THE STORY
MACKA
ofUGAND

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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY OF THE
DIVINITY SCHOOL

The Story of the Life of
Mackay of Uganda

BY THE SAME AUTHOR
JVinth Edition completing the Sixteenth Thousand.
Crown Svo, cloth, price js. erf.
A. M. MACKAY,
-¦ Pioneer Missionary of the Church Missionary
Society to Uganda.
"A very interesting: biography." — Times.
"Seldom have I read a more fascinating volume."— Echo.
"A most valuable storehouse of facts and original
documents about Mackay. . . . Few more engrossing
or impressive works have ever been issued than this
simple account of a pioneer missionary." — Record.

.London: HODDER & STOUGHTON.

'The Story of the Life
of Mackay of Uganda
Pioneer Missionary. By His Sister

SIXTEENTH EDITION
COMPLETING. . .
63RD THOUSAND .

ILLUSTRATE®

HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO

Printed by Hazell, Watson <5> Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.

PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION.
' I ^HIS story relates the adventures and perils, tne
toils and difficulties of a pioneer missionary,
and describes many of the cruelties, oppressions and
wrongs which prevailed in Uganda in his day.
Since his death many changes have taken place
The country is now a British Protectorate, with a
resident British Commissioner. A railway from the
coast is in course of construction. Steamers ply
on the Victoria Nyanza, and there has been a
marvellous development of Christian work — perhaps
the greatest in the annals of modern missionary
enterprise.
J. W. H.
April, 1898.

PREFACE.
npHlS book is written especially for boys, in the
hope that Mackay's example may lead many of
them to think of Africa, and devote their lives to its
moral and spiritual regeneration.
They will please to remember that, like Livingstone
and Krapf, Mackay was a pioneer, and that every
year in Africa the difficulties become less and the
dangers fewer. In a little while will —
" The palpitating engines
Snort in steam across her acres."
Then missionaries and traders will be borne speedily
away from the fever-stricken coast ; over flooded
rivers, the weary jungles and the waterless plains,
right up to the noble lake, where a commodious and
comfortable steamer will be available to transport
them and their goods to any port they choose.
I desire to tender my thanks to Mr. Eugene Stock
for his permission to incorporate in this book Bishop

iv Preface.
Tucker's account of his visit to Uganda ; also to
record my obligation to the Rev. John Stewart,
Edderton, N.B., for his trouble in collecting from
old friends several incidents of my brother's early
life. The whole of the matter in this volume is fresh,
and is not found in the larger book, " Mackay of
Uganda." If it confirm and increase the good already
done by that volume, I shall be richly recompensed.
J. W. H.
September, 1S9I.

CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.

PAG*
A DISCOVERY  I

CHAPTER II.
EARLY DAYS  IO
CHAPTER III.
TRANSMITTED IMPULSES  23
CHAPTER IV.
RAPID CHANGES  • 35
CHAPTER V.
LIFE IN BERLIN  48
CHAPTER VI.
UGANDA ......... 58
CHAPTER VII.
ON THE MARCH  65

vl Contents.
CHAPTER VI I L
THE COAST AGAIN ....

K-AOI 8l

CHAPTER IX.
\ RAPID JOURNEY 94
CHAPTER X.
THE S'LVERY SEA J»3
CHAPTER XI.
Alt THE COURT OF MTESA J 28
CHAPTER XII.
HOSTILE ARABS 163
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PLAGUE 197
CHAPTER XIV.
COING TO MARKET 9l8
CHAPTER XV.
MACKAY AS UNDERTAKER 425
CHAPTER XVI.
"the eleanor" 838

Contents. *"

CHAPTER XVII. PAG1
THE KING IS DEAD . . »S3

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE REIGN OF TERROR ...... *6a
CHAPTER XIX.
DEEDS OF BLOOD ...-•-¦ *73
CHAPTER XX.
THE NIGHT IS GONE ..... 29O
CHAPTER XXL
THE IRON HORSB  3T^

CHAPTER I,
A DISCOVERY.
*' And Afric, sunny Afric, —
Where the sand has drunk hot tears,
From the brimming eyes of millions,
Through the long ungracious years, —
Go, call her children brothers,
Bid their dark eyes flash with glee,
As they list the wondrous story
Christ hath made them men and free."
R. Wright Hav.
IT was the year 1849, in Aberdeenshire. Summer
and autumn had gone, the birch and the rowan
were stripped of their leaves ; the gowan was no
longer under the foot ; and the yellow broom and
the purple heather were looked for in vain. True.
Tap o' Noth still towered his majestic head above
Rhynie village, but this morning he seemed to have
wrapped himself in his ermine mantle, for with the
exception of here and there a rough-walled, low-
thatched cottage, or a crag or two projecting from
his side, from summit to base he was white, snowy
white. In the village too all was bleak and desolate
and still, save for the eerie sough of the wind blow-
• I

2 A Discovery.
ing across the moor, sighing and moaning among
the stiffened branches of the trees, and improvising
aeolian harps in the draughty windows of the cottages.
Already lines of white marked the thresholds, and
thistles of frost garnished the window-panes.
It was the first cold of the season, and seemed
to have arrived too early and to be regarded as
an intruder. The suddenness of the invasion had
rendered work a little more difficult, and heightened
the demand for courage and industry. So evidently
thought a minister as he gazed on the dreary scene
from his study window ; for, with the scarcely audible
reflection that a storm was at hand and that pro
bably there would neither be letters nor the Witness
that day, he threw out some crumbs to a golden
robin who was pleading hard for shelter on the sill,
and resumed his chair and his book."
A cosy enough study it looked, as the ruddy
fire lightened the dim atmosphere and shone out
on two large book-cases, the glass doors of which
revealed the names of the best thinkers of the day.
A profusion of gazetteers, blue-books, atlases, and
books of travel littered the table and floor. A
picture of the Disruption worthies overhung the
mantel, and engravings of the old Reformers filled
niches in the walls. Presently the minister rose, and
suspended a large map of Africa from a nail on the
top of one of the book-cases, in near proximity
to the window. A quaint-looking map it was.

African Explorers. 3
Certainly no ships sailed on its waters ; neither
did rhinoceroses, hippopotami, or ostriches disport
themselves on its shores, nor yet had the engraver
" O'er uninhabitable downs
Placed elephants for want of towns " ;
and yet strange it seemed, the greater part being
delineated as an immense featureless blank, near the
middle of which a solitary caterpillar crawled, with
the label " Mountains of the Moon " distinctly printed
on its back. For up to this time the continent of
Africa had been, as it were, hidden, and its myriad
peoples almost unknown. The Scottish traveller
Mungo Park had, in 1796, explored the Niger, and
corroborated the statement of Herodotus, which few
geographers then believed, that the great river flows
from west to east before it turns in a south-easterly
direction towards the Bight of Benin.
Another Scotchman, James Bruce, had as early
as 1770 traced the Blue Nile to its source, and
although at the time many ridiculed his wonderful
stories, more recent travellers have confirmed his re
searches ; but the origin of the White, or main stream
of the Nile, was still shrouded in mystery. The
eminent travellers Burton, Speke, Baker, Grant,
Cameron, and Stanley had not yet even dreamed
of the honours that awaited them, to say nothing
of another Scotchman, David Livingstone, who had
been quietly pursuing his missionary labours at
Kuruman and Kolobeng.

4 A Discovery.
Events, however, had now begun to move apace,
for on the 1st of August of this year (1849) Living
stone sighted Lake Ngami, which was the first of
a long chain of remarkable discoveries by that
celebrated missionary which have led to the opening
up of the " Dark Continent " to European enterprise
and to the messengers of the Gospel of Peace.
But the first explorers who penetrated the interior
from the east coast of the continent were Johann
Ludwig Krapf, and John Rebmann, pioneer mis
sionaries of the Church Missionary Society. At
the risk of their lives, and enduring untold privations
— for they could not even enjoy the luxury of oxen,
which Livingstone did— they traversed countries
never before visited by civilised man ; and although
their object was simply to commence missionary
labours among the heathen, the results of their
geographical researches have been truly wonderful.
The minister's attention seemed riveted on this
terra incognita of Eastern Africa ; for, repeating to
himself " Lat. 30 30' S., long. 370 E.," he proceeded,
with pencil in one hand and magnifying-glass in the
other, to note something on the map.
Presently a tap came to the door, and a very tall
spare old woman entered with a soft, stately step.
This was Ann Mc William, or " the minister's Annie,"
as she was called in the parish. She was quite a
character in her way, and, as was the wont with
better-class servants in those old-fashioned days, was

Old Annie. 5
on familiar terms with her employers and had much
of her own way with people and things in general.
She had been housekeeper to the minister in his
bachelor days, and although she had vowed that if
he ever married she would quit the house, and really
did adhere to her resolution, she very speedily re
appeared on the scene ; for, although Annie was no
gossip, she liked to be considered as an authority on
all matters that concerned her pastor, and found it
gall and wormwood to be unable to answer the many
questions that were asked her concerning the young
wife, what "providin"' she had brought, and especi
ally about the piano, for hitherto the fiddle and the
bagpipes were the only musical instruments known
in the village.
Annie had never laid claim to beauty, but, what
was better, she was good and true ; and this morning
a tender smile brightened and warmed the kind old
face and made her heart glow with joy. The minister
had neither heard the knock nor seen her enter, but
as the firelight leaped up more ruddily as she threw
on another log he gave her a passing glance, and she
seized the opportunity to say, " I've brocht ye a
present, sir." He took no notice of the remark,
however, but said, "Do you see this pear-shaped
continent, Annie ? This is Africa ; you see that,
unlike all the other continents, it has few inlets, no
great gulfs nor great river estuaries ; in other words,
although it is a mighty mass it has comparatively

6 A Discovery.
little coast -line, and as a necessary consequence it
has made very little progress in civilisation. Though
it is three times the size of Europe, it has far less
coast-line than our continent, which fact explains
more than anything else its past history and its
backward condition. While Europe has surrendered
herself to the ocean, as if aware of future prosperity
through her navies, Africa has on the other hand shut
herself up from the sea, and has ever remained
isolated and uninfluenced by the pulse-beats of the
world. But should any navigable rivers be discovered,
so that missionaries and Christian traders could get
with ease into the interior, then no doubt progress
would be rapid.
" Till now, Annie, the east coast even has been
quite unknown to us, but there has been a wonderful
discovery. Two German missionaries in connection
with the Church Missionary Society have made
several journeys inland from Mombasa, and have
discovered a great mountain mass of volcanic origin,
the culminating peak of which is nearly 20,000 feet
high, and covered with perpetual snow. Kilimanjaro,
it is called.* The results of this discovery will be far-
* The actual height of the " great ice dome," which was first seen
by Rebmann in 1848, has since been ascertained by Dr. Hans Meyer
to be 19,700 ft. high. He declares it to be the loftiest mountain in
Africa, and in the German Empire, and has named it "Kaiser
Wilhelm's Peak." Mount Kenia, to the north of it, discovered by
Krapf, in 1849, is said to be 18,000 ft. high. Dr. Carl Peters, how
ever, estimates the height to be 23,000 ft. 1

Slave Traders. J
reaching, for the information will give a zest to
geographical exploration, and will probably lead to
the Church Missionary Society sending inland a
great host of missionaries before long, and that will
be the first real check to the terrible slave trade which
has been carried on for ages between this coast and
the ports on the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. The
cruelty which takes place daily in carrying off these
poor people from their homes and transporting them
beyond the seas is frightful and beyond description.
The slave-traders are chiefly Arabs. They buy or
take captive the natives of the far interior, where no
white man has as yet ventured to penetrate, and burn
their villages. Thousands die on the march down to
the coast, from the wounds and bad treatment they
receive ; the old and the infants are left to die from
exhaustion and starvation, and of course only the
strong and the hardy survive, to suffer still greater
cruelty on the sea voyage. They are packed like
herrings in a barrel, in the holds of wretched dhows,
where the half of them perish from foul air and
hunger, and then, if a British cruiser gives chase to
these vessels and is likely to run them in, the slavers
kill their victims by a knock on the head, or throw
them into the sea and escape themselves."
" Ay, sir ! it is dreadful ; and I aften think we owe
a debt o' gratitude to Africa, for it sheltered baith the
law and the Gospel ; for the Nile cradled the infant
Moses, and our blessed Lord Himsel' learned to lisp

8 A Discovery.
and to walk by its banks ; and the Spirit o' the Lord
seems to have recognised the obligation, for in the
early days o' the Kirk, Philip was ta'en awa frae
a great revival in Samaria to send a missionary to
the court o' an African queen, although we dinna read
o' ony results."
" There must have been results, Annie, for we
know that Christianity was established 'in the fourth
century in Abyssinia, and prevails there still, al
though in a very corrupt form, and to this day the
sovereign of that country traces his descent to King
David, styles himself ' King of Zion, King of Kings
of Ethiopia,' and confers the order of Solomon on
his favourite chiefs. Yes, Annie : ' He shall speak
peace unto the heathen ; and His dominion shall be
from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of
the earth.' The Gospel banner will yet be planted
at the very heart of this continent, altho' not likely in
your day nor mine, Annie."
" But maybe it'll be in your son's, sir ! and wha will
say he'll nae hae a han' in it ? "
Something in her tone made the minister look
round, and for the first time he noticed that £;he was
gazing with reverent love at an infant on her arm.
The minister drew his hand through his hair : it took
him some seconds to transport his thoughts from
tropical Africa to his own fireside, but after some
explanations, he said, " A boy ! Bring him near the
window, and let me see him."

The Boy. 9
" Sic a day, sir ! It's awfu' unlucky to come on sic
a day ! He'll hae the win' in his teeth a' his life ! "
"Annie! such superstitions are unworthy a Chris
tian woman 1 Besides, you know what Samuel
Rutherford says, ' Grace groweth best in winter! He
will be a better man for adversity ; " and as his eye
lighted on an old picture on the opposite wall, he
added, " May he be another John Knox, Annie ! may
he defend the faith of his fathers before priestly
antagonists ! and may his tongue never quail before
the sceptre of a queen ! "
" I hope he'll hae mair tact and prudence, and hae
a safter tongue and a gentler hand, sir, than John
Knox ; though nae doot he was raised up for his time.
Na 1 he is nae gaen to be a John Knox ; he'll gang
his ain gait and jest be himsel', jest Alexander
Mackay ! "
" Oh ! and so you have settled the name, too, have
you, Annie ? "
" Of course, sir. Fat ither than hae the name o' his
father named upon him ? " And Annie retired in her
dignified way from the room.
She did not quite get her own way in this matter,
however, for when the christening took place the
name of a Celtic ancestor was revived. This legacy
the boy never appreciated, for although he used the
initial " M." to distinguish him from his father, no
amount of teasing would tempt him to divulge what
it stood for.

CHAPTER II.
EARLY DAYS.
" Tis strange how thought upon a child
Will, like a presence, sometimes press,
And when his pulse is beating wild,
And life itself is in excess —
When foot and hand, and ear and eye,
Are all with ardour straining high,—
" How in his heart will spring
A feeling whose mysterious thrall
Is stronger, sweeter far than all ;
And on its silent wing,
How with the clouds he'll float away,
As wandering and as lost as they ! "
N. P. Willis.
RHYNIE is for the most part a high-lying, pastoral,
and sparsely peopled district. The inhabitants
are believed to be of Pictish origin, and are a sturdy,
shrewd, independent, and hospitable class of people.
Their history has predisposed them to religion, for
the Seceders and the Independents have been in the
district for several generations. The Disruption con
flict of 1843, which agitated Scotland from the Orkneys
to the Solway Firth, reached a climax here, for Rhynie
formed part of the famous Presbytery of Strathbogie,
10

Birthplace. 1 1
and its minister was one of the seven deposed by the
Evangelical majority of the Church of Scotland ; and
no doubt this contest had a large share in quicken
ing both the spiritual and intellectual life of the
people. Even forty years ago many were wont to
walk six miles to church every Sunday and six back.
Weather never deterred them ; indeed, their struggle
with the elements on the way seemed to harden their
frames and develop their brain-power, so that by the
time they reached the house of God their appetite
was whetted for a good doctrinal discourse and plenty
of it. Short measure did not take in those days.
They desired a good meal, and on their way home
the little companies beguiled the weary miles by
recalling the heads of the sermon, the observations on
these, and the inferences drawn by the preacher ; while
the children were appealed to for the illustrations.
The dress of the women was primitive in the ex
treme. Many went to church in the mob-caps with
a plain band of riband which fastened below the
chin ; while the better class wore bonnets made of
pasteboard covered with black silk, close-fitting to
the face. When these wore out they were replaced
by others of the same style and pattern. Linsey-
woolsey dresses, spun from a mixture of white and
black fleeces, to save the expense of dyeing, and
tartan shawls, completed the costume. Each woman
carried her Bible neatly tied up in a white handkerchief,
together with a sprig of southernwood or a bouquet

12 Early Days.
of roses if it was summer, while the other hand in
variably held a gingham umbrella ! This fashion is
now, however, quite obsolete, for with the smoke of
the railway engine there came a wonderful change in
the manners and dress of the inhabitants.
Looking back over the forty years of Alexander
Mackay's life, it is evident that from the day almost
that he emerged from the cradle God was preparing
him in His own way and building him a pioneer
missionary. Godly parents, a pious nurse who doted
on him, the Bible-loving women of the parish, the
intelligent workmen in the neighbourhood, each and
all, unknown to themselves, and equally hidden from
him, contributed a share in his equipment for the
special work which the Master needed him to do.
In 185 1 the new Free Church was erected close by
the Manse ; and as the stones were dressed in the
garden, a golden opportunity presented itself to the
boy to acquire practical knowledge and to use his
dexterous fingers. His beauty and extraordinary
gentleness, together with his wonderful aptitude for
picking up all kinds of handicraft, speedily ingratiated
him with the workmen, who took a delight in supply
ing him with the necessary tools to enable him to
imagine that he was giving important assistance.
When he appeared on the scene he was accosted
with the question, " Weel, laddie, gaen to gie 's a
sermon the day ? " and the invariable reply (in which
there was something like prophetic instinct) was,

Rival Giants. 13
" Please give me trowel ; can preach and build, same
time ! "
He was full of questions, and was never satisfied
until he thoroughly understood the reason of every
thing. One day he saw a man repairing a fence,
and he asked how the fence came to be so broken
down. The man replied that the snow had done it.
The boy was incredulous, and after reflection he went
back to the man and asked if snow was very heavy.
" No, not very," was the reply. " Well, then, how
could it break down a fence in that way?" But
when it was explained to him that it was the great
accumulation of snow lying against the fence that
caused it to fall, he went away quite satisfied.
He was a very meditative boy, and very impressible
to the moods of nature. A hot August day was his
delight, and as the sunbeams played on the heathery
slopes of Noth, and glanced on the silvery streaks
of the burns as they rippled down its brow, he would
tell Annie that " the mountain had donned the regal
purple in honour of the visitors who had appeared in
the neighbourhood. You know he must be old, for
the Roman fort and the giant's footprints tell of other
days.* Still he is neither blind nor deaf. He can
* According to tradition, the Noth was guardedl by a giant of
extraordinary dimensions —
" Between his een there was a yaird,
Between his shou'ders three."
But he required all his enormous proportions to combat his foes,

14 Early Days.
see the unusual number of carriages in the lanes, and
feel the tread of the horsemen on his side, and no
doubt connects them with the sudden surprises of the
red grouse. Hark to his long sigh accompanying
that echo of firing in the glen and the merry laughter
of the sportsmen as they bag their game, never
thinking that the birds will no more breakfast off the
leaves of the heather nor peck the cranberries which
hide among its roots I But, as many of these
Southerners have attired themselves, for the nonce, in
the kilt and sporan and Glengarry bonnet, he takes it
as a compliment to himself, and returns it by putting
on his brightest smile and looking his very best.
You know you like to look nice too, Annie. But
why do you not iron your neck and take out all the
creases, and smooth the furrows out of your brow ? "
Then Annie's heart experienced a pang which only
the aged know, and, yearning for the society of her
contemporaries, she replied, " If it's fine the morn,
we'll gang to Blackhills for a day or twa."
especially the rival giant who guarded the hill of Bennachie, some
thirteen miles distant. A frequent exchange of compliments took
place between the two, in the shape of huge boulders thrown by the
one against the other. On the Tap o' Noth may yet be seen (?) one
of these, with the marks of five gigantic fingers thereon. On the
occasion on which it was hurled, the giant of Noth retaliated by
raising a huge mass of rock with the intention of hurling it at his
adversary, who put out his foot and touched the boulder, with the
resalt that it remains still on Noth with the impress of the giant's
toe on it to this day ! — See " Legendary Ballad Lore," by A. I.
M'Connochie.

Among the Heather. 15
* Oh, that will be delightful I But why do you
look so sad, Annie ? "
"Only because ye didna ken me when I was young,
laddie." " I am glad I did not, for then you would not be
old Annie, and you could not tell me all I want to
know." On the morrow the pair set out on their excursion
to the farm. It was six miles from the village, and
situated in a lonely glen at the foot of the Buck,*
amidst wild and rugged scenery. Untamed nature
on every side, and nothing to disturb the silence but
the birr of the moor-cock, the bleating of the sheep,
and the song of the burns intersecting the peat-moss.
Every now and again a bell-shaped foxglove or a
curious-looking rock attracted the boy's attention, and
off he darted and forgot to return :
"And heedless of his shouted name
As of the carol of a bird,
Stood gazing on the empty air,
As if some dream were passing there."
At length they pursued their way along the sheep-
track amid the brushwood and heather, until they
reached the hospitable home of Mrs. Smith, where
fresh milk, new-laid eggs, and heather honey regaled
the weary -footed travellers.
* The " Buck o' the Cabrach " is mentioned by Elspeth Muckle-
backit in "The Antiquary," in her account of the coronach or
Highland lament for the dead, after the "Battle o' the Harlaw

1 6 Early Days.
The repast over, they drew round the blazing fire
of wood and peat, for the sun had gone down and a
chilly breeze blew from " the Buck." The chimney
was open to the heavens, and in the settle hung legs
and shoulders of smoked mutton. The busy knitting-
needles glanced in the firelight as the two old friends
entertained each other with cherished stories which
they had learned in childhood of the Brothers Erskine
and of their father, the sainted Henry Erskine, who
had been condemned to imprisonment for preaching
at " conventicles," and how through the intercession
of friends the sentence was commuted to banishment
from the kingdom. The boy, seated on a low stool,
listened appreciatively until Mrs. Smith produced her
wheel and began to spin the wool yielded by the
previous clipping. He then became oblivious to his
friends and their conversation, —
" While flashes of intelligence dart from his pale-blue eyes.
Broad beams of golden humour, and long looks of surprise,
And laughter ripples o'er his lips, and joy like sunshine lies
Upon the fair fields of his cheeks, and danceth in his eyes."
The friends exchanged glances, and in private after
wards talked of the peculiar look in his face, which
spoke of a future, and wondered what that future
would be.
" Yet evermore the mystery which rang him round did press
Upon their larger sense, and set their riper wits to guess, —
To guess, but ever miss the mark, to flounder and to fall,
To wonder quite as much at him, as he, sweet child, at all.

The Spinning-wheel. 17
For even their love for him did not foresee that the im
pression which he took and photographed in his mind
of that spinning-wheel would be reproduced thirty-five
years afterwards for Mwanga, King of Uganda !
The following summer, when he was nearly four
years of age, he spent a month at Blackhills ; and this
visit did him much good, for Mrs. Smith would a'low
him no lessons except to read a chapter from the
Bible aloud to her, morning and evening. She was
so proud of his attainments, however, that when a
distant neighbour from some lonely cottage among
the hills dropped in, she would put her hand in the
"crap" in the wall beside the "saut poke" in the "ingle
neuk " for the big Bible, and calling the boy, would tell
him to read aloud the tenth chapter of Nehemiah.
He did this, pronouncing with accuracy the names
of those who sealed the covenant, and preserving
the inflections so as to read gracefully.
Mr. Smith, the present tenant of the farm, tells
how, on this visit, the boy followed him wherever he
went at his work :
" Whether the farmer swung the scythe or turned the hay,"
or ' Merrily, with oft-repeated stroke,
Sounds from the threshing-floor the busy flail,"
there the child was, inquiring the reason for every
thing he saw done, and understanding the explanation
as easily as a grown-up person. 2

1 8 Early Days.
" One day," Mr. Smith says, " I was taking up
some small stones out of the ground, and I asked him
to fetch me a small pick. He went, but as he did
not return, I knew that something was preventing
him from doing what he undertook. So I went to
see what was the matter, and found that he had not
fully understood the kind of tool I wanted, but having
found a large pinch lever, which he had seen used for
taking up stones, he was bringing it. It was six
feet long, and by far too heavy for him to carry ;
still, he had succeeded in bringing it fifty yards or so.
The way he accomplished it was by lifting one end at
a time, and going round with it, and then going to
the other end and doing the same thing, and every
turn brought it six feet on ! This shows his readi
ness of resource, and his determination to accomplish
whatever he took in hand, even at four years of
age. In order to draw him out, the farmer amused
himself by arguing occasionally with him on different
subjects ; but the boy got tired of arguments, and
said, one day, quite gravely, " Now, Mr. Smith, we
must not have any more disputes in this way, but, as
' the law is open,' we will settle everything there
where it ought to be settled, and let us live in peace
henceforward." Another time he went to the byre
while the cows were being milked, and expatiated on
the difference between the higher and lower animals,
taking himself as an example of the higher and the

The Old Nurse Falls. 19
cows of the lower. When some one remarked that
" the brute creation know more than they get credit
for," he replied, " Oh, yes, I allow the lower animals
have instinct, but that is different from the power of
reason in man, although it is very useful to them.
It helps them to preserve their lives, and sometimes
it helps them to preserve the lives of their masters
too." A niece of Mr. Smith says, " When my sister and
I were children, nothing was such a treat to us as to
get our mother to tell us sayings and doings of
Mackay when he was a child. She was so happy in
recalling them, and invariably concluded her stories
with the remark, " I did like that laddie I "
When he was five years of age, the regime of his
old nurse came to rather a sudden end. One morning
a heavy fall awoke him, and as the curly head raised
itself from the pillow, the blue eyes opened wider and
wider, as he saw his friend lying prostrate on the
nursery hearth, with her head in close proximity to
the fire. In a minute he was up, dragging and
pulling her out of danger ; but, failing in his efforts to
move her, with wonderful foresight he returned to his
cot, and seizing his quilt, tucked it well over her
head, lest a blazing log should fall on her. He then
sped like lightning to his parents' room, exclaiming,
" Annie is dead ! I am sure she is dead ! "
Annie, however, recovered, and in a few days was
herself again. But it was thought advisable that she

20 Early Days.
should have some lighter occupation, so she invested
her savings in furnishing a small house in Old
Aberdeen, conveniently situated for letting lodgings
to students attending King's College.
The prospect of her departure was the boy's first
real grief. When the day came for their last walk
Annie said, " Cheer up, laddie ! I'm comin' back to see
ye ilka summer ; but we'll gang the noo to the Brig
o' Bogie. I want to show ye something afore I gae
awa'." When they reached the bridge, Annie sat down to
rest on the stone coping of the low wall, while the
boy leaned idly over, wondering what was to be seen.
After a little Annie said, " I'm gaen awa' the morn I "
but he was already absorbed in the click-clack of the
mill-wheel, and he heard her not.
After repeated efforts to gain his attention, she
pulled his sleeve, saying, " I'm nae gaen to let
onybody whip my bairn when I'm awa' ; " and pro
ducing a little leather " tawse " out of her pocket, she
dropped it into the stream.
It took the boy a minute to forget the wheel and
to realise the situation, but when he did so he darted
to the other side of the bridge, screamed, and then
rushed down the bank and into the Bogie. Annie
was in terror, for she was too weak to follow him, and
some parts of the stream were deep. She succeeded,
however, in attracting the notice of a man in an
adjoining field, who was singing blithely as he followed

"Hurrah!" 21
the plough. This man kindly rescued the child from
the water and tried to reason with him :
" But his young heart was swelling
Beneath his snowy bosom, and his form
Straightened up proudly in his tiny wrath,
As if his light proportions would have swelled,
Had they but matched his spirit, to the man."
" Ye maun hie hame," said Annie, " and change yer
droukit claes " ; but with a determination which sur
prised her, he quietly told her that until the tag was
recovered, or properly searched for, he would not
return. Presently the sound of merry voices coming
down the hill announced that the schoolchildren were
on their way home, so he climbed up the bank on to
the road and told them of his trouble. They were
highly amused, and the bigger boys were soon
wading in the Bogie. A shout and a loud " hurrah ! "
announced its recovery, and a long-legged, red-haired
boy, with a twinkle of humour in his eye, restored it
to the rightful owner, with the caution, " Dinna dry it
ower fast, or it'll be a' the harder for its doukin.' "
On the way home, after reflection, he said, " Perhaps
it is best you should go, Annie, for you used to try
to make me good, and how can I be good without a
tag?" " Ye are aye gude, my bairn ; ye never do naething
wrang, except forgettin' to learn yer lessons, and ye
shall nae be whipped for that. Ye canna help for
gettin', whiles."

22 Early Days.
" Yes, I ought not to forget, because if I cannot say
my lessons immediately after breakfast, papa has no
time to hear me all day. Have you forgotten about
the pilgrims and the black man, Annie?"
Annie, wishing to divert his attention, affected
ignorance. " Well, you know, Annie, the pilgrims had stopped
all night with the shepherds on the Delectable
Mountains, and when they were leaving, the shepherds
gave them a note of directions for the way. They
forgot, however, to read the note, and they got into a
black man's net before they knew, and had to stop
there a long time, till a shining one came to them,
with a whip in his hand. He let them out of the net
and put them on the right way again ; but after he
had heard their story, he asked them if the shepherds
had not given them a note of direction, and they
said, ' Yes.'
" ' But did you read it ? ' and they said, ' No.'
" ' Why did you not read it ? ' and they replied,
' We forgot ; ' so he ordered them to lie down on the
grass and he whipped them sore. Then he bade
them get up and go on their way, and not to forget
again. And the pilgrims thanked him for his kind
ness, and went on their way softly."
Annie lived some years after this scene, and many
a time she told the story of the boy's inflexible
rectitude.

CHAPTER III.
TRANSMITTED IMPULSES.
"Things of high import sound I in thine ears,
Dear child, though now thou mayst not feel their power.
But hoard them up, and in thy coming years
Forget them not." Anon.
THE life of Alexander Mackay is not a story
of self-help in the common acceptation of the
phrase. The atmosphere of his early home was
high and pure, and his surroundings were very
stimulating to literary cultivation. Until he was
fourteen years of age he was never sent to school,
but enjoyed the valuable instructions of his father,
who was conservative in his ideas of education, and
believed a good classical and mathematical ground
ing to be of the greatest assistance, not only in
learning English and modern languages, but for
science and general literature also. His father was
very apt at making instruction interesting, yet he
never gave his pupil much to learn by rote, but
taught him to apply his reasoning powers to what
he read. Indeed, after seven years of age, his
23

24 Transmitted Impulses.
reading lesson was the leading article in the news
paper, which was explained to him paragraph by
paragraph. Thus he had a great variety of subjects,
and his mind expanded beyond his immediate
surroundings. Nothing delighted the father more
than to satisfy the boy's intense craving for know
ledge, and in their walks abroad nature became an
open book affording many a captivating study.
The hum of the bee in the golden summer air
would suggest a lesson on the important part that
insects play in the wonderful mechanism of nature,
and the unerring wisdom which adapts each created
thing to its own special purpose ; the hoar-frost on
the ground, on a wintry morning, one on aqueous
vapour and its results ; while excursions to the
neighbouring sandstone quarry, armed with geological
hammers, were red-letter days in the boy's memory.
Frequently he accompanied his father to cottage
prayer-meetings, and to " catechisings " in the various
districts of the parish. Weather permitting, they
lingered on the way gathering botanical specimens ;
after a sumptuous tea in the hospitable home of
one of the " elders " they adjourned to the barn, or
gathered round the fire of the low-roofed kitchen,
where, after religious exercises, the doctrines con
tained in the Shorter Catechism were practically
opened up ; and on the way home his father stimu
lated his interest in astronomy by teaching him to
distinguish the fixed stars, by their twinkling and

The Mother. 25
pale silvery light, from the mellow, steady ray of
the planets. Thus the boy was initiated into many
of the mysteries of nature, by the close and minute
observance of every object which attracted his
attention. There is no doubt, however, that, as in the case
of Dr. Moffat, the influence which biassed the mind
of Alexander Mackay towards missionary enterprise
was the gracious example of his godly mother. Piety
does not run in the blood, but it frequently runs
in the line ; and it was so in this case, even through
generations. Margaret Lillie was alike remarkable
for her elevated principles as for her prudence, tact,
and thrift. Her sympathies were far-reaching and
her affections deep, and her memory is still fragrant
in Rhynie, although it is now over a quarter of a
century since she entered into the joy of her Lord.
She was a true helpmeet to her husband in his
literary pursuits, and had great facility in the
acquisition of languages. Indeed, during the two
years subsequent to her marriage she made consider
able progress in the study of Hebrew, under her
husband's guidance. Her father, Mr. Alexander
Lillie, occupied an influential position in Banff.* He
was a Disruption elder, and was sent to represent the
Presbytery of Fordyce at the first general assembly
of the Free Church. Her venerable grandfather,
* Banff is a small town on the Moray Firth, and is well described
in the " Life of a Scotch Naturalist," by Dr. S. Smiles.

26 Transmitted Impulses.
Mr. William Lillie,* resided at New Deer, Aberdeen
shire. He belonged to the Original Secession Church,
and was an eminently godly man, as most of those old
Seceders were.
The Lillies are descended from a Huguenot
family who fled from France, after the Revocation
of the Edict of Nantes, "rather than live a daily
lie to God by forswearing the religion of their con
science." The tradition is that the name was
originally De Lille, and that they came from
the town of Lille in the country of the French
Walloons. The love of religious liberty, the self-reliance, the
valour, piety, earnestness, and other characteristic
traits of the French Protestant refugees, and the
cruel persecutions f which drove them from their
native land — the land which is so inexpressibly dear
to the heart of every Frenchman — were often and
* " Died, at New Deer, 25th February, 1840, at an advanced age
(eighty-three), Mr. William Lillie, elder, who had been for nearly
forty years precentor in the congregation at Whitehill, and for more
than sixteen years an elder. Mr. Lillie was a good, praying man,
was much attached to the cause at Whitehill, a most regular attender
upon ordinances, and understood the Gospel well. . . . The old are
dropping off. May a race be brought forward to do more than
fill their places — a race more public-spirited and devoted to the
extension of Christ's kingdom at home and abroad I " — " Autobiography
and Journals of the Rev. Adam Lind, Whitehill, edited by his nephew,
the Rev. Adam Lind."
f Two most interesting books on this subject are " The Huguenots
in England and Ireland," and ".The Huguenots in France," by Dr.
Samuel Smiles.

Happy Days. 27
touchingly narrated to the boy by his mother, with
the injunction, " O ye who boast
In your free veins the blood of sires like these,
Lose not their lineaments."
The impress seems to have been graven deeply,
for at an early age he knew all about the " Church
in the Desert," while the Tour de Constance, the
Bastile, and the galley-slave were familiar words to
him. After the departure of old Annie, his mother
became the boy's more immediate associate, and
thus his character training fell chiefly into her hands.
She had a great regard for the sanctification of the
Lord's Day ; at the same time she used every endea
vour to make it a specially happy day, and one to
be looked forward to all the week. For the Sunday
evening lesson, of course, the Bible and the Shorter
Catechism were the text-books, and if the boy knew
his lesson well, the reward was a missionary story.
Entertaining books on missions were scarce in those
days, but she always managed to glean something
fresh to arouse his interest in what she considered
a great and noble work.
Let us take a peep into the manse study on one
of these Sunday evenings. The minister has gone
to preach at some distance from home. The night
is wild, and hail and sleet beat against the shuttered
windows. The lesson is evidently over, for the boy

28 Transmitted Impulses.
claps his hands and exclaims, " Now for the story.
Mother ! tell me to-night the one beginning,
" ' Hark 1 hark 1 — 'tis the sainted Martyn's sigh
From Ararat's mournful shades.' "
" We talked of Martyn last Sunday, did we not ? "
" Yes, but that was about his life in India, and I
remember Mrs. Sigourney's lines you taught me : —
" ' Light on the Hindoo shed 1
On the maddening idol-train ;
The flame of the suttee is dire and red,
And the fakir faints with pain,
And the dying moan on their cheerless bed,
By the Ganges laved in vain.'
Well, let us begin at the beginning, and tell me
again how you were first interested in missions,
mother. It was through your grandfather's minister,
was it not ? "
" Yes, through the Rev. Adam Lind, an eminently
godly man, and well known in the north for his
public spirit and world-wide sympathies. I was at
New Deer on a visit to my grandfather. Sunday
evening came, and I remember it so well — a lovely
June evening. Roses filled the eye with colour and
the air with fragrance. I was only a little girl then,
probably about twelve years of age. It was the
annual missionary sermon, and I felt deeply inter
ested, as I had heard that Mr. Lind was anxious to
go to the foreign field himself, but that his con
gregation declined to let him. We went early to

A Missionary Sermon. 29
get a good seat, where my grandfather could hear. I
expected some dry statistics and facts about Canada,
Old Calabar, Jamaica, etc., where the missionaries
of the Secession Church were vigorously working ;
but I said to myself, ' I must listen, for Mr. Lind is
always so kind and good to me : whenever he sees me
he pats my head and strokes my hair. Yes, I will
listen.' " Presently the minister entered the pulpit, and he
had such a beautiful look on his face : his whole soul
seemed to be on fire. The text was, ' If ye love
Me, keep My commandments,' with which he coupled
our Lord's Ascension command to His disciples —
'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.' It was a
most affecting and resistless appeal as to our duty
and responsibility with regard to the work of missions.
The burning words of his concluding prayer I shall
never forget : ' Oh, what an honour to be an am
bassador to the heathen, and to be an instrument to
gather sinners to the Redeemer ! Lord, raise up many
to visit the dark places of the earth ! Oh that we
may be honoured to do something in stirring up
some to this work of the Lord ! Determine many to
occupy a place in Thy vineyard — men prepared by
Thyself, full of faith and love, and of the Holy Spirit
The Sun of Righteousness has arisen on many dark
lands, and the cry becomes louder and louder, " Come
over and help us." Arise, O Lord, and plead Thine
own cause.'

30 Transmitted Impulses.
"That night I could not sleep. When the dawn
came I rose, opened the window, and looked out.
A gentle breeze was blowing across the hay-field,
and each time it fanned my flushed cheeks it seemed
to echo the preacher's words, ' None of us can shirk
our responsibilities.' But what could / do ? I was
only a little girl, and so helpless ! And yet I felt
sure the preacher looked at me as if the message was
to me personally. I lay down again, but with the
first sound in the house I rose, dressed, got my sun-
bonnet, and went out. The carolling of the birds,
the tinkling of the sheep-bells, and the merry sound
of the mowers whetting their scythes, together with
the bracing morning air, revived my spirits and seemed
to make me see things differently. Though I could
not go to heathen lands myself, yet I might stir up
others, and I might help to get money to send out
good men. There is Mr. Lind : when quite a young
man he came under the liberalising influence of the
enthusiasm for foreign missions. He went through
the University and Theological Hall with the inten
tion of going as a missionary to the United States
of America, but the Lord sent him here. He has
been the means, however, of sending a nephew to the
work in India, and he has started the Buchan Mission
ary Society, which sends annually from £30 to ^45 to
missions ; perhaps I too can be of some use. And
I went home comforted, and found my grandfather
concerned at my absence. I think he must have had

Questions. 31
his own suspicions, for his grey eyes looked at me
keenly. But he merely said, ' Sunday's food will
not serve all the week. We need daily bread, worship,
and breakfast every morning.' "
" What field do you consider most important,
mother ? "
" Christ died for all. What we must pray for is
the evangelisation of the whole world. All are
important, although the eyes of many are now being
turned on the land of dusky Ham, and the cry is —
" ' Will not some daring spirit, born to thoughts
Above his beast-like state, find out the truth,
That Africans are men ? ' "
" Would you like me to go as a missionary to
Africa, mother ? "
" If God prepares you for it, my boy, but not
unless. You must first come to Him, and if He has
need of you, He will call you in a way you will not
mistake. You can throw your soul into the missionary
enterprise and yet stay at home ; but if the message
comes, ' Depart, for I will send thee far hence,' take
care you do not neglect it. Remember what Jonah
got for his pains. But, as I have heard Dr. Duff say,
'The advancement of the missionary cause is not
only our duty and responsibility, but it is an enjoy
ment which those who have once tasted would not
exchange for all the treasures of the Indian mines,
for all the laurels of civic success, for all the glittering

32 Transmitted Impulses.
splendour of coronets. It is a joy rich as heaven,
pure as the Godhead, lasting as eternity I ' "
" I do not think I could like black people."
" Not pity the poor captives — who
" ' start at every word
As meant to mock their woes, and shake their chains,
Thinking defiance which they dare not speak ' ? "
" Oh, yes, I could pity them, and would like to
help them, but to love them — I don't know about
that." Perhaps considering whence the mother came it is
no matter of surprise that she was a diligent reader
of the Bulwark, and that she earnestly sought to
impress on his youthful mind that the Reformation
is a great trust handed down to us by our forefathers.
She spent much time in explaining to him the promi
nent errors and the lying legends of Popery, so that
when occasion offered he would have no difficulty in
unmasking its face and exposing its craftiness.
In the spring of 1858, as the father was driving to
Gartley station, on his way to Edinburgh, he said to
Alexander (who was accompanying him to the rail
way station in order to take home the conveyance),
" Well, what book shall I bring you home from
Edinburgh ? "
" I think, at this stage, father, I ought to have a
printing-press." The father dropped the reins, and in a tone in

A Printing Press. 33
which disappointment and disgust were mingled,
exclaimed, —
" A printing-press ! What do you mean by a
printing-press? The thing is to become a good
scholar, and if you have anything to say worth writing,
any one will print for you. When at the manse
of Keig, the other day, I saw one of Mr. Smith's
sons* lying on the study floor poring over a great
Hebrew Bible ; and you talk about wasting your
time with a printing-press."
" I do not think it would be wasting time, father.
Skill takes no room in the pocket nor in the travel
ling-bag, and some day I might find it useful."
" My dear boy, you know that the desire of my
heart is to see you become a preacher of the glorious
Gospel of Jesus Christ."
" Well, but, father, Martin Luther says that ' print
ing is the latest and greatest gift by which God
enables us to advance the things of the Gospel.' "
It was train time, however, and with a hasty
" good-bye " the father was soon out of sight. " What
could have put a printing-press into the boy's head ? "
he pondered. " I expect it is the part it played in fur
thering the Reformation. I know he has been reading
D'Aubigne\ He devours every book he comes across.
Euler's Algebra, which I brought him home last year,
has been a fairy -world to him ; and yet every now and
then this hankering after miscellaneous crafts crops
• Now, Professor W. Robertson Smith.

34 Transmitted Impulses.
up. He does not play, like other boys ; every
spare hour at his disposal, I find, is spent in the
smithy or carpenter's shop, handling tools of all
kinds, and on occasion lending a helping hand. I
must endeavour to remove him from his surroundings.
Meantime I shall search for a good book to divert his
attention." With this end in view, the father on arriving in
Edinburgh made an early visit to Messrs. Black
wood's choice assortment of new books, but not
finding exactly what he wanted, he unburdened his
mind to his publisher, who laughingly replied,
" My dear sir, don't worry yourself : it would be a
queer world if we were all parsons. No doubt he
means to strike out a course for himself. Give him
a free rein, and all will come right. You get the
printing-press, and we will be most happy to supply
the types ; but tell him he must not publish your
books as well as print them 1 "
The Messrs. Blackwood were as good as their word,
for in due time a large and varied assortment of types,
etc., arrived at the manse ; but little did the donors
or any one else think then what the destination of
their present would be, or how it would, in Luther's
words, "advance the things of the Gospel" on the
shores of the sunlit Nyanza.

CHAPTER IV.
RAPID CHANGES.
" He who to manhood grows without a grief
Is but half-rooted ; with a will untamed,
And self undisciplined, he seeks his own :
To him no mellowness of being comes." H. BONAR
TTIPPARCHUS, who flourished 160-125 B.C.,
-*- -*- and who may be justly styled the founder of
the exact sciences of astronomy and geography,
traces the sources of the Nile to three great lakes in
the interior of Africa. From his day, down through
the ages till the middle of the seventeenth century,
"the triple lakes" adorn the maps of the Dark
Continent, although, as Stanley says, cartographers
sketched them sometimes " in line," sometimes many
degrees north or south of each other, and on either
side of the equator as pleased their fancy. Jacobus
Meursius, who engraved a map for " Ogilby's De
scription of Africa," a large volume published at the
time of the Restoration, seems to have acquired a
good deal of accurate information regarding the far
interior from Portuguese and Dutch authorities. One
lake, which he names Zaffian, resembles the Victoria
35

36 Rapid Changes.
Nyanza in its general configuration ; but he seems to
have been confused about the sources of the Nile and
the Congo. Ogilby says : " The great river of Zaire
or Congo derives its head out of three lakes, the first
intituled Zambre, the second Zaire, and the third a
great lake from whence the Nyle is supposed to draw
his original. . . . Zambre is the principal head that
feeds the river Zaire, being set, as it were, in the
middle point of Africa, and spreading itself into broad
streams into the north, whither, according to common
opinion, it sends forth Nylus."
Strange to say, from Ogilby's time to the middle of
the present century the exploration of equatorial
Africa made no advance, and the best cartographers
erased the lakes altogether from their maps.
In the year 1843 Dr. Krapf heard at a port on the
East Coast of a vast inland lake ; and about the year
1856 his companions Messrs. Rebmann and Erhardt
traced upon a map " that monster slug of an inland
sea," as Speke calls it, which stimulated the Royal
Geographical Society to send out an expedition of
exploration. Through a curious blending of circumstances,
Alexander Mackay was at a very early age deeply
interested in this region, where his own lot, in the
providence of God, was ultimately to be cast, and the
" Nile problem " was a frequent subject of conjecture
between father and son. The " Proceedings " of the
Royal Geographical Society came regularly to the

The Nile Problem. 37
home ; and as soon as they were published Living
stone's " Missionary Travels and Researches in South
Africa," Speke's "Journal of the Discovery of the
Source of the Nile," and Captain Grant's " Walk
across Africa" appeared likewise on the scene.
The old map of Africa (see p. 2) was discarded
by the father ; but the boy cherished his familiar friend
and suspended it in his own room, where he spent
many a happy hour in tracing on it the results of the
most recent explorations. He used to say, " I like to
think that the missionaries had a hand in promoting
these discoveries, and that Captain Speke has so nicely
acknowledged it by suggesting Karague, Uganda, and
Unyoro as favourable fields for missionary enterprise."
" But, father," he remarked one day, " there is one
thing that greatly puzzles me. I know that until
recent times we had to send across the Channel for
engineers when we required any skilled work done,
such as piers, lighthouses, or bridges, and that they
had to bring with them their own workmen to
execute the task. Have we had to send for our
missionaries too? or how is it that these agents of
the C.M.S. are described as Germans ? Could Bishop
Heber persuade none of his countrymen to go
" ' Where Afric's sunny fountains
Roll down their golden band.' I
Of course I know about Livingstone and Moffat, but
they are Scotchmen."
" You see, my boy," said the father, " the C.M.S. is

38 Rapid Changes.
such a large society and has so many stations that
I suppose enough men were not to be found in the
Church of England willing to become poor despised
missionaries. Therefore when the C.M.S. were short
of volunteers for the foreign field they applied to the
famous Missionary Institution at Basle, in Switzerland.
But I believe that Dr. Krapf, who may be termed
the founder of C.M.S. Missions in East Africa, had
his attention drawn to the Dark Continent by reading
the ' Travels of Bruce,' our own countryman."
" Ah ! that pleases me well. Most pictures are tame
to me unless there is a Ben or a Loch in the back
ground. But why do you say, ' despised missionaries,'
father ? I understood that the vocation of an ambas
sador to the heathen is the noblest of all."
" Yes, for those who are baptised with the sacrificing
spirit of Christ ; and unless a man receive that baptism
he had better stay at home."
" Well, I like to hear about missionaries, but I have
no inclination that way ; and while on the subject,
father, I must tell you that I have a growing distaste
for the ministry also. I should like to understand
thoroughly the construction of machinery and the
principles of projections. I believe that your own
love of mathematics and of natural philosophy has
biassed my mind in this direction. There is a wide
field of usefulness for engineers, but a country parish
would be no scope for me and my hobbies."
" My son," said the father, sadly, " it is wholly out

Engineering Tastes. 39
©f my power, with my large family, to give you the
necessary training. It implies a long apprenticeship
with a respectable engineering firm in Edinburgh or
Glasgow, for which a large premium is required ; and
at the end of that time, unless you have capital to
begin with on your own account, you will remain but
a subordinate all your days. I believe you have con
structive power, and that you have the perseverance
and constancy of character which would enable you
to rise to eminence in that profession, but without
capital it would be a great struggle. Better go on as
you are doing, and when the time comes compete for
a bursary at Aberdeen, like all other ministers' sons
in this neighbourhood. If you are successful that will
take you through the University, and then all will be
plain sailing. The red cloak is a wonderful stimulus.
You will forget all about your hammer and saw when
you don it."
In the spring of i860 the boy became delicate, and
his lessons seemed to be a burden to him. Naturally
of a quiet and reserved disposition, he became more
gentle, more meditative, while the healthy humour
which had always characterised him ceased to flow
spontaneously. He complained of nothing, but his
parents became anxious, and as the local physician
failed to detect any cause for the debility, his father
took him to Edinburgh to consult Dr. Moir, who
at once ordered change of air and a long holiday.
Accordingly, in the month of August his father gave

40 Rapid Changes.
him a tour in the Highlands. Spending some weeks
at Strathpeffer, where his wonderful gentleness won
for him many friends, they proceeded to Tain, and
from thence to the banks of Loch Shin, in Suther-
landshire. Here he led a joyous life. A kind friend
put a Shetland pony at his disposal, and he enjoyed
many a ride across the moors. This was the only
time he saw the wild mountainous scenery of the
north, and on his return home he had much to say
about the red-deer, and the sheep-farms, and the
beautiful lake with Ben More in the distance towering
into the sky. The bracing air perfectly restored his
health, but not his love for books. He learned his
appointed lessons conscientiously, but instead of read
ing in his leisure hours, drawing, map-drawing, and
printing occupied his attention. He was also a very
useful member of the household. It was he who
cleared away the snow which accumulated every
winter in a huge drift in front of the manse, obstruct
ing the light, and impeding all communication except
by the kitchen-door — and he who in their proper
seasons superintended the sowing and reaping of the
crops. His energetic disposition forbade idleness.
In fact, he always preferred having too much to do
rather than too little. His mother was very fond of
bee culture ; but, strange to say, her bees were very ir
reverent, for they not only chose the Sabbath on which
to swarm, but they took the opportunity of doing so
during the hours of divine service. Neither had they

"Profane Bees. 41
any idea of propriety, for, to crown the proceedings,
they almost invariably selected for their new quarters
an old ivy-covered chimney in the Established Manse,
a quarter of a mile distant ! The boy considered this
rare fun. One sultry Sunday his mother said to him,
" I have a presentiment that the bees will swarm to-day,
so I wish you to watch them while I am at church."
" Yes, mother ; I suppose I can take ' Living
stone's Travels ' with me ? "
" No ; because you get so absorbed in that book
that I will lose my bees."
" I only wish to look if there is any more said about
the native smith teaching Dr. Livingstone to weld
the iron."
" You must not read."
The boy went to the garden, but before ten
minutes had expired the monotony was so irksome
that he felt he must devise some method to make
the bees " improve the shining hour " without delay.
He tapped the hive and listened. A peculiar sound
betokened some commotion within. So far hopeful,
he next got a thin stick, and pushing it in at the
little aperture, he moved it gently backwards and
forwards to entice them out By-and-by one
appeared, and another, and then the queen, followed
by a numerous retinue, thronging and pressing on
each other until they hung in a dense cluster on his
stick and all about the hive door ; while one or two
of a more enterprising turn of mind found their way

42 Rapid Changes.
up his sleeve and to his bare knees (for he wore the
kilt in those days), and took no pains to disguise their
resentment at his inhospitality. Fortunately, the
apiary was situated on the south side of the church,
hard by the window of the Manse pew, through which
the mother heard an extraordinary buz-z-z, accom
panied by cries of pain. The congregation were
standing at prayer, so she made her exit unobserved,
wondering why bees are so profane, and mentally
vowing she would rear no more in future, as they
seemed determined to desecrate the Sabbath 1
Alexander Mackay had been well instructed in
religious knowledge, had no foolish companions, had
no desire to deviate from the path of truth and
rectitude, but the quickening influence of Divine love
had not as yet entered his heart. His mother felt
that to force religion upon him might be a mistake,
but she continued to pray for him often and earnestly.
As the time approached when it was desirable he
should prosecute his studies in Aberdeen, both
parents felt concerned lest his natural amiability and
abounding humour might lead him into temptation in
a large city. Just then an old friend of his father's,
a Mr. Hector, from Aberdeen, appeared in the neigh
bourhood. He was very much drawn to the boy, and
told him that he also had a son* who he hoped and
believed was going forward to the ministry.
* Afterwards known as the Rev. John Hector, Missionary of the
Free Church of Scotland at Calcutta.

" The Granite City." 43
It was ultimately arranged that this youth should
spend his summer holiday at the Manse, and, if
the companionship proved congenial to both, that
Alexander should accompany his friend to Aberdeen,
and remain under Mr. Hector's roof until the follow
ing spring, when his mother hoped to go to town and
secure comfortable lodgings for him. The boys
conceived a strong attachment for each other, for
they had much in common, and in October 1864
Alexander Mackay began to attend the Grammar
School in the "granite city."
This was the beginning of many changes in the old
home. In company with his friend he returned to
the Manse at Christmas, and in the following April
his mother fulfilled her promise. She had been
delicate all winter, and was strongly advised to post
pone her journey until the weather became warmer ;
but with her characteristic spirit of self-sacrifice, she
never thought of herself v/hen the welfare of others
was concerned. The ten days she spent in Aberdeen
ever remained a green spot in the boy's memory, and
when he saw her off by the train he little dreamed
that this was her last earthly journey, and that her
course was nearly run. In three weeks' time he was
summoned home, as she was seriously ill. He
remained a week, and as she appeared to rally he
returned again to school, but on the 8th of June she
passed gently away.
His childhood was buried in that open grave, but

44 Rapid Changes.
her dying charge, faithfully delivered by a relative* to
" read his Bible and to search it, so as to meet her in
glory," kindled a light which waxed brighter and
brighter until it illumined all his life.
While his father still continued to wish him to
become a minister, and he himself desired the pro
fession of an engineer, God was preparing him for
both. Writing to a dear friend at Christmas 1866,
he says, " I cannot see my way for the future, but
I feel certain the Lore], will make it plain in His
own time. I shrink from the ministry. I feel so un
worthy of that office. Besides, it seems to me that
there are already too many ministers. Three or four
wasting their energies in each little parish in
Scotland may satisfy a desire for sermon hearing,
but is attended, I fear, with little practical good. I
believe God gives us talents to use in His service,
and that we are bound to turn them to the best
account ; therefore I must go on with engineering.
You tell me 'it is impossible, as my father cannot
help me.' That I will never make an engineer unless
I can surmount a greater obstacle than that, I at
once allow ; but He who has given me the desire
will in some way grant it. This I feel sure of."
His way was soon made clear. In November
1867 the family removed to Edinburgh, where for
six years he applied himself to his studies with
laborious and persistent industry. Two of these
* Mrs. James Flett, now residing in the Grange, Edinburgh.

Student Days. 45
years he spent at the Free Church Training College
for Teachers ; after which the father abandoned his
own views in favour of those to which the talents
and inclinations of his son were so strongly directed,
and no longer urged him to enter the ministry.
Every hour of the next four years was precious to
Alexander Mackay. He studied engineering and its
kindred sciences at the University, and practical
engineering at the works of Messrs. Miller &
Herbert ; and during all these four years, in order
that he might not be burdensome to his father, he
taught three hours per day, either in George Watson's
College Schools or in private seminaries, by which he
earned sufficient money for his class fees and personal
necessities. During the greater part of this time in Edinburgh
he was greatly influenced by the wise pastoral care
and teaching of Dr. Horatius Bonar, who always
watched with tender affection over the young mem
bers of his flock, and especially strove to produce in
them habits of reverent and constant fellowship with
God, and daily study of the Holy Scriptures.

CHAPTER V.
LIFE IN BERLIN.
" Then look not back ! Oh 1 triumph in the strength
Ot an exalted purpose ! Eagle-like,
Press sunward on. Thou shalt not be alone.
Have but an eye on God, as surely God
Will have an eye on thee. Press on 1 press on ! "
B. B. Thatcher,
ON the ist of November, 1873, Alexander Mackay
embarked in the S.S. North Star from Leith
for Hamburg, his desire being to master the German
tongue and fully to qualify himself as an engineer.
Amongst the introductions he took with him was one
from Dr. Horatius Bonar to a clergyman in Hamburg,
who gave him a letter to the Rev. Dr. Baur, Court
chaplain and Cathedral preacher in Berlin.
Although it was a time of great commercial de
pression, consequent on the late Franco-German war,
he speedily found congenial employment in a great
engineering firm in Berlin. In his letters home he
frequently speaks of the dangerous fascination attend
ing the designing of machinery. He writes : " Some
times a new design so absorbs my whole thoughts
that I cannot drive it out of my mind. It ever keeps
46

His German Home. 47
coming up for improvement and perfection. I would
fain give it the first place, as it is my work to a
certain extent ; but when it would take such complete
mastery of me, I find the word in my conscience,
'Love not the world, neither the things of the
world : if any man love the world, the love of the
Father is not in him.'" His profession led him
amongst Rationalists, and he sorely missed com
munion with the Lord's people. He says : "Carnality
and unbelief have got such a hold upon me, that if it
were not that, now and again, in reading the Word
of God, I get a fresh ray of light, I would fall away
altogether." He soon, however, formed the acquaint
ance of Dr. and Mrs. Baur, who took a great interest
in him, and did for him what Aquila and Priscilla did
for Apollos.
Dr. Baur writes : " The image of Alexander
Mackay, my friend, 1 might almost say my son,
stands forth clearly to my mind, as it was imprinted
by a long daily, intimate life together, and by the
reports of his later efforts in the work of our Lord.
I remember quite distinctly one day he came to see us.
I sat conversing with him for a long time in my study.
I hardly spoke any English — he little German.
I invited him to come back at any time : he would
always be welcome. He answered, with his own
peculiar, frank, humorous smile, that he did not
wish to visit us from time to time, but to live with us,
as, living in a large town with so many infidels, he

48 Life in Berlin.
longed for a Christian home. I spoke to my wife, and
as we had room we received the young man into our
house, to our great joy. My wife and I always looked
on him as a dear son, and he was a true-hearted
brother to our own son. At that time he had just
entered his twenty-fifth year, but appeared to be
younger. He was scarcely of middle size, and had a
slender but well-knit figure. He had a fine head, with
a noble forehead and an open face. In his blue eyes,
which looked bright and clever, there was a soft, kindly
light, revealing a deep love to God and man. He
took the most lively interest in my work, which con
sisted not only in the care of a congregation scattered
far and wide in the great city, and in preaching in
the Cathedral, the Parish Church of the Emperor
and his household, but also in the direction of institu
tions and societies, in addresses at large meetings,
and Bible readings — in short, in Home Mission work
of the most varied kind. He conscientiously fulfilled
his profession of an engineer, but the centre of his
interest lay in the kingdom of God. I remember how
one Sunday morning, at breakfast, he directed the
question to me with deep emotion : ' What shall we
do to send the Berliners to church ? ' With his
faithfulness in little things, he did bring many a
young man to church. What was a benefit to himself
he longed for others also to enjoy. He himself went
regularly with us to the Cathedral, and did not feel
repelled by our carefully-selected Litany. With a

Room for All. 49
friend of ours (Rev. G. Palmer Davies) he sometimes
went to the American Church, and joined actively in
the Biblical discussions." What Alexander Mackay
saw of Christian home life in Germany gave him
a great love for the country and for the people.
Indeed, some of his most choice friends belonged to
the " Fatherland." No doubt his residence there did
much also to broaden his sympathies, and to show
him that unity in diversity and diversity in unity
must ever be a fundamental article of the Christian
faith. Writing home in the end of 1873, ne says :
" I very much deplore the bitter tone of the ....
papers. While the world stands there is room for all ;
for God has not cast all in one mould. All trees are
not oaks, nor weeping willows either, but that is no
reason why each species should look askance at the
other. All are of God, and all have their respective
uses and peculiar beauty. Let us therefore strive to
be useful in the Lord's vineyard, and to attain to some
measure of the beauty of holiness. The Master said
in the tersest words, ' Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God, and His righteousness.' Just as far as we
follow that precept can we claim at all to be His
disciples. 'Let each man, wherein he was called,
therein abide with God. There will then be less
bitterness between parties and sects, and more of the
love that seeketh not its own.'
For some years prior to Alexander Mackay's arrival
in Germany, he hae neither read much nor thought
4

50 Life in Berlin.
much of Foreign Missions, so absorbed had he been
in his professional studies ; but, strange to say, a few
weeks after reaching Berlin, before he had made
any Christian acquaintances, and while he was stand
ing aghast at the infidelity of his associates, a simple
account of an address given by Dr. Burns Thomson,
in Chalmers Memorial Church, Edinburgh, on Mission
work in Madagascar, was put into his hands. This
appeal, and the remembrance of his sainted mother's
injunction, " If the call comes to you take care you
do not neglect it," kept ever coming up before him,
until at last the claims of the heathen world took
such possession of him that he described it as a new
conversion. He was greatly encouraged by Dr. Baur
to follow out his idea, viz., to become an engineer-
missionary. Dr. Baur had been intimately acquainted
with John Coleridge Patteson, the martyr-bishop of
Melanesia, and at the very time he received Alexander
Mackay into his home, he was occupied in writing
a short biography of the Bishop for his German
countrymen. Dr. Baur, in his character sketch of Mackay*
points out the great resemblance between these two
devoted missionaries, although they were so different
in their spiritual origin, Pusey and Keble having
influenced the one — Bonar and (he ought to have
added) Baur the other. Diaries are seldom interest-
* See Introduction to the German Edition of "A M. Mackay,
Pioneer Missionary of the Church Missionary Society to Uganda."

Twenty-five Years Old. 51
ing, but a few extracts from one Mackay kept in Berlin
show his spiritual experiences from time to time : —
"October nth, 1874. — Led the Bible-class in
American Church this evening. Subject, John vii.
37-9. May much result from our meeting. A Chris
tian a life-giver. Give me Thy spirit without measure,
O God, that I may be mighty rivers. What a barren
soil is here to irrigate ! "
" Oct. 12 th. — This the last evening of the quarter
of a century in which I have lived so much in vain.
Lord, forgive me, and enable me henceforth to spend
and be spent in Thy blessed service."
" Oct. 17th. — This day enabled by God's grace to
preach to ten souls. But oh, with what feebleness !
Do thou, O Spirit of the living God, open their hearts
every one ; yea, and they shall live. Empty me of
self, O God, and fill me with Thee. Oh for more
communion with God ! "
" Oct. igtk. — These souls, by God's grace, to seek
to save. . . . Mighty harvest ! Lord Jesus, do Thou
be found of them all. Thou, and Thou alone, canst
save. Give me faith in Thee."
" Oct. 20th. — Lord bless abundantly two or three
grains of seed sown. What an idle day ! God
enable me to buy back opportunities, because the
days are evil."
"Oct. 21st.— Oh for nearness to God! God grant
me, I pray Thee, a deep spirit of humility— the
broken will and the contrite heart Oh for the single

52 Life in Berlin.
eye J What pride is in my heart I Carnality and
unfaithfulness too I How much in me alone the
Blood has to cover!"
" Oct. 22nd. — Much departure from the living God.
Much unbelief and hardness of heart Lord Jesus,
destroy the power of evil within me. Baptise me
with the Holy Ghost and with fire."
" Oct. 23rd. — God forgive an empty day. Have
done nothing for Christ, yet He has taught me to
say, with a fuller heart than ever before, with H.
Bonar : ' Lord, sift me — the process may be sore ' ;
and with McCheyne, ' If nothing else will do to sever
me from my sins, Lord, send me such sore and trying
calamities as shall awaken me from earthly slumbers.'
" Lord, Thou art merciful."
Many such entries show how he bemoaned his
sinful nature, and reveal his fervent desire to become
a true disciple of the Lord Jesus. Especially does
he long for greater tenderness in seeking to win souls
by proclaiming the good tidings.
"November 12th. — Slept in. Notes from home of
Bonar's sermon on ' This is My beloved Son — hear
ye Him.' This seems to be the lesson God means
to teach me by His rod at this time. How prone I
am to do anything but learn. Teach me, Lord, this
lesson above all others.
" A seed sown, Lord, Thou alone canst bless."
" Nov. 23rd. — Slept in again. No time for prayer
or reading God's Word in the morning. Yet tha

How the Call Came. 53
Lord is gracious to me. Thy goodness is leading
me to repentance. Oh for more faith, more hope,
more love ! How dead I am ! Give Thy Spirit,
Lord Jesus, even unto me."
"December nth. — Attaining day by day to a little
more childlike faith in Jesus, and therefore joy and
peace. Faith is Thy gift, O God. My Father, give
Thy son faith, for my Redeemer's sake."
" Dec. 12th. — Teach me, my Saviour, to speak to
lost souls in love, and not in bitterness.
"Prayer meeting. Slight sparks of joy. Oh for
the joy of being filled with the Spirit ! I believe
that is what we ought to be. Sadness must be due
to unbelief."
Alexander Mackay had first been led to think of
Madagascar as a mission-field, but, on inquiry, there
seemed no prospect of any opening in that island for
his energies. Thus it came to pass that his eyes were
cast on the Dark Continent, and, as Dr. Baur says,
" he longed to set foot on it as if it were the Promised
Land." One bitterly cold night, shortly before
Christmas 1875, he finished reading Stanley's " How
I found Livingstone," and on laying the book on the
table his eye fell on the words, " Henry Wright, Hon.
Sec, Church Missionary Society," in an old copy of
the Edinburgh Daily Review. His curiosity was at
once aroused, and on taking up the newspaper he
found the above signature to be appended to an
appeal for men to go out as pioneer missionaries to

54 Life in Berlin.
Uganda, in the very heart of the African Continent,
in response to King Mtesa's invitation, sent home by
Stanley. Mackay, there and then, although it was
now after midnight, replied to Mr. Wright's letter,
offering his services to the expedition. The Church
Missionary Society corresponded with his referees,
and early in January of 1876 he had two communi
cations from them, followed by a telegram on the
17th of the month, appointing an interview in London.
He paid a flying visit to England and saw the Central
African Sub-Committee, and a few days after Mr.
Wright informed him that he "had been accepted
for the Lord's work in connection with the Church
Missionary Society Mission to the Victoria Nyanza."
At this time Mackay was busy with a complicated
machine which he had designed for his employers,
and he could not honourably leave until he saw it
in proper working order ; but he accomplished this
sooner than he expected, and as the Church Mis
sionary Society were anxious there should be no
delay in carrying out their undertaking, he agreed
to have his passage taken by the P. and O. boat
which would leave Southampton in the end of March.
The sudden death, however, on the 16th of February,
of his beloved brother, Charles —
" A noble boy,
A brave, free-hearted, careless one,"
altered his plans, and he did not really sail for Zanzibar
till the 27th of April. He was glad to get on board

On Board. 55
the Peshawur, being utterly worn out in rushing from
place to place selecting the very liberal equipment
with which the Church Missionary Society were
providing the expedition. Besides machinery and
tools of all kinds, presents had to be got for Mtesa
and other sultans, as also cumbrous cloth and bead
moneys, which are the only currency known in the
interior of Africa. In this, however, he had the
* valuable assistance of Colonel Grant.
An able writer says that " the chances are that if
Mackay had been prevented from going to Africa
the elaborate trivialities of our modern life would
soon have wearied him, and brought him to an earlier
grave — his brave and active nature would have beaten
itself to death against the bars of European conven
tionality." No doubt this is true. Writing to a
friend, he says, " English Christianity undoubtedly
stands in need of being reformed. There is about it
much of what our Saviour calls ' serving God and
Mammon.' . . . Nowhere in all the world is there
so much bitter poverty by the side of high living
as there is in England. Our religion has become
crystallised in dogmas and Church doctrines, but it
has not become the law of our daily life. I often
think if I were in England, how I would plead with
Christian men and women to leave the fashions of
the world, with the terrible expense which compliance
with these involves, and consent to spend and be
spent in rescuing a lost world. Has Christianity

56 Life in Berlin.
become such a half-hearted thing that the beginning
and the end of it is a routine of worship, and putting
on a respectable appearance in the eyes of people?
It is saddening to think of the lukewarmness of the
very saints of God. If they fail in the hour of need,
where is help to be looked for ? May the Lord have
mercy on our hardness of heart, and give us grace
to devote ourselves and everything that is ours to
His service alone." *~t-
He went to Africa full of bright ideas and great
schemes, and in one way he saw them all doomed to
disappointment, but in many others he lived to see
far greater progress in the Mission than even in his
brightest hours he expected. Before he entered the
field he did not see the difficulties to be overcome
and the trials to be endured, ere even a small begin
ning could be made in planting a centre of moral
and intellectual influence in such an isolated place as
Uganda. What he and the other members of the
Mission band would have liked, was to enter the
country with ease and speed ; to find a cordial wel
come ; to become quickly acquainted with the language ;
to preach to eager crowds every day ; to find all ready
to listen and believe ; to find no enemies, but count
less converts ; to have no trouble or check, but one
continuous flow of blessing from above, and one
unbroken supply of good health and vigour for their
work, and no thinning of their ranks. Instead of
that they reached Uganda at great expense and with

Loves his Black Friends. 57
great difficulty, through great dangers, very slowly,
and with much loss of life and property. They
received a welcome which was outwardly cordial,
but attended with great suspicion as to their objects.
Learning the language took months and years of
patient, earnest toil, much misunderstanding as to
their aims being caused by the natives and them
selves being unable to comprehend each other's words,
and great ridicule being produced by their mistakes.
Instead of being able to give unremitting attention
to teaching, preaching, and translating the Scriptures,
they had to spend much of their time in manual
labour — toiling for their daily bread. Instead of
eagerness to receive the Gospel, they found indiffer
ence or strenuous opposition to such tidings. The
priests of the Lubare — the Baal of the Baganda —
trembled for their idolatry ; the followers of the false
prophet became more and more fanatic ; while the
fact that both Rome and the Reformation were
represented in the country caused bewilderment to
the king and joy to the attendant Arabs.
Yet in times of great trouble, Mackay had faith to
see that the triumph of evil was only temporary, and
that the true light would yet shine in Uganda. He
loved his black friends, and never lost hope for them,
and never was there an instance of less looking back
after having put the " hand to the plough."

CHAPTER VI
UGANDA.
" Africa 1 what mighty grief
Hidden lies in that sad name t
Millions lost in unbelief,
Steeped in blood, and tears, and shame I
Christians, think of millions dying ;
Leave them not in darkness lying I "
Rev. R. P. Ashe,
UGANDA stretches along the north-western
shores of the Victoria Nyanza, and lies directly
under the equator. It now forms a part of the vast
territories of the Imperial British East African
Company. Captain Speke visited the country a
dozen years before Stanley, and suggested it as a
favourable field for missionary enterprise. Having
been for generations ruled by kings of the Abyssinian
type, he thought it might even retain a latent germ
of Christianity. The ruling caste call themselves
Bahuma, and claim to be of foreign extraction.*
They retain a tradition that they were once half
white and half black, with hair on the white side
straight, and on the black side frizzly. The founder
* The bulk of the people are Negroes of a more pronounced type,
58

An Immortal King. 59
of the monarchy is believed to be Kintu, who
arrived from the north-east, and established himself
on the north-west shore of the lake, where he and
his wife were the only inhabitants. The legend says,
however, that the country soon became densely
populated, as every year his wife had four twins ;
the boys were born with beards, and at two years
of age the girls became mothers! Kintu brought
with him a cow, a goat, a sheep, a fowl, a banana
root, and a potato, each of which multiplied at a
prodigious rate. There were soon flocks and herds
in abundance — the banana root produced a forest,
while the stems of the potato covered the ground.
Kintu had been the priest of an ancient race,
and had a great aversion to blood-shedding. His
children, however, discovered the method of making
strong liquors, and became drunken, lazy, violent
and murderous. Kintu, therefore, quitted the country,
taking with him the animals he had introduced, also
the original banana and potato roots. His family
sought for him far and wide, but in vain, yet to
this day his immortality is believed in.
According to Captain Speke, nine generations
back, Kimera, a descendant of Kintu, gave the govern
ment its definite form. He had soon an army, a
navy, a grand palace, smart officers, and, according
to barbarous ideas, every magnificence. Since his
time the prosperity of the country has ever been on
the increase, and the cognisance which he adopted —

60 Uganda.
viz., a white dog, spear, shield and woman — is still
used by the sovereign.
When Mackay arrived in Uganda, Mtesa was on
the throne. He was an intelligent monarch, but had
an exaggerated idea of his own importance. Speke
gives an amusing account of his first interview with
his majesty : how again and again in the course of
an hour he inquired, " Have you seen me ? " and
how he handled the articles which the traveller
presented to him, " made silly remarks, and pondered
over them like a perfect child, until it was quite
dark." Stanley talks of his dignified expression of
face, and of the " large, lustrous, lambent eyes that
lent to it a peculiar beauty." The missionaries allow
that he had many kingly qualities, but that he was
very capricious and self-indulgent. Mackay frequently
denounced his wickedness to his face, and yet the
king was always disposed to befriend the mission
aries. Doubtless his ambition to imitate the ways
of the white men, his respect for their courage and
conscientiousness, and a keen eye for " bintu " (goods)
all prompted him to favour them. Mtesa died in the
autumn of 1884, and was succeeded by his son,
Mwanga, a vain, vacillating youth, who lacked the
common-sense and experience of his father.
Mackay believed that the climate of Uganda was
far healthier than anywhere on the coast of Zanzibar,
and much less enervating, although more so than
Unyamwezi, because moister. The lake itself is a

Different Shades. 6«
centre of atmospheric disturbance, and the very
broken nature of the surface of the country certainly
encourages rainfall, yet it is very far from being a
regular rainy region. On the whole, he considered
that rain contributed more to comfort and pleasure
than nine months of drought. There is an enormously
greater rainfall in Busongora, on the west side of the
lake, than in Uganda. He says : " The constant south
east wind, which blows all day across the lake, gets
its vapours condensed on the bold metamorphic cliffs,
which, rising terrace above terrace to a thousand feet
above the Nyanza, I call the galleries of Busongora.
There seems to be a connection between the amount
of rainfall and darkness of skin of the natives. The
moister the climate the darker the complexion of the
black. The inhabitants of Busongora and Karague
are black as coal, while the Banyoro are more of
a chocolate colour, and the tribes from the hills
of Busoga and Gambaragara are, some of them, not
much darker than Arabs. It remains to be proved,
but is I think true, that the darker the skin the
deeper the degradation ; at any rate, the more
agricultural, and therefore peaceful and timid, the
tribe ; while the lighter shades own herds of cattle,
are freer and livelier, and more addicted to war.
The country is a constant succession of hills and
swampy hollows, and the soil is wonderfully fertile.
It is true of Uganda as of the Promised Land that
each man sits under his vine and under his fig-tree,

62 Uganda.
for the banana — the king of fruit trees — each bunch
being as heavy as the renowned cluster of grapes of
Eshcol — flourishes everywhere, as also iheficus — from
the bark of which the national dress is made. There
are several species of fig, which yield the fibrous bark
for clothing, some having a pale yellow colour of
texture, while others shade into darker rays of red
and even brown. The trees never attain great size,
being probably stunted by frequent stripping — which
is begun at an early age, the younger trees yielding
a finer and more uniform bark. The stem is peeled
from a height of six or eight feet to close on the
ground. The soft fibrous pad is then beaten out
into a thin fabric by being laid on a long beam and
struck with round (cylindrical) wooden mallets,
finely grooved, thus giving the cloth a corrugated
appearance. After the bark is stripped off, the stem
is carefully wrapped in plantain leaves, firmly lashed
to the, trunk.
Kl5jjS3fe tree shows no signs of injury from the
process, and a new bark soon forms, which is again
removed when ready.
" I have never seen fruit on a fig-tree in Uganda.
At Kagei I found plenty, but there the art of bark-
cloth making is not practised.
" There are several varieties of plantains, one being
manufactured into strong liquor.
" Tobacco is planted indiscriminately among these
trees."

The People. 63
Maize has hitherto been the principal cereal, and
yields from three hundred to five hundredfold. One
can sow and reap any day, and in any month,
although not to such advantage as when timing
these processes by the equinoctial rains. It is
strange that while tilling the soil is health in a cold
climate, it is next to death in the tropics. The
great amount of decaying vegetation suddenly
brought to the surface in freshly turned-up soil
produces malaria, which gets imbibed at every pore
of the body. When the soil is dry there is less
poison generated, but then the ground cakes like
brick beneath the fierce rays of the sun and is
practically unworkable. Unless after heavy rains,
one can no more dig or plough in the tropics than
Scotch farmers can turn over hard-frozen ground.
Foreigners are looked upon with some contempt
by the people, especially by the chiefs. One reason
is that they walk about alone, and unattended by a
retinue of idle fellows, as the chiefs are wheneveohey
appear in public. Then, again, the missionaries have
no wealth like them — wealth of women, cattle and
slaves ; but the chief reason of the inferiority of the
white man is that he works with his own hands.
Work is only fit for slaves in Uganda, and even they
refuse to dig the soil. Women only perform such
humble tasks as cultivating the ground, repairing
dilapidated walls, and making parapets of reeds. The
men are warriors, robbers and idle loungers. They

64 Uganda.
almost all smoke, as do the women. Their pipes
have a small bowl of black clay, with stems of wood,
four or six feet long, sometimes longer. These stems
are made of green saplings, — pith wood, the pith being
forced out by a long piece of wire.
The missionaries have had to contend against the
belief in witchcraft, in the Lubare, and charms and
spells ; also a particular fear of the spirits or ghosts
of dead men, which the Baganda fondly cling to.
Polygamy and general licentiousness all over the
country have also been a great hindrance to the
entrance of the Gospel. The people are, however,
remarkably intelligent and apt at learning. Mackay
soon saw that his first duty was to learn the language,
and as speedily as possible reduce it to writing. As
soon as this was accomplished, and he and his brethren
were able to translate portions of the Scriptures and
print them, a new world opened to the natives. They
flocked to the mission premises, and often crowded
Mackay's workshop in their eagerness to learn to read
the Word of God, and as fast as they learned they
taught others.
At the present time there are upwards of twelve
thousand devout worshippers, and nowhere in the
annals of missionary history have converts stood
better the repeated tests of fiery trials and persecu
tions, many having suffered martyrdom for the name
of Jesus Christ

CHAPTER VII.
ON THE MARCH.
" To heal the bruised, speed ;
Oh, pour on Africa the balm
Of Gilead, and, her agony to calm,
Whisper of fetters broken, and the spirit freed."
W. B. Tappan.
AFTER an uneventful voyage the SS. Peshawur
reached Aden on May 17th. Here Mackay
was met by Lieutenant Shergold Smith, commander
of the expedition, and after a day's delay they
embarked in the SS. Cashmere for Zanzibar. On
board were a Parsee and a Goa man, wealthy mer
chants in Zanzibar. The latter was named De Sonza.
He had supplied Livingstone and Stanley with
various articles, and could tell to a shilling how much
his account had been with these travellers in each of
their expeditions. Of course he looked for patronage
from the C.M.S. party, but Mackay made no promises,
believing it prudent to act up to the character of a
"canny Scot." De Sonza described Livingstone as
having had one arm, which he allowed to hang in a
swinging fashion by his side, and then he continued,
" Livingstone a very good man ; oh yes, very good
65 S

66 On the March.
man. Livingstone the best man I ever have seen ;
good for rich man, good for poor man, good for every
man." After a voyage of about seven thousand miles from
Southampton, they sighted Zanzibar on the evening
of the 29th of May. Mackay says : " The moon
shone brightly, and a beautiful starlit sky served to
throw a clear light on the town, which looked not at
all unlike various pictures I had previously seen of it.
In the morning the mails were sent ashore to the
British Consul, and various people came on board to
hear and to tell some new thing. The Sultan's fleet,
of four or five small steamers, or rather steam-tugs,
lies off the fort, and about a mile from shore is
moored the large English two-decker H.M.S. London,
stationed here for the suppression of the slave trade.
The ship sends her lieutenants cruising round the
neighbouring islands and
. . . ' the coast where the slave-ship fills its sails
With sighs of agony,
And her kidnapped babes the mother wails
'Neath the lone banana-tree I '
Every week they succeed in capturing slave dhows.
Last week they caught one hundred and fifty slaves.
The punship's boats are very active, inasmuch as
they receive £$ prize money for every slave they
capture. But all this is only first letting the stable-
door lie open and then catching a few of the stolen

Pioneer Work. 67
horses. There are, besides, far too few boats and
men." Besides Lieutenant G. Shergold Smith, the C.M.S.
party comprised the Rev. C. T. Wilson, Mr. T.
O'Neill, architect, three artisans, Mackay and his
beloved friend, Dr. John Smith. By June they had
all reached Zanzibar, and then the real work had to
commence, and "all hands to the wheel" — clergyman,
doctor, and all — was the cry for some months.
East Africa is neither like India nor China, hence
the missionary's work must be different from what it
is in either of these practically civilised lands. " One
thing is needful " ; and it is to teach that one thing
that Christian missionaries enter Africa, but the means
that must be employed to accomplish that object
most effectively are very different from the common
traditional notions of what the work of a missionary
to the heathen should be.
Pictures of tropical vegetation in the background,
and in front a pious-looking man in clerical attire,
with Bible in hand, preaching to an eager crowd of
dark-skinned hearers, we have been accustomed to
regard as correct representations of the manner of
the introduction of the Gospel abroad. But such are
not only a caricature of the truth, but are very mis
leading and injurious. The natives of East and Central
Africa did not want the missionaries, and would much
rather they had remained away. They naturally
thought they meant to take possession of their land

68 On the March.
and ultimately drive them out of what they had held
from time immemorial ; or, as the Portuguese and
Arabs did in succession on the coast, reduce them
to a condition of servitude. Mackay says : " We know
they need our aid, but they do anything but wish it.
Their minds are too depraved to understand any
thing to be for their good which does not supply their
immediate animal wants. Making as our starting-
point the supply of these in a legitimate way, so that
we may win their confidence, and not merely tell
them, but bring them to see that we are their friends,
much of the difficulty is over, and we can lead them
on from Nature to Nature's God, we can bring them
to believe our tale is true, that by nature they are
enemies of God, but by grace may be reconciled to
Him. Being in the world ourselves, and wishing to
bring men not only who are in the world, but of it,
into the family of the sons of God, common sense
seems to indicate that by making stepping-stones
of their dead selves we may lead them from the
temporal things they as yet only can understand,
to the higher things, the things unseen and
eternal." M-f
To narrate the delays, worries and anxieties which
these pioneers had to undergo in starting their ex
pedition to the interior would be endless. Like all
African travellers, they soon learned that it was use
less to attempt doing anything at all without having
first laid in an inexhaustible supply of patience. In

I i ' iliiJ ' ' WiWBi

CARRYING A BOAT IN SECTIONS.

[£69.

The Pagazi's Song. 69
fact, if one does not take patience with him to Africa,
he must buy it dearly there, at any cost, even of life
itself. They had taken out with them a light cedar
boat, the Daisy, which had been built in three
sections for transport by land to the greatest of the
Great Lakes, and they found some difficulty in get
ting all her parts out of the Custom House. Then
the three-cylinder engine arrived with its reversing
lever seriously damaged, while the box containing the
main shaft and stern tube had been carried off tc
Shanghai and was never seen at Zanzibar. To take
an engine up country without a shaft for the pro
peller is as good as going out to shoot with a gun
the barrel of which is wanting. Accordingly Mackay
had to prepare drawings for a new shaft and couplings
with stern-tube, and with Captain Sullivan's (H.M.S.
London) kind consent, this was well manufactured by
the chief engineer, Mr. Green. The Blake's patent
pump and many other articles were broken, and
every other day Mackay was up at the French
Mission getting some blacksmith or carpentry work
done. One day he had the sections of the Daisy's
boiler carried to their station by a lot of pagazi
(porters). Black men cannot work at anything with
out singing, and as they groaned under the heavy
loads, ten at each piece, they chanted all the way
in broken Suahili, " White man give plenty pence ! "
Of course Mackay did so, giving each man twopence
for a couple of hours' hard work ! But each requires

70 On the March.
only three farthings a day to live on, so they con
sidered they had extra good luck.
At last the whole was packed in convenient loads,
and shipped by dhows to Bagamoyo, on the mainland.
Here, Mackay says, the day ran somewhat thus : —
" Get up at daylight ; coffee, oranges, and quinine
at 6 a.m. ; weighing goods, packing them into bales
of 60 lb. each, directing, arranging till 7 a.m. At 7
sound the drum and take out my 35 soldiers (?) for
drill ; 8 o'clock till 10, packing ; then breakfast.
Hard work at hosts of things till lunch, then go at
it again till dark, with hundreds of Wanyamwezi,
Wahumas, Wasagara, etc. After dark, dinner ; then
work again. As yet it has been hard times with
most of us, physically and mentally.
"Starting an expedition like ours taxes all our
wisdom and strength. It is almost impossible to
convey to English minds a correct idea of the manner
of life in this part of the world — whether the white
man's or the native's. The floor of the tembe where
I write this is thickly covered with sleeping niggers
and bales of goods. This may sound strange, but it
is stranger still to have it to go through."
The C.M.S. had given instructions that the Wami
and Kinguni rivers should be explored, with a view
to the expedition taking advantage of a water route,
if found practicable. Consequently, Mackay riveted
the three sections of the Daisy together, and Lieut.
Smith and he went up the Wami for seventy miles,

Stanley. 71
but found it unfit for navigation. Mackay and Mr.
Holmwood, Vice-Consul, next explored the Kingani
for 160 miles with the same result.
The boat had again to be taken to pieces, and as it
was found each section would require twenty men to
carry it, Mackay unriveted it into smaller pieces,
adapted to two men each, and cut away entirely six
feet out of the middle.
The greatest trouble of all was in collecting pagazi
(porters) enough to carry the goods, etc., up country.
In this they derived much benefit from the experi
ences of the great travellers who had preceded them.
Writing at this time, Mackay says : " As to Stanley, it
is hard from the home standpoint to form a judgment.
Let critics come out even this length (Bagamoyo),
and see how they would act in similar circumstances.
Of course retaliation would never do for missionaries,
but Stanley is preparing the way for us, and has
placed ready to our hands a great deal of informa
tion that will be especially valuable to our party. But
to talk of Africa having been 'opened up' by the pass
ing through it of Speke, Grant, Stanley, and Cameron
is to talk of a large pumpkin being opened up by
passing through it a fine needle ! "
At length the expedition started on its arduous
march. It was intended Mackay should be whipper-
in, and lead the rear caravan, with machinery and
valuables and everything else which the others had
left behind ; but on setting out on the 27th of August;

72 On the March.
he could only muster two hundred pagazis, fourteen
so-called askari (soldiers), who never had had a gun
in their hands before ; three carpenters, one mason,
and three engine boys, while four donkeys and a little
dog served to wind up the list of the company !
The loads were chiefly the Daisy — which took
about fifty men ; beads and cloth took more than
fifty. The rest carried machinery, books, provisions,
tools, agricultural implements, etc. The valuable
observing instruments, medicines, gunpowder, and
such-like, were intrusted to Zanzibar men, of whom he
had about a score. Again, much barter cloth had to
be left, so Lieutenant Smith and the Doctor remained
in Bagamoyo to secure more porters.
Mackay says : " Suddenly to have stepped into the
position of ' father ' to such a large family of chil
dren, every day crying out ' POSS-HO ! ' which may be
translated, ' Give us our daily bread,' is by no means
a joke. Their little disputes and complaints I have
to settle. My interpreter is very poor in English,
and makes as much misunderstanding as the reverse.
Still we get on wonderfully ; at times one method of
argument succeeding — at times another.
" It occurs to me often as a poser — if two hundred
men on march can give such endless trouble, what
anxiety must poor Moses have been in on his march
with more than two million souls? The Lord God
was with him, seems to be the only explanation, and
my fears are all calmed by the fact that this caravaB

Small Pox. 73
is the Lord's, and He will give all necessary grace for
guiding it."
Mackay had concentrated his energies in making
rapid marches, but it was fearfully hard work, and
the over-fatigue brought on fever and the other
disease so fatal to white men in Africa, which so
reduced his strength that he could not walk, and had
to be helped on to his donkey, which he had been
previously using as a beast of burden.
He had very little sickness in his camp, however,
which was a matter of great thankfulness, as small
pox was raging ahead and the caravans in front
suffered greatly. One fellow, Terekesa, with a Nyam-
wesi caravan of his own, left several dead in every
camp. The road was actually strewn with the skele
tons of bodies which the hyaenas had recently picked
bare. Soon after leaving the coast Mackay vaccinated as
many of his men as he had lymph for, and the cases
took well, but he only got over two or three dozen.
When a few fell ill of the dire disease, he took another
route, when practicable, to avoid Terekesa, whom his
men shuddered to think of. Hence they had a couple
of days' marching through a swamp which they
otherwise would have avoided. Mackay says : "It
would have shocked the ideas of English doctors
to see my small-pox boy wading knee-deep, for a
couple of days, with his legs covered by the eruption.
But here he is to-day, with precious little doctoring, as

74 On the March.
well as possible." But while such treatment suited the
boy, Mackay became so much worse that he had to
send back word to Lieutenant Smith, who then hurried
on, with only one man, at the rate of thirty miles a
day, on foot, to relieve him of the charge of his great
caravan. By mischance, however, he took another
road and got on ahead. Accidentally Mackay heard
of this and dispatched messengers to catch him up,
which they did. The Lieutenant then waited until
Mackay overtook him, in a couple of days.
Mackay says : " My dear brother brought me new
life and home letters, which so far revived me that
I was able to let him go next day right on to
Mpwapwa, bringing on my caravan myself, as I had
done." This place he reached on the ioth of October.
Much he had vexed himself over the short marches
of his men during the previous fortnight, as he was
anxious to see his brethren again before they pro
ceeded on to the lake; but a merciful Providence
regulated it otherwise, and by means of the delays
of the porters, delivered him unwittingly from what
might have ended in serious calamity to many of them,
and perhaps disaster to nearly the whole expedition.
Mpwapwa may be considered an oasis in the great
salt desert Caravans must all pass through it, and
must be provisioned there after the hunger on the
marches behind, and with a supply for several days
in front They had all been led to believe the place

Mutiny in Camp. 75
was a land of plenty, but food was then not to be
had, except by going great distances for it, and even
then paying prices much above ordinary.
One day Lieutenant Smith ordered the pagazi to
cut grass to thatch the mission house. He did not
know that the men were already almost exasperated
at having to pay out their own cloth, owing to the
dearness of provisions, and were merely waiting the
spark to kindle the fuel of impatience and wrath
among them into flame. At once they all picked up
their guns and their own cloth and bolted, leaving
their loads in camp.
Unasked, and entirely of their own accord, the
Wagogo — natives of Mpwapwa — seeing the white
man's men desert, turned out of their villages in great
numbers, and with martial skill and true bravery
drove them all back into camp.
Next day the caravan started, but the men set off,
most of them, without their loads. They ultimately,
however, returned for them, and by the 7th October
Lieutenant Smith saw the vanguard of the expe
dition finally leave Mpwapwa. Mackay had fixed
that same day as the latest date of his arrival at that
place, but glad he was and thankful to God that it
found him still two marches back. Had he arrived
then, or sooner, his men, two hundred and twenty
in number, might have joined also in the desertion
and demoralisation, and who knows what might have
been the result?

76 On the March.
Writing on the 19th of October, Mackay says !
" Early this morning I found another of my men had
died of smallpox. He was the second case of death,
and being a man of middle age, like the other, I had
given up his case as fatal and looked for his death
sooner. His messmates had taken him out one
hundred and fifty yards from camp and thrown down
the corpse among the maweri stubble. I ordered
them to take their spades and bury him, which they
seemed almost determined not to do. The Zanzibar
men would not go near him, being Mohammedans.
So, weak as I was, I opened the package of spades —
shouldered one, and set off to find the body. A
flock of ravens soon betrayed the place. In the few
hours he had lain dead the hyaenas had already eaten
off his feet and scalp ! The ground I found far too
hard where he lay, so tying a rope about his body
with my own hands, so as to save the two or three
men who followed me from infection, I caused them
to drag him one hundred yards to the bed of the
nearly dry river, where we made a proper grave, and
interred him in spite of the demand of some natives
for cloth from me for the privilege I had used. I
told them that ' if burying did not suit them they
could disinter the body, but they should pay me for
removing a dead man from the field ! ' "
One of the artisans of the expedition had died in
Zanzibar, and Mackay was greatly disappointed on
reaching Mpwapwa to find the other two invalided

Home Sickness. yy
The one especially, who was a blacksmith and a
handy man in other respects, had become a perfect
wreck, having allowed himself to succumb to the
enervating power of the East African climate. There
he was lying in a mud tembe, up the hill, with no
disease whatever — but ready to die if he were allowed.
Mackay writes : " The secret of it all seems to be, he
wants to go home, and if he recovers home he must
go* But there am I, going on to the lake, with our
boat in pieces — a hundred pieces — to be rebuilt, in fact
to be made another craft, seaworthy ; here are three
steam engines to be made use of. Here we have on
the road my boiler in rings and plates, etc., all to be
riveted (not merely bolted) together, with red-hot
rivets. Forgings without end to do, and much such
work, and who is now to help me with it all ?
O'Neill is not up to the use of my sort of tools, while
the Doctor and the Lieutenant are not to be expected
to be workers in iron and steel.
" Do not think I am talking of imaginary difficulties.
The matter is serious to think of, but will be much
more serious when we reach the lake ; but we are not
there yet, and much may befall us before then, in the
five hundred miles' march. But the same God who
has guided us till now, will guide us all through till
the very last item of our work is done." Mackay
waited at Mpwapwa for Dr. Smith, who arrived on
the 19th of October, and having given the new-conws
* Both artisans soon returned to England.

yS On the March.
an ox to feast on, he let them rest for a day ; and,
finally, the two Scotchmen, at the head of a caravan
now increased to three hundred and ten souls, made
for Chumio, where they quietly spent the Sunday
with Lieut Smith.
Next morning they all set out on the long and
trying march over the dreary Marenga Mkali desert,
where neither water nor food is to be had. This they
accomplished in two days, when they reached Ndebwe,
where an old woman, the " Sultany," with a dried-up
skin, brought them a present of some matama (meal)
and milk, for which she got more than double the
value in cloth. Next they arrived at the villages
of the great greedy chief of Mvumi, where the first
honga (tribute) was demanded of them. After four or
five days' palaver they had the matter settled by
being robbed of thirty -nine valuable cloths, equivalent
to £9 in English money. Right glad to shake off
their feet the dust of the place where they had been
so blackmailed, they marched to the next tribute
man, whose place is called Mtamburu. Honga here
should be small, but the dirty, greasy old chief
demanded of them a deole, or fine large silken shawl,
" such as became a king," he said, in addition to
twenty-four of their most valuable cloths. They had
nothing of the kind among their stores, nor would
they give him gunpowder, of which he insisted they
had many casks. At last, after losing a day, he
relieved them of forty-one cloths, one double-barrelled

Black-Mail. 79
gun, one powder-flask, and a few percussion caps.
But the greatest loss of all to Mackay was his health,
which the bad water of the place again deprived him
of. The Doctor was also laid down, but he soon
recovered, while Mackay, in his weak state, relapsed
into a worse condition than before, so that he could
scarcely endure being carried in a hammock.
His companions were determined he should return
in charge of the doctor, but this he would not agree
to, believing that a couple of days' rest at a good
halting-place would set him up. Forty miles more
marching, the greater part of which was through a
delightfully green jungle abounding in large herds
of elephant, zebra and giraffe, brought them to
Nyambwa, the quarters of the greatest chief in Ugogo,
whose name is Pembe ra Pera, which signifies the
horn of a rhinoceros. This potentate's modest demand
was only fifty cloths ! Two days' palaver made him
content with forty-five, after which he was to present
them with an ox (for which of course they would
have to pay), so as to make Lieutenant Smith his
brother. The latter was sitting in the palace, or
rather hen-house, and the matter of the honga being
settled he thought he would entertain the king by
showing him some of the wonders of white men.
Taking a matchbox from his pocket he struck a light,
which his majesty thought good to interpret as an
evil machination and a design on his life. Rushing
from the audience chamber, he sent to say that for

80 On the March.
such a grave offence as had been committed, they
would have to pay thirty more cloths, Next morn
ing he was satisfied with twenty-five, which with what
they had previously given, made a total tribute of
seventy cloths, or much more than a man's load, and
in value about £20 !
The district over which Pembe ra Pera reigns is a
great cattle country. Six hundred oxen were driven
into his tembe every night, while many more were
the property of the people round about.
Here Mackay would have liked to stay, for some
days at least, until he could gain strength enough to
be carried back. The three days' rest had already
restored him a little, and the king agreed willingly
that the sick white man should stop with him, but
Mackay felt sure that he should have difficulty in
getting out of his majesty's hands without the pay
ment of an indemnity. Accordingly he determined
to be off at once, and on the 8th of November he was
once more on the shoulders of two strong men, and
with eight additional to carry his tent, sextant,
chronometer, clothes, cooking apparatus, and some
cloth to buy food by the way, he bade a sorrowful
" good-bye " to his dear brethren, little dreaming that
their earthly journey was nearly run, and started
eastwards.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE COAST AGAIN.
" Do something— do it soon — with all thy might ;
An angel's wing would droop if long at rest,
And God Himself, inactive, were no longer blest." C. Wilcox.
AGAIN he came on bad water, which, although
filtered and boiled, brought him to such a low
condition that he quite expected to die at Mvumi
Writing home afterwards, he says : " Thinking the
end was at hand, and commending my soul to the
Redeemer, I called for my writing-case, and having
mixed an ink powder, I was commencing to write my
last letter on earth. But just then my cook entered
the straw hut in which I was lying with a large
matama meal poultice, which gave me so much
relief, that I fell asleep, and afterwards repeated
doses of ipecacuanha and laudanum restored me so
far that I was able to be carried to the next village,
where I halted two or three days, as the water was
good, and eggs and milk in abundance; but best of all
was the arrival of the home September letters, which
helped so much to set me on my legs that I could
81 6

82 The Coast Again.
ride to Mpwapwa, where, chatting with the brethren
stationed there, and a few days' rest and good food,
were blessed by God to make me nearly well. But I
was intent on reaching the coast as soon as possible.
The rains were expected soon, a.ud I had little hope
of complete recovery till I should have sea air for a
time on board the C.M.S.S. Highland Lassie.
" Before sunrise on the 20th of November, I was off
fvom Mpwapwa with my ten raen and donkey, but
the latter soon refused to procef d, as it either suffered
from, or shammed sickness, so I sent it back in an
hour, and resolved to march !o Bagamoyo on foot
We made what speed we could over the ups and
downs of the Usagara Mountains. The highest point
I crossed was 5000 feet high, and the descent from
there to the valley of the Wami is most arduous.
The whole distance is two hundred and twenty miles
and I accomplished the march in eleven days, be,rng
the shortest period on record.
" When Stanley came down with Livingstone's
Journal, to make himself famous, he took at least
twenty-five days, although he made all the speed he
could, only he marched in the wet season ai. •: I in
the dry ; but in the dry one suffers many ddays from
searching for water, and only those who have been
in the long deserts up country know what it is to
march with an empty water-bottle."
Like other travellers, Mackay found that those
tribes are the most degraded where the women

Sunny Memories. 83
occupy the position of slaves ; those where the
women have assumed something like their proper
position are further advanced and less savage. He
says : " At first one looks on people in a state of
nearly ' nude ' with considerable suspicion, but up
country one is not a little shocked to find the nearly
converted into altogether. In Ugogo the boys all
run about just as they were born, and the full-grown
men pride themselves frequently on wearing a similar
attire. The women are still too modest to altogether
follow their example, but a little piece of skin is all
they need for full dress when they come out to see
the white man. You would have laughed to see me
squirting water in their faces in Ugogo, to drive them
out of my tent when I was washing, or occasionally
taking a big, oily, yellow-ochery savage by the
shoulders, and pushing him off with what little
strength I had.
" While writing on board our mission steamer in
the Bay of Zanzibar, I am listening to the pleasant
sound of one of Mozart's marches, played by the band
of a British man-of-war, stationed here for the sup
pression of the slave-trade. Here it is warm, like
German midsummer, and the lightning is playing
among the clouds over to the west. The German
music carries me back to the land from which it
came, and all the happy ties which bind me to the
great Fatherland. The British man-of-war makes me
think of 'bonnie Scotland' and the days o' 'auld

84 The Coast Again.
lang syne ; ' of peaceful England, which does her best
even out here to put an end to cruelty and oppres
sion between man and man. The Mohammedan gun
makes me sigh over the determination of deluded
men to worship God in a way that is no worship at
all. The little vessel in which I am conveys the
impression that the true way of life is at last repre
sented here too, but is yet only one tiny seed in the
great soil which Satan has owned so long, but which
we hope to reclaim to our Master's possession."
Finding his health restored, he set to work about
Christmas to fit up another caravan for the relief
of his brethren on the Nyanza, intending to go to
Uganda with it in order to join the party he had
accompanied in the autumn as far as western Ugogo.
Porters were far more difficult to be had than when
the previous caravans started, so he took a tour of
three hundred miles northwards and back along the
coast to collect men. He passed through more than
twenty towns and villages, and liked the people very
much, but, sad to say, he found a mass of evidence to
prove that the nefarious traffic in slaves was as bad
as ever.
He was frequently on board Arab dhows, and he
says : " In no case have I seen any examination of
a dhow in which I have been, although they were
always full of people. The Sultan professes his
powerlessness to check the slave traders either by
sea or land. The English boats' crews rely on native

Slave Dhows. 85
Interpreters, who are bribed by slave traders to decoy
boats in wrong directions while the dhows escape
another way. Every artifice is used to deceive the
English officers. At Kokotini I found seven slave
dhows in a creek, while the London's boats were pass
ing outside in the open. Daily, dhows sail from the
mainland, with multitudes of women and children who
are passed off as wives or domestic slaves of Arab and
Suahili passengers, while large caravans pass con
stantly through the coast towns along the shore. The
" Walis," or Sultan's agents, do not interfere, although
applied to by me. Indeed, it is their interest to
encourage the trade, as they receive percentage on
caravans." He walked along the most unhealthy part of the
coast, sometimes near the sea, sometimes miles from
it, one day over pleasant grassy land, and many days
through long swamps of the so-called deadly man
grove trees ; wading for hours at a time up to the
waist in mud and water, and occasionally being
carried or having to swim over deep rivers, sleeping
in the open air, in cow-byres, in hen-houses or any
where, and living on mahogo or cassava roots, and
anything else that could be got.
One day he had left the town of Wanga, and after
wading for more than an hour through a swamp as bad
as the Makata, up to the waist in water, and his feet
far down in the mire below, he came to the edge of a
swollen river running at nearly eight knots an hour,

86 The Coast Again.
It was too deep to wade and too rapid to swim. But
cross he must. So he sent one of his boys back to
the town for a rope with which he intended lassoing
a stump on the opposite bank, thus meaning to cross
over by the rope. He then sat down on the muddy
bank, and taking a copy of " Nature " out of his
pocket he set to work to master Ernst Haeckel's
theory of Pangenesis, or the undulatory theory of
molecules in organic life. In such a death sort of
place, to turn one's brains to investigate, the ultimate
principle of life seems rather incongruous !
Many of the towns are large and populous, but
most of them are neglected by the Christian Churches.
How long — how long ?
Islam long ago found entrance, and did, not fail to
find many followers ; but every Mohammedan is a
missionary, while many Christians not only are indif
ferent to the claims of missions, but are ashamed to
confess Christianity in the presence of heathens.
Early in March 1877 he received instructions from
the Church Missionary Society to defer going on to the
Nyanza until after the rainy season, but to " consider
what were the best steps to take in trying to do some
thing towards commencing the formation of a road
from Sadani to Mpwapwa." In compliance, there
fore, with these instructions he handed over the
charge of the caravan he had equipped to another
(Mr. Morton, an Englishman, formerly on the staff
of the Universities' Mission at Zanzibar), and after

Kind Friends. 87
seeing him fairly started on the 9th of March, Mackay
commenced collecting men and tools for the work
of road-making. An attack of fever laid him aside,
however, for about six weeks, but the skill and
unremitting attention of Dr. Robb, the Consular
doctor, and the ki. id, hospitable treatment received
in the house of Messrs. Smith and Brown, the
British India Steam Navigation Co.'s agents, led by
God's blessing to his recovery.
H=K. the Sultan of Zanzibar kindly gave him
a fine horse to ride on, and by May-day the work
of making the first road into the interior of the
continent was fairly commenced, and he and his
men encamped with plant and stock at Ndumi.
Writing from there, he says : " This little village
or shamba stands on a most desirable spot, on the
top of a hill only five miles from the sea, but, as
I have just finished measuring by my boiling-
thermometer apparatus, is two hundred and fifty feet
high. The place is so beautifully exposed to both
the N.E. and S.W. monsoons that I mean to build
a rough house here to live in, for a week or so at a
time, when I am obliged to be in this neighbour
hood, instead of living at Sadani, which is very un
healthy, lying in a mangrove swamp. I have got
a brick mould, and shall make bricks of the red
sandstone mud the natives use everywhere in East
Africa to make their wattle houses with. Bricks
are entirely unknown here, and when they see me

88 The Coast Again.
burn them in a kiln I fancy many curious eyes will
be upon me.
" The prospect is delightful here on all sides. I
sit at present like Abraham in his tent door. My
servants, my flocks, and my herds are about me.
Westward the land rolls away in densely wooded
ridges. To the north, between the line of hills and
the sea, are stretches of wood and lawn alternately —
all fine soil, but none cultivated. After coming into
camp to-day I took a stroll with my interpreter
Susi — Livingstone's old servant, and one of those
who returned to England with his remains. We could
not help remarking to each other how lazy the
people are, for not a mouthful of food is to be
bought, and hundreds of square miles of fertile land
lying all around uncultivated. A few Englishmen,
with their houses on this high ground, and their
property below, would within a year turn the land
scape, far and near, into most productive ground.
East is the village of Sadani, on the sea, and
beyond one can see the island of Zanzibar, one of
the most fruitful in the Indian Ocean. South are
the connected plains of the Wami river and Sadani.
If Lot were alive I think he would have gone there,
in preference to the plain of Sodom. But in the
valley of the Wami he would have had some trouble,
for at Bomani, where Lieut. Smith and I went last
year, live the Wadoi, who are notorious cannibals.
" On the Kingani river too it is not very safe for

A Slave Track. 89
quiet people, for the valley is often attacked by the
wild warriors — the Mafitsi, who, Dr. Kirk tells me,
have laid waste the whole of the splendid country
between Lake Nyassa and the sea. This has been
a stockaded village, but the rampart has been allowed
to fall into decay. The villages farther up are all
strongly fortified, for wars never cease among the
tribes of Useguha, and though guns are plentiful
enough, the people find they sleep securest within
a threefold wooden rampart in the heart of a dense
thicket. " The slave trade is still the cause of great alarm.
How many slaves pass between this shamba and
Sadani every day, no man can tell. A well-beaten
track crosses the road from this to the coast, and
I shudder every time I cross it to think how many
poor victims are nightly driven along that path.
I never thought that this should be my work or
my whereabouts now, but it is the unexpected that
always happens. Somebody must do this work, and
why not I ? But I do not expect to get very far
on with it, for in two or three months I hope to have
instructions from the Church Missionary Society to
proceed direct to Uganda. Lieut. Smith has sent
down orders for me to come up quickly with some
artisans, and to take no caravan with me, that I
may march fast He is anxious to have a steamer
made. They can build a boat of wood, but they are
helpless in iron and steam. I am, therefore, sending

90 The Coast Again.
a telegram to London for an engine-fitter and b'ack-
smith. " I am well again, thank God, and camp-life has
set my spirits up. My horse, my dog, my goat, my
oxen and donkeys, with all my household of nearly
seventy men and women, are enough to feed, and
quite enough to look after at one time. It is now
dark, and all as calm as possible, and my men are
going to rest. I have given them their food, and
they know I shall take a good hard day's work out
of them on the morrow. The insects are at it again
— midges, flies, and mosquitoes above, and ants and
crawling things below. A cup does for an ink-bottle
and a mixture of powder and water for ink ; but
8 or 9 o'clock is bed-time with me on the march, so
good-night ! "
Axes, saws, hammers, picks and spades were
handled right and lei t,. and day by day the work
advanced, sometimes by rapid strides, sometimes at
a crawling pace. Through endless forest and jungle
they cut their way : the banks of many rivers and
nullahs were sloped dov, a to render them fordable ;
heavy boulders — tons in weight — were laid aside ;
along the edge of steep hill slopes they scooped out
a passage, filling up the chasms with trees and stones,
and crossing mire and moss with a solid pavement
of layers of logs. In the valley of the Mkondokwa,
at one place where, after sloping down the banks of
the old river bed, and cutting a broad way for several

The Jungle. 91
hundred yards through a most terrible jungle of india-
rubber trees, densely intertwined with the creeping
wild vine, they suddenly came upon a village per
fectly concealed and protected. A mile from this
is the strongly stockaded shamba known as Kwa
Mputa Mkubwa, which is a general halting-place for
caravans, as a quantity of c6rn is grown by the
natives ; hence food is cheap, and the Wanyamwezi
spend several days on end, rejoicing in chewing
sugar-cane, and boiling huge messes of mtama por
ridge, sweet potatoes and pumpkins. At other parts
of the same valley the spurs of the mountain run
right down to the river brink, frequently terminating
in an abrupt precipice, with deep ruts and chasms,
and travellers by this route had to scramble in many
places along the precipitous slope where a footing
could scarcely be had. Here the thick wood along
the base of the spurs had to be cut down, and for
miles they had literally to shelve a way with pick
and spade along the steep brow of the mountain.
Three weeks' hard work they spent on a short piece
of road, which they walked over in less than three
hours on their way back to the coast.
The last portion of the road is an uninhabited wilder
ness, about forty-seven miles long. It is subject to
raids from highway robbers ; hence travelling in small
numbers is always more or less unsafe, and seldom
attempted. Food is not to be had, but one great
alleviation of the trials of the march to caravans is,

92 The Coast Again.
that there is a plentiful supply of water at convenient
intervals. In this desert is the Gombo Lake, which
has no feeder on any side, and having no outlet
either, its waters taste brackish. The lake is infested
with crocodiles, which, however, have not yet devoured
the shoals of large-headed fish, which Mackay's men
caught in numbers. The east end of the lake ter
minates in a field of pampas, growing on firm sandy
ground. The whole is a perfect network of hippo
and rhinoceros trails. The reeds joining overhead
leave dark passages or tunnels below, and in these the
huge pachyderms make their abode. For a couple of
hours, one day, Mackay crawled in a stooping posture
through these coal-mine sort of levels, in his endea
vour to find a road round the hill. He saw numerous
footprints of buffalo and zebra, but set eyes on none
of the animals themselves.
" At night he heard the lion roar
And the hysena scream,
And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds
Beside some hidden stream."
Doubtless the leopard was present also, for he found
its marks farther down. Large trees broken across,
and others denuded of their bark, told that the
elephant also frequents the place. Had he been
inclined for sport, he could easily have bagged any
number of guinea-fowl and other large birds.
About eight miles from Mpwapwa a fearful thorny
jungle is entered, with numerous young baobab trees,

** An Highway " shall be there." 93
and these continue without intermission till the culti
vated fields are reached. Cutting a way through
these sweetly-smelling thorns was a most arduous
task, all being brown and leafless, and affording no
shade from a scorching sun, under which they had to
work for days on end, with not a drop of water near.
But it is "a long lane that has no turning," and
Mpwapwa was reached at last, on the 8th of August.
Thus, in less than a year's time from the date of the
arrival of the vanguard of the Nyanza Mission party
at Mpwapwa, not only had a station been planted
there, but a fair line of communication made between
it and the coast — a distance of two hundred and
thirty miles.
Some may think that road-making was strange
work for the Church Missionary Society to set their
missionary to do, but their hope was to have the
way improved and carried on, so as to bring the
remotest regions of the vast interior within easy
reach of the known world, and enable the emissaries
of Christianity and civilisation to enter in, carrying
their mighty forces with them to the salvation and
enlightenment of Negro millions.
A good road means a regular mail service, and
much else which renders the agency of the mis
sionaries more powerful, their comfort greater, and
their success more sure.

CHAPTER IX.
A RAPID JOURNEY.
" At length I spak e — " No I here I must not stay.
I'll rest to-night — to-morrow go my way.
» * *
The tree tops now are glittering in the sun :
Away! 'Tis time my journey was begun.'' R. H. Dana.
MACKAY having completed the track to
Mpwapwa, the Church Missionary Society,
fully alive to the barbarous method of employing
human beings as burden-bearers for some six hundred
miles into the interior, next instructed him to try
the bullock-wagon system, which has been so
successful in South Africa.
It was a work of no ordinary difficulty, as, not
only had the oxen to be trained, but, what was
a still greater undertaking, the men had to be
taught to drive them ! It was also an unprecedented
rainy time for the season of the year, which was a
tremendous hindrance, not only to starting, but to
progress. The whole country was deluged, and the
wagon track a mere mud swamp. The Church
94

Training Oxen. 95
Missionary Society had, however, sent him out a
very active and useful assistant — a young English
carpenter named Tytherleigh. He was a first-class
workman, and was able to render most valuable
service in improving the carts, etc. Having also
more muscular strength than Mackay, he could better
manage the wilder oxen. Unfortunately they could
not encamp in his favourite resort, the village of
Ndumi, six miles from the coast, as they found, by
painful experience, that the oxen died fast there, so
they were obliged to pitch their tents for a month in
the heart of a bog or marsh in the midst of the
unhealthy Sadani plain. One morning, in the space
of less than three hours, the rain-gauge showed one
inch and a third of rainfall! Mackay draws an
amusin? picture of his attempts to sleep under a
strong canvas tent, with his waterproof coat on and
an umbrella up ! It was seldom, however, as bad
as that; and active exercise, constant employment,
plenty of quinine, and intense earnestness in the work
on hand, kept him and Tytherleigh in good health
and spirits !
At last they started, in December 1877. Six
large carts finished and loaded, eighty oxen trained
to draw them, sixty men (the half of whom were
drivers, leaders, or brakesmen, and the rest porters),
five donkeys, a flock of sheep and goats, and six
dogs, made up the caravan.
But every day the carts were upset two or three

96 A Rapid Journey.
times, and each mile was got over by the expenditure
of a very great deal of manceuvering with and hard
driving of long teams of oxen. Twenty spanned into
one cart could scarcely move with a load of half
a ton. Writing to a young friend in the end of December,
he says : " We have no Christmas or New Year
parties here, nor anything else that would suit your
ideas of novelty. ' Nothing new ' is the order of
every day, but get up at 4 a.m., get the cook up and
all hands. Tents down and yokes arranged, and then
with the first streak of light the oxen spanned in,
while we meantime drink a cup of coffee and quinine
with a piece of weevily ship's biscuit. When I get
my waterproof leggings on, we are off. Marching
or sticking in the mud, yelling, beating the oxen,
digging the carts out of holes, cutting trees, etc.,
take all the forenoon till 11 or 12 o'clock, when we
halt. Tents up, clothes changed, and breakfast eaten.
Then a boma (enclosure) made for the cattle at night
Various little things occupy the time till dark, when
we dine. Then a little reading or writing till 9 o'clock,
when we go to bed.
" That looks rather an uninteresting life. But the
care and responsibility of the caravan and all con
nected with the march make one have quite enough
to do, and sometimes more than enough. When you
see  , [a half-witted lad], tell him I require a heavy
man to act as ballast for my carts, to keep them from

Snakes and Scorpions. 97
turning over, and probably he would be well qualified
to fill the situation ; but he must send in testimonials
first, which he had better get printed, so that each
bullock may have a copy !
" A terrible scorpion crawled over me just now. I
should like you to see half the horrors of the kind I
see in a day — snakes and ants below till one shudders
from top to toe, and terrible biting, stinging, huge
flies all above and about, drawing blood at every bite.
Last night I was busy sleeping, when just at my ear
a terrible growl of a hyaena made me spring to my
feet, seize my rifle and fire ; but ' Bobby,' my dog,
was before me, and set up such a furious bark that
the beast skulked off before I had time to present it
with a bullet. I daresay you think it a dastardly
kind of life, to lie with a revolver under one's pillow
and a rifle at one's side, but it is necessary here, for
anything may happen at any moment, and it is best
to be ready.
" About a dozen men have deserted from me within
the last four months, generally taking cloth, etc., with
them, besides their advance. Still I have a lot of
tolerably decent fellows, who I do not think will run
away. But they are all cowards, and let their master
shift for himself while they have a pair of heels.
" Here I must correct your ideas of getting acclima
tised. Does a man who has had repeated attacks of
bronchitis or lung disease become the stronger and
more acclimatised to stand the severe Scotch winter ?
1

98 A Rapid Journey.
It is with fever as with everything else : the more
attacks, the more liability to attack, and therefore the
less strength of constitution left to weather out the
disease when it takes hold.
" A proper meaning might be given to acclimatisa
tion, by saying it means the having learned by painful
experience to know how and what to do to avoid as
much as possible the chance of being laid down sick.
" I have just arrived at the ford of the Rukigura
river, the first great affluent of the Wami. It is at
present in flood, and a mighty rushing river it is, neck
deep. How I am to cross it I cannot tell. By
putting up ropes and pulleys, much in the same way
as life-saving apparatus from wrecks is done, I think
I shall contrive to get all the men and the goods
across, but then eighty oxen, and the carts and
several donkeys, will be no such easy matter. How
ever, it either must be done or we must wait till all
the water runs past ; and who knows when that will
be, seeing every day brings thunder and lightning
and rain?
" I have adopted a new flag for our mission — a blue
ground with a large red cross in the middle. Each
cart has a small one, while a large one waves over my
tent door every day.
" But my legs have got cramp, sitting on the ground
like a tailor, writing this, so 1 must have done."
One night, soon after this, he was wakened up by
a colony of brown ants, which were leading their

A Colony of Ants. 99
caravan right through his tent. He was lying on a
mattress on the floor, and they crawled over it and
him by thousands. He got on the top of a box, and
his men set fire to the whole ground, inside and round
about the tent. After an hour's struggle they
gradually disappeared on his line of march, but he
had to sleep on the top of his box till daylight
The natives did not respect the road which had
been made at so much expense and labour. In some
places where they had been clearing, they left trees
and bushes right across it, while in many parts they
chose to think that the white man's operations in
levelling the ground were preliminary to their sowing
their corn on it.
The heavy rains had made terrible ruts in the
declines, and the pole oxen kept tumbling and falling
and repeatedly getting into terrible entanglements.
On one occasion, when they came to a steep descent,
the first cart wheeled right over into a large hidden
landslip, and the goods, which were rescued with great
difficulty, were found to have sustained much damage.
Of course, it was most trying to find things going to
smash, but Mackay was never one to " cry over spilled
milk " ; he simply got the cart to rights again, reloaded,
and jogged along. About this time he had an acci
dent which rendered him lame for a week or two.
He had just succeeded in getting the second cart
over a stream, when he got entangled in a bush and
the wheel caught his right foot ; down he went and

i oo A Rapid Journey.
over it went the wheel, and doubled the shock by
going over the calf of his left leg. After roaring a
good deal and nearly fainting he got a cup of tea
made, and applied Friar's balsam and bandages. Two
of his men put their loads into the carts, and getting
out the light hammock they carried him along. But
it was to be a day of delays, for cart after cart upset,
and the chief of the village, hearing of his arrival,
considerately took him seven victims to be vaccinated,
and one little boy to be cured of spine disease!
In the early spring the heat of the sun was terrible,
and in many parts of the route the caravan was
pestered with vipange (a sort of tsetse fly), long brown
and huge yellow ones — which alighted by thousands
all about, drawing blood from the oxen and stinging
Mackay and his men fearfully. This was a bitter
disappointment. A track had been made with great
toil ; oxen had been trained to go in yoke ; men had
been taught to drive them ; teak wagons had been
brought from Bombay ; the Church Missionary Society
had spared no expense in giving the undertaking a
fair trial ; and by the month of February the half of
the oxen were dead, and many more ailing — evidently
caused by the poisonous sting of the tsetse.
To add to their discomfiture, the farther inland
they went the more the natives enjoyed witnessing
the mishaps which daily befell them. Their suspicions
had become croused that the great teams of oxen
coming along the white man's road were but a

The Lonely Forest. 101
prelude to Europeans entering the country in vast
numbers. In many places they blocked the way
with bushes, drove the cattle back again into the
rivers as soon as they had been got safely over, and
greatly resented their treading down the corn which
had been sown on the track. Indeed, the chief of
Mevero sent Mackay word by two gentlemen of the
International Expedition, who were on their way to
the coast, that if he took his teams by his village he
would shoot him !
Writing home on the 21st February, 1878, he says :
" It is not all plain sailing in East Africa, but we have
it very much easier than the first travellers who went
inland, and every attempt is accompanied with fewer
difficulties than before. I have not been on the
march to-day, but have taken a rest in the lonely
forest. Damp and swamp have been trying me
sorely. I am just recovering from an attack of fever,
and feel very weak, but as the carts had to be repaired,
I have been at work all day, though ill able for it.
It is indeed a day of small things yet with me, but
only, I hope, as a prelude to greater things to come.
Small beginnings may lead to something higher and
better in the future, but the first steps cannot be any
thing but tedious. The longest night has always had
a dawn when done, and here I do believe no far
distant time will see a very different order of things
from what has been always in the past. Rome was
not built in a day. My friend, C. M  , of Prague,

102 A Rapid Journey.
used to suggest ' it was built perhaps in a night also I '
We are indeed groping in the dark as to how or what
we ought to do first, but great bodies grow slowly,
and the garden of the devil cannot be reclaimed for
God all in a year.
" This will certainly be yet a highway for the King
Himself, and all that pass this way will come to know
His name.
" I have received terrible news this afternoon.
Two letter-carriers of the London Missionary Society
came from Kisessa, en route for Zanzibar. They had
seen on the way servants of Said bin Salim Governor,
of Unyanyembe, who told them that there had been
lighting at the island of Ukerewe, in the Lake Victoria,
and that the two white men (Englishmen) were killed
with some fifty of their men, also an Arab named
Songoro, with all his men. This is a fearful calamity
to our mission, if true ; and you can fancy the state
of suspense I am in, I am writing the British Consul
at Zanzibar to make inquiries and let me know the
truth, as I hear the Arabs at Unyanyembe have sent
letters to inform the Sultan of the matter. Lieutenant
Smith and O'Neill were the only two Englishmen
in the neighbourhood of Ukerewe, as far as I have
any knowledge. It is not like Lieutenant Smith to
take to fighting. In fact, he is the last of us to do so ;
but he may have had fever, or been obliged to defend
himself. " Africa is not a country where a tale becomes truer

A Flooded Country. 103
by telling it, and on that account I have some hope.
I have written, however, to the Church Missionary
Society and also to Messrs. Smith and Mackenzie,
our agents at Zanzibar, to telegraph to the Society
if they find the news to be correct."
The fertile valley of the Mkindo river was inun
dated, and they had to drag the carts through miles
of what was as bad as the great Makata swamp at any
time — mud and mire and decaying vegetation ad
nauseam, except where it was covered waist-deep
with water, or, what was a greater hindrance, bamboos
and tiger-grass twenty feet high, and too dense to
yield to the wheel of a heavy wagon. Here the
tsetse was very trying, and the oxen dying two or
three a day.
On the evening of the 24th February he had sent
on word to Tytherleigh, who was a few miles ahead,
to abandon the carts, and drive on the surviving
cattle to the Usagara Mountains, when he lay down,
being utterly worn-out with anxiety and fatigue. He
was next attacked three times by scorpions, and rose
before dawn, unrefreshed, and went on his way with
his shattered caravan. He had not proceeded many
miles before he was overtaken by letter-runners from
the coast (who had crossed his own), bringing news
that the report of the disaster at the lake was believed
at Zanzibar, and warning him of the danger ahead.
He writes : " Our good doctor — my own dear
friend of many years— went to his rest nine months

104 A Rapid Journey.
ago, and now these brave brethren, Smith and
O'Neill, have fallen. There were eight of us sent
out — two invalided and four gone Home ! Only
two remaining. Poor Africa ! When will it be
Christianised by missionaries at this rate ? But God
has other hands in reserve, whom He will bring to
the front, fast and unexpectedly, and the work will
proceed whether we break down or not.
" The Arabs are all, I hear, vowing vengeance on
the King of Ukerewe, so I must hurry up to prevent
further bloodshed."
Having got the goods safely stored, and leaving
Tytherleigh to get the two best carts dragged along
empty to Mpwapwa, he swam across the much-flooded
Mkindo river, and started on the 25 th of March
on a rapid journey to the lake. Going over rough
ascents and steep descents he reached Kitange,
where the people were tangle-haired and red-ochred,
with little clothing, as in Ugogo. There he bought
a fowl and forty cobs of Indian corn for two yards of
cloth. Marching over jungly ground and through open
forests, and sleeping at night by muddy-looking
pools of water which would not stand the test of
sanitary inspection, he reached Mpwapwa on the 30th.
There he found Mr. Thomson, of the London Mis
sionary Society, looking for oxen, but without success.
Mackay spent a pleasant Sunday with his three
friends, and in the evening Mr. Thomson preached

Robbers. 105
an edifying sermon on the words, " Let your light
shine." He had intended travelling through Ugogo with
only five men, so that he might not be detained by
the chiefs on the way for honga, but found it
necessary to take six on from Mpwapwa, as he
did not well see how to dispense with any of the
small loads. But the problem which he could not
solve was speedily solved for him.
They had slept at Chumio, some twelve miles
west of Mpwapwa, and plunged into the thirty-six-
miles-long pori or waterless plain, called Marenga
Mkali. Knowing thieves were often about in this
wilderness, he ordered his men to march close together
(Indian file), he himself being next to the last.
Towards evening of the first day, one of the men
happened to fall behind a few yards, without his
knowledge, when he heard a cry, " I'll be killed ! "
and turning back he found a gang of Wazaramo
robbers had sprung out of the bush, and giving the
fellow a blow with a club on the stomach, had seized
his load and disappeared. To track them in the
bush was found hopeless, so he had quietly to submit
to the loss, which was serious, as the contents of the
bale were — iolb. of ship biscuit,
3lb. of cheese,
I tin of jam,
1 tin of meat

106 A Rapid Journey.
I bottle of brandy (for medicine),
2 oz. quinine,
8 candles,
1 8 boxes of matches,
I Colt revolver (new) and 1 5 cartridges,
6o rounds of Mama cartridges,
i pocket filter,
I large water gourd,
i parcel addressed Rev. C. T. Wilson, Uganda
Thus all his provisions and all his cartridges were
gone ; but the loss of the quinine, of which he took
daily several grains, was the greatest trouble of all.
Without this medicine he knew it was useless to
attempt going far westward. While he was con
sidering whether he should go back the thirty miles
to Mpwapwa, or trust to meet an Arab on the way
who might, but not probably, have a little of the
famous fever specific, a caravan of Wanyamwezi
came up and camped close by. The leader was an
Arab trader from Unyanyembe, travelling in a most
comfortable manner — tent, Persian carpet, cooking
utensils, sweets, coffee, any quantity of fine rice, etc.
He entertained Mackay most kindly, giving him a
good dinner of rice and curried fowl, and presenting
him with a most welcome gift — a packet of candles
and a box of matches I Next morning Mackay
sent back, under charge of this trader, one of his
men with a note to the brethren at Mpwapwa, asking
them to send him some quinine without delay.

Poor Quarters. 107
Resolving to march by easy stages till " Ramazan "
returned with the medicine, they went on right
through the desert. After the loss of the previous
day he took care the men kept close together, and
he himself brought up the rear, keeping a very sharp
look-out against thieves. They next came to the
densely populated district of Ugogo, where the chiefs
are very troublesome in extorting honga, and give
but a cold welcome to small parties who carry little
to be robbed of. Sometimes they allowed him to
put up in their dirty tembes, and sometimes they
refused him that privilege, when he slept in a small
hut in an old Nyamwesi camp. Such huts are not
so large as a cole of hay, and it was impossible for
him to stretch himself inside. ' Still he preferred such
places to the tembes, which swarm with vermin of all
kinds. It was providential that he had to delay on the
road till his man returned, for he thus barely escaped
falling among thieves of a more formidable nature
than the highwaymen who ran off with his goods in
the desert This was a band of roving Wahehe,* who
hovered about his camp at Mtamburu. Mackay
says : " Had they chosen to demand everything I
had, I was ill able to resist. But my hope was in
God, who will deliver me in time of danger. May
He grant us a safe journey to Unyanyembe. In case
* See " A. M. Mackay, Pioneer Missionary of the Church Missionary
Society to Uganda," p. 63.

108 A Rapid Journey.
of being attacked by them in the desert, I have put
in my pocket the valuable gold watch the Church
Missionary Society are sending to the governor for
his kindness to Lieutenant Smith, I should be very
sorry to lose their other gift — a fine Arabic Bible —
even more than the watch, but it is too large to
conceal about my person.
" I was amused at the old chief here performing
his divination last night and this morning, with a few
long pieces of stick on the ground, which he arranged
in threes, and odd ones together, to divine as to
the chance of the Wahehe returning, or as a charm
against their coming and taking away another ox.
"It rained heavily all last night, and not a dry spot
in the tembe, and no light. Succeeded in finding my
waterproof coat, and in covering goods with rubber
sheet ; but it was very wet in hammock, and floor of
dung made a perfect mire. One of my men had his
arm bitten painfully by a scorpion, and it swelled
badly." In the forest and jungle, after leaving Mtamburu,
there was an abundance of flies, which he believed to
be the tsetse, only with a double instead of a fourfold
style of proboscis. They were of the size of the
common fly, but with the back part striped yellow
like the bee. They bit and drained blood painfully.
There were also many long grey-spotted flies, and
a yellow sort with long projecting sword, as at
Mkinyo, near Mvomoro. Another variety injected

Quinine. 109
a fine needle out of the proboscis, which it kept
straight out and sucked blood sorely. He noticed
that the needle swelled very much in the middle
with blood, just as ink does in a pen.
Reaching Nyambwa, the seat of the fat old chief
Pembe ra Pera, who so blackmailed the expedition
eighteen months previously, Mackay halted to dine,
and succeeded in buying some mwere porridge and
a calabash of buttermilk for a little tobacco. Thence
he went along many miles of mud to Mwanza, where
his person, his clothes, and his arms were the constant
theme of admiration of crowds of natives. The
mosquitoes were very trying, and as he had to share
a corner of a tembe with the father and all the family,
who lay on ox-hides, on the floor, he had no pleasant
reminiscences of his sojourn there.
The first effects of a fortnight without quinine
were now beginning to tell on him. By the time he
reached Dahumbi, he felt in the unhappy position
which is called " in for fever." Shivering and shaking
having come on, he took from his pocket the tiny
phial of aconite he always carried in case every other
medicine was stolen or lost, and was measuring out a
dose, when his eyes were gladdened by the sight of
"Ramazan" arriving with two men from Mpwapwa
and a small bundle, among the contents of which was
a bottle of that invaluable specific, sulphate of quinine,
from which he derived so much benefit that he was
able to proceed on his journey next day. But constant

no A Rapid Journey.
wettings, and having frequently to wade for hours
at a stretch through a flooded country, together with
badly-cooked porridge of coarsely-ground grain (the
only thing to be had), brought on other symptoms,
which rendered him so weak that by Good Friday he
could not carry his rifle. For a long time he had
been on half rations. Coffee, tea, sugar, and salt
were all done. Had it not been for a couple of tins of
cocoa, which Mr. Last had kindly sent from Mpwapwa,
most probably he would have never reached Uyui.
Alas ! this also came to an end ; but at this juncture
he met a large caravan with more than a thousand
porters, carrying a quantity of ivory to the coast.
The leader was an Ujiji Arab, who knew Livingstone
and Stanley and Cameron, and out of his esteem for
these white men he gave Mackay a couple of fowls —
a most acceptable present.
At last, on the 30th of April, he caught sight of the
chiefs village in Uyui. It is a large place, stockaded
and concealed among trees. Mackay knew it was his
destination, from seeing three white donkeys grazing
outside the village. He was quickly shown to the
Baraza of the " Wali," where sat the venerable Said
bin Salim and his family and followers. This
kind old man, a few months before Mackay's arrival,
had purchased two hundred slaves who had been
brought to Unyanyembe for sale, and immediately
after doing so set them all free !
This action so irritated some unscrupulous slave*

Arab Vengeance. in
traders that they turned him out of Unyanyembe
where he had been governor for sixteen years, and he
had to flee, alone and empty-handed, to Uyui. His
children managed to join him by stealth ; but such
was the hostility of the new governor, that the old
man dare not even send for his goods.
While at Uyui, Mackay was often heart-sick at the
cruelties of the slave-trade, which were perpetrated
under his very eyes, but being alone, he could only
protest against such wrongs.
The caravans started for the coast during the
night, so that he might not see them, but he could
hear the clink of the chains, and the piteous wails
of the mothers who had been separated from their
children, and fancy he heard the refrain, —
" And yet He has made dark things
To be glad and merry as light :
• » »
And the sweetest stars are made to pass
O'er the face of the darkest night.
But we who are dark, we are dark 1
Ah, God, we have no stars !
About our souls in care and cark
Our blackness shuts like prison-bars :
The poor souls crouch so far behind
That never a comfort can they find
By reaching through the prisdn-bars."
As Mackay was the guest of the ex-governor, he
was of course associated with him by the hostile
Arabs, who did all they could to thwart his progress
by preventing him from buying a single yard of cloth

112 A Rapid Journey.
or an ounce of coffee, or anything else he needed for
his further journey to the lake.
They also in Mackay's absence, and without his
knowledge, seized the property of the Church Mis
sionary Society, which he had stored in Said bin
Salim's house, thereby subjecting him to much priva
tion and consequent sickness, while the C.M.S. work
was greatly hindered.
These Arabs, knowing well that the presence of
Englishmen would sooner or later stop their traffic in
slaves, had been sending down messengers to agitate
among the Wagogo, to cause them to prohibit the
passage of carts through their country. They also
bribed the chief of Uyui to drive both him and the
ex-governor away, and pretended that they had
orders from the British Consul to that effect.
Mackay then went to Unyanyembe, and showed
the new governor his letters of introduction from the
Sultan of Zanzibar and Dr. Kirk to Arabs in the
interior, but no explanation was of any avail. Kisessa
would " have nothing to do with white men " ; and
Mackay was glad to shake the dust of the place off
his feet.
Just at this juncture, however, he was treated with
great hospitality by Sheik Thain bin Abdullah, who
had once travelled through Ugogo with Stanley ;
and indeed he invariably received kindness from both
Arabs and natives who knew anything of the great
traveller.

CHAPTER X.
THE SILVERY SEA.
"Tis wonderful 1 — and yet, my boy, just such
Is life. Life is a sea as fathomless,
As wide, as terrible, and yet, sometimes
As calm and beautiful. The light of heaven
Smiles on it, and 'tis decked with every hue
Of glory and of joy. Anon, dark clouds
Arise, contending winds of fate go forth,
And Hope sits weeping o'er a general wreck." Henry Ware,
JUST as Mackay was despatching a party of porters
to meet Tytherleigh, and to carry up the remain
ing goods intended for Uganda, he received the
sorrowful tidings that his invaluable companion had
been called to his rest.
Writing on June 4th, 1878, he says: "What a
disastrous mission ours has been ! I am the only
layman left of our little band. Indeed, Tytherleigh
did not belong to the original party, but came out
afterwards. But God's ways are not our ways.
"One thing is certain, this land will ever remain
little else than what it is— dark, benighted Africa,
until we can find some easy means of travel and
"3 8

114 The Silvery Sea.
transit in it. Very few could endure the trials and
hardships we went through together in the early
months of this year. His loss is a great grief to me.
" After various fights with Ruga-ruga, and endea
vours to pass by a more direct road to the lake, I
am now in the thirty-miles' desert, north of Nguru,
under escort of men belonging to the great chief of
Usonga, who is a superior man and brother to Mirambo.
I hope to be in Kagei in a few days. I am going
(d.v.) to the island of Ukerewe, to see the king who
murdered Lieutenant Smith and O'Neill
" I have had a bad sun fever since leaving Uyui,
but am now all right."
A few stages north from Uyui the tembes were
plastered outside as well as within, and had numerous
circular loopholes for defence. Outside most of
them pictures of men and lizards were painted, in
red and black and white. At one place the door
of the chiefs tembe had carved on it, in high relief,
the figure of a man nearly life-size, and on the whole
well executed. These were the only attempts at
sculpture or painting Mackay saw in the interior.
Elephants, hippos, giraffes and zebras were numerous
in this desert. After a terekeza, or evening march,
they arrived one night at a deserted village, where
they found water, and having made a fire, they cooked
some potatoes and nuts, and lay down to sleep.
Mosquitoes, however, never ceased to torment them,
and about 10 p.m. the alarm was raised of an enemy

Panic. 115
being near. Mackay had heard repeated loud reports,
which he took for the fighting of gnus or other large
game in the distance, but he failed in his attempts to
make his men believe it was other than the guns of
Ruga-ruga. Fire in the same direction only in
creased the alarm. Panic-stricken, the Wasukuma
w.ere determined to be off at once, leaving pots and
gourds and half-cooked food all about. His reluct
ance to get up was forced into consent by the terror
of his men, who, quicker than ever before, had his
clothes, etc., packed up, and seizing their guns took
to their heels while he slipped on his boots and
followed. The young moon was going down, and
the sky was very cloudy. Striking north through
the jungle, stumbling and tripping all the way, they
came after two hours' quick march on a village called
Bushola, where they were received in a friendly
manner. In a tembe there was a young man weav
ing cloth of native fibre, and though his loom was
very wide and the process primitive and slow, he
succeeded in making a strong, thick material.
Next day they arrived at Mondo, where, as in the
Scottish Highlands, the cattle live in the same small
huts as the natives. The men were all perfectly
nude, and the younger women wore only small aprons
of beads. At Marya, about four days' march from
the lake, the natives had never seen a white man
before, and were most inquisitive, though not rude.
Mackay was always glad of every opportunity for

116 The Silvery Sea.
the natives to become reconciled to Europeans, be
lieving that frequent intercourse, and just, friendly
dealing were the first means to remove natural sus
picions. On this account he greatly regretted having
to march so hurriedly through the country.
By this time his socks were all worn out Con
sequently his heels were blistered, rendering walking
very painful. But he was nearly at the end of
miserable marching over sandy deserts and swampy
plains ; and on the evening of June 12th, to his great
joy, he caught the first glimpse of the noble lake.
There lay the water, calm and silvery grey, and a
refreshing breeze from seaward fanned his Sunburnt
cheeks. Some notes from his log-book are now interesting : —
"June 13th, 1878. — Reached Kagei. Long talk with
chief Kaduma. No news from Uganda, but an Arab
with many canoes expected soon. Lkonge, king of
Ukerewe, is much afraid of white men coming. He
has sent repeatedly to Kaduma to ask, ' Is Mackay
not yet come ? ' He fears I will go to take vengeance
on him, and protests loudly that he had no quarrel
with Smith and O'Neill, and that the massacre was
caused by the slave-dealer's treachery.
"June 14th. — Went out with Kaduma to see the Daisy
lying dry on the beach covered with grass. Found her
in a terribly dilapidated condition. The machinery
also in a deplorable state. Most valuable tools thrown
amongst nails and dirt, and all destroyed by rust

A Brave Message. 117
" Next I visited the grave of my dearly loved brother
Dr. Smith. There stands the pile and tombstone
with inscription, and alongside is the grave of Barker
of Stanley's expedition. I must raise a tombstone
for our two dear martyrs, Smith and O'Neill, either
here or in Ukerewe.
"June i$th. — To-day the men left who were going
to Ukerewe. I gave them a clear message to Lkonge,
Kaduma interpreting from Suahili into their lan
guage. I told them that the king need not be afraid
of me, and that to dispel his fears of my men accom
panying me, I begged him to send a canoe of his own
for me, when I should go to the island with his men,
leaving my gun and servants all behind here.
" I have sorted and assorted machinery, nails, screws,
etc., etc., till quite done up, and much still remains to
do. To-morrow is the Lord's day, and I shall be glad
of the rest and peace it brings. May I use it well !
"June 16th. — Quiet Sunday. Chief Kaduma came
as usual early. I endeavoured to teach him that by
God's command we white men keep this day as a
great day. I read to him from Steere's Suahili
Scripture lessons the account of the six days' work
of creation and the sanctification of the seventh day.
He understood well, but our lesson was frequently
interrupted by the cattle, which took to fighting just
at the time. The devil seems to hinder even the
entrance of a little light in this land of darkness."
All the natives in the neighbourhood of Kagei

118 The Silvery Sea.
strongly advised Mackay not to trust Lkonge, as they
felt certain he meant treachery, and would poison
him. They told him that after his brethren fell, the
king persuaded their followers to put away their
weapons and sit down in peace, as he would not harm
them. The Wangwana believed him and began to
cook their food, when he attacked them and killed
many. Mackay writes : " I feel it is a questionable
step to take, to put my head right into the lion's jaws ;
but our object is to Christianise Ukerewe as well as
Uganda, and the sooner Lkonge and we are once
more reconciled the better. God can close the lion's
mouth, and it is in His service alone I go to Ukerewe.
My men are afraid to go, and have asked me not to
bid them accompany me."
At length, on the 28th of June, he embarked in a
large canoe. The cheerful song of the paddlers, the
novelty of the scene and the adventurous nature of
his mission, were most exhilarating to his spirits.
The natives stood on the beach and watched the
canoe out of sight : —
" And sang their rude song, like the death-spirit's moan : —
The stranger has gone where the simoom will burn :
Alas 1 for the white man will never return 1"
They then retired to discuss the matter over their
pombe (beer), and by sunset the whole village, from
chief down to mothers and little children, were per
fectly intoxicated

King Lkonge. 119
After a voyage of two days, he reached his des
tination, when, after rest and refreshment, he was
summoned to see the king, who was sitting in his
Baraza — a circular roof supported by a network of
posts, and open on all sides. Lkonge was then only
about twenty years of age, stoutly built, with plain
but not unpleasant features. He was dressed in a
grey rifle suit, evidently a present from O'Neill, with
a red pocket-handkerchief tied about his head. His
legs and arms were loaded with rings of brass and
iron wire, while on his neck hung two strings of very
large beads, one black and the other white.
As he saw Mackay approach he went out to meet
him and cordially shook hands with him, saluting him
in Suahili, of which he knew a little. He then took
his seat on the throne, a large wooden stool, flat on
top and base, with one central leg — cut, of course,
out of the solid, for the art of joining trees, except
by sewing, is unhappily quite unknown through the
length and breadth of Africa.
The Baraza was crowded with men sitting on the
ground. Each one, on arrival, knelt before the throne,
folded his hands, and saluted the king, who seldom
made any response. One man presented his Majesty
with a small bundle of something which evidently did
not give satisfaction, for he threw it at the donor,
who picked it up and withdrew, protesting loudly as
to the value of the gift.
After much talk, Mackay could see that certain

120 The Silvery Sea.
men were being selected for some purpose, for about
half a dozen went forward on bended knee and kissed
the palms of the king's hands. Soon after the court
rose. Next day, while Mackay was sitting under the
shade of a tree, his Majesty appeared on the scene,
attended by his prime minister and chief counsellors.
Mackay rose to meet him, and after the usual greeting
a stool was brought for the king and another for the
stranger, while the natives knelt or sat on the ground
on both sides.
At a signal from Lkonge, the prime minister rose
and related at great length the account of the massacre
of the missionaries.
Mackay then said "he had come in peace, and in
a friendly way, as the king could see from his having
no arms with him, and that he believed the king's
^version of the story — viz., that he had no desire to
kill the white men." At this remark Lkonge was
much pleased, and said they " must kill a goat at once
and make blood brotherhood." Mackay continued :
" The Queen of England is a great sultan, and her
kingdom is larger than that of any other sovereign
in the world." Strong expressions of disapproval
were heard among the counsellors, the king laughing
and saying to them, " Does the Muzungu mean to say
that his sultan is greater than the King of Ukerewe ? "
Mackay said, " King Lkonge need not laugh, for
the kingdom of Queen Victoria is not only bigger

Fear of White Men. 121
than Ukerewe, but larger than the whole Nyanza, and
Uganda, and Usukuma, and all Barra (the Interior),
and her people are very, very many, so many that no
one could even count them all." He then told the
king that " white men who came up country did not
come with guns to fight, but to make friends with
black men, and teach them to know all the wonderful
things that white men knew. They left their great
power behind, in England, and would not bring
soldiers to Ukerewe to fight, unless Lkonge first
declared war with England."
Mackay next asked the king if he wished him to
bring two or three white men to live in Ukerewe, and
teach his people and his children to read and write
and to know the word of God. Lkonge replied, " By
all means. I want white men to stay with me, but
my people are afraid of them." Mackay pointed out
the absurdity of many men being afraid of two or
three, and asked, " Are you afraid of me ? " The
king answered, " No, because you are our friend, nor
would we be afraid of two or three such as you, but
you must not bring many."
Mackay next asked the king, as a pledge of his
good faith, if he would return the book in which his
brother Lieut. Smith had been seen writing the day
he died, as it was very valuable, and he was most
anxious to send it home to the white man's friends
in England. But this took the king aback : he pre
tended that the book was lost, and the guns and other

122 The Silvery Sea.
things also, that his people had taken them, one here
and another there, and that they could not be found.
Mackay pressed the point, demanding as a proof of
the king's friendship the restoration of the articles in
question, adding, that a " great king had only to tell
his people to deliver them up and they would be
brought." Lkonge said he would " look for the
articles," and the interview closed.
Day after day passed, and as neither the book nor
the guns were produced, Mackay sent the king his
red blanket and a dressing-gown, with the message
that " he must now leave."
But Lkonge would not let him off until the bond
of blood brotherhood was sealed, but no goat was
forthcoming. Mackay suspected the king was delaying bringing
the animal until the demand was withdrawn, so he
made fun of Lkonge calling himself " a big king," and
at the same time being unable to produce a goat in
three days !
" Let the king stop looking for a goat. I will not
demand the property of my brethren until I come
back from Uganda, when I will be sure to bring a
goat with me ! "
This touched the right chord, and Mackay was
immediately summoned to the Baraza, where was a
great crowd of people, a goat standing in the midst.
The king held the fore legs and the white man the
hind. A leading man explained the rite as being a

Blood Brotherhood. 123
solemn seal of friendship between the king's god and
Mackay's God. The executioner then passed a knife
rapidly down the middle of the living animal, which
was severed at once, the whole company lifting up
their hands and sticks to heaven with a continuous
yell, which is prayer in Ukerewe !
After many a hearty " good-bye," Mackay started
for Kagei, which he reached after a nine days' ab
sence, amidst the screams of scores of delighted
natives, who danced for joy on the beach at the
return of the white man.
Mackay next set to work to repair the Daisy,
which was a most arduous undertaking. It was
frightfully warped by the heat, while the wet grass
which it had been filled with, to protect it a little from
the rays of the sun, had harboured myriads upon
myriads of white ants, which had played frightful
havoc. Another difficulty was that there was no
wood in the neighbourhood with which he could
mend the leaking planks. At last he succeeded in
getting from the chief a few heavy logs which were
too large for the natives to use as fuel ; but these had
to be sawn into boards ; and the heavy work, together
with the hot rays beating down on his head, on the
shadeless beach, soon brought on a bad attack of fever.
On recovery, he had the most faulty section of the
boat uncoupled and carried under a beautiful large
fig-tree in the village, where he subjected it to a
thorough repair, hosts of naked natives surrounding

124 The Silvery Sea.
him, intently watching every operation. The news
of the white man and his " big canoe " soon spread,
and many chiefs from the neighbouring districts came
to " make brotherhood " with him. He writes : * " I
hope thus by degrees to establish friendly relations
with all the tribes around the lake. This must be one
of our main objects, as it may open many a door."
On Sundays he always endeavoured to instruct the
natives, who thronged about him, in spiritual matters,
and found them always ready to listen. But he says :
" Their dark minds can only grasp a little at a time —
all is so new to them ; while their knowledge of Suahili
is imperfect, especially of words and ideas for reli
gious matters. Here also, as in all tropical countries,
the men do no work, and an idle life can never be
a Christian one. What Bishop Patteson calls 'the
second step ' we must make an essential part of the
first step, else our teaching will be fruitless."
At length, on the 23rd of August, having been
hindered for many days owing to severe storms of
thunder and lightning, the Daisy set sail, with a
favourable breeze, for Uganda ; but on the fifth day
a terrific storm arose suddenly and with no baro
metrical warning, and the crew, or rather live cargo,
became panic-stricken, and refused to render any
assistance. The sea broke terribly over the boat,
and as she was fast filling with water, there was no
alternative but to let her drift ashore on the bleak
coast of Busongora

Shipwrecked. 125
The little vessel was so shattered that for the
third time since her arrival in Africa she had to be
shortened and otherwise repaired. The natives of
the place were friendly, however, and not only built
huts for the protection of the C.M.S. property, but
sent some men with their only canoe to Uganda, to
ask Mtesa to send on some canoes to carry the
remaining goods, which the now diminished boat
could not accommodate.
Cupidity and curiosity kept them continually
hovering about the camp ; their usual expression on
seeing the rotary processes of the white man was that
" God must be in the air ! " They really thought
that the knowledge of such wonderful things could
only have come from heaven.
Mackay says : " Every day they see more wonders.
We grind our corn with a revolving hand-mill ; we
sharpen our tools on a revolving grindstone ; we
produce blast by a revolving fan ; we turn round
articles on a revolving lathe ; we clench articles firmly
in a vice by a revolving screw ; we bore holes by a
revolving brace and bit; and we fasten screws into
the boat by a revolving screwdriver. By-and-bye we
hope to have revolving motion in our steam-engines,
in water-wheels, in windmills, in circular saws, and
above all in the cart-wheels which we hope to intro
duce at no distant date.
" I fear the King of Uganda will be so struck with
awe at our endless applications of the principle of

126 The Silvery Sea.
revolution, that he will be tempted to say, as the
President of the Mexican Republic did at the Vienna
Exhibition, when he was shown an engine which
made a thousand revolutions per minute, ' Dat is
more revolutions even dan dey make in my contree ! ' "
The work of repairing the boat was sorely hindered
by the weather. In the morning, it was intolerably
sultry, then rain fell accompanied by violent storms of
thunder and lightning. Not unfrequently waterspouts
were seen in the distance, and one day a very large
floating island, with many great trees on it, glided
along the coast
Eight weeks were spent on this coast, when they
got afloat once more, and after a rough voyage and
enduring many hardships they sighted Ntebe, the
port of Uganda, on the ist of November, 1878. The
natives saw them, manned a canoe, and paddled out
to meet them with drums beating merrily.
On the 6th they reached the capital (Rubaga),
but the king was too ill for an audience. He, how
ever, sent his salaams and two very large fat goats.
Mackay writes : —
" Friday, 8th November. — Eventful day. Word
was brought that the king was in his Baraza, and
Wilson and I were to go at once. We set off,
bearing our presents, as the excitable couriers could
hardly be persuaded to carry the few things.
"Messenger after messenger came running like mad
men to hurry us on, but I was determined not to give

Mtesa' s Reception. 127
way to the frantic behaviour of these excited couriers,
and kept a steady step. At length we entered on
the grand esplanade, running east and west along
the top of the hill and terminating in the palace at the
west end, where the law of fashion seems to hold
good all the world over. The gates were opened, the
grand guard presented arms, and we passed along
through the double row of guards, into a large
hall, densely lined with retainers. At the far end
was a door, through which we were ushered into the
presence of the king. Here he was, seated on a mat,
dressed in a long white robe and long black coat
richly embroidered with gold braid. He bowed
politely, and stools were brought for us to sit on,
while some Turkish-dressed attendants squatted on
the ground. An old woman sat behind the king, a
little way off, and watched intently. For ten minutes
we eyed each other in dead silence, when a little talk
began. Our gifts were presented, and the music-box
struck up the fine air ' The Heavens are telling,' from
Haydn's ' Creation.'
" After some time the king intimated that he was
too ill to sit long, and gave us permission to go. We
left, the whole court rising and following us down the
hill — small boys, as usual, forming a large bulk of
the spectators and followers. In the evening the
king sent us no less than ten fat cattle as a present,
and a man's load of tobacco, with a like quantity of
both coffee and honey."

CHAPTER XI.
AT THE COURT OF MTESA.
" God gives to every man
The virtue, temper, understanding, taste,
That lifts him into life, and lets him fall
Just in the niche he was ordained to fill."
William Cowper,
IN early Saxon times the smith was ever regarded
as a mighty man. " His person was protected
by a double penalty. He was treated as an officer of
the highest rank, and awarded the first place in pre
cedency. After him ranked the maker of mead, and
then the physician. In the royal court of Wales he
sat in the great hall with the king and queen, next
to the domestic chaplain." *
From his great skill in handicrafts, especially in all
' kinds of iron-work, Alexander Mackay soon became
as much esteemed by King Mtesa and his court as
the early smith was by our woad-stained ancestors.
Miscellaneous articles were showered upon him to
repair, and much wonder expressed at the burnished
* See "Industrial Biography — Iron Workers and Tool Makers,"
by Dr. Samuel Smiles, 128

KING MTESA.

Teaching King and Court. 129
face he put on metal goods. The native smiths could
manufacture hoes and hatchets, also steely knife
blades, but the art of tempering was unknown. To
Burogo (witchcraft) the natives attributed the process
by which he put hardness into steel and took it out
again. Neither had they any idea of rotatory motion,
and when he rolled some logs up an inclined plane,
he was followed by dense crowds calling out, " Makay
lubare ! Makay lubare dala !" (Mackay is the great
spirit : he is truly the great spirit.)
Mtesa was very intelligent, and could understand
anything if properly explained to him. Mackay told
him about railways and steamers : how seventy years
ago there were no railways, and now the world is
girdled with a network of them. He entertained his
majesty with accounts of the telegraph and the tele
phone and the phonograph, and greatly impressed
him by saying, " My forefathers made the WIND their
slave ; then they put WATER in the chain ; next they
enslaved STEAM ; but now the terrible LIGHTNING
is the white man's slave, and a capital one it is too ! "
Another time he gave the king and court a lesson
on astronomy, illustrating it with Reynolds' beautiful
diagrams. They very quickly understood the first
principles of the Cosmos. Many Arabs were present,
and Mackay showed that it would be impossible to
fast a whole month, as the Koran ordered, in the
polar regions, where some months the sun never sets,
and others he never rises, adding, " Mohammed could
9

130 At the Court of Mtesa.
not have been a true prophet of God, else he would
have known this. I am no prophet, and yet I know
much more than he did."
On another occasion he took Huxley's " Physio
graphy " to the palace with him, to show the circula
tion of the blood, etc. Such a subject proved intensely
interesting. He dwelt on the perfection of the human
body, which no man could make, nor all the men in
the world ; and yet the Arabs wished to buy a human
being, with an immortal soul, for a bit of soap ! The
argument went home, and the king said, " From
henceforth no slave shall be sold out of the country."
Mackay told him that was " the best decree he had
made in all his life."
Being a layman and having had much to do with
large bodies of workmen, together with the valuable
experience he had acquired as a Normal School
teacher, and being besides a shrewd observer and
independent thinker, he derived his knowledge of men
from real life and not from books. He cultivated the
society of the natives in order to win their love and
friendship, joined them at their meals of meat and
plantains, which the Arabs scorned to do, respected
their prejudices as far as consistent with his conscience,
invited many of them to his own house (or rather
hut), and entertained them with a magic lantern,
which he contrived to make a chimney for out of a
couple of Huntley and Palmer's old biscuit tins, one
laid horizontally on the top of the other and tacked

Attracts Boys. 131
vertically into a wooden box. These exhibitions
greatly delighted the people. Pictures of houses and
details they could not understand, as they had never
seen any building beyond a grass hut ; but the repre
sentations of animals were much appreciated, especially
when the exhibitor tried a little phantasmagoric
effect. But all these mechanical employments were sub
sidiary to the spiritual, and he never lost an oppor
tunity of introducing, in a happy way, the subject of
religion, or of dropping a word that would touch the
heart. In his log-book in the early part of 1879 are many
entries similar to the following : " House inundated
with small boys reading with me, and watching my
operations. They say my heart is good. I wish it
were, and theirs also."
" Chief who brought the canoes from Busongora
spent last night with me. Gave him one of the white
blankets off my bed. Had a long conversation with
him on the way of salvation. He has been taught
something of Islam, but cares little for that, and took
a good deal of interest in what I told him last night"
" Every day I am learning to admire this people
more and more."
As he became familiar with the language, however,
he heard of many crying iniquities, —
" And oft his wakeful hours were filled by grief and bitter sighs, f
O'er cruel deaths, revengeful blows, and slaves' heartrending cries."

132 At the Court of Mtesa.
He never shrank from exposing such evils to the
king in open court, and privately to trie katikiro
(prime minister and judge) and to the chiefs.
He writes : " It is clearly my duty to point out
their error and to show them a better way. But
great tact is necessary for this, and more wisdom than
human. Yet I believe that, with all my unworthiness,
I have had more than once Divine guidance and aid
in such delicate work. Well I know that such sacred
duties could be many times better done than I can
do them. But my Master above can use even the
humblest instrument in His own hand. The power
is in Him alone."
Every Sunday the flag was hoisted on the Palace
hill, and Mackay held a short service and read and
explained the story of the Gospel, dwelling especially
on the blessedness of doers and not of hearers only.
He invited free conversation on the passage read, and
great eagerness was shown by king and chiefs and
numerous youths to know and possess the truth.
Sometimes Mtesa was so much struck with the
explanation of a parable, that he remarked to his
people " Isa (Jesus), was there ever any one like Him?"
It seemed as if the prophecy was about to be fulfilled :
" The kings shall shut their mouths at him ; for that
which had not been told them shall they see, and that
which they had not heard shall they consider."
In the meantime two reinforcements to the mission
were en route for Uganda. The first arrived by the

Fear of Egypt. 133
Nile, having ascended that river under the auspices
of General (then Colonel) Gordon. Unfortunately
Egypt had always been an object of great sus
picion in the eyes of the Baganda. Captain Speke,
who formed Mtesa's acquaintance a dozen years
before Stanley, tells how the king objected to his
passing through Uganda to Egypt vid the Nile, and
how he only gave way on his promising to do his
best to open a communication with Europe by its
channel ! *
The Egyptian station of Mruli was regarded by
Mtesa with very jealous feelings, and the Arabs lost
no opportunity to fan the flame. Knowing well that
with the presence of the white man the hope of their
gains was gone, they told him that the " Nile party "
were coming as political spies, and were really
emissaries from Colonel Gordon, and that the Turks
(as they called the Egyptians) would soon come and
" eat the country." Mackay saw that the king was
becoming very nervous as the time drew near for the
arrival of the expected missionaries. The Baganda
had the word Baturki as often in their mouths as
ever the Romans had the word Carthago in the last
days of the empire. He (Mtesa) never wearied in
narrating all his intercourse with white men : how
Speke brought Grant, and then sent Baker ; how
* See " Lake Victoria : a Narrative of Exploration in Search o'
the Source of the Nile, compiled from the Memoirs of Captains Speke
and Grant." By George C. Swayne, M.A. (William Blackwood nnrf
Sons).

134 At the Court of Mtesa.
Colonel Long came, and was followed by Stanley ;
and now when this party comes there will be five
white men in Uganda. What do they all want ?
Mackay tried to assure him that " they were merely
coming in response to his own invitation, and that
neither the Queen nor Colonel Gordon had sent
them, that godly men in London had asked them to
come to teach him and his people, etc. ; " and then
with tact he changed the subject to one he knew
would interest him. But in the middle of it Mtesa, in
his abrupt way, asked, " Are these fellows not coming
to look for lakes, that they may put ships and guns
on them ? Did not Speke come here by the Queen's
orders for that purpose ? "
At length, on the 12th of February, 1879, the king
received several Arabic letters from the north, con
taining gossip about the new party and their stuff
The bearer of the letters was also closely questioned
about them, and in a tone of relief Mtesa said to
Mackay, " Their guns are only muzzle-loading."
" Only soldiers require breech-loading rifles, and
our party are not soldiers."
" Will they bring gunpowder ? "
" I don't know."
" Will they bring beads ? H
" Not likely."
'What will they bring?"
« I cannot tell."
The following entries in his journal are interesting :—

"More White Men I" 135
" Friday, Feb. 14th, 1879. — Early my friends arrived.
. . In afternoon I was summoned by Mtesa to give
an account of my brethren. Arranged with him that
we should all come up to-morrow, when he should
give us a grand reception.
" Saturday, i$th. — Having got our presents ready
for the king, we were called about 10 a.m. Great
crowds lined the way with drums and a band. The
king was dressed and sitting in the great court, or
rather in the adjoining room, while the chiefs thronged
the court. . . . Our presents were produced, the king
and chiefs being delighted, calling Massudi (coastman)
to witness how we gave whole bales of what the
Arabs and coastmen sold at the rate of a couple of
yards for a slave or a tusk.*
" Tuesday, iSth. — As we were breakfasting at the
oval table (which I had made by screwing together
the two bulkheads of the Daisy, and mounting on six
ash poles stuck in the ground, at which we can all
• "When the half-caste Arabs saw these gifts their resentment
knew no bounds. Every day they agitated at court, and succeeded
in turning the chiefs against us. I had put them to confusion on
every occasion before, when they brought forward their false creed
at court, and the king had got so disgusted with them that he fre
quently asked me if he should send them away. I told him, however,
not to do so until English traders came. I knew that if no merchants
at all were here, demands would be made on us to supply articles we
could not meet. These fellows have now got the chiefs to believe
that we ought to have given them rich presents also. The king is
much influenced by his chiefs, and allowed much evil talk against
us. — A M. M."

136 At the Court of Mtesa.
comfortably sit, like King Arthur and his knights,
without any struggle for pre-eminence), and making
arrangements as to the best manner of dividing the
work every day, an order came down for us all to go
up. . . . When we were called in we were told that
two white men had arrived at Ntebe (the port) in a
canoe, but who they were the king knew not."
These turned out to be the vanguard of a party
of French Romish priests, who, although the whole
:ontinent was open to them, preferred to go where
Protestant missionaries were already at work. It was
a time of very great trial to Mackay and his brethren.
Hitherto Mtesa had been most favourable to Mackay
and his teaching, but the interference of these priests
bewildered him. " Every nation of white men has
another religion. How can I know what is right
and what is false ? " he asked. Mackay appealed
to the infallible Book, and the Roman Catholics to
an infallible Church. The battle of the Reformation
was fought again at the court of this heathen king ;
and, to complicate matters still further, the Arabs,
ever ready to seize an opportunity of showing their
hostility to white men in general, derided the religion
of both. It is possible that Mackay's training and
the traditions of his family prejudiced his mind
against these priests, but the following extracts from
his journal are one or two illustrations of their
behaviour : —
"Saturday, Feb. 22nd, 1879. — V\fent up to the

Roman Catholic Priests. 137
palace, having heard that the men of whose arrival
we had heard were Frenchmen. We suspected that
they were the Romish priests who were reported by
Colonel Gordon to be en route for Uganda. On
reaching the outer courts, I found two men who had
come with them, one being a slave of Said bin
Salim, and the other the same old Msukuma who
accompanied me to Ukerewe last July. From them
I obtained the information that the strangers were
padres, that they had left three of their number at
Kagei, and that all meant to come here to stay.
Thus I was prepared for an audience with the king,
which commenced immediately afterwards. Mtesa qi
course asked me about them. They had sent him a
letter in Arabic conveying their salaams. I explained
to the king what their system was : that they were
followers of Jesus (Isa) as we, accepted the Old
and New Testaments as we, but worshipped the
mother of Jesus more than the Lord Himself, prayed
to prophets and saints dead long ago, and taught
obedience to the Pope before their own king. I
proposed that Mtesa should send a chief along with
Pearson and myself to see the Frenchmen, and bring
back word to the king explaining who they were,
and why come. Mtesa did not accede to this plan,
however, but said he would call the Frenchmen some
day, and we should then understand all.
" Sunday, 23rd. — We understood that a reception
was to be given the French padre to-day (his com-

138 At the Court of Mtesa.
panion frere being sick). We went therefore up
Drums were beating, and the general noise so great
that I went to the katikiro, and stated how vexed I
was at such profanation of the Lord's day. I said
that he had agreed, and the king also, to have quiet
ness at least on Sunday ; and now, the very first day
a European came, all teaching was forgotten. The
judge felt guilty, and said that ' it was the king's
order to pay honour to their guest' I showed the
want of necessity to hold the reception on Sunday, as
there was no hurry. The head-drummer was at once
called, and from what we noticed afterwards, I believe
he was ordered to make the reception as quiet as
possible. We then retired to the church, where we
spent an hour teaching natives to read and under
stand the Creed, when we were informed that the
padre had arrived. The king sat in the side room of
the large hall, the throne having been uncovered, but
he did not come out to sit on it. We waited a suit
able opportunity to ask if we were to hold service,
but found none. A tall, stout, awkward white man
was then introduced, who made the faintest recog
nition of Mtesa, and sat down sideways on a camp
stool, with his back to us. Evidently he was not
aware of our presence at all. Soon the king called
me forward, when I rose and shook hands with the
stranger, and sat (or rather kneeled) down by him to
interpret. He said he knew no German or English,
but professed his ability to speak in Suahili or in

Cross-Questioned. 139
Arabic. His attempts at being understood, or in
understanding either of these latter two languages,
failed, however ; and I explained to the king that
Pearson could talk French, and thus we might be
able to converse. But the padre would not reply in
his own tongue to Pearson's questions, answering
generally in Suahili (very broken). A present for
the king was produced of seven or eight common
coloured cloths such as go in Unyamwezi, and a
French fifteen -shooter (old). I asked where he had
come from, to what Society he belonged, for what
purpose he came? Did our Society know of their
coming, and was he aware of there being five repre
sentatives of a Protestant mission here ? He replied
to most questions rather unwillingly (at least we
thought so). He belonged to the ' African Mission
Society,' came from Algiers, had heard of Mtesa's
willingness to receive white men (he never said Chris
tian missionaries), that their chief was still at Kagei,
that should Mtesa be willing they would all come to
settle here, but if not they would go elsewhere. He
was not aware as to whether or not our Society, or
the English Government, knew of their coming, as
he was not chief. He knew there were one or two
Protestants here.
" I asked plainly if he was not come to teach the
Romish faith ? He said they came to teach to read
and write, and useful arts. I was cross-questioned
by the king about the faith of Roman Catholics, and

140 At the Court of Mtesa.
I stated that they prayed to the Virgin Mary, to
saints, etc., and inculcated obedience to the Pope. I
said we wrote in the same character, and our arts
were the same, and in all respects we were the same
as they, only our religions were totally different I
said that they accepted the Fathers, etc., while we
received only the Old Testament and the New, as we
were distinctly disciples of Isa Messiah (Jesus Christ).
On this the gentleman said politely, in Suahili : ' You
are a liar.' This he explained by declaring that I
had called him a believer in Islam. I explained
calmly that he had not sufficiently understood, that
I had not said so, but that we believed in Isa. For
his mistake and rudeness he was not, however, polite
enough to make any apology. The king asked if in
Egypt and Zanzibar there were not both English
and French living together ? The padre said that we
and they were not different, as there were people of
his religion in England, and of ours in France. I
said, ' Yes, just as there are Arabs living in Uganda,
but who will say that the Baganda in consequence
are Mussulmans ? ' This argument was understood.
"Evidently Mtesa and the chiefs, for selfish interests,
would prefer to have as many English or French or
other Europeans here as possible, as thus they know
they will get more presents, and have prestige added
to their court.
" After the Baraza broke up the Frenchman asked
us if he might not have a few words with us ? We

Boys Bound by a Priest's Order. 141
therefore asked him down to dinner at five p.m., and
he agreed, but evidently with no goodwill.
" I talked earnestly with Kauta and others on the
impropriety of having given a state reception on
Sunday, to the exclusion of Divine service. They
allowed that they had done wrong, and after much
talk we left.
" In the evening our guest showed no signs of
coming, so Pearson wrote a polite note in French, and
we sent two boys with it to show him the way. No
reply came, however, and we dined alone. Towards
morning, however, one of our boys woke us up, saying,
he and the other had been bound by order of the
Frenchman, who said ' he did not want our salaams,'
and his servants robbed them of their clothing !
" Monday, 24th. — Pearson and I went early to the
katikiro and asked him to send for our boy, who was
still in custody. I explained also to him that if the
Frenchmen were brought here we should all leave.*
This, he said, would not be once thought of; still he
seemed inclined to want the Frenchmen here. He
said that no one would pay attention to their teaching.
This I declared to be impossible, and distinctly gave
him to understand that we should not remain here,
and we should tell the king so.
* " This was not my own suggestion. All of our party, at the time,
were of the same mind. . thought then, and think still, it was a
mistake ; but mistakes become experience, and the best of us can
rise to greatness and usefulness and goodness only in that school.—
K. M. M."

142 At the Court of Mtesa.
" We then went up to the king's, but did not see
him. We talked with the chiefs, however, as we had
done with the katikiro, but they were evidently inclined
to have the Frenchmen come, yet they would not hear
of our going away. In the evening I was sent for.
I spoke of the French padres, and distinctly told the
king that we could not remain here if these men were
allowed to settle in the place. Mtesa asked where
we would go to ? I said the continent was large, and
we could find plenty of room, as the padres could do
without coming here. He said that it would never
do to reject Englishmen in favour of Frenchmen.
Besides, he said he could not adopt a new religion
with every new comer. I showed how impossible
it was for padres to settle here without making
proselytes, or doing their utmost to do so, even
although Mtesa declared that neither he nor his
people would listen to their teaching. I left him in
good humour, the head chiefs being also gratified by
a present I gave each that morning.
" Friday, 28th. — In the afternoon we proposed
sending a note to the Frenchmen, which Pearson
wrote in French ; and as we wished to make sure of
their receiving it, one of my brethren and I went off
with it, taking a fine goat also as a present In the
letter we said that we had heard they were both sick,
and that our doctor would be glad to see them, and
give 1 them medicine, condiments, or anything else
they might wish. We took with us the two boys

A Great Scene. 143
whom they had apprehended last Sunday. After
passing the hill on which the palace stands, we met
a native sub-chief, who told our boys that if we went to
the Frenchmen we should be bound hand and foot.
We went on, however, but Juma (our Mganda boy)
was afraid, and went to stay at the house of the chief
who had thus threatened us. We took him on against
his will, and crossed the swamp, when natives were
seen rushing in various directions, some past us, to a
point on the road in front. When we came up to the
place, about thirty men armed with clubs, spears, axes,
and guns (their chief being the headman whom I have
mentioned), stood up and menaced us should we go
on. My companion waved some of them aside, and
got half through ; but I saw the danger, as he would
next moment have been murdered as well as I ; so I
cried out to him to desist, and sat down on the bank
by the roadside, he accompanying me. The wild
attitude of the gang was truly diabolical. As I sat
down, one fellow with a large native axe jumped up
behind me, and I expected next moment to have my
head in two. I looked up calmly in his face, and his
chief had by this time succeeded in driving back the
furious mob. I asked what was the matter, and
wanted the chief to sit down and explain. This he
refused to do, as he was too big a man ; but I insisted,
and at length he sat down on the ground. He said
he had the king's orders not to allow us to go on. I
allowed him to say no more, but said, ' Let us go at

144 At the Court of Mtesa.
once to the king.' Back we went, the mob being by
this time increased to nearly a hundred men, all armed.
Half went before and the others remained with us
all the way. When we came to the second court the
chief went in and we were told to sit down outside.
This we refused to do, and stood waiting at the gate
for a few minutes. One of the pages came out soon,
and asked me if I had brought medicine for Mtesa, or
what I wanted. I sent him in to say that I wished
to see the king at once, but I should not wait more
than five minutes for an answer. As no response
was made we left, bringing back the letter and the
goat. All hangers-on in the grounds looked on in
silence as we turned to go, but we were not further
troubled. " Who is at the root of all this we cannot say.
Probably Mtesa had ordered that sub-chief to look
after the padres, and he, on his own responsibility
acted as I have stated. Anyhow, we feel matters
have come to a crisis— our lives are no longer safe,
our usefulness is at an end, our teaching rejected,
our medicine refused, Romish priests received contrary
to our advice, and no reply written to Lord Salisbury's
friendly letter.* May God turn good out of evil. We
now intend sending Mtesa a written letter, stating our
* This letter from Lord Salisbury was anent the massacre of British
subjects in Ukerewe, and the fact that the Nile party were the bearers
of it led 'he king to think that they must have come for political
•purposes.

A Crisis. 145
determination to leave the country unless he gives us
a written promise of protection, food, and liberty to
go about among his subjects. All promises he has
now broken, and we must demand his word in writing
in future. I feel confident that all will turn out well
in the end, and that even were we to leave we should
soon be asked back ; still at this crisis it is a time of
trouble to us, and only the God whom we serve can
bring us out of it"
Matters came to such a crisis that the Church Mis
sionary Society party thought they ought to withdraw
from Uganda for a time, and go to Makraka, on the
north of the Albert Lake, which appeared to be an
open field. On the 7th of March, 1879, they heard
" it would be well for them to clear out as quickly
as possible, as the king's soldiers were only waiting
to kill them all." On the 30th, also, an Egyptian
soldier (a runaway for years) informed them that
" the king was very ill and had slept in his large hall
last night, expecting to die ; also that there was a
conclave between chiefs and coastmen, when it was
resolved to murder all the Englishmen should Mtesa
die." On the 8th of April, however, their hearts were
strengthened by the arrival of Messrs. Stokes and
Copplestone by the Zanzibar route. There were thus
seven C.M.S. missionaries in the country. With the
exception of Mr. Pearson, however, they all soon left
On the 13th of April Mackay writes : " To my mind,

146 At the Court of Mtesa.
the most likely way to get the king to grant us what
we want (food and liberty to teach) is to live on good
terms with him and his chiefs and redeem the time
by using every opportunity of teaching the truth.
Persuasion is better than force, and tact and patience
better than urgent demand. I feel sure that the king
will now never grant us what we have begged of him
unless we show him that we are his friends, and are
actuated towards him by motives of real love. Many
missionaries in many lands have been worse treated
than we, and have held out for many more years than
we have done months, and ultimately the Lord has
rewarded their patience and perseverance. No real
success in missions has ever yet been won without
long opposition and frequent violent persecutions for
years. It is therefore unreasonable to expect that it
should be otherwise here. I mean, therefore, to stay
by my post as long as God enables me. If I am
peremptorily ordered by the C.M.S. to return, or if
the place becomes too hot for me to stay, I may have
to leave, but I cannot just now think any other course
honourable or upright.
" Saturday, lgth April. — Stokes and I went up to
court. I asked the king if he was willing I should
bring up my Bible on the morrow and read a little
to him (the public services had been stopped). He
at once replied, ' Yes, bring the book.'
" Before this he had asked many questions on the
future state. What sort of bodies, what desires, what

The King's Alarm. 147
clothing? I explained that we should be like the
angels, but I found St. Paul's own excellent simile
suit best, the new body given by God to the seed-
corn sowed. Mtesa quite caught this, and explained
it to all present. A little after he asked what we
would wear in heaven? I said, we were not told
exactly, for our bodies would require no protection
from heat or cold. I stated plainly that Christ had
left us in the dark about many things in the world
beyond, that we might be the more anxious to get
there to know all. He asked me if we had any more
knowledge than Jesus taught His disciples and they
further wrote ? I said we had not. I feared the padre
sitting behind me would have contradicted this, but he
said nothing. Most probably he did not understand.
"May $th. — In the middle of a multitude of questions
about the first and second resurrections, Mtesa
abruptly asked me if I knew that the Egyptians
had planted a new station in his territory, and within
three days of Ripon Falls ? ' They are gnawing at my
country like rats, and ever pushing their fortifications
nearer.' I advised him to send two chiefs to Colonel
Gordon to make a friendly treaty with him, settling
the question of boundary for good.
" ' Gordon is an Englishman, and so are you : why,
therefore, do you take my country from me ? '
" To this I merely replied that we had nothing in
common : Gordon is practically an Egyptian, while
we are subjects of Mtesa.

148 At the Court of Mtesa.
"'Did you not promise me arms, and now the
Egyptians are upon me ? '
" Mtesa knowing well that we never made any such
promise, and probably not willing to hear a reply to
so foolish a question, dismissed the court at once."
In the month of June, however, the king sent an
embassy to Queen Victoria in charge of two mission
aries who were returning to England via the Nile.
After their departure the king's friendliness returned,
the Sunday services were resumed, and Mackay's
printing press turned to good account in supplying
reading sheets, and portions of Scripture, and pupils
increased in number daily.
Next came Mackay's unavailing struggle against a
sorceress who professed to be possessed of the Lubare
of the Nyanza, and to have power to restore the king
to health* For a time Mtesa and his chiefs prohibited
both Christianity and Mohammedanism, and returned
to their pagan superstitions, j!
The following extracts from Mackay's journal at
this time will give some idea of his discouragement
after all his attempts to teach the knowledge of the
true God : —
" Monday, Dec. 2gth, 1879. — Again at dawn, or rather
before it, the loud beating of drums and shrill cries
of women let us know that the great lubare, Mukasa,
was on her way to pay the king a second visit. I did
* See " A. M. Mackay, Pioneer Missionary of the Church Mission
ary Society to Uganda '' (Ht dder & Stoughton), p. 145.

The Judge in Full Dress. 149
not know before that the individual is a woman.
Mukasa is not her name, but that of the deity or
spirit which is supposed to possess her. Mukasa is,
moreover, not a spirit of the whole lake, only of some
three or four creeks on the coast of Uganda. I have
been told that the formidable foes of the Baganda —
the Bavuma, are continually paying visits to the
island where Mukasa lives, and plundering the god
of cattle and slaves.
"To-day, I believe, the audience was of a much
more private nature than the previous one. Some
say that not even a single chief, nor a woman, was
present at the interview between the king and the
witch. The king has ordered the chiefs to bring
numbers of cattle, slaves, and cowries, and these have
been presented to the lubare in no small quantity.
" I was chaffing some natives about their king
being obliged to pay tribute (musolo) to an old
woman. ' It is not tribute,' they replied, ' it is bigali,'
or sacrificial offerings to the deity !
" Wednesday, Dec. %\st. — Early Mufta came, having
been sent by the katikiro to call me. Between 8 and
9 a.m. Pearson went with me. After waiting half an
hour at his door, he came out, dressed up like a
tailor's dummy, thinking himself remarkably smart,
but his appearance tended only to excite our risible
faculties. Among other vanities he had tied to his
neck a plated railway whistle which I gave him many
months ago.

150 At the Court of Mtesa.
" He said that he expected us early, and that he
had an engagement just now, but would soon be back.
We sat down thereupon in the inner court, but loud
beating of drums, as in a procession, excited our
curiosity to go out and see. We found the katikiro
standing at his outer gate, while hundreds of people,
chiefs and slaves, were squatting on the ground.
outside. All, including the judge, had on a string
of green leaves passing over the shoulder like a sash.
As we approached, I overheard the katikiro saying
(of Pearson and me) to those round him, ' Here come
our boys ' (balenzi bafwe), at which they all laughed.
" When the procession came up we found it to
consist of a whole host of Maandwas, i.e. wizards and
witches — each with a magic wand which they rattled
on the ground in succession before the katikiro, he
touching the wands with a finger. Three or four
wizards were dressed in leopards' skins, while the
pitches were clad in a succession of layers of goat
skins — white and black alternately. The head of
the whole — a little witch named Wamala — was in
aprons of goatskins, and had a head cap of many
coloured beads. The consequential air with which
they shook their wands on the ground was rather
amusing. Many women carried on their shoulders,
entirely wrapped up in bark cloth, with a garland of
the same green leaves as the chiefs, etc., wore, what
were virtually idols, being urn-shaped things called
balongo. These I did not, see exposed on this occa-

Wizards and Witches. 151
sion, but others which I saw before were of the
urn-shape, with a large bow handle like a pot. They
were entirely covered with beads sewed in neat
patterns over a mass of bark cloth, having in the
heart the umbilical cord of either the present king or
one of his ancestors.
" The katikiro went then to the palace courts with
the procession ; we thought it useless waiting, and
came home. I am told that the king refused to be
seen by the witches, etc. Wamala, the head one, is
stationed near Unyoro, in Mkwenda's country. She
is a rival of the other great witch Mukasa, and once
lived on the lake, but having quarrelled with the other
spirit, she went far inland to rule the dry land, as the
other does the water I "
New Year's Day 1880 brought good tidings to
Mackay from Colonel Gordon, — viz., that he had with
drawn all his troops from not only Mruli but also
from all the stations south of the Somerset Nile.
Mackay writes : " I am truly thankful to God that
Colonel Gordon has determined on this. Now that
Mruli is abandoned, I hope we shall have much less
suspicion lying on us as being implicated in bringing
' the Turks ' always nearer. The tone of all Colonel
Gordon's letters is beautiful and spiritual, and I can
not fail to profit much by the expressed experience
of this truly Christian governor.
" When we told Mtesa that Colonel Gordon advised
him to occupy Mruli he was very pleased, and said

152 At the Court of Mtesa.
his heart was good, and that we were good, and that
his remarks at court before Christmas, that we were
spies, were finished now.' In other words, that he
meant to say nothing of the kind again."
A few jottings from Mackay's journal in the early
months of 1880 will give a glimpse of missionary life
in Central Africa : —
"Jan. ist, 1880. — Sewed up with silver wire the
breast of wounded woman. I do not think any ribs
are broken, but I fear the lung is injured from the
cough she has. Syringed inside of wound in body
and re-dressed the hand, cutting away various broken
pieces of bone which I did not discover before.*
" Feb. Jth. — Had a day's work at tailoring to-day.
Clothes I am almost out of, and have considerable
difficulty in dressing with any degree of respectability.
A coat of checked tweed which one of the Nile party
hung up in his hut one night on the way here was
partly eaten up, and partly built into the earthen wall
by morning, by white ants. This coat he handed
* This was a severe case' of gunshot, which happened on December
26th, 1879. "A wife of Kaitabarwa's was handling a gun which
went off (an Enfield with iron bullet). The bullet passed into the
back of the left side, just under the armpit, out under the nipple,
then through the back of the left hand, shattering the metacarpal
bones connecting the forefinger and the wrist The bullet passed
out under the thumb ; we amputated the forefinger, sewed up the
hand, and applied styptics to the wounds in chest. The woman has
had a severe shock to her nervous system and has lost much blood.
They brought her in a hide and we sent her back on a Kitanda." By
March 7th she was almost well, and able to trip about nimbly.

Tailor and Hatter. 153
over to me, and I have succeeded in putting patches
into the back of it so as not to be very noticeable. I
wish I had got some lessons in sewing before leaving
England. "Sunday, Feb. 8th. — Continued translation- this
morning. Read with much edification a nice little
book entitled ' The King of Love,' by the author of
' How to Enter into Rest' There are most beautiful
thoughts throughout the book, and much I would
seek to live in the realisation of them. ' God is never
so far off as even to be near.'
1 Feb. gth. — Patched up an old pith helmet inside
and out. Cut up and stitched a white umbrella cover
as cover for my helmet. On the whole I have made
a decent head-gear.
"March 18th, 1880. — It is now announced that
another army is under orders to go again to Busoga
to subdue rebels there. Sekibobo is commander-in-
chief. A whole host of chiefs and subs are now going
off with him, and of course as many men as each can
muster. All is feudal system here. I wish I knew
the real nature of this war, and if I found it to be a
war undertaken to capture cattle and slaves, I should
not fail, God helping me, to show Mtesa and his
court the evil of such terrible work.
"Sunday, March 21st. — Kago, one of the most
.powerful chiefs, and also one of the strongest up
holders of the witchcraft religion of the country,
called to-day.

154 At the Court of Mtesa.
" He told me a series of lies. He said he was not
going to war, while I know he is. He said that the
cattle and slaves which they brought so frequently
from the East were only presents from the people!
etc., etc. I reproved him for telling such false
hoods, he being an old man, and a chief, while he
should be an example to the people. Then I spoke
solemnly to him about the evil of making these raids
for murder and robbery. I said that, however
Uganda might meantime escape from punishment
for such evil work, yet Almighty God saw it all and
would one day call the king and chiefs to account
for it"
On the 2nd April, 1880, Mackay started for Uyui
for a supply of cloth and other barter goods, as the
mission store of such things was all but exhausted,
and he and Mr. Pearson were entirely dependent on
the caprice of the king for subsistence. The French
men kindly lent him cloth to pay his expenses down
to Uyui, and would listen to no promise of repayment
Sorely as they tried to injure the work of the C.M.S.
missionaries, yet in everything else they were dis
posed to be friendly. On the above date Mackay
writes : " This day two years ago I started from
Mpwapwa for Uyui, and now I am on my way to
the same place once more. May the good Lord, who
has preserved me amid no ordinary troubles and
dangers since that day, keep me on this journey and
bring me safely back to Uganda

Scot meets Scott 155
"Ten Baziba carried the luggage to Admiral
Gabunga's. The king gave me a present of five
thousand cowries, as he said, to buy food on the way,
and not to rob ! Paid four thousand cowries, however,
to carry the ten loads to Gabunga's.
"April 16th. — Having succeeded in getting a few
canoes, we embarked. As the season was early for
marching through Usukuma, harvest not commencing
till June, we did not hurry the canoe-men, allowing
them to take their own time. Some of Gabunga's
men who were going to Unyanyembe to sell ivory
had joined us, and altogether we had fourteen canoes
in our expedition.
"May nth, reached Kagei safely. Several men
of the Romish mission had arrived there, en route for
Mtesa's." Strange to say, among the freres was a country
man of his own, a Mr. Charles Stuart, from Aberdeen !
He had been educated at Blairs, on Deeside. Mackay
had several talks with him, but did not expect he
would hold out long, as he lay about all day doing
nothing, and imagining himself ill from greasy French
cooking. Mackay says : " I felt sorely tempted to
say to him, ' Och, man, I could hae forgi'en ye a' yer
Popery, but what for hae ye forsaken yer parritch ? '
Poor fellow, he had all his clothes stolen from him on
the way, nor had he any book to read. I happened
to have a Shakespeare, which I had taken to while
away weary hours in the canoes, and that I gave him."

156 At the Court of Mtesa.
The road from Kagei to Uyui is through a most
unsettled and unsafe country, with plenty of robbers
on the way, and continual demands for tribute at
every petty village. Sometimes he had to pay honga
three times in a march of seven miles.
But he was mercifully preserved from attacks of
natives and from highwaymen in the jungles, although
he was only armed with his umbrella. He reached
Uyui on the 5th of June, after a march of twenty
days. There he remained five weeks, and set out
again northwards to Kagei. Though it was the
month of July, it was the dead of winter there, and
while the sun was sultry through the day, there were
piercing east winds every morning, which he found
most trying, especially as he and his men, in order
to avoid the cupidity of as many greedy chiefs as
possible, frequently marched through the night. For
instance, on the 4th of August he says : " By 3 a.m.
my men wakened me up, saying we should start. .Got
up and looked at the stars (my only clock), and told
them it was yet several hours to daylight, and we
might lose our way in the forest, but if the porters
were willing to start, I was ready. Struck tent, and
packed up in dead silence, and by clear starlight set
off. Lost our way at one point, but got on right road
again, and the cocks crew as we stole silently past
the hut of the extortionate chief. After more than
an hour we got into the jungle, where we could
breathe freely ; but walking was difficult, as in many

Kidnapping Boys. 157
places there were deep holes like wells caused by
the tread of elephants."
At the next village he came to, he and his party
were detained many days before the matter of the toll
was settled. He could get nothing to eat save a few
ground nuts, and a glass of milk was scarcely to be
had. But he learned to be patient of such delays, and
embraced the opportunity to instruct the Baganda
lads who were with him, and at the same time he
gained much knowledge from them regarding the
superstitions and language of Uganda. He had made
such a rapid journey on the former occasion that
much escaped his observation, but he found now
that a common act among many of the tribes was the
kidnapping of boys, such as goat-herds, etc., who were
generally alone, at some distance from the villages,
there being always plenty of Arabs and Wangwana
about, ready to buy such children. At such times
the wails of the poor mothers overnight, and every
now and again breaking out through the day, were
most piteous. When will this traffic in human flesh
cease ?
At most villages great crowds of women and
children followed him to feast their eyes on the fair
face of the white man. Sometimes, to please them,
he got out a music-box- with which they were en
raptured ; and, strange to say, the popular tune was
God Save the Queen!"
Then they must see his arm and his bare foot,

158 At the Court of Mtesa.
while they stroked his hair and compared it to an
antelope's. Until he bared his foot they believed that
his boot was part of himself! But perhaps the
greatest curiosity he could show them was his lamp,
for artificial light is quite unknown.
Owing to the many detentions for honga, he was
forty-five days on the way back to Kagei. While
there his three Baganda lads were nearly murdered.
They were sleeping in a hut behind Mackay's house,
when some men they had quarrelled with went and
fired a volley into the hut. A terrible scuffle and
chase ensued. The three lads ran for their lives,
and the murderous party after them. Mackay was
half-down with fever, but managed with great exer
tion to persuade the leader to sit down and talk to
him (having previously secreted the objects of his
malice). The Beloochees and Arabs next appeared,
armed to the teeth, expecting to find that Mackay
had been attacked, when they were prepared to aid in
murdering him. The chief of the village also arrived,
after making sure that the fray was over. With
much trouble Mackay got them all to fire off their
guns and go home.
The Frenchmen never went to Mackay's aid,
although they knew how ill he was, but simply looked
over the fence at the fight !
The journal continues : —
" I remained at Kagei two and a half months. I
sent on a man to Uganda with a large load of cowries

King Roma. 159
to Mr. Pearson, as also his English letters, which I
had brought with me. Many days I spent packing
all boxes, etc., in raw hide, sewing the whole with
stout twine, to make our goods waterproof on the
lake. Much time I had to spend in bed from
repeated and severe attacks of remittent fever.
"Nov. 2nd. — Having secured five canoes, I embarked
for Uganda with my loads and servants, leaving the
iron boiler parts and machinery well packed in
Kaduma's care. Last of the Frenchmen left for King
Roma's in canoes which he sent for them. (Roma
owns all the west side of Smith's Creek, and the road
from thence to Msalala). Pere Levesque alone goes
to Uganda, and is commended to my protection.
"Nov. 3rd. — Camp on Juma Island. Fire Levesque
and I cross over channel, and spend a few days at
Roma's capital.
"Nov. 20th. — At Makongo. Went with Pere
Levesque to visit Kaitaba, the king of Busongora.
Gave him a present, and received a fat bullock in
return. " Dec. 2nd. — Arrived at Ntebe, with everything safe.
Lake journey has thus occupied thirty days.
"Dec. 14th. — After much delay at Ntebe, and on
road, and repeated messages to Mtesa, got sufficient
men under two chiefs to carry all our goods to capital
(a distance of twenty-six miles). Met Mr. Pearson
at mission-house, soon after noon."
Dec. 16th. — King held Baraza in great hall and

160 At the Court of Mtesa.
received the Frenchmen in state, as also the messen
gers from Roma. The Frenchmen gave presents of
gunpowder in kegs and in tins, guns, caps, bullets
military suits, a drum and sundry small articles.
" Mr. Pearson and I agreed that we had better not
attend the reception along with the Frenchmen, as we
resolved to give no present of anything in the shape
of arms or ammunition, and the contrast between our
presents and those of the Frenchmen might prove
unpleasant " The French party now at Roma's had given that
king a large present of cloth, guns, a revolver, gun
powder, etc., etc. Every one of these things Roma
sent on to Mtesa by some of his own men, these
accompanying me. The revolver alone he kept for
himself, asking me most imploringly for my revolver
offering me ten boys for it, promising me also a road
to Mirambo's, or anything I liked ; and when all these
were declined by me, he tried hard to get me to
exchange the one he got from the padres for mine.
But I was inexorable, saying that I would give such a
weapon neither to him, nor to Mtesa, nor to Mirambo.
Roma's object in tending the presents to Mtesa was
to ask his aid to fight against (i.e. spoil and murder)
Kigaju, the king of Bukosa, while he asked me to
write a letter from him to Mtesa begging the Uganda
fleet I flatly refused to do so, saying that we white
men came to bring peace into the country and not war.
Strange to say, Roma took me and not the Frenchmen

A Messenger of Peace. 161
into his private conference with his head chiefs when
he proposed begging Mtesa's aid. Even afterwards,
when I was leaving, and the Frenchmen all present,
he asked me again to recommend him to Mtesa, but
did not ask them. I said before them all that I
was a messenger of God, and would willingly ask
Mtesa to make an alliance with Roma, but I would
bear no message asking aid in war.
" Pere Girault, who is head of the mission there, felt
offended that he was not consulted by Roma in the
matter, especially after he had given the guns and
powder, which were being sent as the price of the
army, and walked off in apparent ill mood.
"Dec. \8th. — Mr. Pearson and I went to court.
After friendly greetings from the katikiro and chiefs
in the outer court, we went into the inmost court
(except the king's own). After waiting nearly half
an hour, the king called us in. The house was full of
naked women, probably nearly a hundred. The king
apologised for making no public reception on my
behalf, on the ground of his illness.
" Our present to Mtesa consisted of a few doti of
coloured cloth, two fine large knives, and a score of
flags of diverse colours. We explained that the flags
were international, and none of them English. (They
were a set of the ordinary " commercial code.")
" We read the king a Suahili translation of part of
the Committee's letter, informing him that his men
had reached England, had been received by the Queen
n

1 62 At the Court of Mtesa.
most graciously, and had been shown every honour,
and that Her Majesty had sent them to Zanzibar in
one of her own men-of-war.
" Mtesa said that ' the fact of his men being so well
received in England raised in his mind the longing
to go there himself, but he said the Arabs asserted
that he could not reach there.' (This is not true, for
the Arabs have always, in court, told him that he
would find an open way, and that the English would
be so overjoyed at his condescension, that they would
send at once a hundred large ships to Zanzibar to
convey him to London.) I merely said to him, ' A
great man can overcome many difficulties.' "
Mackay then showed the king some pictures in
the Graphic of Queen Victoria receiving his envoys.
He was delighted, and seemed never to weary looking
at them. The next day Mackay went to court he
found his majesty still entertaining himself with them,
and he greeted Mackay with the remark : " I am
determined to go to England, to consult a doctor
about my ailments, and I will leave the queen-
mother on the throne, in my. absence."
The haughty chiefs, however, opposed this, say
ing : " Why should a great monarch like Mtesa go
to England ? Queenie (Queen Victoria) sends only
small men to Uganda. Speke, and Grant, and
Stanley were only travellers ! "

CHAPTER XII.
HOSTILE ARABS.
u Now, the pruning, sharp, unsparing J
Scattered blossom, bleeding shoot ;
Afterward, the plenteous bearing
Of the Master's pleasant fruit." F. R. Havergal.
CHRISTMAS of 1880 and the early months of
1 88 1 were times of sore and grievous trouble
to the two brethren (Pearson and Mackay). The
Baganda regarded them as having been created to
give away articles gratis, and fleeced them of every
thing. Indeed, the popular impression was that
" there was no place in Europe for white men, and
they settled in Uganda because it was the most
delightful spot in the world I " All the barter goods
which Mackay brought from Uyui were ultimately
disposed of, and they were frequently reduced to
beggary and to temporary starvation. Mackay had
to keep a sharp look out lest the brass cocks and
other small fittings of the engines were stolen for
ornaments. He had to work hard at the vice and
lathe for daily bread, but in consequence of a great
«63

1 64 Hostile Arabs.
drought in the country, in the beginning of the year
1880, the chiefs were unable to pay in kind for work
done, complaining that owing to the famine they
could not even feed their large retinues of wives, and
were obliged to send them to their country farms to
subsist as they best could, by digging up the plantain
trees, and eating a semi-solid stuff, found at the root
of the stem.
The missionaries went on quietly teaching a few
lads who came to them, and Mackay, by the aid of
his faithful pupil Mukasa (named after the lubare),
translated St. Matthew's Gospel into Luganda, re
garding which he says: "In studying the sacred words,
word for word, I see more beauty than I ever saw
before, and I hope the Holy Spirit will bless it much
to my own soul, and to that of my assistant. He
often admits the beauty of the words of Jesus."
The new year of 1881 dawned in Uganda as every
where else ; but while we in Europe were enjoying
family reunions, the missionaries received a bitter
disappointment, by the arrival of two Arabs who con
fessed to having left their expected gift of home letters 1
at Kagei. Moreover, these men were imbued with!
a deep and hereditary hostility to the Christian faith,
and were especially angry with Mackay on account I
of the influence which he had gained in the country.
For, although the tide ebbed and flowed, he ever re
mained a favourite with the king, who respected his \
bold witness for the truth. Mtesa was really favourable \

A Picture in Two Panels. 165
to the Christian faith, but he felt that it demanded a
nobler life than the Mohammedan code of morals did,
therefore he accepted neither.
The contrast between the following scenes at court,
at Christmas 1880, and Bishop Tucker's wonderful
account of his visit to Uganda (see Chap. XXII.) at
the same season in 1890, is very striking, and may
be described as A Picture IN Two Panels.
Under the one may be inscribed —
" Now, the sowing and the weeping,
Working hard, and waiting long ;"
and under the other —
" Afterward, the golden reaping,
Harvest-home and grateful song."
The hope of the " nevertheless, afterward " sus
tained Mackay through it all, and he writes : " God's
will be done. The cause is His, and also the issue
of all our plans. May He bless our efforts and bring
a speedy end to this sore and exhausting time of
trial and persecution. After such a night as we
have had, and still are in, we look for a happy
morning. " Dec. 22nd, 1880. — Mr. Pearson and I went to court
where we found MM. Levesque and Lourdel. The
latter goes every day with some drug for the king.
It would be a farce to call his mixtures 'medicine,'
for none of their party have any idea of medicine.
" After a little the court opened, and there being

1 66 Hostile Arabs.
many chiefs present, we were seated in the very back
corner, i.e., behind them all.
" Mtesa began asking his chiefs a host of questions
about the gods of the country. Some under-chiefs
had returned from plundering in Busoga, and the
charms which their sorcerers had taken with them
were presented to his Majesty. This was probably
the occasion of Mtesa's asking his chiefs, ' Which is
the greater, the king or the lubare ? ' Some said the
king was the greater, others said the lubare. Talk
continued on the matter for a long time, to little or
no purpose, as all the chiefs are profound sycophants
and echo everything Mtesa says, although one
moment he said that their own gods were nothing,
and Katonda all in all, and next moment, that the
idols and sorcerers had divine power. Finding it
difficult to hear distinctly where we sat, I called out
to the king that unless I sat nearer I could not under
stand what he was saying. (His talk was only in
Luganda.) I said that formerly I used to have a
seat in front, but that now we had got pushed be
hind every one, nor did I know what wrong we had
done to cause us to be thus degraded. He at once
ordered me to bring my seat forward, but not one of
the jealous chiefs moved an inch to give me room.
I therefore stepped out before them all and sat down
on the floor between the king and them.
" Mr. Pearson then asked if anything would be done
to anv one who embraced Christianity ? Mtesa replied

" What is Nende" f 167
that there were many old people (women chiefly) in
the country, who had power, and these would be sure
to kill any one who despised the gods of the country.
Mr. Pearson replied that he (Mtesa) was King of
Uganda, and that if he gave the order that men
embracing Christianity were to be let alone, no one
could touch them. Mtesa then said that if any one
went to the Bazungu (white men) to read, he surely
committed no criminal offence. 'To read,' he said,
' was not robbery, and one could not be condemned
for that' I then explained that merely learning to
read was not to embrace Christianity. I said, ' If a
man becomes a Christian he will know that the re
ligion of the lubare is false, and hence will not be
able to attend court when any of the lubares make
a demonstration there. If a man is baptised, either
a chief or a common man, will he be punished for
refusing to join in the ceremonies of the lubare?' To
this no answer was given, but talk was continued on
the power of the gods.
" ' What is Nende ? ' asked Mtesa.
" Kyambalango replied, ' Nende is a man ; Nende
is a god.'
" The Katikiro said, ' Nende is an image.'
" ' Sekibobo I ' said Mtesa, ' what is Nende ?
"(Sekibobo is one of the three greatest chiefs.)
Sekibobo was sitting a little behind, as he was
troubled with catarrh, and etiquette forbade him to
sit in his usual place. But before Sekibobo could

1 68 Hostile Arabs.
make up his mind, not as to what Nende is, but
as to what answer would please the king most, Mr.
Pearson, who was sitting behind the chief, called out,
' Nende is a liar ; Nende can neither walk, nor speak,
nor eat.' Mtesa repeated this for the benefit of all,
and from many a sycophant came the echo, ' Nende
is a tree, and cannot speak or eat.' Some, however,
dissented, saying that Nende is a god ; when I pro
posed that Nende should be brought and set on the
floor before us all, that we might see what he is.
This created some merriment, while others were
shocked at the idea of such sacrilege, and the katikiro
replied, ' The woman who has charge of Nende will
not allow him to be brought.'
"Again we asked if people could with impunity
come to us to be taught the knowledge of God?
" Mtesa replied that before Stanley came he was
a Mussulman, then he became a Christian, and when
Lieutenant Smith came here he used to teach one
part of the day and he (Mtesa) the other. I said,
' Those were happy days, but they are long gone by.'
The king laughed and continued, that now he found
so many religions in the country, each asserting itself
as the true one, that he did not know what to do.
He then called M. Lourdel forward, and also Babakeri
(an old soldier of Baker's, and a heathen, but a
favourite counsellor).
" We put the question very plainly, repeating it
again and again, that there should be no mistake.

iO. v/1
ifH&e

" Yes, Sir, give liberty!' 169
We said that we did not ask the king to order his
people to follow Christianity, we only begged that
he would give permission (rukhsa = liberty) to any
one in the kingdom, high or low, to accept any
religion he chose ; if any one liked to continue a
believer in the lubare, he might do so ; if any one
chose to go to the Frenchmen to be taught, he might
do so ; if any one chose to become a Mohammedan,
he could do so ; and if any one chose to come to us
to be taught the Book of God, he might do so.
" First the Arabs were asked by the king
should grant our request. They replied that they
had nothing to say, as the older Arabs were not
present that day. One old fanatic, however, com
menced a harangue on the absolute truth of their
creed, as they stuck to the Koran and the patriarchs.
I declined to have them consulted in this matter
as, I said, they had come for trade and not as teachers
and no one wished to take their Koran from them.
" Next Mtesa asked Babakeri if he should give the
liberty we begged. This fellow, after some hesitation,
replied, 'Yes, sir, give liberty.' Mtesa, too cunning
to listen to good advice which he feared might result
in leaving him less absolute than he is at present,
tried a new artifice to evade the question. 'Sup
pose,' said he, ' I divide the country, and give Singo
(Mkwenda's country) to the English to be taught, and
Kyagwe (Sekibobo's) to the Frenchmen, that they may
teach every one ; then will there not be rows between

170 Hostile Arabs
them?' We replied that in Zanzibar both English
and French lived and taught in peace, and in Europe
also, and that we should make no trouble with the
French teachers.
" M. Lourdel did not assent to, or dissent from, our
proposition for liberty, nor did he say that his party
would cause no dispeace on our behalf, but he said
that he and his brethren would treat in the same
friendly way all comers, whether believers in their
teaching or not
" The next objection raised by Mtesa was that if
the people adopted a different religion from himself
and the chiefs, there would be rebellion in the
country. We explained that the religion of Jesus
Christ taught men to honour the king and every one
in authority.
" M. Lourdel assented to this on behalf of their
teaching, saying that they taught nothing wrong,
but such commandments as ' Thou shalt not steal,'
which no one could object to. Mtesa then proposed
that the Frenchmen and ourselves should first agree
on religious matters, and then he would listen to us
both. This was merely a ruse to try to get us to
enter on discussion, which he enjoys, especially if it
occasion ill-feeling between the disputants. We were
silent, however, and his ruse failed.
" The king, finding our request still strongly pressed
by us, in spite of his evasions, proposed to defer his
answer until he had first consulted with his chiefs.

Men, Not Sheep. \y\
The katikiro, in his usual time-serving manner, de
clared that the king was a follower of Katonda, and all
the people were followers of the king, therefore they
were followers of God. Seeing that this was given
out merely as an off-put to our request, we reasserted
that liberty was the source of all intelligence, and
that Baganda were men, not sheep, merely following
blindly any belief; for Mtesa was truly king of the
Baganda in this life only, and it would not do to
answer God at the great judgment that they had
simply followed the king's religion.
" In the course of the discussion, Mtesa said that
M. Lourdel had given him to understand that he and
his brethren were padres ( = teachers of religion)
alone, while we, i.e. Mr. Pearson and I, were fundis
(= workmen). Of course we dissented from this,
casting no aspersion on the padres, but asserting
that we were teachers of religion just as they were,
and had been sent here for no other purpose ; any
skilled labour we had done we did merely out of
friendship, and not because we were sent here to do
such. At one time we could have given Mtesa credit
for sincerity in such discussions as that of to-day.
Now I fear there is no desire in the man's heart except
the gratification of his lusts and desire for riches.
" In the midst of the talk on the gods versus the
Almighty Creator, he suddenly sent out for a cala
bash, and having got it, made some obscene observa
tions to his chiefs.

172 Hostile Arabs.
' Before the talk on religion was finished, he listened
to the report of the plundering batongole just returned
from Busoga. A chief was ordered at once to go to
bring the women, cattle, and slaves, which they had
left a day's march from the capital. One of the
returned batongole, being accused, I fancy, of appro
priating too much of the spoil to himself, was ordered
without ceremony to be killed. An executioner, of
whom there is always a host present at every court,
jumped forward with perfect delight in his face,
rope in hand, to drag off the delinquent. The fellow
bought himself off, however, with the greatest calm
ness, for some women and cattle. The executioner
stepped back disappointed.
" In the discussion, a few moments afterwards,
Mtesa said, ' God hears everything I say. He hears
when Mackay speaks, He hears when Mapera or the
Arabs speak ! ' Oh the savour of death unto death
which our teaching seems to have been to him and to
the whole court ! Human life and eternal life equally
despised, while his conscience has become seared
against what he knows, as well as we, to be great sin.
Lasciviousness seems to have turned his soul and
mind, like his body, into utter subjection to itself.
The first chapter of Romans most accurately de
scribes the state of this king, court, and country.
" After mentioning the solemn fact of all having to
answer to God in the next world. Mtesa suddenly
asked me if he could get a white princess by going to

THE CAPITAL OF UGANDA.

[p. 172.

A White Princess I 173
England ! Prudence prompted me to answer, ' I am
not an English princess, therefore I cannot give you a
reply.' " The conference ended by Mtesa laying the case
thus before the court : ' If we accept the Muzungu's
religion, we must then have only one wife each ; while
if we accept the religion of the Arabs, we cannot eat
every kind of flesh.'
" Thus it is that a trifling restraint on the flesh is
balanced against eternal life and peace with God. It
was not possible to-day for us to say more on this
subject, but we pray the Lord to give us another
opportunity of presenting, not the disadvantages, but
the enormous advantages of Christianity, before the
eyes of this lascivious king and his equally lascivious
courtiers. " On the way home, P. Levesque said to me, that
he was quite delighted with the nature of the request
for liberty which I had so strongly pressed, as being
as necessary to them as to us.
" A page was sent in haste after us, with orders to
M. Lourdel to come to court next morning.
"Dec. 23rd. — Expecting to find the subject taken
up again to-day, Mr. Pearson and I went early to
court. We went in to the inner court, where we
found P. Lourdel already sitting. He shook hands,
but seemed guilty of something, for he could not
look me in the face. We sat down, but were soon
told by Koluji that the king asked us (i.e. Mr. Pearson

174 Hostile Arabs.
and myself) to go farther away, into the next outer
court ! We went at once, while M. Lourdel remained
where he was.
"Soon after, we were joined by Mufta, who told
us that M. Lourdel had gone back to the court last
evening, and had had an audience of the king. Mufta
was also there, but outside, and overheard M. Lourdel
denouncing us Protestants as ' rebels ' from the true
Church. That of course meant that they alone
should be given liberty to teach in the country, while
we, who had asked liberty alike for them and for
ourselves, were to be denied it ! This, however,
exactly accords with what M. Girault said to me at
Kagei, when I told him that we Protestants were
very tolerant towards them, and were willing to
acknowledge to Mohammedans and heathens, for
our mutual benefit, that they and we were alike
believers in Jesus Christ and in the same Book of God.
M. Girault replied that * they would not, however, be
tolerant of us, for God was intolerant of error, and it
was their devoir to teach everywhere that we were
teachers of lies ' !
" By-and-by court opened, and we got in through
the crush. The great and only business of the day
was the appointment of chiefs to go on two great
plundering expeditions. Wakoli had been here some
time, having brought some ivory, to beg for a large
army to aid him against his neighbours in Busoga or
beyond it. Another chief from Gambaragara, whose

"Rob, Pillage, Plunder!' 175
father had died, but who was not chosen for the
throne, had been here some time begging Mtesa to
send an army to place him in power.
" It is not necessary for Mtesa to have much of
an excuse for sending an army to ravage. Two great
forces were therefore granted, one for the east and
the other for the west Four great chiefs were
appointed to each, with of course their subalterns, and
all their retainers. A young lad, now a big Mutongole,
called Mukaalya, was appointed captain of the force,
against Busoga ; while Tole, a renegade coastman, for
a long time a settler here, was appointed commander
of the force against Gambaragara.
"Our blood could not but boil within us, as we
beheld the mad excitement in the whole court, when
these fellows were ordered off to murder and plunder.
' Nyaga, nyaga, nyaga, nyo ! ' said the ' humane king!
as he gave the captains the orders, i.e. ' Rob, pillage,
plunder ! ' One's heart sickens at the thought of the
carnage — rather cold-blooded butchery — that will
result, all, too, on the strength of English guns and
gunpowder. " This is the fifth time in the course of two years
that a great army has been sent by Mtesa into
Busoga, not to war, but avowedly to devastate and
murder, and bring back the spoil — women, children,
cattle, and goats. The crime is awful. The most
heartrending of Livingstone's narratives of the slave
hunts by Arabs and Portuguese on the Nyassa and

176 Hostile Arabs.
Tanganyika shores, dwindle into insignificance com
pared with the organised and unceasing slave-hunts
carried on by this ' enlightened monarch and Christian|
king.' " This is the man who yesterday was claiming to be
a spiritual guide to his people, and summus episcopus
in the state. Only yesterday he uttered the senti
ment, ' God hears every word I utter while I lie here.
" Almighty God, look down on the enormous accu
mulation of crimes of this bloodthirsty, avaricious
king and court, and bring to confusion their cruel
expeditions against their poor neighbours.
" The Arabs delight in these expeditions, and
generally send men to bring a share of the spoil in
slaves, these being more cheaply obtained at first
than after the return of the army to the capital. To
many an officer, whom we met afterwards on our
way home, and at our house begging powder (but in
vain, for we refuse in toto), we solemnly gave the
charge to spare shedding blood, for God's eye was
over all.
" Munakulya, the only one of the chiefs who has
all along continued (after a fashion) an earnest in
quirer after truth, and a diligent reader of the Word
of God, went this day back, rising up in court and
begging the king to appoint him also to join the
plundering expedition, that he might get a share in
the booty. We feel sorely downcast. Our last hopes
seem gone. The lads who had learned the most

Back Waves. iyy
and seemed most impressed, have been put out of the
way. Others who have been taught more or less
(and they are many) are afraid to come to us any
more. The few chiefs of whom we had hopes have
gone back, while the other chiefs and the king seem
only daily to become more hardened and hopelessly
sunk in every form of vice and villany.
" But is any case too hard for the Lord ? "
" Christmas Day. — This time last year the great
reaction in favour of the lubare was at its height
To-day, after all that has happened between, matters
seem little farther advanced in favour of the reception
of Christianity here."
" Many, many hours of discussion, and many occa
sions of prayer on our sad prospects, have been spent
by my brother Pearson and myself during this month.
God gives us guidance in our perplexity and deep
searching of heart, that we may put away all that has
hindered us from having His blessing.
"Monday, Jan. 3rd, 1881. — Down with fever. Mr.
Pearson went to court, Mufta being there also. The
king commenced asking questions on religion, ending
in nothing as usual. After this had been going on
for some time, Mr. Pearson asked if anything would
be done to any of the people who embraced Chris
tianity? Wilfully misunderstanding the question,
Mtesa replied, ' Do you mean to make me a Christian
by force ? '
" Again and again he was told that we used no
iff

178 Hostile Arabs.
force, and no one demanded that he should be a
Christian ; we only wanted his people to have liberty
to come to be taught. ' To be taught what ? ' he
asked. 'The Book of Jesus Christ,' answered Mufta.
' Do I not know that Book ? have I not read it ? '
' You know it by head, but not by heart,' answered
the lad again.
" ' Well,' said Mtesa, ' if you want liberty, you must
fill my belly; you must give me a daughter of the
Queen to be my wife : unless you do that, you shall
not have liberty to teach — that is my only answer.'
" Wednesday, Jan. $th. — Being considerably better
from the attack of fever, I was able to accompany
Mr. Pearson to court. We expected that the newly-
arrived big Arab would be there, and we were anxious
to hear what news his letters from the coast brought.
He allows having got letters for us at Uyui, but
he left them behind at Kagei ! Very considerate !
Probably enough, he would not bring them on that
we might have no information independently of him.
" This Arab generally goes by the name of Kambi
Mbaya (bad camp), but his proper name is something
like Rashir bin Shruhl (?).
" Court opened as we went up the hill. The letters
were being opened as we entered. There was one
from Seyed Burgash, but short, and so far as we could
make out, only compliments. We saw none from the
Consul. The Arab presented a musical box (of which
Mtesa has already several), and a revolver. Then he

Guns and Ivory. 179
asked for canoes to bring his goods from Usukuma
Gabunga (Grand Admiral) was called forward, and a
Mutongole appointed to get fifty canoes quickly.
" I have heard the Wangwana say that this man has
brought four hundred guns — a present from Seyed
Burgash, who asks Mtesa to fight Mirambo — while
he brings one hundred more guns on his own account
not to sell, he says, but he will not refuse ivory if the
king gives him any !
"Then he stated that Seyed Burgash had sent a
force of two thousand soldiers to Unyanyembe,
determining to open the road from the coast to there,
while he (Burgash) asked Mtesa to open the part from
Unyanyembe to Uganda — abolishing honga and Ruga
Ruga. Further, he said that it was necessary to fight
Mirambo, ' who was only a Mpagazi,' but had usurped
power in Unyamwezi.
" Then Mtesa of his own accord asked Mufta what
it was that we had demanded the other day. Mufta
replied that we asked liberty to teach in the country ;
to which Mtesa answered that he would give no answer
until his men returned from England. We said
nothing ; but the way in which the new Arab gave
himself out to be some great one, tempted us to say
to Mtesa that the expense, which we and our friends
had paid, to take his envoys to England and bring
them back, was a greater present to him than the sum
of all the presents he had ever received from all the
Arabs together, yet for all that he despised us and

180 Hostile Arabs.
treated us worse than his commonest subjects. To
this he replied that he believed England to be very
far away, and he knew that the expense had been
great. " ' Seyed Burgash,' I said, ' after he saw England,
gave a concession of land to both English and French
men to settle and teach.'
"Mtesa. ' Yes, and when I come back from England
do you think that I shall refuse to give you a con
cession of land ? '
" We. ' But we have already taken your envoys
there, and now they are near. Please send quickly
to Usukuma and fetch them ; for collecting canoes
enough, usually six months are required, and we
cannot wait so long for supplies. When Mr. Pearson
was working for you, he nearly died of hunger. It is
not the custom of white men to beg, and we will not
ask you always for plantains and goats, but you own
the whole country, and it can cost you nothing to
give us a fair patch of ground with plantain trees
on it'
" Omnes. ' Oh ! you want to get a chieftainship ! '
" We. ' No, we want no authority in the land, we
only want a place where we can grow our own food.
We mean to buy and not to beg, and we are prepared
to buy a piece of land if you refuse to give it us
gratis.' " Mtesa. ' This country is like a woman ; it is our
mother ; we cannot cut off an arm of our mother and

The Missionaries ask Land. 181
give it to you. And do the Frenchmen want to buy
land also ? '
" P. Lourdel. ' No, we do not want to buy land.'
" We. ' Even if we buy the land, it remains here ;
we cannot take it with us when we go.'
" Mtesa. ' When will you go ? '
" We. ' We are prepared to go to-morrow if you
order us, or to stay if you like, only we do nothing by
force ; we came here by your permission, and will go
when you like : only if we stay we must be allowed
to teach any people that like to be taught.'
"Arab (Kambi Mbaya). ' What can they teach?'
(with a sneer).
" We. ' We wish to teach the great truths of
eternity and God.'
" Mtesa. ' When my men come will they not bring
a letter from the Queen, asking by force that I give
you land ? '
" We. ' No, our Queen will ask nothing of you by
force.' " Mtesa. ' She wants only friendship ? '
" We. ' Yes.'
"Arab (Kambi Mbaya). 'Ask them, whom they
have got in Zanzibar to listen to their teaching ? The
white men in Zanzibar have got no land, nor do they
build ; they only rent houses at a high price.'
" We. ' That is not so ; ' (to the Arab) ' Do you
forget about the English mission at Mnazi-Moja and at
Bweni, and the French Mission at Bagamoyo ? They

1 82 Hostile Arabs.
have got land from Burgash, and cultivate it and build
on it.'
"Arab (Kambi Mbaya). 'I don't know anything
about that.'
"[N.B. — This man has just come from Zanzibar,
and knows everything about the missions there.]
" Mtesa. ' Are there both French and English
teachers in Egypt ? '
" All Arabs. ' No, there are none."
" We and P. Lourdel. ' There are many teachers,
both French and English, in many parts of Egypt'
"Arabs. 'These men lie.'
" Mtesa. ' You are vexed and angry, then, about
food. Why, if any one is hungry, he need only tell
me, and I will give him food at once. Why did Mr,
Pearson not tell me that he was in want ? "
" [N.B. — Mr. Pearson did tell Mtesa repeatedly that
he was in want, while he only begged the king to
pay him some of the many thousand shells which he
(Mtesa) was owing him for cloth, etc., which he had
sold to him ; to this day, however, Mtesa has paid
only a fraction of what he owes us. Of course the
remainder, never.' ]
" We. ' No, we are not angry about being left to
starve, but we are vexed to find that you are playing
with us and with religion. One day you have said
that our religion is the only true one, another day
you adopt the religion of Mohammed, and a third
day you follow the lubare.1

Arab Flattery. 183
" Mtesa. ' The Frenchmen have one religion and
you have another ; they cannot be both true : first
agree to have one religion in Europe, and then come
and I shall let you teach my people.'
" Mufta. ' The English and the French have only
one religion ; their religion is one, but their mode is
different' " [N.B. — We have ever striven to make the heathen
and Mussulmans understand that the Frenchmen and
we are both alike followers of Jesus Christ, and differ
only in small points (something like the sects among
the Mussulmans themselves). But the Roman Catholics
will not assent to this, foolishly (for themselves) assert
ing always that they only are proper Christians.
P. Lourdel did not contradict to-day, however.]
" Mtesa. ' When I was well and able to go about,
I was able to see what condition every one lived in.
Now I am sick, I cannot get about. These white
men, what do they want? The Arabs were here
in my father's time, and are virtually now adopted
children of mine : but these white men are strangers
of but yesterday.'
"Arabs. ' We are sons of the country ; but what do
the white men want here except to make dispeace ? '
" Mtesa. ' I have a regiment of drilled soldiers, and
my father had none. Has not Seyed Burgash new
institutions which his father had not?'
" Arabs. ' Yes. You and Seyed Burgash are just
the same. You are the only two kings in Africa ! '

184 Hostile Arabs.
¦' Mtesa. ' The Arabs want ivory and slaves, and
they bring me cloth, and guns, and powder ; but the
white men will not take ivory or slaves, — they say
that they want only to teach the people. What do
they mean ? '
" Arab (Kambi Mbaya). 'We hunt only for a few
tusks, which we sell to get our daily bread, but
these white men want to eat up the country ! '
" We. (to the Arab). ' What country are we
eating up ? (i.e., conquering). Who has eaten up
Zanzibar, and the coast, and Unyanyembe ? and who
is just now bringing an army into the interior to
fight ? Are these white men or Arabs ? '
"Arab (Kambi Mbaya). 'The Arabs want only
to make peace in the country, and you therefore cry
out against them, because you want the country for
yourselves.' " We. ' It is not well so to abuse white men, for
you must remember that although the Arabs bring
here guns and powder, yet every gun and every keg
of powder comes from the country of the white men,
and all are brought in their ships. It is only by
permission of the white men that these things can
ever come at all. They could stop sending them if
they like.'
" Arab (Kambi Mbaya). ' Try to stop our trading
in slaves on this lake, as you try at the coast. I
defy you ! I shall march past Mpwapwa with all my
chains full, and my hundred guns loaded, and who

Slave-hunters. 185
will hinder me? I shall go right to Zanzibar with
gangs of slaves and defy the English Consul to touch
me. I come from Seyed Burgash, and care nothing
for the Consul — I am not afraid of him.'
" [N.B. — This speech was made with great vehe
mence and great bitterness. It appears that Kambi
Mbaya had been reported by the Mpwapwa mission
aries to the court for having passed them with slaves.
On reaching Zanzibar he was apprehended by Burgash,
but released at once (he says) on asserting that he
used the chains only for thieves and deserters.]
" We. 'We have not come here to say anything
against you. It is not our business to apprehend
slavers. When you Arabs bring guns and other
goods to sell, we never interfere with your trade.
We only ask that you will not make unprovoked
attacks on us, who are only talking with the king on
religion and on private matters of our own.'
" Ahmed Lemki (Arab). ' I can tell what these
white men are doing at Nyassa to eat up the country.'
"Mtesa. 'Tell us.' [This Arab seems to have
been apprehended with a crew of slaves on the coast
by one of our cruisers.]
" Ahmed. ' At the coast they place a boat with
steam and cannon at each side of every port, and
watch for every dhow that passes and seize it
Formerly we could buy any amount of slaves at
Nyassa for two doti (=8 yds. calico) each. Now
these English have conquered the King of Nyassa

1 86 Hostile Arabs.
and taken his country, and put a steamer on the lake,
and we have no more trade.'
" We. ' There is no King of Nyassa. The country
there is like Unyamwezi, full of petty savage chiefs,
but the English have conquered none of them.'
" [It pleased Mtesa to hear that there was no big
king near Nyassa, to compare with himself.]
" Mtesa. ' What did the white men come here for ? '
"Arab (Kambi Mbaya). 'Yes; just ask them if
they were ever asked to come here, and if they
had any recommendation from the coast'
" All Chiefs. ' Nobody asked them to come here.'
" We. ' The king himself sent to Ukerewe more
than once begging Lieut. Smith to come to him, and
again he sent to Mruli and brought Mr. Pearson and
others.' General hubbub and discussion.
" We. ' We ask Mtesa if Stanley told the truth or
a lie, when he wrote saying that he (Mtesa) wanted
Englishmen to come to teach Christianity?'
" Mtesa. ' I asked Stanley to send me white men
to make cannon and guns and powder. I collected
brass and charcoal for Mackay to make me a cannon
to fire salutes (!) with, but he refuses.'
"Mackay. 'When we talked about the cannon I
had only come to the country, and did not then know
that you sent these expeditions to ravage countries.'
"At the word ku-nyaga (= plunder and murder),
Mtesa feared we should rebuke his wanton robbery

Mtesa's Cannon. 187
and devastation of Busoga, etc., so he immediately
dismissed the court.
" [Mtesa wilfully misconstrues always what I had
said to him two years ago about making a small brass
two-pounder. He had been pestering me for many
days about making such things, while I had always
been begging for pupils to teach work in wood and iron.
I then told him that if he gave me ten lads to teach,
I should give them knowledge enough in working
metals to enable them to cast a small gun after they
had been with me three years. The lads were promised,
but never came, while soon after Mtesa was sending
to Busongora and other parts to exact coils of brass
wire from his tributaries. I have ever since refused
to say anything on the matter, as he did not fulfil his
part of the engagement. It must also be remembered
that small cannon (of which Mtesa has over half a
dozen) are of no use whatever to him, except for
firing an occasional salute. Baganda have no idea of
artillery practice, nor could they afford the gunpowder
necessary for it]
" Mr. Pearson and I, unwilling to have any more
such humiliations in court similar to this day's, sent
a note to Mtesa asking permission to go to Kagei
in the canoes which he sends for his envoys. We
put it on the ground that many months must elapse
before these can be brought here, and our supplies
must fail long before then.
" After much prayer and deliberation we have come

1 88 Hostile Arabs.
to the conclusion this is, on the whole, the best step to
take, as once at Usukuma we could send on his envoys
and presents from England, and safely state the only
terms on which we could return again to the country,
" May our God grant us a peaceable answer !
' Showing that they still remember something of
what they have been taught at court, I may not
omit the following remarks, which were made in the
course of to-day's Baraza :
" Katikiro. ' They want to teach the common
people. Are our people their children ? '
" Mtesa. ' They say that all men are their brethren.'
" Chiefs. ' Yes ; our people have bodies like them,
and heads like them, faces and bellies like them."
" Mtesa. ' They say we shall all be burnt in the fire
after we die ! '
" Katikiro and Chiefs (jeering and laughing). ' Oh,
we shall be burnt in the fire, but the white men will
be let go, eh ! '
" Much laughter and idle talk followed these remarks
there being no opportunity in which we could well say
a word. Why they should have chosen the doctrine
of future punishment to make merriment of, I do not
know, as in all my teaching I never preached much,
if anything at all, about retribution for sin in the next
world. I always spent most of the time in trying to
impress on them that God is love, unlike their lubare
(= spirit), which they are ever in fear of, and making
offerings to, in order to conciliate.

Hostages. 189
" Thursday, Jan. 6th. — At midday, the usual hour,
seized again with this wearisome intermittent fever —
cold shivers, pains all over, ultimately settling in the
head, and sickness. Got into bed, but a hundred
blankets could do nothing to give heat, even if I had
them. A fire lighted at the side of my bed, on the
floor, makes no warmth in the first stage of the attack.
After half an hour, a burning fever, and one tosses
about as if in severe pain, yet only a feeling of
wretchedness remains. Then a few cups of hot tea
bring on perspiration, and a dozen hours of broken
dreams and fantastic visions leave one next morning
weak and sick and fit for nothing at all. Emetics and
purges and doses of quinine seem to do good, although
the remedies are worse than the disease, and leave per
manent effects for evil afterwards, — weakened organs
and a deranged nervous system. One has during
recovery always the discomfort of thinking too that a
similar attack may occur next day or the day after.
I have just had three attacks in a week.
" Friday, Jan. yth. — Mufta came early, saying that
he had read our letter to the king last night. Mtesa
replied that he would not let us go until his men came
back, adding that he did not detain us as hostages on
their behalf, for when he sent some men to the coast
some time ago some of them died on the way, but
that was no one's fault. His saying that probably
implies that he does detain us on that ground, for we
have no idea of where Stokes is with the Baganda.

190 Hostile Arabs.
In fact, we cannot tell if they arrived safely even at
Zanzibar. Kambi Mbaya told us that after he left
Uyui he heard that Stokes was in Ugogo, but when
questioned by Mtesa, he said that he had no news of
Stokes whatever.
" The Frenchmen sent us a note in the evening
saying that Ahmed (the little Arab who has a hatred
of the English because they deprived him of his slaves),
and other Arabs, this day in court were pouring down
calumnies on my head. Were it not that our de
pendence is alone on the omnipotent arm of our God,
we should stand every day in great danger from these
wicked Arabs and from the equally wicked king of
this country.
" Saturday, Jan. 8th. — Mr. Pearson went up to court
alone, but was refused admittance even at the outside
gate. This is something entirely new. We have
often been denied entrance at the inner doors, but the
outer courts were never closed before. He asked for
Mufta and was told that he was not there, while we
found that he was there. Pearson then went to call
on the Frenchmen, to get from them some account of
what evil things had been said by the Arabs against
us yesterday in court.
" Their tale narrates the most diabolical series of
falsehoods that evil men could have concocted. The
newly-arrived Arab called Kambi Mbaya, whom I
never saw until the other day, when he opened fire
on the English in Baraza (nor have I seen him since),

Calumnies. 191
and Ismail Beloock, who comes to us almost every
day professing the most sincere friendship — these
two men yesterday in open court laid to my charge
a series of terrible crimes. They had evidently made
up beforehand the part which they meant to act in
concert with the king, for Kambi Mbaya had an inter
view with Mtesa the day before, while Ismail we know
has been ' making friends ' with Kambi Mbaya. M.
Lourdel and Mufta were both present at the Baraza,
and their reports agree with each other. Mtesa is
said to have commenced the subject, saying, ' Makay
mulatu ' (' Mackay is mad '). All chiefs thereupon
repeated, ' Makay mulatu,' the Wangwana asserting
the same also. Then Ismail and Kambi Mbaya de
clared that I was a felon of the blackest type ; that I
had fled from England because I had murdered two
men there ; that I had got on board a steamer with
two revolvers in my hands, and threatened to murder
the captain instantaneously if he didn't convey me at
once to Zanzibar ; that in Zanzibar I committed more
murders and had to flee from there again ; that in
Unyanyembe I had gone about with the two revolvers
trying to shoot Kisessa, the governor ; that here my
presence was certainly dangerous to the king, for I
was insane and only went about to kill people ; that
I was terribly afraid of the story of my crimes reaching
Mtesa's ears, and that on that day I had given Kambi
Mbaya a present and implored him on my knees not
to make my evil-doings public I

192 Hostile Arabs.
" They had no crime to allege against me as having
committed in this country, except that one day when
a number of the Arabs called on me I asked them
' why they all came into the house armed with their
dirks ? '
" No doubt all this story suits the king's purpose
admirably. M. Lourdel says that he (Mtesa) is un
willing to quarrel with the English generally, yet he
must assent to the Arabs' hatred of us, while he does
not want our religious teaching ; hence he has devised
the scheme of throwing all possible charges upon one
individual, hoping by not accusing the other to keep
on good terms with him, and thus have Stokes brought
on with a new supply of valuables to fall a prey to
his own clutches. As the Frenchmen say, ' he has the
heart of a tiger!
" Meanwhile we have sent another letter to Mtesa
asking that both Mr. Pearson and I be allowed to
leave, I for England and Mr. Pearson for Usukuma,
with the view of finding where the men who went to
England are, and of hurrying them on with the king's
present. " Of course, if God enables us to reach safely the
south end of the lake, Mr. Pearson will not come
back here, nor permit another missionary to fall into
the trap, until from an independent position there
proper conditions be obtained, on which alone our
mission can again be planted here.
' God is over all, and He is our God and our sole

Courage rises with Health. 193
defence. In fever, when one's nerves are weak, many
doubts arise in the mind, and through morbidly
dwelling on the number of our bloodthirsty enemies,
faith almost fails. Yet the fever subsides, and courage
rises with better health, and one cannot but feel a
deep inward peaceful consciousness that, though we
are absolutely shut off from every human help, yet
we have protection more secure than any Consul
can afford, even the omnipotent arm of Jehovah.
' The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth
upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at
him ; for He seeth that his day is coming.'
"This evening, after bearing such false witness
yesterday against me, Ismail called with most cool
impudence on Mr. Pearson. The latter would not
see him, however, but called out from inside the house
that he refused to see him because of the lies he had
told yesterday in court against me. Ismail asked
confusedly, ' What lies ? when ? who told lies ' ? Mr.
Pearson made no answer. The Belooch went on,
' Oh ! the Frenchmen must have been telling lies to
you. They have' told falsehoods, and not I.'
" This is not the first occasion on which Ismail has
openly played the double part of friend and poisonous
snake. None of us have ever given him any occasion
to abuse us, yet he has invariably given evil counsel
against us whenever he had opportunity, all the while
professing sincere friendship to us. He is a fanatical
Mussulman, although entirely ignorant of his creed=
«3

r94 Hostile Arabs.
He is a fair specimen of the Wangwana who are our
daily enemies here.
" Every fresh arrival of Arabs creates a fresh out
break against us. The whole of their malice I do
not hesitate for a moment to attribute to our public
testimony as Christians and as Englishmen against
slavery. Some of them use the pretext of their
religion for blaspheming the Nazarenes, while others
raise rumours of English aggression, and others again
merely fabricate charges against us individually.
" All this will go on so long as the supply of slaves
is here unlimited, and the demand is apparently as
great as ever in Arabia and Persia.
" The efforts of our cruisers on the coast are suc
cessful only in driving the traffic by a land instead
of the easier sea route. The slave dealers are only
harassed, not crushed, and, like wounded animals,
rendered only more vicious than before.
"Driven from the Nyassa region as being now
unprofitable, and too far south for the risks of the land
route to the northern ports (Brava, Lamoo, etc.), they
are coming to Uganda in increased numbers every
year ; for here protection is sure, living is cheap, and
human flesh cheaper still. Where in all Africa are
raids for cattle and slaves carried on on such a
gigantic scale as by the King of Uganda ? I may
safely say that he keeps a fresh force of ten thousand
men, without a month's intermission all the yeat
round, engaged in the openly avowed act of devastating

THE CAPTURE OF AN AFRICAN SLAVE BOY. \_p. I94.
1. The Boy. 2. His Home. 3. The Slave Dealer's Attack on the Village.

Murderous Raids. 195
the neighbouring tribes, merely for the sake of slaves
and cattle. Mtesa is the greatest slave-hunter in the
world, and he carries on his murderous raids on the
strength of guns and powder, brought up country,
by Arabs it is true, but supplied to the Arabs by
Banyans and Hindus, subjects of the British Govern
ment ; while the Banyans and Hindus in Zanzibar
purchase the powder and the guns, destined to be
used in first buying slaves, and then in murdering the
parents in order the more easily to catch their children
for slaves. They purchase these articles from Euro
peans in Zanzibar, — many of them Scotchmen and
Christians too !
" The powder and the guns bought by slave-hunting
Mtesa from slave-buying Arabs, who get them from
British subjects, who again get them from the British
themselves, are mainly carried to Zanzibar from
Europe in steamers belonging to the ' British India
Company,' the directors of which are philanthropists
and Christian gentlemen, giving largely in aid of
missions, and themselves actively engaged in opening
up the Nyassa region to legitimate trade.
" Thus, while with one hand these energetic, praise
worthy men are taking the best possible steps for the
abolition of slavery on the Nyassa, they are with the
other hand carrying on the terrible traffic in women
and children on the Victoria Nyanza, and every year
causing death to thousands of more distant savages,
who cannot procure the deadly weapons supplied

196 Hostile Arabs.
only by the British merchant, for Banyans and Hindus
are British merchants.
"For the above terrible charges laid against me,
some proposed in court that I should be put to death.
Even the charge of carrying my revolver is false, for
I almost invariably march unarmed, only my um
brella in my hand. Mtesa, however, said that the
best thing to do was to send me home, as being a
raiser of much noise and row in court. He knows
very well that this charge too is unfounded. Even
one of the Romish missionaries complimented me on
the quiet manner in which I talked with Mtesa, while
Arabs and others spoke with vehemence.
" We now can understand to the full the meaning
of that blessing which we are promised when men
shall revile us, and persecute us, and shall say all
manner of evil against us falsely for His sake. We
are His, and it matters not what man can do to us."
Mtesa had no intention of allowing Mackay to
leave the country In fact, the latter had found great
difficulty in getting permission even to go as far as
Uyui. Mtesa really disliked the Arabs, and knew
very well the above charges were pure inventions ; but
he wanted guns and gunpowder, therefore it was his
policy to appear friendly towards these traders.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE PLAGUE.
" And it was so — from day to day
The spirit of the plague went on,
And those at morning blithe and gay,
Were dying at the set of sun." J. G. Whittier,
IN the spring of 1881, Kaumpuri (the plague),
which is terribly dreaded by all, from king to
slave, broke out suddenly in the country. It was
probably due to the drought and consequent famine
of the previous year, when many died, and many
more had to struggle for life by eating roots oi
plantains and other trees. Mackay believed that the
filthy state of the huts in which the Baganda live had
not a little to do with it. Kaumpuri is also the name
of the lubare, or deity supposed to be the cause of the
evil. Several sorcerers belong to this deity, and are
believed to be possessed of the evil spirit, and of its
power to visit any particular house and garden, when
the natives at once flee. On this occasion it broke
out in the royal palace among the king's wives,
several of whom died in a few hours. Hence there
197

198 The Plague.
was a stampede of the king and chiefs from Rubaga
to the hill of Nabulagala. One sorcerer set to work
to check the disease. He made a pipe some five 01
six feet long, in which he put some noxious weeds.
and walked round the courts of Rubaga, smoking thf
formidable charm ! Mackay remarks that the treat
ment might disinfect the place, or at any rate himself.
Meantime Mackay and Pearson endured many
hardships and privations. For many days at a time
they had nothing but plantains to eat, and to bu_>
these they had parted with all the clothes they coulc
spare. The following entries in his journal at thit
time give a glimpse of the much-talked-of " luxuries
of missionaries."
" March 13th, 1 881. —The hours of daylight are
very precious, as we have only one candle left, and
we do not know when we may get more. Fat and
butter are not to be had. Hence every hour of light
must be filled up with useful work, for after dark we
must just sit in the dark, as we have had to do for
some time, and for many days at intervals before. I
miss a nightlight, especially for reading or writing a
little. I have always grudged the hours of day for
these purposes, but now I must do without the
evening hours of reading for improvement How I
thank my dear father for my well-stored mind, which
enables me to enjoy many an hour's meditation."
Then comes a red-letter day, which missionaries in
distant lands can well understand.

The Mail. 199
' March 14th. — I had been busy all forenoon trans-
lating, and had set to work continuing printing our
first book of texts, etc. I had my composing-stick
in hand, and was in the middle of the line ' God so
loved the world that He gave' — when I heard a
shout outside. It was our boys welcoming the man
whom we had sent to Usukuma two months ago.
On goes my slouch-hat and white canvas coat, and
out I run to hear the news, and open my eyes for
letters from home.
" Question and question tumble one on the top of the
other, with fragments of answers and salaams from this
and that white, black, and yellow friend in the lands
south of the Nyanza. Pearson opens the small bundle
which had left the hands of Stokes that morning
on the lake, where he and Rev. Mr. O'Flaherty had
arrived the previous day. God be praised for their
preservation from every danger by land and lake,
and for this bundle of letters from England !
" Pearson is letter ' sorter.' ' Mackay, Mackay,
Mackay, Pearson, Mackay, Mackay.' Three of mine
to every one of his, and I chuckle with glee and think
of the contents. My total is nearly forty letters, and
Pearson has fifteen. Not satisfied, but craving more,
I call out, ' Where are my papers ? I know my folks
always send me lots of papers ! ' We only hope that
the papers will come by Stokes himself, and we
proceed to read what we have. My last from home
was dated June 5th, 1880 ; now I have a pile running

200 The Plague.
on to September 23rd (six months ago). Other
letters from England and Germany and the interior
of Africa fill up the rest of my budget.
" The moon is full and the sky clear and calm, and
by this light I continue to read long after the sun is
down. Our remaining candle we light, and read and
remark on events till a late hour.
" Many good men are dead, but saddest of all to us
is the news that our dear and true friend Rev. Pre
bendary Wright is now no more. Salisbury Square
seems strange to us already.
" We have nothing to go upon here as to when to
expect letters. After we get a packet, we expect
nothing for three months, and then we begin to think
that before another three months are over we may
hear again. When we send a mail off, we have much
more trouble than merely stamping and posting.
First, we have to consider which of our men we can
spare, then some of these are sure to refuse ; so we
try others, till we make up a complement of four.
Then each has to get calico in advance, to wear, and
calico to buy food with on the way, as also cowrie
shells. Next, each has to get a gun and powder and
caps, and invariably each has some request of his
own — petty debts which we must pay for him, etc.
Meantime we have arranged with the leader of some
canoes that mean to start for the embarkation of our
men. His demands have to be satisfied, else the
letter-carriers will be refused passage when they reach

An Ungrateful Envoy. 201
the lake. Frequently, after paying for their passage,
they have had to return to us, as they were refused
permission to go on board ! When their backs are
turned, I am glad, for generally we have been writing
till very late the night before, and in the morning the
packet has to be made up and sealed, and then
sewed in strong calico, with a band so as to be
slung round the neck of the carrier. What would we
not give for just a good Scotch herring-boat on this
lake ! But the time is, I hope, near, when I shall be
able to set about building a steam launch for ourselves."
A new era dawned on the Mission on the 18th of
March, with the arrival of the Rev. P. O'Flaherty.
Mr. Stokes accompanied him, but started again for
the coast on April ist, and a few days afterwards
Mr. Pearson also left the country. Mr. O'Flaherty
brought with him the three Baganda envoys who
had been sent as ambassadors to Queen Victoria, but
it is questionable whether their visit to England in
any way promoted the interests of the Mission, for
they all returned to their old ways and their old
superstitions, and one of them (Namkade) conceived
a great dislike to white men, and continued ever after
to be an open enemy to the missionaries. On one
occasion he bribed the katikiro with presents he had
received in England, to take back from the mis
sionaries a piece of ground the king had presented
them with.
The king was very fond of controversy, and

202 The Plague.
greatly enjoyed the discussions at court between
Mr. O'Flaherty and the Mussulmans. Indeed, he
frequently, out of a spirit of pure mischief, asked
questions which he very well knew would lead to
bitter feeling and angry words. Each time the Arabs
breathed out venom and opposed Mr. O'Flaherty to
the utmost of their power.
Still many pupils — chiefs and slaves — were allowed
to go to the Mission Station, which was the desire of'
Mackay's heart, as even although after a few months
they might be suddenly ordered off to some other part
of the country, the good news was disseminated. The
Baganda are very eager pupils, and are besides very
clever at learning to read and write. As a rule it \
only took Mackay a couple of months to teach the
younger lads to read fluently, although they did not
even know the alphabet at the beginning of thati
time. Regarding his teaching, he says : " I feel sure that
in this respect alone the Christian influence of the
Mission is very great in the country ; it is unques
tionably felt, otherwise there would be less fear at
court of our perverting the minds of the youth of the
land." The work of God began to take root again, as it
did during the first happy months of Mackay's resi
dence in the country, and his heart was greatly
encouraged, notwithstanding the open hostility of the
Arabs, and the trials caused by the French Romish

The Queen Dowager. 203
priests, who, although on good terms with the Pro
testant missionaries, never ceased to play their old
game of proselytising.
Secular work also prospered, and Mackay describes
himself humorously as "engineer, builder, printer,
physician, surgeon, and general artificer to Mtesa,
Kabaka* of Uganda, over-lord of Unyoro, etc."
By the month of June the plague greatly increased,
and in most cases proved fatal. Many applied to
Mackay for medicine, but the disease being new to
him he declined to prescribe for it. He, however, did
his utmost to get the king first to understand, and then
to enforce some sanitary measures, so as to check and
ultimately stamp out the pestilence. The king himself
had long been ailing, and the " Queen Dowager " (of
whom Captain Speke says much, in his " Journal of the
Discovery of the Source of the Nile ") came to visit
him. She was one of Suma's wives, and generally
looked upon as Mtesa's mother ; but his real mother
was sold by Suma to an Arab, and by him carried out
of the country — where ?
As Uganda has its kabaka or king, so there must
always be a mother to the king, occupying her own
capital, holding her own court, and having her own
chiefs, each holding an office corresponding to Mtesa's
officers of state, e.g. katikiro (premier), Mkwenda,
Sekibobo, etc. The old heathen had been a great
• The word kabaka is higher than king, being synonymous with
Kaiser.

204 The Plague.
hindrance to the entrance of Christianity into the
country. When Mukasa, the incarnation of the
lubare (or the devil), went to court in great state,
at Christmas, 1879 and Mtesa, at Mackay's earnest
instigation, refused to see the national deity, it was
old Namasole, the Queen Dowager, and her court of
females, who succeeded in persuading the king to
abjure Christianity. After that, however, she did not
interfere with the missionaries.
She seldom visited the king, and on this occasion
her object was to prescribe for his complicated
maladies — the cure being that he remove from
the country all the donkeys !
Now, Mackay had procured a donkey for Mr.
O'Flaherty to ride on to court every day, and had
forged a bit and a pair of stirrups, and manufactured
a saddle. The mission station, at this time, was
situated three miles distant from the royal quarters,
and as Mr. O'Flaherty was getting old, he felt the
walk there and back too much, in the great heat.
Mtesa at once remembered the mission donkey and
objected to her Majesty's proposal, but of course he
had to yield. Accordingly, some pages were sent to
Mackay to say, that " the king wished the loan of the
donkey for Pere Lourdel, as he was sending the latter
to see a distant chief who was very ill ! " Mackay
believed the tale and let the ass go. It is needless to
say, it was never again seen. Mr. O'Flaherty, however,
was able to walk to court pretty frequently, and on

Sanitary Measures. 205
one of these occasions Mackay gave him a list of six
measures, begging him to submit them to the king's
consideration, for the relief and suppression of the
plague. " 1. All persons attacked to sponge repeatedly every
day all over with tepid or cold water, as they find
most soothing. Also to drink plenty of water, hot
preferable to cold.
" 2. Each patient to have a new, small, airy hut
built at once, with a bed off the ground.
" 3. Every house where any one has been sick or
died of the plague to be burnt to the ground, at once,
as also all their mbugus (bark-cloths), etc.
"4. Every house in the land, whether of chief or
peasant, to be clean swept out once a week (say on
Friday), and new grass strewed on the floor." [The
custom in this country is to have old hay rotting on
the floor as long as the house lasts, occasionally
sprinkling new grass on the top of the old filthy
stuff!] " 5. In poor men's houses, and women's quarters,
where goats are generally kept in the house, to sweep
clean out every day. Also nuisance not to be allowed
in the houses, as is universal at night.
" 6. All dead persons, from any cause, poor as well
as rich, to be buried and not thrown into the swamps,
as is universally done with all the poor and victims of
the executioner.
"These suggestions Mr. O'Flaherty took much

206 The Plague.
pains in explaining in open court, and the king
called the attention of the chiefs most strongly to
them. What will be the result remains to be seen,
although if the fellows are alive to their own interests
they will attend to the king's advice to see these
suggestions carried out. I shall be very glad if they
take our advice, and life is thus saved. They may
listen next to our lessons for the cure of the greater
plague of sin and eternal death. The Lord grant it !
" I have heard that all the dead are ordered to
be buried, instead of being thrown in the swamps.
Those killed by the executioners will, I fear, continue
to be chopped in pieces and thrown into the jungle
as formerly. The fact that the potters (who get their
clay in the swamps) have been especial victims of the
pestilence, shows, I think, that the swamps have much
to do with fostering the terrible scourge.
"One result of Mr. O'Flaherty's instructions is
very manifest. On all the roads bands of women
have been set to work to hoe and scrape . and sweep
all the highways, burning much of the rubbish, but of
course not all. Certain petty officers were appointed
to see the work carried out, and they have already
done wonderfully well. Their method has been to
compel the owner of each garden to clean the road
in front of his fence. All poor slaves passing by af e,
of course, forced to lend a hand, whatever they are
carrying being detained until they have done a good
piece of work. I was much amused the other evening

A Young Amazon. 207
at seeing two women hoeing on the road near our
place, when there came past a lad with a stick in his
hand and a bunch of plantains on his head. The
women ordered him to help them to carry off the
weeds. He declined, when suddenly one of them — a
strong young woman — rushed at him to catch him.
The fellow ran, and the woman after him. Down
tumbled the poor lad, and the stout woman tumbled
over him. She seized his stick, and guarding the
bunch of plantains compelled him to take her hoe
and work for her. So the man had to yield to the
Amazon and fall to work, amid the merry jeers of
the females. I complimented her on her feat, and
walked away.
" But the outside of the cup and platter are easily
cleaned, and I have seen no attempt made as yet to
purify the filthy houses. Doubtless the very style of
building universally adopted in Uganda must prove
unhealthy, even although the inside were scrupulously
clean — which it never is. The houses have no walls ;
all is roof, like a beehive, with the grass coming down
to the ground, and therefore the lower part, being
buried to carry off the rain, always rotting. When
I show them how to make bricks they will begin to
learn how to build more healthy houses. Some say
that the king has ordered all old huts to be pulled
down. That alone will help to diminish disease."
The year 1881 was a time of great rain, forming
a striking contrast to the drought of the previous

208 The Plague.
year. After the mission was reinforced Mackay
began to build a house for their accommodation. He
writes : " Rain and thunderstorms very frequent, and
are really terrific at times. Close on the equator and
near the lake, we are in the centre of atmospheric
disturbance. The rustle of the wind among the great
green fronds of the plantain trees sounds wild, like a
cataract. Squalls rise at any moment from a dead
calm, but they never last long, although they are
violent. The roof of my hut is nearly blown off, and
leaks badly in many places. Under the hut, however,
the ground brings forth abundantly, and one may as
easily see the crops growing, as the Irishman heard
his cabbages growing larger. I mean to make the
house fire-proof, as far as the materials will allow,
and also sufficiently comfortable for an Englishman
to live in. The plan I have fixed upon is novel. To
use sun-dried brick would arouse suspicion, as the
Arabs have told the king that we build military forts
with bricks. I am therefore erecting a great framed
structure of wild palm (which is the only wood prool
against white ants and other insects), and a thatched
roof, which, with a wide verandah all round, will keep
off rain from the wattle-and-daub walls. The house
proper will have a flat roof of trees and clay, and
between that and the sloping thatch there will be a
large space, which we may use as an upper storey."
Mtesa was much interested in the progress of the
house, and supplied poles, grass, etc. ; he also issued

At Home with the Baganda. 209
an order for all the workers in wood and iron in the
country to go to Mackay for instruction in handicraft,
the old men sending a lad as an apprentice, and the
younger ones working themselves. As the apprentices
lived far away, the missionaries asked the king for a
piece of ground on which they might build temporary
huts. He at once increased the mission land to about
twenty acres, part of which contained many hundreds
of plantain trees.
Meantime, while Mr. O'Flaherty represented the
cause at court, Mackay was more than occupied in
teaching reading and writing, and other school work,
teaching artisan work, building, designing, planning,
providing food for all, and giving medicine to numerous
patients. He says : " I only wish I could spend the
whole day learning and teaching with books. . . .
Every man should be encouraged to acquire a
thorough knowledge of the language. Others can
come and at once take their place at manual labour,
but it must always be the men who have become
most familiar with the language who can teach and
preach. . . . Among the savages we have got to be
savage, or at least semi-savage. Their little loves and
hates we have to take an interest in, perhaps much
on the same principle on which passengers on board
ship show great interest in the play of a porpoise or
any other trifle. Still it is necessary that we make
ourselves at home among the people and learn to like
them and their country. Thus alone can we elicit
14

210 The Plague.
their sympathy, and get them to regard us as their
friends, and thus only too can we become acquainted
with the finesse of their language, so as to be able to
express ourselves without exciting their risible facul
ties. It is an easy thing for a European to learn a
smattering of these black men's tongues, just as
negroes learn pigeon-English, but it is a very difficult
matter to talk ' like a nigger,' and until we can do
this we fail in being able to teach them, as we ought,
the knowledge of God and His Redemption.
" The Church of England is not the best for giving
elbow-room to a layman, therefore I am determined,
if God spares me to return home, to go up for ordina
tion by the Church of England. I am even studying
for that at present, my object of course being to
come back to Uganda immediately after taking
priest's orders, for the mission here is not at an end.
I have all along seen that a great and effectual door
is open to our work here, although there are many
adversaries." * Some jottings from his log-book are
interesting at this time : —
* Later on, as the work developed, he gave up all idea of taking
orders, believing that it was best in the interests of the mission that
he should continue to be a layman. He found he had more influence
as such. His manual labours brought him into immediate and con.
stant personal relations with a large number of boys and men, whom
he taught not only to handle tools, but also to read and under-
stand the Scriptures, and to whom his life was a constant source of
instruction. The unconscious influence of a good man is often more
influential than his verbal teaching, and certainly the living epistle is
the most valuable of all commentaries upon the printed one.

Snowballing. 211
" Oct. 20th, 1 88 1.— To-day my pupils finished read
ing St Matthew's Gospel. I think they have under
stood it all to a certain extent, and at all events they
express their joy at what they have read, and their
belief in the sacred Word. I hope now to take up the
Acts of the Apostles with them, as I have several
copies, and there is great value in bringing before
these heathen inquirers the story of how the heathen
world of old first heard the story of salvation.
" Oct. 23rd. — Soon after noon we had a very severe
thunderstorm. The quantity of hail which fell was
remarkable — great pellets, larger than pigeons' eggs.
For a short time the ground presented a white appear
ance, and this under the equator I A ridge some six
inches deep lay along each side of the house, where it
fell from the slope of the roof. Our boys gathered
bucketfuls, and I initiated them into the pleasure of
snowballing. Much remained unmelted until the
next day, showing that the temperature of the hail
must have been very low. But what a blasted appear
ance all the country has assumed since ! Every plan
tain leaf is turned to shreds, and many trees felled.
All the standing crop of Indian corn terribly damaged.
Pumpkins, tobacco, and cassava all leafless, and the
ground strewn with foliage, like autumn in England.
The natives predict much hunger in consequence.
Upwards of two inches were shown by the rain gauge,
but the real amount must be much more, for the
lumps of hail rebounded as they fell, like ivory balls.

212 The Plague.
"Nov. 6th. — The country is recovering from the
terrible havoc produced by the hail. So rapidly does
vegetation rise, that Stanley described Uganda well,
as being ' a land that knows no Sabbath.'
" Door and window frames of smoothly planed hard
wood I have been fitting into the new house, to the
great astonishment of all visitors. The walls too we
are building up to plumb and squaring, and soon all
posts and wattles will be concealed. This is the first
house of the kind in the land, and people never tire
of coming to see it.
" Once more Mtesa has been talking on the subject
of marrying the Queen's daughter ! ' I would put
away all my women,' said he, ' and give you a road
through the Masai country by which to bring your
ships (!), if only you bring me an English princess.
These Bazungu are strange men ; I would give them
wives here if they like, but they have one, only one
each in Europe ; their heart seems bound up in that
one : I cannot understand it.'
"Nov. 21 st. — The king's cows are in the habit of
wandering about with no herd. They fatten best in
that way. One has been speared by some fellow who
wished for a piece of beef. The cow was afterwards
slaughtered for the king's own use, but over forty
men were arrested and punished severely, while four
or five were burnt alive as a warning to the public !
"Nov. 23rd. — A young elephant was captured
recently, and of course presented to the king, who sent

A Young Elephant. 213
it down by a chief to me, saying that he wished to
hand it over to my charge, that I might teach it to
obey and carry loads, etc., like Indian elephants. We
were unwilling, however, for such a charge in addition
to all our other work, which is already too much for
our time and strength. Neither could we afford to
keep the hungry animal. We therefore sent back
word that if they first built a suitable house to put
the elephant in, and supplied two men to attend it,
with food regularly, for the men and elephant, we
should not object to look after the animal. This we
knew they would be slow to do.
" Dec. 10th. — Yesterday in court complaints were
made that we are building a castle of stone, and
bribing many Baganda, under pretence of teaching
reading, to join us as soldiers to fight in the new fort.
' They are teaching our children to rebel,' said some
counsellors ; others, ' They teach evil things ; ' others,
' We shall arrest all lads who go to the Bazungu to
read.' ' No,' said Mtesa ; ' send first some one to spy,
under pretence of learning to read, and then we can
find out how many go to read and what they are
taught.' A great chief (Kyambalango), who is an
old pupil of mine, ventured to defend us, saying that
he ' had seen our house, and that it was no fort : that
Mtesa had given Mackay, long ago, permission to
build as he liked, — let him therefore go on.' "
Writing home at this time Mackay says : " P£re
Girault has returned from King Roma's (see p. 159).

214 The Plague.
He speaks very contemptuously of the place. He did
not do so a year ago, when he went there to establish
a station just on hearing that I meant to reconnoitre
there. I look on his troubles there as a judgment
from Heaven on his false dealing with me on the
matter last year when we were together. I cannot
but regard the presence of the Romanists in Uganda
as a warning to us to be less lax in our standard for
admission into the visible Church than we might have
otherwise been, and at the same time an incitement
to us to be more faithful and more active in the great
work of evangelising. If the Protestants of the world
have let three centuries pass before stretching out
their hands to direct the lost negro to the way of
salvation, they cannot expect to begin, at this late
date, under the same favourable auspices as they might
have begun upon much earlier. It is also a crying
shame to Christianity that Mohammedans have been
here before us. There can be no possible excuse for
our allowing Islam to first degrade all Africa before
we take the first little step to elevate it."
Mackay toiled in the sweat of his brow and applied \
himself to all sorts of manual labour ; indeed, there
was nothing he was unwilling to do, so as to remove '
prejudice, and promote the spiritual good of the I
Baganda, and assist the cause of the mission. He j
often writes : " Oh that I could win their love, and j
that they would put away their childish suspicions?
and learn that I am their friend I " It was always a

" White Men Know Everything!' 215
source of regret to him that so much of his time was
occupied in building and other industrial work. He
would have liked better to have spent it all in studying
the language, teaching, translating and conversing
with the natives ; but his intense earnestness of sou'
would never alone have given him the great influence
for good which he acquired in the country. His
physical and mental power and his readiness of re
source in emergencies (for which his training as an
engineer had peculiarly fitted him), had all to be
brought into play in this pioneer stage of the mission,
and attracted around him vast numbers of Baganda,
to " see the wonderful things the white man did."
He was always welcomed at the palace whenever
he chose to go. One day he took up a glazier's
diamond with him, and showed the king how to cut
glass. He also produced a yoke, and showed how
oxen are harnessed. Mtesa said : " There must re
main nothing more for white men to know — they
know everything ! " " We only know yet the be
ginning of things. Every year we make advances in
knowledge," Mackay answered.
" Can Baganda ever become clever like the
Bazungu ? " asked Mtesa.
"Yes, and even more clever." The king laughed
and said, " he did not believe it." The chiefs all
laughed too. " Is it not the case," said Mackay,
" that the scholar generally becomes wiser than his
teacher? The skill of the Bazungu to-day is much

216 The Plague.
greater than their skill a year ago, while to-morrow
they will improve on the wisdom of to-day. The
pupil stands on the shoulders of him that taught
him. He sees all that his master sees, and a great
deal farther too."
This they all understood, and seemed delighted
with the idea. The court rose soon after, when
Kyambalango and other chiefs took him by the hand,
in the Uganda fashion.
Writing at this time, he says : "It is very hard to
get the natives to do anything. They are willing
enough to stand and see their slaves work, but I
insist upon them digging themselves, along with me,
else no food. Of course I shall give a little calico to
steady workers. Here it is where a practical Chris
tianity is so essential. Any amount of mere preach
ing would never set these lazy fellows to work ; and
if only the slaves work, what better, are matters than
before ? I have made work so prominent a part of
my teaching that I am called Mzungu-wa Kazi (white
man of work). I tell them that God made man with
only one stomach, but with two hands, implying they
should work twice as much as they eat. But most
of them are all stomach and no hands ! That I work
with my hands is a great marvel, and should be a
salutary lesson."
Concerning Christmas 1881 he writes : —
" Christmas Day. — All our Wangwana turned up
early, expecting something, as they believed it was

A Christmas Dinner. 217
a ' great day ' with us. We gave them four yards of
strong calico each, as well as a hundred cowries per
man, to add some luxuries to their beef and bananas.
Having got them all sitting round the room on mats
I had spread for the purpose, I gave them then a
lesson on the meaning of the day to the whole world,
and exhorted them earnestly to leave off their life of
mere animalism, and reflect that there is a world beyond
this, in which we must stand before the Great Judge.
These men are nominal Mussulmans, but neither pro
fessors nor practisers of the creed, for they know
nothing at all of it save to swear by ' Allah.' What
would I not give to see some, were it only one or two
of them, coming back again at times to ask something
more about the coming down of God Himself as Man,
which I spoke to them of this morning !
" Having bought a large earthenware pot for the
occasion, with lots of bananas and native beer, I got
our boys on to cook with all their might. Bundle
after bundle of firewood disappeared in the flames,
and ever on I gave out more, while meanwhile I tried
my hand on a semi-dumpling, semi-plum-pudding.
We had asked all our pupils to come, and by mid
day we had a crowd waiting. All being ready, we
spread mats on the floor, with a spread of exquisitely
green fronds of the banana ; then, in came the basket-
fuls of mashed mere, and junks of meat. Plenty of
salt being our only relish, we said grace in Luganda,
and all fell to with a will."

CHAPTER XIV.
GOING TO MARKET
" Tis fit that we should do our part ,
Becoming, that mankind should learn
That we are not to be surpass'd
In fatherly concern." Wm. Wordsworth.
WRITING on ist January, 1882, Mackay says •
" Once more we are spared to open a new
year. May it be more of God than the last, and
whatever it brings with it, may the kingdom of our
Lord Jesus be more advanced, and His blessed name
much more fully known and believed in, in this
heathen land. The work is great and the time is
short, but the strength is not of man, but of God.
"Jan. 8th. — Had a pleasant afternoon with my
young men, studying two of the Psalms. Oh, how
welcome is Sunday when it comes round, bringing a
few hours' leisure to obtain some spiritual refreshment
in this land of carnality ! "
Much secular work continued to be prosecuted
during this year. Mackay finished his wonderful
house, and the fame of it spread far and wide, so
that high and low, rich and poor, went to see it
318

The Wonderful Cart! 219
Windows 1 and hinged doors with locks ! a double
storey, and a stair with a balustrade ! Such things
had never been dreamed of. Then, more strange still,
" the white man had made an oven in which he baked
bread." The consternation of the native potters
knew no bounds when Mackay got two clay pots and
cut a square door in the side of each, and a hole for
a chimney in the crown of the larger one. He allowed
them to bake the curious-looking sherds in their own
way, after which he contrived to make a very prac
tical oven, by building the two one over the other
with fire below, and the smoke passing up between.
He also made a brick-kiln, and having at last suc
ceeded in getting his steam machinery from Kagei,
where it had been lying rusting for years, chiefly
owing to the intrigues of hostile Arabs, who were
especially jealous lest he should build a better boat
than their own, he erected a steam saw-mill. But
the wonder of wonders was the cart, which he painted
brightly in red and blue.
One day, when Mr. O'Flaherty was at court, and
there was some talk on wealth, and what the wealth
of a country consisted in, he told the king that he
ought to cultivate his land, and work his iron, and
make a market where people could buy and sell daily,
adding, " This seems to be the last country in the
world that God made, for everywhere else people
buy and sell, and have markets, and become rich
thereby, but here there is nothing of the kind."

220 Going to Market.
Immediately it was decreed that, there and then,
an enclosure was to be built in the palace grounds
where people could buy and sell ; but so ridiculous
were their ideas of barter, that the court not only
decreed that anyone selling anything anywhere else
would be chopped in pieces, but they agreed at this
sitting what was to be the price, in cowries, of every
article !
Mackay having broken in a couple of bullocks to
pull the cart, set off one day to the market, three
miles distant, to buy a load of plantains. When he
got there, it was raining heavily and no one about,
so he unyoked, and went to see a young elephant
which had just been caught. Meantime the king,
to whom every trifle is reported, heard that Mackay
had come to market and had left disappointed, so he
ordered his wives to go at once and sell plantains,
and to take a good look at the cart so as to be able
to tell him all about it !
After an amusing description of the native curiosity
as to how he fastened the oxen in, most believing that
he tied them on by the tail, he continues : " Off we
went, and the crowd after us, down the steep hill,
when I clapped on the brake, and thus kept the cart
from overpowering the oxen. At the foot I jumped
in amid the delighted yells of all. At every step the
crowd grew, and yelled, and screamed with delight,
and at every yell the oxen increased their pace ; but
all ran along, before, beside, and behind, until I had

A Roaring Retinue. 221
a roaring retinue a thousand strong, a procession
quite as great as if the kabaka himself had headed it.
Panting and breathless they followed to the swamp,
or more than a mile. Here we had to outspan and
cross with care, but with no mishap. Yoked again,
and drove home, when a new crowd collected, and it
was difficult with their noise to prevent the oxen
from being injured by going so fast."
A few days after this adventure, Manoga, a chief,
the king's tailor and factotum, called on Mackay and
remained to dinner. He said that " they had been
talking in court about the journey in the cart, and
that the king had been told that the vehicle was a
most formidable affair, that it was uncontrollable and
killed people ! "
Mackay put the chief in the cart and drove him
along the walk in front of the Mission-house, with
his own hands. He was delighted, and expressed his
wonder that people should say such things about the
cart, seeing that it could be made to go slow or fast,
at will.
One wonders at such childishness, but he had ever
such idle suspicions to contend with. Whether he
drew water from the depths of the earth, and made
it flow through a pump, or whether he showed them
how to catch the sun's rays in a lens, until they
danced and screamed with delight, sooner or later the
majority were sure to attribute the marvellous powers
of the white man to witchcraft. Still, as such secular

222 Going to Market.
work awoke the interest of the natives, and helped to
educate them, he did not allow himself to be dis
couraged, but continued to prosecute all kinds oj
works for the public weal. He made them bridge^
and viaducts, which excited as much astonishmeni
as Stephenson's railway over Chat Moss did the
English public. He spared no pains to prove to
them that he had their interest at heart ; and time
removed suspicion and enabled them to see that he
who did so much for their temporal needs must be in
earnest when he pressed home Divine truths also.
Writing to a German friend, he says : " As to the
opinion that a missionary's life is richer in faith and
nearer to God than the lives of other Christians, I
believe that this ought to be so, but in actual life
everything seems to join in preventing this from
being the case. Though we may do much, our teach
ing is feeble, the example of our daily lives feebler
still. God be praised, who in spite of our unworthi-
ness and feebleness can and does bless His own
word!" When his friends pressed him to return to England
to recruit, he replied : " I cannot forsake my work
till God gives me some indication that the time for
that is come. With our present feeble force, and
work of many kinds growing in our hands, I have no
right to leave while I have strength left me."
Spiritual fruit began to be gathered in the spring
of 1882, and on the anniversary of the arrival of Mr.

Baptism of Converts. 223
O'Flaherty, five young men, whom the missionaries
believed had received the truth, were baptised. In
ais journal is the following entry :
" 18th March, 1882. — The week is over, and I feel
glad, not only that it is so, but also for the events
which have transpired.
" Several days' hard work I had in cleaning out the
house and rearranging the rooms, so as to receive our
guests to-day. For not only would our house be full
at the dinner, but we expected some of the French
men also, while a suitable place had to be prepared
for a sort of chapel in which the candidates should be
baptised. "Five lads were to-day enrolled in the visible
Church of Christ, through baptism, by Mr. O'Flaherty.
" 1. S ember a Kumundo, who received the Christian
name of Mackay.
" 2. Mukasa (same name as the lubare), who
received the name of Edwardo, after Mr. Edward
Hutchinson. " 3. Mukasa, who received the name of Filipo, as
Mr. O'Flaherty is generally called here.
"4. Buza Baliao. He has received the name of
our beloved late friend, Henry Wright (spelt Henri
Raiti). " 5. Mutakirambule. He has received the name of
Yakobo. " Our earnest prayer is that these lads, all of them
grown up to manhood, may be baptised not only by

224 Going to Market.
water, but by the Holy Ghost and with fire. Lord
Jesus, make them all-in-all Thine own, and may they
be indeed the seed of Thy Church in this land. We
have long looked for this day. Now that we have
seen it with our eyes, may we give our Lord no rest
until He will give these young Christians His grace
and Spirit.
" There are many other lads reading here regularly,
and who are candidates for baptism. Many of our
best pupils have gone to the country also.
"The Baptismal Service we translated into Luganda
during the week. The service was over early. All
forenoon I had plenty to do in getting dinner ready
for about thirty lads. M. Pere Levinhac made himself
very pleasant I had baked a loaf and made a raisin
pudding or dumpling. We slaughtered a cow yester
day, and made a good brew of banana beer. Two
days ago I went to the market with the cart, and
brought back eighteen large bunches of plantains. I
had four large potfuls boiled, besides two pots of
beef. So all had enough and to spare, for there
remained over, and all seemed delighted with their
treat. Our female servants and guests were not
forgotten either, and came in for a share of the beef,
bananas, and beer."

CHAPTER XV.
MACKAY AS UNDERTAKER.
'J And last, as sunk the setting sun,
And Evening, with her shadows dun,
The gorgeous pageant passed,
'Twas then of life a mimic show,
Of human grandeur here below,
Which thus beneath the fatal blow
Of Death must fall at last." W. Allston.
COLONEL GRANT, in alluding to the surprising
confidence in which the Baganda held Mackay.
refers to the funeral arrangements of Namasole, the
Queen Dowager of the country, with which he wab
entrusted, and the extraordinary fame he won thereby.*'
In writing his father, 27th March, 1882, Mackay says :
" The King's mother has just passed away, and not
only she, but an old man, an elder brother of the
king, has died to-day also. The drums are now
being beaten at the palace, to frighten away the
King of Terrors,' and escort the departed spirits into
the unseen world. The ghosts of kings and great
men alone are here thought to live after death. They
are said to enter certain sorcerers and sorceresses,
* See Blackwood's Magazine, May 189a
"5 15

226 Mackay as Undertaker.
who henceforth become privileged persons. This
belief is something like the Hindu dogma of trans
migration of souls. The old queen died of typhoid
fever, as Pere Lourdel, who saw her, informs us. He
was asked by Mtesa to give her medicine, but she
would not take the Muzungu's (white man's) medicine,
nor even allow any one near her wearing calico or
anything foreign. So her diviners brought their
charms, and the native druggers drenched her with
their physic. She collapsed next day and died."
Continuing his letter on the 7th May, he says :
' Since I penned the above all hope of sending ofi
letters was knocked on the head. The Royal mourn
ing lasted a month, during which time no work was
allowed to be done in the land. No boat could start,
nor any one carry a load, until the queen was buried.
But while all had respite from work I was toiling
hard night and day, for thirty days, for all were
waiting for me. The morning after Namasole died,
Mr. O'Flaherty and I went to court to pay our respects
to the king. All the chiefs were clad in rags, and
crying, or rather roaring, with their hands clasped
above their heads. Mtesa determined to make a
funeral to surpass in splendour any burial that had
ever taken place in the country. Such is the desire
of every king to outstrip his predecessors. Fifty
thousand bark cloths were ordered to be levied in
the land, besides some thousands of yards of English
calico. Mtesa asked me 'how we buried royalty in

'As Large as Possible/" 227
Europe ? ' I replied that we made three coffins, the
inner of wood, the next of lead, and the outer of wood
covered with cloth. I knew the custom of the Baganda
in burying their kings, viz., to wrap the body — after
mummifying it — in several thousand bark cloths, and
bury the great pile in a huge grave, building a house
over all and appointing certain witches to guard the
grave for generations.
" ' Would you be able to make the three coffins ? '
Mtesa asked me. I replied, ' Yes, if you find the
material.' He said he had no lead, but he had a lot of
copper trays and drums which he would supply, if I
could manufacture a coffin out of them.
" Frequently we had been twitted by the king and
court for failing to work for him ; accordingly 1 agreed
to be undertaker, thinking it a small affair. But then
the dimensions ! Everything was to be made as large
as possible HI Immediately all the copper in the
king's stores was turned out, and sent down to our
Mission. Fine large bronze trays of Egyptian work
manship (presents probably from General Gordon),
copper drums, copper cans, and copper pots and
plates — all were produced, and out of the materials I
was to make a coffin for the queen. All the artificers
were ordered to my assistance." The rest of the
description is chiefly taken from his journal : —
" Next morning I went off to Rusaka, some three
miles distant, to measur* the body. Much objection
was made by the royal ladies there at my going in

228 Mackay as Undertaker.
to measure the corpse. But my friend Kyambalango
was there, as master of ceremonies, and he explained
that I was commissioned by the king. But I was
somewhat taken aback on being told by some of the
other chiefs that I should have measured not the
corpse, but the dimensions of the grave, and make
the coffins to fit the latter ! I told them that there was
not copper enough in the land to make a box larger
than necessary ; that if there was, I would willingly
make a coffin as large as a mountain, but as it was, I
could make the inner coffins to suit the body, and the
outer one as large as a house if they liked.
" Meantime Gabunga, the ' Grand Admiral ' and
lord of the lake, had gone to the forest for wood. I
got all the native smiths together, and converting the
building, which we were fitting up for a school, into a
smithy, all hands were set to work beating out the
copper into flat plates. Tools, of course, we had to
supply for punching, shearing, and riveting, but
before a couple of days were over, the native smiths
thought good to steal a drill. How many copper
nails they stole no one knows, only these disappeared
far faster than the work required.
" Gabunga first brought broad planks, adzed by
canoe builders, but so irregular and crooked that they
were fit for little or nothing. A huge tree had been
chopped down to make two boards ! I asked him to
fetch some solid logs. These he declared impossible
to transport ; however, he tried, and next evening he

Two Inner Coffins. 229
returned with some two hundred men dragging a
large slice of a tree, by the natural creepers they had
tied round it. I laughed at the shapeless thing, and
declared I could carry it alone! At once I took
the body of the cart off its wheels, and lashed the log
under the axle with leather ropes. Then with ont
hand I pulled along the road a log which had taken a
regiment to drag, to the consternation and joy of all.
They yelled and clapped their hands and jumped
about with delight at such a wonder, each one
rushing up to me and taking me by the hand, in
ecstasy at such a prodigy. ' Mackay is truly the
lubare ' (= the devil, but their god).
" So they must have the cart to fetch trees with, in
spite of my protestations that they did not know
how to manage it, and would be sure to break it or
come by an accident to themselves. Before they were
out of the plantation they landed it several times in
the ditch! Still they were determined, so I sent a
couple of Wangwana with them, and was agreeably
surprised to find them come back next day with a
fair-sized log under the axle, and the cart actually
safe and sound. But they did not want to take the
cart again.
" In ten days' time we had finished the two inner
coffins, the first being of wood, cushioned all inside
with cotton wool, and covered all over, inside and
out, with snow-white calico secured with a thousand
ropper tacks. Ornamental work I made by cutting

230 Mackay as Undertaker.
patterns out of black and white pocket-handkerchiefs,
and tacking them on. The copper box measured
seven feet long by three feet wide and three feet high,
shaped like a coffin. But the king's copper was
enough for little more than the lid and ends, so we
had to supply for the sides four sheets of copper
plate, which the king paid for at once in ivory, as
we did not think well to give these away out of the
Mission stores gratis. We gave our workmanship
and skill and time gratis, besides the tools, and all
the iron nails (no small quantity). We received
copper wire as an equivalent for the copper tacks.
Even the copper coffin we neatly lined all over inside
with white calico tacked on to laths which were first
riveted to the copper plate.
" It is needless to describe the worry and trouble
we had, working late and early, and sometimes all
night. At every hour of the day pages were sent
down to inspect the progress and ask when we would
be done. The native workmen, especially the head
men among them, would do almost nothing, and
generally spoiled what they did. They preferred
sitting down all day smoking, and watching how I
did. I was able to get some assistance, however,
from several of the younger fellows.
" When we had the two boxes carried up to the
court and shown to the king, he expressed unbounded
satisfaction, and asked us what we wanted for our
work. We replied that we wanted nothing at all.

Jealousy. 231
But he gave us ten head of cattle on the spot, in
addition to several cows and a hundred bunches of
plantains, besides many gallons of beer, which he sent
while the work was in progress.
" But even in the execution of a small work like
this, which all allowed to be far beyond their own
powers to accomplish, there must needs be an
exhibition of jealousy and ill-feeling on the part of
some — chiefs and Arabs.
" They told the king that we made the coffins
small, much too small for Namasole, because we
wanted the timber to finish our own house with ; that
we had already secreted in our house a lot of boards ;
that perhaps we might show good workmanship, but
we could not work fast.
"The Arabs also asserted that it would take us
some three months to make the large outer box.
Then Namkade (one of the envoys who went to
England) was called in, and was asked how the
English built ? How long did it take them to build a
house ? were they like us, who had been a whole year
over one house, which was not finished yet ?
" Namkade (no friend of ours) replied that the
Bazungu were very slow in building ; in fact, that
they built a piece of a house, and then lived in that
while they worked at building the remainder ! [Pro
bably the envoy had seen repairs going on at some
large mansion while the people were living in it,
or perhaps his ideas could not be separated from a

232 Mackay as Undertaker.
Baganda hut, which can be commenced and finished
in one day, being entirely of reeds and grass, and
which, when needing repair, is simply pulled down or
burnt in five minutes and a new one knocked up in
its place.]
" Mtesa alone stood our friend. He refused to
believe that we had appropriated any boards, while
he said to our accusers that what was done well could
not be done in a day. ' Can a woman cook plantains
well if you hurry her ? ' asked the friendly king.
" We had commenced to cut wood for the large
outer box, which was to measure twelve feet long by
seven feet wide and eight feet high. I was sharpening
the pit-saws and setting them, when an order came
that all the native artisans were to go and make a
box after their own fashion at or near Rusaka (where
the queen died). We knew that this order did not
come from the king, but from the katikiro and chiefs.
Of course the smiths and carpenters left at once.
Mr. O'Flaherty went to court, and was told by Mtesa
that we were to make the box. Still the native
artisans did not return, while a few Mutongoles came
with gangs of men, and carried off all the planks
they could from here, leaving only the huge logs
which Mr. O'Flaherty had cut himself in the forest.
So we put on our own Wangwana to the saws, I
having previously marked off each log into boards.
But who could use the saws ? Such work at first !
Zigzags of every style ; each board varying in thick-

Like a Schooner! 233
ness at every inch. But we held on, and by-and-bye
they got more into the way of it.
" We gave them large supplies of beef and beer
every day, and in a week's time we had about a
hundred boards cut and squared to fit, and nailed
together with strong ribs like the sides of a schooner
When together, it looked like a small house rather
than a coffin !
" In another couple of days we should have been
done of the job, but suddenly our braves decamped,
all except two, leaving us in the lurch. We sent
word to the court, and had the native artisans fetched
at once. These had to be initiated into using the
long saws, but they soon learned, and in a few days'
time we had enough of boards for the lid. Then we
covered the whole outside with native bark cloth, and
lined the inside with pure snow-white calico. Each
side was a piece by itself, made so for transport. A
thousand men arrived to carry the segments, and most
fortunately it did not rain. We put them together
before the king, who challenged all to say if such
workmanship could be done in the country by
Baganda, or if anything of the kind had ever been
seen in the land ?
" Next day we had the king's orders to go to the
burial. He wanted us to go the same day, but we
were too tired, having for a full month been con
stantly at saw and hammer from dawn to midnight,
and often later.

234 Mackay as Undertaker.
" The grave was a huge pit, some twenty feet by
fifteen feet at the mouth, by about thirty feet deep,
It was dug in the centre of the late queen's sleeping-
house — a monstrous hut, some one hundred and fifty
feet in diameter, as usual all roof and no walls, and a
perfect forest of poles inside, the centre ones being
good enough for frigate masts.
" Rusaka stands on a hill of dry sandstone, clay,
and gravel. It is well the stratum is so firm, other
wise serious accidents might have happened from the
sides of the grave slipping.
" Nearly all the excavated gravel had been carried
away, while the monster pit was neatly lined all
round with bark cloth. Into this several thousand
new bark cloths were thrown and carefully spread on
the bottom, filling up the hole a long way. Then the
segments of the huge box were lowered in with much
trouble. I descended and nailed the corners together
" After that I was summoned to the ceremony of
putting the corpse into the first coffin. Thousands of
women were there, yelling with all their might, and a
few with tears in their eyes. Only the ladies of royal
family and the highest chiefs 'were near the corpse,
which by this time had been reduced to a mummy by
constantly squeezing out the fluids with rags of bark
cloth. It was wrapped in a new mbugu, and laid on
the ground. The chiefs half filled the nicely padded
coffin with bufta (bleached calico), then several
bundles of petty charms belonging to the queen were

"He cuts Iron like Thread" ! 235
laid in. After that, the corpse, and then the coffin
was filled up with more bufta. Kimbugwe, Kauta,
and the other chiefs in charge, carried the coffin to
the court, where the grave-house was, when much
more yelling took place. I screwed the lid down, but
such was the attachment of some of the royal ladies
to the deceased that I had to get them peremptorily
ordered away, with their crying and tears and hugging
of the coffin, before I could get near to perform my
duties as undertaker.
"Then came the copper coffin, into which the
other was lowered by means of a huge sheet. The
lid of that had to be riveted down, and that process
was new to the chiefs standing by. ' He cuts iron like
thread,' they said, as the pincers snapped the nails.
' Mackay is a proper smith I ' they all shouted.
"With no mechanical contrivances, it was astonishing
how they got the copper coffin, with its ponderous
contents, lowered into the deep grave without letting
it fall end foremost into the great box below. The
task was effected, however, by means of the great
multitude of men.
"Thousands of yards of unbleached calico (shirt
ing) were then filled in round and over the copper
coffin, until the big box was half full. The remainder
was filled up with bark cloths, as also all the space
round the outside of the box. The lid was lowered,
and I descended once more to nail it down.
Several thousand more mbugus were then laid on

236 Mackay as Undertaker.
till within three feet of the surface, when earth was
thrown in to the level of the floor.
" We returned at dusk, but the burying was not
completed till nearly midnight. Next morning every
man, woman, and child in the land had their heads
shaved, and put off their mourning dress of tattered
mbugus and belts of plantain leaves. The country
had been waiting till we were done with our
carpentry. " Mr. O'Flaherty and I made an estimate of the
value of cloth buried that day in the grave of Queen
Namasole, and we reckon the amount to be about
fifteen thousand pounds sterling! The Arabs made
an independent calculation, counting the calico and
mbugus in equivalent of ivory, and their reckoning
agrees pretty nearly with our own. Such-like is the
barbaric splendour of the court of Uganda. Who
would have thought, in the civilised world, of burying
fifteen thousand pounds' worth of cloth in the grave
of even a queen ?
" Being so inaccessible, one would not have believed
that there was so much cloth in the country, ten or
twelve yards of the dressed calico being sufficient to
buy a slave here, or twenty yards of the coarse stuff
at threepence or fourpence per yard in England.
" What an attempt at achieving a short-lived
immortality ! The woman died a pagan, but her
burial was one fit for a Christian. The text is a good
one from which to preach many a sermon here. Such

The Kings Blacksmith. 237
prodigality in trying to procure a short-lived immor
tality, with no care at all for the immortal soul."
Among the native artisans whom the king sent
to help Mackay in this formidable undertaking, was
Walukaga, or Nua, the head blacksmith. A great
friendship sprang up between them, and Walukaga
visited Mackay afterwards and listened eagerly to all
he was told of the Gospel, and cried out, " How is it
when we were making Namasole's coffin, you told me
none of these good things ? "
Mr. Ashe describes this man as " a splendid Christian,
and one of the most intelligent Africans he ever knew."
In the time of the deep trouble of the mission in
connection with the fate of Bishop Hannington, the
Church Council frequently met in Walukaga's enclo
sure ; and on one of these occasions Mr. Ashe baptised
the young Admiral Gabunga.

CHAPTER XVI.
"THE ELEANOR."
" I looked, and thought the quiet of the scene
An emblem of the Peace that yet shall be,
When o'er earth's continents, and isles between,
The noise of war shall cease from sea to sea,
And married nations dwell in harmony ;
When millions, crouching in the dust to one,
No more shall beg their lives on bended knee,
Nor the black stake be dressed, nor in the sun
The o'er-laboured captive toil, and wish his life were done."
W. C. Bryant.
' I "HE Roman Catholic missionaries withdrew
-¦- altogether from Uganda in the end of 1882, as
they considered the field hopeless. The reason they j
gave the king was that of ill health ! but they told
Mackay, that " it would not do to state to the king
the real reason " ! Most probably they were dis
appointed at not being able to baptise the population
en masse. Mackay says : " Were it their purpose to
put the Scriptures into the hands of their pupils, they
would not call instruction entirely lost when these (
are sent off to different parts of the country, or to
war, as then they would carry a lamp with them.
But their system is to teach only a catechism of their
own peculiar dogmas, and to make their pupils repeat

"No Men at all" / 239
the Pater Noster and Ave Maria, with invocations
to saints. They have purchased since coming here
about fifty little boys, whom they have been training
carefully. As they will take them with them, they
perhaps consider that their duty to the country is
discharged when these lads return as Apostles.
" The time must indeed come round when this or
that member of our mission must return to Europe
for the sake of his health, or because he is discouraged ;
but may the time never come when the Protestant
mission here will be given up. If we can only swim
with the tide, and leave off when things prove adverse,
we should be no men at all. Converts we are bound
to have, even in the most apparently hopeless times.
Our orders are to go into all the world, there being
no limitations as to the likely places merely, or those
where success is most rapid. Now, at any rate, we
will have a fair field and no favour. This has its
disadvantages too, but I need not refer to them. I
only hope that our hands will soon be strengthened,
and the work of our mission carried on with re
doubled vigour in all its branches. Our secret of
power is God's own Spirit."
Early in the year 1883 a letter arrived at the
mission station from Urima, on Smith's Sound (south
end of the lake), saying, " We have arrived ; " leaving
Mackay to guess who the we were. In the end of
January he heard that their goods had been for
warded by an Arab dhow, and were lying at the

240 " The Eleanor.
port (Ntebe). Some jottings from his log are now
interesting : —
"Jan. 24th.— Got a young chief from the king to
get porters to fetch our loads. Set off at cockcrow
with the donkey and four men for Ntebe, to take
charge of our loads. Wishing to shake off the fever,
I marched much of the way on foot. . . . Found the
boxes considerably damaged by wet, but it was too
late in the day to do much in the way of opening and
drying the bales. Our Arab — Said bin Hamed —
is a young man, with a careworn face. He gave me
rice and gravy, and cleared out half a tent for myself
and men to sleep in. The chief of Ntebe, who is a
friend of ours, sent me a sheep and several loads of
plantains, besides beer and sugar-cane. I wish I had
accepted his offer of a native hut in the adjoining
village, for about midnight there came on a terrific
thunderstorm and rain, which lasted for hours. I was
lying on the donkey saddles, on the ground, in the
thin calico tent, and the place being the open beach
there was no shelter whatever. In a few minutes my
blankets were dripping and the floor flooded. So I
got on the top of a bale and sat there, half asleep till
morning. . . . Next night I got a hut, but sleep was
impossible, for fleas and mosquitos, as the hut was
half a cow-byre, half a — well, not a human habitation
at any rate. The following morning I examined the
bales and spread out the calico to dry. . . . Every
tin of petroleum had leaked terribly. All seemed

u Different from the Arabs." 241
to have exploded by the terrible sun of Unyamwezi.
This is a great loss to us, as night-light is hard to
procure here.
"Jan. 27th. — I got porters collected, but just as
they were about to start rain came on, and they all
fled. "Jan. 2gth. — Reached Kijikibezi (nine miles from
the mission station), and put up in an open shed with
all the goods. For security against theft I arranged
bales and boxes so that my servants and I could
sleep on the top of them ; but I scarcely shut an eye
for the cold, as there had been rain again, and the
wind blew chill through the shed, which is all the
hotel that exists in this part of the country. I had
many long conversations with the natives at each
halting-place on social and religious subjects. The
plague has been playing terrible havoc among the
poor people, and I advised them to clean their huts
and thus save their lives. All their charms I showed
them were of no use, for there is but one God, who
was punishing them for worshipping the devil. In
every place they crowded round to listen and hear
the wisdom of the white foreigner, who was so dif
ferent from the Arabs.
" I had been more than a week away, and was glad
to get home. I found Mr. O'Flaherty ill. He seems
not to be able to sleep, from anxiety and worry, when
alone. I had intended starting at once with a few
canoes to fetch our new brethren, but I see now that
16

242 "The Eleanor?
if I leave O'Flaherty by himself for any length of
time, I might see him no more for ever. So the
canoes must go with some of our servants.
" Much work has now to be done in drying our
goods. Our sun helmets are perfectly rotten, as also
many articles of clothing to which we had been
eagerly looking forward, as we were sorely in want
of protection from the strong sun of Uganda. More
than a dozen bottles of medicine broken and the
contents lost. Still, all in all, we are very fortunate,
considering the many risks and the long, long journey.
We feel deeply thankful to our Heavenly Father for
all His gracious provision for our wants.
" Feb. 26th. — Many visitors to-day. One man had
been a sorcerer. His master is a sub-chief, who
recently took eagerly to learning, and to teaching his
women also, but he had suddenly to leave for a distant
place, by the king's orders. To-day he sent us the
present of a fat bullock by the hands of the old
sorcerer. The latter had laid aside his charms on
hearing O'Flaherty teach his master some things
about the true God. There was present also an old
man, a " medicine man " (i.e., half doctor, half wizard),
who said he had heard the fame of our house down
at the lake, and came himself to see. The man who
brought the bullock wanted medicine for a disease
hard to cure. The old " medicine man " volunteered
to give him some, but the other refused, saying he
did not want lubare's (i.e., devil s) medicine, but the

The Sorcerer and the "Medicine-man." 243
Muzungu's, as the Muzungu (white foreigner) is a
man of God.
" The old ' medicine man ' had a string of charms,
which I began to show him the uselessness of. ' Oh,
but they do cure ! ' said he. ' When you are hungry,'
I asked, 'will they cure your hunger? or when you
are thirsty, will you quench thirst by putting them
on your head ? ' The former sorcerer added, ' I had
once a lot of charms like that, but I threw my idols
into the swamp, for I know now that there is but
one God, Katonda, whom the Bazungu know.' The
' medicine man ' seemed to have his faith shaken in
his string of charms, and said that he would come
another day to see us, and bring his friends at the
lake too, to see the wonderful house. I hope he will
come back, and that God may open his eyes to enable
him not only to throw his idols into the swamp, as
the other did, but to see in Jesus Christ the God of
Truth and of Love also."
In the month of May, the Rev. R. P. Ashe arrived
in Uganda, and Mackay soon recognised in him the
same warmth of heart to the Lord Jesus, and the
same burning zeal for missions, which had charac
terised his attached friend Dr. John Smith, who had
fallen asleep on the southern shore of the beautiful
Nyanza just six years previously. Perhaps no two
men were so differently constituted in mind and
temperament as Mackay and Ashe, and yet they
laboured together harmoniously ; each rejoiced in

244 " The Eleanor."
the honour God bestowed on the other, each acted
conscientiously for the welfare of the mission, and the
spirit of envy never separated their hearts. Con
sequently the Lord greatly blessed their united
labours. In writing to his friends, Mackay more than once
expressed his regret that in the C. M. S. publications
and elsewhere, words of commendation had been used
regarding him alone, in connection with the terrible
difficulties that followed closely on each other after
the martyrdom of Bishop Hannington. He says :
" An undue amount of credit has been given me. It
is far from my desire that this should be so. Ashe
and I bore our trials together, and praise or blame
must rest equally on both."
For some time previous to Mr. Ashe's arrival,
Mackay had had repeated severe attacks of malarial
fever, from which for two years he had been exempt.
His friends urged him to return to England, but he
replied : " I do not feel that my work here is yet
finished, but it cannot be long before I must leave,
for health cannot endure very long in this region.
Seven years have told sadly on me. Five is the
nominal for India, even with a yearly change to the
hills of the Deccan, or Himalaya. In India there
is every comfort to be had, while here there is com
paratively little as yet, and our work as pioneers
has been unprecedentedly heavy. I know mine has
been so, and it has told on me. Dr. Smith reckoned

Slaves in Stocks. 245
that the first single year of the life we had to lead in
East Africa should count for three years of residence.
I had nearly three of such years ; still I should be
sorry to leave this place yet. If I am spared by the
goodness of God to continue my work with a fair
measure of health, I hope to think of turning my
steps homeward in a year's time now. But were my
health better, I mean were it possible at all to remain
longer, I would infinitely prefer it, to think of going
home for many a year to come. A fellow with a long
beard, a face brown like an Arab, a careworn look,
and head turned grey, is all you must look for when
you overhaul a Southampton boat for me."
In the month of June Mackay left his two clerical
brethren in Uganda, and proceeded to the south of
the lake to build the Eleanor, which had been taken
out in planks by the last party of missionaries who
had gone up country.
Coasting along the Nyanza, in a frail canoe, he
reached a sheltered haven in one of the Sesse Islands,
where he found a large boat, packed full of slaves in
stocks, and much ivory. The poor victims, having
endeavoured in the darkness of the night to break
loose, were re-secured by their owners, which caused
much bitter wailing. Mackay's heart burned within
him, but he could only pray, in the words of Pierpont —
" With Thy pure dews and rains,
Wash out, O God, the stains
From Afric's shore;

246 " The Eleanor.'
And, while her palm-trees bud,
Let not her children's blood
With the Nyanza's flood
Be mingled more.
"Wilt Thou not, Lord, at last,
From Thine own image cast
Away all cords
But that of love, which brings
Man, from his wanderings,
Back to the King of kings,
The Lord of lords ! "
It was a tedious voyage : great squalls arose very
frequently, so that they could not land for food, and
for a whole week they had nothing at all to eat, at
the end of which time a little milk and matama gruel
was very welcome. Mackay also suffered much from
fever, but at last they reached Kagei, where they
found the whole village in mourning, as a young man
had died. The natives killed a bullock, dug a grave
in the court at night, and set the corpse in a sitting
posture in the centre of the hole. They then covered
him over with the fresh hide, of the bullock and filled
in the grave with earth, placing a stone directly on
the head, which was half out of the grave !
On arrival, Mackay was met by the Rev. E. C.
Gordon, from England. First of all, a site had to be
found in which they could build the Eleanor, which
had been left lying at Msalala, and in quest of this
they walked many miles. But the pangs of hunger
suggested some refreshment, so they kindled a fire
in an old boma, by the edge of the creek, and made

" Afraid of the Muzungu." 247
some matama porridge, which they had to eat with
their fingers — a newspaper serving duty as plate I
The creek, for some thirty miles, they discovered to
be not only fringed, but densely matted with spear-
grass and papyrus, rendering the passage of a boat
impossible. At length they came to a suitable open
ing in the reeds, probably made by hippopotami, at
Urima, on the east side of Smith's Sound ; but the
question remained, would the chief allow them to
settle long enough in his dominions to build a boat ?
While they sent to see, they encamped for the night.
The neighbourhood was full of tsetse jungle, and the
papyrus harboured myriads upon myriads of mosqui
toes. Hyenas growled about, and towards morning
a lion roared for hours, so that they could not get
any sleep. Leaving Mackay to settle with the chief,
Gordon returned to Kagei to fetch Wise (an artisan,
who had accompanied him from England), and tools
and other necessaries.
The King of Urima had never come in contact with
foreigners, as his country lay far from any caravan
route ; accordingly he sent his compliments to Mackay,
"but he cannot allow him to settle in his country,
though he would like to remain friends with him.
Mackay may carry his boat to the port, and build
it there, but a present will be required for this con
cession. The king is afraid of the Muzungu [white
man], afraid to see him, and afraid of his staying in
the village [ten miles off] ; he must go farther awav "

248 " The Eleanor!'
Accordingly Mackay went and put up in a village
near a high hill to the south-west, where the natives
were pleasant and gathered in incessant streams to
view and interview the strange Muzungu. Another
chief in the neighbourhood, Makolo, wished to make
blood brotherhood with Mackay, which was performed
in a different way from that of the island of Ukerewe.
The ceremony took place in the chiefs hut, in presence
of the head men. A cut was made in the right knee
of each, then a drop of blood from Mackay's knee
was put on a leaf, mixed with a little fat, and the
same done to Makolo. Then each rubbed his blood
into the knee of the other. Yelling and firing of
guns followed, and the ceremony ended by each
declaring friendship with the other till death, calling
God and all present to witness. Road to the port was
Mackay's gain, and presents of cloth Makolo's.
It not being etiquette to leave at once after the
ceremony, Mackay remained till next afternoon, when
the old chief gave him a sheep as a parting gift, and
he returned to the port. Finding the mosquitoes
almost unbearable, he pitched his tent far up the hill,
hoping thereby to get rid of them, but after sundown
the buzzing of millions commenced in the swamp
below. They rose and filled the tent, and even
smoke had no effect in frightening them away.
After dawn they disappeared outside, but his tent
and clothes still swarmed with them, while his helmet
was like a beehive,

" Warped, Cracked, and Twisted." 249
On the 22nd of September Mackay and Wise
(who was by trade a tinsmith, but in every way a
handy man) commenced to put the boat together.
The awning, which Mr. Ashe had placed over it on
his way to Uganda, had been stolen ; consequently
the panels and planks were seriously damaged, and
the keel twisted and bent by the hot sun. The task
altogether proved to be a most arduous one ; neither
bolts nor straps had been supplied, not a nail nor a
screw to be seen ; but, what was worse than all, there
was no timber in the whole neighbourhood which
they could use as a substitute for the broken and
missing planks.
" Nothing but drought and dearth, but bush and brake,
Which way soe'er I look, I see."
But Mackay was never wanting in resource : he
made an anvil by sticking a hammer in the ground,
and forged the bolts and straps for the keel joints.
A log was procured from a distance, which they got
sawn into boards ; a quantity of ground nuts were
bought, from which Mr. Gordon manufactured oil for
paint ; " And around the bows and along the side
The heavy hammers and mallets plied,"
and by degrees the little vessel looked more " ship
shape," although many weeks' very hard labour had
to be spent before she could be rendered seaworthy
or comfortable.

250 " The Eleanor!'
The very day they began to build, the King of
Urima sent a message to say, " You must finish your
boat and be gone within a month, otherwise you must
leave it, and come back next year to finish it, as the
rains are near, and your presence in the country may
prevent favourable weather for hoeing and reaping the
crops ! " In vain the white men pleaded to be allowed
two months instead of one ; all their efforts were
futile in endeavouring to get the king's courier to
understand that God alone gives or withholds rain,
and that white men have no power over it.
One day a huge fat hippopotamus was spied by
the natives, and hauled ashore amid great rejoicing.
They killed the animal by fixing an iron barb into a
paddle handle, which they drove into the hippopotamus,
and then withdrew the paddle. The poor animal only
drove the iron deeper into his flesh in his efforts to rub
away the irritation. The missionaries got a piece of
the flesh roasted for dinner, which made a little variety
from the everlasting plantains.
A few jottings from Mackay's log-book are now
interesting : —
" Oct. 29th, 1883. — Gordon started early to meet
caravan. Wise followed in evening with all his tools,
etc. I do hope that now they will be able to take
possession of Msalala in Christ's name.
" I am once more alone, with all the work of boat
to do, and every twisted plank calling out,
" ' Build me straight, O worthy master,'

Orgies. 251
"Nov. nth. — A week of very hard work, patching
broken frames and broken planks. Have had to use
up my deal boxes for timber.
" All last week great ado in village. Wizards hold
ing orgies. Much beer-drinking and drum-beating.
Children all baptised with ashes and kegs of beer,
and initiated into the mysteries of the kingdom of
the devil. Such rites are supposed to abolish death
and disease !
" Nov. 12th. — Notwithstanding all orgies, the mother
of the chief died this morning.
" Rain has fallen almost every day. Thus diviners
are silenced at my stopping rain until my work is
done. Tried to explain to the natives that these
priests are liars, and that God alone holds the reins
of death and rain. These Urima people, degraded
though they are, flock about me and watch my opera
tions. Not a few of them listen attentively to New
Testament stories I tell them, while I am at work,
and to-day I was gratified when one old man came
back, saying : —
'"This snake-skin, that once I so sacredly wore,
I will toss with disdain to the storm-beaten shore :
Its charms I no longer obey or invoke ;
Its spirit hath left me, its spell is now broke.'
" In the evening much drunkenness in village, and
much singing. A party arrived here singing in
wonderful chorus, led by a poor leper, without fingers
or toes.

252 " The Eleanor!*
" Sembera, my Baganda lad, is busy learning to
write. On Sundays I always give him a long New
Testament lesson, and on all other days, when rain
keeps me in camp, an hour or two.
" Every evening, after work, I am too fatigued to
teach, my right arm aching, and my knees quite stiff
with creeping and crawling and cramping at this
boat. The mosquitoes too are a terrible trial, but
I thank my Heavenly Father for freedom from fevers
and accidents all this time.
"Dec. 3rd. — Launched the Eleanor ; and christened
her in addition — ' The Mirembe ' (Peace)."
Much had still to be done ere he could venture out
on the stormy lake, in what was after all but a poor,
comfortless thing compared with a Scotch herring
boat, being perfectly open, and having neither cabin
nor deck, nor any protection for the crew from the
pitiless rains. But on the 20th December he anchored
in Murchison Bay. He says : " All night long the
natives beat drums and yelled, and lit great bonfires
all along the shore. Got very broken sleep, while I
was much in need of rest, having got little sleep for
many nights, my crew being entirely ignorant of the
use of sails.
" I thank God, however, who has prospered so far
my mission to the other side of the lake, and I look
for His heavenly guidance and blessing on the labours
of the days to come."

CHAPTER XVII.
THE KING IS DEAD.
" They told of the feats of his dog and gun,
They told of the deeds his arm had done ;
They sung of battles lost and won,
And so they paid his eulogy." J. G. Percival.
MACKAY made several other journeys to the
south side of the Nyanza, in the year 1884.
On one occasion he had been unable to get any
plantains on board, at the port of Ntebe ; so he and
his men endeavoured to land on the large island of
Sesse in order to buy some, but the natives met them
with mad brandishing of spears and shields, and they
just managed to keep beyond the range of the stones
which were pelted at the little vessel. He says : " We
held up cowries and said we only wanted to buy food,
as we were very hungry, but they only shouted that
we were not to land, and continued throwing stones
and dancing wildly. More natives came down the
hill and joined in threatening us, saying ' they would
kill us.' They were now many, and lighted fires on
the beach, and beat their drums, preparing to watch
«53

254 The King is Dead.
all night. I refused to allow any of my crew to reply
to their insulting language, and quietly cast anchor
for the night. So they yelled away in vain. In the
morning I asked them to bring food in a canoe to
sell to us, if they were afraid of us landing, but they
did not.
" Centuries of misrule and robbery by the Baganda
have made the poor people naturally anxious to keep
away all strangers. Only a week ago, Mugula, with
fifty canoes, went ashore on this same island, and was
met with stones. He shot half a dozen of the natives
and robbed their gardens. But the Mirembe is not a
fighting boat. God give us tact and prudence to act
patiently, even in provocation and hunger. He will
give us our daily bread.
" Most probably had we landed they would all have
run away, but that would bring us no nearer buying
food, so I turned the boat's head eastward and set
sail. They then gathered courage and slung stones,
some falling inside the boat. We simply held farther
out and departed in peace. A thick fog then came
on, and we had great difficulty in finding our way out
of this labyrinth of islands. Thunder was then heard
to the east through the fog. I dropped the end of
lightning-conductor into the sea. Soon a severe
squall arose and merciless rain. No inch of canvas
could stand, so we just let her drive in trough of sea.
After many hours of tossing we approached Alice
Island, when the wind fell. I woke up crew, rowed

Perils. 255
Into harbour, and found two or three fishermen, who
seemed very frightened at us, but I assured them we
had no desire to hurt them. By-and-by, they became
friendly, giving me a dried fish, and I presenting them
with a string of cowries. Afterwards they brought
me a pot of honey."
While at Kagei on this voyage, he writes : " God's
holy name be praised ! He has saved me from two great
perils this day. Said bin Saif and some other Arabs,
who came to meet me yesterday, told me that there was
a good sandy anchorage round the point east of Kagei
village. This morning Said sent his dhow captain to
show me the place. We rowed round, and the Arabs
met me on the beach. Left boat in charge of men
and went ashore to Said's house. Had breakfast, and
got mail which had arrived a month ago. Just as I
was opening my letters I noticed the sky lowering.
Made haste to boat, but crew all gone ashore, save
two men and two boys. Pushed off and pulled, but
gale rose before I got many boat-lengths. Drifting
into rocks which were hidden before, but now visible
in the waves. Threw out both anchors. Rode out
gale for an hour in dangerous proximity to rocks on
both sides and stern. God alone saved us. Had sea
risen much more, boat had been dashed to pieces by
rock under bow only five feet below. The Arabs
came and watched. When the gale lessened we sailed
back to anchorage. Later on I waded ashore. On
returning I meant to bathe. The natives drove cattle

256 The King is Dead.
down to drink close by ; and just as I was about to
enter the water a crocodile dragged off a large cow.
I have learned, I hope for ever, npt to bathe or wade
in this lake.
" Thus boat saved, and my own life and my men's
lives in one day. God be praised ! "
King Mtesa had been ailing for several years, and
latterly had been getting more and more feeble. As
a natural consequence, he was far less powerful in the
land than in the early days of the mission, when he
was able to get about.
He continued friendly to the C. M. S. missionaries,
but to their great sorrow showed no sign of a change
of heart.
The katikiro (prime minister and judge) was also
very friendly, as also several of the other chiefs ; but
some would have liked to banish every foreigner out
of the kingdom.
Writing home, Mackay says : " Our future is in
God's hands alone, but I think we are justified in
using every lawful means to help to secure protection
for our mission in case of emergency.
" I do not know that I have ever hinted to you of
the extreme peril we should probably be in were
our king suddenly gathered to his fathers.
" Heretofore, in the history of the country, such a
time has always been one of plunder and much blood
shed. Mtesa's reign of late has been one of internal
peace, but Baganda still remain the same greedy,

A Great Secret. 257
plundering, murderous knaves. Only the strong arm
of the law keeps them down.
" It is agreed by all of us foreigners, Arabs, and
English, that were it not for the protection given us
by the court, not a single foreigner could be a day in
the country without being plundered, if not also killed.
" But God will provide for us, as He alone can in
any such serious circumstances. We are by no means
anxious, for our defence is omnipotent, and He hears
prayer. He has preserved us in great peril before
now, and will preserve us again."
The condition of the king was kept a great secret,
and he was dead some days before the report was
announced, on October 9th, 1884.
Mackay was away at the lake at the time, giving
the boat a thorough repair. He had it hauled up on
the beach under a large tent, and was quite unaware
of the trouble which the news had caused his brethren
at the mission.
Four of his men, whom he had sent back to the
capital, were robbed of their clothing on the way, and
had to run for their lives.
Next day, a messenger arrived to tell him of the
sad event, and that already the people had commenced
to rob each other, and that the mission boat would
be plundered.
Very unfortunately, he had now few men with
him, but after many hours' hard work the boat was
launched, anchored near shore, and all necessaries put
17

258 The King is Dead.
on board. He quite expected the mission-house
would be destroyed and that the brethren would have
to seek refuge on the lake. He watched all night,
but received no news of them.
Next day a band of a hundred armed men arrived
from the katikiro to escort him to the palace, as he
wished the king's coffins made at once.
What follows is in his own words : " Reached
Kitebi after dark. The escort feared to take me
farther in case of a fight, as many might take my
arrival at the capital, at night, with a force, as an
attempt at the throne. Slept in a very dirty house,
but the people were very kind, and did everything to
make me comfortable.
" Oct. 12th. — Reached palace early. Main court and
space outside filled with freshly-made huts.
" The corpse was laid in state in the Kadulubare's
house (the largest within the grounds), while a grave
was being dug in the centre of the building. Thou
sands of women were wailing and men roaring. The
katikiro and chiefs told me that Mtesa had expressed
a desire to be buried without delay or pomp. They
wished therefore to do as he wanted, and set the new
king at once on the throne, so as to pacify the country.
The first act of the new king is to bury his father.
He is not king till then.
" They wished three coffins made immediately, but
at last consented to let two suffice."
Mackay went to the mission-house for his tools,

The New King. 259
and for the zinc lining of old cases, which had been
sent there from England, with stores. He then
returned to the palace, and, with a lot of native arti
ficers, set to work at once. By dawn next morning,
the huge chests were completed, to the satisfaction
of all, and the king placed therein and buried.
A prince was then selected. The katikiro and
some others wished to elect a little boy, but they
soon found that his appointment would be disputed
by rebellion. They therefore chose Mwanga, a lad of
about seventeen years of age, and his father's image.
The missionaries felt thankful that this young man,
whom they knew well, as he had frequently visited
their house, had been elected king, and they were
still more thankful when the news reached them that
the princess chosen to be Lubuga* or maiden queen,
was one of their Christians, baptised as Rebecca.
Some of the chiefs proposed robbing both the
Arabs and the missionaries, but the katikiro restrained
them. Mackay says : " Our Heavenly Father has
watched over us during this time of danger, while we
have been helpless. His holy name be praised! "
Mr. Ashe tells how on one occasion, after he had
given Mwanga some instruction, he asked "how he
would treat his old friends the missionaries, if he
* The Kabaka, or King of Uganda, must always have a queen-
mother (Namasole) and a queen-sister (Lubuga). If the king's own
mother be dead, then an aunt is chosen to support the title. The
Lubuga is chosen from the princesses. See " Two Kings of Uganda,"
p. 87.

260 The King is Dead.
became king ? " The reply was, " I shall like you very
much, and show you every favour ; " but he was no
sooner raised to the throne than he forgot his promise.
The very first time the three missionaries went to
pay him their respects, in order to show his sense of
his new importance he declined to see them.
As the king was only in temporary quarters, and
daily occupied in receiving the chiefs and subs, who
went with their serfs to swear allegiance to him,
Mackay thought it best, before attempting another
interview, to return to the lake and finish repairs and
refitting of the boat.
One day he had a scare, as the Bavuma, hearing of
the death of Mtesa, went and robbed the country at
the mouth of the bay. Fearing that they might go
farther up, and sight the boat, which was rather con
spicuous, being white, with a black point of forest in
the background, he got his men to cut green branches,
and closed up the landing-place.
After ten days he returned to the capital, and on
the way met Mr. Ashe, who informed him that in his
absence he was accused by some of having gone off
without seeing the king, while the Arabs said he was
robbing plantains, and fortifying himself afloat. This
rumour was widespread, and Mwanga had given
orders to have his movements checked.
Some extracts from his log are now interesting : —
" Nov. $th. — We all three went to see the katikiro,
by appointment, taking a present of four good jorah.

A Young Evangelist. 261
We thanked him for his good government of the
country at the past critical time.
" Nov. 6th. — Ashe and I went to court, taking king
present of three jorah of fine cloth, and an umbrella.
Found him in audience, but very haughty. He wore
a magnificent leopard skin. By his side was the
magic horn (a white tusk of ivory), in his hand was
a small mirror, while a larger one was placed in front
of him. He soon left, but ordered us to remain to
see him privately.
" At the second reception we found him lying on
the floor on some rich carpets which the Arabs had
given him. He tried to upbraid me for having gone
to the lake without leave. Next he tried to bully me
into taking a messenger of his own choosing with me
to Msalala, to fetch our brethren. I had to positively
decline taking this man and prevailed, getting an
other, who is a Christian, appointed in his place.
"Nov. Jth. — Started for lake. Launched boat.
Several of our Christian friends came with me to see
me off, and spent night at lake.
"Nov. 10th. — Strange to say, as many as nine
Christian lads on board with me. This is a rare treat,
and God grant us a prosperous journey.
" Boys talked till late on politics and religion. I
was astonished at Sembera giving them an hour's
exhortation on Christianity, especially on the idolatry
of the Romish Church, and the need for diligence
in seeking after real truth."

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE REIGN OF TERROR.
" It happened that upon the shores of Afric's upland lake,
Whence the famed waters of the Nile their journey northward take,
Where Nature spreads her bounteous gifts beneath a tropic sky,
Three bright young lads were seized and bound, and led away to die I
" Not long since they had pledged themselves to serve their heavenly
Friend,
And manfully to fight beneath His banner to the end ;
That fight how fierce they little knew ! nor guessed the rich reward
That waits the faithful soldiers of a world-rejected Lord.
" The faithful three of old came forth out of the fiery glow,
To witness for their heav'nly Friend and serve Him here below ;
To these upon Nyanza's shore another lot was given —
Christ took them from the burning flame to be with Him in Heaven 1 "
S. G. Stock.
KING MWANGA was not long before he showed
himself in his true colours ; and the katikiro,
seeing his sovereign's mood, became also hostile to the
missionaries, although he pretended friendship with
them. His enmity reached a crisis on one occasion,
when Mackay was about to start in the Eleanor
with letters for Europe.
The king had given him permission to take the
262

Treachery and Danger. 263
mail to the south of the Nyanza, but told him he
had better get leave from the chief judge also. This
worthy not only granted Mackay's request in a most
gracious manner, but actually gave him a couple
of goats as food for the voyage, while at the same
time he had made arrangements to entrap him on
his way to the port.
Mackay started for the port on January 30th,
1885, Mr. Ashe and two boys accompanying him.
After walking for three hours, and just as they were
entering a tangled forest, they were suddenly con
fronted by a Mohammedan chief — Mujasi — with a
band of armed men, who drove them back and insulted
and ill-used them, giving no reason for their proceed
ings. Mackay and Ashe never carried arms, and had
only their walking-sticks in their hands. These were
rudely taken from them, while the hands of their boys
were tied. They, however, showed no resistance, but,
tired and dazed as they were, quietly marched back
under guard to the capital. When they neared the
mission-house they were told to go home, but their
boys were carried off and they saw them no more.
The missionaries, fearing the worst for their boys,
went at once to the katikiro to know the reason.
They expected justice from the man who had appeared
so friendly on the previous day, but they were sadly
disappointed. The judge was enraged, and would
scarcely give them a hearing, but ordered their false
accuser, Mujasi, to tie them both up and bundle them

264 The Reign of Terror.
out of the country next day. They were then driven
out of court with great violence ; but the judge, not
wishing matters to go too far, ordered that they should
be molested no further.
They went home with sad hearts and ordered all
their pupils to fly, but had great trouble in persuading
them to do so ; but it was well they did, for soldiers
were soon sent down to search the premises for pupils,
as Mujasi was determined to burn them all. At night,
the missionaries, after prayer and consultation, sent
up six bales of fine cloth to the katikiro, six to the
king, and one to the wicked Mujasi, begging the
release of their boys ; but although the presents were
accepted, the news reached them that the two dear
boys and another young man (all of them baptised
Christians) were burnt to death. Some said that in
the fire they sang, in the Luganda language, " Daily,
daily sing the praises." Mackay writes : " Our hearts
are breaking. All our Christians dispersed. We are
lonely and deserted, sad and sick.
"Feb. 8th. — Ashe and I busy printing all the week.
If driven off, we hope to leave some truth in print.
We hope also to establish Christian centres with an
'elder' in each. Now is the time. May God thus
make His work to grow, while the converts need not
come much to our place. Who knows when persecu
tion may break out again? Any visitor may be
accused of serving us, and be burnt."
Meantime the king had sent for Mackay, and

Many Baptisms. 265
pretended that the mission lads had been burnt
without his knowledge. Mackay feared not to utter
his reproof, even though death should be the penalty.
He told him plainly that he " had committed a great
sin against God in murdering innocent boys."
Strange to say, the danger of this time increased
the desire of many to become professing Christians.
Lads flocked to the mission house in the darkness of
the night, and many were baptised. Many also who
were in great danger, being " wanted," were bold
enough to go in the daytime, being determined to face
the consequences. The missionaries strongly advised
them to get away into the country for some months,
and failing that, to commence to hold worship in their
own houses, but to keep away from the mission house.
By the end of February more clouds loomed on
the horizon. Reports were circulated on every hand
that the chiefs were threatening rebellion, probably
because the new king was entirely in the hands of
the katikiro.
One day the chiefs and katikiro went to celebrate a
feast over Mtesa's grave on the occasion of the tapestry
and hangings of the tomb being finished ; but Mwanga
was afraid to go, lest another prince might be placed
on the throne in his absence. He felt very uncertain
of his position, as but two days previously the
katikiro had robbed him of two hundred cows, which
were being sent him as a present from Busoga !
Mackay writes : " Mwanga has paid out gunpowder

266 The Reign of Terror.
to officials and servants in the palace grounds ; evi
dently he fears an alarm. God grant there may be
no rebellion ! If chiefs win, there will be no quarter
for us. The situation is most serious. Commend
ourselves to our God in prayer, and wait for the
morrow. Our boat swamped at such a moment
seems mysterious. God is leading us, and He will
preserve His own."
The greatest difficulty which the missionaries, and
indeed all foreigners, had to contend with in the
country, was perhaps the want of liberty to go about.
The Church Missionary Society men were not allowed
to live near the lake, neither dared they go to look
after the boat when they heard she was wrecked,
without a mubaka (messenger) to accompany them.
On this occasion Mackay made many attempts to
see the katikiro, but in vain ; he then sent him a
handsome present, requesting a mubaka at once, as
he wished to go to the port, as, if the Eleanor went
to the bottom in twenty feet of water, no one could
save her.
But the answer was, " Mackay must come him
self;" and when he did go, he was referred to the
king, who in his turn sent him back to the judge,
and so on ; ending in nothing but a promise of a
mubaka on the morrow, which morrow of course
never came.
This was a time of great anxiety to Mackay and
Ashe, while the apprehension of danger prostrated

Rebellious Chiefs Deposed. 267
Mr. O'Flaherty with a severe and tedious fever ; but
God " stayeth His rough wind in the day of His east
wind " ; and the news reached them that the great
chief Mukwenda had been seized and put in stocks,
and his all plundered in town and country, also that
seventeen other chiefs had been deposed and several
friends of the mission put in good positions. Mackay
says : " The king has saved himself and us by this
sharp stroke. God be thanked."
Mackay now tried to get an audience of the king,
who asked him if he did not intend to cross the lake ?
Mackay said, " No, I am not going away ; I only
wish to rescue the boat."
Ultimately a mubaka was ordered, and the king
appointed Gabunga, Lord High Admiral, to supply
canoes to aid in the rescue.
Mackay started immediately, with men carrying
ropes, grapnels, buckets, axes, etc., but on nearing
the lake they were stopped by armed men, who beat
their drums and said they had orders not to let
Mackay reach the port. There was no help but to
hasten back and again plead with the king for further
authority. This was obtained, but, with all the speed
he could make, it was the next morning before he
arrived at the lake, and found, to his dismay, the
Eleanor almost invisible and the surf breaking
over her. No sign of any of the canoes ordered, so
he took four small fishing ones, and joining two and
two together, went out to examine the boat She was

268 The Reign of Terror.
lying on her starboard side, with masts in water, and
the waves were breaking over her port side. After
countless difficulties, too tedious to enumerate, she
was at last hauled near shore and baled out, then
hauled up the beach and found to be undamaged.
The missionaries now began to appoint regular
services in different little communities of Christians, so
that they might get into the way of self-instruction
and extension, and thus the work of the Lord would
go on whatever happened.
Mackay's skill in handicraft again got him and his
brethren into favour with the authorities, and for a
time there was peace. The following extracts from
his journal show the change of mind at court : —
" May 4th. — The katikiro shook me warmly by
the hand as I was entering Baraza, and said ' I was
now a great favourite, and he would give me his
daughter.' I merely asked him how many days his
favouritism would last? King very gracious. Said
that now he hoped former good relations were again
restored. Talk about the Mahdi and about European
skill and excellence. I told him that it seemed
unreasonable that he and his people should value so
highly our goods and workmanship, while he would
have none of our other world of mind and soul, and
was only suspicious of our presence. King said I
was right, and the katikiro also said that we ' white
men were evidently men of truth, for our cloth measured
exactly as stated, a box of powder held the proper

Mackay again in Favour. 269
number of tins, with no sand mixed to adulterate it,
and guns fired without exploding and killing the
purchasers, while Arab traders in salt mixed ashes
to adulterate it and make it look more ! '
" The katikiro praised my work on his gun, saying
that it looked exactly like new. The king replied
that he had done well in giving his chiefs men of such
value !
"May gth. — Several times seen the king again.
He repeatedly renewed his assurances of friendship.
Set up a shelf for his clock, which pleased him much.
Talked to him on the evil of having people killed on
the highway, as they were not the thieves he meant
to catch. He said he would order it to be stopped,
and that it would not be done again. Talked to him
on the folly of beating people, and tried to show him
that liberty was better than force, and having his
people instructed in the way of truth the surest way
to have peace, and freedom from rebellion. Advised
him to excel all in reading and knowledge, and asked if
I might come to-morrow (Sunday). He said, ' Come.'
" May 10th. — Saw king quite alone. Gate and
doors all closed for fear of intrusion. Gave him long
lesson on God's purpose in creation and redemption.
He listened well, and gave me a fat cow when I was
done. Promised to learn to read, but said that he
was thwarted by old chiefs. I told him he was king,
and powerful when he liked."
About this time Mackay had many interviews with

270 The Reign of Terror.
the king, who professed much friendship. One day
he said, " I will never let you leave me ; and while I
live, and my son's son, I am determined to have white
men in my country." Mackay begged of him not to
let his kingdom stink with blood and fire, for God
had raised him up to save men and not to kill them,
and that no blessing would rest on the country while
murder and cruelty and oppression lasted. He also
gave his Majesty advice on several sanitary measures
necessary to drive off the plague and small-pox, which
were causing men to die off like flies ; and last, but
not least, to cease to trust in charms, which were
valueless, but to give God the honour due to Him, and
a blessing instead of a curse would rest on the land.
Meantime, the katikiro was building a shrine to
Mtesa, and he sent for Mackay to go to see it.
Mackay was glad of the opportunity to talk seriously
to him. He told him that he hoped the day would
soon come when he would build a church to the
living God, who would help him more than the spirit
of a dead king, and that God would call him one day
to account for despising Him and His word and His
Son. The katikiro answered, " I have the Book, and I
do not believe in charms made by men. I will send
for you privately to teach me to read, and then you
can explain to me your religion ! " But, alas ! as in
the case of Felix, the convenient season was never
found.

Pleas for Life and Liberty. 271
Mackay knew this would be so, and he embraced
the opportunity of showing him the folly of raids and
robbery, by which no blessing nor even profit came to
him. He told him that instead of selling his children
(slaves), he ought to keep them, and make them till
the ground, and rear cattle, and work like Europeans,
and he would become far richer, and in a more
righteous way, than by his robbing system.*
* Mackay drew out the following ten rules to assist the boy-king
in protecting the life and liberty of his subjects, and their property
from arbitrary spoliation : —
1. King to receive all honour, and regulated tribute settled in
council. 2. All matters of importance — peace or war — to be settled by king
and chiefs in council.
3. No sentence of death to be passed on any man — free or bond —
except in public court, and by consent of the whole court.
4. Justice not to be sold. Capital punishment to be restricted to
cases of murder only.
5. Executioners to be abolished. No cruelties or tortures to be
tolerated — eg., roasting alive, taking out eyes, cutting off ears, hands,
lips, teeth, or other mutilation.
6. No chief to be deprived of office except by common consent of
council, and then only for grave offences. No poor man to be robbed,
or apprehended but by law.
7. Selling of slaves to be absolutely forbidden. Any trader found
taking any women or slaves out of the country to have all his goods
confiscated. 8. Raids for plunder either in country or against other tribes to
cease. Wars to be waged only for just cause. On such expeditions
only cattle to be taken. Men, women, and children not to be taken
out of their country.
9. No wounded or live prisoner of war to be put to death.
10. Perfect freedom of religion to be granted to all creeds. No
one to be arrested for his belief, nor liberty of worship to be interfered
with, either by king or chiefs.

272 The Reign of Terror.
In August of this year the king took a trip on
the lake, and ordered Pere Lourdel * and Mackay
to accompany him. The very first day twenty poor
natives whom they met were killed. Mackay writes
in his diary : " This bloody work must stop. I hope
to try, by God's help, to show the evil of such murder,
and if it continue I must enter my protest and return
to the capital."
There were eighty canoes in the Royal fleet ; but,
instead of enjoyment, there was terror on all hands
of the head man-killer, Mukajanga, whom the king
had authorised to kill whomsoever he pleased, without
reporting !
The king had a strange idea of the way of spending
a holiday. Every night he encamped at some part of
the mainland, and before dawn he set off with reed
lights, on a walking expedition, or rather a running
one, over hill and down dale and through swamps
(some of which were most objectionable), as fast as
he could, and his multitude of women rushing after
him ! Many things transpired which Mackay did not
like, and he was most thankful when the king returned
to Mengo, to which he was escorted with great gun-
firing and flourish of trumpets. He entered the
palace courts with shield and spears, taking his own
capital by storm !
* The French priests, having heard of the success of the C.M.S.
missionaries, had returned to Uganda.

CHAPTER XIX.
DEEDS OF BLOOD.
"Yet, yet their deeds,
Their constancy in torture and in death —
These on tradition's tongue still live, these shall
On history's honest page be pictured bright
To latest times.
* • * » »
With them each day was holy, every hour
They stood prepared to die, a people doomed
To death — old men, and youths, and simple maids."
James Graha.me.
OCTOBER of 1885 brought great trouble to the
missionaries, and for a long time subsequently
they lived in daily expectation of being put to death.
The future was ominous and dark, but, as the sequel
will show, God was better to them than they feared.
A Baganda army had gone raiding in Busoga, and
sent word to the king that " there were two white
men there, and some more behind with a great
caravan." The missionaries at once suspected that
the strangers were Bishop Hannington and party,
although they had never dreamed that they would
venture to enter the country by the Masai route,
vhich the king considered his " back door." Mackay
273 18

274 Deeds of Blood.
and Ashe were sorely perplexed, and after praying
together they went to court at once, but failed in
getting an audience. While waiting, they heard
definitely that it was really the bishop, and that he
had been put in the stocks ; that Mwanga had held
a great Baraza with his chiefs, after which he had sent
messengers to kill the bishop and the whole party,
servants and all, and fetch their goods to the capital.
But the crafty king would not see the missionaries ;
he sent word that " if they had any reason to suppose
that their brethren were prisoners they should tell
the katikiro." Mackay and Ashe next tried to bribe
Koluji (a chief) to send after the man deputed to
commit the murder, and tell him to wait for fresh
orders from court. Koluji professed to agree. The
following entries in Mackay's note-book tell the course
of events : —
" Oct. 26th. — Too nervous to sleep. Up long before
dawn. Ashe and I wrote note to king, craving an
interview, but we did not succeed in seeing him. The
good Lord save our bishop and the brethren from
the hands of these assassins I
" Got Pere Lourdel to go to court and read our
letter to the king, but the latter merely replied, ' Let
Mackay come and write a letter, and I shall send a
message to have the bishop sent back! Lourdel came
down in haste to tell us. Wrote letter and Ashe went
with it, as I felt unwell. But fearing Ashe would not
see king, on the pretext that he had not been ordered

The Bishop Murdered. 275
to write the letter, I hastened after him on the donkey.
Got ourselves reported, but the king set off at once
to the pond, in case we should see him !
" Oct. 2gth. — Hear that the king goes to-morrow
to the lake, to shoot. He has given the executioner
orders to catch people here. It may be ourselves, or
our boys, or mayhap readers, or pages coming to tell
us news.
" At once we sent away all our boys to hide among
our Christian friends. Writing out revision of St
Matthew's Gospel. Ashe busy setting it up. Time
of persecution has always been a printing time.
" Oct. 30th. — After dark one of our friends came
to tell us that messengers had returned from Busoga
with the tidings that the white men had been killed
and all their Wangwana. It appears that a great
army had gone from the katikiro's country to murder
our brethren.
" Oh, night of sorrow I What an unheard-of deed
of blood !
" God alone knows the cause, and He alone knows
what the consequences will be."
" Nov. ist. — This day last week we heard of the
arrival of our dear brethren in Busoga. What a week
of dreadful anxiety and sorrow this last week of
October has been !
" Now is the time to actually carry out our former
plan, — viz., to get our elders to assemble their friends
in each neighbourhood and have worship in their

276 Deeds of Blood.
house. We have now ten elders, and they could hold
half as many meetings simultaneously. While the
present suspicion lasts we only increase it toy collecting
crowds on our premises.
Nov. $th. — Nine lads baptised to-day. Had letters
from  , assuring us that bishop and party are
killed outright. Musoke has got orders to go and
fetch the white men's goods* by night, that the news
might not get out.
" We have no hope now. The worst seems over.
Our dear brethren are happy, while we remain in the
midst of death. Lord, Thy will be done ! For me the
bitterness of death is past. I have become at times
almost unconscious to the most terrible realities.
" Nov. gth. — Pere Lourdel sent a note to say that
he has been told that the katikiro allows that the
bishop and party are all murdered, and that the court
is only waiting for the Church Missionary Society's
boat to come back ; and when they know that the men
they have killed are the very men we have sent the
boat for, they then mean to kill us all ! This is pro
bably in the fear that we have power to punish them
for their dreadful deed."
Some of the Christians sent word to the missionaries
that a gift to the authorities was necessary in order
to remove suspicion of any desire to take vengeance.
One of the princesses, a daughter of the late king,
* The goods arrived, and Mwanga dressed himself in the bishop's
robes, but could not understand how there were no sleeves .

A Present to Avert Wrath. 277
also sent them a message, telling them to make friends
with the king without delay. Accordingly Ashe and
Mackay made up a large present for his Majesty,
another for the chief judge, and smaller ones for two
of the chiefs, who had been instigators in the plot
to kill the bishop. Seventeen loads in all ! It was a
great loss to the mission ; but what was the use of
hoarding barter goods, when the very existence of the
cause, and their own lives, were in imminent danger ?
The avaricious judge was in high glee, accepted the
gift, and swore by the ghost of Mtesa that while he
was in power he would never do the white men any
harm. The king, however, was in a great rage, and
demanded to know " why the present had been sent ?
Why should they rob themselves to give him what
they lived upon ? Had he come to the throne yester
day? or had the Church Missionary Society's boat
come ? Let Mackay and Ashe come up at once, and
explain the meaning of their gift." They went, never
expecting to return alive. All the wrath was because
they had been informed of his wicked intention to kill
them ; and he tried hard, by threats and entreaties,
to get them to tell the names of those who had
revealed the plot. This the missionaries declined to
do ; and their punishment was that no one was to visit
them, and they would both be arrested and killed if a
single Muganda was found in their premises, whether
by their knowledge or not Then he insolently asked.
" If I kill you, where shall I put your bodies ? " They

278 Deeds of Blood.
told him they were not afraid of him, as they relied
on protection from God. At this the whole court
made merriment. After a tedious interview, lasting
over two hours, he let them go, ordering two cows
to be given them, " to pacify their minds " ! They
returned home, weary, but grateful to their Heavenly
Father for preserving them in so great a danger.
As it has ever been, in all lands, from the early
centuries downwards, so it was in Uganda. In the
times of greatest trouble and trial, many pressed into
the kingdom.
The missionaries set a watch at the gate to warn
off all natives ; nevertheless many lads pushed in,
and their friends could only commend them to God,
and send them off with a portion of the Scriptures.
Gabunga (the young lord of the lake, and admiral
of the fleet) sent at midnight to ask when he could be
baptised. Two days afterwards Mr. Ashe performed
the rite (see p. 237).
Meantime Mwanga did not prosper. First he had
bad eyes, and he believed the missionaries had be
witched him ; next his palace at Mengo was burnt
down, and all his goods lost. His gunpowder kegs,
which he kept in a straw hut, where a fire was con
tinually burning, blew up, and caused terrible damage ;
while many of his people were killed, and others
terribly injured. His Majesty took refuge at the
katikiro's, but he was not there long before his host's
store was struck by lightning and the powder exploded

A Charmed Life. 279
The king was now absolutely certain that Mackay
and Ashe were bewitching him, and fled, in great
alarm, with only one or two lads, to Rubaga, .with his
drawn sword. He declared that "he felt sure he
would be the last black king of Uganda, for white
men were appearing on every side, and would soon
take his country from him ! " Still he continued his
evil practices, burning converts now and again, sending
out large raiding armies, and anon making plots to
kill the missionaries. They, however, led a charmed
life ; something always occurred to frustrate his
designs, when evidently he had some pangs of con
science, for on these occasions he sent Mackay presents
of eight thousand or ten thousand cowries, with the
message that he " remembered him and liked him."
Once, after plotting to entrap and kill him, he had the
effrontery to say, " A great king like me should never
be without a man of skill to do work for him. I will
not let you go away, not even if they send seventy
letters for you 1 "
But more troubles were looming in the distance,
which are best explained by jotting^ from Mackay's
own journal : —
"Sunday, May 23rd, 1886. — Very wet, and we ex
pected few people, but by ten a.m. it faired, and
a large congregation gathered. Little did we think
that many of these faces we should never see again
in this world. Service in our former chapel. Mattayo
married. Last Sunday several couples were also

280 Deeds of Blood.
joined together by the rites of the Church. After the
Litany, Nua unexpectedly gave utterance to an earnest
and impressive prayer, in which all joined audibly
Our lesson was upon the marriage at Cana of Galilee.
How soon have the waters of the bitter river of death
been crossed by most present, and now they drink
freely of the glad wine in the kingdom above, where
no more sorrow can ever be mingled with the cup !
" May 2$th. — What we have been in daily expecta
tion of for a long time has now taken place — an order
for the arrest of all the Christians. The katikiro
ordered one of his own lads to be killed at once, while
almost every one of the pages were immediately
seized and carried off for execution. Eleven of our
friends were thus killed the first day, and some of our
old favourites condemned. May the Lord and Saviour
whom they have learned to trust, be with the poor
lads in this hour of horror and death, and give them
a joyful entrance into the happy land ! Armed bands
were sent out in all directions, and a host of our best
people arrested, and an effort made to get them to
inform on others. Bilali arrived here with an armed
band to seize people. Happily there were none about
our place, at the time, as we had got warning a few
minutes before. Even at Rusaka, the queen-mother's
place, many boys have been put to death.
" Many of our pupils we know nothing of, but hope
they have escaped.
" The Lord mercifully look on the agony of these

Pleads an Old Promise. 281
poor black children, who are laying down their lives
for His name's sake!
" Six of our boys we sent a few days ago to live
with the Arabs. We gave Mahommed (Tripoli) a
letter authorising him to receive an honorarium from
any of our brethren between this and Zanzibar, or
from the Consul, should he deliver them up, in case
of our being evilly handled by this king."
It was a terrible time for Mackay and Ashe, and
sorely perplexed they were as to the best course to
take. When they saw the dear people, who had been
taught by them, murdered in cold blood for the
acceptance of their religion, they were at times driven
to desperation. They then believed that they should
insist on leaving the country, feeling sure that they
would soon be asked back, if indeed they were allowed
to go. Again, should they manage to get away, some
of the Frenchmen would consider it their devoir
to remain, in the hope of reaping a golden harvest
from the neglected Protestant converts. The king
was eager for Mackay to stay, for the work he could
get out of him ; and both missionaries not only made
great progress in translation and printing, but they
were able to distribute books and papers in vast
numbers. It was the desire of both to remain at
their posts, if it was at all possible to do so. Mackay
went one day to see the king, and reminded him that
he had promised to give him anything he liked to
ask, provided the royal gunsmith was showp the

282 Deeds of Blood.
way to make cartridge-cases. " Will you give nu
my reward now ? " asked Mackay. " Yes." " Well,
I wish the lives of those condemned, but not yet
executed." He declared that they were all already
executed. Mackay pleaded earnestly, and told the
king that he had been toiling hard at making him
a loom and a spinning jenny, and that he had been
successful in making some cloth for him. This ap
parently pleased him, and he agreed to spare whoever
was left. Mackay pressed the point as far as he
thought prudent.
At this time the miserable king was so often under
the influence of bangh and beer that he was dangerous,
and Mackay had to be very careful lest he irritated
him, and thus cause death to more of the poor
prisoners. One day Mr. Ashe went to the capital, but obtained
no audience. On the way home he met a ghastly
spectacle, viz., a human head, newly cut off; and,
farther on, arm and legs.
Two or three days after this the very flower of
the Christian community, thirty-two in number, were i
slowly burnt to death, and that too by Mwanga's |
express orders, after he had declared to Mackay that >'
" only four or five remained alive, and that he would i
liberate these."
These martyrs made a noble confession, praying
to God in the fire, so that even the head executioner
reported to the king that " he had never killed such

Many Martyrs. 283
brave people before, that they died calling on God."
This caused Mwanga to laugh and say, " But God did
not deliver them from the fire."
Mackay and Ashe made an effort to get the
Frenchmen to unite with them in trying to save the
poor people, but they absolutely refused to help in
presenting a united front to the king's cruelties, either
by word or deed. " The C.M.S. men could do as they
liked, but they would not interfere." They were afraid,
just as they were in 1881, when Pearson and Mackay
asked them to join in petitioning King Mtesa to
countermand an order he had given for a kiwendo or
massacre of common people to appease the gods.
The C.M.S. missionaries based their request on the
ground of common humanity, but on both occasions
the Frenchmen asserted that it was as much as their
lives were worth to interfere. On the occasion of the
kiwendo, the C.M.S. missionaries sent in their petition
to King Mtesa without the aid of the Romanists, and
he granted it.
Very many of the Christians were now in hiding,
and appeared after dark at the Mission-house ; there
were many inquirers also, and numbers were baptised
by Mr. Ashe. On the 25th of July, 1886, the bap
tismal register read two hundred and twenty-seven
names. That night fifty converts assembled at mid
night, and two more elders were elected. It was the
" Church in the Desert," revived in the heart of Africa !
The missionaries used their endeavours to get the

284 Deeds of Blood.
people to meet in the houses of the " elders " on
Sundays, especially when they were most watched ;
but many waxed very bold, and seemed reckless as
to their fate. The rulers were quite aware of it, but
could not put down the new religion, especially as
many powerful chiefs had embraced it I
The king called in his sorcerers, to divine whether
or not Mackay should be put to death, as some of
the chiefs were complaining that their children were
killed for reading what the missionaries taught. But
the katikiro would not assent to Mackay being killed.
He said, " No ! he buried Namasole, and he buried
Mtesa, and I shall take no part in such a plan ; besides,
if you do, no Arabs will come near us." Mwanga
replied, " I will go with my soldiers to their place at
night and fight them, and if I prevail I will kill them
both, before the katikiro knows anything about it."
The katikiro sent the king a handsome present for
opposing his scheme.
In August, 1886, permission was obtained for Mr.
Ashe to leave Uganda,* and Mackay was once more
alone. Sad enough he felt at times, for it was given
nut that the king intended to have another grand
massacre of the Christians. The queen-mother, how
ever, sent the king a message to tell him not to kill
his lads, but to make them chiefs. " What harm are
they doing ? " she asked ; " you are only being laughed
at!" * Mr. O'Flaherty bad left some eight months previously.

Arab Plots. 285
At this time Mackay writes home : " I am plodding
on, teaching, translating, printing, doctoring, and
carpentering. Strange medley, you will say. That
cannot be helped. Man was made to be like his
Maker, who made not one kind of thing, but all
things. There is no doubt but that your prayers on
our behalf have been heard, and will be answered
more and more. We have the assurance that the
Lord's people will be ' brought out of great tribula
tion ' ; we therefore cannot take it to be His will that
they will be for ever left in trouble.
" The king has sacrifice killed to bewitch the Chris
tians ! If he never goes farther than that, he will do
them little harm. But there is trouble brewing, which
only our loving Lord can save us all from."
The Arabs were now very hostile, and were con
stantly accusing Mackay to the king, with a view to
get him driven out of the country. They were most
unscrupulous as to the means they used to gain this
end. Their race and religion led them to calumniate
all Europeans. Mackay's exposure of the slave trade
had made him obnoxious in their eyes for many
years, and now he had manufactured weaving and
spinning apparatus, and was actually teaching the
Baganda how to make cloth out of fibre. Why, their
trade would be stopped. No slaves to be got, and
no demand for cloth! If Mackay could be killed,
not only would he be out of the way, but other white
men would be frightened to come I

286 Deeds of Blood.
So they reasoned. One of them reported to the
king that crowds collected at Mackay's place every
Sunday, and that he said, " I came to teach, and mean
to teach, while I remain in the country, or am
alive ; I will go and teach publicly in the market
place, if people are afraid to come to the mission-
house." Next they declared that " all Europeans were evil,
and land-eaters." Mackay used the globe, to show
the absurdity of thinking that all the world of white
men were concentrating their thoughts on eating up
a little patch in the centre of Africa !
But Mwanga still withheld permission for Mackay
to go, and the katikiro and chiefs (many of them
heathens) would not hear of his leaving them. Mackay
says : " I was astonished to hear Wakili explaining
to some other chiefs that ' we Europeans are striving
only for the good and peace of Africa, and that our
religion led us to spread ideas of mutual love and
friendship among men and nations.' This from a
heathen is wonderful, and far more divine than the
Arab creed of enmity and malice.
" By all accounts Mwanga seems to be meditating
another massacre of the Christians, which our dear
and ever-present Lord keeps his hands from doing.
' God is our refuge and strength, in straits a present
aid.' Yesterday he was growling that he would not
have me teach his people. He took an Arab dirk, and
brandishing it, said, ' Thus will I kill any Muzungu I '

A Great foy. 287
(white man). The Arabs said, Amen ! They are
making a desperate effort just now to establish their
creed, and have Christianity crushed. Good Lord,
this cause is Thine, and will triumph ! Why do the
kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord
and His anointed ? ' He that sits in the heavens shall
laugh.' " Strange to say, the queen-mother sent me the
present of a large fat cow very early to-day, without
begging for anything. She must have heard of
Mwanga's words of fury yesterday.
" Praise God ! St. Matthew's Gospel is now published
complete in Luganda, and rapidly being bought. I
merely stitch it, with title-page, and supply a loose
cover. Binding, by-and-by. This work, with the
packing and giving medicine to the Christians
ordered off to war, and sitting up to all hours,
teaching housefuls, has thoroughly exhausted me.
I am almost entirely broken down with fatigue, and
anxiety, and want of sleep.
"June igth, 1887. — Read three chapters of Romans,
vii., viii., ix., with good class this evening. The argu
ment they seem to comprehend. Where is Thomson,
with his feeble scheme of Islam for Africa ? or Reichard,
with his charge of extreme poverty of mental power
in the negro ?
"July 12th.— Since the last entry I have had a
month of trouble and anxiety. The existence of the
mission has been wavering in the balance, and even

288 Deeds of Blood.
yet is undecided. Our enemies have tried their ver>
utmost to prevail. Even Pdre Lourdel seems, partly
too by his own confession, to have helped to seriously
bring increased suspicion on our objects, and there
fore to lend a hand to our overthrow. The whole
case I have given into the hands of our Master, whose
we are. Whatever way He will lead, I am prepared
to follow.
" Pere Lourdel, I hear, told the king that ' it was
not well for me to meet Stanley here, as we would
/ay our heads together to eat the country.' The king,
at any rate, told the katikiro and Pokino, in court,
that Lourdel had made this statement, whereupon
the chief judge accused the Frenchman of jealousy. I
wrote and asked Lourdel if he had given this advice ?
He denies having done so ; but, from his own confes
sion, there is some ground for the king's statement
He (Lourdel) allows to having said to the katikiro
that 'white men do not intend meantime to take
the country ; but by-and-by, he did not know ! ' This
imprudent remark will take us much pains to con
trovert in the days to come, as the king himself said
that had the Arabs told him ' not to let Stanley
and Mackay meet,' he would have looked on their
words as merely enmity, but when a white man said
this, it must be true ! "
The katikiro again gave out that he was unwilling
Mackay should leave, and the king also expressed
great regret. On all sides much sorrow was expressed.

The Arabs Again ! 289
and no one would hardly believe that he really meant
to go. Mackay says : —
" I am at times sorely perplexed, but I think it
well to bend before the storm till it breaks, and when
a reaction comes we may lift up our heads. If their
regrets are sincere, they will agree to another mis
sionary coming on with the boat. I have gained one
important point in getting permission to leave the
C.M.S. station in possession of some of our pupils,
and not to abandon it entirely, as the Arabs* were
determined should be done. I have resolved, how
ever, not to go unless they send a mubaka with me
to fetch Gordon to take my place. I mean to make
this point a test of their sincerity in asserting that
they wish friendship."
After many tedious discussions at Court, a mubaka
was at length granted.
Many chiefs begged parting gifts, and gave him
others in return. The king also sent farewell presents,
with a message that he was to " return very soon."
Finally, on the 21st July, he started for the port.
He says : " I called on the Frenchmen on my way,
and gave the keys to Pere Lourdel — Simeon Lourdel
— Peter should have the keys ! "
* They went to the katikiro and did their best to persuade that
dignitary not to allow him to leave any one in charge, nor a single
article in the country, as he would (they said) be sure to write to
England that he had been robbed, and much trouble would ensue.

19

CHAPTER XX.
THE NIGHT IS GONE.
¦ So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone ;
And with the morn those angel-faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile."
J. H. Newman.
T T must be distinctly understood that Mackay did j.
•*¦ not leave Uganda out of fear. He would have f
greatly preferred to remain, but he believed it was [i
for the good of the mission that he should retire for f
a time, and the king and katikiro ultimately agreed |
to this. But when his eyes were opened to the i
fact that the Roman Catholics were looking eagerly ¦ $
forward to having the fort to themselves as soon as he ¦?
had quitted it, he resolved that he would not go until !
a messenger was sent with him to take back one of
his brethren. He felt quite certain that, notwith
standing all that had happened, there was not one
amorag them but would be quite ready to occupy
the post Had Mackay believed that any evil would
befall any of his brethren he would not have advised
ago

Farewell. 291
them to go on to Uganda, but he rightly felt that the
hostility of the Arabs was due to his influence with
the authorities, and that, as soon as he left, that would
cool down.
The Christians were in great alarm, lest another
general massacre should take place immediately on
his departure, but he comforted them with the promise
that another missionary would speedily come to help
them ; and that he had no intention of returning to
Europe, but would remain somewhere on the south
coast of the lake, where he would watch over their
interests to the best of his ability, and be ready to
return should God open the way.
Many sad good-byes to this and that dark friend,
and he was once more on board the Eleanor.
" All had been dimly star-lit ; but the moon
Late rising, silvered o'er the tossing sea,
And lighted up its foam-wreaths, and just threw
One parting glance upon the distant shores.
They meet his eye ; the sinking rocks were bright,
And a clear line of silver marked the hills,
Where he had said farewell. A sudden tear
Gushed, and his heart was melted ; but he soon
Repressed the weakness, and he calmly watched
The fading vision."
Mackay reached the south shore of the lake on
August ist, 1887 ; and, as he expected, a few days
afterwards the Rev. E. C. Gordon nobly went to hold
the fort in Uganda
After various futile endeavours to form a station at

292 The Night is Gone.
Msalala, he pitched his tent at Usambiro. He writes
" You ask me where Usambiro is — I may define it
as the whole region immediately north of the wide
country called Msalala This station is six miles
north of the old Msalala station, and only about three
miles from the extreme south end of Smith Sound.
" On the maps you will see a place marked Makolo,
which is our position. From our front verandah we
have a view of the extreme end of the creek, which,
being closed in by hills, looks like an independent
lake. Although the water is only about three miles
off, it is quite inaccessible on this side, on account of
a broad belt of papyrus and bamboo. Hence we
have to walk about six miles before getting to our
port. This papyrus fringe breeds myriads of mosqui
toes, which infest the country for many miles. These
pests are most numerous in the rainy season, and
were it not for the fact that they come out only at
night, existence would be nearly impossible. But I
am at home anywhere on the shore of my beloved
Nyanza, despite the strange mystery which still hangs
round its coast — east and west. All along the shore
of the lake, every half mile or so, are studded tiny
hamlets, consisting of about a score of round huts in
a paling of coarse logs, and of course a cattle kraal
in the centre. These many villages, besides their
geographical interest, offer a peculiar interest to the
missionary, as being so many fields — I shall not say
ripe for harvest, rather acres — where ploughing and

Reinforcements. 293
sowing must be done, and a patient waiting for the
reaping diligently practised. Unfortunately, every
day's march generally finds one in another tribe, with
another language new to the preacher, and therefore
presenting obstacles to its ready acquisition."
He had brought with him his engines and machinery,
together with the printing press, heavy boxes of type,
ink and paper. At a new station, building and other
work had to be carried on vigorously, as he was daily
expecting Bishop Parker, the second bishop of East
Equatorial Africa ; Mr. Ashe, back from England,
and some others, and there was no accommodation
for them. The work of printing and translation also
went on apace, and he was able to send on many
books and portions of Scripture to Uganda.
Before Christmas the new reinforcements had
arrived, and as there were now six missionaries at the
little station, they held a many days' conference.
Mackay had been so long in the midst of barbarism
and degradation and persecution, with no educated
brother to exchange sentiments with, that to enjoy the
society of the Bishop he had so long pleaded for, and
of four other Englishmen, among whom was his dear
old friend Ashe, was indeed a rare treat. He says :
" Coals of fire, however hot at first, if scattered by ones
or twos, here and there through the room, are likely
soon to die out ; but if gathered together in one grate,
speedily burst into flame and contribute more warmth,
even in the remotest corners, than when lying about

294 The Night is Gone.
singly in all directions. So it is here. So down-sunk
are the people of East Africa in the scale of religious
and intellectual existence,* and so little encourage
ment does the missionary find in endeavouring to
elevate them by the power of the glad tidings of grace,
that one or two most earnest men, stationed in isolated
positions, are apt to find their ardour cooled and their
courage gone. But three or four men in one spot,
living together, working together, encouraging one
another, loving one another, form in themselves an
element of strength which, by the blessing of God,
soon makes itself felt in all the country round."
About this time he wrote to his old friend Dr.
Baur, asking him to enter into communication with
the Moravian brethren, with a view to their sending
missionaries to Central Africa, and to let Bishop
Parker know the success of the negotiations. This
was done, first because the Bishop found that East
Equatorial Africa alone could easily absorb a hundred
new men every year, for always half of them would
be either sick, or otherwise hors de combat; and
secondly, because schism and self-content so occupy
the minds of Christians in England and Scotland, that
really only a very small fraction of them have ever
come to realise that the extension of Christ's kingdom
is their DUTY AND PRIVILEGE ; and consequently
* Mackay was referring here to the tribes at the south of the lake,
and not to the Baganda, who are vastly superior to the surrounding
nations, and thousands of whom have been brought to Christ.

The Moravians. 295
the Church Missionary Society never succeeded in
supplying even the vacancies at the existing stations.
The Moravians entered heartily into the under
taking ; but, alas ! the letters to Bishop Parker were
returned, as he had already " gone home '' ; and Dr.
Baur says : " When the Moravians again inquired of
me if it would be advisable to commence a corre
spondence with Mackay on the matter, the sad news
arrived that he also had entered into rest."
The station at Usambiro was very unhealthy, and
several of the party suffered much from fever. Soon
it became a diminished band, for within a fortnight
the Bishop and Mr. Blackburn were called to higher
service. There was no time to make coffins, as the
natives objected to burial, so graves were hastily
made, and the blessed dead were reverently wrapped
in some beautiful bark cloth of Uganda manufacture.
Necessity knows no law, and in order that the Chris
tian porters, who had accompanied the Bishop from
Freretown, might understand, Mackay, who alone of
the mission band could speak their language, read the
burial service, on both occasions, by the wish of his
clerical brethren.
One day, Mackay received a letter from the King
of Uganda, requesting him to " send on, at once, the
new Muzungu who had accompanied Mr. Ashe from
England." The gentleman in question was the
Rev. R. H. Walker. The first day that the Eleanor
was in port Mr. Walker bravely set out, and on

296 The Night is Gone.
arrival was received by Mwanga with great pomp
the petty tyrant believing he would thus inspire his
guest with fear of the gigantic power of Uganda.
Mr. Ashe also was compelled to leave and to return
to England, on account of his health, and once more
Mackay was alone ; but he did not feel lonely, for he
had more than enough to do, and hosts of natives
were always crowding about him.
While in Uganda the missionaries were always
more or less in fear of the authorities, but at the
south end of the lake the great trial was inter-tribal
wars. About this time there was a war scare at
Usambiro, and Mackay had an anxious time, as the
fighting lasted three days, and he had to arm himself
and his men and prepare for being attacked, although
he would willingly have paid an indemnity, if at all
possible, to avert bloodshed. Happily the enemy,
after a great blazing of gunpowder, were defeated by
the chief of the place, and left. All Stanley's bales
and boxes, which had been sent up country to
Mackay's care, he had to secrete ; while the multitudes
of bundles of beads, belonging to the Emin Relief
Expedition, he stored high up among some rocks.
The foe actually burnt the villages, and several were
killed on both sides. Had the chief been defeated, who
knows what would have become of the mission station ?
Meantime, strange events had happened in Uganda.
Mwanga's robberies had raised general discontent,
and matters came to a climax when his wicked plot

Mwanga in Distress. 297
was discovered, of trying to ship all his body-guard
to a desert island in the Nyanza, and leave them
there to die of starvation.
A new king was elected, and Mwanga fled to the
lake, and all his women, of course, after him. Arriving
there he found only five canoes, so that most of his
harem had to be left behind. Soon, however, four
canoes deserted, and there was only one left. Mwanga,
with his thirty boys and six women, held on until they
reached the Arab settlement of Magu, on the south
coast of Speke Gulf. Thence he sent a letter to
Mackay, imploring him " to come and take him away
from the Arabs, who were fleecing him." Mackay
felt very sorry for him, notwithstanding all his
murders and persecutions, and sent him, on three
occasions, cloth to buy food, and to wear. Mwanga
begged Mackay to "forget bygone matters, and to
restore him to his kingdom, and he would never be
bad again ! " Again he sent urging Mackay to " take
him to Europe, or anywhere he liked, or kill him if
he chose." However, ultimately he managed to
escape from Magu to the station of the French
priests, who baptised him ; and by-and-by, after many
humiliations, he was, "with loud and real rejoicing,
carried shoulder-high from the lake to his former
capital, and made kabaka once more ; only he was
no longer the despotic master and murderer of the
Christians, but a helpless instrument in their hands,
or they occupied all the posts of authority."

298 The Night is Gone.
But how had the noble missionaries Gordon and
Walker been faring in Uganda ? Mackay was most
anxious about them, as he heard there had been
another revolution, caused by the Mohammedans
(who were determined to have no Christianity in the
country), and was just starting to the French mission
station for news of them, when he sighted the
Eleanor; and, sure enough, his dear brethren were
on board, but in strange plight, for, as Mr. Wajker
expressed it, " they had just been taken by the
scruff of the neck and bundled out, but without their
bundles ! "
They had been imprisoned for a week in a wretched
hut, where they had almost no food, and only a
blanket each, and had to lie amid filth and vermin,
while more than once they had reason to believe that
they were about to be murdered. Writing to Mr.
Ashe, Mackay says : " You know how we were often
in the same state, and how it makes the hair turn
grey." Both missions (French and English) were sacked
and plundered of everything by the authorities and
the mob. Every book was torn from its back, every
bottle emptied of medicine, everything else taken,
struggled for, and destroyed, the doors wrenched off
their hinges, and the C.M.S. house left a fearful wreck.
Ultimately, they were all (French and English mis
sionaries) pushed on board the Eleanor, with no food,
and almost no clothing, and no bedding or tents, or

Baganda Refugees. 299
any protection from sun or rain. The evening they
set out they were shipwrecked, and five boys drowned,
but after much difficulty the boat was recovered and
patched by Mr. Walker, and the voyage continued.
The C.M.S. brethren had absolutely nothing with
which to buy food on the way ; but the Frenchmen,
finding themselves, in more senses than one, " in the
same boat," showed them the greatest kindness and
shared everything with them.
Mr. Walker had been stripped of his coat, trousers,
and hat, before embarking, but he contrived to save
a blanket. Such is the fanaticism of Islam, that the
only two books he had saved, his Testament and
Prayer-Book, were snatched from him and thrown
into the lake.
After a little while, a great many Christians, who
had escaped from Uganda at the time of the revolu
tion, found their way to the mission station at Usam
biro. The Baganda are naturally lazy, but Mackay
made them work for their food and clothes. He ever
strove to instil into their minds, by his own example,
the importance and dignity of labour, and that idle
ness is quite inconsistent with the Christian life.
They were very eager to acquire mental knowledge,
while some of them were capital readers and of great
assistance in translation work. Mackay was also
teaching two of them to help in the printing office,
as he found there was no want of intelligence to
enable them to become rapid compositors in time.

300 The Night is Gone.
While Mr. Gordon was with him, he was relieved
of much teaching, and spent a good deal of time in
the workshop. The Eleanor was becoming almost
unseaworthy, and it was absolutely necessary to get
another boat ; but first a month had to be spent in
the dripping forest (among long grass, taller than
himself), felling and dressing trees for sawing, etc.
On returning to the station, he found that a leopard
had visited the goats' house every night for his
supper, until thirty goats and calves had disappeared.
So he made a strong stockade all round the mission
premises, and built a huge trap by which he captured
the animal.
But a day came when a reaction took place in
Uganda ; and at the urgent request of Mackay, Messrs.
Gordon and Walker immediately started in canoes
for the country whence they had been so summarily
ejected a few months previously. Writing to Ashe,
he says : " I have great hopes of them They are
good men and true, and we may be proud of them
as our successors."
But what could have happened? A few hours
after they left, Mackay despatched two men after
them to fetch them back with all speed, but they
failed to catch them up.
Something unusual must have taken place, for by
dawn next morning all were early astir at the station,
and great preparations were being made. A fat goat
was killed and fresh bread baked, and every now and

A Caravan three Miles long! 301
again some one was sent to a point of vision to look.
At last Mackay went himself, and behold, in the
distance a great caravan I On went a white linen suit
and white felt hat, and off he set to welcome the
Emin Relief Expedition, including Mr. Stanley,
Emin Pasha and daughter, Signor Casati, Signor
Marco (a Greek), Signor Vita Hassan (from Tunis),
Lieut. Stairs, Captain Nelson, Dr. Parke, Mr. Jephson,
and Mr. W. Bonny ; together with four hundred
Soudanese, three hundred and fifty Zanzibaris, and
a hundred Manyuema, who were, however, no longer
cannibals. Writing to Sir Francis De Winton, Mr. Stanley
says : —
"C.M.S. Station at Msalala, South end of Lake Victorla,
East Central Africa. "August 3 is/, 1889.
" My DEAR De WlNTON,— We arrived here on the
28th inst, and found the modern Livingstone, Mr.
A. M. Mackay, safely and comfortably established at
this mission station. I had always admired Mackay.
He had never joined in the missionaries' attacks on
me, and every fact I had heard about him indicated
that I should find him an able and reliable man.
When I saw him and some of his work, about here,
then I recognised the man I had pleaded, in the name
of Mtesa, should be sent to him in 1875, the very
type of man I had described as necessary to confirm
Mtesa in his growing love for the white man's creed."

302 The Night is Gone.
Dr. Baur, referring to the testimony of some other
members of the Expedition, says : " I remember also
with great pleasure hearing Casati say : ' When I
shook hands with Mackay he appeared to me to be
the man my imagination had pictured : gentlemanly in
his bearing, outspoken, but without harshness ; clever-
looking, high-minded, scanty of words. Death took
away in him, soon after our arrival at the coast, a life
which, with noble greatness of soul, was devoted to
the salvation and civilisation of his fellow-men.' "
Twenty days the Expedition rested from their long
and arduous journey, and the society of so many
gentlemen was a great enjoyment to Mackay.
On the 17th of September they all departed, and
he walked part of the way with them and wished
them God-speed, waving his hat till they were out of
sight. As one has said, " Stanley and his party came
home to European platforms and royal receptions ;
the lonely missionary went to the Palace of the King
of kings ! "
Stanley and his officers all urged Mackay to
accompany them to Europe ; the Church Missionary
Society had invited him, time after time ; his friends
continued to plead with him to return home to recruit,
but in vain. He would not quit his post until re
inforcements arrived. Whether he had any presenti
ment that a call would soon come which he could
not disobey, is not clear ; but during the next four
months, amidst his multitudinous duties of teaching

"Every Citizen a Soldier!" 303
the Baganda refugees, drugging, printing, translating,
together with the laborious work of the new steam
launch he had on hand, his spirit seems to have been
greatly exercised about the half-heartedness of
Christians at home, towards the claims of missions,
especially of African missions, which are languishing
for lack of aid.
His heart was gladdened by the news that Chris
tianity was again established in Uganda, and he sent
home a ringing appeal to Christian England, saying
that the Continental idea of " every citizen a soldier "
is the true watchword for Christian missions, for that
the King's command is " Go YE," not Send!
He says : " Eagerly I long for a strong batch of
good men for the work, and, Oh for a bishop !
" Our people are most urgent that we should
plant stations all over Uganda, not merely at the
capital, and no one will hinder us if we only had the
men. The Roman Catholics have already sent five
men in, and many more will follow. Where is the
great Church of England, and the greatest of
Missionary Societies ? "
About this time he writes : " I have been toiling
at the forge and lathe, and have got our steam
arrangements far on to completion. The three-
cylinder engine and two steam pumps and injector
stand all ready fitted for the boiler. The main boiler-
shell is also carefully jointed and riveted together,
and so is the fire-box. But that has been a most

304 The Night is Gone.
serious job, as all these years of knocking about have
thrown all the shells terribly out of shape, as well as
rendering them steely and brittle. Many new parts
had to be made, and rivets also by the hundred, as
these were mostly lost ; but the most of that work is
now done, although a good deal remains to complete
it to my satisfaction. High-pressure steam is not a
thing to play with, and unless every part is carefully
calculated for strength, and exactly fitted, there may
be accidents, for which I would be responsible."
But one morning, early in February 1890, "the
din of the iron hammer was hushed, the glare of the
furnace faded, the last blast of the bellows was blown,"
and all was still within the little stockade, save for
the silent footsteps of his Baganda pupils, flitting
in and out with awe-stricken faces. Why is this?
Where is Mackay? But yesterday he was busy
packing for, and assisting his colleague, Mr. Deekes,
to go home to England ; and now he himself lies ]
delirious on the bed where Bishop Parker breathed 1
his last. The worst was feared, but no help could
be obtained. No more dangers, or trials, or sorrows,
or hopes deferred, or fitful fevers for the faithful
missionary. Four days more of delirium, and on
the 8th of the month the summons came, " Enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord."
May his life and example stimulate and inspire
many to live unselfish lives in the same living faith
of a living Saviour!

Overwrought. 305
Letter from Mr. David Deekes.
"Usambiro, Central Africa, Oct. 14th, 1890.
"Dear Dr. Mackay,— Your letter dated June 4th
reached me a few days ago. I am sorry I was not
able to give you a more detailed account of your
son's death, but I was so ill at the time of writing
that what I did write was written with great difficulty.
Thank God, my health has improved, and I now feel
better able to write you the particulars of that sad
event " From the time I first met Mr. Mackay, which was
about two years previous to his death, he has invari
ably enjoyed good health ; he would occasionally
have an attack of fever, generally preceded by a cold,
but never any bad attack.
" At the time Mr. Stanley and his party passed
here, and for some time after, in fact right up to
within a few days of his death, he was as jovial and
well as I have ever known him to be. He thoroughly
enjoyed Mr. Stanley's visit, and was always referring
to it ; even when delirious he would again and again
ask me if Mr. Stanley and his party were being
properly entertained and made comfortable.
" The first symptom of fever was an ordinary cold
in the head, which he got, I think, when working down
in the workshed on the boiler of the steamer he was
making for the Nyanza. From early morning right
up to sunset he would be at work, and after the
20

306 The Night is Gone.
evening meal he would sit with the Baganda Chris
tians (there were several here at that time), and
translate the Scriptures. He was then doing St.
John's Gospel, which I think Mr. Gordon has since
finished ; he also held a reading-class at midday,
whilst the workmen were having their dinner. I have
often advised him to give up something and rest
a little (I was not able to do any part of his work
myself, not having the mechanical skill, and not
knowing the Luganda language) ; but he would say
' the great secret of health in Africa was keeping
oneself fully employed.'
" I agree with him ; but I cannot help thinking
he overdid it, and that the heavy, laborious work in
which he was engaged in a draughty workshed was
to a great extent the cause of his last illness. He had
been unwell with a cold, as I have said before, but
this did not hinder him from making arrangements
for me to leave for England. The day had come
for my departure, and I was ready to say good-bye,
when on entering his room I found him on the bed
in the hot stage of fever. I could not leave my
brother missionary alone in this condition, therefore
at once I dismissed the men who were engaged to
carry my loads, and decided to wait a few days
longer. On the morrow, however, he became delirious,
and continued so for four days, when he expired.
Strange to say, all his remarks during the time of
unconsciousness were made in English. At times

Emm at Mackay's Grave. 307
he was somewhat violent, and threatened to leave
the house and go and sleep in the forest.
" I had a coffin made of the wood he had cut for
the boat, and at 2 p.m. on the Sunday I buried him
by the side of the late Bishop Parker. The Baganda
Christians and the boys of the village stood t around
the grave, and I began to read the burial service, but
broke down with grief and weakness. The boys and
Baganda Christians sang the hymn, 'All hail the
power of Jesus' name,' in Luganda, and we returned
to the house. Never shall I forget that day, and
many others that followed it. I did miss my friend
so much ; tears come to my eyes when I think of
those sad days. I prayed that God would spare me
that I might hold the post till others came, and this
He has been pleased to do, inasmuch as Bishop Tucker
and his party are now within three weeks' march of
this place, and my health remains good.
" A few days ago his Excellency Dr. Emin passed
here. Mr. Walker, who was here at that time, accom
panied him to the grave of our dear brother. His
Excellency did not leave the grave without shedding
a tear and taking away a small piece of stone on
the grave. He said ' he had lost a great friend, but he
rejoiced that there was a hope of meeting him again.'
" It is hard for us to realise God's purpose in
taking away such a valuable servant, when by us he
was so much needed, but God knows best and doeth
all things welL

308 The Night is Gone.
" May we who are left follow the example of those
who have gone before, in using our time well in the
service of our Lord. His Excellency Dr. Emin has
taken three things belonging to the late Mr. Mackay,
for which he has given me a receipt, which I enclose
in this letter.
" With kind regards to the members of your
family, " I remain, dear sir, yours very sincerely,
"David Deekes, C.M.S."
On April 2nd, 1890, a messenger arrived at the
mission station in Uganda, with the news : " Mackay
is dead, and Deekes is dying." Next moining the
Rev. R. H. Walker started for Usambiro, but, owing
to vexatious delays in getting canoes, and rough
weather on the voyage, he did not reach the south
end of the lake till the 18th of May. He writes:
" Deekes is much better, I am thankful to say. Poor
dear Mackay ! I wish I could have been here to
nurse him a bit. Deekes was helplessly ill himself,
and sent off to Bukumbi to the French priests to help
him, but ere the good Samaritan came our dear friend
had died. Unavoidably, he was a bit neglected. I
do not know what could have done him good, but
I should have liked to have tried."
The following letter from his colleague, Rev. E. C.
Gordon, explains the reason why Mackay did not
return with his brethren to Uganda in August, 1889 : —

Labour and Toil. 309
"Atwick Vicarage, Hull,
January 41 'h, 1892.
"My dear Doctor Mackay,— Much work has
been the chief cause of delay in writing you. The
work in which I am now engaged often reminds me
of your noble son, whose death was such a great loss
to the Uganda Mission. I am hoping soon to hand
over to the Bible Society the work upon which your
lamented son was busy shortly before the time of
his death. You know he was translating the Gospel
of St. John. He finished the first fourteen chapters,
and began the fifteenth, and then he was suddenly
called away to the rest that remaineth for the people
of God. Your son's life was one of anxiety and toil,
and he well needed the rest and enjoyment of the
Higher Service in Heaven.
"Your son's labour and toil for the good of the
Baganda and Africa will best be known at that day
when the Lord Himself will declare before His saints
how His servants have served Him.
" It was by the skill and wisdom of your son that
the mission work in Uganda was kept from destruction.
He guided the work of the Mission through the
constant perils of its checkered history. He patiently
bore with the haughty pride of the often enraged
authorities, and would not abandon the good work.
His own patient labour was abundantly rewarded with
much blessing from on high. He and those with him
sowed the spiritual seed of the kingdom, and it found

310 The Night is Gone.
root and sprang up to bear good fruit They laid the
only good foundation which God has given, and God
gave them the joy of seeing abundant success. It is
a great honour to have entered into the good labours
of such men. It was my happy lot to enter into the
labours of your son, of O'Flaherty and Ashe, and to
see the solid worth of his and their work.
" It was also my good fortune to benefit by the
wise advice which your son was so well able to give.
At Msalala the greedy natives had become too
exacting, and great tact was required to remove the
Mission from there without loss, but your son was
equal to the difficult task. His patience with the
rude natives was very great. I observed him here,
and learned many other lessons that he could teach.
It was your son who decided that the time had come
for the missionaries to return to Uganda. He was so
sorry not to be able to return himself, but he sent
Mr. Walker and me. Who can tell his great sorrow
of heart at his own detention at the south end of
the lake at that time? So great was his devotion
to duty that he felt himself detained at Usambiro
by the heavy work he had on hand. But his longing
hope was to be able to return to Uganda in the boat
which he was diligently building. He was expending
all his strength upon this work, for whatever he
undertook to do, he did with all his might. One of
the Baganda Christians asked me to express his
feelings of sympathy with you in the loss of such

Faithful Friends. 311
a son. He meant that he had learned to value
your son as his spiritual teacher, and was able in
some measure to feel sympathy for you in your
great sorrow.
"You will like to hear something about this
man. His name is Tomasi (Thomas) Semfuma,
and he has often been mentioned in letters from
the lake. He was one of your son's early pupils,
and by diligence and perseverance he became a
good reader. He is a great friend of Sembera
Mackay, and the two were chosen to be Church
Elders. They both lived together for a long
time, and served the same master, who was also
a Christian. Tomasi with others suffered many
privations for the sake of Christ. He often found it
difficult to hide from the wrath of man in the time
of Mwanga's tyranny. Tomasi was a good teacher,
and he often taught others who had not had the
same advantages as himself. He also helped your
son in the important work of translating the Gospel
of St. Matthew into Luganda. When the Christians
were driven from Uganda by the jealous Moham
medans, he went with them to Busagala, and when
the Christians were victorious over the Mohammedans,
he was sent by the Christians to Usambiro to invite
us to return to Uganda.
"There are many Baganda who thank God that
your son was sent to them with the message of
God's great love in Christ. I am sure it was a

312 The Night is Gone.
great comfort to your son to have one of those
whom he had taught to minister to him in the
time of his last sickness. When the fever overtook
him, and found him too weak to resist the dire
disease, he gradually sank under its power. The
fever met him when crushed down by the over
powering weight of his work, for he had no one to
help him nor to lighten his burden.
" It is a sad pity that Mr. Deekes was so unwell,
and unable to do much for him ; but God did not
leave him without consolation, for he had with him
his faithful friend, Sembera Mackay.
"The attention which this man, and a few more
of the Baganda gave the sick man was limited, but
it was genuine, and no doubt your son was comforted
by;it They watched the sick bed, and never left him
until he had breathed his last.
" I am, yours faithfully,
"E. CYRIL GORDON, CMS. Missionary!

CHAPTER XXI.
THE IRON HORSE.
"When the Indian trail gets widened, graded, and bridged to a
good road, there is a benefactor, there is a missionary, a pacificator,
a wealth-bringer, a maker of markets, a vent for industry." R. W. Emerson.
MACKAY believed that a railway from the coast
to the lake would prove a mighty power in
opening up the great interior, as it would benefit the
natives, in a just way, at every step, and enable
missions to be worked at an enormous reduction of
life and expenditure
His views about a railway, of very light con
struction, were quite assented to by Stanley, who
promised to do all in his power to persuade the
late Sir William Mackinnon, of the " Imperial British
East African Company," of the necessity of it.
This railway is now advanced, and will do much
to develop not only missionary enterprise but
legitimate trade. The fame of honest Christian
traders will soon spread far and wide among
V3

314 The Iron Horse.
the natives, and white men will rapidly gain a footing
firm and sure and friendly, to the exclusion of dis
honest Mohammedan dealers.
By the formation of a railway the slave trade will
cease, and merchants will be able to forward their
ivory and native produce very quickly to the coast,
and at a far cheaper rate than by the old barbarous
system of porterage. Arabs have never learned, and
probably never will learn, to adopt even wheeled
vehicles ; hence it will be an easy matter to outwit
them, by selling cloth and other European goods, in
the far interior, at a price far below what they can
afford to do it for.
A regular mail service, which the railway will in
augurate, will be an indescribable boon to the isolated
missionaries. The climate, and the everlasting same
ness in food, help to bring on anaemia, and its many
evil consequences. Two meals a day — plantains and
boiled goat's flesh, frequently without the goat's flesh —
tend to monotony and loss of appetite. At such times
a fresh mail, bringing good news of loved ones at
home, a newspaper, or a new book, acts like a tonic ;
hope returns, and the Lord's work is carried on with
renewed vigour.
The merchants, too, will be kept constantly aware
of the market value of ivory, etc., and thereby save
themselves from loss.
Mackay says : " Unquestionably it is now high time
to introduce a radical change in the present method

Human Beasts of Burden. 315
of trying to penetrate into the interior of this con
tinent. Probably the English public is little aware of
the appalling number of failures which have occurred
from the rough-and-ready system of employing human
beings as beasts of burden, or of the efforts already
made to introduce a more rational means of transport.
A brief enumeration of some of the most lamentabie
instances of failure in East African expeditions may
serve to deter others from continuing the old method,
while a knowledge of experiments already tried to
use animal power in the same region, may help to
prevent useless waste of money in making fresh trials
of the same kind.
" It is now fully a dozen years since, on my first
journey into the interior from the Zanzibar coast,
I pointed out that the difficulty of African travel arose,
not from the physical nature of the country, nor from
the character of the natives, but from the barbarous
and inhuman method of employing porters. In
Africa a hill is no more to climb than one in England,
nor are the forests harder to penetrate than is the
Schwartzwald. Along the well-watered banks of the
Upper Congo dense ' black forests ' undoubtedly exist,
and would prove a sore hindrance to land transit,
but these regions are, on the other hand, accessible
by water. Generally, however, the vast area of East
Africa, from Nyassa to the Nyanza, presents one
unbroken piece of open jungle, sparsely wooded with
dwarf trees and bushes, presenting little difficulty

316 The Iron Horse.
except in the wet season, to the passage of pack
animals or vehicles. The natives everywhere carry
on their own shoulders any articles they wish to
transport from place to place ; the Arabs, ignorant
of wheels, have only too readily adopted the same
method ; but that can be no excuse for Europeans
casting aside all the resources of civilisation at the
coast, and adopting native or Arab barbarity the
moment they enter the interior. Explorers pene
trating the region of the unknown, and eager only
to cover long distances, may be excused for declining
to hamper themselves with heavy wagons, or animals
the life of which they are not sure of. Now the case
is entirely changed. The physical features of the
whole continent are to-day pretty well known. Only
limited portions require mapping in detail. Travellers
now demand means of transporting goods, in large
quantities, for consumption at stations in the far inte
rior. This renders quite inexcusable the continued
adoption of a method ever fraught with enormous
inconveniences to even the lightly-equipped explorer.
"Early in the year 1876 the two great missionary
bodies, the Church Missionary Society and the
London Missionary Society, undertook the task of
planting stations in the centre of the continent ;
the former on the Victoria Lake, the latter on the
Tanganyika. The directors of both Societies, fully
conscious of the cruelty attending the use of porters,
at once resolved to try bullock -wagons, which are

"Porters Desert by Fifties Daily." 317
widely used in South Africa. But, as in most under
takings by white men in Africa, the desire for haste
overcame other considerations. The Church Mis
sionary Society sent up their first parties with the
goods on men's shoulders. Only two hundred miles
from the coast all the porters mutinied and left, but
were subsequently persuaded to return ; four hundred
miles farther on they again threw down their loads
and departed finally. The leader, Lieut. Shergold
Smith, after spending months collecting fresh porters,
was able to make another start, but only with worse
result. 'The porters deserted by fifties daily,' he
wrote, ' and after a stormy passage, our expedition
arrived at the lake a perfect wreck! Shortly after
wards, a caravan of supplies was sent up to the
relief of the men, all but starving at Kagei, under an
Englishman of many years' experience with natives ;
but he too was deserted by all his carriers about
half-way to the lake. Year after year renewed efforts
were made to forward men and supplies to the
Nyanza, generally with similar results. One leader
of a Church Missionary Society caravan, an English
man named Penrose, was attacked by robbers in the
jungle ; his two hundred porters threw down their
loads and fled, leaving their leader to be butchered
and all the property to be destroyed.
"The London Missionary Society suffered similar
losses through the mutiny and desertion of their
porters, although subsequently some of their caravans,

318 The Iron Horse.
as also some of the Church Missionary Society, were
fortunate in reaching their destination, but in no case
that I am aware of without serious losses.
" The case of the Abbe" De Baize was particularly
painful. Subsidised by the French Government, he
started from Zanzibar with about a thousand followers,
intending to cross Africa ; but by the time he reached
Ujiji, his great company had melted away, and there
the Abbe" died of disappointment. Little better
success attended the numerous expeditions of the
African International Association, mostly led by Bel
gian officers. Their losses, by mutiny and desertion,
were even greater than those experienced by the other
Europeans. I need not detail more instances. The
story of the trials of the Romish missionaries, of
travellers like Reichard and Giraud, and others, reveals
only the same tale of disaster and failure — all owing
to the barbarous employment of a mob of more or
less savage blacks as burden-bearers.
" Meantime, the missionary societies were active
with experiments in a different direction. One agent
of the Church Missionary Society was appointed, early
in 1877, to clear a track through the bush as far as
Mpwapwa, with only a force of fifty axes ; this was
accomplished without difficulty. The line followed
was the valley of the Wami river, and its tributary
the Mkondokwa. The length cut was two hundred
and thirty miles, and the time occupied only three
months. The London Missionary Society soon after-

Indian Elephants. 3 1 9
wards landed at Sadani about a dozen strong
English wagons, and teams of draught oxen and
skilled bullock-drivers from Natal. Scores and scores
of oxen were purchased on the spot and trained to
trek. A Swiss trader — Philip Broyon — followed with
heavy teams and tire-wheeled vehicles. The Church
Missionary Society brought teak carts from Bombay,
and got others made in Zanzibar. Oxen were
purchased and trained, and what was more difficult
still, Zanzibaris were trained to manage the teams.
For a while all worked well. The caravans of wheeled
vehicles followed each other up country in quick
succession. But before one hundred miles of way
were covered, the whole four hundred oxen, bought at
$20 per head, and broken in with much labour, suc
cumbed to the bite of the tsetse fly, and the wagons
had to be abandoned. Thus terminated for the time
all experiments to introduce the use of oxen in place
of human porters. Yet, all the way along, in most
of the villages, large herds of cattle are to be found.
It is the reach of jungle between the native clearings
that is full of the fatal fly.
" The next effort to use animal power was made
by his Majesty the King of the Belgians. His expe
dition, under the leadership of Captains Carter and
Cadenhead, left Dar es Salaam for Tanganyika with
three fine Indian elephants. The baggage of the party
was far in excess of what the elephants could carry,
and porters were sought in addition. As these were

320 The Iron Horse.
not speedily forthcoming, the Englishmen, with cha
racteristic impatience of delay, piled on the elephants
double their customary load. As was to be expected,
the animals broke down, and ultimately all died.
The white men themselves were subsequently killed
in a native war, and no further trials were made with
Indian elephants ; although I feel safe in saying that,
had the animals got justice, the experiment with
them would have proved a clear success.
"Mules have been tried, by both the French and
English missions ; but, for some reason or other, they,
as well as native donkeys, have always died on the
road. The Church Missionary Society has also tried
to use camels in the coast region, but the result was
failure — probably owing to the dampness of the
climate. It will be remembered that Livingstone
(ever harassed by the ' intrigues of deserters ') took
with him, on his last journey inland, camels, buffaloes,
mules and donkeys, almost all of which died, unmis
takably of tsetse bite, although their end was hastened
by overloading, bad treatment, and bad weather.
" The question will readily be asked, ' Is there no
specific against the tsetse?' The natives have pre
ventives of their own, but to what extent they succeed
I cannot say. Certain it is that cattle are constantly
driven from village to village with apparent impunity,
although realms of the ' fly ' lie between, while every
year herds of cattle are taken by the Wanyamwesi to
the coast: but these are purchased there chiefly for

No Remedy Against Tsetse Known. 321
slaughter. I am not aware that any survive the
journey more than a few months. As to remedies
or preventives, Livingstone tells of lion's fat being
rubbed on the root of the tail of the cattle, while
some have made the amusing suggestion of daubing
the horses' nostrils with nitrate of silver, not knowing
that it is not the nostrils only, but the whole body
of the animal which is bitten !
" Our party tried petroleum, which seemed to be
effective, for a time at least. Failure in the supply
of that article prevented its continued application ;
and as all our oxen subsequently died, I cannot say
how far the oil was of real service at all.
" Almost any animal will draw twice as great a
load as it will carry ; hence vehicles should be used
wherever possible. Oxen, mules, camels and donkeys
will, I fear, never succeed, except about a station,
or in particularly favourable and limited regions.
Camels might be used for crossing the desert be
tween Mombasa and Kilimanjaro, or on the sandy
plains of Ugogo, but certainly not in damp regions.
Donkeys might do well in the Masai country, espe
cially if procured there, and not imported from a
district where they have been accustomed to different
conditions. There seems also to be no reason why
African buffaloes should not be proof against the
tsetse. The failure of the three imported by Living
stone affords no proof to the contrary. The African
jungles are swarming with buffaloes, and skill and
21

322 The Iron Horse.
patience seem alone to be needed to turn these
animals to the service of man. But on all soils and
in all seasons elephants will, I believe, prove the most
reliable for either burden or draught. If brought
from India their cost will be considerable, but that
will be to some extent compensated for by their
marvellous longevity. They are said not to breed
in confinement, yet one of the three elephants of
Captain Carter's Expedition bore a young one in
Unyamwesi. Skilful hands will know how to use their
Indian elephants to decoy and tame those of Africa
itself. General Gordon foresaw the value of the
African elephant, if trained, and actually had four
Indian ones taken up to the Equatorial province, with
a view to having others. What became of these
when the Soudan was abandoned to barbarism, I do
not know. Perhaps the best way to check the rapid
extinction of the elephant in Africa, and at the same
time to lessen the ivory trade, which is the root of all
the ills of this Dark Continent, will be to encourage
the natives to capture the animals alive. These will
fetch an enormously greater price than the bare tusks,
and I have generally found the African ready to
turn to that by which he will get most money. It
seems ridiculous to go on extirpating such useful
animals merely for their teeth.
" But elephant, buffalo, or whatever animal power
is found most suitable, the use of them can never be
regarded as more than auxiliary to the only power

"Govern as you Go.'' 323
which will ever effectually bring the light ot civilisa
tion into the heart of Africa — the iron horse. Let
the British and German East African Companies
pursue a daring and persistent policy, as the Russians
are doing in Central Asia, and carry a skeleton line
of rail to the Nyanza and Tanganyika, respectively.
A dash to Wadelai by either party will never amount
to much. Treaties made by a flying brigade are a farce ;
but a policy of ' governing as they go,' and establish
ing cheap and fairly rapid communication with their
remotest stations, will well repay any initial outlay.
No finely measured gradients nor even much solidity
will be needed in the first instance. The roughest con
ceivable track, with light pit rails, and only temporary
bridges, would prove an inestimable boon to Central
Africa, and develop the resources of this continent
far beyond the most sanguine expectations of its
well-wishers.
" A. M. Mackay,
" C.M.S. Missionary.
"Usambiro, Victoria Nyanza,
"January 1889."

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