in—ffTi I'. •»: 1 ■T Sf iWi Mi«li ittustratmg a "Paper by JA. STEVElSrSON,"F.R."s.E. Scale 1=5,000,000. Statute Mies /69.16'1'j. m StatlDri of t/w Arricoji Lakes C9 ( Missiorwry Sta, . "~~-^— Xakc^ Junrtion Tiorvd ' .Stei'en.son JRoadij . Thf f-^iLs ej!f/ir.*s thr AlUUute abai-e the Lei'rJ of ffiz Sea: ' " L'n(i£f r>rii(i r'( CZ}Jooo'6ooo ft. i : oi-&- eooo fl. E (•■ Saveiistein del ^ THE ARABS IN CENTRAL AFRICA AND AT LAKE NYASSA, WITH CORRESPONDENCE WITH H.M. SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON THE ATTITUDE OF PORTUGAL. BY JAMES STEVENSON, F.RS.E. WITH TWO MAPS. GLASGOW: JAMES MACLEHOSE & SONS, publishers to the Sliiibersit)). 1888. A copy of the accompanying slave trade Map having been made on a large scale at the request of friends of the Missions on Lake Nyassa, for submission to an important meeting held in London in spring, the writer has in this paper given his authorities for the Map and other information bearing on the present critical state of aifairs in South-Eastern Africa. The slave trade Map has been further revised by j\lr. Eavenstein. Mr. Eavenstein thinks that the depopulation especially of the regions east of the lakes is greater than is represented in the map, but there are not materials from which to make it accurate. The uncoloured spaces in Msiri and the Bemba countries, represent districts from which slave hunters proceed to attack the surround- ing regions. With regard to the routes leading westward into Portuguese territory the slaves are set free after seven j-ears' forced labour. This does not make the atrocities in procuring them any less. Dr. Schweiiifurth proposes an addition to the colouring to show that the Avhole of the Egyptian Soudan has been imder the dominion of the slave trade since 1884. He also suggests that the word "coast" should be erased in the title of the colouring, the principal consumption of slaves being in the Soudan itself and in the Arab territories. (The Soudan being beyond the scope of this pamphlet, it is enough to note the first point. The exjjort from the East Coast may be small relatively, but it is still considerable. — J. 8.) Srd December, 1888. THE ARABS IN CENTRAL AFRICA. The recent attacks by Arabs at the north end of Lake Nyassa have excited a strong feehng in this country, and it is a fitting- time to call the attention of the public to the great Arab invasion of Central Africa, which threatens to destroy the industrial population of tlie continent. In 1871 Livingstone found himself confronted by Arabs in various parts, and especially at Nyangwe he witnessed the commencement of a system of wholesale massacre. From this point in particular the tribes around were attacked. In a map i:)ublished in 1883 I showed the extent to which these ravages had extended, along with the other regions throughout Central Africa in which slave-hunting had been destroying the popula- tion more or less. During the last five years the information tliat has come to hand shows that the ravages of the Zanzibar Arabs have extended in area and intensity among some of the most advanced races of the interior, so that countries lying west of the great lakes liave been destroyed over an area of one thousand miles in length by four hundred in breadth. The devastation extends as far as to the countries where the population was previously thinned by the West Coast slave trade, so that there is a near approach to the time when the nations of Europe may find that there is but a very small industrial population remaining in these parts. Proceedings of the Panjal Geographical Society, 1887, p. 640. — Dr. Wolf says of Lunda, etc. (see map) : — " The country from the coast to the Kassai is thinly populated, though all the villages I passed through showed a great number of healthy-looking children. This will be understood if Ave remember that this region has for centuries provided Angola and the foreign market with slaves." From the central regions slaves have recently been drawn to fill up the blanks created by earlier ' slave raids near the East Coast, but the source of supply is coming to an end, both from the exhaustion of the centre and quite recently from the Arabs having in a few places begun to cultivate by slave labour the lands from which the inhabitants had been expelled. Eefening to the annexed map, I quote information fi'om the various travellers who have, within the last five years, been witnesses of what has been going on. In order to give a general idea of w^hat passes, I begin by quoting passages descrip- tive of the scenes which accompany the ravages of the country about Stanley Falls. This district is numbered 1 on the map. The Congo and the Founding of its Free State, by H. M. Stanley (Vol. II., p. 140). — " Our guide, Yumbila, was told to question them as to what was the cause of this dismal scene, and an old man stood out and poured forth his tale of grief and woe with an exceed- . ing volubility. He told of a sudden and unexpected invasion of their village by a host of leaping, yelling men in the darkness, who dinned their ears with murderous fusillades, slaughtering their people as they sprang out of their burning huts into the light of the llames. Not a third of the men had escaped ; the larger number of the women and children had been captured and taken away, they knew not whither " P. 144. — " We discovered that this horde of banditti — for in reality and without disguise they were nothing else — was under the leader- ship of several chiefs, but principally under Karema and Kibunga. They had started sixteen months previously from "Wane-Kirundu, about thirty miles below Vinya Njara. For eleven months the baud had been raiding successfully between the Congo and the Lubiranzi, on the left bank. They had then undertaken to perform the same cruel work between the BiyeiTe and Wane-Kirundu. On looking at vaj map I find that such a territory withiu the area described would cover superficially 16,200 square geographical miles on the left bank, and 10,-500 miles on the right, all of which in statute mileage would be equal to 34,700 scpiare miles, just 2,000 square miles greater than the island of Ireland, inhabited by about 1,000,000 people. " The band when it set out from Kirundu numbered 300 fighting men, armed with flint locks, double-barrelled percussion guns, and a few breech-loaders ; their followers, or domestic slaves and women, doubled this force Within the enclosure was a series of low sheds extending many lines deep from the immediate edge of the clay bank inland, 100 yards ; in length the camp was about 300 yards. , UIUC -^ At the landing place below were 54 long canoes, varying in carrying capacity. Each might convey from lU to 100 people. .... The first general impressions are that the camp is much too densely peopled for comfort. There are rows npon rows of dark nakedness, relieved here and there by the white dresses of the captors. There are lines or groups of naked forms — upright, standing, or moving about listlessly ; naked bodies are stretched under the sheds in all positions ; naked legs innumerable are seen in the perspective of prostrate sleepers ; there are countless naked children — many mere infants — forms of boyhood and gii'lhood, and occasionally a drove of absolutely naked old women bending under a basket of fuel, or cassava tubers, or bananas, who are driven through the moving groups by two or three musketeers. On paying more attention to details, I observe that mostly all are fettered ; youths with iron rings around their necks, through Avliich a chain, like one of our boat anchor chains, is rove, securing the captives by twenties. The children over ten are secured V)y these copper rings, each ringed leg brought together by the central ring, which accounts for the apparent listlessness of movement I observed on first coming in presence of this curious scene. The mothers are secured by shorter chains, around whom their respective progeny of infants are grouped, hiding the cruel iron links that fall in loops or festoons on their mammas' breasts. There is not an adult man captive amongst them " P. 148. — ^" The slave traders admit they have only 2,300 captives in this fold, yet they have raided through the length and breadth of a country larger than Ireland, bringing fire and spreading carnage with lead and iron. Both banks of the river show that 118 villages and 43 districts have been devastated, out of which is only educed this scanty profit of 2,300 females and children, and about 2,000 tusks of ivory ! The spears, swords, bows, and the quivers of arrows show that many adults have fallen. Given that 118 villages were peopled only by 1,000 each, we have only a profit of 2 per cent., and by the time all these captives have been subjected to the accidents of the river voyage to Kirundu and Nyangwe, of camp life and its harsh miseries, to the havoc of smallpox, and the pests which miseries breed, there will only remain a scant 1 per cent, upon the bloody venture. "They tell me, however, that the convoys already arrived at Nyangwe with slaves captured in the interior have been as great as their present band. Five expeditions have come and gone with their booty of ivory and slaves, and these five expeditions have now com- pletely weeded the large territory described above. If each ex]jedi- tion has been as successful as this the slave-traders have been enabled to obtain 5,000 women and children safe to Nyangwe, Kirundu, and Vibondo, above the Stanley Falls. This 5,000 out of an annual million will be at the rate of a half per cent., or 5 slaves out of 1,000 G people This is poor profit out of such large M^aste of life, for originally we assume the slaves to have mustered about 10,000 in number. To obtain the 2,300 slaves out of the 118 villages they must have shot a round number of 2,500 people, while 1,300 men died by the wayside through scant provisions and the intensity of their hopeless wretchedness. How many are wounded and die in the forest or droop to death through an overwhelming sense of their calamities we do not know ; but if the above figures are trustworthy, then the outcome from the territory with its million of souls is 5,000 slaves, obtained at the cruel expense of 33,000 lives ! And such slaves I They are females or young children who cannot run away, or who with youthful indifference will soon forget the terrors of their capture ! Yet each of the very smallest infants has cost the life of a father, and perhaps his three stout brothers and three grown-up daughters. An entire family of six souls have been done to death to obtain that small, feeble, useless child ! These are my thoughts as I look upon the horrible scene. Every second during which I regard them the clink of fetters and chains strikes upon my ears. My eyes catch sight of that continual lifting of the hand to ease the neck in the collar, or as it displays a manacle exposed through a muscle being irritated by its weight or want of fitness. My nerves are off"ended with the rancid effluvium of the unwashed herds within this human kennel. The smell of other abominations annoy me in that vitiated atmosphere. For how could poor people, bound and riveted together by twenties, do otherwise than wallow in filth. Only the old women are taken out to forage. They dig out the cassava tubers and search for the banana; while the guard, with musket ready, keenly Avatches for the coming of the revengeful native. Not much food can be pro- cured in this manner, and what is obtained is flung down in a heap before each gang to at once cause an unseemly scramble. Many of these poor things have been already months fettered in this manner, and their bones stand out in bold relief in the attenuated skin, which hangs down in thin wrinkles and puckers. And yet who can with- stand the feeling of pity so powerfully pleaded for by those large eyes and sunken cheeks 1 " This sufficiently describes the general situation.— Coming south of the great forest belt, indicated on the map, we have the following notices of observations made by recent German travellers to the east and west of Nyangwe, in two of the richest and best peopled regions of the continent, which have been wholly destroyed, and also in a district south of Nyangwe, where the process was beginning. Mr. Wissmann in 1881 came through the country of the Basonge, marked 2 on the map, in the very heart of the con- tinent, about the 5th parallel, south latitude, and says : — " They lived in beautiful villages, miles in length, cultivated the land, and excelled in the manufacture of cloth, pottery, iron articles, and wood carving. To the east of these tribes, however, I found that, in consequence of a recent inroad of the Arabs of Nyaugwe, the villages had been deserted. The Basonge have never yet seen an Arab, nor heard the report of a gun, but I am afraid their fate is sealed." On his second journey — Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 1887, p. 776. — "From the 28th December, 1886, to the 23rd January, 1887, the caravan marched through the region of the gigantic villages met with on the first journey. Now the district was entirely depopulated. War and smallpox had entirely devastated the country. The want of food Avas so great that Wissmann lost 80 men from hunger and smallpox on the journey from the Sankuru to Nyangwe. In tlie latter place he found conditions also very much changed, in conse- quence of the events at Stanley Falls. The bearing of the Arabs towards the traveller was decidedly hostile." Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 1887, p. 221. — "Dr. Lenz left Kasonge on June 30th, and traversing the plateau (marked 3 on the map), between that and Tanganyika, reached Mr. Here's station on Kavala Island on August 7th. He found much of the route studded with recently-founded Zanzibar villages established by the Arab traders, the natives having been compelled to retreat into the forests and remote mountains." Proceedings of the Royal GeograjMcal Society, 1887, p. 190. — "Ujiji was entered on August 15th. Here Dr. Lenz discovered that on account of the warfike raids of the Arabs and the excitement in Uganda, it would be impossible for him to push northwards to Emin Pasha, as was his original intention." Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 1887, p. 643. — Dr. Ludwig Wolft' "says (1886, February) — " Between Katshitsh and the Batondoi (marked 4 on the map), I met the powerful chief Zappu Zapp, who as a slave hunter is the curse of the country between the Lubilash and the Lomami. Nearly all his men were armed with percussion guns, which he gets at Nyangwe from the Arabs, in exchange for slaves and ivory. The other tribes are still armed with bows and arrows. This was the furthest point to the west whence the trade all goes to Zanzibar. Several of Zappu Zapp's men, also his sons, spoke the Swahili language. Zappu Zapp wanted guns and powder from me. He did not care for anything else. When I refused to accept his slaves and ivory he resolved to take the ' En Avant' by force overnight." Proceedings of the Royal Gcvgraphkal Socicfi/, 1887, p. 776. — " Wissmann found that in the region betAveen the Lomami and the Sankuru the conditions of trade have completely altered since 1884. Now glass beads, arms, and powder form the chief articles of barter, having replaced the earlier cowry shells." One state, that of Eua, seemed to be holding out ; but to the south of it, in the rich mining region Katanga (marked 5 on the map), we have these notices by Eeichard, a German, and Capello and Ivens, Portuguese travellers. Proceedings of the Eoyal Geographical Society, 1885, p. 606. — *' On October 27th they (Dr. Bohm and Herr Eeichard) crossed into the kingdom of a powerful chief named Msiri, who had been waging a war against Urua during the last six years, in the course of which he had advanced as far as the Kikondia Lake. He was even then ' in the field ' beleaguering a town named Katapena, and it was there the explorers joined him on January 20th, 1884 When Msiri at length returned to his capital (Kimpatu, in U-nkea), it became evident that he aimed at the traveller's destruction. Tired of interminable delays, Herr Eeichard at length started on September 2.5th with ' colours flying and drums beating.' A hundred and fifty natives who sought to prevent his passage of the Lufira were easily put to flight, but thenceforth his progress became a continual struggle against cold, wet, and hunger." Proceedings of the Eoyal Geographical Society, 1887, p. 318. — Capello and Ivens " were now within the limits of the empire which Msiri, a native of Unyamwezi (called Ukalaganja, or Gara- ganza, by the western tribes), has carved himself out of the ancient dominicms of the Kazembe, and which extends from Lake Kikonja and Urua in the north to the Mushinga ^Mountains in the south, and from the Lualaba eastward to the Luapida. This vast region is by no means devoid of natural wealth, but it has been depopu- lated by war, and the traveller sometimes spends days on the march without encountering a single human being. The ' Kinpata ' of Msiri, in the district of Bunkea, is approached through a perfect labyrinth of narrow lanes, planted with euphorbias, and decorated at intervals with trophies of human skulls, every one of which has a liistor}- attached to it, proclaim- ing the detestable cruelty of this parvenu among African rulers. Permission to proceed to Kazembe's town, or even to visit the western shore of Lake Moero, having been refused, on the ground of the unsettled state of the country, Captain Ivens rejoined his com- panion at Nteuke's and they resolved to make their way to the Luapula." 9 We are now well down to the reoion west of Lake Nvassa. Of the countiy north of Lake Bangweolo (marked 7 on the map) we have from Eeichard and Giraud a harrowing j)icture of desolation. Giraud also tells that it is the boast of the people of Bemba, among whom it may be remembered that Livingstone encountered the first Arabs who had penetrated to the centre of Africa, that they had exterminated the Babisa (whose country is marked 8 on the map). This was an impor- tant tribe, who sometimes traded as far as the East Coast of Africa, but have latterly been carried thither in captivity, by way of the ferries of Nyassa, by the Arabs of Kota Kota. Coming nearer the scene of the late disturbances, we have the following description by Mr. Moir, of the African Lakes Com- pany, of the destruction of a people whom the London Mis- sionary Society had hoped to evangelize. Their valley is numbered 6 on the map. Scottish Geof/mphical Magadne, April, 1885, p. 110 — Paper by F. M. Moir. — " Within 20 miles of this station, while we were on our march from Nyassa to Tanganyika, the fei^tile valley of the Lofu, was the scene of a terrible slave raid. An Arab, Kabuoda, who had been settled there for about ten years, having many houses and slaves, determined to go to Zanzibar with his ivory. So he picked a quarrel with Katimbwe, the chief, and took all his cattle ; then organized a sudden raid throughout all the valle}^, and every man, woman, and child who could be found was seized and tied up. Very few managed to escape him or his keen hunters, and a caravan was made for the coast ; but the smiling valley that had been known as the Garden of the Tanganyika, from its fertility and the industry of its people, now silent and desolate, was added to that already long- stretch of hungry wilderness through which we had passed. . . . To deal with, so far (Kabunda) was the polished gen- tleman. He told us he was going on next morning, and would pass our tents ; his caravan was about 3,000 strong, two detachments had gone by a road to the back of us, as could be seen by the tracks in the grass. Accordingly, we were up betimes to see them pass. "First came armed men, dancing, gesticulating, and throwing about their guns, as only Arabs can do, to the sound of di'ums, panpipes, and other less musical instruments. Then followed, slowly and sedately, the great man himself, accompanied by his brother and other head men, his richly caparisoned donkey walking along near by ; and surely no greater contrast could be conceived than that between this courteous, white-robed Arab, with his gold-embroidered joho, silver 10 sword and daggers, and silken turban, and the miserable swarm of naked squalid human beings, that he had wantonly dragged from their now ruined homes in order to enrich himself "Behind the Arab came groups of AviA^es and household servants, laughing and talking as they passed along, carrying the camp utensils and other impedimenta of their masters. After that the main rabble of the caravan, the men armed with guns, spears, and axes. Omin- ously prominent among the loads were many slave sticks, to be handy if any turned refractory or if any likely stranger were met. Mingling with and guarded by them, came the wretched over-burdened tied-up slaves. The men who might still have had spirit to try and escape were driven, tied two-and-two, in the terrible goree or taming stick, or in gangs of about a dozen, each with an iron collar let into a long iron chain, many even so soon after the start staggering under their loads. " And the women ! I can hardly trust myself to think or speak of them — they were fastened to chains or thick bark ropes ; very many^ in addition to their heavy weight of grain or ivory, carried little brown babies, dear to their hearts as a white man's child to his. The double burden was almost too much, and still they struggled wearily on, knowing too well that when they showed signs of fatigue, not the slaver's ivory, but the living child would be torn from them and thrown aside to die. One poor old woman I could not help noticing. She was carrying a biggish boy who should have been walking, but whose thin weak legs had evidently given Avay, she was tottering, al- ready ; it was the supreme effort of a mother's love — and all in A^ain ; for the child easily recognizable, was brought into camp a couple of hours later by one of my hunters, who had found him on the path. We had him cared for ; but his poor mother Avould never know. Already during the three days' journey from LiendAve death had been freeing the captives. It was Avell for them ; still Ave could not help shuddering, as, in the darkness, Ave heard the howl of the hyenas along the track, and realized only too fully the reason Avhy. Loav as these poor negroes may be in the moral scale, they have still strong maternal affection, and love of home and country." For ninety miles along the south coast of Tanganyika we have the entire population swept away, and in the adjoining fertile country of Fipa tlie Arabs are now in great force. During the last year letters from the Mission Stations ex- pressed apprehensions, on account of the presence near Lake Nyassa of the Arab Kabunda, of whose doings at Lake Tangan- yika Mr. Moir's description has been given. The Arab traders had congregated in greater numbers at the Nyassa end of the 11 road, on account of the small steamer of the African Lakes Com- pany having been for some time detained on account of dis- turbances near Bandawe. The killing first of one chief, and then when, by the mediation of the agent of the Company, no reprisals were made, tlie killing of another, indicated a desire to find an excuse for seizing the villagers to carry their ivory to the coast. The reprisals on the women belonging to the Arabs furnished a colourable pretext for the seizure of the fifteen hundred, who were afterwards rescued by the defenders of Karonga, This station of the African Lakes Company was attacked by the Arab banditti on account of the reception of these people within the lines, the attack being maintained with great ferocity and some tactical skill for five days, when the siege was raised by a large body of natives, who had treaties with the Company. The attack was made from three Arab villages, of which the chiefs indicated the intention of ousting the whole of the natives, described by Thomson and other travellers as the most promising in all that region, and organizing a new Arab state. The Arabs generally consider this attack upon a European station rash and ill-advised, but to maintain this prestige it is necessary not only to occupy a defensive position at Karonga, but to dislodge the intruders. Another motive is indicated in the following extract from the letter of the Eev. Mr. Scott of Mancliester, to the Manchester Guardictn. Manchester Guardian, Feb. 25, 1888 — From a letter of the Rev. Mr.- Scott. — " It is impossible to tell with accuracy the number tliat have been carried oft' with Arabs as slaves, but a large number of women and children are known to be in their hands. That the fate of the majority of the former was not one of slavery only we have too much reason to fear. Lest it should be thought that I exaggerate, 1 will tell your readers that the leader of this ruffianly band, a Belooch from Zanzibar, had the blackguard audacity to inform the Kev. J. A. Bain, M.A., and Mr. Monteith, in an interview they had witli him before the massacre, what Avould be done with the 'young Wa-Nkonde girls,' accompanying his atrocious statement with the foulest language. And there is no doubt that most were abandoned to the Ruga-ruga and other ruffians who formed his force, whose only pay consists in uncontrolled licence of this kind, with a very small proportion of the booty captured." 12 The (j[uestion is now fully brought before us — Are the atrocities of the Arab invasion now to be extended to Lake Nyassa ? At various points besides the north end the invaders are ready, and have been tentatively adding to their old station at Kota Kota one near the Bandawe Mission, and besides Losewa and Makanjira's they have been aggressive near Blantyre. The Piev. Mr. Scott, head of the Blantyre Mission, in regard to this district says : — " The Arab slave-trade is making frightful pro- gress. Caravans of Arabs are pouring in — for trade ? No ' Hardly a bale of cloth goes up country from the East Coast ; it is guns and powder, not even spirits. It is simply slaughter, and slaughter of thousands, and the desolation of the fairest lands — lands where the natives were at peace, where industry and thrift and happiness ruled : where to get through one village you might start in the early morning and not pass out of it till the sun was half-way down, journeying straight on ; and these are now desolate. Fresh routes are opening up to them, and the desolation is spreading. It is not slave-trade ; it is ruthless massacre of the most barbarous type." On the other hand, the forces in favour of order, if properly used, are much stronger on Lake Nyassa, and can be readily augmented. For the purposes of defence, the coasts of Lake N}'assa are within easy reach. The steamers of the Company would set down reinforcements within three weeks after leaving the East Coast, and in favourable circumstances, for they pass rapidly through the malarious district, and the land journey past the rapids is over high and healthy land. There are thus no physical difficulties, but only those whicli arise from the present action of Portugal. 13 The following quotations show the position twelve years ago. From The Civilization of South Eastern Africa, by James Stevenson. EEMARKS ON MATTEES CONNECTED WITH THE APPROACH BY THE ZAMBEZI TO NYASSA, REQUIRING THE ATTEN- TION OF GOVERNMENT. When the Scottish missions proceeded to occupy the Shirt^ Valley and Lake Nyassa, arrangements were proposed that their communica- tions should be kept uji by their employing vessels to enter the Kongone or Luabo mouths of the Zambezi from the ocean, and by smaller vessels on the rivers to connect that navigation with that of the steamer placed on Lake Nyassa. The original discovery and navigation of these river communications by agents of the British Government seems clearly made out in Livingstone's Miasionary Travels, pp. 640 and 6G5, Zambezi, pp. IG, 91. The only exception is about 30 miles of the Zambezi navigation from Mazaro to the entrance to the Shire, which is also part of the line of water communication between the Portuguese settlements of Quillimane, Mazaro, Senna, and Tette. The carrying out of this intention was deferred in consequence of the receipt of a letter from Senhor Zagury, intimating that he had had conceded to him by the Portuguese Government the exclusive right of steam navigation between Quillimane, the Luabo mouth of the Zambezi, and Tette. The missions have since used the Portuguese approach by the Quillimane river, which connects itself by a porterage of six miles with the Zambezi at Mazaro. That this concession of the Portuguese Government would have been, if carried out, an invasion of British riglits hardly admits of doubt, although it was not the part of the Mission to contest the matter. But the concession was probably hastily granted, when the passage of the British steamer Ilala attracted attention, with the ^'iew of keeping the question open, and it is understood to be now withdrawn. The Portuguese route from Quillimane to Tette above mentioned, as we have said, coincides for 30 miles with the new route from the mouth of the Zambezi to Nyassa, but the Portuguese are very much in the position of a power that has been withdrawing from it, which came about in this way. The high price of slaves in Brazil, 40 years ago, induced a pretty general sale of the agricultural population connected with their settlements, destroying both their defensive power and their revenues. The Landeens, part of the great Abantu or Zulu Kailir race, which now occupies most of Eastern Africa from the Cape to within five degrees of the ecpiator, have gradually, in the last 30 years, driven them from the south bank of the river. Tlie town of Senna is 14 secured Ijy the payment to the Landeens of an annual tribute or land-tax, enforced in case of refusal by occupation and slaughter of the inhabitants. Livingstone's 3ris.mnari/ Travels, p. 658; Zambezi, p. 152 ; Fritsch, Eing. Slid. Africas, p. 494. The Livingstone Search Expedition found the inhabitants, in 1867, living on the islands of the Zambezi, in consequence of 600 persons having been killed the previous year on account of this and other provocations. The party in the Ilala also found that, in November 1874, the Landeens had occupied ]\Iazaro, on the north bank, Anth a slaughter of 200 people, when enforcing the payment of their land-tax there. As they also levy dues on the river, and the Portuguese Government has not seen its Avay during thirty years to prevent their thus treating the whites as a conquered tribe, it would appear to be necessary to consider the position of this race as well as that of the Portuguese in any settle- ment. The concession of transit duties might be made to the Portuguese on condition of the river from Mazaro to the Shire being kept ojDen, a task which, judging from British experience of the Kafl&rs in South Africa, may involve difficulty and expense. "With the Landeens between the mouth of the Zambezi and Mazaro Ave presume we must deal ourselves. The next steps were these. In 1877 the revised Portuguese tariff' for Mozambique and the East Coast of Africa Avas issued. This contained the two following clauses : — "Art. 70. The transit of merchandise from places outside the provinces, and destined by land or water transit for foreign places adjoining Portuguese territory on the north or south, and also for countries situated beyond the confluence of the rivers Shire and Zambezi, is permitted through the Customs Houses mentioned in Art. 11 on payment of a sole duty of 3 per cent, ad valorem." "The Custom Houses mentioned in Art. 11 are Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, Angoche, Quillimane, Sofala, Inhambane, and Louren(^o Marques. "Art. 84. The taxes of 3 and 1 per cent, ad valorem which have been collected in the Custom Houses of Mozambique for public works are extinct, the Administration being expressly prohibited from reviving these taxes or fixing any other new ones on imports or exports." A custom house in addition to the ports mentioned was 15 established at the confluence of the Zambezi and Shire. The present African Lakes Company was accordingly formed, and a steamer was sent out in due course. The Portuguese have also been active on the south side of the Zambezi in suppressing the Landeens, the native race who occupied so important a position in 1876. This has been done by forces drawn from the other native races, who have been supplied with arms and have acted under leaders generally half-castes. The emigrants from Portugal to the pro- vince of Mozambique form hardly an element in the population at present. The revenues of the province have not been equal to the strain upon them, which has been a good deal felt among the official class. This may account for the freedom with which arms and ammunition have recently been sold to the Arabs at Quillimane, and no doubt some revenue* as well as profit has been obtained. But, from the remarks of Eev. ]\Ir. Scott, quoted above, it would appear that the immediate result is that these banditti are ruining the country just behind the province, which will return into the state of primeval forest when the population is destroyed. It is also worthy of con- sideration that the abundant supply of arms to this part of the country will probably precipitate the Arab attack upon the middle Zambezi and its tributary the Kafue, which lies next to the country ravaged by Msiri on the other side of the Machinga range. The African Lakes Company, who have steadily refused to sell guns or ammunition to the Arabs, have cause to complain that their peaceable operations should be compromised in this way. The Missions also are placed in circumstances unfavourable to them. The Company had fully equipped itself for conducting its affairs on a more important scale, when the recent block of the rivers occurred. The new river steamer of the Company is a stern wheeler, intended to carry 75 tons on a moderate * The arms and ammunition are imported and ])ay duty at Quillimane, but are disposed of to the Arabs at Boror, about forty miles inland in the direction of Lake Nvassa. 16 draft. They have also a steamer of considerable size iii course of being put together on Lake Xyassa, It may be added that the Company and the missions have expended altogether some £150, 000. In pursuance of similar objects a survey was obtained and a road made for about forty- six miles through the rough country north-west of Lake Nyassa, towards Lake Tanganyika, which is reached from that point through an easy country. The road was made by native labour, and the traffic on it was at first worked by parties hired by the Company from the tribes N'konde, Wanda, and Mambwe. In this way the sections of a steamer weighing about twenty tons were carried along the route. But the Arabs anticipated complete arrangements by the Company by sending large parties to purchase goods at the Xyassa terminus, and convey them by their own people, often slaves, to Tanganyika.* The international importance of this route has been indicated by almost all the recent explorers of the central regions, Giraud, Lenz, Wissmann, having returned from the Congo Free Stat^ this way. If the block on the road between the lakes continues this will be no longer possible, and an important part of Central Africa will be practically closed to commerce, whereas if it were kept open there would be little danger of obstruction on either of the great inland seas, which are more favourably situated in this respect than either railways from the East Coast or narrow rivers from the West. A glance at the map shows it to be one of the most important routes in Africa commercially considered. The elevation above the sea level probably renders it more healthy for Europeans than Arabs, and its possession gives ready access to the centre of the continent. Although the training of the natives to industrial pursuits is a slow process, yet there are tribes at the north end of Lake * One important use of the road towards Lake Tanganyika, and of the system of free carriers upon it, was to secure that the Arabs should be dealt with on their own ground, so as to keep them at a distance from Lake Nyassa. Due arrangements should be made to restore this system, which would be amply remuuei'ative if a steamer were employed to visit the ports of Tanganyika. 17 ISTyassa, like the Wa-Nkonde, who in their own way are industrious and intelligent people, numbering about 30,000. They rescued the party besieged at Karonga, and some of them might be effectively organized for the defence of the country, and, well led, would no doubt keep the road to Tanganyika clear."* The Angone, the Zulu race on the plateau west of Lake Nyassa, recently defeated the Bemba warriors, settled on the Loangwa, who were destroying their neighbours. There are also remnants of races, such as the Bisas, who have found a place of refuge on the islands of Lake Bangweolo, who would pro- bably be of use in any serious attempt to restore order in the country. The Company has paid all its expenses, but has been almost deprived of dividends by the fact that the Portuguese have for several years demanded higher duties than they were entitled to charge according to their own tariff. When these present difficulties are overcome the Company ought to be placed on a more extended basis. This would no doubt be agreeable to the Portuguese in respect of yielding larger transit duties. It would also enable the Company to be of still greater use in respect of the important objects to be accomplished in Africa. * These native vohinteer auxiliaries however were too easily diverted to plunder, which rendered the carrying through of operations more difficult. The Company have since been recruiting near Blantyre and Bandawe, where the people are more accustomed to act under European superintendence, and have found the Ajawa and Atonga natives brave and also more amenable to discipline. In the last attack upon the strong- holds of the Arabs their conduct seems to have elicited the full approval of the commander Capt. Lugard. The Wa-Nkonde are in the course of learning the same lesson, enforced by their own danger. 18 CORRESPONDENCE PUBLISHED BY PERCUSSION OF H.M. SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS. To ike Right Hoxourable the Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., H.M. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. My Lord Marquis, — While the subject of the continuance of the Mozambique tariff is before your Lordship, I beg to submit some circumstances which preceded the formation of the African Lakes Company, which may indicate that the Company is entitled to special consideration by the Portuguese Government. Soon after the missions were established on Lake Nyassa, it appeared that a concession of the exclusive right of navigating by steam the river Zambezi and Shird had been offered to one Zagury, a Portuguese subject settled in Liverpool, provided that within three j^ears he had fulfilled the conditions of naviga- tion required, the concession being for a term of thirty years. As one of the conditions was that the steamer should ascend the Shire into Lake Nyassa, which was impossible on account of the cataracts, nothing could come of this. But in October, 1876, the Cortes appointed a commission* to inquire into the position of the colony. They seem to have derived a good deal of information from some papers on the subject I had been led to circulate during 1876. When the report of the Committee came before the Cortes, Viscount Duprat, their Consul- General in London, applied for six copies of these papers to be forwarded to Lisbon for the use of his Government. Some time afterwards he sent me a trans- lation of a document indicating the general lines of the pro- posed tariff. Subsequently I received from Lisbon the text of the tariff with two passages marked, of which translations were attached as in the margin. Translations sent: " Art. 70. The transit of merchandise from places outside the province, and destined, by land or water carriage, for foreign places adjoining Portuguese territory on ♦Appointed by the King, the Report approved by the Cortes. 19 the north and south, and also for countries situated beyond the confluence of the rivers Shire and Zambezi, is permitted through the Custom House mentioned in Article 11, on payment of a sole duty amounting to 3 % ad valorem. " Art. 84. The taxes of 3 and 1 ^ ad valorem, which have been collected in the Custom Houses of Mozambique for public works are extinct, . the administration being expi'essly pro- hibited from reviving these taxes, or fixing any other new ones on imports or exports." The communications during the previous years had been so bad (at one time as much as eight months having passed without hearing from Nyassa) that there was serious thought of withdrawing the mission, but there was now what appeared to be an invitation on the part of the Portuguese that the friends of the mission should undertake the traffic under the following circumstances : — First. That the Portuguese Government were perfectly aware of the views they entertained ; secondly, that the confluence of the Zambezi and Shire was fixed as a limit beyond which they would not be interfered with ; thirdly, that the last clause of Article 84 amounted to an honourable under- standing that no unfavourable changes would be made. The Company was accordingly formed, and a steamer was sent out in the following year. During the last 10 years the Company has been gradually developed, and notwithstanding the very great difficulties which surround the commencement of such an enterprise, would have moderately remunerated its shareholders, had not the Portuguese set aside the transit duty. Kecently the increasing requirements of the district have necessitated the sending out of larger steamers. I trust your Lordship's representations will prove to the Portuguese Government that the practical confiscation of these steamers, and the destroying of the position of the Company, is a course that cannot be honourably or justifiably pursued. I have the honour to be, etc., etc... (Signed) Jas. Stevenson, Chairman of the African Lakes Company. Largs, March 30th, 1888. 20 I beg to enclose a copy of the pamphlets* referred to, and also of the papers sent me by Consul-General Duprat. Paper sent me by Consul-Genekal Duprat. "Portugal's African Colonies. " The Government, after duly considering the recent develop- ment that has taken place in Africa, and with a view of enabling our Colonies to accompany the onward movement in the march of progress, and occupy the prominent place that of right belongs to them, has established a new tariff of customs at Mozambique, the result of which will, of course, be to attract commerce to that province, and open all ports to national as well as foreign trade. The decree also permits commerce to be carried on along the coast under a foreign flag. " The new tariff of customs duties for the province of Mozambique is as follows : — " Import Duties. Keis. Butter, European or Indian, per kil., - - - - - 80 Gunpowder, - - - - - - - - - 100 Guns, gun barrels, and revolvers, ----- 500 Hoes, ----- 60 Liquors, distilled, per litre, ------ 90 Do., fermented, - - - 20 Metals un wrought or wrought, 6 per. cent, ad valorem, excepting iron. Molasses, per litre, -90 Oil, olive, ' - - - 20 Pistols, each, - - 500 Ships (new or seaworthy), to be registered as Portuguese vessels, 5 per cent, ad valorem. Vessels (condemned as unseaworthy) to be sold, 4 per cent. ad valoi'em. Svigar, per kil., 30 Tea, per kil., 60 Tobacco, unmanufactured, .-..-- 200 *0f which an extract is given at pp. 13 and 14. IJf:r{/,f;V 'irivri:';riv ■. 21 Reis. Tobacco (manufactured,) cigars, 6U0 Do., other lots, 400 Wine, in barrels or bottles, ijer litre, ----- 40 Woollens, cotton, raw white, including handkerchiefs, perkil., 90 Woollens, cotton, stamped, dyed, ----- GO Do., open or transparent, such as lace, silk, etc., 10 per cent, ad valorem. All other goods not enumerated, duty free. " Export Duties. Cowrie shells, - . - 4 per cent, ud Gums, - - 2 do. India-rubber, - - 4 do. Ivory, - - 6 do. Orchilla weed, - . - 1 do. Seeds of all kinds. - - 1 do. Skins and hides, . - 2 do. Wax, - - 4 do. All other articles not enumerated, duty free. " This decree was favourably received by all the Portuguese press, and is generally considered as an essential basis for the future development of the province of Mozambique. " Art. 70 of the new Mozambique customs tariff — The transit through the Custom Houses, mentioned in Art. 11, of merchandise coming from places outside the province, and destined, either by land or water, for foreign countries bordering on the north and south of Portuguese territories, is permitted, and also merchandise for places situated beyond the point of confluence of the Shire and Zambezi, on payment of a sole duty of 3 per cent, ad valorem." Largs, April 5th, 1888. My Lord Marquis, — In describing the circumstances under which the African Lakes Company was established, I omitted to call your Lordship's attention to the arrangements that were made subsequent to the issue of the Portuguese copy of the new Mozambique tai-iff. In this document certain Custom 22 Houses, which with the coast between them are opened to foreign flags, are detailed — viz. : Cabo Delgado, Mozam- bique, Angoche, Quillimane, Sofala, Imhambane, and Louren90 Marques. But as none of the Custom Houses were convenient for the transit trade to Lake Nyassa, it was arranged b}?- H.M. Government with that of Portugal, that an additional Custom House should be established at the confluence of the Zambezi and the Shire. During the last ten years the Company has always used the British flag, as it was entitled to do, in trading to this as to the other Custom Houses. I have the honour to remain, etc., etc. James Stevenson. dth April, 1888. Dear Sir, — I am directed by the Marquis of Salisbury to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, and in reply his Lord- ship desires me to address to you his thanks for sending him so interesting a memorandum on the subject of the African Lakes Company, and also the book on the civilization of South- Eastern Africa. I remain, Dear Sir, faithfully yours, (Signed) Sydney Greville. James Stevenson, Esq. The good ofiices of Government were successful in obtaining the release of a stern wheel steamer of considerable size, belonscino; to the African Lakes Company, which had been arrested by the Portuguese in pursuance of some new rules they had made, by which they proposed to restrict the navigation of the rivers Zambezi and Shire to vessels carrying the Portuguese flag and manned by Portuguese subjects. Subsequently, in the House of Lords, on the 6th of July, the Earl of Harrowby called attention to the threatened position of British commerce and British missionary enterprise in East Central Africa, when the Prime Minister, after dealing with 23 some other points, made the following remarks bearing on the navigation of the Zambezi : — " Now, it is claimed that Portugal had the right to all that zone of territory stretching from the Zambezi to Mozambique on the Indian Ocean and to Ano'ola on the Atlantic, but the claim could only be made by some extraordinary doctrine of constructive acquisition. I believe it rests upon a decree of Pope Alexander VI. of saintly memory, but how far that can be admitted as an international ground I will not discuss. France and Germany had admitted the claim of Portugal, sub- ject to any rights which other Powers might have. We have not admitted it. But upon that claim Portugal builds a further claim that the Zambezi is hers also, and undoubtedly if the zone of territory belongs to her there would be a fair con- tention to that effect. There is territory beyond, however, which is not Portuguese and with which we have some con- nection, and also we have interests of an undefined, though very interesting character, with respect to those splendid monuments of British energy and enthusiasm shown on Lake Nyassa. We have informed Portugal that we cannot absolutely admit this claim to the possession of the Zambezi. The matter is still under discussion. The local authorities attempted to exclude the supply of the necessary ammunition to those now living on the Nyassa lake by way of the Zambezi, but I am happy to say that orders have now been given for the supply of ammunition. I do not like to pursue this theme too far, because it would be very easy for language to drop from my mouth which would rather retard than advance an understand- ing. But I agree with my noble friend in thinking that the possession of a vast natural highway like the Zambezi under the peculiar circumstances of its history cannot be claimed by Portugal. After all, it was discovered by Englishmen, and it is now principally used by Englishmen. It leads to settle- ments wherein Englishmen are conducting their operations, religious and commercial; and I think that, even according to the strictest doctrines of international law, it is a matter of the greatest doubt whether a nation in full possession of the two 24 sides of the Zambezi river has a right to exercise any jurisdic- tion to bar access to territories which lie beyond. The Congo and other rivers have been declared free, and that being the case, and especially considering the very peculiar circumstances in which the Zambezi is placed, I am convinced that the opinion of the civilized world will be on our side when we say that the Zambezi must be a route open to all and not confined to one. I think that the religious and commercial operations on Lnke Nyassa form a spectacle upon which Englishmen can look with pride, yet it is one of those achievements which our race has formed and will sustain rather by the action of the individuals of whom the State is composed than by the political machinery of the State. Some of the noblest things England has done in the world have been done in that way, by the initiative of individuals and not by the action of the Govern- ment, It is one of those tasks which must be and will be carried through by the individual Englishmen who have undertaken it. All that the Government can do on the sea coast, all that we can do diplomatically within the sphere of political efforts in this country, we will do. But we are certain that we should only injure instead of promote these great civilizing and missionary efforts if we were to convert them into a cause of war, of war the most exhausting, the most terrible, the least remunerative in any sense — war with the countless savao-es who fill these territories. Because it is not a civilized Power with which we have to fight ; it is a collection of all the scum of humanity that is found over that vast territory which is governed principally by Arabs of the sort with whom we have dealt in the Soudan, who combine the grossest cruelty with a species of fanaticism. We must leave the dispersal of this terrible army of wickedness to the gradual advance of civilization and Christianity, which in these countries, though slow, seems now to be sure. And we may be convinced with my noble friend that this country will not abandon the task to which she has once put her hand, but that she will carry it through successfully and to a triumphant issue by the proper action and the enthusiasm of her individual citizens." rrr; if- The first movement towards the estabhshment of the African Lakes Company was made in pursuance of overtures from the Government of Portugal, and the attention of its promoters was specially called to the articles quoted at page 14 of this paper. The Portuguese Government had the means to understand thoroughly the views of those wliom they desired to commence commercial enterprise in those parts. The promoters had good reason to expect from Article 70 that there would be no interference with them beyond the confluence of the rivers, and from Article 84 that these arrangements were permanent. The Portuguese Government, which had in vain endeavoured to find financial support for a claim of exclusive navigation of the rivers, has now for ten years recognized the British flag in these waters. The demand for the continuance of these arrangements is simply a demand for the observance of an honourable understanding under which substantial interests have been created at the instance of Portugal, and is all the more cogent because this route gives important access to such communities as the Congo Free State, lying- far beyond any possible claim of Portugal. The advance of the Arab banditti, and the encouragement given them by the free sale of arms and ammunition, has rendered it imperative that the communities formed on Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika should have the right of introducing by the rivers such means of defence as they deem necessary, without hindrance from the Portuguese provincial authorities. 9o 9 ' a ««