-■■ .wjimiawmi g 
 
 '■' ! .^ 
 
 :';:■" •■-i.^^^v: 
 
 The 
 
 Transition 
 
 from-slaVery-to-freeDom 
 
 IN 
 
 lifornia 
 onal 
 
 lity 
 
 
 AND 
 
 Pelmba 
 
 JS^' v--,'',i- 
 
 j5'; ; •■,''(,' 
 
 
 
 « •■; '' ' t'
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 4^^jt ...4^y^^^^ 
 
 xz¥\ 
 
 ^^6yg^L£> 
 
 >S/ y^o^ 
 
 '^■^ui-m 
 
 W^ Hf( /'t
 
 BANANI : 
 
 CIk Cransiition from .^laber)) to Jfitctiom 
 m *l.air>il)ar anti ^Semtja, 
 
 HENIIY STANLEY NEWMAN, 
 
 Editor of " The Friend," 
 Author of *^ Palestine Lessons," '^Christian Solidarity," etc. 
 
 |!,ontion : 
 Headley Brothers, 14, Bishopsgate Street Without, E.G. 
 
 |Lcomiits(tcr : 
 The Orphans' Printing Press. Broad Street.
 
 LEOMINSTER : 
 
 THE orphans' PRINTINO PRESS, 
 
 BROAD STREET.
 
 Dr 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 I GLADLY express my gratitude to the author for 
 having interested himself, and the public through 
 the medium of this book, in matters pertaining to 
 the population in the island of Pemba. 
 
 The blot that has attached to our nation so 
 long in maintaining the recognition of slavery on 
 the island of Pemba, and throughout the Zanzibar 
 Protectorate, is now being obliterated. The evils 
 due to the system cannot at once be removed. It 
 is to be done by work such as that alluded to in 
 this book, which will, I trust, do much to assist the 
 authorities in solving their ditticulties, and gradually 
 raising the moral tone of the negro population and 
 of their masters, who have been degraded by asso- 
 ciation with slavery. 
 
 Joseph A. Pease. 
 
 J 51399:] 1
 
 PREFACE 
 
 The eyes of the civilised world turn to Africa 
 with ever-increasing interest. It was my privilege 
 in the spring of 1897 to accompany Theodore Burtt 
 to East Africa, Zanzibar, and Pemba, and to gain 
 some little insight into the actual working of slavery 
 on the eve of the important juncture of the aboli- 
 tion of the legal status in those islands. 
 
 We received unfailing courtesy from the officials 
 of the Government, and our thanks are due to 
 General Sir Lloyd William Mathews, to Consul- 
 General Sir Arthur Hardinge, to Vice-Consul D. R. 
 O'Sullivan, to Mr. Herbert Lister, and others, both 
 in Mombasa, Zanzibar, and Pemba, who furthered 
 our inquiries, and gave us every assistance in their 
 power. With introductions from the authorities 
 in Zanzibar, we made the acquaintance of leading 
 Arab sheikhs on the island of Pemba, and visited 
 a number of shambas and plantations on both 
 islands. 
 
 The discussion of the intricate problem of eman- 
 cipation may prove the means of a clearer under- 
 standing in England of the issues involved. One 
 of the services of history is to enable men to realise 
 how many social victories have already been won. 
 The extinction of slave-raiding and of slave cara-
 
 vi. PREFACE. 
 
 vans in the East Africa Protectorate is a great 
 achievement. It was in 1873 that Bishop Steere 
 wrote home exultingly : " The last open slave 
 market in the world has just been closed." The 
 annihilation of the slave trade in Zanzibar, except 
 possibly an occasional instance of smuggling, is 
 another advance. Cruelty cannot exult with open 
 face, as of yore. The condition of the slaves is 
 better. Thus history kindles hope, and hope 
 inspires further effort. But so long as slavery 
 exists, prosperity is exiled. Justice demands that 
 every man, woman, and child, not convicted of 
 crime, shall be free. Justice delayed is injustice. 
 
 The despatch of Lord Salisbury last February, 
 initiating the abolition of the legal status of slavery, 
 marks an important epoch in the forward move- 
 ment. At first it seemed that month by month 
 slaves were being liberated ; more recently we 
 heard of slaves being sent back to their masters, 
 and a steady backwater of moral inertia seemed 
 to have set in. Now, through the renewed activity 
 of the English officials, the tide of deliverance is, 
 we trust, rising again ; but it is evident that much 
 more definite work remains to be done. 
 
 The current of thought in the following pages 
 is toward further work and fuller emancipation. 
 The spirit of Christianity leavening social life can 
 alone really emancipate Africa. Africa is for the 
 Africans, but we firmly believe that Africa needs 
 Europe to succour and direct her. It is not the 
 interest of the negroes or of the Arabs exclusively 
 that has to be consulted. No fairer spots on 
 earth are found than the coral islands of Zanzibar
 
 PREFACE, vii. 
 
 and Pemba, their hills clothed with fronded palms 
 and spicy groves. Pemba is called by the Arabs 
 Jazirat-el-Khazra, the Emerald Isle. Although 
 morally so dark, it is the pearl of the Indian Ocean. 
 The aim of the Friends' Industrial Mission at 
 Banani, on Pemba, is in every way in its power to 
 uphold and assist the Government in carrying out 
 in its integrity the decree for the abolition of the 
 legal status of slavery, and to loyally second its 
 efforts in that direction. It is useless to cover up 
 or ignore the very serious difficulties that surround 
 abolition in the character of the peoples affected 
 by the change. We have confidence in the English 
 officials who have charge of the subject. But it 
 is a work that must take time for readjustment. 
 The ultimate result can only be the full emanci- 
 pation of the negro race within the whole of our 
 Protectorates. 
 
 Henky Stanley Newman. 
 
 Leominster, 
 
 January, 1898.
 
 H. Annitage, Photo. 
 
 OLD SUGAR FACTORY, BANANI.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE TRANSITION 1 
 
 II. NATURAL RESOURCES 13 
 
 11 [ SLAVERY AS IT WAS 29 
 
 IV. THE AFRICAN AS A SOCIAL FACTOR .... 40 
 
 V. THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR .... 50 
 
 VI. THE HINDU AS A SOCIAL FACTOR .... 67 
 
 VII. THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR . , . .75 
 
 VIII. GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE .... 87 
 
 IX. THE WIDER OUTLOOK 101 
 
 X. THE ABOLITION OF THE LEGAL STATUS OF SLAVERY 1 1 1 
 
 XL EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE 125 
 
 XII. EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK 143 
 
 XI [I. friends' INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI . . .159 
 
 xiv. the working of the decree . . . .177 
 
 Appendix : — 
 
 Instructions to Mr. Hardinge respecting the Abolition 
 of the Legal Status of Slavery in the Islands of 
 Zanzibar and Pemba . . . . . .199 
 
 Mr. Hardinge's Reply 210 
 
 The Sultan's Decree Abolishing the Legal Status of 
 
 Slavery in Zanzibar and Pemba . . .210 
 
 Index 213
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 MAP OF THE EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE AND UGANDA 
 
 MAP OF friends' INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI, AND ITS 
 
 OLD SUOAR FACTORY, BANANI 
 
 THE sultan's palace, ZANZIBAR 
 
 GENERAL SIR L. W. MATHEWS 
 
 TROPICAL VEGETATION . 
 
 ROCK PINNACLES, ZANZIBAR 
 
 GATHERING CLOVES, ZANZIBAR 
 
 LIFE ON THE SHAMBA . 
 
 SLAVE GIRLS, WATER-CARRIERS OF ZANZIBAR 
 
 NATIVE BOYS AND GIRLS AND HUTS, ZANZIBAR 
 
 CUSTOM-HOUSE, CHAKI-CHAKl, PEMBA 
 
 MARKET-PLACE, CHAKI-CHAKI, PEMBA 
 
 ZANZIBAR ARABS 
 
 THE CASTLE, CHAKI-CHAKI, PEMBA 
 
 THE PARSI CLUB, ZANZIBAR 
 
 A STREET SCENE IN CHAKI-CHAKI, PEMBA . 
 
 ZANZIBAR 
 
 STREET SCENE, ZANZIBAR .... 
 
 SLAVE GIRL BUYING FRUIT FROM HINDU TRADESMAN 
 
 ON THE SHAMBA 
 
 SCENE ON PLANTATION .... 
 
 DRYING CLOVES AT BANANI 
 
 CHAKI-CHAKI, PEMBA 
 
 BANANI ESTATE, LOOKING ACROSS BAY 
 MAKUTI HUTS ON FRIENDS' ESTATE, BANANI 
 OUR RESIDENCE IN CHAKI-CHAKI 
 
 MOMBASA HARBOUR 
 
 UGANDA RAILWAY, KILINDINI, MOMBASA 
 CHURCH MISSIONARY HOUSE, FRERETOWN . 
 CITY OF ZANZIBAR, FROM THE SHAMBA 
 CATHEDRAL OF UNIVERSITIES' MISSION, ZANZIBAR 
 DIGGING FOUNDATIONS OF MISSION HOUSE AT BANANI 
 
 BANANI 
 
 THE PATH UP FROM THE SHORE, BANANI . 
 
 "the friend of PEMBA " MISSION BOAT . 
 
 MOMBASA HARBOUR, FROM MISSION HOUSE, FRERETOWN 
 
 MISSION WORK, FRERETOWN 
 
 MARKET, CHRISTIAN VILLAGE, FRERETOWN 
 
 THE MOMBASA-UGANDA RAILWAY 
 
 GROUP OF NATIVES, BANANI 
 
 RUIN ON THE SHORE, BANANI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Frontispiece 
 ENVIRONS iv, 
 
 viii. 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 15 
 
 19 
 
 24 
 
 28 
 
 35 
 
 41 
 
 46 
 
 53 
 
 58 
 
 64 
 
 69 
 
 73 
 
 78 
 
 83 
 
 88 
 
 92 
 
 96 
 
 100 
 
 106 
 
 110 
 
 116 
 
 122 
 
 128 
 
 135 
 
 142 
 
 148 
 
 155 
 
 160 
 
 165 
 
 171 
 
 175 
 
 179 
 
 183 
 
 187 
 
 191 
 
 194 
 
 198
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE TRANSITION. 
 
 ~~ " Kulla mlango na u/unguo wakwe " (" Every door has its key "). — 
 o^Ciy/ I I ^y»^ Swahili Proverb. 
 
 The transition through which the islands of Zan- 
 zibar and Pemba are passing is conspicuous in 
 the city of Zanzibar itself and in its harbour. 
 No one can thoughtfully take a bird's-eye view of 
 the scene presented from any prominent position 
 without seeing around him signs of change 
 and of progress. Through the kind hospitality of 
 Captain Agnew, I lodged in the highest room in 
 Zanzibar, christened by our generous friend, General 
 Sir W. L. Mathews, as '' Mnara-ne" (Swahili for 
 ** in the Tower "). From this vantage ground, at 
 the top of several flights of stairs, with eight 
 windows, looking north,, south, east, and west, and 
 the sea spread out before me on three sides, I had 
 plenty to remind me of the transformation that is 
 coming over East Africa. The high hills of the 
 German Protectorate on the mainland skirted the 
 horizon in a long line to the w^estward, beyond the 
 little green islands that studded the sea like 
 emeralds. Arab dhows, mail steamers, and men-of- 
 war lay anchored in the bays immediately in front, 
 the dhows carrying the flags of various nations — 
 Persian, German, French, English, as well as the 
 crimson flag of the Sultan, each dhow " protected " 
 by the Power whose flag its owner elected to sail 
 under. In the midst of these representatives of 
 various nationalities, the three masts of the Sultan's
 
 2 THE TRANSITION. 
 
 steamer, the Glasgow, that was sunk during the 
 bombardment in 1896, stood up out of the water. 
 Those three masts were a weird reminder of the 
 great change that had taken place in the last few 
 months. The bombardment only continued forty 
 minutes ; but as the eye ran along the shore-line 
 to the north of the English Consulate, its effects 
 were seen in the dilapidated Palace. For some 
 months the local authorities had been carting 
 away the ruins, and the unsightly wreck of the 
 neighbouring houses took long to remove. The 
 Palace was looted, but is being rebuilt, the old 
 buildings along the sea-front are being cleared 
 away, and the stone-work is being used to fill up 
 an ugly salt-water lagoon that must long have been 
 a hot-bed of malaria in the native quarter. The 
 city of Zanzibar itself is full of interest. It is 
 undoubtedly the metropolis of East Africa. No 
 town or city from Natal to Aden can dispute its 
 pre-eminence. To the Germans it is an important 
 commercial centre, and there is a large German 
 Club, as well as the German Consulate. One of the 
 conspicuous buildings in the city is the cathedral of 
 the Universities' Mission, erected on the site of the 
 old slave market, which was closed in 1873. Near 
 the cathedral cluster a number of mission buildings 
 that are a hive of industry, philanthropy, and light. 
 In the centre of the city the French Catholics 
 are erecting a large cathedral of their own. 
 
 From our outlook in the Mnara-ne we see the 
 little narrow alleys that do duty for streets in Zan- 
 zibar, and there lie below us acres of flat roofs, with 
 small wooden look-outs and shelters erected on them. 
 The palm trees, with here and there a mango or 
 orange tree, oleanders, and groups of bananas, add 
 picturesqueness to the scene ; while immediately 
 below us, from the tall warehouses, may be seen a
 
 SSttiattiaBsttcv 
 
 THE SULTAN S PALACE, ZANZIBAR, 1896. 
 
 ., rinjtu
 
 4 THE TRANSITION. • 
 
 group of slave-porters with burdens on their 
 heads, marching in single file, singing some native 
 Swahili chorus as they toil. The air is very clear ; 
 there is not the smoky atmosphere that disfigures 
 English cities, but it is a dreamy, tropical landscape 
 in the hot glare of the sun, so that the eye turns 
 willingly to the pleasant green clove plantations 
 inland, or the bright blue waters along the shore. 
 Remarkable freaks of nature are to be seen here 
 and there. Hidden away to the south is a gorge 
 hollowed out by the monsoons, with pillars of rock 
 left standing like statues. The pinnacles are com- 
 posed of sandstone, but have the appearance of 
 drapery hanging in long flowing robes of grey 
 cloth, and present a strange spectacle. Everything 
 around us is in transition, and of all the elements 
 which greet us among a people religiously opposed 
 to change, there is no greater or more far-reaching 
 change than the emancipation of the negro from 
 the bondage of centuries. The Government has, 
 with a variety of limitations and cautionary pro- 
 visions, abolished the legal status of slavery. It is 
 therefore desirable that we should comprehend the 
 circumstances — natural, social, and historical — that 
 must to a large extent mould the future. 
 
 On our arrival in Zanzibar in January, 1897, we 
 found a remarkable consensus of opinion existing 
 among thoughtful people that emancipation lay 
 straight before them as the programme of the future, 
 the only questions being as to Iiow and ivhen it 
 should be accomplished. In every movement there 
 are advocates for sudden and definite changes, while 
 others prefer gradual evolution. But it is never 
 right to abandon evil by degrees. The sooner a 
 wrong is righted the better. Thoughtful people 
 know well that much preparation precedes the 
 crisis, that no one day or hour merits all the
 
 THE TRANSITION. 5 
 
 honour of a great step forward, that there is much 
 that has to take place (and probably takes place 
 slowly) both l^efore and after the Kubicon is crossed. 
 
 One line of thought in this connection impresses 
 observers with regard to slavery in these islands, 
 and that is a fact that lies on the surface, yet has 
 been far too much ignored in England — that a 
 great deal had already been accomplished in these 
 islands in the direction of emancipation before 
 any edict of emancipation found utterance. It is 
 probably so in every social or political reform ; yet 
 in the heat of debate, the years of quiet, onward 
 preparation are too often ignored. Thus we might 
 mark dates in our own visit, and say that on 
 the 20th January we landed in Zanzibar ; on the 
 24th January we reached Tunduaua, on the island 
 of Pemba ; that on the 27th January we entered 
 the house which the Zanzibar Government had 
 generously provided and furnished for us at Chaki- 
 Chaki. But such a calendar conveys little to the 
 reader of months of quiet thought and growing 
 conviction, or the chain of kind providences that 
 attended our journeyings ; and how little such 
 dates convey of the merest beginnings of move- 
 ments that we hope in after years may be fruitful 
 in good results ! Let it then be fairly recognised 
 that many steps had already been taken by our 
 English Government and by the responsible officials 
 in Zanzibar, that materially ameliorated the actual 
 condition of the slaves, affecting the whole area of 
 slavery, and preparing the way for complete eman- 
 cipation. 
 
 Slavery is an ugly thing at best. It is bad in 
 itself, and must vanish before Christianity. But 
 the presence of wise and watchful officials is 
 helpful in restraining the ini<|uities that attach 
 to an institution that has long been condemned
 
 6 THE TRANSITION. 
 
 as intolerable by enlightened nations. Such 
 ameliorating influences by no means cover all 
 the good already done in Zanzibar. The suppres- 
 sion of the slave trade between the mainland and 
 Zanzibar had been aimed at, and to a considerable 
 extent achieved. Cases of the smuggling of slaves 
 still occasionally occurred, but undoubtedly the 
 wholesale import of slaves formerly carried on had 
 ceased. The hemming in of slavery by laws with 
 regard to slaves being inherited resulted in not a 
 few obtaining their freedom. The fact that children 
 seven years of age were free prevented the legal 
 accession to slavery by the natural law of increase, 
 although the Agreement was often practically 
 ignored. The vigilance of Government oflicials 
 in dealing with cases of cruelty, Avhere proved, acted 
 most usefully as a deterrent to hard-hearted Arabs. 
 
 The extinction of slavery is a work of time and 
 plodding effort ; the whole system of slavery is too 
 deeply ingrained in the social inner life of Africa to 
 be quickly eradicated. England and English officials 
 hate any appearance of a mere paper reform. 
 What our Government announces it endeavours to 
 carry out. The good we would accomplish may fall 
 short of our ideal, but our aim is, not to announce 
 an ideal without an honest struggle to make it a 
 realisation. We believe there had been an honest 
 eff'ort to make previous edicts effectual in Zanzibar ; 
 but the duplicate form of government, nominally 
 by a Sultan, actually by British officials, did not 
 make it easy to give eff'ect to edicts which might 
 be edicts of a Sultan, or stipulations between our 
 Government and the Sultan, and were much more 
 easily inscribed and sealed on parchment than 
 made practically effectual among the people. 
 
 God has many ways of working. He is not 
 narrowed or limited to proclamations, edicts, or
 
 THE TRANSITION. 7 
 
 decrees. Many influences in active operation in 
 society and in commercial relationships are more 
 potent than edicts. Injustice is a boomerang which 
 returns home on the unjust. Academic debates 
 have taken place as to whether slavery is good or 
 ill for certain races and low conditions of men. 
 But far above the small talk of such debates is the 
 hand of God in history. The challenge comes from 
 on high, to dynasties and nations, " Let my people 
 go." The night on which Israel crossed the Red 
 Sea was a night to be much remembered, but it 
 was a night preceded by terrible plagues. America 
 was plagued with a fearful civil war before the 
 nation, religiously professing liberty, set free five 
 million slaves. The plague was great, but after the 
 sacrifice of the lives of hundreds of thousands of 
 American citizens in a fratricidal civil war deliver- 
 ance came, and was wafted from the cotton mills 
 of Massachusetts to the pine forests of Alabama. 
 
 We find a similar nemesis working to-day in 
 Zanzibar and Pemba. The power of the Arab is 
 paralysed by debt. The Hindu mortgage-monger 
 has his hard knuckle on the throat of the slave- 
 holder. The trade in cloves, that a few years ago 
 was a source of rapid wealth, has a plague upon it. 
 The commercial crisis is so great, that while Govern- 
 ment receives nearly two-thirds of its revenue from 
 the intensely fertile island of Pemba, it knows that, 
 unless some great change takes place, the trade of 
 the island that has laid the golden eggs is in ertremis. 
 The plague that precedes emancipation in a form 
 adapted to circumstances was resting on Pemba. 
 Though there was in the Divine hand a rod, it was 
 the rod of deliverance. The onlii pathway open 
 was emancipation. 
 
 It is delusive to search for precedents of the 
 position of things here. God is far too rich in
 
 8 THE TRANSITION. 
 
 resourcefulness. History is too full of fresh in- 
 spiration to exactly duplicate itself. There are 
 parallelisms in human affairs that are of value, that 
 mark the workings of one Mind, but there is an 
 infinite variety in the many fulfilments of one Law. 
 The history of emancipation in the West Indies 
 is instructive respecting our present problem in 
 Zanzibar and Pemba, but the two cases are singu- 
 larly different. There we had for generations the 
 influences of Christian missionaries and of some 
 form of Christian government. Here we are deal- 
 ing with an institution that, whatever the Koran 
 or Islam authorities may lay down, is unfortunately 
 generally linked with Mohammedan sway. Cer- 
 tainly their code of morality is not ours. Power 
 is not given to us in order that we may enable them 
 to continue their iniquities. The Arabs are not 
 likely again lightly to challenge the decision of 
 England. (3ur rule in these islands is much more 
 pronounced than ever before. 
 
 While, however, Zanzibar and the West Indies 
 are essentially different, one illustration, that of 
 Antigua, may inspire courage in the hearts of 
 any who fear the results of emancipation in 
 Zanzibar. The following facts are marked in the 
 history of Antigua, and are confirmed by a variety 
 of evidence from the commercial men of the islancl. 
 The transition from slavery to freedom eft'ected a 
 great change for the better in the condition of the 
 negroes. Emancipation was the result of political 
 and pecuniary considerations, rather than of re- 
 ligious principle. The event took place peaceably 
 on one day (the 1st August, 1834). After emanci- 
 pation there was no rebellion. Emancipation was 
 regarded by all classes as a blessing. Free labour 
 was found to be less wasteful than slave labour. 
 The negroes did their work more cheerfully and
 
 Gomez, I'livto. 
 
 GENERAL SIR W. L. MATHEWS.
 
 10 THE TRANSITION. 
 
 better, and were more easily managed as free 
 men. They became more trustworthy, taking 
 a deeper interest in the affairs of their em- 
 ployers. Antigua proves that emancipated slaves 
 appreciate law. They have shown no disposition 
 to roam from place to place. Freedom suddenly 
 bestowed did not make the negroes more insolent. 
 The freed negroes proved that they were able to 
 take care of themselves. Emancipation tended to 
 elevate the men, and effected a vast improvement 
 in the condition of the women. Real estate rose 
 in value.* 
 
 Such thoughts bring us to the practical outcome 
 of the present movement. Sir Arthur Hardinge 
 has, in his despatches, repeatedly referred to the 
 trend of events as a *' transition." Transition not 
 only includes much that goes before and prepares 
 the way, but it includes much that must follow after. 
 We rejoice in the careful thought the home Govern- 
 ment, as well as the officials in Zanzibar, have given 
 to future needs. With the best intentions, the 
 supreme inertia and the adherence to custom ani- 
 mating Oriental peoples make advancement sloiv. 
 The emancipation of a composite community from 
 the customs of their forefathers is not to be suddenly 
 effected by an edict of the Sultan, or by a message 
 from Downing Street. A decree changes the 
 legal status of the slave, but no decree can suddenly 
 transform his character. Mr. Burt, of the Church 
 Missionary Society, as he took us through the 
 streets of Mombasa on our way to Zanzibar, said 
 the great philosophy of life in Africa might be 
 embodied in one word, ^' pola, pola l'' (''slowly, 
 slowly"). Dr. Edwards added : "Yes, you may take 
 that as the key to maintaining your health ; but 
 
 * See Thorne and Kimball's " Report of Emancipation in the West 
 Indies. "
 
 THE TRANSITION. 11 
 
 you may take it also as the key to your missi 
 
 success. Take things quietly ; you mu^ i] 
 
 be willing to make progress slowly." 
 
 recognise the progress that had previ( 
 
 made, we shall be the better prepared to look 
 
 hopefully on much that remains to be done. 
 
 We have to consider how to help the negro 
 to make the right use of emancipation, how to 
 enable him to rise to the emergency of " inde- 
 pendence." He is very low down and degraded 
 at present. But the progress he has made in 
 the United States in intelligence, in educational 
 acquisition, in religious faith, and in administrative 
 power, shows the immense capacity in negro 
 races to rise. That he has risen in contact with 
 the white man in America is an argument that he 
 can rise in the social scale in the tropics. The 
 tropical climate, that steals the energy from the 
 European, has not an equal effect upon the African. 
 He is in his natural habitat. Here he can physic- 
 ally thrive. The deterioration that has marked 
 both the Arab and the negro under slavery need 
 not be permanent under emancipation. But if 
 there is one thing more than another which the 
 negro at present lacks, it is the capacity to be 
 independent. He needs some superior race along- 
 side him to enable him to rise. Under slavery the ] 
 Arab taught the negro to sink his manliness, and I 
 the negro w^oman to prostitute her home life. But ' 
 as the purer influences of English life appear upon 
 the scene, the negro will rise in the presence of the 
 higher aims of Christian civilization. Missionaries 
 are a great help in this direction ; but true mis- 
 sionary work among the negro races must not be 
 one-sided. The cultivation and the concurrent 
 development of the haiid, the head, and the heart, 
 are essential.
 
 12 THE TRANSITION. 
 
 The present degradation is so great, that the 
 elevation of the race must be accompanied with 
 great patience. The husbandman that labours to 
 make the barren ground fruitful, by tillage and by 
 seed-sowing, works by faith, expecting the harvest 
 hereafter. So let us work expectantly and patiently. 
 
 It was at sunrise on a lovely Sabbath morn- 
 ing that the Baratva cast anchor in Chaki-Chaki 
 Bay, off Pemba. The sails had been set to the 
 breeze that wafted us along, and the same breeze 
 was swaying the fronds of the tall cocoanut palms 
 that guarded the shore at Tunduaua as the black 
 boys rowed us to the beach. The natives, with 
 true appreciation, have named the spot Tunduaua, 
 '* the beautiful place like a flower," with its thousand 
 acres of mangoes, cloves, and palms. A shelter- 
 ing cloud, protecting from the heat of the sun, 
 has been kindly granted to Pemba, and this cloud 
 morning by morning rests over the island. But 
 from under the cloud, and behind the long line of 
 tropical verdure that fringed the coast, the sun 
 shone out upon us, like a forecast of the brighter 
 day about to break upon the swarthy cultivators 
 among these luxuriant plantations. Instead of the 
 cloud of slavery, with all its depressing influences, 
 there has risen upon these people the morning 
 star of freedom. As we enter upon the considera- 
 tion of the various forces that go to mould the 
 future of East Africa, we must remember that it is 
 the formation . of character that can alone secure 
 permanent success, and that can alone gild the 
 horizon with hope.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 NATURAL RESOURCES. 
 
 " Fishing in deep water requires skilled workmen." — Swahili Prorerb. 
 
 Islands have played a remarkable part in the 
 destiny of nations. The British Isles have domi- 
 nated the world, peopling new empires and colonies 
 in the West, controlling the future of the East in 
 India, establishing vast protectorates in Africa. The 
 island city of Venice dominated Italy ; and the 
 astute Arabs founded their power in East Africa 
 by making the islands, and especially the island of 
 Zanzibar, their base of operations. 
 
 In considering the natural resources of Zanzibar 
 and Pemba, we must bear in mind that both are 
 formed from end to end of coral. Other forma- 
 tions crop up here and there. The east coast is 
 swept by periodical ocean storms, and the coral rag 
 in many cases is scoured of such soil as might 
 otherwise accumulate. A dense . low scrub covers 
 much of these eastern tracts of country. 
 
 Zanzibar is fifty-five miles long, twenty miles 
 across in its widest part, and about eighteen miles 
 from the mainland. The island of Pemba is thirty 
 miles to the north of the island of Zanzibar, and is 
 some forty miles long, and eight to twelve miles in 
 width. The areas of greatest fertility are the slopes 
 which lie to the west of the long ranges of hills 
 running down the centre of the islands. Here mile 
 after mile of clove trees and of cocoanut palms crowd 
 the landscape. The country is beautifully undu-
 
 14 NATURAL RESOURCES. 
 
 lating, and though the hills are not more than from 
 100ft. to 200ft. high, the contour of the whole is 
 one unbroken succession of hills and valleys, clothed 
 with tropical verdure from summit to base. On 
 Zanzibar an excellent Government road runs across 
 the island ; but on Pemba there are no roads except 
 rough foot- tracks throughout the island. The only 
 exception is a road recently made by the Govern- 
 ment from the shore, of less than a mile, to the 
 estate it has acquired. With the exception of a 
 few donkeys used for transport purposes, every- 
 thing on Pemba in the way of produce is carried 
 on the heads of the negroes. 
 
 On the plantations of these islands there are not 
 only tens of thousands of clove trees and cocoanut 
 palms, but betel-nut palms, oil palms, date palms, 
 silk cotton trees 60ft. to 80ft. high, oranges and 
 citrons, pomegranates, mangoes, custard apples, 
 papaw, pomelo, jack-fruit, guava, banana, cassava, 
 and sugar-cane. Chillies, pepper, annatto, and 
 pine-apples grow abundantly, and appear to be 
 indigenous; while in cultivation there are cinnamon, 
 coffee, nutmegs, and vanilla. The Zanzibar Govern- 
 ment has established three experimental farms as 
 nursery grounds for new products. Two of these 
 are on the island of Zanzibar, namely, Dunga, under 
 the care of Mr. Lyne, the Director of Agriculture ; 
 and Chwaka, under the care of Mr. J. T. Last, H.G.S. 
 The plantation on the island of Pemba is Tunduaua, 
 the residence of Mr. Farler and Mr. Herbert Lister. 
 
 Through the kindness of Dr. A. H. Spurrier, 
 formerly editor of the Zanzibar Gazette, I visited 
 the aboriginal fortress and palace of Dunga. The 
 new road is a great credit to the Sultanate, and 
 ppens up a very valuable tract of country. Houses 
 are springing up along the route, and there are 
 evidences of an increase of prosperity and of traffic.
 
 16 NATURAL RESOURCES. 
 
 We rested half-way at a lovely bungalow by the 
 river side, round which were flourishing the 
 most brilliantly coloured crotons. The children 
 were bathing among the tall reeds in the river, 
 while the purple water-lilies half concealed the fish 
 that sheltered under the flat leaves. Round the 
 bungalow were growing choice vines and fairy- 
 like creepers, whose gorgeous blossoms hung with 
 delicious negligence in the sunshine, their stamens 
 drooping from them like jewelled earrings. At this 
 half-way village a long bridge takes us across the 
 largest river on the island. A rice swamp runs 
 along the river valley. Across this we struck 
 eastward for seven miles, up and down hill, through 
 clove plantations and across waste commons 
 spangled with flowers. Dunga originally belonged 
 to the Sultan of the Wahadinu people. It stands 
 on a very fertile plateau above the surrounding 
 valleys that run longitudinally north and south. It 
 is called a palace or fortress, and was held for 
 generations by the aborigines, who appear never to 
 have been conquered by the Arabs. The wall that 
 surrounded the palace yard as a defence is still in 
 several places standing, and encloses not only the 
 courtyard but large gardens. The mortar with 
 which the walls were constructed is very hard, and 
 I was informed that the native Sultan who erected 
 the walls had ordered a number of his slaves to be 
 killed in order that their blood might be mixed 
 with the mortar to make it cohere more firmly. 
 Such is the cruel disregard of human life begotten 
 of the great scourge of Africa ! The house is to 
 some extent modernised and rebuilt, but has a 
 handsome old central staircase of Oriental construc- 
 tion, and many of the apartments are protected 
 with strong masonry ; some of which are said to 
 be haunted. There are very fine views from the
 
 NATURAL RESOURCES. 17 
 
 spacious flat roof. But the whole bears the appear- 
 ance of a large old farmhouse rather than of a 
 palace, and the exterior is very plain. Within the 
 courtyard grows the remarkable durian tree, whose 
 fruit has a most disagreeable odour. A large nut- 
 meg tree stands close by, on which the nutmegs 
 are hanging. In the gardens are rows of the 
 ornamental betel-nut palm, large quantities of 
 vanilla vines, and hundreds of young indiarubber 
 plants which have been recently planted. 
 
 At Tunduaua oranges and limes grow freely in 
 the enclosure immediately in front of the verandah, 
 and were in blossom and in fruit when we landed. 
 Coffee and vanilla flourish. From the verandah, 
 which is raised two or three feet from the ground, 
 we look out through the tall palms on to the blue 
 ocean. The house contains three central apart- 
 ments for Europeans, with side rooms for servants, 
 the house standing like a square salt-box, with 
 no glass in the windows, but iron bars to prevent 
 ingress. High above the house rises the great 
 overhanging roof, with abundance of open space 
 for fresh air between the roof and the ceilings. 
 The rafters for the roof are made of long bamboo 
 poles, which grow abundantly on the islands. These 
 are covered with shrewdly plaited palm leaves, 
 which are compacted together and stretch over 
 the verandahs, forming the universal makuti roof 
 of plantation life. A tarriance in such surroundings 
 convinces a visitor of the magnificent natural 
 resources of the islands, in the abundant harvest 
 which is month after month being gathered from 
 the exuberant vegetation. Every little hilltop 
 abounds with the fronded palms or the green bushy 
 mangoes, the slopes being clothed with the shining- 
 clove trees ; while the fertile valleys lend themselves 
 to the easy cultivation of the little hoes of the
 
 18 NATURAL RESOURCES. 
 
 coloured men and women, resulting in luxuriant 
 crops of sugar-cane, m'liogo, rice, maize, and pulse. 
 Nature is very lavish in the tropics in satisfying the 
 needs of man, while the climate induces ennui and 
 exhaustion, and an incapacity to accomplish the 
 energetic work of northern latitudes. There are, 
 however, abundant compensations in the bountiful 
 prodigality of the spices and the fruit which the 
 tall trees that fan the languid air are laying at our 
 feet. 
 
 We visited the east coast of Pemba in company 
 with Consul O'Sullivan and an experienced Arab, 
 but had to leave our donkeys behind us long before 
 we could reach the shore, and performed the re- 
 mainder of the journey on foot along a very narrow 
 track shaded with tall dense bushes, in which 
 were beautiful tropical butterflies and insects ; but 
 there seemed nothing but the rough ragged coral 
 under our feet, harder than any ordinary rock, and 
 presenting a sharp, jagged surface. Passing along 
 this fisherman's track, we reached the shore, where 
 the rock overhanging the beach was worn away by 
 the waves into caves and hollows. Crested breakers 
 were tossing over the long reef out to sea. 
 
 The west coast is very different. It is indented 
 with a multitude of creeks and bays, protected from 
 the sea by a necklace of coral reefs and isles that 
 form a natural breakwater. No coast in the world 
 seemed naturally more adapted than Pemba for 
 running in slaves from the mainland. Up the long 
 creeks, fringed with mangroves, the Arab traders 
 could run their dhows at high tide. The trees 
 grow in the quiet salt water, covered above the tide- 
 line with foliage, and the entrances to these creeks 
 are often so entangled with shoals and with vege- 
 tation that no stranger can safely approach. When 
 English vessels appeared, and the process of pre-
 
 20 NATURAL RESOURCES. 
 
 venting the slave trade was undertaken by European 
 philanthropy, only a very small proportion of the 
 slaves could be intercepted in transit. More effi- 
 cacious remedies for the slave trade have now been 
 devised, and the long reaches of smooth water 
 within the shelter of the coral reefs are destined 
 by a kindly providence to higher and happier 
 service. 
 
 The harvest of the sea in these shallow lagoons 
 is the delight of the negro population. On our 
 voyage to Weti we passed scores of people stand- 
 ing in the most grotesque attitudes in the water, 
 gathering shell-fish. The low reaches that run out 
 from the land afford magnificent fishing-grounds, 
 and their toil was evidently not in vain. Others, 
 more venturesome, strike out on the smooth water 
 in the roughest kind of boats — the trunk of a tree 
 scooped out, with outriggers on both sides, to 
 which are attached spars balancing their craft. 
 These contrivances do not lend themselves to the 
 use of oars, and are usually propelled by a man in 
 the stern with a long pole, which he pushes against 
 the shallow sea-bottom. A more ambitious boat 
 for coasting purposes is made out of the trunk of 
 the eccentric baobab tree. These trees rise out of 
 the surrounding brushwood on the shore with a 
 weird and almost ghostly aspect, as if they were 
 dead, their crooked branches standing out in 
 uncouth forms against the sky at night. They are 
 leafless when every other tree is crowded with 
 foliage. But the baobab tree throws out its own 
 leaves in its own time, and clothes itself decently. 
 The two ends of the trunk of these trees are 
 sharpened by the natives. No keel is required, as 
 they are only intended for light draft. The trunk 
 is scooped out so as to hold four or sometimes six 
 people. Two constitute the ordinary crew, and
 
 NATURAL RESOUKCES. 21 
 
 with long poles as propellers they go a fishing. 
 The water is exquisitely clear, with nothing but the 
 merest ripple from the wind on its surface. The 
 Government boat in which we travelled was, how- 
 ever, well built, and we had four capable negroes 
 at the oars. We looked over the sides to the 
 rocky bottom below us. The little caverns of white 
 and red coral were peopled with sea anemones and 
 sponges. Thousands of fish floated undisturbed. 
 Sometimes the natives club together and throw out 
 large nets with corks and leads, with which they 
 intercept the larger fish as the tide ebbs or flows ; 
 at other times shoals of fish take fright, and 
 hundreds of them splash the surface, and, spring- 
 ing into the air, fly away to the right hand and 
 the left as we intrude on their solitude. Here and 
 there grotesque coral rocks rise above the surface, 
 shaped like mushrooms, the splash of the tide 
 wearing away the lower part of the rock and 
 leaving the top covered with a mass of brushwood 
 which forms a home for the birds. The Magila Hills, 
 and other mountains on the African mainland, are 
 seen as we coast along these Pemba lagoons. 
 
 As we approached Weti, our four boatmen were 
 eagerly expecting Ramadan (the hot month), every 
 day of which the devout Muslim keeps as a fast. 
 Very beautiful was the crescent of the new moon 
 as it appeared at sundown. Before Ave could see 
 it, the faint streak of curved white light was 
 detected by our boatmen. They bowed and 
 pronounced some Arabic words in a kind of chant, 
 and Ramadan was ushered in. The Mohammedan 
 day commences at sunset. In another moment 
 the booming of the guns from the shore corroborated 
 the observation of the boatmen ; the great Moham- 
 medan fast had begun. The fast is religiously 
 observed during the day, but at sunset the kettle-
 
 22 NATURAL RESOURCES. 
 
 drums sound, choruses are sung, processions shout 
 through the streets, and there is much feasting. 
 
 Excellent fish was purchased from the boats as 
 we passed, and the negroes thoroughly understood 
 the right price to ask for the fish they had caught. 
 Their Arab masters, to whom the fish or the money 
 must be handed over, had taught them their lesson. 
 What the negroes eat in the way of fish is shell- 
 fish and dried shark ! Outside a native village on 
 the plantations are often seen heaps of sea-shells 
 that have accumulated for years ; such heaps 
 of shells would be a paradise for English chil- 
 dren from which to select decorations for their 
 mantel-pieces at home. The dhows come to shore 
 loaded with dried shark. Unhappy is the English- 
 man who tarries in the precincts of a newly 
 landed cargo. The smell is repulsive. But the 
 negroes rapidly congregate, and a brisk trade runs 
 on. The fish is cut up into long strips ; these 
 are tied together, and the successful purchasers 
 carry them away on their heads and under their 
 arms with delight. 
 
 The little islands that fringe the western shores 
 of Zanzibar and Pemba form lovely retreats. 
 Chango, or Prison Island, immediately faces the 
 city of Zanzibar. This island is placed under the 
 care of Captain Agnew, the port officer of the city. 
 He kindly ran us across to it in his boat in thirty- 
 five minutes. It has a beautiful sandy beach, on 
 which we picked up red coral, tropical shells, and 
 sponge. The tall aloes and cactus, the papaw trees, 
 and the fragrant frangi-pani abound. Indiarubber 
 grows here readily as elsewhere. The island is all 
 coral, and full of holes, quarries, and caves. Down 
 in these quarries, lower than the surface of the 
 island, the negroes and half-castes build their huts, 
 plant their bananas, and keep their goats, sheltered
 
 NATURAL RESOURCES. 23 
 
 from the winds. There are two Government 
 bungalows for the use of officials as sanatoriums. 
 There is also a model prison, which at present lies 
 empty. Mesale is a picturesque island opposite 
 Chaki-Chaki, off Pemba. To the north of Mesale 
 lies Uvinje, which is occasionally visited by the 
 English men-of-war. Other islands are valued by 
 the Arabs as the prolific home of guinea-fowl and 
 wild birds. Fundu is a long island frequented by 
 the Arabs, on which we found a considerable popu- 
 lation, who spend their time in fishing and in culti- 
 vation. It is sometimes regarded as a health resort. 
 Hamoud-bin-Abdullah, a leading Arab of Nynn- 
 yennyeni, whose shamba we visited near Weti, 
 escorted us to Fundu. The islanders gave us a 
 courteous welcome ; they were grouped together 
 under a baobab tree on the shore, mending their 
 nets. A charpoy under a wide-spreading mango 
 was our resting-place. Our "boys" fed on the 
 cassava which they gathered and roasted in a 
 brushwood fire. The cassava is a shrub with knotty 
 stems, growing to a height of from five to eight feet, 
 and the roots swell into large tubers of a yellowish 
 colour. An acre of cassava yields more nutritive 
 matter than six acres of wheat ; it is therefore 
 a very popular food for the common people, and 
 is abundantly cultivated.* It is planted on well- 
 drained soil on the hill slopes, as the roots soon 
 decay if water-logged. It thrives best in the 
 neighbourhood of the sea. In planting, the full- 
 grown woody stems are cut in pieces four to six 
 inches long, and these are placed in rows in a 
 slanting position in ground which has been prepared 
 with a hoe, and they soon strike root. The tuber- 
 ous root is easily roasted, and answers the purpose 
 of our potato as an article of diet. It is also, 
 
 * Nichols' " Tropical Agriculture.'"
 
 Gomez, Photu. 
 
 GATHERING CLOVES.
 
 NATURAL RESOURCES, 25 
 
 when dried, made into meal for bread and cakes, 
 or manufactured into starch and tapioca. On the 
 island of Fundu there are very ancient trees with 
 Arabic inscriptions. Cotton grows freely. We 
 gathered a handful of fragrant orchids, which 
 luxuriate on trees in the swamps. 
 
 The heavy rainfall of the islands is largely affected 
 by the monsoons. Lying five degrees south of the 
 equator, the highest temperature is in January, 
 February, and March, and the lowest in July, 
 August, and September. To Europeans the equable 
 temperature is very striking. Throughout the whole 
 year it does not usually vary more than ten or 
 twelve degrees, ranging from 78" to 88°, seldom 
 registering over 90°. The first three months and 
 the last three months in the year the prevailing 
 winds are from the east and north-east. In these 
 months the islands are under the influence of the 
 north-east monsoon, which almost daily brings fresh 
 breezes. In April, May, and June comes the heavy 
 south-west monsoon, which brings abundance of 
 rain, amounting to about 15 inches in April. 
 
 The exports from Zanzibar and Pemba consist 
 chiefly of cloves and copra. The export trade in 
 indiarubber, ivory, tortoise-shell, gum, and chillies 
 is also considerable. The clove is the staple com- 
 modity, and pays a duty of 25 per cent, in kind 
 to the Zanzibar Government. The export of cloves 
 for the last five years has been 74,602,0001bs., 
 giving an average annual export of 14,920,4581bs. ; 
 the output in the year 1896 was 12,490,8351bs., 
 which was less than for some years past. Five- 
 sevenths of the entire clove crop comes from 
 Pemba, the smaller of the two islands, so that the 
 commercial prosperity of Pemba largely depends 
 on this culture. The people, however, show 
 great carelessness in the cultivation of the planta-
 
 26 ^' NATURAL RESOURCES. 
 
 tions, in picking the trees, in drying the cloves 
 for market, in the packing, and in the ship- 
 ment. The energy of free labour may, we hope, 
 ultimately alter this. Scarcely less important is 
 the export of copra, the white meat of the cocoa- 
 nut, 12,927,2081bs. being sent out in 1896, valued 
 at £64,802. This was considerably in excess of 
 previous years. It is packed in sacks, and sent for 
 the most part to Marseilles, being largely used in 
 the manufacture of sweetmeats and biscuit con- 
 fectionery. Copra has the great advantage of 
 paying no export duty. Of chillies, 579,2851bs. 
 were exported in 1896. Some conception may thus 
 be gained of the main natural products of the 
 islands available for commerce. But such statistics 
 take no account of the abundant produce, such as 
 bananas, rice, and cassava, which form the ordinary 
 food-stuffs of the bulk of the inhabitants. 
 
 By far the largest annual imports into the islands 
 of Zanzibar and Pemba are from India. This is, 
 of course, partly the result of easy communication 
 with Bombay ; but the fact reflects great credit on 
 the Hindu and Parsi merchants. German East 
 Africa stands next on the list for imports. Germany 
 also supplies the islands with far more piece-goods 
 than any other country, the latest Blue-book on 
 the subject stating that for the "kangas," which form 
 the principal dress of Swahili women, " Germany 
 practically holds the monopoly." This monopoly 
 is not the result of tariff, but of open competition 
 in meeting the requirements of the market. The 
 same remark applies to cotton sheetings. Those 
 which sell most freely in Zanzibar are all of Ameri- 
 can manufacture, and are preferred before English 
 sheetings. " The cloths imported from America," 
 the Government Blue-book states, " are of a superior 
 quality to those of the same price sent from
 
 NATURAL RESOURCES. 27 
 
 Manchester." These facts have been submitted by 
 our Government to the Manchester Chamber of 
 Commerce, and therefore need not be dilated upon 
 here. After India and German East Africa come 
 the imports from Great Britain, which were larger 
 in 1896 than in 1895. 
 
 There is, as yet, no direct line of steamers run- 
 ning from England either to Zanzibar or to the ports 
 on the East African coast. There is an excellent 
 French line from Marseilles, also a German line 
 from Europe to Zanzibar.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 
 
 "God has created no man despicable." — Swahili Proverb. 
 
 The Koran often speaks kindly of the slave. 
 An Arab Sheikh on Pemba liberated a number 
 of his slaves, and on being asked why he had 
 done so, promptly quoted the Koran and replied, 
 " Because it is well-pleasing to God." There are 
 kind masters as well as cruel, and it is not to the 
 interest of the master to illtreat or starve his 
 slave, any more than it is his interest to illtreat a 
 horse or a mule. It is a fallacy to charge the 
 Arabs with all the enormities of slave-raidins: and 
 slave-trading in Africa. Slavery existed long before 
 the Arab went to Africa. It is ingrained in the 
 social life of the dark continent. It was found in 
 Madagascar and Mozambique, in South Africa and 
 in West Africa, outside Arab influence ; and 
 English merchants themselves were for generations 
 guilty of fostering the slave trade between West 
 Africa and America. 
 
 Dr. Heanley says : '' England may have forgotten, 
 but the African too well remembers, the English 
 pirates, who came to prey upon the Portuguese 
 commerce, and left behind them no honourable 
 memory of Englishmen or Christians." Thousands 
 of Africans have died in miserable slavery in order 
 that Englishmen might make fortunes. Captain 
 Lugard with equal emphasis says : " Our horror- 
 stricken outcries in Europe against the unspeakable
 
 30 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 
 
 atrocities of the ' Arab ' slave-raider ill become us 
 when we look back at the history of the past, and 
 recall the fact that for two and a-half centuries we 
 ourselves stained our hands with this traffic, and 
 pocketed the gold which was the price of human 
 blood. We have thus a duty of expiation to per- 
 form towards the African." Let us therefore 
 honestly consider the debt we owe to Africa. 
 
 Many intelligent people seem to think that 
 slavery as a domestic institution of the people 'is 
 not in itself bad for the negro, but that it is the 
 slave-raiding and slave trade that are cruel. All 
 three hang together ; but our present considera- 
 tion is the actual condition of slavery in itself. 
 The moral degradation of slavery is one of its 
 worst features and a gigantic wrong. The terrible 
 violation and abrogation of home life and of the 
 sanctities of home purity are the unutterable con- 
 demnation of slavery everywhere. Probably no 
 one is able to speak to this point with more 
 emphasis than Miss Thackeray, of Mbweni. It was 
 delightful to listen to her as her coloured prot^g^s 
 gathered round her. Many of the freed girls who 
 have been handed to her by the Government are 
 happily married. Referring to these married girls, 
 she said with enthusiastic joy, "I have now 
 ninety-one grandchildren and one great-grand- 
 child." Her life is consecrated to this work among 
 negro women and girls in Zanzibar. Speaking 
 from observation, she says : " I have seen so much 
 of slavery in connection with these children that I 
 know the horrors of it too well not to long for 
 immediate emancipation. It is the deterioration of 
 character incident to slavery that is the worst 
 feature of all." Slavery hardens the heart of the 
 master and mistress, and deadens the moral sensi- 
 bilities of the victim, Man as man was held in
 
 ^ 
 
 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 31 
 
 little estimation when he could be bought or sold 
 for a few rupees. The Arab would often give six 
 times as much for a donkey as for a slave. 
 
 We heard, both in Zanzibar and in Pemba, 
 narratives of awful cruelty inflicted on the slaves 
 by the Arabs. Cruelty is by no means confined 
 to the horrors of the slave-raiding on peaceful 
 villages in the interior of Africa, and the fearful 
 slave caravans. Where man has absolute power 
 over his fellow-man cruelties will occur. But it is 
 unprofitable now to recapitulate horrors, when the 
 Government has, we trust, by its recent action 
 prevented their recurrence. One of the most 
 cruel slaveholders of Pemba is incarcerated in 
 prison in Zanzibar. No more runaway slaves are 
 to be delivered up by askaris to their masters. 
 One of the dark features of slavery in Zanzibar 
 and Pemba has been the way in which the Arabs 
 discountenance the negroes from rearing children. 
 Captain Lugard, in speaking from detailed know- 
 ledge of our East Africa Protectorate, says : " It is 
 a known fact that slaves do not increase naturally 
 to any appreciable extent." It is asserted by those 
 best able to give evidence that there is a great deal 
 of infanticide. There is on the part of many Arabs 
 a fearful disregard of moral restraint, and under 
 such a system as slavery it is no wonder that the 
 negroes themselves become immoral. 
 
 The hopeless servility of the African slave, his 
 docility and acquiescence, often his apparent con- 
 tentment in his subject condition, is a strange con- 
 trast to the love ot' independence in the Teutonic 
 races. Through the island of Pemba the common 
 salutation of a slave as he passes an Arab is, "Shi-ka- 
 moo" ("I place my head under your feet"), a term 
 never used except by a slave ; while the self-righteous 
 Arab replies, " Well, in the name of God." Thus
 
 32 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 
 
 the whole system is demoraHsing and degrading, 
 and the sooner it is extinct the better. 
 
 Running slaves in from the mainland had for the 
 most part ceased when we were in Zanzibar and 
 Pemba. Those that were brought in were mostly 
 smuggled in small boats and not in dhows. While 
 we were in Chaki-Chaki two poor fellows who 
 had been stolen from the German sphere of 
 influence were thus landed. The men that kid- 
 napped them had used them as ordinary porters, 
 and for a few pice got them to bring some packages 
 to their boat. The negroes had already made some 
 forty or fifty rupees as porters on the coast, and 
 did as they were bid. Once in the boat, they were 
 seized, one of them who resisted was severely 
 wounded on the head with a weapon, so as to 
 render him helpless, and they were then brought 
 across and run into one of the little creeks on 
 Pemba, to be sold as slaves. The Consul heard of 
 the incident, rescued the two men and took them 
 to the Consulate to keep them from further harm, 
 returning them on the first opportunity to their home 
 on the mainland. But although askaiHs were at 
 once sent to find the culprits who had done the 
 kidnapping, they were in safe hiding, and, if needs 
 be, could well afford to bribe the askaris. 
 
 Before the abolition of the legal status of slavery 
 the Government officials were accustomed to issue 
 emancipation papers to slaves that were illtreated. 
 The custom in Pemba respecting these *' papers of 
 freedom " was peculiar. If a slave belonging to a 
 member of any Arab tribe was set free, he received 
 a paper from the authorities declaring his freedom, 
 and henceforth was described as a freeman of 
 that tribe. Thus, if our friend Sulieman bin Said 
 or his son for any cause set a slave free, he was 
 henceforth called and called himself " the free-
 
 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 33 
 
 man of Sulieman-bin-Said." Thus also the slaves 
 whom the Vice-Consul set free for acts of injustice 
 or cruelty inflicted by their master were henceforth 
 known as the " freemen of the Consul." One man 
 whom the Vice-Consul had thus set free lost his 
 emancipation paper, and was in great terror lest 
 his old master should catch him and again make 
 him a slave. They usually carry their papers in their 
 girdle or in their cap. The man had been sleeping 
 with another negro, who had stolen his emancipa- 
 tion paper for his own use. Vice-Consul O'Sullivan 
 gave the man a fresh paper in order to ensure his 
 safety. The incident proves that the negroes value 
 freedom. 
 
 While we were staying at Tunduaua an Arab 
 deputation came from the north of the island. Our 
 friend Herbert Lister asked the northern Arab 
 sheikh, " What will happen if the Government sets 
 the slaves free ? " The Arab considered the matter, 
 and then answered, " The same thing will happen 
 that occurred when the Government purchased 
 this estate, and called together all the people living 
 on it and set them all free. There will be no dis- 
 turbance. Some of the people will, as they did 
 then, choose to move off elsewhere, either to their 
 former homes or to the towns. But a large number, 
 when set free, will willingly remain to work on the 
 same estate where they have been previously located, 
 and will not want to move off. But," added the 
 Arab, " if the Government sets all our slaves free 
 which we have held so long in accordance with the 
 law under which we Mohammedans live, surely we 
 may expect them to pay us for the value of the 
 slaves they take from us." This probably repre- 
 sented the common feeling on the subject among 
 the Arabs previous to the decree abolishing the 
 legal status of slavery. There were no indications
 
 34 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 
 
 that tliey would rebel, but they looked for what 
 they considered fair treatment. What took place 
 at Tunduaua on the purchase of the property by 
 the Government was that General Sir William 
 Lloyd Mathews and Mr. C. W. Strickland, the 
 collector of revenue, gathered together at the bun- 
 galow all the people living on the estate. They gave 
 something like two rupees to the men and one 
 rupee to the women and children as backsheesh, 
 as they assembled to the shauri or palaver. 
 They were then informed that the Government 
 had taken over the shamba, and that henceforth 
 all the people living on it were free. They could 
 either go or stay, and were told that if they were 
 willing to stay huts would be given them for their 
 use, and allotments of land for the cultivation 
 of their m'hogo, maize, and pulse, and that those 
 Avho remained to work on the estate should have 
 regular wages. The people then divided. About 
 half of them, out of some 150, ultimately remained. 
 Slavery is very wasteful. The men just fulfil 
 their appointed task without energy and without 
 hope. The clove harvest is generally negligently 
 gathered, and there is great carelessness in the 
 drying and packing of the cloves for market. 
 Failure is written on the old system, and even 
 from a commercial point of view it is quite time 
 a better plan was adopted. 
 \ The slave girls are the water-carriers of East 
 Africa. In Zanzibar and Pemba they were daily 
 seen going to and from the wells. They walk erect, 
 balancing their load on their heads, and they have 
 become so accustomed to this erect bearing that they 
 maintain it everywhere, and you never see a slave 
 girl with a slovenly stooping gait such as is com- 
 mon among the working classes in England. Day 
 after day in Chaki-Chaki we watched the slave girls
 
 36 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 
 
 carrying the baskets of earth on their heads at the 
 Government works in improving the landing and 
 making a new causeway and staircase from the 
 creek up into the town. They worked four days 
 for their masters, and two days on their own 
 account. On ordinary days they would earn about 
 sixteen pice, which they had to take home and give 
 to their masters. On their own days (Thursday and 
 Friday) they earned as much as twenty-five to thirty 
 pice a day, walking at a brisk pace and carrying 
 as many loads as possible. Thus they would 
 make half as much again on the days when the 
 wages came to themselves as on the days when 
 the money went to their masters. The difference 
 shows the contrast in their own minds between 
 working as slaves and working for themselves. It 
 is also an answer to the oft-repeated question as 
 to whether the negro will work if oft'ered a fair 
 wage, and as to whether he has sufficient energy of 
 character to make use of the privileges of freedom. 
 One of the peculiarities of these slaves is that they 
 sing as they work, whether as porters or as day 
 labourers. In Zanzibar it is common to hear the men 
 singing together some rude chorus of infinite repe- 
 tition in Swahili as they carry their loads from the 
 beach to the Custom-house, or from the go-down to 
 the dhow. The heavier their loads the more they 
 seem to sino^. The oirls in Chaki-Chaki with 
 their baskets of earth were singing a Swahili song 
 gaily as they passed to and fro. The gentleman 
 who Avas with me called my attention to their song, 
 remarking that it was their own impromptu, and 
 that they improvised it as they ran along. It was a 
 chorus respecting Ali-bin-Abdulla, of Pemba, who 
 in March, 1896, was convicted of cruelty to a slave 
 and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. The 
 chorus ran after this fashion : —
 
 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 37 
 
 " We used to cry for mercy, 
 But for us there was no mercy ; 
 Now he that had no mercy on us 
 Is shut ujj in the European's 
 
 Stone house in Zanzibar." 
 
 These girls were still slaves, but the masters had 
 learned that they could not abuse them with 
 impunity, and the girls themselves were lifting up 
 their heads, as though conscious that the day of 
 their redemption was drawing nigh. It is thus 
 manifest that before the recent decree of the Sultan 
 a marked change for the better had taken place 
 among the people. But slavery lies too deeply 
 ingrained in the heart of the people to be suddenly 
 exorcised by any edict, however well intentioned. 
 
 A woman came into the Court shortly before 
 our arrival and accused a man of having unjustly 
 enslaved her. Evidence was produced and the 
 Avoman was liberated. The man was fined forty 
 rupees for his crime, and twenty rupees were handed 
 to the woman as compensation for the wrong that 
 she had suffered. She was asked shortly afterwards 
 what she was going to do with the twenty rupees. 
 She at once answered, " I shall buy a slave with it." 
 This was of course illegal, but in Africa illegal 
 things are done with impunity. 
 
 In crossing from Pemba to Zanzibar we had on 
 board the Baraira three negroes who had been 
 illegally brought from the mainland, and who had 
 been hidden away as slaves in Pemba. They had 
 been discovered and emancipated by the Govern- 
 ment. The Consul promised to get them work and 
 regular wages either in Pemba or in Zanzibar. They 
 replied that they were willing to work for wages for 
 a time, but they wanted to return to their home on 
 the mainland. The Government accordingly gave 
 them a free passage. This is one of the many difficult
 
 38 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 
 
 problems that have to be dealt with on emancipation. 
 Both islands urgently need more labour. They can 
 ill afford to lose Avhat they now have. There is great 
 danger that in many cases, on returning to the 
 mainland, they may be kidnapped and again made 
 slaves. But they voluntarily run this risk in the 
 uncertain hope of reaching again their own people. 
 A Christian native, who was living far from his old 
 home in East Africa, used to go wistfully to a hill- 
 top, and look out across the landscape to Bonde, 
 calling pathetically, " Bond^, Bonde, Bonde !" This 
 natural love for home is something we cannot fail 
 to respect, although it might be much more con- 
 venient to us for the natives to remain on the 
 plantations Avhere they are located. Freedom 
 involves the option of return to their fatherland ; 
 and though we may call it sentiment, the love 
 of country that burns strongly in the Englishman 
 is also present in the African. H. M. Stanley says, 
 after observation of native character, " I was much 
 comforted in observing that they were as ready to 
 be influenced by passions, by loves and hates, as 
 I was myself; that the keenest observation failed 
 to detect any great difference between their nature 
 and my own."* On the Barawa I had an admirable 
 illustration of this brotherhood. Two miles out of 
 Zanzibar we slackened speed to take on board a 
 little black lad, who was named Mufta. He had 
 been rescued from a cruel slavery by Mr. Herbert 
 Lister, who was on board our ship, and the boy 
 only felt safe in his presence. Mr. Lister had been 
 for some hours in Zanzibar, and the boy dreaded 
 the thought of being recaptured by his old master. 
 Across the sea went the cry from our steamer 
 to the ship lying at anchor, "Mufta! Mufta!" 
 and over the side of the other vessel the boy 
 
 * " How I found Livingstone," page 16.
 
 SLAVERY AS IT WAS. 39 
 
 appeared, clambering in a hurry into the boat, and 
 was ({uickly on board. He became very familiar 
 afterwards. He was jet black, sleek and shining. 
 With a few pice he bought himself a yellow tunic 
 with a crimson girdle, and a white cap. He 
 would lie at night on the mat outside his master's 
 bedroom door, or curled like a hedgehog in a 
 corner ; but wherever he was, it was sunshine and 
 security to him to be near Mr. Lister. 
 
 Those who know what slavery is know how to 
 appreciate freedom. A man came a long tlistance 
 into Chaki-Chaki from a country shamba. He had 
 heavy irons on his ankles, but had made a sort 
 of cotton padding under the fetters to save injuring 
 the bone. Attaching a piece of tough bark fibre 
 to the iron that fastened his legs together, he lifted 
 the weight of the fetters off his feet by holding the 
 fibre firmly in his hand. Then by a series of little 
 jumps along the foot- track he succeeded in the 
 night in making his way to Chaki-Chaki prison, 
 where he knew he was safe from his master. A 
 score of men did their best to loosen the fetters, 
 but without success. In the morning he stood 
 before us with a piteous look, as if imploring help, 
 and the authorities concluded to emancipate him. 
 But how could he be emancipated with such fetters 
 on 1 The man looked hopeless, but the order was 
 given, " Give the man a file, and let him file him- 
 self free." The filing was a slow process, but the 
 result was freedom. Until men are roused to 
 energy to secure their own freedom, the liberty 
 others ol)tain for them fails to raise them up. It is 
 therefore necessary to consider a somewhat wider 
 question, and that is, the native as a social ftxctor 
 for the building up of a brighter future for Africa.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE AFRICAN AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 " It is folly to slaughter a goat for the sake of a chop." — Swahili Prorerb. 
 
 The blight of slavery has rested on the islands 
 so long that it is not quickly dispelled. The native 
 of East Africa, whether on the mainland or in 
 Zanzibar, is a long way behind his more civilised 
 cousin in America. He has neither the resource- 
 fulness of the American negro, nor the ambition. 
 He has not, as yet, the necessary backbone of 
 character, and he needs the presence of the white 
 man to lead him forward. One of the marvels in 
 America was that the negro cordially accepted the 
 white man's religion, and adopted Christianity more 
 thoroughly than the negro in East Africa adopted 
 Mohammedanism. He imitates the white man's 
 ways in either case. 
 
 In the negro settlements in the "black belt" of 
 the Southern States, one is everywhere struck with 
 the multitude of children. A number of little 
 curly heads crowd round the door when the white 
 visitor appears in Carolina or Tennessee, in Ala- 
 bama or Arkansas. Not so in Pemba. Yet the 
 negro in East Africa has this great advantage, that 
 he outnumbers all other elements in the population. 
 He constitutes two-thirds of the population in Zan- 
 zibar and Pemba ; and with freedom children will 
 come, and children's children. Districts on the 
 mainland that have been desolated and swept of the 
 entire population by the slave-raiders rapidly refill
 
 42 THE AFRICAN AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 when confidence is re-established, and this in itself 
 proves the immense capacity of the race to recoup 
 itself in the tropics when fairly treated. The white 
 man cannot colonise Equatoria to any large extent, 
 except on the elevated tableland. But the European 
 is requisite in the administration of an advancing- 
 civilisation. Left to himself, the African is apathetic 
 and indolent. He loves his native land and his 
 tropical environment, and it does better for him 
 than for the European. Downtrodden, he is like a 
 strong ass couching between two burdens. He saw 
 that rest was good and the land that it was pleasant, 
 and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a 
 servant under task-work. When the English rajah 
 steps in and endeavours to raise the negro to higher 
 things, he will often side with his Mohammedan 
 master rather than with the European. Even when 
 he is set free by an enlightened maternal Govern- 
 ment, he will remember, like the Israelites, the 
 good times in bondage, " when we sat by the 
 fleshpots, and when we did eat bread to the full." 
 But this is no argument against emancipation. 
 
 The Daily Telegraph speaks of the " inborn 
 cheerfulness of disposition " of the African, and it 
 has served him in good stead. He sings and dances 
 to his heart's content, not because he is a slave, 
 but by some recuperative force that puzzles the 
 European. Nature abounds with charming com- 
 pensations. Whilst we were quietly reading or 
 writing in our upstairs rooms in the evening, our 
 " boys," by the light of an oil lamp, would dance by 
 the hour to some rude kettle-drum in the verandah 
 below, and the silhouettes reflected on the opposite 
 wall were diverting. On a Sabbath they dress 
 in any of the colours of the rainbow that are 
 accessible to them, and look far more picturesque 
 than any black-coated Englishman. Nothing save
 
 THE AFRICAN AS A SOCIAL lACTOlJ. 43 
 
 evil custom can account for the ugly tattooing of 
 the faces of the women in some tribes. Still more 
 outrageous are the decorations of the girls in the 
 streets of Mombasa, by the insertion of brass discs 
 in the lobe of the ears, and the disfigurement 
 of the protruding and distended lip by the flat disc 
 thrust into it. But the dark colour of the negro 
 skin is much more appropriate in the tropics than 
 the pale and sallow complexion of the European. 
 
 Mercy is not a marked characteristic of the 
 African. We met a group of merry, curly-headed 
 girls in a narrow foot-track in the country. Hang- 
 ing by a thread from their fingers, and tied by the 
 legs, were the most brilliant little birds, their 
 coloured feathers sparkling in the sunshine. We 
 talked to the children, but, though slaves them- 
 selves, it did not enter their minds that the captive 
 birds had any claim for kindness. 
 
 Few men have had more experience of the 
 Swahilis of East Africa, under a great variety of 
 circumstances, than Captain Lugard. He describes 
 them as the product of the system of slave-buying 
 and slave-catching which the Muscat Arabs have 
 carried on for two centuries. Boy slaves brought 
 from the interior, and belonging to various tribes 
 from the Zambesi in the south to the Tana in the 
 north, grew up in their households, took their 
 ideas from them, and too often their vices. There 
 was also a percentage of half-breeds, the offspring 
 of Arabs by slave concubines. A language grew 
 up, founded on the various tongues spoken by 
 these captured slaves, who usually belonged to 
 the great negro stock, with woolly heads and flat 
 noses ; and these races, from their physical develop- 
 ment and strength, furnished the best type for the 
 slaver's purpose. Moreover, their childlike adapt- 
 ability, and their eager imitation of their masters.
 
 44 THE AFRICAN AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 marie them pre-eminently useful as slaves. Taught 
 from their childhood to carry heavy burdens, they 
 bore on their heads the goods necessary for barter 
 in the interior, and the other paraphernalia of their 
 masters, in loads of from OOlbs. to 80lbs. Captain 
 Lugard thus sums up the capacity of these Swahilis, 
 or coast-men : — " 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 qualifications 
 for all that is the reverse ; most of them are singu- 
 larly easily trained to be willing workers, most 
 patient of hardships, plucky, ready to expose their 
 lives, adaptable to routine and discipline, however 
 novel and unwelcome. The rapidity with which 
 these men had accustomed themselves to the white 
 man's routine and discipline struck me as a singular 
 phenomenon."* 
 
 We can bear witness to the truth of this descrip- 
 tion. Their perseverance in working at the oars 
 hour after hour, without a murmur and with many 
 a chorus and pleasant joke, called forth our admira- 
 tion. As carriers of burdens they are marvel- 
 lous people, and do it with a williiig-licartedness 
 and cheerfulness that is an examjolo to Teutons. 
 They carry the heavy European across creeks 
 and muddy shoals at low tide without hesita- 
 tion. Landing is a common difficulty where there 
 are no harbours, no quay-sides, no landing-places. 
 The boat is run smartly aground, and then through 
 the shallow water the native boatmen wade with 
 their passengers clinging round their necks, one 
 passenger between two boatmen. Many an amusing 
 episode occurs. The European looks undignified, 
 but is safely landed. 
 
 * Captain Lugard, " Rise of our East African Empire," vol. i., page 238.
 
 THE AFRICAN AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 45 
 
 Lieutenant C. S. Smith, late Vice-Consul at 
 Zanzibar, after long experience, says " he does not 
 think the negroes are incorrigibly lazy, and con- 
 siders that they are more amenable to discipline 
 than white men under similar circumstances." 
 Another reliable and cautious witness to the 
 character and capacity of the negro is J. Scott 
 Keltic. He justly says : — '• For the future develop- 
 ment of Africa it is with the negroes and Bantus 
 we shall have mainly to reckon. Without labour 
 we cannot develop the continent ; and if we cannot 
 get the native to work, what is to become of Africa ? 
 We are often told that the negro is a lazy being, 
 who never will be trained to habits of industry. 
 But as a universal statement, facts belie that asser- 
 tion. He does work, and that often with great 
 steadiness and regularity. On some of the planta- 
 tions of the Germans, inland from Zanzibar, the 
 people came (juite willingly to work, induced to do 
 so by the wages offered. At the same time it must 
 be admitted that voluntary hard work is not con- 
 genial to a people who for ages have been accus- 
 tomed to do no more than they were forced to do. 
 It should be quite possible, by judicious treatment, 
 to lead the natives on to industrious habits ; 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 2,000 years to reach."* J. Scott 
 Keltic sums up the evidence on this subject in Africa 
 l)y two axioms : Firstly, " that if the resources of 
 the continent are to be developed, it must be by the 
 help of the natives " ; and secondly, " It must be 
 done by the natives under the guidance of others 
 who have reached a higher stage of civilisation than 
 they have." " But in Africa we have undoubted 
 instances of the natives being induced to undertake 
 
 " J. Scott Keltie, " The Partition of Africa," page 486.
 
 THE AFRICAN AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 47 
 
 hard work for wages, of their own free will."* He 
 cites the work of the Scotch missionaries at Blantyre : 
 " Thonsands of acres are under coffee plantations, 
 and thousands more have been taken up by English 
 planters to be brought under cultivation. The 
 natives, who a few years ago lived in the wildest 
 savagery, come hundreds of miles voluntarily to 
 beg for work in these plantations. Many of them 
 have been trained to various trades. The church, 
 designed by a Scotch missionary, was built entirely by 
 the natives with free labour. He and his colleagues 
 taught the natives to make bricks, burn lime, and 
 hew timber. All the materials were foimd on the 
 spot, except glass, internal fittings, and some portion 
 of the roofing. They were put together, lirick 
 upon brick, by the natives themselves, free labour- 
 ers under white superintendence. Here there is not 
 the least suspicion of compulsion, and the result is 
 wonderful. We may banish the unfounded idea 
 that the African native can never be trained to 
 labour."t 
 
 In forming an estimate of the native as a factor 
 in the regeneration of Africa, it is essential that 
 we should also recognise the weak points we have 
 to deal with. The late Bishop Steere, of Zanzibar, 
 after many years' experience, said : — " The races of 
 tropical Africa, being among the lowest of the 
 human family, need very special self-sacrifice as the 
 instrument of their elevation. Among their most 
 prominent defects are the love of capricious self- 
 indulgence, working itself out in idleness, gluttony, 
 drunkenness, and uncleanness ; whilst slavery, the 
 worst scourge of these races, helps to make labour 
 distasteful, and therefore progress impossible.":;: 
 
 Henry M. Stanley, speaking of the slaves of 
 
 * J. Scott Keltic, " The Partition of Africa," page oOG. t Had., page 508. 
 X " Memoir of Bishop Steere," page 333.
 
 48 THE AFRICAN AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 Zanzibar, says : — " Outside the city they may be 
 seen carrying huge loads on their heads, as happy 
 as possible, not because they are kindly treated or 
 that their work is light, but because it is their 
 nature to be gay and light-hearted."* 
 
 One more witness claims consideration, James 
 Stewart, of Lovedale. " The African," he says, 
 " is deserving of better treatment. He has his 
 faults, as men of all races have, but he shows a 
 docility, affection, and loyalty to the white man 
 when he is thoroughly trusted, scarcely shown by 
 any other race at the same social level. His trust 
 in the white man's rectitude and power is absolute, 
 until he is rudely undeceived, as he has been ten 
 thousand times, by some startling disclosure of the 
 absence of that rectitude." Again he says : — " The 
 population of Africa will steadily increase, now 
 that the slave trade is doomed, and all civilised 
 nations have, formally at least, washed their hands 
 of that great iniquity. In the African continent, 
 wherever its people can enjoy a few years of peace, 
 its desert places again become filled with life. The 
 villages raided and burned by slavers, and out of 
 which a few terror-stricken fugitives escaped with 
 nothing but bare life, are again rebuilt ; the fields 
 are cultivated, and the village becomes noisy with 
 the life and play of children. "t 
 
 There is a sort of easy-going indolence among 
 these people that is difiicult to dispel. " Raw " 
 slaves that have been recently brought doAvn from 
 the interior have much more of the spirit of resist- 
 ance in them. When recently captured they are 
 often severely wounded, and are fettered in order 
 to make them submissive. 
 
 The people of the East Coast of Africa and of 
 
 *"" ^ * H. M. Stanley, "How I found Livingstone," page 16. 
 t James Stewart, " Lovedale, South Africa," page 54.
 
 THE AFRICAN AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 49 
 
 the Equatorial Provinces are not, for the most 
 part, strictly speaking, negroes. They are of 
 various tribes, and many of them may be roughly 
 classified as of the Bantu race. 
 
 Everything points to the establishment of one 
 leading axiom in all African affairs, and that is, that 
 tke future detelopmeiit of trojncal Africa must he 
 the ivork of the natives themselves under enlight- 
 ened European siq^ervision. The Congo Free State 
 tried the experiment of importing Chinese coolies 
 in the place of native labour. Within a few months 
 nearly 500 died, and most of the others decamped. 
 Africa absolutely needs the administrative faculty 
 that Englishmen and Germans can so ably supply. 
 Leadership pertains to the European, but Africa is 
 for the Africans, and it is by the development of 
 the African that it can alone be developed. The 
 native African is the plastic material essential to 
 success. It is but a repetition and reiteration of 
 the doctrine of the solidarity of mankind. " The eye 
 cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee : or 
 the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, 
 much rather, those members of the body which 
 seem to be more feeble are necessary. Whether 
 one member suffereth, all the members suffer with 
 it ; or one member is honoured, all the members 
 rejoice with it." There would therefore appear to 
 be a good providence in the establishment of the 
 European Protectorates on the dark continent, and 
 the movement of the last fifteen years in this direc- 
 tion promises to be the succour and the salvation of 
 the African race and the replenishment of Africa.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 " He that gives full play to his desires will drown in shallow water." 
 
 Swahili Proverb. 
 
 The presence of the Arab in East Africa is an 
 important factor in any consideration respecting 
 future development. The Arab has displayed a 
 vigour and executive power that must be recognised 
 by any Government. From circumstances inherent 
 to his mode of life, that faculty has fatally de- 
 generated ; but many Arabs to-day evidence real 
 administrative ability. A glance at their remark- 
 able history enables us to recognise their ability, 
 however much we may controvert their methods. 
 
 In the year 740 a.d., Said, the great-grandson of 
 Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Mohamed, having 
 been proclaimed Caliph by a schismatic party, was 
 defeated and slain, and his adherents fled to East 
 Africa.* A considerable emigration from Arabia 
 and from Persia followed, owing to religious troubles. 
 Thus in the tenth century a number of towns were 
 established along the coast, and they continued to 
 grow and flourish, attaining considerable strength 
 and prosperity, a number of fugitives from Shiraz 
 emigrating thither. In 1331 an Arab author named 
 Ibn-Batuta describes Mombasa as a considerable 
 city, and the ruins of forts existing there and at 
 other places along the coast show that these strong- 
 holds were well built and fortified. The coast 
 settlements appear to have been often independent 
 
 * "Government Handbook of British East Africa," page 151.
 
 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 51 
 
 of each other, and to have traded with the interior. 
 In this way was gradually formed the Zenj Empire, 
 from which we have the name of Zanzibar ; and 
 thus was formed the Swahili or coast population, 
 with their African speech, their admixture of Asiatic 
 blood, and their Arab religion. The Portuguese 
 appear to have been the first European power who 
 attempted to dispute possession with these Arab 
 settlers. Vasco da Gama, the great and brave 
 navigator, touched at .Mombasa and Malindi in 
 1498. Mombasa fell into the hands of the Portu- 
 guese in 1500. They also seized Lamu, Zanzibar, 
 and Malindi, and by 1528 the East (!oast had been 
 conquered, and was retained by Portugal for 150 
 years. From 1060 to 1098 the Arabs again regained 
 ascendency. 
 
 A large part of the East African coast was nomi- 
 nally under the Jurisdiction of the Imams of Muscat, 
 though there were constant attempts on the part 
 of local Sultans to establish their independence. 
 The term Sultan in East Africa has often a very 
 uncertain sound, and does not necessarily represent 
 supreme power, but rather one who by inheritance 
 or by the power of his own sword has succeeded in 
 obtaining authority. In the year 1()98 the Imam /^ 
 of Oman sailed from ^luscat, in the Persian Gulf, 
 and conquered Zanzibar, which thenceforth for 
 many years became a dependency of Muscat. The 
 East Coast of Africa gradually fell under his 
 dominion, and the Muscat Arabs settled on the 
 islands along the mainland. They held the coast- 
 line for hundreds of miles, and with adventurous 
 courage penetrated into the interior with armed 
 caravans in search of ivory and slaves.* In this 
 development of Arab supremacy they had frecpient 
 conflicts with the Portuguese, who had adopted 
 
 * Lugard's " East Africa," vol. i., page 239.
 
 52 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 the system of occupying positions on the coast 
 without really exercising sovereignty in the interior. 
 Andrade Corvo, the Portuguese historian, gives an 
 amusing description of the way in which the Arabs 
 prevailed over the Portuguese, while sometimes 
 the latter obtained the ascendency. He describes 
 the result. " It was," he says, " one full of woes 
 for our colonies in the East, and particularly in 
 East Africa. The Kaffirs in the south, and the 
 Arabs in the north, attacked our dominions and 
 punished us most cruelly for our frankness. At 
 times victors, and at others beaten on all sides, 
 we dragged out a sad existence."* In the year 
 1804 the Sultan Seyyid Said ascended the throne, 
 and for fifty-two years this monarch ruled with 
 power, firmly establishing the Sultanate of Zanzibar 
 as an ofi'shoot of Oman, and controlling the coast. 
 On the change of dynasty in Oman, which took 
 place on the accession of Al-bin-Saidi, several 
 subordinate Governors on the East Coast refused 
 allegiance. After constant friction, the Sultanate 
 of Zanzibar, however, became an independent and 
 dominant power, and was recognised as such by 
 Great Britain. Seyyid Said made himself master 
 of Patta, Brava, Lamu, Zanzibar, Pemba, and 
 Kilwa, and threatened to attack Mombasa, where 
 the aged Suliman Ben Ali, as representing the 
 Governor under the older rulers of Oman, was in 
 power. Suliman appealed to Captain Owen,t the 
 English squadron at that time being engaged in 
 surveying the coast, and in 1824 Great Britain took 
 under its protection Mombasa, Pemba, and all the 
 coast between Malindi and Pangani. At the end 
 of four years our Government abandoned this con- 
 cession, and left East Africa in the hands of the 
 Sultans for nearly sixty years. Seyyid Said built / 
 
 * Keltic's " Partition of Africa," page 56. + Ibid., page 106.
 
 54 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 his palace at Zanzibar, and established his head- 
 quarters there, and in 1841 Captain Hammerton 
 became the first English Consul to Zanzibar. On 
 the death of the venerable Sultan Seyyid Said at 
 the Seychelles, in 1856, there was a hot conflict for 
 the succession between his lineal descendants, but 
 an amicable partition of his dominions was eff'ected, 
 and was ultimately confirmed by the Government of 
 India in 1861, under Lord Canning, Seyyid Thwain 
 obtaining the Sultanate of Oman, in the Persian 
 Gulf, while the Sultanate of Zanzibar fell to the 
 lot of his brother, Seyyid INIajid. The struggles of 
 Mombasa for independence continued, but Seyyid 
 Majid prevailed and established the supremacy of 
 the Sultanate of Zanzibar over the whole coast 
 from Cape Delgado to Magadisho. He reigned 
 for some fourteen years, and on his death was 
 succeeded, on the 7th October, 1870, by Seyyid 
 Burghash, the brother of Majid. Burghash was 
 one of the ablest Arab administrators that ever 
 governed Zanzibar. The impress of his masterful 
 spirit is still found in the island. For eighteen years 
 he maintained the ascendency of the Arab power 
 with vigour. While France and England Avere 
 competing for spheres of influence, the strong 
 hand of Germany ultimately appeared upon the 
 scene. Burghash was strong, but there was one 
 man in Zanzibar who was stronger, that was Sir 
 John Kirk. Quietly but firmly Sir John main- 
 tained English influence. He understood Oriental 
 life. He kept steadily in view the advancement of 
 sound government. Persistently, yet wisely, he 
 resisted the slave trade, Avhich had assumed con- 
 siderable proportions, and at the same time did 
 a great deal to introduce into the islands new 
 products for culture. Some of the plants which 
 now seem indigenous in Zanzibar were thus intro-
 
 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 55 
 
 duced. Hence, while firmly adhering to what he 
 regarded as the true line of progress, it was mani- 
 fest to the Sultan and to the people at large that 
 Sir John Kirk had at heart the welfare of the 
 country. Sir John's career in Zanzibar runs from 
 IHOG to 1887. In 1872 Sir Bartle Frere had been 
 appointed Special Envoy to the Sultans of Zanzibar 
 and Muscat, to induce them both to sign a treaty 
 rendering the export of slaves from Africa illegal. 
 Burghash obstinately objected, for the slave trade 
 was a source of large revenue at that time to the 
 Arabs, many of whom were extensive slave-holders ; 
 but through the astute persuasion of Sir John Kirk 
 the Sultan at last signed the treaty on the 5th June, 
 1873. In 1875 the Sultan visited England, and was 
 cordially welcomed, in person, by the Queen. He 
 died in 1888, and was succeeded on the 2()th March 
 by his brother, Seyyid Khalifa, who died in 1890, 
 and was followed by another brother, Seyyid Ali. 
 He also died, about thirty-eight years of age, on 
 the 5th March, 1893, and then arose the vexed 
 question of the succession. 
 
 The Sultans who had rapidly succeeded each 
 other had all been brothers, and Ali was the 
 youngest of the numerous sons of the patriarch 
 Seyyid Said, who had died in 1856. There was still 
 a surviving brother of the same family, Abdul Aziz- 
 bin-Said. Two of the sons of Seyyid Said, Thwain 
 and Turki, had now been Sultans of Muscat, and 
 four others of them had been in succession Sultans 
 of Zanzibar. Abdul Aziz, the surviving brother, 
 was residing in India, and considered himself to be 
 the legitimate successor. Sir Bartle Frere asked 
 Abdul Aziz what was the law of succession in 
 Muscat, and Abdul, glancing significantly at the 
 dagger in his girdle, and moving the fingers of his 
 right hand as if along its blade, replied concisely,
 
 1/ 
 
 56 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 " The law of the keenest edge." When Thwain 
 (the immediate successor of Seyyid Said to the 
 throne of Oman) was murdered in 1866 by his own 
 son, his son's dagger fell to the ground as he bowed 
 himself in prayer over his father's dead body, and 
 Turki, who succeeded to the throne of Muscat on 
 the death of his brother Thwain, was regarded as 
 a coward because he did not at once seize the 
 dagger as it lay on the ground and bury it in the 
 heart of his nephew who had committed the murder. 
 Whatever murders or poisonings have taken place 
 in the succession of the Sultans, " the law of the 
 keenest edge " has not always availed, and the 
 English Government refused to allow Abdul Aziz 
 to leave India, instructing the police to prevent him 
 from sailing for Zanzibar; and instead of allowing 
 him to succeed to the throne which his brother All's 
 death had rendered vacant in 1893, the British 
 Foreign Office decreed that Hamed-bin-Thwain-bin- 
 Said should succeed to the Sultanate of Zanzibar. 
 He was a nephew of Abdul Aziz, and of Burghash, 
 Khalifa, and Ali, and was the son of Seyyid Thwain, 
 the late Sultan of Muscat. Thwain-bin-Said, the 
 owner of 30,000 slaves, died unexpectedly at the 
 age of forty, on the 25th August, 1896, and then 
 another dispute sprang up respecting the succession. 
 The accustomed succession among the sons of the 
 venerable Seyyid Said had already been departed 
 from by our Government, and Khalid, an elder 
 nephew of Seyyid Said, and a son of Burghash, 
 deemed he had as good a right to the Sultanate 
 as any of his cousins, and at once seized the 
 Palace. He was popular among the Arabs, 
 and had already made a formidable effort to 
 obtain the Sultanate previous to the succession 
 of TliAvain-bin-Said. Many leading Arabs at once 
 gathered round him. He placed 700 armed
 
 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 57 
 
 men in the Palace, and barricaded it against the 
 English. An ultimatum was sent to Khalid by 
 Rear- Admiral Rawson, who called upon him to 
 haul down his flag and surrender by 9 a.m. on the 
 27th August. Khalid paid no attention either to 
 the Admiral or to the Acting-Agent and Consul, 
 except by preparing for resistance. At 9 a.m. the 
 English ships in the harbour opened fire on the 
 Palace, and in less than forty minutes all opi)Osition 
 was silenced, the Palace was in flames, and Khalid 
 had fled to the German Consulate for refuge. The 
 same day Hamoud was appointed Sultan, and has 
 proved himself amenable to English influence. 
 
 On our way to Mbweni, in Zanzibar, we met him 
 with his fourteen wives. He had been resting at a 
 palace on one of his shambas, and was returning 
 with his family to the city. Suddenlv a cry was 
 heard, " The Sultan ! The Sultan ! " The outriders 
 first appeared, followed by a cavalcade of open 
 carriages. The ladies' faces were not veiled, but 
 each of them wore the barakoa. This curious 
 device is a sort of ladies' mask or helmet, reaching 
 down to the upper lip, made of gauze, with an 
 opaque gold band down the centre and across the 
 bottom, leaving the eyes and part of the forehead 
 and the lower lip and chin visible. The veil, thrown 
 back over the head, is of black silk, so as to cover 
 the hair without hiding the face. We were riding 
 with the acting Consul, V. K. Kestell-Cornish, who 
 was taking us to a country station belonging to 
 the Universities' Mission, and the ladies of the 
 Sultan's harem turned towards us as they passed, 
 while our carriage waited at the side of the road. 
 Etiquette ordains that the favourite wives of the 
 Sultan shall have precedence, so that the first 
 carriage contained the ladies in highest favour, 
 and thus on throughout the cortege. As one carriage
 
 ZANZIBAR ARABS, LADY WEARING THE BARAKOA.
 
 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 59 
 
 after another slowly passed we had an opportunity 
 of guaging an Arab's ideal of womanhood. The 
 Sultan followed behind. Recognising Mr. Kestell- 
 Cornish, he immediately bowed to us. The Sultan 
 is a stout, quiet, weary-looking man, appearing as 
 though the life of a private citizen would be pre- 
 ferable to the ditticulty and danger of public life. 
 He has, however, bravely roused himself to the 
 responsibilities of his position, and is showing- 
 capacity for government, and an honest endeavour 
 to fulfil his important trust. 
 
 In some ways the Arabs, who for generations 
 have governed the coast, were an improvement on 
 the Portuguese. They are more en rapport with the 
 people they govern, and show a power of assimila- 
 tion that was singularly absent from the Portuguese. 
 The latter had led a dissolute life, and their atti- 
 tude was that of traders desiring to make the most 
 of their position and caring little for the welfare of 
 the natives. The Arab, strangely enough, impressed 
 his Muslim faith on the native population. But 
 the climate induced ennui, the native was servile, 
 and the Arab ultimately settled down into a genteel 
 indolence that sealed his fate. To-day he has the 
 appearance of a relic of the past, and is effete. He 
 borrows money from the Hindu money-lender, 
 mortgages his property, paying exorbitant interest, 
 and fulfilling the old proverb that the borrower is 
 servant to the lender. The scrupulous Moham- 
 medan objects to usury. To suit his religious pre- 
 dilections, the interest is added to the amount of 
 the loan, and the bond the Arab signs carries what 
 the Americans call a " face value " far above the 
 actual rupees the Hindu hands over. By this 
 means the Muslim conscience is satisfied and the 
 usurer waxes rich. Under such a system it takes 
 but a few years for the Arab gentleman to forfeit
 
 60 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 his property, and much of the land in Zanzibar 
 and Pemba is loaded down with accumulating 
 mortgages. 
 
 Mr. Palgrave justly observes : " Sooner or later, 
 the nation that casts in its lot with Islam is stricken 
 as by a blight ; its freshness, its plasticity disappear 
 first, then its reparative and reproductive power 
 disappears, and it petrifies or perishes."* The petri- 
 faction of the Mohammedan of East Africa has 
 set in. The Koran contains many good maxims, 
 but there is in Mohammedanism no regenerating 
 power, and its peoples ultimately fade away. The 
 decay is from within. He is inwardly corrupt and 
 defunct. It is sorrowful that it should be so, for 
 there is much in the Arab character that attracts. 
 He is singularly pleasant and courteous, but unre- 
 liable, and, on occasion, terribly cruel. "An Arab 
 cannot dig," they say, and it is a judgment against 
 themselves, convicting them of the fate awaiting 
 them, for it is by the dignity of labour that nations 
 rise. By industry the future is assured, whether 
 to black or white. The Arabs argue that they 
 must have slaves — how else can the work be done ? 
 In the long-run the native will work, and win 
 because he works, and the indolent Arab will sink. 
 
 Henry M. Stanley gives a portaiture of the Arab 
 as we find him in Zanzibar : — " The Arab never 
 chansjes. He brouoht the customs of his fore- 
 fathers with him when he came to live on this 
 island. He is as much of an Arab here as at 
 Muscat or Bagdad. Wherever he goes to live, he 
 carries with him his harem, his religion, his long 
 robe, his shirt, his slippers, and his dagger. Their 
 various experiences have given their features a 
 certain unmistakable air of self-reliance or of self- 
 sufficiency ; there is a calm, resolute, defiant, inde- 
 
 * " Memoirs of Bishop Steere," page 120.
 
 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 61 
 
 pendent air about them, which wins unconsciously 
 one's respect."* 
 
 An Englishman on first arrival naturally revolts 
 at seeing ''chain-gangs" of natives passing up and 
 down the open streets of Zanzibar, Chaki-Chaki, 
 ||and Weti. Chain-gangs of women as well as chain- 
 |1 gangs of men are common on both islands. In 
 their chains they work ; in chains they march. As 
 I became accustomed to the sorrowful sight, and 
 recognised them as men and women who had been 
 convicted of some crime before the magistrates, it 
 I occurred to me, in my simplicity, to inquire, "Why 
 lis it always the negroes that sin, and never an Arab 
 ^in the chain-gang V Another day I inquired, as I 
 sat in the place of justice, " What is justice here ? " 
 And without any hesitation, the answer at once 
 was given, " Whatever the Arab desires is justice 
 here !" Then I knew why the negro only was seen 
 in the chain-gang. In a woman's chain-gang of 
 negroes at Weti we noticed one fine woman stand- 
 ing erect and defiant. It seemed to be the old case 
 of " taming the shrew." Her spirit was not broken. 
 Indignation was marked in her face. The docility 
 of a slave was not in her. 
 
 Over and over again I saw the stocks, and the 
 provision for keeping people in the stocks was 
 much more adequate than I had seen in any other 
 part of the world. The stocks easily held half a 
 dozen pairs of guilty feet at once. But they were 
 for black feet. I do not think it occurred to any- 
 body that an Arab could ever be found in the 
 stocks. But the Arabs frequently cheated the 
 Government, cheated their neighbours, and took 
 bribes. The people go to the cadi or to the wall 
 for justice, but if there is no English supervision 
 there is no assurance that justice will be done. 
 
 * "How I Found Livingstone," page 11.
 
 62 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 When a negro mother and her three children were 
 stolen, the English authorities saw to it that the 
 mother and children were rescued, but the man 
 who gave the information was invited to a feast, 
 and died within two hours of partaking of poisoned 
 food where he had gone as a guest. 
 
 If the moral tone of the Arabs is low, their 
 attention to religion is great. Their observance of 
 times of prayer is instructive. Their apparent 
 absorption in prayer is marvellous. The man whose 
 language is foul, and who curses his neighbour, at 
 the appointed hour celebrates his functions of 
 prayer on his knees in the midst of business, 
 whether in his boat or on the sea-shore. The five 
 times of prayer are : immediately after sunset, which 
 is the beginning of a new day ; one hour later ; 
 about four in the morning or at dawn ; at noon ; 
 and about half-past three in the afternoon. Rama- 
 dan, when the Mohammedan world fasts for one 
 month from sunrise to sunset, is honoured in all 
 places where Muslims dwell. During that month 
 the men in the towns were quiet in the daytime, 
 attending the mosque, or sitting in their houses 
 reading the Koran aloud to themselves with their 
 curious religious rhythm, gently swaying their 
 bodies to and fro as an accompaniment. At night 
 the drums sounded with shouting and songs in the 
 streets, and the nights were given to revelry. The 
 ; Arab, with all his faults, is devoutly superstitious. 
 The Arab is seen at his best in the enter- 
 tainment of strangers. We carried, through the 
 kindness of General Mathews, a number of intro- 
 ductions to leading sheikhs. With these we visited 
 the best shambas on the island of Pemba. The 
 expressions of welcome that follow on such occa- 
 sions are excessive. Sitting down with the sheikh 
 Mohamed-bin-Jooma, of Kash-Kash, on his baraza,
 
 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 63 
 
 we enjoyed magnificent peeps through the trees 
 of the sparkling sea and the green coral islands 
 beyond. We were regaled with orange sherbet, 
 with dates, coffee, and sweetmeats spread on 
 lordly salvers, while the fragrant otto of roses was 
 sprinkled over our heads in the form of spray 
 by a black slave from the ornamental long-necked 
 mrashi. After such preliminaries the topic of con- 
 versation usually resolved itself into the labour 
 'problem. " What we w^ant is men. We must have 
 labourers to work on the shambas. We have only 
 sixty slaves where we used to have one hundred, 
 and we cannot cultivate our property as we should 
 like. What remedy do you propose ? Our men are 
 running away to the mainland. Many go to the 
 German territory. Can we have coolies from India ? 
 Can you send us men from Mombasa ? We do not 
 care Avhere the men come from so long as we can 
 get our work done. We are willing to give half 
 the produce to the men who gather the cloves if we 
 may have the other half ourselves. No fresh slaves 
 come to the island now, and we do not know what 
 to do." Such was, in effect, the line of conversa- 
 tion in various places we visited. The Arabs 
 recognise that the English Government has done 
 much to secure peace, and they say, " We are at 
 peace, and we have peace one with another." They 
 acknowledge our supremacy, and ask what the 
 Government will do for them in their depressed 
 condition. 
 
 On another occasion our boat, striking across 
 from Weti, where our tent was pitched, ran past 
 the Island of Palms, and up a narrow circuitous 
 swamp of mangroves, along a channel but a few 
 feet wide, with trees standing in the salt water 
 on both sides. The trees w^ere loaded with long 
 pods, and birds and fish had a happy time of it,
 
 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 65 
 
 unmolested. Steering our boat among this laby- 
 rinth of trees, we at last ran aground on the shore, 
 and were carried on to the bank by our men at 
 Matambwe. On reaching the sheikh's residence, 
 four askans with their guns were standing in the 
 entrance-hall. We presented our papers, which 
 were carefully read, the secretary or scribe after- 
 wards returning us a written answer in Arabic to 
 present to the authorities in Zanzibar. 
 
 Passing the attractive clumps of frangipani in full 
 blossom in the shrubbery by the haraza, we found 
 ourselves among the prolific fruit trees. Sheikh 
 Naser-bin-Adi, of Matambwe, escorted us through 
 his luxuriant shambas, amid fruitful groves of 
 pomelo, orange, lime, citron, banana, pomegranates, 
 cinnamon, cloves, and chillies. Up the tall palm 
 trees the willing slaves climbed for dafu. The 
 young cocoanut, which is full of delicious trans- 
 parent aqua coca, provides a healthy beverage for 
 travellers everywhere in these islands, and our four 
 black boatmen returned in high spirits to their 
 oars, laden probably with more spoils than any 
 four of the twelve spies of Israel ever ventured to 
 carry back with them from the land of promise. 
 
 The next day the sheikh paid us a return visit at 
 our tent at Weti. Benjamin Edgington's tent was 
 much admired ; its interior fittings, beds, and mos- 
 quito-nets were examined ; our table and chairs 
 were in front, under the awning that formed the 
 verandah. The position of our camp on the hill 
 above Weti harbour, looking straight out to sea, 
 was admirable. The tall cocoanut palms, with their 
 feathery leaves fanning the breeze, afibrded welcome 
 shade ; while the handsome clove trees and mangoes 
 sheltered us from the north-east wind ; and below us, 
 on the slopes facing the sea, were the talipot palms, 
 with their crowns of gigantic leafy fans. The
 
 66 
 
 THE ARAB AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 sheikh had brought six armed askaris as an escort, 
 and presented us with a sheep. The Arabs formed 
 themselves into a crescent as they were grouped 
 before us on chairs under the trees, in their pic- 
 turesque turbans and their brilliantly coloured 
 girdles, in which were belted their short, broad 
 daggers with jewelled handle and scabbard. These 
 Arab gentlemen are adepts in courtesy. As we 
 rowed home in the evening, with the long shadows 
 on the water, the sheikh and his men waited for us, 
 started when we started, and accompanied our 
 boat, taking the outer track as our guard, both sets 
 of men pulling together to the same time, they to 
 return to Matambwe as we struck southwards 
 home. The Arab is a picturesque feature of East 
 African life, and the English will not hastily or 
 ruthlessly bid him disappear.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE HINDU AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 " Rest comes not except after hardship." — Swahili Proverb. 
 
 Nothing strikes a stranger more with regard 
 to the social life of Zanzibar and Pemba than 
 the way in which the 5,600 East Indians have 
 quietly taken possession of the trade and com- 
 merce of the islands. It appears to have arisen 
 from the fact that the negroes, as being practically 
 the slave class, were in no position to become the 
 merchants and tradesmen of the community, and 
 the aristocratic Arabs were already in position as 
 landlords. The English who settled in the islands 
 were for the most part Government officials or con- 
 nected with Government offices, and there was 
 little inclination on their part to select such an 
 equatorial climate as a centre for promiscuous emi- 
 gration. Therefore, while there is a sprinkling of 
 German, French, Goanese, and Comorines, the 
 trade of the country, by a sort of undesigned 
 coincidence, has fallen into the hands of East 
 Indians. Two or three circumstances tended in 
 this direction ; one being that Zanzibar and Pemba 
 came under the protection of the same sovereign 
 power as India ; another that the rupee coinage of 
 India was introduced by our Government as the 
 coinage of Zanzibar ; thirdly, that the people of 
 India were inured to the hot climate of the tropics, 
 and therefore settled more readily in an Oriental 
 and tropical country such as Zanzibar. Hindus
 
 68 THE HINDU AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 are not naturally inclined to emigrate or to cross 
 the ocean, but the vast population of India is 
 increasing so rapidly under our government that 
 it must press out hither and thither if it is to 
 thrive, and the more vigorous elements in Indian 
 life move out on the crest of the wave of pro- 
 gress. Easy communication between Bombay and 
 Zanzibar, and the constant transit to and fro of ship- 
 ping, accelerated a movement which has developed 
 to much larger proportions than any of our poli- 
 ticians contemplated. We therefore find ourselves 
 in Zanzibar and Pemba in almost constant contact 
 with Parsis, Khojas, Bohras, and Banyans. 
 
 One of the many delightful friendships we formed 
 in the islands was with Bomanji Manekjee, the 
 Minister of Public Works. Making his acquaint- 
 ance in Zanzibar, and travelling with him afterwards 
 on the Barawa to Pemba, we found him keenly 
 interested in every public building that is being 
 erected, whether a lighthouse, a landing-place, 
 a custom-house, or a bungalow. He is also an 
 enthusiastic naturalist, and devoted to the flora 
 of the islands, especially to the introduction of 
 new products, such as indiarubber, vanilla, and 
 coffee. He seized a Ceylon book of ours on the 
 cultivation of spices the moment he saw it, and, 
 though a man of considerable conversational 
 versatility, he vanished. He was found long after- 
 wards in a chair on the verandah, intently reading 
 the new-found source of information. His energy 
 and executive ability have won the admiration of 
 English officials ; and officers who may find them- 
 selves listless and fever-stricken just in the crisis 
 when a clear head and power for prompt action are 
 requisite, gladly avail themselves of his services. 
 Happy is the Government that has such a " man of 
 activity " in its ministry.
 
 < s
 
 70 THE HINDU AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 The Parsis have come to Zanzibar to stay. Many 
 of them are wealthy. Their wives and families are 
 well educated, and the Parsi Club, standing in its 
 exquisitely beautiful grounds, adorned with palms, 
 brilliantly coloured crotons, and giant tropical 
 creepers, is one of the choicest spots in the suburbs. 
 These Parsis, Khojas, Banyans, and Bohras, are 
 all British subjects ; and as such it has been illegal 
 for them to hold slaves. This formerly placed the 
 Indians at a disadvantage in holding land, and 
 sometimes when a mortgage was foreclosed and 
 the property fell into the hands of an East Indian, 
 he was glad enough to let it to an Arab in order to 
 get it cultivated. The consequence has been that 
 the drift both of circumstance and of law has been 
 to hem in the Indians to commerce and to money- 
 lending. As money-lenders they have obtained an 
 ill name in Zanzibar and Pemba for extortion and 
 exorbitant demands ; but everything points to a 
 brighter day coming for the Hindu. 
 
 Money-lenders are unpopular the world over, 
 whether in Europe, America, or India, whether 
 Jews or Gentiles. There is not the slightest doubt 
 that the Hindu money-lenders are extortionate, and 
 as such are held up to common execration. Still 
 the Arabs flee to them for loans, like flies to the 
 flame. Listen to the description of Henry M. 
 Stanley : — ■" The Banyan is a born trader, the beau- 
 ideal of a sharp money-making man. Money flows 
 to his pockets as naturally as water down a steep. 
 No pang of conscience will prevent him from 
 cheating his fellow-man. He excels a Jew, and his 
 only rival in a market is a Parsi ; an Arab is a 
 babe to him. It is worth money to see him labour 
 with all his energy, soul and body, to get advantage 
 by the smallest fraction of a coin over a native. 
 The Banyans exercise, of all other classes, most
 
 THE HINDU AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 71 
 
 influence on the trade of Central Africa. With 
 the exception of a few rich Arabs, almost all other 
 traders are subject to the pains and penalties which 
 usury imposes."* Mackay of Uganda gave similar 
 testimony in writing to The Times in 1889 : 
 "Already in Zanzibar all the trade has passed into 
 the hands of the Indians, which demonstrates the 
 inability of the Arab to compete on fair terms with 
 other traders, "t J. S. Keltic, in speaking of the 
 increase of trade in Zanzibar, says that in 1878 
 ** British Indian traders, both Hindu and Moham- 
 medan, of whom thousands were settled on the 
 islands and on the coasts, were a powerful factor 
 in the Sultanate.":!: During the succeeding twenty 
 years the same feature has become intensified. The 
 Arab has become weaker, continually increasing 
 his indebtedness to the Indian mortgagee, while 
 the Banyan, the Khoja, and the Hindu have 
 acquired a firmer grip than ever on the trade of 
 the islands. 
 
 Consul V. K. Kestell-Cornish gave us an intro- 
 duction to two or three of the Kliojas in Chaki- 
 Chaki. It was curious to watch the look of pleased 
 surprise with which they recognised the kindly 
 courtesy thus bestowed upon them by Government. 
 But when they read the document, and recognised 
 that we were their fellow-subjects of the same good 
 Queen Victoria, and that as such we met them in 
 friendship and goodwill, they held out their hands 
 to us and gave us a welcome that betokened the 
 most hearty appreciation. It has been, perhaps, 
 hardly sufticiently considered how very much the 
 English Government owes to the trading classes 
 of the country, who, though not its aristocracy, are, 
 by their industry and economy, adding greatly to 
 
 * " How I Found Livingstone," page 12. 
 t " Mackay of Uganda," page 440. X " Partition of Africa," page '23L
 
 72 THE HINDU AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 its material wealth. No Government can afford 
 to look askance at its workers ; and of all the free 
 people in East Africa none work harder or for 
 longer hours than these East Indian tradesmen. 
 England, after all, is herself the greatest money- 
 lender the world has ever known. She lends to 
 every nation, whether to her American cousins, to 
 Asiatic and African mining and railway enterprises, 
 or to necessitous European Powers. Perhaps it is 
 to this very position as the world's greatest money- 
 lender that England owes her unpopularity. But 
 surely, if we see ourselves as others see us, we can 
 afford to extend to our Indian fellow-subjects the 
 generosity to appreciate the valuable services they 
 are rendering to our trade in Zanzibar and in East 
 Africa. Their industry is a tropical marvel. Their 
 little shops are open very early in the morning, 
 long before most of us are awake. Their store of 
 baskets filled with oddments, and their exhibit of 
 fancy soaps and mirrors, knives and glasses, cotton 
 fabrics and ribbon, fruit and vegetables, are dis- 
 played and line the narrow streets. They do not 
 leave their shop to others, but sit hour after hour 
 cross-legged in the open front, sheltered from the 
 sun. They make themselves a convenience to the 
 public for whom they cater, and patiently abide 
 their time till far into the evening. Such frugal 
 people, diligent in business and attentive to detail, 
 are sure to thrive ; and as they thrive, the country 
 in which they live is benefited. 
 
 Our morning hours were familiar with the con- 
 stant chatter of one of these thriving Khojas, who 
 transacted his business exactly on the opposite side 
 of the street. He waylaid the country folks as they 
 came into town laden with their sacks of copra. 
 Tired with their load, they were glad to rest. Then 
 came the long haggling about the price, the Khoja
 
 74 THE HINDU AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 beating them down to a pice, and wasting more 
 words on a pice than Englishmen would spend 
 on a sovereign. Many an outburst of laughter 
 would arise from the onlookers as one joke after 
 another passed, the Khoja never yielding, but 
 making up for it by abundant chatter. At last the 
 price is fixed, and the load laid on the weighing 
 machine. Vain are the protests that come from the 
 countryman that the weight is incorrect. Thump 
 go the weights upon the scales. The money jingles 
 merrily in the Khoja's bag of coins. It is irresist- 
 ible. The transaction is complete. The ready 
 money changes hands, and another customer appears 
 as a stalwart black servant, a sort of half-caste, 
 carries to the rear of the shop the copra purchased, 
 to make room for the next parcel. 
 
 Some of these country customers are Wa-Pemba. 
 They form another of the curiosities of island life, 
 being the aboriginal inhabitants. There is in the 
 very existence of these people, in the presence of 
 centuries of Arab occupation, something which 
 almost puts to shame the Anglo-Saxon. In the 
 Eastern States of America we may live for months 
 without seeing a Red Indian. He has, alas ! been 
 civilised off the scene, though the white man has 
 only been there a few generations. The Maories 
 of New Zealand vanish before the English settler. 
 The Arab, with all his slave-raiding and slave- 
 dealing, has allowed the Wa-Pemba to maintain 
 their settlements to the present day. In the midst 
 of large Arab plantations, the aborigines still squat 
 on their original holding, and carry on their culti- 
 vation as small independent landowners. 
 
 And now the English are the paramount power, 
 or, as Lord Rosebery used to say, the predominant 
 partner, and under our Protectorate all these races 
 are to have fair play.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 " The custom of a slave is to talk ; with the freeborn is action." 
 
 Swahili Proverb. 
 
 Our rapidly growing home population must open 
 out fresh channels for trade. Foreign competition, 
 added to the increasing output resulting from 
 perfected machinery, makes new markets essential. 
 The acquisition, therefore, in Africa, of 2,194,880 
 square miles of territory, with a population of 
 43,227,700 (exclusive of Egypt), creates for England 
 one of those outlets for trade which is an immense 
 advantage to all commercial and manufacturing 
 interests. While benevolently considering how 
 much good we can do to the peoples we govern, 
 in developing the magnificent natural resources 
 these vast territories contain, we do not leave out 
 of consideration the interests of our island home, 
 the crowded central hive where every one must be 
 fed. Forty-three million customers are not to be 
 despised. This African population, after all, only 
 gives an average of twenty persons to the square 
 mile, while in India we find large territories that 
 show 335, 387, 454, and 468 persons to the square 
 mile. Africa is therefore not only dark, but it is 
 undeveloped. The population on certain African 
 areas, such as Zanzibar and Pemba, without over- 
 crowding, shows 219 persons to the square mile, 
 and there thus appears room for an indefinite 
 increase of population in the vast fertile areas 
 which are included in our African Protectorates.
 
 76 THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 As civilisation progresses, more and more of our 
 cotton goods and other manufactures will be 
 required. 
 
 Germany is devoting itself energetically to the 
 development of its own acquisitions in East Africa ; 
 and while we may regret the iron heel of mili- 
 tarism which too often manifests itself in its dealings 
 with native communities, it is a great pleasure to 
 recognise that our German neighbours are forming 
 a strong and most valuable Protectorate in East 
 Africa. They have secured very important geo- 
 graphical positions, such as Kilimanjaro, and are 
 developing their African dependency in a business- 
 like manner. We had the privilege of making the 
 acquaintance of a number of East African Germans, 
 and found them courteous and energetic. The 
 German Club in Zanzibar, which has now excel- 
 lent accommodation, is a social force in the city. 
 There is so much Teutonic blood in our own 
 veins that it often seems as though the sober 
 German colonist and pioneer was in many ways 
 singularly akin to ourselves in tastes and disposition. 
 He has just that stolid mental constitution and 
 vigour that settles down to prosper and prevail. 
 
 It is, therefore, well that every citizen at home 
 should recognise distinctly that the efficient admin- 
 istration of Zanzibar and Pemba and our other 
 Protectorates tends materially to promote our own 
 home interests. Mr. J. Chamberlain, in appealing 
 to the working men of Birmingham in 1892 respect- 
 ing East Africa, said with great force : — " All ques- 
 tions which affect the extension of the Empire have 
 a very pressing interest for working men. Those 
 people who want you to have a little Emj^ire must 
 make up their minds 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
 
 THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 77 
 
 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 employment depends upon our 
 foreign commerce ; and now that other nations are 
 closing their ports to us, and everywhere we see 
 that they are endeavouring to create a monopoly 
 for their own benefit, the future of the working 
 classes in this 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."* Captain Lugard speaks to the same 
 effect : — ■" It has yet to be proved that the most 
 effective way of relieving poverty permanently, and 
 in accordance with sound political economy, is by 
 distributing halfpence in the street. If our advent 
 in Africa introduces civilisation, peace, and good 
 government, abolishes the slave trade and effects 
 other advantages for Africa, it must not be there- 
 fore supposed that this was our sole and only aim 
 in going there. 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."t 
 At present the English are experimenting with 
 regard to the abundant commercial products of 
 Zanzibar and Pemba. Copra and cloves are the 
 two leading articles of export. The beautiful oil 
 palm grows abundantly in many districts in Pemba, 
 but is entirely neglected for purposes of trade. The 
 cotton tree, which yields the kapok of commerce, 
 grows luxuriantly to a height of sixty feet at Chaki- 
 Chaki, but appears to be unused except for local 
 purposes. The papaw, the jack-fruit, the areca-nut 
 palm, sugar-cane, rice, and pineapples abound. 
 
 * The Times, June 2ad, 1892. 
 t '■ Rise of East African Empire," vol. i. , page 381.
 
 THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 79 
 
 Whilst we do well to promote exports from Zanzi- 
 bar of cloves, cinnamon, nutmegs, pimento, chillies, 
 and indiarubber, weneed to adhere firmly to the stipu- 
 lations of the Brussels Act of 1891, guarding against 
 the import of gunpowder and firearms, brandy and 
 rum. Africa has been desolated by continual inter- 
 necine war. Constant inter-tribal disputes have 
 been fomented by the Arabs for the purposes of the 
 slave trade. Africa knows little of peace until some 
 firm Government steps in and interdicts the con- 
 tinual raiding of tribe upon tribe for purposes of 
 plunder. As Captain Lugard says, " The Pad 
 Britannica which shall stop this lawless raiding and 
 this constant inter-tribal war will be the greatest 
 blessing that Africa has known through the 
 aues since the Flood."* On our arrival at Aden 
 we transhipped from the Peninsular and Oriental 
 steamer Caledonia into the steamer of another com- 
 pany for Zanzibar. Brandy and spirits were taken 
 on board at Aden for East Africa, and as we sailed 
 out of the bay we met by appointment a lighter 
 carrying the red flag of danger, which was being 
 towed by a steam launch. On this lighter were 
 sixty-one cases of gunpowder and ammunition, 
 which were all hoisted on board our steamer. Our 
 personal safety as passengers, with such explosives 
 below, might be a small matter ; but to carry to East 
 Africa such implements of destruction is a doubtful 
 way of promoting commerce. Wilson's maxim in 
 Africa was, " Always leave a country the better, if 
 possible, for your having been in it."t Happily, our 
 East Africa Protectorate has not been demoralised 
 by the importation of intoxicating liquors to such an 
 extent as some other parts of Africa. There is sufii- 
 cient tendency among the people to indulge in strong 
 drink without heavy importations from England. 
 
 * "Rise of East African Empire," vol. i., page 284. t Ibid^ page 336.
 
 80 THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 The tembo manufactured by the natives from the sap 
 of the palm proved a sore temptation to our servants 
 at Chaki-Chaki, although its sale is illicit. 
 
 Zanzibar does not present elements favourable for 
 European colonists, although it derives great good 
 from English influence. The climate is an effectual 
 barrier to it ever becoming a popular resort for 
 emigrants. Not that the temperature runs up to 
 the high readings to which we are accustomed in 
 India ; but while these sea-girt isles have an un- 
 usually low range of temperature considering that 
 they are within five degrees of the equator, the 
 humidity of the air makes them liable to malarial 
 fever. The north-east monsoon in January, Feb- 
 ruary, and March is often very pleasant. It brings 
 a refreshing, health-giving breeze that is a luxury 
 in these three months, which are the hottest in the 
 whole year, and the force of the wind is not usually 
 violent. But the south-west monsoon, in April, 
 May, and June, is very tempestuous. A hot, dreamy, 
 languid atmosphere is not attractive to Englishmen. 
 The whole of the east coast is bathed in warm ocean 
 currents that materially aflect the prevailing languor, 
 and we shall probably learn with increasing acquaint- 
 ance that we are quite as much influenced by these 
 ocean currents as we are by atmospheric changes. 
 One necessity is to avoid all unnecessary exposure 
 to the sun. Five minutes wanton exposure of the 
 head may result in illness. Cholera-belts of some 
 sort are essential. Flannel is a protection against 
 chills. Marshy lands are malarious after the rains. 
 It is necessary that Europeans return home on fur- 
 lough after three or four years' residence in the 
 enervating climate of Equatorial Africa, to recover 
 blood and nerve, muscle and tone.* But the work 
 constantly done by our English merchants in Zan- 
 
 * R. M. Heanley's " Memoir of Bishop Steere."
 
 THE ENCiLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 81 
 
 zibar in the transaction of their business, and the 
 activity in athletic sports, such as cricket, tennis, and 
 golf, in which the Europeans of Zanzibar engage in 
 the evenings, show that the possibility of health 
 in the islands is more hopeful than at first sight 
 appears. 
 
 The acquisition of Swahili, which is the one 
 language of constant intercourse, is not an insuper- 
 able obstacle. It has its peculiarities, especially in 
 the formation of its tenses. But words of common 
 parlance are quickly learned ; and the diligent use 
 of the little is the highway for the acquisition 
 of more. The new arrival as he enters a house 
 cries " Hodi, Hodi," he salutes with the customary 
 '* Yambo," and ere long settles down contentedly 
 exclaiming " M'zuri," 
 
 The presence of Englishmen is in itself an influ- 
 ence for liberation and deliverance. If there is any 
 authority we replace, it is commonly the Arab slave- 
 holder, or some petty native king. Let us ever 
 remember that our incapacity may prove oppressive. 
 The loathsome and seething impurity that festers 
 under the aegis of Mohammedanism is rebuked in 
 the presence of an Englishman. One pure English 
 home, whether that of a Government official or of a 
 missionary, introduces a higher standard and ideal 
 of life. Such homes are in themselves a gospel. 
 The influence of slavery on the Arabs has been 
 terribly demoralising. Not only have the slaves 
 been corrupted, but the physical stamina of their 
 masters has been fatally vitiated. The Arab com- 
 munity is in process of decay. Men inquire cynically 
 why so many mission converts break down and 
 evince such instability of character. The answer is 
 that it takes generations to purge out the old leaven. 
 It is one of the strange mysteries of life that the 
 iniquity of the fathers is visited to the third and the
 
 82 THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 fourth generation upon their tempted and wrestHng 
 children. 
 
 The Englishman is not only needed in directing 
 enterprise. He is quite as much required in the 
 courts of justice. We have already seen, in con- 
 sidering the Arab, that the Wali and the Cadi are 
 unreliable. The presence of an Englishman pro- 
 duces a revolution. We enter a local court. A man 
 and his wife from Beloochistan have been living on 
 a plantation, and one of the aboriginal Wa-Pemba 
 claims part of the plantation as belonging to his 
 ancestors. It is a civil case, brought forward for 
 reconsideration. The dispute takes the form of two 
 claimants for payment for the frasilas"^ of cloves that 
 have been thrown on the market as the produce of 
 the plantation. The lady who considers herself the 
 heiress has her face partially concealed with the 
 harakoa with its ornamented bars. A seat has been 
 provided for her, while her husband, who is of 
 milder temperament, sits cross-legged on the floor. 
 The harem lady, who is eager for her little holding, 
 has no restrictions of etiquette about pleading her 
 own case, and is abundantly voluble and gesticular, 
 with arms and jewelled hands adding emphasis to 
 her feminine logic. To the left stands a witness, one 
 of those strange half-breeds that find it their policy to 
 side Avith the Arabs, although they have more negro 
 blood in their veins than anything else. He happens 
 to be a notorious slave-dealer, who has handled 
 slaves as cattle, and bartered them almost all his 
 life. He is a well-known old slave auctioneer. His 
 face is a study of cool ferocity, a countenance that 
 betrays nothing of what is working in his mind ; but 
 one instinctively revolts from the imj^erious man. 
 The tales of cruelty the man could tell if he 
 chose to speak would defile the annals of any police- 
 
 * Four frasilas of 351bs. = 1401bs. of cIo%'es or one bale.
 
 84 THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 court. But he knows the country, he is more 
 intimate with local circumstance than any English- 
 man can ever hope to be, and here he stands to give 
 evidence. At the upper end sits cross-legged a thin 
 old Arab judge. He has a gift for silence, but 
 listens much, as he leans an elbow on one knee, sup- 
 porting his chin with his hand. He has never been 
 clothed with ermine, or worn a wig. He knows 
 nothing of the precedents of Westminster, but 
 appears thoughtfully endeavouring to unravel the 
 case. At his side sits an astute Arab with a dagger 
 in his girdle. He is the Wali, the most notable 
 man in all Chaki-Chaki. His dagger was in past 
 days the terror of the natives. With it the Arab 
 was prepared on occasion to settle with all gain- 
 sayers. Now it is useless except to decorate its 
 scabbard. In the Wali's hand are little strips of 
 tough paper, from which he is reading supposed 
 contracts and legal agreements. In this native 
 court sits one English official. He has the pleas 
 spread out on the table before him, and is atten- 
 tively taking notes of the evidence on both sides. 
 The little native farmer of the Wa-Pemba looks 
 anxiously to this Englishman as to a superior being 
 from whom alone he can ever hope for justice. 
 Sentence after sentence of the evidence this little 
 farmer gives is taken down by the white man, and 
 the nervous countryman begins to gain a gleam 
 of hope. As this countryman sits cross-legged on 
 the floor giving evidence, his head and body rise up 
 every now and then with emotion, something like 
 the head of a snake in the midst of its coil. The 
 Englishman cross-questions in Swahili, and investi- 
 gates the case, but does not pronounce the official 
 decision. The Wali and the Judge, however, court- 
 eously accept his advice. This is to the effect 
 that two arbitrators shall be appointed to inves-
 
 THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 85 
 
 tigate the boundaries on the spot and inquire into 
 ancient rights, that these two arbitrators shall have 
 power to call in a third in case of need, and that 
 their decision shall be final. Plaintiff' and defendant 
 pass out, satisfied that the decision is the best at 
 which mortals can arrive upon the earth. Imme- 
 diately afterwards two slaves enter in chains. Their 
 master requests that they may be punished. He is 
 unable to control them ; he has repeatedly tried 
 and failed. The Arab masters are quite accus- 
 tomed to bring their negroes to the Wali to be 
 punished. Evidence is given, and it appears clear 
 that these men dig through the mud walls into the 
 neighbours' houses at night, just as men used to do 
 two or three thousand years ago : "In the dark 
 they dig through houses which they had marked 
 for themselves" (Job xxiv. 16). Their own account 
 of their transactions is listened to, but it is evident 
 they are guilty. They are sent to the whitewashed 
 House of Correction. They look the picture of 
 despair, but the verdict is right. They are very 
 Ishmaelites. They consider every man's hand is 
 against them, and their hand is against every man. 
 Who shall teach them better so long as the iron 
 heel of slavery prevails ? 
 
 Thus where the Englishman goes in East Africa, 
 whether among Arabs, Indians, half-breeds, or 
 negroes, he aims at justice. The people of Pemba 
 proverbially say, " An Englishman is a man who 
 has righteousness," that is, he has an inherent 
 sense of justice. Centuries of culture have made 
 him an administrator. Under his rule diverse 
 peoples thrive together. He binds races and tribes 
 in concord and peace. He may have many faults, 
 and is doubtless too little aware of them himself, 
 but the resources of the country are developing, 
 hope springs in the heart of depressed nationalities.
 
 86 THE ENGLISH AS A SOCIAL FACTOR. 
 
 and a brighter day is dawning upon those who 
 have never yet known the benediction of peaceful 
 civilisation. 
 
 As Lord Rosebery said at Glasgow on the 1st 
 November, 1897 : — " Our Empire, as at present 
 constituted, under the wise guidance of a free-trade 
 policy, makes for peace, for commerce, and for 
 enlightenment. But if you want the foundations 
 of our Empire to be on sounder grounds still, if 
 you wish to dig broader and deeper and stronger 
 the foundations of this world-wide Empire, the 
 home of all English peoples, you want something 
 more even than peace and commerce and enlighten- 
 ment. You must take care that the corner-stones 
 of the majestic structure are not merely peace, but 
 honour and justice to subject races, and fair dealing 
 among the citizens, of whatever colour they may 
 be, who live under your rule."
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTOKATE. 
 
 "Those who do a work do not fail to have a reason." ^Swahili Proverb. 
 
 England, in becoming the dominant Power over 
 vast territories in Africa, assumed heavy responsi- 
 bilities, which, to some considerable extent, it is 
 honestly endeavouring to fulfil. In India the 
 chaotic condition of the various governments and 
 the internal discord had led on to what England 
 never intended. As Sir J. R. Seeley so well puts it, 
 ** We meant one thing and did quite another ; all 
 along we have been looking one way and moving 
 another." In Africa, instead of seizing early oppor- 
 tunities of conquest, successive English Administra- 
 tions delayed for nearly sixty years the acquisition 
 of territories that seemed waiting to fall into their 
 hands, until at last there was among the European 
 Powers a scramble for Africa without precedent. 
 No other way appeared possible for stopping the 
 constant internecine strife among African tribes, 
 fomented by slave-traders. A far more cruel system 
 than that of protectorate towards inferior races in 
 the presence of rising civilised communities is that 
 of extermination. Although some of our dealings 
 with South African tribes have been ruthless and 
 overbearing, we certainly have not committed the 
 sin of extermination. 
 
 The complexity of our Eastern Protectorates lies 
 in the presence of the Mohammedan Power. The 
 Arabs are but a small portion of the population,
 
 GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE. 89 
 
 yet it is through their machinery that we exercise 
 control in Zanzibar and Pemba. This results in com- 
 promise with regard to social customs. Our govern- 
 ment is patriarchal ; Mohammedanism is despotic. 
 The strange anomaly is therefore presented, of a 
 strong democratic Power, accustomed to legislate 
 through reiDresentative institutions, placing itself in 
 intimate relationship with an antique despotism 
 that was formerly a tyranny. But in our effort to 
 obtain justice for the negro we have no right to be 
 unjust to the Arab. Hence a government by pro- 
 tectorate often shapes its course as government 
 by compromise. It is not easy, logically, to defend 
 our position. Englishmen admire thoroughness. 
 Courage of conviction, honesty of purpose, integrity 
 in jurisprudence, we reverence. We have to hark 
 back to the position we started with in our first 
 chapter — ^that our legislation in East Africa is in a 
 state of transition ; that existing arrangements may 
 be serviceable for a time, and that revolutionary 
 changes are not always beneficial. Protectorates 
 are not an unmixed evil, but they are not ideal. 
 They are ameliorating the open sore of a vast con- 
 tinent. The Sultan signs a decree, the Englishman 
 guides the hand. A jVIohammedan judge pronounces 
 a verdict, the Englishman predicates the decision. 
 
 England, as a paramount Power, served an appren- 
 ticeship to a slightly analogous system in allowing 
 the native States to remain under native princes in 
 India. Our blunders with our kith and kin in 
 America, and the consequent establishment of the 
 great Anglo-Saxon Republic, were trials that taught 
 us moderation and consideration. It sounds pre- 
 sumptuous for European Powers to sit down at a 
 table and evolve the partition of Africa without 
 consulting the peoples concerned. Yet the result 
 is proving beneficial. Extraordinary and unprece-
 
 90 GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE. 
 
 dented as the process may seem, it is leading to 
 Africa's redemption. Thus the aspirations and 
 prayers of Livingstone, Mackay, and Hannington 
 find fulfilment. To plant in the midst of these 
 mixed populations men of character who work 
 for righteousness, men that despise the gain of 
 oppression, and that shake their hands from hold- 
 ing of bribes, is in itself a great boon. The 
 natives show their appreciation of the " love of 
 fair play " which has characterised our officials in 
 East Africa. Another boon conferred by our admin- 
 istration is security. At home we are so accustomed 
 to enjoy security that we scarcely appreciate its 
 value. 
 
 The influence of England has been exercised for 
 many years in the mitigation of slavery and in 
 withstanding the slave trade. In these efforts 
 other European Powers have assisted. The first 
 united effort of this description was the Berlin 
 Conference of 1885. In this remarkable Confer- 
 ence, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, 
 France, England, Italy, Portugal, the Nether- 
 lands, Russia, Norway and Sweden, Turkey, and 
 the United States were all represented. This 
 comprehensive gathering assembled " in the name 
 of Almighty God," declaring their object to be to 
 settle in a spirit of mutual goodwill the most favour- 
 able conditions for the development of commerce 
 and civilisation in Africa, and to promote the moral 
 and material welfare of the native races. By the 
 BerHn Act of February 26th, 1885, the Conference 
 guaranteed liberty of conscience and religious 
 toleration, offered " special protection " to Christian 
 missionaries, the free and public exercise of every 
 creed, and the right to erect religious buildings and 
 organise missions. It agreed to co-operate in the 
 suppression of slavery. The slave trade was for-
 
 GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE. 91 
 
 bidden under Article 9, all the Powers undertaking 
 to employ every means to put an end to the traffic. 
 Valuable concessions were entered into with regard 
 to free trade, insisting on moderate charges on the 
 rivers and on the coast, such charges being merely 
 of the character of remuneration for services 
 rendered. The object of these stipulations was 
 essentially philanthropic, and tended to the encour- 
 agement of future commercial enterprises in the 
 interior. King Leopold II. devoted assiduous atten- 
 tion to the problems of the Congo State, and Prince 
 Bismarck contributed to the good results of the 
 Conference by his patient consideration in dealing 
 with new proposals ; while Baron de Courcel dis- 
 played great tact as President. The Berlin Act 
 remains as a noble monument of one of the most 
 unique gatherings of the Powers of Europe that 
 ever assembled in the interests of mankind. Here- 
 after the regenerated peoples of Africa may look 
 back to the Berlin Act of 1885 as the Magna 
 Charta of their enfranchisement. 
 
 Meanwhile the Powers were learning more and 
 more of the actual requirements for the government 
 of this vast continent. It was in many ways an 
 experiment in government on a scale utterly unpre- 
 cedented in human history. It aimed at the moral 
 and social regeneration of millions of untutored 
 beings, who were themselves essential to the develop- 
 ment of their own country, but who could not be 
 personally consulted. Instead of the brutalities of 
 pure aggression, it was recognised that tropical 
 Africa, if it was ever to become " the garden of 
 the Lord," must be developed by the sinews of 
 Africans themselves. The Powers of Europe, while 
 recognising the advantages that must come to the 
 peoples of Europe by the development of com- 
 merce, also acted in the spirit of goodwill and
 
 fe 
 
 
 
 j^j 
 
 B 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 m. 
 
 
 Me 
 
 g 
 
 
 i 
 
 ^^^^s 
 
 ^ 
 
 ~yK';r^--"'^ 
 
 ^&* ^'41. v_ 
 
 ^s^^^/^&ikt^^s 
 
 5;^;,^;''.^"',^ 
 
 ■s;^^^^^^- 
 
 
 HgS|^^ 
 
 
 ^^^ ' '' 
 
 
 H^Ds^^^ 
 
 
 l4 
 
 
 WLttil 
 
 if.' . ■ 
 
 U- 1 
 
 '1 
 
 
 4c^^ 
 
 w 
 
 
 ON THE SHAMBA. 
 
 Gomez, Photo.
 
 GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE. 93 
 
 philanthropy towards the swarthy tribes who must 
 do the work. 
 
 It is, therefore, not surprising that another Con- 
 ference was proposed by Lord SaHsbury in 1888, 
 which assembled at Brussels in 1889, and continued 
 its sittings till the 2nd July, 1890. In this Con- 
 ference further important steps were taken in the 
 same direction as those which had been entered 
 upon in Berlin. The despatch of Lord Salisbury to 
 Lord Vivian, our Ambassador at Brussels, on the 
 17th September, 1888, reflects credit on his genuine 
 regard for anti-slavery interests. He suggested 
 that the King of the Belgians invite a Conference to 
 concert measures for " the gradual suppression of 
 the slave trade on the continent of Africa, and the 
 immediate closing of all the external markets which 
 it still supplies." Two proposals were involved in 
 this despatch, the one to be carried out " gradually," 
 the other to take " immediate " eflect, the suppres- 
 sion of the slave trade in such a vast continent by 
 foreign Powers being necessarily the work of years, 
 while the closing of the external slave-markets was, 
 for the most part, within the range of immediate 
 practical politics. Lord Salisbury emphasised the 
 difficulties that had been encountered in the efl'orts 
 of the cruisers of England to clear the seas of the 
 traffic ; and while stating that our Government 
 would cheerfully continue " to bear the burden of 
 further measures to effect the common object," it 
 was evident that the system of " policing" the high 
 seas had proved of but little efficacy towards actually 
 suppressing the slave trade. A point was gained 
 when it was thus conceded that our navy could do 
 comparatively little in closing the traffic while slave- 
 markets were open and the active demand for slaves 
 continued. 
 
 The preamble of the Brussels Act of 1890 promi-
 
 94 GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE. 
 
 nently declares the firm intention of the signatory 
 Powers to " end the crimes and devastations 
 engendered by the traffic in African slaves, pro- 
 tecting effectively the aboriginal populations of 
 Africa, and ensuring for that vast continent the 
 benefits of peace and civilisation." For these pur- 
 poses it declared the most effective means to be the 
 supplanting of human porterage by better and 
 cheaper means of transport, such as railways, steam- 
 boats, and the construction of good roads. It 
 advocated the establishment of telegraphic lines, 
 and administrative posts and stations from point 
 to point. It proceeded to impose restrictions 
 on the importation of firearms, at least of modern 
 pattern, and of ammunition, throughout the terri- 
 tories infected by the slave trade. Lastly, though 
 not least, the Conference restricted the importa- 
 tion of and traffic in spirituous liquors. The 
 Brussels Act, as Captain Lugard has observed, 
 " vastly increases our obligations and defines them 
 in greater detail." The enthusiasm of King Leopold 
 in the development of the Congo State doubtless 
 stirred up others to effort. 
 
 The edicts and agreements entered into in the 
 direction of suppressing the slave trade and hem- 
 ming in slavery in our East Africa Protectorate 
 claim consideration. They fell far short of the 
 desires of the people of England, who aimed at 
 nothing short of full emancipation ; but they repre- 
 sent an honest endeavour to restrain the evil. It 
 was the new breath of Christianity playing through 
 the old reed-pipes of Islam. These documents 
 practically formulate themselves under three heads : 
 (a) Edicts which were efforts to abolish the slave- 
 trade ; (b) Edicts and agreements to ameliorate the 
 condition of the slave ; and (c) Edicts tending in the 
 direction of ultimate emancipation. One of the first
 
 GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE. 95 
 
 important Zanzibar treaties on the slave trade was 
 that entered into on the 5th June, 1873, between 
 our Government and Seyyid Burghash, in which 
 the Sultan agreed that the sea-borne traffic of 
 slaves from the mainland '' shall entirely cease." 
 He further en2rao:ed that all slave-markets in his 
 dominions should be closed. It is needless to add 
 that this treaty did not stop the traffic. On the 14th 
 July, 1875, a further treaty was made that all vessels 
 carrying slaves other than those in attendance on 
 their masters or employed in the navigation of the 
 ship might be seized by Her Majesty's cruisers and 
 condemned. In 187<) the Sultan issued another 
 proclamation forbidding slave caravans from the 
 interior. 
 
 In 1888, Colonel C. B. Euan-Smith, the Consul- 
 General at Zanzibar, issued a proclamation declaring 
 it illegal for any British subject to contract with the 
 owner for the hire of any slave. The following year 
 the Sultan Khalifa proclaimed the perpetual right 
 of English and German vessels to search all Arab 
 dhows for slaves, decreeing that all slaves brought 
 into the dominions of Zanzibar after the 1st Novem- 
 ber, 1889, should be free. A further agreement was 
 entered into between Sir Gerald Portal and the 
 Sultan Khalifa, providing that all children born in 
 the Sultan's dominions after the 1st January, 1890, 
 should be free. This agreement, however, does 
 not appear to have been embodied in any public 
 proclamation. 
 
 Yet another decree was issued by the Sultan 
 Ali-bin-Said on the 1st August, 1890, which con- 
 tained important stipulations " in the name of God 
 the merciful and the compassionate," providing that 
 all slaves lawfully possessed at that date shall 
 remain with their owners, and " their status shall 
 be unchanged," but that all sale, purchase, or
 
 GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE. 97 
 
 exchange of slaves was henceforth absolutely pro- 
 hibited. Any slave-broker was to be severely 
 punished and exiled. Slaves might henceforth only 
 be inherited by the lawful children of the deceased. 
 If the deceased had no children, all his slaves became 
 free. Cruelty inflicted on slaves by an Arab was to 
 result in the forfeiture of all his slaves. No slave 
 that was freed could ever after legally hold slaves. 
 Slaves might purchase their freedom at a reason- 
 able price, and papers of freedom were to be 
 granted to them. Most of these stipulations were 
 in the right direction, but the clause in the decree 
 which affirmed that the status of the slaves " shall 
 be unchanged " was afterwards used by Lord 
 Salisbury in his despatch as an argument in 
 favour of granting " compensation " to the Arabs, 
 when the abolition of the legal status took place 
 in 1897. This argument was on the ground that 
 the decree had been issued under the advice of 
 Sir C Euan Smith. On such an assumption 
 our British Consuls would be involved in almost 
 immeasurable responsibilities. If the advice of an 
 English Consul to a jNIohammedan ruler ties the 
 hands of future Administrations, and the nation is 
 made responsible for his advice, it becomes the 
 whole nation to watch most vigilantly every action 
 of our Consular authorities abroad. Such an episode 
 illustrates the serious complications involved in a 
 civilised Government attempting to carry out its 
 functions through a local Mohammedan adminis- 
 tration. The penalty of a Sultan's clause wdiich 
 was in direct antagonism to the established anti- 
 slavery policy of our country for more than half a 
 century is thus inflicted upon us to-day. 
 
 In the face of all these edicts, slavery continued 
 in operation in Zanzibar. The Sultans themselves 
 were large slave-owners, and almost all the Arab
 
 98 (GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE. 
 
 authorities were interested in maintaining the 
 system. But the edicts, and the action resulting 
 from them, had the result of materially narrowing 
 down the extent of the slave trade ; and as the slave 
 trade declined, the number of slaves on the islands 
 steadily decreased, and slavery itself was being 
 hemmed in. 
 
 The benevolent arrangement which Sir Gerald 
 Portal made, that all children born in the Sultan's 
 dominions after 1st January, 1890, should be free, 
 had an unforeseen effect. It became the interest of 
 slave-owners that their negroes should have no 
 children. One of the most fearful effects of slavery 
 is its disregard of the sanctities of home life. The 
 slave has no home that he can call his own. His 
 master may intrude upon it at any moment. The 
 effect of slavery in Africa, as a rule, has been to 
 discourage the birth of children ; but for the 
 masters to allow their slaves to rear children on 
 whom the masters had no legal claim, presented 
 a still greater temptation to underhand conduct. 
 In very many cases the agreement was utterly 
 ignored. In some instances the slaves were muti- 
 lated by their masters to prevent them having any 
 children. There was also a terrible amount of 
 infanticide. A mistress finding that a child absorbed 
 the attention of a slave-mother, has been known to 
 throw the child into a boiling caldron and destroy 
 it. Hence the total result by the j'^ear 1895 was that 
 many slaves had died, others had escaped, few raw 
 slaves had been smuggled in, the rearing of children 
 had been discountenanced, and the total number of 
 slaves had very materially decreased. The Arab 
 masters consequently hardly knew how to gather in 
 their crops. 
 
 In the year 1890 a distinct epoch in the history 
 of our relations to East Africa had been reached.
 
 GOVERNMENT BY PROTECTORATE. 99 
 
 In the summer of that year, after conferring with 
 European Powers, the British Protectorate was 
 proclaimed over Zanzibar and Pemba. In October, 
 1891, an administration was instituted, worked 
 by British officials, and under the supervision of 
 Her Majesty's Agent and Consul-General. On 
 the 1st February, 1892, Zanzibar was declared a 
 free port. On the 2nd April, 1892, the Brussels 
 Act came into operation, and the Directors of the 
 British East Africa Company on the mainland took 
 early steps to put its stipulations in force against the 
 importation of arms and gunpowder and alcoholic 
 liquors. On the 22nd June, 1892, our Government 
 sent a notification to the signatories of the Berlin 
 Act, informing them that from the 1st July the 
 dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar would be 
 placed within the Free Zone with regard to imports. 
 Consequent upon these arrangements, the appoint- 
 ment of the next Sultan, on the death of Ali-bin- 
 Said, was by the authority of the English Govern- 
 ment, which had become the protecting Power. 
 Under our Protectorate, the Sultan of Zanzibar 
 receives a fixed sum and retains his private estates, 
 and the public revenues are wholly administered by 
 British officers, under the direction of Sir Arthur 
 Hardinge, the C'onsul-General.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE WIDER OUTLOOK. 
 
 "The beginning presents delays, then comes a downpour," 
 
 Swahili Proverb. 
 
 Whilst the scope of our inquiry is with regard 
 to the welfare of Zanzibar and Pemba and of our 
 East Africa Protectorate, it seems essential that we 
 should recognise the problem as part of the larger 
 and greater movement throughout the Dark Con- 
 tinent. It is, therefore, expedient to take a wider 
 outlook. There are a multitude of tribes of very 
 different mental and physical calibre, yet the diffi- 
 culties we are called to face in one district find their 
 counterpart, to a large extent, in many other dis- 
 tricts ; and though the climate of so vast an area 
 differs greatly, the civilisation of the native tribes of 
 Africa everywhere present many similar problems. 
 It is this comparative condition of things that 
 makes the work and experience of the specialist in 
 one locality helpful to workers in other localities. 
 
 There may have been something that savours 
 of romance, and much that savours of national 
 ambition, in the rapid taking up by the European 
 Powers of claims in Africa ; but we confess that we 
 believe there is also in it much that marks the hand 
 of God. Great national impulses may contain 
 in them something of the Divine, although their 
 human outcome is often discouraging. Perhaps 
 it would be too much to assume that from the 
 bleeding heart of Africa went up a great cry unto 
 God. We are certainly treading on surer ground
 
 102 THE WIDER OUTLOOK. 
 
 when we assert that missionary after missionary 
 who fell as martyrs to a treacherous climate, cried 
 to God, and to comrades at home, on behalf of the 
 Dark Continent. One of the most sublime illus- 
 trations of consecration to a great cause — to the 
 greatest cause — has been the fact that volunteers 
 for missionary service in Africa doubled and 
 quadrupled, as one after another of those who 
 had previously gone out laid themselves down to 
 die. No clash of arms has ever revealed nobler 
 courage and fuller persistence of purpose than 
 modern missions in Africa. Yet there may be 
 something nobler in carefully studying the laws 
 of health in the tropics, and going to Africa to 
 live rather than in hazarding life by ignorance, and 
 going to Africa to die. Many lives might doubt- 
 less have been saved if men had observed the 
 limitations of African environment ; but it was 
 almost inevitable in the low coast stations in 
 the tropics, and in the great waterways of the 
 interior, that lives should have been sacrificed. 
 There are large areas of Africa that are not adapted 
 to European immigration. Yet in such districts it 
 seems essential to progress that some Europeans 
 should reside as missionaries and Government 
 officials, to introduce Christianity and civilisation. 
 Portions of South Africa do, however, offer great 
 natural inducements to Anglo-Saxon enterprise, and 
 are well suited for colonisation. 
 
 The waterways of Africa presented the first 
 means of access to the interior ; and its great rivers, 
 the Congo, the Nile, the Niger, and the Zambesi, 
 must ever be important channels of intercourse. 
 But we probably shall owe still more, in the onward 
 march of African civilisation, to the gigantic inland 
 lakes, which have become the romantic admiration 
 of Europe. Lake Victoria, with its kindred Lakes
 
 THE WIDER OUTLOOK. 103 
 
 Albert Nyanza and Albert Edward, form nature's 
 great reservoirs of the Nile, and the Lakes Nyasa 
 and Tanganyika are manifestly destined to become 
 the pathway of many a merchant steamer that 
 shall bring light and hope and prosperity to the 
 dark races of the interior ; while marshy lakes such 
 as Chad and Rudolf may become of more com- 
 mercial utility than at present appears. 
 
 It certainly becomes every man who has an 
 average interest in the welfare of his fellow -man 
 to make himself to some extent acquainted with 
 the recent history of African development. We 
 need say little, and with the exception of Egypt 
 men can say little accurately, with regard to the 
 ancient history of Africa, Its interior was a terra 
 incognita. C'arthage and its northern shores played 
 no mean part and exerted no small influence on the 
 destinies of the Mediterranean. The early Christian 
 Churches had many bishoprics, with a multitude 
 of adherents, in North Africa. Except the Copts 
 in Egypt, these have mostly vanished. Instead of 
 religious efforts, Africa has been for generations 
 exploited by the European Powers as the great 
 hunting-ground for slaves. For generations no 
 country was more guilty of this awful traffic than 
 England, So early as 1562 Sir John Hawkins 
 fitted out three ships to engage in the slave trade. 
 The Portuguese and Spaniards had been before 
 him, and Queen Elizabeth was justly indignant 
 at Englishmen engaging in such an undertaking. 
 But commercial greed prevailed. In the course 
 of a century slaves came to be considered the 
 principal commodity of merchandise from Africa, 
 and there arose a constant rivalry among English, 
 Dutch, and Spanish merchants to obtain a monopoly 
 of the slave markets. In the face of this sorrowful 
 record, it is a comfort to believe that the European
 
 104 THE WIDER OUTLOOK. 
 
 Powers have given evidence of genuine repentance, 
 and by their later efforts to stem the stream of 
 sorrow they have manifested a more conscientious 
 regard for the rights of man. 
 
 While Great Britain now dominates 2,194,880 
 square miles, exclusive of Egypt, France claims 
 3,326,790 square miles ; Portugal and Spain 980,000 
 square miles ; Germany 884,810 square miles ; and 
 the Congo State, under the care of Belgium, covers 
 905,000 square miles. These are the leading Powers 
 in African advance, although Italy has her claims 
 in Somaliland and Abyssinia, and the Boers have 
 their Republic in the South. The French are very 
 active in West Africa, and are extending their 
 territory as rapidly as circumstances permit. Their 
 ambition appears to be to run a railway direct from 
 Algiers across the Sahara to Senegal, and to the 
 Gold Coast on the Gulf of Guinea. But the value 
 of territory cannot in Africa be reckoned by area, 
 and the fertile portions held by England are of 
 infinitely greater value than much of the desert 
 claimed by France. 
 
 Algeria is one of the most delightful parts of all 
 Africa, and is a fascinating health-resort. It is 
 .very accessible from London, and a good service 
 of steamers continually runs from Marseilles. It 
 is the easiest spot for English people to visit who 
 wish to see something of African life. The Moorish 
 element in the city of Algiers is extremely pic- 
 turesque. There are large and comfortable hotels 
 at the capital, and 2,925 miles of railway open. 
 Oranges, citrons, and palms abound. To some of 
 us in past years a visit to Algeria has been like a 
 beautiful revelation of the abundant goodness of 
 God to man. But as a colony Algeria has not 
 proved an abiding-place for any large number of 
 Frenchmen. The French have not succeeded so
 
 THE WIDER OUTLOOK. 105 
 
 well ill the colonisation of their own acquired 
 territories in Africa as they have in mingling with 
 us in our Dominion of Canada. It cost France 
 £150,000,000 to concjuer Algeria, and it will be a 
 long time ere she can recoup herself. Yet it is far 
 better for France to devote her energies and skill 
 to the development of her African Colonies than 
 to involve herself in European jealousies. 
 
 The future of Africa is to a large extent in the 
 hands of England and Germany. Whether Belgium 
 will ultimately be able to control the Congo Free 
 State remains to be seen ; and a2)parently France 
 can only make headway by a larger outlay from 
 national resources than it can afford to invest. The 
 two competitive Powers in the future of Africa are 
 therefore Germany and England. 
 
 The Germans have three large areas of control^ — 
 in the Cameroons, in its South- West territory, and 
 in East Africa. They often make excellent colonists. 
 The quiet plod of the homish German, as he settles 
 down on his holding with his family of healthy boys 
 and girls, shows how near of kin he is to the 
 Englishman. He picks up languages more readily 
 than his insular cousins, but has just the same 
 faculty for trade, and is not so fastidious in his 
 tastes. In East Africa the Germans are dis- 
 tinctly advancing. They are persistent competi- 
 tors of English trade, and they are intelligent 
 administrators. 
 
 The growing prosperity of Egypt under English 
 control is a testimony to our kindly administration. 
 The predominating control of the Nile Valley and 
 of the Suez Canal is of great strategic value to 
 England, and our recent successes and expenditure 
 of resources in the Soudan make the evacuation 
 of Egypt on our part an increasingly remote 
 probability. The question whether this is an
 
 H. Ariidtage, I'lioto. 
 CHAKI-CHAKI, PEMBA.
 
 THE WIDER OUTLOOK. 107 
 
 ultimate gain to the well-being of mankind may 
 safely remain in abeyance ; but the administration 
 of Egypt under the dominant influence of England 
 has greatly improved both its financial and agri- 
 cultural resources. Egyptian finance now stands 
 in a position of acknowledged security, the 
 revenue exceeding the expenditure. Its agricul- 
 tural products consist of cotton, maize, wheat, rice, 
 sugar, hemp, &c. There are 958 miles of railway 
 open to traffic. Irrigation works have been greatly 
 developed, and the corvee or forced labour system 
 has been abolished, except in cases of great emer- 
 gency, such as guarding the banks of the Nile in 
 floods. The present flourishing condition of Egypt 
 has been unparalleled for thousands of years. 
 Those who have stood in the tombs of the heroes 
 of ancient Egypt, surrounded by their historic 
 hieroglyphics, and have watched the elevation in 
 recent years of the fellahin from serfdom to a 
 measure of social privilege, cannot but rejoice 
 in the change that has taken place under our 
 administration. 
 
 In South Africa we have become embroiled in a 
 series of unhappy conflicts with the aborigines that 
 are humiliating to the Christian and discreditable to 
 the aggression of colonials. We have little cause 
 to point the finger at others, when we have so dis- 
 gracefully beaten back the native tribes in South 
 Africa, and allotted their fertile lands to our own 
 emigrants, and when we are still permitting so 
 much injustice to continue in the treatment of Zulus 
 and Kaffirs. The administration of Cape Colony, 
 with its healthy surroundings, has been followed 
 by the successive acquisition of Natal and Zulu- 
 land, of Bechuanaland, Basutoland, Matabeleland, 
 and Mashonaland, and of British Central Africa, 
 until we have in round numbers nearly one million
 
 108 THE WIDER OUTLOOK. 
 
 square miles under our control in South Africa. 
 In East Africa and Somaliland, with its adjuncts, 
 we have 737,000 square miles. The Niger and 
 Gold Coast territories in West Africa cover other 
 481,000 square miles, with a population in West 
 Africa alone of about thirty millions. There are 
 elements in our position on the Niger and the Gold 
 Coast and Sierra Leone that naturally awaken the 
 keen interest of Englishmen. In the seventeenth 
 and eighteenth centuries it was to the West Coast 
 that the attention of Europe and of America was 
 mainly directed. There we encountered an amount 
 of competition that stimulated the British mind 
 to activity and resourcefulness. It is more than 
 a century since British traders settled on the Oil 
 Rivers, and, to our shame be it spoken, mainly for 
 the purposes of the slave trade. Eager explora- 
 tions of the Niger regions were running on from 
 the year 1815. For half a century British mission- 
 aries have been at work in Calabar. But the attitude 
 of England was wavering and halting, while other 
 European Powers, especially France and Germany, 
 were pushing forward their expeditions in West 
 Africa. The consequence is that the map of West 
 Africa to-day presents much the appearance of a dis- 
 secting puzzle. It is not easy to explain the curious 
 delimitations of territory which now exist under 
 various European ''Agreements." In many instances 
 they are the result of compromises. Taking all 
 things into consideration, we may be thankful 
 that the delimitation of boundaries in Africa has 
 been effected by mutual conciliations, rather than 
 by the old-time custom of going to war. The result 
 is that while England has abundant estates in 
 Africa, which may take her many generations to 
 develop, she has frequently surrendered districts to 
 other Powers that at one time seemed naturally,
 
 THE WIDER Ol'TLOOK. 109 
 
 by the residence of her merchants, to be in her 
 keeping. 
 
 J. Scott Keltic, to whose able work on " The 
 Partition of Africa" every student of Africa is 
 greatly indebted, says :■ — " In the building up of our 
 world-wide Empire we have no doubt done many 
 things which we ought not to have done, and left 
 undone many things which we ought to have done. 
 Yet the name of our country still stands high among 
 our less-advanced brothers in Africa for many of 
 those qualities which exalt a nation."* May the 
 new era upon which we have entered in the Dark 
 Continent not only reflect great credit upon our 
 national honour, but may our highest achievement 
 be that we have liberated the African from the 
 slavery and degradation of centuries, that we have 
 opened channels for commercial development and 
 civilisation that shall make his emancipation a 
 genuine redemption, and above all, that we have 
 brought to at least part of Africa the glad tidings 
 of Christianity ! 
 
 * " Partition of Africa," page alT.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE ABOLITION OF THE LEGAL STATUS OF 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 " My Creator and Preserver tries His slave and then opens the way before 
 him." —Sioahili Proverb. 
 
 " The logical sequence " of the various edicts and 
 agreements which had been passed by the Sultans 
 of Zanzibar was the abolition of the legal status of 
 slavery in 1897.* The conscience of England on 
 the slavery question was much more fully developed 
 than in the days of our forefathers. Christians 
 no longer argued the advantages of slavery as they 
 argued even in our own childhood. The British 
 and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society has not yet 
 seen the fruition of its travail of soul, but it 
 has seen a marked change for the better in 
 public opinion and in the official mind. Slave- 
 trading and slave-raiding have been greatly reduced 
 in proportions, although in the interior of Africa 
 they are still far from extinct. The abolition of 
 the legal status of slavery had worked well in 
 India. Clauses 2, 3, 4 of the Indian Act of 1843 
 are to this purport : — 2. No rights arising out of 
 an alleged property in the person and service of 
 another as a slave shall be enforced by any civil 
 or criminal court or magistrate. 3. No person who 
 may have acquired property by his own industry, or 
 by the exercise " of any art, calling, or profession, 
 or by inheritance, assignment, gift, or bequest, shall 
 
 • Instructions to Mr. Hardinge (now Sir Arthur Hardinge, K.C.M.G.) 
 respecting the abolition of the legal status of slavery in the islands of 
 Zanzibar and Pemba, Africa, No. 1 (1897).
 
 112 THE ABOLITION OF THE 
 
 be dispossessed of such property, or be prevented 
 from taking possession thereof, on the ground that 
 such person, or that the person from whom the 
 property may have been derived, was a slave." 
 4. "Any act which would be a penal oifence if done 
 to a free man, shall be equally an offence if done 
 to any person on pretext of his being in a condition 
 of slavery." 
 
 While the circumstances in Zanzibar and Pemba 
 differed materially from the position in India, it 
 was felt that the time had come to adopt in those 
 islands regulations which should have a somewhat 
 similar effect to the Indian Act of 1843. It was 
 intended to avoid any violent dislocation of the 
 labour market. The previous edicts of various 
 Sultans had prepared the way for more compre- 
 hensive legislation ; and though the edicts in 
 several directions failed to achieve their purpose, 
 owing to the immobility of Mohammedan and 
 African custom, there had been working among the 
 people other elements which had resulted in the 
 betterment of the slaves. The influence of English 
 authority in the islands had greatly increased. 
 The presence of English officials as well as of 
 missionaries had the effect of throwing light on 
 dark corners, where cruelty and oppression could 
 no longer hide. The quiet and firm effort of such 
 men as Sir John Kirk, Sir Gerald Portal, and 
 General Sir Lloyd William Mathews had done 
 much to prepare the way for abolition ; while the 
 protests of Bishop Steere, and more recently of 
 Bishop Tucker, were ploughing up the fallow 
 ground and leavening the Arabs themselves with 
 maturer thoughts. The commercial depression 
 which resulted from the reduced price of cloves 
 also greatly affected the Arabs. English control, 
 combined with the edicts, had greatly reduced
 
 LEGAL STATUS OF SLAVERY. 113 
 
 the number of slaves available for cultivating the 
 shambas. The incubus of heavy mortgages on the 
 estates impoverished the slave-holders, and the 
 estates themselves yielded small profit. Thus the 
 Arabs were more than ever prepared for change, 
 and were themselves recognising that emancipation, 
 accompanied with the introduction of free labour, 
 lay straight before them. 
 
 Public opinion in England played an important 
 part in the current that was setting in towards 
 emancipation. Yet in some ways there had been 
 for years in England a lethargy with regard to 
 continued protest against slavery. An opinion 
 appeared for some time to prevail that slavery had 
 been extinguished from British territory, that in 
 the United States the throes of civil war had 
 resulted in emancipation, and that our national 
 responsibilities respecting it to a large extent had 
 ceased. A multitude of other pressing questions 
 had claimed precedence in public attention, and a 
 lull was evident, which was disturbed by the rapid 
 partition of Africa among the European Powers, by 
 which we assumed fresh responsibilities respecting 
 native tribes that wei'e being decimated by the 
 slave trade. 
 
 But as accurate and intimate knowledge of our 
 African Protectorates increased in England, the 
 electorate awoke to the existing evils of slavery, 
 and neither Liberal nor Conservative Adminis- 
 trations could long avoid the issue. The Liberal 
 Cabinet stood committed to an anti-slavery policy ; 
 and Lord Salisbury, when previously in power, 
 had done good service in the same direction. It 
 was consequently with the clear recognition of " the 
 force of public opinion in this country " that the 
 despatch of 10th February, 1897, was sent by the 
 Foreign Secretary to Zanzibar. Various forces,
 
 114 THE ABOLITION OF THE 
 
 both at home and abroad, thus culminated in the 
 Sultan's proclamation in favour of emancipation. 
 On the forefront of Lord Salisbury's despatch he 
 stated that it was issued in fulfilment of pledges 
 which had been " given in Parliament for the aboli- 
 tion of the legal status of slavery in the islands 
 of Zanzibar and Pemba." The conclusion of the 
 despatch announced that the object of the Govern- 
 ment was " that the legal status of slavery in 
 the islands should cease henceforward to exist, that 
 the change should be effected without injustice 
 to individuals, and at the same time without 
 detriment to the public welfare." The basis of the 
 proposals impressed upon the Sultan of Zanzibar 
 were given under nine brief headings, formulating 
 the results of much careful consultation with Sir 
 Arthur Hardinge and other officials. Their sub- 
 stance is as follows : — 
 
 1. A decree should be at once issued abolishing 
 the legal status of slavery in the islands of Zanzibar 
 and Pemba. 
 
 2. An assurance should be given in this decree 
 that no interference is contemplated in family life. 
 
 3. Her Majesty's Government do not recommend 
 any form of apprentice labour. 
 
 4. Compensation should be awarded by the 
 Zanzibar Government to such owners of slaves 
 as can prove legal tenure of any of their slaves 
 under Clause 2 of the decree of 1890, and damage 
 resulting from abolition. 
 
 5. Compensation money should not be seizable 
 for past debt. 
 
 6. Her Majesty's Government will lend the 
 services of British officers to watch the cases and 
 to prevent injustice. 
 
 7. A renewed attempt will be made to procure 
 coolie labour from India.
 
 LEGAL STATUS OF SLAVERY. 115 
 
 8. The Zanzibar Government should immediately 
 adopt such measures of a police or precautionary 
 character as may prevent social or financial dis- 
 order, and secure the successful operation of the 
 decree. 
 
 9. Her Majesty's Government are hopeful that 
 the change may be effected without risk, and at no 
 considerable cost. In the event, however, of a 
 serious strain being placed upon the resources of 
 the Zanzibar Government, they would be prepared 
 to consider the question of financial aid. 
 
 It is clear from the above that the intention of 
 our Government was the undoubted abolition of 
 the legal status of slavery. A definite step of 
 great value was thus taken, from which it was 
 practically impossible to recede. So far back as 
 1884, Sir John Kirk, then acting as Consul-General 
 in Zanzibar, stated, in addressing the authorities at 
 home, that " the non-recognition of slavery as a 
 status known to the law is essential to prosperity 
 in Pemba." One point at which abolitionists had 
 been aiming for many years was thus attained. A 
 great deal was left to accomplish, but the Rubicon 
 had been passed so far as Zanzibar and Pemba 
 were concerned. With additional satisfaction it 
 was noted that Lord Salisbury had concluded not 
 to recommend or recognise any form of apprentice 
 labour in lieu of slavery. 
 
 On the 14th November, 1896, a large deputation 
 of Friends had waited upon the Right Hon. G. N. 
 Curzon, M.P., Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 
 to protest against any system of " apprenticeship " 
 being adopted in Pemba and Zanzibar which should 
 have the effect of still binding the slaves to their 
 masters. In that deputation, which was ably intro- 
 duced by Joseph Albert Pease, M.P., it was shown 
 from past experience that Sir John Kirk was
 
 LEGAL STATUS OF SLAVERY. 117 
 
 perfectly right in his axiom that " the two systems 
 of slave and free labour will never blend." Slavery 
 shuts out free labour from the market, because 
 independent working men will not work where 
 labour is degraded by compulsion. The Govern- 
 ment courteously accepted the plea of the deputa- 
 tion, and an important step was gained. 
 
 On the matter of compensation there was more 
 difficulty. The whole spirit of Christianity appears 
 opposed to slavery, and in the onward march of 
 Christianity slavery must disappear. Every man, 
 unless by crime he forfeits freedom, has the natural 
 right to liberty ; and if compensation is granted 
 with regard to abolition, it would appear that it 
 is the slave that should receive the compensation. 
 We cannot, therefore, regard compensation to the 
 slave-owner as in itself logical. These slaves have 
 many of them been torn from their homes by cruel 
 raiders, and the man who buys them is a guilty 
 accomplice. 
 
 It was perfectly right not unnecessarily to inter- 
 fere with family life, but a slave women requires 
 quite as much legal protection, or even more, than 
 a man. Undoubtedly, Arab notions of morality 
 present a serious difficulty. The dual character 
 of the Government renders legislation very diffi- 
 cult when it has to do with long-established social 
 customs. The decree is issued by the Sultan ; the 
 hand that guides the pen is in Downing Street. 
 How long such a complicated and cumbrous system 
 can last is uncertain. But to deny to women 
 the power to claim freedom is cruel and immoral. 
 On one page of the despatch Lord Salisbury says 
 distinctly that " on and after the date at which it 
 is to come into operation, no Court shall recognise 
 any claim to the service of any person on the 
 ground of the latter's alleged servile status." On
 
 118 THE ABOLITION OF THE 
 
 the next page of the same despatch he says : 
 " It has been pointed out that if the proposed 
 aboHtion were to extend to the women of the 
 harem and to the connubial system upon which 
 the Arab family is founded, an opposition would 
 be aroused that would enlist upon its side the 
 stubbornest and most cherished convictions of the 
 Arab nature," It would seem here as though two 
 separate issues were mixed together. If a woman 
 in the harem, or a concubine, being a slave, desires 
 to be free from her master, she surely ought to 
 have the protection of the Government in claiming 
 her freedom. If a woman so circumstanced, on the 
 other hand, desires to remain with her master, she 
 ought not to be compelled to leave him. The 
 Government has no right to compel her to stay 
 or to compel her to go. But the Government 
 ought to provide for the liberty and emancipation 
 of women just as much as for men. In the 
 compromise that is now attempted a temptation 
 is opened for Arabs to claim as their concu- 
 bines women who might otherwise be free. The 
 decree might have been allowed to work itself out 
 without the insertion of any compromising restric- 
 tion whatever respecting concubines. Lieutenant 
 C. S. Smith, late Vice-Consul at Zanzibar, states 
 the whole matter clearly when he says : " Being 
 subject to the irresponsible will of the master, a 
 girl cannot be virtuous." *' To a girl brought up 
 in slavery, chastity is impossible even before her 
 childhood ends. Chastity is impracticable for a 
 woman enslaved by force, for the simple reason 
 that her body is not her own."* When we consider 
 that far more than one-half of the 140,000 slaves 
 in Zanzibar and Pemba were women, it seems 
 wrong that the Arab masters should have the 
 
 * "History of Universities' Mission," page 426.
 
 LEGAL STATUS OF SLAVERY. 119 
 
 option of claiming any of them as concubines who 
 desire deliverance. We cannot believe the Chris- 
 tian conscience of England will tolerate such an 
 exemption in the working of the Act. Not that we 
 imagine that this exemption will result in all the 
 women being claimed by the Arabs. Many of the 
 Arabs will doubtless allow women to obtain their 
 freedom and go. But the desecration of home 
 life is one of the most awful iniquities of slavery, 
 and it may take generations before a population 
 that has been so long tainted with immorality will 
 become pure. 
 
 Though every female slave may become a con- 
 cubine, only a limited number are really made so. 
 A concubine has certain defined rights. She has 
 apartments of her own, is free at her master's 
 death, and confers freedom and legitimacy on her 
 offspring. Few respectable Arabs would allow their 
 concubines to engage in menial work. To do so 
 would be repugnant to their sense of propriety, 
 and to the feeling of jealousy with wdiich they 
 regard their harems. The number of concubines is, 
 therefore, largely dependent on an Arab's pecuniary 
 resources ; and in the present impoverished con- 
 dition of the Arab community it is hardly to be 
 expected that he will add to his encumbrances 
 by any large accession of concubines. The Courts 
 naturally would not recognise a woman as a con- 
 cubine, especially where the question of com- 
 pensation is involved, unless it could be shown 
 that she had occupied a definite and perfectly ascer- 
 tainable status as such before the case arose. 
 
 The great difficulty regarding native women is 
 for the most part in their exceedingly dependent 
 position. They are usually dependent on their 
 masters for the means of subsistence, and it requires 
 unusual force of character and boldness for them
 
 120 THE ABOLITION OF THE 
 
 to strike out a new course of their own. At the 
 same time, various occupations, such as water- 
 carriers and washerwomen, are open to them, and 
 many of them in the country are accustomed to 
 field work. Nevertheless, they greatly lack the 
 moral qualities which have been the making of the 
 noble mothers of our Anglo-Saxon communities, 
 and these qualities are not often attained in one or 
 two generations. The more urgent is the need for 
 Christian women to rise to the succour of their 
 coloured sisters, and to go forth as missionaries 
 and stand by them in their terrible struggle for a 
 higher and purer standard of life. Native women 
 who obtain their freedom through the influence 
 of our English Government will need moral sup- 
 port after they have obtained deliverance from 
 slavery. The perils of freedom to such women 
 are great. Councils of cowardice appear to have 
 been listened to with regard to the exemption 
 of so many negro women from the privileges of 
 the decree for the abolition of the legal status 
 of slavery. To offer emancipation to men, while 
 leaving women in compulsory concubinage, for fear 
 of Arab opposition, betrays ungallant timidity. 
 While we heartily commend Lord Salisbury for 
 the forward steps he has taken, we regret he was 
 influenced to interpose limitations which rob so 
 many who need it most of the privileges of the 
 decree. 
 
 Bishop Tucker's criticism in The Times for 12th 
 April, 1897, has great force. He says : " Slavery in 
 East Africa dies hard." He then states his three 
 objections to the despatch : firstly, the continued 
 enslavement of many of the women ; secondly, the 
 limited freedom granted to the men by suggested 
 restrictions respecting their leaving the islands ; 
 and thirdly, that the action of the decree is con-
 
 LEGAL STATUS OF SLAVERY. 121 
 
 fined to the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, not 
 including Mombasa and the territories on the main- 
 land within the ten-miles strip. This latter point 
 has been contested in the House of Commons by 
 Joseph A. Pease ; and the Government, through 
 Mr. A. J. Balfour, has given a pledge that they are 
 " desirous at the earliest possible opportunity to 
 carry out on the mainland of the East Coast 
 Protectorate what they have already carried out, 
 or are in process of carrying out, upon the islands." 
 The Government has also, through the Attorney- 
 General, reaffirmed the law which previously existed, 
 and which applies to runaway slaves, that " if a 
 British subject detained a slave, it mattered not 
 whether in a foreign country or on British territory, 
 it was not in accordance with law." 
 
 One stipulation in the decrees of the Sultan 
 Hamoud-bin-Mahomed-bin-Said requires considera- 
 tion. Walis were appointed in the different districts 
 of Zanzibar and Pemba, to whom every master or 
 servant might appeal for justice " in respect of the 
 alleged relations of master and slave." It was 
 proposed by Lord Salisbury in his despatch that 
 " British officials should be appointed to watch the 
 cases and to prevent injustice." Seeing that the 
 Arab Walis would naturally incline to favour the 
 Arab masters, this proposal was essential to any 
 satisfactory working of the Act. Joseph Albert 
 Pease questioned Mr. Curzon in the House of 
 Commons on the '2Sth May as to the appointment 
 of these English officials, and received answer from 
 the Under-Secretary that Mr. J. T. Last, F.R.G.S., 
 of Chuaka, was appointed to watch all cases in the 
 interior of the island of Zanzibar, while General 
 Sir Lloyd William Mathews was to exercise super- 
 vision in the city, and that ]\lr. John Prediger 
 Farler, of Tunduaua, would supervise all cases on
 
 LEGAL STATUS OF SLAVERY. 123 
 
 the island of Pemba. These three men are probably 
 the most efficient that could have been selected, 
 and, from their previous experience, are well cal- 
 culated to protect the negroes from injustice. 
 
 On Tuesday, the (5th April, 1897, the Arabs 
 assembled at the Palace at Zanzibar to hear the 
 decree. This day will long be a memorable one 
 in the history of the islands. The Sultan first 
 invited his brother and other members of his 
 own family, to have the clauses read to them. 
 Then he received fifty representative Arab sheikhs 
 belonging to the island of Pemba, and subse- 
 quently sixty or seventy leading Arabs of the 
 island of Zanzibar. Sir Lloyd Mathews, the Prime 
 Minister, was the one European present. The 
 Sultan advised the Arabs, on returning to their 
 respective shambas, to adopt a conciliatory attitude 
 towards their slaves, and to make them such con- 
 cessions that the relations between employer and 
 employed should be as little disturbed as possible. 
 The Arab masters were encouraged by the Sultan 
 to offer larger plots of land for the negroes to 
 cultivate on their own account, and to arrange for 
 them to have three days a week for cultivating 
 their own plots, and give four days to their masters' 
 service. It was hoped by some such arrangement 
 to keep the negroes as much as possible on the 
 shambas where they had been accustomed to work. 
 The decrees were also posted up in Arabic at the 
 residences of the Walis in Zanzibar and Pemba. 
 
 The news of the official proclamation spread in 
 the city of Zanzibar, but no disturbance occurred, 
 and for some days no slaves applied for their 
 freedom. On shambas in outlying districts the 
 slaves did not recognise any change. The Arabs 
 were pleased to find that no sudden displacement 
 was contemplated ; they were gratified that their
 
 124 ABOLITION OF LEGAL STATUS OF SLAVERY. 
 
 family life was not to be touched, and were agree- 
 ably surprised with the stipulation that they were 
 to be compensated for the liberation of any slaves 
 they legally held. In the course of the following 
 few weeks some twenty-five slaves claimed the 
 benefit of the decree and were liberated. Of their 
 owners, twenty-one received compensation. The 
 average compensation was £4 per head. Thirty- 
 three slaves left for Arabia, a few were kidnapped, 
 and others were taken across the sea. Fifteen 
 runaways were given work as freemen at Dunga, 
 and twenty at Tunduaua, on the Government 
 shambas. Many Arabs listened to the advice of 
 the Walls to make contracts with their slaves on 
 the half-and-half principle, and thus kept them 
 from running away. The change was working very 
 slowly, the chief effect thus far being to make the 
 masters more careful and indulgent, for fear of 
 losing their men. Later on larger numbers of 
 .slaves came forward to the officials — from forty 
 to sixty per month — and claimed their freedom. 
 vSome, both men and women, took advantage of 
 their freedom, to wander about or to prostitute 
 their acquired privileges. Many others came to 
 endeavour to obtain more liberal terms from their 
 old masters, electing to remain on easier terms 
 where they had lived so long, asking for an extra 
 day for themselves, or for an increased share of 
 the crop. In not a few instances the attachment 
 between master and servant was such that there 
 was no disposition to change. But the negroes 
 became more independent than hitherto, and the 
 leaven of liberty was quietly working. Their con- 
 dition, though remaining with their employers, has 
 been ameliorated, and remarkably little friction has 
 occurred. We hope more definite liberation will 
 result hereafter.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 
 
 "If you are going to stay in a place, build." — Swahili Proverb. 
 
 The East Africa Protectorate and Uganda are 
 more absolutely under our own administration than 
 Zanzibar and Pemba. The portion of the mainland 
 which, by the arrangement of the 31st October, 
 1886, remained to the Sultan of Zanzibar, was the 
 ten-miles strip from Wanga, at the mouth of the 
 Umba, to Kipini, on the river Ozi. This territory 
 was, unfortunately, not included in the scope of 
 Lord Salisbury's despatch of February, 1897. The 
 ten-miles strip does not embrace more than 170 
 miles of coast. The depth, however, is reckoned 
 from high-water mark, so that near the creeks, and 
 especially in the neighbourhood of Mombasa, the 
 boundary is nearly twenty miles inland from the 
 actual coast-line. The Sultan is also sovereign over 
 the islands of Lamu, Maiida, Patta, and Faga, and 
 of the port and environs of Kismayu. 
 
 The Sultan's territory is held under what may be 
 called a perpetual lease. He gets (or rather the 
 Zanzibar Government gets) £17,000 a year for it, 
 composed partly of the £11,000 a year which was 
 paid to him by the old company, and partly of the 
 interest (£6,000 a year) on the £200,000 (in consols) 
 paid to him by Germany for the sale of his rights 
 south of the Umba, and utilised with his consent 
 by Her Majesty's late Government in order to buy 
 out the Imperial British East Africa Company, He
 
 126 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 
 
 is considered sovereign of the country ; his flag flies 
 over the forts ; and the Mohammedan religion and 
 law are guaranteed as the established C'hurch and 
 legal system to the people of the ten-miles strip. 
 Otherwise the administration is entirely British. 
 There are native magistrates, called Walis, in the 
 ten-miles strip, under the British District Officer. 
 The Sultan occupies, in fact, something of the 
 position of the Sultan of Turkey in Egypt. The 
 Arabs prefer this arrangement to pure annexation, 
 as, so long as they are under a " sovereign " of their 
 own faith, the land is still " Dar-ut-Islam" and all 
 that this implies, and they look on the red Arab 
 flag much as an Australian or Canadian does on 
 the Union Jack. 
 
 Within a stone's throw north-east of Kipini 
 begins the Sultanate of Witu, which extends as 
 far east as Kwyhoo, and the northern limit of 
 which is a line running west from Kwyhoo, on the 
 coast, to a point a few miles west of the Ozi river. 
 The greatest depth of the Sultanate of Witu is 
 about forty miles (near Kipini). Witu was under 
 a German Protectorate till 1890, and was a terrible 
 thorn in the side of the Sultans of Zanzibar and of 
 the Imperial British East Africa Company. When 
 Germany made over her Protectorate west of 
 Kipini to us, she stipulated (Act 2 of the Anglo- 
 German Agreement) for the maintenance of the 
 Sultanate of Witu. The Sultanate is, however, 
 rather nominal for all practical purposes, though 
 under diff"erent names. Witu is a district of the 
 province of Tanaland. The remainder of the coast 
 to the north of Witu, as far as the river Juba, 
 some 150 miles, was evacuated by the British East 
 Africa Company on the 31st July, 1893, and the 
 administration has been taken over by England. 
 The Imperial British East Africa Company hnally
 
 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 127 
 
 handed over the whole administration of the terri- 
 tories with which it was connected to the British 
 Protectorate on the 1st July, 1895. 
 
 The territory to the south of the river Umba 
 belongs to Germany, while north of the river Juba 
 is under Italian influence. Our mainland Pro- 
 tectorate is administered direct from the Foreign 
 Office in London, without reference to the Sultan. 
 The officials are paid out of English revenue, and 
 they hold their appointments under our Queen. 
 
 The coast is in a remarkable way dominated by 
 the islands along its shore. The most important of 
 these islands is Mombasa. A bridge, 1,732 feet 
 long, now connects Mombasa with the mainland, 
 and the town is one of rapidly increasing com- 
 mercial importance, as well as being the centre of 
 our East African Administration. It is connected 
 by telegraph with Europe and India, and possesses 
 the finest harbour in East Africa. The population 
 is about 20,000. Approaching it from Europe, the 
 old Portuguese fort is picturesque and conspicuous. 
 The hospital stands high, and is prominent from 
 the sea, and handsome European residences have 
 recently been erected along the sea-front. We 
 found Arab dhows lying alongside, full of camels, 
 instead of the old cargoes of slaves. Men move 
 briskly about the streets, with a new air of 
 urgency, and the negro is gaining by association 
 with English commerce. There is a strange mixture 
 of old and new in the East African wine-skin. The 
 iron pier, the steam crane, the English Custom- 
 house, public notices in English in the market, with 
 the names of the streets at the corners, all tell of 
 the new spirit that is entering in. The water in 
 the harbour lies quiet, with a gentle ripple, the 
 waves being kept back by the long coral reef across 
 the entrance of the bay. The fronds of the lofty
 
 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 129 
 
 cocoanut palms wave languidly in the breeze on the 
 shore to the north ; the talipot palm and the green 
 mango trees adorn the coral cliff ; while a super- 
 abundance of tropical creepers hang over the 
 rocky banks down to the water's edge. Momlmsa 
 presents an extraordinary field for ethnological 
 study, llepresentatives of various African tribes 
 are met in the streets, but there is a freedom of 
 movement among the negroes that shows they 
 are devoid of terror, and slavery in the ten-miles 
 strip is not so severe as it has been in Pemba and 
 Zanzibar. 
 
 Kilindini is a fine sheltered harbour on the west 
 side of Mombasa island, and is available for large 
 vessels. It is also a rising port. To the north of 
 Malindi lie the three islands of Lamu, Manda, and 
 Patta. The Arabs for many years contested the 
 sovereignty of these islands with the Portuguese. 
 Their sheltered waters form valuable harbours for 
 commerce. The Arab traders fortified Patta, and 
 lived there securely in their Oriental palaces. Here 
 the arrogant Sultan Simba entrenched himself, and 
 waxed strong. He was, however, compelled to 
 fly, and Manda became a stronghold. The Gallas 
 and the Swahili drove the Arabs out of Manda, 
 and then the island of Lamu became their rendez- 
 vous. In 1507 the Portuguese Commander, Tristan 
 da Cunha, captured Lamu, but had to yield it uj) 
 again to Arab prowess. Now the islands and har- 
 bours enjoy the benign rule of Britannia. This 
 coast-line must always to a large extent govern the 
 commerce of the interior, and it is fortunate for 
 England that she commands all the best harbours 
 of East Africa. 
 
 As to the interior, the country up to the limits 
 of the Congo Free State is divided into two 
 Protectorates, with separate Commissioners and
 
 130 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 
 
 Administrations. These are, first, the East African 
 Protectorate, of which Mombasa is the capital, and 
 of which Sir Arthur Hardinge is Administrator ; 
 and then the Uganda Protectorate. The East 
 Africa Protectorate extends inland as far as the 
 Kedong river, about 350 miles from Mombasa, 
 its greatest width between Kismayu and the east 
 border of the Uganda Protectorate being about 450 
 miles. It is divided into four Provinces, each of 
 which has a Sub-Commissioner. The Provinces 
 are sub-divided into Districts, each of which is 
 governed by a Collector.* In organising these 
 Districts the Government took as the basis of their 
 sub-divisions geographical and ethnographical con- 
 siderations, making Districts coincide as far as 
 possible with tribal boundaries, so as to get the 
 people of one tribe into one District. The Sultan's 
 sovereignty is enshrined in the name of one 
 Province, that of Mombasa, which, under the name 
 of Seyyidieh, the " land of the Seyyid " (Seyyid, or 
 Lord, being the name by which the Sultan is known 
 to the people), includes nearly all the mainland 
 portion of the Zanzibar territory. 
 
 The East Africa Protectorate not only embraces 
 a most valuable coast-line, with excellent natural 
 harbours and ports, but it also contains high table- 
 land, which greatly modifies the climate of portions 
 of the interior. This tableland has precipitous 
 escarpments, and is in the neighbourhood of lofty 
 
 * The following are the Provinces and their Districts in our East Africa 
 Protectorate : — 
 
 Province of Seyyidieh, including the Districts of Yanga, capital Wasin ; 
 Mombasa, capital Mombasa ; and Malindi, capital Malindi. 
 
 Province of Tanaland, including the Districts of Tana River, capital 
 Ngao ; Lamu, capital Lamu ; Port Dnrnford, capital Port Durnford ; and 
 Sultanate of Witu, capital Witu. 
 
 Province of Jubaland, including the Districts of Lower Juba, capital 
 Kismayu ; Upper Juba, capital Mabungu-Kisungu ; Ogaden, and Gusha. 
 
 Province of Ukamba, including the Districts of Taita and Taveta, capital 
 Ndi ; Athi, capital Machakos ; Kenia, capital Kikuyu ; and Kitui, capital 
 Kitui.
 
 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 131 
 
 mountains. The Aberdare range is 14,000 feet 
 high, while Mount Kenia rises 18,870 feet above 
 the sea. 
 
 Though the Imperial British East Africa Com- 
 pany has now lapsed, it has a record on the 
 anti-slavery question which ought not to be for- 
 gotten. Under the enlightened leadership of Sir 
 William Mackinnon it did considerable towards 
 the emancipation of slaves and protecting them 
 from cruelty and injustice. The mainland pre- 
 sented far greater facilities for runaways than the 
 islands. There is a common Swahili proverb which 
 says, ''La ivatoro shaka n lili kwa lili" (" The run- 
 away slave always escapes to the nearest woods "). 
 The runaways also often escaped to the nearest 
 Mission stations, such as Freretown and Rabai. 
 The Arabs became very restless and indignant at 
 this, and in 1889 Colonel Euan Smith wrote to 
 Lord Salisbury that the storm of indignation was 
 rising, so that these two stations " would inevit- 
 ably become the object of attack before many 
 months were over." This unsettlement was partly 
 caused by the disturbances in the German sphere 
 of influence. However, Sir Euan Smith's alarm 
 was fortunately allayed by the wise administration 
 of Mr. George S. Mackenzie. The legal right of 
 the owner to the slaves having been established 
 by the Mohammedan power, and recognised by 
 Great Britain, Mr. ^Mackenzie agreed to pay a fixed 
 sum of twenty-five dollars for each fugitive found 
 at the Missions, on receiving which the owners 
 consented to grant freedom papers to the slaves. 
 Five hundred and fifty of these slaves belonged to 
 tribes in the interior ; and as no means offered 
 of getting them safely back to their old homes 
 without being recaptured, " permits of residence " 
 were granted to them, authorising them to remain
 
 132 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 
 
 at the Mission stations. The payment amounted 
 to a gross sum of £3,500, which was subscribed 
 from various sources. The ceremony of the presen- 
 tation of the free papers took place at the Church 
 Missionary Society station at Kabai, on the 1st 
 January, 1889, amid a great concourse of Arabs 
 and of the native population. Such a scene had 
 seldom before been witnessed in Africa. The Arabs 
 were conciliated, the Mission stations were saved 
 from attack, and 1,4*22 slaves were set free. General 
 L. W. Mathews and Mr. George S. Mackenzie 
 presided over the presentation to the negroes, and 
 a triumphal trophy of palm branches and other 
 decorations was erected by the people in honour 
 of the festive occasion. Two hundred and twenty- 
 three others were liberated on the ten-miles strip 
 by working out the cost of freedom by their own 
 industry, 81 were freed by their owners, and 201 
 obtained freedom under the decree of 1st August, 
 1890, in consequence of their owners dying without 
 lawful children. The total number thus obtaining 
 freedom during the Company's administration was 
 therefore 2,387.* 
 
 Another centre of a different character in the 
 East Africa Protectorate is at Gusha, on the river 
 Juba. Many slaves who were discontented escaped 
 beyond the ten-miles strip to Gusha, and thousands 
 of negroes established themselves there, under their 
 own so-called Sultans. The negro slaves on the 
 ten-miles strip were not, as a rule, unkindly treated, 
 but they were sorely grieved at the way in which 
 the Arabs snatched their daughters from them, and 
 appropriated them to their own harems. The Arab 
 masters live in the coast towns with their house- 
 hold slaves, while on an inland estate, or somewhere 
 along the shore-line, they may have 200 or 300 slaves 
 
 * McDermott's " East Africa," page 221.
 
 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 133 
 
 working for them under a native overseer, who is 
 himself a slave. The Arab probably visits his estate 
 twice a year to receive the produce. He is honoured 
 on such visits with much palaver and tamasha, and 
 returns to his house in town. The overseer has a 
 large house in the centre of the estate, the slaves 
 have their huts on the same property, with their 
 garden allotment, which the wife and the man 
 cultivate on Thursdays and Fridays ; or if the man 
 lives on the shore he often fishes for his sustenance. 
 The tall grass and thick brushwood grow between 
 the slave's hut and the neighbouring houses on the 
 estate, and the man is left a good deal to his own 
 devices, as long as he works five days a week for his 
 master. Sometimes he carries a gun for defence 
 from animals, his master providing the equipment. 
 
 Captain Dundas describes the valley of the Juba 
 river as very fertile, and the district of Gusha for 
 eighty miles as being " one long plantation of sem- 
 sem, maize, millet, plantain, tobacco, and cotton." 
 The river is about 100 yards wide. Tall palms 
 and luxuriant vegetation clothe its banks with 
 beauty. Zebras and antelopes abound. The citizens 
 are on excellent terms with the English, and the 
 Government stern-wheeler comes up the river every 
 year. The steamer, on arriving at Gusha, picks 
 up a number of men as free labourers. A dozen 
 American axes from the steamer's stores are 
 handed out to them to chop wood for fuel. The 
 people turn out in crowds to cheer the steamer 
 as it passes ; and the town, with its environs, is 
 becoming an important centre of new life. 
 
 The fearless protest of Bishop Tucker against 
 the omission of the mainland from the privileges of 
 the decree of 6th April, 1897, with regard to the 
 abolition of the legal status of slavery, has brought 
 prominently before the House of Commons the
 
 134 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 
 
 question of further emancipation. Bishop Tucker 
 wrote urgently to The Times on the 12th April, 
 impeaching the despatch of Lord Salisbury as 
 being unsatisfactory on three counts : first, that 
 it continued many of the women of Zanzibar 
 and Pemba in slavery ; secondly, that it only pro- 
 vided a " limited freedom " for the male slaves, 
 with compensation to the master ; and thirdly, that 
 it excluded the Mombasa portion of the Sultanate 
 from the operation of the Government proposals. 
 On the 21st May, 1897, a conference of members of 
 Parliament and of anti-slavery advocates was held 
 in a committee-room of the House of Commons. 
 The Kight Hon. Sir John Kennaway presided, 
 and Bishop Tucker gave evidence. The confer- 
 ence resulted in questions being put in the House 
 of Commons to the Foreign Under-Secretary by 
 Joseph Albert Pease and others. In the course 
 of the discussion that followed in reference to the 
 action of British officials at Mombasa requiring 
 that runaway slaves should be delivered up to 
 them by the missionaries, the Attorney-General 
 declared that it " is unlawful for a British subject to 
 detain a slave, whether in a foreign country or on 
 British territory." Mr. Curzon stated on the 28th 
 June that a telegram had been sent to the Com- 
 missioner at Mombasa informing him that a 
 British subject is breaking the law if he takes part 
 in restoring to his master, or otherwise deprives of 
 his liberty, any fugitive slave, and instructing the 
 Commissioner to conform his conduct to the law 
 thus laid down. The hunting up of runaway slaves 
 by authority of British officials, such as had been 
 done at Rabai and elsewhere in the neighbourhood 
 of Mombasa, has thus been stopped. It is only fair to 
 the Arabs and to the local authorities to remember 
 that the hunting up of runaways was alleged often
 
 136 EAST AFRICA PKOTECTORATE. 
 
 to be undertaken because the slaves had escaped to 
 evade the just penalty of crimes they had committed. 
 In common English law, however, no malgistrate 
 issues a summons for the arrest of any man with- 
 out stating on such summons the charge that is laid 
 against him. In the papers for arresting runaways 
 which were produced in the House of Commons 
 there was no crime stated or laid to the charge 
 of these runaways, and the papers and arrest by 
 English officials or their subordinates were illegal. 
 The action of the House of Commons went further, 
 and the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, on the •24th 
 June, assured members that " the Government are 
 earnestly desirous at the earliest possible oppor- 
 tunity to carry out on the mainland of the East 
 Coast Protectorate what they had already carried 
 out, or were in the process of carrying out, upon 
 the islands." 
 
 Thus two important points were gained with 
 regard to future action tending towards emancipa- 
 tion on the mainland. But it is always necessary 
 for reformers at home to remember the words of 
 Lieutenant C. S. Smith, late Vice-Consul at Zanzi- 
 bar, on the limitations that should moderate our 
 expectations : " Unfortunately, the enactment of a 
 law or the ratification of a treaty in the capital does 
 not necessarily involve obedience in the corners of 
 the world, least of all from such persons as are 
 likely to turn their hands to slave-trading."* We 
 sometimes get excellent resolutions and decrees 
 on paper, with Government authority, but it may 
 take years ere their eff"ects percolate through the 
 inertia of tropical populations, environed with the 
 customs of centuries, in vast territories, parts of 
 which have never yet been explored by Englishmen, 
 
 * Chapter on Slavery, pages 375-432, by Lieutenant C. S. Smith, in 
 " History of the Universities' Mission."
 
 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 137 
 
 territories untraversed by railways or telegraphs, 
 where no newspapers enlighten, where no adminis- 
 tration is locally established, and where the most 
 intelligent part of the population may consider that 
 the decree, if it does reach them, conflicts with 
 their own interests. 
 
 The legal status of slavery in the East Africa 
 Protectorate only exists in the ten-miles strip and 
 adjacent islands and in Witu, where the Zanzibar 
 laws on the subject were introduced. Kismayu, how- 
 ever, is an exception, slavery having been abolished 
 there by Seyyid Burghash. The al3olition was not 
 very real until the English Government took over 
 the administration in 1895. The domestic slaves 
 at Kismayu appear seldom to have applied for 
 freedom, though they can get it for asking. There 
 may be about 26,000 slaves altogether in this 
 District of Seyyidieh, which our Government holds 
 on lease from the Sultan of Zanzibar. Many of 
 them were sold by their parents during the famine 
 thirteen years ago. 
 
 Uganda* now constitutes a separate Protectorate, 
 and promises to be a most important factor in 
 Central African civilisation. Its eastern frontier 
 runs parallel with the East Africa Protectorate. To 
 the west it runs right up to the Congo Free State. 
 Southwards it abuts the German Protectorate, while 
 its north-west limits remain undefined. The present 
 Commissioner of Uganda is Mr. Berkeley. 
 
 The geographical features of this inland Protec- 
 torate indicate a remarkable commercial future, 
 while it is virtually the key to the w^hole of the 
 Nile valley, and commands its trade from the south. 
 Great Britain, in holding Uganda, can therefore, 
 to a large extent, annihilate the slave trade that 
 
 * The Uganda Districts, from south-east to north-west, are : Masai, 
 Kavirondo, Usoga, Uganda proper, Buddu, Toru, and Unyoro.
 
 138 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 
 
 passed northwards from Central Africa up the Nile 
 valley, and at the same time can tap regions whose 
 trade, as civilisation extends, must greatly increase, 
 and be of permanent value to our commerce. 
 
 The tablelands of Uganda promise to be the future 
 home of many an English emigrant, the tempera- 
 ture usually varying from 60° to 80°, occasionally 
 rising to 90° or falling to 55°. Rain is very frequent, 
 but the mean annual rainfall does not exceed fifty 
 to sixty inches. The country contains many lofty 
 mountains. Mfumbiro is 10,000 feet high, Mount 
 Eglon is 14,100 feet, and Ruwenzori is 16,600 
 feet. The vast Lake Victoria Nyanza is 3,900 feet 
 above the Indian Ocean. It is 150 miles across, 
 and 200 miles long. The equator runs for 400 miles 
 through this promising Protectorate, which has 
 undoubtedly a magnificent future before it, being 
 adapted for all kinds of tropical culture. 
 
 In the past, the porterage system has given a 
 great impetus to slave-raiding and to the slave trade. 
 The captives brought quantities of ivory down to 
 the coast, while cotton and European fabrics were 
 carried up to the interior on the heads of slave 
 porters. The railway from Mombasa to the Victoria 
 Nyanza will, it is hoped, prove a great anti-slavery 
 agency. Our Government, after many hesitations, 
 happily undertook its construction in 1895. It is 
 to be 660 miles long, and the first hundred miles 
 are already open, and trains running upon it. The 
 issue of £3,000,000 from consols was authorised 
 for its construction. When this great route is 
 once completed, the perils from fever during the 
 journey up country will be minimised, and the 
 future of Uganda assured. The Protectorate was 
 proclaimed on the 19th June, 1894, and included 
 the country then subject to King Mwanga. In 1896 
 the administration was extended to Unvoro and
 
 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 139 
 
 Usoga. In 1897 King Mwanga rebelled and fled. 
 He had been guilty, in Xovember, 1896, of trying 
 to smuggle 2,000 pounds weight of ivory. He 
 was consequently visited with restrictions and 
 warned. Buddu w^as the Province secured to the 
 Roman Catholics in the political settlement by the 
 late Sir Gerald Portal in 1893, and became a centre 
 for plots against the English Administration. On 
 the 27th August, 1897, telegrams arrived in England 
 announcing that an insurrection in Buddu had been 
 quelled, and that [Nlwanga had escaped across the 
 German frontier. When he fled to the Germans 
 he was taken by them to Bukoba ; and although he 
 had 400 lads with him, the Germans only allowed 
 ten to remain, and arranged for him to go on to 
 Mwanza. 
 
 On the 14th August, Daudi Chwa, the son of 
 Mwanga, was proclaimed King of Uganda, at 
 Nakasero, in the room of his father. He was just 
 one year old. Daudi was then taken to Mengo, 
 and at the main gateway was set on his throne, 
 robed in a bark-cloth. Two spears and a shield 
 were held over him, and he was declared to 
 have "eaten" Uganda. The little princess, Yunia 
 Kamwanda, daughter of Kalema, w^as proclaimed 
 to be the Queen sister, and was also robed in bark- 
 cloth. Apolo Kagwe, Mugwania, and the Kangao 
 were appointed the three Regents to administer 
 the government in the name of Daudi until he is 
 old enough to do so himself. The cause of the 
 rebellion does not appear to have been any harsh- 
 ness shown by Europeans. Mr. R. H. Leakey says 
 that the presence of the missionaries saved the 
 adjoining Province of Koki, the native Christians 
 there remaining loyal to a man. 
 
 The mutiny of Soudanese troops in Usoga in 
 October, 1897, accompanied with serious loss of
 
 140 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 
 
 life, shows the peril of leaning on native armed 
 forces in such a remote district. Major Macdonald, 
 on his route to Lake Rudolph, appears to have had 
 with him one of the largest caravans that had ever 
 been known in that part of Africa. Such disturb- 
 ances naturally awaken distrust in the neighbouring 
 provinces. 
 
 Through the energy of the Church Missionary 
 Society, Uganda has become a centre of light, dis- 
 pelling slavery by the dynamic force of Christian 
 teaching. Reformation obviates revolution. Chris- 
 tianity is the real antidote for slavery. Change of 
 heart is more effectual than edicts of Sultans or 
 votes of Parliament. The anti-slavery movement in 
 Uganda is based on the dissemination of Gospel 
 truth. For the last four or five years the Uganda 
 Mission has stood as an advanced bulwark in the 
 heart of Africa. In March, 1893, a slave ran away 
 from his Mohammedan taskmaster, and found a 
 hiding-place with a Christian chief of the name of 
 Bartolemayo. The Arab demanded his surrender. 
 The native Christians said it was contrary to their 
 consciences to surrender slaves. Bishop Tucker 
 was appealed to, and replied that so long as slavery 
 was the law of the land they must respect the law 
 of their King, and that the right course was by 
 constitutional methods to try to get the law changed. 
 The Bishop referred them to the story of Philemon 
 and Onesimus, and told the native Christians to 
 pray about it and to search the Scriptures and 
 confer among themselves as to their duty. In 
 due course the following remarkable paper was 
 handed in, bearing the signatures of forty Protestant 
 chiefs : — " All we Protestant chiefs wish to adojDt 
 these good customs of freedom. We agree to untie 
 and free completely all our slaves. Here are our 
 names as chiefs."
 
 EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE. 141 
 
 Perhaps no more magnificent testimony could 
 be given to the vital force of Christian truth, and 
 to the genuine work of the Church Missionary 
 Society, than such a document, coming without 
 suggestion from forty African chiefs, with no com- 
 pulsion save the constraining love of Christ. " It is," 
 says Bishop Tucker, " perhaps the most significant 
 event recorded in the modern history of the con- 
 tinent of Africa, and will rejoice the hearts of all 
 who inherit the work and traditions of the Buxtons, 
 the Wilberforces, and all who have laboured in the 
 cause of freedom for the slave. It is nothing less 
 than a declaration of the desire of the majority of 
 the great chiefs in Uganda that slavery should 
 be entirely abolished." Within the jurisdiction of 
 these chiefs there will be no more bartering' of men, 
 women, and children, like so many cattle. One of 
 the great incentives of war is thus removed. For 
 generations in Africa tribe has waged war against 
 tribe, in the hope of capturing slaves. The influence 
 of a strong English Government, accompanied by 
 earnest evangelistic work on the part of missionaries 
 at the sources of the Nile, can scarcely be over- 
 estimated in its bearings on the future of Africa. A 
 strategic position of immense value is thus growing 
 in moral and material strength year by year.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 "The worker of success in matters is God." — Sioahili Proverb. 
 
 Missionary work in East Africa dates from 
 1844, when John Liulwig Krapf landed on the 3rd 
 January, at ]\Iombasa. He visited Zanzibar, where 
 he received a letter from Seyyid Said, to the follow- 
 ing effect : '* This letter is written on behalf of 
 Dr. Krapf, the German good man who wishes to 
 convert the world to God." Within two months of 
 his settlement at ^Mombasa, he buried his wife and 
 child on the mainland where Freretown now stands. 
 He wrote home : — "Tell our friends that there is, on 
 the East African coast, a lonely grave of a member 
 of the Mission cause connected with your Society. 
 This is a sign that you have commenced the struggle 
 with this part of the world ; and as the victories of 
 the Church are gained by stepping over the graves 
 and death of many of her members, you may be the 
 more convinced that the hour is at hand when you 
 are summoned to the conversion of Africa from its 
 eastern shore."* In 1846 John Rebmann joined his 
 fellow-countryman, and thus was founded the work 
 of the Church Missionary Society in East Africa, 
 which in Uganda has blossomed as the rose. Krapf 
 and Rebmann established the ]\Iission at Kisulutini, 
 in the Rabai District, and the latter remained 
 twenty-nine years in East Africa without coming 
 home. When Sir Bartle Frere visited the Mission 
 
 * "Church Missionary Atlas," eighth edition, page 48.
 
 144 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 in 1873 he found Rebmann perfectly blind, immersed 
 in his dictionaries, translating with the help of his 
 faithful native attendant, Isaac Nyondo. When Sir 
 Bartle Frere returned home in 1873 he urged the 
 Church Missionary Society to form a settlement for 
 liberted slaves, and this resulted in the foundation of 
 Freretown in 1874. Thus were formed the Mission 
 stations of Mombasa, Freretown, and Rabai, besides 
 other centres of the Church Missionary Society in 
 the interior. The United Methodist Free Churches 
 have also a good Mission at Ribe. 
 
 On our arrival in Mombasa we at once visited 
 the Rev. F, Burt, who kindly acted as our guide 
 to the Bible Society's House, to the Ladies' Mission, 
 and to the Boys' School. Thence we proceeded to 
 the ^Medical Mission at Mzizima, where we had 
 the pleasure of meeting Dr. Edwards and his wife. 
 The hospital work is accomplished by the segrega- 
 tion of different diseases in various small houses, 
 rather than by crowding patients in one large estab- 
 lishment. The exquisitely situated property, with 
 its abundant tropical foliage, lends itself to this 
 system, affording from the ridge charming views 
 across the bay. Dr. Edwards was formerly a civil 
 engineer, but finding that the Missionary Society 
 did not then want an engineer, and feeling called 
 to the work, he qualified for a doctor. 
 
 Through groves of custard apples and oleanders 
 we made our way down a rocky path to the 
 shore, and found a naughty man who has charge 
 of the ferry, saying his prayers. He blesses God 
 and curses his fellow-men. We sat on the ground 
 under a palm, waiting his leisure, and then, while 
 Mr. Burt reminded this ferry official that out of 
 the same mouth ought not to proceed blessing and 
 cursing, we dragged a wretched old " dugout," made 
 from the trunk of a baobab tree, to the water's edge,
 
 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 145 
 
 and got into it. I confess I did not feel very safe, 
 but had confidence in our good guide, and thus we 
 floated across from Mombasa island to the mainland, 
 and were soon in Freretown. We passed the little 
 shanty, with its palm-leaf roof, in which the good 
 Bishop of Equatorial Africa holds farewell prayer- 
 meetings with his fellow-missionaries before starting 
 for Uganda ; and we admired the Oriental sur- 
 roundings and simplicity of Christian life which the 
 scene betokened. Passing through an avenue of 
 stately mangoes, planted by the Portuguese long 
 ago, we were met by a group of English ladies 
 returning from their mid-day prayer-meeting, and 
 soon reached the central Mission House, where 
 the Kev. H. K. Binns gave us a cordial welcome. 
 He went to Freretown in 1876, and has had some 
 twenty years' experience of Mission work among 
 the freed men. Four Swahili spears adorned the 
 wall of his dining-room, with the words enscrolled 
 upon them, '' Heri walio sajf mioyo kivani ivatam- 
 ivona muungu" (Matt. v. 8). The brilliant scarlet 
 flowers of the African acacia hung in clusters from 
 the trees outside the verandah, while bright con- 
 volvuluses and other creepers scaled the walls. 
 The views of ^Mombasa harbour from the upper 
 balcony of the Mission House are exquisite. 
 
 Some 700 or 800 people live in this Christian 
 village. ]\Iany of them have their huts distributed 
 about on the property, surrounded with plots under 
 their own cultivation. A large town bell calls them 
 to public gatherings and to prayers, and we watched 
 them in their market, chaff'ering in Swahili for 
 vegetables, fruit, fish, and cotton goods. The freed 
 people, men and women, look well-favoured, their 
 well-rounded limbs betokening a sutticiency of food. 
 Not a few of them are quite stout, and the Christian 
 village bears the impress of the sheltering care of
 
 146 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 philanthropists, rather than of the hard struggle for 
 existence that faces men in the keen competition 
 of the world. When we reflect for a moment on 
 the degradation from which many of these people 
 have been delivered, we cannot but rejoice in their 
 deliverance and in the safeguarding they enjoy. 
 For calling out the energy of life that is begotten 
 of conflict, it is probably better that Christian con- 
 verts should mingle in the ordinary traffic of men 
 rather than be secluded on compounds. In the 
 transition from slavery to freedom, from dependence 
 to independence, such centres as Freretown are 
 invaluable refuges, and will be useful for a long 
 time to come as centres from which life and light 
 radiate. We visited the church, with its well- 
 furnished interior and solid teakwood seats. The 
 transept is spanned in the form of a rainbow above 
 the audience, with the golden words, " Watamivita 
 jina lakwe IMANUELI mngu pamoja nashwi" (the 
 latter clause of Matt. i. 23). 
 
 We had much converse with the Kev. Harry K. 
 Binns respecting slavery and emancipation. From 
 his large experience his judgment is very valuable. 
 Like all other missionaries, he longs for emancipa- 
 tion. He is, nevertheless, aware of the difficulties 
 which surround progress. His views contain much 
 food for thought with regard to future action, 
 and it is better to give his own words rather 
 than any summary of them. He says : — " The 
 whole of my life spent in Africa has been one 
 long fight on behalf of the slave : first to save him 
 from his master, and secondly to save him from 
 himself. I have stood between the master and 
 his slave — not always to protect the slave. I 
 remember once throwing my arms round an Arab 
 slave-owner, and having his blood run down my 
 clothes, in order to protect him from runaway
 
 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 147 
 
 slaves. Good slaves, as a rule, do not run away 
 from their masters, unless the latter are more than 
 usually cruel. The slaves generally run away from 
 one of three causes — either they have committed a 
 theft and feared the consequences ; or they were 
 lazy and their masters threatened to punish them ; 
 or there was a woman in the case, such as a slave 
 running away with another man's wife, or a slave 
 running away with his own wife because he feared 
 she would be taken from him ; but I hardly ever 
 came across a case of a slave having been cruelly 
 beaten, although I have heard of cases."* The con- 
 versation turned on the necessity, in the event of 
 emancipation, of making provision for the infirm 
 and aged, and for controlling the younger portion 
 of the population, to save them from vagrancy, 
 idleness, and prostitution. On the latter of these 
 points Mr. Binns feels strongly. He says : — " The 
 most important point of all I believe to be that in 
 regard to the rising generation. The whole of the 
 youthful population, many of whom are fatherless 
 and motherless, and would be, if emancipated, 
 masterless and homeless as well, should be taken 
 off" the streets of the coast towns and placed under 
 control — educated, too, but I fear this is too much 
 to expect, unless the Missionary Societies undertake 
 it. I was speaking to a Government official of high 
 standing, not long ago, and he told me that he 
 considered it a great mistake to educate the African, 
 that they were much more easily governed if left 
 ignorant heathen, that cheap education was the 
 curse of India, &c. I do not, however, believe that 
 these opinions are held by Government officials in 
 general, or by the English nation at large. I am 
 hoping, therefore, that when the Government decide 
 upon the abolition of slavery, they will also decide 
 
 * Church Missionary Intelligencer, June, 1897, page 462.
 
 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 149 
 
 upon some liberal plan by which the slave may be 
 controlled, educated, and raised in the social scale, 
 and I am convinced that the Missionary Societies 
 will do their utmost to place within the reach of all 
 that everlasting Gospel of the grace of God which 
 alone can truly raise the slave here, and make him 
 fit for glory hereafter."* It is probably more than 
 we can at present expect from any Government 
 that a system of elementary education should be 
 established in the African Protectorates such as we 
 have inaugurated in India. This may be the pro- 
 gramme of the future. Meanwhile, the urgency of 
 guarding the young freed people to which Mr. Binns 
 refers must engage the attention of every Missionary 
 Society working in Africa. 
 
 The Universities' Mission has its headquarters 
 in Zanzibar. In Central Africa, as well as in the 
 island, much earnest educational work is going 
 forward, as well as the direct preaching of the 
 Gospel. We visited the Cathedral and the various 
 mission agencies that cluster round it ; we also 
 went to Kiungani and Mbweni. The origin of the 
 Mission in 1859 dates from the thrilling addresses 
 of Dr. Livingstone when he was in England in 
 1857. Many of us remember hearing him during 
 that memorable visit. His own soul was kindled 
 by that growing missionary fire which often begins 
 in quiet hours of conviction in home lands, but 
 which is fanned into a flame by the experience of 
 actual contact with heathenism, and which burns 
 with quickened zeal in the riper experiences of 
 matured work. On the 4th December, 1857, 
 Livingstone addressed the students in Cambridge. 
 His reception was enthusiastic and inspiring. He 
 also appealed to the undergraduates at Oxford. 
 His parting words rang in the ears of both 
 
 * Church Missionary Intelligencer, June, 1897, page 462.
 
 150 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 Universities : " I go back to Africa to try to make 
 an open path for commerce and Christianity. Do 
 you carry out the work which I have begun. / 
 leave it tvith you.'' Under such heroic impulses 
 the Universities' Mission was founded. The scope 
 of its operations is stated clearly in its Con- 
 stitution : "Its object is the establishment and 
 maintenance of stations in Central Africa, which 
 may serve as centres of Christianity and civilisation, 
 for the promotion of true religion, and the ultimate 
 extinction of the slave trade. In order to accom- 
 plish these designs, the plan of the Mission is to 
 maintain, under the government of bishops, both 
 bodies 'of clergy and lay-helpers, including medical 
 men and artificers, European or African, capable of 
 conducting the work of building and husbandry."* 
 Preliminary efforts were made to form the head- 
 quarters on the mainland, but on the 31st August, 
 1864, Bishop Tozer and Dr. Steere landed in Zanzi- 
 bar, and proceeded to establish the Mission in that 
 city. It was a happy selection, and was, without 
 doubt, the pointing of Divine providence. The 
 island of Zanzibar was the strategic key of the 
 position if the Universities' Mission was to organise 
 stations in the interior. Its growth in Zanzibar and 
 on the mainland may be guaged from the fact that 
 since 1860 no fewer than 290 English ladies and 
 gentlemen have gone out to their appointed stations. 
 Of these, up to the close of 1896, sixty-six died in 
 the service, ninety-seven had " withdrawn," and 
 forty-two others had been "invalided " home. These 
 facts show that there is much which missionaries 
 and missionary committees have to struggle against 
 with regard to health and conditions of work in 
 Central Africa. They show how important it is to 
 investigate the qualifications, physical constitution, 
 
 * "History of Universities' Mission," page 4.34.
 
 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 151 
 
 and temperament of candidates before they go out, 
 and to make adequate provision on the spot for 
 the maintenance of health. 
 
 The Cathedral of the Universities' Mission, 
 known as Christ Church, stands on the site of the 
 old slave market. It is a remarkable structure, and 
 is a monument of the perseverance and industry of 
 Bishop Steere. In 1873 Dr. Steere was able to 
 chronicle, in the joy of his heart, " The last open 
 slave market in the w^orld has been closed." The 
 site was presented to him as a free gift by a Hindu 
 merchant, Jairam Senji. The following year Dr. 
 Steere was consecrated Bishop in Westminster 
 Abbey. On his return to Zanzibar he devoted 
 himself to the erection of Christ Church, which was 
 opened in 1879. The roof is an evidence of the 
 Bishop's boldness and skill. Wood could not be 
 used because of the white ants, nor iron because of 
 the heat of the sun. He therefore resolved to build 
 it of concrete over wooden supports, which were 
 afterwards removed. The span of arched concrete 
 forming the roof is twenty-eight and a-half feet ! 
 The centre-line is sixty feet above the pavement. 
 It still stands soHd. Mr. Charles W. Roberts, who 
 resides in the Mission House, kindly took me to the 
 Cathedral. He has fifty or sixty young men under 
 his care, and some 200 to 800 people in the city are 
 connected with the Mission. Mr. Roberts has been 
 in East Africa for sixteen years, and is in capital 
 health. Reasonable care, precaution, and self- 
 control constitute his philosophy of life in the 
 tropics. Adjoining the Mission is the Hospital, 
 with trained nurses ; and close by is the Mission 
 Printing Office, where three Europeans were work- 
 ing with young native printers at old-fashioned 
 presses. The effort deserves new machines and 
 equipment. Other industrial departments are
 
 152 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 being developed. Schools and zenana work are 
 carried on in the neighbourhood. For twenty years 
 the central Mission House, Mkunazini, stood here, 
 but in 1895 it was pulled down. 
 
 At Kiungani I had the privilege of meeting the 
 late Archdeacon P. L. Jones-Bateman. He then 
 seemed in vigorous health, but has since succumbed 
 to the climate, and thus another valuable life has 
 passed away. He welcomed me in the library, 
 which is a treasure-house of books for a missionary 
 in a foreign land. He was preparing a number of 
 native young men "■ for holy orders." The truth 
 is, Kiungani abounds with young men, and I found 
 them enjoying football in thoroughly boyish fashion. 
 The estate was purchased by Bishop Tozer in 1864, 
 with funds provided by men belonging to the 
 Wells Theological College in England. It therefore 
 seems fitting that, with such an origin, a college for 
 training Christian natives for Mission work should 
 stand on Kiungani. The church and other buildings 
 are erected on the spur of a hill looking out on the 
 sea towards the mountains on the mainland, where 
 some of these young men may hereafter be located, 
 at Magila or other centres belonging to the Univer- 
 sities' Mission. There are about 120 boys and 
 young men in the establishment, thirty of whom 
 are liberated slaves. Unfortunately, low lagoons 
 lie on both sides of the hill, and make the locality 
 malarial. 
 
 Theodore Burtt and I, in company with Vice- 
 Consul Kestell-Cornish, visited Mbweni. This 
 shamba was intended for girls who had been liber- 
 ated from slavery, or captured from slave dhows 
 and handed over to the Mission. But as the slave 
 trade is now practically at an end in the Protec- 
 torate, the house will be open for other native 
 children. Miss Alice Foxley kindly showed us the
 
 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 153 
 
 premises. A group of her girls saluted her with 
 delight, and almost with cheers, as she appeared at 
 the main entrance. She had been absent for a few 
 days, invalided. She caught hold of one little black 
 child and drew her close to her side, saying to us, 
 " This girl was pulled out of the bottom of a dhow 
 in 1896, and handed over to us by the Government." 
 The British and Foreign Bible Society's version of 
 the Old Testament in Swahili is in high favour 
 at Mbweni. The children greatly appreciate its 
 Orientalisms. The story of the coming out of 
 Egypt appeals to slave girls far more vividly than 
 it can appeal to the freeborn children of England. 
 There are eighty children in the house, and forty 
 day scholars from the surrounding parish. The 
 Industrial Department is an African gem. The 
 girls take in washing from the neighbours ; they 
 also make good mats for flooring. They dye the 
 grass different colours, and then plait the mat, 
 blending the colours in neat patterns. Adjoining 
 this shamba is the charming residence of Miss 
 C. D. M. Thackeray. For the last twenty years 
 she has given herself to the rescue of native girls. 
 Sir John Kirk formerly resided on this shamba, and 
 it abounds with beautiful tropical shrubs and palms. 
 The old tennis-court remains as Sir John Kirk left 
 it years ago. Miss Thackeray has all the enthusiasm 
 of youth in her work, and her house is crowded 
 with negro children. They look up to her as to a 
 mother, and she maintains her interest in them in 
 after years. 
 
 One of the most charming features of Mbweni is 
 the Christian Village for freed men and women. 
 They live in huts on both sides of the road, sur- 
 rounded with their garden plots. There are some 
 140 of these people. We found them, in the cool of 
 the evening, sitting and lying about under their own
 
 154 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 palm trees and oleanders, while the curly-headed, 
 round-faced children and the chickens tumbled out 
 from under the bananas and tall ferns to see us 
 pass. These allotments, tenanted with such con- 
 tented, well-favoured natives, none daring to make 
 them afraid, form a striking contrast to the strange 
 stories of cruel wrong which many of them can tell 
 of the dark days of slave-raiding. 
 
 While the Universities' Mission is doing good 
 work of many kinds in different centres in and 
 around Zanzibar, we were glad to find that English 
 sailors are not neglected. For these and for others 
 there is the Strangers' Rest in Zanzibar, in which 
 Captain and Mrs. Agnew are much interested. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Knapman live at the Rest, the former 
 visiting the sailors on board the ships and in 
 other ways, and both are zealously engaged in 
 promoting evangelical faith. While the Univer- 
 sities' Mission, with its many agencies, is a zealous 
 observer of religious ceremonial and priestly orders, 
 the Strangers' Rest, in lowlier guise, maintains great 
 simplicity in its free Gospel services. Both are 
 means for good ; and having been in daily contact 
 Avith boys as our servants, who had been trained in 
 the Universities' Mission, I can speak favourably 
 of their reverent participation in our devotional 
 gatherings, and of the cheerful way in which they 
 willingly rendered household service. 
 
 The French Catholics are building a large church 
 in Zanzibar, and are active. The French Hospital 
 is a great boon, and is very efficient. 
 
 The accummulating experience of these various 
 Missionary Societies points to the wisdom of 
 adapting varied means in the attainment of the 
 varied ends aimed at. While the prime aim must 
 ever be the proclamation of the Gospel of salvation 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ, this aim by no
 
 156 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 means excludes medical missions, educational effort, 
 and industrial work. If the lines of broad Christian 
 statesmanship are observed in the elevation of native 
 races, there will be no tendency to exalt one means 
 to the depreciation of others. Each has its own 
 appropriate place, and a well-equipped Mission may 
 include all four agencies. There is probably no 
 hesitation on the part of anyone in affirming the 
 need for direct evangelistic teaching, or for medical 
 and educational work, but it may be well to cite 
 evidence with regard to the special need in Africa 
 for Industrial Missions. The fact that slaves have 
 been accustomed to work under compulsion, and 
 that almost every kind of manual employment 
 is, unfortunately, connected in their minds with 
 slavery, makes it very needful to practically teach 
 them the dignity of labour and the utter unprofit- 
 ableness of idleness. 
 
 Sir Bartle Frere, as the result of his own observa- 
 tion in Africa, says : — " If I might presume to advise 
 missionaries, I would introduce a far larger indus- 
 trial element into their schools. Everyone should 
 learn a trade, a mechanical art of some kind, or 
 sufficient of agriculture to support himself. The 
 teaching might be such as a good native artisan, or 
 mechanic, or cultivator could impart, to which might 
 be added, tentatively and with caution, instruction 
 in European methods and the use of European 
 tools, which are not invariably adapted to African 
 habits and necessities. Every boy should, I think, 
 be taught to make himself useful in building a hut, 
 in cultivating, in managing a boat, in mending his 
 own clothes and shoes, and nets and fishing tackle, 
 after the native fashion, with European improve- 
 ments only when clearly seen to be better than 
 native ways."* 
 
 * "Eastern Africa," Sir Bartle Frere, pages 95, 96.
 
 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 157 
 
 A. M. Mackay, with all his zeal for C^hrist and 
 for soul-winning, expressed himself strongly on 
 the advantages that modern scientific skill and 
 appliances were able to render to Christian Missions, 
 and justly says : — " To make use of means does not 
 necessarily mean to rely on the means, though some 
 cry out about an arm of flesh ; while they themselves 
 are every day of their lives enjoying untold benefits 
 from the presence of that arm. Labour without 
 prayer is vain, but prayer without labour is sloth." 
 " Mechanical work is probably as legitimate an aid 
 to Missions as medical ; nor do I see why one 
 should not be as helpful to missionary work as the 
 other, except for the difficulty of getting out of the 
 rut our ideas run in.""^ 
 
 Major Lugard remarks : — " The value of the 
 Industrial Mission can hardly be over-estimated 
 among such people as the Waganda, both on 
 account of their natural aptitude and their eager 
 desire to learn. But even the less-advanced and 
 more primitive tribes may be equally benefited if 
 not only mechanical and artisan work, such as the 
 carpenter's and blacksmith's craft, but also the 
 simpler expedients of agriculture are taught. "t 
 Respecting the disposal of slaves when they are 
 freed, and have nowhere to work, he says : — 
 " It can best be eftected by placing them either in 
 colonies, under the supervision of a European, or in 
 Industrial Missions. I think no better plan for the 
 good of the natives exists than Industrial Missions. 
 They might become not merely centres for educating 
 the natives of the district in useful crafts, but small 
 colonies of liberated slaves as well." J "Beyond 
 doubt, I think the most useful Missions are the 
 
 * " Mackay of Uganda," pages 251 and 286. 
 t " Rise of our East African Empire," page 70. 
 X Ibid, pages 189, 190.
 
 158 EXISTING MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 medical and the industrial, in the initial stages of 
 savage development. ""^ 
 
 Lovedale presents a practical working out of 
 this principle of adapting varied means for the 
 achievement of the one great end. James Stewart 
 speaks of what he calls the Lovedale method. He 
 says :— " Practical work must be combined with 
 religious teaching. A good Christian should be a 
 good workman up to the point of his natural ability, 
 and as far as his moral sense has been developed 
 and informed. The religion of the African, how- 
 ever, tends to be more or less emotional."t There 
 is thus needed " truth and reality in work as well 
 as in word." 
 
 Mr. Sharpe, of Nyasa, writes warmly of the 
 excellent work done by the missionaries on their 
 coffee plantations at Blantyre, in the Shire high- 
 lands, and says: — "This district offers an object- 
 lesson to all who doubt the native African's capacity 
 for work. The settlement is now some twenty years 
 old, and has passed beyond the experimental stage. 
 Natives are quick to follow a lead when they see 
 it brings them profit. Quite a number of Blantyre 
 natives have now accounts at the local bank. The 
 African is not a fool in such matters ; he is able to 
 look after his own interests, and is not so easily 
 imposed on as is sometimes supposed.''^ 
 
 These witnesses from various centres of action all 
 confirm the judgment that Industrial Missions have 
 an important part to play among other agencies in 
 raising Africa to its appropriate place in the destiny 
 of nations, and that good work may be quite as 
 powerful a witness to the Gospel as good words. 
 
 * " Rise of our East African Empire," page 69. 
 + "Lovedale, South Africa," page 9. 
 X Geographical Journal for April, 1896.
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 FRIENDS' INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 
 
 " To him that is gracious to his neighbour, God is gracious." 
 
 Swahili Proverb. 
 
 No adequate mandate or justification for the 
 establishment of a Christian Mission exists except 
 the call of God. The responsibilities and the risks 
 to human life in the tropics are so great that 
 no Society can legitimately send out labourers 
 unless God requires it. But the bond of universal 
 brotherhood and of human need, combined with 
 outward providences, are links in the chain that 
 ratify and enforce the call. We have seen in 
 the previous chapter the varied lines of service in 
 which missionaries are employed in East Africa. 
 The Society of Friends was already actively engaged 
 in Missions in Madagascar, India, Ceylon, Syria, 
 China, Turkey, and Bulgaria. The Missionary 
 Committees of the Society in London were already 
 responsible for seventy-five missionaries at work in 
 those fields. It is, therefore, necessary to recount 
 the way in which God seemed to be leading forth the 
 Society into further work in Africa. Two Friends 
 had been engaged in Mission work among the Zulus 
 since 1879. The cause of the slave had rested upon 
 the heart of the community for generations. For 
 two centuries the negro had obtained the sympathy 
 of the Friends' Church, and in America many 
 lives had been consecrated to lifting the coloured 
 people into the privileges of freedom and of citizen- 
 ship. The Gurneys, the Forsters, the Sturges, the
 
 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 161 
 
 Harveys, and the Aliens in England, and John G. 
 Whittier, John Woolman, Levi Coffin, Elizabeth 
 L. Comstock, Francis T. King, and a host of other 
 worthies in America had fought the peaceable 
 battle for emancipation. The cause of the slave 
 had thus become the chosen inheritance of a people 
 who believed that in the Fatherhood of God and 
 the brotherhood of man every human being was an 
 object of their fraternal regard. In the House of 
 Commons, John Bright, William Edward Forster, 
 Joseph Pease, and other Friends and descendants 
 of Friends in the last generation had advocated the 
 rights of man, as man, to the common privileges of 
 liberty. From time to time the Spirit of God had 
 moved Friends to practical work for the non-com- 
 batants in France, for distress in Bulgaria, for the 
 persecuted Stundists in Russia, for the Armenians in 
 Turkey. Then came that strange partition of Africa 
 to which reference has frequently been made in 
 these pages, and the conscience of the Christian 
 Churches of England awoke to the fact that while 
 it had been our national boast for a generation that 
 when a slave touched our shores in any part of this 
 great Empire that moment he was free, we had, 
 almost without consideration of all that it involved, 
 assumed the Protectorate of millions of souls in 
 Africa, and tens of thousands of slaves. At the peril 
 of their lives, year after year, before the American 
 Civil War, slaves had tracked northward from the 
 States through snow and flood, across prairie and 
 ice, knowing that if they could but once cross our 
 frontier into Canada and shelter under the Union 
 Jack they were free. And now philanthropists 
 held down their heads for shame as they heard of 
 the horrors of slavery still perpetrated in our 
 Protectorates in Africa. The Friends, among many 
 others, pleaded that slavery must no longer be
 
 162 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 
 
 tolerated there. And in some ways the conscience 
 of England and of Europe was more outspoken 
 on the subject than it had been a generation before. 
 The Brussels Conference of 1876, the Berlin Con- 
 ference of 1884-5, and the Brussels Slave Trade 
 Congress of 1889-90 took international ground on 
 the question of slavery, which was an honour to 
 every nation concerned, and by mutual agreement 
 the signatories determined to do their part for the 
 extinction of the slave trade. But it was a difficult 
 work, and not to be done in a day. Step by step 
 the movement has advanced, but much remains yet 
 to be done. The enfranchisement of Africa was a 
 great undertaking even for Europe. Japheth, how- 
 ever, in his own peculiar way, by process of occu- 
 pation, set forth to emancipate the tents of Ham. 
 
 The Christian Church could not sit still in the 
 presence of one of the most unique and one of 
 the most gigantic movements that had ever been 
 attempted in the history of the world — the conversion 
 of a continent. Moffat and Livingstone sounded 
 their clarion call to the battle for the uplifting of 
 the negro race. Hannington, Mackay, and a host 
 of other soldiers of the Cross fell on the hot 
 fields of Africa, martyrs for Christ and for the 
 brotherhood of nations. Every religious and secular 
 paper was discussing African interests, and offering 
 solutions for African problems. On the 28th 
 December, 1895, The Spectator took up the old 
 theme, and declared its philanthropic tendencies 
 in the following words : — " The negro is the ' little 
 sweep ' of the human race, and we have no feeling 
 towards him except a kindly pity for the suffering 
 which he has usually undergone at its hands. We 
 contend that the negro, though as deserving of 
 consideration as any other race, fully entitled to 
 justice, to freedom, and to as much happiness as it
 
 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 163 
 
 can obtain, is of all races the least hopeful, the one 
 which has displayed least of the distinctive human 
 power of accumulating- knowledge, and the one least 
 fitted to be exempt from the guidance of some wiser 
 section of mankind," With such a discouragintj 
 description of the prospects, Tke Spectator went on 
 to make a " suggestion." It was that the experiment 
 be made, that the negro at some given centre be 
 placed under the kindly government of men intent 
 solely on raising him in the scale of humanity. It 
 did not attempt to tabulate the excellent efforts 
 that had already been made by many a Missionary 
 Society, and the heroic sacrifices of a multitude of 
 men and women who had laid down their lives in 
 Africa. But it proceeded to say : — " That experi- 
 ment has never been fairly tried yet, and we venture 
 to suggest to the English Quakers that they should, 
 as a body, take up the duty of trying it on a large 
 scale, and in a continuous way." It went on to 
 suggest that the Friends should purchase property 
 and establish themselves on the island of Pemba, 
 near Zanzibar, "where slavery, protected by our flag, 
 assumes so frightful a form ; and then set themselves 
 deliberately to govern and educate, in the highest 
 sense of the word education, the emancipated slaves. 
 The result, if favourable, would so influence the 
 opinion and the practice of the governing races 
 which are now dividing Africa, that even a body 
 like the Quakers might congratulate themselves on 
 having accomplished an exceptionally noble work." 
 The Spectator further suggested that negroes from 
 the Southern States of America, selected by the 
 Quakers of Pennsylvania, should go to Pemba and 
 assist Friends in carrying out this work. It was 
 a great responsibility to lay before a small com- 
 munity ; but editors are often very liberal when 
 they are dealing with other people's affairs.
 
 164 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 
 
 The position of things in Pemba was undoubtedly 
 serious. Mr. Donald Mackenzie, who had recently 
 visited the island on behalf of the British and 
 Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, and had brought 
 home with him much valuable information, which 
 has been widely circulated, estimated that there 
 were at that time 80,000 slaves in Pemba. That 
 estimate may have been too high, but the pro- 
 portion of slaves to the whole population was 
 undoubtedly very large. It was also calculated 
 that 946 of the estates on the island were mort- 
 gaged by the Arabs to Hindu money-lenders. The 
 issues involved were so vast, that a prudent com- 
 munity like the Society of Friends hesitated before 
 they accepted such a suggestion. At that time 
 there was a strong Christian Mission on the island 
 of Zanzibar, but no Mission of any kind whatever 
 on the dark island of Pemba. 
 
 John Morland, of Glastonbury, in The Friend of 
 the 10th July, 1896, appealed for the establishment 
 of an Industrial Mission on the island of Pemba. 
 He said : — " The abolition of the legal status of 
 slavery is not likely to alter materially the condition 
 of the slaves, unless the knowledge of their new 
 power is brought home to them by missionaries and 
 traders, and unless proper courts are established in 
 the island to which they may appeal, and officials 
 to support them in their rights. To decree emanci- 
 pation and then leave them alone on the island 
 with their Arab masters would only be a mockery. 
 Here there is a field for work open to us, and one 
 in which there is a certainty of great usefulness." 
 Following this proposal there appeared a letter from 
 Francis W. Fox, quoting from Sir Lloyd Mathews, 
 who expressed his opinion that the scheme for 
 establishing a " Mission for the training of freed 
 slaves in connection with agricultural employment "
 
 166 FKIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 
 
 in either Zanzibar or Pemba was " very practical, 
 and likely to be most useful." 
 
 On the 6th November a long discussion on the 
 subject of the proposed Industrial Mission took 
 place in the Kepresentative Committee of the 
 Society of Friends in London. Theodore Burtt, of 
 Brandon Lodge, near Grantham, offered to go out 
 to Pemba and assist in establishing the Mission. 
 He said that it had risen clearly and definitely in 
 his mind that he should offer to undertake the work. 
 He had prayed earnestly over it, and day after day 
 it became more clear that he was to give up his 
 home interests and prospects and go to Pemba. 
 He consulted his friends about it, but it all tended 
 to deepen the call. Consequently, he laid the 
 matter before the Committee. He felt that it 
 would probably be right for him to take up a 
 plantation in the island, and prove to the world 
 that the freed men will work honestly and perse- 
 veringly for their living. Thus it would be an 
 Industrial Mission with a distinctly religious aim. 
 He believed that the way to bring the slaves to 
 Christ would be through such a Mission, showing 
 them in daily life what Christianity means of 
 liberty and mutual service. He was a practical 
 working farmer, and had had experience in hand- 
 ling carpenters', masons', and blacksmiths' tools. 
 Thus, unknown to himself, he now recognised and 
 believed that for many years the Lord had been 
 training and preparing him for this very work. 
 A minute from the Friends' Anti-Slavery Com- 
 mittee endorsed this offer. Caleb R. Kemp said he 
 believed all who were present were pressed with a 
 sense of the responsibility involved in listening to 
 this proposal. Along with the responsibility was 
 the privilege of sympathising with the one who 
 made the offer. Our Lord does not withhold help
 
 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 167 
 
 and guidance when sought. While estimating the 
 importance of our decision, we might rise to the 
 privilege laid before us, simply seeking to do the 
 Lord's will in it. Others spoke to like effect, and 
 the following minute was made : — " This meeting 
 has given its serious consideration to the proposal 
 to take measures for the establishment of an Indus- 
 trial Mission in Pemba. It has also heard with 
 deep sympathy of Theodore Burtt's offer of service. 
 Theodore Burtt has in person laid his concern before 
 this meeting. The meeting has entered feelingly 
 into the concern. It encourages the Anti-Slavery 
 Committee to arrange for the proposed preliminary 
 visit of Theodore Burtt to Pemba, and awaits the 
 report of his journey before committing itself to 
 further steps. The Committee is encouraged to 
 seek for a companion for Theodore Burtt in his 
 visit of investigation." Ultimately, the Committee 
 encouraged the writer to accompany Theodore 
 Burtt to Pemba, in the preliminary investigations, 
 and both left England the last day of 1896, and 
 reached Zanzibar on the ^Oth January, 1897. 
 
 Meanwhile a large and important deputation of 
 Friends waited upon the Right Hon. G. N. Curzon, 
 Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, at Downing 
 Street, to urge upon the Government the importance 
 of immediate emancipation, without any system 
 of apprenticeship. Joseph Albert Pease, M.P., 
 E. W. Brooks, and J. G. Alexander spoke at some 
 length, and Mr. Curzon, in the course of his reply, 
 intimated that the views expressed against appren- 
 ticeship should receive full consideration, and the 
 arrangement afterwards recommended by Lord 
 SaKsbury was in this respect satisfactory. 
 
 General Mathews greatly assisted us in the 
 initial steps on our arrival in Zanzibar. He sent 
 the Bamwa with us to Pemba, and provided intro-
 
 168 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 
 
 ductions to Arab sheikhs. He also set apart for our 
 use one of the best houses available in Chaki-Chaki, 
 which he had furnished for our residence. Vice- 
 Consul D. R. O'Sullivan gave us a cordial welcome 
 and much helpful advice on our arrival at Pemba. 
 Mr. Herbert Lister accompanied us in expeditions to 
 various parts of the island, and by his knowledge 
 of the people and of the Swahili language enabled 
 us to gain the information required. 
 
 Another excellent offer of service was made to 
 the Committee of the Society of Friends in April 
 by Herbert Armitage and his sister, to go out to 
 Pemba and assist Theodore Burtt. Both of them 
 for some years had been working successfully among 
 hundreds of boys at Leopold House, in the East 
 End of London, in connection with Dr. Barnardo's 
 Homes. Their offer was cordially and thankfully 
 accepted by the Committee. 
 
 , The Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends 
 gathered in usual course in London in May, and 
 then the question of permanently undertaking the 
 work in Pemba came before the whole body by 
 report from its subordinate committees. The large 
 house was thronged with Friends when the report 
 was read in joint session of men and women. 
 E. W. Brooks and the writer supported the tenor 
 of the report. Mrs. Theodore Burtt and Miss Celia 
 Armitage also addressed the meeting, expressing 
 their belief that the Lord was guiding them to go 
 forth when the right time might come. When the 
 proposal was thus thrown before the assembly, 
 the whole meeting appeared to be impressed with 
 a sense of the importance of the juncture. Would 
 the Society go forward, or would it withhold its 
 hand ? Not a voice was heard. In that solemn 
 hush, many a prayer for direction rose to God. 
 After many members had spoken, Caleb R.
 
 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 169 
 
 Kemp, the Clerk, read a minute expressing the 
 deliberate judgment of the meeting. The minute 
 stated : — ■" We have been forcibly reminded of the 
 efforts put forth by Friends of past generations 
 to rid England and the world of slavery, with 
 all its attendant horrors and sin, and we recog- 
 nise that we inherit responsibilities in this matter 
 from those who have gone before us. We rejoice 
 at the recent action of the British Government in 
 abolishing the legal status of slavery in Zanzibar 
 and Pemba, though we could desire that their action 
 had been carried much further. This meetiniif has 
 given much consideration to the subject, and after 
 a full expression of approval, it empowers the 
 Meeting for Sufferings to act upon the suggestions 
 contained in the report, and establish an Industrial 
 Mission on the island of Pemba, raising funds for 
 the purpose. We trust that our friends who are 
 practically interesting themselves in the subject 
 may know the guiding hand of the Lord step by 
 step, and that the Mission may promote the material, 
 moral, and spiritual well-being of the inhabitants of 
 the island." 
 
 The Yearly INIeeting of Friends in London not 
 only thus adopted the Mission as its own, but in 
 the Epistle which it annually sends out to all its 
 members and to its sister Churches in America 
 and the Colonies it inserted the following sentences, 
 calling the attention of Friends throughout the 
 world to this anti-slavery effort: — " We rejoice in 
 the steps recently taken towards the abolition of 
 slavery in Zanzibar and Pemba. It is important 
 that wise and Christian methods should be adopted 
 in dealing with the freed men in those islands, and 
 we are thankful that some of our members have 
 felt it laid upon them as a religious duty to go to 
 Pemba, in the hope of establishing an Industrial
 
 170 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 
 
 Mission there. In this matter they have had the 
 warm sympathy and support of the Meeting for 
 Sufferings ; and we have now authorised that body 
 to undertake the responsibility of the Mission, and 
 to raise a separate fund for its support." 
 
 Herbert Armitage went out to Pemba in May, 
 1897, to join Theodore Burtt. They proceeded to 
 make inquiries respecting the purchase of a shamba 
 on which to carry on the work, and ultimately pur- 
 chased the estate of Banani, which appeared in 
 many respects the most suitable for the purpose. 
 It stands on a promontory, some four miles west 
 of Chaki-Chaki. It is very fertile, and well planted 
 with cloves and with cocoanut palms and mangoes. 
 The shore provides excellent access for boats at all 
 states of the tide. It is within sight of the Govern- 
 ment estate of Tunduaua, where some of the English 
 officials reside. There are plenty of excellent build- 
 ing sites on high ground in Banani, looking out to 
 sea, thus catching the fresh breezes from the north- 
 east or the south-west. There is a good supply of 
 fresh water on the property. Theodore Burtt gives 
 the following graphic account of the purchase of 
 the estate : — 
 
 " On Monday evening, the 26th July, a note came 
 from Dr. O'Sullivan, saying he thought we could 
 buy Banani, and asking us to call and talk the 
 matter over. So we went, and found he had seen 
 the owner and offered to buy half ; but Rashid, the 
 owner, said he should lose credit if he divided a 
 shamba, but he would sell all of Banani. At noon 
 next day we went with Dr. O'Sullivan, the Wali 
 Suliman-bin-Said, the Kathi, and Eashid-bin-Salim, 
 the owner, to settle the boundaries of Banani. We 
 were hindered first by the non-arrival of Rashid, 
 and then by the Arab's prayer-time. On reaching 
 Banani further hindrances occurred, and we found
 
 172 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 
 
 that neither the owner nor anyone present knew 
 where the boundary was. Eventually two slaves 
 were found, one an old man who knew the boundary, 
 and the other possessed an axe to mark the trees. 
 Then all the neighbours were called in to state 
 their opinion, and after much delay about thirty 
 of us made a start along the boundary, which 
 for a long way lay along a wet valley, nearly 
 knee-deep in muddy water, and all covered with 
 rank grass ; or, where it was on drier ground, we 
 had to force our way through grass 10ft. high, amid 
 bushes and briars, among which probably no human 
 being had passed for years. We were glad when 
 our course lay along a foothpath on the higher 
 tableland. Many were the discussions entered into 
 as to whom a tree belonged ; some of the disputed 
 trees were supposed to belong to a child, and so 
 forth. We gave up all claim to most of the 
 disputed trees. As the afternoon was wearing away 
 we descended a steep hillside into another wet 
 valley ; but the Arab's prayer-time had again come, 
 and a halt had to be made, of which we were really 
 glad. Our followers at one time numbered nearly 
 fifty, but now that the easy walking was over they 
 dropped off, and when we crossed the valley and 
 scrambled up a steep ascent, covered with tangled 
 bush and briar, we were not more than half a dozen. 
 Our work came to an end as we neared the shore 
 on the other side, and we took the straight path 
 through the clove plantation to the huts near the 
 boat. Herbert Armitage and I took a quiet walk 
 to see where a Mission House might be built ; 
 and when the Arabs had got through their devo- 
 tions, and Dr. O'Sullivan had completed some 
 business at Wesha, we got into the boat and made 
 for home in the gathering darkness. At one o'clock 
 next day we went to the Consulate to meet the
 
 FKIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 173 
 
 vendor and the Arab officials. We rediscussed the 
 question of price, the disposal of the present crop, 
 the mud huts, &c. At last the price was decided, 
 the vendor to be allowed thirty days to gather 
 the cocoanuts now ripe, and four months to 
 gather the clove crop. Then came the difficulty 
 of translating the names of our six trustees into 
 Arabic, which took a long time and much revision, 
 and we dispersed while the short and simple deed 
 was written out, to meet again at five o'clock. After 
 further delays and corrections, the clerk rewrote the 
 document in a most deliberate manner, squatting 
 on the floor where the lamp and ink were placed. 
 Then Rashid-bin-Salim-bin-Saif-Muscare signed the 
 deed, which was witnessed by the Wali and the 
 Kathi, and officially stamped by Ur. O'Sullivan as 
 Vice-Consul. It was then handed over to the care 
 of the Wali until we could get the cash (in silver) 
 from Zanzibar, as a cheque is useless in this case. 
 On Tuesday, August 10th, we sent word to Rashid- 
 bin-Salim that the money was ready for him, but 
 he replied that he was sick and would come next 
 day, as he accordingly did, with a great number of 
 other Arabs and their attendants. We met at the 
 Custom House about two o'clock, a goodly number 
 of people, and all who were specially interested in 
 the business gathered together, and the money was 
 carried in. The Wali produced the deed, which 
 was carefully examined by Mr. Edib, who is a good 
 Arab linguist, and it was pronounced correct and 
 all in order. The arrangement about the cloves 
 and cocoanuts and mud houses was again gone 
 through, and the counting of the money began. It 
 was in bags, all counted and sealed up at the bank. 
 It was decided to count one bag, and if that was 
 right the rest might be considered so. Accord- 
 ingly, Rashid and four of his Arab friends and the
 
 174 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANl. 
 
 manager of one of the largest Hindi merchant 
 houses in Zanzibar and Pemba began to count the 
 coin while we looked on, and all was found correct. 
 But the Arab could not feel satisfied till all the 
 bags had been emptied and the whole of the 
 contents counted. We were glad to have it done 
 in a way that gave entire satisfaction to all present. 
 When the counting was complete, not a single coin 
 was missing. The deed was then properly registered 
 and stamped, and a copy taken to be kept at 
 Zanzibar. It was a great relief to feel that at last 
 the whole business was satisfactorily completed and 
 everybody thoroughly satisfied. During the evening 
 we saw a string of Rashid's men hurrying along, 
 with the bags of silver, guarded both in front and 
 behind by men on donkeys." 
 
 At the Representative Committee of the Society 
 of Friends in London on the 3rd September, a 
 further offer for missionary service in Pemba was 
 received from Arnold Wigham, of Dublin. His 
 brother had already served the missionary cause 
 faithfully in China. This offer was endorsed by 
 Friends in Dublin, and was cordially accepted, 
 and arrangements were afterwards made for him 
 to sail from Marseilles in January, 1898, with Mrs, 
 Burtt and Miss Armitage. 
 
 In the autumn of 1897 Theodore Burtt and 
 Herbert Armitage had the pleasure of welcoming 
 to Pemba the Rev. J. K. Key, a missionary of 
 considerable experience, who with his wife are now 
 established in the north of the island at Weti, in 
 connection with the Universities' Mission. They 
 have secured an excellent site for their Mission 
 House, and are organising schools and other work. 
 Thus the cause of the negro gains ground, and one 
 friend after another is being raised up for their help. 
 A rescued slave boy on becoming a Christian said,
 
 176 FRIENDS INDUSTRIAL MISSION, BANANI. 
 
 " Let US go to Pemba and ransom my mother, lest 
 she die before she hears of the Cross," and in the 
 same spirit of kinship with suffering humanity these 
 missionaries go forth to rescue the slaves who have 
 no one to tell them of a Saviour's love. 
 
 In looking forward, it is necessary to bear in 
 mind that every Mission must pass through its 
 apprenticeship. Errors in judgment may be made. 
 Experience teaches how the work may be better 
 done. Each year the comprehension of the con- 
 dition of things widens, and early conceptions 
 and hasty judgments become rectified. The over- 
 sanguine have to learn the truth of Mackay's 
 statement, that "the heathen do not, by nature, 
 wish the Gospel, although they sorely need it," and 
 it is only by patient perseverance in well-doing 
 that inertia can be overcome and satisfactory results 
 attained in the formation of Christian character 
 among the native races.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE WORKING OF THE DECEEE. 
 
 " A thong gets cut through at the narrow place." — Sicahili Proverb. 
 
 In summing up the evidence that has been 
 brought before us, we gladly recognise that the 
 despatch of Lord Salisbury of the 10th February, 
 1897, bears evidence of a determination on his 
 part to effectually abolish the legal status of 
 slavery in Zanzibar and Pemba. His previous 
 record in regard to anti-slavery inspires confidence 
 in the integrity of his endeavour to fulfil the pledges 
 that had been given to Parliament. The Sultan's 
 decree of the 6th April also reflected the declared 
 intent of the English Government. The proposal of 
 anti-slavery advocates in England had not been to 
 demand in Africa a proclamation of emancipation 
 for the slaves on a given day, such as that of 
 President Lincoln in America. On the contrary, 
 the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society had 
 pleaded for the abolition of the legal status of 
 slavery, under which liberation would in the nature 
 of things take effect gradually. It is, therefore, only 
 fair to recognise that in this respect the Govern- 
 ment conceded the main point desired. It was not 
 demanded by the slaves themselves ; they were too 
 low down to clearly define their own position, and 
 they did not evince that restless zeal for liberty that 
 pertains to the free peoples of northern latitudes. 
 The demand arose from enlightened philanthropists 
 at home, and it was justly acknowledged by England,
 
 178 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 in assuming the government of East Africa, that 
 emancipation must come. Lord Salisbury had gone 
 a step further in the right direction, much to the 
 satisfaction of the friends of the slave, in repudiating 
 any suggestion for establishing a system of appren- 
 ticeship in lieu of slavery. For this he deserves 
 our gratitude. 
 
 But, on the other hand, it appears to be a hopeless 
 delusion to expect schemes of emancipation to be 
 effectually carried out by Arab Walls who have 
 themselves long been active slave-holders. Secondly, 
 commercial prosperity will not return to the islands 
 until free labour can be introduced without restraint, 
 and so long as slavery is permitted to lurk in the 
 islands free labour stands aloof. Thirdly, emanci- 
 pation for the men which is not equally for women 
 is contradictory and suicidal. Wherever slavery 
 has been dominant, whether in Africa or in the 
 ancient world, hardness of heart is a result. The 
 character of the slave-holder inevitably degenerates. 
 A slave is struck down at the caprice of his master. 
 In Pemba an Arab bought a new sword in town, 
 and wanting to prove it, on his return home struck a 
 slave on the back of his neck with it. The man fell 
 dead, and the master ordered the other slaves to 
 " take him away." A little slave girl was tied by 
 her hands to a tree stump, and the rope was so 
 tight as to cause severe pain ; the master, instead 
 of untying the cord, cut off" the child's right 
 hand, maiming her for life. Usually in such cases 
 no one dare give evidence, and the master sins 
 with impunity as far as the law of the land is 
 concerned. The Arab community to-day presents 
 the sorrowful spectacle of a gifted and aspiring 
 race sunk in the mire of self-indulgence. History 
 proves, as Dr. Thomas Hodgkin stated in his 
 lecture on " The Causes of the Fall of Empires," in
 
 180 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 the University Hall, London, in November, 1897, 
 that " The cancer of slavery is a fatal disease. 
 One main cause of the fall of Rome was that the 
 Empire was founded on slavery. So were all other 
 States in that age, and all have fallen. The change 
 in this respect is one reason why modern nations 
 have shown much greater tenacity of life. Further, 
 in all ages and in all places in the world slave labour 
 has driven out free labour" The fact that slaves do 
 the labour prevents free men from working in such 
 employments. In Rome the free man joined the 
 army, or became a politician, and expected the 
 Empire to support him. The slave class itself became 
 disaffected, and was an element of great danger."' 
 As the axiom of Seneca ran, *' So many slaves, so 
 many enemies." Thus a free peasantry ceased to 
 exist, and the slaves farmed Italy. Lieutenant 
 C. E. Smith, late Vice-Consul at Zanzibar, affirms 
 the same principle with regard to the African 
 islands. He says : — '' Slavery fails of its principal 
 object. It does not insure a sufficiency of labour. 
 Its effect is rather to hinder the supply, for its 
 continued existence makes free men fear to come 
 from the mainland to seek for work."* 
 
 But hardness of heart does not show itself only 
 in slave labour. It is still more baneful in the 
 family life. The harem shuns public gaze. Cruelty 
 lurks in secret. As Dr. Hodgkin continued his 
 indictment, " If we poison the sources of family life 
 it inevitably leads to decay." The pure homes of 
 England have made England strong. The vicious 
 indulgence of the slavery of womanhood has 
 blighted Mohammedanism. Our English Govern- 
 ment must purge the Augean stable before society 
 in East Africa can ever be reformed. It is 
 perfectly right not to interfere with the domestic 
 
 * "History of Universities' Mission," pages 375-432.
 
 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 181 
 
 life of the Arabs more than is absolutely necessary 
 to protect the freedom of the individual. It is 
 perfectly right to grant religious liberty, but it is 
 utterly wrong under pretence of liberty to condone 
 vice, and while pampering one race to leave another 
 in bondage. Theodore Burtt writes, under date 
 September 8th:- "Many cases of cruelty against 
 women cannot be described. The system of con- 
 cubinage is used as a cloak to cover up slavery, 
 kidnapping, outrage, and cruelty. A few days ago 
 a young woman refused to allow her master to 
 seduce her (probably as much out of fear of the 
 jealousy of her mistress as anything else). He 
 then said she should be his concubine, but again 
 she refused and escaped, but when captured she 
 was shut up. She is now lost sight of." Such cases 
 show how unfit the Arabs are to have the option 
 of concubinage when the women concerned have 
 not the option of freedom. 
 
 The policy of a partial and half-hearted eman- 
 cipation is one of the most suicidal that was 
 ever conceived for a country that is absolutely 
 dependent on manual labour for its prosperity. 
 It shows how easy it is to mean well, and yet for 
 good intentions to be frustrated. There are among 
 the Arabs noble and straightforward men who 
 desire to live righteously towards God, and to deal 
 justly towards their fellow-men. But the whole 
 tendency of Arab life in Africa for generations has 
 been in favour of slavery. Can the Ethiopian 
 change his skin, or the leopard his spots 1 Then 
 may the Arab Wall be expected to administer 
 justice between the slave-holder and the slave. 
 
 The way that the acting Walls at Weti, in the 
 north of the island of Pemba, take charge of their 
 prisoners is thus reported by a party of Englishmen 
 who recently visited Weti : — " We found the tern-
 
 182 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 porary prison. The old one was too bad for use, 
 the new one was not yet built. We were admitted 
 through a heavy door into a dark passage. We 
 inquired, ' Where are the prisoners ? ' The gaoler 
 pointed to a small door, saying they were in there. 
 We again demanded admission, and after some 
 delay the folding doors were unlocked and the 
 gaoler stood aside. One door was thrust open (the 
 other being chained). We inquired how many 
 prisoners were in there ? " Four," said the guardian 
 of this place of darkness. Three Englishmen and a 
 native squeezed through the doorway. So foul was 
 the air, and perpetual the darkness, that neither the 
 tiny lamp nor matches could produce light enough 
 to reach from one side of the room to the other, 
 though the place was only about lift, by 12ft. Just 
 inside the door were the four negro prisoners. There 
 was no window or other visible means of ventilation 
 or light, the walls showing no signs of having ever 
 been w:hitewashed. On the ground near the door 
 was a mat, on which some of the prisoners slept ; 
 further on two men lay on the floor, making six 
 instead of four. One was heavily chained, and 
 complained of want of food, exhibiting his shrunken 
 body in the dim flicker of the lamp. At the further 
 end was a heap of decaying refuse. One man was 
 suffering from fever. On returning to fresh air we 
 inquired about food and water, and were informed 
 that their masters or prosecutors sent them food 
 every other day, and water was supplied when 
 wanted. We were told that the chain-gang of 
 fourteen persons also slept in the place at night, 
 but this seems scarcely credible. We did not leave 
 the town till we had reason to believe that the 
 prison would be at once cleaned and ventilated."* 
 This was prison life in Weti in 1897. It shows how 
 
 * Visit of F, W. Fox and Theodore Burtt.
 
 %* 
 
 MISSION WORK, FRERETOWN.
 
 184 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 Arab Walls manage things when left to themselves, 
 and how much they need the oversight of Euro- 
 peans. It is a consolation that the Government is 
 now erecting a modern gaol. 
 
 Another illustration of the way in which the 
 good purpose of England is being thwarted is 
 given by Theodore Burtt in Chaki-Chaki, under 
 date 4th September, 1897 : -" The sooner the 
 British Government and the British public realise 
 that the ordinary Arab official is incapable of 
 administering justice, the better will it be both for 
 the negro and the prosperity of the island. Last 
 week I visited the prison here, and found three 
 female slaves heavily ironed, who stated that their 
 master had not given them proper food, and when 
 they asked to be allowed to go into the town and 
 find work, and earn money for their food and for 
 him, he refused, and ordered them to go and work 
 on his shamba. This they declined to do, and came 
 and complained to the Wali, who forthwith com- 
 mitted them to prison for seven days, with shackles 
 on their legs, for refusing to work for their master. 
 On the Wali being questioned as to the cause of 
 their imprisonment, he admitted it was for the 
 offence stated above. When asked if this was not 
 contrary to the law, he said he knew it was, and 
 then remarked, ' But the women don't know that 
 they can be free ! ' He promised, however, that 
 they should be set at liberty at once ; but when 
 I next inquired they were still in prison ! " These 
 women were afterwards liberated from prison and 
 sent to work for a Hindu in the town, the Hindus, 
 as British subjects, being unable to own slaves. 
 Theodore Burtt adds : — " This morning I heard 
 that a woman had been sent by her master to work 
 on another Arab's shamba. Having good reason 
 to believe that she was being sold, she ran away
 
 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 185 
 
 and complained to the Wali. He called in both the 
 Arabs, who protested that she was not being sold. 
 The Wali accepted their statement, and sent the 
 woman off with her new master. There is every 
 reason to believe that this is a clear case of slave- 
 dealing. But instead of the Arab official preventing 
 it, he gave his countenance to the transaction." 
 Emerson used to say, with much truth, " Light is 
 the best policeman," and it is well that Englishmen 
 are now on the spot to plead for justice. 
 
 A correspondent of the Universities' Mission in 
 Zanzibar writes: — "I am glad to see some inquiries 
 have been made in the House about the freedom of 
 slaves. There is no visible difference here in the 
 status of the slaves than there was before the pro- 
 clamation was issued. Only this morning (August 
 5th) a slave was brought past this house in the 
 charge of a soldier, to be restored to his master 
 after running away. I understand that a slave 
 who runs away from his master is quickly hunted 
 down and put into prison for no other crime than 
 a struggle for freedom."* 
 
 We trust that these repeated violations of the 
 spirit of the decree abolishing the legal status will 
 not be allowed to continue. The appointments 
 already made of English gentlemen to supervise 
 the decisions of the Arab Walis is a most important 
 step in the right direction. One difficulty naively 
 alleged by the Wali of Chaki-Chaki is that " the 
 women do not know they are free." They do not 
 know the provisions of the Sultan's decree, or how 
 
 I to avail themselves of it. It was not published in 
 Swahili, the language of the people, but in Arabic, 
 
 ^ which few slaves can read. Several of our English 
 " settlements " and missions have what is called 
 " The Poor Man's Lawyer," that is, a man who 
 
 * Central Africa, November, 1897, page 189.
 
 186 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 knows the law, and gratuitously administers advice 
 and information. The poor slaves in Pemba seem 
 to need a lawyer to disentangle them from the mesh 
 which still holds them in bondage. 
 
 A necessary step on the part of our Zanzibar 
 administration is that the prisons on the islands 
 should all be placed under the direct supervision of 
 English officials, and that it shall be no longer 
 possible for local Arabs to thrust in gaol people 
 who are not convicted of crime, and to load them 
 with fetters at their own caprice. Such things are 
 a disgrace to our Protectorate. 
 
 Africa is a continent of lapses from good resolves. 
 Decrees are passed, expectation is raised, but the 
 low moral tone sinks back into the mire. There is 
 a back-water to every flowing tide. The Arabs 
 enter into a covenant, but they afterwards turn, as 
 in the days of Jeremiah (Jer. xxxiv. 10, 11), and 
 bring their fellow-men again into subjection. There 
 are many relapses, many an ebb and flow, yet the 
 tide rises, and advance is made. 
 
 It is one thing to make use of every honest and 
 competent Arab official wherever he can be found, 
 — and there are among them many very competent 
 men, — but it is quite another thing to hand over to 
 them the local administration of a decree which is 
 contrary to the whole tenor of their life. Lord 
 Salisbury very justly said in his despatch : "It would 
 seem desirable in any case to lend to the Zanzibar 
 Government the temporary services of one or more 
 British officials of special knowledge and experi- 
 ence, who should attend the courts and watch the 
 conduct of cases." The officials who have been 
 appointed require full power to act, and ought not 
 to be hampered with restrictions. In nothing does 
 the character of the English official stand higher 
 among native races than in the administration of
 
 188 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 justice. Whether in India or in Africa, an English 
 magistrate is justly regarded as the representative 
 of impartiality. 
 
 The network of complications that a slave has 
 to pass through in the effort to obtain liberation 
 makes the recent edict in many cases inoperative. 
 He has first to appear before the Arab Wali, who 
 is, in the mind of the negro, asssociated with the 
 prison and with shackles. The Wali in writing 
 takes a full description of his person, his age, 
 height, colour, length of arm, marks on the body, 
 tribe, and when enslaved. If on Pemba, the 
 slave must then be sent to Zanzibar, to be valued 
 for compensation to his master, unless some 
 official fortunately arrives on Pemba to give 
 final judgment. After all these preliminaries and 
 repeated appeals for freedom, a number of slaves 
 have been returned to their masters, having failed 
 to obtain manumission. How these complicated 
 regulations originated does not appear. It was sup- 
 posed in England that the appointment of English- 
 men "to prevent injustice" would have obviated 
 such maladministration. If emancipation is to be a 
 reality, it must include the option of the negroes 
 to return to the mainland. Where slaves have 
 been well treated they are often content to remain 
 with their masters. They wish to keep the same 
 huts and the same m'hogo plots to which they 
 have been accustomed. But they have the common 
 proverb among themselves of the washerman's 
 donkey that foolishly returned to the lion's den 
 where he had been previously mauled, and the 
 negro is not likely willingly to repeat the experi- 
 ment if he has been ill treated, any more than the 
 monkey who they say once rode out to sea on a 
 shark's back, and, after due consideration, con- 
 cluded henceforth to remain on dry land.
 
 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 189 
 
 In view of the evidence now before the public as 
 to the inadequacy of the Sultan's decree of April, 
 1897, which seems to have been received and 
 ignored with much the same apathy as previous 
 decrees of other Sultans, the time has fully come 
 for a supplementary edict of full abolition of the 
 legal status of slavery. Such a decree should 
 embrace the ten-miles' strip on the mainland coast, 
 as well as Zanzibar and Pemba. It should fix 
 a definite limit of time beyond which no slave- 
 holder can obtain compensation. The adminis- 
 tration of justice on all questions between servants 
 and their masters should be withdrawn from the 
 Arab Walls and placed under the direct surveillance 
 of English officials, who should have full power to 
 free slaves. And, finally, freedom must be avail- 
 able for women equally with men. 
 
 The abolition of the legal status of slavery in the 
 Niger Territories by Sir G. T. Goldie on the 19th 
 June, 1897, in its simplicity ofi'ers an excellent 
 example for the Sultan of Zanzibar.* 
 
 Whilst we thus urge the removal of complicated 
 hindrances and nugatory clauses, we recognise that 
 no despatch from London or edict from the Sultan 
 can liberate the people from the customs of cen- 
 
 * The decree abolishing slavery in the Niger Territories was as follows : — 
 " Whereas a resolution of the Council of the Royal Niger Company, 
 Chartered and Limited, dated the twenty-seventh day of October, one 
 thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, authorises me to act in all respects 
 on their behalf during my visit to the Niger Territories, and that all acts 
 done by me in respect of the government of the Niger Territories and the 
 affairs of the Company during that visit shall be taken to be done by the 
 Council, — 
 
 " I hereby decree on behalf of the Council as follows : — 
 
 " 1. On and after the nineteenth day of June, one thousand eight 
 hundred and ninety-seven, the legal status of slavery sliall stand 
 abolished throughout the portion of the possession of Her (iracious 
 Majesty the Queen of Creat Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, 
 which is known as the Niger Territories. 
 
 "2. The Supreme Court of the Niger Territories is charged with the 
 interpretation of this decree by decisions given from time to time. 
 
 "Ceokck Taobman Goldie, Governor. 
 " Asaba, Niger Territories, March 6th, 1897."
 
 J 90 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 turies. That which changes the character and 
 develops a new social order can alone effect full 
 emancipation. The great emancipation which the 
 African races need is deliverance from their own 
 immoral and debasing tendencies. Lewdness appears 
 as the original curse of Ham. It is sorrowful to 
 think that the impact of the Arab masters has 
 developed among the slaves the ancestral type. 
 Nobleness of character and a steadfast faithfulness 
 and loyalty to superiors crop out strikingly here and 
 there. The children are often singularly winsome 
 and precocious. But as they rise to the vigour of 
 manhood and womanhood, the negro and Bantu 
 races develop a sore lack of self-control. They are 
 joyous and generous, they are patient under the 
 yoke, but need a more robust manliness. When 
 emancipation comes, they therefore urgently need 
 the helpful presence of disciplined Europeans. A 
 Government that ensures peace and justice is an 
 inestimable boon. Self-denial for the welfare of 
 others, such as that of African missionaries, lifts 
 to a higher plane of thought the surrounding 
 population. Even where the natives fail to 
 assimilate the higher ideal, its presence commands 
 respect and inspires confidence. Governments 
 cannot afford to despise missionary effort, and it 
 ill becomes missionaries to despise the valuable 
 services rendered by Government. C'hristianity 
 must be presented to the people of Africa as a life 
 rather than a theory. A transfigured life is the 
 scripture which the African can read. Unless our 
 religion is effective to solve the problems of every- 
 day life, it is not the religion of Christ. " I 
 confess," said Bishop Steere, " I should like to 
 see a brotherhood cultivati?ig the ground and singing 
 2^salms"* He did not mean that he wished mission- 
 
 * "Memoir of Bishop Steere," pages 3.33-336.
 
 192 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 aries to devote themselves to digging under an 
 equatorial sun, but he did recognise that " brethren 
 are wanted who to a life of prayer and orderly self- 
 denial will add manual labour','' and provide general 
 instruction as well as zealous preaching. 
 
 Happily, the price of cloves has for the moment 
 risen about fifty per cent., and this will ease the 
 severe strain that was coming upon landowners, 
 but the return of prosperity to the islands is 
 dependent on the Zanzibar Government acting 
 vigorously with regard to the extinction of slavery. 
 
 Turning to the question of remedial measures, 
 history reveals two courses as usually resultant 
 from emancipation, the one an exodus from the 
 land of bondage, the other the liberated race 
 becoming possessed of the land which they had 
 tilled. In Zanzibar and Pemba a third course is 
 happily open — that where Arab masters have treated 
 their slaves well, they will remain on the same 
 plantations and in the same huts. The negroes 
 form a strong attachment to those who treat them 
 kindly. They also become attached to their accus- 
 tomed surroundings, and, with the acquisition of 
 freedom and the added privileges granted them, 
 many will naturally elect to remain on the familiar 
 shambas at a fair wage. 
 
 But we need to create in these islands a peasant 
 proprietorship. With the exception of the Wa- 
 Pemba and a few aborigines, the peasants have 
 been crushed out under the iron heel of slavery. 
 Valuable work has been attempted by the Church 
 Missionary Society at Freretown, and by the Uni- 
 versities' Mission at Mbweni, in the settlement of 
 freed men with their families on small holdings. 
 Village communities are the old type of African 
 social life. It is the type to which they must 
 revert. Many waste lands await cultivation.
 
 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 193 
 
 The Arab owners are heavily mortgaged, fruitful 
 estates will from time to time come into the 
 market, and opportunities will present for the 
 purchase of fertile lands where cultivation has been 
 neglected. If such properties were divided into 
 a number of small freeholds or allotments on 
 which freed men could settle, detailed cultivation 
 would result in the increased revenue of the islands 
 as well as in the consolidation of a higher social 
 life. In the United States this problem came to 
 the front in the South immediately after the Civil 
 War. The slave-holders collapsed, and the slaves 
 were free. From this dislocation of society we are 
 happily delivered in the more peaceful surroundings 
 of Zanzibar and Pemba. But the result is graphic- 
 ally portrayed in such works as Tourgee's " Bricks 
 without Straw." The slave-holders said, " The 
 negroes shall never own land." The friends of the 
 freed-men said, "Yes, they shall." Yardley Warner 
 went to Philadelphia, interested his friends in that 
 city, and obtained money for purchasing a large 
 estate in North Carolina. He cut up the estate 
 into many small holdings, staking out streets and 
 roads and space for public buildings. He let out 
 the plots to freed-men only, and established a town- 
 ship. Out of honour to the founder, the citizens 
 called the new town Warnersville. This experiment 
 solved the question for the South. The men paid 
 back the cost of the land by small instalments. 
 Schools, a church, and a public hall were erected. 
 The coloured people paid for the whole of their 
 holdings ; the town to-day is their own, under their 
 own administration, and is an illustration of the 
 excellence of peasant proprietorship. " There are 
 now about eight and a-half million negroes in 
 the United States ; at the close of the war there 
 were four millions. Their property holdings now
 
 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 195 
 
 amount in value to .^300,000,000. They have 25,000 
 schools and teachers. In their public schools in 
 the Southern States alone 1,441,282 students are 
 enrolled. They own 825,000,000 worth of Church 
 I3roperty ; they control many publishing houses 
 and educational institutions. The total number 
 of coloured physicians — all graduates — is 1,057. 
 In the matter of occupations, 915,452 males 
 and 318,331 females are engaged in agriculture, 
 fishing, and mining ; 1,640 are engaged in pro- 
 fessional service ; 524,594 in domestic and personal 
 service ; 63,367 in trade and transportation ; and 
 72,048 in manufacturing and mechanical industries. 
 The total number of negroes in all occupations is 
 1,895,432."* 
 
 Thus the coloured population of America has 
 proved its capacity to enter upon the great inherit- 
 ance bequeathed to it amid the horrors of civil war, 
 and the native races of Africa on their own soil 
 may yet prove their capacity, under the benign reign 
 of peace and liberty, to play their part manfully 
 in the destiny of nations. The cotton-spinners of 
 Lancashire to-day little realise how much they owe 
 to the negro cotton cultivators of the Southern 
 States of America. Peasant proprietorship is a 
 remedy to many of the ills that have attiicted Africa 
 under slavery. The social security which English 
 and German Protectorates are providing are the 
 groundwork on which such a system can be opened 
 out and resuscitated. The present Joseph Sturge 
 wrote an article in the Manchester Guardian of 7th 
 November, 1897, on the economic position of the 
 West Indies, in which he drew attention to the 
 advantages of peasant proprietorship in the island 
 of Jamaica. The number of holdings under ten 
 
 * Statement by Booker T. Washington, Principal of Normal and Indus- 
 trial Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.A.
 
 196 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 acres has increased from 43,707 in 1882 to 81,924 
 at the present time, and the report of the West 
 India Royal Commission states that '' the bulk of 
 the peasantry are in a position which will compare 
 not unfavourably with that of the peasantry of most 
 countries in the world." The same happy results 
 are seen as in the cotton crops which the Southern 
 States of America yield since slave culture has been 
 replaced by a system of small farms. The Royal 
 Commission, therefore, places first on its list of 
 special remedies " the settlement of the labouring 
 population on small plots of land as peasant pro- 
 prietors." 
 
 It is quite right for an Administration to check 
 vagrancy, whether at home or abroad. But in 
 checking vagrancy we must make provision for 
 enabling free men to travel in search of work. 
 Circulation is essential to health, and to bind men 
 down as serfs to an estate is simply to perpetuate 
 injustice. It would probable be premature to 
 establish labour bureaus, but the outlines of some 
 system, such as that existing in Germany for 
 enabling men to find work, might be feasible. It 
 is already a gain in Zanzibar and Pemba that 
 under the enlightened policy of General Sir William 
 Lloyd Mathews farms have been established at 
 Dunga, Chwaka, and Tunduaua, where the growth 
 of new products is attempted, and where the 
 superior cultivation of existing products is encour- 
 aged. Free men out of employ have recently been 
 drafted to these Government plantations until they 
 can better themselves. Vagrancy, if unchecked, 
 degenerates into idleness and crime, and centres 
 such as these are therefore helpful to good govern- 
 ment. The negroes need teaching the best methods 
 of work. Slavery, with all its cruel limitations, 
 has some recompenses to the slaves in this respect,
 
 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 197 
 
 that the men have been taught the rudiments 
 of agriculture. But there can be no doubt that 
 more complete provision for those who are out of 
 work will be requisite as civilisation advances, and 
 the destitute aged and infirm will require boarding 
 out when incapacitated from earning their own 
 living, and some provision must be made for them. 
 
 Subsequently to these preliminaries towards the 
 new social order in East Africa may come the 
 establishment of schools where the elements of 
 technical education will be provided by the State, 
 and a higher mental and moral standard evoked. 
 
 Tendencies are at work which absolutely prohibit 
 the old order of things, and which must introduce 
 the changes desired. The progress on the dark 
 island of Pemba in 1897 is in itself an assurance of 
 ultimate success. The appointment of Mr. John 
 Prediger Farler as Commissioner is a great gain. 
 Mr. Herbert Lister's previous arrival to take the 
 oversight of the Public Works Department was 
 also an advance. In conjunction with Yice-Consul 
 Dr. O'Sullivan and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Edib, there is thus formed a group of intelligent 
 Europeans who are intent on progress, and deter- 
 mined to withstand injustice and cruelty. The 
 establishment of the Friends' Mission at Banani, 
 where Mr. Theodore Burtt and Mr. Herbert 
 Armitage are at work, and are to be joined by 
 Mrs. Burtt, Miss Celia Armitage, and Mr. Arnold 
 Wigham, is another hostage to the future ; while 
 our esteemed and experienced friends, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Key, of the Universities' Mission, are happily 
 established at Weti, in the north of the island. 
 These arrivals are all tokens of promise to the 
 people ; and though it is too early to speak of 
 results, we have no reason to despise the day of 
 small things, but rather much cause for thankful-
 
 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 199 
 
 ness and encouragement with regard to the island 
 of Pemba. 
 
 Thus, while the arena of our discussion has been 
 geographically limited, the issues involved have 
 been far-reaching. Our attitude towards native 
 races touches our relationships to Zulus, Kaffirs, 
 Bechuanas, and Mashonas in South Africa, and 
 throughout the vast continent. Why, it may be 
 asked, has the zone of slavery been girt so long 
 about the swarthy sons and daughters of Africa ? 
 Why were Northern latitudes the first to cast aside 
 the heavy incubus of human bondage ? It was that 
 the free North might succour the children of the 
 equator ; that one freed race might with the light 
 and energy given save another that had waited long 
 for redemption. 
 
 William Lloyd Garrison's counsel to the people 
 of England, after his victorious efforts for emanci- 
 pation in America, are applicable to our position 
 to-day : — "I have sought to liberate such as were 
 held captive in the house of bondage. But all this 
 I ought to have done. Henceforth, through all 
 coming time, advocates of justice and friends of 
 reform, be not discouraged, for you will and must 
 succeed if you have a righteous cause. No matter 
 at the outset how few may be disposed to rally 
 round the standard you have raised, if you battle 
 unflinchingly and without compromise, if yours is 
 the faith that cannot be shaken, because it is linked 
 to the Eternal Throne, it is only a question of time 
 when victory shall come to reward your toils. So 
 it has been,*^ so it is, so it ever will be throughout 
 the earth in any conflict for the right ! "* 
 
 The Bishop of Kipon speaks of "the ministry of 
 great races." There are strategic points in the 
 world's conquest that call forth the heroic in national 
 
 * " An American Hero." (Swan, Sonnenschein & Co.)
 
 200 THE WORKING OF THE DECREE. 
 
 life, and develop the knightly spirit that redresses 
 wrong and succours the weak. The test comes to 
 every nation in its appointed time. In the zenith 
 of power nations are proven, not by selfish ends or 
 aims, but by their action towards weaker races. 
 The uplifting of humanity to its rightful inherit- 
 ance on earth is thus gradually evolved through 
 the united contributions to the common stock 
 which Europe, Asia, Africa, and America each can 
 render ; that, with all their individuality of tem- 
 perament, of character and service, all nations may 
 be bound together in one great brotherhood, under 
 the supremacy of the Universal King.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Instructions to Mr. Hardinge respkcting the Abolition of the 
 Legal Status of Slavery in the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba. 
 
 No. 1. 
 The Marquess of Salisbury to Mr, A. Hardinge. 
 
 Foreign OflSce, February 10, 1897. 
 
 Sir, — The frequent communications that have passed between Her 
 Majesty's Government and yourself during your recent visit to this 
 country have enabled the Government to arrive at a decision as to the 
 main steps to be taken by them in fulfilment of the pledges which they 
 have given in Parliament for the abolition of the legal status of slavery in 
 the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba. 
 
 Preliminary instructions have already been conveyed to you as to the 
 general outlines of the plan to be carried into execution. But there 
 remain, on the one hand, a number of important points of principle upon 
 which you will expect to receive a more detailed expression of the views 
 entertained by Her Majesty's Government ; on the other, there are also a 
 number of topics upon which, after consultation with the Sultan and his 
 Ministers, you will be able to supply further information and advice. It 
 seems desirable, therefore, that 1 should place on record a full statement 
 both of the general grounds of action adopted by Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, and also of their views upon the particular subjects referred to. 
 
 In deciding that the time has arrived when the Sultan shall be 
 recommended to abolish the legal status of slavery in the islands of 
 Zanzibar and Pemba, Her Majesty's Government have been influenced 
 by the consideration that this is the logical sequel to the various steps 
 which have been taken, under similar advice, by his predecessors during a 
 period of more than twenty years. 
 
 In 1873 Sultan Barghash engaged by treaty to suppress the sea-borne 
 traffic of slaves, and to close all public markets for imported slaves. 
 
 In 1876 he prohibited by proclamation the fitting out and despatch of 
 
 slave caravans from the interior, and decreed that slaves so arriving at 
 
 the coast should be confiscated, and that slaves should no longer be moved 
 
 by land along the coast, any so found being confiscated and their owners 
 
 punished. 
 
 \ In 1889 Sultan Khalifa concluded an agreement with the British 
 
 u Consul-General, to the effect that all slaves who should be brought into 
 
 I his dominions after the 1st November, 1889, and all children born in his 
 
 |i dominions after the 1st January, 1890, should be free ; and the f orme r of 
 
 \ithese provisions was embodied in a proclamation. -J"*" 
 
 In 1890 Sultan AH prohibited by proclamation all exchange, sale, or 
 purchase of slaves, and made provisions limiting the rights of inheritance 
 and ownership. 
 
 These decrees indicate a progressive advance in the direction of
 
 202 APPENDIX. 
 
 emancipation, as carried out by successive Sultans, under the advice of 
 the British Government. The present Ruler, who, on his elevation to the 
 Throne, accepted the decrees of his predecessors, and bound himself 
 specially to follow the advice of Her Majesty's Government in matters 
 relating to slavery, will scarcely fail to recognise the expediency of 
 signalising his reign by a continuance of the same humane and hitherto 
 successful policy. 
 
 The best known case in which the abolition of the legal status of slavery 
 has hitherto been enacted under the auspices of the British Government, 
 and which has furnished an example for similar measures in other British 
 Protectorates or Dominions, is thQ_In<3«m Act of_lS13. The first provision 
 of that Act is inapplicable to the situation in Zanzibar. The second, third, 
 and fourth clauses run as follows : — 
 
 " 2. And it is hereby declared and enacted that no rights arising out of 
 an alleged property in the person and service of another as a slave shall be 
 enforced by any civil or criminal court or magistrate within the territories 
 of the East India Company. 
 
 "3. And it is hereby declared and enacted that no person who may 
 have acquired property by his own industry, or by the exercise of any art, 
 calling, or profession, or by inheritance, assignment, gift, or bequest, shall 
 be dispossessed of such property, or prevented from taking possession 
 thereof on the ground that such person, or that the person from whom the 
 property may have been derived, was a slave. 
 
 "4. And it is hereby enacted that any act, which would be a penal 
 offence if done to a free man, shall be equally an offence if done to any 
 person on the pretext of his being in a condition of slavery." 
 
 It may not be necessary that the exact text of these provisions should 
 be verbally reproduced at Zanzibar, so long as the desired object is clearly 
 provided for by the terms of the proposed decree, viz., that on and after 
 the date at which it is to come into operation no court shall recognise any 
 claim to the service of any person on the ground of the latter's alleged 
 servile status. This must be the substance of the decree, the issue of 
 which at the earliest possible date you will recommend to the Sultan. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government are fully prepared to recognise the fact that 
 in tendering such advice to the Sultan they are bound, as the Protecting 
 Power, to regard the legitimate interests of his subjects ; and that, while 
 resolutely pursuing the object which they have in view, they should take 
 such steps as experience and foresight may suggest to secure the peaceful 
 execution of the decree, the protection of lawful rights, and the avoidance 
 of social or econoinic disturbance among the inhabitants of the islands. 
 They have given very careful attention to the considerations that have been 
 laid before them by yourself and other officers in the service, as well as by 
 independent authorities, and by important associations who have greatly 
 interested themselves in slavery problems, and the following are the 
 conclusions to which they have been led by an examination of all the 
 circumstances of the case. 
 
 The conditions of slavery in Zanzibar and Pemba differ materially from 
 those which have prevailed in any other of the States or Protectorates in 
 which the legal status has, either by the direct action or by the influence 
 of the British Government, hitherto been terminated. The conclusions, 
 therefore, which may be, and frequently have been, deduced from these 
 cases, must not be too hurriedly accepted as furnishing us with guidance 
 in the present instance, resting, as they do, for the most part, upon a 
 supposed analogy which closer examination will show not to exist. 
 
 In the first place, the numbers affected in ratio to the whole population 
 are, in the case of Zanzibar and Pemba, far greater than in any previous 
 experiment, the total of slaves in the islands being estimated by the best-
 
 APPENDIX. 203 
 
 qualified judges as two-thirds of an entire population of 210,000. No 
 proportion comparable to this was afiFected in British India in 1843, where 
 it must be remembered that the Act did not apply to any one of the 
 Protected States, but only to the territories under the direct government 
 of the Company. On the Gold Coast also, and in the Malay States, which 
 have frequently been cited as parallel instances, the total number of slaves 
 affected was in each case only a few thousands, and those of an entirely 
 different class ; while in the case of Cyprus, which is also frequently 
 quoted, the abolition was merely formal, and was intended to give legal 
 validity to the termination of a system already dead, since it appeared that 
 slavery neither existed, nor had existed, in the island within the memory 
 of the oldest living inhabitant. 
 
 Secondly, there is an even wider difference in the nature and character 
 of the system of slavery itself. Slavery in Zanzibar and Pemba is not, in 
 the main, as it was in India and on the Gold Coast, domestic slavery, 
 nor as it was in some parts of India and in the Malay States, bond or debt 
 slavery. It is, on the contrary, for the most part prandial or agricultural 
 slavery, the great majority of the slaves being engaged not merely in agricul- 
 ture, but in a particular form of agriculture, viz., the cultivation of cloves. 
 
 Thirdly, — and this also is a condition not elsewhere existent, — upon this 
 industry depend not merely the subsistence of the slaves and the livelihood 
 of their employers, but the solvency of the State. It cannot be too 
 carefully borne in mind that just as the clove crop in Zanzibar has hitherto 
 depended upon slave labour, so also the revenues of Zanzibar depend in the 
 main upon the clove crop, and that a blow struck at the one may react 
 with disastrous consequences upon the other. 
 
 It may also be remarked as a fourth, and not less material point of 
 difference, that whereas in previous cases of abolition this country has 
 provided, or has had exclusive control of, the executive and judicial 
 machinery required to insure, without possibility of interference, the 
 execution of the change, we are dealing, in the case of Zanzibar, with a 
 State in which the Mohammedan law is the municipal and secular as well 
 as the religious law of the country, and in which the judiciary to whom 
 the application of the decree will be confided is supplied not by the 
 Protecting Power, but from the ranks of the native Administration. 
 
 For these reasons it appears to Her Majesty's Government that too 
 much reliance should not be placed upon plausible but erroneous analogies, 
 and that the case of Zanzibar and Pemba must be decided with reference 
 to conditions peculiar to itself and upon its own merits. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government have been struck by the conflicting views 
 which have been placed before them as to the probable or possible conse- 
 quences of abolition. On the one hand, it has been strongly urged that, 
 should abolition be decreed suddenly and without accompanying precautions, 
 the majority of the slaves, naturally improvident and adverse to labour, 
 would desert the plantations, and would either drift into the towns, there 
 to pick up a precarious subsistence until they lapsed into beggary, or would 
 migrate with their employers to Arabia or to parts of the African mainland 
 where, under another flag, the servile relationship could be resumed ; 
 that, in consequence of this movement, there might even be a disturbance 
 of public order and outbreaks of violence or excess ; that the plantation 
 owners, already heavily burdened by debts to Indian money-lenders, would 
 be reduced to bankruptcy ; that trade would be paralysed ; and that 
 industrial and economic ruin would threaten the State. It has also been 
 pointed out that if the proposed abolition were to extend to the women of 
 the harem and to the connubial system upon which the Arab family is 
 founded, an opposition would be aroused that would enlist upon its side 
 the stubbornest and most cherished convictions of the Arab nature.
 
 204 APPENDIX. 
 
 Conversely, it is alleged that many, at any rate, of these dangers have 
 been greatly exaggerated ; that when abolition has elsewhere been decreed 
 (though under admittedly diflferent conditions) no such results occurred, 
 and that we must hope for the best. 
 
 Upon one point Her Majesty's Government entertain no doubt what- 
 ever, viz., as to the inexpediency and injustice of interfering with the 
 family relations of the people. 
 
 So far from these being attended by any hardship, or being made the 
 cause of complaint, it appears that they are very acceptable to every class 
 of the population, the concubines who bear children enjoying a position 
 scarcely inferior to that of a wife, and the children of such unions being 
 regarded as legitimate. 
 
 You should therefore assure the Sultan, and invite him to repeat the 
 assurance to his subjects, that no interference is contemplated with the 
 family rights, to which so much value is attached by them. 
 
 Upon the other matters to which reference has been made Her Majesty's 
 Government do not feel called upon to pronounce what could only be a 
 speculative and conjectural judgment. They cannot fail, however, to be 
 impressed by the fact that the less sanguine forecast is that which proceeds, 
 with but few dissentient voices, from those authorities, whether officials, 
 missionaries, or merchants, whose local experience entitles their opinion to 
 the greatest weight, and that in the few cases where, either upon the 
 islands or on the mainland, slaves have suddenly been emancipated in any 
 numbers, or an attempt has been made to substitute free for slave labour, 
 the results have not been altogether encouraging. When a large number 
 of slaves were freed by the British East Africa Company at Magareni, they 
 are reported to have looted the shambas and committed many excesses. It 
 is as yet too early to pronounce definitely on the permanent success of the 
 attempts to obtain free labour for work on the Uganda Railway, but it is 
 known that when Sir Lloyd Mathews endeavoured both in Zanzibar and in 
 Pemba to work plantations upon the free labour system, the bulk of the 
 freed slaves to whom he offered a wage and land, after a short experience, 
 deserted and declined to work. Moreover, in the last resort. Her Majesty's 
 Government cannot divest themselves of the responsibility of the execution, 
 free so far as possible from injustice or danger either to the individual or 
 to the State, of a change which they recognise as being imposed upon the 
 Zanzibar Government by the force of public opinion in this country, and by 
 the direct counsels of the British Government. 
 
 These being the probabilities of the case. Her Majesty's Government 
 have felt it their duty carefully to examine the various suggestions that 
 have been placed before them for obviating the evils which it is thought in 
 some quarters may arise. Undoubtedly the principal of these evils, and 
 the fountain-head of any subsequent mischief, would be the disorganisation 
 of the labour market in Zanzibar or Pemba, arising from any wide-spread 
 abandonment of work upon the plantations by the freed slaves. Such a 
 movement would not improbably be attended by consequences injurious to 
 the public credit, as well as to the social welfare of the Sultan's dominions. 
 It would seem, therefore, to be a principle of general acceptance that some 
 machinery should be devised by which a too abrupt revolution should be 
 avoided, and by which the continuance of an adequate supply of labour 
 under the new conditions should as far as possible be guaranteed. 
 
 With this object in view, it has been suggested in some quarters that a 
 system of State control over the labour of the freed slaves should be 
 enacted, and that for a short term of years the latter should be compelled 
 to work under contract and in receipt of wages, either for their former 
 masters or for the State. Precedents for the successful application of this 
 system have been pointed to in the case of foreign countries, as well as in
 
 APPENDIX. 205 
 
 Zanzibar itself, where the slaves of British Indians were tentatively freed 
 in 1860 by the British Consul, but were compelled to work under specified 
 conditions for their former owners. Her Majesty's Government have 
 closely scrutinised these proposals, and have arrived at the decision that 
 they cannot in this case recommend them to the Sultan of Zanzibar. The 
 experience of the so-called apprentice system in the West Indian Colonies 
 of Great Britain between the years 1834 and 1838 — though the two cases 
 cannot be claimed as parallel either in principle or in application— was not 
 such as to prepossess public opinion in this country in favour of any such 
 intermediate stage between slavery and freedom, while the existence of a 
 semi-servile class might be thought to impede the creation of that system 
 of free labour which it is universally hoped may ultimately replace the 
 prredial servitude at present prevailing upon the islands. A Government 
 monopoly of the labour supply would appear also to be a condition not 
 devoid of economic danger, while in the last resort there would be an 
 element of contradiction inseparable from a situation in which the Zanzibar 
 Government, while abolishing the legal status of slavery, should itself 
 become, though for a limited time only and under materially different 
 conditions, the official slave-owner of the islands. For these reasons it has 
 been decided not to submit any such proposal to the Sultan. 
 
 There are, however, a number of precautionary measures, which, either 
 in whole or in part, may, with probable advantage, be recommended to the 
 Zanzibar Government, and upon the choice of which you should consult the 
 Sultan and his experienced advisers. To check the sudden and uncontrolled 
 desertion of large numbers of slaves from the plantations, and to anticipate 
 any danger to public order, it may be thought advisable to increase the 
 native police force at the disposal of the Government. To secure the 
 continuance of labour upon the estates, and to prevent the ruin of the 
 Arab owners, it may be found desirable to adopt measures by which 
 runaways shall be prohibited from leaving the islands or from abandoning 
 their families and occupations. A hut tax and the payment of a small rent 
 for the plot of land occupied by the freed slave are suggestions that have 
 also been authoritatively recommended. It may even be found that during 
 the gathering of the clove crop special arrangements may have to be 
 devised to prevent the disorganisation of that which is the main source of 
 wealth and revenue to the islands. These are matters upon which Her 
 Majesty's Government cannot claim to pronounce a definitive judgment, 
 and which they would prefer to leave to the greatly superior knowledge of 
 the Sultan's advisers upon the spot. Speaking generally, it is their opinion 
 that it would be desirable, so far as possible, to refrain from experimental 
 legislation, and to wait until the experience has been acquired, upon which 
 such legislation, in order to be effective, should properly be based. 
 
 In one respect, however, immediate action should be taken. Whether 
 free labour, in the place of slave labour, will, as is generally contended, be 
 a plant of slow and reluctant growth, or whether, as it is to be hoped, 
 it may at an early date take root in the islands, and be simultaneously 
 assisted by a voluntary supply from the mainland, it would seem to be 
 desirable to foster any agencies by which the risks of the intervening 
 period may be anticipated or abridged. Hitherto the Indian Government 
 have not been enabled, by the terms of the existing Emigration Acts, to 
 sanction the recruitment of Indian coolie labour for the plantations of 
 Zanzibar. You should at once resume your correspondence with them, 
 and should inquire whether, upon the personal guarantee of Her Majesty's 
 Representative at Zanzibar that the labourers shall receive fair treatment 
 and wages, or upon conditions as to employment and supervision to be 
 mutually agreed upon, it may be possible for them, as soon as the 
 prevailing epidemic of plague in India has passed away, to sanction the
 
 206 APPENDIX. 
 
 emigration of coolies from Bombay to Zanzibar, where their presence may 
 help to avert an economic crisis, and may successfully inaugurate the 
 voluntary system. 
 
 It is the desire of Her Majesty's Government, in fulfilment of their 
 Parliamentary pledges, that the decree which the Sultan is to be invited 
 to issue should not be delayed, and the termination of the fast of Ramadan, 
 when public business is recommenced, would appear to them to offer a 
 suitable moment for its promulgation. As a short interval will probably 
 be required for the effective initiation of the preliminary measures which 
 have been sketched, the decree should only become operative after the 
 lapse of a brief period from the date of its enactment. It is thought that 
 for this purpose three months will be sufficient, and, accordingly, it is 
 recommended that the decree should be put into final execution at the end 
 of that time. 
 
 There remains a further question to which Her Majesty's Government 
 have given anxious thought, and upon which they have not arrived at a 
 conclusion without attaching due weight to the arguments that have been 
 advanced on either side. In pursuance of a principle which I have already 
 laid down, viz., that the lawful rights of the owners of slaves shall be 
 protected if they suffer owing to the application to them of regulations 
 imposed by the action of the British Government, and injuriously affecting 
 their lawful property, Her Majesty's Government have decided, in con- 
 currence with what is understood to be the strong opinion of the Zanzibar 
 Government, that slave-owners who can prove to the satisfaction of the 
 courts legal tenure of any slaves under the terms of Seyyid Ali's decree of 
 August, 1890, and damage resulting from abolition, shall be entitled to 
 receive compensation for such slaves. The terms of the second clause of 
 that decree (by which all previous decrees against slavery and the slave 
 trade were confirmed, and which went on to prohibit the sale or exchange 
 of slaves and all inheritance of slaves except by the children of the deceased 
 owner) were as follows : — 
 
 " We declare that, subject to the conditions stated below, all slaves 
 lawfully possessed on this date by our subjects shall remain with their 
 owners as at present. Their status shall be unchanged." 
 
 This decree was issued under the advice of Sir C. Euan-Smith, then 
 Her Majesty's Representative at Zanzibar, on the 1st August, 1890, 
 subsequent to the acquisition by Great Britain of the Protectorate of 
 Zanzibar on the 14th June, but prior to the formal notification of the 
 Protectorate on the 4th November of the same year. 
 
 It seems to Her Majesty's Government undeniable that under this 
 clause a guarantee was given to the owners of certain slaves of the 
 uninterrupted possession of their lawful property. It seems to them 
 impossible To apply to the detriment or loss of the slave-owner, as has 
 repeatedly been done, the remaining provisions of the decree, and yet to 
 deny to him the protection of this clause, which was introduced in order 
 to secure his voluntary acquiescence in the remainder. It seems to them 
 impossible, with any show of reason, to argue that while the disabling 
 clauses of the decree are to remain in perpetual operation, the enabling 
 clause was only intended to remain effective until rescinded by a later 
 decree. No later decree can cancel the rights which were publicly 
 guaranteed by the Sovereign of the State, under the authority and 
 sanction of the British Government, and no change or growth of public 
 opinion in Great Britain can justify the repudiation of a pledge which 
 was given with the knowledge and at the instance of the British 
 Representative. 
 
 Such is the view of the case that commended itself to the late, as it 
 also does to the present, Government. In a despatch addressed to you
 
 APPENDIX. 207 
 
 on the 5th May, 1894,* by the Earl of Kimberley, occurred the following 
 words : — 
 
 " It will be your duty to recommend any further measures which may 
 seem to you feasible for facilitating the total abolition of slavery without 
 injustice to the Mohammedan owners." 
 
 In repeating to you this instruction. Her Majesty's Government signify 
 their acceptance of it as a pledge of the attitude in abolishing the legal 
 status of slavery, which the British Government have continuously been 
 prepared to adopt. 
 
 It is not proposed that the rights created by the decree of 1890 should 
 be extended to a single person by whom they cannot be proved to be legally 
 enjoyed. For no slave illegally held with the knowledge of his owner 
 should compensation be given. The application of the principle will 
 require to be jealously watched and carefully guarded against abuse. No 
 owner will have a good claim to compensation unless he can show before 
 the tribunals, in the first place, that the loss of the slave and subsequent 
 damage to himself are due to the abolition of the legal status ; and, 
 secondly, that the slave so claimed for was legally held at the date of such 
 abolition under the various decrees and proclamations issued by successive 
 Sultans. The principle of compensation is not directly affected by the 
 controversy as to the number of slaves legally held, or the number of 
 owners thereby affected. Computations as to the former vary between 
 7,000 and 70,000. Nor are there any data in existence upon which to 
 arrive at a decision between the two extremes. There is no dispute, 
 however, as to the fact that some thousands of slaves — although from the 
 necessities of the case the number must be annually diminishing — are the 
 lawful property of their owners, who, in holding them, have committed 
 no offence against their laws or their religion, and whose claims it is 
 impossible, with proper regard to justice, to ignore. 
 
 You should, therefore, advise the Sultan in issuing his decree to 
 announce that he intends to adhere to the promise of his predecessors, and 
 not to deprive any man of the slave to whom, under the decree of 1890, he 
 has a legal right, without due compensation. It would probably be 
 sufficient for the purposes of the decree if such a statement were couched 
 in general terms. The amount given in compensation, which would 
 probably vary in each case, and which should be determined by the extent 
 of the damage inflicted upon the owner by the loss of his slave, is a matter 
 upon which the local knowledge of the native tribunals will enable them, 
 but upon which Her Majesty's Government cannot undertake, to pronounce. 
 The system must be seen in operation before its efficacy or the reverse can 
 be satisfactorily judged. It may be that the native courts will prove 
 inadequate to the task devolved upon them, and that steps may require to 
 be taken to supplement or to reinforce their action. It would seem 
 desirable in any case to lend to the Zanzibar Government the temporary 
 services of one or more British officials of special knowledge and experience, 
 who should attend the courts and watch the conduct of cases ; and you are 
 authorised to make this offer to the Sultan, and to report to me your opinion 
 as to the selection and employment of such persons. 
 
 For the reasons above-named, it is also impossible to predict the 
 amount of money that may be required for compensation purposes, or 
 the financial obligation that may in consequence be entailed upon the 
 Zanzibar Government. Here, again, recourse must be had to experience 
 for guidance. Her Majestj^'s Government are hopeful that the precautions 
 which have been suggested may result in such a peaceful readjustment 
 of the labour market, the emancipated slaves continuing in the majority 
 of cases to work as free labourers, that recourse may not be at all widely 
 • " Africa No. 6 (1S94),' Xo. U.
 
 208 APPENDIX. 
 
 had to the law courts, and that the claims for compensation may not be 
 numerous, and may not amount to any considerable sum. Litigation , 
 should, as far as possible, be avoided, and means may be found in the ,\ 
 majority of cases for a friendly composition. The courts will probably ,-; 
 find in the dictates of common sense, with a due regard to the equities of 
 each individual case, superior guidance to any that might be derived from 
 principles of fixed or universal application. Upon all these points Her 
 Majesty's Government are not justified, without further information, in 
 expressing any confident opinion. But they recognise that, should the 
 Zanzibar Government find its revenues seriously imperilled by the strain 
 that is placed upon them in consequence of steps which have been taken in 
 deference to the initiative of the Protecting Power, legitimate grounds may 
 exist, as was stated by the Earl of Kimberley in his despatch of the 27th 
 November, 1894,* for an appeal to Her Majesty's Government for financial 
 aid. In such a case, however. Her Majesty's Government would require 
 to be fully convinced that every possible means had been taken to verify 
 the claims of those to whom compensation is awarded, and to obviate any 
 possible collusion between owners and their slaves or the tribunal by which 
 it is assessed, and to discourage a wholesale rush of slaves to escape from 
 their present position in the mere expectation of living a life of idleness at 
 the expense of the State. 
 
 In order to prevent the seizure of compensation money by the Indian 
 money-lenders, to whom the estates of the slave-owners are in the majority 
 of cases so deeply mortgaged, it would appear to be advisable to enact that 
 any sums paid over in compensation for legally held slaves, shall be, like 
 the person of the slave under the existing law, unseizable for past debt. 
 
 While adopting and recommending to the Sultan these conclusions as 
 to compensation, Her Majesty's Government have not failed to examine 
 the considerations that are commonly advanced upon the opposite side. 
 The majority of these appear to them to rest upon a misconception identical 
 with that which has already been exposed. It is, for instance, commonly 
 alleged that the legal status of slavery was abolished without compensation 
 in the cases before mentioned, viz., in British India, in the Malay States, 
 on the Gold Coast, and in Cyprus, and it is argued that there can therefore 
 be no necessity for the grant of compensation in the case of Zanzibar. 
 This argument will not bear examination, for, on the one hand, it cannot 
 be shown that in any of these cases had a formal pledge been given to 
 the slave-owner with reference to legally held slaves by the Sovereign of 
 his country, with the consent of the Protecting Power, — a circumstance 
 which in itself differentiates the case of Zanzibar from all others, whether 
 it be regarded in relation to other precedents or as a precedent in itself, — 
 whilst, independently of that fact, it can easily be demonstrated that, on 
 the very ground selected by those who employ this argument, the alleged 
 analogy does not in reality exist. In no case does it appear that the status 
 of slavery has been abolished in a Mohammedan State (where it is a part 
 both of the civil and religious law) under a British Protectorate without 
 compensation. 
 
 In India, as has already been pointed out, slavery in the Protected 
 States never has been abolished. In Cyprus there were no slaves to be 
 compensated for, because there were none to be freed. On the Gold Coast 
 the form of slavery abolished was domestic servitude, as it had long 
 prevailed, with no sanction but custom, among barbarous and heathen 
 tribes, and as it continues to this day to exist over large parts of the 
 African continent. In the Malay States, notabl}' in Perak, where debt 
 slavery was the prevalent form of servitude, compensation, instead of 
 being refused, was ofifered to the slave-owner by the Government when the 
 * "Africa, No. 6(1895)," No. 12.
 
 APPENDIX. 209 
 
 legal status was abolished in 18S4, and the freed slaves, under a system of 
 apprentice labour, worked out a portion of this debt. So far, therefore, 
 from any precedent against compensation being derivable from the cases 
 here quoted, it would appear tiiat the argument from analogy leads to 
 entirely different conclusions, and that Her Majesty's Government, in 
 deciding to authorise compensation in the case of Zanzibar, althougli that 
 decision has been reached and is defended by them on independent grounds, 
 have also been acting in accordance with the practice of their predecessors 
 in bygone years. 
 
 These, then, are the points, briefly recapitulated, which should form 
 the basis of the advice tendered by you to the Sultan. 
 
 1. A decree should be issued at once, abolishing the legal status of 
 slavery in the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba. 
 
 2. An assurance should be given in this decree that no interference is 
 contemplated with family life. 
 
 3. Her Majesty's Government do not recommend any form of apprentice 
 labour. 
 
 4. Compensation should be awarded by the Zanzibar Government to 
 such owners of slaves as can prove legal tenure of any of their slaves 
 under clause 2 of the decree of 1890 and damage resulting from abolition. 
 
 5. Compensation money should not be seizable for past debt. 
 
 6. Her Majesty's Government will lend the services of British officers 
 to watch the cases and to prevent injustice. 
 
 7. A renewed attempt will be made to procure coolie labour from India. 
 
 8. The Zanzibar Government should immediately adopt, in consultation 
 with you, such measures of a police or precautionary character as may 
 prevent social or financial disorder, and secure the successful operation of 
 the decree. 
 
 9. Her Majesty's Government are hopeful that the change may be 
 effected without risk and at no considerable cost. In the event, however, 
 of a serious strain being placed upon the resources of the Zanzibar Govern- 
 ment, they will be prepared to consider the question of financial aid. 
 
 It only remains for me to add that in indicating these measures for the 
 consideration of the Sultan, of whose general assent you have already 
 assured me. Her Majesty's Government have no wish to dictate the precise 
 course which should be followed in each particular. Deference must of 
 necessity be paid to the experience and opinions of His Highness and his 
 advisers, whose great local knowledge will enable them to suggest methods 
 of execution which it would be inopportune for Her Majesty's Government, 
 who do not possess that advantage, to devise. That the legal status of 
 slavery in the islands should cease henceforward to exist, and that the 
 change should be effected without injustice to individuals, and at the same 
 time without detriment to the public welfare, is the object which Her 
 Majesty's Government have in view. They will await with interest your 
 report of the steps which the Sultan and his Ministers may decide to take 
 for carrying out these intentions. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) Salisbury.
 
 '310 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Mr. A. Hardincje to the Marquess of Salisbury. 
 
 Received March 29. ( Telegraphic. ) 
 
 Zanzibar, March 29, 1897. 
 
 Sultan accepts the proposed decrees. They will be issued in about a 
 week. His Highness' idea is to send for the leading Arabs from the 
 interior of the island and from Peml)a, who can all be here in five days' 
 time, and to explain the measures to them liimself. I am inclined to 
 think, after discussing the question with the Sultan and Sir L. Mathews, 
 that almost immediate operations would be preferable to even a two or 
 three months' delay. 
 
 Decree Dated 1st of Ztlkada, 1314 [Arabic Eleventh-month, our 
 6th April, 1897]. 
 
 From Seyyid Hamoud Bin Mahomed Bin Said, to all his subjects. 
 
 Whereas by a treaty concluded in 1873 between Her Majesty the 
 Queen of England and His Highness the late Seyyid Barghash, &c., the 
 importation of slaves into the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba was forbidden 
 and declared to be illegal ; 
 
 And whereas owing to the lapse of years and other causes, the number 
 of slaves legally imported and held in these islands has greatly decreased, 
 so that many estates have gone out of cultivation ; 
 
 And whereas the present system of slavery deters free labourers from 
 coming to our islands to take the place of those who have from death and 
 other causes disappeared, to the detriment of agriculture and of our 
 subjects, who are thus driven to borrow money at high interest against the 
 law of Islam and their own welfare, both of which are the objects of our 
 deepest solicitude ; 
 
 And whereas the Apostle Mahomed (May God grant him blessings and 
 peace !) has set before us as most praiseworthy the liberation of slaves, and 
 we are ourselves desirous of following his precepts and of encouraging the 
 introduction of free labour ; 
 
 And whereas our late predecessor, Seyyid Ali, in the decree in which 
 he forbade for the future the sale of slaves or their transmission except by 
 direct inheritance, declared that, subject to the conditions stated in that 
 decree, all slaves lawfully possessed on that date by his subjects should 
 remain with their owners, and that their status should be unclianged ; so 
 that it would not be equitable to deprive them of any rights enjoyed under 
 that decree without awarding compensation to their present possessors ; 
 
 We, therefore, having considered this question most carefully in all its 
 aspects, and having in view the benefiting of all classes of our faithful 
 subjects, have decided, with the advice of our First Minister, to promul- 
 gate, and we do hereby promulgate the following decree : — 
 
 Article I. — From and after this first day of Zilkada, all claims of 
 whatever description made before any court or public authority in respect 
 of the alleged relations of master and slave shall be referred to the District 
 Court ( Mehkemet el Wilaya) within whose jurisdiction they may arise, 
 and shall be cognisable by that court alone. 
 
 Article II. — From and after this first day of Zilkada the District 
 Court shall decline to enforce any alleged rights over the body service or 
 property of any person on the ground that such person is a slave, but
 
 APPENDIX. 211 
 
 wheriever any person shall claim that he was lawfully possessed of such 
 rights, in accordance with the decrees of our predecessors, before the 
 publication of the present decree, and lias now by the application of the 
 said decree been deprived of them, and has suffered loss by such depriva- 
 tion, then the court, unless satisfied that the claim is unfounded, shall 
 report to our First Minister that it deems the claimant entitled, in 
 consideration of the loss of such rights and damage resulting therefrom, to 
 such pecuniary compensation as may be a just and reasonable equivalent 
 for their value, and our First Minister shall then award to him such sum. 
 
 Article III. — The compensation money tlius awarded shall not l)e liable 
 to be claimed in respect of any debt for which the person of the slave for 
 whom it was granted could not previously b}- law be seized. 
 
 A7-ticle IV. — Any person whose right to freedom shall have been 
 formally recognised under the preceding article shall be liable to any tax, 
 abatement, coruee, or payment in lieu of corvee, which our (lovernment 
 may at any time hereafter see fit to impose on the general body of its 
 subjects, and shall be bound, ou pain of being declared a vagrant, to show 
 that 'he possesses a regular domicile and means of subsistence, and where 
 such domicile is situated on land owned by any other person, to pay to the 
 owner of such land such rent (which may take the form of an equivalent in 
 labour or produce) as may be agreed upon between them in the District 
 Court. 
 
 Article V. — Concubines shall be regarded as inmates of the harem in 
 the same sense as wives, and shall remain in their present relations unless 
 they should demand their dissolution on the ground of cruelty, in which 
 case the District Court shall grant it if the alleged cruelty has been proved 
 to its satisfaction. A concubine not having borne children may be 
 redeemed with the sanction of the court. 
 
 Article VI. — Any person making any claim under any of the provisions 
 of this decree shall have the right to appeal from the decision of the 
 District Court to. ourselves or to such judge or other authority as we may 
 from time to time see fit to delegate for the purpose. 
 
 Written by his order by his slave, Salim bin Mahomed. 
 
 (Signed) Hamoud bix Mahomed bin Said. 
 
 Decree, Dated 29th of Shawal, 1314 [April, 1897]. 
 From Seyyid Hamoud Bin Mahomed Bin Said, to all his subjects. 
 
 Whereas it is expedient to make further provision for the good govern- 
 ment of our subjects in the interior of the islands of Zanzibar and Femba, 
 we hereby enact as follows :— 
 
 I. The island of Zanzibar is divided into three following districts 
 (Wilayat), which shall supersede all previous existing administrative 
 divisions : — 
 
 1. The District of Kokotoni, bounded on the north-west and east by 
 the sea, and on the south by a straight line, which, starting from a point 
 on the west coast half a mile to the south of Xnanjale, shall run to a point 
 on the east coast one mile to the north of the village of Pongwi. 
 
 2. The District of Mwera, bounded to the north by the southern 
 boundary of the District of Kokotoni, on the south and west by the sea, 
 and on the east by a line which, starting in a northerly direction from 
 Sungi Inlet, shall cross the high road from Zanzibar to Chwaka a quarter 
 of a mile to the west of the village of Indijani, and shall run in a straight
 
 212 APPENDIX. 
 
 line to the north till it meets the southern boundary of the District of 
 Kokotoni. 
 
 3. The District of Chwaka, bounded on the north by the southern 
 boundary of the District of Kokotoni, on the east, south, and south-west 
 by the sea, and on the west by the eastern boundary of the District of 
 Mwera. 
 
 Except where otherwise provided, all adjacent islands and inlets shall 
 be held to belong to the District to whose coast they are in the closest 
 proximity. 
 
 II. The city of Zanzibar, including Ngambo and the islands in Zanzibar 
 harbour, is excluded from the jurisdiction of the Wall of Mwera, whose 
 powers shall be exercised within it by our First Minister. 
 
 III. We hereby place over each of the Districts above-mentioned an 
 Arab official who shall have the rank of Wali, and direct all Cadis, Akidas, 
 Sheikhs, headmen, and other local authorities within the boundaries of 
 the District assigned to him, to regard him as our representative and to 
 exercise any powers now vested in them subject to his supervision and 
 direction. All are to obey his orders. 
 
 IV. The Walis shall form and constitute in each of their Districts a 
 District Court of summary jurisdiction, to be called the District Court, 
 which shall henceforch be the chief court of the District, but from which 
 an appeal shall always lie to ourselves or to such judge or public authority 
 as we may from time to time see fit to delegate. 
 
 V. The powers of the present Walis in Chaki-Chaki and Weti, in 
 our island of Pemba, shall be identical with those of the Walis hereby 
 appointed over the island of Zanzibar. 
 
 VI. The following are appointed hereby Walis : — For the District of 
 Kokotoni, to reside at Kokotoni, Suleiman bin Hamid. For the District 
 of Mwera, to reside at Mwera Bridge, Serhan bin Nasr. For the District 
 of Chwaka, to reside at Chwaka, Hilal bin Mahomed. 
 
 Written by his order by his slave Salim bin Mahomed. 
 
 (Signed) Hamoud bin Mahomed bin Said.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Abdul Aziz-bin-Said, 55, 56. 
 
 Aberdare Mountains, 1,31. 
 
 Abolition in America, 7, 11, 194, 
 195. 
 
 Africa, partition of, 108. 
 
 Agnew, Captain, 154. 
 
 Albert Edward Lake, 103. 
 
 Albert Nyanza, 103. 
 
 Algeria, 104, 105. 
 
 Algiers, 104. 
 
 Anglo-German Agreement, 126, 
 
 Antigua, 8. 
 
 "Apprenticeship" labour, 114, 115, 
 167, 178. 
 
 Arab, the, as a social factor, 50. 
 
 Arab deputation, 33. 
 
 Arabs in East Africa, History of, 50. 
 
 Africa, as a market, 75 ; partition 
 of, 104 ; future of, 105 ; British 
 control in, 107 ; conflicts with 
 aborigines, 107; compromises in, 
 108. 
 
 African, the, character of, 36, 38, 
 40 ; as a social factor, 40 ; educa- 
 tion of, 147, 149. 
 
 Armitage, Celia, 168, 197. 
 
 Armitage, Herbert, 168, 170, 172, 
 197. 
 
 B 
 
 Balfour, Right Hon. A. J., 121, 136. 
 
 Banani, 159 ; purchase of, 110, 116, 
 170. 
 
 Bantus, 45, 49. 
 
 Banyans, 70. 
 
 Barakoa, 57, 58. 
 
 Barghash, 8eyyid, 54, 95, 1,37. 
 
 Belgians, King of, 93. 
 
 Berkeley, Mr., 1,37. 
 
 Berlin, Act of 1885, 90, 91 ; Con- 
 ference of 1885, 90. 
 
 Binns, Rev. H. K., 145, 146, 147. 
 
 Bismarck, Prince, 91, 
 
 Blantyre, 47, 158. 
 
 Boat, Friend of Pemba, 1 75. 
 
 Boats, native, 20. 
 
 Bomanji Manekjee, 68. 
 
 British and Foreign Anti-Slavery 
 
 Society, 111, 177. 
 British control in Africa, 107. 
 British East Africa Company, 99, 
 
 125 ; liberates slaves, 131. 
 Brussels Act of 1890, 79, 93, 94, 99. 
 Brussels Conference, 93. 
 Burt, Rev. F., 10, 144. 
 Burtt, Mrs., 168. 
 Burtt, Theodore, 152, 166, 168, 170, 
 
 184. 
 
 C 
 
 Calabar, 108. 
 
 Canning, Lord, 54. 
 
 Cassava, 23. 
 
 Chad, Lake, 103. 
 
 "Chain-gangs," 61, 
 
 Chaki-Chaki, 106, 123 ; Castle, 64 ; 
 
 Custom-house, 46 ; Market-place, 
 
 53. 
 Chamberlain, Right Hon. J., 76. 
 Chango, 22. 
 Church Missionary Society, 132, 140, 
 
 141, 142, 143, 144. 
 Chwaka, 14, 196. 
 Cloves, 24, 25, 100, 192, 
 Compensation to slave-holders, 97, 
 
 114, 117, 124, 132; opinion of 
 
 Arabs, 33. 
 Concubines, 117, 180, 181. 
 Congo, 102. 
 
 Congo Free State, 49, 91, 94. 
 Copra, 26. 
 
 Corvo, Andrade, 52. 
 Courcel, Baron de, 91. 
 Court of Justice in Pemba, 82. 
 Curzon, Right Hon. C. N., 121, 1,34, 
 
 167.
 
 214 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 D 
 
 Decree abolishing legal status of 
 slavery, 114, 123, 201, 210 ; work- 
 ing of, 177. 
 
 Dundas, Captain, 133. 
 
 Dunga, 124, 196. 
 
 E 
 
 East Africa Protectorate, 125 ; efforts 
 
 to suppress slavery, 95. 
 Edwards, Dr., 10, 144. 
 Egypt, English Control in, 105, 107. 
 Emancipation papers, 32, 131, 132. 
 English, the, as a social factor, 75. 
 English, the, in Africa, 87, 104. 
 Euan-Smith, Colonel C. 8., 45, 95, 
 
 97, 118, 131, 136, 180. 
 Exports, 25, 77. 
 
 F 
 
 Farler, Mr. J. P., 14, 121. 
 Farms, Government, 14, 77, 196. 
 French in Africa, 104. 
 Frere, Sir Bartle, 55, 143, 144, 152, 
 
 156. 
 Freretown, 131, 142, 183, 186. 
 Friends' Industrial Mission, 159. 
 Fundu, 23. 
 
 G 
 
 Gallas, 129. 
 
 Garrison, William Lloyd, 199. 
 German Protectorate, 76. 
 Germans in Africa, 105. 
 Goldie, Sir G. T., 189. 
 Government by Protectorate, 87. 
 Gusha, 132, 133. 
 
 H 
 
 Hamoud-bin-Abdullah, 23. 
 Hammerton, Captain, 54. 
 Hardinge, Sir Arthur, 99, 114, 130. 
 Health, Safeguards to, 80. 
 Heanley, Dr., 29. 
 Hindu, the, as a social factor, 67. 
 Hodgkin, Dr. Thomas, 178, 180. 
 
 Imports, 26. 
 
 India, abolition of slavery in. 111. 
 
 Industrial Missions, 1.56 190. 
 
 Jairam Senji, 151. 
 Jones-Bateman, Archdeacon P. L. 
 
 152. 
 Juba River, 133. 
 
 Kedong River, 130. 
 
 Keltic, .J. Scott, 45, 71, 109. 
 
 Kenia, Mount, 131. 
 
 Kennaway, Right Hon. Sir John, 
 
 134. 
 Kestell-Cornish, Mr. V. K., 57, 58, 
 
 71, 152. 
 Key, Rev. J. K., 174. 
 Khalid, Sultan, 56, 57. 
 Khojas, 71, 72. 
 Kidnapping of Slaves, 32. 
 Kirk, Sir John, 54, 55, 112, 115, 143, 
 
 153. 
 Kismayu, 137. 
 Kiungani, 149, 152. 
 Knapman, Mr. and Mrs., 154. 
 Krapf, John Ludwig, 14.3. 
 
 Labour, native, need of, 44, 63. 
 Last, Mr. J. T., 14, 121. 
 Leakey, Mr. R. H., 139. 
 Leopold II., King, 91, 94. 
 Lincoln, President, 177. 
 Lister, Mr. Herbert, 14, .33, 1!)7. 
 Livingstone, Dr., 149. 
 Lovedale, 158. 
 Lugard, Major, 29, 31, 43, 44, 
 
 79, 94, 157. 
 Lyne, Mr., 14. 
 
 M 
 
 Macdonald, Major, 140. 
 Mackay of Uganda, 71, 157. 
 Mackenzie, Mr. George S., 131, 132.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 215 
 
 Mackinnon, Sir William, LSI. 
 
 Matanibwo, 65. 
 
 Mathews, General Sir L. W., 1, 9, 
 
 U, (J2, 112, 1'21, 123, 132, 164, 
 
 167, 196. 
 Mbweni, 149, 152. 
 Mesale, 23. 
 
 Missions in East Africa, 143. 
 Mombasa, 10, 50, 121, 127, 143, 179. 
 Money-lenders, Hinilii, 59, 70. 
 Mvvanga, King, 138, 139. 
 Mzizima, Medical Mission at, 144. 
 
 N 
 
 Natural resources, 13. 
 Niger. 102, 108. 
 Nile, 102, 
 Nyasa, Lake, 103. 
 Nyondo, Isaac, 144. 
 
 O 
 
 Oil Rivers, lOS. 
 
 O'SuUivan, Vice-Consul, 18, 33, 168, 
 170, 173. 
 
 Palgrave, Mr., 60. 
 
 Parsis, 68, 70. 
 
 Peasant Proprietorship, 192. 
 
 Pease, Joseph A., M.P. , Introduc- 
 tory, 115, 121, 134. 
 
 Peinba, extent of island, 13 ; fer- 
 tility, 13, 14, 17, 77 ; climate, 25 : 
 clove crop, 25 ; court of justice in, 
 82 ; slavery in, 29 ; abolition of 
 slavery, 112, 177 ; Friends' Indus- 
 trial Mission, 159. 
 
 Portal, Sir Gerald, 95, 98, 112, 139. 
 
 Porterage, 94. 
 
 Prison Island, 22. 
 
 R 
 
 Rabai, 131, 134, 143, 144; freeing 
 
 of slaves at, 132. 
 Railways, 104, 135, 138, 191. 
 Ramadan, 21, 62. 
 Rashid bin-Salim, 170, 173. 
 
 Rawson, Rear -Admiral, 57. 
 Rebmann, John, 143, 144. 
 Religion, Arabs and, 62 ; of natives, 
 
 40, 59. 
 Remedial measures, 192. 
 Ribe, 144. 
 
 Roberts, Mr. C. W., 151. 
 Rosebery, Lord, 86. 
 Rudolph, Lake, 103, 140. 
 
 S 
 
 Salisbury, Lord, 93, 97, 113, 115, 
 120, 121, 131, 167, 177, 178. 
 
 Seeley, Sir J. R. , 87. 
 
 Seyyid, Ali, 55. 
 
 Seyyid, Said, 143. 
 
 .Seyyidieh, District of, 137. 
 
 Sharpe, Mr., 158. 
 
 Slavery, transition from, 1 ; as it 
 was, 29 ; England and, 29, 103 ; 
 Mohammedanism and, 29 ; Arabs 
 and, 33, 55, 81, 131 ; wastefulness 
 of, 34 ; Zanzibar Government and, 
 37 ; and population, 40, 48 ; 
 abolition of legal status of, 97, 
 111 ; effects of, 98, 117, 178; 
 public opinion and, 111, 113; 
 on mainland, 121, 133; and free 
 labour, 136 ; Society of Friends 
 and, 159 ; Rome and, 180. 
 
 Slaves released at Tunduaua, 34 ; at 
 Chaki-Chaki, 39. 
 
 Slaves, Runaway, 134, 140, 147 ; 
 Children of, 98. 
 
 Spirits, importing of, 79, 94. 
 
 Spurrier, Dr. A. H., 14. 
 
 Stanley, Mr. H. M., 38, 47, 60, 70. 
 
 Steere, Bishop, 47, 112, 150, 151, 
 190. 
 
 Stewart, James, 48. 
 
 Strangers' Rest, Zanzibar, 154. 
 
 Strickland, Mr. C. W., 34. 
 
 Sturge, Joseph, 195. 
 
 Subject Races, Justice to, 86. 
 
 Swahilis, the, 43, 44, 51, 129. 
 
 Tanganyika, Lake, 103. 
 " Ten-miles Strip," 125, 126. 
 Thackeray, Miss C. D. M., 15.3. 
 Tozer, Bishop, 150, 152.
 
 216 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tucker, Bishop, 112, 120, 140, 141, 
 
 138, 134. 
 Tunduaua, 5, 12, 14, 17, 33, 34, 124, 
 
 196, 
 
 U 
 
 Uganda, 130, 137 ; Protestant Chiefs 
 and slavery, 140; Regents of, 139. 
 
 United Methodist Free Churches, 
 144. 
 
 Universities' Mission, 2, 149, 174. 
 
 Uvinje, 23. 
 
 Vagrancy, 196. 
 Vasco da Gama, 51. 
 Victoria Nyanza, 103, 138. 
 Vivian, Lord, 93. 
 
 W 
 
 Wa-Pemba, the, 74. 
 
 Warner, Yardley, 193. 
 
 VVarnersville, 193. 
 
 West Indies, emancipation in, 8. 
 
 Weti, 20, 21, 65, 174, 181. 
 
 Wigham, Arnold, 174. 
 
 Witu, Sultanate of, 126. 
 
 Zambesi, 102. 
 
 Zanzibar, city of, 1, 2, 78 ; bom- 
 bardment of, 2, 57 ; Sultan's 
 Palace, 3 ; climate of, 11, 25, 80 ; 
 fertility of, 14, 16, 17; popula- 
 tion, 40 ; conquest by Portuguese, 
 51, 52; Sultans of, 51 ; mission 
 work in, 150. 
 
 <> \;
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which it was borrowed. 
 
 URL J^ 
 
 m 
 
 «^/ 
 
 
 "tsss 
 
 M/ ^' 10 2005 
 
 6^LAC0LLIB M.Kj. 7 
 RECEIVED '^^^ ^ ' 
 
 ID 
 KRL 
 
 Form L9-S
 
 DT 434. Z1N46 
 
 r' 
 
 .O 
 
 lie SOUTHERN HFGIONAl IIBRAR^ f AGILITY 
 
 A 000 473 283 o