 Equatorial Sudan, p. 102. 
 
 - "Over ten degrees of latitude in the centre of the continent, or from 5' south 
 to 5° north latitude, there exists a regular gradation of fertility, surprisingly rich 
 on the equator, but decreasing systematically from it ; and the reason why this 
 great fertile zone is confined to the equatorial regions is the same as that which 
 has constituted it the great focus of water or lake supply, whence issue the 
 principal rivers of Africa. On the equator lie the rain-bearing influences of the 
 mountains of the moon. The equatorial line is, in fact, the centre of atmospheric 
 motion." — Speke's .Journals, Introduction, p. 16.
 
 ah or Parts 
 
 Jr 
 
 A. . !* 
 
 Brit);'* 
 
 •:..,: , S 
 
 Li 
 
 (Fretix^h) 
 
 
 Trea' Br;i.)» J 
 
 1814. Min'^ ) 
 1882. jF\ 
 
 1884. Ft 
 
 1885. M 
 188a 7i 
 
 1887. M. 
 
 N, 
 
 1888. - 
 
 1880.'^: 
 18W. 7l 
 
 ^1 
 
 1881. Mi
 
 EXCEPTIONAL WATERWAYS. 385 
 
 the one for 400, and the other for 350 miles (repre- 
 senting a direct distance in both cases of some 200 
 miles from the coast), l3ut neither of these rivers can 
 ever become highways of commerce, for they are practi- 
 cable only in the rains, and navigation is at all times 
 difficult. 
 
 On the other hand, there exists in the centre of 
 the continent a wonderful system of great waterways. 
 The Victoria Lake, with a coast-line of close on 1000 
 miles, the Albert Edward and the Albert Lakes with 
 over 200 miles each, and the Nile navigable with one 
 interruption (at Dufile) as far as Gondokoro. This point, 
 N. lat. 5°, may be taken as the limit of the area to be 
 commercially developed from the East Coast. It is situ- 
 ated some 200 miles from the exit of the river at the 
 Albert Lake. We thus have a total coast-line and river 
 waterway immediately surrounding these districts of 
 some IGOO miles from point to point ; and vastly greater 
 when the indentures of the lake coast-line and the 
 windings of the river are added. In addition there 
 extends the waterway of the Nile, navigable without a 
 break to Khartum, 1080 miles, and thence to Cairo 
 (with many cataracts) 1500 miles further.^ To the 
 south of the Victoria lies the Tanganyika, 400 miles long, 
 and south of it Nyasa extends to the Shire and Zam- 
 besi. To the no]-th-east, within British East Africa, 
 lies the great Lake Rudolf This territory^, therefore, 
 cannot be said to he destitute of water comngiunication. 
 On the contrary, it is singularly fortunate in this respect, 
 but its sole disadvantage lies in the fact that these 
 waterways have no practicable outlet to the sea. 
 
 Til is is wliy a railway has been urged as a substitute. 
 The survey has established the fact that its construc- 
 
 ' (jioidou'.s Journals, p. 6S. He says, however, in liis report on the river : 
 " Were it not for the rapids of Fohi (Diifik'), a vessel could come up to tlie lake 
 from Cairo, for tlie water is deep tliroughout, and the otlier rapids on the river 
 can be passed with care." — Cordon in Africa, p. 202. 
 
 VOL. L 2 13
 
 386 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 tion offers no great difficulties, and its cost is only 2^ 
 millions. With such an outlet to connect the water 
 communications of the interior with the sea, British 
 East Africa could claim to have an altogether exceptional 
 system of waterways to develop the interior districts. 
 When Uganda becomes the seat of a British administra- 
 tion, the connection of these lakes by light railways will 
 undoubtedly be eventually undertaken. 
 
 I have traversed the country, and I am able to say 
 that, contrary to expectation from the general nature of 
 Uganda, the route, starting from the excellent harbour 
 of Luwambu, on the Victoria Lake, across Buddu and 
 Northern Ankoli to the Albert Edward Lake, offers very 
 few obstacles, if any, and a light line could be made which 
 would, I think, prove extremely profitable. It would not 
 only tap the produce of the whole of the shores of the 
 Albert Edward (a country abounding in ivory, and as yet 
 untapped even by the Arabs and Manyuema), but it 
 would also convey to Uganda and to the shores of Lake 
 Victoria, and so to the countries which surround it, the 
 salt from the Salt Lake of Katwe. The distance is only 
 140 miles of easy country, with few or no river-swamps, 
 no large rivers, and no mountains to cross, and the 
 people are friendly. From the Albert Edward an exten- 
 sion may be made to Tanganyika (in furtherance per- 
 haps of Mr Rhodes' trans- continental telegraph scheme), 
 and so the line of communication will be comj)lete 
 throughout, via Nyasa and the Shire to the East Coast 
 at the mouth of the Zambesi. This extension would 
 involve neo-otiation either with the Conoo State or with 
 Germany, and is altogether outside the immediate scoj^e 
 of British East African internal development. 
 
 From the Albert Edward a short extension northwards 
 along the fertile and densely populated lower slopes of 
 Ruwenzori brings us to the Albert Lake, and thence by 
 continual navigation, along that lake and the Nile, to
 
 COMPARISON OF DIFFICULTIES WITH NY AS ALAND. 387 
 
 Khartum and to Egypt. The distance from the Albert 
 Edward to the Albert Lake is some seventy miles. 
 Such are the possibilities of the future, and I name them 
 to show that it is no cuJ de sac of which Uganda is the 
 terminus, but rather that it should become in the hands 
 of a 2^1'^ident but energetic administrator the emporium 
 and centre of a commerce whose arteries may extend for 
 hundreds of miles to north and south, along lines of 
 communication which require but few connecting' links. 
 
 Of what can be done in the heart of Africa, the de- 
 velopment in the Shire highlands is a notable example. 
 I have already stated elsewhere the results that are to 
 be seen there to-day. These results were achieved in 
 the face of many obstacles. The Portuguese held the 
 coast-line and the port of Quilimane, they imjDosed 
 vexatious tariffs, and threw many difficulties in the way 
 of the British settlers. The Chinde channel of the 
 Zambesi had not been utilised, and bulk was broken ( 1 ) 
 at the coast — where cargo was transferred at Quilimane, 
 to small boats on the Kwakwa. (2) At Mopea — Avhence 
 it Avas carried across (four miles) to the Zambesi. (3) At 
 the mouth of the-Ruo (except in exceptional floods) — 
 when it was transferred to small boats. (4) At Katunga's 
 — where it had to be carried twenty-five miles up steep 
 hills to the Shire plateau. Moreover, no labour existed, 
 as hostile tribes (Angoni) had laid waste the country. 
 Natural ])roducts were few or none, and the ivory, &c., 
 had been ah-eady monopolised by the Arabs. I think 
 the difficulties in East Africa are not so great as these 
 which have already been met and overcome in the 
 Shire highlands by British energy. 
 
 I lay particular stress on Nyasaland as an object 
 lesson, because the conditions of its development are so 
 close a parallel. Its climate, and the general condi- 
 tions, as affecting the introduction of new staples of 
 industry, would approximate closely, I should imagine, to
 
 388 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 those of the lake districts, and would be inferior to those 
 prevailing in the third zone. Throughout the following 
 chapters, therefore, I have freely quoted the results as 
 regards new experimental products which have been 
 obtained in the Shire highlands, as offering a good 
 criterion for success or failure in East Africa. I have 
 taken as my authority Mr John Buchanan, C.M.G., a 
 planter in Nyasaland, who is acknowledged to be skilful 
 and scientific, and withal not an enthusiast in speech. 
 He owns the largest estates, and is the largest exporter 
 of cofiee, &c. His statements therefore are based on the 
 actual monetary results which have accrued after some 
 twelve years of experience and effort. In general terms 
 Mr Whyte, botanist and scientist to the Government 
 Commissioner, endorses Buchanan's statements as regards 
 the soil and climate, &c.^ Mr Buchanan's verdict on the 
 future of Nyasaland, based on long experience, may, I 
 think, be equally applied to East Africa :■ — ■ 
 
 " I feel justified in saying that, commercially, Xyasaland 
 has a bright future before it. We have the backbone of com- 
 merce in coffee, cocoa, rubber, tobacco, cotton, cinchona, and it 
 may be tea and sugar, . . . with great probabilities in fibres, 
 grain, hides, bees'-wax, &c., not to speak of the ivory trade, which 
 will hold its own for several years yet to come." ' 
 
 5. The absence of valuable metals has been urged as a 
 factor which depreciates the value of East 
 
 Minerals. *p' x- i -ii i 
 
 Airica. it is not clear to my mmd that the 
 discovery of gold in the early stages of its development 
 is altogether an advantage to an infant country. That 
 the favour with which its j)rogress is regarded by Eng- 
 land should be in any w^ay dejDendent on the rise and 
 fall of gold-mine shares, and that the fate of thousands 
 or millions of Africans should in any degree be associated 
 w4th the vacillations of the stock exchange is, in my 
 opinion, to be deplored. Moreover it must be remem- 
 
 1 Kew Bulletin, 1892, p. 124. - Geog. Jour., vol. i. p. 253.
 
 VEGETABLE AND MINERAL PRODUCTS. 389 
 
 bered that it is alluvial gold only which brings colonists 
 and settlers, Cjuartz gold being dependent on adequate 
 communications for the conveyance of heavy machinery 
 and of ore. But it is by no means as yet proved that 
 East Africa does not contain gold. The country to west 
 of Port Durnford is said to produce gold, and its extra- 
 ordinary prosperity in ancient times, of which the remains 
 are still to be found in the ruins of large towns, seems 
 to indicate a natural wealth. Gold is known to exist at 
 Fazokl on the Blue Nile,^ and Fischer says it is to be 
 found in N. Masailand ; a specimen containing gold has 
 also been picked up near the ordinary caravan route from 
 the coast. The country has been little prospected for 
 metals, and it is by no means improbable that it may 
 prove to be not deficient. There is a probability of a 
 coal seam near the coast, and iron ore of great richness 
 abounds throughout East Africa, together with other base 
 metals. Chalcedony and manganese (Hohnel), graphite, 
 copper, lead, antimony, &c., are reported to have been 
 found. 
 
 G. It is urged that there is no staple of commerce — 
 such as the palm-kernel on the West Coast, comnieiciai 
 the clove in Zanzibar, or coffee in Nyasa- ^*'''^'^^" 
 land. The succeeding chapters will, I hope, prove that 
 there are many articles which may become staples, and 
 that the variety of industries to which the country is 
 suited by its climate and fertility \vill preclude the pos- 
 sibility of its becoming solely dependent on any one 
 single product. Of these, coffee, cotton, and stock- 
 rearing are perhaps the most promising industries. 
 
 On the other handy^ East Africa has many great 
 advantages. It is practically free from the tsetse-fly 
 (Glossina morsitans) which arrests progress in South 
 
 ' Gessi Pa^hii, p. 156. Many conipelenl ol)seivers endoi-se tlii.s, including 
 mining engineers (PiU.sseger and others), but the district is beyond the present 
 limitations of Kast Africa.
 
 390 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 Africa. It is not dominated by powerful hostile tribes or 
 Peculiar advan- ^J bands of skive-ralders as are otlier terri- 
 tages. tories in Africa. Its population is not demor- 
 
 alised by liquor traffic and a vast trade in arms, nor will 
 its revenues depend on any such illegal imports. Lastly, 
 and by no means of least importance, East Africa is singu- 
 larly free from those insect pests which render life intoler- 
 able to Europeans throughout so great a part of Africa, 
 and induce fever by their irritation, the virus they inject, 
 and the blood they withdraw from the system.^ Mosqui- 
 toes are almost unknown throughout the country from 
 the coast to Uganda. The jigger, the curse of West 
 Africa, has also been unknown hitherto, though the 
 ' Times' correspondent reports^ that it has been lately 
 found in Buddu. The supposition put forward by Mr 
 Sharpe ^ that it is making its way across from the West 
 to the East Coast is not unlikely, since it is supposed to 
 have been originally introduced from Brazil, and is alarm- 
 ing if true. It is certainly the fact that, at the date I was 
 on Nyasa, and in Buddu, this pest was wholly unknown. 
 South Africa, as I have said, is at a disadvantage by 
 reason of the tsetse-fly, which precludes all forms of 
 animal transport, and all agricultural methods which 
 depend on the use of the horse, bullock, or donkey, as 
 well as all stock-rearing farms. Hides, ghi, milk, and 
 beef are products which cannot be procured in the 
 infested districts. In German East Africa throughout 
 
 ^ Dr. Clark, in his most interesting paper on Malaria (Royal Scottish Geo- 
 graphical Magazine, vol. ix. p. 294), ascribes a great share in the propagation 
 of fever to the mosquito. Not onlj', he says, is its virus "moi'e potent, -weight 
 for weight, than that of the cobra," but he maintains that it probably also trans- 
 mits malarial germs from swamps. 
 
 - Times, July 6th, 1893. 
 
 ^ "Two years ago the West African jigger {SarcojisyUa 2}6iitt>'c>'^is) had just 
 made its appearance on the south of Tanganyika. On my present journey 
 I found that it was not only quite plentiful now at Tanganyika, but had 
 crossed the plateau, and reached Nyasa. At all the villages on the road from 
 Karonga's to Tanganyika they have become a pest. Doubtless, before long 
 they will reach the East Coast. "--Geograpiiical Journal, vol. i. p. 525.
 
 FEEEDOM FROM THE TSETSE-FLY. 391 
 
 the broad zone, which he describes as the coast area 
 Dr. Pruen says "the tsetse-fly holds undisputed sway.' 
 In British East Africa the fly has been found in an 
 extremely narrow strip of country near Taita, but so far 
 it has only been caught as a natural history curiosity. 
 Indeed, by diverging either to the right or the left, it can, 
 I think, be avoided, for it is doubtful if it exists on the 
 Sabakhi River, and ]\[r Jackson ^ says that, proceeding 
 from Mombasa rid Taveta to Machako's, "Throughout 
 the whole of the way both good water and fodder are plen- 
 tiful ; there is no thick bush, and there are no tsetse." 
 Mr Jackson is a competent authority, who has travelled 
 in this district (Taveta), and it was by him that the 
 tsetse-fly in the direct route was first discovered and 
 sent home for identification to the British Museum. 
 Thus transport animals could be used throughout East 
 Africa from the coast to the far interior. Even across 
 the strip of country in which it has been found the 
 Arabs and Swahilis have for years driven trains of pack 
 bullocks and donkeys in their slow-moving caravans, 
 and from this it would appear that the fly can hardly 
 be said to exist in sufficient quantities to be a real 
 obstacle, for these people could not aftbrd to risk the 
 loss even of a few animals. The Company have sent up 
 caravans of donkeys, but I greatly doubt if the mortahty 
 amono-st them was due to tsetse. Three horses were 
 safely imported to Uganda ; and the tribes breed 
 and rear cattle continuously from the coast to the far 
 iiiterior. 
 
 This brief sunnnary will indicate how superior are the 
 advantages claimed for East Africa to the 
 comparatively sterile belt of country which 
 forms the greater portion of the German sphere, or that 
 still more sterile tract known as " German South- West 
 Africa"; or, finally, to that vast area of " light soil" (to 
 
 ^ Pall Mall Cay.ctte, Feb. 4th, 1S'J3.
 
 392 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 use Lord Salisbury's euphemistic phrase) upon which the 
 French are expending tlreir energy and their capital^ 
 Nor, indeed, are such comparisons necessary. Not even 
 in those other promising districts of Africa in which I 
 have travelled have I ever, I think, seen so fertile a 
 country, as a whole, as East Africa. The lofty plateaux 
 and mountains of the interior, and the climatic conditions 
 generated by the great lakes, render the rainfall of the 
 country certain and abundant. Such observations as 
 have been made and computed of the rainfall in East 
 Africa will be found on the physical maps attached to 
 these chapters. East__Africa may indeed, I think, com- 
 pare favourably as a field for agricultural and in(histriaL 
 enterprise Avith any tropical country in the world. 
 
 Whether it may ever be available as an outlet for 
 European Coioni- Europeau emigration is a question which 
 sation. ^.-^^^ ^j-^jy |^g determined by fuller data, and 
 
 actual experiment : I will allude to this subject in deal- 
 ing with the central zone in the succeeding chapter. 
 Africa, in the extreme south (the Cape), has been found 
 suitable to European life and colonisation. Further 
 north it still remains to be proved whether the recently 
 exploited plateaux of Mashonaland have a climate suit- 
 able in all respects for Europeans, as is claimed for them. 
 Northern Africa is at the disadvantage, compared with 
 East Africa, that "the winds that cross the Mediter- 
 ranean and the Red Sea have already parted with most 
 of their moisture to the Em^o- Asiatic mass, and what 
 little remains is levied by the coast lands." '" Thus 
 Northern Africa is, considering its latitude, unduly hot. 
 These two extremes of the continent are, however, 
 beyond the tropics. Half-way between East Africa and 
 the Cape lie the Shire highlands in S. lat. 16°. Their 
 altitude (3000 ft.) renders them salubrious for Euro- 
 peans, and English and Scotch ladies have lived there 
 
 ^ Vide Keltic, Partition of Africa, p. 222. " l^nd., p. 416.
 
 HEALTH OF EUROPEANS IX EAST AFRICA. 393 
 
 for years in health, though as yet it cannot be fairly 
 said that they have been proved fit for colonisation in 
 tlie proper sense of the term. East Africa, throughout 
 its central portions, has an_jjjti'tude double that of the 
 Shire highlands (5000 to 8000 ft.) to compensate for 
 its more tropical situation, and the conditions may 
 therefore be assumed to be not dissimilar, with pro- 
 bably an advantage on the side of East Africa. 
 / / In spite of the advantages of climate which I have 
 claimed for this country, it is true that Euro- 
 
 i , ,.,.-,. . ■■ Reasons of 
 
 peans who have lived m tlie mterior do not apparent uu- 
 on the whole show as good a medical record 
 as we should expect. The causes are not far to seek. 
 Europeans often immature, physically weak, and quite 
 unacclimatised {especially missionaries) come out to 
 Africa. They probably spend some time in the malarial 
 districts of the coast. The missionaries for Uganda, for 
 instance, have invariably passed thither through the 
 German sphere, much of which is very unhealthy : they 
 thus imbibe malaria into their systems. A sine qud non 
 for successful colonisation would be a rapid means of 
 transit from the seaport to the uplands — viz., a short 
 railway of 150 miles at least. io^^^^ ^ ^^^U^^-^ "^ 
 
 Europeans in Africa hitherto have lived in mere 
 grass houses not raised above the ground-level and with 
 floors of mud. Their diet is not luxurious ; articles of 
 food, which have become necessities of life (such as 
 bread, and sometimes even salt), have to be abandoned. 
 Medical attendance is generally not available, and 
 medicines are often deficient. Journeys are undertaken 
 in all kinds of weather ; changes of clothes are not 
 always at hand ; delays occur when on the march in 
 obtainino- food. An io-norance of the exioencies of a 
 rough life often results in the neglect of simple pre- 
 cautions ao-ainst chills, &c. Their duties have been 
 prominently the formation of new stations; virgin soil
 
 394 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 is disturbed, and the process is acknowledged to be 
 most destructive to health and life.^ For examples we 
 need not even go to tropical countries (as Australia, &c.), 
 we have an instance in the reclamation of the Campagna 
 in Italy, and Dr Clark adds the case of the excavation 
 of the canal St Martin in Paris, &c." The result is fever 
 — sometimes of a bad type — or dysentery, &c. Can 
 the mere climate be held responsible for this ? ^ Would 
 the average Englishman under such conditions prove 
 invulnerable to disease on the banks of the Thames if 
 compelled to live thus year after year, with moreover 
 the tension of responsibility and heavy work on his 
 shoulders 1 And should we, therefore, condemn the 
 Thames Valley as unfit for European colonisation ? 
 
 East Africa, like all countries, has its own diseases, 
 Diseases of ^^'^^ ^^ tliese dysentery and h?ematuric fever 
 
 East Africa. ^^,q -j- j-^^ most dreaded. Cholera, so fatal in 
 India, is unknown. Influenza, the scourge of Europe, 
 has not made its appearance there. Smallpox, though 
 a terrible scourge to the natives, has never yet claimed 
 a European victim, and is amenable to vaccination ; out 
 of some fifty missionaries who have joined the English 
 Nyanza Mission at most one or two have died of disease 
 in the interior of British East Africa, though many have 
 succumbed in German territory on their way thither, or 
 in the Southern Lake stations. There is, however, a 
 disease which I fear may be found in Uganda — it is 
 ophthalmia. I had many cases (some very serious) 
 among the natives, and both English and French residents 
 
 ^ Waller (Health Hints for Central Africa, p. 52) lays great stress on this 
 point. 
 
 - Scottish Geographical Magazine, vol. ix. p. 286. A perusal of Dr Clark's 
 most admirable paper will convey to the reader a hundred other causes pre- 
 disposing to malaria, which the early settler incurs, and Avliich space forbids me 
 to detail here. 
 
 ^ Mackay also draws oiit this argument, attributing the deaths of Europeans 
 to ignorance and carelessness of precautions, and because the route followed — 
 Nile, Congo, &c. — has usually been a low-lying and unhealthy river bed. — 
 Life of Mackay, p. 254.
 
 HOSTILITY OF POWERFUL TRIBES. 395 
 
 have suffered. Hsematuric fever has also of late attacked 
 several, and Mr De Winton (being witliout attendance) 
 succumbed to it. 
 
 I have alluded to the question of the hosfility of 
 native tribes, and the subject is so im- 
 
 ^ . . 1 T • 1 1 Native Tribes. 
 
 portant that it merits an additional word. 
 The South African Company have the Matabeles to deal 
 with — an extremely powerful Zulu tribe of great organi- 
 sation, who we are told are rapidly arming themselves /'>;t^*<:^ ^^''^^ -' 
 with rifles. They liave also had a coHision with ^ /^^ J?Cf€A^ 
 European neighbours in the Portuguese, and a similar /)-<rA- ^^^^^'z^' 
 collision with the Boers was narrowly avoided. The ^ftZ^ (^"Aju 
 "British Central African Protectorate" is permeated v>^ . /p, 
 
 by the slave-traders and their affiliated tribes, all armedi, ^ , 
 
 with rifles and bitterly hostile, with whom the Adminis- '^^'^ JG^^^U- 
 tration is at chronic war, and who have hitherto proved y %/iuJ^ Cf^ 
 themselves more than a match for its resources. There ^ 
 are also the fierce Angoni, a tribe of Zulu origin. The 
 Germans in like manner have tribes to deal W'ith who 
 are armed with thousands of rifles ; and the whole 
 country is full of arms. Tlie slave-traders, the Mag- 
 wangwara Zulus, the dreaded Manyuema, the Wanyam- 
 wezi and the Wahehe. The French have in West Africa 
 powerful negro states, well armed, on their frontiers, '^-vfr-t/ ^^/T-t ^^^^^ 
 such as Dahomey and others, and still more powerful 'i^Q^i 
 opposition in Algeria. The Italians have the fierce and 
 fanatical Somals in the south, intensely antagonistic to 
 them, and the Abyssinians to the west, who have so far 
 defied them and have lately denounced their protectorate. 
 In the greater part at least of British East Africa 
 there are no tribes to compare in power ^ with any of 
 these I have named. The Somals in the north are 
 formidable, but they are not armed with rifles, and 
 so far (except for a local emeute on the coast) have been 
 ameiuible to peaceful methods. The Waganda and their 
 former dependents are by far the most powerful, and
 
 396 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 they alone are armed with guns, but they too have been 
 dealt with peacefully — except for an outbreak between 
 internal factions, which would have occurred all the 
 sooner Ijut for British intervention ; and which, after 
 singularly little bloodshed, has been succeeded by peace. 
 There are no settlements of armed slave-traders and no 
 savage tribes armed with rifles, as in the case of every 
 other territory in Africa, and the natives almost without 
 exception are well disposed. 
 
 Another advantage which accrues to us in East Africa 
 
 o 
 
 is the possession of at least three excellent 
 
 Ports 
 
 harbours. Of these Mombasa is perhaps the 
 finest natural port on the East African coast, and would 
 form a most valuable coaling station for our fleet in 
 those waters. But with its political importance we are 
 not concerned here. With such a port at the base, and 
 such an objective at the further point as I have shown 
 would be attained by communication with the lake and 
 Nile waterways, surely the country ofters indisputable 
 natural advantages for commercial develoj^ment ? 
 
 Mr, Stanley has stated -^ that we should be face to face 
 Population with twelvc millious of people as customers 
 
 and Areas. £q^. ^^^^ goods. Mr Baveusteiu's estimate of 
 
 the population of British East Africa is 6 J millions,^ 
 and probably if we extended our commerce to the 
 peoples who surround the shores of the lakes and the 
 Nile, we should arrive at a total not far short of Mr 
 Stanley's estimate. Apart, however, from the wants of 
 this native population are the requirements of alien 
 immigrants. These will form a very appreciable factor 
 in the consumption of imports. The distribution of the 
 population is extremely unequal, and this not because 
 of any notable superiority of situation as regards climate 
 and soil, but lai-gely owing to the exigencies of inter- 
 
 ^ Speech at Swansea, Times, Oct. 4th, 1892. 
 - Partition of Africa, App. 1, p. 461.
 
 PORTS, POPULATION, VACANT AREAS. 397 
 
 tribal war. Consequently while certain densely popu- 
 lated areas afford markets for trade and barter, similarly 
 fertile areas exist uninhabited and ready for occupation 
 by alien immigrants. Whether European colonisation 
 in the true sense of the term be feasible or not, it 
 remains beyond a doubt that extensive areas suitable 
 for European exploitation, similar to that in India and 
 Nyasaland, where large plantations of tea, coffee, cotton, 
 &c., are raised, or for stock-rearing and sheep-farming, 
 as in Australia and Canada, are available, and also 
 that East Africa is eminently suitable for Asiatic 
 colonisation. 
 
 I think that even this brief and cursory sketch will 
 be sufficient to endorse Mr Chamberlain's comparison 
 words : " Although no immediate return can "^^itii others. 
 be expected, the ultimate prospect of trade is at least as 
 good as it was at the commencement of our occupation 
 of many of our most prosperous colonies and dej^en- 
 dencies." ^ Let me quote but one instance in support of 
 this view. I have served many years in Northern India 
 and the Punjab, and a country more sterile-looking, more 
 poorly watered, and with poorer soil or poorer inhabitants 
 it would be hard to find. It was, moreover, till recently 
 1500 miles from its ports on the sea. Yet to-day the 
 grain of the Punjab competes with success in the markets 
 of the world — not to speak of the other numerous pro- 
 ducts, opium, cotton, &c. What has been done in India, 
 Australia, and Canada — districts offering no greater, if 
 as great, advantages as East Africa will suggest itself 
 to the mind of the reader. But it took many years to 
 develop these great dependencies, which our foreftithers 
 have transmitted to us as a portion of the Britisli 
 Em])ire. 
 
 I have endeavoured throughout to base my conchisiuns 
 not merely on my own opinions, but on the published 
 
 ' Letter to Anti-Slavery Society, Times, Oct. '27tli, 1892.
 
 398 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES, 
 
 statements of all such authorities as I have been able 
 Conclusions Low ^^ cousult. East Africa is not an El Dorado, 
 arrived at. ' ^^^^ ^|^g tcstimony of all the authorities I 
 have quoted is unanimous as to the fertility of the soil, 
 the healthiness of the highlands, the abundance of the 
 rainfall, and the general excellence of climate. If then 
 my remarks appear optimistic, the onus is rather on the 
 authorities I quote than on my own statements, which 
 have hitherto been much less enthusiastic. 
 
 The attached road chart (Map No. 3) will show the 
 details of soil, products, forests, &c., noted by me in 
 Uganda and the neighbouring countries ; the bulk to 
 which it would attain prevents my reproducing a similar 
 chart from the coast to Uganda. The series of small 
 maps by Mr Ravenstein will, however, amply illustrate 
 these points in a far more scientific though more general 
 manner. 
 
 In the next chapter I will indicate some of the 
 Miscellaneous products present and possible ; but there 
 Products. ^YQ very many more forms of industry 
 
 which space prevents my dealing with. Take for 
 instance that of sericulture. Depending as it does 
 solely on the labour of women and children (who, so to 
 speak, abound in Africa), and the mulberry being a sub- 
 tropical tree, there would seem to be possibilities in East 
 Africa for the rearing and breeding of the silkworm. 
 In the report lately furnished by the Governor of St. 
 Helena, with the enclosure by the Rev J. H. Danie (R. 
 Catholic chaplain), we learn that the experiment is 
 being made on a large scale in that island. Similarly, 
 there are many other plants which form the commercial 
 staples of various countries, and which would appear 
 suited to the climate and soil ; but which would demand 
 far greater space than I can command for their intro- 
 duction into these chapters. I will mention but two : 
 opium, a most valuable and remunerative culture, which
 
 TRADE WITH COUNTRIES BEYOND OUR SPHERE. 399 
 
 would involve the employment of skilled coolie labour 
 from Oude, and which has already been experimented 
 with at Mopea on the Kwakwa ; and olives, which yield 
 so large a revenue to the countries in the south of 
 Europe. 
 
 I have included the Southern Sudan as the fifth 
 commercial '"zone." For, so far as com- Environs of 
 merce is concerned, it is not essential that ^"^^'■^"• 
 it should immediately be included in the sphere of 
 our administration. Its products will, in any case, 
 flow to our markets in Uganda and on the Albert 
 Lake. Formerly there was a small trade between 
 Uganda and the Sudan, ^ but this ceased on the evacua- 
 tion of Mruli by the Egyptian garrisons, and the hostility 
 of Kabarega of Unyoro has ever since opposed a barrier 
 which has quite separated the two countries. A perusal 
 of my notes will, I think, show how important com- 
 mercially this country is. The most striking thing, 
 however, in studying the commerce of this district is 
 the comparatively greater importance of the districts 
 lying to the north-west. Gessi Pasha's province of 
 Bahr-el-Ghazal Avill be found to have exports of very 
 great value and surprising quantity. And this leads us 
 to pause for a moment to consider that undoubtedly the 
 products of these districts would find their outlet to the 
 East Coast if a cheap means of transport existed. For 
 already they are close to the Nile waterway, which brings 
 them to the Albert Lake and so in touch with our 
 administration. Llere, in this direction, lie thickly 
 peopled independent Mussalman States, boasting a 
 Mohammedan civilisation, and eager for trade. Such are 
 Wadai, Darfiu', and Bagirmi. France has long perceived 
 the great importance of getting in touch with these 
 negro states, and has spent unknown thousands in 
 exploring and treaty-making parties in this direction. 
 
 ' Wilsou ami FclUiii, vol. i. I ill.
 
 400 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 Owning, as tliey are reported to do, horses, asses, and 
 camels, as beasts of burden, the trade which they com- 
 mand \YOuld not be the mere produce of a petty kinglet's 
 territory, but would practically be the trade of the 
 Central Sudan. Their civilisation, such as it is, causes 
 them to eagerly demand cloth and such goods in return 
 for their ivory, gums, feathers, &c., which at present are 
 reported to be sent across the Sahara.^ 
 
 There is a great incidental advantage — though not 
 strictly commercial — in opening up com- 
 munications with the Southern Sudan. It 
 leads us to the recruiting grounds for the best soldiers 
 to be found in Africa. The Black troops in Egypt have 
 shown themselves to iDe not only brave but extremely 
 amenable to discipline. They possess a quality rare in 
 the African — viz., the instincts of a soldier in routine 
 duties, so that it is possible to establish that chain of 
 responsibility through the non-commissioned ofEcers' 
 ranks which is the basis of a workable military system. 
 The Germans in East Africa are eager to avail them- 
 selves of this recruiting ground, and in return for a 
 permission to do so we might obtain porters from among 
 the free Wanyamwezi in their territory, from whom to 
 comj)lete our " Swahili" levies and necessary jDorters. 
 
 It has been stated that the Mohammedans of these 
 Threat from regious would fomi a standing 'menace to 
 Moslems. British administration in Uganda. From 
 
 rumours conveyed to me by Dr Stuhlmann (whose author- 
 ity was Emin), I was at first disposed to give some 
 credence to these reports ; but, as I will relate, I was 
 completely reassured as regards the dervishes by the 
 Sudanese at Kavalli. Major Wingate has shown that 
 Mahdism, as a fanatical religious power, is dead. The 
 Moslem States of Wadai, &c., are too distant to l)e con- 
 sidered, nor are they engaged in any religious "Jehad." 
 
 ^ Partition of Afi'ica, p. 458.
 
 /z" 
 
 O/a-rAes 
 
 ■ A/eo/rcLc^u^ 4W/ 
 ^2 
 
 f^/J1ip^A 
 
 <*"T.</5 
 
 3'A- 
 
 
 Stein biock 
 
 3h"' 
 
 HORNS OF ANTELOPE.
 
 EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. 401 
 
 The party of Seimssi is said to be extending east and 
 west (and not south), but little is known of this move- 
 ment. 
 
 The question of the exports frojn East Africa will be 
 dealt with in detail in the succeeding chap- imports and 
 ter ; they divide themselves into tw^o classes ^-'^i^°^'^-- 
 — viz., (1) the indigenous jpi^ducts__capable of collection 
 and of development, some Jbeing of considerable value ; 
 (2) the new j^roducts and industries which it may be 
 possible to introduce, and which are of special value to 
 European civilisation. Of imports there is little to say. 
 There is an enormous market for cloth, for almost all the 
 tribes who go naked are eager to buy it, and they have 
 no substitute except skins. Tlie tribes who are clothed 
 (the Waganda, AVanyoro, and Wasoga) have only their 
 native bark cloth, which they are excessively eager to 
 replace with cloth. Tiie demand here includes the best 
 cloths. The savages who now show a preference for 
 beads and iron wire will rapidly have a sufficiency of 
 these, and be as eager as their neighbours for calico ; for 
 the African is, above all things, imitative. At present 
 the articles of barter with the savaue tribes are cloth 
 (American drill, cheap calico, " turkey-red drill," blue 
 and white shirting, prints, &c.), iron and brass wire 
 and chain, beads of all sorts, hardware, and '■ notions." 
 Tn Uganda all the wants of an infant civilisation are 
 present — tools, utensils, glass, stationery, anything and 
 everything. That the African is rapidly progressive in 
 his imitation, however crude, of civilised methods and 
 wants, our West Coast colonies prove. Their present 
 demand for beads and trinkets is no criteiion of what 
 their requirements will be when the imports and exports 
 amount to appreciable sums. If I succeed in show- 
 ing that Africa can produce something ^vherewith to 
 Ijuy, there is hardly need to demonstrate that they will 
 be eager to acquire our manufactures, especially cloth. 
 VOL. I. 2 c
 
 402 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 But if the country is thrown open to development, it 
 Wants of Aliens Hiust not be forgotton that the wants of 
 ^^'^- European and Asiatic settlers will have to 
 
 be supplied, probably also of Asiatic imported labour 
 {vide chapter xviii.), as well as those of the administra- 
 tive staff and all dependents. Machinery for mills (cotton, 
 oil-pressing, fibre, &c.), material for buildings, agricultural 
 implements, &c., will be required. Lastly, should the 
 y\ whole or a portion of the railway be made, the plant 
 (iron sleepers, bolts and rails, telegraph wire, material 
 for railway buildings, tools, &c.) and the wants of 
 the employes will need to be supplied. 
 
 If the conclusions I arrive at in the next chapter as 
 Contrast with ^^ ^^^^ ecouomic valuc of East Africa are 
 Germans. held to be souud, and to warrant the intro- 
 
 duction of a regularly organised transport, involving 
 the establishment of a series of stations and depots, an 
 effective administration will be de facto initiated. The 
 endeavour to create in East Africa a pros23erity which 
 may contrast in our favour with that of our German 
 neighbours will be a worthy ambition for him to whom 
 the administration may be entrusted. Hitherto they 
 have set us an example in the thorough and practical 
 way in which they set about to develop their terri- 
 tories, though, as regards tact with the natives, the 
 advantage, perhaps, lies with us. Even so much as 
 • three years before it was officially administered, pre- 
 liminary expeditions were sent to German East Africa 
 (in 1885) of experts and scientists, to report on the 
 geology, climate, soil, and vegetation ; and this Avas 
 immediately followed by the establishment of plantations, 
 so that some thirty were in existence in 1888. Exactly 
 similar steps were taken in German South-west Africa 
 (Demaraland) and in West Africa (Cameroons), where 
 " macadamised roads, botanical gardens, experimental 
 stations," and plantations supporting a variety of natu-
 
 GEEMAN 3IETH0DS OF DEVELOPMENT. 403 
 
 ralised products attest the prog]-ess of the country. The 
 same may be said of German Togoland. 
 
 In concluding this summary, I would point out that, 
 while I fully believe in the possibilities of 
 East Africa, the revenues which are returned African Deveiop- 
 will be ^founded on a solid and legitimate 
 basis. (_0urJ5Keat__CQast .possessions depend for their 
 returns on the illegal traffic in arms and spirits [vide 
 pp. 213-216.) South Africa depends for the favour with 
 which extension is regarded on the cry of " Gold," and 
 the rise and fall of shares. That neither arms, spirits, 
 nor gold are the sources to which we look for revenue 
 is, in my view, one of the greatest advantages of East 
 Africa (see chapter xliii.).
 
 404 
 
 CHAPTEE XYL 
 
 EAST AFRICA AS A FIELD FOR DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 Commercial zones — Areas and altitudes. I. The coast zone — Present products 
 — Cocomit, &c. — Rubber — Cotton — Grain and miscellaneous — Products 
 possible to introduce — Characteristics of northern portion — Of southern 
 portion. II. Second zone — Aloes and fibre — Irrigation needed — Diversity. 
 , III. Third zone — Altitudes — General description — Machako's — Masailand 
 * — Kenia — Kikuyu — Mau — Scene of possible experiments — Present pro- 
 ducts — Possible industries — Tea, cotton, and fibre — Trees — Stock-rearing. 
 IV. Fourth zone — Altitudes and areas — Description — The inhabitants — 
 The soU and pasture — Rainfall — Testimony of those who have been there 
 — Products — Ivory — Cofi'ee — Vines — Cereals — Tobacco — Oil-plants — 
 Bananas — Date-palm — Cotton — Rubber — Miscellaneous — Summary — 
 Population — Prices of products. V. Fifth zone — Testimony of residents 
 — Areas — -Nile waterway — History — Products — Provinces to north-west 
 — Products. VI. Sixth zone. 
 
 I WILL limit the remarks in this chapter to East Africa, 
 for the commercial possibilities of Nyasalancl have already 
 received much attention/ and, since that country is now 
 a British protectorate, they will doubtless form the sub- 
 ject of consular reports. The interior of East Africa has 
 not yet been placed under direct British administration ; 
 
 1 Nyasaland has a literature of its own. The Rev. H. Waller (Title-deeds 
 to Nyasa, p. 36) enumerates fourteen books on this country, but there are at 
 least half as many more, besides a vast number of pamphlets, papers in scientific 
 and missionary magazines, &e. Of those dealing with the commercial prospects 
 of the countiy, I may mention O'Neill's paper, read before the Manchester 
 Geographical Societj% June 14th, 1S8S ; Buchanan's excellent paper before the 
 British Association (Geographical Journal, vol. i. 252, eA seqq. ; Mr. J. Thomson's 
 paper (Royal Geographical Journal, vol. i. p. 97, et seqq. ; and a paper read by 
 myself before the British Association in 18S9 (Royal Geographical Society Pro- 
 ceedings, vol. xi. p. 688).
 
 DIVERSITY OF DIFFERENT PORTIONS OF E. AFRICA. 405 
 
 and, while its future is still not definitely decided, 
 it may be useful if a few remarks are offered on its 
 economic capabilities. 
 
 To facilitate description, I will divide the area into a 
 series of suppositious zones, and in order to Division into 
 enable my reader to readily grasp the extent '^°^^^- 
 of each, I have attached a small map, upon which they 
 are coloured in different tints. The first zone is the 
 coast area, and includes a strip along the seaboard, almost 
 identical w'ith the delimitation of the Sultanate, but 
 increasing in breadth at the mouths of the three big 
 rivers — the Sabakhi, Tana, and Juba — from ten to thirty 
 or forty miles. The second zone includes the country 
 behind the coast area, extending to the foot of the central 
 plateau. It is about one hundred and forty miles broad, 
 but, like the first zone, it increases m breadth along the 
 depressions in which flow the three rivers. It is a grad- 
 ually rising area, but the increase in altitude is so uniform 
 as to be almost imperceptible. In the first hundred miles 
 there is, roughly speaking, an ascent of 1000 ft. The third 
 zone includes all the great central plateau, varying in 
 elevation from 5000 ft. to 9000 ft., above which rise the 
 mountain masses of Kenia (18,370 ft.) and Kilimanjaro 
 (19,700 ft.), both Avith perpetual snow, together with 
 the lofty hills of Mau and the Aberdare range, which 
 rise from the level of the plateau. The fourth zone 
 includes the depression of the great lakes and their sur- 
 rounding countries. From Kavirondo, on the east, across 
 the level of the Victoria (3900 ft.), throughout Uganda, 
 Ankoli, and Unyoro, the general level of this zone is 
 4000 ft. On the extreme west the Albert Edward 
 falls to 3100 ft., and on the north-west the plateau gains 
 an elevation of over 5000 ft., and then ftdls sharply to 
 the trough of the Albert, 2300 11. In the fifth zone I 
 have included the whole of the Nile valley and what 
 was formerly Emin's Equatorial Province. The sixth and
 
 406 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 last division embraces the great depression which con- 
 tains the Lake Rudolf (1310 ft.) and the wild and 
 little known countries of tlie Suks and Turkanas, the 
 Gallas and Sonials. Only a very small portion of this 
 vast area has been explored, and my remarks will there- 
 fore primarily apply to the central line from Mombasa to 
 Uganda. The information we have of the country to 
 north and south of this route affords us grounds for sup- 
 posing that it is fairly typical of the whole, except as 
 regards the fifth and sixth zones, which I have therefore 
 dealt with separately. In so far as we have information 
 of these areas, I have endeavoured to embody it. 
 
 The coast belt forms in the German sphere (and south- 
 wards) a low-lying, swampy, and malarious 
 tract, in British Jiast Africa it is not so, 
 and this belt is entirely free from any such characteristics. 
 Only some ten to fifteen miles from the coast rise the 
 hills of E,abai, and, indeed, almost from the very sea- 
 shore we begin to ascend gradually into undulating and 
 healthy country. This zone is almost entirely under 
 cultivation, more esjDecially around the coast towns and 
 ports. It is divided up into shambas (estates), which 
 are owned by Arabs and Swahilis. On the agricultural 
 possibiHties of this zone there are the recent reports of 
 Mr Fitzgerald,^ who was deputed by the ComjDany to 
 examine this district as an expert in tropical agriculture. 
 His report may briefly be characterised as enthusiastic 
 in its praises of the richness of the soil and its capabilities 
 for agricultural development. 
 
 The main products are : coconut-palms, the produce 
 
 of which — coir, copra, poonac, and toddy, &c. 
 
 — are by no means fully utilised." Indeed, 
 
 it may be said that this most important industry 
 
 ^ Planting Reports, Feb. 1892, printed for Imp. Brit. East Africa Company. 
 * A Mauritius correspondent sends news of the sale of some SOOO acres of land 
 planted with palms for Rs. 632,000, and says that such investments are considered
 
 PRESENT PRODUCTS OF COAST ZONE. 407 
 
 is wholly neglected. Copra alone is utilised, all the 
 other valuable products of the palm being thrown away. 
 The total export of coconut produce from Zanzibar in 
 1891 amounted to some £7700 as against £800,000 from 
 Ceylon in 1884,^ while from the mainland there is prac- 
 tically no export at all.- The vast magnitude of the 
 demand for coconut produce can be gauged from Mr 
 Symonds' statistics. This industry, if developed, might 
 become a staple of commerce, since the palm grows lux- 
 uriantly on the coast, and is one of the most remunerative 
 of all cultivations. Mano-o-trees thrive in o-reat abund- 
 ance^ and in Africa yield two crops yearly. The excellent 
 timber of this tree is not sufficiently utilised.^ The 
 areca-nut, useful for export to India and for its filjre, the 
 Jack-fruit, good for timber, the cashew-nut, the cotton- 
 tree, which yields the "kapok" of commerce, and the 
 papaw, from which is obtained the milky juice for the 
 manufacture of" papain," are other products of this area. 
 India-rubber vines grow abundantly in the coast forests, 
 and it is probable that, by the introduction of more pro- 
 lific American varieties, very great extension might be 
 given to this industry.^ Indeed, Mr Fitzgerald claims 
 
 the safest and most lucrative possible. — Zanz. (iaz., May Kith, 189.3. For a 
 valuable nsume oi the commercial ijroducts of this palm, vidt Symonds' Tropical 
 Agriculture, p. 231 tl seqq. From the coir is made rope " from a single pack- 
 tliread to a cable for a first-class mano'-war." From the kernel is made the 
 valuable coconut oil of commerce. Otherwise prepared, this albumen yields 
 milk, jelly, copra, butter, candles, sugar, or vinegar. A soap (almost the only one 
 soluble in salt water) is made from the oil, whicli is also used for the table and tlie 
 toilet. Symonds describes it as " the most valuable product "' of the palm. The 
 kernel is also used for fattening stock, and the milk produces a valuable violet dye. 
 The use of the fibre has been greatly extended of late, and is in increased 
 demand, so tliat the tree is even being cultivated for its coir. The shell makes 
 fancy articles and superior blacking. " It is strange," says Symonds, " that the 
 import of coconut oil has made such little progress compared witli its great 
 rival, the African oil-palm' (p. 2.37). 
 
 ' Consular Report, No. 982, p. 2<J. In tlie table, however, on p. 42, of the 
 produce of the Sultanate, all mention of this is omitted. 
 
 ^ Fitzgerald, p. .32. 
 
 ^ For the possible commercial uses of the fruit, see Symonds, p. 483. 
 
 * Buclianan has introduced Ceara rubber into Nyasaland, and reports "a great 
 possibility in its culture." — Geog. Jour., vol. i. p. 2.")2.
 
 408 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 that the soil, cHmate, and rainfall are so well adapted for 
 their naturalisation, that he believes their introduction 
 " will revolutionise the country," and that " no doubt 
 will be felt that East Africa is destined to become one of 
 the great rubber producers of the world." The rubber 
 collected in 1891-1892 by the crude methods at present 
 practised amounted to close on 10,000 lb., and real- 
 ised an average price of a fraction under 2s. per lb. 
 Tobacco grows luxuriantly, and the introduction of good 
 seed will make it a valuable export. That grown in 
 Witu is the best.^ 
 
 Cotton has been successfully introduced,^ and Mr 
 Fitzgerald remarks that " the wild cotton j)lants scat- 
 tered about the country attest its extreme suitability 
 for this cultivation. ... It is a product admirably 
 suited to the people, and the Wanyika have taken 
 to it most kindly. It supplies work for all — for 
 the men the heavier field work, to the women and 
 children the picking and cleaning of the stajDle." The 
 Witu cotton, the Company state, has been reported 
 upon in Liverpool most favourably.^ It is also stated 
 that the natives are eager to produce it, and that the 
 simultaneous culture of palms on estates laid down with 
 cotton would nearly double the profit.* It has been 
 stated that we pay forty millions yearly to America for 
 our supply of raw cotton, and are yet confronted by 
 hostile tariffs and fluctuations of supply.^ If it should 
 
 1 It ia stated in the Company's reports to sell at 2s. per lb. in Europe. 
 Especially-grown Havannah plants will realise even 3s. to 3s. 6d. Even at the 
 former rate, the almost incredible conclusion is ai-rived at that an estate of 150 
 acres laid down in tobacco would yield some £5000 a year clear profit ! 
 
 - Report to Shareholders, I. B. E. A. Comp., May 29th, 1893. 
 
 ^ " It is exceeding fine and of fair length and strength," says this report, "and 
 is better than any but the best Egyptian. It would rank with what are known 
 as Sea Island substitutes (Fiji and Tahiti). . . . On an average of years it ought 
 to bring 9d. per lb." The Company calculate that a profit of close on £1 per 
 bale (100 lb.) would accrue after every kind of cost of production, freight, &c. 
 had been deducted. 
 
 * Viz., an ordinary estate would yield a net profit of £1000 per annum. 
 
 5 Mr H. :\I. Stanley, Times, Oct. 4th, 1892.
 
 PRODUCTS PRESENT AND POSSIBLE. 409 
 
 be proved that throughout East Africa (for, as will be 
 seen, it is not the coast area only which is suited to its 
 production) cotton of the best quality can be grown, it 
 would be a very great gain to Lancashire trade. 
 
 Gum-copal is collected for export, and there are very 
 many oil-bearing plants, such as sesame, ground-nuts,^ 
 castor-oil," &c. Of the grains millet and maize are the 
 most important, and grow luxuriantly. Bazi {dhal — a 
 small yellow pulse), wimbi [Elusine coracana), and many 
 other kinds are also grown. There is already a con- 
 siderable export of grain in native craft to Persia, 
 Arabia, &c. Of roots the cassava (yielding the tapioca 
 of commerce), sweet potatoes, yams, and colocassia are 
 grown. Other products are chillies,^ many varieties of 
 peas, beans, and pulse, sugar-cane, bananas, various 
 vegetables, &c. Hemp grows freely, and the orchilla- 
 weed is largely collected and exported. 
 
 To tabulate and describe the various new plants which 
 might be successfully introduced and cultivated would 
 be, in fact, to write a work on tropical agriculture ; for, 
 since the soil, climate, and rainfall are reported as being 
 most favourable, there is practically no tropical product 
 which might not be introduced.'* 
 
 ' (iround-nuts are a neglected product. Fitzgerald Avrites that they "would 
 be admirably suited to the sandy loam, varying from grey to black, which is so 
 marked a feature of the soil." They are largely exported from the Zambesi 
 district. 
 
 - The castor-oil plant grows wild througliout East Africa, and the natives 
 express the oil for rubbing over their bodies. Buchanan states that African- 
 grown beans are valued at £8 a ton in London. 
 
 ' These grow wild throughout East Africa. They are the fourth in value of 
 tlie exports of Zanzibar. 
 
 * Fitzgerald, who traversed this area in every direction, in order to report 
 technically on the soil and products, while enthusiastic in his general descrip- 
 tion, is even, in some places, led to speak of it as "the richest and most fertile 
 country imaginable, soil exceedingly rich," &c. (p. 16); and again, "some of 
 tlie most beautiful country, from an agricultural point of view, that I have ever 
 seen." He sums up as follows: " That the country is, as a whole, exceedingly 
 rich and fertile, there can be no possible (bnibt ; and the coast lands, more espe- 
 cially, for productiveness and richness of soil, it would be hard to equal ; whilst 
 ill the extensive forests along the banks of the Sabakhi are possibilities of future
 
 410 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 The cocoa-tvee ^ especially would appear suitable and 
 extremely remunerative. The West African oil-palm is 
 stated by Burton ^ to grow in Zanzibar and Pemba. The 
 nutmeg, cinnamon, pimento, pepjDer-vine, rhea-gi'ass (for 
 fibre) have all been recommended as profitable for culti- 
 vation. There are endless others which might be named. 
 Many, if not most of these, were introduced into Zanzibar 
 by Sir John Kirk,^ and would be equally adapted to the 
 mainland ; but their cultivation has been neglected. 
 New products should be grown on experimental Govern- 
 ment plantations'* in the first instance till their success 
 is assured. The capabilities of the country can only 
 thus be fully tested, and improved methods of agricul- 
 ture introduced, such as the use of manure, of the plough 
 and simple agricultural implements, of wells and irriga- 
 tion, and of the bullock for agricultural purposes. Such 
 methods will largely supersede human labour, and enor- 
 mously increase the returns. 
 
 The coast district from the Sabakhi to the Juba river 
 has not yet been so full\^ reported upon as 
 
 Kortliern Area. , , • t; • i i • /• 
 
 the southern portion, with the exception ot 
 Witu, which is stated to be the most fertile and prom- 
 wealth and prosperity which only requu'e development to be realised." This 
 report covers the whole area along the coast up to aod beyond the Sabakhi river. 
 While confirming my statements as to tiie "black cotton soil," he classes much 
 as "good red friable," or "excellent," which I characterised in my Sabakhi 
 report and chart as "poor soil." 
 
 ■^ In a single plantation in the German Cameroons, there are 100,000 cocoa- 
 trees. (Partition of Africa, p. 308.) It grows to an elevation of 2000 ft. 
 Buchanan, however, writes that "success is anticipated "with it in the Shire 
 plantations (3000 ft.), where it has been introduced. 
 
 - Lake Regions of Central Africa, quoted by Symonds, p. 248. 
 
 ^ In the Kew Bulletin, No. 64, April 1892, he gives an exhaustive list of 
 the various plants and grains grown in Zanzibar. He distinguishes between the 
 indigenous and imported plants, and, from long experience and study of the con- 
 ditions, is able to point out which of the latter are likely to do well and yield 
 profitable returns. 
 
 * Such plantations have been started by the Company, I believe, at Magarini 
 and elsewhere. 
 
 ^ The country around Port Durnford, half-way between the Taua and Juba, 
 shows signs of having lieen the location of a very flourishing civilisation and
 
 XORTHERX AND SOUTHEKX PORTIONS OF COAST ZONE. 411 
 
 ising district along the whole of the coast. I have 
 already spoken of the tobacco and cotton it produces. 
 The district around the mouth of the Tana is reported 
 by the Company to be extremely fertile and promising/ 
 and Captain Dundas, E.N,, who ascended the river, 
 states that cultivation and forest (which betokens a rich 
 soil, and natural products such as rubber, &c.) extended 
 for a great distance along its banks, through " populous 
 and fertile districts."" To the same authority we are 
 indebted for our knowledge of the Juba river, and he 
 describes its valley as very fertile, the district of Gusha 
 being " one long plantation of maize, millet, plantain, 
 semsem, tobacco, and cotton." Onwards densely popu- 
 lated areas alternate with heavy forest, till the limit of 
 navio-ation was reached some 200 miles or more from the 
 
 o 
 
 coast as the crow flies. In the Gusha district [80 miles] 
 the natives were friendly, l^ut beyond this point they 
 were excessively hostile and fanatical Somals." 
 
 The district south of Mombasa to the German sphere 
 
 of colonisation by Persians and Arabs in olden times (viile chap. xv. p. 389). 
 The traces of large towns remain, and the country was in a high state of 
 cultivation, and appears very fertile. 
 
 ' "The facilities for irrigation, the richness of the soil, the abundance of good 
 timber, and a free waterway to the sea by means of the Belizoni Canal 
 render this country a promising field for the immigration of Eastern cultivators 
 of rice and other tropical products." 
 
 - "The tribe who inhabit this district are hard-working and industrious, 
 growing large quantities of rice and other grain. The populous districts of 
 Ndera Subakhi and Masa were passed, and tlien an unbroken stretch of dense 
 forest extended for several days' journey on either bank. Emerging from the 
 forest we arrived in the district of Koro-koro, and two days' voyage further on 
 we stopped SoO miles from tlie mouth,"' by water, or some 200 miles direct from 
 tlie coast — viz., at the confines of the second zone. — Scot. Geog. Mag., vol. ix. 
 p. 11.3. 
 
 ^ ]'i(le papers, in (ieog. Jour., vol. i. p. 209 c^ ■•<eqq., and Scot. Ceog. Mag., 
 vol. ix. p. 11.3 <:f soqii. Captain Dundas speaks of an enormous population, and 
 great areas of cultivation, except wliore patches of primeval forest intervened. 
 At Jelib, 60 miles direct inland, cotton was cultivated in very fertile soil. At 
 Bilo, 7'> miles (IW by river), was dense forest. At Mfudo (85 miles) he found 
 grass lands and forest. From thence to Kabobe (1.30 miles) was dense forest; 
 beyond were fertile and cultivated lands up to the rapids. — Geog. Jour., vol. i. 
 p. 221.
 
 412 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 is reported equally fertile with the northern portion. It 
 also produces mangrove timber for building \ 
 
 Soutbeni Area. , 1,1 • tt it i i I 
 
 purposes, and the river Umba has already ' 
 been used by the natives for irrigation." 
 
 This sketch is necessarily extremely brief and terse, 
 
 but of late various reports ^ have been pub- 
 
 hshed regarding the commercial possibilities 
 of this zone, to which I must refer my reader for fuller 
 information. It suffices for us to learn by a perusal of 
 these that the coast area is fertile,^ the soil good, and 
 the rainfall adequate. The products are numerous,^ and 
 some of them very valuable, but not fully utilised, and 
 very many tropical products not at present cultivated 
 could probably be successfully introduced. 
 
 The second zone varies from 120 to 150 miles in 
 
 breadth, rising at the same time from 500 
 
 Second Zone. r> i i rm 
 
 to 3000 ft. above the sea. The caravan 
 route and projected railway cross it diagonally, and the 
 
 1 The bark of this tree has recently been proved to contain so large a per- 
 centage of tannin that it may not improbably become an article of commercial 
 value, as well as of local use in tanning hides, &c. — Cf. Kew Bulletin for 
 1892, p. 227. - Company's Report. 
 
 ^ In addition to Fitzgerald's report to the Company, vide his report to 
 Government, Foreign Ofiice Miscell. Series, No. 266 of 1892 ; see also No. 982 
 of same series, and No. 251 (Witu cotton culture) ; also Kew Bulletin, No. 64. 
 1892 ; also Railway Survey Report, p. 88, et stqq. 
 
 * Captain Pringle, R.E. , writes a glowing account of the fertility of the coast, 
 and ends thus, " Streams course the hillside, and everywhere are signs of a 
 bountiful nature." — Geog. Jour. vol. i. p. 114. 
 
 5 The ruling prices for the leading products of the coast are (Company's 
 lleport) : — 
 
 Rubber close on 2s. per lb. Present production about 3000 lb. per annum. 
 
 Maize, 20s. Gd. per quarter. Present export unknown. No limit to supply. 
 
 Millet, ISs. 6d. „ ,, ,, ,, „ 
 
 Semsem, 12s. 6d. per cwt. (Marseilles) ,, ,, ,, 
 
 Orchilla weed, 18s. ,, 
 
 Hides, 4d. to 6d. per lb. Supply depreciated by cattle disease. 
 
 Rice, lis. per cwt. Supply moderate. 
 
 Cotton, o^d. to 7^d. per lb. Sujjply increasing. 
 
 Copra, £14, 5s. per ton. No export. Supply unlimited. 
 
 Witu tobacco, 2s. to 3s. 6d. per lb. Increasing. Ordinary do. , no returns. 
 
 Chillies, £55 per cwt. No returns. 
 
 Cattle, Benadir coast (Zanz. Gaz., Dec. 28th, 1893).
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF AREA BEHIND COAST ZONE. 413 
 
 survey distance is therefore 209 miles from Mombasa to 
 the Kiboko River, which marks the boundary of this 
 zone at that point. ^ Few statistics of rainfall exist, but 
 from its proximity to the coast this area must be subject 
 approximately to the same conditions as affect the former. 
 It is, however (at least to the west of Mombasa), a parched 
 and arid-looking country, badly watered, with poor soil 
 and much surface rock. It produces no timber of any 
 value, and grass for fodder is scarce in the " Taru 
 desert," though glades of rich pasture occur at intervals 
 in the valley of the Sabakhi. The chief growth consists 
 of various thorn trees, among which acacia and mimosa 
 predominate, while the undergrowth is of many kinds 
 of sanseviera, and kindred species of aloe. Of these the 
 commonest is the Nkonge, yielding a strong fibre which 
 I have found by practical experiment to resist decay 
 from damp.^ It grows in absolutely illimitable quantities 
 over hundreds of square miles, and if found to be of value 
 for export it could be floated down the waterways of the 
 Sabakhi and Tana in rafts or canoes. Fibre is in great 
 request ^ at present, and it would seem probable that out 
 of the infinite variety of aloes and their kindred plants 
 
 ' Survey Report, p. 11. 
 
 -' A sample recently submitted l)y ine to Kew, though sent home three and a 
 lialf years ago, was reported upon by Messrs Ide and Christie as follows : — 
 " Tiie fibre is strong, coarse, and stiff, and of poor colour, but it would meet 
 ^\■itll a market in London at about fl7 per ton, and a trial shipment would be 
 well worth making. If the fibre could be rendered softi'r and \\hiter in pre- 
 l»aration it might command as much as i"24 per ton, if perfectly white. It 
 would only be available for rope-making." — Letter, dated Aug. JUst, 1893. 
 Captain Pringle writes that "two species of celadon aloe (presumably the 
 Nkonge?), which is one of the commonest plants in the first 3Uii miles from 
 the coast, produce a fibre worth i'3U a ton when cleaned." — Survey Keport, 
 p. 91. Buchanan says the sanseviera aloe fibre is worth al)Out 120 a ton. 
 Uhea grass, &c. , have also been introduced by him in Nyasaland, and "grow 
 luxuriantly." — Geog. Jour., vol. i. p. 'i.VJ. For a full examination of the san- 
 seviera fibre, r!(lc Kew Bulletin. 1S92, p. 1*29. 
 
 * At a meeting of the Royal IJotanical Society, the sisal hemp (vl;/«ce rigida) 
 \\as shown, and " the secretary said that until lately, witli the exocption of two 
 or three fibre plants — as hemj) and cotton — commerce depended upon wild 
 plants for its supplies, V)ut so great is the demand now for fibres for paper-
 
 414 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 to be found in this area one or other might prove of 
 commercial vahie. 
 
 Though this area appears arid and unfertile, its sterile 
 appearance is only due to lack of water.^ 
 iiiga.ion. ^^ there is little or no shade, thick vegeta- 
 
 tion, or other means of storage for moisture, the heat of 
 the sun burns up the country after the rains. There is, 
 however, every facility for irrigation, both from the 
 Sabakhi and Tsavo flowing east and west, and the Tana 
 and Juba (north and south), all of which are perennial 
 rivers, with a large volume of w^ater, and considerable 
 current, due to a rapid fall in level, which could be 
 utilised for irrigation. This would entirely change the 
 nature and appearance of this belt of country, and the 
 products raised would have an enhanced value, as re- 
 quiring less transport than those of the far interior. 
 
 In the south this zone infringes on the fertile slopes 
 of Kilimaniaro (included in the third area). 
 
 Diversity. o \ / 
 
 Along the valleys of the Tana and Juba it 
 becomes a fertile valley, as I have already described, 
 Avhile on the banks of the Sabakhi there are long fertile 
 
 making and otlier uses that it had been found necessary to grow them 
 especially." — Times, Jan. 31st, 189.3. For full account of this sisal industry, 
 vide Kew Bulletin, No. 62 of 1892, also Nos. 61, 65, 71. Vide Symonds, p. 
 419 et seqq. .Some of these aloes (as Fourrroyas) are especially cultivated for 
 their fibre. We learn from the authorities already quoted that "a great deal 
 of money has been made in Mauritius by aloe fibre," and that pine-apple fibre 
 is valued at £60 to £80 a ton ; aloe fibres, hitherto reported upon, fetch £20 
 to £.30. 
 
 ^ Of the sterile tracts described by me — which perhaps would not be con- 
 sidered so poor by him — Fitzgerald writes that " the comparatively barren 
 country, with the lesser rainfall around Mangea Hill," would be particularly 
 suitable for the naturalisation of the ceara rubber tree, and he adds: "I 
 would ^particularly call attention to Captain Lugard's map, and the descrip- 
 tion of countrj' up the Sabakhi, and which I have personally verified, which 
 with its gravelly soil and huge granite boulders exactly bears out the descrip- 
 tion given by Mr Cross of the ceara rubber country. " Pringle writes of the 
 country to east of Taru : "It is no desert we enter. Gradually rising 
 country, but always imperceptibly." Bej'ond, he says, "the soil is less 
 fertile, but not a sandy desert as we understand the term." — Geog. Jour., 
 vol. ii. p. 114. Mr Fitzgerald saw a small jiart of this area, and continues 
 to speak of the soil as fertile, &c. , even in the parts covered with cactus.
 
 THE CENTRAL PLATEAUX. 415 
 
 glades of good grass ; but the general character of the 
 country is sterile and rocky, with surface granite and 
 quartz. The characteristics of this secondary zone in 
 the country between the Tana and the Juba have not 
 vet been determined. The report of the Company, how- 
 ever, states that '"' fresh-water lakes and running streams 
 extend from the Juba almost to the Tana river." If 
 tins is the case, the country must be much more valuable 
 tlian that already descril^ed to the south. 
 
 The third zone skirts the lower slopes of Kiliman- 
 jaro, and, passing along the Kiboko stream 
 (near the Kibwezi), intersects the limits of 
 navigation of the Tana and Juba, where are the cataracts 
 caused by the rapid fall from the lofty interior plateau, 
 at some 200 miles from the coast-line. Its eastern limit 
 runs, therefore, more or less parallel with the coast. It 
 includes all the lofty interior plateau, and is bounded on 
 the west and north-west by a line running along the 
 western base of the Mau range and Nandi hills. Thence 
 diverging to the west to include Mount Elgon, it again 
 follows the western base of Elgeyo, and trends to tlie 
 north-east to meet the Juba where that river crosses the 
 (jth parallel of N. lat., the boundary of the Italian 
 sphere. The tract included by these two imaginary 
 lines comprises the bulk of British East Africa. It has 
 \)j no means a uniform altitude. It includes the depres- 
 sion of the Ngiri plain to the south, and of the Baringo 
 basin (3300 ft.) on the north. Thence still more to 
 the north it falls away rapidly towards the little-known 
 country around Lake Budolf Its general character- 
 istics are those of a lofty plateau at a mean elevation of 
 some GOOO ft. Rising al)0ve this plateau are high 
 mountain masses, including Kilimanjaro (19,700 ft.), 
 Kenia (18,370 ft.), and Elgon (14,100 ft.); also the 
 Aberdare range and the higher portions of the Mau 
 range (10,000 ft.). It e()iii])risefi ])lateaux of varying
 
 416 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA, 
 
 altitude. The district of Ukamba has an elevation of 
 
 about 5000 ft., Kikuyu attains 7000 ft., Masailand 
 
 6000 ft., and the Mau plateau some 8000 ft. roughly. 
 
 In the southern portion of this zone are the extremely 
 
 fertile and well-watered slopes of Kiliman- 
 
 Description. . , T x 1 1 j. C '] 
 
 jaro, whose climate and advantages ot soil 
 are so well known that there is no need to encumber 
 this chapter with extracts from authorities on the sub- 
 ject. Further north around Machako's, and thence over 
 the grassy plains inhabited by the roaming Masai, and 
 the uplands of Kikuyu, to the foot of the still higher 
 Mau plateau, extends a country extremely fertile, with 
 a climate generally delightful, well-watered, and with 
 an abundant rainfall. As we pass from the second zone 
 and ascend to these plateaux, we enter upon large areas 
 of culivated land inhabited by the Wakamba tribe. 
 The trees are larger and finer ; the baobab, tamarind, and 
 hyphoene palm of the lower zone are replaced by the 
 lebhi, the table-topped acacias, the date and borassus 
 palm, besides many fine timber trees. 
 
 The soil is good, and where not cultivated is covered 
 with excellent pasture grass, and studded with trees and 
 bushes, giving the country a general park-like appearance. 
 The subsoil is usually red marl. In the valleys a deep rich 
 black loam predominates, on tlie hills a red marl or marly 
 gravel, more or less covered with a surface soil, Except 
 in isolated and small areas, where quartz and granite 
 crop out, or igneous lava rocks saturated with iron, stone 
 is rare, and water- worn pebbles are never seen. The rise 
 from the Kibwezi (3000 ft.) is gradual to Machako's 
 (5000 ft.) and the Masai plains (6000 ft.), in which 
 are situated the Lakes Naivasha, Nakuru, &c. Over 
 thase plains roam vast herds of game, which with the 
 flocks and herds of the pastoral tribes keep the excellent 
 grass so short-cropped that the surface of the ground 
 becomes much burnt up in the hottest part of the year
 
 HORNS OK ANTELOPE.
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CENTRAL UPLANDS. 417 
 
 from want of vegetation to store the moisture. Heavy 
 dews by night largely supplement the rainfall. The 
 Company reports this area (Machako's) to be " fitted for 
 European residence, . . . and adapted as a centre for 
 colonisation. . . . The rainfall is believed to be ample, 
 . . . the natives are industrious and agricultural (Wa- 
 kamba), and most eager to sell their produce for barter 
 goods. . . . The soil and climate appear likely to be 
 favourable for the production of Indian wheat." 
 
 The Masai country has at present the disadvantage 
 that its inhabitants are purely pastoral, and hence there 
 is no food or cultivation in the country, though the soil 
 is rich and the country fairly w^atered. The warlike 
 instincts of the Masai, moreover, render them at present 
 an obstacle to peaceful development, and a terror to the 
 more industrious and agricultural tribes around them. 
 The advent of a British Administration, and the pre- 
 vention of raiding and cattle-lifting, w^ould eventually 
 compel this predatory tribe to settle down, and the 
 natural advantages of their country would thus be 
 utilised.^ 
 
 Further to the north, where the Tana cataracts are, 
 Captain Dundas marched overland toAvards Mount Kenia, 
 through the Mb^ country. He describes it as extra- 
 ordinarily fertile." Between this district and the Juba 
 lies the country of the Borani (Gallas or Somals), which 
 is reported to be rich, and to export much produce, but 
 which has not as yet been explored.^ 
 
 ^ Thus in the Punjab the warlike Sikhs have now taken so eagerly to agri- 
 culture that verj' large areas of previously waste land have been reclaimed, and 
 it has become difficult to obtain sufficient recruits for military service. An 
 instance in Africa itself is afforded by the eagerness of tlie Herce Angoni for 
 work in Nyasaland {vide chap, xviii.) 
 
 - "The valleys and open coimtry all round were highly productive, and the 
 richest which I had seen in Africa. Large fields of grain and plantations of 
 bananas alternated with rich grassy fields, and slopes divided by watercourses 
 and rivulets."' — Scot. Geog. Mag., vol. ix. p. 115. 
 
 •' The Company's Report states that it contains vast herds of cattle and sheep, 
 and also of camels, horses, and donkeys ; that its exports consist of " great 
 
 VOL. I. 2d
 
 418 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 Let lis return to tlie highlands of Kikuyu and 
 Man, which of late years have been traversed by 
 many travellers. The former is extremely fertile ; ^ 
 
 quantities of hides, ghi, and similai' pi'oduce, besides ebony, cotton-seed, cotton, 
 gums, senna, Manilla tibre, and ostrich plumes. . . . At a place called Jan-Jan, 
 beyond the Borani, white, red, and green stones are obtainable. Gold is also 
 said to be found near Bardera. "' I am not aware of the sources of this infor- 
 mation. [The Jan-Jan live in the Dawro or Waratta country 6i° N. lat., 
 37^° E. long., all their cattle, horses, &c. , are black 1 — Ravenstein.] The 
 German, Von der Decken, who first sailed up the .Juba, and was murdered 
 near Bardera, wrote in 186-1: : "I am persuaded that in a short time a colony 
 established here would be most successful, and after two or three years would 
 become self-supporting." His recommendations and his praises of the country 
 were endorsed in 1867 by Kersten, and in 1879 by Herr Weber and by Dr 
 Rohlfs. — Partition of Africa, Keltic, pp. 108 and 225. 
 
 The most accurate source of information about this region, however, is Mr 
 Ravenstein's map of E. Eq. Africa, sheets 3 and 9 (1883), compiled mainly from 
 Mr Wakefield's unpublished notes. The country would appear to consist of 
 wide pastoral regions, with detached mountains, and appaiently not a single 
 river. There are numerous fertile oases, and even rivers ; and Natron is found 
 there. Of the Jombini range, Mr Chanler writes that "it is more fertile and 
 beautiful than the slopes of Kilimanjaro, and Lieut. Huhnel says it possesses 
 advantages over Kikuyu. It is healthy for Europeans, and the fertility of the 
 soil is such that almost anything will grow here." — Geog. Jour., vol. ii. p. 368. 
 
 ^ Every traveller has spoken in the same sense. Mr Thomson was the first, 
 and his praises were endorsed by Mr .Jackson. The Railway Survey say that 
 the climate is temperate, the rainfall ample. English vegetables grow luxuri- 
 antly, and there is excellent grazing. "The country is most fertile, and 
 will produce anything." — Geog. Jour., vol. ii. p. 114. Perhaps there is a 
 tendency to discount the reports of the earlier travellers, but more recent 
 arrivals give the same account. Bishop Tucker wrote enthusiastically to the 
 Times about the fertility of Kikuyu and the abundance of food. " Our cor- 
 respondent," says the Times, speaking of the gentleman despatched to Uganda 
 in the interests of that paper, "confirms the glowing accounts of his predeces- 
 sors in this region of its fertility, salubrity, and great industrial capabilities." — 
 Feb. 9tli, 1893. "Herr Wolf, correspondent of the Tageblatt, makes some 
 interesting remarks," says the Times, " about the character and resources of 
 that disti-ict, which at least deserve notice as coming from an impartial ob- 
 server. 'In my opinion,' saj's Herr Wolf, 'this land has a great agricultural 
 future before it if a line of I'ailway is constructed. Tliere is everything that can 
 be desired ready to hand — plenty of water, fuel, a rich and fertile soil, a tract- 
 able population, a healthy climate, and cheap means of sustenance for settlers. 
 The tobacco of the country, which I am smoking, tastes very nearly as good as 
 the favourite Transvaal tobacco. The potatoes are large, sweet, and mealj% 
 and the peas which I have are better than those we have at home. And yet the 
 natives do little or no agricultural work.' " Cardinal Lavigerie, speaking of the 
 highlands of Central Africa, says : "The nature of the soil, the heat of the 
 sun, and the abundance of water contribute to make this countrj' one of the 
 I'ichest and most beautiful in the world." — Speech, Anti-Slavery Societj', 
 London, July 31st, 1888.
 
 KIKUYU AND MAU. 419 
 
 the soil is rich, the country is well watered with 
 numerous streams, and the rainfall is abundant. Pro- 
 bably in even recent times the greater part of this area 
 was primeval forest, which has been replaced by exten- 
 sive cultivation. It is surrounded by a belt of very 
 hne timber forest. The climate is cold and bracino- • 
 slight frosts occur at night. The hills are clothed with 
 a sjDringy turf, or covered with bracken — the flora is 
 largely that of Europe. The district between Kikuyu 
 and Mount Kenia is spoken of as especially healthy and 
 fertile,^ while that of Leikipia on the north-west has 
 been described by Mr Thomson as being of the same 
 class as the rest of the Kikuyu plateau." 
 
 Of the still higher plateau of Mau I have myself 
 spoken enthusiastically, though, as a rule, 
 
 -1 • , • 1 ,1 1 Mail plateau. 
 
 my descriptions have not been by any means 
 so optimistic and " glowing " as those of the writers I 
 have quoted. A gentle rise along the line taken for the 
 projected railway brings the traveller from the level of 
 the Masai plain (6000 ft.) to the top of the plateau 
 (7700 ft.) This area is uninhabited, and of great extent ; 
 it consequently offers unlimited room for the location of 
 agricultural settlements or stock-rearing fiirms. Here, 
 if anywhere in Central Africa, in my opinion, would be 
 the site upon which to attempt the exj^eriment of Euro- 
 pean settlements. The soil is extremely rich, and is 
 covered with an excellent and luxuriant pasture through- 
 out the vear, with which is mixed white clover and 
 
 ^ Of the district of Kitui an oflficial of tiie Company reports : "It is well 
 suited for European colonisation. . . . Mountain ranges surround it on all 
 sides. . . . The spot recommended for European colonisation lies between the 
 Kitui mountains and a range to the east of them. Here is a wide valley some 
 eight miles broad and about forty miles long, witli a stream running down the 
 centre, with water-pools in places. The soil is alhivium of unlimited depth, 
 except at tlie edge of the valley, wliere the scliistose rocks lie near the surface. 
 A regular supply of water could, the reporter is almost certain, be obtained by 
 sinking wells in almost anj' part." — Company's Report. 
 
 - Masailand, p. 39o.
 
 420 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 trefoil/ The country is intersected by small streams, 
 the rainfall is abundant, patches of forest supply bam- 
 boos and timber for building and fuel. Game roams 
 over the acres of undulating grass, and the climate is 
 cold and bracing. By day it is often uncomfortably cold, 
 by night the temperature is almost that of an English 
 winter. Portions of this great plateau are devoid of 
 trees, and only a stunted evergreen bush braves the 
 cold winds which sweep over them. This shrub, how- 
 ever, would be admirably adapted as a " shelter-tree," 
 according to the method followed in Sumatra.^ These 
 more open tracts would serve as grazing-grounds, while 
 the settlements would be in proximity to the forests. It 
 is here that I have advocated tlie formation of colonies of 
 Asiatics and freed slaves, who should cultivate the soil 
 and supply a free labour market. Here also I would 
 suggest the experiment of a model farm like those estab- 
 lished in South Africa by Mr Rhodes.^ In this central 
 position, half-way between the coast and Uganda, should 
 be the depot for transport animals, and the scene of ex- 
 periments in taming the elephant and zebra, and utilis- 
 ing the buffalo and other animals. The new industries 
 in coffee, tea, indigo, fibre, tobacco, wheat, cotton, and 
 a hundred othei' tropical and sub-tropical products could 
 be inaugurated here, with every advantage of soil and 
 
 ^ Mr F. Ue Winton, who had spent many years in North America in ranch- 
 ing and stock-rearing, told me it was the finest natural pasture he had ever 
 seen. 
 
 ^ Foreign Office Miscellaneous Series, 266, pages 4 and 49. The Eucal7/2>fus 
 ijlohulus would also be a useful tree for this purpose, and for rapidly afforesting 
 the country. Its wood is excellent timber, and would also furnish fuel. It is, 
 as I have shown elsewhere, the fastest growing of the eucalypti. Moreover, it 
 stands frost and ice, as does also the coccifera. — Kew Bulletin of 1892, p. 309. 
 
 * "Mr Rhodes' farm, situated midway between Salisbury and Manica, has 
 been the scene of some useful experiments. . . . There has been gathered a very 
 good and large crop of vegetables, fruit, American tobacco, vines, forage, &c. 
 On the British South Africa Company's proof farm, near Salisbury, over two 
 thousand bundles of good forage have been cut and stacked, and a nursery con- 
 taining thousands of blue gums for distribution throughout the country has 
 ))een established." — African Review, ]\Iay 27, 189.3.
 
 PRODUCTS OF THE UPLANDS. 421 
 
 climate, and their success should rival or eclipse that 
 of the Shire highlands.^ 
 
 The commercial j)0ssibilities of this zone depend in a 
 very larofe measure on the labour supply 
 
 . Products. 
 
 and means of transport. These questions are 
 dealt with separately in the ensuing chapters. From 
 the description given of the country it will be seen that 
 it is capable of producing almost illimitable supplies of 
 grain and other produce. At present the products con- 
 sist of maize, millet, mwele, dhal, wimbi, and other 
 tropical grains, cassava, yams, sweet potatoes, and other 
 roots, sugar-cane, bananas, semsem, castor-oil, bird's-eye 
 chillies, cattle, sheep (of a fine breed), goats, hides, and 
 ghi ; timber, forest gums, honey, rubber, tobacco of ex- 
 ceptionally good quality, medicinal plants, and ivory. 
 Bees'-wax could, of course, be got in great quantities, 
 since honey abounds, but at present it is thrown 
 away. Of fibre plants hemp grows luxuriantly, but is 
 planted for smoking only. I found also in Kikuyu 
 a tree which the Somals call kath, an evergreen shrub 
 with a leaf like the arbutus, and which, I was 
 told, formed an excellent substitute for tea, single 
 shrubs being valued in Aden at $1000 each. Pending, 
 however, accurate statistics of rainfall and climatic con- 
 ditions, taken throughout the whole twelve months, 
 together with reports on soil, &c., by experts and from 
 actual experiment, it is, of course, impossible to state 
 definitely what products of higher commercial value 
 than those indigenous to tlie country could with advan- 
 tage be introduced. 
 
 There is, however, every reason to su})pose by the 
 
 ' Captain Pringle, Railway Survey, describes the Muu plateau in similar 
 terms. There is, he says, excellent grazing throughout, the soil being 
 apparently extremely fertile, bearing pasture of the finest description, and 
 perennial, mixed with clover. The climate is salubrious and equable, with a fine 
 rainfall. In the Lumbwa district (wliich is populated) he speaks of the fatness 
 of the flocks and herds.— Geog. Jour., vol. i. p. 114.
 
 422 THE PEODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 analogy of India, where, in the Knhi Valley, in Assam, 
 Possible ^^^^ ii^ ^^^® Himalayan sanataria, Naini Tal 
 
 Industries. ^^^^ DarjiHng, as well as in the Nilgiri Hills 
 
 and Ceylon, tea has been successfully introduced, 
 that its culture would be successful in these Equatorial 
 highlands. Cotton could also be grown as well in this 
 zone as throughout British East Africa. American 
 rubber-trees might be introduced, and the present 
 rubber and gum products of the forests collected for ex- 
 port, as also the various fibres indigenous to the country 
 and at present unutilised — hemp, aloe, and banana. 
 Jute could be introduced, as also more valuable cereals 
 than those named as the present products. Of these, 
 wheat would probably thrive on the higher plateau, and 
 rice on the margin of the lakes. 
 
 Various valuable trees of the temj)erate zones would 
 certainly become naturalised here, such as the oak, the 
 ash, the cedar, and the pine ; also the useful tropical trees 
 from India, such as the mango, durian, jack- fruit, teak, 
 sal, &c. It is also extremely probable that fruit-trees, 
 such as apple, pear, plum, apricot, &c., would thrive 
 here, and I think it not impossible that a fruit export, 
 such as has been so successfully develo^Ded in New 
 Zealand and California, might prove one of the industries 
 of the future settlers. It will be especially interesting 
 to ascertain on what indigenous tree-stocks various 
 fruit-trees can be successfully grafted. Throughout 
 this area the thorn trees of the zone previously described 
 give place to fine timber trees. A sjDecies of junijDer 
 grows on the higher plateau, attaining a diameter of 
 5 ft. in the bole, and straight as a ship's mast for 
 ijO ft. and upwards, the timber of which is, however, 
 brittle like cedar. Well-grown acacia, lebbi, and many 
 others yield good timber. 
 
 The speciality of this district would, I think, be the 
 establishment of ranches and cattle-runs on the rolling
 
 STOCK-REARING — THE LAKE DISTRljCT. 423 
 
 savannahs of rich pasture. Stock-rearing and sheep- 
 farmino- in a climate such as I have described would be 
 suitable employment for EurojDean settlers. Cattle dis- 
 eases appear rare, except that at long intervals epidemics 
 have swej^t over the country. These would in all proba- 
 bility be amenable to proper precautions and treatment. 
 The recent plague {vide chap, xx.) has so denuded the 
 country of cattle that it is a favourable moment for such 
 an enterprise. All local produce, as well as labour, could 
 be obtained for cattle or flocks. A route, entirely free of 
 even reputed tsetse, exists [via Taveta) for driving them 
 to the coast for export. A better class of cattle would 
 yield higher profits to the stock farmer ; and the South 
 African ostrich, whose plumes are much more valuable 
 than the indigenous species, could be farmed as it is in 
 our southern colonies. It has recently been exported to 
 South America. Sheep's wool and Angola goat's hair, 
 if raised by European rancliers, would also form articles 
 of export. 
 
 Descending from the lofty Mau plateau, we emerge 
 on the plains of Kavirondo, which border Fomth zone, 
 the Victoria Lake. To the north lies Lake District. 
 Usoga, and on the western shores is Uganda. Further 
 west beyond Uganda is the country of Ankoli, reaching 
 to the All^ert Edward Lake and the boundary of British 
 East Africa on the frontiers of the Congo State. To 
 the north of these countries extends Unyoro as far as 
 Ruwenzori, and the Congo State on the west, the Albert 
 Lake on the north-west, and the Southern Sudan on the 
 north. These countries, which may be called the lake 
 district, have a mean elevation of 4000 ft. The level of 
 the Victoria Lake is 3900 ft. In the extreme west the 
 Albert Edward falls to 3100 ft., but the land aroiuid 
 it maintains the normal altitude. Tlie mountain mass 
 of lluwenzori rises from this plateau to a lieiglit of 16,000 
 or 17,000 ft., and, of course, its slopes (wliicli are steep)
 
 424 JHE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 embrace every variety of climate up to the perpetual 
 snow on its summit. . Its lower slopes are fertile, densely 
 populated, and cultivated, but it furnishes no lofty 
 plateau. The area covered by this mountain mass is of 
 small extent, and must be considered as an exception to 
 the general characteristics of this zone. North-west of 
 Ruwenzori the Unyoro plateau attains an elevation of 
 over 5000 ft. The great trough in which lies the Lake 
 Albert has an elevation of only 2300 ft., but there is 
 no gradual fall to this level, the country both to east 
 and west falls precipitously from the Unyoro plateau on 
 the one side, and the Kavalli plateau on the other. 
 Indeed, these plateaux have both attained a maximum 
 altitude of over 5000 ft., where they are cleft apart by 
 the " meridional rift," which contains the Albert Lake. 
 
 On the whole, therefore, we may say that these lake 
 districts maintain a very fairly constant altitude of 4000 
 ft. They constitute our fourth zone. Their elevation 
 renders the climate comparatively cool, the nights being 
 always cold throughout the year, while the days, except 
 for a very short period in the summer, are not un- 
 comfortably hot. The soil of this district is, as a rule, 
 extremely rich, especially in Usoga and Unyoro. In 
 some parts of North Kavirondo, though it supports an 
 enormous cultivation, it appeared to me less excellent, 
 but others have described ^ it as extremely fertile, espe- 
 cially in South Kavirondo. In Uganda and Ankole the 
 hills are mostly of red marl, with no great dejDth of 
 soil, but the valleys, which are long and continuous, are 
 of rich black loam. Throughout all this area iron ore 
 and a honeycombed lava impregnated with iron abound, 
 especially towards the Lake Victoria. Towards Unyoro 
 
 ^ Captain Pringle (Railway Survey) says that " in Kavirondo we meet with no 
 more stony ground, the deposits being of rich alluvial loam and clay soil." The 
 millet was the finest he had ever seen, and indicated the fertility of the land. 
 He describes it as "a veritable land of milk and honey," and the jjeople as 
 "hard-working and industrious. "--Geog. Jour., vol. ii. p. 114.
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LAKE DISTRICTS. 425 
 
 this lava is less frequent, and is replaced by granite 
 boulders. 
 
 All the people of these countries are agricultural, with 
 the exception of Ankoli, in which country, though the 
 dominant race — the Wahuma — are entirely pastoral, 
 there is also a considerable agricultural population, 
 sprung from the neighbouring Bantu tribes. It is, 
 therefore, the absence of universal cultivation, possibly 
 through a long series of years, which has rendered the 
 soil on its undulating hills only such as w411 support 
 a pasture grass for the flocks and herds of the Wahuma, 
 while the agricultural settlers availed themselves only 
 of the rich valleys. For the hills of similar formation in 
 Uganda have in the more populous parts been so culti- 
 vated and worked by an industrious population that 
 they have acquired a deep and fertile soil. 
 
 The grass is excellent, but throughout Uganda and 
 Unyoro the valleys, unless reclaimed, become — from the 
 richness of the soil and the great amount of moisture 
 generated by heavy rainfall and dew — choked with 
 impenetrable vegetation, consisting of elephant grass 
 some 10 ft. high, wdth a dense intergrowth. The 
 lowest point is generally a broad river marsh choked 
 with ]:)apyrus, and the reed and fern growth of swampy 
 land. These river marshes are sometimes nearl}' a mile 
 broad, the water is sluggish, and discoloured by iron 
 or decayed vegetable matter. The rainfall of the lake 
 districts is abundant (see Appendix IV.), and there is 
 also a heavy dew. 
 
 I have quoted in the foot - notes from some 
 of the leading authorities regarding the fertility 
 of Uganda, its climate, rainfall, and population. I 
 have selected a few typical passages from ]Mackay,^ 
 
 ' Mackay says : "The country is really a rich one, atid might proiluce any- 
 thing. Cotton, coffee, tea, tobacco are indigenous. Every stone is iron, and 
 kaolin is in inexhaustible quantity. This kaolin — a stratum of while clay 
 below the red clay — will prove of great value when the country becomes open
 
 426 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 Stanley/ Wilson," Felkin,^ Speke,* Grant/ Gordon/ 
 
 to trade. ... I should fancy this woukl be an excellent land for growing tea 
 and quinme." — Life of Mackay, p. 108. 
 
 ^ Stanley, speaking on July 1st, 1S90, to the Church Missionary Society, says : 
 " I liave the same faith in Uganda as I had in 1876. I am convinced thei"e is 
 no more desirable country in Africa than it." — Quoted in jNIackay's Life, p. 411. 
 
 - The Rev C. T. Wilson, who lived in the country, and whose opinions of 
 the general nature of this zone are quoted on p. 384, writes of Uganda : 
 "The coast region of Uganda is the most fertile district that I have seen 
 in Africa. This extreme fertility is owing to the abundant supply of moisture, 
 for, lying as it does within the belt of perpetual rain, there are showers 
 during every month in the year. The mean annual rainfall will probably be 
 found to be not very great — about 50 in. The climate of Uganda is re- 
 markably mild, and very uniform all the year round. During my residence the 
 temperature never rose above 90", and rarely fell below 50° at night. Tiiere is, 
 however, a good deal of ague, which will doubtless become rarer among Euro- 
 peans as better houses are built." The population of Uganda at tliat time, 
 1878, he estimates, after very careful calculations, to be about five millions. 
 "A great future is before the people of Uganda," he adds, "and from the 
 physical advantages and central position of that country, it is well fitted to be 
 the centre of civilisation to surrounding nations" (p. 227) — a summary I fully 
 endorse. I have quoted Mr Wilson at some length, since the book written 
 jointly by him and Dr Felkin (Uganda and Egyptian Sudan) I believe to be 
 the result of great research, and to contain carefully estimated conclusions. 
 
 ^ Dr Felkin, in a separate work (Royal Society, Edinburgh, vol. xiii. ), says 
 that the soil of Uganda is a "rich black alluvial, 2 to 3 ft. deep, under 
 which is a bed of red sandy clay, averaging 30 ft. thick, below which is 
 often a layer of pure porcelain earth. Mica and iron-stone are found in large 
 quantities." I may add that in sinking a deep well I struck a bed of soft Avhite 
 chalk. In the former volume he describes the country between Uganda and 
 Mruli (Unyoro), which, he says, is swampy, thence to Fauvei'a is a fine country 
 (vol. ii. p. 43). " The Wanyoro," he says, " are not so fine a race as the Waganda, 
 nor are their intellectual powers so fully developed " (p. 46). In the paper 
 already quoted he says of Unyoro : "The ujiper soil consists of a fine-grained, 
 loamy detritus, or thick, dark-brown loam resting on red quai'tz. The rainfall 
 is abundant, and the country is extremely well watered " (p. 78). He de- 
 scribes Northern Unyoro as a fertile country (vol. i. p. 327). 
 
 ■* Speke describes Uganda as "surprisingly fertile; there is nothiug that 
 would not grow here if it liked moisture and a temperate heat" (p. 264). "I 
 was immensely struck with its excessive beauty and richness. No part of 
 Bengal or Zanzibar could excel it in either respect " (p. 266). "The tempera- 
 tui-e was perfect ; wdierever I strolled I saw nothing but richness " (p. 274). 
 " We went on through this wonderful country, surprisingly rich in grass, culti- 
 vation, and trees — water-courses as frequent as ever " (p. 278). Usoga he 
 describes as "the very counterpart of Uganda in its richness and beauty" 
 (p. 460), but North Unyoro as much inferior (p. 486). — Speke's Journals. 
 
 ^ Grant says little in description, merely remarking that "Uganda is not a 
 land of milk and honey " for Europeans, as there is no grain to make bread 
 (p. 206). Of the north-east portion he says that it presents park-like grazing 
 groiinds. Eastern Unyoro he describes as a rich country, but swampy (p. 277). 
 — A Walk tlirough Africa.
 
 VERDICT ON UGANDA OF VARIOUS RESIDENTS. 427 
 
 and Emin,-^ all of whom are ^Yell qualified to pronounce 
 an opinion, since all, except Gordon, have visited the 
 country, and most of them have resided some time in 
 it. I might add indefinitely to these quotations, and 
 supplement them by others from Ashe," and the Rail- 
 way Survey,^ and the letters and reports of numerous 
 recent visitors,^ but sufficient has been said to show a 
 generally favourable, if not enthusiastic, consensus of 
 testimony. For my own j^art, I hold that these countries 
 are fertile, and the rainfall and climate favourable to 
 agricultural development, but for salubrity and healthi- 
 ness foi' Europeans they do not comj)are with the 
 ]ilateaux of the third zone, the produce of which, also, 
 as being nearer to the coast, will not be so heavily taxed 
 by transport charges. 
 
 'The lake districts produce all tliose articles already 
 enumerated as ejrown in the tliird zone. 
 1 here is, moreover, a mucii greater return oi 
 irory, since elephants abound through all those countries 
 in great numbers, as well as in the adjacent forests of 
 
 " Gordon says that Uganda is the onlj' vahiable part of Central Africa, and 
 is worth opening up from the East Coast ((iordon in Africa, p. G.')). 
 
 ^ ICmin, speaking of Uganda, says: "The farther we proceeded the more 
 beautiful and liighly cultivated grew the land." It is impossible to (juote at 
 any length from the long and scientific description lie gives of the various pro- 
 ducts cultivated and wild of the country. His verdict is most favouiable : 
 "This is indeed a beautiful, well-favoured land, with its red soil, its green 
 gardens — nature has profusely lavished her cliarms " (p. M^i). — Emin's 
 Journals, p. .30 et seqq. 
 
 The verdict of a recent German traveller is quoted by the Zanzibar Gazette, 
 May KHh, 1S9.3, as one which cannot be said to be partial : " ' The climate at the 
 lalic is delightful ; Uganda is one of tiie liealtliiest countries there, and possesses 
 a climate in which Europeans should be able to live very comfortably. . . . The 
 sliores of the lake in some parts resemble tlie Swiss mountain and lake scenery, 
 with tlieir huge rocks and striking headlands.' . . . Uganda is, in the opinion of 
 our correspondent, the richest country in East Africa, and possesses a further 
 advantage in tlie fact that the natives are liigldy intelligent and willing to 
 work." 
 
 -' Two Kings of Uganda. 
 
 » Report, p. 94. 
 
 ^ .Jackson, I'all Mall (iazette, Feb. 4th, 189.3 ; Rev It. U. Walker, Scotsman, 
 Nov. 19th, 1892; rjV/e also Morning Post, .Jan. 2d, 189il.
 
 428 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 the Congo State. In spite of the fact that the time I 
 was in Uganda was one of prehminary settlement and 
 administrative difficulties, which did not admit of my 
 devoting myself to the development of trade, the vahie 
 of the ivory sent by me to the coast averaged about 
 £5300 per annum, besides what was exported by Stokes.^ 
 The ivory of the South Sudan and Unyoro, where the 
 supply is said to be large," has of late years found no 
 outlet or has been monoiDolised by the Manyuema and 
 Congo Arabs, or drifted into the German sphere in small 
 quantities. The Mahdist wars in the north, and the 
 years of fighting in Uganda, have prevented its export 
 northwards or eastwards. 
 
 Coffee is indigenous in Uganda, and grows luxu- 
 riously^ in Buddu and the Sesse Islands, but it is 
 not carefully cultivated, and is allowed to grow almost 
 wild. Yet the berry has an excellent flavour.^ In the 
 Shire highlands (Nyasaland), where the plant was also 
 indigenous, a superior kmd was introduced (Arabica). 
 There are now some ten million coifee plants under cul- 
 tivation there, of this and other varieties, covering from 
 3500 to 5000 acres. Mr Buchanan tells me that he 
 thinks the local plant is probably less liable to disease 
 than the imported species. Two years hence, he says, 
 1000 tons will be exported yearly! This coffee com- 
 mands a high price in the market. With such results 
 
 ^ I believe that not long after I left, some £10,000 more of ivory was 
 despatched. 
 
 - Jephson speaks of the abundance of ivory, and Emin is stated to have 
 collected, without trouble, more than enough to pay the expenses of his province. 
 Emin says it is the chief export of the Equatorial Provinces (Journals, p. 117). 
 
 Gordon had more than enough to pay all his administrative expenses. — Gordon 
 in Africa, p. 143. 
 
 ^ Speke, p. 275 ; Grant, p. 197. 
 
 ^ A sample submitted for report to brokers in London was stated not to 
 have been carefully prepared. Its value was about 75s. a cwt. Several exjjerts 
 agreed that under careful cultivation and proper curing its value would be 
 increased probably to 97s. a cwt. It was stated to consist of two distinct 
 varieties. — Survey Report, p. 91.
 
 PRODUCTS OF THE LAKE DISTRICT. 429 
 
 before iif?, it is not unreasonable to hope that Uganda 
 may some day add to the production of African coffee. 
 
 The vine would grow well in the lake districts. It 
 was introduced by the French Fathers, who told me that 
 they made from it an excellent light wine. It grows 
 wild in great quantities a little to the north of Unyoro, 
 in the Shuli country, where it produces " large bunches 
 of grapes, small but sweet, of very good flavour." ^ 
 European cereals, wheat, kc, as well as rice, have already 
 been introduced and do well ; also tobacco from American 
 seed, which grows well.^ There is a vast amount of 
 unoccupied land suitable for their culture. Oil-hearing 
 ■plants, such as semsem and castor-oil (see p. 409), 
 grow luxuriantly ; linseed, ground-nuts, &c., would 
 undoubtedly thrive if introduced. 
 
 Bananas'^ form the main food of the people, and are 
 grown in vast quantities, and of infinite varieties, from 
 
 ^ Wilson and Felkin, vol. i. p. 279 ; also Emiu, p. 240. Einiu imported 
 vines which did well (p. 457). 
 
 - The climate of this zone would appear to approximate closelj- to that of the 
 Shire highlands. The tobacco grown there was reported upon by brokers in 
 London as "the finest j-et seen from Africa." It is already being made up 
 locally into cigars and smoking mixtures, but Buchanan says that more experi- 
 ence is yet needed. — Geog. Jour., vol. i. p. 252. 
 
 ■' Emin says that bananas are equally grown throughout the Mombutu 
 country, where miles on miles of them are met with (pp. 19.3 and 399). A 
 MTiter in the Standard, 30th Dec. 1892, states that 7S,000 tons ai-e im- 
 ported in America. The plant, he says, is forty-four times more productive 
 (for area cultivated) than the potato, and thirty-five times more than wheat. 
 Symonds says a given area laid down in plantains will support twentj'-five 
 people, where wheat will support one. He gives at great length the various 
 methods use<l for preserving the ripe fruit for export in a dry state (like figs), 
 and of the preparation of plantain flour for export. The latter, he says, in its 
 composition and nutritive properties is very similar to rice, but has a preference 
 over all other starches on account of the proteine it contains. It is superior to 
 arrowi-oot, and so nutritious and easily digestible that it is especially adapted 
 for invalids and children, and is not sufiiciently appreciated in Europe. Large 
 quantities are prepared in America. The juice of the stem is used for refining 
 sugar in China, &c., also in making ink, and in dyeing. The fibre is useful for 
 paper-making and canvas, one stem producing 4 lb. fibre. The substance 
 known as " Manilla fibre " is obtained from a species of plantain. Of the fruit, 
 Jamaica alone exports £200,000 worth per annum (Tropical Agriculture, p. 460 
 e( ■•<eqq.)
 
 430 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 a fruit the size of a large cucumber to the ordinary 
 "plantain." Every hill and valley is covered, where 
 habitations are, with cleanly kept banana plantations. 
 Its present uses are (l) as the food-staple of the 
 country ; it is cooked green in a score of ways, and is 
 also sliced, dried in the sun, and pounded into flour. 
 (2) The ripe fruit produces the cider of the country, the 
 universal beverage. (3) From the skins is extracted a 
 potash, from which a very serviceable soap is made. (4) 
 The stem, when beaten into a pulp, is used as a native 
 towel. The fibre is wholly unutilised ; in Nyasaland it 
 is used for making ropes and soft, durable mats. With a 
 cheap form of transport for the introduction of machinery, 
 and the export of prepared fibre, banana-flour, and fruit, 
 this plant might yield valuable returns. The Uganda 
 plantain is superior in flavour to any I have tasted else- 
 where. 
 
 Another greatly neglected product is the date-palm. 
 This tree, which is stated to be identical with the date- 
 palm of Bengal, grows wild throughout East Africa. 
 But in. Uganda and the lake districts it is ubiquitous, 
 and every watercourse is marked by its graceful outlines. 
 Near the capital (towards the lake) there are large 
 areas covered Avith it, and it grows to a great height. It 
 is not utilised except for timber, and its young leaves 
 for basket-w^ork. From these neglected resources 
 enormous quantities of sugar could be extracted, as is 
 done in Bengal.^ 
 
 Egyptian cotton has already been introduced by the 
 Sudanese (late of the Equatorial Province), who weave 
 their cloth from it. The colonies of these people are 
 already skilled in growing and collecting it, and would 
 
 ^ It is especially cultivated throughout India for this purpose, and the 
 borassiTS also is similarly treated. lu one district alone, Jessore, 24,000 acres 
 are planted with the date-palm, and the annual value of the sugar is half a 
 million sterling. Its preparation, moreover, is so simple that the most ignorant 
 ryot can manufacture it (Symonds, p. 255 et seqq.)
 
 BANANAS, DATE-SUGAR, COTTON, RUBBER, &C. 431 
 
 be only too glad to export the raw material in return 
 for cheap Lancashire cloth, and by devoting all their 
 labour to the production of the raw material they would 
 greatly increase their supply. A cotton plant grows 
 wild throughout Uganda. Both cotton and flax are 
 doing well in Nyasaland. 
 
 Rubber vines of several species ^ are found in the forests, 
 and Dr Stuhlmann told me he had discovered one or two 
 new varieties in the Sesse Islands. It has never hitherto 
 been collected for export or local use. There must be a 
 vast amount of rubber, forest gums, &c., in the great 
 forests on the eastern j)'^i'tion of the Congo State. 
 Their products, known and luiknown, Avill certainly be 
 exported by the nearest route (to the East Coast) if an 
 Administration is established in the lake districts, and 
 the commerce of the countries bordering the lakes is 
 developed by its means. 
 
 Acacia is a ubiquitous tree, especially in Ankoli, and 
 its bark^ has lately become an important product of 
 South Africa. Hides would also form a valuable export, 
 especially if roughly prepared locally, to save bulk and 
 weight in transport. The Rev. C. Wilson says that in 
 Uganda vast quantities of rice might he grown in the 
 swampy hollows, and on the hill-slopes cinchona and the 
 tea-plant would probably flourish.^ Salt,'^ obtainable 
 
 ' For a synopsis of the various kinds of rubber, ami the sources of sujiply, see 
 Kuw Bulletin, page G9 of IN'J-J. 
 
 - Sir Charles Mitchell's report on the commerce of Natal, 1.S91-92, shows an 
 increase in the export of bark. "Attention is being more particularly given to 
 the cultivation of the Ararla viol/i-sMinia, the bark of which is a valuable tanning 
 product. Manufactories for the production of leather . . . are working with 
 success." 
 
 •'* Vidn the Appendix on African commerce in Wilson and Folkiu's book, 
 p. ;UI. Buchanan says that in Nyasaland cinchona offers good prospects ; its 
 value is 4d. per lb. Tea he does not think will suit Africa, for, though it grows 
 well, it needs an absolute connnand of labour, at a time when the natives are 
 most busy with their own fields (Ceng. Jour., vol. i. p. 2.V2). 
 
 ■* This salt has been submitted to the opinion of experts in Liverpool, and 
 examined micnjscopically. They state that it is a rock salt, and not the i)roduct 
 of evaporation. It contains very little saline property, but it is not unlikely
 
 432 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFEICA. 
 
 from tlie Salt Lake, would be valuable to the Government 
 as payment for local supplies, and would decrease the 
 cost of local labour and produce, but would, of course, 
 not be worth exporting. It would merely be one means of 
 raising a revenue by which to defray the cost of adminis- 
 tration. There is also good timber in Uganda, of many 
 different kinds, which space forbids me to specify in 
 detail here. Some notes on the trees and on the other 
 products of Uganda are contained in my report (3) to 
 the Directors of the Company.^ The Mjxtfu, which 
 grows from 100 to 200 ft, high, yields an aromatic gum 
 used as incense (Mobani). Many of these woods are not 
 liable to be attacked by the boring beetle, which renders 
 them invaluable in the tropics. Vanilla is also found 
 wild in Uganda. 
 
 Space prohibits a more detailed examination either 
 of present products or of those which might 
 suggest themselves for introduction. My 
 object has been to show, by the testimony of all who 
 have a knowledge of these countries, that they are fertile, 
 and possess a good climate. This granted, any tropical 
 products may be cultivated. I have named a few, and 
 indicated how they might be rendered of more commercial 
 importance. 
 
 The population has been variously estimated. I have 
 already quoted Mr Wilson's estimate of 5 millions in 
 Uganda alone. Stanley's estimate was 2f millions ; 
 Ashe. 1 million. Unyoro is probably more populous 
 than Uganda,^ and Ankoli about ^ equal to it. Of 
 late years the population has decreased, probably by 
 
 that it may be found to contain other chemicals, such as soda-ash, and may 
 turn out much more vahiable" (Survey Report, page 90). For analysis, see 
 Stanley's Darkest Africa, vol. ii. pp. 312-315. 
 
 1 Blue-book Africa, No. 4, 1892, pp. 116, 117. See also Wilson, p. 159, re 
 the Mpafu. 
 
 " Felkin endorses Wilson's estimate of 5 millions in Uganda, p. 4, and gives 
 2h millions for Unyoro, p. 79 (Proc. Royal Society, Edin., vol. xiii. ) 
 
 ■' ]SIorning Post, 2nd January 1890.
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF PEOPLE LAKE DISTRICT. 433 
 
 more than half what it was in Mr Wilson's time 
 (1878).^ All writers agree in saying that the Waganda 
 are very industrious, and in claiming for them a skill 
 in artisan work far superior to that attained by any 
 other tribe of Central Africa (see p. 478). Their 
 great jDrogress in civilisation has made them eager pur- 
 chasers of European manufactures, and cloth, paper, and 
 other articles have become necessaries, and no longer 
 luxuries, nor have wants to be created. Hence they 
 will produce such articles of export as will buy these 
 equivalents. We may also note the amenability of the 
 people to the control of their chiefs, and the possibility, 
 therefore, of their organisation into parties under them 
 for public works. This is in very vivid contrast to the 
 majority of the tribes of Africa, who own allegiance 
 only to their own village headman, and are under little 
 or no control and have no cohesion whatever (ride 
 chapter xviii.) The very large country of Unyoro repro- 
 duces the characteristics of the Waganda people in a 
 modified degree, since they are not yet as civilised 
 as the latter. There are ample areas for extension of 
 industry and agriculture, especially now that the cattle 
 are dead and the population so greatly reduced. 
 
 I have purpose]}- refrained from attempting to quote 
 the ])rices of any products in Uganda,^ because tliis 
 depends so entirely on the value of the barter goods, 
 wliich again depends solely on the means of transport. 
 .Vny such figures therefore give no relial)le data. I have 
 
 ' Tlie ' Times ' correspondent, Otli July 1.S93, says tliat four-fifths of Uganda 
 is now uninhabited and the poijuhition vastly over-estimated. 
 
 -' The Railway Survey Report (juotes the following as the local prices pir 
 ton in the lake districts : Ivory £.Sr)(», wheat £2, Kts. , maize £1, 5s., millet i'l, 
 rice £2, lOs. uncleaned and £8 cleaned, scmscm £3, 10s., colTee from £"2 to 
 £3, 10s. On the same basis of calculation salt is worth £12") per ton in Uganda, 
 and would form a useful li:i/>orf. 'J'hese figures are apparently based on the 
 selling value of cloth for barter, when imported by the railway, but if so 
 imported with transport charges at (Id. a ton per mile (viz. £2(1 instead of £200 
 freightage), its relative purchasing value would necessarily become enormously 
 depreciated. I,[,therefore, look njioii tliese figures as delusive. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 E
 
 434 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 already alluded to the exceptional water communicatioiis 
 of these districts (p. 385), and it was the opinion of 
 Gordon after practical experiment that the only feasible 
 line by which they conld be developed was from the East 
 Coast (see vol. ii. p. 610). When craft are placed on the 
 waters of the lakes, all the produce of the countries that 
 surround them will focus itself to Uganda, and go to feed 
 the railway, which eventually, whetlier ive make it or not, 
 will connect Lake Victoria with the sea. The charac- 
 teristics of the mountain-mass of Ruwenzori have already 
 been alluded to, and since it affords no extended plateau 
 for agricultural development, I will not refer to it here.^ 
 To the north of the lake districts is the southern 
 Fifth Zone, Sudau." Ou the south it is bounded by 
 South SudPii. Unyoro and the Albert Lake, on the west by 
 the Congo State (longitude 30°), and on the east by the 
 
 ^ Descriptions of their western slopes liave been given by Captain Stairs 
 ( Darkest Africa, page 254 ef seqq. ), and by Dr Stuhlmann. Vide also vol. ii. 
 I)p. 180 and 19.3, for notes on eastern and western slopes. As these mountains 
 are about to be made the subject of a special examination by a party under 
 Mr Scott-Elliott, i;nder the auspices of the Royal Societj', it would be futile 
 to set down the scanty data already at our disposal. 
 
 - Space forbids too copious extracts relative to this province. Felkin describes 
 the country around Fauvera as rough and stony. The limits of Unyoro mark 
 the production of grain in place of bananas and roots as the staple food (p. 59). 
 Tlie country of Shuli is peaceful, and well cultivated (p. 63), lying at an 
 elevation of only some 2000 ft. The Madi country he describes as "enchanting " 
 (p. 72), grass plains alternating with open forest, having fine trees and clear 
 streams ; elevation IGOO ft. Bari, to the north of Madi, has much cattle, and 
 cultivation. Up to Beden the hills form a valley in which the river flows ; 
 beyond it to Rejaf are " plains extending for miles, park-land and large trees " 
 (p. 81). Lado was the scene of Emin's experiments with newly introduced 
 products — including European vegetables, the banana, &c. (Felkin, vol. ii. p. 70 
 et seqq.) 
 
 Wilson says the flora of Shuli are unsurpassed in Africa (vol. i. p. 280). 
 
 H'peTce describes the Shuli country as "downs of tall grass with occasional 
 swamps " (p. 57.3) ; in Kiri he speaks of much jungle growth. The granite hills, 
 he says, contrast with the grassy downs of indefinite extent, and make the 
 oountiy a paradise (p. 575). The Madi province is of rolling gi'ound, with 
 occasional bush, jungle, and fine trees (.Journals, pp. 573 to 599). 
 
 Grant describes the crops of Shuli as poor (p. 321), but near Faloro (Dufile) is 
 a beautiful country with much rubber vine (p. 339). Grassy undulations and 
 constant running streams characterise the country (p. 323). In Madi there are 
 trees and cultivation (p. 355), with uudulating downs (p. 357). Bari consists of 
 gently swelling downs with grass only a foot high, fine trees, and running
 
 " THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCE." 435 
 
 Turk ana and Sak country (longitude 33°). On the 
 north there is no boundary, and we claim rights over the 
 whole waterway of the Nile till it reaches the confines 
 of Egypt. But for our present purpose we will take 
 the 5th degree of north latitude as our limit. Above 
 Gondokoro, on this latitude, the river extends into vast 
 and unhealthy swamps, almost the whole way to Khartum, 
 1080 miles, and its passage is continually blocked by 
 floating islands of vegetation called Sudd} Moreover, 
 the navigation is intercepted at Rejaf. The area, there- 
 fore — named Equatoria, or Emin's Province — south of 
 this point naturally belongs to East Africa, and the 
 northern portion around and to the south of Khartum is 
 wholly detached, and must be developed from the north, 
 or more suitably from the Red Sea coast, with its head- 
 brooks, like an English park (p. .16 1). Near Gondokoro is "a dreary weary 
 plain " of firm lieavy sand. The heat is great (90^-104°),' and leeches are a pest 
 — unknown elsewhere in Central Africa (p. 365). To the west the Niaiu-Niam 
 country produces goats with long fine hair (Walk across Africa, pp. 277-369). 
 
 Gordon describes the Bari country as open, well-cultivated, and peopled with 
 fine trees. The Madi country is also populous with Ijrushwood and trees, and 
 many rockj' gorges, but opposite Dufile is a rocky and sterile wilderness. It is 
 difficult to (piote from his letters to his sister, which were ol)viously never 
 intended ff)r publication. I have quoted only from his official Nile Itinerarj', 
 p. 202. He describes the climate generally as execrable, and fatal to Euro- 
 peans. Rainfall abundant ( Cordon in Africa). 
 
 Emin is our greatest authority on this province. His scientific observations 
 and careful and accurate writings form an encyclopedia of knowledge of this 
 country. Pages 1 to 18 (.lournals) give a description of the journey from 
 Gondokoro to the Albert Lake. It is so void of generalisation that it is difficult 
 to gather his views of its character as a whole. Generally speaking, he 
 describes the i)rovince as very attractive. Since his descriptions of the fertility 
 of North Unyoro (pp. 18-27) are more strongly worded, and of Uganda still more 
 so, we may conclude that its fertility ranks second to theirs. 
 
 Marl-ay writes :— " From 10^ north latitude, all tiie way south to the Equator, 
 there lies the pure negro region — perhaps the most fertile in all Africa. That 
 region belongs not to the Sudan proper at all, but to the Central Lake district. 
 The people are blacks, negroes, and in no sense Arabs. They know nothing 
 about the Mahdi claims, and are as opposed to the Arabs as they arc to the 
 Turks " (Life of Mackay, page 289). 
 
 1 Felkin gives a description of tliis at page 111, vol. ii. Lupton Bey spent 
 nearly a year cutting through this, and got through 20 miles of it, only to fail 
 in the end ! (iessi was blocked in it, and nearly lost his life. It prevented 
 communication for one and a half years, and was cut through at last by three 
 steamers (Gessi Pasha, Seven Years in the Sudan, p. 436).
 
 436 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 quarters at Suakim. The commercial products, at any 
 rate, of Equatoria will pass to the East Coast, even 
 though the country should be beyond our actual ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 This province was originally annexed to Egypt by Sir 
 Samuel Baker. He was succeeded by General Gordon 
 in 1874, who found that there were at that time only 
 two forts in the province. In the space of three years 
 he covered the country with a network of stations some 
 three days' journey apart, and so completely tranquillised 
 it that " one could walk through it with only a stick in 
 one's hand."^ Emin, who in almost identical words 
 bears witness to the wonderful organisation effected by 
 Gordon, w^as appointed its governor in 1878, — a post he 
 continued to hold till "relieved "by Stanley in 1888, 
 since which time the province has been left to chaos and 
 anarchy. Of late we liear that a Belgian expedition 
 has proceeded from the Congo to Lado, building a series 
 of stations en ]'Oiite, hut their presence in the British 
 sphere is unauthorised (see vol. ii. p. 569). 
 
 Of the ivory of the Sudan I have already written. 
 Dr Schweinfurth gives a table of the total 
 
 Products 
 
 export from 1853 to 1879 (inclusive). ^ The 
 raiding of the " Turks" (who, as Grant says, were mostly 
 negroes) for this ivory and for slaves laid waste the whole 
 province,^ and depopulated it. It was against them that 
 Baker, Gordon, and, later, Emin's efforts were directed. 
 Ostrich-feathers are also ex^Dorted, and Emin estabhshed 
 ostrich farms throughout the province.^ Casati states ^ 
 
 1 Felkin, vol. ii. p. 100. Emin, p. 15. 
 
 - Gessi, App., p. 441. This table would apparently comprise the export of the 
 whole Sudan, and not only the Equatorial Province. It shows a yearly average 
 of 274,518 lb. (122J tons). Emin constantly speaks of it as the "chief export" 
 of his pi-ovince (p. 117). 
 
 ^ Speke, p. 599 ; Grant, p. 358 ; Felkin, vol. ii. p. 82 ; Gordon, jmssim ; Emin, 
 jmssim ; Gessi, p. 220 et j^assim. 
 
 ■* '* Ostrieh-feathers are to be procured in large quantities, for the broad 
 savannahs of the Lango country harbour large numbers of the birds " (Emin, 
 p. 251). 5 Gessi, p. 446.
 
 PRODUCTS OF SOUTHERN SUDAN. 437 
 
 that "tamarinds are collected, and caoutchouc, better 
 than that of Brazil, is exported to the extent of 200 
 tons." He also maintains that vegetable silk (from 
 the Eriodendron cuifractuosum) and incense (from the 
 Mpafu ?) are probable exports. Timber of a very superior 
 (juality was also sent in large quantities to Khartum. 
 '■ Cotton," he adds, "is a product which in a few years 
 will furnish a considerable revenue, rivalling in quality 
 and quantity that of Lower Egypt ; skins are tanned on 
 the spot, and shoe factories have been instituted." ^ This 
 report is of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, Gessi's province, which 
 lies to the north-west of the line I have indicated, but 
 this produce would find its way to the Equatorial Province 
 of which it formed a part. The country of the Niam- 
 Niam, which also formed a part of Gessi's administration, 
 is south of lat. 5^ These two provinces are described 
 as being of great richness, and their products of more 
 value than those of Uganda, &c., by Gessi and Casati. 
 Gessi adds : " Among the other products of this region 
 are copal, palm oil, arrowroot, the oil of the arachis, and 
 honey." The people he describes as " most j^eaceful and 
 laborious." He adds that ebony and ostrich-feathers 
 abound, as also rubber and hides."' I have already said 
 that the vine is indigenous in the coiuitry, and Felkin 
 mentions that bees' -wax is collected at Dufile.^ Honey 
 
 1 Ciessi himself, reporting to the Governor of the Sudan, says that he had 
 estaUlished saw-mills and produced timber for one-tenth its selling value at 
 Kliartum ; that he had created iron-works, in which he smelted ore and made 
 nails, &c. ; and also "tan-works." For the cotton lie claims that it is better 
 tlian American and Egyptian, and is being worked by natives in looms. The 
 possible output of caoutchouc he estimates at .')00 tons, value £72,000, at a cost 
 of collection of £.S200 to £4000 (p. 440). "The Sudan," he says elsewhere, 
 "might be tlie richest country in the world ; its climate and soil are adapted for 
 every kind of cultivation. The products are very plentiful" (p. GO). 
 
 - Gessi, pp. Gn, Gl. Emin .says that palm-oil and caoutchouc are also to be 
 obtained in Mombutu, which lie describes as a ricli country (p. 199 and j). 207). 
 This country lies on the noitli-west of tlie Albert Lake. " The soil," he says, 
 "is X'ich and productive. . . . Caoutchouc is destined to become the greatest 
 source of prosperity to tlie country."' 
 
 ■' Felkin, vol. ii. p. 70.
 
 438 THE PRODUCTS OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 is reported as abundant in Makraka, and especially in 
 Shuli;^ also in the Balir-Gliazal." 
 
 Of the sixth zone I will not attempt to say anything, 
 for it has not been explored, except by Count 
 Teleki. Mr Jackson penetrated a few days 
 north of Elgon, but was compelled to retire on account 
 of the hostility of the natives. It is reported to be a 
 district of stony plains, with cultivation around the 
 great Lake Rudolf, and its lesser counterpart Stefanie, 
 and along the banks of the rivers. The people are said 
 to possess great numbers of donkeys, and towards the 
 north, horses and camels. Already, as we reach Baringo 
 Lake, we have descended from the high plateau-land 
 to 3300 ft., and thence northwards through this area 
 the elevation decreases, and is on the same altitude a,s 
 the Sudan. Lake Kudolf is 1300 ft., the same as the 
 Nile in the same latitude. (See footnote 3, pp. 417, 418.) 
 
 ^ Emiu, p. 269. 
 
 - Gessi, p. 427, says the province could provide twice as much for export as 
 Abyssinia.
 
 439 
 
 CHAPTER XYIL 
 
 METHODS OF AFPxICAX TRANSPORT. 
 
 Present systeiu — Reduces exports — Prevents import of necessaries — Enlistment 
 of porters prohibited — Reasons — Results — How a deadlock might have 
 been avoided — The Edict evaded — Real scope of Edict — Effect on native 
 traders — But not applied to them — Porters, slaves — Summary — Immediate 
 alternatives — The Zambesi route — The route rm German territory — Perma- 
 nent methods, a railway — Feasibility — Examples of success of railways — 
 Unforeseen developments — Railways by other nations in Africa — Geimany 
 — France — Belgium — Portugal — We are already pledged- — Objections: 
 (1) Slave labour necessary ; (2) Hostility of natives ; (3) Metal would 
 be stolen — Impetus to home industries — Advantage of one section only — 
 Animal transport beyond — A road feasible for second section with cart 
 carriage — Baggage animals third section — Already found practicable — 
 Improved methods : (1) Staging system — Food ration — Saddlery and 
 equipment — Indian methods perfect — Attendants — Summary — Class of 
 animals — The elephant — Uses — Camel — Mule and zebra — Donkey, pony 
 and bullock — Sources of supply — Collateral advantages — Water trans- 
 port—Steamers — Fuel — Conclusion. 
 
 The question of tiausport is a vital one for the develojj- 
 ment of Central Africa. The present system present system 
 of liLunan porterage precludes the export ""po^^'^^^*^- 
 from the farther regions of the interior of anything but 
 the most valuable articles. Africa possesses one such 
 l)roduct — ivory; and probably there is no other country 
 in the world which has even one single export which 
 would stand tlie charge of some £200 per ton freight to 
 the nearest port, and yet yield an enormous profit. Not 
 only are the exports limited by this obstacle, which 
 strangles all development of natural resources, but the
 
 440 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 cost of tlie introduction of all material which does not 
 yield an immediate return is likewise almost prohibitive. 
 Thus barter-goods to exchange for ivory, or to advance 
 at enhanced values, as part-payment to tlie men, can be 
 advantageously imported, and the porters returning 
 convey the ivory to the coast. But such plant as 
 machinery for cotton, fibre, and oil-pressing, or for work- 
 ing minerals ; steamers and boats by which to control 
 the lakes and develop the trade along the waterways ; 
 stores, medicines, tools and material for building, with 
 which to add to the comfort and health of Europeans ; 
 ammunition, clothing, and equipment for troops, with 
 which to maintain a minimum police force at the highest 
 efficiency, — all these necessities of administration and 
 development render no immediate return, and their 
 import, therefore, under existing conditions, becomes 
 impossible without large capital outlay. 
 
 Not only is the system of human porterage, then, so 
 Failure of oxpeusive as to absolutely preclude the pos- 
 
 Porter-suppiy. sibility of the successful commercial develop- 
 ment of East Africa, but it has other, and hardly less 
 serious, drawbacks, (l) The supply of porters wherewith 
 to continue the system has practically failed. The great 
 numbers of free AVanyamwezi formerly offering them- 
 selves for caravan-work at the coast are now locally 
 employed in the German sphere, and hence the drain on 
 the resources of Zanzibar island by the demand for porters 
 in East Africa seriously affects the supply of labour for 
 the local industries. The Consul-General reported that 
 this drain threatened to dejiopulate the island,^ and the 
 
 ^ " For many years past the island of Zanzibar lias been the recruiting- 
 ground, as well as the starting-point, of every African traveller, whether he be 
 explorer, botanist, merchant, soldier, freebooter, slave-trader, or missionary. 
 Not a caravan goes into the interior of Africa without a considerable number of 
 Zanzibari porters, recruited either by persuasion or by force. From what is 
 generally known of the usual history of African caravans and travellers, it 'will 
 be readily believed that a very large percentage of these men never return at all. 
 The following facts will give some idea as to the extent to wliich this troes on :
 
 PROHIBITIOX TO ENLISTMENT OF PORTERS. 441 
 
 result of his representations was that a proclamation was 
 issued in September 1891 absolutely prohibiting the con- 
 tinued enlistment of Zanzibaris for any purpose whatever.^ 
 The question as to these men being slaves I will fully 
 discuss in the succeeding chapter on Labour (page 479 et 
 iieqq.) This edict, it must be remembered, applies to the 
 coast area of British East Africa, which is still included in 
 his Highness's dominions, though leased to the Company. 
 Hence the enlistment of porters, either at Zanzibar or on 
 the coast, was absolutely prohibited by Government so 
 long ago as September 1891. The position produced 
 was, of course, a deadlock. The administration at that 
 time existing in Uganda had to be supplied with certain 
 
 Oil the 1st June (1891) last the Imperial British East Africa Company alone had 
 in cliflerent parts of the interior of Africa about 800 Zanziliar porters. Since 
 that date their agents in Zanzibar have collected and sent to them 500 more 
 men from here, and have also collected and sent away 222 Zanzibaris as porters 
 for Captain Stairs' caravan, to go east of Lake Nyasa. The agents of the 
 Church Missionary Society have collected for mission caravans in the last 
 two months about 350 Zanzibar porters. This alone accounts for nearly 1900 
 men in the last few months, and takes no account whatever of the far larger 
 numbers who have gone uj) with Arab or German caravans, or who have been 
 enlisted as soldiers in the German sphere. Besides all this, the Congo Free 
 State has apparently begun to look upon Zanzibar as an inexhaustible recruiting- 
 ground for coolies, and has carried off many hundreds of men from here to the 
 West Coast. This being known, it is not surprising that a commission has come 
 hei'e even from Natal for the collection of a quantity' of coolies for work in that 
 country. In fact, it appears that the authorities of the German sphere, the 
 English si^here, the Congo Free State, and Natal, and all the innumerable Arab 
 and European traders and travellers in the interior of Africa, have looked upon 
 Zanzibar as a sort of milch cow, from wliieh to draw unfailing streams of willing 
 or unwilling lalK)ur. To such an extent has this l)een carried on unchecked that 
 not only are the plantations in tliis island suffering severely, but the whole of 
 Zanzibar is in danger of being depopulated unless a complete stoj) be put to the 
 system. Moreover, it tends to vitiate our ellorts to suppress the slave-trade, as 
 the Arab landowners are put to such straits for lal>i)ur that they are willing, 
 not only to give high prices, but also to run considerable risks, in order to 
 obtain new slaves." — Blue-book Africa, No. 6, 1892, p. 4. Stanley estimates 
 the number of porters employed annually in the British and German spheres 
 only (exclusive of the other demands named by Sir G. Portal) as 240,000 (Post, 
 Nov. IGth, 1892; and Times, Dec. 8th, 1892), 
 
 1 " To all whom it may concern : — Notice is hereby given that by a decree of 
 his Highness the Sultan, issued this day with the consent and concurrence of 
 lier Britannic Majesty'.s (Government, all recruitment or enlistment of sohliers, 
 coolies, or porters for service beyond his Highness's dominions is and remains 
 strictly forbidden."— Sept. 11th, 1891. (Signed) G. H. Pokt.u..
 
 442 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 necessaries. Urgent requests for ammunition, cloth 
 (wherewith to pay the men their wages, long overdue), 
 medicines, and some absolutely necessary stores for 
 Europeans, had been submitted by me. No means of 
 transport other than human porterage was available — • 
 the regulations had to be evaded of absolute necessity. 
 
 I think that the mistake lay in making this most 
 Reason of failure excellent and valuable proclamation take 
 of Portd's Edict, effect from the day of its issue. It should 
 (in my humble opinion) have been limited to a notification 
 tliat the contemplated change would take effect, say, on 
 that day year ; with, however, an immediate and absolute 
 prohibition for the enlistment of Zanzibaris, for any 
 country except British East Africa. The Congo State 
 and Nyasaland have resources of their own, and do not 
 depend on Zanzibar, while the Germans can recruit 
 imlimlted lumibers of porters from the Wanyamwezi 
 tribe in their own territory. The insertion, moreover, of 
 a clause enacting that any slaves so enlisted should be 
 at liberty to purchase their freedom, would have been a 
 direct blow to slavery, and would have been in further- 
 ance of the clause of the 1st August Proclamation, which 
 was afterwards cancelled (see p. 187 and App. I. b.) The 
 Company and others would thus have been given time- 
 to substitute another mode of carriage, instead of being 
 comj)elled either to evade the law or to abandon to their 
 fate the garrisons in the interior. 
 
 How the difficulty was met I do not know, but cara- 
 vans continued to proceed up-country as 
 
 Proof of Failure. •, ^ . •11 
 
 heretofore, though it was said that there 
 was now " some difficulty in getting porters." This I 
 maintain was, in a way, legitimate. The Zanzibar 
 authorities having issued a proclamation, the stijDulations 
 of which it was manifestly impossible to enforce at the 
 moment, rightly, I suppose, winked at its temporary 
 violation. Exactly a year later I came to Mombasa
 
 THE EDICT TREATED AS USELESS. 443 
 
 myself. No attempt had been made by the Company 
 during this year to adequately cope with the difficulty, 
 though some futile attempts to employ donkey transport, 
 without system of any sort, had, it is true, been set on 
 foot. But the Administration of the country continued 
 to depend uj^on the porter system, though a year had 
 passed since it was prohibited by Government — for it 
 must be i^emembered that the British Company have 
 no inland tribes from which they can recruit porters to 
 any large extent,^ and, therefore, that every caravan 
 that went into the interior (being enlisted at the coast) 
 was in direct violation of this edict. 
 
 Nor was this action limited to the Comj)any. The 
 Government Eailway Survey had taken some 250 men 
 early in 1892. On my return to Mombasa (Sept. 1892) 
 r met, near the coast, an enormous caravan of the Com- 
 pany's, just starting for Uganda. With the Company's 
 caravan was a small party of Herr Wolf's, coi'respondent 
 of the ' Tageblatt.' Later, I met a large mission caravan, 
 going up in detachments with Bishop Tucker and others. 
 In spite of the proclamation, they had succeeded in 
 enlistino- some hundreds of men, thouo-h the alternative 
 was open to them to go up by the German route (as they 
 always had hitherto) and utilise Mr Stokes' Wanyam- 
 wezi. Later, the ' Times ' correspondent, and various 
 special ]jatches of mail men, went up country. Later 
 still, Sir G. Portal himself left for Uganda with some 500 
 or GOO Zanzibaris, soldiers, and porters. In his case the 
 thing Avas legitimate, for as the ultimate authority who 
 had issued the order, it was open to him, of course, at any 
 time to suspend its operation — but no such suspension 
 was notified. When Government deputed him to go to 
 Uganda in urgent haste, and he found tliat in the year 
 
 ' Experiments with the Wakamba, Wa-Kikuyu, and AVasoga have all practi- 
 cally resulted in failure. S(jnje Wanyika are employed in conjunction ■with 
 Zanzibaris, but the supply is precarious and ina<le(juate, and these natives are 
 in many ways unsatisfactoiy as porters.
 
 444 METHODS OF AFRICAN TEANSPOET. 
 
 and quarter that had elapsed since the proclamation of 
 September 1891, the Company had provided no sub- 
 stitute for the porter system, he had, of course, no option 
 but to put aside the Edict of Government, in the interests 
 of Government, and utilise the system he had condemned, 
 since no other had been substituted. 
 
 I have entered into this question at some length, since 
 iiiiijortance ^ think it of great importance that it should 
 of Edict. "i-jg clearly understood on what basis this sys- 
 
 tem is grounded. It is a matter of radical importance, 
 and on it depends the whole future of East Africa. The 
 proclamation I have quoted seems simple enough, but I 
 doubt if even its originators paused to appreciate its 
 real significance. Not only does it revolutionise African 
 methods of transport, thereby compelling alternative 
 means of carriage, and, as an integral part of this new 
 system, a real Administration with chains of stations 
 connected by roads or railway, &c., but it crushes at one 
 blow the entire trading with the interior of the Arab 
 and Swahili (who are solely dependent on the caravan 
 system), and thereby annihilates at once the slave-trade 
 in East Africa, and temporarily, at least, all trade, legiti- 
 mate or otherwise, by the Arabs in the farther interior. 
 
 In my opinion the prohibition of the Swahili trading 
 Effect on Arab caravau (au inevitable result of the prohibi- 
 Tradevs. -j-'^j-^ ^^ eulist porters) would be the greatest 
 
 boon which could be conferred on Africa. I have already 
 spoken of some of the evils wrought by the Swahili 
 caravans. How theu* lack of foresight and method 
 results in their finding themselves only too frequently in 
 the heart of Africa with their goods for legitimate trade 
 and even for food purchase exhausted, and how they 
 are consequently driven to illegitimate methods, of loot- 
 ing, or obtaining supplies by force— or else, as in the 
 case of the caravan of Abdrahman, which broke up from 
 starvation in Ngaboto — a general crash and sauve qui
 
 EVILS OF NATIVE " TRADING " CARAVANS. 445 
 
 pent is the result, and armed men disperse to settle 
 down where they can among the natives, and do incal- 
 culable harm to the country. I have described how 
 their lack of system and mutual rivalry sj)oils the mar- 
 ket, together with their custom of paying hougo, &c. — 
 how their armed bands disperse over the country nom- 
 inally to collect ivory — but also to collect slaves ^ by 
 purchase, kidnapping, and even by raids (as in Kitosh), 
 and disseminate coast vices and diseases (such as syphilis) 
 unknown in the interior. 
 
 An Edict which should strike at the root of this 
 evil (as this does) would therefore be welcomed by 
 me as a benefit to Africa — granting it to be practic- 
 al)Ie and feasible. Not only would it put an end to 
 tlie evils I have described (prominently the slave-trade), 
 but it would also prevent the import of arms and 
 other contraband goods, and would restrict the Swahili 
 to the main arteries of trafiic established by the Admin- 
 istration, and to those methods of transpoi't which he 
 could obtain along those main trade routes. More pro- 
 bal)ly, indeed, it would result in com2:)elling him to 
 settle down and trade under the jirotection of the 
 Administration, instead of roaming through the country 
 in command of large armed bands of men, free from all 
 restraint. This is the root of the whole evil. In no 
 other country are large armed forces yearly collected 
 " in the season," under the eye of the Government, to 
 penetrate into the interior of a country nominally under 
 British Administration, and free to go where they will, 
 and " trade " under what conditions of force they })]ease, 
 bound l)y no code of laws, nor even by nominal restric- 
 tions. But as long as the Administration itself continues 
 to io-nore the Govei-nment Proclamation, and fails to 
 
 ' Vide p. lO.j. See also Railway Survey Report, p. 97 aiul p. 00, for a i)re- 
 ciscly similar account of tlie " pernicious systems" employed by these Swaiiili 
 caravans, and their modes of procuring slaves.
 
 446 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 substitute any other means of transport, it cannot, of 
 course (and does not), attempt to interfere with its 
 infringement by Arab and Swahih traders. 
 
 And herein lies a new obUgation with which we are 
 Edict self-eon- ^^^^ ^^ ^^^® ^^"^ East Africa, At the instance 
 tradictoiy. q£ q^^^. Secretary of State, the Consul-General 
 
 and Imperial Commissioner at Zanzibar has issued a 
 proclamation, distinctly stated to be not merely an 
 emanation fr-om the Sultan, but to have the approval 
 and authority of her Majesty's Government. This 
 proclamation, if logically and properly carried out, de- 
 stroys with one stroke of the peu, so to speak, not only 
 all illegitimate trade, but the ivhole of the legitimate 
 trade throughout East Africa, by making illegal the only 
 existing and possible means of prosecuting it. We are 
 therefore compelled either to enforce this decree, and 
 render it a practical possibility, by substituting a railway 
 or other means of transport, for that which we have 
 declared illegal, or we must eat our own words and 
 retract the edict. 
 
 I have said that I doubted if the full scope of this 
 proclamation was realised at the time it \Aas 
 
 Misapplied \>j ^ , ___. ^ n i • i t 
 
 even Consular promulgated. We rind that ni the despatch 
 
 Authorities. ■"- . . . -, ^. ^ r^ i i- 
 
 contauimg it the Consul-General emphasises 
 his own responsibility regarding it, and says, " It will 
 be the duty of her Majesty's officers here to see it is 
 thoroughly carried out " ; yet, in the very sa,me desj)atch, 
 he goes on to say that it is impossible to check advances 
 of money by the British Indians, because "almost every 
 caravan Avhich leaves for i\\e interior is so supplied." 
 The 'Zanzibar Gazette' of Dec. 28th, 1892 (the eve of 
 Sir G. Portal's departure for Uganda), in the review 
 of the year says that trade has suffered, &c., so as to 
 show an evident slackening of work " in the months 
 that should have been busiest in the fitting- up of cara- 
 vans." And, further on, Sir G. Portal's mission is a subject
 
 EDICT NOT APPLIED TO NATIVE TRADERS. 447 
 
 of grat Illation because " it will encourage caravan traders 
 to take goods up into the interior," viz., British East 
 Africa. These caravans are " fitted up " at Zanzibar 
 itself, in the Sultan's dominions, with the approval of 
 the authorities, ««(;/ in direct violo.tion of the Government 
 'proclamation. 
 
 Or is there one law for the European and another 
 for the Swahili ? Turning to the jDi'oclamation we find 
 it is not so. ^' All enlistment" is forbidden, and in the 
 despatch quoted, which prompted the edict, native 
 traders are especially alluded to, and surel}' it were 
 foolish to suppose that Government would permit the 
 Swahili to fit uj) his caravan, intended at best for his 
 personal profit, but prohibit the fitting- up of caravans 
 intended to convey absolute necessaries to Europeans 
 eno'aofed in the administration of the interior, or 
 missionaries proceeding to the scene of their labours! 
 If the necessity for such a proclamation was pointed 
 out to the Home Government, it follows as a necessary 
 corollary that its enforcement was assumed to be possible 
 and advantageous, and " to be the duty of her Majesty's 
 ofiicers here," and not provided, as so many African edicts 
 have been, for home consumption only. It is not my 
 duty to give an opinion as to whether the time had come 
 for so sweeping an edict — I am solely concerned with its 
 application to the question in hand, viz., the prohibition 
 of porter transport to Arabs and Europeans alike in 
 British East Africa, and the questions which that pro- 
 liibition brino'S to us to solve. 
 
 Independently of the proclamation there was another 
 obstacle to the employment of coast porters. 
 
 ' '^ PI Porters, Slaves. 
 
 It IS that a great number ot these porters 
 are slaves, and their employment gives an impetus to the 
 slave-trade. I will deal with this under " Slave-labour" 
 in the next chapter. 
 
 I hope I have demonstrated hj these remarks that
 
 448 METHODS OF AFRICAN TEAXSPORT. 
 
 the porter system is impracticable, both on the grounds 
 of cost and morality — as well as prohibited by 
 Porter System law in British East Africa, which possesses 
 no tribes beyond the Sultan's dominions 
 from whom an adequate sujDply of porters can be drawn. 
 The few porters necessary for conveyance of such loads 
 as would be difficult to transport on baggage animals, 
 &c., could not improbably be enlisted from the free 
 WanyamW'ezi, in return for permission to the Germans 
 to enlist Sudanese in British territory. 
 
 Let us then see what substitute can be found for 
 Immediate liumau porterage, of an immediate and tem- 
 
 zlmhesl— Ti^- porary nature, in order to evade the necessity 
 ganyika Eoute. ^f Government having to repudiate its own 
 edict so as to admit of the continuation of the Adminis- 
 tration in Uganda. First, the utilisation of the Zambesi- 
 Shire- Tanganyika route has been suggested (see vol. ii. 
 p. 609). The African Lakes Flotilla Company declare that 
 they can deliver goods in Uganda at £150 a ton. I have 
 myself travelled along this route to the north of Nyasa 
 on one side, and to the Albert Edward on the other. 
 Bulk is broken (as I have already said) at least six 
 times,' and there are three land porterages," one of 60 
 miles over steep gradients, another of over 150 equally 
 difficult, and the third of 150 or more, through country 
 as yet unexplored, and where no porters are available ! 
 As a means of permanently developing Uganda, even 
 freight of £150 a ton would, of course, be prohibi- 
 
 1 See p. .S87, and vol. ii. p. 609. Six breaks occur — even since the Cliindi 
 channel of the Zambesi has been utilised— (1) At the Ruo ; (2) At Matope, 
 Upper Shire ; (3) Songwe, north of Nj'asa ; (4) Fort Abercorn, south of Tan- 
 ganyika ; (5) at north of Tanganyika ; (6) at the Victoria (or the Albert Edward 
 Lake). 
 
 - (1) Ruo to Matope, over Shire highlands, 3000 ft. ; (2) Nyasa to Tangan- 
 yika, from 1700 ft., over plateau 5000 ft. ; (.3) north of Tanganyika to either 
 Albert Edward Lake, through Congo State territory, or to Victoria, through 
 German territory. I am not aware that the Flotilla Company have steamers or 
 boats on either Tanganyika, Victoria, or AUiert Edward. Canoes would be 
 uncertain, and probably impossible to procure.
 
 
 ^i-'^/i/'en.sT'-e'i 
 
 J^ra6e.ttst "i'/z " 
 
 /6': ' 
 
 
 HORNS OF ANTELOPE.
 
 IMMEDIATE ALTERA" ATIVES FOR PORTERS, 449 
 
 tive. As a temporary expedient, the route could be 
 utilised, supposing that the Flotilla Company are willing 
 to renew this offer. I am wholly convinced, however, 
 that they could not land goods in Uganda for £150 a 
 ton, nor yet for double that sum ; but their profits or 
 losses are their affair, so long as they fulfil the contract, 
 which I doubt their ability to do, apart from the ques- 
 tion of C()St> 
 
 The other, and only really feasil^le, plan is to arrange 
 by contract with independent traders in the contracts in 
 German sphere — such as the wealthy Arab, German sphere. 
 Ali bin Sultan at Tabora, or Mr Stokes — for the con- 
 veyance of goods cid German territory to the south of 
 the Lake Victoria. To accomplish this thousands of 
 Wanyamwezi (free volunteers) are engaged. They are 
 eager for the work, and are the best porters in Africa ; 
 they engage to carry a load from the coast to the lake 
 for a fixed sum, extremely small in comparison with the 
 Zaijziljari — hired from the day he leaves the coast till he 
 returns. These traders offer to convey loads of 70 lb. to 
 the south of the lake for 845 each — add $5 freight thence 
 to Uganda, or in round figures 100 Es. -per load, which 
 gives £200 per ton. A contract at £200 per ton would 
 probably find ready acceptance. The Company estimate 
 that by their route, under present conditions, the cost of 
 goods to Uganda is at least £300 per ton. Thus we 
 have an alternative based on a system quite separate 
 from tlijit of hiring porters (slave or free) in the Sultan's 
 dominions, and giving at the same time a reduction 
 of cost on present methods. This could be adopted 
 pending the development of a, proper system of transport 
 in British East Africa. 
 
 As regards the future method of transport. There is 
 no doubt that the o/Jy way to develop the ivniKment 
 agricultural resources oi these countries is Kaiiway. 
 by making a railway from the coast to the Lake 
 
 VOL. I. 2 F
 
 450 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 Victoria, for by no other means of transport could 
 such bulky products as grain, fibre, cotton, &c., be ex- 
 ported profitably. The British Government has already 
 voted the money for a preliminary survey — that survey 
 has now been completed. If our action was not altogether 
 puerile, and if, in the face of Europe, we are to maintain 
 any character for consistency, it must follow that the 
 principle of making a railway was accepted by the pass- 
 ing of the vote for its survey, and that, if the engineering 
 difficulties should be found not to be greater than had 
 been anticipated at the time the vote was passed, we 
 should eventually construct it. Any other view pre- 
 suj^poses that the grant was made to examine a project 
 which we had no conception of undertaking. 
 The difficulties have been found to be very considerably 
 less than had been expected. In spite of the 
 fact that the distance to the lake is greater 
 than was supposed (giving, therefore, a greater area of 
 country for development), the estimate is less than was 
 expected, and is under 2:^ millions.^ Its construction 
 has been advocated by statesmen such as Lord Salisbury, 
 Mr Goschen, Mr Chamberlain, Lord Brassey, Mr J. W. 
 Lowther, Sir Bichard Temple, and many others of the 
 first rank. It has also been advocated widely by com- 
 mercial men." I am here concerned with the railway 
 purely in its commercial aspect ; as regards our pledges 
 under the Brussels Act, &c., I have spoken elsewhere 
 {vide vol. ii. p. 577). In the previous chapter I have 
 endeavoured to give some idea of the products which 
 it would convey and the nature of the country it would 
 open up. But to attempt to gauge the capacity of a 
 country before a railway is made is wholly futile, for, 
 
 ^ Railway Survey Report, p. 29. 
 
 - Mackay's opinion carries some weight with a large section of his country- 
 men, as being a practical and shrewd man. He writes : "I would not give 
 sixpence for all the Company will do in half a century unless they first connect 
 the lake with the coast by a line ever so rough." — Life, p. .340.
 
 A RAILWAY, FEASIBILITY AND PRECEDENTS. 451 
 
 as lias been truly said, " A lailway of itself creates a 
 carrying trade," even in civilised countries. It will 
 open up the country as nothing else will, and thereby 
 will effectually kill the slave-trade — not by replacing 
 caravans of slaves in the transport of ivory to the coast, 
 but by introducing trade, industry, and development.^ 
 
 If we pause to consider what has been achieved in 
 other countries by the introduction of rail- 
 
 , , other Countries. 
 
 ways, it were surely premature to condemn 
 the project on the grounds that it will not pay. I 
 have already instanced the Punjab ; not only have the 
 railways of North- West India created vast carrying 
 trades, before undreamt of, but they have rendered valu- 
 able the trade of the adjoining countries — Afghanistan, 
 Cashmere, and Beluchistan. More recently Upper 
 Burmah has been opened up by railways — a country in 
 wliich I have travelled much. It is a land of continual 
 warfare, of most destructive malaria, of interminable 
 forests, of lofty ranges closing connection with the 
 natural arteries of communication, yet it is rapidly 
 fleveloping by means of railways. But it is needless 
 to quote instances : Manitoba is perhaps the most 
 striking one. Commercial men who read these chapters 
 will have many instances in their minds. 
 
 But in such a connection it is hard to limit one's 
 phrases to a monotonous quotation of relative values of 
 exports and imports. Imagination leads us back to 
 the days when the " bald-headed Roman," lately 
 alhided to in Parliament, annexed the island of Britain 
 — the Uganda of tliQ Roman Empire — separated from 
 the ceritral government by leagues on leagues of im- 
 passable forest, and lofty mountains, and a belt of sea. 
 One pictures his advocacy of the claims of these distant 
 isles, full of naked and fierce savages, to partake in the 
 civilisation of the Empire, and the possibilities of their 
 
 * Railway Survey Report, p. 100.
 
 452 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 becoming some day a fertile and a civilised land. Could 
 that " bald-headed Roman" walk to-day in the streets of 
 London and travel back by train to Pvome in forty-eight 
 hours, we can imagine that he would grasp what railway 
 extension and commercial exj^ansion have done for that 
 savage island ! Had he prophesied for Britain a future 
 not one-thousandth part so great as that we have 
 attained, would he not have met with derision greater 
 even than that which " the little-Englanders " of to-day 
 heap upon the dreams of those who prognosticate a 
 future for the hio-hlands of Africa ? 
 
 I have endeavoured, in spite of my want of technical 
 knowledge, to indicate some directions in which expan- 
 sion may take j^lace ; but the history of the development 
 of every country is full of lessons of how futile is 
 calculation without experiment. Minerals may be dis- 
 covered, parts of the country may prove fit for European 
 colonisation, naturalised products as yet unsuggested 
 may "turn out trumps," and supply the railway with 
 freight we had not counted. To take a minor instance : — 
 At Busrah in 1876 the first box of dates was shipped as 
 an experiment. Last year this export was stated to 
 amount to 20,000 tons. 
 
 This region is beyond all doubt one of the most 
 Example of promising in Central Africa ; yet we hesi- 
 otiiei- Nations, j^^j^^ ^^ make a railway to so excellent an 
 objective as the central lakes' waterways, while other 
 nations with far less promising fields for development 
 do not shirk the expense of railways to extend their 
 trade. For my part, I believe that the time when we 
 shall hang back behind the other nations of Europe 
 in our efforts to extend our commerce will be the 
 fatal day which ^vill mark our decadence as a nation. 
 Germany in her sjDhere, which is greatly inferior to 
 ours, is projecting railways. Dr Kayser stated in the 
 Reichstag (Jan. 15th, 1892) that "next year Govern-
 
 RAILWAYS IX AFRICA BY OTHER NATIONS. 453 
 
 nient intended to discuss the advisability of a railway 
 to put an end to the drawbacks of the present system 
 of caravans " — drawbacks which, as I have shown, are 
 comparatively trivial in the German sphere. German 
 discussion is usually followed by action, and a company 
 has now been formed, and the line from Tanga to 
 Korogwe is already in process of construction. This 
 is the beginning of the fuller project alluded to by 
 Dr Kayser. 
 
 France has for years projected a great trans-Saharan 
 railway. The disaster to Colonel Flatters threw back 
 the scheme, which has lately been revised, and prelimi- 
 nary surveys despatched from Algeria. It will probably 
 be carried out at a cost of from ten to twelve millions, 
 coverino- a distance of 2000 miles.^ Meanwhile, in 1887 
 a railway was made from Kayes to Bafulabe in the 
 Upper Senegal.- Italy has built a considerable portion 
 of a railway in her sphere towards Abyssinia, in a most 
 difficult country. Belgium has undertaken a railway to 
 connect the Upper and Lower Congo, and has lent to 
 tlie Free State £600,000, upon which no interest is 
 charged until the shareholders receive 8 per cent., after 
 which the interest to the State is limited to 3 per cent. 
 Portugal is about to commence a railway from Quilimane 
 to the Ruo or South Nyasa. She is building one also 
 at Beira, and has completed a great portion of another 
 in her West African territory, from Loanda to Ambaca. 
 
 It is in view of this general consensus of opinion 
 among the nations of Europe who hold consensus of 
 possessions in Africa, that they are worth Opi'^o"- 
 opening u|) by railways — though I believe their commer- 
 cial possibilities to be inferior to British East Africa, — 
 that I have said that l)y holding back we are allowing 
 ourselves to be outstripped iu the race for conunercial 
 expansion. Moreover, in the original intimation made 
 
 1 Keltic, Partition of Africa, p. 290. - Ibid., p. 262.
 
 454 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 to Germany in 1885, at the time when she acquired her 
 East African territory, Lord Granville stated that Great 
 Britain wished to reserve to her influence the portion 
 which is now British East Africa, in order to make a 
 railway from the coast to Lake Victoria ; and this 
 intimation was continually repeated. It was, indeed, 
 the object put forward as their leading motive by the 
 founders of the Imperial British East Africa Company 
 when praying for a Boyal Charter. 
 
 Such is the general case for a railway. Consistency 
 
 urges our undertaking it, now that the 
 
 survey has proved it feasible. The example 
 
 of other nations, and the necessity that we should not be 
 
 behind theui in seeking outlets for our trade, prompt us 
 
 in the same direction ; Avhile it is undoubtedly the best 
 
 means of developing the country, and the prospects of its 
 
 paying, at no distant date, are by no means discouraging. 
 
 One or two minor objections urged against the making 
 
 of a railway may be noticed here, (l) That 
 
 Minor Objections. . i i i i i i 
 
 it must be constructed by slave labour. 
 This is altogether preposterous ^ (see chap, xviii. pas- 
 sim). Incidentally, however, if the clause of the Sultan's 
 proclamation {vide pp. 187, 277, and 233, &c.) per- 
 mitting all slaves to work out their own emancipation 
 were re-enacted, the building of a railway would afford 
 opportunities for such slaves to earn the necessary 
 redemption-money ; or, better still, if we may hope 
 that the legal status of slavery is doomed in East 
 Africa, no coolie working on the railway would be 
 a slave, unless by his own preference. (2) It has 
 been assumed that such hostility would be shown by 
 the natives, that the construction of the railway has 
 been described almost in the Biblical terms used of the 
 rebuilding of the second temple by Ezra, where the work- 
 
 ^ The bulk of the labour is to be procured from India, according to the 
 Railway Survey Report, p. 74, and on this the estimates are based.
 
 OBJECTIONS URGED AGAINST RAILWAY. 455 
 
 men had their arms in one hand and their tools in the 
 other. Such assumptions are Avholly ungrounded. The 
 large mass of labourers (a proportion of whom would be 
 armed) assembled at the scene of the work would be 
 sufficient to overawe any predatory or hostile tribes, 
 wliile the hitherto peaceable relations which for the 
 most j)art have existed between the natives and the 
 white men, and the peaceful completion of the railway 
 survey, &c., are a lyriori evidence that no such hostility 
 would be shown. (3) It is also assumed that, since the 
 natives require iron, the railway would be torn up and 
 the metal stolen. Only a complete ignorance of actual 
 conditions could dictate such surmises. The sleepers 
 estimated for are all of iron.^ The rails are bolted to 
 these (the nut-heads being filed off if necessary), and the 
 line thus forms a continuous whole. It would be an 
 extremely difficult task for a body of men with crowbars 
 and all necessary implements to displace such a line. 
 For savages with no appliances it would be impossible. 
 Moreover, in tlie early years of the railway, a small 
 ai'med force would be retained to patrol the line on 
 ti-ollies, &c. (included in the estimates), to prevent any 
 damage — not to the railway, but to the telegraph, which 
 would presumably accompany it. 
 
 It is needless to point out again that the whole 
 material for a railway would be drawn from impetus to Home 
 our industrial centres at home — the rails, i"^^""*"'^^'*- 
 iron sleepers, bolts and fish-plates, iron-work for bridging; 
 the timber, zinc roofing, nails, &c., for station buildings ; 
 the tulnilar iron poles, wire, &c., for telegraphs ; the 
 wire, cloth, ])eads, &c., for j^aymeni: for labour. That all 
 this material would be conveyed in our own ships. That 
 openings would be created for European supervising- 
 officers, artisans, mechanics, and engineers. That the 
 railway, when completed, would convey as its first freight 
 
 ' Survey Report, p. 4.
 
 456 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 the steamers for the lake, built in our British shipyards, 
 and further material for buildings^ stores of all descrip- 
 tions, goods for barter, &c., and thus employment would 
 be given to almost all branches of industry. 
 
 My own 023inion has always been that only the first 
 section of the railway should be undertaken 
 * at first, ^ and that a system of animal trans- 
 port should be established between its terminus and the 
 lake. From the coast to the farther boundary of what 
 I have called the " second zone " there are no great 
 difficulties to railway construction ; the low range of 
 hills bordering the coast and the Tsavo river-bridge 
 being the only obstacles. The estimate to this point — - 
 the Salt River, twenty- three miles beyond the Kibwezi 
 (the limit of the zone)— is £620,000.^ Its length is 
 208 miles. The guaranteed interest on this sum would 
 be about £18,000 per annum. This brings us to the 
 foot of the rise, which includes all the " third zone." 
 The advantages of making a line over this section 
 are : — 1st. Its comparative cheapness. The 
 total lenofth of the line to the lake is 657 
 miles, and its cost £2,240,000.^ A third of this length 
 would be 219 miles, but the cost of this first 219 miles 
 is less than a third of the whole estimate by over 
 £106,000. 2nd. Its unsuitability to animal transport. 
 Fodder is scarce, and, indeed, almost non-existent, 
 especially in the hot weather, by the direct route via 
 the Taru desert and Taita. It is obtainable by making 
 a detour to the north via the Sabakhi (where there is 
 no food for men), or by Taveta to the south. Food for 
 transport attendants is equally unprocurable, and would 
 have to be carried, thus absorbing a great part of the 
 carrying power of the animals. Water, throughout the 
 
 1 Vide Wilson and Felkin, vol. i. p. 339. 
 
 - Blue-book Africa, No. 4, 1892, p. 141 and p. 146, § 19. 
 
 " Railway Survey, p. 27.
 
 ADVANTAGES OF ONE SECTION ONLY (rAILWAy). 457 
 
 hot weather, is dried up in the Taru desert — indeed, 
 transjDort animals could only be taken up via the Sabakhi 
 River (though, to my surprise, I found that the only 
 serious experiment yet made to take up a caravan of 
 donkeys in August 1892 had adopted the Taru route, 
 in spite of the absence of both food and water). 
 This area is also very trying both to men and animals 
 (especially Europeans) on account of the heat and the 
 sun-fever, &c., incident to the tropics at low levels. A 
 disproportionate wastage and consequent expense would 
 therefore occur among both. It is, moreover, in this 
 zone that the tsetse has been found ; but, as I have 
 already said (p. 391), it is rare, and can be evaded 
 by a detour via Taveta, where Jackson states food and 
 water are also abundant. Thus, though transport animals 
 can be used pending the construction of the railway, 
 this area would be most advantageously bridged by a 
 line. 3rd. Euro^Dean settlers on the highlands would, by 
 means of a railway to the foot of the plateau, be able 
 to obtain their supplies and export their produce, and 
 to pass over the coast area rapidly, so as to reach the 
 more healthy uplands, without having first imbibed into 
 their systems the malaria of the plains. Without it 
 even settlements of pioneers would find it difiicult to 
 develop their industries to any advantage ; with it even 
 the experiment of European colonisation could be tried. 
 
 Beyond this area there is no reason at all Avhy tUiimal 
 transport should not succeed well, — at least, Tmnspoit system 
 that is the opinion I have formed after some 'j-^J'^"'^ Railway. 
 experience ; for I saw much of transport methods in 
 Afghanistan, and I was a transport ofiicer in the Sudan 
 (mules and camels). I had temporary charge of the 
 8epri Division in India, and more permanently of the 
 Lucknow Circle, where some sixty elephants and a large 
 number of camels, nudes, bullocks, &c., Avere under my 
 charge. In Burma I had transport charge of the
 
 458 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 largest mass of animals collected In any one place 
 (Kuby Mine Column), consisting of elephants, pack- 
 bullocks, mules, ponies, and carts. 
 
 To insure the success of animal transport, the present 
 hap-hazard methods must be replaced by an 
 
 Methods to be . , -ntTi i i i • 
 
 adopted. organised system. W heeled transport being 
 
 by far the most effective and the cheapest, 
 rough roads should be constructed over such portion 
 of the route as may admit of this form of transport.^ 
 Oxen should be employed, as being cheaper and more 
 easily procured than any other draught animals. African 
 (local) oxen would be well adapted," and a few were 
 actually trained by the Scottish Industrial Mission, and 
 found to answer well for draught. It is a pity that the 
 experiment was not carried out on a larger scale. 
 
 There would probably be no great difficulty in making 
 a cart-road from the suggested terminus of the railway 
 (Salt River) to the central depot (at the Eldoma ravine). 
 Across Masailand there is no obstacle to wheeled trans- 
 port, for the Malewa and Gilgil Kivers are fordable, 
 excejDt in flood, and the Masai cattle have worn a road 
 down their hiofh banks. But while this rouofh cart-road 
 was in course of preparation, the more difficult bits must 
 have such a bridle-path as would be practicable for 
 baggage animals, connecting the level tracts which offer 
 few obstacles. The depot at the Eldoma ravine is in 
 
 ^ Into the question of the best kind of transport cart it is not necessary to 
 enter here. At the present time the Government of India are offering a reward 
 of £2000 for the best model. Meanwhile the Indian " army transport cart," 
 the South African waggon, or the Indian bullock-gharri would answer the 
 requirements. The Germans have already introduced in their portion of East 
 Africa iron barrows, or hand-trucks, carrying two men's loads each, and they 
 have proved very successful, ilackay also introduced a waggon (Life, p. 392). 
 For his views on this question see p. 4.39. 
 
 2 Mr Jackson, whose evidence is valuable, writes : *' The native cattle, though 
 smaller than the South African oxen, are strong and hard\', and can be easily 
 trained to draught. There is no reason why these animals should not be 
 employed to a much greater extent than at present. Many Swahili traders pro- 
 cure them and use them as beasts of burden."'— Pall Mall Gazette, Feb. 4th, 1893.
 
 SECOND SECTION — DRAUGHT. 459 
 
 the centre of the oTazins' lands, and there beino- several 
 awkward places ahead, pack-animals could be used with 
 advantage beyond this point. Some little cutting and 
 smoothing (especially at the descent from the Kiku3^u 
 escarpment to the Kedoung), would be required, but 
 there is no reason why a practicable road for rough 
 coinitry carts should not be made with very little 
 work indeed, and no bridging, from the Salt River to 
 the Eldoma ravine {47Gth mile). A full description of 
 the gradients, depths of rivers, heights of banks, &c., 
 can be found in the Railway Survey Report, and I have 
 no space to enter upon it here. 
 
 Throughout tliis stretch of country the main difficulties 
 to waggons — swampy marshes, loose heavy sand, unford- 
 able rivers, and narrow, rocky gullies, not admitting 
 the passage of a cart — are not met with, nor are there 
 any prohibitive gradients. Indeed I can recall no 
 part whicli, even in its present state, is worse than por- 
 tions of the " road " traversed by thousands of carts in 
 Afo-hanistan and Burma. This section would be about 
 270 miles in length. Wheeled transport would not, of 
 course, be feasible when the rivers are in flood. During 
 these months of heavy rain I would advocate the sus- 
 pension of all convoys, whether carts or pack-animals. 
 Independently of swollen rivers and heavy ground, the 
 sore backs caused by wet and sodden saddles, and the 
 sickness to attendants caused by overwork in assisting 
 their animals in difficult places, loading and unloading 
 at rivers, together with the exposure to inclement 
 weather, would prol^ably do more to lay up both man 
 and beast than three times the work achieved in the 
 dry weather. 
 
 Beyond the Eldoma ravine pack-animals could, in 
 the first instance, be used, but the road for B^trgage animals, 
 wheeled transport could be extended gradu- '^'i»i'''i •''<^'^t>o"- 
 [illy, after the section already described was in good
 
 4 GO METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 working order, so as to replace the baggage train. The 
 bridle-path necessary for them would involve no very 
 heavy work. The descent and ascent of the Eldoma 
 ravine, some swampy hollows in Kabaras, the passage of 
 the Sio Kiver, and other such obstacles, are impediments 
 certainly no greater than those that presented them.- 
 selves in Burma, and which were surmounted by a vast 
 baggage train, with only a day or two's hasty road- 
 making by a company of sappers. As being a permanent 
 transport route, however, it would be worth while 
 expending some little energy and work over this road, 
 and throwing rough log bridges over some of the sticky 
 and treacherous hollows, easing the gradients, cutting 
 back the jungle, and removing loose rocks and boulders. 
 
 Baggage donkeys have accompanied almost every 
 Already proved caravau all the way from the coast to Uganda, 
 feasible. ^^-^^-j f^Q^ue caravaus have taken up consider- 
 
 able numbers of them. That they surmounted the diffi- 
 culties of the road, even with an enormous percentage 
 of casualties and sore backs, is the most conclusive 
 testimony to its practicability. For the road had been 
 wholly unprepared, the gear was unspeakably bad, the 
 saddles being often mere sacks of wet straw, the animals 
 were overloaded, the attendants (Swahilis) were men 
 who knew nothing whatever of animals, and rough and 
 cruel besides, while the animals had no ration given them 
 at all, and were generally herded in a zeriba by night, 
 being thus prevented even from grazing ; and, finally, 
 they were driven the whole distance through, a strain 
 which the very best of transport cannot stand. 
 
 It is on these points that I will venture to offer a few 
 remarks. For success with animal transport 
 
 Improved . , • i i i • 
 
 Methods. a stae'ine: system is essential, that the ani- 
 
 Staging System. i ^ / ,1 ^ J xi 
 
 mals may have the necessary rest, and those 
 that are sick and sore-backed may be relieved before 
 they are beyond cure. The dej>ots might be some fifty
 
 SYSTEM FOR THE ANIMAL TRANSPORT. 461 
 
 miles aj)art tliroughout the sections served by either 
 wheeled or pack transport. Intervening camps would 
 be made between depots, and it would be the duty of 
 the officer in charge of the section to see that adequate 
 fodder and water were procurable at these on the arrival 
 of a convoy after its day's march. Rough " lines " would 
 he made at these camps, so that the animals should be 
 sheltered, and properly tethered and tended. 
 
 I would recommend that depots should be situated at 
 the following points : — Salt Paver (railway terminus), 
 Kikuyu, Eldoma ravine, on the banks of the Nzoia, on 
 the banks of the Nile,^ and at the Uganda headquarters. 
 This gives six depots in a total distance of 558 miles, 
 being therefore on an average about 112 miles apart. Of 
 each of these a European would be in charge, while at 
 the chief and central depot at Eldoma there would be a 
 veterinary surgeon and stall' A convoy would change 
 its animals (or at least the majority of them) on arrival 
 at each depot, where sick and sore-backecl animals 
 would be put aside and treated ; while those Mdiich 
 were seriously incapacitated would be sent to the central 
 depot, to be turned out to graze and recruit. Hitherto, 
 there being no stations at which to leave sick animals, 
 and no one with technical knowledge to attend to them, 
 they have been merely abandoned to the hyenas. The 
 expense and criminal waste of such a system is too 
 obvious to need comment, and the result is that the 
 country is being rapidly denuded of even the little 
 transport (Masai donkeys) it did jDossess. 
 
 Tt must be admitted, once for all, that animals in 
 liard ^\■o^k need proper food. It is preposterous to sup- 
 l)Ose that they can march almost daily for three mouths 
 
 ' Not at the present crossing of Ripon Falls, Init Iiiglier up on tlie liighlaiuls, 
 described by the Times correspondent, in Cliagwt', as "a region ^liich bore a 
 striking resemblance to the upper i)arts of ^lau and Kikuyu. It presented a 
 cUarmiug appearance of forest and grass-clad hills." It is sparsely populated, 
 and the writer's camp was only two jnilcs from the Nile. — Times, Sept. 1.3th, 1893.
 
 462 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 at a time (750 odd miles) with only sucli precarious sub- 
 sistence as they may or may not be able to 
 
 Food Ration. "^ . ^ . "^ , . 
 
 jjick up on arrival m camp, being even 
 herded at night for fear of hyenas ! The wonder is that 
 the poor brutes survived as long as they did. 
 
 The animals on arrival in camp should be allowed to 
 graze, and fodder should be cut for their night consump- 
 tion. Instead of being herded like a flock of sheep in a 
 homa, in which there is barely standing-room, mares 
 and stallions being all together, so that one riotous 
 animal is suflicient to disturb the whole lot for the 
 entire night, they should be picketed separately in the 
 lines, ^ and each animal supplied with its allowance of 
 fodder, and its evening feed of grain. Hitherto no grain 
 ration has been given, though even the Swahilis allow it 
 to their animals. In our Indian wars it has been found 
 necessary to allow a fixed scale of grain ration, and it 
 may be assumed as an absolute certainty that this is 
 the least possible. For this grain has generally had to 
 be carried forward from the base on the animals them- 
 selves (as in Afghanistan, Burma, &c.), thus enormously 
 decreasing the carrying power of the baggage train, and 
 consequently adding greatly to the number of animals 
 (and attendants) required. This means a terrible addi- 
 tion to the impedimenta of an army, extra baggage 
 guards, &c., for the fighting force, and extra work for 
 the supply departments. If, in the face of these most 
 serious considerations, our practical soldiers in India 
 have fixed a certain scale of fodder as indispensable, it 
 is ridiculous to suppose that in Africa, under identical 
 or harder conditions, transjDort animals can be success- 
 fully employed on a reduced scale, or indeed on no scale 
 at all. 
 
 ^ These at the intermediate camps need only consist of a series of strong pegs 
 driven into the ground at intervals, or a line rope stretched between two pegs 
 or trees, together with head and heel ropes for tethering.
 
 FOOD, GEAR, ATTENDANTS. 463 
 
 The saddlery and equipment must be fitted to the 
 annual and adapted to the work. A rotten sacuiiery and 
 sack stufted with mouldy grass, a raw- hide equipment. 
 leather crupper, and a similar breastband (more calcu- 
 lated to gall an animal in ascending or descending steep 
 places than a cast-iron girdle), a girth consisting of a 
 thong of coir rope or hide, wdiose effect w^as about equal 
 to that of a nutmeg-grater, such are the benefits con- 
 ferred so far on the African donkey under British rule 
 wherewith to prove his capacity for transport ! This 
 is not the place in which to write an essay on trans- 
 port methods. Any book on Indian army transport 
 will furnish the details of a system which has been 
 perfected gradually through a long series of years, 
 and by the experience gained in that hardest of schools, 
 our " little w^ars " on the Indian frontier, under precisely 
 similar conditions to those in Africa. From India can 
 be procured, above all, the modern mule pack-saddle and 
 Saunclerson's elephant gear, both of which are as near 
 perfection as they can be, together with all the other 
 shnple gear required for ''line" use or on the march. ^ 
 Once introduced they can be manufactured in Mombasa, 
 or supplied by contract from the Indian arsenals and 
 Cawnpore harness factories. 
 
 Finally, it is essential that men with some knowledge 
 of animals should be employed. The Swahili 
 and all the Bantu races are most sinmilarlv 
 deficient both in knowledge of animals and in any sym- 
 jDathy whatever with them. An average porter has no 
 more idea how to handle an animal than you or I have 
 of the treatment or domestic routine of the Ichthyo- 
 saurus. These duties are essentially those which should 
 be performed by the pastoral tribes, the Masai, Somals, 
 
 ^ Major Elliott, 9th Bengal Cavalry, has lately invented an automatic loading 
 gear, which is at present Ijeing tested. It should be especially valnahlc in 
 Africa, where attendants are less skilled in loading tlian in India,
 
 464 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 and Wabiima, who love animals, and wonld probably 
 make good attendants, especially for (draught) oxen. 
 The latter are, however, as yet entirely ignorant of any 
 animals, except cattle and flocks, and the Masai have 
 not yet been found sufficiently tractable for emj^loyment. 
 The Somals are good, and have a knowledge of animals, 
 but, except the Aden Somals, who are exjDensive and 
 difficult to get, they are a troublesome race to manage, 
 and do not stand the climate. The fault of the pastoral 
 races is, however, that they are not physically suffi- 
 ciently strong to handle the loads if an animal falls, or 
 has to be unloaded and reloaded in crossing a stream. 
 A. batch of Swahilis should therefore accompany a 
 convoy for this purpose. If obtainable, Persians, and 
 the northern tribes of India — Pathans and Punjabis — 
 are unsurpassed as transport attendants. They are, 
 moreover, brave, and would, if armed, form an efficient 
 escort. It would, in any case, be of great advantage 
 that a small transport establishment should be brought 
 from India, in order that local attendants might be 
 taught by them the routine work, and the methods of 
 loading, &c. 
 
 If I have made the outlines of a system clear to my 
 reader, I shall have attained my object. Its 
 details would demand a volume instead of 
 half a chapter. I advocate the construction of a railway 
 for 208 miles over an area especially adapted for it, and 
 unadapted to other forms of transport. During its con- 
 struction wheeled transport can be used over this section, 
 or baggage animals employed via Taveta, where no 
 tsetse is found, or camels along the Sabakhi, where 
 fodder suited to them abounds. The second section, I 
 think, should be of wheeled transport over roughly pre- 
 pared roads. Its length would be 268 miles. The third 
 section would at present be served by pack-animals. 
 Its length would be 290 miles. I advocate strongly that
 
 THE ELEPHANT AS A TRANSPORT ANIMAL 465 
 
 the Indian scales of rations, percentage of attendants 
 (with their jemadars and dufFadars to supervise), and 
 improved gear, should be adopted for the animal trans- 
 port. I also insist on the necessity of an adequate 
 veterinary establishment. Two veterinary surgeons at 
 least would be required, one for the central depot, the 
 other for tour. They should be assisted by trained 
 "Salutries" from India, who can be engaged at small 
 cost. 
 
 With regard to the classes of animals best suited to 
 East Africa. I do not myself think that the eiass of animals. 
 elephant is of great use as a transport '^"''® Elephant. 
 animal. He is delicate, subject to many diseases, and 
 requires two attendants (one of whom at least must be bred 
 to the work), and also demands a great deal of arrange- 
 ment as regards fodder.^ In India he has been practi- 
 cally found " not worth his keep " (regarded purely as a 
 transport animal), except in certain exceptional districts 
 (Assam, &c.). As a necessary part of state ceremonial he 
 still remains in requisition. In Burma, however, where 
 the paucity of cultivated fodder (sugar-cane, green maize, 
 and flour) would render his maintenance otherwise im- 
 possible, the abundance of wild fodder is utilised, and 
 elephants are hobbled and turned out to feed in the great 
 forests during the night, being tracked up and l:)rought 
 back by their attendants in the morning. As they con- 
 tinually graze on the march as well, this is found nearly 
 sufticient, provided they are not too hard worked. A 
 sunilar system would probably be found practicable in 
 certain localities in Africa, and on these stages the 
 elephant might with advantage be used. 
 
 He would be invaluable in carrying through from 
 
 ' All elephant's ration consists of sugar-cane, green maize, dlian (green rice), 
 &c. , and flour. These (except dlian) are procurable in abundance in the culti- 
 vated districts in Africa. His wild fodder in India is chiefly the Ijark, «&c., of 
 the various Firii.'i trees. These also are faiily plentiful in Africa, as also acacia, 
 and many thick and succulent grasses. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 G
 
 466 METHODS OF AFKICAN TRANSPORT 
 
 the coast to the lake articles otherwise difficult to 
 convey, such as heavy and awkward sections of a 
 steamer, a piece of artillery, &c. He would also be of 
 great use in crossing swamp-land and rivers (especially 
 in Uganda), and in heavy forest. In such places fodder 
 would be procurable. One or two spare elephants accom- 
 panying a caravan of other animals would greatly assist 
 them by conveying loads across such difficult places. 
 Should it be imperative to send a convoy during the 
 rains, it might consist of elephants and j^orters. Where 
 "river-swamps" are frequent (as in Uganda, &c.), he 
 would be the only practicable means of transport till 
 bridges are made ; and he is not injured by the tsetse. 
 Probably, also, his domestication would have a consider- 
 able moral eftect. He would, of course, be invulnerable 
 to the Masai and spear-fighting tribes, and a few sharp- 
 shooters mounted on elephants Avould form an efficient 
 escort to a caravan. He w^ould be invaluable also in 
 moving and transporting heavy timber (especially around 
 the lake), in which ^vork he is almost solely employed 
 in Burma. I do not share the views of a recent writer, 
 that by using the elephant as a transport animal we 
 should deal a blow to the slave-trade far more easy and 
 efficacious than a railway ! Regarding his domestication 
 vide chapter xix. 
 
 The camel is the best of transport animals ; he needs 
 no more supervision than the mule or bullock 
 
 The Camel. . 
 
 (if so much), and carries twice the amount. 
 East Africa is, I think, w^ell adapted for the camel. 
 Along the Sabakhi (pending the construction of the rail- 
 w^ay, or the introduction of wheeled transport) he could 
 be used with advantage, and the abundant jhow which 
 grows along the river would suj)ply him wdth a favourite 
 fodder. Throughout most of East Africa the acacia 
 abounds (especially in Ankoli), and this is the best of 
 camel fodder. Indeed, as Mr Floyer says, "grazing
 
 THE CAMEL, MULE, ZEBRA, AND DONKEY 467 
 
 without acacia is of small advantage to the Arab 
 camel." ^ 
 
 If the cold on the higher plateaux be found too great 
 for him, he could be used in the stages on the plains and 
 in the lake districts (Ankoli)." It is essential that the 
 camel should be attended l^y men who understand him, 
 for he is a delicate animal, and is also given to eating 
 indiscriminately of bushes which may be poison to him.^ 
 The camel is not indigenous to Africa, but has now 
 spread over the whole of the north of the continent as 
 far south as Lat. 6°/ 
 
 Of all transport animals the hardiest, and therefore, 
 on the wdiole, perhaps the most useful, is the 
 
 I n^ 1 1 1 • 1 1 Mule and Zebra. 
 
 mule, lo be w^orth his keep and super- 
 vision, mules should not be less than thirteen hands high, 
 and capable of carrying 180 to 200 lb. over rough country. 
 This they will do if provided with a suitable saddle, so 
 that the load may ride easily, and sore backs and con- 
 tinual breakdowns be avoided. Of the possibilities of 
 using the zebra I have much to say in chapter xix. 
 The donkey of Africa is a capital little beast, extremely 
 
 1 Kew Bulletin, Dec. 1892. 
 
 - There is a hill camel, however (as well as a plain camel), and this animal is 
 used in the rough and stony hills of Afghanistan, in the most rigorous cold. I 
 have myself seen him carrying 9(J0 lb. of merchandise over such countiy ! Such 
 a beast, if imported, would be invaluable in the highlands of Africa. 
 
 •* 'i'his is well recognised by tlie Somals, who watch their animals carefully 
 when at graze, and do not take them to tlie places where the tree which is par- 
 ticularly fatal to them grows. Tliis is coutirmed by inference by Mr Floyer. — 
 Kew Bulletin, Dec. 1892. 
 
 ■* For details of the introduction of the camel into Africa vidt chapter xix. 
 Gordon introduced this animal into the South Sudan. — Journals, pp. 142, 16(1, 
 &c. ; Camels have been successfully imported in German South-West Africa. 
 With a load of 2.")U lb. they travel two and a half miles an hour, passing through 
 a waterless country for six days. They do not become sore-footed in a stony 
 country like unsliod horses and oxen. — (ilobus, Bd. Ixii. p. 19; K. S. (Jeog. Soc. 
 Mag., vol. ix. p. 48. The introduction of the camel into Australia is described 
 by the Pioneer, Feb. 20th, 189.3, as " the most successful example of acclimati- 
 sation the world has seen. . . . Tlie colonial-born exceed their imported parents 
 in size and strength." The importation of the camel may lead to the immigra- 
 tion of his Afghan and Punjabi attendant — as it has done in Australia — a result 
 which would probably be a benefit to East Africa {vide p. 4S9).
 
 468 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT 
 
 hardy, straight-backed, and strong. He usually carries 
 Doukey, Pony, "t^o porters' loads (130 lb.), and this, 
 and Bullock. nuder present conditions, except for selected 
 animals, is, I think, rather excessive for long and con- 
 tinuous marches. If properly fed, however, with proper 
 gear, and over a prepared road, he is quite up to this 
 weight. As an adjunct to other transport, donkeys 
 (which can be bought from the Masai in considerable 
 numbers) would be useful animals, but their small size, 
 and consequently the small load they carry, renders them 
 inferior to the mule, since they require almost the same 
 supervision, veterinary attendance, &c. I would not re- 
 commend the introduction of ponies as transport animals. 
 Except the Kabuli " Yaboos," and the Shan ponies 
 of Burma, neither of which could be procured, they are 
 not a success, being too delicate and thin-skinned, and 
 hence liable to galls, &c. The bullock used as a pack- 
 animal is a tiresome beast, giving endless trouble on the 
 march, difficult to equip, and liable to many diseases. 
 His " patience " is exasj^erating, for he lacks spirit, and he 
 succumbs at every obstacle, refusing to make an effort 
 like the mule. He therefore wears out his attendants, 
 and is Avholly unsuitable over bad roads. As a draught 
 animal he is absolutely invaluable. 
 
 Africa can itself supply elephants for domestication 
 Sources of (^^^ cliap. xix.), but a few Indian animals 
 
 supply. would be required for Khedclah purposes. 
 
 The camel can be imported from Northern Africa or 
 Arabia, There is no difficulty m procuring this animal ; 
 he may probably also be obtained from the northern areas 
 of East Africa itself (Turkana, Suk, and South Sudan), 
 where he would probably be cheap, and his over-sea 
 transport saved. The mule is hard to get, and India 
 demands more than the market supplies. It could be 
 bred in the establishments on Man, iDut this would be 
 a matter of time. I maintain, however, the possibility
 
 SOTJECES OF SUPPLY OF ANIMALS. 4G9 
 
 of his place being taken by the zebra (chap, xix.), and 
 of these animals there is an illimitable supply in East 
 Africa. The bullock, as I have said, is obtainable in 
 Africa, and so is the donkey. Of the latter, the districts 
 to the north will supply great numbers. 
 
 By such a system not only would the cost of transport 
 be very greatly reduced, but by the estab- collateral advan- 
 lishment of such stations and depots, the ^'^°^^' 
 construction of rouo-h roads, and the institution of reo-ular 
 convoys at stated periods, an organised administration 
 worthy of the name would be facilitated throughout the 
 country. These stations would work in harmony with 
 the general scheme, aifording a nucleus alike for colo- 
 nies and settlements, for military posts, for heliograph 
 stations, or for trade. 
 
 Some experience of steamers on Nyasa, on the Ira- 
 waddy, and on the Zambesi-Shire, enables 
 me also to form an idea of the kind of boat 
 best suited for the navigation (1) of the lakes; (2) of 
 the Nile waterway. The elaborate statistics I collected 
 in connection with the scheme for the control of Nyasa 
 (nde cliapter viii.) are also before me. If a railway should 
 be constructed aci'oss all or a part of the country between 
 the coast and the lake, the conveyance of steamers would, 
 of course, be a matter of no difficulty. Any discussion 
 of cost of transport is therefore premature. Under 
 present circumstances we must calculate at least £150 to 
 £200 per ton for freight of awkward steamer pieces ; 
 with wheeled transport or elephants and a more complete 
 transport system this cost would be greatly reduced. 
 
 When once i)laced on the lake, the main difficulty 
 would be in the fuel supply. On the Albert Lake this 
 Las been already exhausted by Emin's steamers, but wood 
 will be procurable on the Victoria and Albert- Edward 
 for some time to come. With a section of a railway and 
 a regular transport system such as I have desci'ibed,
 
 470 METHODS OF AFRICAN TRANSPORT. 
 
 petroleum^ could be conveyed for fuel when the wood 
 supply failed. The steamer for the Nile should be about 
 65 ft. long (15 to 20 ft. beam), drawing not more than 
 2 ft. of water. The size for the lakes solely depends 
 on the question of transport thither. A competent 
 engineer '^ has kindly furnished me with the fullest sta- 
 tistics about the aluminium steamers now constructed 
 for the Swiss lakes. Their initial cost is about double 
 that of an iron or steel vessel, but being one- third only 
 of the weight, an enormous saving would be effected if 
 they were transported otherwise than by rail. 
 
 I have endeavoured to show (l) that it Avould be 
 advantageous to make a railway from the 
 
 Couclusioii. Ill 11 1 1 
 
 coast to the lake, and that there are adequate 
 reasons for undertaking it ; (2) that failing a railway 
 throughout, it is feasible to make one up to the interior 
 plateau, and to establish animal transport beyond ; (3) 
 that an animal transport service could be established 
 throughout from the coast to the lake, failing even this 
 first section of a railway. Finally, in the absence of any 
 transport scheme whatever, it would be possible to con- 
 tinue our administration of Uganda on economical lines 
 by utilising the railway projected by Germany. But 
 a policy so emasculate and feeble is to be deplored, 
 for in such a case our energy and our enterprise would 
 all be diverted into the German sphere, and would go 
 to enrich German East Africa. 
 
 ^ In ordinary petroleum-motors up to 6U h.p. the consumption is, I believe, 
 about 1 lb. per h.p. per hour. Its advantages are (1) economy of bulk and 
 weight in transport ; (2) economy of space on steamer ^ increase of space for 
 cargo. It is, however, premature to enter into these calculations. 
 
 - C. L. Du Riche Preller, Esq.
 
 471 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFEICA. 
 
 Reason for African laziness— Exaggerated view — ]My own experience — 
 Qualities of the African — Voluntary labour in Xyasalancl — Wages and 
 workers — In East Africa — Market spoilt by Swahilis — Other testimony — 
 The Waganda — Employment of slave labour — By whom employed — 
 Export of slave labour — Result on slave-trade — Effect of employment on 
 the slave — Summary of results of slave-labour — Remedies — Provision for 
 family of employe — Methods of independent travellers — Ei'-sumc of 
 remedies — Conclusion of African labour — Alternative establishment of 
 colonies — British Indians — Well adapted — Class required — Persians — 
 West Africans — Chinese. 
 
 (^The commercial value of East Africa is largely depen- 
 dent on the labour available to develop its Laziness of the 
 products. ' It has been said that the African ^^^^'^''*"- 
 is inherently lazy, and that he will do no more work 
 than he is absolutely compelled to, and will relegate 
 even that to his women. This is to some extent true, 
 for the fertility of the soil, and the fact that his wants 
 are limited solely to his daily food, render it unneces- 
 sary for the savage to exert himself, since a bountiful 
 nature supplies him with all he needs at a very mini- 
 mum expenditure of toil. The f)Opulation of British 
 East Africa (to 6° N. lat.) has been estimated by Mr 
 Ravenstein, an acknowledged authority, at 6i millions, 
 or some 14 per square mile.^ Even this population is 
 restricted to certain areas. Contrast this with, for in- 
 
 ' Pai'tition of Africa, page 461.
 
 472 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA. 
 
 stance, the population of Mauritius, which supports an 
 average of 381 inhabitants to the square mile, and it 
 will be seen that there is at present little reason for the 
 African of these countries to exert himself, for, so far as 
 space and food supply are concerned, he has not felt the 
 pressure of the " struggle for existence." 
 
 Yet though there is some truth in the picture, it has, 
 Exa^crerated I tliiuk, been overclrawn. Carlyle's writings 
 ^^'^"^^'' had so extraordinary an effect on his country- 
 
 men, and have been so wddely read, that his description 
 of the emancipated negro, who had no earthly w^ant 
 beyond his pumpkin — which pumpkin ripened without 
 his efforts, so long as he scratched a hole with his finger 
 and inserted the seed — has been accepted as a sketch 
 true to nature, and it was from the methods and habits 
 of the West Indian ex-slave that the conception of an 
 African's character has been drawn. I have endeavoured 
 to show in chapter vii. that the abolition of slavery 
 caused only a temporary dislocation of the labour market. 
 The sudden change from enforced labour to freedom natu- 
 rally produced this result,^ which is well summed up in 
 the historical reply of the freed slave. A friend remarked 
 that since he became a free man he supposed " Sambo " 
 had nothing to do but cock his leg and smoke his pipe ? 
 " I don't trouble about that," he said, "I let the leg 
 cock hisself." In his actions and in his words the newly 
 freed slave felt he must emphasise the change. I have 
 quoted Lord Brassey's testimony to prove that this 
 temporary dislocation of the labour market has already 
 righted itself "At the present day," he says, "labour 
 is not more costly than when slaves were employed." 
 This goes far to prove that the Afi'ican is not inherently 
 lazy, but that even with temptations to sloth and idle- 
 ness (which might prove equally or more operative on 
 our own masses) he is not an unwilling worker. 
 
 1 Vide Sir G. Portal, Blue-book Africa, Xo. 6, 1892, page 4.
 
 THE AFRICAN AS A WORKER. 473 
 
 On Lake Nyasa I carried out sucli Avorks as fort- 
 building, timber-sawing, earthwork, &c., with 
 native labour with grood results. In TJoanda 
 a really vast amount of work was done by the porters, 
 including heavy earthwork, carrying, trinnning, and 
 placing some 5000 logs, house-building, thatching, and 
 lield cultivation. In Unyoro, during our six months' 
 travel, three stockades were built, involving timber- work 
 and earthworks, and five other similar stockades were 
 more or less completed for the Sudanese. Prior to my 
 expedition to Uganda, seven other small forts had been 
 ])uilt between the coast and Kikuyu. This work, how- 
 ever, was in every instance done by men on a permanent 
 engagement, and hence entirely under my orders, and 
 l)ound to work during the regular hours. It is, however, 
 \aluable, as showing the capacity of the African for 
 regular and continued labour. 
 
 So far, therefore, as my personal exjDerience goes, I 
 liave formed the following estimate : (1) No Qualities of 
 kind of men I have ever met with — including -^*'"<=^"^- 
 British soldiers, Afghans, Burmese, and many tribes of 
 India — are more amenable to discipline, more ready to 
 fall into the prescribed groove willingly and quickly, 
 more easy to liandle, or require so little compulsion as 
 the African. (2) To obtain satisfactory results a great 
 deal of system, division of labour, supervision, &c., is 
 required, (o) On the whole, the African is very quick 
 at learning, and those who prove themselves good at 
 tlie superior class of work take a pride in the results, 
 and are very amenal)le to a word of praise, blame, or 
 sarcasm. 
 
 These results, achieved by men in regular employ, 
 and in some degree disciplined, are apart Labour iu 
 from the (piestion of voluntary daily laboiu". Nyasaiand. 
 fhe extent, however, to which free labour has been 
 employed in the Shire highlands is infinitely more
 
 474 
 
 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA 
 
 striking than anything I have adduced. I have given 
 an ilkistration of the church at Blantyre, with the 
 object of showing what can be done in Africa. It would 
 contrast not unfavourably with any church in England. 
 Designed by the Rev D. Clement Scott, it was entirely 
 
 4 
 
 Blantvre Church (Exterior). 
 
 constructed by free native labour under European super- 
 vision. It is of burnt brick ; and every single requisite 
 for its construction was made on the spot. Mr Moir's 
 house (illustration p. 51) is another example, and so is 
 every missionary's house at Blantyre. Dr Laws on 
 Nyasa was not less successful, and his houses and schools
 
 VOLUNTARY XATIYE LABOUR IN NYASALAND. 475 
 
 were equally well built. Enormous plantations, covering 
 from 3500 to 5000 acres of ground, and supporting 
 about ten million coffee plants, besides sugar-cane and 
 tobacco, &c., have been made, and the constant care and 
 tillage required for crops of this nature are entirely 
 supplied by free native labour. Irrigation, carpentry, 
 brickmaking, and many other industries have been 
 successfully inaugurated. 
 
 These labourers include men from distant tribes, and 
 large contingents even come from the Angoni workers and 
 (Zulus), the scourge of the country, who wages. 
 were formerly suj)posed to be unmanageable, and ad- 
 dicted only to war and rapine. The ordinary wage is 
 from 3s. to 4s. per mensem ; artisans 4s. to 10s. ; women 
 and girls, 2s. to 3s. Dr Laws writes that a gang of 
 540 came 300 miles for six months' work, and Buchanan 
 mentions that Angoni have come from 300 to 400 miles, 
 as also Atonga. They usually stay three or four months, 
 and in order not to expend the cloth they earn, they 
 bring food with them, and when this is finished, will 
 work overtime (Saturdays and Sundays) or at meal- 
 times, cutting fuel or grass to sell for food. The ques- 
 tion of rations is, however, a difficult one, and j^i'obably 
 the employers of labour will eventually have to feed the 
 labourers. Buchanan says that labour is plentiful, and 
 only peace and greater f icilities of transport are neces- 
 sary to ensure large returns. 
 
 Voluntary native labour has also been employed on 
 the East Coast by the Imperial British East Free Labour- 
 Africa Company, but, so far as I have seen, ^''"'* '^""''^• 
 it has not been exceptionally successful in results, owing 
 to lack of system and supervision.^ The natives, more- 
 over, l^elong to that laziest and most drunken of tribes, 
 
 ^ Fitzgerald writes enthusiastically in his report of the prospects of the free 
 labour market (fugitive slaves and ^VanJ■ika) on the borders of the coast zone, 
 i)ut I confess, from wliat little I saw of tliis tribe, his anticipations appear to me 
 somewhat optimistic, at least in tlie immediate future.
 
 476 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA. 
 
 tlie Wanyika (Giriama)/ the workers are largely women , 
 and the incentive, probably, a failure of crops. The 
 employment of labour on the plantations seems to have 
 been more successful. Very successful results have also 
 been achieved with purely local and voluntary labour 
 among the Wakamba by Mr George Wilson in road- 
 making for the Scottish Industrial Mission. The 
 Wakamba are, however, a lazy and indolent tribe, and I 
 look, therefore, on the really excellent results achieved 
 by ]\Ir Wilson rather as an indication of the extra- 
 ordinary influence that gentleman has acquired among 
 the natives — who will do for him Avhat they will do for 
 no other white man — backed by indomitable energy and 
 personal exertion, rather than as a real standard of tlie 
 capabilities of the Wakamba from which we could justly 
 draw working conclusions. The Germans are stated to 
 have found no difliculty in procuring free labour in the 
 development of their plantations in East Africa, though 
 they admit that they also used slaves. 
 
 The free labour market is, however, ruined by the 
 extravao'ant prices paid by Arabs and 
 
 Labour Market i -t /i • n T- • i 
 
 spoilt by bwahilis (bidding against each other) for 
 
 food for their caravans, and by agents from 
 the coast, who come to barter for goats and grain. This 
 has recently been borne witness to, emphatically, by 
 the 'Times' correspondent^ (see pp. 273, 353, 444, &c.). 
 The Arab, therefore, has only himself to blame for the 
 spoiling of the free labour market in East Africa. 
 It is due (1) to the existence of slavery and forced 
 
 ^ He adds: "I would point to the Company's experimental plantation at 
 Magarini, worked entirely by Wanyika, as a most satisfactory proof of my 
 belief." — Report, pp. 14, 30. 
 
 - " The Swahili traders also ruin every market they go into by the extravagant 
 and ridiculous prices they pay for food. In former times at Nzoi I have given 
 as little as one string of small beads per man for a day's rations. This time 
 the natives were asking as many as ten strings for three and a half days' 
 rations, and wanted, moreover, the most expensive kinds of beads in exchange 
 for fowls, eggs," &c.— Times, Feb. 23d, 1893.
 
 REASONS OF DEFICIENT LABOUR IN EAST AFRICA. 477 
 
 labour ; (2) to tlie incapacity of the Aral) as a trader 
 or labour master. Many writers have blindly followed a 
 lead, and extolled the Arab as a keen and successful 
 trader, whom it would be difficult for us to rival or re-^ 
 place in Africa. I hold with jNIackay that the reverse is 
 the real truth. ^ As a result of his insensate methods 
 the lowest grade coolie hire is about 15s. per mensem, 
 I believe, on the coast, as against 3s. and 4s. in Nyasa- 
 land. A porter gets $5 per mensem, with food extra — 
 viz., about 16s. per mensem; including supervision his 
 cost is about £1, Is. per mensem, so that porterage is 2^ 
 times more expensive than in Nyasaland.- 
 
 8ir Henry Loch, whose varied experience gives weight 
 to his verdict, spoke hoiDefully of the 
 
 , , iP,i tf»'ii 1 Other Testimony. 
 
 develojDment oi the Atrican labour supply 
 in his speech last November (1892) at the London 
 Chamber of Commerce banquet.^ Mr Keltie, as the 
 conclusion arrived at from his perusal of the masses of 
 African literature digested in his admirable book, and 
 from his personal acquaintance with almost every living 
 African traveller, thus sums up the case as regards 
 African labour : — ■ 
 
 "We may banish the luifoundecl idea that the African native 
 
 ^ " Already in Zanzibar all tlic trade has passed into tiie hands of Indians, 
 which demonstrates the inability of the Arab to compete on fair terms with 
 other traders." — Life of Maokay, p. 441. V^ide vol. ii. p. 6.35. 
 
 '-' The price paid for conveyance of a load (4U to oU lb. ) from the Shire to 
 Blantyre is 6d. — viz., a distance of 25 miles, or Is. to Matopc ((50 miles). It 
 would, therefore, cost Is. 6d. to convey IS'y pounds to Blantyre. Two Swahili 
 porters would carry this 25 miles for 2h days' hire, viz., lis. Gd., the rate being, 
 therefore, as Is. Od. is to 3s. 6d., or 2V ; but even this is below tlie actual com- 
 parison, for the march from the Shire to Blantyre is ec^ual to double the distance 
 on tlie tlat, being up very precipitous hills. 
 
 •* "The native has not yet realised the importance of developing the soil 
 or the industries beyond what may provide for his daily re(|uircments. This 
 no doubt creates a diOiculty as regards labour. The spread of education and 
 the natural instincts of the human mind, and the desire to acquire wealth, by 
 which they may obtain what they consider the luxuries of life, will no doubt 
 very shortly induce the natives to pass into the country more than they do at 
 present, and to provide the labour that the farmer requires. "
 
 478 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA. 
 
 can never be trained to labour.^ . . . But we must not expect in 
 this and other matters to force them, in a generation or two, up 
 to a stage which it has taken us 2000 years to reach." - 
 
 Mr Silva White seems to adopt the same view.^ The 
 results that Gessi Pasha achieved in his provmce bear 
 witness to the same thing/ 
 
 These remarks apply to the coast and to the savage 
 tribes of the interior. The Waganda merit 
 
 Waganda, &c. 1 . - 1 1 rpi 1 
 
 a paragrapli to themselves, iliese people 
 are extremely clever in artisan work, and very eager to 
 learn all handicrafts. Their native manufactures are 
 singularly good. As blacksmiths they fashion beauti- 
 fully-made spears, &c. A smith, taught by Mackay, 
 was one of the best native workmen I have ever seen, and 
 extremely clever as a gunsmith. He could repair a lock, 
 make and temper a delicate spring, and detect a cause 
 of error with marvellous skill ; but it was regrettable 
 that the only trained workman should be a gunsmith, 
 whose talent was equivalent to an annual import of 
 arms ! Their tanning of skins is almost perfection ; they 
 render them as soft as a kid glove, v\dthout smell, and 
 with the gloss of the coat retained. Their pipes and 
 bowls of earthenware are so beautifully fashioned and 
 glazed that people to whom I have shown them had no 
 idea they were mere pottery. Their artistic taste is 
 shown in the beauty of their beadwork, the weaving of 
 coloured grasses as " pombe stems," the finely turned 
 ivory bracelets, &c.; their invention in the discovery 
 of the method of making soap, &c. ; their skill in 
 carpentry, by the perfect gun-stocks they will turn out, 
 almost equal to a London maker's, and in their house- 
 building. These ^^eople show great promise as artisans 
 
 ^ Partition of Africa, p. 454. 
 
 - Ibid., p. 4.32. He adds: "Hundreds of South African natives work at 
 the diamond and gold mines, and serve in various capacities in the British 
 colony of South Africa," p. 452. 
 
 ^ Development of Africa, p. 222, * Gessi, p. 365.
 
 WAGANDA AS ARTISANS — SLAVE LABOUR. 479 
 
 for building, steamer work, antl the more civilised 
 methods of agriculture, &c.^ The Sudanese, too, have 
 clever workmen. From old tins they made and soldered 
 kettles and cooking-pots ; one man made me a new key 
 to a lock, and a sight to a Maxim gun, but he had 
 of course been trained. They worked the steamer on 
 the Albert Lake entirely themselves, and have skilled 
 eno'ineers amono- them. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of African native labour, it 
 is necessary to say a word on the question Employment of 
 of the employment of slave labour by Euro- ^^'"'^ Labour. 
 peans. It must be clearly understood that a contract 
 made with a slave-owner for the supply of slaves for 
 temporary labour is illegal to a European. It was, I 
 think, for manipulating slave labour in this way that the 
 Consul alluded to by the Rev H. Waller ^ forfeited his 
 position. But slaves have been constantly employed by 
 Europeans wlien the contract made was between the 
 slave and his hirer, the money being paid direct to the 
 slave. In most cases, if not in all, the slave paid a 
 portion, probably the greater portion, to his owner. 
 This payment was frequently made quite openly, in the 
 presence of the European engaging the slave,^ and with, 
 of course, the full knowledge of the Consular authori- 
 ties. An agent in Zanzibar receiving instructions to 
 
 ' I will not wearj' my reader with a fresh batch of quotations to prove the 
 skill of the Wagaiula and tlieir adaptability to the higher grades of artisan 
 labour. The books from wliich I have quoted in the previous chapter (p. 426) 
 will all bear evidence to tlie truth of my statements. By far the most 
 exhaustive account of the arts and manufactures of these people is contained in a 
 little book recently issued as a rcin'int from the Proceedings of the Royal 
 Society of Edinburgh, vol. xiii., by Dr Felkin, entitled 'Notes on the 
 Waganda and Wanyoro Tribes.' Vide also Emin's Essay on the Trade and 
 Conunerce of Uganda and Unyoro, Journals, p. Ill, et seqq. 
 
 - Heligoland foi- Zanzibar, p. 42. 
 
 •• r/'/ftSirJ. Willoughby's description of hiring porters. "Many of these 
 big fellows were led up by tiny Arab boys, who claimed tiiem as slaves, ami 
 wlio promptly annexed the lialf of their wages as soon as tiicy were paid." — 
 Sport in Easl Africa, p. 24 ; rifle also p. 22. Major Bartelott says throe-fourths 
 of the pay is taken by the owner. — Life, p. 242.
 
 480 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA. 
 
 engage porters would very probably at once put himself 
 in communication with Arab owners. And thus, by a 
 paltry subterfuge, slaves would be enlisted as free and 
 voluntary labour, though the real state of the case was 
 fully known alike to the British authorities and to the 
 employers. In Nyasaland the natives offering them- 
 selves for hire generally came from great distances, and 
 whether they were slaves or freemen was unknown. 
 If they on their return chose voluntarily to hand over 
 part of their earnings to their owners, the employers of 
 labour held that that was no business of theirs.^ Of 
 late considerable prominence has been given to this 
 subject under the term "technical slavery," more espe- 
 cially since Mr Waller told Lord Kosebery " that if 
 he desired to know of a well-beaten slave route in Africa 
 he would recommend him to the Company's caravan 
 route, since they hired slaves to convey their goods 
 to Uganda. 
 
 This indictment is hardlj^ just, if it should be inferred 
 By whom em- that the custom was limited to the Com- 
 pioyed. pany. I have never heard it alleged that 
 
 they made contracts with the owners. Such a thing I 
 did hear suggested, but the directors would never have 
 permitted it. All travellers,^ including Burton, Speke, 
 &c., engaged slaves in their caravans as porters. From 
 the time of the earliest explorer down to the present 
 day no obstacle has been placed by the authorities in 
 the way of such private individuals employing slaves, 
 
 ^ Dr. Laws says that in the engagement of labour in Nyasaland all were alike 
 accepted without regard to their status as slaves or freemen. " Pai't of their 
 pay," he adds, "may have been, and I believe has often been, given uj) to the 
 master." Both he and Buchanan state that no contract has ever been made 
 with owners, the slaves being engaged without reference to their statixs. 
 
 ^ Speech, Anti-Slavery deputation, Oct. 20th, 1892. 
 
 ^ Bartelott, speaking of Stanley's expedition, says, "Three-fourths of our 
 men are slaves." — Life, p. 242. The ' Times ' correspondent to', Uganda says, 
 "Nearly all porters are slaves." — Times, December 27th, 1892. Vide Heli- 
 goland, p. 11, from which I have taken these two quotations. <
 
 SLAYE-LABOUK IMPORTED FROM ZANZIBAR. 481 
 
 and it is done by travellers of all nationalities alike. 
 It has been done from the time of their initiation to the 
 present day by the Imperial British East Africa Com- 
 pany, and is openly defended by one of their directors.^ 
 It has been done, and is done, as I have shown, in 
 Nyasaland. It has been constantly done by Missionary 
 Societies."- Government itself has done the same thing. 
 The caravan of the survey party contained an excep- 
 tional number of slaves, and Sir Gerald Portal's cortege 
 must also contain slaves. There has seemed to be some 
 palliation of this questionable procedure in the esjDecial 
 instance of engaging porters for travel, but Government 
 have gone further, and for years and up to the present 
 day slaves are employed to coal our men-of-war at Zan- 
 zibar — the very vessels engaged in the su^^pression of 
 the slave-trade ! 
 
 But there is a worse phase of this question than the 
 mere local employment of slave labour. The Export of slave 
 despatch of Sir G. Portal already quoted ^=^^'°'"- 
 (p. 440) says that the Congo Free State and Natal have 
 carried off from Zanzibar hundreds of men for "willing 
 or unwilling " labour." This is indorsed by a writer to the 
 ' Times ' from Zanzibar,^ and a correspondent^ j^oints out 
 ill the columns of that paper that the German vessel 
 employed in transporting them was liable to seizure as 
 
 1 Scotsniau, Dec. (illi, 1892. 
 
 - No proof is necessary of tliis, but 1 may uote that the letter of the 
 missionary on Tanganyika given in 151ue-book Africa, No. 6, 1892, p. G, while 
 indorsing my statement of the employment of slave portei's by missions, states 
 that the London Missionary Society have ceased to engage slaves since 1888. 
 
 ■' Blue-book Africa, No. 6, 1892, p. 4. 
 
 ^ " A German steamer sailed to-day for the Congo with 400 mixed slaves 
 and free men recruited here for the Congo railway. ... I cannot repeat too 
 often that the enforced Congo emigration involves grievous injury to the real 
 interests of Zanzibar, and, as the Arabs all acknowledge, increases the demand 
 for slaves." 
 
 ■'' " Last year one of these heavy shipments of slaves to the Congo took place. 
 
 The transport was a German vessel, and, shortly after leaving Zanzibar, she was 
 
 overhauled by a British cruiser employed in stopping the slave-trade. The 
 
 slaves were questioned, and althougii tlic large majority said that they were 
 
 VOL. 1. 2 H
 
 482 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA. 
 
 a slaver ! Similai' evidence is given by a missionary on 
 Tanganyika/ 
 
 The result of this system of employment of slave 
 Result ou Slave- l^l^o^^' '^^ ^i direct incentive to the slave- 
 '^^'^*'^''- trade. This is stated clenrly by Sir G. 
 
 Portal in the despatch quoted.-^ It is indorsed by 
 the Zanzibar correspondent just cited, and many other 
 authorities. Mr Waller points out that not only does 
 the Arab procure new slaves to cultivate his planta- 
 tions,^ &c., in place of those he hires out, but the money 
 received in advance by the slave enables his master to 
 purchase two new slaves ! 
 
 As regards the result to the slave individually. In 
 Result to the "the socoud casc (over-sea export to Congo, 
 ^^"■^'^- &c.), one would like to know how many of 
 
 them ever came back ; what became of their wives and 
 families, and whether it is true that many, if not all, 
 when the time of their agreement expired, demanded to 
 1)6 taken back as promised, and were refused — for such 
 is the rumour afloat — and what has become of them. 
 But as regards the slave employed as a porter, I think 
 that employment in a British caravan should be a dis- 
 tinct good to the individual. He is treated in every 
 way as a freeman ; and if the caravan leader is worthy 
 
 taken away of their own free will, some stated otherwise. . . . Had he (the 
 captain) taken tlie transport as she was, she would have been as much a lawful 
 pi'ize as any of the slave dhows which our cruisers are taking and destroying 
 almost daily in the same waters." 
 
 ' Blue-book Africa, No. 6, 1S92, p. 6. 
 
 - " Moreover, the system tends to vitiate our efforts to sujipress the slave- 
 trade, as the Arab landowners are put to such straits for labour that they are 
 willing not only to give high prices, but also to run considerable risks in order 
 to obtain new slaves." 
 
 "* Heligoland, p. IL — It is a notable thing that so long as Zanzibar was 
 under an independent Sultan we could find no invective strong enough to 
 condemn the employment of slaves by the Arabs on their clove jjlantations. 
 Now that it is a British Protectorate, and on the yield of tlie clove estates 
 depends the financial prosperity of the Government, there is a somewhat 
 different tone, amounting in the last despatch from Zanzibar to something like 
 a half-hearted apology for the necessity ! Vide Blue-book Africa, No. 6, 189.3, 
 p. 3, lines 25-27.
 
 EMPLOYMENT BENEFICIAL TO THE SLAVE. 483 
 
 the nation he belongs to, the natives under him, whether 
 slave or free, will have learnt many useful lessons before 
 they return to the coast. Our hatred of slavery will 
 have been evident to them, and they will understand 
 for the first time their inborn right to be free. Perhaps 
 they \\'ill have met a slave caravan, and have joined in 
 the attack upon it, and the effort to free the slaves. 
 They will have picked up something of the feeling '^for 
 these people take their cue, like simple children, from 
 the spirit of their leaders) that slaving is a mean and 
 illicit trade, to be ashamed of This is the exact reverse 
 of the spirit and teaching of the Arab. 
 
 I have known a Swahili, whom I left in charge of a 
 small station, risk his owai and his men's lives, without 
 orders, to free a woman whom he had heard of as having 
 been bought by some slave-trading Swahilis at a con- 
 siderable distance off. This proves how completely he 
 was imbued with our own views of slavery, and thus it is 
 that these men become ready at any moment to attack 
 and fio'ht ao-ainst Slavers. Porters in a British caravan 
 would probably return with different views regarding 
 slavery from those with which they left the coast. 
 They saw our action in Uganda, in the many steps 
 that were taken to prevent slave-trade and to free 
 slaves. They saw the same thing in Unyoro with 
 regard to captives, and our attitude towards the 
 Manyuema raiders, and Kabarega. The interpreter would 
 explain over the camp-fire the terms of the treaty with 
 Mwanga and with the Mohammedans abolishing slave- 
 trading — for they are terrible fellows to gossip together, 
 and I have often been surprised at the extent and accu- 
 racy of their knowledge of our actions. Moreover, they 
 see that in the caravan the status of slavery is absolutely 
 ignored. A porter is promoted to as/iari or headman, 
 a private to corporal or sergeant, solely on his merits, 
 ^^■hcther he be slave or free. But apart from the moral
 
 484 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA. 
 
 improvement to the slave, there is a material advantage 
 to him in some cases by remaining a slave, for if he has 
 a kind master he can leave his w^ife and family in his 
 charge while he is away in the interior. 
 
 I have shown that the system of employing slave 
 labour is a direct incentive to the slave- 
 
 Summaiv of Re- , I'lii- iii i 
 
 suits of Slave trade, lor, while depleting the labour market, 
 
 Labour. . ^ . i ■, , • i , i 
 
 it lurnishes the slave-owner with the means 
 to acquire new slaves. That to the slave himself, how- 
 ever, it is not without its benefits. Lastly, that there 
 is an inconsistency in our energetic efforts to suppress 
 slavery in all forms while we ourselves employ slave 
 labour. This is obvious to the Arabs, and perhaps most 
 obvious where slaves originally captured in a country 
 are taken back to it in a state of slavery in a British 
 caravan — as in Nyasaland. 
 
 The remedy for tliis anomalous state of things is two- 
 fold. First, the abolition of the legal status 
 
 Reuitdie.s, , , , 
 
 of slavery [vide p. 180), in which case every 
 man presenting himself for hire would be either a free 
 man or a voluntary slave, and therefore no slave would 
 be under any necessity to give any portion of his earn- 
 ings to his master unless he received an equivalent 
 advantage in the maintenance of a family, &c., in which 
 case it would be a justifiable payment. If this bene- 
 ficial reform be not instituted, the re-enactment of the 
 cancelled clause of the Edict of Aug. 1st, 1890, by which 
 any slave had the right to purchase his freedom, would 
 render the employment of slave labour commendable — 
 jDrovided only that no slave should be allowed to take 
 service unless he had first declared his intention of 
 purchasing his freedom. 
 
 In the second place, to secure to the slave the 
 benefits of such action provision must be made by the 
 Administration for the maintenance of the families of 
 men absent in their employ in the interior. This is
 
 METHOD OF DEALING WITH SLAVE-LABOUR. 485 
 
 very easily done. The man, when engaged, assigns a 
 portion of his pay for the support of his family, and the 
 reiDresentative he names comes for the allowance monthly; 
 in the event of the man's death the balance due to him 
 is paid to his family. Such methods have been long in 
 use in India. If a man should be located up-country, 
 his wife can be encouraged and assisted to join him. I 
 adopted these methods in Africa, so far as I was able, 
 and my men all knew that if they asked me for any such 
 arrangement I woidd do my utmost to see that it was 
 done. Even under the present system, if a fair assign- 
 ment is made to the family from the pay of a married man, 
 and if cloth is liberally issued up-country for clothing and 
 shelter, and the purchase of small additions to the bare 
 ration, but little is left on return to the coast for the 
 owner to seize, or for squandering in a drunken debauch. 
 Sucli methods are fieasible to an Administration, and 
 were adopted by the I. B. E. A. Company, but how 
 can they be practised by tlie independent traveller 
 or sportsman ? The agent in Zanzibar could disburse 
 such family remittances, but I should like to know how 
 many travellers or commanders of exploring expeditions, 
 &c., have ever made such arrangements, or given a 
 thought to the women and families of their men, left 
 behind for two and three years at a time ? The grand 
 aim of African travel has been to discover new lakes or 
 mountains, and to call them after the names of those in 
 high places ! — to find new antelopes, new l)irds, or new 
 bugs, and to christen them Jonesii, Smithii, or Brownii, 
 and so make their proud discoverer immortal to the 
 ages — the sole and only originator of a brand-new 
 cockchafer ! Happy was the man who could find a new 
 lake, a new mountain, or a new chimpanzee I To do it 
 he might liave sacrificed many lives, and gone through 
 some discomfort himself; but what do we here in Eng- 
 land know of the details of African travel ?
 
 486 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA. 
 
 Perhaps it leaks out that many fell by the way, to 
 the horror of some good folk ; but still men call him 
 Great, that he should have accomplished his end, in 
 spite of all, and handled men like ninepins. Did he not 
 risk his own life too ? Probably he did. How many of 
 our brave officers in Burma at the present moment are 
 daily doing as much and more in the execution of their 
 duty, and are unknown ? But there are no new lakes in 
 Burma. Did it ever occur to any one to ask what provi- 
 sion was made for the families before starting ? — whether 
 dates of all deaths were recorded, and the accounts made 
 up on return, and the money paid to the relatives ?— 
 whether, if a man were missing, such search was made 
 as there would be if he had been a European, or whether 
 he was merely chalked off as a "deserter"? — whether 
 any cloth was issued for tenting and clothing to the 
 naked porters when crossing the high hills and plateaux 
 in the intense cold ? — for how many days out of the total 
 march the men had the full food they were entitled to ? — 
 how many men were abandoned to tlie care of" hospitable 
 natives," to be sold as slaves on the first opportunity ? — 
 whether rearguards were instituted to bring on the sick 
 and feeble ? — liow often food was taken by violence from 
 
 the natives ? — whether But I have said enouo-h. 
 
 We who have travelled in Africa and knon^ what all this 
 means — what constant hourly thought it involves — is 
 there one of us who can look back with nothing to regret ? 
 I am not writing of any particular expedition. I would 
 it were so. I have mant/ instances in my mind. But I 
 have diofressed. 
 
 I have said that the remedy for this unworthy employ - 
 
 Mesume of uieut of slave labour, which directly encour- 
 
 Remedies. .^^^^ ^^^ slave-trade, is twofold — first, in 
 
 making freedom optional to the slave by abolishing its 
 
 recognition by law, or, at least, allowing him to work out 
 
 his own freedom ; second, in giving him the advantage of
 
 PROVISION FOR FAMILIES OF UP-COUNTRY EMPLOYES. 487 
 
 an Administration, so that lie can provide for Lis family 
 when away without being forced to remain a shxve in 
 order that his owner may look after his family. The 
 remarks I have made on the evils inherent in the system 
 of allowing travellers to engage porters independently of 
 the Administration, of course applies with tenfold more 
 emphasis to the Swahili or Arab traveller or trader. 
 It is an essential, in my view, that all such self- organised 
 expeditions should be registered on the books of the 
 local executive, provision made for families, and deaths 
 accounted for. Under such a system sick men could 
 be left at up-country stations, and indorsements to that 
 effect and of deaths, &c., would be entered on the 
 expedition muster-roll by local officers of government. 
 
 With the example in Nyasaland before us, and tlie 
 other evidence I have given, we cannot l3e conclusion. 
 justified in assuming that the African free- Aivican L^vbour. 
 labour market will be a poor one, or that the supply will 
 not keep pace with the development of the country. 
 Slave labour is to be condemned, and it is incongruous 
 and unworthy tliat the British nation should be em- 
 ployers of slave labour, and that too in a manner which 
 directly encourages the slave-trade, wliich we spend 
 large sums of money to suppress, and loudly condemn in 
 Europe. Permissive freedom would be of great value in 
 rectifying this, and would probably lead to no sudden 
 block in the labour supply. Total abolition has had 
 that effect, but actual experience has proved that the 
 depletion of the labour market was a temporary and not 
 a permanent result of emancipation. 
 
 If, however, we accei)t the position that we go to 
 Africa not merely for the cfood of the African, 
 
 AltcrutitivC"— 
 but for our own, it follows that, if the lazi- Establishment 
 ,1 , . Ill 1 • • Ml of Colonies. 
 
 ness 01 the natives should make it impossible 
 
 for us to reap our advantage, we must find means to do 
 
 it in spite of tliem. T have shown that in East Africa
 
 488 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA. 
 
 tlie population is restricted to certain areas, mainly 
 through tribal wars and Masai raids. There are, there- 
 fore, large tracts of equally fertile country available for 
 colonisation, without dispossessing or in any way incom- 
 moding the natives. Such colonies might consist of 
 Africans — freed slaves, or the Sudanese from Equatoria, — 
 who would furnish labour. They might also consist of 
 Asiatic immigrants. From ^vhat I have already said it 
 will, I think, be needless to discuss or prove the suita- 
 bility of tliese lands for such settlers. 
 
 From the overcrowded provinces of India especially, 
 colonists niig^ht be drawn, and this would 
 
 Biiti.sli Imlians. t p it* -n 
 
 eitect a reliei to congested districts. Jbrom 
 tliem we could draw labourers, both artisans and coolies, 
 while tliey might also afford a recruiting ground for 
 soldiers and police. The Avants, moreover, of these more 
 civilised settlers would, as I have said, very greatly add 
 to the imports, and the products of their industry to the 
 exports of the country, thus giving a great impetus to 
 trade. The African, too, is extremely imitative. The pre- 
 sence in his midst of a fully clothed people would be to 
 him an example of decency whichhe would speedily imitate. 
 His wants would become identical with theirs, and thus, 
 while his status was improved, and a new encouragement 
 given to trade, he would be comj^elled to exert himself 
 and to labour in order to supply those wants. Moreover, 
 the methods of agriculture, the simple implements of the 
 Indian ryot, the use of the bullock, the sinking of wells, 
 the system of irrigation and of manuring the soil, &c. &c., 
 would soon be imitated by the African, and the produce 
 of his land would thus be vastly multiplied. As the 
 population increased, both by the introduction of these 
 aliens and by the cessation of war, famine, small-pox, 
 and the slave-trade — a result which would follow on a 
 settled government — the African would be compelled to 
 wc)rk for his living, not, as heretofore, by the compulsion
 
 IMMIGRATION FROM INDIA 489 
 
 of slave labour, but in order to provide himself with the 
 requirements of his increasing necessities and improved 
 status, and by that law of competition which compels 
 the indolent to labour. 
 
 It is not as imported coolie labour ^ that I advocate the 
 introduction of the Indian, but as a colonist i„,iiaiis well 
 and settler, under the Indian Emigration a-W'tea. 
 Act, which should be extended to include Africa. British 
 Indians have been established probably for centuries on 
 the coast of Africa. In spite of the fact that the Rajahs 
 of Cutch (from which district most of these people came) 
 forbade the emigration of women, they have established 
 themselves, and become thoroughly naturalised in the 
 country, so that many I met could hardly speak their 
 own language. They are w^ell adapted to the country, 
 and like it, and have managed to get almost the entire 
 trade of the coast into their own hands. So far they 
 have not attempted to penetrate the interior, except a 
 short distance up tlie Kwakwa, near Quilimane. 
 
 Though oin- colonies might consist of a small propor- 
 tion of these Guieratis, who are keen traders, , . , 
 
 ^ Class required. 
 
 the races who would be more adapted to our 
 |)urpose would be the Afghans and the hardy tribes of 
 Northern India, who already are finding their way to 
 Australia (see p. 467). No great percentage of Pathans, 
 Punjabis, Sikhs, and Ghoorkhas could be counted 
 upon, for India herself cannot afford to })art with many 
 of these, on whom she relies for tlie defence of her fron- 
 tier, and who form the backbone of her best regiments. 
 Still, the mere handful required to establish a few 
 experimental villages might well be spared by England's 
 
 1 Fitzgerald, in support of Asiatic coolie lal)Oiir in .\frica, say.s tliat "even 
 places so far distant from India as the West Indies are enabled to thoroughly 
 depend upon their foreign labour, . . . and Mauritius can be pointed to as a case 
 in point" (' F. 0. Miscel. Series,' 20(5, 18'J2). It may also be noted that there 
 is a large import of Indian labour both to the Cape and to Natal. Mr Addison 
 also brought ryots from Oiide to tend his opium plantation at Mopca.
 
 490 LABOUR SUPPLY IN EAST AFRICA. 
 
 greatest tropical dependency to her youngest sister 
 among the possessions of the British Empire. These 
 northern tribes would be especially adapted to the high- 
 lands and central plateau, whose climate would suit them, 
 while the Madrassee, and the natives of Oude, and other 
 agricultural tribes would perhaps do better at a lower 
 elevation. The old Indian system of giving jagirs, or 
 tracts of land, to veteran soldiers could well be applied 
 here, as recently in Burma. A few of these emeriti 
 established in Africa under the conditions of the jagir- 
 dar — viz., that he should maintain peace in his district, 
 &c. — would be invaluable in settling the country, and 
 from their sons and retainers the best of subordi- 
 nate officers could be got for the police of the 
 country. 
 
 Pei'sians would also form excellent material for col- 
 onistSj being good agriculturists, with a 
 knowledge of animals, and withal brave 
 men, who would make good soldiers. 
 
 The introduction of a few of the educated natives of 
 West Africa from our colonies in Sierra 
 
 West Africans. 
 
 Leone, &c., would be of great advantage m 
 the all-necessary task of the supervision of native labour, 
 as well as in subordinate administrative posts. They 
 have been found eminently serviceable in the Niger Pro- 
 tectorate, and, if carefully selected, would, together with 
 educated natives of India, be most suitable for the 
 charge of small stations and experimental farms, &c., 
 and for office work. Being unaffected by the climate, 
 much cheaper than Europeans, and in closer touch with 
 the daily life of the natives than it is possible for a 
 white man to be, they would form an admirable connect- 
 ing link (under the close supervision of British officers), 
 their status being nearly on a par with the natives, 
 Avhile their interests are entirely dej^endent on the 
 Europeans. As they would establish themselves per- 
 
 Persians.
 
 PERSIANS, WEST AFRICANS, CHINESE. 491 
 
 manently, with their famihes, in the country, they would 
 have a personal interest in it. 
 
 In spite of the views of Gordon, of Schweinfurth, and 
 of Em in Pasha,^ and in spite of the actual 
 
 1 • 1 ^ • 1 ri^ • Chinese. 
 
 expernnent now being conducted with Chi- 
 nese labour on the Congo, the "heathen Chinee" does 
 not recommend himself to me. (1.) There are the well- 
 known objections as regards his habits, his morals, and 
 his opium, &c. (2.) Though an admirable labourer for a 
 given 2^eriod, he has not j^roved himself a good colonist ; 
 nor will Chinese icomen emigrate in any numbers. The 
 colonies I would advocate would, as I have already said, 
 be object-lessons to the African savage of a status supe- 
 rior to his own, from which he should learn the simple 
 arts of agriculture, dress, &c. Most people would seem 
 to concur in the view so strongly insisted upon in 
 Australia, that Chinese colonies, even if they could be 
 formed, are not to be recommended as object-lessons, 
 save in tlie matter of industry. (3.) In the British 
 sphere, tlie colonists would have to deal with. British 
 officers, and the difficulties of the Chinese language 
 would be insuperable, while Hindustani and Persian jire 
 extremely simple languages, easily acquired. (4.) By 
 the introduction of Chinese we should gratuitously 
 abandon the advantage which, I think, should accrue to 
 our Asiatic possessions by the opening up of so splendid 
 a field for emigration. 
 
 ^ Einin's Journals, p. 417. Vide also Wilson and Felkin, App. vol. i. p. .34*2.
 
 492 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 Changes effected in countries by domestication of new animals — Authorities 
 for the assertion that African elephant was formerly domesticated— 
 Similarly in modern times — Young elephants useless — Asiatic sj^ecies 
 as tamers^ComiJarison with African — Nature of tusks — Asiatic cap- 
 able of living in Africa — Methods of taming — KIteddah operations — 
 Catching solitary bulls — Pitfalls — Noosing — Burmese kJteddahs — 
 Elephant's foot — Tusks — Length of life — Destruction of elephant — 
 Mode of preventing — Danger of elephant-hunting — Incident on Semliki 
 — Methods of hunting — The zebra — Colouring a protection — Exempt 
 from plague in East Africa, not on Nyasa — Zebra-mules — Domestica- 
 tion — Methods for— Value of, for transport — Various species. 
 
 Fjrom the time when, as a young subaltern in India, I 
 spent every available day's leave in the jungles after 
 tiger, bear, and deer ; or galloped after the wild boar 
 for "first spear" on an indifferent old screw, — the pur- 
 suit of big game has been a passion of my life. Those 
 who have met and killed most of the dangerous game, 
 such as elephants, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion, tiger, wild 
 boar, leopard, and bear, cannot of course but have 
 jDassed through some exciting scenes. I have not, how- 
 ever, left myself sufficient space to indulge in hunting 
 reminiscences, and just now the reading and the listen- 
 ing world is being regaled with lion and elephant stories 
 by a far mightier hunter than I, in the person of Mr 
 Selous. To him, then, I will leave the description of 
 " hair-breadth 'scapes," and confine myself for the most
 
 RESULTS OF DOMESTICATION OF NEW ANIMALS. 493 
 
 part to a few notes on particular animals, which I hope 
 may be useful as well as interesting. 
 
 Foremost among the beasts of Africa stands the 
 elephant. I have already alluded to his destruction by 
 native hunters, and suggested plans for his preserva- 
 tion, and have given my estimate of his value as a 
 transport animal. A word here as to the possibility of 
 his domestication, and the various processes bv which 
 this may be achieved. 
 
 It is interesting to note the great change which may 
 be effected in a country by the introduction or domesti- 
 cation of a single animal. The importation of the horse 
 into Mexico and the New World by the Sj^aniards will 
 suggest itself as a case in point ; or the domestication 
 of the pig, which is said to have put an end to cannibal- 
 ism in the South Pacific Islands ; or, again, the suc- 
 cessful introduction of the camel into Australia. But 
 perhaps the most remarkable instance, of the revolution 
 of the conditions of social life resulting; from the intro- 
 duction of a domestic animal, is to be found in the case 
 of the camel in North Africa. We are accustomed to 
 think of the Bedouin and his camel as inseparable, and 
 to suppose that their connection dated from prehistoric 
 times. Yet, in all probability, the camel was not bred 
 in Africa until shortly after the time of Mahomet, A.D. 
 640, and possibly was not domesticated there until even 
 later. The learned researches of Hitter^ establish this 
 fact on indisputable evidence. 
 
 Not only has the social life of the desert tribes been 
 revolutionised by the domestication of the camel,- but, 
 as shown l)y Mr Floyer, in his admirable paper on the 
 "Disappearance of Desert Plants in tlie Sudan," "^ it is 
 
 * Erdkiinde von Asien. 
 
 -' They are even dependent on liini for their fuel and their soaj), for both 
 of which camel-dung is used. With the latter clothes are said to be washed 
 extremely white by the Soraals. 
 
 3Kew Bulletin, Dec. 189±
 
 494 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 even probable tbat the face of the country has under- 
 gone a complete change, resulting from the introduction 
 of the camel and his Arab attendant. Large areas have 
 been deforested, and the game forced to leave the dis- 
 tricts they once frequented, by the grazing of the one 
 and the axe of the other, and it is not impossible that 
 the disappearance of the trees may have lessened the 
 rainfall, and led to the desiccation of these districts. 
 If such vast changes have followed the introduction of 
 one animal into North Africa, may we not hope that by 
 the domestication of the elephant, the camel, the zebra, 
 and the horse, for transport and rapid communication, 
 &c., and of the bullock and buffalo for purjooses of agri- 
 culture, a new era may be opened up for East Africa '\ 
 
 Since I first went to Africa I have strongly advocated 
 the taming of the African elephant.^ I stated recently 
 that the African elephant had been tamed by the Car- 
 thaginians in ancient times, and this was controverted 
 by Count Povoleri, F.Z.S.,^ who says that Hannibal's 
 elephants were undoubtedly of the Indian species. The 
 evidence, however, seems to point the other way. Dr 
 Livingstone,^ Mr Floyer,* the Rev, J. G. Wood,^ and 
 
 1 Yide paper read before British Association, Sept. 1889 (E.G.S. Proceed- 
 ings, Nov. 1889, p. 690), &c. 
 
 2 Letter to ' Times,' Dec. 3d, 1892. 
 
 ^ " In two medals (depicting elephants) the size of the ears will be at 
 once noted as those of the true African elephant. One of the coins is of 
 Faustina Senior (a.d. 141), the other of Septimus Severus (a.d. 197). 
 African elephants were even more docile than the Asiatic, and were 
 taught various feats, as walking on ropes, dancing, &c." — Missionary 
 Travels, p. .563. 
 
 * " To possess elephants was a ruling passion with Euergetes. Since 
 Alexander the Great showed their value in war, . . . Egyptian rulers 
 spared no pains to procure these mammoths from their own mountains." — 
 Floyer in Geog. Journal, vol. i. p. 411. 
 
 ° He quotes from Book I. Maccabees, " Wherefore he entered into Egypt 
 with a great multitude, with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen." — 
 Bible Animals. A writer in the ' Times ' mentions that Heeren in his 
 ' Historical Researches,' while constantly referring to Diodorus, Appian, 
 and Polybius, expresses the opinion that Africa supplied them with these 
 animals.
 
 DOMESTICATED BY THE ANCIENTS. 495 
 
 others, appear to hold that the African elephant was 
 domesticated in ancient times. 
 
 The denial of the domestication of the African elephant 
 apparently rests on the assumption that this animal was 
 not found north of the Sahara. This, as a writer in the 
 ' Standard ' ^ points out, is untrue. Elephants' bones 
 liave been disinterred in Algeria, Hanno speaks of herds 
 of elephants seen on the coast of Morocco in his voyage 
 in B.C. 470. Pliny, in a.d. 27, speaks of elephants 
 around the town of Rabat. The case for the domestica- 
 tion of the African elephant in ancient times is so 
 admirably summed up in a letter to me from Mr C. P. 
 Ilbert, that with his permission I quote it : — 
 
 " There is a book called ' Histoire militaire des elephants/ by 
 the Chevalier P. iVrmandi (Paris, 1843), who appears to have ex- 
 hausted pretty nearly all the available sources of information on 
 the use of the elephant in ancient warfnre. 
 
 "The Greeks and Ponians were well accjuainted with both 
 kinds of elephant, and with the physical differences between them. 
 Alexander learnt the use of the Indian elephant in his Indian 
 campaign, and handed on the tradition to his lieutenants and 
 successors. But the first of the Ptolemies, kings of Egypt, finding 
 himself cut off' from his Indian supply, determined to use the 
 African kind, and for the purpose organised extensive elephant- 
 liunts on the west coast of the lower part of the lied Sea, and 
 thence inwards. When the Pomans took over Egypt, they kept 
 u]) some of these stations. In B.C. 217 there was a famous battle 
 at a place called Paphia in Palestine, between Seleucus, king of 
 Syria, and Ptolemy, king of Egypt, in which the former used 
 Indian and the latter African elephants. The result showed 
 the decisive superiority of the Indian o\er the African kind. 
 There can, however, I think, be but little doubt that it was 
 the African kind that was used by the Carthaginians. 
 
 "There is abundant, and I tliink (|uite trustworthy evidence, 
 from Herodotus downwards, of the existence of wild elephants 
 ill Northern Africa, north of the Atlas range, in what is now 
 Algeria and Morocco. The very large number of elephants em- 
 
 Standard, Dec. Gtb, 1892.
 
 496 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 ployed by the Carthaginians, and the rapidity with which good 
 supplies were obtained, and the accounts of their elephant-hunting 
 expeditions, show almost conclusively that it was the indigenous 
 elephant of North Africa that they used. Hannibal took thirty- 
 seven of these from Spain across the Ehone, and some of them 
 accompanied him across the Alps into Italy and fought at the 
 battle of Trebbia. The latest date at which we hear of the wild 
 elephant in North Africa is about 300 a.d. In 700 a.d. they are 
 spoken of as extinct, so they must have been exterminated 
 between these two dates. 
 
 " I have looked at several representations of elephants on 
 Eoman and North African coins, and in some of these at least 
 I feel pretty sure that it is the large-eared African kind that the 
 artist has tried to depict. In many cases, of course, the animal 
 is so conventionalised that one cannot make out which kind is 
 intended. There is said to have been a representation of an 
 elephant among the hieroglyphics at Philae, but I have not seen 
 any copy of it." 
 
 As regards the domestication of this animal in modern 
 times. In a most interesting letter to ' Land and Water ' 
 from Mr Bnckland, it appears that the subject was taken 
 up some time ago by himself and some friends. It was 
 then ascertained that dealers in animals for menaereiie 
 purposes were in the habit of importing young African 
 elephants, a Mr Hagenburg having done so successfully, 
 and having at that time several for sale. Mr Jamrach 
 informed Mr Buckland that in the course of his experi- 
 ence he had known sixty to seventy young African 
 elephants brought at one time to Trieste, and thence 
 distributed by rail to German and other menageries. 
 He had himself as many as eighteen young elephants 
 at one time in London, and they were walked through- 
 out the streets from the ship loose like ordinary cattle. 
 If he had an order for twenty or thirty African ele- 
 phants, he could supply them in twelve months. The 
 late lamented "Jumbo" will also suggest himself as an 
 instance of a thoroughly tamed African elephant. 
 
 Perhaps the most striking instance is that of the
 
 DOMESTICATED IX MODERN TIMES. 497 
 
 elephant sent by Mtesa of Uganda to Seyyid Barghash 
 of Zanzibar. The Sultan gave the annual to Sir J. 
 Kirk, and he was marched through the streets of the 
 island completely tame and docile, helping himself to 
 sweetmeats from the shops, and otherwise making him- 
 self obnoxious in a most civilised way, until Sir John 
 Kirk gave him to Sir P. Wodehouse, and he was 
 sliipped to India, and eventually given to Sir Salar 
 Jung, in whose possession, to the best of my know- 
 ledge, he remains to the present day. Elton ^ describes 
 him as thoroughly docile and intelligent, and about 
 G ft. 6 in. hio-h. 
 
 Livingstone, Sir J. Kirk, Elton, and others familiar 
 with the African elephant, have all expressed the 
 oj)inion that he could easily be tamed. The Germans 
 declared their intention of making experiments to this 
 end, and Lieut. Ehlers went to India with the design 
 of acquiring information on the best method of taming 
 elephants, but, from the accounts of his travels there, it 
 has not as yet transpired that he has devoted any time 
 to this object. 
 
 I have had elephants under my charge both in India 
 and Burma ; at one time I had as many as sixty for 
 nearly a year. I have also had some dealings with the 
 African elephant. I may state it as my own opinion, 
 that the idea apparently conceived by Mr Buckland 
 and his colleagues of catching young elephants would 
 not, I think, prove a useful plan. In India it lias been 
 found that the expense of breeding or of keejjing a very 
 young elephant until he becomes mature and fit for use 
 is prohibitive, and the ease with which full-grown 
 elephants are domesticated renders their capture and 
 taming a cheaper operation. I see no impediment my- 
 self to the importation of a few Asiatic elephants into 
 Africa for khechlah oi)erations, and I believe that they 
 
 1 Journals, p. ")2. 
 VOL. r. 2 I
 
 498 
 
 THE AFEICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 would be able to effect the capture and the domestica- 
 tion of the African species with the same success as 
 attends their operations in India. Since, however, the 
 taming of an elephant often leads to a trial of strength, 
 and old fighting bulls of great power and weight are 
 kept for this purpose, it would be advisable, after the 
 elephants are enclosed, to shoot any bulls of great size 
 
 African and Indian Elephants. 
 
 and weight of ivory. The African elephant stands, as 
 a rule, a foot higher than the Asiatic (Baker), and 
 carries far heavier and longer tusks ; full-grown bulls 
 might therefore prove more than a match for their 
 tamers, though the Indian elephant is a heavier and 
 more powerful animal, in spite of its inferior height.^ 
 Since it is the female elephant which alone is required 
 for use — the males being subject to musth, and fre- 
 
 1 The largest bull elephant ever measured in India was 9 ft. 10 in., and 
 the largest female 8 ft. 5 in. (Saunderson). Males rarely exceed 9 ft. 6 in., 
 or females 8 ft. Faulkner (Elephant Haunts, p. 285) speaks of having 
 killed them over 12 ft. in height 1
 
 NATURE OF THE TUSKS. 499 
 
 quently, therefore, unmanageable and dangerous for 
 stated periods — the destruction of a certain number of 
 males would not be a serious loss. Indeed, in India the 
 males are not sought after, except by native rajahs for 
 purposes of show and state ceremonial. 
 
 Count Povoleri, in his letter to the ' Times,' ^ advocates 
 that a " more humane method of obtaining ivory " should 
 ])e adopted than that of killing the elephant, and states 
 that " an elephant's tusks, which are solid, can be cut 
 oli' with a sharp saw." One writer, commenting on this, 
 says that, " If the work were gone about in the right 
 way, the tusks might be removed without the destruction 
 of the animal, and his life sj^ared to grow new ones ! " 
 The tusks of the elephant are not solid throughout. A 
 large portion of the tusk is hollow, and contains the 
 nerve, but as the elephant ages, this hollow partially 
 fills up. A considerable portion of the tusks is em- 
 ])edded in the frontal bones, and their curve is such 
 that their bases nearly meet in their beds in the skull. 
 So firmly are they fixed, that in order to cut out the 
 tusks of a dead elephant, heavy axes have to be iised, 
 and the skull-bones chopped away bit by bit. I should 
 like to see the dental forceps by which our informant 
 would propose to undertake liis elephant dentistry! 
 Lastly, of course no new tusk would ever grow to re- 
 ])lace an old one, any more than you might expect a 
 new set of back teeth to replace those you may find it 
 convenient to be rid of 
 
 Saunderson states that exactly half the tusk is in the 
 skull, and half protrudes, though, as the lip covers 
 several inches, the part visible is less than that not 
 seen. In the African elephant, however, I do not think 
 tliat tliis rule holds, owing to the great length of the 
 tusk, and I doubt its universal applicability to the 
 Asiatic, as, for instance, to the Burmese, whose tusks, 
 
 1 Dec. .3(1, 1892.
 
 500 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 though small in diameter, are often very long. A 
 measurement of those shot by myself in Africa would 
 indicate rather more than two-thirds beyond the skull, 
 and barely one-third embedded in the bone. Thus tusks 
 over 7 ft. long have 2 ft. in the skull, and one measuring 
 4 ft. 6 in. has 16^ in. : on the other hand, a young male 
 with 4-foot tusks has 18 inches. The depth of the 
 hollow, as I have said, varies, less than half being solid 
 in young elephants, while in older ones it closes, though 
 the tusk lengthens. 
 
 As regards Count Povoleri's idea of obtaining supplies 
 of ivory by sawing off the tusks, as is done, he says, in 
 India : to the best of my knowledge, the reason for saw- 
 ing off the points of the tusks of Indian elephants is in 
 order that they may be less cumbersome to the animal, 
 and render him less dangerous. Great care must be 
 taken not to cut the tusk too high, the rule being that 
 the saw-cut must on no account be higher than the last 
 third of the total length of the tusk (measured from 
 the eye), or about half of the exposed j^ortion. If cut 
 higher than this, the hollow or soft ivory may be 
 touched, and inflammation and decay set in, from which 
 the animal would suffer violent toothache. Small pieces 
 of ivory so obtained have of course a market value, but 
 it is ridiculous to talk of their supplying the present 
 demand ; nor do these writers seem to recollect that 
 you must "first catch your elephant" before you can 
 saw his tusks — or extract them. 
 
 Indian elephants have from time to time been imported 
 into Africa with complete success, and have not suffered 
 from the climate or fodder. Several of these animals 
 were sent from the East Coast to Tanganyika in 1879. 
 Their mahout died, and the elephants also from want of 
 proper food and care ; some are sujDposed to have been 
 poisoned through eating noxious leaves. Indian mahouts 
 were taken to the Congo in 1886. Messrs Popelin and
 
 KHEDDAH OPERATIONS. 501 
 
 Cambier imported Asiatic elephants to Africa, but they 
 died owing to the ignorance of their attendants. Asiatic 
 elephants were also used in the Abyssinian expedition 
 in Africa. It thus appears that the Asiatic elephant 
 is capable of being introduced for the purpose of captur- 
 ing and domesticating the African species ; and I have 
 already shown that, alike in ancient and in modern 
 times, the latter has been j^roved easy to tame. 
 
 It may be interesting briefly to describe the methods 
 used for catching the elephant. I take my summary 
 from Col. G. P. 8aunderson's book,^ since he is the 
 liighest authority. 
 
 1. The hlieddali plan for capturing whole herds. In 
 this operation a large number of men, all trained to the 
 work, are required, togethei- \\\i\\ a number of koonkies 
 or tame elephants. The complete establishment of men 
 costs about £254 per mensem. They consist of coolies 
 (320), trackers (18), noosers (5), guards (21), and 
 superior establishment (3) ; total, 367. 
 
 The modus operandi is as follows : The expedition 
 follows up a herd and " halts within half a mile. Half 
 of the coolies then file oft' to the right, and half to the 
 left. Along these diverging lines, which are to meet 
 l)evond tlie lierd and enclose it, two men are left at 
 every 50 yds. or so as a guard. The surround when 
 completed is often six or eight miles in circumference, 
 as, if the ground is favourable, the men are posted more 
 widelv apart than two at 50 yds. In a couple of hours 
 the liuiiters run up a thin fence all round the ring. 
 Tlieii- only duty is then to see that the elepliants do not 
 break out of the circle." There is little difliculty in 
 doing this, especially after the first day or two. The 
 guards, of course, remain at their posts day and niglit, 
 sometimes for a week, sometimes nnich longer, and 
 cook and sleep there. The construction of the klieddah 
 
 ^ Thirteen Years among tlic Wild I'easts of India, cliaj). vii.
 
 502 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 inside the large circle is commenced as soon as the ele- 
 phants are surrounded. It is formed of stout uprights 
 about 12 ft. high, arranged in a circle about 20 to 50 
 yds. in diameter, and strongly backed by sloping sup- 
 ports, and binders behind. An entrance of 4 yds. in 
 width is left for the ingress of the herd, and the hheddah 
 is built on a spot where the thickness of the cover screens 
 it from view. To guide the elephants to the gate, two 
 lines of strong palisades are run out from it on each side 
 of the track by which they will approach. These guid- 
 ing wings diverge to perhaps 50 yds. across at their 
 commencement, which may be 100 yds. or so from the 
 gate. Once within this funnel-shaped enclosure, the 
 herd is easily driven forward by the men closing in 
 from behind. The gate is made very strong, and is 
 studded with iron spikes on the inside. It is slung 
 by rope hinges to a cross-beam, and is droj^j^ed as soon 
 as the elephants have entered. Inside, round the foot 
 of the palisade, a ditch is generally dug about 4 feet 
 wide and deep, to deter the elephants from trying the 
 stockade, or should they do so, to prevent their stand- 
 ing in a position to use their strength to advantage. 
 
 As soon as the hheddah is completed, probably in 
 four or five days from the time of the surround, arrange- 
 ments are made for drivino' the herd. A smaller interior 
 circle is formed by commencing at the end of the guid- 
 ing wings of the hheddah, and posting the men till the 
 elephants are again surrounded : they are then driven 
 forward, with shouts and shots, and generally enter 
 without hesitation. After they have been impounded 
 in the hheddah, the tame elephants are admitted with 
 their mahouts on the neck of each, and a ro|3e-tier 
 seated behind. Accidents rarely or never happen to 
 the men. The duty of the tame elephants is to secure 
 the wild ones, by separating them one by one from 
 their companions, when their hind-legs are tied together
 
 INDIAN METHODS OF CATCHING ELEPHANTS. 503 
 
 \)y the men, who slij) to the ground for the purpose. 
 A rope is then fastened round each captive's neck, and 
 another to one hind - leg, and they are led out and 
 picketed in the forest near. They are loosed from 
 picket and taken to drink and bathe daily by the 
 tame ones, who also have to bring a load of fodder 
 for each, so that two wild ones is the maximum that 
 one tame one can manage. 
 
 2. The second plan is used for capturing solitary 
 males. Four or five steady females, ridden by their 
 mahouts, who are partly concealed by a dark blanket, 
 approach the wild male. They constantly attend him 
 day and night for two days or so, keeping him con- 
 tinually on the move, the mahouts being surreptitiously 
 changed one by one. When at last he is tired out and 
 sleeps, two mahouts slip off, and tie his legs securely. 
 For a coujole of days he will struggle against his bonds, 
 and then, being exhausted, he is led off with a cable 
 round liis neck and one hind-leg, to be picketed and 
 tamed. 
 
 3. A third method of capture is by pitfalls, which is 
 l)arbarous and cruel, and results in the death of the 
 majority of those captured. Tame elephants are of 
 course used to extract them from the pits, and take 
 them out of tlie jungle. Tlie Mysore pits were 10 ft. 
 by 71 ft., and 15 ft. deep. 
 
 4. Noosing elephants is a rare and difficult method, 
 and full-grown ones cannot be caught by this method. 
 It consists, in fact, of running down a wild elephant 
 by tame ones, and lassoing him round the neck. Hand- 
 noosing round the legs is also practised, but rarely. 
 
 5. A fifth method, not described by Saunderson, is 
 practised in Burma. Permanent hhcddahs are built 
 of solid masomy. They consist of four walls in tlie 
 form of a square, inside which, at the distance of a few 
 feet, are strong poles placed some 3 ft. apart. A decoy
 
 504 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 herd of semi-wild females is maintained, and when a 
 male elephant is known to be anywhere in the vicinity, 
 this decoy herd is driven towards him. He associates 
 with them, and as they do not fear the approach of 
 tame elephants with their mahouts, it is not difficult to 
 drive them to the kheddah, the male accompanying 
 them. Once inside, the door is closed, and the females 
 are eliminated by a second door, till only the wild male 
 remains. He is now baited by trained men, who dance 
 in front of him, flourishing red rags, and inciting him 
 to charge. Just as in a Spanish bull-fight, his atten- 
 tion is kept constantly diverted ; but should he make 
 a determined effort to catch one of his tormentors, the 
 man can dodge behind the poles, between which the 
 elephant cannot pass, and so save his life. When utterly 
 exhausted, he is led out by tame elephants. Above 
 this kheddah is a broad verandah, on which is erected 
 a summer-house for the king and his court to see the 
 sport. The advantage of this plan is its comparative 
 cheapness compared to the first method. 
 
 Such are the methods for taming the elejohant. There 
 would, I think, be no difficulty in introducing them into 
 Africa ; but it would be necessary, in the first instance, 
 to bring a complete hheddah establishment from India. 
 After one or more drives, Africans would be fully able 
 to replace the majority of the Indians, and would enter 
 into the work with zest ; but skilled mahouts, noosers, 
 and trackers, with tame Indian elej^hants, would be re- 
 quired for some time. 
 
 Twice round the fore-foot is the heioiit of the Asiatic 
 elejihant, but I do not think this aj^plies to the African 
 species. The foot of an enormous elephant, whose tusks 
 weighed 200 lb. the pair, was exactly 4 ft. in circumfer- 
 ence ; and though I did not measure his vertical height, 
 I should imagine it would be at least 11 ft., for another 
 elephant I shot, whose tusks were 162 lb. the pair, had
 
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 DIFFEREXCES BETWEEN AFRICAX AXD ASIATIC. 505 
 
 a vertical height of 11 ft, 1 in., measured as he lay from 
 an upright stick at his shoulder by Grant. The foot, 
 therefore, of the African is comparatively much smaller 
 than that of the Indian species. 
 
 The male elephant alone has tusks in India, while in 
 Ceylon elephants of both sexes (with very rare excep- 
 tions) are tuskless. On the mainland some 10 per cent 
 perhaps are muknahs (tuskless). Both sexes of the 
 African species, on the contrary, carry tusks. Cow 
 ivorv is more valuable, weight for weight, than that of 
 the male, the tusks being of more uniform thickness and 
 lighter, and therefore cutting to less waste in the 
 manufacture of billiard-balls. Muhiahs, so far as I am 
 aware, are unknown in Africa. The weight of a very 
 large tusk of the Asiatic elephant would be 40 lb. The 
 largest ever shot was apparently abnormal ; the animal 
 had only one perfect tusk, which weighed 90 lb. African 
 elephants' tusks have been scaled up to nearly 200 lb. 
 The largest shot by myself weighed 102 lb., which, I 
 believe, is the heaviest ever shot and brought home by 
 aiiv sportsman : those of greater weight, to which I have 
 alluded, were bi'ought for sale in the Zanzibar market 
 in the way of trade, and not sliot by any European. 
 The length of a verv large Indian tusk would be 5 ft. 
 Ward gives 9 ft. 5 inches as the longest tusk of African 
 ivory measured ; ^ my own longest was 7 ft. 2i in. 
 
 The yearly imports to London for thirty-two years 
 average 532 tons per annum, and this is in addition to 
 tlie great imports to Antwerp and to Liver])ool. On 
 these figures one observes a great decrease in the im- 
 l)ort. For the first half of the period computed the 
 average was 580 tons, as against 484 tons in the last 
 half. These figures, taken from the animal re})ort of a 
 large iNory- broker, are, however, somewhat decei)tive, 
 since they include a small proportion of ivory other 
 
 ' Horn Measurements, p. 24G.
 
 506 THE AFEICAX ELEPHANT AND ZEBEA. 
 
 than elephant's, and also the " points " and pieces ex- 
 ported from India, being presumably the portions sawn 
 oft' tame elephants' tusks, &c. In addition to the import 
 to Europe, it must be remembered that a very large 
 quantity of African ivory is exported direct to Bombay, 
 and manufactured there. It would not be a difficult 
 matter to comjDute the number of elephants killed by 
 collecting these statistics. Count Povoleri estimates it 
 at 75,000 per annum, but I do not know on what 
 figures his calculation is based. 
 
 Like Saunderson, I am utterly at a loss to imagine 
 what becomes of the bones of elephants that have died 
 a natural death. For the years that I have frequented 
 the jungles of India and Burma, and traversed the 
 haunts of vast herds of elephants in Nyasaland, and on 
 the borders of the Congo State, I have never, I think, 
 seen an elephant's skull or l^ones, save such as had 
 fallen by the rifle. The colossal skull of an elephant 
 that has thus met its death will remain for years 
 bleaching where it fell ; what then becomes of those who 
 die a natural death ? I can offer no suggestion or 
 speculation, and, like all sportsmen whom I have met, 
 I own the thing to be a complete mystery to me. 
 
 Saunderson speaks of epidemics, which in India have 
 carried off elephants, in one instance to the extent of 
 50 per cent. I have never heard of any such visitation 
 in Africa. The elephants suffered immunity from the 
 plague which recently almost exterminated the cattle 
 and buffalo. Were such an epidemic to take place, it 
 would probably cause a greater mortality in a few 
 months than all the guns of all the elephant-hunters 
 in Africa would cause in a period of years. 
 
 The destruction of the elephant must be going on 
 at a vastly greater rate than the increase. The female 
 (Asiatic) elephant probably breeds from the age of six- 
 teen to seventy years, and has one calf about every two
 
 MODE OF ARRESTING HIS DESTRUCTION. 507 
 
 and a half years. An elephant is fully mature at about 
 twenty-five years, and lives to the age of 120, and pos- 
 sibly longer, A " Cairo author" is stated to have com- 
 puted, by an elaborate calculation, that the procuring of 
 the ivory to make one billiard-ball has involved " at 
 least one murder, or one great crime " ! Against the 
 ruthless destruction of elephants I have for years raised 
 my protest. In Nyasaland, in a period of two or three 
 years, the vast herds which sin^rounded the lake were 
 exterminated, and throughout the greater part of Africa 
 the same deplorable work has been carried on, so that 
 the animal is now only found in any considerable num- 
 l)ers far from the routes adopted by the European 
 hunters in the south, or the Swahili, Manyuema, and 
 Arab in Central Africa.^ 
 
 To arrest this wholesale destruction, I have advocated 
 the preservation of the elephant'-^ by law in specified 
 districts wholly within the British sphere ; also his 
 domestication. The areas preserved would consist of 
 certain forests and breeding-grounds, in which elephant- 
 sliooting would be prohil)ited as in India. Also the 
 im|)osition of a penalty for the destruction of young 
 animals of either sex, and, if necessary, the entire jDrohi- 
 bition of the slaughter of females. Bulls witli tusks 
 over 20 lb. weiglit might still be allowed to be shot, 
 except in protected areas. Sucli measures would at 
 once arrest the extermination of the elephant, while tlie 
 confiscation of all tusks under a certain size, say 20 
 lb., and of all cow ivory, together with the imposition 
 of a fine upon any one exporting them, or ottering them 
 for sale, would be sufficient deterrent to hunters. Nor 
 is it necessary, as a would-be facetious writer remarks, 
 
 1 Gordon in Africa, p. 13G ; Schweinfurth, Heart of Africa, vol. ii. p. 24. 
 
 2 Under the terms of their cliarter, clause 21, the C'ompany were given 
 special powers in this respect, and by granting licences to kill elephants 
 only in the rarest cases, had the power of arresting their destruction. — Blue- 
 book Africa, No. 4 of 1892, p. !).
 
 508 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 that the elephant should be induced to submit his 
 tusks for inspection. Such young animals are easily 
 recognised, for the elephant, unlike other game, can 
 usually be carefully observed for some time before being 
 fired at. 
 
 It would, however, be indispensable that all nations 
 interested should institute the same regulations, so as 
 to prevent the deflection of all ivory caravans to 
 neighbouring territories where such rules were not en- 
 forced, for sale or shipment at their ports. The Portu- 
 guese have already made a step in the right direction 
 by prohibiting the sale of tusks under 5 kilos (10 lb.) in 
 the Mozambique district. The Congo State has gone 
 still further, and by a royal decree, dated July 25th, 
 1892, King Leopold declared that the right of hunting- 
 elephants is interdicted throughout the State, except by 
 special permission. In the previous September (1891) 
 he had declared his intention of reserving ivory as a 
 state monopoly, as Gordon did in Equatoria.^ Whether 
 under the terms of the Berlin Act he was justified in 
 his action is as yet undecided, but in any case it would 
 appear that the object of these decrees was rather to 
 create a revenue to the State than to preserve the ele- 
 phant from extermination. And further, it is doubtful 
 if any attempt has been made, or can at present be 
 made, by the State to enforce them. 
 
 The extermination of the elephant is due, as I have 
 said, to the ruthless slaughter of young animals and 
 cows, mainly by native hunters. The shooting of a few 
 fidl - grown bull - elej^hants by sjDortsmen is a wholly 
 difierent matter. Saunderson describes elephant-shoot- 
 ing as " the grandest of all field sports," and incom- 
 parably more exciting than tiger or lion shooting. 
 " On the authority of the greatest of ancient or 
 modern Nimrods, Sir Samuel Baker," he writes,^ " ele- 
 
 1 Journals, p. 6. ^ Saunderson, p. 189.
 
 ELEPHANT-SHOOTING. 509 
 
 phant - shooting niay be pronounced to be the most 
 dang-erous of all sports. . . . His attack is one of the 
 noblest sights of the chase." His description of an 
 elephant's charge is well worth quoting, had I space. 
 To his generalisations, however, I would offer some 
 demur. Like all sport, the danger, and consequently 
 the excitement, of elephant - shooting depends on the 
 methods employed and the class of country in which 
 it is encrao'ed in. Where the hunt is on horseback — 
 as I understand from Mr Selous' books is largely the 
 case in South Africa, and from Sir S. Baker in North 
 Africa — the danger is greatly diminished. If, in 
 addition to this, the country is ojDen and park - like, 
 the danger to a mounted man is little, and even 
 shooting on foot becomes comparatively safe. But 
 if vou meet the elephant in liis own natural haunts — 
 among long and matted grass, liigh reeds, or swamp — or 
 if the encounter is on open ground, affording no cover at 
 all, the danger is vastly greater, for escape is absolutely 
 impossible. If, added to this, the hunter is accompanied 
 by no brother sportsman, and the natives with him are 
 unreliable, and if he has but one heavy rifle, the sport 
 becomes too exciting to rank as mere pleasure, and 
 he feels that the chances are pretty evenly balanced 
 between success and a horrible deatli. 
 
 My old friend Sharpe in Nyasaland, perhaps the 
 most courageous hunter I have ever met, had constantly 
 followed elephant on foot through the very worst class 
 of country. As we sighted ele})hant one day, and 
 prepared to follow them, I remember his remark, " A 
 man should make his will before going after elephant, 
 for each time he takes liis life in liis hand." It was 
 true of the place we were in — a yielding ])ottomless 
 marsh of matted vegetation ; and I have often since 
 recalled his words and endorsed their truth. " As a 
 lule, they charge," he said ; and if one's second barrel
 
 510 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 does not stop the elephant, under such circumstances 
 one has no other chance. Sometimes, too, some un- 
 known contretemps may have damaged one's ammuni- 
 tion. I remember Sharpe on one occasion awaiting 
 an elephant's charge, only to find his left barrel miss 
 fire ! He very nearly lost his life that time. I once 
 had much the same luck myself I followed an elephant 
 into the densest jungle, and was surprised that my 
 bullets had apparently no eff'ect at all upon him. On 
 returning to my camp I examined the rest of my 
 ammunition, and found that, unknown to me, water 
 had got into the case, and out of twenty rounds only 
 one was sound, the powder in the others being caked 
 into a useless pulp. With such rounds I had faced 
 two different elephants under more dangerous condi- 
 tions (of ground, &c.) than I had ever done before. 
 
 I will recall but one incident in elephant -shooting. 
 The day we crossed the Semliki we came upon large 
 herds of elephant, which would not move out of our 
 way. I went after them, having the 10 -bore rifle (l-|- 
 oz. spherical ball with 8 drams of powder), which is 
 really hardly heavy enough for elephant. Sharpe used 
 to shoot with an 8 -bore carrying a 4-oz. bullet and 12 
 drams, and Jackson had a 4-bore ! Shukri, the Sudanese 
 ofiicer, accompanied me, and I lent him my "577 express 
 (solid bullets, 6 drams). I was unsuccessful at first, 
 and then, getting ashamed, I went close m]) to the 
 herd, screened by a bush, within about 15 or 20 
 yds., and shot a fine elephant, which dropped at once 
 in a patch of scrub. Several others remained with it. 
 We followed the herd to secure one which was wounded, 
 when I suddenly saw those behind bearing down on 
 Shukri, who was so excited that he noticed nothing but 
 the elephants in front. I turned ofi" to deal with these ; 
 and they swerved to the right, so I got detached from 
 Shukri.
 
 SHUKRI CAUGHT BY AX ELEPHANT. 511 
 
 Apparently he had but one round of ammunition 
 left, and as I was not there to check him, he ran out 
 in the open and fired, hoping to bag an elephant to 
 his single shot. The grass was low, and there was no 
 cover; I was also in the open some 150 yds. away. 
 Immediately he had fired, a loud trumpeting ensued, 
 and two elephants charged from the herd. Shukri ran, 
 but of course had no chance. The sight of a charging 
 elephant is one to make a man's heart cease beating. 
 With their enormous ears spread out like sails, and 
 with the shrieking notes they emit, they can be com- 
 pared to nothing except a runaway engine, bearing 
 down full upon you. I, too, had but one cartridge left. 
 " With deep shame I confess that I lost my nerve," I 
 write, " and was merely in the very deuce of a funk ; 
 but a trumpeting elephant in full charge, backed by 
 another looking for any other enemy, is a sight and 
 sound which seems to simply j^aralyse one." — (Diary.) 
 
 I fired my one shot without effect, and the next 
 moment the elephant was upon Shukri. He threw him- 
 self down, and to all appearance the animal trampled 
 upon him, kicking him about, and knocking up dust, 
 &c. With its trunk aloft in the air, trumpeting shrilly 
 all the wliile, it wreaked its veno-eance on the man. 
 I was an agonised spectator, and my nerves were quite 
 unstrung by the spectacle, when I rushed forward as 
 the elephant left him to return to the herd. I expected 
 to find an unrecognisable pul}) of flesh, Init what was 
 my amazement to find Shukri com})aratively unhurt, 
 thougli he was bruised and nmch scared, and he after- 
 wards found that he was slightly injured internally. 
 
 He had scoffed at elephants before, l)ut as long as 
 T was in Africa I could never induce him to accompany 
 me again after them. In fact, as Williams jokingly 
 said, he turned sick at the sight of a tusk lying in 
 store !
 
 512 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 There are various methods of shooting elephants, — 
 apart from hunting them on horseback of which I 
 know nothing. In Nyasaland, where the constant 
 pursuit by native hunters had made the elephants 
 very shy and cautious, our usual plan was to go out 
 early in the morning, and cross the stretch of country 
 which they were accustomed to traverse in passing 
 from one feeding-ground to another. By thus crossing 
 their line of direction at right angles, the trackers 
 would be able to say whether the elephants had passed 
 along any one of the paths during the night. Having 
 by these means, or by mere chance, found a track in 
 which the herd had not o-ot more than a few hours' start, 
 the hunters proceed to follow through swamp, and grass, 
 and jungle at their utmost pace. Elephants, when thus 
 constantly hunted, are continually on the move, and 
 often the hunter will have to toil from morning till 
 evening before he sights his game ; often he is baffled at 
 last by the continual cross-tracks of a slightly older date, 
 and by the trail of hippo and buffalo. 
 
 Such a mode of huntinof is the hardest work it is 
 possible to conceive. Through the densest grass and 
 through swamp the hunter must maintain a pace of at 
 least four miles an hour, in a blazing sun, to have a hope 
 of success, while upon the skill of the tracker depends 
 the whole chance of ultimately coming up with the ele- 
 phants. When once they are sighted, different tactics 
 are followed. The elephant trusts entirely to his 
 sense of smell for protection, and everything depends 
 on his not " getting your wind." To test the lightest 
 breath of a breeze, the seeds of grasses are thrown 
 into the air, and the direction in which they fall 
 indicates any motion in the still air, otherwise too 
 faint to be detected. The elej)hant has but indifferent 
 eyesight, and even should he see the hunter (not having 
 his wind), he will become reassured, and apj^arently
 
 TAMIXG OF THE ZEBEA FOR TEAXSPORT. 513 
 
 take him for a tree or stump at quite a short distance, 
 if he remains absolutely motionless. 
 
 The elephant is easily killed — that is to say, he will 
 die eventually if wounded at all seriously ; but unless 
 completely disabled, he goes off when hit, without 
 clieckino- his pace for many miles, A stern chase after 
 a wounded animal is a terribly hard and fatiguing busi- 
 ness, and frecjuently only results in failure ; for, as the 
 elephant travels by night, if you do not come up with 
 him before sunset, your chance of recovering him next 
 day is small. I have again and again known elephants 
 to fall to a single bullet, and, on the other hand, I once 
 shot one which cost me three days' hunting, and earned 
 the sohi'iqiiet of " the devil " from my men. No shot 
 seemed in any wav to disturb him, or even to make him 
 wince ; and wdien eventually he died, the Sudanese who 
 cut him up brought me twenty bullets, two of which 
 were found in his heart, and almost all the rest, they 
 said, in his lungs, liver, and vitals. 
 
 The elephants I shot on the Albert Lake were invalu- 
 able for food for the vast mass of " refugees" (some 8200) 
 from the Equatorial Province, who were at that time col- 
 lecting at Kavalli's in preparation for the exodus. In an 
 incredibly short time every vestige of the gigantic car- 
 cass — even to the bones — had disapj^eared, and doubt- 
 less the flesh was a very god-send to the hungry host. 
 Of the tribes of Africa only some few (as the Wanya- 
 mwezi. Wandorobo, &c.) eat elephants' flesh. The 
 Hiajority of the Zanziljaris will not touch it unless 
 impelled b}'- starvation. 
 
 There is another animal in East Afi-ica which offers, as 
 I have said, possibilities of domestication — viz., the zebra. 
 If this animal were tamed, the question of transport 
 would be solved. Impervious to the tsetse-fly, and to 
 climatic diseases, it would l)e beyond calculation valuable. 
 
 The species found Ix.tli in East Africa and Nyasa- 
 voL. I. 2 k
 
 514 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 land is " BurchelFs " [Equus BurcheUi). It is a lovely 
 animal, of ^^ei'fect symmetry, and very strongly built, 
 standing about 14 hands high. The bright black and 
 white stripes of the zel^ra would appear to be the most 
 conspicuous marking imaginable. Yet, when standing 
 in sparse tree -forest, it is one of the hardest of all 
 animals to see, and even after it has been pointed out 
 to me close in front I have sometimes been unable 
 to distinguish it, though, as a rule, I am even quicker 
 at sighting game than a native. The flickering lights 
 in a forest, and the glancing sunbeams and shadows, 
 are counterfeited exactly by the zebra's stripes, and thus 
 it is that nature affords protection to an animal other- 
 wise peculiarly liable to destruction in the jungle : in the 
 open plains, where his enemies cannot steal upon him un- 
 awares, he can rely for his safety on his own fleetness. 
 
 The zebra throughout East Africa, so far as my 
 observation goes, has suffered complete immunity from 
 the cattle - plague, which has attacked most of the 
 rest of the game. This disease has now spread south 
 to Nyasaland, and Mr Sharpe reports ^ that between 
 Mweru and Tanganyika Lakes he saw numbers of 
 dead zebra. Mr Crawshay also reports great mortality 
 among the zebra in that district.^ This is a curious 
 fact. I do not know if zebra are plentiful towards 
 Mweru, but throughout those portions of Nyasaland 
 in which I have travelled, the zebra is comparatively 
 scarce, and though constantly met with, there are no 
 such vast herds as exist in East Africa. Here — in 
 Masailand and on the Athi plains — herds numbering 
 their thousands may be seen, and these have not suf- 
 fered from the plague. 
 
 Some years ago (1888) I advocated experiments in 
 taming the zebra, and I esjDecially suggested that an 
 attempt should be made to obtain zebra - mules, by 
 horse or donkey mares. Such mules, I believe, would 
 
 1 Field, Jan. 6th, 1893. 2 Zanzibar Gazette, Feb. 1st, 1893.
 
 ALREADY PROVED CAPABLE OF DOMESTICATION. 515 
 
 l)e found to be excessively hardy, and impervious to 
 the fly and to climatic diseases, I think it not im- 
 probable that the zebra would thus cross with the 
 horse or donkey, especially, perhaps, if some disguise 
 were adopted to gain admittance for the mare to the 
 herd, or, better still, if the zebra were driven into a 
 paddock or enclosure, and thus confined in a wild state. 
 I was never able, owing to more pressing duties, to 
 put my schemes into practice myself. 
 
 The tameness of the animals at the Zoo seems to 
 indicate that, apart from the jDossibility of breeding 
 nudes, it would be practicable to domesticate the zebra, 
 and lately we have heard from a correspondent of 
 the ' Field ' at Johannesburg that the attempt has 
 been made in South Africa with entire success. 
 "Several half- grown wild zebras were lassoed and 
 caught by a hunter, and after a month's training for 
 harness, four out of the eight were perfectly quiet 
 and well trained, while the other four were partially 
 trained. It is believed that in a very short time they 
 will be as steady as horses. They pull well, and are 
 very willing, and never jib. It is intended to train 
 a large number of these animals, and run them in 
 tlie coaches from and to Mashonaland. They will l)e 
 far preferable to the mule, as they are not subject to 
 ' horse sickness.' The only vice the zebra has is a 
 tendency to bite, and this is only because they are 
 not yet accustomed to being ' inspanned.' " 
 
 When we recollect that the zebra is found all the 
 way from the coast to the far parts of Uganda (I 
 have seen them in Buddu), and that countless thou- 
 sands roam on the level plains of Masailaiid. where 
 every possible facility is aftbrded by the open nature 
 of the L-Tound either for ridin<i: them down and lasso- 
 iiig them, or for capturing tliem by driving tliem into 
 kraals or hlicdchilis, we shall realise that, when once the 
 possil)ilitv of training tlic zebra as a pack or draught
 
 516 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA. 
 
 animal is demonstrated, the question of animal trans- 
 port for East Africa is finally solved. The elephant 
 would be invalual^le in many ways, but his utility 
 as an agent for the development of the coinitry can- 
 not be compared with that of the domesticated zebra. 
 I would even go further, and say that their export 
 might prove one of the sources of wealth and revenue 
 in the future ; for, as every one knows, the paucity 
 of mules both for mountain batteries and for transport 
 purposes has long been one of the gravest difficulties 
 in our otherwise almost perfect Indian army corps. I 
 would therefore advocate that the zebra should be at 
 once protected, and its slaughter absolutely prohibited. 
 Its capture might be made a State monopoly (see vol. ii. 
 p. 648). 
 
 Some recent writers in the ' Field ' ^ have argued that 
 the " plain" and the " mountain" zebra are of two differ- 
 ent species, and the new animal is described as having 
 " brown or red-brown stripes on a pale sandy or rufescent 
 ground." The marking of the zebra colt very nearly 
 answers to this description, and may possibly have 
 given rise to the theory ; but even if there should be 
 some slight local difference in colouring, it will hardly, 
 I imagine, be sufficient to warrant differentiation into 
 a new species. Sir William Flower has practically 
 exhausted the subject in his book on ' The Horse,' 
 and proved conclusively that only three genuine species 
 have been known : " the zebra," now almost or quite 
 extinct ; " Burchell's zebra;" and the extinct "quagga."^ 
 The mares are larger than the stallions. The flesh of 
 the zebra is not eaten by most of the tribes in Nyasa- 
 land. The tribes of East Africa eat it as a rule, 
 though some will not. Mohammedans who follow the 
 Koran closely, refuse it as not having a cleft hoof 
 
 1 Field, May 6th and 20th, and June 27th, 1893. 
 
 " Vide Encycloptedia Britannica, ninth ed., vol. xii. p. 175.
 
 5i: 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SOME OTHER AFEICAX AXIMALS. 
 
 Ehinoceros in Xyasaland — In East Africa — Incident at Machako's — Wil- 
 liams' escape — Characteristics — Habitat, &c. — The hijipo — Habits, &c. 
 — The butt'alo — Herds in Xyasaland — His magnanimity — Excitement 
 in shooting — Domestication — Xature of the plague — Extent of — 
 Favourable to European aggression — Classes of game attacked — A 
 Veterinary Commission suggested— Scope of duties — The eland — "Water- 
 buck — Kudu — Hartebeests — Sable antelope — Situtunga — Oryx — 
 Grant's gazelle — Thomson's— Intermediate species — Bush-buck — Lesser 
 kudu — Mpalla — Eeed-buck — Xsunu — Pah — " Grass antelope " — 
 Wildebeest — Gii'aflFe — Ostrich — Wart-hog. 
 
 T HATE found it a most difficult task throughout this 
 book to condense my matter into a reasonable compass, 
 and I fear I have not been very successful in doing 
 so ! Nowhere is it harder than here, in discussing the 
 animals of Africa, and contrasting them with their allied 
 species in India, &c. I must, however, content myself 
 with a few brief notes only. 
 
 Next in size to the elephant comes the rhinoceros 
 [Rhinoceros hiconiis). The harmless white species of 
 South Africa is said to be all but extinct. North of 
 the Zambesi, in Nyasaland, the rhino (chipemheri) is 
 rare. He is there very fierce, and more dreaded l)y tlie 
 natives than even the elephant, buffalo, or lion. In fact, 
 lie was the one beast Avliom the plucky Atonga dreaded 
 to face. I never met him myself, but my friend Austin 
 told me lie liad a narrow escape on one occasion. See-
 
 518 SOME OTHEH AFEICAX ANIMALS. 
 
 Ing what he thought to be an elephant under a tree, he 
 approached it, but on turning round to take his gun 
 from his " boy," he was astonished to find himself de- 
 serted, with no rifle in his hand, and his gun-bearers in 
 full fliofht. Lookino' ao-ain towards the animal under the 
 tree, he found that it was coming for him " bald-headed, 
 in a bee-line," as he phrased it ! He fled, but the rhino 
 (for such it was) regularly hunted him, and when already 
 his horn was but a few inches from the seat of his pants 
 and his fate seemed inevitable, a half-bred doo- that he 
 owned flew at the rhino's nose, and distracting his 
 attention, saved my friend's life. 
 
 In East Africa the Jcifaru is by no means so dangerous 
 as either the elejDhant or buffalo. Rhinos will frequently 
 charge a caravan, when it jDasses to windward of them, 
 but they rarely make a vicious assault, and are generally 
 contented with scattering the porters in every direction, 
 and keeping straight on their course, grunting and 
 puffing like a runaway engine. When I was bringing 
 do\vn the Sudanese, a rhino charged the rear of the 
 caravan, and bore down on a Sudanese woman. Never, 
 I presume, having seen or heard of such a beast before, 
 she was panic-stricken at the sight, and pitching her 
 baby into a bush, fled with shrieks into the jungle. 
 She was, however, unharmed, and came back and 
 gathered up the baby later on. 
 
 The rhino, however, when wounded, is naturally more 
 vicious. The first one I ever shot showed great sport. 
 She charged us backwards and forwards like a bull in 
 a ring, and regularly hunted down one man, whom 
 she overtook. He threw himself down, and the rhino 
 galloped right over him. I expected to find him like 
 a poached egg on which a brick has fallen, but he 
 got up (in the marvellous way that natives do escape 
 under such circumstances) without a scratch ! The gun- 
 bearers out on that occasion were not my own men.
 
 THE BLACK RHINOCEROS. 519 
 
 whom I never allowed to fire off a gun under any cir- 
 cumstances whatsoever. Tliese, however, who belonged 
 to tlie Macliako's garrison, had no such order, and as 
 tlie rhino cliarged backwards and forwards, natives 
 were letting oft' their Sniders in every direction ; so 
 that, on the whole, it w^as a pretty warm quarter. She 
 dropped to a final shot from myself; and I w^as sitting 
 on her examining the position and dii-ection of the 
 bullet-wound, with my finger in the hole, under the 
 impression she was dead, when she suddenly upset me 
 by rising ! 
 
 Captain Williams had an extremely narrow escape on 
 Ills way to Uganda. He started wdth the idea that a 
 rhinoceros w^as not a dangerous animal, and could not 
 turn quickly enough to catch an active man, — in fact, 
 that it merely charged like an engine on a rail, and you 
 had only to stand out of the line of the metals and let it 
 go jjast. So he -went rhino-hunting, after arguing his 
 theory late overnight. He wounded a rhino, and pro- 
 ceeded to run after it. Eventually he came up with it 
 again, and fired. It immediately turned the tables, and 
 began to run after him. Dodge as he might — and out 
 of wind with his long run, he had not much dodginess 
 left in him — the rhino dodged quicker, and its horn, I 
 believe, actually touched his clothes. He threw himself 
 down on the ground, for he saw escape was impossible, 
 l)ut the rhino refused to take advantage of a flillen foe. 
 
 The African rhino is smooth-skinned like a pig and 
 not armour-plated, with his skin in great massive 
 "shields" like the Indian species. The skin is very 
 thick, and is valued for making whips, &c., and, especially 
 in tlie Sudan, for shields. He has a double horn, the 
 second one varying much in length. Sometimes it is 
 nearly as long as the front horn, sometinu^s It Is a mere 
 knob. Willoughby speaks of shooting a iliino with a 
 rudimentary thhd horn.
 
 520 SOME OTHER AEEICAX ANIMALS. 
 
 In habits the rhino is peciihar. Far from any water, 
 among burning rocks and burnt-up grass, in the very 
 most inhospitable and foodless locaHties, he loves to 
 take up his quarters. His thick hide is impervious to 
 the long spikes of the aloe, which will pierce a leather 
 gaiter as though it were brown paper. The 3 -inch 
 acacia thorns tickle his palate, and serve as sauce to 
 the tasteless fodder. He stands in the same relation 
 to the graceful gazelle which crops the grass beside 
 him as a bargee does to an athlete. His manners 
 are uncouth, and he requires ^^lei^ty of elbow - room. 
 If he comes your way, it is best to avoid him, for 
 he will not apologise for treading on your toes. He 
 delights in the thorny places of nature, for his un- 
 feeling hide has no sensitiveness, and a 4-oz. bullet 
 is the only argument which w^ll have any weight 
 with him. Nature provides her types to point our 
 moralisings, and it is well that there are pachyderms, 
 I suppose, in and out of the jungles of Africa. I do 
 not envy them, for nature's law is compensation, and 
 the more sensitive we are to pain, the greater our 
 capacity for pleasure. 
 
 Rhino are very numerous in East Africa. I have not 
 seen them in Uganda, though Speke, Felkin, and others 
 mention having found them there, and they are met 
 with in Karagwe in the German S2Dhere. Nor have I 
 seen them in Ankoli, or the countries westward of the 
 Victoria ; but they are reported plentiful in the Sudan. 
 The rhino stands about 4 ft. 9 in. at the shoulder, and 
 is about 9 ft. 7 in. in length. His weight would be 
 about 1200 lb. and upwards. 
 
 The only other pachyderm is the hippopotamus. He 
 merits but few words, being an unobtrusive beast, of 
 whom one rarely sees more than the head. As a rule, 
 hippos are harmless animals, and when found in river- 
 pools, Avhere it is impossible for them to swim away,
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIPPO. 521 
 
 it is mere butchery to shoot them ; one mig-ht as well 
 shoot the cattle in a fold. But old bulls will often 
 become cantankerous and aggressive. On the Shire, 
 when I was there, they swarmed in very great numbers, 
 and were continually charging boats, and on more than 
 one occasion bit a mouthful out of the side, making a 
 liole a man could creep through. As this A^ould natu- 
 rally sink the boat, and the river was full of crocodiles, 
 it was a taste to be discouraged. The rule is, never to 
 go between a hippo and the open water by day, if you 
 wish to avoid being charged — i.e., always pass to land- 
 ward of them ; but by night keep away from the banks, 
 as the hippo are ashore to feed. 
 
 Hippo -hide is esj^ecially valued for whips, and for 
 thongs for the long teams of oxen, at the Cape. The 
 ivory is very hard, and is worth, I think, about Is. 6d. 
 a lb. The curved teeth are handsome, and are used 
 for picture-frames, &c. I used to file my rifle -sights 
 out of a bit of hijDpo-ivory, as it does not turn colour 
 in the sun so quickly as elejihant-ivory. Hippo will 
 cover great distances in their nightly quest of food. 
 At Karonga's there Avere no hippos within some fifteen 
 miles, yet they nightly grazed even above Karonga's, 
 and went perhaps six miles inland, so that I should 
 suppose they must have swam thirty or forty miles, 
 and walked while grazing ten or twelve more each 
 night, and this in spite of the fact that there was 
 apparently every bit as good a grazing-ground close 
 by the bay they patronised by day. The hippo lives 
 in harmony with the crocodile ; both love the same 
 sand-banks and sliallows. When a hippo is wounded, 
 however, and his blood taints the water, I have seen 
 t\\i' whole river seething with crocodiles attracted by 
 the gore. This probably accounts for hippos, when 
 wounded, frefpiently leaving the water and going 
 ashore. The Iiippo is sometimes found in isolated small
 
 522 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 ponds very far from any other water, and as he is a 
 semi-amphibious animal, it is curious to speculate how 
 he found his way across the dry tracts of country which 
 divide such pools from any lake or river. 
 
 Next to the pachyderms, in size and strength, ranks 
 the buffalo [Bos cq^er). He has acquired an evil repu- 
 tation, in the pages of every African writer, yet I should 
 imagine that he is by no means so dangerous or so vin- 
 dictive as his Indian cousin. The latter has enormous 
 horns, measuring sometimes as much as 9 ft. from elbow 
 to elbow. The African " Cape " buffalo, on the other 
 hand, rarely measures more than about 4 ft. across the 
 horn. But he makes up in massiveness — and in the 
 great breadth of the solid frontlet which forms the base 
 of the horn — what he lacks in spread and expansion. 
 This frontlet covers, like a shield of armour, the whole 
 of the upper part of the skull in an old bull ; for, as 
 the animal ages, the bases of the horns grow closer 
 and closer together. Thus in a young (though full- 
 grown) bull, the centre part of the skull between the 
 horns is open and covered with skin and hair ; as he 
 grows older this is encroached upon, till the bases meet, 
 and only a strip of skin an inch broad divides the diverg- 
 ing curves. The buffalo, when met in herds, is com- 
 paratively harmless, and stampedes on the approach of 
 the hunter, though, if the wind be right, he is not diffi- 
 cult to approach, being much less cautious than antelope, 
 or any other game. 
 
 In Nyasaland vast herds, comparable only with the 
 countless bison, which once covered the prairies of 
 America, roamed over the plains on the north-west of 
 the lake. When disturbed I have seen them galloping 
 past in squadrons so dense, that their numbers made the 
 plain look black, almost as far as the eye could see. I 
 have concealed myself in the grass, and awaited the on- 
 coming of the charging mass, confident that as I rose
 
 BUFFALO-SHOOTING. 
 
 523 
 
 erect, they avouIcI swerve aside to the right and left, and 
 leave me unharmed. The hrst time one tries it the sen- 
 sation is exciting, for the vast herd bearing down upon 
 you seems to threaten nothing short of being trampled 
 under foot and gored to death ; but the experiment, as 
 I have proved, 
 is perfectly safe. 
 Natives will pur- 
 sue a herd with 
 impunity and try 
 to assegai a calf 
 Solitary bulls, 
 however, and 
 wounded animals 
 of either sex, are 
 very dangerous ; 
 and even herds 
 are apt to be ag- 
 gressive if met in 
 tliick jungles or 
 reed-beds. I have 
 known many in- 
 stances of very 
 narrow escapes 
 under the lattei' 
 circumstances. A 
 case of a solitary 
 bull charging I have already narrated, yet for the credit 
 of the animal I must say that I have myself experienced 
 his forbearance. Crawling tln-ough some matted jungle 
 and si)iked aloes, almost on all-fours, I came face to face 
 with a magnificent solitary bull on one occasion. Only 
 a few yards separated us. My little -450 was absolutely 
 useless against such a beast, and it was the only weapon 
 I had. Ve faced each other, and I covered him with 
 the rifle; but he forbore to take my life, which was at 
 
 A hui.iTAKY Bull Hlii-alu.
 
 524 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 his mercy, and I could not be less generous, and re- 
 frained from inflicting a needless wound when he plunged 
 into the jungle, 
 
 I have killed many buflalo, both in Nyasaland and 
 in East Africa, and have had some intensely exciting 
 moments with these animals. To follow a wounded 
 buffalo into dense cover is as dangerous a performance as 
 any that a sportsman can undertake. The nerve-tension 
 on such occasions is too great to be called pleasure ; but 
 success, if achieved, brings a feeling of elation — of im- 
 minent danger faced and overcome— which perhaps only 
 the hunter who has followed dangerous game into their 
 own fastnesses can realise and appreciate. If any 
 such should read these pages, I know that my words 
 will recall those thrilling moments, each pulse-beat of 
 which is engraved in their memory, as though they 
 had taken a year to live through. Other memories 
 grow dim, but you never forget the day that you 
 followed the blood-trail in the tall reeds, till it grew 
 fresher and fresher ; and you noted that the little 
 air-bubbles had not yet burst in the blood-clots, and 
 the bent reeds were but now straightening themselves 
 from their contact with the buflalo, or the lion, or 
 the tiger, which had passed but a second before. You 
 felt, at each hesitating step forward, that you might 
 hear the deep guttural " Waugh, waugh," with which 
 — almost identical in sound — the buflalo, the lion, the 
 tiger, and the boar herald their charge. There is no ex- 
 citement I know, save only the fight of man with man 
 when a human enemy seeks your life, that approaches 
 the feelings of such a moment. Sooner or later it too 
 often ends in death. The sportsman who dares these 
 odds had need to "set his house in order" before he 
 starts. He may escape again and again, but assuredly 
 he is doomed if he perseveres. But again I digress 
 from the purjDose of my chapter.
 
 RAVAGES OF THE PLAGUE ITS NATURE. 525 
 
 The buffalo is yet another animal which offers possi- 
 bilities of domestication, like his congener in India, 
 which, as I have said, is the more fierce and vindictive 
 of the two. Calves could be tamed with little diffi- 
 cultv, or cows imported from India could l^e crossed 
 with wild bulls. When once the nose-ring is inserted, 
 the buftalo must submit to the will of man. I have 
 seen in India how a beast, wliom a crowd of men 
 with howdah-ropes and elephant-chains could not con- 
 trol, was led away by a mere stripling when once he 
 had been ringed. To lasso and ring full-grown bulls 
 in Africa would not be feasible, but calves three parts 
 OTOwn could be so cauMit and tamed. The buffalo, 
 however, has been almost exterminated by the plague. 
 Recent A^Titers have reported him as almost or quite 
 extinct. This is not the case ; for covering, as I did, 
 great distances daily in pursuit of game on my down- 
 ward march, I not unfrequently came on the freshest 
 possible sign of buffalo, all the way from the Albert 
 Lake to near the coast. The remnant that are left, 
 liowever, have retired to the fastnesses of the densest 
 forests ; the natives say they have sore feet. 
 
 It is stranp-e that so little is known of the nature 
 
 o 
 
 of this plague. It lias been reported as a kind of 
 anthrax by Dr Charlesworth at Zanzibar, while others 
 (and these apparently the majority) have described 
 it as hnig-disease. Dr Mackinnon and Captain Rogers 
 tluis describe it from Witu. Mr Sharpe from Nyasa- 
 land states the disease there to have been pleuro-pneu- 
 monia. The enormous extent of the devastation it has 
 caused in Africa can hardly be exaggerated. Most of 
 the trll)es possessed vast herds of thousands on tliou- 
 sands of cattle, and of these, in some localities, hardly 
 one is left ; in others, the deaths have been limited to 
 perhaps 90 per cent. In the case of the Bantu (or 
 negroid) tribes, the loss, though a terrible one, did not,
 
 526 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 as a rule, involve starvation and death to the people, 
 since, being agricultural, they possess large crops as a 
 resource. But to the jDastoral races the loss of their 
 cattle meant death. The Wahuma, I was told, had 
 perished in vast numbers with their animals. Every- 
 where the people I saw were gaunt and half starved, 
 and covered with skin-diseases. Not only had they no 
 crops of any sort or kind, to replace the milk and meat 
 which formed their natural diet, but many were unable 
 to accommodate themselves to such a change, and all 
 were completely ignorant of agriculture. The Masai 
 are the same. I have seen no reports from the Somali 
 and Galla countries, but they too must be in a similar 
 case. The " North-end Wankonde," on the north of 
 Nyasa, though a negroid race, living largely on 
 bananas and grain (like the Waganda and Wanyoro, 
 the Wakamba, Wa-kikuyu, and Wa-kavirondo), owned 
 enormous herds of cattle when I lived among them. 
 They are reported by Mr Sharpe to have lost 95 per 
 cent of these. 
 
 The plague seems to have started on the East Coast, 
 oj)posite Aden, and to have spread inland. It began at 
 the end of 1889, and when I went into the interior in the 
 December of that year, it had not reached Masailand 
 and Ukamba, nor yet in the spring of 1890. When I 
 returned up-country in the autumn of 1890 it had spread 
 through these countries, and the cattle and buffalo were 
 dead. It had preceded me through Kavirondo and 
 'Uganda, though; when Mr Jackson passed down in the 
 summer of 1890, it was only beginning to show its effects. 
 Beyond Uganda, I found it had just preceded me through 
 Ankoli and Unyoro ; and in the far heart of Africa, at 
 Kavalli, it had swept off every ox only a few weeks 
 before I arrived (Sept. 1891). Passing southwards, it 
 reached the north of Nyasa about July 1892, and we 
 may look to hear of its ravages to the north in the
 
 SPECIES OF GAME ATTACKED. 527 
 
 Sudan and Abyssinia, till it reaches the confines of 
 Egypt, and on the west through the Congo State, till 
 its area of death has extended from sea to sea. And 
 the pitv of it is, that in all probability this vast de- 
 struction of the sole wealth of these millions of human 
 beino-s, and the terrible starvation and mortalitv amonp- 
 the pastoral tribes which have followed in its wake, 
 might have been arrested by the ordinary precautions 
 which civilised veterinary science would have prescribed ; 
 and thus the recent inroad of Europe upon Africa might 
 indeed have been a blessing to its j^eople. 
 
 In some respects it has favoured our enterprise. 
 Powerful and warlike as the pastoral tribes are, their 
 pride has been humbled and our progress facilitated 
 by this awful visitation. The advent of the white man 
 had else not been so peaceful. The Masai would un- 
 doubtedly have opposed us, and either by force of arms 
 or by protracted methods of conciliation (whose results 
 would have been doubtful), we should have had to win 
 our wav to the promising highlands beyond their coun- 
 try. Not for thirty years has a plague like this been 
 known in the country, and even then it was not to be 
 compared in virulence to the present one. Never before 
 in the memory of man, or by the voice of tradition, have 
 the cattle died in such vast numbers ; never l^efore has 
 the wild o-ame suffered. Nearlv all the buffalo and eland 
 are gone. The giraffe has suffered, and many of the small 
 antelope — the bush-buck and reed-buck, I believe, espe- 
 cially. The nsunu [Kohus koh) was affected only par-"^ 
 tially, and very large herds were left both in Buddu 
 and near the Albert Lake ; but Mr Sharpe reports this 
 antelope as having been especially attacked in Nyasa- 
 land. The pig (wart-hog) seem to have nearly all died. 
 The elei)hant, hi})po, rhino, and I think all the classes of 
 liartebeest, wildebeest, and water-buck, are exempt. It 
 is noticeable that the animals nearest akin to the cattle
 
 528 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 have died — viz., the buffalo and the most bovine of 
 the antelopes, the eland. It is therefore extremely 
 curious that the Avildebeest has escaped. Goats and 
 sheep have been exempt. The zebra, as I have said, 
 has perished in Nyasaland, but is exempt in East 
 Africa. Sharpe seems to include all game, except 
 elephant, as being attacked in the Mweru district, 
 naming especially the Pookoo and Lech we. ^ 
 
 It is too late to help Africa in this matter ; but, as I 
 have already pointed out,^ our indifference may possibly 
 lead to our own destruction. We do not know for certain 
 the nature of the disease, and whether it is communi- 
 cable in the hides exported from Africa. If it were thus 
 introduced (for the export of hides has long been a 
 staple of African trade), we may wake up to find an 
 epidemic in our midst, the results of which it is need- 
 less to point out. What, in comparison to such a 
 calamity, would the cost of a small veterinary commis- 
 sion be to this country ? Such a commission would 
 mean but a trivial expense ; its investigations might be 
 of incalculable importance both to Afiica and to Europe. 
 
 The work undertaken need not be limited solely to 
 the investigation of the nature, and causes, and com- 
 municable possibilities of this disease. Other questions 
 of great importance present themselves to a mixed 
 veterinary and agricultural commission. The examina- 
 
 1 "Shortly before August 1892, the district at the north of Nyasa had 
 been visited by the cattle-plague. The mortality was over 90 per cent, and 
 practically all the cattle were cleared out. On my way across to Tan- 
 ganyika I found that parts of the country had been visited, and portions 
 had escaped. I had no evidence that this disease had attacked the wild 
 game till I arrived at the south end of Lake Mweru. Here enormous 
 quantities of game have died. At the time of my jjassing the Luapula 
 river, in October 1892, the plague was at its height. Dead and dying 
 beasts were all around. On the first day I counted over forty dead Pookoo 
 within half a mile of my camp. Elejjhants do not appear to have been 
 attacked by the plague." — Sharpe, Geog. Journal, vol. i. p. 5.30. 
 
 - E. G. S. Proceedings, December 1892.
 
 A COMMISSION OF IXVESTIGATIOX REQUIRED. 529 
 
 tioii of the fodder grasses of Africa, and their value 
 in the Eurojoean market ; the determination of local- 
 ities subject to tsetse, the methods to be employed 
 against its bite, and the treatment of cases ; the treat- 
 ment of "horse-sickness" and other local diseases; the 
 class of cattle best suited for import to Africa ; the 
 capabilities of the zebra, and the breeding of mules ; 
 the naturalisation of the horse ; — these and a score of 
 other questions present themselves at once to the mind. 
 We have been backward in sending experts to supply 
 authoritative information on the capabilities of our 
 African possessions. Germany prefaced her occupation 
 of each one of her African possessions by sending a 
 committee of experts to i^eport on its resources, as I 
 have already described (p. 402). Let us at least lead 
 the wav in the investigation of the subjects I have 
 indicated, and it will be a great step forward in the 
 development of the country. 
 
 The eland {Oreas canna), the largest antelope in the 
 Morld, is common both in Nyasaland and in East 
 Africa. Both sexes have horns, those of the cow being 
 longer, and curved inwards. The bull's horns are 
 thicker, and point outwards. The horns have a twisted 
 spiral, with a backward inclination, and are black and 
 smooth (not annulated). The colour of the animal is 
 liglit reddish-brown, the belly being lighter — the male 
 is. like all the antelopes, darker than the female : some 
 old bulls have a distinct bluish tint. The ribs are 
 marked with three faint vertical stripes, indistinguish- 
 ;il)le except at very close quarters. The flesh of the 
 • land is extremely good, being like good English beef. 
 The eland is generally so fat that I have more than once 
 succeeded, witli my boots off, in running one down, 
 when disabled by a wound. This antelope is found not 
 only on the lower levels (Nyasa, 1700 ft.), but on the 
 liigh plateaux in Central Africa at an elevation of GOOO ft. 
 
 VOL. r 2 L
 
 530 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 and more. Mr Jackson has a bull eland's horn re- 
 corded as 31 "I m., with a ch'cumference of 10^; m. 
 A massive horn is a better trophy than a lanky one 
 which records a great length. Selous records a cow's 
 horn of 31| in. Anything over 2.5 in. (lO-in. circum- 
 ference) is a trophy worth preserving in a bull, and 
 26 or 27 in. with 8 -in. circumference in a female.-^ 
 The eland would scale, perhaps, as much as 1000 to 
 1200 lb. It frequents open plains, often at a great 
 distance from water, and is also especially partial 
 to glades surrounded by forest, and it may even be 
 found in rocky and inhospitable wastes, like the rhino. 
 They are met with in large herds, and consort with all 
 other species of game. Native name, Miyofu (Swahili 
 and Zulu), Sefu (Nyasa). 
 
 The water-buck (Kohus ellvpsiprymnus) is the largest 
 of the genus Kohus, which class are shaggy-coated and 
 frequent water. He is the commonest and the most 
 ubiquitous antelope in Africa. As his name implies, he 
 is generally found near water, and often in thick reed- 
 beds and Avater-growth. He is, however, also met with 
 on the high and dry plains, and even in rocky and hilly 
 places, if at no very great distance from water. He is 
 a heavily built animal, scaling perhaps 300 lb. He 
 carries a very fine head, and the graceful curve of his 
 long horns sweeping backwards and then forwards, 
 makes him a strikingly beautiful beast. Shukri shot 
 one near the Albert Edward Lake with a horn measur- 
 ing 33 1 in., Avhich equals the present record head. 
 I never succeeded in bagging so fine a one myself. 
 A horn over 25 in. may be considered a troj)hy. His 
 colour is a dark slaty-brown, with a Avhite crescent on 
 the rump. The female is unhorned. There is a variety 
 in Uganda, and throughout the Lake districts, different 
 
 1 The horns quoted as " records " are on the authority of Mr Rowland 
 "Ward's ' Horn Measurements,' corrected up to end of 1892.
 
 THE ela:n'd, water-buck, .ajs'd kudu. 531 
 
 in colouring, but otherwise identical. It was first de- 
 scribed by Speke, and named the Sing-Sing (^Kohus de- 
 fassus). It entirely lacks the white crescent (the rump 
 being a dn-ty white), and the prevailing colour of the 
 back and sides is a reddish-brown. The hair, too, is 
 thicker and more woolly. This variety takes the place 
 of the other in these districts, and I have never seen 
 both varieties in the same country. The native name 
 of the water-buck is nyahoswe (Chinyanja), hum (Swa- 
 hili), and nsama (Kiganda). 
 
 The kudu [Strepsiceros kudu) carries the most mag- 
 nificent head of any antelope in the world. His spiral 
 (cork-screw) horns will measure as much as 45 in. 
 from base to tip (over 40 in. is a good head), and 
 are extremely syminetrical and handsome. Like the 
 eland, he has the vertical stripes on his side. I have 
 never met him in East Africa, and I do not think he is 
 found there. I have, however, seen him in Nyasaland. 
 The herds generally separate at certain seasons of the 
 year, the males being apart from the females ; and a 
 troop of bucks, with their huge horns, is quite an im- 
 posing sight. The kudu, so far as my own experience 
 goes, is partial to open plains bordering on forest, but 
 I have not often seen him. 
 
 The hartebeests {Alcephali) are a very distinct class, 
 entirely unlike any other antelope. They are as un- 
 shapely and as ungraceful as the others are elegant. 
 Tlieir liigh withers and cut-away quarters give them a 
 very humpbacked and awkward appearance, and render 
 them lumbering in their motions. Their gallop is there- 
 fore of a wooden and rocking-horse type ; and though 
 they can get over the roughest ground and the densest 
 and most matted grass in a wonderful way, the animal 
 never seems to be extended, or to be exerting itself 
 As though to complete the caricature on the antelope, 
 nature has provided tlie hartebeests with tlie ugliest
 
 532 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 of hammer-heads, extremely long in the frontal bone. 
 It is a curious characteristic of this class that each 
 species has its own location, in which none of the others 
 are to be seen ; and this location is most sharply defined. 
 This rule applies throughout Africa, and the only ex- 
 ception I know is the Senegal antelope, which may be 
 found in the same locality with all the other classes. 
 I will allude only to those found in the countries I 
 write of. 
 
 The hartebeest of Nyasaland is known as " Lichten- 
 steini." It is also found in the Kilimanjaro district, 
 but not in the rest of " British East Africa." The 
 horns measure from 14 to 20 in. (record) in length. 
 The species found from the coast as far inland as the 
 Lake Nakuru is " Cokei." It is light yellowish-brown 
 in colour, with legs of a dirty white ; horns 16 to 19 
 in. (record) round the bend. It is a smaller and 
 lighter animal than that which succeeds it beyond 
 Nakuru, known as " Jacksonii." This latter extends 
 to the borders of the Congo State, but is scarce to the 
 west of the Lake Victoria. It is a large and very 
 heavy animal, of a deep chestnut-brown colour ; length 
 of horn, 20 to 23 in. Its place in Uganda and An- 
 koli is largely taken by the " Senegal antelope " {Alceph- 
 alus senegalensis ; Swahili, topi ; Kiganda, nemira), 
 which, as I have said, alone encroaches on the domains 
 of its allied species, and which may be met with mixing 
 with herds of hartebeest throughout East Africa, even 
 to the coast. Its colouring is very handsome, the coat 
 being of a rich dark and glossy mahogany, the upper 
 part of all four legs deep black ; length of horn, 
 16 to 19i in, (record). The horns of these various 
 species of hartebeest are shown on Plate II. Both 
 male and female are horned ; the male carries a heavier 
 and thicker horn than the female, but in shape they are 
 identical. A hartebeest would scale from 200 to 300 lb.
 
 THE HARTEBEESTS, SABLE, AND SITUTUNGA. 533 
 
 In East Africa he is known as the hongoni, in Uganda 
 as ngazi. The meat of the hartebeest is tough and 
 tasteless, though not so much so as that of the water- 
 buck. The hair of the coat is very short and smooth. 
 All species of this animal frequent the open plain, 
 sometimes at great distances from water. They are 
 never found in forest, though they occasionally pass 
 through belts of jungle to reach ojDen glades of good 
 pasture, and may be found also in sparse scrub-jungle. 
 They prefer short grass to the longer and more matted 
 pasture, and delight in the patches of young verdure 
 which succeed the older grass Avhich the prairie fires 
 have burnt off. They also haunt the bare plains, where 
 pasture would seem to be very scarce. 
 
 The sable anteloj)e {^Hijipotragus niger), which ranks 
 with these in size, rivals the kudu in length of horn, 
 while for beauty of colouring it is perhaps unrivalled 
 among the large antelojDes. The horns are annulated, 
 and curve backwards, like those of the ibex, in a 
 magnificent sweep, measuring 46 in. round the bend 
 (record head). It has the jDeculiarity of being maned. 
 The sable is extremely local. It is found in Nyasaland, 
 where it is called imj^da-pcda, near the Shupanga 
 forest at the mouth of the Zambesi, and Sharpe met 
 it in great numbers on the Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau. 
 I have never shot it myself Its chief habitat is in 
 Mashonaland and south of the Zambesi. 
 
 The situtunga or Speke's antelope [Tragelcvphus 
 Sj)ehei) is found in Uganda, where it lives in the 
 densest swamp, and is said to frequent deep water. 
 It is a shaggy-haired antelope, like the water-buck. 
 The horns liave first ;ni iiiwaid and tlien an outward 
 twist, and attain a length of 32 in. The colour is very 
 dark brown or dingy black, spotted with white. I 
 have seen the skins in Uganda, but have never shot 
 tlx' ;iiiim;il. Its lioofs are so long, being adapted to
 
 534 SOME OTHEE AFRICAX ANIMALS. 
 
 marshes, that Speke said the specimen he had could 
 hardly walk on dry land ; he calls it the " Nzoe." ^ It 
 is easily killed, for the natives have only to localise it 
 and surround the patch of reeds, when it is beaten to 
 death with sticks. It is called njohi, and is very rare, 
 for the Waganda (now that the cattle are dead) prize 
 it both for its skin and meat. I fear it may soon be- 
 come extinct, unless preserved, and for this reason I 
 regret to see, in a letter of the ' Times ' correspondent,^ 
 that he shot twenty-four head in one day on the little 
 island of Kosi, on which alone he says it has survived. 
 The island, by his account, is only half a mile long by 
 a few hundred yards broad ! He supposes it to have 
 been j^reserved through the Lubari (religion) of the 
 natives. South of the Zambesi the marking of this 
 antelope seems to vary somewhat.^ 
 
 The oryx may be said to occupy a middle place be- 
 tween the large antelopes and the small. Two species 
 have been determined in East Africa — Oryx heisa and 
 Oryx callotis. They are similar in most respects (and 
 almost identical with the South African gemsbuck), but 
 callotis has a big tuft of hair on the ears. Their horns 
 are straight, trending backwards, and very long, the 
 best callotis being 30 1 in., while the record beisa is 
 39 in. The oryx is found on the highlands around 
 Machako's, but is not extremely common. He frequents 
 the open plain, and is met with in small batches. It is 
 also common near the coast north of Lamu. 
 
 The largest of the small antelope is Grant's gazelle 
 [Gazella Grant i). He is a model of symmetry, and his 
 large and massive horns are most beautiful in their 
 curve, and are carried most gracefully. In colour this 
 animal is of a very pale reddish-brown, with white 
 belly, a band of lighter colour intervening above the 
 
 1 Journals, p. 223. -' Times, July 6th, 1893. 
 
 ^ Selous, A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa, jjp. 160, 210, &c.
 
 THE ORYX — GRANTS AXD THOMSONS GAZELLES. 535 
 
 stomach. The buttocks are white, with a black edging 
 on either thigh. Grant's gazelle is found on the open 
 plain, and in rocky ground far from water, and never 
 near forest. Both sexes are horned ; the female carries 
 thin but long horns (up to 17 in. in length), the 
 points, as is the case in all horned female antelope, 
 turning inwards, the curve being more or less lyre- 
 shaped. I have weighed a male Granti, and found him 
 115 lb. without the stomach ; female, 65 lb. The horns 
 of the male measure up to 30 in. (record), and are 
 some 7 in. in circumference at the base. They are 
 annulated, black in colour, and bend backwards, and 
 then forwards at the tip. Anything above 25 in. 
 would be a good head. 
 
 Thomson's gazelle {Gazella Tliomsoni) is a very small 
 animal indeed. It is found in very large herds through- 
 out Masailand, on the bare and open plains, where 
 it associates with Grant's. In heio-ht it would not 
 be more than 18 in. to 2 ft., and its weight would 
 probably not exceed 50 lb. as a maximum. It is an 
 extremely beautiful little animal, with a very large 
 horn for its size, black, annulated three-fourths of its 
 lenofth, and in curve somewhat like a miniature Granti. 
 The longest horn recorded is 15i in. ; a 14-in. head 
 would be a o'ood one. The hair is thick and lono-ish, 
 and on the back and sides is of a bright reddish-brown. 
 The belly is snow-white, and above it (below the ribs) 
 runs a longitudinal black stripe, which stops short at 
 the inset of the tliigh. The rump is white, and l^etween 
 it and the red-brown colouring of the back is a thin 
 black line. Mr Jackson states that both sexes are 
 liorned. I luive never myself shot a horned female. 
 
 ()])})( )sed as I am to the mania for the multiplication 
 of species, and for differentiating every slight local 
 variety into a distinct animal, I believe that one of 
 tlic commonest animals of East Africa has hitherto
 
 536 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 escaped accurate classification and observation. For 
 great herds of antelope exist which combine the charac- 
 teristics of the Granti and Thomsoni. In size they are 
 midway between the two, of the height and build of 
 the Indian black buck or the mpalla. In colour they 
 approach the Thomsoni, having the distinctive longitu- 
 dinal black line, while the colouring of the back and 
 sides is lighter and more near the Granti. The horn is 
 that of Thomson's, and both sexes are horned. The 
 difficulty is, that in these mixed herds of Grant's and 
 Thomson's gazelles there seems to exist almost every 
 shade of size and colouring between the two. The 
 animal I speak of, however, is as distinct from the 
 tiny Thomsoni as he is from Grant's gazelle. I would 
 greatly have liked to settle this point to my own satis- 
 faction ; but, as my narrative shows, I was compelled to 
 hurry very rapidly through the habitat of this antelope, 
 both on my upward and downward journey, and though 
 I shot several of the intermediate variety, I was not 
 successful in obtaining a good specimen of a well- 
 horned buck. On one occasion I shot a horned female, 
 which was very much larger than Thomson's gazelle, 
 but yet had the longitudinal stripe. 
 
 The bush-buck [Tragelaiilius sylvaticus), like the kudu 
 and the eland, has smooth black horns, quite unridged 
 or annulated. They have a cork-screw-like twist, and 
 are small for the size of the animal, which is nearly 
 as large as a Granti. The maximum is Ibl in. ; 
 a horn over 13i in. would be worth keeping. The 
 bush-buck is either striped or spotted with white on a 
 red-brown ground ; belly white. He frequents dense 
 jungle and reeds close to water, and is generally found 
 in swampy or marsh ground. In Nyasaland he is called 
 haivarra, in Uganda ngahi. The plague seems to have 
 almost exterminated this animal in East Africa, where 
 at no time was he so common as on Lake Nyasa. He
 
 THE BUSH-BUCK, LESSER KUDU, AXD MPALLA. 537 
 
 is never found in herds, being met with singly or in 
 })airs. 
 
 The lesser kudu {^Strej^siceros imherhis) is one of 
 the most lovely of antelopes. He is a miniature of 
 the greater kudu, but the strijDes on his sides and the 
 bluish tint in his colouring are more distinct. He is 
 rare in East Africa, and I never bagged a specimen 
 myself, though Wilson shot one on the Sabakhi. Like 
 the bush-buck, this antelope is not gregarious. It is, 
 I think, generally found in thick places not far from 
 water. 
 
 The mpalla [jEpyceros melamjnis) of East Africa 
 carries a finer head than that in Nyasaland. This 
 most lovely animal is found in herds varying from 
 half-a-dozen to fifty or more, and generally frequents 
 sparse jungle, or plains which l3order on low forest 
 and scrub. It is the only antelope which I have seen 
 browsing on the leaves of shrubs, and I have shot 
 one while thus reaching up, with his forelegs in the 
 boughs of a bush. The longest horn I have shot 
 was 22:1; in- straight (26:1: in- round the bend, 18:|; in. 
 from elbow to elbow), and this is the largest on 
 record. A 20-in. horn would be worth keeping. The 
 ])oints of the horns are sometimes excessively sharp. 
 In colour he is of a chestnut red, fainter towards the 
 belly, which is snow-white. He has a most graceful 
 carriage, and in symmetry of form and in the beauty 
 of his head and spreading horns he is perhaps almost 
 unequalled even among these most beautiful of the 
 fcr(B natnrce. Like the black-buck of India, he will 
 take enormous bounds, ai)})arently in mere wanton 
 excess of agility, and when wounded will junq) per- 
 pendicularly into the air again and again. He is very 
 hard to kill, and thougli on one occasion I put two 
 bullets into one within two inches of each otlier behind 
 the shoulder, and broke both forelegs with a third
 
 538 SOME OTHER AFillCAN ANIMALS. 
 
 ill-directed shot, it was as much as four men could 
 do to secure him. As he is generally found in thick 
 bush, one often unavoidably loses wounded animals, in 
 spite of one's utmost efforts to recover them. 
 
 The reed-buck or Reitbok [Cevvicapra arundmeum) 
 is found singly or in pairs, usually (like the bush-buck) 
 in thick reeds, and near water. It is a very light-built 
 antelope, and would rarely scale as much as 70 lb. 
 Its horns are annulated, and bend forward in a manner 
 common to no other antelope. This bend was exagger- 
 ated into almost a right angle in the specimens I shot 
 near Ruwenzori (length, 15f in. maximum, 14 in. 
 good). It is found but rarely in East Africa — De 
 Winton shot one on the hills near the Kedoung river 
 — but is plentiful near the Albert Edward Lake and 
 on Nyasa. Its hair is very thick and woolly, and 
 it is remarkable for its long white fluffy tail, which, 
 like that of a young lamb, is the most noticeable thing 
 about it as it runs away. Its colour is mouse-brown, 
 with white belly, and it whistles shrilly when dis- 
 turbed. On Nyasa he is called ompoio ; in Uganda, 
 njasa. 
 
 The nsunu [Kohus hoh) is found in large herds in 
 Buddu, in the swampy land near the lake. He is 
 also found in Kavirondo. In colour he is a bright 
 tawny yellow, with white belly. As his scientific name 
 implies, he is allied to the water-buck, and, like him, 
 his horns are a pale brown in colour, and annulated, 
 all except the extreme tip. The hair, too, is long and 
 thick, though by no means so shaggy as in the water- 
 buck. The nsunu has a peculiar double hoof; the 
 secondary hoof being very long, and the lower so set 
 on as to make it appear as though he walked on the 
 pastern — a provision of nature, apparently, for enabling 
 him to pass over swampy and yielding ground. The 
 pastern and fetlock are black. I did not notice this
 
 THE REED-BUCK, NSUNU, AND PAH. 539 
 
 formation of hoof among the nsunu I shot on the 
 Albert Lake, where I found them on the dry plains, 
 in some cases a considerable distance from water, on 
 the parched and withered tracts of jungle. One ex- 
 tremely fine buck which I shot there was spotted. 
 The hair, too, was not so long and thick as in the 
 nsunu of Uganda. A pair of horns brought thence 
 by me beat previous recorded measurements, being 
 18^ in. in length. A 17^-in. horn may be considered 
 a trophy. The nsunu is found in large herds, some- 
 times numbering perhaps a hundred or more animals. 
 The tiny pah [Neotragus) is a lovely little animal, 
 not bigger than an English rabbit. His slender little 
 legs are no thicker than pencils. I am certain that 
 there are very many distinct species of this animal, 
 varying in size from the Neotragus Kirkii — peculiar in 
 his long prehensile shrew-like nose, and the long tuft 
 of hair on his forehead — to the large pah, in size as 
 big as Thomson's gazelle, with a brick - red belly. 
 Several of these s^oecies I believe to be still unclassi- 
 fied. The pah lives only in thick jungle, and may 
 be found any distance from water, among the thorny 
 aloes and cactus which clothe the most inhos])itable 
 wastes. Indeed, where an entire absence of water, 
 and apparently of fodder, has driven away all other 
 game, the rhino and the tiny pah will alone be found 
 in possession. This is one of the few antelopes which 
 emits any sound, and its whistling — like the notes of 
 a nnisk-iat or a bird — may invariably be heard when 
 it is startled and darts off among the aloes. It is, of 
 course, easily killed with a shot-gun, and is delicious 
 venison. The Uganda variety has lately been classi- 
 fied as a new species by Dr Stuhlmann. Its coat is 
 smootlier, and its colouring varies from a dark sepia 
 brown on the back, to a pale mouse-colour witli even 
 a slaty tint towards the stomach. The })ah is common
 
 540 SOME OTHER AFRICAN" ANIMALS. 
 
 on the islands off the East African coast, and through- 
 out East Africa. 
 
 There are in Africa many species of " grass antelope " 
 [Nanotragi, kc), which, like the four-horned antelope 
 (or jungle -sheep) of India, live in the dense grass. 
 When disturbed they dash past in a series of rushes, 
 like the hog-deer in India (who gained his name from 
 his pig-like rush), or in a series of rapid bounds, till they 
 can disappear and secrete themselves again in the grass. 
 They are of course very difficult to bag, for the sports- 
 man is almost invariably taken unawares, and before 
 his rifle is ready his chance has gone. These grass- 
 antelopes vary from the size of a Granti to that of a 
 pah, and if there are still any completely new species to 
 be found in Africa, I am convinced it will be among this 
 class. I shot one of the larger specimens once, but it 
 turned out to be a doe. Of the smaller, I have only 
 bagged the Steinbuck [Nanotragus tragulus), a little 
 yellow antelope, with long hair and a white belly. On 
 Nyasa the natives call them givajn, ensi, and ishah. 
 
 Allied to the antelopes, but most distinct in his 
 characteristics, is the wildebeest or gnu (Connochcetes 
 tauoHna), called nyumbu by the natives. This animal, 
 though an antelope in his anatomy, in appearance much 
 more resembles a bison. His heavy shoulder, beard and 
 mane, ox-like horns, long cow-tail, and manners, pro- 
 claim him the bison of Africa. I have always wondered 
 that the pastoral tribes of Africa have never attempted 
 to domesticate him with their cattle. The cow yields 
 a considerable quantity of milk, and I would certainly 
 class her with the animals which might be experimented 
 with on ranches, before the wave of civilisation shall 
 sweep the game away from the plains and hills where 
 now they swarm. The brindled wildebeest of East Africa 
 has lately been called "Jackson's" and diiferentiated as 
 a new species {Alho jubatus), solely, so far as I am
 
 GRASS ANTELOPE, WILDEBEEST, AND GIRAFFE. 541 
 
 aware, because his beard is white, while that of the 
 South African species is black. 
 
 He is a most grotesque animal, the embodiment of 
 caricature ! Huge herds of them are found on the 
 Athi plains, but the old bulls love to stand, singly 
 or in pairs, like sentinels motionless on the crest of 
 a rising ground. Thus they will stand face to face, 
 only turning slightly to stare at the hunter. Sud- 
 denly, as though impelled by clockwork, they wheel 
 round, and with the most ungainly plunges make off 
 for some distance, and again strike an attitude. So 
 awkward is their plunging gallop and the fantastic 
 capers that they cut, that they appear to be lame, and 
 they will even in their grotesque levity upset themselves 
 altogether. I have run down a wounded bull, but at 
 close quarters they turn fiercely to bay, and are apt to 
 be dangerous. The skin, of a very dark iron - grey, 
 checkered with the "brindled" markings, is very hand- 
 some, with the flowing mane and beard. The quarters 
 seem very small in comparison to the de23th of the 
 shoulder, and are those of the antelope, as are the hoofs. 
 A bull wildebeest will scale 350 lb. I never saw the 
 wildebeest west of Kikuyu, nor did I meet him in 
 Nyasaland, though Mr Crawshay states that he is 
 found there ; but he, too, never saw him.^ 
 
 The giraffe [Gircvffa camel opardus) stands alone 
 among the game — a genus with no affinities. This 
 most beautiful animal is so well know n from pictures, and 
 liom the specimens till lately living in the Zoo, that he 
 needs no description from me in these cursory and brief 
 notes. He is found in East Africa to tlie east of the 
 Mau escarpment, but not beyond it — until ^\(' reach the 
 Sudan, where he is common. In East Africa he is 
 found most frefpiently in tlie districts near the coast, 
 and extendinii- .'300 miles inland. I cannot but think 
 ^ Zoological Society's Proceedings, 18*J0, p. G(j3.
 
 542 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 that some use might be made of this animal, and his 
 docihty would seem to point him out as a creature which 
 might be serviceable to man. Indeed, at the risk of 
 appearing pedantic, I would urge that over and above 
 those special animals, like the elephant, zebra, ostrich, 
 and wildebeest, whose complete domestication I have 
 advocated, all the large antelope might hereafter be 
 preserved on ranches, and bred in a wild state for meat, 
 like our red-deer at home. This would at least preserve 
 them from indiscriminate slaughter and extinction. 
 The skin of the giraffe is very thick indeed, almost 
 rivalling the rhino. His native name is tiviga. 
 
 The ostrich {inhuni) is found in considerable numbers 
 in East Africa, from the coast zone to the lake, but not 
 (so far as my observation goes) to the west of the Mau 
 ranofe. To the north, it is of course common in the 
 Sudan. I have seen as many as thirty on the horizon 
 at once. The East African variety is not valued for its 
 plumes, as is the South African or the more northern, 
 which is found in Somaliland and the Sudan. As the 
 conditions are, however, favourable to its life, it would 
 be an easy matter to introduce the better plumed species 
 for farming. The young ostrich is often brought for 
 sale by the natives, and it becomes excessively tame. 
 The footprint is not unlike that of the giraffe, and both 
 resemble the double -pointed flat track made by the 
 camel, but are long and narrow, and not so circular. 
 The knack of discriminating between the various spoor 
 of game is an art in itself on which one could write a 
 separate chapter ! 
 
 The representative of the pig tribe in Africa {njeri), 
 both in Nyasaland and the northern sphere, is the wart- 
 hog (Sus pliacocoerus). He is nothing like so large, so 
 powerful, or so fierce as the Indian wild boar. His 
 tushes, however, are very much larger and thicker, and 
 some six or eight inches are exposed outside the lip, and
 
 THE OSTRICH AXD WART-HOG. 543 
 
 curl upwards. As will be seen from the plate, he is not 
 a prepossessing animal. On the level plains around 
 Njems, where he abounds, some most excellent sport 
 might, I think, be had in pig-sticking, were horses in- 
 troduced. The village pig of India is simply the wild 
 species domesticated, and they frequently interbreed 
 with the wild " sounders " ; there is no reason why 
 this African animal should not be similarly tamed. 
 The Avart-hog rarely stands above two feet at the 
 shoulder. He has a ridiculous habit of carrying his 
 tail on end Avhen runnino-.
 
 544 
 
 CHAPTEH XXL 
 
 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS — Continued. 
 
 The lion — Comparison with the tigev — Fearlessness — Man-eaters — Night- 
 shooting — An incident with tiger — "Night-sights" — Wild dogs — 
 Leopard — Serval — Hyena — Small game — Non-game birds — Baboons, 
 &c. — Small mammals — Eeptiles — Lizards — Snakes — Insects — Ants 
 — Bees — Nature of sport in Africa — Horses and dogs a desideratum 
 ■ — Vitality of big game — " Getting their legs " — Incomi^etence of East 
 Africans as hunters — Their pluck — Stalkmg — Native tribes as hunters 
 — Eifles — Other requisites. 
 
 Of the carnivora of Africa the chief, of course, is the 
 Hon [Felis leo). Both in Nyasaland and in East Africa 
 these animals abound. They are found ahke at the 
 sea-level and at the highest altitudes. Quite recently 
 one has been shot even on the island of Mombasa, and 
 they are common on the inainland near the coast, while 
 I myself came upon a troop of them on the Mau escarp- 
 ment at an elevation of some 8000 ft. 
 
 The lion in his habits, as in his character, is very 
 different from the tiger. He courts no concealment, 
 and shirks no encounter. The tiger, unless tracked ujd, 
 or driven out of the fastnesses of the jungle, is rarely 
 or never seen. If come uj^on unawares, he will in ninety- 
 nine cases out of a hundred jDlunge into the jungle and 
 escape from view. If suddenly confronted at very close 
 quarters he may charge in self-defence, as I have 
 known him do, and on such occasions he will invariably 
 roar terrifically to frighten his enemy : in fact it is,
 
 CONTRAST BETWEEN LION AND TIGER. 545 
 
 perhaps, the only occasion on which he does roar his 
 best, A man-eater may assume the aggressive, and a 
 tiger, should he hear sounds in front, and have cause 
 to suspect that he is surrounded or entrapped, will fear- 
 lessly charge, but his natural instinct is to escape. 
 
 A lion, on the other hand, stalks majestically over 
 the jDlain in the open. If he sights man he will gener- 
 ally go from him, but he scorns to run, and if pressed 
 close or interfered with, will charge viciously. It ^^•ould, 
 indeed, appear as though the lion considered it infra 
 dig. to bolt, even from man. I have fired shots at a 
 lion and lioness, and though the bullets went so close 
 that they must almost have singed the hair, they 
 walked proudly along till they crested a rising ground 
 and disappeared. Crossing a small ravine, I ran after 
 them as fast as possible, hoping for a shot at the point 
 where they had disappeared, but when I reached it, I 
 saw them galloping fast on the far horizon. As long 
 as they were in view they scorned to run, but when 
 once out of sight they had made the best of their time ! 
 I have again and again remarked this, and often as I 
 have seen lions I can never recall an instance where 
 they may be said to have fled from me. Lions go 
 about very often in troops. At the Lanjora, near 
 Machako's, Mr Jackson counted twenty - two of all 
 sizes in one troop. This was witnessed by several 
 Europeans. The most I have seen was in the troop 
 I have mentioned, on the Mau plateau — two lions, 
 four lionesses, and four cubs. At the same time, the 
 lion is more frequently met with singly or in pairs. 
 
 He is not easily scared. At the Athi, I remember on 
 one occasion firing a regular fusilade at some small ante- 
 lope. I was utterly fagged and demoralised, and could 
 hit nothing, while the Grant's gazelle at which I was 
 shooting, though hit seven or eight times, refused to 
 succumb. Unsteadied l)v the long and hot march, and 
 
 VOL. I. 2 M
 
 546 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 anxious to secure him, I fired recklessly, and probably 
 expended some twelve to fifteen rounds. This absurd 
 performance took place close to a patch of tall reeds. I 
 went away, leaving instructions for the caravan, which 
 was a short distance behind, to halt here. They did so, 
 and were seated, chattering and smoking, all round the 
 reeds, when a magnificent lion stalked out in their 
 midst ! He had lain there, contemptuously disregarding 
 my previous shots. The porters of course, in a panic, let 
 ofi' their rifles ; one shot may have grazed him, for he 
 immediately faced round, as he was slowly w^alking off', 
 and in another second he would have charged, had not 
 Shukri's unerring rifle shot him dead. On another 
 occasion I almost trod on a lioness, and firing a snap- 
 shot at about 12 yds', distance, I actually succeeded 
 in missing her ! She turned at once, and made a de- 
 monstration to charge. Knowing my life depended on 
 my left barrel, I held my ground, and reserved it till 
 she should be on the top of me. We faced each other 
 for a moment, when with a growl she turned and went 
 off" at a slow gallop. The incident I have narrated of 
 the lion which stole our sheep at Fort George, will also 
 prove how fearless these animals are. 
 
 Lions will often attack men — presumably when game 
 is scarce ; and so bad were the lions on the banks of the 
 Shire, near Nyasa, in this respect, that my canoe-men 
 dare hardly land in daylight to collect firewood, and would 
 on no account do so after dark. We invariably camped 
 on little islands in the river. I had the misfortune to 
 completely lose myself in the jungle when shooting at 
 this very place, and the prospect of spending the night 
 on the branch of a tree was not a pleasant one. To have 
 slept on the ground would have been, I understood, to 
 convert one's self into lion's-meat to a certainty before 
 morning. Talking of this tempts me to digress for a 
 moment on the subject of " sitting up " (in a tree) over
 
 XIGHT-SHOOTIXG. 547 
 
 a dead animal, in order to shoot a lion or tig-er. I look 
 on this as the most feeble and pusillanimous class of 
 sjDort — wrongly so called. 
 
 I have heard of oxen being tied up by a native rajah, 
 day by day for weeks, under a certain tree, and the 
 stall-fed tiofer thus reserved for the rifle of his honoui^ed 
 European guest. One might as well boast of the trophies 
 of a tiger shot through the bai's of his cage at the Zoo ! 
 Nevertheless, under special circumstances, I have my- 
 self tried this form of " sport," and sat up more nights 
 than I care to add up ! I have said that I once did so 
 for a month consecutively in India, but I had an excuse. 
 For the animal I was following from morning till night 
 was a man-eating tiger who was said to have killed 
 over a hundred men, and on whose head was a large 
 reward. By night I sat in trees over the water, where 
 I expected he would drink — my food being brought to 
 me at daybreak. It is the poorest form of amusement 
 I know ! So absolutely silent must one sit, concealed 
 in the carefully constructed machan, that one dare 
 hardly breathe. The mosquitoes graze at will on 
 one's forehead ; a hand must not be moved to displace 
 them, at the hour the tiger is expected. The tiny 
 jmigle-bee — not half the size of the house-ily — in search 
 of moisture settles on the eyelids, till he exasperates 
 the hunter, who dare not dash him off. And after all, 
 the result is almost certain disappointment ! ( )ut of the 
 scores of times I have thus watched, I have never once 
 met with success. 
 
 On one occasion, while watching for this same tiger, I 
 liad a droll contretemps. I had tracked him to a par- 
 ticular jmtch of jungle, and I found he had killed an ox 
 there. No water, save one small pool, was anywhere 
 near. It seemed a certainty he would drink there that 
 night. An ox had been tied up near. There was no 
 })roper tree to make a machan in ; the only one was a
 
 548 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 low pollard. I borrowed a native charpoy (bed), and 
 fixed it among the thin boughs, which else would not 
 have borne my weight. Just at the time the tiger was 
 expected, the ox made a rush among the dry maize-stalks 
 below me. Tightening my grasp on my loaded rifle, 
 and hardly drawing my breath, I leaned over to look. 
 At that moment, without the slightest warning, the 
 boughs to which the charpoy was tied, and those on 
 which it rested, gave way with a crash. The native 
 who sat beside me, and I myself, descended bodily with 
 the charpoy on the top of the ox ! Whether the tiger 
 was really approaching I do not know. We clambered 
 up into the tree again, and spent a miserable night 
 clinging to its branches. 
 
 Once, in Nyasaland, being very anxious to shoot a 
 lion, and having only a few days at my disposal, I 
 sat over the carcass of an eland I had shot, to see 
 if they would come. Several did come, but there was 
 little or no moon, and the mosquitoes drew more blood 
 from me than I did from the lions ! I have been shown 
 many ingenious fore-sights for night-shooting, in which 
 luminous paint and diamond tips were prominent. Mr 
 Holland of Bond Street showed me the very last inven- 
 tion a few days ago, and was surprised, apparently, at 
 my condemning the whole practice as mere poaching. 
 On one occasion, when waiting over water for the man- 
 eating tiger of which I have spoken, I had need of a 
 night - sight. I caught a firefly, and putting some 
 sticky juice of a tree on my fore-sight, I placed the in- 
 sect back downwards upon it, so that his wings ad- 
 hered. As he constantly wriggled to get free, the 
 bright spark at the end of his tail aflbrded a perfect 
 sight to the rifle. 
 
 From what I have said, it will be gathered that to 
 follow the lion into dense cover is even more dangerous 
 than to follow a tiger. I have attempted it — in a
 
 AFRICAN WILD-DOGS THE LEOPARD. 549 
 
 reckless inoocl — but have never succeeded in meeting 
 the Hon under such circumstances. If I had, I should 
 not, in all probability, be now writing these pages ! 
 
 I only once came on a pack of African wild dogs 
 (Ccmis sylvaticus Africanus). They are quite unlike 
 the Indian variety, except in their behaviour. They 
 had been stalking a hartebeest, and ran into him, but 
 missed their mark and lost him. They then 2:>roceeded 
 to stalk a giraffe in a most deliberate manner. Some 
 crept along in the open, or took up jDositions on ant- 
 hills, while others slunk round through the bush. The 
 giraffe saw me, and " sloped," a word which exactly 
 expresses the action of that animal in retreat ! The 
 dogs started forward, and straightened out their 
 V)acks ; some were regularly on sentry, others lying 
 down. I fired at one. They only ran forward a few 
 yards, giving tongue, and even returning quite fear- 
 lessly, just like the Indian dog. In colour they are 
 black, with a white tip to their bushy tails, and the 
 body, and especially the legs, spotted with dirty white 
 and fawn colour. They stand as high as a retriever or 
 pointer, and are lean, lanky brutes, full of going, and 
 with terril)le teeth. They are rough-haired, and have 
 a very deep howl, l)ut do not bark. The ears are large 
 and u]nMglit. The Indian Avild dog is not nearly so 
 large, and is of a rufous red, with whitish belly, and a 
 scanty brush-tail of the prevailing red colour. 
 
 The leopard [Felis pardus) is found throughout East 
 Africa. He is at times very daring, and will attack and 
 kill men. In Uganda it is contrary to custom to shoot 
 liim. and when one of these animals has made himself 
 obnoxious at the cai)ital, by killing goats or attacking 
 people, a great hunt is organised, and he is driven out 
 of his cover. He has to run the gauntlet of the crowd 
 on either side, and is thrashed to death with sticks. 
 ►Should he nianl any one, he is beaten off by the rest.
 
 550 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 It is all looked upon as a great joke, and indicates the 
 pluck of the jDeople, for he is a large and powerful 
 brute. When thus battered to death, he is slung on 
 a pole, and carried to the king, whose j)ei'quisite the 
 skin is ; or he may give it to the chief who organised 
 the hunt. In the absence of Mwanga, after the war, 
 a leopard so killed was brought to Kampala and pre- 
 sented to me. 
 
 The serval cat [Fells served) is also found both in 
 Nyasaland and East Africa. It is a comparatively 
 large animal, and very fierce ; the skin is yellow, with 
 very large black spots and blotches. Like the leopard, 
 servals, though common, are not often seen, owing to 
 their retiring habits ; but I have shot them in East 
 Africa. I once kept for some time a serval kitten. It 
 was a most engaging little animal, full of fun and mis- 
 chief, and very fierce. It would never allow a black 
 man to touch it, and indeed I alone had any influence 
 with it. It was very well aware when it was doing 
 wrong, and if detected would at once prejDare for a 
 fight. When I was writing in my room at Mombasa 
 it would suddenly dart upon my table, upsetting papers, 
 &c., and like a flash of lightning would be oflJ* again, 
 and prepare to fight me, having apparently done this 
 merely out of sheer bravado and mischief, and to " get 
 a rise out of me " ! I would box its ears with a slij)per, 
 amidst much hissing and spitting, but the moment the 
 punishment was over, it had forgotten all about it (unlike 
 a dog), and was as affectionate and as ripe for any new 
 mischief as ever. When feeding, however, it was quite 
 intractable. Among many such pets that I have had 
 at various times, including tiger cubs, young bears, &c., 
 it was, I think, the most amusing, and I became quite 
 fond of it. 
 
 There are two kinds of hyena in Nyasaland, the 
 striped {Hycena stricita) and the spotted {H. evocritn),
 
 THE SEEYAL AND HYEXA GAME-BIRDS. 551 
 
 but I have seen only the latter in East Africa.^ They 
 swarm in great numbers, especially in the districts 
 where the pastoral tribes hve — Masailand, Ankoli, &:c. 
 Now that the cattle are dead, and they no longer can 
 get the bones and offal of these, they have become 
 very bold from starvation, and probably destroy much 
 game. I have already narrated several instances of 
 their audacity. 
 
 There is a very great abundance and diversity of 
 small game in Africa. As stated in the Railway Survey 
 Keport, " acres of geese and ducks " may be seen on 
 Lake Naivasha, and these include a great variety of 
 species. Teal, widgeon, and I believe snipe, are also 
 found. There are various kinds of bustard, including 
 the great bustard, and another large slate - coloured 
 species which struts like a turkey. AVhen flying it 
 looks like a large vulture with black - tipped wings. 
 The guinea-fowl is perhaps the most typical game-bird 
 of Africa, and takes the place of the pea-fowl in India 
 and the turkey in America. In addition to the common 
 species, there is a very handsome variety, the " vultu- 
 rine," found in great numbers on the Sabakhi. 
 
 Many kinds of partridge [qudli), as also of the red- 
 legged " French partridge," are found. Of the latter, 
 a large crested bird is excessiveh^ conmion on the 
 Sabakhi ; of the former, I have seen a dark iron-grey 
 species with a head denuded of feathers (like the 
 guinea-fowl), and a scarlet beak, in Kikuyu, in addi- 
 tion to the ordinary "grey" partridge. Some tln-ee 
 different species, at least, of sand -grouse are found, 
 one of them very large ; and Sergeant Thomas of the 
 Survey told me that on the Mau escarpment, to the 
 west of Naivaslia. he found the English grouse. Several 
 varieties of quail exist, and this l)ird is extremely 
 
 * Eniiu fouiul the striped hyena at Tabora (Gennaii East Africa). — Zoo- 
 logical Proceedings, 1890, p. 647.
 
 552 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 plentiful. Blue rocks, green j^igeon, and endless varie- 
 ties of doves (some with game feathers like partridge) 
 frequent the tree-jungle. Hares are common, and with 
 the tiny pah gazelle afford some sport for the shot-gun. 
 
 Of non-game birds there are endless varieties. The 
 vultures and hawks are well represented, as also the 
 storks, cranes, bitterns, cormorants, divers, moorhens, 
 and other water-birds. A very handsome parrot is to 
 be seen ; and the scarlet - tailed grey jDarrot, so well 
 known in England, is indigenous in Uganda. Numbers 
 of these are brought down by the porters, for sale 
 at the coast. Toucans of various kinds frequent the 
 heavier forest, and very many bright-plumaged birds — 
 prominent among which for gorgeousness of colouring 
 are the reed-sparrows, weaver-birds, and kingfishers — 
 give brightness to the scene. Song-birds are numer- 
 ous. The great black raven, the hooded crow, and 
 others of this family, are to be seen throughout the 
 country ; while the common sparrow, and that most 
 ubiquitous of birds, the pied wagtail, remind us of 
 England. 
 
 Troops of large baboons are met Avith l^oth in the 
 northern and southern British territories. I have 
 already narrated how they will, when provoked, attack 
 man. They come down regularly in season to the 
 banks of the Sabakhi to feed on the fruit of the Bor- 
 assus palm. Many other species of monkey are found 
 in these countries, including the beautiful colobus, 
 which, however, is so prized for its skin by all natives 
 that it has become rare. It lives in the depths of the 
 forests, and is very shy, and hard to approach. Porcu- 
 pines are common, as are large edible field-rats. One 
 sees numerous kinds of field-rats and mice, some with 
 tails like squirrels or the jerboa. They swarm in some 
 localities, especially round Njems. Large red squirrels, 
 and others with a striped skin, may be seen in the
 
 BIRDS, SMALL MAMMALS, AND REPTILES. 5o3 
 
 jungles, and the strange-looking lemur is often caught 
 by the natives and brought for sale. I have also seen 
 the armadillo in Nyasaland. 
 
 Reptiles are very numerous, from the giant crocodile, 
 which swarms in the rivers and lakes, to the most 
 minute of lizards. The crocodiles are of several varieties, 
 including the ugly snub-nosed alligator, which is found 
 in tens of thousands in the Albert Lake, the crocodile 
 })roper, and a smaller green - coloured variety which 
 frequents the fish-230ols. One could recall many stories 
 of crocodiles did space permit, but I must not digress 
 ao^ain. 
 
 The lizards of Africa are very numerous, and some of 
 them very beautiful. They vary from the great lizard, 
 some 3 ft. long, which looks like a young crocodile, 
 to the blue-headed sentinel, which scurries round the 
 trunk of a tree on your approach, and the endless blue- 
 tailed and other rock-lizards, which you may watch 
 idly basking in the sun on a cloudless African day. 
 
 Turtles abound in the rivers and lakes, and the 
 land-tortoises and mud-turtles are very varied. The 
 Ijio-crest land-tortoise I have seen was about a foot in 
 diameter. It had been very cruelly spiked by the 
 natives, apparently to prevent it laying eggs, for wliat 
 reason I do not know. 
 
 Snakes are common, especially the cobra and jjutf- 
 adder. Some cobras spit at an enemy, and the natives 
 say that if the spray it ejects lodges in the eye it causes 
 blindness. I have also seen the hooded cobra. Of 
 l)utl'- adders I have seen the common brown variety, 
 and a verv beautiful s])ecies with checkered yellow 
 and black markings. Tlie python is also found in 
 Africa, and is common in the Lake districts. Wilson 
 relates that one swallowed a wife of the King Mtesa ! 
 Harmless o-reen and coloured tree-snakes are common. 
 Curious reports are rife about tlie black mwaniba, tn the
 
 554 SOME OTHER AFRICAN AXIMALS. 
 
 effect that it has the comb of a cock, and crows, and 
 attacks every one passing by its lair ; it is apparently a 
 species of hamadryad. Frogs, — from the giant bull- frog 
 downwards, — and toads abound. The latter are ex- 
 tremely plentiful in Uganda. It is a curious thing — 
 first pointed out to me by a native — that the frogs in 
 a marsh have very keen hearing, and will detect the 
 lightest footfall of a passer-by, upon which they make 
 a vociferous clamour. He described this trait as a 
 jDrovision of nature against thieves by night ! 
 
 Of the strange and weird insects of Africa I have left 
 myself no space to write. They deserve volumes to 
 themselves. The mantis is found of every size, from 
 4 in. long to an almost microscopic insect. Beetles 
 are often of elephantine proportions, and are of endless 
 kinds. The butterflies and moths are many of them 
 of enormous size and exquisite beauty. Of the former 
 there is an immense variety. The ants are equally well 
 represented. Some are very troublesome, such as the 
 siafu and the mciji-moto, and their bite is most painful. 
 The former attack in masses, and I have known them 
 stampede donkeys, and turn out a sleeping camp. Scor- 
 jDions are numerous, especially among the dead leaves of 
 forest-trees, and the varieties of the mosquito are a study 
 which is often forced upon unwilling students. Honey- 
 bees abound, and I have noticed a kind of ground-bee, 
 whose nest was made beneath the soil, while a lone' 
 neck of moulded clay projected above the ground and 
 gave access to the nest, but prevented rain or water 
 draining into it. The natives suspend hollow logs in 
 the trees for the wild bees to hive in, and they take 
 the honey, but discard and make no use of the wax. 
 
 With a few general comments on sport I will close 
 this chapter, already over-long. East Africa is, indeed, 
 the paradise of sportsmen. I was myself prevented, as 
 I have said, by other duties, and by urgent necessity for
 
 HORSES AND DOGS A DESIDERATUM. 000 
 
 haste, when passing through the game country, from 
 doing much shooting — except such as I could obtain by 
 diverging from the Hne of march, and covering some 
 twenty-five miles or more daily. Under such circum- 
 stances one is often compelled to abandon wounded 
 game, when it heads back in the opposite direction to 
 the line of march — a necessity always grievous to a real 
 sportsman. With horses and dogs in Africa, the 
 grandest sport in the world could be procured. One 
 could then, on the open plains of Masailand, gallop 
 down each wounded hartebeest, and not one single 
 animal need be shot in excess of requirements, and 
 none be left to die, or to be pulled down by hyenas. 
 With horses the zebra and wildebeest could be rid- 
 den down and driven into paddocks or lassoed. With 
 dogs one could track through the densest grass and 
 jungle, and make certain of recovering one's game, 
 ^^•here riding was impossible. Such methods would 
 eliminate the one drawback of big - game shooting — 
 the feeling of butchery when luck is bad, and, in 
 spite of the sportsman's utmost eftbrts, animal after 
 animal is lost though mortally wounded. The pleasure 
 and excitement, moreover, of galloping after game, or 
 liunting with trained dogs, surpasses, perhaps, even 
 tlie zest of the stalk and tlie shot, and is its natural 
 complement. 
 
 Two conditions of sport in East Africa lend em- 
 pliasis to these remarks. One is the incredible recuper- 
 ative power of the large antelopes and all heavy game ; 
 tlie other, the extraordinary inefficiency of the natives 
 as hunters. In confirmation of the first, 1 could till 
 chapters full of instances in which 1 have shot liarte- 
 Ix^est, wildebeest, zebra, bufialo, &c., and com})letely 
 '• bowled tliem over " with a well-placed bullet through 
 a vital organ. Thev have lain ap})arently dead on tlie 
 ground; presently tlun' have staggered to their feet,
 
 556 SOME OTHER AFUICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 and in what appeared a final death - struggle have 
 crawled a few yards. Then they gain strength and 
 hobble along a short distance in front of the hunter. 
 Ammunition is valuable in the heart of Africa, and one 
 refrains from firing a needless shot : presently your 
 dying animal trots away — vires acquirit eundo — and 
 finally he gallops over the horizon as though nothing 
 had happened ! Times without number I have experi- 
 enced this. One follows on, almost at a trot, mile after 
 mile in a burning sun. Quite unsteadied by the exer- 
 tion, and demoralised by the chagrin, one fires round 
 after round, and makes miss after miss. Ultimately, 
 having covered a great distance and wasted much am- 
 munition, one sees the wounded animal mix with a herd 
 and become quite indistinguishable, and realises that 
 one has lost it I I would therefore impress on the hunter 
 never to consider his game bagged until the hunting- 
 knife has done its work. If your animal falls to the 
 shot, cover it with your left barrel until your gun- 
 bearer has seized it, and fire if it rises. From the 
 elej)hant to the tiny pah, treat all alike. In the case 
 of the elephant, I could quote a curious instance from 
 personal experience ; and a friend of mine once shot 
 one and cut ofi" its tail, and sat on the carcass for some 
 time, ultimately leaving it to follow another. When he 
 returned it was gone ! 
 
 But of all game the antelopes are the most tenacious 
 of life. All animals, when first hit, are staggered by 
 the blow, and may be comparatively easily secured. 
 Once they " get their legs " they become more and 
 more unaffected by the wound, and, what is still more 
 remarkable (and I state it as the confirmed observation 
 of a number of years' experience), subsequent shots have 
 not only no such staggering effect, but positively appear 
 to give increased vitality to the animal. I have noticed 
 this with all classes of game both in India and Africa,
 
 TENACITY OF LIFE IX BIG GAME. 557 
 
 and it applies to a boar when speared, as much as to a 
 hartebeest hit by a bullet from a rifle. 
 
 As regards the second point. The Swahili or Zanzi- 
 bari is indubitably the 0-reatest fool at huntino- 1 have 
 ever seen ; and the natives of the various tribes are 
 little or no better. Contrastinof them with the Bheel- 
 trackers of India, whose skill is absolutely wonderful, 
 or even with the ordinary shikarry, or common Indian 
 villager, the difterence is marvellous. I myself was 
 quicker both to see and follow a blood-trail than the 
 best hunter I ever met in East Africa ; yet an Indian 
 tracker could give me as many points in such work 
 as I could probably give to a London cabby. They are 
 equally poor in sighting game. They have, moreover, 
 no instincts as hunters. Instead of noiselessly touch- 
 ing one's arm, indicating the game with the pointed 
 linger, and thrusting the rifle instantly into one's hand, 
 they will whistle loudly to call one's attention, j^oint 
 energetically with nmcli gesticulation, and it will not 
 occur to them to hand the rifle they carry till the 
 game, weary of this music-hall performance, is in full 
 retreat at a gallop. Three years' constant teaching 
 ftiiled to fully eradicate these faults from my gun- 
 bearer. I have even looked over my shoulder when 
 stalking a buck (surprised at its suddenly taking fright), 
 and f)und my intelligent sportsmen follo\ving behind 
 with the camp -flag held aloft! They can never tell 
 you (as the Indian shikarry does with absolute cer- 
 tainty) wliether you have hit or missed. Thev have 
 been absolutely positive of a hit which I misdoubted, 
 and when I asked which one, have pointed to an 
 animal at which I had never fired. Again, they have 
 told me unanimously that I had missed, when the ani- 
 mal had dropped dead to the shot, and was lying where 
 he fell 1 This is a great drawback to the hunter, be- 
 cause a bystander has a great advantage in seeing the
 
 08 SOME OTHER AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 result of a shot, since the object is not obscured by the 
 smoke of the rifle. He can also more clearly hear the 
 " thud" of the bullet. Dualla could always detect this, 
 even though standing 100 yds. or more away from me, 
 but my gun-bearers never could hear it, although close 
 by my side. 
 
 On the other hand, the Swahili often shows very 
 great pluck with dangerous game. My left wrist having 
 been shattered by a bullet in Nyasaland, I could not 
 properly handle my heavy rifle. Any one of my men 
 would, without the slightest hesitation, allow me to rest 
 it on his shoulder to lire at elephant, rhino, or buffalo, 
 standing unarmed, face to face with these animals for 
 the purpose. They will often (as I could quote many 
 cases to prove) fearlessly follow even wounded elephant 
 into the densest cover, but they are terribly liable to 
 panic. Elephant-trackers in Nyasaland are sometimes 
 very good, and the natives there are all more skilful 
 hunters than in East Africa. 
 
 The bushes dotted over the plain, and especially the 
 ant-hills, give the sportsman a great advantage in stalk- 
 ing game in Africa. In some districts, however — as on 
 the Athi plains — the animals are so tame that they 
 will stand within easy range and gaze at the passer-by; 
 and I have even known eland and zebra trot towards 
 the caravan, and accompany it out of curiosity. Few 
 Europeans had, however, at that time, passed through 
 Masailand, and already the game is much wilder. The 
 main difficulty of stalking consists in the fact that 
 almost all herds of game in Africa are mixed : zebra, 
 hartebeest, and the small antelope, all herd together, 
 and frequently a rhino or ostrich will be close alongside. 
 The safety of the herd depends on the most wary 
 species, and a stray ostrich will thus often defeat the 
 sportsman, not merely preventing his getting within 
 range of itself, but by giving the alarm, and so dis-
 
 AFRICANS AS HUXTERS — RIFLES. 559 
 
 turbiiig all the other game in the vicinity. The does 
 of the small antelopes are also especially trying in this 
 respect. 
 
 Few of the pastoral tribes ajDparently hunt or kill 
 game, and this accounts for the tameness of the ani- 
 mals in Masailand, where the wild antelope and zebra 
 mingle with the herds of tame cattle. Now, however, 
 prompted by hunger, the Masai will eagerly eat any 
 game, or even offal ; and on several occasions they 
 ran down and speared wounded zebra which I had shot. 
 As a rule they claim no part in an animal thus wounded, 
 and at once deliver it up ; but on my downward journey 
 their hunger impelled them to try and seize the meat, 
 and a quarrel, which nearly led to serious results, ensued 
 on one occasion between them and my men, who had 
 run forward to claim the animal. The negroid tribes 
 all kill and ensnare game, chiefly in pitfalls. Various 
 kinds are held to be unclean to various tribes ; but, so 
 far as I know, the buffalo is the common prey of all. 
 The Wandorobo are a tribe who live (like the Dwarfs) 
 solely by hunting game. 
 
 My own battery consisted of a 10-bore, for elephant, 
 rhino, and buffalo ; a '577 express, for the large ante- 
 lope ; and a '450 express (the first rifle I ever owned, 
 and my constant companion). The latter I would re- 
 commend against lions, leopards, and all the small 
 antelope. This I think a most adequate selection ; 
 l)ut I would recommend the sportsman to substitute 
 an 8-bore for the 10-bore (and even a 6- or 4-bore if 
 he can manage it). I believe (with Baker and Saunder- 
 son) in employing against these three animals the 
 heaviest calibre which the sportsman can use. If I 
 should add to this selection, I would include a shot- 
 gun (left barrel choked), and a single -barrelled "380 
 rook-rifle. 
 
 Tlie cartridge-belts should be as light as possible : a
 
 560 SOME OTHEil AFRICAN ANIMALS. 
 
 piece of leather, with loops for each round, covered by 
 a small flap as a protection from rain, is suflicient. A 
 roll of small tools — fret-files, &c., &c. — is most useful. 
 Such an assortment as I have found invaluable, both for 
 repairing rifles and for camp work, has been made by 
 Messrs Buck, and fitted in a leather case according to 
 my own design. The whole thing rolls up into a very 
 small compass. A good hunting - knife, a cartridge- 
 extractor, a compass, and a water - bottle are other 
 essentials when starting for a long day's shooting. It 
 may be worth noting, that when game has been shot 
 a considerable distance from camp, and I could not 
 spare a man to watch beside it until the men should 
 arrive for the meat, I have frequently saved it from 
 the vultures and hyenas by tying a pocket-handker- 
 chief to a stick, and leaving it fluttering over the 
 carcass, or close beside it in a neighbouring bush.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 J.— THE INDIAN ACT (V. OF 1843) ABOLISHING THE 
 LEGAL STATUS OF SLAVERY. 
 
 An Act for declarimj and amendhu/ thi' law regarding the condition of 
 slavery within the territories of the East India Company. 
 
 I. It is hereby enacted and declared, that no public officer shall, in exe- 
 cution of any decree or order of the Court, or for the enforcement of any 
 demand of rent or revenue, sell, or cause to be sold, any person, or the right 
 to the compulsory labour or seiTices of any person, on the ground that such 
 jjerson is in a state of slavery. 
 
 II. And it is hereby declared and enacted, that no rights arising out of 
 alleged projierty in the person and services of another as a slave .shall be 
 enforced by any Civil or Criminal Court or Magistrate within the territories 
 of the East India Company. 
 
 III. And it is hereby declared and enacted, that no ])erson who may have 
 ac(juired ]>roperty by his own industry, or by the exercise of any art, call- 
 ing, or profession, or by inlieritance, assignment, gift, or beque.st, shall be 
 dispo.s.sessed of such property, or prevented from taking jiossession thereof, 
 on the ground that such j)erson, or that the person from whom the projjcrty 
 may have been derived, was a slave. 
 
 IV. And it is hereby enacted, that any act which would be a jienal 
 offence if done to a free man, shall be ecpially an ottence if done to any 
 person on the pretext of his being in a condition of slavery. 
 
 VOL. T. -J X
 
 562 APPENDIX. 
 
 B.—THE ANTI-SLAVEEY EDICT OF AUG. 1st, 1890. 
 
 Ill the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. The following 
 decree is published by us, Seyyid Ali Bin Said, Sultan of Zanzibar, 
 and is to be made known to, and to be obeyed by, all our subjects 
 within our dominions from this date. 
 
 Decree. 
 
 1. We hereby confirm all former decrees and ordinances made by our 
 predecessors against slavery and the slave-trade, and declare that whether 
 such decrees have hitherto been put in force or not, they shall for the 
 future be binding on ourselves and on our subjects. 
 
 2. We declare that, subject to the conditions stated below, all slaves law- 
 fully possessed on this date by our subjects shall remain with their owners 
 as at present. Their status shall be unchanged. 
 
 3. We absolutely prohibit, from this date, all exchange, sale, or purchase 
 of slaves, domestic or otherwise. There shall be no more traffic whatever 
 in slaves of any descrijjtion. Any houses heretofore kej^t for traffic in 
 domestic slaves by slave-brokers shall be for ever closed, and any person 
 found acting as a broker for the exchange or sale of slaves, shall be liable 
 under our orders to severe punishment, and to be deported from our do- 
 minions. Any Arab, or other of our subjects, hereafter found exchanging, 
 purchasing, obtaining, or selling domestic or other slaves, shall be liable 
 under our orders to severe punishment, to deportation, and the forfeiture of 
 all his slaves. Any house in which traffic of any kind in any description of 
 slave may take place shall be forfeited. 
 
 4. Slaves may be inherited at the death of their owner only by the law- 
 ful children of the deceased. If the owner leaves no such children his 
 slaves shall ipso facto become free on the death of their owner. 
 
 5. Any Arab, or other of our subjects, who shall habitually ill-treat his 
 slaves, or shall be found in the possession of raw slaves, shall be liable 
 under our orders to severe iDunishment, and in flagrant cases of cruelty to 
 the forfeiture of all his slaves. 
 
 6. Such of our subjects as may marry i^ersons subject to British juris- 
 diction, as well as the issue of all such marriages, are hereby disabled from 
 holding slaves, and all slaves of such of our subjects as are already so 
 married are now declared to be free. 
 
 7. All our subjects who, once slaves, have been freed by British author- 
 ity, or who have long since been freed by persons subject to British juris- 
 diction, are hereby disabled from holding slaves, and all slaves of such 
 persons are now declared to be free. 
 
 All slaves who, after the date of this decree, may lawfully obtain their 
 freedom, are for ever disqualified from holding slaves, under pain of severe 
 punishment.
 
 THE ANTI-SLAVERY EDICT OF AUG. 1ST, 1890. 563 
 
 8. Every slave shall be entitled, as a right, at any time henceforth, to 
 purchase his freedom at a just and reasonable tarifi', to be fixed by ourselves 
 and our Arab subjects. The purchase-money on our order shall be paid by 
 the slave to his owner before a Kadi, who shall at once furnish the slave 
 with a paper of freedom, and such freed slaves shall receive our special pro- 
 tection against ill treatment. This protection shall also be specially ex- 
 tended to all slaves who may gain their freedom under any of the provisions 
 of this decree. 
 
 9. From the date of this decree every slave shall have the same rights as 
 any of our other subjects who are not slaves to bring and ])roseci;te any 
 complaints or claims before our Kadis. 
 
 Given under our hand and seal this loth day of El Hej 1307, at 
 Zanzibar (August 1, a.d. 1890). 
 
 Ali Bin Said, Sultan of Zanzibar. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 PlllSTKIJ liV WILLIA.M BLACKWOOD AND .SONS.
 
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