^ PRINCETON, N.J. ^ Purchased by the Hammill Missionary Fund. jD I vision Section V. L THE RISE OF OUR EAST AERICAX EMPIRE Volume II. UGANDA WITH CHAPTERS ON ADMINISTRATION— PAST AND FUTURE— AND SUGGESTIONS FOR DEALING WITH THE COUNTRY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/riseofoureastafr02luga_1 CAPTAIN \V. H. WILLIAMS, R.A. From a photograph by J. Thoinsou, -joa Grosvf nor Street, London. THE KISE OP OUR EAST AFRICAN EMPIRE EARLY EFEORTS IN NYASALAND AND UGANDA CAPTAIN F. D.- LUGARD, D.S.O. Hon. F.R.G.S. ; Diplom. F.R.S.G.S. WITH 130 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS UNDER THE PERSONAL SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE AUTHOR ALSO U SPECIALLY PREPARED MAPS IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. 11. WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON ^klDCCCXCIlI CHAP. PAGE XXIL SKETCH OF EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA, AND POSITION OF AFFAIRS ON ARRIVAL THERE, 1 XXIII. PRELIMINARY WORK IN UGANDA, .... 33 XXIV. DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA, ..... 61 XXV. DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA {conhnuecl) , 91 XXVI. WAR AGAINST MOHAMMEDANS, AND TOUR IN BUDDU, . 117 XXVII. BUDDU TO SALT LAKE, ..... 149 XXVIII. SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl'S, ..... 183 XXIX. KAVALLI'S TO FORT LORNE, ..... 216 XXX. FORT LORNE TO FORT GRANT, . . . , 246 XXXI. FORT GRANT TO KAMPALA, ..... 276 XXXII. UGANDA UNDER CAPTAIN WILLIAMS SITUATION AT END OF 1891, AND UP TO EVE OF THE AVAR, 297 XXXIII. THE FIGHTING IN UGANDA, ..... 325 XXXIV. SITUATION IN UGANDA DURING THE WAR, 360 XXXV. EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR, 388 XXXVI. PEACE CONCLUDED WITH THE WA-FRANSA, 418 XXXVII. SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY, .... 447 XXXVIII. MOHAMMEDANS REPATRIATED — - PEACE THROUGHOUT UGANDA, ....... 473 VI CONTENTS. XXXIX. CLOSE OF MY ADMINISTRATION IN UGANDA MARCH TO KIKUYU, ....... 504 XL. KIKUYU TO ENGLAND THE " UGANDA QUESTION," . 534 XLL RETENTION OF UGANDA, . . . . .563 XLIL ORIGIN OF THE " BRITISH SPHERE," AND METHODS OF DEALING WITH IT, . . . . . 595 XLIII. ADMINISTRATION PAST AND FUTURE, . . . 634 APPENDIX. APP. II. LETTER FROM MGR. HIRTH TO CAPTAIN WILLI AINLS, DATED 14th JULY 1891, ..... 6 60 III. ORDERS FOR ADMINISTRATION OF WITU, . 663 IV. NOTES ON THE SMALL PHYSICAL MAPS, . . . 665 INDEX, 669 ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SECOND VOLUME. FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. CAPTAIN W. H. WILLIAMS, R.A., IXTRODUCTION TO MWANGA, . - . PRESEXTATION OF THE TREATY, WAR IMMINENT AT MENGO, BEATING THE ROYAL WAR-DRUMS, THE UGANDA ARMY ON THE MARCH, . THE BATTLE AGAINST THE MOHAMMEDANS, THE FIGHT AGAINST DUKALA AT THE MOKIA RIVER, PARADE OF SUDANESE REFUGEES AT KAVALLI, SHOOTING A TOUGH OLD TUSKER, CROSSING THE MPANGA RIVER, . RECROSSING THE MPANGA RIVER, WILLIAMS PATROLLING MENGO, THE SUDANESE CHARGE UNDER WILLIAMS, INSIDE THE FORT DURING THE FIGHT, THE WA-FRANSA OUSTED FROM THE ISLAND, KAMPALA AFTER THE WAR, . . " SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI," THE RETURN OF THE KING, THE NAMASOLE'S VISIT, THE MOHAMMEDANS GIVE UP THEIR KING, GOOD-BYE TO KAMPALA, .- CAMP ON MAU, .... VIEWS OP SCENERY ON MAU, . . AFRICAN SCENERY, Frontispiece To face page 24 34 80 110 120 132 184 218 222 246 260 308 344 346 354 398 412 418 470 494 522 560 592 608 vni ILLUSTRATIONS. JLLUSTEATIOXS IX THE TEXT. PAGE MWAXGA, KABAKA (KIXG) OF UGANDA, .... 24 OUR CAMP OX KAMPALA, ...... 28 F. DE WIXTOX, . . . . . . . .37 A XIGHT ATTACK EXPECTED, . . . . . .43 W. GRAXT, ........ 63 COXFEREXCE WITH MWAXGA BY XIGHT, .... 79 A UGANDA RIVER-SWAMP, . . . . . .91 TYPES OF KAMPALA SOLDIERS, ..... 106 FACSIMILE OF A LETTER FROM EMIN, . . . .122 ISLAM CAMP, WITH SUDAXESE PARTY, . . . . .130 A VIEW OF LAKE VICTORIA, . . . . . .145 A SCARE OF THE XATIVES AT KICHWAMBA, . . . .164 RUWEXZORI BY SUXSET, ...... 181 THE CAMP BY XIGHT AT RUWEXZORI, . . . . .189 ATTACKED OX THE SEMLIKI, . . . ... . 196 EMIX PASHA, ........ 207 A STEEP CLIMB, ....... 216 IRETI PUT TO FLIGHT, ....... 229 PASSAGE OF THE MUXOBO RIVER, ..... 241 AX AFRICAX SHAURI, ....... 269 A HUXGRY HYEXA, . . . . . . .275 " SEDJAXKURU " (tHE GIAXT) OX GUARD, .... 279 mwaxga's flag, . . . . . . .299 "ultima causa belli," ...... 329 the frexch missiox after the war, .... 345 the wa-fraxsa pillage mwaml's, ..... 353 bagge escapes from sess^ islaxds, .... 373 MALIA, ......... 376 WILLIAMS LAXDIXG AT SESSJ^, ..... 394 DE WIXTON's grave, ....... 445 mwaxga's guitar, ....... 446 THE FREXCH MISSIOX (FORT). (SKETCHED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE war), ........ THE MEETIXG OF THE RIVAL SULTAXS, .... 499 THE ROYAL DRUM OF UGAXDA, ..... 509 ILLUSTRATIONS. IX A CAMr IN USOGA, . . . . . . . 525 A WELL-MERITED CASTIGATION, . . . . . 527 DEATH OF A LIONESS, ....... 530 THE MID-DAY HALT, ....... 542 ABANDONED, ........ 544 WATERFALL AND FOREST SCENERY ON MAU, .... 563 TYPE OF NATIVE, ....... 594 A SOMALI, ........ 633 COLOURED MAPS. THE ENVIRONS OF MENGO, ...... 4 UGANDA AND NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES (KITARA), LARGELY BASED UPON THE EXPLORATIONS OF CAPTAIN F. D. LUGARD, . . 118 MEAN ANNUAL TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL, . . . 665 GEOLOGICAL AND FORESTS, ...... 666 TRIBAL AND COMMERCIAL, ...... 667 MAPS IN TEXT. MAP ILLUSTRATING THE NEW TERRITORIAL DIVISION OF UGANDA, . 554 FRENCH AND BELGIAN STATIONS TOWARDS THE NILE VALLEY ; AND THE ROUTE OF VAN KERCKHOVEN's EXPEDITION, . . 569 TloWa fXiu ovv eycoy' eAaxToC/xai . . . on (fivcrei -Kuaiv dvOpwirois virdp^ft tSov /nev \oi5opLwu Kal twu KaTTryopLwu aKovnv ijBeccs, to7s S' €Traivov(Tiv avrovs ^%0e(r0ai . . . kolv fxev . . . evXa^ovfxeuos tovto fxr} Xeyoo to. ■weirpa-yix^va €/j.avTcv, ovic ex^'" airoKvcraaQai ra KurrjyoprjiiLeva So^co . . . iav 5' €(p'' a Kal Tre-rrolrjica Kal ivewoXiTevjxai ^aS'i^cCj TroAAa/cts Ae-yetj/ auajKaa- 9r]aofj.aL Trepl e/xavrov. — DemostHEXES, irepi arecpavov, ,3'. I am at a disadvantage in many ways. It is human nature that we all listen gladly when any one is abused or accused, but are impatient of any one praising himself. If to avoid this I refrain from speaking of what I have done, I shall seem to be unable to rebut the accusations ; but if I enter upon an account of my actions and policy, I shall be compelled to speak repeatedly about myself. — Demosthenes, Be Corona. THE EISE OF OUK EAST AFRICAN EMPIEE. CHAPTEE XXIL SKETCH OF EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA, AND POSITION OF AFFAIRS ON ARRIVAL THERE. Discovery of Uganda by Speke and Grant — Gordon's dealings with Uganda —English missions arrive — White Fathers — Mtesa — Character — Death — Mwanga — Religious persecutions^ — Mwanga deposed — Mohammedans in power — Christians victorious — ISIwanga restored — Religious feuds — Peters' arrival — Jackson's arrival — Departure — State of affairs — My instructions — Personal views — I arrive at Mengo — King's haraza — Promulgate treaty — Gedge's position in Uganda — Leaves for south of the lake — Stuhlmann — War imminent. It was in 1858 that the travellers Burton and Speke, starting from Zanzibar, first made Europe acquainted with the existence of that vast inland sea, the Victoria Lake, of which Kebmann and Ernhardt had already heard native reports. Four years later Speke and Grant, passing round the western shore, reached Uganda ; and they found here, if I may employ the paradox, a singular, barbaric civilisation. Combined with the most barbarous usages and the grossest super- stition were many of those advances in the scale of VOL. II. A 2 EARLY HISTOKY OF UGANDA. humanity which we are wont to accept as indications of civihsation. There was an ap23eal to law, and cases were decided after a formal hearing. The administra- tion was vested in the king, — an absolute despot, — and from him downwards there existed a regular chain of delegated power and control. Well-made roads, kept constantly in repair, intersected the country in all directions. Rough bridges were constructed across river swamps. An army was maintained, and also a fleet of canoes on the waters of the lake. The arts of building, smith-work, &c., were very far in advance of anything to be found between Uganda and the coast. The ideas of decency, the use of clothing, and the planting of trees, were indications of long years of development, of which the intricate customs and etiquettes surrounding the Court were an additional proof Speke traces the earliest developments of this civili- sation to Unyoro and its shepherd kings, descendants of a nomadic, pastoral race — the Wahuma — whom he supposes to be an offshoot from the Abyssinians or Gallas. Uganda and the countries lying along the lake shore, being the richest province of this Wahuma empire — called Kitara — had to bring large quantities of produce to Unyoro for the king's use, and their in- habitants were looked on as slaves. The legend relates that a hunter named Uganda headed a revolt, and was proclaimed king under the name of Kimera.^ Mtesa was the seventh of the dynasty, according to Speke, which shows it to be of some little antiquity.- Speke was enthusiastic about the fertility of Uganda, and the development of its people as compared with the savage tribes of Africa. The next European to 1 Speke's Journal, p. 252. Others make Kintu the founder. '•^ Wilson says 32d of dynasty. Uganda, and the Egyptian Sudan, by Wilson and Felkin, vol. i. p. 197. ENGLISH MISSIONS ARRIYE. 3 visit the country was Colonel Chaille Long, who was sent by Gordon in the summer of 1874. Stanley fol- lowed in 1875, and simultaneously Linant arrived in the country.^ In 1876 Gordon sent Emin with a party of soldiers to Mtesa's capital. They were for some time quartered there, and Gordon had views of annexing Uganda to the Egyptian Sudan. In August, however, he proposed a treaty to Mtesa recognising his indepen- dence,^ and in September he finally closed all relations with Uganda and withdrew his troops.'^ Stanley was even louder in his praises of Uganda than Speke had been, and described it as the " Pearl of Africa." In consequence of his appeal on behalf of the people, a fund was started, and missionaries were despatched to Uganda. These arrived in June 1877, travelling by the same route as Speke — through what is now German territory — to the south of the lake. Her Majesty's Government distinctly authorised the despatch of this mission, and a letter to Mtesa from the Minister for Foreign Affairs was given to the party. The letter stated that the missionaries were not agents of the Government, but had its friendly support. Shortly afterwards a second batch started, and entered Uganda from the north, having travelled from Egypt via the Nile ; they also had an official letter from the Foreign Office. Later the Consul at Zanzibar wrote to Mtesa (November 1879), to confirm the fact that these letters — noting especially Lord Salisbury's of May 1878 — emanated from the Government. Mtesa then sent envoys to the Queen, who received them in private audience. They returned with presents from England, being escorted by the missionaries both going and returning. It was a somewhat hazardous proceeding to establish a mission so far from all support in the very heart of 1 Gordon in Central Africa, p. 106. 2 i^id., p. 183, ^ Ibid., p. 192. 4 EAELY HISTORY OF UGAXDA. Africa ; and the missionaries state ^ that these letters from Government, though doubtless not written with any such intention, identified them in the eyes of Mtesa with the prestige of the British, and they were looked ujjon as having been sent by Government. The Consul at Zanzibar (Sir John Kirk), however, wrote pointing out the true significance of the letters, and repudiating any such interpretation. But these facts, which are emphasised by Mr Ashe,^ show that great encouragement was afforded by the Government at the initiation of the mission, which those who maintain that the Government is in no way responsible for the lives of the missionaries should not lose sio-ht of Some two years later — February 1879 — the French (R. Catholic) Algerian Mission despatched a party of "White Fathers" to begin mission-work in Uganda. The relioious differences between these two conflict- ing creeds, which marked the very inauguration of the B. Catholic mission,'^ much puzzled and confused Mtesa, since both alike called themselves " Christians." The Arabs from the coast had already settled in Uganda, and brought with them the religion of Islam. In the time of Speke they had only one small settle- ment in the south of Buddu. Mtesa showed o-reat toleration to all creeds, thouMi at one time he had leaned to Mohammedanism, and had ordered all Uganda to embrace that creed. Shortly after, however, as the followers of Islam refused to eat the kino-'s meat because it was not killed in the orthodox way according to the Koran, he ordered the massacre of all Mohammedans, and thus dealt a very severe blow to the progress of that creed. Mtesa was a cruel tyrant, and during his reign the land ran with blood ; but though instant execution was the pun- 1 Two Kings of Uganda, Aslie, p. 118 et seq. - Ibid., p. 119. 3 Mackay's Letters. EELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS. 5 ishment meted out for the most trivial offences, and holocausts of victims were slaughtered upon occasion, he does not appear to have delighted in massacre from mere wanton pleasure in cruelty. Mtesa died in the autumn of 1884, and Mwanga, then about eighteen years old, succeeded him — being selected from among Mtesa's sons on account of his j^ersonal likeness to the late king, since in Uganda paternity is often difficult to prove. At this time the three religions had made great progress, and their disintegrating influences on the old customs began to be more and more apparent. This was especially the case with regard to the Chris- tians, who no longer regarded the king as divine, nor his acts, however gross or cruel, as having a divine sanction. They owned a Higher allegiance, though they remained obedient subjects, and distinguished themselves by bravery in war. Such an attitude was, of course, intolerable to a cruel despot like Mwanga, Avho revelled in the exercise of the grossest cruelties and in the o-pen practice of obscene orgies. Moreover, the Arabs, who were op230sed to the Europeans not only on religious grounds but also as possible rivals in trade, and because of their known antipathy to the slave-trade, jDoisoned the king's ears against the Christians and their teachers. There was still a further reason for suspicion and fear of the white men. Previous to this, the aggression of Egypt under Gordon in the Sudan had not been limited (as I have shown) to the Equatorial Province. The Egyj^tian flag had been hoisted at Mruli and Fauvera in Unyoro, only just beyond the borders of Uganda, and Gordon's envoys — Colonel Long and Emin — and his troops had pene- trated to Mtesa's capital.^ The Arabs also told of the doings of the Belgians on the Congo. At a later period reports reached Mwanga of German annexations in 1 Gordon in Africa, p. 182. 6 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. Usagara on the East Coast. Last, and most disturb- ing of all, was the news of Mr Thomson's arrival near Usoga in the East — the route from the coast by which native tradition said that the conquerors of Uganda would come.^ Mwanga had succeeded his father in November 1884. Early in 1885 he determined to stamj^ out those dan- gerous religions, Mohammedan and Christian alike, which were disintegrating his country. The mission- aries, Mackay and Ashe, were seized, and their followers persecuted. But the religion S23read the more. A plot to depose Mwanga was discovered and crushed. With varying fortunes — sometimes treated leniently, some- times the victims of violent persecution — the mission- aries held their own till the autumn of 1885. Then came news of Bishop Hannington's approach. Mackay and Ashe assured the king in the strongest terms that he had no intention of entering Usoga, or of coming by that road which w^as vetoed by the tradition of Uganda ; but that his intention was to come only as far as the eastern shores of the lake, and thence to cross to Uganda by water. A boat was sent to take him from Kavirondo to the south of the lake, that he might arrive by the usual route. But the bishop had changed his plans, and though Mackay had assured the king he would not enter Usoga, news was sud- denly received that he was at Luba's on the Nile, on the very threshold of Uganda. A more inoj^por- tune moment could not have been selected, both on account of the persecution then taking place in the country, and on account of the disturbing news from various quarters concerning the aggression of the Europeans, to Avhich I have alluded. Mwanga ordered him to be killed, and he and all his men were mur- dered in cold blood, October 1885. 1 Vide Life of Mackay, pp. 262, 413. RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS. 7 Dastardly as this murder was, it must be admitted that Mwanga looked on Hannington's arrival as the precursor of war ; and it was most unfortunate that the bishop should have adopted the route via Usoga. After this the position of the Europeans was very precarious, but not till the following May (1886) did the storm burst. Mwanga then threw aside all re- straint, and butchered the Christian converts whole- sale. On one occasion as many as thirty -two were burnt on one pyre ; but in spite of martyrdom by torture and burning, the religion grew, and converts came to be baptised, though they knew that the pro- fession of the Christian faith might cost them their lives on the morrow. Those who fell victims to the king's bloodthirstiness died with the praises of God on their lips, and met their death fearlessly. The heroism inspired by religion in the early history of our own Church was repeated here in the heart of Africa, and the story caused a strong feeling of admiration and sym- pathy among those who heard it in England. Men asked what kind of people were these who would thus brave death for their belief, and ceased to scofP at the reality of conversions which could stand so terrible a test. The missionaries themselves were in a most pre- carious position, and at one time Mackay's death was even planned by the king. There were at this time eight Europeans in Uganda, for in June Junker arrived, and was allowed to proceed on his way. Two of the French Fathers accompanied him. In August, Mackay and Ashe determined to leave the country, but the king would only permit the latter to go, and retained Mackay. For a year this brave mis- sionary was alone in Uganda, during which time a desultory persecution and massacre of Christians was continued. In July of the following year (1887) Mackay left, and went to the south of the lake. He 8 EARLY HISTORY OF UGAXDA. was immediatelY succeeded by the Rev. E. C. Gordon, who was shortly afterwards jomed bv the Rev. R. H. Walker. In the folio wmg year (1888), after another long spell of desultory persecution, the fiend in Mwanga again prompted him to a master-stroke of butchery. He assembled the whole of the Christian and Moham- medan converts on some 23retence, and planned to take them across to an island in the lake, and there leave them to perish. The plot leaked out : the would-be victims refused to obey the command, and marched on the caj)ital. Mwanga fled, and was allowed to escape unhurt (Sept. 1888). He was deserted by all his following excejDt the occupants of his own canoe — some thirty persons. He took refuge on an island at the south of the lake. Meanwhile his brother Kiwewa was made king, and the Christians, being the more numerous, assumed most of the offices, — the Mohammedans had the rest. The latter were jealous of the Christians, and, concealing their arms, suddenly took their rivals unawares, and treacherously murdered many of the chiefs. The Christians, j^^nic-stricken, fled the country, and took refuge in Ankoli (Oct. 1888). Again the lives of the Europeans — six in num- ber— were in great danger ; but, after a period of sus- pense, they were jolaced in a boat (which shortly after- wards capsized) on the lake, and were thus expelled the country and their goods looted. The Arabs were now masters of the situation, and tried to make Kiwewa conform to the Islam creed. He resented this, and killed two of the Mohammedan chiefs with his own hand ; but failing to kill the Katikiro (chief minister), he lost courage and fled. Karema, another brother, was now made king, and the Mohammedans were suj)reme,^ — while Kiwewa retreated to Singo and South Unyoro, and died shortly after. MWANGA RESTORED. 9 MeaiiAvhile the exiled Europeans had found their way to the south of the lake. Mwanga was practically a prisoner in the hands of an Arab in the district of Magu, but later on escaped to Bukumbi, the French mission-station at the south of the lake. The Christians had collected in Ankoli, where they were welcomed and most hospitably treated by the king, Ntali. In May 1889 they sent messages to Mwanga offering to reinstate him on the throne under certain conditions. These he accepted, and was brought up by Mr Stokes (a trader, and formerly a mission-agent) in his boat. The heathen peasantry had been so cruelly treated by the Mohammedan party that those on the great island of Sesse declared for Mwanga, who thus obtained control of all the canoes on the lake. The Christians, however, were defeated, and some again fled to Ankoli ; others joined Mwanga on the island of Bulingugwe, close to the shore of the lake opposite the capital. Stokes went south to procure arms and ammunition. Mwanga, hearing that a caravan of the British Compan}^ had arrived, under Mr Jackson, in Kavirondo on the east of the lake, wrote letters imploring his aid (June 1889) ; but Mr Jackson did not receive them till his arrival there in November. Already, even in these straits, the two parties of Christians could not ai^oid quarrelling, and they sent messages asking the Europeans to join them and keep the peace between them. Messrs Gordon and Walker went at once, and, with Stokes and Pere Lourdel, joined the king in the islands (Sept. 1889). The main body of the Christians was, however, in Ankoli. They now again advanced by land, and overcame all opposition till they met the Mohammedan force near the capital. The battle was indecisive, and both sides temporarily retired. The Christians, according to Mr Gordon,^ 1 Letter to Consul, Oct. 25th, 1889. 10 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. had barelv 2000 o'uns (Mackav says 1000), but as the peasantry were on their side, they had a very great mass of spearmen. The Mohammedans had many more guns, perhaps double the number jDOSsessed by the Christians, but fewer spearmen. Another battle was fought on Oct. 4th, 1889, and the Christians were completely victorious. By all accounts they showed very great gallantry, and won against heavy odds. They followed up their victory, drove the Moham- medans out of the capital, and pursued them for two days. Most of the Arabs were killed, and Karema the king and his party fled to the borders of Unyoro, and established themselves there. Mackav savs that Karema was offered an asylum in Toru.^ The two Christian factions divided the country and all the offices of the State between them, entu-ely excluding the heathen chiefs. Mwano'a was now restored amid acclamations, and the whole countr}" declared for him. The Euroj^eans returned, and settled again at the capital. Mr AYalker- thus sums up the position at this time : — " There were three separate interests among the Europeans : (1) the English missionaries, who were anxious to see the British power in the country, so as to ensure peace, and to put an end to the ceaseless war and carnage ; (2) the French Fathers, as repre- sented by Pere Lourdel, who had an exclusiye influence with the king, and discouraged the adyent of all Europeans, preferring rather that arms should be imported for the natiyes; (3) Mr Stokes, who wished to obtain a paramount influence, so as to ofifer terms to any Europeans who came to Uganda. He repre- sented himself as the Consul's agent ; promised British assist- ance; got 120-130 fmsilalis^ of iyory (£2400), and expected 1000 more frasilalis (£20,000) for the assistance he had giyen. The Mohammedans were for the moment oyerpowered, but neither was their strength nor their spirit broken." 1 Mackay, letter of Jan. 1st, 1890. Letter of Oct. 21st, 1889. 2 Xfrasilah equals 35 lb. peters' aruival. 11 The two Christian factions became daily more bitter and more jealous of each other, and were called the Wa-Ingleza and Wa-Fransa, or English and French. Mwanga espoused the " French " side, and was mainly guided by Pere Lourdel. He himself was, however, anxious for Europeans to come and live in Uganda, thinking that they would help him if attacked, and that their prestige would keep him on his throne. In November the Mohammedans again defeated the Christians, who fled to the islands, but in the follow- ing February they were in turn attacked and driven out.i Very shortly after this, at the end of February, Dr Carl Peters arrived in Uganda via Usoga. He was in command of the German " Emin Pelief Expedition," but hearing, in Usoga, that Emin was already rescued, he came to Uganda, at the request of Mwanga and Pere Lourdel. Mr Jackson, with the Company's Expedition, had arrived at Kavirondo, on the east coast of the lake, on Nov. 7th, 1889. He had left the coast before Dr Peters, and, of course, long before Mr Stanley's return. Indeed the main object of his expedition had been to try and get news of Stanley. His instructions were to make treaties with the native chiefs on behalf of the Company, and to endeavour to procure as much ivory as possible to pay the expenses of his cara- van. He had, moreover, been told that he was not to go to Uganda. He had some 500 men, armed with Sniders ; but (as he says in his report) there was absolutely no disci23line in his caravan. He found, on his arrival, the letters from Mwanga, dated June 7th, which have already been alluded to, and which were written at the time when the Mohamme- dans held the capital, and the Christians were fugi- tives in Ankoli, but had possession of the islands ^ Notes on Uganda, Roman Catholic Union, p. 14. 12 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. and canoes. He heard verbal news, however, of a later date, giving the account of the victory of Oct. 4tli, which had made the Christians supreme for the moment, though, as we have seen, thev were again defeated and ousted in November — at the very time of his arrival in Kavirondo. He repHed to the letters (Nov. 8th, 1889), specifying his instructions, and quoting the strength of his expe- dition. He added, however, that he would come if help was urgently needed, if the missionaries would guarantee that all expenses would be defrayed, and if the king would agree to place his country under the protection of the Company. He said that he would wait one month for a reply, and that he did not come at once because he had heard that since the letters were written the Christians had ousted the Moham- medans, and the missionaries were safe. In reply, Mr Jackson on Dec. 6th received a letter (dated Nov. 25th) imploring him to come, and saying that the Christians had suffered a reverse, and were probably about to take refuge in the islands. In this letter Mwanga made some vague statements about being " ready to do busi- ness," and Jackson inferred that no definite and clear promise was made regarding a treaty, owing to the adverse influence of Pere Lourdel. A subsequent letter, however, from Pere Lourdel himself (dated Dec. 1st), confirmed the news that the Christians had been ao^ain driven out of Uo'anda, and in the king's name imjDlored the assistance of the British, offering a monopoly of trade, the acceptance of the British flag and protection, and a payment of 100 frasilahs of ivory (£2000), and free rations for the expedition. This letter, ajDparently, did not arrive till after Mr Jackson had marched north. The native left in charge in Kavirondo of course placed everything before Dr Peters on his arrival, Avho calmly proceeded Jackson's arrival. 13 to open all correspondence, and to utilise the informa- tion thus acquired ; and these letters, so obtained, he has since published.^ Mr Jackson replied to the letter of Nov. 25th that its terms were ambiguous ; — that the Christians and Europeans were not in actual danger, since thej had a safe place of refuge in the islands ; — that there appeared small chance of recouping expenses ; — and as he could in no case stay on in Uganda, and judged that the Mahdists would probably join the Mohammedans (an idea apparently first put forward by Mackay), his 400 rifles would be of no permanent use. He doubted, moreover, if his Swahilis would fight against the Arabs. He sent, however, letters to be forwarded to the coast, and a flag " as a guarantee of the Company's assistance." He left on Dec. 10th, and marched north to Ngoboto, to procure ivory and shoot elephants. His intentions there being frustrated from lack of food or guides, and some of his men having been murdered, he returned to Kavirondo on March 4th. He now found that Dr Peters had passed through on his way to Uganda ; and hearing that Mwanga had accepted the flag he had sent him, and that the Christians were again in the ascendant, he at once started for Uganda, to endeavour to frustrate any mis- chief Peters might do. On the way 100 of his men mutinied, and went back to Kavirondo. Later, hav- ing obtained news of a plan for a still more general mutiny, he secured their arms. He made friends with Wakoli of Usoga e7i route, and sent an expedition against his enemy Kivandi. On April 14th, 1890, he arrived in Mengo. The king had meanwhile made a loose treaty with Dr Peters, by which Uganda was to be free to the commerce of all nations, and to " accept the decrees of the Berlin Treaty." Peters, 1 New Light on Dark Africa, Peters, p. 318. 14 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. however, appears to have become unpopular in Uganda, and his party having created some ill-feehng, he left for the south of the lake. Mwanga appeared disappointed at the small number of arms brought by Mr Jackson, and at the appearance his men presented — in contrast to the scarlet-and-gold lace of Dr Peters' escort. Jackson proposed a treaty, by which the customs and taxes should accrue to the Company (or they should have control of them), in return for which they would put the country " in a good defensible state," and garrison it with troops, and open a good road to the coast. This treaty does not ap- pear ever to have been drawn up in writing. Mwanga demurred, and Mr Jackson states that he was ap- parently a mere puppet in the hands of Pere Lourdel, who was constantly with him, and appeared unwill- ing that Uganda should come under the Company's protection, though all agreed that protection was necessary. The P. Catholic Fathers, Jackson states, wanted Uganda to be thrown open to all nationalities, and arms introduced, by which the people might defend themselves ; " forgetting, apparently, that the result of the introduction of firearms is usually to encourao'e natives to fio4it amono- themselves. The Fathers demanded to know from Mr Jackson what position thei/ would hold in the country if the Company were paramount. I gather from this — but possibly the inference is incorrect — that, being at present sole advisers to the king, they would not be content with the position of simj^le missionaries. For Mr Jackson, in his report, says that, when replying to the French Fathers' queries, he did not think it advis- able to say that the king must be guided by the Company's agent. The result of these negotiations was that the Wa-Ingleza (or Protestant) party entirely agreed with Mr Jackson's proposals, while the Wa- Jackson's departure. 15 Fransa (or R. Catholics) insisted that the customs should be the right of the king. Mr Jackson was obdurate, and finally decided to return to the coast, arranging that his colleague, Mr Gedge, should remain to represent the Company with some thirty-five men, and all the available rifles (about 180) which Jackson could spare. These rifles he was to lend to the Waganda, to fight against the Mohammedans if nec- essary. A force would be sent up, and on its arrival a treaty should be signed. To this the Fransa party demurred. The Wa- Ingleza then decided to leave the country w^th Mr Jackson, and six days were given them to prepare. On this the other faction also began to prepare for de- parture, being unable to withstand the Mohammedans alone. Finally, it seems to have been decided that Mr Jackson should take a representative of each faction with him, to ascertain whether Uganda was to be French or English, and to state their case to the higher au- thorities. Messrs Gordon and Gedo^e demurred to this course, which w^as, however, finally adopted. A com- fortable house was built for Mr Gedge in a plantation assigned by the king, and on May 14th Mr Jackson left, his caravan being in great straits for food. The day before his departure, Pere Lourdel, whom he had accounted his inveterate opponent, died. Jackson states that it was supposed that there was a considerable amount of ivory buried in Uganda, most of which belonged to the Fransa party. This ivory was only to be disposed of for arms and powder, and he believed that if the Wa- Fransa acquired these arms they would attack their rivals. Gedge had instructions to retire to Usoga with the Wa-Ingleza, rather than allow the Christians to come to blows. He adds it as his opinion that 500 drilled and disci- plined soldiers and 16 Europeans were required to hold 16 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. the country, and Gedge was instructed to buy off Stokes sooner than allow him to sell arms in Uo-anda. By September 1890 Jackson had reached the Ki- bwezi ; our expedition was meanwhile traYelling up bY the Sabakhi. and as he took the Taru route, we missed each other. A copy of his report was, however, sent to me later, together with my orders to go to Uganda, and I had now an opportunity of reading carefully throuo'h his account of recent occurrences. The position in Uganda was thus described in my '' Instructions'' from Sir F. De Winton, Administrator- General : — " 4. The situation as regards Uganda is as follows : Mwanga has very little real authority ; the two parties — Protestant and E. Catholic — are only kept from fighting each other by want of ammunition and by fear of the Mohammedan party, who are still on the borders. Mwanga's hope is Stokes, who has prom- ised to bring him large quantities of ammunition, powder, and breech - loading cartridges. 'With these Mwanga, it is believed, is going to arm the E. Catholics, and drive the Pro- testants out. He does not wish to make any treaties. I think this programme is the offspring of Pere Tourdel, who had great influence over ^Iwanga ; but from what Jackson says, Mwanga is utterly unreliable and cares only for himself." I was directed to offer to Mwano-a oaiarantees of peace in his kingdom." and to impress him with a sense of the power of the Company," and " exercise a steady pressure upon him." with a view to securing '•a control of all White atlairs in the country." While exercising the strictest impartiality towards both fac- tions, and assuring all of religious freedom and tolera- tion, I was to consolidate the Protestant party " if the others proved intractable. Such were the data and instructions upon which I had to act. They presented to my mind the follow- ino' conclusions : — PERSONAL VIEWS. 17 1. That Mwanga was an irresolute and cowardly tyrant, who had exercised such cruelty and despotism as had caused his people of all persuasions to oust him from his throne ; and that now, by means of intrigue and cunning, he was endeavouring to acquire an ascendancy and power similar to that which he had forfeited. Mr Jackson had narrated how he had been catechised as to the number of guns he possessed ; and Mwanga's sole object in dealing with Europeans appeared to consist in a hope that, by playing them off against each other, he would be able to secure presents of arms from both factions, and temporary assistance against his enemies, while he refrained from giving any equivalent. He appeared to be wholly in the hands of the French Fathers, whose counsels, from Mr Jackson's story, would appear to be hostile to the objects which I had been sent to achieve. 2. I was emphatically told that the two Christian factions were animated by the most deadly hatred of each other, and that war had been imminent between them for some time. The prevalent idea appeared to be that fighting was only being postponed in con- sequence of the pressing danger from the Moham- medans. The solution which had been accepted was that, in case of an outbreak, the " English " party should abandon the country, and retire under Mr Gedge to Usoga. This, however, being a populous country, intensely hostile to Uganda (though in sub- jection to it), the influx of several thousand Waganda would undoubtedly be the signal for war, and the peo- ple of the country must be dispossessed and driven out or killed, to make room for the "Protestant" chiefs and their great following. While on this subject, I may here state my own opinion on such a course. Deplorable as a war be- tween nominally Christian factions would be, and great VOL. II. B 18 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. as would be the responsibility which the representative of British authority would incur before Europe should it break out, I fail to see the justice or morality of avoidino' the scandal, bv allowinof one or other faction to bring an equally terrible war on a neig'hbouring country, and to dispossess them of their lands to make room for converts and their following, on the plea that they are not so-called Christians." I fail to see the justice of inciting either faction to desert their country because of the ao^o-ression of the other, merelv to avoid the scandal of a war between " converts." To my mind it appears — narrow and opinionated though the view may seem to some of my critics — that if a religious antipathy had been allowed by those who introduced religion to grow up between the Christians, it were more fittino- that the rivals should fio-ht, than that they should sacrifice neighbouring peoples to their mutual animosities, and allow Uganda to become the prev of the Mohammedan partv, unchecked by any control, and hostile to all European influence. I think it a more worthy course for him who should have the control, of affairs to face this responsibility and the accusations of the losing side, rather than effect a plausible settlement at the sacrifice of a people who, being heathen, and without mission -advocates, have no one to urge their wrongs in the European press. 3. From the information at my disposal it appeared evident that, if the Wa-Tagleza left the country the others would not even attempt to withstand the Moham- medans, but would in turn retire in another direction. 4. I was emphatically warned that the trader Mr Stokes was bringing up large consignments of arms ; that Mwanga having identified himself with the French " party, intended to purchase these, and give them exclusively to his own faction, and so overpower the others. PERSONAL VIEWS. 19 5. That the Wa-F)'a7isa and the Fathers were hostile to British influence, while the Wa-Ingleza and their missionaries were eager for it. 6. That the Mohammedan party Avere equal in strength to the two Christian factions combined, and that victory between these opposing bands had been pretty equally divided. Moreover, that there was a fear of the former coalescinof with the Mahdists to the north, and that Kabarega with all Unyoro was in league with them. My reader will, I think, admit that the position was a difficult and delicate one. The immediate necessities of the case appeared to me to be : (l.) To obtain a treaty from the king and chiefs which should give me an acknowledged and legal status in the country to deal w4th these troubles. Without this, any action I took would be mere filibustering. It would be open to Mwanga, when I had rendered him any assistance in my power, to profit by my work, and repudiate, as was his nature, any obligation. Moreover, I had been specially sent to Uganda by the Company to make a treaty in pursuance of the Anglo-German agreement of July 1st, 1890. But it appeared to me on arrival that the position and power of the king and chiefs had been altogether misconceived. Doubtless in former times there was good reason to describe the " Kabaka " as a man of enormous power ; but writing in the middle of 1889, when Uganda was much as I found it, Mr Ashe speaks in the most exaggerated terms of the great king, and styles the chiefs of provinces — some of them very petty — the " haughty earls," and the Katikiro as the "Lord High Chancellor" of Uganda! Con- sequently Sir F. De Winton had given me no more definite instructions regarding the treaty, than that it should ensure my having " control of all White affairs." Previous instructions from the Directors, how- 20 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. ever, had been more explicit, intimating that I was to obtain an understanding that Uganda was under the protection of the Company, and I had been continually im23ressed with the necessity of covering exjoenses. (2.) It appeared to me of vital importance to prevent the importation of arms, &c., into Uganda at the pres- ent moment. (3.) As regards the animosity of the French Fathers and the " French " party, I determined to maintain an open mind, and, if I possibly could, to convert them into friends and allies. It was obvious that they were regarded with suspicion and distrust (probably recip- rocal) by the English missionaries and their converts ; but since Mr Jackson had largely derived his impres- sions from these sources, and as it was from the letters of the missionaries in Uganda that the same conclusions had been arrived at in England and on the coast, I hoped that possibly I might not find them so inimical to my mission as they had been described. I do not mean to infer that these views and conclusions were as clearly defined in my mind when I entered Uganda as I now set them down, but I have somewhat fully described the nature of the information at my disposal, and the position of affairs on my arrival. The events of the first few days enabled me rapidly to form opin- ions for myself. I judged it best, in the first place, to adopt a firm and independent tone, being convinced that, to such a character as I supposed Mwanga to be, a deferential attitude would be interpreted as fear ; and that if we showed too great anxiety to please, and were ready to supplicate for a treaty in forma pauperis, we should only pander to his vanity, and render him the more unamenable and haughty. Such an attitude suited neither my conceptions of my duty nor my own in- clinations. I ARRIVE IN UGANDA. 21 As a result of international negotiation, Uganda and the countries round about had been ceded to the in- fluence of Great Britain. I, myself an officer of the army, had been deputed, as the representative of a great chartered Company, to make a treaty with a semi- savage king noted for his cruelty and incapacity. I sought no unfair advantage, no acquisition of territory, no monopoly of trade, no annexation of revenues. My task was to save the country from itself ; and for such a treaty as I proposed to make, I saw no need to stoop to bargaining by presents (of arms, a Maxim gun, &c., as had at first been suggested), and no cause for obeisance or deference. It was for this reason, as well as to hasten my arrival before any crisis between the factions took place, or the expected munitions reached Uganda, that I crossed the Nile without waiting for permission, and, marching rapidly on the capital, selected my own camping-ground. Mackay and Ashe relate how they knelt before the king, when praying for permission to leave the country. Such an attitude seemed to me to lower the prestige of Europeans, and I determined to make my own methods the more marked by contrast. I had at my disposal on entering Uganda about 270 porters, some of them brave good fellows, but wholly undisciplined, and very excitable, — difficult to control in action and liable to panic ; — others absolutely useless for fighting. Roughly speaking, perhaps one -third might be set down as good, one-third as indifferent, and one - third as useless. I had extremely little ammunition, that in the pouches of the men having quite perished in the long march from the coast. My total reserve (some of which was also in very bad condition) consisted of only some eleven rounds per man, with four boxes of Maxim ammunition, and one of Winchester (with which rifles the Europeans, Shukri, 22 EAELY HISTORY OF UGANDA. and Dualla were armed). The Maxim was worn out, and I had no confidence in it, — indeed it subsequently broke down radically when fired. I had also some 50 Sudanese and Somals, most of whom were brave and reliable men, and to some extent disciplined ; but I could not speak their language, and relied on my factotum, Dualla, to interjDret my orders to them. While Mr Jackson had therefore the advantao^e over me in numbers, and in an adequate supply of ammuni- tion, I had not had to face the same spirit of mutiny and insubordination with which he had to contend. There was a most excellent feelino^ throuMiout the cara- van, and all were willing and loyal. Moreover, I had this incalculable advantage, that I brought in my pocket a copy of the Anglo -German agreement, by which Uo'anda was ceded to the exclusive influence of Great Britain. In pursuance of my intention to let the king see that I did not consider myself at his orders, I sent a message on arrival, thanking him for his welcome, and saying that, as I was tired and had much work to do, I would defer seeing him till next day (Dec. 19th); nor did I hasten even then on arrival of his messengers, but went at my leisure. I have lately read Speke's account of his first inter- view with Mtesa, and was amused to find how he too had insisted on asserting his " social prestige," thirty years before me ! I could not attempt much pomp and display — though I knew that appearance counted for much among these people — for it will be remembered that I had originally come to East Africa for eight weeks only, and for my health ; and my few clothes were literallv in rao-s, owino- to mv usuallv havino- been the pioneer through the long grass and scrub, and the very great amount of additional walking through all kinds of jungle, which I had done when hunting game. THE WAGANDA OF TO-DAY. 23 I, however, had a pair of comparatively sound Melton cords, which for ten years had accompanied my travels ; and a jacket of a sleeping suit, fitted with brass buttons, ensured at least respectability. Unlike Speke's days, when the king and chiefs were all dressed in mhitgus (bark -cloth), with jackets of beautifully tanned and sewn antelope-skins, the Waganda of position are in the present day clothed in soft linen, which they keep as sjDotlessly white as though washed by a London laun- dress. Some affect jackets or waistcoats of black or coloured stuffs, and a small piece of cloth is worn, tur- ban-fashion, on the head. They retain their national sandals, beautifully made of hijDpo-hide, coloured and adorned with devices, with a band of otter -fur over the instep, — the king alone having leopard-skin. The lesser people dress in bark-cloth, dyed a bright brick- red, and ribbed with longitudinal lines by the pur- posely-grooved mallets with which, in its last stage, it is beaten out. Every smallest rent or frayed piece, however minute, is cut out, and a tiny bit inserted with such admirable skill that the join is almost imperceptible. In writing this book I purposely quote extracts from my diary, descriptive of any particular scene or event. I do so in the rough and hasty language in which one writes one's diaries, for I think that the verbatim account of an incident, written while the scene was vivid in one's memory, with no idea that it would ever be quoted or read, is in a sense a guarantee against the unconscious colouring or exaggeration of which it is not uncommon to accuse "traveller's tales." Here, then, is the picture of the Uganda haraza (or durbar), as my diary has it : — "I took a dozen Sudanese with me, and their 'pre- sent arms ' and bugle-flourish made my show in this respect nearly as good as the king's. He has quite a 24 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. band of drums and other kinds of noise to herald the approach of a visitor, and these all struck up just as I drew up my little Sudanese guard, and ' presented.' They then remained close outside facing the haraza door. I found the king in the durbar-hut, surrounded by a mass of humanity, packed in every cubic inch of space in the (not very large) hut. I entered and sat on my chair on his right, taking care not to tread on his carpet — for I had luckily been warned, and could see that he was nervously anxious I should not do so. I shook hands cor- dially and frankly with him (for till now I had no idea he was the mur- derer of Hanning- ton — I thought it was his father Mtesa). He is a young man, whose features are ne- groid, but show traces of Wahuma blood ; his face betokens irresolu- tion, a weak char- acter, and a good deal of sensual- ity. I produced my three letters, two from Mr Mac- kenzie and one from Sir F. De Winton. He said, ' Wait till the white men come.' I replied that I had brought letters for the king himself, and would read them without waiting. I did so, the letters being- translated into simple English by me, into Swahili by Dualla, and into Kiganda by the interpreter (or at least some parts only, for Mwanga professes to know Swahili). I had just finished, when, to my surprise, Mwanga, Kabaka (King) of Uganda. THE king's BARAZA. 25 the Bevs. Walker and Gordon were ushered in. I had suggested all the Europeans bemg there, but the priests had declined, on the ground that they would take no further part in politics, and it was therefore agreed that Gordon and Walker should not come either. I suppose the king sent specially for them. They were asked again to translate the letters, which they did. " The court was crowded with K. Catholics, all in nervous anxiety to hear what I would say. The Protes- tants, fancying, I suppose, that they were on the safe side, had only come in very small numbers. When the letters were finished, I said several times that I had come in the hope of bringing peace to the country, and of settling all disputes, — that I had come with full powers to make treaties, &c., and not merely (as Jack- son had) at the invitation of the king, without definite instructions from Enoland. I said I had been sent at the special wish of the Directors in England, many of w^hom were my friends, and I knoAv all the words of the letters to be their words. I had to make a great point of this, because I saw that the king thought a letter written at the coast was quite inferior to one from England, and that was his first question. Alto- gether, my interview was very different from what Jackson describes his to have been. On arrival I got a polite message of welcome, and was not sent for till to-day, when I had myself intimated that I would come and see the king, if he would send when he was ready. He asked no impertinent questions as to the number of my men and guns, &c. When these prelim- inaries were finished, I said I would like to introduce Dualla and Shukri, which I did (De AYinton was ill, and Grant stayed to look after camp, so I was alone). Shukri had a full suit of brand-new uniform, and ' took the cake ' entirely, looking very smart. . . . " I then said I had come merely to pay salaams, &c., and would talk of other matters by-and-by. There 26 EARLY HISTOEY OF UGANDA. was very great relief and joy in the court at there being no mention in the letters or by me of a flag. It appears they are nervously afraid of a flag, understanding that it means that they give aAvay their country, and the Wa-Fra7isa are prepared possibly to fight sooner than accept it. I am told they have especially noticed the contrast in this respect between others and myself Peters, Jackson, the French and Germans, all have talked of nothing but a flag. But in my camp they see the colours of each batch of men flvino- over the ' camp ' of the headman — the Sudanese with theirs, the big camp flags marking out camjD, and no Com- pany's flag flying at all 1 I had forgotten this last ; our line-of-march one is utterly worn out, and I am not sure where I put the new ones. This being so, and the country being already ceded to British influence by international aofreement, I do not intend to make any childish fuss about the flag. If I can get a treaty, the flag will come of its own accord, and at their own re- quest later on. " The king gave an order in court to send me food for my men. It is the custom, I believe, for the king to dismiss the haraza, but I asked Gordon if I should transgress greatly by taking my own conge, and he said he thought not. So I rose, and said I had finished my words for to-day ; and with great cordiality and many alisantis (thank you) and hand- shakings I left, and the king and court rose and left by the other door. This was a final assertion that I was my own master, and, of course, though I have taken this somewhat in- dependent attitude, I have been at great pains to show that it does not arise from mere bravado, or a wish to wound the susceptibilities of the king. . . . " I had many visitors in camp, all the big chiefs coming and making salaams. To all of them alike I showed all the courtesy and frankness I could, espe- cially acknowledging to the E. Catholic chief that he PROMULGATE TREATY. 27 was the very first to come, and thanking him for it. I told them all the same thing — that my errand was to bring peace, not war, that I hoped to arrange disputes satisfactorily, and that to me all were exactly alike — B. Catholics, Protestants, and every one. Mwanga's haraza was stifling. It was a curious assemblage ; there were uniforms of all kinds and classes, many naval (of different nationalities), and Peters' scarlet- and-gold dress, with gold-laced fez cap, was resplen- dent on the Head of the Army." I now went to call on the French Fathers, and to explain to them the conditions of the treaty which I meant to propose, and to ask their co-operation and goodwill. I was, however, somewhat disappointed to find that, instead of showing a keen interest in the treaty in so far as it would afiect the welfare of Uganda, " they would go off" into this or that side question, and details about themselves and their lib- erties." They asked me to fully explain every clause on paper, and I worked hard at night doing this (of this and all other correspondence I have copies). It involved many pages of foolscap, and I sent it all, mutatis mutandis, to the English missionaries. I then sat by De Winton, who was ill, till the small hours of the morning. Next day (20th) was occupied in laying out a large and well-arranged camp, cleaning the paths through it, &c., in receiving visits, and replying to letters, and completing the statement re the treaty for the Euro- peans,— French and English. The 21st was Sunday, and the peculiar hush and stillness of the day was very marked. The Protestants were anxious that I should discuss the treaty with them, but I requested the mis- sionaries of either faction to be kind enough to explain to their respective parties all I had written. There were among the chiefs of Uganda several men, belonging to each faction, who spoke Swahili with abso- 28 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. lute fluency. With these I was able to converse, and explain my ideas. When a large party of chiefs were present (as subsequently when I endeavoured to arrange the various grievances and quarrels), these men listened intently, and if my interpreter (a Zanzibari, who was by birth a Mganda) rendered any phrase I had used in a way they did not think exactly accurate, they would at once appeal to me to ascertain if that was my meaning. Our Camp on Kampala. As a matter of fact, however, during the whole time I was in Uganda, my interpreter — Juma Hassani — was acknowledged by all parties to be a most literal and excellent one. One of these Swahili - speaking chiefs — Cyprien the "Kauta" (an oflicer of the royal household)— became a very great friend of mine. He was a R. Catholic, and by his exertions and friend- ship I was enabled to get more in touch with his party. On the 2 2d I received a long reply from the French PROMULGATE TREATY. 29 bishop, in which he promised co-operation, but (as in the previous conversation) disregarded all the salient points of the treaty, as it affected the peace and set- tlement of the country, and confined his queries main- ly to points affecting themselves — viz., as to whether mission servants could retain their arms, &c. I wrote him a full reply. Finding that the Fathers had not read the treaty to their party, I assembled the Wa- Fransa chiefs and explained it to them. Meanwhile I had written to Stokes, prohibiting his bringing arms, &c., to Uganda, and warning him that it was con- trary to the agreements, and to the regulations now in force. Bishop Tucker and his 23arty, who had started from the coast in July, had not yet arrived. Mr Gedge, after Jackson had left, had passed a very disagreeable time indeed in Uganda. " He said he had led the life of a doof. The king- had insulted and mocked him in court, and had thwarted him in every way. That the French priests hated him intensely, and the bishop had shown great enmity towards him. His last letter had remained unanswered, and unacknowledged even " (diary). He had, in fact, found that life in Uganda, under the circumstances in which he was placed, was intolerable ; and I do not wonder at it. Early in August he had gone to the south of the lake, and had been absent ever since. When he eventually returned at the end of December, he was warned that no one wanted him back in Uganda, and if he came he would be murdered. He had been anxious to return before this, but obstacles had been placed in his way, for naturally the Germans were not averse to keeping him out of Uganda pending the result of the negotiations in Europe. He was, however, treated courteously by them. On receipt of the Anglo-German agreement the way was made easy for his return ; but had its terms been other than they were — Gedge being at the south 30 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. of the lake, while Emin was at Bukoba, on the south frontier of Uganda — it would have been easy for the Germans to have stepped in and gained a footing and a treaty, while prior British efforts would have been nullified, and resulted only in collapse and failure. No sooner, however, was the agreement received, than Emin sent him canoes, and offered to assist him in every way in his power, — hoping that the Germans and English would co-operate and work cordially together. His Excellency, whom Gedge described as the most charm- ing man he had ever met, promised his assistance in pre- venting arms and ammunition from reaching Uganda. For this purpose, the station he had just built at Bukoba on the lake shore was especially adapted. Before leaving the country Gedge had issued to the Waganda the 180 Snider rifles left by Jackson, in case the Mohammedans should attack, together with a very great quantity of ammunition. This I deplored in the present critical state of affairs, and I requested him to recall them at once. As his position was not clearly defined with regard to myself, he voluntarily placed himself under my orders, and thereby was relieved of all responsibility, for which, in his shattered state of health, he was no longer fit. He had scruples about returning to the coast, lest he should appear to be running away from his duty. I therefore suggested this course, and at once ordered him to go. The strain had been too great, and he was in a state of complete nervous prostration, and in addition to this he suftered intense 23ain in his eyes, which prevented sleep, and he had nearly succumbed to violent fever at the south of the lake. There were other difficulties, too, at this time. " Food is getting a difficult question — not nearly enough to feed the men comes in now, and I am drawing on my store," I write. " The day before our GEDGE — STUHLMANN. 31 arrival a civil war very nearly broke out. A report had been spread that I was coming to massacre the Wa-Fransa, or drive them out of the country, and they were on the point of fighting. Even now I don't know when a storm may break. The Mohammedans raided close to here the other day. I am in a regular wasps' nest here, and the commander of such an expedition has not a bed of roses. My men daily lose cartridges — sell them, I suppose — but the loss of a single one now involves deprivation of the rifle and ammunition, and as they are counted at morning roll-call every day, and all men without guns are kept at extra work, they are beginning to see that the game is not good enough, and to-day there are no deficiencies." Such is my com- ment in my private diary on the 2 2d. Grant helped me very greatly with the men, but took no part what- ever in the aflairs of Uganda, nor did Gedge or De Winton, who were ill. So the work was very heavy upon me. At this time Dr Stuhlmann, Emin's lieutenant, arrived in Uganda with friendly messages to Mwanga, and a present. His ostensible reason was the purchase of canoes, but I think he omitted to take them away. Subsequent events compelled me to conclude that Emin wished for news of the position of aflairs in Uganda, and to know whether I was likely to have my hands fully occupied here, so as not to interfere with his pro- jected expedition toward the Albert Lake. Dr Stuhl- mann was ignorant of Emin's plans, and probably knew nothing of the real reason why he was sent to Uganda. We were excellent friends, and he oflered to help me in any way in his power — as, for instance, by publicly confirming my words to the king regarding the Anglo- German agreement, by which Uganda was ceded to British influence. I should have been inclined to pass in briefer review 32 EARLY HISTORY OF UGANDA. the details of this period, but I have given a somewhat full account (though nothing like the detail afforded by my diary and letter-books), because I think that if I can present to my reader a clear statement of the position I found in Uganda on my first arrival as the agent of the Imperial British East African Company, the events which followed will be more easily understood. I am not concerned here to defend myself from charges made against me by the R. Catholics of France and England, but the reader may incidentally gather that it is not quite correct to say that " all was peace till Captain Lugard came Avith his Maxim gun." On the 23d I write as follows : "It is desperately anxious work. We are on the very eve of war. The R. Catholics won't sign the treaty, and things look bad. Food is scarcer every day. ... I have very little am- munition, and am not sure about the working of the Maxim gun. I have given so little encouragement to the Protestants that they too are very disappointed, and talk of leaving the country, for I have spoken of going away if the treaty is not signed. I do not want them to think that I have come to fight the Protestant cause, and I do not want the Protestants to exasperate the others by showing that they think the game is all on their side. At the same time I told the priests that, if the king would not sign, I should call on the chiefs to do so. ... It would not be my fault if only Protestants came forward, for I was equally friendly with both, and offered all of them the same rights, &c. So the Protestants look crestfallen, and are not brag- ging or exasperating the P. Catholics ; and the latter are scared at the possibility of my joining their rivals." I have little doubt, also, that my threat to go to Ka- barega of Unyoro — Mwanga's bitter enemy — and so transfer the seat of administration from Uganda, had a considerable effect. 33 CHAPTER XXIIL PRELIMINARY WORK IN UGANDA.^ Treaty presented — Excitement in haraza — Christmas night — Treaty signed — The Kauta — Cause of Mwanga's alarm — Attack threatened — Missions attempt solution — Strained relations — Lists of grievances — Emin in- vited— Gedge leaves — Position again critical — News of Williams — False reports — Better feeling among chiefs — I refuse to pay taxes — French missions and slave - women — Slavery versus morals — Compulsory religion — Purchase of children — Arrival of Williams — Kampala fort completed. On the 24th Dec. I was to present the treaty. The chiefs had a very long council together first, and agreed to sign it ; then there was a little delay, and the king broke up the haraza. I objected somewhat sharply to having come in vain, and they apologised, and fixed the haraza for the afternoon. I went at 3 p.m. with De Winton. I read the treaty through, sentence by sen- tence, putting it in simple English, and Dualla rendered it most admirably in Swahili — one or other of the chiefs repeating it in Kiganda. Much discussion and even up- roar arose at times, but I insisted on reading it right through, and that discussion should then take place afterwards. " There were several questions asked — all most shrewd and intelligent, for these people are ^ Throughout the following chapters the faction of a chief is denoted by the letters E. or F. after his name for clearness : thus Katikiro (E.) or Kimbugwe (F.) denotes that they belonged respectively to the Ingleza (English) and Fransa (French) parties. VOL. II. C 34 PRELIMINARY WORK IX UGAXDA. very clever. In the first place, they wished to sign on the proviso that these messengers confirm what I have said regarding the decision in Europe, that Uganda ' follows England ' " (diary). There Avas no real neces- sity for this, except to reopen the whole matter, for the French Fathers had seen the Anglo-German Agree- ment, and Dr Stuhlmann, the German, corroborated it. I also feared that — as there were, I was told, three messengers, one from the king and one from each party — the representatives of the king and "French" party might not sjjeak truly, since of course their faction was opposed to British influence. I doubted, moreover, whether at the coast such a question would have been fully explained to the envoys. The second question raised was, whether the tribu- tary states should still pay tribute to Mwanga. I wished to avoid the settlement of this point until I had a more thorough knowledge of the position of these states. For at first glance it seemed to me some- what unfair, that states which derived no benefit of any sort or kind from Uganda should pay tribute, more especially, when the state claiming suzerainty was now too weak to enforce it. Moreover, if I assented, Mwan- ga might not unjustly call upon me, in fulfilment of my pledges of co-operation, to assist him with my rifles to recover tribute from such states. Usoga I would (at that time at any rate) have liked to see independent. Wakoli and others of its principal chiefs had welcomed us, and treated us with the utmost hospitality, and I should be loth to invade his country to com23el tribute to a tyrant like Mwanga. Other states, like Unyoro, had long since thrown ofl* the yoke ; and if, by the agency of the Company, such autonomous king- doms were brought under British administration, any surplus revenue should go to the administration, and not into Mwanga's cofters. Other states, again, like EXCITEMENT IN BARAZA. 35 Karagwe, Usui, Uziba, and Uzinga/ were now in Ger- man territory. i^fter some discussion, I insisted on the king's sign- ing the treaty, because the chiefs were ready to sign, and in their hands the real executive power lay ; for when the Christians had reinstated Mwanga, they had done so, I understood, on the proviso, that henceforth the real authority in the country should be vested in themselves, since Mwanga had been found incapable of doing justice. " Mwanga shuffled and begged for de- lay. I was determined, and threatened to leave the country and go to Kabarega of Unyoro (hostile to Uganda). The king was in a state of great excite- ment and fear, for he was under the absurd impression that if he signed he would become a mere slave. At last he said he would sign. Then a clamour arose from the crowd at the door, who said, I believe, that they would shoot the white men and those who signed. [These were probably the set of bhang-smokers and rowdies whom Mwanga kept about his place to pander to his vices, and who subsequently caused trouble.] De Winton says he twice heard a man cock his gun, and all say they began putting in cartridges. I did not notice or understand their actions. Mwanga again hesitated, and I could see was really in a state of great anxiety and terror. Contrary to one of the strictest customs in Uganda, every chief had come with his loaded rifle into the haraza-ho\xse prepared for eventu- alities. Had one rowdy let off his gun there would have been a terrible melee in the little hut ! while out- side great numbers of the hostile faction had collected. I saw that it would be unwise to press the matter further at that moment, so I said that next day, being Christmas, we would do no work, but the day after I must have his reply." Such is the account in my diary. 1 Mackay, letter of Jan. 1st, 1890. 36 PRELIMINARY WORK IN UGANDA. All that night there was much noise and shouting, and I was told that men cried in the streets that they would kill all Europeans. There was a full moon, on which indeed I had calculated, not knowing what was before me in Uganda, and dreading a night attack with my undisciplined and unreliable men. To avail myself of this also, I had hurried my march to the capital. The Ingleza or Protestant party spoke of leaving the country. On Christmas Day I went and called on Pere Brard. " We were most friendly, but he can only say one thing — viz., Poli-poli ('gently, gently'). I said, Yes, I had no intention of hasty measures ; but this treaty was a sine qua non, which I must have signed at once, and then I could do the rest quietly. I said the king and K. Catholic chiefs had all begged for delay that they might ask the priests' advice, and that on their reply depended peace or war ; . . . nor was it my fault (supposing all the Protestants signed, and the E.. Catholics did not) that I should appear to take the side of a party." For at this time I sup- posed the factions to be about numerically equal, and I conceived that I had as distinct a duty towards the half of the population who were eager for British protection, as towards those who were eager for French influence. I pointed out, too, that it was impossible I should stop long as I was at present. Food was not available in suflicient quan- tities for the daily issue, and my little stock was all but exhausted. My men, left in idleness, would cause trouble with the women and by pilfering food, and I could not consent to let them gfet utterlv de- moralised while these people talked. I want an answer regarding this treaty, and I must have it. We parted most cordially " (diary). Things looked very dubious, and made me anxious, for the responsibility that rested on my sole judg- CHRISTMAS NIGHT, 1890. 37 rnent was very great. Gedge set out a magnificent Christmas dinner, and produced even champagne ! We had not seen or tasted spirits or wine for very long. Dr Stuhhnann, Pere Brard, the EngHsh mis- sionaries, De Winton and Grant, were there. I ex- cused myself, for I could not leave my camp at such a moment. No one else, I think, Avas aware of the real gravity of the situation. Mean- w^hile, I thought that not improbably I might effect much by a private interview with Mwanga, and by reassuring him and explaining things quietly ; but Mr Gor- don warned me that he thought it not improba- ble Mwanga might mur- der me, in hopes that if he did so all my men would fly in jDanic. However, " I went to the kinof. I had some four or five men with me. As I passed through the entrance the royal drums boomed out, and while my message was being taken, men with guns began to slip in on all sides. ... So I sent another message to say, that as the drums had beaten, it was no longer private. I would not come. He had sent to say he would see me, but we went away. There was a chuckle and a suppressed jeer among the rabble as we went, till Dualla turned and faced them, and they stopped. ... I wrote a note to Gedge at the dinner in which I Avished the French and German guests all the season's compliments, and a safe return to Europe when their work was done, and a happy and 38 PRELIMINARY WORK IN UGANDA. peaceful Christmas to the EngHsh, and I said a few words in praise of Gedge's pluck. I then sent for the Kimbugwe (head chief of the R. Catholics)." After a long speech, this worthy told me that the chiefs of his party had agreed to sign the treaty, provided the envoys, who had gone to the coast with Jackson, confirmed my news about Uganda being under British influence. All was still and quiet, and there seemed no disturb- ance afoot ; so, hurriedly eating a mouthful of food, I went over (though it was now late) to pay my respects to Gedge's guests, lest my absence should be misinter- preted. I was received most cordially, and had a long chat with Brard about their mission, &c., also with Stuhlmann. Next day (26th) the treaty was to be signed at 8 A.M. I waited anxiously till 9.30, when I concluded they had changed their minds, and I must prepare for the worst. " Then I saw the durbar break up, and a great crowd coming out, and I got a message that they would come and sign here, and go to the king afterwards. All the biggest chiefs came into my camp (not a gun of any sort among them), and I sat them down on a tarpaulin at the tent door. There was much speechifying, and then they said they would sign, provided they were allowed to write a codicil, and I would sign that and give it to them. Tills they wrote themselves.-^ I was also to observe the compact which they had made between them- selves while in exile in Ankoli. This, they said, only related to religious toleration, and as they assured me there was nothing in it contrary to my treaty, I agreed. Then we went to the king, that he might sign first. De Winton came with me, and three or four Askari only. Grant remained in camp, with orders to send all Sudanese and four batches of the ^ Vide treaty, Blue-book Africa. TREATY SIGNED. 39 porters to our assistance in case he heard firing, and hold the camp with the other two batches and the Maxim, which he was to use freely if required. For the chiefs still spoke of some bad men of whom they seemed much afraid. It appears, as far as I can under- stand, that there really is a rabble of whom the king and all are afraid. They are, I believe, a drunken bhang -smoking lot of blackguards, and it was they who threatened to shoot if the treaty was signed on the 23d. I wanted the Katikiro and Kimbugwe to accom- pany me as a precaution. They said they would, but the little Kauta was the only one who stuck close by us all the time. He is a right good fellow, and I am most glad he is a R. Catholic, because now if I utilise him I can't be accused of partiality " (diary). On the way the king sent a message warning me not to come, as bad men " had determined to murder me. I looked on this merely as a way of putting me off, and re- plied I had started and would not turn back. The king- was almost alone, but one by one, by various entrances, as thou oil secretlv, all the bio- chiefs of XJo^anda came in, till the durbar was complete. The king heard the codicil read. He then asked for a present, as I had given him none. I said I Avould do so when the loads Stokes had brought to the south of the lake could be fetched up, and asked for canoes for the purpose. This defeated him. Then he raised the question again of the tributary states. I said I had made no statement one way or the other in the treaty, and refused to do so till I should understand the question. " Then the kins: told some one to si on for him. I would not have this, and insisted on his making a mark. He did it with a bad grace, just dashing the pen at the paper and making a blot ; but I made him go at it again, and on the second copy he behaved himself and made a proper cross. Then one of the Frcmsa chiefs, who could 40 PRELIMIXARY WOEK IX UGANDA. write, wrote Mwanga's name opposite the mark, and several of the head chiefs also signed, but they took very long struggling with the letters of their names." I was most delighted that all had ended so well. It was just eight weeks since I had left Dagoreti (where I got my orders to go to Uganda), and we had arrived, and the treaty was signed. We left the haraza " to find there was perfect quiet outside, and not an angry and excited mob, as I had expected." In order to explain the attitude of Mwanga, it is necessary to bear in mind the character of the man. It were easy to quote from Mackay, Ashe, Casati, and others, descriptions of the diabolical cruelties he had practised, but I think it unnecessary to do so after havino' alreadv brieflv described the burnino- alive of Christians, and the persecutions extending over four years. Men were slowly hacked to pieces, each member being thrown into the fire, and lastly their mutilated yet living limbless trunks. Besides this, Mwanga s court was the public scene of all the vices of Sodom and Gomorrah — vices not indio-enous. I believe, amono^st African tribes, and the result of contact with coast people. He had been ousted by the unanimous action of all j^arties, and this, I am told, constituted by the law of Uganda a complete forfeiture of his title to the succession. Such was the man I had to deal with. His dominant motive was a thirst for arbitrary despotic power, and his antagonism to European influence arose, not from high patriotism, but from a fear lest this exer- cise of despotism should be curtailed. But in particular he was opposed to the British, and would infinitely have preferred German or French domination, because his craven heart was tormented by an ever-present fear, that vengeance must come from us for the murder of Bishop Hannington. This fear, I believe, grew into a livino' terror, when he found that he had to deal with CAUSE OF MWANGA's ALARM. 41 a man who would not cringe to him. I was tolcl that his dreams were haunted by these spectres of ven- geance, of which lie looked on me as the embodiment. He thought I was but biding my time, and it is there- fore but little to be wondered at that he both feared and detested me, and did all he could to thwart me. I regarded my mission as one for the reclamation and settlement of Uganda : surely I was right to refuse to be deterred from the course I had set myself to follow, by the opposition of such a king ? The treaty was certainly obtained against his will — I have never said the contrary. " British prestige," says Ashe,^ ' ' was at a discount, for the Waganda imagined that Englishmen might be killed with impunity in Africa." This prestige it was my business to restore, and that I did restore it effectually before I left Uganda is indisputable. Yet during all the time we were there (including the war, &c.), we were the instruments of death to comparatively few — probably not a fraction of the number who have met with their death elsewhere in Africa through the advent of other expeditions whose objects have been limited to exploration or to sport. Constant letters from and interviews with both missions and the chiefs, in addition to my usual work, taxed all my energies at this time. On Dec. 27th the Church Missionary party arrived under Bishop Tucker. Eight had started (by the German route) from the coast. Of these, three were dead, four too ill to walk up from the lake shore, and the eighth was an invalid. I sent down means to carry them up. The French bishop, Mgr. Hirth, had left for the south of the lake about a week before, while the treaty was not yet signed. I had much re- gretted his departure at so critical a moment. Bishop Tucker told me he did not intend to stay in Uganda 1 Two Kings, &c., p. 239. 42 PRELIMINARY WORK IX UGAXDA. more than four weeks, and at the time of his arrival was already making plans for his departm^e. There had been a good deal of firing off of guns by the Protestants on the nio4it of the 27th, in honour of the bishop's arrival. This, I think, was not acceptable to the Wa-Fransa, and next day (Sunday), probably in consequence of a latent feeling of insecurity, there was a scare at the mornino^ service, the Protestants having heard a rumour that they were to be attacked. The disturbance Avas soon quelled, but late at night I received a letter from the Kimbugwe and Kauta (F. chiefs) saying they expected the Protestants to attack them. The letter was somewhat ambiguously worded, and I was uncertain whether or not it was intended to convev the information that ive also were to be attacked, because the Wa-Ingleza were very angry at my not having identified myself with them entirely, as they had expected. I inquired of my men if they had heard news, and was told that three separate women had come to warn us we should be attacked, and the rumour had also been heard from other sources. I sent out Somals as scouts, and presently they came back breathless to say the enemy was approaching. I did not know whether they would prove to be the Protestants or the R. Catholics ! I now quietlv gave the word for the men to turn out. Already my little force had been reduced by fifty rifles — sent to Usoga to procure food. We were without defences of any kind, and had no line of retreat open to us in case of reverse. Though the scouts' report proved later to be unfounded, we had a mauvais quart cVheure before we ascertained the truth. I turned to mv men — the porters for whom Professor Drummond can find no words bad enough — and asked if thev were readv to fio-ht. With one voice ATTACK THREATENED. 43 the reply came back in a chorus, "Eh-tvalla, Eh-ivalla. TayarV (Yes, yes. Ready). " Where you die we shall be killed first." 1 was dee]3ly touched by their loyalty; and that scene, as we stood in the moonlight await- ing an attack from overwhelming numbers, every man struggling to be in the front rank, is as vivid to my mind's eye as though it had occurred but yesterday. It proved to be a false alarm, though there was no doubt that mischief was brewing, for we saw the peasants hurrying away in all directions with their A Night Attack expected. belongings, and there was great disturbance and drum- beating. Towards morning I lay down in my clothes on the ground, as Gedge occupied my cot. The Kimbugwe came early, and there was no doubt that our quiet preparations impressed him greatly. No one had imagined but what we had all slept in uncon- scious security, and yet they woke to find me in my clothes, sentries alert, the Maxim posted, ammunition- boxes opened, and all in readiness. Each side tried to incriminate the other, but I would give no clue as to 44 PRELIMIXARY ^OEK IX UGAXDA. my informants, merely saying that the flying peasants had told me it was war, — we were ready to fight if attacked, and so had made preparations. I also heard that a party had gone to Dr Stuhlmann to ask him to hoist the German flag, for I suppose the malcontents thought they could thus play ofl" one set of Europeans ao'ainst the other. Meanwhile, though subject to momentary interrup- tions, I began to write my first report to the Directors, at such odd moments of leisure as I could get, in antici- pation of Mr Gedge's departure for the coast. I also had a voluminous oflicial correspondence to prepare — gear and stock returns, returns of all issues and expen- diture, men's accounts, &:c., &c. I also began to send the men out to bring in logs (of the date-palm) to build a stockade. I did my utmost to win the confidence of the Wa-Fransa, even showing them more cordiality than I did to the other side. The kino- continued to bother me with notes, asking me to alter this and that in the treaty, but I declined to do so, and refused to see hhn until justice was done in the matter of one of my Sudanese — who had been shot in the leg by a party of lawless men, while attempting to rob him of some i^onibe he had bought in the market. The quarrels between the factions were constant and serious. The Protestants came to me in great indigna- tion, to say the king had ousted some of their people causelessly from their estates, apparently to 23rovoke me. Bishop Tucker took up the matter, but I replied that the E. Catholics no less than themselves urged that they had grievances, and I would not take up one side and not the other. " So I asked that they would clearly tabulate their grievances, and I would get the Wa-Fransa to do the same. He said he thought the E. Catholics had no business to go to me with petty grievances. AYhv did they not go to STRAINED RELATIONS. 45 the jDriests, and then he and they would discuss the matters quietly and put them straight ? I said I would gladly refer all minor differences between the parties to the missions, and they should refer to me all injustices of the king, and I would do my best." Next day, however, the matter assumed an acute stage. The Wa-Ingleza were exasperated, and war seemed imminent. I spent the day running about in a fiercely hot sun to the priests, the English missions, and the big chiefs in turn, doing my very utmost to prevent an outbreak. I appeared to have succeeded, and each side was to draw up a full list of grievances ; but in the middle of the night I was awakened with the news, that a message had come from the Katikiro, to say the Wa-Fransa would attack us at daylight. Again I made all preparations for defending ourselves, for the noise and drum-beating and disturbance showed that mischief was intended. It appears that Mr Gedge having recently recalled the Snider rifles (which he had lent in case of Mo- hammedan attack), a party of malcontents on the Fransa side had raised a cry, that we were taking them from their party only — preparatory to attacking them — and had allowed the Ingleza party to retain theirs. This was wholly untrue. A midnight meet- ing had been called of the Wa-Fransa, and the other faction woke up to find them under arms, and so they too immediately gathered for a fight. I re- mained ready but neutral, and did not leave my camp, not knowing but that the intention might be to attack it from an enclosure close by. I sent mes- sages to the Katikiro and Kimbugwe to stop the war, and call away their men, and also to the Eng- lish and French missions, begging them to use their influence, and at the very last moment hostilities were averted. 46 PRELIMINARY WORK IN UGANDA. Next day " I got the list of grievances from both sides. That of the Protestants was clearly made out in English, but the other faction's was an impossible jumble in Swahili and Kiganda. I sent them to Bishop Tucker, in accordance with our understanding, but he sent the paper back saying he could make neither head nor tail of it. So after some difficulty I got the priest to consent to write out the R. Catholic grievances clearly in French." Meanwhile I attempted myself to effect a settlement. After much talk they broke off, saying they could only discuss such matters before the king ; but the Wa-Ingleza object to this, saying the king is on the other side, and so gives all decisions in their favour. I suggested that the Kauta (F.) and Sambera (E.) should talk it all over quietly with me — as they both speak Swahili fluently — and each should represent his own side ; but all declined, saying two men are not enough. If more stay, it merely means that they all get into a heated argument, and no result is achieved. I then went to see the Kimbugwe (head of the Wa-Frcmm). He seemed down on his luck, and said he thought that neither party would be satisfied until they had fought it out, and suggested they should go away near the lake to do so 1 " I rallied him about it — we were great friends now — and said we should succeed yet with patience. As a beginning, I insisted that the big chiefs should forbid men carrying their guns about. In trying to conciliate the Wa-Fransa I had great difficulty in avoiding offence to the Wa-Ingleza, and on the 5th (Jan. 1891) Bishop Tucker himself wrote to say that they were, rightly or wrongly, sore because I had snubbed them. So I went off and made my peace with the Katikiro ! By the 8th I had finished my report, and a mass of correspondence, which Grant devoted himself with OUR OWN POSITION. 47 untiring energy to copy out for me. I had, moreover, some cause for anxiety regarding our own position, as I had but very httle cloth left for food purchase, and I knew that Captain Williams when he came would bring little else but ammunition, and many more men to feed. The party I had sent to Usoga for food had been prevented (at the Nile) from returning, probably by Mwanga's order ; nor would the king give me canoes to get the absolutely necessary cloth for food purchase from the south of the lake. The Missions refused me the loan of their boat for this purpose, but I event- ually bought a few loads from them and from Dr Stuhlmann, at double their proper price, in my ex- tremity. I was, moreover, so entirely engrossed with my work for the mails going to the coast, and with the difficulties in Uganda — which kept me working till far into the night, and hardly gave me time to eat my hurried meals — that I had little space to at- tend to my own men ; and an emeute occurred between the Sudanese and Swahilis, for the men were getting considerably out of hand. I had heard repeated reports that the Mohammedans were raiding in Uganda, and on the 11th I was asked if we would aid the Waganda in repelling them. I re- fused, on the grounds that I could not leave Kampala until I had built a fort, and a store, in which to put my goods before the rains, and that my present numbers were not sufficient to halve. My strongest reasons however, were, that I must await Williams' arrival, and that we could not go to war with the mere handful of ammunition we had, for if this were fired away we should be left defenceless. I did not, however, dilate on this, for they had supposed the stack of boxes of beads I had brought from Kavirondo to be all ammunition, and I was content to let them think so ! I also told them that I was in favour of coming to terms 48 PRELIMIXARY WORK IX UGANDA. with the Mohammedans. They rephed, that this faction had a king of their own, and there could not be two kings in Uganda. Also, that all the lands belonging to them had now been divided up among themselves, and that no one would consent to dis- gorge ! On the 13th I went to the kinof with Gedo^e, who wished to say good-bye. It was the first time I had seen him since the signing of the treaty. He was extremely insulting in his manner and language to Gedge, till I could stand it no longer, and brought him to his bearings by demanding the man who had fired at my Sudanese soldier, and threatening to take the law into my own hands on another occasion, if I found the king was powerless to do justice. The interview, however, as regards myself was fairly satis- factory. He gave me the little knoll on which mv camp was pitched — named Kampala — also the planta- tion at the foot of the shortest slope, which I greatly desired to acquire, as it was owned by a very rowdy set belonoinor- to the Fraiisa faction, who were con- tinually creating a disturbance. The lofty reed fence round it offered, moreover, an impenetrable screen, behind which, in case of trouble, a large mass of men might assemble within forty yards of my camp. The king also promised to send messengers at once to the Nile to bring across my party, Avho had gone for food. He made a very formal and deferential request to me — viz., that I would ask Emin Pasha to come to Uganda ; alleging that he was an old friend, and that he merely wished to see him again. I had long heard that he desired this in order to ascertain whether Emin would confirm my statements, and I think that Mwanga was anxious to see how I should reply to such a request. If I demurred, it would be taken as evidence that I was afraid to be confronted with him. I at once EMIX INVITED. 49 agreed, — the king, as a quid pro quo for mv letter to Emin, promising to give me canoes to fetch my cloth from the south of the lake. I wrote telling Emin that Mwanga wished to see him as a private friend ; and that of course on such terms he was most welcome to come, and I would show him all the hospitality I could. Shortly afterwards I got the canoes despatched under one of my headmen, who also conveyed the letter to Emin. He of course declined to come, as he had work of his own. There was a marked alteration in Mwanga's manner to me, and I thought I noticed a decided improvement all round, which was proved by one s meeting fewer men in the roads with o-uns. The o-rievances of the Wa-Fransa had now been translated by the priests, and they had a conference with Bishop Tucker on the subject. The result did not appear very satis- factory. The bishop had agreed to make restitution for all looting, but the questions of eviction from estates and the division of Sesse Island, &c., were to be left to mvself and the kino\ Concernino' the seizing of crosses (worn by the E. Catholics round their necks), there ajDpears to be no evidence, and the bishop has promised to speak to the Protestants on the subject." He told me of this on the 18th. On the 26th BishojD Tucker left Uganda without attempting any second conference, and the English missionaries then wrote to me to sav that they would not be held to this engagement of the bishop's, which must be understood to apply to himself alone. Thus ended the undertakino- of the Missions to assist in the settlement of difficulties — an undertaking cordially accepted by myself It had merely resulted in the passing on to me of the real questions at issue, and I do not think the French Fathers had been in favour of the attempt : that the English missionaries VOL. II. D 50 PEELIMIXAEY WORK IX UGAXDA. were not, was shown by their repudiation of the bishop's undertaking as soon as he left.^ Having obtained from the king the site of Kampala, I at once began to buiki my fort (Jan. 15), and insti- tuted reo'ular hours of work for the men — viz., four to five hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. On the same dav Mr Gedo^e left for the coast with some eiMitv rifles. Grant was absolutelv indefatio-able, and worked from morning till night copying out re- ports and letters for the coast, checking all expenditure of stores, and assisting me to form an office routine, and institute regular office records. De Winton super- intended the work at the fort. Our night sentries were a novelty in Uganda, and procured us almost com- plete immunity from the thieving propensities of the Waganda. Such culprits as were seized for oftences I sent to the Katikiro with evidence, and showed the people that it was my intention, by all means in my power, to support the law and mstitutions of the coun- try, and to work through and by them. In return, I demanded that no summary or arbitrary reprisals should be taken on any of mv men who might be caught in flagrante delicto, but that they should be sent to me for disposal. We worked verv hard at the fort. As it was of a different style of construction from any we had made hitherto, it was some time before I could get the men to grasp the idea. It was of upright logs of date-palm fitted close together. The trace was made ^ Sir Gerald Portal more recently endeavoured to arrive at an iinder- .standing between the two bishops — not on a question of native evidence and counter-statements, but on a broad question of spheres of mission influence. He says that all hope of an amicable settlement seemed again and again to be lost ; and with difficulty, after three and a half hours of heated argument, a temporary modus civendi was found. He bears witness (as I too can most emphatically) to the conciliatory spirit shown by Bishop Tucker, whose sole object, it was most evident, was to put an end to friction and rivalry. — Blue-book Africa, Xo. 8, 189.3, p. 15. POSITION AGAIN CRITICAL. 51 just below the crest-line of the knoll, and the ground then made up level inside by carrying in earth. The poles rose 4 ft. 6 in. above the small banquette inside, while from the outside they varied from 5 ft. to over 6 ft. above the slope. The heat was great, as this was the very hottest time of the year, and at mid- day it was close on 100° in our tents. As the sides of the fort began to progress, I was constantly questioned by the chiefs as to what Avas my object in building a structure, the like of which they had never seen before ; and on the night of the 17th, for the third time, I got secret messages to say we were to be attacked at midnight, as some of the people supposed we were in league with the Mohammedans, and meant to drive out all the Christians. I did not give much credence to this report, for I saw no indications of disturbance among the people ; but nevertheless I watched, off and on, all night myself, for I was now a full hundred guns short from my little force, — the fifty who had gone for food to Usoga had not returned, and an equal number had gone to escort Gedge, — and the night was dark, without a moon. As I anticipated, nothing happened ; and I think the messenger was either sent by the king for some in- scrutable reason of his own, or possibly was a thief who invented the story to account for his presence. " Scares" like this, and the strain of being constantly at tension, are, however, very trying, as I had found by a long-continued experience, which had perhaps had its effect upon me, and left its mark behind. I called all the chiefs, and explained that my fort would be available for their goods and their women, if ever Uganda were attacked — not merely by the Moham- medan party, but possibly in the future by the Mahdists ; and so I reassured them. At this time (Jan. 20th) a very marked improve- 52 PRELIMINARY WORK IN UGANDA. ment began to be noticeable. Not only were the chiefs of both factions thoroughly at home with me and most friendly, but the change in their relations towards each other was remarked by De Winton and others. The roads were cleaned up, arms put away, and I really had hopes that I was at last gaining their confidence, and that the troubles would pass. (3n the 20th news came that Captain Williams had reached the Nile, and once again the ever-ready suspicions began to circulate. The Wa-Ingleza accused the king and Wa-Fransa of sending men to attack Williams in the forests of Usoga. The Pokino (E.), who was somewhat of a firebrand, started these accusations, and challenged the other side to produce the chiefs he named, as having been sent. I also heard that there was an idea of murdering Gedge, who was delayed on his journey by illness. My in- timate friend the Kauta (F.) denied the truth of these assertions, but said that they were not responsible for what the king did. I did not like this phrase, for Mwanga was confesssedly of the " French " faction, and it looked as though they knew he was up to mischief So I sent twenty- three rifles to reinforce Gedge ; and I also sent letters to warn Williams, and requested him to send Mr Auburn (who was with him) back to the coast to take care of Gedge. As the Moham- medans were raiding near, I issued some damaged ammunition to the chiefs ; but the army did not go, and waited to see the upshot of Williams' arrival, and whether (as some malcontents were saying) we should then throw off our mask and attack. At this most critical moment a Mganda who had gone to the coast with Jackson, and returned with Williams, deserted and arrived in Mengo, and I heard that he had spread the most extraordinary reports, saying that we were cowards who dare not fight, but BETTER FEELING AMONG CHIEFS. 53 that the Germans were brave ; that we had poisoned the Sultan of Zanzibar ; that we paid hongo'^ to naked spearmen ; that our Maxim was merely for show, and fired single bullets like a gun ; that Williams had boxes of flags to force on all chiefs, &c., &c. At the same time I got news that Gedge, after going only a march or two, had broken down, and was dangerously ill, if not dying, and that his men (a pack of scoundrels for the most part) were robbing right and left. The return of my fifty men from Usoga enabled me to send De Winton with fourteen men to look after Gedge, and reinforce him if necessary. Mr Gordon shortl}^ afterwards went also and relieved De Winton. I spent a sleepless night, and in the morning I called all the chiefs, and spoke to them of the reports which these deserters had brought. " They replied," I write, "that I had now been with them a long time, and they knew me, and knew my heart, and were my friends. It mattered not what reports came from any source whatever ; they would not believe them. If they heard them, they would come and tell me. If they did not come, I was to know they were not worth repeating ! This was most seriously said by the Kimbugwe (F.), and obviously meant, I think. At the same time, their cordiality to me, and the chafl* and good-fellowship between each other, was most noticeable. All ate coflee together, and the ' deadly enemies,' the Katikiro and Kimbugwe, drank pomhe out of the same boAvl. They began to chafl" about strength, and I left them putting the weight and playing like a parcel of schoolboys with Grant, amid shouts of laughter. . . . Need I say how excessively relieved and pleased I was ? " The stockade progressed and looked very smart ; clean and orderly though our camp had always been. Blackmail. 54 PRELIMIXARY WORK IX UGANDA. the new fort and levelling made a wonderful improve- ment. Altogether, there were some 224 yds. of pole work to do, and the area enclosed was perhaps equal to a square of 56-yard sides, or some 3000 sq. yds. area : but it was slow work, for long j)oles were required, and each one had to be carried from a o-reat distance by two men. so that we onlv got about seventv a day. The kino- asked me one dav for Dualla's services to translate an Arabic letter. It was from an Arab (judiciously unsigned), offering to sell Mwanga guns and powder. I long afterwards heard reports that he had come to terms .secretly with this Arab at the south of the lake, and that the arms were hidden in bales of cloth, but beino- discovered bv the Germans, the whole lot was confiscated.^ At this time the kino- was verv friendlv. and his suspicions and hostility seemed to have much abated. A question had arisen as to whether my men should pay the " market-tax." an impost which was collected on every article sold in the market, however minute. I peremptorily declined to pay it. as also the dues at the Xile, since we had not come to Uganda to pay taxes. The king agreed, and promised to restore an ox which had been seized from my food-party at the Xile as toll. There was also some little trouble re- garding women, and I took the opjDortunity of sug- gesting a local police force of AVaganda, but it was not till some time later that I was able to actually begin the experiment. Thus, towards the end of January, things began to look brighter in Uganda, and I was able to add a hope- ful forecast for the future to my report to the Directors, which had been delayed by Mr Gedge's illness. I had succeeded in despatching a headman to the south of the ^ This is now printed and published in a German report. FRENCH MISSIONS AND SLAVE- WOMEN. 55 lake for cloth, and so the fear of our running out of the wherewithal to purchase food was no longer so present to my mind. Williams had safely crossed the Nile, and though some of the more suspicious still viewed his advance with apprehension, the excitement had cooled down. Zachariah (P.), a most moderate man, and much trusted by the opposite faction, brought me (on the 30th) some pretty articles of native make. I re- gretted I had no suitable gift to make in return, and find the following note in my diary under this date : " He said he wanted no return present; that he brought them because they had received such benefits from us. That at the time we came, there were quarrels daily and hourly. Each day war was imminent. Now there was peace, and all were settling down quietly, and there was no further fear. And before, in addition to the civil war, there was daily fear of the return of the Mohammicdans. The latter had heard of our coming, and there was no more fear of them, and they merely raided about. For this they were most grateful." There was about this time a question regarding slavery, which it may be interesting to note, as being perhaps a phase of the matter we have not so far discussed. Emin Pasha had broken up a camp of Arabs and Swahilis at the south of the lake, and captured many of their women. ^ Under the impression, I presume, that these were slaves, he had handed them over to the French Mission at Bukumbi, who, I under- stood, had given them menial work to do, to which they were not accustomed. Finding them useless, they sent six of them to Uganda, and here again they were told to cultivate the gardens of the French Mission. Being unused to this work, and ignorant of it, they were given to various influential chiefs 1 Recent news informs us that this was the alleged reason of his assassination. 56 PRELIMINABY WORK IN UGANDA. of the R. Catholic reUgion. Several of them escaped from these " protectors," and joined my men, whose language they spoke (Swahili), and whom they pre- ferred to the Waganda, of whose cruelty they com- plained greatly. Thereupon the chiefs came to me, and begged to be allowed to seize one of these women and take her back again. My own view is thus expressed in my diary : " Now this is a case of dealing in slaves, though, of course, the Fathers only acted as they thought best for the women. First, the Mission imported them as slaves to work on their estates, and then gave them as slaves against their ivill to the Waganda : for they are most particular that a man shall not have more than one wife, — so they were not given as ivives. I wrote to one of the Fathers and said this was the story I had heard, but it could not be correct, and asked for the true details. The priest merely denied that they were slaves. So I said, if free she could go where she liked, and she wished to return to Usukuma, or ' marry ' one of my Swahilis. Eventually I sent her back to the French Mission, say- ing that I thought they should keep her till an oppor- tunity occurred to send her to the south of the lake again (since they had brought her here), for my camp was not a good place for women. The Father retaliated by saying he had heard that one of my men had bought a Mganda girl. " This I consider a different question. It is a matter of morals, not of slavery. The woman comes of her own (or her parents') free will as a temporary or per- manent wife." According to the custom of Africa a present is made, or a price paid, as you may like to phrase it. It is better that the men should thus obtain women " to cook for them," as the phrase is, by amicable arrangement, than that they should bring trouble by less friendly methods. " Slavery," I add, " is a different SLAVERY rZ'i?.Sr.S' MOEALS. 57 matter, thouo-h. in the case of women, doubtless the two j^ractices come very near together, and one must look with a clear eve to distinguish. The purchase in any country of a domestic slave, presupposes that the per- son sold will thereupon enter on the status of slavery — viz., that the purchaser can sell her at any time ; that she has no civic rights, and is a mere chattel. Sup- posing one of mv men to have obtained a woman, she is not looked on as his slave, but as his wife or con- cubine, accordino^ to Mohammedan law. She can leave him, and he would come in vain to me for permission to recover her ; if he resold her, and I heard of it, he would be punished, and she would be released. She also has civic rights — that is. she has the same facilities of appeal to me in case of ill-usage, as any of my men. And alreadv thev know bv experience, that if I hear a man has struck a woman, he crets it hot. The ob- taining of a woman as a concubine in her own country (even though by payment), and with her own or her parents' consent, may be better or worse than the slave- trade, hat it is a different thing.'' Long afterwards, just before I left Uganda, a some- what similar case occurred. A Swahili woman, who had been captured from the Arabs, was found in the island of Bulino-uo-we. Irons had been welded on her ankles, and it was necessary to tile these through to release her. Pere Brard brought a R. Catholic Mo-anda one day to Kamjjala, who stated that his wife was living amongst our lieojAe. I sent him with my orderly to find her. and he returned with this oirl. Pere Brard in.sisted that she should be given up,, saying that she was the lawful wife of the man, who, by the E. Catholic creed, could not be divorced, and must remain a celibate unless she returned to him. The woman protested that she had suffered much ill-treatment, and had consented to call herself a R. Catholic to escape 58 PRELIMIXARY WORK TX UGANDA. further beating. She protested she had never AviUingl}^ married the man, which I can quite beheve, for in every single instance I found that the Swahih women loathed the Waganda. Here is a case of marriage v. slavery, and from my point of view I should say that this girl was much more a slave than a Mganda woman who " cooks for"" a porter, and can at any moment run away and claim protection from violence if she chooses. But in this case the porter has 23robably given her parents a i^iece of cloth for the woman ; while in the other, the woman, being a caj)tive, was merely '"'given in marriage," whether she liked or not. Analogous to this question is that of the purchase of slaves, especially children, by the Missions, for religious education — a system I hold to be entirely illegal, and also unfitting. " Illegal ; "' — because if a slave is bought, no matter if freed five minutes after the purchase-money is paid, the purchaser, being a European, is liable to prosecution for participation in the slave-trade. More- over, I am not aware that these slave-children, so pur- chased, are freed in any manner which would satisfy a court of law. Are they presented with freedom papers, or is it explained to them that they are free to go where they will, and do as they please ? On the contrary, are they not looked upon as Mission pro23erty, to be recap- tured even by force if they desert, and compelled to do the work assigned to them ? Is not the case I have just narrated a strong instance ? For the Mission claimed absolute rights over the women, though repu- diated by the women themselves. Unfitting ; " — be- cause (as I have already said) I hold that redemption from slavery should not be made a vehicle for compul- sory religion. It seems to me a farce that Europe should be told that a mission has "freed" so many slaves, when, as a fact, they are as forcibly detained (in order to be instructed") as ever they were when ARRIVAL OF WILLIAMS. 59 "slaves."-^ The French Mission largely employ this system of purchasing slave-boys, as Pere Brard repeat- edly told me ; and Mr Ashe, of the Chm^ch Missionary Society, writes : " We had a good number of little boys, some given to us by chiefs, some sold to us, . . . some were redeemed by us," &c.^ Thus both missions are equally included in the remarks I have made ; but whereas it is the acknowledged custom of the E. Catholic Mission, approved, as Pere Brard told me, by their authorities, it is little done by the Church Mis- sionary Society, and I was not aware it had been done at all, till I saw the passage in Ashe's book/^ On the 27th Bishop Tucker left. I cannot speak too highly of the pluck and the cordial spirit shown by both Gordon and Walker throughout all this period, especially in the very difficult situation which ensued immediately after my arrival, when they were the only two other Englishmen in this part of Africa besides ourselves. On Jan. 31st Williams arrived. He brought with him about 75 Sudanese, and 100 Swahilis ; also a Maxim gun (which was more reliable than the worn-out one I had), and a considerable amount of ammunition. Mr Auburn, who had accompanied him, had returned to the coast with Gedge. The stockade work of Fort Kampala was by this time (only a fortnight after the work was begun) practically complete, and we were engaged in carrying in earth for levelling, and in build- ing native houses and a large store, while we still lived in our tents. Williams brought up the Sudan- ese sergeant-major, not having heard the causes for which 1 had sent him from Daoforeti. This fellow had ^ Vide Willonghby's evidence on this jDoint, quoted chajD. viii. p. 6. 2 Two Kings of Uganda, p. 98. ^ The Anti-slavery Society have repeatedly protested against the practice as one that leads to the capture of children in order to supply the demand. 60 PRELTMIXARY WORK IX UGAXDA. again attempted to incite the men to mutiny and deser- tion, and had now been brought on as a prisoner to be tried for his hfe. As the general spirit among the men seemed excellent, and no example was needed to exert a deterrent effect, I was averse to the death penalty ; and the man was flogged, sent in irons to the coast with Gedo'e — ^^•ho, havino- been detained bv illness, I was able to overtake with mails — deprived of pay, and dismissed the service with io-nominv. 61 CHAPTER XXIY. DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. Captain Williams, R.A. — "Zanzibari Levy" — Stokes arrives — His powder and arms — Disputes reojDened — Previous participation in politics of French and English missionaries — Results — People accustomed to despotism — Wa-Fransa — Wa-Ingleza — ]\[issionaries partisans — Chronic difficulties re shamhas — Statute-book — Division of Sesse — Real signifi- cance— Our cordiality with chiefs — Quarrel in haraza — Private con- ference with Mwanga — Factions prej^are for war — Settlement by night — Peace, and Mwanga's gratitude — Outrage in Chagwe — War again averted — Arrival of French bishop — Unsatisfactory interview — Influ- ence of Mujasi with priests. Captain W. H. Williams, KA., who now joined me, was a typical specimen of the best class of British officer. Though he had come to Uganda as my second in command, he was, in point of fact, senior to me by two months as a captain, and over a year in the date of his first commission. He had long commanded his battery, and had thrown up an appointment as adjutant of Artillery to accompany Sir F. De Winton. He was a keen soldier, whose interests lay entirely in his pro- fession, and, unlike myself, he came to Africa mainly with a view of gaining experience which would be use- ful to him as a soldier. He spoke Turkish and French, and had acquired a colloquial knowledge of Arabic. Having enlisted the Sudanese in Egypt for the Imperial British East African Company, he naturally looked on them as his especial charge, and what little drill and 62 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. discipline had been instilled into them, was due to his untiring energy in Mombasa, during the one month they were under him, before the company who joined my expedition had left. It was now arranged that, beino' all reunited, thev should be under his command, and he began to drill and discipline them — to adjust their accounts, and supervise their clothing and interior economy ; and in a wonderfully short time the improve- ment in their smartness and general turn-out was most marked. He began to teach them a rough skirmishing drill, — advancincr in loose fio-htino- formation throuoli the long grass and dense banana-plantations, working by bugle-sounds, and attacking an imaginary position. I also determined to strengthen our fighting force bv selectincr the best of our Zanzibaris, strikino- them off all porters' work, and converting them for the time, at least, into two companies, under their own non-com- missioned officers. These companies numbered some seventy each (all ranks), and were called the Zanzi- bari Levy.'' They wore a short jacket (shaped like a jersey, and pulled on over the head) and a white loin- cloth. The red company had a patch of scarlet cloth, a foot square, between the shoulders, and red cuffs ; the blue company had a similar distinction in blue. Under Williams' indefatigable tuition, and with the advan- tage of having the Sudanese to imitate, they very rapidlv developed into a most serviceable body of men, and took a great pride in keeping themselves clean and smart ; and we did all in our jjower to inculcate the idea that their position was superior to that of the porters, and that it was an honour to be selected for the Levy. Grant, meanwhile, had the safari — viz., the porter and caravan establishment — under his more esj)ecial charge, while De Winton devoted his time to the buildino- and daily work. My own energies were engrossed in a gen- eral supervision, and in the affairs of Uganda. STOKES ARRIVES. 63 On Feb. 3d Williams went to be introduced to the king. We found an enormous assemblage of people with guns, — Mwanga apparently having called every available fighting man he could to the capital, to make a show. I believe he was nervous lest . I should now de- clare my intention of forcing a flag on the country. The interview was satis- factory and brief, and the king again pressed me to go out to war against the Mohammedans. On the 5th Mr Stokes arrived, and heralded his ap- proach by sending me indio'nant letters, rejDudiating the ac- cusation that he had grant. brought arms and ammunition from the coast. We, however, became very friendly, and he promised most emphatically not to attempt to import arms or powder. This Avas an im- portant matter, for though I might prevent his doing so openly, he himself jDointed out that he was able to evade my eflbrts in many ways, — as, for instance, by issuing powder to his elephant - hunters at the south of the lake, and conniving at their selling it in Uganda. He said that the demand for j)owder here was so great now, that he could make a profit of something like £250 on every porters' load ! Possibly, as a matter of fact, he could have made (for a small 64 DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. quantity only) something like half this sum. I spoke very strongly to him on the subject, saying that the import of powder at the present moment would mean civil war, and he agreed that it would be little better than murder. On the other hand, I promised to facili- tate his legitimate trade, and agreed that natives sent by him with goods should come to Uganda and traffic on his behalf. I promised also to store his ivory, and, so far as I might be able, to buy his goods and promote his interests with the Company. Later he took advantage of these ofPers, and a part}" of his men traded, under our protection, during the whole time I was in Uganda, while we stored his ivory, which otherwise (a year later) would have been lost in the war. I told him to submit pro]30sals in writing for the sale of his goods, and he did so. They included 50 loads of gunpowder, 4 loads of gun-caps (70 lb. each), and 250 guns ! Yet he said, Avhen he first came, that he had no powder or arms, and resented my letter, in which I stated that it had been rejDortecl he had this stulf ! The prices he asked were so enormous that I would not buy, and he then begged me to store it for him, so that he might not be tempted to sell it. This I willingly agreed to do, and I sent down for it, as I shall narrate presently. Stokes left (I4th Feb.), after giving me this promise that he would place his powder and arms under m}^ charge ; and I told him frankly, that if he behaved honourably in the matter, I on my part would help him in every way I could. He had not reached the south of the lake, however, before he wrote to sav he had chano^ed his mind, and would retain his arms and powder himself! Meanwhile the difficulties between the two factions had led to much heartburning. The Wa-Ingleza de- clared that the king had, without any cause whatever, ousted a number of their adherents from their estates, DISPUTES EEOPEXED. 65 and replaced them by men of his own faction. They said that this had been going on a long time, and that thev had onlv refrained from fio^htino- for their rio^its on the m^o'ent advice of Mr Gordon, who had told them to be patient, — that the British would come to Uganda, and they would then obtain restitution. If it is true that Mr Gordon said this, it will easily be understood how its meanino' had been exaowrated into the expectation, that the arrival of the Company's agents would be the signal for a complete triumph of the " English " party, and the fulfilment of all their wishes. The Pokino, an influential and brave Protestant chief, was the warmest in his protestations, and said that now, thouo'h I had been some time in Uo-anda. I had done nothino- for them, and thev were beino- evicted as frequently or more frecpiently than before. Most of the chiefs of both parties were on friendly terms towards each rttlier. and extremely cordial to us : but there were several of the French *' party who would have nothino- to sav to us. and had never come to make friends with us. Of these, the three chiefs, Mujasi, Kauna, and Salo-Salo, were the leaders. At such places as the houses of these chiefs, and of men of lesser j^osition, there was a good deal of pomhe- drinkincr at nio-ht, and on such occasions there Avas not unfrequently a row, which once or twice nearly led to trouble. I spoke to the Kimbugwe, the head of the Wa - Fransa, about it : but he merely said that so long as all the gTeat chiefs were mv friends, and all on the side of peace, what need had I to notice the folly of a parcel of bovs ] It wcis, hoicever, these very men ivho everttvxdly precipitated the war. Before discussing the points of dispute, it is now necessary briefly to summarise the position in Uganda. The two factions called Wa-Ingleza (English) and TT>/- Fransa (French) were led by chiefs of the Protestant VOL. II. E 66 DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. and Roman Catholic creeds respectively. These chiefs were the rulers of the country, and the lesser chiefs and peasantry, who followed them in war as their retainers or serfs, declared themselves, of course, of the same faction as their lords. The two j^arties were thus composed largely of men of no religion, nor were thev relioious in their desiofnation. But relioious dif- ferences had embittered the leaders and a large por- tion of the rank and file against each other, and their animosity was taken up and intensified by their re- spective followers. Mgr. Hirth, on my first arrival, had cordially ofiered me his support, and told me that, now that Uganda was ceded by international agreement to the influence of Great Britain, he and his party would cordially recognise the Company's administration. This declara- tion I fully believe to have been sincere at the time ; but the reader will judge from subsequent events to what extent he acted up to this promise. But Mgr., when saying this, also added, that up to the time of the Anglo - German agreement Uganda had been " No-man's land," and that it was then perfectly legiti- mate for any one to establish an influence, with a view to the ultimate political supremacy. That he had worked ivith this vieiv hitherto, I understood him candidly to admit. And herein, it appears to me, lies the solution of the whole matter. French-made arms had been imported into the country, and there were very many of them in Uganda, and these must have been brought by the Fathers, for, so far as I know, there is no trade in French arms on the East African coast. The B. Catholics had been taught to desire French suprem- acy, and their faction had adopted the title of Wa- Fransa. But supposing that Mgr. now wished to undo all this, and accept the British administration, the work of vears could not be undone in a moment. POLITICS OF MISSIONARIES. 67 nor could the Fathers persuade the whole faction to resign the aims they had themselves fostered, though they might explain the change to some of the most intelligent and influential chiefs. Unfortunately, the faction opposed to them was " English." How far a similar policy of creating a political influence in favour of British rule had been promoted by the Protestant missionaries, I have no accurate means of knowing. Doubtless they were little behind the Fathers in their desires to secure in Uganda the supremacy of the nation to which they belonged. For General Gordon, speaking of the Uganda mission, says, that, "as it is composed, it is more secular than spir- itual " ^ and accordingly writes to indicate the political attitude the mission should take. Mackay's letters prove him to have been a most zealous promoter of British supremacy; and Mr Gordon's action upon and subsequent to Mr Jackson's arrival indicates that the missionaries apparently considered that they were the representatives of British interests. I do not believe, however, that they ever imported any arms, or had any definite political schemes. On arrival I was looked upon by the Fransa party as an addition to the hostile camp. The British flag was regarded as the standard of the iVa-Ingleza ; the French flag as the standard of the Wa- Fransa. Had the Germans taken over Uganda, they would have been unwelcome to the B. Catholics, as being Protestants ; but their flag, at least, would have been looked on as neutral. This feeling was very strong among the peasantry in the outlying districts. Later, when I went to Buddu, the B. Catholics refused me food, on the ground that I was English, saying they would only supply Frenchmen. I therefore endeav- oured to separate, in the minds of the people, the two ^ Gordon in Africa, p. 183. 68 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. ideas of religion and of nationality. 1 always spoke of the R Catholics as the Wa-Katoliki " * and the Protestants as " Wa - Protestanti," refusing to ac- knowledo'e the terms " French *' and " Eno-lish," for we were now (I said) all English. With those with whom I came into contact I succeeded, as I have shown ; but among those who did not come to Kam- pala, and among the peasantry, the rancour and jealousy remained. Meanwhile, it must be remembered that these Africans had always been ruled with a rod of iron. ^ Mtesa and his forefathers had preserved peace among their turbu- lent and excitable people only by periodically sending off huofe armies to lav waste neio-hbourino- states, and bv wholesale executions for the most trivial offences, or for a mere whim. Thus they acquired the absolute authority which surrounds despots. With the return of Mwanga, after his exile, this brutal rule was ex- changed for a feeble and vacillating hand, which, more- over, was no longer empowered to authorise executions. The result was that the people ran riot. In old days Mtesa had issued an order that " everv man was to wear a bead on his wrist, on pain of losing his head ; and every woman a bead on a string round her waist, on pain of being cut in half"^ And the sentence met with instant execution, if the whim of the king was neoiected. But now, thouo-h the countrv was on the verge of war, Mwanga might issue order after order, that men should leave their arms in their houses, and no one heeded it. In the old days, after sun- down the king's executioners would patrol the roads, and instantly execute any one found abroad, on the grounds that he would not be out by night for any ^ Vide A Walk across Africa, Grant, pp. 200, 227 et passim. Also Life of Mackay, p. 197. - Two Kings of Uganda, Ashe, p. 82. WA-FRANSA AND WA-INGLEZA. 69 good purpose. Now, on the contrary, drunken revel- lers with drums and arms miofht make nio^ht hideous by their shouts, till some one, more excited and bois- terous than the rest, beat the well-known war-note on the drum in sheer bravado, and set the whole country in a blaze, and there was no one to stop him. The land was divided into two hostile camps, and every evil-doer was championed by his faction. Mwa- nga, of course, chose the stronger — the Wa-Fransa ; they had more white men than the Wa-Ingleza, more arms, more people. He dare not punish one of this faction, lest he should alienate himself from them. I will ask the reader to pause and try to realise the difficulty of my position. In order to gain the con- fidence of the Wa-Fransa, it was necessary to treat them precisely as the Wa-Ingleza, though the bulk of the one faction was bitterly hostile to me, while the other was loyal. Moreover, common-sense com- pelled me to suppose that the party which had suffered the most injustice from the other was likely to be the weaker one. It was most improbable that the stronger had been suffering constant eviction and dep- rivation of their riofhts at the hands of the weaker. If I turned to the European missionaries (as knowing the language and the customs of the people), I found that either side believed implicitly the statements of their own party. The Frenchmen wrote to Europe of the turbulent and " intolerant blacks," — the heret- ical Protestants, — and insisted that their patient con- verts had suffered continuous injustice and violence from them. The English missionaries similarly be- lieved that injury after injury had been patiently endured by their "flock," who had done nothing by way of reprisal. My own belief was that the Wa- ganda were par excellence the greatest liars of any 70 DIFFICULTIES IX UGAXDA. nation or tribe I had met or heard of, and that it appeared to be a point of honour that each side should out -lie the other — especially to their missionaries, as indeed they naively acknowledged one day to Williams. Meanwhile, so far as I could judge from the inquiries I made, the Protestants appeared to have by far the greatest cause of complaint, — and this seemed natural, as they were the weaker party. If, however, I should give case after case in favour of the Protestants, purely because in each instance the evidence adduced should point in their favour, I should undoubtedly alienate the E. Catholics, who naturally viewed things from their own standpoint, and they would consider me partial, however absolutely unbiassed I might really be. I therefore endeavoured to find two cases, one of which appeared to be clearly in favour of the Protestants, the other of the P. Catholics, and thus, while de- ciding justly, to make the balance equal. This " pair- inof off of cases " has o-iven umbrao^e to the recent Avriters on the P. Catholic side of the controversy.^ Meanwhile, my own men were the victims of various insults and of ill-treatment on several occasions by the peasantry of the Wo-Fixmsa, and, according to my custom, I placed each complaint in the hands of the chiefs for inquiry and redress ; but though I rarely or never obtained it, I was content to exercise patience. On Feb. 3d, as I said, the king pressed me to go against the Mohammedans, but I declined, unless he would promise me not to arbitrarily evict people of either faction from their estates. This he undertook. He said I had oiven him no arms as Jackson had. and kept begging me to allow him to buy arms and powder from Stokes and others ; but I declined, saying I would myself furnish all arms necessary for his pro- tection or the defence of the country. The Protestants 1 "Xotes on Uganda," Eoman Catholic Union, p. 33. CHRONIC DIFFICULTIES RE S HA 31 B AS. 71 at this time complained that two men of their faction had been murdered by the other party. I inquired into the matter, and told the king that in a case of murder the culprit must be executed, for one such outrage might plunge the country in war. He agreed at once, as did the chiefs of both factions, saying that this was right, and in accordance with the law of Uganda. The matter which is the chronic trouble of Uganda, is the constant litigation which arises over the estates, or shamhas. I was told that this had been the great cause of all disputes, even in the arbitrary days of Mtesa, who was no respecter of persons, and whose word was final. This difficulty now assumed a critical aspect. After ousting the Mohammedans, the two fac- tions of Christians had divided all the estates between themselves. Thus a chief of a province would have under him any number of petty chiefs of either faction. These, again, would have a mixed population on their estates, and so on. Some petty little chief would have a quarrel with some of his people who belonged to the opposite faction to himself, and would promptly oust them. The report (generally exaggerated fifty or a hundred per cent) would reach a neighbouring chief, who would accordingly evict an increasingly large number of the opposite faction from his estate. Then all those evicted would come trooping to the big chiefs at the capital with greatly exaggerated stories, and they in their turn would come rushing over to me, to say several hundred people had been evicted (the real number being probably half-a-dozen), and that war was inevitable unless speedy justice were done ! Moreover, this kind of thing had been going on before our arrival, and there were piles of arrears of similar grievances. On Feb. 10th the big chiefs met in a most amicable 72 DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. way to endeavour to come to a solution of the dif- ficulties. They talked incessantly for six days, and my confidant, the Kauta (F.), told me on the 13th that they were in a fair way of settling the diffi- culties. I told him it would be well, in any case, for the council of arbitration to meet me. If they had agreed, I would enter it in writing ; if not, I would arbitrate. For I had established a " statute-book," in which to set down all decisions arrived at, and all laws passed, as the Waganda set great weight on a written contract. However, on the 16th the Kauta came to say that they had quarrelled over the question. Some particular estate was claimed by the Wa-Ingleza as being undeniably theirs, and they said that if the Wa- Fransa would not cede it they would expel them from it. I heard the long story through ; but in a country unsurveyed, and with no map, it is, of course, impossible for a European to understand a question of estates : moreover, the rights of land-tenure are extraordinarily complicated in Uganda. The Protestants always accused Mwanga of bias and j)artiality towards the Wa-Fransa ; and as he was of that party, and the R. Catholics never com- plained of his partiality to the Wa-Ingleza, I 23resume there was some truth in it. However, I got both sides to aofree to abide bv the decision of the kinof, and we all went to the haixtza together. Mwanga a23parently heard the matter through, and I told him I would sup- port his decision. It was, that the estates should be made into one, and redivided. This greatly vexed the Protestants, who urged that theirs was the larger. However, I said the king's decision was final, and who- ever disputed it quarrelled with me. I urged that " bygones should be bygones," and hencefor\\'ard all evictions should cease. This the king and the chiefs warmly agreed to. We sat for hours in the hottest DIVISION OF SESSE. 73 time of the day in one of the smaller huts, where the atmosphere was stifling, and even the king and Wa- ganda were dissolved in perspiration, while I myself had for some days been feeling anything but well. I was, on the whole, much pleased with the result, for Mwanga had shown himself most friendly, and had repeatedly declared himself thoroughly at one with me, and " he kept constantly referring to me as his ally and partner, and the ultimate arbitrator, whose decision was final. ... At parting he said spontane- ously, that I might be assured he would let me know in case of all serious difficulties, and he would appeal to me for advice and assistance " (diary). I, on my part, said, that if only I could be assured that the king would do justice, I would support him in all decisions, regardless of faction ; for all agreed there was no one in Uganda who so thoroughly knew the details of these shamba questions as Mwanga. The division of the lands taken from the Mohammedans had never as yet been completed, and the " shamba question," therefore, comprised the division of these lands, as well as the matter of evictions on account of quarrels between people of opposite factions. After this question was decided, the division of the islands was brought forward, — a matter which, like most of these difficulties, was not really one of religion at all. The Sesse group of islands is equal to about 150 square miles, being as large as one of the provinces of Uganda. It is, moreover, extremely rich ; and later, when Captain Williams visited it, he described it as far surpassing in fertility anything in Uganda proper. Under the title of "the islands," the Waganda, I understand, include not only the islands proper, but the estates on the mainland bordering the lake. Thus, whoever possessed "the islands" had complete com- mand of the whole of the canoes. It has already been 74 DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. seen how important this was in the case of the reverse at the hands of the Mohammedans. Doubtless both parties felt that if civil war should break out between themselves, the Mohammedans would descend upon them and drive them out, and then the faction which had command of the lake would have a safe asylum, while the other would be absolutely exterminated. Mwanga especially recognised this, and whenever there was any fear of war, at once had all his things tied up ready for flight to the islands. It Avas here he had concealed his stores of ivory and powder. Secondly, whoever held the command of the canoes had a mon- opoly of the traflic to the south of the lake. It was from thence alone that arms and powder could be procured. As I have narrated. Stokes had brought up large consignments of these to the south of the lake, which doubtless the king hoped to obtain, and he had already had oflers from Arab traders in that district (p. 54), while the Wanyamwezi chiefs had vast quantities of powder stored in their country, which they were ready to sell for ivory. I think it not improbable also, that the R. Catholic chiefs thought they might obtain arms through the medium of the French Mission ; for, as I have said, it appears beyond doubt that as long as Uganda was under no European protection, and the prohibitions to the import of arms did not exist, the French Fathers did import them, and the Wa- ganda could not, of course, appreciate the difference made by international prohibitions. In writing thus, I must leave my reader to form his own conclusions as to whether it is fittinof that missionaries should be the importers of arms, either for the purpose of gaining a political ascendancy for their own party, or for any other motive. For my part I think it is not ; for it ajDpears to me impossible, that any one who has IMPORTAXCE OF SESSE. 75 lived in Africa should not appreciate the incalculable harm done by the import of arms. At the same time, it must be remembered that, according to Mr Jackson, Pere Lourdel had openly advocated their introduction, in order that the Christians might be able to anni- hilate the Mohammedans. Again, the possession of the canoes was of im- portance, because both French and English mission- aries had hitherto come only bv the route throuo^h German territory to the south of the lake, and had no means of reaching Uganda except by canoes. The Protestants, having no command of these, had been unable, only a few weeks before, to send for their bishop and his party. The consequence was, as I have said, that they were delayed there for three weeks, and in the unhealthy climate of Usukuma three out of eight died, and every one of the survivors reached Uganda broken down with fever and illness. The Protestant chiefs felt this deeply. The king, in reply to the question as to whether the islands should be divided, said that they should belong to neither fac- tion, but should be his own perquisite, and both religions should be free to teach there. To this the Wa-Ingleza naturally demurred, for the king was of the ojDposite party, and they alone had hitherto been allowed a footing in Sesse. The peo23le of this island were sav- ages, and I believe of a different race to the Waganda ; and the very strong feeling about the division of the islands was due, not to any furore for proselytising them, but on account of the reasons I have stated. The Fathers also argued, that as Sesse was not a jDart of Uganda proper, it should not be divided, any more than Usoga. But the case is in no way parallel. Sesse, from its position and its command of the canoes, was a possession of great strategic and political importance. Both factions had the right of entry into Usoga, while 76 DIFFICULTIES IX UGAXDA. the Protestants were practically excluded from Sesse. Moreover. Usoga ivas more or less divided — both factions having, I believe, suzerain rights over petty chiefs there. But the matter is difficult to define accurately, for the system of land tenure and of riD:hts of taxation of tributary states is very complicated. These two disputes, then, formed at this period the crux of my difficulties in Uganda. I find in my diary (Feb. 17th) the following note: "One thing is most marked — viz., that whatever the feeling stirred up between the parties, — and it is an inevitable conse- quence of the discussion of this question, that there should be much heartburning and jealousy, — ive are now quite exempt from it. Neither side look on us, 1 think, as having any bias at all, and both, as well as the king, aj)peal to us for justice and help. To have achieved this is in itself a great gain." The excellent little Kauta — one of the shrewdest of the R. Catholic chiefs — remained my intimate friend and confidant, and I even visited him late at night alone, to talk over matters, and obtain his views privately, after I had been engaged all day in these public dis- cussions. Zachariah was the man I most trusted and believed in on the Protestant side. Meanwhile our work progressed at Kampala. Our principal store was finished, and a large underground fire -proof powder-magazine completed. Office returns were all up to date in Grant's indefatigable hands, and Williams' little army was the admiration and wonder of crowds of Waganda who daily collected to see them drill. As we had no pls.ce or table large enough to dine together, Grant and I shared meals, and Williams and De Winton did the same ; and be- tween us all, I am glad to say, the most cordial feeling possible existed. On the 1 3th, Messrs Gordon and Smith left to establish QUARREL IN BARAZA. 77 a mission in Usoga without any reference to me. On the 18th there was a much less satisfactory haraza on the shamha question, and the king did not, it appeared to me, endeavour to show impartiahty. "The TT^a- Fransa/' I write, " prompted all his replies, and he gave his hand to one and another of them to be fondled (in his execrable way), and to them he constantly turned for applause." He was, in fact, obviously identifying himself solely with one faction, and arguing their side. " The Wa-Ingleza, too, had told me that what had been said by me in the previous haraza had been understood as an announcement that I would back up the king in every matter, and that the Fransa faction were jubilant, saying that instead of being weakened by our arrival, as they had expected, they were now much strengthened, for the king could now do as he liked, and all he did would be backed by force. Consequently I obtained a silence, and told the king that I came to ask him to do justice in this matter, for I had told him that as long as he did justice I would back him up, but if he did not, I w^ould cease to support him, and would do justice myself. There was a dead silence, and obviously the "French" party did not relish this plain announcement, while the " English " were delighted. Williams, who was with me on this occasion, says the king " looked quite green " at this very plain speaking and challenge, but he agreed at once, and said he would do justice" (diary). The argument about the shamhas became very hot, and at last the Katikiro (head chief of the Wa-Ingleza) ap- parently spoke somewhat roughly to the king. Mwanga lost his temper, and rose and left the haraza, which broke ujd in disorder. I sent a message to the king by the Kauta, to say I wished to speak to him in private. He immediately returned, and Williams and I saw him with closed doors, only the Mujasi (F.) and 78 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. Kaiita (F.) being present. I pointed out to him that both factions were his own subjects, and that if he wished to restore peace to his country, he must take an impartial view, suitable to a big king, to whom all parties came for justice. That I was a Protestant, yet he had only to ask the Kauta and R. Catholics as to my impartiality and fairness to both sides ; that I understood he was a R. Catholic, but that this must make no difference to his justice, any more than my creed did to mine : that I could only support him if he was just : that I had, since coming to Uganda, heard very much of the grievances of both sides, and though I could not understand all the rights involved in this shamha question, and could not tell whom to believe, — since each side told me the other had said nothing but lies, and since I did not know the size of the estates which were pitted against each other, or their history, — yet, after all I had heard, the impression left on my mind was that the Wa-Ingleza had lost many shamhas unfairly, which should be restored. I did not say that this Avas a fact, but that it was my impression after carefully hearing both sides. This the king did not deny, and even the Mujasi and Kauta were silent. "I then spoke of the division of Sesse, and said that if he agreed to divide the islands, I thouo'ht I could the more easilv settle the shamha question. He eventually agreed to divide Sesse, if the Protestants would undertake not to evict the boatmen, and this I said I would at once go and settle. We talked till lonof after dark, while a huo^e blazino- fire inside the house lit up the whole place." I wish I could present to my reader's imagination the vivid picture that is before my mind's eye of the lofty grass hut, whose interior is a forest of poles, supporting the heavy roof, the walls of cleanly washed vertical bamboo reeds, each tied in its j^lace with perfect regu- PHIVATE CONFEKENCE WITH MWANGA. 79 larity. The floor is strewn with a soft fine grass, hke new-mown EngHsh hay, but finer, and free from bladed grasses, which is kept for this purpose. A blazing log- fire, tended by a small boy, sends its glow on our faces, CONFERENClL WITH MWAXGA BY NiGHT. as we sit absorbed, trying to get Mwanga to grasp the great idea of impartial justice. The king in his white hanzu is seated on his carpet, and the two chiefs near him, both of whom speak Swahili fluently, listen with faces of rapt attention. We then went to the Katikiro, and had a very long talk over the shamba question, and he promised to restore the men who had been evicted. He was delighted about Sesse, and promised to oust no one at 80 DIFFICULTIES IX UGAXDA. all." And so we returned late in the nio-ht to Kam- pala to eat our dinner at last, having had nothing since breakfast. My E. Catholic critics infer that I shelved the questions which troubled Uganda. Could they read each day's record, as it lies before me here in my diary, they would at least, I think, credit me with unwearied effort, though they may deny my abilitv. "Early next morning (Feb. 19th) I found that the country was assembling for war, having heard the news that the king and Katikiro had quarrelled. The " French " faction had begun it, and had assembled in great numbers, and the hills were covered with them towards their side, and on the Kino-'s Hill. Just as I came forward I saw a huo-e mass of men rushino- alono- from the north : these were the " Enoiish " faction run- ning forward to the battle. I told Duta to stop them at once, and that I should fire on any masses of men who would not disperse. They halted where they were. AYe were now so used to rumours of war, that I had not at first looked on it with much anxiety, but I soon saw that it was a very serious matter, and that the whole country was up. I marched with Williams and a company of Sudanese to the top of the Kino-'s Hill, where the Wa-Fransa had assembled. On the way I met the Kauta and Sekibobo (F.), and told them to send men rapidly to disperse their people. This they did, for the chiefs themselves (more especially these two) are very great friends with me now, and have long since ceased to wish for war, or for a quarrel with us. By the time we arrived on the Kino^'s Hill thev had mostlv left the vicinitv. but laro'e crowds stood on the hills round, and would not disperse though messengers were sent to them. So I formed up the Blacks in extended order down on the knee, and bayonets fixed, and sent for the Maxim, and said I would open fire in a few minutes. The sight SETTLEMENT BY NIGHT. 81 of the gun made them tail off a bit " (diary). I then went and told the king all was quiet, and he was very grateful. Shortly afterwards I had a discussion at KamjDala about the points in dispute. " I called on the Pro- testants to name four shamhas of which they had been unjustly dispossessed, and they did so. Then one by one I argued them out with the R. Catholics, and they practically agreed they were really Ingleza estates. I then called on the R. Catholics to name four, which they did with a similar result. They could name no more, but the Protestants added a great many, most of which seemed to be really theirs. All was done with little friction. ... In the afternoon six or seven rapid shots were heard, and soon after the huts, from which they had come, were in flames. Immedi- ately the whole country was up again. A Protestant had stolen some pombe from a R. Catholic. The latter came to recover it, and there was a row, and some shots were fired. There were some marvellously close shaves, but no one was seriously hurt. So again I had to go down with the Sudanese and draw them up across the road, and sent men to tell the crowds to disperse or I would fire on them, and that there was no war. After much trouble and difficulty we again restored peace, and caught the originators of the trouble, — both petty chiefs. " I went to see the king, who begged me to settle the affair at once, or the country would ' sleep badly ' —viz., there would be preparations at night for war in the morning. So I went to the Katikiro, who sent for the culprits, and he and all the big chiefs followed to Kampala. They sat in the centre of the fort on skins, &c., spread for them, — a very large assembly. It is a contrast to the state of things some two months ago, when we were expecting an attack from these VOL. II. F 82 DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. men. Now, unarmed, they sit and talk one of their biggest shauris (conferences) by night in my fort, though the gates are closed." After discussing the question among themselves, they referred to me. I could not find out who fired the first shot, and I said that if we could ascertain that, I thought the man should be executed, as he had nearly plunged the coun- try in war. To this, however, both factions demurred, for no one had been killed, and they held the man who had stolen the liquor to be responsible, as having begun the quarrel. So I agreed, and put the thief in handcuffs in our guardroom. He was a Protestant. This quieted the people, and the news soon spread through the country that the matter was ended, and the fear of war next morning passed over. Next day, at the king's request, I sent the prisoner to him to be dealt with by the law of Uganda. He was to pay for the huts burnt, and double for everything stolen, as well as a fine. At my suggestion the other man concerned in the quarrel was also punished, but not so heavily. I heard from my men who were in charge of " Gedge's house," that the people of Mujasi, Salo-Salo, and Kaima (all F.) were still disaffected towards us, and they had even told Cuthbert, my informant (who spoke Kiganda well), that they should attack us in case of war ; but the leaders of the faction — the Kimbugwe, Kauta, Sekibobo, and others — had all proved them- selves our staunch allies. I find in my diary (20th) the following somewhat interesting, if quaint, entry. After speaking very strongly in praise of the Sekibobo (F.), I go on to speak of Zachariah (E.) : " I look on him as the best man in Uganda, most thoroughly straight and trustworthy, and a very great favourite all round. The R. Catholics like him very much, and so does the king. He is never one who brings stories of the opposite side's treachery, &c. I called him on one side PEACE AND MWAXGA's GEATITUDE. 83 and asked him the news. He said that yesterday, after the trouble, the king had held a big haraza. He said to them all, ' This Captain has come here, and said he had come to help the country, but till now I did not believe it. Then you all quarrelled in the haraza about the shamhas, and I [Mwanga] left in a rage, but I got a message saying the Captain wished to see me, and I came. " ' And the Captain said, " This land of yours is being spoilt altogether, and will be plunged in war. And why? Who is spoiling it? You yourself He said, " Why don't you do justice ? All the people are yours, both sides alike. They have no king but you ; both come to you for justice, but the Wa-Ingleza tell me that you do not do justice for them, and favour the Wa-Fransay I said that I did justice ; he an- swered, "Well, then, if you do justice, divide Sesse. Ever since I have been in the land, the Wa-Ingleza say, ' If the king did justice, he would divide Sesse.' " I refused, and said if they wished they could go and teach there, but I would not divide Sesse. To this he said, "All right : now I see you won't do justice, and if you won't, then it is your own fault." And I got afraid, and thought perhaps this Captain speaks true, and this is the real way to restore peace to the country. And I said, " I will divide Sesse." And he was pleased, and said if I did, that all the people would see I did right for both sides, and the troubles about the shamhas would quickly be settled. And then I began to believe that he had really come to settle the country, and for this work only, and no other. And I saw that this was indeed the way to do it. " ' And after he had gone, I went to my bed, and I thought over these things, and I saw that this was indeed true, and that when he said I could not have two people in my house and not treat both alike, he 84 DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. was right. And then in the morning the war began. And who stopped the war ? This Captain stopped it, and he was just the same to both sides. And how did he stop it ? Without shedding any blood at all. He came and stood between, and told all the people to cease from war, and brought his cannon, and they ceased. And if he had not done this, what would have happened? All this country would now be desolate, half the peo- ple would be dead, all of you would not be here, all Uganda would be spoilt. And now I truly believe that he has come to help me, and to bring peace to the country, and his heart is white [viz., without double- dealing]. And all the time he has been in Uganda we have had no wrong or harm at his hands. Whose things has he stolen, or whom has he hurt all this time ? And now, my people, I mean to do justice, and to treat both sides alike, and I will divide Sesse,' " &c. I quote this passage word for word, as I wrote with Zachariah's words still in my ears. For it shows a marked improvement on the cruel tyrant delighting in the lingering tortures of the victims he hacked limb from limb, and then burned alive in the flames. Un- fortunately Mwanga's character was not strong enough to keep him always at his best, and his weakness cost him dear, as my story by-and-by will show. Zachariah had barely finished his account when men came running in to say that some Wa - Ingleza, re- turning from Chagwe, had been attacked by the Wa- Fransa of Salo-Salo's place, and two killed. Again the war-drums beat, and the armies assembled for war in an incredibly short time. The king, I was told, had already sent to arrest the murderers, and he begged me to go to the Katikiro to try and prevent hostilities. The Wa- Ingleza were dejected, and ex- claimed that it was always the same story, — fresh out- rages and no satisfaction — fresh provocations to war. WAR AVERTED AGAIN. 85 I told them not to be fools, but to come out with me and help to stop the battle. Coming out of the Kati- kiro's house, " I found the whole country up once more, and huge crowds of the Fransa faction collecting on the hills, with a large recl-and-white flag (which was, I understand, the French flag). ... I held the hill with twenty men, who had formed our escort to the king. It w^as Zachariah who had urged my taking a strong escort, when I was starting with two Zanzibaris only. They were now very handy, for already the hill was becoming crowded with armed men, who were sneak- ing into the king's enclosure from the back and sides. Meanwhile I sent for a reinforcement and the Maxim. Larger crowds than ever assembled, but were almost entirely Wa-Frccnsa. The ' English ' had been warned not to turn out. As before, the Sekibobo, Kauta, and Kimbugwe worked very hard to quell the rising " (diary). Again we succeeded with difiiculty, and returned home tired out — ^just in time to meet the other army coming from the northern quarter, and to disperse them. These were days of ceaseless anxiety and strain, and told on me considerably ; but it was simply an in- calculable relief to have a man like Williams by my side, on whom I could absolutely rely, and whose pluck was equal to every emergency. In my private diary I make the following note, which is a significant com- mentary on the events which happened a year later : " There is no denying that most of the outrages, since I have been here, have been committed by the Fransa party ; that it is they who have turned out for war, and are violating the treaty ; and if they continue in this course they will invite the destruction of their party — not because they are R. Catholics, but because they are rebels against the British authority and the treaty signed by the king and their own chiefs." On Feb. 21st the French bishop returned to Uganda 86 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. with several new Fathers. It will be remembered that he had left a day or two after my arrival, and before the treaty was signed. They called on the 23d. and Mgr. said: "'(1.) That the country was now at the point of war ; all the people were counting their o-uns. and determined to fioiit. Sooner than divide Sesse. the Pi. Catholics would ficrht. Yet he said at another moment that Sesse was not Pi. Catholic, but neutral. [I afterwards inquired from the king and chiefs about this ; they replied that it Avas wholly untrue, that there was no immediate talk of war, and the kino- said he would settle the Sesse division amicably.] (2.) That the people confidently expected help fr-jm the Germans in case of war. I laughed at this, and they replied with innuendoes that it was true, and in such manner and tone as to try and com-ince, or at least frighten, me ; and added, they had seen arms with the German mark on them in Sesse, and hinted that supplies of powder came from there. I did not like this at all. I absolutely don't believe a word of it, and the way it was said looked t<> rne very like an attempt at intimidation. ... I object also to the mean accusation against the honour of the Germans. This sticks in my throat dread- fully"'" ( diary j. I may note that a year later, when the war broke out, there were almost precisely the same innuendoes, and the Germans were, I believe, appealed to for aid, but my conception of German honour and good faith proved more correct than that of the Fathers. (3. ) They stated that the Wa-Ingleza already had the lion s share of the division of Uo^anda. havinc^ two- thirds of the total country, as against one-third to the Wa-Fransa. This apj^ears unlikely, since they are numerically the weaker, but is arrived at by count- ing the province which ovrns a Protestant head chief UNSATISFACTORY INTERVIEW WITH MGR. 87 as Protestant, and vice versd. This is a quibble, for the actual estates in each province belong to both fac- tions indiscriminately, and the chieftainship is merely an office. Moreover, even so I doubt the accuracy of the statement. Singo would thus be accounted Protes- tant, whereas at least two-thirds of it is deserted and uninhabited, because of the Mohammedan raids. They made several other complaints of a general nature, as to the " continual concessions " made by the R. Catho- lics,— the way they were constantly evicted, &c. " The bishop remarked that all this trouble was quite new since he went, inferring that we had only made con- fusion worse confounded, and spoilt the country. This was taken up most nicely by Pere Brard (who has been here throughout), who pointed out that the trouble had arisen solely over the shamha question, and the country had been very quiet before. Altogether, this interview was unsatisfactory, and Williams was very greatly dis- gusted, saying it looked as though they were deliber- ately misstating facts, — a thing one is more than loth to believe possible. I put it down mostly to misinfor- mation." I quote this interview because it indicates the general attitude of Mgr. Hirth. He knew my position to be full of difficulty, and I understand on the best authority that he has recently, in his evidence before the commission of inquiry, stated that he had no complaint against my administration at this period, which he considers to have been impartial ; yet instead of offering me friendly advice, and trying to co-operate with me, he showed nothing but a vehement partisan- ship, and almost threatened to encourage war, unless I complied with his ideas, which, it needed no knowledge of the questions to see, were narrow and heated. I saw the king in the evening, and he was most vehemently grateful for the way in which we had saved the land a second time from war. He said he should 88 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. consult me in every little thing ; that he saw the only way to save Uganda was to make both sides exactly equal, that he meant to do so, and that we would de- cide every matter together, both great and small, and then make the chiefs obey us. He said " that I was his bed, his food, his house, and his power, and he should do nothing without me." Zachariah (E.) was apj)ointed his messenger to me, and he asked me to make up the quarrel between himself and the Katikiro, which I did, impressing, at the same time, on the latter, patience and forbearance in this question of the shamhas. So Williams and I returned bv moonlio4it to our dinner. Some looting had taken place when the cry of war was raised, and the king appears to have inquired most im- partially into it, fining every man (of either faction) double the value of the stolen j^i'operty. I had been told by the administrator that my idea of trying to gain a personal influence with Mwanga was ridiculous ; but I think that, in the two months since I entered Uo-anda, we had tauo-ht him both to fear and respect us, and even to trust us. For Mwanga, who trembled at his own shadow, now received Williams, Dualla, and myself alone by night in his private house without fear, with only one small 23age-boy in attend- ance. It was at this time (Feb. 25th) that I received the letter from Mgr. which I have described in my reports as "extremely ill-advised." After various complaints he added that hitherto the Fathers had endeavoured to prevent the R. Catholics from taking arms, but that a conflict could only be avoided if justice was now done. On inquiry I found that the king and chiefs had heard no talk of taking up arms. I told Mwanga that I thouo'ht it wrono- for isolated individuals to go to the Fathers with their stories, before they had mentioned the case either to himself or to me : IXFLUEXCE OF MUJASI. 89 the missionaries were purely concerned with religion, nor was it fitting that they should write letters on these questions, which practically amounted to a threat of war, and were calculated to stir up the bad feeling I had been at such pains to allay. Long afterwards, I had occasion to say much the same of the English missionaries. I went to Mgr. and endeavoured to get him to understand that, for every complaint of his party, I had at least an equivalent from the other side, and begged him to let me know fully any cause of complaint he heard of Ultimately, I think, he became convinced that I was honestly trying my best for both, and we parted on excellent terms. For my own part, I thought I could trace the solu- tion of the matter. The Mujasi ^^as a E. Catholic. He had refused to come and see us, and was almost the only chief of importance who was our declared enem}^. I heard reports from my men who lived at Gedge's house, of the threats which emanated from his people in their nightly revels, not against the Wa- Inc/Ieza alone, but against us. He was the king's confidant, and lived in his house. Since the time the king had declared himself eager to co-operate with me, and to act without bias, I had noticed that the Mujasi was no longer there, as he had invariably been before. This boy-chief had been bred and brought up in the French Mission, and was a very great favourite of the Fathers, who, I think, believed implicitly all he said. But I believe him to have been (like most Waganda) untruthful. [The Fathers stated that in the war a year later the Mujasi "penetrated into the Fort Kampala under the fire of two Maxims," &c. This, I suppose, ^A'as his own version. He never was within 500 yards of the fort on that day. I could quote other cases, but it is superfluous to prove a Mganda untruthful.] He was now, I fancv, more bitter and hostile than 90 DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. ever. When Msfr. made one or two assertions which surprised me at our interview, and I asked their source, he named the Mujasi. This man was at the root of the trouble throughout. A year later, when war broke out, it was from his place that the war- drums beat first, and I myself believe firmly, that it was due to him more than to any other that the civil war took place. I shall later have a good deal to say about him. 92 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. My view — Williams' subsequent action — Various disputes settled — Mails arrive — French missions to Usoga — Rights of missions' extension — Status of missionaries in British territory — State of Usoga — Show parade — Uganda police — Case of Mondu — Agree to fight Mohammedans — Choice of the General — Martin's arrival with the envoys — State reception — Samweli's announcement — Beating of royal war-drums — Departure of Katikiro's army — Martin to coast — Bagge to Usukuma — Drill of our troops — E. Catholic critics. The matter of the outrao-e on the Protestants return- ing from Chagwe, which had so nearly led to war (p. 84), had blown over, and when the men sent to investigate it returned, they reported that no one had been killed, and only two wounded. Another matter on the 26th, when some Wa-Fransa were said to have surrounded the hut of a man of the " Eno-lish " faction, was in process of investigation, as also a case in Avhich the Pokino's (E.) people were reported to have resisted the orders of the king about a disputed estate. Evic- tions still took place on either side. The Wa-Fransa claimed to have had 100 ousted on one occasion, and the Wa - Ingle za had even a larger number. Zachariah told me privately that this was all nonsense : two had been turned out on the one side and three on the other ; the rest were followers ! On the 27th I got the king to announce in haraza — "(l) that on no account whatever should any chief evict any man from his shamha without the express order of the haraza, and if he did so he should be liable to lose his place. (2) That all the dwellers on any estate should do the work of the chief immediately over them, and he again of his superiors, providing the customary food or tribute, &c., entirely irrespective of creed or party." Both sides emphatically approved of this law, which was entered in the newly instituted statute-book, and the Kimbugwe (F.) made an admi- rable^ speech about it. One of the greatest grievances of the Protestants (re estates) had been in the case of BUILDINGS IN KAMPALA. 93 Mondu. The district in question was a very large one, which had been divided into six estates : of these, the Wa-Fransa were to have three and the Wa-Ingleza three, but the former had appropriated the whole. The Wa-Fransa agreed to the king's verdict of restitution, but Mondu himself refused to move. The king talked of sending war to enforce his decision, but the Protes- tants knew that this would mean a general appeal to arms, so they decided to wait till Mondu came to the capital, and then to reopen it. It was very long before they obtained their rights in this matter, and I merely quote it to show how difficult it was to avoid war, even after both sides had come to an agreement. The case of Paulo (E.) was identical with this, the Wa-Fransa refusing to leave. Another grievance of the Protestants was that their faction was entirely excluded from the king's court, and the offices about his person, which, with his body-guard, were entirely filled with R. Catholics. Zachariah's appointment as the king's messenger to me, I looked on as at least one important appointment for the Protestants. He did not, however, sleep in the king's enclosure, and could not therefore be classed as exactly one of his attendants. I spoke to the king- about it, but he made no promises. Things began to look more settled now, and I had time myself to work at making the gates for the forts, and planning the new guard-house and native houses, &c. Our store, 30 ft. by 15 ft., was completed. I was head artisan, and undertook any special job. I also had the boun- daries of Kampala delimited by a messenger from the king, and found that he had given us a very large estate, including the knoll on which the fort was built, the intervening valley, and half-way up the hill of Namilembe opposite. I now brought forward seven different outrages 94 DIFFICULTIES IX UGAXDA. which had been committed on my own men. but said I would waive all except the last, which was of recent date, and most unpardonable. Some men had set on the Somal who tended our flock on the slopes of Kampala, and beaten him severely. As the Somals were enlisted soldiers, and very well behaved, I could not overlook the matter. The kino- did his best, but the men had fled, so their house was fired. At the haraza on the 28th, when I went to reconcile the Katikiro (E.) to the king and Kimbugwe (F.), Mwanga pointed out to the latter that all the outrages com- mitted on my men had been done by the R. Catholics. The exjDeriment of a local police force, already sug- gested by me, was at this time carried out. It was well received, and each faction was to provide six men, to whom I would add some of mine. This mixed force was to patrol the roads, — the Waganda being dressed in scarlet calico jackets, so as to be easily recognisable, — and to seize all thieves and rowdies, as well as prevent the carrvino; of arms in the streets. The " Eno-lish faction regularly sent their six men, but I never suc- ceeded in getting more than one or two of the " French police, in spite of continual effort. I regretted this the more, because complaints had been made that Pro- testants had seized the little crosses which the R. Catholics wore as their distinctive emblem round their necks, and had torn them from women and small boys. I had failed to get any clear evidence on this point (as also, apparently, had Bishop Tucker and the French priests in their conference), and I was only too anxious to catch a Protestant in the act, and to make a not- able example of him. The Wa-Fransa police would, I had hoped, have been particularly eager to catch a culprit, and my men would have assisted them. However, though great pains were taken with this attempt at a ^^olice force, it never succeeded, for the DIFFICULTIES RE CHANGE OF FACTION. 95 Waganda are entirely unadapted by nature and tem- perament to such routine work. They will fight bravely in war, but are absolutely useless for garrison duties, for sentries, police, and patrols, and they greatly dislike the duty. The rains broke at the beginning of March, and we had constant torrents daily. The king continued most cordial, as did the leading R. C. chiefs ; but I was told that the lesser people of the Wa-Fransa still detested us, while the Protestants looked on us as their saviours, saying that at the time we came they w^ere in despair, and daily thought of leaving the country, but now obtained justice. The king's mother — the Namasole — came to visit us in state, — an indication of the improved relations which now existed. Another case of eviction was reported on the 6th. This time the offender was a Protestant. I told him he had broken the agreement, and was liable to lose his place, and sent him to the Sekibobo to plead for pardon, and the evicted people were at once reinstated. The chiefs, however, said that the agreement had not been prom- ulgated, and the outlying people did not know of it, so it was arranged that each party should tell all their people on the 8th (Sunday), when they assembled at church. A new source of trouble now arose. The Protestants asked whether, if a man changed his religion, he should forfeit his estates and office ? This, it was stated, had been agreed in the treaty between the factions. I agreed that the twelve great chieftainships of Uganda should continue to be held equally by either faction ; and that, if one of these changed his religion, he should be super- seded by a chief of the same faction, so as to maintain the balance of the political parties in the haraza ; but that all others should be free to change their creed as often as they pleased. On the 5th I took the book to 96 DIFFICULTIES IX UGAXDA. harazci to enter this, but apparently I had been mis- understood ; for when I asked the names of the twelve chiefs, the Wa-Ingleza demanded that all the lesser chiefs named in the agreement (some 600 I was told) should be included. The other side behaved very well. They said they were in favour of comj^lete freedom of creed, but put themselves in my hands, and would agree to what I said. My experience had led me to defer a hasty decision in all matters, however preconvinced I might be of the expediency of a certain course ; for where there was strong opposition from either faction, there was gener- ally more in the matter than met the eye. I therefore said I would discuss it quietly with three of each side, and let the king know the result later. I was, of course, myself strongly in favour of complete freedom in the choice of religion. "The TTV<-/n^tea demurred, because they said that the real Christians in the country were a very, very small minority, and the rest would go over in large numbers to the religion, or rather faction, of the king, whatever it might be (and he is nominally a R. Catholic, or 'French'). They had only been deterred so far by fearing to lose their places and estates. Now, if these restrictions were removed, the ' English ' iDolitical party would be deci- mated, and then, if trouble arose and the parties turned out to fio'ht. the ' French ' would not be restrained, but would go for the small residue of Protestants left, and destroy them. " At present, one reason for the maintenance of peace had been that the two parties were so evenly matched, that all knew that a war would be the de- struction of the whole country. Moreover, they now had the ingress into the shamhas of the professing Protestants ; but if these became ' French,' they would no longer have the opportunity of spreading their DIFFICULTIES BE CHANGE OF FACTIOX. 97 religion among them. Further, they accused me of breaking the treaty I had made. For at the time they all signed it, the R. Catholics had drawn up a codicil that their old treaty regarding religion should not be broken, and I had signed this. Now the posi- tion was reversed, the Wa-Fransa being willing to follow me with full confidence, while the Wa-Ingleza took the codicil (a weapon the Wa - Fransa had forged) and used it against me. The question was a difficult one. If their conclusions — about men going over to the faction of the king — are sound (and all are unanimous, and the R. Catholics do not deny it), then by forcing this agreement I should deal a very heavy blow to the Ingleza faction. ... I do not wish to do this to the party who stood by me, and threw in their lot with me, when I came here. Moreover, I think that, just at present, a balance of power in the state is most desirable. So I had a council of chiefs again in the evening. The Wa-Fransa behaved really admirably, and said they would leave it all in my hands and act on mv decision." I have thus quoted from my diary to show what were my views and actions at the time, and to prove thereby, so far as I can, that I am not discussing the question by the light of recent criticism, but telling events as they actually happened, and narrat- ing my own action, even though it be condemned as mistaken. Had the question really been one of liberty of conscience and religious toleration, nothing could have persuaded me to favour anything but an absolute freedom of creed. It was, however, not a religious question, though it is easy, by substituting the names Protestant and R. Catholic for Ingleza and Fransa, to make it appear so.^ The Protestants said they had no fear whatever of any of their sect going over to the 1 Notes on Uganda, p. 34, 4, a. VOL. II. G 98 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. R. Catholics — any one was free to do that ; and in such a case there really was no difficulty whatever about forfeiture of estates, for both parties have estates and to spare to give to bond Jide converts. For the population, owing to continual war and to Mwanga's persecutions, was reduced by half, besides which there were the estates formerly lield bv Mohammedans and heathen. So far as the comparative toleration of the two sects is concerned, I am quite convinced that it is erroneous to say that the H. Catholics were ani- mated by a spirit of toleration and wished for absolute liberty of conscience, while the Protestants wished to coerce people into following their religion. All these evictions were produced solely by religious intolerance, and the attempt to force the dwellers on an estate to follow a particular creed ; and in this matter, as I have said, I think the E. Catholics had taken the lead. Long afterwards I had complaints from the Kamaniro, (an old heathen chief who detested both religions), of the persecution he had suffered at the hands of the R. Catholics to force him to espouse their sect ; and his case was by no means singular. I was myself struck with the toleration as regards relio'ion. of the Protestants, when the countrv was divided after the war in 1892. I insisted that in the Protestant provinces the P. Catholics should still be free (if unarmed) to teach and propagate their religion — a request I could not dare to make to the P. Catholics in their province as regards the Pro- testant creed. I expected strong opposition to this, but the unanimous reply of the Protestant chiefs is still fresh in my memory — Surely, surely, we cannot coerce the religion of God?" ("Ndio, ndio, hatuwezi kuzuia dini za Muungu ? ") I do not mean to say the Protestants were usually tolerant. Neither sect was LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE V. CHANGE OF POLITICS. 99 SO. But the teaching of the missionaries gave the cue to their followers. The Fathers looked on Protestant- ism as a heresy which they were bound to combat and expose. On the other hand, I myself discussed the question of toleration at various times with Protestant chiefs, and I understood them to say that their mis- sionaries had taught them that every man should be allowed to wwship God in his own way. My own subsequent action will prove, I think, that I included them all, Moslem as well as Christian, in my own doctrine of toleration, leaving God to judge which was acceptable to Himself. The question, therefore, was not one of liberty of con- science, for which no one could be a stronger advocate than I am. It was a question as to whether such adherents of the Wa-Ingleza as were heathen, should continue to occupy shamhas adjudged by the chiefs, at the division of the country, to belong to the Ingleza faction, in the event of their electing to follow the king, and become part of the Wa-Fransa fighting force. The king had declared himself to be of one of the two factions — viz., the Fransa ; but that he was not a R. Catholic properly so called, it is hardly necessary to demonstrate. His plurality of wives, and his practice of obscene and unnatural vices, prevented the Fathers from receiving him into the Church. A year later, when he was reported to have made great progress in the R. Catholic faith, ^ these things still continued, and are vouched for in a letter to me from Pere Achte at that time. The king, then, instead of maintaining a neutral position between the factions, though entirely unconverted to the R. Catholic faith, had declared himself of the Fransa faction. His prestige would induce the mass of the people to declare themselves of his following, fearing lest, if they re- 1 Mgr. Hirth's letter, 'Daily News,' May 30th, 1892, e^-c. 100 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. mained Wa-Tuglezci, they should be accounted to belong- to the faction opposed to that of their king. Had I supported a change which would thus have resulted in the annihilation of the Wa-Ingleza, — the loval minority who had supported me throughout, — I might indeed have laid myself open to the charge of interfering with the established authorities and the system I found in the country, while as yet I had no other system of rule to substitute for it.^ My own wish was to reduce the 600 chiefS; said to have been named in this agreement, to some thirty, who should be inalienable from the Ingleza party, and then to declare all others in Uganda free to join which faction thev wished, without forfeitino- the estates be- longing to the faction they abandoned. This compro- mise, however, did not satisfy the Wa-Iiigleza though the missions supported it. It was then agreed by both parties, that the present condition of affairs should remain until the treaty expired — viz., for two years. This did not please the king, who, of course, wished to secure the chance of all the heathen declaring themselves of his faction, while thev still retained the estates belonging to the Wa-Ingleza. Ultimately the Protestants told me, that if the envoys came to say that Uo-anda was British, there would be no fear of defections to the Wa-Fransa. Consequently, though I could not see the force of the argument at all, I was willino' to aoTee that thino-s should remain in statu quo till the envoys (now daily expected) should arrive, after which there should be no restriction on change of faction. I entered this tentatively in the statute-book, but it remained unsigned ; for though the king and E. Catholic chiefs were pleased, the Protestant mission- aries now accused me of having struck a blow at their 1 Xotes on Uganda, E. C. Union, p. 25. WILLIAMS' SUBSEQUENT ACTION. 101 party which must lead to annihilation. The bulk of the Protestant chiefs, moreover, repudiated the course which had been proposed to me by several of their most influential leaders, and to which (solely on their showing) I had consented. I said that it was the Protestants themselves who had urged upon me this course, and that possibly on the arrival of the envoys the question might be reopened. As a matter of fact, within a day or so of their arrival we marched out to war against the Mohammedans, and the question was not raised. Later, Captain Williams, acting in my absence, had to adjudicate on the matter. He found my entry in the statute-book, and insisted on carrying it out — viz., in declaring every man free to join what religion or faction he pleased, and still to retain his estates. The P. Catholics promised if this were done, to hoist the British flag throughout Uganda. This promise they never kept. At the time that Captain Williams carried this matter through, he was not, I think, aware of my vieM^s on this question, as I have described them. His action was met by a written protest from the English missionaries, couched in very strong language. On the 1 0th March we had a conference at Kampala. The P. Catholics produced a list of twenty-four cases, the Protestants a similar list. They were mostly dis- puted estates, bygone evictions, and so on. " I took one of each side in rotation, and we came to conclusions on some eight or ten separate cases ; and after settling each matter, I appointed a headman of the party on which it devolved to carry out the orders, to go and see it done, and be responsible to me. The points settled were amongst the most important, I presume, since they were named first. I have never before succeeded in getting so satisfactory a result " (diary). On the 11th March 1891 the first mails arrived. 102 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. dated Christmas 1890, and intelliofence that Martm with a large caravan and the envoys was behind. The new^s was that the envoys confirmed my words, and that Uo^anda was under Encrland. Last Christmas this would in all probability have been the signal for war, but it w^as received now^ with equanimity by the Wa- Fransa chiefs and the king. The R. Catholic envoy, Martin said, had been very quarrelsome on the journey, and had even temporarily left the caravan. Matters in Uganda now quieted down considerably, and the prospect looked hopeful. The French bishop and Fathers called on me on the 12th and w-ere most cordial, speaking strongly of the improvement visible, and the pacification of the country. Constant minor grievances from both sides came in, however, but I considered it time to take a step in advance of past methods, and I declined to hear the complaints of any petty chief, saying that we had now made a law for the adjustment of all such cases, and the complaints must be taken before the king and haraza ; nor would I interfere in any case unless it had first been pre- sented there, and was subsequently referred to me by the king, or the principal chiefs themselves. " That if force was required to support the decisions of the haraza, mv soldiers were alwavs readv ; but I would not send out a single man unless accompanied by the king's police, and a regular envoy (Mbaka) detailed to carry out the orders." On the 12th Pere Brard left to establish a mission in Usoga, w^hither, it will be remembered, Messrs Gordon and Smith had gone about a month previously. The Fathers referred to me on the subject — the English, as I have said, had gone without any official intimation to me. Personally I was averse to the establishment of two rival missions in Usoga, and I replied that I did not think the missions ought to go into a country under RIGHTS OF missions' EXTENSION. 103 British influence, without having previously intimated it at the coast. This could easily have been done in the case of both missions — for the missionaries for Usoo-a were in both cases fresh arrivals. As far as my own opinion went, it was that missionaries were of course free to go where they liked in " No-man's Land" ; but that within a " sphere of influence," they could not claim a right to go to a district, where no administra- tion had as yet been established, and no efiicient protec- tion could be aflbrded them for their lives and property. That it was useless to say that they carried these in their hands, and trusted to God ; for if any insult was offered to them, it must be taken cognisance of by the administration, which otherwise would lose prestige, since among savages the white men were all as one. The R. Catholic bishop had raised the question on my first arrival in Uganda. He agreed that possibly application ought to have been made at the coast, but it had not been done, and several missionaries had arrived with the express purpose of going to Usoga ; did I forbid it ? I replied that, so far as I was per- sonally concerned, I would place no obstacle in their way, and I would write definitely to the coast and request a ruling on the matter. The reply (dated August 13th) did not arrive till the end of the year, when the French Mission had already long been aban- doned, because of the thieving and hostile propensities of the natives. I understand the Fathers blame the Uganda administration for this ! A year later I had a similar question with the Church Missionary Society, who, having withdrawn their mission, again decided to go to Usoga in spite of my official disapproval, based on many strong reasons, which I will not detail here. For my own part, I have no sympathy with this furore for territorial extension. The C. M. S. had sent two missionaries to Usoga, 104 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. thouo'h thev had but t^^'0 mission - stations in all Uganda, and were greatly outnumbered by the White Fathers. Later, when they sent missions to Usoga, they had no station in Uganda, excej)t at the capital. Uganda offers a splendid field for mission- work. The people are more eager to learn and more intel- ligent than the Wasoga. The Company (though every- thing could not be done in a moment) were in process of establishino' an administration, to afford them effici- ent protection, yet these missionaries must needs em- barrass that administration by going to a country in which its authority had as yet not been fully estab- lished. These remarks, it will be seen, apply with equal force to both the French and the English mis- sions in Uganda. It appears to me that the time has come, when the status of the missionar}^ under a British administration should be clearly laid down, and that he should not be authorised to go where the authorities prohibit his going — for reasons which in some cases may not be within his own knowledge. If this jDOwer of prohibition bv the administrator be unduly exercised, public oioinion in Europe can be relied upon to vindicate the rights of the missions. Supposing that the administration can see its way to allowing the missionaries to proceed to a specified district, they would understand that they would still o'o at their own risk — i.e., that tliev could neither demand nor expect an armed garrison for their protection. Any open outrage or insult would be taken cognisance of by the secular power, which, however, could not be held responsible to forecast the horizon, or to ensure them from petty theft, &c. The first duty of the missions, if they desired to extend into a new country, would be to ascertain if they would be welcome there. The Government, in sanctioning their going, would intimate to the native chief that they are under A SHOAV PARADE. 105 protection, and must be treated well.^ The right of prohibition to mission extension is rigorously enforced by the Congo Free State. Mr Gordon returned from Usoga about this time, and brought news that Arabs had penetrated there with arms and powder, which the natives were eager to buy. I felt the urgent necessity of placing a European in Usoga, but I had not a man to send. I was even more anxious to establish a station near the lake in Buddu, in order to control the canoe traffic, and prevent the import of arms, &c. ; but my appeals to headquarters for more Europeans to assist in the work had met with no response, though Mr Jackson, on his return from Uganda the previous September, had informed the Direc- tors that fourteen Europeans at least were necessary. We had a show parade one day, when it was arranged to fire both Maxims, &c. The fort was manned with great smartness by the Sudanese and Zanzibari Levy on the alarm sounding, and the former fired volleys at a target with excellent results, which produced a great effect on the crowds of AVaofanda, who came to see. But both Maxims broke down, and jammed hopelessly, almost at the first shot ; though a day or two later, after Williams had carefully overhauled them, the newer one, at least, worked well. The effect was good, and I was told the masses were greatly impressed by it, and at our forbearance in the face of all their provocations, when again and again our own men had been assaulted. The Waganda police, to whom I have alluded, did not get into working order till March 1 6th. The force con- sisted of a patrol of three Protestants and three E. Catholics, with six Zanzibaris, and three Sudanese. 1 The course lately pursued in Uganda, when the missionaries were in- formed by H.M.'s Commissioner that they might go to Toru, but he would nevertheless not be responsible for them in any way, is contrary to this view, nor can I see how the administration could fail to be involved if any disaster happened to them there. — Blue-book Africa, No. 8, 1893, p. 25. 106 DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. These fifteen men went out at 8 a.m. and patrolled the roads about Mengo, returning at noon, and being re- lieved by a similar body. Their duties were to prevent men from carrying arms, and to check all disturbances. Soitials, Sudanese. Types of Kampala Soldiers. Later I intended to split them up into small parties, and distribute them ; but Williams afterwards, in mv absence, did not find them a success, and abandoned the idea. I now thought it a good opportunity to carry out my promise of going against the Mohammedans, who still continued to raid the frontier, for it was the season of the rains, and everv day the tall bamboo -grass and rank vegetation was growing higher, and would make Zanzibar Levy. WE AGREE TO FIGHT MOHAMMEDANS. 107 operations more difficult. Most of the burning questions had been faced. The division of Sesse was not yet carried out, but had been aofreed to. Mondu still refused to obey the law, but was repudiated by the R. Catholics, and was said to be supplied with arms for resistance by his brother, a Protestant ! I sent for the brother, and meanwhile thouofht the matter could well Avait till our war was over. The king's household and body- guard were still solely Wa-Fransa. But very much had been achieved, and a most friendly and cordial feelinof- existed between the leadintr R. Catholic chiefs and ourselves. Of these the Sekibobo, Kago, and Kauta were men for whom I had, and still have, a strong personal liking, especially the two former ; also the Kangao, and the head chief Kimbugwe, and many others. Mujasi, Salo-Salo, and Kaima still stood aloof, and their influence was still against us, but it was not, I think, great. I therefore suggested that we should at once pre- pare for this expedition, and I would leave so soon as Martin and the envovs arrived. There now arose a difficulty as to who should be the general of the army. I made the following note at the time : ''They came hopelessly to grief over the question. The Pro- testants say it is in this nebulous treaty of theirs ^ that the general is to be chosen alternately from either side ; and they produced a paper with eleven generals of war on it, being alternate from either side, and the last being a R. Catholic, they refuse to forego their turn. The king and Wa-Fransa want the gen- eral to be from their side, and maintain, I think, that the last was not a proper war. Both sides and the king at once agreed to refer to me, and the haraza broke 1 This treaty or mutual agreement was not in writing, but it was the basis of the understanding upon which the two Christian factions had agreed to coalesce to oust the Mohammedans in 1889. 108 DIFFICULTIES IX UGAXDA. up without trouble. So I weut and saw the king privately. I said that this was a very big business, and we must not treat it like the former ones, but the king must himself o-o in command. He was ' knocked into a cocked-hat ' by this, and said he was an old man ! I replied that I was older than he. He said he must stay and look after the country. I retorted, then I must do the same. After rubbing it in till he was quite uncom- fortable, I exclaimed, ' All right ! if you don't go yourself, then the next biggest man in Uganda must go.' He agreed at once. This, of course, is the Katikiro (E.), whom I understand to be the bravest and best general among them." So it was settled, and men departed to raise the country for war. Shortly after this Martin arrived (March 31st), and with him Mr Bagge and Dr Macpherson ; and it was a signal proof of our advance, that there was no trouble whatever about his crossino- the Nile, &c. He had the most miserable collection of almost naked and half- starved cripj^les as porters, that I had ever seen col- lected together, many of them unarmed. There were no rolls of men, no lists of loads, and everything was in a chaos, and no one seemed to know how many men there should be ! Baow was ill with ulcerated feet, and Avas beino- carried. I retained some of the best of Martin's men, and decided that he should hurry down as fast as he could and obtain some ammuni- tion. He had brought none, and we had only some forty rounds per man, with no reserve at all, and would have to issue some of this to the Waganda for the impending war against the Mohammedans : this (with what we might fire ourselves) would leave us almost Avithout anv ammunition, in a country where one never knew what the morrow might bring forth. I had long before urged on the Company that am- munition should be sent ; had pointed out that the STATE RECEPTION OF ENVOYS. 109 quantity I was told to take from Dagoreti was not in existence there ; and had repeated my requisitions by the mail Mr Gedge had taken down. Martin was therefore to make all possible haste to represent our urgency. He did not, however, return till the fol- lowing December, Avhen his supplies were providen- tially just in time before the crisis came in Uganda. Bagge I determined to send with a fleet of canoes to the south of the lake, to procure supplies of cloth for our necessary food-purchase, to bring up all Stokes' guns and powder for storage at Kampala, and to beg a little ammunition from the Germans if possible (they had, however, it transpired, no Snider ammunition). It was a very great relief to have a doctor at last, and for this I was most heartily grateful. The day after the arrival of the caravan we all went to the haraza, which was a very grand affair, held in the king's new durbar-house, with great formalities. I introduced the new arrivals, and read the letters from the Administrator and the Consul- General at Zanzibar. The latter had made no allusion whatever to me, nor mentioned that I was the accredited agent of the Company, as I had asserted. Had we not, therefore, already made our position secure, this omis- sion might have raised suspicion that we were merely filibusters, and that our treaty might be repudiated, as Dr Peters' had been. Indeed, in a letter to the Katikiro, which was sent open under cover to me, they had even been told to go to the English bishop for advice in their disputes ! This letter I did not read in the haraza, but handed to the Katikiro. It would have been looked on almost as an insult by the K. Catholic chiefs and the priests, I think, to be told to refer their cases to the English bishop ! Moreover, it was directly opposed to my constant dictum — viz., that the missionaries of both creeds were here to teach re- 110 DIFFICULTIES IX UGAXDA. ligion only, and not to interfere in the administra- tion of the countrv. which was our work. The letter, moreover, contained an unfortunate allusion to the flag. Samweli. the Protestant envov. beinof the biowr chief, ^vas spokesman, and he described the incidents of their journey, — their reception at the coast, &c. ; and finally said that Uo^anda was ceded to British influence. I had heard (I know not if there was any truth in it) that at the time the envoys were sent, it was understood that their return would brmg a crisis. Either that there would be war, or that if it was announced that Uganda was under England, the •'French" jDarty would leave the country and retire to the islands ; if under France, the "English" party would go to Usoga. Samweli's announcement (about which he had been very nervous) was. however, received with complete composure. I then asked for canoes to go to the south of the lake for our goods, and these the king readily gave. The previous day we had had news that the enemv were raiding close to the capital, and in the evening the war-drums suddenly boomed out, and the country o'ot under arms. Thouofh convinced that there could be no trouble between the parties without my having had previous intimation, I was taken by surprise ; and fearinof that, as the envovs had that dav arrived, and the E. Catholic envoy had had a quarrel on the way, some unexpected mischief had been made by him, I turned out my men, and we manned Kampala in the pitch-dark night, till news reached me that a fresh report having come in that the enemy had ap- proached close, and might attack the capital, the king had beaten the war-drum to warn the peoj^le. These reports were, I believe, wholly untrue, but were cir- culated to hurry up matters, or to increase the eager- ness for war. I told him he should have o-iven me BEATING OF ROYAL WAR-DRUMS. Ill notice first, but he said he thought I would understand, and I daresay enjoyed the joke of having caused us to get under arms. The contrast between the days when I had prepared for war so often with my handful of porters and 50 soldiers, and our present turn-out, some 650 strong (with Martin's men), of whom 300 had been drilled by Williams, a serviceable Maxim, and 7 Euro- peans, behind the impregnable fort at Kampala, struck me as w^e awaited the news. The drums having thus been already beaten, I re- quested the king, Avhen the haraza was over, to do so again in a formal manner. " We went outside the king's enclosures, on to the hill, amid a dense concourse. It w^as a remarkable sight, and one seldom seen by Euroj^eans. The huge drums of war were produced and beaten, while the king, surrounded by his chiefs, stood with an umbrella held over him. At each stroke, made with all the vigour and energy of the drummer's body, he opens his mouth to its widest and gives vent to a guttural roar, which has a strange and impressive effect. We stood by the king, and dense crowds of men thronged around us. The king sent for one of the big war - drums, beaten by a grey - headed old negro, — almost the only old man holding any office whatever about the court (for the king and almost all the chiefs are a parcel of boys). He had the drum beaten for me close to him- self, to show me the way the war-note was sounded. It was a piece of courtesy, which on such an occasion, and from such a man as Mw^anga, had its significance. Within five minutes masses of armed men beo^an to assemble on every side, and came pouring in dense troops towards us from every direction, rushing along, shouting and dancing and yelling. "The scene was not unlike that of a few weeks ago, when the country was all but plunged in war, and 112 DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. Protestants and R. Catholics were on the pomt of flying at each other's throats, and we stood here on this same spot and dared them to begin the civil war. But now the significance of the whole scene was changed. No longer Christian against Christian, and we against both, but all of us on the same side, about to become comrades in war ao-ainst the common enemy, — Christians against Mohammedans. " Party after party came rushing to where we stood. A narrow lane Avas left between the masses of men on either side, up the rising ground to where the king and we stood. \Jp this narrow^ lane the war-parties rushed, and each on coming close to the king held his gun above his head, presenting the butt (as at the "head parry"), and swore the oath of loyalty, and retired to make way for others. It looked in their mimic ferocity as though they meant to dash out the brains of his Majesty ! The more loval and the braver, the more threatenino^ the gestures.^ At last the Mujasi, — head of the king's ashari — got uj), as to his legs, in one of Peters' scarlet-flannel uniforms, — arrived and took his oath of allegiance, followed by the heads of his army. He did it nicely and gracefully, and I admired the boy, though he is my hete noire. It is the custom of Uganda that the king now introduces the general he has aj)pointed, who goes off there and then to the war. He is supposed to be a viceroy, armed for the time with all the powers of the king ; and as it is not fit- ting that two kings should sleep in the same place, he clears out ! So the Katikiro was handed over to the excited crowd, Avho bore him off." We now had a busy time issuing guns on loan for the war to the different chiefs, and dealing out am- munition and bullets and powder. For this latter I made them pay, and let them have twenty (lO-lb.) ^ Conf. Wilson, Uganda, &c., vol. i. p. 202 ; and Speke's Journals, p. 256. MARTIN TO COAST. 113 kegs. The king* tried to keep back most of this — which I issued for this war only — and I had some difficulty about it, but the Kimbugwe (F.) supported me strongly. The Katikiro and his army left that night (April 1st), while most of the big chiefs went off to their provinces to collect their men and follow him. The Mujasi waited in Mengo. He was always suspicious, and I was told would not leave till after I did, lest I should seize the king ! I devoted my time to writing heavy mails for the coast, to be con- veyed by Martin, who was to leave on the 6th. He had orders to recruit porters in Usoga, which would delay him some time. On the 5th, the doctor, at my request, furnished me with a medical report regarding their journey, and stated that they " had lost many men," &c. I asked him to explain how many, and from what causes. The result was, that some very startling disclosures were made regarding the difficulties Martin had had to encounter, and the methods employed. In fact it was the old system of caravan- work which has disgraced the European in Africa ^ — the school in which, as Martin said, he had been brought up, and which was at complete variance with what I deemed to be right. I counter-ordered Martin's de- parture, and instituted a full official inquiry, which I sent to the coast. From this it appeared that Martin, in spite of protest, had been peremptorily ordered to start with many more loads than he had men to carry, and half the requisite food. He had done his best to save his loads — as though of more value than his men — and this was the result. Having been furnished with complete nominal-rolls and accounts to date of the men he took from Kampala, he started on the 7th. I then arranged Bagge's party, ^ In contrast to this, vide Felkin, Uganda, &c., vol. i. p, 327. VOL. II. H 114 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. which was to proceed by canoe to the south of the lake, and gave him full instructions ; and leaving De Winton in charge at Kampala with some seventy men, mostly sick, we marched out on April 8th. The rain came down in torrents every day, and the dense vegeta- tion had grown up with tropical luxuriance. With the new arrivals our force numbered some 150 Sudanese, 160 Zanzibari Levy, and 300 porters, the latter being loaded with bags of flour, which I had long been importing from Usoga, and storing in readi- ness for this expedition. Williams, Grant, Dr Mac- pherson, and myself, with these natives (about 600), formed our portion of the army. The instruction to our fighting men had mainly consisted in teaching them — "(l) to work by bugle- sound ; (2) to fight in open order without crowding, and to preserve a tolerable line of advance ; (3) to take a careful aim when firing, and not waste ammunition, an object and distance for sighting being named when volleys were fired ; (4) to understand the general idea of advancing by rushes, taking cover, (fee, in the attack. Williams single-handed had achieved wonderful results in this short time, and the material to work with was vastly better than the pack of absolutely raw savages, with which in Xyasa- land I had last marched out to war. I may mention that at this time a messenger arrived from Kabarega, the powerful king of Unyoro, to treat for peace with Mwanga. He was entirely opposed to Europeans, and I knew his proposals Avere insincere. We found later, as we anticipated, that he had sent a large army to co-operate Avith the Mohammedans. I therefore ad- vised Mwanga at present to have nothing to say to him, and declined to negotiate myself, till he should send a properly accredited envoy with adequate i^o- posals and guarantees. ROMAN CATHOLIC CRITICS. 115 I have endeavoured to give a brief outline in these three chapters both of the position of afiairs in Uganda, when I arrived there, and of the difficulties between the parties, and the manner in which I dealt with them. It has been a hard matter to condense my diaries into this compass, or to give a full explanation of the work which occupied me from morning till night for these three and a half months. My task was facilitated by the fact that many chiefs of both factions spoke Swahili fluently, in which language I could converse with them. It was not, however, merely a knowledge of the language and the customs of the people, but of the position and limits of estates, which was required. The country being unsurveyed, no map was available. Moreover, for this very reason I did my utmost, as I have shown, to interfere as little as I could, leaving the decision to the king and chiefs, who understood the interests involved. I have not space — and I should tire the general reader — were I to attempt here to give more than this outline, or to reply in detail to the arguments put forward by the Eoman Catholic Union to prove my administration corrupt and partial, and my methods wrong. The impossibility of piecing together events, or of judging of cause and elfect from the fragmen- tary accounts of them obtained by the perusal of stray reports and letters, has led my critics into several most natural misconceptions and a few misstatements, and as they justly observe, the accounts of the French Fathers being much more voluminous than those hitherto obtainable from English sources, they have been often compelled to rely on an ex parte statement only. To quote an instance. I have described poor Mr Gedge's state as I found him in Uganda, — broken down, nearly blind, and in great pain. In daily fear of his life, without influence or authority with the king 116 DIFFICULTIES IX UGANDA. and chiefs, and with some thirty insubordinate porters, one or other of whom was continually being flogged. Yet on page 23 of the ' Uganda Notes' he is described as having forcibly seized a man of the Mujasi's (the E. Catholic head of the army), who was said to have stolen his bullock, and " sent troops " to pillage his master's (the Mujasi's) place ! " Everything was looted, and women and children found there were stripped, chained, and brought before the Company's agent." I know the real story well, and recollect its details, for it was one of the troubles awaitino- me when I arrived in Uganda ; and it was very, very diflerent, and was a case of gross theft and insult on the part of the Mujasi's men — as / heard the story. I may not have been correctly informed in all details, but is it not too ridiculous to suppose that Gedge had the j^ower to act as described even if he had the ivill f 117 CHAPTEE XXYL WAR AGAINST MOHAMMEDANS, AND TOUR IN BUDDCJ. We join the Uganda army — March in rains — Problem of Uganda water- shed— Nature of country — Concentration of army— Foragers — Discover Lake Isoldt — Mujasi contumacious — Uganda treachery — Katikiro demands a flag — In touch with enemy — Overtures to Mohammedans — Their envoys arrive — Negotiations fall through — Impregnable position of enemy — We outmanoeuvre them — Victory — My reason for securing Selim's Sudanese — Pursuit of Mohammedans impracticable— Uganda army disperses — Williams to Mengo — Further reasons for going to Ankoli — I march to Buddu — Incidents of African life — Nature of country passed through — Select station on the Lake — Description of Luwambu and country — Return to Bugaju. We marched out of Kampala on April 8th. As the rains were now at their height, camp -life had its disagreeables. Torrents descended daily, generally towards the afternoon, with a south-west wind. At times we marched along what were once the great roads of Uganda, and though they Avere now overgrown with grass, it was easy to trace them by the embankments which often bordered them, and the remains of culverts of palm-logs across the riverine swamps. They had been some 12 to 15 ft. wide. The general level of the country through which we marched was some 4000 ft. above the sea, the low hills being about 250 or 300 ft. higher. The whole country is a never-ending series of these low hills, with their corresponding valleys. There are no running streams, the lowest point in the valley 118 WAE AGAIXST MOHAMMEDAXS. being generally a sluggish river-swamp, choked with papyrus and marsh growth, and often of bottomless mire. Speke describes them as — rush-drains that appear to me to be the last waters left of the old bed of the Nyanza." ^ This theory, however, is quite untenable, for these same river-swamps, winding about among the hills, are found throughout Unyoro at an elevation of 5200 ft.— viz., 1300 ft above the level of the Victoria, and 3000 ft. above the Albert. They are a curious phenomenon, for one would expect that in a country with so heavv a rainfall as Ucranda has, and of so hilly a nature, with a surface-soil of marl or gravel (as most of those hills have), we should find a rapid water- shed, with rivers rushino- towards the lake. That the contrary is the case can only be explained by the dense- ness of the veo-etation, due to the richness of the soil in the valleys and on the lower slopes of the hills. The watershed, such as it is, moreover, is not towards the lake, but away from it, northwards to the Kafu, and so to the Nile. This presents another problem — viz., whence comes the water to supply the Great Lake (27,000 square miles in area), the evaporation from which — bisected as it is by the equator — must be enormous, and from which, nevertheless, issues the mighty Nile, " a giant at its birth " ? For, after crossing the Nzoia in Kavirondo, on the north-east of the lake, — a comjDara- tively small stream, fordable during most of the vear, — there is no other tributary larger than a rivulet all alono- the northern and down the western shore, till the Kagera is reached in German territory. Speke describes the Katonga — marked as a big river in the majDS — exactly as I found it, a mere bog ; and he notes that it is always lowest in the rains. " No one,'" he 1 SjDeke's Journals. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 119 says, ''could account for this singular fact." ^ Possibly the theory I have advanced of an underground drainage may bear on this question. I have already discussed this interesting problem in a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society,- and will not therefore repeat myself here. Even these river-swamps were not frequent, and rarely of any magnitude in the country w^e were now crossing, and it seemed almost mysterious what could become of the copious rainfall. The hills were covered with excellent pasture - grass, and were generally of extremely regular outline, like huge Roman " tumuli." Our direction was to the north-west, our route being not far from that followed by Dr Junker when he came from Kabarega's capital to visit Uganda. Trees were scarce — the date-palm, which covers the valleys, and various varieties of the bark-cloth tree, cultivated in the estates, being almost the only species. Of wild timber-trees there were very few ; the stately Mpafu, which yields the aromatic gum called Mobani (used for ■incense), being almost the only one. There was no game, hardly even a partridge, and but few birds ; while in the earlier part of the march at least, the scenery was monotonous, though the bright green vege- tation, produced by the rains, gave the undulating hills a pleasing colouring. The country was decidedly fertile and the soil rich, but it was entirely uninhabited soon after we left the precincts of the capital. The people had fled before the raids of the Mohammedans, and the deserted banana-groves had been wrecked by herds of elephants. The soil is full of iron, and the water so im- pregnated w^ith it that the tannic acid in our tea turned it to the colour of ink. We came up with the Katikiro and his army, and daily fresh crowds poured in from every quarter, till ^ Speke's Journals. 2 Proceedings, December 1892. 120 WAR AGAINST MOHAMMEDANS. we became a vast throng, covering a great extent of country, as we marched in parallel columns — each column being led by its own chief. The proportion apparently of spearmen to those bearing guns was at least 5 to 1. When at last the armies from the more distant provinces of Buddu and Chagwe had joined us, a careful count was made of the guns, and I was told the number was 4700. This would mean, with the spearmen, at least 20,000, and in addition there was a vast following of boy-slaves and others, carrying the guns, and the mats and bedding of their masters, for in Uganda even the most petty chief thinks it derogatory to his dignity to carry his gun himself ! How this vast army procured food in this deserted country was a mystery, but the sj^earmen and servants covered great distances in their search for it — often startino- over- night. As we neared the enemy I did my utmost to urge upon the Waganda chiefs the necessity of scouting, and of sending out spies to ascertain the enemy's move- ments, and avoid the possibility of a sudden attack- and surprise, which, with a host of non-combatants and followers, might cause a 23anic, resulting in defeat. I was disgusted, however, to find that the Waganda dare not scout. The chiefs candidly told me so, and added that, even if they forced men to go out, they would merely hide in the grass close by, and return with long stories of where they had been, &c., which would be entirely false ! I did, however, succeed in getting a few reliable men from the Mukwenda (chief of Singo), in whose province we were, and who knew every yard of the country, and their reports proved fairly accurate. I could not undertake this work with my own men, for we should not have known friend from foe, and if we fell in with the enemy, might sup- pose them to be merely foraging-parties from our force. DISCOVER LAKE ISOLDT. 121 When, however, I realised to what great distances these foraging-parties went, I ceased to consider the scouting of such importance, recognising that the foragers practically supphed their place. On the 15th I discovered the little lake Isoldt," close to the headquarters of the Mukwenda at Mitiana, in Singo. The same day I received a letter from Emin Pasha, of which I give a fac-simile (p. 122). Not only is its writer a man in whom the whole civilised world has taken a great interest, but the letter itself is an im- portant one, as I shall presently show. The allusion it contains to myself refers to my having written early in 1888, before I went to Nyasa, offering him my assist- ance in his province — before the advent of Mr Stanley's "relief expedition." We had lately corresponded on various subjects, and his previous letter (of March 1st) had been to inform me, that reports had reached him that the Waganda intended to attack the German station of Bukoba, and that we were oivino- them arms and ammunition for the purpose I By the 21st April the entire army had collected. Though it was a fortnight since we left the capital, we had only achieved some fifty miles in a direct north- west (307°) direction, and were now on the borders of Unyoro. The country, quite suddenly, changed con- siderably in its aspects. The rounded hills gave place to granite boulders, with picturesque peaks of rock on the summits of the hills. Fine-grown borassus palm, and acacias, and many forest-trees, gave the country a wooded appearance. Our march was not eventful. On one occasion an elephant was reported to have killed several foragers : Williams and I followed him up, but unsuccessfully. On another, one of our men fired at and wounded a Mganda in some quarrel when foraging, and got severely handled by me in consequence. On another. 122 WAB AGAINST MOHAMMEDANS. Jm /lcb/injjtlu;^jU/t^ ^uuju'fr i^-j- yAj-r //tr^ J/Ui^ , 7^rju.ct^-/ij /- , - tjtMr ^"^cr.if tn/u.nt /rtiuSt^ /v/Z^. ^i^^i^ir^ !'/4'*/>/x-ti Aty iMiy^ '2'^^^ 1/^ iti. fii/uif Aitr-L xf-Ht feU. ^//t*t ^urL Ja^ iTfft^^r t^r^l^'Ji «ic/l It I /A y ^'4A yf/y l^iaf fjUAA^i^r* V" fj^ri/'t^^ j-rt^t^jitL, f^^a/jC^*. ^*/ir ^9rt^ MUJASI CONTUMACIOUS. 123 some of my men were roughly treated by a party of the Mujasi's foragers. This chief gave great offence to all parties, by detaching his portion of the force, and camp- ing at a distance. It was in accordance with the open hostility he had always shown to us ; but I took no notice of it, trusting that later on, events might fur- nish an opportunity of coming to a better understand- ing. When we got close to the enemy, he consented to join the rest of the army, and being in difficulties for cartridges, was compelled to beg some from me. I gave them to him readily, and seized the opportunity of asking him the cause of his hostility, and explaining our motives and actions. The result appeared most satisfactory, and we became friends. I admired this boy, for his enmity had been open and frank, and he had shown himself above a treach- erous and deceitful pretence of friendship, while de- testing us in his heart, — a mode of conduct only too common among the Waganda, who indeed have told me themselves, that they were famed for treachery among the peoples that surrounded them, from old time. Zachariah related that in the days of the old kings, it was not uncommon for a chief to receive ambassadors from some tribe, and entertain them hospitably in his house, for perhaps a whole month. After that, becoming tired of them, he would suddenly order them to be bound to the central pillars of the hut, and applying a match to the grass and reed structure, would roast them alive by way of varia- tion ! This trait among the people made it no easy matter to deal with them, as I found by painful experience on more occasions than this outline of events can de- tail. The Mujasi appeared free from this, and I respected him accordingly. His friendship was short-lived, how- ever, and on return from the war, he frankly declined to come to Kampala to participate in discussions, on the 124 WAU AGAIXST MOHAMMEDAXS. grounds that he was hot-tempered, and might upset the apple-cart." Both Wilhams and I hked hmi the better for his frankness, but we never succeeded in converting his hostihty to friendship, until after it had brought disaster and defeat to his faction. Continual letters arrived from Mwanga, saying the Mohammedans were marchino- round our flank to attack Mengo, and many similar absurd reports. The chiefs treated them with contempt, saying that was "a way he had." De Winton offered Mwanga the jDrotection of Kampala in such a case, but the king assured him he should take an early opportunity of running away to the islands. The Kimbugwe (F.), who was left in charge at the capital, however, said he should not run, but would bring his people and defend KamjDala ! From morning till night I was pestered by chiefs begging powder and cartridges, or interrupted by visits. Williams devoted much of his time to repairing the damao'ed rifles brouo-ht to us. There Avere breech- loaders of all descriptions, including many kinds we had never seen before. We occu23ied a central place in the huo'e armv. Bv nio-ht the smoke became so dense from the thousands of green-wood fires, that it was painful to the eyes and lungs. We would retire into our tents and endeavour to exclude it, until tobacco-smoke made mine at least, as thick as the atmosphere outside. The doctor, Williams, and Grant were consequently all indisposed. A dense mist usually prevented the smoke from risino' nor did it lift till 7 a.m. As we neared the enemy we had constant false alarms. The Wao^anda now forao-ed for us, and both factions combined to send us food (over a ton of green bananas) dailv, lest our men in foraging should inad- vertently run into the enemy. Tlie possibility of treach- ery on the part of that section of the Wa-Fransa, who were still hostile to us, had not escaped me ; but so great KATAKIRO DEMANDS A FLAG. 125 was the cordiality of the leading chiefs of that faction, among whom I had more intimate friends than among the Wa-Ingleza, that I even ventured to propose, that these designations should be abolished, and that all should accept the British flag, which, I emphatically pointed out, had no reference whatever to religion. I would not have raised this question at all, had it not been that the Katikiro constantly bothered me to redeem a promise, which he said I had made to him. On arrival in Uganda I found he had made a very quaint flag, copied from the coloured picture of the Company's flag on the treaty-form left by Mr Jackson. I asked him for it, and he insisted that I had promised to replace it by a proper flag, and now, as general of the army, he had none. The Wa-Fransa chiefs had a consultation. Some wished to accept it, but the verdict was against it, for I think they feared opposition from some of the lesser people. I was averse to giving it to the Wa-Ingleza, my feeling being, as I said before, that I should not care to fly it in Uganda, until the whole country accepted it, and I did not wish it to become a party emblem of either faction. The E,. Catholic chiefs, however, told me strongly that they had no objection to the Katikiro flying it ; and as he was general of the whole army, I gave him one. In a weak moment I yielded also to the Pokino's entreaties, and let him have one, — which I have always since regretted. It has been stated that the British flag was converted to the emblem of a party. But, for my part, I fail to see how a national flag can be said to have any religious signification. That the Wa-Ingleza accepted it, only proves them to have been the politi- cal faction loyal to British rule : that the Wa-Fransa refused it, does not show that they as R. CatJiolics were opposed to us, but that, as being the " French " party, they would not fly the flag of the " English." 126 WAH AGAIXST MOHAMMEDAXS. On the 27tli we came into touch with the enemy and captured some of then- foragers. I wrote a letter to the Mohammedans, and sent it by a woman who had been captured. I said that I had come to settle the country, and not to make war ; that if they wished for peace, they must give up their rival king Mbogo, and I would guarantee his good treatment and safety ; that all who would come over should be pardoned, and should return to their own place, and serve the chief of their country, and follow what religion they pleased. I added that we had a verv strono- force, and a Maxim gun. To the Arabs I sent a letter informing them that the Sultan of Zanzibar was our friend, and that I had no quarrel with them, and if they came to me I would give them a safe-conduct to the coast. I sent also a copy of a letter given me by the Sultan of Zanzibar to the same effect. Next dav we reached the borders of a great plain ex- tendino' awav to the north-west. On the 30th, a Moham- medan came to say my letters had arrived, and they desired peace, and if we meant it, let us send two chiefs to announce our conditions. These were accord- ingly despatched, with the terms I have already stated. In addition, they were to say, that if the Mohammedans would make peace, all should be given estates in Uganda, where they could settle down and obey the law of the country. It was also said that they must render up their arms. " I was against the giving up of the arms,'' I write, " thinking that it was too hard a condition, and one which would compel them to fight. The Wao'anda, however, all assured me that the condi- tion of giving ujd their king was far harder. If they agreed to that, they would agree to the other, which was the regular custom of the country, and more or less a matter of form. After they had come in and settled down, their arms would be returned to them." MOHAMMEDAN ENVOYS ARRIVE. 127 Again a messenger (a more important man) came, begging me to send one of my men. I did so, and he re- turned with seven chiefs to discuss the question. They spoke well, and I understood that they would agree to hand over their king to me, but not to the Waganda, whom they mistrusted. They wished to retain their arms, and to settle all together in one place, saying that if dispersed they would be insulted and treated as slaves by the chiefs, and that they did not yield to them, nor fear them, but would put themselves in the hands of the British only. I proposed that the Waganda army should retire and leave us to meet the Mohammedans alone ; but the chiefs vehemently opposed this, saying we should be treacherously attacked. Doubtless, also, many feared that we might coalesce with the Moham- medans, since all my men were of that creed, — and the Waganda are never free from suspicion of deceit. After the council was over, I called the Mohammedan chiefs to my tent, and privately told them that I was eager for peace and not war, but that two kings of royal blood could not be in the country, and I must insist on Mbogo being given up, and I would be re- sponsible for his safety ; that in this matter I was only adopting the course I thought would ensure peace. If they agreed to this, there need be no fear of our not arranging other terms, and in all probability I would allow them to settle in a colony of their own. I sent Dualla and an Arab (Kiroboto) in my caravan, with a Swahili (by birth a Mganda) to interpret — though most of the Moslems spoke Swahili. " Dualla returned to say, they had gone back on their promise, and had agreed in a fresh council not to give up their king. All his arguments were in vain. They had, however, said that they would not fight against the British, and that they Avould leave the country en masse and go to the coast. They begged for a pass- 128 WAR AGAINST MOHAMMEDANS. port — viz., a letter to the Germans — and a man of mine to go with them. I immediately wrote the letter, and also told them I greatly regretted their decision, but could not break my word to my Waganda allies, and I was pledged to them as regards the Sultan. If they wished to leave, I would do all I could by re- straining the Waganda from attacking them, and by sending a man of my own. I advised them, however, to march towards British territory, via Mruli and the north of Usoga, to Kavirondo, where I would send a European to meet them, and take them to a country where they could settle in peace under British pro- tection (I meant the Mau plateau, which is fertile and uninhabited). These negotiations were watched with the greatest eagerness by my men. There was among them such a spirit of loyalty, that they were ready to obey orders and fight ; but it went sorely against the grain with some of them to be takins: arms against their co-religionists on behalf of Christians. The Christian Waganda, on the other hand, watched the progress of negotiations with suspicion and dislike. I was told that they had grossly insulted the envoys, on purpose to defeat my objects ; and I even heard afterwards, that it had been determined by the Wa-Fransa (who are very much more bitter against the Mohammedans than are the Wa-Ingleza) that, if I succeeded, they would murder one of the envoys, so as to precipitate a fight. I do not know if this is true, but it is not unlikely, con- sidering the character of the people. Indeed, the next day I had a serious difference with the Katikiro. I wished to halt, or at most to cross a big river-swamp in front of us, in order to give time for my negotia- tions to succeed, and for my messenger to return. He promised compliance, but in spite of it a long march was effected. I sent a very angry message to him IMPREGNABLE POSITION OF ENEMY. 129 indeed, and refused to see or speak to him, or to move from where I was, until the envoy returned ; nor would I be pacified until he apologised in an absolutely abject way — for I neither wished the Mo- hammedans to think that the British would connive at Waganda treachery, nor did I think it fitting that the Katikiro should ignore our expressed wishes. The envoy returned to say that they had again changed, and declined either to give up their Sultan or leave — the reason being, I heard later, that they doubted if I was really sent to administer the coun- try, seeing that the king still called himself " French," and did not fly our flag. They were a plucky, fine lot of fellows, and had a very large proportion of breech - loading arms, I was told. Their guns were estimated at 2300, to which were added 1300 from Kabarega, under one of his sons (who was told never to return unless victorious). This made a total of 3600, if the estimate was correct, as against our 5300 ; but their advantage of position in defence more than equalised the odds. The spearmen on either side were num- bered by thousands, but these do not take part in the battle. If their side is victorious, they then rush in, spearing the flying enemy and the wounded, and loot- ing and laying waste the country. On May 5th we found the enemy in front of us. Be- tween us lay a river -marsh full of the closest papy- rus growth about 15 ft. high. The hills, which rose from the other bank of the river, were covered with dense jungle and forest, in which the enemy lay, while the whole country was as close as it is possible to con- ceive with elephant-grass and jungle growth. " The river is said to be almost uncrossable here, being very deep indeed. Williams went down to inspect it, and re- ported it about as bad as possible. He said he thought that at such a place he could 023pose an army with VOL. II. I 130 WAR AGAIXST MOHAMMEDANS. fifty good men. There appears to be a sort of citadel of bare rock at the top of the hill, which would be absolutely impregnable." In such a country our Maxim was of course useless, and likewise drill and good shoot- ing. The chiefs held a council of war to determine what should be done. I suggested that we should make a demonstration of crossing at several points Islam Camp, with Sudanese Party. simultaneously, while a strong party went a consider- able distance up river and crossed unknown to the enemy ; but the Waganda fear to divide their force, and can only fight en masse, for, if any portion is once driven in, there is no rallying them. They disperse, and fly till they reach their homes, the victors pur- suing them till nightfall. Consequently this scheme had to be abandoned. The council broke up, with no other plan than to WE OUTMANCEUVRE THEM. 131 re-discuss the matter next day. I then went to the Katikiro, and suggested that he should march in the night with a strong force, and crossing the river doMai- stream, should push on to where the country was open, and take up a position there, while we followed in all haste. I found there was a crossing-place lower down ; and as a huge hill, covered with the densest jungle, prevented the enemy from following along the opposite bank of the river, they could not oppose his passage, even if they discovered our ruse — for by the time they had effected the detour round the mountain, he would be across. This plan was eagerly adopted. The drum-note, sig- nifying a halt on the morrow, was beaten through camp, and the Waganda Mohammedans hearing it across the valley, made up their minds we should halt, and take counsel next day how to crack the extremely hard nut they had prepared for us. Meanwhile, the drums still beating for a halt, we followed the Katikiro at the earliest streak of dawn. There was, of course, a block at the narrow passage, but the vast masses of spear- men and non-combatants had been crossing the river all night, and as the dense mist lifted later than usual, the enemy saw the last of them disappearing from the camp, while all our fighting men with guns brought up the rear, to repel attack should they dare to cross the river. This river was the Kanyangoro, the boundary be- tween Uganda and Unyoro. The level plain we had crossed was only some 3900 ft. The hills of Unyoro are bolder in outline than the rounded grass-clad slo23es of Uganda. Among the granite rocks which form these hills, are large caves, which are used by the natives as places of refuge in war, and the entrances to which are concealed. The soil is extremely rich, 132 WAR AGAINST MOHAMMEDANS. and the cultivation consists more of grain (millet, maize, and ivimhi) and beans, than of the intermin- able bananas and roots (sweet -potatoes, casava, &c.), which form the staple food of Uganda. Food con- tinued to be a difficulty ; for though we were now in a thickly cultivated country, the young cro23S had not ripened as yet, and the people had tied with their food and belongings. We marched some distance, and camped in a beau- tiful and fairly open country. During the night the enemy assembled in great numbers — apparently many thousands— on the hills to our right front. I anticij^ated that we ourselves should either have little fighting to do, or (in case the Christians were driven in) have to bear the whole brunt of the battle. For the Waganda, rushing forward at full speed to the attack, would out- strip our slower advance in formation, and would prob- ably have turned the enemy in flight before we arrived, — or, being themselves driven in, would leave us to fight it out alone. We took the centre, therefore, as a rallying-point, and I halted till all my men should be up, while the opposing armies danced war-dances, and waved flags as a challenge to each other to come on. I advanced the Sudanese in line, supported by the two companies of Zanzibaris, — the porters behind. " With great difficulty we broke our way through the dense jungle of grass, crossed a swamp, and began to ascend the oj^posite rise. The Waganda rushed ahead, and soon we heard heavy firing on all sides. The Wa- ganda went up the hill splendidly, and there was a melee for a few seconds, and then, to our dismay, we saw part of our side, just in front of us, turn and come rush- ing down on our left, pursued by the enemy" (diary). I wheeled round to support them, but the dense grass made it impossible to open fire (the Maxim, of course, was useless) till we were actually on the scene, when VICTORY. 133 we found the enemy had already turned. We gained the granite rocks at the top, and opened fire on some scattered parties ; but the battle was already won, and we had borne, jDractically, no part in it, beyond the moral effect of our presence. I was told there were some 30 of our side killed, and about 70 were brought in wounded — some very badly indeed — to be dressed by the doctor. Probably, at least 300 or 400 of the enemy were killed, for the wounded men would be unable to escape, and would be butchered. The enemy, though inferior, I suppose, in numbers, had a great ad- vantage in acting on the defensive in such a position. They lay in wait behind boulders, and shot down our side as they advanced up the steej) hill ; and I thought the victory a very creditable one to the Christians. It had been my intention, in case of success, to fol- low up the Mohammedans and completely break their strength, and then to march straight on Kabarega's capital, which was not far distant, and to inflict a severe lesson on that cruel tyrant. Thence, again, to the shores of the Albert Lake would not be very far ; and I even thought it possible that, if we should find Emin Pasha's two steamers on the lake, we might be able to get in touch with the abandoned soldiery of the Equatorial Province. Shukri Aga, the head of our Sudanese, who had come down from thence with Stanley and Emin, insisted most strongly that Selim Bey was, and aWays had been, loyal ; that he had been most eager to accompany the "relief expedition" to the coast, but would not desert his men ; and that, in spite of his j)rayers for a little longer delay, to enable him to march down from Wadelai and join Mr Stanley, the "Emin expedition" had left, and Selim and his loyal garrisons were abandoned. Such was Shukri's story. Mr Stanley's narrative is so well known that there is no need for me to quote 134 WAR AGAIXST MOHAMMEDANS. it. The opjDortunity of giving a helping hand to these people, in whose fate the chairman (Sir W. Mackinnon) and the Directors of the Company in whose service I was had shown so warm an interest, appeared a singu- larly fortunate one. Moreover, these men — the best material for soldiery in Africa, as we have proved in our " black regiments " in Egypt — had only been re- ceiving about one-seventh the pay from the Egyptian Government, that the Sudanese in the Company's service were getting, and less than half that of the Swahilis. If I could secure them, it seemed to me that I could ensure a great saving for the Company, and probably effectively hold both Uganda and Unyoro. Moreover, the Swahilis, who formed the bulk of our present force, were not enlisted for permanent service in Uganda ; and, if forcibly detained, it would involve gross injustice to them. They were also urgently wanted at the coast for their leoitimate work of con- veying goods and stores to the interior. I had written — in view of this — urgently requesting reinforcements, to enable me to send back the Swahilis ; but Williams assured me that no more Sudanese could possibly be enlisted in EgyjDt, and therefore the only available troops to send would be Somals from Aden, who were ditficult to procure, and would take long to get, or the Indian sepoys ; either of these would cost about seven times as much as " Selim's Sudanese." I had been told to make a treaty, and offer effective protection to Uganda. If I detained the Swahilis with me, I broke faith with them ; if I sent them back, I reduced the force in Uganda below the minimum I considered necessary for defence. I had small hope of mv urgent representations being complied with, or of an}^ troops being sent to my assistance. For, by the mail received just before we left Kampala, the adminis- trator had written to me privately, saying he had been UGANDA ARMY DISPERSES. 135 blamed for sendino- even the 70 to 80 Sudanese brouoiit up by Williams. I had detained the porters he brought, and some of those who had come with Martin ; but I had done so on m}^ own responsibility, in view of the urgency in Uganda, without any definite permission. It therefore behoved me to take such means of maintain- ing myself, and carrying out my pledges of protection to Uganda, as presented themselves on the sj^ot. The Waganda army had professed themselves eager enough to march on Kabarega's capital, but they now hung back. I replied brusquely, that those who wished to return could do so, and those who would follow me would be welcome ; but that, Waganda or no Waganda, we should march as I had said, even though the whole Mohammedan army (as I was told) should await us further on ; for I knew I should not be deserted by all. They urged that though they were willing to fol- low me to a man, there was ahead of us a sw^amp three miles broad, which now in the rains was impassable except by rafts of reeds ; that here the Mohammedans would await us, and in the face of an opposing army it would be impossible to cross. If, however, I had any plan by which to do so, they would come. Beyond this, again, lay other swamps and rivers equally bad at this season. So I had to forego my plan of advanc- ing on Unyoro, and we turned south and marched parallel to the borders of Uganda. We had defeated the Mohammedans on May 7th, and on the 11th the Waganda army broke up, each chief returning direct to his own place with his men. This dispersion was hastened by an outbreak of smallpox in the force. Williams, with the old Maxim and some thirt^^-six men, marched back with the Katikiro direct for the capital ; I myself, with Dr Macpherson and Grant, and the bulk of the expedition, marching south to Budclu. My intention was to wait there for some time, and 136 WAR AGAINST MOHAMMEDANS. see how matters went in Uganda, employing the time in finding a site for a station on the lake shore, which might at once be a commercial and trading centre, — a harbour for the steamer (which, I was informed, the Directors intended at once to place on the lake), and a 2Doint of strategic importance, from which I might be able to control the canoe traffic to the south, and prevent the import of arms and ammunition, or take duty on goods imported into Uganda, if this should eventually be necessary. Meantime I would employ this period in preparing food for the march to Ankoli. As there is no grain in Uganda, portable food can only be procured at considerable cost of time and effort. For the green bananas must first be sliced and dried in the sun, and then pounded into flour. As regards the further journey, my object was to proceed first to Ankoli, and establish friendly relations wdth its king, Ntali, and make a treaty — in accordance with my original instructions. It appeared to me of paramount importance to prevent the import of arms and ammunition into Uganda, both by water (by means of the station on the lake shore) and by land (by means of a treaty with Ntali to this end, and by establishing, if possible, stations in his country). 2dly, It was of great importance to develop the trade, and produce some returns, by which the expenditure on Uganda might be defrayed. Uganda itself — impoverished by 3^ears of war — could at the moment yield little or nothing. Unyoro and the countries around the Albert Lake were reported extremely rich in ivory, and the produce was supposed to j)ass along the route through Ankoli or Kitagwenda to Kafuro in Karagwe — w^here Emin had established a station under an Arab — and thus it enriched the Germans at the expense of the British territory. This trade, if it existed, might, I hoped, be diverted to the station on the shores of the REASONS FOR GOING TO ANKOLI. 137 lake in Budclu, and thus some revenue would accrue to recoup administrative expenses, — while the steamers abandoned on the Albert Lake could be utilised to promote commerce. 3dly, I had heard of the Salt Lake near the Albert Edward, and I hoped to secure a sub- stantial revenue by controlling the exchange of salt for the produce of all the surrounding countries. And lastly, as before stated, there was the imperative neces- sity for obtaining men to replace the Swahilis, and main- tain the necessary force in Uganda, together with the other reasons which I have already narrated, prompting me to endeavour to "rescue" Selim and his men, and turn them to good account in the Company's service. These plans were not, however, all thus clearly tab- ulated in my mind. My going at all depended on whether all should remain quiet in Uganda, and the outlook should promise peacefully. If, after a period of trial in Buddu, the horizon remained unclouded, I would proceed to Ankoli to make a treaty, and build there the station I intended, to prevent the imjDort of arms to our enemies. If I still heard of no cause de- manding my return, I should be able to prosecute my further plans. I was especially anxious that Williams should have the engaging of Selim and his men, if we succeeded in finding them, for the credit of the task was justly his, not mine. It was his foresight which had prompted him to engage Shukri Aga for this very purpose, that his influence and report might allay any doubt or suspicion in the mind of Selim. Moreover, no one could handle the Sudanese so well as Williams, who understood their language, and succeeded with them admirably. My instructions to Williams on his return to Mengo were : " Till further orders you will carry on without reference to me ; and in accordance with my wishes, of which you are well aware, you will keep me informed 138 WAR AGAIXST MOHAMIMEDAXS. of events in Uganda, that I may act accordingly, and will join me later, if you consider that you can safely leave Mengo. If circumstances make it injudicious for you to join me, send Mr De Winton." I parted with Williams with the very greatest reluctance, and it was understood that he would be at libertv later to ao^ain lead the Wao-anda ao-ainst the Mohammedans and Wanyoro, if necessity arose in my absence. Before the army broke up, I ordered all the arms we had lent for the war to be returned, and almost the whole of them were brought in at once. Marching south-east next day (I2th), we crossed the H. Kusizi and re-entered Uganda. "Almost immediately the wild granite rocks of Unyoro ceased, and gave place to the rounded hills of Uganda. There was much bare sur- face-rock, but the giant boulders, fantastically standing on end in quaint shapes against the sky-line, and the rockv chffs and crags, were replaced by the tamer scenery of undulating hills of bright green grass. In- habitants ceased, and we passed through long stretches of deserted country, with only an occasional overgrown banana-grove, to show where a sparse population had once existed. I should think this countrv never icas very densely inhabited ; but it would sup23ort enormous herds of cattle, and probably did so, on the excellent pasture-grass, — till they all died " (diary). Life in Africa is full of incidents, which fill my volumes of diaries, but which it is impossible to de- tail here. Before leaving Unyoro we found in the smokino' ashes of a hut that had been burnt bv the plundering Waganda, a little child badly burnt, which had been left sick. We brought it on in a basket, and tended it, but the poor little thing died. Further on we found a little naked hunchback, whose mother had run away from the Mohammedans, and died here before she reached her friends. The child had lono- I MARCH TO BUDDU. 139 supported herself on wild bananas. We brought her on safely. On another day I lost one of my men. He was ill, but reported by the doctor fit to march, and had no load nor even a rifle to carry. I invariably de- tailed a very strong rear-guard, w^iich either the doctor or Grant accompanied, with the strictest orders to allow no one to lag behind them even for a moment. If a man was ill, the rear-guard would carry him. But the Swahili sometimes behaves like a mere dumb animal, and this was not the first or the last instance, in which sick men purposely went and hid themselves in the dense jungle, to escape the notice of the rear- guard, though certain death might await them from starvation, wild beasts, or hostile natives. Sometimes we succeeded in finding them, sometimes subsequent search proved unavailing. On the 15th, for the first time since we left the Mau hills in November, we saw some game, and Shukri and I secured two zebra and a hartebeest, which were more than welcome to our men. As we proceeded south, the hills became mere undulations, and long valleys of waving grass — often very broad — extended in every direction. The soil in these valleys was very rich, and trees were more frequent. The lava and iron - ore replaced the granite as we neared the lake. This lava I had found to be a characteristic of the countries bordering the Victoria from Kavirondo on the east, throuo-h Usoo-a on the north, and in Uganda on the west. It became scarcer, and more covered with soil, as one receded from the lake. By the 18th May we were in Buddu, and I found it to be a thickly inhabited country, richer in products and in cultivation than any we had seen in Uganda. The Pokino (E.), its chief, was with us, and abundance of food was supplied to us gratis. I find in my diary here a note, which expresses 140 TOUR IX BUDDU. tolerably concisely the ideas I have always held as to commerce in Africa. " With an era of peace and vaccination the two destructive agents, war and small- pox, will disappear ; and, as the people increase, there is no reason why they should not produce large quantities of grain, cotton, &c., for export. In most other countries the want has first to be taught them, and its supply is then the object of commerce. Tliey are just as happy naked as clothed — possibly happier, who knows ? And are they not happier without arms and powder ? Yet what else has the civilised world hitherto imported ? Are the natives better, wiser, or happier men, for the possession of beads, brass, iron, and co23per ornaments, tawdry looking-glasses, and mouth - organs ? But here in Uganda, Usoga, and Unyoro, there are no fictitious wants to supply, or wants to create. Farthing looking-glasses, and Bir- mingham stuff — warranted to break soon, and to want rej)lacing — are not in vogue. The people are fully clothed in bark-cloth, which, though admirable indoors or in fine weather, is no better than a sheet of wet paper when clamp. To replace this by sound good cloth at fair rates, to sujDply the house utensils, the coinage — even writing-paper (which they really want) — is a fair aim for commerce ; and, in return, the starv- inof" ' civilisation ' of our cities mav well take of their superfluity of food, and the grain, &c., Avhich the country can provide. " Not that I include mvself anion o- those who sav we should take nothino- out because we brouo-ht nothino- in (nothing useful at least). While misery and want exist in ' Darkest Enofland,' we must find food and scope for industry for our people, even if we create wants in Africa to do it. But the absurdity of it is, that the cloth we bring to E. Africa is mostly not English at all, but American and Indian. Some THIEVING OF CROPS AND ITS PENALTIES. 141 cloth is imported from England to Nyasaland, but it is proverbial for short measurements, and for being plastered with ' size ' to make weight and deceive by appearance, as Livingstone pointed out long ago. The biscuits are German ; the oil, I believe, Russian ; the matches Swedish : yet we talk of opening up English markets by our African companies ! " On the 21st we arrived at Bugaju, where I made a standing camp. In spite of the free supplies of food brought to us daily by the Waganda, I found much difficulty in preventing my men from stealing crops. Hitherto I had been able almost entirely to do without flogging, but for some reason, the temptation to pilfer the varieties of food around them, 23roved too much for the men after the rough fare of the last two months. Almost daily I had to flog both Swahilis and Sudanese, to my own infinite disgust and vexation. " I will have no mercy in this matter," I write ; " food pours in gratis, yet these lazy hounds leave it lying on the ground in camp when they march out, and then, before I have time to issue rations on arrival in the new camp, they go off to steal. However, seventy lashes well laid on, a fine, and an evening without food, ought to make them remember ; and if it goes on, Til go on till I give them what tvill stop them." By making a zeriba round my camp, and placing sentries by day and night over the gates, I managed to check the thieving ; but, indeed, I think that the allowance of green bananas was neither sufficiently satisfying nor appetising to content the men. As there was much game around us here, I at once went out on arrival, and bagged four Senegal antelope — the first I had yet seen in East Africa — and as each of these animals scales some 240 lb., the meat was a great treat to the men. During all the time we were here, we constantly secured a supply of meat for the men 142 TOUR IN BUDDU. with our rifles. A certain amount of food was broui^ht in, according to the custom of Uganda. The Pokino detailed villages in rotation to send supplies. This the " English " party willingly did ; but the Wa-Fransa declined to obey the orders of their chief, on the ofrounds that we were not Frenchmen. At his re- quest, therefore, I sent a strong party to cut the food for ourselves in the recalcitrant villages. Meanwhile flour was being prepared (for us to carry with us in our forward march) in all the villages round, and messengers had been sent to Ntali, to inform him of our intended visit ; otherwise he would have feared that so strong a force had hostile motives. There was a very heavy dew by night, and a soak- ing mist. Not only were the nights so cold, that I found my two thin worn-out blankets and a new one given me by De Winton insufficient — even with an old waterproof sheet on the toj) of them — to keep me warm, but the driving rain and wind chilled one to the bone here on the equator, and often jDroduced an absolute numbness in my left (wounded) hand, and I was Had to don a thick blue sero^e coat over a flannel football jersey. On 26th May the rains suddenly ceased, and the weather became very hot. On the same day I started for a ten days' journey to Lake Victoria, taking with me a large number of men, in order to reduce the pressure on the food- supply in the villages around Bugaju. I was most unwilling to leave my expedition, even for a day, but the objects I had in view were important ; so I handed over charge to Grant, and held the Sudanese native officers responsible that there should be no trouble in my absence. Crossing endless river-swamps, some over half a mile wide, and choked with papyrus and reed groA\'th, I reached Masaka, the residence of the Pokino. Here GAME IX BUDDU. 143 the Church Missionary Society had a station, of which Mr Walker was in charge ; but he had gone off to say good - bye to Mr Gordon, who was on his way to Enoiand. The French Fathers had also a mission close by (Santa Maria) ; for, apparently, whenever one mission extended in any direction, the other sect were eager to follow to the same j^lace — as lately in Usoga. The Pokino, of course, received me royally, and I pushed on, following Colonel Grant's route northwards, and findino- the villao-es under the same names as he quotes, though often now reduced to a miserable hut or two. The Pokino deputed a petty chief named Gideon, who had been attached to us throuofhout the war, and to whom I had taken a liking, to accompany me and arrange for food- supplies, &c. On nearing his home, however, he learnt that the Pubuga (king's sister, P.C.) had dispossessed him of his estate, while he was a\^'av fio-htino- against the Mohammedans, on the grounds that in Mtesa's days it had been hers. Thus it was that I found for myself the proofs of the intolerance of the TTV^- Fransa, though Mgr. Hirth, believing what his j^arty told him, was under the conviction that the intolerance and aggression were on the side of the Wa-Ingleza only. Passing Baja, I found that a great 23lain of semi- swamp land bordered the lake, and was covered with game — water-buck, Senegal antelope, and the graceful nsunu {Kohus koh). Turning off the road for a couple of hours, while my men marched on, I shot four Senegal and one nsunu, and wounded several others which I lost in the bush. As manv AYaganda had accompanied me from a neighbouring village, however, I showed them the blood-trails, and they followed them up. I had no cloth or o-oods Avith me, and so it Avas onlv bv shooting meat with my own rifle that I could make a 144 TOrR IX BUDDU. return present for the food which was supphed to me. and eke out these provisions for my men. The party of men I had sent to Kampala for supplies of goods for the forward march had passed here, and I found on inquiry that there were no complaints whatever of thieving', so that my remedies had proved efiective. Arrived where the Katonga debouches into the lake, I foinid that the situation was not such as I desired for a station. Marshes of fetid mud and papyrus surrounded it on all sides, which would make the place most unhealthy and malarial. The water was shallow some distance from the shore, alfordino- no landino;- place suitable for a steamer harbour. I could not take soundings, for only one small canoe was available, and the local chief refused to lend me this, saying he feared I should g-et drowned in it. and if so he wotild be burnt, since I was the kino-'s o-uest ! From the extreme point of the promontory of Buo-ano-a a lovelv view of the lake was obtainable. Its waters — blue as the Mediterranean, indigo blue — s^^read out before you, its bays as still and silent as mill- ponds. The heavy black forests of Bunjako lie on the left, while the oi^eat island of Sesse breaks the horizon to the right. In this kind of life of perpetual worry and anxiety with these people, the charm of such exquisite scenerv acts like a sedative, and elevates one's feelings and thoughts above the worries of the moment. A shade of sadness seems somehow natural to an appre- ciation of the grandeur or beauty of nature, especially when that beauty is essentially peaceful, silent, and still, and has come tipon one unexpectedly, with the sense that it has been there for all time. It is as though the soul recognised the resemblance to some antenatal para- dise ; and. if we believe Avith Plato that this is indeed avaiJLvrjcrLS- small cause for wonder that the unknown contrast throws a tinge of melancholy over our appre- EXQUISITE SCENERY. 145 ciatioii. It is at such moments that we recall the un- forgotten past, robbed of its anxieties, its sorrows, and its doubts, Uke the memory of a dream. It is thus in the material world that distance, lending a softening A \'iE\v OF Lake Victoria. touch to the rugged mountain, hides its rough paths and precipices, and shows only a soft and gentle outline " (diary). Leaving Buganga, I retraced my steps to Baja through the waist-deep swamps which bordered the lake, and thence directed mv course to Luwambu. I shot one or it two hippo, leaving them for the natives (if they died and floated subsequently). On the 31st I shot, while on the march, three of the Uganda variety of the water- buck [sing-sing), and so supplied my men again with meat, and had some to give as presents to chiefs in return for food, for a water-buck must scale 300 lb. at least. The island of Luwambu lies between the mainland and the great island of Sesse, almost in the very straits between the two. On each side, therefore, VOL. II. K 146 TOrR IX BUDDU. there is but a narrow channel left, and throuo4i this canoes must pass, unless they go round the east of Sesse, a route so much exposed to storms and heavy seas, that it is rarely adopted. In the sheltered water between Sesse and the mainland there would, I think, be a capital harbour for a steamer. The district of Bujaju,^ which borders the lake opposite to Luwambu, I thus describe : " We passed throuo'h a charmino- country. All the ten-ft. -hiD:h coarse bamboo grass ceased, and was replaced by a low soft English-like grass. The soil was black but sandy, and looked as though it would make the perfection of light loam. Everywhere are patches of bush and date- palm, which would afford abundant fuel ; while after going some six and a half miles, the forest, which had been visible to the right and front, closed in with magnificent timber-trees, through which, however, still continued the large open glades of sweet grass. The soil became poorer towards the lake, more sandy, and in places rocky. Another couple of miles brought us into a belt of primeval forest, the trees festooned with mosses and ferns, and the underoTowth dense. Bevond this narrow strip was the beach of the great lake, with white- crested breakers beating in on the shore." I have described this somewhat fully, for it was here that I recommended that an industrial mission should be established. The country offered every possible advan- tage for farming. Even the recent cattle-plague seemed to have passed it by, for I saw one or two herds of the king's cattle, and signs of wild buffalo. The forest offered the best of timber for boat or dhow building, and more could be floated from the forests of Bunjako on the north, and Sango on the south, which (with Chagwe) are the timber depots of Uganda. The proximity of the lake would render it accessible for a steamer, to ^ Xot identical with Bugaju, where my camp was. DESCEIPTION OF LUWAMBU. 147 export the products and bring the necessary imports. In fact, my imagination painted Luwambu as the future commercial centre of Uganda and the lake districts, and not merely the site of an experimental European farm or an industrial mission. The two richest districts of Uganda, Buddu and Sesse, are on either side of it, and it is from them that the coffee of Uganda is mainly derived. Both of them contain many kinds of rubber and gums, and both could produce any quantity of grain, cotton, and other exports in bulk (see chaps, xv. and xvi.) The situation appeared extremely healthy, no malarial swamps surrounded it, and the soil was light and well drained. Moreover, no place appeared to me to afford a better point of departure for a trade route to the Albert and Albert Edward Lakes (and the Salt Lake) ; and, as I shall narrate, this route is almost entirely free from those river -swamjDS which abound in Uganda and Unyoro, and are almost im- passable to laden porters, and quite impracticable to transport animals. At Birinzi, the chief, being of the Wa-Fraiisa party, refused to come and see me, pleading sickness. I sent him a large piece of the game I had shot as a present, and he promised to send a messenger to procure a canoe for me to cross the straits to Luwambu island. The messenger came, and I spent much time in talking to him and to the people, and explaining that we had nothing to do with religious differences, and were the friends of all alike, and I hoped that all these quarrels would now be forgotten, &c. This kind of talk I never lost an opportunity of holding, hoping thereby to effect good. I also gave them meat as a present. The result was that the messenger, after protesting I should have as many canoes as I wanted in the morning, went to all the villages and told them to remove them, and not to let me have one, and then bolted ! I had therefore 148 TOUR IX BUDDU. to return without takino- soundino^s of the water, or selectmg a site for a station on the httle island, for I could not afford to waste time in searchino- for canoes. I felt much inclined to exact reprisals from the treacherous chief of Birinzi, but refrained, lest I should light the spark of civil war or distrust. Moreover, I felt that it would be more in accordance w^ith the methods I constantly advocated with the people, to refer the matter to the king and chiefs, and the law of the land, at the capital. I reached Bugaju, my camp, on June 4th, having been absent ten days. On the way from Luwambu we passed over a ver}^ broken country, with endless hills and valleys, and many deep gorges or ravines, some two hundred feet deep, and clothed with fine timber- trees. I found here the lake of Xabuo^abu, and to my great delight, when my circuit of 125 miles closed on my starting-point, I found that I was practically exact, the map being barely a mile out. One of the main objects of this tour was to collect samples of various gums, rubber, and other products, and also to learn what I could of the trees, and the class of timber they afforded, and their various uses. For this purpose I took with me a man skilled in these matters. Such details as I was able to obtain, I have spoken of at some length in my reports to the Directors, and alluded to in the chapter on commercial products (xvi.) 149 CHAPTER XXYIL BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. Williams remains at Mengo — Gabunga's case — I march for Ankoli — Kasagama's story — Zacliariah accompanies us — Koki's challenge — Ai-rive on the frontier — Swahilis bartering — Zachariah to Ntali — Lake Kachera — The Wahuma — Effect of cattle-plague — Dogs — Blood- brotherhood with Birenzi — Description of Ankoli — Kitagwenda. — Kichwamba — Small lakes — Fertile country — My men at fault — Suit- able punishments — Reassure natives — Halt on lake plain — The Albert Edward Lake — Locusts — Kakuli's peojDle — Cross the ferry — The Salt Lake — Turn out Wasura — Secure hidden food — Hasty verdicts on Africa — Build Fort George— German-mail men arrive — News of Emin — Karakwanzi — Start for"Bavuntu" camp — Manyuema slave-raiders — Merry little pigmies — Caravan stampeded by elephant — Fertile country — Return to Fort George. I HAD written to Williams to ask him to celebrate the Queen's birthday at Kampala, to show the Wagancla that w^e observed national festivals, just as the mis- sionaries did religious ones. He wrote to me to say that all was going on admirably and without fric- tion, and he hoped soon to join me. In fact, it almost seemed as if our troubles were in a fair way of permanent solution. I thought that the question of the division of Sesse could very w^ell wait until I should build the station at Luwambu, and we had craft of our own on the lake, when the matter would be easier. I was, however, very nervous about leav- ing De Winton in charge in Mengo, for the position required a man of experience. The fact w^as, we were 150 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. terribly short - handed. The Company had sent me primarily to make a treat}^, and to endeavour to quiet the country and deal with the Mohammedans, and I now anxiously awaited the arrival of one or more com- petent men to assist me in the administration, and to set Williams free to resume his duties as second in com- mand of the expedition, and in control of the Sudan- ese. I had repeatedly urged the absolute necessity of such assistance, but none ever came. In the meantime I considered it necessary that Williams should remain, and I presently received a letter from him (dated June 16th) telling me of some difficulties which had sprung up between the king and the Gabunga (E.) — the chief of the islands, — in which, so far as I understood the matter, the king had arbitrarily sent armed men to oust this chief from certain slinmhas, and they had been resisted by the dwellers on the estates, and several men had been killed. The king was furious, and wished to imprison the Gabunga, who was one of the principal chiefs of Uganda. Whatever may have been the divine pre- roo'ative of the kino- in the davs of Mtesa, it will, I think, be sufficiently evident, from what I have already written, that no such arbitrary power was now in Mwanga's hands. The French Fathers have urged, I believe, that we interfered with the constituted author- ities ^ in stepping in to see fair-j^lay in this matter ; but had the position been reversed, and the Gabunga been an adherent of the Wa-Fransa party, I cannot conceive but what they would have charged us (and rightly) with impotency, and demanded to know for what pur- pose we were in Uganda at all, if we were unable or unwilling to take up such cases, and see justice done.- Captain Williams inquired fully into the matter, and " decided that the Gabunga must be supported,"- — and 1 Xotes on Uganda, pp. 33, 42. - Ibid., p. 45. TO ANKOLI — KASAGAMA's STORY. 151 I, at least, have the fullest confidence in his judgment and impartiality. While writing to me of these difficulties, he also assured me that no situation was likely to arise with which he could not deal effectually, and he was confi- dent he could keep Uganda pretty quiet in my absence. Reassured by his letters, after his experience of a month at the capital, I saw no reason why I should not now proceed with the plan I have already described. Shortly after I reached Bugaju, the men I had sent to Kampala for necessary goods returned, and I collected the flour which had been prepared for me by the Pokino, and made it into loads for my men, as a reserve food- supply, for I was informed that throughout Ankoli the Wahuma (like the Masai) being purely pastoral, I should find little or no food. Altogether I had a hundred loads (or some 7000 lb.), being about thirteen days' food for the whole expedition. I now heard that the country of Toru,^ which extends from the north of the Albert Edward Lake, along the eastern side of Mt. Ruwenzori, to the edge of the Un- yoro plateau — where it debouches on the Semliki valley (Butuku) — was not an integral part of Unyoro, but had been till within a few years a separate kingdom of the Wahuma, under a king named Nyika. The freeboot- ers of Kabarega, armed with guns, had overrun this country, and its king had fled, to die in exile. The people had been killed, ousted, or enslaved, and the tyranny of Kabarega had replaced the ancient rule. Nyika had a son named Kasagama, who as a child had escaped with his cousin Yafeti, and taken refuge at the court of Mtesa, where Yafeti obtained some office about the person of the king, who showed him great favour. These 3^ouths were closely related to Kabarega, ^ Identical with the Gambaragara of Emin and Stanley, said by Raven- stein to be the centre of the old Wahuma kingdom of Kitara. 152 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. as also was Mtesa — the royal family being largely of Wahuma stock. Both became Protestants ; and on the accession of Mwanga, and the subsequent persecutions, they retired from the capital, to live on an estate given them by Mtesa. Here they had remained quietly ever since, though Kabarega had (I was told) made every effort to dis- cover and kill them. Now, hearing that I was pro- ceeding towards Torn, these young fellows came to tell me their stor}^, and offered to accompany me, saying that when the news became known that they were with me, the old inhabitants of the country would be reassured, and would look on us as their deliverers. Kasagama was an extremely prepossessing youth, both in face and manner. Yafeti was considerably his senior, and was lame, and had to be carried. Zachariah (E.) also declared his intention of comino- with me. I have described this man as one of the chiefs whom I trusted more than any other in Uganda, and ^^'ho, from his tolerance and freedom from bigotry, was popular with all parties. He had been attached to us in the war against the Mohammedans ; he spoke Swahili fluently ; and the more I saw of him, the more I became impressed with his sound sense. He was in turn quite devoted to me. He was a l^etty chief in Buddu, who could muster from 500 to 1000 followers. When he announced his intention of going with me, the suspicious Waganda at once began to desert his estates, saying he would never return, but was really going to England, and they would be left without a chief I He saw before him a loss of position, and possibly of his ^possessions, — though I daresay he was lono^-headed enouo-h to imao-ine that, so far as I was able, he would not be a loser. Still, our position in Uganda, from a merely physical-force point of view, was not yet absolutely assured. The Maxim ^\'as greatly ZACHAHIAH ACCOMPANIES US. 153 discounted since it had effected nothing against the Mohammedans, and our fighting force was so vastly outnumbered in the country, that it was despised by the more hot-headed and rash among the opposing faction. As a matter of fact, in the outbreak which occurred in Buddu during our absence, Zachariah's houses were burnt and his place looted. He, how- ever, loyally decided to accompany me, and as he was a very great favourite with Ntali, who had de- puted him as his envoy to Mr Stanley when he passed through (the Christians being at that time exiles from Uganda and refugees with Ntali) — and as he, moreover, knew the language of the Wahuma, and the customs of the country through which we had to pass, — I wel- comed him as an invaluable companion. Some sixty faithfuls accompanied him, to half of whom I lent rifles. He, however, only brought three days' food for them ! I had sent back in all about 140 men, with a good headman, to Kampala, which, with the original garrison, made a total of about 220. Very many of these were sick, and I hoped they would rapidly get strong with a rest at Kampala after their long march. I had re- maining 110 Sudanese, 138 Zanzibari Levy, 185 porters and caravan establishment, which, with Dualla and 4 private servants, made a total of 3 Europeans and 438 natives. We had but little ammunition, and practi- cally no European provisions ; flour, sugar, oatmeal, and biscuits, coflee and cocoa, having long been finished, and I was at my last tin of tea — the one thing which is almost an essential in travel. Our whisky had been finished for months, except a very little kept in case of sickness, and even native flour was hard to get (except banana-flour) to make any substitute for bread. While in Buddu, however, we had lived in luxury on native produce, sweet-potatoes, a few vegetables — such as peas, beans, and tomatoes — goats' flesh (which would 154 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. have been the better for a httle sauce and bananas and milk. We were also very short of medicines. After a week of pre23aration — making return pres- ents for flour brought in, 23reparing all accounts of the men sent back to Kampala, issuing cloth for clothing to the men, and preparing our food and other loads, in all of which work Grant was absolutely indefati- gable— we started on our forward march on June 16th, the same day on which, three years before, we had attacked the Arabs on Nyasa. The wound then received in my left arm had given me much trouble, and on my way up country I had pulled out, Avith my finger and thumb, a piece of bone over an inch long ; since then it had been better, but pieces of bone continued to come away. We marched nearly due west, parallel to the north- ern boundary of Koki. This is a small semi-inde- pendent state on the south-west of Buddu, and not, as shown in maps hitherto, a large territory conter- minous with Buddu as far north as the river Katon- ga. We did not enter Koki ; nevertheless its kinglet, Kamswaga, beat his war-drums in defiance, which he would not have dared to do had he not taken his cue from Uganda. I, however, took no notice of it, and passed on. In spite of the Pokino's orders, the Wa - Fransa still refused to hvhig us any food (though the fields were laden with abundance) ; and since this was in violation of the agreement I had effected — viz., that each chief should obey the orders of his immediate superior, according to the customs of the country, irrespective of faction — I sent men, at the wish of the Pokino, to take it. There was, how- ever, no indiscriminate looting. I sent a message first to the chief with the Pokino's envoy, and reminded ^ It has been said that the art of travel in Africa may be summed up in two words — " Worcester sauce " I ARRIYE OX THE FRONTIER. 155 him that both factions had brought me food at the war, and that I had lent guns and given ammunition and help to both sides alike, adding that if he refused me food I should be compelled to take it. I then sent out a party under a responsible man, who cut just so many bunches of bananas as the estate could well afford, and these were brought into camp and distributed in the regular manner in the evening. In three days we arrived at Maronga, the borders of Ankoli and Uganda, having passed through a country of interminable hills and valleys, with few villao'es and little cultivation, but aboundin£ in ofood pasture-grass, and acacia and other bushes useful for camel fodder. We found game here, and Shukri and I bagged several Senegal antelope and water-buck to help in provisioning the caravan. Grant and Dr Mac- pherson rarely cared to go out shooting, except occa- sionally when we were halted. There Avere innumer- able tracks of elephants, as there had been more or less through all the country through which we had passed, but we saw none. The elevation of the country gradually increased, and the hills became higher, and more defined as low ranges, reaching an elevation of 5000 feet. They were of a slaty shale, and contained much iron, and we even passed old working's from which the rich ore had been taken bv the natives. There was no water, except such as re- mained in holes or swamps, and already the fierce sun was drying up the land and withering the grass, though it was barely a month since the rains had ceased. At Maronga there was much cultivation, and we therefore had to draw little on our reserve. On such occasions, when travelling through a country where no caravan had ever been before, the natives were not accustomed to the system of bringing in food for sale. If there was oTeat abundance of food. 156 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. and it was my intention to halt and replenish our reserve store, we would be at great jDains to in- form the people, that all food brought in would be purchased by barter, and on each day of our stay it would come in in increasing quantities. When as now, however, it was not my purpose to halt and buy, I would issue an equivalent in cloth to the Swahilis by "camps" (messes), and let them purchase for themselves. They are marvellously good at this, and will go very great distances to outlying villages, and rarely quarrel with the natives. In case of any dispute, they well knew, that I should take the part of the natives and punish them severely, unless it was most conclusively proved that they were not to blame. The Sudanese, however, were as bad as the Swahilis were good at bartering. They could obtain next to nothino' for their cloth, and made endless quarrels as well, so I never adopted this system with them, if avoidable. Here a Mo-anda chief overtook me, havino' marched fiftv miles and more to brino* me flour he had prepared for me ! He was of the " Eng- lish " faction. Thence we marched to Kabula, a very large village with much cultivation, but, like Maronga, with little food ready for purchase. We were delayed here, while fresh messengers were sent to Ntali with civil messages, and to inform him of our coming. These delays were necessary, in accordance with the dilatory customs of the country, but were a cause of much annoyance to me, since I Avas eager to accomplish my work without a day's unnecessary delay, and had, moreover, to feed mv men in a foodless country, imo- rant of what difficulties in this respect awaited us ahead. Crossino- some low hills, we sio-hted the lake of Kachera in Koki, and I fixed its position by compass. The messengers from Xtali returned to say, that as THE W AHUM A. 157 all his cattle were dead, he was ashamed I should visit him in his poverty and starvation, but he welcomed me in his country, and hoped I would see him on my way back, and every facility should be given me in my march. He desired I should send Zachariah, and a headman of my own, to tell him all I had to say. As his caj^ital was far to the south of my direction (some forty miles, I believe), this suited me verv well, thoug'h his real reason for declining to see me was, Zachariah said, that he had a dread of lookino- on a white man. and had never yet seen one ; also that he probablv feared the size of my force. I sent Zachariah and a Somal to ask him to come and meet me some marches ahead, where I would halt and await him. I would then make a treaty and blood-brotherhood with him, and give him a return present for the sheep and goats, &c., which his envoy had brought us. The j^eople in whose country we now were are Wahuma. Sj)eke called them " otherwise Gallas or Abyssinians of the semi-Shem-Hamitic race of Ethi- opia," ^ and believed them to be of Asiatic descent, though they themselves, he says, claim a European ancestry. Let this be as it may — for space, I regret, forbids me to discuss this and manv other interestino- questions. I may, however, note that Stanley ap- parently traces affinities between the language of the Wahuma and Zulus, and infers that they came from the soutli — a theory which I do not share.- The race is absolutely distinct from the Bantu (or negro) stock from which the agricultural tribes, the Wa-kamba, Wa-kikuyu, Wa-kavirondo, Wasoga, and Waganda, are sprung. They are purely pastoral, and do not 1 Speke's Journals, p. 246. Felkin endorses this— Xotes on Waganda, &c., Eoyal Soc. Edin., p. 6. For other descriptions, xide Ashe, Two Kings of Uganda, p. 332 ; and Wilson, Uganda, &c., p. 148. - Times, April 1890. 158 BLTDDU TO SALT LAKE. cultivate the soil at all. They live on the flesh and milk of their cattle, and, until driven by starvation, they would not, I believe, even touch the flesh of goats and sheep, still less of fowls. The latter are kept for purposes of divination only ; and, as in the days of the foundation of the Homan empire on the continent of Europe, so here in the heart of Africa, some 2600 years later, you may find auguries taken by the entrails of fowls. ^ As you follow the winding path you will see small limbs of the euphorbia laid across it, and bunches of herbs and various fruits, all offered as propitiatory Dfifts or as charms for luck. Tinv little huts like bee- hives are at the crossings, festooned with I know not what daiva. I thus describe the people in my diary : " Tall, thin, and lithe, with high foreheads and most intelligent faces. The eyes piercing, the features sharp, the nose often aquiline. In colour they vary, as do the Somals, some being very pale, others black. Some are remarkably handsome men. They wear a loose skin, beautifully cured, thrown over their shoulders, and so are mostly naked, but the women are clothed." Dualla, describing these people, said they had a "beautiful future," by which he meant "fine fea- tures " ! Mr Pilkington had made many enquiries about them, and told me that the custom of kissino- as we know it in Europe, was practised among them, and that their standard of morality was very low. I cannot verify either statement from my own know- ledge. They were much struck with the Somals, who, they said, must be of the same race as themselves. Apparently they freely permitted settlers of the Bantu (negroid) races to live amongst them and cultivate ^ Vide Speke's Journals, p. 267, for similar customs in ancient Uganda. Felkin describes the process of obtaining these auguries — L'ganda, &c., vol. ii. p. 47. EFFECT OF CATTLE-PLAGUE — DOGS. 159 the soil, and now in their extremity, they were driven to eat of what these agriculturists could provide, and to endeavour themselves to follow their arts, for the terrible plague had swept off their cattle. As I have already said, large numbers of the people, too, had died, unable to procure food, or to accommodate themselves to an unwonted diet. The remnant are thin and half-starved, and much liable to a loathsome skin- disease or " itch," which breaks out in large scabby sores, and is most contagious. Here in Ankoli, the plague seemed to have been very virulent, and had swept off almost all the game as well as the cattle. These were of a fine breed, large, straight-backed, without humps, and with pro- digious horns over two feet long. The sheep also were large, and well bred, of the fat-tailed species. They keep also a fine and very powerful class of dog, which they used in herding cattle, but these too were mostly dead. I secured two. A third I bought, but his owner had adroitly cut with his spear half through the banana-fibre thong that held him, and as the dog saw his master disappearing he bounded forward, breaking the thong, and I never saw him again ! The two I had, I endeavoured to teach to follow wounded game, and I succeeded partially, so that they ran forward to the sound of the gun. Firing one day, however, at an elephant, the dog on rushing forward was charged by the wounded animal. He ran past the whole length of the caravan, and disappeared on the horizon, and though he turned up again, he had received such a shock to his nerves, that he feared the sound of a gun afterwards ; and later, when we were attacked by Ka- barega on the Semliki, and there was heavy firing, his feelings were, I presume, so harrowed by recollections, that he deserted with his companion, and I never saw either of them again ! 160 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. Zachariah, as I have said, had gone on to Ntali's capital, while we proceeded by slow stages to Na- busossi. Here he overtook us on the 30th, bringing the most cordial and friendly messages from the king, who had sent with him his son Birinzi — a nice-lookina* and intelligent boy — to make blood-brotherhood with me. With him came Ntali's chief councillors, saying that the king held himself solemnly bound by all they undertook in his name. Ntali himself was, I believe, too fat to walk, and avoided all locomotion. I made a very formal ceremony, drawing up all the Sudanese in a hollow square, which I had cleared of grass and bushes. I greatly pleased them by consenting to go through the full ceremony according to their own rites, and I founded upon our mutual pledges the treaty which I submitted to England.^ 1 had this treaty read and most carefully translated to them. Its main provisions were, that the British were to be free to j^ass through Ankoli, or to build and settle in it, and that the king would do all in his power to suppress the import of arms and powder, by the Waziba traders in German territory to Kabarega and the Mohammedan Waganda, and would seize and confiscate all he could. In return, I gave him a flag and a copy of the treaty, and promised him the protection and the alliance of the Company. We exchanged presents, and the ceremony was complete, and this large country of Ankoli was added to the Company's territory. I had abandoned the idea of building a station in Ankoli, at least at present, for there was no food for a garrison. Moreover, the station would naturally be built at the capital ; and as this proved to be so very far south and out of my route, I had decided not to visit it now. Ntali now, of course, wanted me to go to war, and thrash a tributary state ; but I said I could not do so 1 Vide Blue-book Africa. DESCRIPTIOX OF AXKOLI. 1(31 until I had heard their story, and knew the justice of the matter. Accordingly, messengers accompanied me to summon the people — through whose country we should jDass (Kichwamha). Xews reached me here that Emin Pasha had passed just south of Ankoli. on his way west, with a large expedition. I had already heard rtimotirs to this effect : btit as he had said (in the letter of which I have given a fac - simile) that he was rettirning South. I could hardly credit the" reports. Abotit this time also I received further letters from Williams, saying that all was well in Uganda, and that he was confident he could keep the country fairly quiet din^ino- my absence. I therefore decided to push on with my further plans. We passed many villages, each with a fair amount of cultivation rotmd it. but little produce, and managed to hwx a little food to eke otit our stock. All were most friendly. The streams were clear and fast-llowing rivulets — now at their lowest — and often fringed with line timber of the gTeen-barked acacia, and the //><:> (/uhn (Kiganda, rnvngrAvv. ; Somal. lehhi). a thornless beatitiful tree, the bark of which is used by the Wanyamwezi to make boxes to keep their cloth in. as it is said to be impervious to insects : it is tised by the Waganda for fimiio-atino- or scentino- bark-cloth. The heiu'ht of the hills here varied from 4500 to 5000 ft, : in places they were covered with acacia and other bush, which had been full of buffalo before the plagtie came. Ar- riving at Motnit Ibanda, which lies on the borders of Ankoli, we tin^ned sotith-west. skirt ino- the frontiers of Kitao'wenda. and crossed a rano-e of hills 5S00 ft. hi^i-h. on the top of which was a beautiful plateati watered by rills of clear water, and covered with Itixtiriant pasttire. Descending over 1000 ft. into the valley of the Kitumi river, we left Kitao-wenda behind us. The people had been reported hostile, and we heard they VOL. II. L 162 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. meant to oppose us ; but I sent peaceable messages, and they offered us a cordial welcome and food, ask- ing how it should be possible that they should dare to fight us, whom neither Mwanga nor Ntali had op230sed? We had now entered a country densely pojjulated, and with enormous areas of cultivation. For the first time since we left Kavirondo on the east of the Victoria, we saw large quantities of grain of all kinds, as the staple produce. We crossed a broken hilly country of deep gorges, fringed with tropical forest, in which were the flowers one sees in a hothouse in England — the trees festooned with orchids and mosses. At the bottom of the gorge, an icy-cold stream of clear water would be found, rushing from the high plateaux of Ankoli to the Lake Albert Edward — parallel to whose upper arm we were marching. On the uplands English flowers abounded. We had passed several miniature lakes, nestlino' anion bold cliffs 200 ft. high. Their dark-blue waters proclaimed their depth, though I had no means of sounding them. They looked like the craters of extinct volcanoes ; while many other circular depressions, from 100 to 200 ft. deep, but Avithout water, seemed to bear a similar origin. Another lake — the Ruamiga — of larger dimensions, wound among the hills in a silent and deserted land, and was extremely beautiful and picturesque, with its margin of forest-trees. Kichwamba — the district we now entered — was the one which was reported hostile, and which Ntali had beofo'ecl me to attack. Walkino^ far ahead, as was m^' wont, for mapping purposes, with only two or three men, I suddenly emerged among their villages. My appearance caused a great alarm. The warriors rushed for their spears and shields, and began to collect for war — others drove off the goats, and the women Hed. Zachariah and my Wahuma guides were behind, and for KICHWAMBA. 163 a moment it almost seemed as though they would make an end of us before we could offer explanations ! The arrival of the Wahuma, who had hurried on breath- lessly, anticipating my position, made things all right, and the air resounded with cries of ''Hove! Hove ! ^' (greeting), and every one began to shake hands vehe- mently. They told me that Ntali's deputy, Kaihura, was a tyrant whom they would not accept, though they were loyal to Ntali himself, and begged me not to listen to Kaihura, if he wished me to attack them. I replied that Ntali and I were blood-brothers, but even at his wish I would attack no one, till I had heard the rights of the story : certainly then we should not do it for any lesser man, for we British were men of peace, who did not accept bribes of ivory, like the Swahilis, to fight in an unjust quarrel, and then accept another bribe to cease from war. Nor were we merely passing travellers, but we had come to arrange the country, and to build and settle in it. They could come to our camp without fear, and all food they brought should be fairly paid for, and presents would be given in return for presents. And if they found any man of ours steal- ing or looting, they were to have no fear of telling me, and they should see with their own eyes what sort of punishment he got. But in return they must bring food to sell, for we could not starve. Such was the tenor of my words, as we had passed along from the coast to the far interior, and my inter- preter now hardly needed to be prompted, for he had it all by heart ! In spite of my assurances, the foolish people, seeing the size of the caravan, ran away, and I am ashamed to say, that some few of my men, led, I think, by the Waganda and Wahuma, stole several goats, &c. I got news of it, and stationed a guard at the crossing of the stream, where every single man must pass, and 164 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. thus I caught the culprits. I detest flogging, and have always resorted to punishments, which would rather make the oflenders a lauo-hino^-stock. Thus, for skulk- ino'" and evadino- work a man ^^ ould stand for a time with a box on his head, or two men fio-htinD' would be A Scare of the Natives at Ktchwamba. made to patrol camp arm in arm, with loads on their heads, to the oTcat amusement of their comrades. Such punishments were generally sufiicient, but to put a stop to this looting from natives I had no compunction in emploving stronger methods. I had again and again warned the men, that I would not have the British called "thieves,'* because a few blackguards were at THE GREAT LAKE PLAIX. 165 fault. Seventy lashes (more is inhuman), a fine of a month's pay, and an evening under the guard with- out food, was the known penalty for Sudanese and Swahilis alike. I got to know the thieves ; they were generallv the same men — some who had come up lately in Martin's caravan. We had descended from the plateau on which the villages were, in order to prevent stealing, and had en- camped on the edge of the great lake plain, at an eleva- tion now of only about 3300 ft. — the lowest we had reached since we left Baringo. Here we halted six days, to get canoes to cross the ferry of the lake, and to buy food to replenish our reserve. Kaihura himself, with a great retinue, arrived presently (July 10th), and of course begged me to attack Kichwamba ; but I replied as be- fore, and he promised to get me canoes, and to send a letter for me to Selim Bey and the Sudanese, who, report said, were settled at no great distance. I also heard that Emin had passed not far from here, and had asked for canoes and been refused, and so had marched round the south of the Lake Albert Edward. These reports I was now compelled to believe, for even his name was mentioned. As food was not brouofht for sale in sufficient quantities, I tried a new dodge, and sent out the four responsible headmen whom I trusted, each with a small party to carry the food, to purchase in the villages. By this means I collected a great deal, and avoided looting from the natives. The expedition was supplied, and our reserve stock brought up to 101 loads — our original quantity. The great lake plain spread out before us must have swarmed at one time with elephant and buffalo, for their tracks were everywhere; but the former had left, and the latter were dead. Shukri bagged two water-buck, and I got an nsunu {Kohus koh), but game was very scarce. There were two small new lakes on this plain. 166 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. the Kibona and the Nyamsigiri. In going to visit the latter, I passed through a flight of locusts. " The air was darkened with them, every green bush and tree and the grass was one living mass of them. One had to guard one's face as they came past in clouds. As far as one could see, locusts, nothing but locusts ! They were overhead, flying past in dark masses, and the ground was crawling with them, while every tree and bush was a uniform brown with their colouring. Wings and all, they are about three inches long " (diary). The men were kept employed — the porters in bringing in food, and folloMang us when we Avent shooting, and the Sudanese and " Levy" at drill. We had many sick, who benefited greatly by our enforced six days' halt, and when we marched on July loth all were singing and shouting, and so full of spirits and ani- mal vitality, that we accomplished the thirteen miles across the plain, and actually crossed the whole ex- pedition over the ferry — sheep and goats and all — in exactly seven hours ! We had an excellent broad road, made by the constant trafiic towards the Salt Lake. The upper arm of the lake (Euisamba) is connected with the main expanse of the Albert Edward by a long and narrow channel or river not more than 500 yds. across. The people who live here own allegiance to a chief named Kakuli. Their status is a very low one : their huts were mere grass bivouacs, such as our porters would make for the night's shelter, surrounded by hedges of cactus. The women were variously dressed, and some quite nude ; both sexes wore tiie copper bangle, shaped thus — Q — which is exported from Birmingham to the Congo, but is unknown in East Africa. Their chief means of livelihood is, apparently, by obtaining salt (surreptitiously) from the Salt Lake OD the other side the Albert Edward, and exchanging THE WANYORO. 167 it for the produce of the Kichwamba fields ; also by harpooning hippo, and catching fish. Their canoes are unlike anything I have seen before, — of extremely thin planks, sewn together and caulked with grass, as flexible as basket-work, and very light. Some are very large, and capable of holding forty men. I w^as as usual told I must "stay till to-morrow"; but I would take no refusal — the more so as I heard that a party of 200 armed men had been awaiting us, and I wished to get across while unopposed. We camped on the other side, and I took all precautions for a night attack, as I was told this w^as a common mode of warfare with the Wanyoro (Wctrasura of Stanley), in whose hostile country we now were. Nothing happened, however, and we proceeded round the north-east shores of the lake next day towards the Salt Lake. Expecting opposition, I marched with a strong advance-guard in readiness to fight. As we neared the Salt Lake, being in front, I saw^ a reed- buck and shot him ; it took three shots to finally dis- 230se of him. Apparently these shots were understood by the Wanyoro to be a challenge to war. The rapidity of our advance had taken them entirely by surprise ; for, only twenty - four hours before, we were some twenty-five miles away, with a deep and broad arm of the lake between us, and apparently in no hurry to move. Probably they had calculated, that the passage of this ferry would delay us several days, and enable them to attack us at a disadvantaofe. And now, as they were eating their morning meal, they suddenly heard the ringing shots of my -450 at their very doors, and looking up saw the wdiole ex- pedition marching upon them in a compact and orderly formation. They fled incontinently, leaving their fires burning and the food on the embers ; and we arrived at the Salt Lake, to see long- string's of them in the 168 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. distance, and our object effected without the loss of a single life ! "Everywhere," I wrote, "were piles of salt, in heaps covered with grass — some beautifully white and clean. On our right was the Salt Lake, about three-quarters of a mile in diameter, at the bottom of a deep crater- like depression, with banks some 200 ft. high. The water was of a deep claret-red, with a white fringe of crystallised salt round its margin. A narrow neck, only some 40 yds. across at the top, and perhaps 300 yds. at its base — viz., the water-level — divided the Salt Lake from the Albert Edward. On this neck I camped, having thus two sides completely defended. Halting the caravan here, I went off with a few men to see if the Wanyoro (who were still hovering near) wished to fight. They didn't, and cleared ; so I left a j)icket on the rising ground, some 900 yds. from camp, and returned. In the meantime the lake had become black with canoes of our friends from the ferry (Kakuli's), who, I had been told, were coming ' to help us in the war.' They kept well out to sea, how- ever, till after our arrival ; and when they saw there was no fight, they came ashore and swooped down like vultures on a carcass — crowds of them rushino- like madmen and fighting over the salt, and loading up their canoes with it. Zachariah says this supply will reach Uganda itself, and be felt there. Sudanese and Swahilis all filled up with salt ; cattle, goats, everything had a surfeit." Much as salt is appreciated by us, it seems to be even more coveted by the African. On Nyasa, and every- where I have been in Africa, a pinch of salt was the greatest treat you could offer to a visitor. He would slowly consume it by damping his finger and licking it with the utmost gusto, and apparently would never stop, as long as he could obtain the luxury. The AX ALARM. 169 Sekibobo's little girl Malia, my protegee during the war in Uganda, would not touch a lump of sugar, but was never tired of eating salt, just as a child at home never wearies of sugar-plums. I let them help them- selves to-day, but later I insisted on Kakuli's myr- midons brinoiiiD' a little food in return for the free access to the salt. Thev also o^ave me a canoe, which I retained for use on the lake. I had barely pitched camp, and Avas engaged as usual in plotting in mv map and writing up its notes, when I heard heavy firing towards the picket. Dualla, as usual, lost his head with excitement. He is one of the bravest men (black or white) I know, but his courage, as I had already found (and had plenty of 023portunity of finding later), was useful only for its individual value, and as an incentive to the others ; for his ex- citement rendered him unfit to control men, and indeed made it necessary for me to control him ! There was a rush to arms, till I came out and made the Sudanese and Levy fall in as soldiers, and march in an orderly way under their proper ofiicers to the scene. It tran- spired that the Wanyoro, fearing probably that Kaba- rega would kill them all, unless they could recount a story of a desperate battle, had returned and fired some long shots at the picket, and had then blazed ofi* all their ammunition as fast as they could. A hundred rounds in replying were w^asted by my men, at which I was very anory, considerinof how very little we had. This little ceremony being over, and no one hurt on either side, the Wanyoro retired for good. I had sent messenger after messenger with letters to Selim Bey, who was said to be close by, and to have built four stockades near here, and I now despatched a reliable sergeant, Suroor Adam (who had come down with Emin and Stanley), with two or three picked men, to convey my messages to him. They returned in two 170 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. or three days, to say they had been a very long way, and could get no news of hini. Meanwhile I sent out my men to collect poles to build a stockade ; but there was little timber in the country, and they had to go great distances. Other parties were sent to forage and scout. The day after our arrival, they found an enormous quantity (5417 lb.) of beans and grain, hidden in the reeds by the banks of a stream. This haul set my mind at rest on the score of food — my chief anxiety — and enabled me to carry out the plans, which at first I had deemed impracticable on account of the food question. Nor was this all. The Wanyoro had apparently held an absolute monopoly of the salt, and had sold it to all tlie surrounding countries for food. This they had (on hearing of our coming) secreted in various places, and almost daily my men discovered some new cache. In all I got some 14,000 lb. of food (grain and beans), besides what the men secured for themselves. In addition, Shukri and I bagged a few water-buck ; so the men were well provided for. The two sides of our camp, towards the two lakes, were im- pregnable, and I stationed outlying pickets some three- quarters of a mile to front and rear by night. These I visited myself at first, but the strain of night-work, in addition to the incessant work by day, was very heavy, and I presently contented myself, by ordering the Sudanese native officer on duty, to wake me and re- port in the middle of the night, that I might be posi- tively certain of his having been his rounds ; while I slept in my clothes, and was ready at a moment's notice to turn out. For I fully expected a night attack, and I slept but lightly, waking at the slightest sound. The Albert Edward Lake, which lay spread out at our feet, was very beautiful. No reeds or marsh- o:ro^^ th here broke the outline of its shores ; and wooded islands in the foreground studded the expanse THE ALBERT EDWAKD LAKE. 171 of water, which stretched onwards till it met the horizon in the far and hazy distance. On the other side lay the crimson-water Salt Lake, its fringe of salt looking like ice. Each stick and stone was alike encrusted, and bore out the resemblance to a half-frozen pond. Beyond rose the lesser mountains — giant peaks them- selves— which formed the bulwarks of the snow-clad summits of Ruwenzori. The place seemed singularly healthy, and the sick in the caravan began rapidly to mend. The soil was excessively poor. Deserted villages surrounded by hedges of cactus, marked the dwellings of the people of the country before the advent of Kabarega and his guns. Mr Jephson describes the water of the Albert Edward Lake as soft and salt, and the country as unhealthy.^ Such was not my own experience. Travellers passing- through a district are apt sometimes, I think, to pass a hasty verdict, and make or mar a vast country, merely from the impressions conveyed to them as they walk along a narrow path, with the view circumscribed by the high vegetation v/hich borders it. Thus the Taru desert has been described by traveller after traveller as a waste of thorns and sand and rock, for all have passed along the self-same path. Yet Mr Wilson, w^ho is making a road across it, and has explored it in every direction, tells me he has found indications of consider- able cultivation, and abandoned villages, which led him to believe it w^as neither so sterile nor so useless as it has been painted. As before mentioned, I set to work to build a small stockade here : the j)osition was a very strong one, and its value would be great, as holding the Salt Lake and the ferry we had crossed. Salt could be exchanged at liberal rates for produce of all kinds, and these again for ivory ; and so I hoped that the station would not 1 Daily Graphic, 25th Jan. 1893. 172 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. only cover all expenses, but become a valuable source of revenue to the Uganda administration. In spite of the delav caused bv the Ion a- distances from which the poles had to be brought, and our paucity of tools, with which to cut and trim them, and dig the trenches in the rocky ground, the little fort (35 by 24 yds.) was practically completed in seven days. The face towards the Salt Lake was protected by a massive cJieval-de- frise, as the ground here was of solid rock ; that towards the big lake was of breast-high jooles, like Kampala. The other two faces, towards which alone an attack could be delivered, were of 8 -ft. poles, pointed and loop-holed ; and in lieu of a ditch, which was imprac- ticable in the rocky substratum, chopped thorns were strewn in front of the palisading. One dav while we were enofao-ed in these tasks, three Swahilis swaggered into our camp, firing oft' their guns with a great deal of bluster and imjDortance. They carried heavy mails for Emin Pasha, and had traversed the British territory. ApiDarently they had come neither provided with food nor with the means of purchasing it, and their violent methods had so exasperated the natives, that one of their party had been killed. The others had then taken refuge with Ntali, and blustered about their being the messengers of the Europeans. Ntali, fearful of incurring the resentment of the white men, put to death by slow torture the unfortunate man who had killed the Swahili. These gay fellows, then, finding themselves in good quarters, took no further trouble about the mails with which they were in- trusted, and lived for a long period with Ntali, who had now sent them on to me. I told them to remain in my camp, and I hoped presently to have an oppor- tunity of sending on the mails to Emin. Thereupon one of them, a mere low-class porter, demanded a tent 1 Even mv headmen knew no such luxurv as this. His XEWS OF EMIX. 173 astonishment was considerable, when I assented at once and clapped him and his fellows into our guard-tent as a reply, and they had to perform the tasks of the prisoners. Their arrival, of course, was incontrovertible evidence that Emin Pasha had really preceded me in this direc- tion ; and indeed, men who had seen him, and described him to me as being like myself" (I wore a short black beard) "•'but with spectacles, " had already left me little room for doubt. I was entirely at a loss to account for his presence here— far beyond the limits of the German sphere — with a large armed force, and (I was told) a Maxim gun or cannon, — the more so after his assurance to me as late as March last, that he was going in the opj^osite direction. I presumed that he also was £oino' with a view to enlistino- Selim and his men ; but I was puzzled to know whv he should not have frankly informed me of the fact, and requested permission to pass through British territory, since he would be compelled to enter it, for he was an official of the German Government, — his expedition was in their pay, and it was only natural to suppose that he was carrying out their orders. Between the Germans and the British on the lake the most cordial relations had existed ; and as they were most punctilious in their requirements that any boats from Uganda going south into the German waters of the lake should conform to their regulations, and carry passes, &c., I could not suppose that they would underestimate the imj^ortance of such an expedition traversing British territory, with- out even a mere formal intimation to myself I there- fore determined to investigate the whole matter. It also appeared to me, in consequence of this news, more than ever important to endeavour to secure the Sudan- ese soldiery before they were taken away by Emin. I have described both the urgent necessity for troops 174 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. to hold Uganda, and the advantages on the score of cheapness. It now seemed that this unique chance would be lost, if I allowed myself to be forestalled by the Germans. For of course I still supposed that Emin must be acting under orders. Messengers from Torn came in, to ascertain if it was really true, that we had brought the son of their old king, and intended to be- friend them against Kabarega, and their joy was great when they found that it was really so. We completed the stockade — naming it Fort George ■ — on the 27th, and next day Karakwanzi, the chief of most of this country of Usongola, arrived with an enor- mous following of people. At the head of his retinue he carried a new German flag, and he showed me a document in German, which was apparently a treaty. I do not understand his Excellency's action in this matter, since what portion of Karakwanzi's territory was beyond the 30th parallel, and hence outside British territory, must be wholly in the Congo State, and far removed from the German sphere. Fort George was our frontier, and I made the chief halt beyond it. His large following had made us doubt- ful whether it was an army of Kabarega's which was approaching, and I had spent a wakeful night in readi- ness. On the day of his arrival (28th) I was about to start towards the supposed camp of the Sudanese, on the west of Ruwenzori ; and having got the caravan ofl", I remained behind to interview Karakwanzi. He was extremely friendly, and gave me guides to take me to my destination, and asked permission to await my return here. I directed him to camp some half- mile away to the west ; and as I had already established on the east a similar village of Kakuli's people, our camp was free from the possibility of a surprise. I left here a force of 109 men, being all the Sudanese except 14, with Dr Macpherson in charge. He was. AN ELEPHANT BAGGED. 175 with Yafeti's assistance, to endeavour to establish a market for the barter of salt for produce, and he had full instructions, in the event of any mishap occurring to me. Having finished my shauri with Karakwanzi, I hastened after my men. I found them as cheery as possible, shouting Mivaka, Mwaka'' ^ (years, years) and singing. It naturally gives the leader of an ex- pedition the keenest pleasure to find that the men are loyal and contented and happy, in sj)ite of the hard work done, and the necessary discipline enforced. On the whole, it was a good day's work. In the morn- ing under arms for war, at mid-day a long and difficult shauri completed, and by night a march of eleven miles accomplished. We camped at the foot of the Kitoro hills on the banks of a beautiful stream. This country near the lake was swept by gales of wind, which came on with curious regularity at sunset, and lasted for about an hour, and would be succeeded by a similar gale from the north-east and Ruwenzori, Avhich in turn died away about 10 P.M. A curious haze enveloped the moun- tains. Next day we crossed the pass — 4000 ft. (Fort George being only 3200 ft.) — and descended into the valley of the Semliki. On the way we had sighted a solitary bull elephant feeding on the plain. There was no cover, but, having his wind, I got within about 80 yds. and fired. He turned towards us at once, and spread out his ears as though to charge, and my gun- bearers fled. I fired my second barrel, and he made off, which was lucky for me, as the thick grass would have prevented my running a yard, and I had no second heavy rifle ; so he would have " had me on toast." He fell dead within 100 yds., and turned 1 This means that they are ready to go on for years on the expedition, and do not wish to return. 176 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. out to be a mao-nificent beast, with tusks weio-hino- 80 and 82 lb. ! He was my first elephant — often though I had hunted these animals — and I secured him with- out delaying the caravan at all. Later in the day, as we neared the Semliki, we came on great herds of elephants, which would not move out of our way. Shukri and I went after them, and it was on this occasion that he was caught by an elephant, as I have narrated in chap. xix. Next day we crossed the river, which was fordable, and camped in one of the most picturesque spots I have seen in Africa. Here are my notes at the time : " Some 200 or 300 ft. below the knoll on which we are camped, rushes the Semliki, in a series of cas- cades and waterfalls, with handsome trees along its banks. The Borassus palm grows plentifully, — as is its wont, it suddenly appears in a district, and as suddenly ceases. The river is narrow, but deep and rapid, and its sound is pleasing in the distance. On the far side is undulatino' countrv towards the Ruwenzori rano^e, diversified bv o-reat oTanite rocks and boulders. The bank of the river is precipitous, which adds to its beauty, and a tributary stream flows into it here through a gorge, which, like the others around, is of very rich soft black loam, in which are luxuriant cro23S." The Semliki is only so called where it enters the Albert Lake : here, near its exit from the Albei t Edward, it was called the Kakibi or Xyanza (water). In the evenino\ one of the messeno^ers whom I had sent with letters to the supposed Sudanese came into my camp, bringing a goat and a tiny girl-dwarf from the forest, as a present from the *'Bavuntu." He was followed later by two of the Bavuntu themselves, who, instead of being Sudanese, turned out to be the Manvuema ivorv and slave hunters of Kilono-a-lonofa, of whom Mr Stanley has given so full a description MANYUEMA SLAVE-EAIDEES. 177 in his ' Darkest Africa.' They had no idea where Selim and the Sudanese might be, but insisted that they were not within a month's journey. Next day I reached their station. They spoke Swahili, and were civil and respectful, and treated us most hospitably. They seemed a fine and a plucky set of men, and one could only regret that they had not been taught in a better school than that of the Arab slave-raiders. They had built good houses and a rough fence round their station, and cultivated the Mwili palm, from the fibre of which they made the Manyuema " cloth," which is in reality rather matting (of the finest pos- sible texture) than cloth. From the people around they claimed one tusk of every elephant shot ; from the more distant villages they levied blackmail at irreg- ular intervals. They were at war with Karakwanzi, I was told ; but I think their custom was to invent a quarrel with any one, or espouse some quarrel between the natives, and thus, falling on an unofiending tribe, to carry ofi* any number of captives as slaves, whom they despatched to Kilonga - longa, at Ipoto on the Ituri. Indeed they begged me to stay a day and help them against some tribe. I, of course, peremptorily declined. The Manyuema, though cannibals in their own coun- try, repudiate the custom when they take service with Europeans. I had many in my caravan, and found them perhaps the bravest and the most attached of my men. They are very clean, and managed to have presentable clothes when all the rest of the porters were in filthy rags. Indeed it is their very superiority to other tribes which has made them such successful tools in the hands of the slave-raiders. They and the Wanyamwezi are the best porters in Africa, and are generally trustworthy and loyal. These people told me all about Emin, who, they said, had passed close to their station, and with whom they VOL. II. M 178 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. had apparently had some difference. They said he had built three houses at the foot of Ruwenzori, and had ascended some distance up the mountains, and had planted the German flag there. They offered to guide me to the place — an offer I was glad to accept. They had caught several dwarfs from the great forest (they said at Emin's request), and had got them caged like wild beasts. I took a boy, as a companion to the girl they had sent me, though with some misgivings, lest I should appear to encourage their capture. The poor little creatures, delivered from their captors, became the pets of the cam23, and lived a happy life. They appear to be merry little folk, if one may judge from the constant shouts of laughter I heard from these two. The Man- yuema said they were fierce little people, who lived in the forest, and hunted and killed elephants with their tiny bows and arrows and spears. They lived on the flesh till it was done, and then hunted again, and were most intractable. I even found a Mhuma among my following, who knew a little of their language, for Nyika, the old king of Torn, had had one at his court. They were about 3 ft. high, and reached to the hip- bone of Suroor Adam, the Sudanese sergeant, who was about 6 ft, 3 in. ! All this country was densely inhabited, and culti- vated. Bananas, grain of various kinds, and beans, seemed the staple food. The people, the Wa-Nandi, were mere savages, to whom the well-dressed and self - possessed Manyuema offered a great contrast. They were armed with spears and tiny bows (only 18 in. long), such as I had not before seen in Africa. They appeared timid and peaceful. Their huts were better built than any we had seen since we left Uganda, except, of course, the wattled and span -roofed houses of the Manyuema. The Manyuema station was in the Congo State, whose boundary I had crossed in my CARAVAN STAMPEDED BY ELEPHANT. 179 quest of the " Bavuntu," and these people were out of British jurisdiction. I therefore merely cautioned them regarding slave-raiding to the east of the Semliki, which was our boundary. Leaving their place, we marched east and crossed the Semhki, now a big river with a great volume of water, and barely fordable even at the ferry, where it divided into two branches. On the march we again came on elephants, and I dropped one with a single bullet. A second stood over it, and was very vicious. I fired, and it charged, but was stopped by several shots from myself and a couple of Somals who were with me, and presently it also fell. It was on this occasion that my dog got such a scare ; nor was he the only one, for the whole caravan was close by, and when the elephant charged they threw down their loads in a panic and fled ! This was a very great haul to the friendly natives, as also to my Wanyamwezi, who, with the Sudanese, were the only men who would eat the flesh. From all sides the natives came pouring in, and very soon both elephants were disposed of Before long we struck the path by which Emin Pasha had come, and eventually we came upon his camp and the huts he had built. The natives showed me the direction he had gone in ; and as it was north-east, there was no longer any doubt that he had entered British territory. The plain here, at the foot of Buwenzori, was of ex- cessively rich soil. " I have never seen anything like the cultivation," I write. " As far as the eye can see, endless acres of plantation extend, all looking most luxuriant — bananas, grain, and beans. They say they are independent of the seasons here ; the dew is so heavy, and the soil (a light black loam) so rich, that as soon as one crop is gathered they plant another. The huts are well made, and the people go about the fiekls 180 BUDDU TO SALT LAKE. unarmed — a rare thino- in Africa — with onlv sticks in their hands. When going on a journey, they carry spears with diamond-shajDed blades, but poorly made. Their hoes are of iron. The fields are wonderfully well kept, not a weed to be seen. I am told that a vast quantity of this food is groAvn, in order to be exchanged for salt. It is a wonderful granary, and if we hold the Salt Lake we tap all this endless sujDply." From the time that we had crossed Emin's track, the natives lied at our approach. The houses were deserted, and it was with the greatest difficulty that I could at last induce a few men to stop and speak with us, for all feared and distrusted the white man. I am told Emin stayed here for a month, and took food by force the whole time and paid for nothing. His men killed two of the savages, for which Emin is said to have imprisoned them. I think I can say that where we have been the people have learned to know and trust us, and all is friendly ; and if a safari follows, they will find confidence and friend- ship, not terror and distrust as here on the track of the Germans " ^ (diary). With much difficulty I even- tually saw a local chief by remaining behind after the expedition had marched. He was an intelligent young man, and I showed him our flag, and explained that those who carried it were English, and we had no wish to loot or hurt his country or his people ; that we now held the Salt Lake, and his produce would be accepted if he brought it there, and a liberal exchange of salt given. I left with him the Sudanese sergeant, Suroor Adam, a most reliable man, with two Sudanese and two Swahilis (as interpreters), and the four men who had 1 Emin and Stuhlmann had arrived at this camp (Karevia) on June 6th, and left about June 16th, 1891. FERTILE COUNTRY. 181 brought the German mails. They were to await Emin's return and give him letters from me and his mails ; and if he brought down Sehm and his men, they would explain to them about the British occupation of Uganda, &c. The chief took them, and said all that he had was theirs, and during the time they stayed with him he treated them with the ut- most hospitality and friendship. Subse- quent events will show that these letters never reach- ed Emin. They were merely to ask him whether he was acting under the orders of the Ger- man Government, and why he had not intimated to me his intention of coming into British territory. I was much tempted to follow him, but judged it best to allow nothing to cause me to deviate from the course I had marked out for myself, or to delay me one single day more than was absolutely necessary. " At sunset," I write, " the RUVVEXZORI BY SUNSET. 182 BI'DDU TO SALT LAKE. snow-cap of Euwenzori suddenly became visible, and shortly after was tino-ed with the oiow of the settincr sun — a most lovely sight/" Marching back — parallel to the base of the Euwenzori — we crossed the low hills somewhat higher up than before (the highest point of the pass being 5400 ft.), and descended into the jDlain of Katwe. and so arrived at Fort Georo-e on Auo\ 6th. the anniversary of the day we had left the coast. 183 CHAPTEE XXVIIL SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. Leave garrison at Fort George — March into L'^nyoro — DisjDerse Dukala's army — Pluck of Waganda — Build Fort Edward — The people welcome Kasagama — Daily routine in camp — Leave garrison and march on — Bloodless victory over Kabarega — Eeassure the Wa-Toru — Description of country — "Waganda colony — Ferag attacked — Cross Semliki — The enemy attack again — The caravan in a swamp — Swahili porters — Hard marching — We prefer forest to mountain — Affable savages — Lake Albert — Ascend Kavalli plateau— Sudanese deputation — History of events in Equatoria after Emin left — Chaos and war — Selim and refugees settle at Kavalli's — Both steamers sunk — Emin's return — Disappears again — We arrive at Kavalli"s — Work in camp — Selim arrives — Our conference and its results — We are unable to help the Sudan — Eesults of " Relief Expedition " — Selim's contract with me. Ox my return, after ten days' absence on this trip. I found all well at Fort George. We had marched 108 miles, crossing the lower slopes of Ruwenzori, both lowing game. From our camp in Buddu to the Salt Lake Avas 134 miles. We halted only one day, and then, leaving a headman and thirty Swahilis in charge of the fort, with 700 rounds of ammunition, and a petty chief of Kasagama's to conduct matters with the natives, we marched northwards — along the eastern base 184 SALT LAKE TO KATALLl's. of Rmvenzori. Crossing a hilly plateau, we descended to the lakis again (Ruisamba), passing another small salt lake on our way. The story runs, that years ago an army of AYaganda came here to raid for salt, and not knowing that this supply was noxious, while the other was good, they ate largely of it, with the result that most of them died. There is also said to be another lake in Toru whose salt is good, but black, and inferior to that at Fort Georo-e. Alono^ the shores of the Albert Lake the natives obtain salt by washing a saline earth. The chief market for salt is at Kibiro, in northern Unyoro. As we fully expected to be attacked, I sent a party of Somals and Wahuma ahead as scouts. The Somals are excellent at this work, most intellio^ent and most fearless. Unfortunately a misunderstanding arose about the place where we should camp. Momentarily expecting that the guides would point out the place agreed upon, I pushed on and on ; while they, thinking that I understood that we should camp on the lake shore, but desired to find a spot that pleased me, said nothing. The result was, that we were a mile or more ahead of the caravan, and that, since I had thought camp was close by, I had pushed on without halting for some nine or ten miles, and the expedition was strao'o^lino' terribly. Just at this unfortunate moment we perceived that we had run into the enemy. A long arm of the lake stretched towards the moun- tains, and across the narrow space between them ran the little river Mokia, in a deep channel — the boundary between Usongola and Toru proper. A dense acacia- wood filled the intervening space. It was an admi- rably selected place at which to oppose us. " Through mv oiasses I saw that the low hills bevond were hlacJc with men, as was the o-round in front — thev were, as Dualla said, ' like ants ' ; it seemed impossible we WE DISPERSE DUKALA's AKMY. 185 could beat these hordes ; retreat was out of the question, and defeat meant annihilation. It was now 3 p.m., and it would be over two hours before all the expedi- tion were up. There was no moon, and if the fight extended till night, it would mean disaster. Mean- while we were but forty men, and the rest were miles behind " (diary). It was not unnatural that my heart misgave me, for I had yet to learn what arrant curs these Wanyoro are, and probably a very large propor- tion— the majority, in fact — of the masses of people I saw before me, and whom I supposed to be all fighting men, consisted of women and non-combatant followers. But my chief fear was lest the Mohammedan Waganda should have joined with the Wanyoro to oppose us, and they would be an enemy far beyond our strength. We halted, and I extended my little line, sending back runners to hurry up those behind. Meanwhile the enemy got bolder, and occupied the wood in great force, Avhile a few came out into the open, and be- gan firing at us. I made no reply, and the Wanyoro let slip their chance of attacking us, while as yet we were but forty strong. By four o'clock many of my men had come running up breathlessly, and the Maxim had arrived. I dared not delay the attack longer, lest night (which falls at 6 p.m. exactly here on the equator) should overtake us. So with 100 rifles at most we advanced in line. I had no confidence whatever in the Maxim, for I expected it would jam hopelessly, and therefore, in order to test it, I opened fire on a crowd of men on a knoll beyond the river, about 950 yds. off. I only fired some twenty rounds, but my aim and estimate of distance was correct, and they took terrible effect. The result was a panic among the enemy. A party of Somals and Waganda, whom I sent alono' the low hills to the left, turned their flank, while Zachariah and his Waganda rushed 186 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. the acacia-wood with the greatest dash, and went rio'ht throuD'h it. I had been anoTv with Zachariah for firinof a number of cartridges the day we took the Salt Lake, and he had keenly felt my reprimand. To make up, he actu- ally refrained from firing a single shot in his charge through the wood, ordering his men to fire only in defence of their lives. As the enemy gave way before him, he positively did not fire a single round ! Such a thing with wholly undisciplined men shows wonder- ful pluck and control. Zachariah copied my methods wdth "the sincerest flattery" of imitation. He counted his men's ammunition, inspected their rifles, flogged for petty theft from the natives, and indeed, by the time we reached Uganda again, his sixty men were almost as well disciplined as our own. The AVaganda too, who had gone with the Somals to the left, behaved splendidly. Outrunning their com- rades, they dashed into the enemy, and indeed got so far ahead that the Sudanese mistook them for Wanyoro and fired upon them I The enemy, outflanked on both sides, and scared by the few shots of the Maxim, and our steady advance in line to attack in front, turned and bolted. They had fired an enormous quantity of ammunition, but did not succeed in hitting any of us ; very little indeed had been fired by us. None were hit by the few shots fired by our rifles, I believe, but we heard later that some twenty to thirty were killed and wounded by the score or so of rounds from the Maxim, and this had an enormous moral eflect, as we afterwards found. We captured their camp, which was full of food, and bivouacked beyond it on some low hills. The Sudanese pursued the flying enemy some distance, but did not come up with them. It was a successful day, for we had made a prodigiously long march, as well as clearing out the enemy. Grant and BUILD FOET EDWARD. 187 the doctor, who were both full of fight, were much vexed at having come up too late to be in the engage- ment, such as it was. It was sunset before we got all the expedition and all the loads mustered in camp, and the men had no time to make any shelter to protect themselves against a tremendous thunderstorm, and the deluges of rain which came on in the night. Marching on, we crossed the Sebwe, and follow- ing up the stream, I selected an admirable site on which to build " Fort Edward." ^ The stockade was constructed on the banks of the river, which on this side were 20 ft. high, and commanded the whole plain in rear (south), as well as the plain which sloped northwards to the Mupuku river. This latter stream ran parallel to the Sebwe. It emerged from a long valley or gorge, which extended for miles among the mountains, and flowing to the lake with an extremely rapid current and great volume of water, formed a barrier impassable during the greater part of the year, and difficult at all times, which shut off the whole of Usongola and South Torn from the north. The soil was rich and the pasture luxuriant, and groves of the mugavu afforded excellent timber. Away up among the mountains in the Mupuku valley, I was told by the people of Torn that there was a dense popula- tion, and much cultivation and food. The site was not too distant from Fort George, and as it commanded the gate from Unyoro, that station would be safe from attack from this direction. The actual site of the fort commanded the road to the Salt Lake, which ran between the river and the great mountain of Nkendi. The people of Torn continued to come in daily to welcome their king Kasagama, and to bring us food. It was here, close to our stockade, that I wished him to settle for the present ; and as his people joined him he 1 Named after the Eight Hon. General Sir Edward Lngard, G.C.B. 188 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. beo^an to build his villao-e. I made a treatv with him, the stipulations of which were, that as he had been restored to his country by the British, he should in all matters obey the orders of the resident at Mengo. Elej)hants were not to be shot without permission, and were the monopoly of the Company. This was an important provision, as these animals swarmed in enor- mous herds throughout this country. He was to pre- vent the import of arms and powder, and all arms in possession of his people Avere to be registered, and held only under the Company's licence. The Company in return pledged its protection to him and his people. Grant undertook the conduct of a small expedition to oust Katabarua, one of the most cruel of Kabarega's chiefs, who was said to be camped close by. The dis- tance, however, was fully eleven miles, and they had to cross five rivers, which were almost impassable, only to find the camp deserted. Grant picked up a piece of paper here — a rare thing in Africa — which turned out to be a letter from Dr Junker to Captain Casati in Italian, about a chimpanzee ! We now set to work hard at the fort, but were greatly delayed by want of tools. To lay out the trace, we had to tie our tent -ropes together, and the soil of the ditch was removed in handfuls and in cooking-pots for lack of better appliances. One spade and a few broken native hoes, and very few axes, comprised the whole of our intrenchinof tools ! I have already described the daily march — here is an extract from my diary while at Fort Edward, describing our life when halted : " Our daily life is work, work, work. At daybreak Grant calls the roll and starts the various batches of men off, according to my over-night instructions. One batch to cut poles, another to bring house-building material (thin wands, reeds, grass, &c.), another to work in the fort, digging DAILY ROUTINE IX CAMP. 189 the ditch, fixing the poles, building the houses, &c. The selected men, who have been taught, go on with the trimming and placing of the poles, making loopholes, &c. I generally myself have several shauris to settle up — arrangements with the natives, &c. Later I go over and work at the fort till twelve noon, when the ritJcsa (dismiss) is given, and I return to work at all kinds of things — shauris, telling off offences, diary, plotting the map, mending guns, or the construction of the gates of the fort, &c., &c., and have a snack of The Camp by Night at Ruwenzori. food. Of late, having got abreast of my work, I have time for half an hour's lounge some days. At 3 or 3.30 P.M. all turn out again, and work goes on till near sun- set. Long hours these ! and the men are kept hard at it, but there is not a sign of grumble or discontent. Then dinner, and we sit and chat over the camp-fire to save candles, which are all but exhausted, if I have no diary or map work to do." For some time past I had been writing my second report at such spare moments as I could devote to it, 190 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. and having completed it, together with mails for the coast, in which I again urged our need of annnuni- tion, intrenching tools, cloth for food purchase, and clothino' for the men, medicine, and some few neces- sarv provisions for ourselves, I despatched the mails to Kampala on Aug. 17th. In spite of our difficulties for tools, the fort was a great success. The faces were about 43 yds. each, those to north and east being of high pointed poles, with a double line of loopholes, those towards the Sebwe (south and west) of 5 -ft. poles, with an inner banquette. A watch-tower, near the swinoino' o^ates. commanded a view of the whole country, and three native houses, each 26 yds. long, accommodated the Sudanese and Swahili garrison. Of the former I left 25 under a most reliable sergeant, and of the latter 63 (one of the two companies of the Levy ) under their native officer, a Somal, who spoke Swahili and Arabic fluently, and one of the very best men I had in the expedition. In all, 100 of mv best rifles, with 1800 rounds of ammunition. The fort was surrounded by a deep ditch 11 ft. broad, and con- tained a food-store and houses for the native officers, besides the houses for the men. We had a oreat deal of fever here, possibly due to our breaking up the virgin soil — always a prolific source of sickness m the tropics — and Dualla had been hcyrs de combat most of the time, which deprived me of the services of a verv useful man at the fort work. On the 25th Aug. we were ready to push on, leaving behind us Kasao-ama and all his followino-. We had been in all only thh^teen days here. We left the garrison amply provided with food, and our own reserve store was filled up to the maximum we could carry. We also had twenty-two loads of salt for purchase. Fort Edward was built at the very foot of the loftv snow- peaks of Ruwenzori. Occasionally, as the mist and BLOODLESS VICTORY OVER KABAREGA. 191 cloud cleared, we would get a glimpse of its pinnacles and glistening white crags. Once or twice we saw a series of snow-capped heights, and between them a long expanse of snow -covered mountain. Mr Stanley has given so elaborate a description of Ruwenzori, which all the world has read, that I will not attempt to add to it with my less practised pen. He prefaces his de- scription by the prophecy, that no Euro23ean would look on it again for many years, as it would take an army to effect a passage via Torn. As he was writing the words in Cairo, we were travelling along this very route ! Crossing many streams, and a hilly country gradually increasing in elevation, we again, on the second day, found ourselves unexpectedly confronted by a huge force of the enemy. We were told that these included a large portion of Kabarega's regular army (a deserter said 2000 guns, which was probably quite untrue), as well as a confederation of all the southern chiefs, so we expected they would make a better resistance than before. A large body of men, carrying a big flag, took possession of a hill on our right, and a similar body crowned a height on our left. I advanced in line, send- ing a strong party round the low hills on the left. We steadily came on, while the enemy kept up a tremend- ous firing. The bullets, however, came nowhere near us. We advanced without replying, and the Wanyoro fell back as we came on. The result was that, scared by the reports of our terrible shooting at incredible ranges, and at our stolid and orderly advance, they did not dare to await us at close quarters, and we actually defeated this great army without firing one single car- tridge, and without the loss of one single life ! I was proud of our bloodless victory, for it spoke well for our control and discipline over our men. There must have been many thousands, for their camps covered a great area of ground. The expedition now consisted of 192 SALT LAKE TO KAYALLl's. barely 300 men, of whom at least half were a rabble of porters, many of them quite useless for fighting. Smallpox was raging throughout Unyoro, and though we had come on many victims abandoned by their friends, we had fortunately escaped infection. From time to time we captured prisoners, and I took the greatest ^^ains in seeing that not the smallest thing was taken from them. I told them what I had always said to the natives we had met — viz., that the British did not fight with peasants, and women and children, and that they were free to go their way, even though they were Wanyoro. I did my utmost also to prevent all looting, even though the country we were passing through was hostile. For my object was to reassure the peasantry, while driving out the armed bands of Kabarega. We captured a flock of goats on one occasion, and ten men with them. These men were people of Torn, and they were greatly pleased when we told them that we had brought their king, and driven out their tyrant Dukala. They said the flock belonged to a Munyoro chief, and so we kept it as fair spoil, and sent the men off*, to tell all their friends that they could return, and settle in 23eace under Kasagama. " In return," I write, " I got the old reply, that if they came over to us, and we left the country, Kaba- rega would slaughter every one of them. They were glad of Kasagama's return, and acknowledged him their king." They were a poor-s23irited, defenceless race, these Wa-Toru, the spirit crushed out of them by years of tyranny. There were few of them left, for they had fled or been made slaves, and the AYanvoro had taken their place. I had, of course, some clifticulty in restraining the men from looting ; for it was hard to get them to understand why we should refrain from taking the property of those who were fighting against DESCRIPTION OF TORU. 193 US. The Waganda and the Wahuma guides gave me the most trouble in this matter. I allowed the men to take food for their wants, and even to capture the chickens round camp, but no distant foraging was per- mitted, no goats were allowed to be caught, and above all, no huts were fired or bananas cut down. Dukala, we heard (from various fugitives), was killing all the Torn people he could, or driving them off in chains lest they should come over to us. Constantly ascending, we crossed endless streams, rushing down from the snows of Ruwenzori to feed the Mpanga or Wimi rivers, and so carry their water south- wards to the Albert Edward Lake. As this lake dis- charges its surplus water by the Semliki to the Albert, and so to the Nile, the whole of the watershed on the eastern side of Kuwenzori, flowed, as it were, due south round the base of the mountains, and then due north along the western slopes to the Albert ! At times we passed through close country full of bush and " ele- phant-grass," at others through vast areas of cultiva- tion, extending along the lower slopes of the mountains. The soil was everywhere extremely rich, and the heavy dew and rainfall made the vegetation most luxuriant. Though this should be the driest time of the year, we experienced daily rain and thunder storms, as we marched below the peaks of the great mountain, against which the rain-clouds broke. We reached an elevation of 5300 ft., where the pretty trio of little lakes, called Yijongo,^ are situated, and here we descended — down the sheer face of a pathless mountain — into the narrow valley of Kiaya. It was a difficult task for the loaded porters, for the rugged bed of the mountain- torrent, which we followed, was choked with the 12-ft. bamboo reeds, which clothed the hillside. Like the similar hill we descended from Nandi, the drop was about 1200 ft. ^ Kijoiigo (sing.), Vijoiigo (pliir.) VOL. II. N 194 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. The path we had followed hitherto was that taken by Dukala and his army in their flight — there was no other ; but he branched ofl* here to the north-east, in the direction said to lead to Kabarega's capital : it was useless to pursue him. In the valley of Kiaya we found a colony of Waganda, who were, hoM^ever, hostile and fled. We came upon some of their women, and reassured them, and sent them back to their homes. On our re- turn journey most of them joined us, and returned to Uganda. This valley was excessively fertile ; it was traversed by beautiful mountain -streams, and was of the richest soil imaginable. As it opened out, it led to a barren stony wilderness, covered with sparse jungle and tree growth, and excessively broken by precipitous gorges several hundred feet deep. At the bottom of these ravines was heavy timber-forest, and often villages and cultivation, with a rich and fertile soil. The eleva- tion of this hilly country was now constantly decreas- ing, the giant mountains were already left behind, and the buttresses of Ruwenzori dwindled OTaduallv down, till they became mere hills abutting on the Semliki plain. As we neared the edge of the hills which border the valley of the Albert Lake, I heard of the big river ahead, which I knew must be the Semliki. I sent on Ferag, my most reliable Sudanese oflicer (though the junior), who commanded the " Levy." With a picked band he Avas to endeavour to reach the river raj^idly, and secure some canoes. On the way he ran into a small party of the enemy, who fired upon him. He had strict orders to fire on no one, unless he was first at- tacked, and he had therefore advanced, with words of friendship, to within 60 yds., when they opened fire. At this close range volleys were exchanged, but no one was hurt, and the enemy decamped ! I hurried up myself to find the matter finished. Shortly after, we WE CROSS THE SEMLIKI. 195 came to the edge of the hilly country, and saw the Semliki plain spread out before us, with the edge of the Kavalli plateau on its further side, rising from the plain like a range of mountains. Midway across this plain we arrived at the Semliki, which, flowing some 6 ft. below the level of the ground, was not visible until we found ourselves actually on its banks. It was a great broad and rapid flood, at least 100 yds. across, and of course quite unfordable. Ferag had failed to find a single canoe, and the large village of Ireti (opposite which we debouched from the hills) had evidently been evacuated some time before, and the canoes removed. I sent search-parties up and down stream ; and next morning early, the Swahilis pluckily swam across, in spite of the crocodiles with which the river swarmed, and secured one which had been sighted on the opposite side. We got three in all, and began to cross in the afternoon, and by dint of the greatest exertion of all hands, we got the last of the caravan, with all the loads and the flocks, &c., safelv over some little time after niMitfall. o The plain we had crossed was rich in soil and pasture, and I ^\SiS told that it used to be covered with herds of cattle and buffalo. When searchino: for canoes, a man had been caught and brought to me. I reassured him, and he was very loquacious. Wishing to question him further next day, I put him in the guard -tent for shelter. Unknown to me, his custodians put handcuffs on him. In the night he bolted. Next day he was again caught. In some most mysterious manner he had extracted his hands from the handcuffs, which he was ^\'earing, still closed, round his neck ! I asked him why he had run aAvay (for he seemed to have no fear), and again for the evening he took up his quarters with the guard, and was given food. Once more he evaded all sentries, and disappeared in the night ! 196 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. A woman brouo-ht in at the same time declined to o^o, thinking our camp as comfortable as anywhere else I I handed her over to Zachariah, who had his wife with him and her female servants. At daybreak we found the enemy in considerable force on the bank w^e had left. Apparent- ly, they had planned a night attack (and the nights were now pitch-dark), and arrived to find us on the other side of the river. We exchano^ed a few shots ; but as they were concealed in the dense reeds, which lined the opposite side of the river (while we were on the higher bank in the open), I could not afford to waste ammunition over them ; for we had but Attacked ox the Semliki. THE CARAVAN IN A SWAMP. 197 twenty rounds per man reserve when we left Fort Edward. Our course lay along the river, and they followed, firing a very great deal at us (perhaps 1000 rounds) as the long caravan wound slowly along. The fire, too, was better directed, and both Grant and the doctor said they had narrow escapes of being hit. The men greeted the volleys with shouts of derision, and there were no casualties. They had many flags, and apparently (judging by the sound) many breech- loading rifles. Leaving the river, we struck straight across for the opposite hills, and soon found ourselves in the densest possible swamp - growth. No one who has not tried what it is to force a path through matted vegetation in a swamp, can conceive the labour. First, you push the wall of green stufl* down before you ; then clamber out of the depth you are in on to this. Down you sink (there is no bottom ; all is springy vegetation), and so you go on up to your knees or your waist in water, as the case may be. The grass has an edge like a fret-saw, and occasionally it catches edgewise across your face or hands, and cuts a deep gash. The stalks are clothed with spines (like ^ CO watch'), and if you touch them, your hand is covered with the almost invisible white thorns, which cause an intense irritation. Sometimes the mud changes to quagmire, and you sink deep at every step. More than once the programme was diversified by our run- ning into a swamp-wasps' nest, and then the frantic eflbrts of the men to get rid of the stinging insects, gave a touch of the ludicrous to the monotony. At last I began to fear we should not get out before nightfall. The foot of the hills, close as they looked, seemed never to grow any nearer. Presently the water appeared to be flowing ; gradually this became more marked, and soon we were in the undoubted stream of 198 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. a river up to our waists in water, and presently we came out on dry land. The end of the expedition just got out by nightfall, for the goats gave much trouble to the rear-guard. "It is truly marvellous what the Swahili j^orters can do. To-day they had marched from 7.15 a.m. till 6 p.m. through swamp such as I have described, with loads of from 65 lb. upwards (the Maxim is 87 lb.) on their heads, and this after a night spent without shelter in the open in rain. Yet their daily ration consists of a large coffee -cupful of beans or flour! It may be imagined that all were pretty tired : fired on in the morning, swamp and rain all day, and a very fierce sun, — for Ave are just one degree above the equator, and our elevation now is little over 2000 ft." (diary). Next day, finding that there was no path along the foot of the hills, and that, apparently, stretches of forest extended along their base, we attempted to climb the mountains, only to find, when we had surmounted 1000 ft. of almost perpendicular ascent, that a vallev lay below us, which we must cross to gain the still higher ranges beyond. Moreover, they appeared to be quite inacces- sible ; so we again descended, and determined rather to force our way through the forest. It was an ill-advised attemj)t, for which I greatly blamed myself ; and again, for the fourth day running, the men had a desperately hard dav, and onlv o-ot in at sunset. Yet nothino- had been accomplished. Grant brought up the rear ; he was always cheery and indefatigable, no matter how hard the day, and worked energetically from morning till night, pulling goats through the swamp, or helping our marvellous old cow, which had accompanied us up and down the steepest places since we got her in Usoga, yet never went dry. The men, too, seemed ever in the best of spirits. I never heard a word of discontent, in BEAUTIFUL FOREST — AFFABLE SAVAGES. 199 spite of these hard days, and that night after nio4it of late they had had no time to make their httle huts to protect them against the rain and heavy night- dew, and indeed hardly time even to get their fire- wood to cook their evening meal. We fomid that the forest offered little impediment after all, for the country apparently swarmed with elephant and hippo, and their tracks were easy to follow. It was com- posed mainly of many lovely flowering trees, some scarlet, like the Indian palas {Butea frondosa) ; others, such as the mteroanda, with bright yellow flowers ; others, again, with a lovely perfume. Many ferns, mosses, and flowers, and many varieties of birds in the trees, were the more welcome, that we had not seen them for some time. Soon the forest ceased, and we came out on a park- like country studded with acacia bushes, the grass sometimes dense and high, sometimes good pasture. Elephant-tracks were so thick, that at almost every second or third pace we crossed a different one. The Semliki bending away to the right, was lost to sight in the marshes where it entered the lake. The hills be- came lower, and the smoke of villages was visible among them. Entering a patch of magnificent timber-forest, we suddenly came upon a village. The natives were the most affable savages I had ever met, and were the first friendly people we had seen since we left Fort George. They told us that the Sudanese villages were close by, and offered us guides to take us there. The aged chief was greatly distressed at having no present to offer me, for lately Kabarega s plunderers had been here, and carried off everything. They lived in fear of their lives in the depth of the forest. Before the buffalo died, they apparently trapped them in the pits which abounded. Now they washed the saline earth, and sold the salt to the j)eople in the hills for 200 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. food ; for they dare not cultivate, lest their produce should all be seized. Thev beowd me to settle here, and said they would cultivate the rich soil, and grow food for us. The guides led us to the path up the hills, and we ascended the first rano-e to a heio'ht of 3000 ft., from whence we o'ot a maonificent view, and the Lake Albert lay spread out before us. Crossing a narrow plateau we climbed the higher hills, and reached the gTeat uplands in which the Ituri and other affluents of the Cono'o rise, on the normal level of Central Africa — some 4500 ft. I had many men with me who had been through the " Emin Eelief Expedition," and they pointed out to me the harbour on the lake shore, where the steamer came, and the long journey up these steep mountains which they had taken, time upon time, to convey the goods of the Sudanese to Stanley's camp far away — ten miles from the edge of the plateau. One wondered why the camp was not made nearer, that the tired men might be saved a part at least of their toil. The valley of the Albert, which we had just left, is little over 2000 ft. above the sea, the lowest level to which we had descended since leavino- the coast area. My reader will recollect that the Somerset Nile, flowing out of the Lake Victoria (3900 ft.), runs into the Albert at its northern point, while the Sem- liki, chaining the Albert Edward (3100 ft.), flows into its southern end. Thus the Albert is the final basin from which issues the Nile on its way to Khartum and Egypt. At this low level we meet again with the tamarind and other trees, which are not found at the higher altitudes. As we looked down on the lake and plain, I was able to take very many bearings for my map, which I daily ^Dlotted in, while all data were fresh in my mind. Whatever the stress of work, I nevei^ allowed this to o^et far in arrears. c5 SUDANESE DEPUTATIOX. 201 We camped at a village on the top of the jjlateau, and here in the evening a deputation of several officers from the Sudanese came to us. I thus describe the scene : " There was great joy and kissing of my hand (which they touch with their foreheads), and hand- shakincr with Shukri and mv Sudanese. Everv one talked at the same time, and congratulated each other, and every one temporarily became a fool, and smiled extremely, and talked incessantly, as is right and proper on such an occasion." Some part of their number went back to say that all was well, but I detained two officers, and gave them a goat to eat with Shukri and their friends. After Ave had all dined, they came in and told me their story, and I drew out my little reserve, and made them happy with a cigarette of English tobacco. Selim also later told me the story himself Regarding the history of events in Equatoria sub- sequent to the departure of Mr Stanley and Emin Pasha in May 1889, I cannot do better than quote the excellent resume elicited from those of the refugees whom I sent to Egypt, by the authorities there, and published in the 'Times' of July 14th, 1892 :— "When Stanley arrived at Lake Albert he was joined by Emin and a portion of the Equatoria garrison. Sehm Bey, Emin's deputy, was then despatched north to complete the evacuation ; but there was much delay, and Stanley suspecting treachery, in the end departed for the coast, leaving Selim Bey and a considerable remnant of Emin's followers behind." ^ Regarding this, Selim told me that he had never wavered in his loyalty, in proof of which he quoted his own imprisonment and ill-treatment by the rebels. 1 " Selim Bey left Ravalli's for the north on Feb. 26th. On March 26th he wrote from Dulileh that he was proceeding with the evacuation. On receipt of this news Emin informed Stanley that the evacuation would take at least three months longer to complete." 202 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. He said that the garrisons which had to be evacuated were situated at great distances from each other, those in Makraka being a month's journey from Wadelai ; that he was delayed by the outbreak of the civil war, and that the Sudanese (who had to bring with them their wives and children, and followers and goods) were very slow in their movements ; that he had neverthe- less, at the time of Stanley's departure, concentrated the whole of the garrisons at Wadelai, and was pre- pared at once to join Stanley, but that, as the people numbered many thousands, it would have been utterly impossible to transport them by the little steamers, and the overland march along the lake shore, through a hostile country, with such an enormous following, would take some time, and it was for this reason he despatched the messengers imploring Emin and Stanley to await him, till he should be able to join them and complete the orders he had received from them. It appears from the footnote (if the dates given by the Sudanese are correct) that Selim had left Kavalli's on Feb. 26th, and was expected to reach Equatoria and effect the final evacuation of the entire province and bring them all down to Kavalli's by April 10th (the garrisons having been withdrawn and the concentra- tion at Wadelai almost completed during Stanley's absence to visit his "Rear-guard") — viz., in six weeks. Stanley's unexpected delay (through illness) prolonged this period (contrary to his intentions) to ten weeks. This, says the report, " Stanley considered was ample time." " On the 8tli of May 1889, Stanley and his party quitted Mazamboni's. On that afternoon couriers arrived with letters from Selim, to the effect that another disorder had broken out at Wadelai, which paralysed all his efforts to carry out Stanley's orders ; that Fadl Maula Bey, the commandant at Wadelai, had suborned the greater part of the troops, and with them, in the SELIM AND REFUGEES AT KAVALLl's. 203 dead of night, he had marched to the magazines, possessed him- self of all the ammunition there, and left Wadelai for the hills. Selim Bey had proceeded to Mswa on April 22d, and here he again delayed, and now asked that Stanley should halt until his arrival. Stanley, however, decided not to wait, but said he would halt for a few days on the other side of the Semliki river, and that if Selim wished, he could easily overtake the caravan. Such was the reply the messengers took back, and it was the last communi- cation that passed between Selim Bey and the relief expedition.^ " Meanwhile a few men from Stanley's column deserted back to Kavalli's, where they pointed out to the small detachment of Selim Bey's men who were collected there, the position of the buried ammunition : this was at once unearthed, and consisted of eighteen boxes of powder and twenty -five boxes of ammunition. The news of this find shortly afterwards reached Fadl Maula Bey, who, on quitting Wadelai, had encamped in the Wanzari and Asi hills between Mswa and Wadelai, and whose force had in the meantime been augmented by most of the troops and followers whom Selim Bey had been collecting, and who had decided to throw in their lot with the Fadl Maula when they learnt that Stanley had left the country. Fadl Maula at once despatched a party of 380 men with orders to seize the ammunition at Kavalli's. This they succeeded in doing, though the garrison at Kavalli's managed to secrete five boxes. This party, on their return to Fadl Maula, passed through Mswa, where they ill-treated and imprisoned Selim Bey, but subsequently released him, and he retired with the few followers who still remained with him to Kavalli's. Here he planted the Egyptian flag and hoped that relief would eventually be sent to him from the coast. His total garrison amounted to about 90 men, with 300 women and children. Eight days after his arrival he was attacked by the natives and lost 50 of his men."^ "After this severe loss Selim Bey sought the assistance of the chief Kavalli, who willingly came forward and warned the ^ " Selim Bey was now in great perplexity. He could not return to Wadelai owing to the resistance of Fadl Maula. He himself had only a few men at Mswa, the remainder were distributed on the road between Wadelai and Mswa, and he knew that a long time must elajDse before he could collect them all and follow in Stanley's tracks." 2 "This was a reprisal on the part of the blacks for Stanley's recent attack on them." 204 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. blacks to desist from hostilities, as, if Stanley returned, they would undoubtedly be all killed. After this Seliin Bey re- mained in j)eace at Kavalli's, established a small settlement, and had little or no communication with Equatoria. In the meantime Fadl Maula Bey, finding he was unable to maintain his large force in the hills, decided to return to AVadelai : this move was also urged upon him by the Danagla,^ of whom 70 or 80 still remained with him. These Danagla had long been secretly communicating with the dervish post at Eejaf, and Fadl Maula rather encouraged than prevented it ; indeed there is little doubt that the return to Wadelai was merely part of a plot to enable the dervishes to destroy the only remaining vestige of Egyptian authority in Equatoria. It also transpired that the Danagla were plotting to destroy the ammunition : this reached the ears of the troops, who seized the Danagla and slaughtered all of them, with the exception of one man who had communicated to them the plot. At this time Eadl Mania's life was in great danger, but the troops did not dare to kill the only superior Government officer who remained. Eadl Maula, after the massacre of the Danagla, moved with his entire force into AVadelai, but he previously sent his steamer, nominally to see that Wadelai was clear of dervishes, but in reality emissaries were on board bearing a letter from Eadl Maula to the dervish commander, giving him full informa- tion as to his force and the events which had occurred, and ofter- ing them his submission. The steamer proceeded to Dufileh, where Eadl Mania's emissaries disembarked and proceeded over- land to Kiri : here they learnt that the dervishes were in con- siderable force at Eejaf, and greatly feared by the surrounding tribes, who looked on them as invulnerable. The emissaries eventually arrived at Eejaf and presented Eadl Mania's letter. In reply the dervish commander gave a full account of the Mahdi's and Khalifa's victories, representing that the entire Sudan was now in their hands, that they thereby nominated Eadl Maula an Emir, and that they would shortly arrive at Wadelai. " Eadl Maula had moved down to AVadelai, and shortly after his arrival received the dervish commander's letter. His men were, 1 The Danagla are here spoken of as synonymous with the " dervishes " or troops of the Mahdi. The word really means men of Dongola (on the Nile). They constituted the hulk of the adventurei-s and slaves in Equa- toria, and largely enlisted under the Jklahdi. EMIN's return — DISAPPEARS AGAIN. 205 however, quite averse to submitting to the dervishes, and on the arrival of the latter they received them with volleys ; a fierce fight ensued, in which 89 soldiers were killed, but the dervishes were repulsed with a loss of 700 men. They now retired to Eejaf, and wrote a letter to Fadl Maula — who had kept aloof from the fight — complaining, not unnaturally, of his bad faith with them. After this event the bulk of the Wadelai garrisons decided to desert Fadl Maula and join Selim Bey at Kavalli's. They quitted Wadelai about March 1891 — a force of 800 well- armed men, with plenty of ammunition and upwards of 10,000 camp-followers, men, women, and children : they were some forty days on the road between Wadelai and Kavalli's.^ " In the meantime, an event of some importance had occurred at Kavalli's. In April 1891 (before the arrival of the entire Wadelai force), Emin Pasha and Dr Stuhlmann arrived with a force of about 300 Zanzibaris.^ Selim Bey and his party wel- comed him warmly, believing that at last the long-expected relief had come ; but to his great disappointment, Emin informed him that he had joined the German service, that it was useless for Selim Bey to expect any relief, and that he had better unite his forces with him and take service under the Germans. Selim Bey represented that, being an Egyptian subject, and his men soldiers in the Egyptian Government service, he could not possibly accede to his request. Emin did not dare to proceed to Wadelai, which was then held by the officers and men wdio had previously mutinied and imprisoned him. He stated his intention of exploring the country to the west and north-west, and called for volunteers to accompany him. Some forty men joined him, and Emin, after a short stay at Kavalli's, set out on his journey. Before many days had elapsed, most of the men who had volunteered to join him deserted back to Kavalli's. " The advanced party of the Wadelai force had reached Mahagi, whence they wrote to Selim Bey, informing him of the affairs at Wadelai and of the near approach of the bulk of the garrison. The advanced party reached Kavalli's soon afterwards, and Selim 1 On their way they passed through the country of the Lendu (on the north-west of the Albert Lake), who were in a state of famine, and begged to be allowed to join them. Large numbers did so, some as slaves, but the majority as freemen, though servants. These greatly added to their numbers. - Emin arrived not earlier than July 20th. 206 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. Bey himself proceeded towards Mahagi to meet the remainder. During his absence another unexpected event occurred." The story proceeds to narrate the circumstances of mv own arrival, and I will take it u]} from here myself Such was the account of the repatriated Sudanese, elicited by the authorities in Egypt. It deals but briefly wdth Emin's visit ; but as this was at the moment of great importance to me, I naturally made full in- quiries. I refrain from writing all I heard, for j^robably much of it is untrue. The facts as they affected our- selves were, that Emin had been here and camped at Mazomboni"s village, in British territory. That he had left for the north tw^enty-nine days before our arrival — viz., about Aug. 9th, which date exactly tallies with Dr Stuhlmann's account.^ That on my arrival I found the Sudanese exasperated against him, saying (most unjustly, as w^e know) that they had been abandoned by him, when he left Equatoria w^ith Stanley, and that it was solely due to his influence that Stanley had not Avaited for them, for the latter had come for Emin only, and had left as soon as he had got him. Emin was stated to have marched to "Guru -guru" (viz., Mombutu or Welle country) in the north-west, with the purpose of going to Bernouie " (Bornu ?). Stuhlmann savs that " neo-otiations were beo"un to induce them [the Sudanese] to join us in Emin's pro- posed expedition through the Mombutu country to the ivest coast of Africa r - They had a very vague idea of w^here Bernouie " w^as, but described it as on the north (Mediterranean) coast of Africa I Their own impression w^as that he had made a circuit, and returned w^hence he came. Selim w^as extremelv bitter ao-ainst Emin for t, o having " stolen " by bribes (as he expressed it) twenty of his men, and said that the peoj^le had wished to ^ Petermann's Mitteihmgen, February 1892, p. 14. - Yerhandhmgen, Berlin Geog. Soc, 1892. WE ARRIVE AT KAVALLl's. 207 follow him with war on this account, but he had re- strained them. Whatever Emin's object, therefore, it appeared that his overtures to the Sudanese had entirely failed. Whether reports of my approach may have in any way assisted in " " frustrating his plan of enlisting them I cannot say.^ With regard to the present con- dition of affairs, I heard that since leaving Wadelai they had no news of the events in the province. They said all was chaos and civil war, but the dervishes were not in possession, and had only a footing in Eejaf emin pasha. (150 miles to the north). That Fadl Maula had probably joined them, being afraid to unite with Selim and return to Egypt, because he had led the rebellion and imprisoned Emin. Both the steamers on the Albert Lake had foundered. Within the last few days a large batch of troops (being the last of the garrison of the Equatorial Province) had arrived with a host of followers, and Selim Bey had gone to see them, and was now engaged in counting their guns, and distributing them to stations. On 1 The German correspondent says that had I never come to Uganda, Emin would be in his old province, yet he also says that Kampala has recently awaked from " its three years' lethargy " ! 208 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. account of the difficulty in procuring food, even the small numbers who had reached the south of the lake, before the arrival of this last large detachment, were distributed in batches of from fifty to seventy through- out the country. It had been their intention, there- fore, to make a move southwards (probably towards Uganda), so soon as the last party should arrive. Here, at Selim's headquarters, there were seventy askars (soldiers), with their followers, — less the twenty who had joined Emin. They had a large number of rifles, most of them Remingtons, and any quantity of ammuni- tion. Such is a rough outline of the story, and of the news I heard. Next day (Sept. 7th) I marched to Kavalli's, and pitched my camp on the opposite side of the little stream, which ran below the village of the Sudanese, and sent messages to the place he had gone to, summon- ing Selim in all haste. He replied, asking me to send Shukri to him, which I peremptorily declined to do, saying I would make no communications till we met ourselves. He arrived on the 11th. Meantime we had not been idle, but had built large houses over our tents — my own being with a view to the reception of Selim and the Sudanese officers — and I had embarked on the task of cleaning and repairing the locks of every rifle in the expedition, very many of which were broken or out of order. The other usual work of the expedition — comjDleting the maps and diaries, making out our returns of men and gear, revising and checking the loads, and the ammunition of the men, &c. — was rapidly got through — Grant, of course, never getting tired, and always eager for work. By the time the three days were up, during which we awaited Selim's arrival, we had a clean and well- laid-out camp, with substantial huts for ourselves and the men, and the grass and bushes cleared away. A WORK IN CAMP — SELIM AREIVES. 209 set of kanzus (or jerseys) of blue calico were in process of being made to replace the torn jerseys of the Sudanese, and the various tasks I have named were well under way. These matters may seem trivial, but to my mind they are of the utmost importance. On the accuracy of entries of fines and issues, &c., depends the faithful discharge of obligations to the Company on the one hand, and to the men on the other. Only by the accuracy of the "present state" of men can every man be accounted for. Copies of these returns, accounting month by month for every yard of cloth, or every pound of beads — and showing the variation in the numbers of each class and rank of men in the expedi- tion— lie before me as I write, and would enable me to reply to any question on these matters, on any date from the day we arrived in Uganda till the day I left. Nor do I underrate the importance not only of the cleanliness, but of the good order and method of a camp. That I took an especial trouble in this matter here, was because 1 wished to impress on the Sudanese that we were not a mere rabble, but an organised ex- pedition. Though I had not seen Mr Stanley's book at this time, I had read some brief accounts in the papers, of his description of the treachery of the Sudanese, and of his supposition that they had formed a plan to attack him and seize his ammunition ; and here in the face of their assembled strength, I knew that it behoved me to be on my guard, however specious their profes- sions, and that if Mr Stanley's suspicions were correct, the position was not without its danger. Selim Bey was an enormous Sudanese — stout, and of a giant's stature. Mr Stanley describes him as a man given up to good living and ease, but he struck me rather as a man of very considerable character.^ 1 Felkin describes him as " a very quiet man, and very devout " — Uganda, &c., vol. ii. p. 43. He was formerly Governor of Mruli under Gordon. VOL. II. O 210 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. The Sudanese, though nominally Mohammedans, are much addicted to strong liquors, and I found that they had learnt to distil spirits. Perhaps the art had survived since Baker introduced it in 1864.^ Selim, however, touched no kind of liquor, nor did he smoke. He was a man, too, of much determina- tion, as had been proved by the independent line he had taken in the troubles in the Sudan, and more recently with Emin. When he came to meet me, I invited him to call in any of his senior officers he wished. His reply was that he alone would decide for his people, and what he resolved on they would do ; and so it eventually turned out. He explained to me at great length how he had grown grey in the service of the Khedive, and that nothing should induce him to swerve in his allegiance to the flag for which he had a hundred times risked his life ; that if I had the Khedive's permission, he would willingly join me, but without it he could serve under no other flag. I told him that the Sudan had been abandoned by Egypt ; that the Khedive had sent orders (or permission) by the hand of Mr Stanley for the garrison to evacuate Equatoria ; and that Eng- land and Egypt were in close alliance, and I myself wore the "Khedive's Star" in recoraition of our cam- paign for him against the dervishes in the Sudan. " I said I would write to the Khedive myself, and Selim should write, and according to his reply so shall Selim act. If he should refuse to let them serve the British, and should call them to Egypt, then they shall be free to go, and I will help them, and the contract shall be cancelled. Meanwhile, however, Selim enlists with the British, and is under my orders until the Khedive's reply arrives. To this Selim agreed with enthusiasm, saying, I should appoint him a place wherever I wished, 1 Discovery of Xile Sources. OUR CONFERENCE AND ITS RESULTS. 211 and he would remain there with his people and his flag, and serve the British till the answer came from the Khedive, and then it would be according to the answer " (diary). Next day, however, I found Selim more diffi- cult to deal with. He wished to stipulate that he should remain in absolute control of his men, and that they should be stationed close together until the Khedive's reply came. I said I could not accede to this ; that I would under no circumstances introduce an armed force into territories under British adminis- tration, unless they were completely under my orders ; that I should station the men where I liked, accord- ing as I knew where food could be got and garrisons were required. I had promised him to write to the Khedive, and if he wished them to return to ^gypt, to do all in my power to facilitate their going, and Selim had better make up his mind to trust me ; and if he wished to know whether I was a man of my word, let him ask my men — Sudanese, Somals, or Swahilis. If he would not trust me, then the sooner we broke off neofotiations the better. SeluTi had to give in. Dualla, who was devoted to me, more than corroborated all I said, and urged him not to lose an opportunity so favourable. More- over, he Avas fully convinced on all sides, and especially by Shukri Aga, who had gone with Stanley to Egypt, and had now returned with me, that the Khedive was really in close alliance with the British, and he knew that if he refused my offers he would probably find it hard to justify himself to the Egyptian authori- ties. There had, too, been great rejoicing among his people at their expected rescue from savagedom, and at the hope of a return to the status of civilised soldiery. My men had mixed freely among them, and told them of our doings ; and autocratic as Selim was, doubtless 212 SALT LAKE TO KAYALLl's. he had misofivinD's whether his sole veto could restrain his men from joining us. He was compelled to move in some direction, to procure food for the lately ar- rived continofent. But it was sorelv ao-ainst the o^rain that he consented to forego his comjDlete control, for I fancy he had long been unfettered in the exercise of his power, -and probably had done as he liked under Emin's easy rule in Equatoria. I had had hopes that with these troops something might be done to avert the chaos and anarchy which apparently prevailed in Equatoria ; that, possibly, a small but well-armed garrison, under efficient leader- ship, might hold Wadelai, if a small and well-con- structed fort was made, since there apjDeared no fear of Mahdist and dervish attack at present. But the loss of the steamer was a terrible misfortune. To reach Wadelai was no longer a matter of only three days' steaming by water, but would mean a march of over 100 miles as the crow flies, throuo-h a most hostile country. I could not afford to be absent from Uganda for the time that it would take me to march there, build a fort, and march back ; nor could I leave a small garrison thus isolated, with- out the rapid communication which would have been afforded by a steamer. In future, the route to Wadelai and the Sudan must therefore be through Xorthern Unyoro. On this point, too, Selim was resolute ; none should return to Wadelai until after the Khedive's answer came, after which they would go to Khartum if ordered ! I replied that all he had said about never deserting his flag was very good indeed, and I, as a soldier, could fully appreciate his loyalty ; but in my opinion it was of even greater importance, not to desert his duty and the country left in his charge. But I could see that no arguments would induce him to alter his mind on WE AEE UXABLE TO HELP THE SUDAN. 213 this matter ; nor did I wish it otherwise, seeing that it was impossible for me to go myself. Under the circumstances there was no doubt that it would be premature to attempt to do anything for the pacifica- tion of Equatoria, and I had too much already on my hands to justify any such thought. Yet I find a note of regret in my diary written at this time : " The result, at least, of the ' relief expedition ' is deplorable, in that the natural and constituted defenders of the Southern Sudan have been drawn away from it, to leave that country a prey to anarchy, and civil war, and the dervishes ; while a flood of armed men have been introduced into a peaceful country, without the means of livelihood, except by virtue of their rifles." In saying this, I offer no adverse criticism on the " re- lief expedition." Such results, of course, Avere not an- ticipated. My only aim is to present as faithful a picture as I am able, of the state of aflairs I found in the portion of the British sphere which I had been sent to control, and to describe our own impressions and action in respect of it. So we made out an agreement in Arabic and in English, by which I undertook to write to the Khedive, and request his consent to the enlistment of such of the men as we might require, and also to the Adminis- trator of the Company to the same effect. If permission were refused, and they Avere summoned to Egypt, their passage down-country through the Company's territory should be facilitated in return for their service. If, on the other hand, they eventually enlisted with us, some compensation should be made to them for the year's service they would have completed before the reply arrived. Meantime they should be enrolled under my command, and I also undertook during this period (pending reply from Egy23t) not to order any of the Sudanese to the Southern Sudan, or beyond 214 SALT LAKE TO KAVALLl's. the north and north-western frontiers of Unyoro. If finally enlisted under the British, they should go wherever ordered, and acknowledge the Company's flag only ; but till then they should retain the Egyp- tian flag. I also agreed that all orders to the Sudan- ese should be given through Selim Bey. On final engagement they were to receive the same rates of pay (according to the rank in which they were enlisted) as they had received from the Egyptian Government. These particulars were fully set out, together with rates for clothing, rations, &c., in the agreement. The contention that I should have taken a few of the Sudanese and left the rest, is too ridiculous to merit serious reply. ^ Such a proposition would have been scouted by them, even had I (judging that my resj)onsibilities were confined solely to Uganda), made such a proposal, and consented to forego many of the objects with which my expedition had been undertaken, and to subordinate the interests of every other country to those of the fractious and quarrelsome Christians in Uganda. I was very greatly delighted at the success of our negotiations, for at one time it had almost seemed as though Selim's reluctance to forego his hitherto ab- solute authority would render futile all the risk and responsibility I had incurred in leaving Uganda, and marching so far to the " rescue " of the Sudanese. I write in my diary : " My threat to leave him and de- part to-morrow startled him, backed up as it was by the following argument. Emin had told Selim he was strong enough to go to the coast by himself (and this idea had taken great hold on his mind). Granted. To do so he must pass through either British or German territory. He had nothing to purchase food with, and must therefore go through by force. If he did so, he 1 Times, July 14tli, 1893. selim's contract with me. 215 must either fight the Germans or the British, in order to loot and plunder the people under their protection. The Germans would make it very hot for him if they opposed him, and the British were the close allies of the Khedive. Moreover, in the latter case he must pass through Uganda, where alone there were 6000 rifles, many of them breech-loaders, besides our own. Lastly, if I went away, my report that Selim would not close with terms, the most advantageous that I could offer, would confirm Stanley's and Emin's asser- tions, that he did not really wish to leave the country, — and the Khedive would believe this to be true." This was a clencher ; and the agreement once con- cluded, Selim promised to have everything in readiness to start in twenty days. I told him I could not wait a day longer than that time, for I must return to my work in Uganda. So great preparations were set on foot to prepare food for the journey, and to collect all the people from outlying stations to the rendezvous at our headquarters. 1 CHAPTER XXIX. KAVALLl"s TO FORT LORXE. Description of Sudanese refu- gees — Their followers — A formal parade — Suroor re- called— Attacked en route — Treaties with local chiefs — Ten days' shooting - trip — Elephant and other game bagged — Salt- washing — De- serters from Emin — Life at Kavalli's — Send advance-party — We start — Katonzi's canoe-men — Cross Semliki — Defeat Ireti — The problem of dis- posal of Sudanese — 8200 souls — Concentrate at Wavertree— Wahuma flock in — Orders for their protection — Eain and cold — Results to natives — My nursery — Cross Munobo — Selim's gratitude, and efi"orts for the natives — Locate second batch of Sudanese — Build Fort Lorne. A Steep Climi The Sudanese, who were now to be added to our expedition, were the remnant of the troops which SUDANESE REFUGEES AND FOLLOWERS. 217 had formed the Egyptian garrison of Equatoria. They were of many different Sudan tribes (mostly from the north), who had been enhsted and brought south by Baker and by Gordon, and were therefore ahens in the " Lake province" : there were also a few pure Egyptians among them. Space forbids me to sketch their history. The constant war in the Sudan had decimated the numbers of the original " askars," and recruits (some of them from local tribes such as the Makraka, others from the followers of the soldiers from the north) had been enlisted from time to time to replace these losses. These " new askars " were mostly undrilled, and wholly undisciplined. The original soldiers had for the most part assumed the titles of ranks much superior to those which they held under the Egyptian Government. The non-commissioned officers had become commissioned officers, the privates were all non-commissioned officers, and such few private soldiers as still deigned to hold that lowest rank were "new askars" recently enlisted. They possessed in all at least 600 rifles, of which the majority were Kemingtons, and the remainder percussion-guns ; while to each fighting man, there was an average of about eleven unarmed followers. These followers consisted of (1) women (wives, con- cubines, and female slaves), children, and men slaves ; (2) the similar establishments of those who had died or been killed in the Sudan ; and (3) the Lendu, to whom I have already alluded.^ Thus, individual officers of the higher ranks would have a following (including the establishments of deceased relatives or friends, called Aitham) of from 50 to 100 souls, and even more. The superior officers were dressed in cloth woven by their slaves from cotton grown by themselves, and this was a strong serviceable fabric. The bulk of the men were dressed in long shirts made of prepared ox-hides, 1 P. 205, footnote 1. 218 KAVALLl's TO FORT LORNE. while the women AA^ore only a thick fringe of black strings susj)ended from the waist, like the pictures of Friday in ' Robinson Crusoe,' which served fairly adequately the purposes of modesty and decency. Some of the poorer Lendu women and slaves, however, could not even afford so meagre an outfit as this, and w^ere contented with a band round the waist, in which was inserted (before and behind) a bunch of green leaves, or even of flowers ! Their hair they wore mop- fashion like the women of Suakim, and it was often matted with grease and jDlaited into tassels. Selim, and the few who had arrived first with him, had now been here over two years. They had brought cotton-seeds with them, and planted and gathered the produce of the fields, and in their own rough looms had woven the cloth, from which were made the coats and trousers which they wore. A coinage yet circulated among them, and the Egyptian clerks still wrote the official despatches sent by Selim to his out-stations and subordinate officers. In short, among all the outward savagery of soldiers dressed in hides, of naked women, and grass huts, there was a noticeable, — almost pathet- ic,— attempt to maintain the status they claimed as soldiers of a civilised Government. Their march from Wadelai along the west of the lake, had, they told me, been attended by the greatest possible difficulties. The natives were most hostile, and had planted everywhere in the 23aths spikes tipped with poison, which were con- cealed by the matted grass, so that the leading men had to be closely followed by appliances for bleeding and sucking the wounds. Many had thus fallen by the way, or been killed by the poisoned arrows of the savages. At Selim' s wish there was a general parade on the 17th (Sept.) for my inspection of all the troops, who had already flocked in with enormous numbers of followers. They formed up in a hollow square, some A REVIEW PARADE. 219 600 strong, and presented arms as I came forward. I addressed a few words to them, saying that I would place them in garrisons, and write to the Khedive to obtain his sanction for their enlistment, and that, if they obeyed orders and were loyal, they would find the British kind masters, who would do all in their power to promote their welfare ; but that, if they gave trouble, they would find us hard to deal with. There was great enthusiasm and delight. " Each of the two regiments marched past, with its band of drums and bugles at its head. Selim told me (whether truly or not, I don't knosv) that these now present were all that remained of 3000 fighting men. Many indeed were scarred and disfigured by wounds, and the rest were all killed fighting for their flag" (diary). It was impossible not to feel a thrill of admiration for these deserted soldiers, as they carried past flag after flag, torn and riddled in many fierce engagements with the Mahclists. They appeared fanatical in their loyalty to this emblem of the Khedive. There was an old man — half-witted since the siege of Dufileh, where his bravery had saved the day — whose name was Bilal Bey. He was covered with wounds, and both arms were useless, having been shattered by bullets. His enthusiasm knew no bounds, and he wandered about interrupting all proceedings by his constant ejaculations, thanking God that the day of their relief had come at last, after ten years of waiting. I had not the heart to repress his enthusiasm. In the afternoon eight of the principal officers came to my camp to sign and seal the agreement, and we had a pleasant little interview, for their manners are polished and courteous. They smoked the last remains of my tin of cigarette tobacco, and drank almost the last of my cofPee, and thus our negotiations were concluded. 220 KATALLl's TO FORT LORNE. I feared lest Williams, knowing my urgent need of ammunition, might send a small party after me, who would be overjDowered by the hostile Wanyoro in Toru, and I therefore determined to send letters at once to Fort Edward, Avith orders that no one should pass beyond that point. I had also to relieve the Sudanese sergeant and party whom, it will be remembered, I had left at the German camp on the west of Ruwenzori, to await Emin's return and deliver my letters, should he arrive before I had myself reached Kavalli's. As the route along the west of the mountains was supposed to be safe, I sent twenty-six good men, with orders to go to Suroor Adam, and bring him back, meeting me at the Semliki. The bearers of my letters would go on {via the Salt Lake) to Fort Edward. These letters arrived in ample time to meet Mr De Winton, who, as I had prognosticated, came from Kampala to join me. I thus prevented his attempting to make his way through Unyoro. The party succeeded in reach- ing Suroor Adam, but on their return they were attacked by a very large force of Wanyoro, through Avhom they fought their way with the greatest bravery. Surrounded on all sides by thousands of the enemy, who dare not actually rush U23on them, though they were but thirty strong, they killed a great number of their opponents, and strange to say, had no casualty them- selves. Just as their ammunition had almost run out, a heavy shower paralysed the Wanyoro (who were mostly armed with muzzle-loaders), and the fall of night enabled the plucky fellows to get through and meet us safely at the Semliki. Meanwhile, at Kavalli's, the twenty-two loads of salt which I had brought, enabled us to purchase food from the more distant district of Mazamboni, whither I sent responsible headmen with parties to barter for it. This, and the large reserve we had brought (which had suROOR Adam's party attacked. 221 already supplied us since leaving Torn), just made it possible to hold out for the twenty days during which we were to await the preparations of the Sudanese, while retaining sufficient to carry us back again to the food districts of Unyoro. As my work was now up to date, and the repair of all the arms completed, I determined to spend a few days in shooting, on the plains which border the Albert Lake, where I heard there were great quantities of game, in order that my men might have some meat, for we had seen no game, except elephants, since we left Ankoli two months before. I was also anxious to put in some details in my map. Before leaving, I made blood-brotherhood and treaties with the three greatest local chiefs, Kavalli, Katonzi, and Mugenyi, and gave them the Company's flag. The south-west extremity of the lake is bordered by swamps, but passing northwards along the western shore, after crossing an area of waterless and parched country, covered with scrub jungle, we came upon a very beautiful park-like district, in the embrasure formed by the receding hills. The pasture-grass is luxuriant, and the level tracts are studded with clumps of bushes or well-grow^n trees. The herds of buffalo which roamed over these plains are now almost all dead. The pretty nsunu [Kobus Jcoh) is found in large numbers, as also the water-buck ; but there are no hartebeest, zebra, or kudu (spoken of by Stanley). I shot many of the nsunu and water-buck, and sent all the meat I could to Kavalli's. One day I came on a noble elephant and shot him. His tusks weighed 102 and 98 lb. respectively, and, I believe, are the heaviest brought home by any sportsman, though of course many far heavier have come to the coast in the way of trade ; indeed I brought one myself of 140 lb. On the same day I KAYALLl's TO FORT LORNE. shot a second elephant. The masses of Sudanese, who were concentrating at KavaUi's, were in straits for food, and when my messengers arrived to tell them of this windfall of meat, they came down in great numbers. In an incredibly short time not a vestige of either elephant remained ! A third that I shot was a very old solitary bull with no tail, and his tusks scaled 80 and 76 lb. I have written in chapter xix. at some length on elephant- shooting, and I will not there- fore digress on the subject here. Their flesh was a matter of the utmost importance to the Sudanese and their followers, and helped them to surmount the diffi- culties for food. In all, I shot during these eight days, three elephants, three water-buck, and twenty nsunu ; but, unfortunately, I lost very many more. These I killed, but was unable to recover, owing to the long grass, and the fact that the nsunu takes an extraor- dinary amount of killing, and will go off as though untouched when mortally wounded. The Lake Albert reminded me much of the Nyasa. Like it in shape, the opposite shores were clearly visible across the blue waters, though to the north the lake appeared limitless. Along the eastern coast of Nyasa runs a range of blue mountains, while the western shores slope gently to the lake. So it is also with the Albert, for the high plateau of Unyoro (over 5300 ft. above the sea) ceases suddenly, and precipitous cliffs descend to the trough of the lake (2000 ft.), which look, across the water, like a range of lofty mountains. Sitting on the white sands, with the waves rolling lazily to my feet, I could imagine myself back on the shores of Nyasa, where three years before I had roamed with the same little rifle amid similar scenery, leaving then, as now, anxieties and work behind me for ten days ; and it was almost difficult to realise how much had happened since then. O o o H < O H O o C/3 SHOOTING — ELEPHANTS — CROCODH^ES. 223 The lake literally swarms with large snub - nosed crocodiles, and one day I came upon a number lying as closely packed as sardines, basking on a sandy stretch at the point of a long promontory, whither 1 had gone to get a shot at a hippo, which I hoped to secure as meat for my men. Startled at my silent approach, they waddled a few yards in front of me, and splashed into the water of the lake, disturbing the hippo and spoiling my sport. In revenge I shot several of them with old cartridges ; nor was it until later, that I found that they are very greatly prized by the Sudanese and others, for a scent-bag which is said to be found under the forearm, and to get which the people would have trooped down again in their thousands from the hills ! The Sudanese villages on the lake shore grew nothing but cotton, which the women were collecting all day in the fields, and which they sent to headquarters in ex- changfe for food. Such few natives as we met were o of a low type, and lived in constant fear of the raids of the Wanyoro. They eked out a living by fishing, and by washing in earthen troughs the saline deposits around their villages. The water thus impregnated with salt was allowed to evaporate, and the crystal deposit was then collected and exchanged for food. I have seen exactly the same process in Upper Burma. ^ I returned on the 30th to find all well, and was met with such demonstrations of pleasure by my men — as before on my return in Buddu — that, though I know how little this means among excitable savages, who are but as children, I could not help feeling much pleas- ure from their welcome. During my absence Grant had written to me daily, so I knew that all was well. Eight of the Sudanese who went off with Emin, had 1 Sharpe describes an identical process in the Mweru district (south of Tanganyika), but the natives there use wicker-baskets (Geog. Jour., vol. i. p. 527). For the composition of African salt, vide ibid., p. 459. 224 KAVALLl's TO FORT LORNE. deserted him with all their followers and people, and returned to Kavalli's. They brought news of starva- tion and discontent in Emin's camp, and said that he was marching through dense forest and foodless coun- try with no provision, and his men were in great straits. We now know from Dr Stuhlmann that the expedition soon after mutinied, and Emin was com- pelled to return to Kavalli's ; but long before he arrived, we had all left. When they heard these stories, the Sudanese were so exasperated, that Selim requested permission to follow Emin, and recover the remainder of their men, by force if necessary. Of course I vetoed this. Selim made me a present of eight large tusks of ivory (value some £250), which he said were for me jDersonally, not understanding that they would, of course, be Company's property, and I gave him a small present of cloth in return. By Oct. 3d, Selim was ready to send forward 160 rifles, to which I added 90 of our own Sudanese and "Levy" under Shukri and Ferag. This j)arty of 250 men had orders to march rapidly to the Semliki, cross wherever they could, and search both banks for canoes in readiness for our arrival. They were ordered on no account to fire on any one, unless first attacked. Our food-purchase with the salt we had brought had succeeded so well, that I was able to give every man (including Zachariah's Waganda and our large party of Wahuma guides) as much as they could carry, and to fill up our reserve, and yet had fifty loads to spare, for which I sent back men after we had arrived at the Semliki. Thus, since we left Torn on Aug. 30th, till our return about Oct. 17th, we had ample supplies, without requisitioning a single pound from the natives, or using a single yard of cloth for purchase. While shooting, I had fed the fifty men with me, and sent a very large quantity of meat to OUE LIFE AT KAVALLl's. 225 Kavalli's, exclusive of the three elephants ; so the tmie had been well employed. On the 5th Oct. 1891, we were ready to start, and the exodus of the Sudanese began ! We were to march in three detachments, at intervals of one day between each party ; for so great was the mass of people, that a simultaneous start was almost impossible. Our life at Kavalli's for this month had not been an unpleasant one. The lesser rains had broken, but we were comfortably housed. Each of us had his own duties ; and in the evening, when work was over (for there was now no mapping to be done by night), we dined together in my house by the light of a lamp, ex- temporised from lard or suet, of which the Sudanese had great quantities for sale, taken, I suppose, from the cattle that had died. Dinner over, we smoked and chatted over the past, the present, and the future, round our wood-fire in the house. I was indeed fortunate in my companions. There was never any necessity for orders, or of any assumjD- tion, however formal, of "command." My comrades were only too eager to help me, and to work with me in all that had to be got through. Grant was not strong, and suffered occasionally from fever. But he ivould work. If ever I had cause to be vexed with him, it was because he would insist on doing things, when he was not fit to undertake them ! The doctor, too, now had his hands full, in medical attendance on our vast concourse. The days at Kavalli's are days to look back on with pleasure. There was continual work to be done — good useful work, which brought its own reward, in the efficiency of our little expedition and the achievement of our objects. Such reward is amply sufficient to those who have the success of their un- dertakings at heart ; nor can I see what further recognition " can compare with the satisfaction of VOL. TI. P 226 KAVALLl's TO FOET LOEXE. feelino' that " one has done one's level best " and succeeded, and spent withal pleasant periods — such as this at Kavalli s — from time to time in the doing of it. In order to facilitate the correction of my map — or rather road-chart, for it had no higher pretensions — I had visited Stanley's camp, which was some six miles further from the edge of the j)lateau and the lake than ours ; and I had been shown the actual site of his tent. The flagstaff he erected had been taken do^Mi, and ex- cavations for buried treasure had been made under it by deserters from his caravan. Unfortunately I had had a very heavy attack of fever the night before we marched — a very rare occurrence with me — and was suffering from an erup- tion of boils, but was able to march, though somewhat pulled down by the violent methods which I usually adopt (with complete success) to subdue fever. We took a direct line towards the point on the Semliki, where we Avished to cross, and descended the hills by a somewhat steep pass. There was no water for a con- siderable distance, and the women and children of the Sudanese were greatly exhausted. I hurried on and pitched camp, sending back every one as they arrived, with water for their friends ; and so by sunset all arrived safely. Our party consisted of some 1800 souls. I in- quired if all had come in, and was told by the native oflacers of the Sudanese that 64 slaves had deserted. They assured me that over 300 had deserted from Stanley ; but I was not satisfied with this assurance, and feared that many might have succumbed on the road and been abandoned. For these Sudanese were most callous to the sufferings of their dependants, and manv of the old women and of the children whom I saw in the throng, were mere emaciated skeletons, or were ill and hardlv able to walk. SUCCESS OF THE ADYANCE-PARTY. 227 I therefore compelled them to send back a strong party, to search for any who might have lagged behind, and I sent the Somali sergeant also (who was one of the most truthful and reliable men I had), with a selected party of our own men, to return the whole way, and search the bush for any sick. He returned next day, having found three who had been left in the village of the friendly Wa-nyabuga (whose settlement in the forest I described on our upward jour- ney) to await the arrival of Selim, and the rest who were following. The others apparently were bond Jide deserters, and I was glad to be rid of them, and only wished that all the slaves would folloAv their example ! We had three sick men ourselves, who were being carried, for I detest the system of abandoning men to the care of ''friendly villagers." Several such I had already picked up — left by other caravans ; but I preferred to abandon (or issue) food-loads, or make other arrangements, so that the sick might be carried, rather than adopt these methods. The daily march was noAv begun at an earlier hour, in order that the women and children — who felt the sun dreadfully — might arrive in camp before the heat of the day. Reveille was sounded at about 4.30 a.m. in the darkness of night, and we ate our breakfast at 5 a.m., and were on the march before sunrise. As we neared the river, Shukri sent Avord to say that the surprise-party had crossed safely. Katonzi, the biggest chief on the Kavalli plateau (with whom I had made blood- brother- hood), had accompanied them, and had sent three canoes, which he owned on the lake, round by water. These had come up the mouth of the river, and by their means the whole party had crossed. They completely sur- prised the Wanyoro, and captured many of them in their houses. In accordance with my orders, the huts had been left undamaged, and the people released after 228 KAVALLl's TO FORT LORXE. they had been questioned. Theh^ story was that Ka- barega, fearing our return, had sent orders for every canoe to be taken awa}^ or sunk ; and this had been done, and so they had supposed it to be impossible for us to recross. On the 8th we reached the river, and by noon the whole of our OAvn expedition was across. Katonzi's canoe - men, working in reliefs, were beyond praise. They managed their canoes admirably, and in spite of the awkwardness of the Sudanese — who dread the water, and are in a panic when afloat — not a single contretemps took place, though the river was in flood and the stream excessively strong. We camped on the further bank, in marsh -land, covered with high growth, and the close heat was verv o-reat, beino^ over 100° in our tents. In spite of the inhospitable and malarial nature of the situation, there were many small villages and much cultivation hidden away among the dense vegetation. Prior to our arrival, while the Sudanese were search- ino' for canoes, some of the Zanzibaris were dio-oino- potatoes in a clearing, when a party of Wanyoro, who were concealed in the reeds, suddenh' fired upon them, and broke the thigh of one of my men. His comrades very pluckily rescued him, and the Sudanese, hearing- shots, ran up and drove ofl* the enemy, killing three of them. This was the only fighting which had taken place. The wounded man — our first casualty since we left Mombasa — eventually made a wonderful recovery under Dr Macpherson's skilful treatment. I was anxious to get out of this unhealthy spot as soon as possible, and as all our guides agreed that the country to the north was nothing but foodless and uninhabited swamp, I determined to follow the route by which we had come, at least as far as the ascent of the lower hills which border the Semliki j^lain. THE SUDANESE HOST CROSSIXCI THE SEMLIKI. 229 Grant, aided by Dualla and a party of non-commis- sioned officers, took a careful tally of every single person as they landed from the canoes. The result was as follows : Men with arms, 148 ; without, 202 ; women, 515 ; girls, 267 ; boys, 285 : and 14 who had crossed before the tally began : total, 1431, exclusive of our people. To this must be added 492 people, who had iRETi PUT TO Flight. accompanied Shukri's party, and a number more who had not been included in this latter census. Our total numbers were therefore about 2500. Grant remained behind to continue his census, though I was very nervous for his health in this pestilential camp — the doctor was already ill. I marched on with the whole of the people, and camped on the high and dry Semliki 230 KAVALLl's TO FORT LORXE. plain, where I was joined by the second party, numbering 1631, which brought up our numbers to some 4000. While awaiting their arrival, I made an excursion one day to the site of our old camp on the river, that I might check my map ; and thence Ave went along the western slopes of Ruwenzori, till w^e came to the end of the grass plain, and entered on the villages and culti- vation beyond. Here we met Ireti himself, with an armed band ; they opened fire upon us, and we drove them in, ca23turing one man, who told us the news. No one on either side was hurt, but Ireti fled, without pausing, to his village in the hills, and we heard later that he had himself set fire to it, and told all his people to fly, and had then cleared out, and gone to Kabarega. This chief was one of the greatest of Kabarega's " Wakungu," and held sway over the whole of South Unyoro. It was he who had gratu- itously attacked us, after we had crossed the river on our up-journey — in spite of the fact that we had carefully abstained from injuring his (deserted) village close to our camp. His cruelties were as proverbial as Kabarega's own, and I therefore had no compunction in ousting him from the country. For all those lands around the Semliki and beyond it, which now groaned under his tyranny, had of old time belonged to the Wahuma chiefs, my blood -brothers, Katonzi and Mu- genyi, whose people had been driven out and com- pelled to take refuge in the hills. The country be- yond them was Torn, which I have already described as an independent territory ruled by Wahuma kings, and only of late years overrun by Ireti and his Wanvoro hordes. It was, of course, an unavoidable necessity that the vast mass of Sudanese with me should procure food in the countries through which we passed, and I therefore THE SUDANESE PROBLEM. 231 determined to penetrate as soon as possible into Unyoro proper, and so free the country of Torn, which was Tinder the Company's protection, from the onus of pro- viding for so vast a host. Thus, if the people returned to the fields and cultivation, from which the "Wanyoro had been ousted, they would find food in abundance ready to their needs. Moreover, it was my plan to locate the Sudanese in a line of forts, roughly running from north to south, along the old frontier of Unyoro, from the Albert Lake on the north to the Albert Edward on the south ; and since the ^Yanyoro must be driven beyond this frontier, it mattered not, so far as they were concerned, whether or not we took our food-sujDplies from this border country. In the matter of these Sudanese I had found an existinof difficultv, and it was mv aim to deal witii it in the way which would cause least sufiering to all con- cerned. Here in the British sphere, at Kavalli's, was this vast host of aliens, induced by hopes of repatriation to leave the country which had hitherto supported them. It is my belief that they had been a terrible curse to the Kavalli district, even when in comparatively small numbers, for they were a la^^'less band of soldiery, armed with breech-loading rifles, and — thanks to the supplies brought up and left buried by Mr Stanley — possessed of enormous quantities of ammunition. Accustomed for years to war in the Sudan : recognising only the law of force ; left without control, — was it likely they would refrain from licence : The advent of the enor- mous contingent which had come just prior to my own arrival at Kavalli's, had brought matters to a crisis. Doubtless a forward movement was imj^erative, for the country around Kavalli's had already been exhausted, and food must be procured. The means of procuring it lay in their Eemington rifles and ammunition alone. Had thev moved forward without control, a fearful 232 KATALLl's TO FORT LORXE. path of desolation, rapine, murder, and slavery would have marked their progress. I found them in British territorv, and I looked on it as my task to mitigate the evil so far as lay in my power. The means I proposed to this end were, — (1.) To lead them ourselves, and thus to curb their licence and control their lawlessness. To this end the power I acquired under my agreement with Selim, and the advantages they saw would accrue to them by accepting its conditions, gave me some hold over them. (2.) To locate them where they would do least harm. By placing them along the frontier of Unyoro, I hoped that they would act as a barrier of defence to the jDeojDle of Torn and Buwenzori, against their Wanyoro oppressors, and so fulfil a useful mission. (3.) My third object Avas to break up the vast and unmanao'eable host into detachments with which I could deal. By selecting trustworthy chiefs for each of these, and making their position and rank depend upon their obeying the orders laid down, I should be able gradualh^ to introduce discipline and good govern- ment. Before long I hoped to be able to send one or more European officers to control and govern them. In the meantime, I saw that the sooner they spent their ammunition, and became dependent upon us for its supply, the sooner I should be able to take a stronger line with them. It seemed as though we should not have lono- to wait for this, and that their reckless expenditure of their ammunition must soon reduce its quantity. I have even found them firing round after round into a bundle of dry grass, to obtain a light for a cigarette ! Such was my view of the difficulty I had to solve, and such the methods which seemed to me best to achieve the solution. We were not responsible for bringing this great host into British territory ; it OUR LINE OF MARCH. 233 remained only for us to deal with a situation already created, and to lessen its evils, so far as lay in our power and capacity, both for the Sudanese themselves, and the natives of the countries into which they had come ; and also, if possible, for the ultimate advantage of the administration of these countries. For I looked upon these Sudanese as admirable and cheap material, from which to recruit the necessary police force for Uganda, when once they should have settled down under British discipline and government. Leaving Selim and Grant to bring on the second half of the people, I marched onwards to the valley of Kiaya, where most of the Waganda colony, who had before been hostile, came to us, and asked to accompany us to Uganda, for they had been astonished at our kind treatment of their women, whom we had caught and released. I had sent a large party towards Ireti's main village by a different route, from the Semliki, and we now ascended the Unyoro hills, and shaped our course for the same point — leaving Torn behind us, and entering Unyoro itself, according to my plan (see maj^). The ascent was very steep, and the hillside was strewn with discarded mats and grinding - stones, and other rubbish with which the Sudanese had loaded their women and slaves. Let me give some notion, if I can, of our line of march. We were, as I have said, only a half of the total host, and our numbers were about 4000. Allowing for each person only 9 ft. on the march, including all gaps, our line would be seven miles long, for in the narrow paths in Africa it is a necessity to march in Lidian file." Thus the head of the caravan would be nearly arriving in camp, by the time that the last of the people were leaving the old one, — yet this was only half of the numbers which later united on the march ! It was a curious sight, as we issued from camp in the early 234 KAVALLl's TO FORT LORNE. morning, to see the surging mass of people, each man, woman, and child struwlinDf and fio-htino- to secure a front j^lace in the line. Our daily camp covered a large area of ground, and j^resented the appearance of a very bio' villa o'e. As we arrived near Ireti's capital we captured a very large number of goats from the Wanyoro, and found that the country was thickly cultivated, and of the richest possible soil. The party of rifles which had taken the other route met us here. They had been fired on, and had had a skirmish in which the enemy had lost a few men. I inquired very fully into all details, and found that my men had apparently acted with moderation. By our action on our upward march our intentions were already well known (as we learnt from the Torn 23eople), and only those who were resolutely hostile con- tinued to oppose us. Each day parties of j^^'asantry and women were brought to me, who were captured by foraging-parties. I told them that I did not care whether they were Wanyoro or people of Torn, that they were free to remain unharmed in their own villaofes if thev chose. The height of this country was some 5000 ft., and on everv side rose hills varvino- from 500 to 1000 ft., while Huwenzori towered above us to the west. At Ireti's capital, Nsororo, I selected a site on which to build our first fort. We were here joined by Selim and Grant, with the remainder of the people. The total numbers, as counted by Grant at the ferry, were as follows : Men with guns (including fifty lent by me, and all old cap-guns, &:c.), 932 ; men without guns, 1153; women, 3065; boys, 1490; girls, 1366: total, 8006. Adding some 200 of the advance-party not in- cluded in these figures, our own men, and the Waganda and the Wahuma, I had little short of 9000 people. Close by the site of our fort Avas a stretch of splendid THE FIRST FORT — WAVERTREE. 235 forest from which to get our poles for building, and before long we had constructed our stockade (40 yds. sq.), and laid out a second on a twin knoll. Around these the soldiers, and their followers, of the first four companies of the 1st regiment built their houses, under the command of a Sudanese officer, Rehan Aga, to whom I had taken a great fancy, and who was apparently most eager to fall in with all my views and to enforce my orders. The rains were now in season, and here, near Ruwen- zori, we of course came in for their full force. There was much fog and clamp, and the nights were very cold indeed. My men, however, were almost naked, both Sudanese and Swahilis, for their cloth was worn to rags ; and though I had a little in reserve, I durst not issue it lest none should have arrived in Uganda, and we should have nothing for food purchase. Indeed I was but little better off myself, for as I led the way through the dense grass and bush my clothes were also in rags, and I presented a very patched and ridiculous appearance ! On the 30th of Oct. we marched out of Nsororo, having been there ten days in all, awaiting the arrival of Selim and the rest of the people, and building the fort. One stockade, which I named " Wavertree," after the residence of Sir John Kirk, was completed as a pattern, and the second was laid out and already beofun. Before leavinof, I took down the name and rank of every soldier in the garrison, together with the class of rifle with which he was armed, and the number of wives, of suria, of male and female slaves, of children, and of attached followers [aitham and Lendu), which he had Avith him. In all there were some 2000 people settled at Wavertree. As soon as Selim arrived (on 26th) I spoke to him in the strongest possible terms about the catching of Wanyoro, and the 236 KATALLl's TO FORT LORXE. treatment of the natives generally, saying that such conduct as I had seen, would -put an end to the good relations between us, and I would not tolerate or allow it. Selim, when once he had agreed to place himself under my orders, had lo3^ally and thoroughly performed his part. He assembled the men, and told them that any one caught disobeying this order should be dis- missed from the regiment — Dualla informed me that his language was quite as strong as my own. Rehan Aga, the commandant, also seemed thoroughly in earnest in the matter, and from what I subsequently heard, I think he acted up to his orders. I find in my diary the following comments at the time : " There are some strano-e dilemmas in Africa, that our critics have no conception of! Here am I leading down the abandoned, though lo3^al, Egyptian garrisons ; brave men who have served their flag for ten years without pay, and are but a remnant from the war, and loyal to the core still. Such is one view. From another point of view they are as villanous a lot of slave-catchers as one could find. Nor can they understand the idea of fio-htino^ ao-ainst Kabareo-a, and yet letting prisoners go away unharmed, perhaps to fight against us again. But the pith of the matter,'" I add, " is, that several Europeans are needed here to look after these Sudanese, and protect the people from them ; and as long as the principle is adopted of expect- ing one man — and that not always the right man — to do the work of twenty, and of leaving all these vast countries without adequate supervision and administra- tion, there will be cruelty, and lawlessness, and suffering for the natives." Moreover, they are a people very callous to sufferino\ The little half-starved children were given prodigious loads to carry; and they thought less of abandoning a sick person to die on the road than we should of neglecting a pariah dog. WAHCJMA FLOCK IN. 237 By example, and by every effort in our power, we did all we could to remedy this. Grant, before leaving the Semliki, sent back a party of our own men, under the senior headman, to search for any stragglers ; and when we marched on our way forward from Fort Waver- tree, I arranged that either Grant or Macpherson should bring up the rear of the whole host, with a strong j)arty of our men to carry on any sick, who would else have been abandoned. Since our arrival, the Wahuma of Torn had continued to flock in in great numbers to place themselves under our protection, and I appointed a native headman at Wavertree to arrange where they should settle, and all matters in connection with them. To him were to be handed over all captives, and all people coming to accept our protection. He expressed the greatest gratitude for our efforts on their behalf, but said he greatly feared the licence of the Sudanese when my back was turned. I could only reply that he must make all complaints direct to Rehan Aga, in whom I had confidence. If unredressed by him, he could re- port to Kasagama, who would inform me, but that I hoped very soon to send a European, whose duty it would be to protect them. I myself was compelled to go for- ward in order to locate this host of people, but I would either return myself to establish order and just rule in the province, or I would send a responsible officer as my deputy. So he beat the "drum of peace" to pro- claim to the people in hiding that they need have no fear, but return each man to the place which his fore- fathers had held before Kabarega had driven them out. Before Selim left Kavalli's, the remainder of the Sudanese who had joined Emin deserted from him, and came in with all their people, but brought me no fresh news of the Pasha. The doctor had been ill for some time, and Grant also was ailing. I myself succumbed to a violent attack of fever. Fever never 238 KAVALLl's TO FORT LORXE. incapacitated me for long, however strong it might be, but at such times one became the victim of anxiety, and I would spend many sleepless hours during the night, consumed with fears lest anything should be wronof in Uofanda. The rain and cold added to our sick-list amono- the natives. The Somals were always ailing, and were constant victims to fever. Out of the small number I had — less than forty — there were always two or three down with fever. They are delicate, and do not stand the climate and hardships of Central Africa well. The hard}^ porter suffered little, but I was dis- tressed at the nakedness of my Sudanese and Levy," who had to do sentry work through the long wet and cold nights with hardly a rag to cover them. Daily, on arrival in camp, I had sentry - boxes constructed with a few poles and grass, to shield them in some measure from the rain. The dailv thunderstorms came up from the north, north - east, and east, and blew towards the mountains. As a rule, the mornino- was fine, and the rain came on after mid-day. Thus, by marching at the first streak of dawn, the greater part, at least, were in camjD before the rain came on. Small- pox also broke out among the people, and two of our own men were down with it, but fortunately it did not take an epidemic form. In our first march from Wavertree, we crossed some nine or ten of the abominable river-swamps,^ which here again, on the top of the plateau, formed the valleys between the hills. To effect a passage, the tall papyrus -reeds are cut down and strewn across to form a footing. At each step you sink in the mud, often waist - deep, though the sluggish water, trickling through the mass of vegetation, appears no more than a foot deep at most. When several thousand 1 Vide illustration, chap, xxv., "A Uganda Eiver-swamp." RAIN AND COLD — RESULTS TO NATIVES. 239 people have crossed a place like this, the water becomes deeper and deeper. As many of the Torn people had joined our party of Wahuma guides on their way south, and the whole of the Sudanese were now together, our numbers were enormous. As one crested a rising ground in the early morning, and looked back to see the long black string of people winding for miles along the nar- row path, while the ground on which we had camped was yet black with human forms struggling to effect a start, one realised what a host we led ! Fortunately the rain held off, as a rule, in the morning, but occasionally it came down in torrents, and then the people got paralysed with cold in the wind and the deep river-swamps. I heard — I know not if it was true — that at such times mothers would purposely discard their children. On one such oc- casion Grant brought in nine children, carrying one himself to set an example to the men, like a right good fellow as he was. But the men needed little example. They uncomplainingly toiled along in rear of the whole vast concourse, searching every bush and the long grass. For these foolish people would go off the path, and cower behind some bush for shelter from the cold, and it was no easy matter to save them from themselves. On the same day my rear-guard, told off for this purpose under the doctor, brought in some fourteen more children, who else would have been abandoned and died of exposure. They saw two more who had been drowned in a deep marsh. The rear- guard rarely got in till late, and the men had then to build their huts against the rain and cold of the night, and to forage for their food and firewood. Yet there was still nothing but cheery goodwill and contentment, and not a sign of grumbling. We distributed our little half- starved children be- tween us, and they had as much as they could eat 240 KAVALLl's TO FORT LOEXE. bv the warm fire of our cook-houses, and were housed with our servants, or under our own tents. Most were claimed, but I long had a nursery establishment my- self 1 and I think that the care we took of these poor little things was not Avithout its lesson to the Sudanese. I could do little towards liMitenino' their troubles at this time, but after all, it was only to be two marches between each fort ; so I looked forward to rajDidly locating the main bulk of them. Later, on the march to the coast, I Avas able to deal more efficiently with the matter, and I then gave an order that no small children were to carry loads. Starting as usual at the head of the caravan, I stopj^ed on the side of the path, and let them all file past me, and I confiscated and threw awav everv load I found carried by a child. The Munobo river we found to be a serious obstacle, for it was now in flood, and was the first rushing river we had to cross. It was very deejD — too deep to ford — but some trees had been felled across it, which af- forded a slippery foothold, — so difficult, indeed, that I myself fell in and got a complete ducking I I quote the brief description in my diary : " I halted, and we cut down trees, and did all we could, and made three or four crossings, and by standing in the water and helping each one across, we saw that all got over safely. It was a somewhat novel experience, even to me, to stand from 7 to 10 a.m. up to mv middle in the icy -cold water, and hand over babies and children, and give an arm to each woman as they came across. I took the lowest ferry, so that if any one was washed away above, I could see and save them here; the crush was terrible at first." My Su- danese native - officers, Shukri, Risgalla, and Ferag. worked energetically, as keen as though each child were their own. They have a great idea of El Corn- GRANT AND MACPHERSON SAVE MANY LIVES. 241 mandant, and seeing me working in the water, they vied with each other in their efforts. So we all got across without a single mishap. I found an admirable site for the second fort, hardly inferior in any way to that of No. 1. The soil was Passage of the Munobo River. side. A dense forest stretched away for miles to the west, affording building material and firewood. " Here VOL. II. Q 242 KATALLI'S TO FORT LORXE. news reached us that the day after we left Xo. 1 a very great number of natives came in, and all the women whom I had freed and sent away in peace, returned with their husbands to settle down under us" (diary). I was very greatly pleased, for Rehan Aga seemed to be thoroughly entering into the spirit of my instruc- tions, and I hoped that after all, my 25lans for Torn would be achieved, and peace and prosperity would replace the 02:>pression of the past. I continually had a search made throughout the whole of the Sudanese encampment, lest any captive should have been con- cealed, and Selim Bey stayed behind at each fort to make a final investigation, and have these orders writ- ten down, so that there should be no excuse whatever in case of disobedience. Any native who came to me to report any such matter was at once sent, with the most trustworthy man in my own expedition, to search the houses of the Sudanese, and from time to time captives were found. Selim, as I have said, supported me loyally. Here is his reply, as I wrote it down at the time : He said he had been as a man that was drownino' : and who had saved him and lifted him out of the water ? It was I alone who had done so. Emin had told him that he mio4it wait twentv vears, and no one would ever come to help him, and he had therefore bett-er follow him. Some of his officers had done so, and had been deceived, and led into the wilderness, till thev were forced to desert and come back. But I had come, and had brought him back to hope and to life from desjDair. Xow all I had said he meant to do with his heart, and his eyes, and his hands, and I should see whether or not he did it : my orders should be carried out to the letter. At first he had merely made them return the people captured, but now that thev had fully heard the order and dis- selim's efforts for natives. 243 obeyed it, it was a different matter. Every man caught (and he would have a most thorough search) he would deprive of his rifle and his rank, and turn him out of the askars, as I had said, — no matter whether he were an officer or private soldier. For this sole reason he had stayed behind, to write down the orders, and see them carried out. In the old times the askars had been thus under law, and were not allowed to touch a thing* belonoinD- to the natives : but in the recent years of anarchy, every man had had to forao^e for himself, and had fallen into these ways : now they were once more under law and order, and the old regime should be restored." I have quoted this passage to show that these jDeople have a sense of gratitude, and are amenable to con- trol and law. I was very greatly distressed at the many evils which I could not as yet completely remedy, but T saAv that the very first step was, to split up the unmanageable host into parties that could be controlled, and then to place them under British supervision ; and this task I lost not a day in hasten- ing forward. Grant had long been ailing, and now got worse and worse with chronic diarrhoea, and was reduced to a shadow. His tent was so thin that the driv- ing rain came through the canvas. Before leaving the coast I had asked for a few medical comforts, but now, after one and a quarter years and the arrival of two caravans, nothing had been sent beyond one box each of provisions (my own had been lost). There was not a drop of spirits to give to Grant, or to tlie doctor, who was also ill ; nothing indeed whatever, except what the country produced and the natives ate. To myself this was of no consequence at all. Life on active service, and in the Indian jungles, and in Africa, had long accustomed me to rough fare. 244 KAVALLl's TO FOET LORXE. and I neither required nor cared for any other. But to vouno'er men. less inured to such a Hfe, the matter was serious, and it was on their behalf that I had so urgently requisitioned these necessaries ; even our quinine was all but exhausted. In fact the work of bringing down this vast host was very, very heavy, and we were all three much "played out." I retained mv health and enero-v thouo*h I was some- what overworked, as bouts of toothache, and inflam- mation in the bullet -wound in m}' wrist, indicated. I felt most keenly that every minute wasted by myself in illness or idleness meant suflerino- to those I had charge of, for the food- supply would be consumed by our thousands of people, and the garrison left behind at each fort would therefore be in difficulties. More- over, the daily cost of the expedition was great, and each day I could save was an economy in expenditure. I constantly deplored the absence of any tools, which so greatly delayed the progress of our work. "It is heart-breaking," I write, " to have to do this work without the necessary tools. There are but a very few axes, so that the men sent for timber have to wait their turn to o-et an axe to fell a tree, and fio-ht over it like dogs over a bone ; the wretched hoes (of which there are veri/ few) were never intended for use, but for barter : so that all work is delayed, while four or five men undertake a task on which fifty should be em- ployed. And then one s work is judged of by people quite unacquainted with these difficulties I I could build a fort in half the time, and push on to the next, and save time, and hence money, as well as the food which is to feed the garrison, if only I had tools." We arrived at the site of the second fort (Nya- korongo), which Mr De Winton subsequently named Fort Lorne, on the 2d Nov., and in spite of the delay caused bv the incessant rain and the lack of tools, the LOCATE SECOND BATCH OF SUDANESE. 245 men were now so proficient in fort-building, and worked so willingly and well, that we marched again in three days (Nov. 6th), having almost completed the fort, and left only a few gaps in the centre of the faces, and most of the ditch, to be completed by the garrison, — ■ all the most difficult parts (the corners, gates, &c.) being finished. I completed the lists as before, showing every man's rank and name, class of rifle, number of wives, of suria, of children, of slaves, and of free followers. The other four companies of the 1st regiment were located here, and we marched forward with between 4000 and 5000 only, for half of the Sudanese refugees were now disposed of in these two garrisons. I ap- pointed also a native chief here as Kasagama's deputy, as I had done at Waver tree. Grant had been ill most of the time ; he was too weak to walk, and had to be carried on the forward march. 246 CHAPTER XXX. FORT LORXE TO FORT GRANT. Bridging the MjDanga — Wa-Toru ask if we have come to stay — War-parties against Katabarua in the forest — Arrive at Kivari — Start for Fort Edward — Meet De Winton — All well in Uganda — Dualla to Salt Lake — Question of forcing supplies — Gordon's methods — Kichwamba con- tumacious— Lions at Fort George — Back to Kivari — Leave De Winton in Torn — His orders — Leave Kivari — Recross Mpanga — Enter Kita- gwenda — Build fort in Ntara — Sudanese thieving — Reassure Ruiji — Transport routes opened — Methods of mapping — Check on import of arms — Build Fort Grant — An African shav.ri — Manyuema raids — Grant deals with them — His orders. We left Fort Lome on Nov. 6th, and presently arrived at the Mpanga river, which separates Torn from Un- yoro proper. The heavy rains had made the stream a boiling flood, which was of course quite unford- able and very deep. I quote my description of our passage of the river, for we subsequently had sev- eral such to cross. "Nov. 8th. — Up at daybreak, and found a place where a large branching acacia grew in the very middle of the river, on what was probably an island when it was not in flood. To this with much difficulty we managed to lay two date - palms 30 or 40 fl. long, which, reaching from the bank to the big boughs of the tree, formed the basis of a bridge across to it. We did the same thing again from the other bank to the central tree, but the fierceness of the current made the work very difficult. My picked Swahilis BRIDGING THE MPAXGA. 247 worked admirablv, and thev SAvim like ducks : the Sudanese officers Shnkri and Ferag were indefatigable,, and of course Dualla was invaluable. ' Then we placed short bars across the long poles, and lashed them with creepers, and over all we laid down huge binidles of gi^ass, and so completed the bridge. From the tree to the bank I tied a strong rope of creepers, so that the people should be able to hold on to it and steady themselves when crossing. All was finished by about 10 A.M. As soon as our own expedition was across — while the bridge was being repaired — I went over and selected and pitched camp, and looked after Grant, who was very ill, and when I had made him comfortable, and arranged camp, so that the men could make their huts and look for food. I returned to the river. Standino- at the top of the bank I kept back the crush, assisted bv some of my men, and armed with a stotit stick, which the people know on such occasions was n^jt bnjught for show. Ferag stood opposite me, and c»ne Ijy one I admitted the people to pass between us, Avhile others helped them down the steejD bank, as there was room for them on the bridge. A party of my men watched meanwhile, lest any should pass by any other way than between Ferag and me, and jostled them back with much gusto and derision if they caught them ! It was piteous to see how emaciated and sick some of the old women and child slaves were, and the rouo-h and cruel way in which they were treated. The women were the worst offenders in this, and I was nonplussed how to deal with them, further than by an explosion of language I One, however, I sent over under an escort of my men. and made her a prisoner in mv cniard-tent for crueltv to an old slave-woman : .,'0 she turned otit to be the wife of an officer "While still perhaps somewhat excited by my indignation over 248 FORT LOEXE TO FORT GRANT. this, I saw a fine stalwart Sudanese strike a slave. I struck him a blow across the face with all my might, and continued to strike him till my stick was shattered. The man took it in absolute silence. He was an officer, and the public disgrace of being flogged "like a slave " was very great ; nor could he, in all probability, under- stand in the least what had brought my fury upon him, any more than if you were to suddenly assault your hansom-cab driver because he whipped up his horse ! I, however, let it be well understood what my reason was, and shouted to the dense throng, that I would give the same to any man I saw striking a woman, or a child, or feeble slave. I had brought Macpherson some lunch from camp, and as his clothes were dry, we worked together till all had crossed over. " The old Bimhaslii (Sudanese colonel) sat on the tree in the middle, and prevented the crowds from returning again to fetch firewood, &c., left behind. AYlien these had accumulated on the far side I stopped for a bit, and let them come over, and then we proceeded as before. I had a small party of expert swimmers in readiness, should any one fall into the water. One old woman did, and they had her out again in a jiffy, though she nearly baffled them by ' hanging on like grim death ' to the boughs of the tree under water. They looked on it all as an excellent joke. It was very tiring work, and we just finished at sun- set. I had been in clothes wet through from the waist, almost the whole day from dawn till dark, though I had fever yesterday." It was necessary thus to play the part of a policeman in a London mob, for if the seething crowd, of several thousand jDeoj^le, pushing from behind had not been restrained, those in front would have been precijDitated down the bank and trodden to death ; the brido'e, too. would not have held out unless those who crossed it went ofentlv one bv one. It was. moreover. ^TA-TOEr ASK IF WE SHALL STAY. 249 necessary for me to do this myself, in order to ensure obedience. Later, when Sehm joined us at another river, he came and helped me. His method was to have his chair brought, into which he projected his colossal car- cass. From time to time, when there was too much crowdino- he would brino- down his walkino'-stick, which was a pole like a " weaver's beam," on the heads of the crowd ; and as he was utterly indifferent as to sex, the " ladies did not escape his stick as they did mine ! Passino' throuo-h a heaw forest — in which mv men saw the rare Mbegu (colohus) monkey — and crossing river- swamps innumerable, we arrived on the 11th at Kivari, where I ao-ain found an admirable site for the third fort. Dailv on the march the rear-o'uard searched for and brouo'ht in anv children or sick strao-o-lers. The jDCople of Torn continued to come in great numbers, and all told me that the news of our treat- ment of the people on our upward journey had spread far and wide, and that all were most eager to come under our protection. Such treatment was new to these poor savages. In recounting one such sliauri in my diarv I write : " When asked if thev would like to o'o to Kabareo-a or stav under us, thev told the old storv, — that their fathers or other relatives had been beaten to death, or murdered, or driven off in chains, by the Wan- yoro, for fear they should desert to us ; that any one who lagged behind was thus beaten or bound ; and that they would like to go and call their people and come to us." Others asked me if we had come to stay ; for if we should desert them as the Egyptian garrisons, who had held the stations of Mruli and Fauvera (estab- lished by Gordon), had deserted the people of northern Unyoro, after taking them under their protection, only massacre and slaverv would await them at the hands of Kabarega. I replied, — how could I do otherwise ; — 250 FORT LORXE TO FORT GRAXT. that these countries were ceded to the British by the nations of Europe, and that the British flag never went back. At that time I had no idea that the Company had any thoughts of evacuation, after sending me here to promise protection to Uganda and its dependencies, and I knew that its Directors numbered amonofst them some of the best known, the most honoured, and the richest men in Great Britain. These people told me that we were now at the head- quarters of a chief of Kabarega's named Katabarua, — the same that Grant had gone from Fort Edward to attack (p. 188) : that the other chiefs had fled, but he was hidino' in the forest. Thev were in o^reat dread of him, and said that if only I would drive him out, all the people of the country would come in, — for we were now once more in Torn. The day after our arrival, therefore, while I was myself engaged in laying out the trace of the fort, I sent two war-parties to search the forest. Ferag with his " Levy " came upon a large body of spearmen, and knowing that we fought only against the men with guns, he left them unharmed. Later he met a party who fired upon him, and these he defeated, capturing some goats. Shukri with the Sudanese encountered a large force armed with guns, among whom were chiefs dressed in cloth — apparently Katabarua's own party. He drove them in, and pur- sued them, keej^ing up a running fight, and did not get back till next day. These people had also fired on me the day before, when I came to select the site of the camp. Having started the work at the fort, I set out next day for Fort Edward and the Salt Lake, taking with me all of our own expedition, except about 65, which included the men skilled at the fort-building, and the sick. These I left with the mass of the Sudanese under the doctor's charge at Kivari, for Grant was BACK TO FORT EDWARD. 251 still too ill to do any work. I had selected from the whole of the 2d regiment about 100 fighting men who should accompany me to Uganda. Those were espe- cially chosen who had few followers and belongings. They included, however, the artisans who had been employed on the steamers on the Nile and the Albert Lake, with all their followers, and Selim Bey's own retinue. In addition there was a considerable number of people who were returning to Egypt, being mostly the widows and children of deceased officers. The actual figures were as follows : Selim Bey and all ranks of soldiers, 89 ; followers, 360 ; artisans, 25 ; followers, 109 ; and between 300 and 400 aitham for the coast : total, about 900. These had permission to accompany me to the Salt Lake, to procure salt for food-purchase on the march to Uganda. We arrived at Kivari on Nov. 11th; on the 12th I laid out the trace and began the fort work, and on the 13th we started for the Salt Lake. Shukri and his party arrived early on this morning from their skirmishing in the forest. Six of his men were missing ; but as our way led through the same forest, we searched for them, and they were found and brought into camp. Fort Edward was distant only twenty-eight miles ; but owing to our delay in looking for the missing men, and to our having to bridge the river Wimi in the same way that we had already bridged the Mpanga, we took three days to cover the distance. Moreover, I had very heavy fever on me, and marching in an African sun, through dense grass and bush, in a burning fever, is a very trying task. We descended from the high Unyoro plateau, passed through a patch of forest, literally trampled down by the herds of elephants, and crossing the swamp -land at the head of the upper arm of the Albert Edward Lake (see map), reached Fort Edward on the 15th. In spite of my violent fever, one of the 252 FOET LORXE TO FORT GRANT. worst attacks I have had in Africa, I had recorded my distances and direction for my map, but I arrived very jDrostrated and weak. In the forest we were fired on by a few stragglers of the enenw, who were put to flight. Arrived at Fort Edward, I was delighted to find De Winton awaitino' me. He had been sent bv Williams to reinforce me, but found my letter (sent back from Kavalli's) prohibiting a forward march beyond this point, and had therefore been waiting here a month. Williams had but few o-ood men in Uo^anda, and had sent me the greater part of his garrison, thinking I would need them more than he should. I was ex- tremely sorry he had done so, though I gratefully recognised the unselfishness and j^luck which had promj)ted him ; and I still more regretted that De Winton, finding he could not join me, and that there was a very powerful garrison (100 of my best men), at Fort Edward, had not at once sent back these 56 men to Kampala. I here received letters from Williams, in which he told me of what had o^one on since we left Uo'anda on June 16th, uj) to date of his letters (Sept. 12th and Oct. 17th). De Winton also could tell me of events up to the middle of September, at which time he had left Uganda. I will narrate in chapter xxxii. the news I received concerning the political or religious parties, and the difficulties between them with which Williams had had to deal. As reo-arcls other matters, I heard that Bagge had made a successful trip to the south of the lake, and had brought up all Stokes' guns and powder, which were safely stored in Kampala. Mwanga had tried to claim a percentage as taxes, but Williams had, in a very plucky way, sent down his handful of men to the lake, and brought up everything without yielding to Mwanga's demands. His prompt action probably saved trouble, for, from what I heard. DE WINTON's news — ALL WELL IN UGANDA. 253 it appeared as though Mwanga had intended to seize what he wanted. There had been some trouble in Usoga too, through a rascally Swahili headman left in charge there. De Winton had been sent to arrange this, and had succeeded in his mission. Relations had been most cordial with the Germans, who repudiated Emin Pasha's recent actions, — as I now heard for the first time. On the whole, Williams was cheery and hopeful about the prospect in Uganda at the date of his first letter, and wrote, " You need have no anxiety about Uganda. I will keep it, as I said at first, pretty quiet. Mean- while all this part of the country is progressing, trade is improving, and the people are building hard." I therefore imagined that the troubles which had occurred in Juij about Mwanga's flag, the rising in Buddu, &c., to which I shall allude later, were not of very serious import. He sjDoke also of leading the Waganda to war against the Mohammedans and Kabarega in the follow- ing December, not expecting my return so soon. His second letter, of a month later, was also reassuring. "Everything is going well here," he wrote, "and the Wagfanda are buildinof hard," than which there is no surer sign that the horizon is peaceful. He had him- self also planted large areas at Kampala, from which he expected large returns in food, and had inaugurated a trade in ivory, in which, also, representatives of Mr Stokes were engaged. All had promised peacefully when I left Uganda, and these letters, telling me in the briefest possible manner of the difiiculties and outbreaks which had occurred, and speaking hopefully and confidently of the future, reassured me greatly, and led me to hope that all was well, and that there was no fear of trouble. Williams was naturally sanguine, and, moreover, wished to re- lieve me from anxiety, knowing that I was myself 254 FORT LORNE TO FORT GRANT. engaged in no easy task. I heard that Mr Xewmann, of the Company's service, had been massacred with most of his men by the Sotik peoj^le, and it was not till long afterwards that we heard that he himself survived. Williams added the news in a tiny postscript, that my brother, E. J. Lugard, D.s.o., had been wounded, and had narrowly escaped "having his head stuck on a pole " at the " Manipur disaster " ! I had so much to do here in the settlement of afPairs with Kasagama, and in completing my map and rec- tifvino- an error which had occurred in it in this last circuit, besides many other matters, that I decided to send the expedition to the Salt Lake under Dualla, while I remained to complete my other work, and so avoid delay. Fort Edward had been built to hold the gate of Unyoro, and 2Drotect Kasagama's village and the Salt Lake. Now that the Sudanese forts held the frontiers of Torn, its raison d'etre was o-one. I therefore sent down Ali, the Somal who had com- manded here, and who appeared trustworthy and in- tellio'ent, to take charo-e of Fort Georo-e with seventeen of the Zanzibari Lev3^" I gave him very full instructions about the develop- ment of the trade at the Salt Lake, which was to be a monopoly of the Company, though liberal rates of barter would be given. L^songola, in which country Fort George is situated, was to be directly under the Company, and not under Kasagama, until he had proved his energy and his caj)acity to govern by arranging his own country of Torn. Under this arrangement the quarrels which I found between him and Karakwanzi would no longer be possible. The latter, however, was to be told that he was in no sense king of Usongola, but merely our guest at the Salt Lake, where he was welcome to live, and to take what salt he wanted, in return for his assist- QUESTION OF FORCING SUPPLIES. 255 ance in preventing theft and promoting trade, but he was not to barter with it on his own account. Ali would be directly under De Winton, whom I placed in charge temporarily in Torn and South Unyoro. For I hoped that on my return to Uganda Williams would be able to come here, — than whom there could be no better or more capable man for carrying on the organ- isation of the Sudanese, — while I took over charge at Mengo. Ali had, moreover, the strictest orders not to engage in any fighting whatever, except in actual defence of their lives. I found De Winton had brought some cloth, which we most urgently needed, also a box of provisions and a little quinine, so that I was able to take some of the latter and get rid of my fever. I at once sent some provisions, &c., to Grant, and I also sent off letters to Williams in Uganda, and then devoted myself to my map. My plans were, that De Winton should accompany us back to Kivari, and with him should come Kasagama and his headmen. De Winton and I spent a very pleasant time together those few days at Fort Edward, and I little thought that our lonof conversations would be the last we should ever have together. Here in the long evenings at Fort Edward we had many a talk, and I recollect discussing one evening the necessity which some have alleged of levying forced contributions of food from the natives of the countries through which an expedition jDassed. I expressed myself very strongly and emphatically, for I was anxious that he should not be led away by wrong arguments into approval of such methods, which can almost always be avoided by forethought and organisation.^ 1 Sir John Kirk has told me that when travelling with Livingstone on the Zambesi during five years, they never took a single grain of corn by force from the natives. 256 FORT LORXE TO FORT GRAXT. The introduction of law, order, and restraint into a savage country, is necessarily accompanied at times by strong measures, involving perhaps war — as in the case of Kabarega, and later in Uganda — with its attendant suffering, to many who are not the principal offenders ; but, were my critics to read the record of Gordon's purely aggressive wars in the southern Sudan, and even in northern Unyoro (where, by the way, he established garrisons of these very Sudanese) ; could they, moreover, realise what the establishment of these garrisons meant, far distant as they were from European supervision ; could they count up the unrecorded loss of life in those wars, and contrast it with what was involved in the settlement of these countries by ourselves, — it would, I am sure, open up a new light to them. But Gordon had no rival Christian sects to deal with, and hence no bitter religious critics to trumpet through Europe fictitious tales of horror and outrao-e. He was actuated bv the hio'hest and best of motives, he was kind-hearted and detested slavery, and he went straight to the objects he had in view, though his path was often a path of blood — carrying out with the ability of a great admin- istrator, and of a brave and fearless soldier, the task he had set himself to do. And the world heard of his work and judged it by results, and never knew, and never will know, the details by which those results were acquired. De Winton had followed on our track throuofh Ankoli with his little party of but fifty men, yet he was everywhere welcomed with the utmost good- will ; food was brought to him gratis, and he found nothing but friendship and cordiality. On the 21st, Dualla returned with the caravan from the Salt Lake. Durino' our absence, Masudi. whom I had left in char Of e, had been eno-ao'ed in one small skirmish, and I made the fullest inquiry into the matter. From KICHWAMBA CONTUMACIOUS. 257 different men (who had not seen each other to con- coct an identical story), I heard precisely the same account. The troublesome people between Kitagwenda and Kichwamba whom Ntali had begged me to pun- ish, had sent messages to the Kichwamba people, and told them that they would attack them for being the friends of the white man, for they wished to have nothing to say to Europeans. The first time these had passed their way (Stanley) all their cattle had died, and now probably all their people would be bewitched and die ! Kichwamba, in this dilemma, sent to Masudi, who said he had strict orders not to fight in any native quarrel, and sent men to Ntali (in whose country these people were) to ask him to settle the matter. Ntali replied begging him to decide it by war or by negotiation as he chose, for he himself could do nothing with these people, Avho were always giving trouble. Thereupon Masudi sent some men to negotiate a peace. Kichwamba sent messages to the hostile party, asking them to call the chiefs to a friendly conference. In return they murdered the envoys and advanced with war, firing the houses, &c. Kichwamba took arms in self-defence, and our men being on the spot were involved in the trouble. The enemy were defeated, and many of their women, &c., captured. Thereupon the chief sent in to say he no longer desired war, and wished to be under the white men, and sent a present of ivory. Masudi, therefore, returned the caj)tives, and the matter ended. A considerable trade had developed at Fort George. The natives from the west of Ruwenzori brougfht iron hoes (smelted and wrought by themselves), and also sheep and goats, to barter for salt. A very large flock had thus accumulated, of which, however, thirty had been killed by a lion in the last few days. This beast was said also to have killed ten natives. He sprang; they said, clear over the high spiked cheval-de-frise VOL. II. E, 258 FORT LORXE TO FORT GRAXT. into the fort and helped himself to mutton. The men waited for him and fired twenty-five rounds at him without effect ; they then set a trap of six guns, all of which went ofi" without disturbing his equanimity ! Leaving at Fort Edward fourteen men of the Levy under a sergeant, to take care, for the present, of the crops and bananas De Winton had planted, we marched on the 2 2d, and scaling the Unyoro j)lateau, arrived at Kivari next day. On the way I shot an elephant, and the flesh su2Dplied such of the men as cared to go to the distant place where I had shot it. Our return march of 28 miles in two days, with loads, crossing both the Wimi and the Durro rivers in flood, and ascendinof the steep hills of L^nyoro, was a wonderful feat of endurance on the part of the loaded men. We had been absent ten days in all, having accomplished 120 miles, in addi- tion to the task of procuring salt and making bags for it. I found Grant somewhat better, but the fort -building had progressed slowly in my absence. The natives had been arriving in great numbers to accept our j^ro- tection, and I fully explained to De Winton and Kasa- gama the steps I wished them to take for the settlement and pacification of the country. I quote from my in- structions some of the principal clauses : ^ — " Each of the four forts is garrisoned by four companies of Su- danese, under their own officers, who are directly under SeHm Bey and myself. I desire that you should in no way interfere with these garrisons, more especially as they are not at present regularly enlisted in the Company's service. Any matter, especi- ally any disobedience or disregard of the orders I have left for them (copy attached), will be represented by you to the Bimhashi in command. If his action is not satisfactory after your repre- sentations, you will report the matter to me, and inform him you have done so. . . . "4. The country to the west of Fort George and the Piuwenzori Yange is at present not thoroughly settled, nor is it certain whether 1 Vide Bhie-book Africa, No. 2, 1893, p. 18. LEAVE DE WINTON IN TORU. 259 it is in the Company's territory. In this country I understand, that Karakwanzi exercises much influence, and will be able to bring large quantities of ivory thence for sale at Fort George. You will therefore at present interfere as little as possible with this country, only endeavouring to prevent the Manyuema ivory- traders at Miala (of Kilonga-longa's) from crossing the Semliki south of where that river crosses the 30th parallel of longitude, and from crossing this parallel north of that point, to the north of Toru towards the Albert Lake. By means of native mes- sengers to Mugenyi, Kavalli, and Katonzi, all of whom are in treaty alliance with the Company, you may also be able to promote an ivory trade ; but at present I do not wish you to leave Unyoro proper to visit their countries, nor to penetrate at all into Butuku. . . . " 7. Your immediate task will be to accompany the king Kasa- gama on a tour through Toru, and assist him in every way to redress grievances, especially with regard to any wrongs done to the natives by the Sudanese, to establish law and order in the country, and appoint officials and heads of districts, and restore refugees to their shamhas, and drive out any remaining chiefs of Kabarega's who may return to pillage the country and murder the people. During this tour you will, as far as you can, check the roll of the garrisons and their belongings, furnished to you al- ready, and suggest improvements in the stockades, in accordance with those already built by us. You will secure a good position for a village for Kasagama at each station, and see that he builds, and will yourself build a small house at each. . . . "11. No war, except necessary operations against Kabarega, will be undertaken without previous communication with me." We halted four days, during which I was engaged in incessant work. Grant was not well enough to help much, and the doctor confined himself to his medical duties ; but Dualla was, as always, indefatigable and invaluable. Having issued the cloth brought by De Winton to the men for clothing and tenting, taken my census of the four companies to be left here (some- what reduced in strength by the extraction of the party for Uganda), and having given De Winton complete lists of the men of the expedition left at Fort George, 260 FOET LORXE TO FORT GRAXT. at Fort Edward, and as his personal carriers and escort (2-4), together with all goods and gear handed over to him, we were ready to march forward on the 28th. A headman with 20 23orters now arrived from Kampala, in addition to the 56 brought bv De Winton ; these brought up the numbers of the expedition to some 400, including the garrison I had withdrawn from Fort Edward. We carried forward some 1300 lb. of ivory and 150 loads of salt for food-j^urchase, besides the other o'oods. Saying a cordial good-bye to De Winton, we marched onward through an undulating country, free from river- swamps, and with patches of forest, and much acacia- bush. On the way we passed an enormous herd of elej^hants — at which I did not fire. On the banks of the Mpanga we found the people friendly ; and they said they had not fled because they heard we did no harm to the villagers. I regretted greatly being forced to bring this host of Sudanese to spoil their fields, and I gave them a present of beads and cloth as com- pensation, and issued the strictest orders against the injuring of their houses, &c., placing guards to see that these orders were not disobeyed. The Mpanga had increased in volume since we crossed it above Kivari. It here flowed in a rocky gorge some 700 or 800 ft. deep, whose precipitous banks were clothed with the densest forest. Here the mists and vapours hung, and the trees dripped with continual moisture. Every class of fern — from the tree-ferns to the moss-ferns — was to be found beneath the moisture-laden trees, whose limbs were clothed with them, and with mosses and lono'-bearded lichens and orchids. The flowers famil- iar in our hothouses, grew in these perpetual shades, and gorgeous butterflies glanced like meteors through the forest twilight. Below foamed and eddied a seething torrent of water, confined between its rocky walls. RE-CROSSING THE MPANGA RIVER. RECROSS MPANGA. 261 No trees grew on its banks which could reach more than a quarter of the way across. I sat down on a rock to think the matter out. Nothing has stopped us hitherto, from the coast till now. Even the great Semliki was crossed with hardly a check, and are we to be bafEed at last by a mountain-torrent in flood ? I thought of searching the lake for canoes (for close by here the river enters the lake), and so rounding the mouth of the river ; but the natives said there were none nearer than several days' journey. Behind me were a mass of over 3000 souls in a foodless country ! " Eventually we found a place where a snag of rock appeared above the rushing torrent almost in mid- stream, and with a very great deal of trouble and diffi- culty we eventually made a bridge across to it, and thence to the far bank. I have already briefly described the process ; — how the stream would sweep away our best poles like mere corks, if they touched the water in the difficult process of fixing one end on the slippery snag, and the very tip of the farther end on the narrow ledge of the rocky shore, some 30 feet away across the river ; how at last the log was lodged, and then another, and another, cut in the dense forest, and carried hither through its matted undergrowth ; and how at last the time came to place upon the struc- ture hundreds of loads of grass, which the men had gone to cut on the plains above. By 9.30 A.M. our bridge was finished, and the masses of people crossed in safety, even our flocks and cattle walking across without fear. I may be excused the note of jubilation in my diary, for I had at first feared that we were baffled this time. " I am really proud of this," I write, " the ascent and descent of this huge gorge, the Mpanga bridged, and a fair march besides, all in one day 1 We astounded the natives, who had expected us to be quite defeated, and in any case, I 262 FORT LORNE TO FORT GRANT. suppose, expected a week's delay to bridge such a river. ' Truly,' they said (so I heard), ' nothing- can daunt or stop the white man ! ' and I think that by surmounting such difficulties one goes far towards establishing that respect and acknowledgment of superiority, which is the very essence of success with natives in Africa." We ascended the plateau again from the Mpanga gorge, and marched along its edge, from which a splendid view of the lake (which lay spread out beneath us) was obtainable. Fort Edward was visible on its further shores, and hence I was able to obtain actual bearings for the verification and correction of my map. The countrv of Kitaofwenda, which we now entered, was extraordinarily fertile, and full of crops and food. Its king, Ruiji, had become the vassal of Kabarega since the conquest of Torn, to whose king, Nyika, he had formerly owed allegiance. I was told that it was through this country that the Waziba from the south, who traded in arms and powder, brought the supplies on which Kabarega and the Mohammedan Waganda relied, — hence it was also a route for slaves from Unyoro, since it was with these that munitions would be chiefly purchased. I therefore expected to find the people hostile ; but I was met by messengers from the king asking ni}" intentions, in a civil and peaceful manner. I replied that, since he had received me in peace, he should remain king of Kitagwenda, but should in future owe fealty to Kasagama of Toru, as of old time ; that I was compelled to leave a gar- rison in his country, to prevent the import of powder and arms to our enemies, but I would divide it into two halves, so that it might not be heavy on the people. If, after I had gone, they had any complaints against the Sudanese, they must bring them without fear to the Bimhaslii in command, and to Mr De Winton, whom I had left for this very purpose. It was all I GARRISONS IN KITAGWENDA — FORT NTARA. 263 could do for the present, and I write in my diary : "I feel keenly the hardship I inflict on these people by passing through their country, but there is no alter- native. In Africa an army passes through and eats up a country ; so does a flight of locusts ; and the fertile soil produces a new crop at once." We arrived on Dec. 1st at Ntara — where I intended to locate two of the four remaining companies. From here I sent on Zachariah to Ntali, with a present of ten heifers, which I had received as gifts from various chiefs. This I knew would delight the Mhuma king more than any gift of cloth. I sent messages of friend- ship, and told him I was sorry to have to pass through his country with so large an expedition, but I should march fast. I alluded to the recent outbreak in Buddu, in which the chief of Koki had taken part, and told him to warn Kamswaga that if he again joined either faction in Uganda, he (Ntali) would attack him in rear. Ntali in return sent most friendly messages, and gladly agreed to attack Koki if its chief again invaded Uganda. There were many Wanyoro in Kita- gwenda, for it was a dependency of Kabarega's. These were of course hostile, and some of my own Sudanese were met by a party of these people, and two of them were badly speared. Already, on a previous occasion, a similar thing had happened (at Kivari), but all four men, though fearfully gashed, recovered under Macpherson's treatment. Having completed, as usual, my roll of the Sudanese left here, and nearly finished the stockade, we marched on the 4th and selected a site for the last station, in which to locate the remaining two companies. The country was extremely fertile, and produced enormous quantities of potatoes, bananas, grain, beans, and food of all kinds. I had continual complaints from the natives, for the Sudanese were inveterate thieves. 264 FORT LOEXE TO FOET GEAXT. " My Somals who are in charge of our animals," I write, say that in broad dayhght the Sudanese will attempt to pass through my own flock, and slip a noose over the head of an animal and walk ofi* ^'ith it. A dav or two ao-o one of our cows calved. The Somals laid down the calf in the grass and attended to the mother. On coming- to get the calf thev found it had been stolen ! A malassira (lieutenant) adroitly cut the throat of a goat on the march, almost under its owner's nose (Achmet Eflendi. Selim's factotum), and afterwards acknowledged he had done so. If even oflicers them- selves behave thus to their own chiefs, and to me, what can one expect as regards the natives i The only plan is to get them isolated in garrisons as quickly as pos- sible, and then to introduce discipline with a strong- hand. But it is of paramount importance that my most urgent appeals for more Europeans to help in the administration should be complied with." I have given the Sudanese a bad character, but it must be borne in mind that they were as yet a mere rabble, undisciplined and ignorant of British law ; that they looked on these as hostile countries, in which they could repeat the licence of the Sudan ; and my experience with them only showed me the more clearly what fearful outrages had been (partially at least) pre- vented bv brino'ino' them down under some control, and breaking them up into garrisons under responsible oflicers. I continued to receive o'ood accounts from Fort Wavertree of the settlement of the country. Some of Kabarega's chiefs were said to have come in and oflered their allegiance, and settled down peaceably. I sent my interpreter to Buiji with a considerable present for so petty a king, and begged him to fully report to De Winton any cause of complaint what- soever. Like all natives, however, when they found THIEVING OF SUDANESE — FORT GRANT. 265 I was indefatigable in my investigation of eA^ery petty complaint, they became equally indefatigable in pre- ferring them ; and when I asked, in despair at their grumbling and cavilling, whether any white man before had thus spent hours in redressing their grievances, they replied that was true, but " they heard we were different, and had come to bring peace to these coun- tries and to do justice, and that was why they came to me.'^ To such an answer I had nothing to reply ! The last of our forts, Kiarutanga, I named Fort Grant. It was built on the borders of Ankoli. When marching- thither I suddenly came upon a party of men running away with a huge basket on poles. Peering into it I discovered a decrepit old man inside, and was told he was the king's father ! Through this last march we crossed many river- swamps. These would form an obstacle to the trans- port route I had proposed, but could be bridged with- out difficulty by making culverts of logs across the swamp. With the exception of this one march, the route from Ibanda to Kivari offered no obstacles. Thence a line could be found to Butanuka or Butindi, on our upward route along the base of Buwenzori. From the Victoria Lake across Buddu and Ankoli to Ibanda was an excellent line, free from swamps, and feasible for transport animals. And thus we had suc- ceeded in discovering and opening up a continuous road from the Victoria to the Albert Lake, along which, with very little preparation, laden animals might pass ; whereas across Uganda or Unyoro the continual and deep river-swamps wholly preclude the use of animals, without an enormous amount of previous work in bridging and road- making. This route would also touch the Albert Edward and the Salt Lakes, and fodder of all kinds for mules or for camels is abundant. The route proposed would run from the harbour at 266 FORT LORNE TO FORT GRANT. Luwambii, across Buddu and northern Ankoli, to Fort Grant in Kitagwenda, and thence to Kivari, and so along our upward march at the foot of Ruwenzori through Butanuka and Butindi to Kiaya and the Semhki. The discovery of the feasibility of this route I looked upon as being one of the most imjDortant results of our journey. My road- chart had been kept up with scrupulous care. The country was for the most part difficult and close, but except in two instances — where I was able to localise my error pretty exactly (the swamp beyond the Semliki, and the pathless forest near Kivari) — I was in no case more than some two miles out in a series of circuits varving from 125 to 200 miles, an error which on a map of ordinary scale would be almost imperceptible. My instruments were only a watch and a prismatic compass, the distances being judged by my pace according to the time taken in marching, while I owed the accuracy of my 'compass bearino's to Dualla's unerrino^ instinct, in correctlv indicatino' the direction in which we had been march- ing. This road - chart contains full details of soil, products, nature of jDasture and forest, &c. The map attached to this volume shows the route described in these last chapters. It has been reproduced from mv oriof-inal charts, bv the kindness of the Intelli- gence Department of the War Office. The original, however, is on a scale of four miles to the inch — three times as large as the attached map — and on this scale I have mapped (with similar notes on the country) the whole area, from the coast to Kavalli and the Albert Lake, the total length being close on 2000 miles of map - work (not including return journeys over the same ground). The total length from point to point in longitude is close on 1000 miles, and therefore METHODS OF MAPPING. 267 my original map, if 2Dut together, would be some 20 ft. long ! — which would probably more than cover the area of any wall in the room in which my reader is sitting I I write as follows in my diary (Dec. 9th) : "I have just plotted in to-day's march quite irrespective of how it would ' come out,' and exactly as it is in my road- book. I find I am 2^ miles out in a circuit of 202 miles — a success which hugely delighted me ! When hours and hours of steady work have totalled into days and weeks — almost into months — and the whole proof of the accuracy, or futility, of all this work is proved by how the last bearing and distance ' comes out' — viz., whether when the circuit is complete the final point closes correctly on the starting-point — it is no small pleasure to find it right, and no small dis- appointment to find a large unaccountable error." The line of the forts from north to south is merely a line of defence along the south borders of Unyoro, and not identical with the transport route, which (as I have indicated) would run through Torn along the base of Ruwenzori ; nor has it anything to do with the line I proposed for checking the import of arms and powder, except in so far as the last two forts are con- cerned. The means I had adopted for checking this import were : 1, the station to be built at Luwambu in Buddu ; 2, the treaty with Ntali, in Ankoli, where no stations were feasible ; 3, the forts in Kitagwenda. In fact, the line of the forts was merely a temporary one, for my idea was to wheel them round, so to speak, so that while the most northern one — Wavertree — remained in its present position near the Albert Lake, the southern one — Ntara — should rest on the north- west corner of Uganda, which projects into Unyoro near Kawanga (vide map). The garrisons would then 268 FORT LORNE TO FORT GRANT. be in close touch with Kampala, and only the extreme south - east corner of Unyoro would be included, in addition to Torn, which we had already severed from Kabarega. This plan I could not carry out in the first instance, for the powerful Mohammedan Waganda oc- cupied the very site on which my last fort Avould be located, and I was not in a position to fight them while hampered by thousands of women and children. I pro- ceeded to carry it out later, however, as I shall narrate. We arrived at the site of Fort Grant on Dec. 1st, and set to work to build the fort w^th all speed. " Poles were difficult to procure ; but the Swahili is a wonderful fellow, when pressed, for ' making bricks without straw.' In spite of the fact that there does not appear to be a tree in the country, and that there are a bare dozen axes for 250 men to cut timber with, every man is sent out to bring in a log, or two men to one log if it is very heavy. Each man's pole is looked at ; if not good, it is not accepted, and he is sent off to cut another. As each passes muster, he is ticked off in the roll ; and after all this he has to collect his day's food — yet it is done 1 " (diary). I remember my brother, when out tio'er - shootino- with me in India, speaking of the wonderful instinct of the jungle tribe of Gonds, and saying he believed that if you dropped a Gond from a balloon in the heart of a forest un- known to him, and then suddenly " went for " him with a thick stick, he would take the identical path that a tiger would adopt, and it would be found to be the shortest possible way out of the jungle 1 So, in a sense, it is with the Swahili. Tell him he has to produce a pole before he can eat his dinner, and, though you cannot see a tree on the horizon, he will arrive with a pole before you have decided in your mind which is the best direction in which to start vour search ! LINE OF FORTS — OF TRANSPORT ETC. 269 Kasagama had sent messages to all the Toru people who had taken refuge in Ankoli to return to their country, and an embassy now reached us to ask for redress, because some of their women and children had been stolen by the Wahuma of Ankoli. I was pleased that people from a distance should thus refer to us, for it showed that they looked to us for justice in any matter (even against the people of my blood-brother Ntali), in spite of the fact that we personally had no participation in the question. Finding that we should An African Shauri. pass near the place, I deferred inquiry till I should arrive there. They looked out for us, and I quote the extract from my diary, for it is a typical African shauri: "The man who had lost his wife and child was present, as also the captor. Both sit down casually side by side ; the disconsolate father (and bereaved hus- band) is not above laughing at a joke of his opponent's. 270 FOET LOE^-E TO FOET GEA.XT. The other, on bemg questioned, rephed that he was ordered by NtaU to look after people who ran away (bemg on the border), and to capture them. He was therefore walkincr about at nio-ht. and saw these Torn people bolting with thirty guns, two of which, he says, belonof to Xtali. " So he made a capture. The wife he had already sent to Xtali. So the complainant laconically chalked her off as unrecoverable, I suppose, and said, ' Well, all rio'ht. — oive me mv child." The other, who was dressed in some new white cloth, calmly remarked, while chewino' a straw, that Xtali had oiven liini the child, and he had already sold her for this cloth. On this the father expressed some disgust and chagrin. Meanwhile X tali's ambassador pressed me for the return of the two o-uns. So I said that if they returned the women and children and o-oats looted from Kasagama's people, I would write to him, and order him to return the two guns, if they were really Xtali"s. Meanwhile all would at once start for Xtali's, and tell him my words. I detailed one of my Wahuma guides as my ambassador. If they settled the shauri, and the people and goods were duly returned, they should come on rapidly to Marongo and meet me there, and I would write the letter to Kasao'ama orderino- the return of the rifles. All were greatly pleased and satis- fied at this, and started forthwith, and I never heard any more of them I One hates thus to let a question of this nature lapse ; my note-book was full of such memos for further in- vestigation and inquiry, but it was impossible in this case to do more, as I was compelled to push on with my large following. But in Uganda I used to keep on worrvino' at such matters, and crave no one any peace until I was satisfied that all I could do had been THE MANYUEMA RAID. 271 done. Later — after the war — the number of such questions was almost infinite ! Most friendly messages reached me from village chiefs in Ankoli asking when I should pass, that they might have food for my use in readiness, and from Ntali the king. I explained to them that they were welcome to go to the Salt Lake for salt, and that they would get a liberal supply from us ; but that as we had to pay the garrison which protected it, and were even now engaged in maintaining it against the Manyuema, those who required salt must bring goods to barter for it. The small people would bring food, hoes, and flocks, the greater chiefs ivory, for which we would give them, not only salt, but the products brought by the lesser people. We did not wish the Salt Lake to be closed to the surrounding tribes, but, on the contrary, to be more accessible than it had ever been before. News reached me here from Fort Georofe that the Manyuema, Avhose station I had visited on the west of Ruwenzori, had recently raided across the Semliki, and were reported to have killed 100 men and driven off 200 women as slaves. " Ali had sent to expostu- late and come to an understanding ; but the Manyuema (so the messenger said) replied that they wanted no understanding with us, that the ivory of the country was theirs and not ours, and now the people were bringing it to us, and so they had killed them ; nor could they themselves take salt as they liked as formerly. They claimed half possession of the Salt Lake, and to put three representatives there, ^^^ho should take half of all products of barter I otherwise on the seventh day they would come and drive us out " (diary). It eventually transpired that most of this was native report, and not a direct reply to Ali's messages. 272 FORT LOBNE TO FORT GRANT. I resolved to send at once a strong force (the Man- yuema were reported to have 126 guns) ; and as Grant had been rapidly mending in health of late, and was reported by the doctor to be fit to go, I sent him in command with 142 rifles, in addition to some twenty already there. I gave him what stores, &c., we had — a milk cow, a donkey to ride (brought up by De Winton), and implored him to look after his health. T also provided him with the fullest instructions as to how he was to act. I was most anxious to avoid, if possible, any collision with these people, whose station was beyond British territor}^ in the Congo State, and who belonged to a very powerful organisa- tion of slave-raiders on the Aruwimi and Ituri, with whom it was not my business to deal, even had I possessed the means and the leisure. Meanwhile I sent messeno'ers to Kivari, to order the Sudanese ofiicer in command there, to detach fortv rifles to Fort Georofe, and I calculated that they would arrive in time to take Grant's place when he had settled the initial difiicult}^ I quote the main paragraph in Grant's instructions : ^ — "4. If the Manyuema attack iinprovokedly, you will, of course, do your best to give them a thorough lesson. If you hear that they are massacring natives and carrying off women (as is reported) on this side of the Semliki, you will first of all endeavour to ascertain, for certain, the truth of such reports, and whether it is also true that, in response to All's peaceable messages, the Manyuema returned a defiant reply, and said they w^ere coming to attack us, &c. Should all this be true, you will do your best to expel them from the country on this side of the Semliki. If they have already retii^ed to their own fort, you will (if these things be true), advance towards them and demand redress for the damage done, and the return of the women, &c.. ^ Vide Aj^pendix to Report 3, Blue-book Africa, Xo. 2, of 1893, p. 21 et seq., where my instructions and Grant's report are published in full, cover- ing six pages. geant's orders. 273 captured. You will then be guided in your further action by the ans^yer given and the circumstances on the spot, always bearing in mind that, if the Manyuema are willing to restore all captives and to pay an indemnity, and remain on the far side of the Semliki, a peaceful settlement is likely to be more effective and permanent than a war. For, if they are beaten in a fight, doubt- less the story which will reach Kilonga-longa will in no way represent the truth ; and if he understands that his people have been wantonly attacked, it may lead to further war and trouble, and I need not point out how much to be deplored such a war with the powerful Arabs of the Congo and Tippoo Tib w^ould be, while the Company already has on its hands the troubles in Uganda and a war with Kabarega. . . . Moreover, it is not certain how far these territories are in the Company's dominions ; and though I should be glad to protect the natives up to the east bank of the Semliki, you must bear in mind that the 'protection of the Salt Lake and our garrison there is the sole reason for ivhich I have despatched this expedition. If, then, you should find that it is quite untrue that the Manyuema contemplated attacking us, and that they have no wish to quarrel with us, you may be able to settle the matter peaceably with regard to raids made by them to the west of the Semliki, and in this case I would advise that the terms be made as lenient as possible, so as not to convert friends into enemies. The paramount point for them to under- stand is, that they must not raid to the east of the Semliki, and that the ivory of this country is the property of the Company. Eegarding the ivory from the far side of the Semliki, we have no claim on it whatever, but should not refuse to buy it if brought in for sale. They are, moreover, quite welcome to get salt from the lake, provided they bring something in exchange. They must not come down in large armed parties to get it or to trade. If more than eight guns come, they will be regarded as a war- party and fired on. You will inform them of our strength in Unyoro, and that we have no intention on the country west of the Semliki and of the 30th parallel of longitude, and if they confine themselves to the west of these boundaries we shall remain friends. . . . " 9. You will do your utmost to prevent looting, &c., from natives not in arms against us, and to reassure these people of our friendly intentions." VOL. II. S 274 FORT LORNE TO FORT GRANT. Grant carried out his mission most satisfactorily. He found it was not true that defiant messages had been sent to us, but that undoubtedly the Manyuema had raided across the Semliki, and killed and enslaved the people of our ally Karakwanzi. He therefore marched at once on their station, and taking them completely by surprise, summoned their chief to his camp. " He came armed to the teeth with a double-barrelled gun, an axe, and a knife," and was told immediately to render up all slaves whom he had captured from Karakwanzi's vil- lages. The surly villain produced " a batch." Forced to disgorge further, he sent for a second *' batch," and so on till Grant's 23atience was exhausted, and he made him a prisoner, marched to his station, and searched for the captives himself In all he liberated sixty- two women, but did not interfere with slaves other than those taken from British territory. He then inflicted a fine of ten tusks of ivory, taking three in present pay- ment, and remaining content with an i o u for the re- mainder, together with a formal undertaking that the Manyuema would not cross the Semliki in future for war or pillage, and— acknowledging the boundary of the British sphere— would conform in every way to our regulations of obtaining food by fair purchase only ; if they crossed it, to come for salt to Fort George. Any such party was (according to my instructions) to be limited to eight armed men. This done. Grant fol- lowed us to Uganda, arriving a few days after we did. Ali, I was told, had already developed a considerable trade at Fort George, and had got in some ivory and large quantities of j)i'oduce and hoes in exchange for salt. Grant being absent, and Dualla unwell, and my ordinary work more than usually heavy, made the accumulated duties which devolved upon me almost more than I could get through, and I spent my time, from dawn till late at night, trying to achieve the feat FORT GRANT NEARLY FINISHED. 275 of doiii£ two or three things at the same time success- fully. On the 9th Dec. the Sudanese rolls were com- pleted, the fort almost finished, the preparations for our long continuous march to Uganda were all made, and we were ready to go forward. A Hungry Hyena. 276 CHAPTER XXXI. FORT GRANT TO KAMPALA. Start for Uganda — Plan of camp — " Sedjankura," the giant — Xtali stops powder — A hungry hyena — Benefits to Ntali — Re-enter Uganda — Results of Kavalli expedition — Moral effect in Uganda —Arrive at the Pokino's — Ferag to Luwambu — Mails at last — Orders to evacuate — Impossible suggestions — My view of situation — Results of evacuation — Meditate holding Torn — Arrive at Kampala — "The naked brigade" — Grant arrives — Williams' grand offer — Counter-orders received — Martin's caravan— Supplies to De Winton — Horses and steel boat — Martin to coast — AVork at Kampala. It was now our object to march for Uganda as fast as possible. We had m all some 1200 people — viz., 600 of the Sudanese (including wives and followers), 350 of the party going to the coast (Aitham, whom Dualla quaintly and concisely described as " spare wives and spare children"), and some 250 of our own expedition, the remainder being with Grant. The rain still con- tinued daily, and greatly impeded our progress. The people, too, were all overloaded with supplies of food {knowing that there would be little obtainable in Ankoli), and with salt for barter. I found, therefore, that the number of hours spent on the march, from the time that I started from camp in the morning till the arrival of the rear-guard in our new camp, would be about equal to the number of miles we had come. We marched at sunrise, and the last would not be in till sunset generally, if we accomplished our twelve miles. MODE OF ARRANGING CAMPS. 277 Either Macpherson or Dualla broug'ht ujd the rear, while I went on ahead to select camp, and carry on the various daily duties. It had lono^ been mv custom to take on with me in advance a set of sticks, with blue, white, or red bits of cloth attached to them as flaofs. These marked the place for each of our tents, while the Company's flag indi- cated the stack for the loads, so that each porter could, on arrival, at once deposit his load at the right place, and go off to look after his own wants. Larger flags marked the four corners of the camp and the respective faces occuj^ied by the little tents of the Sudanese and the " Levy," while variegated flags of sorts were placed by me in the enclosed space at intervals, round each of which the porters under that headman whose flag it was, grouped themselves as they pleased. The result Avas an orderly camp, a great rapiditv in j^utting uj^ the tents and their belongings, and in stacking the loads and preventing quarrelling, &c. Ever since I had lost the man in L^nyoro at the Mohammedan war, I had requested the doctor to personally take charge of the sick on the march, and had held him responsi- ble for them, so that none could hide in the bush and get lost. I have said how averse I am to the plan of leaving* sick in native villages, which is, in my opinion, generally a mere evidence of bad organisation. All the way from the coast to Uganda we had left none, excej)t in the Company's garrisons. Here, however, the case was difierent. Grant would follow me in a few days and bring them on ; or they could themselves, when recovered, find their way to our garrisons close by in Unyoro or Uganda. Smallpox cases, however, I would not leave, for I well knew that natives, however friendly, would at once spear any one left with them suffering from so infectious a disease. One Sudanese woman. 278 FORT GEAXT TO KAMPALA. ill of smallpox, whom we had with us, we carried on, in spite of all transport difficulties, till she died. The people of Ankoli were now very cordial and well-disposed, and I was told that even a single man of mine might pass through the country alone at any time without fear. The slaves of the Sudanese, finding that the Wahuma were friendly, deserted constantly, for which I was not sorry. I wrote, however, to Grant, telling him to pick up any he could, as also one or two sick whom I was compelled to leave to await his arrival, for I had no spare men to carry them. I told him also to reward the natives who had cared for them. So much salt had come into the country, owing to our having thrown 023en the Salt Lake, that we found our supplies useless for barter; and consequently, as no loads were used up, I obtained no spare men to replace sick, or carry those too ill to walk. In fact, by detaching Grant with so large a party of fighting men, who would have helped me in this dilemma, I had very greatly increased the difficulties of our own march. By continual arrano-ement, however, all Avas satisfactorilv accomplished, though very many of the men had terrible ulcers on their feet, and were quite unfit to carry loads. All knew, however, that a period of rest was before them, and cheerfully bore the hardships without com- plaint. I was myself even in a somewhat reduced state, for the soles of my boots were worn through, and any spike or thorn penetrated to my bare foot, while my clothes presented an absurd patchwork. They were daily wet through, and never had an opportunity from one day to another of being properly dried. My two little pigmies were still with us. The girl I had left in Torn, as she was too delicate to stand the hard marching, and I had picked her up on our return. " The boy," I write, " has become the pet and plaything of the expedition, and has quite lost that scared look "SEDJANKUEU" — NTALI STOPS POWDER. 279 and sulky defiant manner he had at first. He wears a little basket-hat on his head, like a baker's paper cap, and marches aloncr sturdily with his tinv load of salt or food (his own projDcrty) on his back. Clothed, well-fed, and housed in my cook-house, the 230or little things are vastly better off than they were with the Manyuema, who had them caofed like wild beasts." Later, when we en- tered Uganda, " Sedjankuru" (the giant) was placed as sentry over my tent, to keep back the inquisitive crowds. It is a ludicrous sight ! He goes for them with a big stick, and turns them out by charging val- iantly into their stomachs. They can't make him out at all ! for he looks like a small child instead of a full-grown man. He is most fearless, and always ready to fight any one who differs from him. I hear he can run so fast that no man can catch him." I got news from various sources — ultimately from Zachariah himself, on his return from Ntali's capital — that the king had fallen upon a large convoy of arms and powder, which was on its way to the Mohammedans and Kabarega. The quantities he seized were variously reported, but it appeared to be some 70 to 80 guns, and " Sedjankuru i^the Giam; ux Guard. 280 FORT GRAXT TO KAMPALA. (Zachariah said) from 140 to 200 kegs of powder, besides much cloth, &c. I was horrified to hear a report that he had massacred all the men of the caravan. Some said this was done solely at the instance of AVaganda from Mwanga, who were at his village at the time. I sent repeated messages to him, telling him that though j)leased to hear that he had stopped all the roads along which the powder and arms came, and that he had captured them, I did aot approve of his killing the men, and that in future he was on no account to harm them, but only to seize the ammunition and guns. Ankoli is free from river-swamps, though now, in consequence of the heavy rain, there was much standing water, and the streams which we had crossed as trick- ling brooks, ankle-deep, were barely fordable rivers. We ofot little or no food till we reached the borders of Ankoli towards Buddu, for, though the fields presented a flourishing appearance, the bananas had no fruit and the potatoes no roots. Probably these pastoral people were ignorant of agriculture, for I had thought on my upward journey that in six months' time there would be abundance of food, yet now there was no more than there was then. Possibly also, in their hunger, they had anticipated their crbj)s, and so diminished the yield. Our peojDle, however, had brought considerable quantities ; and as this was eaten, and their loads became lighter, our marches were more easily made. Even the wild beasts were driven to starvation, now that all the cattle were dead, and one night a hyena entered camp and seized a man by the foot. He was driven off, but returned and similarly seized a second man, in spite of the numerous camp-fires. Again baffled, he returned and caught one of my men by the face ! The Swahili bellowed in ao-onv down the h vena's throat, and it is not to be wondered at that the beast retired discomfited, though the unfortunate porter was a j^ain- BENEFITS TO NTALI. 281 ful — if ludicrous — sight next morning. In the end the hyena, not to be beaten, carried off a sheep belonging to one of the Sudanese ! These beasts are occasionally very bold when pressed by hunger ; and I remember in our camp on the Kedoung river, that one came inside our zeriba and bit a large hunk out of the stern of our donkey. I was now able to manage the Sudanese with a stronger hand, and all complaints of looting and theft ceased. Previously, the enormous numbers had, to a great extent, baffled all attempts at real discipline; but that was now at an end, and I let them understand once for all that I would not hesitate to use force to compel obedience. My Somal envoy returned from Ntali's capital, bringing messengers with a present of a tusk of ivory and some goats, and many strong expres- sions of friendship. [Zachariah had hastened on ahead to prepare food for us in Uganda.] We had rendered Ntali great services. Ever since Stanley had passed through the southern and western part of Ankoli, he had lived in dread lest the Sudanese left behind should follow in Stanley's tracks, and pillage and lay waste his country. We had now relieved him from this fear, and had also defeated and driven back his enemy Kabarega, and in return he was doing his best to loyally fulfil his treaty and prevent the import of arms, &c. — the more so that it was to his ow^n advantage, since he con- fiscated the arms himself ! On our way we met two embassies of Wa-Fransa proceeding to Ntali's, and Zachariah told me there was a large gathering of Waganda there already. I did not like these secret embassies, and concluded that they were sent by Mwanga to endeavour to obtain arms from Ntali. They told me all was well in Uganda, and that Martin with a very large caravan had recently arrived. On the 14th Dec. we reached Maronga, the 282 FORT GRANT TO KAMPALA. border village of Uganda, having crossed Ankoli in six days. It was just under six months since I had passed out of Uganda on my way to undertake the task we had now com2Dleted. Briefly, in these six months we had entered into treaty relations, and brought under the Company's segis all the country west of Uganda to the borders of the Congo State, and along Ruwenzori to the Albert Lake in the north. The routes for the import of arms and ammunition had been more or less efiec- tually closed, some geographical knowledge had been acquired, and the route carefully mapped, though the credit of the discovery of the Albert Edward Lake and of Ruwenzori had already gone to those who passed before us. Seven forts had been built, the Salt Lake annexed, and a promising trade opened at Fort George. The Sudanese had been rescued," brought down and located under their officers, and Mr De Winton, with the young king Kasagama, appointed to organise and administer the country, and report any licence on the part of the Sudanese. A feasible transport route had been opened up from Lake Victoria to Lake Albert ; and lastly, I brought with me 100 good fighting men to replace the porters in Uganda, which was as many as I judged we required at present, while we had in the forts a large reserve to draw upon at any time. In marching distance (besides fort - building, &c.) we had covered 732 miles. During the whole of this time, moreover, and indeed since we had marched out of Kampala on April 7th, nine months ago, the entire expedition had been fed almost without expendi- ture. In fact, the salt I was now bringing much more than covered the cost of the very trifling amount of cloth and goods used during these nine months. As we had very little cloth in Uganda, and no means of getting an adequate supply, the importance of having EE-ENTER UGANDA. 283 thus provided for the maintenance of the men was greater than the mere saving effected. This had been a serious consideration at the time I started, for we had no means of feeding the whole force at headquarters. We brought also a very large quantity of ivory with us. The amount of ammunition we had expended was almost nil. Dec. 13th was also the anniversary of the day I had crossed the Nile and entered Uganda. Just half this year had been devoted to the preliminary set- tlement of Uganda, the war with the Mohammedans, and the tour in Buddu. The other half, as I have just described, had been spent beyond the borders of Uganda proper, in the countries formerly tributary to it. The record of the next six months will close the story I present to my readers, and the account of my work in Uganda. Daily I went ahead with a selected party of head- men, and started them ofP to purchase food with salt and cloth, and in the evening despatched parties to carry in from the villages what they had bought. This I would divide among " Selim's Sudanese " and their followers ; my own men bought for themselves with salt. The Wa-Ingleza brought us considerable quantities of food, but the Wa-Fransa provided none ; and though they were civil, and I treated them with the same cordi- ality as the others, they seemed to regard us, I thought, with suspicion and distrust — as one or two minor occur- rences proved. Our expedition, I think, was not without its moral effect in Uganda. We had been reported as dispersed, and myself as killed, but they found us here back again safely, with our routine unaltered and our casualties nil. We had reached the (to them) mythical land of the " Turks," and had brought them down in their thousands to prove our story true. We had, with our 284 FORT GRANT TO KAMPALA. comparatively small force, crossed hostile Unyoro, and defeated Kabarega and crmnpled up his "armies." It had been said that we had refrained from war in Uganda, in sj^ite of outrages on our men, and that this could only be because we feared to fight ; but now it was proved that this could not be the reason. These were the whispered comments that reached me. On 19th Dec. we arrived at Masaka, the headquarters of the Pokino, near which were the English and French missions. The Pokino was of the " English " party, and Williams has described him as a " rabid and fanatical Protestant." He was one of those who had declared their religion at the time of the persecution, in the early part of Mwanga's reign, and faced the 23robability of martyrdom.^ Being one of the mainstays of the Pro- testants (properly so called), and withal a somewhat impulsive man, of great personal courage, it was not surprising that he was one of the most hot-headed and even bigoted men of his party. He was, moreover, perhaps the oldest of the chiefs, being a man of middle age. Such was the Pokino chief of Buddu, who played an important part in subsequent events in Uganda. Mr Walker was the sole remaining missionary of the Church Missionary Society who had any long experi- ence of Uganda. Mr Gordon, his colleague, whom I found in the country on my arrival, had left for England. Mr Ashe, who had previously been in Uganda, and was now expected back, had not yet arrived. The others had all come shortly after myself. Mr Walker expressed great pleasure at my return, and we had many long conversations regarding the events which had happened in Uganda during my absence. I was once more struck with his charitable way of alluding to those who differed from himself ; for he ^ Vide Ashe, ' Two Kings of Uganda,' where he is continually alluded to under the name of Sebwatu. SEND A GARRISON TO LUWAMBU. 285 always seemed to have some palliation to offer for what he disproved, or to accept a share of the blame for any misunderstanding himself I cannot say that this was a trait common to all the missionaries of either sect, for they appeared as a rule to distrust and con- demn each other's motives and actions. The Pokino had built a very good house for Mr Walker, and the mission seemed to be in a most flourishing and pro- gressive state, affording more work than one man could get through. I much regretted I was unable to call on the French Mission at Santa Maria, as it did not lie close to my camp, and I was engaged with my usual routine work, and in conversation with Mr Walker. Moreover, my clothes had now become so disreputable from constant patching, that I could hardly muster a sufficiently respectable outfit in which to pay a visit to the Fathers. The Pokino received us with the warmest welcome, and the villagers of the " English" faction from far and near flocked in with food, for which they asked no pay- ment, until we had more than we could consume ; and thus it continued on our forward march till we crossed the Katonga and left Buddu. We were now again in the region of river- swamps, and these intersected the country in all directions around Masaka. The Kyojia, the Nabajuzi, and the Nakaiba were all treacherous quagmires of tinka - tinka (quagmire), varying from a quarter to three - quarters of a mile in breadth. Swamp succeeded swamp at little interval between ; indeed the marches in Buddu consisted in toiling up a line of low hills, descending their slo23es again into the valley beyond, and crossing the river-swamp which formed its lowest point, only to repeat the process again and again till our march was done. I determined to detach a garrison here for the place I had fixed upon as the location of a station — viz., 286 FORT GRANT TO KAMPALA. the harbour between the island of Luwambu and the mamland. I placed Ferag Effendi, the Sudanese officer who commanded the " Levy," in control of the jjarty. He was by far the most trustworthy and reliable man I had for the purpose, both energetic and zealous, and eager to render his men efficient, and to carry out to the letter all my orders. With him I sent the party of twenty-five Sudanese artisans whom I had brought from Kavalli, with all their following, being a total of some 150 souls. Martin had, I heard, brought up a steel boat, and I hoped that now I should be able to make a commercial centre at Luwambu, and carry out the projects I have already described in connec- tion with it. These artisans, I hoped, would form a most useful body of men for this purpose (boat- building, &c.), and being, moreover, good fighting men, I thought that the establishment of this station would have a quieting effect on this part of Uganda. Lastly, by detaching them with all their followers, I should lessen the number of people whom I should have to feed at headquarters. Ferag took also one section of his " Zanzibar! Levy," making a total of forty rifles. I supplied him with ammunition, and goods to purchase food, and directed him to prepare poles, &c., for the buildino: of a station, the actual site of which either Williams or myself would shortly come and select. On Christmas Day, as we neared Kampala, messen- gers reached me from Williams, bringing my mails from the coast. The mass of letters, official and private, took me two days to read ! Many of my friends in Nyasa- land had Avritten telling me of events in that countrj^, and I received full news at last of the " Manipur disaster," and learned that my brother had had an almost miraculous escape with several bullets through his clothes, and one through his leg ! and had pro- tested against retreat. With the exception of a letter MAILS — ORDERS TO EVACUATE. 287 which had reached me (I don't know how) when we were at the Mohammedan war, my last mails from Eno'land had been dated Dec. 4th, 1890 — exactly a year before ! There was much, of course, of intensely interesting news in the year's budget of letters, but everything, in private or official letters, seemed trivial in comparison of the astounding communication which one letter contained. It was from the Directors, and conveyed orders for me to immediately evacuate Uganda, for the Company intended to withdraw to the coast. I was dkected to renew the treaty for a term of years or in perpetuity, and was authorised to subsidise Mw^anga, if necessary, for this purpose. This, however, I knew to be futile, for the king was not the powerful potentate he had been represented, and could not guar- antee the safety of the Resident, whom, it was suggested, I should leave in the country. Moreover, the Directors were doubtless unaware of the chaos and anarchy which would follow the withdrawal of our protection, and hence a renewal of the treaty which pledged that pro- tection was not feasible. It was the intention of the Directors to reoccupy Uganda later, but being unaware of the real situation, they were presumably ignorant at the time these orders were written how utterly im- possible such a reoccupation would be, when anarchy had succeeded our administration, and the elements of assistance which we had found would no lono-er be o available. To leave a Resident in the country under such circumstances was not practicable, nor yet was it possible to form a "Council of Delegates" of the missionaries, who were much prejudiced against each other. To maintain myself and my force in Uganda without drawing on the Company was equally out of the question. These were the suggestions that the letter contained. 288 FORT GRANT TO KAMPALA. " This is a thunderbolt indeed ! " I write. "It is the second time now that a long spell of very hard work in Africa has been ended by a reverse so com- plete, that all one's labour has seemed to be merely wasted — and worse. This collapse will be terrible in its results. Suppose I merely just withdrew as ordered. Result No. 1. The "English" party would leave Uganda for certain. The missionaries must follow, and there is a com]3lete annihilation of the Protestant Uganda mission. Result No. 2. The Mo- hammedans, far more bitter against the R. Catholics than against the Protestants and ourselves (and lately they showed themselves strong enough to meet us all three combined in fight), swoop down and annihilate the R. Catholics. The end of the latter I cannot predict, probably they retire on Sesse and the islands. Result No. S. My assurance to Kasa- gama and the Torn people that the British would never retire, and had taken these countries for good, is controverted while the words have hardly left my lips. The wretched people w^ho have come over to us in daily increasing numbers, feared at first to do so, because in old days the Egyptian garrisons in northern Unyoro, which were understood to be per- manent, were abandoned in a few years, and the people who had thrown in their lot with them were all massacred by Kabarega. Trusting my assurances that ive had come to stay, they came, saying, at the same time, that if we did retire it meant complete massacre for them. Yet not the ' few years,' but only a few months (barely even tliat^ have elapsed, and our promises are broken and our words reversed — result, a general massacre. Result No. 4. A blow to British prestige in Africa which can never be recovered, and will be felt down on Nyasa, and give the Slavers fresh courage. It is folly to talk about a temporary retire- RESULTS OF EVACUATION. 289 ment, and ' resuming the good work I have done here.' Resumption would be infinitely harder than the original task. Kabarega, Manyuema slavers, Waganda — all will misdoubt our power and utterly mistrust our word. Well, if it is to be done, there is indeed a cruel wrong to be done ! Hundreds — nay, thousands — of lives may be sacrificed, and the blood must lie at some one's door. I have my orders, — ' Not mine to reason why, Not mine to make reply, — Some one has blundered.' I would willingly accept the responsibility of not obeying orders, and of making a representation first, but I am told that everything — position of mis- sionaries — everythmg has already been considered, and the decision is fixed ; the Company cannot keep up the expense of Uganda." Then follows a consid- eration of what my duty (apart from any personal con- siderations) was in this matter. I continue : "I am authorised to leave a Resident in Uganda, if I can find a volunteer. A volunteer for what ? To stay in Uganda without position, authority, guard for per- sonal safety — with no power to face anarchy, &c. Would you find a volunteer to go and hang himself? — it is pure madness. The task is hard enough even now, as long as these armed factions are evenly balanced and for ever at each other's throats ; but with no force at all ! " My plan is this. If, as I think is almost certain, the ' English ' party at once decide to leave the country when we go, I think of suggesting that they go to southern Unyoro. Here I may be able to retain the Sudanese garrisons, pending a reply from the coast, and get them to serve for nothing (as Selim offered) for a year." Thus my idea was, to found a small VOL. II. T 290 FORT GRANT TO KAMPALA. British kingdom in Toru, and so control the garrisons of Sudanese I had brought down, and utihse them for its protection, and fulfil the pledges given to the Toru people. I continue : " The crux would be, how to keep up communication Avith the coast. If we can include Ankoli and Buddu in this little state, and the Mohammedans and Wa-Fransa will let us do so in peace, the question would be more or less solved. By our own boats, by the German steamer when on the lake, and by other means, we could keep touch with Kavirondo by going across the lake. The large quanti- ties of ivory and the salt from Fort George would pay for absolute necessaries and ammunition and the small force I should still retain." We marched on to Kampala through the endless river - swamps and the continuous rain. Last year these lesser rains had ceased at this time (middle of December), but this year there was no cessation at all. The cold and wet paralysed the Sudanese women and children on the march, and they would crouch in their huts or hide in the grass, and give us much trouble. We arrived at Kampala on Dec. 31st ; and as we neared the cajoital, we were escorted by great masses of Waganda singing and shouting, and playing on musical instruments, and dancing. Of course this jubilation is confined to the Ingleza party," I write. " Many of the Wa-Fransa, however, are friendly, and come to salaam, and bring food, and to thank me for fio-htino- Kabareo-a. A few have refused me food, in spite of the order sent by the Kim- bugwe (head of their faction). In such cases I send a party of askari to cut the food for ourselves." I was amused to get letters from Williams saying that the sense of propriety of the Waganda (who, though most completely dressed, are a most immoral people) was shocked by my "naked brigade." And so when ARRIVE AT KAMPALA AGAIX. 291 Speke entered Uganda, the King of Karagwe informed him that his donkey would be objected to as indecent unless he made a jDair of trousers for it ! ^ In deference to their modesty, I issued my Sudanese ladies a little cloth, which of course they promptly sold for any luxuries it would command in the way of fowls or 2^omhe, and marched on contentedly with their fringe of tassels or their bunches of leaves or flowers, et ijrceterea nihil ! We were escorted into Mengo by crowds of people, with drums and flags, who had come to meet us and see " Kapelli " again ! Grant arrived safely a few days later with his expedition from the Salt Lake, the results of which I have already described (p. 274). Kampala was much as I had left it, except that the big house for Europeans was completed, and a small new store, with a larger one in process of build- ing with sun-dried bricks and mud roof. Williams and Bagge were well, and a new assistant, Mr Wilson, had arrived with Martin, and was in charge of the stores. I found that no one had any kno^^'ledge of the orders for evacuation. Rumours had been afloat, gathered probably from the newspapers received by the missionaries, that the Company would be com- pelled to retrench, but nothing definite was known ; and Williams, hearing of these reports, had gone to the king and assured him that such a thing was quite impossible and untrue. I told Williams the orders I had received, and we neither of us breathed a word about them to any other person. Like myself, he heard the news with utter consternation, and exclaimed that it simj)ly could not he done! He said he would be ashamed to hold up his head in any society of gentlemen if he were involved in so gross a breach of faith, after his ^ Speke's Journals, p. 268. 292 FORT GRAXT TO KAMPALA. declaration to the king, and asked me what I in- tended to do. I rephed that if I detained the men here, the Company would of com^se decline to pay their wages, for they had peremptorily ordered their withdrawal. In that case I should mvself become responsible for their payment ; and as I had no money of my own to command, I should be guilty of a gross fraud and breach of faith to them if I de- tained them. I was thus on the horns of a dilemma, for I must either break faith with the Wao^anda or deceive my own men, and detain them under false pretences. For though in such a case I confidently hoped that generous folk at home would come to our assistance. I did not think it rio-ht to forestall such o hopes as though they were certainties. I told Wil- liams of my plan of holding Torn at any rate. He now told me, in confidence, that he had some money of his own which he could command, and he would give that, and every penny he had in the world, sooner than consent to break faith by leaving the country after our pledges of protection. This opened an entirely new possibility. Hitherto I had looked on the retention of the o-arrison as whoUv impossible and dishonourable, unless with their full knowledge of the circumstances, which it would be impossible to explain to natives ; but this sum of money would suffice to pay them for a period, during which the case might be rejoresented at home. I therefore decided to accept Williams' grand offer, feeling confident in my mind that public opinion at home would be strono-lv ao-ainst the abandonment of the country, if only the full truth of the story were made known. It was therefore necessary that one of us should o'o to Enoland. I had mvself verv uro-ent reasons "real grit." 293 for returning,^ and perhaps also could better represent the case, since I had the advantage of having per- sonally seen the situation as regards Ankoli, Torn, and the new Sudanese. I felt, however, that, no matter whether I physically and mentally needed a rest or not, my post was here in Uganda, and the re- sponsibility of remaining must rest on my shoulders, and on no other. It was therefore practically, but not definitely, decided between us that I should stay and run the coach single-handed while Williams went to England to " make a buzz," as he expressed it. We had many plans for securing the retention in some form, and several influential men to whom we thought we could appeal, and who might be willing to take the place of the Company if necessary. Any course seemed better — even that the Germans should take over Uganda, if they would — than to allow the coun- try to lapse into barbarism. We, as a nation, could not surely dare to claim exclusive rights to the country, if we were unable or unwilling to hold it, and even to fulfil the pledges already made. Better, then, to hand it over in its present state of peace, with the rudiments of administration already formed, than to abandon it to chaos, anarchy, and war, — only to see it eventually taken over by some other Power, when already the land flowed with blood, and its prosperity and half its inhabitants M^ere gone. Such was the upshot of our conference, and that is the kind of man which my colleague. Captain Williams, R.A., was ! It was a nohle and unselfish act, and I cannot keep silence, even though I transgress, by tell- 1 I had sailed from England without any idea of remaining in Africa more than two months, and had consequently left several important private affairs unarranged. Later, when I left the coast for Uganda, it was under- stood that I should not be absent for more than six months- 294 FORT GRANT TO KAMPALA. iiig of this matter. He was ready to give all he had in the world — even more — his army commission also ; for Williams was above all things a soldier, and full of zeal and ambition for his profession. This he must probably lose, and spend years perhaps in this life of strain and tension. It was worth the anxiety and responsibility of that time to jDrove a man of such mettle as this ! On Jan. 7th, 1892, ere yet our plans were mature, a party of thirty men arrived from the coast with urgent letters. I opened them apathetically, careless what new directions about details they might contain, for we were committed to a course of our own. To my surprise I found they contained a reversal of the orders for evacuation ! I learnt that some influential people had privately subscribed a large sum of money, and that the Company had undertaken to continue the administration for another year. I handed the tele- gram to Williams, and we shook hands over it, like a . cou^Dle of schoolboys. It ivas a great relief My first object now was to send oft' Martin and his large caravan as soon as possible, for every day's delay meant the day's wages to each man, and already they had been here some three weeks. This was partly due to the delay in awaiting my arrival, but under no circumstances could they have started at once on their return journey, for they were a most miserable-looking set of men, and were very much prostrated by their march from the coast, and a period of rest was essential. Martin was to take with him the party of Sudanese aitham, except a few^ (about 40) among whom smallpox had broken out. These had only arrived with me (Dec. 31st), and greatly needed a few days' rest after their lonof march. This oTanted, he started on Jan. 8th. Dr Macpherson's period of service with the Company had expired, and he elected to return with Martin. He EVACUATION COUNTER- OHDERED. 295 therefore remained behind with a party of men, who were also to proceed to the coast in order to take down the mails and overtake Martin in Usoc^a. The latter had orders to await his arrival before finally marching from Kavirondo. The caravan which had just arrived had brought a large consignment of ammunition, and also European provisions, medicines, and other necessaries. Indeed the forethought and personal superintendence of the new administrator, Mr Berkeley, was most patent in every detail. Our first care was to send ofi* to De Winton in Torn a. supply of provisions, medicines, and medical comforts, which reached him safely some little time before his illness. Martin had also successfully brought up two horses and a pony, though one of the former died soon after in Uganda. This goes far to prove that the tsetse-fly on the route is not extremely dangerous. A steel boat had also been brought up, and Bagge had started off in her, with a number of canoes besides, to fetch up cloth from the south of the lake, from the loads brought and deposited there by Stokes for the Company. The numbers in Kampala were now very large. We were five Europeans — viz., Williams, Grant, Dr Mac- pherson, Wilson, and myself— and about 670 natives, of whom nearly half were Sudanese Somals and Zanzi- bar! Levy, the rest porters. There were also some 400 or more women and children of the Sudanese, and a host of hanofers-on of the Swahilis ! These were all located outside the fort in separate " villages " of their own, on the slopes of Kampala, and formed a prodigious assemblage. Some, as I have said, were to have gone with the doctor to overtake Martin, but were delayed by the unexpected events which I am now about to describe. [ was, of course, besieged on my return by innu- 296 FORT GRANT TO KAMPALA. merable callers. Every chief and petty chief came to see me, and every one desired a little conversation ! Later followed endless embassies to represent griev- ances and complaints, and to discuss the differences between the factions. It was, however, imperative that I should complete the mails without delay, and I therefore put oif my visitors as much as possible, and referred the minor sltauris to Williams, saying that I was compelled to write these letters to overtake Martin, and that done, I should be ready to enter into their questions as exhaustively as they pleased. There were, however, several important matters, as I shall narrate, which received my fullest attention. So I wrote from early dawn till late at night, replying to letters official and private, writing my third report, preparing returns of men and gear, and a thousand other matters. By the 21st (Jan. 1892), in spite of necessarv work and of other interruptions, the mails were all completed, and on that day they were to have started ; but meantime other events had hap- pened, which I will narrate in the following chapters. 297 CHAPTER XXXIL UOANDA UNDER CAPTAIN WILLIAMS — SITUATION AT END OF 1891, AND UP TO EVE OF THE WAP. Garrison left with Williams — Troubles in Uganda — Gabunga's case — Mwanga's rival flag — Fighting in Buddu — Changing factions — Mgr. pushes French interests — Fighting in the islands — Disturbance in Chagwe — Martin's opportune arrival — Reasons of these troubles — Williaros' pluck — Supposed attempts on king's life — -King's overtures to Protestants — Williams' estimate of situation — Orders to retrench — Necessity for arriving at understanding — Williams' shauris with. Mwanga — King hangs back — War-drums sound — Expeditions against Mohammedans — The Futahangi — Wa-Fransa concentrate on Mengo — Impartiality of Williams proved — I confide in Sekibobo — Work increases. It will be remembered that after our engagement with the Mohammedans early in May 1891, Captain Williams had returned to Kampala with orders to " carry on at Mengo without reference to me, but in accordance with my wishes, of which you are well informed." I had myself, with the bulk of the ex- pedition, proceeded to Buddu, where I remained a month, and finding during this time that everything remained quiet at headquarters, and that Williams had every confidence that he could control any situation which might arise, I left Uganda to carry out the plans which I have narrated in the foregoing chapters. Before leaving, I detached another 100 men (mostly sick) to reinforce Williams, making a total of some 298 UCxAXDA UXDER CAPTAIX WILLIAMS. 220, Avhich I thought would be a sufficient force. Mr De Winton and Mr Bagge (at that time absent on a mission to the south of the lake) remained with Williams. Moreover, within some two months' time of my own departure we anticipated Martin's return from the coast with a large caravan — for it will be borne in mind that he had left on April 8th, with instructions to go as fast as he possibly could, to get the ammunition, so urgently needed. Williams therefore, I expected, would on Martin's return have a verv strono- force indeed. At the date of my own de2Darture from Buddu (June 16th) he had written, saying that he was con- fident he could keep the country pretty quiet. In Yiew, therefore, of the great importance of the objects I had before me, I felt that I should be justified in leaving Uganda to Williams for this period, since all promised well. The results of my own journey I have already described, Avith the exception of not the least important one — viz., the checkmate of the Moham- medan party (as I shall more fully explain presently) by the establishment in their rear of the Sudanese soldiery. This move jDractically solved the chronic difficulty with them, for with this threat in their rear thev durst no lono-er send their whole fio-htino^ force awav to Ugfanda, and leave their women and property unprotected. Now, on my return, I found that there had been various troubles in the country, some of which had assumed a very serious aspect, and had led to breaches of the peace. The first had arisen from the king having unjustly dispossessed the Gabunga (E.) of some estates. Williams had dealt with the case, and being supported in his decision (which was adverse to the king) by the chiefs of both parties, had succeeded in doing justice, and restoring the estates seized by VARIOUS DIFFICULTIES IN UGANDA. 299 Mwanga. I have already alluded to this matter, since it occurred just prior to my own departure. The kinof ao'ain Mwanga's Flag. brouo4it it up imme- diately be- fore the outbr e ak of the war. ance of his own. I may note that D r F e 1- kin, whose careful analysis of Uganda customs entitles him to rank as an author- ity (though in some matters I dispute his accuracy), states that even in the despotic days of Mtesa, " the king can requisition al- most anything, ex- ceptlandJ'^ Mwan- ga's arbitrary seiz- ure of estates was therefore quite un- constitutional, while the diminu- 1 Notes on Waganda, p. 43 (reprinted from Edin. R. S. Proc). 300 UGANDA rXDER CAPTAIX WILLIAMS. tion in the royal prerogative since the death of Mtesa, and his own expulsion, made it doubly unjustifiable. Williams in his official report to me wrote as follows : ^ — " The next trouble occurred in July. I had been obliged to weaken my very small garrison to send Mr De Winton down to AYakoli's. The Usoga chiefs were fighting down there. Maho- med BaU; our headman, was reported to be wounded — several of his men had run away here, and reported that he had flogged a porter to death. I had been informed that the king was going to hoist the French flag some days before. I saw the French bishop and the king on the subject, and told the king I would send to England and get a silk flag made, &c., of whatever pattern he liked. However, on the night of the loth July all the war- drums beat, and it appeared that the king had hoisted late in the evening what he said was the old flag of Mtesa. Once done, and as I was unable to pull it down, I treated it as a matter of no importance whatever. However, each party thought tlie other was going to attack, and the situation was very strained for a few days, during which I did my best by patrolling Mengo with two or three men to keep matters quiet, and succeeded finally in sup- pressing the trouble. "Just as it was settling down, Wady Hamis and 100 guns arrived from you, and the extra force was most welcome, for soon came news of fiohtingj in Buddu, in which the Kinsj of Koki had been enoagred. I arranoed to send a chief of either side to Buddu to try and settle matters, and got the chiefs together. For some time things went very well indeed. After a great deal of discus- sion and trouble, I arranged for the division of Sesse and the other islands, and the shamhas abutting on the lake, which have the command of the canoes, in a manner perfectly satisfactory to the Protestant party, to whom you had given a promise on the subject. Things now went remarkably well for some time. Many questions were settled ; some with my assistance, lots without — for I have done my best here always to get them to settle sliamha or land questions, which in this country are more than usually complicated, by themselves." 1 Bhie-book Africa No. 2, 1893, p. 26. THE QUESTION OF CHANGE OF FACTION. 301 In his letter to the admmistrator (Oct. 4th, 1891)^ he speaks of these matters very briefly : " I stopped the trouble in July by my personal exertions, and it was very near ; indeed a few shamhas in Mengo were de- stroyed, chiefs of either side were beaten, but there was no actual outbreak. In Buddu there was a fight, in which the chief of Koki joined. And Buddu is the trouble now, principally, I believe, owing to the chiefs being a most cantankerous and rabid Protestant." In his letters to me, Williams had been a little more ex- plicit. He said the trouble had arisen, in the first instance, through the question as to whether men who chano-ed their faction should lose their estates. There had been a case in point which had led to the reopen- ing of the question. Williams, unaware of the dis- cussions on this subject which I have described in chapter xxv., and regarding it as a question of religious liberty, determined to enforce a law that any one "changing his religion" should not lose his estates. This in reality meant that any man belonging to the Wa-Ingleza should be free to join the opposite party, and still retain the estates allotted by mutual agree- ment to the " English." In this resolution he was confirmed by finding the original entry made by me in the statute-book, which, as I have described, was made under a misapprehension, and when I took it to the haraza to be signed, was disputed and nei^er ratified. I have already explained the issues as clearly as I can. The king being of the Fransa party (though not a B. Catholic convert), all the Wa-Ingleza who were not real converts to the Protestant religion, would with the pagans go over to the king's faction, and since they would now have the right to retain their estates, the political division of the country would be at once abolished. The Wa-Ingleza looked on this 1 Blue-book Africa No. 4, 1892. ^ Pokino (E.) Sebwatu. 302 UGANDA UNDER CAPTAIN WILLIAMS. with dismay, and saw absolute annihilation before them. The French bishop, who urged this course upon Williams, regarded it in the same light, as is amply evidenced by his letter to him, written at this time (July 14th).^ He says : " Your experience in affairs must show you clearly, that to maintain two or three parties is to maintain divisions and quarrels, and to lead sooner or later to war. This is historical truth." He goes on to say that, in order to maintain a balance of power between rival parties, the Company will have to be in great strength in Uganda ; that Protestantism, " by the history of all missions estab- lished during this century," has never triumphed over Koman Catholicism except by violence. He adds that he considers the moment has now come " to put an immediate end to the political disorders. We need not be frightened by the threats of war of the Pro- testant party. ... It is better to establish at once the British power on a solid foundation, and at a small cost." All this can only bear one inter23retation — viz., that Monseigneur wished to prevail upon Williams to identify himself with the Wa-Fransa, throwing justice to the 02Dposite faction (who had, moreover, loyally stood by us in our difficulties) to the winds. Mgr. clearly perceived (it appears to me) that this course meant the extinction of the rival faction, but supports it on the grounds that it is "an historical truth" that a gov- ernment which maintains two parties must be landed in war. The day after the above letter was written, a grand coup was prepared by Mwanga and his faction, and in the night he ran up a flag. Now I have already exj^lained the great significance of a flag in 1 This letter is printed m extenso in the Notes on Uganda (E. C. L'nion), p. 143. Vide Appendix No. 11. MGR.'S ADVICE TO WILLIAMS. 303 Uganda, and there is no doubt at all in my mind that this hoisting of a flag was intended as a defiance, accompanied as it was by the " beating of all the war- drums." It had been in prej^aration for a very long time in secret, for the flag-staff had been brought from far, and had taken a very great deal of construction and hoisting, &c., and the flag itself, which was some 12 ft. square, had involved a great deal of work in the making. I was told that in point of fact it was Mtesa's ivar flag (two spears and shield in white on a scarlet ground) , only hoisted as a declaration of war ; but however this may be, it was not on this occasion intended as a mere pageant. At the same moment there was a prearranged rising in Buddu ; Kamswaga of Koki invaded the country in the interest of the Fransa faction, and attacked their rivals. He must have had his orders lonof before from Mwang-a, for his country is at a considerable distance from the capital ; nor would a petty kinglet of his standing have dared to invade Uganda without definite orders. His envoys afterwards told me they had received these orders. Thus it would appear that this outbreak in July 1891 was deliberately fomented by the Fransa party. The questions at the moment agitating the country were, as I have said, the liberty of changing from the Wa-Ingleza to the Wa-Fransa — without loss of the estate belonging to the faction of the former — and the hoisting of the flag by the king. In the former of these two questions Williams took the view of Mgr., and was vehemently censured by the English missionaries, who forwarded him a very strongly worded resolution, condemning his action, and wrote letters to England saying that it was apparently the policy of the Company's oflicers " to rule Uganda through the priests," with many other similar expres- 304 UGANDA UNDER CAPTAIN WILLIAMS. sions, indicative of their view that Captain Williams was entirely under the influence of Mgr. Hirth, and that his policy was solely calculated to promote the interests of the Wa-Fransa, and to crush the Pro- testants, to whom he accorded no justice. Mgr., on his part, had engaged, that if this freedom to change factions was proclaimed, the Fransa party would fly the British flag — on the assumption, namely, that the Wa-Ingleza would be annihilated, since they declined to fly it so long as it was " the emblem of the Pro- testants ; " and the time had now come to put an end to the dual control of the parties (Mgr's. letter). This promise was never carried into eflect — probably because, owing to Williams' pluck and influence, and the victory of the Protestants in Buddu, the plot failed, and the Wa-Ingleza were not crushed, and hence the Wa- Fransa would not fly the British flao\ The Wa -Fransa had succeeded in carrvino- their point in this question ; and in the other matter — the hoisting of the flag — they had also succeeded. Thev had therefore no ostensible cause for fio-htino- but the prearranged preparations for a row could not be counter-ordered. I believe that the Wa- Fransa had made up their minds with Mgr., that "the moment had come " to abolish the rival political faction. That partv, however, fought with unexpected bravery, and though greatly outnumbered, they defeated their rivals, and were in every instance victorious, driving back Kamswao^a of Koki. In brieflv summarisino- in mv report, I said that " in consequence of the ' English ' party being victorious, the trouble was quashed," and this I maintain to be the literal fact. This fighting in Buddu is very briefly alluded to by ' E.. Catholic Union,' who attribute it solely to Protestant aggres- sion. An account by one of the English missionaries, on the other hand, is as follows : — FIGHTING IX BUDDU AXD SESSE. 305 " Suddenly, without much warning, several E. Catholics attacked some Protestant gardens and burnt down the house ; there was no fighting, it was purely robbery of the E. Catholics against the Protestants. Great damage was done, and the king paid compensation for this in ivory to the Protestants, which is the first time he has ever given compensation. Xews spread to Buddu that the E. Catholics had expelled the Protestants ; so at once in Buddu, where all is quiet, the E. Catholics attacked the Protestants, and plundered and burnt gardens. The Pokino called too'ether his men, and oroanised a force of Protestants, and fiohtino; ensued, with the result that three Protestants were killed and twelve E. Catholics. This is the first disturbance that has occurred in Buddu as between the two parties." It was, of course, subsequent to these occurrences in July, that Williams wrote his letters to me of Sept. 10th and Oct. 17th, 1891, which I received in Torn, and in which he said that all w^as going well, for matters had quieted down. Captain Williams' report continues : — " The next trouble was in the Sesse islands, as a consequence of troubles about shanihas. The Catholics of Sesse, I believe at the instigation of the king's sister, Eubuga, made an attack on the Protestant island of Kaganda and wrecked it ; but they were defeated, and many of them killed, by an inferior force of Pro- testants. I had the greatest difficulty in preventing a general conflagration, as both parties were secretly preparing reinforce- ments. I, however, stopped these, and the matter is now, I believe, settled ; and in this case the Catholics got a severe lesson. The two parties now began to build each a church on opposite hills. The question of who should work for either side caused the greatest friction, and frequent evictions were the result." This appears to have been a second attempt to bring- on a crisis ; nor was it, so far as I am aware, in con- sequence of the " division of Sesse," which had been successfully accomplished some little time previously.^ The elements of disorder were not, however, to be 1 Notes on Uganda, E. Catholic Union, p. 38. VOL. II. U 306 UGANDA UNDER CAPTAIN WILLIAMS. quelled ; and again they burst forth, this time in eastern Uganda (Chagwe), near the Nile. Full ac- counts of this matter have been given by the English missionaries (which are not, however, quoted by the ' R. Catholic Union '), and I will not repeat a long storv here. Williams' account is extremelv terse and concise, and does not detail the circumstances under which he was at length compelled to put his foot down, and to tell the king and Fransa party that if they attacked Mlondo (E.) he would fight for him. His account is as follows : — " At the end of Xovember news arrived from Mr Martin, who was coming on, and simultaneously we had trouble here. There had been some quarrelling over a shamha in Chagwe, and the Protestant chief concerned left, it was said, with a large force. During the night the wdiole country was up, and a large party of Catholics left. I went up to Mengo, and by daylight had sent off messengers to stop any fighting ; but it was some days before things were quite settled, and meanwhile Mr Martin had reached the Xile, and had sent on to beg for assistance. I sent him fifty porters, all who were fit to march. The day they left they beat the drums and turned out for war, but I stopped them ; and in a few days (on the 9th of Dec.) Mr Martin arrived. Things again began to settle down." From the various accounts it would appear that this last crisis was also the most serious, and that Martin's o]3portune arrival with a powerful caravan was the main factor in its suppression. Very shortly after- wards news arrived that I was advancino- from the opposite direction (west) with my expedition, and the malcontents were for the time content to await a more favourable opportunity. The Wa-Ingleza supposed it was the policy of their rivals to stir up war in the provinces, where they would be free from the check which Kampala exercised at the capital, and might beat them in detail, or so influence the peasantry by CRISIS IN CHAGWE. 307 showing that the Wa-Fransa were the aggressive, and hence the more powerful party, as to induce them to come over to their side. This was their view as stated to me regarding these troubles in the provinces. Before passing to the consideration of other ques- tions, it may be well to offer one comment on the above. It has been argued that it is altogether incredible to suppose that the Fransa party, who had remained in a state of quiescence and self-repression during the six months I was away, would have selected for an out- break the moment when we were at our maximum strength. The above brief summary will, I think, prove that no such quiescence or restraint was exer- cised, and that a general war was only averted because the faction who, from the evidence at my disposal, seem to have been undoubtedly the aggressors in Buddu got the worst of it, and so were glad to cease. Buddu being under a Protestant chief, that faction was fairly strong in the province. In the last outbreak in Chagwe, however (which was accounted " French "), the victory would in all probability have been the other way ; and this last crisis appears to have been averted mainly by Martin's and my own arrival. In these troubles I would not by any means ex- onerate the Wa-Ingleza from blame ; but as they were the weaker, and as they knew that, even though their cause should be the right one, they could expect no assistance from Kampala — which was almost com- pletely denuded of men, owing to the party Williams had sent to the coast with the mails, and the parties he had sent to Torn — I think it is only common- sense to assume, that they were not likely to have chosen this time for aggressions. Moreover, their mis- sionaries, with whom, I believe, they constantly con- sulted, were vehemently at this time expressing their opinion that Williams was entirely in the hands of the 308 UGANDA UNDER CAPTAIN WILLIAMS. French Fathers and helping their faction ; and therefore the Protestants looked for no help from him. One of their missionaries even told me that they were at this time so bitter agfainst him, that he doubted if thev would have accepted his assistance or taken arms from him, unless over-tempted by their hostility to the rival faction. This I think an extreme exaufsferation, but it indicates the views of the missionaries. It would be easy to fill ch paters with such arguments. Reading the misstatements of Mgr. Hirth, the dif- ficulty is to refrain from exposing them in detail ; but the object of this volume is to present a story which shall interest the general reader, and not to enter at great length into polemic and controversial details, which I have already dealt with elsewhere, and am ready at any time to deal with again, but which, I presume, would interest only a small section of my readers. The subjects on which I have permitted my- self to digress at considerable length are the questions of the slave-trade and the commercial possibilities of East Africa, mission-work, and so on, if indeed that can be called a digression which is, in fact, the real and main object of this book. Thus, during the six months I had been away, there had been some serious troubles, and these in each case had taken place whenever from some cause Kampala was too weak to effectively interfere, and troops had been detached elsewhere, as appears from Williams' ac- count. Moreover, the caravan with ammunition, which Martin had engaged to bring up with the utmost pos- sible rapidity, had not arrived till December. When I left Uganda we had expected it in August, and had it arrived when due, Williams would have been strongly reinforced (as I had anticij^ated) before he had to weaken his force in September and the troubles occurred. His account of his force is as follows : — STRENGTH OF GARRISON AT KAMPALA. 309 "At the time of the first trouble I was very weak. I had eight sound Sudanese and about forty porters. I had sent Mr De Winton on what I considered a most important expedition — viz., to Usoga, where there was considerable trouble. A few days after, Wady Hamis [headman] and about 100 guns arrived from Buddu ; but almost immediately smallpox broke out, by which I lost fifteen men, and many others were isolated for a long period. In September I again weakened my force very much by sending Mr De Winton and fifty of my best men to you, and fifty men with mails to the coast, followed by another party of twenty men to you. I considered that it was of vital importance to send goods and ammunition to you, and that my influence with the "Waganda, together with the men I had, was sufficient for the temporary needs of Uganda. I may add that there has been a great deal of sickness here among invalids from your safari, but not in any way due to Kampala, which is a most healthy station. At the end of July there were over thirty men off duty." Including the sick, I found at Kampala, on my return, less than 100 men out of the 220 originally left. During the disturbances at the capital, Williams had managed to prevent a general conflagration only by the exhibition of the most undaunted personal courage. I patrolled Mengo," he wrote to me, " with three men for about four days" — on one occasion throughout the whole night ; and in the face of excited crowds of armed men eager for a battle, he managed to prevent a general war, which, but for his fearless bearing, might not improbably have taken place. In addition to tl^e difficulties I have described between the two factions, "two small troubles," says Williams, "had occurred with the king." The first related to Mwanga's at- temjited seizure of a percentage of our goods brought from the south of the lake by Bagge, to which I have already alluded. He continues : — " On the second occasion there was a row, and the kino- sent and asked me to come and see him. I did so; and he told me 310 UGANDA UNDER CAPTAIN WILLIAMS. that a man who had broken into his 'boma and tried to kill him had been caught, but the Protestants wouldn't give him up. I went to the Katikiro's, and found an excited crowd. I took charge of the prisoners, and judged them next day at Kampala, finding the chief ' Not guilty.' The king now wished me to hand him over, but I declined ; and after keeping him a week in Kampala for security, I released him. In spite, however, of these two cases, I remained, and still am, on friendly terms with the king." There is an inherent improbability that any Mganda of either faction would attempt the life of the king. Williams fully inquired into the matter, and found that the evidence showed that no such attempt had been made. Yet Mgr. (as also Pere Guillermain) sets aside this inquiry as though it Avere wholly untrustworthy, and accepts the story as told him by his party, for he could have no means of hearing other evidence. They accuse the British Resident of the most gross " inter- vention to stay the course of justice," and Mgr. adds, " Now no small number of Protestants think that they do a good work in striking the king down." As he had no foundation for this assertion, other than the ex parte statements of his own faction, it is a gross libel on the Ingleza party, who were just as loyal to the king as were the other faction. In fact, the following extract from Williams' report to me shows, that only a very short time elapsed before a similar charge was brought against the Wa-Fransa, which led to Mwanga's inti- mation that he would leave that party : — " On the 26th Dec. I heard a tremendous row, and went up to the king. I found him very nervous, and found that the Catholics in his honia had tried to seize some other Catholics, also in his hovia, whom they accused of immoral practices. The king was very depressed, and on hearing a gun fired close to his haraza door, jumped up and ran out at the back. He came back for me, and, with my three soldiers, I remained with him until things were quiet. Xext day I was told by the Katikiro that the king MWAXGA WISHES TO LEAVE THE WA-FEANSA. 311 wanted to become Protestant, and would change over at once, or wait until you, who are daily expected, arrived. I told the Katikiro to tell the king not to be in too much hurry, and to think matters over; and I told the Katikiro that for such a revolution as this must be, preparations must be made. iSText day a report was spread by one of the leading Catholic chiefs, that they were prepared to put Karema's son, a young boy, as their king. I went at once to the French bishop and explained to him his responsibility if this boy, wdio was in their custody at Usukuma, had already been — or should at any future time be — brought to Uoanda. I went to the kino; and told him that I mv- self, with thirty men, would come to his assistance at any moment, and I told the Catholic chiefs I would fight for the king. The next day I heard that the Catholics had given the king a very large present to remain on their side. However, in my opinion, the effect of this last incident will be to make him trust us more and more. During the months I have been here I have done my best to gain his confidence, and I believe he trusts me." This incident occurred only five days before my own arrival (Dec. 31st), when I was already close to the capital, and while Martin with all his caravan, of some 700 men, was camped at Kampala. On my arrival it devolved upon me to deal with it, and I will presently narrate the course I adopted. Williams' report is dated Jan. 6th, a Aveek after my return. In spite of the troubles which had occurred, and this last matter which was even now pending, he was strong in his opinion that great progress had been made, and looked on difficulties such as these as inherent in the situation, and unavoid- able in dealing with a people so excitable, and so bitter in their party rivalry, as the Waganda. He considered that he had acquired an extremely strong personal in- fluence with Mwanga, and wrote of him, and of the general situation in Uganda at this date (Jan. 6th), as follows : — " It was not to be expected that the kiug and the Catholic party would at once throw themselves into our arms. Xever- 312 SITUATIOX AT THE EXD OF 1891. theless, the year during which we liave been here has been by no means fruitless of results. The country is undoubtedly slowdy settling down, and the two parties are, I think, gradually learn- inoj to live together. In Meno-o the number of houses built in the last six months is very large. Trade is improving, and altogether the country is going ahead." Such was the account of events which I heard on my return, and such the estimate of the situation as it now stood, presented to me by Captain WilHams. It will be remembered that, prior to my arrival at Kampala, I had received my mails containing orders to evacuate Uganda ; that, shortly after my arrival, further letters had reached me cancellinof these orders ; and, moreover, that Martin with his caravan had been awaitins" me since Dec. 9th, and had left for the coast on Jan. 8th. The doctor was to overtake him later with the mails, but the outbreak of the war delayed them, and they did not leave till March 4th. Martin, meanwhile, had proceeded on his way without them. Until the receipt of the letters counter-ordering evac- uation, my entire thoughts were naturally concentrated on that question, and on the discussions with Williams on the subject, which I have already narrated. It was about mid-da}^ on the 7th Jan. that I received the orders to "maintain my position in Uganda," and the receipt of this news of course reversed my previous plans, by which in all probability Williams would have returned to England, while I held on in Uganda. I was informed that this change of orders was rendered possible by the liberality of private friends, ^^ ho had subscribed a large sum to maintain the occupation of Uganda. Thereupon the Company had guaranteed to continue their administration for one year — viz., till Dec. 31st, 1892, on which date, unless circumstances at present unforeseen should intervene, they would evacuate. I was, moreover, urged in the strongest SITUATION CREATED BY THE NEW ORDERS. 313 terms to reduce expenditure by every means in my power. This necessity for retrenchment, and the intimation that the occupation of Uganda by the Company was only to be maintained till the close of the year, after which we could only fulfil our pledges, both to Uganda and to Torn, with a very greatly reduced establishment, — even supposing that further efforts to raise funds in England should be fairly successful, — completely altered the situation. Hitherto I had understood that the occupation of Uganda was the primary object of the Company, and its evacuation was a contingency alto- gether outside the bounds of possibility. The Company was incorporated under a royal charter. The aims of its Directors had been that it should rival the "John Company" which had created our Indian empire. It had established its own coinage and post- age ; it had its own vessels in its harbours. Govern- ment had negotiated a treaty with Germany (July 1890), ceding European territory (Heligoland) in order to smooth its difficulties in Africa, and to obtain for it the cession of all claims by Germany to Witu and Uganda. Its Directors were among the most distin- guished men in England, some of them very wealthy. It is not to be wondered at that I, who had left the coast at a time when the popular cry was that Uganda was the main desideratum, — that unless it was in English hands, the charter of the Company would be valueless, and that to secure it every effort must be made, — should never have entertained the possibility of evacuation within a twelvemonth. The expenses of occupation had been very small. In- stead of the huge caravan at first suggested, under Sir Francis De Winton — with an administrative staff of a dozen well-paid officers, and conveying two steel boats and a regiment of Sudanese— a handful of porters 314 SITUATION AT THE END OF 1891. and a few Sudanese had done the work, with six officers, whose united salaries did not together come to two- thirds of that drawn by Sir Francis alone. Instead of fortnightly mails, which were to follow Sir F. De Winton, this mail on Christmas Day was the first we had had since March. The news it brought only strengthened these views, for we heard that a steamer, conveyed by several thousand porters, was immediately to be placed on the lake. Yery, very little goods had been used, for I had fed the bulk of the expedition for nothing during the greater part of the year. Judge then of my surprise and mortification to find that, in spite of our utmost economy, Uganda was to be evacu- ated ! Mismanaofement at intermediate stations had been debited to Uganda expenditure, and I was told that it was estimated that the incredible sum of £40,000 was the outlay for the single year's administra- tion. In spite of the almost impossibility, under the circumstances, of arriving at an accurate calculation, I could, I think, prove that it was at the very outside about half that sum, and probably much less than the single expedition to obtain the treaty would have cost, had it been carried out as originally planned. It was now my task, however, to face the new set of circumstances, and to endeavour to meet these diffi- culties, not merely with a view to holding Uganda till the end of the year, but to render it feasible, if possible, that it should be held jDermanently on a scale of cost which it might be practicable to meet from other sources, when the Company withdrew. The first thing (I said to Williams) is to find out whether these people really want us, and if so they must accept us unanimously ; and we must no longer be depen- dent for our existence in the country upon one faction, aided by a very large and expensive force, which in the future we cannot afford to maintain. Hitherto I NECESSITY FOR ARRIVING AT AN UNDERSTANDING. 315 have held Uganda as a dependency of the Company, as though it were a j)rovmce of the British Crown, in which methods, involving perhaps years of patient work, could be employed. Now it is time, before all this money — the product of private subscription — is sunk in the country, to find out whether or not, after their year's experience of our methods, the peo- ple— as a people — want us or not, and whether we can anticipate, that when this year is up we shall have established such a position that we can carry on the work with a greatly reduced garrison. At present the position is most unsatisfactory. More than half the people are against us ; the endless quarrels between the factions are as bad as ever ; and lastly, the whole thing depends on us two. One of us must go to Eng- land to secure the means for holding on when this year is out, and then the whole work dej)ends on one life ; and if anything happens to that one left behind, all will be lost. Williams, in reply, maintained that he believed the king earnestly desired us to continue in the country ; and that, if the urgency of the matter was repre- sented to him, he would publicly declare himself on our side and hoist the British flao:. He said that he had very great influence with him, and was on terms of private friendship, and that, moreover, it would be easier for him to prove his ground and rep- resent my views as a third person, than it would be for me. For I, as being in chief command, could not well argue a matter of this nature, and I should not have the same diplomatic advantage as himself, in being able to express my own view, while promising to refer the king's arguments to a sujDcrior authority. Lastly, he added that he knew the king was afraid of me, and thought me uncompromising, and hence he (Williams) would have a better chance of success. 316 SITUATIOX AT THE EXD OF 1891. To all this I thorouo-hlv aoTeed. and it must be borne in mind, that at this very time the matter was still pending regarding the king's spoiitaneoiis desire to declare himself on the "English" side — the considera- tion of which Williams had told him to postpone until mv arrival. So it was arrano^ed that Williams should go privately to the king in the evening, and ask for a strictly confidential interview ; that he should then tell Mwanga that it was impossible that we should remain on this inicertain footing; for ever : and that, if he desired us to continue to labour for the good of his country, as he had seen that we had laboured now for over a year, it was time that he openly and publicly identified himself with us, and that all this nonsense about French " and Eno-lish *' should cease. He would impress on him as strongly as he could hnd words to convev it. that we had no wish, in any way, to interfere with relio-ion — that it was a matter of the most complete indiiference to us, whether he were a E. Catholic or a Protestant ; but that, so long as he called himself ■■ French " and flew a separate flag (pur- posely made larger than ours, and hoisted on a higher pole and on higher groinid, in order to prove his inde- pendence of us, if not his superiority), it was impossi- ble that there could be full accord and unity of action between us. I told Williams to tell him I was much displeased about this hoistino- of a flao\ secretlv and without reference to the. Eesident, in my absence, for there was, of course, no doubt as to its real meaning and sio-nilication. Williams was not to sav that there was any intention of evacuation ; but in such parlance as one uses to an African native he would say (if I recol- lect aright) that "the big chiefs in England were tired of all this quarrelling in Uganda, and said that it was a countrv of war and disputes only, on which very WILLIAMS' MISSION TO THE KIXG. 317 much goods had been expended, and from which no equivalent came ; and they Avere weary of this, and were asking me, when I should finish arranging this country. Was not a whole vear enouo^h ? And now, unless all this trouble ceased, and the country settled down to peace and to trade, and gave up all this foolery about ' French ' and ' English ' and accepted the British rule and flag, the chiefs in England would get tired of Uganda." Williams was confident of success. Had I de- manded entire or partial disarmament, or the pay- ment of a large sum annually to defray expenses, there might have been difiiculty. But to ask merely that Mwanga should publicly declare himself British, — which he had already spontaneously wished to do five days before my arrival, — in this there would be no difiiculty. Williams said that a very sore jDoint with Mwanga was, that I had never given him any arms, and had prevented his buying any from Stokes and others, whereas every other European traveller, includino' Jackson, had g-iven him rifies. If I were to promise him a few Sniders, when the compact was concluded, it would ease ofi* all rough corners. To this I agreed,^ telling the king that we could not arm him so long as in public he flew a separate flag and de- clared himself of the Fransa faction. " By a malice which was altogether diabolical,*' says Mgr., " the flag of the English Company, from the moment it was seen in Uganda, was adopted by the Protestants as a rallying standard against the R. Catholics, and as such it was to be imposed upon Mwanga and on the country," ^ &c. I had myself 1 It is perhaps needless to point out that such an issue would not in any case be a violation of the Brussels Act. However, as the Act was not ratified till April 1892, it was not operative at this time. 2 Letter of Feb. 10th, 1892, E. C. Xotes, p. 50. 318 SITUATION AT THE END OF 1891. withheld the flag that it mig'ht not become a party emblem. Where was the "diabolical malice" in the matter? Once again I reiterate that the parties were as much political as religious, and that naturally the English " party accepted the British flag, not from any "diabolical malice" as against the R. Catholic religion, but as the standard of the nation whose pro- . tection they accepted. Who was it who had taught these ignorant savages the significance of a European flag ? On them lies the onus of introducing political ambitions into relioious teachino^s. Williams had three interviews with the kino- but did not find him so willino- to accede to our views as he had anticipated. He appeared scared at the idea of accepting the flag, and I therefore dropped the matter, fearing to raise another crisis, which might produce a war. For some uneasiness had been exhibited by the lesser people of the Frcinsa party at Williams' confidential interviews, and on the night of Jan. 14th (I think) the Avar-drums were suddenly beaten by that faction, and there was a brief excite- ment. The Sekibobo and other leading chiefs of the faction were quite ignorant of the reason of this dis- turbance, or by whose order the drums had been beaten. Prior to this it had been represented to me that a band of Mohammedans were raiding in Bulamwezi, on the north-east of Uganda, and a small army had been despatched against them. The Ingleza portion of this army had gone under their own chief, and the TTV^- Fransa under their separate leader. Almost imme- diately after the disturbance on the night of the 14th the Fransa portion returned, but the other section remained, and, I believe, drove out the enemy. I write in my diary : " From the sj)eed with which the former returned, I am inclined to think it was a ruse, and THE FUTABAXGI. 319 that they were ah^eady on their way back, and raised this ahirm at the capital to give an excuse for it."" For thev o-ave as the reason of their return, the fact that the war-drums had beaten at the capital, whereas it was impossible that this news should have reached them and that they should have come back from so great a distance in the time. In addition to this exjDedition against the Moham- medans there was another matter. A rising had occurred in Chagwe of the Futahanf/i, and it had been arrano-ed to send a similar armv aoainst them. In this case also, the IngJeza portion had at once started, but the other side delayed. They were to leave on the mornino- of the loth, luider the Sekibobo. chief of Chagwe (F.), but in consequence of the emev.te on the night of the 14th they did not start. A word of explanation as to these Futahangi is necessarv. The name means " Bhano-- smokers.'" and as the Christian relioions had forbidden the use of this drug, those who repudiated the new religions were contemptuously called Futohanfji. Thus the word was nearly synonymous with "■'Pagans. ' These people, weary of the intolerance of Protestants, R. Catholics, and Mohammedans alike, took up arms against them, and joined themselves to a band of outlaws, who, headed by a chief named Msigiri — a man renowned through Uganda for his bravery in war and in elej^hant -hunting — roamed through the forests of Chagwe, and pillaged villages, defying all authority since the days of Mtesa. These Futahangi were originally of no account, and could not make a stand against the armies of the king, but of late the peasantry [Bahopi) had become so dis- gtisted with the intolerance of the rival factions, that they had risen in large numbers, and the Futahangi became an element of disorder which it was no lonu'er safe to despise. 320 SITUATION AT THE END OF 1891. Mgr., writing to me after the war, said : — " I think it my duty to tell you also of another danger which threatens. The Pagans, who profess no religion, are of late associating themselves for the purpose of forming an immense faction hostile to Europeans. The adherents of this party ex- tend from the Kagera (in German territory on west of the lake) as far as Kavirondo (on east of the lake). They include the whole of the region on the north of the Nyanza. They are arm- ing themselves more and more fully. The details which I have been able to gather forbid me to doubt the new danger arising from this party. The smoking of hhang is only a pretext to popularise the confederation, but the real object of this great faction is to conquer and eject from the country all Europeans. I consider it a duty to point out to you once more this danger, in the hope that a prudent policy may even yet allay it. The Fathers, whom I have sent to live near you, can give you all necessary information on the subject." I have quoted the passage, but I considered the danger much overrated. It will serve to explain the object of the expedition against the Futahangi, and to show that my difficulties at this time comprised not only the factions of the Wa-Ingleza, Wa-Fransci, and Mohammedans, but also this new and not well-under- stood element, which was hostile to the other parties, and especially to ourselves. The Ingleza part of the army against these Futa- hangi, then, had started, but the Sekibobo and his party remained, in consequence of the disturbance on the 14th. The Protestant chiefs now came to me, and urged that the rival faction was meditating an outbreak ; that their portion of the army against the Mohammedans had returned without any ostensible reason, and that their portion of the second army for Chagwe had not started, while from all points they were concentrating on the capital. They said that in obeying my orders and the orders of the king, and sending their men away to these wars, they had greatly I CONFIDE IN SEKIBOBO. 321 weakened their force at the cajDital, and in case of an outbreak the Wa-Fransa would take them entirely at a disadvantage. The Sekibobo, chief of Chagwe, and second only in importance to the Kimbugwe in the Fransa faction, was an earnest R. Catholic. He had not been one of those to come forward immediately on my arrival in Uganda, but when we did meet, we became very fast friends. He and Zachariah (E.) stand quite alone in my estimation. The Sekibobo was incapable of treach- ery and deceit, a man with as straightforward and honest a heart as ever beat in a European. " I called him, and he said he would start at once for Chagwe with his army. I told him that so far I had told no one at all what it was Williams had gone to the king to say, but now that I saw there was trouble about it, I would tell him. I had seen that the situation was impossible. After a whole year's patient work the two parties were as bitter as ever — indeed just now they seemed more bitter than usual. The country, I said, is British by treaty, but the king flies a flag of his own. If I mention the word ' flag ' there is talk of war. Every single day there are evictions and outrages between the parties, almost more than of old before I left. And now the chiefs do not come to me together^ as they used to do, but only one side comes at a time, and if the two meet they quarrel even before me. Now I think it is time to stop all this, and that the king and Wa-Fransa should declare for Enor-land, but let all follow what religion they like. I implored him to try and get this result, and commissioned him to tell all the chiefs of his faction my words. He did so, and then went off to the Futahangi war. " Meanwhile the king asked Williams to get me to put in writing exactly what I wanted him to do. This I did, and I told the chiefs that there was no secret in it. VOL. II. X 322 THE EVE OF THE WAE. Seeing the temper of the people, however, and wishing to avoid a horrible civil war, — with the Mohammedans waiting to swoop down on the contending parties, — I dropped the question of the flag, which is a veritable ' red rag ' and will set the Waganda on to fight at once (diary). Such was the position on the eve of the Avar. The English missionaries were bitter against Captain Wil- liams, and said he had shown gross partiality to the other faction. One, at least, of them would not enter Kampala. Accusations of partiality to the R. Catholics had been sent to England, couched in the very strongest terms, which it would serve no useful purpose for me to quote here. They were to the effect that the Com- pany's officers had purposely weakened the Protestants in order to favour the R. Catholics, and that this had been done deliberately, since Williams did not under- stand the position, and believed too mucli what the "subtle priests" told him. Mr Walker, on whom I placed more reliance than on any other missionary, had condemned Williams' action to me most strongly, when I saw him on mv way through Buddu. Even De Winton seemed to think Williams was influenced by Mgr. On the other hand, the French bishop, in his letter of Jan. 23d,^ maintained that "for the six weary months" durinof which Williams had been in command, " the entire bodv of the R. Catholics complain that they can no longer obtain any justice, and the thing has come to such a jDass that they do not even think of going any more to the fort at Kampala with their grievances ; " and he goes on to say (underlined), and to reiterate later in the letter, that the R. Catholics can obtain no justice. Again, in his letter to me of March 26th, he states that "during the last six months of 1891 Fort Kampala was exclusively Protestant, and our chiefs 1 Printed in R. C. Xotes on Uganda, p. 146. WILLIAMS' IMPARTIALITY PROVED. 323 never had access to the representative of the Company." While Mgr. thus vehemently asserted that during Wil- liams' tenure at Kampala, gross partiality had been shown to the Protestants, the English missionaries, as I have shown, complained in terms equally loud and indiofnant of the bias shown to the R. Catholics. No evidence could be more conclusive of Williams' im- partiality. It is not therefore to be wondered at that the " con- verts " of either religion were animated by the intensest rancour and hatred of each other, since their teachers showed such narrow-mindedness. Mgr. had, moreover, greatly irritated the Ingleza chiefs, by accusing them of being in league with the Mohammedans. In the presence of Mr Walker he made this accusation of treachery against the Pokino (E.) Both sides pro- fessed a great confidence in myself, as did their mis- sionaries ; but, I fancy, this was not due to any merit in myself — earnestly as I had indeed tried to act with absolute impartiality — but merely to the fact that they were prejudiced against Williams, and hoped that I, having just arrived, would inaugurate some new era of what each called "justice." In an exactly similar way they will probably condemn me to Sir G. Portal, in the hopes of creating a bias in his mind, which may prompt him to take a course of their own suggesting ! Unfortunately, an unexpected incident led to a crisis before I had time to fully make the attempt. For during these early days in January I was really over- whelmed with work. The accumulated correspondence of a year had to be dealt with, and my report and usual returns submitted. The work incidental to the control and management of so great a concourse of people as were now assembled at Kampala, together with that involved by checking the invoices of stores brought up by Martin, and the despatch of his caravan ; 324 THE EYE OF THE WAR. the housing, clothing, &c., of the new Sudanese, and of our own men who had recently returned with me, — kept us all engaged at the highest pressure. The English Mission had also selected this moment to assert their right to proceed to Usoga and establish a mission there ; and though I begged them to wait for a few days, till this stress of work had somewhat abated, they insisted on arguing the subject at once in a series of long official letters, the last of ivhich is dated Jan. 20th. Uganda affairs had also demanded much of our time and attention. The desj^atch of the two armies to Bulamwezi and Chagwe, and the conferences with the king, are matters to which I have already alluded. Latterly I had even heard one or two technical ques- tions regarding disputed estates, but business of this description I had endeavoured to defer till after the despatch of the mails. For though it had become obvious to me that the tension between the factions was as great as ever, and matters were not so satis- factory as I had at first supposed, nevertheless no one apprehended any immediate crisis, and such difficulties as had presented themselves indicated nothing more than the chronic state of unrest in Uganda. 325 CHAPTER XXXIII. THE FIGHTING IN UGANDA. Murder of a Protestant — The Kauta changed — Conference with Mwanga — The culprit's story — Mwanga acquits him — My letter to Mgr. — He declines to assist — I am puzzled to account for attitude of Wa-Fransa — I send Dualla to the king — Insulting messages — Necessity for firm attitude — Issue of arms — Wa-Fransa gratuitously beat war-drums — The crisis almost averted — Offer protection to all Europeans — The fight precipitated — Wa-Fransa defeated — The Fathers to Kampala — Letters to the king, and to Sekibobo — Mgr.'s views— Liberal offers to Wa- Fransa — Kago arrives — ^Igr. and Fathers insist on going — Mafutaa as my envoy — An ultimatum — Eeplied to by a fresh outrage — Necessity for attack on island — Wa-Fransa ousted — The Fathers return to Kampala — Their treatment — The conduct of the attack — Treatment of prisoners. That the account of the incidents immediately prior to the war may be as exact a reproduction of them as possible, I quote (as has been my custom throughout these volumes wherever space admitted of it) from notes which I wrote in my diary at the time. Indeed the whole of this chapter is largely identical with my diary. " On the 22d (Jan.), the Wa-Ingleza chiefs came to me, very greatly excited, to say that ane of the rival faction had wantonly murdered one of their men, and also that a large number of Duta's (E. ) sliamhas had been seized by the Mujasi (F.) They said they had not been allowed to take away the body of the murdered man, so they went to fetch some more of their own side. The opposite faction had defied them to come on. 326 THE FIGHTIXG IX UGAXDA. and called them cowards unless they should remove then- dead. The Katikiro (E.) forbade his side to fight, and sent to tell me. Their greatest griev- ance (they said) was the immediate insult in the ex- posure of the corpse ; but if this were taken away and buried, they would appeal to the law regarding the murder. " Things were A^ery tight indeed, so I went up to the king at once. I was kept waiting a long time outside his enclosure in a broiling hot sun. This w^aiting is a Avell- understood discourtesy, and when continued beyond a certain point is an insult. The Kimbugwe (F.) came and saluted me civilly, and we sat together. He said that the king was dressing, and he Avould go and see. Then the Kauta came out and greeted me cordially. This man used to be my most trusted ally in the old times. Every difficulty was taken to him. He was my confidant, and it was largely he who had saved the war on my first arrival. I even visited his house (and he Kampala) by night on important matters, and this is the greatest possible mark of trust in Uo-anda. Now he is a difterent man altogether, and beyond just coming to formally salute me on my return, has not been near Kampala. Williams savs it Avas he Avho, after a most friendly conference here (in my absence), went and spread the report that the Wa-Fransa would make Karema's boy king, and that in this he behaved most treacherously. Anyway, he is quite estranged. I asked him wh}^ he had not been to see me as of old, and he said he had had a bad leg, and showed me a pimple on his shin ! I told him I must see the king at once, or I would leaA'e the place. He did not even stick to the same story as the Kimbugwe, but said the king AA^as not to be found, and they Avere looking for him ! He Avent to hurry him up, but MAvanga Avas, of course, CONFERENCE WITH MWANGA. 327 in reality talking over the matter leisurely with the Fransa chiefs, and experimenting how long I would submit to be kept waiting. " Again I waited some time, and then sent in my interpreter to say I was going, but would like to see the Kimbugwe first. (Had I gone it would have meant a quarrel with Mwanga.) Thereupon I was immediately ushered in. Referring to the outside excitement, I said I could not discuss the question till the corpse was removed, for this was a degradation to the country. Mwanga immediately ordered two men (one of each faction) to be sent to remove and bury it. He was courteous and civil, for he probably saw I was angry at having been ignominiously kept waiting outside (as indeed I told him pretty strongly), and he always appears somewhat afraid when I am actually with him. There were no chiefs, or even petty chiefs, of the Wa-Ingleza in the house. " I told the king I had heard about this murder, but not all the details ; that long ago I had said that under present circumstances, when one such outrage was suffi- cient to plunge the whole country in war, the perpetrator should be executed at once. If he had received j)rovo- cation, let the others be flogged severely ; but an ex- ample was necessary. To this he thoroughly agreed, but said he would send for the man who had shot the other, and for witnesses, and hear the whole story. The fierce sun in which I had been waiting had quite overpowered me, and, the atmosphere of the hut being intolerably close, a drowsiness came over me just as if I had been drugged. We waited a long time, and, mean- time, a good deal of giggling and laughing went on between the king and the Fransa chiefs. Altogether it appeared to me that they had settled with the king how judgment should go, and were elated. So after waiting a long time (since it almost seemed as though 328 THE FIGHTING IX UGANDA. the king was again trying the hmit of my patience) I told him I felt unwell, and would return to Kampala. At the same time I reminded him emphatically, that since my first arrival I had said only one thing — viz., that in dealing with outrages such as these, there should be no leniency shown, and no question of party. He said it was quite true that I had always said this, and he remembered it well. " We parted with an interchange of courtesies, and I left Dualla and Juma Hassani, the interpreter, to hear the inquiry, and to re23ort to me all that took place, and the king-'s decision. Mwano^a also said that the Kimbugwe himself should come, and tell me all that passed. Later, Dualla came and said that, when the man who had shot the other arrived, he told the fol- lowing story : 'A few days ago he was passing along the road in the evening, when one of the Katikiro's men seized his gun. He went and complained to the Kati- kiro, who said he should have the gun back, after he had inquired into the matter.' (I believe there was, as in all these stories, some further matter at the back of this — viz., some gun previously taken by the Kauta (F.) ; but this is of no consequence to the present story.) ' He waited several days, and not having heard further about his gun, he formed a plan to seize another. Taking a jar of ]Jomhe, he sat in the road opposite his enclosure till some of the Ingleza faction came past. He called to them, and asked if they would buy it. They said " Yes," but they must taste it first. The seller refused, and an argument ensued. While engaging them in argument, one of the Wa-Fransa stepped behind them and snatched a gun out of the owner's hand, and rushed into the enclosure with it. The owner followed him, and was met by two men, who shot him dead. The Wa-F]r(nsa fired one more shot, and the Wa-Ingleza fired one.' " After hearing the story, the king said, ' Did the MWANGA ACQUITS THE CULPEIT. 329 man who is dead follow you into your enclosure ? ' The witness said ' Yes.' ' Then,' said the king, ' enough. You were justified in shooting him ; there is no case against you.' Dualla expostulated. He repeated the story, word for word, and asked if he had heard correctly in each detail. They said his repetition was all quite right. ' Then do you mean "Ultima causa belli." to make no punishment at all ? ' said he. ' That is not the custom of any country in the world. Is it not so that if a leopard seized a goat you would pursue him into his cave ? ' ' Certainly,' they said, ' but it is not the law of Uganda.' Dualla argued vehemently, saying he knew I would be greatly vexed at the decision, for the king had agreed that in cases 330 THE FIGHTING IX UGANDA. of outrage, in the j^^^esent state of the country, sum- mary punishment should be dealt. The king replied that he had made his decision, and could not help it if I disliked it." This was Friday evening (2 2d). Dualla told me that the Fransc(r chiefs in the king's house laughed over the matter, and apparently enjoyed what they thought would be my discomfiture. Conse- quently I thought it unadvisable to go again to the king, for if I was again purposely insulted by being kept waiting outside, or by contemptuous laughter and frivolity in the haraza, it would lead to an open rupture between myself and Mwanga, and this would precipitate the crisis. So I sent Dualla with a letter, saying I quite disapproved of the decision. The Wa- Ingleza were exasperated almost to desperation. The doctor told me that one of their missionaries had come to Kampala, and used very strong language, saying we were allowing the Protestants to be trampled upon, and durst not see justice done, and it would have been better for them had we never come to IJo'anda ! Such a verdict as this of the kind's was not calculated to allay the excitement. I got a long letter from Mwanga (written by the chiefs of the Fransa faction), giving a list of their grievances dating from a 3'ear back, and saying they could get no justice. The greater part of it was written in a haughty and uncompromising style, but the latter portion was an abject prayer from the king, that I would give him time to tie up his goods and run away, and calling me his friend. In reply I strongly assured him that I desired to act impartially, as he well knew from my action in the past ; and that my sole object was to secure justice. " I do not want war," I added, which will utterly and completely destroy the country ; but if you refuse to do justice, it is you indeed yourself who are bringing war to THE CRISIS PRECIPITATED BY WA-FRANSA. 331 spoil your own country, and to lose your throne. Enough. It is my duty to see justice, but war will destroy the country utterly." The Kimbugwe (F.), who was to have come to tell me all that was said in the haraza, did not do so, and everything convinced me that for some reason the Wa- Fransa did not desire a peaceful solution. On previous occasions the chiefs had come to me at any such crises, and we had together prevented an outbreak. Now, on the contrary, though they knew my eager desire for peace, reiterated in my letters — and proved by our constant interposition to save an outbreak throughout the past year, and by my disregard of outrages on my own men — they did not come near me to offer any explanations, or to endeavour to avert the trouble. Indeed I heard, that they had arrived at the con- clusion that nothing would induce us to fight — for savages ever interpret self-restraint as arising from fear, weakness, or some such motive or cause. I had already warned both Missions of the gravity of the crisis, and offered them the protection of Kam- pala in case of war. I had also ordered messengers to be sent to Mr Walker in Buddu to warn him ; and I looked on it as a certainty that Ferag Effendi, who, it will be remembered, had been left in charge of the garrison at Luwambu, would in case of war join the Wa-Ingleza, and effect a victory or a retreat, as the case might be, with them. But though trouble seemed imminent, my narrative shows that we had passed through a constant series of such crises, and it would have been worse than folly on each occasion to have sent alarming messages to Buddu. At most I could only say that war was seriously threat- ening, and on the receipt of such news Mr Walker would only have waited for further information, know- ing as he did how frequent such crises had been. Had 332 THE FIGHTIXG IX UGANDA. I definitely ordered Ferag to withdraw, it would have been a decided stej^ towards precipitating the war I wished to avert. On the 23d I wrote to Mot. as follows : — •'I regret extremely to inform you that trouble be- tween the two parties appears imminent. The day be- fore yesterday a man of the Protestants was murdered by a R Catholic in the streets of Mengo, and no justice was done. There Avas also a case of eviction from sham- has, which has much irritated the Protestants. After careful inquirj^ I think that most certainly, as regards the case of the murder, the Protestants are justified in their demands for justice. I myself told the king that the murderer must be j)unished. Unless the leading E. Catholics consent to justice being done in these matters, the situation becomes impossible, as they have defied my authority. Can you. Mgr., use your influence to save so terrible a blow to the country as must be produced by war — a war which we have now with the utmost difficulty succeeded in averting for over a year? You, Mgr., know that it is no prejudice against the P. Catholic religion which has forced us in this instance to uphold the Protestants in their claims for justice, and that in all my dealings (and Captain Williams in my absence has followed the same course) I have endeavoured to deal with both parties purel}" as political parties with impartial justice. If war should break out, I hope that you and the Peverend Fathers of your mission will come and stay with us at Kampala, till the trouble is finished. I would like much to have a talk with you on these subjects, but am unable to leave Kampala at such a moment. If you can possibly find time to come over and see us to-day, I should be most glad to see you. " I have, &c., ^ F. D. LugaW" MGR. DECLINES TO HELP. 333 In reply to this I received a letter — too long to quote in extenso here.^ The points that struck me in it were these. I had appealed to Mgr. to assist me to save the war. He refused. While saying that the critical situation had arisen " solely from misunder- standings, and there is still time to dissipate them," he declined to meet me in the endeavour to achieve this result. His reason was that his Sunday duties on the morrow prevented it ! The morrow saw the outbreak of war. Secondly, he appears to have taken umbrage at not having seen me when he called some days previously. It was true I was lying down at the time, and those who know me would, I think, smile at the question, whether it was my custom during the day to lie down from indolence. That I did so, meant that I was pretty well used up (wath overwork and strain). I suffered much from toothache, and I had slept in my clothes — a broken sleep — during any time of disturb- ance, ready for instant action if necessary. I had asked Williams to receive the Fathers — for their call was merely one of courtesy on my return to Uganda — (before this crisis had occurred), and I had, I think, promptly returned it. Mgr. speaks of the injustice suffered by the H. Catholics during the last six months ; thereby inferring that under my own administration they had been justly treated ; and, as I have already said, I have heard that he has more recently formally stated that he has no complaint against my previous administra- tion, tvhich he considers impartial. Yet he refused to meet me to dissipate the misunderstanding, nor yet to say the word which, with his influence with his party, would, I had the fullest conviction, have restrained them from war. On the contrary, he intimated that they would die in the attempt to obtain "justice." 1 Quoted in R. C. Notes on Uganda, p. 146. 334 THE FIGHTING IN UGANDA. He spoke of the " unjust pretensions of the Protestant party, who ami at the attainment of exclusive power in Uganda ; " yet he knew (and there is no aspersion in the statement) that the Fransa or R. Cathohc party had the same ambition. As I have shown, his letter to Williams of July 14th was entirely in this sense — viz., that it was to the advantage of the administration to maintain one faction only in the state — namely, the Wa- Fransa ; and in another letter he says that ^' a little more and Uganda would have become a Catholic kingdom.'' Why then throw upon the Protestants, as a stigma, the ambition shared equally by R. Catholics ? His version of the story of the murder was untenable, for the Fransa chiefs had not contro- verted the story I had heard. There was no need to cross-examine on it, for the man who had committed the outrage had told the story himself, and it was on his own statements, and not on the statements of the Wa-Ingleza, that I was acting. I laid down Mgr.'s letter with a feeling of keen disappointment ; I felt I had nothing to hope from him, and my impression from the letter was that he would not move a finger to save the war, if indeed his sympathies were not in favour of it. At my wits' end to account for this attitude of the Fathers, I write in my diary : " Knowing I had my orders to evacuate, they may have thought I was hold- ing on in spite of them, j^ending reference home, and that if a crisis were precipitated, I should, under the circumstances, be afraid to incur the responsibility of fighting, and would submit or withdraw. This is a mere conjecture to account for the reports which reach me on all hands (from Stokes' men, &c.), that the Fathers have been telling the Wa - Fransa that we cannot and will not fight, being only a trading Com- pany, and that one of them said that he could drive REASON FOR SEXDIXG DUALLA TO THE KING. 335 US all out of Kampala with a stick, and not a gun would be fired." It is at best a rotten theory, but I was much puzzled to think of a better. It was quite impossible ^ that the newly arrived Fathers could haA^e brought news of my orders to remain in Uganda, for these instructions had only been telegraphed from England on Nov. 3d, and had come up by special runners : they came, in fact, by the shortest route, and beat all previous records. Long afterwards, when I told the storv of the causes which had led to the war to the Fathers when they lived with us in Kam- pala, they said that most of my account was quite new to them I Dualla went to the kino- with the letter I have already quoted. He had great difficulty in getting an audience. Mv letter was read. The kino^ said he had made his decision and would not alter it, and that if I wanted war it was my matter. The Fransa chiefs (Mujasi and Salo-Salo, who had always been hostile, were present, together with the Kauta) added that if soldiers were sent by me to apprehend the murderer, they should be killed to a man ; and that if there was war, they Avould capture Kampala and all the goods, and the Europeans should all be killed. From their jubilant and exulting manner and laughter, there was little doubt that they thought themselves fully able to do this, for it must be remembered that the Maxim was discredited, and that my soldiers were very greatly outnumbered by their forces. I had, as I have said, sent Dualla instead of going myself, that I might avoid any insult which would be a casus belli; for if I were flatly refused admittance to the king (as he was), it would necessarily break off" nego- tiations ; but any such act towards Dualla I could treat in a less serious manner. He was, moreover, 1 R. C. Union Notes on Uganda, p. 71. 336 THE FIGHTING IN UGANDA. an extremely intelligent man, who had travelled in Europe and America, and was almost a European in his ideas. That I was right, I think the event proved ; but the insulting messages he brought back to me went beyond his own personality entirely, and were of such a nature that I could not disregard them without confessing impotency. When I heard that Dualla had been commissioned to bring to me these insulting messages and threats, I was astounded, and I at once gathered that the " French " party had definitely determined to fight, and had made all their preparations, and it mattered little what attitude I took. In detailed criticism regarding the question of the murder — the ultima causa belli — the far more im- portant question of the whole attitude of the king and hostile faction has been a sfood deal lost siofht of. What I have narrated of the concentration of the Wa-Fransa at the capital; the confident and in- sulting attitude in the haraza ; the absence of any remotest attempt at conciliation, or even discussion of the situation with me, either on the part of the Fathers or the chiefs ; and, subsequently, the purely gratuitous beating of the war-drums, before I had taken any action whatever, either with regard to the original outrage or the subsequent insults, — convinced me that the situation I had to deal with was quite apart from any tension created by any single petty incident. The "determined policy" I pursued (and for which I am criticised) was rendered necessary by the general action of the Wa-Fransa, as well as by the position in which I was placed owing to prospective evacuation at the end of the year, and the consequent necessity for arriving at a definite solution of these chronic disturbances. For on the one hand it had become necessary, owing to the entire change in the NECESSITY FOR FIRM ATTITUDE. 337 whole situation caused by the news of the Company's financial difficulties, that I should reduce expenses, and prove, before myself leaving Uganda, whether in the future it would be possible to hold the country with a much reduced force ; while on the other hand, as I had orders to maintain the administration for a full year, there was nothing to be gained by temporising and evadino' a crisis which was inevitable in the opinion of all, and the difficulty of which would only be increased by an exhibition of weakness and vacilla- tion now. In a word, the ostensible cause of the trouble (the murder) was a matter of small moment with which I could easily have dealt. The challenge sent to me, and the whole attitude of the hostile party, showed me that I had to cope with a far larger matter — similar to those crises in the previous year. My firm attitude now, as then, almost crushed the difficulty in its inception ; but the apparent determina- tion of a certain section to precipitate a war, led them to gratuitously beat the war - drums, without even the pretext of any initiative on my part, and prob- ably without the concurrence of many of the leading Fransa chiefs. Nevertheless, at the last moment, I am convinced, hostilities would have been avoided, had not a sudden spark led to a general engage- ment when already a modus Vivendi had been almost arrived at. I had an enormous mass of women and children of the Sudanese, and the position seemed very critical. For though I knew that they could never storm Kam- pala— least of all by day — I feared that the Wa- Inglezct would be beaten in the open, and we should then be more or less besieged, and in very great diffi- culties for food and water, for the former, at any rate, could only be procured at great distances. Meanwhile, the moment the news reached the Mohammedans of VOL. II. Y 338 THE FIGHTING IN UGANDA. the outbreak of hostilities at the capital, this party would invade the country with all their force, and the Futahcmgi would also rise. It has been assumed by some who condemn my action, that my own overwhelming force freed me from all apprehension of danger to ourselves. I can merely say that this was very far from being the case. It is extremely hard to defend one's self against j^ersonal charges without appearing to boast, but as a matter of fact it was due very largely, if not entirely, to the ex- traordinary good shooting made with the Maxim, and the general conduct of the next day's battle, that success was achieved at all. The Wa-Fransa had far more confidence that victory would be with them, than either the Wa-Ingleza or myself had that it would rest with us. This view, I think, the Fathers shared, since they elected to remain in their fort at Rubaga, rather than at Kampala, to await the issue of the day. And would not Mgr. have made some effort to avert the struggle, had he anticipated the defeat of his party ? As the Ingleza faction were very greatly outnumbered at the capital, owing to the absence of their armies in Bulamwezi and Chagwe, I issued to them, on the night of 22d, forty muzzle-loading guns and one keg of powder (5 lb.) That circumstances could ever force me to adopt such a course had been far indeed from my thoughts hitherto. An indirect allusion to such a possibility had been made in a conversation with Mr Walker in Buddu only a month previously, and in my private diary I repudiate such a possibility as monstrous ! The Kimbugwe (F.), it appears, had spies watching us, and though the issue was made secretly, it was at once known, and the number of guns was of course exag- gerated to hundreds. My object was to equalise to some extent the two parties, in case of sudden and WA-FEAXSA GRATUITOUSLY BEAT WAR-DRUMS. 339 unexpected attack ; to do so I should have had to issue several hundred guns to the Wo-Ingleza, but only fortv were o-iven. nor did I let this faction know that I should support them, lest they should become confident and ]x)astful, and provoke a conflict. In fact I endea- voured, up to the last moment, rather to lead them to suppose I should remain neutral, but I gave the king and Wa-Fransa clearly to understand, that as they had publicly notified their intention of attacking Kam- pala. I should fight them if war broke out. The result of these exaggerated reports about the midnight issue of guns appeared good. The aggressive party saw that I really meant busmess. They had never known me flinch from my word, and they saw that I meant what I said. On the evening of 23d I had news that they meant to give up the attack ; but hardlv had I read the letter containino- this most welcome intimation, than the war- drums boomed out. and presently resounding from all sides, died away in the far distance. The following morning (Sunday, 24th) the ^Vr(- Fransci began to collect, but there were at first no signs of disturbance in the Ingleza quarter. I again .sent to both Missions oflering them protection at Kam- pala. The Fathers refused it, on the grounds that Mgr. was indisposed,*' but asked for an armed escort to protect them at Eubaga. I could not aflbrd to detach a portion of my force, and as the hostile faction were akeady rapidly assembling, the advance of such a party would probably be looked on as the opening of the battle, because the chiefs in haraza had said, that if I sent soldiers to arre.st the culprit, they would kill them every one, and they would probably suppose this party to be charged with this duty. Had one of the Fathers come in person to conduct the soldiers, or even sent a R. Catholic chief, I might probably have sent 340 THE FIGHTING IX UGAXDA. a few men, but as it was, I could not possibly do so. The English missionaries, on the other hand, rej^lied that they could not leave their goods. This seemed to me foolish, because either their o-oods would be in no danger, or else (in case of defeat) these would assuredly be lost, and by remaining they would only in all prob- ability lose their own lives also. As their mission was close by, however, and as there were none of the hostile faction between us, I sent off a few ^Dorters to bring such goods as they desired to remove, and these presently returned with all the missionaries. Seeing that a fight was imminent at any moment, I issued to the Protestants all the guns I had in Kam- pala. These included some 300 of Stokes' muzzle- loaders stored by us, with a few odd ones of our own, and some 150 Sniders — being some of those left by Gedo'e, and some from our own sick and more worthless men. At the same time I told the Katikiro that under no circumstances were they to fight without orders from me, and he knew that disreo-ard of this order mio-ht lose them my support. The king sent down begging me to stop the war. I said I would do so if the mur- derer was given up, and asked for an apology for the insults in the haraza. Meanwhile the Wa-F)xtnsa col- lected round the King's Hill and Piubaga ; the opposite side extended from their mission station (facing E-u- baga) to Kampala (facing the King's Hill, " Mengo The king's messenger went back with my answer, and several isolated shots were fired by the Fransa faction to provoke the engagement, one (as I saw myself) at the very foot of Kampala, and they flourished their flags in the manner in which the Waganda challenge the enemv. Presently one of the Ingleza faction was brought in shot in the face ; but in spite of this — an extreme provocation to so excessively excitable a peo- ple as the Waganda — the Wa-Ingleza did not attack. THE FIGHT PRECIPITATED. 341 mainly, I think, from fear of losing our support if they disobeyed me. I now despatched messenger after messenger to the Katikiro (E.), telling him to send round to all his chiefs, to tell them that if there was war, they were on no ac- count to hurt the Fathers, or touch their 23roperty ; and at great risk I also sent a messenger to beg them again to come to Kampala, saying I w^ould send an escort to conduct them so soon as they were in sight, and had passed through the Fransa party. They preferred, however, to trust to their own faction for victory, and to identify themselves with them. Their coming to us might not improbably have averted the battle. Once more messengers came from the king, and I now demanded that not only the original culprit, but also the fellow who had shot this last man in the face, should be rendered up for trial. They returned, bring- ing a man bound hand and foot ; but those who had seen the shot fired unanimously agreed that this was not the culprit, but merely some peasant caught at random. However, it showed me that for the first time there was a real desire evinced to secure peace, so I called Williams and the Katikiro, and sent a message to say that, regarding the second outrage, and the insults to ourselves, I would postpone all action, and settle the matter next day by discussion, and the original culj^rit only need be given uj^. Williams and I both thought the crisis was now j^r^c- tically over. We were told all the principal Fransa chiefs were with the king, and seeing that they could not intimidate me, were eager to make peace. Already we had begun to congratulate ourselves that the tension was past. The messengers were confident of success, but hardly had they left the gates of Kampala than heavy firing began from the Fransa side, and in less time than it takes to write it the battle was gr-eneral ! 342 THE FIGHTING IX UGANDA. The main strength of the Wa-Fraasa was, I think, on Mengo Hill, for here were most of their great chiefs — Kimbugwe, Mujasi, Kauta, and others. The Wa- Ingleza, on the other hand, had apparently posted their strength opposite Rubaga, where their opjDonents were weak. Hence on this extreme flank they carried all before them, and in a few minutes the Catholic church on the hill was in flames. The iplsm of the Wa- Fransa, I was told, w^as to draw on the Wa-Ingleza on the right, and to attack their left flank towards Kam- pala in force, and so get between them and us, and having cut them ofl* from us, to defeat them and j^ursue them out of the capital, returning later to deal with us separately. In spite of my unmistakable attitude, and that my men were drawn up outside Kampala in pro- longation of the Protestant line, I suppose they imag- ined we should be insane enough not to flght till we were actually attacked, in consequence of what the Fathers are reported to have told them of our inability to fight. If this was their plan, it was extremely well devised. In point of fact they did drive in the flank of the Wa-Ingleza towards Kampala. Seeing a great mass of men rushing down from the top of the King's Hill towards us, I opened fire with the Maxim at a distance of some 1400 yards (the top of the hill was just a mile). By a wonderful piece of good fortune (for my estimate of the distance was a guess) my calculation and my sighting were correct, and my shots went right among the enemy at this extreme range, and both the Kimbugwe and the Kauta (perhaps almost the two bravest of their chiefs) were hit in the legs. There was but a bare spot on the top of the hill, and the path up to it, on which to fire. On either side were dense banana-groves to the foot of the hill, in which the men were invisible, and the Maxim therefore useless. Immediately my shots told. WA-FRANSA DEFEATED. 343 the crowd dispersed into these groves. There was one c»pen spot (a potato-field) half-way down the hill. Knowing" they would cross this, I rapidly swung the gun round, estimated the distance at a guess, and sighted on it, and as soon as the enemy appeared on it the moment after, I was ready, and again my shots told. The moral effect of this long-distance shooting, and of the apparent ubiquity of the Maxim, Avas in- calculable to such people as the Waganda. I don't suppose a dozen men were hit, and probably not more than half-a-dozen killed by my fire, yet I had broken up their charge, and dispersed and terrified them. And thus I maintain that the Maxim saved a great deal of bloodshed, as it had also done in Unyoro. On the West Coast, in the " Jebu" war, undertaken by Gov- ernment, I have been told that "several thousands" were mowed down by the Maxim. There ivas abso- lutely nothing of the hind in Uganda or i^revioiLsly in Unyoro. Williams had opened fire with the little Maxim, but a main rivet -pin smashed almost at the first shot, and the gun was completely hors de combat. My Maxim jammed every half-dozen shots or so, and occasionally I could not fire more than a single shot like a rifle ; but I kept it going. MeanAvhile, our own men were drawn up in line, half-way down the slope of the hill, in the open, and were on the knee in readiness. The enemy, however, never broke cover from the bananas, so our men were not eno^ao^ed. Amoncr the bananas fio-htino- was croino- on, and the Katikiro's men were ofettino^ the worst of it. Seeino- that thev were beino- driven in, and ^\eYe assemblino- in groujDS in the rear, out of action (their ammunition, I suppose, being exhausted), I seized the critical mo- ment to order our line forward under Williams, while I covered the advance with the Q^xm. There was no 344 THE FIGHTIXG IX UGANDA. holding our Sudanese and Zanzibaris ! Down the liill they went with a rush, full of excitement and mad for a fio'ht ! I detained Williams a moment to o^ive him some instructions, and he barely caug4it them up (running all he knew) as they rose the opposite hill. The enemy did not wait for them, though there was some opposition in the winding enclosures of the king's courtyards (where Williams had a narrow escape), and a few were shot here, but there were no casualties on our side. Williams was just in time to save the kings really fine buildino-s from beino- fired. The enemy fled alono- the road to the lake, and o Williams hurried off to Rubao-a to look after and protect the Fathers. Meanwhile I had sent off Grant and a strong party to their assistance, and both arriyed almost simultaneously. Mgr. and the Fathers refused to come to Kamj^ala, in spite of Williams' entreaties, so he left a o-uard of his most reliable men. and returned to me. Xone of them were harmed except a West African doctor, who, I was told, had shot a Mganda, and was then killed. Their houses were of mud, but the roofs were on fire : fortunately their mud store, in which they had placed all their goods, was entirely unharmed. As soon as the enemy turned, the spearmen and peas- antry of the victorious side had rushed in (as is the custom of the Waganda) to complete the victory, and to loot and hre the houses. Flames rose in every direction, in S23ite of my indignant orders, for the Katikiro and chiefs were powerless to stay the ex- cited rabble, who ^vere scourino- the coiuitrv in every direction — mad to l^urn the houses of their detested rivals. When Williams returned to say that the Fathers would not come, I got the pony Martin had brought U23, and galloped to Eubaga (two miles) without drawing THE FATHEES TO KAMPALA. 345 rein, to see what I could do. Mgr. again refused/ but " I im2:)lorecl him to come, saving I begged it as a personal favour, as I had some matters I most urgently wished to speak to him about, and I could not remain absent from Kamj)ala. I would take no denial, and at last thev consented to come, I oivino- mv horse to Mot. to ride, and leavino^ the o^iard to take care of their things. The king had fled, and I wanted them to let The Frenxh Mission after the War. me have one or two of their R. Catholic followers (whose safety I would ensure by sending an escort with them), to go with letters to recall him at once, to carry my messages to the defeated faction, and also to go to Chagwe (to the Sekibobo) to try and prevent 1 Compare the account given by Mgr. : " After two long hours, seeing that no help was coming, we decided to leave the mission, and to go towards Kampala. As we were doing this Captain Williams arrived,'"' &c. — E. C. Union Xotes on Uganda, p. 77. 346 THE FIGHTING IN UGANDA. fighting there. They were most courteous : standing among the blazing ruins of their houses and church, they offered me wine, and said I had saved their Kves, &c., and were greatly delighted that their store had escaped the fire. Beyond the demolition of their houses (speedily rebuilt in Uganda) they apparently had suffered little harm, and all their goods, except perhaps some few trifles, were safe. So we went, all of us, down to Kampala — myself in rear, and Grant in front with three or four Somals who had accompanied me, to protect the Fathers from any injury from excited bands. There were in all eleven of them. I expressed my bitter sorrow at the day's work, and indeed I felt wellnigh unmanned at the destruction in twelve hours of a year's hard work, and at the devastation I saw around me. " Wounded poured into Kampala, and both Dr Wright (of the Mission) and Dr Macpherson were hard at work, from early in the fight till after dark, ex- tracting bullets, setting arms and legs, and bandaging. After all the disabled Protestants had been brought in, they fetched many wounded of the other faction, and told me they had buried their dead, so far as they had found them. This I was much pleased at, for it is the custom of the Waganda to spear the wounded and leave the enemy's dead unburied. " The Fathers brouofht over a mass of women and children, and also some men, with them. They would not be contented that these should be treated as other natives, but wanted them inside our dwelling-houses, and filled our dining-house with them to the exclusion of ourselves. I would not have dreamt of allowing this to any one, had not the circumstances been such that I would have denied the Fathers nothing in the world Avhich hospitality or courtesy could suggest. As I lived in a tent myself, I had nothing to offer in LETTERS TO THE KING AND SEKIBOBO. 347 the way of accommodation, but Williams gave up his room and bed in the biof house to Mot. Hirth. I made up beds for the others personally myself ; and long after every one else, tired out and exhausted, had turned in, and after all was done, and the comfort of each one j^ersonally seen to by myself, I sat down to write letters to the Sekibobo in Chagwe, urging him not to fight, and assuring him that he should retain his place and chieftainship. I wrote similarly to the Kago (F.), who had fled with the rest, and lastly to the king. I turned in late, but was too tired to sleep properly, and was up again before dawn. "Proverbially tough as I am, and ' hard as nails,' I was stiff for long after this clay, and felt as though I had gone through some extraordinary physical exertion, — which I probably had, though owing to the intense strain and anxiety I had not been conscious of it at the time. We had some difficulty to house the priests, and still more the pack of women and children they had brought with them. These jDeople, dressed in fantastic imitations of European women's clothes, swaggered about as though the place belonged to them. They thronged our private rooms, choked up the doorAvays, and completely monopolised the dining - house, and would make way for no one. The Fathers wanted them to share the European accommodation, and so they did — in the house, in my private office, every- where ! . . . We were ready to stand anything for the priests, to show our anxiety to make amends for their hardships, and the chagrin they must feel at the defeat of their party ; but it was very trying, for the new store was full of wounded, as well as the bath- room, the verandah of the house, and every available corner. Our own men were lying out in the open (for the night was fine), but this w^as not good enough for the R. Catholic refugees. During the fight the stock- 348 THE FIGHTING IN UGANDA. ade was f^iU of women and children of the Wa-Tagleza and all classes of refugees — probably many hundreds — sitting as closely packed as sardines. As soon as the fight was over I turned them all out, but had much difiiculty to make some of them move 1 " (diary). In the evening I had a long talk with Mgr., who said, when I pressed him to frankly express his opinion, that he thought the best plan was to divide the country into two provinces, one for each faction. I did not pre- clude this idea, for I was quite willing to discuss it or any other plan with the king and chiefs, and to adopt it should it appear the best solution for peace, but at present I confessed it presented grave objections to my mind. (1.) There Avould have to be practically two administrative centres, and with the difficulties about money to maintain the occupation this was a serious matter, as it would involve additional expense. (2.) The two provinces Avould be bitterly hostile, and there would always be a fear of collision and war. (3.) How could they combine against a common enemy such as the Mohammedans ? Next day I sent letters to MAvanga, who was in the island of Bulingugwe, close to the shore of the lake, seven miles from the capital, urging him to return, and saying I had no quarrel with him, and he should be reinstated Avith the same honour, &c., as before the war. I Avould collect and return to him any of his property I could find which had been looted, and henceforth Ave Avould Avork together and be as one. I also begged the Kago to return and resume his former position. I had already Avritten similarly to the Sekibobo, for both had ever done their best to avert war. All other chiefs Avho Avould come Avere Avelcome, and Ave Avould haA^e a con- ference and discuss the best course to pursue. They should be unharmed and return in safety. In reply, the Kago, Avho Avas a quiet and ]3eaceable man, and MGR. INSISTS ON GOING. 349 a great friend of mine, came himself (The Sekibobo was away in Chagwe.) The Kago told me the king would return in two days. He was received with much goodwill by the Protestants, for he was popular with every one, and they disputed as to who should entertain him ! I claimed him as my guest, and he slept with complete confidence at Kampala on his return from the Namasole (king's mother), with whom was Mwanga's little daughter, his only child — for the king had sent messages to them. It seemed now as though all would go well, for the Kago said Mwanga was eager to return, and he had him- self merely come as a preliminary envoy. Early the next morning Mgr. desired an interview with me, and apparently the arrival of the Kago had altered his plans, for he now suddenly said he wished at once to go to Bulingugwe. I said I did not wish him to go ; that it was best he should stay here for the pres- ent, where he was safe. He replied that he had no in- tention of staying in the island, but would merely pass through on his way to Sesse. I answered that if he left Kampala he did so against my official protest, and in case he did not clearly understand, I asked Williams to repeat this to him emphatically. He said he must go, but would not stay there beyond one night en route, — how could he stay in a fighting camp ? He, however, remained there till the end of the month, and was there when we attacked the island on the 30th. " I was, at this time, in great fear lest Mr Bagge, who was long overdue from his trip to the south of the lake, should come up, all unconscious of the war, and be captured or killed, and the boat and goods taken. Mgr. asserted that if he went he could be certain of saving Bagge's life, and no harm should be done to him. He assured me again and again that he would do his utmost to bring back the king, which would at once 350 THE FIGHTIXG IX UGANDA. restore peace to the country" (diary). Under these circumstances, I said, I could not detain him by force. I told him that if Uo-anda was to remain a Christian country, it was most urgently necessary that the king should at once return, and that we should all unite against the Mohammedans, who Avould (all were unan- imous in saying) invade the country in force, so soon as they received the news of the fighting in Mengo. "I spoke to the English chiefs about it, and they were greatly depressed, and declared that if he went all hope of a peaceful solution was at an end. . . . I gave him porters and an escort, and lent him our j)ony, and did everything that hospitality and courtesy could devise. With him went all the Fathers but two, whom he said he wished to leave here. . . . With his hand in mine at parting he j^^'otested he would do his utmost to brino: back the kino-." Xext day he wrote me as follows : — " I regret not having been able myself to transmit your request to liim [the king] ; perhaps I might have been able to influence him somewhat. But it appears to me that he continues to show a greater repugnance towards a return to Mengo. Let us not despair, however, of seeing him quit his island." Mgr. Hirth said not a word, however, about Bagge, and from subsequent e\'ents he does not appear to have done anything whatever to fulfil his promise reo^ardino' him. " He also asked that the two Fathers whom he had left here should at once come down to him (without assigning any reason), and he said that he and all but two would at once leave for Sesse. . . . He requested me (somewhat brusquely, I thought) to send all messages or letters through the Fathers, saying that my messengers of to-day, not being introduced by them, had, he heard, been insulted by the order of the king."' (Yet he had said he was MAFUTAA AS MY ENVOY. 351 unable to deliver my message to the king himself!) ''This, I am inclined to think," I continue, "was in order that everything might pass through their hands, and they might represent all I said in their own colours, for I never heard a word from any other source about the messengers having been insulted, and I should have heard of it ad nauseam from the IngJeza chiefs had it been fact. . . . The two Fathers went on the 27th, immediately they got the order to do so, and again I provided porters to carry their things. Never- theless I hear that Mgr. publicly said (because they arrived late) that probably they had been ' tied up in Kampala.' This, I think, was reported by Stokes' Nahoda, who had gone down to the islands. " Next day (28th) I sent Mafutaa (Stokes' headman), a civil respectable man, who is considered entirely neutral. I promised him a reward if he could induce the kins: to return. He and the Nahoda came back in the evening. They said the king was most anxious to return, and had secretly told Mafutaa so, but that he was practically a prisoner in the hands of the R. Catholics, and could not even run away at night, as they slept all round him ! He said that Mgr. was doing all in his power to detain him ; that all the big chiefs, almost without exception, had been eager to return, but Mgr. had prevented it in every way he could ; that the latter, on seeing him, had asked him if he came from me. ' Yes,' said Mafutaa, ' to try to get the king to return.' ' Oh,' said Mgr., ' you think it is good to drive out the king and then to send and fetch him back ? Perhaps Captain Lugard will bring his Maxim and kill us all here,' &c. Mafutaa considered his words so insulting that he protested, and said, ' Surely you do not wish me to repeat this to Captain Lugard ? It is wrong to speak thus in presence of the Mujasi, who is a hot- 352 THE FIGHTING IX UGAXDA. headed boy, who ^vas hut now iiichiied for peace, hut on hearing such words will tie on his belt for war.' Much more was said, and as it came from a stranger who belonged to neither faction, I was compelled to believe that Mot. was deliberately actino- contrarv to his promise to me. He did not write again or answer my letter. ••' Xext day (29th) I had a long talk with the chiefs. All aofreed that we should send an ultimatum, and thev wrote a number of letters, all bewinD- the kino- to return. I wrote a long one also, saymg that if he came back he should have all his former honour and influ- ence, and should decide cases (especially shamha ques- tions), but ill criminal cases he should be guided bv me, and in everything we would work together. He should fly the British flag, which should not be the flag of a party. All the Fransa chiefs should return to their old jolace, power, and honour, and we would forget the war. As to the three chiefs present in the haraza when the insults were ofiered, I would forgive the Mujasi, since he spared the life of one of my men who fell into his hands ; the Kauta must lose his place, but should be reinstated if he behaved well. Salo-Salo (who is a very petty chief and generally disliked), being a thoroughly bad man, must be deoraded. I said much more in the same sense " (diary). Thus no indemnity was asked : and the question of the outrage, &c., was all dropped, and I oflered to reinstate everybody and blc^t out the memory of the whole affliir. The same evenino- " I continue. " the Wa-Fransa attacked and burnt the shamhas of Mwami (E.) on the lake shore. The owner had got early news, and put out to sea in his canoes. It was to cajDture these that the at- tack was made. The Protestant chiefs, seeing the flames, sent down men to protect him. Xext morning (30th) a verbal message was brought me in reply to my letter, NECESSITY FOR ATTACK ON ISLAND. 353 to the effect that they would return, if the victorious faction paid a fine for fighting, and gave all the guns I had lent them to the king ! This was a mere insult." So I agreed that the Wa - Ingleza should attack the island, and Williams took the Maxim to cover their landing. I remained at Kampala, lest any news (now almost hourly expected) should reach the capital con- cerning advance of the Mohammedans. As regards this attack on Bulingugwe Island, which has been much criticised, it must be borne in mind that all parties agreed in saying that in the event of fighting at the capital the Mohammedan party would be upon us within three days ; that I had. used every possible VOL. IL Z 354 THE FIGHTING IX UGANDA. effort to bring about peace for six days, offering to rein- state the defeated party in every way, as they were before the war ; that each day's letters seemed to remove this hope further and further, till a climax was reached on the night of 29th, by the gratuitous attack on Mwami's shamhas ; that the Wa-Fransa, though defeated in the first engagement at the capital, were still apparently confident of ultimate victory, and looked on their position in the island as impregnable. [For it was here that, when a second time expelled from Mengo by the Mohammedans, the Christians had established themselves and collected their forces, and in turn (Feb. 1890) had ousted their enemy from the capital.] Their forces were rapidly massing to the south (where their main army was) in Buddu, to make a sim- ultaneous attack by land, and all their fighting men from Chagwe, &c., were joining either the party on the islands or the land army. War had broken out, and, as a soldier, I should have been guilty of a folly I could never have justified, had I allowed a hostile force to concentrate in my rear, while I was threatened by a large army on my left (Buddu), the whole Mohammedan force in my front (daily expected to arrive), and a general rising of the Futahangi on my right towards Usoga. The island is only some 400 or 500 yds. from the mainland. Williams was therefore able to drive back the enemy, and practically the entire fighting was done by the Maxim. Each side had also a small fleet of canoes. I understood from Williams that the enemy fought with great gallantry, especially the Mujasi ; but the Wa-Ligleza showed no 23luck whatever, and on this occasion, I believe, they more or less turned tail in their canoes, while they durst hardly effect a landing, even under cover of the Maxim. Dualla had beoo-ed liard to be allowed to fight, and he showed great pluck. When the Waganda canoes turned he went on WA-FRANSA OUSTED. 355 with his single canoe, and apparently was completely surrounded, and engaged the whole of the enemy single- handed, under an extremely heavy cross-fire. By a great good fortune none of his men were hit. All the Fathers were on the island ! This time they again had a nar- row escape, for the Waganda were exasperated against them, and considered that it was due to Mgr. that our negotiations had failed. Mgr. himself left his confreres, and fled in a canoe with the king. The rest of the Fathers were brought to Williams, and he placed them under the care of Dr Macpherson, who conducted them safely to Kam- pala. He then went across to the island and captured some ivory of the king's. Exaggerated accounts of the " massacre " on this occasion were transmitted to Europe, inferring that hundreds, if not thousands, had been killed. Captain Williams, in an official statement, puts the outside loss in killed and wounded on the island at 25, out of which the Maxim killed 12 or less ; in the boats about 60 were killed, but he adds, " he could have killed several hundreds." A number of fugitives were drowned in the rush for boats " out of sight and not under fire. This was the result of pure panic," as they were not being pursued at the time. "A quantity of loot was taken," I write, "and the whole place became like a fair ; guns were firing in every direction, and men dancing and fooling ; thou- sands of people had collected on the island. Nothing- was done, apparently, by the Wa-Ligleza, to secure the number of canoes which were drifting about in every direction ; and we have since heard, on what I think good evidence, that most of the big chiefs of the enemy were all the while at the far end of the island, with (they say) 180 guns. During the night they all cleared out quietly. Had these chiefs been captured, it would have ended the war. 356 THE FIGHTING IN UGANDA. " The Fathers, on arrival at Kampala, were utterly done up and exhausted. I gave them the little drop of whisky we had, and once again I arranged stretchers, beds, and food (a large bowl of Liebig), and offered them all my own clothes to replace their damp ones. They told me that Williams had informed them they were to consider themselves ' prisoners,' and asked me, in some apparent apprehension, what would be meant by this. I told them that I really did not think it right that they should thus j)ut themselves into danger : now, for the second time, we had with diffi- culty extricated them, and they had gone in spite of my official protest. A very heavy resjDonsibility lay on me for their lives, and I must beg them to give me their parole dlionneur that they would not leave the protec- tion of Kampala, until I saw that it was safe for them to go where they liked. " They seemed greatly relieved, and at once passed their word to me, and I said that, for the rest, I ho23ed they would consider themselves my guests, and I would do my utmost to make them comfortable. I have had a house built for them, and I supply them daily with meat (which is now hard to get) ; they have access to their own gardens for vegetables, and j)lenty of cloth to buy all necessaries. They have since told me that they themselves think it advisable they should stay here for the present. I have done my best, as before, to treat them with every courtesy. They constantly ask about diffi3rent women of their mission, &c. ; these I have done my utmost to find and bring to them. They have an escort to take them wherever they wish to go, and I have begged them to point out to sentries (whom I had stationed at various points) any Mganda who may insult them, that I may publicly flog him. Any wish they may express is carried out to the utmost of my power, and indeed they are treated rather as honoured guests THE FATHERS AT KAMPALA. 357 than as ' prisoners ' ! One of them, Pere Levesque, I Hke much, — he has a real good honest face, and was here in Uganda in Mtesa's time ; also Pere Gaudibert, the Englishman, is a good fellow. The others are always courteous, gentlemanly, and polite, and our relations are most cordial." I have quoted this passage at length from my diary. Those who have read the bitter invective, written at this very time, by the Father Superior (M. Guillermain) , will surely be surprised at the contrast. " We are treated," he says, " as the scum of the earth. The English aid the Baganda to insult us," &c., &c. ; while heart-rending pictures of the miseries of their "imprisonment" at Kampala were painted, and their condition was de- scribed as a disgrace for the sons of France " ! Pencil scrawls were written to Mgr., and it was inferred they were penned in secrecy and despatched with difficulty ; but as a matter of fact, I gave them pens, ink, and paper, and everything they asked for that I could supply : for additional privacy an enclosure was built round their houses ; the whole of their goods were conveyed from Rubaga by relays of some fifty porters during three days, and stored in our houses. Almost daily they visited me in the morning, and frequently partook of a cup of morning tea with me, and I received them en deshahille without ceremony as friends, however busy I might be, and we had pleasant conversations, many of which are quoted in my diary. Thus, under date Feb. 19th, I find the following : " They said that the other day, when our force went down to the island to fight, the chiefs — seeing a European — at first thought it was me, and the cry went round, ' Let him be welcome.' ... I said I thought if I could only meet the big chiefs Kimbugwe, Kago, Sekibobo, &c., I might arrange peace, and they replied that they were conjident I could do so if I met them m^^self. . . . The 358 THE FIGHTIXG IX UGANDA. Fathers assure me that I am universally trusted, and say that Mgr. intends to write me a letter to say this." I quote this merely to show that the Fathers were pleased to approve my own method and action. A further passage, which I have not quoted, was still more flattering. Let the reader judge then of my surjDrise when I found that M. Guillermain had at this verv time been writino^ in the sense I have quoted ! The charges against Williams of having fired on women and fugitives are hardly worthy of serious refutation. The women were in a different part of the island, I believe, on the other side of a hill where no shot could possibly touch them, and surrendered themselves as captives. Women rarely mix in a battle in Africa — certainly not in Uganda. Under any cir- cumstances it is too monstrous to suppose that a British officer would have purposely fired on women. Recent news from Uganda states that these charges have com- pletely broken down under investigation. As reo'ards fuoitives : the armed men who left the island were all going to join the main army in Buddu, to check whose advance I had sent the whole of the available force of the Protestant faction by land under the Pokino, simultaneously with the attack on the island. The whole moral effect of a victory lies in the rout and the 23ursuit. Where this has been neglected (as at " MacNeill's zeriba "), the result has been a demoralisa- tion of the victorious side, and an access of confidence, leading to a renewal of fighting, on the part of the vanquished. The use of arms of precision — of a Maxim, &c. — and a bold pursuit, are the main factors in securing a moral effect, and a moral effect in its results is to save life by putting an end to the war. It is not, however, my business here to digress upon such platitudes of warfare. Lord Wolseley's opinion on the necessity of TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 359 pursuing and destroying an enemy in flight, is expressed in terms as strong as it is possible to make them.^ I apologise to any soldier who may read this book for having written down these truisms, but I write for those who are not conversant with such matters ; and though my profession and my duty have led me into a good deal of service," I can assure any member of the "Peace Preservation Society" that he cannot have a more hearty detestation — I had almost written shrink- ing"— from fighting than I have myself. Yet my words to Williams were (and would be again upon occasion), " If we have to fight, nib it in.'' I offered the women who had been captured the pro- tection of Kampala, suggesting that they should live in some houses which were vacated at the foot of the knoll, and I ordered the chiefs to collect and bring me all the captives. Most, however, preferred to live with relatives and friends among the Wa-Ingleza. The charge that they were sold into slavery is quite untrue, and has now> I believe, been entirely disproved. 1 Soldier's Pocket-book, p. 351. 360 CHAPTER XXXIY. SITUATION IN UGANDA DURING THE WAR. Escape of my men in Biiddu — Warning to Mr Walker — Buddu refugees make for the capital — Chiefs refuse help — I compel them to go — Ashe's complaints — Position of Ferag — Arrives safely — Missionary claims — Escape of Bagge and Kiihne — Return from Bukoba in safety — Import of arms by priests — Mlondo and Futahangi — Sekibobo makes for Buddu — His magnanimous conduct — My protegee Malia — Sekibobo defeated — Reddie in danger in Usoga — Wakoli loyal — Mohammedans checkmated — Make overtures for peace — I offer peace or war, and watch frontier — Wci-Fransa still threaten — A king wanted — Discus- sions with priests — Strengthen Kampala — Decide to defend Namuimba's island. While these events were taking place at the capital, there were many other causes of anxiety, and I will as briefly as possible sketch the outline of each of these matters. A few days before the war broke out, I had sent thirteen men with some o-oods of the Enoiish mission to their station in Buddu. Their story was as follows : " When they arrived, news of the fio-htinof had already preceded them, and Mr Walker had left. A party of Waganda came to the mission-house and told them to come out and parley. They declined, saying they were my men and had nothing to do with Wa- ganda quarrels, — being ignorant that we were now involved. One man, however, went out to them (the headman says against his orders), and a party concealed in the long grass immediately fired on him, and shot WARNING TO MR WALKER. 361 him through the thigh, and took his gun. The rest say that they then salHed forth and brought in the wounded man, which I doubt. The Waganda then surrounded the place and fired it. Our men (leaving the wounded man) escaped, and travelling mostly by night, reached Kampala in three days." Regarding Mr Walker's position in Buddu, it will be remembered that when matters appeared critical before the war, Duta had written by my order to warn them in Buddu, and Mr Walker said his letter read distinctly as though written with my authority. On the day of the fight the Pokino (chief of Buddu), who was at the capital, wrote telling them that the Wa-Fransa were all making for Buddu, with the view of concentrating there. I knew that the intelligence would arrive there, carried by a thousand tongues from village to village, almost as quickly as though a telegraph had conveyed it, and as a matter of fact it did so arrive. I also wrote later to Zachariah, and to Ferag, telling them to evacuate. I could not send troops, for at this time, as I have described, we were practically surrounded. On our left, between us and Buddu, the bulk of the hostile army had rallied, some thirty miles from the capital, and to pass through them to the relief of Buddu would have required the whole army of the Ingleza faction at least. In fact, as I shall narrate, they were not equal to the task. It was thus impossible for me, at the moment, to do more than defend the capital, and I could not send ammunition without a force to convey it. Moreover, I had always understood Buddu to be a stronghold of the Protestants, and in the previous July, when fighting had broken out, they had defeated their opponents though reinforced by the army of Kamswaga of Koki. " Consequently," I write, " I did not look on their position as precarious; for besides being the more power- 362 UGANDA DURIXG THE WAR. fill, they had the friendly country of Ankoli on which to retreat, and, if food was scarce there, they could go on to our forts in Torn and south Unyoro." About the 1st Feb. I received a letter from Mr Walker, dated Jan. 28th, saying that they ^xere on their way to Ankoli, havino' received iiew^ of the ficrhtino- and of the intention of the Wa - Fransa to concentrate in Buddu. The letter also said that Zachariah had de- feated a chief of the opposite faction, and that it was reported that the chief of Koki was invading Buddu in the Fransa interest. He also said he had written to Ferag to come to Masaka, to take charge of the mission premises, and the goods they had abandoned ! I was very distressed to hear this, for if Ferag had left the lake shore, T did not know how I could save him, and I could not understand how Mr Walker could have called him to defend the station they had themselves deserted, even supposing he had the 100 guns which he said he '' understood *' he possessed, instead of forty- live only. Thouo'h this news of their retreat on Ankoli was precisely what I had anticipated, I was much relieved to get it ; for on the 27th Mr Eoscoe had written to me detailino' some alarmino- but oToundless rumours. Some of the very best lighting chiefs on the " Eng- lish " side were in Buddu — Zachariah, Samweli, Mu- banda, and Thomasi Mkisi, kQ. Zachariah still had the fifty Sniders I had lent him when he accompanied me to Kavalli's. I was greatly surprised and disturbed, therefore, at receiving letters on Feb. 3d (dated Jan. 30th) from Mr Walker and Mr Ashe (who had re- cently arrived from German territory, and joined him in Buddu), to say they had altered their plans, and were marching for the capital with a following of women, &c., estimated at from 6000 to 10,000 people! He said they had been attacked in rear, but Zachariah PROTESTANT CHIEFS REFUSE TO FIGHT. 363 and the fighting men had defeated their opponents and killed their leader ; nine of Ferag's men had joined him, as also had Mr Smith (a missionary), who was in Buddu. Both letters contained the most urgent appeals for help. They gave me no idea at all that they were making a detour ; in fact Mr Ashe said, " We are making straight for Mengo." Both said that the hostile army was collected in front of them, and lay between them and the capital. " Lose no time in sending help," wrote Mr Ashe, and went on to say that their ammu- nition was exhausted, and their position most critical. Meanwhile, on this same day, I heard that the Seki- bobo, with the Chagwe army, was passing on his way to Buddu, making a detour to avoid the capital, and I sent Mlondo with a force to oppose him, as I shall narrate in describing that j^art of the war. On receipt of the letters from Ashe and Walker, " I at once sent for the Pokino (chief of Buddu)," I write, "and told him to hurry out as fast as he could possibly go, and help them, and I would send all the rest to support him. He did not want to go unless some of my men went too ; but eventually, after much delay, he started with, I believe, only thirty guns. I sent message after message to the chiefs, and at last Duta came down to say that, though the Katikiro had ordered them to go, all refused ! " I was very much disgusted with them, for they dare not face the others at all. They will do nothing but talk and argue, and disagree with what I say, like a parcel of old women. They have largely brought on the present state of things, and now they are cowed, and sit talking and fooling. I cannot get them to send out scouts — they are afraid — nor will they move unless supported by us and the Maxim. The position now really seems bad. Here are we, with the enemy surrounding us on all sides in great numbers, and this wretched faction (to 364 UGAXDA DUEIXG THE WAR. obtain justice for whom we have incurred so much, for whom we have fought to save them from extermina- tion, and to whom Ave have lent arms and ammunition) refusing point-blank to go to war, even to help their own people ! " I heard a report that, because I had spoken strongly to them a few days before, when they had acted contrary to my orders, they now feared that, if they went out to war, I might coalesce with the Mo- hammedans and attack them ! I now put on my own safari clothes, though night was falling, and got ready to go out at once. Williams went and told them I was ready to start, and if they would not o^o I would g-o bv mvself. Their mission- aries "pleaded" with them, and at last they consented, and then begged me to stay and defend Mengo in case of attack by the Mohammedans. They started, I believe, next day. Meanwhile I found Mr Walker and the Buddu party had made a detour to the north. Apparently their case had been much exaggerated, for excepting the one skirmish on leaving Buddu, they had not been attacked at all, and came on slowly and peace- fully. Probably, however, they would have run into the Sekibobo and his party, had not Mlondo defeated the latter. On the 8th, Ashe, Walker, and Smith arrived with the mass of people from Buddu. The two former com- plained that I had not warned them of the imminence of war, and had neglected them, and sent them no assistance. This had only been one of many crises, and ujD to five minutes before the fighting began we had hopes that it would be averted. Moreover, news had been sent by Duta (by my orders) and by the Pokino, as I have narrated. Besides, as the Missions were fully informed of events, they might, if they thought it necessary, have sent news to their colleagues in Buddu, or at least have spoken of it to me. As regards sending C.M.S. CLAIMS — RIGHT OF EXTENSION. 365 help, even had it been possible, Walker's letter, saying they were on their way to Ankoli, had rendered it un- necessary. When I heard that they had entirely altered their minds, and had formed the plan of marching on the capital — in spite of the hostile army which they apparently knew to be concentrated on the road to Meng-o, and notwithstandino^ their host of women and children, their few fighting men, and lack of ammuni- tion— I at once sent all the help I could, as I have shown. They then decided to submit claims for compensation for their property lost in Buddu, which Mr Walker said, in his letter of 28th, had been left at Masaka on the advice of their Waganda friends, because they could not prevail upon them to assist them to remove it. Up to within a day or so of the war, the missionaries had been vehemently protesting their absolute right to go to Usoga, even in spite of the prohibition of the Directors and my own decidedly expressed views, that any such extension at that moment would be unadvisable in the extreme. Owing to the impossi- bility of those at home fully apprehending the situa- tion in Uganda (for their conception of which they were entirely dependent on the necessarily inadequate descriptions sent by those on the spot, and also to the slow means of communication), my position necessarily involved large discretionary powers, and these had been most fully and generously accorded to me. But in this matter of the extension to Usoga, I told the missionaries that, so far from considering that any circumstances on the spot would justify a departure from the instructions sent to me from England, my own decided opinion was that the situation, as I interpreted it, strongly enforced the reasons on which the decision had been based. In the result, my opposition probably saved the lives of the gentlemen who had intended to go to Luba's ; for on the outbreak of war they would have been exposed to 366 UGANDA DURING THE WAR. the greatest danger, and I should have had yet one more source of anxiety and difficulty on their behalf. Even, however, in the midst of the trouble in Uganda, they again raised the question, on Feb. 9th, in spite of the fact that Mr Ashe, their president, had on his arrival declared himself thoroughly in accordance with my views, and opposed to an action which should be counter to the decision of the Administration. The question remained in abeyance when they found that all Chagwe was in arms ; and meanwhile, since the half- dozen missionaries in Mengo were said to be " treading on each other's heels," I suggested the formation of a station in Singo at the Mukwenda's capital, where they would be protected by the force I was compelled to maintain there to watch the Mohammedans. In case of attack, they could retire with this force or take refuge on the impregnable island in the little lake at Mitiana, where was abundant food, &c. This suggestion, how- ever, was not carried out. In June the Usoga question was again reopened, and a new correspondence begun. In vain I requested them to delay even for a few days, until I myself should have visited Luba (as was my intention), and have established some small garrison in Usoga. In direct opposition to the orders of the Direc- tors and my own views, and in spite of the fact that throughout the whole of Uganda they had not a single mission-station except at the capital, they insisted on going to Usoga, and they went. They claimed that missions had a right to go where they wished, in- dependently of the secular power, and wished, I believe, to make a test case, upon which an appeal could be made to the House of Commons. I am loth to enter into these details, but in justice both to the R. Catholic Mission and to myself, I am compelled to frankly state my difficulties with the English missionaries, and not to leave it to be in- C.M.S. CLAIMS — COMPEXSATIOX. 367 ferrecl, either, on the one hand, that the former alone caused trouble in Uganda, while the latter were loyal in their support of the Administration ; nor, on the other hand, that I was placing restrictions on the French Mission, while privately giving an unfair ad- vantage to the English. Moreover, in writing this book, my main object has been to lay before those thinking men who are interested in the small be- ginnings from which the greatness of otir empire has arisen, some of those problems which present themselves in these distant and uncivilised lands — whether they be problems of industrial development, the suppression of slavery, or the relations which should obtain between the administrative and the missionary elements. I have akeady (p. 104) stated my view as to the latitude within which alone I consider missionary enterprise should be free to act : and in now ao-ain alludino^ to the subject, I do so merely to give the special instances in point in their proper sequence of events. It will be remembered, moreover, in addition to this question of the right of mission extension, that the English bishop had offered, on my hrst arri^'al in Uganda, to deal with the disptites between the fac- tions, in so far as they did not refer to injustice on the part of the king. I was only too glad to avail myself of the experiment, in the hope that his con- ference with the Fathers might bring beneficial results, but in principle I have never admitted the right of missionaries to interfere in the executive administra- tion. The ' Roman Catholic Union " ^ blames me for not establishino' some stich court of arbitration consist- ed ino- of missionaries. Yet the Eno-lish missionaries declined to be bound by any undertaking ^^ hich might have been given by Bishop Tucker pledging mission assistance in the solution of " difficulties between the ^ Xotes on Uganda, p. 27. 368 UGANDA DURING THE WAR. parties, and desired me to regard any such offer by the bishop as referring to himself alone. On this subject I shall have more to say presently. I have allowed myself to digress, apropos of the claims of the missionaries for compensation for losses in Buddu, because, in their assertion of their right to extend to Usoga, I understood that they repudiated the obligation of the Company to protect them, and alleged that they went there at their own risk. Yet we find them censuring the executive government in strong terms for inefficient protection, and urging claims for losses at out -stations on that account. This proves what I have already endeavoured to demonstrate — viz., that even if the right of missionaries to risk their own lives in British territory be admitted, they cannot do so without at the same time involving the Administration. I was extremely anxious about the little garrison under Ferag Effiendi, left at Luwambu on the lake shore in Buddu. I had intended at once to form a station there, but could not do so on my way back to Uganda, because the men who would garrison it were with Mr Grant, who, it will be remembered, had gone to the Salt Lake to adjust the difficulty with the Manvuema. On their return they needed a short rest and to be reclothed, &c., after seven months' contin- ual travel. Later, the news of the orders for evacua- tion of L^ganda, and the stress of I have already spoken of, had delayed me, and when the war broke out it found Ferag isolated and unprepared. Ferag had been one of the heroic garrison of Kassala, and was a man of the greatest personal bravery. In all he had some 45 rifles, with 300 rounds reserve ammu- nition besides what his men carried, with over 100 women and children to protect, and no reserve or store of food. I concluded for certain that, when the news of the POSITION OF FEEAG. 369 fip'htino' reached him, he would retn^e with Zachariah and the Ingleza party, to whom I had referred him for all supplies and necessaries. His soldierly in- stincts, however, forbade him to retreat, in spite of the fact that he had no station to guard and no goods in his charge. He refused alike to accompany Zachariah, or to carry out Mr Walker's most hazardous request, that he should take charge of the deserted mission- station at Masaka, unless he had direct orders from me — orders which, it will have been seen, it was wellnigh imj)ossible to convey. About Feb. 1st I got news that he was still at Luwambu, and on the 2d I sent off a party of twenty-nine of my very best men — which was all for whom I could get canoes at the moment — with orders to go by water along the lake shore to his assistance. As his position was on the very shores of the lake, I trusted he would either be able to hold out till this relief came, or to capture canoes to effect an escape. News reached me that he had three days' food stored. On arrival they would either bring the garrison back by water, if they should succeed in capturing sufficient canoes for the purpose, or overland should they find themselves able to do so. If neither were feasible, they would cross to the little island of Luwambu, where they would be able to hold their own. The little relief expedition managed their difficult task admirably, met and defeated much larger parties of the enemy, and by their sudden appearance so far south, caused, I believe, quite a 23anic, which probably resulted in the evacuation of Sesse (as Williams afterwards found). They were, however, too late to help Ferag. On Jan. 29th, Mr Bagge, with the German sergeant, Kiihne, passed through the Straits of Luwambu, and landed and spent the night at Ferag's little fort. He then left him, without giving him any advice as to VOL. II. 2 A 370 UGANDA DURING THE WAR. how he should act, or attempting to assist him to evacuate. But Mr Bsicrcre at this time had not reahsed the critical position of affairs. Ferag had already made up his mind to the necessity for withdrawal, for he was quite without food, and heard he was to be attacked in great force. His plan was, he said, that the women and children should accompany Bagge (for there were many canoes available), while he fought his way over- land. Bagge, however, said that Ferag never hinted at any such scheme. Failing this, and left to his OAvn re- sources, he marched inland towards the mission station at Masaka, "passing through huge crowds of people, who mobbed them with sticks and spears, but had no guns. He did not fire on these, reserving his am- munition for the real enemy. Presently they came on these, and were surrounded on all sides. The firing, he says, was very heavy indeed, and a woman and the infant at her breast were shot dead, and two Sudanese wounded. They say they killed at least 100 close to them, and how many more were hit in the bush they do not know. By nightfall they arrived at Masaka, which was burnt. " Now, at last, Ferag began to realise the extent of the danger. He had thought the Europeans were unassailable, and that at Masaka he would find all right. He pushed on all that night, but lost his road, and was going towards Ankoli. They travelled all the next day and night, and when they lay down to rest they saw burning houses all round them, and men hunting" for them bv torchliofht. A Mo-anda came and offered to show them a little-known path ; and since the search-parties of the enemy were still looking- for them in every direction, he determined to push on, tired as they were. He woke every one him- self, but some sixteen of the Sudanese soldiers got left behind, and also his own rear-guard, in the dark- FEEAG ARRIVES SAFELY. 371 ness of the night and the numerous paths. These he lost altogether, as they were delayed by carrying the wounded. He waited a day for them, and sent parties back to search, without success. His party had a mar- vellous escape, and had no fighting after the first day ; the only killed were the woman and child " (diary). They arrived at Kampala on Feb. 9th, and the miss- ing soldiers turned up safely the day following. Poor Ferao' looked dreadfullv worn and haowrd. Arrivino^ here, he had to learn the news of the sad death of his only boy — such a 23retty child — by a gun accident the day after the fight. He was shot by another boy when playing with a soldier's rifle. I could not find out where thev could have o-ot the cartridge from. After hearing his story I promoted him Malassira Aival (first lieuten- ant), ostensibly for his good work on the Kavalli ex- pedition, and not for the retreat from Buddu. This has cheered him immensely, and he has been more himself since ; he was greatly distressed because I would not shoot the boy who accidentally killed his son 1 (diary.) Bagge was overdue from his trip to the south of the lake at the time that the fio4itino- broke out. I therefore was most anxious about him, and feared that he would fall into the hands of the enemy, who had command of the lake and of Sesse. On arrival, how- ever, at Bukoba, the German station just south of the British sphere, he got news of the outbreak in Uganda, but it was not apparently considered to be a matter of serious importance. Lieutenant Langheld sent up Ser- geant-Major Kiihne to see me on some matters, and he accompanied Mr Bagge in canoes with twelve soldiers. Arrived at the Straits of Luwambu, they found Ferag^ and his garrison, and heard more detailed accounts. Just at this very time (Jan. 30th) the attack was made by us on the island of Bulingugwe, and the hostile party and the king were expelled. 372 UGANDA DURING THE WAR. Bagge and Klihiie still failed to realise the situation, and prosecuted their voyage, passing through the nar- row straits (where they might have been attacked from both banks) without mishap. Klihne then went ashore on the main island to see the priests at their station, and Bagge, hearing some shouting, thought he was being called, and put into shore. His men, however, discovered their dano'er, and Baofo-e then stood out to sea at once, and waited for Klihne, who rejoined him later with the news that, by the priests' account, all the nine Fathers in Uganda were murdered, and I had myself cut the rings from their fingers ! The Mo'anda who brouMit the news to Sesse said that he o in himself had seen the bodies, and that Mwanga was mad to kill anv Eno-lishman ! Still they proceeded on their way, coasting along the north-west shore of Sesse. Kuhne went on in front, as his canoes travelled faster than the boat, since there was no wind, and agreed to signal to Bagge whether it was safe for him to land. Bagge waited only 40 yds. from the shore, and at length Klihne came out (secretly by night), and told him to return to Bukoba as fast as possible, as his life was in danger. He rowed all night, and about 11 a.m. on 31st landed about five miles below Ferao-'s stockade to cook food. He did not see any one as he jDassed, and understood that Ferag had left. Again he landed in the evening, but a "special providence seemed to protect him, for notwithstanding the fact that Buddu was in the hands of the enemy, and that this landing on the mainland was most dangerous, they arrived safely at Bukoba, the German station, on the 5th Feb. Bagge was again welcomed, and treated most courteously by the Germans, and found Klihne had already turned up. Klihne had seen Mwanga on his arrival, after his defeat at Bulingugwe. " He said that the king was in- ESCAPE OF BAGGE AND KUHNE. 373 furiated against the English, and had been most anxious to catch and kill Bagge. Stokes' boat had arrived, and seeing Kiihne's German flag, the crew put in shore. Mwanofa seized the boat, and looted all the carofo of goods. He filled the boat with grass to set fire to her, and called for a rope to hang the crew ; but Kiihne managed to get the boat, and save the crew — all but Bagge escapes from Sesse Islands. two, who are still missing. Kuhne himself ran a con- siderable risk. The feeling against Europeans ran so high, that he saw it was best to clear out as quickly as possible, and this even though Mwanga now looks to the Germans to help him and lend him a cannon " (diary). Bagge had not been long at Bukoba before Mgr. arrived (on evening of Feb. 8th). He said all the Fathers were safe at Kampala ; he did not speak much. 374 UGANDA DURING THE WAR. and Baow learned little from him. He had a larofe Wao'anda foUowincv, and was on his way to Bu- kumbi at the south of the lake. So much do the Germans mistrust him, that after dinner that evening they advised Bagge to start off at once by night and escape, lest any harm should be done to him. He had now at last received mv letters, warnino^ him of the critical condition of affairs, and he therefore kept well away from the shore, and steered his course out to sea, rounding the eastern side of Sesse. Adverse winds also drove him far out, and he did not make land till he arrived at the "Enoiish" island of Namuimba. whence he sent word to me. He left Bukoba on the 8th at mid- night, and arrived at Kampala on the loth safely. He brought up a strange story about the French Fathers. They had a large caravan coming up, he said. throuD4i German territorv. Owino^ to the aowes- sions and lawlessness of their headmen and people, the natives had attacked and looted the caravan. The German officer (Kauifmann), acting on the representa- tions of the priests, who said thev had been causelessly robbed, recovered much of the o-oocls stolen. Hidden in the loads of cloth were fiftv Chassepot rifles on the way to Uganda ! The Germans were very angry, and {Bagge says) intend to report the matter officially. I need not say how great a relief it was to me to welcome Bagge back safe and sound, after the anxiety I had o^one throuofh on his account ! It will be remembered that just prior to the war an army had been sent to Chagwe to act against the Futahangi. The Inghza portion under Mlondo (the most renowned warrior in Uganda) had preceded the other section, which, as I have narrated, remained at the capital for some time in consequence of a temporary excitement there. Mlondo made his way into the forests of Chagwe, and met and dispersed the Futahangi, — the THE SEKIBOBO'S MAGNANIMITY. 375 Sekibobo (F.) took a different route, and the two armies did not meet. When the news of the outbreak at the capital reached them, Mlondo hurried back, arriving on Feb. 1st. The Sekibobo, hearing the confirmation of the news that his party had been defeated, remained in Chagwe (of which he was paramount chief) to collect all the adherents of the Wa - Frarisa, with their women and children, and to endeavour to effect a junction with the rest of the party in Buddu. For it seems to have been a plan long prearranged, that in case of defeat this faction should concentrate on Buddu ; and this fact appears to me to add an addi- tional corroboration to the supposition that they had long meditated war, and made all their plans for it. Though confident of victory, it is always, I believe, the rule of the Waganda to make all arrangements for the contingency of defeat. There was with the Sekibobo's army a petty chief of the Ingleza faction, with a score or so of rifles, aiid, of course, when the news came of the defeat of the Wa-Fransa at Mengo, it appeared impossible that this unfortunate man with his small following should escape. The Sekibobo, however, would not injure him ; he did not even disarm him, but conducted him safely through the hostile country, and sent him unharmed on his way to Mengo. Such extraordinary magnanimity was worthy of a British officer. This man — the Sekibobo — I have already had occasion to mention frequently, as being always foremost in his efforts to quell the troubles which had occurred in the past, and had he been at Mengo I doubt if the war would have broken out. He was really attached both to Williams and myself, and for my part I always had, and still have, a real regard for him. On the occasion of one of the minor outbreaks in Mengo long before, some ruffians had broken into his enclosure to plunder, and he 376 UGANDA DURIXG THE WAR. refrained from firing his gun, " lest the bullet might by some chance fall inside Kampala and hurt his friends " ! So much attached was he to me that he had brouo-ht his only child (Malia), a little girl of about four or five years old, to see me, and from time to time she came to Kampala. She was among the cap- V tives taken at Bu- re Aclite — My reply — Extensions at Kam- pala— Mohammedans start for Uganda : their envoy arrives — News from De Winton : Sudanese need restraint — Grain-tax and forced labour — Envoys from Koki and Uziba — Temporary organisation of provinces — Various matters at headquarters — Envoys from Wa-Fransa ■ — Sekibobo leaves to fetch king — Mgr.'s letter — Williams' proposals for peace — Emin in trouble — Sudanese defeat Kabarega — De Winton attacks Manyuema — Kabarega sends envoys — Zachariah's financial scheme. Such was the position in the middle of February 1892. against the R. Cathohc chiefs, who, they said, had peace, but warned them that I had sent orders to the Sudanese in Torn to attack them in rear if thev came WILLIAMS TO SESSE. 389 with war to Uo'aiida. I sent also letters to this effect to De Winton. Several messeno-ers had arrived from him giving me good news of affairs in Torn. Two of these jDarties had ver}^ narrow escapes from the hostile faction. I therefore instructed him not to send any more at jDresent unless with important news, and by a circuitous route. He was to have a force of Sudanese in readiness in case the Mohammedans attacked us, but otherwise to be most careful to avoid hostilities. I also pointed out how important it was to maintain friendly relations with Ntali, to whom at this time I sent a small present by the hand of an envoy who had come from him to Kampala. At this very time a considerable party deserted from the Mohammedans and joined us. Their accounts were conflicting, but I o^athered that there had been some differences anions their faction, the religious party being utterly opposed to the drink- ing of iDomhe, while the laxer followers of Mbogo would not foreo^o it. Xext day (I6th) the expedition started to defend Namuimba's, and 023en the route via the lake. Its original object had largely been to ensure the safety of Bagge, who, however, had returned unexpectedly the night before it started. "Williams, who had now been nine months in Kampala and was eager for a change, took command. With him went Grant and Dr Mac- pherson in the steel boat (^^•hich had arrived with Bagge). He had some 600 ^Yaganda fighting men in canoes, and 80 of ours with the Maxim ; for at the time I organised the expedition, I expected there would be much opposition; but Bagge now informed me that Sesse appeared deserted as he passed. 1 planned also a diversion by land, and sent the Pokino, with most of the remainino- rifles available at the capital, to march overland towards Buddu. He had some 600 men only, but his orders were to occupv a 390 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. very extended front, and by sounding the drum notes of all the leading chiefs, to give the enemy to suppose that the main armv was advancino- bv land. He would thus prevent them from concentrating all their force ao'ainst Williams, thouo-h he was not to eno-ao-e them if he could avoid it. We had latterly got repeated news that the enemy were making great preparations for a renewal of the war and an attack in force on the capital. Meanwhile I remained at Kampala with the residue of our rifles, to await the issue of the embassies to the Mohammedans, and the development of events as regards the other elements hostile to us. Williams also took letters to the German otHcer at Bukoba, in which I asked him to do his best to prevent the import of munitions into Uganda at this crisis, and to restrain the Waziba tribe in the German territory from joining the enemy in Buddu or supplying them with arms. I also told Captain Langheld that I was most anxious to restore Mwanga, and begged him to assist me in this if the kino- should take refuo-e in Ger- man territory. I wished that Williams should go on to Bukoba and explain to Langheld the origin of the war and the present situation, for I knew that hitherto the only accounts which had reached him had been from Mot. and the Fathers. At the same time I was anxious that he should not be away with so large a force for longer than could be helped in the present crisis. I sent also a letter for Eno-land. oivino- a brief outline of events. This letter, which arrived at home a little later than the extraordinary statements and accusations of Mgr. Hirth and the Fathers, was published in all the English papers. It will be seen that it was written in complete ignorance of those accusations, and at the same time the situation I have described will sufficiently ex- plain the reason why no earlier account could be sent by me. Xot knowing whether Williams would himself karema's boys. 391 be able to reach Bukoba, and fearing to trust my full mails to such a hazardous conveyance, I reserved them for the present. Lastly, I wrote to the German officer on the subject of " Karema's boys." These two children (one an infant in arms, the other some two years old) were the sons of Karema, who was for a short time king of Uganda when his brother Mwanga was expelled. Karema became a Mohamme- dan, and retired with that party when they were ousted by the Christians. He died shortly before my arrival in Uganda, when Mbogo his uncle (brother of Mtesa) took his place as " Sultan " of the Waganda Islam. His two children were the heirs to the kingship of Uganda. They had been sent by Mwanga (their uncle) to the south of the lake for safety long ago — for Usam- biro had been a tributary state of Uganda. Here they were at this time, in the charge of the French mission at Bukumbi, in German territory. I asked Captain Langheld if he could arrange that these boys should come to Kampala, so that I might have the legitimate heir to place on the throne, in case the Wa- Fransa continued to refuse to allow Mwanga to return. I should thus have not only the rightful heir, but also a Christian (the children were educated as B. Catholics), instead of being compelled to accept Mbogo, who, not being in the line of succession, and likewise a Moham- medan, would be distasteful to the Christian factions. If Langheld could not compel their return to Uganda, I hoped he might at least keep them in safety at Bukoba, where they would be close by in case of need. ^ ^ Later it will be seen that Mwanga made the restitution of these children a sine qua non before he would consent to a division of the country. I, how- ever, effected the division (since I had promised P6re Achte that it should be made) without insisting on the king's conditions. Williams, subsequent to my departure, and just prior to Sir G. Portal's arrival, considering it politic to extend the territory of the Wa- Fransa^ and rightly considering it of the first importance that these boys should be given over to our charge, 392 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. On the 23d and 25th my two embassies to the Mohammedans returned, neither of them havinof suc- ceeded in dehverin^ mv letters. They brouo-ht back all kinds of rumours — viz., that the faction had gone to Toru to fight the Sudanese, or to make peace and settle near them, or to endeavour to persuade them to unite in a Moslem crusade and invade Uganda ! The onlv thino- certain was, that thev had left their former location, and it was probable they had not yet crot authentic news of Mwano^a's flio-ht ; so that the sit- uation, as regarded them, was much the same at the end of February as it had been at the end of January. On 25th I also sent a small army towards Chagwe to check the Futahangi. They returned on March 4th. The enemy had fled into the woods, whither they durst not pursue them. A large number of their \A^omen, they said, had fallen into their hands, but they had released them, and told them to warn their people against a causeless war. I was pleased at this, for (if true) it indicated that they were adopting more civilised modes of warfare. Mwanga at this time sent a messenger asking for four of his wives to be allowed to come to him. I took the opportunity of explaining my views to them, hoping that such a means of communication might be more efiicacious than letters, which might never reacli the kino' or miol>t be wrono-lv read to him (for Mwano-a himself could not read). They might even be stated by such men as the Mujasi. who was usually his medium of correspondence, to contain statements the reverse of what I had written. I therefore told these women that I would readily welcome back the king in spite of all he had done. In proof of my feeling towards the made it a quid pro quo that tliey should live at Kampala. The British Commissioner endorsed this view, and it was the basis of the agreement arrived at with the Wa-Fraasa. — Blue-book Africa, No. 8, Sept. 1893, p. 15. MESSAGES TO MWAXGA BY HIS WIVES. 393 king and Wa-Fj-ansa, I pointed out that, as they them- selves saw. the houses of the former had been protected daily by a guard of my men ; his wives, his mother, and child were unharmed : the wounded of the hostile faction had been tended ; the Sekibobo's child lived in Kampala, and all the women and children had been offered an asylum near our fort where they could live in safety, or were free to return to their friends, v\'hile the Fathers were treated as our o^iests. The women acknowledged that this was all true, and said they would urge Mwanga to return. I told them that if he did not do so soon, I might have to call in Mbogo ; and that, if there was war, probably both the Sudanese from Torn and the Wao-anda Mohammedans would attack the Wa-Fransa on their flank ; that if Mwanga was prevented from coming, he had better fly to the Germans, and ask them to enable him to return to the capital. For there was no doubt but that to reinstate Mwanga would be the best way of bringing peace to the country, in spite of his alleged eftbrts to kill Bagge and Reddie, his lootino- of Stokes' boat. &c. : and I felt assured that he would have learned a lesson he would never foro-et. All this, too, I pointed out to the Father Superior in conversation, observino- that it was unlikelv that the Germans would be anxious to aflbrd an asylum (as they seemed to take for granted) to several thousand armed men who had risen ao'ainst the British ; nor vet would Xtali, who was in treaty with me, desire to have this mass of people in his country, and to quarrel with me when my garrisons in Unvoro threatened his west- ern and northern frontiers. I showed them that the hostile party, by refusing to come to terms and by retaining the king, were losing their chance, and it would soon be beyond mv power to make tliem liberal oflers, for I would have the Mohammedan division to 394 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. deal with also. If they sent the king at once, I would do my best to give them a portion of Uganda to settle in, and a share in the representation of the country in the council of chiefs. It was my earnest wish to do my best for them, but meantime negotiations were proceeding with the Mohammedans, and already my Sudanese had received orders to attack from Torn, if there w^as a renewal of fighting — orders which I again sent on 29th (Feb.) On March 2d, Grant and Macpherson with the Waganda army returned from the expedition to the islands. Practically no opposition had been met with. Williams Landing at Slsse. A few shots were fired by Williams at a party drawn up to oppose their landing on Sesse, and they had at once dispersed. Williams reported that it was true PHIESTS LEAVE KAMPALA. 395 that the enemy had planned an attack on Namuimba's island, and he had just been in time to frustrate it. The whole of the peasantry on Sesse and the islands had declared for us, and the canoes had fallen into our hands. The Waganda had behaved very badly, and would not obey orders, being bent on looting and plundering only. Williams himself had gone on to Bukoba to see the Germans, taking with him the steel boat and sixteen men. He had left the Gabunga (chief of the islands) on Sesse with 150 guns to maintain our position. The Fathers now desired to return to their people, and as the Pokino with the land force had also returned, it became possible for them to leave, and they did so on this same day (March 2d). I gave them porters to carry their goods, and an escort, and messengers to procure them canoes, and begged them to point out to my men any Mganda who might offer an insulting word. They wrote very gratefully later, saying that so far from insult being offered, they had met with sympathy, and that this treatment was due to our efforts. Before leaving I told them how urgent it was that their faction should lose no time in coming to terms, for a messenger had just arrived saying that an envoy was on his way from the Mohammedans to de- mand that Mbogo should be made king. " At the same time," I write, I emphatically told them that they took no messages from me, nor was there any truce, until I get proposals from the Wa-Fransa, and until the king returns, — then I would willingly discuss any proposition, and would at once stop the war." They said they would travel night and day to explain the urgency to the king and chiefs, but news reached me later that they were halted at Bunjako, and their letters said nothing of any haste to push on. The Pokino, on his return with the land force, reported 396 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. that the Wa-F}Xinsa were concentrated ready for battle on the other side of the Katonga river. On the 3d the messeno-er from the Mohammedans arrived, but as he had no letters, I refused to consider him as accredited ; and once more I despatched an envoy (with one from the Katikiro) to convey letters. These two men were the best respectively who could be sent, and as they now knew exactly where the Moham- medans were, I had hopes that I should at last succeed in comino' into touch witli them. This was the more imj^ortant since they had now heard full news, and knew that we had no king in Uganda, so that the issue of this embassy would determine if it was to be peace or war. As before, I told them in my letters that I had nothing to do with religious sects. I was here to bring peace to all parties, but I was ready to fight with those who preferred war and outrage. On the 5th I write as follows : " Messengers at last from the king and from Pere Achte. The latter wrote saying they wished for peEice, and j^i'oposed that I should divide the country. Mengo should be the centre of government, and should lie between the provinces of the two factions, on neutral oTound. The kino- and Resident should live there, Avhile each province had a separate capital with a junior Resident in each. The Wa-Fransa would accept the British flag, and the Kauta Avould resign his place." The king also wrote urging a territorial division, since the two parties would never live together in peace ; he wished me to make this division, and he would then return. The Sekibobo wrote most cordially, thanking me for sending his wife to him in safety, and asking for little Malia to come to him. In reply to Pere Achte I jDrotested very strongly that I was most anxious not to exterminate the R. Catholics, or drive them out of the countrv ; that I EEPLY TO PERE ACHTE's LETTER. 397 had done my best to recall them, but my terms had been set aside and war forced upon me ; that all along I had said that Mwano^a must first return, and as lono- as he was detained by the R. Catholics, no settlement was possible ; that if Mwanga returned, I would not object to a division of the country on the conditions named, and if I had guarantees of the safety of the European and garrison in the R. Catholic province, I would try and efPect a settlement satisfactory to both parties, but I could not do so without the advice and assistance of the king of Uganda. I urged him at once to send chiefs to open negotiations, and I told him that it would soon be out of my power to oifer them such advantageous terms as I now could, for I was not able to delay the negotiations with the Mohammedans, and if their king was accepted here, the chance of the Wa-Fransa would be finally lost. I therefore begged him to get Mwanga sent back, that I might uphold him and refuse Mbogo. To Mwanga I wrote, that as king of all Uganda he was stultifying himself by deserting his capital and remaining with one party. That it was essentially the work of the king to divide the countrv between the parties, and it could not be done without him. The Sekibobo's messenger agreed that it would be best for the little one to remain with me at present, and I sent cordial messages and a small present to her father. Two of the Fathers (of whom one was Pere Levesque) had remained with us. They now desired to follow their colleaOTes, '''sayino- that thev were sure Mwanp^a and the Wa-Fransa did not know the uro^encv of the o matter, for unless they acted by sending back the king it would be too late, and the Mohammedans would be in (for their messenger had just arrived and had been seen by the Fathers). They said they would impress on them that it was no use sending another letter ; if the 398 EYEXTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. king did not come himself it was all over with the faction. Pere Levesque even went further than I did, saying that their only reprieve was the instant return of the kino\ and that if we coalesced with the Moham- o - medans, it meant extinction pure and simple.'" The Protestants at first demurred loudly when they heard the Fathers were going, but eventually acquiesced, and for a singular reason. " They said they did not know whether the Fathers meant truly in what they said, but none the less they would themselves act fairly and honourably towards them, and if this was requited by craft or falsehood, the fault would be on their own shoulders. It is an argument we may rarely hear even in England, — tliat truth and honour are capable of standing unsupported against deceit or misrepresen- tation— that if one is deceived there is still no reason why one should reduce one's self to the level of the deceiver — that it is better even to lose the game and know vou have played fairly, than win with loaded dice ; but who w^ould have expected such an answer from the Waganda ! " (diary). Zachariah, I think, orig- inated it. Pere Levesque asked me, or hinted in some w^ay " that the king was the strong card of the ' French ' faction ; and if they gave him up, would I acknowledge it as a great concession on their part, for they would then have no other lever by which to enforce their claims ? When this had been put forward before, I had said it w^ould be a point of honour to do all I could for them when the king returned. I regretted the phrase afterwards ; for, being vague, it was certain to be misunderstood, and then, if they did not get all they w^anted, they would accuse me of a breach of faith. I therefore now replied very definitely to Pere Levesque, saying that the rendition of the king was altogether apart from the terms given to the defeated party " (diary) ; his place was in Mengo, and his return THE MOHAMMEDANS ARE FALSELY IXFOEMED. 399 a sine qua non, without which I would not discuss any terms whatever. They left on the 7th, and overtook their colleao'ues. Meanwhile the new extensions of Kampala progressed rapidly. The lower fort had doubled its area, and here were located all our old Sudanese and Somals Avith their families. The levelling of this portion of the knoll had involved a very great deal of earthwork ; it was on a lower plane than the upper fort, from which it Avas divided by a new rear-face of jDoles. Two or three steps at the gateway showed the dilference of level. A spur to the south had also been fortified by pole -stockade work, ditch, and banquette towards Mengo, connecting the orioinal "crow's nest" with the main fort. On this were now built houses for the Zanzibari Levy. The new Sudanese, with their large following of women, &c., occupied the northern slopes of Kampala outside the fort, while the caravan establishment was located in a large village on the opposite slopes of the hill of Namilembi. The old conglomeration of huts was grad- ually cleared away, and replaced by neat and well-built houses, sanitary rules were enforced, and Kampala began to look more ship-shape and more imposing than it had ever done before. Every sj)are moment I could obtain during the past month was devoted to working out an estimate of the actual cost of Uganda adminis- tration during the 23ast year, and the approximate cost of retention in the future. On the 9th March I at last gfot some authentic in- formation regarding the Mohammedans. A man A^ hom the Mukwenda had sent to spy fell into their hands. Being in fear of his life he had (by his own admission) told them what he thought would please them most ! He had detailed the news of the fio'htino- and of Mwanga's flight, and added that I had sent repeated letters to call them, ofl:ering to make Mbogo king. 400 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. Thereupon there was great rejoicing, and they started to march towards Uganda. When on the frontier they sent messages to the Mukwenda, who at once told them that they had been falsely informed, and that they must halt while he sent on their messengers to me. To these I once more explained my views, and my desire for peace ; but in order to gain a delay, I said I must await the return of the embassy I had sent with letters, and to call responsible chiefs to confer with me. Meanwhile I desired that they should remain at Kampala, for I hoped by this means to gain a consider- able influence over them, and I instructed Dualla (who as a devout Moslem, and as the religious head of the Mohammedans at Kampala, had a great influence) to point out to them that I was actuated only by motives of justice and a desire for permanent peace, and had no bias against any religion, and also that Mwanga alone was the rii^^htful kino% and I could acknowledo-e no other. This he did most effectually, for he knew it to be the truth, and had been himself present at most of the important conferences, and had seen how I had endeavoured to be absolutely impartial. These envoys said it was untrue that the Mohammedans had quarrelled among themselves. They had, however, finally broken with Kabarega ; for he had called upon them to accompany his army to fight against the Sudanese, and they had declined. The army, there- fore, went without them, and was utterly routed. They in their turn had also taken prisoner many of Kabarega's people, and had looted and plundered the country before leaving it on their way to Uganda. I received at this time a long report from De Winton in Torn, which I summarise as follows in my diary : " Kasagama is doing very well indeed, and ' thousands ' of natives are returnino- to their rio^htful kino- and country, and show the greatest delight at the re- XEWS FEOM DE WIXTOX. 401 turn of Kasagama, the rule of the British, and the overthrow of Kabarega's despotism. Chiefs of districts are being appointed, and people put back in their shambas. The Sudanese of the first two forts (1st regiment) are doing well, but the others have been oppressing the natives, and looting and thieving more sua. De Winton, however, speaks hopefully of them, and says things are much improving. It is a very great pity there is no suitable man to command them. They require one who can speak their language, who is a keen soldier, and would be firm and strono- with them. De Winton I appointed as representative to the natives; there is no one for the Sudanese, who are under their own officers merely. De Winton talks of arrangements made for native labour to help the Sudanese to build, &c., and also of grain to be brought in certain quantities for the sustenance of the Sudanese. These ideas, I sup- pose, he learnt from tlie Sudanese officers. These are a replica of the old grain- tax, (fee, of Emin's province. I gave no such orders, and I do not approve of any such methods. It was the curse of the Equatorial Province, and the radical cause of the oppression of the natives, which ultimately led to its disruption" (diary). This collecting of the grain-tax," says Jephson, " had always been the signal for wholesale robbery of the natives by Emin's people." He adds that it was "atrocious" in Gordon's time, who stiofmatised it as brio-andao-e of the worst description." " If they were friendly they had to pay a grain-tax twice a-year, and to lend a certain amount of men to work at the station so many days in a week." ^ My diary continues, " I have written saying the Sudanese are to cultivate for themselves, that this system may be abolished as soon as possible. '"A thorouoli reorofanisation is wanted, and reo-ular companies must be enlisted, and we can then get rid ^ Emin Paslia, by A. J. M. Jephson, y>- 381. VOL. II. 2 c 402 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. of all these superabundant and self-promoted officers of superior rank, and weed out the bad lots. As their ammunition begins to fail they will be more dependent upon us. My first step will be to wheel round the line of forts, so that the southern one may rest on the borders of Uganda. This will bring them into touch with us here ; but I cannot carry out this till the difficulty with the Wa-Fransa and Mohammedans is settled. The new Sudanese are very well behaved here, and Williams declares them to be first - rate material, and better than the old lot he enlisted in Egypt ; all they require is supervision and a firm hand. Almost daily I have two or three petty offences among the old Sudanese, but in two and a half months I have only had 07ie among the new lot. De Winton says they are excessively grateful to me for ' rescuing ' them, and constantly speak on the subject. Smallpox, he adds, rages in Unyoro, but the Sudanese have vac- cinated themselves, and are free from it." I quote this passage under date from my diary, to show how constantly present it was to my mind that these people needed effective supervision and control ; as also to indicate that, so far as my available means of informa- tion went (De Winton), the accounts I received of them were not discouraging.^ As the number of women and followers at Kampala was now very great, and my time so excessively occu- pied that it was impossible for me to attend to every single matter, I relegated to Selim Bey the jurisdiction in purely social matters, which he could handle accord- ing to their customs and religion, and I suggested that a system (council of elders), as in India, 1 The recently published despatches from Sir G. Portal describe atrocities committed by these people of the most revolting description. This report, however, is dated nearly a year after I left Uganda, and it is little to be ^yondered at that they had broken out in this manner, if left daring all this period without efficient control. — Blue-book Africa, No. 9, of 1893, p. 12. ENVOYS FROM KOKI AND UZIBA. 403 should be formed to decide on such social or civil ques- tions, while I dealt only with military offences com- mitted by the soldiers. On the 11th (March) envoys reached me from Koki and Uziba, saying they wished to have nothing to do with the hostile faction, nor to participate in the war against us. I exj^lained as usual that we desired peace, but would not shrink from war against those who defied law, and I added that the same disci- jDline was enforced even among our own men. "Let them look around at the vast number of j^eople we had here, and ask the Waganda for themselves whether, during the whole year we had been here, there was one single instance where we had allowed our men to do violence, or had left a culprit unjDun- ished, even were he accused by the smallest peas- ant. This was British rule ; and as for Kamswaga, he could join the enemy or not as he liked : if he did, he must abide the consequences. This haughty tone is necessary with these savages, and its result was evident ! They energetically protested peace, and they departed, I think, much impressed, and I little doubt will give their chiefs such an account of Kampala and of their interview with me as will deter these worthies from rashly taking up arms against us " (diary). In order to provide against a famine, the Ligleza chiefs now divided up the estates vacated by the opposite party, and appointed chiefs to the countries which had previously been ruled by the latter. This was necessary in order to prevent the cultivated areas lapsing into wilderness, a result which takes place in an astonishingly short time in a moist tropical country like Uganda, more especially in this season of the rains, when vegetation was springing up with incred- ible rapidity. It was also advisable in order to curb lawlessness, and bring back, as far as might be, some 404 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. order into the provinces. The appointments, however, were merely temporary, pending the return of a king and the negfotiations with the two hostile divisions. On the loth March I des2oatched my volmninous mails and report, which should have gone with Martin in January, and it was thus that news was so long in reachino^ Eno;-land from us. These mails were sent to Bukoba for despatch via the German route, as Usoga was still closed. With them I sent the bags of mails for Emin Pasha, which had been left in my hands at the Salt Lake, and which hitherto I had been unable to transmit. On the ] 6th I received letters from the king and the chiefs of the Wa-Fransa, and I sent back replies in the same sense as all my previous letters, saying there was no time to be lost if they wished to come to terms before the Mohammedans arrived, and I would listen to nothing until the king returned. The messenger told me that Mwanga was closely watched and guarded, or he would have deserted to us lono- ao^o ! " Doubtless," I Avrite, " the Fathers Avill represent in their accounts that this hostile party are loyal to their king, have saved him from assassination, and still protect him. Yet here I have a messenger from the king telling me of the four chiefs told off to j)revent his return to his capital, not but what I have had independent evidence of the same thing already from Stokes' men, when they went to the islands, &c." About this time a slave — one of those who had been originally captured from the Mohammedans ^ — escaped from the island, where he had long been confined, and found his way to Kampala. He w^as a Swahili, and he told me much about the position in Buddu. The Wa- Fransa, he said, had intended an attack in force, but ^ For a full examination of the slave question in Uganda see vol. i. chaj). vii. pp. 171-173. MWANGA DETAINED BY FORCE. 405 SO great an effect had been produced by the Maxhn, that none would lead the assault, and so it had fallen through. They had endeavoured to get the Waziba and Koki to jom them, but had failed, and there were dissensions among them ; the king blaming the chiefs for having deceived him, and having brought all this trouble on the country. I maintained a small force of my own men to watch the Buddu frontier ; for the Waganda are never to be relied on, and those who had been left by the Pokino (E.) for this purpose had all dispersed. I had heard that an ej)idemic of smallpox had broken out among Reddie's men in Usoga, and I was therefore most anxious that he should be able to leave his infected camp. On the 18th, therefore, I sent the chief, who had been appointed to the temporary charge of Chagwe, with a Sudanese native officer and forty-four rifles, to try and restore order in that province, and open the road to Usoga. They were to build a small stockade in order to create a moral effect, and lead the Futahangi to conclude that the occupation was permanent. At the same time I wrote to Reddie, telling him he could not as yet pass, and giving him instructions regarding the sanitation of his camp, &c. The Protestant chiefs had several quarrels among themselves at this time, to add to my difficulties ; and the Gabunga, who had been left in charge of Sesse by Williams, returned without orders. I at first insisted on his losing his position, but finding that the succession in the chieftainship would devolve on a child, and that there were some extenuating circum- stances, he was let off with a heavy fine. In old times in Uganda, when a chief was ordered by the king to forfeit his office, and had subsequently been reinstated, the custom was, that he should send two of his own daughters, or nearest female relatives, whom he should 406 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. judge to be the most comely virgins, to the king's harem. The Katikiro gravely remarked, that as this would be unsuitable in my case, he had better substi- tute cows, which he did ; and I ordered the Katikiro to retain them for use as presents to envoys, &c. Both Bagge and Wilson were down with fever, and even I myself Avas a good deal knocked up with work. The weather was very trying, for the rain held off, though continuous thunder charged the air with elec- tricity, and made the atmosphere ojDpressive. Many of the missionaries were also laid up. Meanwhile great improvements had been made in Kampala, and the work at the new buildings progressed under Dualla's superintendence. Office books and records were estab- lished, dockets and files of correspondence instituted, in all of which work Grant was, as ever, indefatigable. The dwelling-houses Avere renovated inside, and made more like European quarters, while the old etiquette was re-established in our dealings with the chiefs. Even the Katikiro was required to send a messenger to announce his arrival and request an audience, and no followers were allowed at the doorway or crowding in the stockade. Trivial as these things may appear, I think that in dealing with natives they are of the utmost importance. By quietly insisting on a due respect and deference from the highest chiefs, the pos- sibility of disrespect from the lower classes is put out of the question, and one's influence and authority are much increased. In all things, as I have already said, I think the European should assert his superiority — not merely in intellect, in appliances, and in knowledge, but in his dwellings, his manners, his every surrounding ; and the superiority, which he thus unostentatiously as- serts, will be instinctively accorded to him. Above all is this important in Uganda, where a scale of deference is insisted upon, varying in its degree from the king ENVOYS FROM WA-FRANSA. 407 down to the very pettiest chieflet, and every slightest detail of etiquette is punctiliously followed and under- stood by the smallest pageboy or most ignorant peasant. Slovenly dress, untidy houses, and what I should call want of self-respect, are especially deplorable where so great a contrast is already shown by the chiefs. Living- stone, I believe, was a strong advocate of these views. Food had become a difficulty ; but as the markets were not yet opened again, I insisted on the chiefs bringing the necessary supplies for my men, who other- wise, I said, should help themselves. The Zanzibaris hated the food issue in kind, for I had hitherto always given them cloth or cowries to purchase for them- selves. For no matter how small the issue in goods," I write, " they manage to make it go for double. They start a score of little markets of food, vegetables, dried fish, firewood, &c., and each, by buying one thing in bulk, gets more. So when they receive their posho in cowries, they turn them over and over, till they manage to make a wonderful living out of it ; and with an allowance which is quite insufficient to feed a Sudanese, a Swahili will feed himself, buy firewood and extras for his meals, and have something over with which to hire boys to build his houses and fetch his water ! " On the 21st the two head chiefs of the Frcmsa follow- ing— the Kimbugwe and Sekibobo — at last arrived to make terms of peace. The latter I welcomed as an old friend, and he was most delighted to see me, and to find his child so well and happy. The Kimbugwe also I received cordially. I told them that they well knew how we had, since we first came to Uganda, done our utmost to preserve peace and act fairly, and that the war had been forced upon us. My offers to rein- state their party immediately after the fight, or to discuss the question of a territorial division, had been spurned. Again and again I had pressed upon them the 408 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAE. necessity for us Christians to reunite against a common enemy, and for Mwanga's immediate return. Xow at last, after two months' delay, they had agreed to peace 1 Meanwhile the Mohammedans had sent friendly mes- sages asking for peace ; it would have been unjust, and contrary to my own professions, had I replied with war. Consequently I was already in treaty with them, and in a day or two I expected my envoys to return. It had been at first a negotiation between two parties only, now it was between three. I had implored them to make peace, as though we, instead of they, had been the defeated side. Even now the kinof had not returned. I had said from the first that I would discuss no terms of peace till he had come, and I said so now. In three days the envoys from the Mohammedans were expected. If he came at once, I might yet be able to restore him, but the time was short. If he was retained, it could only be war. Nor could I consider his return as in any way a meritorious act on the part of the Wa-Fransa, on which thev could base claims for o-reater indulo-ence. It was a sine qua no a of peace, and his retention was an act of hostility. The Kimbugwe answered with great tact, that all I had said was true, word for word. They alone were to blame all through ; they now came to ask for pardon and forgiveness, for they were my children, and they had been punished. Whatever I said, they would do ; and they would at once send to fetch the king. I suggested that one should go on this embassy, and that the other should stav. It was ao-reed that the Sekibobo should go. while the Kimbugwe remained, and the former started off the same afternoon. The Kimbugwe would thus be able to hear the conference with the envoys from the Mohammedans, for I wished to do nothing in secret, and he should, if he desired, hear all that was said. I further said that the king should come in canoes by THE KIXG SENT FOR — MGR.'s CLAIMS. 409 the lake, for if he came overland with a large following, it might lead to a collision and trouble. I explained to them that my object in going to Torn, after we had defeated the Mohammedans, had been to find a country in which to locate that faction, far from Uganda ; I had succeeded, and built forts there, and made all ready. The Mohammedans had sent letters of peace when they saw my force, and would have settled down near my men, but this war had spoilt all my plans. They had refrained from bringing war, and they now asked for a portion of Uganda — how could I refuse ? If the Wa-Fransa had not brouo^ht on Avar, I should have succeeded in getting rid of the constant threat of the Moslem. Mgr. Hirth had sent me a letter by these envoys. It was in the same tone as his previous communications. His party had refused my overtures for two full months, in the confident hope that the Mohammedans would attack us, and that they, by playing a waiting game, would thus gain their desires. They had only now agreed to make peace when they saw that, so far from having to fight against the Mohammedans for our lives, it appeared probable that we should come to terms with them, and that they themselves, instead of stepj^ing in as the ultimate victors, were more likely to find all parties arrayed against them, Avith annihilation as the inevitable result. Notwithstanding these facts, and that the Wa-Fransa had been the authors of the war, the bishop apparently claimed as much for his party as though they had been the victors. He demanded (I un- derstood from his letter) that they should have half the country, including the islands, and half the representa- tion ; the Wa-Ingleza and Mohammedans, apparently, sharing the other moiety! ^ Unless this "justice" was 1 In recently published despatches he goes further, and intimates that a mere half would be scant justice. — Blue-book Africa, Xo. 8, 1893, p. 19. 410 EVEXTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAE. done, he on the one hand threatened me with a pro- tracted war, against desperate men, and on the other, he pointed out that the fighting would be represented in Europe as a rehgious war, undertaken by me for the propagation of Protestantism — ignoring the fact that I was equally endeavouring to deal justly with the Mohammedan faction. Pere Achte also wrote of the prospect of the TTV^- Fransa fighting for years, unless I did what honour and good faith demanded. His letter did not read to me so conciliatory as his former one. I foresaw that I should be in an extremely difficult position, for each of the three factions had formed expectations incompatible with the claims of the others. The only solution aj^peared to be, to get back the king, who knew exactly the size of the various provinces, and the number of estates in each — viz., the proportion of the population which each was capable of supporting — and then to let the representatives of the three parties argue out the matter in haraza, while I accepted the position of final referee and arbitrator. I heard also from Williams. He had arrived at Bukoba, and in response to a letter from Mgr. he had intimated what he thouo4it would be the terms which I would be willing to accord to the defeated party. He had said, howeA^er, that he had no power to con- clude a treaty himself, and a final settlement could only be effected by sending envoys to me. His sug- gestions were — (l.) That the Wa-Fransa should have Buddu and the Raima's country. (With regard to the territorial division, I shall sj^eak jDresently.) (2.) That the capital should be moved to Ntebe, on the lake shore (in Raima's), so as to bring it closer to their province. This I considered impracticable, for three reasons : (a) A very great outlay, if the value of the labour employed was estimated, had been incurred Williams' proposals for peace. 411 on the buildings and fortifications at Kampala, and in the present financial position of the Company, and their intimation of withdrawal at the end of the year, I should not be justified in abandoning these assets and incurring fresh expenditure. (h) The present capital is the old traditional seat of government of Uganda, where are the graves of the kings, &c. , and with so extraordinarily con- servative a people as the Waganda, I doubted if a change could be effected. It appeared to me that if trouble were to arise with either party, and they should seize Mengo and proclaim either Mbogo or Karema's son as king there, while we held Ntebe, the prestige of holding the old capital might greatly add to their moral force among the peasantry, (c) I regarded the present more central position as a better political centre at such a time as this, than a capital situated on the very bor- ders of Uganda on the lake shore. (3.) Williams suggested, moreover, an indemnity for the war, payable in ivory. This I considered I could remit — though its infliction would be perfectly just — for I doubted if they had the means to pay it, and its col- lection in the future might only lead to soreness and trouble. Moreover, as I foresaw difficulties in the main question of the territorial division, I hoped that this forbearance would prove my desire to act liberally by the defeated party. I have dealt with these points in some detail, for they indicate the views of the only other man in Uganda, besides myself, who had sufficient knowledge of the w^hole question to offer a solution. Since Williams had left (on Feb. 15th), however, the position had greatly changed, owing to the progress of the negotiations with the Mohammxcdans, and already, owing to this further delay of over a month, I was un- able to deal as liberally with the Wa-Fra7isa as I could have done at the earlier date. Captain Langheld, the German commandant of 412 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAE. Bukoba, also wrote to me at this time (dated 13th March) to ask me to rescue Emin Pasha, who was in a miserable ^^light at Kavalli's. Starvation and mutiny among his men had compelled him to retrace his steps from the north-west. On his return to Kavalli's, an epidemic of smallpox had swejDt over the country, and enormous numbers of the people were dead. The remnant of his expedition was decimated afresh. He then told Dr Stuhlmann to o^o to Bukoba with all who were fit to march, while he himself remained with nineteen men sick of the disease.^ " I hope you will kindly do what you can for him," wrote Captain Lang- held, " in his present deserted and heljDless condition, for I understand his sight is quite gone." I received the letter about 25th (March), and at once, on 26th, sent orders to Torn that a j)arty of Sudanese should immediately start in all haste to his succour. Later I got news from Torn that Emin had met some of Kilonga-longa's Manyuema, and had contracted with them to convey him to the West Coast, via the Congo, together with his boxes of natural history collections. He had left on March 12th. " The Hero of Europe contracted for like a bale of goods," I write in my diary, — " to be conveyed by the worst type of slave- raider to the coast ! ' Sic transit gloria mundi ' " Later still, as every one knows, a rej)ort reached me that he had been killed ; if it be true (as there seems every reason to believe that it is), the close of the career of this picturesque figure in African history is indeed a sad one. I believe Emin to have been as kind-hearted a man as ever lived, and a brave one too. His almost morbid sensitiveness led him to deeply resent the descriptions of his character and abilities which had recently reached Europe ; and I believe that it was the desire to prove himself a capable explorer, and to refute 1 Dr Stuhlmann left on Dec. lOtli, 1891. SUDANESE DEFEAT KABAREGA. 413 by his actions what he would not deign to re23ly to in words, which led him to embark on this fatal journey, unauthorised by the Government which he served.^ Captain Lang4ield had written to Mwanga advising him to make peace with us. He now proposed going- south to Bukumbi with Williams, to see what could be done in the matter of Karema's boys." Wil- liams wrote that Langheld had mentioned a conver- sation with Mg-r., in which the latter said that he had no cause of complaint against myself or Williams, but that we were completely under the influence of the English missionaries ! Mr Ashe had similarly accused us of being " entirely under the influence of the fasci- nating Fathers." But, as I have already said, both Bishop Tucker and Mgr. Hirth have more recently stated that they have no charge of partiality against my own early administration. As a matter of fact, it had always been my object to avoid political discussions with either mission, and to rule Uganda solely through its own king and chiefs. On the 25th I received letters from De Winton. He re23orted that Kabarega had sent an army against our forts, and had been utterly routed by the Sudanese, who, however, had lost their officer in command ; but there was no other casualty. He had not got the force together to wait on the flank of the Mohammedans and Wa-Fransa, as I had directed him, saying there Avas now no need for it. I wrote ao^ain, directins" him to do 1 More recent news has confirmed the report of Emin's death, and added some ghastly details. I would quote the words of one who met him in his own province, before the abandonment of the Sudan caused the long series of evils which ultimately led to the evacuation of Equatoria and its relapse into barbarism. " Emin is a perfect gentleman, and one of the most un- selfish men I ever met. Slavery and ill-treatment of natives have ceased in his province. His great object in life is to make the people over whom he has control, happy and contented, and to do as much as possible to raise and elevate them." Could he desire a grander epitajDh? — Dr Felkin, Uganda and the Egyptian Sudan, vol. ii. p. 85. 414 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. SO without delay, in case of eventualities, and I sent him a carefully prepared map to indicate the precise position he should take up. De Winton was full of pluck and dash, and was most eager to engage the enemy ; but I told him on no account to do so without orders, or until he had absolutely positive evidence that we were fighting. He had made an ex23edition against the Manyuema, and marched far into the Congo State for the purpose. I could not but regret that his zeal and detestation of these slave -raiders had outrun his discretion in this matter (for he had positive orders to engage in no war without previous reference to me) ; but at most it was only an error for which his inexi^erience must stand as excuse. As I have already narrated, these Manyuema belonged to an extremely powerful confederation wholly beyond British jurisdiction, and to provoke them might not only bring reprisals upon the little garrison at Fort George, but might even land us in a war with the Arabs of the Congo Free State. Dr Stuhlmann had told Williams that in travelling through the country laid waste by them, he had estimated that they could put 2000 guns in the field — largely breech-loaders — and they are a brave race. Envoys also arrived from Kabarega of Unyoro to treat for peace. With him alone I felt little inclina- tion to come to terms. For years he had exhibited a continued hostility to all EurojDeans, from the days of Baker and Gordon. Later he outraged and insulted Major Casati when a guest at his court, and bound him naked to a tree. He fought against Stanley without cause. He gratuitously assisted the Mohammedan party when we had fought against them the previous year. He continuously fought against me in my expedition to Kavalli's. Recently he had sent an army against my Sudanese forts. I knew his overtures to be insincere, KABAREGA SENDS ENVOYS. 415 and that, should opportunity offer, he would break all engagements, as he always had done. His cruelties to his peojDle were the theme of all tongues, and Gordon,^ Felkin,^ and others, had united in saying that his power must be broken. My pet scheme was to conquer his country at some future period and disarm his law- less bands. I replied to his envoys that any messengers from him should be unharmed, but that they must be prepared to accept pretty stringent conditions, if Ka- barega desired peace after such a career of tyranny and hostility as his. They replied they were but small men, unauthorised to enter into any negotiations, but if I would receive them, accredited envoys should follow. The probability was that they were sj^ies, and nothing more. From Chagwe I had news that the chief, who had gone thither accompanied by some of my Sudanese, had had some little skirmishes with the Futahangi, and I sent him ammunition and reinforcements. From Keddie in Usoga I heard that the smallpox had ceased, apparently owing to his excellent sanitary arrangements and care. He told me that Wakoli was reserving all his ivory to buy arms and powder, which were being- brought into the country in considerable quantities by coast traders (who frequently took slaves in payment) ; for, thanks to France, the provisions of the Brussels Act had not yet come into operation. In reply I told Reddie to remain where he was for the present, and to tell Wakoli that I forbade his purchasing arms, and that if he did so he would forfeit our friendship. Progress continued at the outdoor and indoor work at headquarters ; the new extensions to Kampala, al- ready alluded to, and the native houses, were completed, while roomy houses for Europeans took the place of the native quarters inside the upper stockade. The books, 1 Gordon in Africa, ii. 65. ^ Uganda, &c., vol. i. p. 324. 416 EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. especially the " Long -roll," showing the disposal of every man who had ever come on the Uganda estab- lishment, with his accounts to date, were completed. Similar books were prepared for out-stations at Torn and Usoga, and an office system was gradually being evolved. I may note here an incident, apart from the some- what tedious narration of events at this period. I had told Zachariah of the financial difficulties, which had led to a fear lest the Company should be unable to retain Uganda. He had gone to reorganise the pro- vince of Bulamwezi, and wrote to me from there as follows : — You told me that a very great deal of money was being spent by the Company for our sakes, and you said, ' AVhen I made the treaty I wrote in it, " The country itself shall return some portion of this money little by little." ' But since the country has not become in good order, so that it might make some returns, I myself began to reflect in my own mind, and I saw that the evil came from us. We Waganda are spending the money of our friends with no return, nor have we the memories to say, ' All this money wdiich is being spent is for our good, let us then do some good to please our friends.' We do not consider this in the least ; we know but one practice, and that is to beg every day. We have not yet learned better ; there is notliing in us to please the Directors of the Company, nor are we able to pay the money. How can we repay all that has gone in the wages of the men who have come to fight for our country for us ? In addition there is the cost of food, and the presents you have made us. All we can do is to give you satisfaction, that you may know that we are your children, and are glad to be under the British. But I see a plan myself, my father. I put it out of my own mind. Give me an answer, Bwana, whether it is good or bad, you to whom I am greatly attached. My plan is to try and kill elephants, and give the ivory to the Company. Perhaps I may thus be able to return my thanks to the Directors of the Company. I will not put the ivory into my own property. I have no property. Had I any, I would have put aside from it ZACHARIAH's FIXAXCIAL SCHEME. 417 sufficient to return my thanks. As it is, I will return my thanks according to my ability and by my plan. . . . " May God add to your wisdom to arrange all these countries rightly. Many salaams. — Your friend, Zachaeiah." When it is remembered that ivory is the sole wealth in Uganda, with which alone a chief can buy the cloth, &c., so dear to his heart, and that Zachariah meant him- self to lead his men, and expose his life purposely that he might show them an example which would ensure successful results, I think the reader will agree with the remarks which follow in my diary : "'I have been at pains to translate this letter right through, for it is a remarkable one from a semi- savage of Africa. This is the man who went to Kavalli's with me. Surely it betokens a sign of progress when such a letter is possible ? " VOL. II. 418 CHAPTER XXXVL PEACE CONCLUDED WITH THE WA-FEANSA. Eetiirn of the king — Plans for division of the country — Mwanga's view — Zachariah's speech — My reply — Wa-Fransa want Koki — I decline — The treaty of peace — Mgr.'s letter re attitude of Wa-Fransa — Eeasons Wa-Fransa were not given Raima's country — The new treaty with Mwanga — Mohammedan envoys arrive — Negotiations — Promise three provinces — Mbogo to come to Kampala — Reason for repatriating them — Williams returns — Failed to get Karema's boys — De Winton's death — Williams ill. Towards the end of March, therefore, our long-deferred hopes of jDeace seemed at last to be in a fah^ way to be realised. Peres Brard and Roche arrived to take up their residence at the capital, and I gave them the house and grounds formerly occupied by Mr Gedge. I quote from my diary of March 30tli : " News sud- denly came in that the king was pushing on as fast as possible, and would reach Mengo to-day. Stephano arrived in a great stew to announce his arrival, and asked if it was true that I wished him to come to Kampala. He told me the king was trembling with fear, and said he was ready to be killed or made prisoner, and came to throw himself on my mercy. Messenger after messenger arrived bringing salaams, and I sent back Wadi Hamis to convey mine. Presently a vast crowd in the wildest excitement appeared on the King's Hill, and surged down into the valley towards Kampala. I rode out to RETURN OF THE KING. 419 meet the kino^, and found him beino- carried on a man's shoulders. The great mass in front on meeting me turned round and followed me, and amid huzzas and great excitement the king and I shook hands over the heads of the crowd. The mass of people, increasing each moment, came on to Kampala, men clearing the road with vigorous blows for my horse and the king. From the main road up to Kampala gate all available askars, mostly Sudanese and Somals, were drawn up on each side, and presented arms as we passed through their ranks, w^iile the buglers and drummers executed a prolonged flourish, and the drums, horns, and bugles of the Waganda tried to rival their row. At the gate I had stationed a guard to keep out the mob. Mwanga in his dirty clothes, like a common peasant, travel- stained, dishevelled, and looking utterly played out, was the shadow of his former sleek self Dismount- ing, I led him to the house by the hand ; for by this time he was almost in a state of collapse, what between fear, excitement, anxiety, and fatigue. He limped painfully along. It was almost dark now as we entered the house. I presented him Avith a selection of cloth, &c., saying I knew it was the custom of Uganda to give a guest a small present for welcome. He was immensely pleased, and I think felt really grateful for once in his life. He said he had come not knowing what dreadful fate to expect, and he found himself received like a truant child returned. People flocked in to salaam to him. The R. Catholic chiefs who had come with him embraced the Protestants, and all was a scene of congratulation and joy. The Wa- ganda seemed all bursting with delight. I told Mwanga I had wished him to come to Kampala before going to his place, because I wanted all Uganda to see at once that w^e had come to an understanding and were friends. The French Fathers and the English missionaries had 420 PEACE CONCLUDED WITH IVA-FRANSA. come to welcome him, and all shook hands with him. So he retm^ned to Mengo.'^ I had thought much over the division of the country, and proposed to the Ingleza faction that the Wa-Fransa should have Buddu, Kaima, and Katambala. This they strenuously opposed, saying it was more than half the country. I told the Katikiro that his faction had little reason to be proud of their share in the war, and now they wished to arrogate to themselves the greater j^art of Uganda. In the original battle they would have been worsted and annihilated had it not been for our sujjport. At the island of Bulingugwe they had turned tail, and had taken next to no part in the fight, though they scrambled for the loot. They had refused from fear to go to the assistance of their people from Buddu ; they had not dared to go to Chagwe without my men, and they had not obeyed Williams, and had done nothing in the islands. The Pokino (E.), who was a sensible old man, pro^^osed a division by estates — viz., that every estate should belong solely to one or the other faction, so that petty chiefs of the op- posite faction should not be under a sujDerior of the other party as formerly, but that there should be no division into separate provinces. I could not agree to this, for I considered that in my letter to Pere Achte I had pledged myself to the principle of a territorial divi- sion. More than that I could not at that time guarantee, but I had said I " would endeavour to make a settlement on the lines he indicated," and this was essentially on the principle of a division of Uganda into separate provinces for either party. Nor did I think the Po- kino's proposition, though an improvement on the old state of things, would be likely to insure peace. A third proposition, that the Wa-Fransa should have the eastern provinces towards Usoga, had much to recommend it. Our road to the coast, it is true, would PLAXS FOR DIVISIOX OF COUNTRY. 421 run through these provinces, but no less would our route to Torn run through the western ones ; while if the Fransa party held Buddu, they commanded the lake shore, along which all canoes going for our supplies of cloth and goods to the south of the lake must coast, and from which they must draw their food. It was natural to suppose that the lesser people at any rate would long- be bitter against us, and still more against the Ingleza faction ; and if ever war again broke out, they would in the west be able to get arms and powder from the Waziba traders, and possibly to obtain assistance from Ankoli and Koki, whereas on the east they would be completely isolated, and could obtain no supplies of arms. My garrison in Usoga would be on one side of them, and Kampala on the other. Mgr. in his letter strongly urged that the boundary between the prov- inces should be a river, and on the east the Mianja, flowing north and south, offers just such a boundary. Moreover, the eastern provinces have always been under E. Catholic chiefs ; while Buddu, Katambala, and Kitunzi on the west have been under Protestants. Such were my ideas on the subject. I was heartily disgusted with the Wa-Ingleza, but I had merely spoken of the division in course of conversation with the Katikiro, and I declined to make any definite plans until I should have seen the king. Mwanga is a very shrewd man, and I well knew that his views on such a question, enforced by his thorough knowledge of the divisions of Uganda, would be well worthy of consideration. The day after his return (31st) I went to him. We had an absolutely 2)rivate interview — even my interj)reter was excluded — and he spoke in Swahili. He thanked me with intense fervour for bringing him back, and said that the Wa-Fransa had detained him by force. He said he was now under the Queen utterly and entirely {Jcahisa, hcibisa) ; that in 422 PEACE CONCLUDED WITH WA-FJIANSA. future he only wished to be one with me, and take my advice absolutely. We had saved him and restored him, and he was convinced of our integrity and the justice of my conduct throughout. His expressions were so pro- fuse and so emphatic that it became embarrassing. I replied, " All right ; as I told you long ago, so I tell you now, ' The more you unite with us, the greater will be your power, and the more certain will be your throne and the peace of your country.' Now what is your plan for restoring peace ? " He said that the letters written in his name had all been sent by the R. Cath- olic chiefs ; that it had always been their plan, if there was a war and they were beaten, to take one of Kare- ma's boys as their king, and that for this reason they had retained them in their charge. He was willing to divide the country if they would first give him back his nephews. I asked him what division he proposed. He pressed me for my views, but I declined to give them till I had heard his. He then suggested the eastern provinces towards Usoga for the Fransa faction. I said that I would call all the chiefs and hear what they had to say, and tell him the result. The Ingleza chiefs said that the opposite faction had included all the followers of the king, and also the R. Catholics ; that the former were the vast majority, and these would now return to their own place. The R. Catholics _^jer se were not numerically a very large proportion of the population, and they thought Bulamwezi would suffice for them, or (with much reluctance they added) Buddu. I then called the Fransa chiefs and asked them what they thought. They were greatly vexed at the idea of Bulamwezi, which I did not say I mj^self in any way proposed, but merely quoted as the suggestion of the Wa-Ingleza. I suggested that they should talk it over with the Protestant chiefs ; but this thev utterly de- BTTDDr TO THE WA-FHAXSA. 423 clined, saying they submitted to me only and not to them, and would acn ee to mv decision whatever it was. nor would thev deal even with the kincr. I told them they must not expect too much, being the defeated party. "I said, Put yourselves in the place of the other faction. Suppose you had won. and they had come to sue for peace, what part would you have given them ? * They said it was impossible they should ever have given them any. Had it not been for our presence here, such an idea as the two factions coming to terms woidd have been quite impossible. I said, * Yes ; but suppose I was here and insisted on their being restored, and asked your advice how much countrv we shotdd crive them, what woidd vou sav ? ' They said. • TTe woidd give them a verv Httle bit.' Then I said, ' Tell me tndy what vou think is your JUST ricrht and no more. Thev said, ' Buddu. I re- phed, ' If you got Buddu by itself, would you be con- tent ? ' They said ' Yes ' ' (diary i. I told them of the obstacles to crh^iiio- them Buddu. H(jw dailv before the war insults had been oliered to my men, and even (I was told) to myself, but I did not understand them (being in the Kiganda language ). How should I dare send my men throuofh Buddu to Torai. or the south of the lake ? They protested that in futme all this shoidd l3e changed. So I told them they could have Buddu, and I woidd try if I could add a bit to it. I told the Katikiro and chiefs that I thouo^ht of adding a piece of Kaima's coimtry to the French " pro- vince. They vehemently opposed this, and Zachariah, whose words alone had anv weight with me (for I had proved him loyal and less bigoted than any other), made a really fine speech. He said that Buddu was rich beyond all the provinces of Uganda, and woidd support a population of perhaps double (for its area) compared to such provinces as Singo, Chagwe, and 424 PEACE COXCLUDED AYITH WA-FHAXSA. Bulamwezi, which were largely laid Avaste by war ; ^ that it was in reality amply large enough for all the H. Catholics properly so called ; that the Waganda were foolish people, and if they saw they had a big country, and the provinces of each faction were of equal size, it would of an absolute certainty lead to a renewal of war later on, — believe it or not as I would. He said it was true that the Wa-Ingleza — to whom were now added all the Futahangi and pagans, and the king's following — desired the greater part of Uganda, not from greed of land, but because they knew that by this means alone could peace be secured in the country. They were my children, they would follow me and fight for me to the death, they had stood by me when I was weak in the land, he himself had left everything and followed me to Kavalli's at my call. Falling on his knees, he cried in a really impassioned speech : "It is not that we want the power, we wish it to be solely in your hands. To prove it, we are ready to hand in all our arms to you, if the other factions will do the same. If the Wa-Fransa have a part of Raima's country, which will bring them close to the capital, as soon as they have recovered from this blow, on the first fancied grievance they can secretly make ready a war, and when we least exjDect it, and are unprepared, and Kampala is weak, they Avill fall on the capital." I replied that I had made up my mind to add to the province given to the R. Catholics, and I had no further word to say ; let them go and discuss how best they could fulfil my wishes. As to their loyalty to us, it Avas dictated by their own interests, and from time to time they had spoken of leaving Uganda, so that it was plain they had not acted from mere loyalty alone. ^ Speke describes it as " a wonderful country, surprisingly rich in grass, cultivation, and trees. . . . Wherever I strolled I saw nothing but rich- ness."— Journals, pp. 274, 278, &c. zachariah's speech axd my eeply. 425 As to returnino- their arms, it was a safe thino' to sav, for they knew the absolute impossibility of getting the other factions to do so. They left much depressed. Though re23lying thus to them, I could not but acknowledge the justice of many of their arguments, which indeed had been 23resent to my own mind. Un- doubtedly it would constitute a very oTave dano-er if a faction, of whom the bulk were bitterly jealous and hostile, were allowed to come within three or four hours' distance of the capital. For though the chiefs might be absolutely loyal and sincere, they had been unable, by their own showing, to restrain their faction on the day of the outbreak. The Mohammedans con- curred in saying that Buddu was by far the richest province ; its estates had escaped the devastation which had laid waste the rest of Uganda during these years of war. They themselves eagerly coveted it, and, so far as I could judge, their numbers would be about equal to those of the Wa-Fransa (some said to the two Christian factions combined). Buddu would be purely R. Catholic. All the j)agans and king's people, as well as the Protestants, would leave. Moreover, throughout that portion of Uganda which should not be relegated to the R. Catholics on the one hand, and the Mohammedans on the other, religion, I insisted, should be free. These two provinces should be purely religious, but there should be no Protestant province. . The portion in which the Ingleza faction, the Futa- bangi, and the king's people lived, should own no religious domination. Armed R. Catholics must re- main in their own provinces, but to the j^^^ceful propagation of any cult there should be no obstacle. To this the Wa- Ingleza agreed. The Wa-Fransa chiefs meanwhile were greatly pleased at having obtained Buddu ; and though they naturally made a bid for an increase, if they could get it, thev 426 PEACE CONCLUDED WITH WA-FJiANSA. candidly told me they were satisfied with the terms, and they confined their arguments, for the most part, to minor questions. Of these the most important was the extent of their jurisdiction over Koki. They wished practically to incorporate it into Buddu. I had already had embassies of j)eace from Kamswaga, who said he had been treacherously dealt with by the Fransa faction, who had ordered him to take arms against the Wa-Ingleza, and now had thrown him over, and wished to oust him and "eat up" his country. These embassies I had accejDted prior to the negotia- tions with the Wa-Fransa, and I had j)i'omised Koki our friendship if he remained loyal. All reports con- curred in confirming the news that he had refused to assist our enemies, and I therefore considered that to hand over his country to the Fransa faction would be a breach of faith. Here again, by their long refusal to come to terms, this party had allowed themselves to be anticipated by others. My reply to the Kimbugwe was, that Koki must remain under the old regime. Kamswaga (its king) would remain a vassal of Uganda, and his tribute and messengers would, as heretofore, pass through the Pokino of Buddu (now a B. Catholic chief), who would be his immediate superior. Similarly, all communications with Ankoli would be conducted through the Pokino. But, strange to say, the clause which seemed to dis- tress the chiefs most was the stipulation that all arms belonging to the Company should be returned. After the war with the Mohammedans a year ago, the rifles lent to both factions had been called in, but a few remained, as did some of those lent by Mr Gedge before my arrival in Uganda. Of these I had no accurate data. The Kimbuofwe feared that this would be a cause of trouble. I reassured him at once, and told him it was not my intention to seek a cause of THE TREATY OF PEACE. 427 quarrel ; quite the reverse. I would be satisfied if the arms lent to them were returned. As to any captured in the war, or lent a long time ago, I would merely stipulate that if any of my people saw a Company's rifle in the hands of a Mganda (of any faction), it should be seized. With this he was overjoyed. I therefore drew up an agreement, which the three K. Catholic chiefs signed, embodying the conditions made. In addition to Buddu, I ceded to them an island on the lake, which would give them a footing there, and the command of some canoes beyond what they held as possessors of the whole Buddu coast. I also obtained the cession of three estates situated at a day's march from each other through Raima's country from Buddu to the capital ; so that all B. Catholics going and coming to Mengo might camp in the estates of their own party, and avoid friction with the oj)posite faction. Such was the bare treaty, which runs as follows : — " 1. The party formerly calling themselves the Wa-Fransa shall in future reside in Buddu, the boundary being the Katonga river. That part of Kaima's country (Buganga) to south of Katonga shall be included in Buddu. " 2. The islands and tributary states, such as Koki, shall not be counted as part of Buddu. If mission extension is contemplated outside of Buddu, permission for the proposed extension shall first be obtained from the Eesident at Kampala.^ 1 Note from Eeport No. 4, Africa No. 2, 1893 : " From this it will be obvious that it was not my motive to interfere in any way with the R. Catholic religion, but only to take such necessary precautions with the political party, lately in arms against us, as should, so far as possible, ensure peace for the future. When asked by the priests whether E. Catholics could reside in Chagwe, &c., I told them clearly that there was no prohibi- tion to their doing so, if not supported by arms and powder, and that I would do all in my power for their protection. In an exj^lanatory letter to Mgr. I pointed out that though armed men are prohibited from crossing the Katonga without permission, there is no prohibition against the E. Catholic religion (unaccompanied by arms) throughout Uganda. I also 428 PEACE CONCLUDED WITH WA-FRANSA. " 3. All armed men of this party, who recently fought against the British, shall remain in Bucldu. If any armed party wishes to leave Buddu to come to Mengo or elsewhere, they shall obtain permission to do so, and shall state the number of guns they have. If armed men enter the remaining part of Uganda without per- mission, they shall be liable to have their arms confiscated. " 4 The British flag shall be flown in Buddu, and the employes of the Company passing through Buddu shall be well treated and supplied with food. " 5. If the Company builds one or more stations in Buddu, every facility shall be given, and the Company's representative and employes shall be treated with all respect. " 6. If after a period of two years from this date there shall be no reason to entertain any doubt as to the loyalty and good con- duct of the people of Buddu, it shall be open to the Eesident to modify the above restrictions. 7. All rifles and arms belonging to the Company and now in possession of the people of Buddu shall be returned to Kampala. " 8. All the conditions of the treaty made this day with Mwanga, king of Uganda, shall be observed and carried out, and Mwanga shall be recognised as the sole king of Uganda. " 9. The status of Koki shall be as formerly — viz., a tributary state of Uganda. Its revenues shall be collected as formerly by the Pokino, and messages, &c., to Uganda shall pass through the chief of Buddu. Shamhas, however, are not to be seized or occupied by the people of Buddu, nor is w^ar to be made on Koki without the permission of the Eesident. " 10. The shamhas belonging formerly to the Pokino in Mengo — viz., those occupied by Buddu chiefs — shall now belong to the people of Buddu. " 11. Shamhas shall be given to the chief of Buddu at intervals of one day's march from Mengo to Buddu, so that the people of Buddu may camp each night in their own shamhas on their w^ay to and from the capital. 12. The islands of Lulamba and Selinia shall belong to Buddu. " 13. The status of Uziba and of Bwera shall remain unaltered. told him that I regretted having inserted the clause regarding mission extension, which had no other signification than the understanding already existing between us, that missionaries, before contemplating an extension beyond the limits of Uganda, should first consult me." THE TREATY OF PEACE. 429 and the old customs as regards messengers, &c., from Xtali of Ankoli. " N.B. — There is nothmg in this agreement intended to be pre- judicial to the interests of the E. Catholic religion. It has been made at the express wish of the four leading E. Catholic chiefs formerly, Kimbugwe, Sekibobo, Kago, and Pauliti. They prefer to have a separate portion of the country, rather than to be rein- stated in their former positions, and they themselves have told me they prefer Buddu to the whole of Singo, Kitunzi, &c. (Signed) " F. D. Lugard, Captain, Commanding. (And by E. Catholic Chiefs.) "Kampala, Ajiril 5, 1892." In concluding these terms of peace, my first idea of allowing the chiefs to argue it out in the king's haraza had not been found feasible, for the E. Catholic chiefs declined to treat with the king or Ingleza chiefs, and Mwanga himself demurred to a division of the country unless Karema's sons were first restored to him ; he also favoured the eastern j^i'ovinces being given to the Wa-Fra7isa, w^hereas that faction would have nothing to say to any division which did not include Buddu. Such was the formal agreement, but I had by no means given up my idea of obtaining for the E,. Catholics some further concession, if I found that they really meant peace and accepted my decisions. In the concessions already made I had met with, the most de- termined opposition from the Inglezct chiefs, whom I describe in my diary as "a disgusting, ungrateful, cantankerous lot, who occasionally drive me beyond all patience." The fact was, that two at least of the English missionaries had lent their countenance to the attitude taken by the chiefs, and I fear it was largely owing to their advice that I met with the opposition I did, though it was impossible that they should know the full conditions of the case or the pledges which bound me. I shall presently explain 430 PEACE CONCLUDED WITH WA-FRANSA. this attitude ; for though I am loth to reopen past controversies, which for my own part I have been only too glad to suppress, it is impossible for me to give a truthful picture of the set of circumstances which con- trolled my action in this most difficult problem of the settlement of Uganda between the three factions, with- out indicating the important part played in it by the missionaries of both sects. It will be remembered that I had replied to Pere Achte that I would, when the king returned, consent to make a peace with the Fransa faction "on the lines indicated" by him. The principle of a territorial division (of the soundness of which I had at first ex- pressed a doubt) was the principal point. This I had ceded. The territory given, though in superficial area not equal to a third of the country, was preferred by the accredited chiefs to either a return to the status quo ante, or to Singo and Kitunzi, which would have been fully equal to a territorial third of the country. In view, however, of the fact that they had provoked the war, and were the defeated party, and yet had detained the king and refused to make peace, till they had no alternative, it surely would be ridiculous to urge that they were in justice and honour entitled as a polit- ical faction to an equal portion of Uganda with the victors, or even that they had greater claims than the Mohammedans, who had forborne to bring war when the opportunity was in their favour. Moreover, the country allotted them was adjudged by themselves to be all they could in justice expect, and they were, I understood, pleased at obtaining it ; the Mohammedans coveted it ; I myself, from all the information I could gather, considered it adequate to the needs of the purely religious party of the R. Catholics ; ^ and there was no ^ The Fathers have loudly complained that the territory was insufficient to support the E. Catholic population, and that in consequence of over- THE TREATY OF PEACE. 431 prohibition against their settling elsewhere in Uganda, so long as they were unarmed.^ Their jDriests had already availed themselves of this, and with much difficulty I obtained from the king a restitution of all their estates at the capital and elsewhere. All question of indemnity for the war, and for the great quantities of Protestant mission goods looted in Buddu, had been waived. Lastly as to the question broached by Pere Achte in his letter, of making their frontier extend to the capital, which should be situated midway between the ]3rovinces. I had myself at first suggested this, but I could not but acknowledge that the continued refusal of the hostile faction to come to terms had weakened their claims. Even if their frontier did not actually extend to the capital, I had been strongly in favour of giving them half of Raima's (the intervening) country. But all parties agreed in saying that to halve a province was absolutely impossible in Uganda. There could but be one Raima, and he must be either R. Catholic or Protestant ; and if the country were halved, one or other faction must be under a chief of the opposite party, which would be contrary to my promises and the principles of the agreement. My efforts for the TT"a- Fransa had almost alienated from me the Ingleza party, and the relations between us were most strained. Yet I heard constant news that the Wa-Fvansa were by no means peacefully disposed, and I received (April 6th) a letter from Mgr. (dated March 26th), in which he wrote crowding a plague broke out. Capt. Williams, the 'Times' correspondent, and others, all agree after a personal inspection that the population was insufficient to occupy the estates. Sir G. Portal writes: "The reports which have been furnished to me are to the effect that even now about four-fifths of the whole country in Buddu is uncultivated and uninhabited, although apparently very fertile and well watered." — Blue-book Africa, No. 8, 1893, p. 8. ^ " I am assured," says Sir G. Portal, " that at the present moment there are several hundreds of E. Catholics living in this town, and within half an hour of the king's residence." — Blue-book Africa, No. 8, 1893, p. 8. 432 PEACE CONCLUDED WITH WA-FJIANSA. as follows : " Je suis parfaitement de votre avis quand vous me dites qu'il faut procurer le prompt retablissement de la paix ; les Catholiques, qui se sont masses au Buddu, 7i'en voudraient pas; ils voudraieiit retrouver tout ce qu'ils ont perdu." The italics are mine, and I read the words to mean that the Wa-Fransa were not desirous of peace. The Fathers had vehemently denied the possibility of their faction fighting again, and represented them as extremely loyal, absolutely free from any sedition, &c. In the middle of all this I remarked that I had news that they had not ceased to wish for war, and reports daily reached me to that effect. They replied that these were malicious lies. " Mgr. Hirth himself says so," I replied. This they indignantly denied. I picked up his letter and read the sentence. The result was ludicrous. They said it must have been written in haste, and a word omitted. I pointed out that the insertion of a " not " would make the next sentence nonsense. Ultimately they copied the words, and said they would ask for an explanation. None ever reached me. In reply to Mgr., I said that his words had caused great surprise here, both to the king and the chiefs of both factions. I had been doing my utmost to get the most liberal terms possible for the Wa-Fransa, but in face of this statement in his letter it was impossible for me, as a soldier, to allow the party whom he declared "did not wish for peace" to approach close to the capital with their arms, as they would be enabled to do if I gave them Raima's country. It may be urged, that the hostile party had given a conclusive proof of their desire for peace by sending back the king. It, however, seemed doubtful whether this was the case. The Sekibobo, who had gone to fetch him, had, I understood, merely assisted him to escape. Mwanga, I was told, had got to the lake, and THE TREATY OF PEACE. • 433 rowed out to sea in a canoe for his life. He himself said (and I heard the same thing from other sources) that had he attempted to come by land, the bulk of the faction would have murdered him rather than allow him to return to Uganda. Under the circumstances, therefore, I had adhered, as closely as was 230ssible, to the lines indicated by Pere Achte, though I think that this letter of Mgr. 's, together with the other news I have detailed, would have justified me, had I been so minded, in considering my obligations cancelled. On the contrary, however, as I shall narrate, I obtained a further concession for the R. Catholics, adding very largely to their territory in the south ; and eventually, when I left Uganda, I urged uj)on Captain Williams that, if they remained well-behaved, he should still further increase their area by giving them Bwera, and perhaps some other of the islands. Pere Brard, however, continued to protest vehemently against my division, and to thus create discontent in the minds of the E,. Catholic chiefs, stating that it was only a ter- ritorial seventh, regardless of the fact that the chiefs had preferred this "seventh" to a territorial third, and ignoring the other concessions made. The agreement was taken to the king for final rati- fication, and he made a most sensible speech on the occasion. At the same time the Ingleza chiefs urged the appointment of the Sekibobo as the new Pokino of Buddu, who would now be head chief of the B. Catholics. I declined to offer an opinion either way. The Kimbu- gwe, who had formerly been head of his party, had most influence with them ; but the Sekibobo was liked by all parties, while the Kimbugwe was detested by the Wa- Ingleza, who said the arrangements for the war had been matured in his house. After some discussion the Sekibobo was appointed. The Kimbugwe took the de- cision with the utmost good-breeding, and both quietly VOL. ir. 2 E 434 PEACE CONCLUDED WITH WA-FJiANSA. thanked the king for his appointment — you would not have known who had won and who had lost. He then started for Buddu with some 250 of his faction whom he had collected. The new Pokino (with the Kago) re- mained at the capital (where, of course, he held all the estates of his office), to represent the R. Catholics. Some disputes having arisen regarding the boundaries of the Waziba and Koki in the south of Buddu, mes- sengers were sent at the same time to inquire into the matter, and bring envoys to decide the frontiers in question. I presented at this time (April 11th) a new treaty to Mwanga. I had it done into Kiganda by Duta (who spoke Swahili fluently), and myself ex23lained the full meaning of every single word to him. After it was so translated, I circulated it to the king and chiefs, that they might discuss each clause. It was in per- petuity, according to the instructions I had received from England. All were eager to sign it, and it was slowly read through at a large baraza, at which several of the English missionaries were present, and then signed by the king and chiefs. Mwanga thereupon demanded an English flag, which I gave him. The Kimbugwe also asked for a flag, saying that the Fransa faction were now most willing and eager to fly it. I of course gladly gave it to him. So at last the British flag flew over Uganda, over both creeds alike, and the national distinctions of Fransa and Ingleza were abolished. The new treaty was as follows : — " I, Mwanga, Kdbaka of Uganda, do liereby make the follow- ing treaty (in supersession of all former treaties whatsoever, with whomsoever concluded) with Captain F. D. Lugard, D.s.o,, an officer of the army of her Majesty Queen Victoria, Queen of England, &c., acting solely on behalf of the Imperial British East African Company (incorporated by royal charter) ; the aforesaid Captain F. .1). Lugard, d.s.o., having full powers to NEW TEEATY WITH MWAXGA. 435 conclude and ratify the same on behalf of the said Company. And to this treaty the principal officers and chiefs of my country do sign their names as evidence of their consent and approval. " Clause 1. The Imperial British East African Company (herein- after called ' the Company ') agree on their part to afford pro- tection to the kingdom of Uganda, and by all means in their power to secure to it the blessings of peace and prosperity, to promote its civilisation and commerce, and to introduce a system of administration and organisation by which these results shall be obtained. " Clause 2. I, Mwanga, Kalaha of Uganda, in the name of my chiefs, people, and kingdom, do acknowledge the suzerainty of the Company, and that my kingdom is within the British sphere of influence, as agreed between the European Powers. And in recognition hereof I undertake to fly the flag of the Company, and no other, at my capital and throughout my kingdom ; and to make no treaties with, grant no kind of concessions to, nor allow to settle in my kingdom and acquire lands or hold offices of state, any Europeans of whatever nationality, without the know- ledge and consent of the Company's representative in Uganda (liereinafter called 'the Resident'). " Clause 3. The Resident, as arbitrator, shall decide all disputes and all differences between Europeans in Uganda. All lands acquired by Europeans in Uganda shall be subject to his consent and approval, and shall be registered in his office. All arms in possession of Europeans and their followers shall be marked and registered by the Resident. His decision in all matters con- nected with Europeans shall be final, and subject only to appeal to the higher authorities of the Company. All employes of the Company shall be solely under the orders of the Resident. " Clause Jp. The consent of the Resident shall be obtained, and his counsel taken by the king, before any war is undertaken, and in all grave and serious affairs and matters of the State, such as the appointment of chiefs to the higher offices, the assessment of taxes, kd. Clause 5. Missionaries — viz., tliose solely engaged in preach- ing the Gospel, and in teaching the arts and industries of civilisation — shall be free to settle in the country, of wdiatever creed they may be, and their religious rights and liberties shall be respected. There shall be perfect freedom of worship. No one shall be compelled to follow any religion against his will. 436 PEACE COXCLVDED WITH WA-FBAXSA. " Clause 6. The property of the Company and its employes, and all servants of the Company, shall be free from the incidence of all taxes. " Clause 7. The revenues of the country shall defray, as may be found feasible, the money expended purely on the development and oroanisation of the country, the expenses of its garrisons, &c. For such objects the king shall supply labour and give every facility. " Clause 8. All arms in the country shall be registered, and a licence givt-n fur them. Unregistered arms shall be liable to confiscation. The importation of arms and munitions is prohibited. " Clause 9. Traders of all nations shall be free to come to Uganda, provided they do not import or otfer for sale goods pro- hibited bv international aoreement. " Clause 10. Slave-trading or slave-raiding, or the exportation or importation of people for sale or exchange as slaves, is prohibited. '■' Clause 11. The Company will uphold the power and honour of the king, and the display of his Court shall be maintained. " Clause 12. This treaty shall be binding in perpetuity, or until cancelled or altered by the consent and mutual agreement of both parties to it. "Dated Kampala, this 30th day of March 1892. (Signed ) F. D. Lugaed, Captain, Qtli Regiment, . Offlciating Resident in Uganda, Imperial British East African Company. ]MwAXGA, his X mark, KaJjala of Uganda. " I certify that the signature of Mwanga was made in my presence, and was of his own free will, (Signed) " \s. H. AVilliams, Captain, Boyal Artillenj. ''April 11, 1S92." (Here follow the signatures of the Protestant and R. Catholic chiefs dulv witnessed. Below ao-ain follow the signatures of the Mohammedan chiefs, dated 3d June, with a certificate that " the treaty was read in their presence in the vernacular before the king in public harazaT and signed l)v mvself.) MOHAMMEDAN ENVOYS ARRIVE. 437 Simultaneously with these negotiations with the Fransa party, I had been conducting shauris with the Mohammedan envoys. My last messengers and letters had reached the Moslem camp just after that party had received word from the Mukwenda, telling them to advance no further into Uganda, and that the news given them by the spy they had caught was false. They had at once deputed several of their principal chiefs to accompany my men to Kampala, where they arrived the day after Mwanga returned. I reminded them how I had tried to make peace before we fought a year ago, and how, after the war, I had sent a prisoner with a letter. I described my repeated efforts of late to get into communication with them. I asked them to tell me now how we could come to terms. They said that they too had sent to Torn to make peace, but I had left ; that my messengers had told them there was still no king in Uganda, and though they had heard it was not true that I had actually sent to ' call Mbogo, they had nevertheless started with the idea that he would be accepted. Now they had arrived to find Mwanga reinstated. I explained that I had replaced Mwanga because he was the rightful king, and the only surviving son of Mtesa ; that Mbogo was not in the line of succession, and, failing Mwanga, Karema's son would be heir. Mwanga's past history did not warrant our jDlacing great confidence in him, but it would be the duty of the British Resident to see that justice was done. About that they need have no fear. They replied that they fully trusted me. They had heard the news of Uganda, and had sent into German territory to Unya- nyembe (far to the south of the lake) to inquire, and on all sides had heard confirmation of our imiDartiality and justice. Had they not had absolute confidence in us they would long ago have brought war, and won 438 PEACE COXCLUDED WITH WA-FIiAXSA. Uganda for themselves. They would accept Mwanga, since he was to be guided by me, provided I would give them a province in which to settle. Mbogo should have an estate as a private individual, and entirely resign his position. To this I said I could not agree. Mbogo must come to Kampala, and j^lace himself in my hands ; otherwise, if there was ever any trouble, he would at once be put up again as king, and having a part of Uganda, the Mohammedans would try to get all. I was pledged to Mwanga and the Waganda to demand that Mbogo should not remain with his faction, and on this basis alone could I make peace. The envoys were a particularlv nice set of men, to several of whom I took a strono- likino\ Dualla. of course, was absolutelv invaluable. From morninof till night he was never weary of telling them of my efforts to deal justly. The chiefs replied that my words were very, very hard ; that to give up their king to me was wellnigh impossible to Waganda. However, if I would promise them a province in Uganda they could manage it. If I Avould not, and demanded the kino- first, all would think on their return that they had utterly failed in their mission. For at present all expected that Mboo-o would be made kino-. Thev had to bear the O CD ^ unwelcome news, that not only was Mwanga restored, but that I insisted on Mbogo being given up to me. If they had likewise to say that no promise of repatria- tion in Uo'anda had been oiven to their faction, mv reply would be looked upon as entirely hostile. 1 at once promised that they should have a province in Uganda, and thereupon there was great rejoicing, and all rose and shook hands ^^dth me, and thanked me most gratefully, assuring me there was no fear but that Mbogo would come. I deferred the specification of the province until the negotiations with the R. Catholics should be finished. MBOGO TO COME TO KAMPALA. 439 A further difficulty arose. I wished that before entering Uganda they should place Mbogo in my hands. They, on the other hand, knew that their people would regard this with suspicion, and they would wish to enter into their province first, and render up Mbogo afterwards. At first the difficulty seemed almost insurmountable, for knowing the char- acter of the Waganda, I durst not allow this large force to enter and take possession of a part of Uganda in the mere trust that they would subsequently carry out their obligations. I bridged the difficulty by suggesting that we should meet half-way. I would come to the Mukwenda's capital, where Mbogo with a small follow- ing should meet me, while the main body still remained on the frontier. If we agreed in all matters, and the negotiations were concluded, Mbogo should return with me to Kampala, and the Mohammedans should take possession of their province. Like the Fransa envoys, they refused to deal ki any way with the Ingleza chiefs, saying they came to submit to me alone and no other. The king sent to call them to the haraza, but they referred to me as to whether they should go. I said they certainly should do so ; but when Mwanga asked them what words they had come to say, and what province they wanted, they replied that their conference was with me alone I They carried themselves with great dignity and assur- ance, and so far from being subjected to insults from the peasantry, they were treated with much deference. In the haraza all was cordiality, and incidents of the war were recalled and relatives inquired after on both sides in a very friendly manner. I had to exercise a considerable diplomacy in discussing with the Moham- medans the question of the 23rovince which should be given to them. My idea was, that they should have the three comparatively small provinces of Kitunzi, 440 PEACE CONCLUDED WITH WA-FHANSA. Katambala, and Kasuju, which together were probably inferior in value to Buddu. By suggesting two only of these at first, and eventually giving the third as a great concession, I carried my point, and left them at the same time greatly delighted, and under the impression that they had scored a success. I expected that the Katikiro and Ingleza chiefs would be much pleased at this arrangement, but I found them "just as unreasonable in this matter as they had been with regard to the R. Catholics — they will listen neither to justice, fair-play, nor common-sense " (diary). How- ever, I had gained experience by their previous attitude, so I determined to act on my owji initiative on this occasion. I concluded the negotiations with the Moham- medans, and they had to submit, which they did with the worst possible grace. I was es23ecially anxious that the Wa-Islam should have these provinces, and not the alter- native ones of Singo and Kitunzi, for they would thus be situated more or less between the two Christian fac- tions, who were now most bitterly hostile to each other. Moreover, Singo, though at present depopulated and laid waste, would in the course of time, under an era of peace, develop into a most populous country, and though anxious to deal fairly by all, I was by no means eager to give more than was necessary to the Mohammedans. Sir G. Portal is reported to have said that the posi- tion of the 23rovinces accorded to the Mohammedans so cramps them that they are not to be feared, and will probably gradually become absorbed by the Christian factions. I am glad to hear this verdict. My efforts to secure their king were made in order to bring them on to the same ijolitical footing as the other two fac- tions, when, instead of being a menace to the country, as an independent and jjowerful body with a king of their own and in league with Kabarega, they would be merelv an internal faction, useful in maintainino- the EEASOXS FOR EEPATEIATIXG MOHAMMEDAXS. 441 triangular equilibrium.^ They had raided constantlv, and, in consequence, all that jDortion of Uganda towards their camp was depopulated and waste. It must also be remembered that thev were all Wao-anda. and not Arabs or aliens. It seemed a strano-e ironv of fate, which had com- pelled me, who had hitherto been the oj^ponent of Islam in Africa, to jDOse as its champion. But the folly of the Christian factions had given to the Mohammedans an unlooked-for advantao-e. and circumstances now com- pelled me to repatriate them in Uganda, instead of locating them, as I had hoped, near my forts in Unyoro. Since they had appealed to me. I could only act under the terms of the charter <)f the Companv which I rej^resented, which allowed absolute freedom of creed to all. Moreover," I write, "when once I know for certain that their profession of religion is sincere, and its name is not a mere cloak for slave-dealing. Szc mv feeling is, that God will deal with the religions of these natives as seems good to Him. These people are as sincere in their belief of the acceptability of their form of worship as we are of ours. Let Him judge, and that which contains the real truth will last in the end. as Carlyle says." As for me, my duty is to follow justice according to the ^ For this reason I am sorry — merely as a matter of policy — to hear of their recent expulsion. That large territorial extensions to the armed Wa-Fransa would be viewed by them with distrust, and as unfaii', except some corresponding concession was made to themselves, was a foregone con- clusion— unless they were handled with great tact — especially (if the majD in the ' Times ' is to be trusted) if these extensions included long tongues of land running almost conterminously with their province. To await their gradual absorption by the other sects — as anticipated by Sir G. Portal — would in my view have been preferable to expelling them. At the present moment, when the E. Catholics are represented by Mgr. Hirth himself as selling all they have to buy arms from German territory (Blue-book Africa, Xo. 8, 1893, p. 13), the Moslems might have served a purpose in maintaining the eciuilibrium. The country necer icas " well rid of them," as a newspaper correspondent states, who condemns me for repatriating them. - Hero Worship : Life of Mahommet, ixissiiu . 442 PEACE COXCXrDED WITH WA-FBAXSA. capacity of reason I may have. It is not my diitv to set myself in God's place, as an arbitrator of which relioion is rio-ht and which is ANTono-. • Know. O man. that to know and do the thino- that is rio-ht. and to follow after justice, that shall bring a man peace at the last.' This shall be my motto." Thus I wrote in mv 2)rivate diary at the time, for I felt how serious was the task I had been called upon to perform, and the resj^on- sibilitv it involved was not lio-htlv reo-arded bv me. I can trutlifiilh' sav tliat I tried to do the thino- that was rio-ht. ' The Mohammedan Wao^anda numbered with their women and followers many thousands of soids. " This vast mass of people," I write, " must be dealt with and located somewhere. To me it appears best to locate them where they shall be immediately under my own control, where I may foster what is best in their creed and check its evils. In a distant place the evil may get the better of the good. My action is not encouraging Islamism. l)ut rather controllincr and limit ino- it." To "root out and exterminate these people (as advocated by Mgr. Hirth ) seemed to me neither feasible nor just. (Jn the 4th April Williams returned. Accompanied by the German official, Captain Langheld (whose courtesy and kindness nothing could exceed), he had been to the south of the lake to endeavour to persuade the mothers of the children to brino- Karema s bovs to Uo-anda. They naturallv, however, feared lest harm should happen to them, and declined. Captain Langheld promised to prevent their beino- smu cooled into Uganda, for our object was to prevent either of them being brought by the E. Catholics and proclaimed as their king. Pere Hautcoeur. in whose charo'e thev were, ao-reed to hold himself responsible that they should not leave Bukumln. For mv part I did not think it ^^'as a matter for entreat v at all. and I at once wrote t(^ FAIL TO GET KAREMA's BOYS. 443 the Germans saying that Mwanga, as their natural guardian, claimed that they should be sent back to Uganda. I enclosed a letter from him to this effect, and added that I, as Administrator here, strongly sup- ported his claim ; for not only did it constitute a danger to the State that they should be in the hands of the party lately in arms against us, but also, in the event of the death of Mwanga, it was of paramount import- ance that the heir to the kingship should be close at hand, that the chaos and trouble which usually super- vene upon the death of a king in Uganda might be avoided. This was the more pressing since the Moham- medans had a rej)resentative in Mbogo, as also in a third infant son of Karema. Williams also brought news that the Germans, finding that arms and powder were pouring in from the west, through the Congo State, had withdrawn their prohibi- tion to the import of munitions, except so ftir as breech - loading arms and ammunition were concerned ; and that Langheld could not therefore any longer check the import of guns and powder to Uganda, as he had hitherto so kindly exerted himself to do. For this purpose Bukoba offered special facilities, as all canoes had to pass the station. This news, together with reports brought me by the men who had conveyed my mails, that powder was already coming in, and being bought by the Fransa faction, was of very serious importance, and I wrote both to the coast and to the Germans begging that steps might be taken to avert so great an evil to Uganda. At this time I received further letters from De Winton. They contained very bad news indeed. The Mohammedans had sent most friendly letters to him, and had begged him to come to their camp. Fearless of any danger to himself, he had at once set out to do so, leaving his province of Torn and passing through 444 PEACE CONCLUDED AYITH WA-FEANSA. the swamps and malarial districts of Unyoro. On the way he had fallen ill, and his letter informed me that he had not eaten or slept for many days. It was dated March 27th. The position was most delicate. The Mohammedans, at this very critical point in the nego- tiations, had got him in their power as a hostage, and conld now demand what terms they chose. Torn and the Sudanese garrisons, which needed the constant supervision of half-a-dozen Europeans instead of one only, were without control. But beyond all was the distressing news of poor I)e Winton's illness. I immediately requested Bagge to start at once with a strong escort of our old Sudanese (whose interests were completely involved with our own, and who had large arrears of jDay due to them) to do what he could for De Winton. He conveyed medicines and medical stores (though of both a liberal share had long ago been sent as soon as we received them by Martin). His orders were to bring back De Winton, if he was fit to be carried. If he was able to come alone, Bagge would tem- porarily take his place in Torn. If too ill to move, he would stay with him and nurse him. I also told the doctor that if he thought it best to go to him he could do so. Bagge started early next morning, but in a few hours messengers came in to say that De Winton had died the day after writing to me. He had been buried, and a guard of 300 W^aganda (Mohammedans) and a strong party of our Sudanese from the Unyoro forts had remained to watch the grave. The Moham- medans had moved from the spot towards the Uganda frontier. I at once had a coffin -put in hand, but as the boards had to be axed out of the trunks of trees (for we had no large saws) it was a long task. The news spread a great gloom over us, and the flag at Kampala flew half-mast high. I myself felt the news keenly. De W^inton had been my comrade from DE WINTOX'S DEATH. 445 the coast, and of those who had started with me, only Grant now remained. Both he and Wilson had been at death's door more than once, and indeed I had almost despaired at different times of the lives of both. De Winton and Brown were no more. Our dead com- rade had endeared himself to us all. Cheery and plucky, full of zeal and of life, it seemed unspeakably sad that he should have died alone among strangers of a different race, with no friend- ly voice to cheer his last moments and speak to him in the language of his own people, or hear his last mes- sages to those he loved. Life was all before him, and promised so much. But if we may judge by outward indications — and life in Africa en- ables a man to know his comrades as no other life can — there was no one of us more 23repared to die. One more life given to the work England has undertaken in Africa — one more obliga- tion upon those who sent us, and who cannot turn back, having put their hands to the plough. On our countrymen the greater shame if, having claimed from us in Central Africa so hard a duty, our work should be all in vain, and worse than useless. Williams came back full of health, but broke down De Winton's Grave. 446 PEACE CONCLUDED WITH WA-FJiAXSA. the day after his arrival, and was in a serious state of collapse. The others were ill from time to time. As for myself, I remained, as usual, impervious to all sickness, but neuralgia, toothache, and dizziness, &c., warned me that the strain was almost too great even for me. 447 CHAPTEE XXXVIL SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTHY. Selim Bey goes to bring Mbogo, and move the forts — Williams starts for Chagwe and Usoga — The Protestants obstructive — Supported by Missions — An insulting letter received — Missionaries as political ad- visers— My hand forced — Endeavours to pull with the President — Our points of difference — The " Bukoba robbery " — R. Catholics escorted to Buddu — The Gwanika's outrage — Religious centres pro- posed— The Kimbugwe's letter from Buddu — Kamswaga's punishment — Territory added to Buddu — All the "royalties" visit Kampala — Futahangi submit to Williams — Evidences of progress in Uganda, The day after the treaty with M^^anga had been signed, the Mohammedan envoys left to convey my proposals to their party. With them I sent Selim Bey, in Avhose loyalty I had the most complete con- fidence, and who was regarded by them as king of the " Turks" and a man of great position. His orders were that he should use his utmost influence to persuade the Mohammedans to agree to my terms, and to render up their king. If he succeeded, and saw Mbogo well on his way to the ca23ital, he was at once to proceed to Torn and assume command of the Sudanese, now that De Winton was dead. He would remove the garrison of Fort Ntara (No. 5) and locate them near Kawanga, on the site shown on the map as " Fort De Winton," to indicate to him the position of which I sent Waganda guides. This done, he would march to "Fort Lorne " (No. 2), and select a site half-way between it and Fort 448 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. De Winton, and to this spot he would bring the gaiTison of Kivari (No. 3). I also sent, independently, a j)arty to Fort Edward in Torn, with orders to the sergeant in charge there to evacuate the fort and occupy Fort Grant instead, so as to preserve touch with Fort George, and prevent the import of powder througli Kitagwenda. The Sudanese garrison of Fort Grant would join the garrison of Ntara in the new Fort De Winton. By this means I hojDed to establish a verv palpable threat in rear of the Mohammedan and Fransa factions, and at the same time to prevent the possi- bility of any excesses by the Sudanese in those distant forts where they now had no European to check them. In their new location they would be close to Uganda, and wdthin easy communication with Kampala. News also reached me this day (April 11th) that the Futahangi chiefs were endeavouring to raise all Usoga against Reddie and Wakoli our ally, and their position might be critical. I had sent ex2Dedition after expedi- tion to Chagwe to restore order there, and already a large AVaganda army, with some forty-four of our best rifles, was engaged in this task, yet nothing had been effected in two and a half months. Williams, who had been back from his expedition to Sesse a week, and had now recovered from his illness, was eager to go and put things straight, and he left next day witli Mlondo (the best fighting chief of the Ingleza party, and withal a Chaofwe man who thorouofhlv knew the country). In all, besides the Waganda army, he had some 130 Sniders and a Maxim gun. No sooner had he gone than we again received what appeared authentic news, that the Wa- Fransa had refused the terms of j^eace, and having heard that a very large force had started for Chagwe, and another detach- ment (Selim's escort) with the Mohammedan envoys, were about to attack in force while we were thus PROTESTANTS OBSTRUCTIVE. 449 weakened. The news had been brought by an old man who was devoted to Mwanga, and of neither faction, and who had travelled day and night to warn the king of what he had overheard in the councils of the Wa- Fransa. Mwanga fully believed it. I called the Seki- bobo, and we discussed the matter till midnight. He said he had no news, but that the Kimbugwe and he had a solemn compact, that in case of failure on the part of the former to secure adherence to the terms of peace, he would instantly inform him. He assured me that when he got news (of whatever nature) he would at once tell me. Meanwhile I sent after Williams, directing him to halt for a day or so (while his messengers got canoes ready for the passage of the Nile) until I had definite news regarding these new reports from Buddu. The Ingleza or Protestant party vehemently opposed my wishes to deal more liberally with the R. Catholics than had been done in the formal and preliminary treaty ; and on April 1 4th this opposition culminated in their sending me the most grossly insulting letter I have ever received. The immediate cause of this letter was my intimation that I intended to give the rival faction a second chieftainship, that they might be more adequately represented in the king's harxtza, and also that they might have one great chief in Buddu to organise and govern the country, while the other remained at the capital to represent their in- terests there. Superior in rank to the ten chiefs of provinces were two officers — the Katikiro or chief magistrate, and the Kimhugive. The latter of these offices had been held by the Wa-Fransa. The estates belonging to the two chiefs who held these posts were scattered throughout all the provinces. In addition to these twelve big chiefs were many others, hardly inferior in dignity and influence : such as the Mujasi, or head of VOL. II. 2 F 450 SETTLEMEXT OF THE COUXTRY. the army ; the Kcmta, a princij^al chief of the king's household ; the Gabunga, head of the canoes and islands : and innumerable others, descendincr in im- portance. The two first of these, with some half of the rest, had been held by the Wa - Fransa, and now, of course, these positions were forfeited. I wished the Kauta to be a Mohammedan, for upon him devolved the duty of slaughtering the king's cattle ; and since he could do this in the orthodox way ap- proved by the Koran without prejudice to the Chris- tians, it would obviate a difficulty. Years ago Mtesa, the previous king, had ordered a massacre of all Mo- hammedans because they refused to eat the king's meat, which had not been properly hallal-ed. At present, however, I was concerned with the office of Kimbugwe. The holder of this post was a man who had an influence with the R. Catholics far beyond that of anv other. Whatever mav have been his share in bringing about the war, it was undoubtedly due to him that the king had returned, and that peace was made. By the appointment of the Sekibobo as chief of Buddu, he had been deprived of his position as head of the B. Catholics. I now thought that if he could be retained as titular Kimbuo-we, forfeitinof his estates throughout Uganda, and obtaining others in their place in Buddu, with the name and office (and the estate at the capital) of the Kimbugwe, it would greatly gratify his faction, and ensure his personal loyalty. The priests, too, were extremely anxious that he should remain chief of the B. Cath- olics. I wished to stipulate that he should reside in Buddu, where, as having great influence with his party, and being by far the most intelligent man among them, he was the very one to select as their head chief The Sekibobo, on the other hand (now Pokino), was the best man to reside at the capital, AN INSULTING LETTER RECEIVED. 451 for he was a loersona grata to the Protestants and king, and a man whom I completely trusted myself. Such a concess-ion appeared to me a trivial one, seeing that the Protestants were already absorbing nearly all the offices of State. Already, however, in my efforts to give a just territorial area to the R. Catholics, I had, as I have said, produced a most serious breach between myself and the Protestant faction. They now opposed me in this question of the office of Kimbugwe, and in another even more absurd matter. The two chiefs who were mainly, if not entirely, responsible for the outbreak of the war, were the Kauta and Mujasi. The Sekibobo suggested that I should call these two men to Mengo, for he believed them to be now well disposed, and was sure they would come. If they were here, all further rumours of war would cease. We had, as I have said, received at this time what seemed like authentic news, that the Wa-Fransa had refused the terms of peace conveyed by the Kimbugwe, and were preparing to attack the capital ; so I went to the king and told him of the Sekibobo's suggestion, which he thought excellent, and I wrote calling the two chiefs. If they refused to come, we should know there were some grounds for the rumours of war. On my way back from the king I sent and told the Katikiro of my plan, and I understood that he endorsed its advisability. In the letter I have alluded to, however, it was stated that the Protestants as a body " absolutely declined" to allow the Kimbugwe to be reinstated in his titular office. " And besides this," the letter con- tinued, " you now want to call the Mujasi and Kauta to come here, and we have not as yet absorbed their offices. We think when they arrive you will still further drive us out, and you will put them back in their places," &c. The letter went on to say, " Money 452 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. has been subscribed in England by the heads of the Mission to help the Protestants, and now you wish to help the R. Catholics." This could only have been told to them by the missionaries. My comment on it is: ''The truth has been subverted. The money was subscribed to prevent evacuation, and hence to main- tain the Company under the terms of its charter, granting freedom of religion. They have understood it was given solely to uphold Protestantism against R. Catholicism." It was subscribed by independent friends of the Mission. The letter went on to say that I was about to leave Uganda, and only desired to act so as to gain personal kudos in Europe, and leave them to fight it out here ! and ended by saying that they could not possibly fight with me ! The party we had saved from annihilation suggesting the question of fighting with us ! Mr Walker was dining with us at the time I re- ceived the letter, and with him was Mr Smith, a man who, from the day he arrived in Uganda to the time he left it, loyally sujDported the Administration, and was always courteous. They were as much astounded at the letter as I was myself, and deplored it no less than I did. The President of the Mission, however, had, in conversation a few days previously, informed me that he had advised the Protestants to oppose me in this matter. In reply to my remark that I had sup- posed that the C.M.S. professed not to interfere in politics, he disclaimed any such non-interference, and said that he certainly should advise the people even on purely secular matters if he were consulted by them. Some time later (April 29th) — in fulfilment of my promise to Williams to arrive at a clear understanding on these matters before leaving Uganda — I wrote officially asking whether in future the Missions in- tended to advise the Protestants on political questions, MISSIONARIES AS POLITICAL ADVISERS. 453 especially whether they would go so far as to advise them to act contrary to the Resident's decision, and whether they intended to give advice on a subject, on the statements of natives only, without previously consulting the E-esident as to what his actual decision and course of action was, and the reasons for his ado23tion of that course. The reply of the President was ambiguous, but he himself interpreted it to mean that, under certain circumstances, the Missions might advise the people to act in opposition to the Resident. If this position of political advisers to the chiefs should be seriously claimed by the teachers of either sect, they would ipso facto forfeit the status they hold under the terms of my treaty with Mwanga ; for in order to meet this very contingency, I there defined a missionary as one " solely engaged in preaching the Gospel, and in teaching the arts and industries of civilisation." It appears to me that if a missionary is consulted on political matters by the chiefs, it would be his first duty to ascertain what was the real attitude of the Administration, and not to tender hasty advice on native report only — advice which, on a fuller under- standing of the matter, he might even regret. Nor do I think that if the question is one not in any way of conscience, but purely of policy or administrative methods wholly apart from a question of right and wrong, that it is included in a missionary's province. I put these forward, however, simply as my own per- sonal views. In the minute of the Committee of the Church Missionary Society adopted on Oct. 11th, 1892,^ it is stated that one of the fundamental principles of the Society is that the Committee and missionaries must keep clear of politics ; " and in the Mission Appeal in the same paper occur the words, " Englishmen have 1 Vide the 'Record,' Oct. 14tli, 1892. 454 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUXTRY. interfered in the civil affairs of Uganda ; it is not the missionaries who have so interfered." This hne of action is, I beheve, clearly laid down in their code of rules. Therefore, in describing the action of the C.M.S. missionaries in Uganda at this period, I would have it most clearly understood that I am not criticising the general action of the Society ; for I believe that the at- titude taken up by their missionaries at this crisis was wholly at variance with the principles of the Society. A confidential copy of the whole correspondence be- tween myself and the Missions, together with state- ments clearly indicating the 23oints of difference between us, was sent to the Mission headquarters in London ; and though they nei^er dissociated themselves dis- tinctly from the action of their missionaries — an omis- sion I regret — I think I am within the mark in saying that by their conduct and words on my return to Eng- land they wished me to understand that they approved my course. The natural outcome of the action taken bv the President was the letter I had received from the chiefs. At my request Mr Walker informed the President of the terms of the letter. Early the next morning he called upon me and frankly told me that it was from him that the Protestants had got the ahili (sense, wisdom, arguments) to write the letter. I told him that as he had caused the mischief (for he much re- gretted, he said, the terms of the letter), he had better do his best to undo it. He said that I did not ask the advice of the missionaries on political matters or tell them the news. I replied that the stress of work was so heavy upon me that I was absolutely unable to come to them to chat over events — for the Mission quarters were some little distance ; but I had over and over again begged them to come and see me at Kam- pala, where at all times they would be welcome. MY HAND FORCED. 455 The reasons why I would not formally request advice from the missionaries I have already detailed, (l.) They were completely ex parte advocates, and vehe- mently prejudiced against the opposite faction. (2.) Such a course would have lent some grounds for the assertion made by Mgr. that we were under the in- fluence of the English Mission. (3.) I did not con- sider that the duties of missionaries included political action. My difiiculties in dealing with the R. Catholics were very greatly increased by the action of the Mis- sions at this time. Had it not been that my hand was considerably forced by this attitude of the Protestants and their missionaries — at a moment when it was yet uncertain whether the R. Catholics intended peace, while the Mohammedans threatened us, and Williams was away with a large force against the hostile Futa- hangi — I would have been inclined, as I have shown, to have dealt somewhat more liberally with the R. Catholics, especially in the matter of representation in the councils of the nation. Once more, at the risk of needless repetition, I would point out, that though the action of one or two individuals of the C.M.S. was at this time, in my opinion, ill-advised, it would be most unfair on that account to condemn the general policy of the Society, with which, I think, the action I refer to was wholly inconsistent. The action of the President in forwarding to England constant budgets of hostile criticism had been viewed in a very serious light by Captain Williams. I had practically decided, so soon as the present crisis was completely over, to return to England, that I might endeavour to find some means whereby the disgrace and disaster of evacuation might be averted. It was essential that Captain Williams should remain to take my place, at least until some one competent to succeed him should arrive. He was, however, unwilling to sub- 456 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. ject himself to a controversy in England, while every action was watched by hostile critics. I therefore told him that I would undertake to "have it out" with Mr Ashe — the President — before I left ; and that if they persisted in their present attitude, the whole matter should be fully laid before the authorities at home. I promised, moreover, to do my utmost, on my return to the coast, to get a competent officer sent up immedi- ately, so that he should be able to leave, if he desired to do so. Before "having it out officially" with the President, however, I determined to make yet another effort to come to an understanding. I asked Messrs Walker and Roscoe to meet me at Kampala. I pointed out to them how imperative it was for the good of the country, in which we had a common interest, that the missions and Administration should pull together, not only here in Africa, but above all in England ; that at the ^Dresent moment the fate of Uganda was in the balance, and a controversy would be fatal, and would alienate a large proportion of those upon whom we depended for aid, and to influence public opin- ion at home for the retention of the country. I deplored the fact that the Missions had aj)peared, so far, to con- sider it their duty to pose as hostile critics only of the Administration, and to remit to England every paltry diflerence, which might well have been finally adjusted here. Ashe, when dining with me, had said that he thought the "relief" of the Sudanese a most brilliant achievement, and the missionaries had often told me that they thought the progress during our year in Uganda most remarkable. "Then why," I urged, "if these are your views, should you convey to England the impression that you are at complete variance with us, and this at a moment when we need co-operation above all things? I do not ask that the Missions should sound our j)raises, only that they should be fliir and POINTS OF DIFFERENCE. 457 just critics ; or abandon criticism — favourable or unfa- vourable— and fill your letters with records of mission- v^ork to keep alive the interest in Uganda." They promised to do their best. This was on Feb. 17th. The result was nil. By the mail in March lengthy accusations were transmitted home, and I had to draw up a very long reply or defence of my action, which gave both Grant and myself many hours of additional work at a time when we could ill afford the extra strain. There were many other matters which I see no use in detailing here, but it became patent to me that both Mr Ashe and Mr Pilkington allowed the Waganda to imagine that they could turn to them with complaints against, myself " The pity of it ! " I exclaim in my diary, that natives should find that they can set ofi* one Englishman against another. This means death to British 2Drestige with black men ; and once let our prestige go — by which alone we hold our own in Africa — and ive must follow fast. Langheld, a German ofiicer, was more loyal than my own countrymen. He told Williams that when they came to him ' he very quickly let them understand that they could not play ofi* one European against another,' and that we all stand by each other. For this reason he made an ostentatious display at Bukoba of his friend- ship for Williams. Stuhlmann was more loyal in those early days when I arrived in Uganda." The whole difference between the views of the Pres- ident C.M.S. and myself may be summed up in a sentence. He maintained that the Protestant chiefs were now the rulers of Uganda, for which they had shed their blood, and that my treaty only enabled me to rule through the king and chiefs. I, on the con- trary, held that the chiefs of all parties had an equal right to representation in the National Council, and that it was manifestly unjust that the Protestants, who 458 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. were only one of three (or four) sections of the popula- tion, and probably numerically the weakest, should be allowed to legislate for the other factions, to whom they were bitterly hostile. I held that, pending the rep- resentation of the other sections of the population (viz., the R. Catholics, Mohammedans, and Futahangi), the duty of defending their interests devolved upon me ; and that in fact, until the reorganisation of the native administration, the Company was the de facto executive ruler of the country, and the Protestant chiefs had no right to be more than representatives of their own faction and interests, and advisers (and no more) to the king and Resident (who were free to adopt or .not their suggestions) on matters connected with the other factions. Before dealing further with the subject of the letter from the Protestants, I must revert for a moment to the events which had occurred just prior to its receipt on the 14th. Mr Ashe, who had recently arrived from Eng- land, had brought with him a very great deal of mission and personal property. The greater part of this, which he valued at some £2500, he had left at Bukoba ; the balance he had brought on to Buddu, where it had been abandoned, and subsequently looted by the enemy. As I have narrated, the Missions had put forward a claim of some £2000 against the Company on account of this loss. Williams, on his arrival from his expedition, mentioned that canoes had come to Bukoba, with the English flag, bearing letters from Ashe, and had removed all the pro- perty there. It transpired that the letter was a forgery, and the flag was probably obtained from the mission goods in Buddu, for Mr Ashe had brought several. He now called upon me to exact reprisals for this robbery. I replied that I would do my best to assist him in every way in my power, but as I was not even aware till now of the existence of this property, and as THE BUKOBA ROBBERY. 459 it was stolen in German territory and was under the charge of German officers, I could not admit that the Comj^any were in any way whatever responsible for it, nor would I consent to make it a casus belli. For it was an incident of the war — a war for which the aggressors had paid a very heavy penalty — and all the incidents of the war must be treated as a whole. I felt, too, that, as I had already concluded terms with the R. Catholics, if I now raised this question in such a manner as the President wished, it would be regarded as a breach of faith by the R,. Catholics. For the robbery had taken place long ago, and they would not believe but that I had really heard of it long before this, and had purposely reserved it as a casus belli when I was more ready to reopen the war and had them at a disadvantage. I pointed out that he should seek redress through the proper channels. I called the Sekibobo, and told him he was res2Donsible, and must make all inquiries, recover such of the 23roperty as was recoverable, and bring the culprits to justice. This he at once agreed to do, and begged Mr Ashe to come with him to the king, that a full and formal inquiry might be held. Mwanga, moreover, had been on the spot at the time, and would probably know^ all about it. This course Mr Ashe declined to adopt, saying that the duty of investi- gation devolved upon me. He, however, agreed to col- lect all the evidence he could, and said that there was no hurry in the matter. On April 11th, when I attended the baraza to present the treaty, Mr Pilkington placed in my hand a letter marked " immediate." I found it to be a pro- test from the President of the Missions against the signing of the treaty, on the grounds of this " Bukoba robbery." I replied that the treaty had been -pro- mulgated for a week or more, and had been taken to 460 SETTLEMEXT OF THE COUXTRY. the missionaries, who had hitherto raised no objection; that I did not consider that any particular outrage, however serious, could form a reason for not concludinof a treaty between the king of Uganda and the Com- pany. For the treaty was concerned with all parties and factions, and without it we had no legal status in the country. Its ratification would in no way interfere with any action I might take with respect to any par- ticular outrage. Pere Brard frankly told me the Fathers would do their utmost to upset my treaty with the H. Catholics by their action in Europe. The English missionaries, on the other hand, seemed to think me unduly lenient. Ashe, however, said that, from all he had now learnt, the late war was absolutely unavoidable, and would have come from the Ingleza party had it not come from the opposite faction. The Sekibobo told me con- fidentially that (granted the negation of the clause concerning the restitution of Company's arms) the terms would be regarded as liberal. The Protestants, how- ever, had courted an oj^en rupture rather than accede to what I considered just. " They merely want everv- thing for themselves," I ^T-ite ; " that is the backbone of all their patriotic tall-talking ; but they try to foist on me, and still more on their missionaries, that they care neither for houses nor lands, but only wish to fill all posts with their loyal selves in order to avert a second war." There were but three men in Uganda whom I thoroughly trusted, but in them I had implicit faith. They were Zachariah (Protestant), Sekibobo (R. Cath- olic), and Mlondo (Protestant), — the last was not a Mganda by birth. The receipt of the letter of the 14th had quite *' knocked me out of time," for already the strain had been great. " A miserable night," I write, " fever and great depres- sion. Niofhtmares in which the division of chieftain- DIFFICULTIES OF THE POSITION. 461 ships in the form of chess problems, and the letter, and the chaos which would follow a final breach between the Protestants and ourselves, were all jumbled up in my mind, with an aching head, toothache, and fever. Up early, nevertheless, and received Pere Brard, who inflicted on me a long description of the woes of the R. Catholics and my own injustice. ... I daresay I shall recover tone soon, and find a way as usual of opposing all these difficulties ; at present, being sick and depressed — with news of war coming from Buddu, war already in Chagwe, and rumours of Peddie being in a tight place — a delicate position with the Moham- medans— Torn left with no one to look after it or check the licence of the Sudanese — the garrison isolated at the Salt Lake, with the Manyuema hostile and threat- ening— and now the Protestants, whom we have saved, distrustful and insulting, — such is the position." Minor difficulties engrossed my spare time : our cloth — the currency of Uganda for food -purchase — was nearly exhausted, and I was despatching an expedi- tion to the south of the lake to procure more ; one of my men had been murderously assaulted, and the brain laid open by a cut from an axe (he ultimately recovered) ; the Sekibobo's house had been burnt by the Protestant peasantry, though he was an envoy of peace ; my people could not get sufficient food to eat, for my allies, who had promised to bring it pend- ing the reopening of the markets, did not act up to their word, and the result was a constant trouble when my men foraged for themselves. And now, to complete the tale, news came in of a gross outrage on the 1 6th. The Sekibobo was engaged in collecting all the women and followers of the P. Catholics who might wish to go to Buddu. Similarly I had despatched a Protestant to Buddu to collect the people of that faction, whom the Ingleza party insisted were being 462 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. sold for guns and powder by the Wa-Fransa. The first of the parties proceeding to Buddu consisted of some 300 women and unarmed men. I had offered the Sekibobo an escort of my men, but since they were accompanied by a messenger from the king, he said there was no need of one. With them was Nahnia, the king's sister (Rubuga), who had married the Mujasi (R. Catholic). It appears that the king, who knew that the Mujasi was always the prompter of war, had been told that he had said he would never fight again so long as his wife was in the hands of his enemies. Thereupon, in hot haste, Mwanga had ordered a Protestant chief to overtake the party and bring back Nalinia. Excited letters came from Pere Brard, saying that atrocities had been committed " rival- ling the worst acts of the Manyuema slave-raiders ; " that women had been seized and carried off into slavery, infants had been torn from their mothers and thrown into the bush, and Nalinia, a princess, had been stripped and brought back w4th a rope round her neck ! The alleged author of all this horrible tragedy w^as the Gwanika, who was now on his way back to the capital. Of course I pledged myself to the fullest investigation. Meanw^hile I had found that the insulting letter sent to me in the name of all the Protestants was really the product of Henry Duta. From the day I had entered Uganda I had found this man at the bottom of every evil counsel of his party. His cleverness — or rather his cunning — was far superior to that of his comrades, and consequently he had unbounded influence with them, especially with the Katikiro. Nothing that was done by me — still more by the R. Catholics — but he saw some sinister motive in the act. The old Pokino, the Mugema, and Zachariah, the leading chiefs (except the Katikiro) at the capital, repudiated the letter with in- dignation. They said, however, that they were never- THE GWANIKA's OUTRAGE. 463 theless responsible for what had been done by their party. The Katikiro was a really good-hearted fellow whom I greatly liked. He had been led into this folly by Duta, and was now in a state of great distress, and I was told had eaten nothing for some days. Ulti- mately I forgave the whole matter, on the one condition that they would solemnly promise me that Duta should be excluded from all their councils, except in purely religious matters. This course Mr Ashe considered un- fair on my part. I now sent orders (l7th) to Williams to proceed with his expedition, and held an inquiry into the cir- cumstances of the outrage to the R. Catholic refugees. Nalinia herself repudiated the story that she had been in any way roughly handled. The women sent as evidence by Pere Brard said that no babies had been thrown away and killed or abandoned. On repre- senting this to Pere Brard, he said he had not stated they were abandoned," only " thrown in the bush," and doubtless picked up again ! Pere Boche, standing by, at once said, Yes, they ivere picked up. On in- quiry it appeared that the caravan, on seeing the approach of the Gwanika's armed band, had fled, and the chief himself was acquitted of the charges of out- rage by the B. Catholic chiefs as well as the Pro- testant. Lesser chiefs had returned by night and seized women, and of these three were convicted. I was sorry that Gwanika had not been found guilty, for he was a somewhat troublesome man, and I should greatly have liked to make a notable example, which would have proved to the B. Catholics that I had not connived at this outrage, and marked my detestation of it. Since, however, his accusers, the B. Catholic chiefs, acquitted him, I could say no more. I wished to publicly flog on the spot the three men convicted, but the Sekibobo begged me not to do so, or all others 464 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUXTRY. inculpated would run away, and the women would be lost. I therefore sent two away to collect the missing women, and imprisoned the third. I also sent to sum- mon the chief Katambala and others who were said to be implicated, upon whom I would hold a second in- quiry. The R. Catholic chiefs were content ; but Pere Brard, of course, was unsatisfied. There were also com^^laints that H. Catholics going to and coming from Buddu were insulted, &c. I sent a strong party of my own men to protect the road, pending the appoint- ment of a new Kaima (who should be responsible in such cases), and the selection of the estates between the capital and Buddu for the B. Catholics. Hence- forward I sent an escort with all the batches of women, &c., proceeding to Buddu. It now devolved upon me to reorganise the chieftain- ships between the three factions, and start them off at once to control the disorder which had arisen in the provinces. Zachariah became chief of Bulamwezi as Kangao. Perhaps one of the chief causes of the trouble between the religious parties had arisen from the fact that both had made Mengo the headquarters of their respective Missions. The chiefs, who have nothino- to do but drink pomhe and create difiiculties, collected at the capital, as being both the political and religious head- quarters, and hence arose continual rivalry and hostility. I had lono' wished that each Mission should have its headquarters at some short distance from Mengo, and apart from each other, so that each should be a focus for those who wished to constantly attend religious in- struction. These religious centres would, however, be near enough to the capital to admit of the chiefs attending such political and civil discussions at the haraza as might be necessary. The French Fathers had returned, and pro2Dosed re-establishing their Mis- HOW WA-FEANSA VIEWED THE TERMS OF PEACE. 465 sion at the capital ; and since arms were now prohib- ited to their party out of Buddu, their converts would be certain to incur insult from the Protestant peas- antry. Before long the Mohammedans would proba- bly also have access to Mengo. I had already spoken of this matter, and the Fathers were much pleased at the idea, and said that they thought it unjust that the political centre should be made a focus of Protestant- ism. Since, however, the English Mission had been long established here, I could not arbitrarily oust them. I spoke to the President of my idea of separating the religious from the political capital, merely suggesting and asking for his views, and I understood that he agreed with my proposals, but he subsequently declined to entertain them. On 21st (April) I received a letter from the Kimbu- gwe. It lies before me, and I translate it here, for it shows the way in which the terms of peace were received by the P. Catholics : — ''April 16, 1892. "KwA BwANA Kapitani Lugard, — Many salaams. After salaams. Thank you for your letter. I was very very glad to hear your words. My master, I tell you my words in sincerity ; there is no falsehood in them, not in the least degree. At first I came to you to beg for peace, and now I desire peace only, — even more than formerly, because I think you have helped me greatly in my mission. Now I am engaged in two tasks. First, to collect your guns, both those that were borrowed from Mr Gedge, and those [lent by you] at the war against the Moham- medans. I have finished collecting them, but I fear lest they should be stolen on the way [viz., to the capital]. I want your soldiers to look after them and take them to you — I want them quickly. Secondly, the task of dividing the estates which you sent me to do. I have divided them, but some of the people have not got estates, ^^'ow I tell you, my master, the estates which you gave me in the Uziba country and Koki, we have not got the envoy, now we beg you to send the envoy about our estates, that the E. Catholics that are left may get estates. VOL. II. 2 G 466 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUXTRY. [Tliis refers to the envoy whom I understood to have gone the same day as the Kimbugwe, to delimit the frontiers of Uziba and Koki.] Because we are not able to do it by ourselves — we are afraid of breaking our treaty. Further, we send you news that the AVaziba and Kamswaga [of Koki], and certain Waganda, are beginning to steal our people on the frontier. They are the same class as Mtegiri [this is the outlaw chief of Chagwe, head of the Futahangi] ; but what can we do ? Give us advice, master, about these people. Further, I inform you of the words of all the Pi. Catholics. They like you greatly. Thank you for giving them a place in which to dwell. They are very greatly pleased. I tell you the truth. If you should see a man who savs that the Pi. Catholics are makingr war a second time, that man is a liar. Because all the Catholics are satis- fied with all your words. Xow we ourselves place reliance on your integTity (iizuri). Xow all the Catholics wish to become your children utterly and entirely. We wish now that you .should send one European, and soldiers to build (a station) in our country, and when he has built we shall be greatly pleased. — Your sincere (/nc) friend, Kimbugwe." The \v(3rcls in brackets are my own ; for the rest. I have translated, absolutely verbatmi, every word in the letter. Such was the Kimbuo-we's report of the feeling among the R. Catholics in respect of the agreement made with them. And it must be borne in mind that at this time they had no knowledge that I was arrang- ing to give them the chieftainship of the Kimbugwe, nor had thev ofot the five laro-e estates from Koki of which I shall presently sj^eak, and other concessions made later. A few days after this (29th) I received a letter from Pere Achte, resident priest in Buddu. in which he said : — " Be fully assured, M. le Capitaine, that the Catholics have entirely submitted to you ; and the proof of it lies in the fact that they have put themselves entirely in your hands. At present they are pleased to say (as Politi said lately), ' The Potestants hate us, but Captain Lugard loves us greatly.' They have full confidence in you, as you have been able to prove."" kamswaga's punishment. 467 In reply to the Kimbiigwe, I was about to despatch the envoy to clehmit the south frontier of Buddu ; but the Sekibobo said that since Mwanga was now bitter against the R. Cathohcs, whom he accused of detaining his own peojDle by force in Buddu, secret orders would be given by him to the envoy to decide everything against the R. Catholics. I thought this not unlikely, and so determined to inquire fully into the matter myself. It now appeared that at the time the Christians had ousted the Mohammedans (1889-90), Kamswaga of Koki had lent his assistance. Mwanga and the chiefs having no present to give him for his help, had made over to him five large districts of Buddu, which adjoined Koki. The B. Catholics now wished to regain possession of these. The envoys from Koki had just arrived. I pointed out to them that when I passed their country, on my way to Kavalli's, Kamswaga had gratuitously beaten the war-drums, and had I had time either going or coming, I should not improbably have replied to his challenge. Later, while I was away — though he knew that Uganda was under the British — he had invaded the country in the interest of the Fransa faction. In consequence I had already got a force of Sudanese in readiness to attack him, and the B. Catholics also were beseeching me to allow them to oust him. Since, how- ever, of late he had refrained from joining my enemies, and had sent embassies of peace, he should remain king, and his country should be protected, but for his former aggressions he should forfeit the five districts given him by the Waganda, and these should now be included in Buddu as formerly. The envoys were most grateful, and said that those for whom they had fought had betrayed them, while we, against whom they had done wrong, were saving them from annihilation. By this means I added a very considerable area to Buddu in the south, in 468 SETTLEMEXT OF THE COUNTRY. lieu of the country I had at first hoped to give to the E. Cathohcs on the north (towards the capital). I now sent a rehable man. oivino- him his final instructions mvself. to announce this decision and see it fairly carried out. I told the Kimbuo'we also that I was mvself anxious to build a station in Buddu (at Luwambu), and to send a European Resident there, but until the negotiations with the Mohammedans and the war in Chao-we were concluded I could not do so. It was because I intended to make a station at Luwambu that I could not at present give Sesse to the E.. Catholics. For in case of any trouble arising, my garrison there would be safe with Sesse as a refuge ; whereas if it was in the hands of the R. Catholics, the o'arrison would be cut off and surrounded. In the future, possibly, should all fear of trouble from that quarter be past, a part of Sesse might be given to them, but under present circumstances I felt I could not detail a European and garrison to occupy a station in Buddu unless they were provided with a constant means of communication with headquarters, and a safe retreat if overpowered. For I knew the lesser people to be still bitterly hostile, though the chiefs miolit be our frierrds. I also insisted on the kino-'s releasino' Xalinia, and said I would do so bv force if he declined. I told her she was free to 2:0 to her husband, the Mujasi, in Buddu, if she liked, and I would send an escort to j^rotect her. She 2Dreferred, however, to wait awhile until another laro-e batch of B. Catholics should be going there, and in the meantime she lived under the Sekibobo's protection. These large batches of people were despatched everv few davs under an escort of my soldiers, and arrived in Buddu without mishap. The Kimbugwe had told me (through his messenger) that they had heard of the outrage for which the Gwanika had been tried ; but the Sekibobo had told them that we had had nothino- whatever to do with it. PEEE beard's GEIEVAXCES. 469 and it was entirely done by the king. Consequently they were not excited about it. Pere Brard, however, continually endeavoured to foment discontent in the matter, and stated that the chiefs (R. Catholics) had told him the Gwanika was to blame, though I had acquitted him. This the chiefs denied in his j)i'esence ! He was equally intractable about the outrages and aggressions which, he stated, were being committed by Koki and the Waziba upon the R. Catholics. It was superfluous for him to invent difficulties where so many already existed ready-made. After I had spent the livelong day, from sunrise to evening, in writing, and in hearing interminable cases, as the cool of evening approached — the only moment I had for a breath of fresh air, and to supervise the house-building and w^ork at the fort, and give the orders for the next day — Pere Brard or the English missionaries would often sally forth to tell me I had done nothing but injustice in such and such a matter, till, with a splitting headache and a buzzing in my ears, I exclaim to my confidant — my diary — that " the Resident of Uganda is a mere slave, and penal servitude without anxiety and free from missionaries were a state of comparative bliss — of otium cum dignitate ! " As to handing over Koki to the B. Catholics — a course which Pere Brard desired, and Williams had at first been inclined to support — I thought it unfair to Kamswaga, as well as impolitic, since it would reinforce the party by 700 guns, instead of leaving this small state as a menace in their rear in case of any future trouble. I wrote, however, clearly both to the Kim- bugwe and Pere Achte, saying that the B. Catholics had full liberty to repel any aggression from Uziba and Koki, and to oust any lawless bands of Fiitcibangi who refused to obey their constituted chiefs. As I have already said, the origin of these Futahangi was due to 470 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUXTEY. religious intolerance, and they had become most nu- merous and powerful in the R. Catholic province of Chagwe. I had news that their leaders had submitted to Williams, and I now sent the new chief of Chao^-we (the late Pokino) to organise the province, strongly im- pressing upon him that there Avas to be no coercion in religion ; that those who did not wish to adopt Chris- tianity should be free to remain pagans, or Futahangi, or what they pleased, provided they obeyed the law ; and that all E,. Catholics who desired to remain in Chagwe (without arms) should be free to do so. The Kauta and Mujasi wrote saying that they had received my letter calling them to Kampala, and would like to come, but there was a combination of eight pagan chiefs on the south frontier, and war was threatened, so they could not leave. They protested friendship, and begged me not to believe reports to the contrary. On the 28th Mwanga made his first spontaneous visit to Kampala, and was so pleased that he announced his intention of coming every two or three days ! As I believe it is not the custom of Uganda for the king to visit any one, his coming was very significant. Already his mother, the Namasole, had come in state several times, with her bevies of damsels, and her drum-and-fife band. Borne aloft on the shoulders of a stalwart man, and draped in a leoj)ard-skin, the little wizened old lady considered herself " every inch a queen." The Ruhuga (or king's sister) had likewise come ; and these two are the only official royal personages in Uganda besides the Kahaka himself That all (including Mwanga) had come to Kampala, indicated, I suppose, that the British Resident was now acknowledged the equal or suj)erior of the kinor-. In truth a great change had come over Uganda. The Baraza, or Council of State, was now held at Kampala, and all matters of great importance — such as the ap- EVIDENCES OF PROGRESS. 471 pointment of the chiefs, the negotiations with the rival parties, &c. — ■ were conducted by myself, and subse- quently received the pro forma consent of the king. The R. Catholics and the Mohammedans refused to rely on Mwanga's justice, while the Protestants (with whom my relations were once more cordial) were help- less by themselves. Uganda at last w^as ripe for British protection, and the introduction of an administration based on principles of justice, and independent of the will of a savage despot, swayed by impulses of greed, of fear, of cruelty, and of cunning ; so that even the peasantry, w^ho had been so bigoted against European interference, in more than one instance appealed to Kampala for justice as against their chiefs ! It was worth the ordeal through which the country had passed to have achieved this result — a result which years of argument alone could never have produced with such a people. And during those years the expense of the necessary garrison to maintain an uncertain equili- brium, and ensure the lives of the Company's agents, would have been merely prohibitive. Instances of the potency of the new regime were not few. The women and followers of the R. Catholics had been free to return to their people, and were being sought out and sent day by day to Buddu. Captives from the FiUcihangi were instantly liberated at my order — even the slaves taken from the Mohammedans long ago had been pro- claimed free. These were no small changes in one and a quarter years. Kampala, too, changed daily. Two large new houses for Europeans, with mud walls, were in course of construction, each 34 ft. by 16 ft., exclusive of broad verandahs. In height they were 21 ft., and con- tained two bedrooms and a central sitting-room, thus providing quarters for four Euroj)eans, besides the Resi- dency with its offices. Up to now we were living in tents. 472 SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. Sir Gerald Portal will presently report on Uganda. It is impossible but that he should find much to criticise and much to improve. But had he entered Uganda with me in December 1890, and pitched his camp on the rough grass - grown knoll of Kampala dotted with giant ant - hills, or been present at the haraza on the Christmas Eve when the treaty was presented and our lives threatened, he would recognise — as no power of imagination, no desire to do justice to our efforts, can possibly enable him — the change effected in Uganda. As regards the improvements in the houses of the people, the extent of new cultivation and buildings, Mr Gedge, who was there in December 1890 and has since returned, writes, " Houses and sham- has have sprung up on all sides in a truly marvellous fashion, so much so that I could hardly believe Mengo to be the same place." ^ ^ Times, May 29th, 1893. 473 CHAPTEE XXXYIIL MOHAMMED AXS REPATEIATED PEACE THROUGHOUT UGANDA. Inquiry on outrage completed — The Kago intervenes — The Fathers' estates — Shamhas to E. Catholics on Buddu road — Reports that ^ya-Fransa and Mohammedans have coalesced — Selim warned — His loyalty — Complaints of famine — Ample room in Buddu — Mujasi's letter — Mwanga friendly — Importance of mission schools — Waziba envoys — I start to meet Mbogo — Disquieting reports — The envoys identified with us — Abdul Rasud— Dualla's mission — His report — Excuses and delays — Shauri with Mbogo and Mohammedans — Success — Sh.amhas divided — Selim superintends immigration — Return to Kampala with Mbogo — Meeting of the two Saltans — Treachery of some Protestants — Mbogo's life threatened — Slaves of Arabs freed. The postponed inquiry regarding the outrage to the H. Cathohc refuo'ees on their wav to Buddu ^vas re- opened so soon as the chief Katambala and the others I had sent for arrived. A oTeat deal of conflictino- evidence was given, but I could not obtain a conviction. Undoubtedlv the chief blame rested on Mwanga. and next to him on the local peasantry, who, in the dis- turbed state of the country, and since there was now no chief of the province (Kamia), had committed ex- cesses which would not otherwise have been dreamt of Being unable to prove actual complicity against the Katambala, I adjudicated that he, as chief of a province, must be held res|)onsible, unless he could produce the culprits and the women still missing. He returned for 474 MOHAMMEDANS KEPATRIATED. this purpose, and eventually two culprits were brought, whom I imprisoned and flogged severely. The matter was settled fairly satisfactorily — except, of course, to Pere Brard. He seemed never happy without a griev- ance, though in the main he w^as a man I liked and always had goton well with. The tedious arguments i^ro and con of this sliauri were enlivened at its close by the Kago, a R. Catholic chief, who, with the Sekiboko, represented his faction at the capital. He had lost some cloth in the pillage, and I write: "Like all Waganda, when the question touched his personal property, he showed a much livelier interest than in the more serious matter of other people's women. In his excitement he would not wait for the interpreter to repeat his sentiments, but burst out in the most extraordinary Swahili, a language of which he had always j)i'ofessed complete ignorance ! Every one roared with laughter, including the Sekiboko, till the poor old Kago could not get a hearing, and had at last to join himself in the merriment. I confessed I saw no remedy, since we could not find out who had got it, and he must accept it as a loss in the war. He still protested, and I remarked, ' You have lost fourteen "cloths" (56 yds.); how many hundred loads have the Europeans lost in Buddu ? ' He replied, ' I have no answer — I agree to my loss.' " Later in my diary I mention that I presented him with some cloth in com- pensation for his loss, for he w^as one of the best men in Uganda, and he it was (it will be remembered) who had fearlessly returned the day after the fight, and nearly effected a peace. " He declined in toto to receive it, though cloth is to a Mganda what cheese is to a rat or butter to a dog — it makes his mouth water ! He said he would not allow me to pay for the faults of others ; he had fought hard to have a fine imposed, but I should not pay that fine. No argument would per- THE fathers' estates. 475 suade him." It is a trivial thing, but can I better describe the admirable traits which occasionally shone out in the characters of these people than by quoting such incidents ? Pere Brard's next grievance was on the subject of the estates of the French Mission, which he said had been confiscated. They were seven in number, though neither the Company nor the English Mission had more than one, or at most two. I had endless trouble over this matter, for since the Fathers had never registered The FrExNCh Mission (Fort). (Sketched immediately after the War.) them at Kampala, I could only say that I must refer the matter to the king. Mwanga said that as they now had all Buddu, he did not see why they should have seven other estates besides, and he only agreed to give them three. He said they had asked for Rubaga — the highest hill at the capital — and had then built a fort on it, and he did not wish for any forts in Uganda except the Company's. This was a somewhat remarkable observation, showing that he had been well aware of the strength of the structure made by the Fathers, and that its object had been that of a 476 MOHAMMEDANS KEPATEIATED. fort (a brick structure loopholed, &c.) Ultimately, Pere Brard produced a written deed of gift, upon which I insisted on the restitution of all the estates. Had he produced it sooner, I should have been saved a very great deal of needless trouble. At this time I at last finally settled the shamhas to be oiven to the E.. Catholics on the road to Buddu. They also had full ^Dermission to reclaim and cultivate large areas of waste land adjoining them, so that ulti- mately the estates Avould be capable of producing a large quantity of food, and supporting the travellers to and fro. Raima's is not a rich country. I had tra- velled through all its length, from Buddu to Kampala, and it struck me as being extremely fertile, but mostly covered with rank vegetation, and having but a sparse population. But there was no doubt that the best solu- tion would be to give them continuous possession of a narrow strip from Buddu to the capital, so that on this their OAvn road they could not be molested. At pres- ent, however, I was content with the three estates at a day's interval apart, but I warned the chiefs that the new Kaima (E.) was responsible that there should be no causes of complaint, and I determined that if these should with good reason be preferred by the R. Catholics, I would insist on a continuous road. The Protestants were inclined to be obstructive, but I in- sisted on large estates being given, and they had learnt a lesson in our recent differences which they would not readily forget, and were afraid to again defy me. On the whole, the estates allotted seemed to me fairly ade- quate, and I sent a reliable man of my own to inspect them, and report to me whether they had been accurately described. It was reported that the P. Catholics had had a fight with Koki and his allies, and the Protestant chiefs came to me to complain that in doing so they had violated REPORTED HOSTILE COALITION. 477 their treaty. I told them that whatever the E.. CathoUcs did in their own i^rovince was no affair of theirs, for I did not recognise them as rulers over the other party. It was the business of myself and the king alone. With this snub they had to remain content, and they were gradually, I think, learning to find their proper level. But more serious news came on May 2d, and it was presently confirmed from other sources. The envoys from the Mohammedans had long been overdue, and it was now reported that their faction had finally declined to give up Mbogo, and had come to an understanding with the E/. Catholics. The king said that this alliance had indeed been discussed when he was in Buddu, and that the report was that Kampala was almost denuded of troops just now, and that the Maxim had been dam- aged and was useless. For my part, I did not believe that the leading R. Catholic chiefs had any knowledge of such overtures, but I thought it not improbable that some of the lesser men had sent messengers to the Moslem camp, purporting to be from the heads of the party. Subsequent events rather confirmed this impression. I therefore sent Achmet Effendi to Selim Bey, warning him of the possibility of treachery. I told him that should the Mohammedans say that I had permitted them to enter Uganda en masse before giving up their king, he would know that something was in the wind, for I had not, and would not, alter my first decisions. In such a case he would go to Torn, and muster a force of Sudanese, and follow them, saying he was bringing the men for pay and clothing. Thus, waiting on their flank, he would be ready to act if necessary. If, on the other hand, he had no reason to suspect an alliance with the Wa-Frcmsa, but Mbogo openly declined my terms, he would send me word, and I might modify my 478 MOHAMMEDAXS REPATEIATED. decision in so far as to allow Mbogo to reside in Torn ; but under no circumstances would I allow him to live with the Mohammedan Waganda in their province. Lastly, if the alliance with the R. Catholics was openly sjDoken of, I told him to tell the Mohammedans that I was confident the overtures did not emanate from the leadincr chiefs, and that if indeed such overtures had been made, it would be to the advantage of the Islam faction to expose the treachery of the R. Catholics ; for I would show the latter no mercy, and the Moham- medans in such a case stood to win more by joining with us against them, than by attacking us in con- junction with them. I was compelled to take these precautions, for Selim's position would be a delicate one in case there was any truth in the report. Both factions, however, had a menace in their rear — the Mohammedans feared my Sudanese in Torn, and the R. Catholics feared the confederation of Koki and his allies ; so that, provided Williams' force had returned, we might still make a good opposition even to the two combined. Selim could thus point out to them the dubious result of such a course, which — even if they won — would lead to an endless war. Before long, however, we got news that Mbogo was coming, but, contrary to my stipulations, he had an enormous following. The Mohammedan envoy who had remained at Kampala wrote to protest. A letter now arrived from Selim. He said that he had sworn on the Koran to Mbogo that he would be re- sponsible that no harm should happen to him at my hands. This was a striking proof, not only of the loyalty of the Bey, but of the implicit confidence he had in us, and shows him and Achmet in better colours than they are painted by Stanley and Jephson.^ ^ Eeceiit telegrams bring the news that Selim Bey has been convicted by Captain Macdonald of treachery, and of an intrigue with the Mohammedan COMPLAINTS OF FAMINE. 479 The Mohammedan envoys returned to say that it was true that the whole Mohammedan faction — said to number 10,000 souls — had marched into Uganda, for they were afraid to leave their women and jDeople un- protected in Kabarega's country. Most of their fight- ing men were away. A large- party had gone to Torn to escort thither some cloth I had sent by Selim for the garrisons, since the road was closed by Kabarega's armies to anything under a considerable force. Others had come on to Uganda to see their friends, others formed Mbogo s escort. Hence the bulk of the peoj^le had lost their defenders. They had, however, halted in the far part of Singo. Simultaneously letters came from Buddu. They con- Waganda, having for its object the overthrow of the British, &e. .Judging by the accounts which have reached England, Selim's open defiance, when he thought the Mohammedans unjustly treated, can hardly be called "treachery." He was at the time dying of dropsy, but was ordered to march to the coast, and of course died. The story I have told will show that, at the risk of his own life, Selim remained loyal to me ; that it was mainly owing to him that the settlement with the Mohammedans was effected, — at a time when, had he desired to act treacherously, the oppor- tunity was before him. The Sudanese in Torn were close by, and would have followed him blindly ; the whole Mohammedan "SYaganda faction would have eagerly accepted the chance. He remained absolutely loyal ; and I knew the man with whom I was dealing, well enough to know it would be so. There must have been a strange want of tact to convert a loyalty so sincere into hostility, when Selim was even then a dying man ! It is alleged that Selim was led away by an over-estimate of his own importance, due to the treatment he received from Captain Williams and myself, and quite unfitting in a paid subordinate. But he was iiot an en- listed officer when we were in Uganda. Selim held the rank of Bey in the Egyptian army — the highest rank but one that there is in Egypt — and had for years been in command of large districts. That he should suddenly be treated as a very subordinate officer was wholly incongruous. It was under- stood between us that he should return to Egypt, and when the Sudanese were enlisted he ought most certainly to have left the country. To me it is a sad contemplation, that this veteran, selected by Gordon for the com- mand of Mruli ; whose valour saved Dufileh ; against whom no charge of disloyalty had ever yet been proved amidst all the faithlessness of the Sudan troops ; and who had proved at the risk of his life his loyalty to me, — that this man should have been hurried ofi" in a dying state, discredited and dis- graced, to succumb on the march, a prisoner and an outcast. 480 MOHAMMEDAXS REPATEIATED. tallied profuse thanks for my efforts in sending the women to them under escort, large batches of whom still continued to leave every few days. They com- jDlained that there was insufficient food in Buddu, and this cry was loudly taken up by Pere Brard. It must be remembered, however, that by repatriating the Mohammedans I was introducing an addition of (it was said) some 10,000 souls. The Protestants and peasantry in the three provinces to be occu23ied by the Mohamme- dans were similarly crying out that there would be great hunger, for they would have to occupy shamhas deserted in the wars, and not at present productive. But food grows very rapidly in Uganda, especially in the season of the rains (as now) ; and though there might be a little temporary difficulty, and the peasantry might have to do more field-work for a time than they fancied, it was out of the question that there should be any permanent hardship, since the population of Uganda was reputed to be now not one-half of what the country had formerly supported. This had been caused bv the deaths in the lono- protracted wars, the numbers of women and others carried off by the Mohammedans and sold into slavery, and the immorality of the women, who, no longer held in check by the drastic laws against adultery and profligacy, now threw oft" all restraint. This led, as the Katikiro told me, to the birth of very few children. Savage races increase rapidly, and almost every woman has a baby on her back and one or two young chil- dren besides ; but tlie comparative paucity of infants in Uganda was noticeable. There are also extremely few old people. The ravages of the plague and the diseases due to insanitation,^ were also causes of decrease in population. Meanwhile the Wanyoro, ousted from the frontiers of Torn bv the Sudanese I had brouoht 1 Times, July 6th, 1893. MUJASI'S LETTER. 481 from Kavalli's, would find scope and elbow-room in the districts in Unyoro vacated by the Mohammedan Waganda. Regarding the hunger in Buddu, more especially. If the complaint was true, it was not improbably due in some measure to the folly of the Waganda themselves. For Buddu being formerly a Protes- tant province, the B. Catholics in the war had de- stroyed the bananas and crops. Now that they had entered into possession, they suffered for their own folly. Lastly, the five estates taken from Koki would, I hoped, afford room and food for those who still needed it. I have already quoted the evidence of Captain Williams that Buddu was more than sufficient, and referred to Sir G. Portal's report in the same sense (see p. 431). Previous to his own tour of inspec- tion, Williams had sent parties, both of Sudanese and Swahilis, who brought the same news. The letters both of the Kimbugwe and Mujasi were full of the warmest exjDressions of friendship and grati- tude. A passage in the latter's letter I translate. It pleased me much, and is characteristic of the hot- headed young chief who had caused the war, and had consistently disdained to profess a friendship for us which he did not feel. I could the more trust his present professions from my knowledge of his character. After thanking me in the warmest possible terms he could command for sending his wife, Nalinia, in safety to him, he says he is most anxious to come, as I suggested, to Kampala and to see me, if I will send ten soldiers to escort him (for he was a hete noire to the Protestants, and feared violence on the way). He continues : — " I come on your account alone, for I, the Mujasi, am the enemy of the Protestants. I trust in your integrity. And I like you because you are unable to tell a falsehood. If you say a thing, you speak truly ; therefore in these days, as regards your words, VOL. II. 2 H 482 MOHAMMEDAXS KEPATRIATED. we know if you say a thing we are content, for you let us speak our words, and if you do not like them you refuse them, and if you like a man's words with wdiom you are conversing you agree to them. For this reason, indeed, we like you. But another man who is able to speak untruthfully, if you converse with him and say what he does not like he agrees, and if he likes it he agrees just the same; you cannot tell wliether he refuses or assents. We like you because you give a man a reply as you speak. I want very much to see you, Kapelli. . . . God help you to do your work well. "We are completely for peace. Good-bye. — 1 am your child, Gabriel Mujasi." During this j)eriocl the king had apparently devel- oped a great friendshijD for us, having even prepared a private road by which he could visit Kampala ; but my pressure of work prevented my entertaining him, and so I put him off. Williams was more cordially disposed towards him than I was. "For my part," T write, "I detest both having him here or going to him. We are on the best of terms, but he is a murderer, jDublicly given to unmentionable crimes, a mean despicable brute, and a notorious coward. It is enough for me to have restored him, to have made a treaty with him, and to go occasionally and see him. Closer relations I do not care for myself" He had made overtures, I heard, to the missionaries to become a Protestant, and Pere Brard said he would be a o-ood riddance to the K. o Catholics, accusing him to me of the grossest practices. The English missionaries, however, I heard, declined to enroll him as a Protestant ; but whether this were so or not I never troubled to inquire, either from him or them. The missionaries dined with us from time to time, and the differences in our views on certain questions made no alteration, I am glad to say, in our social relations. Mr Pilkington had collected a very great deal of in- formation regarding the customs of the Wahuma tribe, MISSION SCHOOLS — WAZIBA ENVOYS. 483 as well as on the intricate division of chieftainships, the land tenure, and the endless traditions and customs of the Waganda. I hope he may purpose to publish his researches, for he probably knows more by this time of these people than any other man. Although only resident in the country for a year, he had reduced the language to a grammar, and was compiling a dictionary. I urged the Mission to establish a boys' school, for to my mind the training of the rising generation is a matter of greater importance among negro races than the teaching of adults, who are wedded to their own ideas. Secular education seems largely wasted on grown men, for they are a short-lived race. A small school for boys was established about this time, I think. Dr Laws, a missionary of very long experience, and a man universally looked upon as one of the most practical and successful missionaries who ever entered Africa, is the highest authority in support of my view of the greater comparative importance of schools for the young in Africa ; ^ , and it seemed to me strange that little or nothinof had been done in this direction during the fifteen years the Mission had been in Uganda. An embassy reached Kampala about this time from the Waziba tribes across the Kagera, in German terri- tory. They said they had heard of the settlement of Uganda, — how the Mohammedans, who had been at war for years, were now friends ; and the Wa-Fra7isa, who had fought against us, had been given a country, — that the news of the justice of Kampala had reached to their land, and as they had many troubles and quarrels among themselves, they had come to beg that we would arrange their country for them as we had arranged Uganda ! It was a quaint and withal a pleasing message, but of course I referred them to the 1 Vide also Mackay's strong indorsement of this, p. 459. 484 MOHAMMEDAXS EEPATRIATED. German authorities. They had broug4it some dried grasshoppers (for us to eat) and cowrie-shells as a present, saying they did not rightly know what the white man liked best ! In order to make a beoinnino- however small, to- wards the carrying out of that clause of the treaty which enacted that the country should defray in some degree the expenses of the garrison, I obtained several estates from the king as the Company's property. Of these, five were to be near the capital, and from them I hoped to obtain supj^lies of food. Other smaller ones were to be in the little-inhabited districts, which abounded with elephants ; and on these I had ar- ranged to locate hunters, who should procure ivory. The numbers of Mohammedans who had from time to time deserted their faction and come to us had become considerable, and of late had been reinforced by very manv visitors and others. These I established in a village on the slopes of Kampala, where they cultivat- ed their own crops, or were available for any building work which I had to give them. Some twenty of these men had registered their names as available for any task I mio4it assio-n them : and as thev are brave fellows, I hoped to establish a mail to Kikuj^u from their ranks when I should have enlisted a few more. For such work they would be admirably suited, and the cost of their employment would be infinitely less than that of the coast Swahilis. Grant and Wilson were both so unwell at this time that I advised their making a trip for a few days to our little Lsland on the lake, which they did in the company of Mr Smith (Church Missionary Society). I was my- self considerably pulled down, for I had hardly been outside mv office for four months. The breakino- out of the wound in my arm, accompanied by toothache and neuraloia, weie the sio-ns which alwavs warned me that I STAKT TO MEET MBOGO. 485 the pressure was a little too high. I was not therefore sorry to put on my safari clothes once more, and start on my journey to meet Mbogo. The news that Mbogo was coming with a very large following, and frequent letters from the Mukwenda saying he was in great fear and repeating all sorts of silly stories, showed me that it was absolutely necessary that I should no longer delay the fulfilment of my promise, but go at once to meet him. There were reports that the Mohammedans had no intention of giving him up ; and though the envoys said that these were untrue, they, too, urged me not to delay, and seemed nervous of the result if I did. I had sent letters to recall Williams, who had now been away a month, but I had no news of him and no rej)ly. Dangerous as I felt it to be to leave Kampala, I saw no alternative, and prepared to start on 13th May, hoping that the large force in Usoga would return within a few days to strengthen the capital, and I should then feel that all was right with Williams in command in my absence. Once out of Kampala, I marched rapidly through a country intersected by innumerable river-swamps, some of them (like the Mweranga) of very deep and treacher- ous quagmire, which necessitated the cutting down of reeds and bamboo-grass to form a foothold.^ No time was to be lost, for the vast mass of Mohammedans were already in Singo, and they would eat up the country like a flight of locusts, and leave nothing for the people of the provinces, who were to evacuate the territory assigned to this faction, and to occupy these estates in Singo. I took with me about 100 rifles of my own men, and the faithful Zachariah accompanied me with some 250 Waganda guns; another 100 followed later. I had intended to go almost alone, but all implored me Vide Grant, Walk through Africa, p. 212, and ^^yoke, passim. 486 MOHAMMEDANS REPATRIATED. to take at least this number, and said it was not the custom of the country for a "big man" to go insuffi- cientlv escorted. As I was startino- I received letters at last from Usoga, and learnt that Eecldie and the Wao'anda armv would arrive in a dav or two, but Williams had remained behind to settle some matters. Xews reached me from the Mukwenda (of Singo), saying that the negotiations with the Mohammedans had fallen through ; that they were advancing in great force, and he had made all preparations for flight ; that they would kill me sooner than allow me to take their kino\ Knowino- mv informant to be an alarmist, I would not have attached undue importance to his news had he not sent word that, in consequence of the repudiation of my terms, the Mohammedan Katikiro (Abdul Hasud) had left his party and come to his (the Mukwenda's) place. This news admitted of no cavil. It will be remembered that the original envoys had returned to Kampala. These men were now with me. They had quite identified themselves with us, and we had thoroughly won their confidence. They acknow- ledged that there was a ^^o^erful party adverse to giving uj^ the king, but they Avere quite at a loss to understand the reason of Abdul Rasud s secession, and more esiDecially how it should be possible that he was accompanied by only thuty armed men, since he was bv far the most influential man amono- them. At the same time continual reports reached me that the ^ya-F^ansa were negotiating with the Moham- medans, and a letter I now received from Buddu men- tioned the split in the Moslem camp, and asked me to give the E. Catholics the j)i'c>^^iiices assigned to the Mohammedans, since the latter had declined my terms. It was impossible that the French faction should have got this news even before it reached me, unless they were in communication with the Mohammedans. I DISQUIETING REPORTS — ABDUL RASUD. 487 exonerated the leading chiefs of both factions from any participation in these treacherous deahngs ; for had they been inculpated, the E.. Catholic Sekibobo at the capital would have known of the intrigue on the part of his faction, and the Islam envoys in my camp would also have been aware of it (unless purjDosely concealed from them by their respective factions, which I hardly thought possible), and I was convinced that neither the one nor the other had any such news. Moreover, I did not think a coalition possible between the religionists of the two factions (and these included the leading chiefs), for they were diametrically opposed, and most hostile to each other. But in each faction there was a large section — perhaps even a majority — who cared little for religion, and it was between these that I suspected that the intrigue was, if it existed. I sent word to the Katikiro (E.) to concentrate the Waganda army at the capital, in case my mission failed or there was treachery. I once more sent urgent letters to recall Williams. I also sent secret news to Selim of what I had heard, and despatched with my messenger a Mganda who knew every path in the country, to enable him to escape, should necessity arise. So entirely were the Mohammedan envoys on my side that they had been accused by their peo23le of having received large bribes from me, and they had, in consequence, practically quarrelled with their faction. I thus had men who could give me the fullest informa- tion and interpret the real significance of all news we heard ; but, on the other hand, their value as influential leaders of the Moslems was of course nullified. I sent on one of them to call Abdul Rasud to my camp, and then to go secretly to the Mohammedans and ascer- tain all that was going on. On arrival, the Mohammedan Katikiro said that it was their Mujasi, a man of very great influence, who 488 MOHAMMEDANS EEPATRIATED. had caused the spht. He had been left at De Winton's grave with 300 rifles, and on rejoining he had violently opposed the handing over of Mbogo. and was followed in his counsels by a large party. Thereupon hot words had ensued. Abdul Rasud had quarrelled with Mbogo and the chiefs, being opposed to the re23udiation of my proposals, to which they had already sent their accept- ance. He had left the council in ano^er without waitinof to collect his adherents. His news was not reassuring. Selim, however, Avrote that all was well, and that Mbogo was coming, though with a large following, which he was unable to prevent. He said the Mu- kwenda had nearly upset the matter by sending foolish threats if they advanced further. I now determined to send Dualla, with two of the envoys, to hasten a crisis. Himself a very devout Moslem, he would have considerable influence with them. He was as shrewd a man as could possibly be found ; he knew all my views and thoroughly entered into them, and I believe, as surely as I write the words, that he would have fearlessly given his life to save mine — I would certainly have trusted it to him. I told him that he must insist on Mboofo comino; with only a small escort. If he found that this was impos- sible, and there was a split in their camp, he could call upon those who desired our terms to separate them- selves from the rest and come over to us, in which case they should not suffer for the bad faith of their comrades, but be treated just as though the negotia- tions had succeeded. The rest of the party would retire to Unyoro ; but in such a case it would be broken up, and I foresaw that the remainder would be unable to hold out. If, however, he saw that the resolve to decline our terms was unanimous, he would ask their intentions and Avishes, and affecting to be a mere mouthpiece from me, would rejoin me with EXCUSES AND DELAYS. 489 Selim. When he was clear of theh^ camp, he would send back word that he knew I would not entertain their proposals, and he would call upon all who wished to join us to leave their faction. Mbogo wrote in a friendly manner, and I replied courteously, saying that I was halting on account of food, and sending on Dualla with my salaams. Ere long I received hopeful news from Dualla, but two or three days passed, and repeated excuses of sickness and so forth were sent to account for Mbogo's delay ; while I, who felt how much there was to be done, and how ill I could afford to waste time, chafed dreadfully at my enforced inaction. . The position was a difficult one. The Waganda are intensely suspicious. Their trust in the British under the circumstances was really extraordinary, for among themselves it would have been quite impossible for two opposmg factions ever to come to terms, and they re- peatedly told me this. Yet when we first went against the Mohammedans, we had been able to treat for peace ; and more recently the Fransa faction had sent envoys, and now again the Mohammedans. Had it not been for their complete faith in us, such embassies would never have dared to come. Nevertheless now, when their king himself, on whom the whole cohesion of their faction depended, was in the question, their suspicious natures prompted doubts lest I should deal falsely by them, or perhaps that the Waganda with me would throw off all restraint and seize the king, unless his escort were at least as powerful as our own party. On the other hand, I was not without misgiving my- self The Mohammedans had learnt the tenets of their creed from the Arab ivory and slave traders, who had penetrated to Uganda from the coast. These teachers were not such as could be relied upon to demonstrate the doctrines of the Koran in their purity. They had gained the ascendancy in Uganda by a piece of 490 MOH AM AIE D A XS EE P ATR I ATED . dastarcllv treachery, when, with arms concealed, they had suddenh" turned on the Christian chiefs in the haraza, and shot them down ; and now reports reached me that they meditated a similar coup, and thought that if thev succeeded in takinof mv life, the British power in Uganda would collapse, and our people would disperse in panic. Such was the teaching of their Arab instructors, but of them only two now remained. All the rest were dead ; most had met a violent end. One of them came to my camp. He was in a miserable plight. Sick, covered with ulcers, all his ill-gotten ivorv lost, his sole desu^e was to o-et out of the count rv. His comrade durst not, he said, present himself before me. Abdul Rasud and I had become great friends. All these Mohammedan Waganda were most respectful, and their manners contrasted favom^ably with the Chris- tians (and more esj^ecially with the Protestants), who, I think, had alwavs been treated with too oreat a familiarity by theu missionaries. Several of the chiefs came to see me — nominallv to brinof salaams, in realitv as spies. I showed them all the frankness and cordiality I could command, and was at gTeat pains to reassure them, and explain the cause of mv repeated messages protesting against delay, which had apparently raised their suspicions. I pointed out how essential it was that oin^ negotiations should be quickly concluded, in order that the people might enter into possession of then- helds, and begin to cultivate them before the rains ceased, otherwise there would be famine. On Mav 2 2d, Mboo-o. the kino^ of the Moslems, arrived and camped some two miles off; and Dualla retiuned to me. He said that the position had been much misunder- stood, and he was certain that the man who read my letters to the king and chiefs — one Jimia — had purposely misstated theii* contents. This man he described as the counterpart of Duta — suspicious, and cunning to MBOGO ARRIVES AT LAST. 491 a degree, and always suggesting some sinister motive and suspecting some evil. He said that the feeling was very strong against Mwanga. They were willing to obey and work for the British, but rebelled against the idea of accepting Mwanga as their king. That a very strong party, headed by the Mujasi, was against us, and there was a great fear lest I should attempt to seize Mbogo, in which case they would fight to the last. The number of their arms was probably, Dualla thought, about double ours. The 23d was to decide the issue. I had a few poles run up, with grass thrown on the top, as an awning ; and I drew up my men on either side, with orders to close round so soon as the king and I were seated. After many hours of waiting, the cortege appeared, and halted on the brow of the neighbouring knoll, while the king donned his best gold-embroidered robes. Mean- while breathless messengers arrived each moment, having run the distance at full speed, to bring salaams ; their message delivered, they departed at the same pace, as is the custom of Uganda. Zachariah sent similar mes- sages on my behalf I met the king at the borders of my camp, and led him to my temporary haraza. It was obvious that there was intense excitement ; both sides did not know whether it might not be war to the knife a moment hence ! I affected an easy and unconstrained manner, but Mbogo's nerves were obvi- ously at extreme tension. The Mohammedans formed a compact ring at first, but my men executed their orders admirably, and with little apparent jostling they formed a complete circle round the haraza, which gave me an enormous tactical advantage in case any s]3ark should set alight the smouldering suspicions, or treachery be intended. I then requested Mbogo to exclude from our conference all the lesser men with arms, and affected to turn out one or two of our side. My wishes were 492 MOHAMMEDANS EEPATRIATED. eneroreticallv carried out, thouo4i the scowlincr faces of some of those ousted by force showed that they re- sented the order. The chiefs retained their loaded arms, which is quite contrary to the custom of the country, but each man knew that the occasion was full of menace. After we had exchanged compliments, I said that we met as Mends. They knew my proposals. There was no question of force. If they accepted them, Mbogo accompanied me to Kampala, where he would be treated with all honour ; if not, they returned in peace whence they came. He replied that he gave up all kingly rights, and only wished to settle as a private individual among his people. I absolutely declined this, saying that he would still be reo^arded bv them as kino^, and there could not be two kino-s in U^-anda : it would give rise to endless trouble, and would assuredly end in war. I offered the Mohammedans the provinces in Uo-anda. on the one condition that he came to Kam- pala. He had no claim to be king of Uganda. True, Mwann-a had done badlv. but he was the rio4itful kino- and would remain so nominally, but justice would be dealt at Kampala ; their envoys had seen for them- selves that this was so. Mboo-o then bewed for twentv davs' delav that he might explain to his people, who else would think he was taken by force. I utterly declined, for I knew not what lurked behmd the request; and I was at least sm^e that if once he procrastinated, and consulted his people, I might assuredly give up all hope of success. He begged for fifteen days, and then for ten. I was firm. ■" To- morrow,*" I said, " I go, with or without you." In fact, I well knew that this delay meant that the Mohanmie- dans would enter their province, while yet Mbogo had not yielded to me ; that then there would be endless excuses r)f sickness, and pleas for another and another SHAVRI WITH MBOGO. 493 extension, and finally I should completely lose such vantage-ground as I llo^Y held. Moreover, such delay might possibly have reference to the su2:)posed negotia- tions with the Wa-Fransa. I looked upon any such concession as equivalent to failure. As to his remaining to divide the estates, that, I said, was no longer his duty when he ceased to be king, while the chiefs present would be witnesses that he Avas not taken by force. My ostensible argument was, that I was pledged to Mwanga and the chiefs, and could not break my word, and I had too much to do to be able to delay here. Hour after hour he persisted, but I was stubborn as a mule, and would not budge from my position, nor would I lose my j^atience, though Dualla was in a fer- ment, and I could hardly at times restrain him. As the sun began to set, Mbogo saw it was futile to argue, and remarking that I was obviously a man who stuck to mv word, he o-ave a sort of half understandino- that he agreed. I had consented to stay over the next day, and he professed himself so pleased with the interview that he said he would come ao-ain, and not send a messenger ^vith his reply as he had intended. Every one seemed greatly delighted, and the general idea was that I had won ; but the result remained uncertain. MboD'o and his followino- retired, but the envovs re- mainecl with me. for thev were no lono-er on terms with their people. In order to gain news, I sent the only one who was still welcomed among them with a message to say that they need have no fear lest their provinces should not be evacuated at once bv their present occupants, for I would take them with me. This proved to be one of then difficulties. Fresh rumours reached me by nio4it that messeno-ers had come from Buddu to tell the Mohanmiedans on no account to give up Mbogo, but to delav until the Wa- Fransa could effect a junction. The Mukwenda sent 494 MOHAMMEDAXS REPATRIATED. urgent messages to say that the war-drums had actually been heard in the distance, while Zachariah told me that one of his men had actually seen and spoken to a R. Catholic that day among the Mohammedan party I The envoys were doubtful of success, and said that Mbogo's persistent demands for fifteen days' delay could onlv be accounted for on the theory of neofotiations with the R. Catholics. May 24th — the Queen's birthday — dawned on an anx- ious time for me. Doubtless here in England there was the usual jubilation ; in Uganda I recognised that before the day closed I should know whether my efforts meant success, or whether the country was to be plunged in a new war. My messenger arrived to report that there was a good feeling in the Mohammedan camp ; that our enemy, the Mujasi, who had declined to come to yester- day's shauri — proj^hesying that the king would be seized —had been quite discredited by his safe return and the reports of our friendly discussion. Mbogo and his fol- lowing came. He began just where he did the day be- fore, as though we had not spoken on the subject ! He asked to live with his jDeople. I had done well for all ; they had heard of the case of Nalinia, and how she had been free to go to Buddu ; he alone in all Uganda was to be restrained, &c. I changed my tone now and S23oke vehemently. I declined to discuss the question further. I had come, I said, only with words of peace, to make the Mohamme- dans our friends, and unite them to us, and bring them back to Uganda. My conditions they knew. They were not for my personal advantage, but solely what I judged best for the country committed to my charge. If I were weak and yielded to entreaties, I would be false to my duty as an officer of the Queen ; and if false in one matter, how could they trust my assurances to themselves ? I carried my point, for all the chiefs were SUCCESS — HECONCILI ATIONS. 495 obviously affected by my words. The discussion then turned on the estates throughout Uganda belonging in old time to Mbogo, and which he claimed. I defeated him by agreeing he should have them, if they conceded those which Mwanga claimed in their provinces ! I promised that Mbogo should live at Kampala itself under our own charge, and not be handed over to the Waganda ; and that he should have the care of Karema's infant son. I also, of course, promised that they should be absolutely free as regards their religion ; and I con- sented to stay one more day, that they might apportion the estates in their provinces, in which the Christian chiefs with me, who now evacuated, could greatly help them. On my consenting to this extra day's delay they were immensely pleased. " These matters arranged," I write, a curious scene took place. Amid great excitement they implored Dualla and Selim Bey to take their Sultan and be surety for him. They placed one of his hands in each of theirs. There was a babel of voices, the outside crowd could no longer be restrained, and the row was deafening ! Dualla and Selim agreed, but both, with a very nice feeling, said that though they accepted the trust, all their own trust was in me alone. Therewith they placed both the king's hands in mine." I effected a reconciliation between Mbogo and Abdul Rasud, but had some difficulty in doing so, until a diversion was caused by Achmet Effendi, the Egyptian. Having heard from the Arabs the reason of the argu- ment, he suddenly "sprang to his feet, and seizing the dignified and self-possessed little ex-Katikiro, dragged him forcibly to his feet, and placed his hand in Mbogo's (which he had likewise collared), and began to wag them up and down with a face of extreme solemnity and earnestness. The sight was inimitably ludicrous, and was hailed with roars of laugrhter." 496 MOHAMMEDANS EEPATRIATED. There was great joy and congratulation on all sides at the result of the shauri, which had lasted till long after sunset. Next day the division of estates was amicably arranged, for there was much more discipline among these Mohammedans than obtained among the Christian factions, and they listened to and obeyed their chiefs. The excellent little Abdul Rasud was appointed Kitunzi, and would thus be head of their faction. He agreed to my treaty with Mwanga, but said it had better be read in public haraza at the capital, and then no one could say it had been accepted in secret. As they had agreed to my terms, how could they do other- wise than obey my laws ? The cleverest among them was Abdul Aziz, one of the original envoys, and he had become so attached to us that he elected to live per- manently at Kampala to assist me in all matters. I sent Selim Bey back to the Mukwenda's to superin- tend the immigration of the Moslem party and prevent quarrels with the Christians ; as also to see that the latter duly evacuated the provinces assigned to the for- mer. I had intended to do this myself, but found that it was imperative that I should accompany Mbogo to the capital, for else he would not have dared to go, and my labours would have been lost. I hoped, however, to return at once and visit De Winton's grave, and myself bring his body for burial at Mengo ; also to assist Selim in locating the new forts, and to form a station in the Mohammedan province, of which I in- tended to place Dualla in charge. He and Selim and Achmet had been absolutely invaluable in these negotia- tions, and without them success would have been well- nigh impossible. For the suspicious character of the people and their fanatical devotion to their king had rendered my task a very hard one, and indeed I looked upon these negotiations as more difficult than any in which I had hitherto been engaged. RETURN TO KAMPALA WITH MBOGO. 497 Mbogo now seemed to have complete trust in me. His fears were lest the Waganda should attack us both in order to seize him ! He wished to live inside the fort at Kampala for safety. We marched for the capital on the 26th, and as the envoys were reinstated again among their people, I felt that I left many loyal adher- ents behind me who would use their influence for good. The scene was a curious one, and I know not how many thousands of people were on the march, in difierent directions, like long strings of ants. The former dwel- lers in these provinces were on their way to their new locations. Selim and his party diverged to the Mu- kwenda s. Our large following was increased perhaps to thousands by the chiefs and all their followers who accompanied Mbogo, and the Arabs, and all their slaves and people, many of whom were mere skeletons covered with sores. At our first halt the Mohammedan Mujasi overtook us and tried to raise trouble. He said a Protestant chief refused to evacuate, &c. I sent a headman of my own to see into the matter, but it was undoubtedly a mere ruse, for the guides bolted and my messenger re- turned. I prevailed on Mbogo to send back some of the people, but a very great number of armed men followed us, for they were still in great doubt as to what would happen to Mbogo on our arrival. In three days, by ex- tremely hard marching, we reached Kampala (28th). As we neared the capital breathless messengers arrived, one after another, bringing the congratulations of Mwanga and the chiefs, and thanking me in the strongest terms for " having taken war out of the country." Thousands turned out to meet us, and these masses of people, added to our own, made our progress difficult. All were wild with excitement and joy ; but as the throng became greater and greater, the Mohammedan chiefs grew obviously more nervous, doubting my ability, perhaps, VOL. II. 2 I 498 PEACE THROUGHOrT UGAXDA. to control the excited people, and I noticed that each carried his own gun — a significant action, since a Wao'anda chief never takes his arms from the small slave-boy who carries them until fighting is absolutely imminent. Disregarding Mwanga's entreaties that we would come at once to him, I bent my course to Kam- pala, where we rested and changed, and in the afternoon we went to the king's haraza. Mbogo behaved admirably and most pluckily. In spite of the fact that he and his chiefs still doubted whether treachery would not take place, he sent back every gun at my suggestion, and came quite unarmed. It will be remembered that I had sent orders to the Katikiro to muster the wliole army here in case of eventualities. Mwanga had summoned every avail- able armed man to make a great demonstration. They were drawn up in long lines in imitation of our soldiers, and presented arms in a fantastic fashion, handling their guns like mop-sticks, as we passed be- tween their ranks. As we entered the first outer gate of the king's enclosures a gross insult was offered to the Moslem chiefs, ^yh.o were driven back and excluded by force. I did not at first see this, but Dualla, who was behind, at once appealed to the chiefs, and the gates were thrown open. The Mohammedans resented this insult bitterly. The meeting between the men, who had for so long been rivals as Sultans of Uganda, I thus describe : "Mwanga stood at his gate surrounded by his chiefs. He received Mbogo as though overpowered with delight. They held each other's hands, and gave vent to a long- drawn guttural Oh ! — oh ! then Ah 1 — ah I in a higher note, then long low whistles as they gazed into each other's faces. This went on for a long time, and became extremely ludicrous to a European conception ; for at times, while thus indicating intense delight and surprise. MEETING OF THE TWO SULTANS. 499 their eyes would be roaming round in a very inconsequent manner. Then they fell on each other's necks and em- braced, and then again began the former ceremony. Then Bambeja (princesses) who had followed Mbogo fell on Mwanga's neck, and those of Mwanga's suite fell on Mbogo's neck, and meanwhile the same performances were going on between chiefs and chieflets and common people on every side, till the crush became so great that The ^Meeting of the Rival Sultans. it was hard to preserve one's balance among the gesticu- lating crowd." All were vehement in their expressions of joy, saying that now at last war was taken out of the country, and that this had been impossible but for us. Even the Sekibobo seemed beside himself with pleasure. The reconciliation with the Mohammedans meant a death-blow to all chances of intrigue on the part of his faction ; but since in their own parlance " his heart was white," he was as glad as the rest. 500 PEACE THROUGHOUT UGANDA. On our return to Kampala in safety the Mohammedan chiefs were much pleased, saying I had literally kept every detail of my promises. Mbogo took up his resi- dence with us. though, of course, next day the Protes- tants wished to break faith, and hand him over to Mwanga, but I peremptorily refused. " Thus ended a hard day, and I slept like a dead man ; for thought and anxiety had prevented my sleep- ing much for many nights" (diary). There was some friction and difficulty regarding the estates to be given to Mboofo ; but he behaved in a most liberal and ex- cellent way, at once acceding to anything I suggested, and so the matter was settled. On the 30th a big haraza was held, and Mwanga made an admirable speech to the Mohanmiedans. He told them to have no fear about their religion, or that they would not get justice ; for now all justice was done by the British, in whose hands was everything — administra- tion, peace, or war. Next day at a formal haraza the treaty was re-read to the Mohammedans, to whom I had fully explained its details, notably the three clauses re- lating to the prohibition of the import of arms, &c., the total abolition of the slave-trade, and the registration of arms. They all signed it (the majority of the chiefs were at this time at the capital), and shortly afterwards left for their provinces, to put things straight there. Thus the slave-trade, so far as legal restrictions go, was finally abolished in Uganda, even among the Mohanmiedans. Mwanga had also spoken on the subject of Mbogo's future position, and objected to his being made even the religious head of his party ; saying that he him- self, thoucrh kino^, was not the religious head of the R. Catholics, nor yet was I, as Resident, head of the religion of the Protestants. Everything went off well ; the Moslem chiefs seemed greatly pleased, and one of them made a most excellent speech, expressing then- TREACHERY OF SOME PROTESTANTS. 501 joy that peace and reconciliation had been effected at last. On my return with Mbogo, I had found that there was a report current among my men in Kampala (which Stokes men and others had also heard) that a gross treachery had been meditated by some of the Protestants during my absence. Mbogo had told me of it, and I had treated it as merely ridiculous. The idea had been that they should seize Kampala and the Maxim while both Williams and I were away and the garrison very weak, and uniting with the R. Catholics, should fall upon us in detail. Beyond doubt, this treacherous plot was unknown to such men as the Sekibobo and Zacha- riah. I had heard that a tentative letter had actually been sent by the Katikiro to the Kimbugwe in Buddu, and a most reliable man of ours, whom I sent thither on an embassy, reported he had seen it. I could hardly, however, credit it, but Williams afterwards found it to be fact. I believe that they thought it impossible that I should succeed in bringing Mbogo, and hence their joy on my return with him was sincere. To what extent the plot took definite shape I do not know, but the report among my men was, that the old Pokino had crushed it by saying he would himself defend Kampala if attacked. This man I always found absolutely loyal and staunch. I put an indirect question to him on the subject, and noticed a decided embarrassment. Peport also said that Mwanga had opposed the plot vehemently ! I had, moreover, been aware that very many Mohammedans had been passing to rear of me at the time I was con- ducting the negotiations, with what exact object I did not know. The whole situation, therefore, had been one of extreme delicacy, and will give some idea of the difficulty of dealing with the Waganda, and the impos- sibility of trusting them, which may prove to my reader how hard was our task at this j)eriod. 502 PEACE THROUGHOUT UGANDA. The Protestants once more tried to raise trouble, saying that the Mohammedans were massing at the capital and meant war, being persuaded that in such a case the Kampala garrison would fight on their side. Rumours also were rife that there was an intention to assassinate Mbogo, so I placed a special guard over his house. In the wars between the Christians and Moham- medans, the latter were said to have ruthlessly killed the peasantry of no religion, while the Christians spared them. Hence among this class there was an intense aversion to the Wa - Islam, which they showed by putting about these continual threats of assassination, &c. These suspicions and reports caused some friction, but they were only to be expected, and there was every prospect that things would soon settle down under a peaceful but strong administration. I agreed to send down the Arabs to the south of the lake, but I set free all their slaves. The disposal of these people (mostly women and children) at the present moment was not an easy matter. I wrote to the Missions detailing a scheme I had long had in my mind for the formation of villages for freed slaves such as these, and also those of the Sudanese. I had intended to locate them on the estates I had acquired for the Company, and I suggested that it would be well if these were in the vicinity of mission stations, so that the resident missionary should be able to exercise a little supervision over them. Before finally selecting these estates, I inquired where the Missions intended to form stations, that I might place my freed slave settlements near to them ; and I inquired if they would be willing to undertake the small amount of supervision I suggested. A headman would be in actual charge of the freed slaves, and responsible to me for them. The Missions would concern themselves with the religious instruction, and would also, to some SLAVES OF ARABS FREED. 503 extent, supervise their social organisation and improve- ment. They were doubtful if this would be within the scope of their work, and, in any case, could not undertake it at once, nor could they tell me where their future stations would be. " They said that in the case of some slaves handed to Mackay by Stanley, the girls had been distributed among well-known and trusted Protestants, who had adopted them into their house- holds with good results " (diary). I was therefore fain to be contented with this plan as a makeshift, though I did not wholly approve it, and I took careful lists of all those whom I thus passed over to the Mission, and stipulated that I should have the right at any time to call upon them to produce them. I still hoped that I might presently be able to establish the settlements I proposed, and I described my plan to Captain Williams before I left Uganda. The full correspondence and verbal discussion with the Mission is too lonof to detail here. Recent news from Usfanda informs us that Sir G. Portal has carried out this or a similar scheme. 504 CHAPTER XXXIX. CLOSE OF :\rY ADMIXISTRATIOX IX UGANDA MAECH TO KIKl^YU. Troubles in Buddii — Saleh as envoy — Williams arranges ITsoga — I refuse admittance to Arab caravan — The royal war-drum — Williams returns — Success of his expedition — Good order in Usoga, and Futahangi friendly — Eailway survey arrives — I decide to return to England — Eeasons — Postpone decentralisation, and leave every rifle behind in case of disturbance — Much sickness — Survey a success — Eecall all arms from Protestants — Mwanga's farewell visit — His letter to the Queen, and to Directors — Grant's good work — Williams — Good-bye to Kampala — My caravan — Theft in Usoga— Constant rain — Efi'ect in Egypt — Shooting game — Site for station on Man — Famine in Masai- land — A porter lost — Arrive at Kikuyu. I STILL received many letters from the chiefs in Buddu, begging me to allow them to proceed with war against Koki and the AVaziba. The envoys sent by me to in- quire into the matter had not apparently arrived ; and both Pere Brard and the E. Catholic chiefs at Mengo seemed to think that they would not act justly, and that Mwano'a Avould have oiven them secret orders unfair to the R. Catholics. I had at Kampala a head- man named Saleh. Like manv of the Swahilis, he was a Mganda by birth, having been exported as a slave in his boyhood. He had come up with Mr Jackson, and had at one time been mv interpreter. He was popular with the Waganda, being a very respectable quiet man. I . now decided to send him to arrano-e the mat- BUDDU TEOUBLES 1 — SALEH AS EXVOY. 505 ter in South Bucldii. All were very pleased, and said, " Saleh will do justice." His orders were, to see that the people of Koki evacuated the five districts assigned to the R. Catholics, and to clearly define the frontier. In the case of the Waziba it appeared that there was no frontier, and they owned estates in Buddu, which they had reclamied bv their own industry from the jungle, while the E.. Catholics possessed estates farther south towards the Uziba country. Saleh was to select a fair frontier by which neither would lose — i.e., one so drawn that the estates of the Waziba north of it should be equivalent in value to the estates of the E. Catholics south of it. He Avould act as arbitrator in both these matters between the R. Catholics and their neighbours. Beinof conversant alike with the lano-uao-e and the customs of the country, and withal a sensible, shrewd man, he would be well adapted for the task, for he had no bias towards either side. Saleh was also to inquire into the causes of the fight between the E. Catholics and the Waziba ; if the latter were in fault, they would be mulcted in territory, but theh^ chief and all prisoners were to be restored. He had orders to warn both Koki and the Waziba against any trade in either slaves, arms, or powder, and to tell them that any such traffic, if proved, would con- stitute a casus helli ; for these people were notorious at this trade, and I had only lately heard from the Germans that Kamswaga had sold some slaves. It was an import- ant mission to intrust to a native, but even supposing that it would not have been follv for me to o-o to Buddu myself under present circumstances, I thought that the task could j)robably be accomplished as well, or perhaps even better, by a shrewd native than by a European. In any case it was impossible for me to leave Kampala just now, while Williams was still absent, and the questions with the Mohammedans were still hardlv 506 CLOSE OF MY ADMINISTRATION. settled. The matter, however, admitting of no delay, Saleh went with an envoy from the Sekibobo, and the men who had come from Koki and Buddu. Good news came from Torn. My messengers returned to say that all was well at Fort George, and that a con- siderable amount of ivory had been collected in exchange for salt. The Sudanese I had sent for, to form the station at Kawanga on the Uganda frontier (Fort De Winton), or to replace the Swahilis, whom I hoped now to send back to the coast, had arrived, and were with Selim Bey. From Usoga also I at last got news of Williams, who was said to have had some fighting, but to be now " sit- ting in peace." I had been in some anxiety at getting no word of him, in spite of the urgent letters I had sent to recall him, at the time when matters looked so critical at the capital. He had been away nearly two months, though he had hoped to be back in a fortnight, and during this time I had had no news of him at all. On my return, therefore, I sent the chief of Chagwe with a considerable force to help him and bring me tidings. Mr Beddie had long since arrived, and with him the bulk of the men whom Williams took. Beddie now de- voted himself to drillino- our soldiers. Meanw^hile the Kamaniro, one of the leaders in the late Fiitahangi war in Chagwe, came in, and it appeared that the trouble from that quarter was entirely over. I sent him back to tell his people that in future they need have no fear of religious coercion, and that they should remain undis- turbed in possession of their fields, provided they obeyed the law and refrained from outrages. Williams, too, had impressed this on them in Chagwe. The Kamaniro was greatly delighted at this assurance, and said that all the Fiitahangi^ who had so long suffered from relig- ious intolerance, would now be on our side and loyal to our rule. A second embassy of Waziba from German East Africa '•'TEADLS'G CAEAVAXS"" — A CraSE TO ATEICA. 507 (with a present of edible grasshoppers) arrived to make Mends, and I warned them against participation in the slave-trade and arms traffic, and explained that they were l^eyond British territory. They departed well pleased to have seen us, and happy with a present of a yai'd or two of cloth. I now received news that an Arab caravan wished to enter Uganda from the south (German territory), and requested permission to march through Buddu. I declined to allow them to do so, on the grounds that it would be prejudicial to the interests of Uganda at the present moment, while as yet the country had hardly settled down and the Mohammedan faction were only now bemg repatriated. I had also received lettei^ from the Germans, calling upon me to punish XtaH of Ankoh for outraofes he was said to have com- mitted upon similar *" trading " caravans which had en- tered his country ; for they maintained that cam vans were fi-ee to trade across the frontiers. In my opinion it is wholly imjust that an indepen- dent native king or chief should be compelled to admit into his countrv a laro^e force of armed men who call themselves " traders," and who requue food, indejDen- dently of whether there is great scarcity (as is the case in Ankoh). Apart fr^om the question as to whether such caravans, far fi'om all supervision, traffic in slaves or arms (as we have every reason from past ex|>erience to suspect them of doing), the fact remains that they almost invariably fall foul of the natives, in which case they either levy war on theu own account, or misrepresent facts, and involve the Administration in an interminable and fi'uitless inquhy. As I have strongly said elsewhere, I look on these armed Swahih caravans as an unmitio^ated cmse to Afr ica. Moreover, I declined to be responsible for the safe-conduct of any caravan throucrh Ankoli : for as vet I had been unable 508 CLOSE OF MY ADMINISTRATION. to establish any efficient administration in that distant province, and was merely in treaty relations with its king. Lastly, before guaranteeing protection to a Swahili caravan, I considered that the permission of the Resident in Uganda should have been obtained before it entered British territory — a permission I should only have granted, if granted at all, after being fur- nished with details of its armed strength, the names of its leaders, and sureties, in the shape of satisfactory references at the coast, for its good behaviour. I wrote to the Germans saying that at the present moment I could not allow caravans of Arabs in Uganda, and fully explaining the reason. I am glad to see it reported that Sir Gerald Portal has confirmed this prohibition. The President of the Church Missionary Society continued to insist on his view, that the R. Catholics should be called uj)on to pay for the Mission losses at Bukoba. As they had nothing to pay, such a course meant war. He wrote to me saying that, if I declined to act energetically in the matter, he would " place it in other hands." What this meant I do not know, un- less he intended to appeal to the Protestants to demand restitution, under threats of reprisals — a demand which, of course, would be refused. He declined to go to the king with the responsible chief of the B. Catholics to represent his claims. The Missions were, in fact, difficult to deal with. In order to oblige them, Ave had opened an account with them, so that they could at all times obtain porters to carry goods, or, for a day's work at their gardens, &c., on payment of a small fixed hire. Under these conditions, just before the war, I had sent down thirteen men with loads for them to Buddu. On arrival, my men had found the mission deserted, and one of them had been killed and his rifle lost. The President now declined to pay for the hire of these men, on the grounds that the loads they conveyed had never THE EOYAL WAR-DRUM. 509 been received ! They raised other similar objections also. I think this incident will sufficiently indicate the difficulty I had in dealing with them, even in trivial matters. Mbogo and I became great friends. His complete bona fides was proved by his bringing me one of the two copper drums of Uganda, which were considered the especial property of the king and the emblems of royalty. This drum had been abandoned by the Christians when The Royal Drum of Uganda. defeated in the war by the Mohammedans. It had thus become the property of Mbogo, and the emblem of his kingship. Its fellow belonged to Mwanga.^ Mbogo now brought it to me, saying it was no longer right he should retain it, as he was no lono-er a kinof. I sent it to Mwanga, but hinted that I should myself like to keep it as a memento of Uganda, and he at once gave it to me. On June 6th I at last got news of Williams, and on 1 This drum forms the subject of an illustration and description in Speke's book — thirty years ago. —Journals, p. 291. 510 CLOSE OF MY ADMIXISTRATIOX. the 8th he arrived. At the same time I heard that the railway- survey party were on their way to Uganda, and were bringing mails. I sent a man from the king to escort them, and to provide them with food on the way. WiUiams had finally started on his expedition on April 16th, and picking up the Sudanese and Waganda, who had built a small stockade in Chagwe, he marched to the Nile. On his way he sent messages to the Futa- hangi chiefs, telling them that there would be no coercion in religion in future, and this resulted in their leaders, the Kamaniro and Mtegiri, laying down their arms. There was some difficulty in getting canoes to cross the Nile, and as soon as the army entered Usoga, several Waganda were speared, and the Wasoga soon after attacked in force, but were defeated. Most of the leading chiefs now sent embassies of peace. Williams continued his march towards Wakoli's, where Reddie was, and the Wao^anda Avere ao^ain attacked by the enemy. He found Reddie safe ; re- assured Wakoli of our friendship, and then marched north to settle various disputes among local chiefs, and more especialh^ to reinstate a man named Miro. The Wasoga still showed hostility, and one of our best men was murdered and another badly wounded. Find- ing that the presence of the Waganda was a pre- ventive to peace, Williams decided to send most of them back under Reddie on May 5th, and to remain himself with the Maxim and 100 good men of his own to receive the submission of the various chiefs, and restore order. He sent an expedition against one (Menia) who continued refractory, and having dealt with him severely, he received his embassies of peace. In each instance he made a stipulation in his terms prohibiting the slave - trade, and the traffic in arms and powder. On May 17th he re- ceived the letters of recall, which I had sent to him GOOD ORDER IN USOGA. 511 at the time when it appeared as though my negotia- tions with the Mohammedans must fail. His report continues : — " The news was most disquieting, and I immediately packed up and started. I did not leave my goats and cattle behind, as I believed you would be able to arrange matters. I crossed the Nile, after tremendous rains, and consequently bad roads, at the lower crossing, on the morning of the 2d June. Here I received good and reliable news of your happy settlement with the Mohammedans. " I halted one day with the Mlondo, and left with that chief twenty Sudanese to give security to that division of the country. I was strongly urged to do this, as I found large numbers of Waganda, who were living in Usoga, afraid to return to their shamhas. I then marched slowly, arriving at Kampala on the 7th June — several chiefs with their followers, who had been in hiding, coming out to see me as I passed along. "Mr Eeddie was undoubtedly at one time in considerable danger : overtures were undoubtedly made to Wakoli to kill him. Wakoli rejected all these offers, but undoubtedly con- nived at the stopping of letters sent from here. In my opinion he has done very well indeed for a Usoga chief." ^ Williams also said that Martin's reports to me of the disaffection among the Wasoga, in consequence of the alleged breach of faith at the coast towards the men he had enlisted here, were exaggerated, and that the war undertaken by Mr Gedge, both on his up and his return journey, against Kivendi, at Wakoli's insti- gation, had been ill advised and unjust. He added, that the prospects of Usoga returning a good revenue were hopeful. The net result of his expedition was, that the hostile Futahangi had settled down in peace, and had become friendly, now that they found there was to be no more eviction on account of religion. Usoga was quieted, and the fractious chiefs had received a lesson which they would not forget. In proof of this, the rail- 1 Blue-book Africa, No. 2, 1893, p. 83. 512 CLOSE OF MY ADMIXISTRATIOX. way survey, which arrived the day after Williams, found everything absolutely peaceful in Usoga. In fact, it appeared that these people had been led to take up arms by false re^jorts. They had been told that we were de- feated and driven out of Uganda, and that Williams' force was the remnant of our garrison, trying to make its way to the coast. Doubtless their rising was inspired largely by their hatred of the Waganda. Peace was now restored throughout Uganda. I had long been wishing to leave Kampala, in order to go to Selim Bey, and establish the forts in their new positions, and build the station in the Mohammedan province, and I had only waited to do so till Williams should re- turn. De Winton died on March 27th. and since that date there had been no one to check and control the Sudanese. When I originally (Nov. 1891) located them temporarily in these forts, it was my intention to hurry back to Uganda, and immediately to send Williams to organise these people. De Winton was only to remain till he should arrive. Unforeseen events had prevented Williams' o'oino^, and I had much misoivino- lest thev should be indulcrincr in licence and outraofe. I had al- ready sent Selim Bey, and now jDurposed going myself The news brought by the mail, however, contained no reprieve of the sentence of death to all our work, which the evacuation of Uganda at the end of the vear would involve. If I started at once for England, I could only arrive by October ; and su^Dposing that after mv arrival a message was sent to delay evacuation, it could barely reach Uganda in time. Our intended action, however, when we got the previous orders for immediate evacua- tion, and Williams' offer at that time to expend his own money rather than desert the country before people in England knew the state of t]ie case, is a sufficient in- dication that, even if the reprieve came late, it would yet be in time. But it was urgently necessary that I REASONS FOR RETURN TO ENGLAND. 513 should lose no time in starting. Moreover, I anticipated that the French Fathers would give a version of the causes and events of the war which would not be in accordance with the facts as I knew them. For they implicitly believed in tlie stories brought to them by their own faction, and had no means of hearing the other side, or of judging of all the matters which controlled or prompted my action. I had, moreover, recently received letters from Pere Achte in Buddu ac- cusing me of bad faith towards the R. Catholics in the terms of peace I had made, although his letter (quoted on p. 466) of April 29th, after these terms had been received, was in the contrary sense, and Pere Brard had told me that they intended by every means in their power to upset my agreement if they could. It therefore behoved me to go to England to explain and defend my action, though at this time, as I have said, I had no intimation at all of the charges in reality made against me by the French Fathers. I was unaware that, while accepting our hospitality at Kampala, and meeting daily as friends, they had written to Europe to say that they were prisoners whom the English aided the natives to insult ; that they had accused Williams of deliberately shooting down women, and inferred that I had counte- nanced the sale into slavery of all the P. Catholic women and prisoners. I had yet to learn that dignitaries of their Church had dubbed me a murderer, a liar, a per- secutor of my fellow- Christians," and an " unprinci^^led adventurer," &c. These denunciations, with very many others, I learnt as I neared the coast. There was also a third reason for hastening my de- parture, if I went at all. My object in staying on in Uganda was to decentralise from Kampala. I wished at once to form stations in the provinces of the Moham- medans and in Buddu (Luwambu) ; also to institute a tri-monthly caravan to Torn and the Salt Lake to VOL. II. 2 K 514 CLOSE OF MY ADMINISTRATION. collect produce ; to send trading parties into Unyoro and the countries round Uganda, so as to open up the commerce of those lands and promote a trade and create a revenue ; and to establish a trading- station and garrison in Usoga. Reddie would go to Torn, Grant to Usoga, Ferag Effendi to Buddu. My plans were all matured, and the exact numbers of each of the new garrisons decided. The news of my departure, however, might, I feared, cause a commotion in the country — not because my abilities were any greater than Williams', but simply because in Africa everything turns on a j)ersonality, and the name of " Kapelli " was known from the Albert Lake to Kavirondo, and far into German territory. To the more distant and ignorant my departure would seem almost synonymous with the evacuation of the British. The Mohammedans had dealt only with me ; they had never seen Williams, who Avas away in Usoga at the time I met them. The Sekibobo said that the K. Catholics trusted me personally implicitly, and would be quite dismayed at my going. Williams was some- what more blunt, perhaps, in his manner of dealing with them than I, and the missionaries of both sects pro- fessed themselves better able to deal with me than with him. " Our enemies," I write in my diary, " would gain fresh courage, and our friends will be despondent and unsettled, fearing that with my departure the whole fabric must coUajJse, till they find that Williams is as good or better." It was therefore the mere personal prestige of a name (which means much in Africa), the mere transition from one chief to another, and in no sense whatever a com- jDarison of Williams' merits or methods and my own, which made me fear a " buzz," as Williams graphically phrased it. It would thus be obviously better if the decentralisation from headquarters were deferred until LEAVE EVERY RIFLE BEHIND. 515 after my departure, and Kampala remained at its maximum strength, and with no anxiety for the safety of detached outposts, in case any trouble arose when I left ; but it was urgently necessary that these stations should be made at once. Moreover, I knew that any force, however small, which I took down with me, would be exaggerated a hundredfold ; so the opportunity of accompanying the railway survey, and thereby letting the people see that I had not taken a single rifle from Kampala, seemed too good a one to neglect. The men who would otherwise have gone back at this time would follow a month later, when any fear of disturbance was past. In anticipation of my expected departure, I had for some time past made notes of every matter of any im- portance in which I had been engaged, and I now fully explained to Williams some forty or fifty of such ques- tions, and described my action in each, as well as the more important matters which had arisen in connection with both missions ; my recent dealings both with the R. Catholics and the Mohammedans ; and my plans for the reduction of the Uganda garrison and the establishment of new stations, &c. I left with him also a very lengthy memo, detailing the plans I had formed for the future : the further concessions I hoped to make to the R. Catholics if they remained peaceable and appeared loyal ; the schemes I had for develop- ing trade ; the terms of peace I should demand from Kabarega ; the distribution and enlistment of the Sudanese in Torn ; the establishment of a mail to the coast ; and very many other questions, some of which I have touched upon in the foregoing chapters. Upon «• all these questions Williams and I were, I think, in entire accord. A day or two after his return Williams fell ill, and at one time I was very anxious about him, and thought 516 CLOSE OF MY ADMIXISTEATIOX. it would be impossible for me to leave. He, however, was sufficiently recovered before the 16th — the day the survey party were to march — to admit of my going. Dualla, too, was most seriously ill, and I feared he would hardly recover. He had received bad news from his home, and his heart was set on accompanying me to the coast. I said he was unfit to travel, but he professed more confidence in me than even in a pro- fessional doctor ; and when I told him that he could not possibly be spared at the present moment, my de- cision so jDreyed on his mind that I was forced, with Williams' consent, to agree to his going, after which he began to mend rapidly. Reddie, too, was very ill indeed, but was no^^' beoinnino; to mend, and Bao:o;e had occasional fever ; Ferag was also sick. Before allowing a whisper of my intended departure to get abroad, I told the Katikiro to return all the arms which had been lent to his faction, since the coun- try was now in peace. Owing to the stories of the treacherous plot formed while I was negotiating with the Mohammedans, I was anxious to get back these arms before I left. The powerful caravan of the sur- vey party, and our own concentrated strength, ren- dered the opportunity favourable. They were brought in very rapidly without trouble, only those remaining which were in the hands of chiefs distant from the capital. The railway survey brought good news. An ex- cellent route had been found, and the total cost was less than had been expected. The route along the Sabakhi, suggested by me, would be cheaper than that via " the Taru desert," if Malindi Port was taken as the point of departure, but they had been told that Mombasa must be the base. My idea was that Mombasa should be connected with Malindi by a subsidiary line, running parallel with the coast above the heads of the creeks. mayanga's farewell visit. 517 and connecting all the coast ports. Such a line would control the import of slaves from the interior to the coast area — a more important matter, as I have pointed out elsewhere, than the export by sea of a small fraction of this number. It would also prevent the smuggling of arms and powder, and the illicit export of ivory and produce, which had not paid the required duties. As a means of bringing the coast population, with their turbulent elements, into touch with the central administration, and within reach of a com- paratively small police force, it would be invaluable, as well as for bringing j)roduce to the main ports. On the 14th I announced to the Katikiro that I was going. He was very much distressed, saying that I had won the confidence of all parties, and there would be trouble when I left. I told him that there was no need for despondency, for Williams would rule precisely as I had. Mbogo, too, was much dismayed, especially when he heard that Dualla was going too ; but I introduced him to Williams, who undertook to carry out my pledges, and he was satisfied. Mwanga came to see me and pay a farewell visit. He made some strong assertions regarding the part that Mgr. had played both before and after the war, which he said he knew of his own personal knowledge, and he expressed great gratitude for all that had been done for his country, which now enjoyed a greater prosj)ect of peace than it had done for many years. In fact, as old Mbogo expressed it, " So complete was the peace in Uganda, that men who before had never left their doors without a gun in their hands were now every- where trying to sell them." I replied that if he wished to express his gratitude for the results to his country, he should do so to those who sent me and who had paid the expenses of the work. He said he would like to do so. Some time later, as we were crossing the Nile, I 518 CLOSE OF MY ADMINISTRATION. received letters from him and from the chiefs, which I was asked to convey to England. The composition and the terms were entirely their own, and when they had written them, they took them to Mr Pilking- ton for translation into English. As I was leaving the comitry, and they had nothing to hope from me in the shape of j^resents, &c., I was pleased at the terms of their letters, for they could not have been dictated by any motive of advantage to themselves. They ran as follows : ^ — Letter from Mioanga to the Queen. [Translation.] " Uganda, Mengo, June 17, 1892. " To MY Friend the Queen, our great Sovereign : " I and all my chiefs send you many greetings. I write this letter to thank you. Thank you exceedingly for sending the representatives of the Company in order to set my country to rights. "When they reached Uganda, at first I did not like them ; I did not think that they could set the country to rights. After we had fought, Captain Lugard wrote me a letter, and invited me, and restored me to my kingdom ; then he went and invited the ]\Iohammedans as well, with whom I had been at war, and brought them back, and gave them a part of the country. But now my country is at peace ; the agents of the Company have arranged it excellently. Xow I earnestly beseech you to help me ; do not recall the Company from my country. I and my chiefs are under the English flag, as the people of India are under your flag ; we desire very, very much that the English should arrange this country ; should you recall these agents of the Company, my friend, my country is sure to be ruined, war is sure to come. " Captain Lugard has now brought to terms these three religions ; he has returned to England ; he will inform you of the state of affairs in Uganda. But I want you to send this same Captain Lugard back again to Uganda, that he may finish his work of arranging the country, for he is a man of very great ability, and all the Waganda like him very much ; he is gentle ; his judgments are just and true, and so I want you to send him 1 Blue-book Africa, No. 2, 1893. mwaxga's letter to the queex. 519 back to Uganda. So, our friend, persevere in helping us, for we are your people. " May God give you blessing and long life. (Signed) I, Mwaxga, King of Uganda, and my great chiefs." [Xames of chiefs added.] Miuanga to Directors, I.B.E.A.C. " To MY FeIENDS the DiRECTOES of the CoMPAXY IX EXGLAXD : " I and all my chiefs send you many greetings. My friends, many, many thanks for sending so able a man as this Captain Lugard to arrange my country. My friends, at first when the agents of the Company arrived in Uganda, at first I did not like them. I thought they had come to ruin my country. But after we had fought, Captain Lugard wrote me a letter, and invited me back, and restored me to my kingdom. Then Captain Lugard went and brought the Mohammedans as well, those with whom I had been at war, and brouodit them back into L^cpanda, and o'ave them a part of the country. Xow L^ganda has been settled and is at peace. Captain Lugard has returned to England, he will inform you of all affairs in L'ganda. But, my friends, I be- seech you, do not cease from helping me. I want you to send a number of Europeans to L^ganda to settle it. Do not be grieved by the thought that there are no profits in L"^ganda — ' our outlay will be without returns.' It is not so. I tell you so, because of late what has been making ivory scarce in the country has been the late war. And now Captain Lugard has succeeded in bring- ing the three religions to terms ; he has settled the country, and wealth will now increase in the country, and the Company will make profits. My friends, I and my chiefs agreed to be under the Company's flag. \\q want the Company to help us to settle this country, and to occupy it in force. Should you at present recall your forces from Uganda, the country is ruined, there will be war again. Therefore I pray you not to cease from helping us in L^ganda, for we are your people. Further, we ask you, our friends, to bring us guns for sale, and useful articles. May God help you ever to wise decisions, in respect to this our country Uganda. I am your friend, who loves you. (Signed) Mwaxga, King of Uganda, and my great chiefs." [Xames of the chiefs added in full.] 520 CLOSE OF MY ADMINISTRATION. Note hy Chiefs. — " But we, the Protestant chiefs, were annoyed with Captain Lugard. It is a small matter about which we wrote to the elders of the Church [Church Missionary Society] to tell you, the Directors of the Company, to give us another man, who might perhaps please us. But a short time afterwards he. Cap- tain Lugard, settled the matter which had annoyed us, and pleased both us and those of all religions in Uganda, as well as those who do not know how to read [religion]. Now he is the friend of all of us who are in Uganda." To these was added a third long letter to the heads of the Church Missionary Society in England in similar terms. As I have already said, the missions at the last moment decided to send men to Usoga. Mr Koscoe was to go to Luba's, and Mr Smith to Wakoli's. The latter came and courteously asked me about it. I said that as a mission had already, some time before, been started at Wakoli's, and I hoj)ed soon to have a garrison there, and already had a few men, and all was friendly, I should offer no objection to the establishment of a mis- sion there, and I would introduce Mr Smith as my friend, and do all I could to help him. I, however, demurred to Mr Roscoe s going to Luba's. Williams had not had time to visit this chief, and though he believed him to be well disposed, I thought it better that we should first make a treaty with him, and ascer- tain for certain that he was friendly. For during the war many reports adverse to him had reached me, and as he was the man who had murdered Bishop Hanning- ton, it was not unnatural that he should be afraid, and therefore hostile. I offered to visit him myself on my way past. I, moreover, said that, as I was leaving, and we feared that possibly there might be a temporary difficulty when the news became known (especially in Usoga, where the survey party had heard a report that the present state of peace would only continue GRANT AND WILLIAMS. 521 SO long as I was here), it was most unadvisable that any missionary should place himself in a position Avhere we could not protect him. In spite, however, of my views, and of the exjDlicit prohibition of the Directors, they decided that Mr Koscoe should go, and he went. The ostensible reason of his hurry to start was, that he might avail himself of our escort ; but we never saw him on the march at all, and he followed behind. Many of the chiefs seemed really grieved at my going, especially the R. Catholic Sekibobo, whose little one, my jyvotegee Malia, I was most sorry to say good-bye to. Zachariah, who had been with me to Kavalli's, and whom I so greatly trusted, alone said he was glad I was going ; for he said I was worn out, and had been too long in Africa, and needed a rest in my own land, but his " heart cried " to say good-bye ! My comrades gave me a fare- well dinner, and many very kind things were said, but none truer than my own response, which was, that any success we had achieved was due to no one man, but to the loyal co-operation of every single one. We had worked together at a common task, not with the formality of official orders and so forth, but as comrades. I have told the story of our doings ; and of necessity, since the chief work as regards the administration fell to my share, I have been comj^elled to speak much in the first person. But never man had more loyal comrades than I. Foremost among them was Grant, who had been with me from the coast till now, and never separated from me. He was a man always to be relied on, conscientious and indefatigable, whose friendship never varied, and was never once broken by any diflPerence. He has since jDroved his capacity by satisfactorily ar- ranging Usoga, and introducing order up to the far north, where his methods rendered him both successful and popular. Of Williams I need hardly add to what I have said in these pages. His work speaks for itself 522 CLOSE OF MY ADMINISTRATION. His ability has been borne witness to by the Directors of the Company in the strongest terms of j^raise.^ He remained at his post in Uganda, after I left, for nine months, and held the country till the arrival of Sir G Portal, in spite of severe illness and consequent risk to his life. Had he left according to his first intention (before he heard of the Commission sent by Govern- ment), it is not improbable that the Commissioner, instead of finding a continued peace, and a hearty wel- come on arriA^al, might have had a different set of cir- cumstances to deal with. For thus unselfishly sticking to his post at a very real risk to his life, and so ably maintaining the equilibrium in Uganda till the Gov- ernment Commissioner arrived to take charge. Gov- ernment itself is indebted to him. I may add that, whatever the feeling as regards myself,^ Captain Williams has been wholly exonerated from all the charges brought against him by the French Fathers. Africa, it has been said, " tests a man as no other life can," ^ and if, under the search-light of so close an in- timacy, with the tests of danger, the weariness and irritation of fever, the depression of routine work and monotony, your first estimate of a man holds good and 1 Times, July 24th, 1893. ^ Both Bishop Tucker and Mgr. Hirth have declared that they regard the first period of my administration as impartial, and it was during this period that the exercise of any bias would especially be noticeable ; for it was then that the questions in dispute between the factions were dealt with, upon which the K Catholic Union have founded most of their charges. The national rather than the religious feeling in this matter was exemplified by the action of France, who is not proverbial for her sym- pathy with missions at home, and by the fact that M. Appia, the pastor of an influential Protestant community in France, stated, it is said, that the French Protestants espoused the French (E. Catholic) side of the contro- versy. M. Gaudibert told Macpherson in Uganda that the Fathers had no fear but what they would get justice so long as the British should be strong in the country, and only feared a reduction of their strength. This was said after the war. 3 Two Kings of Uganda, p. 182. GOOD-BYE TO KAMPALA. 523 friendship is unimpaired, that man must be, as the Americans say, "real grit." On the 16th June we marched. The Sudanese and Zanzibaris thronged round me to grasp my hand and say good-bye, and the Katikiro, with a crowd of Wa- ganda, accompanied me for about a mile. It is my pride to think, in connection with my work in Africa, that when I turned my back on Uganda (as before on Karonga's), I do not believe there was one man who was glad I was going, while there were some whose regrets at parting were as keen as my own. Pere Brard wrote me a courteous, kind note, expressing his regret at my departure, and saying that my " presence would have greatly tended to the peace of the coun- try." He added that he hoped I would return. This tribute of regret on all sides at my departure was in- finitely more pleasing to me than any possible praise or reward could be.^ Selim had committed his little daughter to my charge to take to Egypt, and with her were forty-four aitham, who had been left behind by Martin on account of an outbreak of smallpox. Besides these, I took most of the Swahili headmen and askari (being the more highly paid ranks, whose duties would in future be per- formed by the troops), and some of the more useless porters. The reduction by our scheme was to be 203 Swahilis ; of these about 100 accompanied me. I took also all the Somals (39), who were now time-expired. My caravan numbered about 200 — all of course un- ^ The Intelligence Department of the War Office have issued a * Hand- book to East Africa ' since these chapters were written (published Aug. 12th, 1893). After giving a resume oi the Administration in Uganda, the writer sums up as follows : "The civil war had thus led to a i:)ermanent settle- ment of Uganda, which could hardly otherwise have been arrived at, and Captain Williams took up the position of Resident at Kampala in June 1892, with every prospect of future peace and progress for the country, which was, according to the reports he addressed to the Company in October and Decem- ber, fully borne out " (p. 69). 524 MARCH TO KIKUYU. armed— and as these Avere mostly drawing high pay, the reduction in expenditure would be considerable. These numbers included the Sudanese cdtham, with their women and children, and many of the freed slave (Swahili) women, who had married headmen, and were now returnino; to the coast. I had, of course, a good deal of difficulty regarding my men who were to remain behind ; for the Swahilis become attached to their commander, and look upon it as a great grievance that they should be handed over to any other. They were engaged solely as porters, and their detention as garrisons in Uganda was not within the terms of their agreement. They professed themselves willino- to remain with me for ten years if I stayed myself, but bitterly resented being kept by force, so to speak, when I, who had brought them, was returning to the coast. But it was impossible for me to very largely reduce the strength of the garrison at Kampala at such a moment. A few men of the rail- way survey caravan volunteered to stay, for service at Kampala was po23ular ; but these were not a very de- sirable lot, being inostly, I believe, Malima, or men usually emj^loyed in Swahili caravans, and hence mostly slaves. Bv this exchans^e, too^ether with those I had selected to return, I took 127 of our old lot, and Wil- liams promised the rest that a second caravan should shortly follow to the coast, and all should be relieved as soon as j)ossible. This promise he redeemed very soon after. It was, as I have said, largely in view of the neces- sity that would arise to send these Swahilis back to the coast, and so to avoid a breach of faith with them, that we had secured Selim Bey's Sudanese to replace them. I had sent for 100 more of these soldiers, and they had already arrived on the borders of Uganda ; so Williams hoped soon to be in a position to substitute MY CARAVAN. 525 them for the Swahihs. The disadvantage of the new Sudanese, however, as garrison at headquarters, lay in the great number of women and followers with which they were hampered. I hoped that when they found that their psij and rations did not allow of their main- taining these crowds of women and slaves, and that there was no means of providing for them except out of their legitimate pay, many would be glad to allow their followers to settle on the freed- slave establishments of A Camp in Usoga. which I have spoken, while others would eagerly culti- vate the areas I had already allotted to them around Kampala, and so provide their own food. The soldiers would thus become more mobile and useful. Arrived in Usoga, I sent for Luba in order that I might do my best for Mr Roscoe. His son came, and brought presents, and said his father earnestly desired peace and friendship ; but I did not see the old chief himself, and I was unable to delay to go to his village. 526 MARCH TO KIKUYU. Wakoli received us with great demonstrations. I ex- plained that Mr Smith had come at his invitation, and was my friend, and I hoj)ed he would treat him well. At the same time, I fully explained the difference be- tween the status of the officers of the Company and the missionaries. The latter were his guests, but the former were the representatives of the British authority, and their orders must be obeyed. A large number of Wa- ganda women had followed us from Kampala, the "sweethearts and wives" of my porters; but knowing that when they reached the coast, and the men to whom they had attached themselves had expended their money, they would be abandoned to prostitution, or to slavery among a people whose language they did not know, I turned them all back at the Nile ferry. Four Wasoofa women whose condition was similar, I handed over to Mr Smith. The careless arrangements of the caravans which had passed through Usoga had fostered the thieving pro- pensities of the people, and I now heard that rifles had been stolen in considerable numbers from Martin with impunity. The railway survey, having an escort of Indian soldiers and a very large proportion of surplus askari, could afford to detail many night sentries ; yet they had also suffered, and we woke one morning to find that boxes had been stolen in the night, con- taining many valuable instruments, including a theo- dolite, sextant, &c. These were essential to the work of the survey, and a halt was called to recover them. I- sent secret search-parties — ostensibly to purchase food — to get news of the stolen goods, and presently most of them were recovered intact. The remainder were brought during the night and deposited near camp. Dualla by my orders caught ten men of the village at which the things were found, and brought in some goats as a fine. The men received a hand- ^ THEFT IN USOGA. 527 some flogging, and " went off* in the most ludicrous manner, rubbing their sterns, and saying that it did not pay to loot the caravan of Kapelli." I found that this A WELL-MERITED C ASTIGATIOiN. nickname was a byword among these simple people, and that the prestige we had acquired as having defeated Kabarega, and brought down the Turks " from 528 MARCH TO KIKUYU. Kavalli's, and driven out and then reinstated Mwanga, was simj)ly enormous. Crowds flocked from every side, and whispered to each other as I passed that that was " KapelH himself, until I felt quite embarrassed ! Arrived at Kavirondo. we found Lieutenants Twinino- and Austin, with the remainder of the survey caravan, awaiting us. They had bad news. Smallpox was raging in the Kavirondo villages and among their men, and the donkeys on which the caravan relied for its transport had been ''dying like flies." It was a great pitv that a change of locality had not been tried. Con- sequently, the fifty loads of food which Captain Mac- donald had promised to convey for the women and childi'en of my caravan, and on which I had made my calculations, could not be carried, and the survey them- selves were in the greatest difficulties. However, by loading up every askari, and even headmen, and com- pelling the Sudanese to carry large supplies for them- selves, I hoped, with the aid of such game as my rifle might provide, to pull through for the twenty- eight davs of foodless country we had to traverse before reach- ino* Kikuvu. Owino-. however, to the delav caused bv the sick donkeys, which were utterly unable to carry the loads placed upon them and to cross the swamps and rivulets, and the late hour at which the caravan always started in the morning, our progress was very slow, and in nineteen days we only averaged six and a half miles per diem. In all, we took thirty-two days to reach Kikuyu. The season of the rains ordinarily ends with the month of May, but we were now in July, and they con- tinued with ceaseless severity.^ This added greatly to ^ The area affected by this excessive rainfall would appear to have in- cluded almost the whole of Central Africa, for Mr Sharpe, travelling in the Mweru region, considerably to the south of Tanganyika, writes : " Through- out the Mwem and Tanganyika districts the rainfall of 1892 (Jan. to March) was unusually heavy." — Geog. Journal, vol. i. p. 525. EFFECT ON EGYPT OF RAINFALL. 529 our difficulties, for the mountain-streams, which should have been fordable, were now swollen torrents, with a current in some instances of seven miles an hour, and a depth of 20 ft. Bridging these delayed us still further. The high plateau of Mau, at an elevation of 8000 ft., was converted into swamp-land, in which we frequently waded through standing water. The result was, that the Victoria Lake rose, I believe, some 6 ft. above its normal level. I was curious to hear if this abnormal rainfall at the far sources of the Nile would have an appreciable effect in Egypt. For though the usual "high Nile" is, according to Baker, due not to the rains in the Equatorial regions, but to the flooding of the Atbara from Abyssinia, the summer supply is supposed by M. Chelu to come from the great lakes (see p. 584). When I reached the coast, I heard that unusual floods had taken place, causing much damage in Egypt during September. Undoubtedly, therefore, it would be of great importance to that country if Uganda and the lake districts, being held by Great Britain, were placed in fairly rapid communication with the coast, so that the news of any excessive rainfall could be telegraphed to the Nile Delta, and adequate provision made for its results. This view is enforced by Mr Alfred Milner. One of these rivers delayed us for two days. I had but three axes, but my men had had so much experi- ence in bridging on the march from Kavalli that we succeeded in making a connection with the opposite bank, and our main task was thus accomplished, when two or three trees, felled by some other party higher up-stream, were borne down on the rushing torrent, and jamming with all their branches against our bridge, converted it into a dam. It held out for a short time, but the irresistible force of the water presently carried it bodily away, to our great discomfiture ! I devoted VOL. II. 2 L 53Q MARCH TO KIKUYU. myself on the march, and after arrival, to covering considerable distances in pursuit of game, which was scarce and wild. I was, however, fairly successful in providing meat with which to help out the rations of my men. While thus roaming parallel to the line of march, over the open undulating plateau, I one day suddenly came on a troop of two lions, four lionesses, and four small cubs (at this elevation, — 8000 ft.), of which I shot one handsome lioness. It was difficult to see her Death of a Lioness. properly in the long grass, and I had consequently wounded her in the legs. She looked very fine when, enraged by the wound, she stood out on a rock lashing her sides with her tail and contemplating a charge ; but in thus exposing herself she gave me an excellent chance, and a shot through the heart dropped her stone-dead. At all spare moments I devoted myself to writing my fourth report to the Directors. On the Mau plateau SITE FOR STATION ON MAU. 531 we crossed my up -route, and I found that it tended somewhat to the south of the line of the railway sur- vey, and hence we must, I suppose, have passed through the north of the hostile Wa-Nandi country. I pointed out my old camp to Twining as we passed it, that I might be able to add this little bit of new country to the admirable maps of the railway survey. I have already described the Mau plateau, with its forests of giant junipers, conifers, and bamboos. At this season the flowers were exquisitely lovely, and their variety em- braced the flora of the temperate and the tropical zones. Near the great Eldoma ravine was a site admirably suited for the central station between Kikuyu and Kavirondo, which I advocate so strongly. The latter would be some 100 miles distant, the former 150. The food district of Kamasia is close by, from which (till they had grown their own crops) the garrison could obtain food, but ultimately the rich soil would render the station a source of food-supply itself For it will be remembered I have always suggested an agricultural colony rather than a military post at this spot. Until the colony could produce food in sufficient quantities for the demands of caravans, the station would form a depot at which supplies from Kikuyu (and more especially those brought by empty caravans returning from Kavirondo) could be stored. Sick animals (as described in the chapter on transport) under veterinary supervision would be left here, instead of being aban- doned to the hyenas, as was now daily being done perforce by the survey caravan ; and sick men would here be taken in charge. " The soil is good," I write, ^'the height not excessive — 7000 odd ft. — the grass excellent. Timber and firewood abound, and so does game. . . . The colony could be a mixed one — Su- danese, Indians, Persians, and freed slaves. Arm them against marauders, and give them allotments of land, 532 MAECH TO KTKUYU. seeds, agricultural implements, and a nucleus of flocks and cattle. They will fight, if necessary, for their homes, and will draw no pay. The European in charge will superintend the storing of grain from Kikuyu and Kavirondo, and thus caravans for the interior, instead of being laden up with food, can carry at least 80 per cent goods, instead of about 50 per cent as at jDresent, and effect a very great saving of expense." Descending from the Mau plateau, we reached the Masai plains. The route we had traversed was the one which Mr Martin first discovered, and which has been selected as the line for the railway. It avoids the steep climb which, both to north and south of it, forms the edge of the lofty plateau, and the gradient is gradual throughout. Here at Nakuru one of the men who had been with me for so long was lost in a sad way. He was one of those who had effected an exchange at Kampala with a man from the railway survey, and hence he was coming down under Captain Macdonald's orders. He had lono- been sick, and was ridino- on a spare donkey, but was one day reported to them as missing. The man responsible for him declared he had been eaten the day before by hyenas at Nakuru — a story quite incredible and absurd, for all the camp would have known of it, and his remains would have been buried. Moreover, his shrieks would have been heard. I did not hear of the matter myself till some time after. Though we were now on level turfv plains, our rate of progress did not improve, for endless halts to let the caravan " lock up " made our pace like the Dead March in "Saul" ; so that the tired and hungry men did not arrive in camp till late in the day. The Masai were in considerable numbers, but very friendly. Some of their old men and women were in a starving- condition, owing to the famine caused by the death of their cattle. ARRIVE AT KIKUYU. 533 I worked very hard from morning till night after game to feed my men, and was successful, having shot between July 12th (when we first came on game, and the foodless country began) and Aug. 6th (when we reached the abundance of Kikuyu) over 5000 lb. of meat, being an average of some 200 lb. per diem, or 1 lb. per man, woman, and child throughout my caravan. I could have shot more had it been wanted. In addi- tion, by careful supervision, my flour held out, so that, besides the meat (which was gratis), all had their ration of flour, and there were even some half-dozen loads surplus, which were carried into Kikuyu. We found the little river flowing into Lake Naivasha too deep to cross, and elected to march round the western side of the lake. Thereby we missed an im- portant mail, which was on its way to Uganda with letters from Government for Macdonald. Of the con- tents of this mail we did not become aware till later. On Aug. 7th — just two years since I had left the coast on my way to Uganda — we arrived in Kikuyu. 534 CHAPTER XL. KIKUYU TO EXGLAXD— THE " UGAXDA QUESTION." Plenty after scarcity — Model station-buildings — Events in Kikuyu after I left — Wilson successful — Reverses — Ee-establislies himself — Dismissed — Smith builds a fort — Continual murders — I leave Kikuyu — Game at the Athi — Troubles at Machako's, &c. — Food and water scarce — Eapid marching — Wilson's road — We meet Martin — Arrive at Mom- basa— Commission of Inquiry — Sudanese refugees and Egyptian Gov- ernment— Arrive in England — Three months' grace — My new task — Sir G. Portal to Uganda — My final task — Recent news — The re- partition of the country — Spheres of mission influence — Enlistment of Sudanese — The Mohammedans "dealt with" — A plea for fair-play — Minor improvements — Sir Gerald's position. It was a great luxury to taste English vegetables again, for Mr Purkiss, who was in charge at Kikuyu, had a thriving kitchen -garden, and the vegetables were as well grown and as well flavoured as those in Covent Garden market. Nor was it less delightful to get coffee, and tea, and flour, and sugar ! For my stock of provisions had long consisted of one bottle of pej^per only ; and though the survey officers most hos23itably pressed me to share their mess, I had been reluctant to " sjDonge " upon them ; and indeed, during the constant rain, in which the greater jDart of our march had been made, it was no very temjDting matter to struggle in the dark, through dripping grass above one's knees, and consequently to sit in wet clothes at dinner, with the prospect of a similar pilgrimage to return to one's tent. So, as a rule, I preferred the native flour and the meat MODEL STATION-BUILDINGS. 535 my rifle had provided, and on these I had hved since I left Uganda. Captain Nelson was shortly expected to take com- mand of " Fort Smith," as the new stockade was called, but he had been deserted by his men, and was now lying sick at the Kibwezi. Meanwhile Mr Purkiss was commandant. The fort, which was on the site I had abandoned in favour of Dagoreti, was well constructed, and more pretentious than my hasty stock- ades had been. "But inside,'^ I write, " the buildings are really admirable, all done by Purkiss. His dwelling- house is of burnt brick, with door and window frames of sawn timber. There is a huge fireplace with a chim- ney, and the walls are plastered as smooth as those of an English house, and adorned with Masai spears and with pictures. There is a brick store, and the station is full of houses for natives, cattle, and flocks. In the centre is a green turf-plot, wired ofl*, and in the middle of it a tall flag-stafll His table is a solid structure of sawn timber, and is covered by a clean white tablecloth ! The dinner he gave us was admirable, the comfortable arm-chairs were a luxury, and we had a most enjoyable evening." But there was bad news here. It will be remembered that I had left Wilson in command at Dagoreti. He had succeeded admirably with the people, and Kikuyu promised to be the most progressive station between the coast and the lake. The natives were very friendly, and even enlisted as porters to go to the coast. But these good relations received a disastrous check. Owing largely, I believe, to the want of discipline in the pass- ing caravans, whose men robbed the crops and other- wise made themselves troublesome, the people became estranged, and presently murdered several porters. Wilson had but a handful of men, and his ammunition was expended. His application for more was unheeded. 1 536 KIKUYTJ TO EXGLAXD. On the advice of Mr Gedge, who was on his way back from Uganda (about April 1891), Wilson evacuated the fort, which was thereupon burnt down by the Waki- kuyu, who looted the stores it contained, including the steel boat destined for Uganda. Wilson collected thirty volunteers at the neighbouring station, Machako's, and returned to Kikuyu. The Masai, with whom he had made great friends, offered their assistance, but he declined it. They would not be denied, however, and remained close by in case he should meet with reverse. With his insignificant force, however, he taught the Wakikuyu a lesson. He had compelled the payment of fifty goats daily, and the free Avork of 300 men to rebuild the fort they had destroyed. He had enlisted 200 porters from among the Wakikuyu. The Masai had been his staunch friends, and he had sti^Dulated that they should have free access to Kikuyu to trade. This treaty was kejDt inviolate for seven months. The sick men he left were tended, and some loads of beads stored with Eiyeki were duly delivered up safely three months later. Meanwhile, as I have narrated in chapter xiii., Wilson had been dismissed through false reports. Kikuyu was again abandoned, until Captain Smith was ordered to reoccupy it. He built a very strong stockade on the site of my first camp, and soon after left the country in the charge of a young agent. Continual disaster has followed. The Masai, who had made such friends with Wilson, and stood by him so loyally, were fired upon, apparently without any attemjDt at inquiry or negotia- tion, and have since retaliated by murdering mail-men. The Wakikuyu became hopelessly disaffected, and I now heard that from thirty to forty of the Company's emioloyes have been murdered by them.^ A powerful ^ Sir G. Portal reports a state of things on his arrival far worse than I have indicated. From this country of teeming abundance, where in a few CONTINUAL MURDERS AT KIKUYU. 537 fort and large garrison were insufficient to avenge these outrages or to maintain order. The garrison I now found to consist of 100 rifles, which were considered necessary among these savages, whom a man of tact and decision could have ruled with little display of force. We arrived to hear that the head native and seven porters had recently been assassinated, and Mr Purkiss was waiting for advice and reinforce- ments before taking any action in the matter ! Such a state of things seemed to me most deplorable. Vacillation and indecision cause in the end a vastly greater amount of bloodshed than the strong hand and the personal- ity which commands obedience. The Wakikuyu now thought they could murder our men with impunity ; both they and the Masai were hostile ! Africa needs the right men — men of decision and of character and individuality. Where such men are in charge, you will rarely hear of bloodshed, of murders, and " re- prisals." I now said " Good-bye " to the railway survey. Captain Macdonald was an able officer, but his methods in Africa and my own were at variance. The other officers of the survey — Captain Pringle, and Lieutenants Twining and Austin — were men whom it was a pleasure to know, and with whom I spent many happy hours in chats on Indian and African subjects. I had also the privilege of seeing their really admirable maps, and a more capable survey could not, I think, have been made. days I obtained many thousand pounds of food, "the officer finds it im- possible to purchase a single bag of grain," and parties were sent out regularly to take it by force ! " The natives appear to surround the station every day, and to lie in wait in the hope of cutting off stragglers/' &c., &c. ; and large armed parties were necessary to procure firewood and water ! After Capt. Nelson's arrival a mutiny occurred among the garrison of the fort, and on the death of that officer attempts were made upon the stockade itself ! Such was the result of the reversal of Wilson's work, and the supersession of that officer. — Blue-book Africa, No. 8, 1893, p. 2. 538 KIKUYU TO EXGLAXD. On Aug. 10th I marched, leaving 20 Somals to follow next day, or the day after, with mails. They were to have 20 rifles from Macdonald, for he would no longer require his 230, now that we had passed Masailand. These 20 would form the escort to my unarmed cara- van to the coast. They, however, were detained by Macdonald, and never reached me until I was within a day or two of the coast, and, by being incorporated in the survey caravan, which was infected with smallpox, they caught that disease. Later I had, in consequence, to cross a dangerous "Masai war-path" escorted by six rifles from Wilson only ! We crossed the Athi plains, where the game was now in extraordinary abundance. Vast herds — thousands — of zebra, wildebeest, and hartebeest were on every side, and Avere so tame that I merely shot what I required to feed my men, and passed on. At one time as many as four rhino were standing in different directions within view on the plain, and one, which I severely wounded, in making off stumbled over a couple of magnificent lions. Among these herds of ''great game" wandered large flocks of the lesser antelope. Grant's and Thomson's gazelles, and an occasional wart hog. But I had little time for sport, for I was making every effort to catch the September steamer at Mombasa. The caravan accomplished double marches daily, while I, wandering to either side of our line of direction, and generally within view of my men, covered about twenty-five miles each day across country in pursuit of game, and of meat for my people. At Machako's I again found the ap23earance of the station greatly improved since I saw it two years ago ; but again there was " trouble," and the commandant had sent out a force of seventy men to thrash a section of the Wakamba. I think this system of " sending out " a force to levy war on natives is one of the worst imaginable. The Swahilis sent are entirely undisci- TROUBLES AT MACHAKO's. 539 plined ; and without European supervision, who is to know what excesses they may commit in the name of the British ? But it was no new thing, and had been done by former caravans, I understand, constantly. I was disappointed to find these "troubles" still chronic, after our three years' administration of East Africa. Indeed they had all arisen since the time we had passed through on our way to Uganda. The Masai, who had so loyally stood by Wilson, and had declined to leave him when he was surrounded by the hostile Wa-Kikuyu, the very section who were re- ported to be in treaty relations with the British, had (I was told) been fired upon and many killed when they attacked the Wa-Kikuyu, without any attempt whatever being made to ascertain whether they had any just cause for their raid, or to get them to withdraw by peace- able means. Consequently they were now embittered. The Wa-Kikuyu, whose quarrel we had espoused, had replied by massacring our men, and reprisals were now to be undertaken ; the friendly Wakamba were at war with the Machako's garrison ; the harmless and inoffen- sive people of Taita, farther along the line, had been taught a lesson " by Captain Nelson, and many of them, I heard, had been hung on trees by the wayside ; while from the coast came news of war in Witu and troubles in Kisimayu. I am convinced that the firm hand is the merciful one to ignorant savages, and that a resolute and decided course at first saves a great deal of loss of life in the end. "It is all this miserable fear of hostile criticism," I write, " and as our French critics say, ' preconceived ideas, and mistaken humanitarian theories.' " There was a report that Machako's was to be aban- doned, except for a small garrison of natives. I was not sorry to hear it, for it is a mistake to have two large depots, each under Europeans, so near together as 540 KIKUYU TO ENGLAND. Machako's and Fort Smith. It would be far better to have a station in the heart of the Ukamba country, where produce, I hear, is excessively abundant, and where alone the cattle seem to have escaped the disease, and to be in great numbers and cheap. Here, on the frontiers between Ukamba and Masailand, the station is useless for developing the resources of the former or controlling the latter. By the purchase of cattle from the Wakamba, the donkeys of the Masai can be ob- tained in exchange (for transport), or the ivory from the countries of Ankoli, Uganda, and Usoga, and so a great profit could be made. I held no official position in the Company, and I had therefore no right to inquire into the causes of the war in Ukamba, and no responsibility for interference, since I had not been appealed to. I pushed on with my caravan, having sjDent a pleasant evening with Mr Ains worth, who in his hospitality and kindness seemed quite disappointed that I had no wants he could supply. There was in this part of Africa a terrible drought, and the heat was intense. Food, therefore, was very scarce, and even at the centres where formerly we had been accustomed to count as a certainty on large supplies, none was now obtainable. The water having dried up except in the larger streams, necessitated very long marches of eighteen and twenty miles, and the day's halt in compensation was impossible on account of the scarcity of sujDplies. Thus necessity favoured my own plans for a rapid journey to the coast. My rifle still supplied my men, for though there is little game between Machako's and the coast, except at one or two well-known spots, I was fortunate at these localities, and secured meat to carry us to the next. Thus one day I shot three zebra and a harte- beest, scaling together fully 1200 lb. of meat; but the game had been much hunted and was wild, and success RAPID MARCHING — WILSON's ROAD. 541 involved extremely hard work, and meant prodigiously long distances across country. At the Kibwezi I found the East Africa Scottish (Industrial) Mission, and Dr MofPat welcomed me warmly. The Wakamba offer exceptionally few in- ducements for the establishment of an industrial mission among them. They are typically lazy Africans, and have no desire to learn artisan work. An industrial mission among such people should, in my opinion, be (at first at least) almost solely agricultural ; and its efforts should be directed towards improving their field implements, and introducing the bullock for agricul- tural and draught purposes. A successful attempt had been made in this latter direction, but further perseverance was necessary. From the Kibwezi I started for the coast, for the first time along the route through the " Taru desert," my previous journeys having been via the Sabakhi to this point. We marched along the excellent path cut by Mr Wilson through the jungle, under the Mission auspices, and I found him at his camp, at the end of the cutting, working with his old indefatigable en- thusiasm. Needless to say, he welcomed me as though I were a long-lost brother ! Hard work and poor fare had somewhat reduced me, and I suffered very greatly from toothache and neuralgia, and my wounded arm, which was always a barometer of my physical condition, had broken out so badly that I was comj^elled to carry it in a sling. In spite of these impediments, we spent one of the pleasantest days together that I can recall in Africa, and he professed his eagerness to join me again should I return. " He is just his old self," I write, " a fine, brave, loyal, energetic fellow, and as superior to his detractors as a lion is to vermin ! But he is far away too good a man to be wasting his time, his unique infiuence with natives, and his energy, in making 542 KIKUYU TO ENGLAND. a bridle-path through scrub bush with a parcel of 23eo23le such as these. Were he confident that he could eventu- ally raise them to some better level, I would say that no ones life would be wasted in such work. But though he has succeeded with them to a degree that no other man in East Africa could have done, I can see he really looks on the effort as futile." His road, though of course unmetalled, was a great success, and he had mapped much of the surrounding country. The scarcity of food and water compelled us to make even lengthier marches through this desert The Mid-day Halt. country, but by studying the convenience of the men we managed them successfully. My usual plan was to start before sunrise, when the porter is at his best in the cool of the morning, and full of animal vitality. We would march till near 11 a.m., by which time we WE MEET MAETIX — HEER WOLE. 543 had covered some ten or eleven miles. Then, if we could reach water, we would halt and cook, and the men would take a mid - day siesta, and about 3 P.M. we pushed on again till sunset, adding another eight miles or so. As there was no rain, the people could sleep without shelter comfortably. This had been our routine, slightly varied, since Kikuyu, and though most of the men were heavilv loaded — some carrvino^ tusks of ivory up to 100 lb. weight — all were cheery and contented. We averaged 17^ miles per diem on marching days, with only two halting days added, for the whole 350 miles from Kikuyu to Mombasa, in S23ite of our loads, our sick, and our women and children, and the fiercely hot sun of the coast area ! On Auof. 25th we met Martin with an enormous caravan proceeding to Uganda. Such a supply of ammunition, of j^rovisions, and of all the requisites I had asked for, had never been sent before. In every detail the careful personal supervision of the indefatigable administrator, Mr Berkeley, was evident. With Martin was Herr Eugen Wolf, corres23ondent of the ' Berliner Tageblatt,' who was on his way to report his views of the recent fighting in Uganda for the German press. He asked me if I thought it worth his while going on, now that I was myself unexpectedly returning. I replied that if he wished to hear both sides it certainly tvas, and that for my part I should welcome an impartial inquiry. He appeared to endorse my action entirely, but I subsequently found that his telegrams from Zanzibar had been entirely in the opposite sense 1 Next day, at the Yoi river, I found a man abandoned to die of starvation, or to the hyenas which swarmed around. He was sick and partially paralysed. I had him carried back to Martin's camp, and I wrote informing the latter that I should report the matter at the coast. In reply, however, he informed me that 544 KIKUYU TO ENGLAND. the man belonged to Herr Wolf's party, and he had expostulated at his being left. Herr Wolf replied he had no means of carrying him, and had left him to " friendly villagers," — these in turn had left him to the hyenas. Life on active service in the field ac- customs a man to strange exigencies ; but though I Abandoned. have seen some service, I have never seen anything ajDproaching the carelessness of human life and the callousness to human suffering which seem to char- acterise some methods of African travel. We carried water in tins, which had been brought for the purpose by Martin, and were no longer wanted by him, and by sending some ahead overnight, and marching through most part of the night, we crossed the waterless desert (forty to fifty miles) without difficulty ; and, indeed, we had more water than we WE AERIYE AT MOMBASA. 545 could consume, and left it on the road. We reached the curious water-holes at Taru by 11 a.m., the caravan being well together, and not unduly fatigued, and ready to push on again next morning. As we neared the coast we met constant small caravans on their way to one or another station, and in all I found old friends — men who had served with me at one time or another, who were glad to welcome us back. I re- ceived also many mails from England, and learnt the accusations which were laid against me. We reached Mombasa on Sept. 1st, and I found endless work awaiting me. I superintended the pay- ment of all my men myself, worked from morning till night, replying to official letters on various subjects connected with Uganda, and in copying out my last report to the Directors, &c. Sir Gerald Portal came up from Zanzibar, and we had some conversation re- garding East Africa. I now heard that the mails which had passed us contained orders for Captain Macclonald to proceed to Uganda, and conduct an inquiry into the causes of the outbreak of war, and the action of British officials. In consequence of my own arrival, and because Captain Macdonald had al- ready arrived to within a fortnight of the coast, these orders were now countermanded ; but later, on arrival in England, I heard that they had again been given. I could not but jDrotest that a man my junior in the army — who had but three years' service when I was already a Captain — should, contrary to the custom of the service, be detailed to report upon the actions sanc- tioned by his senior officer. My own war service, and longer experience in Africa, emphasised the situation. Moreover, there was absolutely no one in Uganda from whom he could learn the details of the negotiations before the final settlement. Williams had been away, and the others at Kampala knew nothing of these VOL. II. 2 m 546 KIKUYU TO ENGLAND. matters. My own voluminous diaries (which I have as briefly as possible epitomised in the foregoing nar- rative), the letters of the French Fathers to me, and the co2Dies of my replies to them, and all other docu- ments, were in my own hands ; nor Avere there copies of all of these in Kampala, as Ave had no clerical establishment to undertake the Avork. As regards Caj)tain Macdonald himself, I had full faith in his im- partiality and honour, but it was unfortunate that the one and only man AA^ith Avhom I had had any personal difference in Africa should be selected as my judge ! I sailed for England on Sept. 14th, and left Selim Bey's daughter, and those of the aitham AA^hose re- turn had been sanctioned, safely at Suez. At Mom- basa I had heard that the KhediA^e disclaimed all resjDonsibility for the Equatorial refugees, except those Avho had been born in Egypt proper (north of Wady Haifa), and their arrears of pay AA^ere refused. I did my utmost (and have continued to do so) for these people, urging the precedent both of those brought back by Stanley and Emin, Avho had been taken to Egypt, and given some portion at least of the pay due to them, and those whom I had myself sent doAvn under Martin, and who had been repatriated, and also receiA^ed some arrears of pay. I pointed out that there Avas no necessity to bring them to the coast and to Egypt. All they claimed, or desired, Avas that permission should be accorded them to enlist under the British, and that those who had been bond fide soldiers of the Egyptian Government in Equatoria, and against Avhom no disloyalty could be proved, should be aAvarded some portion at least of their arrears of pay. Such bond fide soldiers, brought to Equatoria by Gordon and Baker, Avould not be numerous. Out of this pay, those Avho had homes and friends in Egypt, and Avere Avorn out or useless for further service, could. SUDANESE CLAIMS — ARRIYE IN ENGLAND. 547 if they wished it, defray their own j)assages to Egypt, while the Company stood pledged, by the terms of my agreement with Selim Bey, to assist them in their journey to the coast, in return for their year's service in Unyoro. When they fully understood the conditions, they would not desire, or be allowed, to bring down large followings of women and slaves. Those, on the other hand, who desired to enlist with the British, or to settle down as colonists in their own villages, would have this small sum of money with which to buy some cloth and necessaries at starting. I personally repre- sented their case to Major Wingate, B.A., Director of Intelligence (Egyptian army), and he warmly espoused their cause. I wrote also to the Sirdar of the Egyj^tian army. On Oct. 3d, travelling with all haste across the Continent, I arrived in London. I found that the Government had decided not to interfere with the evacuation of Uganda by the Company. A letter, however, lay before the Directors from her Majesty's Government, offering to defray the expenses of con- tinued occupation for three months beyond the date which the Directors had assigned for evacuation (Dec. 31st, 1892), in the hope that by thus postponing evacua- tion the dangers to the missions and others might, to some extent, be minimised. I was com23elled to say that, in my opinion, deferred evacuation would not in any way lessen the dangers, nor was it per se in any way to be preferred to immediate withdrawal. Such a period of grace, however, might afPord space for public opinion to declare itself on the subject ; and, so far as I was concerned, I had come home to try and save the country from the chaos and anarchy which would ensue on our retreat, and I would use every possible effort to achieve that result. The Directors, with great public spirit, decided to 548 THE UGANDA QUESTION." avail themselves of this three months' extension of time — till March 31st, 1893 — and orders were accordingly telegraphed to Mombasa for despatch to Williams in Uganda. Meanwhile, I wrote to the ' Times,' ^ explaining as well as I could the situation and the interests involved. Public feeling declared itself strongly averse to abandonment, and jDetitions from all quarters, both of England and Scotland, rained in upon the Foreign Office. Meanwhile, I found myself called upon on all sides to sjDeak at meetings on the subject. No possible task could have been more distasteful to me, nor was there any work for which I was less fitted. I declined all such invitations at first, but I saw that my duty to the country, for which I had so long been working, demanded that I should use my utmost endeavours, no matter whether the task was congenial or not. I, however, limited myself to addressing geographical or commercial bodies only ; for on such technical or scientific subjects I could, as an officer, speak without restraint. On two occa- sions only I addressed town-hall meetings. In order to have a completely free hand, and not be suspected of being merely the agent of an interested Company, I resigned my connection with the Imperial British East African Company from the date I landed in England, with the full approval of the Directors, and from that date I ceased to draw any pay or to have any pecuniary interest of any sort or kind in the Company. By the first week in December the orders would have to leave England, so as to be in time to counter-order evacuation on March 31st. Her Majesty's Government had reserved to themselves the declaration of their course of action, upon the withdrawal of the Company ; for it must be remembered that such withdrawal would not make the territory in any sense less a sphere of British 1 Times, Oct. 8tli and 17th, 1892. SIR G. PORTAL SENT TO UGANDA. 549 influence, whose control and development we had un- dertaken in the face of Europe, and in consequence of international agreements Avith Germany and Italy. The Government having accepted the intimation of the Company that they were about to withdraw in con- sequence of financial difiiculties, now became directly responsible for the British sphere, without their in- termediary. Recognising this, and reinforced by the declared feeling of the country, Government decided to send a Commissioner, with an adequate staff and force, to inquire into the best means of dealing with the country. On Dec. 7th, Sir Gerald Portal, k.c.b. — the Consul- General at Zanzibar — was appointed to this task, and he started up country on Jan. 1st, 1893. The selec- tion of the chief Government ofiicial on the East Coast of Africa, and the terms of his instructions, as laid before Parliament, showed that her Majesty's Secretary for Foreign Aflairs intended to deal with the question in no half-hearted manner, and fully realised the responsibilities we had incurred, both towards the natives and towards Europe, by inter- national agreement and under the Brussels Act. The day that the aj^pointment of this Commission of In- quiry was announced, the responsibility I felt, as the one man whose duty it was to lay before Great Britain the claims of East Africa, and to re23resent the cruel wrong we should be doing by the withdrawal of the protection we had j^ledged to its peoples, ceased to weigh upon me. I had been called upon to undertake the active work in Africa, and now to do mv best to see that its results were not abandoned owing to ig- norance of the situation in England. I was only too glad from that date to abandon the necessity of appearing on public platforms, but an infinity of work and correspondence remained. 550 THE " UGANDA QUESTION.'" Then I was urged on many sides to write an account of past events in Africa, in order that, upon the presentation of Sir Gerald's report, there might be also a book of reference on the origin of the situa- tion which he had gone to examine, together with such information on the resources of the country, and the various problems it presents for solution, as my comparatively short exj^erience might be able to pre- sent. Late in February I began this last phase of my work. Owing to constant interruptions and to other work and duties, my task has occupied much longer than I had anticipated, and has involved cease- less application. Yet if I have presented to my reader a clearer conception of some of the problems of that vast continent in whose development it has been de- creed that we shall bear so large a share, for good or for evil, I shall not have worked in vain. My chief object has been to describe African life and methods, especially the African slave-trade, in such a manner that my readers may form definite views as to our future action in these matters as a nation, and that we may no longer be accused of acting on " precon- ceived ideas and misplaced humanitarian theories." Note. — Since the above was written, Ave have heard of Sir G. Portal's safe arrival in Uganda, up to which time the settlement effected had been proved to be efiicacious by the continuance of peace under Captain Williams' able administration. Despatches from the Commissioner have been laid before the House of Commons, giving the outline of his action in Ucranda, and the various steps he has found it necessary to take for the main- tenance of peace and order in the country. The reports of irresponsible newspaper correspond- SIR G. portal's ACTIOX IX UGANDA. 551 ents ^ made it at first apjDear as though the Commis- sioner's "reforms" were contrary in their spirit to the methods and objects of Captain WilHams and myself For my own part I could not conceive this possible, for it has rarely indeed been the custom for British officers to deliberately set themselves to upset the work of their predecessors, and so to lower the prestige of Europeans in the eyes of natives. Sir Gerald Por- tal's o^'n published reports are now available, and they indicate that he has (as might have been expected) endeavoured to utilise rather than to stultify our past eftbrts, in his dealings with Uganda, while introducing such changes as altered circumstances, and his own position as the representative of the Imperial Govern- ment, with a powerful force at his back, rendered both advisable and feasible. That I may make this volume as comj^lete a record as possible of British action in East Africa up to the present date (Oct. 5th. 1893). I will here indicate briefly the outlines of Sir Gerald Portal's action, and I will endeavour, as concisely as I can, to explain the bearings and the reason (as I read it) of each new departure. In order, however, to render this more clear to my reader, I have already introduced a number of footnotes, explanatory of the further development under the Commissioner of the various subjects with which I have dealt in the chapters on Uganda. I. The re-partition of the country {vide footnotes on P23. 441 and 571, &c.) My treaty (clause 6) contemplated ^ These newspaper criticisms were not always published in the right chronological order in which they were written, and hence " reforms," j^rior to the evacuation by the Company, appeared as though inaugurated subse- quently. The self-evident animosity and "monstrous injustice" of some of those penned by the German correspondent of the ' Tageblatt ' (Herr Wolf) were ably shown in the ' Times ' of July 5th 1893. and of this strong personal animosity I have independent evidence from Uganda. 552 THE "UGANDA QUESTION." further concessions to the armed pohtical faction of the Wa-Fransa, especially, as I have said, in the matter of fuller rej^resentation in the haraza, provided that they remained peaceable and loyal for a period. The R. Catholics, if unarmed, were not prohibited from settling anywhere in the country, and the Commissioner states that they have fully availed themselves of this liberty.-^ He also bears witness to the fact that the Wa-Fransa had ample room in Buddu, saying that the reports he had received were to the effect that four-fifths of the country was unoccupied though fertile.- Williams gives evidence of the same thing after a personal tour in Buddu, and after sendino- both Sudanese and Swahilis in various directions through the province to report to him. Other Europeans who also visited Buddu state the same thing. The territorial division made by myself Avas of course tentative, since it was impossible to form even the vaguest approximation of the numbers of the various factions, as there were no data whatever to go upon. The estimate formed by the ' Times ' corres23ondent and by Captain Williams, as well as by the missionaries of each sect, are entirely at variance even now. Pos- sibly, we should not be far wrong in estimating the B. Catholic party (religionists and their immediate followers) at from 10,000 to 20,000.-3 Mohammedans rather less. The inhabitants of the rest of Uo^anda — viz., that portion not allotted to either of these two religions exclusively — include the Protestants, who are numerically, perhaps, about equal now to either of the other sects, and the bulk of the peasantry, the heathen party or king's party, Futahangi, &c. There might be found those who would say that, as a matter of justice (aj^art from feasibility), com- ' Blue-book Africa, Xo. 8, 1893, p. 8, quoted supra, p. 431. - Ibid., p. 8. 3 Loi^ci Ernly's letter, 'Times/ Aug. lltli, 1893. THE RE-PARTITION OF THE COUNTRY. 553 plete disarmament of a faction, which had insulted and fought against the Administration, would not be too heavy a penalty to pay. Instead of disarmament (which was not feasible), I confined them to one pro- vince, until events should prove whether the numerous reports of their continued hostility which still reached me (indorsed, as I have shown, by Mgr. himself) were true or false. The question of territorial extension to this armed party, if carried out to any large extent, involves the principle of restoring them to their former political power, and is wholly apart from the delimi- tation of a religious sphere. It would, moreover, assuredly upset the settlement with tlie Mohammedans unless that party were handled very carefully, and so would result in the formation of two rival and very powerful factions again in the State. The advisability of restraining the armed faction in a province at some distance from the capital, so that in case of trouble Kampala would have time to get under arms, and not be completely taken by surprise, appears to me to be endorsed by Mgr. Hirth's own statement that the Wa-Fransa had been continuously for a year selling all their possessions to buy arms from German territory " ^ — a fact which does not indicate pacific intentions. My own idea was that each of the factions should have symmetrical blocks of territory (over each of which a European would preside), so as to avoid the friction which would be caused if portions of the pro- vince of one faction protruded into that of its neighbour. The map in the ' Times,' if correct (which I doubt), would indicate that this view was not the one which recommended itself to the Commissioner, the difficulty being means of access to the capital, which, however, I think could have been secured by giving a continuous road throughout to the Wa-Fransa. The necessity for 1 Blue-book Africa, No. 8, 189.3, p. 13. Map Illustrating the Xew Territorl\l Division of Uganda. {Reprinted, by permission , from ^Times^ of Aug. 2gtli, 1893.) A POSSIBLE ALTEEXATIVE DIVISION. ODD farther territorial extension lay in the fact that Buddu was becoming a powerful, well - armed, and detached State — the q}f id pro quo for these concessions lay in the securing of the sons of Karema. and so depriAdng the Wo.-Fro.nso. of their separate representative, wh*;) might at any time he put up as their king in (:>ppr>siti<:»n t'j Mwanga.^ These two reasons were most weighty, and already Captain Williams had proposed concessions to the TTV^ -Fra/asa, in order to secure these sons of Karema. The cession of the Sesse islands, however, gives the entne command of the lake to the ^Va-Frai'SO.. so that while they can procure unlimited arms them- selves (as they akeadv have the Avhole German fr<:.ntier i. they can prevent their rivals from obtaining any. This was not. I understand, included in Captain AVilliams" recommendation. It is possible that a solution of the questi<:>n <:)f territ<:)rial extension to the Wa-Fransn might have been found by giving them the eastern pr<:»vinces of ChaoT^'e and Bulamwezi. too-ether Avith such i3(:>rtir)ns rif Mugema. &c., as lay to the east of the Mianja rivt-r. als" the LVuma islands. This, as I have said. Avas my OAvn original auoav. and Avas also the independent stiggestion of MAvanga. Mgr. emphasised the necessity <:>f a riA^er boundary, and this Avould be found in the Mianja. Avhich flows north and sotith from the capital t':> the Kafu in Unyoro. In AueAv of Mot."s assertion that the E. Catholics are arming themseh-es rapidly, it is of the gi'eatest possible importance that their access to these supplies of arms should be cut rjif. This Avotild be attained bA' the suofo-ested diAusion. for no arms are obtainable ff<:)m the eastern frontiers. These prr)Aunces 1 In his report of Oct. 9th, 1892, Captain Williams writes: "I think this arrangement of the divisions is a satisfajctorr one, and, if jndiciouslv modified as time goes and events develop, promises a satisfactory solution of the troubles here." Vide also '' Pall Mall Gazette." July .5th. 1S93. 556 THE "UGAXDA QUESTIOX." are laro-e and fertile, beino- one-third of Uo-anda — viz., 3990 sq. miles out of a total area of 12,292 sq. miles. The garrisons in Usoga on the east, and at Kamj^ala on the west, would secure complete control over the dis- trict. Both of the provinces were, moreover, originally H. Catholic. At the time that the division was made by me, it was not possible to give these provinces to the Wa-Fransa — though I fully recognised the advantages they offered — for the idea of expecting the whole of the armed hostile faction to mio-rate across from the west to the east of Uganda would have been hopeless so soon after the fiD4itino\ and while as vet we were uncertain whether they really desired peace, and the Mohamme- dans Avere not settled with. The intense hostility between the Christians at that moment would inevitably have resulted in a renewal of the war, and indeed I gathered from the R. Catholic envoys that no division of territory which did not include Buddu would be accepted. But after the lapse of a year, when, as has been shown, the bitterness was so far lessened as to admit of the rival factions unitino- ao^ainst the Moham- et o medans, it might possibly have been feasible for the Commissioner (with a very large force to control the situation) to have effected this solution. It would, however, have necessitated his remainino- in the countrv for a short time to superintend the movement. The disadvantao'es of allowino- the frontiers of German East Africa, the Cono-o State, and the Nile Vallev to be solely under French mission influence (p. 558), would thus have been completely met. A very large increase of territorv would have been oiven — the fears of Buddu becoming a large and powerful State, well armed and hostile (as mentioned by Sir G. Portal), would vanish, for the Wa-Fransa would no longer have the monopoly of the purchase of arms, or be able to prevent their rivals from obtaininof them as now. The friction with the DELIMITATION OF SPHERES OF MISSION INFLUENCE. 557 Mohammedans would probably have been avoided, since the new territories acquired by the Wa-Fi^ansa would not have directly incommoded them. Had the R. Cath- olics refused so liberal a concession, it would jDrove that their objects were rather to procure arms and powder, contrary to the law and treaty, and to foment trouble with neighbouring States, than to settle down as a loyal and peaceable party in a territory more than double their actual requirements.^ II. Spheres of mission influence. The Commissioner in dealing Avith this very difiicult question had the great advantage of Bishop Tucker's presence. To his modera- tion, and desire to eflect an amicable solution, Sir G. Portal bears special testimony. It will be seen from my story that I had no such authoritative and concilia- tory head of the English mission to enable me to effect any solution of this question, and moreover that Mgr. Hirth absented himself entirely from Uganda at the critical period when I was engaged in negotiations with his party, and I had not therefore even the advantage of any discussion with him. The settlement arrived at does not bear the ultimate sanction of H.M.'s Commis- sioner, who merely acted as witness or referee unoffi- cially while the heads of the two missions discussed the matter. Nor would even these dignitaries bind them- selves to a final decision, each reserving his opinions for sanction by the heads of the mission in England on the one hand, and by the Vatican on the other. The very tentative settlement thus arrived at, which carries no finality with it, cedes to exclusive French mission influ- ence the whole of Torn and South Unyoro, which are at present the only approaches to the Nile Valley, and 1 If Buddii be only one-seventh of Uganda, as stated by the Fathers, and yet four-fifths of it is unoccupied, the new territory would be more than ten times their requirements ! 558 THE " UGANDA QUESTION." indeed the whole districts westwards and northwards into Unvoro." while Eno-lish mission influence is re- strict ed to " Usooa and towards the east."' Thus the frontiers of German East Africa, the Congo State, and the Nile Valley would be reserved to French mission influence, which would be free to extend until it met the advance posts of the French and Belgians on the Welle and its tributaries, who have already (vide p. 569) made a series of forts extending up to Wade- lai in British Africa. The significance of this I need not further j^oint out : it would deprive Uganda of the importance of its political position. The Commissioner informed the rival missions that if they extended simul- taneously into Torn he *" would not feel bound to inter- vene in any way, so that the people of Torn could fight the matter out amono- themselves.*' Unless Eno-land formally declares that country to be beyond her sphere of influence, and relinquishes all claim to Buwenzori, and this (politically) most important country, such an attitude seems to me impossible under the ruling con- tained in Lord Salisbury's despatch quoted on j^- 567. But the abandonment of Torn forms no part of the Commissioner's scheme : it was to redeem the 23ledges to those people in a great measure that the feeling ao'ainst abandonment was so strono- in Eno-land, and Sir G. Portal has maintained the o-arrisons at the Salt Lake and in Torn. Hence we remain responsible for main- taining order, controlling the natives, and protecting Europeans." I have elsewhere said that the solution appears to me to lie in the exercise of an absolute veto to premature mission extension — a veto exercised freely by the Congo State— and in a prohibition against the establishment of rival missions in the same district — a right enforced by France in Algeria, and held, I under- stand, by the late French ambassador in London to be a useful and practicable one. ENLISTMENT OF SUDANESE. 559 III. The Imperial Commissioner has enlisted 450 of the Sudanese who were brought down by me from Kavalli's, and to them he has practically intrusted the defence of the country. He has also carried out the scheme, which I have already described in the foregoing pages, of colonies of freed slaves and followers belonging to these people. He writes of them as follows : " Ex- perience in Egypt and elsewhere has proved that these men are capable of being converted into excellent sol- diers, especially under British officers. . . . They will be invaluable for the development and pacification of the country, and will moreover enable us to dispense with the services of the far more expensive but less efficient soldiers brought with me from Zanzibar." ^ Having a staff of many officers. Sir G. Portal was able to detach two for the supervision of the forts in Unyoro, and to drill and discipline the newly enlisted recruits. He has chosen the identical site (at Kawanga) for the establishment of a strong fort which I had selected, and has abandoned the two further forts, which have now, I presume, served their purpose, and are no longer re- quired. I my self ^ — so far as my information goes — regret that these two, Wavertree and Lorne (Nos. 1 and 2), are to be completely withdrawn, for Kabarega's myrmidons will now have a free hand to overrun the country to the north. The suggestion that the people should migrate from there will inflict great hardship upon them, no less than upon the people of the country (Kitagwenda) where it is suggested they should take up their habitation. IV. News has not yet reached Europe as to what has become of the residue of the Mohammedans. They had placed their king in my hands, relying on our imparti- ality and good faith. This in Uganda is hardly of less 1 Blue-book Africa, No. 8, 1893, p. 5. 560 THE " UGANDA QUESTION." imjDortaiice than laying down their arms would be. They have, we hear, now (subsequent to Sir G. Portal's departure) been crushed and ex23elled by the Christians. I had hoped that these j)eople, under a judicious admin- istrator, might become a source of strength, not weak- ness, to our Government, both as loyal and contented subjects, and as helping to maintain the equilibrium in the country. Of course, any territorial extension to the armed Fransa faction would excite their keen jealousy, for they already consider that party to have been most liberally treated by me in comparison with themselves. Impartial toleration, as I have already argued, demands justice for the large Moslem section of the population, no less than for the Christian. I think it only fair to protest against the wholesale condemnation of these people, which seems to find voice, alike in the letters of the Fathers and of " special correspondents." E. Catholics and Protestants have their missionaries to trumpet their grievances to Europe. The one may precipitate a civil war, the other may indulge in wanton obstruction and insult of the Administration, but Europe rings only with their wrongs. The Mohammedan party agreed to the treaty which forbade those customs that British rule does not tolerate. Mgr. Hirth himself states that the P. Catholics are arming themselves, and, Sir G. Portal adds, are " maintaining an attitude of passive hostility to the king." Yet the former are credited with intrigue, crushed, and expelled, while the latter are given fresh concessions. We are in Uganda to administer without reference to creed : why, then, should we condemn the Mohammedans, unless it be that they have no loud-voiced missionaries to give vent to their grievances in the press ? V. Various most excellent internal improvements have been instituted by the Commissioner, and it is TREATMENT OF MOHAMMEDANS — REFORMS. 561 a proof of the change that has come over the country that these undertakings were feasible. As regards the reconstruction of the great roads of Uganda, Wilhams was able to get several thousand Waganda to clear a broad road towards Usoga in anticipation of the arrival of H.M.'s Envoy ; and the clearing and repair of these roads can always, according to the custom of the country, be intrusted to the local chiefs. Of the reclamation of swamp-lands I have written elsewhere. The selection of a harbour had already been made by myself (at Luwambu), though it is as yet premature while there is but one steel boat on the lake. Of the advisability of moving the capital to the lake shore — as now, I believe, done by the Commissioner — I have given my personal opinion (p. 411) in a clifPerent connection. The formation of a fort at the Nile was recommended by myself on my first arrival in Uganda, as also the occu- pation of Usoga by an adequate garrison, but both were deferred, at first from paucity of men and officers, and later by the outbreak of war. The latter was part of the decentralisation scheme I left with Williams. It is thus evident, as I have said, that the Commis- sioner has by no means found it necessary to upset the plans of his predecessors, but has rather endeavoured to give effect to them. " He who goes gently reaches far," says the native proverb of Uganda ; and if these reforms are undertaken without precipitation, there is no reason why the elements friendly to us should be converted to hostility. Sir Gerald Portal, in his capacity as the Consul- General and Imperial Commissioner of Great Britain, with a large staff of European officials, and coming new to the task, and therefore credited by both op- posing missionaries with an impartial and unprejudiced mind, holds of course a much stronger position than I did, and is able to push forward reforms at a more VOL. II. 2 X 562 THE "UGANDA QUESTION." rapid rate than was possible to me as agent of a Company whose finances were broken down, and who had ah^eady sent orders for withdrawal. The credit for inaugurating these reforms, for grasping and deal- ing with the situation described in my reports, and for handling it in an able manner, will be Sir Gerald's, if the changes made by him prove to be sound and expedient ; nor is it likely that he would lend himself to the policy apparently followed by Herr Wolf, of trying to enhance their value by a depreciation of the work done by those who went before him, and who also had a difficult task to perform. Waterfall and Forest Scenery on Mau. 564 THE RETENTION OF UGANDA. tion impossible — Occupation of Uganda substantiates claims in Nile valley — Belgian and French aggression there — Objects of Kerckhoven's expedition — France not excluded by treaty from Nile valley — Her activity in this direction — Significance of recent concession to French Missions — Egy2:)t's claims — We are pledged to effective occupation — Anarchy follows evacuation — Obligations under Brussels Act — Equally pledged whether a " sphere " or a protectorate — Nature of pledges — Effect of retention on the slave-trade — Stuhlmann's evidence — Our action has opened a route for the Arabs — Much already done — Consis- tency in our policy — Reflex consequences of weak policy — Obligations to Africans — Nature of treaties — Pledges to Torn — Accepted by Gov- ernment— Concurrent advantages — Ports— Importance of Nile valley — Commercial extension — Expenses incurred by other nations — Mission protection — Precedents — Effect of loss of prestige — Uganda the key of Central Africa — Opinions of statesmen — Of various bodies — Our prescriptive right — Practicability of securing connection with South Africa — Summary. " The best means of dealing with the country, whether through Zanzibar or otherwise/' is now the subject of in- vestigation by her Majesty's Government. It thus ap- pears that there is no question of evacuation, but merely a decision to be arrived at as to which is the better of two alternative methods of administration. This view is amply borne out by the instructions given to Sir G. Portal, in which he is told that it will be his " first duty to establish friendly relations with King Mwanga," even giving him presents or a subsidy for this purpose. He is further directed to acknowledge Mwanga's letter to the Queen, and to point out the interest taken in his country by the British Government. The Prime Minister and the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, in the de- bate in the House, went further, and emphasised those portions of Sir G. Portal's previous instructions, when appointed Imperial Commissioner for British East Africa, which least indicated a retrogressive policy. The ac- counts of his doings in Uganda, so far as they have been unofficially reported, confirm this view.^ ^ In his recent despatches Sir G. Portal (Blue-book Africa, No. 8, 1893, No. 12, p. 11), says : " I caused the Company's flag to be hauled down from the flag-staff in this fort (Kampala), and to be replaced by the Union-jack." LIMITS OF OUR SPHERE. 565 Such being the Commissioner's instructions, we are, I presume, fully justified in concluding that her Majesty's Government have no intention whatever of abandoning East Africa, the question being solely limited to the method of administration best suited to it. This I shall discuss more fully in the two next chapters. I will here merely indicate to my reader some of the con- siderations which have been present to her Majesty's Ministers in dealing with this question. Before enum- erating these considerations, it will be of interest to examine briefly on what conditions the tenure of our sphere of influence is based as regards other European nations, and what are its limits. Throughout the whole of the southern limitation our frontier marches parallel with German East Africa, as far as its extreme western limit, on the borders of the Congo State. On the north, as far west as E. long. 35°, our frontier extends to N. lat. 6°, and is coincident with that of the Italian sphere. These delimitations, as shown on the map, were fixed by the treaties with Germany of July 1st, 1890,1 and Italy, March 24th, 1891, ^ respectively, and there is therefore no question whatever regarding them. On the west, the Congo State declared its eastern boundary in this region to be the 30th paral- lel of long, as far north as N. lat. 4°.^ This intimation has been accepted by France and Germany, and Great I think that the British public, when once this has been done, would view with indignation a decision to haul it down again, or to replace it by the Sultan's flag. The enlistment, also, of 450 Sudanese can hardly be viewed as a mere temporary expedient, even though " nothing be said as to terms of service " (p. 6) ; for the Sudanese, of course, in agreeing to the enlist- ment, consider it permanent, nor were they informed to the contrary (proclamation on p. 7). Sir Gerald Portal's action was the only feasible course, nor could he have otherwise prevented anarchy and war. 1 Blue-book Africa No. 6, 1890. 2 Blue-book Italy No. 1, 1891. 3 This is not a treaty boundary, but was intimated (under the terms of the Berlin Act) by a declaration of neutrality, dated Aug. 1st, 1885. Vide Banning, Le partage politique d'Afrique, 1888, p. 130. 566 THE RETENTION OF UGANDA. Britain has made no protest, nor yet has she accepted it formally. Our right to an exclusive sphere up to the frontier of the Congo State has been allowed by Germany and Italy, but not by France. North of N. lat. 4° France claims a free hand in the west, until these districts are occupied by some other Power. She has no defined eastern boundary towards the Nile valley. To the north and north - Avest the limits of the British sphere are not yet clearly defined. As regards Germany and Italy, our exclusive rights are recognised by the treaty of 1890. As regards France, there is no obligation which 23revents that nation from en- croaching in the Sudan, since our recognition of her protectorate in Madagascar must be regarded in the nature of a quid i^ro quo for her accejDtation of our protectorate over Zanzibar, and not of the whole treaty of 1890, to which she is no party (see p. 570). Under the Berlin Act, and the subsequent interpretation of its clauses (see p. 567), these rights can alone be substantiated by effective occupation. The occupation of so distant a point as Uganda Avould be a fair and just claim to render valid our influence over the Nile basin beyond. With the evacuation of Uganda we must cede all claim to any exclusive influence in the Nile valley ; for it would be preposterous that we, while abandoning in the face of EurojDe an administration already established in that country, should claim the right to restrain other European nations (especially those not debarred by treaty with us) from developing it and suppressing the slave-trade there. Such a position would certainly be held by France to be untenable. For though the wording of the Berlin Act was, that effective occupation of coast- lands alone would render claims of appropriation valid, yet the spirit of the Act, if not the letter, was PLEDGED TO "EFFECTIVE OCCUPATION." 567 certainly in the sense that this apphed also to the interior. That such was the spirit and the real inter- pretation of the Act, we were the first nation to assert ; and, on the strength of this interpretation, we refused to accede to Portugal's claims in the " hinter- land " of her coast territories of Mozambique (Nyasa- land, &c.) The pronouncement was made in Lord Salisbury's despatch of August 1887, to the British Minister at Lisbon : "It has now been admitted on principle by all parties to the Act of Berlin, that a claim of sovereignty in Africa can only be maintained by real occupation of the territory claimed. You will make a formal protest against any claims not founded on occupation, and you will say that her Majesty's Government cannot recognise Portuguese sovereignty in territories not occupied by her in sufficient strength to maintain order, protect foreigners, and control the natives." Portugal replied that this applied only to coast-lands, but Lord Salisbury would not admit it. Hence by evacuation, even though " temporary " (which is an absurdity), we finally, by our own inter- pretation of the Act, abandon all claim to the country evacuated — even, after a reasonable delay, as regards the Powers with whom we made the treaty of 1890 (Germany and Italy), and a fortiori as regards France, Egypt, and the Congo State. And this more especially in Uganda, where we are pledged to protect foreigners — e.g., the French missionaries — and "control the natives and maintain order," since we know this country would on our evacuation be plunged into war. Since, how- ever, "effective occupation" cannot be established in a moment over large and distant areas, our effective administration of Uganda would be held by interna- tional courtesy to be sufficient guarantee of our desire to develop in due course the whole of the sphere re- served to us, and France and Belgium would be thereby 568 THE RETENTION OF UGANDA. compelled to acknowledge our sole influence in the Nile valley. Indeed the wording of article i. of the Brussels Act distinctly implies this : " The gradual establish- ment in the interior by the Powers to which the terri- tories are subject of those repressive measures which the Act enforces on " all states exercising sovereign rights."' The inference is manifestly that, if there is a honct fide intention apparent of carrying out the obliga- tions of the Act, the ruling as to effective occupation for the purposes of substantiating claims to sovereign rights, is to be considered as fulfilled, even beyond the territory so effectively administered, on the presumption that progressive occupation will be gradually carried out. This is the logical sequence of Lord Salisbury's action as regards Portugal's claims on the Ujdj^^i' Zambesi and Shu^e. More lately, under Lord Posebery's rule, the Foreign Office have again had to deal with a question directly affecting our rights in this area. Belgium, in February 1891, sent an enormous exj^edition, reported to consist of some 2000 men, and many Europeans, with machine- guns and boats. That its destination was Lado on the Nile was for a lono- time denied. It is now admitted.^ o ^ Eecent news reports the deaths of " more than twenty EurojDeans " of this expedition, inckiding its leader, thus indicating that the size of the force was even greater than was supposed ! (Times, Aug. 3d, 1893, and Sept. 13th, 1893). Wadelai was visited, but it is not clear whether a fort was made there or not (' Le Mouvement Geographique,' Brussels, Aug. 6th, 1893). Those conversant with the financial condition of the Congo State will have little doubt of its inability to undertake an enterjDrise of such enormous cost without extraneous aid. Disputes had arisen with France regarding the boundary on the north (along the 4th degi^ee lat.), and as to which streams were the true Mobangi and Welle rivers. Belgium proposed a new delimitation on Jan. 3d, 1893, to amend the agreement of April 29th, 1887 — itself a revise of the convention of Feb. 5th, 1885 — arts. iii. and v. {Vide Journal Officiel, Feb. 1885.) France refused these proposals of the Congo State ; but since the Van Kerckhoven expedition had actually started in Feb. 1891, it is not impossible that an imderstanding with regard to it may have been already arrived at. This api3ears the more probable since the operations of the expedition have apparently been con- BELGIUM AND FRANCE IX THE NILE VALLEY. 569 A series of forts were built, extending from the Congo to the Nile, the location of which is described in a Belgian paper, and is indicated in the subjoined map. •^ -R- dsL GealhihpiSoTi French and Belgian Stations towards the Nile Valley ; AND THE Route of Van Kerckhoven's Expedition. Lord Rosebery declined to allow the right of the Belgians to penetrate into the British sjDhere, and formal protests were lodged. Viewed, therefore, by the light of the despatch I have quoted of Lord Salisbury to Portugal, the least we can do, after thus dealing with Belgian aggression, is to effectively occupy Uganda, which is itself some 300 miles from Lado. This action on the part of Belgium proves that those fears of aggression from the west, which were treated by some as puerile fancies, had a very real foundation. France has the fined to the district south of lat. 4r' N., except on the Nile itself, where France may not improbably expect her quid pro quo (at Lado). 570 THE RETENTION OF UGANDA. right of j)re-emption to the Congo State — a right since modified by King Leopold ; but it is as yet doubtful how the case stands in law. But whether it be France or Belgium, as legatee of King Leopold's sovereign rights in the Congo State, who will be our neighbour in the west, there is a more direct fear of French aggression in the north-west. It is true that France recently declared that she had no intentions with regard to Uganda ;^ but the question is not that of Uganda alone, but of the control of the Nile sources and its water-way. It is not, moreover, accurate to say that France, because she protested against the proclamation of a British protectorate over Zanzibar, and, in virtue of this pro- test, obtained a free hand in Madagascar, was therefore a party to the whole of the Anglo-German Agreement of July 1st, 1890, under which our Zanzibar protectorate was formed. - The whole history of the French acquisitions on the West Coast has been marked by extreme energy, and a desire to jDush eastwards. At a time in the history of Africa when almost every other nation remained quiescent — in the beginning of the century and onwards — France alone never ceased her energy in AVest Africa. Her possessions in Senegal, and in the French Congo, are ^ Despatch No. 25, Africa No. 1, 1893. - Glasgow Herald, Oct. 22d, 1892, &c. Her protest was solely concerned with the question of the protectorate over Zanzibar, and in no way in- dicated an acceptance of the spheres of influence. It was based on the treaty of March 10th, 1862, between Great Britain and France, by which these two Powers pledged themselves to uphold the independence of Zanzi- bar and Muscat. To this treaty Germany became a party in 1886, the spheres of influence of Great Britain and Germany having, in the meantime, been apportioned between these two Powers, and the claims of the Sultan to suzerainty in the interior set aside. In spite of this declaration the natural result followed, which was the complete disrujDtion of the sultanate. France got Madagascar. Germany got absolute possession of her sphere free of any control from Zanzibar. Great Britain got the protectorate over Zanzibar. We alone had not the courage of our convictions, and remained hampered by ex-territorial jurisdiction of foreign Powers, and pre-existing treaties affecting the sultanate. Vide p. 627, chapter xlii. EGYPTIAN CLAIMS. 571 constantly being pushed eastward. Of late costly wars and costly expeditions, defrayed by the State, and con- cerning which much enthusiasm is shown in France, have continued to spread her influence and control. I have said that she is bound by no eastern limit of extension ; her treaty with the Congo State merely refers to the northern boundary of that State ; and in view of its recent extension towards the Nile, France has an additional incentive for marching eastwards, parallel with Belgian extension, to see that the latter does not encroach (northwards) beyond her boundary limit. Thus France may, at any moment, unite her Senegal and Congo possessions in the "hinterland" be- hind English and German intermediate (West) coast possessions, and pushing this empire eastwards, establish herself on the Nile, while as usual British diplomacy is " too late." 1 Lastly, as regards Egypt. The Sudan was aban- doned by Egypt at the instance of Great Britain. It was supposed she had abandoned all claims over this territory; but in a recent despatch ^ Tigrane Pasha states that " Egypt reserves all rights over the territories which formed part of the Egyptian Equatorial Prov- ince." This bombastic announcement can hardly be held valid in the face of Mr Hardinge's statement '^ on behalf of the Egyptian Government, that the latter " declines any responsibility Avith regard to the natives of those provinces which it (the Egyptian Government) has abandonee^ — viz., by inference from Wady Haifa ^ In view of this continual advance of France towards the Nile valley, the recent settlement between the rival factions in Uganda bears special significance. The whole of Torn and South Unyoro (at present the only route open to the Nile) is reserved to French Mission influence, and they alone have access to the territory bordering the Congo State. This claim they will now never forego, though it has not been formally or officially approved. — Blue-book Africa, No. 8, 1893, p. 25. They have also the whole German frontier. No. 730, of Aug. 27th, 1892. 3 Despatch dated Aug. 7th, 1892. 572 THE RETEXTIOX OF UGANDA. southwards, since responsibility is only accepted for natives born north of that post. Nor yet by the principle of effective occuj^ation can Egypt lay any claim to the South Sudan, since her nearest effectively occupied territory in which she can "maintain order, control the natives, and protect foreigners " is some 2300 miles distant ; and during the last nine years she has shown no desire or ability to extend this control southwards. This is the state of the case as regards our " title- deeds to East Africa." To argue that we are entitled to adopt a dog-in-the-manger policy, and evacuate and reoccupy at will, is, I think I have shown, untenable by international law as interpreted by ourselves. More- over, such a course Avould involve a terrible effusion of blood, and a chaos and anarchy in Uganda, for which we should be responsible. The perusal of Major Wingate's book, ' Ten Years ^^'ith the Mahdi,' and the article in 'National Review' of February 1893, will, I think, cause the reader a deep sense of shame at the ^^art we played in that disastrous chapter in African history — the abandonment of the Sudan, with all the bloodshed to which it led. It will prompt a strong feeling against the repetition of such a course in Uganda, and the conviction will be forced upon us that we have a debt towards this unhappy land, in which "we have allowed barbarism to triumph and re-establish itself over a country the government of which we had practically assumed " — a debt which can only be discharged by the civilising agencies which would follow the introduc- tion of British rule and the " Pax Britannica " into the lake districts. It is beyond doubt that, with the withdrawal of British administration, the same chaos and internecine war would follow which succeeded the abandonment of the Sudan ; and in the triangular war between the three E\^ACUATION MEAXS ANARCHY AXD BLOODSHED. 573 factions, the country would be utterly destroyed. Of this I can speak with certainty from my own knowledge. Probably Kabarega would seize the opportunity to over- run Uganda, which would become, as one Avriter j^hrases it, "a cockpit of slaughter like Khartum." ^ France would have good ground for her taunts that we are a nation that love to use high-sounding phrases and to enunciate humanitarian princij^les, but draw back when the time comes for action and not mere words. Mean- while the 2^eople of Torn — of our pledges to whom I have already spoken — would be massacred. No one can speak with more intimate knowledge than myself of the bloodshed which would follow evacuation ; but that so grave a statement may not rest on the authority of one man, I may add that Captain Williams and every one in the country was of the same opinion ; that mission- aries who have returned home have endorsed it ; the French priests have stated the same thing ; and the German correspondent in Uganda adds his testimony to the same effect, saying that "before four weeks a murderous war would break out, followed by anarchy." Dr Felkin points out in the ' Times ' that the Waganda were of old slave-dealers, and would revert to that state ; and Mr Walker has also pointed out that the "rescued" Sudanese, being well armed, would be the worst of slavers if abandoned. This sketch of our position in East Africa will shoAv what oblip'ations we are under as reo^ards " effective occupation " under the Berlin Act. The Brussels Act of 1891, however, vastly increases our obligations, and defines them in greater detail. For just as the former Act was passed at the beginning of the scramble for Africa, and dealt chiefly with the coast-lands under the suzerainty of European Powers, and, so to speak, laid down the rules for interior acquisition, so the latter, 1 Chronicle, Oct. 22d, 1892. 2 Times, June 29tli, 1893. 574 THE RETENTION OF UGANDA. when the rush for Africa was over, dealt with the obhga- tions incurred by the Powers, and was devoted mainly to the possessions in the interior which had been acquired between 1885 and 1891 by the various Powers. The Congress which framed this Act was assembled at the instance of Queen Victoria. Seventeen Powers, includ- ing America, took part in its deliberations. Its osten- sible object was to lay down rules for the suppression of the slave-trade in Africa — not the sea-borne traffic merely, but the slave-trade throughout the continent, for almost the entire area of which the various Powers had now made themselves responsible. It is sufficient to indicate some of its provisions as regards interior territories. All Powers signatory to the Act undertook to carry out its provisions (article ill. ) ; and though they could delegate these engagements to chartered companies, " they remain nevertheless directly responsible, . . . and guarantee the execution thereof" (article iv.) These obligations apply equally, then, to sjDheres of influence under chartered companies, or to protectorates, and annexations (or Crown colonies), for the Act recognises no diflerence between them. We are therefore respon- sible for the application of the Brussels Act to the whole of our " sphere," which our recent protest against Belgian aggression indicates as extending as far as Lado. The obligations which, as the Power on whose initia- tive the Conference assembled, we bound ourselves " in the name of Almighty God " to fulfil, are contained in part in article i. " The gradual establishment in the interior, by the Powers to which the territories are subject, of strongly occupied stations, in such a way as to make their protective or repressive action effec- tively felt in the territories devastated by slave-hunting. " The construction of roads, and in particular of railways, con- OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE BRUSSELS ACT. 575 necting the advanced stations with the coast, and permitting easy access to the inland waters, and to such of the upper courses of the rivers and streams as are broken by rapids and cataracts, in view of substituting economical and rapid means of transport for the present means of carriage by men." The territories in British East Africa most "devastated by slave-hunting are those lying on the west towards the Congo State, the north - west towards Unyoro, Mombutu, &c.,^ and the north (South Sudan). It is in this direction that the "strongly occupied stations" of Kampala (in Uganda), the Sudanese forts (in Unyoro), and Fort George (at Salt Lake) have been established. I have narrated how I came on an outj)ost of these raiders at Miala on the west of Ruwenzori.^ Slavery, with much cruelty and raiding, we also know to be rampant in the Sudan, and is vouched for throughout the pages of ' Gordon's Journals,' ' Emin's Letters,' Wingate's ' Ten Years with the Mahdi,' Baker's ' The Albert N'yanza,' &c. As regards the portion of British East Africa already opened up. In this area there is ' Stuhlmann, who accompanied Emin, writes as follows of this country : " On Aug. 10th, 1891, we went on (from Kavalli's) into the dense primeval forest to the north-west. Since Stanley's march through these territories, the Arabs coming from the Congo and Aruwimi had considerably advanced, and just before our arrival their people (Wakusa and Manyuema) had be- haved dreadfully. A big Arab, Said bin Abed, has several stations here, each occupied by 100 to 300 people, who are engaged in collecting ivory. But not a tusk is purchased, all being got by war or robbery. The women and children taken jmsoners are exchanged for this precious merchandise. Thus all the country in front of us had been laid waste, and the natives were very timid. Famine reigned, and after several attempts to reach the savannah country to the north-east, we were compelled to turn back, our porters being on the point of dying of hunger." — Translated from ' Ver- handlungen,' Berlin Geographical Society, 1892. Compare also Stanley's accounts in ' Darkest Africa of the atrocities of Ugarrowa, Kilonga-longa, &c. It is a scandal to the Congo State that this gross devastation should be committed in its territory, while the filibustering expedition already alluded to should be trespassing on the territories of its neighbours. 2 Vide Grant's full report, Blue-book Africa, No. 2 of 1893, p. 23 (see p. 274). 576 THE RETENTION OF UGANDA. little slave-raiding,^ because the tribes inhabiting it are too warlike (Masai, Gallas, Somals, Suks, &c.) It is, how- ever, the constant field of slave-trading and kidnapping, as I have already shown. In bygone days there was a great export of slaves (purchased) from Uganda and Unyoro, when Arabs were resident there, but this was largely put an end to by the introduction of Christianity, and is now finally abolished by treaty (including the Mohammedans). The export from Unyoro is closed by treatv alliance with Ankoli, for the onlv route bv which slaves were ever exported was through what is now German territory. The road via Usoga to the east has never been traversed by any caravan other than the Company's. As the Germans, then, at Bukoba com- mand the only route, they are well qualified to judge, and in the ' Colonial Blatt ' the commandant of Bukoba says : " Slave-raiding never existed in the Victoria Nyanza district, but the slave-trade was carried on to a certain extent, though it was not nearly so widespread as in the regions around Lake Tanganyika. This, however, has entirely disajDpeared since the occupation of Uganda by the English, and the foundation of the German stations." - To summarise the results which would probably follow an evacuation of Uganda (as regards slavery). 1. The export from Unyoro and by the Waganda Mohammedans would be reinstituted, when the barrier of our forts and treaties was removed. 2. The 23eo23le of Torn would be re-enslaved by Kabarega ; indeed the Sudanese would probably also become Slavers. 3. In the triangular fight between the three parties, doubtless vast numbers of captives would be sold into slavery by the victors, or ^ Mr Jackson mentions slave-raids by Arabs in Kitosh, a small country to the north-east of Csoga. - Times, 24th Jan, 1893. In Mackay's time, according to his own estimate, about 2000 slaves were exported annually from Uganda and 2000 from Un- yoro.— Mackay's Life, p. 433. EFFECTS OF EVACUATIOX OX THE SLAVE-TRADE. 577 by Kabarega if he overran Uganda at this crisis. 4. Usoga and the countries to the east would be approach- able to the Arabs (as they never were before)/ and would constitute great reserves for the purchase of slaves for arms. 5. The various efforts which I have described against slavery would be nullified. On the other hand, the establishment of a firm administration so far in the interior as Uganda, would be of immense value as against the slave - trade. For its influence would be far-reaching, and would react on the districts to the north-west, in which I have shown that slave- raiding is rampant. For though our administration did not extend over these countries, we should be brought into touch with them by our commerce on the water- ways of the Albert lake and the Nile. Nor less as regards the coast area. If British authority is properly administered along our seaboard, and a proper super- vision and police maintained, our cruisers may safely leave those waters, for it should devolve uj)on the coast administration to render not only the export but the arrival of slave caravans from the interior impossible. The third clause refers to railways and roads ''per- mitting easy access to inland waters." Unless we repudiate the obligation, we are bound by this clause to undertake railway extension ; and what better line could be constructed than that connecting the great inland water of the Victoria with the coast ? Hitherto, in speaking of the railway, I have confined myself strictly and solely to the commercial view, but I am 1 The Arabs, slave-raiders, and others frequently follow up the routes of EurojDean explorers, into countries where before they could not penetrate. Thus in East Africa (following Count Teleki) they now find their way into Xgoboto and the Turkan country, and (following the Company) into Usoga. Cameron thus speaks of Nyangwe, which we know to be now the very headquarters of the raiders : " My successful journey from Unanyembe to Nyangwe was the practical cause of the reopening of routes which had then for some time been closed,"' — Manchester Guardian, Aug. 17, 1888. VOL. II. 2 o 578 THE EETEXTIOX OF UGAXDA. at a loss to know how this national obligation can he evaded without national dishonour. On p. 586 I point out the manner in which the other nations have ac- cepted and are acting up to those obligations in Africa. Finally, there is that great principle of consistency and continuity which it is absolutely necessary for a great nation to maintain in its foreign relations. Whatever may be the ups and downs of party politics, no states- man who has the welfare of our great empire at heart, but would deplore the introduction of a party spirit into our Colonial and Foreign policy, which it is essential should be that of an unbroken continuity. A Liberal Government inaugurated the policy of extension in Africa through Lord Granville. A Conservative Govern- ment consolidated and increased our possessions. Now, again, the time has come when a Liberal Ministry, through an exceptionally able Foreign Minister, has to decide on " the best mode of dealing with the country." The British empire will survive even though the peoples of L^ganda and many other countries be wiped off the face of the earth. But the far-seeing vision of a great statesman must perceive that consequences far more serious will follow for Great Britain by such an act than any that may be involved in the accomplishment or the shirking of a mere moral duty 2^^^^ Europe stands by to note whether we mean to evade our solemn obligations undertaken in conference with the Powers. Aggressive nations, not too friendly disposed, Avatch to see if our foreign policy is to be a national and continuous one, or a policy dictated by party exigencies, a policy of vacillation or retrogression. On the bleak Pamirs, in Afghanistan, in Egypt, in Morocco, and in Siam, we may look for the reflex action of our policy in East Africa ; and so this little insignificant state of Uganda becomes "the straw which shows which way the wind blows," — a mere straw, we will assume, whose CONTINUITY OF FOREIGN POLICY. 579 fate was of no moment, but sufficient to indicate the rocks ahead on which assuredly the ship would drift if left unguided by a master-hand. Lord Rosebery is at the helm — a "strong man"— and his impressive words are on record : " We are bound to maintain that con- tinuity of moral policy which Great Britain cannot afford at any time or in any dispensation to dis- regard." Allusion has already been made to the Anglo-German agreement of 1890. That treaty was made largely to settle the then acute difficulty regarding Uganda. In order to secure this country to our sole influence, we ceded the possession of Heligoland to Germany, the latter Power at the same time abandoning Witu and other claims on the East Coast. If Uganda had been abandoned, what would have become of our quid pro quo for this European island ; and how could our foreign policy, which in 1890 was willing to cede for advan- tages in East Africa a possession for which Germany would have paid a high price, be said to have any con- tinuity if two and a half years later we were ready to abandon those advantages ? I have dwelt at some length on our obligations to Europe, and now I will briefly allude to our obligations to the Africans. These are in respect of treaties made in the country, as well as verbal assurances given that the British had come to stay, and would not desert the tribes who declared friendship with them. The tribes of the interior, for the most part, are ignorant of the nature of a written contract. This being the case, so far as I personally had a share in this treaty-making — and it was small — I adoj)ted the method which offered the best parallel to our ideas of a sacred bond in black and white." This is the custom of bloocl-brotherhood, which other writers besides myself have testified to be the most binding form of contract possible among savage 580 THE RETEXTIOX OF UGANDA. tribes.^ The chief having stated his undertakings in a formal speech, delivered by his most powerful auxiliary, and my native headman having similarly announced my pledges (dictated by myself), I reduced the whole to writing in the form of a treaty, and the chief made his mark upon it. being told that this was the European method of confirmation. The ceremony was made as public as possible ; the leading men of the district attended, and in some cases neighbouring chiefs from a great distance were present, and included themselves in the contract, one chief being chosen to go through the ceremony for all. I know that all or most treaties " (so called) made in Africa will not bear so close an in- vestigation ; I am concerned onlv with those in which I had a hand. In Uganda the case is different. There the peoj^le most fully understand the nature of a A^T.itten contract, and consider nothino- as absolutelv final and binclino- unless put on paper. They are very clever and far- seeing, and every clause of the treaty made was dis- cussed for several davs anion of themselves before it was jDresented in haraza for the signature of the king and chiefs. They fully appreciated that the protection of the Company was extended to them in return for the j)rovisoes to which they agreed. The treaty of April 5th was made (in accordance with my instructions) in perpetuity, and they were assured of the continuance of British administration. Lastly, in the case of the jjeople of Torn. Here the " unwritten word " bore the deepest signification. The treaty with the reinstated king Kasagama is of the usual kind. But this country, it must be remembered, ^ " This contract," says Dr Felkin, " is never broken ; and if once you can induce an African to become your ' blood-brother ' you can really trust him." — Felkin, Uganda, &c., vol. ii. p. 41. Vide also ' Walk across Africa,' Grant, p. 271. PLEDGES TO THE AFRTCAXS. 581 was overrun by Kabarega's hordes, and the people ousted and enslaved. When I brought from his exile the son of the old king and reinstated him, he had at first but few subjects. On my return from Kavalli's with the Sudanese, the people came flocking in, and the one question of their messengers was, "Are you come to stay ? if so, we will gladly come under your protec- tion ; but if you go away and leave us, after we have escaped from our exile or slavery, and have declared for you, we shall be massacred wholesale by Kabarega." Of course I told them the British would remain, for was not this our " sphere of influence ^' ? administered by a powerful chartered Company, who, in the terms of their application for a charter, were " jDrejDared to subscribe or to procure such further amount (of money) as may hereafter be found requisite for the development of the said enterprise," and of whose insolvency I had no intimation. And so my pledge was given. The treaties concluded by the Company were (in ac- cordance with clause 3 of the charter) submitted for approval. Of these the first seventy-six are enclosed by Lord Salisbury in a despatch to Mr (now Sir G.) Portal, with the words, "All of these have received the formal apjDroval of the Secretary of State," ^ and among these is included the first treaty with Mwanga of Uganda. Seven more were subsequently ratified by the Secretary of State.- It is said that "it is at present a moot point how far an a23proval of this kind can be held in any way directly or indirectly to bind her Majesty's Government." By the light of the wording of the charter, however, and of Lord Salisbury's instruc- tions to Mr Portal,^ it would certainly be inferred that 1 Dated March 22d, 1892. Vide No. 1 of Blue-book Africa No. 4, 1892. - Lord Eosebery to Sir G. Portal, Dec. 10th, 1892 ; No. 40 of Blue-book Africa No. 1, 1893. s ibid. ^ Dated March 22d, 1892. Vide No. 1 of Blue-book Africa No. 4, 1892, para. 7. 582 THE RETEXTIOX OF UGAXDA. they are so binding, and rank on the same footing with " treaties on the part of her Majesty's Government with the native chiefs binding them to accept British protection," which the Imperial Commissioner is told he " should make when it may seem advisable," in terri- tories outside those already included in the treaties of the Company. But I think that all honourable Englishmen will scorn the assumption that it would be right to base our fulfilment of obligations entered into with the natives by a chartered company, and " formally ap- jDroved " by Government, on the technical quibble as to whether such ratification was binding as a j)oint of law. In making a treaty with Mwanga, I stated in the docu- ment that I acted " solely on behalf of the Comj^any." I was in every way within my instructions. The Com- pany on its part (representing the nation by its charter) approved the treaty, and forwarded it for final con- firmation, and Government finally ratified the treaty. Can any honourable man be found to deny an obligation on the part of the nation in resjDect of it — and similarly as regards my verbal pledges to the people of Torn, &c., fully set forth in my re23orts, which were likewise approved and communicated to Government ? On the other hand, before concluding this cursory view of what may, for lack of a better name, be called the political and international aspect of the question, I will glance at one or two advantages which run concurrently with the fulfilment of our obligations to Europe. The port of Mombasa is accounted the finest an- chorage between Delagoa Bay and the Bed Sea, and would be of great advantage as a naval coaling-station and depot for our squadron in Eastern waters ; nor could we afford to see it in the hands of a foreign Power. And it is to be observed that East Africa COLLATERAL ADVAXTAGES OF RETEXTIOX. 583 must be taken as a whole. We cannot retain our coast area and repudiate the " hinterland," which we have claimed to be an integral part of coast pro- prietorship ; for it was on this very argument that we obtained the recognition from Germany that Uganda was within our "sphere." "Uganda" has been used, and not inappropriately — since it is the political and strategic key to the Avhole — as a synonym for British East Africa. The control of the Nile sources, with the significance which that control bears to Egypt and to the commerce which finds its outlet on the Red Sea ports. Here, again, it is necessary to realise not only the advantage to ourselves, but the alternative disadvantage of seeing the Nile basin in the hands of a foreign Power. That Power would undoubtedly be France (see p. 570), as is proved by her ever-increasing activity eastwards from Senegambia and the French Congo. The little map given on p. 569 shows that she already has stations on the Upper Mobangi. If France held the Nile basin, she would undoubtedly require and obtain an outlet towards the Red Sea, where she already holds a footing at Obok. This she might obtain through the EgyjDtian Sudan, or possibly, in the changes of the future, by 23urchase or other arrangement with Italy at Massowa. It is needless to point out the eftect of this on our hio-hwav to India and Australia. This is all delicate ground, and I will do no more than merelv indicate the lines of consideration, and leave those who are fully competent to do so to gauge their significance. It may be well, also, to allude here to the remarkable activity of Russia in this region (aided by the French at Obok), Avho has now sent several exj^editions into the heart of Abyssinia under Lieutenant Ashakof, and established cordial relations with the Abyssinian potentate, and especially with the influential High 584 THE RETENTION OF UGANDA. Priest," based on the supposed affinity of the Abyssinian Christian Church to the Greek Church of Russia. The position of Uganda, lying as it does between the great lakes of Victoria, Tanganyika, Albert Edward, and Albert, and commanding the Nile sources, has been recognised by Lord Rosebery as " probably the key to Africa." As a writer in the ' Daily Chronicle' remarks,^ " We do not value Uganda for what she is, but for what she might be. She may be destined to control the trade- route between the northern and the southern parts of our African empire." I stated in the ' Times ' - that an Egyptian statesman — perhaps the most distin- guished of his day — gave it to me as his matured opinion, that whoever held the control of the UpjDer Nile commanded the destinies of Egypt. Uganda is but a jDortion of that larger kingdom of ancient Kitara, which included these lake districts — namely, Unyoro and Ankoli ; but by a long series of years of domina- tion she has acquired a prestige without parallel in this part of Africa ; and whoever controls and ad- ministers Uganda, will find little trouble in dealing with the surrounding peo23les, who have for years looked on the dynasty of Uganda as the emblem of power and authority. The advantages for commerce and industrial enter- prise. This is in itself so large a subject that I have dealt with it separately in chapters xv. and xvi. 1 Oct. 22d, 1892. 2 Q^t 8th, 1892. ^ Mons. A. Clielu, a French engineer in Egypt, in his learned book (' Le Nil, le Sudan, I'Egypt'), chap, i., shows that Egypt is indebted for her summer supply of water to the Victoria Lake, and a dam built across the river at its exit from the lake would deprive Egypt of this. Colonel Eoss, late Inspector-General of Irrigation in Egypt, discusses the question (which he obviously regards as feasible) of damming the river at its exit from the Albert Lake, so as to convert the great lakes into reservoirs. [Paper read before Scottish Geog. Society, t7"o?e Magazine, vol. ix. p. 189.] Practical engineers say that by building such a weir the supply of water for Egypt would far exceed that obtainable in any other way. — Geog. Journal, vol. i. pp. 45-48. THE NILE BASIN — COMMERCIAL EXPANSION. 585 It is sufficient to reiterate here, that as long as our poUcy is one of free trade, we are compelled to seek new markets ; for old ones are being closed to us by hostile tariffs, and our great dependencies, which for- merly were the consumers of our goods, are now becom- ing our commercial rivals. It is inherent in a great colonial and commercial emjiire like ours that we go forward or go backward. To allow other nations to develop new fields, and to refuse to do so ourselves, is to go backward ; and this is the more deplorable, seeing that we have proved ourselves notably capable of deal- ing with native races, and of developing new countries at a less expense than other nations. We owe to the instincts of colonial expansion of our ancestors, those vast and noble dependencies which are our pride and the outlets of our trade to - day ; and we are ac- countable to posterity that opportunities which now present themselves of extending the sphere of our industrial enterprise are not neglected, for the oppor- tunities now offered will never recur again. Lord Eosebery in his speech at the Hoyal Colonial Institute ^ expressed this in emphatic language : — " We are engaged in ' pegging out claims ' for the future. We have to consider, not what we want now, but what we shall want in the future. We have to consider what countries must be developed either by ourselves or some other nation. . . . Ee- member that the task of the statesman is not merely with the present, but with the future. We have to look forward, beyond the chatter of platforms and the passions of party, to the future of the race of which we are at present the trustees, and we should, in my opinion, grossly fail in the task that has been laid upon us did we shrink from responsibilities, and decline to take our share in a partition of the world which we have not forced on, but which has been forced upon us." If some initial expense is incurred, is it not justified 1 Times, March 2d, 1893. 586 THE RETEXTIOX OF UGANDA. by the ultimate gain ? I have akeady pointed out what other nations are doing in the way of railway extension (chajD. xvii.) The Government is not asked to provide the capital of the railway, but only a guar- antee on the subscribed capital. The nature and ex- tent of the expense to be incurred, both as regards this railway guarantee and in administration, I shall discuss in chapter xliii. Independently of money spent on railways, the conquest of Algeria alone cost France £150,000,000,^ and it is estimated that her West Coast colonies cost her half a million yearly.^ Italy spends on her Abyssinian protectorate a sum variously esti- mated at £400,000 or £600,000 per annum. Belgium, besides her heavy expenses for the Congo railway, the capital of which she has advanced without interest (chap, xvii.), guarantees £80,000 per annum to the Congo State, and is altering her constitution in order to allow her to take over that State as a colonial possession. Germany has spent over a million sterling in East Africa,^ besides her expenditure on the west and south-west colonies. The parallel is here com- plete, for the German Company failed, and Govern- ment stepped in to carry out the pledges and obliga- tions incurred. Even Portugal is content to support a yearly deficit on each of her African possessions, gives heavy subsidies to the mail-steamers, and £10,000 per annum to the Cable. All these nations are content to incur this yearly cost in the present, confident that in the future these possessions will repay the outlay, 1 Keltie, Partition of Africa, p. 97. - Ibid., p. 293. Stanley estimates her expenditure at £850,000 from 1889 to end of 1892 — viz., subsidies for administration and military operations, £600,000 ; commutation of concession from Sultan, £200,000 ; subsidy to mail-steamers, £45,000; to cable, £5000.— Times, Oct. 11th, 1892. To this must be added the cost of their fleet engaged against the Arabs. More recently, March 1893, £125,000 was voted by the Eeichstag. EXAMPLE OF OTHER ^s^ATIOXS — MISSIONS. 587 and willing to be at a national expense to fulfil their treaty obligations under the Brussels Act. The ' Zanzibar Gazette/ ^ which is in a good position to judge, since the imports and exports from German East Africa can be fairly assessed there, speaking of the comparatively large sums from the national re- sources " invested in this country, says, We think it is only a question of time for such investments, with a careful management of the territory, to show highly profitable returns. Such a view from those on the spot and possessing local knowledge, should be a strong tes- timony in favour of the far richer British sphere. The jDrotection of our Missions in Uganda has been urged as another reason for the maintenance of author- ity in the country. The missionaries themselves have strongly protested that they do not rely on the " arm of flesh," and are ready to remain at their posts and meet martyrdom if necessary. They have, however, argued that the advent of the Company has placed them in a more precarious position in the event of withdrawal than they would otherwise have been in. I do not agree with this contention. The point, however, is a minor one. Whether the missionaries claim or disclaim protection is a matter which concerns themselves alone, and their own interpretation of their Master's mandate and example. In endeavouring to explain to the reading public the motives which have guided, and will guide, the action of Government in dealing with Uganda, and to lay before them a portion at least of that information of which Government is in possession, and by which its action is determined, it is my object to view the case, so far as I am able, from a national stand-point. The question then becomes. Are missionaries entitled to pro- ^ Dec. 28th, 1892. 588 THE RETEXTIOX OF TGAXDA. tection, whether they claim it or not ? It is a very difficult question. Some Avriters have m^ged that no other country in the world would dream of admitting the right, instancing among other cases the abandon- ment by Austria of her missionaries in the Sudan. The case of Austria is no parallel. Egypt was responsible for the Sudan, and for the protection of Europeans there. We, as the protector and adviser of Egypt, accepted the responsibility ; we advised the abandon- ment of the Sudan, and subsequently sent Gordon, to try and save the Europeans and the garrisons, and to rectify our mistake — too late. Gordon failed, and the expedition sent to relieve him failed, in so far as the abandoned garrisons and Euroj^eans Avere concerned, and the onus lies upon us, to our jDerpetual shame. In such circumstances Austria could not interfere. But precedents are not wanting for protection af- forded to Missions. Indeed it has usually been the missionaries who, as pioneers in unknown countries, have led to the direct action of States. In China the mis- sionaries of all nationalities aj^pealecl lately for jDro- tection, and diplomatic action, and warships in Chinese waters, were the result. But if we desire a closer parallel, where missionaries have penetrated into a savage State, entirely beyond the diplomatic action of any European Power, and have then appealed for protection against the natives themselves, and have received it, we may cite among other cases that of our missionaries in Abyssinia, on whose account a war costing several millions of money and many lives was undertaken. Again, in Namaqualand, German mis- sionaries appealed for protection against the natives ; again and again they urged their claims, prior to and during 1880. In 1881 they even urged the Ger- man Government to send a warshi]^ to protect their interests, and this eventually led to the annexation of EFFECT OF ABANDONMENT ON NYAS ALAND. 589 these countries by Germany. It would be absurd to suppose that any missionary penetrating into the heart of an inaccessible country could demand the interfer- ence of his Government if he got into difficulties with the natives. It, however, seems fair to argue, that where missionaries have gone in considerable numbers, and established themselves for a number of years with the knowledge and to some extent the supjDort (see j)p. 3, 4) of Government, they should, as British subjects, be entitled to claim protection if their lives are in danger through no direct fault of their own, and if it is in any way feasible to affiord that protection. From this point of view the missionaries in Uganda have strong grounds to claim protection, apart from the obvious hardship incurred by the withdrawal of protection when it has once been afforded. The loss of prestige in Africa which would have been incurred by a withdrawal from Uganda, would undoubtedly have a reflex action in Nyasaland, the British Central African Protectorate." Indeed a well- informed writer to a daily 23aper ^ holds that the ru- moured intention of evacuating Uganda was already accountable for the state of things described by a correspondent in Nyasaland, who says : "In all my experience of this region, I have never known a time when there was more powder or more guns in the country. For many months back, dhows have been kept constantly running from Amelia Bay to Deep Bay with cargoes of guns and powder. Great caravans have gone to Tanganyika, Bangweolo, and Mwero to supply the Arab demand there. I never knew a time when there was more actual slavery than there is now, or when more of the Arab followers were armed. . . . This is a significant warning of what would follow the British evacuation of Mwanga's territory." 1 Glasgow Herald, Oct. 21st, 1892. 590 THE RETEXTIOX OF UGANDA. The retention of our control of these countries has been supported by many of the most able men of the day, of all shades of political opinion— men whose careers attest their ability as statesmen, and whose opinions carry very great weight with the nation. It would be superfluous to quote names, but perha23S one may in- stance her Majesty's Secretaries for Foreign Aflairs as being not only men of the highest possible qualifications, selected to control the outlying parts of our great em- pire, but men who speak and act with the weight of the great res]3onsibility and importance which attaches to their public utterances. Uganda had not been occu- pied in Lord Granville's time, but, as I have elsewhere stated, it was under his rule at the Foreign Office that the first steps towards this result were taken. Lord Salisbury was understood to be entirely in favour of the occupation of Uganda ; and replying to a question in the House of Lords on this subject subsequent to the accession to power of the Liberal party, he gave it as his opinion that the difficulties of transport and com- munication should be met by the construction of a rail- way. Speaking on the general question at Liver230ol,^ he emphasised the fact that we had lost opportunities in West Africa by failing to perceive that if we did not seize them other nations would, to the detriment of our trade. Lord Rosebery, both in the sj)eech I have ^ Feb. 6th, 1893. He laid stress on the fact that our territorial extension brought with it not only " the high blessing of good government, which we are in a position to confer more than any other nation in the world," but also that we thereby "ensure that this mania for protective restriction which is paralysing trade, and which has more than anything else to do with the pressure now being experienced,'^ shall not include that country at least, which we may decide to take under our protection. " We feel," he added, "that we cannot suffer, more than we can help, that the unoccupied jDarts of the world, where we must look for new markets for our goods, shall be shut from us by foreign legislation. . . . What is included in the empire is certainly open to trade, and for no other territory whatever can such an assertion be confidently made." OPINIONS OF STATESMEN AND PUBLIC BODIES. 591 quoted at the Colonial Institute and in his reply to the Anti- Slavery deputation, allowed it to be clearly understood that he did not approve of abandonment, and did not fear to incur the responsibilities of imi^e- rial extension, when the dictates of honour, duty, and advantage proclaimed extension necessary. Such are the opinions of the present and late Ministers for For- eign Affairs. The long roll of illustrious statesmen who have advocated retention would occupy too great a space to detail here. They belong alike to all political parties. Public bodies whose objects differ widely have united in their appeal to Government on this question, — Cham- bers of Commerce throughout England and Scotland ; bishops and dignitaries of the Church of England ; the Moderators of all the three Churches in Scotland ; missionary societies, and philanthropic bodies such as the Anti- Slavery Society, &c. : while the strength of popular feeling throughout England, and perhaps even more markedly in Scotland, has been very strongly indicated. We have a prescriptive right in East Africa and its lakes. They were all discovered by British explorers : Victoria by Speke and Grant, Nyasa by Livingstone, Tanganyika by Burton, Albert by Baker, and Albert Edward by Stanley. The steamers (three) placed on Nyasa have all been brought by the British ; so has the one on Tanganyika ; and those on the Albert and Nile were brought down by Baker when in the Khedive's service. Our missionaries first penetrated to Uganda in the footsteps of our explorers. Thus, by right of discovery and of missionary effort, we had the prior claim to Uganda, and the time has now come for us to assert or forego entirely that claim. Those few who have given voice to the arguments against retention have, so far as I am aware, altogether avoided dealing with the strong array of facts which I 592 THE RETEXTIOX OF UGAXDA. have endeavoured to present to my readers. Briefly they are these : — 1. Fulfihnent of pledges to EurojDe, under (l) the Berhn Act, (2) the Brussels Act. 2. Pledges to the natives, and responsibility for anarchy, &c., on evacuation. 3. Political importance of retaining our hold on the Xile valley, and of the ports on the coast. 4. Commercial necessity of finding new markets, &c. 5. Obligation as regards missionaries, French and Encrlish. 6. Check to slave-trade — by establishing a protector- ate in the heart of Africa. 7. Keflex action on other African possessions caused by loss of prestige. 8. Uniformity of policy inaugurated by cession of Heligoland, &c. 9. Preponderance of public opinion in favour of re- tention. 10. Prescriptive rights. The arguments on the other side are — 1. The "Little England" policy, which argues that our empire is already big enough, and we should avoid all extension. With this the sj^eeches of Lord Rosebery and Lord Salisbury, which I have quoted, deal. 2. On the grounds of expense and distance from the coast. I have attempted to show that the expense is not prohibitive, and is more than met by the prospective advantages to trade and industries (see chapter on Commerce), putting aside the question of obligation. As regards distance, I have shown in the chaj^ter on Transport that, in my opinion, communications can be kej)t up effectually and rapidly by the construction of one section of the railway, simultaneously with the introduction of animal transport. 3. Sir Charles Dilke in his able article in the ' Fort- CONNECTION WITH SOUTH AFRICA. 598 nightly' (Feb. 1893), argues that Uganda was a country of strategic importance as the connecting-Hnk between our Southern and South Central African possessions and those to the north ; but that by the Anglo-German agreement of 1890, when we recognised the right of Germany to extend her hinterland up to the borders of the Congo State, we introduced a wedge of foreign territory which nullified the import- ance of Uganda. It is true that a piece of country extends from the north of Tanganyika to the south of either the Victoria or Albert Edward Lakes — the distance being exactly 150 miles in each case — which is entirely included in either the German or Congo territories. But the treaty alluded to prohibited all transit dues and differential duties on British goods crossing this area ; nor is it beyond the scope of practical negotiation, should necessity arise, that we should secure a connecting strip through this area, by giving a quid 'pro quo elsewhere. Such an offer, in- deed, has already been made by the Congo State. Lord Bosebery, when speaking of Uganda to the deputation of the Anti- Slavery Society, said that it was a question of very great importance, which involved very many considerations. I think that some of those who have condemned the retention of Uganda have hardly realised the scope of these considerations, which have had to be weighed by Government, and on which their decision is framed ; and it is with a view in some measure of affording them an opportunity of judging of the issues of the question, that I have endeavoured to bring together in a brief and cursory manner in this chapter some of the various points for consideration, and not in the idea of saying anything new, or even of urging a policy which I trust we may conclude, from the tenor of Mr Gladstone's and of Sir E. Grey's speeches in the House, together with the wording of Sir G. Portal's VOL. II. 2 p 594 THE RETENTION OF UGANDA. instructions, has been already 23ractically decided. For though it at first appeared as though it were open for the Commissioner to report as to whether Uganda should be retained or not, we now know from his instructions that the scope of his inquiry as to the "best means of dealing with the country" was only whether it shall be dealt with " through Zanzibar or otherwise." Type of Xativic. 595 CHAPTER XLIL ORIGIN OF THE " BRITISH SPHERE," AND METHODS OF DEALING WITH IT. England responsible — Government recognises this — East Africa, how acquired — -Origin of Imperial British East African Company — Early difficulties — Reasons for going to Uganda — Effective occupation — The hinterland principle — Anglo-German agreement — Cost not a surprise — Evacuation deferred — " The Uganda question " — Alternative courses — Advantages of a chartered company — Amount of subsidy necessary, including a railway — One section only — Disadvantages — Precedents for subsidy — Offers of South African Company — Objections to this course — Gordon's views — Direct control— Advantages — Urged by public opinion — Lord Grey's view — Obj ections — -Expense — Responsibility — Nyasaland a precedent — A loan feasible — A " sphere " now identical with protectorate — Control delegated to Zanzibar — Scheme really delusive — Objections — Mohammedan law — Slavery legalised — Witu an example — Summary — Disposal of the Company — Compensation — Their grounds for claiming it — Their reasons for failure — The Government view — Suggested course — Necessity for annexing the Sultanate — French treaty rights — Natives of a protectorate not "subjects" — Gross anomaly — Zanzibar to be superseded — Bolstering the Arab power — Absurdity of edicts — Arab to find his own level. British East Africa is a " sphere of British influence " for which we are responsible, quite independently of whether its administration be intrusted to a chartered company or undertaken through more direct agencies of the Crown. Since we have accepted this charge, both in treaties with Germany and Italy, whose African fron- tiers are conterminous with ours — the boundaries of the former having lately been the subject of international negotiation — we are pledged (so far as they are con- 596 ORIGIX OF THE ''BRITISH SPHERE." cerned) to the continuance of at least such an admin- istration as shall maintain an effective control on the frontiers of our neighbours, who have a just ground of complaint if tribes from British East Africa raid their territories. Secondly, and wholly independently of these arrangements with our neighbours, we have, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, acknowledged our international obligations, conjointly with the seven- teen Powers of Europe and America who were signa- tories of the Brussels Act. Great Britain thus remains responsible to the civilised world for the protection, con- trol, and administration of British East Africa (part of which has already become a direct protectorate),-^ and for the application to it of the obligations incurred under the Brussels Act. For the transfer of a sphere of influence from one Power to another there are iDrecedents, but for the total abandonment of a sphere of influence in Africa there are none, when once the territory has been declared under the suzerainty of a European Power. The nearest ap- proach to such a surrender was in the case of the aban- donment of the Sudan by Egypt as a vilayet of Turkey. This action was at the instance of Great Britain, and if one may judge by the feeling evoked at any pop- ular assembly on allusion to this abandonment, by the unanimous tone of the press, by the wave of popular feeling which turned out the Ministry that advised it, and by the steps taken to remedy its disastrous results in so far as that was possible, it is hardly too much to say that the advice tendered to Egypt on that occasion has been looked upon as a national disgrace and a political blunder. It was hardly, therefore, possible to suppose that, going beyond mere advice to an assisted Power (Egypt), Great Britain, by the light of the expe- ^ Viz., all the territory included in the Zanzibar Sultanate, together with Witu. NO PRECEDENT FOR ABANDONMENT. 597 rlence gained by the evacuation of the Sudan, would herself, on her sole initiative, abandon to chaos an area placed under her suzerainty by international conven- tion and by treaty with the people of the country. The result has justified the assumption. Government re- served to themselves the declaration of their intentions until a commission of inquiry had investigated "the best means of dealing with the country, whether through Zanzibar or otherwise." In these words was no hint of abandonment, and the public utterances of her Majesty's Secretary for Foreign Affairs, who pos- sessed in an extraordinary degree the confidence of the country, together with the tenor of the instruc- tions previously given to the Commissioner by Lord Salisbury, completely satisfied public opinion that a course whose nearest precedent had been followed by disaster was not again to be adopted. The territories described as British East Africa were acquired through certain private individuals, who, form- ing themselves first into a company under the name of the " East African Association," came forward at a moment when the colonial extension of Germany threatened to absorb the whole of East Africa, and by agreement with the Sultan of Zanzibar saved to us a por- tion of that territory, which for over two decades had known no European influence save that of Great Britain. In doing this they were only giving effect to the policy already sketched out under a Liberal Government. Lord Granville, when Foreign Secretary, always showed a remarkable eagerness to reserve to Great Britain a footing in East Africa. During the twenty years in which British interests had been rejDresented there by Sir John Kirk, the Sultan of Zanzibar had looked to England only. It is understood that he had even, in 1881, made overtures to place his dominions under British protection, and that he subsequently pledged 598 OEIGIX OF THE ''BRITISH SPHERE." himself to cede no j^art of his territory to any other European nation without the consent of Great Britain. For upwards of a century the coast, from the mouth of the Zambesi in the south to Somahland in the north, has been occupied by immigrants from what now is British India. British money has been spent in the suppression of the slave-trade by sea by the patrolling of the East African littoral, a task in which no other European Power has borne any part whatever. Indeed it has been estimated that our expenditure under this head is not less than £100,000 annually, and this estimate takes no account of invalidings and other indirect sources of expenditure.^ The action, therefore, of the founders of the East African Association, in coming forward at this juncture to preserve to Great Britain a part at least of that territory, throughout the whole of which up to now her influence had been j^redominant, was regarded by public opinion as patriotic and most commendable. The tone of the press generally was one of regret that a larger area had not been secured for British influence ; and especially that the mountain - slopes of Kilima- njaro had been ceded to Germany. A royal charter was granted to the Company, and they now became the " Imperial British East African Company." Their chair- man was Sir W. Mackinnon ; their Directors included the Marquis of Lorne, K.T., Sir J. Kirk, Sir Donald Stewart, Sir Arnold Kemball, Sir Fowell Buxton, Mr A. L. Bruce, Mr G. S. Mackenzie, and other well- known names. The Germans had the more difficult section of the coast to deal with, including the ports from which most of the ivory and the majority of slaves were exported. Their methods were more brusque and drastic than ours. The result was a war between the Arabs and the Ger- ^ For details of this ex2:)enditure, vide chap. viii. FORMATION OF THE CHARTERED COMPANY. 599 mans, in which the British Company was in no way involved, but in which the Imperial Government assisted Germany to the extent of taking part in a blockade of the coast, to prevent arms from reaching the Arabs. Owing to this disturbance, and the consequent animus raised against Europeans and against ourselves as par- ticipators in the blockade, the position of the Company in its very infancy was extremely difficult, and its atti- tude towards the Arabs had of necessity to be concil- iatory to a degree which was to be deprecated, had it not been that the Company's very existence depended on the avoidance of hostilities, since they had no force whatever to oppose to an enemy or to defend the very lives of their officers. This danger past, another appeared. The Germans were fired by an inordinate zeal for extension at this period, and the question arose as to whether Uganda and the lake districts should be included in the British or the German area ; for at this time the agreement between Germany and ourselves extended no further inland than the eastern shore of the Victoria Lake. The Company state that it had never been their in- tention to push on into the interior until by slow stages they had established an administration over the inter- mediate area. At this time, however, it must be remembered that the theory of " effective occupation," as alone establishing a claim to territorial suzerainty, was being energetically put forward. The principle had been originally established by the Berlin Act of 1885 ; and although that Act referred only to coast areas, its principles, as I have already shown (p. 567), had been extended to include interior areas, by our- selves in our dealings with Portugal regarding Nyasa- land, the previous year. Meanwhile Germany produced a brand-new principle of African territorial acquisition, which we may call for 600 ORIGIN OF THE "BRITISH SPHERE." convenience the " Hinterland tiieory." By this she main- tained that all lands which lay behind the coast area occupied by a Power, became part of the territory accru- ing to that Power. The princif)le was not a bad one, if fairly applied, but of course there was a vast margin for divergent readings, in the definition of what the mean- ing of territories "lying behind" might be. Germany, moreover, at that time held the coast-line north as well as south of the small piece of seaboard reserved to Great Britain, and so the application of the hinterland principle might well be applied (if no efPort on our part to effect an occupation were made), so as to isolate and cut off all trade-routes from Mombasa. As the continent of Africa runs north and south, it would appear fair, as regards East Africa, to draw lines of delimitation of "hinterlands" due east and west of the northern and southern limits of the coast area of a Power — viz., the hinterland belonging to any Power should be that enclosed between the latitudes which limit its coast possessions. To such a principle the British Company, as representing the interests of the empire, would have been willing to adhere. Germany, however, hinted that the further extension of her East African possessions must be determined not by the latitude of her coast area, but by a prolongation of the line of demarcation between German and British East Africa. This line ran north-west, and its exten- sion passed through the centre of Uganda, and thence far north into the Sudan. To accept such a principle would have been suicidal. To protest merely evoked the retort that effective occupation gave the sole ulti- mate claim to a recognition of territorial acquisition ; and if it was desirable for us to retain possession of the proper hinterland of our possessions, it would be well for the Company to step in and effectively occupy the territories in question. THE BRITISH HINTERLAXD THREATENED. 601 In the meantime, Dr Peters from the East Coast, and subsequently Emin Pasha with an exjDedition round the south of the Victoria Lake, were bending their courses towards Uganda. The Company decided to accept the challenge, and to occupy their hinterland before they were anticipated by Germany. But meanwhile the Anglo-German convention of July 1st, 1890, was signed, by which Germany ceded to Great Britain her pro- tectorate formally proclaimed over Witu, and over the coast between that post and Kisimayu, and waived all claims to the hinterland of British East Africa north of 1° S. lat. By fixing an east and west line (passing through the northern limit of her territory), as the proper boundary of a hinterland, Germany recognised the principle already explained. The first and foremost reason for the immediate occu- pation of Uganda no longer therefore existed, but the Directors j^ei'severed in their intention to occupy the country — for what precise reasons I did not know. In their report dated May 29th, 1893, I learnt for the first time their contention, that this decision Avas formed in consequence of the intimation of the Foreign Ofiice that the arrival of the em^oys who accompanied Mr Jackson would offer a good opportunity for the cultivation of a cordial understanding with Uganda; as also of subsequent despatches,^ which were held to indicate the desire of H. M.'s Government that the Company should at once occupy Uganda, and that my progress thither might be hastened. This action of the Foreim Office was in con- tinuation of a policy by which negotiations respecting Uganda had been opened 23rior to the formation of the ComjDany. In September 1890 the Directors tele- graj)hed orders to Mombasa for me to proceed to Uganda and make a treaty pledging protection to the country. At that time, as I have said, I was in Kikuyu, build- 1 Dated April 22d, 1890, and Oct. 10th, 1890. 602 OEIGIX OF THE "BRITISH SPHERE." ing the station of Dagoreti. The orders reached me on October 19th, 1890, and I at once proceeded to obey them. The natural sequence of events followed. After holding the country for less than eight months, the Company found that they were not able to maintain so distant an outpost, with the prohibitive rates of trans- port involved by the system of human porterage to a country 800 miles from the coast. The chief expense, however, lay in the pay of the garrison necessary to maintam a hold on the country. This cannot, however, have been in the nature of a surprise, for Mr Jackson had described the length of the journey and the difficul- ties of food-supply to be encountered, as well as the approximate garrison which he considered it was neces- sary to maintain in the country. He had also explained its present desolated and unremunerative condition, but the Directors had persevered in their resolve to retain Uganda. On the annomicement of the intended evac- uation by the Company (August 1891), considerable dismay was evinced by the supporters of the Missions and by other philanthropists. Bishop Tucker, head of the East African (C.M.S.) Mission, was in England, and made a strong appeal on behalf of Uganda. Volun- tary subscriptions to maintain the British occupation were called for, and to these Sir William Mackinnon gave £10,000. The Company agreed to continue in the country for one more year, till December 1892, but ad- hered to their determination to evacuate at the end of that period ; and indeed they had no choice, having no further funds to maintain their administration. Such was the series of events Avhich led to the difficulty known as the Uganda question," which in the autumn of 1892 faced the new Government w^hen they took office. Briefly it was simply this : — The chartered Company were about to abandon the greater part at least of the British sphere of influence THE COMPAXY DECIDE TO EVACUATE TGAXDA. 603 in East Africa. Upon their retirement, in what way could national responsibilities be best discharged to- wards the country itself, and towards Europe in respect of it ? There were two main alternatives, — either that Government should enable the Company to maintain its position by granting a subsidy with or without guaranteed assistance in the construction of a railway from the coast ; or that Government should undertake the direct control and administration of East Africa, either as a protectorate or as a Crown colony.^ A third and very ingenious plan was suggested as better than abandonment, which was that East Africa should be absorbed into the protectorate already established over Zanzibar — not under the conditions which then affected that island itself as a direct ^protectorate of the British Crown, which left the native ruler large powers of which he has since been deprived, but rather as a colony of that protectorate administered solely under British officials. I Avill criticise as briefly as possible each of these schemes. The first — continued administration through the char- tered Company — recommends itself for many reasons ; but the negotiations of her Majesty's Government with the Com23any merely referred to a prolongation of the temporary occupation of the Company, and being re- garded by them, rightly or wrongly, as offering no permanent solution, were not successful. The advan- tage of government by a chartered company is sup- posed to lie primarily in its cheapness. The methods of a company may be more elastic than those of a Government ; the machinery of its administration is necessarily cheaper and less ponderous. The prestige of a company calling for vindication where necessary by 1 It would not be possible for Government officials to administer the country merely as a " sphere of influence," for either they would have no legal status, or the sphere of influence would in efi'ect be a protectorate. 604 METHODS OF DEALING WITH THE COUNTRY. force of arms, is not so great as that of a Government ; hence the risks it can afford to run and the methods it can afford to adopt, the garrisons it needs to maintain, &c., are all less costly than those of the Crown. A large portion of its administrative expenses can be defrayed by trading operations not practicable to an Imperial Government, and it is argued that a company would thus more quickly and effectively develop the commercial resources of a country. Without going more fully into these questions, it is sufficient to quote an instance in point. Mr lihodes, I have heard, estimates the administrative expenses in- curred by the British South African Company at £25,000 per annum. The annual cost of British Bechuanaland — whose area is vastly less than that of the territory actually opened up and administered by that Company — is estimated at £70,000.^ The amount of the sub- sidy to the Company would therefore be small, and much less than the sum which would be incurred if the Imperial Government assumed direct control. It would be granted only for a jDeriod of years, and could be made, if thought advisable, a gradually decreasing sum. Probably a sum of £40,000 per annum, reducible by one-third upon the completion of each period of two years, unless the construction of the railway was pro- ceeded with without interruption, and terminable after six years, would, with economy and sound administra- tion, be sufficient to meet the case, together with j)er- mission to impose a coast taxation and the remission of the sum paid annually to the Zanzibar protectorate. The Government guarantee of the interest on the capital outlay of the railway by sections would, under the terms of this arrangement, be included in the total subsidy of £40,000. Thus, if the scheme I have advocated (chap. 1 This is the average cost between tlie years 1885 and 1889. Vide Lord Brassey's letter, Times, Nov. 3d, 1892. SUBSIDY TO A CHARTERED COMPANY. 605 xvii.) was adopted, and one-third only of the railway constructed in the first instance, £18,000 of this subsidy would be hypothecated to the interest on the capital (£600,000, say at 3 per cent), leaving £22,000 for administrative expenses out of the total subsidy of £40,000. This sum of £22,000 would be the available subsidy for Governmental purposes during the construc- tion of the first section of the railway, — say two years. This completed, the Company would bear any deficit in the working expenses, in return for the contingent advantage of the railway. The Government subsidy would be continued in full if the second section were undertaken ; if not, it would be reduced by one-third, and a sum of £27,000 only would be given for the next two years, and of £13,000 for the last two years. I have purposely refrained from explicit statements, for the question would involve the examination of a very great number of considerations ; and since it ap- pears that any such scheme of subsidising a company has been finally abandoned, it is needless to go into details now upon the question. In the* main my con- tention is, that a sum of £40,000 per annum should enable the Company to maintain an effective adminis- tration not only in Uganda, but in the country between the coast and the lake, and also provide the guaranteed interest on a single section (one-third) of the railway ; that on completion of the first third of the railway, the expenses of transport would be so greatly reduced, as well as the cost of administration (always more expen- sive in its earlier stages) — the development of the coun- try meanwhile ensuring a gradually increasing revenue — that the subsidy to the Company could be reduced by one-third or any other ratio considered right, unless the construction of a further section was undertaken. Thus an inducement would be held out for the gradual con- struction of the whole line ; and if (as I think advisable) 606 METHODS OF DEALING WITH THE COUNTRY. a i^eriod of a year or two were allowed to elapse after the completion of the first section, a modification of the above scheme could be adopted, so as to guarantee as- sistance on the resumption of the railway construction. Under such conditions the sum voted for British East Africa, including railway construction, should never exceed £40,000 per annum. The capital for the rail- way, with interest at 3 per cent guaranteed by Govern- ment, could be easily raised in the market. The disadvantages of government by a chartered company which have been urged are : — 1. That there is no effective guarantee for the proper conduct of the administrative powers ceded to it, or for the proper expenditure of the Imperial subsidy. I do not think this a valid objection, since it is at all times open to the Government to exercise whatever supervision they may deem necessary by the appoint- ment of an Imperial Commissioner whose duties shall not tie him to the coast area. The names and standing of the Directors, moreover, constitute a guarantee in themselves. 2. There was undoubtedly a strong objection through- out the country to the idea of Government "bolstering up a chartered company," and a desire that the nation should assume a direct control and guarantee a railway. Hegarding this 23opular wish I shall speak more fully in my remarks on imperial control. As a precedent for the grant of a subsidy to a chartered company, we have the fact that Government has allowed to the Niger Company the use of £250,000, and permits them to collect dues to pay the interest on this sum, in recog- nition of their expenditure in making treaties, &c., in their hinterland.^ The 23rinciple has also to some extent been admitted in grants to steamship lines, and is one freely employed by the other nations of Europe. 1 Vide Times, Aug. 29th, 1893. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES. 607 For guaranteeing the interest on a railway there are many precedents. Most, if not all, of the railways in India and Burma were State-aided. But the most exact parallel is in the case of the extension of the railway in South Africa to Mafeking, and eventually to Palapye, by the South African Company, which is assisted by Government, through the medium of the Bechuanaland Protectorate.^ 3. That it is against the principles of sound policy that a commercial company should be intrusted with administrative powers, and that unless the two func- tions are combined the argument of cheapness falls through. This objection I will also examine under the head of direct imperial control (p. 612). 4. Lastly, there is an important and influential sec- tion of the public who urge that undertakings in which the welfare of millions of human beings is involved should in no way be dependent for favour with the nation upon the rise or fall of company's shares — pre- mium and praise, discount and disgust ! They main- tain that it is wholly inappropriate that chartered companies should practically pledge the nation, both to Europe and to the Africans, and then that a see- saw policy of alternate orders for evacuation and re- tention should be inaugurated, leading to vacillation and uncertainty in administration — terms which in Africa spell chaos and disaster in an incredibly short time. With this criticism I am completely in accord. There is now apparently no question of any such plan 1 Vide Blue - book South Africa, Sept. 1893. The case is singularly- parallel, and the plan adopted of subsidies by sections for j^rogressive construction is identical with the plan I have advocated. It was stated lately that this subsidy was granted with the view of developing a British protectorate (Bechuanaland). Similarly in East Africa the railway from the coast would develop the coast protectorate, for it must always be borne in mind that the territories of the Sultanate along the whole of the coast-line as far as the Juba are a British protectorate no less than Zanzibar. 608 METHODS OF DEALIXG WITH THE COUNTRY. of administration by a chartered company, so there is no need to discuss in any more elaborate detail what conditions had else been suitable. In the foregoing remarks I have j^i'^^upposed the " chartered company," through which the government of East Africa might be conducted, to be the Imperial British East African Company, or at least a company having its headquarters on the East Coast, and possess- ing the treaty advantages at present held by this Com- pany. But there is a possible alternative. It is an open secret that Mr Rhodes, on behalf of the South African Company, has made overtures to Government regarding Uganda if granted a subsidy. Incidentally I may remark that the Southern Company has already as many difficulties, both present and prospective, as it can well manage, and until it has dealt with the Mata- beles in the south, and the slave-traders north of the Zambesi, it surely is open to discussion whether it were wise to saddle it with a new set of difficulties in a country 700 miles and more beyond the furthest de- tached outpost it already has. Moreover, though Nyasaland is a British protector- ate, the Administrator, by a curious anomaly, depends in the main for his resources on a subsidy from the Chartered Company, and signs himself officially, " H.M.'s Imp. Commissioner, administering for the S. African Company." This Company has stations towards Lakes Mweru and Tanganyika, and apparently accepts responsibility in these regions. I have already shown (chap, vi.) that the Administrator has of neces- sity, from want of funds, been compelled to almost wholly neglect the northern portion of his territory ; and we thus see how severely the resources of the South African Company are already taxed. The dis- advantages of a base so distant from Uganda seem almost too self - evident to require a detailed criti- AFRICAN SCENERY. IMPRACTICABILITY OF UTILISING S. A. COMPANY. 609 cism ; yet since the idea of its feasibility appears to have found acceptance in some quarters, I will briefly indicate what appear to me as the leading objections to the scheme. 1. The seaport would be at the mouth of the Zambesi, distant at least 2000 miles from Uganda. The cost of the conveyance of stores over this enormous distance would be prodigious ; for although a great portion of the transit would be by the water-way of the Tanganyika and Nyasa lakes, and the rivers Shire and Zambesi, bulk must probably be broken at least seven times, and in addition to transhipments, three porterages of 60, 150, and 150 miles respectively are included. The last of these is across a country at present entirely unexplored, where no porters are available, and wholly in German territory. I have heard that a transport company undertake to convey goods at the rate of £150 per ton from the coast to Uganda by this route ; but knowing as I do the difficulties to be met with, I am absolutely confident that it could not be done at this price or anything approaching it. Supposing, however, that it should be possible, such a freight would be no better than the existing method of human porterage through German territory (see chap, xvii.) ; whereas I have shown in the chapter on Transport that present methods might be enormously improved upon with little comparative expense. Such a freightage would entirely preclude the export of any products except ivory, and would absolutely arrest any commercial development. Lastly, the time taken in transit, and the risks to which goods would be exposed by the frequent changes of transport systems, and the formalities required on entering foreign territory, would undoubtedly result in deterior- ation, loss, and breakage. 2. Perhaps the portion of East Africa which offers the best chances of commercial development and ultimate VOL. II. 2 Q 610 METHODS OF DEALING AYITH THE COVXTRY. success is the country lying between the East Coast and Uganda ; nor can we throw aside our responsibiUty for this portion of our sphere, any more than for Uganda. The plan of handing over Uganda to the South African Company takes no account of these countries, unless it is presumed that they would be separately administered by the British Government or the Imperial British East African Company — a sup2)osition which, from the de- clared intentions of the latter Company, we know to be erroneous. It is not perhaps generally known that Gordon had orders from the Khedive to conquer Uganda "up to the shores of the lake and the Ripon Falls," and incor- porate it with the Egyptian Sudan ; that much official correspondence is in existence on this subject, giving the Khedive's plans for this work, and that Egyp- tian soldiers actually entered Uganda. Gordon told the Khedive that, even with the Nile water-way, and the steamers already placed on that river, the development of Uganda from the north was wholly impossible, and that it could only be occupied from the east. It was in January 1875 (after the return of Colonel Long from Uganda) that Gordon proposed to the Khedive to seize Mombasa. In such a case, he says, I shall make my base at Mombasa and give up Khartum and the bother of the steamers. The centre of Africa would be much more effectually opened out, as the only valuable parts of the country are the highlands near Uganda." ^ The occu- pation of the Mombasa coast is " the only thing which will open Africa," he adds'^ ; and he goes on to say that he proposed to take the mouth of the Tana.^ An ex- pedition w^as then sent by Egypt to secure a fort on the East Coast, and they actually landed and seized Barawa and Kisimayu. M'Killop Pasha, before evacuating these posts, which he did under compulsion from England, reported that Mombasa was the true entrance to the Gordon's Journals, p. 65. - Ibid., p. 68. ^ Ibid., p. 151. DIRECT COXTROL BY GOVERXMEXT. 611 upper Nile valley, and his statement was confirmed later on by a commissioner, who reported that this was the one and only port, and the key to the whole of these countries. I tell this in the briefest outUne, to show that the whole question of the importance of Uganda and the lake countries, and the best means of reaching them, has long ago been considered by so able a man as Gordon, and after a jDractical attempt from the north, he gave it as his unqualified verdict that from the east alone could these countries be advan- tageously reached and developed. Yet from the north there was a continuous water-way, upon which steamers had already been placed, and these, Gordon says, could with care, at the right season, ascend the whole way from Cairo to the Albert Lake with only one interrup- tion (at Dufileh).^ Undoubtedly, then, if Government decided to grant a subsidy to a chartered company, the money could be more advantageously used by a company working from the East Coast ; and the sum I have named (including, as it would, a railway) would produce far more adequate results than a subsidy of £25,000 granted to the South African Company merely for holding Uganda 2?er se, with no further results. The second jolan — that of direct control by Govern- ment— was beyond doubt the one which Avas most ap- proved of throughout England and Scotland. It AA'as urged upon the Cabinet in memorials submitted to her Majesty's Government from the Chambers of Commerce of Liverpool, Manchester, and other great cities. It was the view taken by the influential deputation or- ganised by the Anti-Slavery Society, which waited on Lord Rosebery. in October 1892, and which included speakers of such varied experience and different in- terests as Sir E. Temple, Sir A. Rollit, Mr Bosworth Smith, and Rev. H. Waller. Lord Brassey, a supporter ^ Gordon's Journals, p. 202. 612 METHODS OF DEALING WITH THE COUNTRY. of the Government, also endorsed this view, though lately a director of the Company.^ The veteran states- man Earl Grey expresses the same conviction, on the grounds that " no trading company should be invested with poHtical power or the management of national affairs ; " and he points out that in renewing the charter of the East India Company in 1833 this principle was laid down, and when the poUtical power of the Company was then renewed it was " strictly prohibited for the future from engaging in any kind of trade." ^ In discussing government by a chartered company in the preceding paragraphs, I have assumed that the company would be both commercial and administrative, such as it has hitherto been, and as the other British chartered comj)anies on the Niger and in South Africa are. In the formation of these Governmental companies, the principle laid down in 1833 has been lost sight of The result has been that the Imperial British East African Company has found itself unequal to the task of government which it undertook, and that a chronic and vehement agitation, which shows itself in j^eriodical appeals to her Majesty's Secretary for Foreign Affairs, is being carried on in Liverpool against the monopoly in trade said to be exercised by the Niger Company. If a chartered company be deprived of its " com- mercial and industrial " rights, and its resources are limited solely to the collection of such revenues as may accrue from taxation and customs, &c., its administra- tion does not become much cheaper than that of the Imperial Government, for what may be saved in a less ponderous machinery of administration, is more than counterbalanced by the advantages possessed by Gov- ernment in drawing upon indirect imperial resources. For trained officials of the consular and diplomatic 1 Times, Oct. 24th, 1892. 2 Letter in Times, Nov. 22d, 1892. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES. 613 services, and officers of the navy and army, are then available for posts of responsibility and command. The headquarter administration becomes vested in the Foreign and Colonial Offices, and this without in any way adding to the staff and expenses of those departments. Re- cruiting-grounds for native troops, or for petty officers in both civil and miUtary capacities, which are not accessible to a company, are available if necessary. The vessels of her Majesty's navy are available for the control of the littoral. So are Government mints for coinage, ordnance stores for saddlery and gear of animals, arsenals for supply of disused arms and for ammunition, &c., — it is needless to continue the category. Under present conditions, moreover, direct control by Government has the advantage of throwing open the country more quickly to independent enterprise. There can. then, no longer be any suspicion of a monopoly of trade, and this in itself would tend to draw into the country independent enterprise and competition. There would also be an increase of confidence on the part of European neighbours in Africa when they knew that they were dealing with officers of the Crown, and thus the position of the administrators would be very greatly strengthened. The objections to direct imperial control have already been noticed — expense and responsibility. Expense, be- cause imperial administration involves the safeguarding of the prestige of the empire, and its methods are more elaborate than those of a company, while more rapid communications are essential ; and because its revenues would be less than those of a company which was also a trading concern. Responsibility, because the Imperial Government must bear the onus of any war undertaken by its agents in however distant a province. To take the question of expense. I have already pointed out that, supposing it to be granted that ad- 614 METHODS OF DEALING WITH THE COUNTRY. ministration through a company would involve less expense to the nation, we may save the difference in pecuniary outlay at the cost of vitiating the sound prin- ciple that a governing body ought not to be also a trad- ing concern ; and, moreover, we are at all times liable to be called upon to make good our responsibilities under the Brussels Act if not adequately fulfilled bv the comjDany, or to assist in case of its financial inability to fulfil its engagements. To meet the difficulty of voting money to inaugurate the administration under the Crown, a land loan could be raised, if considered advisable, under Government guarantee, and this could be efifected if East Africa were declared a British protectorate. A portion of this would be expended in paying such claims for pur- chase of assets, compensation, &c., as may be judged fair to the company, and a second portion would go towards the initial expenses of the new administration. The pro- tectorate would thus be saddled with a small debt ; but if the hopes entertained of its ultimate development prove in any way well founded, the debt would be paid off as its revenues increased. As regards responsibility. The " British Central African Protectorate " (Nyasaland) offers a j^recedent for the direct assumption by Government of adminis- tration in a distant district of Central Africa. More- over, in Nyasaland there is a j^owerful, well-armed, and extremely hostile element to be dealt with in the Arabs and slave-traders, and more especially in the tribes which have been armed by and affiliated to them — pro- minently the Yaos and Awemba. Yet it was judged best to proclaim a protectorate over Nyasaland ; and East Africa cannot be said to involve greater difficulties, to offer fewer advantages, or to be more distant, than that country. On the West Coast, again, where we have recently established a direct protectorate, we have to deal with the liquor question, on the continuance of " THROUGH ZANZIBAR." 615 which abominable traffic the revenues of that adminis- tration depend (see chap, viii.) No such difficulty pre- sents, itself in East Africa, where, thanks to the influ- ence of the Mohammedan faith, the use of spirits is condemned by the Arab element, which had largely moulded the feelings of the ^^oorer classes before we appeared. The definition, moreover, of the duties of the "Im- perial Commissioner " (as regards a sphere of influence), which were conveyed to Sir G. Portal on his appoint- ment, are practically identical with the responsibilities we assume under a protectorate. " A sphere of influ- ence " was a convenient phrase during a particular phase of African history, solely because it might mean much or nothino-. Now that these instructions have made it concrete, its value as an intangible phrase for dip- lomatic usage has passed. It is important to note that the Brussels Act recognises no difference between spheres of influence, protectorates, or possessions. The question of the mere name, therefore, is of no import- ance, for the same responsibility devolves on us as a nation. We are therefore solely concerned with the question as to whether governmental functions can be most advantageously exercised directly by the Crown or delegated, our responsibility to Europe under treaty obligations being the same in either case (see p. 574). The third and final scheme to which I shall devote a few words is that of making East Africa a dependency of the Zanzibar protectorate. The argument in favour of this j)lan was, that while many of the advantages accruing from direct protection would still be gained, the disadvantages on the score of expense and responsi- bility would be minimised, and a hesitating British Gov- ernment induced to take a step that would be better than abandonment. As regards expense. If the terri- tory became as it were a colony of Zanzibar, the expense 616 METHODS OF DEALING WITH THE COUNTRY. of administration must be borne, not by the Imperial Government, but by the Zanzibar exchequer. This would be effected by various means. In the first place, the scheme in its entirety presujDposed the exclusion of the Sultan's personal interference in the afiairs of the dependency. Zanzibar has already added very largely to her administrative revenues by aj^propriating the difference between the late Sultan's income and the modest sum now allowed to our nominee. Seyyid Barghash's income was estimated at from £200,000 to £300,000 per annum, while the present "Sultan" receives a civil list of £10,000 only. On the absorp- tion of East Africa into the Zanzibar protectorate, it is presumed that the sum now paid by the Company to the Sultan for the privilege of farming the coast customs — viz., S80,000 = £ll,300 per annum — would be remitted, and would become available for the ad- ministration of that portion of the protectorate from which the revenue accrued. The surplus last year in the Zanzibar budget was identical with this sum, thus showino' that the island revenues are sufficient with- out it. Thus an immediate revenue of £20.000 would be available for the administration of East Africa, being the total of the customs dues collected on the East Afri- can coast. ^ Under the new conditions of administra- tion and commercial development, this revenue would undoubtedly increase enormously ; already in the four years of the Company's rule it has doubled itself Prior to the formation of the Company it was estimated at £6800, as against close on £20,000 in 1892. Additional sources of revenue would be found by various means. In order to provide a capital sum to buy out the Company and to inaugurate remunerative works, it was also proposed to raise a loan on Zanzibar credit, ^ Viz., £11, .300 paid to the Sultan, and over £8000 surplus to the Company. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES. 617 the whole of the customs being assigned as security. Otherwise it was suggested that the Zanzibar ^^rotec- torate should advance the sum to its new dependency (having in hand £200,000, being the sum paid by the Germans for commutation of their customs duties). The further details of this scheme are too technical to be of interest to the general reader. The corre- spondence on the subject between the Company and Government may be found in the Directors' report of May 29th, 1893. Lord Rosebery was pre]3ared to con- sider the advisability of thus taking back the govern- ment of the coast area under the Zanzibar sultanate, and apparently of including the whole of British East Africa therewith, since Sir G. Portal has been ordered to report as to whether Uganda should be dealt with " through Zanzibar or otherwise." For my own part I am opposed to the scheme. 1. As regards the delegation of responsibility. Though by a figure of speech we hold Zanzibar pri- marily responsible, the ultimate onus must of necessity rest upon England, since Zanzibar itself is a protector- ate.^ Moreover, as already shown, we remain solely responsible under the Brussels Act to the European Powers. Supposing, to take a concrete instance, that trouble arose in East Africa, with which it was beyond the power of the Zanzibar executive to cope, the Imperial Government becomes at once involved. And similarly in a financial crisis. In the next chapter I hope to point out some reasons why the condition of Zanzibar (and the coast area included in the sultanate) are such, that if the government is to be effective it is necessary that they should be annexed. 1 A case in point is afforded by the Bechuanaland protectorate, whose annual deficit has to be made good by the imperial treasury, even though this deficit be increased by railway extension outside the protectorate but subsidised by its administration. Another instance is afforded by the assist- ance given to the Niger Company (p. 606), whose territory is a protectorate. 618 METHODS OF DEALING WITH THE COUNTRY. 2. As regards the question of expense. It appears to me that the payment of the sum of £12,000 annually by the Administration of East Africa to the island pro- tectorate of Zanzibar, is in any case a manifest injustice to the country from which that sum of money accrues, on whose development and administration it should legitimately be spent. When the concession was first obtained, this sum was payable to the Sultan per- sonally. Now that Zanzibar has become a British protectorate, and the Sultan a mere pensioner — the whole of his public and private income, excepting a mere pittance, being devoted to governmental require- ments— the levying of this tax on the resources of the mainland, with not even any theoretical quid lyro quo, becomes indefensible. The remission of this payment is Avholly apart from the question of absorption in the Zanzibar j^i'otectorate. It is paid not to the Sultan, but to her Majesty's agent, as a portion of the island revenue, though the mainland where the customs are collected is equally part of the ^protectorate. The hinterland, whence come the articles taxed, derives no benefit of any kind. Were a protectorate proclaimed by her Majesty in East Africa, it would be wholly admis- sible for the protecting Power (being the same in both instances) to appropriate to the new protectorate all revenues accruing from its administration. The Com- pany, however, being a commercial concern, and their " concession " a business transaction, can lav no claim to its being cancelled, merely on the grounds that receipts do not cover expenses — nor do they, so far as I am aware. The island protectorate has already made good the deficit which this remission woidd cause in its revenues, by appropriating the income of the Sultan. The scheme, therefore, of readjustment of revenues, is in no sense an integral j)art of the plan of making East Africa a dependency of Zanzibar. SPECIAL OBJECTIONS — SLAVERY LEGALISED. 619 3. There are some technical objections. If East Africa became an appanage of the Zanzibar protec- torate, the chief official would presumably be resident in that island, as the headquarters of the mother-pro- tectorate,— East Africa being considered in the light of a colony. To me it appears essential that the gover- nor of British East Africa should be resident on the mainland, in a central position, and free to travel con- tinually throughout the area under his control, wherever his presence might be required. 4. Zanzibar being a Mohammedan State under Mo- hammedan law, if British East Africa becomes a colony of Zanzibar, the question will arise, whether in East Africa the Mohammedan flag must be flown and Mo- hammedan law enforced. To the Christian Waganda, who have for years been fighting against the Moham- medans, the hauling down of the British and the sub- stitution for it of the Sultan's flag, would be looked upon with feelings of absolute mistrust and apprehen- sion. For, as will have been seen by a perusal of the foregoing pages, the Waganda set great store by a flag. This, however, is a minor matter ; for since the idea of forming a colony to a protectorate is wholly new and without precedent, it would be possible to so far modify the flag (as is the case in our colonial flags) as to possibly deprive it of its distinctive character. But far more important would be the introduction of Mohammedan law. Thereby ive should, for instance, legalise slavery throughout East Africa. At present there is no legal status of slavery in the interior, beyond the limits laid down for the Zanzibar sultanate, what- ever may be said to the contrary. Will British public opinion tolerate that we should be the sole nation to introduce into Central Africa a legal status of slavery ? But assuredly we do so if Zanzibar law should be applied in East Africa. It is not, however, a necessity that the law of a protecting State should be introduced into its 620 METHODS OF DEALING WITH THE COUNTRY. colonies. Thus Mauritius is administered under the old Napoleonic (French) Code, Cyprus (a protectorate) under Turkish law, nor is the law of the Cape or of India identical with Enoiish usao^e. Zanzibar itself is an instance ; for thoug4i a British j)rotectorate, it is administered under Mohammedan law. But it may be noted, that whereas, on the one hand, if East Africa were a direct protectorate it would come under the operation of the ''African Order in Council, 1889," and by the provisions of clause 13 of that Act civil and criminal jurisdiction would be " exercised upon the principles of and in conformity with " English law, and " according to the practice observed by courts of justice in England," — on the other hand, if it were to become a dependency of Zanzibar, this clause would cease to apply to it, under the ruling of clause 4, which excludes all " local jurisdictions " from the operation of the Act — Zanzibar being classed as such under clause 6. Unless, therefore, sj^ecial exemption were made, the jDresump- tion is that East Africa would be administered under the law of the " local jurisdiction " of Zanzibar.^ 5. I think the effect on the Arab mind would in all probability be injurious. In fact we place East Africa 1 Witu, a British protectorate, has recently been placed — but only temi^o- rarily — under the Zanzibar protectorate. It has not been " reabsorbed," as stated by the ' Zanzibar Gazette,' for it was taken over by us not from Zanzibar but from the Imperial German Government, whose protectorate it formerly was — in exchange for Heligoland. The conditions which have been made applicable to it, bear out exactly what I have said in the text. The Mohammedan law, under which slavery becomes legal, has been ap- plied, so that it is even doubtful whether the fourth clause limiting it {vide Appendix III.) would be operative as against the law of the Sheria. The judges are apjDointed by the Sultan, and it is he, and not the Queen, who deputes the administrator of the district, and invests him with judicial authority over Europeans. The final appeal, even where Christian subjects are concerned, is to the Sultan in person, and not to any of our High Courts ; and we may therefore presume that Mohammedan law applies equally to all, European and native alike. Government, appreci- ating these anomalies, lias placed Witu under Zanzibar onhj tem'porarily^ as I have said ; for, pending the decision regarding the rest of East Africa and the disposal of the Company, it was not easy to deal with it in any other way. EAST AFRICA AS A PKOTECTORATE. 621 under their sway — at least theoretically ; and such difficulties as have already been experienced in dealing with these people, who have an inordinate idea of their own importance, would certainly not be decreased by such a step. To summarise. Of the three forms of government proposed, that by chartered company on the East Coast has apparently been given up, and hence it is useless to discuss it, while the utilisation of the Southern Company I hold to be quite impossible. Government " through Zanzibar" I have shown to be merely a flimsy sub- terfuge, offering no advantages over a direct protec- torate, while the investment of the Sultan with the nominal suzerainty would only be productive of great mischief It is possible that I have not fully coped with the subtleties of this plan, for I confess that the more I have examined it the less practical it has appeared to me ; and yet I have had the advan- tage of discussing it with its originator, who has re- peatedly told me he holds it in no way so satisfactory as the declaration of a direct protectorate, and regards it " only as a means of gilding the pill." To my mind its sup230sed advantages seem to be entirely theoretical and unpractical, while the objections to it (especially on the grounds of slavery) are very real. There re- mains the third alternative — a direct protectorate — which is advocated, as I have shown, by the highest authorities, and Sir Gerald Portal's action would seem to have gone far towards pledging the country to this form of government,^ and (independent of other consid- erations) I am glad of it for the country's sake. With a few brief notes, then, on the conditions affecting East Africa as a protectorate, I wdll close this chapter. 1. As regards the position of the Imperial British East African Company. This Company, as I have shown, held ^ Vide footnote, p. 564. 622 METHODS OF DEALING AVITH THE COUXTRY. a concession from the Sultan of Zanzibar for farniino- the customs of the coast-Hne from Wanga to Kipini, when they had not as yet obtained their charter, and were known under the name of the " East African Associa- tion." They hold that they can still, under that title (sujDposing their charter to be withdrawn), legally claim the control of the customs and the coast area, even if Government undertook the administration of the inte- rior. By retaining this, they would of course reap the Avhole of the benefit of all development of the interior, since all imports and exports must pass through the coast area, and the customs and duties leviable would accrue to them under the British and German commercial treaties with Zanzibar, which were framed in order to allow this very thing, before Germany secured the coast ports. This of course, if feasible, would hamper the interior protectorate. The remedy held by Government would be either to treat the Company in an arbitrary manner by force majeure, or to give them such com- pensation for their rights as may be judged just and adequate. The question at once arises. For what does the Company claim compensation, and to what extent ? By their report dated May 29th, 1893, they state that a total sum of £450,000 has been expended. Of this it is stated that a sum of about £267,000 is represented by valuable assets immediately realisable, such as estates and buildings on the coast ; ships, lighters, boats, &c. ; machinery, such as a steam-crane, jDlant for railway, &c. ; telegraph along the coast, &c. : but this, of course, repre- sents the sum spent on them, and not their saleable value, which would be a mere fraction of this amount, since all the railway plant, &c., would now be almost valueless. The balance, £225,000, has been expended in opening up and exploring the country — not, they admit, without some mistakes and some Avaste of money. That ex- DISPOSAL OF THE COMPANY. 623 perience in a new country is dearly bought is proved by the enormous sums expended by the German Government, and more recently by the fruitless ex- penditure and the collapse of the large schemes pro- pounded by the German Ant i- Slavery Society, whose capital of a million marks has produced but little result. On the other hand, the Company had before them the object-lesson of the Congo State, whose ex- penditure was well known. To this I shall allude later (p. 643). From the voluminous correspondence on the subject, we may summarise as follows, what they claim to have been effected for this expenditure.^ (l.) This j^oi"" tion of British Africa has been reserved to British influence, and saved from absorption in the German or Italian protectorates. It includes, as I think my chapters on Commerce show, a country of far greater possibilities than that secured by Germany, and with fewer hostile agencies to be dealt with than are found in either the German or Italian S23heres. On its coast is the finest harbour from Suakim to Delagoa Bay, a port of considerable political importance. (2.) Much has been effected towards the suppression of slavery, and many slaves have been liberated. (3.) The Tana and Juba rivers have been exjDlored and a steamer jDlaced on one of them. (4.) A large portion of the country west and north-west of Mombasa, as far as the Albert Lake and the Congo State, has been explored, and to some extent administered, so that the recent Government mission to Uganda was able to traverse the country in two and a half months in peace. Through this area treaties have been made with native rulers. (5.) An administration (though necessarily as yet crude) has been established in Uganda, and though a quarrel between the two religious factions resulted in a brief war, the situation was entirely ^ Vide Times, May 24th, 1893. 624 METHODS OF DEALIXG WITH THE COUXTEY. controlled by their officers, and peace re-established, and anything like chaos and anarchy prevented. No Euro- peans lost their lives, and both Missions are safe in the country. These results would not have accrued (it is argued) except for the jDresence of the Company. (6.) A tine body of Sudanese soldiery has been secured for future requirements. (7.) By the occupation of Uganda by the Company, her Majesty's Government have been provided with a locus standi in their protestations to the Belgian Government against aggression in the Nile valley, and a hold has been maintained on that import- ant political key ; for by the Company's presence in Uganda a fair claim for progressive effective occupation of the British sphere in the Nile valley can be main- tained, as against encroachments by France or Belgium. Such in the main is the work — not realisable as an asset — for which the Comj)any claims comjDensation. They also state that they could dispose to advantage of their goodwill " and assets (realisable and otherwise) to a foreign Power, were such permissible.^ As to the amount of compensation claimed, I see from the last report that they have offered to accept 10s. 6d. in the £1 on their total expenditure. Whether this is reason- able or excessive, it is not for me to express an opinion. The Company state that their inability to carry on the administration in East Africa is due to the follow- ing causes : — 1. That they were at their inception as a Company distinctly promised Government support, and that this pledge was redeemed by the prospect of the construc- tion of a railway. By the absence of any indication of Government action in this direction, they maintain that the pledge has been broken. 2. It is alleged that the withdrawal of the reservations under which the Sultan joined the Berlin Act, so that 1 Times, May .30th, 1893. THE company's CLAIMS, AND GOYERNMENT YIEW. 625 the Zanzibar coast territory is now included in the free- trade zone, together with the declaration of Zanzibar as a free port, deprives their concession for farming the coast customs of all value, and also deprives them of the means assigned by the Sultan to enable the Com- pany to pay the rent. 3. They maintain that they have the right to com- mute this concession and to levy taxes on the coast, and that both these rights have been withheld by Government.^ Such is the case put forward by the Company, and fully stated by Mr Mackenzie in his speech to the shareholders, May 29th.^ I have given it in as brief a form as possible, and refrained from any comments which would involve a fuller statement, for which I have no space. On the other hand, it is argued that Government support has been extended to the limits of what might fairly be expected ; that the Company went to Uganda for their own expected advantage, and not at the desire of Government ; that the advan- tage to Government, if any, was incidental and not a primary incentive ; that their rapid extension was in- judicious, and their administration has been unneces- sarily costly, and has not effected any adequate results ; that no commutation clause exists in their treaty with the Sultan ; that the Sultan, as paramount, had a full right to place his territories within the free -trade 1 British subjects are amenable only to the (consular) jurisdiction of officers nominated by the Queen, in virtue of her treaties with the Sultan. The Chartered Company being vested with governmental powers solely as the Sultan's representative, has only jurisdiction over his subjects, and hence no rights of taxing British subjects or other "foreigners" in the Sultanate. 2 Within the last few days (Sept. 25th, 1893) the Imperial British East African Company have published a volume (' British East Africa, P. L. Macdermott : Chapman & Hall) which contains the whole of their historyand claims, together with voluminous appendices quoting in full all official correspondence. I regret that time has not permitted of my looking into this book before the publication of the present work. YOL. II. 2 R 626 :\IETHODS OF DEALTXG WITH THE COrXTRY. zone ; that the Company knew of his intention, and approved it, as is shown by their correspondence ; and that in the terms of their charter they pledged them- selves to effect and maintain an administration, which they have not done. If it be conceded that the Company has acted in a hond fide manner, as they thought for the public good, arbitrary action on the j^art of Government would be viewed as spoliation ; but seeing that mistakes have been made, and much money spent without perhaps an adequate result, the compensation awarded would, of course, depend upon the degree of value attached to the Company's work, in so far as it would assist the new protectorate. The real crux of the whole question lies in the difficulty of obtaining money wherewith to compensate the Company for some portion of then* outlay. It is probably with the view of raising money through Zanzibar that the scheme of making East Africa a dependency of that protectorate has found some supporters. But if a direct protectorate be declared, and the territories of the Sultanate be simultaneously annexed and incorporated (p. 627) under one adminis- tration (East Africa being in no sense an appanage or colony of Zanzibar), no reason exists why the sum of £200,000, now lying in the island exchequer, should not be hypothecated to the exigencies of any part of our new possession. For this money is not the j^rivate property of the Sultan, and justly belongs to the State, being the price paid by Germany for East African territory. The jDresent Sultan receives a fixed income from the State in lieu of all claims of whatever nature, either on the revenues or on the estate of the late Sul- tan. A portion of this sum, therefore (which was paid by the Germans in commutation of their concession), could well be applied to buying out the Company and appropriating its assets. Only thus by annexation of ANNEXATION OF THE SULTANATE NECESSARY. 627 the Sultanate and the declaration of a protectorate over the rest of British East Africa does it appear to me that all the difficulties of the situation can be adequately dealt with. As regards this question of annexation and the future administration of the coast zone. Under long- existing treaties the French have the right to claim ex-territorial jurisdiction throughout this area, over all their subjects and those in their employ, so long as it remains a portion of his Highness the Sultan of Zanzi- bar's dominions ; and holding, as they do, Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, this gives them control over a very large number. Consequently any French subject can appeal to the French Consul against any order of her Majesty's Consul-General or the Governor of East Africa or of the Sultan, and set such order at defiance. Such a state of things might lead to endless compli- cations, more especially when it is remembered that France accords to natives of her protectorate the rights of French subjects, as we do to those of India. The sole remedy for this anomalous state of things is an- nexation of the coast area, — the course adopted by Germany with respect to the Sidtan's dominions within her sphere of influence. The International Convention of December 1886 adjudged that the territories belong- ing to the Sultanate should include the belt of coast- line, and that the width of this belt should be ten nautical miles, measured from high-water mark. This belt alone, with the islands off its coast, is subject to these treaties, and therefore annexation need extend no farther than its limits. There are other complications affecting these territories of the Sultanate, arising from old treaties, into which it is not necessary to enter here. For instance, the Sultan's treaties with foreign Powers restrict taxation of foreigners, and probably, except by annexation, this right could not be acquired. 628 METHODS OF DEALIXG WITH THE COUXTRY. A •'•'protecting'*' Power would merely have the right to tax its own and the Sultan's subjects, but no rights of taxation over the subjects of other Powers. The Germans, finding imjDerial administration impossible under such conditions, commuted their concession and boldly annexed the area. I have just mentioned that the French acknow- ledge the civil status of the natives of Madagascar and Comoro Islands (which are under their j^i'otection), and grant to them the rights of French subjects. To our disoTace Ave do not deal thus with ours. The " African Order in Council, 1889," re-published recently,^ is the legal instrument under which the jurisdiction of the Crown is exercised in Africa.^ The definition of a " British subject " in clause 3 " includes a person enjoying her Majesty's protection," and especially in- cludes "British-Indians" resident in Africa. But the " natives " of a British protectorate in Africa are separately defined as " the subjects of any country within the limits of this Order, not being a British subject." There are certain well - defined rights and priA^Ieges pertaining to British subjects, and those who come under this classification may be said to " enjoy protection ; " but the inhabitants of a protectorate Avho are not included as British subjects have apparently no special rights and pri^'ileges, either within or beyond the limits of the protectorate ; and thus, though the wording of the Act ajDpears a little ambiguous, nati^'es of Africa in a British protectorate cannot be said to 1 Blue-Book Africa, Xo. 4, 1892, pp. 24-86. 2 Since the above was written, an "African Order in Council, 1893," has been promulgated, not in supersession of, but in continuation of, that of 1889. It confers the title of "British protected persons" on natives of a protectorate while in a local jurisdiction, but what advantages are included in the term still remain a matter of speculation. A second Act (Zanzibar Order in Council, 1893) extends provisions of previous orders relating to British subjects so as to include "Zanzibar subjects," but in so far only as her Majesty has jurisdiction over the latter. RIGHTS OF NATIVES IN A BRITISH PROTECTORATE. 629 " enjoy her Majesty's protection," since they are not " British subjects." Surely this is a gross anomaly ? What, then, does a protectorate signify to the natives of Africa ? Arabs and all subjects of the Sultan of Zanzibar should also become British subjects, and as such would, under clause 17 and clause 10, be amenable to crim- inal process for participation in the slave-trade, or for any acts against the person, property, or rights of natives," when travelling with caravans in the interior. A " British - Indian " is a British subject though resi- dent in Africa ; an Arab (slave-dealer or otherwise) is a Zanzibar subject, and hence, though not a " British subject," he can appeal to the suzerain power, by whom also he may be tried when abroad, as in Madagascar (and natives of Zanzibar have been so tried, for murder in that island) ; but the African native, though resi- dent in a British protectorate, cannot claim civil rights as a British subject. A batch of Madagascar slave- dealers can defy British cruisers and claim French protection, on the plea that they are French subjects ; but a hatch of slaves exported from a British protec- torate {Nyasaland) to a British protectorate (Zanzibar) cannot claim any rights as British subjects any more than if they ivere cattle ! Were a British-Indian thus exported he could claim his habeas corpus as a British subject— if enslaved in Turkey, Persia, or Madagascar, his release would be demanded ; but not so an African. Will it be argued that India is not a protectorate, and hence the Indian has rights as a "subject" that a native of a protectorate has not ? We have a pro- tectorate outside Africa — Cyprus. Will it be main- tained that a native of Cyprus — though the island is administered under Turkish Mohammedan law — if found in a state of slavery in Zanzibar, would not be able to demand his rights as a subject? Yet a Nyasa 630 METHODS OF DEALING WITH THE COrXTRY. slave, unable to speak any language but Chinyanja, would demand his rights as a British subject in vain ! Bv what rio^ht do we thus differentiate between races, and deny to the Africans their just rights as subjects ? ^ When once we took the step of declaring a British protectorate in Africa, we ought, ipso facto, to have recognised its natives as protected British subjects, whether resident within or found outside of the limits of the protectorate, as has been done by France. It is time this anomaly and injustice ceased, and its abolition should be the first step in our future African administration. It should, moreover, be conceded that a native of a British protectorate, when found out- side the limits of that protectorate, should be amen- able to English law, and not to the law of the State in which he happens to be. Thus a Nyasa slave found in Zanzibar should claim the privileges not only of a British subject, but that his case should be tried by English not Zanzibar law. If I may dare to hope that some of our great statesmen and members of Par- liament will read this jDortion of this volume, I trust that they will take action in this matter. I will speak frankly, and say that, in my opinion, the position of Zanzibar is at present wholly anomalous and unnatural. With the determination of the two great spheres of influence — German and British — the raison d'etre of Zanzibar ceases. Formerly, when we had no touch with the interior, which was as yet undiscovered and unexplored, the Sultan of Zanzibar represented the greatest power in Central Africa. His subjects the Arabs — traders and slave - dealers — had S23read the re- nown of their Seyyid almost from coast to coast, and ^ Vide chap, vii., where it appears that in some instances they have not been even accorded the advantages extended to fene naturce in Indian law ; for after escaping beyond the limits of the Sultanate, we have recognised the rights of previous owners over slaves to be still valid, whereas the rights of the previous owner over an escaped elephant lapse. FALSE POSITION OF ZANZIBAR. 631 he claimed jurisdiction over A^ast areas extending to the Central Lakes. Now, shorn of all this prestige, his territories have been curtailed to a few small islands, with a strip of coast -line ten miles broad. Even this strip has been annexed along the German sphere by that nation, and all sovereign rights handed over to the British Company in the remainder. The Sultan's revenues are expended by British officers, his own privy purse is reduced, and his influence is now merely nomi- nal. The Germans have migrated to the mainland, and made Bagamoyo the coast emporium of German East Africa. It is time we did the same, and that Mombasa became the capital of British East Africa and the centre of British influence. By bolstering up the Arab power in Zanzibar, we lend our aid to all those agencies which admittedly have been and are the curse of Africa, and help to keep in slavery thousands of slaves, all of whom have been introduced, and are still being introduced, under the rule of our Consul-General, against law and treaty. There is a strange want of logic in our dealings here. We spend vast sums on the suppression of the slave- trade ; our fleet at a great expense blockaded the coast to prevent the import of arms and powder by the Sultan's subjects ; seventeen of the leading civilised Powers of the world sit down solemnly to discuss the best means of effecting these reforms ; each nation sends chosen men from among its very best ; at the conclusion of their labours, Europe, America, and Australia ring with plaudits at their work, and the delegates are dec- orated with honours. And who are the people against whose actions all this great machinery has been set in motion ? The Arab and Swahili population of a little island not sixty miles long and less than twenty broad, together with those who, emanating from thence, and owing allegiance to its Sultan, and largely dependent 632 METHODS OF DEALING ^ITH THE COUNTRY. upon this island for their supphes, have settled on the mainland I " Consuls - general and diplomatic agents" are ap- pointed, and each one, rightly anxious to make a jDersonal name, magnifies the importance of the post, and issues new ant i- slavery edicts and makes new reforms. In the past this was as it should be, but since Germany and England entered Africa in 1887, the thino' is absurd. To an onlooker a feelino^ of wonder is mixed with the pleasure felt at the passing of the Brussels Act. For meantime we declare a Protector- ate over this little island. In spite of our protection we foster the pre - existing law, and acknowledge in our own ^protectorate the legal status of slavery ! We send a very able " diplomatic agent and consul-general " to develop its resources and to bolster up its tottering finances. We devote all our energies to strengthening it, Avhile our ships cruise around it to catch slaves ex- ported against law, and our difiiculties on the mainland are enhanced a thousandfold by every single thing that emanates from it I Edicts are issued to forbid the recruiting of absolutely necessary porters, lest its labour markets and its plantations should sufier. European garrisons up country may starve, but, marvellous to say, the Arabs are still allowed to recruit caravans as they like, though these will equally drain the labour market, and, in addition, will probably do their best to import arms, to catch slaves, and to foment quarrels, and spoil the country in a hundred ways in their pro- gress into the interior. I do not advocate the extinction of Zanzibar, or the annihilation of the Arab and Swahili. What 1 do ad- vocate is that the Arab should be allowed to find his right and proper place, and that his energy should be properly directed. That while the Germans develop their area from the central port on their coast, we ARAB TO FIND HIS OWN LEVEL. 633 should do the same on ours. That while Germany, France, Belgium, and we ourselves are fighting against the spawn that Zanzibar sends forth, we should not bolster up the tottering dynasty from which the com- mon enemy radiates ; and that in our dealings with the island and its Sultanate in such questions as that of the legal status of slavery, &c., we should behave like a Great Power whose men-of-war lie close by in the harbour, capable, so to speak, of sinking the whole island in an hour, and not in a vacillating manner un- worthy of the protestations we are meanwhile making in Europe. A SOMAL. 634 CHAPTEE XLIIL ADMINISTEATIOX PAST AXD FUTURE. Necessity of central position for Government — Subordinate administration at coast — Qualifications for the post — Consul — Judge — Uganda admin- istrator— Police force — How recruited — Number required — Cost — Ad- ministrative staff — Cost — Eevenue obtainable — Total cost of East Africa — Company's estimate — Congo State expenditure — Cost in past — Tax- ation in Africa — Nyasaland— Individual land tenure — Incidence of taxation — Crown monopolies — Witu precedent -Method of adminis- tration in Uganda — Native subordinates — Internal improvements — Reclamation of swamps — Eucalyptus — Roads — Exclusion of arms, &c. — Methods of administration at coast — The central administration — Revenues of East Africa on solid basis — Hinterlands in West Africa undeveloped — Heliograph — Livingstonia and Equatoria. In the previous chapter I have attempted briefly to deal with certain general considerations regarding the origin of our sphere of influence in Africa, and the means of dealing with it in the future ; but the subject is so large that one feels the impossibility of adequately discussing it in the compass of a single chapter. I will now make a few brief notes on the form of administra- tion in my opinion suited to East Africa. Hitherto the administrative headquarters have been located at Mombasa, and consequently the executive in Uganda has been necessarily almost independent, seeing that it involved a delay of some six months to refer any question to the coast — a 23eriod absolutely prohibitive in the constantly changing circumstances of the case ; nor indeed has any reply even been received A CENTRAL POSITIOX XECESSARY FOR GOVERXMEXT. 635 within that space of time. It has ahvays been my idea that a government, in order to be effective over so large an area, and which should be capable of keeping in touch with the farther outposts, should be more central. In future the Governor of East Africa ought, I think, to have his headquarters in the healthy and bracing up- lands of Kikuyu, or on the Mau plateau, about half-way between Uganda and the coast. He should be free to visit either extremity of the line, and should have a per- sonal knowledge of the situation and requirements both at the coast and in Uganda. These two extremes should be the location of two separate centres of administration, subordinate to the headquarter gwernment situated half-way between them, but furnished with executive powers of considerable latitude. The imjDortance of placing the headquarters in this central position arises from the following considerations : — 1. Rapidity of communication with Uganda and the lake districts, which would thus be brought into con- nection not only with the chief administration in East Africa, but with the home Government. It has already been pointed out in Parliament that a more direct control over the executive in Uganda must be main- tained in the future, and this becomes the more necessary if that country be administered directly by the Crown. 2. Many of the most important problems demanding the personal attention of the Governor would centre around this half-way locality. It is there that Euro- peans— planters, ranchers, farmers, and traders — would settle, and all questions connected with their location and their relations with the natives would be of extreme importance. It is from thence that the animal trans- port service must be organised, and depots for food and veterinary supervision must be made. From these central districts comes the main food-supply ; and the collection and despatch of this food to the half-way 636 ADMIXISTEATIOX PAST AND FUXrEE. statir)ii in the fbodless country towards the lake on the one hand, and coastwards for the supply of the labourers on the first section of the railway on the other hand, would involve much organisation. 3. It is here more especially that Crown lands would be taken up (a most important matter in a new coun- try) ; that experimental farms and plantations would be established by Government ; that contracts would be entered into with European settlers for the supply of food, kc: and that those numerous experiments in agri- cultural and conmiercial development — experiments with cofiee, tea, cotton, wheat, and new industries, and with ranches and ostrich - farms, with horses, cattle, zebra, wildebeest, kc. — would be inaugurated. The introduc- tion of new industries, of new methods, and of new forms of culture, would be essentially the work of an enero'etic o-overnor. aided and advised bv ao-ricultural experts. It is here that experiments in colonisation by Europeans or Asiatics would be tried, ^ that freed-slave villao'es could be formed."^ From here the mail service both to the coast and to Uo^anda must be worked ; and if thus organised from a central point, there is no reason whv the mails should not reach Uganda, even under present conditions, in fifteen days, and the coast in a like period. It is needless to point out that only thus, by establishing the headquarters in a central position, can touch be maintained with the various tribes of East Africa — the Wakikmni, Wakamba, Masai, &c. — while an adequate supervision would be kept upon the doings of Swahili and Arab traders. The two subordinate administrations at Kampala and Mombasa would be undertaken by men especially quali- fied for the posts. Mombasa would requh^e an admin- istrator with a knowledofe of the Arab and Indian ^ Vide chapters on Commerce, &c. , xv. to xviii. 2 Sir G. Portal endorses my recommendation of this area as the possible location of Sudanese colonies. Blue-book Africa, Xo. 8, 1893, p. 5. ADMINISTRATORS AT MOMBASA AND KAMPALA. 637 character, and the methods best suited to them. He should be conversant with the details of customs and shipping, with the assessment and collection of duties and municipal taxes, &c., and the thousand other matters more especially pressing at the coast. His duties, however, would be much lightened by the appointment of a duly qualified judge (as has already been done), since the Supreme Court would then, I hope, be transferred to Mombasa. For I have already advo- cated that Zanzibar should be superseded by Mombasa as the headquarters of British influence in East Africa, in which case the consular courts, unless abolished (as they well might be), would be situated here, and Zanzibar island would become a subordinate vice-consulate. The Diplomatic Agent at Mombasa might or might not be also the Administrator of the coast areas ; but the chief administrative official in East Africa would be the Imperial Commissioner or Governor, who would visit Mombasa when his duties demanded his presence there. In his absence all questions, unless of the first magnitude, necessitating reference, would be dealt with by the local administrator and the judicial authorities. Diplomatic work in connection with foreign Powers would of course devolve entirely on the Consul. The Administrator or Resident in Uganda, on the other hand, would need to be a man of some especial ability in dealing with natives, and should be one who had acquired some knowledge of the peculiar difficul- ties to be encountered in that country. His jurisdic- tion would extend over all the lake district, and the scope and discretionary powers allowed to him would be great, his action being unfettered by any petty re- strictions. Such authority would be essential in order to maintain his prestige and strengthen his hands. At headquarters there would also be a local executive, so that the Governor should be completely free to move to either end of the line and to all parts of the country. 638 ADMIXISTRATIOX PAST AXD FUTURE. At each of these three centres of adnimistration a pohce force would be maintained, according to the requu^ements of the situation, both to preserve order, and to furnish escorts and special mails, &c. This police force might, I think, consist mamly of the Sudanese whom I brought from Equatoria, and whom Caj)tam Williams, after nearly a year's experience of them, re- ports as " extremely well-behaved and most excellent material." ^ With these I would recommend a few Somals, for these people have some admirable qualities. Those I had were more reliable than any natives I have had to deal with — truthful, honest, and extremely jDlucky. They are able to cover long distances, are far more intellio:ent than the Sudanese " Blacks." and hence are invaluable for scouting. They have a know- ledge of animals, and are to be depended upon to carry out orders intelligently. Hence they would be especially useful as escorts to baggage animals. A few sepoys from India (Pathans if available) would be useful for the same purposes as I have indicated for the Somals — viz., for anv duties involving^ a higher res]3onsibility and requiring especial intelligence. Some Madrassee sappers and miners would also be of the greatest service. A small number of Swahilis would be most useful. Their especial duty would be in the construction of stockades and military works (under the trained Ma- drassees), conveyance of heav}- mails or stores in ex- ceptional cuxumstances, bartering with the natives, &c. Thus, if a small force was required to undertake a reconnaissance in a foodless district, Swahilis would 1 Report d , Oct. 9tb, 1892 ; Times, July Ttli, 1893. Sir G. Portal, re- porting on these Sudanese, writes : " Experience in Egypt and elsewhere has proved that these men are capable of being converted into excellent .soldiers, especially under English officers." He adds that they " will be invaluable for the development and pacification of the country, and will, moreover, enable us to dispense with the services of the far more expensive but less efficient soldiers from Zanzibar." CONSTITUTION AND COST OF POLICE FORCE. 639 be able to march with some twenty to twenty - five days' rations, and yet to cover long distances, and fight, an undertaking impossible to the Somals and (in a less degree) to the Sudanese. The strong point of the Swahili is as an irregular soldier ; he is most useful in the ways I have indicated, can stand any amount of hardship and short rations, and requires no tenting and no clothing. His weak point is in interior discipline. It is impossible to teach him the system of a chain of responsibility ; he is worthless as a non- commissioned officer; he is undependable as a night sentry, and unreliable in carrying out orders literally ; and he is of no use in drill formation or as a marks- man. This estimate does not altogether tally with that of Lord Wolseley,^ but I speak from my personal ex- perience only, and of the Swahili alone. The cost for a company of Sudanese (120), all ranks, including clothing, rations, family allowance, clerical establishment, &c., is about £1000 per annum, ^ and " The Negro as a Fighting Man," Fortnightly Review, December 1888. Family ^ bUDANESE— Pay. Food. Clothing, allowance. R. a. Poshos. R. a. R. a. R. a. R. a. R. a. 1 Usbaslia . 75 0 + (4 =) 6 0 + 2 4 + — = 83 4 x 1 = 83 4 1 Malassim . 40 0 + (3 =) 4 8 + 2 4 + — = 46 12 x 1 = 46 12 2 Bishowish . 80 + (2A=) 3 12 + 24 + 18 = 15 8x 2 = 31 0 eShowish . 50 + (2 =) 3 0 + 24 + 18 = 11 12 x 6 = 70 8 6 Umbasha . 4 8 + (li =) 2 4 + 2 4 -{- 1 8 = 10 8 x 6 = 63 0 6 Lance-corps. 40 + (l|=) 2 4 + 24 + 18 = 10 Ox 6 = 60 0 lOOAskars . 4 0 + (l" =) 1 8 + 2 4 + 1 8 = 9 4 x 100 = 925 0 122 1279 8 p.m. For each regiment of six companies. 12 mos. 1 Native commander at Rs. 150 1 Head clerk at 100 (Rs. 16 = £1) 16)15354 0 p.a. 1 Assistant at 50 Per company .... £959 10 Es. 300 p.m. 6 12 mos. Per regiment of six companies 5758 0 16)3600 p.a. (£225) Add superior establishment 225 0 Cost of six companies per annum £5983 0 N.B. — The establishment and rates of pay recommended by Captain Williams, and adopted by Sir G. Portal when he enlisted these men in Uganda, varies slightly from this, but the result in cost is practically identical (Africa, No. 8, 1893, p. 6). 640 ADMIXISTRATIOX PAST AXD FUTURE. of a company of Zanzibaris, about £1300 per annum. ^ Caravan establishment we may reckon at about £1250 per 100 men, all ranks. Allowing for the Uganda com- mand (including Torn, Unyoro, and Usoga) one regi- ment of Sudanese (total strength 735), one company Swahilis (121), and 200 caravan establishment, we have the following cost of troops, &c. : — Sudanese, £6000: Swahilis, £1300; Caravan, £2500 = £9800. The administrative staff should, I think, consist of the following : The Resident, with his assistant (who would be local executive magistrate at Kampala); one officer commanding troops and one second in com- mand ; one medical officer ; one chief clerk and one assistant ; four chiefs of provinces, each with an assist- ant: total, 15 Europeans. Add to these two native apothecaries and one or two West African or Goanese clerks or storekeepers, &c. Total cost, £7000 per annum.- Current expenditure, say £1500; replace- ^ Zanzibaris — Pay. Poslios. R. a. R. a. 1 Xative officer . . 50 4-60 = 56 0 X 1 = 56 0 2 Sergeant-majors . 16 4-48 = 20 8 X 2 = 41 0 6 Sergeants . . 15 -r 3 12 = 18 12 X 6 = 112 8 6 Corporals . . 14 + 30 = 17 0 X 6 = 102 0 6 Lance-corporals . 13 4-24 = 15 4 X 6 = 91 8 100 Privates . . 12 -418 = 13 8 X 100 = 1350 0 121 Xo clothing or family allowance. No clerical or commandant establishment. 1753 0 p.m. 12 mos. (p. a. = annually 2 European Staff — 2 Resident, £1000 ; assistant, £700 2 Commander, £600 ; assistant, £400 1 Medical officer, £550 ; [2 native assistants, £24] 2 Clerk, £300 ; assistant, £250 4 4 provincial Residents at £500 each . 4 4 assistants at £250 each 16)21036 0(£1314)p.a. p.m. = monthly.) West Africans, Goanese, &c. (subordinates) £1700 1000 574 550 2000 1000 £6824 176 £7000 COST AND REVENUES OF UGANDA. 641 ments, say £600 ; cost of mails, medicines, tools, &c., say £2000 ; ammunition, say £500. Total adminis- trative expenses, lake districts : — European staff, £7000 ; Troops, £9800 ; Miscellaneoup, £-4600 = £21,i00. This is the roughest possible approximation, and I have not wearied my readers with the basis of the calcula- tions upon which I have made the various estimates. Captain Williams' estimate is just one-half of this (£10,000), but it was based, I understand, on the low- est possible margin for which evacuation could be avoided, and was not supposed to be an estimate of an effective administration under the Crown. As against this he estimated a revenue of £4100 " at least," of which £1000 accrued from trading operations, the rest from taxes— viz., tribute paid by the para- mount kings of each country (Unyoro, £1500 ; Salt Lake, £500 ; Usoga, £600 ; Uganda, £500 ; Ankoli not assessed). Whether it would be judicious or pos- sible to imjDOse this tribute is a separate matter. It would of course be paid in ivory. Of the feasibility no one should be a better judge than Captain Williams, since he has experience up to date of the new condition of things in these countries.^ The £1000 allowed for trading profits should still accrue in trading licences, &c., granted to traders who would presumably come into the country under the new regime. Assuming then, roughly, that the country returns 1 The estimate of Caj)tain Williams, who succeeded me in Uganda, is more optimistic than my own. In his report, dated Oct. 22d, 1892, he says : "I think the directors will find, if all goes well, and I see no reason to jorevent it, that these countries may be made to nearly or quite pay their way if the strictest economy, foresight, and care be taken in every department." This is a repetition of his views expressed in former reports, and does not take into consideration the reduction of expenses in Uganda which would result from a better system of transport from the coast, and of more complete and thorough administration of the intervening country. VOL. II. 2 s 642 AB^nXISTEATIOX PAST AND FUTFRE. £4000 per annum (however the revenue may be col- lected), we may fah^y appropriate to Uganda at least one -third of the coast customs — viz., £7000 — giving a total revenue of £11,000. and leaving a deficit of £10.000 to be drawn from the annual Government subsidy of £40,000, which I have assumed as requisite for the administration of the country and the guarantee of the first section of the railway for a period of six years (pp. 604, 605). This £40,000, as I have explained, may either be a Government subsidy or raised by a land loan. There remains £30,000 of the subsidv for the administration of the rest of East Africa ; and of this, £18.000 goes on the railway guarantee, leaving £12,000 for the administration. Add the remaining two-thirds of the customs = £14,000. Total, £26,000. I will not attempt to go into equal detail regarding the cost of administration of the Central and the Coast executives. The former would cost little, and should in a very short time be self-supporting ; the latter would be assisted by municipal taxation. On the other hand, the Company declared at the time Avheii they first decided upon evacuating Uganda (Aug. 18th, 1891) that a sum of £40,000 per annum was required to maintain even the totally inadequate administration then in the countrv. In addition to this, they have stated to her Majesty's Government,^ that to maintain their hold on the country only half- way to Uganda (Dagoreti) thev estimate the expense at £40,000 per annum. Disregarding the country l^etween Dagoreti and Uganda, this gives a sum of £80,000 per annum, which is the Company's estimate of the subsidy requh^ed, exclusive of the railway guar- antee. These figures, of course, presuppose that the annual sum of £12,000 is to be paid by the Company to the Sultan. It is needless to say, after what I have 1 Letter of July 30th, 1890. Vide Eeport of May 29th, 1893, App. G. OTHER ESTIMATES AXD PRECEDENTS. 643 written, that I think these estimates excessive. It would be absurd to attempt an estimate in detail of the gross expenditure and gross revenues until the data on which to base the calculation are fixed. Broadly, I have already stated that with care and economy I believe a subsidy of £40,000 per annum would suffice to admin- ister the whole country and start the railway as well. As against this estimate I may remark that, accord- ing to Mr Stanley^ (the late Administrator), the pre- liminary work in the formation of the Congo State cost £350,000. For six years its expenditure varied from £80,000 to £120,000. In 1890 it had reached £170,000 annually, and had a revenue of only £25,000. What it may now be, considering the expeditions undertaken at enormous cost against the Arabs at Nyangwe and on the Aruwimi, the costly expedition of Van Kerckhoven to Lado, and the making of the railway, it is impos- sible to conjecture. And yet the magnificent water- way of the Congo river facilitates transport in a way unknown in East Africa. I have already (p. 586) speci- fied the sum annually spent on their African possessions by the various European Powers. The estimated expenditure on Uganda in the past forms no reliable basis of calculation, since the cost of intermediate stations between the coast and the lake was, I believe, included in the Uganda debit, which therefore practically included all British East Africa except the coast belt (from which alone a revenue accrued). Moreover, the lack of method and of any system throughout this stretch of 800 miles, consequent on the initiation of a new undertaking, made the cost of supplies sent to Uganda incredibly greater than they should be, while the troops and natives maintained were paid at an enormously higher rate than the Sudanese I have estimated for in the future. In spite 1 Times, Oct. 31st, 1890. 644 ADMIXISTRATIOX PAST AXD FUTURE. of these facts, by a very careful computation (which I laboured at for months) I arrived at the conclusion that the country had not cost more than £25,000 in the first year of initial difiiculties, j^robably not nearly so much, and in this calculation no deduction was made for the considerable amount of ivory sent down. As regards the methods of raising a revenue in Africa under an administration by the Crown, I have indicated frequently in these chapters my own opinion that taxation of the natives in the earlier stages of our rule is very greatly to be de23recated. It is largely by the imposition of such taxation, collected in kind, that the Portuguese have made themselves detested by the natives under their rule, and still more so by their method of farming out the prazos to middlemen. I have heard of the natives hiding themselves in swamps and jungles, and being regularly hunted by the tax- gatherer. In East Africa Germany rendered herself unpopular to the people by premature taxation. The "grain-tax" in the Sudan was one of the chief causes of the alienation of the natives, and their consequent hostility to the Government of the Equatorial Province — a hostility which led to the disruj^tion of Emin's rule when exterior difiiculties tried its foundations (see i^- 401). Recently the experiment has been tried in Nvasa- land, and has resulted in much friction and many con- tradictory statements by the Administrator and the missionaries at Blantyre. Mr Johnston asserts that only those tribes were taxed who voluntarily agreed to the imposition. These were only a small proportion. The rest were told that they would have no European President or Administration among them, since they declined to pay. The tax was 3s. ijer hut per vear. The missionaries, on the other hand, state that their scholars are taxed at 6s. per head, and as thev were TAXATION — INDIVIDUAL LAND TENURE. 645 wholly unable to meet this " exorbitant imposition," it was defrayed by the Mission. Their wages averaged about 4s. per mensem, the standard rate of labour being 3s. per mensem, while on Government works it is estimated at 6s. They argue that the rate is higher than in other countries, and that even the Portuguese tax is but one -fifth as heavy as the one levied in Nyasaland.^ The statements of the Administrator and of the Blantyre missionaries are at absolute variance, not in theory, but in matters of fact and figures, and in such a case one can only arrive at the general con- clusion that the imposition of this taxation has led to an amount of friction quite disproportionate to the ad- vantage gained. The head of the Blantyre Missions, Rev. D. Clement Scott, is a man who, I firmly believe, would do his utmost to support the Government, and would not permit so serious a divergence of opinion unless he considered the matter to be one of vital im- portance. I have described the incidence of taxation and mode of collection in Nyasaland at some length, since this district is our Pioneer Protectorate in Central Africa. Mr H. H. Johnston, I have heard, has energetically set himself to promote in Nyasaland — the protectorate under his charge — a system of individual land tenure among the natives. Such personal acquisition of land is unknown among the savage tribes of Africa, where the tenure of land is merely tribal. In Uganda the individ- ual does acquire land, and cultivate it for his own use and profit, and this is one of the most noteworthy indi- cations of the progress those people have made in civili- sation. Yet even here the tenure is uncertain. In the case of the great chiefs it is held simultaneously with the office, which is revocable, according to old Uganda usage, by the king. In the case of all others it is alien- ^ Vide Mancheister Geographical Society Journal, 1892, p. 210. 646 ADMINISTRATIOX PAST AND FUTUEE. able with the office held by the possessor, or in default of any such office, at the will of his suj^erior, the final decision beino- in the state haraza. But we are not here concerned with the system of land tenure in Uganda. The innovation of which I speak is the promotion of acquisition of land by the individual or family among purely savage tribes. Such a departure is of immense importance ; it is impossible to overestimate its value as a factor in the development of the tribes ; and if Mr Johnston has to any smallest degree succeeded in inau- gurating it in British Central Africa, to him must the credit be due of being the ffi^st, so far as I know, to in- troduce this great fundamental principle of civilisation into savage Africa, — certainly, at any rate, into East Africa. By such a system of land tenure taxation can ultimately be introduced on the "land settlement" sys- tem of India. It is to the interest of each petty pro- prietor to make the utmost of his land, and to avoid tribal war. Until such a system has fairly taken root any taxation is in my view premature ; the establishment of such proprietary rights in the soil, on a fairly well- recognised basis (probably in the second or third gener- ation), would fitly mark the era at which taxation may appropriately be introduced. Taxes can then be col- lected on the land or on produce, and only failing these as a 2Doll-tax. It appears to me, however, not merelv fair, but ab- solutely essential, that upon the civilised aliens on the coast a municipal taxation should be imposed. This might best, perhaps, take the form of a house-tax, and should be levied alike on Europeans, Arabs, and Indians, and all householders in the coast area. It should also include such Swahilis as may be householders. These would be few, and the majority would be Arab half- castes. Owing to the intermixture of the Arab and African a mere racial distinction would be impracticable. METHODS OF TAXATIOX. 647 and therefore property would be the ratable unit. These taxes would mamly go towards the cost of local administration, payment of staff, municipal and harbour improvements, public buildings, courts of justice, &c., &c. Such taxes have already been im23osed in the Zanzibar protectorate, and though ostensibly not obli- gatory, iDenalties are enforced against those who do not pay in case of bad sanitation.^ This, however, pre- supposes the abolition of existing treaties with other Powers, by means of annexation. In the central district it would be more advantageous to levy the tax on land (where owned by aliens), in order to prevent the appropriation of large areas by absentee owners, or by those who had either insufficient means or no intention of occupying and develoj^ing their acquisitions at once. A higher impost might be levied on unoccupied lands, so as to prevent the mere purchase of estates by individuals as a speculation, and in the hope that their value would become enhanced. In Uganda, Unyoro, and such semi- civilised countries, it is possible that taxation in part-payment of adminis- trative expenses might be introduced. To this I have already alluded. It would be leviable in the early years of our rule through the king or paramount chief, who would pay it as a yearly tribute from his revenues. Later, as British administration superseded the para- mount regal or tribal authority, it would become feasible to collect it in the same way as in the more civilised coast area. Aliens would be taxed as in the central executive. Such taxation would be in the nature of municipal levies to carry on local administration. For the general revenues of East Africa dependence would be mainly placed on the customs and duties accruing from imports and exports at the coast, on sales of land to settlers, on ^ Vide proclamation of April 12th, 1893 (Zanzibar Gazette). 648 ADMINISTRATION PAST AND FUTURE. registration fees, mining rights and concessions, trading licences, licences for arms, &c. Opium, tobacco, and bhang might be made excisable articles when their production had become an ap23reciable industry. Lastly, Government could establish certain monopolies without infringing the provisions of the Berlin Act as regards free trade, under which clauses British East Africa has, ever since it fell under us, been included.^ (l.) All un- inhabited lands — viz., lands not belonging to any native chief or tribe — could be declared Crown lands. These would include the choicest part of East Africa — viz., the fertile plateau of Mau. In the sale or rental of these lands to settlers on terms, if thought advisable, similar to those obtaining in Manitoba, a considerable revenue would accrue. For all sale of lands of any description to Europeans should be invalid unless done through the Government, and for these a tax would be paid on survey or registration. (2.) By the prohibition of all elephant-shooting Government would secure a monopoly of the ivory as in India, as also of elephants caught for domestication. (3.) Similarly, Government could reserve exclusive rights in killing or catching zebra, and such other animals (wildebeest, &c.) as may be advantage- ously included. Further, Government could claim cer- tain duties or services from its subjects with the view of reducing its police or army expenditure. Thus native chiefs could be held responsible to supply certain con- tingents in case of war — in Uganda all external aggres- sion can be dealt with in this way — and as European settlers increase, they and a proportion of their estab- lishments can be made liable for burgher duty, as has been done by the South African Company. The treaty I made with Mwanga stipulates that he should supply ^ The recently published regulations for the Government of Witu {vide Appendix III.) enforce most of the restrictions here suggested in an ad- mirably concise and comprehensive form. STATE REVENUES AND MONOPOLIES. 649 labour for public works, roads, &c. This, in my view, was a clause of which advantage should very sparingly be taken. I inserted it at the suggestion of a high official at the coast. (This and the clause regarding the control of European affairs were the only suggest- ions, I think, of any kind made to me as regards the nature and scope of the treaty.) Such labour would be forced labour, and if it be true that the Protestants have manumitted all slaves, it would probably be diffi- cult to enforce. Chiefs in control of provinces might be held responsible for the repair of the roads and bridges in their province. This would be feasible, for they would merely transmit the order to subordinate chiefs, and ultimately it would devolve upon the dwellers near a road to keep the portion in repair near to their estates ; but as an asset to Government the requisition of labour cannot be set down, nor of course would British rule tolerate anything like forced labour (see chapter xviii.) With regard to internal control in Uganda, in my opinion the object to be aimed at in the administra- tion of this country is to rule through its own executive government. The people are singularly intelligent, and have a wonderful appreciation of justice and of legal procedure, and our aim should be to educate and develop this sense of justice. I think myself that, by careful selection, even now the various provinces could be ruled by chiefs, who would rapidly conform to European methods. Such selection I myself exercised in the appointment of chiefs after the war, and I think that such men as Zachariah (now Kangao, chief of Bula- mwezi) would soon, under our tuition, make just as good subordinate rulers as the average tehsildars and petty magistrates in India, and far better than the Woons and Myukes, whose appointments are conformed under our rule in Burma. 650 ADMINISTRATION PAST AND FUTURE. When Uganda of to - day is contrasted with the Uganda of eight or ten years ago, under Mtesa and during the early years of Mwanga's reign, the progress made is, I think, nothing short of marvellous. Then the regime described by Speke and Chaille Long was practised. Human life was of less account than the life of cattle.^ It is said that to satisfy some whim of the king's the Katikiro dug a trench and slaughtered men over it till he stood up to his knees in blood. Mr Ashe writes of the frivolous edicts of Mtesa, dis- obedience to which meant that the culprit was cut in half ; he tells of the men deliberately hacked to pieces " for a mere breach of etiquette or a whim of the king's, and of the bodies of agonised victims writhing in tor- ture in slow furnaces for no crime." S23eke says the Waganda are a turbulent set of people, who can only be kept in order by the executioner.'^ Now all this is changed. Zachariah is a type of the noAv regime ; he had been with us throughout the journey to Kavalli, and the letter from him, w^hich I quoted on page 416, shows the radical change of method which had dawned upon him. The influence of both Missions is in these respects invaluable, and the secular education given to the chiefs has vastly raised and imj^roved them. Not only, I think, may w^e hope in the present that subor- dinate officials for the administration of Uganda may be supplied by the country itself, but in the future we may even draw from thence educated and reliable men, to assist in the government of the neighbouring coun- tries and of East Africa generally, replacing the West Coast Africans, Parsis, and Goanese, which I have else- where advocated for the purpose. Mwanga during his lifetime must be king in name only, and the real government must be vested in the 1 Vide Speke, Journals, pp. 256, 257 et passim. See also supra, p. 68. 2 Two Kings of Uganda, p. 82. ^ Speke, Journals, p. 267. BRITISH RULE IX UGANDA. 651 Kesident acting with the chiefs. On his death, during the long minority of his nephew, the Waganda will finally learn that the seat of all executive and judicial power is at Kampala alone. Mwanga's power was already a thing of the past before I left Uganda. In a country like Uganda, so possessed by traditions and customs, it is only right and just that the Resident should be in full possession of the native views regarding any con- templated measure — views which are often the very reverse of what one would anticipate. Having made himself master of the opinions of the chiefs, he would then be free to make such concessions to their preju- dices as he may find feasible, and not opposed to the radical principles of the measures he desires to adopt. Or should he find that any such concessions are not feasible, he will be fully aware of the situation involved. An arbitrary and despotic rule, which takes no account of native customs, traditions, and prejudices, is not suited to the successful development of an infant civilisation, nor, in my view, is it in accordance with the spirit of British colonial rule. The king has been proved in- competent and useless, but the Resident should rule through and by the chiefs. There is, in my opinion, a vast difierence between a weak man vacillating between two courses, and appealing to the natives for advice in his dilemma, and a strong man Avho, with a clear con- ception of his duty, which at all risks he must fulfil, consults, prior to any radical change, the views of highly intelligent chiefs, who still exercise an enormous influence in the country, that he may ascertain whether a more complete knowledge of native tradition and 23re- judice may throw any new light on the situation, before he commits himself irrevocably to a policy the full significance of which he had perhajDS hardly appreciated, and from which, once enunciated, he cannot draw back without loss of prestige. 652 ADMIXISTRATIOX PAST AND FUTURE. In the past, the continual friction between the factions and the compKcated disj)utes about land were more than one man could adequately deal with ; and hence, to a great extent, a solution satisfactory to both parties was rather the desideratum than a strictly judicial finding. In the future, the segregation of the factions into separate provinces, and the more adequate administrative staff, will on the one hand reduce the causes of trouble, and on the other will enable them to be dealt with more efficiently. The local Residents will deal with the minor cases, the Administrator with the more miportant ones and with cases of apj^eal, while a survey and map of the country would be of great assistance in forming decisions on all disputes about land. It is needless to add that the territorial divisions of the different factions would in no sense become separate kingdoms, and that the administrative headquarters would still be at Kampala. The question of the necessity of maintaining a tri- angular equilibrium between the three rival factions, and my own view of the basis upon which territorial extension should be made to any one of them, I have already discussed at some length {vide p. 551 et seq.), and I will not here again digress on the subject. Many points connected with the internal improve- ment of the country have been already noticed. The roads and the local postal service could be under- taken by the Waganda. The question of draining the river-swamps, which at jDresent are absolutely prohibi- tive to animal transport and rapid communication, has been alluded to in the papers, but such undertakings are quite premature. I think myself that the first step would be to clear away the dense papyrus and river- groAvth, and endeavour to cut a central channel, staking and binding it,^ and subsequently planting it with 1 Xo better instance of successful treatment of such swamp could be quoted, than the reclamation of the !Mer Rouge in Mauritius by Captain INTERNAL REFOKMS IN UGANDA. 653 moisture-absorbing plants, and finally with eucalyptus.^ The swamps which would be really troublesome would be few (such as the Mweranga and Mianja) ; the major- ity dry up in the hot weather, and so could be much more easily treated. The land so reclaimed would be excessively rich and valuable for rice culture. The pro- ject, however, though long in my mind, is somewhat premature, while the population is still inadequate to cultivate the country. Once taught, the Waganda themselves would, I think, carry out such works. The making of roads is of more importance ; and this the local chiefs, by the custom of the country, are respon- sible for. All the heavy work of hoeing and keeping in repair could be done by them, while they would readily adopt improved methods of bridging the river-swamps. The summum honum for these countries would be dis- armament,^ but as that is not at present feasible, the only Brooke, R.E., about twenty years ago. Into this the sea flooded at one extremity, and the waters of a riv^er drained at the other, j^fter dredging a central channel, Captain Brooke planted the marsh with sunflowers, whose absorbent properties are well known, and finally with eucalyptus. The reclamation was largely effected by the sunflowers, whose seeds are, moreover, useful for making a species of oilcake for cattle and for j)oultry — they are even, under pressure, eaten by the natives {vide ' The Land of the Aphanapterix,' Colonel Pike). This plant is indigenous in Uganda, and may be found wild in considerable quantities. It is even treated in Symond's ' Tropical Agriculture,' as a cultivatable article of commerce for the value of its seeds. ^ The eucalyptus is selected because of its rapid growth ; it is not a marsh tree. The avenue planted at Blantyre in 1879 boasts of trees 2 feet in diameter and 100 feet high. Buchanan says the species globulus is the quickest grower (Geog. Jour., vol. i. p. 252). Dr Clark denies its anti- malarial qualities, as also of the sunflower. He even states that in 1882 an outbreak of malaria occurred only where the eucalyptus had been planted in the Campagna. The land must be reclaimed before this tree is planted, and he advocates the plantain for the purpose as being the most absorbent of plants (E. Scottish Geog. Mag., vol. ix. p. 300). The Fuca- lyptus globulus was introduced into Uganda (with wheat, &c.) by Wilson in 1879 (Uganda, vol. i. p. 107), and by Emin into the Equatorial Province, where Felkin saw trees 25 feet high (Felkin, vol. ii. p. 102). Vide also vol. i. p. 420, note 2. 2 Vide Emin quoted by Mackay (Mackay's Life, p. 442 et passim). 654 ADMIXISTRATIOX PAST AXD FUTURE. alternative is to use every possible effort to prevent sup- plies of arms and ammunition (especially breech-loading ammunition) from reaching the country. My first step, as I have narrated, after the initial settlement and the defeat of the Mohammedans, was to go myself to Ankoli and take such measures to prevent this import as were feasible, for it is entirely from the German sphere that arms and ammunition are brought into Uganda and Unyoro. Owing, as I have said, to the lack of agricul- tural produce in Ankoli, and the starvation there in consequence of the cattle-plague, it was not feasible to make a station as I had at fii^st intended, and I therefore contented myself with making it the main stipulation in my treaty with Xtali that he should prevent this import through his country. He loyally carried out the pledges he undertook, and stopped a large caravan bringing arms and powder. To check the import via Buddu and by the lake. I proposed building a station there, an inten- tion temporarily frustrated by the war. Beyond Ankoli lay Kitagwenda, a country producing much food, and through it I was told lay the main lines by which arms and powder were brought. I accordingly established two Sudanese forts here for this especial purpose, and it is rej^orted that they "had a brush" with a caravan importing arms. These, I believe, have now been aban- doned (see p. 267). It is a significant fact that through- out all East Africa the large majority of arms are of British make. Among an out-of-the-way small tribe on the west of Xyasa I came across old army flint-locks marked with the stamp of the 42d Black Watch ! As reo'ards the Coast Administration, mv readers will have already gathered my views. I hold that (1.) the prohibition for the enlistment of porters should not be applied exclusively to Europeans. The edict (referred to at great length in chap, xvii.) should, I think, be modified, and the prohibition be extended only to the COAST ADMINISTRATION. 655 enlistment of slav^es, whether by EurojDeans, Arabs, or SwahiUs ; and indeed the prohibition to the enUstment of free-men, for service where they 23leased, would appear a somewhat arbitrary legislation. Thus the status of a slave (and be it noted that this domestic status is a thing wholly apart from the legal status, which is its recognition by law) would not be recognised as possible beyond the present limits of the Zanzibar sultanate. This would give a great impetus to the self-redemption scheme, since the Swahilis are excessively fond of a roaming caravan life ; and if they found that this was prohibited except to freemen, they would, I think, be more eager to secure their freedom. (2.) The Arab and Swahili, as I have said, must find his OAvn level. To bring him to that level would be the ultimate aim of the Coast Administration. Every facility allowed to European traders would be accorded to him ; every penalty for illicit slave-dealing, for smug- gling arms, (fee, would be as rigidly enforced against him as against a European. Such a contention will perhaps sound strange in the ears of the British public, but so it is that within my experience I think I am not exceeding the truth in saying that a special latitude has hitherto been granted to the Arab and Swahili. The Germans have hung on the spot Arabs of position caught red-handed in slave - dealing ; but technical objections, or supposed lack of evidence, has prevented our even inflicting a nominal penalty in a like case, as in the matter of the slave-caravan I caught on the Tsavo (vol. i. p. 307). The case of the prohibition to the enlistment of slaves and porters (made applicable to the Euro23ean and not to the Arab) is another instance. Open mutiny and street riots in Mombasa and elsewhere have passed without adequate punishment ; threatened attacks on fugitive-slave settlements, and even on a mission station, have been met by negotiation in the one case and ransom 656 ADMIXISTRATIOX PAST AND FUTURE. in the other. I do not blame past admmistration — far from it. I have akeady shown (p. 599) that this toleration was largely a necessity of the case. I do not advocate sweeping, drastic, and sudden reform. As in the case of the Uganda Administration, so here at the coast. I merelv indicate what, in my view, is the broad line of policy at which the Governor should aim. On the ability of the British Consul and Administrator will depend the success of carrying out such a policy quietly, firmly, and, if possible, without friction. Points of detail in the Coast Administration would be the development of the trade and customs ; the adequate supervision of the coast ports for the suppression of the import from the interior of slaves, or the export thence up-country of arms, &c. If the railway be undertaken, the general control of arrangements regarding shipping, imported labour, &c., would devolve upon the coast executive, though all details would be within the scope of the officers engaged upon the railway work. Of the Central Administration I have little to say. The local executive would undertake such extension of friendly relations with surroundino- tribes as mio4it from time to time offer, prominently with the Masai, for whom suitable employment must be found, and whose indiscriminate raiding would need to be checked. I do not myself think that this would in^'olve any serious difficulty. The scope of the work which would be in- trusted to the Governor of East Africa would be great, and of a nature suitable only to a man to whom such work would be a pleasure in itself. While controlling and directing the broad lines of jDolicy of the Adminis- trations in Uganda and at the coast, it would fall to his special province to foster the central local executive, and develop in the highlands of Central Africa those European settlements which, I think, would rapidly arise around headquarters. In Kikuyu and on the THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIOX. 657 Mail escarpment the coffee, tea, cotton, and other plan- tations ah^eady so successful in the Shire highlands would find their counterparts. Kanches, ostrich-farms, trans23ort depots, and experimental farms would grow up in these temperate and cold altitudes, with their rich soil and pasture, and heavy rainfall. When his duties did not demand his presence either in Uganda or at Mombasa, it would be his special province here in the centre of East Africa to develop these schemes in conjunction with the local administrator. Gordon says that an Administrator in Africa should be one-third soldier and two-thirds civilian.^ No coun- try in the world demands a more careful selection of the men who are to control it, for in no other are they so isolated. According to their first impressions of the white man, so will the natives form their estimate of our character and our methods. A great responsibility thus rests on the first pioneers. The respect they claim as their due, the deference accorded to them, the trust in their courage and their justice, are heirlooms to their successors. But if they should fail to establish the character of the white man on a basis superior to any the savage has yet known, it will take long to eradicate the impression and to re-establish our ascendancy. I would far sooner place a good reliable native in a posi- tion of responsibility than a weak or vicious European. When I first went to Africa, I strongly advocated the introduction of the heliograph, and from time to time I have reiterated my claims for its superiority to the telegraph in a country where iron wire is the currency, and where iron j)oles must be used as a safeguard against white ants. Unless accompanying a railway, I look on an overhead telegraph as quite impracticable from the coast to the lake. The helio- graph stations need only be occupied on certain speci- ^ Gordon in Africa, p. 141. VOL. II. 2 T 658 ADMIXISTRATIOX PAST AXD FUTURE. fied days, at a stated hour. At this stage of devel- opment of East African government, once a-^^eek for two or three hours would be sufficient. If a crisis should occur, say, in Uganda, and there should thus be a 23rospect of repeated messages being sent, the Resident has only to inform the signallers down the line of the necessity for their more frequent attendance at the signal-post. In the meantime the heliograph stations form a chain of small garrisons through the country, and these garrisons would be available for conveying mails, as well as local cultivation and im- provements, &c. Indeed, such a system of heliograph stations would form a most effective mail service, since the post must consist of more men than the two or three qualified signallers. Natives of India or of West Africa Avould j^erform the signalling duty efficiently and chea23ly. Now that our Crown colonies, protectorates, and spheres of influence extend over so great a portion of the African continent, it would be to the very great advantage alike of those jDOSsessions and of our own commercial and other interests in them, if an African Council — similar to the Indian Council — of men of African experience and of proved capacity were ap- pointed, whose advice might assist the Crown Ministers in their dealino-s with African matters. Finally, I would endorse Mr Rankin's suggestion, that the Nyasaland Protectorate should receive the name of " Livingstonia " instead of its present lum- bering and quite inappropriate title of " The British Central African Protectorate," and that "British East Africa" should be called " Equatoria." I claim for East Africa that the prospective advan- tages aflbrded by its addition to the British empire are founded on a solid and leoitimate basis — a basis of commercial expansion and of industrial enterprise EAST Africa's claims for favour. 659 in a fertile country with an excellent climate. Of what can be done in Africa under such conditions the parallel case on the Shire highlands is an object-lesson. (Vide chapter xv.) On the other hand, our pro- tectorates in West Africa are largely, some almost entirely, dependent for their revenue and existence on the illegal and disgraceful traffic in arms and in sj^irits ; while their legitimate staple of export is limited to a single product, the palm-kernel — an unsound jDOsition, as has recently been pointed out in the case of Zan- zibar and its clove industry. Nor will the prosperity of East Africa be affected by the vacillations of the Stock Exchange, with shares Cjuoted at £5 to-day and at 10s. to-morrow, as has been the case in South Africa. Moreover, the successful development of East Africa depends on the opening up of the interior, and much has been already accomplished in this direction. The protectorates on the West Coast (excej^t perhaps the Niger Company) have done little or nothing towards developing their hinterlands ; and as their revenue accrues solely from duties on the coast, there is little incentive towards the development and administration of the farther interior. APPENDIX. APPEXDIX II. LETTER FROM MGR. HIRTH TO CAPTAIX WILLIAMS, DATED 14th JULY 1891 (reprinted from 'Xotes os Eganda,' by R. C. L'xion). Sir, — In accordance with, your desire, I now add some explanations upon the ideas which I had the honour of giving you yesterday evening. I do so all the more willingly, as I have always found in you that spirit of justice and imiDartiality that alone can put an end to the divisions which rend this country in two. From the first arrival of the Comj^any in this country, I promised Captain Lugard my most active concurrence, and that of all the missionaries, to obtain the jDacification of L'ganda, and its entire submission to the British power. We shall never depart from this line of conduct, and we shall be faithful here, as everywhere else, to the traditions of Catholic missionaries, whose duty it is, before all things, to labour for the interests of the coimtry they evangelise, and of the power they find legitimately established there. As to the particular point which we were considering, with respect to the liberty of conscience to be established in L'ganda, you agreed with me on the absolute necessity of introducing this liberty ; and you confessed willingly that toleration can hardly be said to be practised by those who arrogate to themselves the right of driving from their possessions, with im- punity, all who follow one religion rather than another. You had, I think, only two difficulties — viz., (1.) Ought not two political parties to be preserved in Uganda, and in the tributary countries, where religion and political questions are so intimately mixed up ; and to do this, ought not all persons to be deprived of their offices who go from one party to the other, so that the force of neither party should be diminished ? and (2.) Has the time come to give Catholics that full liberty to which they have a right, and which they enjoy so largely in Europe and in the Colonies ? I will try to answer these two questions briefly. LETTER FROM MGR. HIRTH TO CAPT. WILLIAMS. 661 Taking entirely a political view of the matter, is it allowable to drive those from their property, and to deprive them of all their personal goods and of their public offices, who leave one party to join the opposite party ? I answer that it would be good policy to do so, if the Company's influence were to be established by maintaining several parties in the country. But your experience in aff'airs must show you clearly that to maintain two or three parties is to maintain divisions and quarrels, and to lead sooner or later to war. This is a historical truth. Is the Company obliged, in order to establish itself solidly in L^ganda, to lean on one party and to crush the opposing parties ? I do not think so. Besides the fact that this would be a crime in politics, because it is never permissible to divide in order to rule, I maintain that it would be a grave mistake to do so. To continue to "evict" always increases animosities, separates people more and more from each other, and j^rolongs an unjust struggle. The consequence would be, that the Company would also be obliged to multiply its European agents here, and above all its troops, and therefore the expenses would be increased. The only result of these expenses would be an ever-increasing aversion to your Government in the minds of the great majority of the blacks. You will therefore agree that the Company has every interest to strive to draw the peojDle together, and to pacify them as soon as possible. This, which is possible now, will become impossible later. It should be at once made clear to all that the Government has not come here to rouse up a party spirit. Up to this time the whole of the Catholic party, and all that remains of the pagans, have believed that you came to Uganda solely for the purpose of bringing about the triumph of Protes- tantism ; and that is why the great majority of the people thoroughly dis- trust your acts and your speeches. This is a misfortune which you will only remove when the judgments you give and when equitable laws prove clearly that you have come to this country to promote the welfare and the prosperity of the whole nation, and not for the benefit of a faction merely. I know well that the Protestants give reason to try and show that Uganda can only become English by means of Protestantism. But the history of all the Missions established during this century prove to me that in all heathen countries where Protestants were to be found in opposi- tion to Catholics, the former have never triumphed except through violence. They want to do the same thing in L'ganda. I leave it to your prudent intelligence to jDerceive this, and never to allow such a thing to hapi^en, which would be so opposed to the haj^piness of the nation, and to the honour of your own country. The second question remains, Whether the moment has arrived to put an immediate end to the political disorders which occupy our attention ? In my humble opinion, the sooner this is done, the better. We need not be frightened by the threats of war of the Protestant party. Besides, war is impossible now, and can only take place if you consent to support either one side or the other with all your strength. But if war is not to be feared now, I believe that it will be inevitable later, because, in sjDite of all the eff'orts of the missionaries and of the 662 APPENDIX. Ministers, the old animosities will gain strength. It is better to establish at once the British power, on a solid foundation and at a small cost. It would be fatal to wait, because the two parties will reinforce themselves ; and in a few months they will not be disposed to make any more conces- sions than they are disposed to do now. Experience will clearly prove this to you. I may now tell you my own wishes, if you will allow me to do so : I think that they are in conformity with the true interests of the Company, and with its prompt success in these districts. Practically, then, (1.) Do not formulate any new law : the moment has not arrived ; no law can satisfy the two sides simultaneously. And (2.) Do not allow any one, be he an important chief or an insignificant individual, to be driven from his property for conscience' sake. Every one who is in litigation on such a matter should have to go before a court of justice constituted by you, and this court should never sanction an eviction on religious grounds. If, however, you think it ©iDportuue to have some arrangement signed between the two parties, the following are my ideas uj^on the articles which you have been good enough to propose to me : — (1.) The removal of all dignitaries, as far as the rank of Msari [the fifth dignity in each oflice], on religious grounds, would be to upset again all the country, and to shatter the order which was established eighteen months ago, when a division was agreed to between the two jDarties. (2.) It will be more difiicult to establish absolute liberty in June 1892, than in July 1891, for reasons already mentioned. (3.) As to hereditary ofiices, I myself have no jjersonal oiDinion upon the matter ; but the Catholic chiefs are disposed to agree to a convention on the subject, and to establish fixed laws of succession, if you think it proper to do so. (4.) The registration of all the sliamhas [lauds], to be signed by the two sides, might produce excellent results. (5.) To bring all causes of litigation before the king, who would judge them with the British Eesident, can alone put an end to disputes and to injustice. (6.) To deprive any man of his possessions, except for personal un worthi- ness or for bad administration, is an arbitrary act, which would always be fatal to the happiness of the country. I now end. It is due to your spirit of justice and to your condescension that I have been enabled to express myself so freely, and without any arriere 'pensee upon this question of liberty, which is so important to the welfare of the country. I trust that the other side will be equally frank, and that the Protestants also will only take into consideration, as I have done, the interests of the country, the duties of the Company who has assumed a civilising mission in Uganda, and the notions of justice and liberty which generous England is accustomed to establish everywhere. — I have, &c., (Sd.) J. HiRTH. P.S. — The desire to make myself thoroughly understood by a soldier who has only a slight knowledge of French, has made me thus curtail my sentences. ORDERS FOR ADMINISTRATIOX OF WITU. 663 APPENDIX III. ORDERS FOR ADMINISTRATION OF WITU. NOTICE. By Order of his Highness the Sultax of Zanzibar. The following provisional regulations are issued for the government and administration of the British Protectorate lying between the rivers Tana and Juba : — I. All unoccupied and unassigned land is the property of the State. II. The exclusive privilege of working, leasing, or assigning any mines or deposits of any metals, minerals, mineral oils, or precious stones, belongs to the State. III. The felling of timber in the forests shall be regulated by particular arrangement with the Administrator, who is empowered to grant or refuse permission, and to fix the royalty which, if permission is granted, shall be paid to the State. The wood used for building and burning, commonly known as borite, is not included in the above regulation. IV. The sale of slaves is prohibited. The separation of the children of slaves from their mothers is forbidden on the severest penalties. Slaves may only be inherited by the lawful children of the present owners. Y. All titles to any real property are to be registered before the Ad- ministrator within a period of one year from the present date. All such titles brought in for registration will be publicly exhibited in the nearest village to the locality where the property is situated within twenty-one days, to enable the claim to be contested. After the lapse of one year from the present time, no claims which have not been registered will be recognised as legal unless the claimant is able to show adequate cause why he has neglected to comply with this regulation. The fee for registration of real property will be one quarter per cent of the value. VI. Kathis will be appointed for the administration of justice at Mko- numbi, Wangeh, and Mataroni. Only the written judgment of such Kathis appointed by his Highness the Sultan of Zanzibar, stamped with his official seal, will be recognised as valid and put into execution. Appeal from these judgments will be in the first instance to the Ad- ministrator, and finally to his Highness the Sultan of Zanzibar. Copies of the judgment will be supplied to applicants by the Kathis on payment of one per cent of the amount adjudged. 664 APPENDIX. The law will be administered according to the Sheria. In all cases in which Europeans are concerned his Highness delegates his authority to the Administrator, who will fix a day for hearing the case, or in his absence to the Assistant Administrator. VII. All mortgages, deeds of sale, transfers of property, loans, promissory- notes, &c., &c., in order to acquire legal validit}^, must be registered before one of the above-mentioned three Kathis according to the system now in force at Zanzibar. The fee for registration will be one per cent of the value stated. VIII. The import, manufacture, and sale of firearms, ammunition, jDOwder, and caps, is prohibited ; exception will only be made on the pro- duction of a signed permit from the Administrator on the conditions pre- scribed by the regulations in force in Zanzibar. Such permit will be subject to a stamp duty of one rupee. IX. The import of alcoholic liquors is prohibited ; exceptions will only be made in the case of limited quantities for the use of Europeans who provide a sufficient guarantee that the liquors imported are for their own personal consumption. The retail trade in alcoholic liquors is prohibited altogether. The standard of measurement for alcoholic liquors is that in force in Zanzibar. X. The Customs stations of the Protectorate are the following : Port Durnford, Kiunga, Kiwaiya, Mataroni, Dadori AVangeh, Mgini, Mwanga Imesarabu Mkoi, Mkunumbi, Kimbo. A uniform duty of five per cent will be raised for the present on all imports ; spirits, wines, beer, and tobacco which have already paid the five per cent duty in Zanzibar will, if imported direct from Zanzibar to the Protectorate, be exemjDt from further dut}'. [Here follows scale of duties to be raised on native produce exported.] XL The Administrator is empowered to draw up local regulations for the protection of the natural products of the country from waste or abuse. Xote. — Regulations Xos. i., ii., iii., iv., v., vii., viii., ix., xi. are in force from the present date. Xo. vi. comes into force upon notification at the three stations referred to. Xo. x. comes into force simultaneously with the opening of Customs-houses at the various stations referred to. 7. MEAN TEMPERATURE g]^^;"!:-^- Bfo-^o"; ^onoerso^. NOTES OX THE SMALL PHYSICAL MAPS. 665 APPENDIX lY. NOTES ON THE SMALL PHYSICAL MAPS. Map 7. Memi Annual Temperature. — If climate were determined merely by the mean annual temperature, then indeed Eastern Equatorial Africa could boast of localities where the native of England would find conditions such as he is accustomed to at home, for by ascending to an altitude of about 12,000 ft. he would enter a region the mean annual temperature of which does not exceed 50° F. But the suitability of a climate to Euro- pean constitutions is dependent quite as much ujDon annual and diurnal range as ujDon the mean temperature throughout the year. How consider- ably these factors differ from what we are accustomed to at home is shown in the following table Altitude above Sea-level. Mean Annual Temp. Annual Range. 1 Diurnal Range. - Feet. F. F. F. Loudou . 50° 26° 11° Zanzibar . 79° 6° 6° Mombasa 50 78° 7° 9° 5500 6.5° 9° 16° 3600 72° 16° 24° Natete (Meiigo) 4000 71° 6° 27° 1520 80° 9° 24° The map shows the actual mean temperature likely to be experienced, and not mean temperatures reduced to sea-level. Rainfall. — There are as yet few stations in Eastern Equatorial Africa where the rainfall has been recorded for a sufficient numl^er of years to enable us to obtain trustworthy means. Our little map, although based upon meteorological records received from twenty-two stations, can there- fore be looked ujoon merely as an approximation to the truth. The rainfall is heaviest along the coast and in the great forest to the west of the Albert Edward, where alone it exceeds 50 in. ; it is least considerable in the arid region around Lake Eudolf, where only three heavy falls of rain were ob- served in 1888. The quantity recorded differs exceedingly in succeeding years. At Zanzibar 46 in. fell in 1892, but 167 in. (?) in 1859 ; at Mom- basa 27 in. fell in 1892, 90 in. in 1877. In Uganda the rainfall is far less fluctuating, for the extremes observed by Mr Mackay, 1879-1886, were 41 and 55 in. The rains there are, moreover, far more regularly distributed over the year than elsewhere. In 1892, which was an exceptionally dry year, there fell, up to the end of July, 22 in. at Mombasa and 28 in. at Malindi ; in 1893, during the same period, the quantity was 46 in. at the former and 40 in. at the latter place. 1 Difference between the mean temiDeratures of the coldest and warmest months of the year. 2 Difterence between the means of the highest and lowest temjDeratures of each day throughout the year. 666 APPENDIX. The rains follow the sun, which is plainly proved by the diagram below, showing the sun's declination and the monthly rainfall for Zanzibar, Mom- basa, and Natete. They are heaviest in April or May, and a second maxi- mum takes place in October or Nov^ember. Rain in. 15° 10' 5"- Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Suris DecJ. 0° 5' 10" 15° • 20' ^ .4' V \/ \ \ \ \\ \ \ \\ \\ \ \ \ \ \ V \ — . \ '■\ J J ?# E / / .....;•>< — % \ \ G.FhJip &. Soy J, 32 Jleet StX an/ian,. The following table gives the rainfall for a number of stations : — MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL. Months. (1<) years). Mombasa (9 years). « S :3 i Mombasa, 1892. Mamndi, si < ^1 Lado, 1884. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. January . 2.97 1.50 2.37 0.11 0.61 0.21 2.49 0.00 February . 4.22 0.81 4.38 0.43 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.01 March 6.05 2.14 4.47 0.41 0.49 1.50 1.10 1.06 April . 14.76 8.13 7.66 6.18 5.97 5.' 94 1.95 3.26 6.63 May . . 1L43 1.3.06 5.30 11.32 14.40 13.81 18.66 12.02 3.70 Juue . . 2.38 4.67 3.00 1.43 3.94 2.70 2.50 4.33 5.97 July . . 2.53 4.14 3.17 2.17 1.82 1.98 2.17 1.46 8.58 August 1.71 2.97 2.89 1.26 0.29 1.07 1.22 L97 3.11 Sejitember 1.70 2.84 3.90 1.52 1.41 2.05 1.20 1.56 4.63 October . 4.51 3.97 5.24 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.13 1.79 3.46 November 5.98 4.68 3.89 1.26 0.15 0.58 0.04 7.66 0.61 December 6.37 1.74 1.34 0.37 0.19 0.00 0.00 6.33 0.12 Year . . 64.62 50.62 47.61 26.83 .30.12 28.98 43.97 37.86 Map 8. Geological. — A mere sketch, based upon the maps of Sadebeck, J. Thomson, Zittel, and F. Toula, and the incidental notes of travellers. The larger part of the territory delineated has never been explored. The map brings out very prominently the wide area occupied by recent volcanic rocks, as also by crystalline rocks. 8. ^ ^ I ^ I O A I ^ ~~ Alluvial and Recent. - — Crystalline. (jtL/L-L/VJllOAl- Eruptive Rocks. \ Sedimentary g generally. r-/-%r-kr-rN~r*o l 1 r-. c * I \Wood lands of \ \Savannas { scrub FORESTS VADense Forests. Upper N ill LJ grass, d.) G-ShSJUp Sc Sort. \V'>TBLACKW(J()1) .t SO,V: 9 Trj I rj A I ' Dinka and kin. \ Masai. i ' Other Nilotic iribei. n I D M L. r^Z Bantu. rZZ Hamitic fSoTnal, Galla, ^c.J CH Others. COMMERCIAL I. -VI. CoTtuntrcial Zones. Pro^sed Raihvay. ^^Proposed Road /or zukeeled traffic. Proposed load for Pack Animals. • Proposed Depots. BLACKWOOD A SOXS NOTES ON THE SMALL PHYSICAL MAPS. 667 Forests. — This sketch shows the dense primeval forests of the highlands of British East Africa, the wooded coast-region, the woodlands of the Upper Nile, and the easternmost portion of the great forest of the Congo basin. Those parts of the map coloured yellow present varied features as regards their vegetation. Much is sterile, and merely affords a scanty sub- sistence to flocks ; but there is also much fertile land, covered with grass dotted over with trees, and yielding excellent crops. Map 9. Tribal. — This map is intended merely to indicate general features. The Hamites, including Galla and Somal, as also various peoples to the north of Abyssinia, occupy the north-eastern part of the map, while the " Bantu " form a well-defined group (linguistically) to the south. The Nilotic tribes have been grouped together for the sake of convenience. They speak a large number of languages, mutually unintelligible. The Dinka, and their group, occupy three detached territories on the map, and include the southern Wa-Kavirondo or Wagaya on the eastern side of the Victoria Nyanza. The Masai have probably for their kinsmen the Turkana, Lango, and Latuka, to the north, but we do not yet know whether the Wandorobo, Wabilikimo, and some agricultural tribes, must be detached as belonging to a distinct family. The people of Uasi, Ufiomi, and Yiraku, to the south of the ManyaraLake (see map), certainly form a distinct group, for, according to Dr Baumann, their language abounds in clicks, and can be referred neither to the Bantu nor the Nilotic groups. Commercial. — This map is more especially intended to illustrate Captain Lugard's commercial chapters. E. G. R INDEX. Abercorn, Fort. Map 2, 8°40' S., 3ri5' E. Aberdare range. Map 3, 0°30' S., 36° 50' E. Abyssinia, British diplomacy in, i, 7, 8 Aden. Map 1, 12°50' N., 45° E. Administration, method, ii. 589 — cost in Sonth Africa, 604— responsibility for, 614, 615 Administration in Uganda, my impar- tiality, ii. 78 — expenses of, 313-315— plans for, 515— estimated cost of, 639- 641 Administration of East Africa, by Govern- ment, through Chartered Company, ii. 603-607— through Mr Ehodes, 608-611— direct, 611-615— Lord Grey on, 612— as dependency of Zanzibar, 615-621— an- nexation of Sultanate, 626, 627— central headquarters, 635, 636 — subordinate cen- tres, 635-638— scheme for, 635-639— at coast, 654-656— central, 656, 657 Africa, British East, native tribes, i. 238- 241, 395, 396— staples of barter, 273, 274, 401 — population and areas, 369, 370 — value to us, 381, 382 — climate, soil, &c., 383, 384, 392— waterways, 384- 386 — minerals, 389 — peculiar advan- tages, 389-392— colonisation of, 392-394, 417, 419, 420, 488-491— diseases of, 394, 395— ports, 396-products, 398, 399 (see Conmiercial Zones)— imports, 401, 402 — has a legitimate basis of trade, 403 — commission proposed for determining resources of, 528, 529 — our position in relation to other Powers, ii. 565-574, 595, 596 — our duties to, 573-582 — our pre- scriptive right, 591 — civil status of na- tives not recognised, 628-630 — compared to West Africa, 659 African Council, suggested, ii. 658 African Lakes Company, i. 20 — build trad- ing station at Karonga's, 51, 52 — why started, 98 — its estimate of freight to Uganda, 448 African tragedy, i. 41 Ajawa or Yao tribe. Map 2, 13° S., 35° E. Albert Edward Lake, ii. 171. Map 4, 0°30' S., 30° E. Albert Lake, ii. 221, 222. Map 3, 1°30' N., 30°45' E. Ali bin Surur, Sultan's envoy, i. 133-135 — fooled by slavers, 144 — in collusion with Mlozi, 148 Alice, Port. Map 4, 0°5' N., 32°27' E. Amelia Bay (Nyasa). Map 2, 10°25' S., 34°40' E. Ande river. Map 3, 2°40' S., 38°10' E. Anglo-German agreement, ii. 22, 30, 313, 601— Heligoland, 579 Angoni, Zulu tribe west of Lake Nyasa, depredations of, i. 85, 86 — the dominant tribe on Nyasa, 87 — slavery among, 174 — as labourers, 475 Ankoli, ii. 8 — population of, i. 432 — stations in, ii. 136 — cattle plague, 159 — nature of country, 161 — famine, 280. Map 4, 0°30' S., 30°30' E. Ant. See Insects Antelope, i. 78 — eland, 529, 530 — water buck, 530, 531 — kudu, 531— hartebeest, 531-533— sable, 533— Speke's, 533, 534 — oryx, 534 — Grant's gazelle, 534, 535 — Thomson's gazelle, 535, 536— bush- buck, 536 — lesser kudu, 537 — mj)alla, 537, 538— reed-buck, 538— nsunu, 538 — pah, 539 — grass antelopes, 540 — gnu or wildebeest, 540, 541 — vitality, 555, 556 Arabs of East Africa, how they procure slaves, i. 90, 91 — are of mixed race, 93- 95— their religious and social sanction for slave-holding, 177, 178 — their treat- ment of slaves, 190, 191 — their fugitive slaves protected by missions, 222-224 — war with the Germans, 223— comiDcn- sated for loss of slaves, 224— and self- redemption of slaves, 232, 233, 296-- spoil the labour market, 476 — as traders, 477 Arabs of Nyasaland. See Slavers Arms and powder, amount imported by Portugal, i. 29 — Portuguese intercept ammunition for Karonga's, 152— on the increase, 164 — imported, 213-216 — in 670 INDEX. Usoga, 369, 370 — in hands of natives, 395, 396— Arab offers Mwanga, ii. 54— bronglit by Stokes, 63, 64 — demand great in Uganda, 63 — imported by French Fathers, 66, 74 — Arabs bring to Usoga, 105— lent for war, 112, 113— Ntali to stop import, 160 — Stokes' stored, 252 — means of checking trade, 267 — Ntali seizes, 279 — smuggled by French Fathers, 374 — largely imported, 415 — Germans admit, 443— increasing, 589 — check npon, 654 Aruwimi river, mouth. Map (ii. 569), 1°10' N., 23°50' E. Ashe, Rev. R., ii. 4, 6, 7 — describes Kabaka and chiefs in 1889, 19 — joins Walker, 362, 363 Athi plain, game in, ii. 538 Athi river, i. 272. Map 3, 1°30' S., 37° E. Atonga, tribe enlisted, i. 83, 84. Map 2, 11°45° S., 34°20' E. Awemba, Bemba. Map 2, 10° S., 31° E. Baboons, i. 270, 271, 552 Bafulabe. Map 3, 13°30' N., 10°30' E. Baganioyo Mission, i. 70. Map 2, 6°25' S., 38'55' E. Bagge, Mr, ii. 108, 109, 349, 369, 372-374 Bagirmi. Map 1, 11° N., 18° E. Baiir el Ghazal. Map 1, 10° N., 30° E. Bain, Mr, i. 54, 84, 128 Baja. Map 4, 0°9' S., 31°55' E. Baldisera, General, i. 7, 8 Bana. Map 2, 12° 25' S., 34° E. Banana, uses, i. 429, 430 Banda. Map 4, 0°17' N., 32°50' E. Banda Waroga (Speke's). Map 4, 0°22' N., 32°38' E. Bandawe, i. 82— described, 19. Map 2, 11°54' S., 34°8' E. Bangweolo. Map 2, 11° S., 30° E. Barawa river. Map 3, 0°22' N., 33°56' E. Barawa town. Map 2, 1°10' N., 44°5' E. Bari tribe. Map 2, 4°30' N., 31°30' E. Baringo lake, i. 354. Map 3, 0°35' N., 36°10' E. Basenga tribe. Map 2, 11° S., 33° E. Bavuntix tribe, ii. 177 Beden. Map 2, 4°40' N., 31°30' E. Belgium in Africa, aggression, i. 436 — rail- ways, 453 — import slave labour, 481, 482 — elephant monopoly, 508— Lado expe- dition, ii. 568, 569 — expenditure, 586 — Stanley, 643 Belizoni canal. Map 3, 2°30' S., 40°25' E. Berber. Map 1, 18° N., 34°15' E. Berkeley Bay. Map 3, 0°10' N., 33°55' E. Berkeley, Mr, Vice-Consul, i. 218 Berlin Act, effective occupation, ii. 566, 567, 599— our rights, 566— obligations, Bilal Bey, ii. 219 Bilo. Map 2, 0°35' N., 42°57' E. Birds, i. 24, 79, 80, 340, 341, 343, 350, 371, 551, 552 Birinzi, chief of, treacherous, ii. 147, 148. Map 3, 0°15' S., 31°55' E. Blantyre, described, i. 43, 44, 64— build- ings at, 43-45, 474, 475 — divided counsels re Karonga's, 50, 59 — administrative mission, 72 — founded by Mr Young, 76. Map 2, 15°47' S., 35°4' E. Blood-brotherhood, with Wakamba chiefs, i. 319 — with Kikuyu chiefs, 329 — metho(l of, 330, 331— with Wakoli, 369— with Mbekirwa, 370; ii. 579— with Ntali's son, 160 Bomokandi river. Map 2, 30° N., 28° E. Bonga's (Zambesi). Map 2, 15°25' S., 33"40' E. Borani Galla. Map 2, 3° N., 39° E. Brassey, Lord, quoted, i. 179, 472 Brava. See Barawa Brussels Act, our obligations under, i. 212, 213 ; ii. 573-582— effective occupa- tion gradual, 568 — extent of, 574 Buchanan, Mr, correspondence with, re Karonga's, i. 45-50 — on coffee, 428 — on labour, 475 Buddu, Mohammedans in, ii. 4 — trading station, 136— fertility, 139, 147, 423-425 — invaded, 303 — fighting in, 305 — ceded to Wa-Fransa, 423, 425, 476— famine, 479-481— frontier settled, 505. Map 4, 0°30' S., 31°45' E. Buffalo, i. 42, 78, 132, 251, 290, 345-347, 352— his horns, 522— herds of, 522, 523 — domestication of, 525— habits, 522- 524 — decimated by cattle-plague, 356, 359, 525 Bugaju, camp, ii. 141. Map 4, 0°28' S., 31°38' E. Buganga, lovely scenery, ii. 144, 145. Map 4, 0°5' S., 32°5' E. Bugungu. Map 4, 0°26' N., 33°13' E. Bujaju, charming country, ii. 146 note. Map 4, 0°15' S., 32° E. Bukoba. Map 2, 1°20' S., 32° E. Bukumbi, ii. 55, 391, 442. Map 2, 2°43' S., 33°5' E. Bulamwezi. Map 4, 0°45' N., 32°30' E. Bulingugwe, ii. 9— attack on, 353-355 — reasons for, 354 — Mwanga in, 548. Map 4, 0°15' N., 32°37' E. Bullock, its value for transport, i. 468 Buniako. Map 4, 0°5' S., 32°10' E. Butanuka. Map 4, 0°56 N., 80°15' E. Butindi. Map 4, 0°35' N., 30°15' E. Butuku. Map 4, 1 N., 30°20' E. Bvua. Map 2, 10°25' S., 34°15' E. Bwera. Map 4, Equator and 31°30' E. Camel, his use for transport, i. 466, 467 — domestication of, 493, 494 Cameroons. Map 1, 5° N., 12° E. Camp, marked out, i. 249 — hutting, 250 — martial law, 364 — life, ii. 124— disci- pline, 165— order important, 208, 209— arrangement, 277 Caravans, harm done by Swaliili, ii. 507 — refused ]mssage, 507, 508 Casati, Major, quoted, i. 437, ii. 414 Cat, serval, i. 550 Cattle-plague, i. 131, 356, 359, 363— its nature, 525-527 — where spread, 526-528 — commission to report on, 528, 529 ; ii. 159 — Ukamba escaped, 540 INDEX. 671 Cliagwe, rising in, ii. 306— Futabangi rise, 319 — quelled by Mlondo, 374 — chaos in, 378 — Williams and Pokino settle, 470, 506. Map 4, 0°30' N., 32°50' E. Chamberlain, Mr, on commerce, i. 381, 397 Chambers of Commerce urge retention of Uganda, i. 379, 380 Chikusi's. Map 2, 14°33' S., 34°14' E. Chindi. Map 2, 18°33' S., 36"30' E. Chinese as colonists for East Africa, i. 491 Chipitula's. Map 2, 16°36' S., 35^0' E. Chireuji. Map (i. 94), 9^42' S., 33°27' E. Chiweri's. Map 2, 13°45' S., 33°55' E. Church Missionary Society. See Mis- sions, Missionaries Climate, of Kikuyu, i. 334, 335— of Ugan- da, 383— of British East Africa, 392, 393 Coco-nut, i. 406, 407 Coffee, indigenous to Uganda, i. 428 — eating, ii. 53 Colonisation of East Africa, i. 392-394, 397, 417, 419, 420, 488-491 Commerce, in Nyasaland, i. 388 —staples of, in British East Africa, 389 — through Uganda, 399 — future in Uganda, ii. 140 — openings for, 584, 585, 609 Commercial zones : — Coast zone, cultivation extensive, i. 406— its products, 406-409— the northern and southern areas, 410-412 — its re- sources, 410 Second zone, physical features, i. 411, 414, 415 — produces excellent fibre, 413 — irrigation in, 414 Third zone, its extent and elevation, i. 415, 416 — physical description, 416- 420— soil, climate, and fertility, 416-420 — prodiicts, 421 — possiljle industries, 422, 423 Fourth zone, extent and elevation, i. 423, 424— soil, climate, &c., 424-427— products, 427-432— population, 432, 433 —its possibilities, 432, 433 Fifth zone, boundaries, i. 434, 435 — history, 4-35, 436— products, 436, 437. See Sudan Sixth zone, i. 438 Communications. See Transport Comoro Islands. Map 2 , 11°30' S. , 43°30' E. Congo State. See Belgium in Africa Copper-poisoning and its cure, i. 304, -305 Cotton -growing, i. 408, 409, 430, 431 Crocodiles, i. 24, 39 Cross, Dr, i. 67, 68, 75, 118-120 Dagoreti, i. 326— fort built, 332— Wilson left in charge, 335; ii. 535. 536 (see Kikinni). Map 3, 1=15' S., 36°45' E. Damaraland. Map 1, 21° S., 17° E. Dangi river. Map 3, 2° S., 37°40' E. Darfur. Map 1, 12° N., 23° E. Deep Bay, Nyasa, its strategic importance, i. 87, 127. Map 2, 10°25' S., 34°18' E. Delagoa Bay. Map 1, 26° S., 32°40' E. Dilke, Sir C, on our position in East Africa, ii. 592, 593 Diseases of British East Africa, i. 394, 395 Dogs, Avild, i. 279, 549— Wahuma, ii. 159 Donkey. See Transport Donkeys, Masai, ii. 540 Donye {in Masai " mountain "). See La- muyu, &c. Drummond, Professor, on extinction of African elephant, i. 92 — on Swahilis, 191, 238 ; ii. 43— on ants and Swahilis, 348, 349 Dualla, his character and career, i. 300-302 — in danger, 345, 346 — ii. 21, 25— nego- tiations with Mohammedans, 127, 488- 490 — bravery, 169 — argues for justice, 329— invaluable, 438 Dufili or Dufileh. Map 2, 3°35' X., 32° E. Dukala's. Map 4, 0°57' N., 30"16' E. Dundas, Captain, on Masai, i. 87 — on Tana and Juba rivers, 411 — on the Mbe country, 417 Durnford, Port. Map 2, 1°15' S., 41°50' E. Duruma. Map 3, 4° S., 39°20' E. Duta, ii. 363, 462, 463 Dwarfs, ii. 177, 178, 278, 279 Dzenji, Atonga chief, i. 110— at Deep Bay, 126 Egypt, rights over Equatoria, ii. 571, 572 — attempt to annex Uganda, 610 Eldoma Ravine, i. 461, ii. 531 Elephant, hunting, i. 12, 42— paths, 247, 248 — his uses for transport, 465, 466 — among the ancients, 494-496 — domestica- tion of, 494-498 — importation of Indian species, 497, 500, 501, 504— method of catching, 501-504 — tusks, their weight, &c., 499, 500, 505 — African compared with Indian species, 504, 505 — epidemics among, 506 — destruction of, 506-508 — preservation of, 507, 508 — monopoly of, in Congo State, 508— methods of hunt- ing, 508-513— useful as food, 513 ; ii. 180 — shot, 176 — at Semliki, 179 — mono- poly of Imperial British East African Company in Torn, 188 — at Albert Lake, 221 Elgeyo, i. 354, 355 — natives, 356 — moun- tains, 356-359. Map 3, 0°35' N., 35°30 E. Elgon Mount. Map 3, 0°55' N., 34°25' E. Elmetaita Lake, i. 341, 342. Map 3, 0°25' S., 36°17' E. Emin Pasha, quoted, i. 427, 435, 436, 491 — ii. 3, 5, 30, 31 — Mwanga desires to see, 48, 49 — breaks up Arab camp, 55 — fac- simile letter, 121, 122 — his expedition, 161-166 — letters for, 172 — expedition de- scribed, 173 — at Ptuwenzori, 178 — treat- ment of natives, 180 — leave mails for, 181, 182— at Mazomboni's, 206, 207— his expedition, 224 — repudiated by German Government, 253 — in trouble, reported dead, 412 Emin's camp. MajD 4, 0°17' N., 29°55' E. English party in Uganda. See Wa-In- gleza 672 INDEX. Eqimtoria, events after evacuation, ii. 201- 206 Euan Smith, Sir C, i. 11, 12— Consul General, 218 Evacuation of Uganda, Company's instruc- tions re, ii. 287 — probable results, 288, 289, 567, 572, 573, 576, 577— impractic- able, 288, 289— temporary retirement impossible, 288— alternative schemes, 289, 292, 293— plan to retain Torn, 289, 290 — countermanded, 294 — on postpon- ing, 547 — efforts to prevent, 548— inten- tions of Government, 565, 597 — effect of rumour in Nyasaland, 589 — statesmen on, 590, 591 — public bodies on, 591— arguments for and against, 592, 593 — deferred by subscription, 602 Fadl Maula Bey, ii. 202, 205, 207 Faloro. Map 2, 3°20' N., 32" E. Fauvera. Map 2, 2°10' N., 32"35' E. Felkin, Dr, quoted, i. 426, 437— on land- tenure in Uganda, ii. 299 Ferag Effendi, ii. 194, 247, 286, 361, 368, 369— his retreat, 370, 371 Ferag's Hill. Map 4, 0°55' N., 30^20' E. Fever precautions, i. 32-34 Fitzgerald, Mr, on the capabilities of the coast zone, i. 406, 408 Flag (British) used by Pokino, ii. 125 — Hirth on, 317, 318 — flies over Uganda, 434 Flag (Mtesa's), Mwanga hoists, ii. 302-304 Floyer, Mr, quoted, i. 466, 467, 493, 494 Forts :— Edward, ii. 187-190. Map 4, 0°15' N., 30°12' E. George, ii. 172, 174, 183, 254— salt trade, 257, 274. Map 4, 0°8' S., 30°1' E. Grant, ii. 265, 268. Map 4, 0°5' S., 30°32' E. Kivari, ii. 249-251. Map 4, 0°22' N., 30°32' E. Lome, ii. 241, 244, 245. Map 4, 0°37' N., 30°32' E. Wavertree, ii. 234, 235. Map 4, 0° 47' N., 30°28' E. France in Africa, her railways, i. 453 — forward policy, ii. 570, 571 — and Nile sources, 583 — expenditure, 586 — ex-ter- ritorial jurisdiction, 627-630 French Fathers, Lourdel, ii. 9, 10, 12, 15— influence Mwanga, 16, 17 — hostile to British influence, 19 — import arms, 66, 74 — false accusations of, 115, 357— re- fuse protection, 339, 341, 344 — their Mission in flames, 344, 345 — fetched to Kampala, 345, 346— at the fort, 346, 347 — again, 355-357 — smuggle arms, 374— dissimulate, 385, 386 — Gaudibert and Levesque, 386 — some leave Kam- pala, grateful to us, 395 — Achte writes re repartition, 396 — reply to, 397 — pro- posals of peace, 397, 398, 410— Brard dissatisfied with division, 433 — oppose treaty, 460 — Brard's grievances, 461, 464, 469, 475— re-established at Mengo, 465 — Achte's letter, 466 — loop-holed fort, 475 — Achte's accusations, 513 — ■ Brard's courteous note, 523 French party in Uganda. See Wa-Fransa Freretown. Map 3, 4°2' S., 39°42' E. Fuladoyo, and fugitive slaves, i. 222, 224 —start for, 228, 229— plans for self- redemption of slaves, 231-233. Map 3, 3°25' S., 39°37' E. Futahangi, ii. 319, 320, 392, 470 — won over, 506 Fwambo. Map 2, 8°55' S., 31°35' E. Gabunga (E.), chief of islands, ii. 150 Game, in Abyssinia, i. 10— on Shire, 78 — at Deep Bay, 142— Makongeni, 235, 268 — their tracks, 247, 248— on Sabakhi, 290— Mikundu plain, 312— Kikuyu, 322 —pits, 323, 324— Kedoung valley, 338 —Lake Naivasha, 340, 341, 344, 345, 352; ii. 141, 143, 155, 195, 199, 221, 222, 538 Cauda, Belgian station. Map 2, 3°45' N., 30°55' E. Gedge, Mr, ii. 15, 30, 31, 45, 48, 50, 52, 53 Germany in Africa, emigrants, i. 13, 14 — war with Slavers, 223 — pioneer efforts, 402 — trade route through German East Africa, 449— projected raihvays in, 452, 453 — admits arms, &c. , ii. 443 — expendi- ture, 586— war with Arabs, 598, 599— zeal for extension, 599, 600 Gilgil river. Map 3, 0°4iJ' S., 36°22' E. Giraffe, i. 541, 542 Giriama, tribe and country, i. 229-231, 476. Map 3, 3°40' S., 39°35' E. Gnu (wildebeest), i. 540, 541 Godo, Belgian station. Map 2, 3°20' N., 29°50' E. Gondokoro, i. 385, 435. Map 2, 4°58' N., 31°50' E. Gordon, General, quoted, i. 426, 427 — in the Sudan, 436 ; ii. 3 — treats with Mtesa, 3 — in Southern Sudan, 256 — on development of Uganda, 610, 611 — on African administrator, 657 Gordon, Rev. E. C, re Uganda, i. 219 ; ii. 8, 9, 24, 59— his warning, 37 Gosha (on Jub). Map 2, 0=30' N., 43° E. Grant, Mr, i. 339 — his work at Kampala, ii. 46, 50, 62, 521 — joins exi^editiou against Mohammedans, 114 — ill, 243 — his instructions, 272, 273 — goes against Manyuema, 272, 274 Granville, Lord, on East African railway, i. 454 Grey, Lord, i. 175, 176 Guaso, Ngishu ("cattle river"). Map 3, 0°20' N., 35°20' E. Gulama river, mouth. Map 4, 0'~20' N., 33°12' E. Hannington, Bishop, ii. 6 Hawes, Consul, i. 42, 57 — attacks Mlozi, 58 Heliograph, i. 205 ; ii. 657, 658 Hinterland theory, ii. 599-601 Hippo, i. 39, 42, 78— paths, 248, 520-522 IXDEX. 673 Hirtli (R. C. Bisliop), attitude on my airi- val, ii. 66 — on liis return, 86, 87 — "ill- advised letter," 88 — acknowledges im- provement, 102 — wishes to abolish rivals, 302-304 (see letter to Williams, AjDiiendix III.)— refuses help to avert war, 332-334— proposes division of coun- try, 348— joins king on Bulingugwe, 349 —sends for Fathers, 350, 351 — prevents king's return, 351— liies with king, 355 —at Bukoba, 373— distrusted by Ger- mans, 374 — threatens war, 409, 410 — letter, 432 Hyaena, i. 39, 341— spotted, 279 Ibanda. Map 4, 0=5' S., 30"3' E. Ibo. Map 2, 12^20' S., 40^40' E. Ibweti. Map 3, 1=30' S., 37=20' E. Ilala s,s., i. 76, 96— wooding the, 77 Ilbert, Mr, on African elephant, i, 495 Imperial British East Africa Company, aim at Uganda, i. 219 — ransom fugitive slaves, 224, 225 — encoiirage self-redemp- tion, 232, 233— instructions to me, ii. 19 — estates in Uganda, 484— formation of, 597, 598 — reason for occupving Uganda, 599-601— Government policy, 601, 602 — reasons for evacuation, 602, 624, 625 — work done by, 622-624 — expenditure, 622— claims for compensation, 624-626 — estimate of expense, 642, 643 India, slavery abolished in, i. 182 — negroes imported formerly, 183 — natives as trans- port attendants. See Labour Insects, Barula llv, i. 24— mosquitoes, 24, 34, 35, 344, 390— A\ild bees, 279— Avhite ants, 348— sterilise soil, 349— kill acacia forest, 350-West African "jigger," 390 International Convention, 1886, ii. 627 Ireti, chief of Wanyoro, hostile, ii. 230 Irrigation, i. 414 Isolt lake' discovered, ii. 121. Map 4, 0= 2.5' X., .32= E. Italy in Africa, capacity of soldiers for field-work, i. 8, 9 — their equipment, 10 — her railwavs, 453 : expenditure, ii. 586 Ituri river. Map 2, 1=25' X., 30=2' E. Ivory, exports of, i. 427, 428, 436, 505 — pays for its transport, 439 Jackson, Mr, i. 157 ; ii. 9, 11, 14, 15— mutiny in his camij. i. 365 — on tsetse llv, 391 Janjan tribe. Map 2, 6=30' X., 37=40' E. Jelib. Map 2, 0=20' X., 43= E. Jephson, Mr, on Albert Edward Lake, ii. 171— on grain tax. 401 Jilori station. Map 3, 3=10' S. , 39=55' E. Jinja (" stones" at Ripou Falls). Map 4, 0=27' X., 33=13' E. Johnstone, Mr H. H., his policy in Xyasa- land,i. 159-161 — Imperial Commissioner, 219 — on land tenure, ii. 645, 646 Juba river, navigable, i. 384, 385— fertilitv of its vallev, 411. Map 2, 0=10' S., 42= 30' E. Jumbe's. Kotakota. Map 2. 13= S., 34=6' E. VOL. II. Jungle life. See chapter x. Junker, Dr, ii. 7, 119 Kabara's. Map 3, 0=25' X., 34°42' E. Kabarega, of Unyoro, treats for peace, ii. 114 — allied with ^Nlohammedans, 129 — overruns Torn, 151 — defeated, 191 — his plunderers, 199 — defeated by Selim's Sudanese, 382, 413— his misdoings, 414, 415 Kabiri. Map 2, 12=52' S., 32=9' E. Kabole. Map 2, 1=35' X., 42=42' E. Kabula. Map 4, 0=22' S., 31=15' E. Kabimda. Map 2, 8=50' S., 30=30' E. Kachera lake, ii. 156. Map 4, 0'35' S., 31=16' E. Kafu river. Map 4, 1=28' X., 31=45' E. Kafuro. Map 2, 1=45' S., 31=20' E. Kagera river. Map 3, 0=55' S., 31=50' E. Kago (F.), chief, ii. 107, 348, 349— gener- ositv, 474 Kago's. Map 4. 0=30' X., 32=30' E. Kaihura's. Map 4, 0=20' S., 30=3' E. Kaima (F.), chief, ii. 65 — countrv, 476. Map 4, 0=17' X., 22=20' E. Kakibi river. Map 4, 0=25' X"., 29=30' E. Kakuli, his people, ii. 167. Map 4, 0=12' S., 30=2' E. Kaluba's. Map 3, 0°30' X., 33=40' E. Kamaniro. Map 4, 0=25' X. , 33=10' E. Kamasia, i. 354-356. Map 3, 0=30' S.. 35=46' E. Kambu river. Map 3, 2=35' S., 38=5' E. Kambwe lagoon. Map (i. 94), 9=55' S., 34' E. Kampala, chosen for camp, i. 376 — given by king, ii. 48 — fort begun, 50 — com- pleted, 59— progress, 76— delimited, 93 — visited by ro3'alty, 95, 470— parade at, 105 — manned at night. 110 — return to, 291— improvements, 291, 415, 471, 472— extensions, 399— best position for caj^ital. 410, 4:ll—barazas held at, 471— Moham- medan village on slope, 484 — farewell to. 521. 523 — as subordinate centre of gov- ernment, 636. Map 4, 0=19' X., 32=35' E. Kamswaga, King of Koki, defiant, ii. 154 — ^.ioins Wa-Fmnsa, 384— sends envoj's, 403, 426 — forfeits pro\inces, 467 Kanyangoro river, ii. 129-131. Map 4, 1= X., 31=35' E. Kanvoli. Map (i. 94). 9=45' S., 33=58' E. Karagwe. Map 3, 1=45' S., 31=20' E. Karakwanzi, chief of Usougola, ii. 174. 175, 254. Map 4, 0=6' X., 29=45' E. Karema, Mwanga's brother, ii. 8 — his boys, 391, 442 Karonga's, fighting at, i. 17, 18 — reasons for fighting, 42, 45-47 — am asked to com- mand expedition, 45 — origin of war, 51- 61 — threatened, 54, 55 — attacked, 56 — relieved by "Wankoude, 57 — garrison re- tire, 57 — stockade rebuilt, 60 — we start for, 64— the men who fought at, 66-68, 79, 89, 90— we arrive at, 89 — reforms at. 97 — reconnoitre slavers' stockades, 100-105- attack Kopa-Kopa's, 112-117— am shot down, 115 — further plans, 119- 121 — we choose guerilla warfare, 120, 2 u 674 IXDEX. 127 — difficulties, 121-125 — slavers in great straits, 130 — Karouga's improving, 133, 134— we will not give in, 135— truce, 144 — gun arrives, ib. — -we shell stockades, 149-151 — I leave to obtain help, 158 — plead for Karonga's in Eng- land, 157 — guerilla warfare maintained at, 159 — strategic importance of, 169 — eifect of defence of, 210, 211. Map (i. 94), 10^ S., 34° E. Kasagama, exiled King of Toru, ii. 151, 152— reinstated, 187, 188, 254, 255 Kasugu's. Map 4, 0"18' N., 32=12' E. Katambala's. Map 4, C'lC N., 32=20' E. Katikiro (E.), chief, reconciled to Kim- bugwe, ii. 53 — quarrels with Mwanga, 77 — made general brave, 108 — starts, 112 — uses British flag, 125 — disobeys orders, 128, 129 Katonea river, ii. 118 — mouth, 144. Map 4, 0°5' S., 327' E. Katouzi, chief, lends canoes, ii. 227, 228. Map 4, 1=17' N., 30=30' E. Katunga's, i. 41, 42. Map 2, 16=5' S., 34=51' E. Katwe. :\Iap 4, 0=8' S., 30=1' E. Kauta(F,), chief, ii. 28, 39— confided in, 76 — changed, 326 Kavalli's, Selim at, ii. 201 et seq. — arrive at, 208 — life at, 225— results of expedition to, 282, 283. Map 4, 1=27' X., 30=23' E. Kavirondo, ii. 9, 11. Map 3, 0=20' X., 34=20' E. Kavirondo plain, i. 358, 362 — description of people, 362, 363 Kawanga. Map 4, 0=20' X., 31=20' E. Kayanga. Map 4, 0=30' X., 33=30' E. Kayes. Map 1, 14=30' X., 11=30' W. Ka^-uni. Map (i. 94), 10=17' S., 34=4' E. Kedoung Valley, i. 338. Map 3, 1=5' S., 36=33' E. Keiti river. Map 3, 1=45' S., 37=40' E. Kejabi, Mount. Map 3, 0=55' S., 36=35' E. Keltic, Mr, on African labour, i. 477, 478 Kenia, Mount, healthy and fertile, i. 419 Keren, Xao, Xesoi, river. Map 3, 0=30' X., 35=40' E. Khartum. Map 1, 15=35' X., 32=50' E. Kiarutauga. Map 4, 0=5' S., 30=32' E. Kiaya, valley, fertile, ii. 19J — friendly, 233. Map 4, 0=45' X., 30=20' E. Kibiro. Map 3, 1=48' X., 31=20' E. Kiboko river. Map 3, 2=10' S., 37=40' E. Kibona, lake, ii. 166. Map 4, 0=13' S., 30=10' E. Kiborum river. Map 3, 0=30' X. , 35=3' E. Kibwezi river, i. 272, 278— stockade, 289 Kibwezi, Scotch industrial mission, ii. 541. Map 3, 2=25' S., 37=5.5' E. Kichwaniba, ii. 163, 164 — contumacious, 257. Map 4, 0=1.5' S., 30=10' E. Kikumbulin. Map 3, 2=30' S., 38= E. Kikuyu, fertility of, i. 323, 416 — customs, 324, 325— ])eople, 326-329— cultivation, 328— climate, 333-335, 337, 419-English plants, 337 — station in, ii. 535— hostility in, 537, 539— suitable for headquarters of Government, 635. Map 3, 1= S., 37= E. Kilifi. Map 3, 3=37' S., 39=52' E. Kiliman. See Quilimane Kilimanjaro, Monnt, i. 278. Map 3, 3=5' S., 37=22' E. Kilungu village, i. 282. Map 3, 1=45' S., 37=30' E. Kilwa. Map 2, 9° S., 39=40' E. Kimbugwe (F.), head chief of Wa-Fransa, ii. 65 — friendly, 46 — offers to defend Kampala, 124— his spies, 338 — treats for peace, 407, 408— his office, 449, 450— letter on peace, 465, 466 Kipini. Map 3, 2=31' S. , 40=31' E. Kireku. Map 4, 0=22' X., 32=42' E. Kiri. Map 2, 4=20' X., 31=30' E. Kirk, Sir J., on slave question, i. 185, 192 — enforces edict, 188 — and fugitive slaves, 223 ; explains letters of Govern- ment, ii. 3, 4 Kisimayu. Map 2, 0=20' S. , 42=35' E. Kitagwenda, fertile, ii. 262. Map 4, equator, 30=30' E. Kitara, ancient kingdom, founded by the Wahuma, ii. 2, 584 Kitendi. Map 4, 0=16' X., 32=55' E. Kitoro. Map 4, 0=10' S., 29=50' E. Kitosh. Map 3, 0=35' X., 34=30' E. Kitui. Map 3, 6° S., 38=10' E. Kitumi river, ii. 162. Map 4, 0=10' S., 30=30' E. Kivari, ii. 249-251. Map 4, 0=22' X., 30= 32' E. Kiwewa, ii. 8 Kiwola, Goma. Map 4, 0=17' X., 33= E. Koki. Map 4, 0=45' S., 31=20' E. Korogwe. Map 2, 5=5' S. , 38=30' E. Korokoro. Map 3, 0=20' S., 39^30' E. Kosi island, Victoria Xyanza. Map 4 Kota Kota, Jumbe's. Map 2, 13° S., 34°6' E. Kusizi river. Map 4, 0=35' X., 31=15' E. Kwakwa river, canoeing on, i. 22, 23 — de- scribed, 23, 24 — boatmen, 23, 25. Map 2, 18=2' S., 36=8' E. Kwamswaga's. Map 4, 0=40' S., 31=16' E. Kyojia river. Map 4, 0=10' S., 31=40' E. Labour, free. Manyuema, i. 320 — Wan- yamwezi, 400 — laziness of African ex- aggerated, 471-473 — aptitude of na- tives for, 473-475, 477, 478 — their work in Xyasaland, 473-475 — Angoni and Atonga, 475 — wages and labour, 475, 477 — market spoilt by Swahilis and Arabs, 476, 477 — Giriama and Wakamba, 476 — Waganda, 478, 479 — British Indians, 488— Persians, 490— West Africans, 490 —Chinese, 491 Labour, slave, employment of, by Euro- peans, i. 446, 479-481 — results of employ- ment of, 447, 482— export by Belgium and Xatal of, 481 — remedial schemes, 484 485 Lado.' Map 2, 4=50' X., 31=50' E. Laniu. Map 2, 2=15' S., 40=52' E. Lamuyu, Donve, Mount. Map 3, 1=25' S., 36=40' E. Land tenure, ii. 645, 646 INDEX. 675 Langheld, Captain, letters to, ii. 390, 391 — advises Mwanga, 413 — assists Williams, 442 Lango. Map 2, 2°30' N., 33°30' E. Lanjora. Map 3, 1°30' S. , 37°12' E. Lavigerie, Cardinal, i. 152 Laws, Dr, i. 70, 71, 83, 129— re slavery, 174— employs free labour, 474, 475 — on importance of schools, ii. 483 Leikipia, i. 419. Map 3, 0°30' N., 36°30' E. Lemins. Map 2, 3° N., 30°50' E. Lendu tribe. Map 3, 2° N., 30°40' E. Leopard, i, 549, 550 Leopard Bay (Nyasa). Map 3, 13"50' S., 34°17' E. Levesque, Pere. See Frencli Fathers Likoma island. Map 2, 12°5' S., 34°37' E. Lilwa river, i. 350, 354. Map 3, 0°10' S., 35°53' E. Lima, Colonel, i. 30 Lindi. Map 2, 10° S., 39°40' E. Lions, search for, i. 36-38 — on Kibwezi, 279— habits of, 544-546— troops of, 545 —hunting, 545-549— troop, ii. 529, 530 Liquor, amount imported, i. 213-215 — West African gin, 214, 215— native, 230— drinking huts, 231— ^o//i6e-drink- ing, 367 Livingstone, Dr, slave-trade statistics, i. 199 Livingstonia, described, i; 79, 80. Map 2, 14°2' S., 34°48' E. Loangwa river, mouth. Map 2, 15°45' S., 30°15' E. Loch, Sir H., and African labour, i. 477 Locusts, ii. 166 Long, Colonel, ii. 3 Longonot Mount. Map 3, 0°55' S., 36°25' E. Lourdel, Pere. See French Fathers Lovedale Mission, i. 70 Luapala river. Map 2, 9°30' S., 29°50' E. Luba's. Map 4, 0°25' N., 33°25' E. Lugard's Falls. Map 3, 3= S., 38°40' E. Lulambu island. Map 4, 0"13' S., 32°27' E Lumbwa. Map 3, 0°40' S., 35°15' E. Luuzu river, i. 65. Map 2, 15°25' S., 34^52' E. Luwambu harbour, ii. 146, 147. Map 4, 0°20' S., 32°5' E. M 'Donald, Captain, ii. 537, 545, 546 Machako's, i. 220 — isolated, 282, 283— stockade built, 284, 285, 317— adapted for colonisation, 416, 417 — trouble at, ii. 538, 539. Map 3, 1°31' S., 37°18' E. Mackay, Mr, quoted, i. 425, 435, 477 ; ii. 6, 7 Mackenzie, Mr, Administrator of Imperial British East African Company, i. 218 — and fugitive slaves, 225 Mackinnon, Sir W., ii. 602 Macpherson, Dr, ii. 108, 114 Madi tribe. Map 2, 3°40' N., 32° E. Magarini. Map 3, 3°5' S., 40°5' E. Magi. Map 3, 2°30' S., 33°30' E. Magila. Map 2, 5°10' S., 38°47' E. Maguire, Captain, i. 162, 163 Magwangwara, Zulu tribe. Map 2, 10^30' S., 35°30' E. Mahagi (Albert Lake). Map 3, 1°50' S., 31°15' E. Makanjila's. Map 2, 13°44' S., 34°47' E. Makololo on Shire, i. 38 Makongeni and fugitive slaves, i. 224, 233, 235, 241— stockade built, 237 — de- scription of country, &c., 267-270, 271. Map 3, 37' S., 39°32' E. Makraka tribe. Map 2, 4°30' N., 30" E. Malewa river. Map 3, 0=40' S., 36°27' E. Malindi. Map 3, 3°12' S., 407' E. Mambwe. Map 2, 9° S., 32° E, Mandala. Map 2, 15°47' S., 35°2' E. Manganja, tribe described, i. 40 Manyuema, brave, i. 320— slave-raiders, ii. 177, 178— raid, 271. Map 2, 4°30' S., 28° E. Map-making, i. 347 ; ii. 266, 267 Marenga river. See Mweranga Maronga, country described, ii. 155, Map 4, 0°23' S., 31°20' E. Martin, Mr, ii. 108, 109, 113, 281, 294, 295 Masa. Map 3, 1°10' S., 39°55' E. Masai, depredations, i. 87 — war-paths, 272 — drink blood, 272— Dr Peters' methods with, 273 — barter with, 274— threaten caravan, 340— friendly with Wilson, ii. 536— embittered, 539 Masaka, C.M.S. station, ii. 143. Map 4, 0°20' S., 31°47 E. Masasi. Map 2, 10°50' S., 38°40' E. Mashonaland. Map 1, 17°30' S., 31° E. Masongole. Map 3, 2°30' S. , 38° E. Massowa. Map 1, 15° S., 39°30' E. Matakenya. Map 2, 16°50' S., 35°30' E. Mathews, General, i. 14 Matope, i. 65. Map 2, 15°25' S., 34°55' E. Mau mountains, i. 342 — plateau 358 — physical description, 419, 420 — ii. 530, 531. Map 3, 0°30' S., 38°45' E. Maxim gun, saves bloodshed, ii. 343 — moral effect of, ib. — at Bulingugwe, 355 Mazomboni. Map 4, 1°25' N., 30°10' E, Mbaruki's camp. Map 3, 0°20' S., 36°17' E. Mbe country, i. 417. Map 3, 0°20' N., 38°20' E. Mbekirwa's, i. 370. Map 3, 0°30' N., 33° 36' E. Mbogo, ' uncle of Mwanga, king of • Mo- hammedans. See Mohammedans Mbololo. Map 3, 3°25' S., 38°30' E. Mbwinzao. Map 3, 2°20' S., 37°53' E. Mengo. Map 4, 0°18' N., 32°34' E. Messangani. Map 2, 18° S., 36°35' E. Mfudo. Map 2, 0°45' N., 42°53' E. Miala. Map 4, 0°20' N. , 29°45' E. Mianja river. Map 4, 0°40' N., 32°10' E. Mikindu plain, i. 279. Map 3, 2°15' S., 37°50' E. Milner, Mr, quoted, ii. 529 Minerals in British East Africa, i. 388, 389 Mirambo, promises to fight slavers, i. 95 676 IXDEX. Missionaries, Arate to Consul re Karonga's, i. 48 — must command respect, 73, 74 — letters from, 376 — as arbitrators, ii. 44-46, 367— arl)itration fails, 49— offered protection, 331— in politics, 452-458 Protestant: claim compensation, ii. 365, 458, 459, 508 — send acciisations home, 457 Missions, medical, i. 69 — industrial, 70 — importance of schools, 71 ; ii. 483 — ad- ministrative, i. 72, 73— protect slaves, 222-224, 297 — Scotch industrial mission, 278, 290 — and compulsorv education, ii. 58— protection of, 103, 365-368, 587— status, 104, 367 — precedents for protec- tion, 588 Protestant : authorised by Govern- ment, ii. 3 — to Luba's and Wakoli's, 520 Roman Catholic: and slave women, ii. 55-57 Mitiana. Map 4, 0^22' X., 32"-2' E. Mlauri, Makololo chief, i. 39 — great sportsman, ih. Map 2, 16'10' S., 34'55' E. Mlondo (E.), chief, ii. 363, 377, 378— brave and reliable, 460 Mlozi, i. 54 Moffat, Dr, ii. 541 Mohammedans, settle in Uganda, ii. 4 — persecuted, 4, 6, 8 — drive out Christians, 8— ejected, 9 — maintaining balance, 17 —raid, 47. 110, 31S— negotiations with {re Mboo-oj. 126-129— helped In- Kabare- ga, 129— position of, 129, 130— defeated, 132, 133— checkmated, 298, 381-de- feated l:)v Sudanese and sue for peace, 382— Mbogo, 383— deserters, 389— start for Usanda, 400 — negotiations with, 400, 437-440, 477, 488-495 — repatriation of, 439, 440, 496— enter Uganda, 478, 479— I meet Mbogo, 485-492— split among, 486-488 — Mbogo delivered up, 495 — arrive at Mengo, 497— nieet Mwanga, 498 — sign treaty in haro.za, 500 — Mbogo at Kampala, 500 Moir, Mr F., i. 45— wounded, 58— arm shattered, 60 Moir, Mr J., i. 45, 67, 155 Mokia. Map 4, 0'-5' X., 30"'10' E. Mombasa, described, i. 13 — valuable port, 396 ; ii. 582 — seat of Government, 631 — as subordinate centre, 636, 637. Map 3, 4=4' S., 39=40' E. Mombera's. Map 2, 11°37' S., 33=45' E. Mombutu tribe. Map 2, 3=20' X., 28=30' E. Mondu, ii. 93, 107. Map 4, 0=20' X. , 33= 10' E. Mongava Hill. Map .3, 3=20' S., 39=42' E. Monteith, Mr L., i. 53, 54. 120 Mopea, i. 26. Map 2, ir58' S., 35= 40' E. Morambala Mount. Map 2, 17=30' S., 35= 26' E. Morendat. Map 3, 0°40' S., 36=25' E. Mozambique, described, 1. 18. Map 2, 15= S., 40=45' E. Mpanga river, bridged, ii. 246, 247— again, ii. 260, 261. Map 4, 0=3' X., 30=20' E. Mpata. Map (i. 94), 9=54' S., 33=49' E. Mpeseni. Map 2, 13=48' S., 32=48' E. Mponda's. Map 2, 14=28' S., 35=7' E. Mpuku valley, fertile, ii. 187 Mrowi. Map 2, 10=45' S., 34°15' E. Mruli. Map 3, 1=40' X., 32=20' E. Mswa. Map 3, 2= S., 31= E. Mtesa, ii. 2-5— treats with Gordon, 3 — his iron rule and cruelty, 650 Mtindi's. Map 3, 0=27' X., 34=18' E. Mtunga's. Map 3, 0=23' X., 34=7' E. Mudzi stream. Map 2, 15=59' S., 34=43' E. Mugema's. Map 4, 0=27' X., 32=15' E. Mugenyi. Map 4, 1=11' X., 30=20' E. Mujasi (F.), chief, ii. 65- disaffected, 82 — root of the troulde, 89, 90 — in Avar- paint, 112— character, 123, 124— alleged outrage on wife Xalinia, 462 — unfound- ed, 463-letter, 481, 482 Mule. See Transport Mumia's. Map 3, 0=19' X., 34=30' E. Munobo river, crossing, ii. 240. Map 4, 0=40' X., 30=27' E. Muntu-Mwema, captured, i. 108, 109 — acts as guide, 113 Mupuku river. Map 4, 0=15' X., 30=16' E. Murchison Falls. Map 2, 15°56' S., 34=39' E. Mutanda's (formerly Wakoli's). Map 3, 0=30' X., 33=43' e: Mwaiba, fugitive slave village, north of Moniljasa. Map 3. Mwami's village on Victoria Xvanza. Map 4. Mwanga, ii. 5 — I write to, i. 368 — my policy towards, 377 — ^jriersecutes Christians, ii. 6, 8— orders Bishop Hannington's mur- der, 6 — his flight, 8 — restored, 10 — treats with Jackson, 11 — with Peters, 11-13 — his policy, 17— character of, 40, 482 — fears British vengeance, 40, 41 — partial- ity to Eoman Catholics, 64, 65, 69, 72, 77 — his feeble rule, 68— as sharnha ar- bitrator, 72, 73 — night conference with, 77, 79 — haraza hut, 78, 79 — agrees to divide Sesse, 78 — convinced of my impartiality, 82-84 — resolves to govern fairly, 84, 88— grateful, 87, 88— his im- morality, 99 — conference with, 108 — his drummer. 111 — desires to become Protestant, 311, 482— insolent, 326, 327, 335 — refuses justice, 329, 330 — his letter and my reply, 330 — his build- ings saved, 344 — urged to return, 348 — eager to do so, 349 — prevented by Mon- seigneur, 351 — bids Luba light, 380 — his return a sine qud non, 397, 399 — jire- vented, 404— returns, 418, 419 — under the Queen, 421 — gratitude, 421, 422— suggestions for repartition, 422 — de- mands British flag, 434 — new treaty with, 434-436 — claims Karema's boys, 443 — visits Kampala, 470, 482 — wel- comes Mbogo, 500 — o])poses plot, 501 —his letters to the Queen and Imperial British East African Company, 518, 519 —nominal king, 650, 651 Mweranga river. Map 4, 0=19' X., 32=25' INDEX. 677 Mweru, Lake. Map 2, 9° S., 29° E. MAvini Wanda. Map (i. 94), 9°46' S., 33°28' E. Nalmjuzi river. Map 4, 0°20' S., 31°45' E. Nabuo-abu lake. Map 4, 0°22' S., 31°55' E. Naivaslia kake, i. 338, Map 3, 0°45' S., 36°22' E. Nakuru kake, water inidrinkable, i. 343. Map 3, 0°20' S., 36°10' E. Naiiiaquakand. Map 1, 25° S., 17° E. Namilembi tribe. Map 6, 0°19' N., 32°34' E. Namuimba iskand, ii. 387, 389. Map 4, 0°3o' S., 32°23' E. Nandi hills, i. 358, 359. Map 3, 0^40' N., 35° E. Napoleon Gulf. Map 4, 0°25' N., 33°15' E. Natal, imports slave labour, i. 481 Ndara. Map 3, 3°35' S., 38°35' E. Ndera. Map 3, 2° S., 40° E. Ndi. Map 3, 3°20' S., 38°30' E. Ngaboto. Map 2, 2° N., 3.5°30' E. Ngiri. Map 2, 2°40' S., 37°20' E. Ngongo Bagas. Map 3, 1°43' S., 36°41' E. Nile, at Victoria Nyanza, i. 374 — where navigable, 385 — swamps, 433 — floods, ii. 628, 529— control of sources, 570, 583, 584 Njems plain, i. 352, 353. Map 3, 0°30' N., 36°5' E. Nkendi Mount. Map 4, 0°15' N., 30°11' E. Nkonde. Map (i. 94), 9°45' S., 33°55' E. Nsibu, Wakamba chief, i. 284 Nsororo (Wavertree) tort built, ii. 234. Map 4, 0°47' N., 30°28' E. Ntali, ii. 156, 157, 263 — receives Christians, 9 — our services to, 281. Map 4, 0°27' S., 30°50' E. Ntara. See Forts Ntebe. Map 4, 0°3' N., 32°25' E. Nyakorongo (Lome). Map 4, 0°37' N., 30°32' E. Nvamsigiri lake. Map 4, 0°17' S., 30°7' E. Nyasa lake described, i. 82. Map 2, 11° 30' S., 34°30' E. Nyasaland, anomalous position of consul in, i. 62, 63— climate, 392, 393— native tribes, 395. See Karonga's, Missions, and Slavers Nvenga. Map 4, 0°22' N., 33°8' E. Nzoi, i. 286-peak, 316. Map 3, 1°55' S., 37°35' E. Nzoia river, i. 363. Map 3, 1°55' S., 37° 35' E. Obok. Map 1, 12° N., 43°20' E. Oil Rivers Protectorate, imports and revenue, i. 213-215 Olives, i. 399 O'Neill, Mr, an explorer, i. 17 — at Ka- ronga's, 55, 57 Opium, i. 26, 398 Ostrich, abounds, i. 354 — farms in Sudan, 436, 437 Pamalombi lake. Map 2, 14°35' S., 35°8' E. Persians as agriciilturists, i. 296 — as trans- port attendants, 464 — as colonists, 490 Peters, Dr, ii. 11-14 Pilkington, Rev. Mr, ii. 482, 483 Pokino (E. ), chief, ii. 52— influential, 65 — uses British flag, 125 — su])plies food, 139, 142, 143, 285 — described, 284— marches to Namuimba's, 389 Police in Uganda, ii. 54, 94, 105, 106— at centres of government, 638 — cost of, 639, 640 Pombe-drinkh-ig, ii. 65, 464 Population of East Africa, i. 396, 471 — how distributed, 396, 397, 432 Portal, Sir Gerald, mission to Abyssinia, i. 7 — appointed commissioner, ii. 549 — his action in Uganda, 551-562 — repartition, 551, 552— Wa-Fransa extension, 553-556 mission spheres, 557, 558— Selim's Su- danese, 558, 559 — Mohammedans, 559, 560 — internal improvements, 560, 561 — hia instructions, 564, 594 Portugal in Africa, recruiting soldiers, i. 15, 16 — slave cargo, 25 — treatment of natives, 29, SO—prazos, 30— aggression in Nyasaland, 158 — abolishes slavery, 178 — intercei)ts ammunition for Ka- ronga's, 152 — her railways, 453 — pre- serves elephants, 508 — territorial claims, ii. 567, 568 — expenditure, 586— methods of taxation, 644 Povoleri, Count, on Hannibal's elephants, i. 494 — on tusk-cutting, 500 Prestige, British, sacrificed, i. 165 Protestant party. See Wa-Ingleza Pruen, Dr, on tsetse-fly, i. 391 Quiliniane, i. 21, 30. Map 2, 17°52' S., 36°52' E. Rabai. Map 3, 3°56' S., 39°34' E. Railway. See Transport Railway survey, quoted, i. 427 ; ii. 510 — I accompany, 515-537 — results, 516, 517 Ramakukan's. Map 2, 16°57' S., 34°41' E. Ravenstein, Mr, on population of British East Africa, i. 396, 471 Rear-guard, ii. 139, 239 — search-parties, 227, 236, 237 Rehan Aga, ii. 242 Rejaf. Map 2, 4°45' N., 31°40' E. Reptiles, i. 553 Retention of Uganda, urged by Chambers of Commerce, i. 379, 380 — by statesmen, 380, 381— advantages to ourselves, 381, 382 — advantages to Africa, 382 — dis- advantages of, combated, 383 Revenue, plans for raising, ii. 136, 137, 172, 646-648— from salt trade, 254, 255— from estates, 484 — Williams' estimates of, in Uganda, 641 Rhinoceros, i. 290, 311, 315, 323, 351— habits, &c., 248, 517-520 Rhodes, Mr, ii. 608 — and African Lakes Company, i. 158, 217, 219 Ribi, Ribe. Map 3, 3°50' S., 39°38' E. Ripon Falls. Map 4, 0°27' N., 33°13' E. 678 INDEX. Roads. See Transport Roman Catholic party. See Wa-Fransa Rongai river. Map 3, 0'30' N., 36"'5' E. Rosebery, Lord, re retention, i. 380 — and Lado expedition, ii. 568, 569 — on con- tinuity of policy, 579 — quoted, 584, 585 — against evacuation, 590, 591, 593 — on administration, 617 Routes, between Victoria and Albert lakes, ii. 265, 266 — railway, 516— Imperial British East African Company's, vid Usoga, 576 — cost of freight vid Zambesi- Tanganvika, 609 Ruamiga lake, ii. 163. Map i, O'lO' S., 30°15' E. Ruarwi bav, Xyasa, i. 84 — lake-dwellers, 84 Rubaga. Map 6, 0^9 X., 32°33' E. Rubber, i. 407, 408 Rudolf lake. Map 2, 4° X., 36^ E. Ruiji's. Map 4, 0°3' X., 30=32' E. Ruisamba lake. Map 4, Equator and 30=20' E. Rukuru river. Map (i. 94), 9=54' S., 34= E. Ruo river. Map 2, 16=33' S., 35=10' E. Russia in Abyssinia, ii. 583 Ruwenzori, fertility of district, i. 423, 424 ; ii. 180— by sunset, 181, 182. Map 4, 0=28' N., 30=5' E. Saati (near Massowa). Map 1. Sabakhi river, exploration of, i. 220, 221, 248 et 5^^.— fishing, 251— stockade built, 286, 287. Map 3, 3=10' S., 40=8' E. Saleh, ii. 504, 505 Salisbury, Lord, on Portuguese claims, i. 158, ii. 567-569— on fighting in Xyasa- laud, i. 209 — re retention 380 — on LTganda, ii. 590 Sakwa's. Map 3, 0=20' X., 34=37' E. Salo-Salo (F.), chief, ii. 65 Salt, as revenue, i. 432— lake, ii. 167-169 (Map 4, 0=7' S., 30=1' E.)— African love of, 169 — poisonous, 184 — from earth, 184, 223— purchases food, 224— trade develops, 257, 271 Salt river, i. 279. Map 3, 2=10' S., 37=45' E. Samweli (E.), chief, and Protestant envov, ii. 110 Sango. Map 3, 0=50' S., 31=50' E. Saunderson on elephants, i. 499, 501, 506 Schweinfurth quoted, i. 436, 491 Scott, Rev. C, i. 45, 64, 474 Sebwe river, ii. 187. Map 4, 0=15' X., 30=12' E. Sekibobo (F.), chief, ii. 107, 321— magna- nimity of, 375— daughter Malia, 376 — reliable, 460 Selim Bey, loyal, ii. 133, 201, 210, 478— and evacuation of Equatoria, 201 et seq. —described, 209, 210— gives in, 211— agreement with, 213, 214 — gratitude, 242, 243 — discipline, 249— rearranges forts, 447, 448— negotiates with Moham- medans, 487-496— superintends Moham- medan migration, 496 — disgrace and death, 478, 479 note Selinia island. Map 4, 0=13' S., 32=31' E. Semliki valley, described, ii. 176, 177 — river, 195 — attacked on, 196, 197. Map 4, 1=10' X., 30=32' E. Sena (Portuguese headquarters), i. 29, 31. Map 2, 17=30' S., 34=56' E. Senga. See Basenga Sericulture, i. 398 Sesse and "islands," ii. 9 — division mooted, 49 — fertility 73, 147 — strategic value, 73, 75 — monojioly of canoes, 74 — in- habitants not Waganda, 75— king agrees to divide, 78 — Wa-Fransa refuse to divide, 86— declare for us, 395. Map 4, 0=20' S., 32=20'E. Shambas, question of, ii. 71, 77 — discus- sion at Kampala, 81 — decrees in haraza, 92 — Mondu and Paulo cases, 93, 107 — re-change of religion and alienation of estates, 95-97 — arguments on, 97 - 100 — settlement and unsigned entry in Statute-book, 100, 101— Williams' action on, 301, 303 Shamo. Map 2, 17=41' S., 35=24' E. Sharpe, Mr, i. 75, 76, 83, 84 — attacks slave caravan, 108 Shauri, African, ii. 269, 270 Shire river, i. 35— scenerv, 41 — highlands, 65. Map 2, 17=45' S., 35=23' E. Shirwa lake. Map 2, 15= S., 35=40' E. Shukri Aga, i. 300, 511 ; ii. 21, 25— his storv, 133, 211, 250, 251 Shuli tribe. Map 2, 3= X., 33= E. Shupanga. Map 2, 18=2' S., 35=37' E. Singo. Map 4, 0=30' X., 31=45' E. Sio river. Map 3, 0=15' X., 34=2' E. Slave-caravan at Tsavo, i. 306-308 Slave-children, i. 308-310 Slave-labour. See Labour Slave-raiding, bv Portuguese half-castes, i. 31 note — usual methods, 90, 91— area devastated, 202 ; ii. 575— where none, 576 Slavers, Arabs and Swahilis, i. 93— their methods, 52 — cruelty, 54 Slavers in East Africa, attack mission- station, i. 222-224— bought off, 224, 225 — and self-redemption of slaves, 296, 297 Slavers on Xyasa, threaten Karonga's, i. 54, 55— attack and burn it, 56-58— their village stormed, 58 — again attacked, 60 —war with, 99-130— Sultan's envoy to, 131, 134— slave-dhow put tc flight, 138- 140— they gain time, 144— war renewed, 148-151— would give in, but fear treach- ery, 152 — in great straits again, 159 — Mr Johnstone makes treaty with, 160, 161 — its results, 161, 164, 165— again dominant, 164, 165 Slavery, meaning of, 1. 1«0, 184— its recog_- nition immoral, 184 — v. morals, ii. 56,j57 — children j^urchased by Missions, 58, 59— abolished in Uganda, 500— disposal of Mohammedan slaves, 502, 503— res^ults of evacuation of Uganda on, 576, 577 — legal status of, 619— recognised in Zanzi- bar, 629-632 — German methods uith, 655 Domestic: three objections to, i. 169 — INDEX. 679 witli Arabs, 170, 171— in Uganda, 171 — abolished by Protestants in Uganda, 172, 173— with Angoni, &c., 173, 174— with Sudanese, 174, 175 — illegal in Zanzibar, 176, 177— hereditary, 177, 178 Methods of supp ressing : (1) Abolition and compensation, i. 175-179— Lord Grey on latter, 175, 176. (2) Permissive free- dom, 179-183— abolition of status, 180- 183-feasibility, 181, 182— efficacy, 183 — (Question of Protectorate, 183, 184). (3) Edicts (never enforced), 186-188 Slaves, position in Uganda and interior, i. 171-173, 184, 185— aliens or denizens, 173 — status in Zanzibar (under British rule), 184-186, 223 note --feelings of, 188, 191, 309, 310 — disposal of freed slaves, 1 89-192 — ransom injurious to, 225, 226 — plan to work out their freedom, 227, 228, 231-233— /erce naturce, 228— self-re- demption of, 296-298 Slave-trade, employment of porters gives impetus to, i. 447, 482 Modes of dealing xoith : (1) By sea, i. 196-202— costly, 197, 198, 202— slaves rescued, 199, 200 — disposal of freed slaves, 200, 201. (2) In the interior, pro- posed scheme, 203-208 — armed trading steamers, 203-205 — objections to gun- boats, 203, 204, 208— land force operating in conjunction, 205, 206 — must be a gradual work, 207 — the use of force, 209 — Karonga's, 210. (3) Cardinal Lavi- ' gerie's scheme, 208. (4) Brussels Act, 212— how carried out by us, 212-216 Slave-trading, i. 92, 93 — ^l)y purchase and kidnapping, 193, 195 — disappeared on Victoria Nyanza, ii. 576 Smith, Fort. Map 3, 1°16' S., 36°45' E. Snakes, i. 35, 36, 290, 291 Somals, origin, i. 240— as transport at- tendants, i. 464 Songwe river. Map (i. 94), 9°42' S., 34° E. Sosien. Map 3, 0°27' N., 35°50 E. Sotik. Map 3, 0°50' S., 35°25' E. Speke, on climate of Uganda, i. 383, 426 — on Uganda, ii, 2 — on swamps, 118 — on Wakuma, 157 — on Buddu, 424 Spirits, import of, i. 29 Sport, i. 538 — lion, 36, 545; ii. 529— buffalo, i. 345-347, 523— elephant, 508- 513; ii. 176, 221— the paradise of, i. 554 — conditions of, in East, 555-560 — battery required for, 559, 560 — dogs, ii. 159 — pig-sticking (India), 257-259— tiger (India), 253-257, 547 Stanley, Mr, on population of British East Africa, i. 396 — on climate of Uganda, 426 — on Uganda, ii. 3 — relief expedition, 201-204, 206 Stanley's camp (Kavalli). Map 4, 1°30' N. , 30°23' E. Steblenski, i. 28-31, 155 Stephanie lake. Map 2, 4°40' N., 37° E. Stokes, Mr, ii. 9, 10, 16— his trade, 63, 64 — his guns, &.C., stored in Kampala, 252 Stuhlmann, Dr, ii. 31, 205, 206 Sturge quoted, i. 175, 179 Suakim. Map 1, 19° N. , 37°25' E. Subaki. Map 3, 1°55' S., 40° E. Sudan, possible trade with, i. 399, 400 — as recruiting - ground, 400 — Mahdism dead in the, 400. See Commercial Zones Sudanese, slaves of, i. 174, 175 — as crafts- men, 479— (Selim's), relief of, ii. 133— reasons for, 134 — good soldiers, 134 — steal, 141, 264— officers arrive, 201 — after evacuation of Equatoria, 201-205 — exas- perated against Emin, 206 — overtures to, 207 — distil spirits, 210 — condition of, 217, 218 — parade of, 218 — weave cloth, 218 — leave Kavalli's, 225 — on march, 226, 227, 233 — numbers, 229, 234 — disposal of, 231, 232 — first settlement, 235 — need European officers, 236, 401 — deserters from Emin, 237 — second settlement, 245 — third settlement, 250 — restrained, 281 —defeat Kabarega, 882, 413— good material, 402, 638— dis- claimed by Khedive, 546— their case, 546, 547 — cost of a company, 639 Suks tribe. Map 3, 2° N. , 35° E. Swahilis, origin, i. 238, 239, 265— Drum- mond on, 238 — language, 240— plucky, 241— good at barter, 265, 266 ; ii. 156— food issue to, i. 275 — contented, 286 — unstable, 305 — endurance of, 339 ; ii. 198 — harm done by caravans of, i. 353- 355; ii. 507— loyalty, 43— steal, 141— ingenuity, 268— as soldiers, 638, 639— cost of a company of, 640 Swamps, i. 31, 32, 360— on Nile, 433— in Uganda, ii. 117-119— on Semliki, 197— in Torn, 238— in Buddu, 285— drainage of, 652, 653 Symonds, on trade, i. 407 Tabora. Map 2, 5° S., 33° E. Taita. Map 3, 3°30' S. , 38°30' E. Tana river navigable, i. 384, 385— fertility of district, 411. Map 3, 2°40' S., 40°17' E. Tanga. Map 2, 5°5' S. , 39°5' E. Tanganyika, Lake, i. 205-207. Map 2, 5° S., 29°30' E. Tarn. Map 3, 3°45' S., 39°8' E. Taveta. Map 3, 3°25' S., .37°45' E. Taxation, Portuguese poll-tax, i. 30 — market tax, ii. 54 — forced food-supply, 255— grain tax, 401, 644 — proposed for Uganda, 641 — of natives, 644 — in Nyasa- land, 644, 645— poll tax, 644-646— house tax, 646 — land tax, 647 — various, 648 Tigiri river. Map 3, 0°27' N., 36° E. Tindi, i. 365 Togoland. Map 1, 7° N., 1° E. Torn, promises to Wahuma, ii. 192, 249 — country, 193, 230— settlement of, 259. Map 4, 0°15' N., 30°15' E. See Wa- huma Trading stations, suggested, ii. 146, 147, 531 — obligatory under Brussels Act, 574, 575 Transport, difficulties overcome in Nyasa- land, i. 387, 388 — present cost of, 439, 440, 448, 469; ii. 609— Zambesi- Tanganyika route, i. 448 ; ii. 609 — Ger- 680 IXDEX. man route, i. 449 — roads and railways obligatory under Brussels Act, ii. 574, 575, 577 — freight to Uganda, 609 — mail service, 636 — roads, 652 — enlistment of porters, 654, 655 Means for : Aninials, i. 221, 236, 237, 391, 457-carts, 458, 459, 589— bullock, 458, 468 — stasring system, 460, 461— food, 460-462— ass, 460, 467-469— gear, 463— attendants, 4^3-465 -elephant, 465, 466 — camel, 466, 467 — mule, 467 — zebra- mule, 467, 514, 515 — ponv, 468 — sui^plv, 468, 469— zebra, 515 Porters, i. 439-442 — prohibitive ex- pense of, 439, 440 — supply failing, 440 — edict asainst enlistment of, at Zanzibar, 188, 441, 442 ; ii. 654, 655— failure of edict, i. 442-446— edict not fairly applied, 446-448. See Wanyamwezi, and Swa- hilis Raihcays, i. 385, 386, 449, 450— lines in Uganda, 386, 387— desirability, 449- 452— advocated by statesmen and com- mercial men, 450 — cost, 450, 456 — de- velops a country, 451 — in other countries, 451 — in other African spheres of influ- ence, 452, 454 — some objections answered, 454, 455 — impetus to home industries, 455, 456 — building by sections, 456— advantages, 456, 457 Roads, i. 458-460 ; ii. 265, 266, 649. 652 Watericaifs, i. 38 4-38 o, 44S, 459 Travel, hard life, i. 3-7 — strange methods of, 20 — rough ifare, 24 — discomforts of, 142, 143, 291— road-cutting, 234— morn- ing start, 243 — gun-bearer, 244, 245 — deserted camp, 246, 247 — track marked, 248— by the camp-fire, 253-264— lost in the forest, 261-263— an inteiTUpted bath, 270 — food-purchase, 273, 274 — food dis- tributed, 275 — quicksands, 285 — pass- word of peace, 324 — forest, 333 — no water, 338— lost among the hills, 351— meat distribution, 359 — crawling down- hill, 361 — methods of, ii. 542, 543 — water, 544 Treaties with Xyasa Slavers, i. 160 — with Mbekirwa, 370— approved by Govern- ment, ii. 581 — binding, 581, 582 Treaty-making, ii. 579-581 Treaty with Kasagama, ii. 188 With ]Mwanga, ii. 33— and Wa-Fransa, 27 — ^louseigueur promises co-operation, 29 — Wa-Inghza disappointed, 32 — Kim- bugwe and Wci-Fransa chiefs accept, 38 — chiefs' codicil to, 38, 97 — signing of, 39 With Xtali, ii. 160 Tsavo river, i. 271, 272 — slave caravan captured at, 306-308. Station on, Map 3, 3' S., 38=27' E. Tsetse-fly, rare in British East Africa, i. 389-391 Tucker, Bi.shop, ii. 41, 59— his appeal for Uganda, 602 Turkaua tribe. Map 2, 1''30' X., 34= E. Uganda, under orders for, i. 294, 295— the ''great Uganda road," 371 — physical features of, 374, 375, 423-425— cliniate, 383, 425, 426— products, 427-432— popu- lation, 432— great roads, 458, 4.59 — law of murder, ii. 71 — statute-book, 72 — pop- ulation decreased, 98— quieting do\\m, 102, 253— as mission-field, 104— roads, 117— physical features, 117, 118, 138, 139 — fertility, 119 — future commerce, 140 — instructions to evacuate, 287 — probable results, 288, 289 — negotiations for repartition after war, 385, 386, 409, 420-433— treaty on repartition, 427-429 — changes effected, 471, 650 — di'um of, 509 — peace throughout, 512 — strategic value, 583, 584 — prestige, 584 — "the Uganda question," 602 et seq. Ukasa. Map 3, 0=30' X., 33'20' E. Ulu mountains, i. 279, 281, 282. Map 3, 1=40' S.,37"30' E. Umba river. Map 3, 4=40' S. . 39=15' E. Unyamwezi. Map 2, 40= S., 33= E. Unyanyembe. Map 2, 5= S. , 33= E. Uuyoro, elevation of, i. 424— population, 432 ; ii. 2, 5 — physical features, 121, 131, 132. Map 3,' 1=30 X., 31=30' E. See Kabarega of Unvoro Usagara, Ankoli. Map 4, 6=30' S., 36=30' E. Usoga, the people and their houses, i. 366- 368 — products, 368 — physical features of, 371, 372 — route to Uganda through, ii. 6, 15 ; closed, 379 — Protestant mis- sion in, 76 — Williams' work in, 510-512. Map 3, 0=40' X. , 33=30' E. Usougola. Map 4, 0=5' S., 29=55' E. Usui. Map 3, 2=30' S., 31= E. Usukuma imhealthy, ii. 75. Uvuma island. :Map 4, 0=15' X., 33=25' E. Uziba. Map 3, 1=20' S., 31=50' E. Uzinja. Map 3, 3= S., 32= E. Victoria Xyanza, whence supplied, ii. 118 — no slave-raiding on, 576. Maj) 3, 1= S., 33= E. For "islands" see Sesse Vijongo lakes (sing. Kijongo). Map 4, 0=40' X., 30=17' E. Virobobo, Sultan's troops, i. 241, 242, 287, 288 Voi river. Map 3, 3=30' S., 38=35' E. Wa-Fransa, Roman Catholics, ii. 11, 65 — bitterly hostile to me, 69 — murder Pro- testants, 71, 325, 328 — attack Protest- ants, 84, 85 — responsible for war, 85 — lesser still hostile, 95 — intolerant, 98, 99, 143 — refuse us food, 154, 283— secret embassies, 281 — responsible for out- breaks, 303, 305 — their policy, 306— falsely accuse Protestants of attempting king's life, 310— concentrate on capital, 318, 320— desire war, 331, 336 -attitude at opening of war, 336. 337 — precipitate fight, 340, 341— defeated and fly, 343, 344— ultimatum ofl^ered to. 352 — attack Mwami's, 352 — reject our projiosals, 353, 354 — concentrate in Buddu, 361-363 — hostile in Chagwe, 378, 379 — threaten Kampala, 380, 384— Xamuimba's, 387— INDEX. 681 treat for peace, 407 — content witli Bucldu, 423, 425— island ceded to, 427— still hostile, 432 — chiefs changed, 433, 434 — and estates, 476 — negotiate Avith Mohammedans, 477, 486. Wa-Ingleza, Protestants, ii. 11, 65 — ex- cluded from conrt, 93— grievances, 93 — sometimes tolerant, 98, 99— use British Hag, 125 — chief brings supplies, 156, 283— distrust Williams, 307, 308— go against Mohammedans, 318 — against Futahangi, 320— are exasperated, 330 — guns issued to Wa-Ingleza on eve of war, 338, 340— attack Bulingugwe, 353-355 — refuse to fight, 363, 364— oppose re- partition, 386, 423, 424, 429— act hon- ourably, 398 — oppose repatriation of Mohammedans, 440 — send me insulting letter, 449, 451, 452— accused of out- rage, 462, 463 — inquiry into outrage, 464, 473 — some meditate plot, 501 Wadai. Map 1, 12° N., 21° E. Wadelai, events at, ii. 202-205. Map 2, 2^45' N., 31°30' E. Waganda. barter Avith, i. 274 — extra- ordinary dance, 376 — doctoring, 377, 378 — clever artisans, 478, 479— dress of, ii. 23 — their ideas about Hag, 26 — im- pressed by our readiness for war, 43 — ■ thieving propensities of, 50 — deserter makes mischief, 52 — great liars, 69, 70 — unfit for routine work, 95 — envoys return from the coast, 109, 110 — army, 119, 120 — bad scouts, 120 — their treachery, 123 — style of fighting, 130 — cautious in war, 375 — attached to their king, 383 — release women captives, 392 — etiquette, 406, 407 — offices of Waganda chiefs, 449, 450 — customs, &c. (Pilkington), 483 — suspicious, 489 — verv intelligent, 649 — as sul)ordinate officials, 649-651 Waganda chiefs, improved relations of, ii. 51, 52 — friendly, stop yvar, 80, 85 — cordial, 107 Wages of free labourers, i. 475, 477 Waheha. Map 2, 8° S., 35°30' E. Wahenga, i. 52— spy, 146, 147. Map 2, 11°15' S., 34° E. Wahuma, pastoral tribe, ii. 157, 158 — decimated, 1.59— dogs, 159 — flock into Nasagama, 237— promises to, 249, 250, 580 — ettects of evacuation on, 673— cus- toms, &c. of (Pilkington), 482 Wakamba, i. 273, 274— described, 276-278 —beehives, 279, 289, 290— friendly, 282 — at war with Masai, 283 — as labourers, 476 Wakoli, i. 368— blood-brotherhood with, 369— friendly, ii. 34, 379, 380— imports arms, 415. Map 3, 0°30' N., 33°43' E. Wakufokoa. See Dangi Walker, Rev. R. H., ii. 284 — leaves for Ankoli, 302— position in Buddu, 360, 361 —makes for Mengo, 363, 364 Waller, Rev. H., re slavery, i. 208 — slave labour, 479, 480, 482 Wanandi, Semliki Valley. Map 4. 0°20' N., 29°45' E. VOL. II. Wanga. Map 3, 4°40' S., 39°10' E. Wankondi, massacred by Arabs, i. 52, 54 — of north end v. Arabs, 58 — refugees, 111 — described, 131, 132 — courage of, 147 — driven out by Arabs, 164, 165. Map (i. 94), 9°45' S., 33°55' E. Wanyamwezi, as porters, i. 400, 448, 449. Map 2, 4°S., 33° E. Wanyika, "people of wilderness," inland of Mombasa. See Giryama Wanvoro, at Salt Lake, ii. 168, 170 — de- feated, 184-186 War, miseries caused by intertribal, i. 283, 284 — averted, ii. 85 — drums beaten, 110, 111 — gathering for, 112— council of, 130, 131 — Lord Wolseley's opinion, 359 Wart-hog, i. 542, 543 Waterways. See Transport Wavertree, Nsororo. Map 4, 0°47' N., 30°28' E. Wavuma. See Uvuma Wawemba. See Awemba Waziba, friendly, ii. 403— envovs, 483, 507 White, Mr Silva, i. 478 Williams, Captain, R.A., reaches Nile, ii. 52 — arrives in Uganda, 59 — as a British officer, 61— drills soldiers, 62, 114 — ex- l^edition against Mohammedans, 114 — returns to Mengo, 137, 138 — his generous offer, 292— administers Uganda, 297-312 patrols Mengo, 309— accused of parti- ality, 322, 323 — attacks Bulingugwe, 353-355— charges against him refuted, 358— defends Namuimba's, 389— takes letters to Bukoba, 390 — suggestions for a settlement, 410, 411—" real grit," 522, 523 — his estimate of cost of Uganda, 641 Wilson, Mr G., first impressions of, i. 228, 229— and fugitive slaves, 231— ill, 234, 280, 312-315— tact with natives, 238, 280, 335— left at Dagoreti, 333, 335— slan- dered and dismissed, 336 — evacuates Dagoreti, ii. 535, 536 — unique influence and work, 541, 542 Wilson, Rev. C. T., quoted, i. 383, 384, 426, 434 Wlmi river. Map 4, 0°22' 30°17' E. Winton, Fort. Map 4, 0°27' N., 31°7' E. Winton, Mr De, i. 300, 317— ill, 377 ; ii. 27, 37 — his work at Kampala, 62 — left in charge at Kampala, 114 — at Fort Ed- ward, 252 — through Ankoli, 256 — his instructions, 258, 259 — left at Ntara, 260 — his report, 400, 401 — goes against Manyuema, 414— his death, 444, 445 Winton, Sir F. De, i. 296, 298— our situa- tion in Uganda in 1890. ii. 16 Witu. Map 3, 2°25' S., 40°30' E. Wolf, Herr, on Kikuyu, i. 418 note — ii. 543, 544, 562 Yao, tribe, and slave trade, i. 174. Map 2, 13° S., 35° E. Zachariah (E.), chief, his gratitude, ii. 55 — confided in, 76 — king's messenger to me, 93 — ^joins expedition to Torn, 1,52, 153 — his discipline, 186 — his financial scheme, 2 X 682 INDEX. 416, 417 — speech on repartitiou, 424 — reliable, 460 — a tvpe of the uew regime, 650 Zambesi, sunset on, i. 29 — new channel, 158. Map 2, 8=55' S., 36=18' E. Zanzibar, slaves in, illegal, i. 176, 177 — yet legal status of slave recognised, 181- 184 — slaves in, 187, 200 ; administration through, ii. 615-620— revenue of, 616, 617 — anomalous political position of, 630-632. Map 2, 6=10' S., 39''11' E. Zanzibari "Levy," ii. 62 Zanzibaris. Bee Swahilis Zebra, i. 142 — protected by nature, 514 — taming, 514, 515 — value of, for transport, 516 — impervious to tsetse llv, 513 Zomba. :Map 2, 15=20' S., 35=20' E. Zumbo. Map 2, 15=45' S., 30=15' E. ERRATA. Vol. ii. p. 59, footnote i, insteoxl of " chap. viii. p. 6," read "vol. i. chap. ix. p. 222." ii. p. 130, vignette, instead o/" Islam Camp with Sudanese Party," read "Camp on the Kanyangoro River." ii. p. 210, footnote, suhstitute for note printed, " The Albert Xyanza, &c.. Baker, vol. ii. pp. 244-246." THE EXD. PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AN"D SONS. \ DATE DUE