In South Central Africa : being an account of some of the experiences and journeys of the author during a stay of six years in that country

Preface

DURING a residence of some six years in South Central Africa (1903- 1908), where I was engaged in the work of a mining engineer, much of my time was spent in visiting new districts in what was in many cases almost unknown country. I thus accumulated of necessity a good deal of novel and miscellaneous information. Having since been repeatedly asked by various friends to put this into book form, I have endeavoured to do so now.

In order to give continuity to the records and thus to make the book more interesting to the general reader, portions of different journeys have been grouped together instead of being always brought in in chronological order.

I have found the task of recording the events of my sojourn in Africa much harder than living the life itself there, and must ask the kindly reader to bear with the many shortcomings in style to be found in the following pages. Against this he will perhaps bear in mind that the record is that of one who has lived year in year out among the natives of those little-known climes, and not merely the impressions of a passing traveller.

vii

Preface

I have to thank the Royal Geographical Society for permission to reproduce my map of the Kafue and Lusenfwa basins, and am also greatly indebted to several friends for much useful criticism and help in putting the following records into shape.

J. M. MOUBRAY.

February, 191 2.

viii

Chapter I

Southern Rhodesia — The port of Beira — Transportation in Beira — The Pungwe Flats — Umtali — Inyanga — Marendellas — Bushmen drawings — Maswenas — Salisbury — Mount Hampden — The Mazoe Valley — Wild lemons — Fencing — Cattle diseases — Tobacco . . Pages 1-13

Chapter II

Ancient gold-mines — Estimate of gold taken from the country in the past — Location of the land of Ophir — Method of working employed by the Ancients — Early missionary legend — Matabeleland — Wankie coal-field — Victoria Falls 14-25

Chapter III

Livingstone — Kalomo — Zambesi natives — The Barotse — Trotting oxen — The lower Kafue River — Tsetse-fly — Baila or Mashakalumbwi — Lusaka — Civilising the native — The " Call of Africa " . . 26-37

Chapter IV

Rhodesia Broken Hill — Occurrence of the ore — The Bone Cave — Evidences of prehistoric man — Recent local migration — Hyenas — Present terminus of the Cape - to - Cairo Railway — Provisions —

Cannibals — Health of the European 38-45

ix

Chapter V

Native carriers — The machilla — Ordinary camp retinue — Hunters — Rifles — The Indian and the Chinaman — Roan antelope — Cutting up the meat — Evening — The African night .... Pages 46-52

Chapter VI

Nearing the Great Lukanga Swamp — Effect produced by wind on the reeds — Native paths — Swamp canoes — Best position to assume in canoe — Method of propulsion — Native fishermen — An Awatwa village — Construction of swamp dwelling — Fright of natives on seeing a White Man — Mosquitoes — Flour from water-lily roots — Peculiar method of trading — Tendency to intermarry with surrounding tribes — Wild-fowl — Leeches — Disposal of the dead — Animal inhabitants of the swamp 53—61

Chapter VII

Arab and Barotse influence — Broken Hill and Sable Antelope path — Trees on the path — Destruction of fruit trees — Cycling experiences — Sitanda's village — Kasonkamola — Elephant hunters — The Walenji — Game pits — Eland — The Eland and the Hare — Native morals — Spirits — Spirit houses — Feeding the spirit — An iguana . . . 62-71

Chapter VIII

Sable Antelope Copper Mine — Zones of native influence— Rumours of native rising — Warning from the magistrate — Preparing to defend the mine— Awemba, old enemies of the Baila — One way of killing the White Man — The main fort — Searchlight — Native stockade — A native blacksmith — Rose bushes and human heads — End of the

trouble 72-82

x

Chapter IX

Silver King Mine — Coal measures — Hot springs — Fig trees — Fishing — Hippopotami — Method of shooting them— Cutting up the meat — The Kafue River — A young hippo — Big-game shooting — The Hippo Mine — Lion country — Msuko fruit — The Lifupa Plains — Multitude of game — Advance of civilisation Pages 83-95

Chapter X

Kasempa — Native Commissioner shot at — Slave traders — Vine rubber — The Kaonde method of hunting elephants — Male and female bullets — Native blast furnaces — Copper implements — Spirit inhabits a pool — Kamwendo — Floating bog surface — Kapopo — Native Commissioners 96-106

Chapter XI

Kashiwa Lake — Buffalo — Following a wounded animal — Charged in the bush — Charged again in the open country — How to shoot a charging buffalo — The Kafulafuta Mission Station — A narrow escape — A lion — A bad shot — Natives climb surrounding trees — Charlie — Kombarumi — Killing the lion's spirit 107-116

Chapter XII

Bwana M'Kubwa Mine — Malachite used medicinally — Chiwala — N'dola — Divide between Congo and Zambesi — The Irumi Mountains — Baboons — Driver ants — Black ants — White ants . . . 1 17-126

Chapter XIII

The Toe of the Congo — Congo officials — Native police — Atrocities — Wrong class of man for Officials — White ants — The queen ant — Roads — Bridges — The Alala — The ground tusk — The African hunting dog

— Their method of hunting 127-135

xi

Chapter XIV

Sleeping-sickness — Tsetse-fly — Cassava — Fish -traps — Fish that live during the dry season in hard mud — Old Chitambo — Travelling in water — Wet through — Dry land at last — Dr. Livingstone's grave — Immensity of the task he accomplished .... Pages 136-146

Chapter XV

The Awisa tribe — Manure from burnt timber — Rapidity with which land once cultivated returns to a state of nature — Native organisation— Custom on receiving presents — Native children's capacity for food — Serenji — Native thatching — Borers — Borer-proof timber — The jigger 147-155

Chapter XVI

Life of an elephant hunter — On the spoor of an elephant — Power of observation of the native — Approaching an elephant — The fight — Extracting the tusks — Cutting up the meat — Best part of elephant to eat — Bicycle medicine 156-164

Chapter XVII

The low country — The Machinga escarpment — The Aluanu Valley — M'lenji — Cool current of air — Good cotton ground — The Asenga— Leopards — Large canoes— Impala 165-173

Chapter XVIII

Feira and Zumbo— German-sausage tree— Ground thorns— A Portuguese inland fort— Cachombo— Hostile natives— Boromo Mission— Tete— The rise of the Zambesi— Mango groves— The lower Zambesi . i74~l83

xii

Chapter XIX

Lake Tanganyika — The Tanganyika Plateau — Spread of sleeping-sickness— Lake Nyassa — Kungu — The Livingstonia Mission — Kota Kota — Fort Johnstone — Lake Pamalombi — The Shire River — Crocodiles — Blantyre Pages 184-193 xiii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR

The Gorge of the Victoria Falls in the Dry Season Frontispiece

1. Bridge over the Pungwe River, Portuguese East Africa 4

2. Makorikori Natives of Northern Mashonaland . . 4

3. Statue of Cecil Rhodes in Bulawayo . 20

4. Victoria Falls. The Gorge and Livingstone Island.

Dry Season . . . ... 22

5. The Main Fall. Victoria Falls . . 24

6. The Train North of the Victoria Falls . 30

7. Railway Bridge over the Lower Kafue River, North-

Western Rhodesia . . . 30

8. Calciners at Broken Hill, with No. 2 Kopje in the

Background . . . ... 38

9. On the March . . . ... 38

10. A Roan Antelope . . . ... 50

11. A "Village Green " in the Great Lukanga Swamp . 54

12. Method of Tying Reeds into Bundles for Making

Platform . . . ... 54

13. Awatwa Village, showing Leaves of Edible Water-

lily in Foreground . . ... 60

14. A Close View of a Swamp Dwelling . 60

15. A Walenji Family and their Hut . . 68

16. A Large Bull Eland . . ... 68

18. Spirit Houses . . . ... 70

19. Main Blockhouse or Fort . . ... 78

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List of Illustrations

20. The Stockade or Native Fort . . 78

21. Three Kafue Bream . . ... 86

22. Wildebeest ... . . 86

23. Public Ferry at Kapopo . . ... 104

24. Red Letchwi, with Floating Surface in the Background 104

26. A Large Bull Buffalo . . . . 112

27. A White-ant Hill . . . . . 118

28. Arab Workings. Bwana M'Kubwa Mine . . .118

29. Hartebeeste, with Ant-hill in the background . . 134

30. Central African Hunting Dogs . ... 134

31. Where Dr. Livingstone died . . . 140

32. Natives Pegging out Skins to dry . . . 146

33. Grinding Corn . . . ... 146

34. A Chief and his People with their Present . . 152

35. Natives Thatching a House . ... 152

37. Some of the Author's Trophies . ... 160

39. Crossing the Lusenfwa . . ... 166

40. Village enclosed by Leopard-proof Fence . . .170

42. Portuguese Commandant and Troops . . .176

43. A Portuguese Settler's House . . . . 176

44. A Low-country Eagle . . . . . 182

46. The Lower Shire River . . ... 190 xvi

Chapter I

Southern Rhodesia — The port of Beira — Transportation in Beira — The Pungwe Flats — Umtali — Inyanga — Marendellas — Bushmen drawings — Maswenas — Salisbury — Mount Hampden — The Mazoe Valley — Wild lemons — Fencing — Cattle diseases — Tobacco.

OUTH Central Africa is reached most easily by the route that traverses Southern Rhodesia, either from Cape Town on the south or from the port of Beira on the east.

Although Southern Rhodesia is not itself a part of South Central Africa, it is connected with and will influence the development of the latter country to such an extent in the future that, in describing the conditions which obtain in the interior, a short space must also be devoted to that part of Rhodesia south of the Zambesi.

The journey from Cape Town to Bulawayo is too well known to be mentioned, but the route from Beira, besides passing through much more varied and interesting country, has not been so often described, the great majority of travellers making use of the other route.

B I

As Southern Rhodesia develops, the port of Beira is bound to become much more important, as it affords the natural outlet for the products of Southern Rhodesia, which lies directly behind it. The harbour is good, and it can only be a matter of time until this eastern route secures all the freight traffic except a few specialities, these last and perhaps a few of the higherpriced products of the country being all that will find their way out of the continent through the South African ports.

The town of Beira is built on what is really a large sandbank on one side of the mouth of the Pungwe River, whose estuary forms the harbour. Sand is not a stable foundation on which to build a town, but it has the advantage of being porous and always dry, and on this account it affords no opportunity for pools of stagnant water to be formed, to constitute the breeding-places of mosquitoes. Much of the adjoining coast-line is not sand, but a muddy swamp covered with mangrove trees, and this forms in places an ideal breeding-ground for mosquitoes, with malaria as a result.

On landing at Beira, one of the first things that strikes the stranger is the ingenious method adopted by the Portuguese residents to reduce to a minimum the amount of energy which they expend on travelling. In a few of the main streets a metalled surface has been laid down, but in the great majority there has been little attempt at road-making, with the result that the surface is not much different from that of a sandbank. On the streets, however, sandy surface or otherwise,

Transportation in Beira narrow-gauge tram-lines have been laid, on which vehicular traffic of all kinds is conducted.

All the residents own small cars, which vary in style according to their owners' means, but are usually only chairs on wheels, with an awning supported above to protect the occupant from the sun ; these cars have, as a rule, seating capacity for two. When a Portuguese gentleman wants to go to his office in the morning, two of his native servants carry out his car and place it on the track in the street, when the owner takes his seat and the two natives start off, pushing the car before them at a run. When the destination is reached and the occupant has alighted, the two ' ' push men" either take the car home again till it is required, or lift it off the track and carry it to the side of the street, when they often lie down beside it and go to sleep till they are wanted again. All the municipal work, such as street-cleaning and the like, is done by means of much larger box-cars drawn by oxen, and in the busy thoroughfares a special line for this slow traffic is laid on one side of the double track on which fast and passenger traffic is conducted.

The townsman of Beira walks as little as he -possibly can, so that at a busy time of the day quite a number of these cars with their human motors are to be seen spinning along the different lines.

If one is entering this part of Africa for the first time, one cannot fail to notice almost instantly the three general classes into which human beings fall there, viz. the white man, the dago, and the nigger. In these parts the Indian and Chinaman are classed with the native, as the types of both of the former here met with are by no means advanced.

On landing, one's first effort is to get away from the port and up country as soon as possible, but after having been in the interior for some years, the smell of the sea is very welcome, and a few days spent at the port waiting for a steamer do not by any means always hang heavily.

On leaving the coast at Beira, on the railway journey to Rhodesia, many miles of flat country have to be traversed before the foot-hills are reached. A short distance from the start the Pungwe River is crossed, and then the line passes over a large extent of flat, swampy country, known as the Pungwe Flats. This tract is situated at only a slight elevation above sea-level, and in the wet season is mostly under water. The railway runs across it on a series of embankments, the rails being from ten to twenty feet above the ground-level. This section is probably the most unhealthy over which any railway in Africa passes ; in fact, some of the old hands who were employed on this part of the construction and who are still alive, although they are few and far between, state that parts of the section cost in human life, for each rail that was laid a white man, and for each sleeper a native. Most of the gangers now employed on this section are Greeks or dagos, but they seldom remain for more than a short period ; if not carried away by fever, they have to be removed to other sections on account of ill-health.

This flat country between the coast-line and the foot-

BRIDGE OVER THE PUNGWE RIVER PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA

MAKORIKORI NATIVES OF NORTHERN MASHONALAND

Umtali hills is suitable in many places for the cultivation of sugar, certain kinds of rubber, cocoa-nuts, and other tropical produce. The Portuguese have a few small plantations, but have as yet, for all practical purposes, hardly touched their country. With local improvements, which could be effected from a health point of view, and with enterprise and a little capital, many districts in this low country could be made productive.

Portuguese territory extends to the foot-hills, at the base of which lies the town of Massikesse, and from this point the ascent is sharp until the town of Umtali, over the Rhodesian frontier, is reached.

The railway between these two towns winds and rewinds its way among the mountains, gradually climbing upwards from Massikesse, with its low country surroundings and vegetation. Within a few miles of Umtali, however, the flora becomes of quite a different character, and the conditions are almost similar to those obtaining on the Rhodesian tableland, although that elevation has not yet been reached. Umtali ranks among the four largest towns in Rhodesia and is a centre of both the mining and agricultural industries.

To the westward is the district of Melsetter, which, although at a somewhat lower elevation than most of Mashonaland and Matabeleland, has a great future before it as a fruit-producing and farming country ; tobacco can also be grown with great ease in this district.

To the eastward of Umtali, at a distance of some ten miles, after a dividing ridge has been crossed, the Phenalonga Valley is entered. This valley is of interest chiefly on account of two large mines which lie near its upper end, about a mile apart, although there are also several others working.

On the mountains near Umtali, at their highest points, are to be found a few poor specimens of the indigenous cedar trees, which are to be seen growing to perfection at an altitude of 8000 feet and over on the mountains of Nyassaland.

To the north of Umtali rise the Inyanga Mountains, among whose ranges Mr. Cecil Rhodes had one of his farms. In many places in the Inyanga district evidences of extensive cultivation by the Ancients can be seen, together with their extraordinary irrigation system. Some of the old canals were constructed with such wonderful engineering skill that, with all our present-day knowledge, few if any improvements can be made in the channels by which the water was conducted from place to place.

Sometimes large round pits of considerable depth and having almost vertical sides are to be seen, which are stated by some authorities to have been used for keeping slaves in when they were not at work, and also at night-time, in order that they might not escape.

The sides of almost all the hills in many parts of the district are covered with terraces. These terraces were probably used for agricultural purposes, but why the cultivation of the land should have been conducted in this manner it is not easy to say. The stone walls that support the terraces are from two to four feet high, and are so placed as to form, when filled, a

Inyanga shelf of soil some four to six feet between the retainingwalls. Such terraces cover whole sides of some of the hills.

Many explanations have been given to account for this peculiar method of cultivation having been adopted, some reasonable, but others rather far-fetched. I do not for a moment attempt to explain the system, but give the following native legend as being of interest and as affording a possible explanation.

" Many years ago the country was infested with rhinoceri, the natives then possessing no means of killing these animals, which were constantly raiding the gardens in the valleys and eating and destroying all the crops. In order that they might obtain the fruits of their labours, the natives moved their gardens from the valleys to the hill-sides and built there the numerous terraces of which we now see the remains. The plots of ground were necessarily small, being on a sloping hill-side, and each dividing-wall was built just high enough to prevent a rhinoceros from stepping over it, thus protecting the plots against the raids of these animals.

' 1 After this method had been in vogue for a long time, the Portuguese began to appear on the coast and gradually worked their way inland, carrying firearms with them. The natives found that with the help of these weapons they could successfully resist the attacks of their four-footed enemies, and they gradually drove them away. The war continued till the rhinoceri left the country, after which the natives, having no more use for the tedious method of terrace cultivation, abandoned the hills and returned to their old gardens in the valleys, where they still grow their crops."

It appears probable that the Inyanga district was used by the alien race who worked the gold-mines so extensively in the past between the Limpopo and Zambesi rivers, for producing corn and as a granary from which those who worked the mines drew their supplies.

In the higher parts of the Inyanga Mountains the climate is not unlike that of Britain. The grass is short and does not grow so rank as in the valleys, thus affording excellent pasture. A wet mist often sweeps over the hills during many months in the year, this being more like a Scotch mist than a fog, and it has the effect of keeping the grass fresh and green for a much longer period than is the case in the valleys below.

The Inyanga district should in time to come produce quantities of sheep and cattle, as it is well watered and grows grass which will eventually make excellent pasture-land.

The railway continues to rise from Umtali till Marendellas is reached, where the elevation is somewhat over 6000 feet. Much of the country in this part of Mashonaland is granite, with the result that small hills and bare boulders are frequently to be seen. In some of these hills one finds caves, on the sides of which can often be seen drawings of antelope and other animals. These are supposed to have been the work of a tribe of natives known as Bushmen, who still exist in a few of the more remote parts of South Africa and who live almost entirely by hunting, seldom if ever

Salisbury attempting cultivation ; they are no longer to be found in Mashonaland.

The present inhabitants, the Mashonas, or Maswenas, as the other natives call them, which name signifies filth, are well known for their dislike of water for purposes of bodily cleanliness. I have been told by these people that the Great Spirit does not send rain during the dry season, so that he obviously does not mean them to wash during that period. Judging from my own experience, they seldom do so at any time.

From Marendellas the railway continues through a granite country, and falling to an elevation of a little over 4000 feet, the town of Salisbury, the capital of Mashonaland and of Southern Rhodesia, is reached. This town is close to some of the finest farming districts in Rhodesia and is within easy reach of many of the mining districts. The site is a good one, but it is not that originally intended, as the column which founded the town were instructed to locate it at the base of a hill known as Mount Hampden, some twelve miles to the north of the present town. They, however, mistook a kopje under which Salisbury now lies for that hill, with the result that they established themselves there and so founded the capital of Rhodesia.

There is no doubt that in many respects the intended site would have been a better one than the actual, but taking everything into consideration, many capitals are built in worse places than Salisbury.

Mount Hampden, however, stands at the head of the Mazoe Valley, which extends northwards for many miles, eventually merging into the low country as it opens up on to the Zambesi Valley in Portuguese territory. To the south and west, as far as the eye can reach, extends a magnificent plain known as the Gwibi Flats, which in the not very distant future will support large herds of cattle, such as are seen in the middle western and western states of America. The big game on this plain are protected, and it is by no means an uncommon occurrence, when driving across it, to pass close to a flock of ostrich. The birds, through not being molested, have lost all fear of a vehicle drawn by horses and mules, and seldom trouble to move far when they see one.

The Mazoe district is making rapid headway both in farming and mining and, as the country develops, will probably become one of the most important in the whole of Rhodesia. It is well watered and the great bulk of the land is good, a fact which has been quickly taken advantage of, as can be seen from the number of farms occupied. Its desirability as a locality is also evident from the remains of old Jesuit mission stations which are met with in parts of the valley. From records at Lisbon, it appears that these early missionaries reached this land as long as four centuries ago. Evidences of their former occupation can now be seen in the very acceptable lemon trees which grow in some places along the river-banks. Those trees have in no way deteriorated during the time they have been out of cultivation ; the skin of the lemon has become somewhat thicker, but, instead of becoming smaller and more acid, the fruit is if anything larger and sweeter than the cultivated lemon. This shows the great

Fencing possibilities of this part of Mashonaland as a citronfruit producing country. It could if necessary supply the whole of South Africa with oranges, lemons and grape fruit, and then only a small fraction of the available orchard ground would be under cultivation.

Troops of grey monkeys live among the large trees which grow on the banks of the Mazoe River, and during the lemon season evince a strong liking for the fruit, as demonstrated by the number of lemons which are to be found lying under the trees partially eaten.

Rhodesia, like every new country, has had to suffer from the evils of over-capitalisation of many of her enterprises, especially mining, but a stage has now been reached when the various industries are settling down on a much more solid basis. In many young countries, soon after they come into existence, much money is wasted through the inexperience of those in charge of industrial concerns, before it dawns on shareholders and others that it is advisable to have an expert in charge of a particular business. Evidences of the former state of affairs are not, however, without their humorous side. I was one day riding past a large cattle estate and was surprised, on reaching one of the boundaries, to find two fences, but was even more astonished to learn their respective uses. It appeared that the inner fence was wild-pig proof and was used to keep the pigs out of the maize-fields, while the second one, parallel to it but at a distance of only a few yards, was lion proof, or was supposed to be, and its purpose was to prevent the access of these animals to the cattle-fields. I was told by the farmer in charge

ii that the fences had been built under special instructions received from a high official in the company to whom the estate belonged, but have as yet been unable to reason out why it is impossible to build a single fence that shall be both lion and wild-pig proof.

The question of fencing touches upon possibly the most important industry that Rhodesia has to look to in the future, viz. cattle-breeding. Her gold-mines at present hold the first place, but in looking forward to the time when the gold-mining industry will be on the wane, the final prosperity of the land must rest on its agricultural possibilities. This must come sooner or later, although it may be some generations before mining reaches the state in which we now find it in Western Australia or California, where we have increased depth of the mines, increased cost per ton of working the ore, and decreased gold content, coupled with the fact of no new discoveries.

The present drawback to the cattle industry is the possibility of cattle disease, which in various forms has in the past swept over the country from time to time. It has been demonstrated that by isolation and disinfection these diseases can be overcome and eventually exterminated, but the former condition can only be attained by extensive and systematic fencing, which should be made compulsory. Some scheme should, however, be devised by the Government, whereby the farmer could obtain substantial assistance for fence construction, as the capital involved in fencing all his land is generally beyond the means of the average farmer. Further, a universal system of

Tobacco dipping all cattle periodically is imperative ; this is now in vogue in many districts.

Speaking generally, Southern Rhodesia is not suitable for growing either cotton or coffee to perfection, but this is amply counterbalanced by the huge areas in Northern Rhodesia where excellent cotton can be produced (of which more later), and also coffee, if desired. Salisbury is rapidly coming to the front as the centre of an increasing tobacco industry. The Government has erected a large warehouse and buys the dried tobacco from the growers, when it is graded, treated, and marketed to the best advantage. Virginian tobacco is the most largely grown, but excellent Turkish and other varieties have also been produced. From what can be judged of this industry during the very few years that it has been in existence, it has a great future.

What is required in Rhodesia, as in all new countries, is to have men who are not afraid of taking their coats off and turning their hand to the work of the farm or plantation. It is such men who make their undertakings a success, and not those who are content to merely supervise and give instructions, being unwilling to soil their hands and considering manual labour of any kind undignified.