The British Mission to Uganda in 1893 ... Edited with a memoir by R. Rodd ... With the diary of Captain R. Portal, and an introduction by Lord Cromer, etc

Front matter

THE BRITISH MISSION TO UGANDA IN MY MISSION TO ABYSSINIA. By the late Sir Gerald H. Portal, K.C.M.G., C.B., Her Majesty's Consul-General for British East Africa. "With photogravure portrait, map, and numerous illustrations. Demy 8vo., 15s. " A very interesting account of the writer's adventures in Abyssinia on the occasion of his mission in 1SS7-8S to the king of that country, for the purpose of bringing about a modus vivendi between Italy and Abyssinia after the massacre of Dogali. Mr. Portal's narrative is personal and descriptive rather than political. It abounds in interest and excitement, and he has much to tell which is well worth hearing." — Times. " A record of one of the most daring achievements ever accomplished on behalf of the Foreign Office. Mr. Portal's narrative is at once lucid, brief, and intensely interesting."— St. James's Gazette.

"The dangers to which the mission was constantly exposed, and the calmness and courage with which they were faced, are simply and modestly recorded, whilst we obtain also much light as to the habits and character istics of the Abyssinians as a nation." — United Service Institution Journal. Loxdon: EDWARD ARNOLD, 37 Bedford Street, AV.C. Dezwaons. PKSe . . &aAc& -/Ay, lAe iymtM>ium&kl oy^Km^u THE BRITISH MISSION TO UGANDA IN 1893 BY THE LATH SIR GERALD PORTAL, K.C.M.G., C.B. THE BRITISH COMMISSIONER EDITED WITH A MEMOIR BY RENNELL RODD, C. M. G. WITH THE DIARY OF THE LATE CAPTAIN RAYMOND PORTAL AND AN

Introduction

BY LORD CROMER, G.C.M.G. ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY COLONEL RHODES LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD, 37 BEDFORD STREET, W.C. f ublisfjer to tfje ftrtta ©fficc EDITOR'S PEEFACE Some six months ago, as the good ship Sinde of the Messageries Maritimes was crossing the line on her homeward voyage, bringing Sir Gerald Portal, Colonel Rhodes, and myself back from Zanzibar, the papers from which the following pages have been compiled were first placed in my hands for perusal. I could but little anticipate, as I read them then, that it would ever fall to my lot to prepare them for the press, or that the valued friend who seemed so full of life and vigour, so eagerly looking forward after a protracted absence to home and all that it means to those whose lot is cast amono* alien faces and in distant lands, had written the last word of the record he had modestly and unassumingly compiled.

The sheets of the first eight chapters had been roughly drafted in the intervals of arduous work, of weary marches and watchings by the bed of sick companions, and more than half the story was still to be written. It was his request that I should read through the chapters which he had prepared, and make such suggestions as might occur VI to me with regard to their style and matter. I have little doubt that the verdict which I then expressed as to their keen and living interest will be fully endorsed by all who read them, and that the regret which they will feel at the abrupt conclusion of the written narrative will approve the advice which I offered, that he should complete the book and give it to the public. The tragic ending of a life so bright in promise, so rich in actual achievement, has left such intentions unfulfilled.

And now, in addition to the fact that the information contained in his manuscripts and notes possesses a vital and most present value, the deep personal interest aroused by his almost romantic personality and the pathos of his untimely death, has impressed on those into whose hands these papers have passed the sense of a duty to his memory, and a response to the universal sympathy displayed, which may best be fulfilled by publishing them even in their incomplete form. At the request of friends and relations I have undertaken the task of preparing them for the press, somewhat reluctantly indeed, not because I could hesitate to do all in my power to honour the memory of such a friend, but rather because, in the first place, I did not feel myself competent to deal with matter largely outside the range of my own personal ex perience; and, secondly, because when the request was EDITOR'S

Preface

VII made, so great a portion of my time wTas claimed by the public service that I knew it was scarcely possible for me to do justice to any additional work. The companion, however, of his eventful journey home, Colonel Rhodes, had once more left England on a long voyage beyond easy reach of communication, and his return was very uncertain. At the same time it was felt that the publication should not be de layed, and that in this hurryinff age of ever-changing interests and distractions the present moment was the appropriate one. It was generally agreed that it would be beyond the powers of any editor to fill up the gaps in the narrative so as to render the book a full and complete history of Uganda and of the British Mission, such as Sir Gerald Portal had intended it to be, and that all that could now be attempted was rather to make the notes and papers which he left into a personal record and memorial, from which might be gathered some thing of the nature and character of the man whose loss has been so sincerely deplored.

These papers consist, in the first place, of eight written chapters, left, as I have already intimated, in the rough-and-ready manner of their original concep tion, which would no doubt before publication have received a finishing touch from one whose feeling for literary style was considerable ; secondly, of a pencilled Diary carefully kept in a pocket-book from day to day ; and, finally, of a certain number of letters. In dealing with these materials I have left the written chapters almost untouched, correcting only here and there a hasty phrase, supplying a deficient or eliminating a superfluous word. It was characteristic of his method that he wrote both his public and his private correspondence with but little correction, deliberately and clearly, with considerable force and felicity of expression.

Beyond these few additions or erasures, therefore, and the need of an occasional footnote, these chapters have called for little editing. The Diary, on the other hand, written solely as personal memoranda, and the letters intended only for the eyes of near relations and friends, contain many matters of a purely private character which claim a reverent reticence. In dealing with the latter, I have quoted long extracts from them for the most part, withholding only those portions of an intimate correspondence which seemed too sacred to print. From the former I have extracted all the passages which appear to me essential as illustrating the incidents of travel, the progress of the Mission, the aspect of the country, and the character of the writer himself, beginning from the period where the written narrative breaks off up to the return to Kikuyu, the half-way station on the journey home. A few connecting links have been supplied, a word for clearness' sake inserted here and there, or a note EDITOR'S

PREFACE.

IX where occasion arose. With regard to the latter portion of the Diary, which deals with the march from Kikuyu to the Tana river, and the journey down the river to the coast, it appeared to me that as much of the route lay through untried country, and as the history of that journey would never be written now, even at the risk of the pages growing monotonous, the daily entries should be given in full as material for future reference. The hard struggle of each day's progress fills its appointed place in the pages of the pocket-book, to the exclusion of all outside thoughts or personal reflections. The last section contains, therefore, a simple transcript from the note-book, while no better summary could be made of all these experiences than that which he has drawn up himself in the comprehensive letter with which it concludes.

Such criticisms as are there made on the cartography of previous explorers it seemed to me should not be omitted in the interests of the advance of geographical knowledge, and I feel assured that neither Captain Dundas nor Mr. Hobley will resent the suggestion of rectifications to be made in their valuable maps and records. On the other hand, it has been a matter of much regret that we have been unable to communicate with Colonel Rhodes in order to obtain possession of a map which he is known to have made to illustrate this portion of the journey. If I have not erased the mention of my own name here and there in the Diary or letters, it is because that mention is connected, in my own mind at any rate, with that kindly solicitude of the writer for the health and welfare of others which these private memoranda reveal, for which I often have had cause to be grateful to him.

It was Sir Gerald's intention to have prefaced his book with an introductory chapter on Zanzibar, the famous metropolis of East Africa, nowr flourishing as a British Protectorate. For various and sufficient reasons I have not attempted to supply the missing chapter, but some account of his work there will be found in the accompanying Memoir. This record would not be complete without more ample allusion to the name and services of Captain Raymond Portal, Sir Gerald's elder brother, whose death from malarial fever in Kampala cast a gloom on the latter months of the Mission. The Diary, which he also kept since the first day of departure, has been placed in my hands, and after reading it I did not hesitate to include it in the book. It is like himself, fresh, manly, and full of a simple humour, and it will at any rate have a very genuine interest for the friends whom his frank and chivalrous per sonality inspired with a genuine devotion ; for seldom has a man died more beloved or more regretted by his associates than Raymond Portal. In conclusion, it is my duty to state that, having EDITOR'S

PREFACE.

XI obtained permission to edit these papers, I am bound to disclaim as an official all responsibility for opinions expressed in them. The time at my disposal before the date announced for their publication has been very brief, and fully occupied with other important work. It has, however, been a labour of love, though, indeed, a very sad one, for recent circumstances had, after long separations, brought the brothers and myself very near together once more, and the death of those two friends, under conditions so intensely tragic, is touched for me with a pathos which words of mine could but ill express. RENNELL RODD.

INTRODUCTION.

By Lord Cromer, G.C.M.G. In performing the sorrowful task of writing an intro duction to Sir Gerald's Portal's Diary, I am under one considerable disadvantage, and that is that I have never seen the Diary itself. As the work is being published in London, and as I am writing at Cairo, I have necessarily been unable to read the manuscript. But if I know nothing of the Diary, I knew a great deal of the man who wrote it. He was, in fact, one of my clearest friends. Sir Gerald — or, to use the name by which he was known to those who were intimate with him — Gerry Portal was one of the best specimens of that class of Englishmen, pre-eminently healthy in mind and body, who, to the great benefit of their country, issue forth year by year from our public schools. He was a fervent Etonian. He may be said to have passed through his short but honourable career singing Floreat Etona.

My first acquaintance with Portal dates from September 1883, when I was appointed to be English Consul-General in Egypt. Portal, who had entered into the Diplomatic Service four years previously, was at that time one of the staff of the British Agency at Cairo. With two short interruptions — the first in 1887, when he went on a special mission to Abyssinia, and the second in 1888, when he took temporary charge of the Zanzibar Agency — he re mained on my staff till the spring of 1891, a period of nearly eight years. During all those years — some of them years of much trouble and anxiety — Gerry Portal was not only of great assistance to me in my work, which was at times very heavy, but was also the life and soul of our " family" party at the Cairo Agency. Hand some, plucky, chivalrous, genial, equally at home in the chancery, the drawing-room, or the polo-field, this spirited young Englishman possessed every quality calculated to endear him to those with whom he was brought in contact.

Before Portal had served under me for long, I discerned that he was destined for more than a social success in life. In the autumn of 1887 his oppor tunity came. I was requested by Lord Salisbury to recommend some one to go on a special mission to Abys.sinia. It was at the time somewhat difficult to foretell what would be the precise nature of the difficulties which the English envoy would have to encounter. It appeared to me, however, that the main qualifications likely to be required were iron nerves, a cool head, and bodily strength capable of enduring fatigue. If to these I could add sound common-sense and no inconsiderable degree of diplo-

INTRODUCTION.

XV matic skill, I thought that I should find an ideal man to answer Lord Salisbury's purposes. All these qualities I found combined in Gerry Portal. I had, therefore, no hesitation in recommending him to Lord Salisbury. My recommendation was accepted. The adventures of the whole party have been told by Portal himself in his book, My Mission to Abys sinia, with the becoming modesty which distinguished him, and which led him to underrate alike the dangers to which he was exposed and the skill which he displayed in meeting them. He describes how the whole party nearly died of thirst, and although their adventures did not end with this narrow escape, it will not be necessary for me to follow up in detail the events which subsequently occurred. But I may mention that I well remember the anxiety which began to grow upon me as week after week passed without any news from Portal.

Knowing the dis turbed and excited state of Abyssinia at the time, I became alarmed for his safety. I was just beginning to make arrangements with a leading Austrian merchant at Cairo, who had commercial relations with the interior of Abyssinia, with a view to obtaining information as to what had occurred, when, to my great relief, I received a telegram from Massowah on the morning of Christmas Day, informing me that Portal and his party had arrived safely at the Italian outposts. That telegram turned the Christmas Day of 1887 at the Cairo Agency from one of sharp anxiety into one of gladness. b The courage and judgment displayed by Portal in his Abyssiuian work clearly marked him out for pro motion at no distant date. After having on several occasions been placed in temporary charge of the Cairo Agency, he was appointed, in 1891, to be Ao-ent and Consul-General at Zanzibar at a time of much difficulty in connection with Zanzibar affairs.

The manner in which he conducted his work at this responsible post f ully j ustified the choice which had been made. Eventually he went on the Uganda Mission, with results which are now known to the world. The deadly African climate proved fatal to his gallant brother, who accompanied him, and ultimately to himself, for I conceive that his constitution was undermined by fever and by the fatigues which he underwent in his Uganda journey. I have no hesitation in saying that Gerry Portal's premature death was a heavy loss to the Sovereign and to the nation whom he had served so well. The Ministers under whom he had held appointment— Lord Salisbury and Lord Rosebery — have borne emphatic testimony to the esteem in which they regarded him and to his value as a public servant. England, albeit prolific in men of courage and ability, can ill afford to lose before their time those of her sons who resemble Gerry Portal.

I cannot doubt that a useful and even brilliant career lay before him. More especially was he bom to be an Oriental diplomatist and administrator. Besides those high and attractive qualities to which I have already alluded, he possessed

INTRODUCTION.

XVII others of great value — excellent manners, tact, moral courage, a firm will, great capacity for promptitude and decision in action, and that keen and ready perception of the realities of Eastern life and politics which appears to come to some almost instinctively, whilst it is not acquired by others after years of residence in the East. Thus mentally and morally endowed, my strong conviction is that, had he lived, he would have left no inconsiderable mark on the history of his country. He died at the moment when his high qualities, which were well known to his intimate friends, were just beginning to be appreciated by a wider circle of his countrymen. I do not dare to constitute myself the interpreter of the feelings entertained by those who were nearest and dearest to Gerry Portal. To these I can but tender an expression of respectful and heartfelt sympathy with their sorrow.

And as concerns the many others who, like myself, regarded Gerry Portal with feelings which may more correctly be described as those of affection rather than of friendship, I can but use the commonplace, but in this instance, very true phrase, that he will ever live in our memory. Within my own recollection few more sad events have happened than the untimely death of this fine young Englishman at a moment when to all appear ances the prospect of a long, happy, and useful life lay before him. Speaking for myself alone, I may add that I took a special pride in helping to train Gerry Portal, that I regarded him as one who might not improbably be my successor in Egypt, and that both Lady Cromer and myself entertained towards him feelings of almost parental affection. His un expected death in the prime of life dashed suddenly to the ground all the hopes which I had founded on his future. CROMER. Cairo, 4th May 1894. 63 CONTENTS PAGE Introduction by Lord Cromer, G.C.M.G. .... xiii Memoir of the late Sir Gerald Portal .... xxv

Part I Chapter

I My appointment as H. St. Commissioner to Uganda — The staff of the Mission — Equipment of the caravan — The main body despatched to Kikuyu — A farewell state-visit to the Sultan of Zanzibar — We start upon our journey on the 1st of January 1893

Chapter II

We arrive at Port Reitz — By the "Central African Railway" to our encampment at Mazeras — An awkward squad — The first day's march ........

Chapter III

The day's programme — Crossing the great Taro Plain — The first station of the East Africa Company — A splendid view of Mount Kilimanjaro — Bad news from Kikuyu — A flourishing Industrial Mission ........

Chapter IV

The scene of a Masai raid — Our first rhinoceros — Arrival at Machakos — Victualling the caravan — On the war-path — I bag a lion — The Wa-kamba tribe and warriors — The Wa-Kikuyu . XX PACE 86 117 151 179 205 236

Chapter V

A state of siege at Kikuyu— An ivory caravan— We push on for Uganda — The game-abounding prairies of Lake Naivasha — First introduction to Masai warriors— The Masai tribe— The Salt Lake of Elmenteita — Hartebeest and antelope — An African forest

Chapter VI

West of the watershed — Extinction of the buffalo and eland — The Wanderobbo tribe — The fertile Kavirondo district — Mtanda — We cross the Nile and camp in Uganda — The Ripon Falls — Amidst civilisation and rifles — We enter the Fort of Kampala on the 17th of March ........

Chapter VII

A short survey of the conditions of the country — The districts suitable for European settlement — Facilities for traffic — Suggestions for improving the road — Proposed regulations for caravans and formation of stations .......

Chapter VIII

The kingdom of Uganda : its climate and population — The King and Council — Provincial governors — Oppressive taxation — Intelligence and religion of the peasantry ....

Part II Chapter

I At Kampala— Visit to King Mwanga— Arrangements for a division of territories between the Protestant and Catholic Missions— The slave question— The queen-mother— From Kampala to the Ntebe Hills — Kaima's case — Illness of Captain Portal

CHAPTER II

Captain Portal's illness-He returns to Kampala ; is joined by his brother-His deatli and funeral-Sir Gerald Portal's expedition starts from Kampala for Kikuyu CONTENTS XXI PAGE 246 267

CHAPTER III

The return journey— Difficulties of the march during the rainy season —Trouble in Uganda— Illness of Colonel Rhodes— Selim Bey is handed over to the Commissioner— Arrival at Kikuyu— Deatli of Selim Bey .......

CHAPTER IV

The Tana route to Uganda — Crossing the Malanga river — Difficulties on the route — The Grand Falls — Along the Tana river to Ndura — From Ndura to Witu — Zanzibar .....

Part III

Diary of Captain Raymond Portal, with an Introduction . 319 Epilogue ........ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Portrait of Sir Gerald Portal, from a drawing by the Marchioness of Granby ....... Frontispiece Tippoo Tib ........ xxxiv Ripon Falls. From a sketch by C. Whymper .... 4 Sudi Bin Suleiman, Native Headman of the Mission Caravan . . 40 My Tent ........ 44 Group from a Caravan preparing to start with Ivory . . .87 Group at Kikuyu ....... 91 Masai Warriors in their War-Paint . . . . .99 Masai Women at Lake Naivasha . . . . .102 A 90-lb.

Tusk bought in Kabras . . . . .125 Crossing the Nzoia River ...... 129 The Nile below the Ripon Falls . . . . .135 Embarking to cross the Nile ...... 137 The Nile after leaving Lake Victoria ..... 140 Bridging a Swamp in Uganda ...... 143 A Group of Uganda Natives ...... 198 Port Alice ........ 204 Mwanga, King of Uganda ...... 210 Bishop Tucker outside his Church at Namirembe . . .211 Group at Kampala ; 20th March ..... 212 The King's Drums ....... 213 Apollo, Katikiro of Uganda ...... 216 Lowering the Company's Flag and preparing to hoist the Union Jack at the Fort at Kampala . . . • • .218 Soudanese Troops at Kampala — Bayonet Drill .... 221 Baby Elephant, brought into the Fort at Kampala, being fed on milk 223 A War Canoe ........ 224 Tomb of Mtesa, late King of Uganda ..... 228 The Queen-Mother (Namasole) ... ■ • PAGE Dr. Moffat and Dead Hippopotamus, near Port Alice . . . 231 Port Alice ........ 233 Captain Raymond Portal's Grave ..... 240 Natives with Hippopotamus (Victoria Nyanza) . . . 251 A Creeper Bridge near Mumia's ..... 261 Bridge over the Malanga River ...... 272 Swahili Bridge over the Jlalanga River • . . . 276 The Seven Forks, Tana River ...... 280 Canoes on the Beledzoni Canal ..... 300 The Tana River : the Grand Falls . . . .308 Portrait of Captain Raymond Portal . .

To face page 319 Map ........ At end %* All the Illustrations, with the exception of the Portraits of Sir Gerald Portal and Captain Raymond Portal, are from photographs taken during the expedition by Colonel F. Rhodes, who kindly placed them at the disposal of Sir Gerald Portal for the purposes of this work. MEMOIR Sir Gerald Herbert Portal was the second son of Mr. Melville Portal of Laverstoke, and of Lady Charlotte Elliot, daughter of the second Earl of Minto. He was born on the 13th of March 1858, and had therefore not completed his 36th year when a life so remarkable not only for its promise, but also for its actual achievement, came to its untimely close. The handsome face and knightly bearing of the two brothers, Raymond and Gerald Portal, were typical of their family's origin in that southern school of chivalry, where French and English vied in feats of arms under the banners of King John and the Black Prince, in the days when lances were broken in the tilt-yards of Aquitaine.

Either of the two brothers, indeed, might well have seemed to recall in form and features the goodly presence of that Raymond de Portal who rode with Bertram! du Guesclin to avenge the deatli of the Queen of Castile in 1336, and of whose martial deeds the troubadours made songs. He was educated at Eton in the house of Mr. Marindin, with a number of brilliant young contemporaries, who have already distinguished them selves in various branches of the public service. It is interesting to remark, that already in these youthful days those who watched his early development had discerned many of the characteristics which were especially noticeable in his after life : a courage, namely, in carrying through to the end whatever he had set himself to do, a gift for organisation, a power of influencing others, and of winning the best sort of popularity, together with a rapid perception of a favourable opportunity and a capacity for bestowing all his pains on the work in hand.

To quote a concrete instance : there occurred in those days an opportunity for lower boys who displayed any apti tude for bowling to obtain, rather as a task than as the amusement of playtime, instruction in " Upper club " during the vacant hours on the afternoons of whole -school days. Of this somewThat irksome privilege Gerald Portal at once availed himself with a perseverance which no doubt assisted in enabling him later on to realise his first great ambition, namely, to represent his school in the cricket-field, as he did in 1886 and 1887. He achieved a good position in the school, but was there only credited with fair and not remark able abilities. His tact, however, and his power of winning confidence were displayed in his excellent management as captain of his house, where also, after gaining experience in the School Debating Society, he was mainly instrumental in starting a local Debating Club — then a somewhat novel institution — which MEMOIR XXVII maintained a vigorous life as long as the house lasted.

At these debates, curiously enough, were first noticed the eloquence and the command of general knowledge of a younger member of the house, who has now succeeded him as Her Majesty's representative at Zanzibar. He also acted as editor of the Eton Chronicle and as Master of the Beagles, and thus his school career may fairly be said to have exemplified once more the truth of the often-quoted opinion, that the qualities which distinguish Englishmen in after life are formed in large measure on the playing-fields. He became a keen sportsman, a fearless rider, some thin sr more than an amateur in the understandino* of horses, and, it is scarcely necessary to add, pro ficient in all those exercises in which Englishmen excel.1 After leaving school he had intended to matriculate at Oxford, but for some inexplicable reason he failed to satisfy the college examiners, and thus afforded a remarkable instance in support of the theory that examinations are not a final test of ability.

This accident was the more curious, since he became, at any rate in later years, a man of wide reading, with considerable literary taste and discrimination. Abandoning, therefore, the prospect of a university career, he entered the diplomatic service after a due course of studies, and having spent the usual period of training in the Foreign Office, was in 1880 appointed an attache to the Embassy in Rome, when 1 The Editor is indebted to Mr. Marindin for the facts concerning Sir Gerald Portal's school career. Sir Augustus Paget was Her Majesty's representative in that capital. Two years later he was transferred to Cairo, just at that period of crisis in Egyptian history which culminated in the bombardment of Alexandria, at which he was present. Here in the able school of Sir Evelyn Baring (Lord Cromer) he gained that insight into Oriental life which was afterwards to serve him in such good stead, and no pains were spared by his chief to develop the qualities which he had detected iu so apt a pupil.

This, indeed, was the turning-point in his life, and those who knew him before, as well as after, a few years' residence in Egypt, could not fail to be struck by the change which had come over him with the responsibilities of a position in which he Avas annually called upon during the absence of his chief to take charge of the Agency. Some five years after his first arrival in Cairo, he was entrusted with the perilous mission to King John of Abyssinia, the object of which was to pave the way for a peaceful solution of the difficulty with Italy, arising from the disastrous episode of Dogali. The story of that most difficult and eventful journey has been written by himself in the simple and unassuming narrative of My Mission to Abyssinia, originally printed for private circulation among friends, and subsequently published by Mr. Edward Arnold.

Without entering into the circumstances which led to the Italian occupation of Massowah, it may suffice to state here that it had very quickly led to disputes with the Abyssinian monarch, who not only resisted MEMOIR XXIX the levying of taxes at that port on goods coming into his country, but strenuously denied the right of the Italians to be there at all. Although the coast and its parts had been occupied for some 300 years by Turkey, and had finally been transferred to the Khedive of Egypt, the sleeping traditional claims of the Abyssinians, ousted only by the power of the sword, had never been forgotten, and when the suc cesses of the Mahdi brought about the retirement of the Egyptian garrisons from the Soudan forts and the coastal possessions, they beheld with sullen resentment a new power, hitherto unknown in these regions, stepping in to take possession of what they considered their legitimate reversion.