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THE ARAB AND THE AFRICAN

EXPERIENCES IN EASTERN EQUATORIAL AFRICA

DURING A RESIDENCE OF THREE YEARS

S.

TRISTRAM PRUEN,
V

M.D.

Felloui of the

Royal Geographical

Society

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON
SEELEY AND
CO.,

LIMITED

ESSEX STREET, STRAND

1891

TO

COLONEL
NOW HER

SIR

CHARLES EUAN -SMITH

K.C.B., C.S.I.,

LATE HER MAJESTY'S AGENT AND CONSUL-GENERAL AT ZANZIBAR,

majesty's MINISTER AT THE COURT OF MOROCCO,

who

has worked so earnestly for the abolition of

slavery; and who, by his judgment, tact,

AND unselfish DEVOTION TO DUTY,

HAS AT LAST PLACED FREEDO.M WITHIN THE REACH OF
MILLIONS OF HIS FELLOW CREATURES ON THE

DARK CONTINENT OF

AFRICA,

THIS BOOK

IS

DEDICATED,

WITH THE author's MOST SINCERE RESPECT AND

ADMIRATION.

PREFACE
The
scribe

author has endeavoured

in

in

this

book

to

deof

detail

the

daily

life

of

the

natives

Central Africa

who

live in

and around the

districts

which have so recently been brought under British

influence.

He

has also discussed

the

results
all

of

endeavouring to bring the untutored native,

un-

prepared, suddenly under the influence of laws and

customs which have been gradually developed

else-

where through
civilization.

thirty

generations

of

progressive

He

believes that the facts thus brought

all

forward
consider

will

be of interest to

who

thoughtfully

the

ever-widening boundaries, and ever-

increasing responsibilities of the great

Empire

to

which they belong.

He

also hopes that

;

what he has written

the want
felt

will

supply

two distinct wants

thropist, at

by the Philan-

home, who

wishes to study the Slave

vi

Preface
in
all

Trade

its

bearings,

and that
to

felt

by the

Missionary or Trader who, about

proceed to

East Equatorial Africa, desires to know what he

is

likely to

meet with

there,

and what preparations

he should

make

before going.
himself,

He
He

has limited

as

far

as

possible, to

describing what he

has actually seen and heard.

hopes that his book

may throw some new

dail}^ life

light

upor> the

Slave Trade, and the

it

of the
lived

African, as

is

written

by one who has

amongst the people as

their friend

and equal, and

who has
the

thus been permitted to see and hear. things

traveller,

hidden from the passing

resident

and even from

than
lives

who

rules

over

rather

amongst the people with

daily contact.
this

whom

he

is

brought into
in

He

has been

much encouraged

hope
in

b}-

a letter from Sir C. B. Euan-Smith,

who,

kindly accepting the dedication of the book,

it

expressed his opinion that

would supply a

distinct

want.

Uganda has been

in so

left

entirely out of account in

the descriptions, partly because the

Waganda
fully
'

differ

man}/ points from other East African races,

described

and partly because they have been so

by Mr. Ashe,
of Uganda.'
in his

interesting book,

Two

Kings

The chapter on Diseases

is

necessarily incomplete

Preface
in a

\'ii

book intended

for general circulation

but the

author hopes shortly to publish, for the use of non-

medical travellers, a separate pamphlet containing

more

full

information on this point, together with

hints on the diagnosis

and treatment of the more

in

common
Lastly,

diseases

met with

East Africa.

the

author wishes to acknowledge the

debt of gratitude he owes to

many

kind friends

who

have helped him much in getting the book into

shape.
Especially
is

he indebted to his cousin,

Mr.

G. G. Pruen, of Cheltenham College, whose

advice on
lady
in

many points has been invaluable to the who took much pains in arranging the music
;

Chapter

III.

to that other lady

who, with very

in

poor materials as copies, succeeded

illustrations

producing
;

both
for

accurate

and

artistic

and

to

Mr.

Seeley,

whose kind encouragement and

assistance he feels truly grateful.

Cheltexh.\.m,

89 1.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.

THE LAND

------

I'AGE
i

II.

THE VEGETATION AND ANIMALS

THE PEOPLE
-

l8

III.

62
107
1

IV.

THE DAILY LIFE OF THE PEOPLE

V.
VI.
VII.

THE CLIMATE AND DISEASES

THE TRAVELLER
A day's
-

42

"

'52 187

march

VIII.

THE SLAVE-TRADE
THE SLAVE
-

-----

208

IX.

-233
-

X.
XI.
XII.

THE

ARAi;

249
263

THE MISSIONARY
THE MISSIONARY

{contimied)

289

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE

PORTRAIT OF SIR

C.

B.

EUAN-SMITH,

K.C.B.

Frontispiece

GERMAN AND

BRITISH COASTS

4
8
-

VILLAGE IN USAGARA

MAP OF ELEVATIONS
BAOBOB-TREK GUN-TRAP ANTELOPE HUNTED HORNBILL

---------

i6 19

34
38

];V

DOGS
-

47
55

THE MANTIS

AFRICAN SMIIHY HOE, AXE, BILLHOOK, ETC.

.

78

79
85

. HOOKAH SPEARS AND KNOBKERRIES OBTAINING SAP FROM THE COCOANUT-TREE

BANJO TEMBES IN UGOGO

-----

89
105

106
-

118

THE ESPLANADE, ZANZIBAR

PAYING POSHO ARAB KILLING A WORN-OUT SLAVE MAP OF THE SLAVE-TRADE HOUSES FOR EUROPEANS HUTS FOR SICK NATIVES -

162

172

220
-

226
279
307

The Arab and

the African

CHAPTER
THE LAND

The

tropical Africa of our childhood, with

interior

its

un-

known
place

and imaginary sandy wastes stretchis

ing from sea to sea,

a thing of the past, and in

its

we have

a country containing great lakes and

;

magnificent rivers

whilst the

maps which

depict

it

are traversed by scores of lines, the routes of the

soldier, the missionary

and the explorer.

Yet, not-

withstanding

all

these advances,, but few of us realize

the home-life of the people, or rather peoples, of

Central Africa,

or

understand the wide

reaching
as
it

inclusive nature of the political system

slavery,

known

and the insurmountable barrier which

presents to the missionary and the trader.

An Englishman cannot
under that
one

grasp what
'

is

included

term

slavery

unless

he
I

first

The La7id

understands the people, and to understand them

he needs to

know

the country.
of the
It is

Slavery

is

no such

simple system as

we

West

are apt to under-

stand by the term.

not solely a question of

the brutal Arab, with his semi- civilization, lording

it

over and ill-treating the innocent and ingenuous

soil.

occupier of the

as wrong, on his
its

The Arab has side. The system

far

right, as well

of slavery has
its

advantages few and

between, as well as

disadvantages
evident,

many and frequent, some glaring and others unknown and unsuspected. As a
system
is
;

whole,
is

the

detestable

the
often

slave-dealer
ill -

frequently brutal
if

the

slave

treated.

Yet,

we examine

the matter

fairly,

we

shall see

that the dealer has something to say on his

own

behalf

has

some points

in

have no right to overlook,

rightly

we however much we may

his

favour which

abhor and condemn the system

is

and that

the slave

not always to be pitied, and must some-

times be condemned

and none the less condemned,

all

because on

many

points he ought to be sympathised

things, freed.
It

with and helped, and, above

would be a glorious deed

in the century

to abolish African slavery

which gave birth to Livingstone, and

life

saw him spend his

in

the noble endeavour to

;

heal the open sore of the world

but a deed which

Engiish Slave-traders

3
e3'es to

we

shall never hasten

by shutting our

the

defects of the slave or the

good points of the Arab.

;

The Eastern mind

West

resents injustice fiercely

and

in

our condemnation of the slave-trade,

we

of the

are in danger of being unjust to the Arabs

through insufficient knowledge of the conditions of

life

that prevail in Central Africa.

It

may

help us

perhaps to judge the Arab more

justl}-,

and with
that
slave-

more of sorrow than

anger,

if

we

recollect

England has been one of the greatest of

trading
nations
;

and that even

in

the

present

century English enterprise and English capital have

largely
traffic.

contributed

to

the

maintenance

of

this

Tropical
slave-trade,
largely at

Africa

is

the

great
it

cradle

of

the

and
the

for

a century

has been very

;

mercy of the Arab

to

but

now

the

European has begun

half has

step

in,

and

its

eastern

become the sphere of operation of three great companies two British companies to the

north and to the south, with a

German one between

them.
is

It

is

to this eastern half that our attention

to be directed.

As the
eastern

traveller

steams
the

northward
southern

along
of

the

coast

from

limit

the

dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar, he notices

I

The Land
;

the low-lying region that skirts the Indian Ocean

whilst lying behind,

more
he

or less

dim

in the per-

petual

African

haze,

sees

range
-

of

hills,

replaced in some parts by gently

rising

ground.

This marshy coast-line, malarious and deadly, which

at

Bagamoyo

is

about ten miles wide, becomes

narrowed

at Saadani, opposite the

town of Zanzibar,

to four miles,

and

finally

terminates north of this

before reaching Pangani, from which point north-

wards the coast

rises abruptly in
fifty feet

coral limestone

rocks to a height of
British
far

or more.

Thus the

company, whose

territory does not reach so

south as Pangani, has no marshy coast-line, no

unhealthy ports.

Behind the marsh

to the south,

and behind the

shore to the north, the land rises by a gradual slope

of eighty miles to a height of about fifteen hundred
feet,

from which,
first

in the

German

region, stretches

the
in

or coast plateau for eighty miles inland,

parts broken up by spurs of the adjacent

many

mountain-range, but in others extending for

days'

many
level,

march together

in

an almost unbroken

with scenery not unlike that of the fen-country at

home.

It

is

a continuous

swamp

all

through the

rainy season, a monotonous plain in the dry one,

traversed by a few large streams, and consequently

'

1
i..
/
!

'*.

-A

m^
!

'1i

ik.

'#
'i

IL

i..

The Great JMountain Rano-e ^>

better covered

with vegetation than

this plain, the traveller

most
is

parts.

Having crossed

confronted

by precipitous rocks, and a march or climb of eighty

miles over rugged passes from four to
feet
five

thousand

above the

sea-level,

and along the

sides of steep

inclines, takes

him over a narrowed portion of the

great mountain-range which stretches in an almost

unbroken chain from the Cape of Good Hope to

Abyssinia.

Once

across this range, he

is

landed on

the second or great plateau of Central Africa, which

stretches across the Continent at an elevation of

three to four thousand

is

feet.

very striking feature

off

this

mountain-chain, sharply cutting

plateau

the lower

coast
central

and

rising

ground

from the great

plain of the Continent,

and leaving each

flank with features peculiar to

itself.
-

Like the

low

lying

coast
is

region,

the

first

or

narrow plateau, which

eighty miles wide in the

German
district,

region, gradually narrows to unimportant

it

dimensions as

passes northwards into the British

being encroached upon by the great moun-

tain-chain,

which here widens

its flanks,

preparatory

to rising in terrace after terrace to the clouds,

and

then piercing through and towering far above them

in the giant hills of

Kenia and Kilimanjaro.

the

Hitherto

Bagamoyo and Saadani have been

6
ports

The Land
from which most of the
traffic

has

been

carried on with the interior, along the great slave-

routes stretching from these points to the ports on

Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza.

are called, but the term
rectly
for
'

'

Roads

'

they

paths

'

would more cor;

convey their condition to the Western mind

they are only narrow tracks from nine to fifteen

inches wide, bared of vegetation by the frequent

tramping of naked
originally

feet,

but as uneven as

when

made.
traveller

As the

marches from Saadani westwards,

he leaves at once behind him the two-storied houses

of the coast and
;

the tropical -looking cocoanutis

palms

and soon there

left

little

to

remind him that

far

he has

his

Western home so

away.

He

walks through continual v/oodland, not unlike the

outskirts

of

Epping Forest

in

the

late

autumn,
;

except

for

an occasional cactus-like euphorbia

all

baobob, looking for

the wrong

the world like a tree put in

still

way up
he

or a

more occasional wild

and
there
at

banana
intervals

or

fan-palm.

Here

long

comes upon some evidently

better-

watered spot than usual perhaps upon some long

low valley amongst the

trees

hills,

where typical tropical

frequent,

are

thicker

and

more

with

an

abundance of rank grass and undergrowth amongst

Native Villages

them, giving the whole scene the appearance of one

of our

Enghsh country parks run

the
first

wild.

On
fine
hill

plateau, as

we have

noticed, there are

a few large rocky streams, along

whose banks
all

rise

and

shady trees

but elsewhere

up the

and mountain

sides,

and

in

unending succession

along the plains, come forest after forest of low scrub

or

dwarfed thorn -trees, whose spiny leaves and

little

scanty foliage give

shelter from the tropical

sun

mile after mile of shadeless forest, a only by the

mono-

tonous sameness broken

euphorbia or baobob
still
;

occasional

with a few scanty flowers and

fewer

fruits,

bitter

and

acid, or tasteless.

At

intervals of about ten miles

from each other, and

about a day's

therefore, for porters with

loads, at

march
in

distant,

come

villages, all constructed

much

the

same way.

double fence surrounds the

fences,

village,

and between the two

tall

which are some

ten yards apart, arc

shrubs and small trees.

entrances

There

are

one

or

two

through

the

shrubber}',

guarded at either end by narrow doorInside are the

ways, which can be easily blocked.

houses, low, circular huts of wickerwork and

mud,
in a

with thatched roofs

village,

seldom over twenty houses

sometimes not a dozen.

is

Near the

villages the

ground

mostly cultivated, millet-seed, Indian corn,

The Land

sweet potatoes, beans, pumpkins, and tobacco forming the staple products
;

cassava, sugar-cane, rice,

bananas, papaye, guavas, limes, and ground-nuts the

exceptional ones.
for grazing cattle,

The

uncultivated ground

is

used

goats, a few sheep,

and a very

occasional donkey, besides which innumerable fowls

pick up a scanty living.

ever, there are hardly

On

the coast-plateau, howthe tsetse

fly

any

cattle, as

holds

almost undisputed sway over the whole of this belt

of land.
like

The

tsetse

is

an insect

in

shape and

size

an ordinary house-fly, and

in colour not

unhke

the bee, with three or four dull-yellow bars across the back of the abdomen.

This

fly

attacks
is

man and

animal indiscriminately, but the bite

only to

dangerous

some

of the

latter.

We

were frequently
is

badly bitten by this

its

little

pest,

which

very rapid in
in

movements, and very persistent

it

returning
It is

to the victim

has commenced

to attack.

only

in the cool of the early

ing, before
it

morning, or
its

in the late even-

has retired to

well-earned rest, that

the lower temperature seems to partially

benumb
its

it,

and render

it

an easy prey to the wrath of

victim.

When

it

alights, the tsetse inserts its long proboscis

into the skin of its victim, a

somewhat

painful proeffect

ceeding, which,

however, has no apparent

beyond

the transient pain of the insertion, except in

fy:':'^^

-t^

'.:^

.f

The

Tsetse

Fly

the case of horses, cattle, and dogs, and occasionally

donkeys.
bitten,
it

When
it

one of these animals has been

first
;

does not suffer at

and

if it

be

in

good

health,

may
its

not

show any symptoms

at

for a
it

week or ten days, but

begins to refuse
first

the end of this time

to
fail in

food,

and

health.

The

symptoms

are variable, but usually flaccidity of

muscles, and, consequently, a staggering walk are

amongst the

earliest.

Next blindness ensues from

the internal media of the eye,

commencing opacity

in

the whole eye presenting a semi-transparent greenish

appearance.
fact that
will
it

If the
is

animal

lives

long enough, the

suffering

from true blood-poisoning

made evident by the appearance of abscesses many of its joints, which enlarge quickly, but which do not appear to cause it much pain. The streams of this plateau are not many in
be
in

number, and are

all

fordable,

most of them being

fish

only one or two feet deep.

said to be few

The
I

in

them

are

and small, but

have never seen a

the
truth
of this

specimen, so cannot vouch

statement.
I

for

do not think fishing can be much

I

practised, as, though

took a great
I

many

fishhooks

up country with
dispose of one.

me

for barter,

never managed to

Apparently, the crocodile and the

of

hippopotamus are the only inhabitants

these

lo
waters.

The Land The former do

not seem dangerous
to

people, to adults, at least, but are so to goats and

dogs.

The European must

look sharply after his

dogs, or they

may

be snapped up, as they are not so

to drink,

wary as the native dog, who, when he goes

first

looks carefully this waj^ and that before venturthirst.

ing to slake his

The European dog has no

in
;

such instinct, but boldly plunges

only to drink, but to
lie

he

likes not

down

in the

shallow waters,

and cool

his

burning skin, and unfortunately the

crocodile likes to do the same.

rivers

Along these same

flourish in the drier
-

grow

ferns

which cannot

districts.

Up

amongst the

hill

streams different
;

varieties of maiden-hair are

common

here, too, are

orchids, which, abounding in East Africa, naturally

grow more

plentifully

on the well-foliaged

trees,

which are only to be found along the

In the wet season the ground
is

river sides.
for miles

swampy

along the plateau, but during the dry season

many

of

the smaller streams are empty, and water can only

be obtained by digging in their beds wells of a depth

which

it is

necessary gradually to increase as the dry

by.

months pass

At one place where we camped

towards the end of the dry season, the natives

had to dig

fifteen

feet

below the river bed before

they struck water.

Again, in the wet season, such

A
is

Marshy

District

the abundance of water under the surface everyit

where that

sends up a mist in the mornings unplateau.

known
I

in the drier regions of the central

remember on one occasion some Wagogo from the

dry and almost waterless region of Ugogo,

who
were
a

were coming down to the coast

for the first time,

amazed beyond measure

condition absolutely
of their experience.
that
far
it

to

see
early
to

the sun look

reddish-yellow through the

morning

mist, a

unknown

them

in the

whole

No

one could persuade them

it

was not the moon, and

was not

until

it

rose

above the horizon, and the mists began to disap-

pear, that they were convinced that

we had not been

at times

endeavouring to impose upon them.

The
quite

smell from these

swampy
there

districts

is

sickening

but for pungency of odour and

is

really disgusting fcetor,

nothing to equal

that resulting from the

first rains,

which

at the

end

of a dry season begin to soak into, and thereby

decom-

pose, the accumulated surface refuse of months.

Wild animals
but they are
hills,

arc plentiful

all

along this plateau,

much more

plentiful

and varied
in

in the

and

will

be better considered

the descrip-

tion of those regions.

After eighty miles of the dead level

describing, the traveller reaches the

we have been commencement

12

The Land

of the great mountain range, and

now

for

another
bare

eighty miles his

way Hes

over

hill

after hill,

rugged paths across the sharp granite and quartz

rocks,
is

and

still

through unending

forest.

Here he
style of

amongst the Wasagara, and gradually the

At
first

huts begins to change.

villages,

he sees the usual

but with only a single surrounding fence,

perched on the top of ridges or conical eminences or

other

commanding

situations for safety

but these

graduallygive place to the well-known buildings called

'

tembes,' the regulation house or hut

of Central

Africa.

These tembes are

all

ahke, except in size.

Each

consists of a kind of covered passage built

round a square courtyard.

The passages

are built

of stout, upright poles, less than six feet high, with

strong wickerwork in between, the interstices being

filled in

with mud.

The doors

are also constructed

of stout wickerwork, and shde clumsily from side to

side.

The upright

poles are so short that an ordinary-

sized

man cannot
to

stand upright inside.

think the
is

natives do not stay indoors

much

indeed, there

not

much

tempt them to do

so,

the huts being

very stuffy in dry weather, while in wet weather

they

let in

the rain.

Each passage

is

sub-divided

by incomplete partitions of strong wickerwork, and several families live in one tembe, having each of

Mpwapwa
them two
all

or three divisions, as not only they, but

their herds

come

inside at night for protection

from the wild animals.

Once over

this

range the traveller finds himself on

is

the grand plateau, and begins to realize that he

in

truly

Central Africa, cut

off

from even the semi-civili-

zation of Zanzibar, and in an altogether

new

world.
the

By

far

the

most

important
is

village

along

western flank of the range

Mpwapwa,

the great

junction for the trade routes, or in other words for

the
slave
routes,

of

Eastern

Equatorial

Africa.

Many routes converge

here from the Victoria Nyanza

and Tanganyika, and diverge again as they pass

eastward to the different ports on the East African
Coast.
Stanley, in his
as lying in
' '

Dark Continent,' describes

a deep indentation in the

Mpwapwa

great mountain chain that extends from Abyssinia,

or even Suez,

down
is

to the

Cape

of

Good Hope.'
the

This indentation

about twenty miles deep, and

;

does not by any means cut through the ridge

hill

of

Mpwapwa

standing boldly up as the Eastern

plain.

rampart against the encroaching

This great

undulating plain, the central plateau of which

we
and

have been speaking, formed

cla}',

locally of red sands

reaches in one unbroken level to the shores

^'ictoria

of

Tanganyika and the

Nyanza

whilst the

14
gentle declivities

The La7id
down
it

the valleys of the Nile and the

Congo

give

it

an

exit to
is

Mediterranean and
leave

Atlantic.

Hence

that swallows which

our coasts in October can pass up the Nile and

across the great plain to

Mpwapwa and

other villages

at the base of the mountain chain, where they stay

until

February. Numbers of them reach this western

flank, but

none ever pass further

hills

east.

have lived

amongst the
for

only four miles east of

Mpwapwa
I

an entire winter without ever seeing a single

crossed

swallow there, although each time that

the
hill

to

Mpwapwa,

saw them

in

numbers.
is

As a

rule the

same variety of

bird

common

to

the greater part of the central plateau

for instance

the

same

varieties occur at

Mpwapwa and
the Victoria
in

on the

shores of Tangan3dka and

whilst varieties

Nyanza

which abound

Zanzibar and on
the plateau.
rule,

the East coast are

much less common on

to

There

are,

however, exceptions

this

as

many many
feet,

birds do not

seem

to find the

hills,

with their

passes at an elevation of only five thousand

real barrier.

any

This mountain chain, as has

been mentioned
kinds, the

before,

abounds

descriptions of

game of all which will come more

in

naturally in the Chapter on Animals.

I

know no one

familiar with the western flank of

The German Territory

the chain higher up in the
districts,

15

German and EngHsh

fairly well for the

but

expect the description of the country

round about

Mpwapwa

answers

flank further north.

The
of the

difference

between the British and German

districts

appears to be caused by the varying width

mountain chain.
in

such a feature

the

The coast swamp which is German is wanting in the

coast plateau, which
in the

British territory.
is

The marshy

something under one hundred miles wide

in the

German, almost disappears

English territory,

encroached upon, as we have seen, by the widening

eastern flanks of Kilimanjaro and Kenia.
tableland of the great central plateau
further
is

The high
pushed

also

westward towards the north, encroached

upon

in the

same way by the western

flanks of these

great mountains.
plateau, the
tsetse
fly,

With

the presence of the

also a
I

marshy

Germans have
is

monopoly of the

which

absent,

believe in the British

territory, or at
belt,

the worst, exists only in a narrow

is

easily passable in one night, and

therefore

avoidable by caravans passing through.

The annexed map

tween the two

represents the
;

difference be-

districts

but very diagrammatically.

I

From the regions which

southern

have visited myself in the

German

territory,

and from the descriptions

i6
given

TJie

Land

me by
it

friends

northern portions of
territories,

who have travelled in the the German and in the English

same
in

seems evident that the features of the

country are

much

the

any latitude where

'vB'R

H,v^

^^ ^0^!

Eastern Siib-eqtiatorial
.,

portion of Central plat cait

of Africa 3,300-4,000 ft.

Very

little tcater.
-

LhNZIBAR

I.

&

T^'

^^ANGANYiKA

G E R

M A N^||;
,

Bagamoyo

ul

the

same

elevation

is

reached.

Thus

the features of

the incline are the same whether north or south,

and so are the features of the central plateau. But although it is east and west not north and south

Gold

that really determines the different features, yet the

narrowing of some

districts

from east to west

in

different latitudes completely alters the conditions

existing north

and south, when Eastern Equatorial

Africa

is

considered as a whole.
all,

The German

physical districts are

with the exception of the

coast marsh, represented in the English territory,

and

vice versa ;

but the districts which are wide in

in the other,

one are narrow

hence the marked

also,

dif-

ference north and south, and hence

superiority of the British over the

the

marked

The mountain chain

which abounds
tine, is also rich in
I

at the

German territory. latitude of Mpwapwa,

and serpenI

in granite, gneiss, schists

metals, amongst which

believe

have seen gold

finding
at

in the quartz not far

from Mpwapwa.

After

mand

much pyrites, the German in comMpwapwa, Herr Krieger (who was killed
it),

soon afterwards by the Arabs at Kilwa, to which

port he had been sent to take charge of

showed

me

a specimen of

what

thought at the time was

native gold, and examination of

since
it

my
is,

return to England has convinced

museum specimens me that

the same,

was

really so.
I

The formation being

there

suppose, a probability of gold being disin British

covered in the same chain further north

territory.

CHAPTER

II

THE VEGETATION AND ANIMALS

After
in

leaving the coast, the

first

feature
is,

in

the

landscape that strikes the European

as mentioned

the last chapter, the similarity of the vegetation

that

to

met with

at

home, especially

in

districts
itself,

where conifers predominate.

and on the adjacent
mangoes, oranges,
apples,

At the coast

islands, the palms, baobobs,

limes,

cloves,

bananas,

pine-

and

jack-fruit

give

the landscape a truly

tropical appearance, quite

unhke that with which

the

dweller in temperate
all

chmes

is

familiar

but

elsewhere
fruits,

this changes,

and there are few edible

little

the natives of the interior paying

or no

attention to their culture.

In a very few villages

the banana, the papaye, and the guava are culti-

vated

and

in

one or two isolated spots where the

settled,

Arab or European has

or cuttings,

he has brought seeds

and

planted a few other fruit-trees.

Tamarinds, wild grapes, and species of wild cherry

Scanty Fruits
and wild mango are not uncommon
;

19
but they are

not very acceptable to the European palate, nor do

they appear to be prized even by the native.

This

absence of

fruit

of any kind

is

very trying to the

BA0D013

TREE

traveller in
is

such a hot climate, and almost as trying

the want of colour to refresh the eye.

few

flowering aloes, and flowers of the order Solanace^e

or Atropace^e are very abundant
;

but except in the

20

The Vegetation and Animals

depth of the rainy season when creepers abound

everywhere, there
is

Orchids, though far

in the localities

much other floral display. uncommon, are unobtrusive from

not
in fact,

they select, and very quiet in apis,

pearance.

There

nothing of that wealth

and

brilliancy of colour that

one naturally associates

with the tropics.

short
trees,

Most

of the hills are covered with

amongst which acacias

predominate,

whilst gigantic baobobs stand out prominently here

and

there.

The

larger trees,

amongst which the

fig-sycamores are the most conspicuous, prefer the

plains, especially the

sides of the streams.

is

It

is

here, too, that the ebony-tree

in

so abundant, and

some

districts the indiarubber-tree.

Higher up,

the brush and scrub are usually very close and well
interspersed with thorn bushes bearing thorns from

one to three inches long, a quite impenetrable thicket

in in

many

places except to knife and hatchet.

It is

these hillside fastnesses that

the wild

beasts

repose by day, and, except

rarely leave

when pressed by hunger,

set,

them

until

the sun has

followed

and the
the

short

twilight

has

been

by

dim
by no

light of the stars, or the

more

brilliant but

means exposing

light of

even a tropical moon.

The

leopards especially have the credit of selecting these

hillside fastnesses for their lairs
:

a fact referred to

Alntndant
by Solomon,
'

Game

21
the Hons' dens,

Come

with

me from
I

from the mountains of the leopards.'

The

district

around and near Mpwapwa, and,

believe, all along

the range, abounds in lion, leopard, hyena, rhinoceros,

elephant,

giraffe,

buffalo,

zebra,

antelope,

eland, gazelle,

monkey, wild boar, porcupine, coney,

mongoose, civet
the
cat,

jackal, serval, genet,

and other
near

small carnivora.

In

small

lakes

and

among

the

hills

there are also hippopotamus and

crocodile.

In the frequent visits which at one time

used to

pay to Kisokwe, a

village

seven miles from

five

Mpwapwa,

where
plain,

was

living, I

had to walk

miles across a

three of the miles being along a well-worn

caravan path through the jungle.

it

Going by night
animals
except

was a

rare

thing to see wild

all

hyenas, as they

seem

to

shun proximity to

man

but, returning in

the morning,

my

native boy often

showed me the tracks of the

different animals

which

had crossed our path the night

time before
I

before.

It

was some

learned to distinguish the different

footprints myself,
nise

and

to the last
like
it.

could not recog-

them with anything

showed
in

the facility which the

natives

doing

The hyenas
and heard.

are the animals most frequent!}- seen

Sometimes they can be heard soon

22

The Vegetation and Animals

and they whine
in the at intervals

after sunset,

through

the night.

About three

morning the whining

alters
in

becomes more frequent, and

character

they are calling to each other to go home, the

natives
distant,

say.

Then

it

becomes more and

;

more

and

finally ceases

and the hyenas have

first

returned to their

homes

before the

rays of the

dawn.

never so

fully realised
'
:

before the descripit

tion in the
is

Psalms

Thou makest darkness and

night, wherein

all

the beasts of the forests do

lions roar after their prey,

creep forth.

The young

and seek

their

meat from God.

they get them away, and lay

dens.

The sun .ariseth them down in their

;

Man

goeth forth unto his work, and to his

labour until the evening.'

This

last

sentence exactly
I

describes one's hours in Central Africa.

travelled

frequently

by night to avoid the hot sun, yet rarely

I

met a

native.

only once went a long walk by

is

night alone, though there

very

little if

any danger

of being attacked, the wild beasts have such a dread of man.

I

suppose
still

it is

that man's original dominion

'

over animals

survives to a large extent

over
I

every living thing that moveth upon the earth.'

have heard that a variety of leopard sometimes attacks

man

but could hear of no instance of

;

it.

Also that
is

the man-eating lion does

if so,

he certainly

A
does occasionally,

Rogue Buffalo

23

rarity in Central Africa.

like

rogue buffalo certainly

one that attacked a friend of

mine, Mr. Cole, of Kisokwe.

But even

this instance

can hardly be quoted as an unprovoked attack, as

the animal in question certainly had
rudely intruded upon.
in great
its

privacy

The people

at

Kisokwe were

want of meat, and Cole had gone out one

bring

evening hoping to be able to

home some
to stalk

game.

After searching for

some time he saw an

antelope at a distance, and

commenced

it.

Being an accomplished
getting well

hunter,

he succeeded

in

within
;

range without attracting

the

animal's attention
feat

but in doing so he executed a

in the annals

which must be almost unparalleled

of hunting.

So cautiously did he approach through

and so intent was he on his

the long grass that he was unnoticed by a buffalo

lying

down

in

it

expected game, that, unknown to himself, he stalked

right

up to the

buffalo,

and stood just

it.

in front of its

head, with his back to

In a second the astonished

animal was on
sharply round

its feet,
;

and the sound brought Cole

close
w^ere

but so

the

two, that

although Cole's gun was at full-cock, before he could

shoot the buffalo had caught him on the back, and

he and his gun parted company as they went flying

through the

air.

second and a third time did the

24

The Vegetation and Animals

and toss him before he could
restrain his shouts.

infuriated animal gore

realise his position

and

Then

he lay motionless and quiet feigning death, but expecting every

again.

moment

that

he would be tossed

However, the
;

buffalo stood eyeing

him

for

a few minutes

and then, half

off

satisfied that its

work
its

was done, trotted

and stood again

to

watch

work

at a short distance, finally

disappearing in the

jungle; whilst Cole's native boy, a frightened spectator of

what had been happening, ran

assistance.
for

to the house

two miles away, and brought

I

think most people's

is

respect

the .king of

beasts
to
live

very
his

much diminished when

neighbourhood.

they come

in

When
makes

you come
off,

across one, he almost invariably

is

and

it

safer to let

him

go, unless

you are a very true

shot, or

have several armed natives with you, as

lion
is

wounded

dangerous animal

to

deal

with.
I

remember Herr

Krieger, the

German
lion.

in

com-

mand

of the furthest station in the interior, coming,

one day, very unexpectedly upon a

He was
In the

shooting quail, and had just emptied both barrels

and started
pursuit he

in pursuit of a

wounded

bird.

jumped

into a shallow pit or trench,

and

as he did so, a terrified lioness,

who had been

enjoy-

Man-eating Lions
ing a nap,

25

jumped out and disappeared.

of mine told

He was

relieved to see her go, as his

gun was unloaded.

that,

friend

me
a

on one of his
short

marches, he came upon

lion

distance

from the path.

shot
at
it,

One

of the

men went

off to

have a

which only

irritated

the animal,

who

pursued him with great leaps and bounds, as he

rushed shouting back to the caravan
;

but on getting

nearer the body of men, the lion evidently considered

discretion

the

better

part of valour, and

acted accordingly.
In South Africa and
believe,
in the
;

North there

are,

I I

man-eating lions
such
exist.
I

but in Central Africa

doubt

if

never came across a single

I

authentic instance of one, though

frequently

made

inquiries for the purpose of ascertaining the truth

or falsehood of the stories

ject.

had heard on the sub-

Occasionally

heard of a village being depothe

pulated

by

lions,

but

depopulating

process
affair

always turned out to be not such a bloody

as
it

sounded.
a

On

one occasion we camped

deserted
village.
I

in

such

depopulated,

asked

some natives belonging

to be passing that day,

to the place,

who happened

how

man}- of their people

the lions had killed

'

None,' they replied.

26
'

The Vegetation and Animals

But
?'

thought the h'ons had driven you from

here
'

Yes,'

was the answer

' ;

they came every night

and

eat our

cows and goats, and we were being

starved out, so

we had

to go elsewhere.'
I

On
and

another occasion

was camping with

my
It

wife

child

on the banks of the Rocky River.

was

a brilliant moonlight night, and our donkeys were

tied

up

in the

open village, which was not stockaded.

a
lion stalked

Towards midnight
hills.

them from the

He came

past our tent within a few yards

of

it,

and was nearly within reach of them, when

him, and
at

they scented

once began

to

roar,

as only frightened donkeys can, and

woke the men.

in the in a

The

lion,

alarmed

at his

approach being made such

tail

a public matter, turned

jungle.

and disappeared

Next night we
in the jungle

tied

up the donkeys

clearing

outside the village

a
;

very

exposed, unprotected spot

in

hopes that the lion

but his

would give us a chance of shooting him

majesty was not to be tempted
of him.
;

so we saw no more

good donkey

is

an easy match

for a
left

hyena or

a leopard, and can with safety be

nights
in

outside at
lions.

districts

where there are no

leopard knows well that a donkey, like an English

Donkey versus Leopard

football player,
is

2J

generally a good kick, and prefers

;

to

give

him a wide berth

but

lion

has the

courage to attack a donkey though not quite in the

style

one gathers from story books.

is

In them, the

lion

supposed to march up to the donkey, give

his back,

him a pat on

and then eat him.

But a

donkey has a soul above being patted on the back

by a
to
lion or
so,

any other animal, and

if

a lion offered
in

do

would most certainly kick him

the

ribs.

One

night at a village near me, a lion killed a

to a friend of mine, leaving

donkey belonging
of the body.

most
sit

Next night

my

friend prepared to

up

in

a tree
;

and shoot him when he came

to finish

the body

so shortly after dusk a

selected
his

he went with a
to

candle

to

tree

close

the

donkey's
his

remains, whilst

men

followed

with

guns.

Just as he reached the spot, there

was

his

majesty
a

commencing
him

his

evening meal.

The guns were

short distance behind, so

;

my

friend could not shoot

whilst the

lion,

catching sight of him, dis-

appeared as quickly as he could.

returned earlier than

The
;

lion

had

my

friend expected

but per-

haps lions always return soon after dusk to save

their prey

from the hyenas, as they cannot climb

like leopards,

and so

like

them place

their unihiished

28

The Vegetation and Animals

It

prey for safety in the tops of the trees.

the top of a tree in

was

in
I

my

garden, that one morning

terrier,

found the remains of a pet

left

which had been

to leave the

in

my

care.

It

was

my custom
slept

terrier loose at nights,

and he

on the veranda

with

my

mastiffs,
little

no leopard or hyena daring to

approach a

dog so befriended.

But having
off,

taken the mastiffs to a village some distance

at

which
terrier

was staying

for the

night,

ordered the
safet}'.

to

be shut up in an outhouse for

Unfortunately he broke loose in the night, and ran

to
his

accustomed

place

on the veranda, where

alone, seized the opporkill

the

leopard, finding

him
off

tunity to carry

him

and

him.

Next night

four of us sat up in

some broken-down huts round

Soon
after

the tree, and waited for him.

midnight

we heard

a tin bowl rattling on the veranda

some

hundred yards away, and guessed that the leopard

was looking
dog.

to see

if

there

was another unprotected

for the

Finding nothing, he evidently made

presently

tree at once, as

we heard

a grunt in the

cassava plantation between our huts and the house,

and

in

another

moment

a fine leopard appeared at

the foot of the tree.

trap which
it

He

gave one look at a large

we had

placed in his way, decided that

for him,

was not intended

and clearing a second

Leopard and Mastiffs

trap eight feet up the tree, at one

29

bound landed
out

amongst the upper branches.

We

now rushed

from our hiding-places, and surrounded the tree;

but
it

was a minute

or

two before

w^e could get a

shot at him, as, the

moment

a gun

was aimed

at

him, he dodged round to the other side of the trunk;

but he could not avoid four guns, and very soon he

paused

for a

second to decide what next to do, and,

as he did so,

two

bullets

through his heart brought

him

to the ground.

One
lessly

evening, on

my
my

first

journey up-country, as

was stopping

at a mission-station,

my

boy had careat

chained up

mastiffs

on the veranda

dusk instead of taking

them

straight to the out;

house as he ought to have done

for

they were

young then, and were not

selves
at

left

to look after

them-

night.

Suddenly a

leopard,

who had
native

evidently

smelt

dog

from

below,

and no doubt
little

expected to find one of the half-starved

dogs

which

abound

everywhere,

jumped

up

in

between them.
less

There he stood, perfectly motionfirst

with surprise, on his

mastiff.

introduction to the
left

British

He was

not

long to decide

what

to

do

for

one dog got him by the head, the

other by the
over.

tail,

and the two

still,

(juickly

bowled him
at

He

lay

perfectly

astonished

the

30

The Vegetation and Animals

;

unexpected turn which events had taken

whilst

the dogs, evidently puzzled at his quiet behaviour,

simply held him there and growled, but offered him

no further violence.
standing

Before the

men who had been

near could return with their guns, the

leopard had taken advantage of the dogs' indecision

to

suddenly wriggle

away and disappear

in

the

darkness, leaving them without even a scratch.

A
me
the

leopard will risk a good deal to get a dog, but

a kid he seems quite unable to resist. that one once

friend told

jumped

into his kitchen through

kid.

window

after

dawn, and pulled out a

I

At

the same station whilst

was there another burst

in

open the door of the hut

which two of the

little
I

mission-men were sleeping, caught up a

that

kid
see

was

just inside,

and

hastily retreated.

now
kid.'

the force of associating these two animals in

'

the verse,

The leopard
night
I

shall

lie

down with
stalk

the

One moonlight
prey.

saw a leopard

his

He had

crept up the long garden to behind

an aloe, a few yards from where a puppy was sleeping close to the

window

of

my

bedroom.

He was
who was
;

ready for his

final spring,

when

the mastiff,

hidden

in the

shade, caught sight of the

him

and a
the

second

later

leopard was tearing

down

The Ctuining of

the

Leopard
feet

31
tail.

garden with the mastiff a few

from his

However, he outran the dog, and escaped over

the fence.

Leopards are such very cunning animals that

is

it

by no means easy to successfully snare or shoot

them.

They

are

more cunning by

far

than hyenas

but their habit of skulking about buildings and out-

houses at dusk
fidence in their

in

search of prey, and their conof eluding capture by

in

own powers

cunning or rapidity of movement, brings them

far

closer

contact with their

human enemy, and

consequently they are more often killed or captured

than the
hyena.
I

less

cunning, but far more shy and timid,

remember seeing

a trap set by a friend of mine

built a

for a leopard.

He had

hut of very strong

;

timberwork interwoven with thorns

and leaving

the door of this open, he placed a steel trap under

the

doorway quite concealed by grass and

leaves.

In the hut an inviting

young kid was

tied up,

who

soon attracted the leopard by his bleating when

night

began.

The

leopard,

however, contrary to

expectation, declined to enter by the door, which

he evidently considered lay open in a suspiciously

ostentatious manner, but instead, with his powerful

paws smashed through the walls of the

hut,

32

The Vegetation
all

a7id

Animals

howling aloud

the time with the pain caused by

the thorns, yet persevering until

sufficient

he had

made

opening by which to withdraw the

instantly

kid,

when he
It
is

made

off

with his booty.

kill

useless to endeavour to

a leopard by

exposing poisoned meat, as he

will

not be tempted

by food which he has not

be poisoned, none the

killed himself; but

less,

he

may
was

by a method which

some German

colonists near us devised.

A
left

kid

very firmly tied

the night.

up near the house, and

out for

Before long his violent bleating and

struggles disclosed the fact that he

was

-being at-

tacked

whereupon a rush was made

and sure enough
his

for the place

with

lights,

mangled body was

its

found not yet wrenched away from

the leopard which had killed him.

fastenings by

Strychnine was

then well rubbed into the wounds, and the body

left
;

and next morning the body of the leopard was

of having

found close to the carcase of the kid, which bore

traces

been

still

further

mangled, and

partially devoured.

Another plan

is
is

to tie
in the

up a goat

at night near a

window which
leopard
;

shade, and wait for the

but he will not approach on a moonlight

night, whilst

on a moonless

starlit

one

it

is

very

difficult to follow his

rapid movements.

The whole


Wary Hyenas
matter
is

33

over in one or two seconds

one

bound

brings the leopard out of the darkness, and a few

seconds suffice him to

kill

the goat, and wrench as

much

of

it

away

as he dare stay for, with the odour

of the hidden watcher so perceptibly strong

hardly

time for the watcher to collect his wits, especially

if

he has been watching

for several hours.

is

But the most satisfactory plan

in

a gun-trap set

the track of

the

animal

at

night,

when

the

blackened string becomes quite

invisible.
it

Hyenas
is difficult

are so

wary of approaching man that

them.

to get a shot at

Almost the only

occasions are when you come suddenly upon them

when walking through

night.
to hit

the jungle on a moonlight

to be a very

Even then one needs

good shot
Several

them before they have disappeared.

I

times

have come upon them suddenly

in this
I

way,

but usually

when

had no gun.

Once

was riding

through the jungle at dusk, when three hyenas

who had
felt

evidently smelt the donkey, but not

me
I

jumped out on to the path a few yards ahead.

very uncomfortable, as
I

had no gun, and did

not then

know

the habits of these animals.

They

cjuickls- (lisaj^ipcarcd

when ihcy discovered

donkey
;

that there

was a man

as well as a
for

but

could hear

them howling near

some time

after,

and
3

Hoiv Hyenas can

was not sorry when
I

he

Poisoned
in

35

found myself safe back

my
can

own compound. Though not easily

usually be got rid

shot, troublesome h3'enas

of by poisoning.
will

Any garbage

rubbed with strychnine

answer the purpose.

is

Unless the dead body used

necessary to fasten
tree,
it

a large one,
it

it

is

securely, as by nailing

to a

otherwise the hyena will carry off the tempting

it

morsel to devour

at his leisure in his

own home,
even

and so

his skin will be lost,

and there

will not

be the certainty that he has been

occasion
I

killed.

On

one

exposed some goat's meat, well rubbed

with strychnine, to get rid of some civet cats

who
first

were paying our hen-roosts nightly

visits.

The

morning

after,

the meat

was found gnawed, and

cat close by.

the dead body of a civet

The next

morning the meat was again found gnawed, and

the marks were those of a small carnivor, but no
civet cat could be found,
left

though the amount eaten

no doubt that the animal must have died close

by,

and probably had been carried

in

off

by a hyena,
at

who

his

turn would also

have died, but

in a diluted

distance, as the poison

was

form; so

we searched
after a

for his

body, but without result, until

few days the progress of decomposition caused

its

an odour which betrayed

position, not only to us,

32

o6

T/ie

Vegetation

and

Afiinials

but also a night or two later to some other hj-enas,

who thereupon made

ascertained.

a meal of the remains of their

I

brother, but whether or no with fatal results,

never

Nearly

all

the injuries from wild animals that

saw

whilst in Africa were caused by hyenas.

if

These

animals prowl around every camp, and

they come
fire, will at

upon a man asleep away from

very satisfying mouthful
I

his

camp

once pounce upon him, secure one mouthful

it

usually

is

and a and rush away.

number
of boys

remember one hot

night while a

were sleeping on the veranda of a Mission House,

a hyena

came

in

and seized one of the smallest boys

off

b}' his elbow,

and was making

with him,

when

with great presence of mind he raised the war-cr}-.

At once others came

saved, but

to
his

his rescue,

and he was

not

before

elbow-bones had been

torn out.

However, he made a very good recovery.

Another time a boy was brought to

suffering

me who was
in

from small-pox, and

who

whilst

this

condition, lying in
his

some exposed place

at night,

had

ankle badly crushed by a bite from the

;

same

powerful jaws

and

have occasionally seen people

with part of their cheeks or their ears gone.

Cowardly though they

follow

are,

hyenas

will

sometimes
the hope

alone

behind people at night

in

Hunting Dogs
that they will
lie

37

down.

They

are said sometimes

to follow, walking for short distances at a time

their hind legs,

on

and
I

believe this

is

really the case.

On

one occasion

was walking unarmed

at night

from a native servant's house to

of about
fifty

my

own, a distance

yards.
feet

As

walked down the sloping

pattering after me, and,
I

path

heard bare

come

turning round, said, to what

servant,
'

supposed was the

?'

What do you

want, Richard
I

My

heart

stood

still,

as the only answer

received

was the

sound of a jump made by some large animal, and a

plunge and crash into the bushes by the side of the
stream, close to which
I
;

was walking.
had
it

The animal
it

was probably

hyena

been a leopard

would have slunk off more quietly.

The hyenas

are

occasionally called

w^olves

by

travellers, but there are

no wolves

in

Central Africa.

Hyenas, jackals, and hunting-dogs, especially the

latter,

take their place.

The hunting-dogs
even man.

are large

dogs that

hunt
is

in

packs,

and when pressed by

Certainly

hunger

will, it

said, attack

they will do so in self-defence.

Their method of
their
in

hunting

is

very interesting.

Having scented

game, perhaps an antelope, they surround him

a large circle

and gradually close

in

upon

him,

taking advantage of every bit of cover that offers

o8
itself

The Vegetation and Animals

to keep out

of his sight.

Presently he dis-

covers one of his enemies, and at once prepares to

make

off in

an opposite direction, when a sharp bark

in front of

immediately

him

pulls

him suddenly

up,

and an attempt to
another way
last
is

alter his course

in

and escape by
At

checked

the

same manner.

he gets

frantic,

and makes a
;

rush, unheeding

the barks in front of him

but by this time the

whole

circle

have closed

in,

and one or two have

shakes them
off;

got their fangs into him.

He

they

have delayed, not stopped him, and he rushes away

again
;

but the delay has given time for others to get

is

ahead of him, and again he

finally

seized,

and again,

until

he succumbs to his

many

enemies,

who

in

an

hour

will

have

left

nothing of him but his larger bones

will

for the
I

hyenas who

scour the ground that night.

never once saw a hippopotamus or rhinoceros,

but occasionally

came across the

tracks of the latter.

;

The
fact,

natives are

much

afraid of the rhinoceros

in

he and the solitary buffalo are far more dreaded

lion, as

than the

these do occasionally attack

rule,

man

unprovoked, though as a

they are not very

formidable foes, and with care can be hunted without

any great danger.

The

rhinoceros

is

chiefly

hunted

for its horns, the buffalo for

both skin and

horns, as the natives

make

sandals,

which are much

A
hippopotamus

Native Elephant Hunt

39

prized for their toughness, out of buffalo-hide.

is

The
teeth,

hunted more especially for

its

many

tons of which are annually sent to Europe,

inferior

and there sold as an

knife-handles and

quality of ivory for

suchlike

purposes.

The

hippo-

potamus

is

generally trapped,
its

a heavily-weighted
run,

spear being suspended over

and a cord so
it is

arranged across the path, that when

displaced

by the foot of the animal, the spear

plunges into
its

is

released,

and

back, the animal going off not far

away

to die from the bleeding,

which enables the

hunter
its

who has

set the trap

to track his victim to

death-place.

Elephants roam the forests

in

many

districts,

but

they seem to be most plentiful north-east of Uganda,

in the district first explored

by Count Teleky, so that

it

the best hunting-ground and the approaches to

are

now

in

the hands of the Imperial I^ritish East

Africa

Company.

hunter,

who

lived

on Lake

Nyassa, told
in parties of

me

that the natives about there go out

about twenty armed with old muskets

to

hunt the elephant.

Having sighted

their

game,

they cautiously creep up to within a few yards of

him, and then,

broadside.
tion

all firing

together, give
is

him

a regular

But the aim

so bad, and the penetrathat the elephant

of their missiles so feeble,

40

The Vegetation and Animals

usually escapes with nothing worse than a dozen

skin-wounds.

In the districts where

have

lived,

poisoned arrows are always used in elephant-hunting

;

but

could not find out exactly what was the

;

poison used
ingredients,

apparently

it

was a mixture of

several

which included cobra poison and some

vegetable extract.

The

teeth of the African elephant are so different

I

from those of the Indian species, that

surprised one day in the interior to
teeth

was very much

come upon some

by

which undoubtedly came from the Indian.

after,

The phenomenon was explained soon

dis-

covering that the Belgian expedition into the interior

of Africa had been supplied with elephants as carriers

by the Indian Government, and had

lost

one of

them by death

at this place.

Antelope are the most

of the
field,

common

of

all

the beasts

from the graceful, tiny

gazelle,

no larger
sikiro, or

than an Italian greyhound, to the splendid

koodoo, as he
good-sized

is

called in

South

Africa, as large as a
to

horse.

They used
it

come

into

our

garden every night, and

I

was some time before

is

recognised their cry, which

so like the loud deep

it

bark of a large dog, that most Europeans mistake

for that at first.

Monkeys

are to be seen by thousands, but they

Nocturnal Habits

41

keep so cunningly hidden amongst the fohage, that

it

takes a stranger
live there for

some time
some

to discover them.

He

may
and

months hardly seeing one,

where
to look for them,
after

and suddenly he
will

will learn

see

them perhaps every day

whole
troops

that.

They were

a great nuisance in the garden

;

when

the

maize began to ripen

constantly

invaded the place, one monkey being always sent to

occupy a conspicuous place, from which he gave

timely warning to the others of the approach of

danger; he never joined himself

spoil, so
I

in

collecting

the

supposed that the native statement, that

he receives his share afterwards, must be correct.

An animal
plentiful,

allied

to the

monkey which
its

is

fairly

but on account of
is

nocturnal habits, not

loris,

often seen,
I

a variety of lemur, the

or potto,

am

not sure which.

Sir Charles Bell, in his Treatise

this
its

on the Hand, says of

for the

animal

'
:

It
if

might be pitied
these were not
steals

slowness of
its

movements

necessary to

very existence.
its

It

on

its

prey by night, and extends

birds

arms towards the

on the branch, or the great moth, with a

its

motion so imperceptibly slow, as to make sure of

object.'

He

further adds:

'

It

may be well
belong
to

to notice

some other characters

that

animals,

inhabitants of the tropical regions, which prowl by

42
night.
in

The Vegetation and Animals

The
various creatures that enhven the

woods
fine

the daytime in these

warm

climates

have

skins and

smooth

hair,

but those that seek their

prey at night have a thick coat hke animals of the

Arctic regions.

What

is

this but to
is

be clothed as
night
?

the sentinel whose watch

in the

They

have

eyes, too, which,

from their peculiar structure,

are called nocturnal, being formed to admit a large

pencil of rays of light, and having the globe
full

and

prominent, and the

iris

contractile, to

open the pupil

to the greatest extent.'*

Wild boar seem obtainable everywhere, but not

large numbers.

in

The

natives shoot

them

for

food,
it is

but the flesh

little

is

rather rank and

it,

very lean,

and
is

risky to eat

as,

unfortunately,

it

often

infested with Trichince, African hogs, as well as their

European brethren,

suffering

from trichinosis.

Rats swarm everywhere, and are a great nuisance.

They and

the white

ants
I

give

a housekeeper

an

anxious time.

One day

went into the store-room

rats

to get a pot of honey,

and found that two

had

eaten through the cover, and then gone in after the

honey.

They had
out again,

got so sticky that they could not

jump

and there they had

apparently
:

* 'The Hand,' Sir Charles Bell, 9th edit., p. 22. London George Bell and Son, York Street, Covent Garden, 1874.

Rafs
remained
for

43
should think they must

some days.
thirsty.

have been very

difficulty in
last

We

ahvays had the greatest

keeping our meat from them, until at

we

hit

upon a plan which

baffled them.

If

we

suspended the meat from the roof by wire, they

slid

down
wire

the wire. If we

hung

it

on wire stretched
to

tightly

across the room, they

;

managed
successful

swarm along
in the

the the

but

we were

when we hung

meat by a rope and made a knot

rope half-

way down, which just stopped a

central hole in
it.

sheet of tin with a

as

The

rats

came down the rope

If

far as the tin sheet,

and there they stopped.

tin, it

they

endeavoured to get on to the

side with their weight,

tilted

on one
for

and being too slippery

them

to cling to, they

fell

to the ground, just clear of

the meat.

Central Africa
birdsj especially

is

very rich in different species of

along the great mountain chain.

The two most

hawks and
seen
birds

noticeable families are perhaps the

shrikes.

Hawks and

kites are frequently

hovering overhead in search of the smaller

and mammals which crowd the undergrowth.

rule they soar out of reach of shot,
birtl

As a
is

and

it

not easy to hit a flying

with a bullet.

They

will soar for

hours at this provoking distance, and

then suddenly swoop down upon your pets or your

44
poultry,

The Vegetation and Animals

and carry them
off

before
it

you can get

is
I

within range.

Even when
up

near,

not always

easy to bring them

down with
at

shot.

have before

now

fired

straight
pellets,

a hawk overhead with a

its

charge of

and broken
if

legs

but

it

still

flew on in circles as
legs

nothing had happened, with

hanging down limp and useless.

brilliant

The
variety

plumaged shrikes which meet the

in

eye everywhere are in great number, and

;

great

corresponding to the incredible profusion

of insects which
Africa,
shrikes,

crowd

hill,

dale and

moor

of Central
for the

and upon which they

live.

But

no agriculturalist would save any of

his

crop,

and even the woods would soon be

laid bare,

Brilhantly coloured though the shrikes are, the sunbirds and plantain-eaters quite outshine them.

The
same
for

sun-birds are the representatives in Africa of the

humming-birds of America.

They have

the

gorgeous plumage, the same long curved

bill

sucking the honey out of flowers, and the same

elegant

diminutive

figure,

though
sisters.

not

quite

so

diminutive as their American

The plantain-

eaters on the contrary are rather larger in size than

a pigeon.

Their plumage

is

in

varying shades of

one colour, lavender, purple or olive green being the

most common, with,

in

each case, a broad band of

Gorgeous Birds
bright red across the wings.

45
is

On

the head

a large

and elegant

crest of feathers.

The

eyes and eyelids

are a deep orange.

They

are birds of indifferent

powers of

flight,

usually flying only from one tree to

a neighbouring one, alighting

on one of the lower

branches, and hopping gradually up to the highest,

from which they

fly

to the

next tree, and so on.

It is a little difficult to

shoot them with anything

except pellets, as they are screened very

much by
summit
of

the boughs and foliage until the}- reach the

of a tree,

when they

are

usuall}kill

out of reach
at

ordinary shot, which will not

tion.

such an eleva-

These birds are

easily recognised at a distance

by their peculiar cry, which exactly resembles the

name given

to

them by the

natives

the
is

kulu-kulu.

Some

of the interior tribes use their wings as head

;

ornaments

but

it is

said that no one

allowed to

wear them unless he has distinguished himself by

killing a

man

in battle.

There are several

varieties of king-fisher, even in

;

the districts where there are no fish

but even there

feed

they frequent the tiny streams and

on the

insects which specially abound amongst the copious

vegetation on the banks.

The immense swarms

of bees which inhabit Africa

naturally bring the bee-caters in great

numbers

to

46

The Vegetation and Animals

Starlings of brighter

these regions.

plumage than

our European ones abound everywhere, and so do

finches of different varieties.

The Whydah

finch

is

very conspicuous.
in its tail,

small bird with two feathers

tail

about the size of those from the

of a

full-sized cock.

This finch can easily be recognised

at a distance

by the two long feathers streaming out

its

behind, which greatly impede

very

flight,

giving

it

up

and

down movement.
by half a dozen or

It

always

flies

accompanied

more

females, of

duller plumage,
It
is

and lacking the long

I

tail feathers.

a polygamous bird,

believe the only finch

guilty of such a habit.

The

roller bird,

which looks
is

like

a jay, and has

much
in

the same habits,

a very conspicuous object

is

the

woods

and

so

the

hoopoo

with

its

elegant spreading crest.

birds with their
fluffy

group of these

latter
flutter-

plumage and short

a

ing flight looks

not

unlike

swarm

of

gigantic

moths.

Then

there are two or three varieties of

swallow, which build

mud

nests like our

own

variety

but the European swallow, which arrives on the great

plateau at the end of November, and leaves at the

end of February, builds no

nest,

and consequently

has always been a source of surprise to the natives,

who wondered where

it

went

to in the

summer, and

The

Ho nib ill

47

why
it

it

built

no nest

the prevalent idea being that

It
is

hid in

holes during that period.

not so

long since in England the popular idea was that the

swallows hibernated in holes during the winter, and

in

many country

places the belief

still

exists.

HORXIULI,

The huge ungainly-looking

greater hornbills, which

are not infrequently seen in pairs, do not look so

out of j)lace amongst the baobob trees.

the traveller

\\'hatever

mav

think of the ungainlincss of baobob

'

48
trees

The Vegetation and Animal

and
hornbills,
is

he must

feel

that the design that of the

of the one
other.

in perfect

harmony with

The

smaller hornbills are of great frequency

everywhere.

The
fruits

bird certainly does not hve

upon
but

garbage or small animals as some books

chiefly

state,

upon

and nuts.

It is stated

that

it

can

feed with impunity

upon nux vomica, the nut from

extracted
this
;

which strychnine
able to ascertain
not.

is if

but

was never

statement was correct or

The cuckoo appears

nous, the

to be

common
is

all

over Africa,

but the Central African variety

certainly indige-

European variety not

visiting these regions

as the swallow does.

In shape and plumage the

its

African bird very closely resembles

tive
;

English
'

rela-

but
its

the

cry

is

quite

different.

Tip-tip

betrays
natives

presence from quite a distance, and the

it

name
the

after its

cry, a

very usual custom

Africans,

amongst

nature-observing
'

some
'

of

whom
The

call

the jackal

mbwehe,' and the cat

miaou.'

natives assured

me

that the cuckoo builds nests

like other birds,

and though they could never show

I

me

a specimen,

expect they were correct, as they

are very close observers of the habits of birds

and

animals.

The Weaver

bird

is

very plentiful, and

its

elegantly

Oiu/s
^voven nest
of the trees.
is

49

the most conspicuous object in

many

But though conspicuous and exposed,

fairly safe

the nest

is

from enemies.

The

bird in-

variably builds upon a thorn-tree, and usually at the

very end of one of

its

branches
the

the nest, light

though
weight.

it

is,

dragging

down

frail

twig by

its

No man

or carnivor dare climb far up into

;

this inhospitable tree

and even the smaller monkeys,

though they might reach within a couple of yards

of the nest, dare not take the final spring into the
fine

network of

terrible

thorns

that

lie

between

them and

their coveted booty.

From hawks, most

of the nests are

protected by their tunnel-shaped

entrance

whilst the few that are constructed with-

out this protecting tunnel, and so

more exposed,

have noticed, are

nest,

built side

by side with a hornets'

which the natives

told

me was

the

usual

arrangement.

Any large bird

at the

disturbing the branches

around the nest would

hornets,
truder.

same time disturb the

work of the
in-

who would make

short

Towards dusk
and seem
to ily

the night-jars appear on the paths,

feet; whilst,

up from under your very

quite set
in,

when darkness has

their

the owls

commence

melancholy hooting, which they keep up at

I

intervals during the night.

never succeeded in
4

50

The Vegetation and Animals

It is
;

getting a specimen of an owl.

very

difficult to

discover their exact whereabouts

and the natives

consider

it

unlucky to shoot them, so that they

never would bring

In such a

me

one.
as Africa, of course

wooded country

wood-peckers abound, and the tap, tap of their beaks

against the hollow trees can often be heard half a

mile away.

Guinea-fowl, quail, pigeons and doves are the

chief edible birds.

Guinea-fowl are very abundant,

and very good

enough
in the

eating.

Doves,

also,

are

common
;

woods, and always obtainable

I

but

pigeons are not so plentiful, and

have only seen

one variety wild

bird with a large excrescence

its

of purple skin at the base of

beak, and with slaty

blue plumage.
are

Tame

pigeons, of several varieties,

;

common

in

the villages

they have gradually

extended by barter from Zanzibar, to which they

were sent from Europe,

believe.

The

natives are very ingenious in the construction

;

of complicated traps for the capture of birds

often stopped to

have

examine the system of levers and

springs
strips of

constructed with flexible twigs, and with

bark as ligatures.

unfortunately did not

make
to

a drawing of any, and they were too intricate

be recalled to mind without.

The boys

often

Cobras

capture birds by smearing a kind of bird-lime on the

leaves and twigs of the bushes they frequent.

Reptiles

naturally
that

abound
Eastern

in

such

tropical
Africa.

climate

as

of

Equatorial

Snakes are everywhere seen, from the tiny grass

snake, like a piece of narrow green ribbon, to the

splendid

python, thirty or more feet long.

Yet

snakes

in Africa

must be

far

more sluggish

in their
I

habits than those in India.

lived for a year in a village of

At Mpwapwa, where

perhaps two thousand

of snake bite,

people, there

was only one case

;

and

that not a fatal one

although we often came across

snakes, the puff-adder in turning over stones, and

cobras in the rooms or outhouses at night.

African cobra does not raise
itself so
;

The

high as the

Indian one

when about
;

to strike

rarely
it

more than
hood

eight or nine inches

neither does

inflate its

so widely.

discovered a cobra once at night in a

I

hut near our dwelling, and as

shot,
I

was not a very good

;

went up close to
in

it

before firing
off.

but only

succeeded

cutting

its tail

My

friend,

who

was a very good

of fever,

shot, but unsteady

I

from an attack

was anxious that

should not shoot again,

as he wanted the head uninjured.

So he took the

gun and aimed.

fired.

'I will

spare the head,' he said; and

When

the

smoke cleared away, we found that

42

52

The Vegetation and Animals

too,

he had spared the head and apparently the body,

as the creature

was gone.

Another time
I

was waked
and

up at night by the noise of what

after
I

thought was a rat

;

some

biscuits,

which were on a table near

whatever
it

tried to hit the creature,

might

be, with

a slipper,
desist
;

when
I

a horrid hissing noise warned

me

to
its

so

struck a light and took

usual place at the bedside, whilst

fetch the

my gun my wife

from

went to

boy.

Presently he came, and then he

pulled whilst

away
I

a box behind which the creature was,

it,

fired at

as

its

hiding-place was exposed.

The cobras come

rats.

into houses usually in search of

We
;

had previously noticed that there had

been a great scarcity of rats in the house for

some
of the

weeks

but

we

did not then

know enough

ways of cobras

to guess the reason.

On

another

occasion one of the boys discovered a cobra in an

outhouse behind some boxes

time

but he did not at the

know

that

it

was a

large snake.
it.

He

fired at
I

it,

but only succeeded in wounding

I

When
its

came,

managed
tail,

to spear
I

it

about eighteen inches from

the

and as

supposed, close to
it

head

as

we

failed,
tie

however, to get
its
tail,

out,

we thought we would

a string to

and then releasing the spear

it

from the
out,

floor, to

which
it.

pinned the animal, pull

it

and despatch

We

tied the string on very

Lizards Stalking their Prey

tightly, trusting to the

53

animal being speared close to

its

the head to prevent

turning upon us.

But on

loosening the spear, and pulling the animal out by

the long string,

we were

surprised to find a six-foot

its tail,

cobra, which had been speared close to

and

which, consequently, might at any turned upon us whilst

moment have
it.

we were
'

tying

It

sounds

rather like a story from the

Lays of

Ind,' to talk of

tying strings on cobras'

of their hiding-places.

tails,

and so pulling them out

in

But snakes

Central Africa

are far less savage than people at

I

never saw a really large

home suppose. python. The largest

fourteen
after
feet.
it

came across measured about

killed

It

was

by a native near our house

had made

a meal off seven of his fowls.

Lizards meet you at almost

every turn
creatures

in

the

path as you walk along

little

most of
Sonie

them, about the

size of a

newt or smaller.

varieties live in the houses, running

up the walls

and, what looks very curious, along the ceilings, too,

after

moths and other

prey

insects.

They
very

stalk

their

tiny

very carefully and

is

patiently.

lightning dash forwards

followed by a few seconds

of absolutely motionless repose; then another dash,

and yet another,

their final rush,

until they are near

enough
;

to

make

which

is

usually successful

though

54

The Vegetation and Animals

fail

they frequently
insect

in

getting their prey, as

off

the

generally
to

makes

before

they are near

enough

make
;

the final rush.

There are large

lizards, too

but these are rarer,

some being more

brilliant

than a foot long, adorned with the most

scarlet colouring,

and having stumpy

tails

that look

just as

if

they had been bitten

far

off short.

Chameleons are

from
on

uncommon
twigs

but they
the

stand so motionless
foliage,

the

amongst

and adapt

their colour so

rapidly to their

surroundings, that only an experienced eye discovers

them.
is

The

rapidity with
I

which they change colour

in less

very surprising.

have seen one change

than a minute from a yellow and brown to a most

delicate transparent green,

exactly like the

young

leaves of the banana-tree on

which

it

stood.
kill

The
the

natives told

me

that tobacco-juice would

instantly.
I

chameleon almost

expressed incredulity;
little

whereupon they gave one a

which they had
heated in the
fixed

piece of tobacco
stick,

on the end of a
it

and

fire

until

exuded

its

sticky juice.

The. chameleon snapped angrily at the tobacco, and

then marched on slowly as

a fact
little,

if

nothing had happened,

'

which

pointed out to the natives.

Wait a

master,

wait and

see,'

they replied.

chameleon had hardly gone twenty steps

The when it

Curious Insects
began to
staj^ger,

55

stopped short, and then gradually

over, as
if it

began to shake
of
St.

all

had a violent attack

sides sank in,
its

Vitus' dance.

Slowlv

its

V
\

Ill

Ji^ -^

%.^^;f^y^\l,:w

lit

^"''^

limbs were drawn towards

up,

its

body,

its

tail

curled

and

it fell

over on

its

side dead.

The

curious insects which mimic in shape and

colour sticks, leaves, and other inanimate objects,

have been very accurately described

by Professor

56

The Vegetation and Animals

in his

Drummond

book on
I differ

'

Tropical Africa,' as have

so widely from

also the white ants.

him

in his

accounts of the people and the climatic diseases that

I

am

glad to be able to bear testimony to his de-

scriptions of trees

and animals, which are no

less

accurately than they are charmingly told.

The

butterflies

are

neither

so

varied
;

nor so

gorgeous as one would have expected

but their
in

comparative scarcity and sombreness are

with the character of the vegetation.

keeping

Beetles, on

the other hand, are both beautiful and numerous.

Central Africa

is

a paradise for the entomologist

who

devotes himself to beetles.

Grasshoppers of
din
all

every size

swarm and make

the sound

a continuous

day long
at dusk,
ing.

in the

depths of the woods and everywhere

is

when

sometimes quite deafen-

Ants of every variety swarm on the ground.

kind called
'

One

siafu

'

march

in

compact columns
in

an inch or two wide, and many yards

Their bite
is

length.

rather severe, so that

it

is

no joke to
a caravan

step unconsciously on such a column.

On

journey the traveller

will cross

two or three of these

columns every day.

The

leading

man
'

looks out for

siafu
'

them, and, as he sees them, the word

passes

rapidly from front to rear of the caravan, and every-

one

is

on the look-out

for

them.

They occasionally

Siafu
enter the houses, and
I

57

have more than once been

;

turned out of bed at midnight by them

and they

sometimes gave us trouble by getting into our fowlyard or goat-pen.

The poor

animals' cries used to

wake

us up, and

we had

to go

and hold torches

to

the front of the column of ants and burn

them by
not by
it

thousands before we could persuade them to alter

their course.

Their invasion of a house

evil.

is

any means an unmitigated

Through

they

make
for

their irresistible
effort
it

march, and clean the place

of your

you as no
insect, be
is

own

could clean

it.

Every
roach,

moth

or mosquito, beetle or cock-

quickly covered, and as quickly eaten, not

tell

a white ant remains to

the tale of the invasion

even the lizards are picked clean to the bones, and

the very scorpions in their apparently impregnable

armour have

to

succumb

to the onslaughts of such

unnumbered
fices

foes.

A very few hours

though
perhaps

usually

suf-

to take the

column through, and leave you

an

with a clean
larder.

house,

empty

Scorpions arc very numerous, especially

in

sandy

rocky

districts,

as

Ugogo, where the vast plains

covered wath loose stones give unlimited cover to

both scorpions and puff-adders.

The

scorpions vary
in lentrth.
I

from one to eight or more inches

58

The Vegetation and Animals

is

believe their sting

I

occasionally dangerous
it

but

have never known

cause more than transient

far

pain and swelling.

scorpions
;

Bees do

more damage than them

but then they are, of course, more useful.

or utilize the

The

natives hollow out logs for

left

empty packing-cases

by passing

caravans,*
trees.

which they place amongst the branches of the

These you see perched up

each with
its

in

the trees

all

about,

swarm

of bees.

When

the

honey

season comes, the boxes are lowered at night into a

fire

of dry grass, the bees destroyed,

and the honey

fits

taken.

Occasionally the bees seem to get

of

anger, and

buzz furiously around their hives, de-

scending on any bird, animal, or

to pass beneath
at the time.

man who happens Some were kept in

the

loft
;

of a house of a friend with

whom

was

staying

and once, when they were angry, they

killed

came down and

tame eagle belonging

to

my

friend, whilst

on another occasion they

I

killed a

small

monkey which

had bought as entomological

attendant for

mv

dogs.

Amidst

all

this

teeming

animal

life,

and

the

* Tate's cube-sugar boxes are such a very convenient size for

loads, that they are largely used as packing-cases for goods sent

by caravan, and
Central Africa.

find their last resting-places in the

trees of

Mr. Tate

is

more widely advertised than he

imagines.

Disposal of Refuse
luxuriant

59 what

undergrowth
refuse

in
is

the

rainy season,

becomes of the

a question that naturally

sees the ground so bare

occurs to the traveller

who

and with such scanty remains of death or decay.

large animal, say an antelope, dies in the

morning

what becomes
passed,
it,

of the
large

body

Before an hour has

will

flies in

numbers

have settled upon

and

laid,

not eggs, but living maggots, which will

be seen revelling in the juices of the eye, and along

the free borders of the lips.*

Later

in the

day the

body
will

will

have been seen by crows and hawks, who

to the eyes,

swoop down and help themselves

and occasionally to some

draws on, the body,
will
it

of the viscera.

As night

if

near a regular hyenas' beat,

;

be scented by these animals

if

off their beat,

will

remain untouched

until

sufficiently

decomI

posed to attract their attention from a distance.

have seen a man's body
frequented
* These
flies

lie

three days in an un-

ravine

before

being

scented

by

the

are the bane of dwellers in the tropics,

and are the

directly the

cause of nieat turning so quickly. Hut we found that in the hottest

season we could keep meat for forty-eight hours,

if

animal was killed it was cut up neatly into joints, and these dried on the surface by dusting a little flour over and hung up in a shady airy place, enclosed in large loose bags of fine
muslin, which effectually prevented the entrance of these flies, as well as of the minuter kinds which were able to pass through
most-iuito-netting.

6o
hyenas.
the
first

The Vegetation and Animals

But
this

state of things

is

unusual

and

night the hyenas and jackals usually satisfy

soft

themselves with the viscera and some of the

parts, returning on the second night to dispose of

the rest, bones and

skull,

all,

leaving only

some

of the

which even

their

jaws are unable to crack.

Meanwhile, the maggots which commenced operations the first hour continue their

work upon the

brain, and in other secluded spots, until the sun so

dries

up

their food that they are

no longer able to

make any impression upon it. The siafu now come upon the scene, and gnaw away every dry fragment
of flesh which has resisted the efforts of the softer-

feeding maggots,
to the

who

themselves go to form a relish

if

harder food
to

they have been imprudent

after the

enough
siafu.

linger behind

advent of the

The contents

of the alimentary canal which

have escaped being swallowed with the viscera are

now
The

carefully collected

by the scavenger
off to their

beetles,

rolled into little balls,

and carried

homes.

larger pieces of dry skin, too extensive or too

left

sun-dried for the siafu, are

for the

wire-worms,
It
is

which soon demolish every fragment.

little

these

creatures which are the dread of taxidermists,

proclivities

and by their
his treasures.

make such havoc amongst

White Ants
In like

6i
of dead

manner the immense profusion

vegetable matter, the millions of decayed trees and

fallen

boughs, directly they are thoroughly dry are

small grub

attacked by a

the
every

so-called

'

white

ant,' the larva of

an insect
inhabit

allied to the dragon-fly.

The white

ants

acre

of

tropical

Africa in countless

billions,

and never leave over

from one year to the other any fragment of dead

dry wood
Professor
;

all is

consumed, and so turned into

soil.

Drummond
worms

observes truly that they do

of

the work of the

more temperate
none the
is

regions.

But worms are

tropical Africa,

plentiful,

less,

even

in

though their work

is

confined to the

few weeks when the ground

sufficiently soft for

them

to perform their functions.

Thus every remnant

the
soil
;

of refuse

is

removed from
profusion
of

and

notwithstanding

the

vegetation in the rainy season, and the abundance

of animal
air,
life,

no refuse long remains to taint the

or

encumber the ground of the unfrequented,

and uninhabited jungles of Central

uncultivated,
Africa.

CHAPTER
THE PEOPLE

III

For many
district

years past, the peoples whose habitat

is,

roughly speaking, Africa south of the equator

of

some four and a

half

million

square

miles, with a population of over forty million

have
'

been known to anthropologists and linguists by the

name

of

'

Bantu,'

word meaning

'

persons

in

the dialect of one of the southern tribes of these

peoples

the Kaffirs.
of this great

The branches
dialects

Bantu family speak

differing

of

one great language, entirely

us,

from any other language known to

exception
of those

with the
chief

of

Polynesia.

The two

peculiarities of this language are that all the

gram-

matical changes, with hardly an exception, are pro-

duced by prefixes
speech
in a

and that the

all

different parts of

sentence are
b}'

made

to agree with the

principal

noun

an

alliterative

change of

prefix.

The nouns

are divided into classes, of which about

An
word
in

Alliterative

Language
use
;

63

half a dozen are in

common

and nearly every

its

a sentence will

require

prefix

to

be

altered should the

noun be changed or even altered

from the singular to the plural.

An example
make

taken

from the Swahili dialect

clear

will best

the matter

Mtu mivcma mmoja

iva Siiltani alianguka

One good man of (the) Sultan fell.* Watu 7veina wengi wa Sultnni ivaliatigiika Many good men of (the) Sultan fell.
Vitu vyetna vingi vya Sidtani viliangttka
:

Many good

things of (the) Sultan

fell.

In these three sentences nearly every word changes

its

prefix according to
Jiioi ;

its

agreement with mtu, uian

It

watu,

or vitu,

iJiiugs.
it

was these

alliterative

changes which

made

so difficult

for

the

first

missionaries and explorers to

get a grasp of the

grammar
describe

of the language, and Jesuit

which
to

led

some of
to

the earlier
it

missionaries

the

Congo

as an unintelligible language without a

grammar.
Although the tribes south of
entirely Bantu, there
is

N. Lat. are almost

a group of families which

has intruded from the north-east, and which, limited

on the west by the Victoria Nyanza, has spread

southwards as
* Literally

far as 6' S. Lat.

:

Of

this

group the

Man good

one of Sultan he

did-fall.

64
Masai are the
there
is

The People
chief.

Again, in the extreme south

a tribe beheved to be quite distinct from

the Bantu, although Hving amongst them

viz.,

the

Hottentots, or bushmen.
lately

These bushmen, who

until
in

were considered the most diminutive people

I

the world, are,

have

little

doubt, of the same race as

the pigmies of Schweinfurth and Stanley.

it is

They

are,
is

true, rather taller

than the pigmies

but this

easily explained

by the more temperate climate

just as the Zulus,

in

which they

live

who

live in

the

same

latitude, are so

much
Zulu

taller

than their tropical

about
the

Bantu brethren.
proportion to an

bears

same
to a

Mgogo

that a

bushman does

pigmy.

There

is

no reason why the bushmen or

pigmies should not be found at intervals over the

forest lands

from the Cape to the equator

for

even

now
the

the Zulus, in scattered bands, reach right to

equator

parties

of warriors

who

fled

from

Zululand years ago from fear of Ketchwayo or his

father.
district.

They

are called Maviti

in

the equatorial

They

retain the Zulu language, but rather

altered from that

which

is

spoken

in the south.
all

With

the exceptions mentioned above,

limits

tribes within the

named belong
in

to

one great family, and speak

languages agreeing in grammar, and differing only

in

dialect

the

different

localities.

The Congo

The Bantu

65

people on the west coast, the Zulus and so-called

Kaffirs in the south, the Swahili

on the east coast,

as they call them;

and the Waganda, or

selves,
all,

Buganda

therefore,

belong to one family

and

anyone who knows one of these languages

will at

once be able to pick up words here and there in a

book written

in

any of the others, and

will

be

familiar, of course, with the

grammar

of

all.

It is
it

the great similarity of language which renders

possible for a traveller

knowing only one language

and

to pass from one side of Africa to the other,

which thus enabled Stanley and Cameron, knowing

only Swahili, or Livingstone, knowing only Sechuana,
to cross the Continent south of the equator.

The Bantu
His hair
is

differs

much from

the typical negro.

;

not so

even nearly

much like wool occasionally it is The colour of his skin is never straight.
brown
;

so dark, but varies from a very dark

to a

shade scarcely darker than that of an Italian

his features as a rule are
refined.
It
is

and and

much more

chiselled

impossible to say which tribe are to be conis

sidered the purest Bantu, or what perhaps

the

same

thing,

which

speaks the dialect least altered

from the original

admitted that
it

mother tongue.

Yet

it is

generally
tribes

must bo sought amongst the

5

65

The People

south of the Orange River, possibly the so-called

Kaffirs.

In the north, undoubtedly the people and

languages have both been altered by admixture with

the races bordering upon

them

the

Swahili,

in

addition to these alterations,

show

traces of

much
its

admixture with the Arab and Hindu.

Indeed the

numerals their places

'

Swahili language has completely lost two of

six
'

and

'

seven

':

mtandatu and infungate

sita

being supplied by the Arabic

and

saha.

The

ethnological feature most noticeable to the

traveller, as
is

he goes inland from the Swahili coast,

the small size of the tribes which he comes across,

villages of

and the want of unity amongst the

tribe.

each

chief near the coast seems rarely to rule

subjects,

over more than a thousand

the interior rarely over
usually very

and one

in

more than three thousand,

;

much

fewer

whilst

it

is

only here and

there that chiefs are found owning any allegiance to

a greater chief or overlord.

the evil that results from

This want of unity, and

it,

will

be considered in

the chapter on the slave-trade.

In beliefs and customs the various tribes have

much

in

common.

always

made
beliefs

a practice of
I

inquiring from natives what they believed before

spoke to them about our own

but

never

Religious Beliefs

67
that there
still

came

across one

who

did not

know

was a

God who
its

created the world, and

of influence,

Who

exercised

some kind
welfare.

more or

less indefinite,

over
ever
or to

Nor

yet, strangely

enough, did

come

across one
it

who

believed in a future

life,

whom

had ever occurred that the grave or the

final

hyenas were not his

this belief there

destiny.

Though with
building

was a strangely inconsistent custom

;

of propitiating the spirits of the deceased

little

huts for them, and placing within for their use food and a cooking utensil

little

food

which the

spirits of their

relations, or the wild animals, did

certainly carry away.

I

was unable

to discover

much about any

religious
in

practice or ceremony amongst the East Africans

the interior.
in

This was due partly to their shyness

speaking to a white

man

about their

beliefs, partly

to

my

inability to converse confidentially with

them

on account of

my

ignorance of any dialect beyond

that used at the coast, and partly, no doubt, to the

very hazy and indefinite nature of the ideas which

they have on the subject.

They seem
they had
I

to

have some

notion of ancestral worship, or rather worship of

their

progenitors

whom

known
fuliire

before

death

worship which

was unable
in

to reconcile
state.

with their expressed disbelief

any

52

68

The People
instance of sacrifice
I

One
went

did

come

across,

when,

towards the end of a long drought, a few natives

to a retired spot to pray for rain, and, as part
'

of the ceremony, killed and cooked a goat

for

God,'

they said,
standing.

but

they eat

it

themselves,

notwith-

Of

abstract right and

ideas,

wrong they have some very

these
are

distinct

though

very limited

in

number.

For instance, they show

their apprecia-

tion of the excellence of truthfulness by being very

indignant

if

they are accused of lying, and to be

is

called a thief

mark of
I

great reproach.

The
drew

only idea of defilement that

could ascertain they

possessed was amongst those tribes which

strict

lines

of

demarcation between
allied to

were nearly related or

women who men, and those who

were not, the former never being allowed to approach

within a certain distance of their male relatives or

clansmen, and the infraction of this rule causing

defilement to the man.
I

never heard, however, of

any ceremonial cleansing being rendered necessary

by such defilement, and
I

think that the only cereto

mony
I

resulting

was a good beating administered

the unfortunate or incautious

woman.
being
or

never

heard
in

of

an instance of idols
Africa,

worshipped

East

though

charms

Witchcraft
fetishes, as

69
all

they are variously called, abound

across the Continent.

The

natives

wear charms,
in

suspend them over their doorways, place them

front

of their thresholds, on

their farms

in

fact

everywhere.

They look upon these charms, or

call

medicines as they
will

them, as good devices which

counteract the evil devices of

men

or superto

natural beings.
witchcraft.

Charms, then, are the antidotes

The

leading idea of witchcraft

is

that one indi-

vidual can, by incantations, or by

compounding a
ill

mixture, cause his neighbour to

die, or

fall

or even to

he can

afflict his live

stock in a similar way.

if

The

individual so affected can,

he

is

aware of what

has taken place, counteract these incantations or

mixtures, either by

more potent ones

of his own, or

by compassing the death of the author of them, as

the death of a wizard
is

supposed to result

in the

neutralization of his charms.

Now, sometimes these

is tliis tlie

mixtures are actual poisons, and not only

case, but

they are administered

surreptitiously to
;

the individual

whom

it

is

desired to bewitch
illness or

and

in these cases of

course the
is

death of the
result

bewitched

individual
I

the

direct

of

the

wizard's mixtures.

was never able was

to ascertain

what poisons were

used, but

told that they

were

yo
vegetable products.

The People
Possibly

belladonna or

nux

vomica, as these plants are found in the interior.

It is

strange that though vegetable drugs are used

for

this

purpose, and also for tipping arrows, yet

if

they rarely,
disease.

ever,

seem applied

to the healing of
I

The
oil

only product that

of,

could ascertain
oil tree

was made use

the fresh

was

that from the castor

obtained from the nuts, or the juice

expressed from the leaves, being used for external

application, as a stimulant to breasts which refused
to yield their proper supply of milk.

native

seeing an instance of people actually

after

dying

shortly

being bewitched,

and

being
in

unaware of the part which poison had played

the matter, would not unnaturally conclude, by a

hasty generalization,
equally sure
result.

that

all

witchcraft
in

had an
is

His belief

witchcraft

logical not a moral, a

mental not a spiritual defect.

In some such

way

as this,

by hasty generalization, he

comes
I

to believe in unlucky days

and unlucky

places.

do not think that there are any priests to teach

beliefs,

him these
result

but,

rather,

that

they are the

of careless observation, or faulty deduction

facts.

from undoubted

Yet

in attributing the belief

in witchcraft chiefly to faulty observation

tion,

and deduc-

we must

not overlook one element of truth in

Effects of Witchcraft

yi

the asserted power of witchcraft, nameh', the effect

which mental states do, undoubtedly, exercise on

the body.
tion,

Emotion can increase or diminish

alter

nutri-

and profoundly

secretions.

A sudden
;

shock

may

cause paralysis, insanity, or even death

little

and on the other hand, there seems

Professor Maudsley argues,
*

doubt, as

that the strong belief

that a bodily disorder will be cured by

ance, itself innocent of

some

appliaffect,

good or harm, may so

beneficially, the nutrition of the part as actually to

effect a cure.
. . .

Ceremonies, charms, gestures,

amulets, and the

all

like,

have

in

all

ages, and

among

nations been greatly esteemed and largely used

in the

treatment of disease

and

it

may

be speci-

ously presumed that they have derived their power,

not from any contact with the supernatural, but, as

Bacon observes, by strengthening and exalting the

imagination of him
It is this

who used

them.'
little

admixture of a
few facts with

truth with

much
no

error, of a

many

fancies, which,

doubt, has gained for witchcraft so

Belief
is

many

adherents.

infectious, at

any rate the

;

belief
it is

which

is

held by the large majority

for

and though
for a

difficult

any man to help yielding,

current
infatuations

time at

least, to

the

of his

sect

or party, he

would probably soon cut himself

adrift

from any

/-^

The People

belief

which had not some, indeed many, facts to As to the imitative nature of creduhty/ support it.
'

says Bagehot,

'

" there can be no doubt. In " Eothen

there

is

a capital description of
in the

how

every sort of

European resident

East, even the shrewd

merchant and the post-captain, with his bright, wakeful eyes, comes soon to beheve in witchcraft,
and to assure you,
is

in confidence, that there

" really

something

in

it."

He

has never seen anything

convincing himself, but he has seen those

seen those
fact,

who have
seen.

who have

seen those

who have

In

he has lived

in

an atmosphere of infectious
it.'

belief,

and he has inhaled

The

native feeling regarding a bewitched or unis

lucky place,

something

like that of

some Agnostic
:

who
*

replies
I

when asked
;

to live in a

haunted house

No,

thank you

believe not in a spiritual world,

but there are more things in heaven and earth than

are dreamt of in our philosophy, and
I

do not care

to bring myself into unnecessary contact with an

apparently injurious and

psychological or otherwise.'

unknown

force,

whether

No place is unlucky,' who objected to go to a

'

said one day to a chief

certain village on account

fetish,
'

of

its

being unlucky, or
it

or

'

mwiko,' as he

called

in the native language.

Indeed,' he replied,

Ujilucky
*

Days

73

then

why
in

did you leave the place you had been

camping

and choose another

I

?'

'

Because
ill,

it

was

unhealthy, and
died,

should have
*

fallen

and perhaps
'

had

I I

stayed there.'

Yes,' he said,
ill,

that

is

just v/hat
if I
it

mean;

shall get

and perhaps die

unhealthy,
silenced.
I

go to that

village.

You

call
I

it

call

" mwiko,"

it is

bewitched.'

was

There
than
in

is

nothing more

in the belief in witchcraft

in the belief

which many English people have

salt,

the unluckiness of spilling

of

commencing
thirteen to

any work on a Friday, of

sitting

down
;

dinner, or of walking under a ladder

nothing more in

the practice of
use of the
I

it

than envy, spite and hatred, making

lie

means which

close to their hands.

effect of

little

thought beforehand what one

our

strict

observance of Sundays on the march would

'

have on the observant natives.

Do you know
?'

wh}'

we work

as

little

as possible

on Sunday

said to

a small villager
'

who was

asking
'

me many
I

questions.
day.'

Oh yes,' he promptly replied, What is the case in West

;

it is

your unlucky

Africa,

am

not comI

petent to say

but

in

East and Central Africa

do

not think the natives can, in any sense, be fairly

accused of n'orshipping fetishes or charms, or the

unlucky days, or other things which these charms are

supposed to neutralize, any more than a somewhat

74
superstitious

The People
Englishman could be
fairly

accused of

being a wnrshipper of Fridays, or ladders, or patent

medicines.
All believe in witchcraft
;

indeed, this seems the

universal belief from north to south, and from sea

to
sea.

No

native

in

Africa ever dies a

If

natural

death according to the popular idea.

he

is

a
;

man

of any importance,

an inquest
see in

is

always held

a medicine-man casts
the witch or wizard

lots, to

whose hut
his death,

lies

who has caused

and
lot

when

the hut

is

discovered, the

same unerring

singles out the victim,

executed, the usual

to

who is thereupon tried and mode of executing being either

else to

hack the victim to death with axes, or

alive.

burn

him

On

one occasion a sub- chief at

friend.

Mpwapwa

went out hunting with a

Being, as most

natives are, very careless with his gun, instead of

shooting the

game he expected

to,

he shot himself

through his knee-joint, causing a bad compound

fracture of the thigh.

He

died not

many days

after-

wards, and an inquest was at once held to ascertain

the cause of his death.

The medicine-man called in discovered that he had been bewitched, and some poor
innocent unfortunate was accordingly put to death.

This casting of

lots is

not

all fair

and above-board
takes care that

by any means.

The medicine-man

The Medicine- Man

the lot does not
fall

75

at the
is

door of a powerful man,

or the probability

that the intended victim will

make

short

work

of or

him and

his lots.

Usually a
;

friendless old

man

woman

is

the

unhappy victim

this being the safest

course, the medicine-man

get-

ting his fee,

and the dead man leaving no one behind

avenge him.
fees

who

will trouble to
lot is

But the medicine-

man's

not

all

and

feasting.

He

is

credited

with the power of bewitching people himself, and

professional jealousy often incites a brother medico
to rid himself of one

who, as he considers, absorbs

too large a share of his practice, the result being

that the medicine-man

makes

his

bed

at last

on the

burning place to which he has consigned so

victims.
Still

many

the profession

is

always

filled,

though

one would have thought that the pleasure of roasting

many other people would any man for having to undergo

even
rain

hardly compensate
this

agony himself
is

Another function of the medicine-man

;

to provide

and great meetings are held

at
all
it

which monoday long,

in

tonous musical incantations go on

the hope that rain

may come.
if it

If

comes, he gets

the credit of

it,

and

does not come, he demands

more

presents, which he will

hand over (when he

asks him to do so) to the yet unpropitiated god.

Sometimes, however, the disappointed people come

76

The People
medicine-man would make
is

to the conclusion that the

the most acceptable present, and he

offered

accordingly

up.

Occasionally

person punished for

witchcraft only meets the fate he richly deserves, as

when

man who

covets
if

his

neighbour's goods,
I

threatens to bewitch him

he proves obstinate.

remember the case

of an Arab, who, passing through

a village up country, and

being unable to obtain

what he wanted from the people there, told them

that he

was going

to bewitch them.
it

They

naturally

came

to

the conclusion that

if

would be a very

desirable thing

he died before his spells were

completed, and accordingly they speared him.

The custom

peculiar, in the civilized world, to the

tribes in the interior,

Jews prevails amongst certain

whilst others never practise

it.

This

rite

is

per-

formed at about the fourteenth year upon boys, and

in a

modified form upon

girls.

The
little

rite

has ap-

parently not been introduced by the Arabs, as

of the tribes

many

who

practise

it

hold

or no inter-

course with them, and are far too conservative in

their
It

customs to follow the Arabs or anyone

else.

appears to have no relation to any religious belief;

is

indeed, there

practically

no Mohammedanism

in

East Equatorial Africa, except on the coast and

in

the Arab settlements of the interior, which are few

A
and
far

Jewish Rite
one can say whence the
tribes should practise
at
all.
I

yj
rite
it

between.

No

arose,

and why some

so

carefully

and some not

have never even

heard a theory suggested.

Most of the

tribes
all,

seem devoid of much hair on

and those
tribes

the face, but not

which appar-

ently have none at

all

have usually had some, which

artificial

they have got rid of by

means
'

a hair

is
'

considered a blemish, and so the

better dressed

men,

if

one may so term them, carry a pair of

rough iron tweezers with them, with which they

extract the offending growths.

Salutations

differ

amongst the
;

different

tribes.

Most simply

salute at a distance

but some shake

tribes

hands, and this occurs

amongst

who have
little inter-

never seen a white man, and

course with the Arabs.
I

who have
a

have seen a native

AS'ho

had

just returned

home from

distance meeting
left

his friends, going up to them, placing his

hand

on their shoulder and shaking the right hand with

them, smiling away
all

the time, just as any

warm-

hearted Englishman might do on meeting a very

intimate friend after a long absence.

The
will

style of huts built

in a

by the inland tribes has

;

been described
it

previous chapter
isolated

and from that

is

be seen

how

each hut

from

its

78

The People
is

neighbour, an isolation which

increased by the

self-supporting and self-contained character of each

little

community.
has

Each tembe, containing

its

four or

five families,

own farm
seed,

or

'

shamba,' upon
corn,

which

it

raises

millet

Indian

sweet

potatoes, pumpkins, ground nuts, and usually

variety of bean,

some

and a green vegetable.

in

Both men

and women work

soil

the shamba, hoeing up the

into high ridges,

and planting the seeds on the

top of the ridges just before the

the heavy rains, and after the light rains have

commencement of made

the previously-baked ground soft enough to work.

The ground
implement
behind,
the

is

hoed up by means of a jembe, an

a large English hoe, with a spike

like

spike

being passed

through a

hole

burnt in a long smoothed piece of wood, which

serves as a handle.

These hoes are made

chiefly in

Unyamwezi, where the natives have small charcoal

furnaces and smelt the iron which
the surface.
barter,
is

there found on

They then become

the chief article of

tribes

and are either used as hoes by the

who purchase them,

has
its

or else forged into spearheads,

arrowheads, billhooks, or axes.

forge

Each

village usually

for this purpose, the

bellows being

made

of two cylinders cut from the trunk of a tree,

is

the bottom of each cylinder

solid,

and the top

JVo?'kers in

Metal

79
finnly fastened

covered with

a piece

of goatskin

round the edge, and with a rod fixed to the centre.

The smith

squats

down between

these cylinders and raises and

depresses the rods alternately,

urrent of air escaping by a

HOE AND OTHKR

IM1'I.KMF':NTS.

tube fitted into the lower part of each c}'lindcr, the

two tubes uniting together

charcoal
fire.

just in front of a small

8o

The People
grain raised on the

The

shamba

is

gathered by
in

women in

harvest time, and brought

home

baskets
of long,

woven by women from the numberless kinds

basket work

strong grass and reed growing everywhere.

is

The
;

very thoroughly and neatly done

many

of the baskets will hold water, and are by

some

tribes used instead of gourds for that purpose.

When
made
The

brought

home

the seed

is

stored in large tubs

of wickerwork and clay, which being larger than

the doorways have to be built inside the house.

next step
mortar.

is

to

pound the grain

do
this
five

in a large

wooden
working

Two women
heavy
in

work
feet

together, the
long,

two large
alternately

pestles,

one mortar

in

perfect

time.

The

workers frequently perform

this very

heavy labour,

each having a child fastened on to her back. They are

careful not to waste

any grain during

is

this process

and to this end the mortar

large, flat,

frequently placed in a
off

shallow basket.

This pounding takes

is

the outer husk, and the mixture

then winnowed

very
grain

skilfully in
is finally
it

shallow baskets, and the separated

fine flour.

ground to
flat

This

is

effected
this

by placing

upon a

stone,

and passing over

backwards and forwards a rounded stone with one

flat

surface.

An

incline to the large

under stone

gives the necessary inducement to the

flour to collect

Fallow Ground
in

8i

one direction.

This grinding entails very hard

that entailed by the
mill-stones

work,

much harder than

tribes,

two
are

round

horizontally -placed

which

used by the coast

and which are so familiar

life.

to us in pictures of Eastern

The
made

flour so pre-

pared

is

mixed with water and cooked

This pot

into a thick

porridge in an earthenware pot

of iron claystone.
is

out of a kind

supported on three

stones for cooking purposes, and a

wood

fire

lighted
it

between them.
called

The
is

porridge or

'ugali,'

as

is

by the natives,
is

the staple food of the interior.

Millet seed ugali

much more

sustaining than Indian

corn, and the latter than rice.

With

their ugali the

natives eat as a relish either dried half-cooked fowl,

or beef or mutton treated in a similar way.

When

these delicacies are not to be obtained, ground nuts,

pumpkins, or some other vegetables take their place.

On

the coast cocoa-nut

is
;

largely used as a relish

with more satisfying food

but the cocoa-nut palm

the interior.

does not grow much,

if

at

all, in

The

soil is

prepared for cultivation by burning

down
the

the trees, undergrowth and grass, and digging

all

remains
years,

in.

farm

is

generally cultivated for

to
lie

two

and then allowed

fallow

for

a year.

The

natives

have no idea of alternation of crops

soil,

upon the same

nor do they ever attempt to

6

82
enrich
it

The People
by using any of the manures obtainable
is

although land near a village

really valuable, as, so

lies

much being
village
it

cultivated,

if

much

fallow near the

necessitates

some

of the residents having

their farms perhaps

two miles from home.

its

Each tembe keeps

and goats, and
its

own herd

of cattle, sheep

own fowls and

little

occasionally pigeons.

But the people pay

attention to the improveeither to

ment of
fatten

their cattle,

making no attempt

them
select.

up, or to improve the breeds or keep

them

The only unusual product which

saw was a cow which was a cross between a

and a domestic cow, but how
I
it

buffalo

had been obtained

never ascertained.

There are herds of donkeys

but again
;

far

up

in the interior,

little

attention seems

to be paid to their breeding

they are very sluggish

plentiful,
I

creatures.
it

As zebras are so
to cross the

should think
;

would pay

donkeys with them

tried

such
the

an experiment has been successfully

in

Zoological Gardens, and the animals stuffed are

in the

now
of

Natural History

Museum

at

South Kensington.

The animals
round to
for water.

are herded by the younger

members

each family, who take them daily to the country

find pasturage,

and

to the wells or

streams
usually

The cows supply

the milk, which

is

drunk

sour, or else kept for the purpose of

making

Piloted ion
butter,

from Cold
is

83

which when rancid

used for anointing the

body with, a more necessary custom than dwellers

in

temperate zones are apt to imagine.

The naked

skin needs

protecting against the cool winds and

night air of even a tropical climate, especially in the

hills
;

and

oil

well rubbed in

is

as great a retainer of

warmth

as even a woollen vest.

Natives, though

not averse to washing, will never do so in any region

where there are cold winds, unless they have a

supply of
oil

at

hand with which

to anoint

them-

selves afterwards.

Many

tribes rub

on their skin a

mixture of

oil

and clay

to protect themselves not

only against the cold, but also against the rays of

the sun.

For the same reason they

also rub clay

it

and
is

oil

on their calico when used as clothing, as

not of sufficient substance without such treatment

to protect
at

them from

either sun or wind.

The

chief

Mpwapwa

one day received a present from a

of a

German
appeared

settler

handsome black Arab

silver braid.
It

cloth

gown, ornamented with

in his
;

Next day he

new garment.

was almost unin

recognisable
oil

he had carefully rubbed

clay and

over

its

entire surface.

When

cattle

are

killed

for

food, the skins are

scraped clean, pegged out on the ground hair downwards, and dried in the sun.

The Waganda and some

62

84
tribes in the south,

The People
amongst whom are the Bechuana,

prepare their skins with great care, rubbing ingredients in to

make them supple

but the less cultured

peoples with

whom we

are concerned are content to

simply clean and dry their skins.

The

skin so

prepared
it

is

cut to shape with a knife, holes bored in

it

with an arrowhead, and thin thongs cut from

it

passed through these holes, and used to sew

the required shape for use
as
clothing.

into

On

the

caravan routes, fowls, eggs, and grain are bartered

by the people

for cloth, which, along these routes,

is

largely used for clothing instead of skins.

By

the

same method

of barter, old flint locks,

and some-

times old muskets and ammunition, are obtained

from passing caravans

but the

spears, javelins,

bows, and arrows are made by the natives themselves.

Thus,

with

the

exception
the

of

the

iron

hoe-heads, which are

made by

Wanyamwezi,
to provide

each tembe
itself

is

quite independent,

and able

with

all

the necessaries and, to an African's

life.

idea, all the comforts of

little

Yet the African has

store

foresight,

and

will

not
;

up to provide

against failure in his crop

hence, even one scanty

rainy season will cause a famine that will result in

the death of large numbers of people, especially the

very young and very old.

Tobacco

85
of his time

The African spends much The pipe he

smoke
is

smoking

under the shade of a clay and wickerwork awning.

uses
is

made from

a gourd, and the

it,

inhaled through water contained in

it

the
foul

water being changed as often as

becomes

foul,

that

is,

to

an African's

taste.

The tobacco

grows

in a little

protected enclosure near his tembe,

HOOKAH
and he dries
it

himself.

We
I

planted lettuces

in

our

garden, and the natives mistook them

for the tobacco-plant.

when young
year,

remember one
rather

when

the

tobacco crop was

poor

and behind-

hand, that the natives

came up

to gaze in envy at
: '

the lettuces of a friend of mine, remarking

have

You
have

managed
Indian

to get your tobacco well forward this

year.'

hemp, or hasheesh, which

86

The People
is

nowhere seen growing,

also used

by the natives

in

some

districts.

It

produces a kind of intoxication,

and the devotee

to the hasheesh-pipe soon

becomes
snuff-

a slave to the habit.

Not only smoking, but

taking
sexes.
in

is
I

universally practised

by the natives of both

remember

a native who, seeing a

European

bad health using some strong smelling-salts, went

to be allowed to try the white

up to him, and asked

man's

snuff, a request

which was
tried

at

once granted

and the native vigorously

snuff,

the white man's

and then

sat

down on

the ground in breathless

amazement.

The boys and

girls

spend their time between herd-

ing the cattle or playing games, or idling, chiefly the

latter.

The younger ones amuse themselves with

spears, bows,

mimic

and arrows, the elder ones play a

kind of hockey, and the adults a

a large board, the rules of which
ascertaining.

game
I

of marbles on

did not succeed in

'
'

many places the ngoma is a Men and women stand round favourite occupation. in a large circle, and one man and one woman from
In
opposite sides advance towards the centre, dance a

few steps

round each

other,

sometimes

holding

hands, and then

couple, and
so

retire, to

be followed by the next

succession, whilst a

on

in endless

native

drum keeps up

a monotonous but not

un-

The N'goma
pleasing

87
three
or
four
in

succession

of

sounds,

number, and varying

sion for
night.

in intensity,

without intermis-

many

hours, sometimes even for a day and

in the sun, or in the

Lying about

shade when

that

is

too hot, seems to an African boy the

of existence.

summum
and

bonum
that

He

does not naturally care for

little

games, except such as require

little in

exertion,
it

extreme moderation.

Probably

would

not take

many

generations of continuous living in a

to an approximately

tropical climate to reduce us

similar condition of chronic lethargy.

The East Equatorial

individual
;

African

is

not

a warlike

he

is

timid

and suspicious, and these

characteristics often urge

him on

to acts of violence

which he would not naturally commit.

Of

all

the

Bantu races

in the district
in

we

are considering, the

is

Mhehe,

living

Uhehe, south of Ugogo,

is

the

most warlike, and equalling him

the Masai, who,

however, does not belong to the Bantu family.

Yet
I

the courage and ferocity of the Masai have been,

have no hesitation
travellers,

in saying,

very

much

overrated by

and

believe his reputation for bravery

fact that

arises solely

from the

he

is

less peaceable,

and perhaps somewhat

which he
is

less timid,

than the tribes by

surrounded.
is

He

has a wholesome dread

likel}-

of the white man, and

not

to cause

much

SS

The People
Company,

trouble to the Imperial British East Africa

in

whose sphere he

chiefly lives.

Indeed, he will

probably be glad to come to terms with the company

at the earliest

opportunity, and

may

prove a very

useful

ally.

have

seen some

battles

between

different

Bantu tribes, and the combatants frequently

fire at

stand well out of range, and

ilint-lock

each other with

muskets or other

fossil

weapons.

Just

before
battle
I

went up into the

interior, there

had been a
which

between two
going.
told,

villages near the place to

was
was

They had fought

for forty- eight hours,

without a single casualty on either side.

The

different tribes are very particular

about the

shape and ornamentation

spears especially
;

of

their

weapons, the

and the

tribe to

which men on

the warpath belong can easily be recognised by the

shape of the weapons they

the Mhehe, for instance,
is

use.

The

small spear of

very different from the

small spear of the neighbouring tribes, but remarkably like the assegai of the Zulu, so

much

so, that

when
two

showed some natives

in

the

interior

the of

coloured picture in the

officers
in

Graphic

of the

death
at

the

Zulu

War,

they

once
:

exclaimed, on seeing the weapons the Zulus carried

*

Why,

those are Wahehe.'

The accompanying

illus-

trations of Kihehe, Ki Masai, and

Kinyamwezi spears

Ornamentation of Weapons
will

89

show the points

of

difference.

A
used

peculiar

weapon,
ently
all

apparis

over Africa,

one closely resembling

the

Irishman's

knob-

kerry, used for settling

disputes

in

friendly

way.
or
'

The

knob-kerry,

rungu,' used by the

at the
is

Wa-Chagga
trasted with

base
con-

of Kilimanjaro

that used
acMatahfU

by

the

Matabele,
to
'

cording
in his

Mackenzie

book,

Ten Years
Orange
which
I

North of the
River,'

from

have copied the engraving.

It
is

used upon

Assnoai.

both

men and animals, and when wielded by a

skilful

Kt Nyamwirx,

hand

it

is

cap-

able of inflicting an ugly

wound upon

a man.

fsiltmaninro

I
S^i-ar-

KunyiL

have occasionally seen

SPEARS AND KNOli-KERRIKS

90
it

TJie People
result, as
it

used by the natives, but without any

hit the object at

never
In

which

it

was aimed.
obhged to wear
out

many

districts, the natives are

anklets of roughly- made iron bells

after dusk, in order to

when they go

warn others of

their approach,
is

as a

man approaching
is
is

noiselessly at night
is

supposed

to be bent
if

upon mischief, and there

no penalty
if

he

killed.

Under ordinary circumstances,

kills

man
pay

killed

by accident, the person who

must

his value to his relatives.

is

Man

being such a

regular article of barter, there

in arriving at the

never any difficulty

damages

to be paid.
I

The
men, as

chiefs

are

chosen by the leading men.

rather think that in this

is

selection the wealthiest

in the matter.

natural,
is

have most to say

Yet there
chief's

occasionally a

man who

is

known
;

as the
I

heir during the

is

latter's

lifetime

but

do

not

know how he

selected.

The

chief always
all

seems to have more slaves and wealth of

than any other
chief inherits

kinds

man

this

is

natural, because each

the wealth of his predecessor, and

it.

adds his own riches to

chief do

have never seen a

manual labour,

his principal functions being

apparently to decide disputes between leading men,

to

pay

visits

to

neighbouring chiefs, and receive

visits

from them.

There are always

sub-chiefs, but

lVarn'o7's
I

91

do not know how they are chosen.

call

The

chiefs
to

can

upon

their

men

to fight, but rarely

seem

organize them for war.

The

warriors do not appear

to be ever drilled; but occasionally put

on

their war-

paint and dress

villages in a

when going to friendly way. Once

enemy

visit
I

neighbouring
half a dozen
in a

saw

in war-paint, shields

and spears, indulging

;

mock

attack upon an imaginary

when

the

enemy

appeared somewhat unexpectedly

mastiff

in the

shape of

my

and

his puppy,

who rushed up towards them,

their curiosity excited at the sight of such strange

creatures.

But the warriors mistook the animals'

innocent intentions, and

made

for the nearest hut,

throwing away such impedimenta as shields and

spears,
in

their

headlong

flight.

We

came up

shortly afterwards,

and explained matters to them,

to obtain their dis-

when they

all

came out again

carded weapons, laughing heartily at their mistake,

and evidently not

duct unwarlike.

in

the least considering their con-

When
he
is,

a chief dies, the fact

is

is

kept quiet until his

successor

elected.

If

you happen to ask where

you

will

be told that he has gone to an ad-

jacent district for his health.

is

His successor,
often not

who
once

frequently his
;

brother,

is

elected for

some weeks

but

when

elected, he acquires at

92
all

The People
the property of his predecessor, including his
;

wives

but his predecessor's favourite wife will not

;

necessarily, indeed, not probably, be his

and

if

not,

her bracelets and necklaces and other ornaments

will all

be taken

off to

grace the neck and limbs of

I

his

own

favourite.

remember
and

well

two sable

ladies,

heavy with ornaments of brass and copper,

to visit

who used

my

wife,

sit

upon the veranda

whilst she talked or read to them,

coming back

after

the death of the chief, their husband, dressed in

dirty cloth, without a single ornament.

When
made
suitor

girls

become
and

of a marriageable age, their

is

parents have a grand feast, at which the fact

public,

they can

then

be

sought

in

marriage by any
is

eligible

young man.

An

eligible

one who can give the parents the required

of

number

cows.

But

likely

young

man

is

allowed to pay a proportion of the cows at the

marriage, and the rest afterwards.
If the girl

does

not like her husband, she

is

by some

tribes allowed

to leave him, but her parents have to return the

cows.
in

Girls,

however, are usually allowed some say

I

the

marriage arrangements.

recollect

being

rather amused, one day, at hearing the reply of a

pleasant-faced young

woman, who was asked why

she had refused the hand of the chief of the village

Eligible Stiitors

93

(part of his hand, correctly speaking, as he already

had two or three

and too
ugly.
It

wives).

She said he was too

true.

old,
is

was most

A young man
;

not considered grown up until he marries

so a

bachelor
ence.
village,
I

is

not looked upon with very great rever-

recollect

when

going, one day, to a strange

little

chit of a

boy marched up

to

me,

stuck his arms out, put his hands into what would

have been his pockets, had he worn clothes, and

putting his head on one side, looked up at me, and
said, in

an impudent voice

'

Are you married

wife and
I

?'

On

another occasion

my

had been

visiting a chief of a small village,

and as we were

we heard the steps of people running to catch us up so we waited a moment, and up came two young men quite out of breath. As soon as he
going away,
;

could get his breath, one of them said, pointing to

my

wife

' :

How many

cows could

get one like

in

that for?'

tried to explain to

him that

England
'

people did not get their wives in that way.

nothing!' he
like that for

'could exclaimed, delighted

?'

For

get one

nothing

I
if

told

him

in

answer to one

of his questions that,

he came to England, he

would be allowed to ask a

but that
say:
*

woman
so,
this,

to be his wife,

thought

if

he did

she would probably

No.'

His

friend,

upon

looked at him.

94

The People
fit

and, bursting into a hearty

of laughter said, with

emphasis

Yes,

expect she would say. No.'

latter especially, are

Both men and women, the

door when

very polite to white people, and they stand at the

calling,

and wait

for

an invitation before

coming
one

When on a journey down country on occasion with my wife and child, the natives at
in.

most

villages used to
it

send a spokesman to ask us at

to us for

what time

would be most convenient

see the baby,
if

them
them
I

to

come and

we would

allow

to do so.

have spoken of the natural cowardice of many

of the tribes, yet they are brave enough

when with

white men.

When
is

they

know

you, they trust you

not to desert them, and so they will not desert you.

Their cowardice

apparent more than real

;

as
the
is

much

caution as cowardice

a caution,
for

too,

natural outcome of distrust,

untruthfulness

the curse of Africa, as

it is

of Eastern nations, and

a native feels

when

fighting that he cannot place

much

confidence in his brother, and so acts as a

is

man, who, though not particularly cowardly,

particularly brave, often will act

not

when he

finds he

has no one
I

whom
ill,

he can depend upon.

village,

once had to go to a
in

near which a brother

missionary lay

order to warn him of an ex-

Caution not Cozvardice

95

pected attack on the village by a hostile marauding

band.

arrived at the village about midnight, and

asked two of the

men who were with me, and who

if

were armed with breechloaders,

they would go up
I

and give the alarm

the walk.
it

at the house, as

was

tired with

They were

afraid to go, as the

in wait

enemy,

was

feared,

might be lying

on the way

but they were willing enough to do so

offered
to

when

accompany them, although

have found
will

had no
I

weapon

of any kind with me.

I
it

Wherever

have

travelled,

the

same

if

the native

knows you, he

stand by you, and cheerfully go

I

through dangers with you.

have found

it

the

same even with the Zanzibari,

Arab comes
stances,
if

unless, of course, the

into the question,

fight

under which circumhe would be

he were to

for you,

fighting against his

own
;

master, which you could

for the
calls

hardly expect him to do

Arab's slave, even
or
*

Zanzibari
'

is

the
'

when he

himself

mngwana

free

man.'

But even under these circumstances

he

will

not attack you himself.

He

will

simply leave

you undefended.
the

At the time of the war between

the East Coast, in 1888,

Germans and Arabs on

myself,

Mr. Ashe from Uganda, and

my

wife with her baby

and

were

coming down country with a

;

caravan composed largely of Zanzibaris

when the

96

The People

news reached us that the Arab Governor of the

nearest coast

town had ordered

all

white people

and

their native servants to be

killed,

and as we

were the only white people near, he had sent up a

well-armed convoy to destroy our caravan.

Zanzibaris

The
;

came

to us

and
;

told us the

news

said

that they were only slaves

that, therefore,

though

they would fight for our safety willingly enough

against the
against their
interior

natives, they could

;

not fight

own masters

but that they would not

to a village near,

help

them

injure us,

and would go

so as to be out of the

way

until, as

they delicately

put

it,

it

was

all

over.

Even, then, one of their

wil-

number was found who, with an Mnyamwezi,

lingly risked his
life

to take a

message to the coast.

Consul-General,

So we

w^rote a tiny letter to the

it

Colonel Euan-Smith, sewed

calico they

up

in the

seam of some

were wearing, took away their guns and

other modern appliances, and gave them spears and

bows and arrows, and disguised them

natives.

as up-country
in four

They

travelled only

by night, and

days

reached

the coast

town, where they were

people from the interior

searched for

letters, as all

were just then.

that the search

However, they looked such savages

was not very

careful,

and they were

at

allowed to go across to Zanzibar,

when they

once

Messengers in Disguise
took our
letter to the

97
obtained

Consul-General,

who

from the Sultan a

letter to the

Arab Governor, orderplace of refuge,

Directly

ing him to escort us

down from our

for

and making him responsible

this order

our safety.

came up

country, our Zanzibaris returned

to us,
I
'

and willingly helped us to get to the coast.

to read
'

was sorry

in

Professor

Drummond's

Tropical Africa
:

the

following description of the

Zanzibari
'

Here (Zanzibar) these black

villains the porters,

the necessity and the despair of travellers, the

scum

of old slave gangs, and the fugitives from justice

from every
is

tribe,

congregate for

hire.

And

if

there

one thing on which African travellers are for once

it

agreed,

is

that for laziness, ugliness, stupidness,

to be

and wickedness these men are not

any continent
in

matched on

the world.'*
porters,
it

As regards the honesty of these

fell

to

my lot

in

one period of a

little

over a year to arrange

for the transit

to or through

Mpwapwa

from the

coast of over one

thousand man-loads of goods.

They were
Zanzibari.
voices and

all

brought up at intervals by Zanzibaris,

in

and the head-man

charge was nearly always a

I

Yet when

came

to check off the inI

compare them with the goods,

* 'Tropical Africa,'
p. 5.

found

98
all

The People
correct with the exception of one-third of a load
cloth,

of

which had evidently been stolen by a

porter, as he

Zanzibar

had dropped some of

his
I

dirty playing cards in while ransacking the bale.

have no great admiration

Zanzibari
;

for

the

morals of the
for

but

have known him

is,

some

years,

and

must admit that he

as a rule, surprisingly
;

honest, kind-hearted, and faithful to his employer

and Captain Hore, who has known him about three

times as long as
to his worth.
I

have, bears the

same testimony
the native constation.

It is quite true that

verts are better people to have

on a mission
if

What
not
?

should

we mean by conversion
is

they were

And

it

the case that the presence of Zan-

zibaris as workers at a mission station, with all their

Arabian morals,

is

often

a distinct

disadvantage

from a missionary's point of view.

But though we

may

not desire them as co-workers in missionary

effort,

we have no
way
as
is

right

to

deny their good and

praiseworthy
wholesale

qualities,

or

hbel

them

in

such a

sometimes done, because they

possibly tax the small stock of patience of an occasional traveller.

The

native

method of obtaining

fire is

ingenious,

but only occasionally put into practice.

of dead

small log
size of

wood

is

selected,

and a hole half the

Making Fire
the last joint of the
log
is

99

little

finger

made

in

it.

This

now steadied by the native who seats himself

for that purpose,

on the ground
his feet
;

and holds

it

with

then taking a pointed

stick,

and inserting

the point into the hole in the log, he rapidly twists

it

between

his

opened palms.

The

resulting friction
it

first

warms

the wood, and then heats

it

to such

an

extent that

sets fire either to

it,

some

tinder which

he has previously placed round

dry, to

or, if the

wood be
is

the log

itself.

But

this
fires

method

rarely

required.

In the villages

are always

kept

burning, whilst on the

frequently have fires

march the camping-places

Occasionally at
at

smouldering.
will

such places a fallen tree

left

be

lit

one end, and

to smoulder.

have seen such a tree burning,

four or five days later,

and, repassing the

same place
alight.

have found
is

it still

When

the camping-place

in a village, the native usually takes a

live fuel

potsherd

and obtains a fragment of

huts
light
;

from one of the

fail,

but even

when

all

these things

he

will

some

tinder by the flint-lock of his gun, or by

exploding a percussion cap, sooner than go to the

trouble of obtaining
fire

by

friction.

The many different

the

Africans are a very musical race, and have

kinds of instruments

but everywhere

same

style of

music.

The commonest instrument

7^

lOO
is

The People
made by fastening a large hollow wood of a bow tightly strung.
string with a

a kind of banjo
to the

gourd on

The notes are produced by tapping the slight wooden bar, and modified by
open end of the gourd against the
it.

pressing the

chest, or releasing
is

Another

less

which children

common at home

instrument

like the

toy

play on, composed of a

number

of slips of glass fastened on two parallel

pieces of string and struck by a light rod.

In Africa

pieces of ver}' hard

wood

of graduated sizes take the

place of the glass

parallel lines

slips,

and they are fastened on two

the

one made of a bar of wood, and

the other of a piece of string or a strip of leather

another piece of hard wood forms the striker.

The
is

music generally consists of a few bars containing

each two or three notes, of which the following

an

example

V^

W~
^

This

is

repeated over and over again, and sounds

;

rather monotonous to European ears

to have a peculiar exciting effect

but appears

upon the native

faster

players,
until the

making them chant or play

climax
;

and

faster

is

reached, and the time gradually

is

slows

down

but whether fast or slow, the time

always remarkably good.

They

evidently have

African Music
very clear idea of false
notes, as

loi
frequently one

player corrects the other for singing or playing a

false

note.

duet

is

sometimes played on the

second instrument described, the hands of the performers constantly crossing during the performance
of the piece
;

and

it is

amusing

to see one, evidently

for playing false

the leader, scolding his

companion

notes or making mistakes which could only be dis-

covered by the most educated ear, as

alike

it

all

sounds

to

the

uninitiated

listener.

Sometimes the

performers break out into song, and a third occasionally joins

in

upon a kind of

flute,

or

rather
whistle,

flageolet, blosvn

from the end

like a

penny

which emits sounds absurdly

the highland bagpipes.

like

those produced by

On

the

march the porters

;

often sing to relieve the

monotony of the way

makes

and

their chant,

though most
effect,

monotonous, has a certain soothing

listening to
it

which

quite a pleasure.

One, evidently

the leader, begins with a sort of recitative, which he

intones

and

at the conclusion of this,

two

sets of

men
word.

sing alternately as a chorus a two-syllabled

For instance, one

set sing

^^^^EEIEEEL and
he ya

-&

the other

1^'

=^^^^
he
ya

I02

The People
so,

As they do
each

they catch each other up in admirable

time, though there

set,
file

may be twenty

or thirty voices in

and separated some distance as they walk

;

single

sometimes pitching the notes high, somethere

times low, with apparently no rule, though

evidently must be one, as there
is

nothing to jar

even the most sensitive ear.

will all

At other times they

:

sing in unison the following chorus

-ehe ya he ya

repeating

it

over and over again, sometimes for

together.

many minutes
It is

difficult to

describe the effect of this wild;

sounding monotonous chant

it

but no one could hear

is

without being struck with the fascination there

it,

to keep repeating

and

its

soothing

effect.

The

hammock-bearers,

too, separated

from the caravan,

as they carry the
is

often keep up a song of their

traveller at

own

an easy

trot.

Frequently the song

only four words, repeated over and over again to

two or three notes of music

but sometimes long

descriptive pieces of poetry are set to the

notes,

same few

and

still

the time

is

kept admirably; whilst at

is

other times a comparatively short song

set to a

Descriptive Poetry

103
fol-

much more
Moderate.

elaborate piece of music, as in the

lowing specimen :*

^^H
Jog, jog, jog, thro' thick-et and thorn.

^==^
reach the

Now we
Tu
-

jun-gle.
-

Ngo, ngo, ngo, na

se

nge

re

te.

ngi

ra

ma kwa

wa.

Now
Tu
-

we
ngi

reacli

the

jun
-

gle.

Now
Tu
-

we
ngi

reach

the
nia
-

ra

ma

kwa

wa.

ra

jun-gle. kwa - wa.

:i^
Now
Tu

-4^-:F3=*
jun-gle

we
ngi
-

reach
ra

the

so
-

dark.

ma

ko

le

re

wa.

It is

Strange

how

well even the savage, uncultured

natives understand the rules of chanting.

As regards the morals of the African

want of

native,

think the most striking feature, to a European,

his

is

truthfulness.

He

apparently has

no

conception of the value or desirability of real truthfulness,

and

suppose this feature he shares with

most Eastern nations. Even amongst the Jews lying

does not seem to have been definitely forbidden
* For
of
this piece of

are translated

my

friend,

Kinyamwezi music and the words (which somewhat freely) I am indebted to the kindness the Rev. W. E. Taylor, of the Church Missionary

Society in East Africa.

I04
in the decalogue,

The People
except where,
as
in

the
it

cases

considered in the ninth

commandment,

caused

injury to a man's neighbours.

You can only teach

the African the meaning of truth by being scrupulously truthful yourself,

especially in bargaining, a

very large item of one's existence in the interior.

Of
no

the sinfulness of drunkenness they also have

idea.

Beer

is

only brewed two or, at most, three

times a year as a rule, and on these occasions a

whole

village settles

down to

a steady drinking bout for

two or three days, the drinking being accompanied

by a monotonous chant, and equally monotonous
incessant drumming, which
night, relays of
until the

never ceases day nor

drummers succeeding one another,

over, or everyone
is

bout

is

hopelessly and

incapably drunk.
St.

Once

had been reading through

I

Luke with

a native

whom

was attending

for a

gunshot wound

in the thigh.

One day he informed

me

in

an innocent way that he was going to get

it

drunk on the morrow, evidently thinking that

would be a piece of information that would

me, as
I

interest

often inquired about native customs.

called
is
'

Near the coast a kind of wine

tembo

'

is

made from cocoa-nut

the year round
;

sap,

and

this

obtainable
is

all

hence drunkenness
than in the

far

more

prevalent

at

the coast

interior.

To

Palm Wine
obtain this sap an incision
is

105
into the stalk of
;

made

a bunch of quite immature cocoa-nuts

incision a Httle bucket, usually

beneath the
a cocoa-

made from The

nut

shell, is

secured and

left

there.

tree, at the

OBTAINING COCOA-NUT SAP.

YOUNG COCOA-NUT TREE

fruit,

very summit of which

it

is

the

has steps cut into

the whole

way up

and by these steps the natives

full

easily

ascend to secure the cup

it b}-

of sap,

and

replace

an empt}' one.

io6
In
their

The People
outward
behaviour before Europeans,
In
fact,

the people are quite decent.

living

a white

man
own.

amongst them

will

probably gauge their sin-

fulness in this direction to

If

some extent by

his

he

is

as careful of propriety in Central Africa as

in

he would be

his

own English home, he

and he may
live

will

probably find the natives extremely careful in their

behaviour before him

amongst
being

them
Again,

for

months, or years, without

ever

offended by even an improper gesture on their part.

if

he shows no pleasure

in

hearing descripheathen, he

tions of the unholy practices of the

will
fail

have none given to him.

to describe a part,
life

In this

way he

will

and perhaps a not unimof the Central African

;

portant part, of the

it

but

is

a loss not to be regretted.

Can
?

man touch

pitch,

and not be himself

defiled

BANJO

CHAPTER

IV

THE DAILY LIFE OF THE PEOPLE

The

daily

life

of the people can perhaps be best

understood by a description of the events which

occur during a day or two at some important village

such

as

Mpwapwa.
of

This

village

consists

of

collection

about a hundred

tembes, scattered

over an area about two miles by one, each tembe

sheltering three or four families, usually of people
related to one another.
slept in such a

On
I

one occasion when

to

tembe,

had

remain there

until

nearly

mid-day,
all

and

so

had the

opportunity of
the

observing
inmates.

the consecutive occupations of

At daybreak, which occurred about a quarterpast

five,

there

was a

stir

amongst the sleeping

had been wrapped
their

forms, which up to this time

in

the

light
in

calico

sheets

which served as

garments
night.

the daytime, and their bedclothes at

sleepily over,

They turned

yawned, stretched

io8

TJie

Daily Life of the People

;

themselves, and then gave a shiver

for the early

morning, though
blankets,

warm enough

to

man under
whose

was not very comforting

to those

only protection was one thickness of light calico.

The women
up,

were, as usual, the

first

to rise,

and got

some from

their resting-places

on the ground,

others from their simple native bedsteads, consisting

of a light

framework of wood, with an ox-hide

stretched tightly across.

calico

The two

or three yards of
for the night

which had formed the wrap

was

now

re-arranged, and tucked round the waist as a

sort of skirt.

One

of the children then brought a

small gourd of water, which

little

he carefully poured

by

little

over his mother's hands,

face,

who

first

washed her own hands and

ceeded to perform the same
children,

and then proher smaller

to

office for

an attention which they did not appear

appreciate.

The

next duty which

fell

upon the

women and
grass tied
careful to

children

was

to

sweep out the hut with

brooms formed of one-foot lengths of ribbon-like

together in bundles.

They were most

floor thoroughl}',

sweep the hardened

mud
If
it

and

this they did every day.

were not

for this,

the place would soon have rapidly

swarmed with
and
slept

vermin from the old animals

in the courtyard,

from the calves,

kids, lambs,

and dogs, which

Milking the Coivs

inside the huts with the natives.
I

109
slept

more than

once

in a hut, but

was never troubled with vermin,

so careful are the w^omen to keep their floors well

swept

By the time

the sweeping had

commenced, the
;

lords

of creation had roused themselves

and

after a similar

re-arrangement of dress, and

like ablutions,

they re-

freshed themselves with a draught of water or

milk,

some
cows

and then helped the

women

fasten up the

previous to their being milked, this duty being per-

formed by the women.

yield their milk
if

In Africa the cows will only

they believe that the calf is abstract-

ing

it.

So, in order to deceive the animal, the calf

to

was allowed

commence

operations, but after a few

its

mouthfuls was tied up close to

mother's side,

just out of reach of her udder, whilst one of the

women,

sitting

down on

a log of wood, placed an

empty gourd
into
calf
fuls,
little
it.

in her lap,

and rapidly milked the cow

fail,

When

the supply of milk began to

to help itself to a few

the

was again allowed

more milk

mouth-

which stimulated the mother into yielding a

to the

dusky milkmaid

but

when

this

second stimulation had ceased to render any

result, the calf

was

loosed,

and allowed
benefit.

to extract

what

it

could for
Africa

its

own

Equatorial

rarely

yields

A cow in East much over three

no

The Daily Life of

is

the People

pints of milk a day, which

not surprising

when

one considers the scantiness of the herbage.

milk, besides being scanty,
is

The

occasionally tainted by

the herbage on which the animal has fed, and often

after
it

has fed on the rich rank grass in some

is

marshy spot the milk

into

quite offensive.

The gourds

which the milk was received were kept clean as

natives could clean

far as

them

but rinsing with

cold water will not

remove the traces of sour milk

from a wooden

vessel, especially in a hot climate,

and consequently milk received

into these gourds

becomes
milk,

at

once mixed with ferment from the old

This condition
is

and rapidly turns sour.

not

objected to by the natives,

who
until

either drink their

it

milk sour, or else keep

they churn from
it

it

is

rancid,

when
this

the butter which they use to

I

anoint their bodies with.

churning, but
I

have never seen

effected

believe that

it is

by shaking

up the milk

in a gourd.
its

When

a calf dies,
;

mother refuses

to give

any

more milk

but

believe that the skin of the calf,

carefully dried,
it

is

used for deceiving her, and that

if

is

placed beside her at milking-time so that she

it,

can smell

she will continue to give her milk for a

I

long time after the animal's death.

have never

had an opportunity of seeing this fraud practised.

Cooking Breakfast

1 1

The work
the

of milking having been accompHshed,

to cook the
(thick

women commenced

morning meal,

which consisted of
(gruel),

ugali

porridge) and uji

(millet

made from ground mtama

is

seed).

When mtama
corn)
is

not obtainable, muhindi (Indian

;

used instead

but

it

is

not considered so

satisfying,

and consequently

is

not so highly valued

sat in little

as

mtama.

The men and women now

fires

groups round the

over which their food had

been cooked, and ate their morning's meal, which

in the case of the children consisted of uji, whilst

the

some of the

men and women had ugali. The men, and chief women also, took with their food
of relish (kitiweyo), such
as a piece of

some kind

dried meat, or

some
not

roast beans or
'

pumpkins.
in the

The
the

food

is

all

dished up

'

same way

more

solid ugali

is

turned out into a wicker-

work

dish, or

rough native earthen basin, and pieces

are broken off and eaten by the

men

sitting

round

but the gruel-like

it

uji

remains
it

in the pot in

which

was cooked, and when

is

sufficiently cool, the

children, sitting round, each dip in their

hands or a

couple of fingers, and, withdrawing them, with great

gusto lick
cleansing,

off all

the adhering

uji.

Hot

gruel

is

very
dirty
it.

and the hands, which are often very

before the meal, arc usually remarkably clean after

112
It

The Daily Life of

was now about
eight

the People

o'clock,

and the men

inside

strolled outside the hut or

smoked a pipe

whilst the

women

nursed their infants,

or, assisted

by the children, washed up the few cooking

pots.

Not a long

process, one would think

but

all

such

domestic processes are long where there are no

household conveniences

in the

shape of washtubs,
like.

towels, dusters, taps, sinks,

and the

Those

who have gone on an

expedition by river in England

with a tent and a few requisites know the unexpectedly long time which
ready, and the
still
it

takes to get breakfast

is

longer time which

spent in

the apparently simple operation of washing up the

dishes afterwards.

Towards nine

o'clock the cattle were

let out,

and

were taken by one or two of the elder boys to their

usual
pastures,

and

to water.

As

a general

rule

the elder boys are set to look after the cows, the

younger ones after the goats and sheep.

are five the younger boys remain at

Until they

home and

play

with each other

until

after that age, for a 3ear or two,

they are old enough to take charge of the

goats on the nearer pastures, they either follow their

mothers and elder

sisters

down

to the well for water,

or else go with their brothers herds,

who

are tending the

though they do

not themselves give any

Dangers
assistance.

to

Cattle

These

little

mites often strike up great

I

friendships with the smaller animals.

have often

seen a

little

boy cuddling a lamb, or kneeling

calf,

down

with his arms round the neck of a

kissing
it.

hugging and

The
the

natives are very particular not to let the cattle

out before about nine in the morning, on account of

dew with which

is

the long grass

is

saturated, and

which

rarely

all

evaporated

in

the rainy season

until the

sun
to

is

half-way up in the heavens.

in the

Allowgrass
is

ing cattle

wander about

damp
The

a fruitful source of illness and death.

natives
;

and Arabs know

this,

and are very careful

but

strangers do not always

suffer loss in

know

it,

and occasionally

consequence.

Soon

after the herds

had gone, the women, some and

with their babies slung on their backs, and the

elder girls took their earthen waterpots
their

calabashes and started

off to

fetch water from

three-foot well sunk in the river bed a mile away,

laughing and chattering merrily as they went.

An

hour

later

they returned, and we saw them coming

freely per-

up the slope with their heavy burdens^

spiring in the tropical sun.
toiled

Silently
all

and slowly they

for

up the

hill,

reserving

conversation
little

another time

when they would

be a

less short

114
of

^^^'^

Daily Life of the People

beyond
us,

breath.

As they passed

and we
beyond

turned round to gaze at them,

we saw

far

them, on the plain away

first

in the distance,

what

at

sight looked not unlike

in

an enormous column of
as

black ants

single

file,

but was,

we knew,
along
It

a caravan some two miles

in

in length, straggling
fifty

detachments of forty or

men

each.

was

evidently

bound

for

Mpwapwa, which
in
girls

the nearest

men would

probably reach

about an hour's time.

As soon as the

women and

had returned to

the tembe and refreshed themselves with a short

rest,

they

commenced
it

the daily task of pounding

corn and grinding

between two stones

fully

slow,

heavy, laborious work, which

for

occupies them

an hour or two each day.

Meanwhile some of

the

women went
some
of

off to

gather as firewood the dried-

up branches of dead trees and bushes near by

whilst

the

slaves

and

younger

men,

axe in one hand, and spear or

for protection
in

bow and arrows

dared go, to cut
trees in the less
to

the

other,

went rather further

into the forest than the

off large

women
fallen

boughs from the

frequented places, far

enough

off

be not yet
after

denuded of firewood.
three hours' absence,

These men came back

when the sun had been descend-

ing for two hours, and found on their return that

A
or two

False AlavDi

115

there had been a great scare in the village.

One

men who

had been herding their cattle a

mile from the village on the very outskirts of the

forest

too dangerous

a place in

which to

trust

boys

with the care of these animals shout the war cry,

their cattle towards

had

been heard to
to urge

and seen commencing

home

at a gallop.

Other herdsit

men

near took up the cry, and passed

on to yet
in a

others, until soon the

whole

village

was

state

of excitement.

The cause

of this alarm

was that

the originator of the scare had assured himself that

he had

seen the

zebra-hide-covered shield of

Mhehe

lurking in the forest, and as no

Mhehe was

likely to

be lurking alone thirty miles from his own

be no reasonable doubt that he
others

village, there could

was but one

of

many

themselves more

carefully.

The

who had concealed cattle being now

Seeing the

out of danger, a small party of men, with ancient

guns, proceeded to the point of danger.

commotion from the roof of

away,
carried
I

my
it

house two miles

ran
for

down towards

with

my

boy,

who
was

our protection a formidable

looking

double-barrelled breechloader, which, however,

quite
useless,
it

as

the

breech

had
l>ut

got

jammed
boy did

so that

could not be loaded.

felt

my

not mind that, as he

sure no one would attack

82

ii6

The Daily Life of

a

the People

him with such

weapon

in his possession.

When

we

arrived at the scene of danger, rather out of

breath with our long run, but hoping to be rewarded

by the sight of a band of

war-paint,

Wahehe

in their picturesque

we

discovered that the alarmist had truly

;

enough seen the zebra skin as he described

that
it

but

was

still

gracing the exterior of

its

original
to part

possessor,

with his

who had not yet been persuaded hide, and who had at once betaken
After a hearty laugh

himself

into the depths of the forest at the sight of such

an

unusual commotion.
at the

all

round

man's expense, we returned

to the village,

and there found that the large caravan which we had seen
in the distance
its

had arrived

and that

it

had taken up

quarters
of

down by

the river bed,

amongst the shade

the stately fig-sycamores.

The

leaders,

we

heard, were contemplating a pro-

longed stay of two days, for the purpose of drying

their bales of calico,

which had been soaked by the

unexpectedly heavy rains of the previous few days.

Two
camp

or three miles

of this

material lay on the

bushes around, drying in the tropical sun, giving the

the

appearance

of

an

enormous laundry

establishment.

During the afternoon the porters from

this

caravan

came up

into the village to barter their goods for

Hurried Cooking
fowls and grain.

For

this

purpose they brought

little

with them cloth, wire, tobacco, and

supplies of
in

gunpowder, perhaps half an ounce, wrapped up

dirty pieces of rag.

With

these they purchased the

fowls and grain they required,

pounded the

latter in

the mortar, lent by the

energetic also grinding
of
it

seller,

some

of the
;

more

on

his stones

but most

them were too

lazy or too tired to perform this

further labour,

and took the grain back

it

to

camp
little

there to boil and eat

whole.

The mass

so cooked,

though

it

appeased the pangs of hunger, was of

could

use as food, and

hardly supply them

with

much
camp,

staying power.

Indeed, a walk through the

after the departure of the caravan,

showed

unmistakably

that

such

food

passes

unaltered

through the alimentary canal.

During the afternoon the elder men

lolled in the

shade, smoking pipes and listening to the

news from
in

the coast

whilst

two

also occupied

themselves

unravelling calico,

and

then used the

unravelled

threads to sew the cloth together with, and another

lazily

ornamented a spear-handle with brass wire

during the intervals of

smoke and

conversation.

The

children played or tended the herds, and the

women

continued

their

usual

work of pounding,
else plaited baskets

winnowing, and grinding corn, or

ii8

The Daily Life of

the People

with dried reeds or grass.

Apart from these, under

the shade of another tembe close by,

we

noticed a

young Mgogo

carefully

combing out and

plaiting the

locks of another man's hair.

He

used a

comb with
matted
pig-

about a dozen large teeth, and

having carefully

combed one portion

shock of
tails,

of his
it

friend's rather

hair, plaited

up into rows of

little

deftly

weaving narrow bands of tough dried

little tail,

grass in each

and finishing
tail,

off

by tying

all

together into one large

neatly

the

end of which he

bound round with one or two dozen turns of

This hair-plaiting
is

the dried grass- bands.

such a
work,

complicated matter, and entails so

that a

much

fine

man
is

cannot do

it

for himself,

and so each
toilet.

native

dependent on

his

neighbour for his

position gives
it

Even with the advantage which

in

them

working upon each other's heads,

takes two or

three days to finish off one head in really correct style.

On my way

to

my

house

met two Arabs, who

were coming up from the camp, bringing with them a

cheap Winchester repeating-rifle which would not

work, and which they wished

me

to

mend.

This

was unable

to do, or to give

them a new key

for the

lock of a box, of which they had lost the proper one.

They were much disappointed,

counting for days on getting

as

they had been

put right,

all

when

Medical Work
once they arrived
at the station

where the Englishto take charge of a

man

hved.

Then they asked me

load of cloth, which they were hoping the chief of

the village would recover for
porter,

them from a runaway

few miles from their

who had

deserted a
I

present camp.

This

willingly agreed to do,

and
the

a few days later the cloth

chief,

was brought

to

me by

who had caught

his spoil.

the runaway in the meantime,

and secured

This business transacted,

went down with them to the camp

Arab,

to see a sick

who was suffering from an abscess in the foot, which had made the long daily marches almost
unbearable to him.

timely incision with the lancet

his great delight,

gave him immediate

I

relief, to

and

told

him

to send up to the house for

some

dress-

ings for his foot, for use on the

march during the

next few days.

the
extraction

The dressing
of a

of a few ulcers and

tooth

completed

my

labours

amongst them.

They had but

recently started from

casualties were to be

the coast, so that not

many

expected amongst them.

Later

in

the afternoon the

women and

elder girls

again went

down

to the river-bed to fetch the supply

of water for the night and early morning.

Many
it

of

them went up the stream

still

to

a part where
its

was

running before

it

sank out of sight under

sandy

I20

The Daily Life of

the People

bed, and there refreshed themselves by a bathe in

its

clear waters.

On

their return to the village they

met the herds of

night
;

cattle being driven

home
them
I

for the

so, after

they had put

down

their gourds of

water, they tied up the cows and milked

again.

With

these

women came

woman whom

employed

to bring water daily for the house, but she carried a

bucket on her head instead of a gourd, and prevented

the water from splashing over by floating on
leaves
it

a few

and twigs.

should not have supposed this

would have interfered with the motion of the water,

but
it

did so most effectuall3\

The sun was now approaching

shortly after six
rapidly,
it

the horizon, and

set.

The darkness then came on

some
descriptions yet

though not by any means so instantaneously

;

as one would imagine from

a quarter of an hour

after

sunset the

dusk was

beginning to deepen, the herds were safe inside the

tembe courtyards, and the fowls had

tembes
for the

retired into the

night, the natives

began to gather
were
lit

near their tembes, the

camp
fall

fires

in

the

caravan down by the river-bed, and for a few minutes

an intense silence seemed to

only by the frequent
call

upon nature, broken

of guinea-fowl, quail,

and

smaller birds to each other, as they sought the safe

retreat of the trees.
It

was a few minutes'

silence

A
only,

Deafening Din

and then the almost deafening din of myriads

of insects broke

upon the

ear.

The

African insects

seem

to reserve their

whole energy

for the half

hour

of dusk, moderate quietness prevailing the rest of

the twenty-four hours, except in the deeper forests,

where the permanent dusk gives the insects the idea

of perpetual sunset,

and

incites

them

to an unend-

ing low but piercing din.

Darkness

stole

on apace,
be

and by half-past
seen far

six only a
in

glimmer of

light could
fires

down

the west.

The camp

now
a

showed up

well in the darkness,

hill,

and also a

fire

mile long on a distant

where the natives some-

what

late in the

season had been burning

to

down

the

trees, bushes,

and long grass

make

a clearing for a

farm.

This

fire

had been burning

all

the afternoon,

but onh' the

smoke had been

visible before in the

glare of the tropical sun.

Inside the tembe the

women now began to

prepare

the chief meal of the day, which consisted of ugali and

meat

the men eating by themselves, and the women

After the meal, which
it

and children apart.

over, large
for

was soon

they eat

quickly,

notwithstanding the
to

amount which they managed

elder
in

stowaway, the
fire,

men and
indulged

boys sat

round the log

and

another smoke and talk over the events

of the day, the prospects of the weather,

and the

122

The Daily Life of

the People

likelihood of a neighbouring chief

coming

to

make

an attack upon them.

of late, in

There had been several raids

some

of which this chiefs

men had once

though

or twice carried off a child or

killed a

woman, and once had

;

woman

at

one of the outlying huts

in

most of the raids had ended, as usual,

both parties

shouting and violently threatening each other, and

then retiring, feeling that the claims of justice and

honour had been

satisfied.

There was, however, not

much

likelihood of

more attacks being made that

for

season.

The time

cultivating

had

just

com-

menced, and natives then (except such as the Masai,

who do

not cultivate, considering

it

to be menial

work), have no leisure for marauding

expeditions.

They put

off all

such excitements until the more

serious duties of the season are over.

fight

Nor do they

during harvest, for to attack a neighbouring

village at

such a time would be to tempt the injured

party to retaliate

by coming

over to

burn

the

marauders' crops, and under these conditions both

parties

would have much

is

to lose

and

little

to gain.

An

African

a born bargainer, and carries his com-

mercial principles with him into battle.

War

with

him, in

fact,

is

species

of trade, in which

he

endeavours to obtain by force and fraud what he has

failed

to

get by fraud

and hard bargaining.

It is

Economical Warfare
frequently conducted
ciples,

123

on

strictly

economical prin-

and he

realizes that the time to

is

throw stones

has not arrived whilst as yet he

house.
his grain

living in a glass

But the harvest

safely gathered in,

in his fortress-like

and

all

and goods secure

tembe,

he

feels that

he cannot do better than spend some of

in

his spare

time

the speculation of war.

chief

who

dabbles in this science has to carefully balance

his accounts after

each engagement.

The

value of a

man
child

is

accurately
so

known

in

cows

(usuall}- five),
;

many
it

to a

many to a man woman, so many to a

;

so

and when the value of the booty has been

up, from

summed

has to be subtracted the value of

the lives lost, and a balance on the

wrong

side soon

deters a chief from continuing such engagements.

It is this

commercial

instinct that

makes the

lives of

the white man's mail-men so comparatively safe in

Central Africa.

They go
;

often, only three in

number,

half across Africa

but they go well armed, and the

natives on the regularly-traversed

route soon

dis-

cover

that

they carry
is

only

letters
if

and

books,
{i.e.,

which, to an African,
witchcraft),

rubbish,

not worse

and that attacking them means almost

if

certain injury,

not death, to

some

of the attacking
in

force, whilst there is

nothing to be gained

the

way

of phinder as compensation.

124

^rfi<^

Daily Life of the People

By
rest,

nine o'clock most of the natives had retired to

though a few men

still

remained up to talk
slave

over old times with an

lived for a time in

Mnyamwezi

who had
first

Mpwapwa some
was on
his

years back, and

who was now

in

passing by again for the

time

since his departure, as he

way up country

the large caravan of the Arab which had just

arrived.

But soon even these turned

in,

and now nothing

disturbed the stillness of the night but the melan-

choly hooting of owls, the

continual

croaking of

frogs rejoicing at the advent of the rainy season,

the frequent harsh, grating chirp of the enormous

grasshoppers, or the occasional howl of an hyena, or

bark of an antelope or jackal.

The

night passed as usual without any exciting

occurrence,

and
in

next
the

morning the

daily

routine

commenced
one.
rains

same way as on the previous

to be a

But
had

this

was

more busy day,

sufficiently
;

as the
allovv'

softened

the

soil

to

cultivating operations to

commence

and the

first

attempt would be made to hoe the ground previously

prepared by destruction of the undergrowth.

There
;

was

also another excitement in the day's

programme

before the herd were led

away to the grazing-grounds,

was

a very lean cow, past the period of calf-bearing,

Slaughter of a Coiv

25

selected for the butcher's knife, as the presence of

such a large caravan, staying as we have seen for

two days, would make

useless cow, as

it

worth while to
certainly be

sla}-

there would

a great
led

demand
gun

for

fresh

meat.

The cow was

apart

from the herd, and a native warrior, anxious for

some

practice, took his stand near the animal at the

distance of only a few paces, and taking a long and

patient
hitting.

aim

fired at its

body, which he succeeded in

The

shot, however, did not

appear to do

any immediate damage beyond making the animal

jump, which
warrior,
into
it,

so

disturbed

the

aim of a second

who was
that

preparing to send another charge

fired

he

somewhat

at
its

random and
heart.

accidentally sent a bullet through

The

cow

fell

at once,

and another warrior, armed with

a cheap butcher's knife

in
its

made

of soft iron, probably

Birmingham, now seized

throat from ear to ear.

its

head and
all

deftly cut

After

bleeding had

ceased, the animal

was skinned, disembowelled, and

hacked to pieces with knives and blunt hatchets.

An hour

later,

after

much

shouting,

bargaining,

wrangling, laughing and joking, the whole animal

had been disposed

count his gains

of,

and the owner

sat

down

to

calico,

coloured cloths, gunpowder,

percussion caps, tobacco, beads, wire, cheap knives

126

The Daily Life of

the People

of soft iron, and hoes, forming the chief articles of

barter which he had acquired.

The
of the

usual early morning's

work

finished, several

women, and some

of the

men

of low degree,

went

off to

the tract of land about a mile

away from

the tembe, which the owner had lately

for cultivation,

marked out

and had cleared of undergrowth and

grass by burning.
a man's
title

Amongst the East African

tribes

to land ^seems to be acquired in the

it

same way that

forest

is

in

civilized
lie

countries.

The
as

and waste lands which

;

between the

villages
till

belong to no one

anyone may clear and

to,

many
will

acres as he chooses
his property.
let
it

and whatever he
it

tills

becomes

If

he sows

one year, he
it

probably

lie

fallow the next, but

still

remains his until

it

has become completely over-

grown again with trees

for in

not with brushwood merely,

At his

such a hot climate brushwood springs up

again in a very few months after the rains.

death his cultivated land, together with his other

propert}^, huts, treasures, wives, children, all goes to

his heir,

In this

who is usually way the land in

outskirts,

his eldest surviving brother.

the villages, as well as that

originally obtained,

on the

was no doubt

and now passes on from heir

land near the village,
I

to heir.

When
chief,

wanted

went to the

who asked

Buying Laud

127
to

me

for

what

required

it,

and

it

was given
I

me

at

the rate of about sixpence an acre; but the chiefs permission

is

think that

asked by each native before

he

tills

near the village, not so

much because
just

the

chief

owns the
to

land, as because he
till
it,

owns the man

as

who wants

and who must

much

obtain his leave before he pays a visit to a neigh-

bouring village as before he takes twenty acres of

land from the forest.

But

to

return to

our

labourers

who had
set to

just

arrived at the clearing.

They

at

once

work,

and continued

for

two or three hours hoeing the

ground up into ridges about eighteen inches high,

and

in this

way

well broke

up the ground

for twelve

inches below the surface.

Some days

later,

when
same
holes

the whole clearing had been well hoed, the

people would walk alongside each ridge,

make

with a stick at intervals of a few inches, carefully

drop one or two seeds into each, and then cover

them over with

here,

soil.

There

is

no wasting of seed
in

no sowing on the roadside, or

shallow rocky

ground.
sprout,

Later on, when the young corn began to

women would walk

along each furrow, and

great pains would be taken to root up every

that endeavoured to put in an appearance
last
;

weed
at

and

when

the corn was ripening into heads of grain,

128

The Daily Life of

the People
all

small boys would be sent to watch the fields

long,

day
to

and frighten
;

off

every bird
in a

that

tried

approach

no easy task

land where there are

such immense
in Africa.

flocks of very small birds as there are

Whilst these people were cultivating the farm, or

shamba, as

it is

called,

two natives were engaged

in

the village in burning charcoal.

They

selected very

hard close-grained wood, which they cut into blocks,

stacked, and then burnt under a covering of clay.

The
in a

resulting charcoal in small pieces

was placed

basket and set aside for use next day at the

forge, for there

was one tembe which possessed a

small forge, and had inmates

who

could work

it.

Some

distance off

we

noticed a few
far

men who were

building a

new tembe, not

chiefly

from their old one.

for the purpose, but

They used
also

new wood

drew

largely

upon the old

tembe

for

such

timbers as had not been destroyed by the rains or

the ravages of the white ants.

Tembes

rarely last
;

much

over ten years, even with frequent patching

as the white ants destroy most of the timbers by

that time, and even where they do not, a tembe has

often
to

be evacuated

on

account of what,
call
*

for

euphony's sake, we might

wrong.'

the

drains going

The

natives bury their relatives inside the

Woniaiis IVork
tembes, and usually not very deeply under the

129
floor,

and too
to

many
It

relatives so close
feel
first

underneath

is

apt

make even
air.

a native

the desirability of change

sight as
if

of

looked at

the

men were
little

doing the work, and the

assistance
;

women

tendering a

but

we

noticed on closer inspection that

though the
place on
a

men were

standing in a conspicuous

portion of the

newly-made
it,

flat

roof,

arranging the stones and clay on

the

women
It

were bringing the heavy loads of stone and clay

from a distance and
lifting

them on
is

to the roof.

was quite
work

in

keeping with what

considered woman's

in Africa.

Our mistake reminded me of the

at

story of the

young Irishman who was delighted

*

being engaged as a hodman.

You

will

have no
;

work

to do,' said the sympathetic contractor

you

have only got to carry bricks up a ladder, and the

man

at the top

does

all

the work.'
great deal of shout-

Towards mid-day we heard a

ing at the foot of the
hill,

and were told that some

native hunters returning from a week's chase were

rejoicing with their friends over their spoil.

They

had

killed

an elephant with their poisoned arrows,

in

and had brought back

addition to the ivory a

good supply of elephant meat.

This appeared to

consist of the skin and flesh cut into long strips

130

The Daily Life of

tJie

People

about three inches wide and two thick, somewhat

resembhng leather

straps,

and not altogether unlike

them

in flavour

and consistency, whilst three days

flies

exposure to the sun and

odour.
I

had not improved

for
first,

their
eat.

bought two

strips

my
and

dogs to
set to

They were
will,

greatly pleased at

with a

but after fifteen minutes' hard work they had

reluctantly to admit that they had attempted a task

beyond

their powers,

and that elephant meat

baffled

even a mastiff's jaws.

Whilst the meat was being disposed

of,

a caravan

of about two hundred porters from the

far interior,

consisting chiefly of slaves, began to approach the

village

and

to

form their camp near that of the large

caravan which had arrived on the previous day.

The

greater part of the loads

was made up of

tusks,
;

some

of eighty or even ninety pounds weight

far

too heavy for one

theless,

man

to carry, but carried, never-

by some of the more powerful slaves.

ten
to

Many
thirty

of the smaller tusks weighing from

pounds each were

tied into bundles of three,

and

each bundle carried as one burden.

there

Besides ivory
miscellaneous
to

was

quite

an

assortment of

articles,

which the owners were only too ready

barter to a white man.

ostrich,

One brought me

a baby

about the

size of a turkey,

which he wanted

Miscellaneous Occupations

131

me me

to

buy

for fifteen

rupees

and another brought

the

a talking parrot from

Manyuema on
for

Upper

Congo, the country of Tipoo Tib,

suggested
I

which he
1

should give him forty rupees.

did, in

the end, purchase

trees

some

cloth

made from

the bark of
gazelle,
I

which came from Uganda, and a baby

stilts,

looking like a rat on

which the boys and

fed

most carefully with milk and water from a baby's

feeding bottle
:

a process, however,
it

which

it

did not
it

long survive, though

first.

took very kindly to

at

Early
returned

in

the

afternoon the

women and

slaves

from the shamba which they had been

cultivating,

and recommenced

their miscellaneous

occupations.
in

One man made

wood
the

holes with a hot iron

some

axe-handles, which he had roughly carved

out of a piece of
at

week

before.

He worked
it

each hole and kept trimming and enlarging

until

the long narrow wedge-shaped axe-head could

its

pass one-third of
gripped.

length through and then be

This

is

the only fastening which the axeit

head has, and consequently

out during use
;

not infrequently comes

(juite easily

but then
cutting

it is

replaced.

Another man was

little

stools

out of the

trunk of a fallen tree which happened to be of the

required

diameter.

The

tree

selected

for

this

92

7,2

The Daily Life of

is

the People

purpose

always one with hard wood, frequently

little
is

the ebony tree, and the

three-legged stool, with

a disc above and below,

cut out in one piece, and

then trimmed with a hot iron and a knife

process,

long
if it
it

and one which would be very

artist

tiring

were not that the

as, indeed, a

took plenty of time over

native does over every kind of work.

of hours which a native works
is

The number
little

very

criterion of the

amount

of labour which he

performs.

Although, as on the day we are describing,

we

frequently see different people doing different duties,

there

is

ver}' little

real division of labour.

All the

people turn
difference

their

hands

to

everything,

and the

between the individual workers consists

in the fact that

some seem incapable

of performing
to
all

some

duties,

and consequently relegate them

rather than
that

the others,

any are considered

It is as
if,

adepts at any particular kind of w'ork.

in

England, ever3^one should paint pictures

in

for sale

and sing

concerts, except those very few people

who were

either colour blind, or deaf to the difference

between harmony and discord.

There was a good deal of excitement

this afternoon,

in the village

owing

to the discovery that six of

the chief's donkeys, which

he

had

lost

week

Arab Cunning
previously, were in the caravan that had just

133

come

from the interior

the Arab leader of which asserted

that he had bought

them from a caravan passing

had met a few days back.

westward, which

he

There was

little

doubt that they had been stolen

this

by the leader of
sold by

westward-going caravan, and

in

him

to the to

Arab

charge of the other,

for a trifle,

who

would be able

buy them

knowing that

he had to run the risk of getting them safely through

Mpwapwa.

After a great deal of altercation between

the chief and the Arab, and after solemn protestations by the latter that he

had purchased them

in

the innocence of his heart, and assurances that he

could not possibly aiford to give up animals, such

wretched animals, too,

for

which, being

in

great
price,

need of them, he had had to pay such a high

they
finally

agreed to share losses, and each to take

half the

donkeys.
if
I

This matter

settled, the

Arab

asked

me

would come down to the camp with

him, and see some of his sick people.

On
and

the

way

we passed two Wagogo

They looked very proud
that they were going
village
theirs.

in full

war dress and

paint.

of themselves,
for a

told

me

away

few days to a Masai

some

fifty

miles

off,

to see

some

friends of

They could speak the Masai language, a

amongst the Wagogo
;

rare accomplishment

as the

134

^^f^<^

Daily Life of the People

all

languages are not at

little

akin, as

we have

seen.

further on a couple of boys brought

me

a small

kingfisher,

which one of them had shot with an

arrow, blunted at the end so as not to injure the

plumage

for

which they asked

I

me
to

to

give

them
the

some sweetmeats.
bird

told

them
;

bring

me

when

went home again

so they

wandered

off quite happily,

with their arms round each other's

often go about in

waists.

The boys and young men

this,

couples like

and

really

seem very much attached

to be

to one another.

There seems

more

affection

between men and men, and between

women and
I

women, than between

As
I

the sexes.
hut,

was passing my milkman's

I

stopped to

have a talk with him, as

wanted

to purchase milk
of,
I

from him by the fortnight, instead

the month, or rather,

as usual, by

moon

but

could not get

him

to see that one doti (four 5'ards) of calico every

fortnight

was as good pay,

in

fact

rather better,
refused to let
I

than two dotis a month.

The man
;

me have
I

the milk on these terms

so

was obliged

to give in,

and

let

him supply

it

on

his

own

terms.

found the same

difficulty in explaining to natives

who

did daily work, that an

upande (two yards) of

calico every

two days, was the same pay as twelve

upandes a month of twenty -four working days.

Care of Trees

135

The
tions

natives

everywhere seem to have very rudi;

mentary ideas of arithmetic

that

and the few calcula-

they do, they usually work out

as would be done by a
little

upon
in

their fingers,

child

England.

When we
there

arrived at the

camp, we found that

was an altercation going on between an Mgogo

sub-chief and

some Zanzibaris. The

I

latter,

members

of the caravan that

had come to

visit,

were lighting

their camp-fires as usual at the foot of a splendid

fig-sycamore.

These

trees,

not

many

in
;

number, and were

only grew along the moist stream valley

being gradually destroyed by the camp-fires which

were so frequently
the

lit

first at

the base, and then in

fires

hollow which

previous

had

excavated.

Of

course such a hollow

made

a capital fireplace,

sheltered from gusts of wind, whilst the over-hang-

ing well-foliaged branches of the great tree protected

the whole
the

camp from

the sun in the day-time and

dew

or rain at night.
all

After examining
that

the sick people,

ill

it

was evident
;

two of them were too

to travel

and the

Arab asked me
from the

to take care of

them

until his return

interior,

which

agreed to do for a shilling

a week, the actual cost of their food.

The unfortunate

creatures were suffering from dysentery, and were so

36

The Daily Life of

the People

extremely emaciated, that one died a few days after

he came to

me

but

rest,

warmth, good

food,

and

medicine pulled the other through.

On my
them a

return to the house,

a tembe
close

my

boy

told

me

that

the natives at

by wanted me

to lend

steel-trap, as a leopard
hill
;

had just come down

from the

and

in

broad daylight, a most unusual

off

time for such an attack, had attempted to carry

a goat which had
flock.

wandered
boys

little

apart from the

The

little

who were

tending the goats

had bravely rushed

at the

animal with their spears

it

and he had

at

once dropped his victim, leaving

hill

dead on the ground, and retreated up the

cover of the brushwood.

under

The

natives

knew

that he

would return

at

dusk to look

for his prey,

so.

and they

were anxious to trap him when he did

took the trap over to the place
;

My

boy

and having securely

lashed the body of the goat to the stumps of two

trees, tied the trap firmly over
it.

Towards
an inflamed

sunset, an

Mgogo

sub-chief

came up

to

the house with his wife, as she was suffering from

ear,

which he wished

me

to treat.

She

was a very light-skinned woman, hardly darker than

some
her.

Italians,

and her husband was very fond of

The

higher classes of natives seemed often to

be fond of their wives, and also of their children.

Discipline for the

Yoiuig

it^j

They would carry

them attended
after

the latter long distances to get

to at the dispensary,

and they looked

ill.

them very tenderly when they were

I

Whilst

was attending
boy told

to the

woman's
owner of

ear,

we
was

heard violent screams from the tembe nearest to

us
;

and

my

me

that the

it

chastising one of his children for having run

away

to play that afternoon, whereas, as he well knew,

it

was

his turn to herd the goats.

Though both

fathers

and mothers are fond of

their children, yet

they
is

fully

agree with Solomon, that sparing the rod

;

likely to spoil the child

and they do not wish

to

spoil him.

Although relations are attached to one another,

and

ties of relationship are binding, yet

is

the effect

of this

much diminished by

the large

number

of

artificial relationships

which are observed, and which

considers every

almost
other

swamp the real ones. A man male member of his tribe to

title

be his brother,

and gives him the same

father

and mother.
'

Again, a
'

speaks of as
food for him,
that

mother
if

the

own man addresses and woman who cooks his

as the child of his
;

he happen to be a bachelor
travels

so

when

man

much and

lives in various

villages the

number

of his close relations

I

becomes

apparently very large.

was very much struck with

138

The Daily Life of

the People
first I

this in the case of

my

boy,

when

went out

to

Africa.

Soon

after

he came to

me
I

he asked leave

for a day's

hoHday, as his mother, he told me, had

to bury her.

died,
for

and he wished

was very sorry

him, and at once gave him leave to go.

later

month

he wanted another holiday, and his

mother died again.

After tea

my

boy and

went over

to a

tembe near
rice,

by to take some soup, thickened with

old

to an

man

suffering from dysentery.

We

found him

lying down,
lent

wrapped up
wind

in a blanket

which we had

him, and for which he was very grateful.

at night

He

said that the cold

no longer caused

him the pain

before,

inside

which he had suffered from

slept all the night through.

and that now he

He
a

only drank boiled water, which he obtained from

kettle

little

we had
was

lent him.

had

insisted

on

this,

because water at this season (the commencerains)

ment of the

especially filthy

and though

only occasionally harmful to a native in good health,

would be very dangerous

from dysentery.
perfectly
well,
;

to

one already suffering

this

After a time

old

man
of

got
all

contrary to the expectation

his friends

and he became a great help to

me

in

persuading others,
follow out

when they were

ill,

to carefully

my

instructions as to rest

and warmth

Catching a Leopard
and
diet,

139

which he assured them were more imporWhilst

I

tant than even medicine.

was examining

him, we noticed a strong, rather unpleasant smell of

meat
by.

in the

tembe, and asked what

it

was caused

He

told us that they

were drying some of the

killed

meat from the cow which had been

that

morning, and showed us the joints and

flesh

strips of

hanging from the roof timbers over the part

fires

where the

were

lit,

and where the

women were
away
by

cooking the evening meal.

dried in the usual
for future

This meat was being

to being stored
all

way previous

use.

Suddenly we were

startled

the sound of loud deep growls and horrible snarling

breaking the silence of the night, coming from a

hollow in the
bered that
it

hill-side close by,

and then we remem-

was the spot where we had fastened

Evidently the

the trap on the body of the goat.

leopard was caught, so

off

rushed the natives and

;

my

boy with spears and guns

but the night was

dark, and no one

was anxious

to

walk unexpectedly

within reach of the leopard's paw, so they approached

very cautiously, stood

snarling figure, and

some yards from the dim

to fire at
it.

commenced

But

what with the unusual darkness, and the usual bad

shooting, they fired fifteen shots at

him before he
to

was

killed.

Next morninjr when

came

examine

140
the trap,

The Daily Life of

I

the People

found that a piece of scrap iron which

fired out of his gun,

one of the natives had

had

made

hole right through the strong iron plate

trap.
all

which was between the jaws of the

After half an hour's absence they

came back

to

the tembe, bearing with

them

in

triumph the dead

leopard and the slaughtered goat.

great
deal

There was a

of rejoicing at

the destruction of this

enemy

of the peace, and the rejoicing

was consider-

ably augmented by the prospect of a good feast off

the carcase of the goat, which they at once com-

menced

to cook. Whilst the

meat was being cooked,

and after the excitement of the party had somewhat cooled down, a young man played a monotonous,
banjo.

but

not

unpleasing

air

on

the

native

On the way home I nearly shot one of my He had been walking behind me, and I
he was
still

mastiffs.

thought
off

doing

so,

when, having wandered

through the long grass, he suddenly jumped over a bush on to the path right in front of me. In an
instant

my gun went
that
it

up to

my

shoulder under the

;

impression
discovered

was a

lioness
it

but happily
late.

my

mistake before

was too
it

realized then

what kind of

feeling

was that so

frequently

made

the natives rush into their huts.

An
or

Azukward Mistake
when
dogs.
I

141

make
After

a bolt up the trees

went unex-

pectedly into a village with

my

reaching
see

home
that

went the round of

;

my
and

patients to

they were comfortable

this duty finished,

had prayers with the boys,

glad to turn in for the night.

after

which we were

all

CHAPTER V
THE CLIMATE AND DISEASES

An Englishman need have no

difficulty in realizing

for himself the climate of Africa.

He

has only to

imagine the time from mid-day to early afternoon, on

the hottest day of an unusually hot English summer,

and he
Africa
is

will

understand what Eastern Equatorial

like

from eight

in the

morning

to half-past

four in the afternoon of the greater

in the year.

number of days
and hiding of

heavy thunderstorm on such a day,

air,

with

its

attendant cooling of the

the sun, will give him an equally true idea of the

rainy season.

The

first

thing that usually strikes an

is

Englishman on

arriving,

that

the

heat

is

not

nearly so great as he had pictured to himself.

fact, if

In

he arrived
in
;

in the

dry season he would very

likely revel

the glorious golden sunshine of an

endless August

he would enjoy the genial warmth,

careful

and wonder why the older residents were so

to avoid the sun,

and were so

far less energetic

than

The Unending Suuuner

himself.
his

143

But as months went by he would change

opinion.

palls

The unending summer's day soon by repetition. The man who delights in it is
illness.

perhaps seized by some attack of

He

lies

perspiring on his convalescent couch, and longs for

a
cool

wind

in

vain he tries to shield his

brilliant

now

weakened eyes from the splendid

that he once so

sunshine
for a cool

much

enjoyed.

He

hopes

season, for
in vain,

some weather
inestimable
is

to brace

him

up, but hopes

and he begins
the

to realize, as he never did

before,

blessing

of

European
so-called

winter.

This

the

first

step towards

acclimatisation.

He

has gone a few steps

will

down

the

ladder of health.
level at

Soon he

reach the highest

which

it

is possible for the

average individual
take quite
will

to keep in East Africa.

He

will cease to
;

such an interest

in

his

work

his

head

ache

more

easily

his digestion

get impaired with less

will

reason than

formerly

he

get

more quickly

tired after exertion

of any kind.

The enervating
course of a

climate has done

its

work, and

in the

year or two he finds himself on the level described.

Later illnesses do not pull him down so

portionately as the earlier ones did
;

much

pro-

the conditions

before and after attacks are less far removed than

they used to be, though attacks are more prolonged

144

^-^^

Clijuate
is

and Diseases
not easily lost
;

a sore throat acquired

a scratch

which ought to heal

lent,

in a

few days becomes an indoIn

not very troublesome, but continuing ulcer.

is

brief he

acclimatised, grand result

in

One

hears
I

much

of acclimatisation

tropical countries.

cannot speak of the condition elsewhere than

in
I

East Equatorial Africa

but there, at any rate,

do not believe there

is

such a condition

in

the

ordinary sense of the term.

The man

best suited to
fresh out

withstand the climate

is

the healthy

man
all

from

England or elsewhere, with

his

English
is

strength and vigour.

resident

The

next best

man

the
in

who has One

just returned

from getting
in

fresh stock of health

and vigour

some temperate

climate.

thing that tends to keep up the misis

taken idea that there

tion, is the

such a thing as acclimatisa-

obvious fact that the

man who
best

has been

out longest, cseteris paribus,

knows

what pre-

cautions to take, and as a rule takes them, and so

escapes disease which the new-comer unnecessarily

lays himself

open

to.

For the same reason,

lives

at

home,

the confirmed dyspeptic often

longer than the

ordinary man.

He

takes far greater care of himself

than another man, as he knows the pain which he

will suffer if

he commits indiscretion, which another

apparent impunity, for

man may

indulge in with

The Rainy Seasons

145

many
of

years at least.

Yet no one would think of

calling the dyspeptic a

life,'

man

'

acclimatised to the
for

ills

or desire the

same acclimatisation

him-

self.

Throughout East Equatorial Africa there are two

distinct

rainy seasons

the

lesser

and the greater

rains

which
begin

occur at different months at different

distances from the coast.

rains

At the coast the lesser

the

middle of

October or early in
or six weeks.

November, and

last for a

month

The

greater rains begin the middle of March, and last

about two months.

the two

The

hottest season

is

during

months preceding the greater

rains.

Near
of

Victoria

Nyanza and Tanganyika the

lesser rains

do

not

commence

until

towards

the

end

December, and the greater rains are proportionately

later.'

In the intervening country, the date of the

seasons approximates to that of the coast or lakes

according as the
the other.

district is

nearer the one point or

In the mountain districts also these

;

same

seasons occur

but in addition there are frequent

all

showers, and in parts thunderstorms also,

through

what

in

the adjacent plains would be the dry season.

of

The
but

climate

the

high upland
I

region

between
;

Kenia and Kilimanjaro

it

am

not acquainted with

ought to be comfortably cool, and the district

10

146

The Climate and Diseases

well watered, judging from the corresponding district

further south,
great.

where the elevation

is

not nearly so

The

climatic diseases that Europeans going to

Central Africa must be prepared to meet are chiefly

sunstroke, malarial fever, dysentery, and

typhoid.

But the severe form of malarial fever

isolated spots, confined chiefly to the

is,

except in

coast-swamp

and the

first

plateau the one absent, and the other

;

not extensive in the British region

is,
I

whilst dysentery
chiefly,

believe,

caused

entirely,

and typhoid

by

drinking impure water, which with proper care need

never be done.

Under the name

described
(i)

'

malarial

fever

'

are

"

usually

fevers caused by the poisonous atmo-

sphere

of

swamp

regions

(2)

those

caused

by

drinking impure water which rises in and passes

through such regions

to the sun
;

(3)

those caused by exposure

and, lastly (4),

fever,

typhoid fever.

The

severe

form of malarial
air, is

due to contamination of the

confined chiefly to the two regions described

;

above

but also exists where there are marshes or

low-lying
central

swampy

districts

even

as

high as the

plateau.

Dr.

Felkin gives

four thousand
is

feet as the height

above which malarial fever

is

not

found.

This, though in the main correct,

mis-

Impure Water
leading.

147
found above that

The

severe form even

is

elevation in low-lying districts, especially in hollows

amongst the
valley

hills,

as

where a comparatively large

outlet.

has a very small, not steep,

as

Such
scale

basins

these
for

are

imitated

on a small
in

amongst,

instance, the mountains

;

the lake
left

region of England

and

travellers

who have

the beaten tracks and clambered over the

hills find

the

same grassy swampy hollows amongst

the the

slopes.

The comparatively
will,

severe

cold
is

of

higher regions

even where there

no malaria,

bring out any fever latent in the system, just as an

English winter
Africa
;

will

do

in

one

lately returned
is

from

so that a visit to a hill-sanatorium

somefor a

times disappointing to an invalid

who hopes

speedy, as well as thorough, recovery.

Drinking unboiled water, however clear-looking,

is

very

dangerous

proceeding.

Even

in
is

the apt

healthy upland districts such an indulgence

to cause,

amongst other
;

disasters, the severe

is

form

of malarial fever

but whilst impure water

it

one of
if

the sources of malarial fever,

is

the chief,

not

only, source of dysentery, and the chief source of

typhoid.

This

is

not to be wondered

at,

consider-

ing the unsanitary habits of the natives,

all

who

turn

their

streams into sewers.

The

traveller

has

10

148

The Climate and Diseases

only to walk a short distance along a path by the

side of

any stream to see

at a glance the

cause of

the streams being fouled.

ing, fastest-running

Even the

cleanest-look-

streams are somewhat dangerous

on

this account,
so.

and the smaller or semi-stagnant

Before
I

ones highly

went abroad, Commander

Cameron, the African

traveller, advised

me

to drink
;

unboiled water from the running streams only

but

the difficulty in following out such advice as this

lies

in the fact that a traveller

does not go to the

stream to fetch his own water

his

boy goes

for

him

and unfortunately an African boy's idea of a

is

running stream

a stream, that runs sometimes.

would therefore unhesitatingly advise that a man

should never drink unboiled water in East Africa,
except where he has a spring in or close to his

own

garden.

If

he follows out this precaution, and does

not sleep in

swampy

districts,

nor expose himself

all

unprotected to the sun, he

will, in
;

probability,

never have a

severe attack of fever

he

will certainly

not get 'dysentery or sunstroke, and he will almost

certainly

not get typhoid.

is

In

fact,

East Africa,

except in parts,

not dangerous to the traveller

who

will let the habit of

taking precautions become

a second nature to him.

Taking precautions may

it

be a trouble at

first,

but in time

will cease to be.

Diseases of N^atives
so,

149
be no more

and the

traveller or resident will

conscious of trouble

when taking precautions than

he

is

when

taking the necessary steps to wash and

dress himself each day.

The streams
the showers

are alwa3-s in their most dangerous

state at the beginning of the rainy season,

first

when

moisten the refuse lying about,

decomposition, and then wash

and thus cause

its

the decomposing materials into the nearest stream.

At

this

time dysentery, typhoid, and diarrhoea are

very prevalent amongst the natives, and frequently

attack the white

man who
not

is

imprudent enough to

drink the water direct from the streams.

Natives

are

constitutionally

exempt

from

many,

if

indeed

from any, of the diseases from

suffer
ills
;

which Europeans
escape

but being uncivilized, they

civilization brings in

many

of the

which

its train, whilst they also fail to profit

by the pro-

tection against other evils which civilization provides.

There

is

no wine or ardent
in the interior,
ills

liquor,

and

little

fer-

mented drink

consequently there are

none of the many

gence

that result from over-indul-

in these beverages.

There

is,

of course, no

painter's
are,
it

colic

or

knife-grinder's

phthisis.

There

is

true, no boots to cause corns on the upper

surface

of the

feet

but

the

rough,

rocky paths

150

The Climate and Diseases

frequently cause corns, fissures, and ulcers on the

soles of the feet, very painful

and very intractable.

Natives do not suffer from sewer-gas poisoning, but

they suffer to an enormous extent from permitting

the same refuse to poison their streams.

There

is

no short-sight amongst them

glare of the sun

but

dirt,

and the

and the dust-laden winds, cause

pro-

frequent

ophthalmia, which being neglected

duces the various degrees of bhndness so prevalent

in these regions.

Though they have not

yet learnt

what nervous

attacks, as

we

call

them, mean, they

are not free from St. Vitus' dance, epilepsy, and

madness

whilst
it

stammering
is

is

about as .common
I

a complaint as

in

England.

do not recollect

having seen a case of spinal curvature, nor would

one expect to find

it

amongst people who are un-

clothed and wander about

much
its

in

the open

air.

Hare-lip and cleft-palate has

victims in Africa as

much

as in England.
is
;

Leprosy (anaesthetic and tubercular)

not un-

common amongst

the races of the interior

and as

there are practically no

streams (except near the

it is

coast) in East Equatorial Africa,

in these districts
it

hard to see

how

can be produced by fish-eating,

is

as a very eminent authority believes

case.

usually the
is

The

only fish ever seen in these regions

Leprosy

dried shark, carried up into the interior, as every-

thing else

is,

on men's heads, and therefore an

of diet,
its

expensive

article

used

only as a relish^

and even as that,

use confined to the porters whois

come up

in

the caravans, whilst leprosy

in

found

amongst the residents

never been to the coast.

the

interior

who have

Small-pox

is

endemic

in Africa,

and most caravans

natives are well

have a case amongst them.

The

aware of the infectious nature of the disease, and

frequently burn

down

the temporary huts

left

by

each passing caravan in order to destroy any possible

contagion of this virulent and dreaded disease.

of the
tribes

Some

practise

inoculation

amongst

themselves, and are eager to be vaccinated

when

they have the opportunity, frequently coming long

distances to a mission
station
for

that

purpose.
it

Although small-pox
is so,

is

endemic, perhaps because

the natives do not suffer so severely from the

attacks as white people do.

disease, in

severe form of the

is

which the eruption

'

of the character
is

known
Europe,

as
is

confluent,'

and which

very fatal
;

in

usually recovered

from by them
feel
ill

and
to

frequently
stay on
attack.

they

never

even

enough

their

beds even for one day during the

152

The
the
it

Cliviate

and Diseases
by

From
Mackay,

accurate

descriptions

Ashe and

is

evident that the plague does rage in

state to

Uganda, notwithstanding what authorities

the contrary
disease
in
;

but

have never come across the

regions.
I

the

more southerly

have

never, either, succeeded in recognising measles or

scarlatina,

though

am

not at

all

sure that they are

not to be seen.

Isolated cases of
I

what

is

apparently

a not very rapid form of cholera

the disease causing death,

have come across;

it

when

does cause

it,

in
I

from two to three days.

Epidemics of cholera

have never seen or ever heard of as occurring in

the interior.
In fact, the epidemics that
I

have

seen have always been of a mixed type of disease,

and

in

almost every case easily traceable to bad

drinking water; a small collection of people being

all,

perhaps, taken
fever,

ill

on the same day, some with

malarial

some with dysentery, some with

diseases
life

typhoid,
to

some with dengue, and some with

I

which

could put no name.

Certainly

in

Central Africa inclines one to the belief that

filth

does cause so-called specific diseases to be generated

de novo, and that hybrid diseases are

far

from un-

common
this,

but to satisfy oneself on such a point as

far longer stay in the interior,
I

would require a
far

and

more extended experience than

have had.

specificity
I

153
in the

would strongly advise an3one interested

study of disease, and intending to travel in Central

Africa, to read, first of
all,

a small

monograph by

Dr. Collins on the above question.*

Umbilical hernia

is

extremely

common

in children;

but rare in men, evidently disappearing as they grow

older.
diet,

This tendency

is

increased by the children's

which consists of large quantities of grain food,

little,
if

and some vegetables, with

diet

any meat

which produces a degree of distension of the

to the

abdomen very strange

European

eye.

The

same grain-eating habits

in the adult

produce the
teeth, so

smooth ground-down surface on the back

noticeable
classes,
in

our

country

among

the

labouring

and

in the

jaws of skulls of ancient Britons

which are occasionally dug up.

The

bot-fly
It

(Qi^strus)

is

an occasional source of

annoyance.

lays its Q^^g under the skin of

human

beings, as well as of animals,

in

and the

o.^^

becomes

due course a maggot

of

the swelling resulting from

the growth

the

creature producing the

is

most

intense itching, which of the

only relieved by the escape

maggot, either through an opening which

artificial

occurs by ulceration, or through an

one

made by
M.D.

the lancet.
in

* 'Specificity and Evolution

Disease,' by

W.

J.

Collins,

London

H. K. Lewis, Gower Street.

154

^-^^ Climate

and Diseases
is

The wood-tick
quent nuisance.
grass
stalks

(Ixodes)
It

much more
and
from

fre-

hangs

in

thousands upon the

these

along

every path,

transfers itself to passing

men and

animals.
its
its

Once
forceps,

attached,

it

fixes itself

on by means of

and commences

to

suck the blood of

until

victim,

gradually distending
originally,

the

little

tick

which,

was the
size

size

and shape of a bug, soon

becomes the

and shape of a gooseberry, with

to indicate

two depressions
and a row of
the legs
;

left

where the eyes were,

little

pits, at the bottom of which are

a hideous, repulsive bag of blood, which

bursts on very slight provocation.

Even the
becomes

flea,

harmless

enough

in

England,

a source of the

most extreme discomfort

it

when

it

swarms

in countless millions, as

does in

some badly-kept
it

huts.

The

only

way
;

to get rid of
floors

is

to turn out the

whole place

sweep the

and

sprinkle

them with

kerosine,

and clean and

it

sprinkle every article before returning

to

its

place.

After two or three repetitions of this treatment, the

plague ceases, not to return

in a

well-kept hut.

Lung
natives.

affections are very

common amongst
of temperature

the
in

The sudden changes

the rainy season, with no corresponding change in

garments, naturally induces these conditions.

Dangerous Food
native
will

155
an
attack
it

easily

succumb

to

once
also

induced, as the causes which induced

increase
it.

will

Lung

affections,

secondary to malarial
death to natives

fever, are a very fruitful source of

suffering

from what would otherwise be a by no

means
ditions

serious attack of the fever.

The same conis

which

incite

lung complaints, also tend to

;

the prevalence of rheumatism

rarely very acute.

which, however,

Heart-disease and

dropsy are

not

uncommon.
are a very frequent source of trouble to

Worms
children
;

and so are their sequelae met with

in

England.

The
soft

native

method

of grinding corn, between

two

stones,

naturally produces a mixture of meal

and stone

dust,

and the porridge made from Europeans as well as

this

is

often eaten by

natives.

It

never seems to injure the native when healthy, and

frequently does not injure the healthy

European

but

when
is

suffering from dysentery or typhoid, this

food
to

distinctly harmful, even for the native,

I

and

my

knowledge has often caused death.

for a

believe

it is

unwise

European
is

to eat food

made from

native meal, whilst he

travelling during his first

year

in

the tropics

after that period he will be able

to judge for himself.

Hut

if

he has once suffered

156

The Climate and Diseases

it

from dysentery or typhoid,

certainly

is

his safest

course to refrain ever after from the use of such

food.

At the coast, the method of grinding corn

being different, the same rule does not hold good

but then at the coast American flour
cheap, and so the European
is

is plentiful,

and
to

not tempted there

make
I

shift

with native meal.

recollect

do not
;

having

seen goitre in

the

interior

but at the coast mild cases of the disease

are of not infrequent occurrence.

coast,
in

The

soil

of the
I

those parts, at
is

least,

with which

am
and
is

familiar,

composed of
of

fossiliferous limestone,

the water

the

surface

wells

and

streajns

naturally impregnated with the salts of lime,

and

with the other salts which are associated with lime.

It

was always a

surprise to

me how

babies in

Africa could stand the treatment to which they were

subjected.

They

are fed from birth upwards

upon
theo-

gruel in addition to their natural food.

retical

On

grounds the majority of them should die from

;

gastric irritation

but such does not appear to be

the case, and most survive this utter neglect of the

rules of physiology
it is

and

dietetics.

At the same time,

is

very

difficult to

ascertain

what
;

the death-rate

amongst very young children

their deaths being a

matter of such complete unimportance, that the

Alhinisui

and Melanism
it,

157
if
I

European would never hear of

even

half their

number were swept

seldom called

off

by an epidemic.

was very

in to see sick babies, until the natives

I

began to understand that

see them,
orders.

would come

willingly to

and take trouble about

their infantile dis-

There are two strange conditions, one can hardly

call

them diseases

albinism

and melanism.
are,
strictly

Con-

genital

abnormalities they

speaking.

Albinism consists in the entire absence of pigment

from the skin and appendages, so that the eyes

destitute of pigment in front have a pinkish appear-

ance, due to the blood vessels at the back of the eye

showing through

the skin from the

;

same cause has

a delicate pink hue

the parts of the body usually

pigmented are not

so,

and the hair

in

is

perfectly white.

This condition, familiar to us

England amongst
friend or ac-

men, usually
quaintance,
in
is

in

the person of

some
and

also

well-known to us amongst animals

;

the

shape of white rats

in

if

we

frequent

museums,
bullfinches,
it

the shape

of white

starlings,

white

and white sparrows.

;

Strange to say,

occurs amongst the Africans

so that

we have

the

almost repulsive sight of a

features, white woolly hair,

man

with pure negro

and a perfectly white and

jest of

skin, the albino negro, the gazing stock

158

The Climate and Diseases

In melanism, just the opposite

the negro world.

condition

holds.

Black sheep are famihar to

;

all

dwellers in the country

black rabbits, squirrels, and

leopards to frequenters of

museums

but melanism

apparently never occurs amongst man, so that the

albino negro has no corresponding abnormal brother

amongst the white

races.

The absence
enormous

of cold in Central Africa

makes an

difference in the sufferings

amongst the

poor there and in England.

After working amongst

the poor in England, and living amongst the scenes

of slavery in Central Africa,
I

certainly feel that the

misery and pain suffered by the natives of Africa

is

not to be compared with the misery, pain, and

in all

sorrow that exist amongst the very poor

great
cities, especially

our

during the winter months.

CHAPTER

VI

THE TRAVELLER
Very few
are the favoured individuals

who

arrive in
likely

East Africa with a clear idea of what they are

to encounter, or provided with half of the necessaries

of comfortable,

if

even of actual existence.

It

is

very

difficult

for a

man who

has always lived in a

civilized

country to realize what his condition will

be

like

when he has no shops within one

or two

months' journey, or to remember every item which

he ought to lay
in for

an absence of perhaps one or

in his deeply-interesting
' :

two
'

years.

Mr. Ashe,

book

Two

Kings of Uganda,' says

of the mistakes

some

may mention which were made we were

I
:

provided with
ourselves

short

Epsom salts by the stone, but found Our large of common table-salt.
absence of such a necessity as butter,
I

supply of castor-oil was but a poor compensation

for the entire

and

for

my

part

would gladly have exchanged our

60

The Traveller

elaborate distilling apparatus for another

teakettle.'
Briefly,

common

the traveller

who proposes

to penetrate

into the interior of Central Africa

must be prepared

to live without the certainty of fresh supplies, except

meat, for the whole time he

may

be absent

for

though the probability

purchase other food,
able to do so for
it is

is

that he will

be able to

possible that he

may

not be

days or even weeks together.

His

luggage must be

made up

into loads of such a size

and weight as
their

to be easily carried

by his porters on
be prepared to

heads or shoulders.

He must

walk the whole way

for

himself, reserving his

;

hammock
armed

his

carriage during sickness

also be well

and he and his

men must
he
is,

armed,

for the better

is

the less likelihood there

of his

arms being

needed.

Lastly, he must have a very large supply

if

of both patience and firmness

really successful.

his journey

is

to be

Until quite lately

travellers

it

was

at

Zanzibar that
;

all

made ready
of

their caravans

but the es-

tablishment

the

Imperial

British

East Africa

Company
interior.

at

Mombasa

has

made

that port an im-

portant base from which caravans are sent into the

Zanzibar has quite an imposing

effect

viewed from

The
a steamer.

Sttltaiis

Palace

i6i

The white soHd-looking houses stand

Approaching nearer you

out well in relief against the sea in front and the

green palm-trees behind.

see that one long street fronts the sea, behind which

are

some of the

principal

houses the French Hotel

to the north,

and the British Consulate and Agency

In the middle
is is

to the south.

a large square, at
;

the back of which the time

I

the Sultan's old palace

it

and

at
It

first

visited

(1886) his only one.

is

looks not unlike a large doll's house, and

orna-

mented with

semicircular

windows with

alternate

panes of bright blue and bright green.

To

the

north of the palace are the Sultan's ironworks, and

between these two places some waste ground, on which lie in wild profusion portions of cannon,
boilers,

steam -trams, engines, and

other

rusting

remains, behind

which

rises

a
in

plastered building

with green window-

shutters

various stages

of

degeneration, in keeping with the crumbling, eaten

surface
factory
of the

once white -plastered walls.

is

This
the

-hke structure

the town -house of

Sultan's harem.
of the

The

greater part of the remainder

far inferior

town

is

composed of

houses to

the rather massive-looking structures which front

the sea.

The

streets are so

narrow that

in

many
1 hey

places you can touch both side-walls at once.

II

62

The

Traz'eller
it

are gutters as well as streets, as

is

the custom in
;

Zanzibar to throw your refuse out of your windows

whilst beneath each

window

there

is

a hole in the

stone floor of the

street,

room which
is

leads out into the

and down which

poured your dirty water.

if

careful servant

would look to see

to

there were
;

passers-by before

commencing

do

this

but Zan-

zibar servants are not

all careful.

Two
fast

days after

my

arrival at

Zanzibar the great

all

of

Ramadan was
in

over,

and

the

natives

appeared
consists

clean garments.

The

native costume
like

of a white

garment exactly

an emit

broidered nightshirt.
looks

when

clean.

And very nice and neat The Sultan held a reception

in the

in

honour of the day; and

morning, quite early,

received the English residents.

We assembled at Sir

John Kirk's house, and then marched in procession to the new palace, which was not quite finished. As

we
'

entered, the band,

composed of Egyptians, played

God

save the Queen.'

Then we marched
by

upstairs,

and were received

at the top

his Highness,

who
long

gave a hearty shake of the hands to each, after

which we went into the reception-room

room with white-plastered

walls and a blue dado.

The

floor

was covered with a thick warm carpet

with a flaring pattern.

Between the windows, on

A
sides of the

Long

List

163

the walls, were splendid mirrors, whilst

down

the

room were
and

settees

and chairs

in velvet

and

gilt,

and very comfortable they were.

Presently
state,

the Sultan
Sir

came

in

sat

on a chair of

with

John on

his right.

Then

barefooted attendants

appeared and brought us sweetmeats, which to our

English palates tasted nasty, and sherbet (nastier),

and next coffee

in

golden cups, w^hich w^ould have

filled

been excellent but that the cups were half

barley sugar
;

with
to

lastly, attar of roses

was brought

perfume our handkerchiefs with.

Then

the Sultan

rose and went to the door, gave each of us another

hearty shake of the hands, and

we

departed.

But to return to the wants of the traveller.

brought face to face with a
list

When

of the necessaries for

a year's absence from civilization, one stands fairly

aghast at the multitude of odds and ends which are

required,

and one
is

realizes the

number
living

of people

upon

whom
life at

one

dependent when

even the quietest

home.
list

Happy

the

man who

does stand aghast

at the

of things

which he has

to take, instead of,

later,

as

is

too often the case six

months

mournfully

discovering the

number

of necessaries

which he has

forgotten to bring.

Most of

his outfit the thoughtful

European
;

will

have purchased before he went out

lut certain
II

64

The Traveller
have wisely
left

portions he will

until

his arrival

at Zanzibar, chief
articles.

amongst these being the barter

Wherever one goes throughout Central

is

Africa, cloth

the standard article of barter

;

is

it is

the current coin

and
is

common

coarse calico
in

the

kind of cloth which

everywhere

demand, what-

ever the particular fashion of the place

may be
mile.
;

as to

coloured and fancy cloths.

This

article, therefore,
It is

he

will

have to lay

in literally

by the

sold in bales of thirty to forty yards each

and

five

or six of these bales,

making a

total of

one hundred

and eighty or two hundred yards, are

in cord,

tightly

packed

and then sewn up

in matting, constituting

one man's load.

About two yards of

this calico

is

the weekly allowance to each porter for the purchase

of his food,

which

is

the only thing allowed him on

the march, his wages being paid partly in advance,

and partly on
of a fathom

his return to Zanzibar.

This measure

is

known by

the natives as an upande,

it

and the supply of food which

purchase
is

is

supposed to

called posho.

Wire and beads make up

the remainder of the recognised barter articles, but

knives, soap,
salt,

small mirrors, thread,

needles,

tobacco, and especially sweetmeats, are very useful

for occasional barter,

and

for

purchasing inexpensive

products.

They

constitute, in fact, the small

change


Pears Soap
165

of Africa, the smallest quantity of cloth usually salable being about the value of a quarter dollar.

The

knives used for barter should be

soft steel, as the natives

made

of iron or
steel,

cannot sharpen good

and are apt

except for

to break
its

it.

The soap should be good

is

expense. Pears' soap

its

undoubtedly

the best for the purpose, as

is

value unfortunately

recognised by

many

of the natives.

Indeed Man-

dara, the Sultan of Kilimanjaro, always insists

upon
*

having Pears' when you barter soap with him.

want the

sort

you can see through,' he remarks,

to pass off
it

when you endeavour

him, and there
of your
is

another article upon

but to give up

nothing for

some

own

toilet-soap, or
It
is

go without what you

want

to

obtain.

strange

how some

of our
in

household articles
savage lands.
I

in

England get a reputation

remember

a traveller on one occa-

sion presenting a tablet of Pears' soap to an un-

washed

chief

who had brought him

\\\\o

a present of a
it

very scraggy fowl, and

refused

very rude

thing for a chief to do, as he

knew

better

manners

than that.
traveller,

You

call

yourself a big chief,' said the

little

'you are only a

chief; every big chief

knows

this soap.'

He was

very hard up for food at

left,

the time, and had hardly any articles of barter

so
that

the rejection of his soap, where

he had

66
it

The Traveller
would take
well,
it

expected that
his remarks.

no doubt sharpened
advisable to take
folk,
it

But though

is

good soap

for chiefs

and other big

is

very
bar-

necessary to take a large supply of

soap.
it
.

common

If to

no one

else, 3'ou

can always get rid of

to your porters,

who

will in

manage

to get things
for
it.

you want from the natives

is

exchange

Salt
told

everywhere esteemed.

Commander Cameron
it

me
it

that he used to purchase

when on
sell it

a journey

in places

where

it

was cheap, and

salt is
;

again where

was dear; but the native

both dirty, which

bitter,

the natives do not object to

and
is

which they

do

so that good English salt

always acceptable
districts.

and

salable even in salt-producing

The
in dis-

same holds good

in Zanzibar,
tricts

of tobacco,

which

is

best purchased

and of course best disposed of

is

where tobacco

little

grown.

Needles and

thread can only occasionally be got rid of; but they

take up very
little

space, and

when they can be

article
ot

disposed of will save a more valuable

barter.
ally for

Sweetmeats are exceedingly

inducing boys to work
;

useful, especi-

but one or two must

be given away to stimulate their appetite and so

create

the

demand
will

for

these articles.

The hard

marble-like sweetmeats

are especially useful, as a

group of boys

pass one round, and each extract

Mr. Ashes Shop

the juice for a minute
lates a
;

167

and so one sweetmeat stimu-

number

of palates, and thus creates a pro-

portionate

demand for more. Some men are much quicker than

this

others

in

obtaining reasonable terms from the natives.

Ashe
rarely

was always very successful

failed,

way,

he

but

remember one instance

of his doing so.

at

He had
a time

been bargaining with a young man, who

when we were

in great straits for food agreed

to purchase Ashe's waistcoat for an

amount

of food

equal to two shillings, but instead of bringing the

food, he returned the waistcoat shortly after, with

the

crushing

remark
too,

that
I

it

was not worth

it.

About that time,

of

emptied out the contents

sold

my

medicine-chest,

and Ashe

the

empty
after

bottles as snuff-boxes.

His usual plan was,

having dilated upon

for

its capabilities,

to sell a bottle

one or two days' supply of vegetables, or a

After the bargain

dozen eggs.

was concluded and him

its

the purchaser had departed, Ashe used to call

back again, show him a cork, and

capabilities
for

dilate

upon

closing a

bottle,

and

the

result

usually
eggs.
It
is

was some more vegetables or three more

always safest

in

preparing for a journey to

able to get nothing but

consider that you

may be

68
eggs,

The Traveller
and occasionally not even these.
sufficient

meat and

Take, therefore, just

flour,

supplies of biscuit,

sugar,

tea,

coffee,

condensed milk, tinned

for the

butter, tinned lard

and oatmeal

whole period,

and a

sufficient supply of delicacies for a

two months'

illness.

As regards
purchased
in

clothing, hats

and helmets are best

pith

Zanzibar.

The

helmets sold

there have wider brims than the ones obtainable in

India, or at the outfitters' at

home.

For clothing,

the best for everyday wear

is

perhaps an ordinary

tweed

suit

made without

lining.

For

travelling
cric.keting

some

prefer kakee canvas suits, others

flannels

and a

thick blazer

with

spinal

pad.

Flannels are more apt to get torn than the canvas,

but they are

much more
air,

comfortable,

warmer

in

the chilly morning

sun.
early

and cooler under the blazing

useful for the

Waterproof leggings are most morning

in the

marshy
the

districts,

before the

sun

has evaporated

very heavy

dew which
;

collects every night

on the grass and bushes

and

they can be taken

off directly the grass gets dry.

policeman's cape will protect the coat in going

through

high

grass

under the

same

conditions.

Boots are usually worn with very square toes and

thick
soles,

unblackened,

natural

brown

leather

The Afnatcur Cobbler

being the material.

169

The

thick soles answer a double

purpose

they prevent the sharp inequalities of the being

felt

rough uneven mountain paths

feet,

by the

and

also prevent the hot

baked rocks or scorch-

ing sand, over which the traveller often has to

for miles,

march
If

from blistering the soles of his

feet.

away from the

coast for a long time together,

we
fit,

used to take extra soles with us, ready

made

to

pierced with holes, and provided with a supply of

appropriate

nails.

The boot
last,

to

be

mended was
sole

placed on an ordinary

having a thin metal sole

screwed on to
off

it

and the old leather

was

cut

from the boot, and the

in

new

one,

previously

soaked
in
its

water for twenty-four hours, nailed on

place, well

hammered down, and

;

the edges

then trimmed with a knife

days, the sole

in one, or at

most two

was dry again and hard, and the boot

ready for use.

One mistake
traveller, into

frequently

made by
is

the inexperienced

which he

led

by the outfitter at

home,

is

to sacrifice utility

and strength to imaginary

and cooking pots.
in

portability in his tent furniture

To

this

end the tent and bed poles are made

resulting in

sections,

a great

weakening

of their

structure,
loads,
for

and rendering them more awkward as

the porter has perhaps three
pieces
of

70

The Traveller
tie

three feet each to

together every morning, usually

with the scantiest supply of cord, instead of one

convenient pole nine feet long, which he can easily
balance,
easily

carry,

and which he has not the

trouble of tying and untying each day.

From

the

same mistaken notion the

kettles
is

utility of

saucepans and
stout

sometimes

impaired.

Ordinary

English articles are by

far the best, as they

can be
in

bundled into a basket each day, and easily carried

this

way.

Portable

handles

are

convenient

for

losing, but for

no other purpose.

After having carefully

into loads of sixty

made up

all

his

baggage

pounds each, and having. provided

of porters, with one headfor

a corresponding

number

man

for

each ten men, and a cook and boy

is

himself, the traveller

ready to leave Zanzibar for

the mainland.

traveller

who wished

to

manage

things economically, yet with safety, and not to be

absent more than three months, nor travel more

than

six

hundred

miles, could

manage comfortably

with thirty men, and, as these on an average would

cost him,
all

incidental expenses included, less than

thirty shillings a

month

each, the total cost of such

outfit,

an expedition, exclusive of his own

and the

English food he took with him would be under one

hundred and

thirty-five

pounds, probably under one

Cost of an Expedition

171

hundred pounds.
he would

After such an experience as this

to economise,
I

know how and where

two hundred miles

and
once

what amount of roughing he could stand.

travelled
in ten days,

with no

discomforts,
footsore, at

except being tired,

and

occasionally
;

a total cost of seven

pounds

whilst

Mr. Ashe on one occasion came from the Victoria

Nyanza

to the coast, nearly eight

;

hundred

miles, for

about ten pounds

but he had both discomforts and

hardships to endure.
can be done
;

These

figures will

show what
nothing

but

it

needs experience

and

else will take its

place

to

travel economically in

Central Africa.

The

first

time that

I left

Zanzibar
mid-day,

for the interior,

we

started

by dhow

at

and arrived

at

Saadani

at sunset.

With

truly oriental indifference

in

the captain of the

dhow had no boat on board

nor had

which to land

us,

he

provided one at

Saadani to be sent to meet us; so he grounded his

dhow, and calmly waited

leave her high dark, and
I

until the

ebbing tide should

it

and dry.

Meanwhile

had become

was getting hungry,

it

so that there
I

was
was

nothing for
safe in a

but to swim ashore, and soon

hut enjoying tea.

mud

There were plenty

all

of mosquitoes there, as there arc at

seasons along

the coast

swamp

but they did not trouble

mc much

172
perhaps
flavour.

'

The

Travellei'

my
at

prolonged sea-sickness had impaired

my

Whilst

Saadani

received a visit from

some
large

Wanyamwezi, who had come down with a

caravan from the
hut and sat
interior.

They came

into

my

in a semicircle

on the ground, and after

having cleaned their teeth with a piece of stick

broken up into

fibres at the end,

it,

and
they

tried to soil

my mud

floor

by spitting upon
I

commenced
a structure

conversation.

could only understand one question

It related to

put by the leading man.

which evidently was new to

{master),'

his experience.

he

said, in

an interested tone,
?'

Bwana 'how much

'

did your trousers cost

Saadani or some other coast town being the

ing point for the

start-

march

into the interior, the porters

here receive their food-money or posho for three

days

in

advance, at
a

the

rate

of

five

pice
first

(five

farthings)

day each

man.

For

the

ten

marches from the coast the natives

payment, beyond that distance
a day
is

will

take pice in

cloth.

At the

start

quite taken up in paying the posho, dividing

the loads, hiring

new

porters to replace those

who
is

have

failed at the last

moment, and making

all final

arrangements.
usually made.

The next day

the start up country

'a:^^v

..

; '

The Porters Rations

It is light

']'i^

about half-past

five in

the morning, and

we

usually started as soon after this as possible

finished,

breakfast

tents

struck,

and

everything

packed up before
Indian
file,

six.

Marching has

to be

done

in

the paths being very narrow, and occa-

sionally so hollowed in

the

centre,

that

one foot

has to be placed immediately in front of the other,

rendering walking in

such places rather awkward

and very

fatiguing.
villages the

Near the

ground

is

generally culti-

vated, millet, Indian corn,

and sweet potatoes being

first

the chief products on the

plateau.

Millet or
'

Indian corn

made

into a

stiff

porridge called
food of

ugali

formed the staple

article

of

our native

porters on caravan journeys.

The head-men, who

file,

had better pay than the rank and

bought a goat and divided
our buying a goat and
joints.
it,

occasionally

though they preferred

making them presents of

were
in

The

porters, unable to afford goats,

most places able to buy chickens to eat with

ugali.

their

These they plucked, cleaned,

split

open, and

dried, giving

them much the appearance of kippered

in this

herrings

and prepared

way, they would

last

many days. The men

five or six

divided themselves into sets or

camps

of

each, in this

way saving themselves much

74

The

Travcllei-

trouble in their commissariat arrangements.

One

did the cooking, two or three fetched fuel and water

and went to the nearest

village to barter for food,

whilst the others built the hut for the night

like

made
was

an

Indian wigwam, the framework being of

sticks,

and the covering of long grass

and nearly as strong.
at the

which

as dry as straw,
I

was very much surprised

good behaviour of
single
if

the men.

Sometimes there would be not one

case of squabbling during an entire march,

one Yet

could judge from their tones and expressions.

they were heathen,

of

all of them for although some them considered themselves Mohammedans, they
;

were so only

in

name.
on

Not long
country,
I I

after starting

my

first

journey up brought on,

unboiled

was

laid

low with
now, from

fever,

have

no

doubt

drinking

water

in a

malarious district through which for a

;

few marches we passed

continue the journey by

and so

was obliged

to

hammock,

a very luxurious

method

of travelling.

was always glad when the

Very

time came for exchanging the hard camp-bed for the

comfort and ease of the yielding hammock.

careful the

men were

with their sick charge.

One
in

man

ran in front of the

hammock
in

to see that there

were no boughs projecting

the

way; whilst

How
two on each
the
side,

Roads arc Made

175
with us,

crossing the streams four

men would go
their

and joining
it

hands under
reach of
the

hammock

raise

well

out

of

water.

The East
to before,

African paths which have been referred

for

and which are called

euphony roads,

are very interesting but very tiring features of the

country.

Every

village

is

connected with

its

neigh-

bours by means of these paths, which thus run right

across Africa, the
trans-continental

main paths frequented by the

caravans
being
slightly

wider,

distinctly smoother,

and more bare of vegetation

routes.

than

the

less-frequented

The

traveller

is

thus rarely at a loss as to the way, the coast-porters

knowing

all

the chief routes up to the lakes, and the

natives of each district, easily obtainable as guides

from

camp

to

camp, knowing

all

the

by-paths.

These paths are wonderfulh' sinuous, and Professor

Drummond

gives an account of the chief

methods

by which they originate.

very carefully, as his

He must
is

have observed

account

very accurate, and,

considering the short time he was in Africa, very

complete.

have watched natives making roads

villages,

between two
in

and have occasionally helped

villages.

endeavouring to find short cuts between

is

Wherever the ground

fairly

even, and unco\'crccl

176

The Traveller
his

by brushwood or thorns, there the native makes

path
in

a direct
is

line

towards his goal

but

un-

fortunately this

only occasionally the condition,

and he

is

thus driven to

make

circuitous routes,

taking advantage of every furrow and cleared space

worn by the temporary streams which are originated

each rainy season, and, to a larger extent, following
the innumerable wild beast tracks which cross and
intercross with wonderful complexity, covering every

square mile of the Continent.

or pick,
billhook,

Thus, without axe

and wdth only the occasional use of the

a native will find a path

from any one

point to any other.

Once

started, the path, never

still

very straight, soon becomes

more

circuitous on

account of fortuitous circumstances.

Every strong which has

will

wind

in

Africa brings

down some

tree

lived out its allotted span,

and some of these

necessarily

fall

across the road.

Now,

to a native

with a load, a climb over a trunk not quite touching

the ground, or a scramble underneath
it,

is

not so
it

expeditious as going round the tree, and round

he goes.

Occasionally some more enterprising or

fire

thoughtful inhabitant or passer-by will start a

in the trunk,

which,

if

it

be the dry season, will

gradually smoulder for days, or even weeks, until at

last a

white band of ashes alone marks the position

No
often there
for

Right of
is

Way
restored.

i-jj

of the obstacle, and the path

is

But more

no one who has time or indination

in

such a deed, and the tree remains, until

the

course of a year or two the white ants have eaten

the sun-dried timber, and the wind and rains have

broken up and scattered the fragments

but by this

time rank grass, creepers, thorns, and underwood

have sprung up over the unused path, and

detour originally

the

made

to avoid the fallen tree has

become part of the permanent way.

again have
I

Over and over

noticed this in passing and repassing

roads at intervals of perhaps six months.

still
is

Another

more frequent cause

of alteration in the paths

the want of any authority to enforce respect for a

recognised right-of-way.

For two or three miles

have their farms or

round each

village the inhabitants

it

shambas, and

frequently suits a man's convenience

to take the public road into his

shamba
it

so forth-

with he ploughs

it

up,

and digs

into deep furrows

and

ridges,

which would
it

effectually
if

prevent

the

traveller
barrier,

attempting

twice,

the

strong thorn
erects

which

at the

same time the occupier

it

round his shamba, did not prevent his doing

once.

Often at the beginning of the cultivating season

have

suddenly found myself obliged to go out of

for

my way

two or three hundred yards on account

12

178
of

The Traveller
the

thoughtless

selfishness
in the

of

some

African

husbandman.

Sometimes

plains the heavy

rains of an unusually wet season will

make some

path so

soft

and heavy that a new one has to be

temporarily

made
and

but the old path thus released

from

traffic,

at the

same time softened by the

and hidden
it is

rains, is rapidly covered with vegetation

from

sight,

and

so,

even when the rains are over,

disused and soon forgotten.

Such a path

is

said to

have

'

died.'

Only

for

the purposes of strategy,

and then but

rarely, will natives

go to the trouble

of using axe and hoe to make a

new

path.

have

known such

a path, ending abruptly in the,jungle a

for secrecy's sake,

hundred yards from the main road,

made
The

across a long distance in a very short time. distance a caravan marches daily
is

limited
fair

chiefly

by the loads, ten miles a day being a

;

average with sixty-pound loads

but the distance

supplies.
it

must always be determined by the water

If there
is
is

no water

for thirty miles at a stretch,

best to

march the whole of

still,

that distance in one

;

day, or, better

is

in

one night

but

if

the distance

greater, one day's supply of water

in

may

be taken,

and the journey done

two days.

But taking

water adds, of course, to the burdens to be carried,

and diminishes the distance

it

is

possible to march.

Wanyamivezi as Carriers
With
thirty
-

179
possible
to

pound loads

it

is

quite

march twenty miles a day,

six

days a week, without

carriers.

unduly fatiguing Europeans or

load,
if

heavier

really necessary,
;

can be carried on a pole by

fifty

two men

but a load of only

pounds would be
thirty
is

carried by

two men, who separately would carry

;

pounds each
all

and a load of ninety-five pounds

that will be carried, without incessant bother and

grumbling, by two men,

sixty
differ.

who

separately would carry

pounds each.

In this respect certain tribes

will

The Wanyamwezi

both carry heavier

loads than the Zanzibaris, and also a heavier pro-

portionate double load.

is

They

will also carry

what

known

as the

'

madala,' which consists of two

thirty-pound loads slung one at each end of a pole.

This

is

often a convenient load for a traveller,

and

things so packed can be carried

carefully than in the ordinary way.

more

safely

and

The Wanyamwezi, who occupy

the interior south of the \'ictoria

a large tract in

Nyanza and

east

of Tanganyika, are the great traders and carriers of

Central Africa.
better than
' .

Mr. Ashe, who knows them even

:

do, says

in spite of certain things

which

could not

but dislike about these people, they showed so

fine qualities that

many

they

won my

sincerest admiration.

12

80

The Traveller
fortitude,

Patience,

strong affection,

dogged per-

severance were their better characteristics.'

As a
I

tribe

Hked them better than any other that

came

across.

They
it
is,

are excellent
I

carriers

but

when

travelling

think, best to have both

in the caravan,

Zanzibaris and

Wanyamwezi

each

under their respective head-men and independent of

the other, except that an Arab or half- Arab
is

put in

charge of the entire caravan.

Wanyamwezi
distance

will

The Zanzibaris and make separate camps at a little

;

from each other, at each resting-place

arise,

and whatever troubles

tional

even such an excep-

one as we encountered, namely, war between

will

the

Germans and Arabs, they

supply, as

never combine to

make common cause

against the white man.

is

The water

source of anxiety

we have seen, on many marches.

two men

the great
is

It

always

well to give one or

light loads

and extra

posho, so that they

may keep

well in front of the

caravan, each carrying a bucket, and go at once on

their arrival to fetch water.
is

In this
all

way the

traveller

sure of getting water before

it

the porters have

exhausted

temporarily, as they sometimes do, and

certainly before they have stirred

up the

mud and

polluted

it

as,

except in the rare case of running

streams, they always do.

Neglect of Sanitation

i8i
it

When

arranging the camping-place,

if

is

wise to

choose a spot,

possible,

which

will

be shaded by

trees in the afternoon, otherwise the heat will be

almost unbearable

and, in any case, the traveller

should keep well to windward of the general camp,

and

if

there

is

one, on a slight elevation.

It is ver}'-

necessary to keep to windward of the camp, as

sanitary observances are
painfully neglected

both

by Zanzibaris and Wanyamwezi, especially by the

latter.

Mr. Stokes, a trader

lives

Wanyamwezi, and
hours

in

who travels only with camp with them, can

never remain at the same place over twenty-four

;

and consequently, even on Sunday, usually

for a very

marches a mile or two

of
air.'

necessary

change

When

there

is

not time or material for building

temporary huts, the porters content themselves with

drawing closer to their

fires,

which they then keep

have the double
frightening
effect

up more

carefully.

The

fires

of keeping
animals.

them warm, and

traveller

away wild
sake

The

who

sleeps in his tent will

for coolness'
;

need to keep the ends open

this
will

and

necessitate

either

his

personal servants

sleeping near the door, and lighting their fires there, or his keeping a small
door, or, what
is

lamp burning
all,

all

night at the

best of

having a dog there on

82

The Traveller

guard.
is

mastiff, a bull-dog, or a large bull-terrier

for

match

any animal except a

lion,

and would

give timely notice of the approach of the latter.

I

always endeavoured to take small tents for

my

servants and head-men, in addition to

especially
if

my own

tent,

they had their wives with them.

small tente d'abri

made

of strong twill, measuring

about

five feet

by

six feet at the

base and four feet

six inches high,

capable of holding three people in the

way
and

that the natives pack at night, can be

six

made

for

five or

shillings

and, with two bamboo-poles

six tent-pegs

complete, will weigh less than six

I

pounds.

To
it

each servant and head-man

also gave,
all

when

obtainable, a blanket.
is

Apart from

other

reasons,

good policy to look carefully

after the

health of your servants and head-men.

For

this

purpose an extra

tent,

and one or two extra blankets

case of sickness amongst the

and warm

vests,

in

other porters, are also advisable.

Most of the men,

the caravan, and
full

when

sick, will

come along with

often carry a light load, and sometimes their

load, if they are cared for

when they
it

arrive in
is

camp.

In addition to tents and clothing,

well to set

aside a small supply of arrowroot, rice, tapioca, con-

densed milk, sugar,

coffee,
ill.

and curry as medical

All the preceding

extras for those really

com-

Deaths on the March

forts will not cost

183

more than three

or four pounds,

whilst delaying even a small caravan on account of

sickness costs at least one

pound a

day.

One

fre-

quently hears of death on the road amongst porters

in the

caravans
I

but most of the deaths, the details

familiar with, have been caused by

of which

am

ignorance or neglect on the part of the leaders.

Except
journey
only,
it

in

cases where

it

is

probable that the

will
is

be prolonged through the dry season

wiser to take a large sheet of green

Willesden canvas with eyelets and loops at intervals

along the edge.

This

is

very useful in wet weather

;

as a covering for the loads

carefully

and

if

the loads be

stacked

up

in

the

centre, there will

be

plenty of

room

for a

good number of porters as well

it.

to obtain shelter underneath

I

always took a ten-foot bamboo hammock-pole

with me, as bamboo-poles are very light and strong,

and but rarely obtainable up country, the poles of

sufficient

strength that are obtainable there being

very heavy.

At the camping-places this pole comes

in useful as a roof-support for the luggage-tent

which

we have been

describing.

We
or as

have not yet spoken of the system prevalent

interior tribes of exacting toll,

amongst some of the

it

is

called hniL^o or mhoui^o,

from the passing

84
It
is

TJic

Traveller

traveller.

often the cause of a great deal of

traveller,

annoyance to the
ministered,
All
it

though,

when

well ad-

is

a fair and sensible enough system.

through Eastern Equatorial Africa, as we have

great

seen, the water, in the

is

majority of places,

only to be obtained from wells,

some

of which

have to be sunk with a great deal of labour, considering the imperfect tools which the natives possess
for the

purpose

and when sunk, often

yield but a

scanty supply of water.

The

natives
it

having the
fair that

trouble of sinking these wells,

is

only

passing caravans should pay for the privilege of

using the water.

Some

years ago an Arab coming

down from

the

interior with his caravan

determined that he would

refuse hongo,

and

force his

way down by
;

strength of

arms.
tion

He

endeavoured to do so

no open opposi-

was

offered to

him

but the wells along the

to

route were closed, and

new ones unknown

alive.

him

opened

for the local needs.

Only two or three of

All the

his party

reached the coast

remainder

died of thirst on the way.

But such a system, with no regulated

necessarily

tariff,

is

abused,
levied

and

exorbitant

charges
so,

are

sometimes
local

upon caravans; not only

but
the

superstitions are

made

use

of to

swell

Mhongo
amount demanded by some rapacious
instance, one of your
chief.

185
If,

for
ill,

men happens
;

to be taken

you may have to pay damages

is likely

for such an event

to bring ill-luck to the village at

which you

are staying.

One of my friends had once to pay a fine, because, when on a journey, he had his hair cut at a season when such observances were not
permitted
for

fear

of

injuring the

harvest

and

another, because he took a bath in his tent at a

time when bathing was prohibited for fear of stopping the rains.

Of

course, a

man
but

going by force with a strong

resist

caravan across Africa, could

the two latter
;

such charges as
for a

it

would hardly be wise

Practically
travelling
in

missionary to do
distinct

so.

there

are

two

methods of
and
it

safety through

Africa,

is

unwise to attempt to combine the

is

two.

The one method

to

take

a well-armed,

well-organized force with you, and go, injuring no

one unprovoked, by permitted roads when there

are such, and only by forbidden ones
is

when
force.

there
to

no

alternative,

and

alwa3S

endeavouring

come
other
to

to
is,

terms before proceeding to

to

The

take

no
from

more arms than necessary

resist

attacks

highwaymen between the

permitted
routes,

villages,

going

only

b)-

paying

86

The Traveller
insisted upon, or else turning back,
district

what charges are

and going into no new

without

first

asking,

and obtaining permission from the

former
is

local chief.

The
the

practically

Stanley's

method, and

method adopted by

traders; the latter, Livingstone's,

It is, I

and the method adopted by missionaries.

think, folly for

any man to go into a new

from
the
chief,

district

without

permission

and

for

missionary to do so with a large force would be

fatal to his

work.

quite safe.

Go by The chief may

;

permission, and you are

ask you for presents, but

your

life

and property are usually secure as long as

in his district

you are

and

if

you are robbed you

can generally depend on his rendering justice to you,

and punishment to the offender.

CHAPTER
A day's

VII

march
first

More

than an hour before the

ray of dawn, the

alarum woke us up, on one of our journeys, to the

fact that

another day's march lay before

to be lost
if

us,

and that

there

was no time

we wished

to be well

on our way before the sun had risen high enough

to

make travelling by foot a work of utter weariness. The moon had sunk below the horizon soon after
midnight,

and

only

the

faint

starlight,
it

or

the

occasional flicker of a camp-fire as

out, enabled us to

gradually died
sleepers

see the
all

dim forms of
about.

scattered on the ground

We

heard the

bark of a solitary jackal, but most other creatures

had already gone back to their

our boy and our cook, season was
hot,

lairs.

After waking

wc began

to dress.

The
seems

but

even

tropical

water

cold in the very early morning, and travellers rarely

indulge in a bath before a march, as the waiting

about

for the

final

start

would probably

result

in

i88

Days March
and
this

their getting chilled,

in

might not unUkely end

ourselves with

a fever.

So we contented
and

more
until

modest

ablutions,

reserved
it

the

bath

our arrival in camp,

when
in

would be no longer
if

dangerous, and far more refreshing,

not also more

needed.

Having dressed

canvas

suits,

with water-

proof leggings to protect ourselves against the dew-

covered grass, we were read}' to turn our attention

to packing

up our belongings
is

for the

march.

This

early

morning packing

rather a tedious duty, as

carefully in order to

everything has to be folded

take up
little

space, and
tightly

all

breakables have to be
in

packed

fairly

together

order to

avoid

breakage during the jolting to which they

subjected on the march.

will

be

By

this

time more than

an hour had gone by, and there was just a suspicion

of approaching light in the far east.
stirring
rise,

There was a

amongst the

.sleeping forms,

who began
and tuck

to

and each unwinding the sheet which had served

as bed-clothes, proceeded to fold
it,

him

it

round his waist as a sort of long loin-cloth or short

skirt; or else

suspend

it

by a knot over one shoulder,

and allow

it

to envelop

him

as far as his knees.

Whilst the porters were thus engaged, the boy

brought us some porridge, and a cup of
coffee,

which he placed upon the camp-table outside the

Packing Up
tent,

i8g
it,

and we drew our camp-stools up to

clear

of the tent,

which the porters, who were told

off for

that

purpose,
into

make up

now commenced to strike, and to The canvas of the walls and loads.
and mallet, went

roof formed one load, the Hy and tent-poles another,

whilst the ground-sheet, tent-pegs
to

form part of a

third.

Whilst we were having

our coffee, the cook rapidly washed up, and packed

his cooking-pots ready for the porter

who was
for

im-

patiently waiting for them.

The

other porters, too,

the

were busily making up their loads ready

start
;

tying their cooking pots and sleeping-mats

on to the

outside

of

our

packages.

For

this

purpose, they used cord

made

of cocoa-nut fibre,

which they had brought with them from the coast

and the finding of
their various pieces,

which they

had carelessly thrown about the night before, the

desire of the

men

with small allowances of cord to

longer pieces lying temptgreater eagerness of the
to

exchange them
ingly near,

for the

and the
cord at

still

men with no

all

annex any small pieces

which lay near

at hand, usually resulted in a

good

deal of noise, and a certain

amount
had

of quarrelling,

not unmixed with bursts of laughter, as

fortunate man,

some unwhich had

who

usually

six

yards of rope,
feet,

pathetically held up a miserable

two

I90
been substituted

Days March
length.

for his treasured

One

or

two of the men refreshed themselves with ugah

but the majority preferred to go empty, and wait
until their day's

march was

over,

when they would

to enable us to
so,

be able to

rest,

and eat

their food at leisure.

light

There was now

start,

sufficient

and we were just about to do

when we

were delayed by the

refusal of a Zanzibari,
in

named
which

Kasembi, to continue to carry the valise

our
blankets were

packed,

and which was conit

sequently a rather

bulky load, although

Happily,

only

weighed
settle the

fifty

pounds.

we were

able to

matter by giving him a small cas^ weigh-

ing

seventy pounds, which

(the

an

Mnyamwezi was
heavier
loads

carrying

Wanyamwezi
whilst
it

carrj'

than the Zanzibaris), and which the Zanzibari preferred

to

the valise,

the

Mnyamwezi was

equally pleased to exchange

for the other's lighter

many minutes. Most of the more active men had now started, and the hammock-bearers, who carried my wife, took up
load
;

so that

we were

not delayed

their
a

burden without further delay, and went away

trot along the

at

merry

narrow path.

The boy came

with

us, as the short

delay had enabled him to finish

washing up the plates and mugs which we had just

used, and to pack

them away

in their

proper basket.

Duties of Head- man

Usually he started
later,

191

and had

to catch us up, as

he carried with him

bottle, articles

my

gun, telescope and water-

which might be needed during the

the
first

march.

One head-man went on with

but
the
all

detachment,

chief

head-man remained

behind to see that

off,

the loads were safely taken

after

doing which, he walked at the rear of

stragglers
fell

the column to see that no

out on

the march with their loads.

He had

to

remain

longer than usual to-day, as one of the

men had
village,

gone the previous evening to a neighbouring

where the
seed,
lessly

villagers

were brewing beer from millet

freely,

and had indulged so

drunk,

that he was helphis load.

and quite unable to carry

This necessitated a villager being engaged to carry

it

as far as the next camp, for the

sum

of two yards
off

of calico, a corresponding

amount being struck

the wages of the defaulter.

The hammock-bearers went along

up and passed the
different porters.

at

such a

swinging pace, that one by one we gradually caught

The

first

whom

we passed was
in the

ver}-

spruce-looking

Zanzibari,
rejoiced

dressed in comparatively clean calico,

who

not very appropriate, and certainly not very

flattering

name

of Mjinga (the simpleton).

Next

to

him came two boys, Mulandu and Mafunclo, about

192
sixteen

Days March
respectively,

and seventeen years of age

carrying one ordinary load of sixty pounds between

them on a

pole.

Young though they

It
is

were, they

got along bravely each day.

surprising

what

long marches even

children

in

Africa will make.

There was a

little

boy of eight years old on a march

with us once, and though

rather long marches
daily

we happened
to

to be

making

twenty

twenty-four miles

yet he very rarely needed to be carried.

The

dress of two other

men was somewhat

con-

spicuous.

One wore an
off

old nightshirt discarded by

some European some

left

traveller, as his overall,

and another

underlinen which he had obtained at

the coast, and which might have passed for white

knickerbockers, but for the

frill

of embroidery.

Well on, along the

active

line,

was Bundula, a very

at the

man, who usually kept almost

head

of the column.
lost

He was

an Mnyamwezi,

his

right

hand by a gun accident

who had many years

madala

before,

and who yet managed

to carry his

load (two loads tied on at opposite ends of a pole),

and to

tie

it

up most

skilfully

every morning, not-

withstanding this defect.

After two hours'

march the sun had

risen suffici-

ently high to evaporate the

lain so thickly

dew which had

I

hitherto
to take

on the grass, and

was glad

The Wizarif s Fate

off

193

my

long heavy gaiters.

Shortly after this the

giraffes in the distance.

boy pointed out to us some

They were about

fast,

a mile away, and were going very

at, to

but evidently

them, quite an easy trot.

low,

The brushwood about here was comparatively

and there were very few
trees,

so that the

move-

ments of the whole herd could be seen very plainly^

there being nothing capable of giving

them conceal-

ment.

Near

this

we passed
;

the spoor of a lion and

giraffe side

by side
latter,

evidently the former had been

chasing the

but had not succeeded in catching

hard, and
it

him.

The ground was

;

the

spoor not

very distinct

but had
soft

been the rainy season^

lion

and the ground

and marshy, the

would

not improbably have been successful, as under such

circumstances the long

feet

of the
at

giraffe

would

have sunk deeply into the ground

each stride,

and greatly impaired his progress.

As we journeyed on we noticed a native pipe and water gourd hanging from the bough of a tree,
and asked what
it

was there

for.
'

'

It is

a wizard's

place of execution,'

we were

told.

They burnt him

his property in

under the
it

tree,

and then hung up

others.'

as

warning to

Just

here the

path

divided, and one of the hammock-bearers placed a

twig across the wrong path, to warn the porters

13

who

194

A
it

Days March
it.

followed against going by

sary, especially as

This was very necespath, which

'

was the usual

'

had

become blocked

further on,
;

had died

as the natives to go for

would have said

and

it

was necessary
track,

some distance by the new

which by a detour

of half a mile led finally into the old one.

The

men

nearest

us

would have seen which way we

;

went, and followed easily

scattered, extending

but the caravan was so

over more than a mile, that

arrive at the division of
in

some

of the

men would
It

ways when there was no longer anyone

ahead of them.
this

sight
in

would be dangerous to scatter

;

way

far in the interior

but for the

is

first

two

hundred miles from the coast there

little

practically

danger, and

men

often travel with only one

companion, and sometimes with none.

We

had now arrived nearly

it

at the

mid point of

our journey, and as

was a rather longer march

than usual, we had intended to rest half way at

a stream which, flowed partly round a small conical
hill

that had enormous boulders

down

its

sides
;

and
but

at its base.

We

had hoped

to find water here

unfortunately the stream was quite dry, so that

we

were disappointed of the half-hour's

tea

rest,

and the
always

which we intended

to

have made.

We

took with us for this purpose a small

flat kettle,

which

An

Umcstta/ly

Hot Day

195
fire

would rapidly have boiled over a quickly-made

of twigs and dried leaves.
selves

We

had

to content our-

with some lukewarm water from the flask

carried,
fair to

which the boy

it

and a

rest of ten

minutes

as

was hardly

delay the hammock-bearers at

a place where they could get no water.

An hour
streami,

later

we

arrived at a comparatively large

all

which flowed

through the dry season

and here the men refreshed themselves by drinking,

and some of them by bathing.
a small
It is

surprising

what

amount

of water satisfies a thirsty native.

a fierce
I

After a long

march without water, under

content

sun he

will

himself with a few sips.

in

suppose long practice

water enables him
long here, as
for
it

husbanding
this.

his supplies of

to do

We

did

not

stop

we were anxious
day.
I

to finish our journey,

was getting towards the

hot
in addition to the
;

hottest part of an
shelter of

unusually

was glad of the

an umbrella

protection afforded

by a pith helmet

and

all

the porters

who had

spare

pieces of cloth about

them made them

into turbans,

audibly lamenting the heat, as they walked along

perspiring under their loads.
load
off
it
I

Although

had no
far

longed for camp, but did not

know how

was.
*

In answer to our inquiries the

'

men

kept

saying

karibu, karibu

(close,

close)

but natives

132

196

A
worse
at

Days March

are not good at estimating distances accurately, and

still

expressing
'

their
'

estimates.

They

often began to say

five miles off.

karibu

when

the end was yet

The way now

through the
lofty

led

through rather more closelya

wooded country, and the path became

met overhead, so
that
close

tunnel

thorn bushes which interlaced and

above our heads

in places,

many

of the porters kept knocking their loads

against the boughs, and one

who was running

along

rather incautiously

was knocked clean

off his feet

by

his load being caught against

an overhanging branch.

The
to

thorn-bushes, too, were so close together, and

it

the path so very winding, that

get

was often

difficult

the long ten-foot

hammock-pole round the

sharp turnings, without the bearer at one end or the

other being pushed into the bushes.
difficulties of the

march, the

To add to the way now lay up hill,

;

and the path was very rocky and irregular

but

soon we reached the summit, and shortly afterwards

emerged upon a large

scattered over coppices,
it.

clearing, with

many

coppices

Half hidden by one of these

fifty

some hundred and

yards away, was a

herd of twenty or thirty antelope.

We

were

in

front of the caravan, but the rest at the dry stream

bed, and the delay at the nearer stream, where

some

Bewildered Antelope
of the

197
for

men had
to
itself
I

bathed,

had

allowed time

the

stragglers

come

up,

so that the

caravan
a
fairly

had

pulled

together,

and

made

compact body.
and the
doing
bullet

Bred at one of the antelope,

it

struck

in the

back, but without

much immediate
herd,

injury.

The sound

of the

firing startled the

who

looked this

way and

that for the best or

way

to retreat.

Meanwhile, one

two of us ran round one of the coppices and

until the herd,

began to approach them unperceived,

catching
scattered
sight
in

of

us,

became
directions.

bewildered,

and

different
us,

Two

of

them

passed near

but

only had a shot cartridge in

my

other barrel, and so was unable to bring

I

my
it

animal down, though

emptied the charge into

at a distance of only ten yards.

Half a dozen ani-

mals

in their

bewilderment rushed straight through

the caravan.

Dozens of guns were

;

fired

at

them,

many

at only a few paces distance

but with the

exception of one animal, which was struck in the

head by a random shot from

other one was

wounded
porters

my boy, not a single and to my great surprise,

notwithstanding the

none

of

the

either,

reckless

fusillade

from nearly two score of guns.

shot in the head rushed on a few

The one animal

paces and then

fell

dead, and the Zanzibaris at once

198
cut
its

A
throat.
it,

Days March
to cut
it

When we came
that
it

up and

examine

we found

was the same animal

and that
in
it

which

had shot

in the back,

had

also
It

received

my

charge of buckshot

the side.

took very few

minutes to
it

skin

and cut up the

animal, and distribute

or three pounds of

amongst the caravan.

for

Two

meat

each porter was a luxury

not

obtained every day, so that everyone was in

spirits,

good

and the heat and weariness were

for-

gotten in the last few miles march into camp.

We

had not gone

far,

when
us.

three guns in rapid

succession informed us that the mail-men from the

interior

were just ahead of

We

stopped as they
in

came
that

up,

and found some

letters

from our friends

the way-bag, and then looking over the way-bill, saw

amongst other packages was one from Emin

Pasha.

The Pasha

generally

managed

to get

one

packet of letters sent

or five

down

to the coast every four

months by the Church Missionary Society's

mail-men from Uganda to Zanzibar.

One

of these
in

men had
this

his cooking-pot

bound up

tightly

behind

his loin-cloth
article,

a
but

very

common method
gave

of carrying

one which

the wearer

decidedly peculiar appearance.

the

We

only delayed

mail-men a few minutes as we received our

from them, and gave them our packages
for

letters

Kigivainzvanzila.
the coast, and soon

199
respective
for the far

we were both on our

Zanzibar, and we

ways again
interior.

they

for
left

As we

them, the

fact that

we were

approaching a village became more and more evident

by the frequent clearings, signs of farms that had

been or were shortly to be, and by the occasional
patches of cultivated ground.

Soon the

village itself

came

into sight,

and by eleven o'clock our march

was over

for the day.

The hammock-bearers stopped about

yards from the village
;

a hundred

and when,
level

after searching,

we had
tents,

settled

upon two
sit

clearings for our

we were

glad to

down on

the ground and

rest ourselves

under the friendly shade of the broad

trunk of a leafless tree as

we watched

the loads

come

slowly in

though not by any means so slowly

as usual, the delays on the road having, as

seen, helped to pull the caravan together.

we have One
of

the last to
teen,

come

in

was an Mnyamwezi boy of seven-

who

rejoiced in the
into

name

of Kigwamwanzila,
his
friends.

usually shortened

Kigwa by
diseased

He
but

was

afflicted

with

ankle-joint,
all

managed

to get along satisfactoril)-

the same.

His load, however, only consisted of one or two

dozen eggs, and

article

my

spare pith helmet.

I

This

last

he used to wear when

was not looking, or

200

A
it

Days March
that
I

when he thought
returned
to

was

not,

and he

finally

me, showing unpleasant traces of

contact with his unwashed head.

all,

But the

last of

were two Wanyamwezi, who had tied their two

loads of sixty pounds each together, and transformed

it

into an unusually heavy double load, supported

on

a pole between them.

single load

is

sometimes
is

seventy pounds in weight, a double one

rarely

more than a

half as

much

again

and though these

to

two men preferred a double load between them

single

one each, they soon found out that they had

;

made

a mistake in this instance

and next day

noticed that the loads were separated, and that each

man was

carrying his

own on

his shoulder.

The
their

Wanyamwezi always
The head-man
and on making

carry their

loads

on

shoulders, the Zanzibaris usually on the head.

did not appear after these two, as

under ordinary circumstances he would have done

inquiry,

we found

that

he

had

remained behind to look

after the load of a

it,

man

who had been

relieve him.
relief,

too poorly to carry

to

and had sent

on word that another porter was

come back and

An hour later he appeared with the who was carrying the load. Whilst we were resting, the porter who carried

the buckets had gone off to the well some half mile

A
away
to

Kindly Native
and the cook and
bo}^

201

fetch water,
fire

had

hghted a

and were getting our breakfast ready.

to pitch our tents

The ground where we wished

rather irregular, and

was

had thorns scattered about

but a kindly native,

of ground near,

who was hoeing

his little plot

it

came and

cleared and levelled

for

us with his hoe.

The men now pitched

to get

the tents,

and we were glad

under

shelter, for the

sun

was getting higher and

tree, in

higher,

and the trunk of the

consequence, giving us less and less shade.

We
It

always endeavoured to pitch our tents some

distance from the villages, as

we

did in this instance.

gave us

much more

privacy, a choice of shady

places which could not be found inside a village,

and

saved us from the noise and

;

smell

of

the

vicinity of the huts

but during the disturbed time

which followed

the

commencement
was
safe,

of

hostilities

between the Germans and Arabs on the east coast,

when no white man's

these advantages, and

life

we had

to forego

camp

in the safety

secured by

the village stockade.

A
the

native

now came up
fresh

to us, bringing

some eggs
at

and a gourd of milk

thought of

for sale.

We

were delighted
not

milk
;

delicacy

often

obtained on the march

lived, for

but our delight was shortto

when we came

examine the contents of

202
the gourd,
the eggs

A
we found

Days March
it

quite sour and clotted.

successful.
in

With
tested

we were more them by putting them

rejecting those

The boy

basin of water, and

lie

that would

not

quietly at the

bottom.

Finally,

we bought
this test,

ten of the good ones,

for

which had stood

yard of cloth.

and

them we paid one

This bartering over, we retired to

our tents, bathed and changed into flannels, and

having done

so, felt quite fresh

again and ready for

our breakfast, or rather dinner, for what

we had

did

duty for both.

It

consisted of a fowl, which had

still

been

killed

and roasted whilst

warm,
;

of sweet
it

potatoes, bread and

banana

fritters

and

would which

have been very enjoyable but

at this village

for the water,

was very bad.

it

We

boiled

it

as usual,

and

left it
;

to stand, but

would not
by making
taste

settle

much

even then
of the

and the

boiling,

an infusion
worse than

mud, had rendered the

and

before, so that even filtering

would not greatly have

improved

its

flavour

this

we

did not like to

filter.

even attempt for fear of blocking the

proper way to
stir

The
is

purify

such water as

this,

to

up a teaspoonful or two of alum

to stand
;

in a bucketful,

and allow the liquor

then

when
and

the alum

has thrown down the organic matter, to pour the

clear upper layer of fluid into a kettle
boil
;

and

Dirty
finally to filter,

Water

203

which

will
it

not only further purify,

again,

but also partially aerate

less insipid.

and so render

it

But

this process

would have been much

too long for us to have carried out on the march,

so

we contented

ourselves with endeavouring to dis-

guise the taste by

lime-juice,

making

it

into coffee, or

by adding
our next

and hoping

for a purer supply at

camping-place.

During the afternoon two

villagers

came

into

camp with some zebra meat which they had

the day before.
I

shot

bought a leg

for

our dogs, and

Wanyamwezi porters bought the remainder for their own consumption. The Zanzibaris would not
the

touch

it,

as the animal
its

had been

killed

by a

bullet,

and had not had

the meat
still

throat cut afterwards, so that

contained the blood.

ulcers or coughs, or

The men who had

otherwise
ill

or thought they were,

;

who were now came one

but they were

by one

for

medicines and dressings

of,

soon disposed

and then we were

free to write

up

our journals for the day, or attend to the various

little

odds and

ends connected with

if

the
it

househouse-

keeping arrangements,

one

may

call
It

keeping when living under canvas.

for

was the day

baking bread, so that we had to send for the

porter

who

carried the load of flour.

He was

an

204

Days March
;

jMnyamwezi, named Makolokolo

and we always

had a good deal of trouble

bring his load and unfasten

in
it.

persuading him to

He was

not a

man

of very brilliant parts, and nothing would convince

him that

it

was very much

to his

advantage to have
at a

his load lightened

by two pounds

time two or
density
of

three times
intellect of

week.

The unexpected

some amongst the

be
it

interior natives

men,
many
their

too,

who may

sharp-witted enough on

points
deal

renders
with
or

often a very difficult matter to

fairly,

them
giving

without
the

wounding
that

feelings,

them

idea

you are

unjust.

The
at

greatest annoyance which

we

suffered from

this

camp was

the ants.

They were not the

in columns, but

large kind, or siafu,

which march

the very small ones, which

swarm over everything

crevices.

and get through the

tiniest

They were

not so bad, however, as at our previous campingplace,

where they had attacked every

article of food

which we possessed, penetrating into every box and

tin,

except such as had unusually close-fitting covers.

Placing a tin of butter in a saucer of water was no

protection, as they quickly covered the surface of

the water, and then walked over each other's floating

bodies until they reached the

tin.

We

had brought


Dried Shark
many
205

of these ants with us in our boxes from the

previous

camp

but

we

noticed that

all

those that

had been enclosed near the outside of the bundles

or valises, or close to the surface of the metal boxes,

had been

killed

and dried by the exposure to the

great heat on the march.

As the sun was about

to set, the porters

who had

purchased their supplies of food, and finished cooking

it

in

the village where they were encamped,

in

settled

down

groups to their evening meal, which

was the

chief, often the only,

it

one

in

the day.
of ugali
it.

On
and
relish

this occasion

consisted,

as usual,
call

kitiwayo, or relish as

we should

The

to-day was dried

shark, which

they had
is

brought

with them from Zanzibar.

This shark

caught

sometimes on the East African coast, but

chiefly

it

comes

from Arabia by dhow.

It

is

sun-dried, not
it,

salted or

smoked
is

and the smell from

is

especially
I

when

it

being cooked,

very offensive.

could

never bring myself to taste any, but a friend of

mine who did

little

try

it

said that
I

it

reminded him a
across a group

of very green cheese.

at this

came

of

men

meal on

my way
'

through the village

I

to see the
*

head-man, and they said as

Karibu,

Bwana, karibu

passed,

'

Come,

sir,

come
sit

'

which was equivalent to an invitation

to

down

2o6
and partake of
smiled,

A
and
in
said,
'

Days March
I

their food.

nodded to them and

as
I

Thank

you,'

passed on.

An Arab
invitation,

my
sat

place

would have accepted the

eaten with them
;

and

down and

and

they would afterwards have spoken of him as their

brother

when

discussing

him among themselves,

to the white

and would have preferred him

man,

his slave-dealing propensities notwithstanding.

On my
lighter
style.

return to the tent

found tea ready, a

in the

meal than dinner, but somewhat

This finished, we packed up as

same
of our

many

goods as we could,

in order to leave as little

;

work

as possible for the morning

and then began to

arrange matters for the night, as rising before four

in

the

morning necessitates
especially in
in a

retiring

to rest very
is

early,

a country where more rest

needed than
it

temperate climate.

At the coast

is

often possible to get an hour or two for rest

;

during the hottest part of the afternoon

but on the
is,

march, with breakfast

after

mid-day, this

of

course, out of the question.

Our camp-beds were

and

made

of canvas tightly stretched across two poles,

legs
;

and supported on three pair of crossed

with a thick rug on the top to take the place of a

mattress,
fever,

were quite comfortable, unless one had

the unyielding canvas

when

became a source

Precautious at Night

207

of extreme discomfort to one's weary and aching

limbs.

The moon was almost overhead now, and we

knew
that
;

it

would

set

about half-past one

in the

morning

so

we

set the

alarum

for that

hour, in

we might wake and light the lamp before By always keeping a small the darkness came on. light at the entrance to the tent when there was no
order that

moon, we were able

tent open,

to have the entire

end of the

and enjoy the

fresh air, without the dis-

advantage of being obliged to have

close in front

men

sleeping

with their camp-fires ahght, and with-

out any danger from wild beasts.

caution,

As a

final pre-

we

placed

gun

at

full-cock
rest.

across

camp-stool, and then retired to

to

It

was best
by

have the gun

it

so,

as

the

noise

produced

cocking

would have injured our chances of a

successful shot at any animal that

happened

to be

passing near the tent at night.

Sleep soon sealed

day's

our
over.

weary

eyes,

and

another

work

was

CHAPTER

VIII

THE SLAVE-TRADE
The
African seems born to be the servant of other

nations,

and other nations have not been slow to

his,

take advantage of this characteristic of

until

much

of

what sturdy independence he may once

have possessed has been crushed out of him, and

he seems quite unable
difference
fate.

now

to

shake
his

off

his

in-

to

what

he

considers

inevitable

Yet
trade

all

Africans
least,

are

not victims

of the

slaveis

at

of the foreign slave-trade

its

nor

any particular family entirely under

influence.

Amongst the
to the

great tribes of the south which belong

family, the

Bantu

Zulus, the

Kaffirs,

the

Bechuanas, you do not

trade
;

find

the Arab plying his

whilst

amongst the peoples of the north

slaves,

and north-west many are

the

although not of
people
are

Bantu

family.

It

is

where the

divided up into small tribes of a few thousand souls

Domestic Slavery
each that the foreign slave-trade flourishes
deadly characteristics.

209
in all its

And

here

let

me

say at

once that there

is

a great difference

a
is

difference

in essence as well as in degree

between the foreign

universal
is

and domestic trade.

Domestic slavery
it

throughout Africa, but

system.
absolute
Russia.
;

is

only a kind of feudal a chief

In each district there

really

nominally
more
cor-

no more absolute than the Czar of

are sub-chiefs, or,

Under him

rectly speaking,

head-men, whose dependants are

sub-chief feeds and protects his
for

their slaves.

The

man-slave,

who works
number

him, and

lives

in

his

house as one of his family.

to swell the

His woman-slave goes

of his wives, or else

becomes

the wife of one

of his men-slaves.

These slaves

are obtained through natural increase by birth, by

purchase, by capture in time of war, by reception of

sick visitors,

and of runawa3s.
went out
to

Before

Africa,

had, like

most

people at home, a very simple idea of what slavery

was

like

so that

was quite unprepared

it

for the

complicated

system which

really

is.

Now

understand whence arise those contradictory state-

ments which one hears regarding

it

it,

some describing
its

as a natural beneficial institution, from which

;

subjects would resent being set free

whilst others

2IO

The Slave- Trade

it

go to the other extreme, and denounce

horrent equally in principle as in
detail.

as ab-

Slaves are taken from among the pure or half-caste

natives of Africa and
its

adjacent islands, and only

civilized

from such as are not subjects of a

power. does

The mere
stated.
interior,

fact of their

being

Mohammedans
chiefly

not exempt them from slavery, as some writers have

They

are

obtained

now

from the

more sparingly from the coast or adjacent

Large caravans of Africans who are

territories.

evidently slaves

come down country

;

in

charge of

Arabs or
tained,

their native servants

said, chiefly

and they are obCaravans of

cloth,

it is

by

barter.

wire, beads, arms,

in

and ammunition go up country

;

immense numbers

and on the return journey,

Let

slaves

and ivory replace these barter goods.

us trace such an

Arab

in his

journey up country.

Newly arrived perhaps from Muscat, he has come

to Zanzibar, that El to

Dorado of Muscat Arabs, there

meantime, he contract
adopted country, a not

remain

until
;

he has made his fortune and can

return
ties

home

unless, in the
his

which bind him to

it

unlikely event, as

is

here that his fellow countrythe important positions.

men

rule

and

fill

all

He
;

has arrived at Zanzibar probably almost penniless

and, consequently, has to engage himself at
first

aa

Arab
assistant to

Speculation

211

some brother Arab going up country.

and
is

For

this assistance he receives a Httle pay,

able to do a Httle trading on his

own

account.
his friend

He
or

borrows a

little

money

either from

from the Hindus, the

great
;

money-lenders and
this

merchants of Zanzibar
sufficient barter

and with

purchases

goods to buy one or two tusks of

to carry them.

ivory,

and one or two slaves

if

On

his

return to Zanzibar,
ful,

the venture has been success-

he has

now

little

ready

money
and

in

hand, perhaps

ftfty

or one hundred pounds,

in addition

he has

obtained experience as a traveller in the interior.

He

can

now borrow what money he

requires from

the Hindus; but, of course, at an exorbitant rate

of interest.
wire, guns,

Accordingly he purchases cloth, beads,

and ammunition, and either borrows or

in

purchases slaves, obtaining as second

command
himself.

under himself some Arab

and, consequently,
still

still

more newly arrived

more needy than

He

himself and his few trusted head-men will carry

breechloaders
peaters

if

he can afford

it,

Winchester

re-

and
to

the remainder of his force ordinary

muskets.
Arrived near the scene of his labours, he com-

mences

open negotiations
If

for the

supply of slaves

he requires.

he knows of any tribe at enmity

142

The Slave- Trade

its

with

neighbour, he joins himself to the strongest

assists in

side and

an attack on the other, or supfor

ports

some preposterous claim

;

damages against
compromise

the other side

for

agreeing, however, to

much

smaller sum, he receiving the lion's

share of the booty, whether obtained by war or by

compromise.

have known an Arab, siding with

the chief of one village, go to the chief of another to

which the

first

was
etc.,

hostile,

and demand a number

of tusks, slaves,

on account of a supposed injury

;

done by

this second chief to the first

and

finally

end the quarrel by agreeing to take one good cow,

which was probably

beginning.

all

that he

wanted from the

have come across,

In most of the cases which

the slaves have been purchased by the Arabs from

the native chiefs of the interior
are
stated
to
;

and these slaves

of

be either the scum

the

native
rid,

villages, of

whom

the chiefs are glad to be

or

else the prisoners

taken by the up-country chiefs in

their frequent fights.

The

natives used to
fraud.

tell

me

that a smaller trade

is

done by

Small parties

of natives or single individuals are enticed into a

caravan to

sell

food,

and are then seized

or else in

time of scarcity the people of a half-starved village

are encouraged to join themselves to a caravan on

Tipoo Tib
the assurance that there
miles ahead.
is

213
a few

plenty of food

But the few marches

its

over, the plenty-

does not make

appearance, and the unfortunate

people sadly recognise the fact that they have said

farewell to their freedom.

Lastly, in time of famine,

parents
vans.

sell their

children for food to passing cara-

These are the principal methods of slave-making

that
I

have come across.

In addition, of course,

are

the

organised slave-hunts, where villages are

attacked by Arabs or others for the sole purpose of

making

slaves.

These attacks, however, now take

place chiefly far in the interior, and of

them
I

know
if

nothing from personal experience.

they

But

doubt

now form

the chief source of supply.

call

When

Tipoo Tib, or as the natives usually

in

him Tip Tib, passed through Alpwapwa

with Dr. Junker, the latter told

1886

me

that the whole

caravan seemed to be composed of slaves, mostly

boys.

But great

chiefs like

Tip Tib own large tracts

their pilgrimages

of country, and

when they make

them

to the coast, take with

as slaves apparently

whomever they choose

that he
himself,

to select.
to
if

Tip Tib

told us

was very anxious

and wanted
to

go to relieve

Emin
if

know

we thought

that the

English Government would give him

the task,

he

214
went
to

T^h

Slave-Trade

London

for the purpose.

We

told

him that

we thought Mr.
go
;

Stanley would probably be asked to

and that

if

he went to England in November as

likely

he suggested, we thought he would be more

to get bronchitis than a commission from Govern-

ment.

How

he joined himself to Mr. Stanley's

caravan at Zanzibar, and went with him to the

Congo, and thence to

all

his

own home
I

in

Manyuema,
Tip Tib

the world

now knows.

am

afraid

never got over Mr. Stanley being preferred to him

as leader of the expedition.

Bringing slaves and ivory down together seems to

be the best paying trade.

tusk which in

Uganda
Snider

and the
rifle

districts

around can be bought

for a

and a hundred cartridges,

from twenty to
fifty

will sell at the coast

for
it,

pounds.

The

slave carries
;

so that there
rifle

is

no cost

for porterage

whilst

the

and cartridges, which together cost thirty

in

shillings

Zanzibar, are no expense to bring up

only too glad
to

country, as caravan porters are

carry

them

for their

own

protection.
for the

Next to the great trade

foreign market
for

comes the domestic demand and supply

district.

each
are
is

Sometimes
but
to.

the

'necessary'
species

slaves

bought,
resorted

frequently every

of

fraud

In

a passing caravan

someone gets

Methods of Making Slaves

ill.

He

can find a ready welcome

;

in
is

many

of the

huts near

but

when he
host,

recovers he
'

not allowed

to continue his journey.

You have

eaten

says

his

kind

'

and now

you are

my my
;

food,'

man.'
I

There was a famih'

living near a station at

which

was

living

who came

there in time of famine

and,

whilst they were settling down, were given shelter

by another family

for a
in

day or two.

But they

lost

one of their children

consequence, seized by the

for the time.

good Samaritan who had housed them

I

came

across several instances of this kind of thing.

travellers like these
plentiful,

When

who want
is

a helping

hand are not

then stealing

resorted to

as a lule from a neighbouring village which happens

not to be on friendly terms.

A number

of

men from
I

a rather hostile village near Kikombo, where

for

lived

some months, were once prowling about round

the place.

They saw the

little
;

girl

of one of our

mission
in

men

fetching water
fled.

and snatched her up

Happily some natives
Six of the

our very garden and

near heard her cry, and gave the alarm.

men on
though

the station
off
in

made
pursuit

a rush for their guns, and

;

then went

on which the thieves,

many

in

number, instantly dropped their

their escape over the

booty, and

made

mountains

behind our house.

The Slave- Trade

In the
little

attacks which the villagers about there

occasionally

made on each other, a few prisoners were taken now and then but they were usually
;

ransomed by

their friends.

Occasionally, however,
a distance, and then

the attacking force

came from
the village

negotiations for ransoming were not so easily carried

out,

especially as

attacked

might not

know where its assailants came from. One day some Wahumba (a branch
from the
north of

of the Masai)

Kikombo, passed

across the

Ugogo plain, and made an attack on the Wahehe, who live to the south, carrying off amongst others,
the wife and child of an

Mhehe

chief.

They might

never have been recovered, but that the

woman
*

was

seized with ophthalmia, which, being neglected,

resulted in almost complete blindness.

In this state

she was driven to Kisokwe, where she was rescued

b}'

Mr. Cole, the missionary there

her legs then

being raw and bruised from the beatings she had

received on account of her frequent stumbling along

the road, and the delay this caused to her captors.

Her

child

had been taken from

her, but she herself,

b}'

being useless, was willingly

left

the

Wahumba

with Mr. Cole, on payment of a small sum

I

a dollar,
for the

think,

which they demanded as payment

trouble of bringing her.

A week

or two of good

The Lot of
feeding,

the Slave

Woman
flesh

and she soon picked up

sent messengers to the

again,
chief,

and

then

we

Mhehe

who
all.

thereupon sent his sons to fetch her.

The

lot of

the slave

woman

is

the saddest of

Sometimes amongst the Wanyamwezi and Wagogo,

she becomes the wife, with others, of the

man who
is

has bought her; and

kindly treated.
as a
if

if

she bear him children,

is

Her

lot

then perhaps as happy

left
is,

she were free (provided she has not

behind
as an

husband and children)

as

free,

that

African

woman
'

ever

is,

for nearly every

one of them

must submit to what Canon Taylor euphemistically

calls a

protector.'

But

if

a slave of the Arabs or

other travelling traders, she

able tool,

may be handed on from one man

to

simply a miserto the other at a converted

the caprice of the moment.

native,
girl, if

No wonder

when he wants

marry honourably, gets a

he can, too young to have been handed about

for

such purposes.

Undesirable as these early mar-

riages are, the alternatives are worse.

From
to

this description the reader will

difficult
it

understand

some extent how

is

for the individual

to regain his liberty, or for wholesale measures to

be effectively taken against the trade

British

itself.

The

Government,

it

is

true,

have cruisers along

the

East African coast, but only occasionally do

2i8

The Slave-Trade
of their

we hear
through

making a capture

and yet one or

two hundred caravans containing slaves must pass

Mpwapwa
spot.

alone in the course of the year.

it

Slaves they are, though

it

would be

difficult to

prove

on the

They

are seldom in chains, and even

when they
work
in

are, that

does not absolutely prove them

Sultan's

to be slaves.

The
war,

prisoners in Zanzibar
;

the streets in slave-chains

of

and criminals,
sometimes
I

prisoners

and

runaways are

treated in the

same way up country.

have even
porters
to

known an Englishman send runaway

country in slave-chains
;

up

the only

way

oblige

them

to

work out the time of which they had

defrauded him.

One gang
and

of about thirty of these

cautiously invested their

little

savings in

files

before

leaving Zanzibar

at a village

about

fifty

miles

from the coast, the head-man woke up one morning

to find that thirty of his
left

men had

disappeared, and

him

thirty

heavy chains to carry as best he

could.

Three men, who either were honest, or had

no

files,

came on

as

far

as

Mpwapwa, where

unlocked them at the head-man's request, the result

being that one ran away a few days later with his
load of cloth.

He was

caught again, but the cloth

not
in

was not recovered.

When
tell

chains,

it

is

practically impossible to

a slave, except here and

Slave Children
there.

219
brothers, and the

Their owners

call

them

slaves are afraid or unwilling to

ship.

deny their

relation-

Sometimes there are numbers of

half-starved
little

children, wan,

creatures, with that dull look of

uncomplaining hopelessness that betrays their condition better than any

words of

their

own

or any

denials of their master,

'

who
If

will describe

them as
*

my

children,' or

by the usual stock phrase, you ask the

reply,
little
'

the

children of

my

brother.'

mites

where they come from, they only

home.'

from our

Their own names are no help, and as to

their father's

name, they never knew him as any'

thing else but

father.'

Another thing that complicates the

that anyone with

matter

is,

whom

they stay, and

who

gives

them food
mother).
or mothers
useless,

is

called

haha or
too,
it

mama
is

{i.e.,

father or
fathers

Sometimes,

their

own
it

who have
if it

sold them, so that

would be

even

were possible, to send them back

to their

homes.
of children in
is

The treatment
cruel, to

England by

their

parents and guardians

sometimes so barbarously

judge from the Reports of the London

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,

that one only wonders that cruel parents are not

20
the
I

The Slave-Trade
rule
in

much more
actually are. of cruelty or
left

Central Africa than they

only occasionally

came

across cases

want of parental
his

affection.

boy was

with

me by

parents on their

way down
by a hyena

country, as he

was

just recovering from small-pox,

his ankle crushed

and had that day had

bite.

They seemed

to take

no interest

in

him; just

leaving him, and not even inquiring about

him

after-

wards.

asked the natives what his parents would

have done had he been bitten by the hyena some

marches from the mission instead of close

to

it.

'They would have thrown him away,' was the

Yet the children who are sold are few
;

reply.

the stolen

many

in

number.

Most of the women on the

their stories of children

stations

where

was had

stolen from them,

and never seen again.

are
left

Some
regain

slaves
their

who

sick

on the road do

liberty,

but

as a

rule,

when

so

left,

they are seized by the one

whilst in
sick

who
set a

takes care of

them

many caravans
;

they are not allowed to be

on the road
I

it

would

bad example.

When

first

came up country an Arab caravan

of slaves passed us at Mambo\'a, going coastward.

Stokes, a British trader,

us,

who was some days behind

to

came upon one

of their castaways, a poor old

ill

woman.

She was too

go further, so her

.&^^
%

V ^

The Cruel Master

master had
throat
first left

221

her on the road, but had cut her

as a

warning to the others.

On
down

another occasion a

Swahih trader coming

country, after having severely beaten an old

woman, who was lagging behind on

Hung her down and broke her
die on the road, but she

the

march,

wrist, leaving her to

managed

to crawl

up to

the

mission-house.

However, no one could speak

it

her language (she was an Mmangati), and though

was easy

to heal her sores

and feed her up, she

could not be persuaded to keep a splint on her arm,

so that she soon turned a simple into a

compound

fracture, and died a day after amputation had been

tried, as a last resource.

After slaves have arrived at their destination, or

when they
freedom.

are

left

sick at

a mission station, one

try to regain their

would expect many of them to

But

this

is

only occasionally the case, for

to,

they say truly that they have nowhere to run

and that

if

they are not the slaves of their present

else.

owners, they must be of someone

The Arabs
I

often used to bring sick slaves to me, and

always

agreed to take care of them, but refused to have

anything to do with preventing them from regaining

their freedom
if

they wished to

make
left

the attcmj^t.

Yet of

all

those

who were

ever

with me, only

222
one ran away.
I

The Slave-Trade
She was a woman
ill

with pleurisy.

cured her of her pleurisy, and fed her up, upon

which she demanded a house to herself (she was

sharing one with another Swahili) and more food,

though she was having the usual

convalescents.

allowance for

Some

Swahili

men

enticed her

away

with the promise of more food, and she disappeared with them.

Hard

as

is

the slave's

lot,

it

is

satisfactory to
is

know
all

that the Arab slave-dealer's existence

not

sunshine.

Enormous

are the profits that during

one journey
but
the

may make

their

way

into his pocket

if

Hindu's fingers are on them

ever he

reaches his home.

Many, perhaps most, of these

in

Arab traders are deeply

Zanzibar,
at a very

debt to the Hindus of

who

are credited with lending them

interest.

money
the

heavy

The Arab, who has

weariness of the long inland journey, comes back

laden with his treasures of black and white ivory,
only to be fleeced by his stay-at-home Hindu creditor.
'

The Arabs

are bad enough,' said a

'

German

trader

to

me one day

but the Hindus are regular blood-

suckers.'

When

a slave caravan has arrived at the coast,

is

the next difficulty

to get

it

shipped to Zanzibar or

elsewhere.

The one

or two vessels employed by the

Ei)ibarkation of Slaves
British

223

Government

for the suppression of slavery

If this

have to be avoided.
as
it

blockade
will

is

not

strict,

rarely can be, the

Arab

wait until the

its

position of the blockading vessel

and

boats

is

convenient for his purpose, and the wind favours

him, as
it

does for months together, the monsoons

blowing with the utmost regularity, and then he

will

go where he

lists.

Or

else

he

will

keep his slaves

at the coast port until they

can speak the language

in detach-

Swahili
ments,

and then ship them openly

describing

them

as

natives

of

Zanzibar
with
fruit

returning from the

mainland.

Dhows

and vegetables

daily leave the

mainland ports

for

Zanzibar, and half a dozen to a dozen slaves can

easily be sent

each

trip

'

to help navigate the vessel.'

Occasionally rather too

many

will

be sent, and a
will

few of these overcrowded dhows

captured
;

perhaps be

but the captures are

not sufficient in

number
the

to deter the slavers in the slightest, nor are

they even enough to materially affect the value of

slaves

successfully

run,

the price

of a

slave
it

being about the same in Zanzibar to-day as

was

twenty years ago, although the demand

have increased.

is

said to

The
to

larger

number of
to

slaves,

however, are run

Pemba, not

Zanzibar, and from there sent

224

^"''^^

Slave-Trade

elsewhere when the wind and the British gun-boats

are both in the right direction.

What becomes
sent
it is

of
?

all

the slaves that are annually

down country

How many

do come down

impossible to estimate, so secretly are the coast

arrangements transacted, and so few white

are there in the interior to notice the rather

men
more

open proceedings which occur

there.

Yet one can

form a rough estimate perhaps from what used to

be observable at Mpwapwa, at any rate before
it

passed into the hands of the Germans two years

ago.
*

Mpwapwa

is

a kind of East Central African

Clapham

Junction.'

To

it

caravan routes from

different portions of the interior converge,

it

and from

they diverge again to the various ports on the

Possibly one

East coast.

quarter of the

slaves

come from Tanganyika and

there,

Victoria Nyanza. During

I

twelve months of the time that

I

was stationed

should think two hundred caravans con-

taining varying

numbers

of slaves
:

must have passed

through, going coastward

in
all.

possibly thirty thousand

If this is correct,

though

it

is

but a guess,
is

the output of slaves on the East coast alone

likely to

not

be less than a hundred thousand a year.

of
this

What becomes

great

multitude

Great

numbers are required

for the Sultan's

towns along

The Foreign Slave Markets

225

the coast which are held by Arabs, and where slave

labour alone

is

employed.

Then comes Zanzibar,

all

with

its

thousands of Arabs

possessing housein
'

hold slaves.
slave,

Almost every native

Zanzibar

is
';

a
all

even the so-called wangivana or

till

freemen

perform household duties or

the fields and farms.

Next comes Pemba, which supplies the world with

cloves, all raised

by slave-labour, and

lastly

comes
by

Muscat, the

home

of the Zanzibar Arab, from which

slaves once imported can be exported by land or

coasting dhow, with no one to gainsay, to Arabia,

Egypt, Persia, Syria and Turkey.

How
at the

can the trade be stopped

is

a question asked

by many now, and asked

in real earnest.

glance

appended map, with some of the chief slave

routes indicated, will

show

that

it is

not a question
if

of East African policy alone.

effectual,

blockade, even

would need

to extend three-quarters
effect

round

Africa,

if it

were intended to

something more

than diverting and so lengthening most of the routes,

and thus merely diminishing the

traffic.

And

the

blockade never has been effectual except on the

East African coast, and there only during the

half of i88g,

first

when Germany and England between

it

them managed
blockade

at

an enormous expense.
in

The
of

on the West

the

early part
15

the

226

The Slave-Trade
traffic

century did not stop the

on that coast

it

only

ceased when England took possession of the coast

itself.

Even taking possession

of a part of the East

'O'

la'
is

.^Q'

/j_Q'

So'

The shaded area

been embarked as

the region of slave-hunting.

The

inter-

rupted line near the coast shows where slave caravans have
late as 1889.

coast, as

we

are doing, and thus preventing the emits

barkation of slaves from

divert the routes, as
it

ports, will again only

did in

West

Africa

but of

Difficult Proble7n
its

227

course this diversion, with

consequent lengthening

of the route, will render the traffic

more expensive,
But
indirectly,

and so

dimini",h,
off

though not stop

it.

by cutting

the Zanzibar Arab from his supplies,

still

this occupation of the coast will

further hinder

the
all

traffic

between

it

and the great

rule

lakes.

To

effect

this,

the

European

on the coast must be

village,

real at

each seaport and each seaside

will

and
;

such probably

be the case in a very few years

though the

effect will

be partially neutralised by the

increased use of the longer alternative routes, which

the Arabs will
littoral
still

still

have through the

Portuguese

from Ibo to Delagoa Bay, or through the

distant outlets north

more

and west.

year or two ago

Commander Cameron proposed

of police up Nyassa, across

to establish a cordon

the country between that lake and the south end of

Tanganyika, thence up Tanganyika to the Victoria

Nyanza and Albert Edward Nyanza. Such a cordon

by
itself,

however,

it

is

obvious, would act on the

traffic

routes only as the upheaval of land would do

river

on the

system of any

district.

It

would

alter

some

of their courses,

and abolish none of them.

But, indirectly, by trading with the native tribes, by

being a source of safety to

distance,

all

within reasonable
all

and by giving their countenance to

152

28

The Slave-Trade
undertakings, the agents of
if

peaceful

Commander
it

Cameron's system,

traders as well as policemen,

chiefs that
is

would gradually teach the native

more
sell

profitable to encourage

men

to

work than

to

them.

This would help to tap the streams at

their fountain-head,
for

and use the victims of slavery

other purposes.

With such

a cordon, but of

traders rather than of police, and the coast-line in

the

hands of

Italian,

English, and Germans, the

Eastern equatorial slave-trade would practically be

abolished.

But there would

still

remain the trade-

routes from the centre of Africa to Morocco, to the

Egyptian Soudan, and to the Portuguese coast on

the

west

between

the

Congo

and

the

German
Ibo and
slave-

colony.

The Portuguese
east,

coast between
still

Delagoa on the

though

open to the

trade, owing to the extremely small number of

Portuguese

officials
little

available for preventive work,

would be of

use for that purpose, as the back-

country from Natal to Nyassa will soon be in the

hands of the
All these

British.

methods

will

be a work of time, and

nothing but the abolition of the status of slavery

will

put a stop at

all

quickly to the East African

trade.

But now that the islands of Zanzibar and

coast.

Pemba, and the northern part of the east

Sir Charles Euan-Smith

have

229
and
the

come

under

British

protection,

southern under German, this abohtion, for which

Sir Charles

Euan-Smith, her Majesty's Agent and

at Zanzibar,

Consul -General

has for the

last

few

years worked so persistently,

and which he has

already partially obtained, promises before long to

be a completely-accomplished

fact.

Once

abolish

the status of slavery in these parts, and

slave free on entering these regions,
his value to the slave-owner.

make

the

and you abolish

will

Nothing

induce

an Arab to waste time, money, health, and, perhaps,

life,

in securing a

number

of slaves over

whom

he
if

would have no

legal control at
in

the coast, even

he ever succeeded
all

bringing them there through

of the way.

the

new and added dangers

in

But

looking forward to the realization, erelong

in its entirety, of Sir

Charles Euan-Smith's scheme,

we must
that

not forget that, beneficial as the results of

to Eastern Equatorial Africa,

scheme must be
still

there will

exist outlets for the slave-trade in the

Eastern Soudan and Morocco by which the Arab

-;an
it

still

enter the country to devastate

spoil.

it

or leave

with his ill-gotten

The
trade

real
lies,

obstacle to the abolition of the slave-

of course, in the natives themselves.

As

long as the

natives are split

up into small com-

230

The Slave- Trade

munities of two or three thousand each, so long

will they

be a prey to any unscrupulous leader of

;

even a small well-armed caravan

they are eager to
sell

and as long as

each other for foreign produce,

so long will the slave-dealer find a supply always

ready to his hand.

not far distant

Let us hope that the time

is

when

strong civilized Governments

will hold the reins of authority

from north to south,

and from
'

sea to sea.
right

But what
in

have we,' some people say,

?'

to

go

and take the country from the natives

;

This

sounds a plausible objection

but Central Africa,

we must remember,
slave-hunters.

belongs practically to the Arab

it

They hold

as an

Englishman holds
His game
live

his estate well stocked with game.

wild
his,

life,

and own no allegiance

less, to
it

to

him
kill,

but they are

none the

spare or to

to catch or to

loose,

when

so

pleases him, or

when opportunity
from the

favours.

In this way, then, and for this purpose,

;

the Arab holds Central Africa

and

it

is

slave-hunters amongst the Arabs, and not from the

natives, that

we wrest

the authority.

We

dispossess

no

chief,

subvert no humane laws, take no foot of

;

occupied land

but replace the cruel power and

overlordship of the slave-hunter by the fostering

care and gentle control of a firm but tender govern-

The Drink Timffic

ment which
stronger.

231
its

gives equal rights

to

all

subjects,

and protects the weaker from the tyranny of the

The

only

fear

is

lest

any

European
Arab
well

Government should replace the

by the
far

slavery of the

worse slavery of

drink.

However

drinking in moderation

may answer amongst

is

the
like

hardy northern peoples of a temperate climate

ours,

such moderation

unknown amongst

the

child-like vacillating races of Central Africa.

The

Governments which are now stepping

in to protect

them from the

slavery of the Arab, to

which they

themselves have given every encouragement, must

just

as

firmly

protect

them from the

slavery

of

drink, which,

unfortunately, they are also sure to

help on

if it

once commences.

To

supply natives
onset be a
desire

with drink would no doubt at the

distinct
for

first

advantage

it

would

create in

them a

something to obtain which they would need to

;

work

but

the

temporary

advantage

would

be

followed by the ruin of people and country.

To

induce natives to work, to give them higher

ideas than simply to live from

hand

to

mouth, with
or even

no provision

for

old

age,
local

sickness,

the

inevitable occasional

famines, and to do so
is

without the suicidal assistance of drink,

a problem

which

will tax

the best endeavours of our politicians.

2^2 But with

natives,

The Slave-Trade
Sir Francis de

Winton's knowledge of the

them, and with

and

his tact in dealing with

such a practical philanthropic body as the directors

of the Imperial British

East Africa

Company
his

to

encourage him in the work and

further

en-

deavours, the problem, in the British district at any

rate, will,
I

believe,

be solved before the rapidlyits

closing century draws to

end.

CHAPTER

IX

THE SLAVE

Very varied are the we get from different

and native
would
in

descriptions of the slave which

classes of people.
;

In America,

the Southerner and Northerner

;

in Africa, the

Arab

Europe, the Englishman and Turk

accounts
if

give

very different

asked

to

describe a slave, and to

some extent these

different

accounts might

all

be true.

The

slave can no

more
him

be described in one word than the prisoner or the

patient
;

various are the causes which brought

to his present condition, various his characteristics.

slave caravan as

it

reaches the coast

it

is

truly a

mixed assembly.

In

we

find the innocent but

unhappy occupier

of the

soil,

torn from wife and

intestine

home through some

native

quarrel
far

in

which he had taken no

part,

and the

more
seized

unhappy mother whose children have been

with her, the younger to be ruthlessly thrown into

the flames which destroyed her dwelling, the elder

2 34

The Slave
and
if

to be carried into slavery like herself,

they

survive the dreadful hardships of the march, to be

separated from her for ever at the coast,

if

they

have not been

lost to

her earlier by transfer on the

road to some other trader or some other caravan, as

is

not

infrequently the case.

But accompanying
and forming no

these

deserving objects of

pity,

inconsiderable portion of the entire caravan are the

loafers

and

idlers of

many an

interior village,

whose

chiefs

keep no workhouse and levy no rates for

tramps, but
a

who

rid

themselves of their drones in

summary and

profitable

way

and

lastly

the

criminal classes,

who under more

civilized

Govern-

ments would be occupying the prisons

expense, and

at the public

who under

the Arabs would be working

in the fields in chains,

have under the

less civilized

rule of Central Africa

been turned to more profitable

account and sent to swell the property of the passing

Arab, whose cloth and pow^der, in return, has gone
to enrich their

quondam

chief.

A man who
ships of the

has been a domestic slave up country,

to the coast, the hardis

and who has been transferred

march once

over,

not necessarily in a

worse condition than he was

is

in before,

provided he
a domestic
in his

not sent to a foreign country.

He was
down

slave before,

and when he

settles

new

Horrors of Slavery
master's

235

home on

the coast, provided that master

be an Arab, as he probably will be, he practically

becomes a domestic slave again.

and
master even has much

His

fellow- slaves

his overseers are Africans like himself; his

in

Arab

common

with him, and

does not disdain to eat with

friendly terms with him.

him, or to be on

But a
his
his

slave
;

is,

of course, the absolute property of

master
being

and though that does not necessitate

it
it

ill-treated,

gives

him no guarantee of

good treatment, and

him,
at
all

takes

away

all

rights from

responsibility.

He may

perhaps marry, but

any moment he may have

his children taken

from

him, or sold elsewhere, or his wife sent away.

He
it

may
is

be beaten, tortured, or even

if

killed,

provided

done quietly enough,

on the coast, or under an

if in the interior. A slave is man ill-treated, but he is a man without rights. He has no law to protect him, no creature to whom he can appeal. Men say: Oh, selfinterest makes men look after their slaves;' but it is not always so, and as Mr. Hay Aitken has well put

excuse of witchcraft,
not necessarily a

'

it,*

'

How

little

do considerations of reasonable

self-

interest

weigh with those who are under the influence

By W. Hay M.
Co.
\\.

* 'Eastertide.'

Aitken, M.A.

London

John

F.

Shaw and

2.^6

The Slave
!

of a single besetting sin

We

lean upon a bioken

reed

when we

trust to the principles of the utilitarian

to save
is,

men from
is

their follies

and their crimes.

It

as the writer of the Epistle to the

Hebrews

says,
'

the heart

" hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

Consequently, slaves

do occasionally run away

from their masters, though usually only when the

master
is

cruel,

and when the slgve knows of some

place to which he can go with a reasonable chance

of escaping recapture.

Such places of refuge some

of the mission stations in East Africa have been.

One

small station, Fulladoyo, was so crowded with

I

slaves that the missions, to avoid

believe,

withdrew from

it

complications with the Arabs.

But the

runaways there were, even then, quite

in sufficient

numbers
and
their

to protect themselves from

Arab

attacks,

numbers have

steadily increased to several

thousand by additions from the households of cruel

Arab masters, and

also,

until the

danger was

dis-

covered by the Arabs and the route changed, by

runaways from passing caravans.

These Fulladoyo

people are quiet and peace-abiding, enjoying the sweets of freedom, but unable to

come

to the coast

or leave their district for fear of recapture.

The
life

existence of such a colony

is

a proof that the

is

of even a domestic slave at the coast

not

all

Painful Apathy
honey, as some would have us behes^e
;

237
but at the

same

time, the presence of so

slaves within

one day's

many hundreds of march of it, and of many

much
of a prize by

thousands within easy access, shows that escape

from slavery

is

not considered

the majority of slaves, and that the greater proportion of

Arab masters are evidently not brutal

to their

bond-servants.

The
Not

condition of insecurity under which the slave

exists often begets in

him the most extreme apathy.

is

infrequently, his one idea

to escape work, to
;

get food
fact,

and ease by

lying, thieving, cheating

in

by anything except hard work.

And

it

is

this

very condition of the slave's morals, that

slave

is,

of the

who has been brought up

as

as such from child-

hood or youth,

most have, which makes the whole

question of freeing the slave such an exceedingly

complicated one to deal with.

There
;

is

an enormous

population of irresponsible idlers

from youth uppaths of

idle-

wards they have been trained

ness and vice, and as a

in the

man

sows, so shall he reap.

Slave-owners in the past, no doubt, are responsible

for

the present degraded condition of the African

;

slave

but that does

for

not

alter

the

fact

that,

in

working

them, we are face to face with a deall

graded people, who

their

life

long have sown to

The Slave

the flesh, and

now

are reaping to the flesh.

Indeed,

most of them have no desire by

it

to escape from slavery

they get food and clothing and a provision in

old age, with only occasionally excessively hard work.

If

they lose their wives by

;

sale,

they

may

get others

instead

and

in picturing to ourselves the

harrowing

scene of a husband and wife being separated,

apt to forget that one word

we

are
in
it

polygamy, included

the description of such an occurrence, will give

another aspect, and explain the statement which

often made,
feelings

is

and sometimes with

truth, that their

and ours under such separations may be

It
is

really very difl"erent.

not the slave-owners,

difficult

but the slaves,

who

will

be the

problem

in

the civilization of Africa.

Face
you

to face with the

man
is

brought up

in slavery,

realize that childhood

the time of sowing and

manhood the time of reaping, and that you cannot reap in manhood what you have not sown in childyou cannot even get them to desire the hood
;

freedom which we look upon as such a precious Slaves from Zanzibar come up country birthright.
in

the caravans in large numbers, and travel into

;

the interior of the continent

return to their masters

yet almost invariably

their

when

work

is

done,
if

although

there would be no one to stop them


Marriages of Rtmaivay Slaves
they chose to run away.

239

Even when

dissatisfied

with their condition, they are not anxious to change

it,

it

might be,
is

for the worse.

Amongst the un-

married, this
even,
desire

intelligible;

but amongst the married

who

for

the sake of their families ought to

slavery
I

freedom,

breeds

the
I

same

painful

apathy.

When

was

in

the interior,

knew

nati^es

on the mission stations who were runaway slaves

couples,

some who were joined

to us
;

in

wedlock
far the

after

coming

yet in

many, indeed, by

most

instances, the husbands

had not saved up enough

money
their

to

buy either their own freedom or that of

Their former owner, or one of his

v/ives.
'

many

brothers,' used to
;

make

his

appearance

in

the neighbourhood

for a

moment

there

was a scare

amongst these people, and they used to talk about

measures
cause of
for securing their

freedom.

Presently the
their

their

alarm,

not

being aware of
all

proximity, went his way, and

usual apathy.

subsided into their

Some

of these natives

had been on

the mission stations for years without taking any

steps against recapture, and yet

two

years' careful

husbanding of wages on the part of any one of them

would

easily

have purchased the freedom of both

himself and his wife.

To many

a slave have

given

work and urged him

to labour until he

had saved

240
enough money
for

The Slave
this

purpose

yet,

though he might be

knew

that at any

moment he and

his wife

claimed, and perhaps sold to different masters, and

so separated,
to persevere.
I

only succeeded in getting one

man

Slaves are creatures of to-day, with no thought for

the morrow.
'

As General Gordon so
hand
is

tersely put

it

The

bird in the
It
it.

worth any number

in the

bush.

is

useless to argue with

them

they are

deaf to

They have got

in

the bird, and

mean

to

keep him

words they

are fatalists, in

acts they

are the reverse/

They have no

desire to be pure or

truthful or honest or independent.

They
They
all

loye sin,
love the
its

and do not want separation from

it.

possible idleness of slavery, even with

possibilities of cruel

other

work and barbarous treatment.

to hate sin, before they can be
It is all

They must be taught

Oliver Twist

taught to hate slavery.

very well to rescue

from Fagin's den.

life
;

You can do

it,

because he already hates the

rescue the others
;

but you cannot

it.

they will only go back to

'

They have sown

you say.
True.

to the flesh.

Not

their

own

fault,'

But they must reap,

all

the same.

One sometimes
blame than
I

hears boys in England trying to

'
:

extenuate their sins by saying

;

Others are more to

by others

was taught

this sin

who

Compariso7i of Masters

241

were older and knew better than were doing.'

did

what they

True

but they will have to reap

less,

what they have sown none the

however much

more others may be

to

blame than themselves.

Many

will
;

help or encourage a fellow to sow his

wild oats

but

how many

will lend a
It

hand when the

inevitable reaping comes.

would give many an

English boy a help upwards in fighting temptation

if

he could come out to Africa and see the almost

hopeless state of those

in sin,

who

live

out their boyhood

even though

it is

far less their

own

fault

than

that of others

who encouraged them

when

in the

down-

ward path.

Many
for

of these adult slaves

freed are

handed

over to us by Government.

But what can be done

them

Very

little.

Not many of them are

;

willing to

do steady honest work

and some,

fear

many, go voluntarily back

prefer their
deliverers,

into slavery again.

their English or

They

Arab masters to

who want them

them
as
if
if

to

work hard,

German and who

do not

treat

they were fellow-countrymen.

already possessed of

Their Arab masters,

slaves,

many
;

do not require much work from them

will kick

and
to

though they

them one day,

will sit

down

a meal with them on the next, and behave as their

brother or father.

There

is

good deal of human

16

242

The Slave
People of any colour
as brothers to those

nature in such a preference.

prefer those

who

treat

them

who

treat

them

as servants only, even though the

brother

may

be hasty and bad-tempered, and the

master just and good-tempered.

The two

great incentives to

work amongst these

peoples of Central Africa, whether slaves or not,

appear to be the fear of hunger and the fear of

punishment.
to

But neither of these causes contributes

part.

any prolonged foresight on their

As Mr.

Herbert Spencer says, when speaking of the lowest

tribes,
'

A
is

year

is

the longest period to which their

conduct

adapted.

Hardly yet worthy to be defined

as creatures " looking before

and

after," they

show

by

their utter improvidence,

and

their apparent init

capacity to realize

future consequences, that

is

only to the conspicuous and oft-recurring

phenomena
But that

of the seasons that their actions respond.'

they are not incapable of a higher degree of foresight than they

now

possess, seems evident, both

from the much higher state to which the

Waganda

have attained, and from the customs amongst others

of the natives living
coast,

upon and behind the Portuguese

not

who

although

semi

civilized

like

the

Waganda,

yet are in the habit of

coming through
for three or

Zululand to Natal and there working

Consul ONcill

243

four years, until they have accumulated sufficient to

purchase a wife and small homestead, when they will

return with their wealth, this time by sea to avoid the
Zulus, and settle
of the

down

in their

own

country.

Many
;

Wanyamwezi,

too,

have as frugal habits

but

generally speaking, the majority of the natives and

all

of the slaves are characterized by a great deficiin foresight.

ency

But the abolition of polygamy, the

enforcement of moral laws, obligatory clothing, and

the compulsory support of the aged will
all

tend to

discourage idleness and stimulate the desire to labour,

Mr. O'Neill, R.N., our

in his
*

late

Consul at Mozambique,
little

thorough and practical

pamphlet on the

Nyassa Slave Trade'

(1885), says,

when

treating of
it

the question which

is

we have been

considering, that

from the native artisans taught by the British

'

that he looks for the most useful results,

by the

example they
social

set

to those

of their

own

colour of

superiority,
It is

of

skilled

industry

and steady

labour.

by showing the native

is

in this practical
in

manner what he

capable

of,

and creating
is

him

a desire to go and do likewise, that he

insensibly
into

drawn

those

habits

which impress most

deeply and beneficially his character, and do more

than
tion.'

all
I

else

towards his regeneration and

I

civiliza-

wish

could

feel

as

confident
16

on this

244
subject
as

^/^^

Slave
;

Mr. O'Neill

but
in

fear

that

weak
'

point in the argument

lies

the sentence,

And
I

creating in

him a

desire to

go and do

likewise.'

Except

for the very exceptional Central African,

if

doubt much
merely
is
'

such a desire

will
is

be created by
of.'

showing him what he

with his

capable

He

far too satisfied

own

condition and his

tion

own way of doing things. But who will be brought up

fathers' masters

the younger generato

reverence

their

more than
years

their fathers,
will

and who
the
far-

from

their

earliest

now

see

reaching advantages of labour, especially of skilled

labour, and

who

will

not grow up under the dis-

advantage of having their ideas stereotyped before

being brought in contact with the white man,
I

will,

believe, reap the harvest

which one would

fain

see the present African enjoy.

It

seems evident, therefore, that our chief object

should be not so

much

to free those

who have been

brought up

in slavery as to free the children, and,

by preventing more captures, stop the further wholesale degradation of the African

who

is

capable of so

much

better things.
adults,

As regards the

Mr. George Mackenzie's

plan seems the only feasible one

viz., to

give every

adult slave an opportunity of working out his

own

Accomplished Facts
freedom, and to grant to any

245

man

or

woman

their

freedom on these conditions, and these conditions

only.

Six

months' hard work under existing

will easily effect this.

cir-

cumstances

But the youths

!

and the children

poor

little

mites

surely
it

some
is

means can be adopted

late,

to free

them before

too

and they become demoralized

this

like their elders.

Some measures towards

end have already been

put into force by Sir Charles Euan-Smith, whose

philanthropic energy and foresight obtained

them
prede-

from

Seyyid Khalifa, the present

the throne
little
;

Sultan's

cessor on

and obtained

them with
held by
satisfy

surprisingly
for the

opposition from the slaveholders,

in

esteem and regard

alike

which he

is

Arab and European

enabled him

to

conflicting claims without the disheartening delays

which would have been experienced by those who,

unlike him, were not
in

such complete possession

of the confidence and affection of the Arab.

The experience

of the past gives us every right to

expect that such measures as these would result in

the greatest good to the country
of
;

for

it

is

from
by

amongst the

child -slaves

Africa,

rescued

British men-of-war, and

sions, that

handed over to our mis-

almost

all

the true and reliable Christians

of East Africa have been recruited.

246
Note.

The Slave

One of the

last acts of Sir

Charles Euanto obtain from

Smith before leaving Zanzibar was

the Sultan the sweeping reforms

in the slave-traffic
:

included under the following decree

IN

THE NAME OF GOD, THE MKKCH'UL, THE COMPASSIONATE.

THE FOLLOWING DECREE

IS

PUBLISHED BY

US,

SEYYID ALl BIN SAID,

SULTAN OF ZANZIBAR, AND IS TO BE MADE KNOWN TO, AND TO BE OBEYED BY, ALL OUR SUBJECTS WITHIN OUR DOMINIONS

FROM THIS DATE.

DECREE
1.

We

hereby confirm all former decrees and ordinances made by Our Predecessors against Slavery and the Slave Trade and declare that whether such decrees have hitherto been put in force or not, they shall for the future be binding on
Ourselves and on Our Subjects.

2.

VVe declare
shall

that, subject to the conditions stated

below,

all

Slaves lawfully possessed on

shall be
3.

this

date by our Subjects,

remain with their owners as at present. unchanged.

all

Their status

We

absolutely prohibit, from this date,

exchange,

sale, or

purchase of Slaves, domestic or otherwise.

be no more
traffic

There

shall

whatever

in

Slaves of any description.

Any

houses, heretofore kept for traffic in domestic Slaves

shall be for ever closed, and any person found acting as a Broker for the exchange or sale of Slaves, shall be liable, under Our orders, to severe punishment, and Any Arab, or other to be deported from Our dominions.

by Slave Brokers,

of

Our

Subjects, hereafter found exchanging, purchasing,

obtaining,

or

selling

domestic or other Slaves, shall be

Freeing the Slave.

liable
tion,

247

under Our orders

to severe

punishment, to deporta-

and the
traffic

forfeiture of all his Slaves.

which

of any kind in any description of Slave

Any house in may

take place shall be forfeited.

4.

Slaves

may

be inherited at the death of their owner only by

of-

the lawful children

the deceased.

If the

no such children,

his Slaves shall ipso facto

become
shall

owner leaves free on

habitually

the death of their owner.

5.

Any Arab,

or other of

Our

Subjects,

who

ill-treat his

Slaves, or shall be found in the possession of

shall

raw Slaves,

be
in

liable

under Our orders

to

severe

punishment, and,

flagrant cases of cruelty, to the for-

feiture of all his Slaves.

6.

Such of Our Subjects as may marry persons subject

are hereby disabled from holding Slaves,

to

British Jurisdiction, as well as the issue of all such marriages,

and all Slaves of such of Our Subjects as are already so married are now declared to be free.
7.

All

British Authority, or

Our Subjects who, once Slaves, have been who have long since been

freed

by

freed by

persons subject to British Jurisdiction, are hereby disabled from holding Slaves, and all Slaves of such persons are

now declared
All Slaves who,

to be free.

after the date of this

decree

may

lawfully

obtain their freedom, are for ever disqualified from holding

Slaves, under pain of severe punishment.
8.

Every Slave
forth, to
tariff to

shall be entitled, as a right, at any time hencepurchase his freedom at a just and reasonable

be fixed by Ourselves and Our Arab Subjects. The purchase money on Our order shall be paid by the Slave to his owner before a Kadi, who shall at once furnish
the Slave with a paper of freedom,
shall receive

and such freed Slaves

to all Slaves

Our

special protection against ill-treatment.

This protection shall also be specially extended

who may
this

gain their freedom under any of the Provisions of

Decree.

24S
9.

The Slave
the date of this Decree, every Slave shall have the
rights

From
same

as any of

Our

other Subjects

who

are not

Slaves, to bring

and prosecute any complaints or claims

before

Our Kadis.

Given under Our

Hand and Seal this

1

5//?

day of El Hej,
1890.)

307, at Zanzibar.

{August
\_Signed\

isf,

A.D.

ALI BIN SAID,

Sultan of Zanzibar.
(Seal.)

CHAPTER X
THE ARAB

The
by

Arab, like the slave,

is

very variously described

different writers.

In the opinion of some, his

his brave war-

adherence to
like
if

Mohammedanism and

nature place him on an eminence as high as,

;

not higher than, that of the Christian

is

whilst to

others, he
devilish

the incarnation of

all

that

is

brutal
it

and
to

the
is

homeless

man, whose
finds

fate

is
;

break
sensual

up homes wherever he
profligate,

them

the

whose

name,

turned

into

an

adjective,

used to designate the lowest forms of

immorality.
It is less

than eighty years since the Arabs from

Oman
of
selves
islands,

in

Arabia, sailing southward in their

frigates,

swarm

dhows and English-built

and

threw them-

upon the East African coast and adjacent

dispossessed
the
effete

Portuguese.

The Portuguese had

ever since Vasco da

held those regions at inter\als

Gama

rounded

the

Cape

of

250

The Arab

Good Hope

or, as

he called

it,

the

Cape

of

Storms

and,

sailing northwards, unfurled the flag of his

country over districts which had never before known

civilization

never,

that
visit

is,

if

we may except
sailors of

the

very hypothetical

of the

Solomon,

who perhaps came

in a

bygone age to barter the

for the gold of Africa.

produce of Syria and Egypt

Zanzibar once taken by the Arabs was soon used

as the base from

which expeditions,

chiefly for the

purchase and capture of slaves, were made into the

far interior.

From
and

it

the Arab set out on his long

cloth, guns,
his-

and often perilous journey with

and

ammunition
with some

to

it

he returned with

usually

ill-gotten gains of slaves

fairly
-

and

ivory,

and no doubt

gotten produce from the lands

which give birth to the Nile and the Congo.

journey was not only a march
bartered honestly with
districts

His
;

of brutal force

he

many

tribes

through whose

he passed, and so opened up trade-routes

for

which but

him would even now have been im-

passable for the missionary and the explorer.

did

He

more than
;

this in his unintentional assistance to

civilization

he taught his adopted language, SwahiH,

all

to

some amongst
more than

the tribes with

whom

he came

in contact, until

he had

made

it

the trade-language

of

half of Central Africa,

and so paved

His Dignified
the

Coiu^tesy

2m
The
for
for

way

for the rapid diffusion of

Gospel knowledge
in his track.

by the missionary who followed

Arab has done

for Africa

what the Romans did

it

Europe when they gave

commercial use

one great language

partial unity of tongue, without

which Christianity could never have overspread our

Continent with one-half the rapidity with which
actually did.
it

Dignified

courtesy,

courage,

and

perseverance

are the better characteristics of the Arab,

evil qualities,

whose
home,

however, when he
his

is

known

at

do certainly rather neutralize

good ones, though

unnecessary cruelty and disregard for the feelings of

others
is

not, so far as

know, by any means a pre-

dominant feature
on the slave-trade
ill-treat

in his character, as
assert.

many

writers
rule,

He

does not, as a

his slaves,

and they usually prefer him to

even an English or a
worst of the race

German

master.

Even the
(for all

the slave-hunting Arab

Arabs are not slave-hunters)

tionallj' brutal

is

not always intenlike

to his victims.

The Arab,

the

Englishman of even the

last century, looks

upon the

African as specially constructed to be his servant.

He knows
by
fair

he

is

to be obtained best
;

and cheapest
his

in

the far interior

so thither he
foul, collects

wends

way, and,

means and

together a vast herd

252
of victims.

The Arab

Now

begin the dreadful horrors of the

march

but they are horrors which necessarily aca

company
stances,
brutality
slave
is

march commenced under such circum-

and are not superadded by the intentional

of

the

Arab.

Directly one

unfortunate
to continue
is
still

seized with illness

is,

and unable
if

the journey, he

as a rule,

the caravan

near the hunting-ground,

charge.
If this

killed

by the Arab
rule,

in

custom were not the

ill

the whole

caravan would get

out that
If
it
it

at the next station,

for

and cry

was quite impossible

them

to proceed.

is

necessary to transport a body of slaves from

is

the interior to the coast, then the only plan

kill

to

those too

ill

to travel.
;

This sounds rather a

I

cold-blooded statement
see on reflection that
it

but
is

think the reader will

correct.

The system
carry
it

of

slavery

is

diabolical.
rose

You cannot
;

out on

couhur

de

principles

and

an Arab, or an

Englishman of the Elizabethan age of which we

are so proud,

who
into

so
in

far
it,

forgot

his

duty to his

neighbour as to assist
circumstances

was dragged by force of

horrible
cruelties

committing

which the best-intentioned, kindest -hearted man

could no more avoid than the most brutal one.

We
will

must abolish
but
it is

slavery,

and by God's help we

not our duty to abolish the Arab, or, as one

Political Ojfenders
traveller

253
'

and philanthropist has

the face of Africa.'

said,

Wipe

every

Arab

off

At Zanzibar and on the adjacent mainland, an

Arab Sultan

rules

and

levies taxes,

and Arab nobles

under him hold the reins of government and nominally

own

the country.

Nominally
in

say, because

their lands

and houses are

most cases so heavily

mortgaged

to the British Indian subjects, that they

in

and not the Arabs are

most cases the

real owners.

These ruling Arabs then are the aristocracy of the

Zanzibar-Arab nation, and they usually
in the
live
;

and die

country which owns their sway

others

but there

are

many

who

either are too obnoxious politi-

cally to the Sultan to live at all in Zanzibar, or too

heavily in debt to the

there,

Banyans

to live in comfort
interior,

and these usually penetrate into the

until either

and there remain

they have redeemed

a

their ruined fortunes, or until

arise,

new Sultan

shall

who knows

neither

them nor
in

their offences.

Meanwhile they

live in

comfort

one of the Arab

settlements few and far between, where, safe from

the wrath of their

the attentions of the

Sultan,

who cannot, or from Banyans who dare not, penemoderate

with
in

trate into the interior, they live lives of

comfort

exiles,

but

the
the

companionship of
enjoyment
of

fellow-countrymen, and

the

2 54

l^he

Arab

sweets of liberty.

Although, perhaps, a considerable

proportion of those

who make
of the

Central Africa their

home

are the

riff-raff

Arab nation, and largely

in

responsible for the

ill

odour

which the Arab

is

held in the interior, yet whenever you

come across

him, whether at the coast, or in the remotest deserts,

you usually

find in

him the same courteous manners

to entertain strangers with
superficial,

and the same readiness

his always
polite,

somewhat

but none

the less agreeable, hospitality.

The Englishman who

has troubled himself

little

about manners in his

own

country, will find himself

much

at a

disadvantage in
Arab, even in

dealing with the polished, dignified the wilds of Central Africa.

These Arab settlements, of which we have spoken,

sparsely scattered

over the

interior,

inhabited by

but few Arabs with their retainers, powerful only by

comparison with the utter feebleness of the native

'

powers around, are nevertheless useful as bases of

'

operation and cities of refuge for the slave-hunters

during their

expeditions

into

the

interior.

One

would naturally have supposed that the mission

stations

would have been antagonistic to these Arab

settlements, and the missionaries obnoxious to the

Arabs.

But

this

is

by no means the case.

The

missionary has no power to release the slaves in

The Arab and

the Missionary

255
if

the Arab caravans or settlements, and even

he

had the power

to release those

who desired

freedom,

he would be quite unable to feed them after their

release.

The Arab and

the slave both

know
far

this,

and consequently desertions of

slaves to the mission

stations, except at the coast, are few

and

between.
find the

Far from objecting to them, the Arabs

mission stations a great convenience on their expeditions.

Often an Arab on his journey would come to

ask for some few necessaries in the
I

me and
him

way

of supplies, with which

;

was usually able

to furnish

or a sick Arab would

come

for medicine, or for

;

medical comforts such as arrowroot or biscuits

a wounded one would come

or

for surgical dressings to

take with him on his journey.

Then,

too,

an Arab

who had
them

sick slaves in his caravan, instead of killing

as a warning to the others, would bring

them

to the mission and leave

them

there.

have had
I

many handed

over to

me
let

in this

way, and

always
I

willingly took care of them, only stipulating that

should be allowed to

them run away before

their

their

master came back

assented,
to

to

which

master willingly

knowing well that there was no place

which they could escape, and only laughingly

that,

suggesting
not to
sell

on
to

my

part,

should

promise

them

anyone

else ni\sclf.

On

other

256

The Arab

occasions, an Arab, with a heavy cargo of ivory, find-

ing the

number

of his slave-carriers so diminished by

desertions or death, that he could not convey his

treasures to the coast, would gladly take the opportunity of leaving at

some mission
carry.

station the surplus

which he could not

In this

way

have

sometimes had some three or four thousand pounds

worth of ivory
in the cellar of

my

house,

left

there

by some passing Arab with no other assurance than

a verbal promise that
I

would look
in the

after

it

for

him.

Such confidence have Arabs

aries,

English missioninterior,

that

have before now,

far in the

paid them for goods with an English cheque which

they at once accepted at the value which

told

them

it

represented.

Mr. Ashe,

in his

'

Two

Kings

of Uganda,' gives a similar instance of their confidence

:

'After two or three days' journey through

the scrubby forest,

going to
I

we came on an Arab caravan Unyanyembe. The Arabs visited me, and

I

told

them

wanted

to

buy a donkey which they

of the donkey had only

had with them.

lately

The owner

come from Muscat, and

from

did not

know whether
However,
his

bill

me was worth
him that
all
I

having.

friend assured

was an Englishman, and

So
in

that

it

would be

right.

an African wilderthis stranger

ness, five

hundred miles from Zanzibar,

His Trust
Arab handed over
to

in E^iglishnien
a fine

^o7

me

Muscat donkey, with

saddle and trappings, in exchange for a dirty piece

of paper, with an order written in

Enghsh

for

one

hundred and ten

but
I

dollars.

It

was a heavy

price,

seldom,

think, have
little

made

a better bargain

than the splendid

animal,
I

which proved a
have mentioned

godsend to

me on my
I

journey.
it

this incident, as

think

shows that Englishmen

for

had gained credit from the Arabs

any
rate,

being,

at

honourable

in their dealings.'

The Arabs have not been unmindful

from missionaries
in the interior.
its

of the assist-

ance which they have at various times received

Even when

the

anti-European feeling was at

the

highest, just after

bombardment

of the East African coast towns

by the German men-of-war, only one Arab governor

sent orders up country to
interior,
kill

the English in the

and even he relented under pressure from

let

the Sultan, and

m\- wife
.district,

the

first

band of four (Mr. Ashe,

safely

and child and myself)

through his

though shortly afterwards he murdered a

friend of ours,

same

route.

who came down to the coast by the He was the only Englishman killed
Arabs, like other

during the war.

Ahhough
fiercely

the

Mohammedans,
becoming a
17

resent

one of their number

258

The Arab

Christian, they are not on that account hostile to

Christians,

who have

not been

Mohammedans

nor

do they take much,

if

any trouble, to convert either

Christian or heathen to

Mohammedanism.

The

heathen coast man, the converted native from the

interior,

who

has turned from heathenism to Christ

and

ivho has never been a

Mohammedan, the Buddhist

all

from India and the Parsee fire-worshipper,

live in

alike

peace, and pursue unhindered and unperse-

cuted their religious observances in the Arab-ruled

towns of Zanzibar and the coast.

The Arabs

will

even speak of what they consider the decay of their

religion with perfect equanimit}',

and

havq known
indiffer-

some even
ence, that

affirm,

with the most complete

when

the Turkish
will

Empire

is

destroyed,
past.
inter-

Mohammedanism
So
far as I

become a thing of the

have been able to gather from

my

course with them, they do not even object to a

missionary speaking to them of the claims of Christ

only they consider any personal questions as to their

own

individual belief an exhibition of bad

manners

and want
Yet there

of courtesy on the part of their questioner.

is

a religious sect, the

Puritans,

Wahabbees (Mocalled

hammedan
when
in

Mackay has

them) who,

power, are certainly very intolerant towards

;

Christianity

but then they are equally intolerant

A
towards
exact colour.

Popular Poet
is

259
not of their
sect,

Mohammedanism which
They
are,

however, only a

and

by no means represent the Arab race.

All that
I

have seen of the Arab

in

East and

Central Africa so completely agrees with the description given of

him by Palgrave as he saw him

in

in his

native

home

Arabia that
'
:

cannot do better than

that

quote his remarks

large
led to

It is true

among

a very

number,

this

immense

latitude of belief has

an equally or even a more logical sequence,

;

namely, entire scepticism

and a

settled resolution

to prefer the certain to the uncertain, the present

to the future.
'

" Shall

abandon the pleasures

they
tell

of the pure wine-goblet

;

For

Life,

are

and honey hereafter and death, and resurrection to follow, Stuff and nonsense, my dear madarn,''
all

nie about milk

the

too

celebrated
I

lines

of

very

popular

Arab
in

poet,

and
of

have often heard them quoted

un-

moments

unreserved conversation with

equivocal

approval

on

the

part

of

all

present.

Not that even thus the Arab exactly

he has

disbelieves, but

made up

his

mind

not to " fash his

thumb

"

about the matter.

*

That the Turks are

in

their

way a

religious

people

may

be

fully

admitted.

That the Mogols,

172

26o

TJie

Arab

the inhabitants of Balkh and Bokhara, of Herat and

Beloochistan, are

even more religious, nationally,

I

and individually,

am

entirely convinced.

But, at

whatever

risk of startling

my

readers accustomed,

perhaps, to a popularly opposite view of the case,

I

must protest against the

right of the

Arabs as

such to be in any way entitled a religious nation.

Had
Arab

the

Mohammedan scheme
alone
;

been entrusted to
Persian,

keeping

had

not

Mogol,

Turkish, nay, at times European influence and race

come
As

in to its aid,

few would have been ere this the

readers of the Koran and the fasters of Ramadan.'

to 'sweeping the

Arab

off

the face of Africa,' or

attempting to 'abolish him,' or any other similarly

drastic measure^ people

who
in

suggest such methods

is

can have

little

idea of what he

really like.

The

courage of the Arabs

war, their enterprise in

times of peace, their affection for one another, their

readiness to receive the African almost as an equal,

the devotion of the children, and even the slaves, to

their father or master

makes them a united body

at

far

more formidable and powerful than people

are apt to imagine.
gives
deceit

home
which

But

for their religion,

them no

incentive to fight against the impurity^

in fallen
if

and cruelty only too inherent

I

man,

whether white or coloured,

doubt

they would

Pale-raves Observations v>

fall

261

much behind
Again
I

the

Englishmen of the Middle

Ages.
out

find that
far

my

observations but bear

traveller

those of the
before,

more experienced
I

mentioned
'

whose words

again

quote.

Some
in

travellers

have said that the Persians are

of the
I

the
it

Frenchmen

East

perhaps they said

haste, indeed,

hope
is

so, for to

compare Eu-

ropeans with Persians

the former.
If,

but a bad compliment to

inI

however, such -like vague and

complete comparisons can bear a real meaning,

would unhesitatingly affirm Arabs to be the English

of the Oriental world.

'A strong love and a high appreciation of national

and personal

liberty, a

hatred of minute interference

for authority

and special regulations, a great respect

so long as
it is

decently well exercised, joined with a

like caste-feeling

remarkable freedom from anything

in

what concerns ruling

practical

families

and dynasties

much

good sense, much love of commercial

great

enterprise,

readiness

to

undertake

long

journeys and voluntary expatriation by land and

sea in search of gain and power, patience to endure,

and perseverance

in

the employment of

means

to

ends, courage in war, vigour in peace, and, lastly,

the marked predominance of a superior race over

whomever they came

in

contact with

among

their

262

The Arab

Asiatic or African neighbours, a superiority admitted

by these

last
;

as a matter of course and acknowall

ledged right

these

are

features

hardly less

characteristic of the

Englishman than of the Arab

Arab
side,

yet that these are features distinctive of the

nation, taken, of course, on

will hardly,
I

its

more favourable
need not say,
admits
of

think, be denied

by any experienced
I

and unprejudiced man.

most
other

This,

like

broad

statements,

man}'

exceptions.'

The Arab completely

Islam, which does

released from the curse of

in the

more harm by standing

way

of his development than by actually corrupting

;

him, would be a really fine character

and he

is

so

thoroughly
socially, for

fitted,

both physically, intellectually, and

in the interior of Africa, that if

work

he

could but be brought to the saving knowledge of

Christ, the difficult question of the evangelization

of the

Dark Continent would

practically be solved.

CHAPTER
With
the

XI

THE MISSIONARY
the material in the previous chapters before

reader,

he

will

be better able to realize the

missionar}-,
is

position

and work of the

difticulties

and to get a

grasp of the

which he

called

upon

to

encounter, and the problems which present themselves to

him

to be solved.

His aim,
is

take

it,

in

going to such a place as Africa,

not because he
longs for

can find no work

at

home not because he

more

exciting, less

monotonous methods of doing

;

good than England affords

but simply because he

believes that his Master has given the order to His

disciples to go out into
all
;

the world, and preach the

gospel to every creature

the remission of sins
;

not only to

tell
is

them of
a

but also, and this

life-long

much

more comprehensive and

work, to teach

them

to observe
;

all

things, whatsoever

He

has com-

manded
that

briefly,

not only to teach them to work

;

His

Kingdom may come

but also that, in

264

The Missionary
life,

every detail of their daily

His

will

may

be done.

The

great
is

enemy we have
indifference
;

to contend with in East

Africa

not

slavery itself

is

such a
great as

barrier as this, nor even

Mohammedanism,

the obstacle which this system presents in North

Africa and India.

The Mohammedanism

of East

Equatorial Africa, so far as

is

my

experience goes,

almost entirely confined to Zanzibar, Pemba, and

the coast lands.

The Arabs and

classes

half-Arabs,

the ruling classes in Zanzibar, are

who are Mohammedans,

and so are the upper

in

the large coast

towns; but the Swahili of the coast are only nominal

Alohammedans, who know

less
.

little

about and care

to

for

the

religion
in

which they profess

hold.

Except when
I

Zanzibar, or at the coast towns,

have never seen a Swahili perform any other

towards

religious duty than to turn a sheep or goat

Mecca before he
fact,,

cut
;

its

throat.

The
in so

Swahili, in

are

heathen

their

heathenism being altered

far as
it

partly by

Mohammedanism, and

is

altered by this, certainly for the better, but partly

also

by the semi-civilization of Zanzibar

and

it

is

this civilization, devoid of Christianity,

which makes

work amongst the coast people so

satisfactor}^

difficult

and un-

Their great feature then

is

an extraordinary

in-

The Barrier of Indifference

difference to the future an indifference partly
to the fewness of their wants,

265
due

which enables them to

supply themselves with

hours'

all

they need by one or two

work a day

and, partly, to the system of

domestic slavery almost universal throughout Africa

which, by giving them an absolute master, often
prevents them from storing up for the future (for
all

that they have belongs to their master)

and also

releases

them
;

from the necessity of even thinking of

for their master, they

the

morrow

know, must feed

This
indiffer-

them
ence

for fear they should run

is

away.

not shown to religion only, or even chiefly,

but with complete impartiality to religious, social,

and personal matters.

Whilst this indifference

is

the great barrier to their acceptance of Christ as

their Saviour
;

their belief in witchcraft

is

the great

obstacle to their trusting His word, and being able

to love their neighbours as themselves.

But with

their general indifference there

is

much
is

true affection

towards

their

own

people, and that

the one great

feature in their character

which the missionary can

work upon.

If

they learn about Christ, they try to

I

spread the news.

believe

much

larger

per-

centage of these converts work amongst their fellow-

countrymen than

is

the

case

at

home.

Others,
first

besides myself, have been struck by one of the

266

The Missionary
when they come
to the

acts of native converts

know-

ledge of the truth.

They pray

for their relations

who

never heard the good news, and died long ago

in ignorance.

Another good feature

realize

is

their humility.

At once, when they

what God's commands

comply

mean, they frankly admit

their inability to

with them, and grasp at the idea of an indwelling

Holy

Spirit

who

shall give

them a power which they

work upon

do not naturally possess.

There
people
;

is

much, therefore,

to

in these

and yet the slowness of the process and the

result so deferred take

away anything

like

romance

from the work, even after the monotonous time

spent in learning the language has been passed,

and the missionary

people with

is

actively

engaged amongst the

live.

whom
is,

he has come to
of course, the

Learn-

ing the language

tion.
It
is

first

considera;

useless to

work through

interpreters

native interpreter naturally gives a free translation

of

what you

say,

which frequently means a

say.

free

translation of

what you do not

Again, you
is

can only speak when your interpreter

with you,
alone

and so obviously can never speak

to a

man

and a man who

is

willing to

open

his heart to

you

is

not always willing to do so to the interpreter.

For

acquiring Swahili no special aptitude for languages

The Interpreter
is

267
is

required, thougli, of course,

is

it

advantageous.
will

The language
amongst the
is

easily learnt

by anyone who

take pains and persevere, and

natives.
;

who
it,

will live

much

In learning
is

an interpreter

invaluable

and he

especially useful in an inif

direct

way.

The

learner,

he frequently talks with

his peculiar sentences,

him

in

English and notes

all

will find that

he translates

literally into

English the

idioms of his native tongue.

The language once

a position to

acquired, the missionary

in

is

in

commence work

earnest amongst

the people with

whom
;

he comes in contact.

He

can,

of course, devote himself to

or adults or both

work amongst children

is

but the work amongst children

really quite distinct

I

from that amongst adults

and

think, as a rule, requires a different type of

it

man

to effect

successfully.

Wherever the white man

goes, there the children will flock to

curiosity
;

him from sheer

and

if

he

is

kind to them, some will

come

to be taught to read.

But

it

is

usually impossible

to

get

them
to

to

come

regularly, except

by giving

them work

do on the station and paying them

small but fair wages either in cloth or food or both.

Once taught
the

to read, they can

be more

fully

in-

structed out of the Bible, from which they have in

meantime been taught

and they

will

learn

2 68

The Missionary
and committing
it,

partly by reading

to

memory

the

lessons contained in

and partly by watching the

missionary put them into practice himself.

The

method

of teaching to read

is

slightly different to

that employed in England.

Being unable to pro-

nounce a closed
usually taught
letters.

syllable like the letter /, they are

open

syllables at

once, instead

of

Thus
ba
be
bi

bo

bu

gwa

gwe

gwi

gwo

gwu

mba
nga

mbe
nge

mbi
ngi

mbo
ngo

mbu
ngu.

They have such very

quickly learn

retentive
off

memories that they

by heart without,
idea which

the

syllables

perhaps,

having

the

vaguest

symbol
whole

stands for which.

boy

will often repeat a

;

page of syllables without a mistake

of the page
itself,
it is.

but cover part

syllables

and show him one of the

will

by

and he

not have the least idea what

One might
untruthful,

briefly

describe the boys of Central

Africa as being merry, good-natured, affectionate,

and

idle.

It is

very

difficult to get

them

even to play games with any energy, unless one has

them

entirely under one's

own

control, as in the

case of freed slave boys handed over to the missions

Relapses of Converts
by the Government, or foundlings
I

269

left

on their hands.

suppose this want of energy, which they share with

is

the men,

the natural outcome of the continual

enervating heat.
in earnest

Yet the boys are sometimes quite

both in work and play, and as quick as

the
to

men
their

in seeing the applicability of

God's
a

Word
happy,

own

condition.

remember

pleasant-faced boy at Kisokwe

named

Nzala,

who
and

had listened attentively

as he

for

some days

to Mr. Cole,

was preaching

to the elder people there,

who
are

applied to him for baptism.

Cole said

'You

very young, and

;

do not

know God's Word

But the
and
still

sufficiently

think you had better wait.'

that he did understand,
;

boy

satisfied
for

him

pressed

baptism

then Cole,

who knew
at their

the

danger of taking boys too quickly

letting

word, or

them
'

trust to first impressions, again suggested

'

waiting.

But,' said Nzala,

you yourself told us

the other day that

now

is

the accepted time,

now

is

the day of salvation.'

Finalh', he gained his end,

and was baptized and became a sincere worker.

After

some

time, he one day lost his temper over

some

trifling

matter, and went straight back into

heathenism again, as so many converts do.

Prayer
like

was made on

his

behalf;

and

after

while,

the prodigal son, he

came

to himself

and returned

2/0

The Missionajy
and a humbler

to the mission station again, a quieter

boy.

This

going
is

back

again

of

the

convert
first

into

heathenism
missionary.

very disheartening at
it

to

the

Afterwards

is

saddening,

but not
to reahze

so disheartening to

him when he comes

more the
if

difficulties of a convert's position, especially

he be a boy.

There are several things which

In the
first

combine

to render his position difficult.

place the convert, previous to conversion, has never

been taught, and never attempted, to restrain any of

his passions
;

and, consequently, they have a fearful

hold over him.

sufficient for his
first

Then, although God's grace

need as
for ours, yet

is

he knows at

almost nothing of the very promises which

tells

could help him upward, and which St. Peter

us are given unto us that by

means

of

them we may
world through

become partakers
caped
lust.'
'

of the Divine nature, having esis

the corruption that

in the

Again, he has not the same protection that

in

we have

moral surroundings.

Always before

his
;

eyes are the very sins which he would fain escape

and when he does

fall,

as Christians in
is

England
fall

fall,

he naturally, as they,
old sins

most prone

to

into the

which no public opinion ever taught him to which no public

avoid, and for the commission of

A
opinion will
Christian will

Converts Temptations
blame
fall

271

him.

So where an English

into selfishness, temper, or pride, into theft,

the African will

violence.
in

fall

open immorality, or
important factor
life
is

Lastly,

and

this is a very

judging the native convert, his

all

before

the public.

There are no doors inside

his

house

no rooms into which he can shut himself.

does
is

All he

known

to

all

the world.
it

When we

do par-

ticularly sinful actions,

is

usually within closed

doors

and the world never knows, and the Church

critic

never guesses, and the

of us.
Is there
if all

continues to think well

any

shame

his

life

who would feel no were made public ? To compare

man

living

English and African Christians

necessary to compare African

fairly,

it

would be
as

Christians

they

evidently are with English ones as they really are,

all
it

their private
is

life

made
I,

public

which, of course,

impossible to do.

for one,

do not complain

of

Canon

Taylor's denunciation of native converts'

;

lives

(though there are noble exceptions)

only to

be just, he should as sternly denounce the failings of

Christians at home.

Taking into consideration our

in the

enormous advantages

way

of education and

surroundings, and our thirteen or fourteen centuries

of hereditary

morality,

do not think we shine

;

when compared with

African Christians

nor,

on

272
the

The Missionary
contrary, do
I

think

that

they put us to

shame.
I

remember another case

of a native convert

not

an exceptional case, but Hke the preceding one, a

man was a native of Unyamwezi, a slave who had escaped many years before from a cruel master, and who had been
very usual every-day one.

This

brought to the knowledge of the truth under the

successful
referred to.

labours

of

the

missionary

previously
in

He

used to spend his spare time

teaching the native children around to read the

Bible,

and used

freely to give of his

substance to

feed those who came from a distance, as some did, to learn more of the good tidings, about which they

had heard.

He had

a really affectionate wife,

in his

who
good

was

also a believer,

and who helped him

works.

Yet one day he quarrelled with her,

off

left her,

and went

with another wife.

He was
and

prayed for

much by
or

those

whom

he had

left,

after a

month

two he returned.

He was
that
his

told that he could not

until

be taken back again as catechist

as
well

he had shown,
real.

as

stated,

repentance was

After

some months he was restored

this interval

to his post.

During

he had lived as a Christian

off,

should do, though very badly

as he could get
his wife for

no work to do and was dependent on

Witchcraft ami Christianity

support.

273
he pubHcly
Since that

Previously to his

reception

confessed
date,

his fault in the little

church.

now

long ago, he has not again fallen away.

difficulty
is

Another

which besets the African convert,

and which

second only in importance to his early

is

training in vice,

his

belief in wdtchcraft.

But

witchcraft

is

not so

much an
it

obstacle to the recep-

tion of Christianity as
sistent

is

to the living of a conit

Christian
life is

life.

Where
is

is

believed in no

man's
the

safe

there

no sense of security from

ill-will

of others, no true love towards

feels,

them

each
at

man

not only that he

is

may be bewitched
made

any time, which

terrible

enough, but also that

he

may be

accused of bewitching others, and

to suffer the penalty,

which
it

is
is

much more
in

terrible

each

man

believes that

the power of his

if

neighbour to tyrannize over him

grudge.
like

he owe him any

is

Living under such conditions as these

living

under a despotic monarchy, but with

innumerable despots instead of one.

craft
is,

Where

witch-

there

is

bitter hatred, envy, jealousy, revenge,

and therefore no

possibility of brotherly love, or of

;

the charity which thinketh no evil

no

possibility of

the unity, the oneness which Christ came to bring,

and which

is

the very evidence of Christianity to the

outside world.

And

yet whilst admitting to the

18

full

2 74

^^^^^

Missionary
it

the unspeakable evils of witchcraft,

nevertheless

seems to me to be a mistake to attempt to combat

directly

any of the superstitious

beliefs of the natives,

for the}'' are the result of

mental as much as of moral

darkness, and mental and moral light will disperse

them.
dark
if

You cannot teach

a child not to fear the

it.

he has once been taught to be afraid of

is

In the dark he

in

dread of unknown dangers,

and nothing but long experience of both day and

night will convince him that the night has no added

horrors over the day.

As he gradually comes
and no

to

know
he

all

the forces that are at work during the day,

others, are at

will realize that they,

work
he

during the night also.

So an African,

after

embraces Christianity,

will only gradually learn that

God

rules over the

powers of heaven, earth, and

His are

hell in Africa as well as in other lands, that

the cattle on a thousand

hills,

that His

is

the earth
all

and the fulness thereof;

things

and that so long as

work together

for

good to them that love

Him, no powers of witchcraft, no unlucky sequences

of events can interfere with the welfare of one

who
no

has such protection as

this.

No

actual

test,

logical argument convinces him that an individual

superstition

is

wrong; but as he gradually grasps

the fact that the over-ruling control of

God

extends

The Decay of Supcistition

to
all

275

time and space, to the

infinitely small, as well

as to the infinitely great, he begins to realize that

the belief in chance and luck and witchcraft are

incompatible with his present knowledge

superstitions
his daily
life

and the

which once ruled

his ideas, harassed his nights, are

and rendered anxious

gradually and imperceptibly eliminated by the expansion of his knowledge.

There has been no violent

hitherto

tearing up of growths whose roots have

ramified in every department of his

life,

no sudden

extinguishing of beliefs which formerly smouldered in

his heart to blaze

up ever and anon

in acts of

hideous

cruelty, but a gradual suppression

by replacement.

Trust

in

God and
One

in

His watchful and unvarying

lovingkindness has destroyed his trust in witchcraft

and

chance.

fire

has

burnt

out

another's

burning.

We
It

have spoken before of the indifference of the

indifference
is

people, but

not a barrier to work.

retards, but

does not otherwise interfere with

it

success, unless, of course,

makes the missionary

him
to give
in

become disheartened, and

the

so causes

up

work.

Indifference

only

means

that

any

village

you must go to the people instead of ex-

pecting them to

come

to you,

and that when you

have gone once without

result, 3-ou

must repeat the

iS

276
visit.

The Missionary
It
is

usually best
telling

when going

to

them

to
;

commence by
but
it

them the story of redemption

is

useless to stop at that, as they already

have an idea, and a wrong one, of what redemption

means.
buys a

Their idea of redemption

slave,

is

that a

man

and buys him simply

;

for

what he can

get out of

him

so that

it

is

necessary at the same

of the redeemed soul

time to

tell

them what the

and what
it

life

must be
real.

like,

will

be

like

if

faith

be

Stupidity, or rather slowness, naturally prevalent

amongst them, the accumulated product of centuries

of unexercised faculties,
its
is

quite compensated for by

association with humility.

Many
is

of the natives a great help. are explained

are most genuinely humble, which

Whenever the Commandments

to them, they freely

of

God
I

admit that they are unable to

please

Him.
'

More than once have

have been

known men
Once, too,

say

We

brought up as slaves and

steady.'

heathen, and

we cannot keep

when we were arranging

at a freed-slave station to

apprentice bo3's to different trades, and were discussing with the leading natives the question as to

what time should be allowed each boy

trade, they at once said
:

to learn his

'

You must

give the boys

a good

deal longer to learn than you would give a

House Building
white boy.

277

The
of

African heads are thick, and

we

don't take in things quickly.'

The method
convenient
centre.
at

work most favoured

is

in

Eastern

Equatorial Africa

to establish

a station at

some

village,

and

itinerate
it

from that as a
necessary to
live

For a medical man

village.
Little,
if

is

one

any good, can be done

by itinerating medical work.

The
rain.

first

essential,

on

settling at anyplace,
for protection

is

to build a

good substantial

house

from sun and

Such houses

are easily built.

The ground having been measured

about six inches
in in

and

levelled, uprights

diameter,

and having forked

about a
the
foot,

tops, are put

in

at

intervals of

except

the future doorways, to form

walls

four

walls.

The two end

are

built

of

uprights gradually increasing in height towards the

centre,

and so are the partition walls between each

Long,
light, straight

room.

branches are

now

tied

on to these uprights at right angles to them, both

inside

and outside,

until

the walls are converted

into wickerwork.
strips,
is

The

inner bark of trees, cut into

used as rope for tying this wickerwork.

A
to

strong pole, or else two spliced, are

now
from

placed
these
feet

form the ridge of the

roof,

and

long poles reach

down

to uprights placed

some

bevond the walls and

enclosin<^ a

veranda between

278
them.

The Missionary

Upon

these poles

thin

boughs

or

light
is

bamboos

are tied, and the framework of the roof

then thickly thatched.

This being finished, and the

rain, the

structure beneath safe from

space between

the inner and outer wickerwork of the walls, except

at the

window

places,

is

then

filled

in

with stones,

and the

interstices filled in with clay,

which

is

also

used to plaster the inside

and outside of the

walls,

and so give them a comparatively smooth surface.

The exposed timber and wickerwork, where the windows are to be, are now cut away, and windowframes inserted. The floor is then beaten for some
days to render
to protect
it

it

hard and smooth, and

finally tarred

from the ravages of the white ants, dry

sand being poured over the tar to form a tougher

coating than the tar alone would do, and to hasten
the drying process.

The

walls

are

then white-

washed

inside

and outside, a ceihng of calico stretched

across beneath the thatch, mosquito netting stretched

across the windows, a light canvas and

woodwork
the
inside

door at the entrance, and curtains

doorways, and the house
Before building the house,
timbers that are to be used.
is

in

ready

for

inhabiting.
all

it is

best to char
is

the

This

really the only

way
ants,

to protect

them from the ravages

far

of the white

and of the

more troublesome and ubiquitous

House Building
boring
silently

2/9
everywhere,

beetles

which,

flying

about

and

quietly

destroy every exposed piece

of dry

woodwork.

coating of tar or paint will

restrain their ravages

somewhat, but not nearly so

TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT HOUSES FOR EUROPEANS

effectually,

and of course not nearly so economically,

as a charred surface.

small temporary house can be built in one or

the^ preceding one,

two da}s on the same plan as

but with the roof timbers prolonged

down

to the

So

The Missionary
it,

ground, and so taking their support from

and not

from the walls or veranda uprights.

thus be

The

walls can

made very

light,

and with practically no

foundation, as they are steadied by the roof, instead

of having to support of wickerwork
is
it.

An

outside covering only

tied

on to the walls, which are

then thatched

like the roof.

Of

course this necessiin the end-walls,

tates having the door

and window

and taking care that long eaves shelter both ends

from sun and
rain.

When
plan
is

a native becomes an inquirer, the usual

for

him

to join a Bible-class for beginners,

for the pur-

which would meet perhaps twice a week

pose of reading the Bible together and of prayer.

The

men and boys would be conducted by the missionary, and for women and girls by his wife. Both men and boys take their turn in reading and
class for
in leading in in

prayer

very different from the practice

him from praying
in

England, where a boy's shyness and self-con-

sciousness would usually keep

front of others.

But

natives, as

we have

seen, are

quite accustomed to living their whole lives in front

of each other, and have never yet heard of people

being ridiculed for religious beliefs or observances,

whether those

observances be

heathen,

Moham-

medan, or Christian.

Disadvantageous as the shy-

The Convicter of Sin

ness and self-consciousness of an English boy

281

may

be

in

some ways, these very

far

features place

him on

an elevation
attains to.

above what the average native ever

is

Modesty

a grace of tender growth,

and shyness and reticence are her handmaidens.

One
for

obvious advantage which their unfettered way

of praying gave

them was that they

in

learnt to pray

what they wanted

simple straightforward

language, instead of praying for what they thought

they ought to want

in
is

phraseology to be approved
too often the case amongst

by the hearers, as

more

civilized

people.

More than once

to

in

their
I

unsophisticated

way they used

pray
in

that

might get to know the language better

to teach

order
I

them more

perhaps

at
I

time when

was rather
of
it.

flattering myself that

had a good grasp

One

thing that often puzzled

me

before

I
*
:

went

out was the question occasionally put to

me

How
But

are you going to convince the natives of sin

?'

convincing people of
is

sin,

whether white or coloured,

solely the

not our duty at

Spirit

all.
'

It is

work of God's
sin.'

Holy

who
I

shall

convince the world of

Consequently

never took any steps in the matter.

Certainly even the most degraded natives have

idea of sin.

some
you

Although they

will occasionally tell


282
that
it

The Missionary
is

not wrong for them to steal and

if

tell

lies,
it

yet they will at once admit,

is

you ask them, that

very

wrong
lies.

for other people to steal from

them or

tell

them

With regard
I

to other sins not so

obviously wrong,

used to read them God's comsubject, but never attempted to

mandments on the
proof usually called
action

argue the advisability of such

for.

commands.
fact

Nor was
that

The mere

an

was forbidden

in a

book which professed to

of
to

come from God was frequently to them an end They may not have intended all discussion.
obey
;

but they rarely,

if

ever, disputed the validity

of the order.

The

lowest orders of intellect seem

to realize the sinfulness of their lives quite as clearly

as the

more quick-witted.
stupid

remember one man

station

the most

we had on the

who

at-

tended the usual morning and evening prayers, but

who

apparently gained no benefit from the teaching

then given.
sented

Yet one day of his own accord he preclass

himself at the inquirers'

asking for

instruction previous to baptism,

and surprised both

us and his fellow-natives, not only by his evident

earnestness, but also by the simplicity and clearness

with which he had grasped what his

before

own

condition
for

God

really was,

and what was necessary

salvation.

He was

willingly admitted to the class.

A
Two
or three

Guileless Afi-ican

2'^

days later there broke out one of

those troublesome epidemics due to the fouling of

the water-supply, and he was the
first

victim.

About the same time as the preceding occurrence,

another

man,

much more

intelligent,

was

also

brought to the knowledge of the truth, and earnestly

applied himself to the task of learning to read that

he might, when he returned to his

lived

own

tribe,

who
tell

some

four hundred miles away, be able to that he had heard.

them the good news

Before he

had thoroughly learnt to read,

his teacher
;

had

to

remove from that station

opportunity

to the coast

and as an

came

of his returning to his tribe in a

passing caravan, he went earlier than he otherwise

would have done.

properly even
of his Bible.
his

But although he could not read

left,

when he

he yet knew a good deal

is

What

results he

now

getting from
in

work amongst

his fellow-tribesmen

the

far

interior time alone will reveal.

This

man was one

in
all

of the most truthful

men
and

have ever met, either

England or abroad
the

his guilelessness

was

more

noticeable

amidst

the
craft

proverbial
of

and

prevalent
African.

untruthfulness

and

the

native

He was
were

indeed one whose

retlcctions

words

and

actions
within.

exact

of

the

thoughts

284

fhc Missionary
belief in

The
way.

witchcraft

once brought us into

contact with a native chief in a very unexpected

He had
it

been

aihng

for

some time with

draughty, leaky
little

rheumatism, and as he slept

hut,

in a

was not surprising that medicines had

malady.

effect in allaying his

Dissatisfied with his

hills

condition, however,

he sent over the

for

native medicine
as

man, who on

his arrival told him, his

was customary, that the cause of

was being bewitched.

malady was

that he

He
hit

then

commenced

casting the customary lots from door to door and

from native to native,

slave

until

he

upon a poor old

man and woman, who were thereupon hacked Some of the natives to death with native axes. who were well disposed came up to the mission and
told us

what had occurred, adding

that, according

to the medicine man's orders, one or two people

would be put
recovered.

to death

every day until the chief

to see the old

So we went up

man, who

received us politely, as usual.

We

told

him of what
to

we had

heard, and

how

sorry

we were

know

of

the course which he had taken.

We

told

him that
but that

man might
really
this
it

try to

alleviate

his disease,

was God alone who could cure him.

it

To
his

he readily agreed, as

is

the belief which most

that
all

natives have.

Then we reminded him

A
and
is it
all

Penitent Chief

285
all

people belonged to the Creator,

things.

who made

men

To

this

he also assented.

'Then
After

not unwise to go on killing God's people, while

you are desiring

Him

to

save your
to

life ?'

some deliberation, he promised

people
;

kill

no more
lives

so

one point was gained, and the

girls

saved of two poor innocent young

who were
But
it

marked out as the victims

for the next day. for

was only one point gained,

deluded old

we wanted
his

the poor
fault

man
said

to

acknowledge

and
of

obtain forgiveness too, and so

we spoke
killed

to

him

what God
creatures.

of those

who

their fellow-

He would
point

not admit that he had done

to be content with the

anything wrong, so

we had

one important

we had gained and

saw him
again

return

home.

Next

day we

and

had

another talk with him, and he so far relented as to

admit that he had done wrong.

Some days

later,

when we were again

was very sorry
for

visiting him, he said that

he
to

what he had done, and wished

forgive him.

know

if

God would
with
;

We

told

him that
by

confession
forgiveness

sorrow was

always

followed

but that as his sin had been committed

all,

openly, and as he had thus set a bad example to

his confession

ought to be equally open.

in front

Then he

said he

would confess

of

all.

But he was

286
too
call
ill

The Missionary
to go out

and see

his people, so he agreed to

together his under-chiefs, and those

who had

seen the crime committed, and to confess before

them.

This was
it

in the evening, so

he said that he

would do
trying
act

in the

morning.

It

was such a very

his

for

a chief,

who was supposed by

like

subjects
sin

never to do wrong, openly to confess a

before

them

it
fit

was so much
to

admitting
I

that

he was not
if

be a

chief,

that

much
two

doubted

he really meant to

call his

men

together.

However, early next morning, about

of his

six o'clock,

men came down

to say that the under-chiefs

at

and others were already collected

his

hut, at

which we were much surprised, as some of them

lived

two miles away, and the old chief must have

in earnest to get the

been very much

so soon.

men

together

We

at

once went up to his hut, and then

he sat up in his bed, and told his assembled subjects

that

he

had done wrong

in

killing
all

two innocent
together that
for the

people, and that he had called us

we might

all

ask
I

God

to forgive
it

him

wrong

he had done.

suppose

was the

first

prayer that

most of these heathen had ever

knelt

offered up, as

we

all

down

and asked God's forgiveness for the old

all

chief and for

present, as

we were

all

sinners in

His

sight.

Tzvo Plucky Boys

287
;

We
which

saw the

old chief a

few times after that

but

each time he was weaker.

I

On

the last occasion on

was with him, him

;

read the one hundred and

third psalm to
*

he stopped

me
I

at the

words
:

like as a father pitieth his children,'

and said

Is

that the
before.'

way God
Soon

looks upon us

never knew that

after this

he died, and his

men came
as,

down
night.

to the mission,

and told us the news the same

;

They
dies,
is

told us in strict confidence

when
his

chief

the matter

is

kept quiet until

successor
or

appointed

matter sometimes of one

two months

as apparently

many formalities have

to be gone through.

Amongst
wanting

boys,

it is

not indifference, but instability

the great trouble.
is

of character which
in

is

They

are

backbone, which

hardly surprising in

a country where there are few or no moral laws.

Yet they have redeeming features,

are
lazy, idle

for

though they

and dishonest,
not

3'et

they are merr}',

indeed,
I

good-natured, and

cowardly;
at the

have
of

sometimes been surprised

the
little

pluck of

many

boys.

have known a couple of

little

fellows of ten
off to

and eleven with

their small spears go

the rescue of one of their flock that was being

it

attacked by a leopard, and succeed in driving

away.

On

another occasion, when some

Germans

288
were attacking a

The Missiojiary
village at
;

which one of

their

men
to

had been murdered

go down a
hill

and when two of us had

forces,

between the opposing

to

endeavour to bring them to terms peaceably, one

or two
all

little

boys of six or seven followed us down

the way, not fearing to go where they

bullets

saw us

go,

even though the

came

faster

and

faster,

whistling across the path which led us

down

to the

combatants.

Some

of the boys,

who come completely under

the

control of the missionary, turn out very fine fellows.

slave-boy

who had run away from

at a mission station,

a cruel master,

was received

and there brought

up and taught by Mr. Downes Shaw.

a consistent behever, and was baptized.

He became
His master,

who
of

discovered his whereabouts, after a good deal

negotiating,

consented

to

his

freedom

being

purchased, which was effected by the boy himself

out of his

own

savings.
his

He became

a most earnest

worker amongst

fellow-countrymen, and

now
in

works as catechist amongst them on very small

wages, having, for that purpose, given up work

which he was very happy, and

twice or thrice as

at

which he gained

know

of others

much as his present allowance. I who are doing similar work under

like conditions.

CHAPTER
THE MISSIONARY

XII
(continued)

Work
is

amongst the Mohammedans of the coast

difficult
;

exceedingly

yet

believe

that

many

amongst them are now

Christ
;

truly earnest followers of

though

it

is

impossible to estimate their

of missions
;

numbers.
assert

The
as

detractors
are none

sometimes
obviously orders
as

that there

but this

is

erroneous,

there

are

men, now

in

clergymen of the Church of England,

who once
seven

were Mohammedans.

Yet
left,'

if

even Elijah could say

there were

'And

I,

only,

am

when

thousand people who had not bowed the knee to

Baal,
it

is

not surprising
a

if

many

think the

same

now.

To

Mohammedan,

the open profession of

is

his belief in Christ, whilst he

living in his

own

country,

means the

loss of all

whom

he loves, and

almost certain starvation, unless the mission under

whose teaching he was converted gives him work

enough to support
him.

But the

rule

to

give

19

290
lucrative

The Alissionary
employment
to a

man

directly he

becomes

a professing Christian, has obvious disadvantages.

I

knew one Mohammedan young man, who,

to have his sins forgiven,

after

attending our services for some time, said that he

wanted
(Jesus).

and to follow Isa

He

joined the inquirers' class, and was

very humble and

careful in his
life.

simple in his prayers, and

ver}^

After a period of probation, he

a

was baptized, and became

consistent

believer.

During the war between the Germans and Arabs,

when an Arab
his

chief ordered

all

white

men and

their

servants to be killed, he

left
I

us,

and went back

to

Mohammedan

friends.

saw him once

after-

wards, and he said that he was afraid to

come
in

to us

again, but that he would not give up the worship of

Isa,

and that he was not worshipping

Mohamother
like

medan mosques.
nominal
those

And

so

he remains,
of mine,

like

Mohammedan many Israelites

friends
in

and

the time of
believer.
let

Ahab and
It is

Jezebel, a secret and

unknown
;

not a

high position to occupy

but

those

who have

successfully resisted such fearful temptations as beset

Mohammedan who
It is

gives up the religion of his

forefathers, cast the first stone at him.

sometimes asserted, and

usually,

though not

always, by those

who have

never lived amongst the

Christianity
Africans, that

and Mokaninicdanisni
is
;

291

Mohammedanism

more

suited to

the African nature than Christianity

is

and that there

it

no reason wh}- their acceptance of

should not

take them halfway towards, and finally lead them

actually into Christianity.
this

In the consideration of
help us
if

subject,

it

will,

think,

we
:

divide
i.

the Africans into the following six classes

civilized truly Christian.
2.

The

The

civilized nominall}'
4.

Christian.
uncivilized

3.

The

semi-civilized heathen.
5.

The
true

heathen.
6.

The

semi-civilized
-

Mohammedan. Mohammedan.
as 'the

The semi

civilized

nominal

Theoretically there should be other classes, such

uncivilized

true

Mohammedan,'
exist, at
list
I

etc.,

but
in

practically such classes

do not
In this

any rate

East Central Africa.

a distinction

have drawn

between

real

and nominal

distinc-

tion obviously often difficult to

draw

in practice in
is

individual cases.

Yet the distinction

a real and

important one, and indeed often an evident one.

By a true Christian, I understand to be meant one who accepts Christ as his Saviour and Master, and who does desire to who tries and perhaps fails, follow his commands
Let
define

me

my

meaning.

and

fails

again, until in .some cases his

life

life

comes

almost to be considered a

of failures.

It

may be,

19

292
but
it

The Missionary
is

also a
I

life

of attempts.

By

a nominal

Christian

understand to be meant one who, what-

ever

may

be his profession, has evidently no desire

to follow the

commands

of Christ

and who never

has had any such desires, beyond the most transitory

ones.

The
fulness,

African Christian, so far as

know him,

is

very far

above the African

Mohammedan

in truth-

honesty, and love towards his neighbour,

further above

him
is

in these characteristics

than the
is

Mohammedan
above,

above the heathen.

But he

not
in

indeed often below, the

Mohammedan

courtesy, deference to his superiors, and sometimes

in

obedience to his master

is

the very traits by which

the critic

apt to judge him.

But whilst

this is

correct of the true Christian African, the nominal

one

is

distinctly

below the

Mohammedan

in all of
is

the characteristics

we have enumerated, and

of this
is

often

more troublesome and more

heathen.

offensive than even the

The reason

not far to seek.

Christianity and
at

civilization

are always

presented

one and the same time to the African mind.

The

native

who
but

imbibes Christianity, unlike the native

who
alone

imbibes
;

Mohammedanism, never imbibes

in

it

obtaining
the

Christianity

from

his

teacher, he, at

same time, obtains the

rudi-

The Heathen and

merits of civilization.

Civilization
Christian,

293

The nominal

who

drinks from the same fountain as

rejects Christianity
;

the

true one,

but yet gets, with his imperfect

knowledge of

it,

a fair grounding in the rudiments

of civilization, and that a true civilization, not the

semi -civilization of the Arabs.

divorced

This
not,
if

civilization,

from Christianity, does

as

rule,

better him, and often renders him,

least

not worse, at

more dangerous

to the white

man.

The
more

dis-

honest, ignorant, timid heathen

dishonest, but

becomes the equally

crafty,
in-

more

clever,
It

more
is

solent nominal Christian.

a change like that

from the half-witted, ignorant

dishonest
sharper,
if

rustic,

who would be

he dared, to the well -trained cardis

who

dishonest because he does dare.

An
not

outside observer would praise the

rustic,

honesty of the
yet one
is

and condemn the sharper

is

worse than the other, though he

to society,

more dangerous
and

more objectionable

to the wealthy,

therefore
strictures

universally

condemned.

In

reading the

sometimes passed by

travellers

and

settlers

upon both nominal and

real Christian natives,

when

they assert that the heathen are better

the converts, one must bear in

men than
all
is

mind

that often

they

mean by

good native

is

one who

obedient

and moderately honest, and who only gets drunk

294

^^^ Alissionaiy
his

when

master does not want him.

As

to

any

other goodness, such as honour, purity, and unselfishness, heit

is

not supposed to be capable of

it.

it,

even

if

were desirable that he should possess

The
worse.

semi-civilized heathen

is

practically the

same

as the -preceding type of native;

no better and no

The nominal

Christian,

though often a

hypocrite,

may

style

himself a Christian without

;

any conscious hypocrisy

or he may, even in con-

sideration of his civilized condition, be styled so by

his friends

and neighbours who consider

identical,

civilization

and Christianity
the

without any desire for

name on

his

own

part.

On

the other hand, the

heathen, though he does not hypocritically set up

for

being a Christian,

may

yet, just as insincerely,

is

endeavour to assure you that he

the incarnation

of truth and honour and unselfishness,

quite
'

when he

is

aware that he

sets

no value

at all

upon these

white man's peculiarities,' as he considers them.

The
book.

uncivilized heathen native hardly needs dehere.

scription

He

is

described throughout this

He

can hardly

fairly

be described as a class
;

comparable with the other

to be considered the

five classes

he

is

rather

raw material from which the

This being the case, he

other classes are recruited.

is

necessarily

never so good as the best of the

The Sincere Believer

individuals

295

we

are considering, and never so bad as

the worst.

It is, I think,

from amongst the best of

the heathen that the true Christians are recruited.

priori, I

think

should have expected to see more

of the worst attracted to a system

whose ranks are

recruited largely by those brought in from the high-

ways and hedges

and
ditches

but perhaps the

men from hedges

amongst the Africans

if

Certainly mean honest workmen. it is those who already have,

not

good

in

them, at least good desires, that

yield themselves
It
is

most readily as followers of Christ.

the kind-hearted and the gentle, the (com-

paratively) hard-working

and the honest who come

forward as inquirers, not the vicious and the outcast, the villain or the brute.

Now
first

let

us turn to the

Mohammedan;

and, in the

place, take the instance of the semi-civilized

true

Mohammedan.

He would

almost

certainly

belong to the coast, as the externals of

Moham-

medanism, and the association with other

Mohamtire

medans necessary
the interior.

to kindle

and

to keep

up the

of enthusiasm, would hardly be obtainable anywhere

in

The

first

feature that strikes one

is

about a true

Mohammedan
'

his evident sincerity, a

'

by no means unimportant
said St. Paul,

feature.
it

obtained mercy,'

because

did

ignorantly in unbelief;'

296
and one of the
of

The Missionary
latest

recorded utterances of the Son

God was
is

that

He

hated those
is

hot nor cold. but he

Not only

the

who were Mohammedan

neither
sincere,

more more

self-respectful,

more courteous, more

trustful of others

obedient,

truthful,
is.

and more

than the heathen

When

dealing with heathen

you

realize the great disadvantage of

working with

people

who do

not trust you, until after they have

known you
In

individually,

and that

for a

long time.

dealing with

you are dealing

Mohammedans, on with those who do

the contrary,
trust you.
It

says a great deal for a

people.
It

man when
And

he trusts other
belief in such

means

that he

must have a
a

things as truth and honesty.

man who

has

such a belief as this

a

is

capable of higher things than

teaches a

man who has not. But whilst Mohammedanism man his duty towards others, it does not
all

teach him that he has any duty at

except towards
It

a small portion of his fellow-creatures.

makes

him
It

despise,

and often hate, the

rest of

mankind.

does not tend

it

though
channels
be,

does

much to diminish make them run

his evil passions,

in

more regular

and impure though a

I

Mohammedan may
above a heathen,
feature

he

is,

believe, considerably

even
that

in

this

respect.

The most awkward

finds
in

an Englishman

Mohammedan's

Nominal Mohammedans
character
is

297

his

fanaticism.
is

Valuable though a

Mohammedan
between

often

in the capacity of a personal

is

servant, he cannot

be trusted when there

war
even

Christians and

Mohammedans,

or

when

his

master has a disagreement with some

neighbouring

Mohammedan
though
it.

of position or influence.

The preceding
native, accurate

description
I

of

a
it

Mohammedan
is,

believe

has yet one

weak point

in

It

is

taken from observation of

half-Arabs, the offspring of

Arab

fathers

and native

mothers.
half- Arab

have been obliged to substitute the

the
native, for
I

for

do not know any

single

instance in Eastern Equatorial Africa of a

pure native

who has become a true and Mohammedan. But whilst there are no

earnest
(or very

few) true and earnest

are

Mohammedan natives, many nominal ones, who do not, as a

I

there
class,

correspond with those

Christians.
tically

have described as nominal

cares prac-

The nominal Mohammedan

rites,

nothing for religious

alone, nor

and never performs

them when

when

in

company, unless
a

in

the presence of an Arab.

free

Such

man

is

naturally

from fanaticism, yet he does learn something of

the rules of conduct that guide

Mohammedans, and
;

he

is

comparatively unspoilt by civilization

for the

Arab, unlike the missionary, does not take

much

298

The Missionary
and
his converts consequently

civilization with him,

get

practically

none.
is

Thus, though the nominal

Mohammedan
in

inferior to the true

is

Mohammedan
makes

many

points of conduct, yet he

decidedly above

the heathen; and his freedom from fanaticism

him much more valuable

than the true

to

his Christian employer

Mohammedan would

be

in

times of

disagreement between Christians and

dans.

Mohammecorrect,

Supposing
some, yet
the native
is

all

this

description

is

say

not

Mohammedanism more
than
Christianity?

suited to

African

Speaking

only from experience in Eastern Equatorial- Africa,

the practical absence of true

Mohammedan

natives

would be a

sufficient

answer to

this question;

but

nominal Mohammedanism being, as we have seen,

so

much more

desirable a condition than heathenism,

all

we

are unwilling to urge the former fact as at

reply.

conclusive

No doubt

it

is

easier

for

the

African to govern himself by the few rules set forth

by Mohammedanism, and to control the few passions which that system insists shall be controlled, than to
govern himself by the all-embracing stringent laws
of Christianity.

But the same holds good

it

for us;

we should

find

much

easier to obey the laws of

Mohammed

than the

laws of

Christ,

though of

The Best System

course our

299

own

ease would

be purchased at the

cost of that of our

fellow-creatures.
itself to this
?
:

The whole
Is the African
:

question thus narrows

capable of Christianity
it

Or

in

other words

May

not be better to teach him an imperfectly pure

system which he can follow rather than a perfectly

pure one which he cannot
to teach
?

Now,
duty
;

it

is

quite easy

an African what

his

is,

whether as a

Mohammedan
to enable

or as a Christian
to act

though, obviously,
is

him

upon

this

knowledge

a totally

different thing.

The matter
them.

thus turns upon whether

either or both systems give not only

commands, but

strength to

fulfil

Now Mohammedanism,
its

though
to
fulfil

it

does not give

devotees the strength

its

commands,

yet only gives such com-

mands mands
fulfil,

as

are compatible with

;

even an African's

moral strength
far

but Christianity, which gives comto

beyond the power of the natural man

does give with them the strength necessary for

their fulfilment.
in

God

gives grace to His followers

proportion to their needs, and has promised His

Spirit to those of

Holy

His children who ask Him.

Spirit

Without

God's

Holy

the

African

w'ould

certainly be unequal to the task, but so

would the

cultivated

Englishman, though with His aid both

are sufficient.

300

The Missionary
fresh

Here again, however, we are met by a

perplexity.
for a
If these

things are so,

if

it

is

good

heathen to become even a nominal

if

Mohamfairly

medan, and
sure,

that change

is

attainable

and

why should we Mohammedanism as

not encourage natives to accept

a probable stage in the journey

towards Christianity.

There

is

undoubtedly some-

thing to be said in favour of this view.

have talked both with non- fanatical

Those who Mohammedans

receptive,

and with heathen, know how much more

how much more appreciative of the true and the noble, how much more approachable, a Mohammedan is than a heathen. But although to convince
a

Mohammedan seems
The
in

easier than to convince a

is

heathen, yet to get him to confess his belief

harder.
penalties are so fearful that a

far

Mohamhardly

medan,

Mohammedan

country

or district,

dares to take even the

to
say,

first

step of allowing himself

is

even in secret, that Christianity

true.

Such a confession would mean one man against the

world, and though

Mohammedans
I

capable of such
that they are

heroism can be found,

am
If

afraid

not only few and far between, but that they are
quickly put out of the way.
ruler

some Mohammedan
that

were to accept Christianity, and a few of the

is

leading mollahs with him, the probability

Disadvantages of JMohauuncdanisni

301

many Mohammedans would

once.
all

accept Christianity at

When

a heathen king

becomes a Christian,
matter of course,
little,

his subjects follow suit, as a

and nominal Christianity, worth very

the order of the day.
tate

becomes
potenbelieve

But

if

Mohammedan
I

and court were to accept Christianity,

that the result would be a large

number of

real

and

not merely of nominal

Christians.
is

But such an
degree

event as
unHkely.

this,

am

afraid,

in the highest

Willingly then as
desirable features of

we admit

the really good and

pared with
first
life

Mohammedanism when comheathenism, naturally as we might at

its

imagine that with

it

purer creed and nobler

might be a handmaid to Christianity, we yet

fact that practically
it

cannot shut our eyes to the

is

not so, and that the persecuting tenets inseparabl}'

far

bound up with the system of Mohammedanism

more than

neutralize any assistance

which

it

might

otherwise lend to the cause of Christianity.

The knowledge
and

of medicine

is

of great use

in

working amongst the Arabs and natives of the coast,

it

gives a missionary the entree of houses that

he would otherwise never have an opportunity of

entering,

and brings him into

friendly relations with

people

whom

he would otherwise never know.

But

302
for this coast

The Missionary
work
in

such semi-civihzed regions,

it

needs a competent medical man, and not one

simply has a smattering of medical knowledge.
obtain the confidence of the Arabs and natives,
great advantage in the work, even
if

who To
is

of

one does not

obtain their gratitude.

creet

Of

their confidence, a disfairly

medical
is

man can make

sure

but

gratitude
civilized

an uncertain factor

in

any calculation

people are

not always grateful for even

great attention, and

forget to

when

the pain

is

over,

some few
led

pay the doctor, which, no doubt,

:

the

canny Scotch practitioner to say

'

Get your

fee
tear's in the e'e.'

While the

At the time even when feeling against white people

was running so high

in

East Africa, during the

blockade of the coast by the combined British and

German
to

squadrons, the Arabs were always willing

for

come

medical aid to the mission stations

chief,

even the very Arab

mission station,

who was

threatening a

came

to that very station to consult

the doctor there about an operation for a complaint

from which he was

suffering.

But though

at

the

coast only a thoroughly competent

knowledge of

medicine
are

is

of

much

use, in the far interior matters

different.

There

man who

has

even

The Medical Missionary

smattering
only
of
is

303

medical

knowledge, provided

that smattering-

practical

and includes the rudiIf

ments of nursing, can do a great deal of good.

he can treat

and

nurse cases

of

typhoid

fever,

dysentery, malarial fever, and

bronchitis,

and dress

simple wounds and ulcers, he will be able to do

most that

is

required of him, especially

if

he has

the good sense not to meddle with what he does not

understand.

There

is

one use of medical knowledge

I

in

the

mission-field that

think needs a word of caution.

Medical

knowledge

used

merely to

impress

the

natives with the idea of the superior intellect and

powers of the missionary

in

will

probably only result

the

native

putting

him

on a par with

the

medicine-man or wizard.

And

so the missionary
it

will encourage the very belief which

is

his

aim

to

combat.
ings at

One

occasionally hears

it

stated in meetin sober print,

home, and sometimes even

is

that the medical missionary

fulfils

the only one

who

the Christian ideal, the only one

his Master.
total

who

in his

methods of work resembles

seems
to have arisen

This idea

from a

misapprehension

of the function of medical knowledge in missionary

efforts.

The Lord

did

work

miracles of healing,

and

pointed

men

to

His miracles as evidence that

He

304

The Missionary

had supernatural power and that

He was

Divine.

We
to

have no supernatural power, and do not want

point

men

to ourselves.

Medical missionaries

are very fortunate in possessing knowledge gained

by

observation

knowledge

which

often

enables

them

to relieve physical pain,

and so gives them

;

more opportunities than others of helping people

but there the difference between them and others

ends.
If a

man

tries

to impress people with the

idea that he has occult powers, whether he be a

quack

in

England or a medical missionary

is

in foreign
I

lands, he

simply acting a conscious

I

lie.

always

found
to

it

best wherever

went to endeavour .at once

disabuse the

native

mind of the idea that

possessed

any powers over nature beyond

'

those

granted to ordinary intelligent observation.

of

Some
but

you good

people can snare birds with great

And why ? Are you wizards ? you have spent many years in observing
success.

No

the habits

of birds

and

in

experimenting with the different

structures

with which traps can be made.

The

result is the very ingenious

and complicated traps

which are made by you Africans, and the successful

way

in

which you discover the time and place to

set

them.

And

so

we white

doctors have spent

many

years in observing diseases, and in experimenting

Cold and Hunger

with the herbs and appHances which will
diseases.'
alia}'

305
those

There

is

far

more gained, from a misand caring

for

sionary's point of view, in nursing

one native than

in

administering the magic draught

and

never-failing pill to several hundred.

True, you

are a marvellous man, and can cure the diseases of

people w^ho
a

come to you. But much more marvellous man.

and that
at a distance.

the native doctor

is

By

simple incanta-

tions he can not only cure people, but

ill,

make them
it

But when

comes

to

nursing and

caring for the sick, then

if

the white

doctor can have the monopoly

he so desires.
out-

The

native

knows a hundred other doctors who

shine the white one by their marvellous feats, but

he knows not one other

who

will lend

him
is

a blanket

and cook him some arrowroot when he

hungry and
ill.

cold and

The majority

of natives in Africa

come
little

to their

end through cold and hunger, a fact

realized

by those who hear that the temperature rarely goes

below sixty degrees Fahrenheit, and that food
usually abundant.
is

But whilst such a temperature

is

as that mentioned

bearable to a

man
or,

in health,

it

means death

in a

very short time to an underclothed

indeed, any

man

with severe fever or dysentery,

acute disease.

And

the coarse food which can be

20

3o6

The Missionary.
is

eaten with impunity in health

often dangerous in sickness.

unpalatable and

Blankets, flannel shirts,

and woollen

belts

are

thus

more necessary

to

medical missionary than almost any other

article.

native,

it

is

true,

does not need the same com-

forts in sickness that a

European does
be
as

but he does
a
difference

need that

there

shall

great

between
is

his comforts in health

and disease as there

in similar circum-

between those of a European

stances.

Medical

skill

being an unknown and consequently

in Central Africa, the

unvalued commodity

medical

man who
ance.

goes there must not expect to be at once

all

surrounded by sick folk

thirsting for his assist-

He must
in

be content to abide by the same

of political

laws that rule in other departments

economy; and

introducing to their notice such a

skill,

new
the

article as

medical

he must be prepared, not

only to provide the commodity, but also to create

demand
to

for

it.

This he can only

effect

by

gentleness and by patient dealing with the few

who

come

him

at

first,

some with incurable ailments,

some with

trifling,

and many with altogether ima-

ginary, ones.

Situated as
of the

Mpwapwa

is

at the junction of

many
a

great East Central African slave-routes,

Hospital Huts
medical
patients

307

man
from

living there naturally obtained

many
so

the

passing

caravans.

Those

obtained were, of course, absolutely destitute, and

needed to be provided, not only with medicine, but

also with clothing, food,

and lodging.

For lodging
to house

them we found that

it

was cheapest

them

HUTS FOR SICK NATIVES

by twos, building

for this

purpose a sort of large

beehive, six feet high, and seven feet in diameter at

the base.

This was built of a

light

framcv/ork of
to the

boughs, and thatched outside right down

ground.

Two
laid

six-foot

logs parallel to each

other

were then

along the floor inside, leaving a space

20

3o8
between them

The Missionary
for a wood-fire for

warmth

at night,

and having the spaces between each of them and

the hut walls bed.
filled

with dried grass to form a

soft

few thorns twisted into the thatch outside

at the base of the wall all

round prevented hyenas

from scratching through any unprotected part at

night.
shillings

These
each,

little

huts only cost about seven

useful for

and they were especially

isolating infectious cases, as the hut could be burnt

down without much

patient
All

loss of

money

as soon as the

was

well.

patients so destitute

as those of

whom we
advisable

have been speaking had necessarily to be treated

gratis
;

but

if

possible,

we

usually found

it

to

make

others pay something for the benefits they

if it

received, even

were only a banana, worth the

I

twentieth part of a penn}'.

is

am

convinced that

it

a mistake to pauperize people, whether in Central

Africa or in England, by giving

them

for half-price

what they can

afford to

pay

for in full, or

by giving
in

them

for

nothing what they can afford to pay for

part, though, of course, there will always

remain a

certain

number who cannot

afford to
life.

pay anything,
inquiring, dis-

even

for the necessaries of

An

criminating charity causes more wo'rk and trouble

to the giver than either indiscriminate almsgiving or


Industrial Schools
the complete refusal to give unpaid assistance
it
;

309
but

is

the only really kind unselfish way, the only

is

way

that

Hkely to result in good

to the recipient with-

out any attendant harm.

We
people.

have not yet considered the relation of the

missionary to the work of the civilization of the

There have been high

civilizations

in the

past coupled with the most degrading and immoral

customs

so that one can hardly look to civilization

as the necessary antecedent to a moral change in

the people.
subject, says

Consul O'Neill, when considering this

:
'

Most valuable though a

and

religious

training

is,

it

does not seem to reach alone the

;

weaknesses of the native character

its effects

judged by experience appear to be sadly evanescent

and

volatile.

The one
is

thing most wanting in

stability
;

the native temperament

is

and

this

want

best met, not

by theoretical teaching, but by

I

habits of practical and regular industry.'

all

think

workers

in

the

African

field

will

agree with
is

Consul O'Neill that the one thing most wanting

'

stability

'

and where the young are committed to

the case of freed

the

missionary's charge, as in

slave children,

most would agree that they should be

trained up in regular habits of industry, the few

who

show

special aptitude being perhaps given a literary

3IO
training
;

The Missionary
but the majority being brought up to do
far as possible,
is

mechanical work, and as

to different trades.

apprenticed

This

done by the Universities'

Mission in Zanzibar and the adjacent mainland, and

by the Church Missionary Society

at

Frere Town.
shall

So
all

far,

then, as the

young are concerned, we

be of one mind with Consul O'Neill

'

in his desire
is

that

no mission be established in Africa which

'

not mainly of an industrial nature

but

when

the

question of work amongst adults

shall not

is

considered, w^e

by any means hnd such an unanimity of

opinion.

For

my own

part,

look upon the attempt

to civilize those past early adult age as a hopeless

task

when undertaken by
full

itself.

The

African

who

has grown up to

maturity

in

heathen customs

does not want to be civilized, does not want to

work, and you cannot oblige him to as you can the

younger people.

The
by

only prospect, so far as

to

can

see, of ever getting

him

work hard, and lead a

getting

sober, orderly
if

life, is

first

him converted.
in

an African has the love of

will get

God

his

heart,

he

desires towards higher things than ha

after,

naturally seeks

and
his

his

civilization will
in

go
life.

hand

in

hand with
civilized

growth

spiritual

Whether a

African

would

receive

the

Gospel more readily than an uncivilized one,

L do

Conditions of Success
not in the least know.
far as
it

But

goes, certainly gives

my small experience, as me the right to expect

and naturally than the
to
civilize
is,

that the Christian African will embrace civilization

great

deal

more

easily

heathen one.

To attempt

the African
think, to put

before attempting to convert

him

the cart before the horse

differ

yet there are others

who

from

me on

this question, and, of course, their

opinions are

entitled

to

as

much

respect as

my

own.

There
with
short
best
I

is

one interesting and practical question

for

which we may well occupy ourselves

time, namely:

What
in the
I

are

the

qualities
field
?

that

tit

man
I

for

work

mission

Before

went

out,

think

should have put purity and

qualities after
;

truthfulness
since
I

first

and other

but
I

now
I

have seen the work for myself,

affection
for

think
I

should put

the people

first.

have

known men

really fond of the

natives,

who were

nevertheless most unrefined in their behaviour, and

who were disThe opposite continctly successful in their work. dition of a refined, straightforward man who did not
rather shifty to deal with, and yet

care for the natives

is

not to be found

for

such a

man

if

he went out would be (juickly disgusted with

it

the work, and give

up.

Again, bad temper

is

not

312

The Missionary
I,

such an obstacle to success as

imagined.
I

for one, should

have

knew one man who had a very quick temper, and who was constantly storming at his
servants
;

and

telling natives,

who

certainly deserved

his censure, precisely

what he thought of them.

But

he was a

man

of great culture and refinement, and

loved the natives with a true affection

a love which
sucespecially, are

they returned
cessful.

and

his ministry

was eminently

Unfortunately the bad qualities we have

first

been considering, the

two more

not often combined with this necessary kindheartedness,

and so the unrefined man

is

frequently the

unsuccessful one.

doubtedly the

The refined cultured man is unman best suited for work amongst
will

such a degraded people as the Africans; he

stoop to their
level,

and they
is

will learn to love

him

very quickly, and

readily given.

it

not hard to return love so

The
Yet

unrefined

man

will

not stoop

to their level so easily

this

and
it
'

naturally, paradoxical as

may

seem.

agrees with what an Indian

missionary told me.

The

greatest help one can

have

in India is a

converted Brahmin.

He

will

go

about as an equal amongst the very sweepers, the

lowest caste of
useful worker,
all
;

and

is,

consequently, such a
in possession

and so completely
all.

of

the

confidence of

convert from an inter-

Lady Missionaries
mediate caste
is is

313

not nearly so useful as a rule.

if

He

frequently so afraid of losing dignity

he associates

too

much with
of culture

those of lower caste.'

Bat though

men

and refinement may

be, as a rule, the

most successful missionaries, not many of

have gone out
until

this class

of late;
in

and so most of the

pioneer mission work
other classes,

burden and heat of the day

has been borne by

men drawn from

is

and

to

them

it

is

largely

due that the mission work

of the present day

so

much

easier than that of

the past.

Of women's work amongst

natives,
I

the

East African

have said very

little.

Except
is

in

the

Universities' Mission, this

in its infancy.

phase of work

almost

Yet work amongst the native

is

women

and young children

hopeless

when undertaken by
by those who have

men

and certainly

will

have to be undertaken by
it

women, and
in a tropical

the greater part of

not young children of their own.

climate, with

An Englishwoman children of her own to

obtain
the
assistance
will

manage, and only able

to

which a missionary's pay can ensure,

to

be able

manage

little

work, as a
;

rule,

beyond that entailed

by her

own household
some, as

though happily she can

of

undertake
married

much

the

work amongst
is

women

can be best effected by one who

314

The Missionary

a wife and a mother herself.

A woman

has

many

advantages over a

man

in

missionary work.

No

one

is

suspicious of her, and she has the entree to

;

every place she cares to go to

so that although she

in the

cannot travel as

far as a

man, or stay so long

life

climate, or stand a rough as

so well, she can

make

many

friends in a one-mile circle as he can in a

ten-mile one, and attract people to her

whom

neither

medical know^ledge nor any other aid

to attract.

will

enable him

But she must be one who has attracted

people to her at home, before she goes abroad.

greater mistake can be
to mission

No

made than

to send abroad

work a woman
miss at home.

whom

no one, or

whom
:

very
'

few^ will

People sometimes say

Oh, what a pity So-and-So went abroad, she was

doing so

much good
are
If a

at

home.'

But

it

is

just the

women who
abroad.

doing good at

home

that are needed

has seen,

women does not love those whom and who are of her own colour, she is
be loved by those

she not

likely to love or

whom
If

she has not

I

seen,

and who are not of her

colo'ur.

might be

allowed to give a word of advice to those

not found their vocation in work at

who have home, and who

I

contemplate engaging

in

mission work abroad,

should say for the sake of the natives, and for the sake
of your fellow-missionaries,
b}- all

means do not

go.

Economy and
The question has

Efficiency

315

not infrequently been raised as

to the advisabihty of missionaries

I

Hving

in poverty.

do not understand why a different standard should

be laid

down

for Christian
I

workers

in

England and
left

in foreign lands.

think each

man
I

should be

to
I

decide for himself.

Personally

cannot say that

have taken the slightest interest

I

in seeing how^

little

could

live

upon.
I

Once, by a combination of
to living
It

cir-

cumstances,
but
in

was reduced
for a

upon nothing

muddy water
great
;

week.

certainly resulted

economy
but
in

as

regards that

week's expen-

diture

anything but economy as regards

the expenditure of the next three

tropical climate a

months.

In a
will

European must eat well, or he

;

soon lose his health

if

and he

will find

it

very

difficult

not impossible to eat a sufficient

amount

of tasteis

less or

unpalatable

food.

To

live

poorly

bad

economy.

One month's
more than a

illness costs

directly

and

indirectly far
I

year's supply of comforts.

I

always endeavoured to
except

live as well as
I

could

but

still,

when

at the coast,
I

would gladly have

to get for the
I

exchanged the food

was usually able

ordinary diet of an English workhouse.

do not
of

know any
)et for

luxuries

that

will

take

the

place

moderately tender meat, potatoes, bread and butter

months the missionary may be

called

upon

The Missionary
all

to go without
at hearing

these.

have often been amused

to

workhouse children objecting

meat as

being tough, and bread as not fresh enough, and

wondered what they would say

steak of Central African cow.

to

no bread, and a

No
many

doubt there might,

is

in

some

instances, be

more
But

economy than there

a

amongst missionaries.

man

in a

comfortable position at home,

field,

who

goes out into the mission

has to give up about

seventy per cent, of his income by so doing, and

though he might possibly

does,

live

on
is

still

less

than he
all

the philanthropist

who

enjoying

the

comforts of

home

life

in

a temperate region, and

who

uses perhaps ten per cent, of his income for

is

others,

not exactly the right

man

to suggest his

giving up seventy-five instead of seventy per cent.

So

far as

can see

it

is

the missionary's wife

sufferers.

and children that are usually the

societies

Some
their

discountenance

marriage

amongst

missionaries,
justified
in

and those that do so are perhaps

not looking too closely into the needs

of

unprofitable

widows and children

but others
I

approve or even encourage marriage, and

think

amongst these there

is

room

for a

diminution in
field,

the allowances to the missionary in the

great augmentation in the allowances to

and a

widows and

Are
children.
I

Missions a Success ?
always sorry when
I

oW

am
in

see the question

of

economy
;

missions brought very prominently

is

forward

not because there

I

not

room
it

for

economy,

but because

always fear that

will

simply

mean

more

hardships

and

sufferings

for

women and
is

children.

The

last

question that need detain us

the very

important one as to whether cr no missions are a

success considering the time and

money spent upon

them.

Eastern

Equatorial Africa has sometimes

field,

been selected as a
success.

showing that they are not a

But

in

such an early period of mission

it

work

in the interior,

is

impossible (except in the

of the Universities' Mis-

case of

Uganda and some

upon

sion stations) to obtain sufficient statistics to base

a conclusion
shall

a
to

conclusion,

mean, which
with
the

carry

weight

one

unfamiliar

practical details

and

difficulties

of Central African

mission work.
there,
I

As

far as regards

my own work
I

out

quite feel that the return

obtained was
of the

fully equal to the

amount and value

is

work

did.

One

instance

not, of course,
I

worth much;

but others, whose work

have seen, bear out

my

belief that the evident result in

each case has been

forth.

commensurate with the efforts put

there
is

Then,
appear

much

result

which does not

at first

J 18

The Missionary
harvest which will be reaped by later comers,
this also tells against the value of statistics
it

a
and

on

the subject, and makes

opinion,
field,

still

more a matter of

l^ut

the fact that those

who

are in the

and alone have an opportunity of judging, are

satisfied that the

work

is

not a failure, makes the

opinion of those

who
As
I

believe in

missionary work

more
those

in

accord with evidence than the opinion of

not.
to the

who do

money

value of the

results obtained, as

do not

in the least

know how

to estimate missionary
1

work

in

terms of current coin,

have not attempted to discuss the matter.

Whatever opinion may be held

as to the present

success or failure of Central African missions, the

man who

believes

in

God's message to us as to

the evangelization of the world will go on working

whilst others discuss.
it ill

The war
sit

is

still

raging,

and

becomes the

soldier to

down

in the trenches

whilst he calculates whether the battle in the past

has been sufficiently successful to warrant him

in

obeying his
attack.

Commander's orders

to continue the

Mission work in East Equatorial Africa

is

carried

on

at present at a great disadvantage,

and must con-

tinue to be until there are a sufficient number of

well-educated,

well-trained, whole-hearted

rative

Solving and Reaping

319

converts ready themselves to carry the Gospel to

their

heathen brethren.

The

Universities' Mission,

especially, has laboured

this

towards the attainment of

years

end,

and so of

late

has the Church

Missionary Society.

Yet, notwithstanding the few-

ness of the labourers, though the whole

work

is still

in its infancy, the results are really great.

When

we think of the centuries that passed between the

first
its

introduction of Christianity into England and

final

establishment here, and of the years that

in

were spent

educating the few descendants of

the
first

Abraham during

century after the

still

call

of

that Patriarch, whilst the world around

lay in

heathen darkness, we begin to realize that the work

of

God

never progresses hurriedl}', but ever with

trtad.

measured
those that
harvest

In

any great undertaking

that reap the

it

is

come

later

bulk of the

sown by the

earlier
first

workers

who themselves

reaped but a few

fruits.

But whatever the

apparent results, to each, according to his work, will

one day be

his

meed

of praise.

To each
'

of us

is

held out the promise that

we may one day

but

hear, not

'Well done, good and

successful,'

Well done, good

and

faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy

'

Lord

the joy, that

is,

of a Successful

Worker.

APPENDIX
LIST OF SUPPLIES NECESSARY FOR ONE PERSON TRAVELLING IN CENTRAL AFRICA

FOR ONE YEAR

One
with
tent, 8
ft.

or 9

ft.

square,

The green Willesden

proof

rot-

ceiling inside, of dark green baize. Unjointed poles. Four small blunt hooks along centre of roof (just under supporting- tapes)
fly,

and extra

canvas tents, supplied by Edgington, of Duke Street,

London Bridge, are

and

excellent.

Unjointed poles are stronger

for supporting lamps, etc.

Two

The

easier to carry. extra ceiling

is

very

pockets
tent.

in

each side wall of

necessary.

The sun comes

through

Ventilators in roof.

One ground-sheet
whole
floor of tent.

to

cover

Eyelets along edge.

One canvas camp

with unjointed poles.

bedstead,

two thicknesses of canvas, and the shelter of trees is not often obtainable. Willesden canvas is very good for this purpose. Very white - ant proof, and light, sufficiently waterproof. The eyelets enable it to b^ used as an extra tent-covering for the men in wet weather, when no villages are near. An extra pole for stability is sometimes supplied to connect angles where legs of bedstead As natives cannot cross. arrange it, it becomes an en-

cumbrance.
bag, open at one end only for bedstead.

One Willesden canvas

Sufficiently large bedbitead rolled up or three blankets.

to

hold

with

two

21

322
One very

Appendix
easy folding-chair.

The
not

seat
in

be

and back should one piece, as the

Two
One

camp-stools.
small, strong,

resulting curve is not restful to the back. If the traveller has fever he will spend days in this chair. Strong, low, with wide seat.

low

port-

Fastened by a
cause
the
it

strap, or

by

able table.

some method which does not

table
to

collapse
top.

when Most

is

lifted by the

portable tables unfortuthat

nately do so.

One

strap, with

hooks

(port-

able wardrobe) to fasten round

tent-pole.

it fits

The traveller should see when purchasing it.

is light, soft,

One ribbed

Two
Four

hair mattress. small pillows.

pillow-cases. pair of sheets.

This kind
able,

port-

and not expensive.

Two

It is

more cleanly and more

;

comfortable to use a sheet to lie upon but they are not used
Six blankets.
as coverings. Austrian blankets spoil least by being washed by a native. This is the most portable form of mosquito net. It covers the head and arms.

Mosquito net, arranged on cane ribs, in shape like the hood of a perambulator, but 2 ft. 3 in. wide, and half instead of one-quarter circle. It should have a linen fringe all round to
tuck
in.

One
fitted.

dressing

case,

well-

The feet must be covered by a light shawl or rug. There are few mosquitoes, except near the coast ; but there they abound. To include mirror.
Will stand about a year of a tropical sun if the traveller always puts it away dry, and keeps it free from grease. This will save many minutes in preparing the ground for the

One india-rubber camp-bath,

whalebone
ribs.

camp wear under

Two
One

sponges.

One sponge-bag.
bass broom-head.

floor of the tent.

Two
One

dusting-brushes. gallon tin water-bottle,

Very
water,

useful.

To be

kept

filled

with screwed top.

and given

to

with boiled be car-

Filters

|23

ried by a lightly-laden, quick porter, who will be in camp each day as soon as the
traveller.

One

ebonite flask, or flask

of other light material.

One

portable

filter

metal.

To be kept filled with boiled water, and carried by servant who carries traveller's gun.
Not
less

than
reliable

one

quart
better.

capacity.

Two
which

quarts

The

those

ones are the filtering medium is throivn aivay frequently and replaced by new. Maignen's 'filtre rapide' is
in

only

excellent.
filter to

One ewer and basin. One soap-dish.

cannot trust to the best purify water. Boil all water, let it stand to deposit sediment, and then filter, solely to improve the taste. Granite ware from the

You

Atmospheric Churn Company, 119, New Bond Street. W., is the best. Almost all other enamelled ware chips, and retains the smell permanently
if left dirty.

One

lantern for kerosine. Spare glasses for kerosine. Spare wick for kerosine.

good

hurricane lantern is but many 'hurricane lanterns' go out with a mere Du rr of wind.
real
;

One One One One

kerosine

screw top Kerosine

oil

tin

with

quart.

oil, one 40-lb. tm. bull's-eye lantern. oil-tin, screw top, i pmt. 4-lb. tin of oil. Spare wick. Four dozen boxes of matches.

Obtainable at Zanzibar. Only used occasionally but the oil can be bartered if found
;

too much.

Soldered up in tins of each is the safest way.

dozen

One
case.

luminous

matchbox-

Very useful in tent at night ; but must be exposed to light

for

an hour or two

One

tube candlestick.

The

daily. 'silver torch' is a very

Spare glol)es for candlestick. Candles for candlestick.

good one.

candle

can

be

packed

21

>24

Appendix
anywhere, and
is

ready at a

moment's notice. Therefore often more useful than an oillamp.

sheet of Willesden canvas, lo ft. by 12 ft., with eyelets and loops.

One

For use as luggage-tent

wet weather.
Stretched
it

in

over
a

the hammock-pole,

makes
also.

Tent-pegs and mallet. Drill, 30 yards. Small rope, 30 yards.

good shelter

for

men

Divide into three lots for two headmen and two servants
to

Hammock-twine, 3 hanks. Three strong needles for

twine. 'Charity' or Six 'Art' blankets. Three old blazers or sweaters, or flannel shirts. Two policeman's capes.
'
'

make

their

own

tentes

d'abris.

Two

for servants.

Two

for

headmen. Two for sick porters. For sick men with diarrhoea
or chest troubles.

For
season.

messengers

in

rainy

blankets, etc., lent ; on no account given as presents, or they will

N.B.

Tents,

must be

One net-hammock,
size.

largest

One Willesden canvas awning, 4

ft.

for food or drink opportunity. The largest size is not too large for even a small man. Made with light wooden

be bartered
tirst

the

by

ft.

in.,

lined
tie

slips

along edges and

down

with thick green baize, to

over hammock-pole.

centre for strength. To take out for packing. This awning should have hanging sides and ends of same material, which can be let down or fastened up according to the position of the sun.

Hammock-pole.
Waterproof blanket, by 4 ft.
about

Ten-foot bamboo.
at Zanzibar.

Obtained

ft.

Edgington keeps good ones. Very useful to lay on campbed if it happens to get wet. For short journeys from camp
can be taken instead of a For this purpose it should be laid on a thick layer of dried grass. If the bath gets worn out, this blanket placed over
it

bed.

The Outfitter
a scooped-out
in.

3-^5
hollow
to
in

the

ground can be used

Clothes pegs, \ gross.

bathe

F^.7j necessary articles, which are usually forgotten.

Alarum.

Necessary for early marches. wild animal would enter a tent at night where an alarum was ticking. A luminous face would be very useful. N.B. All luminous articles

No

Two

tweed

suits,

unlined.

shine well at night after exposure to the brilliant African sunshine. Clothes should be purchased from the traveller's own tailor

and bootmaker.

The

outfitter

has never seen the traveller before, probably expects never to see him again, and can hardly be expected to take as
interest in him as his regular tradesman will. If hunting is the traveller's aim, one more canvas and one

much

Two
One

canvas

suits for

march-

ing and hunting.

or two flannel suits.

less

tweed

suit

would be

best.

Flannel shirts with good collar-bands, but no collars.

After a long march or hunt, the traveller will find it best to have a bath and change into
flannels.

Three
caps.

travelling

'^or

other

For use

at

night

and
is

in

hammock. A 'Tam-o'-Shanter'
with a padded crown
for

useful
in

Two

lielmets.

wearing in camp. Both cheap and

good

Zanzibar.

Cotton and woollen socks.

for

Brown -leather, broad- toed,

thick-soled boots.

Woollen for marching. Cotton camp. For marching. Thick soles to prevent the hot soil from

Spare

laces.

blistering the feet. pair of spare soles, with the necessary nails useful for repairing boots.

Strong, thick-soled slippers.

For use

in

camp.

326

Appendix
For evenings, convalescence.

Comfortable, easy slippers.

and
in

during
sections,

One

pair of lasts for boots.

Wooden

lasts

Two

pair thin cork soles.

Light, large, woollen shawl.

with an iron sole screwed on. The iron sole is for use when boots are to be mended. The lasts should always be put into boots when they are damp, and cork soles under them for fear of iron-mould. To protect the back when

Waterproof overcoat, hood, and leggings.

marching away from the sun to be worn as a cummerbund when marching towards it. Not mackintosh. The leg;

Light,

warm

overcoat.

gings are very useful for walking through grass soaked by the early morning dew. For evenings and nightwatches.

Linen towels. Turkish towels.

Six Pyjama
umbrellas.
suits.

Two strong, white or coloured,

The black umbrella with a white cover is too heavy to be The best carried in comfort. sort is a white or coloured umbrella, with a second inside The lining like a parasol has. inside lining being small might
be thick, without creasing the weight.

much

in-

Camphor,
dered.

solid

and

pow-

Keep plenty amongst

on account of insects.

clothes,

One copper One small

kettle.

kettle.
flat

block -tin
steel

For quick
Seamless

boiling.
steel

Four seamless pansnested.

sauce-

material.

is the best native servants can keep them clean with sand, which would soon wear a hole through a tin saucepan. Iron

The

saucepans break

copper ones

Two

larire sufurias.

want re-tinning. For baking and roasting. Obtained at Zanzibar. Large

Cooking Appliances
enough

,27

One

small sufuria.

to hold fry-pan mentioned below. The For native servants. prevent only way to the master's sufuria being used.

One seamless One circular

angles
final

steel fry-pan.
fry
-

pan with

With

this

apparatus a joint

handle bent up at right angles to pan, and bent again at right

so that the inches above and horizontal to pan.
to
;

that

arm

lies

Three round
bread
cover.

nested.
hot
-

tins for

baking

or loaf of bread can be lowered into and taken out of a hot sufuria, without running the risk of dropping it into the ashes or dirt. One for use. Two stored

away.
plate

One

water

and

A great convenience. It is very difficult to serve anything up hot with a high wind blow-

Two Two
deep.
ware.

saucepan brushes.
dishes,

granite
dish,

ware,
granite

One pudding-

Two

jugs,

quart

each,

granite ware.

One meat-saw.
is

Meat
joints.

will

cleanly

not keep unless it and neatly cut into

One chopper. One mincmg-machine.

tough.

Two Two

wire sieves. muslin safes.

useful. Most meat is But tough meat minced and cooked with herbs and condiments is very palatable. For flour, in making bread.

Very

The

cylindrical

safes

sold

But they must everywhere. be re-covered with voy Jine

muslin.

One

Two

kitchen fork. iron spoons.

dusters.

Four dozen

One dozen each

own
duster,

to

be marked

with red or blue square or circle. Each servant will then know
his

and

which

duster for which use.

Small

spirit-stove.

Very

useful in rain

when no

128

Appendix
hut
is

near, or at night during

I

illness.

Methylated

spirit.

Four
tin
-

-pint tins corked,

and
over

caps neck.

well soldered

Four rivetted buckets.

Two
One

sizes,

to nest in pairs.

painted blue for washing up crockery in. Natives may borrow this one only to fetch their water-supply in.
Six meat hooks. One cross-cut saw.

One One

rip-saw.
saw-file.
files.

Two
One One One One
cutter).

large screwdriver. small screwdriver. pair pincers. pair pliers (and wire-

One screw-wrench. One strong heavy hammer. One stone chisel.

One One
loo
lb.

Very

useful for cutting open

packing-cases.

small axe. spring balance to weigh

Four strong padlocks. Four hasps. Four pair hinges.

sailor's palm. Carpet and packing-needles. Strong thread and wax.

Keys

to

be tied on.
to
fit

Screws
with them.

to be

packed

One One

pair strong scissors for

for

general use.

One pair long scissors cutting hair. One pair lamp-scissors.

Natives cut wicks badly with ordinary scissors.

with

Two
swivels.

strong

knives

Three gimlets. Three bradawls.

Two

trowels.

for

For digging holes for rough tents, etc.

intends
to

poles,
If

traveller

build

the a

Scientific

Instruments
temporary house,
take
a 4
-

it

is

well to

inch

Archimedian

screwdrill.

Screws, nails, tintacks. One native hoe.

Six native axes.

Two

native billhooks.

One dozen
knives. Collars

long

butchers'

Buy in Zanzibar. For clearing ground for tent. For cutting timber for temporary house. For cutting timber for temporary house, and for cutting firewood. For cutting grass for thatching.

and chains.

If

dogs are taken.

Aneroid. Telescope.

Thermometer.
Pocket compass. Tape-measure.

With
and

half face luminous. Thirty feet or more.

Drawing
appliances.
'

instruments

Book, Hints to Travellers,' Royal Geographical Society.

Also any instruments in this which the traveller knows how to use. The Royal Geographical Society teach intending travellers the use of instru-

ments.
Writing-case.

Well

fitted.

A writing-board
is

or 'knee-table'

useful.

Almanack.
Diary. Letter-weigher.

Extra ink. waterproof Strong

opes.

envel-

Pack with oil for lamps. For sending mails to coast.

For
parcels
coast.

American

cloth, 6 yards.

wrapping
in

for

mails and transport to

Toilet paper.

Two

whistles.
for

Two
each key.

notes.

One

for calling

headman.
Small label
Straps
2 large, 2 small.

One

for servant.

Large

rat-traps.

Pack away, or natives will borrow to use as belts. For small animals. Other
traps
if

desired.

330
4
oz.

Appendix
For troublesome carnivora.
For headmen.

Hydrochlorate of strychnine,

Four small cheap cartridge

bags.

Two

and ammunition, with and belts.

small cheap revolvers cases

For messengers. No one messenger with a revolver and a native with a revolver never hits what he aims at. Revolvers ensure
will attack a
:

safety without bloodshed.

Fine
yards.

strong

rope,

doz.

Thick twine. Fine string.

Wash

leather.

For polishing instruments,

etc.

Sapolio or soap. Huswif.'

'

Monkey Brand

For cleaning metal.

Containing needles, pins, safety-pins, buttons, thread, cotton, tape and plenty of
:

Paper

fasteners.

India-rubber bands.

webbing, etc. Loose papers are a great trouble on a journey.

Gum.
Hand-mirrors.

One

bottle.

Glue

is

useless

in the tropics.

Bucket with

seat.

few useful for barter, and case mirror in dressing-case breaks. Painted red. This will prevent its being used for other purposes.
in

Bed-pan.

Chamber, granite ware.

in

Pack the above three articles one load with lamos and

oil.

Reeded
by 18
in.

air-cushion, 28

in.

India-rubber water-bottle.

In fevers makes a soft mattress for body. But needs two blankets at least over it for comfort and ventilation. With hot water to feet or stomach in dysentery. With cold water as a pillQw in fever.

Two

invalid cups. Night-light shade.

'

The Luncheon Basket

One pair of blue- glass spectacles, wire-gauze sides.
Guns and ammunition
men.
Barter articles for journey.
for

Necessary

after fever,

when

the eyes cannot bear the glare of the sun. Best obtained in Zanzibar.

Mr. Muxworthy of Messrs. Bonstead, Ridley and Co., Zanzibar, obtained everything I owe him of this sort for me. many a debt of gratitude for his never-failing kindness and
courtesy, and for able advice.

much

valu-

Medicine

chest.

rate pamphlet.
'

Will be described in sepaSee Preface.

Luncheon
:

basket.'

Con-

taining

One box of matches. One teapot, granite ware. One strainer to hang on
spout.

One One One One

ware.

tea-cosy (small). small coffee-pot. milk-jug, granite ware. granite slop - basin,
(for soup).

Made of strong basketwork, covered outside with waterOne half proof material. divided in compartments up to top of basket the other half divided halfway up, and the upper portion of this half filled by a tray similarly divided.
;

The
to

lid with straps and bands hold knives, forks, spoons

and

plates.

One china-basin One china-mug.

granite-ware egg-cups. small tumblers in wickerwork.

Two Two Two

One One

china-plates.

wickerwork

covered

bottle for salt.

All bottles should fit easily, but not too loosely into their

wickerwork

covered
solid

compartments.

bottle for mustard.

One pepper castor with and perforated caps.

Game
fork.

carving

knife

and

All knives handles.

with

'

lockfast
is

Two Two
One

large knives. small knives.

steel for

Any enamelled ware

in-

sharpening.

Two

lar":e forks.

conveniently light and unstable for general use; and enamelled cups and basins are very unin-

Appendix
Two Two Two
One
small forks. table-spoons. dessert-spoons. Four tea-spoons. Two egg-spoons.
salt-spoon.
viting for a sick or tired man It is best, to drink from. therefore, to have china-mugs and plates, and granite ware only to fall back upon when these are broken. Pack elsewhere one or two
plates,

spare china-mugs, basins and two or three glasses to

fit wickerwork case?, one or two bottles, and a granite ware mug, and two plates.

One

corkscrew.
dusters.

Three

Two
One
bottle,

wickerwork

covered

bottles for fluids.

wickerwork - covered wide - mouthed, for

butter.

wickerwork - covered bottle, for condensed milk. One wickerwork - covered bottle, for jam or marmalade.

One

If room can be found, a flat, one-pint kettle would be handy kept in the luncheon-basket. who carries The porter luncheon - basket must be a quick man, and have no other load this will enable him to arrive in camp as soon as, or before his master.
;

One
sugar.

granite-ware bottle for

One
tea.

small

tin

canister for

One metal or eathenvvare case for bread or biscuits. Two or three small canisters for extra goods. One cardboard box with four divisions to hold four
eggs.

The top must fasten on securely. The traveller should take a

small cookery-book with him, and learn how to cook a few Espeuseful dishes himself. cially let him learn as many ways as he can of cooking eggs, an article of food always plentiful in Africa. The native servant will always test the eggs first in a basin of water to see if they lie quietly at the bottom, and in this way the
traveller

One

sardine opener.

Spare corks.

can

iisjcally

depend on

being well supplied with fairly

good eggs.

Boxes for Stores

.)0.

STORES FOR DAILY USE.

Boxes of wood or strong wickerwork, containing the following stores for daily use Sauce, own bottle. Custard-powder, own tin. Brandy, own flask. Potted meat, own tin.
:

Boxes 34
10
in.

in.

by 13

in.

by
will

inside

measurement

Marmalade, own Jam, own tin.

Liebig,

tin.

own

pot.

Mixed herbs, own bottle. Soap (4 lb.), light wooden

box.

Soup
bottle.

(2 tins),

own

tin.

Sugar (moist, 4 Sugar

bottle.

lb.),

granite
granite

(castor,

lb.),

Raspberry
botUe.

vinegar,

own

Montserrat lime-juice,
bottle.

own

hold one load of supplies. If made of wood, the boxes should fasten by a hasp and padlock but the hasp-fittings must be continued as an iron or brass band half round box to prevent their being torn off. The padlocks should fasten with a spring, only requiring a key to open them. The bottom of the wooden boxes, and for an inch or two up the side, should be covered with tin or light copper sheeting, on account of the danger of white ants. Basket-work boxes should be covered with strong waterproofing, which white ants rarely touch. Really strong baskets are better but more expensive than boxes. Lime-juice and raspberryvinegar will disguise the taste of dirty and almost undrink;

able water.

American

beef

marrow
bacon-tin, and warm of fire then pour loose melted fat into a bottle, and replace the bacon in its own tin. It will not now leak and damage the other stores. Bacon is useful for occasional use to replace butter. African

(Libl)y's), glass bottle.

Tapioca, granite bottle. Bacon, own tin.

Open

in

front

meat has no fat, which an Englishman needs in moderaButter (Danish, 2

tins.
tins),

own

tion even in the tropics. All glass bottles should be

sewn up

in

corrugated paper,

34 oo
Biscuits (8
lb.), in

Appendix
own
(^
tins.
lb.),

Chocolat

IMenier

granite bottle. CotTee {\ lb.), tin bottle. Tea {\ lb.), granite bottle.

leaving the mouth alone exposed, and have screw-caps or solid india-rubber corks. Any chemist will supply them.

Curry-powder, own bottle. Essence of lemon, own

bottle.

Woolf and Co., 119, New Bond Street, W., supply glass,
tin,

and granite-ware
tin

bottles.

Arrowroot

(i lb.), tin bottle.

Baking-powder own bottle.

(Dakin's),

Knife-powder, i small tin. Rangoon oil, screw-cap tin. Condensed milk (2 tins),

own

tins.

Oatmeal
bottle.

(2

lb.),

granite
(i lb.),
tin

Symington's pea-flour
tin bottle.

White
bottle.

pepper
lb.),

(i

lb.),

should have corks, strengthened by discs of tin above and below. Their wide - mouth, screw - capped glass bottles should be sewn up in corrugated paper, with only the mouth exposed. The supplies necessary for the daily-store boxes should be taken out to Africa in their own tins, etc., packed in an ordinary packing-case and the special bottles which have been taken
bottles
;

The

granite bottle. Mustard, own small bottle. Cardboard egg -box, with divisions for two dozen eggs. Inside light wooden box.
Salt (2

out empty filled march begins.

just before the

RESERVE STORES.
In cases weighing 60 lb. to 62 lb. when packed. Any shape. Biscuits (plain), 90 lb. Biscuits (sweet), 6 lb. Chocolat Menier, or chocolate and milk, or cocoa, or

The lids should be screwed on only, so that they can be easily opened and reclosed.
As far as possible a small quantity of everything should be in each box, so that it need not be necessary to open many cases at once. Each article should be in its own solderedup tin, so that the cases need not be tin-lined. Useful for sick natives, as well as for the traveller. The cook should know how to bake bread. Any good native cook at the coast can.

cocoa and milk, or

12
lb.

all

four,

Arrowroot, 6

lb.

Baking
12 bottles.

powder

(Dakin's),

Groceries
Australian meat, 6 tins.
or

00.

other tinned

For use on occasions when no meat can be obtained. Useful during convalescence. Even Australian tinned meat is a luxury after some months of forest meat. Marrow and lard are needed

marrow beef American (Libby's), six 2-lb. tins.

for

cooking with.

Bread
fails.

fried

in

marrow
if

will

take the place

of butter

that

Lard, twelve i-lb. tins. Coffee (ground and roasted), twelve I -lb. tins.

Coffee-berries can be purbut they chased at Zanzibar are not cheap, and it is a
;

trouble to roast coffee on a march.

and

grind

Curry
bottles.

powder,

six

half-

Essence of lemon,
bottles.

six 2-oz.

Corn-flour, 6

lb.

Knife-powder, 2 tins. Milk (sweetened and sweetened), 24 tins.

un-

Milk can occasionally be obbut it is tained on the march expensive, and does not keep. It is safest to boil it as soon as bought. Unsweetened tinned milk will only keep fresh about thirty-six hours in the tropics.
;

Night-lights
boxes.

(10 -hour),
2-lb. tins.

Oatmeal, twelve

More
taste.

or less

according to
pea-flour

Symington's pea-fiour, 6

lb.

prepared

very

useful for
Salt,

making soup

cjuickly.

Pepper (white), 90 lb.

3 lb.

Excess can be bartered. Best packed in paper packets

of one
or

two pounds each.

tin.
It is

Each dozen pounds

up
in a

separate

soldered very

useful for barter.

Soap Soap

(toilet)

24 tablets.
lb.

(bar),

90

barter.

For washing clothes and for Can be wrapped in waterproof paper, and packed
in ordinary packing-cases.

33^
Sauce, 12 half-bottles.

Appendix
African

and
Soups,
I

tasteless.

meat often tough Sauce very ac-

ceptable.

dozen

tins.

Necessary during convalescence.

Sugar (brown), 70

lb.

For cooking and barter. Should be soldered up in tins

12 lb.

Sugar (castor or lump),

Tea, 10
lb.

of 10 lb. each. In 2-lb. tins. In i-lb. tins.

Fruits in syrup, 4 tins. Bacon, four 3-lb. tins. Butter (Danish), 18 tins.

Useful during convalescence.

Open
and put

tin.
it

Wash

butter well,

in glass bottle (in

luncheon
water.

Renew

basket) with some the water daily.

to taste.

Jam, marmalade, and potted

meats.

According

Tinned
rings.

sardines

and

her-

These
writing
-

fish,

wrapped

in clean

paper and very useful during

cence.

fried,

are convales-

Liebig, four 2-oz. pots.

For flavouring Symington's

Useful during conor after a long tiring march. It is a very useful stimulant, though not a
pea-flour.

valescence,

food.

Edward's dessicated soups.

Flour, six 28-lb. tins.

Very
learns
tins

useful
at

if

the traveller

how

to use

them.

Bought
are

Zanzibar.

Two

put
case,

wooden
load.

up in a light and make one

Washing

soda, 6 lb. Oil for guns and instruments.

tins.

Custard powder, 12 Brandy, 3 bottles.

Guns and ammunition.

The

traveller

can

easily

decide for himself, or consult some better guide than the author of this book.

Methods of Packing
PACKING.
Dress wickerwork baskets covered with dull canvas. Indian or other air-tight
cases.

Light
pensive.

very good,

but

ex-

Outside wooden
necessary.

cases un-

Cabin trunks.

for boxes which will need to be often opened but expensive. Will not keep clothes quite so dry or free from insects as Indian cases but keep them well, and two hours of tropical
; ;

Very good

sunshine

will

dry

however
ful.

damp.

They

anything, are

good, strong, cheap, and use-

Linen hampers, or square baskets.

strong

Need
pensive.

to

be
;

waterproofing

covered with good, but ex-

Small travelling-baths.
to

Useful

but rather a trouble

Valises.

on account basket case is necessary for the outside for protection on the voyage. This basket-case is cheap, and very carry useful afterwards to kitchen-pots in on the march. A great trouble a valise needs a clean floor to be packed and unpacked upon. This is out of the question on the
frecjuently,

undo

of the strap.

march.
better.

Cabin-trunks answer

Wooden

boxes.

Uirty clothes-bags.
'

Willesden

'

canvas

bags

3 ft. deep, 2 ft. diameter, with strap and padlock at mouth.

Described under 'stores for daily use.' One or two useful for dirty clothes, tent-pegs, etc. One or two useful for clothes, blankets, etc. and for fetching rice or grain from a distance.
;

Portmanteau.

Hand-bag.

A small one is a decided convenience. For writing-materials, account-book, keys, and other small articles which are wanted
for daily use.

22

338
As

Appendix
far as possible, all necessary supplies
;

should be scattered

through several boxes

cause the loss of
all

so that the loss of one box

salt,

may

never

the cartridges, or

or butter, as might

otherwise be the case.

tin of biscuits in each box of clothes will save the from having to wait for food, in case of any accident or delay to his luncheon basket on the march.

small

traveller

marked at the C7ids^ so that the and the box identified whilst it is being carried by the porter on the march.
All boxes should be plainly
visible,

mark may be

An
box.

invoice of contents should be fastened inside lid of every

of every box

There should also be a book with an invoice of the contents and package, and opposite each entry the name of

the porter

who

carries

it.

All wickerwork, tin, or leather cases should be packed together

in

one or two strong packing-cases,

for safety

on the voyage

out.

These lists are made out for one traveller on the supposition he will be away t.velve months, that he will often be able to obtain only meat, fowls, and eggs, and sometimes not even Two these, and that he will be ill for two months of the time. travellers would require very little more than one, and three not
that

much more.

With Thirty

Illustrations, price Js. bd. cloth.

NEW CHINA AND

OLD.

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS OE THIRTY YEARS.

IIV

THE
E.

VEN.

ARTHUR
ARCHDEACON

MOULE,

B.D.,

IN MID-CHIN'A.

CONTENTS.
I.

II.

III.

An Inland City. An Open Port.

The Chinese Empire. Causes Hangchow.

Shanghai.

of

its

Cohesion.

IV. Country Life.

V. The House of a Mandarin. VI. Buddhism and Taoism as they VII. Ancestral Worship. VIII. Superstitions. IX. Language and Literature. X. Christian Missions in China.

affect

Chinese

Life.

ILLUSTRATIONS.
Western Lake, Ningpo.
Shrines, Hangchow. JIuddhist Priests.

Mule

Travelling.

Lokan

Honorary

Portals.

Tablets to Senior \\'ranglcrs. Temple of Confucius. In the Rain.

Entrance to a Vamun. Buddhist Temples. Tsien-tang River. Pagoda of .Six Harmonies.

Pa, near

Temple

Stage,

Hangchow. Wingpo.

Opium-Smokers. A Gentleman's House.

Ccntlenian's Family.

The Ming Tombs. Rock Sculptures, Hangchow.

Ningpo River.

Pavilion on Lake. Street Theatricals. Grou)") on a Bridge. Tea Plantation. Ningpo, Canal.

Six sketches by a Christian Chinese

artist.

Recently Published.

JAMES HANNINGTON,
A
;

Eastern first Bishop of Equatorial Africa. History of his Life and Work. Thirty-third Thousajid. By E. C. Dawson, M.A. Price 3s. 6d. cloth boards, 2s. 6d.

THE LAST JOURNALS OF BISHOP HANNINGTON.

in

Palestine in 18S4,

Being Narratives of a Journey through and a Journey through j\Iasai-Land

Price
3s.

and U-Soga
told for

1885.

6d. cloth.

LION-HEARTED.
Boys and
Illustrations, 2s. 6d.

The
Girls.

Story of Bishop Hannington, By E. C. Dawson. With

Pilgrim

GEORGE MAXWELL GORDON,

the

Missionary of the Punjab. By Rev. A. Lewis. illustrations. Price 3s. 6d. cloth.

With

THOUGHTS ON THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. By Sixteenth Thozisaud. the Rev. H. C G. Moule, M.A.
Price
IS.

THOUGHTS ON CHRISTIAN SANCTITY.

the Rev.
'

By

H. C. Ci. Moule, M.A., Principal of Ridley Price is. Thirty-third Thotisand. Hall, Cambridge.
heartily

We

recommend

this little book.'

Record.

THOUGHTS ON UNION WITH

'

CHRIST.

By

the Rev. H. C. G. Moule, M.A., Principal of Ridley Price is. Hall, Cambridge. Tiventy-fifth Thousand.
It is

to

be commended

for its practical,

thoughtful teaching.'

Cliristian.

SECRET PRAYER.

the Rev. H. C. G. Moule, M.A., Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. Sixteenth Thousand. Price is. /j4

By

THE UPWARD

4^/^^

GAZE.

the Glory of the Lord.' Price teenth Thousand.

'Beholding asm a Glass By Agnes Giberne. Four-

is. cloth.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND
By the Rev. the Romans. St. Dunstan's, Canterbury.
'Just the
J.

LIFE.
G.

Readings from
of
is.

Hoare, M.A., Vicar

Price

Third Thousand.

book

to put into the

hands of

earjiest inquirers.' 0;-w//<7.

SEELEV AND

CO.,

LIMITED, ESSEX STREET, STRAND.

THE LIBRARY
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BOOK IS DLL ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW.

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