Twenty years in central Africa : being the story of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, from its commencement under Bishop Mackenzie to the present time

Preface

“Twenty Years in Central Africa is a revised abridgment of the “Story of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa,” first published in 1866, and a continuation of the history of the Mission up to the present year (1881), on the basis of information mainly derived from the publications of the Mission, &c.

The “ Story of the Universities’ Mission,” which ended with the withdrawal of the Mission from the Zambesi, had a wide sale, and was soon out of print I did not republish it, because as time went on, it seemed to me that, if ever it was made use of again, it should appear in an abridged form as part of a narrative comprising a much longer period in the history of the Mission than was included in it Such a narrative appears to be needed now, and I have drawn up one here in the hope that it will prove acceptable to the numerous friends of the Mission, and to many others also.

And now, I am sorry to be obliged to call attention to a subject connected with the early history of the Mission in which I am in a special degree personally concerned.

Since the MS. of this volume was placed in the hands of the publishers, “ The Personal Life of Livingstone,” by Dr. Blaikie, has appeared, wherein I am accused of “unhandsome treatment ” of Dr. Livingstone, of “ reckless perilling of the character and interests of his expedition in order to shield others,” of “ blaming him for what he deprecated and for what was done in his absence,” of throwing upon him “ the odium of the proceedings ” of the missionaries against the Ajawa, of acting indeed most unfairly, not to say dishonourably, against him (see p. 295 of “ The Personal Life”). This is a grave accusation.

Vi

PREFACE,

Upon what is it based ? Upon this : Some time after Bishop Mackenzie’s death, we missionaries, to our great astonishment, received information which led us to conclude that Dr. Livingstone would condemn our proceedings against the Ajawa as being in their character different from his own, and I, with the concurreuce of my brethren at the mission, wrote a letter to a friend at the Cape, in which I said Upon our first journey to the Highlands of this country, under Dr. Livingstone’s guidance, we fell in with several slaving parties and released their captives, and in furtherance of the same object, viz., release of slaves, a somewhat desperate fight took place with a body of Ajawa who had invaded Manganja territory, and were destroying villages, and murdering and making captive the Manganja. The fear of the Ajawa was so great upon the ^Manganja that the districts south of Zomba were being denuded of people— the fugitives flying by hundreds. In order to give confidence to the people, Livingstone advised us to settle at Magomera. We did so, and were immediately beset by a multitude of applications from Manganja chiefs, great and small, to go against other bodies of Ajawa whose depredations were as great as those attacked under Livingstone’s direction. I say ‘ attacked under Livingstone’s direction ’ advisedly, because I believe he now blames us for our after-proceedings, which were but the fulfilment of his programme, the inevitable sequence of his advice and deeds.

‘^From the moment when he commenced the release of slaves his course was one of aggression. He hunted for slaving parties in every direction, and when he heard of the Ajawa making captives in order to sell to the slavers, he went designedly in search of them, intending to take their captives from them by force, if needful. It is true that when he came upon them he found them to be a more powerful body than he expected, and had they not fired first he might have withdrawn, but had he done so it would have been from prudence, not principle ; for when searching for them his men entered into every place where they were supposed to be, firing their guns, and making every kind of warlike demonstration.

PREFACE, vii

His parting words to the chiefs assembled at Magomera just before he left, gave no evidence of the purely defensive policy he, I believe, now claims for himself. Speaking of himself and us, he said to this effect : — ‘You have hitherto seen us only as fighting men, but it is not in such a character we wish you to know us. My brothers, who will remain at Magomera, wish to teach you about the great God, the Good Father of us all, and they will make Magomera a strong place to which those who are afraid may fly. I do not think the Ajawa will again trouble you j the lesson we have given them will keep them quiet, but should they do as they have done, I shall be up here again soon, and then they must be looked after once more.’”

I here give the whole of the passages relating to Dr. Livingstone’s proceedings on the occasions referred to, because my object in writing will thus more clearly appear than in the fragments from my letter which Dr. Blaikie produces.

Now this letter was not written to throw upon Livingstone “ the odium ” of our proceedings, nor to blame him “ for what he deprecated,” nor to make him responsible for what we missionaries had done, nor to screen ourselves by accusing him, nor to say that “ all that the Bishop had done was done by his advice,” as Dr. Blaikie affirms ; but to inform my friend and other friends at the Cape who were interested in the Mission, that between what Livingstone did and what we did there was really no difference ; that he took the offensive against the slave-dealers and the Ajawa in league with them as certainly as we, and that his proceedings were, in their character and object, identical with our own.

Dr. Blaikie’s treatment of this subject is calculated to lead his readers to the conclusion that I wrote this letter in order to give public expression to the unworthy feelings with which he credits me, but he must have known that this was not the case, for he quotes a passage from another letter of mine which appears in “ The Zambesi and its Tributaries,” and which Livingstone prefaces by saying that the Cape Town letter was a private note, and not intended for publication. That letter would never have been published, had not a letter from Dr. T.iving-

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viii

Stone to Sir Thomas Maclear appeared in the Cape papers, in which he blamed us for our proceedings against the Ajawa, but said nothing of his own encounter with them. This so provoked my friend that he sent my letter also to the Cape papers, from which it was copied into the Times for Nov. 26, 1862.

Considering all the circumstances of the case, I was quite justified in writing as I did, — supposing what I said was true. I saw Dr. Livingstone in Africa after he had become acquainted with my letter, and he did not question its accuracy, nor did any of his companions who were associated with him in the transactions to which it refers. Dr. Blaikie himself does not venture to say in so many words that it is not true, but he writes about it as though it were a gross misrepresentation of the real facts of the case, and he supports himself in so doing by a statement that my letter was so far from expressing the mind of my brother missionaries that some of them endeavoured to persuade me to write to the Cape papers that it conveyed a wrong impression, a statement for which there is no foundation in fact ; and he also produces a letter from Livingstone to Sir Thomas Maclear, which says : — “ It is untrue that I ever in any occasion adopted an aggressive policy against the Ajawa, or took slaves from them. Slaves were taken from the Portuguese alone. I never hunted the Ajawa, or took the part of the Manganja against the Ajawa. In this, I believe, every member of the mission will support my assertion.”

This letter seemingly contradicts what I had said ; but it must be observed that I nowhere charge Dr. Livingstone with assuming an aggressive attitude against the Ajawa tribe as such, my letter is solely concerned with his action against the Portuguese slave-dealers and that section of the Ajawa who were in league with them, and who were to all intents and purposes slavers themselves. This action was directed solely against the slave-traders and their coadjutors, and against them he certainly did proceed in the manner I have described in my letter, and in this volume (see page 41 and onwards). Witnesses to the truth of this are not wanting. Mr, Waller was engaged in these ,, very transactions ; he kept a record of

PREFACE.

ix thenij and his Journalj which was published in the Report of the Mission for 1862^ confirms all that I have said. I pass by his description of the encounters with the Portuguese slavedealersj for they are not questioned, and transcribe his account of the conflict with the Ajawa.

Tuesday, July 23. Started at 9.30 from Maroongwbs for the Achawas, encamped, we heard, within an easy distance. We went along briskly till about 12, when the traces of the marauders became thicker and thicker. Village after village was passed, plundered and burned ; the poor inhabitants were ehablec^To escape, being scattered about, crouching in the long grass by the pathway, with their baskets of corn hastily snatched up. ... Of a sudden we came in sight of two large columns of smoke rising from the plain, and were told that they were two burning villages set on fire this very morning ; nor did it take long to confirm this. The Bishop now offered up a short prayer for our guidance, and then we moved rapidly in that which seemed the last set fire to. We passed through it quite empty, a perfect picture of desolation. Immediately after we turned sharp to the right, and passed over some rocks and through the burning grass ; the loud wailing of women away on our right ringing in our ears continually. Of a sudden we spied in the distance a long line of people walking at right angles to us, with heavily-laden baskets of corn and booty on their heads. We hardly knew whether to put them down as Achawas or fugitives, though there was not much doubt As we neared them they evidently became uneasy, though we hid our arms from sight The line came to a halt when we were within a quarter of a mile of it, and one of their chiefs stood upon a stone to hail us, taking us for slave-buyers, I think, by his manner. Unfortunately some of our men (they were Makololo armed with guns) made a rush at him before the Doctor could open a parley, and he bolted instantly, spreading the alarm, which sped along the hills from mouth to mouth towards their camp, which was situated some mile and a half to the left of the spot, they being in direct march for it when we came across them. ‘ Kondo, kondo,^ and a horrid ^ Loo-

PREFACE.

loo-loo/ repeated as fast as possible, is their cry — the first meaning ‘ There is war, there is war ! ’ Numbers of poor refugees joined our train, and showed us where the camp was. We went down a very steep declivity, the ground strewn with immense quantities of all sorts of booty, which they had thrown away in their precipitate bolt. One thing I think is worthy of mention : a good half-mile before we came upon them I distinctly saw flocks of small birds and some crows hovering round those bearing the corn, &c., as if they were used to the doings of the party, and accompanied them, as the jackals do the tiger.

“We now ascended another steep hill, and on its summit found the confines of a large, widely-spread camp. To describe the position is difficult ; suffice it to say, it was on the crown of a hill broken in places by large stone cairns, and surrounded on the three sides by gorges — in fact, unapproachable to native warfare ; and, but for the surprise we took it with, well-nigh impregnable to us. A better-chosen place could not have been ; it gave one the most complete notion of a mountain stronghold, and was, besides, in the pass that led to the Shire plain below. At a guess there were about seventy huts spread about upon it. The Doctor called out, as we ascended the hill, that we wanted to speak to them ; but they insisted it was ‘War, war !’ As we went on to the hills, they set themselves in their battle order, which consists in concealing themselves at bow-shot in the long grass or behind stones. They fired on us, and the fight began. We advanced quietly to their main position, they retiring before our guns; but, all things considered, they fought bravely. After going to the extreme end, thinking we might find slaves, but not doing so, and not being able to drive them out of the place with our small numbers and badly-supplied ammunition-cases, we turned to come back by the way we came in. This they took for a retreat ; so we faced about and drove every soul out of the village, and off the farther small hill, setting fire to the place and reducing it to ashes, with the exception of some outlying huts, in a few minutes.

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‘‘After this we determined to go down into the Shire valley, ‘skirt the foot of the range we were on, and ascend it again farther to the south. The enemy kept up a constant fire from their muskets, of which they had several, and in descending the hill one poor fellow got shot in the leg and was instantly murdered by the Achawas. (He was a Manganja man.) Several on their side were killed, I believe.”

It is pitiful in the face of the above narrative to find Dr. Blaikie saying : — “ Livingstone declined to write a contradiction (of Mr. Rowley’s letter) to the public prints,, because he knew the harm that would be done by a charge against a clergyman. In this he showed the same magnanimity and high Christian self-denial which he had shown when he left Mabotsa.” (“Personal Life,” page 296.) What was there to charge me with ? To suit their own purposes, some friends, and some who were not friends of Livingstone, made an unfair use of my letter, but no one has ventured to deny its truthfulness.

There is, however, one phrase which, wrested from its context, might seem to support Dr. Blaikie’s insinuation that I said that it was by Dr. Livingstone’s advice that we attacked the Ajawa ; for I do say that our proceedings against them were “ the inevitable sequence of his advice and deeds,” And so they were : for had he not gone against the Ajawa and advised us to settle at Magomera, within sight and sound, as it were, of their murderous proceedings, I doubt if we should have taken action against them; but being where we were, and also in antagonism with them in consequence of what he had done, we felt that we could not act otherwise than we did. This is what I meant, and I think my meaning was sufficiently apparent.

I really am very sorry to be obliged to make these explanations, and Dr. Blaikie was most ill-advised to force me to do so, for in justice to myself and others, he could scarcely expect me to keep silence under his accusations. His action also, in this matter, is quite unnecessary, for whatever misapprehension may have existed concerning the intention and truth of my letter, it had been disposed of by Dr. Livingstone himself when he published, without contradiction or explanation, a

PREFACE.

xii letter to himself in the “Zambesi and its Tributaries,” page 475, wherein, after defending him against Mr. Lacerda, a gentleman who, in the interests of the Portuguese, accused him of causing the misfortunes of the Mission by his attack upon the Ajawa, I say : — “ I always said and thought that you did well in releasing the slaves, and in going against the Ajawa under the idea that they were a mere slaving horde. My letter to Mr. Glover was not written to blame you for what you had done, nor to throw the responsibility of our acts upon you, but to make known to our friends at the Cape that you had done what we had done, and that you were the first to do it.”

But Dr. Blaikie appears to think that in order to exalt Livingstone it is necessary to depreciate somebody else, so he ignores the above explanation altogether, though perfectly aware of its existence. He ought not to have done this. It is unworthy of himself, and most unworthy of his subject.

No one has a higher appreciation of Dr. Livingstone’s life and work than I have ; he did great things from highest motives ; and by what he did he inspired, and still inspires, other men to attempt great things. His action against the slave-traders and the Ajawa marauders was one of the noblest things he ever did ; and by it he dealt a deadly blow to the slave-trade on the Shire Highlands, and gave to Englishmen, whether missionaries or travellers, a higher position in the land than they would otherwise have held.

PT. POWLEV

TWENTY YEARS IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

Chapter I

TN 1857 Dr. Livingstone, who had not long before returned from Africa, appealed to the Church of England at Cambridge and at Oxford to enter upon the mission-field which his discoveries in Africa had opened up. And he did not appeal in vain ; for a mission now known as the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa was founded, As originally constituted, the mission had a twofold object in view — (i.) To raise the natives into spiritual fellowship with ourselves by the preaching of the gospel. (2.) To raise them in the scale of civilisation by the encouragement of agriculture and a lawful commerce, and the ultimate extinction of the slave-trade.

Charles Frederick Mackenzie, then Archdeacon of Natal, was chosen to be the Bishop of the mission ; several clergymen volunteered to go with him ; the aid of several laymen was also secured ; the support of the general public was gained ; and no similar enterprise in modern times excited greater hopes of success.

For some time, however, much difficulty was felt with reference to the best locality for the mission. But in 1858 Dr. Livingstone, who had returned to Africa, in the course of his explorations discovered a portion of the highland region which was easily reached from the sea by the aid of the Zambesi and

2 LIVINGSTONE^S DESCRIPTION OF THE SHIRE.

Shire rivers, and the descriptions which he and his companions gave of it influenced the promoters of the mission in its favour.

Hitherto so easy an access to the healthy highland regions of Central Africa had not been imagined, and so promising a mission-field had scarcely been hoped for. Of the Zambesi, as the future highway for religion and commerce, great expectations had already been raised ; but the Shire, which takes its rise in Lake Nyassa, and enters the Zambesi at about 150 miles from the coast, was said to be far superior to the Zambesi for steam-navigation, being deep and free from sandbanks, and consequently navigable throughout the year. The valley of the Shire was reported to be of boundless fertility, and characterised as the future rice and cotton field for the world. The Shire highlands were described as a magnificent and healthy country, from three to four thousand feet above the level of the sea, well watered, abundantly wooded, admirably adapted for cattle and sheep, with a rich soil, and already growing cotton largely. The natives were said to be brave, industrious, and friendly. Added to all this, the much-dreaded African fever was, it was asserted, fairly met and overcome by a happy combination of medicines, which rendered it not much more harmful than an ordinary cold in England.

It would have been strange indeed if great hopes had not been raised by such good news. Men of all habits of mind began to regard the mission as practicable, and the Tunes honoured it with its approval.

On October 22 nd, i860, a service of farewell to the missionaries was held in Canterbury Cathedral, and four days afterwards Archdeacon Mackenzie, the Rev. L. J. Procter, the Rev. H. C. Scudamore, Mr. Horace Waller, S. A. Gamble, carpenter, A. Adams, agriculturist, and Johnson, a man of colour, who had been a slave in the United States of America, left Plymouth for Cape Town, where the consecration of the Archdeacon was to. take place. It was arranged that I should leave England by the November mail, but through a misunderstanding with the shipping agents I could not get away until December. Other members of the mission were to follow in the course of a few months ; and so lightly were the difficulties that would have to

ARRIVAL AT THE ZAMBESI, be encountered estimated — and according to the information received from Dr. Livingstone this estimate was not unwarranted— it was further determined that the Archdeacon’s sisters and other ladies should join the mission as soon as a settlement had been made.

Archdeacon Mackenzie was consecrated at Cape Town on January i, i86i. I arrived there a few days afterwards, and found that the mission party, which had been increased by the addition of some Christianised Africans, natives of the region to which the mission was going, had departed. The greater part had gone on a fortnight before in H.M.S. Sidon, which had in tow the Pioneer,, the steamship sent out by the Government to Dr. Livingstone ; but the Bishop, the Rev. L. J. Procter, and two of our African allies, had left in H.M.S. Lyra only the night before I arrived, purposing to stay a few days at Natal, and there I was able to join them.

Upon leaving Natal, the Lyra made for the Zambesi, which she reached on February 7th, and where she found the Sidon awaiting her arrival. Those of the mission party that had come up in the Sidon had gone into the river with the Pioneer several days before, and the weather having been unfavourable for the passage of the bar, which no boat can cross save under very favourable circumstances without danger of being capsized, there had been no communication with them since.

Captain Oldfield waited until the evening of the 9th, in the hope that the Pioneer would come out, but as she showed no disposition to move, he offered to take the Bishop into the river in his gig, knowing that he was anxious for news of Dr. Livingstone. We watched the departure of the little boat, and with some anxiety saw it approach the breakers, furl its tiny sail, and pass out of sight ; but a few minutes afterwards a white flag fluttered from the flag-staff on shore, and we then knew that all danger had been safely passed.

Captain Oldfield and the Bishop returned on the evening of the nth, and reported that Dr. Livingstone, Mr. Charles Livingstone, Dr. Kirk, and sixteen Makololo, natives that had been brought from the interior, were on shore, and that the missionaries were with them in good health and spirits.

MEETING WITH LIVINGSTONE.

Livingstone had been waiting at the Kongone, as this mouth of the Zambesi is called, since January ist. He had expected the Pioneer sooner, but the missionaries not so soon, for he put into the Bishop’s hands a letter which he was about to send to England to him.

To his surprise, the Bishop discovered that Livingstone was unwilling to forward the mission to its destination by way of the Zambesi and Shire, as he now thought that a better route might be found by way of the Rovuma, a river 450 miles north of the Zambesi, which was supposed to take its rise in the neighbourhood of the Lake Nyassa, but of which little was really known.

On the morning of the 12 th the Pioneer left the river, and Dr. Livingstone, who came on board the Lyra.^ gave his reasons for thinking that it would be better for the mission to go into the country by way of the Rovuma rather than by way of the Zambesi and Shire. Briefly they were these : —

1. The influence of the Portuguese, who claimed the coastline from Delagoa Bay to Cape Delgado, and had towns and villages far inland along the Zambesi, would be used against the mission, as they were largely engaged in the slave-trade ; whereas the Rovuma was beyond their possessions, and would leave us free to carry out our plans without being opposed by them.

2. The difficulty of transporting stores from the Shire was great \ a large amount of native labour would be needed, and could not be had, as Chibisa, the only friendly chief, had left the Shire, and the rest of the chiefs would do nothing.

3. The mission was without a medical man ; the season was unhealthy ; he. Dr. Livingstone, could not stay with the missionaries, and fatal consequences would probably ensue.

The Bishop was not convinced that it would be better for the mission to wait while an unknown river was explored, than to proceed without delay by way of rivers that were known ; and he gave his reasons for thinking that the delay in commencing work might prove more injurious to the mission than anything the Doctor had mentioned. Dr. Livingstone, however, would not give way, and he proposed that with the

DEPARTURE FOR THE ROVUMA.

exception of the Bishop and one other, who might accompany him, the missionaries should proceed to the island of Johanna, where they might be profitably employed, and there await the result of the exploration of the Rovuma. He promised that if the Rovuma did not answer to his expectations of it, he would take the mission to the Shire highlands by the way he originally proposed. The Bishop could do no other than accept Dr. Livingstone’s proposals ; for as he was ignorant at that time of the assistance which the Portuguese could and would, as events showed, not unwillingly give, it seemed that the mission was entirely dependent on the Doctor for the means of getting to its destination.

The Pioneer then went on to the Rovuma, the Lyra and the Sido7i to Johanna, from whence it was arranged that the Lyra should take the Bishop and myself to the Rovuma.

The Lyra arrived at Johanna on the 21st. Like all of the Comoros, this island is of volcanic formation, a mountain heaved up from the depths of the ocean. It is in the region of perpetual summer, and is covered from its base to its summit, 6000 feet high, with a never-failing beautiful verdure. Its area is about 250 square miles, and it is governed by an Arab king, who belongs to the same race that has given to these parts most of its petty sovereigns. The population was then about 10,000, of whom three-fourths were African slaves.

The Lyra made for Pomoney, the residence and plantation of Mr. Sunley, the British Consul for the Comoros, by whose aid it was hoped, and not in vain, that accommodation would be found for the missionaries who were to stay on the island.

It had been the intention of Captain Oldfield to remain but a few hours at Johanna, and then to make directly for the Rovuma; but news having arrived at Johanna that H.M.S Wasp had gone ashore on the coast just below Cape Delgado, and that the Enchantress^ a ship laden with stores for the East Coast Squadron, had run on to the coral reef at Mayotte, another of the Comoros, he resolved to go to the assistance of these ships before taking us to the Rovuma ; and thus it came to pass that the Lyra did not arrive at the Rovuma until the afternoon of March 9th.

THE ROVUMA.

The Pioneer had arrived twelve days before, and was preparing to ascend the river without further delay.

The next day being Sunday, we remained at anchor, but on the morning of the nth, the Bishop and I left the Lyra for the Pioneer — Captain Oldfield, Lieutenant De Wahl, and Mr. Paymaster Jones accompanying us. As soon as we were on board, the anchor of the Pioneer was lifted, and the ascent of the river began.

The mouth of the Rovuma forms a noble bay, and entrance to the river is unobstructed by a bar. For a few miles the river is both broad and deep, then it rapidly shallows. The Pioneer halted for the night at about ten miles from the sea. The mangrove swamps were left far behind, the valley was flanked with thickly wooded hills, and bold mountain-land was to be seen in the distance. We had passed on our way hippopotami and crocodiles, with great numbers of flamingoes and pelicans, herons and cranes, black and white ibises, and many other sorts of birds.

Our progress up the river on the 12th was slow, for sandbanks were numerous, and much difficulty was experienced in finding the channel. But the difficulties of this day were exceeded by those of the next ; for though under steam for many hours, the Pioneer made no more than four or five miles.