* JUN 231910 *, 
 
 DT35I 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/fightingslavehunOOswan 
 
FIGHTING THE SLAVE-HUNTERS 
 IN CENTRAL AFRICA 
 
A Well-kept Village 
 
 The native on the left has bought a new garment and fez, showing he has adopted Moham- 
 medanism. He is carrying a ladder of the kind used all over Africa for getting on to huts. The 
 man on the right is carrying a piece of sugar-cane. A flat stone for grinding rice is on the left. 
 F rom the tree the seed for next year is suspended to preserve it from rats and white ants. 
 
* JUN 23 1910 * 
 
 FIGHTING THE^.,---^^ 
 SLAVE-HUNTERS IN^ 
 CENTRAL AFRICA 
 
 A RECORD OF 
 TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF TRAVEL ^ ADVENTURE 
 ROUND THE GREAT LAKES 
 
 AND OF 
 
 THE OVERTHROW OF TIP-PU-TIB, RUMALIZA 
 AND OTHER GREAT SLAVE-TRADERS 
 
 v' 
 
 ALFRED J. SWANN 
 
 Late Senior Resident Magistrate of the Nyasaland Protectorate 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 SIR H. H. JOHNSTON, G.C.M.G., K.C.B. 
 
 With 45 Illustrations ^ a Map 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 LONDON : SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED 
 I910 
 
Printed by Ballanttne, Hanson 6» Co. 
 At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE Africa about which Mr. Swann writes — as I think, 
 with such absorbing interest — has already passed into 
 history, the history which is least read because it is that 
 of yesterday. 
 
 The conditions of East Africa twenty-five to twenty years 
 ago are so extraordinarily different to the appearance and 
 conditions of life in that region at the present day, that it 
 might ahiiost be thought Mr. Swann was writing not of 
 experiences within the limit of the life of a man of middle 
 age, but of some remoter period coeval with Livingstone and 
 Cameron. Indeed, the East Africa first seen by Mr. Swann 
 (and by the writer of this preface) was not a whit changed 
 from the East Africa through which Burton, Speke, Grant, 
 and Thomson struggled to find great lakes, vaguely rumoured 
 rivers, and in their quest first beheld many a strange beast 
 and extraordinary human tribe new to science. 
 
 We have too easily and readily forgotten the East Africa 
 
 known to Livingstone, and the Arab slave-trade has become 
 
 a vague legend, possibly disbelieved in to a great extent by 
 
 the somewhat cynical white men who now swarm over Tropical 
 
 Africa and say to us weary ones of those pioneer days: "I 
 
 can't see what you beggars made such a fuss about. The 
 
 Arabs seem to me a devilish good lot of people, quite easy 
 
 to get on with ; and if they did come down rather hard on 
 
 v 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 the nigger for not working, why, it was all for the nigger's 
 good. And I don'*t call it half a bad kind of country — 
 splendid shooting — why, I got such and such a bag in so 
 many days with my (quoting the latest invention in rifles 
 and soft-nosed or explosive bullets). Talk of dying of thirst 
 in such and such a desert ! What rot ! Why, there''s an 
 artesian well at the principal rest-house, and you can get 
 awfully good iced drinks and perfect lager beer at all the 
 stores in Unyamwezi. Besides, how can you be much bothered 
 by this particular piece of route when you can bicycle sixty 
 miles in a day in the dry season, to say nothing of motoring. 
 Why you should ever have been ill, / can't think. . . . 
 Absolute pleasure trip to me." And so forth, and so on. 
 
 Perhaps Mr. Swann's book (which I sincerely hope may be 
 widely read) may enable people who care to follow closely the 
 history of African development to realise in the first place 
 what the Arab slave-trade was like, and why it so concerned 
 the minds of Livingstone, of the early missionaries, of several 
 consuls, and of trading associations like the African Lakes 
 Company, which could not wholly divest themselves of human 
 feelings. 
 
 Mr. Swann's book will also give you the romance of East 
 
 Africa before it became tourist-trodden and vulgarised. This 
 
 quality is irrecoverable. Just as the once beautiful English 
 
 scenery is passing away under our eyes in favour of corrugated 
 
 iron, paper-strewn roads and lanes, red-brick villas, pollarded 
 
 beeches, incongruous rhododendron shrubberies, excellent but 
 
 ugly factories, flashy hotels in lieu of old-world inns, and 
 
 asphalt esplanades in place of a pleistocene shingle, so the 
 
 Africa of Mr. Swann's days, with its unlimited and even 
 
 dangerous wild beasts, its men and women just emerging from 
 
 the Age of Stone, the Ny'ika innocent of eucalyptus groves, 
 
 dense forests scarcely altered since the Miocene, Man at his 
 
 vi 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 most barbarous and most heroic (this last applies to the 
 white pioneers) has disappeared in favour of railways, motors, 
 telegraphs, negroes that are drilled in European fashion, 
 prosperous mission-schools and technical institutes, the bang, 
 bang, bang of the slaughtering British sportsman, the lisping 
 accents of the lady traveller who is trying to write a book 
 about Africa in a four months' tour (lapped in luxury as she 
 passes from one hospitable station to another), the Africa of 
 the cinematograph and the gramophone records, of fashion- 
 able diplomacy, highly trained administrators, royal guests, 
 and banished malaria. 
 
 Of course, the real truth is that Africa is becoming more 
 interesting than ever, the problems more complex, the history 
 of its past — its distant past — better and better known, the 
 condition of its native inhabitants far, far and away happier 
 than in the times of which Mr. Swann writes. 
 
 His own part in bringing about that happiness has been 
 
 considerable. He took an even larger share than he relates 
 
 (of his modesty) in curbing the Arab slave-trade round about 
 
 the shores of Tanganyika. He believed — and I think with 
 
 justification — that a British Protectorate over many of these 
 
 regions would be of vast benefit to the indigenous people. 
 
 Therefore, when I met him on the south shore of Lake 
 
 Tanganyika in 1889, and told him that I was prevented by 
 
 serious complications in Nyasaland from pursuing my original 
 
 plan of carrying the British flag (allied with the necessary 
 
 treaties) right through from the north end of Tanganyika 
 
 to Uganda (so as to complete the Cape-to-Cairo route), Mr. 
 
 Swann agreed, when furnished with the necessary authority, 
 
 to complete this section. With the assistance of my Swahali 
 
 head-man, Ali Kiongwe (who is now living on a small 
 
 Government pension at Zanzibar), he completed the scope of 
 
 British treaties at the north end of Tanganyika, which, had 
 
 vii 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 they been all ratified by the British Government, would have 
 given to the British Empire (without robbing anybody else) 
 a continuous all-British route from Cape Colony to Egypt, 
 on the assumption, of course, that the waters of Tanganyika 
 were free to all nations. 
 
 H. H. Johnston. 
 
 viii 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 THE following pages contain my recollections of twenty- 
 six years spent in Africa. They have been written at 
 the repeated request of colleagues of various nationalities, 
 with whom, in the years 1882-1909, I travelled and laboured 
 in Central Africa, co-operating with them in the work of 
 undermining, and finally destroying, the Slave-Trade around 
 the great lakes. 
 
 The thrilling stories of explorers and missionaries had 
 appealed to my natural love of travel and adventure, and fired 
 me with an ambition to follow such men as Livingstone, 
 Stanley, Burton, Schweinfurth, and others, and to help 
 in healing what Livingstone called " Africa'*s open sore.'** 
 When I went out in 1882 the great partition of Africa had 
 not taken place, and the hideous trade was at its worst. 
 Caravans froni the interior brought thousands of slaves to 
 the East Coast, and left thousands dead upon the road. 
 
 Lakes Nyasa, Tanganyika, and Victoria Nyanza were in the 
 hands of Arab and native slave-traders, and beyond a patrol — 
 admittedly unsatisfactory — of portions of the East Coast, 
 nothing much was being done to crush the accursed ti'affic 
 which was eating out the heart of Africa. For twenty- six 
 years I was able to take part in the determined efforts for its 
 suppression which were then made, and to fill a place in the 
 ranks of those African pioneers whose deeds had kindled my 
 ambition. I earnestly hope that my experiences may bring 
 encouragement to some whom a love of justice and liberty is 
 spurring on to fresh exertions on behalf of those tribes in Africa 
 which have not yet been delivered from the curse of slavery. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 So many years of labour and anxiety have naturally been 
 diversified by many adventures, both of travel and sport, 
 the narratives of which may not, I hope, be found unin- 
 teresting. 
 
 At the close of my career in Africa, I should wish to place 
 on record my great admiration for other pioneers, American, 
 German, French, Belgian, and Portuguese, whom I met, and 
 with whom I worked, and who vied with my own countrymen 
 in a healthy, courteous, and vigorous competition to advance 
 civilisation in their respective Spheres of InflQence. 
 
 All the photographs here reproduced are copyright, and 
 my grateful acknowledgments are due to the owners for their 
 permission to use them. In preparing these pages for the 
 press, I have been most ably assisted by Miss Bennett of 
 Tarring, Worthing, without whose co-operation the task 
 would not have been undertaken, and to whom sincere thanks 
 are rendered. 
 
 A. J. S. 
 
 Worthing, Sussex, 
 January 1910. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Arrival at Zanzibar — Preparations for the Journey . 19 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Porters and their Loads — The Long March to Lake 
 Tanganyika commenced — An Amusing Incident — The 
 Charm of African Life — Insight into Native Char- 
 acter . . . . 25 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 ^ Cruelties of the Slave-Trade — Major Von Wissmann — 
 Difficulties of the Road — ''Pay or Fight" — Loyal 
 Service — A Narrow Escape — The Mighty Mirambo — 
 Native and Lion ........ 48 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 A Greedy Ferryman — Fetish — Ujiji and Lake Tanganyika 
 --^Livingstone and Stanley — A Whited Sepulchre — 
 Ivory and Slaves — Launching a Canoe — »The People 
 of the Plain ........ 68 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Opposition of the Natives — Launch of the " Morning 
 Star" — Tip-pu-Tib — The Lofu River — Building a 
 Steam Vessel — A Tragedy — Rugaruga Bullies . . 81 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Fire and Sword — A Sceptical Native — An Angry Hippo- 
 potamus — Launch of the " Good News " — Medicine 
 AND Surgery — A Cruel Punishment — A Native Duel: 
 Its Tragic Result ....... 98 
 
 xi 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Diplomatic Scramble — Manna — The Amambwi — Unplea- 
 sant Visitors . . . . . . . . 1 15 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Navigating the Shire River — Blantyre — Ramakukane — 
 
 Game and Fish — Shupanga . . . . . .135 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 A Visit to England — A Sailor's Blow — Charles Stokes — 
 Germans and Arabs — Encounter with Masai — V/hite 
 Man's Medicine — Warnings. . . . . .150 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 Shooting Giraffes — A Cool Reception — A Visit to Ruma- 
 LizA — Tip-pu-TiB — Anger of Rumaliza — Hostilities 
 Commenced — Congo State Officials — Emin Pasha . l67 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 Captain Trivier — Game Pits — An Annexation — The 
 Walungu Marriage Customs — ^The Curse of the 
 People 185 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Making Treaties — Hunting the Hippopotamus — Boiling 
 Springs — Religious Views — A Nugget — Scenery of 
 Lake Tanganyika — A Native Regatta . . . 203 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 The People of the Tanganyika — The Cannibal — The 
 Warundi — A Conjurer — The Fauna of the Rusizi — 
 Attacked by Leopards — A Storm on the Lake — 
 Swamped . . . . . . . . .221 
 
 xii 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 I 
 
 Salving the Boat — A Great Disappointment — Trouble 
 WITH THE Arabs — A Mischievous Monkey — An Act 
 OF Revenge ......... t 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 General Unrest — Storming Stockades — Rumaliza the 
 Slave-Trader 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 The Potentialities of the African — Suppression of raid- 
 ing — Children's Games — -Analysing the Native Char- 
 acter .......... 
 
 CHAPTER XVH 
 
 Big-Game Hunting — A Wild Trip across Nyasa — An 
 Eclipse — A Memorable Interview .... 
 
 CHAPTER XVIH 
 
 Bishop Maples — Capture of Mwasi's Stronghold — Infantile 
 Mortality ......... 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 Wonderful Industrial Development ..... 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 Traits of Character — Resources of the Country 
 
 INDEX 355 
 
 Xlll 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 A Well-Kept Village ..... Frontispiece 
 
 PAGB 
 
 The Author ........ 27 
 
 Porters Encamped ....... 37 
 
 A Dug-out Canoe 51 
 
 A Method of Securing Slaves . . . . .51 
 
 African Mimicry ........ 63 
 
 In the Wake of the Slave-Raiders .... 63 
 
 Fetish Idols 71 
 
 An African Path through High Grass . . .71 
 
 A Slave-Dhow ........ 83 
 
 The ** Morning Star " at Anchor .... 83 
 
 A Cannibal ..... .... 93 
 
 A Thorough Scoundrel ...... 93 
 
 SS. "Good News" 103 
 
 Tropical Creepers and an Elephant Path . .103 
 
 A Medicine Man at Work ..... 109 
 
 A Village in Making 117 
 
 xiv 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Aemba Mutilations . . . . . . .117 
 
 A Medicine Man 125 
 
 A Pot of Beer ........ 125 
 
 A Game-Trap 131 
 
 Native Porters . . . . . . . . 131 
 
 A Village Belle . . . . . . . . 1 3,9 
 
 A Village in the Open Country . . . .155 
 
 Pounding Maize into Flour . . . . .181 
 
 A Marriage Procession . . . . . .195 
 
 Male and Female Fashions in Hair-Dressing . .199 
 Lake Fishermen and Canoes ..... 209 
 
 A Native Smelting Furnace . . . . .213 
 
 An Elaborately Carved Pipe ..... 223 
 
 Drying Fishing Nets above the Sand . . . 223 
 Blacksmiths at Work ....... 227 
 
 Elaborately Carved Drums 251 
 
 Head-dress of Aemba Girl ...... 257 
 
 A Typical African Stockade ..... 263 
 
 Gathering Honey ....... 267 
 
 Girls at Play ........ 285 
 
 Brick Making 285 
 
 Masterly Inactivity ....... 293 
 
 WicKERWoRK Baskets for Catching Fish . . . 305 
 
 XV 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Building a Fort ........ 325 
 
 A Beautiful Native-built Cathedral . . . 325 
 Basket-Work ........ 335 
 
 The Dawn of Civilisation ...... 335 
 
 Death in the Family ....... 345 
 
 xvi 
 
BRITISH CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA 
 
 ■■ V, o" 
 
 C. E K M AN 
 
FIGHTING THE SLAYE-HUNTEHS 
 IN CENTRAL AFRICA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Arrival at Zanzibar — Preparations for the Journey 
 
 "Who will Volunteer for Central Africa?" 
 
 IT was in May, 1882, that I read the above words in a 
 journal published by the British and Foreign Sailors' 
 Society. The question was addressed to the public by 
 Captain Hore of the London Missionary Society. He was 
 about to proceed to Lake Tanganyika with a steel life-boat, 
 which he intended to transport in sections through East Africa, 
 on carts specially constructed for so great an undertaking ; for 
 it is 820 miles from the coast to Lake Tanganyika. There 
 are no roads, and the native paths leading from village to 
 village are too narrow for carts. However, it was not my 
 business to question the Captain's ability to overcome the 
 innumerable difficulties familiar to any one acquainted with the 
 writings of Livingstone and Stanley. My work was to respond 
 to the appeal if I wanted to take a hand in the opening up of 
 this part of Africa. Applicants were required to possess a 
 Board of Trade certificate as chief officer in the Mercantile 
 Marine, and to be willing to submit to an examination before 
 the rather formidable Board of Directors of the London 
 Missionary Society. 
 
 Having spent twelve years at sea on both steam and sailing 
 vessels, and possessing the necessary certificate, I at once wrote 
 
 19 B 
 
ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR 
 
 and offered my services. In due course they were accepted by 
 the Society, and I was appointed second in command of the 
 expedition to Lake Tanganyika; afterwards to act as chief 
 officer in the marine department which we were going to 
 establish on the Lake. 
 
 The London Missionary Society had received a large dona- 
 tion from a supporter for the express purpose of commencing 
 mission work around the great Lake. As the undertaking was 
 certain to be an expensive one, it was decided to utilise the 
 more economical transport by water in order to get into close 
 contact with the tribes living along a coast line of 900 to 1000 
 miles. 
 
 Our expedition was organised to enable the Society to occupy 
 these regions. Captain Hore and myself were instructed to 
 transport the small life-boat and to build the S.S. Good News 
 as soon as it could be sent to us; to survey the Lake, and 
 to organise and maintain a regular mail service between 
 the Mission Stations and Zanzibar. Captain Hore did not 
 scruple to place before me the pros and cons of travelling in 
 Africa. 
 
 I had but a vague idea of the Interior. In one^s schooldays 
 the lessons on geography (when they happened to be about 
 Africa) were illustrated by a camel, a palm tree, mountains of 
 the moon (whatever they might be no one seemed to know), 
 with the Nile, Zambezi, and Congo Rivers, vaguely depicted as 
 rising somewhere in the heart of the great L^nknown. Living- 
 stone, Stanley, and others had, on the part of Britain and 
 America, made known to us the great facts that the In- 
 terior was not a desert, but inhabited by a large population 
 of coloured people — some more or less hostile to Europeans, 
 but the majority quite ready to respond to civil treatment 
 by strangers. 
 
 The great partition of Africa by the European Powers had 
 not yet taken place, and not one of the now great Protectorates 
 of East Africa, Uganda, and Nyasaland had become a part of 
 
 20 
 
ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR 
 
 the British Empire. The whole of the East Coast and the 
 Interior was either in the hands of native chiefs, Arabs, or 
 Marima half-castes who had all one object, and whose ambition 
 was to sell and transport to the coast as many of the 
 inhabitants as they could possibly capture. It is true that 
 commanders of British gunboats and British officials at 
 Zanzibar did their utmost, with the limited powers at their 
 command, to bring pressure to bear on the Sultan of Zanzibar, 
 and to check the slave trade at the coast ; but none knew 
 better than themselves how inadequate were their combined 
 efforts. At best they only touched the very fringe of the 
 disease, which had its ramifications all over Equatorial Africa, 
 and its great centres far away up-country at Tabora, Ujiji, 
 Uganda, Kotakota, and the Upper Congo. 
 
 My youthful enthusiasm had been fired when I learned the 
 facts of slavery as set forth with noble humanity by Living- 
 stone, with manly disgust by Stanley, and pathetic emphasis 
 by the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin,"" and I resolved, if 
 ever the opportunity offered, to join with niy countrymen in 
 an endeavour to crush the slave-trade. 
 
 My chance had arrived, and May 17, 1882, found me on 
 board a British-India Company's vessel bound for Africa. It 
 was in October of this year that Mr. (now Sir) Harry Johnston 
 first visited the Congo, and practically commenced his long 
 and well-known African career. Little did I imagine how very 
 much we should be thrown together in after years, or that 
 I should be privileged to take part in his successful adminis- 
 tration of Nyasaland. 
 
 Stirring events were taking place in North Africa as we 
 passed through the canal, for preparations were being made to 
 bombard Alexandria; the great men-of-war, like huge birds 
 of prey, were circling around the entrance to the Suez Canal. 
 We luckily passed through before the actual firing of the 
 80-ton guns of H.M.S. Inflexible began ; both ship and guns 
 are now practically obsolete. 
 
 91 
 
ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR 
 
 IVIy fellow-passengers included Bishop Hannington, Ashe, 
 and Gordon of Uganda, each of them destined to play so 
 conspicuous a part in opening up Uganda to civilisation. 
 How well I recall Hannington ! His delightfully buoyant 
 spirits and optimistic character made all on board happy. I 
 little thought, as we played at chess together, that those eyes, 
 then so full of laughter, would soon be dimmed by tears shed, 
 not for himself, but for those very Africans to whose benefit 
 he had determined to devote his life and who, in their ignor- 
 ance, so cruelly imprisoned and murdered him. Such are the 
 perils to which the pioneers of civilisation are exposed in a 
 land of superstition, ignorance, and savagery, that not even 
 the attractive qualities of Hannington could save him from a 
 fate which has for ever stained the throne of Uganda, by the 
 sacrifice of one who would have been her best friend and 
 champion. The Buganda have long since realised the great 
 crime committed by their king. Tens of thousands of her sons 
 and daughters are to-day endeavouring to lead lives which the 
 great martyred missionary would have blessed. 
 
 In addition to the Church of England missionaries, there 
 were on board several belonging to the London Missionary 
 Society, most of whom ultimately lost their lives in the Interior 
 by disease, which has taken such a heavy toll amongst the 
 ranks of pioneers. 
 
 One other of our company met a violent death during the 
 great struggle between European and Arab for predominance 
 in Africa. This struggle was about to commence in real 
 earnest when we arrived at Zanzibar in June 1882. Wild as 
 our project appeared to many residing in Zanzibar, who 
 frankly told us we should never tramp that 820 miles to 
 Tanganyika, much less drag on wheels our steel life-boat 
 through roadless forests and plains, yet Mrs. Hore, who 
 had determined to accompany her husband, was not to be 
 frightened ; she declared that wherever it was prudent for her 
 husband to go, she saw no reason why she should be considered 
 
 22 
 
ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR 
 
 unfit to accompany him. Brave words indeed — but braver 
 deeds followed their utterance; for her patient, tactful per- 
 severance never failed through innumerable trials, incon- 
 veniences, dangers, and sickness, and this brave Englishwoman 
 will be remembered as the first woman to make that wonderful 
 journey in Africa, and with her little son to reach the historic 
 shores of far-away Tanganyika. 
 
 It was at Zanzibar I first realised that Great Britain 
 was doing all she could to undermine the cruel slave-trade. 
 Although our eyes beheld men and women in chain-gangs 
 walking and working on the public roads, we knew that they 
 were not slaves, but in reality criminals who, for various 
 offences, were being punished in this manner; and that in 
 such a hot climate it was by far the most sanitary method of 
 dealing with prisoners, as they were permitted to enjoy the 
 open air and good exercise. Still, the sight of human beings 
 in neck-chains was, to say the least, repulsive to every one of 
 us who, no doubt, were too full of our mission of emancipation 
 to be capable of impartially analysing the local conditions 
 which influenced the rulers of this eastern island. 
 
 Zanzibar has been described so often that I will not weary 
 the reader by entering into details, except to say that, so far 
 as slavery was concerned, although it was not a legalised 
 custom to buy and sell slaves in the open market, yet thousands 
 were undoubtedly bought and sold both at Zanzibar and on 
 the East Coast. In fact, during our stay on the island, a 
 pirmace of H.M.S. London (which was then the Port guard- 
 ship) cut out and captured as a prize a large slave-dhow which 
 had anchored under the very shadow of the British Consulate — 
 so daring were the Arabs at this exceedingly profitable game. 
 
 We found Sir John Kirk pulling the strings of British 
 policy at Zanzibar, and so deftly were they handled that not 
 only was legalised slavery in the Sultan's dominion successfully 
 suppressed, but the valuable island was prevented from passing 
 into the hands of other Powers. 
 
 23 
 
ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR 
 
 We heard much criticism of the manner in which Sir John 
 attacked the curse of Africa ; but people did not then realise 
 as they do now that, unless the matter had been handled with 
 great skill, the astute Arabs, with their natural love of intrigue 
 and avarice, might at any moment have foiled all Sir John*'s 
 attempts to get our flag established on the island, and that 
 there was nothing to prevent the Sultan handing over his 
 dominions to another Power. 
 
 W e were initiated into some of the delicate phases of this 
 political game, and thus somewhat put on our guard and 
 prepared for dealing with the powerful Arab lieutenants of 
 the Sultan who reigned supreme in those regions, far away 
 from either British diplomacy or British guns, to which we 
 were proceeding. In the midst of their vile operations it was 
 our fixed determination to live, and, in time, to undermine or 
 destroy their diabolical trade in human souls and bodies. 
 Looking back after a long struggle with the Arabs I can 
 understand and appreciate the enormous difficulties Sir John 
 Kirk had to overcome, and I can now measure more accurately 
 the services rendered to the Empire by the astute British 
 representative at the Sultan's Court in those early days. 
 
 We found real empire-building in progress at the coast. 
 To lay foundations for more work of the kind at the sources 
 of the slave-trade around the great lakes of the Interior was 
 our earnest intention. It was our greatest slimulus and sup- 
 port to know that behind us was the man who had been a 
 close companion in travel of the immortal Livingstone. No 
 one realises better than myself, that it is upon Sir John's 
 solid foundations that much of the present magnificent super- 
 structure has been erected. 
 
 There was little time for indulging in sentiment, no 
 inclination on any one's part either to exaggerate the task 
 before us or to minimise its difficulties. Whilst engaged in 
 the difficulties of preparing for a three months' tramp through 
 a more or less rough country, one became unconsciously 
 
 24 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY 
 
 impregnated with ideas of caravan life. Our days were spent 
 in packing and repacking all kinds of collapsible utensils, too 
 often omitting from our calculations the stern fact that it 
 was not upon railway trucks our boxes were to be transported, 
 and therefore we must not think it of no consequence how 
 heavy they weighed ; for black men would have to plod along 
 day by day through dense grass, over mountains, through rivers 
 and swamps, with all these precious loads on their heads. 
 
 Our keen-eyed leader was not slow to bring us to our 
 senses by quietly asking us to try the weight ourselves. 
 
 It has been said, and with great truth, that one cannot 
 spend too much time in the careful preparation for a long 
 African journey, for so many valuable lives have been lost for 
 want of real necessaries. 
 
 The most difficult matter to us seemed to be to solve the 
 problem of carrying our cash, as in this instance it meant not 
 really cash (which of course was of no use to Central Africans !) 
 but calico, beads, brass, wire, salt, &c. &c. 
 
 We found it would be necessary to supply each porter 
 with two yards of unbleached calico per week in order that 
 he might buy food. Now, considering that we had to engage 
 about nine hundred porters, and that we should be at least 
 three months on the journey, it will be obvious that the 
 commissariat for the men alone amounted to a considerable 
 sum, and must form a large number of loads, each weighing 
 60 lbs., which is about the full load a man can carry over a 
 long distance, although the Wanyamwezi will often carry 
 75 lbs. of dead weight. It is astonishing how they do it day 
 after day — plodding on apparently without undue exhaustion 
 under the tropical sun. In addition to this formidable equip- 
 ment, we had to convey a year's provisions and the Moming 
 Star life-boat. This, being built of steel, was divided into 
 sections and laid bottom upwards on specially constructed 
 hand-carts, light and yet strong, made narrow in order to 
 minimise the cutting down of trees. 
 
 25 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY 
 
 As the Captain and myself were sailors by profession, we 
 naturally considered there was nothing like good rope for wear 
 and tear, and we forthwith spliced sets of harness to fit three 
 men to drag the carts, one man being in the shafts. The first 
 touch of African humour enlivened us here, as we harnessed 
 our team of men for a trial run. They were standing ready 
 to move on with the yokes around their necks when a wag, 
 who was in the shafts, turned towards the crowd of onlookers 
 and, without a smile on his countenance, exclaimed : " Kweri ; 
 sasa mimi Punda,"" or, as we should put it, " Yes ! there is no 
 mistake about it, I am a donkey at last ! " The whole of us 
 burst into fits of laughter ; whilst the little black urchins, who 
 had assembled to see the fun, rolled over and over in the sandy 
 soil, imitating the well-known laughter of our four-footed 
 friends. 
 
 I could see by the man's face in the shafts that the ludicrous 
 situation in which he found himself had suddenly dawned on 
 his mind ; but, beyond the above exclamation, he was like the 
 costermonger who had " no words for it.'*'' To one totally 
 unacquainted with African porters and travel as I was, nearly 
 the whole of our preliminaries at Zanzibar were, to say the 
 least, extremely novel as well as fascinating. Those Europeans 
 who to-day land at Mombasa, purchase a railway-ticket, tip 
 a porter, and jump into an express train for Uganda with 
 scarcety a thought about their huge packages which are swung 
 by cranes on to the trucks in the rear, will scarcely realise 
 what it meant to start on such a journey then. I can even 
 now see the energetic Hannington literally jumping on the 
 contents of his box, so as to compel it to go into a space which 
 his mathematical mind could have easily proved with a few 
 figures to be a physical impossibility. One could hear the 
 various Europeans addressing to themselves such questions as 
 the following: — 
 
 " Must I really shave ? No ! I can leave this dressing- 
 case and use a waterproof bag ! " 
 
 26 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY 
 
 " Boots ? Ah ! must have good boots, but those gaiters 
 are not necessary." 
 
 " Happy man ! " says the transport agent. " I hope you 
 may never want them ; but don't load yourself up with that 
 huge book ! Why, it must weigh several pounds." 
 
 " What is it ? Oh ! I must take it, even if I have to carry 
 it myself. It's a lot of back numbers of Punch!''' 
 
 A roar of laughter went up from his comrades. One more 
 grave than the rest suggested that " only light and necessary 
 articles ought to be carried." 
 
 " I don't care," replied the owner. " I contend that Punch 
 is exceedingly light and trifling,'''' 
 
 With this appropriate repartee the British Jester was 
 jammed into the box ; and as I think of isolated camps, lonely 
 voyages, bitter disappointments, intense longings to hear my 
 own native tongue and to see a happy civilised face, I know 
 the young pioneer was right, and that he had packed the best 
 literary tonic, one which has hundreds of times brought me 
 back to my own land, and lifted me out of that desponding 
 state into which frequent attacks of malaria are at times apt 
 to plunge the most hardened traveller in the Tropics. What 
 I have just said will serve to emphasise the fact that in those 
 days every pound of weight had to be studied, as, besides the 
 actual expense of porterage, the number of men had to be 
 reduced to a minimum, seeing that for three months we had 
 to be responsible for their food, at times no little tax on the 
 meagre resources of the small native villages, in places many 
 miles distant from one another. The first great disappoint- 
 ment came to us as we learned that part of our vessel had 
 been left at Aden, and at least one month must elapse before 
 the next British-India vessel was due. However, as our party 
 consisted of missionaries proceeding to stations up-country, 
 and as it was only possible to travel in the dry season, it was 
 deemed advisable to make a start at once, and the sailors. 
 Captain Hore and myself, could " come back from Mamboia," 
 
 29 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY 
 
 which was said to be about 160 miles inland, and at that time 
 in charge of a missionary and his wife. 
 
 " Come back again ? " I replied, as I heard the decision. 
 
 " Don't come back ! some one shouted to me years before, 
 in London, as I went out to face the Board of Trade Examiner 
 at Tower Hill. I was returning at the time, having forgotten 
 something in my excitement. " It's unlucky,'' he continued, 
 " to come back." 
 
 Was this coming back a good or bad omen ? I experienced 
 neither good nor bad luck at Tower Hill ; but a very salt old 
 sea-captain of the Black Ball Line very nuich impressed me 
 with the stern fact that a practical knowledge of duty was 
 the only passport to success, and, having succeeded in that 
 instance, I had no dread of ill-luck on the present occasion. 
 The eventful morning arrived when, with the hundreds of 
 black porters and our baggage, we were packed into large 
 dhows (vessels used for carrying slaves and merchandise), 
 somewhat like herrings in a barrel, and so parted from the 
 scene of our first contact with Arabs and slavery. 
 
 British officers on the deck of H.M.S. London gave us a 
 polite salute, and a Jack Tar standing forward shouted, " So 
 long ! " The old and to me familiar send-off of that British 
 sailor was very cheering, and, as we sailed past the great ship, 
 we returned the salute almost under the shadow of the St. 
 George's ensign which floated proudly from her stern. One 
 of my comrades asked : 
 
 " What does ' so long ' mean ? " 
 
 I replied : It is used by sailors, and means, ' Until w^e 
 meet again.'" 
 
 " What a strange expression ! " he said. " It seems to 
 imply a certainty of meeting." 
 
 My mind was too full of the actual going to dwell on the 
 possibilities of coming back ; but the eyes of the questioner 
 were then gazing for the last time on the Naval Flag of 
 Britain. Even at that moment he was almost within sight of 
 
 30 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY 
 
 the spot where years afterwards, when returning home and 
 ahnost out of Africa, he fell mortally wounded, shot by a 
 treacherous half-caste Arab. At the time of addressing the 
 question to me he was surrounded by comrades ; at his death 
 he was alone, and Africa never so much as provided him with 
 a grave. 
 
 " So long ! 
 
 I hear that sailor''s voice even now ; it was almost like a 
 requiem over no less than three others of my comrades, who, 
 sitting by my side at that moment, had their faces towards 
 their last resting-place in Africa. 
 
 The old dhow took but a few hours to cross the 25-mile 
 strip of water which separates Zanzibar from the mainland, 
 and, running close into the shore, we dropped anchor. 
 
 " Rukeni ! Rukeni majina upesi ! ^' cried the Suahili cap- 
 tain. " Jump quickly into the water, all of you ! and if you 
 can picture two or three hundred schoolboys tumbling out 
 of a London barge into the Thames on a sunny day, you have 
 a fairly good idea of our porters landing for their 820-mile 
 tramp, knowing they had each to carry on their heads a load 
 weighing 60 lbs. 
 
 Yet every man of them was a slave, even the head-men 
 were slaves, and part of their three-months'* advanced wages 
 had already gone into the hands of their masters at Zanzibar. 
 They were just a merry, happy lot of laughter-loving grown- 
 up boys — no care, no thought of the morrow, no repining at 
 their lot ! 
 
 " Come-a-day, go-a-day, God-send-Sunday," was their for- 
 mula and rule of life, and experience has revealed to me that 
 these words accurately describe the outstanding natural charac- 
 teristics of coloured races in Central Africa. These romping, 
 excitable men, gambolling in the sea around the old Arab 
 dhow, with no worldly possessions beyond a yard or two of 
 calico, had engaged to transport " white men " through a 
 country quite unknown to many of them, though they knew 
 
 31 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY 
 
 from those who had previously travelled that there were many 
 real hardships and dangers to be encountered before reaching 
 Lake Tanganyika. 
 
 As I tried to realise what this meant, what a demonstration 
 it afforded of loyal service of black to white men, I could only 
 hope that no want of patience, knowledge, or tact on our part 
 might have the effect of jeopardising the realisation of what 
 at times appeared but a dream. 
 
 Dreams, however, had to give place to solid hard work in the 
 shape of tent-pitching, stacking of loads, preparing to pass the 
 first night in camp not far from the calm water of the Indian 
 Ocean, and what was still more necessary, providing and cooking 
 our own dinner. We Avere to shift for ourselves at last, with 
 state cabins, stewards, and general luxury a thing of the past — 
 " outward bound," as sailors call it — and if we were ever to see 
 the waters of distant Tanganyika one thing was essential, we 
 must not make martyrs of ourselves, not even for Africans. We 
 must take every reasonable precaution against malaria, and 
 above all attend most scrupulously to our diet, and not only live 
 on the best food to be procured in the country, but make 
 ample use of those proved digestible foods which science has 
 enabled us to bring in metal tins. I say without hesitation 
 that a missionary or traveller who fails to live as well as 
 possible whilst exposed to the tropical sun and malaria is 
 certain to become prematurely a most expensive, if not alto- 
 gether useless, servant to any government or philanthropical 
 society. And, even with every precaution, none wholly escape ; 
 whilst many fall victims to the deadly microbes now known to 
 be conveyed to the human blood by a species of mosquito. 
 
 We w^ere soon initiated into the art of making our tents 
 comfortable, and, as the sun disappeared behind some lofty 
 cocoa-nut palm trees, insect life swarmed out to enjoy the 
 cool air. Then commenced those choruses of sounds from 
 pool, bush, and tall rank grasses, which never cease to 
 serenade African travellers from sunset to sunrise. 
 
 32 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY 
 
 Mosquitoes in great numbers were buzzing around our ears, 
 stinging the ankles (a favourite spot), neck, face, and hands. 
 At first we tried to pass the whole thing off as a joke, or 
 at most a temporary annoyance ; but first one, then another, 
 European had business in his tent, until all were found 
 safely in bed under their mosquito-curtains. At that time 
 it was generally thought the deadly malaria was more or 
 less contained in'stagnant pools underneath decaying vegetation, 
 or closely connected with tall rank grasses. The mosquito was 
 not suspected by us of being the direct channel through which 
 the poison entered our blood, hence our attention was directed 
 towards avoiding the supposed malarial deposits, and the 
 mosquito evaded simply because it was a persistent nuisance. 
 We have travelled far since then, with the assistance of 
 science, and know it is one of the species of mosquito 
 which injects the malaria-microbe into the blood as it 
 inserts its proboscis through the skin. 
 
 I lay awake that first night listening to the hoarse 
 croaking of the bull-frog, and to myriads of insects I had 
 never seen, which kept up a perpetual humming sound both 
 inside and outside my tent. 
 
 The Indian Ocean joined in the lullaby as its waves 
 broke on the sand, whilst I could hear in the distance the 
 never-ceasing hum of our porters"* voices which now and 
 then broke forth into rollicking choruses; but the refrain 
 was, of course, quite unintelligible to me at that time. 
 Later on, as I became acquainted with the language they 
 spoke, I realised that my ignorance at the coast had not 
 caused me to lose anything of an edifying nature. 
 
 My own private servants were sitting around an open 
 fire not far away from the tent, one playing a stringed 
 instrument; its soothing and seemingly pathetic appeals 
 were at intervals answered by the player's voice, and, in 
 perfect time and harmony, one after another of his companions 
 joined in the song, each taking a separate part. After a 
 
 33 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY 
 
 slight pause the wailing string issued its final appeal, and 
 the whole of the singers mingled their voices in a chorus 
 which, if it was not of a classical nature, was delightfully 
 soothing to one who had just taken leave of the busy, 
 bustling, civilised world of humanity, and was being hushed 
 to sleep for the first time in the land where 
 
 " Man's inhumanity to man 
 Makes countless thousands mourn," 
 
 34 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Porters and their Loads — The Long March to Lake Tan- 
 ganyika COMMENCED An AmUSING INCIDENT ThE ChARM 
 
 of African Life — Insight into Native Character. 
 
 OL^R first morning in Africa was ushered in by a 
 pleasant bugle-call, and the camp at once presented 
 a busy scene. The morning mists still hung like 
 a soft mantle a few feet above the long low seashore, whilst 
 the high grasses provided a shower-bath of glistening dew- 
 drops for the early traveller who was compelled to tramp along 
 the narrow footpaths. 
 
 Black boys who had elected to serve as our personal 
 attendants brought water for the morning toilet, whilst the 
 porters stood ready for the word of command to seize each 
 his particular load. 
 
 It was a sight not easily to be forgotten. 
 Babel but faintly describes the howling of that half- 
 civilised crowd as, with strained countenances, they scanned 
 the pile of miscellaneous packages ; each man mentally 
 appropriating to himself the smallest, softest, and what he 
 judged the lightest load. The reader must bear in mind 
 that a mistake at this first selection of loads would certainly 
 mean a tremendous addition to the ordinary physical strain 
 of carrying such a burden for three months ; an awkward 
 load, or even one extra pound of weight, might not only 
 cause painful sores on either head or shoulders, but so handicap 
 the bearer as to make his pace the slowest in the caravan ; and 
 dragging wearily along, far in the rear of his more fortunate 
 companions, he would finally either throw away his load out 
 
 of sheer inability to carry it into camp, or be murdered for 
 
 35 
 
PORTERS AND THEIR LOADS 
 
 the sake of its intrinsic value by those villains who, being 
 too idle to work, infest certain uninhabited portions of the 
 track, shooting down the lonely and tired porter. 
 
 These possible dangers were well known to all that crowd 
 of black humanity; hence, when their head-men could no 
 longer control them, they hurled themselves en masse on the 
 prepared burdens, and not a few unparliamentary disputes 
 followed over the possession of those little handy bales of 
 calico which fit so softly on the head, and are of course the 
 ideal load to carry. 
 
 However, beyond having to separate couples who were 
 evidently training themselves in the manly art of self-defence, 
 we were not seriously annoyed by this rather boisterous 
 "jump ofF'^ of our noisy crew. I would have given a great 
 deal at that time to have understood the sallies of repartee 
 which passed between the smiling possessor of a neat package 
 and the burly black who had for his daily companion a hard 
 box, which in his mind he was doubtless determining to 
 exchange, at the first opportunity, at the expense of a com- 
 panion. I could only stand amongst these half-wild children 
 of the sun and admire the pluck and strength which they 
 possessed, enabling them so merrily to commence a task which 
 no white man could possibly have undertaken in this tropical 
 division of the world. 
 
 It being barely 8 a.m., the sun was not yet high enough 
 to cause us inconvenience when we were ready to commence 
 our long journey. The black races are early risers; they 
 retire soon after the sun sets, sleep well, and get through a 
 great deal of work before it becomes unpleasantly hot. Being 
 bare-footed, they find marching during the middle portion 
 of the day extremely painful over the hot, sandy paths, the 
 heat of which causes deep cracks in the soles of their feet. 
 At times these ulcerate and completely incapacitate them 
 for travelling; therefore it is imperative to get away on a 
 journey as early as possible, for a lame porter means having 
 
PORTERS AND THEIR LOADS 
 
 a load without any one to carry it, much delay, and at times 
 serious loss. 
 
 When the general scramble which I have described was 
 over, and each man's name and load entered on the lists, the 
 Europeans were allotted their several duties en route — e.g. 
 superintending the commissariat, tents, loads, hygiene, accounts, 
 &c. &c., and we decided to start on the following day. 
 During the afternoon we were visited by the head-man of 
 the town of Saadani and district. He w^as accompanied by 
 a number of white-robed followers, evidently arrayed so as to 
 make, according to Eastern custom, a respectable show of 
 authority. 
 
 • They were very polite, making numerous inquiries about 
 our outfit and intentions, as well as promising, not only to 
 assist us to the utmost of their power during our sojourn at 
 Saadani ; but to capture and return to us porters who might 
 desert on the road. 
 
 This promise was faithfully kept; and although the chief 
 was an old slave-trader, who knew full well that every European 
 then in his power had determined to ruin his trade, I always 
 found him ready to assist us in all matters in which he was 
 concerned. His son was not so friendly ; but little did my 
 young companion, Arthur Brooks, imagine that the hand of 
 yoti white-robed, smiling-faced boy would one day strike 
 him dead without a moment's warning, leaving his bones to 
 be picked clean by vultures and his skull to whiten in the 
 sun. 
 
 In the cool of the evening I strolled through the village ; 
 its main characteristics were untidiness and filth. The huts 
 were carelessly built, and no attempt to observe the most 
 rudimentary laws of sanitation appeared to be made by 
 either chief or people. 
 
 The more favoured women wore cheap, gaudy clothes, 
 thrown somewhat gracefully over their bodies; but their 
 features were made hideous by the insertion of circular 
 
 39 c 
 
THE LONG MARCH COMMENCED 
 
 ornaments through the nose and ears. Between these belles 
 and the poorly clad worn-out old creatures who toiled from 
 morning to night there was a vast gulf, almost as great as 
 in our own country between rich and poor; yet all were 
 "domestic slaves,'' most of them quite happy and proud to 
 be able to claim allegiance to "Muinyi" or " Saidi," as the 
 case might be. If not actually born in slavery, they had 
 long since forgotten from whence they were stolen ; even if 
 they could have remembered the name of their village, few 
 had any idea where it was situated, and none would have 
 accepted their freedom if you had offered to redeem them, 
 knowing full well that it was an utter impossibility for them 
 ever to travel back to the old far-away home. 
 
 This was my first contact with real slaves, and it seemed to 
 me that they were not badly treated, and were for the most 
 part tolerably happy. 
 
 I had not long to wait before another aspect of this matter 
 was revealed to me in all its cruel nakedness, the sight of 
 which burned out of my mind for ever the last remnant of 
 toleration for domestic slavery Avhich I may have entertained, 
 and made me an avowed enemy of all who soiled their hands 
 with the accursed system. 
 
 It was soon apparent that the mixed population at the 
 coast gave little indication of what the tribes of the Interior 
 were like. There were no native industries to be seen any- 
 where. The ornaments and clothes they wore had their origin 
 in Manchester and India rather than in Africa; even when 
 dressed in the height of coast fashion they presented an 
 artificial appearance. One looked in vain for the lithe cat- 
 like forms to be found in vast stretches of the country ; but 
 these lazy, slave- depraved people were, I felt positive, many 
 degrees below the primitive, half-savage tribes of the Interior, 
 amongst whom we were about to live. Mohammedanism had 
 done little for them except to make them consider the Creator 
 
 their special Protector, and the vast multitudes of natives 
 
 40 
 
THE LONG MARCH COMMENCED 
 
 their legitimate prey, ranking them about on an equality 
 with the animals in the forest. 
 
 I felt glad to turn away from the village to seek something 
 edible in the forest, so, shouldering a fowling-piece and calling 
 my boy, I went into the outskirts of the maize gardens, and 
 was not there long before up flew a fine flock of guinea-fowl, 
 and two plump birds graced next day's dining-table as the 
 result of our first hunt for game in Africa. 
 
 We were up and away from camp the next morning before 
 6 A.M. At the head of our long line of porters marched what 
 is known in Africa as a " kilangozi."" He is a man chosen 
 on account of his intimate knowledge of wliat we might call 
 " the rule of the road." 
 
 In addition to being physically strong, he must know 
 which paths to avoid, and this is by no means an easy task 
 where the vegetation is dense and no conspicuous landmarks 
 can be used as a guide to camp. 
 
 Amongst such a large number of men, many are sure to 
 be utterly unable to grasp the simplest geographical feature 
 of the country or to understand verbal directions. 
 
 Therefore the leader must never omit to close all paths 
 which he does not wish those who follow to take. This is 
 done by placing on the path either a few leaves or sticks, 
 or, if these are not procurable, he simply drav/s a line across 
 with his spear. 
 
 I have frequently lost porters who, after tramping for 
 hours, had walked on mechanically, never noticing these signs, 
 and were only brought to their senses by arriving at a strange 
 village many miles out of their way. 
 
 The sight of game made me forsake duty ; for, as we 
 opened out into a beautiful green valley, we saw a fine harte- 
 beeste quietly grazing. It was the work of a moment to 
 decide that sport was not to be despised, to say nothing 
 of the mass of venison which would make glad the hearts 
 of both master and men. Calling my boy, I slipped into 
 
THE LONG MARCH COMMENCED 
 
 cover ; alas ! I had reckoned without my host. Thorns of 
 every imaginable size caused me to halt. It was the first taste 
 of bush-work, and how much I regretted leaving behind those 
 gaiters which the transport agent hoped I should never need ! 
 I now understood his meaning ! 
 
 Too much attention to the thorns made me forget the 
 more important matter of stalking the animal, and, on 
 emerging from the bush, I was mortified by seeing the 
 hartebeeste about to disappear into the forest on the 
 opposite side. I might possibly have wounded him, but a 
 certain kill was out of the question. 
 
 " Pepo, bwana " (wind, master), was the only word uttered 
 by my companion. 
 
 " Yes, boy,'' I replied. " He got our wind." 
 
 I had omitted to remember that animals must be approached 
 from the lee side, and an African lad had given me a lesson 
 in big-game hunting. We circled round for some distance, 
 and, failing to get another sight of game, made for a village 
 for water. It was soon apparent that a white man was, to say 
 the least, a novelty to the inhabitants, probably on account of 
 their being off the main caravan road, as well as from the 
 fact that but few Europeans had passed through this district. 
 
 My boy soon put them at their ease, but what yarn he 
 told them I did not know; his instructions were to ask for 
 water, and to say we were hunting. Water was brought, 
 and, being tired, we rested. The natives soon collected 
 around, and became quite talkative with the boy. At last, 
 seeing they were curiously interested in my boots, I asked 
 the boy what they were saying. 
 
 " That you have hoofs like the zebra," replied he. 
 
 It struck me as a novel idea, and, entering into the fun 
 of the thing, I replied : 
 
 " Tell them they are wrong ; I have feet like their own." 
 
 At the reception of this news they shook their heads, 
 saying to my boy : 
 
 42 
 
AN AMUSING INCIDENT 
 
 " If he speaks the truth, tell him to show us ! " 
 
 Ah ! How many times in after years have I realised that 
 to impress anything on an African's mind, to win his confidence, 
 you must demonstrate the truth of what you say. 
 
 "Deeds, not words," is inscribed on the minds of the 
 whole of the coloured races. 
 
 A few seconds sufficed to remove the boots. I shall never 
 forget the outburst of laughter which ensued. Being totally 
 ignorant of what they were gone mad about, I said to my 
 boy : " What in the world are they amused at ? I have 
 shown them I have not hoofs, are they not satisfied ? " 
 
 " Yes, master ! But — now they declare you have no toes ! " 
 
 "Oh, do they? Well, you just tell them I have ten 
 toes,*" and holding up both hands, I proceeded to count them, 
 at the same time joining heartily in their laughter. 
 
 " Show us ! Show us ! " came back their reply. 
 
 And show them I did. The simple act of pulling off 
 a sock must have almost prepared them to see the foot itself 
 drop off, for I could see the younger ones were quite ready 
 to scamper away at any unexpected developments. 
 
 Wondering what they would have to say, I gave a final 
 pull, and with one voice they yelled : 
 
 " He''s white all over ! " 
 
 " Yes, I am," I cried ; " and you must take it on trust, 
 for no more clothes will be removed for your pleasure." 
 
 Whatever Tom told them must remain a mystery ; all I 
 knew was that they suddenly became quiet. 
 
 Having rested, I thought it time to make them pay for 
 their entertainment, so, filling my pipe, I lighted a match 
 and, as I half expected, my audience cleared in all directions. 
 
 A few of the most daring stopped, and pointing to me 
 exclaimed (so Tom said) : 
 
 " Now we know you are a spirit, for you can carry fire 
 in your clothes without being burned." 
 
 Leaving the box of matches on the ground, and Tom 
 
 43 
 
AN AMUSING INCIDENT 
 
 to show them "how it was done," I moved away, glad to 
 have witnessed an exhibition of friendly, innocent fun amongst 
 Nature's children of the forest, and delighted to have had 
 an early opportunity of demonstrating to Africans that a 
 white man's word is his bond. 
 
 The next business was to pick up the path and camp, for, 
 beyond a general idea as to the direction, I was somewhat 
 at sea. Tom, however, displayed no hesitation, but entered 
 the forest, saying: 
 
 " Master ! we must walk quickly, or it will be dark before 
 you reach camp." 
 
 I was struck by the perfect confidence he had in his ability 
 to find the path, and all doubt was quickly dispelled as, after 
 crossing a few miles of forest, he struck a pathway, scrutinised 
 it for a second, and exclaimed : 
 
 " It''s all right. Our people have passed." 
 
 A few miles ahead, the camp was reached in good time for 
 dinner, and over the evening pipe we laughed and joked about 
 the day's experiences, my companions declaring that, had I 
 exhibited a little more common sense when stalking that 
 hartebeeste, the whole of the party would at that moment 
 have been discussing the flavour of our first African venison, 
 instead of having to be satisfied with tinned meats. 
 
 The rains were now over, but as yet the grass (standing 
 about six feet high) was not burned up by those devastating 
 fires which annually sweep over nearly all tropical Africa, 
 destroying or stunting most of the young trees. 
 
 It is this repeated scorching which partly accounts for the 
 wretched specimens of trees growing in most districts of East 
 Africa, and, when the country is little short of a vast charcoal 
 desert, travelling becomes unpleasant. On the other hand, the 
 rains and dense vegetation make it almost impossible to enjoy 
 camp earlier in the year. Nevertheless, there is something 
 very fascinating in African life and travel. 
 
 Few men can satisfactorily explain to others wherein lies 
 
 44 
 
THE CHARM OF AFRICAN LIFE 
 
 the charm, and one often hears from friends, who have never 
 been there, expressions of surprise that any one can really 
 enjoy the nomadic and isolated life. They too often forget 
 that those who go there have some strong motive, some goal 
 to reach which nothing but failure of health can make them 
 relinquish. It is in the intense pursuit of these aims that 
 mosquitoes, privation, and danger are forgotten. There is also 
 the total absence of conventionality. The silence of the forest 
 is a welcome change from the noisy city, and one's manhood 
 seems to assert itself much more when entirely cut off from 
 European associations. 
 
 Perhaps the sense of individuality is the main attraction. 
 In the constant whirl of civilisation the personal element is 
 somewhat lost in the mass. Out in the forests of Africa you 
 are the man amongst your surroundings. It may not be very 
 much in reality, but at all events it is enough to make you 
 enjoy your environment ; and the coloured people unconsciously 
 weave themselves into your life as you study their lives and 
 their language, and realise that in most instances you are each 
 others' protectors, and, for the time at least, friends. This 
 fascination was beginning to cast its spell over me, and for 
 twenty-six years it never ceased to chain me to the Dark 
 Continent. 
 
 Our westward journey to the first sectional halting-place 
 continued without any remarkable occurrence; but, as we 
 neared Mamboia (136 miles from the coast), fever bowled me 
 over and well-nigh ended my career. Owing, however, to the 
 skilful attention of Mr. and Mrs. Last, I recovered and, leaving 
 the remainder of our party to march on to M'pwapwa and 
 await us. Captain Hore and myself returned to the coast for 
 our boat, reaching Zanzibar in eight days. We soon had the 
 carts ready and again started up-country. It is all very well 
 marching along a narrow path, but to draw wheeled vehicles 
 is another matter. Every rock and tree-stump was a vexatious 
 hindrance, and it required a coLipany of axe-men to clear away 
 
 45 
 
INSIGHT INTO NATIVE CHARACTER 
 
 obstacles. The men pulled, perspired, and " said things." 
 A broken trace, a capsize, up to the axle in mud, wheel 
 off. Sec. &;c., would be a fair summary of the daily life and the 
 pin-pricks one had to endure for three months. But those 
 black fellows never gave up ! Had they known what was 
 before them, it is certain none would have chosen to be yoked 
 as "donkeys" to those boat-sections. In order that the 
 reader may quite understand what these men had to do, I 
 may here explain that two boat-sections weighed 300 lbs. 
 each, and four others 230 lbs. each, besides the carts on which 
 they were lashed. The pathway seldom exceeded two feet 
 in width, with trees and tall grasses growing close up to its 
 edges. If you picture these men dragging such burdens under 
 a broiling sun, along that path for 825 miles (it took three 
 months), you will probably join with me in calling them a 
 brave set of black men. 
 
 In order to avoid the mountains, I was ordered to take 
 these carts through the Mukondokwa valley (Captain Hore 
 travelling by another road to escort his wife and son, who 
 unfortunately had to return to England, but who later on 
 went to Lake Tanganyika). The valley was very lovely, and, 
 but for the dense vegetation, would have been most enjoyable 
 to travel through. 
 
 Whilst alone with this division of our party in the valley, 
 I had an amusing insight into native character. The high 
 grass was nearly dry, and one evening, shortly after dinner, 
 I heard the ominous crackling of a grass fire quite close to 
 the tent and my men making a fearful noise. Calling 
 Tom, I asked for explanation. " Moto, bwana, moto " (fire ! 
 master, fire !) exclaimed he. Sure enough, the grass was 
 on fire. I saw ruin staring us in the face as I pictured the 
 boat, tent, calico (money), rifles, ammunition, and outfit 
 adding to the general conflagration. In the space of a few 
 seconds the tent was tiown and everything removed to a safe 
 place. 
 
 46 
 
INSIGHT INTO NATIVE CHARACTER 
 
 None too soon, as directly afterwards the fire passed over 
 the very spot. I rewarded the men who were most energetic 
 in subduing the flames. I had not long retired to rest before 
 a second alarm was raised, and again the same process was re- 
 peated and small presents distributed. But by this time I 
 had become suspicious of trickery, so, pitching the tent on a 
 burned patch of ground, I awaited events. 
 
 As I expected, the grass was fired in another direction, and 
 on being called, I replied, Let it burn ! I knew it was 
 only a plot to extort presents. They had purposely set it 
 alight ; but, as I was alone, I deemed it prudent to wait for 
 daylight. Tom next morning confirmed my suspicions, saying 
 in an undertone in broken English : " Master no yet speak 
 our language — not know black men. Porters not much bad 
 and not very good. They play with you as you are new to 
 country. Master, never put tent up in grass; plenty fire." 
 " All right, Tom ! " I replied. " Master plenty wake up 
 after breakfast." 
 
 It is needless to assure the reader master never again slept 
 in the grass during his African life. One lesson was enough ! 
 Without entering into details, I may say that " after hxak- 
 fasf'' the head-man of our party was publicly reminded that 
 a white man takes a serious objection to unnecessary excite- 
 ment in camp after the labours of the day are supposed to be 
 over ; and I doubt if he will ever forget the lesson learned in 
 company with his young master in the Mukondokwa valley. 
 
 47 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 Cruelties of the Slave-Trade — Major Von Wissmann — Diffi- 
 culties OF the Road — " Pay or Fight " — Loyal Service — A 
 Narrow Escape — The Mighty Mirambo — Native and Lion. 
 
 ON the 29th of November we arrived at M'pwapwa, where 
 the main portion of the party had encamped. They 
 were thoroughly tired of waiting in that uninteresting 
 district. Although about 200 miles from the coast, the natives 
 bore most of the objectionable characteristics of a slave- 
 depraved race. Situated on the outskirts of the Ugogo plains 
 and forests, the neighbourhood had become a convenient 
 halting place for all the slave caravans en route to the 
 coast. 
 
 Here we met the notorious Tip-pu-Tib's annual caravan, 
 which ha^ been resting after the long march through Ugogo 
 and the hot passes of Chunyo. 'As they filed past we noticed 
 many chained together by the neck. Others had their necks 
 fastened into the forks of poles about 6 feet long, the ends of 
 which were supported by the men who preceded them. The 
 women, who were as numerous as the men, carried babies on 
 their backs in addition to a tusk of ivory or other burden 
 on their heads; They looked at us with suspicion and fear, 
 having been told, as we subsequently ascertained, that white 
 men always desired to release slaves in order to eat their flesh, 
 like the Upper Congo cannibals. 
 
 It is difficult adequately to describe the filthy state of their 
 bodies; in many instances, not only scarred by the cut of a 
 " chikote " (a piece of hide used to enforce obedience), but feet 
 and shoulders were a mass of open sores, made more painful by 
 the swarms of flies which followed the march and lived on the 
 
 48 
 
CRUELTIES OF THE SLAVE TRADE 
 
 flowing blood. They presented a moving picture of utter 
 misery, and one could not help wondering how any of them 
 had survived the long tramp from the Upper Congo, at least 
 1000 miles distant. Our own inconveniences sank into in- 
 significance compared with the suffering of this crowd of half- 
 starved, ill-treated creatures who, weary and friendless, must 
 have longed for death. 
 
 The head-men in charge were most polite to us as they 
 passed our camp. Each was armed with a rifle, knife, and 
 spear, and although decently clothed in clean cotton garments, 
 they presented a thoroughly villainous appearance. 
 
 Addressing one, I pointed out that many of the slaves were 
 unfit to carry loads. To this he smilingly replied : 
 
 " They have no choice ! They must go, or die ! 
 
 Then ensued the following conversation : — 
 
 " Are all these slaves destined for Zanzibar ? 
 
 " Most of them, the remainder will stay at the coast." 
 
 " Have you lost many on the road ? " 
 
 " Yes ! numbers have died of hunger ! 
 
 " Any run away ? " ^ 
 
 " No, they are too well guarded. Only those who^ become 
 possessed with the devil try to escape; there is nowhere 
 they could run to if they should go.'' 
 
 " What do you do when they become too ill to travel ? " 
 
 " Spear them at once ! was the fiendish reply. " For, 
 if we did not, others would pretend they were ill in order 
 to avoid carrying their loads. No ! we never leave them 
 alive on the road ; they all know our custom."" 
 
 " I see women carrying not only a child on their backs, 
 but, in addition, a tusk of ivory or other burden on their 
 heads. What do you do in their case when they become too 
 weak to carry both child and ivory ? Who carries the ivory ? " 
 
 " She does ! We cannot leave valuable ivory on the 
 road. We spear the child and make her burden lighter. Ivory 
 first, child afterwards ! " 
 
 49 
 
CRUELTIES OF THE SLAVE-TRADE 
 
 I could have struck the demon dead at my feet. 
 
 For downright savagery this beat anything I had met 
 with. " Ivory first, child afterwards ! " I repeated over and 
 over again. Alas ! I was destined many times to witness 
 the truth of that cruel statement. 
 
 Thus early in my life I understood what Livingstone 
 meant and felt when, in 1886, he wrote the following: 
 " Besides those actually captured, thousands are killed, 
 or die of their wounds and famine, driven from their homes 
 by the slave-raider. Thousands perish in internecine wars, 
 waged for slaves with their own clansmen or neighbours ; 
 slain by the lust for gain which is stimulated by the slave- 
 purchasers. The many skeletons we have seen amongst 
 the rocks and woods, by the pools, and along the paths 
 of the wilderness, all testify to the awful sacrifice of 
 human life which must be attributed directly or indirectly 
 to this trade of hell.**'' Strong words, but not a whit too 
 strong ! 
 
 As the last poor creature in that living chain of wretched- 
 ness passed me, every humane feeling within me rose up in 
 rebellion as I realised for the first time that, though a member 
 of a philanthropical society, I was unable to respond to the 
 natural impulse of an Englishman and set the whole company 
 free. Nevertheless, our indignant protest was despatched both 
 to Zanzibar and England, and I am glad to say we were then 
 looking at the last slave-caravan ever permitted to leave the 
 mainland. The reader, however, should bear in mind that 
 although those Eastern slave-routes are now closed, there is 
 yet at the present day a considerable area in Africa still re- 
 maining wherein are practised similar cruelties which call 
 for speedy suppression by those European Powers who have 
 acquired the regions as a sphere of influence. 
 
 It was a pleasant relief next day to meet the genial German 
 explorer, Major von Wissmann, who had crossed the Continent 
 from west to east. With eyes sparkling and full of laughter 
 
 50 
 
A Dug-out Canoe 
 
 This is used for fishing. The land on the opposite- side of the lake is not visible. The men have 
 scientifically distributed their weight to preserve a proper balance. 
 
 A Method of Securing Slaves 
 
 When travelling a shorter pole is used, one end bain? held up by the preceding person. The 
 neck is often l)roken if the slave falls when walking. Lunatics are also imprisoned in this way to 
 prevent their running into the forest. It is also used to torture enemies, who are fixed in this 
 manner over the nests of ferocious ants. 
 
MAJOR VON WISSMANN 
 
 he apologised for his attire ; explaining that, to replace his hat 
 he had bought a cap at Ujiji ; having worn out his foot-gear, 
 he had purchased some weird -looking boots at Urambo ; and, 
 wanting the necessary materials for washing linen, he had made 
 himself a vest of unbleached calico. It was my privilege to 
 meet him again both at Tanganyika and in Nyasaland, where 
 his ability, tact, and cheerful optimism won him the admiration 
 of all pioneers. Germany has given many brilliant sons to 
 Africa ; but I doubt if any name deserves, or will receive, more 
 lasting honour at her hands than Von Wissmann, subsequently 
 Governor of her Eastern Colony. 
 
 Leaving camp on December 2, we made for Mkambi, 
 beyond the hot pass of Chunyo. The country was very rugged, 
 necessitating the cutting of new paths in many places through 
 the dense scrub. About thirty miles ahead we entered the 
 plains of Ugogo, and travelling became easier ; but the second 
 day^s march will not soon be forgotten, for every yard of road 
 was disputed by thorny bushes, which, meeting overhead, made 
 walking upright out of the question. The men found it diffi- 
 cult to push forward with their loads, whilst to drag our carts 
 through appeared almost hopeless. 
 
 At sunrise our vanguard attacked with axes the tangled 
 vegetation, and succeeded in enlarging the tunnel so that the 
 carts could pass. But it was heart-breaking work. At noon 
 we had covered but a few miles, whilst most of the men who 
 carried loads were tired out by constantly stooping under the 
 creepers. To make matters worse, rain fell heavily about 4 p.m. 
 The road at once became sodden, and, with wheels sinking up 
 to the axles in mud, it is no wonder our men became exhausted 
 after ten hours of such toil without food. Unfortunately for 
 me, it had been my turn that day to superintend the transport, 
 so the night was extremely welcome ; for, being dressed in a 
 canvas suit which was soaked with rain and covered with mud, 
 I was fairly miserable. 
 
 Turning to a head-man I asked if it was far to camp. 
 
 53 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE ROAD 
 
 I (ioirt know, master,"" replied he ; " but we cannot reach 
 there to-night with these carts."" 
 
 This was not cheering, for it was raining and dark. All 
 were hungry, tired out, and cold. The ground was covered with 
 water, and to spend a night in dense bush under such conditions 
 was to court fever or death. At that moment we were cheered 
 by the sight of a lantern approaching, which proved to be 
 carried by a messenger from Hore, who delivered to me a slip 
 of paper containing instructions to leave the carts and make 
 for camp. 
 
 " Come along, boys ! "" I shouted, and with thoughts of 
 dry clothes, a bath, hot coffee, fire, and sleep, we quickly 
 shuffled through the slush. A mile or two on we espied the 
 gleaming camp-fires, to which master and men hastened for 
 warmth. How grateful it was, this rough wood fire under 
 the open sky. Certainly the figures crouching around it 
 thanked Allah for the precious gift. 
 
 The rain ceased, having done its worst, and 1 felt sure 
 my personal servant had long since made my tent cosy, 
 prepared supper and warm clothes, and filled the pipe. With 
 these too hastily formed conclusions, I was groping around 
 in the endeavour to find my tent, when I heard Hore"'s voice 
 saying: 
 
 " What are you hunting for, Swann ? "'"' 
 
 " My tent,"*"* I replied. " I am done up and cold, and 
 this canvas suit would stand up by itself, it is so stiff with 
 the rain."'"' 
 
 His reply was crushing. 
 
 "You will get no tent to-night, or bed either, for our 
 companions have gone on and taken the tents with them. But, 
 never mind, the men who carried the food collapsed near 
 here ; so we have the dinner, they the beds." 
 
 " How nice ! " I replied. 
 
 Hore was, like the rest of us, soaking wet; but, with a 
 
 smile, he said: "Let's make the best of a bad job. You 
 
 54 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE ROAD 
 
 make coffee, whilst I'll fry pancakes. Afterwards we will 
 give the fellows hot porridge and coffee, or some will collapse 
 during the night."" 
 
 It was both an amusing and uncomfortable occupation 
 to carry out the programme, but it was done. Boxes were 
 arranged around the fire, upon which we lay, drying first 
 one side and then the other ; and we indulged in many a 
 hearty laugh though our teeth were chattering with cold. 
 
 Whilst I was lying thus, gazing up at the stars, the whole 
 thing struck me as very comical, especially when I saw my 
 companion endeavouring to prevent himself from rolling off 
 into the fire when asleep, and I ventured the following remark : 
 
 " I suppose this is what we sailors call ' sleeping on 
 a clothes-line to dry ? ' " 
 
 " Yes," he answered. " Did you not see me trying to peg 
 myself on ? " 
 
 At that instant a hyena make the camp echo with its dismal 
 howl, but how often it was repeated we did not know, for deep 
 sleep came to our relief. We awoke in broad daylight, little 
 refreshed and both feverish. 
 
 This part was inhabited by the most inquisitive and insolent 
 natives I ever met. They lived where water was scarce during 
 the dry season, demanding heavy payment for the use of wells. 
 If this had been k^pt within reasonable bounds no one would 
 have grumbled, but it was extortionate and demanded in 
 a most objectionable manner. The men carried heavy broad- 
 bladed spears ; their faces were made hideous by markings of 
 red and white pigment. They crowded around our tents, and 
 altogether behaved in an offensive manner. It was perhaps 
 fortunate we did not understand their language, or trouble 
 might easily have arisen. Their villages were built in a square, 
 the outsides being protected by a loop-holed wall of dry mud. 
 In this enclosure they lived along the corridors, whilst the 
 central space was reserved for the cattle, the whole place being 
 disgustingly dirty. The settling of our tribute was a most 
 
 55 
 
"PAY OR FIGHT 
 
 exasperating business. First, they must have calico " to make 
 the chiefs heart good ; " next, they must have more to appease 
 some other member of the aristocracy ; finally, some more " to 
 oil the spears of the head-men." When that was done, they 
 wanted the remainder in guns, then slaves, then ivory, calico, 
 brass, wire, salt ; in short, every imaginable article known to 
 the most greedy amongst them. 
 
 Each request was accompanied by an ultimatum, " pay 
 or fight ! " no pay, no water,"' and so on. In fact they 
 demonstrated to perfection how unjust the coloured man can 
 be when he is paramount. It is a satisfaction to know that the 
 Germans put an end to all this nonsense directly after occupy- 
 ing the country. These Wagogo were so powerful that both 
 Stanley and Tip-pu-Tib, who travelled with well-armed 
 escorts, were compelled to pay tribute, so we could not hope to 
 escape. 
 
 The only redeeming feature of the country was its smooth 
 surface, over which our men galloped with the carts, often 
 arriving in camp hours before the rear-guard. Such an easy 
 day pleased them ; for, like children, they are as quickly elated 
 as depressed. It was common to hear them, about this time, 
 speculating as to the number of days which would elapse before 
 they saw the mighty Tanganyika. 
 
 Leaving the plain we suddenly ascended about 800 feet 
 to a plateau, and entered the much dreaded Mgunda-Mkali 
 wilderness. The climb was difficult, the heavy carts requiring 
 all our spare men ; whilst the absence of water on the hillside 
 was keenly felt during the heat of day. Severe as this work was, 
 it was eclipsed by that done through the forest at the summit, 
 where our marches frequently exceeded twenty-five miles a day 
 without water. It is difficult to understand how any man can 
 endure such a strain with 60-lbs. weight on his head. 
 
 In this forest I witnessed a remarkable instance of the 
 endurance and loyalty of a black man. Once, after several 
 days of severe marching, our men failed to reach camp. 
 
 56 
 
LOYAL SERVICE 
 
 I returned to them with water and assistance, finding the carts 
 with only half their crew, the remainder having gone off to 
 camp. I asked where the heavy load was, and they replied, 
 " Miles behind;' 
 
 Fearing the men would be starved, we pressed on towards 
 them, and finally discovered the load drawn up under a bush. 
 Searching around for traces of the crew, I heard a voice faintly 
 call out : 
 
 " I am alive, but give me water ! " 
 
 On looking into the bush we discovered the leader, 
 sheltered from the sun, and after giving him water, I 
 asked : 
 
 " Where are the others ? " 
 
 " Gone on to camp/"* he replied, " for food and water." 
 " Why did you not go ? " 
 
 " No, master, I could not leave the boat-section. My 
 name is Mahububu. I was one of Livingstone's boys. I should 
 have died by the load. I cut off the hide lashings and ate 
 them, and the roots I dug up and sucked for moisture." 
 Let no man question the ability of black men to perform 
 loyal service after evidence of such heroic conduct. 
 
 Near where we stood we discovered the skeletons of our 
 four mail-men, who had been murdered by robbers. Frag- 
 ments of our letters lay about in all directions ; but as 
 we counted seven skulls, it proved that our men had not 
 died without a brave struggle, taking with them no less 
 than three of their assailants. I cannot do better than sum 
 up our journey to this point in Captain Hore's own 
 words : — 
 
 " On went this novel train through weary miles of 
 forest, across the scorched plain, rattling over the hard-baked 
 footprints of elephant and rhinoceros. On through grassy 
 glades where the antelope bounded away, scared out of our 
 path, and the zebra and giraffe were startled by the rattle 
 of these strange disturbers of their solitude. On through 
 
 57 D 
 
LOYAL SERVICE 
 
 miles of swamps with their croaking legions, or past the 
 dreary wayside relics of travellers way-laid and exhausted. 
 On till the pace grows slow and the heart sick with weariness 
 and thirst, and revives again as the welcome messenger 
 appears in sight with water, or the camp-fires tell of food 
 and rest." 
 
 Once clear of this, we were refreshed by the abmidance 
 of food found everywhere in Unyamwezi. The robust subjects 
 of the great Mirambo, into whose territory we had entered, 
 made us realise we were amongst men who felt they belonged 
 to a great kingdom. Whilst they cheerfully rendered respect 
 to white men, they demanded from strangers rigid obedience 
 to the social laws of their tribe. These Wanyamwezi may 
 be called the professional transport-agents of the East Coast. 
 Not one of them was allowed to marry before he had carried 
 a load of ivory to the coast, and brought back one of calico 
 or brass-wire. It was the tribal stamp of true manhood, 
 at once making him a citizen and warrior. 
 
 During the march it had always been my ambition to 
 bag a bull buffalo, and although aware of the dangerous 
 nature of these brutes when wounded, I was stupid enough 
 to hunt one armed onlv with a small Martini-Henry cavalry 
 carbine. On the margin of a broad swamp, in which were 
 growing bango reeds about twelve feet high, we noticed some 
 fresh buffalo spoor leading into the thick bush surrounding 
 the marsh. The natives, who have a wholesome respect for 
 the animal, warned me of its fierce character, and Tom not 
 only suggested great caution, but went so far as to say he 
 thought it was not " the kind of game master generally 
 shoots." He was right, and I almost paid dearly for not 
 listening to prudent counsel. But thinking they were drawing 
 the long-bow, I paid no heed. Striking oil* on the spoor I 
 at once began creeping through the dense foliage, making 
 enough noise to scare any game long before reaching it. 
 After about a mile of this sort of travel it became evident 
 
 58 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 
 
 we were overtaking 'our quarry, as the spoor became fresher 
 and the broken twigs showed the herd had passed quite 
 recently. 
 
 From the general nature of the country it appeared an 
 ideal home for buffalo, the surrounding bush having been 
 trampled into a grey mire, and the huge trees bashed down 
 by elephants. A tangled mass of vegetation was the result, 
 amongst which all big game love to shelter. An uncanny 
 feeling always crept over me when in such dense country. It 
 may have been caused by my intense horror of snakes, but 
 also I wanted elbow-room for any sudden tussle with wild 
 game, as it is an unequal contest when there are obstacles 
 which obstruct the vision, especially as both elephants and 
 buffaloes are known to stand quite still in the heat of the day, 
 permitting you, if they have not caught your wind, to pass 
 within charging distance; and although they seldom charge 
 without provocation, still, the knowledge of this possible 
 danger makes you long for a few yards of clear space. 
 
 To counteract this quite natural dislike of an unseen foe 
 one has the intense excitement, tempered, of course, with calm 
 reason. It is so different to the chase in England after hare 
 or fox, where the hunter rushes though open country and the 
 game cannot fight for its life. In the bush one knows it is 
 about an even chance, and so far as this particular hunt was 
 concerned, the chances, owing to my ignorance and improper 
 rifle, were against me. 
 
 Emerging into a small valley, we suddenly came upon 
 seven buffaloes quietly grazing, surrounded by several reed- 
 buck, water-buck, and zebra. It was a pretty and yet 
 grand spectacle. To throw ourselves flat on the ground 
 was the first precaution ; this done, I crawled along the edge 
 of the forest until within about one hundred and fifty yards 
 of the nearest animal. A large bull buffalo stood exposing 
 his broadside to me, and, intending to shoot at him from 
 a slight rising ground in front of me, I was proceeding to 
 
 59 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 
 
 crawl into position, when a water-buck galloped past, dis- 
 appearing into the opposite bush. This, of , course, disturbed 
 the others. The zebra threw up their graceful heads and 
 indulged in a trotting match. The buffaloes were very uneasy 
 and began prancing about, at the same time whirling their 
 tails around in a vicious manner, evidently on the point 
 of moving away when once they detected the position of the 
 threatened danger. 
 
 I saw there was no time to be lost, so, resting the carbine 
 against a tree, I fired at the bull, aiming at his left shoulder. 
 He fell to the shot, rolling on to his side and knees, making 
 a deep grunting noise, whilst his companions made off en masse, 
 disappearing in a cloud of dust. The bull rapidly recovered 
 his feet, and looked around for his assailant. It took but 
 a moment to discover me, as I had foolishly exposed myself, 
 thinking he was mortally wounded. 
 
 The instant he saw me I realised my mistake, for, with 
 another grunt, he came at fall gallop straight for me. With 
 his head held high, nostrils distended, and sending clouds 
 of earth flying from his hoofs, he covered the distance which 
 separated us in a few seconds. Having reloaded immediately 
 after firing, I was ready ; but a charging, wounded buffalo 
 is not easily stopped. Dropping on one knee and aiming 
 for his chest, I pulled the trigger, praying the bullet would 
 strike the heart. Whether it did or not, made not the 
 slightest difference to his terrific speed. 
 
 Down went his head for the charge. There was only one 
 thing to do to escape certain death, and so, waiting until he 
 was quite close, I flung my sun-helmet in his face and threw 
 myself sideways into the bush simultaneously. The infuriated 
 beast thundered over the spot I had knelt on, missing me by 
 inches as I lay flat on the ground, and only his great impetus 
 prevented him from swerving quickly enough to catch me with 
 his horns. He crashed into some young trees and stood still, 
 whilst blood flowed from his nostrils, chest, and shoulder; 
 
 60 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 
 
 truly the beast looked terrible in his rage. I gave him no 
 time to recover, and another bullet through the shoulder 
 finished the battle, the mighty beast rolling over dead. It 
 was a narrow escape. The breast shot had pierced the heart, 
 and doubtless it was this that caused him to miss his aim in 
 the last few mad strides ; otherwise the encounter might have 
 ended in a different manner. In the light of after-experience, 
 I know the folly of attacking a buffalo with nothing but a 
 carbine. The meat was a welcome addition to our cuisine, and 
 also made glad the hearts of numerous strangers who were 
 encamped within a few miles of our sleeping-place. 
 
 On arrival at Urambo, the capital of Unyamwezi, we were 
 visited by the powerful chief, Mirambo. He was tall, stately, 
 and looked every inch a chief. He carefully scrutinised our 
 carts, and on being told the boat-sections were to be put 
 together on Tanganyika, he remarked : " It is good work. 
 The lake is large. I shall call it my boat, and you can ferry 
 my men across with my ivory as they come from the Congo ; 
 and in exchange I give you my country to hunt in, or to live 
 in, and I will always be your friend." 
 
 This was the mighty Mirambo, dreaded by most tribes 
 in these parts, and spoken unfavourably of by Europeans, 
 who imagined him to be a cruel chief, delighting in war and 
 plunder. We found him upright, manly, great, and years of 
 close contact with him proved him to be loyal to all who 
 merited his friendship. During the great trek of the Zulus 
 from the south, a small number reached as far north as 
 Urambo, and remained there when the tribe retreated south- 
 wards. We found a small community still living near 
 Urambo ; they are called Angoni, using the same hide-shields 
 and assegais as are used by the Zulus of Natal. Mirambo 
 hired these warlike people for purposes of war, as they were 
 much feared by the neighbouring people. The great Mirambo, 
 since dead, left a deep impression on my mind. He stood out 
 as one of the most progressive chiefs of his day, and the 
 
 61 
 
THE MIGHTY MIRAMBO 
 
 complete obedience of his robust subjects testified to the fact 
 that they could understand and respect justice and power 
 as embodied in their great chief. 
 
 On January 16 we pitched our tents close to the capital, 
 having completed a march of 600 miles from the coast, and 
 200 more would bring us to Tanganyika. 
 
 We had now arrived near to the first slave-depot of Un- 
 yanyembe. Arabs, financed by wealthy merchants in Zanzibar, 
 ruled the district and kept up communication with the other 
 depots at Ujiji, the Victoria Nyanza, and Upper Congo, for- 
 warding large quantities of ivory, and annual consignments of 
 slaves, to the coast. 
 
 It was against this organised slave-raiding system that the 
 chief, Mirambo, with whom we were staying, was frequently at 
 war. He told us he would not tolerate their rule in any form, 
 because of the usual methods they employed — first, to under- 
 mine the chief's authority ; and finally, to capture the villages 
 one by one by creating jealousies, inciting the people to 
 quarrel, and crushing in detail the whole tribe. At the time 
 we arrived it appeared as if many long years would elapse 
 before this powerful Arab organisation could be abolished. 
 The sources from which slaves were taken must be occupied, 
 raided tribes lived amongst, and seeds of freedom sown in their 
 midst. In fact, these people must be taught that it is not 
 simply a misfortune to become a slave but a real disgj^ace, and 
 Europe must be compelled to come to their rescue. 
 
 The Arab system extended to great distances, and, octopus- 
 like, grasped every small unprotected village community, 
 making the whole country a vast battlefield wherein no one 
 was safe outside the stockades. That I should live to see this 
 inhuman svstem utterly abolished never entered my imagina- 
 tion. Yet our very presence sealed its fate. 
 
 On resuming the journey westward we passed numerous 
 villages, out of which groups of young people ran to witness 
 what to them was an event of importance. We had come 
 
 62 
 
African Mimicry 
 
 A native having seen a Hussar's busby, tries to go one better by 
 making a much lighter one out of leaves and adding another plume. 
 
 In the Wake of the Slave Raiders 
 
 A village raided by slave hunters, who have partially destroyed the huts and pitched away the 
 cooking-pots. A solitary individual has crept back from his hiding-place to find his home desolate 
 and all his relatives gone into slavery. Suicide is often the sequel. 
 
NATIVE AND LION 
 
 from the salt sea, of which every one had heard from the 
 men who had been there and had thus qualified themselves 
 for citizenship. Food was easily purchased, and all seemed 
 very happy. None of the villages were stockaded, which 
 showed general security throughout the country. They 
 were too strong to be successfully attacked. The lesson had 
 been learned that to ensure peace you must be prepared for 
 a war of defence. 
 
 As we travelled away from the capital, and the villages 
 became more exposed to attack near the frontier, every 
 town was surrounded by a stockade consisting of poles about 
 ten feet ihigh, closely bound together, and inserted into the 
 earth; along the top of them thorns are often added. 
 Where lions infest the neighbourhood this plan is always 
 adopted, although they have been known to leap over and 
 tear off the grass of huts at night, killing the occupants. 
 Game was abundant everywhere, but the numerous pits dug 
 for the capture of wild animals made it risky to hunt, 
 except with great care. 
 
 It has frequently been stated that the lion, if he springs 
 at and misses his prey, will retire disgusted. We had a 
 good opportunity of proving this whilst encamped in a 
 rocky defile. About four inl the afternoon a porter rushed 
 into camp excitedly shouting, " Lions, master, lions ! " Of 
 course every one was instantly on the alert and rifles seized, 
 as, from the manner of the man, we took it the lions were 
 visible. On his calming down we extracted from him the 
 following story : — 
 
 " I was cutting firewood in the forest near here, when, 
 on looking up, I saw a lion creeping towards a small ant- 
 heap. He stopped directly I ceased chopping the wood, 
 and I saw him turn up his upper lip like our village dog 
 does when going to bite. I had no companions, and only 
 this little axe. If there had been trees I could easily have 
 climbed up out of danger, but there were thorn bushes and 
 
 65 
 
NATIVE AND LION 
 
 rocks everywhere, except in the clear space where I was. 
 I knew it was no use to run, as the lion always catches 
 you. Allah Akbar ! ^ Before I had time to do anything 
 the lion crept up on to the ant-heap, and, growling all the 
 time, sprang right towards me. I was too far away, so, 
 lifting up my axe as if to strike him, I stood but did not 
 move. The lion then went away into the bush, and, as soon 
 as he was hidden from sight, I ran here." 
 
 *' MVongo, bwana ! " (liar, master !) exclaimed our 
 head-man. 
 
 " Lions are not such fools," added a chorus of voices. 
 
 The man, however, was certainly scared, and implored 
 us to go and see. We four Europeans went, taking the 
 fellow with us. Remarkable as it may appear, we verified 
 the statement he had made about the lion's spring. We 
 traced the lion's spoor up to a small ant-heap, on the top of 
 which the earth was torn up by the force of his paws when 
 springing at the man. From there to where he alighted was 
 exactly twenty feet, the height of the ant-heap being five 
 feet. He failed to reach the man by only five yards, as the 
 chopped wood indicated where he had been standing. From 
 there the spoor led into the thorn bushes at right angles; 
 and I think there can be no doubt the lion actually left the 
 man, either through disgust at missing him, or, what is 
 perhaps more likely, because the man stood still and challenged 
 combat. The lion naturally takes his prey at a disadvantage 
 — gets in " the first blow," as we term it. It is well established 
 by all hunters that lions, unless wounded, never deliberately 
 give open battle, as, for instance, will the rhinoceros. We 
 beat around for some time but failed to dislodge his majesty, 
 who was probably living between the large rocks. Had the 
 man run away, he would certainly have been caught in the 
 second or third leap of the lion which would have followed. 
 
 1 " Allah Akbar ! " This exclamation is always used by Mohammedans 
 ■when some Europeans would probably exclaim, " God !" 
 
 66 
 
NATIVE AND LION 
 
 Tom, who was always ready with solutions to every 
 problem, and who never missed a chance of excitement, 
 turned to one of the onlookers, saying : " Shetani hataki 
 dawa/' (The devil does not like medicine.) 
 
 "Dawa mkali sana, nitamomba mara moja.''' (Medicine 
 is very fierce. I shall beg the man to sell me some of his 
 at once.) 
 
 This was a typical instance of the Africans' belief in 
 charms, and that evil reigns, but can be propitiated. It 
 never enters their heads to imagine that an omnipotent 
 Creator would permit an opponent. No ! To them this life 
 is a fight between nearly equal forces, both liable to defeat. 
 They believe in the discomfiture of evil spirits by the inter- 
 vention of their ancestors, whose assistance may be obtained 
 mostly by some sacrifice. To them the Creator is beyond, 
 above, out of reach, supreme in His universal Kingdom, 
 knowing no equals. It was to the lion-medicine that Tom 
 was attracted. He wanted to have it around his neck. 
 Poor little chap ! A time was soon to come when, through 
 this child-like faith in charms, he was to throw away his 
 happy young life. 
 
 67 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 A Greedy Ferryman — Fetish — Ujiji and Lake Tanganyika — 
 Livingstone and Stanley — A Whited Sepulchre — Ivory and 
 Slaves — Launching a Canoe — The People of the Plain. 
 
 A few days' travel brought us to the Malagarasi River, which 
 flows into Lake Tanganyika south of Ujiji. Its current 
 runs in the rainy season about five miles an hour, and, 
 being very deep, it is never fordable. Fish are plentiful, whilst 
 crocodiles in considerable numbers infest every stretch of back- 
 water, making it out of the question to cross by swimming. We 
 had expected this difficulty, and the problem of how to get our 
 heavy boat-sections across caused some anxiety. The ferry was 
 in the hands of a petty chief of the Wavinza, who, living on the 
 opposite side, owed no allegiance to our friend Mirambo, but on 
 the contrary sought to annoy his frontier subjects whenever 
 opportunity presented itself. The greedy old warrior, wearing 
 a skin cap, was superintendent of the canoes, which were almost 
 as difficult to manage as a narrow racing skiff. How he would 
 convey across the river both loads and men, was not easy to 
 understand. 
 
 Long and vexatious were the preliminary negotiations, and 
 more than once he ordered away the canoes, as the price of his 
 work was disputed by us. Two yards of calico per load was at 
 last agreed upon, and, after some hours, all were safe on the 
 opposite bank except the carts. 
 
 Fearing the old man, on seeing these, would refuse the 
 responsibility of their transport in such tiny craft and perhaps 
 remove the canoes, we seized the whole lot, and by lashing 
 poles across them, made a strong platform on to which the 
 vehicles and their precious burdens were secured. The wily 
 
 68 
 
FETISH 
 
 natives looked on without comment ; but when all was ready 
 for a start they demanded double payment, refusing to be 
 responsible for loss if the canoes capsized. We paid at once, 
 and without mishap negotiated our most formidable obstacle. 
 The blue waters of the great lake we knew would be visible in a 
 few days, repaying us for all these uncomfortable incidents ; and 
 our men went almost mad around their camp fires that night as 
 they dramatically described how their entry into Ujiji would 
 astonish the Arabs. 
 
 The Wavinza presented a marked contrast to Mirambo''s 
 people. Their villages were untidy, more scattered, and many 
 wrecked by slave-raiders. One extremely bad result of this 
 was to ►drive the men on to the road as highway robbers, in 
 order to support their families. Several of our men were 
 severely handled, and it was only by posting strong guards at 
 intervals we were able to march with any safety. All through 
 this harassed country it was interesting to notice the numerous 
 little spirit-houses erected to ancestors whose protection they 
 needed so much. The great wealth and general safety of 
 Mirambo's tribe apparently called for no special appeal to the 
 spirit-world. They were happy, the sun was shining, there 
 were few tribal clouds. But across this river the shadows of 
 privation and war, all caused by slavery, had fallen, and in 
 their adversity they thought of gods. I could not help com- 
 paring this natural action with those of other countries. 
 Humanity seems everywhere inclined to act as the Wavinza. 
 
 I had noticed heaps of little stones and sticks piled up 
 either at the end of deserts, or forests, or on hill-tops. That 
 these had some special significance was certain, as the natives 
 never do such things merely as a pastime. On inquiry I 
 received various explanations from old porters. 
 
 One described the pile as meaning a barrier erected by the 
 traveller against " a following devil." Another said practically 
 the same: " The snake crawls around it and is delayed. The 
 lion smells it and fears a trap. The traveller may rest his 
 
 69 
 
FETISH 
 
 burden on it without stooping. An enemy fears medicine 
 buried underneath.'' Doubtless there are many other ex- 
 planations in different tribes, but I think the following is the 
 best. After a hard day's hunting, and consequently being 
 very tired, I had to climb a steep, rocky hill, accompanied by 
 only one gun-bearer. The sun was scorching our faces, and, 
 just before reaching the summit, I saw the man pick up a stone 
 and add it to one of these cairns as he reached the hill-top. 
 The cairn was exactly on the top of the ridge. I rested ; we 
 were both exhausted for the moment. 
 
 "What did you throw^ that stone on the pile for?" I 
 asked. The question seemed to puzzle him ; he did not know 
 what I was driving at. 
 
 " Nothing," replied he. 
 
 " Don't answer me so stupidly," I said. " You never do 
 anything without a reason. Tell me why you did it." 
 
 Note his reason, for it seems to carry one back across the 
 centuries. 
 
 " Was not the sun hot ? — was not the hill steep ? I was tired, 
 but I had strength to reach the top. I added the stone to the 
 pile, at the same time saying to myself that trouble is over, and 
 — may I reach the top of every hill I start to clijnb.'''' 
 
 It was a beautiful idea ! My mind rapidly condensed the 
 train of thought into — assistance rendered, gratitude, public 
 acknowledgment. Away beyond those stones on the hill-top 
 I saw another pile, erected by an Oriental, and fancy heard 
 him call the place " Mizpah." 
 
 Is this the true meaning of these cairns met with all over 
 Africa, either before or after a difficult part of the road ? 
 The Wavinza, through whose country we were now travelling, 
 must have had numerous causes for doubting the power of 
 their ancestors to help them, as ruin was everywhere. 
 
 The Lusigi River gave little trouble to cross, most of the 
 heavy loads being got over by means of ropes and blocks 
 similar to those employed by coastguard men when using the 
 
 70 
 
UJIJI AND LAKE TANGANYIKA 
 
 mortar and rocket apparatus at wrecks on the coast. Messen- 
 gers were dispatched to Ujiji, which was built on the shores 
 of Tanganyika. The greatest Arab slave-centre was about 
 to be entered by men who intended to drive into it Living- 
 stone's wedge and utterly destroy its power. 
 
 The final march has been described by a companion : 
 " Tanganyika was at hand. The view came in sight at last — 
 just a narrow strip of the great lake gleaming in the sun, 
 in the distance between the trees, and enlivening each member 
 of the party with the assurance that to-morrow we should 
 be in Ujiji. For hours we crept through muddy paths, the 
 haunts of hippopotami, until we emerged upon the pleasant- 
 looking Ruiche River, the last we had to cross. Next day 
 we slowly marched into Ujiji, a compact body, the firing of 
 guns and beating of drums awakening the inhabitants to 
 come and look — and well they might, for they had never seen 
 such a sight before. Our journey of 825 miles was ended, 
 and the subsequent arrival of 200 more loads completed 
 the success of the largest East African Expedition. Stanley, 
 years before, took seven months to get to Ujiji ; we had taken 
 three, showing clearly that facilities for transport were in- 
 creasing rapidly." 
 
 The human donkeys, harnessed to their carts, went mad 
 with excitement. Nothing had been able to deter these brave 
 fellows. Not one had deserted over that long and difficult 
 journey, and, unable to restrain themselves, they rushed down 
 on to the sands with their carts, flung themselves en masse into 
 Tanganyika, shouting to its waves : " We have brought you a 
 child from the white man's land, to ride on your back, to 
 breathe your winds, to sleep on your breast — God is great ! " 
 
 It was the proudest moment of my African life. 
 
 There was just a slight mist coming over the lake as I 
 
 gazed at this scene — or, was it not possible, my eyes were 
 
 dimmed by excessive joy ? 
 
 Ascending the rising ground to the east I let myself feast 
 
 73 
 
LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY 
 
 on the sight. The mighty Tanganyika lay at my feet, extend- 
 ing for hundreds of miles. The dark mountain range of Goma, 
 on the opposite side, was visible about forty-five miles distant. 
 Beyond this I could picture the Congo, with its mysteries, 
 cannibalism, and wealth. I tried to enter into Livingstone's 
 thoughts as he stood here, wondering whether this mass of 
 water was the source of the Nile. I knew that at this spot 
 Africa's greatest missionary explorer was found by the intrepid 
 Stanley. It was an historic spot. Here centred all the villainy 
 which for centuries had cruelly oppressed the coloured races, 
 and here the Arabs were, as they thought, established in their 
 impregnable fortress. Little did they imagine that yonder 
 howling crowd of East Coast porters had deposited in their 
 midst a British ensigu which, in company with those of 
 Germany and of Belgium, would soon fly over the ruins of 
 their vile trade-centres. 
 
 Beside me, whilst engaged in this reverie, stood a 
 white-robed Arab. He appeared to be interested in my 
 evident joy, and with a polite bow, resting his hands on his 
 breast, said : " God is very great. Your journey is over. 
 You are glad ! 
 
 " Yes,'' I answered, ''we are pleased, for it is a long way from 
 the coast." Wondering if Livingstone had left any lasting 
 impression on these men, I ventured the following questions : — 
 
 " Did you meet Livingstone ? Were you here when he 
 came ? " 
 
 " If you are meaning a white man, I do not know him by 
 that name," replied he. 
 
 I was disappointed — but it was only temporary. 
 
 Approaching the ^subject in another manner, I added : 
 " Don't you remember a man with a peaked cap, who carried 
 medicines about ; who was always looking for, and asking 
 questions about, rivers and lakes ; who never purchased slaves 
 or ivory ? Have you never heard he was met here by an other 
 white man named Stanley ? " 
 
 74 
 
A WHITED SEPULCHRE 
 
 I saw the shot had hit the mark, for a smile played 
 across his face as he extended his hand to me, exclaiming : 
 
 "You must mean — Baba Daud and Bula Matali ! 
 
 "Those are the men!" I replied. "Father David," and 
 " The Stone Breaker " ! 
 
 Civilisation and philanthropy could not have wished for a 
 better name for their immortal Livingstone than that bestowed 
 upon him in Darkest Africa by an inhuman slave-trading 
 Arab. His brave discoverer, Stanley, was called the " Stone 
 Breaker" on account of his having blasted the rocks in the 
 Congo to clear the river for navigation. 
 
 Ujiji town was really ruled by the Arabs, although a 
 native chief was nominally its head. Most of the powerful 
 and wealthy Arabs lived here, superintending the transport 
 of ivory and slaves which came from the west. Both the 
 famous Tip-pu-Tib and his partner, Rumaliza, had their 
 principal homes in the town. The former associated himself 
 with, and assisted all, the early travellers, the latter eventually 
 fought against the Belgians for the Upper Congo. 
 
 The country to the east of Ujiji had been long since 
 denuded of ivory, and the enormous wealth which entered 
 Zanzibar did not come, as some imagined, from the immediate 
 Hinterland, but was collected from the regions west of 
 Tanganyika, where elephants abounded and ivory could be 
 obtained for a trifle. At this powerful centre of trade we 
 were nothing less than guests of the Arabs. Mighty merchant 
 princes, who lived in a curious mixture of luxury and squalor, 
 invited us to tiffin. One walked over tusks of ivory scattered 
 about their courtyards representing thousands of pounds. 
 Diseased slaves moved about in close proximity to gaudily 
 clothed women of the household. The slave-chain and its 
 captives were in evidence everywhere, whilst brutal half-caste 
 fighting men lounged about the verandahs of the most wealthy. 
 The whole appearance of the place was like a whited sepulchre, 
 presided over by smooth-talking, clean, perfumed, and polite 
 
IVORY AND SLAVES 
 
 Arabs, who, in their conduct towards us, were always courteous 
 and generous. Out of respect for us the slave-market was 
 abolished, although active slave-trading was carried on in 
 the town. 
 
 Strolling along the sands one evening I came upon eight 
 dying slaves, who were suffering from smallpox. They were 
 beyond hope, and had been placed close to the water that 
 the crocodiles might carry them off when the sun set. No 
 one was allowed to go near them under penalty of being 
 shot by a soldier who kept guard. I passed three other bodies 
 partly eaten by hyenas. It was the usual manner of getting 
 rid of slaves who were of no value. To a vounsc Arab who 
 accompanied me, I remarked : 
 
 " Why don't you endeavour to cure the smallpox and save 
 the life.?" 
 
 " Oh ! " replied he, with a shrug of the shoulders, " it's 
 not worth it. They are Pagans, and we have had all the 
 expense and trouble of bringing them from the Congo for 
 nothing. Who will carry their load of ivory to the coast .f^" 
 
 Ivory ! always ivory ! What a curse the elephant has been 
 to Africans ! By himself the slave did not pay to transport, 
 but plus ivory he was a paying game. 
 
 The Wajiji, amongst whom we lived, were bright, 
 industrious people. They had large markets every day where 
 palm-oil, ground nuts, and maize flour could be bartered in 
 exchange for calico, beads, salt, or brass-wire. An enterprising 
 man would purchase a goat, cut it into small pieces, and open 
 a miniature butcher's shop. Another invested in a jar of 
 palm-oil (which is made in large quantities in the northern 
 districts) and retailed small saucerfuls, sufficient to make a 
 light for one night. Bananas in great quantities were sold 
 at about 2d. for a bunch of one hundred. Fowls ranged at 
 from 2d. to 3d. each. New-laid eggs, one for a needle or two 
 for a teaspoonful of salt. The staple food of all natives is 
 porridge, made either from the flour of cassava or maize, with 
 
 76 
 
THE LAUNCH OF A CANOE 
 
 a little relish such as meat, fish, or native spinach. Fish in 
 large quantities were brought to market every morning ; the 
 most tasty are the sangala, which resemble cod, and in taste 
 are not unlike salmon. I have known these to scale 90 lbs., 
 and it is quite common to see fish weighing anything from 
 10 to 50 lbs. each. They may be caught with the ordinary 
 spoon-bait, which they take readily if the sun is shining, and 
 afford excellent sport, fighting like salmon; but you must fish 
 in deep water, in a canoe. They may be seen in great numbers 
 leaping out of the water like bonito, and are not found in Lake 
 Nyasa. It is a pretty sight at night to see the hundreds of 
 small lights carried by the fishermen to attract the shoals of 
 whitebait, which they scoop up with a net alongside the 
 canoe. Seine-fishing is practised'; but the crocodiles in many 
 places are so numerous that they follow up the net, and tear it 
 into pieces whilst devouring the fish. 
 
 The best canoes are dug out of immense trees which grow 
 on the west coast; some are 150 feet high. These, when 
 roughly adzed, are dragged down the mountains to the water, 
 where the village medicine-man, for a fee, performs an elaborate 
 ceremony over the newly born infant, as he calls it. By the aid 
 of whitewash, made out of decomposed felspar, variegated with 
 red tints of iron-oxide, he draws fantastic designs all over the 
 boat, always marking two immense eyes on the bow. Charcoal 
 is used for the pupils, a small dot of whitewash painted in the 
 centre to represent a cataract ; and when the whole is sur- 
 rounded by a broad ring of white, the canoe presents more an 
 appearance of some evil-eyed dragon than the fresh innocence 
 of a new-born babe ! The Africans, like the Chinese, love to 
 draw hideous figures. They say it scares away bad spirits. 
 The good ones are not catered for. It is the same idea again. 
 Drive away evil agencies ! One thing was certain. It would 
 most effectually scare away any fish as long as the colouring 
 pigment was visible. 
 
 As it is being pushed into the lake by crowds of boys 
 
 77 E 
 
THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAIN 
 
 (no adult being allowed to touch it — youth must, they say, 
 baptize youth) the old man holds aloft a zebra's tail from 
 which palm-oil is dripping, and, rushing into the water, he 
 shouts his blessing in these words : " May the winds you hear 
 only sing, not howl. May the crocodile sleep as you swim 
 over him. May the hippopotamus miss you if he charges, 
 and, when you sink, may it be because the weight of fishes will 
 be too great to carry. It is good-bye to the forest, thou child 
 of the lake ! " The whole company of men, women, and 
 children then rush wildly into the water, presenting the 
 happy spectacle of human beings enjoying real fun. 
 
 It is not within the province of these reminiscences to enter 
 into the various theories advanced to account for the deep 
 trough in the heart of Africa which contains this great lake. 
 Amongst many native legends the following is the best I 
 have heard : Many years ago there was a great plain where 
 the lake now is, inhabited by people called the Wa'nyika 
 (" people of the plain In one of the villages there was 
 a secret spring known only to one family, every member of 
 which was sworn to secrecy, and on no account were they to 
 let any one know where the well was situated. A medicine- 
 man had told their ancestors that, if ever a stranger drank 
 the water, it would at once rise over the well-top, overflow 
 the plain, and drown every one. One day, when all the family 
 were absent from home except a woman who was pounding 
 the corn, a stranger arrived, saying he had travelled from 
 Tanga in the south and was carrying copper to Ujiji. He 
 was very tired, and begged for water. The woman longed 
 to possess the copper bracelets he was wearing, and, in ex- 
 change for them, she told him where to find the well. No 
 sooner had he quenched his thirst than the water bubbled 
 up, overflowed the village and the whole plain ! The woman 
 remembered the old prophecy and hastened to warn all to 
 flee to the hills, but too late ; all were drowned except the 
 man from Tanga, who saved himself by making a raft of 
 
THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAIN 
 
 bango reeds. The water rose until it became mixed with 
 other small lakes, and this formed what is now the Tanga- 
 n'yika, or, as they explain it, " The Tanga-man ^ stole the 
 Nyika (or Plain)." 
 
 When our early explorers discovered this water it had 
 no outlet to the sea; but subsequently it burst its barriers, 
 and is now the greatest head-water of the Congo. During 
 my residence on its shores, it fell eleven feet in twelve 
 years. I leave the curious reader to compute the quantity 
 of water which would have to pass through this outlet in 
 order to reduce its height thus. The surface has been 
 calculated to cover thirteen thousand square miles. Truly 
 it may be termed an inland fresh- water sea. 
 
 I captured, stained, and sent to England a beautiful 
 medusa which was floating on the surface. It proved to be 
 a most interesting and unique specimen, so much so that the 
 Royal Society sent out an expedition to study the marine 
 fauna. It is common knowledge that several new shells, 
 sponges, and fish were discovered, and the theory that the lake 
 had been connected with the sea was very much strengthened. 
 
 A native rather astonished me one day by bringing me a 
 large flat lump of some black, greasy substance (afterwards 
 proved to be bitumen). On inquiring where it came from, 
 he replied : 
 
 "From the forest. It falls with the lightning. When 
 the thunder speaks it throws this from the clouds."' Other 
 Europeans had seen bitumen at Ujiji. One of the French 
 priests had also noticed it on their wooden houses ; they came 
 to the conclusion it fell during atmospheric disturbance. I have 
 never seen it floating on the lake ! Where did it come from ? 
 There are boiling springs to the north ; but, up to the present, 
 no one appears to have discovered the source of this bitumen. 
 Are there immense reservoirs of mineral oil near the lake, 
 waiting to be used by future generations ? 
 
 ^ Katanga is south-west of Ujiji, and contains vast deposits of copper. 
 
 79 
 
THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAIN 
 
 I will not tire the reader by describing the different tribes 
 who live in these regions as they are very much intermarried, 
 and, although retaining distinctive names, they have for the 
 most part the same characteristics. We may roughly divide 
 them into two sections. Part live in the hills and keep 
 cattle. The remainder inhabit the lake shore, many being 
 fishermen. In nearly all cases the meat-eating tribes rule 
 over those who live at a lower altitude, subsisting on fish and 
 grain. Numbers of the northern tribes are skilful in the 
 manipulation of iron ore, which they smelt in rude furnaces. 
 Spears of all sizes are forged, which would in no way disgrace 
 a European blacksmith. 
 
 On one occasion, after a native had finished a spear I had 
 ordered, he asked : " Can your people work iron as good as 
 that?" 
 
 I despatched Tom for my housewife, and, extracting a 
 sewing-needle, handed it to the blacksmith, saying : 
 
 " Yes ! Our people make many fine things. Look at that ! 
 Feel its point ; is it not sharp and smooth ? " 
 
 He felt the point, examining the eye, and placing his hand 
 over his mouth — a sign of astonishment — asked : 
 
 " May I keep this ? " 
 
 "You may," I answered, and passing a piece of thread 
 through the eye, I tied it around his neck, hoping it might 
 become of use if ever he or his descendants wore softer raiment 
 than the old stiff* goat-skin which was supposed to be hiding 
 his nakedness. 
 
 He probably looked on the gift as a charm against death, 
 and, if not lost, it will be handed down as the " white man's 
 medicine." 
 
 80 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Opposition of the Natives — Launch of the Morning Star — Tip- 
 pu-TiB — The Lofu River — Building a Steam Vessel — A 
 Tragedy — Rugaruga Bullies. 
 
 THREE months' residence in Ujiji had not elapsed ere 
 we crossed diplomatic swords with the Arabs, opening 
 what eventually proved to be a duel to the death. The 
 game commenced by their assuring us of their anxiety to protect 
 our interests, and ourselves, from the wild natives. We were 
 informed our wishes were to them commands, and their ser- 
 vices were at our disposal both in peace and war. An Arab, 
 like the lion, is most dangerous when silently stalking his 
 prey. With his curved dagger drawn, and his tongue hurling 
 threats at you, he is not half so near to cutting your throat as 
 when protesting eternal friendship. Secret conferences, we 
 knew, were being held at night in their enclosures. Some pre- 
 sentiment of danger disturbed their hitherto serene monopoly 
 of the traffic in humanity. This steel boat must be a small 
 man-o'-war, intended to destroy the slave dhows. We were, 
 they supposed, disguised servants of the British Consul at 
 Zanzibar. In fact, they instinctively felt we had thrown down 
 the glove in their very midst, not as a direct challenge to fight 
 with rifles (we had only sporting weapons), but rather as com- 
 petitors in the struggle for supremacy. We were seeking to 
 obtain not only the country, but the right to lay down laws 
 which, they knew, spelt ruin to their autocracy. Such were 
 the deductions we were able to make from reports brought by 
 loyal men in our service. 
 
 Not caring for, or even seeing the use of, open warfare, 
 they resorted to " pin-pricks.'" It was necessary to erect a 
 
 81 
 
OPPOSITION OF THE NATIVES 
 
 grass shelter from the sun, under which to build our vessel. 
 At first this was not permitted. " Oh no ! " they exclaimed ; 
 " it is against Arab customs to allow strangers to build any 
 house in the country; it means taking possession." On being 
 politely requested to furnish umbrellas, and men to hold them 
 over our heads from sunrise to sunset, whilst we screwed 
 up bolts and iron plates, they were brought to reason and 
 saw the absurdity of their position, but the shed must be 
 destroyed simultaneously with the launching of the boat. 
 
 The actual work of bolting together the metal sections 
 was full of interest to both Arabs and natives. A steel boat 
 was, of course, a novelty. They tapped the side with their 
 spears, declaring the hippopotamus would thrust his tusk 
 through it. An old Arab, who was really our worst enemy, 
 praised the work, checking his young people when they made 
 disparaging remarks about its being only a kettle. 
 
 No sooner was the boat completed than he flatly declined 
 to give his permission for it to be moved into the lake. 
 No ! it must remain on the sand. " If you go away from 
 here we shall not be able to protect you, and, if you are 
 killed, what answer shall we send to the Sultan at Zanzibar ? 
 
 They really wanted to keep us under their observation. 
 We must not be allowed to get at the ears of the thousands 
 who, up to the present, had not learnt to know what freedom 
 meant. It was the day of finesse ! The foil, not rapier, 
 had to be used at present. Later on, the sword and rifle 
 were to come into full play. This initial challenge was met 
 by our at once assenting to the wisdom of their realising 
 the great responsibility for our safety which rested on their 
 shoulders. We pointed out that the Sultan of Zanzibar 
 would also hold them answerable for wasting our time, and 
 that a special mail would be sent to the coast, conveying 
 to his Highness our regrets that his subjects at Ujiji had 
 not been able to obey his orders to permit us to travel 
 wherever we wished through his dominions. And further, 
 
 82 
 
A Slave Dhow 
 
 A slave dhow dug out of a large tree in the Goma mountains opposite Ujiji, and built 
 up at the sides. Sails are made of American calico. Two Arabs are on the quarter-deck, 
 and a sailor is bringing on shore a tusk of ivory. These vessels sail swiftly before the 
 wind, often escaping from the pinnaces of our men-of-war. 
 
 1 
 
 The '-Morning Star" at Anchor 
 
 The " Morning^ Star " was dragged overland from Zanzibar to Ujiji, 823 miles. The s.s, 
 "Good News" is in a dry dock, quarried out of rock, floated by pith-wood after being wrecked. 
 Salvage operations took four months, as natives had to work under water. The Author is in 
 white, and near him is Alexander Carson, b.sc, who died near this spot. From the opposite hills 
 Livingstone first saw the Lake. 
 
LAUNCH OF THE "MORNING STAR" 
 
 as it would be at least five months before a reply could be 
 received, we were enclosing the account of our expenses, 
 which we presumed would be levied by the Sultan on the 
 Governor of Ujiji. 
 
 Down came their house of cards ! Touch an Arab's 
 pocket, and he is like other people. Next morning we 
 received intimation that " taking into consideration, &c. &c. '' 
 — the usual universal palaver — " we might launch the vessel ! '' 
 
 Victory number one. Launched she was, the very next 
 day ! Surrounded by hundreds of natives, and all the Arabs 
 in full dress, we sent into the blue waters of Tanganyika the 
 Moiiimg Star. 
 
 The obnoxious building shed was immediately razed to 
 the ground, according to our promise. The fatted calf was 
 killed and eaten by perhaps the most picturesque guests 
 imaginable. Gold-embroidered coats adorned the proud 
 Arabs. Filthy, greasy skins, and bark cloth, hung around 
 the limbs of the Wajiji. Naked boys crammed rice into 
 their mouths with the usual exuberance of youth. Vicious, 
 bloodthirsty-looking scoundrels fired guns and danced on 
 the sand, performing mad evolutions of mimic warfare, 
 spearing imaginary foes. Close at hand, sitting gracefully 
 on the lake, our little vessel danced over the waves as if 
 eager to commence its mission. The red ensign flying from 
 the mast-head seemed to fling out its silent challenge to 
 the Arab colours which floated from the huge slave-dhows 
 at anchor in the roadstead. What a scene to remember. 
 The immediate actors were unknown to the great outside 
 world, and yet who would not be proud to have been present 
 at this birthday of freedom on distant Tanganyika. 
 
 As may be imagined, various and numerous were the 
 questions asked. 
 
 " What are you going to do with the saucepan vessel ? " 
 
 " Are you going to carry ivory ? " 
 
 " No ! " 
 
 85 
 
TIP-PU-TIB 
 
 " Slaves?" 
 " No!'' 
 
 " Is it for war ? " 
 " No!" 
 
 ''Then what is it for?'' 
 
 There was only one answer, and it was not understood. 
 How could it be ? 
 
 " We are going to show the natives how to live ! " 
 Live I Why, they live for us; they are made to be our 
 slaves," they exclaimed. 
 
 " Hawa wazungu wapambavu ! " (" these white men are 
 foolish people"). Fancy coming all the way here, and 
 bringing a boat to help pagans ! It was too ridiculous for 
 words. 
 
 That evening, from the verandah, I gazed down at the 
 lake just as the sun was disappearing behind the Goma 
 mountains. Long shadows were being cast by the tall 
 cocoanut-palms, and they seemed to me to illustrate the 
 real meaning of the day's events. It was a day of shadows 
 thrown across the pathway of tyranny. We had not the 
 heart to haul down the grand old British flag, emblem of 
 liberty and justice, but left it at the mast-head all that 
 night. As I rose to retire to rest, I raised my cap in 
 respectful salute to the dear old flag, for it was the first 
 time I had seen it fluttering over a British craft in Darkest 
 Africa. 
 
 I must now introduce the principal Arabs who will figure 
 in this drama of Central Africa. 
 
 The first, and by far the most important, was the great 
 Tip-pu-Tib. Although not of pure Arab descent, he was the 
 most influential. His activity was astonishing. He possessed 
 a frank, manly character, enlivened by humour, and loved 
 immensely to play practical jokes upon his intimate friends. 
 In business there was no beating about the bush ; it was 
 
 86 
 
TIP-PU-TIB 
 
 always " take it or leave it," and, in warfare, " unconditional 
 surrender " was the basis of his terms to all enemies who 
 sued for peace. His power was sung around most camp- 
 fires, from the East Coast to Stanley Pool on the Congo. 
 His very name was sufficient to strike terror into the hearts 
 of all who were liable to attack. 
 
 The next in influence was his partner Rumaliza. These 
 are not their real names, but those by which they are 
 known in the Interior — a kind of fighting title. " Rumaliza " 
 signifies " one who utterly finishes." This man was exactly 
 the opposite in character to Tip-pu-Tib. He was a pure 
 Arab — quiet in manner, cultured and courteous, always a 
 gentleman in his dealings with us. He is still alive, residing 
 in Zanzibar. Tip-pu-Tib is dead. 
 
 Let me at once place on record my sincere appreciation 
 of the kindness shown to me for many years by both these 
 powerful men, for on one or two occasions they saved my life 
 from the plots of their co-religionists during a period of great 
 disturbance. I cannot say a word for their cruel trade, but 
 I gratefully acknowledge their loyal and disinterested attach- 
 ment to me. Although it brought upon them much trouble 
 they never forsook their English acquaintance, whose life 
 was at all times in their hands; and whose constant protest 
 against their vile work was always received with politeness, 
 and the remark, ''We must difter on these subjects, but not 
 quarrel." 
 
 At South Tanganyika second-rate men, most of them 
 half-caste Arabs, acted as middle-men on behalf of the Ujiji 
 merchant princes. 
 
 Across the plateau Lake Nyasa was held by Mlozi Jumbe, 
 Makanjira Mponda, and others who were more or less 
 linked together by religion as well as trade. This combina- 
 tion was not to be trifled with. A few isolated white men 
 could do nothing but undermine their stronghold, certainly 
 not carry it by direct assault. An impatient philanthropist 
 
 87 
 
KAVALA ISLAND 
 
 of the "go for them'" school wrote me a letter about this 
 time, saying, " What are you playing at with those beastly 
 Arabs ? String tJiem up ! I must not anticipate events now 
 by describing the " stringing up," or the reader may accuse 
 me of undue haste. To my bellicose correspondent I wrote : 
 " If you are anxious to do your creditors a service, insure 
 your life for a million, come out by next steamer, bring 
 the string with you, and show us how it^s done.*" Any fool 
 could have got his throat cut, but it would not have brought 
 us any nearer the attainment of our ends. 
 
 We left Ujiji as soon as possible and established a marine 
 depot on the west coast, near the terminus of the main 
 slave-road from Manyema. John Penry was the first of 
 our party to succumb to fever, after a long illness. He was 
 soon followed by James Dunn, a young carpenter, who was 
 found dead in bed after repeated attacks of malaria. 
 
 Having prepared our base at Kavala Island, we sailed to 
 the south end to receive the material for building the first 
 steam vessel to navigate the great lakes. 
 
 During the first and second years, numerous voyages were 
 made in the small lifeboat for the purposes of survey work 
 and establishing friendly relations with the native chiefs. 
 
 To be in that open boat, beating 250 miles against the 
 south-east monsoon, was an experience in yachting not to 
 be surpassed anywhere. From east to west coast, by night 
 and day, she thrashed against the white-crested waves, 
 drenching all on board. Her native crew would hide beneath 
 grass mats, under the thwarts, when the heavy clouds burst 
 and a tornado of rain and wind descended, threatening to 
 capsize us. The inky darkness was lighted by sheets of fire, 
 accompanied by thunder which made them cry out, ''God 
 is angry ! Twelve years of experience at sea had not shown 
 me how a storm looked from an open boat. To be on a 
 level with, and often beneath, the crests of waves, was a 
 different thing from walking on the bridge of an ocean 
 
 88 
 
THE LOFU RIVER 
 
 liner. Waterspouts were common, rushing about from one side 
 of the lake to the other like demons; in fact the natives 
 called them " devils'* tails."" Fortunately they always missed 
 us, but the accompanying whirlwind drove us about as if 
 we had been a cork on the water. 
 
 With only one exception the natives we met with were 
 friendly, bringing food for sale wherever we anchored. At 
 the south end we sailed up the Lofu River, having taken 
 sixteen days from Kavala Island. The river, which drains 
 the great valley, was nearly blocked up by sud. Numerous 
 hippopotami gave us to understand we were interlopers by 
 raising their enormous heads uncomfortably near the boat. 
 Ugly crocodiles, in large numbers, slid off the sandbanks as we 
 drew near. Storks, cranes, ibis, cormorants, and egrets adorned 
 every creek, whilst thousands of wild geese and duck of many 
 kinds stood closely packed together on the mud-flats; never 
 having been shot at, they took no notice of us until we passed 
 within a few yards of where they stood. It was fortunate 
 for us they lived here in such numbers, as eventually they 
 became our food-supply during famine. 
 
 We were now amongst the Walungu, who owned nearly 
 the whole of the southern end of the lake. Formerly a 
 numerous tribe, at this time they were a scattered people, 
 exposed to the Arab raids on one hand and to the fierce 
 Awemba on the other. The one swooped down from the 
 hills, like the fish-eagles, as the Walungu termed it. The 
 other rushed along both sides of the river, completing the 
 work of ruin. 
 
 Small groups of villages were built on the floating sud, 
 which was banked in mid-stream, forming small islands, 
 thus affording protection from enemies on the mainland. They 
 were naturally suspicious ; only one old fisherman ventured 
 to paddle out to sell fish, but of course he was in reality 
 spying on us. He said that the whole country was at war, 
 and that we were not safe from attack anywhere up the river. 
 
 89 
 
BUILDING A STEAM VESSEL 
 
 A mile or two ahead a broad valley opened out, on 
 which could be seen several villages surrounded by stockades- 
 Near this we formed a permanent camp, and prepared ground 
 on which to lay the keel of the S.S. Good News^ which was 
 expected to arrive at any time. We had not long to wait; 
 for whilst sitting at breakfast, a stranger suddenly appeared 
 in our camp, and without form or ceremony introduced 
 himself as "Lieut. Pulley, of her Majesty's Navy." He had 
 accompanied Mr. Fred Moir from Lake Nyasa with the first 
 consignment of our vessel. In a few days we were surrounded 
 with steel frames, keel-plates, tools, &c., &c. The cheerful 
 society of these strangers acted as a tonic. They told us 
 of their exciting journey across country, of war on the Shire 
 River, where, unfortunately, brass bearings had been cut 
 out of our cylinders, brass steam-cocks chopped off to make 
 ornaments, angle-irons bent double, and rod-iron stolen to 
 make spears. Chapter after chapter of such misfortunes to 
 our vessel followed in succession, until one wondered which 
 end of the ship to attempt to construct first. The most 
 amusing of all was to find that the great iron rudder could 
 not be traced. 
 
 It must be borne in mind into what a multitude of 
 pieces a steam vessel has to be divided in order to permit 
 of its being carried by porters; also that the whole had to 
 pass up the Zambezi and Shire Rivers in barges, then through 
 the Shire Highlands and up Lake Nyasa, and finally across 
 the Plateau to Tanganyika, a journey of nearly 1000 miles. 
 War against the white man was raging at the time, and 
 these thousands of loads of metal presented great temptation 
 to the half-savage tribes through whose country they were 
 transported by the African Lakes Corporation. The depar- 
 ture of Hore for Zanzibar left but three of us to build the 
 vessel. It was slow work. Those thousands of rivets haunted 
 my dreams. Fever was sapping our constitutions, and the 
 task at times seemed too great. Day by day plate was 
 
 90 
 
A TRAGEDY 
 
 added to plate; but, as the structure neared completion, 
 it was obvious to me that one more of my comrades would 
 not long survive the physical strain of such hard work and 
 fever combined. 
 
 I found recreation necessary. A few hours' tramp after 
 game supplied the required change, and often a few hours in 
 a canoe, duck-shooting, gave me a pleasant Saturday afternoon's 
 enjoyment. On one of these occasions I took out both my 
 boys, making them paddle the canoe, and they enjoyed the 
 fun of picking up the ducks. Our boat was hauled up on to 
 a clean sandy island whilst I had lunch. 
 
 The river was very tempting for a bathe, for the heat of 
 the sun made one long to plunge into the cool stream. Both 
 lads began paddling about in the shallow water. I called to 
 Tom, warning him to be careful of crocodiles. At this he 
 laughed, and, pointing to a small packet suspended around his 
 neck, he said : " Master, I am not afraid. See this packet ? It 
 contains some of the medicine I bous^ht on the road from that 
 man who was nearly caught by the lion."" I recollected both 
 the incident and also hearing him say he would purchase 
 the charm. 
 
 " Don't be silly, boy ! " I said. " Crocodiles are not scared 
 by such things, and, besides, that particular charm is against 
 lions, not crocodiles." 
 
 It's all the same," he laughingly answered ; " no beast can 
 hurt me as long as I wear it. Muungu bass ! Only God ! " 
 
 They were the last words I was ever to hear him speak ! 
 Leaving me he again joined his companion, the pair keeping 
 quite close to the shore in shallow water. As I watched them 
 I noticed a large piece of dried banana-stalk slowly drifting 
 down-stream towards the lads. They immediately caught sight 
 of it, and, boy-like, saw no end of fun if they could secure it 
 to play with. 
 
 To my horror Tom plunged into the stream and made for 
 the prize. 
 
 91 
 
A TRAGEDY 
 
 I shouted, " Come back, you young fool ! " He half turned 
 his face towards me, and the next instant he disappeared, 
 evidently struggling with something beneath the water. All 
 doubt was at once removed, for instantly a crocodile's tail 
 swished out of the water as it forced itself downwards with my 
 faithful little servant and companion, who had trusted to his 
 worthless charm and lost his life. 
 
 For the first time in my experience I felt lonely ! The 
 silent, cruel river seemed to mock at the other boy's grief as 
 he covered himself with mud and sand, emblems of mourning. 
 
 Just a ripple, and Tom left us. The sudden cessation of 
 his happy existence appeared inexpressibly sad. Yes I I was 
 lonely ! Men who have lived in the African bush will know well 
 what I mean and what I felt. We become attached to our 
 black attendants, to the boy who anticipates our every w^ant, 
 who serves us cheerfully at all hours. Strong men, who would 
 scorn the idea of being helpless, absolutely lean on these 
 children of the forest so far as their personal comfort is con- 
 cerned. Does a long march end in rain ? The boy is there. 
 Wet firewood ? No matter, dinner is cooked. Hot bath 
 ready. Pipe, tobacco, and dry clothes all at hand in the tent. 
 It is "Boy!" all the time; without him, bush-life would be 
 unbearable ! I am not ashamed to say that, when the Lofu 
 River closed over Tom, for the second time in Africa I could 
 not clearly see the water for mist — this time caused not by 
 excessive joy, but intense sorrow. 
 
 Go where we may in the Interior, this implicit trust in 
 charms will be witnessed. Women and girls will unhesi- 
 tatingly bathe in the very waters where, but a day previously, 
 a neighbour was seized by crocodiles. Fishermen will wade 
 up to the armpits, following their calling, without fear of 
 being dragged down like yesterday's victim. Boys will swim 
 about in sight of these dangerous creatures lying asleep on 
 adjacent rocks or sand. Remonstrate with them, and the 
 invariable reply will be " It's God's affair ! " 
 
 92 
 
RUGARUGA BULLIES 
 
 Beyond the Lofu the plains afforded splendid sport whilst 
 in search of food. The graceful Puku antelope were in con- 
 siderable numbers, and, never having been hunted by Euro- 
 peans, they were not at all difficult to shoot. Zebra roamed 
 about quite near to the villages ; the natives told us they did 
 not care for the meat, as it was tough, and this probably 
 accounted for their tameness. 
 
 Kitimbwa was the principal chief; he is mentioned by 
 Livingstone, and the old man told us he remembered the 
 Doctor's visit to Liendwi. His chief weakness was for native 
 beer. He complained of the constant attacks upon his people 
 by the Awemba and Arabs, and begged us to give him guns 
 and gunpowder for defence. This was out of the question, 
 but we sent to the Arabs requesting them to let these people 
 alone. 
 
 A most insulting reply was returned. " If we wanted to 
 fight, they were ready. If we did not like war, we were to 
 ' clear out ! It was evident these half-caste villains needed 
 different handling — from such men as Tip-pu-Tib at Ujiji. So 
 we sent back, inviting them to come and talk over matters. 
 To our surprise they came ! Some were dressed in hideous 
 costumes, having around their heads strips of buffalo hide with 
 the hairs standing outwards, something like a sweep's brush. 
 Others had wild-<*ats"* skins suspended from their loins. The 
 leading men looked devilish, arrayed in black long-tailed 
 monkey skins; all were armed with spear, muzzle-loading 
 rifle, and long knives. They were twenty-three in number. 
 Our force was composed of three Europeans and eight 
 Mohammedan workers, who could not be trusted to fight 
 against their co-religionists. It was necessary to deliver an 
 ultimatum, and to take the consequences. Our vessel had to 
 be built; we must have peace and food. There could be no 
 compromise. 
 
 With rifles loaded, and kept in our hands, we received 
 these interesting neighbours and invited them to be seated in 
 
 95 
 
RUGARUGA BULLIES 
 
 our verandah. Three six-chambered revolvers lay handy on 
 the table when the palaver commenced. Addressing them in 
 Suahili, I informed them we were personally acquainted with 
 all the leading Arabs in the country, and we had never before 
 been insulted. It was reserved for them, who were not real 
 Arabs, to send insulting messages to us, and we had called 
 them in order to express our objection to their action; also 
 to ask why they attacked the people to whom we must look 
 for labour and food. 
 
 " What business is that of yours ? " the leader sneeringly 
 answered. " If you don't like it, you can go away. We have 
 no quarrel with you. " 
 
 " Thank you ! I replied. " We decline your advice." 
 
 Pointing to our vessel on the stocks, I continued : 
 
 "Do you see that ship? It came from Europe. It is, as 
 you have heard, being built by us. We are not here to quarrel 
 with any one, much less to play ; our time is valuable ; we want 
 peace and food for our men, and, what is most important for 
 you to know is, we intend to stay here and finish our work. 
 If you attack us we shall not run away and hide in the hills 
 and amongst the reeds, as these poor Walungu do, but we 
 shall defend ourselves with these,'' pointing to our revolvers 
 and rifles. " Those are our words. The tongue utters words 
 which wisdom counsels you to listen to. It is always better to 
 use the tongue than the rifle in an argument." 
 
 " Tu-ta-pita" we will go ") was the only reply to this 
 ultimatum. There was not a man amongst them. They were 
 a set of bullies and cowards. I never met a Rugaruga, as 
 they are called, who would face a stand-up fight. They wiU 
 howl and swing their guns about, brandish knives, and spear 
 women or retreating men ! But look down the business end of 
 an enemy's rifle ? Never ! 
 
 If you wish to see brave black men from these regions 3'^ou 
 must follow them after they have been trained by European 
 ocffiers, and see them storming stockades in Ashantee, or dying 
 
 96 
 
RUGARUGA BULLIES 
 
 to a man as they did in the Somaliland disaster. These 
 ruffians were counterfeits, and yet they terrorised the whole 
 population of South Tanganyika. 
 
 Our men escorted them to the river, and as the leader got 
 into the canoe I said, " I hope, the next time you visit us, you 
 will not bring weapons, as white men do not consider it a 
 good custom." It was a satisfactory ending to an awkward 
 situation. Our people were not certain we should not be 
 attacked during the night, and when a leopard or hyena 
 overturned some cooking utensils, a panic ensued at once. 
 All came rushing into our houses shouting, ''Rugaruga, 
 master. War ! *" No trace of an enemy could be discovered 
 by us, and they were persuaded to go to sleep. The men 
 we had interviewed that morning had no more idea of 
 trying conclusions with us than they had of assisting in 
 building the vessel. 
 
 As will be told in the next chapter, they contented them- 
 selves with taking full revenge on the surrounding villages 
 beyond our neighbourhood, leaving not a single town un- 
 touched in all the beautiful valley of the Lofu. 
 
 97 
 
 F 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Fire and Sword — A Sceptical Native — An Angry Hippopotamus 
 — Launch of the Good News " — Medicine and Surgery — 
 A Cruel Punishment — A Native Duel : its Tragic Result. 
 
 FOR a few weeks we heard nothing more of our late 
 visitors, but immediately the Mohammedan fast of 
 Ramadan was over, hordes of the wretches overran 
 the country, carrying fire and sword. In less than a month 
 not a village existed within a radius of twenty-five miles of 
 our camp, excepting two which were very close to us. The 
 maize crop was either destroyed or carried away, canoes sunk, 
 and the whole of Ulungu turned into a wilderness, except 
 in those districts where the robbers themselves lived. It was 
 not our duty to fight these people, even had we possessed the 
 power; we were only justified in maintaining an attitude of 
 self-defence whilst representatives of the London Missionary 
 Society. Food could only be obtained by making weekly 
 voyages across the lake throughout the dry season. 
 
 Many natives who escaped during the general scramble 
 came to us for protection and sustenance, thus increasing the 
 severe strain on our resources. Wafipa from the east coast, 
 attracted by the war and reports of famine, came over in 
 large canoes loaded with grain. They halted at our station, 
 but not a pound would they sell us. We bid for the whole 
 cargo, but no ! They would only sell in exchange for slaves. 
 " One load of 60 lbs. weight for a boy, two - for a girl ; 
 old men and women were not marketable, as they could not 
 march to Zanzibar ! " 
 
 It would have been easy to seize the lot and compel them 
 
 to sell, but I doubt if our directors would have endorsed 
 
 98 
 
A SCEPTICAL NATIVE 
 
 such high-handed procedure, so the flotilla passed upstream 
 to the Arabs, returning in three days loaded with young boys 
 and girls about ten to sixteen years of age. 
 As the crews paddled past they sang : — 
 
 " Daylight comes and daylight goes, 
 Dig, boys, dig ! 
 
 (Meaning dig with the paddles.) 
 
 To-night we sleep far away, 
 Dig, boys, dig ! 
 
 The fire has left no home for the rats. 
 
 (Meaning that, the huts having been all burned, the rats were 
 homeless.) 
 
 The leopard watched and caught the fawns ; 
 These fawns are safely by our sides. 
 Dig, boys, dig ! " 
 
 Is it any wonder that such sights and sounds made me 
 chafe at the restrictions by which we were bound, preventing 
 us from leaping into those canoes and pitching the singers 
 into the river. As I watched those young people being 
 carried away from parents, home, and country, I felt ashamed 
 of my colour, and the very name of our vessel. Good News, 
 seemed little else than a mockery amidst the cruel deeds done 
 under her shadow. An opportunity to avenge such an insult 
 to my colour presented itself sooner than I anticipated. 
 
 Smallpox completed the series of calamities which fell 
 on the Walungu. It only wanted a crowd of frogs to 
 reproduce the well-known Egyptian picture. 
 
 Whilst I was lying on my back beneath the steamer, 
 hammering up keel rivets, an inquisitive native edged up to 
 me and asked : 
 
 " Is this vessel not all iron ? " 
 
 " Yes," I answered. " Why do you ask ? 
 
 Picking up a washer, he beckoned me to the river, and 
 dropping it in, said: 
 
 99 
 
A SCEPTICAL NATIVE 
 
 "Do you see that?" 
 
 "No! I don't" I replied. "How can I?— it's out of 
 sight." 
 
 " Yes, it is ; but what I meant was, do you see, it sinks ? " 
 " Of course it sank ; it's iron." 
 
 " Well ! " he exclaimed, pointing to the steamer. " If 
 such a little piece of iron sinks, how do you expect that big 
 lump will swim ? " 
 
 He thought he had cornered me. 
 
 " Look here, old chap," I said, " just you wait until this 
 moon dies, then come here and help us put her in the river, 
 and you will see her swim ; at present you must take my words 
 and believe them, for they are true." 
 
 He looked at me and whispered, " You are right. She 
 will not sink, because if the whole tribe tried they could 
 never carry her into the water ; she's too heavy ! No, she 
 will neither sink nor swim ! " With this parting shot he 
 left me. 
 
 He was soon to learn that necessary lesson which must 
 be taught all primitive people — that a white man speaks 
 the truth. Grease for the launching ways had to be pro- 
 cured from hippopotami, some of which will yield several 
 bucketfuls of fat when in good condition. Many a day's 
 exciting sport was enjoyed hunting these valuable creatures, 
 especially when the pursuit was followed in canoes, for you 
 can never be certain their great carcases won't come up 
 suddenly under the canoe, disturbing its equilibrium; and 
 there was always the danger of crocodiles joining in the hunt. 
 
 One old beast gave me an uncomfortable time when out 
 duck-shooting. Having shot some Egyptian geese, we paddled 
 the canoe up a narrow creek to pick up the birds, which lay 
 on a mud-flat. My boy " Kabatawe," who had taken the 
 place of poor Tom, was with me in the boat. No sooner had 
 we entered the creek and run on to the mud, than a hippo 
 rose behind us, right in the entrance to the creek, grunting in 
 
AN ANGRY HIPPOPOTAMUS 
 
 an unpleasant manner, and evidently annoyed at our presence. 
 Kabatawe leaped overboard in an instant, bang into the soft 
 mud, and there he remained up to his waist, a picture of 
 utter helplessness. The hippo plunged about only a few 
 yards distant, looking as if he meant making trouble. 
 
 " Shoot, master, shoot ! Pull me out ! Mother ! I shall 
 die ! and similar remarks came from the lad in rapid succes- 
 sion. Extracting the cartridges from my fowling-piece to 
 prevent accident, I held it out to him and dragged him into 
 the boat. " Kill it, master — kill it ! he shouted, as he 
 scraped the grey mud from his body. Oh for a Kodak at 
 that moment ! 
 
 " Lie down, you little monkey," I commanded, " and keep 
 quiet ; my gun is only for birds." 
 
 The mud was too soft to attempt trying to land, and the 
 brute remained bobbing up and down, right in the only track 
 by which it was possible to escape. To fire duck-shot at him 
 was to court disaster ; our best weapon, for the moment, was 
 passivity. As I anticipated, he did not understand what we 
 intended to do, and moved a little upstream. 
 
 "Now, my son," I whispered, "get hold of your paddle, 
 and gently push the canoe oft' this mud the next time that 
 creature goes under water, and then sit quiet." 
 
 Our wily foe must have heard our movements, for he at 
 once became excited, turning half somersaults in the water, a 
 well-known practice of theirs when irritated. It is equivalent 
 to the action of a bull pawing the ground. These evolutions 
 brought him back to the original place, directly in front of the 
 creek. It was getting towards evening, and I feared attack. 
 We must make a dash for it or be caught like rats in a 
 trap. 
 
 "Now, boy," I said, "give me that other paddle, and 
 the next time he disappears, paddle for all you are worth ; 
 don"'t stop to look around." 
 
 As the water closed over the beast's ugly head, we 
 
LAUNCH OF THE ''GOOD NEWS ' 
 
 dashed out; a few desperate strokes sent our canoe across 
 the stream, passing over the spot where we had last seen 
 him, and as we rushed into the opposite reeds and sprang 
 on shore, he rose and plunged forward, catching the stern 
 of the boat in his jaws, smashing its side and filling it with 
 water. It had been quite an uncomfortable half-hour, and 
 I doubt if either of us could have threaded a needle had 
 we been asked to do so at that moment ! 
 
 The same lad had another close shave a few days after- 
 wards. As he was dipping water from the river, a slave- 
 hunter seized him near our house, threw him into the canoe, 
 and made for the opposite bank. I happened to be looking 
 in that direction, and saw the scoundrel. Picking up my 
 rifle, I shouted, " Stop, or Til fire ! No heed was paid 
 to the warning, so I fired at the canoe, hoping to scare 
 the man. The bullet, however, struck his paddle, smash- 
 ing it. He immediately pitched the boy overboard, and 
 jumped into the reeds, whilst Kabatawe swam back to us 
 without encountering a crocodile. It was a narrow escape. 
 
 We were extremely glad to hammer up the last rivet 
 and launch the Good News into Tanganyika. I did not 
 forget the old sceptic, who stood amongst the crowd of 
 natives watching the iron vessel swimming. Making my 
 way up to him and touching him on the shoulder, I asked, 
 " What about the lump of iron swimming now 
 
 He was not to be cornered quite so easily as I imagined. 
 Looking straight into my eyes, and scornfully pointing to 
 the vessel, he answered : 
 
 " You put medicine into it ! " 
 
 The reply was extremely disappointing. I had hoped 
 to impress on him, and others, the fact that our word 
 could be relied upon. We wanted to win their confidence. 
 
 "Look here, old man," I said. "Never you mind 
 whether there is medicine in it or not. I told you it 
 would swim. Does it.?" 
 
 102 
 
S.S. "Good News'* 
 
 This was the first steam vessel to navigate the great African lakes. It was transported in 
 sections up the Zambezi and Lake Nyasa and across the plateau. During the war between the 
 whites and blacks most of the brass fittings were cut oflT. and all rod iron stolen for spears. A 
 native confidently predicted that the vessel would not swim. 
 
 Tropical CREKrER^ and an Elephant I'atjtI 
 
 A unique photograph of jungle and swamp taken by Sir John Kirk, the companion of Living- 
 stone. Elephants are fond of hiding in such dense bush. In the centre is a good illustration of 
 a gigantic creeper which has wound itself in a remarkably regular manner around a small tree 
 It was one of these creepers we used to drag our boat out of the lake after it was sunk by the 
 tornado. 
 
LAUNCH OF THE -GOOD NEWS" 
 
 "Yes, it does,'"" he answered; ''and Til believe anything 
 you tell me after this ! " 
 
 The pendulum had now swung too far in the opposite 
 direction. These Africans seemed to know no middle course, 
 and it was not to be wondered at. Their whole life was one 
 of extremes — all rain or all sunshine, feast or famine, 
 reckless fatalism or unwarranted cowardice. One moment, 
 the blazing sun ; the next, chills and night. No evening, 
 no moderation in anything ! With one voice they seemed 
 to echo the ancient saying, " Let us eat and drink, for to- 
 morrow we die.*" 
 
 A few more days sufficed to rig up jury-masts on the 
 Good News, as we had to sail her up north to our depot. 
 Hore had now returned, and he took command, whilst I 
 piloted the Morning Star. It was a grand race up the 
 lake with the monsoon. In the darkness we parted company, 
 and dropping mails at the French station of Karema, we 
 bowled along, shaping a course for home. We were making 
 a record passage, but on rounding the cape we saw the 
 Good News had outrun us, having arrived some hours 
 previously. 
 
 James Roxburgh, our engineer, who before he came to 
 Africa had turned the mighty shaft in Glasgow for the Ocean 
 liner Orient, had completed his last task. Bravely he 
 battled against fever month after month. The excitement 
 of his work kept him going, but shortly after the Good 
 News dropped her anchor in port for the first time, he 
 "crossed the bar,''' dysentery completing the mischief of 
 malaria. 
 
 Our ranks were being seriously reduced by these repeated 
 losses, but during the past three years we had found out the 
 necessity of avoiding undue exposure to the sun, and of being 
 temperate both when at work and play. 
 
 During one of many voyages along the east coast, at the 
 base of the Kabogo Mountains, I saw what had been a most 
 
 105 
 
A CRUEL PUNISHMENT 
 
 cruel sacrifice, of a man who had been condemned to die, 
 in order to cleanse away the disgrace resting on his chief, 
 through his having had a son born with only three fingers. 
 Needless to say, the victim was a slave. They had tied the 
 man head downwards over a nest of red biting ants. These 
 insects are dreaded by every one. They will swarm over you, 
 biting viciously, and the more you try to drive them away, 
 the fiercer their attack becomes. There are few travellers 
 who have not suffered from their unpleasant visits. Around 
 the man's eyes some sticky substance had been rubbed, to 
 prevent the ants from blinding him. My boatmen said the 
 ants would not cross this substance, the object of his tor- 
 mentors being to preserve his eyes so that he might see 
 the ants coming at him in their thousands. He was quite 
 dead v/hen we arrived, his body being a mass of sores, 
 covered by thousands of ants. 
 
 On entering the village, no one could be found except 
 one young girl, an old woman, and a boy. They were covered 
 with dust, and around each one's head was a broad band 
 of calico, the general marks of mourning. All were crying 
 bitterly, tears streaming down their faces. Some travellers 
 have ridiculed these outward ceremonies and denounced them 
 as hypocritical. The facts are, that in all those mournings 
 distant acquaintances join, and occupy about the same position 
 at a funeral as the men who drive a hearse in this country 
 with marks of mourning, but who feel no real grief. But 
 the near relatives of these black people feel intensely their be- 
 reavement. These mourners took not the least notice of 
 us as we passed in respectful silence. Outside the hut lay 
 the dead man's hoe, his axe, bow and arrows being crossed 
 over one another. A broken pipe lay in the centre. How 
 eloquently these implements of agriculture and weapons of 
 war must have appealed to the bereaved relatives. They 
 reminded me of the sword, helmet, and empty boots which 
 may be seen at the burial of our soldiers. 
 
 106 
 
MEDICINE AND SURGERY 
 
 The days seemed too short for the proper discharge of 
 our various duties. The rains succeeded the dry seasons more 
 rapidly than we Hked, and at the end of another year we 
 were called to mourn the loss of another comrade, as Dr. 
 Dineen fell a victim to disease. He had taken a keen interest 
 in examining the various herbs used by native doctors. His 
 conclusion Avas that, with few exceptions, we not only know 
 their remedies, but have learnt from science a more effective 
 way of applying them to alleviate pain or cm-e disease. Apart 
 from medical impostors who preyed on the general community, 
 there were bona-fide practitioners who sold narcotics, poisons, 
 sedatives, aperients, and so on. They are strong believers in 
 reducing the amount of blood in the veins by cupping, 
 especially for headache. Crushed limbs are removed with 
 partially sharpened axes, for they seem to have found out 
 that the arteries and veins close up more quickly if not 
 severed with a keen instrument. Whether they feel pain 
 as acutely as we do, I very much doubt. One thing is certain, 
 they bear severe pain with remarkable fortitude, and recover 
 from wounds which appear likely to end fatally. 
 
 That they are capable of strong feeling may be gathered 
 from the following incident. Two young men belonging to 
 different villages had deposited the usual present with the 
 relatives of a young girl whom they wished to marry. It 
 was against all custom for the relatives to accept the gifts from 
 two suitors at the same time, but they had done so, and 
 trouble followed. The young fellows had a legitimate cause 
 of complaint, and quarrelled. Long and angry interviews 
 took place between the two families without any satisfactory 
 result, until one lover lost all patience and seized the girl 
 as she was working in the garden, taking her to his house. 
 This brought matters to a climax; but instead of the two 
 villages rushing to war, as commonly happens, the old people 
 decided that the two young men should fight it out with 
 spears, only there was to be a distinct understanding that it was 
 
 107 
 
A NATIVE DUEL 
 
 not a duel to the death. The conditions were, whoever first 
 speared the other through arm or leg w as to have the girl. 
 
 If the man died from his wounds, the girl should be given 
 to the next of kin of the deceased. No wounds were to be 
 made on any other part of the body. 
 
 The chief sent down, requesting me to leave the harbour, 
 as he feared my sailors might become involved in any trouble 
 which might probably follow the contest. I declined, for I 
 was anxious to witness black men enter the lists to imitate 
 the chivalry of Europe ; so, informing the chief that my men 
 would remain on the vessel, but that 1 intended to see the 
 duel, I proceeded to pay him a visit, as I had no power to 
 stop the fight. I was careful to let him know I came as his 
 guest, and slipping a packet of salt into his hand, I added, 
 "Tell your people I have nothing to do with this quarrel, 
 and am simply here as a visitor.'' Numerous pots of beer 
 stood ready for consumption, and the whole population was 
 most excited. 
 
 The old man called one of his advisers and whispered 
 something into his ear. Soon three others joined the party, 
 and after a consultation I was surprised by the chief tell- 
 ing me that representatives of both families had asked him 
 to request me to see fair play, to act as referee, and to stop 
 the young men from killing each other, as they feared their 
 own inability to control either the men or their relatives. 
 This was getting more interesting. These artful people saw 
 a way of escape out of a delicate situation, and were not slow 
 to avail themselves of my presence. Being desirous of assist- 
 ing them, as I knew these affairs nearly always ended in the 
 death of some one, I replied, " I agree to help you, provided 
 that both the combatants are called that they may hear my 
 instructions, as they must give me their promise to obey my 
 orders or take the consequences. You old men must also 
 understand that I will have nothing to do with the disposal 
 
 of the girl; it is not my business. White men consult the 
 
 108 
 
A NATIVE DUEL 
 
 wishes of their daughters in these matters; they do not sell 
 them as you do. I simply see fair play between these two 
 men. Do you agree ? " 
 " Yes ! " they answered. 
 
 A great crowd had now assembled, and I ordered them to 
 be sent farther away. The two men then came forward, both 
 looking sullen ; they carried ugly-looking spears, with shafts 
 about six feet long. They were stabbing spears, not the short 
 assegai, which is thrown. An orator shouted out the par- 
 ticulars of the situation to the friends of both men, asking if 
 they agreed with the chiefs decision that the white man 
 should see fair play and decide who was the victor. They 
 replied in the affirmative. 
 
 Addressing the combatants, I said : 
 
 " You have heard the voices of your chief, and elders, and 
 relatives; are you also willing that I should judge between you, 
 and will you promise to accept my decision as final ? " One, 
 the elder of the two, answered, " Our old men have spoken 
 I have no use for my tongue ! 
 
 The younger said, " My spear will only talk with his spear. 
 Boys do not refuse to obey the old men ! " 
 
 " It is good ! I added. " Whoever first touches the other's 
 arms or legs with his spear so as to draw blood, will win, and 
 I shall stop the fight ! Whoever touches any other portion 
 of the body with his spear so as to draw blood, loses. You 
 understand, this is not war, but simply to prove which of 
 you is the more clever with the spear ! " 
 
 " Good they replied. 
 
 The sun was dipping behind the adjacent hill, and this was 
 the time chosen for this most important affair. What they felt 
 in need of was a Coiui of Decision. Both chief and people were 
 more or less interested parties. I was impartial, and for the 
 moment took the place of the poison ordeal. If I could get 
 the matter decided without loss of life, it was worth the risk. 
 
 Noticing that all the men were armed, I ordered them to 
 
 111 
 
A NATIVE DUEL 
 
 go and put their weapons in the houses, pointing out that it 
 was a personal quarrel to be settled by these two alone, not 
 by the family. Beckoning the young men into the circle, I 
 stepped between them, at the same time drawing a revolver, 
 which I held up, saying, " Remember ! No wounds on the 
 body ; and when I say ' Stop ! ' the man who does not do so 
 instantly will be spoken to by this revolver." 
 
 They were covered with grease, and looked fine specimens 
 of manhood. Placing them so that their spear-heads just met, 
 I stepped backwards with the words, Go on ! 
 
 I expected a mad rush, but no such thing happened ; they 
 stood quite still, only leaning forward just sufficiently to allow 
 both blades to come well into contact. That they were in 
 deadly earnest could be seen, as their eyes were fixed on 
 each other, the crowd meantime keeping perfect silence ! 
 They bent forward towards the ground, the muscles of their 
 arms quivering as each tried to press the other's spear on one 
 side so as to get a clear thrust. Perspiration ran down their 
 bodies ; physically they appeared to be equally matched. This 
 bending to the ground to get in the first blow was a calculated 
 manoeuvre, and as an exhibition of fencing with the spear it 
 was worth witnessing. I enjoyed seeing the use these men were 
 making of their brains as well as their muscles. A slip, a moment 
 off guard, too little or too much pressure, and — well, anything 
 might happen in the case of men fighting for a woman. 
 
 Weight began to tell in favour of the older man, and 
 suddenly he brought more pressure to bear on the blade. The 
 youngster gave way, there was a swift lunge forward, and the 
 next instant both were sprawling on the sand ; the sudden 
 release of the weapons threw them off their balance, and 
 quick as lightning the youngster, as he fell, passed his spear 
 clean through the thick part of his stronger opponents thigh. 
 As they fell the spear snapped, and the defeated man was 
 gripping his spear to stab his fallen conqueror, when I jumped 
 on his wrist, and putting my revolver close to his face, I called : 
 
 112 
 
ITS TRAGIC RESULT 
 
 " Drop it ! You have lost ! " 
 
 It took but a second to secure the spear and order the 
 exulting boy off the ground. The wound was an ugly one, but 
 had missed all the great blood-vessels. We rolled up dried 
 banana skins into a ball and formed a rough tourniquet. He 
 could not walk, so he was carried to the beer-pots and well 
 soaked with native beer. That fearful gash healed in three 
 weeks, showing, as I said before, the remarkable recupera- 
 tive power they possess. That evening both sides drank beer 
 together; their shouts of revelry and drum-beating continued up 
 to a late hour, and 1 knew they were satisfied with the decision. 
 
 Were they all satisfied ? Alas, no ! In a little hut there 
 was a maiden, who had never been consulted in the matter. 
 No one seemed to consider it was necessary for her to be 
 taken into account. I ascertained afterwards that she was 
 attached to the defeated man, who came from the same country 
 as herself. On being told she would become the wife of the 
 other man, she did not reply ; but her mother, seeing tears 
 in her eyes, asked the reason. Still no answer. This is very 
 characteristic of Africans. They close up like an oyster, and 
 not even the fear of death will force them to speak. 
 
 It appears that, that evening, she collected her little bead 
 ornaments, and fancy combs made out of reeds. These she 
 placed in a small earthenware pot which most African girls use 
 as a kind of handy receptacle, and which is considered private 
 by her family. Her mother asked her what she was doing. 
 " Making preparations," was her only reply ; and going out of 
 the hut, she added, I shall not be long ! It was the last 
 time they saw her alive. I think it was near midnight when 
 I awoke hearing that never-to-be-forgotten wail of an African 
 child who has lost its grandmother. (The grandmother always 
 takes care of the children.) Again and again it broke the 
 silence of the night. " Amai ! Amai ! Amai ! " (" Grand- 
 mother ! This was followed by heart-broken outbursts of 
 grief. Calling the crew, I asked, " Do your hear that woman ? 
 
 113 
 
ITS TRAGIC RESULT 
 
 Shout out and ask her what she is doing up there in the rocks 
 at night, and tell her the leopards live there." 
 
 They did as I ordered, but the only reply was, " Amai ! 
 Amai ! " 
 
 " Come on,'"* I said ; " she**!! be killed by the leopards." 
 
 Up the rocks we clambered by the aid of the moon, but 
 as soon as she saw us she fled, carrying on her head a small 
 earthenware pot. 
 
 Don't follow, master," the men said ; " you won't catch her 
 like that. It's some woman w^ho is mad ; we must stalk her." 
 
 We sat down to discuss the best plan to adopt, when we 
 caught sight of her standing on the top of a high cliff over- 
 looking the lake. 
 
 " Keep still," I whispered ; " she is watching ! " 
 
 " She will jump off," replied the man next to me. 
 
 She was indeed watching, but not for us. Her eyes probably 
 saw the face of the wounded man who had that day lost her, 
 for as we looked she pitched the little pot into space and flung 
 herself after it. 
 
 " She's gone ! " we all exclaimed with one breath. 
 
 Yes ! the little maid had gone. Amidst the broken 
 fragments of her own small earthenware pot, surrounded by 
 the pretty bead work which had adorned her girlhood, her 
 mangled body was found wedged amongst the rocks at the 
 base of the cliff*. 
 
 No matter by what name you call it — Love, affection, 
 passion, madness. Whatever it was, it had enticed her away 
 from home, out into the dense, dark bush at midnight, and 
 beckoned her over that cliff" into the darker unknown. 
 
 " Amai ! Amai ! " I shall never cease to hear her farewell. 
 
 114 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 A Diplomatic Scramble — Manna — The Amambwi — 
 Unpleasant Visitors 
 
 IT was now time to take a rest, the first portion of our 
 work being completed, stations having been established, 
 mail routes maintained, and vessels running regularly 
 around the lake, keeping up communication with the coast. 
 Five years of rough living and exacting duty were leaving 
 their mark on me, and a furlough home became necessary. 
 
 Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Portugal 
 were then paying more attention to Central Africa, and 
 the interesting diplomatic game or scramble (as it has been 
 called) for Africa commenced in earnest. Britain thought 
 she needed a route from the Cape to Cairo. Cecil Rhodes 
 began his trans-continental telegraph; Germany wanted 
 Zanzibar and the Hinterland ; France looked with longing 
 eyes from west to east and hoped to sit astride the Nile ; 
 Belgium, or the Congo State, began to wake up to the fact 
 that she possessed vast forests as well as great mineral and 
 vegetable wealth. 
 
 The enormously valuable consignments of ivory, which 
 annually entered the Zanzibar custom-house, were known 
 to come from the backbone of the continent, where most 
 of the different spheres of influence met, and it was possible 
 to divert this golden stream northward down the Nile, 
 or southward via Blantyre, or westward down the Congo. 
 The stream was then flowing eastward to Zanzibar, and 
 the question was: Who should possess this Klondyke of 
 ivory ? European ambition was well known at the coast, 
 and transmitted up-country to the various great trading- 
 
 115 
 
MANNA 
 
 centres. Its vibrations began to be felt on Tanganyika 
 when I left for home. The Arabs became uneasy. Com- 
 mmiications received from the Nile confirmed their suspicions 
 that the white men had come to stay. The actual storm had 
 not yet begun to break, but the atmosphere was oppressive ; 
 there was a calm, similar to that which one experiences at 
 sea when near the equator, immediately before the squall 
 strikes the ship. 
 
 Such a squall was about to strike Central Africa, but 
 as yet nothing but the distant murmur of thunder could 
 be heard, as I turned my steps towards home, across the 
 plateau which separates the Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa, 
 it being my intention to reach the coast via the Zambezi 
 River. I found this high plateau mostly composed of sand- 
 stone and granite, and occupied by the Amambwi tribe, who 
 were not only quarrelsome, but inclined to be insolent, and 
 were already known as notorious thieves. 
 
 It was whilst passing this district that I was shown a 
 very curious white substance, very similar to porridge. It 
 was found on the ground early in the morning before the 
 sun rose. On examination it was seen to possess all the 
 characteristics of the manna which is said to have fallen 
 for the benefit of the Israelites. 
 
 In appearance it resembled coriander seeds, was white 
 in colour, like hoarfrost, sweet to the taste, melted in the 
 sun, and if kept overnight was full of worms in the morning. 
 The natives were not allowed to gather it before asking 
 permission from the chief. It required to be baked if you 
 intended to keep it any length of time. 
 
 This substance was seen some years afterwards in the 
 same district by several Europeans now living, who can 
 vouch for the accuracy of my description of this food. 
 When asked what it was and where it came from, the 
 natives replied : " It's the food of God ! no one knows 
 where it comes from."" I have never seen or heard of it 
 
 116 
 
A Village in Making 
 
 A skeleton living-hut and grain store. Villages are removed when the 
 soil becomes poor or for sanitary reasons, but as it entails much extra 
 work it is a task seldom undertaken except under compulsion, and never 
 unless the family have strong male relatives. 
 
 Aemha Mutilations 
 
 This tribe live on the plateau which divides Tanganyika from Lake Nyasa. 
 The man to the right has lost the point of his nose and fingers. The one to 
 the left his upper lip, point of nose, and fingers. They were an unruly lot 
 of people, and probably their chief was compelled to resort to extremes in order 
 to secure order. 
 
THE AMAMBWI 
 
 in any other part of the world, although it may be known to 
 others. A cake of it was baked and sent to England, but no 
 one appeared to be able to determine its identity. It looked 
 as if it was deposited on the ground in the night, but 
 in what manner I was never able to ascertain. No holes 
 could be found in the ground near it, or one might have 
 concluded that insects unearthed it during the night. The 
 only suggestion I could think of was that it might be 
 a mushroom spawn, as on the spot where it melted tiny 
 fungi sprang up the next night. Maybe some reader can 
 enlighten us on the subject. 
 
 The Amambwi appeared to be constantly fighting against 
 the powerful Awemba, who, under the famous chief Kitimkuru, 
 made it most uncomfortable for any people who excited 
 their avarice. Cruelties of a most revolting character were 
 inflicted by the chiefs on all criminals. Men and women 
 were mutilated in a horrid manner, as the accompanying 
 photographs will illustrate. It was no uncommon occurrence 
 to meet men who were minus a nose ; ears, fingers, lips, 
 eyes, and even hands were sometimes cut ofl' for minor 
 offences against the civil laws of the tribe, e.g. : — 
 
 Penalty for stealing, loss of fingers. 
 
 Attempted murder, one or both hands. 
 
 Adultery, amongst other punishments, the loss of both eyes. 
 
 Deceiving a chief by lying, loss of lips. 
 
 Revealing the chief s secrets, loss of ears ; and so on. 
 
 In no part of Africa have I seen so much mutilation as 
 in this tribe on the plateau. 
 
 They were a brave lot of men ; dashing youngsters thought 
 little of scaling an enemy's stockade in daylight, but they 
 avoided annoying white men. We frequently found our 
 packages neatly piled up outside a village which they had 
 happened to attack and destroy whilst our goods were 
 passing. It appeared to be understood that they had no 
 quarrel with Europeans, although they did not want them, 
 
 119 G 
 
UNPLEASANT VISITORS 
 
 and would not encourage them to penetrate into their country. 
 The reason given was, that after one of their chiefs had 
 been visited by a white man he took smallpox and died ; 
 hence their aversion for us. 
 
 The only time they came to blows was whilst Wissmann, 
 the German explorer, was sleeping in a village which they 
 desired to attack. They charged down on the village, but 
 finding him there, they told him to go away, as they intended 
 to kill the people. To this he objected, saying he was a 
 guest of the people and would help them defend their homes. 
 Placing his small machine-gun on an ant-hill, he awaited 
 the charge, and gave the massed warriors such a salutary 
 lesson that they fled, never afterwards venturing to attack 
 the lake people. Right across the plateau, village after 
 village was destroyed by these cruel people, and food was 
 difficult to obtain. We had a visit one night from elephants, 
 and of all the unpleasant night visitors, I think they are most 
 to be dreaded. The lion roars and keeps you all on the alert, 
 but seldom attacks a tent, although I have known him to do 
 so. The leopard sneaks about with his harsh, disjointed growl, 
 snatching away your favourite dog or milk-goat, but seldom 
 injuring men or giving you a moment's anxiety. 
 
 The hyena howls, and perhaps raids your stock of fowls, 
 though he is an arrant coward, and one may often hear the 
 men shout out, as he growls: "You liar! you thief! go and 
 catch rats ! 
 
 But the elephants are serious invaders, commanding re- 
 spect. They will enter villages at night, destroying grain 
 stores, knocking down huts, and trampling to death the 
 sleepers inside. On this occasion, the first object to excite 
 their anger was a spare tent used for storing boxes. It was 
 a fortunate thing for me they did not notice the one I was 
 using. I was awakened by my servants, who rushed into 
 the tent, shouting: " Njovu, Bwana, Njovu ! " ("Elephants, 
 master, elephants ! " ) 
 
 120 
 
UNPLEASANT VISITORS 
 
 Never having previously hunted them, I was without 
 the proper rifles, besides being ignorant of their habits. 
 To know what a wild animal is likely to do is half the 
 battle. It was very dark ; the camp-fires were alight, but 
 not blazing. 
 
 On rising and looking out, I could see men racing about 
 in all directions, shouting, " Elephants ! This pandemonium 
 was not abated by one of the huge brutes indulging in those 
 unpleasant shrieks which are so well known to all who have 
 hunted them and been unfortunate enough to give them 
 good reason to charge. By the glare of the fire, I saw the 
 spare tent being torn out of the ground and pitched about 
 by the trunk of one who stood with his tail towards me. 
 Another was demolishing the temporary huts of my men. 
 A little fox-terrier, which always accompanied me, bolted out, 
 making straight for the animal which was busy smashing my 
 boxes and sending cooking utensils flying in all directions. 
 My only filter was thrown over its back, landing on the 
 fly of my tent, and being smashed to atoms as it struck 
 a neighbouring tree. 
 
 It was amusing to see the little terrier barking around 
 the elephant while he tried in vain to seize him by the trunk. 
 The dog evidently annoyed his opponent, for the great brute 
 kept on charging him and shrieking with rage, as it failed to 
 catch its elusive tormentor. None appeared to carry large 
 tusks, so probably they were a herd of females, with the bull 
 not far away. I well remember having a peculiar feeling of 
 helplessness, and a conviction that it was as unsafe to get 
 up into a tree as to stay on the ground. It was no use 
 wounding one of them, for it might only have complicated 
 the situation, so I fired into the air to scare them away. 
 Luckily, and to my great relief, they took the hint and made 
 off at once, crashing through the forest and reeds, and for- 
 tunately missing all the frightened men who were hiding in 
 the bush. 
 
 121 
 
LAKE NYASA 
 
 It was the only time I was ever annoyed in this manner 
 at night, and certainly a repetition of the experience was not 
 to be desired. Once in a lifetime was quite sufficient. AVhen 
 they attack a village — which is seldom — the natives must be 
 horrified to feel the roof being lifted off their hut, and must 
 expect every moment to be crushed by the enormous feet. 
 
 The climate was most bracing ; at night it was quite cold 
 enough to sleep under two blankets. It is difficult to under- 
 stand how those naked people could sleep in such a low 
 temperature without the least particle of clothing, and the 
 next day travel beneath a very hot sun. 
 
 Most of the uplands appeared to be suitable for the 
 rearing of cattle, the grass looking both sweet and of a good 
 quality ; but being so far distant from markets, such an 
 occupation would scarcely be a financial success, even at the 
 present day. The Chambezi River rises in this district, and is 
 well known to be one of the extreme sources of the Congo. 
 Game was plentiful ; many fine specimens of both sable 
 antelope and eland were shot. The general desolation of 
 the country was most depressing, and we were not sorry to 
 reach the Stevenson road. 
 
 A great deal of controversy has been carried on about this 
 road, some asserting it to be a myth, existing only in the 
 imagination of interested diplomats ; others maintaining that 
 it stretched from Lake Tanganyika to Lake Nyasa, and was 
 therefore British territory. The facts are that it was made 
 for a distance of about eighty miles from Nyasa, and then 
 abandoned through lack of funds and the death of the engi- 
 neers. Our German friends were partially correct in stating 
 that it did not exist as drawn on our maps. 
 
 The descent to Nyasa was through extremely rugged hills, 
 at the base of which lived the Wankonde. Miles of banana 
 plantations could be seen stretching north and south across 
 the plain. It was indeed a treat to see the picturesque groups 
 of small villages built amongst the banana groves, the little 
 
 122 
 
LAKE NYASA 
 
 paths being kept scrupulously clean. Each hut was neatly 
 built and ornamented with clay bricks, artistically designed. 
 Young unmarried men and boys lived in a kind of bachelors' 
 quarters, consisting of long huts divided with partitions. The 
 floor was covered with reed mats, and the sides of the huts were 
 beautifully decorated with all manner of fancy-shaped trellis- 
 work ; cleanliness was the predominating characteristic of the 
 whole place. I have not seen anything in Africa to approach 
 that ideal community. 
 
 At sunset scores of young men collected together for an 
 evening parade and bath. They trotted in a body through the 
 villages, keeping correct time by stamping with their feet, 
 accompanying the action with a song. Each warrior carried a 
 bundle of beautifully forged assegais in his left hand. In his 
 right was poised a stabbing spear. The only apology for clothes 
 was a brass wire ring encircling their waists. On arrival at 
 the lake, they simultaneously halted, each man sticking his 
 assegais into the sand ; then, with a shout, the whole lot dashed 
 into the waves which were breaking on the shore, forced onwards 
 by the heavy monsoon. After their wash they indulged in 
 dancing, and performed feats of spear-throwing, practising a 
 kind of sham fight. Finally they trotted back to their homes, 
 presenting a splendid spectacle of humanity in perfect health 
 and happiness. The tribe appeared to have reached an ideal 
 state of cleanliness, manliness, and morals, although the men 
 were quite nude, and the women covered only by a few inches 
 of calico. They had, however, reached their zenith, for only 
 a short period was to elapse ere they were to be the victims, as 
 we shall see, of a most horrible attack, which practically swept 
 them either out of existence or into slavery. Their lovely 
 groves were doomed to be cut down and destroyed. These 
 atrocities were perpetrated by the southern division of Arab 
 slave-raiders who operated near Lake Nyasa. 
 
 Standing on those sands, looking southwards over the 
 lake, with its waves dashing spray all over one, was like beinff 
 
A VAST AND LONELY REGION 
 
 at a seaside in Europe. Lofty mountains, whose peaks were 
 lost in the lower clouds, encircled that immense inland sea, 
 keeping it within bounds like a mighty reservoir, at an altitude 
 of about 1500 feet above the sea-level. No less than 200 fathoms 
 of lead line were lost in a fruitless attempt to sound its depth. 
 Later soundings were found by Captain Rhoades to register 
 up to 300 fathoms. 
 
 Its vastness and loneliness were somewhat oppressive. 
 Only one small semi-missionary trading steamer ploughed its 
 surface, accompanied by several white-winged dhows carrying 
 slaves and ivory. 
 
 From one end to the other might was right, men being 
 the common currency of all the tribes living on its shores. At 
 intervals isolated missionaries were endeavouring to stem the 
 tide of oppression with the limited resources at their com- 
 mand, and in reality laying the foundations of empire. 
 Government there was none. It was a land as yet un- 
 touched by " Orders in Council." The white man had not 
 yet dared to say to the inhabitants, " Thou shalt not ! " but 
 the tax-collector, magistrate, and policemen were at that 
 moment preparing to sweep its thousands of unsuspecting 
 people into what is known as the British Empire. 
 
 We discovered a British flag flying near the lake, and 
 towards this our party marched. In a few moments I 
 was shaking hands with a big, brawny son of Scotia — they 
 are everywhere. With a warm welcome he invited me to 
 his house. He was the representative of the famous African 
 Lakes Corporation, who were to transport me to Queli- 
 mane. How far from my mind at the time was the 
 thought that my host was to be the hero of one of the 
 finest stands ever made against the Arabs, or that his name 
 would long be associated with Nyasaland as one of its 
 bravest pioneers ! 
 
 As it would probably be some time before the steamer 
 could arrive, I moved about amongst the villages, and for 
 
 124 
 
SECRET SOCIETIES 
 
 the first time came into contact with one of those secret 
 societies which are more numerous on the west coast than 
 in Nyasaland. 
 
 So far as I have been able to ascertain, some of the most 
 powerful medicine-men belong to a community, which is more 
 or less held together by a kind of Freemasonry. Secret in- 
 formation about certain poisonous roots and herbs is jealously 
 guarded and handed down from father to son. The members 
 of this fraternity are considered to be past-masters in all the 
 etiquette of marriages, births, and deaths. They are supposed 
 to be able to arrange about the weather, to influence the 
 crops, to afford safety to travellers, and to detect criminals 
 of all kinds. They generally possess wooden images, many 
 of which are beautifully carved, representing human beings ; 
 some are hideous in appearance, and are used on occasions 
 to strike terror into the hearts of those over whom they 
 desire to exert some influence. These images are sometimes 
 given names, e.g, the god of water, or of grain fields, or of 
 game. Others have special functions allotted to them, e.g. 
 to watch over women during childbirth, or to protect the 
 graves from desecrations by midnight cannibals, who are said 
 to dig up the corpse and eat it. 
 
 Groups of these images may at times be seen placed near 
 cross roads, for. the purpose of preventing evil approaching 
 the village; as, for instance, smallpox may be raging in an 
 adjacent district, and to stop its creeping along their roads 
 these images will be posted. The professional medicine-men 
 have great power over both chief and people. All dread 
 their anger ; none are safe from their magic. That they 
 annually remove thousands of people by poison has been 
 proved beyond doubt. 
 
 So far as the Wankonde were concerned, they appeared 
 to live in mortal fear of one particular professor, who 
 resided amongst the rocks, and was seldom seen in public. 
 The interesting study of totemism, and all the ideas asso- 
 
POISON ORDEAL 
 
 ciated with it, has been pursued with far greater success in 
 West Africa than in Nyasaland, and none but those who 
 have made it a special study can be qualified to touch 
 the subject, so I leave it for others. 
 
 A case of murder happened whilst I was waiting, and 
 I had an opportunity of witnessing some of the operations 
 of the doctors. A young man was found dead in the 
 forest, with his skull smashed, and his body speared in 
 several places. No one was able to account for the deed, 
 as the deceased did not appear to have any special quarrel 
 with any one; neither were his family involved in any 
 dispute. The chief, on being appealed to, decided to 
 consult the great medicine tribal witch-finder. The general 
 opinion was that a Mfiti (cannibal) had killed the man 
 for food. Suspicion rested on an old man, who denied all 
 knowledge of the deed. The more emphatic he became in 
 his denials, the more eager they were to condemn him. At 
 length, out of sheer desperation, he demanded the poison 
 ordeal. This challenge his accusers were by custom com- 
 pelled to accept. The company's agent had no power to 
 interfere with the poison ordeal, although he endeavoured to 
 persuade the chief not to resort to so unjust a tribunal. His 
 appeal had no effect. Probably through fear of our presence, 
 the medicine-men refused to come to the village, but insisted 
 on trying the case in private, and the result only became 
 known to us some days afterwards. 
 
 They first took the man out to the forest, together 
 with the corpse, making him sit beside it for two days 
 and nights, guarded by male relatives of the deceased. 
 No food or water was allowed him. While in this weak 
 state, and his nerves naturally somewhat unstrung by such 
 a gruesome vigil, they made him drink the poison. He is 
 said to have fallen down in a stupor, but not vomiting the 
 poison proved him guilty, whereupon they immediately 
 speared him to death, leaving him unburied. We were 
 
 1'2S 
 
A WITCH-FINDER 
 
 able to verify some of this story by finding the body 
 partly eaten by hyenas. 
 
 I became very anxious to find out all that was possible 
 about these witch-finders, and nearly paid a high price 
 for my curiosity. I determined, if possible, to interview 
 the dreaded creature who lived amongst the rocks, and 
 with the object of obtaining an introduction to him I 
 paid the chief a visit. Placing my present of calico and 
 brass wire near him, I asked him to let me pay the wizard 
 a secret call. At first he flatly refused, saying, "I do 
 not know where the gods live ! " 
 
 This was all nonsense. So, adding a bag of clean salt to 
 the pile of presents, I answered: 
 
 " I understand ! What you mean is that they move 
 about, to-day here, to-morrow elsewhere ; they do not sit still 
 as we do. When you began to smoke your pipe this morning, 
 you were unaware on which particular rock this spirit was 
 sitting, talking to the birds; but if you will give that salt 
 to your head-man, he may be able to give you the latest 
 information, for as you hold the responsible position of chief, 
 no spirit would dare to hide himself from your eyes.'' 
 
 I had touched both his pocket (he hadn't any !) and his 
 pride, for he at once replied, " I know everything. No one 
 is above me ; I am the chief." 
 
 " Of course you do," I added, " or you could not have sent 
 for him to administer the poison which killed the man last 
 week." The old liar was nonplussed, and he quickly ended 
 the interview by saying, " Very well, as you have brought 
 something sweet for the gods (he meant his wives), I will see 
 if they will meet you and let you know." 
 
 I did not then expect treachery. Three days elapsed, and 
 receiving no intimation of the pleasure of the spirits, I called 
 on the chief for an explanation of the ethereal delay. 
 
 " Oh ! " replied he, with a grunt, " the moon is too young ; 
 there is not sufficient light for you to see the dangers in the 
 
 129 
 
A WITCH-FINDER 
 
 path; snakes lie on the path at night, waiting to catch frogs 
 and mice."" 
 
 There was a covert warning in this information, but I was 
 too much of a novice to understand the service he was seeking 
 to render me, through what I interpreted as obstruction. 
 
 " Snakes on the path waiting for frogs." 
 
 Indeed there was a deadly thing at the path, which might 
 have brought my adventure to a fatal end. 
 
 Being convinced that he was playing the fool with me, 
 I pressed him, saying, " You are only a chief in name ; you 
 cannot compel this Mfiti to meet me ! " 
 
 He was annoyed, and sharply answered : " I am not a 
 chief of the spirits, and cannot command them, and am not 
 responsible for what they do ! " (I ought to have understood 
 this second warning.) " If you go, I cannot stop you ; the path 
 is too dangerous for my people, and I refuse to let them 
 accompany you. That path under the banana tree leads to 
 the rocks under the hill." 
 
 " All right," I replied, " 111 go with my own men ; but as 
 my eyes are not like the leopard's, which see at night, I shall 
 go now," and I at once entered the path. 
 
 We soon reached the rocks, and my men became scared 
 as we passed several bones scattered about. " Let us go back, 
 master ! " they said. " It's no use ; we shall not see the Mfiti." 
 Without replying, I followed a small track around a big rock, 
 and soon came in sight of a hut, with a man sitting outside 
 the door. 
 
 He was indeed hideous : around his loins were suspended 
 gourds ; hanging to his arms were lions' claws ; several porcupine 
 quills protruded from his hair ; and hanging from his shoulder 
 was a dried snake-skin. He had evidently been told of our 
 approach, and was not at all disturbed. Handing him some 
 beads, I got to business at once by letting him know that I 
 wanted to be told if I should have a safe passage down Nyasa. 
 Scanning me with keen eyes, he answered : 
 
 130 
 
A Game Trap 
 
 Game trap photographed by Sir John Kirk. The Author narrowly escaped 
 tripping; over the string of one of these, when following the medicine man, as 
 it was hidden by vegetation. The animal irips against a string stretched 
 across the path and releases the weighted spear, tiie point of which is often 
 poisoned. 
 
 Naiive Porters 
 
 Young men who have chosen the life of porter.-. They will travel about twenty-five miles a 
 day, and carry a load weighing sixty pounds. Whilst at rest they like lo do something for 
 aniusement. The right-hand man i> making combs, three of which are near his feet and two in 
 his hair. Girls decorate them afterwards wiih beads. 
 
A WITCH-FINDER 
 
 " My medicine is not for you ; your skin is too white." 
 
 " I am sorry the beads I gave you are also white ; they will 
 destroy your power. I will take them away." 
 
 He was not such an idiot as to give them to me. 
 
 "No!" he replied; "I will ask the spirits to speak," and, 
 producing a small whistle, he asked us to step back whilst 
 he made medicine. 
 
 We had not long to wait before he called me, and began 
 making a series of passes with a buffalo's tail, pointing to an 
 inverted pot in front of him. After addressing to this pot 
 a few sentences, he leaned forward, making a vigorous pass 
 over the ground, and from under the pot came a sharp whistle. 
 My men were thunder-struck, and moved away a few yards. 
 
 " The spirits say : The winds will blow " (they usually 
 do, I thought), "the sun shine" (another piece of gratuitous 
 information), "but you will sleep on the other shore'''* (in 
 English, You will have a safe passage "). 
 
 Upon my asking him if the spirits always came at his 
 bidding, he replied : " Yes ! they came to my father, and 
 to his father ; they will come to my son after I die ! " 
 
 I had noticed his vigorous action when bending forward, 
 and interpreted it as the means of applying muscular persua- 
 sion to the spirit ; and so, drawing my hunting-knife, I passed 
 it sharply through the soft earth between him and the pot, 
 when, as I expected, I dragged out a piece of bamboo which 
 was connected with a bladder under his feet. By bending for- 
 ward in his eagerness to call the spirit, he had pressed the 
 wind out of the bladder along the bamboo to the whistle under 
 the pot, and — the spirit spoke. 
 
 He looked as if he could have killed me on the spot. 
 " Don't be angry ! " I said ; " but remember the white man 
 hates lies, and never pays for them," at the same time handing 
 the calico and beads to my men. He got up, danced like a 
 maniac, to frighten us, I suppose. "Let the white man 
 follow me ; I will show him the true spirit of the Wankonde," 
 
 133 
 
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION 
 
 and oft' he marched, we following him to see the end of the 
 farce. Quicker ! " he exclaimed, darting around a large 
 rock almost hidden by dense undergrowth. 
 
 I was about to respond to his invitation, when I was 
 gripped from behind by my man, as he shouted, " Look 
 up there, master ; don't move ! " I followed with my eyes 
 to where he was pointing, and there, almost above me, hung 
 a horrible spear, weighted and suspended by rope over the 
 path, across which, hidden by grass, was a small string, 
 placed so that any one who touched it released the deadly 
 spear. It was a game trap ! One glance was enough. I 
 stepped off* the path, cut the string, and the instrument of 
 death thundered down, burying its point in the path. The 
 fiend had jumped over the string, knowing that I should trip 
 up against it, and that the released spear would close my 
 mouth and preserve his secret. The men, he knew, would not 
 dare to expose him, and would not be believed if they did. 
 
 In all my twenty-six years'* wanderings amongst Africans, 
 this was my only experience of a deliberate attempt at assassi- 
 nation. My rash adventure taught me a lesson, and as I look 
 at this photograph of a game trap, a cold feeling creeps over 
 me ; I feel I want to cut the string. 
 
 The old chief, on being told of our experiences, merely 
 remarked, " Your medicine killed his ! " Perhaps it did ! 
 
 134 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Navigating the Shire River — Blantyre — Ramakukane — 
 Game and Fish — Shupanga 
 
 IAKE NYASA is too well known nowadays to need 
 description ; it is very similar to all the other large 
 inland seas, and only differs from Tanganyika in that its 
 waters are sweet and palatable, whilst some of the others are 
 not at all agreeable and do not satisfy the thirst to the same 
 degree, leaving a dry feeling in the throat. 
 
 After a considerable rest at Karonga, I embarked for the 
 south on the small Lady Nyasa steam-vessel. At the first 
 village we anchored at, the people were living in dwellings 
 erected on piles, out in the shallow portion of the lake. On 
 asking the reason, we were told it was because of the Angoni, 
 also on account of the destructive white ants and wild beasts. 
 The Angoni are very numerous, and of Zulu extraction, having 
 migrated from the south many years ago. They are a branch 
 of the same people whom we noticed living with Mirambo in 
 Unyamwezi. 
 
 As the demand for slaves was always great, these half-wild 
 Angoni made periodical descents upon the lake population, 
 with such effect that the greater portion of the north-west 
 coast was depopulated. " Mlozi," a half-caste Arab, had his 
 stronghold in the North. Sultan Jumbe reigned supreme in 
 the west, his headquarters being at Kotakota. Makanjira 
 claimed the east, and Mponda the south coast. 
 
 It should not be difficult for the reader to understand how 
 completely the whole country was thus mapped out and taken 
 possession of by the great combination of slave-traders. 
 
 A few days' steaming brought us to the south end, where 
 
 135 
 
NAVIGATING THE SHIRE RIVER 
 
 Mponda commanded the Shire River, down which we had to 
 go in order to reach Blantyre. The captain of the vessel 
 informed me that he always had trouble here with the 
 Arabs when passing Mponda's, sometimes being peremptorily 
 ordered to anchor the ship. They had cut down a large tree 
 and thrown it across the river to impede navigation. He said 
 there was just sufficient water to get over it provided we all 
 stood in the hinder part, and then, as the vessel struck the 
 tree, ran forward, thus transferring the weight to the opposite 
 end. It seemed a somewhat novel mode of navigation, but it 
 was soon apparent the people on shore meant us to stop and 
 pay a heavy toll for passing down the river. They stood on 
 the banks in great numbers, pointing at us their old flint-lock 
 guns, as we approached at full speed, only a few yards from 
 the bank where they were standing. The captain suggested 
 that I should hold my rifle in readiness, to let them see he 
 was not single-handed. I have always'; objected to any un- 
 necessary parade of firearms when travelling, but there were 
 times when it was wise to be ready for emergencies, and this 
 was one of them. 
 
 Pointing ahead to a ripple on the water, he explained that 
 it was caused by the current running over the sunken tree, 
 which the people hoped we should strike against. They knew 
 this would result in detention at their place, for which we 
 should have to pay dearly. All on board congregated abaft, 
 and as the ship mounted the tree the Captain shouted, " Run 
 as fast as you can ! " We did, and the little craft struggled 
 over, with a heavy list into deep water on the other side. This 
 was marine steeplechasing ; the wonder was it did not break 
 the vessel's back. In those days no one stood at trifles. 
 Things had to be done. Every difficulty was met with but 
 one thought, " It must be mastered at once ! 
 
 The rage of the people at the success of the captain's 
 strategy may be well imagined. They fired guns at us, but 
 no one knew where the bullets went to ; certainly they never 
 
 136 
 
BLANTYRE 
 
 struck anything near us. They ran along the bank to get 
 better shots at us, but as we pointed our rifles at them they 
 scampered ofr behind the houses, and by the time their fear of 
 sudden death had passed we ^vevc safely out of range, gaily steam- 
 ing about six knots down the Shire River towards Blantyre. 
 
 This settlement was reached after leaving the vessel, and 
 after a tramp up to the Shire Highlands from the mosquito- 
 infested river. These pests made life almost unbearable all 
 over the country. No sooner does the sun disappear than 
 they swarm out in millions. From the east coast, where 
 I landed five years previously, up to this point, I had never 
 been able to find a place free from their torment. 
 
 It was a pleasant taste of civilisation to reach the Scotch 
 mission station, named after the birthplace of Livingstone. 
 To see and speak to a white woman w^as indeed a pleasure. 
 Although they looked extremely pale, it was but fancy, for 
 they were all healthy; the constant looking at black women 
 made a white skin look unnaturally pallid. It seemed re- 
 markable to find such delicate flowers of civilisation growing 
 in the midst of general darkness and cruelty. Yet there 
 they lived, quietly teaching little black children to sew gar- 
 ments to hide their nakedness, or binding bandages around 
 the putrid sores on a girFs foot. As evening approached 
 a small bell called the little " Children of the mist," as 
 Kipling has named them, to their devotions. It was the 
 day of small things — just "something attempted, something- 
 done.'' Later on we shall see Blantyre as it is to-day in all 
 its glory. 
 
 I found but one trading company in the whole district, 
 and its operations were of such modest dimensions that only 
 two Europeans were required to manage its business at 
 headquarters. At their store a most daring robbery was 
 committed the first night after my arrival. Natives, attracted 
 by the large deposits of ivory and calico, broke into the 
 place and stole large quantities of goods; but so quietly did 
 
 137 
 
AN AWKWARD QUARREL 
 
 they work that we were not disturbed, although our bed- 
 rooms were quite near. It seems almost incredible, when 
 I picture in my mind the country as it is to-day, that at 
 the time I passed there was but one planter in the Shire 
 Highlands. 
 
 The country was really in a state of war, notwithstand- 
 ing the peaceful mission picture I have drawn. It appeared 
 that a European, who formerly lived at Blantyre, had been 
 commissioned by a chief to take some ivory to the coast, and 
 to bring back the proceeds. On his return the chief was 
 not satisfied, and attempted to spear the white man, who in 
 self-defence then shot him and fled to a small islet in the 
 river, to which the people laid siege, finally succeeding in 
 shooting him in the leg as he was drinking from the river. 
 This did not satisfy the son of the slain chief, so he collected 
 his men to attack Blantyre, intending, as he said, to seize 
 the wife of the white man as compensation for his father's 
 death. 
 
 It was exceedingly annoying to be thus thrown into the 
 midst of a quarrel when so close to the end of a long sojourn 
 in the interior, especially as I expected to reach the coast 
 in a few days. The steamer I was to travel in was detained 
 by order of a British Consul, who invited us to accompany 
 him to interview an old Makololo chief, who stood between 
 the white people and his half-savage relative, who was trying 
 to seize the white squaw. Backed up by a man carrying the 
 Union Jack, the Consul proceeded to lay down the law to 
 the wrinkled warrior, the result being, we were informed, 
 that the war would be stopped and the young chief executed 
 as soon as captured; but the steamer must not go down 
 the river past the enemy's village, as it would certainly be 
 seized. 
 
 " Why cannot we go if we are willing to take the risk ? " 
 
 I asked. " I shall not catch the ocean boat, and, what is 
 
 worse, shall miss Christmas.'"* 
 
 138 
 
A Village Belle 
 
 She is considered suitably dressed for any public function. Her apron is made of beads closely 
 sewn together, as also are her body-band and head-dress. The beads are often beautifully arranged 
 into fantastic patterns, and all such ornaments are freely lent to friends who are about to be 
 married. 
 
RAMAKUKANE 
 
 The old chief looked me up and down, then at the 
 stalwart Consul; finally at the flag. He took a few heavy 
 pulls at a most elaborately carved tobacco-pipe, and mur- 
 mured, " It shall never be said Ramakukane permitted a 
 white man to go to his death." 
 
 " Ramakukane ! " Who was he ? Why should this man 
 have such a care for the safety of utter strangers ? The 
 reason was one of which we are all intensely proud. He 
 was none other than one of the Makololo boys, who, many 
 years previously, accompanied Livingstone, and remembered 
 his kindness. How remarkable ! especially as one often 
 hears it said that the African is incapable of gratitude. 
 A thousand miles nearer the equator, we heard that Arab 
 fiend call him Father David " ! 
 
 It was impossible to wait an indefinite period, as these 
 native wars linger on for months, so we decided to run 
 the gauntlet. Barricades were placed so as to shelter the 
 helmsman from arrows or bullets. The boiler was covered 
 with wood, and we took plenty of ammunition. At the last 
 moment our crew of Makololo bolted ; they saw no fun, and 
 expected little pay for such a wild-goose-chase. Realising 
 how necessary it was never to allow coloured races to think 
 you are in their power, we collected our personal servants 
 and made them pitch firewood into the furnaces. The 
 captain, being, an engineer by profession, took charge of 
 the engine ; I, being a mariner, was entrusted with the 
 helm. It was rather a weird experience, yet sufficiently ex- 
 citing to repay one for the temporary annoyance of having 
 to stand and steer, instead of enjoying the passage sitting 
 in a deck-chair. 
 
 The flat-bottomed craft drew too much water, and was 
 constantly sticking on sandbanks, at which every one had 
 to jump overboard and push her off*. Natives hostile to 
 us could be seen dodging amongst the reeds and low scrub 
 on either bank, seeking a good opportunity to annoy us 
 
 141 H 
 
AN EXCITING VOYAGE 
 
 with arrows. When one was up to the waist in water 
 in a river where crocodiles were numerous, it was quite 
 enough to have to exert your powers to get the old craft 
 off the sand, without living in expectation of unpleasant 
 attentions from either bank. One, more daring than the 
 rest, let fly at the funnel. I suppose he thought it a god, 
 stuck up as medicine against his bullets. He had the satis- 
 faction of making two eyes in it if he did, for the slug went 
 in on one side and came out at the other. 
 
 We had used the steam whistle to scare them, but a 
 shot happened to hit that, and stopped its evil voice. As 
 they became too dangerous, we let them have some large 
 s.s.g. buckshot ; a few rounds sent them headlong into the 
 bush. Our fuel being wood, showers of sparks were emitted 
 from the funnel as we pounded along after dusk, and the 
 burning sparks flying into the air must have made us look 
 quite Satanic to superstitious people. Helmets, coats, pants, 
 were all more or less burned by this volcanic eruption ; but 
 the sea was near, the journey was about to end; in fancy 
 we could almost hear the Indian Ocean beating on the 
 shore. Five years up-country ! Five days to the coast ! 
 A^Hiat did it matter if the sparks of our miniature Vesuvius 
 burned the last respectable coat we possessed .^^ It would 
 have been easy to drop some of those black men — a cart- 
 ridge, a rifle, a steady aim, and life was gone ! But we 
 were not driven to that. Let them go mad as long as they 
 kept a respectable distance ; we did not seek to make widows. 
 But as if to spoil all our good resolutions, the captain's 
 boy was stupid enough to be thrown overboard by the 
 vessel bumping against the bank. It was a nuisance at this 
 particular moment. Some one pitched him a small hencoop, 
 another an oar, and my lad threw him my canvas chair. The 
 current swept him under the vessel, but he was gripped as 
 he came up the other side, little the worse for a bath, 
 probably somewhat sweeter. This impromptu performance 
 
 142 
 
A HERD OF ELEPHANTS 
 
 allowed our escort on shore to overtake us, and a dose 
 of No. 5 shot was rattled against their skins as a parting 
 salute. They did not like it ; the pellets evidently stung 
 their naked bodies ; but it was sufficient for our purpose — it 
 kept them at bay. 
 
 I heard afterwards that the young chief was that day 
 captured and beheaded by Ramakukane ; thus died the young 
 Chikusi, successor to Chipitula, and the Shire River tragedy 
 came to its close without our assistance. On looking back at 
 this novel experience, it is easy to imagine how very differently 
 the race might have ended. Had a boiler-tube burst, or a 
 rudder-chain snapped, we should have been compelled to stop 
 and should have been exposed to repeated attacks. 
 
 Nearing the Morambala mountain, the river wound through 
 the marsh like a great snake. The flat swamps extended for 
 miles, and here, for the first time, I saw the lordly elephant at 
 home in all his might. About a quarter of a mile from the 
 river stood a herd of more than seventy-three ; so closely 
 were they standing that we could not count them all, but 
 we estimated the herd to contain about ninety or a hundred. 
 The sun showed up their great white tusks against the mass of 
 dark skin in the background; truly they presented a grand 
 picture of animal life in the bush. 
 
 On the left bank, quite close to our vessel, stood three 
 large bulls, each carrying tusks of about 70 lbs. weight. 
 They were not alarmed or disturbed in any way by our 
 presence, but stood calmly fanning themselves with their 
 great ears to keep the flies out of their eyes, occasionally 
 picking up the earth with their trunks and lashing it over 
 their backs. We tied up to the bank in order to get a better 
 view of them. We were none of us elephant-hunters, and as 
 the country was perfectly open, with no cover of any kind, it 
 looked decidedly more safe to remain on board. I confess I 
 was not conscious of any keen desire to try conclusions with 
 any of them, although the ivory was, of course, a temptation. 
 
 143 
 
GAME AND FISH 
 
 I am sure all experienced hunters will agree that it was not 
 an undertaking for novices, and that we were wise in con- 
 tenting ourselves with shooting a solitary water-buck, which 
 served for food. It is not nice meat, but hungry men are 
 not too dainty. 
 
 The report of the firearm started the elephants, for 
 without hesitation they made straight for the river-bank, 
 down which they tumbled, half sliding, half rolling into the 
 water, swimming across, and climbing up the steep bank with 
 comparative ease. They continued their flight towards the 
 herd, which, on their approach, at once moved away with 
 their well-known long, swinging trot. 
 
 Not long afterwards they deserted the marsh altogether, 
 and, so far as I am aware, never returned. In fancy I picture 
 this immense marshland torn up by the steam-plough, and 
 tens of thousands of tons of rice growing on miles of rich 
 soil, where now is nothing but rank grasses and reeds. 
 
 Several large sawfish, young turtle, and sharks were 
 brought by fishermen for sale, which had been caught in 
 reed baskets staked on the river. There did not seem to be 
 many really good eating fish, probably because the people 
 consumed them themselves, and as the stream is always swift, 
 it was only in the backwaters that fishing could be carried 
 on successfully. 
 
 The slow passage up this river against the current was 
 most monotonous, the heat being oppressive, the rank marsh 
 grasses obnoxious, and mosquitoes — well, beyond description. 
 Yet even up to the present day it is tne great highway into 
 Nyasaland. All through the dry season it is too shallow for 
 steamers, and only boats can be used in the narrow channels. 
 Where it enters the Zambezi, we found ugly rocks stretching 
 right across its mouth. As the Zambezi channel wears away, 
 these rocks will be left well above the level of its stream, 
 forming a cataract across the Shire River. 
 
 We swept into the Zambezi one morning at daylight, 
 
 144 
 
BUSH-BUCK 
 
 opening out stretches of swiftly flowing yellowish water, with 
 large islands dotted about, cutting the river into numerous 
 channels. A Portuguese gunboat passed, steaming up to the 
 Portuguese station at Tete, and as both national ensigns 
 dipped in mutual salute, it made one suddenly realise that 
 we were nearly back again amongst the rushing turmoil of 
 busy civilised nations. I wandered out to look for game at 
 a wooding station, and came unexpectedly upon two bush- 
 buck fighting. In their struggle they did not notice my 
 approach, so I had no difficulty in shooting one. As soon 
 as it dropped, the other began driving its sharp horns into 
 the fallen animal, most likely imagining it had floored its 
 antagonist. A second shot secured the pair. Both were 
 decent specimens, although the horns were short. The meat 
 was excellent, especially when fried in butter. I think most 
 of the small antelopes are sweeter eating than the heavy 
 animals, although the flesh of the eland, if in prime con- 
 dition, is very tasty, to say nothing of the quantity of fat 
 obtainable for the kitchen. 
 
 Whilst the men were cutting up the meat, I strolled 
 away, looking for other game. Some guinea-fowl flew up, 
 and I wounded one, sending a man to catch it ; and as he was 
 some time absent, I followed his tracks, calling him by name. 
 Receiving no reply, I quickened my steps, and at last heard 
 him shouting as if in pain. Running up to the spot, I found 
 him rolling on the ground, evidently in agony. At a glance 
 I saw the cause, for lying dead on the path was a puff'-adder. 
 
 " What^s the matter ? " I asked. 
 
 Pie frantically pointed to the snake, crying : 
 
 " I killed it ! it bit me ! I trod on it as I ran after the 
 guinea-fowl ! I shall die ! Medicine ! Master ! Medicine ! 
 I shall die with the sun ! 
 
 It was several miles from the vessel, and we were alone. 
 The man was kicking vigorously, half mad with pain, as well 
 as terror-stricken at the thought of death. 
 
 145 
 
ROUGH SURGERY 
 
 " Keep still, my son ! " I ordered. " Where did it bite 
 you?" 
 
 On the foot. Look ! it's swelling ! " he exclaimed, throwing 
 himself over and over amongst the grass away from the dead 
 snake, as if afraid of another attack. There was no doubt 
 about the bite, as several small punctures were visible, in- 
 dicating where the teeth had entered the flesh, and already 
 there was a slight swelling. Having heard that the puff-adder's 
 bite often proved fatal, I knew there was no time to lose. 
 Medicines I had none, nor alcohol of any description. A 
 strong dose of brandy might have saved him, or at least given 
 him a chance, but there was none within reach, so I tore open 
 my helmet and extracted some of the pith lining, crushing it 
 into a powder. 
 
 " Keep still, boy ! " I said. " I must cut your foot if you 
 want it cured ; don't wriggle about, but lie still, and I will 
 help you.'' 
 
 " Quick, master, quick ! " he groaned ; and again the 
 maiden's cry, "Amai ! Amai ! " came from him as a last 
 appeal. 
 
 I immediately responded. Slipping off my belt, I rolled 
 two cartridges up in some grass and placed them on the inside 
 of his thigh ; I knew the large arteries ran somewhere in that 
 direction. Over these I fastened the belt to check bleeding. 
 
 " You're cutting my leg off," he shouted. 
 
 " No, I'm not ; don't be a fowl ; ^ it's to stop the poison 
 walking up your leg." 
 
 Striking a match, I allowed the flame to play along the 
 edge of my hunting-knife, as a rough-and-ready disinfectant, 
 and quickly made two deep incisions, removing a piece of 
 wedge-shaped flesh from the foot, taking away, I hoped, the 
 poison. Spreading the powdered pith into the open wound, 
 I set it alight before the blood soaked it, thus cauterising the 
 
 ^ " Fowl "~-a common expression amongst Africans, a fowl being con- 
 sidered without courage. 
 
 146 
 
SHUPANGA 
 
 flesh. He never even uttered a moan. I did not Kke it — it 
 seemed to indicate that the nerves were beyond feeling. Am 
 I too late ? " I thought. I was ! He began to vomit, his voice 
 became husky, and gradually he ceased to struggle. I was 
 not a surgeon, and had done what an amateur might ; I dared 
 not go for the leg. I poured water out of my bottle on to his 
 lips and forehead, but he did not show any sign of recognition. 
 In an hour he was dead. 
 
 Only one other case came under my notice at Tanganyika. 
 Three Europeans were then present, and in that instance 
 brandy kept the man going for three hours, but he eventually 
 succumbed. It seems to prove that some puiF-adders are 
 deadly when they get the poison rapidly into the blood. His 
 comrades, when they saw the snake, lifted their eyebrows, one 
 remarking, " Shetani ! (" The Devil ! 
 
 The mamba snake spits into the eyes, causing intense pain, 
 but sulphate of zinc lotion always reduces the inflammation in 
 a few hours, without loss of sight. 
 
 It would have been much more pleasant to escape from the 
 Dark Continent without such a painful experience, but the 
 bitter had to be taken with the sweet. One felt glad to be 
 returning to a safer and more peaceful land. 
 
 By the kindness of the captain, I was taken to Shupanga, 
 which has since become almost a shrine in the estimation of 
 workers for the good of Africa. It was to me the most 
 sacred spot in those regions, and every sense quickened as I 
 approached it. The days of youth flashed across my memory, 
 and Livingstone's devoted wife was visible to my mind's 
 eye again as the woman of Africa. I was about to visit her 
 grave. 
 
 Entering Shupanga house, one was filled by those deep 
 feelings which only take possession of us at times few and far 
 between. There was the verandah in all its ruggedness, where 
 the Doctor sat and perused his diary, and rested from weary 
 watching at her loved bedside, in the days when Africa was 
 
 147 
 
SHUPANGA 
 
 dark and the great problems unsolved. Instinctively one ex- 
 amined every foot of space ; the walls seemed as if they ought 
 to bear a parting message, an initial or motto ; cobwebs hung, 
 loaded with dust, and fancy pictured her eyes riveted on some 
 such, years ago, as she felt life ebbing away and listened to 
 the Doctor's footstep on the verandah. The view from a low 
 window showed the mighty Zambezi, rushing on in ceaseless 
 flow towards the ocean, and the lofty palms that had waved 
 adieu to both river and life as the eyes closed in their long 
 sleep here at my feet. 'Twas a moment never to be forgotten ! 
 
 The hallowed association of that scene had held me spell- 
 bound as a boy, in books, and now riveted me to the spot in 
 vision. 
 
 " She lives ! " I cried — " lives in my heart ! in all our 
 memories ! in the history of Africa, and in the roll of the 
 world's heroines." 
 
 Wending my way through tall grass towards the place 
 where they laid her, I pictured in my mind the grief-stricken 
 pioneer, left alone to toil on through the mazes of Africa. 
 His step must have been weighed down with such a load of 
 grief, and I looked mechanically for a footprint on the path. 
 No, it was not there ! but on the life of many a follower it is 
 distinct enough. 
 
 The gigantic baobab tree standing alone, bearing many 
 initials of Europeans, reared its massive trunk immediately 
 before me, and under its shadow stood the pure white cross 
 erected to her memory. Out of the stillness seemed to come 
 a far-away voice saying, "I am the Resurrection and the 
 Life," and raising my helmet, I was face to face with these 
 words : — 
 
 Sacred to the memory of 
 Mary Moffat, 
 beloved wife of Dr. Livingstone, 
 died at Shupanga house, 
 aged 41 years." 
 148 
 
SHUPANGA 
 
 Far away, amidst the noble, great, and brave, buried with 
 all the pomp of a nation's grief, lies her immortal spouse, 
 with the teeming multitudes of London to keep guard near 
 his tomb; but 'twas from this spot, where the rank grasses 
 grow and the mosquitoes breed in thousands, that the noblest 
 pioneer the world has produced turned away, uttering that 
 never-to-be-forgotten cry — " O God ! heal Africa's open sore ! 
 
 Amongst my many African trophies, none are more 
 treasured than a few dead leaves and flowers gathered from 
 tiie grave of Mary Moffat. 
 
 149 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 A Visit to England — A Sailor's Blow — Charles Stokes — 
 Germans and Arabs — Encounter with Masai — White Man's 
 Medicine — Warnings. 
 
 IT was now necessary to leave the Zambezi, as none of its 
 numerous outlets to the sea were used by ocean steamers, 
 so we quitted it near Vicenti, this being the nearest 
 point to the Kwakwa River, which flows past Quelimane. A 
 narrow strip of land separates the two rivers. The transport 
 company's agent calmly sent us across this isthmus with the 
 assurance that canoes would be waiting at the same time as 
 ourselves. 
 
 In the evening an indigo planter strolled over to our camp 
 to see who the strangers were, and on being told we were wait- 
 ing for canoes promised by the agent, he smiled, saying : 
 
 " I like his coolness ! He has no canoes up-river, and 
 besides, it is quite forty-six miles from this place to where the 
 river is navigable at this season of the year ! " This was not 
 at all comforting, but our kind visitor soon put us at ease 
 by lending us machilla-men, and some pocket-money where- 
 with to purchase food, and at sunset he packed us off' on 
 that moonlight ride in a hammock. 
 
 It was an extremely kind action, saving us no end of 
 trouble. Starting at 6 p.m., the men trotted along so easily that 
 after a time I slept, waking about 6 a.m. at our destination. 
 The twelve bearers had carried me forty-six miles, at the rate 
 of nearly four miles an hour, without a halt. The first few 
 hours I lay awake, enjoying the easy motion of the trained 
 carriers. The moon was full, and it is not at all surprising 
 that I was soon hushed to sleep by the rhythmic tramp of 
 
 150 
 
A VISIT TO ENGLAND 
 
 their feet, accompanied by one of those attractive Zambezi 
 river songs, which should be collected some day and published 
 for our amusement. One of them especially seemed to carry 
 the thoughts away into dreamland. The soft voices appeared 
 to be at one time pleading with the moon, imploring it not 
 to hide its face under the clouds. Again ! they seemed to 
 be in familiar converse with the river-bed, which was dry. 
 The rustle of the overhanging palm fronds instantly provided 
 them with fresh subject-matter for stanzas. 
 
 It would have been an ideal ride for a poet ! Moonlight — 
 stillness — shadows — harmony — Africa! For the time I quite 
 forgot the isolation and horrors of the past five years. Had 
 I but understood the words of those songs, I think the dream 
 would have been complete. 
 
 Some few days afterwards I hummed the refrain over to 
 a European at Quelimane, who was acquainted with the 
 tongue. The following was his translation : — 
 
 We travel by night to court the moon. 
 
 Quickly, quickly trot. 
 
 The river has gone to find the sea — 
 
 Waters of salt, waters of salt. 
 
 The mud-fish sleeps, he has no wings ; 
 
 The birds are peeping to see us pass, 
 
 As the White man sleeps." 
 
 This gives but a very inadequate impression of the song as 
 rendered by twelve voices, harmoniously varied. 
 
 At the end of the dreamy ride, canoes were hired, with 
 grass coverings to protect me from the sun. Under these I 
 could scarcely crawl among the boxes, and thus the final 
 passage to Quelimane was just as uncomfortable as the 
 former had been pleasant. All night mosquitoes swarmed up 
 to a final charge at their escaping victim, who was trying to 
 breathe out of a corner of a blanket, whilst the perspiration 
 rolled off him and he was almost suffocated. The river, which 
 
 151 
 
A SAILOR'S BLOW 
 
 was forced up into this narrow channel by the ocean tide, rose 
 and fell very rapidly, and with the strong ebb we were carried 
 into our final port in safety. A British trading consul made 
 me very comfortable. His spotless white attire and neatly 
 furnished residence compelled me to acknowledge that I had 
 slipped back several degrees from the civilised standard of 
 respectability, so, without delay, my travel-stained garments 
 were exchanged for decent ones. 
 
 After a speedy trip home to England, marriage, and a 
 tour through the kingdom lecturing on the slave-trade, I found 
 myself braced up for another sojourn in Africa, this time 
 taking my wife and child, also two coloured people from 
 Jamaica, and a medical man. 
 
 Amongst the crowd of men whom we picked up at 
 Zanzibar as porters was an old mission boy who had been 
 expelled for bad conduct. He was partially intoxicated, 
 and I noticed he was making attempts to reach our end 
 of the dhow. At length he succeeded in gaining his feet, 
 singing in disjointed sentences: — 
 
 " Here we suffer grief and pain ! " 
 
 All sense of respect for Europeans was gone from him. I 
 was to command this fellow and his comrades, and it was 
 therefore necessary to impress on them all that I would 
 not tolerate insolence of any description. 
 
 He gradually made his way to where my wife was 
 sitting with her baby, and put his face quite close to her, 
 blurting out with his beer-reeking voice the second line : — 
 Here we meet to part again." 
 
 He never spoke or sang a truer sentence, for I caused him 
 to retreat suddenly amongst his comrades, where he lay in 
 a semi-dazed condition for the remainder of the voyage. 
 
 " Is that the way you treat black men ? I was asked 
 by my wife. "Yes,'" I replied, "it is, when they dare 
 
 152 
 
CHARLES STOKES 
 
 insult a woman of my colour — or any other colour, for that 
 matter."" 
 
 " It was surely not a gentleman's blow, was it ? " she added. 
 
 "Perhaps not,"' I answered, ''but it was a sailor's, and 
 I regret having had to teach him manners before you ; 
 but we have to travel hundreds of miles with these men, 
 and the remembrance of that blow will deter every other 
 scoundrel who may desire to overstep the bounds of pro- 
 priety.*" I think it did, for we had no trouble of any 
 description afterwards. 
 
 The night experience of landing was unpleasant enough 
 for men, but to a woman and child it must have been most 
 disagreeable. I was met by Charles Stokes, who, it will be 
 remembered, was so cruelly hung by a Congo official up- 
 country, although he appealed to be tried at the coast. I 
 will not enter into the pros and cons of that painful episode, 
 and will only state that I had known him as a good fellow 
 for several years. He came down to the beach and compelled 
 us to accept his hospitality, which was always unstinted. He 
 had some thousands of Wasakumu and Wanyamwezi with 
 him, waiting to form the annual caravan to Uganda. With 
 much excitement he unfolded his plans for extending his trade 
 westwards, and I fear that in so doing he excited the jealousy 
 of other people ; this may have contributed to his death. 
 
 " Keep a sharp look-out for the Masai ! '' he said. '' They 
 are moving about looking for water, and may attack you if you 
 are not careful. Only last week I lost thirteen donkeys and 
 eleven cattle by one of their parties." This was not very 
 pleasant news, but I thought it extremely improbable that 
 we should meet them, as their country lay to the north of 
 our track. 
 
 Stokes himself was an interesting study. Formerly a lay 
 member of the Church of England Mission, afterwards 
 transport contractor, at the time of our meeting he was 
 living in a small grass house, surrounded by hundreds of 
 
 153 
 
GERMANS AND ARABS 
 
 Wasakumu. Bags of rupees lay scattered about under his 
 bed, and his .happy disposition won for him hosts of both 
 white and black friends. His untimely end was keenly felt 
 by all his fellow-pioneers. 
 
 The general political atmosphere at the coast had changed 
 since my previous visit with the carts, and no wonder. Europe 
 had begun to speak. Diplomats had sat down around their 
 tables, studying parallels of latitude, river-courses, and 
 mountain ranges. Every river was carefully noted and its 
 possibilities :w^eighed, each country asking itself, "Does this 
 river tap the great lakes ? and " What prospect is there 
 of opening up direct communication from the coast to the 
 healthy plateau ? " Longitudinal sections of the country were 
 mapped out. Claims to fertile mountain ranges were disputed, 
 modified, or settled by exchange for some equivalent elsewhere. 
 
 Thus every phase of the geographical problems was 
 studied and solved ; but the people — the owners of the soil — 
 they scarcely counted. It was hoped they w^ould not object 
 too strongly ; but if they did — Well ! it would be a nuis- 
 ance, certainly not an obstacle to cause a single plan to be 
 frustrated. In most cases it was not the action of a bailiff, 
 but of a usurper ; not even " By your leave " prefaced the 
 command to stand aside and deliver up possession. 
 
 Thus civilisation marched into Darkest Africa. The 
 reader, having been made acquainted in the foregoing chapters 
 wdth the state of the interior, will probably decide that Europe 
 was justified in so doing. It is no part of my duty to pass an 
 opinion ; I confine myself to the relation of facts. 
 
 All was in a state of uneasiness at the coast. The Arabs 
 who had previously assisted us were polite, but now stood 
 more on their dignity and questioned us about our intentions. 
 Thus :— 
 
 " Are you Wa-deutschi ? " (Dutch or German). 
 " No ! I replied. " I am not." 
 Are they strong people with plenty of soldiers ? " 
 
 154 
 
GERMANS AND ARABS 
 
 " Yes ! very strong ; they have more soldiers than you 
 have men.'"* 
 
 " Will they take our country ? " 
 
 This question I evaded, using one of their own weapons. 
 " God is great, and you say that the last prophet, 
 Mohammed, is dead ! " 
 
 " You speak words of truth,"" said they. 
 
 At the same time I knew they felt it was about time 
 to sharpen the sword. An old Arab, who had always been 
 friendly, drew me on one side and, when quite out of earshot, 
 said : 
 
 " Your tongue to-day is like those men whom, five rains 
 ago, you harnessed to those carts in this town ! " 
 
 To this I replied : I don't understand, unless you mean 
 I am like ' a donkey,' as they described themselves ! " 
 
 " No ! no ! I never insult a friend ! What I mean is : 
 Your tongue is in fetters ! 
 
 I saw that he had detected evasion in my previous answer 
 about the Germans taking the country, so I replied : 
 
 " You know that even the frogs remain silent as the lion 
 passes the pool at night ! " 
 
 "I do ! he quickly answered. " And it is equally true 
 that if you hear the jackal it is nearly certain the lions are 
 not all on the other side of the sea. Let me also tell you that 
 in our great books we are told that a race of white men is to 
 rule this country, so it must be God's will."" 
 
 On taking a final leave of him, I said : 
 
 "Buriani'' ("Forget and forgive''). "When the lions 
 come, remember what the artful frogs do. You will find it 
 wise to imitate them." 
 
 As a matter of fact he did nothing of the sort, and 
 suffered in consequence. His words will serve to show how all 
 Europeans were classed by these Arabs as Government agents, 
 and were consequently in danger of being attacked when the 
 storm burst. After several such bouts of word-fencino^ we 
 
ENCOUNTER WITH MASAI 
 
 managed to get clear away, but only just in time, for the 
 Germans made war on all the coast, coming in real earnest to 
 this very town, and forcing the old Arab to fly for his life 
 to the hills, where he carried on a long guerilla war against 
 them, eventually accepting their terms of surrender as the 
 inevitable. 
 
 After a few days' travel we had to lay our first-born under 
 a shady tree. Just a little mound ! and " Harold Living- 
 stone Swann " cut above it on his living monument ; nothing 
 more than this marks the spot where the little treasure sleeps 
 in the sand. 
 
 We soon had good reason to remember the warning of 
 Stokes about the Masai, for suddenly one afternoon my 
 head-man came back to me, in company with three warriors 
 of the tribe in full war costume, which consisted of a pair 
 of sandals (worn when travelling through thorny country), 
 some chain ornaments, suspended from their ears, and a 
 girdle of leather, to which was fastened a knife and tobacco- 
 box. They were quite nude. In their hands they carried 
 a long, broad-bladed spear, a cowhide shield, and a small 
 knobkerrie. 
 
 Having been travelling in the rear, I was naturally 
 anxious about the vanguard, and the following conversation 
 took place: — 
 
 " What's the matter ? " I asked, as they approached. 
 " Where is the mistress and the others ? " 
 " She is crying, but all are safe." 
 " What do these people want ? " 
 
 " Lots of things, sir ; but first, they must go with you to 
 the other people." 
 
 I could not speak a word of their language, and felt 
 handicapped. 
 
 " Are there many of them ? " 
 
 " Yes ! about four hundred." 
 
 " What are they up to ? " 
 
 158 
 
ENCOUNTER WITH MASAI 
 
 "Stting behind their shields in a circle around our 
 people." 
 
 Nice circus, I thought, but without the donkeys or 
 clowns. Turning to my boy, I took my rifle and slipped in 
 some cartridges. It was a Winchester repeater, and very 
 useful in a scramble with a crowd. " It makes a lot of 
 business,"' as the cowboys say. I knew it was madness to fight, 
 but perhaps just as well to let these fellows know we should 
 not take it " lying down." 
 
 Opening my umbrella I attempted to put on as careless 
 a manner as possible (I was really anxious about my wife), 
 when one of the Masai touched it, saying something to my 
 head-man. 
 
 "He wants it, sir," came a very ready interpretation to 
 my look of inquiry. 
 
 " Oh ! does he ? Then tell him I have only this one, and, 
 as he would never think of parting with his only stabbing 
 spear, so I cannot part with my protection from the sun." 
 
 A grunt was his only reply. 
 
 A second touch came on my coat. 
 
 " He wants that also," my poor, scared head-man uttered. 
 
 " Tell him, only medicine-men are permitted in his 
 country to walk with white skins." (They cover themselves 
 with white pigment; no warrior would dare be accused by 
 the girls of being so scared of his foes as to turn white.) 
 
 No ! tell him I am not his enemy, to give him my coat ; 
 it's too white. The sun darkens the skin. See ! my arms 
 are brown ; but my cheek is pale because I wear this coat. 
 It does not matter to white men ; they like to be white, and, 
 when their faces are white, their medicine is most powerful." 
 
 That put an end to his ambition for my coat. I guessed 
 it would. On reaching my companions, I found all more or 
 less anxious ; and they had good reason, for there was an 
 ominous look about that circle of shields and the ugly broad 
 blades. 
 
 159 I 
 
ENCOUNTER WITH MASAI 
 
 " Any one hurt, doctor ? " I asked. 
 
 "No! But we were ordered to stop and wait for you; 
 there was no choice ; they surrounded us." 
 
 The three leaders, who had followed me, sat down behind 
 their shields like all the others. They looked picturesque, and 
 a camera would have been profitably employed, with the 
 certainty of getting a unique picture. 
 
 I at once objected to their sitting behind their shields, 
 and said : " Why do you disgrace your chief by speaking 
 to a perfect stranger from behind your shields, and with 
 spears in your hands ? Why do you hide yourselves ; have 
 the maidens told you your faces are full of scars inflicted 
 by your conquerors ? If you are not marked, put them 
 down, and tell your men to go over under those trees ; 
 my people will march to the other trees, and rest while 
 we talk." 
 
 I wanted elbow-room, as well as to keep scoring small 
 points off them. It neutralises the enemy''s play. No objec- 
 tion was taken, the shields were lowered at once, and a 
 passage made for our people to move outside. 
 
 " Now, then," I commenced ; " ask what they mean 
 by stopping white men. Are they in want of our new 
 poisons, which they do not know how to use, or are they 
 wishing to see our rifles send bullets through the shields 
 We will show them if they will put one up as a target. 
 Or perhaps they are tired of their chief, and want a white 
 chief?" 
 
 " No ! " came their reply. " W e have poisons, and our 
 chiefs are many. We do not wish to have holes made in our 
 shields ; it lets the rain through. We are in search of water 
 for our cattle, and the grass at the Wami River is sweet. 
 We crossed your path, and wished to see white men." 
 
 All this was quite natural, although done in rather a 
 high-handed manner. 
 
 " Very well," I said ; you have seen us, and we must 
 
 160 
 
ENCOUNTER WITH MASAI 
 
 get on to camp ; but as you dare not tell your chief you 
 stopped white people, take this piece of calico as a token 
 of my friendship. It will prevent you from being disgraced 
 before your women." 
 
 He was pleased. I do not think that side of the question 
 had entered his brain. In less than five minutes the calico 
 was being torn into strips and fastened under the blades 
 of their spears, somewhat after the manner of the decorated 
 lances of cavalry. They had no other use for Manchester 
 calico ! 
 
 This was my opportunity to checkmate them, so, cutting 
 off a small branch from the nearest bush, I held it out 
 to the leader, saying : " Break it ! " 
 
 When doinop a similar action with the wish-bone at 
 
 o 
 
 Christmas, I had scarcely supposed it was a rehearsal for 
 such a play as this. If he had broken the twig, it meant 
 peace ; but he declined ! The game was not yet won. 
 
 " Why does he not do as I ask ? Is it because he is not 
 the real leader of the party, and fears the criticism of those 
 boys of his ? " 
 
 This query stung him, as I intended it should, for he 
 rather smartly replied : 
 
 " I go where I choose. I break the spear of an enemy 
 as well as the twig of a friend ; but I want a nice piece 
 of red calico for my spear." 
 
 It had to be Peace at any price. 
 
 Tearing off a few yards of red twill, I half-tied it around 
 his spear, and with the other hand again presented the twig 
 before he had time to forget his childish delight. " Break," I 
 said. His smaU eyes looked straight into mine as he snapped 
 the twig; I imagined they said, " You have won the game ! " 
 
 It was enough. I knew they would never break the con- 
 tract. Africans can strike a hard bargain when they get into 
 stubborn moods ; but tribal contracts, such as this, are seldom 
 broken. 
 
 161 
 
WANYAMWEZI AND MASAI 
 
 " Go on,"" I ordered. " It's all safe. Move away slowly ; do 
 not hurry, whilst 111 chat with these fellows to divert their 
 attention.'"* 
 
 Touching one of their great spears, which were very fine 
 specimens of iron-work, I asked the owner to give it me in 
 exchange for calico. He declined. 
 
 " Will you sell your shield ? " 
 
 " No ! I should cease to be a warrior if I did." 
 
 The man who had conducted the palaver then handed me 
 his ebony knobkerrie, saying, "Take this."' I was naturally 
 surprised, for it was equivalent to our handing over a favourite 
 walking-stick, and showed he bore no ill-will. By this time 
 our people had gone, so, placing my half of the twig in my 
 helmet, I said : " Good-bye ! You see I carry the Masai mark 
 of friendship near my eyes, in order that I may not forget my 
 promise to you." With a swinging trot they disappeared into 
 the bush, as fine a lot of half- wild men as one could wish to 
 see anywhere. The next morning we met a large party of 
 Wanyamwezi, driving cattle to the coast. Cattle I knew would 
 be a great temptation to the Masai, so I warned them of their 
 presence. " We don't care for any one ; we are well armed,"" 
 they replied. Armed or not, as they slept that night the 
 Masai fell on them, killing many and capturing all their 
 cattle and women. We were thankful to have escaped with 
 the loss of a few yards of calico. 
 
 The married men appeared to settle down in the hills as 
 agi'iculturists, as soon as they passed from the purely fighting 
 ranks. These attempted to give us trouble by refusing water. 
 Payment was declined, and no reason given for their conduct. 
 Arguments and threats proved equally abortive. Water we 
 should not have. This could scarcely be tolerated, for it was 
 then about 4 p.m. Every one was tired, thirsty, and perhaps 
 impatient, so I buckled on my revolver, telling the boy to 
 follow me with a jar for water, also to bring a spear and 
 a white bottle. Every one else was to wait in camp until they 
 
WHITE MAN'S MEDICINE 
 
 heard the report of firearms, when all were to rush out with 
 water-pots. 
 
 "What do you want the bottle for, sir?'' asked the 
 
 lad. 
 
 " Medicine, my son. The white man's medicine." 
 
 At the pool sat eleven armed natives on guard, who, on 
 seeing me approach, stood up as if to dispute the path. 
 Taking the spear, I drove it into the ground about five yards 
 from the pool, and placed the inverted white bottle on the 
 top of it. The men seemed amused, as I guessed they would, 
 and asked what I was doing. 
 
 I replied : " In your country, if you have a dispute over 
 a garden, one of you places medicine in it until the dispute 
 is settled, and until that is done no one can, or will, reap 
 any of the produce. We cannot agree about this water. It 
 is not war, but simply a dispute, so I have placed our white 
 medicine here to prevent any of my people breaking your 
 custom. Not one of them will dare to permit his shadow to 
 pass that white bottle." 
 
 I invariably found the most efiective weapons to use were 
 their own, and this case proved no exception to the rule. 
 
 " You must not do that ! '' they exclaimed. " Where shall 
 •we drink ? There are no other pools near." 
 
 " It is too late ; Fve done it. The medicine is on guard ; no 
 one dare remove it but the person who placed it there." 
 
 This was a little conversation they scarcely expected ; they 
 saw their game of bluff was likely to make them as thirsty as 
 ourselves, and it was not long before a deputation was sent 
 from the chief, giving his permission for the free use of the 
 water. 
 
 It was very amusing, as well as an instructive study of a 
 people with whom one had to live. How many millions 
 have been wasted on expensive military expeditions which, 
 perhaps, might have been saved had we really understood 
 the weak points of primitive people.? 
 
 163 
 
WHITE MAN'S MEDICINE 
 
 It was now my turn to keep up the farce, and to administer 
 a little harmless punishment for their impudence. 
 
 " Go and tell the chief I accept his decision ; but also tell 
 him the white man's white medicine bottle must be covered 
 with the blood of a goat directly it is broken, and the flesh 
 must be eaten by us." 
 
 The goat was immediately forthcoming, and by this time 
 their women were as impatient to get water as ourselves, 
 for otherwise the evening meal could not be prepared, and 
 the chief himself would go to bed hungry. 
 
 " The medicine must be broken by my revolver," I said ; 
 " but, if it refuses to break, then we must sleep with dry 
 tongues; there is no appeal. We must remember in future 
 not to quarrel hastily over things, as it makes it unpleasant 
 for every one. Step back ! Let us hear the little gun speak." 
 
 Taking care to remain close to the bottle for fear of missing 
 it, I blew it to pieces. This was the signal to my men, who 
 came rushing up with their pots, howling with delight. 
 
 " Stop ! " I cried. " The goat must die. The glass 
 must be made red with its blood before you drink." This 
 done, I shouted out: "The medicine is dead, the road is 
 open, and pulling up the spear, I left them to quench their 
 thirst. 
 
 I think an innocent farce of this nature is not out of 
 place when life is at stake. A false move might have re- 
 sulted in serious consequences. At any rate we not only 
 obtained the water without fighting, but made the owners 
 pay us a goat for permission to drink at their own pool. 
 
 Rumours now reached us of the Germans having landed 
 
 on the coast, and driven the Arabs out of their strongholds. 
 
 As some were certain to retreat up-country, it was not 
 
 gratifying to know that we had to pass their great centres, 
 
 and that Lake Tanganyika was in their hands, with our 
 
 comrades, stations, and vessels. We met our old companion. 
 
 Brooks, on his way home after seven years'* hard work in 
 
 164 
 
WARNINGS 
 
 the Interior. I warned him of the danger in front, point- 
 ing out that the Arabs would not discriminate between 
 different nationalities, as we were all white men. 
 To this he smilingly replied : 
 
 " I'm not afraid of all the Arabs in the country. They 
 know me now; and as for old Muinyi Heri at the coast, 
 why, he has always been our friend."" 
 
 " Yes ! " I answered, " he has ; but a rat will turn when 
 attacked, and these men have just suffered defeat at the 
 hands of the Germans." 
 
 " Oh ! rubbish," he exclaimed. " I have never bothered 
 about possible dangers since entering the country, and shall 
 not begin now. Fm off^ home. Kwaheri, tu-ta-onana tena ! " 
 (" Good-bye, we shall meet again."") With this pleasant fare- 
 well he left us, and gaily tramped coastwards full of happy 
 anticipation of complete rest after his long service as a layman 
 of the London Missionary Society. He passed safely through 
 Ugogo, receiving near Mamboia urgent warnings from the 
 Arabs not to proceed. 
 
 " Don't come," they wrote. " The country is at war ; our 
 hearts are sad; our homes gone. We cannot, in our grief, 
 see your nationality, but only your skin; when the heart is 
 full, the eyes are dim, and all alike are foes." 
 
 This letter was sent to me up-country. It will be 
 noticed how these cruel Arabs felt the misery of wrecked 
 homes. Had they ever listened to the pleading of thousands 
 of mothers and children not to be separated from dad ? 
 Never ! The cry for vengeance was now being answered. 
 
 To the repeated warnings Brooks was deaf. " Don't be 
 afraid ! We shall soon see the salt water," he is reported to 
 have said to his frightened men. He reached camp only a 
 few miles from the coast, and everything appeared to justify 
 his optimistic view of the situation, when that young Arab, 
 who, as I noticed when I saw him years before at Saadani, was 
 not very friendly, marched into his camp with the usual 
 
 165 
 
WARNINGS 
 
 salutation, "Jambo, bwaria?""' (Literally, "Have you any 
 affairs ? " or perhaps better, as we should put it, " How are 
 things going with you ? ") 
 
 After the usual courteous inquiries. Brooks invited him 
 into his tent, and stepping in first (presumably to place a 
 chair for his visitor), gave his enemy his opportunity — which 
 the brute quickly seized ; for, placing his gun to Brooks' back, 
 he shot him dead. It was rash of him to run into danger, 
 but an exceedingly sad end to a young life. " Tu-ta-onana 
 tena " (" W e shall meet again were his last words to me. So 
 may it be, though not in Africa. 
 
 166 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Shooting Giraffes — A Cool Reception — A Visit to Rumaliza — 
 Tip-PU-TiB — Anger of Tip-pu-Tib — Hostilities Commenced 
 — Congo State Officials — Emin Pasha. 
 
 SOON after we had left camp one morning, a man came 
 rushing back, shouting : 
 
 " Twiga, bwana, twiga ! " (" Giraffe, master, giraffe.") 
 I had long wished to see the giraffe in its wild state, as it is 
 not at all common in these parts ; but farther north they may 
 often be met with, especially in Ugogo. 
 
 The sun had not yet risen, and the light was very bad for 
 accurate shooting, but such a chance was not to be thrown 
 away ; so, hurrying forward after the men, we soon came upon 
 a herd standing and lapping off young tender growths of the 
 trees. 
 
 Eight had young ones beside them. Two were half-grown ; 
 the other two were about half-grown ; an old male stood apart 
 from the rest, apparently watching. 
 
 Directly they saw us, the females, with their young ones, 
 moved away with an awkward gallop, the youngsters kicking 
 up their heels either in frolic or fear. 
 
 Fortunately the old male remained to get a better view of 
 us, and this gave me a chance at his left shoulder. My rifle 
 (a No. 2 musket) brought him down with a crash, his long 
 neck falling like a tree felled by an axe. 
 
 It was my first and last giraffe ! 
 
 I should not have shot another even had an opportunity 
 presented itself. In this instance the meat was needed, and, 
 although we had to march that day over twenty miles, it was 
 quite worth delaying an hour for the fresh food. He proved 
 
 167 
 
A COOL RECEPTION 
 
 to be a very old male. All his lower teeth had gone ; his hoofs 
 were badly cracked and worn down. 
 
 It was a strange spectacle to see those two hundred beings 
 cutting up the great carcase like half-mad men. In their 
 frantic endeavours to obtain the intestines (which are considered 
 the tit-bits) they smothered one another with blood. An hour 
 sufficed to cut up the whole carcase, to lash it in pieces on to 
 their loads, and we were off again on the tramp. It might 
 easily be imagined that we should daily see large numbers 
 of game, but such was not the case. Probably the first men 
 scared them away, and the constant traffic would certainly tend 
 to drive most game far from the track. 
 
 As we approached Ujiji I noticed that our Mohammedan 
 servants became somewhat mysterious in their general conduct, 
 the word " war " frequently occurring in their conversations. 
 Two messengers, sent forward to inform the Arabs of our 
 approach, did not return. This was very unusual, and I began 
 to suspect trouble on account of the war in our rear. 
 
 Not wishing to disturb the minds of my companions, I did 
 not mention my suspicions, and we entered Ujiji in silence. 
 Not a soul came out to welcome us. What a contrast to the 
 mad rush of our men with the carts five years previously ! 
 Then all was excitement, joy, welcome. The usual presents, 
 made to all who arrive from the coast, were this time not in 
 evidence. Not a single person took the slightest notice of us. 
 We might have just strolled in from an afternoon'^s walk, instead 
 of at the end of a journey of 800 miles. 
 
 The doctor noticed the absence of Arabs, and remarked : 
 
 " This is surely a cold reception, is it not ? " 
 
 " Yes, Doc, it is ! But don't tell my wife, or the others ; 
 it will only make them nervous.'' 
 
 On reaching the centre of the town, a solitary head-man of 
 the great Rumaliza met me, simply saying : 
 
 " Follow, and I will show you where to sleep ! " 
 
 We were escorted into a courtyard enclosed by high walls, 
 
 168 
 
A COOL RECEPTION 
 
 built of sun-dried bricks, and told to make ourselves comfortable, 
 but on no account to walk about the town. 
 
 " Where are all the great men of the town ? " I asked. 
 
 " At prayers, master ! 
 
 The noonday devotions were long since passed, so I knew 
 he was telling a falsehood ; but other matters occupied our 
 attention, and we made ourselves snug for the night. About 
 ten o'clock that evening a messenger called, requesting me 
 to pay a visit to Rumaliza, who had just arrived from the 
 west in our steamer. He brought also a letter from a comrade, 
 urging us to come on board early the next day The vessel 
 was about six miles away, as no harbour existed at Ujiji. 
 
 All this was uncanny. I felt out of touch with the position ; 
 but the great Arab soon drew aside the veil. As we left the 
 compound, the messenger said : 
 
 "Tell your people to keep the doors closed until you 
 return, as hyenas prowl about at night and bite men." 
 
 I noticed the covert warning, and became still more uneasy. 
 The messenger had instructions that no one was to accompany 
 us ; we were to come alone, as his master desired to speak only 
 to me. 
 
 " Small birds tell the buffalo the hunter is near," he 
 whispered, as I stepped outside the door into the dark street. 
 I thought : " He may be the bird, and, possibly, I may be the 
 buffalo ; but who are the hunters ? *" 
 
 There was nothing to be gained by refusing, as we were 
 entirely in their power ; therefore I walked on, trusting to this 
 powerful man's old friendship and loyalty. 
 
 Entering a large courtyard, I was conducted along corridors 
 dimly lighted by small palm-oil lamps. Not a soul was about but 
 ourselves. Passing through a beautifully carved entrance, the 
 door of which opened as we approached, although no one was 
 visible to me, I knew we had entered the outer division of his 
 harem, as the messenger closed the door, saying : 
 
 " I must return ! Wait where you are until some one 
 
 169 
 
A VISIT TO RUMALIZA 
 
 comes. When I have closed the door, give the usual salutation. 
 I must not see the women, good-bye ! " 
 
 A small lamp was suspended from the low roof, and a 
 second was half-hidden in a recess at the extreme end of 
 the room. There was no furniture, nothing but a beautifully 
 worked, coloured praying mat hung on the wall. I recognised 
 at once that I was standing in the private room where the 
 master performed his devotions. 
 
 " Hodi ! Hodi ! " I exclaimed. This is equivalent to our 
 ringing the door-bell, and is for the purpose of warning the 
 inmates of your entrance. Unless an answer is returned it is 
 extremely bad manners to advance. 
 
 A soft female voice replied : 
 
 " Hodini ! hodini ! Karibu, bwana ! " (" Come in, sir ; you 
 are welcome.") 
 
 With a light step a beautiful young girl, about fifteen years 
 of age, approached, clad in rich clothes thrown gracefully over 
 her shoulders. The draught carried toward me a delicious 
 perfume, of which these Eastern women are fond. 
 
 Twende, bwana ! (" let us go together ") she said, moving 
 towards the interior of the house. 
 
 I followed through three small rooms into a well-furnished 
 apartment. Here the girl beckoned me to be seated on the sofa, 
 saying : " Master will be with you at once ; he is having his 
 bath." 
 
 I had come quicker than he anticipated. I was not kept 
 waiting many minutes, for Rumaliza came in quickly, leaving 
 his sandals outside, and with a smile held out his hand, giving 
 me the usual Arab welcome. 
 
 A lovely woman brought a bowl of water for me to wash 
 my hands, another sprinkled scent over my handkerchief, a third 
 placed hot coffee and cakes at our feet, which we partook of in 
 Eastern fashion. 
 
 Telling the girls to leave us, and not to return until 
 he called, Rumaliza commenced asking questions about our 
 
 170 
 
A WARNING FROM TIP-PU-TIB 
 
 journey, e.g. — who was with me; what we had brought; 
 what news about the war ? 
 
 I wondered when he was going to get to real talk, as no 
 Arab would dream of inviting a Christian into his harem at 
 night without some extraordinary reason. Certainly not simply 
 to be waited on by its inmates, or to gossip about ordinary 
 topics. 
 
 The meal was soon over, the scented dark damsels were 
 called to remove the utensils, and as they passed out, handed 
 us a light fan to keep away mosquitoes. It was all very 
 picturesque, quiet, clean. Oriental, and, in its way, fascinating. 
 
 " Do you smoke ? " he asked ; " because, if you do, don't 
 hesitate. We neither smoke nor drink alcohol ! " 
 
 " Yes, I do ! I replied. " It will help me to listen to 
 your words." 
 
 He noticed the compliment, and smiled. Both instinctively 
 felt the serious talk was to commence. 
 
 " Can you read Arabic ? " he asked, producing a letter. 
 
 "No! I cannot; but, if you translate it into Kisuahili, I 
 shall understand ! 
 
 "This letter," he continued, "came to me ten days ago. 
 I was then 200 miles from here. I have been travelling as 
 fast as I could, so as to arrive at the same time as yourself, 
 or before, if possible. It is from Tip-pu-Tib, my partner, 
 who is now on the Congo. These Ujiji Arabs have lost a 
 great deal of property at the coast, in the war against the 
 Germans, and many of their relatives have been killed. In 
 order to be revenged, they decided to intercept your party 
 at the last river and to kill you all. 
 
 " The calico was to be equally divided between them. Your 
 arms and ammunition were to come to me, whilst the vessels 
 on the lake were to become the property of Tip-pu-Tib. 
 On receipt of this news Tip-pu-Tib sent special messengers 
 to me, requesting that I would at once go to Ujiji, stop 
 all this nonsense, and inform these Arabs that if thev would 
 
 171 
 
A WARNING FROM TIP-PU-TIB 
 
 not listen to me, I was to place myself and people on your 
 side, and, together with his retainers, defend you and your 
 property. I only arrived yesterday at your station, persuaded 
 the white man to give me a passage here, stopped as we 
 passed Ujiji, and sent on shore my messenger, who only 
 reached the Arabs just in time to stop their action." 
 
 " Then that accounts for our not receiving a welcome," 
 I replied. 
 
 "Yes; you would certainly have been killed at your last 
 camp." 
 
 " Will you tell me why both yourself and Tip-pu-Tib took 
 our part ? " 
 
 "Because we have no quarrel with you. We have assisted 
 every Christian traveller who has been to Ujiji. If these 
 Arabs had killed you, there would have been much trouble." 
 
 " Yes ! there would. I agree with you. It might have 
 been difficult afterwards to find a comfortable pillow on which 
 to sleep. I shall never forget your kindness. There are few 
 men in Ujiji who, like you, have the brains to steer a vessel 
 when the storm is bursting. Any fool can steer during a calm." 
 
 After a moment's silence, as if he was undecided whether 
 to say what was passing in his thoughts, he said : 
 
 "You must leave here to-morrow under my escort, and 
 not one of your party must linger in the town, or I cannot 
 be responsible for their lives. The streets are now dark, 
 and your presence here is known by our enemies. So, if you 
 care to sleep in my house, I can make you comfortable." 
 
 I thanked him, but declined, saying : 
 
 "It is necessary for me to return to my friends." 
 
 Daylight saw us shaking the dust of Ujiji off our feet, 
 glad to have escaped from the warm welcome it had proposed 
 to give us. 
 
 I think the most bitter enemies of the Arabs will acknow- 
 ledge that this intervention of Tip-pu-Tib and Rumaliza was 
 worthy of all praise. 
 
 112 
 
ANGER OF TIP-PU-TIB 
 
 It is seldom that a Mohammedan takes sides against his 
 co-religionists in favour of Christians, and it was the more 
 remarkable if we remember that none of us had any special 
 claim on their protection. Neither could blame have rested 
 on these men, had the plot been successful, as they were 
 both hundreds of miles distant at the time. 
 
 About a month after this happened, Tip-pu-Tib arrived 
 and sent a messenger inviting me to meet him for a talk. 
 
 I found him bursting with indignation, on account of a 
 letter he had received from officials at Zanzibar, requiring his 
 presence at the Courts to defend himself in an action brought 
 against him by Stanley for damages. 
 
 Pointing to the letter, he indignantly exclaimed : 
 
 " Look at that ! It is a note ordering me to be at the 
 coast in two months. Stanley accuses me of hindering him 
 on his journey to find Emin Pasha, and alleges that this was 
 the cause of Barthelot's death. If I had wished to stop him, I 
 should not have played with the matter by sending 400 men 
 instead of 600, as per contract; I should have killed him 
 years ago. I do not simply hinder^ I destroy ! If I assist, 
 it is at all costs." Extending his hands, and counting his 
 fingers, he added : 
 
 " Who helped Cameron, Speke, Livingstone ? Who sent 
 Gleerup from the Congo to Sweden ? Who saved your life, 
 and those of all your party; was it not me? Have I at- 
 tempted to hinder any missionaries, although they are not 
 of my religion and hate my business of catching slaves ? Tell 
 me! Is there a single European traveller who can honestly 
 say I was not his friend ? " 
 
 I assured him that all had spoken of his kindness and help. 
 It seemed only to fan the flame, for he ran on : "I am mad 
 with anger when I think of what we did for Stanley during 
 his first and second journeys through this country. 
 
 " In order to make a big work out of nothing, he went up 
 the Congo to find Emin Pasha ; why not have walked up the 
 
 173 
 
ANGER OF TIP-PU-TIB 
 
 much less expensive road from the East Coast? He came to 
 Zanzibar and begged me to go round the Cape with him, and 
 to bring my people, all expenses to be paid by himself. I did 
 not desire to go, choosing rather to walk, as I have always 
 done, and to transact business as I passed my various depots ; 
 but he would take no denial, so, out of courtesy, I accom- 
 panied him. 
 
 " He needed my assistance to obtain porters, and, because 
 only 200 out of the 600 men I sent ran away, I am accused 
 of wanting to hinder him. Do they not desert from all 
 Europeans, as well as from Arabs ? The truth is, your 
 countrymen are criticising his work and the loss of Barthelot, 
 and he is wanting to blame me. Barthelot lost his life 
 through bad temper; it was entirely his own fault. I was 
 hundreds of miles distant, and lost money through the cannibal 
 porters running away. I cannot understand Stanley. Without 
 my help he could never have gone down the Congo ; and no 
 sooner did he reach Europe, than he claimed all my country. 
 Surely your people must be unjust!'*'* 
 
 As he finished this outburst, I quietly replied: "Stanley 
 has been talking into one ear of Europeans, now you go 
 and speak in the other. They will listen to you, for we are 
 accustomed to weigh both sides of a question and love justice.'"' 
 
 " Do you ? " he passionately exclaimed ; " then look here — 
 how did you get India ? 
 
 " We fought for it ! " 
 
 " Then what you fight for, and win, belongs to you by right 
 of conquest ? 
 
 " Yes ! that is European law ! " 
 
 " So it is with us Arabs. Have we ever tried to rob you 
 of India?" 
 
 "I may ask you, in reply, Do these pagans try to rob you 
 of Ujiji ? The jackal cannot rob the lion." 
 
 " Very well, then ! I came here as a young man, fought 
 these natives and subdued them, losing both friends and 
 
 174 
 
ANGER OF TIP.PU-TIB 
 
 treasure in the struggle. Is it not therefore mine by both 
 your law and ours ? " 
 
 It is only yours so long as you govern and use it 
 properly ! " I had touched a sore point, for he rose up and 
 demanded : 
 
 " Who is to be my judge ? " 
 
 I knew he had to hear his doom sooner or later, so, with 
 perhaps more emphasis than usual, I exclaimed, " Europe ! 
 We had got down to bed-rock at last. 
 
 " Aha ! he replied, whilst a sickly smile played across his 
 face, as if badly wounded ; " now you speak the truth. Do 
 not let us talk of justice; people are only just when it pays. 
 The white man is stronger than I am ; they will eat my 
 possessions as I ate those of the pagans, and — " Here he 
 paused. 
 
 Fixing my eyes on his, I asked : 
 
 " Well— and what ? " 
 
 " Some one will eat up yours ! " 
 
 Continuing, he said : " I see clouds in the sky ! The 
 thunder is near ! / am going."' 
 
 I was listening to the capitulation of Central Africa''s 
 greatest man-hunter. His flag was being hauled down. 
 What were the trifling inconveniences of my past life com- 
 pared with the intense satisfaction of being present — the only 
 white man present — at this great Sedan ? 
 
 "Tell Europe Stanley lies; and tell them also, if they love 
 justice, as you say, to compensate me for stealing my country." 
 
 I remained silent, in order to let the great man cool down. 
 
 Noticing this, he asked : 
 
 " Have you nothing to say to my arguments ? 
 
 " Yes ! I have ! It is this, and I know you are strong 
 and wise enough to hear it without being angry with me. 
 Europe has sickened of your cruel slave operations, and de- 
 termined to stop them ! That's the ' cloud ** you see in the 
 sky, from which the rain is already falling at the coast ! " 
 
 175 K 
 
ANGER OF TIP-PU-TIB 
 
 It was not a time for smooth words. This terrible man- 
 hunter was at bay. Pitted against him were the forces of 
 civihsation, and wheels which have ground all tyrants were 
 sloAvly crushing him ; yet he was strong enough in his humilia- 
 tion to allow a single ambassador of freedom to pronounce his 
 doom without cutting him down with the long keen sword 
 which lay on the couch by his side. 
 
 " It seems to me,*" he said, " that Europe does not like 
 something I do, and therefore is determined to ruin me. Is 
 that it?" 
 
 " Yes ! if you do not abandon your trade." 
 
 " You Europeans do many things I abominate, such as 
 eating swine's flesh ; but you never saw an Arab try to destroy 
 your farmyards on account of his aversion to your practices." 
 
 " No, I have not. But there is a vast difference between 
 pigs and men, and, if you will permit me, I will ask you some 
 questions." 
 
 " Certainly," he replied ; " anything you choose ! " 
 " Well, then, do you believe in one God ? " 
 " Yes. So do all Mohammedans ; but you say there are 
 three." 
 
 " Do you believe your God created everything ? " 
 " Yes ! " 
 
 " Am I correct in saying you accept everything He does 
 as, beyond all question, good?" 
 " Most decidedly I do ! " 
 " Do you believe in Shetani ? " (the Devil). 
 " Yes!" 
 
 " Did God, or the Devil, make these pagans ? " 
 " God ! " 
 
 "And yet every day you deliberately destroy His good 
 work, by catching and killing slaves ! Has God made a mis- 
 take by creating them, and asked you to rectify His error ? " 
 
 " They would not acknowledge Him," was his reply, " and 
 therefore have forfeited His protection." 
 
 176 
 
HOSTILITIES COMMENCED 
 
 "Then if your son becomes undutiful to you, does it give 
 me licence to blow out his brains ? Is that Arab justice ? " 
 
 " Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob made many slaves, and God 
 did not punish them," was his final reply, and I saw he desired 
 to close the argument. 
 
 There was something extremely fascinating in this face-to- 
 face encounter, eight hundred miles from British protection, on 
 the shores of Tanganyika. 
 
 Wealth, power, intelligence, ambition, and cruelty sat re- 
 presented in that one figure on the sofa. Thousands of men 
 and guns were at that moment at his command, but his active 
 brain had weighed them in the balance against yonder little 
 rain-cloud, and found them " wanting ! " Conscious that 
 enough had been said, I rose to depart, asking : 
 
 " When do you leave for the coast ? " 
 Next Thursday," he quickly replied. 
 
 " Buriani ! " (" Forget and forgive.") 
 
 By his own decision he left the interior, never lifting his 
 hand against the white man, and doing his utmost to persuade 
 his partner to follow his example. It has been popularly 
 supposed that he was a kind of political prisoner at Zanzibar ; 
 this is not correct. He had no desire to return. I always 
 paid him a visit when passing Zanzibar. The last time we 
 parted, and shortly before he died, he gave me an autograph 
 copy of a brief history of his life. 
 
 It would perhaps have been putting into practice that 
 justice which I never ceased to hold before him as our 
 standard if, when he died, some of our great geographical 
 societies in Europe had acknowledged how much they were 
 indebted to Tip-pu-Tib for allowing explorers to travel where 
 he was in power, collecting valuable scientific data. As it 
 was, all I have noticed was the announcement of the death of 
 that " notorious slaver." 
 
 Rumaliza, his late partner, elected to stop and fight the 
 matter out to the bitter end. Communication with the East 
 
 177 
 
HOSTILITIES COMMENCED 
 
 Coast was now stopped. The Congo State sent an officer to 
 Tanganyika with instruction to meet me, if possible, to ascer- 
 tain the exact position of affairs. This meeting did not take 
 place until too late to stop hostilities, and the western route 
 was blocked. War at Nyasa against Mlozi shut up the south- 
 eastern passage; we were isolated, and for over a year could 
 not get into communication with the outside world. It 
 became too monotonous, so I wrote a letter with a quill pen, 
 using the alphabet of Pitman's shorthand (all I could re- 
 member of it). This, written from right to left, did not look 
 at all unlike Arabic. Rolling up the scrawl, we inserted it 
 into the barrel of a tower musket, and the little fraud passed 
 the enemy's lines, reaching the coast to the relief of our 
 friends. 
 
 With characteristic energy the Germans gave the coast 
 villains no rest. Town after town, each a sink of iniquity, 
 was swept away. Hordes of Rugaruga were hunted from 
 valley and forest, slave dhows confiscated as soon as captured, 
 and their owners who offered resistance summarily punished. 
 There was no compromise ; the disease was deep, the surgeon's 
 knife sharp. Conservative surgery at this time would have 
 been out of place. The splendid pioneer, Hermann von 
 Wissmann, like all others, had been compelled to swallow too 
 many doses of Arab sophistry ; now the plain truth, in all its 
 nakedness, had to be heard and accepted. The Imperial 
 Eagle fixed its talons on the quarry, and did not relax its 
 hold until it had brought about its utter destruction. Fierce 
 and long were some of the collisions, but the result was always 
 the same. 
 
 The AVagogo, who for years had so insolently demanded 
 toll from the white traveller, peremptorily ordered the German 
 officer to camp and pay toll. He camped indeed — making a 
 zareba instead of paying tribute — and the sun set the follow- 
 ing evening upon the defeated and scattered remnant of the 
 once-dreaded Wagogo. Blackmail was dead, and the Kaiser's 
 
 178 
 
CONGO STATE OFFICIALS 
 
 uniform cast its ominous shadow westward, menacing the great 
 slave-centres of Unyanyembe and Ujiji. 
 
 Vast deposits of ivory were collected at the great depots, 
 valued at thousands of pounds, but there was no outlet for 
 it to the coast. Wild rumours of a combined attack by 
 Europeans on the lake from every quarter gained some 
 semblance of truth from the arrival of a Congo State official 
 and troops. They established headquarters on the west side, 
 their object being to cut off the Arabs from their centre on 
 the Congo by commanding the western trade-route. This 
 they knew was their trump card to play in the great diplomatic 
 and commercial game, as it would stop the enormous leakage 
 of ivory from the Congo, which was then passing eastwards 
 through German territory to Zanzibar. 
 
 To divert this trade-route was worth a struggle. 
 
 On calling to see Captain Storms I found him sitting 
 outside his charred station, upon a camp - chair, with 
 absolutely nothing in the world but his cigarettes and a 
 few rifles. His whole station had just been burned down by 
 natives. 
 
 " What's the meaning of all this ? " I asked. 
 
 " War, sir, war ! " was his cheerful reply. 
 
 He was a fine specimen of a European officer. His rule 
 was strict, but just, and none but those who sought to terrorise 
 over others objected to his administration. For months he 
 battled against a smallpox epidemic, inoculating thousands 
 of people. "It is not legal,"' he said, "to do this at: home; 
 but my vaccine is spoiled. Great diseases require heroic 
 treatment." Roads had been cut in his district, and security 
 established. This raised the envy of some western people, 
 so they set fire to his house. 
 
 When I found him in this unpleasant situation he was 
 under orders to hand over his station to the Alo-erian Mission 
 
 o 
 
 and to leave for Europe, but he said : " I cannot go now, or 
 the natives will say they drove me away, and may try the 
 
 179 
 
CAPTAIN STORMS 
 
 same game on others. No ! I will remain and make those 
 very people rebuild the station." 
 
 " What can I do for you, captain ? " I asked. 
 
 " I only want some percussion caps, and I shall be happy. 
 You are not people who take sides in warfare ; but grant me 
 this request, as I think it is in the general interest of all white 
 people in this country." 
 
 So did I ! I gladly gave him all I had, and in a few 
 months I had the pleasure of seeing his whole station rebuilt. 
 Having vindicated his honour as a soldier, he left for home ; 
 but he had lost in the fire his very large collection of birds, 
 and his valuable photographs. 
 
 A great deal has been said against the Belgian officers on 
 the Congo, and I have no desire to enter into the controversy ; 
 but it is my duty, as well as pleasure, to record that the two 
 whom I met on Tanganyika, Captains Storms and Jacques, 
 were gentlemen in the highest interpretation of the word in 
 their relations with both white and black. Both were fired 
 with at least as much enthusiasm as myself for the suppres- 
 sion of the slave-trade, and determined to extend to the native 
 races committed to their charge the blessings of civilisation. 
 
 As I have said, Rumaliza remained behind and decided 
 to try conclusions with the Congo State for possession of the 
 great ivory districts around the Aruwimi River. Meantime 
 a force was collected by the Belgians, and a march made along 
 the west of Tanganyika. This, of course, excited the Arabs, 
 and a general gathering of the clans took place. 
 
 I was paying a visit to Ujiji at the time, and, when in the 
 market, overheard the name of Emin Pasha mentioned by a 
 native. Stopping ostensibly to purchase bananas, I heard 
 them say he had been murdered near to Manyema. That 
 evening, when sipping coffee with Rumaliza, I determined to 
 find out if it was true. The news of Arab defeats at the coast 
 kept on arriving, and made it difficult to speak on delicate 
 subjects ; therefore I approached the matter casually by saying : 
 
 180 
 
PouxNDiNG Maize into Flour 
 
 The flour is sifted in the flat basket and placed in the earthenware pot near the hut ; over this 
 is inverted a small basket to keep the dust out. The flour is made into thick porridge for the 
 evening meal. If it should be gritty the women are very much ashamed, and the husband angry. 
 
EMIN PASHA 
 
 " How very stupidly people gossip in your market ; they are 
 like idle people everywhere. We have a saying that Satan 
 finds mischief for idle hands, and tongues." 
 
 "I hope you have not heard anything unpleasant," he 
 observed. 
 
 " Oh no ! " I replied ; " it was only some nonsense about 
 Emin Pasha having been murdered. Of course it's rubbish." 
 
 I did not take my eyes off his face as I uttered the words. 
 The shot hit the mark, and he knew there was no use trying 
 evasion, so he answered : " It is true ; he is dead ; it was his 
 own fault." 
 
 Going to a box, he extracted from it a^ piece of bunting, 
 and unfurling it, asked : " What is that ? " 
 " The German ensign ! " I replied. 
 
 "Yes, it is. Emin Pasha sent it to me from Tabora, 
 ordering us to hoist it over this town. I have not yet had 
 the heart to do so ; shall I ? " 
 
 " You have no choice, Rumaliza ; for, if you do not, they 
 will save you the trouble — as the country is theirs." 
 
 Returning to me, he continued : " Emin Pasha was a 
 Mohammedan ; he prayed in our mosques. He sent that flag 
 to replace our own, and then went to Nyanza and hanged 
 several Arabs in cold blood; therefore Arabs swore to take 
 his life. If he had come this way it would have been the 
 same. Instead of which he tried to escape down the Congo." 
 
 " You must be mistaken," I replied. " Emin was a 
 gentleman." 
 
 " I am not mistaken ; I knew the Arabs he hanged." 
 " What was their offence ? " 
 
 " None that I know of ; they declined to sell him the 
 calico they were taking to Uganda." 
 
 It is quite possible the story is untrue. 
 
 I immediately sent the news of Emin's death to Renter. It 
 was doubted for a time ; but, of course, was afterwards corro- 
 borated. Rumaliza was advised not to fight, but he replied 
 
 183 
 
EMIN PASHA 
 
 that, if the white men shut up the trade-road, he had no 
 choice. 
 
 My work called me away, and promising to see him 
 again, I set sail for a breath of fresh air on the lake, where 
 repeated electrical battles between the clouds did their best 
 to foreshadow the human conflict then bursting over the 
 whole country. 
 
 184 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 Captain Trivier — Game Pits — An Annexation — The Walungu 
 Marriage Customs — The Curse of the People 
 
 AFTER a pleasant and refreshing voyage on the lake, 
 /-\ we met the French traveller, Captain Trivier, who had 
 arrived from the West Coast. 
 
 It was delightful to see a strange face, and to listen to 
 up-to-date European news. He had a companion with him 
 and two personal servants, and, on my inquiring how it was 
 possible for him to have performed such a journey with so 
 few men, he replied : 
 
 "Tip-pu-Tib contracted to transport me to the East 
 Coast, providing men, food, and safety ; he is acting in my 
 interests just as your English " Cook does for tourists. As I 
 shall not go East on account of the war, his contract will end 
 here and I shall go by the Zambezi." 
 
 I was naturally interested to know what this stranger'^s 
 general impression of the country was like, and was surprised 
 when he said : 
 
 " It is all very interesting, except man ! Let me see the 
 wild grasses, mountains, rivers, forests, animal and insect 
 life, but not men — they spoil the picture ! " 
 
 This sounded like an echo of the familiar lines — 
 
 " Every prospect pleases, and only man is vile." 
 
 How strange ! It seemed to me, at the time, about the 
 last country to visit unless one came in the interest of 
 humanity, or to indulge in hunting big game. To me, man 
 was the goal, the beginning and end of our work, all other 
 subjects being relegated to a secondary position. 
 
 185 
 
CAPTAIN TRIVIER 
 
 Trivier proved a most genial guest and critic. 
 "What has your Government sent you here to do?" 
 he asked. 
 
 " Government ! " we echoed. " We are not officials. We 
 are sent here by a society to open up the country, to estab- 
 lish mail-routes to the coast, and stations all around this 
 lake. In fact, to endeavour to undermine and destroy the 
 curse of Africa ! " 
 
 The answer, apparently, was a revelation to him, for he 
 continued : " I suppose you hand over everything you get 
 to your Government as soon as you become possessors of 
 territory ? " 
 
 " Wei], captain, the only assets at present are — fever- 
 racked constitutions, and graves of comrades ! " 
 
 " Of course I accept your words without hesitation ; 
 but, to my French mind, it is a mystery. For instance, this 
 morning, as I walked through the village, a lad greeted 
 me with ' Good-morning, master ! ' That"*s not an African 
 salutation ! 
 
 " No ! " I replied, " it is distinctly English ! " 
 " It is," he smilingly admitted the fact, adding, with a 
 merry twinkle in his eye : 
 
 " I smell something in the air ! " 
 
 Two months later he had reached Lake Nyasa, meeting 
 a British Consul who had arrived to arrange peace with 
 the Arabs, and Trivier wrote me a most amusing letter ; 
 amongst other items of news was a description of the meet- 
 ing in these words : " Did I not tell you I smelt something 
 in the air ? To-day I had the pleasure of saluting a British 
 Consul, near whose tent was flying the British Flag. I 
 wish you and your country every success." I fear he was 
 more mystified than ever as to our real object. 
 
 The gallant captain unfortunately lost his companion 
 whilst our guest. The poor fellow became insane, and 
 wandered up to a stockade at night. The people, being at 
 
 186 
 
GAME PITS 
 
 war, probably mistook him for a spy and shot him dead, 
 hiding his body in a brook when they discovered their mistake. 
 White men had, up to that time, been surrounded by a kind 
 of mystery ; natives feared to hurt them, dreading that some 
 serious unknown calamity would befall the tribe if they took 
 their lives, and undoubtedly this was a great protection to 
 all early pioneers. 
 
 While searching for the body of this unfortunate man, I 
 had an unpleasant experience. I had been following a slight 
 track through the bush, which looked like a man's, and 
 coming to some bushes which met across this track, pushed 
 through them rather hurriedly, closing my eyes as a protec- 
 tion from the branches. In a second I fell headlong into a 
 game pit. Luckily my rifle was fixed at safety, and did not 
 explode. I alighted at the bottom, partly on my head and 
 elbows, with my feet in the air. My position must have 
 looked ludicrous from the top of the pit. The sun-helmet 
 was jammed down over my eyes, and I lay all of a heap, 
 partially stunned, with nose bleeding freely and face some- 
 what damaged. 
 
 Spikes ! I thought. " Are there any spikes through 
 me ? These dreadful weapons were, I knew, used in most 
 pits. Scarcely daring to feel, I rolled over into a more 
 comfortable position, dragged off my impromptu mask, and 
 caught sight of a horrid sharp bamboo sticking up within 
 a few inches of the spot where my head had struck the 
 bottom. Three others, with their points slanting inwards 
 so as to impale the falling game, were still looking upwards for 
 a victim. Being too much shaken to move for a few minutes, 
 I could only lie and look at those cruel points, which had 
 missed me by a few inches. Only a few months previously 
 John Kidd, a friend of mine, fell down a similar trap in that 
 neighbourhood, one of the spikes passing through his leg. 
 
 Beyond a severe shaking of body and nerves, I was not 
 much the worse for this sudden let-down. My two black 
 
 187 
 
SANGALA 
 
 eyes were a source of amusement to my boys when they 
 chatted over the fire, and did not know I was listening. 
 
 One little chap remarked : " Master went down white, 
 and came up partly black ; if he gets many more falls like 
 that we shall be all one colour.'" I could not suppress a 
 laugh, which they heard, and scampered off, probably to 
 continue the joke. 
 
 A period of complete mental rest was prescribed by the 
 doctor, so I indulged in fishing, and had some that would 
 excite the envy of every angler in the world. The sangala were 
 at that time in good condition, so I was rowed slowly along the 
 rocky coast, trailing a spoon-bait at the end of about one 
 hundred yards of line. Suddenly one of these great fish made 
 a dash at the glittering bait, and nearly took out all the line 
 before I realised what he was up to. A check in his mad 
 career, and a few sharp strokes with the oar, gave time to 
 recover line just as the fish sprang out of the water almost 
 alongside the boat. That he was a beauty was beyond doubt, 
 but whether we could land him was another question. 
 
 Using careful tactics, the boy paddled slowly towards the 
 shallows, and this the fish resented by at once making for deep 
 water. A long chase ensued, with alternate hopes and fears ; 
 but at length his effbrts became less vigorous, and he floundered 
 about near the surface, where the warmer water probably in- 
 creased his weakness, and we drew him slowly towards us. I wish 
 I could have photographed the dying monster, with his silvery 
 scales glistening in the sun. I could not use the net, for it was 
 not large enough ; so, making a clove-hitch with some spun yarn, 
 I slipped it over his tail and hung on as he made his final bid 
 for liberty. A few more seconds and he lay at the bottom of 
 the boat. My joy can only be imagined by anglers, for on 
 weighing he scaled thirty-four pounds. 
 
 Lieut. Stairs, whilst on a visit to us, hooked several heavier 
 than this, and the Lakes Company's employees netted one with 
 a seine-net which turned the scale at ninety pounds. It is 
 
 188 
 
AN INDABA 
 
 more than likely that heavier sangala have been caught since 
 then. 
 
 I could have revelled in such sport for a month, but a 
 second mound had to be raised, and another shady tree found, 
 to mark the resting-place of my little daughter Eva. This for 
 the time banished all desire for either work or play, and some- 
 what neutralised the benefit derived from my holiday on the 
 water. The Walungu, in whose country we resided, owned the 
 whole of South Tanganyika, and about this time a messenger 
 arrived from the chief, asking if I would meet them at a 
 council to discuss tribal matters. I accepted their invitation. 
 Kitimbwa, the paramount chief, occupied the central mat. 
 Around him were gathered the sub-chiefs and head-men. 
 
 I could not imagine what subject was to be discussed, for so 
 far as I knew, nothing important had happened to disturb 
 their calm. 
 
 The usual mysterious and irritating preliminaries in all 
 these indabas went on for some time. They love to make 
 mountains out of mole-hills, for these gatherings constitute 
 a kind of serious bank-holiday, and so are made the most of. 
 At length an orator stepped into the clear space before the 
 chief, lay down, and rolled over in the dust (an expression of 
 loyalty). Pointing his spear to the hills, he shouted : " Our 
 fathers are sleeping around us, some by the river, others on the 
 hill-tops ; their spears were buried with them, with the exception 
 of one which was given to Kitimbwa ; that is it lying by his 
 side. With that spear descended the power to speak to us as 
 his fathers did. To-day he speaks ! Listen ! these are his 
 words : ' On account of war, and disease, the Walungu are few ; 
 their land is extensive, but the children cannot protect it. 
 
 " ' The Awemba gave us no sleep ; the Arab ate up our 
 daughters. Until the white men came we knew no friends. 
 They fed us vvhen our crops were stolen. They sheltered us 
 when our huts were burned. They gave medicine to our sick, 
 and spoke to our enemies with guns in their hands. I am 
 
 189 
 
AN ANNEXATION 
 
 getting old and tired ; you are weak. Let us give our land to 
 
 the white men ! ' 
 
 All present knelt down and clapped their hands, saying : 
 " Tata witu ! Tata witu ! " (equivalent to " We agree ; 
 
 lit. "Our father 
 
 Kitimbwa then turned to me, saying : 
 You have heard our words. We give you our land ; will 
 
 you accept ? " 
 
 I explained that I valued their offer, but that my chiefs had 
 no desire to possess their country ; we came to help them, and 
 did not wish for reward. Besides, I should have to consult my 
 comrades. He answered : " If you refuse, we shall be eaten up 
 and our tribe will cease to live.'"* 
 
 The pros and cons were duly discussed at our station, and 
 we agreed to take over the country in the meantime. Title- 
 deeds were drawn up and signed by the chief, and I became 
 trustee for the London Missionary Society of all Ulungu. 
 The map was being painted red in spite of us, certainly not 
 by our seeking or desire. 
 
 This proved only a rehearsal, as it happened, for the real 
 John Bull was even then at our doors; and if that French 
 critic had been with us, I confess it would have been more 
 difficult to disabuse his mind as to our real intentions. A 
 special messenger arrived with the news that a British Consul 
 was approaching. This was a real surprise, for we had begun 
 to imagine ourselves independent people, beyond the thoughts 
 of Downing Street, much too insignificant for this diplomatic 
 notice. We were wrong ! The great John Bull was about to 
 sweep us into the Empire whether we wished it or not. I went 
 out to meet the representative of Britain, expecting to see a 
 military escort, Union Jack, bayonets, sword, and perhaps an 
 eye-glass. Nothing of the sort appeared. Across the plain 
 walked a few natives who preceded the Consul. He was a 
 small man, riding a donkey, and wearing a man-o'-warVman's 
 straw hat, which gave him quite a youthful appearance. 
 
 190 
 
AN ANNEXATION 
 
 As we met he held out his hand pleasantly, saying : 
 " I am Consul Johnston. Are you Mr. Swann ? " 
 No show of any sort, no side ; just a man meeting a man in 
 the heart of Africa. He might well have been mistaken for 
 a tourist, taking photographs. He was scrupulously attired, 
 and at home on the donkey. I felt that this calm and polite 
 servant of the Crown would have annexed half a continent to 
 the Empire before luncheon, making the owners feel they ought 
 to reward him handsomely for the trouble of signing his name 
 to the transfer. Who could have imagined that under the 
 innocent-looking sailor's hat, a mind was handling difficult 
 international problems relating to territory extending from 
 where we stood eastwards to the Indian Ocean, southwards to 
 the Zambezi, and northwards to Cairo. Yet such was the case. 
 He listened courteously to the story of our acquisition of the 
 country he came to secure, without a sign of disappoint- 
 ment. 
 
 After a quiet discussion of the position, we decided it was 
 best for treaties to be made directly with the Crown, and for 
 us to waive most of our prior right to the land, retaining suf- 
 ficient to build stations on and to plant gardens. A voyage 
 together for several days, in an open boat, only tended to 
 increase my respect for Johnston, now Sir Harry Johnston. 
 Although fond of comfort, even when in the bush, he never 
 complained of the many inconveniences attending such a voyage. 
 His recreation was sketching aquatic birds, wild grasses, and 
 any object of interest. 
 
 We rowed up the Lofu, visited Kabunda, a Balooch who 
 entertained us to the best of his ability. 
 
 The chiefs could not understand giving their land away a 
 second time, and asked : 
 
 " Was our gift not acceptable that you give it away so 
 soon to a stranger ? We do not know this person ! Is he 
 your brother or friend ? " 
 
 To all such questions I replied : 
 
 191 
 
AN ANNEXATION 
 
 " Sign the paper ; it is best to do so, and then you will live 
 in peace and be buried with your fathers.^' 
 
 I had been reading of our British troops marching out of 
 the old Indian Forts, when they were given back to the native 
 princes, with their bands playing, "Tommy, make room for 
 your Uncle."' It was now my turn to make room for John 
 Bull, without the assistance of a military band, and I confess 
 to doing so with very mixed feelings. 
 
 The Lofu valley being thus secured by treaty, we made for 
 the east coast, where the same process was repeated with 
 minor chiefs until the whole of the south end was practically 
 British territory. Before Johnston left us I remarked : 
 " When you are gone, and these people are attacked, they will 
 fly to us for protection. You have left flags and treaties, but 
 nothing to protect them." 
 
 " Yes," he replied, '* that is true ; you will probably be 
 appealed to, and it will be annoying because you cannot 
 defend them. Some one is always inconvenienced by great 
 changes such as these, but there is no occasion to anticipate 
 trouble." 
 
 We shall see a little later what was the sequel to that 
 treaty- making. 
 
 A few weeks after he left I went out on the plain to shoot 
 game, pitching the tent near to a large village where Kabunda's 
 people resided. The evening was pleasantly passed in relating 
 stories of travel and adventure. Several men gave a dance, and 
 all were happy. The Arabs had lived there several years and 
 married the chiefs daughters. I moved away early the next 
 morning to hunt, and, on returning about sunset, I found not 
 a single hut standing. The whole place had been burned 
 down. Not a living soul could be found. The scoundrels 
 had suddenly turned on the people who had sheltered them 
 for years, captured them all, and made them carry ivory to the 
 coast. I was astonished at the suddenness of the calamity and 
 complete secrecy of the plot. Poor Walungu ! their cup was 
 
 192 
 
THE WALUNGU 
 
 indeed full and running over, although the British flag flew 
 over the tribe ! 
 
 On returning home, one of the men, hearing a faint cry 
 in the grass, searched and discovered a baby boy about three 
 months old, with its left arm broken. It had been pitched 
 into the grass by those fiends to die; they could not be 
 bothered with it. We took it home, putting the tiny arm 
 into splints, and gave it goat's milk. Not a single native 
 woman would give it the breast ! " No," said they, " we 
 cannot feed the child of a stranger; if it dies we shall be 
 accused of poisoning it." " Keep away from trouble," is 
 their motto. "Mind your own business," is deeply im- 
 pressed on their thoughts from childhood. And indeed 
 there was a great deal of common sense about their 
 attitude; for if the youngster had died, they would cer- 
 tainly have had trouble to convince its relatives that it 
 had died from natural causes. 
 
 The question now arose as to whose duty it was to attend 
 to that child ; some one had to, as the natives refused. 
 
 I was married, my companion was not, so we cast lots, 
 and the lot fell on us. I was never more sorry to win the 
 toss. We kept the little chap some time, but his cries nearly 
 drove us stupid, and we seized an opportunity of handing 
 "Thompson," as we named him, over to our Jamaica friends. 
 His mother escaped on the road, and came back to look for 
 her child ; she heard we had found it, but she lived a long 
 time in a neighbouring village, afraid to let us know who she 
 was. The two were afterwards brought together. 
 
 Like most other tribes, the W^alungu sent their daughters 
 away into the privacy of what might be called a tuition class, 
 where they were instructed in all the duties pertaining to 
 married life. This tuition varies in each tribe; some teachino-s 
 are attended by practices which do not appeal to our ideal of 
 morality, but others are quite harmless. 
 
 The object of the parents may be gathered from the 
 
 193 L 
 
MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 
 
 following explanation given me by a father whose young 
 daughter (about ten years old) had just been sent to the 
 " Unyago,"" as it is generally called. 
 
 A girl is married at an early age, and becomes the 
 youngest wife of her husband, who may have several wives 
 already. 
 
 As the marriage in most cases is not the outcome of real 
 love, it is necessary that the child-wife shall, as far as possible, 
 not make her husband cross by ignorance of household duties. 
 She is therefore put through a training in everything which 
 she will be expected to perform. Above all — and this seems 
 the main point — her childish will must be completely broken 
 by extremely harsh discipline. This is done in order to make 
 her obey her husband in all things without question. 
 
 Girls in our country are sent to boarding-schools, not only 
 to be taught the three R's, but that their corners may be 
 knocked off by others less indulgent than parents. 
 
 This same idea is present in the native mind, only their 
 manner of life practically compels them to impart instruction 
 to their children which is not needed in this country, as our 
 daughters live under our protection until they arrive at 
 womanhood. 
 
 The men expect to get a wife w^ho, as they put it, "is 
 not an idiot," and who will not be continually crying for 
 mother. In order to make them bear trouble without crying, 
 cold water is dashed over them when asleep, and if they 
 utter a cry they are punished. If they disobey they are not 
 allowed to sleep. They are also forced to lie on hot cobs 
 of maize without crying. All kinds of hideous masks are 
 worn by the old women to frighten them into absolute 
 obedience. If to all this is added other practices which are 
 common to these ordeals, it is not to be wondered at that 
 when the girl is brought out into society she can scarcely 
 face her own parents, much less strangers. The little creature's 
 will is entirely broken ; she is scared of the dark ; she believes 
 
 194 
 
A Marriage Procession 
 
 The young child brides are too bashful to ace the camera. Their bodies are covered with oil, 
 and every scrap of bead- work has been given or lent them. Relatives are following with a sleeping 
 mat;^ the inverted baskets contain some delicacy to eat, and they will be serenaded all night by a 
 « dancing, beer-drinking crowd. 
 
MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 
 
 all manner of evil will happen to her, and her people, if 
 she does not implicitly obey her husband and conform to 
 all the exacting duties of life. 
 
 In fact, she is an utterly different girl in every respect. 
 In one month she has passed from innocence to knowledge, 
 childhood to womanhood, and life in all its reality has burst 
 upon her young mind, well-nigh leaving her hypnotised. In 
 this state she is paraded before the public, oiled from head to 
 foot, and decorated with every scrap of ornamental bead- work 
 her girl friends can lend or give to her. The old women 
 under whose training she has been, with intensely anxious 
 countenances, watch her perform the graceful motions of a 
 dance, arranged so as to throw into prominence all the best 
 lines of her figure. I have watched both debutantes and 
 trainers, and there can be no doubt whatever that both are 
 deeply serious over this most important time in a girl's 
 life. ' 
 
 The dance being over, she is led away to her husband's 
 house in the evening; and not until she has cooked next 
 morning's porridge for her husband is she allowed to break 
 the silence which has bound her tongue for a month, except as 
 used in a song. With a few minor additions, the above may 
 be taken as a general description of these initiatory functions 
 practised by the various tribes. 
 
 A most elaborate salutation was used by this tribe. On 
 meeting the chief in the morning, they would at once lay down 
 anything they were carrying, kneel down and clap their hands 
 several times, bending almost to the earth. When meeting 
 one another the same performance was gone through, accom- 
 panied with the following conversation : — 
 
 " Our Father ! Our Father ! " 
 
 " Have you eaten well ? " 
 
 " How could I eat when you have all the food ? " 
 This was meant, not as a complaint, but as a compli- 
 ment. It was varied slightly as the day advanced, and one 
 
 197 
 
THE CURSE OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 often wondered they were not bored to death repeating the 
 same words many times a day. 
 
 So far as intelligence goes, I think they were the densest 
 people I have met. This may have been caused by the 
 long and terrible ordeal through which they had passed. 
 Having lived for years on dried fish, they suffered from a 
 warty growth which made it necessary that they should be 
 isolated from the tribe. It was not leprosy, but persons 
 afflicted with it were not permitted to come near the 
 villages, or to handle anything belonging to others, so great 
 was the fear of infection. Two or three years seemed to be 
 the usual period spent in these segregated camps, many be- 
 coming quite restored to health, whilst others succumbed, 
 probably in consequence of malnutrition and want of attend- 
 ance. Lime, powdered and mixed with charcoal, was applied 
 to the sores as a disinfectant. 
 
 One of these camps was situated to the north of our 
 village, where lions often prowled at night, quite near the 
 open houses, without attempting to touch the diseased people, 
 who appeared to court death — and no wonder ; their lives were 
 filled wdth nothing but misery. 
 
 Whilst I was sitting one evening with my wife in our 
 verandah, she called my attention by asking, Whafs that ? " 
 I had not noticed any sound, and replied that it was " perhaps 
 the cattle.^"* A few minutes later all doubt was dispelled, for 
 a lion roared close to the stockade, a kind of challenge to 
 " come out and take it ! " 
 
 The village being surrounded by high poles, with thorns 
 
 along the top, there was no immediate danger. The diseased 
 
 people outside, disdaining any attempt at defence, shouted 
 
 back defiantly, and even challenged the brute to do its worst. 
 
 " Come this way, and don't go creeping around those poles ; 
 
 you know you cannot jump over. Your voice is like the 
 
 thunder, it makes plenty of noise, but it is the lightning 
 
 which kills; vou are not the lightning. Go and hide your 
 
 198 
 
THE CURSE OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 clumsy head in the hole of the forest pig, and take care the 
 rabbit does not bite your nose."''' 
 
 For clever, scathing sarcasm, I think that is extremely 
 good. Then came what to me was a revelation of the secret 
 of all their actions and taunts. 
 
 " Are your claws sharp enough to tear a child's heart out ? 
 Can you bite me and live Come, coward, come ! / will 
 transfer the Walungu curse to you and your tribe for ever!'''' 
 
 Aha! that was the secret! They believed the tribe suf- 
 fered under some curse (how this was incurred I was unable to 
 ascertain), and that if one could provoke a lion to bite him, 
 the cursed disease would be transferred from the tribe to the 
 lions. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, I never heard of lions attacking 
 any of these isolated wretches ; neither have I been able to find 
 a native who knew of a single instance. 
 
 One could easily have lived years amongst these people 
 without knowing of this supposed curse (as they seldom 
 speak of such things), had not special attention been directed 
 to their spontaneous expressions at a critical moment. 
 
 It will be understood how necessary it is to possess not 
 only sufficient knowledge of their tongue to carry on the 
 ordinary duties of life, but to understand the hidden meanings 
 of their somewhat flowery expressions, before one can properly 
 read their lives. To make a mental note of the tribal curse 
 for future use was the work of a second, but a much more 
 immediate practical duty was to deal with that lion. 
 
 A goat was killed and placed on the stockade to tempt his 
 lordship, whilst three of us kept watch with rifles behind the 
 fence ; outside was not good enough, as the night was dark. 
 
 In a few moments deep growls issued from the forest close 
 by, and a whisper passed — " Here he comes ! " 
 
 The growls continued at the same place, so we imagined he 
 had either seen or heard us. In this we were mistaken. 
 
 We were being deceived by the same artifices that lions 
 
 201 
 
THE CURSE OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 use to catch game at night. There were two at the little 
 game — one growling, in order to divert attention from its 
 mate, who, before we knew of his presence, passed within a 
 few inches of our rifles on the other side of the fence, without 
 a sound. Bang! went the rifle of a comrade, and the lion 
 gave tongue with a vicious growl, bounding away in the 
 darkness. 
 
 " Did you hit him ? I asked. 
 
 " Well, I can't say. I don't see how he could have 
 escaped. But he came so suddenly I had no time to aim."' 
 
 Escape he did, for a search next morning revealed only 
 spots of blood and hair where he had lain down to scratch 
 the wound. We never bagged him ! 
 
 On returning from the search, I walked up to the diseased 
 people who had been quite at the mercy of these two brutes, 
 and addressing an old man, asked : 
 
 " Father, why did you talk to the lions last night — 
 were they your friends ? '' 
 
 With a slow, painful movement, he sat upright and gave 
 the usual salutation : 
 
 " Tata witu '' (" Our Father "). " The lions refused to carry 
 me away to the forest with the curse of our tribe. It was 
 my last chance. I and my children will die, as no more lions 
 will come my way ! " 
 
 How extremely pathetic ! A human soul, diseased, poor, 
 and an outcast. Black of skin, with a white heart, crouching 
 on the ground in one of the most isolated corners of the 
 world, lamenting the lost opportunity of becoming a scape- 
 goat to bear away the awful curse resting on his tribe. 
 
 " No more lions will come my way ! " None were needed ! 
 for another stealthy messenger saved them the trouble before 
 the new moon was born. 
 
 202 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 Making Treaties — Hunting the Hippopotamus — Boiling Springs 
 — Religious Views — A Nugget — Scenery of Lake Tangan- 
 yika — A Native Regatta. 
 
 OUR routine of life was again disturbed by the arrival 
 of a special envoy from Consul Johnston, request- 
 ing me to make treaties with the chiefs at North 
 Tanganyika on behalf of the Government, as the Powers 
 considered it necessary to have such a willing and amicable 
 agreement with the owners of the country before claiming 
 the right to include it in their " Spheres of Influence." 
 
 Our possessions at this time extended from Cape Town 
 up to the lake, but a strip of country at the extreme north 
 separated it from the waters of the Nile; if this could be 
 legitimately secured, the chain of possessions would be 
 complete up to Cairo. 
 
 No country had a prior claim to this particular strip of 
 land. I had a long consultation with my comrades, but 
 they declined to have anything to do with Johnston's request, 
 stating as their reason that it was impossible to depart from 
 the Society's rule which forbade interference in politics. If 
 I used the vessels in my charge for the purpose, it must be 
 distinctly understood that I did so on my own responsibility. 
 They acknowledged that our country had a prior right, as 
 we had spent some thousands of pounds on the lake, but 
 their duty was to obey the rules of the Society. 
 
 It was a dilemma. On the one hand, an opportunity 
 presented itself of hoisting our flag over a people for whom 
 so much had been spent; and this was a great temptation. 
 On the other hand, I had to face this refusal of my comrades 
 
 203 
 
MAKING TREATIES 
 
 to take part with me, and possible censure from the directors 
 if I made the treaties. I decided to take the responsibility, 
 as it seemed to me that no one could possibly object to my 
 helping to secure for the British Crown tracts of country 
 upon which up to that time nothing had been spent by any 
 other country. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Fred Moir arrived from Blantyre, and were 
 very keen to visit Ujiji, so I offered them a passage in our 
 open sailing-boat, at the same time pointing out that the 
 accommodation was very limited, and as the passage would 
 certainly occupy a week, it might be very unpleasant for a 
 lady ; also that I could not bring them back, as treaty- 
 making would absorb my time after reaching Ujiji. Nothing 
 daunted my Scotch friends, so we set sail for a run of about 
 three hundred miles. The sleeping-berth for one was so 
 small that Mrs. Moir's face was only a few inches from the 
 deck planks as she lay in bed, and how she endured the dis- 
 comfort was difficult to understand. Moir had to sleep on the 
 little deck in the open air, whilst I steered night and day. 
 
 On reaching the Roman Catholic mission station, after 
 a run of twenty-four hours, I dropped off to sleep, while my 
 passengers walked on shore to visit the hospitable Padres. 
 Ujiji was reached in about five days, and there Rumaliza 
 gave us of his best, and entertained all our people in his 
 usual lavish style. Everything was, of course, very novel to 
 this Scottish lady, who made good use of her camera, and 
 afterwards her pen, to describe her adventures. 
 
 Moir purchased some of the accumulated ivory, and re- 
 turned south in a dhow. Anchoring near Karema for shelter 
 from the monsoon, they were suddenly attacked by natives, 
 who had been attracted by the large quantity of ivory, and 
 who w^ere well known to be quarrelsome and dangerous. I 
 never anchored in their country, as it was the only place where 
 we dared not land. The attack was so fierce that they ex- 
 perienced great difficulty in getting away, the wind being 
 
 204 
 
HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 
 
 unfavourable, and surf breaking on the shore. A bullet 
 passed through Mrs. Moir"'s helmet, and most of the crew 
 had narrow escapes. To this ordeal was added a long and 
 stormy passage to the south end ; and the strain on their 
 nerves quite counterbalanced any good they might have pre- 
 viously derived from the visit. 
 
 The country to which I was travelling being more or less 
 under the influence of Rumaliza, I was compelled to obtain his 
 consent and introduction to the chiefs. This was readily 
 granted, and we sailed northwards for the Rusizi River, 
 passing at night between hundreds of canoes, used for fish- 
 ing, with small charcoal fires burning in a frame at the bow, 
 to attract the delicious whitebait which swarm in the deep 
 waters. As the tiny fish are attracted by the light, they 
 are scooped up with large nets. The people loaded us with 
 bunches of bananas, which were growing in great abundance 
 everywhere; and goats were so numerous that we could buy 
 one for a yard of calico, or two pennyworth of beads. 
 
 Hippopotami abounded, their fat being brought for sale 
 to all the local markets. I accepted a cordial invitation to 
 see the people hunt this animal with spears in large canoes. 
 It was not comfortable to go amongst a herd of snorting hippo 
 in so frail a craft, but they did not seem to see danger. 
 I did ! 
 
 Our canoe contained eight men beside myself. One at 
 each end steered as required ; the remainder were armed with 
 stabbing spears and paddles. We slowly approached the first 
 herd, but none of the huge creatures would let us get very 
 close to them. 
 
 How do you manage to spear them I asked. 
 
 "It is only possible to do it when they become fierce and 
 charge!" they answered. 
 
 I had often shot them, but that was a different thing from 
 enticing them to charge ; it seemed too risky a game, but not 
 wishing, or daring, to show the white feather, I kept silent. 
 
 205 
 
HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 
 
 It would be stupid to say I was not nervous, for I was, having 
 no rifle and not being a good swimmer. Besides, I did not 
 like being wholly dependent on some one else's skill in avoid- 
 ing danger. I had a longing to get hold of the helm and 
 clear out of an awkward corner. In a moment three men 
 sprang overboard, and quietly swam towards the herd. 
 " What are they up to ? " 
 
 " Teasing them ! " the skipper replied ; " they will not 
 attack us unless we make them savage." 
 
 I unlaced both my boots and removed my socks, antici- 
 pating a bath. It was the only back-door, and I inwardly 
 vowed never to get into such an idiotic position again. On 
 the approach of the swimmers, a male hippo dived. " Rudi ! 
 Rudi ! " the others shouted. (" Come back ! come back ! ") 
 These chaps knew what that dive meant, and in a few 
 seconds they were back in the canoe. As the last one was 
 dragged in, the hippo rose with a snort close to the spot 
 where they had been swimming. 
 
 Shouts of derision were hurled at him by the crew as 
 they picked up the spears. Down went the great head as 
 the skipper shouted, " Look out, he's coming ! " Sure enough 
 he was, for in a moment he rose a few yards from the canoe, 
 opened his ugly mouth, and giving a vicious snort, flung 
 his great head over the side of the canoe. All except two 
 jumped to the opposite side to counterbalance the weight; 
 these two dug sharp spears into the softer part of the animal's 
 neck ; another hit him over the nose with an axe. This was 
 to make it impossible for him to close the nostril, so that 
 he could not keep under water. His attack had been rather 
 too sudden, for he succeeded in pressing the gunwale under, 
 and the canoe filled, pitching the lot of us into the water. 
 
 What with the shouts of the men and the splashing of 
 the enraged hippo (which could not dive on account of the 
 cut nostril), sending blood flying all over the water, it was 
 an aquatic pandemonium in which no one need desire to be 
 
 206 
 
BOILING SPRINGS 
 
 mixed up. I saw the brute make a plunge at the nearest 
 man, but he simply dived and came up laughing, out of 
 danger. Such coolness was astonishing. " Dive, master, if 
 he comes for you. They can't bite under water, and he 
 cannot dive ; the water would drown him — his nose is 
 dead." 
 
 This was the advice tendered me, but I sincerely hoped 
 I should not need to put it into practice. The herd answered 
 the grunts of the wounded one, which made ofi* to join them, 
 going like a motor-boat along the surface, and blowing 
 jets of blood and water as he swam. It was the work of a 
 second for the men to turn over our canoe, and a few vigorous 
 see-saw pulls sent the water flying over the ends ; baling 
 completed the work, and we were all snug on board again. 
 
 The spears, having been fastened to string, were hauled up. 
 Anxious to impress on them that I possessed an inquiring 
 turn of mind, I ventured to ask, " Does this often happen ? " 
 
 " Yes ! but usually we manage to keep the boat from 
 filling with water ; to-day we were not quick enough." They 
 certainly spoke the truth for once, and I never gave them a 
 chance to retrieve their character with me as a passenger. 
 
 At the north-west corner of the lake we discovered boiling 
 water bubbling up at the base of the mountains. It emitted 
 a sulphurous odour, and tasted somewhat bitter. When 
 allowed to settle, a fine white sediment was deposited in the 
 glass. Several huts were standing in the shade of the over- 
 hanging trees, and on going up to examine them we found 
 eight men with large ulcers on their legs. They told us 
 the hot water was used to bathe the ulcers, and that it 
 cured them after a time. One gathered from this that it 
 possessed healing properties, or at least helped to kill 
 microbes and assisted nature. The same use was made of 
 the springs around Lake Nyasa. 
 
 That night we slept near the spot, and felt several 
 distinct shocks of earthquake. The natives assured me it 
 
 m 
 
SPIRIT HOUSES 
 
 was quite a common occurrence. They called it " The earth 
 shaking from the cold."' Quite the opposite to our ideas of 
 the phenomena. 
 
 Close by, in a grove of banana trees, I saw a group of 
 images placed in a circle. They were beautiful specimens 
 of carving, but represented most hideous faces of men and 
 beasts. Bead- work of a pretty design adorned the necks, 
 and by the side of one lay a broken spear. Near was a 
 miniature hut, most beautifully fashioned and thatched with 
 grass. It was just a toy house, about a foot high, such as 
 any lad might make to play with. A small mat lay spread 
 on the verandah ; a stool stood near the door, at which had 
 been placed a pot of maize flour. 
 
 I always felt a great respect for those attempts to pro- 
 pitiate the Unseen. So far as sincerity goes, they compare 
 favourably with more civilised exhibitions of devotion. My 
 men called some natives who stood at a little distance, and 
 I asked them to sit down and talk through an interpreter. 
 They readily consented, and the following chat ensued : — 
 
 " Will you tell me what that little hut is for ? " 
 
 " It is for our dead chief's spirit to sleep in."" 
 
 " Does your dead chief get tired and need rest ? " 
 
 " Yes ! they have many children to visit every day ! " 
 
 " What is that flour for ? 
 
 " For the chief to eat ! " 
 
 " Does he eat it ? " 
 
 " No ! If we want to go on a journey, or need rain, 
 or any other thing, we bring food here to show our ancestors 
 we really want assistance, and they help us." 
 
 "You mean that 'Leza' (the Creator) helps you, not 
 your ancestors; is not that so?" 
 
 " No ! Leza speaks to no man. No man can speak to 
 
 Him ; He talks with our ancestors, and they help us after 
 
 speaking to Him ; but they will not do so unless we bring 
 
 here some small present of food, or oil, or beads." 
 
 208 
 
A NUGGET 
 
 I was listening to a sermon, the heads being: Faith, 
 sincerity of appeal, mediation, answers from the invisible 
 God. As there is no record of the Christian religion ever 
 having been taught to those people, the sermon was inter- 
 esting, if not instructive. 
 
 Palm-oil was being manufactured in all the villages, 
 affording employment to the men, whilst women made pots 
 out of a grey clay in which to transport the oil to the 
 lake ports. 
 
 In the deep ravines, high upon the mountains, grew 
 enormous trees, with gigantic creepers running up them 
 almost to the top. It was grand to stand and see these 
 lofty trees swaying in the wind, and interesting to calculate 
 what their value will be when the lake shore is populated 
 with civilised races, intent on building ships. Rubber vines 
 appeared plentiful, but the steep hillsides had been washed 
 almost clean by the heavy rains, and would not bear a 
 crop even of rank grass. 
 
 I lay half asleep one evening, when a voice outside the 
 tent asked, "Master, are you asleep?" 
 
 " No," I replied. " Come in ; who are you ? " 
 
 My visitor was a local Arab, and after assuring himself 
 that we were alone he unrolled a dirty piece of calico, out 
 of which he produced a nugget of yellow metal, saying : 
 
 " Is that ' tha habu ' ? " (gold). 
 
 " Where did you get it ? " 
 
 " Will you tell the Germans if I let you know ? " 
 " I cannot promise anything until I know where it came 
 from. " 
 
 " If it's gold, do you know how to get it out of the 
 stone ? and would you give us a half share if we let you 
 transact the business ? " 
 
 "I cannot arrange anything unless I know where this 
 was found." The secret I determined to have first; the 
 other was mere detail. 
 
 211 
 
SCENERY OF LAKE TANGANYIKA 
 
 Coming closer, he whispered, " Near the town of Ujiji ! " 
 His greedy, anxious eyes were fixed on mine, trying to read 
 an answer. 
 
 "There is no necessity for so much secrecy," I explained 
 when I had looked at the nugget. " This is neither gold 
 nor copper; it is valueless. See! I cannot cut it with my 
 penknife ; it is iron pyrites ! In future, if you find any- 
 thing yellow like this, and you can cut it, most likely it 
 will be gold or copper — which are both soft."' 
 
 I am certain he did not believe it was the truth, for he 
 said, " Give it me ; I will take care of it." 
 
 It is well known that vast deposits of iron ore, of good 
 quality, are distributed all over Equatorial Africa, awaiting 
 the advent of another race who will turn it to account. 
 
 In addition to palm-oil, honey and wax were collected 
 and sold, a good-sized bucketful of honey costing about 
 two yards of calico. The wax was usually sold in balls 
 for rubbing the strings of bows and polishing drums. Others 
 daubed it over leaks in the canoes. Graphite was dug from 
 the hill and disposed of in small pieces to the women, for 
 polishing their earthenware pots ; the men smeared it over 
 their bodies, mixed with grease, especially during the rains, 
 when it took the place of an umbrella, as the rain ran off 
 its smooth surface. Salt was purchased at Ujiji in exchange 
 for ground-nut oil. Thus these natives led a fairly busy life. 
 It was the most interesting end of Tanganyika. The moisture- 
 laden south-east winds water the whole mountain chain, which 
 stretches away northwards in parallel lines. 
 
 Standing on a hilltop and looking down on this won- 
 derful inland sea, I tried to realise the feelings of the early 
 explorers when they discovered the Rusizi River flowing into 
 the lake, and not out of it, towards the Nile, as they fondly 
 expected it did, and the question arose. Had this lake, 
 in the heart of Africa, ever been connected with the sea.? 
 I could not answer it myself, but science has attempted to 
 
 212 
 
A Nati\'e Smelting l^u knack 
 
 A disused iron smelting furnace with a piece of iron ore at the side. The furnace is made of clay 
 divided into compartments for the ore and fuel. The bog iron is excavated and piled up inside ; 
 and charcoal and wood are used for fuel. In some districts the draught is increased by bellows 
 inserted into holes in the sides. 
 
TANGANYIKA AND THE SEA 
 
 do so since I dwelt in reverie on the mountain, waiting to 
 make treaties. 
 
 Mr. Moore, who with others examined the medusas I 
 forwarded to England, was sent out by the lloyal Society 
 to make further investigations, based on the discovery of 
 these unique jellyfish, and he tells us that "there are great 
 quantities of jellyfish in Tanganyika. Only two instances 
 are known of jellyfish being found in fresh water, this instance 
 and that in the Botanical Society^s Gardens in Regent's 
 Park. No doubt the latter specimen owes its presence to 
 some tropical plant. 
 
 The shrimps are very marine in type. The Arabs curry 
 them. I know of no other fresh-water shrimp that is eaten. 
 Again, the shellfish are unlike any fresh- water shellfish now 
 known. Only the dead shells of these had been sent to 
 England before. 
 
 " All the Tanganyika shellfish produce their young alive — 
 they do not lay eggs ; some have certain protrusive snouts, 
 like certain salt-water shellfish. The lake possesses also 
 certain peculiar sponges. Though not like any known sea- 
 sponge, they are more like sea-sponges than they resemble the 
 hitherto known fresh-water sponge. They grow on the dead 
 shell of the shellfish, mostly in deep water. They are not 
 likely to be of practical use, for when dried they crumble to 
 pieces. 
 
 " The whole question has presented two hypotheses — either 
 that the marine type of fauna of Tanganyika has been pro- 
 duced by the animals living in conditions similar to those in 
 the sea, but without having any connection with the animals of 
 the sea ; or, secondly, that the lake at some remote period has 
 been in direct connection with the sea. I am inclined to favour 
 the latter view — namely, that at some very remote period the 
 lake was in touch with the sea, perhaps to the north." 
 
 The general aspect, as it appears to navigators, has been 
 well described by Hore : — 
 
 215 
 
SCENERY OF LAKE TANGANYIKA 
 
 " Owing to the immense evaporation, the opposite shores, 
 even where only fifteen miles distant, are visible only in the 
 rainy season : then, sailing down the centre of the lake, one 
 realises its trough-like character, but coasting inshore, there 
 is a great variety of scenery; here, for thirty miles at a 
 stretch, you sail in deep water, alongside the mountains, which 
 rise steeply to over a thousand feet, showing broad patches of 
 rock amongst miles of beautiful trees ; again, in a few places, 
 shallow flats only permit access to the shore by poling in 
 canoes. Steep rocky islands, with dry soil, set out in the lake 
 so as to be always ventilated, supply sites for residences, 
 and many fine natural harbours give facility for navigation. 
 Pebbly creeks, with clear water and pretty shells, fringe the 
 drier and more scrubby forest regions of lower elevation, 
 and invite the visits of the buffalo, zebra, and elephant. 
 
 "Muddy river-mouths, half choked with reeds and papyrus, 
 and swarming with hippopotami and crocodiles, afford a home 
 for ducks, geese, the ibis, kingfishers, the crested crane, and 
 other aquatic birds. 
 
 " The lake itself, with its long open stretches of deep 
 blue sea, causes all sense of confinement to be lost. In fine 
 weather there is no more delightful place for sailing, there 
 being but few reefs and shallows. The perpetual hum of 
 insects at night on the shore gauges the distance from the 
 beach as the boat recedes or approaches, and seems, with 
 the flickering will-o'-the-wisp marking out the water's edge, to 
 welcome the home-coming voyager. Another aspect is given 
 by the monsoon of the dry season, sometimes lasting as a 
 gale for four or five days, only lulling slightly at night, 
 and causing a bad sea running the whole length of the lake, 
 against which it is difficult for a small boat to beat. 
 
 " At daybreak masses of clouds, piled up on one of the 
 great mountain capes, begin to drop down over the water 
 as the vi^ind begins to rise, and the water is lashed into little 
 waves. The wind increases until it blows a gale. The sky 
 
 216 
 
SCENERY OF LAKE TANGANYIKA 
 
 clears, and a great dryness follows ; the long row of cloud 
 masses on the western shore remain, discharging their moisture, 
 whilst the lake basin is hot and dry." 
 
 Such is the general aspect of the dry season, and with 
 a good yacht, no better sailing could be had than to beat 
 down against that south-east gale. 
 
 I have frequently heard people say that birds are scarce in 
 Africa. This has not been my experience. Songsters are rare, 
 I admit, but birds — they abound everywhere, except in dry 
 forests many miles from water. 
 
 I see Captain Hore noticed this, for he says : " I think the 
 birds are most in evidence. The ostrich on the plains ; the 
 guinea-fowl, partridge, and dove in the woods; the pelican 
 and spoonbill, the crested crane, and many others in the 
 marshes ; the spur-winged and the solan goose, duck, and teal 
 in the lagoons ; the ibis, the lily trotter, and a host of others 
 in river-mouths and quiet creeks — all find congenial homes on 
 the lake shore and adjoining country. The vulture, the hawk, 
 and the fish-eagle overhead, innumerable small birds in the trees 
 and bushes, the golden oriole, with its noisy colonies of many 
 nests amongst the long reeds, enliven every feature of the scene. 
 
 " The seasons have their special birds. In the freshness of 
 the morning the pied kingfisher is seen, hovering over the 
 water and dropping like a flash upon its prey; then there 
 is the darter, the scissor-bill, and at night the goatsucker. 
 To this list might be added millions of swallows, which pass 
 twice a year in their annual flights." 
 
 All these subjects I was enabled to think about during my 
 enforced detention on account of the chiefs not yet having 
 made up their minds to receive me for a chat about the land. 
 It was of no use trying to force the pace ; that would have sent 
 them into their shells for a year or two. Quiet persuasion 
 and patience, I knew, were the most effective weapons to use 
 against their natural suspicion of this utter stranger. 
 
 As the time was rapidly passing, I thought it well to 
 
 217 M 
 
A NATIVE REGATTA 
 
 advertise my presence by organising a regatta. Thirty-seven 
 canoes were soon collected to compete over a distance of a 
 mile, each canoe to carry six men, with bamboo poles for 
 punting in the shallow water. 
 
 1st prize, eight yards of red twill. 
 2nd four ,, blue calico. 
 
 3rd two white calico. 
 
 At the discharging of a revolver the whole lot dashed off. 
 Three pairs collided during the first hundred yards ; noisy 
 jokes were freely discharged by the competitors, all taking 
 the spill in the best possible spirit. In the scramble out of 
 the water they were blissfully indifferent as to which canoe 
 they entered, their idea being to get themselves first past the 
 winning post ; the boat could not wear the cloth, and did not 
 seem to count. 
 
 How frantically those men punted ! Every few seconds 
 some one'*s pole stuck, and the punter fell headlong into 
 the water. Crowds of eager spectators ran along the sand, 
 howling with excitement as their respective friends led the 
 others. And as for the boys, they ran along in the shallow 
 water, stopping every other moment to wrestle with a friend ; 
 they threw each other splashing into the lake, and danced on 
 the half-smothered victim as he endeavoured to keep his head 
 out of water. 
 
 They pelted each other with sand, and when a canoe 
 capsized, danced with delight and shouted derisively, not 
 exactly saying what the London cabby does to a broken-down 
 motor-car driver — " Take it home ! — but asking in an exas- 
 perating tone, " Why do you try to hide your faces in the 
 water ? You capsized the boat on purpose, because you were 
 behind. Whoo ! whoo ! whoo ! These sounds are tittered 
 in a long-drawn, derisive manner. Boys never jeer at older 
 people than themselves unless they see a certain way of escape 
 if pursued. 
 
 218 
 
A NATIVE REGATTA 
 
 " You fellows know more about pushing porridge down 
 your throats than pushing a canoe ! The coloured cloth is in 
 front, not behind ! " This was addressed to the last boat^s 
 crew. 
 
 " Get out and carry the boat ; you will go quicker ! " 
 
 One of the men, stung by their reproaches, jumped out 
 and went for them ; but they were off like rabbits out of his 
 reach, and the next minute turning somersaults in the water, 
 or shaking hands at their success in drawing the man out of 
 the boat. They were perfect boys, full of mischief and fun. 
 An immense crowd gathered round as the first canoe was 
 sent dashing past the post, and the victors leaped overboard 
 with shouts of victory. 
 
 Swimming races, both under and on the surface, followed, 
 and I don't think I have ever joined with a happier, more 
 rollicking crowd of sportsmen. 
 
 The day's fun completely swept away suspicion from the 
 minds of the people and chief, as I hoped and intended it 
 should do. The girls, who received the pretty cloths from 
 their brothers, lovers, or husbands, paraded through the 
 village singing the praises of their champions, and as usual 
 composed impromptu choruses about the advent of the white 
 man who came to talk to the chief. 
 
 Dancing past my tent in the evening, clothed with the 
 pretty cloths, clapping their hands, and followed by a crowd 
 of young people, these dusky maidens sang : — 
 
 " To-day we throw ixway our skins " 
 
 (They had worn goat-skins), 
 
 To-day, to-day ! 
 
 Our men have beaten every one, 
 To-day, to-day ! 
 
 And now we beat the butterfly. 
 Our clothes are bluer than the lake. 
 The white man likes to see us laugh, 
 To-day, to-day ! " 
 
 219 
 
A NATIVE REGATTA 
 
 How refreshingly sweet and simple ! Here was perfect 
 happiness and natural joy. 
 
 Next morning I met the chief, and when night came I 
 slept with the title-deeds to their country under my pillow. 
 
 'Tis surely better to build an empire on such foundations 
 than to write a transfer of land with the blood of its owners. 
 
 220 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 The People of the Tanganyika — A Cannibal — The Warundi 
 — A Conjurer — The Fauna of the Rusizi — Attacked by 
 Leopards — A Storm on the Lake — Swamped. 
 
 THE Wazigi tribe, amongst whom I was travelling 
 making treaties, occupied the extreme north-west of 
 the lake. Their chiefs were powerful and owned large 
 herds of cattle ; the people certainly showed themselves to 
 be full of activity and very courageous. 
 
 Whatever trade they carried on was done mostly with 
 the tribes who inhabited the eastern district, near to the 
 Albert Edward Nyanza, from whence they obtained great 
 quantities of ivory in exchange for hoes, salt, and gunpowder, 
 which the Arabs imported from the East Coast. 
 
 Near to them lived the Warundi, who physically were a 
 much finer race of men and women. It was their practice to 
 decorate themselves with elaborate tattoo marks, or patches 
 of red and white pigment. They are the real fishermen of 
 the lake, being expert with spear, net, and hook, and in 
 every respect perfect watermen. Their villages were composed 
 of small family groups who chose to live separated from the 
 great towns, where, they say, there is no peace, but too much 
 annoyance. 
 
 Food was abundant everywhere. Tobacco was to be seen 
 growing most luxuriantly in the dark loam at the base of 
 the hills. The Warundi being very powerful, none dared to 
 molest them, with the result that their gardens were both 
 large and well stocked, and the numerous grain stores, in 
 every village, testified to the general welfare of the community. 
 
 There can be no doubt that for the purposes of agriculture 
 
 221 
 
THE PEOPLE OF THE TANGANYIKA 
 
 the north end of Tanganyika and Nyasa should be selected for 
 growing coffee, tobacco, and palm-oil. 
 
 The glossy skins of the cattle spoke eloquently of the rich 
 grass-land on which they were reared. Milk and sour cream 
 could be purchased for a trifle, and could even be had for 
 nothing in some of the towns where cattle were plentiful. As 
 for bananas, they rotted on the trees. 
 
 I was much impressed with the numerous markets held 
 every day in most of the principal villages. There being 
 no money, and very little calico, the common currency was 
 rings of iron wire twisted around a nucleus of stiff reed, 
 the value of which was determined by the fineness of the 
 wire. Ten of these rings would purchase about as much as 
 a yard of calico. 
 
 Native-made hoes were offered for sale in great numbers, 
 and transported westwards to the Mitamba forest dwarfs 
 in exchange for ivory. Their neighbours, the Watusi, were 
 purely breeders of cattle. The men were tall, slim, and 
 dignified, whilst the women were both graceful and pretty, 
 but extremely shy of strangers, not mixing freely with people 
 in the market-places, as at Ujiji and other towns. 
 
 The large pearl mussel was brought for sale, but was 
 not edible. The shell was coated on the inside with mother- 
 o'-pearl, so we inserted under the lip a small particle of 
 sand and replaced the bivalve in a protected corner of 
 the lake. In five months each mussel contained a small 
 pearl ; but several were attached to the shell and were value- 
 less. It proved that pearls could be produced in this manner, 
 but I think the mussel is too small to warrant any outlay of 
 capital on the enterprise. Whilst we were at anchor in a 
 small creek, a most hideous creature came and danced before 
 my tent. I found that previously he had been annoying the 
 boat's crew. His face was pitted from smallpox ; his eyes 
 were bloodshot ; all his upper teeth had been filed to a 
 point to enable him to tear raw meat. Cat-skins adorned 
 
 222 
 
An Elabora'Ikly Carxed Pipe 
 
 The bowl is made of burnt clay. A woman is represented holding a bowl 
 on which her lord's pipe rests, typifying the servile position of woman. 
 Such pipes are very uncommon; none but chiefs or near relatives are allowed 
 to smoke them. Native tobacco when properly cured is fairly good. 
 
 Drying F'ishing Nets above the Sand 
 
 The sun makes the sand so hot that it burns the nets, therefore they are hung upon sticks. The cord 
 spun from a vegetable fibre ; it is untanned and therefore does not last long, but it is fairly strong. 
 
A CANNIBAL 
 
 his body ; one leg was painted with red ochre, the other 
 with white kaolin. His hair was twisted into long curls, 
 which hung around his head ; from the ends of these curls 
 palm-oil was dripping on to his neck and back. 
 
 After a long series of disgusting evolutions and weird 
 shrieks, he rolled over on the ground, up to my feet, and 
 lay with his face near to the sand, handfuls of which he 
 was thrusting into his mouth and then ejecting. I was 
 sure this had some meaning, but his language being unknown 
 to me, I asked an interpreter what he wanted. 
 
 " Food, master," was the reply. 
 
 " Very well, give him some maize meal." 
 
 " He won't eat porridge ; he wants meat." 
 
 " All right ! I suppose he is mad ; give him some goat's 
 meat — there is plenty in the boat." 
 
 This was offered to him, but he refused, saying, " The 
 child of the lizard only eats live meat ! " 
 
 " Live meat ! What does he mean ? " 
 
 " He wants you to give him one of your boatmen ! " 
 
 The interpreter turned and pointed to the boat as he 
 said these words, and this beast sprang to his feet, poised 
 aloft his spear, making vigorous thrusts with it in the 
 direction of the vessel. 
 
 " Tell him I require all my men to fill the boat ; we don't 
 use them for filling hungry mouths." 
 
 This decision did not please him, for with a frown at 
 me he sneaked away into the bush; but I had him cleared 
 out of it before the sun went down, as I like neither sneak- 
 ing lion nor man. They cannot be trusted. 
 
 It transpired that he had walked over from Manyema, 
 and was not only a cannibal but a Mfiti, who was supposed 
 to disinter bodies and eat them. It was the first specimen 
 I had encountered, and certainly if there is a missing link 
 anywhere he would almost fulfil the necessary conditions; 
 for I have seen far saner and more intelligent apes than this 
 
 225 
 
A BRAVE ACTION 
 
 half-man, half-beast who begged for live flesh to eat. To 
 the west, many of the tribes are known to be cannibals. 
 
 Like most of the northern tribes, the Warundi were clever 
 workers in iron, but could not show such fine workmanship 
 as the skilled men on the Zambezi. 
 
 One of these Warundi young men performed a brave 
 action whilst I was in port. Near to the boat, some youngsters 
 were bathing and having the usual game of hide-and-seek 
 under the water, when one was seized by a crocodile. The 
 lad's brother, who was standing on the shore, seeing his 
 brother in trouble, without the least hesitation leaped into 
 the water amongst the screaming boys and dealt the croc 
 a heavy blow on the nose with his axe. This made him 
 release the boy, who was promptly dragged on shore. Blood- 
 poisoning set in and he died, but I thought the brother had 
 made a most plucky attempt to save him, and calling him 
 the next day, I rewarded his bravery with a large packet 
 of salt. It was difficult to get him to understand why he 
 was receiving the present, because they never understand the 
 reason for a gift ; it seems to them so utterly ridiculous " to 
 give something for nothing," as they term it. 
 
 This attitude of most Africans cannot be too often 
 brought to the notice of young people who intend to work 
 amongst them. You can never win respect by presents; 
 they at once consider you deficient in intellect, or as having 
 some sinister motive which they are unable to understand, 
 and hence their suspicions are aroused. This is fatal, as their 
 confidence is extremely difficult to obtain afterwards. 
 
 The croc was shot as it tried to crawl into shallow water ; 
 the nose having been cut through, it could not go into 
 deep water. On opening its stomach we found a large piece 
 of white quartz about 4 lbs. in weight ; this, the natives 
 explained, was swallowed by the animal as ballast,'' to 
 enable it to lie on the bottom of the river. Strange to 
 relate, I shot another, years afterwards, on the Lake Nyasa, 
 
 226 
 
A CONJURER 
 
 which had a similar lump of quartz in its stomach, and a 
 Swahili man gave me exactly the same explanation. The 
 latter piece of quartz was for years exhibited in the Govern- 
 ment Offices at Kotakota, covered with particles of otter 
 hair, showing that the crocodile had been swift enough to 
 catch that alert creature. 
 
 In the cool of the evening, after the excitement had 
 abated, we sat and discussed crocodiles and other dangerous 
 beasts; the conversation turning to a wonderful man who 
 could entice them out of the water whenever he pleased by 
 simply whistling. Having had an interesting exhibition of 
 this whistling power, I expressed doubts, when an Arab said, 
 " You doubt my words, do you ? Ill fetch him ! " 
 
 " I do not doubt there is a man who whistles," I replied ; 
 " but that he can make the crocodiles come at his call, I 
 think is too stupid for children, much more for men, to 
 believe."** 
 
 After a lot of fuss the interesting individual appeared. 
 He prated the usual rubbish about the moon not being on 
 its right side and the stars not yet awake, but seeing me 
 smile, he got to business and asked, " Will the white man 
 pay me for my services ? " Servant girl and gipsy came into 
 my mind, for the man actually repeated the old formula in 
 another language — "Will the sweet maiden cross my hand 
 with silver ? 
 
 " I am told you call to crocodiles in that lake and they 
 come on shore. If you can do that I will certainly pay. 
 Can you do as these people say ? 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 " How many can you bring at one time ? " 
 
 " It all depends on the amount of calico I receive." 
 
 That I thought an exceedingly practical answer, and I 
 was not slow to close with his offer. 
 
 " Very well ! I will give you two yards of red twill for 
 the first croc which puts its head up, three yards for the 
 
 229 
 
A CONJURER 
 
 second, four yards for the third, up to the tenth; after that 
 we must stop or there will be none left."' 
 
 " I agree to do so ; but you must first give me the calico, 
 so that I can go away and make medicine." 
 
 " No, you don't ! No crocs, no pay ! Understand ? " 
 
 He evidently did, for, entering a house, he beckoned me to 
 follow him. 
 
 I took the precaution of taking a boy with me, for I had 
 not forgotten that " Snakes lay on the path waiting for frogs.'" 
 
 " You don't need the boy, master ; he can wait outside." 
 
 " No, thanks ! he carries my tobacco and pipe." 
 
 On arriving inside the house we sat down. Fixing my 
 eyes on his, I said : 
 
 " Look here, my man, my skin is white, so is my father's ; 
 we are not quite such fools in our country as to believe in 
 all this rubbish. But in order to give you a fair chance, you 
 are to call only once for each croc : every time it refuses to 
 put its head out of the water, you pay me a sheep; every 
 time it answers you, I pay calico. That's fair, is it not ? " 
 
 Too fair for him. He was getting a lesson in profit and 
 loss; up to now it had been all gain. 
 
 Bending forward, he whispered : 
 
 " I cannot make them come out of the water." 
 
 " Then why do you cheat these people ? " 
 
 " Because they pay ; why should I not take it ? " 
 
 Why not ? I knew a similar game was at that moment 
 being pla3^ed north of the equator, by people whose skin was 
 white like my own ; so I closed the interview by going outside 
 to the Arabs and the crowd who had collected to see me pay 
 over the calico. 
 
 " I have stopped the man from bringing out the crocs, 
 
 because I am your guest, and it is polite to honour your 
 
 host. Every day I see you praying and hear you declare 
 
 there is but one God. Knowing this, I could not allow this 
 
 person to insult your religion." 
 
 230 
 
A CONJURER 
 
 " In what way did he wish to do it ? " they asked. 
 " Let me explain. As the Creator made the croc as well 
 as the water in which it swims, no one but He could make it 
 come out, unless it had previously been tamed and recognised 
 its master''s voice. If this stranger to your crocs compelled 
 them to obey him, he must be a God. That would have 
 made two, and proved the Moslem religion to be wrong ! 
 Don't you understand ? 
 
 Smiting their breasts in true Oriental fashion, they replied, 
 " Truly, truly ! we have sinned. 
 
 " Yes, you have ! This poor impostor has never heard of 
 any religion ; but you have, so that you are worse than he is." 
 " Let's kill him ! Shall we ? " they asked. 
 " No ! certainly not ; it would be unfair. He deceived you, 
 but you deceived yourselves by consenting to make him as 
 God. Sacrifice two fat sheep, and let their blood mingle 
 with the clear water of the lake, and be thankful we have 
 saved you from the consequences of so great a mistake. The 
 meat will be carefully removed from your midst by my sailors, 
 so that no remnant of the sacrifice shall be lost." 
 
 This was done, and from the expressions of pleasure on 
 the faces of my men I really believe a daily sacrifice of a 
 similar nature would have been appreciated by them. It 
 seemed advisable to make natives and Arabs pay for having 
 their eyes opened to all kinds of fraud. 
 
 On the morning of our departure I continued the lesson 
 by saying: "Don't forget, these conjurers are too clever to 
 work in the fields. They are lazy and prefer to deceive you ; 
 the hand is quicker than the eye." 
 
 " No ! no ! " they exclaimed. " Nothing is quicker than 
 the eye." 
 
 " Is it not ? " I retorted. " Til prove to you the hand 
 is, now, before we sail." 
 
 Taking out a needle from a box and passing it through 
 the skin of my first finger, I grasped it with the thumb, thus 
 
 231 
 
FAUNA OF THE RUSIZI 
 
 partially hiding the needle, and taking hold of an Arab's 
 arm, I asked : 
 
 " Have you bones inside ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " he answered. 
 
 "Do you think I can pass this needle through your arm 
 without your feeling pain ? " 
 
 " Of course you cannot ; and besides, it would bleed ! " 
 
 Giving the needle an apparent blow by raising my hand 
 and bringing it quickly down on his, and instantly passing 
 it underneath, I produced the needle, after making exertions, 
 from the other side. 
 
 " Go away, master — go away ! You could send it through 
 our hearts." 
 
 " No, I could not ; it's all a deception, and only done to 
 prove to you the eye is slow, the hand quick." 
 
 When I showed them how it was done they laughed 
 heartily, and I don't think our visit was readily forgotten. 
 
 With this final adieu we entered the Rusizi River, which 
 was flowing into the lake at about two miles an hour. On 
 either side the plain stretched away to the base of the hills, 
 presenting abundant evidence that it was once covered by 
 the lake for many miles to the north. Numerous shallow 
 pools had been left by the receding water, in which grew just 
 sufficient reeds to afford a breeding ground for aquatic birds. 
 I do not think it is possible to witness such a collection of 
 wild-fowl anywhere in the world as could be seen on these 
 muddy flats. They flew about in thousands, and appeared 
 to be of every known African species. 
 
 Heavy spur-winged geese stood in great numbers in the 
 marshes, digging their long beaks into the mud for food. 
 The handsome Egyptian goose fought for tasty morsels with 
 white - breasted, black - backed geese, these latter being in 
 greater numbers than any other. Teal and widgeon were 
 untiring in their playful evolutions over our heads, probably 
 being curious to find out what our white painted boat was. 
 
PICTURESQUE SCENERY 
 
 This was quite natural, as they had only seen canoes. Pelicans, 
 dreamily floating, looked more like a long streak of cream 
 on the water than heavy birds. Immense flocks of marabou 
 storks sailed in wide circles high overhead, giving a beautiful 
 display of their powers of easy aviation, almost to be envied. 
 The report of a rifle disturbed tens of thousands of birds of 
 all sizes, which rose in dense masses, blackening the sky as 
 they crossed each other at different altitudes in graceful 
 flight. 
 
 It was a breeding place, to which the birds came annually, 
 and one could scarcely imagine the number of eggs laid 
 amongst the reeds by the countless feathered host. For miles 
 up the river we enjoyed this lively spectacle ; but as a contrast 
 there were ever to be seen below the cruel crocodiles, which 
 splashed into the stream from every stretch of sandbank. 
 
 The upper portion of the river widened into what is known 
 as Lake Kiwa, and in this neighbourhood peaceful treaties 
 were made with all the most influential chiefs, including 
 Rusavia, who claimed to be paramount on both sides of 
 the river. The actual diplomatic work being accomplished, 
 I left the boat and camped up on the side of the mountains, 
 as sleeping amongst the myriads of insect life in the reeds 
 was quite out of the question. The air at this altitude was 
 bracing, but the sudden change of temperature gave several 
 of my men fever ; this is a very common result to hill people 
 who descend to the plains, or vice versa. 
 
 The view was very picturesque. To the right lay the 
 great lake, reflecting the rays of the setting sun ; on its surface 
 the fishermen's canoes appeared as tiny black dots near the 
 coast-line. The plain spread northwards far beyond our range 
 of vision, suggesting a greater Tanganyika, and one could 
 easily imagine it was once covered by one body of water, 
 which, at a higher level, may have joined the great Nile 
 system. The river could be easily traced winding through 
 green patches of papyrus, whilst at intervals small groups of 
 
 233 
 
A FAIR REGION 
 
 villages nestled under isolated clumps of trees, taking advan- 
 tage of the protection they afforded from the burning noontide 
 heat, which radiated from the surrounding sand, causing pain 
 to the eyes. At our backs, and far above us, rose the hills, 
 covered with luxurious vegetation wherever the soil had not 
 been washed away by torrential rains. 
 
 Monkeys of various kinds sprang about amongst the tall 
 trees, indulging in gymnastic exercises on the strong creepers 
 which hung suspended from the high branches. 
 
 Green parrots kept up those constant, shrill, unpleasant 
 notes by which they are easily distinguished from all other 
 birds. 
 
 In the midst of such scenery, and suiTounded by these 
 myriads of creatures enjoying life in varied forms, far away 
 from the teeming cities of the world, is it any wonder that 
 when I dropped to sleep the first night on the hillside I was 
 almost afraid to think of treaties and empire, lest I should 
 picture this fair region cut up by roads, blackened by the 
 smoke of factories, and its golden sands, instead of being 
 habited by wild-fowl, covered with vast workshops in which 
 men and women might have to labour in close confinement, 
 and might possibly be compelled to demand that they should 
 not slave more than eight hours a day ? 
 
 The sleep was, however, not to be of long duration. It 
 seems well-nigh impossible to live out there at a moderate 
 pace. From dreamland one is plunged into tragedy. A 
 contemplation of nature under her most attractive aspect is 
 rudely swept aside by a sudden introduction of turmoil, pain, 
 death. Some unseen hand appears to be manipulating moving 
 pictures, over which you, as a spectator, possess no controlling 
 power. You are not consulted as to whether the change is 
 desirable or not. It comes ! goes ! for the moment obliterating 
 all preceding impressions, and it is only when, years afterwards, 
 one sits down, as I am now doing, to develop the negatives 
 which have been stored up in the brain, that one realises the 
 
 234 
 
ATTACKED BY LEOPARDS 
 
 deep impression each passing phase of African experience has 
 left on one'*s life. 
 
 I closed my eyes with pleasant thoughts of life. In the air 
 it had all the previous day been manifested by those countless 
 wings of the wild-fowl ; in the forest by the bouncing monkeys 
 and swift-climbing lizards; in the evening by choruses of 
 insect calls which hushed me to sleep. It was life every- 
 where. Above ! around ! below ! On opening my eyes I was 
 in the presence of crying, suffering humanity, struggling to 
 escape death. 
 
 A few of my people had accompanied me to the village, 
 and not caring to cross the swamps at night to return to the 
 river, had obtained permission to sleep in the village. The 
 night air was warmed by the heat radiating from the sur- 
 rounding rocks, which had absorbed the sun^s rays during 
 the daytime, and thus the men were tempted to sleep in the 
 open air, not troubling to seek a hut, which would have been 
 readily placed at their disposal. 
 
 I was lying half awake about midnight, when a horrible 
 
 shouting and crying of" Chui ! Chui ! Bwana ! " (" Leopards ! 
 
 thoroughly aroused me. These shrieks were mingled with the 
 
 ferocious snarls of two leopards as they attacked the men lying 
 
 around their fires. Snatching up a revolver, I rushed out, and 
 
 saw on the ground, locked in a close struggle, men and leopards. 
 
 The brutes were rolled over by the powerful men, sometimes 
 
 one, then the other, being uppermost. Blood was flowing 
 
 freely from the men''s legs, arms, and backs, where the sharp 
 
 claws had dug deep into the flesh, but up to that moment 
 
 they had succeeded in keeping the animals away from their 
 
 throats, which the leopard invariably seizes if he can. Both 
 
 animals were smeared with the blood of their victims, who 
 
 were rapidly tiring, and having been caught when half asleep, 
 
 were at a disadvantage, with no weapon of defence. It was 
 
 impossible to fire at so confused a mass of struggling men 
 
 and beasts without danger of hitting the men, so I discharged 
 
 235 
 
ATTACKED BY LEOPARDS 
 
 several shots in the air to scare away the creatures. It had a 
 partial success, as they both turned to look in the direction of 
 the noise. This gave the men breathing time ; but the loss of 
 blood had left them but little strength to continue the unequal 
 battle, and certainly no chance of victory. 
 
 The report of firearms aroused the active hill-dwellers, who 
 rushed out of their huts, and as soon as they saw what was 
 taking place, without a moment's hesitation, charged down on 
 the leopards, plunging their broad-bladed spears into both 
 animals, almost cutting them to pieces. If the leopards had 
 seized the men's throats nothing could have saved their lives, 
 for with a few rapid strokes of their claws across the neck they 
 will sever the large arteries and drink the blood. 
 
 In this case it made little difference to two poor fellows, 
 who died the next day from exhaustion . One other had to be 
 left in the charge of the chief, and ultimately recovered from 
 his wounds. Such attacks from leopards are not common, as 
 they prefer to catch fowls and dogs and roam nightly through 
 most villages, occasionally killing a goat which may have been 
 tied up unprotected. 
 
 In the rice-growing district, women are sometimes killed 
 who go out alone very early in the morning to scare away 
 birds from the corn, or old women who wander carelessly into 
 the forest to gather firewood ; but, generally speaking, the 
 leopard is considered more as a nuisance than a dangerous 
 enemy. I was afraid the natives might raise all sorts of un- 
 pleasant questions about witchcraft, in which light the attack 
 was nearly certain to be considered, the leopard being the 
 favourite animal chosen as a temporary residence by their 
 ancestors and enemies, and certain live persons being believed 
 able to transform themselves at will into his shape for the 
 purposes of revenge. 
 
 No such unpleasant consequences followed, but we were 
 politely given to understand that they would prefer our room 
 to our company, so, as the south-east wind had subsided, I 
 
 236 
 
SWAMPED 
 
 packed up and set sail for Ujiji, with the valuable treaties 
 safely sealed up in an iron case. 
 
 We were not to escape quite so easily with miles of terri- 
 tory; for, on rounding a cape, strong squalls of wind and rain 
 struck us, necessitating speedy reduction of sail. The cold 
 wind came rushing down those deep ravines which separate 
 the hills, and as it caught the cape, formed into a miniature 
 cyclone, catching the raindrops as they descended, and in a 
 few seconds forming them into a waving column of water. A 
 corresponding column was sucked up from the lake and met 
 in mid-air, completing a grand but dangerous waterspout, 
 which came racing after us accompanied by a tornado of 
 wind. 
 
 There was only one chance, and that was to cut across its 
 track and beach the boat; so, hoisting a reefed jib and double- 
 reefed mizzen, we eased oW the sheets and almost flew through 
 the water towards a clear strip of sand between two headlands. 
 It was the wildest, and at the same time grandest, spectacle 
 one could witness. The tiny white boat, made whiter by 
 contrast with the inky sky, flying like a seagull before the 
 wind. As the storm-centre swept towards us I blazed away 
 all the cartridges in the magazine of the Lee-Metford rifle, 
 hoping the vibration would disperse the concentrated force 
 which threatened our destruction ; but the reports were scarcely 
 audible, as a blinding sheet of flame, followed by a crash of 
 thunder, sent the dark column of water dashing to the lake's 
 surface in one wide sheet of foam. 
 
 At that instant an eddy caught us, tearing both sails to 
 ribbons, and blowing the boat over as if it had been a bubble. 
 She sank only a few yards from the shore, carrying with her 
 the precious title-deeds which had been procured by so much 
 labour and thought. 
 
 Wet, cold, hungry, and " down in the dumps,"' we crawled 
 that night under some grass for shelter to try to sleep and 
 dream of the bird-life, the frolicsome monkeys, the music of 
 
 237 N 
 
SWAMPED 
 
 the insect choir, which seemed to belong to some other far-ofF 
 world we had read about in books ; whilst the great silver 
 sangala swam around our precious vessel, as it lay in silence 
 at the bottom of the lake, wondering what strange white 
 creature had descended from the regions above to disturb 
 their peaceful lives. 
 
 238 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 Salving the Boat — A Great Disappointment — Trouble with 
 THE Arabs — A Mischievous Monkey — An Act of Revenge 
 
 THE morning following our disaster revealed the lake like 
 a sea of glass ; not a ripple disturbed its surface. The 
 two masts of our boat stood out of the water, with a 
 small red flag hanging, as if in mourning over the silent wreck. 
 Speckled kingfishers stood on the masts, darting down every 
 few minutes into the water for their breakfast. That a wild 
 battle of the elements had taken place on this spot but a few 
 hours previously seemed well-nigh impossible. Fever, as I 
 expected, followed my somewhat sudden bath and a night's 
 sleep in wet underclothes. 
 
 The men rallied splendidly. A fire was soon kindled by 
 the usual native method of rapidly rotating one piece of wood 
 on another, and natives came down the valley bringing food, 
 accompanied by one of the crew who had been sent the previous 
 evening to search for villages. Our breakfast, of steaming 
 maize porridge and tomatoes, washed down with non-alcoholic 
 white beer, made from millet, was about the sweetest meal I 
 ever ate. 
 
 The crew dived and dragged on shore everything out of 
 the boat, including my precious tin box containing the treaties, 
 which were rolled up in long tin cases similar to those pur- 
 chased at Aden for the transport of ostrich feathers. This 
 precaution had saved them from destruction, and a day devoted 
 to drying them on the sand made the situation much less 
 discouraging. 
 
 It was in such awkward corners that my men seemed 
 at their best. Face to face with the hurricane and water- 
 
 239 
 
SALVING THE BOAT 
 
 spout of yesterday they were like helpless, terror-stricken 
 children, and no wonder — for I was not particularly calm my- 
 self—but with this return to more normal conditions they 
 were invaluable. A hearty meal and several pinches of strong 
 snufF transformed them from miserable, desponding men to 
 boisterous children. 
 
 Stripping off what little clothing they wore, they dashed 
 into the lake, shouting : " We'll soon have the boat up, master. 
 You keep out of the water, and drink hot beer. It will 
 kill the fever.'"* This cheerful optimism was worth more than 
 all the quinine in the world to me at that moment, as I sat 
 shivering on the sand with ague, wrapped up in a dirty blue 
 cloth which one of them had lent me, whilst mine was drying 
 in the sun. 
 
 Crowds of natives joined in the salvage operations, the 
 boys especially thoroughly enjoying the fun of diving for small 
 articles. It was really a pleasant diversion to watch a youngster 
 rise with a saucepan, another with a kettle and — ^joy of joys — 
 my little briar pipe, which had been knocked out of my mouth 
 as I fell overboard. 
 
 The anchor and its chain were soon stretched out towards 
 the shore, and a pole inserted under the keel after the sand 
 had been scraped away. To the chain were attached strong 
 creepers, as thick as a man's wrist. These were passed to the 
 crowd of eager helpers, standing in shallow water, who ranged 
 up in line — a yelling, jolly crowd of darkies. A pull, enough 
 to snap a manilla cable, followed and the vegetable rope parted. 
 It was laughable to see the whole lot fall down splashing into 
 the lake, a confused heap of astonished, but humorous 
 creatures, determined to rescue the vessel for the white 
 stranger. 
 
 After repeated failures they were taught to apply their 
 strength with more reserve, and, to my intense joy, I saw the 
 boat move inch by inch towards the shore. Before noon the 
 gunwales were above the surface, and it was only the work of 
 
 240 
 
SALVING THE BOAT 
 
 a few minutes to bale out the water and to see her once more 
 floating, but little the worse for the immersion. I think the 
 villagers were almost as pleased as ourselves; not one asked 
 for presents ; they seemed to take the whole thing as a matter 
 of course. To them it was a sunken canoe, which needed 
 pulling on shore. They, being fishermen, know the great diffi- 
 culty of cutting down a great tree high upon the mountains, 
 and the months of hard work that must be spent in chipping 
 out its centre with small axes ; therefore they took a keen 
 interest in saving our ship. 
 
 The day previously the Consul's envoy, whom I had sent 
 along the coast, had passed and left a present with the chief, so 
 we were known to be in the neighbourhood. But even taking 
 this into account, I could not help feeling that their valuable 
 assistance was really very much more than could reasonably be 
 expected of complete strangers, and that they might quite 
 naturally have demanded heavy payment before lifting a finger 
 to help us. It was impossible to give each a present ; so I had 
 four thirty-yard pieces of American calico stretched along the 
 sand, and the people ranged alongside it. To each a few 
 inches was allotted, and all appeared quite satisfied, if not 
 surprised, at getting anything at all. In order to thoroughly 
 arouse a spirit of fun, I placed a bag of wet salt on a rock 
 about fifty yards out in the lake, and making the young men 
 toe a mark, I pointed to the salt, saying : " There you are ; 
 go for it! Whoever gets to the rock first shall have the 
 salt.'' 
 
 So we embarked and left them struggling, diving, shouting, 
 and tearing at the bag of salt, a scramble I guessed it best to 
 be out of, lest another appointment as referee should be thrust 
 upon me. We left them wishing for another shipwreck, or for 
 another scramble, at any rate, and hoping we should return. 
 Perhaps that is the best parting one can have from strange 
 tribes. 
 
 We picked up the envoy next day, and, after an uneventful 
 
 241 
 
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT 
 
 journey, we arrived at the South End. The despatches were 
 sent off immediately ; but when they arrived in London, Europe 
 had ah-eady partitioned Africa into Spheres of Influence," and 
 by the international arrangement the much-coveted link in the 
 chain, which would have given us a clear Cape to Cairo route, 
 and which had been honestly signed over to me on behalf of 
 Great Britain, fell to the lot of Germany and the Congo State. 
 My keen disappointment may well be imagined by every true 
 Imperialist, and although the thanks of Lord Salisbury and 
 Consul Johnston were highly appreciated by me, they can 
 never compensate me for the abandonment of that small red 
 line, which was actually completed in a legitimate manner 
 during the exciting time I have described, and which I should 
 have been so proud to have seen drawn on the map of Africa. 
 
 From important international politics we must return to 
 local events, which were taking place around the lake. The 
 Arabs, having received no direct communication from the 
 Congo State officers who were attempting to close the road to 
 Manyema, and who had, as they considered, no right to the 
 country, collected their forces to oppose them. After numerous 
 minor skirmishes, a pitched battle was fought, resulting in the 
 defeat of the State troops. One officer was killed and partially 
 eaten by the cannibals, and the commanding officer had to 
 retire to his headquarters through lack of support. 
 
 Having business at Ujiji, I called on Rumaliza, who at 
 once informed me that hostilities had commenced on the west 
 coast of the Lake, explaining the situation thus : — 
 
 " You, and the other Europeans, arrived here with proper 
 
 introductions from the coast, which we always respected, and 
 
 never caused you trouble of any kind. These Belgian officers 
 
 came, and the first thing we hear about them is that they are 
 
 attacking our outposts and claiming the whole country. Not 
 
 one has visited us, or sent his flag, or had the courtesy to 
 
 approach us in any way. We do not know who sent them, 
 
 and cannot believe they came from a Government ; they must 
 
 242 
 
TROUBLE WITH THE ARABS 
 
 be independent men, as Governments always instruct their 
 servants to enter first into negotiations with the rulers of 
 the country, even if they intend to fight. We received in- 
 formation that they were occupying the road between here 
 and our other trading centres, and had stopped all traffic in 
 ivory. Our head-men sent asking for instructions, and we told 
 them to defend our trade, but not to attack the white men 
 unless fired on by their troops. 
 
 "None of the Arabs have left here, for we did not think 
 it was a serious matter, as there were but two officers and a few 
 soldiers. But news reached us yesterday that a fight had taken 
 place, in which our people were victorious ; and we regret 
 to hear that one European was killed, and that some of the 
 Manyema, who, as you know, are cannibals, cooked and ate a 
 portion of his body. We cannot have people running about 
 this country with armed men attacking our soldiers, and as 
 they did not think it necessary to acknowledge our presence, 
 we on our part declined to put ourselves to the trouble of 
 crossing the lake to superintend the operations of our half-wild 
 followers. The Belgians have themselves to thank for all this 
 trouble. Do you know these men ? 
 
 I replied : " I am not acquainted with them ; but they are 
 certainly Belgian officers, sent out by the Congo State, and 
 are not adventurers, as you wish to suppose." 
 
 " Then why did they not come and bring their credentials, 
 and show their flag ? Are we to be treated as pagans ? 
 
 " I cannot tell you their reasons ; it is not my business to 
 know, but I can guess why they did not do so ! " i 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " Firstly, because you are in German territory in this 
 town. Secondly, they do not consider you the rulers of the 
 west coast. As an officer has been killed, you may expect 
 trouble; it is a great pity you did not send, or go to see 
 them, before fighting." 
 
 ^ I believe it is the fact that Capt. Jacques did previously visit them. 
 
 243 
 
TROUBLE WITH THE ARABS 
 
 " Will you go for us and tell the remaining officer how 
 sorry we are he has lost a comrade, and that, if he will come 
 here with you and bring his flag, we will listen with respect 
 to his instructions, although we cannot promise to accept his 
 demands." 
 
 I thought this quite fair, and consented ; but I added : 
 " If I go, you must send with me a responsible man, with power 
 to stop the fighting, whilst you talk ; and if he decides to come 
 here, you must swear you will protect him and permit him to 
 leave in safety. That is the custom in Europe, and I will not 
 go to him unless you swear." 
 
 " We swear by the tomb of Mohammed that we will 
 protect his life, and that he shall return alive with you to his 
 fort after our interview ! " 
 
 " No matter what he may say to you ? I asked. 
 
 " Yes ! words cannot make us break our oath." 
 
 I at once crossed the lake, and Captain Jacques paid me 
 a visit on the steamer. I told him the Arab's message, and 
 asked him to go back with me to Ujiji. This invitation he 
 politely declined, saying he could not trust them, and, more- 
 over, did not desire to hold any communication with them, as 
 they were not within the territory of the State. He appre- 
 ciated the sixteen days"* armistice I had arranged, as it gave 
 him time to visit his headquarters. His main contention was 
 that the Ujiji Arabs, being mere interlopers, had no right to 
 expect he would consult with them upon any matter concern- 
 ing the country. That, as an officer, his duty was to uphold 
 the honour of the State, ignoring the right of any one to 
 dispute their claim to the west coast. 
 
 All this was quite true from his point of view ; so also was 
 the opposite position as understood by the Arabs. 
 
 Both claimed the country, basing their respective claims 
 upon the principle that " might is right." It was no part of 
 my duty to take sides, however much I sympathised with the 
 agents of civilisation. Beyond attempting to persuade the 
 
TROUBLE WITH THE ARABS 
 
 Arabs not to draw the sword against the Europeans, and 
 seeking to afford the State official an opportunity to deliver 
 his ultimatum, I took no part in the controversy. 
 
 It was a plucky thing for two isolated officers to step into 
 that disturbed arena, and, with altogether inadequate support, 
 to beard the lions in their stronghold. Criticism, just and 
 unjust, has been levelled at both Belgians and Arabs. The 
 trail of blood left by the Arabs I had witnessed, and 
 denounced both on public platforms in England and before 
 their faces in Africa. 
 
 The policy and administration of the Congo State officials 
 have, with equal severity, been criticised by my countrymen. 
 With this criticism I am not associated, either directly or 
 indirectly, having never travelled through their territory. 
 One thing is quite certain to all African pioneers — that the 
 State embraces some of the most savage and intractable 
 cannibal tribes, living in districts not easily accessible, many 
 of which are far removed from bases of operation. The work 
 of reducing such people to order would tax the abilities of the 
 most experienced agents of civilisation. 
 
 I hold no brief either for Congo State officials or Arabs, 
 but desire to speak of both as I found them, and repeat, that 
 those officials whom I met on Tanganyika, at close grip with 
 this great problem, were men of whom any country might be 
 proud, whose friendship I enjoyed, and whose brave deeds 
 filled me with admiration. On the other hand, I found the 
 wealthy Arabs courteous, sensible adventurers, so far as the 
 common rules of life are concerned, ever ready to assist white 
 men, and sometimes at great personal inconvenience to them- 
 selves; but their cruel trade in slaves made them appear 
 little else than fiends in the eyes of the native tribes, and 
 deserved the swift destruction finally meted out to them by 
 Europe. 
 
 Smarting under defeat by overwhelming forces. Captain 
 
 Jacques, like a brave soldier, had only one ambition, namely, 
 
 245 
 
TROUBLE WITH THE ARABS 
 
 to cross swords again with his enemies, and turn defeat into 
 victory. With cheerful courage he unfolded his plans to me as 
 we steamed southwards. It was an inspiration to see his flash- 
 ing eyes, as he descrihed the late fight, and drew a picture of the 
 coming annihilation of Arab rule on the Congo. Beyond 
 the battlefield where his comrade fell he appeared to see 
 the crumpled-up forces of Islam, fleeing in every direction, 
 and the cannibal men-hunters of Manyema engaged in peaceful 
 pursuit under another ensign. 
 
 There was no looking backward, and as he impatiently 
 paced the deck, I felt I was watching a true soldier, eager 
 for the moment when he should be able to draw his sword 
 against the enemies of his country. As things happened, 
 he had not long to wait. A few hours'* steaming brought 
 us to his station, and we parted with the exchange of mutual 
 good wishes for the emancipation of the black race. 
 
 Meantime the Arabs were in possession. Long lines of 
 slaves continued to bring ivory to Ujiji from the west, but 
 there it had to remain, not a tusk could be sent to the east 
 coast. The Lakes Company, now the African Lakes Cor- 
 poration, were not yet in a position to divert the stream 
 via Nyasa, and the great merchant princes became desperate 
 at their enforced isolation from the markets. A spirit of 
 defiance of the white invasion spread southwards, and a 
 general rising against us seemed imminent. At every port 
 of call I found less courtesy, and distinct coolness, in the 
 welcome ofi'ered us. 
 
 Petty annoyances became frequent ; for instance, the price 
 of food was doubled. Huts for the sailors to sleep in 
 were either refused or lent with great reluctance. Fowls and 
 eggs could not be purchased. No one would accompany us 
 in search of game. All these were manifestations of the 
 under-current of feeling that was setting against us, and, 
 although no open acts of violence were attempted, it required 
 some patience to put up with these pin-pricks. Probably we 
 
 246 
 
TROUBLE WITH THE ARABS 
 
 should have felt the same in their position, or even carried 
 our resentment beyond the stage of passive obstruction. I 
 have no doubt the general populace were kept in check by 
 the educated Arabs, who endeavoured to delay taking up 
 the gauntlet thrown down among them. 
 
 A sharp attack of ague compelled me to stay for two 
 weeks in harbour amongst the Wafipa, who were little more 
 than puppets in the hands of small, half-caste coast men, 
 who were strangers to us. They made our stay uncomfort- 
 able, and when reproved for not having such good manners 
 as the other Arabs, retorted by declaring that they owed 
 no allegiance to any one ; and certainly they took no trouble 
 to hide their displeasure at my presence. Fever made me 
 long for milk to make a cup of tea palatable, but not a 
 drop would they sell, although they had both cows'* and 
 goats' milk in abundance. 
 
 Lying beneath the shade of the trees, with a splitting 
 headache, I overheard the following conversation between 
 my personal servant and the head-man of the village : 
 " Why should we sell or give our milk to the white man ? 
 Is he not stealing our country and making us poor? Go 
 and tell your master to carry his own cattle about the 
 lake if he likes milk. Have you not heard of the lizard 
 which cried for the eagle? Did he get it? We do not 
 want his calico or beads ; we want him to clear out ! " 
 
 I was scarcely able to lift my head, much less to engage 
 in such an athletic exercise. My faithful boy, knowing how 
 ill I was, pleaded : It is not customary in our country, or 
 yours, to let a stranger's tongue remain dry in the village 
 when he is so sick as to be unable to walk to the water. 
 Master's cows are far away." 
 
 " No ! it is not," they answered. " Neither is it customary 
 for people to steal away other men's country ! Who called 
 these white men ? Have they greedy parents, or are 
 they so poor that they have no gardens to give to their 
 
 247 
 
TROUBLE WITH THE ARABS 
 
 children, and no fish in their rivers, and so come here for 
 ours? Our women carry only their own children in the 
 skin-support at their backs; there is no room for strangers 
 who come, as you say, out of the salt water ! " 
 
 The little fellow replied : " I cannot tell you who called 
 the white men ; perhaps the same people who called your 
 masters, the Arabs."*"* (This was clever sarcasm, considering 
 that these scoundrels had not only taken the land, but 
 practically annihilated the owners.) " Master's tongue is 
 too dry to speak to-day, or he would tell you. I have heard 
 him talk to unkind and stupid people when he was well; 
 some of them listened to his words, some were ashamed 
 and left him alone. Would you like him to sleep here and 
 not wake up again ? We do not know what their spirits 
 do. Ours sometimes go into small leopards; but Tve heard 
 old men say that the spirits of white men only go into 
 lions, and lions give trouble ! Is it not safer to give master 
 milk than to give his spirit the blood of your children to 
 drink.? Because if he dies thirsty, the spirit may take long 
 drinks before its tongue is satisfied.*" 
 
 The lad was using some of those weapons he had so 
 often heard me call to our aid, only they were more beauti- 
 fully manipulated by him in his native tongue, and cannot 
 be so translated as to reveal the finest points. I mentally 
 thanked him for his thoughtful assistance. 
 
 The arguments produced a softening effect on the man, 
 who of course did not care a straw about my thirst, but was 
 afraid of that sneaking, thirsty lion-spirit which the boy 
 had pictured ; so he considered it best to propitiate mine 
 by sending a gourd full of delicious milk as soon as the 
 cows came home in the evening. 
 
 My servant had no idea I had overheard his kind en- 
 treaties, and simply placed the milk near me, asking : " Will 
 you drink it cold, or shall I put it on the fire.?"" 
 
 " You had better boil it. These people are not very 
 
 248 
 
HOW SICKNESS IS REGARDED 
 
 friendly, and besides, there are lots of little live creatures which 
 swim about in milk ; they might swim about in my stomach 
 and stop me from getting well. So boil it and kill them ! " 
 
 How zealously he carried out my instructions may be 
 gathered from the fact that I fell asleep, tired of waiting, 
 and the next morning the milk had not yet been brought. 
 Where is the milk, my son ? " 
 
 " You went to sleep, master, and I knew the fever was 
 going away. When I went back to the fire, the pot was 
 nearly red hot. I suppose the little things you said were 
 inside drank up all the milk, for the pot was empty ! " 
 
 I was too weak to burst into laughter, so I smiled, 
 saying : 
 
 " Never mind ! Perhaps they were more thirsty than I was. 
 Go and make some tea, and watch that no more little creatures 
 rob me of a drink." 
 
 As a rule these servants are inclined to keep away from 
 Europeans when they are ill, not altogether from a lack 
 of sympathy, but from a dread of being implicated in trouble, 
 which generally follows death amongst themselves. All kinds 
 of inquiries are made as to who attended the invalid. Who fed 
 him ? From what garden did the maize come which was used 
 to make his porridge ? Who kindled the fire in the hut ? 
 Who had quarrelled with him ? and so on. 
 
 Their first thought is : My relative has died through foul 
 play of some kind ; and they at once seek to fix the blame on 
 somebody, it does not much signify on whom. They believe 
 that death cannot come by natural causes, and this idea being 
 impressed on them from children, it is no easy task for them to 
 shake it off in later years. So, directly a European becomes 
 ill, his servants, in most cases, avoid his bedside as much as 
 possible ; this often gives a stranger the impression that black 
 men are callous, and do not care a pin whether their masters 
 are hungry or thirsty. I have had servants who, as in this 
 instance, were most thoughtful, but who invariably avoided 
 
 249 
 
A MISCHIEVOUS MONKEY 
 
 staying near me when really serious illness threatened life. 
 There can be no doubt, however, that this boy simply went 
 away to his chums and forgot my milk. A few days'* rest 
 completed the cure, and we continued our voyage. 
 
 I had purchased a black monkey, and this imp of mischief 
 gave us no end of trouble on board. It was amusing to watch 
 him creep up alongside the stokers, as they came on deck for a 
 breath of fresh air, and throw overboard their towels directly 
 they laid them down on the deck. Had he confined himself to 
 these little pranks it would not have mattered ; but he threw 
 ropes overboard, and these, trailing behind, were immediately 
 caught by the propeller and jammed so tightly around the 
 boss that the engines were stopped, I jumped down into the 
 engine-room to see what was the matter, and of course could see 
 nothing wrong. Steam had to be reduced, and fires drawn, 
 whilst we searched for the trouble. Everything was in perfect 
 order, so I went on deck and looked over the stern, when the 
 cause of the trouble was seen trailing about the propeller in 
 long stretches of rope. It took our men hours to cut out 
 the hard rope, as it was under water. 
 
 A heavy south-east wind compelled us to shelter under the 
 Mbeti Cape, close to a large village. During the evening 
 an impromptu dance was arranged for our pleasure, in which 
 most of the married women and girls took part. They formed 
 themselves into a circle, and three men beat drums to keep 
 time for the several dances. Each girl in turn stepped into the 
 circle, danced a few graceful steps, and retired into her place. 
 One girl in particular excelled all the others, both in her 
 dancing and looks ; she was about fifteen years of age, her skin 
 was of a deep brown colour, and she looked a picture of health. 
 She was the life of the party, and from her all the other 
 dancers took their cue. At the conclusion of the entertainment 
 I gave the dancers small presents of blue beads, and to this 
 young mistress of the ceremonies a large necklace of white 
 beads, as a mark of my appreciation of her abilities. 
 
 250 
 
Elaborately Carved Drums 
 
 These enter into most phases of native life, births, deaths, marriages, partings, and meetings. 
 Joy and sorrow are interpreted by these never-ceasing drums. They are tuned by warming at a 
 fire and sticking rubber on the centres. No man will play and no woman dance if the drum is 
 j?ut of tune. To deprive a village of its drums is to shut out the sun from an African community. 
 
AN ACT OF REVENGE 
 
 I inquired if she was the chiefs daughter, and found 
 she was not. She had been betrothed to a man who had 
 subsequently taken a disease similar to leprosy just before 
 the marriage ceremony, and she had therefore been promised 
 to another. The long white necklace looked pretty as it 
 hung close to her perfect figure, and she was evidently 
 highly pleased by the gift ; for, about an hour afterwards, she 
 returned with some ripe bananas for my breakfast. 
 
 It appears that she afterwards went and slept in her 
 mother's hut. The man to whom she had been originally 
 betrothed — stung with disappointment at losing her, and 
 hearing she was to become the bride of another — left the 
 segregation camp and went to where she was sleeping. He 
 knocked at the door, which was cautiously opened by the 
 mother, and rushed in. Seizing the beautiful girl, he drew 
 his knife across her left breast — almost cutting it in halves. 
 He then slashed his own arm and rubbed his bleeding, 
 diseased wound into her opened bosom, so that the blood 
 might freely mingle together. The mother made desperate 
 efforts to save her daughter, but failed. As he left the hut, 
 he shouted : " I have had my bride. Whoever gets her will 
 get a thorn ; she is no longer sweet ; she will die diseased 
 as I am." 
 
 The poor girl was brought to me covered with blood, 
 her breast looking beyond the power of surgery, and the 
 sad story was told me by some of her friends while I searched 
 in my medicine-chest for bandages, needles, &c. The beauti- 
 ful white necklace I had so recently placed over her head 
 was stained red, and her piteous appeals to me : " Kill the 
 disease, master ! Kill it ! " almost unnerved me for a moment. 
 
 Washing my hands in a strong disinfectant, I cleansed 
 the wound with almost pure carbolic acid, which burnt the 
 surface white. Perhaps it was a little too strong, but this 
 was no time for half-measures. It had to be " kill or 
 cure." She was very brave as I stitched together the quiver- 
 
 253 
 
AN rA«T OF REVENGE 
 
 ing flesh and endeavoured \o preserve to her the figure of 
 which she was so proud, and which means so much to an 
 African girl, who seldom wears clothes above the waist. 
 The pain from the carbolic must have been acute, and I 
 feared collapse, as she had lost much blood, so I injected 
 morphia into her arm to help her over the crisis. Before 
 sailing next morning I paid her a visit, and found the little 
 maiden very prostrate, but not suffering acute pain. 
 
 As I entered she turned towards me and asked : " Did you 
 kill the disease in my bosom? Will the scar alzvays show, 
 even if I escape the disease ? 
 
 Every one of my female readers will understand the 
 feelings of this girl in the bloom of life as she contemplated 
 the possible destruction of her beauty, which, in her country, 
 is seldom covered by wearing-apparel. 
 
 " I hope I have killed it," I replied. " Don't worry about 
 the scar. I will come again some day, if I can, to see you, 
 and you will then tell me how quickly the wound healed."" 
 
 " When ? " she eagerly asked. A strange earnestness was 
 in that interrogation. " When ? " I repeated ; and was about 
 to add "Why.?'' but I restrained myself. It was just as 
 impossible for me to answer her " When," as for her to have 
 answered my " Why," if I had asked her. 
 
 S54 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 General Unrest — Storming Stockades — Rumaliza the 
 Slave-Trader 
 
 THE signs of general unrest, noticed amongst the people 
 on the east and west coast, were observable over the 
 south end of the lake, only here they were more pro- 
 nounced. On arrival we found the country in an uproar. 
 The Itawa Arabs were raiding westwards towards Moero 
 and eastwards towards Fipa. Their agents were everywhere, 
 trying to set the minds of the Awemba and others against us 
 by circulating false reports of our intentions. 
 
 It was becoming almost impossible to keep up mail com- 
 munication with Nyasa, as the people demanded exorbitant 
 rates of payment. Petty head-men assumed an independent 
 manner, whilst the paramount chief either withdrew into 
 solitude, or openly took sides with the Arabs, who did not 
 hesitate to remind them of the fate awaiting all who de- 
 serted to us. I cannot blame the natives, for the pistol was 
 at their heads. " Your money or your life ! " is a demand 
 not to be trifled with, if you have no powers of resistance. 
 
 The tribes for which we had done so much could not take 
 their stand with us, as we were powerless to protect them; 
 so they drifted away from our influence. A few, who resided 
 near, declared it impossible to remain unless we erected 
 stockades around the villages. In order to quiet their fears 
 this was done, the reason given to outsiders being that we 
 wished to sleep without being disturbed by lions or anything 
 else. Natives, when they have once fallen into a state of fear, 
 
 require a long time to calm down. They take no chances, 
 
 255 o 
 
A FALSE ALARM 
 
 being always on the alert to scent danger, and ready at a 
 moment's notice to fly to arms, as the following incident 
 shows. We were sitting quietly one evening, having a chat 
 about the unfortunate condition of the country, when suddenly 
 our peace was transformed into a state of war ; guns were fired 
 in rapid succession, and bullets went whizzing through the air, 
 making one dip the head for fear of becoming a target for 
 a stray shot. Men rushed about in all directions, shouting, 
 "Awemba! Awemba! Vita Vita" ("War! war! from the 
 Awemba"). Women snatched up their young children and 
 bolted into our houses. Boys cleared out of the opposite side 
 of the stockade, jumped into canoes, and paddled out on the 
 lake to safe distances. 
 
 My companion, who had been dining with us, looked at 
 me, but did not speak. I understood his questioning glance, 
 and replied : " Yes ! Carson, it seems as if the much-talked-of 
 Awemba have at last arrived. You had better get your rifles ; 
 we may need them.'' 
 
 Are they in the village ? " asked my wife, as she rolled 
 up our baby in a shawl ready for emergencies. 
 
 " I have no idea ; but if they are, I should imagine, from 
 the number of shots fired by our men, they are blown to 
 pieces. Sit still whilst I go out and see, and don't go out ! " 
 
 Slipping around the house with revolver, rifle, and bugle 
 (used to call the workmen), I ran up to where most of the 
 men were blazing through the stockade, and saw at a glance 
 that if there were enemies, they were outside. It was impos- 
 sible to make one's voice heard, so I blew a few weird notes on 
 the bugle, which at once steadied the men. Each, half-crazy, 
 turned towards me, shouting, " Awemba, Awemba ! master." 
 
 " Very well, lie down, unless you want to be speared." 
 
 It was the only way to calm them ; they at once took the 
 hint, and had time to breathe. On going up close to the 
 stockade, I saw outside four prostrate men, and at first 
 thought they were slain enemies; but my eye caught sight 
 
 256 
 
Head-dress of Aemba Girl 
 
 This head-dress is usually worn by warriors. It is tied by a string to the back part ot the head. 
 A piece of ivory is suspended from her neck attached to a string of beads. Her tribal marks may 
 be seen on the forehead and side of the fac3. She looks stern while facing the camera, but in daily 
 »l4fe she is full of fun. 
 
AN INSOLENT MESSAGE 
 
 of a mail-bag lying beside them. They were our own mail 
 men. I shouted to the terror-stricken creatures, " Get up ! 
 the war is over." 
 
 They had had indeed a narrow escape from being blown 
 to pieces. " We came in late," they said, " on account of 
 the heavy rain, and on approaching the hammers of our guns 
 fell, discharging the bullets. Immediately all your people 
 commenced firing at us, so we lay down under the poles."" 
 This will show to what a pitch of excitement the natives 
 had been worked up by the disturbing reports which were 
 freely circulated. 
 
 The next move made against us was by small parties of 
 men who would hide near the roadside and frighten our 
 people, so that they could not travel from village to village. 
 This was followed by their sweeping down at night and 
 stealing the standing crops ; so that not only inconvenience 
 was caused by the roads being blocked, but starvation was 
 imminent if we were deprived of our harvest. It was not 
 the Alungu themselves who harassed us with these annoy- 
 ances, but the half- Arab retainers and domestic slaves. The 
 African Lakes Corporation were as much hampered as our- 
 selves, suffering considerable loss by the stoppage of all trade. 
 
 We sent messengers to the worst offender, Kakungu, who 
 lived on the eastern shore of the lake, and told him we could 
 not understand these repeated insults from his people, and 
 requested him to see that they ceased. Our messengers were 
 not molested, but told to go back and tell the white men to 
 " Sazia Kiongo ! " (" Shut up ! ") This unpleasant command 
 was practically an ultimatum, but we did not desire to under- 
 stand it as such, our work being to promote peace, not war. 
 You can have peace, however, at too high a price, no matter 
 whom you represent ; for there comes a time when not to pro- 
 tect one's dependants against aggression may end in having 
 nothing left to protect. 
 
 The reader will bear in mind that we were but five white 
 
 259 
 
AN ACT OF WAR 
 
 men, beyond all reach of assistance, and responsible for the 
 natives who had thrown in their lot with us. Our patience 
 under repeated insults was interpreted by them as fear, or 
 lack of power to protect them. In order to exhaust every 
 resource of civilisation, we sent out armed parties to protect 
 the women as they gathered in the corn ; but these escorts were 
 repeatedly fired on, until at last they refused point-blank to go, 
 saying: "This kind of thing will go on all through the year, 
 and we shall be killed one by one ; we must either fight or be 
 killed.^' 
 
 Kakungu sent me the treaty Johnston had signed, with 
 the message : " Keep it ; you have broken your pledge. I 
 signed away our country to the white man in exchange for 
 protection from my enemies, but you have done nothing to 
 protect me. I am repeatedly attacked, and you let them eat 
 me up. If you want your flag back, come and take it ! If you 
 and the Balozi (Consul) come here again, we'll spear both of 
 you for telling lies." I remembered Johnston's words when I 
 told him he had left flags and no one to protect them. "You 
 need not anticipate serious trouble, annoyance perhaps, because 
 you cannot defend the people." The sequel to that treaty- 
 making was now known. 
 
 The return of the treaty meant open war. The same 
 week they caught one of our old women in the fields, cut off 
 both her ears and her nose, and slit the corners of her mouth 
 so that the skin fell over her chin and hung down on her 
 neck. The right hand was almost severed. In that condition 
 she was sent back to us with disgusting messages and threats 
 to the ef^ect that all our people whom they caught would be 
 similarly dealt with. The poor old soul walked home in this 
 condition. We did our best, but the inflamed mouth prevented 
 her eating very much, and the general shock was too great 
 for her strength. She died eleven days afterwards. 
 
 This brought matters to a climax, and we decided to end 
 it. Though representing Missionary Society directors and 
 
 260 
 
PREPARING FOR THE ATTACK 
 
 philanthropic merchants, we had to accept this " white man's 
 burden" whether we liked it or not. Sentiment had to give 
 place to " duty to man,'' and in this case that was equivalent 
 to " duty to God," if it meant " Do unto others as we would 
 be done unto." We could not leave our dependants to be 
 murdered. So, joining forces with the Lakes Company, we 
 marched into this den of brutes. 
 
 It was our desire to deal them a smashing blow, to end 
 the business by one sudden, sweeping stroke, so as to prevent 
 a long, guerilla-like struggle. Two Europeans went with the 
 land force, two with the boats. I was to demonstrate from 
 the lake, in order to draw the enemy out from their stockades, 
 thus permitting the land forces to rush in and occupy the 
 villages, situated about a quarter of a mile up a river which 
 flowed through them. They were strongly fortified by a deep 
 trench ; earth was plastered up the sloping sides nearly to the 
 top of the poles, on which thick thorns had been placed. To 
 get at the stockade, the ditch had to be crossed and the 
 smooth sides of the earth embankment scaled. When that 
 was done, it was impossible to get in without climbing over 
 the thorns. These particulars had been ascertained during 
 the previous visits. 
 
 We bound oakum dipped in turpentine around arrow-heads, 
 to set fire to the grass huts in case of failure to take the place 
 by storm. 
 
 Arriving at the arranged time, we found that the natives 
 had discovered the approach of the lake division. They 
 danced along the sand, calling us all kinds of filthy names, 
 and defied us to come on shore. In order to keep up the 
 diversion, we moved slowly along the bay, firing an occasional 
 shot over their heads ; this made them more bold, and drew 
 them away from the forts, which was our object. The glitter- 
 ing spears of the land force could be seen coming over the 
 hills at the back of the villages ; but, instead of at once rush- 
 ing into the stockade, then undefended, they came down to 
 
 261 
 
STORMING STOCKADES 
 
 the shore to drink. Of course this gave the enemy time to 
 get back home, and our ruse was spoiled. 
 
 When we landed and asked our companions why they had 
 lost such a chance, they said the people refused to fight before 
 quenching their thirst. This was most annoying, and victory 
 was now quite an open question. 
 
 It served no purpose to stand still and grumble; our 
 natives must be kept moving in work of this kind, otherwise 
 they would bolt. So we divided our force into four companies, 
 and crept up under cover of the maize gardens, telling our men 
 to fire a volley at the earthworks, and then to lie down. 
 
 The defenders would be sure to empty all their guns and 
 bows, and then we were to rush the trench, get under the 
 embankment, and set fire to the huts. 
 
 We volleyed, as arranged, and rushed the trench, climbing 
 with difficulty the slanting earth bank, in which we had to 
 cut holes for foothold. Several ineffectual attempts to scale 
 the thorns failed. As I thrust my rifle through the poles, 
 some one from the inside jammed his gun on the top of mine 
 and fired. I was just out of line, but the flash scorched my 
 right ear. This kind of give and take continued for some 
 time, and we were making no progress, when I heard our 
 people shout, " A white man has been shot." " Never 
 mind," I replied ; " mind you don't get a similar dose. Give 
 me those arrows, a small bow, and matches." 
 
 In an instant I had an arrow strung, and setting alight 
 the prepared oakum, I gently fired it into the thatch of a hut 
 which was quite near me. The grass caught at once, and 
 though I could not see any one I kept up a rapid fire into 
 space, to scare away any who might attempt to put out the 
 fire. In a few seconds it was well alight, and jumping down 
 into the trench, I ordered my party back under cover of the 
 maize. I knew the place was ours. 
 
 James Yule, the well-known African pioneer and hunter, 
 had also set on fire his section. 
 
 262 
 
I 
 
STORMING STOCKADES 
 
 "Shout ' Hippuray,' " I said. (It is a corruption of our 
 Hip-hip-hurrah.) They shouted as one man, and the defenders 
 must have thought it was all over, for this, coupled with the 
 burning village, made them conclude we were inside. We 
 were not ; no one had got in up to that moment ; but soon 
 after Yule bundled his men over, and they ran and unfastened 
 the gate. We rushed through it, and saw the enemy retreat- 
 ing across the river, away from the flames and smoke. So 
 much the better for us ; but there remained the river to cross 
 and No. 2 stockade to storm ; the battle was by no means 
 won. We saw this, and giving the enemy no time to barri- 
 cade the doorway, we poured a heavy fire on it. No one 
 dared to stop in its neighbourhood ; no one wanted to, 
 apparently, for they rushed right through the village and 
 out on the other side. 
 
 Yule and I and our men were soon through that stream, 
 up the opposite slope and through the gateway, surrounded 
 by a howling crowd of followers, who found nothing more 
 dangerous to hunt than fowls and pigeons. It was the chiefs 
 village, over which was flying the very British ensign given 
 him by Johnston and myself when the treaty was signed. 
 Ivory lay by the side of the staff'; they had had no time to 
 carry it away, for our movements were too rapid. 
 
 " You take the ivory, Yule, and Fll go for this flag which 
 those brutes invited me to come for." 
 
 " I guess they never dreamed we should lower it in all this 
 smoke," he replied, as I hauled down our national flag. We 
 had saved it from being lowered in disgrace. We saw the 
 people creeping up the rocky hills, and only a few of the 
 more daring ventured to linger to send among us a few parting 
 shots. " Shall we go after them ? " our men asked. 
 
 " No ! let them go, and a good riddance. We did not 
 come here to kill them, but to save you and your families. 
 Understand ? " 
 
 " Yes, master ; they will never interfere with us again ; 
 
 265 
 
STORMING STOCKADES 
 
 we shall lose no more children, now these slave-raiders are 
 defeated. We have burned down the tree in which the bees 
 had their home.'' 
 
 This illustration was taken from their habit of burning 
 out bees to get at the honey, and it proved a true one, for 
 when that flag of Great Britain came down, lowered by two 
 of her sons, it marked the complete destruction of slavery 
 in our sphere of influence at South Tanganyika. The charred 
 remains of that hotbed of cruelty and oppression have been 
 cleared away, and to-day the empires of Britain and Germany 
 meet and keep guard over those Africans. Separated by that 
 little river, which we crossed under fire in our victorious attack 
 on the last stronghold of oppression, these two mighty empires 
 vie with each other in upholding all those great principles 
 which were embodied in the treaty signed by Johnston, 
 Kakungu, and myself before the storm-cloud burst. 
 
 I doubt if either Yule or myself realised, in the heat of 
 conflict and the joy of victory, the significance of those clouds 
 of smoke which drove us out of the villages, or knew that 
 our work was accomplished when the sun set on that day 
 of conflict, which must ever remain in the records of that 
 country as a red-letter day, the day of freedom. 
 
 " Where are Law and Moore, Yule ? " I asked. 
 
 "Law was struck by an arrow early in the attack, and 
 Moore carried him to the vessel ; let's go and see how he is." 
 
 We found him stretched on a couch, very pale, and scarcely 
 able to speak. An irritating cough made the blood flow from 
 a nasty wound about an inch above the heart. It appeared 
 that he had issued from the maize gardens right opposite the 
 village gate, and wishing to blow it down, had fired at it 
 with his heavy elephant rifle. As he did so, he saw a native 
 draw his bow and let fly an arrow through the chink between 
 the door and the post. It struck him fairly in the chest, 
 and the force of it, added to the recoil of the heavy rifle, 
 knocked him down ; and in falling he twisted the arrow, 
 
 266 
 
Ga 1 lll,);iN(., 1 loM. \ 
 
 The honey-bird invariably leads the hunter to either honey or game. Holes are cut below'the 
 bees' nest and fire applied ; the honey is then extracted from the hole through which the bees 
 enter. If very hungry the natives do not always wait to apply fire. The legend is that bees 
 once stung the young of a honey-hird to death, and that in this manner the birds are taking 
 their revenge. 
 
STORMING STOCKADES 
 
 making the wound more severe than it might otherwise have 
 been. He pulled the arrow out and fainted. I washed and 
 dried the wound, applying a disinfectant for fear of vegetable 
 poison, painted some wool with collodion, laid it on the wound, 
 and covered it up with some thick porridge to check excessive 
 bleeding. A sleeping-draught kept him quiet and stopped 
 the cough. 
 
 We sailed all night, reaching our doctor next morning, 
 who found that the lung was not injured, and that the heart 
 had been missed by the fraction of an inch. In a month or 
 two he recovered, but it was a near thing. A few years after- 
 wards, whilst swimming in a small lake, not far from his 
 station, after a duck he had shot, he suddenly sank and was 
 drowned. I often wondered whether his sudden collapse was 
 in any way due to the results of this serious wound. 
 
 Moore contracted dysentery, probably from over-fatigue, 
 bad water, and bad food, and died soon after the fight. 
 James Yule, whose energy, pluck, and daring were an inspira- 
 tion to us all, is still alive, and dwelling at no great distance 
 from the scenes of action I have just described. 
 
 The chief, Kakungu, was afterwards captured, and died 
 in exile near Lake Nyasa, and his fiendish followers were 
 scattered. The news of his crushing defeat spread swiftly 
 all over the country, making sundry other petty ruffians escape 
 hastily to other climes, whilst all those who had been sitting 
 on the fence jumped down on our side. Trade revived, as 
 it was now no longer dangerous to travel. Schools were 
 established, workshops erected in several districts, and en- 
 couragement given to thrift, as the people now felt that 
 whatever they accumulated in the shape of goats, sheep, or 
 cattle would be safe from pillage. 
 
 Being now anxious to hear how matters were going between 
 the Congo State and the Arabs, I made a flying visit to Ujiji, 
 taking my wife and child. We found the place in a state of 
 excitement, owing to the serious illness of Rumaliza''s principal 
 
 269 
 
RUMALIZA THE SLAVE-TRADER 
 
 wife, who had ahvays been extremely kind to my wife; so 
 we sent her messages of sympathy and inquiry, begging to 
 be excused from visiting her whilst she was so ill. We were 
 afraid of inconveniencing Rumaliza, as harem rules are very 
 strict. In reply to this, Rumaliza sent an urgent message 
 saying, " Come at once ; we wish to see you."'"' 
 
 It was perhaps somewhat risky to put this man's friend- 
 ship to such a test in what might prove an hour of bereave- 
 ment, for she was his first lawful wife and mother of his 
 eldest son. He was also then at war with Europeans ; 
 although that was not our business. 
 
 We were received with every mark of courtesy, given 
 comfortable quarters, attendants, and food. My wife went 
 at once to the sick woman, while I remained talking to her 
 husband, who described her serious illness. "Can you cure 
 this?'' he asked. 
 
 " I cannot, Rumaliza ; I am not a doctor, and cannot 
 venture to have anything to do with it. Only an experienced 
 man dare interfere in such serious cases." 
 
 " Will you see her ? " 
 
 " Certainly, if you wish it ; but don't ask me in her 
 presence to cure her." 
 
 I found my wife sitting beside her, and one glance showed 
 me that the poor woman had not long to live. She beckoned 
 to me, and as I bent over to hear her words, she whispered, 
 " Sew up the wound, sew it up, that I may live to see my 
 children again." Rumaliza heard those words, "that I 
 may live to see my children." I wondered if he heard the 
 voices of those tens of thousands of mothers away yonder 
 at the coast, whom he had separated from their children, 
 crying and wailing in their grief. I did if he did not. " Try 
 and sleep, Bibi" (lady); "it is late now — we will come in the 
 morning," I replied. 
 
 " Will this child of mine " (pointing to my wife) " come and 
 sit with me ? She is so far away from her own mother." 
 
 270 
 
RUMALIZA THE SLAVE-TRADER 
 
 " Yes, she will gladly come, and bathe your face and 
 hands. Good-night ! " 
 
 As soon as we were outside, Rumaliza asked: "Tell me 
 the truth ! Is she dangerously ill ? " 
 
 "Yes, she is, and so far as I can judge by her weak 
 pulse, she cannot live long. I would do anything to save 
 her, if only in return for your having saved us, but it is 
 beyond our power."" 
 
 "I know you would," he replied. "Go and rest; you 
 are both safe here, with your child, no matter what happens."' 
 
 Early next morning prostrate women lay all over the 
 courtyard, wailing bitterly and crying, " Mama, Bibi, Mama,'' 
 and we knew the great head of this opulent household was 
 gone; for she reigned supreme in her home. 
 
 We also knew that however cruel this man had been 
 in his wholesale dealings with pagans — as he called them — 
 he could sulfer from those human sorrows which do not afflict 
 the tender-hearted alone. 
 
 The body of this Arab woman, who had never been 
 allowed to step on to the public verandah of her lord and 
 master when alive, was now strapped under her bedstead, 
 covered with calico, and placed in the centre of it. The 
 apparently empty bed was, I thought, very touching indeed. 
 It was laid on the place of honour, the highest mark of 
 public respect her lord could pay his wife. 
 
 We were invited to be present at the funeral, special 
 praying-mats being placed near the grave for our use. All 
 his relatives approached the bedstead and kissed the valance 
 with which it was draped, as a sign that there was nothing 
 but affection towards her in their hearts when she died. 
 Rumaliza came last and alone. As he approached the 
 verandah he removed his sandals, according to the usual 
 custom. All his relatives bent low, with their hands crossed 
 on their breasts, as the master quietly placed his sandals 
 and her fan on the bed. As he did so, I noticed tears run 
 
 271 
 
RUMALIZA THE SLAVE TRADER 
 
 down the great slaver's face. Yes, Rumaliza The one who 
 utterly finishes'") was made to shed tears when his home 
 was entered by the Finisher of life, which had reaped so 
 many harvests in his hideous raids. 
 
 What is the meaning of placing those sandals and fan 
 on the bed?" I asked. 
 
 "It was an expression of his intention to join her in 
 the other life. They were the sandals he wore only in her 
 private room, and by burying them with her he tells his 
 household it is his command that no other woman must 
 occupy that portion of the house, and that he will never walk 
 there again." 
 
 We left the town soon afterwards, as the incessant cries 
 of the women made us miserable. In four days we were at 
 home, listening to the voices of black children as they sang 
 hymns over our third little mound in Africa. Bronchitis had 
 seized our only remaining child, and before we realised that he 
 was ill he was gone. 
 
 "You will go away now you have lost your son,"' said 
 an old woman who had attended him. 
 
 " We shall go away when our work is finished and you 
 are free," I replied. "Our boy is not lost; we shall see 
 him again." 
 
 " How do you know ? " she eagerly asked. 
 
 Did she feel unsatisfied with her own vague beliefs, and, 
 like most of us, wish to know the unknown ? Knowledge 
 instead of faith ! 
 
 As the great political climax drew near, events seemed to 
 rush on with perplexing rapidity. An urgent letter from 
 Rumaliza took me again to Ujiji, and for the last time. I 
 was accompanied by a trader who wished to purchase ivory. 
 " Buy our ivory ! sell us the steamer ; we will give it to these 
 traders if they will only take our ivory." These appeals were 
 made to me by Rumaliza on landing. 
 
 " No," I replied, " I never have, and never will trade ; you 
 
 272 
 
RUMALIZA THE SLAVE-TRADER 
 
 know that. Sell to this man, if you like; iVs his business. 
 I am leaving Tanganyika for ever. You are fighting the 
 Congo State ; I have always told you it was a mistake, and 
 you will be crushed, but you have not taken my advice. 
 Tip-pu-Tib was wiser — he left. You have always been my 
 friend, and the least return I can make is to try and save you 
 from yourself, as I have tried to rescue the natives from your 
 cruel trade. My mouth has never been filled with honey when 
 speaking to you in this land. It w^as not my work to fight 
 against you with powder and shot, but I and my comrades 
 have never ceased to do so by every other means in our power. 
 We have just returned from using force against some who 
 attacked us, and have swept British Tanganyika clean. Other 
 nations will soon do the same here and on the Congo. Will 
 you take my last advice and stop your work ? " 
 
 "I cannot," he replied; "all my wealth and people are in 
 this country.'' 
 
 It was a fatal decision for him. He had pronounced his 
 own doom, and the salvation of Central Africans. 
 
 Very well, I have finished ; sell your ivory to this man. 
 It's nothing to me." 
 
 Cannot you put the British flag over all the lake ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 No, I cannot. Years ago we hoisted it in this town, and 
 you tore it down ; and besides, look at that ! " 
 
 Here I pointed up to the German flag, which Emin Pasha 
 had sent him long since. 
 
 " Good-bye, Rumaliza, good-bye ! thank you for all the 
 protection you have given to me and mine. I have begged 
 you to extend it to these poor Africans, and you refuse. We 
 must now part ; and turning to the flagstaff, I saluted the 
 Kaiser's ensign, and left the historic place where that daring 
 pioneer Stanley — sent out, to their honour, by our American 
 cousins — met David Livingstone. 
 
 Rumaliza fought for, and lost, the Congo. He was crushed, 
 
 273 
 
RUMALIZA THE SLAVE-TRADER 
 
 together with all the vile hordes which for so many years had 
 struck terror into the hearts of Africans. Civilisation had 
 triumphed. Nations whose mottoes were Freedom, Justice, 
 and Protection had planted their standards around the great 
 lake. 
 
 A few days later we were marching homewards. At the top 
 of the plateau, I turned round to take a long last look at the great 
 Tanganyika before it was hidden by the trees. A panorama 
 of the past eleven years unfolded itself to my mind's eye. Its 
 weary work, disappointment, and failures were vividly remem- 
 bered, but it had been a life worth living. I could hear again 
 the sailor's cheery " So long " at Zanzibar. I could see again 
 the boat journey, the dying slaves, the maiden leaping from 
 the cliff, the midnight conferences with Arabs, and the final 
 rush through water and smoke to capture a British flag for 
 Britain. A part of the great equatorial tragedy of chaos 
 and death was finished. The little rain-cloud seen in the 
 distance by Tip-pu-Tib had covered the sky and burst. 
 
 Our attempts to do something to help our country to take 
 up its share of the " white man's burden " were rewarded by the 
 sight of a little red ensign which we could see waving an adieu 
 to us from a flagstaff on the lake shore. 
 
 Turning to my wife, I said, " Let's go, and thank God it's 
 British territory.'' 
 
 " Yes," she replied, " it is — hut some of it is ours!'''' 
 
 Did she mean that 
 
 We were unwilling owners of land, 
 
 With two small claims pegged out on the veldt, 
 
 And another marked in the sand ? 
 
 274 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 The Potentialities of the African — Suppression of Raiding — 
 Children's Games — Analysing the Native Character 
 
 1MUST leave to others the task of recording the work 
 done on Tanganyika by ordained missionaries. Their 
 educational and industrial successes were by no means 
 small, but there are so many debatable problems associated 
 with all African mission work, and they need such careful 
 study, that it would be impossible to find room in these 
 pages for the discussion of so large a subject — even if I felt 
 more competent to deal with it. 
 
 I will set down my ideas on the educational question only ; 
 and perhaps the simplest and briefest manner in which I can 
 do this is to record a conversation which passed between me 
 and a supporter of missions whom I met in England. 
 
 He asked : *' Can you put down in black and white the 
 educational results obtained on the lake by the London 
 Missionary Society's representatives, both lay and ordained ? 
 
 I happened to have with me a letter received that week 
 from a native boy, formerly a slave. It was just an ordinary 
 note containing hews of the country generally, and of his 
 village and relations in particular. There was nothing of 
 the "goody-goody" style about it — just a boy's chat to his 
 old master. Perhaps the most important item to the writer 
 of the letter was that he had redeemed from slavery his 
 own sister. He himself had been redeemed by a white 
 man. 
 
 I handed this to my friend, saying, " No, I cannot ! but 
 see, an African lad has made a shot at it. Read what he 
 says, and calculate the total results." 
 
 275 
 
POTENTIALITIES OF THE AFRICAN 
 
 " I cannot, for I do not understand the language,"" he replied. 
 
 " Exactly ! that is the boy's answer to your question about 
 results. Your education, in this particular, is not complete; 
 the results, nil. You do not know what he means to convey 
 to you on that sheet of paper, being ignorant of his language ; 
 he might as well have written in ancient hieroglyphics. At 
 the time your representatives went to Tanganyika, that boy 
 had no idea he could express himself in any other manner 
 than by his voice. Had you told him you could put his 
 thoughts on paper and send them over the lake to his sister, 
 most probably he would have pretended to believe you when 
 in your presence, for the sake of enjoying some fun at your 
 expense with his chums around the camp-fire. 
 
 " Do not the mighty intellects which rule the world to-day 
 owe all they know to the alphabet ? That boy is on the same 
 track that was trodden by our great men — by a Simpson sooth- 
 ing the agony of millions ; a Tyndall searching out the secrets 
 of the elements ; a Herschell tracing the orbit of a distant 
 planet; a Shakespeare, a Milton, and a host of intellectual 
 giants of all nations. A, B, C and 1, 2, 3 were their first 
 stepping-stones. The writer of that letter is on the same 
 road ! Can you tell me what will be the results of his upward 
 march ? Will he overtake and pass the man who is analysing 
 the sunbeam, continue his journey until he finds the ' Power 
 which rolls the stars along,** that Power of whom Christianity 
 tells us, conveying its Scriptural teachings through the alphabet! 
 If you can put the possible results in black and white, it is 
 more than I have time to attempt ! " 
 
 My questioner returned me the letter, saying : 
 
 " I see your point ; you are satisfied to have put his foot 
 on the letter A ! 
 
 " That's it ! He is on the rails ! Feed him with fuel, and 
 the actual mileage he will travel can only be recorded on the 
 dial of history, when you and I are forgotten. Pull the 
 wrong lever, and the engine runs backwards!" 
 
 276 
 
SUPPRESSION OF RAIDING 
 
 " Yes," he said, " you are right ; we must not add up the 
 sum to-day." 
 
 When we turned our backs on the lake we left many 
 feet on the letter A, and the knowledge helped to make our 
 journey to Nyasaland more pleasant. 
 
 But the transformation scene at Lake Nyasa was very 
 painful to witness. I looked in vain for those miles of 
 banana groves, and clean-swept villages, which we noticed 
 on our former journey. Where were the crowds of athletic 
 warriors whom we saw trot down to bathe and engai^e in 
 mimic warfare on the sand ? All gone ! Not a trace of the 
 former beauty remained ! It looked as if a whole tribe had 
 been wiped off the face of the earth, and in an hour's talk 
 with Fotheringham, the brave defender of the Wankonde, we 
 learnt the whole miserable story. 
 
 The half-caste Arabs had fallen on the tribe, giving no 
 quarter. Village after village was burned, the fugitives hunted 
 out of the hills and driven into a lagoon amongst the reeds, 
 which were then set on fire. There was no escape, for the 
 flames spared none but those who preferred to leap into the 
 jaws of the crocodiles, and those who endeavoured to escape 
 both were shot down by the brutes on the banks. Practically 
 a whole division of the tribe was annihilated, and what was 
 once the garden of Nyasaland became the most desolate spot 
 imaginable. Fotheringham and a few brave fellows were 
 besieged, but refused to capitulate ; they fought desperately, 
 repelling repeated attacks. Smallpox broke out, and the 
 diseases caused by bad sanitation, privation, &c. ; but, nothing 
 daunted, the little band held their own, finally making a 
 successful sortie, and escaping to a more favourable position to 
 renew the attack. A long and desperate struggle followed, 
 during which many brave actions were performed ; but the 
 white men were gradually getting the upper hand, when 
 Consul Johnston arrived and made a temporary peace. This 
 was only the usual calm before the storm. 
 
SUPPRESSION OF RAIDING 
 
 I inquired what became of the old medicine-man whom 
 I had visited in the hills, and whom I last saw disappearing 
 around the rock near to the deadly spear which hung over the 
 path, and was told that the Arabs hated him for making 
 medicine against them. They surrounded his rocky retreat, 
 and forced him to capitulate through hunger. The poor 
 wretch was tied to some very light pith-wood trees, used by 
 fishermen as buoys for their traps ; the raft was then placed 
 on the lagoon, with fresh-cut goat's-meat to attract the crocs. 
 His tormentors sat on the bank, watching the crocs fight 
 for his body. This being firmly lashed, the creatures could 
 only snap at him ; the buoyant wood prevented them from 
 carrying him under water. It is said they tore him to pieces, 
 and one can imagine what torture he must have suffered as he 
 lay helplessly looking at the green-eyed monsters swimming 
 around the raft and trying to get a favourable opportunity of 
 biting off a limb. When he was nearly torn to pieces the Arabs 
 amused themselves, as they sat, by firing at the crocodiles. 
 
 As I listened to the gruesome story I could not help 
 forgiving him for what he had plotted against me, and would 
 have brought about if that spear had descended and transfixed 
 me to the path. 
 
 Before the month ended I met Johnston as he was re- 
 turning to grapple with Nyasaland problems, and accepted his 
 invitation to come back, if possible, and help to solve them. 
 
 A few months' rest in England quickly passed, during which 
 I resigned my position under the London Missionary Society ; 
 and for the third time I landed in Africa to get to grips with. 
 the Arabs, this time through the Zambezi gateway, and as a 
 Government official. 
 
 The Cape to Cairo telegraph line was fast creeping up 
 through the country; a wild dream it w^as then called, but 
 science moved so rapidly that ere it reached Tanganyika it 
 was out of date and wireless telegraphy had taken the field. 
 
 278 
 
SUPPRESSION OF RAIDING 
 
 A handful of traders had elected to try their fortunes 
 in the Shire Highlands. The prospect looked encouraging 
 on paper. Coffee was selling at ^112 per ton. Land was 
 cheap and plentiful. Big game abounded. Powerful missions 
 had been established by the universities and by the Established 
 and Free Churches of Scotland, but the slave-trade was very 
 much in evidence. 
 
 The country itself was difficult of approach, being entirely 
 cut off from the seacoast by Portuguese territory. The Zambezi 
 and Shire Rivers alone gave access to the interior, both of them 
 being hardly navigable during the dry season. 
 
 Johnston's task was to establish responsible government as 
 economically as possible. For financial reasons it was out of 
 the question to smash with one blow all opponents to progress. 
 The operations had to be carried out piecemeal, the puzzle 
 worked out with patience. 
 
 There were powerful philanthropical interests to be studied, 
 for these had already done much towards the uplifting of the 
 native races, without the assistance of Government. Tribal 
 jealousies needed analysing, as it was easy to do an injustice 
 to one division of the people, by acting precipitately on 
 the vague reports of others. Not only had the tribes who 
 lived in the Protectorate to be studied, but the adjacent 
 powerful chiefs, such as Mpezeni, who had been in the habit 
 of claiming tribute from our people. 
 
 The international questions I must leave alone, or leave 
 to the imagination, for politics are dangerous to write about, 
 especially for the amateur. 
 
 I have frequently heard hunters say : " So-and-so always 
 seemed a decent sort of chap ; I always hunted in his country, 
 and had a good time generally. It seems a pity he had to be 
 ' gone for'" — and so on. All this is perfectly true, but those 
 men often forget that it is one thing to meet native chiefs as a 
 hunter and traveller, prepared to pay heavily for guides to the 
 best game resorts, to give and receive valuable presents, but 
 
 m 
 
SUPPRESSION OF RAIDING 
 
 quite another matter to go as the representative of another 
 power, and to be compelled to punctuate your conversation 
 with " Thou shalt " and " Thou shalt not ! 
 
 It was so in Nyasaland. Several chiefs who behaved 
 decently to isolated Europeans had to be severely dealt with 
 by officials responsible to the Crown. Some of the great Yao 
 chiefs took the field against the new order of things, caus- 
 ing trouble and expense; but of course the real disease was 
 the slave-trade, out of which, directly or indirectly, nearly 
 all the other troubles arose. It was the same story as at 
 Tanganyika — oppression, murder, devastation; and the same 
 rain-cloud was visible in the distance, but there was no Tip- 
 pu-Tib with sense enough to divine its meaning. Blind 
 opposition marked the course of events, until the final crushing 
 blow was dealt. 
 
 I was sent with ten Indian Sikhs to the extreme north 
 end, to check the Arabs who were importing ammunition 
 from the East Coast, and to stop the murderous raids 
 of the Northern Angoni, who came down from the hills 
 and dipped their assegais, as they said, in the weak 
 blood of the fishermen. These half-wild hill-people formed 
 part of the horde of semi-Zulus who crossed the Zambezi 
 many years previously, after their great battles in the 
 south. 
 
 It was not long before we collided with them, for a party 
 soon commenced their little game in our direction. I de- 
 spatched the Sikhs to capture them without fighting, if possible, 
 and this they did. The leader of the crowd wore the well- 
 known ring on his head ; he was about middle age, and 
 although quiet, was evidently disgusted at having his liberty 
 curtailed in this summary fashion. It was a new experience 
 in his life. 
 
 A talk soon revealed the fact that they knew the Scotch 
 missionaries. Doctors Laws and Elmslie, and as I had no other 
 object than to stop the raids, I released the lot, on the assurance 
 
 280 
 
SUPPRESSION OF RAIDING 
 
 from the Doctors that it would not happen again. So great 
 was the influence of those missionaries that the promise was 
 respected ; it was the last raid in our direction. 
 
 Too much credit cannot be given to the Free Church of 
 Scotland men for the plucky and tactful manner in which 
 they handled such a wild and powerful tribe, without the 
 slightest assistance of protection from the Government, which 
 had not then been established. 
 
 These two Doctors had a remarkable escape from a lion 
 whilst on their way to pay me a visit. A beast sprang 
 on their tent at night, tearing part of the corner out right 
 over the face of Dr. Laws, who awoke, and hit at something, 
 which proved to be a lion. Strange to relate, it went away 
 without giving further annoyance, and I sewed up the rent 
 next day. 
 
 This is the only instance I have known of lions attacking 
 tents at night ; no matter how annoying their growls may be in 
 its vicinity, it is generally considered quite safe to go to sleep. 
 
 The slaves captured by these hill-people, whose raids we 
 now stopped, were transported over the lake in dhows, and 
 news reached the authorities of two which were hauled up 
 on the sand. Officers, with troops, steamed over for the 
 purpose of destroying them ; but the attempt proved a 
 disastrous failure. They sighted the vessels, and went on 
 shore to burn them, when suddenly a heavy fire was poured 
 on them from the bush. A trap had evidently been pre- 
 pared as soon as their approach was known. 
 
 The British officer in charge attempted to swim back 
 with his men to the anchored vessel, and almost succeeded 
 in reaching a rope thrown to him, when he sank, shot through 
 the head. The others were rescued, and the anchor weighed ; 
 but the rope thrown to the officer was caught by the 
 propeller, and the engines stopped. In the confusion the 
 vessel was stranded. This played completely into the enemy ""s 
 hands, for they kept up a hot fire, wounding several on 
 
 281 
 
MURDER OF EUROPEANS 
 
 board. Barricades were erected around the bulwarks as 
 cover, and from behind these the fire was returned; but 
 the enemy increasing in numbers every hour, a protracted 
 defence was almost impossible. 
 
 Seeing that they held the trump card, the scoundrels 
 sent on board a deputation, saying that they were tired of 
 fighting, and if they were given bales of calico they would 
 assist to get the steamer off the sand. Catching at the 
 last straw, Captain Keiter gave them calico, but as soon as 
 this was in the hands of the people on shore fire was at 
 once opened again on the ship. 
 
 This went on for hours, until the increasing number 
 of wounded made the position seem hopeless. A second 
 deputation was sent, asking that white men should come on 
 shore to settle the terms of peace, which were to apply to 
 all their country, as well as to this particular fight. 
 
 They hesitated, fearing treachery, but thinking their posi- 
 tion could scarcely be worse, and hoping to save the situation, 
 two volunteered to go. They were led out of sight of the 
 steamer and brutally murdered by the orders of the chief, 
 Saidi Mwazungu. 
 
 The attack was again pressed, during which the captain 
 was wounded in the face. It was now seen to be a fight 
 to a finish ; but, nothing daunted, the heroic captain fought 
 on with his plucky Sikhs and natives. Under cover of the 
 night, he sent the steamer's crew overboard to dig out the 
 sand around the vessel ; they toiled on until daybreak, when 
 the cold off-shore wind increased in force and blew the vessel 
 into deep water. Their joy can only be faintly imagined. 
 The whole affair was a demonstration of that real grit 
 which has so often been exhibited by Scotsmen when in a 
 tight corner. Saidi Mwazungu scored for the moment, but 
 a time was fast approaching when he was to listen to the 
 sound of cannon, and to hear his death sentence pronounced 
 by me in a British Court of Justice. 
 
 282 
 
CHILDREN'S GAMES 
 
 It is pleasant to pass from war to play, and the children 
 around Nyasa were just brimful of fun whenever the horrors 
 of war permitted. A favourite game of theirs was to cut 
 off the end of two gourds, passing through them a piece 
 of string about ten yards in length, and knotting each end. 
 One boy would sit behind a hut and place the oval disc 
 to his ear; the string was then stretched around another 
 hut, where several boys would whisper into the disc at the 
 other end, disguising their voices as much as possible. The 
 listener had to detect who spoke, and if he failed three 
 times in succession he was carried by all the boys and 
 ducked in the lake. 
 
 " Look at those boys ! " I remarked to a companion. 
 " What would the inventor say if he saw that primitive 
 telephone actually being used by those youngsters ? " 
 
 How few people imagine that girls may be seen all over 
 Africa playing " cat"'s-cradle " ; only theirs is extremely 
 complicated, and forms a series of such beautiful patterns 
 that I was never able to manipulate more than half of 
 them with the bewildering string. There is nothing like 
 it in this country ! Is our simple, childish cat's-cradle a 
 fragment, preserved through the ages, of this Central African 
 pattern ? 
 
 An even more remarkable resemblance to our games was 
 noticed. Two girls stood facing each other with joined 
 hands. About a dozen girls walking in single file approached 
 them, clapping their hands as an accompaniment to the 
 song the two big girls were singing. Each girl passed 
 under the joined hands of the two singers. On listening, 
 I heard these words : — 
 
 Lions and leopards ! Lions and leopards ! 
 
 Hmiting at night. 
 Lions and leopards ! Lions and leopards ! 
 
 Catch the game ! 
 
 As the final word was sung, the two arms descended 
 
 283 
 
CHILDREN'S GAMES 
 
 and made some girl a prisoner. She was then penalised by 
 having to stand and try to catch some one else. Substitute 
 for their words " Oranges and lemons,^"* and you join again the 
 childhood of white and black. When were they separated ? 
 
 Another pastime was what I should call "Prisoner's base"; 
 it would afford amusement to our men and boys, as well as 
 teach them to swim under water. 
 
 A number of boys choose sides, and the boys on one side 
 swim out into the lake with a prisoner, who is put in an 
 anchored canoe. It is the aim of the other section to release 
 the boy in the canoe, by passing the defenders under water 
 and reaching the canoe before being touched by an opponent. 
 None of the defenders are allowed to wait closer than about 
 twenty yards to the canoe ; it is " off side.*" 
 
 It is very amusing to watch the tactics employed to 
 deceive the defenders. All the boys will swim away in one 
 direction, pursued by the other side ; this is done to draw- 
 away the defence, and as soon as an opportunity occurs one 
 will sink and swim back, under the pursuers, rising in the 
 rear, and dashing for the prisoner. The game, with a few 
 more additions, would make an exciting exhibition of good 
 swimming and generalship for English swimming clubs. 
 
 Many an hour was thus pleasantly passed watching the 
 gambols of black children, especially in those places where 
 we could follow their conversations, which are brimful of 
 smart repartee. The more serious engagements of war and 
 administration were forgotten for a while, and the mind 
 given a refreshing tonic by allowing oneself to become a boy 
 once more, and to revel in mirthful games. 
 
 That boys are boys all the world over is true, as we 
 all know, and I found, by entering into the spirit of their 
 pranks, that I learned many interesting details of their lives, 
 and sometimes got to see myself as they saw me. 
 
 For instance, one day, when passing through the village, 
 I heard some youngsters laughing behind me, and on turn- 
 
 284 
 
Girls at Play 
 
 Pieces of stone are placed on the ground ; the player throws into the air the round wild fruit 
 she is holding and lifts one stone, catching the ball as it descends ; if she fails the next player tries. 
 The game is varied by placing the stones in a hole and removing one at a time. 
 
 Brick Making 
 
 Girls are engaged by Europeans to make bricks ; they love to knead the clay and become very 
 smart at handling the bricks. They work from 6 a.m. to about 2 p.m., then go home to pound up 
 maize for the afternoon's meal. 
 
CHILDREN'S GAMES 
 
 ing suddenly, saw a boy with his hands placed edgeways on 
 his nose. I stopped and laughed, so as not to frighten them, 
 and sat down, calling them to come and have a yarn. They 
 cautiously crept near me one by one, and a few pleasant 
 jokes soon put them at their ease. 
 
 "Now then, boys, what was the meaning of those two 
 hands placed edgeways on your face ? Was it to represent 
 the bowsprit on my sailing-boat, or an elephant's tusk?" 
 
 Their faces beamed with mischief, but no one replied. 
 Don't be afraid ! tell me. I shall not be angry ; I want 
 to join in the fun." 
 
 One of the elder lads then said: "We meant no harm, 
 but, you see, your nose and our noses are so different. We 
 were showing how yours sticks out from your face like our 
 two hands on edge, and we said that if you ran quickly 
 between the huts it would knock against the lower ridge 
 and turn you round." 
 
 The huts being close together, and the lower edge of 
 the slanting roof almost on a level with a man's eyes, it 
 is easy to understand how they pictured my nose colliding 
 with the poles, and the thought of my being spun round 
 must have presented a very comical picture to them. I saw 
 the quite natural joke, and joined in the laugh, carrying 
 on the fun, thus : 
 
 " It sticks out, does it ? Do you think, if I put it to 
 the ground, and you wound a string around me and pulled 
 it, I should spin round like a top?" 
 
 They were down on all-fours immediately, with their 
 noses close to the ground, and spinning around on a pivot 
 to show how I should look. I laughed until the tears made 
 it difficult to follow their grotesque antics. When they had 
 demonstrated to their satisfaction that a revolving; white 
 man would be no end of fun to see, I continued : " Have 
 you ever wondered how it is your noses are so difterent to 
 mine ? " 
 
 287 
 
ANALYSING THE NATIVE CHARACTER 
 
 "No!" they replied. 
 
 " Don't you think it's because, when you were babies, 
 your mother carried you on her back, and you pressed your 
 little noses against her, which made them grow flat ? " 
 
 The idea seemed novel, so they began pushing their 
 noses into each other's backs, to see how it felt, I suppose. 
 One who thought he detected a weak spot in the suggestion 
 replied, " If that flattened ours, why did it not do so with 
 yours ? '' 
 
 "Ah!" I answered, "that's just it. My mother carried 
 me in her arms, not on her back ! " 
 
 " How could she do her work and carry you as well ? " 
 came a ready inquiry. 
 
 " Look here, my lads ! I expect when I was a baby my 
 mother let my nose alone, but when you were born, perhaps 
 you had no noses, and your mothers squeezed up a lump of 
 porridge and put it on your face, and then made two holes 
 in it with her fingers, so that you might breathe, but 
 forgot to make it pointed. Go and ask them ! " 
 
 I rose, and looking back after going a short distance, 
 saw some running about pretending to have a gigantic 
 proboscis, whilst others were making imitations, in friendly 
 rivalry, of the latest fashion introduced by the white man. 
 Always after enjoying these impromptu circus performances, 
 I felt better able to think calmly over the more serious 
 problems arising on every hand. To escape from one's 
 official trappings, to cease to be a dictator, chastiser, and 
 representative of the law, even for a few moments, was not 
 only a recreation but a real education. It gave me oppor- 
 tunities of looking unobserved beneath the impenetrable 
 exterior of those black races, and to see many of the inner 
 aspects of their character. I found it profitable to make 
 the most minute observations, and to note every detail of 
 their actions, when for a few seconds they showed me a 
 glimpse of their real selves. Many of these true impressions 
 
 288 
 
ANALYSING THE NATIVE CHARACTER 
 
 were invaluable to me afterwards, when called to investigate 
 cases of serious crime in our Courts of Justice, the decisions 
 sometimes entailing capital punishment. 
 
 The patriarchal form of government is sometimes too 
 quickly superseded by English law, with all its complicated 
 forms. These are quite beyond the understanding of a race 
 awakening from the slumber of ages. 
 
 What we know to be justice is to them, in many instances, 
 the opposite. Their tribal and social life, as I understand 
 it, had been kept together, not by Acts of Parliament, 
 police, and magistrates, but by answering " Yes " to the old 
 inquiry, " Am I my brother's keeper ? " Such a thing as 
 individual responsibility was almost unknown. Destitute of 
 the machinery to secure evidence, or arrest offenders who 
 escaped out of tribal jurisdiction, they perforce maintained 
 family responsibility, and this developed into tribal responsi- 
 bility, or, as we should say, national. In this manner half- 
 savage natives were held in check by the knowledge that 
 there could be no escape for the family if any member of 
 it broke the tribal laws or customs. Not only did this weld 
 families together in the interest of peaceful village life, but 
 secured to each member a corresponding amount of protection 
 all through life. 
 
 Young children were nurtured and taught to work by 
 the parents. Daughters married and settled near their 
 parents, assisted, guided, and protected by both families. 
 Old people, no longer able to work in the gardens, fell back 
 as children upon the now efficient guardianship of their 
 offspring, whose duty it became to watch over the last 
 resting-places of father and mother. 
 
 When free from the slave-raider and outside enemies, 
 they lived a simple and easy life, obtaining from nature 
 everything necessary for natural requirements from the 
 cradle to the grave; living in houses built by themselves, 
 for which they paid no rent, cultivating in their own gardens 
 
 289 
 
ANALYSING THE NATIVE CHARACTER 
 
 just sufficient for everyday life; laying up no store, wasting 
 nothing, with no " rainy day to dread, mutual responsibility 
 insuring mutual help and support. " Sufficient for the day 
 is the evil thereof," was the keynote to the whole of their 
 lives. 
 
 When such a state of existence is possible at the present 
 day amongst black men, it will, I think, be easy for my 
 readers to understand how necessary it is to send amongst 
 them our most able administrators and missionaries, lest 
 they be too suddenly brought face to face with the tax- 
 collector, the policeman, and a life of severe competition 
 which will compel thousands of them to labour from day- 
 light to dark for other people, in order to obtain bread for 
 their families, and possibly drift into the same state as those 
 white races who not long since decided that it was some one'*s 
 duty to care for the aged population. 
 
 290 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Big-Game Hunting — A Wild Trip across Nyasa — An Eclipse — 
 A Memorable Interview 
 
 NEWS of the defeat of the white men at Saidi Mwazungu's 
 spread rapidly, with the usual result, that most of 
 those who had been sitting on the fence jumped down 
 on the side of the victors. The Upper Shire River and 
 east coast were practically in the hands of the enemy, and 
 a renewal of slave operations immediately followed. 
 
 Sultan Jumbe reigned supreme at Kotakota, the great 
 forwarding depot from what is now North-East Rhodesia, 
 but this wily ruler had too many local enemies not to see 
 that it was the better policy not to take sides against the 
 British. His neutrality at this period was most valuable, 
 as, had his forces been thrown into the opposite scale, it is 
 impossible to say what might have happened. 
 
 Notwithstanding this general disturbance, big - game 
 hunters found it possible to obtain good sport amongst 
 the elephants which frequented the dense underwood growing 
 near Lake Nyasa. One of these hunters, the doctor of a 
 gunboat, lost his life in a battle with a lion. It appears 
 he came upon the lion suddenly, before he had time to 
 take a proper aim ; it charged him, and he fired as it 
 sprang towards him, severely wounding it in the chest, but 
 not sufficiently to stop its charge. The boys said the lion 
 bit him, breaking his left arm. It then left him and moved 
 away to some low bushes, and the doctor, upon this, called 
 his boy, made him lie down, and laying his rifle on his 
 back, fired with one arm and killed the lion, falling exhausted 
 at the same moment from the loss of blood. They carried 
 
 291 
 
BIG-GAME HUNTING 
 
 him to the lake shore, but he died before the gunboat 
 arrived. 
 
 The last time we had dined together he was full of ambi- 
 tion to shoot a lion, and I believe this was his first oppor- 
 tunity. His fatal adventure was in striking contrast to the 
 success of another naval officer, w^ho bagged no less than 
 five lions at one spot near Chiromo, as they were feeding on 
 a dead water-buck. It was the record bag for Nyasaland. 
 
 There is undoubtedly a fascination about big-game hunt- 
 ing which deadens the senses to danger. To follow the foot- 
 prints of a bull elephant through high bango reeds or dense 
 jungle, not knowing at what moment you may discover him 
 within a few yards, seems idiotic when one coolly remembers 
 its power, and its ability to move with rapidity through 
 bush which is impassable to' you. But when you are actually 
 wading through water and mud, or slowly struggling through 
 reeds ten feet high, all sense of real danger is absent. There 
 is always the feeling that you hold in your hand a weapon 
 with which you can kill or stop your quarry. In most cases 
 this is what takes place, but at times the elephant scores, as 
 the following incident shows. 
 
 A young assistant magistrate named Johnstone, fresh from 
 home, was sent to assist me in the administration of the 
 Marimba district. We were compelled to live in a most 
 unhealthy station, on account of the large population of semi- 
 Arabs who lived under Sultan Jumbe. Johnstone soon con- 
 tracted malarial fever. As he failed to shake it off, I sent 
 him up to the hills for change of air. He had only been 
 gone a day, when one of his men came to my house carr3dng 
 his master's helmet, more or less damaged and dirty. I 
 saw something had happened, and not wishing to frighten 
 him, I continued my lunch, saying unconcernedly : 
 
 " W ell ? Master tumbled into the river Bua and wants 
 
 another helmet, I suppose .P"" 
 
 " No, sir ! Njovu ! (Elephant !) 
 
 292 
 
BIG-GAME HUNTING 
 
 " Is the elephant dead ? " 
 " No, sir ! " 
 
 " Is your master coming along ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, l?ut he won't speak ; he is in his hammock." 
 
 It took but a few moments to procure brandy, eggs, and 
 milk, and I was off to his help, knowing that if alive he 
 must need some stimulant. 
 
 I met him about eight miles from home ; he was quite 
 insensible, but alive, with a good strong pulse. Both eyes 
 were black and swollen ; his face looked as if he had been 
 drawn along a gravel path ; one arm and leg seemed broken. 
 He lay all of a heap, but there was no loss of blood. We 
 tied the pole of the hammock to trees, so as not to disturb 
 any broken bones by laying him on the ground. We washed 
 the mud off his face and out of his mouth, pouring in weak 
 brandy and water, which, to my great relief, he swallowed; 
 but he did not open his eyes or speak. We beat up some 
 eggs in milk, adding a few drops of brandy ; this he also 
 swallowed, and gave a deep sigh. Having kept the flame 
 burning, we made for home. Besides myself our company 
 included but two Europeans, a trader and a missionary ; no 
 doctor. 
 
 One arm and leg were broken, and concussion of the brain 
 seemed certain. That the case was beyond me I at once 
 realised, and felt that to keep him for days before a doctor 
 could arrive was not giving him a chance. To a doctor 
 he had to go by some road or other. There was a trained 
 nurse at Likoma Island, eighty miles distant across the lake; 
 of her splendid abilities I knew ; should I risk such a voyage 
 in the small open boat offered by the trader ? 
 
 It was then 7 p.m., and dark. A strong south-east 
 monsoon was blowing ; the waves were really too high for 
 such a small craft, but it was a chance^ so I gave it him. 
 
 We put him on a native bedstead, and lashed it under- 
 neath the thwarts of the boat, covered by waterproof sheets 
 
 295 
 
A DANGEROUS VOYAGE 
 
 to protect him from the spray. A drink of hot chicken 
 broth as a night-cap made him safe from starvation during 
 the passage, so we set sail about 8 p.m., the trader offering 
 to go with us and attend to Johnstone whilst I navigated. 
 
 I have no desire to exaggerate that yachting experience, 
 but any one who can picture a dark night, strong wind, 
 choppy, breaking waves, open boat, unconscious companion 
 under the thwarts, native crew, and eighty-mile trip, will 
 understand it was scarcely a picnic. 
 
 My foreign companion soon experienced mal-de-iner ; 
 this brought on fever, which he bravely attempted to shake 
 off, but the repeated doses of spray thrown over us all by 
 the high wind was unbearable to his already shivering frame, 
 and he said : " Johnstone's all right ; I must lie down under 
 shelter. May I cover myself with your cork mattress ? " 
 
 " All right ! " I shouted ; " have a sleep." 
 
 Our rotten mainsail split from the foot upwards, and the 
 pieces had to be lowered. I gave the helm to a native, and 
 jumping forward, tied the jib into a knot which made it 
 into a kind of balloon ; this was the only safe sail to run 
 under m ith a heavy folio v. ing sea and fair wind. 
 
 Other exciting events were experienced before morning, 
 but of too personal a character for narration by the writer ; 
 sufficient to say that a previous ten years in the mercantile 
 marine from boy to first officer had not impressed on me the 
 value of daylight so much as that wild trip across Nyasa. 
 
 In the early morning we reached Likoma Island, soak- 
 ing wet and done up. Johnstone was alive, but blissfully 
 ignorant of everything. Miss Rees (now Mrs. Wieble), of 
 the Universities Mission, at once came to the rescue. 
 
 " W ell, nurse, what"'s the damage ? I asked, after she 
 had examined him. 
 
 " Broken arm and leg, high up. Severe brain shock. 
 Nothing seriously wrong internally. Good thing you brought 
 him ; he may recover ! " 
 
 296 
 
AN ECLIPSE 
 
 That was the right kind of woman for pioneers to meet ; 
 she possessed ability, common sense, courage. Empires cannot 
 be built without the help of such women ! She told me 
 afterwards Johnstone was unconscious for about two weeks 
 from the time of his accident. If, reader, you are wonder- 
 ing whether he ever recovered, I can assure you he did, for 
 at this moment he is H.M. representative not a hundred 
 miles from Morocco. 
 
 The grand woman who saved his life is now saving others 
 in her well-known West End establishment. Johnstone never 
 knew how it all happened. His men said the elephant 
 struck him with his trunk, then rushed at a policeman and 
 threw him into the grass where he described himself as 
 " sleeping."" In this case the elephant scored, and the know- 
 ledge of these possibilities makes its pursuit exciting. 
 
 Soon after our return from Likoma there was a total 
 eclipse of the moon. The people paraded the town, beating 
 hoes and firing guns. When we asked the reason of these 
 demonstrations, they replied : " The moon and Shetani " 
 (Satan) " are wrestling ; he wants to take away our moon, so 
 that we may always remain in the dark."' Africans value 
 the moon much more than we do, for they are very much 
 afraid of the dark. The birth of every moon is welcomed 
 with shouts of joy, as it is at once their calendar and village 
 lamp. 
 
 " Don't make so much noise about it," I said, " for the 
 devil will go to bed hungry ; he will not eat the moon ; 
 it will shine again. You don't cry when the sun goes to 
 sleep every evening — why not ? " 
 
 Because it comes up again in the morning ! they replied. 
 
 I saw my opportunity to find out what they thought of 
 the sun's movements ; hence my question. 
 
 " How is it we see it disappear behind those hills in the 
 evening and rise up the other side again ? How does it get 
 there.?"' 
 
 297 a 
 
NATIVE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 " Goes back at night, sir." 
 
 " Does it ? Many of you are fishermen ; have you ever 
 noticed it go back when you were out on the lake at 
 night?" 
 
 This appeared to puzzle them, as no one answered. 
 
 " Cannot one of you suggest some reason ? Is there 
 another road underneath ? " 
 
 A sudden thought seemed to strike one, as he eagerly 
 exclaimed : " I know ! there is an olendo of suns — we see a 
 different one every day ! " (" Olendo " is the name given to 
 a number of travellers walking in single file.) 
 
 I let the matter rest at that ; the phenomenon had never 
 really given those particular men a serious thought, but the 
 hasty conclusion was not a bad attempt to solve the problem 
 with only the aid of his everyday experience as a guide. 
 
 Being in an inquisitive mood, I descended to terrestrial 
 problems by asking : 
 
 "Will you tell me how it is the male fowl knows when 
 it is nearly daylight ? He is in the dark and cannot see the 
 stars, or they might tell him." 
 
 One man replied : " He crows to warn the hippopotamus 
 it's time to clear out of the gardens into the lake." 
 
 " That may be," I replied, " but how does he know when 
 to crow ? " 
 
 Then followed a really ingenious explanation, and perhaps 
 original, for I have never heard it before. 
 
 " It's like this, master. During the day the fowl eats all 
 kinds of food, and also picks up little stones ; these are heavy 
 and sink down below the food in its crop. The food is gradu- 
 ally eaten again at night, like the cows do, and this work 
 takes up most of the night. When all the food is chewed up 
 it gets to the stones, and as these come into its throat they 
 nearly choke it, so it coughs the stones up. This effort wakes 
 it, and then it goes on crowing to exasperate the other male 
 birds." 
 
 298 
 
NATIVE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 Whenever I now hear that familiar morning salute, I in- 
 variably say : " That chap's down to bedrock," and inwardly 
 smile at the quaint explanation of the coloured man. 
 
 At Kotakota we were much troubled with lions ; one 
 in particular attacked the labourers on a coffee plantation, 
 taking away three men and mauling a fourth. 
 
 It was noticed that he only left three footprints on the 
 soft ground. During his last visit he broke into a hut where 
 a number of young girls were sleeping and killed one ; their 
 shrieks scared him away for a time, but he shortly returned 
 and killed another girl, but, strange to say, carried neither 
 body away. The men then mustered up courage and went to 
 the assistance of the other girls. Both of the dead children 
 were brought to our fort; their necks were nearly bitten 
 through and broken. 
 
 All efforts to get at the brute failed ; he would not be 
 drawn from the rocks and dense bush where he bad hidden, 
 so we set gun-traps in the cattle-shed. This was more suc- 
 cessful, as the first night we bagged a leopard, and the second 
 his lordship. He was a full-grown old male, with broken 
 teeth, and, what was interesting, one of his paws was much 
 swollen and full of pus. On examination we extracted broken 
 fragments of porcupine quills, and this gave the clue to the 
 mysterious marks on the ground. He had received more 
 than he bargained for with the porcupine, and, unable to pull 
 out the broken quills, was quite disabled from catching game. 
 Hence he became a man-eater. 
 
 As a rule lions do not interfere with people where game 
 is plentiful, and in many districts its roar is heard every 
 night. One followed a mail man, but he escaped up a tree 
 and watched it tear to pieces the mail-bag, which happened 
 to contain a presentation copy of a novel sent by the author 
 to her brother at our fort. Through this book he bit furi- 
 ously, and my colleague said he should return it to his sister 
 to keep as an illustration of the savage reception her literary 
 
 299 
 
STIRRING EVENTS 
 
 efforts met with in the tropics. Doubtless the author values 
 that copy above all others. 
 
 About this time each day was full of stirring events all 
 over the Protectorate. Saidi Mwazungu and Makanjira became 
 more bold in their raids after our defeat. Zarafi, perched 
 on a mountain, commanded the Upper Shire River and defied 
 the British to do their worst. INilozi, at the north end, openly 
 declared himself ready to fight it out. Mwasi, westwards, 
 denied us a free passage to his country, and it was becoming 
 too warm to be pleasant for the small British forces; but 
 Johnston never looked back, as he was loyally served by his 
 stafi*, who responded to his words of appreciation of the 
 slightest service rendered. I fancy that was one of the secrets 
 of his success in opening up new countries ; he trusted his men, 
 and let them know of his pleasure whenever good work was 
 done. Good men will do anything for such a leader. 
 
 One of the Universities missionaries was murdered by 
 the Northern Angoni, but this was proved to have been 
 the result of a mistake, and not a tribal plot; but it at 
 least showed the grass was ready for burning, as natives 
 would say. The temporary defeat of a handful of men 
 only tended to rally the spirits of those left in the field. 
 A determined attack was made on Saidi Mwazungu and 
 Makanjira; severe engagements were fought, the result at 
 times hanging in the balance; finally, however, victory was 
 won, both scoundrels thoroughly routed from the lake shore, 
 and a fort erected near to the very spot where the brutal 
 murders had taken place. The villains fled to the mountains, 
 and gave a lot of trouble; so our native and Indian troops 
 were sent at them again. They stormed the rocky heights 
 in grand fashion, completely smashing up the enemy once 
 for all in that region. Saidi Mwazungu fled to the Marimba 
 district, where he was to account later on for his foul 
 treachery. 
 
 From the command of Fort Maguire, I was transferred 
 
 300 
 
A MEMORABLE INTERVIEW 
 
 to the late Sultan Jumbe's town, a hotbed of semi- Arab 
 intrigue; but no armed opposition was encountered. They 
 delighted in the most subtle dealings, keeping just outside 
 the law, which is far more annoying than open warfare. 
 
 Saidi Mwazungu lived in the hills at the back of my 
 residence, and incited the people to open rebellion. Our 
 people dared not travel westward, and the road was closed 
 to Mpezenis and the Luapula River, and there was material 
 enough on every hand for a general conflagration. Msaka- 
 mbewa and D'zeoli were constantly at war, so I paid D'zeoli 
 a visit, taking w^ith me 150 natives armed with muzzle- 
 loading rifles. When I approached D"*zeoli's village, he sent 
 peremptorily ordering me to camp where I stood, as he was 
 busy drinking beer. 
 
 I objected, saying: ''Go and tell your chief I do not 
 receive orders — I give them ; and to-night I sleep in camp 
 near his town ; to-morrow I call on him, to transact business." 
 
 It was not bluft' on their part, but simple suspicion and 
 fear. I found him quite a decent man, and had pleasant 
 relations with him for several years afterwards. He was 
 abnormally fat, having to sit on the ground with his legs 
 in a small hole. After somewhat more than the usual native 
 fencing before talking business, he said at last : " If you are 
 my chief, go and stop that Angoni Msakambewa who is 
 eating up my people ; their spears are never dry ! " 
 
 " Certainly I will," I replied, '* if you will send with me 
 some real good talkers to state your case, as they are orators 
 as well as warriors." 
 
 Leaving my force in camp at the base of the plateau, I 
 took five native police with D'zeoli's head-men, and went up 
 to see the much-dreaded Msakambewa, sending in advance 
 a letter to Mr. Blake, the Dutch missionary, asking him to 
 act as interpreter, and to advise the Angoni of our visit. 
 This he arranged most satisfactorily. 
 
 It was the first Angoni indaba I had attended. The 
 
 301 
 
A MEMORABLE INTERVIEW 
 
 young warriors came fully armed, and when the old chief 
 appeared, saluted him by rattling their "cowhide" shields 
 and spears and enumerating all his marvellous names. He 
 wore a head-dress, and condescended to give me a most 
 dignified glance, as much as to say, " The great Msakambewa 
 has arrived ! " 
 
 Mr. Blake carried on all the conversation for me, as I 
 did not know their language; and, but for his assistance, 
 the indaba could not have been successful. 
 
 " Let the white man speak ; the Angoni's ears are open," 
 were the opening sentences which fell from the chief as he 
 squatted on a mat. 
 
 I chafed at the warlike reception with bristling assegais, 
 and determined to administer a reproof at once, as he had 
 been informed that my soldiers were left twenty miles away. 
 " I am glad to meet the great Msakambewa and to know 
 the Angoni's ears are open, but I did not imagine such 
 clever people thought they could catch my words on the 
 points of their spears, as they catch an enemy. Words are 
 like the wind, and only children could conceive it possible 
 to imprison them. I left our spears at rest in camp ; they 
 are only for the eyes of the King"*s enemies, not for his 
 friends. But perhaps it was your intention to prevent any 
 of my words from escaping, and if that is your intention 
 you had good reason to come armed. Otherwise it was a 
 mistake." 
 
 This let them down easily, but it was undoubtedly an 
 initial score for our side. We showed them that the back 
 seat must find some other occupant. 
 
 I then called a head-man to state the case of D'zeoli, 
 which he did with commendable ability. I watched Msaka- 
 mbewa's face, but it was sphinx-like. 
 
 " Your man has uttered a fairly damaging indictment," said 
 
 Blake. The chief took a pinch of snufl* and looked towards 
 
 his orator, who stepped into the clear space and replied : 
 
 302 
 
A MEMORABLE INTERVIEW 
 
 " If I heard correctly, you said — " so and so, rapidly rnn- 
 ning over all the previous speaker's points. Then he unrolled 
 a tornado of words, accompanied by expressive gestures, 
 which held the whole assembly spell-bound. I would have 
 given much to have understood his graphic language. 
 
 That he was hitting the mark was obvious ; my people sat 
 cringing and afraid. Finally, as the man drew near the end 
 of his peroration, he suddenly turned towards the last speaker 
 and paused. It was one of those eloquent pauses we know so 
 well. Stretching out both hands to his opponent, he shouted : 
 " Was not that great raid on our villages led by you? you? 
 youV 
 
 As he sat down every warrior sprang to his feet, shook his 
 shield and spear in defiance, and shouted : " Yes ! You ! you ! 
 you!'' 
 
 It was now time to put on the brake, as it was apparent 
 that there were grave faults on both sides, and they were 
 getting too excited. 
 
 "Has the white man heard our words.?" asked Msaka- 
 mbewa. 
 
 " Yes, I have ! I do not require a lot of dancing men with 
 spears to help me hear ; it is not the custom of white chiefs. 
 You have both been guiity in the past. I have not come to 
 decide on what has passed, but to tell both of you that it must 
 now stop, and whoever disobeys will be punished by our troops. 
 To-day the past dies. Do you both agree .f^" 
 
 After some hesitation they assented, and I said : 
 Msakambewa will then break his spear, to show his people 
 that his words were not wind, and that war in his heart is 
 dead." 
 
 " No ! " he replied. " Msakambewa cannot break Chiwere's 
 spear ; he is the great Angoni chief." 
 
 This I knew was true, but at the same time was used by 
 him to escape from his promise. I did not intend him to get 
 off so easily, so, rising, I said : " Come along, Blake ! Please 
 
 303 
 
A MEMORABLE INTERVIEW 
 
 tell him I am sorry to have wasted your time; I thought I 
 was speaking to a chief.'' I knew this exposure of his limited 
 authority, before all his people, would cut him deeply ; and it 
 did, for, raising his voice and looking to his men, he asked : 
 
 " Am I not the great Msakambewa ? " 
 
 "You are truly our chief," they shouted. 
 
 Seizing the favourable opportunity, I quickly answered : 
 " You are not the chief of all the Angoni, and cannot break 
 the tribal spear ; I did not ask you to do that, but to break 
 your own, I will not now accept the pieces; my King only 
 accepts a chiefs spear, not a head-man's. Exchange snufF and 
 salt with my people, and that will be quite sufficient." 
 
 This was done, and that evening|he sent me the only bull in 
 his private herd (so Blake told me), and his son was sent back 
 under my escort to sleep in the enemy's country. There was 
 great rejoicing all over the country at the news of the assegais 
 being buried. People who for years had been obliged to live 
 in rocky mountains, descended to the fertile plains, stockades 
 only existed to keep out lions, and from that day to this the 
 oaths sealed with snuff, salt, and palaver have not been 
 broken. 
 
 The day is still remembered by Blake and the people as a 
 red-letter day in the histor}- of this country. Msakambewa 
 is now very old and left far behind by his young people, 
 who have long had peace, and have profited by the industrial 
 and educational institutions established in their midst by the 
 Dutch Reformed Church. 
 
 Descending to the lake again after this most interesting 
 interview, we slept near a swift -running river swollen with the 
 first rains. I found the people greatly excited, catching an 
 enormous quantity of fish, which were swarming up the river to 
 spawn. Fish-baskets, made out of strong reeds, were fastened 
 to a strong dam built across the stream. They became full of 
 fish in a few moments. Boys took off their clothes and made 
 
 miniature nets, dragging scores of fish on shore about the size 
 
 304 
 
SHOOTING ELEPHANTS 
 
 of mackerel. The next morning the reeds were full of dying 
 fish ; others were floating down stream with their mouths above 
 water, apparently exhausted. When asked why they died up- 
 stream, the people replied : " Because there are too many of 
 them ; they starve — there is no food." Others said it was on 
 account of the water up-stream being brackish. This spawning 
 takes place annually, but no two rivers are used by the same 
 species of fish; each stream has its particular species which 
 uses it for spawning. All leave their work to engage in this 
 annual fish feast. They cut the fish open down the back and 
 dry them, and store them away for the rainy season, many 
 being transported to other districts. 
 
 In order to get away from this African Billingsgate, I strolled 
 into dense country, and struck fresh elephant spoor. Out of 
 curiosity I followed it, soon overtaking two bulls, standing 
 waving their enormous ears to keep away the small flies from 
 their eyes. I had never fired at an elephant, and knew nothing 
 of the game, except that it was risky to amateurs; but the 
 temptation was too great. 
 
 " Get closer, master," one of my men whispered. 
 
 I felt already uncomfortably close — about forty yards — but 
 mustered up courage and advanced to about twenty-five yards. 
 They seemed to be watching me. 
 
 " They cannot see very well in the daytime, master ; they 
 sleep." 
 
 " Oh ! do they ? " I thought, but did not reply ; the subject- 
 matter under discussion was too adjacent, and not another 
 yard would I approach. 
 
 They were facing us, looking quietly wicked, capable of 
 anything, from crushing the life out of me to hurling down 
 the nearest tree, so, resting my rifle on a branch, I fired, and 
 down went the nearest bull. His chum threw up his trunk to 
 ascertain the direction from which the attack came, and as he 
 did so I hit him somewhere in the ear, and he rushed past us, 
 receiving several more shots. The fallen animal only had one 
 
 807 
 
SHOOTING ELEPHANTS 
 
 tusk, and the other I bagged a week after in the reeds, where 
 he lay up badly wounded. As I sat on the carcase of my 
 second elephant, news reached me of the commencement of the 
 great attack on Mlozi at Karonga, and I travelled home as 
 soon as possible, feeling little doubt that my rifle might soon 
 be wanted in other directions. 
 
 308 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 Bishop Maples — Capture of Mwasi's Stronghold — Infantile 
 Mortality 
 
 OUR return home was none too soon, for mission boys in 
 an exhausted condition arrived with the sacramental 
 vessels of Bishop Maples. Laying them at my feet, 
 they burst into tears, crying : " Baba ! Baba ! Askofu ! 
 (Father! Bishop!) 
 
 " Where is he?'' I asked. 
 
 " Drowned with Padre Williams in the lake, sir ! " 
 
 It was a great shock to me, for I had known Maples for 
 years as one of the most able and progressive missionaries in 
 Nyasaland. I was impatient with their tantalising delay in 
 telling me more, and cried, "Where — when — how?" Then 
 follow ed a description of how they started from the south with 
 a strong fair wind at night. A naval officer warned them not 
 to attempt such a dangerous passage whilst the wind was so 
 strong, but the Bishop was anxious to get to his station. As 
 they made their way up the lake, every mile exposed them to 
 heavier seas, and the native captain begged to be allowed to run 
 for shelter; but to this the Bishop would not consent. They 
 ran on under a mizen and mainsail, when suddenly, out of the 
 darkness, high rocks appeared right ahead. Every seaman 
 knows what happened. The helm was suddenly jammed hard 
 alee, the mizen caught the full weight of the wind, and, as 
 she broached to, the next following sea capsized her and threw 
 them into the lake. Williams was asleep in a small cabin and 
 sank with the boat. The captain, in his evidence before me at 
 the inquest over the Bishop's body, which was found some days 
 subsequently, said : 
 
 309 
 
BISHOP MAPLES 
 
 " After the boat capsized the Bishop scrambled on to a tin 
 box, but it filled and sank. We begged him to remove his 
 cassock, but he refused, saying, ' Never mind me ; I feel my 
 hour to die has come, you swim on shore and tell the Europeans 
 of our death."* His cassock filled with water and he sank/' 
 
 What a tragic ending to a splendid life devoted to the 
 good of Africans ! I could not help recalling that wild night 
 on Tanganyika, when the squall struck us and, momentarily 
 blinded by lightning, we were hurled in a similar manner into 
 the waves. But I was not encumbered with a cassock ; other- 
 wise this would never have been written. 
 
 The mission boys all swam on shore, one actually having 
 the presence of mind to save the sacred vessels. I think that 
 act illuminated this dark page in the history of missions. In 
 a howling wind, amongst heavy breakers, on a dark night, 
 whilst swimming for his life, a black boy added to the dangers 
 which threatened him by voluntarily conveying to the dan- 
 gerous rocks things sacred to a white man, whom he knew 
 he would never meet again. 
 
 The Bishop lies buried behind the altar of a fine stone 
 church, erected, under the supervision of Europeans, by native 
 converts at Kotakota. It was here that Arthur Eraser Simm 
 lost his life, whilst establishing the Universities Mission in the 
 midst of a Mohammedan population. For a long time he 
 was my only companion, both Government and Mission staff 
 being much too small for the work that each had to do. It 
 would have done some people good to have seen that cultured 
 university scholar cheerfully living in a small mud hut and 
 teaching dirty black men and women to manipulate clay for 
 brick-making, or making with bits of glittering quartz a simple 
 decoration for the mud walls of his first church. In the 
 evenings we compared notes, and endeavoured to cheer one 
 another up by relating the small achievements of the day — so 
 many bricks made, perhaps, or so much grass cut for thatching, 
 &c. Here we were serving Church and State, without any of 
 
 310 
 
FALL OF MLOZI 
 
 the pomp and show of either, deep down at the foundations of 
 empire, comrades and chums — but I lost him ! 
 
 It was our fate to be stationed at what our medical men 
 have described as the most unhealthy place in Nyasaland. 
 Fever carried him oif in the prime of life. For four days and 
 nights I attended him without avail. On the fifth he beckoned 
 to me and whispered, " Good-bye ! Wash my feet. Others 
 will come ! and he was gone — nearly taking me with him, 
 for a severe attack of fever followed the prolonged vigil which 
 had ended in failure. 
 
 Taking advantage of my illness, Saidi Mwazungu and 
 Chabisa made things lively by attacking some of my outlying 
 villages. A demand was sent that they should desist from 
 these outrages and deliver up to me the murderer of white 
 men under a flag of truce. To this they insolently replied, 
 " Come and take him, if you want him." 
 
 Matters became so bad that, in order to open up the 
 country westwards towards North-East Rhodesia, Mwasi must 
 evidently be put down, so I sent to headquarters for asvsistance 
 and permission to clear him out of the path. Johnston was 
 then busy with his great task of opening up the northern 
 road to Cairo by breaking up the Arabs at North Nyasa, so 
 I had to wait. 
 
 It was just a repetition of Rumaliza and the Belgians on 
 Tanganyika. The champions of freedom were at death-grips 
 with slavers of the most ruthless type. The fierce onslaught 
 of our Indian troops was met with a stubborn defence worthy 
 of a better cause; for these people fight like demons behind 
 entrenchments. But the result was scarcely ever in doubt. 
 
 A parley was held with Mlozi the chief under a flag of 
 
 truce, and he was offered his life if he would surrender ; but 
 
 he refused, choosing to fight to a finish. The earthworks 
 
 were at last blown down by artillery and the Sikhs let go. 
 
 They stopped at nothing in their mad rush to victory. All 
 
 the stockades fell in rapid succession. Mlozi was captured, 
 
 311 
 
CAPTURE OF MWASrS STRONGHOLD 
 
 tried, and executed for the brutal massacre of those grand 
 Wankonde in the lagoon, whose deaths were at last avenged 
 by British justice. Alas ! it came too late. 
 
 The grand sweep of Wankonde manhood, swinging down 
 to the lake to bathe, was a thing of the past. The British 
 flag flew not only over the ashes of Mlozi's towns, but over 
 the silent graves of a partially destroyed tribe. 
 
 The road to Cairo was at last open, and troops were sent 
 to me at Kotakota with instructions to take what steps I 
 considered necessary to open the south-western trade-route 
 to Rhodesia. Cecil Rhodes was working northwards, we were 
 working southwards, to complete the chain of communications. 
 
 I embraced the opportunity of sending a postcard through 
 to Cairo by an English traveller, who kindly offered to convey 
 it via Uganda. This card was the first postal missive sent 
 through, and was afterwards graciously accepted as a souvenir 
 by my Sovereign. 
 
 Wishing to avoid recourse to arms, if possible, I again 
 sent to Mwasi, demanding an open road and the surrender 
 of the murderer, at the same time warning him that a refusal 
 would certainly mean war at once. Nothing but insolence 
 was received in reply, so I decided to accept their invitation 
 to visit them. Lieutenant Alston of the Coldstream Guards, 
 with the victorious Indian troops, had completed all arrange- 
 ments, and we left Kotakota for Mwasi's, sixty miles distant 
 over the hills. At our second camp more than 2400 irregular 
 troops joined us, bringing their own rifles and ammunition; 
 not a percussion-cap had been issued by the Government. 
 The Indians were slow on the march, but solid ; one felt they 
 could be depended on. I went on with a flying detachment 
 to secure the first village and food. We marched all night, 
 and crept close to the town, hiding in the grass. As soon 
 as they opened the gates in the morning we dashed through, 
 ordering the people to remain quiet so that no one should 
 get hurt. The main body arrived about noon, and the 
 
 S12 
 
CAPTURE OF MWASrS STRONGHOLD 
 
 inhabitants of 116 villages which dotted the plain knew that 
 war had arrived in dead earnest. 
 
 The country was open, the people very quarrelsome, and 
 had they been of Zulu extraction, there were enough of them 
 to give considerable trouble. Several chiefs sent protesting 
 neutrality, and to them were given white flags to hoist over 
 their towns. 
 
 At 4 A.M., in a downpour of rain, we marched towards 
 Mwasi's headquarters. As we approached the mountain stray 
 shots were fired at us from its slopes, and we could see a host 
 of half-wild creatures brandishing their spears in the neigh- 
 bourhood of their stockades. A detachment of Makua soldiers 
 was ordered to extend into skirmishing order, to drive in the 
 outposts of our enemy; but they showed the white feather, 
 and refused to march into the high grass. The wily native 
 and his spear were not relished by these cowards. 
 
 It was not a task to attempt with my armed rabble, so 
 they were ordered to remain under the mountain and not to 
 take part in the fight until they saw us take the first village. 
 In fact, they took the place of cavalry. 
 
 My detachment, consisting of Sikhs, was marched across to 
 the right. As we took up position the natives fired, wounding 
 several men, but they refused to retire. The people shouted 
 to us : 
 
 " We'll send you back to the lake to eat fish." 
 " Junglee, Junglee, plenty know how to fight." 
 The Sikhs called all Africans Junglees, and thoroughly 
 despised them. 
 
 Alston occupied the centre position, a sergeant-major the 
 left. At the sound of a bugle, we were to fire three volleys, 
 fix bayonets, and charge. 
 
 How eager those splendid Sikhs were, and as steady as if on 
 parade. They needed no leading, for at the first note of the 
 bugle their rifles rang out, bayonets were fixed, and with a 
 shout they were off, straight for those loopholed walls. The 
 
 313 
 
CAPTURE OF MWASrS STRONGHOLD 
 
 other detachment charged simultaneously, making such a 
 deafening noise as had never been heard before on that 
 plain. We were checked several times by the heavy fire 
 from rifles and arrows as we got closer, but the Indian blood 
 was up. No natives could face their wild looks, as, with a 
 final shout, they flung themselves over the stockade and 
 rallied inside, breathless, perspiring, and dirty, but victorious ! 
 The same process was repeated with several other large towns, 
 some taking longer to capture than others, but they ail went 
 under in the end. Mwasi succeeded in escaping. 
 
 Saidi Mwazungu was captured after four years' constant 
 endeavours to bring him to account for his atrocious deed. 
 My irregular host were set free, and they completed the 
 opening of the road towards the Cape. In addition to Saidi 
 Mwazungu, we captured one Arab standard, hundreds of 
 cattle, sheep, and goats, about .^^1200 worth of ivory, 298 
 rifles, gunpowder, and tons of food. Soaked with rain and 
 covered with mud, I joined Alston in the evening, who was 
 in a similar plight, and as the old year died and the new 
 one was born, we drank hot coffee to " Absent Friends " 
 in Merrie England. 
 
 An independent writer summed up our operations thus: 
 " The opening of the trade-routes to the Luapula River are 
 not the greatest advantages which will be derived from this 
 defeat of Mwasi. We may be certain that the prestige of 
 dealers in human misery will have received a shattering blow 
 in all the regions between the Portuguese border and the 
 Loangwa, while, on the other hand, the ability of the British 
 to make their Protectorate of the country a reality will have 
 been most forcibly impressed on the native mind. Not only 
 has the capital of the presumptuous monarch been captured, 
 but a fort has been built there which is now garrisoned by 
 Protectorate troops, so that there will be a standing pledge 
 and symbol of our authority in the heart of the country. 
 Thus gradually and irrevocably the tide of civilisation sweeps 
 
A BREACH OF ETIQUETTE 
 
 onward over the darkest places of the Dark Continent, and 
 not for the first or the last time has British daring and 
 enterprise brought succour to the slave. If the process of 
 ' ransoming the African ' has to be effected by violent means, 
 then it is altogether satisfactory to find that a force under 
 the British Flag is capable of meeting four times its number 
 of natives and semi-Arabs and putting them to rout. In a 
 victory of this description there is much to be proud of, and 
 nothing to regret, for it is a triumph of justice and mercy 
 over base greed and cruelty/' 
 
 I insert the foregoing in memory of my brave comrade, 
 Lieutenant Alston, who afterwards fell a victim to fever in 
 Nyasaland. Saidi Mwazungu was, later on, brought before me 
 on a charge of murdering Dr. Boyce and another, to which he 
 pleaded guilty. A long trial nevertheless followed, in which he 
 was ably defended by Arab friends, but the evidence was over- 
 whelming, and I was compelled to pass sentence of death. 
 This was endorsed by H.M. Consul-General, and he was 
 executed at Kotakota. 
 
 Having now assumed authority over all the hill people, it 
 was necessary for me to warn the great Mpeseni to let our 
 people alone ; so I sent him twelve head of cattle, informing 
 him of our occupation of Marimba, and that he must cease to 
 raid the people. 
 
 To this he replied : 
 
 " If any of my people do so, cut off their heads." 
 
 He also sent Indunas to interview me at the lake, but no 
 return present. I let them chat on undisturbed, and, when 
 they had finished, I surprised them by saying: "Your mouths 
 are full of words, but your hands are empty. No chief sends to 
 another only words ; you must be impostors. When I spoke to 
 Mpezeni there were six cattle in each hand. My chief is much 
 greater than yours, and yet your chief dares to speak to me 
 with empty hands. It is an insult; go away and tell him 
 so." They saw that their chief had committed a breach of 
 
 315 R 
 
PEACE A^ICTORIES 
 
 etiquette, that he was treating me as a subordinate, not even 
 as an equal, and that I would not submit. 
 
 The Induna replied: "You talk as a chief; Mpezeni will 
 speak again next month." 
 
 He did, and with ivory in both hands, so all was peaceful. 
 
 A period of comparative rest followed these stormy times. 
 The building-up process had to be commenced all through the 
 Protectorate ; and there was one important work which had 
 to be done first. Civilisation had concluded it was better to 
 decide frontiers by the pen than by the sword, so I was sent 
 as British Commissioner to meet Portuguese officials to mark 
 out our respective territories. 
 
 How little the general public know of these international, 
 diplomatic, and economical victories of civilisation gained 
 every year by a few unknown public servants in the heart of 
 Africa and elsewhere. When the sword is drawn and the 
 cannon speaks, making widows and orphans in thousands, and 
 taking millions of treasure from the tax-payer, the world 
 rings with applause of the victorious general. But there are 
 perhaps greater victories won by isolated officials in a quiet 
 camp away yonder amongst the hill-tops, with nothing but a 
 sextant, a theodolite, and plane-table, adding lines to the map 
 of the world which perhaps enclose territories greater than 
 Britain itself, and the cost of such title-deeds less than the 
 rifles of a single brigade of troops. 
 
 May we not call these victories of civilisation and common 
 sense ? Not quite so exciting as the furious rush through 
 smoke, but the result is the same. Tlie old flag goes up. I 
 remember, at the completion of our work on the frontier, one 
 of my Portuguese colleagues, with whom we had conducted 
 the delicate negotiations, lit a cigarette, lay back in his chair 
 beside the last erected beacon, and asked : 
 
 " Don't you think our countries ought to fire a salute at 
 the peaceful termination of such w^ork ? " 
 
 "Captain ! "I replied, "did you ever know a native of this 
 
 316 
 
LION SHOOTING 
 
 country appreciate anything you gave him ? Make him jjay 
 for it handsomely and you increase its value ! So it is with 
 all such work as ours. It costs little from an Imperial point 
 of view, and is not of so much value to those who order salutes 
 to be fired as a single vote of the village blacksmith in an 
 obscure corner of our countries. Never mind ! When your 
 son and mine come home from school, we may have the great 
 pleasure of hearing them describe where this beacon stands, 
 dividing the land of Portugal from England." 
 
 "Yes,"' he replied, "that's nice to remember. It was 
 erected by the aid of sun, stars, and telescope. The sword 
 does not erect ; it cuts down. Nevertheless, it is bright, sharp, 
 and it hurts, and — scores ! The pen is too tame for the 
 excitable world of to-day." 
 
 We saluted each other and parted, both proud to have 
 held for a time the confidence of our Sovereigns. 
 
 The occupation of delimiting the frontier was interrupted 
 one evening by my noticing a flock of vultures hovering in 
 the air, and others sitting on trees. This indicated the 
 presence of some dead animal in the vicinity, so I approached 
 very cautiously through the grass and came on a dead bull 
 eland, partially eaten by lions, who were, doubtless, in hiding 
 near by. 
 
 Sending on the porters, I climbed a low tree to look over 
 the tall grass, and remained quiet. After an hour's waiting 
 the vultures became uneasy, and I guessed the lion was on the 
 move. This proved to be the case, as immediately a lioness 
 emerged into the open, close to the dead animal, and began 
 smelling about, very suspicious that something was wrong. I 
 was about seven feet from the ground, quite within her spring- 
 ing distance, but she had not yet noticed me, and I was 
 content to keep her covered by my rifle and wait for the 
 lion. This little game she suddenly spoiled by turning her 
 eyes directly at me; possibly I had made some slight noise, or 
 she got my wind. She looked very handsome with head 
 
 317 
 
LION HUNTING 
 
 thrown up, ears erect, and tail straight out. I was discovered. 
 She appeared to hesitate as to what it were best to do, we 
 had met so suddenly. I was a little too far off for her, I 
 imagine, so she curled up one lip and turned to retreat, when 
 I rolled her over with a split Jeffery bullet through the 
 shoulder. 
 
 It w^as time to look out for her mate, who was, I felt, sure 
 to be near. And I was right ; for, turning my head towards a 
 movement in the grass, I saw the lion approaching in response 
 to the deep growds of the lioness as she was struck down. He 
 saw me the instant I moved, and stopped, crouching, as if to 
 spring ; for this I dared not wait, so I shot him at once. He 
 never moved, being stunned by the bullet. They were not 
 full-grown; but their perfect skulls may be seen in the 
 Worthing Museum, together with the record wart-hog shot 
 in the same neighbourhood. Lions were numerous along 
 certain portions of the frontier, probably owing to the large 
 numbers of game which lived in the adjoining preserve. 
 
 It will be noticed our life was extremely varied during this 
 transition stage, and some of the best times I had were when 
 I could get away into the bush and hunt the elephant, which 
 was then becoming quite a nuisance to the people, since they 
 w^ere not allowed to be shot at except under a £25 licence. 
 They would enter maize-gardens and make havoc, destroying 
 grain-stores and consuming their contents. Females and their 
 young were the principal offenders. I found the cow elephant 
 and tuskiess bulls by far the most dangerous. They appeared 
 ahvays on the alert to scent danger, whilst the old bulls 
 sheltered under dense vegetation, not anticipating trouble of 
 any description. 
 
 It is a debatable point with hunters whether they see you 
 and are callous, or whether they think you are game not worth 
 noticing. At times I have moved about, close to a herd, 
 without their being alarmed ; at other times I have been seen 
 at once, and immediately charged by cows. I am inclined to 
 
 318 
 
INFANTILE MORTALITY 
 
 think one is not noticed, especially in strong sunlight, but it 
 is difficult to escape observation early in the morning or late 
 in the day. There is still a considerable number of cows in 
 Nyasaland, but old bulls are very scarce. 
 
 As the country becomes developed, these animals will have 
 to go ; for already the educated native is asking why he pays 
 taxes, and is not compensated by the Government for loss of 
 crops by elephants. The tax-collector rapidly followed the 
 magistrate, the problem he found was how to obtain taxes 
 from a people who had not the means to pay ? 
 
 In some districts labour was obtainable, but mine was too 
 far removed from the trade-centres, so I made them cultivate 
 rice which I received in lieu of taxes. This was carefully 
 nursed year by year, until we exported from Jumbe's old slave- 
 depot no less than 600 tons in one season. The use of Indian 
 rice was abandoned in favour of our home-grown produce, 
 and there seems no reason why the vast marshes in the Shire 
 River valley should not be torn up by steam-ploughs and tens 
 of thousands of tons of rice grown and exported to South 
 Africa and other countries, cheaper than it can be brought 
 from the East. 
 
 Another great problem was how to stop the destruction of 
 infants. When a woman had given birth to twins, the work 
 imposed on her in the rice-fields was so great a burthen as to 
 be almost unbearable ; and there were, no doubt, thousands of 
 infants killed. I had long talks with the chiefs, but they all 
 considered that it was no use punishing the women ; we must 
 gain our object by other means. I recognised that it was 
 a great task for mothers with twin children to clean the tax- 
 rice, and this helped me to solve the problem of infantile 
 mortality. 
 
 I issued a notice to the effect that all women who bore 
 twins would be exempt from taxation during the current 
 year, provided they brought the youngsters the following 
 year. This paternal administration brought down on me an 
 
 319 
 
INFANTILE MORTALITY 
 
 avalanche of good-natured banter from colleagues, but the 
 end justified the means. It also caused not a little merriment 
 at the annual collection of taxes. 
 
 I was prepared for fraud, so each pair of little darkies was 
 subjected to the scrutiny of an unemotional native sergeant of 
 police ; and to create as much fun as possible, I insisted on 
 two boys being on the examining staff. Those boys almost 
 made people consider themselves extremely fortunate to be 
 allowed to pay taxes ; their happy jokes at the expense of 
 some women who tried to impose on me were most refreshing 
 to us all, and made the issue of tax receipts quite a pleasant 
 occupation. 
 
 I frequently heard conversations like the following take 
 place : — 
 
 " That child is not yours ; you have borrowed it ! " 
 " That one's nose is flatter than this one's ! " 
 " This baby is older and fatter than the other ; take it 
 away." 
 
 If they passed the youthful examiners, the general public 
 gave the mother a cheer as she left the custom-house, but I 
 must admit it seemed to rain twins the first year. I argued 
 that if I could make it pay her to preserve the second child for 
 a year, the mother would have not only become used to the 
 burden, but would have learned to love it, and would need no 
 further incentive to spare its life. There was compensation, 
 I think, for the momentary loss of a 3s.-tax in the annual 
 addition to the manhood, and therefore to the labourers of 
 the country. It may have been a crude manner of dealing 
 with such a task, but great evils need heroic remedies in 
 new countries. 
 
 The Arab regime had too long held the field for purposes 
 of destruction ; it was now our turn to initiate new methods, to 
 stop any further decrease of the population, and to build up 
 out of chaos and ruin a healthier and better race of people. 
 The abolition of slavery broke down all tribal jealousies. 
 
 320 
 
FREEDOM'S DIFFICULTIES 
 
 People began to travel, and this meant enlightenment and 
 broadening of ideas. Young people perceived that there 
 were other and better methods to be learned from larger and 
 more powerful tribes. Thousands, who had been carried away 
 as slaves in their youth, found old relatives still alive, and a 
 general migration ensued from one district to another, bring- 
 ing all kinds of intricate relationships and claims to be adjudi- 
 cated in our Law Courts — as, for example, a girl carried away 
 as a slave married her captor's son, bore children ; they had 
 in turn married. She hears of her own relations being still 
 alive in the old home and she at once runs away, taking 
 all her children. The father follows and claims his wife 
 and children. These are divided again, some clinging to 
 the mother, others to the father ; the girl claiming freedom 
 under our flag, the husband claiming to have been legally 
 married under native law. 
 
 Freedom in thousands of instances set whole families at 
 variance, their claims being so w^ell balanced as to make it no 
 easy task to decide in a British Court. In the case of young 
 children, the ruse of Solomon frequently needed to be put 
 into practice. This side of the white man's burden is not 
 illustrated in Blue Books or tabulated in Revenue-returns ; 
 but it forms a very real part of every magistrate's day's 
 work. 
 
 Fanatics often ask : Why not abolish slavery with a stroke 
 of the pen? It cannot be done without bringing many 
 extremely painful experiences into the lives of the liberated, 
 and the wiser course is a gradual transition. I often 
 wondered whether the natives really felt thankful to us for 
 crushing the slave-trade, for the new state of things brought 
 no end of trouble in the early days. Again and again I 
 asked myself the question : Will they, during my lifetime, 
 realise what freedom means? My question was completely 
 answered by a boy, just before I left the country, and it gave 
 me infinite satisfaction. A big, burly man ordered a lad to 
 
 321 
 
SEEDS OF FREEDOM 
 
 do something, but the boy turned on him sharply, uttering 
 these words : 
 
 " I shan't ! Do you think I am a slave ? " 
 
 That was what we had all been working for. It had come 
 at last! The African rising generation no longer imagined 
 it was simply unfortunate to be a slave, they felt it to he 
 a disgrace! In that knowledge lived the germ of a social 
 revolution. 
 
 322 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Wonderful Industrial Development 
 
 WE have travelled far together since landing from the 
 old slave-dhow opposite Zanzibar, and have almost 
 witnessed the closing scenes of the Central African 
 drama in which the writer took part. Could David Living- 
 stone live again he would be astonished at the transformation 
 scene. He took wide and comprehensive views of national 
 responsibilities, focussing our vision upon the grievances and 
 oppression which weighed on this dark corner of the world. 
 
 Cecil Rhodes, whose greatness perhaps we have scarcely yet 
 accurately realised, also thought in continents, and whilst we 
 were clearing the path northwards, he was forging up from 
 the south. His line of iron telegraph-poles marched onwards 
 through treacherous swamps, penetrating dense forests in- 
 habited by the ponderous elephant (who frequently played 
 havoc with the intruder). Still on, over mountain and valley, 
 ever northwards, this line followed a steadfast course until it 
 spanned the mighty Zambezi River. To reach this goal was, 
 for the moment, considered a marvellous achievement by most 
 people ; but there was no half-way house in the brain of 
 Rhodes. No rest for those poles until stretching up to, and 
 across, the Shire River, they placed Blantyre, the namesake of 
 Livingstone's birthplace, in touch with both hemispheres. 
 Scarcely lingering there a day, they skirted the shores of Lake 
 Nyasa, leaping, as it were, the lofty plateau (where the 
 elephants smashed up my cooking utensils one night !) and 
 embracing far-away Tanganyika. 
 
 Little did I imagine, as we posted that scrawl of Pitman's 
 
 323 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 shorthand down the barrel of a rifle in our endeavour to 
 communicate with the outside world, that it would be 
 possible in my time to send a telegram to London in two 
 days from near the spot where Stanley met Livingstone; 
 yet such was the case. 
 
 The complete cessation of war brought to life a compara- 
 tively dead people. Whole tribes began to get their heads 
 up, to look around, and there was born a very natural desire 
 to see the world. To thousands of liberated men the 
 southern gold-fields were an irresistible attraction. At home 
 they could not hope to receive more than three shillings 
 per month for their labour, that being really good wages 
 at the time ; but they were not slow to learn that, by 
 marching a few hundred miles, they could obtain fifteen 
 to twenty shillings per month, and so they trekked south- 
 wards in thousands. 
 
 Local interests suffered from this wholesale exodus, and 
 it was not easy for some who complained bitterly to recognise 
 the fact that, when once you knock the slave-chain off a 
 man's neck, you not only release his body but give wings 
 to his mind. He begins to think, and soon learns that his 
 labour is his capital. We were compelled to face these 
 new problems almost before the slave-chain had become rusty. 
 
 To readers who have never witnessed the awakening of 
 a race of men, it is difficult adequately to describe the rapid 
 march of their progress. One's brain at times became 
 confused, a portion thinking along the lines of the old 
 regime, when palaver and finesse were used to guide the 
 half-savage intellect ; another portion studying some obscure 
 clause of an " Order in Council," and trying to foresee the 
 effect it would have on the latest development of character. 
 One moment we were endeavouring to explain to the natives 
 the use of the long wire running through the country, and 
 listening to their declaration that it was put up simply "for 
 swallows to sit on ; '' the next, hearing one of their tribe 
 
 SM 
 
Building a Fort 
 
 The Author planting the British flag on a clearing of dense bush pre- 
 paratory to erecting a fort to hold the Arabs in check in North Nyasaland. 
 Cooking operations are seen in the foreground, whilst a sentry watches on 
 the bush side. Subsequently the Arabs who massacred the Wankonde in 
 the lagoon were crushed near to this fort and the road to Cairo cleared. 
 
 A Beautiful Native-built Cathedral 
 
 This is the most beautiful cathedral in Equatorial Africa, and was erected by Nyasaland 
 natives under the superintendence of the Universities Mission. All the fancy bricks, stone- 
 carving, and elaborate woodwork, are native made. The Established Church of Scotland has 
 also a very fine church at Blantyre. 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 tick off our Christmas greetings to a friend in the old 
 country. To-day missionaries might be seen laboriously 
 teaching a lad the alphabet ; to-morrow that youngster is 
 busily typing despatches to the Home Government. 
 
 Perhaps the most bewildering advance was made along 
 industrial lines. Not many miles from where the missionary, 
 Atley, was murdered, now stands the most beautiful cathedral 
 in Equatorial Africa, erected by black men under the 
 superintendence of the Universities Missionaries. It is built 
 of stone, quarried out of the adjacent hills, and bricks 
 moulded into various shapes. The carved wood and stone- 
 work would reflect credit on a European mechanic. To stand 
 inside and gaze up at its lofty roof, supported by enormous 
 arches, makes one almost doubt the fact that but a very 
 few years ago the only structures the builders knew of were 
 made of reeds and mud. 
 
 Busy compositors rapidly set up minute type for the 
 printing press which chronicles the daily onward march of a 
 race, not long since a mere shuttle-cock, driven hither and 
 thither by the merciless strokes of the slave-raiders. 
 
 A youth, whose relatives have not yet given up allegiance 
 to the dreaded poison ordeal, and retain implicit belief in 
 all kinds of witchcraft, may be seen reading his Greek 
 testament and shepherding the younger boys of his own village. 
 One moment a magistrate may be heard passing sentence of 
 death on a creature who is little removed from the brute 
 the next, marrying a young couple, near relations of his, who 
 have renounced polygamy. A man, not yet past the prime 
 of life, who has never stepped inside a craft larger than a 
 canoe, stops to gaze with awe and wonder at a huge steam 
 vessel as it rushes past, nearly upsetting his frail boat; and 
 as he looks he waves his hand to his son on the bridge, who 
 is piloting and steering the steel monster into port. 
 
 The rattle of Masakambewa's spears against the Angoni 
 shields had scarcely become inaudible ere I heard of the 
 
 327 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 measured tramp of their brothers, clad in khaki, led by 
 their own brass band and non-commissioned officers, boldly 
 turning out an enemy from the dense bush in Ashantee. The 
 men who saw their kith and kin carried olF by a cowardly 
 rabble of semi- Arabs, and dared not raise a protesting hand, 
 were but lately dying to a man in Somaliland to uphold the 
 British Flag. 
 
 In the department of finance we could not escape the 
 maelstrom caused by a whirling race enjoying its first hours 
 of liberty. The mind so long used to bales of unbleached 
 calico, beads, salt, and brass-wire, found it difficult to 
 commence a cash-book and ledger. 
 
 Calico, the bulky currency of yesterday, which at times 
 became the prey of rapacious white ants and rats, used to be 
 carefully guarded in a mud hut, while, in a similar erection 
 close at hand, austere policemen watched over captured men- 
 hunters. When I closed my last year's accounts of John Bull 
 and Co., at the once vilest slave-centre in Nyasaland, they 
 showed a total of no less than £25fi00 received from direct 
 taxation in one district, where such a thing as a penny had 
 never been heard of when we first made the acquaintance of 
 its inhabitants ; and this substantial contribution towards the 
 maintenance of good government was raised in one of the 
 least-advanced districts of the Protectorate. 
 
 As the black people advanced, new methods had perforce 
 to be introduced. The old rule of thumb, rough common 
 sense, patriarchal form of government, had to give way to 
 more organised methods as European and Indian subjects 
 came on the scene and entered into the life and trade which 
 followed on the suppression of lawlessness. 
 
 The pioneer had to give place to trained officials, well 
 instructed in the Law of Evidence. The handful of white 
 men, who formerly held tens of thousands of coloured people 
 in check, had been unable to study the fine distinctions which 
 European law makes in judging the crime of "murder."" If 
 
 328 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 life had been wilfully taken, the fact had to be recognised 
 and punished at once, or a tribe might be annihilated. The 
 slightest leak had to be stopped^ not merely checked ; pestilent 
 weeds rooted up, not cut down. From refusing to a white 
 man the ordinary courtesy a native would have readily given 
 in his wild state to his chief, or any one in authority, there 
 is but a short step to hustling women off the pavement and 
 worse. It is one thing to head an anti-slavery deputation to 
 an over-worked Colonial Secretary, but a vastly different 
 matter to be on the spot when wholly new machinery is being 
 brought into use ; and it is easy, as every permanent official 
 knows too well, to pull the wrong lever and wreck a province. 
 
 There was no booming of Nyasaland; its progress was 
 rapid, but without ostentation. No gold-mines blinded the 
 eyes of settlers to the profits of agriculture, the best of all 
 foundations for a colony. " Keep to the land was the rally- 
 ing cry, and soon coffee was produced that realised fancy 
 prices, though the young industry was crippled for a time 
 through want of knowledge and capital, shortage of labour 
 in the proper season, and various insect pests. 
 
 Every ounce of goods in transport was at first carried on 
 men's heads, until it became impossible to keep the clock 
 back any longer, and the first sod of a railway was cut. 
 
 At the very spot where the captain's boy fell overboard, 
 and we were stranded on the sandbanks, a target for sneaking 
 natives behind bushes on the banks, railway trucks now roll 
 over the river on a bridge. Where once stood the famous 
 stockade of young Chikusi, who, in revenge for the murder 
 of his relative by a white man, attempted to seize the white 
 women at Bl an tyre, Government offices, stores, railway station, 
 and tennis-courts are crowded together in the usual up-to- 
 date style. 
 
 The unhealthy reeds and marshes, through v/hich we were 
 forced to travel in narrow canoes, are now forsaken for a 
 rapid passage in a luxuriously upholstered railway carriage, 
 
 329 
 
INDTJSTRIAI. DEVELOPMENT 
 
 and one may get decent lunch en route. In place of a 
 long weary line of over-weighted black men, toiling up the 
 steep ascent to the Shire Highlands, a locomotive drags 
 hundreds of tons of merchandise over hill and dale. Where 
 I looked with admiration at that large herd of elephants, 
 quietly feeding in the marsh near Chiromo, may now be 
 seen acres of cotton plantations, and the traveller would 
 be more likely to meet a motor-car than an elephant. 
 
 In Blantyre, where they stole the ivory out of the store 
 during my first visit, and where there lived but two Europeans 
 besides missionaries, you may collide with agile telegraph- 
 boys, be knocked down by natives in European costume, 
 riding home from business on bicycles ; or be jostled by 
 some over-anxious first-class passenger rushing to catch the 
 Eastern express, armed with Cook's coupons to London, 
 England. I have but to drop a newspaper into the pillar- 
 box at the top of any road, and I may be certain of cheering 
 up some chum on distant Tanganyika at a scheduled date, 
 with the details of yesterday's flight across the Channel. 
 
 When listening to the legend about the man from 
 Katanga, with copper — who drank at the secret well, causing 
 the Tanganyika to overflow the plain — I little thought of 
 living to see two railways being built with the object of 
 removing thousands of tons of copper and other minerals 
 which are being smelted at that spot, for the markets of 
 the world. 
 
 Explorers, churchmen, and statesmen, each in their respec- 
 tive spheres, have originated new movements, and maintained 
 them at ever-increasing speed ; but science, philanthropy, 
 and law are by no means the only influences which have 
 been at work in Equatorial Africa. Commerce was early 
 awake to the vast possibilities of the Interior, and sent 
 a fine body of representatives to bring under cultivation 
 the almost virgin soil ! Men with but limited capital sank 
 their all in the enterprise, working from daylight to dark 
 
 330 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 in unhealthy places, turning up the ground and planting the 
 coffee bean. 
 
 They saw tens of thousands of yards of calico being 
 annually used by the black population for clothing, and 
 they made the land produce tons of the raw material, which 
 an expert lately declared to be " better than the Egyptians 
 could grow from their own seed." 
 
 They observed the broad-leaved tobacco-plant growing 
 near most villages, and at once conceived the idea of com- 
 peting with Havana. Expensive experiments were patiently 
 carried on by our commercial pioneers, with varying results. 
 Excessive rains, which washed away most of the rich surface- 
 soil as soon as the dense vegetation was cleared, were 
 followed by periods of drought, when the pitiless sun blackened 
 whole plantations ; but the latest report states that better 
 American tobacco is now grown than can be produced in 
 the United States. If this is true, none will be more pleased 
 than our energetic kinsmen across the Atlantic, to know 
 that such a young community has taken on the task of 
 " beating creation.'' 
 
 Wc should, I think, altogether miss the mark if we simply 
 attempted to tabulate the work of these men in columns 
 of £ s. d., or trade-returns. To any thinking man it must 
 be apparent that, in the achievement of these commercial 
 successes, the rising generation of coloured men are being 
 trained in the healthy school of exercise and strict discipline, 
 their masters being men who let them understand that they 
 have come not merely to emancipate them from slavery, but 
 in pursuit of wholesome enterprises of their own. Thrift, 
 industry, and perseverance are lessons learnt by thousands 
 whose motto had previously been : What cannot be done 
 to-day can be done to-morrow, or next year." 
 
 On the land — the best of all places for the population of an 
 awakening country — and brushing against our hardy sons of 
 toil, these Africans acquired many new virtues, and those who 
 
 331 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 embraced Christianity in any of its various forms were at once 
 called upon in daily life to put into practice the lessons learned 
 in their churches. When seeing coffee-berries drop off their 
 trees, killed by the dreaded borer insect, and the labour 
 of three years wrecked in a night, our agricultural friends 
 could scarcely be expected to tolerate much merely emotional 
 religion during the uprooting process. They needed sterling 
 good workers, and those natives, whose first thoughts had been 
 directed by missionaries, learned many a new and valuable 
 lesson amongst the cotton-bushes, which tended to make their 
 civilisation very real. We have much to thank the planters 
 for in Nyasaland. 
 
 These are not events of the past century, but of yesterday 
 and to-day. Africa is compiling history, not by single pages, 
 but in whole volumes at a stroke. The grass growing around 
 Mary Moffafs grave, by the rushing Zambezi, is daily blackened 
 by the smoke from river- steam boats, whose almost ceaseless 
 paddles revolve in a mist, typical of the days when she closed 
 her eyes, vainly endeavouring to penetrate the dense fog 
 enshrouding a Continent. As she sat on the Zambezi banks — 
 watching uprooted palm trees and reedy islets floating past to 
 the ocean, brought down from far-distant solitary places up 
 the river, beyond the thunders of the Zambezi Falls — did she 
 ever imagine that, before the letters on her tombstone had 
 mouldered, that very chasm would be crossed by a hissing 
 locomotive, rushing towards the Equator, and scaring into 
 the bush with its shrill whistle, animals of species now fast 
 becoming extinct ? 
 
 What a series of moving pictures ! — 'and one chafes at the 
 thought that the light must go out, and we must come to the 
 end of the film. Some one else must photograph the future 
 scenes. Some of us would fain live on, and fain commence 
 another task, such as we imagine needs to be undertaken in 
 other parts of Africa. 
 
 At present I live in the past. When I take off a boot 
 
 SS2 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 in the quiet of my chamber, I seem to hear an invisible 
 companion whispering, " You've got no toes ! " and on 
 instinctively challenging the assertion, I am met with the 
 discovery, " You're white all over ! " 
 
 Amid the prattle of romping children, in the sweet fresh- 
 mown grass, I hear the warning of my little black boy — 
 " Master ! never sleep again in grass, plenty fire ! " A group 
 of village girls, dancing on the green, around a street organ, 
 brings back to my mind the dark-brown lass whose dance was 
 followed by that cruel night attack, and I wonder if the scar 
 remained, or how long she lived, waiting for an answer to her — 
 " When will you come back ? " The past and present seem 
 without a clear dividing line, and yet it is a long step from a 
 slave chain to railway couplings. 
 
 At one time we expected that Equatorial Africa would 
 have to be transformed by influences coming from the Cape 
 and up the Nile, that there would be a gradual education 
 of tribe after tribe, light and reason, by easy degrees, dis- 
 placing savagery. But the exact opposite occurred. 
 
 Nyasaland was regenerated from within. The initial 
 blow which set them free came from without, but all the 
 rest was built up on the remains of its own old institutions, 
 wrecked by the slave-raiders, and surrounded by tribes who 
 continued to live in semi-savagery long after Nyasaland 
 awoke from slumber. 
 
 The immediate need for room to expand was felt by an 
 awakened tribe; they wanted to know what existed in the 
 regions beyond; and as I saw some Nyasaland soldiers in 
 khaki lying on the grass in a London park, surrounded by 
 laughing white girls, I thought their desire had been fairly 
 well gratified, although the prudence of giving them so much 
 scope has been seriously questioned by experienced men. 
 
 I have been repeatedly asked what effect a visit to 
 Europe has on a native, and I have no hesitation in reply- 
 ing : It does them harm, from the very fact that people do 
 
 333 s 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 not keep them in their proper places. They are completely 
 spoiled. The innocent freedom of our women is totally 
 foreign to them, and is misunderstood. There is nothing 
 gained by bringing them to these countries, for everything 
 they see is too wonderful for their brains to grasp. A few 
 facts are indelibly fixed in their minds, such as the intensely 
 cold wind ; or the great show of meat ; or the hosts of 
 people and houses: nearly everything else soon vanishes 
 from their conversation. Having received many foolish 
 attentions from both sexes, they return with what is known 
 as " swollen head," and are utterly useless as servants, look- 
 ing on work as something for pagans to do. 
 
 One of these spoilt boys, who had been taken to England 
 by his master, returned not long since to Blantyre, and met 
 an old acquaintance, who inquired in the usual nanner, 
 " Friend, what is the news of Europe ? " The old chum, 
 now clad in boots, trousers, coat, and hat, all looking dis- 
 reputable, turned towards the questioner with a look of 
 scorn, replying in ready English, " Who the devil are you ? 
 Clear out ! " 
 
 That answer gives a not unfair idea of the demoralisation 
 of the native which too often results from unrestrained 
 contact with large numbers of Europeans, and the tens of 
 thousands who travel to South Africa for work return home 
 very much the worse for their introduction to other tribes. 
 They lose all desire to return to the land, thus becoming 
 more dependent on a demand for other kinds of labour; 
 when this fails, there is aggravated suffering from want, for 
 the food supply is gradually being diminished. The women 
 who are left at home are quite unable to keep the family 
 gardens cultivated, and the majority of the people are com- 
 pelled to live from hand to mouth ; whereas in former days 
 each family possessed its own grain stores, their forefathers 
 having taught them that this was the natural, safe, and 
 happiest manner of living. The adventurer from the tribe 
 
 334 
 
I 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 comes back from the rich goldfields with fancy blankets, 
 cheap watches, brown-paper boots, common tin trunks, and 
 briar pipes, only to learn in a few months, by bitter experi- 
 ence, the old lesson that " A man's happiness does not con- 
 sist in the abundance of things which he possesses." 
 
 It is now extremely rare to see the primitive hand-loom 
 at work in a Nyasaland village. The custom of smelting 
 iron ore, forging hoes and axes, is fast being supplanted by 
 trade goods imported in thousands. The rising generations 
 know scarcely anything about woodcraft, and the number of 
 curative herbs in use is fast decreasing. 
 
 But there is much to be said on the other side. All 
 natives are not like those whom I have just described. 
 There are tens of thousands who have thrown away many 
 of their old vile customs, and who are honestly trying to 
 move upward out of the gloom which for so many centuries 
 has enshrouded their race. Since Bishop Hannington was 
 murdered by order of the Uganda king, hundreds of 
 thousands of religious books have been purchased by his 
 subjects, and not a few have laid down their lives in defence 
 of the truths the martyred Bishop endeavoured to teach 
 them. Throughout the length and breadth of Nyasaland, 
 it would be difficult to find a village which has not come 
 under the influence of Christian missions. Their Mork, like 
 that of all other human agencies, has many weak spots, but 
 all those who have been privileged to see beneath the surface, 
 and who can bear in mind the youth of these organisations, 
 know it has been aptly described as " on the side of the 
 angels." 
 
 No matter what our own private belief may be, we are 
 bound to recognise the great work done by our fellow country- 
 men who have penetrated Africa in order to preach their creeds, 
 and as one writer has said : — 
 
 "One of the most sublime illustrations of consecration to 
 a great cause has been the fact that volunteers for missionary 
 
 337 
 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 service in Africa have doubled and quadrupled as one after 
 another of those who had previously gone out laid themselves 
 down to die. No clash of arms has ever revealed nobler 
 courage and fuller persistence of purpose than modern missions 
 in Africa. Yet there may be something nobler in carefully 
 studying the laws of health in tropics, and going there to 
 live, rather than in hazarding life by ignorance, and going 
 there to die. Many lives might doubtless have been saved 
 if men had observed the limitation of African environment; 
 but it was almost inevitable in many low coast stations in 
 the tropics, and in the great waterways of the interior, that 
 lives should have been sacrified." 
 
 Dr. Scott Keltie, I think, put the whole matter of the 
 different agencies into a nutshell when he said : 
 
 "In the building up of our world-wide Empire we have 
 no doubt done many things which we ought not to have 
 done, and left undone many things which we ought to have 
 done. Yet the name of our country still stands high among 
 our less advanced brothers in Africa, for many of those 
 qualities which exalt a nation."" 
 
 338 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 Traits of Character — Resources of the Country 
 
 A FEW remarks about the natives may not be out of 
 place in our closing chapter ; but let me say at once 
 that my observations must not be taken as applicable 
 to all Africans; they deal exclusively with those amongst 
 whom I travelled, and in the midst of whom I lived for 
 many years. 
 
 Probably no two persons look at the natives from exactly 
 the same standpoint, but there are certain outstanding- 
 characteristics obvious to all, except the man who merely 
 rushes through their country on business or pleasure. One 
 writer, I think, has put the matter in a nutshell : " The 
 negroes not yet spoiled by contact with the slave trade are 
 distinguished for friendliness and good common sense. Some 
 can be guilty of great wickedness, and seem to think little 
 about it. Others perform actions as unmistakably good 
 with no self-complacency, and if one calculated all the 
 good deeds and all the bad ones one came across, one might 
 think them extremely good or bad, instead of calling them, 
 like ourselves, curious compounds of good and evil." 
 
 They have been described as " selfish, inhospitable, 
 intensely avaricious, and treacherous"; but none of these 
 adjectives apply to the people I have met — not at least to 
 any one tribe taken collectively ; perhaps the Wagogo came 
 the nearest to deserving them. Wherever I have been, any 
 man could have gone, provided he was civil and paid re- 
 spectful deference to the ordinary rules which governed the 
 social life of the different tribes. That they are highly super- 
 
 339 
 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER 
 
 stitious is not to be wondered at. Many of their customs 
 are based on sound principles, but have been, like many of 
 our own, distorted out of all recognition. The ordeal by 
 poison has perhaps received a too sweeping condemnation, 
 for something of the kind was almost a necessity before we 
 supplanted it with Courts of Justice, A peaceful social life 
 could not have existed without some means of obtaining a 
 decision against which none would rebel. 
 
 Neither chiefs nor people possessed the power of procur- 
 ing witnesses of crime, and it would have puzzled our best 
 judges to satisfy clamouring plaintiffs, half mad with rage 
 over some terrible wrong, when no proofs of guilt had been 
 laid before them which would justify a conviction. Yet an 
 acquittal was equally impossible. A simple wave of the 
 hand would by no means have dismissed the case ; on the 
 contrary, it would have been a direct incentive to fresh 
 crime. Chiefs dared not permit the tribesmen to take 
 law into their own hands, and when it was impossible to 
 separate the truth from falsehood, they allowed an appeal 
 to the only Caesar, viz. the " poison ordeal.^"* To that 
 tribunal all rendered absolute submission. No people can 
 exist without a court of final appeal, and until we came 
 and set up the machinery of our law, it is not easy to 
 imagine what other course was open to those half-civilised 
 races. 
 
 For honesty they compare favourably with any of the 
 white races. I question if stealing, as a means of getting a 
 living, was ever known to them before our advent. The 
 charge of ingratitude may be dismissed at once, when we 
 understand that the black man considers it an act of supreme 
 folly to give away anything. It is not because he is alto- 
 gether selfish, but because he considers it stupid, and perhaps 
 as a bribe. 
 
 This feeling; will be better understood when we bear in 
 
 mind that they are practically independent of each other. 
 
 340 
 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER 
 
 A gift seems to them as strange a thing as we should think 
 it if we saw a cow pluck up grass and give it to her 
 companion. And yet they often give one another little 
 things ; but it is treated more as an act of shay-ing with one 
 another something which has by good luck come into their 
 possession, and to which some one else has a partial right. 
 Some people may be inclined to call this Socialism. What- 
 ever name you give to it, the fact remains, and not a few 
 grave errors are made by Europeans who fail to understand 
 what is the real feeling of these races when they appear 
 ungrateful for gifts of any kind. Personally, I do not re- 
 member ever winning either their confidence or good ser- 
 vice except by justice and fair recompense for work done. 
 Although I had many loyal, faithful, and brave servants, 
 there was always a great gulf between us, and whenever it 
 is a question of white or black, they naturally cling to their 
 own colour, no matter how long they may have been attached 
 to you. 
 
 A native was once asked by his own master, in my presence, 
 whether, in case of a rising against Europeans, he would 
 kill him, and he replied : " No ! never. But I would go over 
 to those other white men and kill them if I could, and their 
 boys would come here and kill you.'' That is probably 
 exactly what would happen in the majority of cases. " We 
 do not think of to-morrow,'"* is a common expression amongst 
 them from childhood. It is " now^ the present." Anticipa- 
 tion is not in their case ''half the pleasure of life." 
 
 Dr. Moloney, when attempting to drill them, was quick 
 to observe that " the average black is incapable of concen- 
 trating his attention on any one thing for more than a few 
 consecutive minutes ; his train of continued thought is re- 
 markable for its brevity ; his memory concerning that which 
 the white man would have him remember is that of a little 
 child. He has a firmly rooted idea that medicine is at the 
 back of all good shooting, and trusts, in his preliminary stages, 
 
 341 
 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER 
 
 rather to the efficacy of an elephant's hair plaited around the 
 stock of his rifle than to his own great physical advantage 
 of fine sight. On the other hand, he is imitative to a degree, 
 and manipulates his rifle well. It receives an amount of care 
 and solicitude which betokens a conviction of its possibilities. 
 He is a fatalist, and at his best makes a good soldier."" 
 
 Probably every pioneer will endorse the remarks on poly- 
 gamy which were printed in a Nyasaland mission paper : — 
 
 "The question is one fruitful of much debate in some 
 circles. In Europe, the matter as to the difficulty of dealing 
 with polygamy is apt to be confused by a sentimental appeal 
 such as our knowledge of African thought and feeling show 
 to be plainly beside the question. People at home, for in- 
 stance, say, ' If you compel a polygamist to give up his harem, 
 a cruelty is inflicted on the discarded wives."* It might be so 
 if the wives were not allowed to seek other husbands. Yet 
 we know of no veto on their doing this ; while as to the 
 assumption that the discarded wives will consider themselves 
 injured, give themselves up to despair, or even deeply grieve, 
 because a man who is father to their children no longer re- 
 quires them as his partners, it may be dismissed as wholly 
 contrary to facts as we meet with them here. The generality 
 of heathen African women appear to me to be by no means 
 unready for a change when their husbands propose separation, 
 not troubling themselves much to inquire into the reason why 
 their spouses are tired of them, provided they themselves are 
 not accused of unfaithfulness. It is a mistake, certainly, to 
 suppose that in heathen marriages in Nyasaland any real deep 
 feeling of attachment on the part of a wife towards a husband 
 who has other wives exists as a rule. Occasionally, it may be 
 granted, such a feeling will be found ; but these cases are the 
 exceptions, not the rule." 
 
 It is sometimes asked whether they ever sell their children 
 for gain. We cannot do better than quote a Nyasaland mis- 
 sionary of great experience. He says : — 
 
 342 
 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER 
 
 "Yes! they do, but only under the stress of famine, or 
 under very peculiar circumstances. In the former case only 
 when the famine is intense, and then not to get filthy lucre, 
 but to preserve life, and when they do it, leaving a strong 
 feeling against the man who does it. 
 
 " Exceptional circumstances, as, for instance, the redeeming 
 of a chief member of the clan. Better a few go into captivity 
 than the head of the clan be disgraced. All boys and mothers 
 feel the propriety of this. 
 
 " It is a terrible thing to be without kindred in this land, 
 and as terrible a thing, in its degree, to see your clan lopped 
 of its strong men by a raid. Another time, a son by a slave 
 woman was paid for the ransom of his father ; it was managed 
 by the clan, and the father was not asked. Better we all fall 
 this day, and not the able-bodied man. 
 
 "There was also the system of giving over a sister's son 
 in pledge. A lawsuit threatens to eat up a family already 
 weakened as above, by a raid ; something, or some one, must 
 be paid, or extremes suffered. A benefactor is found to ad- 
 vance an ox or slave ; he may not want a pledge, but his 
 heir, who has not the same sympathies, may ; then any near 
 relation may be, and was, given in pledge to serve him. 
 
 " Again, any one was forced to assent to giving up a near 
 relative when a crime had been committed by one of the 
 family and this crime was brought home to one amongst them. 
 This case is much the same as above, only no friend in need 
 can be found ; some person has to be given up ' willy-nilly.' 
 We must bear in mind that, however degraded a thing the 
 sale of a son by a slave may be, we must try to realise the 
 transaction to be a wholly different thing from saying that 
 a man is devoid of affection to his family. Nowhere in all 
 this is there any selling of a child ' for a pair of shoes,"* and, 
 elsewhere than in Africa, hunger has often made the 'eye 
 of a mother evil towards the child at the breast.' 
 
 " So far as to inhuman conduct to children : but is there 
 
 343 
 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER 
 
 room for any strong attachment, is there any romance about 
 the family roof- tree, even if they do not sell each other like 
 live-stock ? 
 
 " Positively, the mother is more than willing to feed her 
 child, not only in childhood, but often long after; she is 
 ready to fight his battles against any one, and certainly in 
 most cases the boy is the light of his mother's eyes. 
 
 When the child goes off" on a journey, the mother awaits 
 his return anxiously; sometimes, it may be, making a vow 
 not to shave her head until he returns ; on his return, she 
 goes through a wild dance of joy, often casting white ash, 
 or flour, over herself, and making a shrill noise : ' Lululuta.' 
 She clasps her child round the body, sometimes round 
 the neck, herself kneeling; she sees nothing of onlookers, 
 of white man, or steamer. Then she must be poor indeed 
 if she cannot provide porridge enough for him, and a friend 
 or two. Often she may exercise a very doubtful influence 
 over her offspring; one may depreciate the standard of 
 affection, but travail, years of pinching, hoeing, and backache 
 for him, do not issue in bitterness or estrangement; they 
 must, to a certain extent, grace her with the rank of a 
 mother, even in the face of the civilised world. 
 
 " Then there is the abandonment in grief when the child 
 dies ; the long wail going on through the night, the 
 longing to look on the face of the dead. It is a debt 
 of sorrow, paid to the full at the time, and then the 
 bitterness is a good deal gone. The self-abandonment is 
 complete, the sympathy with death an effbrt of the whole 
 nature. If the body does not come home, then the solace 
 of the mourning is lacking. Often relatives come in with 
 claims for payment, but the sordid surroundings cannot hide 
 the parent's feelings. 
 
 "The solidarity of family life is brought out when 
 competitors arise on the field, in the form of European 
 offers of work, or school, carrying as they do so many 
 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER 
 
 advantages. Do the home ties vanish like morning mists? 
 No ! few boys care to be away from home any length of 
 time. I have never known a boy willing to leave his people 
 at the time of a funeral, or when war was impending, and 
 the action of both men and boys leaves me with the im- 
 pression that, so far from their home life being a blank to 
 them, it is all in all, and very likely they can spend years 
 amidst all we can offer of a parallel kind, and yet feel it all 
 like a play at the theatre. The reality of life comes in news 
 of a death at home, a family quarrel, or a raid — and what 
 the man has been dallying with ceases to interest him. ' I 
 must have leave on most important family business.' 
 
 "The same feeling is there, with many a slave, or slave 
 boy, who laughs and chatters merrily enough. The white 
 men come and go, the lad may have many a dance and 
 many a journey with those who seem near him, but nothing- 
 can fill the place of his mother, his mother's brother, his own 
 elder brother and sister, and his father — ' Something that goes 
 deeper than his dinner.' " 
 
 The reader may wonder whether, in this land of conflicting 
 religions, there is any general belief in a Creator common to 
 most Africans. 
 
 Without attempting to define the various shades of their 
 ideas, I may say that they appear to place on a pedestal a 
 Creator who, to them, is a Being gifted with absolute power, 
 the Chief of Chiefs. With Him the inhabitants of earth can 
 have no direct dealings. Nothing can be done to alter His 
 wishes; no sacrifice could bribe Him. He is both invisible 
 and inaccessible. 
 
 After death, they imagine the spirits live in a world 
 apart from the Creator, but they are granted certain powers, 
 which are exercised for or against men on earth, their good 
 offices being obtainable, and their anger appeased, by sacrifice. 
 Appeals to spirits are not lightly made, and are of a simple 
 
 347 
 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER 
 
 nature, such as the placing of a little flour near their graves. 
 When distressed by a great bereavement or other sorrow, 
 they piteously call the departed by name, as did the girl 
 who leaped from the clilf calling, " Amai ! Amai I " 
 
 This implicit faith in the good intentions of departed 
 spirits made them criticise the repeated supplications as 
 practised in mission churches. They asked : " Why do 
 you keep on praying to your God ? Is He always watching 
 for an opportunity to inj ure you, or stop your rain ? Does 
 He get tired of preventing bad spirits putting medicine into 
 your porridge? Our spirits never sleep, and we let them 
 alone as much as possible.'*'' 
 
 I have never met an African agnostic, and some of the 
 most advanced pupils in mission colleges are known to cHng 
 to many of their old ideas of a future life in preference to 
 ours. There seems no death in their creed ; it is merely a 
 transformation. The lofty mountain peak is not looked on 
 with a sense of awe because its summit is lost in cloud-land, but 
 rather because it is the watch-tower of some departed chiefs 
 spirit. A massive block of granite is not simply inanimate 
 stone to them ; it holds the still beating heart and sleepless 
 eyes of some dead warrior. The distant stars are not balls 
 of fire, but the ever-watchful retinue of the great " Chiuta "''* 
 (God). Sneaking, blood-thirsty leopards are not animals, but 
 assumed disguises of evil spirits intent on drinking blood. 
 
 Death ? Annihilation ? It is as unthinkable to them 
 as that the sun does not revolve around the earth. To tell 
 them there is a Creator adds nothing to their knowledge. 
 That they shall live again ! They treat it as gratuitous 
 information. That the Christian'*s God is a Father ! They 
 doubt whether you yourself believe it, judging by your 
 repeated solicitations for His assistance. Tell them they 
 are wrong — they ^vill answer that they had nothing to do 
 with creation and that they are children. Endeavour to 
 impress on them that they will be punished after death if 
 
 348 
 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER 
 
 they do this or neglect the other, the invariable reply would 
 be : " Nothing can hurt me unless the spirits get permission 
 from God, and if He wished to kill me I am powerless." 
 Attempt to tell them anything beyond what they have always 
 believed, and you get the direct challenge, as I did — " How 
 do you knozo?^^ They see nature is apparently governed, 
 but by whom or what ? To them the hand is invisible, but 
 nevertheless there all the time. 
 
 Before the pen is laid down, some attempt must be made 
 to answer a question which naturally arises, for whatever the 
 past may have been, ^ve are more interested in the future. 
 Can Europeans hope to live in the lands I have been describ- 
 ing, and rear their offspring ? 
 
 In the early days it was difficult ; the life was altogether too 
 rough, necessaries being reduced to a minimum. Constant 
 anxiety, coupled with ignorance of what to use for the best 
 and what to avoid as detrimental to health, brought premature 
 old age to many settlers, if it did not cause complete collapse. 
 But with present-day comforts one could live on the higher 
 plateaux, although it is questionable whether our race would 
 not physically deteriorate. 
 
 There is no getting away from the fact that the mosquito, 
 even the most harmless species, is a great nuisance in everyday 
 life; and, bearing in mind that to-day residents in some of 
 England's most beautiful seaside resorts are compelled to sleep 
 under mosquito-curtains, it seems difficult to look forward to 
 a time when the pests will be eliminated from the regions 
 under review. 
 
 But these are trifles, and cannot stand in the way of 
 progress. The agricultural prospects would be good if only 
 the means of transport were improved. At present it is so 
 expensive that it would be a mistake to invest too much capital 
 in agi'icultural ventures far removed from the coast, especially 
 as the price of labour is tending upwards. 
 
 349 
 
RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY 
 
 So far as Nyasaland is concerned, the country is nearly out 
 of the running, on account of the want of railway communica- 
 tion with the coast. There is a small railway commencing up- 
 country near the junction of British and Portuguese territory, 
 and running up as far as Blantyre in the Shire Highlands, but 
 this is simply playing with the country. It is astonishing that 
 John Bull has not long ago ordered the railway to be con- 
 structed up to Lake Nyasa and down to Beira, or negotiated 
 with Portugal for its extension to Quelimane, with a lease of 
 the port, to the financial benefit of both countries. If Nyasa- 
 land is ever to become a valuable asset to the Empire, the 
 railway ought at once to be constructed; otherwise, from a 
 financial point of view, there seems no alternative but to turn 
 the whole population into labourers for the northern and 
 southern mines. It is simply a question of which will pay 
 best in the long run, and I hope the casting vote will be given 
 to the building up of a solid foundation on agriculture ; but 
 this can only be accomplished by connecting the plantations 
 with some coast port. 
 
 So far I have said nothing about minerals, which are 
 known to exist in large quantities, e,g. limestone, coal, iron, 
 graphite, and galena. Gold, silver, and precious stones have been 
 found in small quantities, but the general geological formation 
 of Nyasaland is not attractive. I cannot forget the immense 
 sandstone deposits at South Tanganyika, traversed by quartz 
 veins, and I have always regretted not having had time to pro- 
 spect for gold in that region, as it seemed a most attractive field 
 for geological study, and there is no reason why we may not 
 have another Band not far from the Lofu Biver.^ But this 
 is speculative, and I must not pursue the fascinating subject. 
 
 The basins containing the great lakes are gradually filling up 
 with debris washed down by the torrential rains, but it must 
 take centuries to reduce those inland seas to long river-courses. 
 
 I have designedly refrained from touching on the pheno- 
 ^ Since this was written the Abercorn gold reefs have been discovered. 
 
 350 
 
RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY 
 
 menal advance made in the East African Protectorate and 
 Uganda, as they are countries through which I have not 
 travelled ; but I know enough of them to be sure that each 
 would require a separate volume to do it justice, and the 
 writer should be one of the old brigade who lived in the days 
 of Mack ay. 
 
 We must grapple successfully with the sleeping sickness, 
 if we are to save some of the African races from extinction, 
 and to preserve the enormous labour supply which is so 
 necessary to the country during its early competition with 
 the open markets of the world. As the great Mitamba 
 forests are attacked by our woodmen in search of pulp 
 to supply the ever-increasing demand for paper, and the 
 equatorial backbone of Africa yields up its untold mineral 
 wealth, not only its own internal labour supply will be re- 
 quired, but the Chinaman, the Japanese, and the Indian 
 will swarm to the busy heart of a too long dead continent. 
 Then will those mighty streams, the Nile and the Congo, 
 bear down to the ocean flotillas carrying ebony, teak, and 
 mahogany from the present haunts of the Pigmies and the 
 lordly elephant. The "Darkest Africa" of Stanley will 
 export its millions of tons of vegetable and mineral oil, 
 rubber, ground-nuts, millet, rice, cotton, sugar, coftee, corn, 
 spices, fibres, tobacco, and a host of other valuable products, 
 long after the supply of ivory, that old curse of the land, 
 has ceased to exist; and European politicians already born 
 may be called upon to regulate an ever-increasing flow of 
 wealth to this country from the land which, but yesterday, 
 was shrouded in gloom and sorrow, where the hideous slave 
 trade set every man"'s hand against his brother, and life was 
 little better than a living death. 
 
 The Hebrew prophet spoke of " a nation born in a day," 
 and we instinctively turn our eyes eastwards. May we not 
 look nearer home to what is no longer "Dark Africa," but 
 a land we know, and whose possibilities make us shudder 
 
 351 
 
RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY 
 
 as we think of the driving force now being generated, and 
 beginning to be applied at every point of its social 
 economy ? 
 
 A hush seems to pervade a congregation of men and 
 women in this land who think of Africa, when one asks: 
 What of the race problem? White or black? Which 
 wins? The blacks are thronging to the mines, where they 
 compete with white labour, abandoning their natural and 
 healthy occupation of agriculture. What will become of 
 the native races under these new conditions? Will they 
 dwindle and decay, like the Maori and the Red Indians? 
 
 And what is to become of the land which they are 
 ceasing to cultivate, and of the far larger tracts which they 
 have never cultivated ? Countless numbers of wild animals 
 gallop over millions of acres of silent forest land in Africa, 
 which yields not an ounce of food for the human race, or 
 contributes a penny towards the administration of the Pro- 
 tectorate. 
 
 Could we not encourage men from our own country to 
 go in and possess these lands, the only title-deed required 
 being a pair of willing hands and capital to develop industry ? 
 Would it not be wise to open these doors as wide as possible 
 to the manhood of our overcrowded towns? It is not so 
 much the attention of the Revenue Collector and Surveyor 
 which is appreciated by young planters, as the encouraging 
 assistance of a sympathetic Governor whose interest in each 
 separate empire-builder's little try is felt to be as keen as 
 his love of sport. If every possible inducement is given to 
 good men to settle around the great lakes, our Protectorates 
 will the sooner become a valuable asset to the old country, 
 worth treble the amount received from it during the early 
 stages of their childhood. 
 
 We cannot afford to waste time. Are we not called on 
 
 to act as well as think in continents ? If there still remain 
 
 slave chains in any portion of Africa, there are willing hands 
 
 352 
 
RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY 
 
 ready to snap them. It matters nought if there exist a 
 thousand counterparts of Tip-pu-Tib, there are not wanting 
 men and women who will show them " rain-clouds in the 
 sky. We know the age of romance, courage, and adventure 
 did not pass away with the Crusaders. Would not some of 
 the people who dash along our roads in motor-cars just as 
 readily kneel down in a dirty African village by the side of 
 a black maiden, and stitch up her lacerated breast, if there 
 was no one else to do it for her, and no one to see them 
 do it? 
 
 What may seem too like a lack of commercial enterprise 
 is not difficult to understand when one sees British officers 
 and troops transported from one African Protectorate to 
 another under a foreign flag, because one British company 
 after another cannot make its steamers pay against the com- 
 petition of a foreign line subsidised by a foreign government. 
 
 Cannot my countrymen realise that the commercial invasion 
 on terra-firma and ocean highways is an accomplished fact, 
 whilst the aerial one is a theory ? Did we sweep the hordes 
 of Rugaruga out of those thorny stockades, and, in isolation, 
 fight malaria and poisoned arrows for a quarter of a century, 
 in order that some other nation might establish markets for 
 their manufacturers ? 
 
 If at home there is fear of our national glory departing, 
 there is none away yonder under the Southern Cross from 
 snow-clad Ruenzori peaks to the ocean. From every canvas 
 tent, every mud hut, forest camp, and swamp, pioneers of 
 civilisation send words of cheer back to the home land. If 
 they are handicapped by the ravages of fever, they fight on, 
 thinking only of a one-armed man who triumphed at Trafalgar. 
 When the oppression of an isolated life makes the heart tired, 
 they think of the lonely traveller who, year after year, plodded 
 on and on, always penetrating deeper and deeper into the 
 great unknown, and at last, worn out by disease amongst the 
 marshes of Bangweolo, knelt down by his bedside, surrounded 
 
 353 T 
 
RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY 
 
 by none but black men, and died with his face to the goal. 
 The picture cheers them up, and the Cape Express, thundering 
 across the Zambezi, tells them that " Africa's open sore " has 
 been healed in British dominions, and David Livingstone's 
 appeal answered. 
 
 Yes, indeed ! answered far beyond his loftiest flights of 
 faith. An upright magistracy and honest officials have sup- 
 planted the poison ordeal and slave chain. Laughter, dance, 
 and song make the evenings welcomed by ten thousands of 
 young Africans, who in the old hideous times were compelled 
 to restrain their youthful desire to burst into merriment as 
 the sun set, and forced to creep away in terror out of the 
 reach of unseen enemies. 
 
 It was all work worth doing. Old memories of fever, 
 fatigue, isolation from cultured companionship with kith and 
 kin, do not count. What does count is the echo of children's 
 voices which the waves often bring to me as I sit on the sea- 
 beach, echoes of merry ringing laughter, and the rhythmic 
 beating of distant village drums. These sounds are inaudible 
 to the holiday crowd passing along the parade. They are 
 vibrations which can only be caught by an ear which, long 
 ago, listened to the cry of black men and tried to answer it. 
 To my comrades still in the field I repeat the farewell of that 
 British sailor at Zanzibar in 1882—" So long ! " 
 
 354 
 
INDEX 
 
 A 
 
 Africa, the geography of, 20 
 African humour, 26 
 
 travel, fascination of, 44 
 
 Agricultural products of the Warundi, 
 222 
 
 Agriculture and transport, 349 
 Albert Edward Nyanza, the, 221 
 Alexandria, bombardment of, 21 
 Alston, Lieut., 312 
 Amambwi, the, 116 
 Ancestor worship, 208 
 Angoni, the, 61, 135, 280 
 
 Indaba, an, 301 
 
 Antelopes, 145 
 
 Ants, ferocious, 106 
 
 Arab system of slave-raiding, 62 
 
 Arabs, courtesy of the, 245 
 
 hostility of the, 81 
 
 and Germans, 157 
 
 Aruwimi River, the, 180 
 
 Ashe, Mr., 22 
 
 Awemba, the, 89, 119, 256 
 
 B 
 
 Baba Daud and Bula Matali, 75 
 Baby, a deserted Walungu, 193 
 Bachelors' quarters, 123 
 Barthelot, 174 
 
 Bu-okets for catching fish, 304 
 Belgian officers on the Congo, 180 
 Belgians and Arabs, 242 
 Big-game hunting, 291 
 Birds, aquatic, of the Rusizi River, 
 232 
 
 of Lake Tanganyika, 232, 
 
 217 
 
 Bitumen at Ujiji, 79 
 
 Blake, Mr. , Dutch missionary, 301 
 
 Blantyre, 136 
 
 transformed, 330 
 
 Boiling springs, 207 
 Boots, natives and the white man's, 42 
 Boyce, Dr., murder of, 315 
 Breaking the twig, a sign of friend- 
 ship, 161 
 
 Brooks, Arthur, and his murderer, 
 39, 165 
 
 Buffalo, escape from an enraged, 61 
 Buganda, the, and Bp. Hannington, 20 
 Bush, hunting in the, 58 
 Bushbuck fighting, 145 
 
 C 
 
 Cannibal, a, 222 
 
 Canoes, 77 
 
 Cape to Cairo, 242 
 
 telegraph, 278 
 
 Cash, African equivalent for, 25 
 " Cat's-cradle," the game of, 283 
 Cathedral, a beautiful,native-built, 327 
 Chambezi River, the, 122 
 Character, an analysis of the native, 
 339 
 
 Characteristics of the natives, 31 
 Charms, belief in, 67 
 " Chikote " or hide whip, 84 
 Chikusi, 143 
 
 Children, education of, 289 
 
 parental feeling towards, 343 
 
 Children's games, 283 
 Chunyo, 53 
 Climate, 122 
 
 Coast and Interior, people of the, 
 compared, 40 
 
INDEX 
 
 Coffee, cultivation of, 329 
 Commercial enterprise, lack of, 353 
 Congo, Belgian officers on the, 180 
 
 State officials, the, 245 
 
 Cotton-growing, 331 
 Creator, belief in a, 847 
 Crocodiles, a conjuror of, 229 
 
 quartz found in the stomach 
 
 of, 226 
 
 Currency, past and present, 328 
 D 
 
 Dance, an impromptu, 250 
 Delimitation negotiations, 316 
 Developing the land, need for, 352 
 Dineen, Dr., 107 
 
 Disease amongst the Walungu, 198 
 Doctor and the lion, 291 
 "Domestic slaves," 40 
 Duel, a, 108 
 
 Dutch Reformed Church, the, 304 
 D'zeoli, 301 
 
 E 
 
 Earthquake shocks, 208 
 
 Eclipse of the moon, an, 297 
 
 Educational successes, 275 
 
 Elephants, 143 ; an invasion by, 120 ; 
 hunting, 292 ; shooting, 307 ; de- 
 structive, 318 
 
 Elmslie, Dr., influence of, 280 
 
 Emin Pasha, 180 
 
 F 
 
 "Father David," 141 
 Fauna of the Rusizi neighbourhood, 
 233 
 
 Fetish heaps, 69 
 
 Fish, baskets for catching, 304 
 
 Food, the necessity for good, 32 
 
 Forest, the African, 45 
 
 Fort Maguire, 300 
 
 Fotheringham, defender of Wan- 
 
 konde, 277 
 Free Church of Scotland men, tact 
 
 of the, 281 
 Future life, belief in a, 347 
 
 C 
 
 Game and sport, 77, 89, 95, 122 
 
 pits, danger from, 187 
 
 Games, children's, 283 
 Geographical problems, 154 
 Germans in Africa, the, 157 
 Gifts, how regarded by the natives, 
 
 341 
 Giraffes, 167 
 
 Gold-fields, labour in the, 324 
 
 Goma Mountains, 70 
 
 Good News, building the, 90 ; 
 
 launch, 102 
 Gordon of Uganda, 22 
 Graphite, 212 
 
 H 
 
 Hammock, travelling by, 150 
 Hannington, Bishop, 22 
 Hartebeeste hunting, 41 
 Hippopotamus, hunting the, 110, 205 
 Hoes, native-made, 222 
 Honey, 212 
 
 Hore, Captain, 19, 54, 57 ; Mrs. H., 22 
 and the scenery of Lake Tangan- 
 yika, 215 
 Hunting in the bush, 59 
 
 I 
 
 Images, wooden, 127, 208 
 
 Indaba, an, 189 
 
 Industrial development, 323 
 
 Industries about Tanganyika, 212 
 
 Infant mortality, 319 
 
 Insect life, 32 
 
 Iron ore, deposits of, 212 
 
 wire as a currency, 222 
 
 work amongst the Warundi, 226 
 
 Itawa Arabs, the, 255 
 Ivory, the value of, 49, 75 ; and 
 slaves, 76, 179, 221 
 
 J 
 
 Jacques, Captain, 180, 245 
 Jellyfish in Lake Tanganyika, 215 
 
INDEX 
 
 Johnston, Sir Harry, 21, 191, 203, 242 
 Johnstone and the elephant, 292 
 
 K 
 
 Kabatawe and the hippopotamus, 
 
 101 ; and the slave-raider, 102^ 
 Kabunda, 191 
 
 Kakungu, 259 ; capture of, 269 
 Karema, French station of, 105 ; 
 
 attacked by natives at, 204 
 Karonga, 135 
 
 Kavala Island, our base at, 88 
 
 Keltie, Dr. Scott, 338 
 
 Kidd, James, and the game pit, 187 
 
 Kilangozi or leader, a, 41 
 
 Kirk, Sir John, 23 
 
 Kitimbwa, Chief of the Walunga, 
 
 95, 189 
 Kitimkuru, Chief, 119 
 Kotakota, 135 
 Kwakvra River, the, 150 
 
 L 
 
 Lady Nyasa, the, 135 
 
 Lake Kiwa, 233 
 
 Law wounded, 266 
 
 Law Courts, the work of the, 321 
 
 Laws, Dr., influence of, 280 
 
 Leopards, attacked by, 235 
 
 Leza or the Creator, 208 
 
 Licence for big-game hunting, 318 
 
 Likoma Island, 295 
 
 Lions, 65 ; and the Walungu curse, 
 201 ; attacking tents, 281 ; hunting, 
 291 ; at Kotakota, 299, 317 
 
 " and leopards," the game of, 283 
 
 Livingstone and the slave-trade, 50 ; 
 and Stanley, 70 
 
 Mrs., grave of, 148 
 
 Lofu River, the, 89, 191 
 
 London, H.M.S., 23, 30 
 
 Luapula River, the, 314 
 
 Lusigi River, the, 70 
 
 M 
 
 Makanjira and Mponda, 135, 300 
 Malagarasi River, the, 68 
 
 Malaria and mosquitoes, 33 
 Mamba snake, the, 147 
 Mamboia, attack of fever at, 45 
 Man-eater, a, 299 
 Manna, 116 
 
 Manyema, the, 180 ; as cannibals, 
 
 243 
 
 Maples, death of Bishop, 309 
 Marine fauna of Lake Tanganyika, 79 
 Marriage customs of the "VValungu, 
 194 
 
 Masai, an encounter with, 158 
 Matches, natives and the, 43 
 Medical impostors and hona fide 
 
 practitioners, 107 
 " Medicine," 67, 91, 102 
 
 white man's, 163 
 
 men, influence of, 127 
 
 Mfiti or cannibal, 128, 225 
 Mgunda-Mkali Wilderness, the, 56 
 Minerals in Nyasaland, 331, 350 
 Mirambo, the great, 58, 61 
 Missions, work done by the, 337 
 Mkambi, 53 
 
 Mlozi and Jumbe, 87, 135, 300; cap- 
 ture of, 311 
 
 Moffat, Mary, 332 
 
 Moir, Mr. and Mrs. Fred, 90, 204 
 
 Monkey, a mischievous, 250 
 
 Monsoons on Lake Tanganyika, 237 
 
 Moore, death of, 216 
 
 Morambala mountain, 143 
 
 Morning Star, the, transport of, 
 25, 85 
 
 Mosquitoes and malaria, 33, 137, 349 
 Mourning, signs of genuine, 106 
 Mpezeni, Chief, 269, 315 
 Mponda, 135 
 M'pwapwa, 48 
 Msakambewa, 301 
 Music, African, 33 
 Mwasi, 300, 311 
 
 N 
 
 Native character, insight into, 46 
 
 chiefs, official treatment of, 
 
 279 
 
INDEX 
 
 Native industries and imported goods, 
 337 
 
 Natives, the, how they are spoiled, 
 336 
 
 Noses, a difference of, 287 
 Nugget from Ujiji, a, 211 
 Nyanza, Emin Pasha at, 183 
 Nyasa, Lake, 122 
 
 Nyasaland, devastation of, 277 ; 
 rapid progress of, 329 ; natural 
 products of, 351 
 
 P 
 
 Packing for transport, 25 
 Palm-oil, 211 
 Parental affection, 344 
 Pearl mussels, 222 
 
 Penalties amongst the Amambwi, 
 119 
 
 Pioneer, the protection of, 187 
 Poison ordeal, 128, 340 
 Polygamy, 342 
 Porters, African, 25, 35 
 Postcard, the first, to Cairo, 312 
 Presents, attitude of the African as 
 
 regards, 226 
 "Prisoner's base" in the water, 284 
 Products, natural, of Nyasaland, 351 
 Puff-adder, death from the bite of 
 
 a, 146 
 Pulley, Lieut., 90 
 Punch as a literary tonic, 29 
 
 Q 
 
 Quelimane, 150 
 
 R 
 
 Railways, the, 329 
 
 want of, 350 
 
 Ramakukane, 141 
 
 Rees, Miss, of the Universities Mis- 
 sion, 296 
 Regatta, an African, 218 
 Religious progress, 337 
 
 Revenge, an act of, 253 
 
 Rhodes, Cecil, 312, 323 
 
 Roxburgh, James, 105 
 
 Rugaruga bullies, 96, 178 
 
 Ruiche River, the, 73 
 
 " Rule of the Road, the," 41 
 
 Rumaliza, 75; character of, 87, 169, 
 
 180, 204 ; and the Belgians, 242 ; 
 
 death of his wife, 270 
 Rusavia, Chief, 233 
 Rusizi River, the, 212, 232 
 
 S 
 
 Saadani, the head-man of, 39 
 
 Saidi Mwazungu, treachery of, 282, 
 
 291, 300. 311 
 Salisbury, Lord, and the Cape to Cairo 
 
 route, 242 
 Salt, 212 
 
 Salving a swamped boat, 240 
 Sangala, a large fish, 77, 188 
 Seine-fishing, 77 
 
 Shellfish and shrimps in Lake Tan- 
 ganyika, 215 
 Shire Highlands, the, 279 
 
 River, 135 
 
 Valley, the, 319 
 
 Shupanga, 147 
 
 Sickness, how it is regarded, 249 
 Simm, Arthur Fraser, 310 
 Slave-raiding, organised, 62 
 
 trade, cruelties of the, 21, 48, 
 
 98 
 
 Snakes, 145 
 Spirit-houses, 69 
 Spirits, the belief in, 347 
 Sponges in Lake Tanganyika, 215 
 Stairs, Lieut., and the sangala, 188 
 Stanley and Tip-pu-tib, 173 
 
 the " Stone-breaker," 75 
 Steel boat, building the, 82 
 Stevenson Road, the, 122 
 Stockades, 65 
 Stokes, Charles, 153 
 Storm on Lake Tanganyika, 88 
 Storming a stockade, 261 
 Storms, Captain, 179 
 
INDEX 
 
 Sultan Jumbe, 135, 291 
 Surgery, native, 107 
 Swamped in Lake Tanganyika, 237 
 "Swollen heads," 334 
 
 T 
 
 Tanga, legend of the man from, 78 
 
 Tanganyika, first view of, 73; legend 
 of, 78 ; area of, 79 ; marine fauna, 
 79, 215 ; tribes about, 80 ; a storm 
 on, 88 ; industries about, 212 ; 
 scenery, 215 ; waterspouts, 237 
 
 Tattoo marks, 221 
 
 Taxes, 319 
 
 Telegraph from Cape to Cairo, 323 
 Telephone, a primitive, 283 
 Tip-pu-tib, 75 ; character of, 86, 171 
 Tobacco growing, 221, 331 
 Tom, tragic death of, 91 
 Transport, the difficulties of, 29 
 Treaty-making, 191 
 Trees and creepers, 211 
 Tribal laws, 289 
 
 spear, breaking a, 304 
 
 Tribes about Tanganyika, 80 
 Trivier, Captain, 185 
 Twins and taxes, 320 
 
 U 
 
 Ujiji, importance of, 73, 75, 168 
 Unyamwezi, the, 58, 61 
 Unyanyembe, 62 
 
 V 
 
 Vegetation, 44 
 Vicenti, 150 
 
 W 
 
 Wafipa, the, 98, 248 
 
 Wagogo, greed of the, 56 ; and the 
 
 Germans, 178; character of, 339 
 Wajiji, the, 76 
 
 Walungu, the, 89, 189 ; calamity to, 
 192 ; tuition of girls, 193 ; marriage 
 customs, 194; curse, 201 
 
 Wankonde, the, 122 ; annihilation of, 
 277, 312 
 
 Wanyamwezi, the, as porters, 25 
 
 Wa'nyika, legend of the, 78 
 
 Warundi, the, 221 
 
 Wasakumu, 153 
 
 Waterspouts on Lake Tanganyika, 
 
 89, 237 
 Watusi, the, 222 
 Wavinza, the, 68 
 Wax, 212 
 
 Wazigi Tribe, the, 221 
 Whitebait, 205 
 
 Wissmann, Major Von, 50, 120, 178 
 Witch- finder, a, 133 
 
 Y 
 
 Yao Chief, 280 
 
 Yule, James, the pioneer and hunter 
 262 
 
 Z 
 
 Zambezi, the, 144 
 
 Zanzibar and the slave-trade, 22 
 
 Zarafi, 300 
 
 THE END 
 
 Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson, Co 
 Edinburgh <^ London 
 
Date Due 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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