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THE LAST JOURNALS OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE,
IN CENTRAL AFRICA, FROM 1865 TO HIS DEATH.
Continued by a Narrative of His Last Moments and Sufferings,
Obtained from His Faithful Servants Chuma and Susi,
by
HORACE WALLER, F.R.G.S.,
Rector Of Twywell, Northampton.
IN TWO VOLUMES.--VOL. I.
[1866-1868]
With Portrait, Maps, and Illustrations.
London:
John Murray, Albemarle Street.
1874
INTRODUCTION.
In the midst of the universal sorrow caused by the intelligence that
Dr. Livingstone had lost his life at the furthest point to which he
had penetrated in his search for the true sources of the Nile, a faint
hope was indulged that some of his journals might survive the
disaster: this hope, I rejoice to say, has been realized beyond the
most sanguine expectations.
It is due, in the first place, to his native attendants, whose
faithfulness has placed his last writings at our disposal, and also to
the reader, before he launches forth upon a series of travels and
scientific geographical records of the most extraordinary character,
to say that in the following narrative of seven years' continuous work
and new discovery _no break whatever occurs_.
We have not to deplore the loss, by accident or carelessness, of a
single entry, from the time of Livingstone's departure from Zanzibar
in the beginning of 1866 to the day when his note-book dropped from
his hand in the village of Ilala at the end of April, 1873.
I trust it will not be uninteresting if I preface the history with a
few words on the nature of these journals and writings as they have
come to hand from Central Africa.
It will be remembered that when Mr. Stanley returned to England in
1872, Dr. Livingstone entrusted to his care a very large Letts' diary,
sealed up and consigned to the safe keeping of his daughter, Miss
Agnes Livingstone. Upon the confirmation of the worst news, this book
was examined and found to contain a considerable portion of the notes
which her father made during his travels previous to the time of Mr.
Stanley's meeting him.
The Doctor's custom was always to have metallic note-books in use, in
which the day's jottings were recorded. When time and opportunity
served, the larger volume was posted up with scrupulous care.
It seems, however, that in the last three or four years of his life
this excellent rule had to give way to the toils of travel and the
exhaustion of most distressing illnesses. Whilst in the Manyuema
country he ran out of note-books, ink, and pencils, and had to resort
to shifts which at first made it a very debateable point whether the
most diligent attempt at deciphering would suceeed after all. Such
pocket-books as remained at this period of his travels were utilized
to the last inch of paper. In some of them we find lunar observations,
the names of rivers, and the heights of hills advancing towards the
middle from one end, whilst from the other the itinerary grows day by
day, interspersed with map routes of the march, botanical notes, and
carefully made drawings. But in the mean time the middle portion of
the book was filling up with calculations, private memoranda, words
intended for vocabularies, and extracts from books, whilst here and
there the stain of a pressed flower causes indistinctness; yet the
thread of the narrative runs throughout. Noting but his invariable
habit of constantly repeating the month and year obviates hopeless
confusion. Nor is this all; for pocket-books gave out at last, and old
newspapers, yellow with African damp, were sewn together, and his
notes were written across the type with a substitute for ink made from
the juice of a tree. To Miss Livingstone and to the Rev. C.A. Alington
I am very much indebted for help in the laborious task of deciphering
this portion of the Doctor's journals. Their knowledge of his
handwriting, their perseverance, coupled with good eyes and a strong
magnifying-glass, at last made their task a complete success.
In comparing this great mass of material with the journal brought
home by Mr. Stanley, one finds that a great deal of most interesting
matter can be added. It would seem that in the hurry of writing and
copying despatches previous to his companion's departure, the Doctor
rapidly entered up as much from his note-books as time and space
permitted.
Most fortunately, he still carried the greater part of these original
notes till the time of his death, so that they were forthcoming when
his effects were subsequently saved.
This brings us to the second instalment of the journals, for we have
thus acknowledged the first to have reached us on Mr. Stanley's
return.
When the battered tin travelling-case, which was with Livingstone to
the last, was opened at the Foreign Office in the spring of this year,
not only were these valuable papers disclosed which I have mentioned,
but it was found also that Livingstone had kept a copious journal
during his stay at Unyanyembé in some copy-books, and that when his
stock of note-books was replenished a daily record of his subsequent
travels had been made.
It was with fear and trembling that one looked to see whether all had
been saved or only part, but with satisfaction and thankfulness I have
subsequently discovered that his men preserved every single line,
besides his maps, which now come to light for the first time.
Thus much on the material of the diaries: it remains to say a few
words on the Map which accompanies these journals. It has been
compiled from Dr. Livingstone's original drawings and note-books, with
the corrections and additions he made from time to time as the work of
exploration progressed, and the details of physical geography became
clearer to him. The compiler, Mr. John Bolton[1], implicitly
following the original outline of the drawing as far as possible, has
honestly endeavoured to give such a rendering of the entire work, as
the Doctor would have done had he lived to return home, and
superintend the construction; and I take this opportunity of
expressing my sincere gratification that Mr. Bolton's rare technical
skill, scientific knowledge, and unwearying labour have been available
for the purpose.
Amongst almost the last words that Livingstone wrote, I find an
unfinished letter to myself, in which he gives me very clear and
explicit directions concerning the geographical notes he had
previously sent home, and I am but carrying out the sacred duty which
is attached to a last wish when I call attention to the fact, that he
particularly desired in this letter that _no positions gathered from
his observations for latitude and longitude, nor for the levels of the
Lakes, &c., should be considered correct till Sir Thomas Maclear had
examined them_. The position of Casembe's town, and of a point near
Pambetté at the S.E., and of Lake Liemba (Tanganyika), have been
computed and corrected by Sir T. Maclear and Dr. Mann. The
observations for latitude were taken at short intervals, and where it
has been possible to test them they have been found very correct, but
I repeat that until the imprimatur of his old friend at the Cape of
Good Hope stands over the whole of Livingstone's work, the map must be
accepted as open to further corrections.
The journey from Kabwabwata to Mparru has been inserted _entirely_
from notes, as the traveller was too ill to mark the route: this is
the only instance in all his wanderings where he failed to give some
indication on his map of the nature of the ground over which he
passed. The journey front Mikindany Bay to Lake Nyassa has also been
laid down from his journal and latitudes in consequence of the section
of this part of his route (which he left at Ujiji) not having arrived
in England at this date.[2] It will be observed that the outline of
Lake Nyassa differs from that on any published map: it has been drawn
from the original exploratory survey of its southern shores made by
Dr. Livingstone in 1861-3. For some reason this original plan was not
adhered to by a former draughtsman, but the Lake has here been
restored to a more accurate bearing and position.
How often shall we see in the pages of this concluding chapter of his
life, that unwavering determination which was pre-eminently the great
characteristic of David Livingstone!
Naturally endowed with unusual endurance, able to concentrate
faculties of no ordinary kind upon whatever he took in hand, and with
a dread of exaggeration which at times almost militated against the
importance of some of his greatest discoveries, it may be doubted if
ever Geographer went forth strengthened with so much true power. Let
us add to these a sincere trust that slavery, the "great open sore of
the world," as he called it, might under God's good guidance receive
healing at his hands; a fervent hope that others would follow him
after he had removed those difficulties which are comprised in a
profound ignorance of the physical features of a new country, and we
have the marching orders of him who left us in August 1865 never to
return alive.
Privileged to enjoy his near personal friendship for a considerable
period in Africa, and also at home, it has been easy to trace--more
especially from correspondence with him of late years--that
Livingstone wanted just some such gigantic problem as that which he
attacked at the last to measure his strength against: that he finally
overrated and overtaxed it I think all must admit.
He had not sufficiently allowed for an old wound which his
constitution received whilst battling with dysentery and fever, on his
celebrated journey across Africa, and this finally sapped his vital
powers, and, through the irritation of exhaustion, insidiously clouded
much of his happiness.
Many of his old friends were filled with anxiety when they found that
he intended to continue the investigation of the Nile sources, for the
letters sent home by Mr. Stanley raised the liveliest apprehensions,
which, alas! soon proved themselves well grounded.
The reader must be warned that, however versed in books of African
travel he may be, the very novelty of his situation amongst these
pages will render him liable perhaps to a danger which a timely word
may avert. Truly it may be said he has an _embarras de richesses!_ To
follow an explorer who by his individual exertions has filled up a
great space in the map of Africa, who has not only been the first to
set foot on the shores of vast inland seas, but who, with the simple
appliances of his bodily stature for a sounding pole and his stalwart
stride for a measuring tape, lays down new rivers by the hundreds, is
a task calculated to stagger him. It may be provoking to find
Livingstone busily engaged in bargaining for a canoe upon the shores
of Bangweolo, much as he would have secured a boat on his own native
Clyde; but it was not in his nature to be subject to those paroxysms
in which travellers too often indite their discoveries and
descriptions.
At the same time these journals will be found to contain innumerable
notes on the habits of animals, birds, and fishes, many of them
probably new species, and on phenomena in every direction which the
keen eye searched out as the great traveller moved amongst some of the
grandest scenes of this beautiful world: it may be doubted if ever eye
so keen was backed by so much perseverance to shield it from a mere
superficial habit of noticing. Let his adventures speak for
themselves.
Amongst the greatest facts recorded here the Geographer will perceive
that the Doctor has placed it beyond doubt that Lake Nyassa belongs to
a totally distinct system of waters to that which holds Lake
Tanganyika, and the rivers running north and west. He was too
sagacious to venture the surmise that Tanganyika has a subterranean
outlet without having duly weighed the probabilities in the scale with
his elaborate observations: the idea gathers force when we remember
that in the case of limestone cliffs, water so often succeeds in
breaking bounds by boring through the solid rock. No more interesting
problem is left to solve, and we shall yet learn whether, through the
caverns of Western Kabogo, this Lake adds its waters to the vast
northerly flow of rivers we now read of for the first time, and which
are undoubtedly amongst the largest in the world.
I cannot close these remarks without stating how much obliged I am to
Mr. James Young, F.R.S., of Kelly, for having ensured the presence of
the Doctor's men, Chuma and Susi. Ever ready to serve his old friend
Livingstone, he took care that they should be at my elbow so long as I
required them to help me amidst the pile of MSS. and maps. Their
knowledge of the countries they travelled in is most remarkable, and
from constantly aiding their master by putting questions to the
natives respecting the course of rivers, &c., I found them actual
geographers of no mean attainments. In one instance, when in doubt
concerning a particular watershed, to my surprise Susi returned a few
hours afterwards with a plan of the whole system of rivers in the
region under examination, and I found his sketch tally well with the
Doctor's map. Known to me previously for years on the Zambesi and
Shiré it was a pleasure to have them with me for four months. Amongst
other good services they have aided the artist by reproducing the
exact facsimile of the hut in which Dr. Livingstone expired, besides
making models of the "kitanda" on which he was carried, and of the
village in which his body lay for fourteen days.
I need not add what ready and valuable assistance I have derived from
the Doctor's old companion Dr. Kirk wherever I have found it necessary
to apply to him; some of the illustrations are more particularly owing
to his kindness.
It only remains to say that it has been thought advisable to retain
all the strictly scientific matter found in Dr. Livingstone's journals
for future publication. When one sees that a register of the daily
rainfall was kept throughout, that the temperature was continually
recorded, and that barometrical and hypsometrical observations were
made with unflagging thoroughness of purpose year in and year out, it
is obvious that an accumulated mass of information remains for the
meteorologist to deal with separately, which alone must engross many
months of labour.
A constant sense of great responsibility has been mine throughout this
task, for one cannot doubt that much of the future welfare of distant
tribes and races depends upon Livingstone obtaining through these
records a distinct hearing for their woes, their misery, and above all
for their willingness to welcome men drawn towards them by motives
like his.
At the same time memory and affection have not failed to bring back
vividly the man, the traveller, and the friend. May that which he has
said in his journals suffer neither loss of interest nor depth of
meaning at the compiler's hands.
HORACE WALLER.
TWYWELL RECTORY, THRAPSTON,
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
_Nov. 2, 1874._
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Attached to Mr. Stanford's staff.
[2] In February last this section of the map (as we suppose), together
with some of the Doctor's papers, was sent off from Ujiji by
Lieutenant Cameron. Nothing, however, had arrived on the 22nd
September at Zanzibar, and H.M. Consul, Captain Prideaux, entertained
serious doubts at that time whether they would ever come to hand. All
Livingstone's journals were saved through other instrumentality, as I
have shown.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Arrival at Zanzibar. Hearty reception by Said Majid, the sultan.
Murder of Baron van der Decken. The slave-market. Preparations
for starting to the interior. Embarkation in H.M.S. _Penguin_
and dhow. Rovuma Bay impracticable. Disembarks at Mikindany. Joy
at travelling once more. Trouble with sepoys. Camels attacked by
tsetse fly, and by sepoys. Jungle sappers. Meets old enemies.
The Makondé. Lake Nangandi. Gum-copal diggings.
CHAPTER II.
Effect of _Pioneer's_ former visit. The poodle Chitané. Result
of tsetse bites. Death of camels and buffaloes. Disaffection of
followers. Disputed right of ferry. Mazitu raids. An old friend.
Severe privations. The River Loendi. Sepoys mutiny. Dr. Roscher.
Desolation. Tattooing. Ornamental teeth. Singular custom. Death
of the Nassick boy, Richard. A sad reminiscence.
CHAPTER III.
Horrors of the slave-trader's track. System of cultivation.
Pottery. Special exorcising. Death of the last mule. Rescue of
Chirikaloma's wife. Brutalities of the slave-drivers. Mtarika's.
Desperate march to Mtaka's. Meets Arab caravans. Dismay of
slavers. Dismissal of sepoys. Mataka. The Waiyau metropolis.
Great hospitality and good feeling. Mataka restores stolen
cattle. Life with the chief. Beauty of country and healthiness
of climate. The Waiyau people and their peculiarities. Regrets
at the abandonment of Bishop Mackenzie's plans.
CHAPTER IV.
Geology and description of the Waiyau land. Leaves Mataka's. The
Nyumbo plant. Native iron-foundry. Blacksmiths. Makes for the
Lake Nyassa. Delight at seeing the Lake once more. The Manganja
or Nyassa tribe. Arab slave crossing. Unable to procure passage
across. The Kungu fly. Fear of the English amongst slavers. Lake
shore. Blue ink. Chitané changes colour. The Nsaka fish.
Makalaosé drinks beer. The Sanjika fish. London antiquities.
Lake rivers. Mukaté's. Lake Pamalombé. Mponda's. A slave gang.
Wikatani discovers his relatives and remains.
CHAPTER V.
Crosses Cape Maclear. The havildar demoralised. The discomfited
chief. Reaches Marenga's town. The earth-sponge. Description of
Marenga's town. Rumours of Mazitu. Musa and the Johanna men
desert. Reaches Kimsusa's. His delight at seeing the Doctor once
more. The fat ram. Kimsusa relates his experience of
Livingstone's advice. Chuma finds relatives. Kimsusa solves the
transport difficulty nobly. Another old fishing acquaintance.
Description of the people and country on the west of the Lake.
The Kanthundas. Kauma. Iron-smelting. An African Sir Colin
Campbell. Milandos.
CHAPTER VI.
Progress northwards. An African forest. Destruction by Mazitu.
Native salutations. A disagreeable chief. On the watershed
between the Lake and the Loangwa River. Extensive iron-workings.
An old Nimrod. The Bua River. Lovely scenery. Difficulties of
transport. Chilobé. An African Pythoness. Enlists two Waiyou
bearers. Ill. The Chitella bean. Rains set in. Arrives at the
Loangwa.
CHAPTER VII.
Crosses the Loangwa. Distressing march. The king-hunter. Great
hunger. Christmas feast necessarily postponed. Loss of goats.
Honey-hunters. A meal at last. The Babisa. The Mazitu again.
Chitembo's. End of 1866. The new year. The northern brim of the
great Loangwa Valley. Accident to chronometers. Meal gives out.
Escape from a Cobra capella. Pushes for the Chambezé. Death of
Chitané. Great pinch for food. Disastrous loss of medicine
chest. Bead currency. Babisa. The Chambezé. Reaches
Chitapangwa's town. Meets Arab traders from Zanzibar. Sends off
letters. Chitapangwa and his people. Complications.
CHAPTER VIII.
Chitapangwa's parting oath. Course laid for Lake Tanganyika.
Moamba's village. Another watershed. The Babemba tribe. Ill with
fever. Threatening attitude of Chibué's people. Continued
illness. Reaches cliffs overhanging Lake Liemba. Extreme beauty
of the scene. Dangerous fit of insensibility. Leaves the Lake.
Pernambuco cotton. Rumours of war between Arabs and Nsama.
Reaches Chitimba's village. Presents Sultan's letter to
principal Arab, Hamees. The war in Itawa. Geography of the
Arabs. Ivory traders and slave-dealers. Appeal to the Koran.
Gleans intelligence of the Wasongo, to the eastward, and their
chief, Meréré. Hamees sets out against Nsama. Tedious sojourn.
Departure for Ponda. Native cupping.
CHAPTER IX.
Peace negotiations with Nsama. Geographical gleanings. Curious
spider. Reaches the River Lofu. Arrives at Nsama's. Hamees
marries the daughter of Nsama. Flight of the bride.
Conflagration in Arab quarters. Anxious to visit Lake Moero.
Arab burial. Serious illness. Continues journey. Slave-traders
on the march. Reaches Moero. Description of the Lake.
Information concerning the Chambezé and Luapula. Hears of Lake
Bemba. Visits spot of Dr. Lacerda's death. Casembe apprised of
Livingstone's approach. Meets Mohamad Bogharib. Lakelet Mofwé.
Arrives at Casembe's town.
CHAPTER X.
Grand reception of the traveller. Casembe and his wife. Long
stay in the town. Goes to explore Moero. Despatch to Lord
Clarendon, with notes on recent travels. Illness at the end of
1867. Further exploration of Lake Moero. Flooded plains. The
River Luao. Visits Kabwabwata. Joy of Arabs at Mohamad bin
Salleh's freedom. Again ill with fever. Stories of underground
dwellings.
CHAPTER XI
Riot in the camp. Mohamad's account of his long imprisonment.
Superstitions about children's teeth. Concerning dreams. News of
Lake Chowambé. Life of the Arab slavers. The Katanga gold
supply. Muabo. Ascent of the Rua Mountains. Syde bin Habib.
Birthday, 19th March, 1868. Hostility of Mpwéto. Contemplates
visiting Lake Bemba. Nile sources. Men desert. The shores of
Moero. Visits Fungafunga. Return to Casembe's. Obstructiveness
of "Cropped-ears." Accounts of Pereira and Dr. Lacerda. Major
Monteiro. The line of Casembes. Casembe explains the connection
of the Lakes and the Luapula. Queen Moäri. Arab sacrifice.
Kapika gets rid of his wife.
CHAPTER XII.
Prepares to examine Lake Bemba. Starts from Casembe's 11th June,
1868. Dead leopard. Moenampanda's reception. The River Luongo.
Weird death-song of slaves. The forest grave. Lake Bemba changed
to Lake Bangweolo. Chikumbi's. The Imbozhwa people. Kombokombo's
stockade. Mazitu difficulties. Discovers Lake Bangweolo on 18th
July, 1868. The Lake Chief Mapuni. Description of the Lake.
Prepares to navigate it. Embarks for Lifungé Island. Immense
size of Lake. Reaches Mpabala Island. Strange dream. Fears of
canoe men. Return to shore. March back. Sends letters. Meets
Banyamwezi. Reviews recent explorations at length. Disturbed
state of country.
CHAPTER XIII.
Cataracts of the Kalongosi. Passage of the river disputed.
Leeches and method of detaching them. Syde bin Habib's slaves
escape. Enormous collection of tusks. Ill. Theory of the Nile
sources. Tribute to Miss Tinné. Notes on climate. Separation of
Lake Nyassa from the Nile system. Observations on Victoria
Nyanza. Slaves dying. Repentant deserters. Mohamad Bogharib.
Enraged Imbozhwa. An attack. Narrow escape. Renewed attack. A
parley. Help arrives. Bin Juma. March from the Imbozhwa country.
Slaves escape. Burial of Syde bin Habib's brother. Singular
custom. An elephant killed. Native game-laws. Rumour of Baker's
Expedition. Christmas dinners.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
[DR. LIVINGSTONE, though no artist, had acquired a practice of
making rude sketches of scenes and objects, which have furnished
material for the Engravers in the Illustrations for this book.]
Full-page Illustrations.
1. PORTRAIT OF DR. LIVINGSTONE. (From a Photograph by ANNAN)
2. SLAVERS REVENGING THEIR LOSSES
3. SLAVES ABANDONED
4. CHITAPANGWA RECEIVING DR. LIVINGSTONE
5. THE VILLAGE ON LAKE LIEMBA--TANGANYIKA
6. THE ARRIVAL OF HAMEES' BRIDE
7. DISCOVERY OF LAKE BANGWEOLO
Smaller Illustrations.
1. DR. LIVINGSTONE'S HOUSE, ZANZIBAR
2. DHOW USED FOR TRANSPORT OF DR. LIVINGSTONE'S CAMELS
3. A THORN-CLIMBER
4. TOMAHAWK AND AXE
5. CARVED DOOR, ZANZIBAR
6. TATTOO OF MATAMBWÉ
7. IMITATION OF BASKET-WORK IN POTTERY
8. DIGGING-STICK WEIGHTED WITH ROUND STONE
9. MANGANJA AND MACHINGA WOMEN
10. TATOO ON WOMEN
11. CARVED STOOL MADE OF A SINGLE WOODEN BLOCK
12. WOMEN'S TEETH HOLLOWED OUT
13. MODE OF FORGING HOES
14. MALLET FOR SEPARATING FIBRES OF BARK
15. THE CHIEF CHITAPANGWA
16. CHITAPANGWA'S WIVES
17. FILED TEETH OF QUEEN MOÄH
18. A FOREST GRAVE
GENERAL MAP OF DR. LIVINGSTONE'S OWN DISCOVERIES
CHAPTER I.
Arrival at Zanzibar. Hearty reception by Said Majid, the Sultan.
Murder of Baron van der Decken. The slave-market. Preparations
for starting to the interior. Embarkation in H.M.S. _Penguin_
and dhow. Rovuma Bay impracticable. Disembarks at Mikindany. Joy
at travelling once more. Trouble with sepoys. Camels attacked by
tsetse fly, and by sepoys. Jungle sappers. Meets old enemies.
The Makondé. Lake Nangandi. Gum-copal diggings.
ZANZIBAR, _28th January, 1866._--After a passage of twenty-three days
from Bombay we arrived at this island in the _Thule_, which was one of
Captain Sherard Osborne's late Chinese fleet, and now a present from
the Bombay Government to the Sultan of Zanzibar. I was honoured with
the commission to make the formal presentation, and this was intended
by H.E. the Governor-in-Council to show in how much estimation I was
held, and thereby induce the Sultan to forward my enterprise. The
letter to his Highness was a commendatory epistle in my favour, for
which consideration on the part of Sir Bartle Frere I feel deeply
grateful. It runs as follows:--
TO HIS HIGHNESS SEJUEL MAJID, SULTAN OF ZANZIBAR.
(_Copy._)
"YOUR HIGHNESS,--I trust that this will find you in the
enjoyment of health and happiness.
"I have requested my friend, Dr. David Livingstone, who is
already personally well and favourably known to your Highness,
to convey to you the assurance of the continual friendship and
goodwill of Her Majesty's Government in India.
"Your Highness is already aware of the benevolent objects of Dr.
Livingstone's life and labours, and I feel assured that your
Highness will continue to him the favour and protection which
you have already shown to him on former occasions, and that your
Highness will direct every aid to be given him within your
Highness's dominions which may tend to further the philanthropic
designs to which he has devoted himself, and which, as your
Highness is aware, are viewed with the warmest interest by Her
Majesty's Government both in India and England.
"I trust your Highness will favour me with continued accounts of
your good health and welfare.
"I remain, your Highness's sincere friend,
(Signed) "H.B.E. FRERE.
"BOMBAY CASTLE, _2nd January, 1866._"
When we arrived Dr. Seward, the Acting Consul, was absent at the
Seychelles on account of serious failure of health: Mr. Schultz,
however, was representing him, but he too was at the time away. Dr.
Seward was expected back daily, and he did arrive on the 31st. I
requested a private interview with the Sultan, and on the following
day (29th) called and told him the nature of my commission to his
Highness. He was very gracious, and seemed pleased with the gift, as
well he might, for the _Thule_ is fitted up in the most gorgeous
manner. We asked a few days to put her in perfect order, and this
being the Ramadân, or fasting month, he was all the more willing to
defer a visit to the vessel.
Dr. Seward arranged to have an audience with the Sultan, to carry out
his instructions, which were to present me in a formal manner; Captain
Bradshaw of the _Wasp_, with Captain Leatham of the _Vigilant_, and
Bishop Tozer, were to accompany us in full dress, but the Sultan had a
toothache and gumboil, and could not receive us; he, however, placed
one of his houses at my disposal, and appointed a man who speaks
English to furnish board for my men and me, and also for Captain
Brebner, of the _Thule_, and his men.
[Illustration: Livingstone's House, Zanzibar.]
_6th February, 1866._--The Sultan being still unable to come, partly
on account of toothache and partly on account of Ramadân, he sent his
commodore, Captain Abdullah, to receive the _Thule_. When the English
flag was hauled down in the _Thule_, it went up to the mainmast of the
_Iskander Shah_, and was saluted by twenty-one guns; then the _Wasp_
saluted the Arab flag with an equal number, which honour being duly
acknowledged by a second royal salute from the _Iskander Shah_,
Captain Abdullah's frigate, the ceremony ended.
Next day, the 7th, we were received by the Sultan, and through his
interpreter, I told him that his friend, the Governor of Bombay, had
lately visited the South Mahratta Princes, and had pressed on them the
necessity of education; the world was moving on, and those who
neglected to acquire knowledge would soon find that power slipped
through their fingers, and that the Bombay Government, in presenting
his Highness with a portion of steam power, showed its desire to
impart one of the greatest improvements of modern times, not desiring
to monopolize power, but hoping to lift up others with themselves, and
I wished him to live a hundred years and enjoy all happiness. The idea
was borrowed partly from Sir Bartle Frere's addresses, because I
thought it would have more weight if he heard a little from that
source than if it emanated from myself. He was very anxious that
Captain Brebner and his men, in returning to India, should take a
passage from him in the _Nadir Shah_, one of his men-of-war, and
though he had already placed his things aboard the _Vigilant_, to
proceed to Seychelles, and thence to Bombay, we persuaded Captain
Brebner to accept his Highness's hospitality. He had evidently set his
heart on sending them back with suitable honours, and an hour after
consent was given to go by the _Nadir Shah_, he signed an order for
the money to fit her out.
_11th February, 1866._--One of the foremost subjects that naturally
occupied my mind here was the sad loss of the Baron van der Decken, on
the River Juba, or Aljib. The first intimation of the unfortunate
termination of his explorations was the appearance of Lieutenant von
Schich at this place, who had left without knowing whether his leader
were dead or alive, but an attack had been made on the encampment
which had been planned after the steamer struck the rocks and filled,
and two of the Europeans were killed. The attacking party came from
the direction in which the Baron and Dr. Link went, and three men of
note in it were slain. Von Schich went back from Zanzibar to Brava to
ascertain the fate of the Baron, and meanwhile several native sailors
from Zanzibar had been allowed to escape from the scene of confusion
to Brava.
_18th February, 1866._--All the Europeans went to pay visits of
congratulation to his Highness the Sultan upon the conclusion of the
Ramadân, when sweetmeats were placed before us. He desired me to thank
the Governor of Bombay for his magnificent gift, and to state that
although he would like to have me always with him, yet he would show
me the same favour in Africa which he had done here: he added that the
_Thule_ was at my service to take me to the Rovuma whenever I wished
to leave. I replied that nothing had been wanting on his part; he had
done more than I expected, and I was sure that his Excellency the
Governor would be delighted to hear that the vessel promoted his
health and prosperity; nothing would delight him more than this. He
said that he meant to go out in her on Wednesday next (20th): Bishop
Tozer, Captain Fraser, Dr. Steere, and all the English were present.
The sepoys came in and did obeisance; and I pointed out the Nassick
lads as those who had been rescued from slavery, educated, and sent
back to their own country by the Governor. Surely he must see that
some people in the world act from other than selfish motives.
In the afternoon Sheikh Sulieman, his secretary, came with a letter
for the Governor, to be conveyed by Lieutenant Brebner, I.N., in the
_Nadir Shah_, which is to sail to-morrow. He offered money to the
lieutenant, but this could not be heard of for a moment.
The translation of the letter is as follows, and is an answer to that
which I brought.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR OF BOMBAY.
[After compliments.]
"... The end of my desire is to know ever that your
Excellency's health is good. As for me--your friend--I am very
well.
"Your honoured letter borne by Dr. Livingstone duly reached me,
and all that you said about him I understood.
"I will show him respect, give him honour, and help him in all
his affairs; and that I have already done this, I trust he will
tell you.
"I hope you will let me rest in your heart, and that you will
send me many letters.
"If you need anything I shall be glad, and will give it.
"Your sincere friend,
"MAJID BIN SAID.
"Dated 2nd Shaul, 1282 (18th February, 1866)."
_2nd March, 1866._--A northern dhow came in with slaves; when this was
reported to the Sultan he ordered it to be burned, and we saw this
done from the window of the Consulate; but he has very little power
over Northern Arabs. He has shown a little vigour of late. He wished
to raise a revenue by a charge of 10 per cent. on all articles brought
into town for sale, but this is clearly contrary to treaty, which
provides that no monopoly shall be permitted, and no dues save that of
5 per cent. import duty. The French Consul bullies him: indeed the
French system of dealing with the natives is well expressed by that
word; no wonder they cannot gain influence among them: the greatest
power they exercise is by lending their flag to slaving dhows, so that
it covers that nefarious traffic.
The stench arising from a mile and a half or two square miles of
exposed sea beach, which is the general depository of the filth of the
town, is quite horrible. At night it is so gross or crass one might
cut out a slice and manure a garden with it: it might be called
Stinkibar rather than Zanzibar. No one can long enjoy good health
here.
On visiting the slave-market I found about 300 slaves exposed for
sale, the greater part of whom came from Lake Nyassa and the Shiré
River; I am so familiar with the peculiar faces and markings or
tattooings, that I expect them to recognize me. Indeed one woman said
that she had heard of our passing up Lake Nyassa in a boat, but she
did not see me: others came from Chipéta, S.W. of the Lake. All who
have grown up seem ashamed at being hawked about for sale. The teeth
are examined, the cloth lifted up to examine the lower limbs, and a
stick is thrown for the slave to bring, and thus exhibit his paces.
Some are dragged through the crowd by the hand, and the price called
out incessantly: most of the purchasers were Northern Arabs and
Persians. This is the period when the Sultan's people may not carry
slaves coastwise; but they simply cannot, for the wind is against
them. Many of the dhows leave for Madagascar, and thence come back to
complete their cargoes.
The Arabs are said to treat their slaves kindly, and this also may be
said of native masters; the reason is, master and slave partake of the
general indolence, but the lot of the slave does not improve with the
general progress in civilization. While no great disparity of rank
exists, his energies are little tasked, but when society advances,
wants multiply; and to supply these the slave's lot grows harder. The
distance between master and man increases as the lust of gain is
developed, hence we can hope for no improvement in the slave's
condition, unless the master returns to or remains in barbarism.
_6th March, 1866._--Rains have begun now that the sun is overhead. We
expect the _Penguin_ daily to come from Johanna, and take us to the
Rovuma. It is an unwholesome place; six of my men have fever; few
retain health long, and considering the lowness of the island, and the
absence of sanitary regulations in the town, it is not to be wondered
at. The Sultan has little power, being only the successor to the
captain of the horde of Arabs who came down and overran the island and
maritime coasts of the adjacent continent. He is called only Said or
Syed, never Sultan; and they can boast of choosing a new one if he
does not suit them. Some coins were found in digging here which have
Cufic inscriptions, and are about 900 years old. The island is low;
the highest parts may not be more than 150 feet above the sea; it is
of a coral formation, with sandstone conglomerate. Most of the plants
are African, but clove-trees, mangoes, and cocoa-nut groves give a
luxuriant South Sea Island look to the whole scenery.
We visited an old man to-day, the richest in Zanzibar, who is to give
me letters to his friends at Tanganyika, and I am trying to get a
depôt of goods for provisions formed there, so that when I reach it I
may not be destitute.
_18th March, 1866._--I have arranged with Koorje, a Banian, who farms
the custom-house revenue here, to send a supply of beads, cloth,
flour, tea, coffee, and sugar, to Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika. The Arab
there, with whom one of Koorje's people will remain in charge of the
goods, is called Thani bin Suelim.
Yesterday we went to take leave of the Sultan, and to thank him for
all his kindness to me and my men, which has indeed been very great.
He offered me men to go with me, and another letter if I wished it. He
looks very ill.
I have received very great kindness during my stay from Dr. and Mrs.
Seward. They have done everything for me in their power: may God
Almighty return it all abundantly into their bosoms, in the way that
He best can. Dr. Seward's views of the policy pursued here I have no
doubt are the right ones; in fact, the only ones which can be looked
back to with satisfaction, or that have probability of success among a
race of Pariah Arabs.
The _Penguin_ came a few days ago, and Lieutenant Garforth in command
agrees to take me down to the Rovuma River, and land me there. I have
a dhow to take my animals: six camels, three buffaloes, and a calf,
two mules, and four donkeys. I have thirteen Sepoys, ten Johanna men,
nine Nassick boys, two Shupanga men, and two Wayaus, Wekatani and
Chuma.[3]
[It may be well to point out that several of these men had previously
been employed by Dr. Livingstone on the Zambesi and Shiré; thus Musa,
the Johanna man, was a sailor on the _Lady Nyassa_, whilst Susi and
Amoda were engaged at Shupanga to cut wood for the _Pioneer_. The two
Waiyau lads, Wakatani and Chuma, were liberated from the slavers by
the Doctor and Bishop Mackenzie in 1861, and lived for three years
with the Mission party at Chibisa's before they were engaged by
Livingstone. The Nassick lads were entire strangers, and were trained
in India.]
_19th March, 1866._--We start this morning at 10 A.M. I trust that the
Most High may prosper me in this work, granting me influence in the
eyes of the heathen, and helping me to make my intercourse beneficial
to them.
_22nd March, 1866._--We reached Rovuma Bay to-day, and anchored about
two miles from the mouth of the river, in five fathoms. I went up the
left bank to see if the gullies which formerly ran into the bay had
altered, so as to allow camels to cross them: they seemed to have
become shallower. There was no wind for the dhow, and as for the
man-of-war towing her, it was out of the question. On the 23rd the
cutter did try to tow the dhow, but without success, as a strong tide
runs constantly out of the river at this season. A squall came up from
the S.E., which would have taken the dhow in, but the master was on
board the _Penguin_, and said he had no large sail. I got him off to
his vessel, but the wind died away before we could reach the mouth of
the river.
_24th March, 1866._--I went to the dhow, and there being no wind I
left orders with the captain to go up the right bank should a breeze
arise. Mr. Fane, midshipman, accompanied me up the left bank above, to
see if we could lead the camels along in the water. Near the point
where the river first makes a little bend to the north, we landed and
found three formidable gullies, and jungle so thick with bush,
date-palms, twining bamboo, and hooked thorns, that one could scarcely
get along. Further inland it was sticky mud, thickly planted over with
mangrove roots and gullies in whose soft banks one sank over the
ankles. No camels could have moved, and men with extreme difficulty
might struggle through; but we never could have made an available
road. We came to a she-hippopotamus lying in a ditch, which did not
cover her; Mr. Fane fired into her head, and she was so upset that she
nearly fell backward in plunging up the opposite bank: her calf was
killed, and was like sucking-pig, though in appearance as large as a
full-grown sow.
We now saw that the dhow had a good breeze, and she came up along the
right bank and grounded at least a mile from the spot where the
mangroves ceased. The hills, about two hundred feet high, begin about
two or three miles above that, and they looked invitingly green and
cool. My companion and I went from the dhow inland, to see if the
mangroves gave way, to a more walkable country, but the swamp covered
over thickly with mangroves only became worse the farther we receded
from the river. The whole is flooded at high tides, and had we landed
all the men we should have been laid up with fever ere we could have
attained the higher land, which on the right bank bounds the line of
vision, and the first part of which lies so near. I thought I had
better land on the sand belt on the left of Rovuma Bay, and then
explore and get information from the natives, none of whom had as yet
come near us, so I ordered the dhow to come down to the spot next day,
and went on board the _Penguin_. Lieutenant Garforth was excessively
kind, and though this is his best time for cruising in the North, he
most patiently agreed to wait and help me to land.
_24th March, 1866._--During the night it occurred to me that we should
be in a mess if after exploration and information from the natives we
could find no path, and when I mentioned this, Lieutenant Garforth
suggested that we should proceed to Kilwa, so at 5 A.M. I went up to
the dhow with Mr. Fane, and told the captain that we were going there.
He was loud in his protestations against this, and strongly
recommended the port of Mikindany, as quite near to Rovuma, Nyassa,
and the country I wished to visit, besides being a good landing-place,
and the finest port on the coast. Thither we went, and on the same
evening landed all our animals in Mikindany bay, which lies only
twenty-five miles N. of Rovuma. The _Penguin_ then left.
The Rovuma is quite altered from what it was when first we visited it.
It is probable that the freshets form banks inside the mouth, which
are washed out into the deep bay, and this periodical formation
probably has prevented the Arabs from using the Rovuma as a port of
shipment. It is not likely that Mr. May[4] would have made a mistake
if the middle were as shoal as now: he found soundings of three
fathoms or more.
[Illustration: Dhow used for Transport of Dr. Livingstone's Camels.]
_25th March, 1866._--I hired a house for four dollars a month and
landed all our goods from the dhow. The bay gives off a narrow
channel, about 500 yards wide and 200 yards long, the middle is deep,
but the sides are coral reefs and shoal: the deep part seems about 100
yards wide. Outside in the Bay of Mikindany there is no anchorage
except on the edge of the reef where the _Penguin_ got seven fathoms,
but further in it was only two fathoms. The inner bay is called Pemba,
not Pimlea, as erroneously printed in the charts of Owen. It is deep
and quite sheltered; another of a similar round form lies somewhat to
the south: this bay may be two miles square.
The cattle are all very much the worse for being knocked about in the
dhow. We began to prepare saddles of a very strong tree called Ntibwé,
which is also used for making the hooked spear with which hippopotami
are killed--the hook is very strong and tough; I applied also for
twenty carriers and a Banian engaged to get them as soon as possible.
The people have no cattle here, they are half-caste Arabs mostly, and
quite civil to us.
_26th March, 1866._--A few of the Nassick boys have the slave spirit
pretty strongly; it goes deepest in those who have the darkest skins.
Two Gallah men are the most intelligent and hardworking among them;
some look on work with indifference when others are the actors.
Now that I am on the point of starting on another trip into Africa I
feel quite exhilarated: when one travels with the specific object in
view of ameliorating the condition of the natives every act becomes
ennobled.
Whether exchanging the customary civilities, or arriving at a village,
accepting a night's lodging, purchasing food for the party, asking for
information, or answering polite African enquiries as to our objects
in travelling, we begin to spread a knowledge of that people by whose
agency their land will yet become enlightened and freed from the
slave-trade.
The mere animal pleasure of travelling in a wild unexplored country is
very great. When on lands of a couple of thousand feet elevation,
brisk exercise imparts elasticity to the muscles, fresh and healthy
blood circulates through the brain, the mind works well, the eye is
clear, the step is firm, and a day's exertion always makes the
evening's repose thoroughly enjoyable.
We have usually the stimulus of remote chances of danger either from
beasts or men. Our sympathies are drawn out towards our humble hardy
companions by a community of interests, and, it may be, of perils,
which make us all friends. Nothing but the most pitiable puerility
would lead any manly heart to make their inferiority a theme for
self-exaltation; however, that is often done, as if with the vague
idea that we can, by magnifying their deficiencies, demonstrate our
immaculate perfections.
The effect of travel on a man whose heart is in the right place is
that the mind is made more self-reliant: it becomes more confident of
its own resources--there is greater presence of mind. The body is soon
well-knit; the muscles of the limbs grow as hard as a board, and seem
to have no fat; the countenance is bronzed, and there is no dyspepsia.
Africa is a most wonderful country for appetite, and it is only when
one gloats over marrow bones or elephant's feet that indigestion is
possible. No doubt much toil is involved, and fatigue of which
travellers in the more temperate climes can form but a faint
conception; but the sweat of one's brow is no longer a curse when one
works for God: it proves a tonic to the system, and is actually a
blessing. No one can truly appreciate the charm of repose unless he
has undergone severe exertion.
_27th March, 1866._--The point of land which on the north side of the
entrance to the harbour narrows it to about 300 yards is alone called
Pemba; the other parts have different names. Looking northwards from
the point, the first hundred yards has ninety square houses of wattled
daub; a ruin (a mosque) has been built of lime and coral. The whole
point is coral, and the soil is red, and covered over with dense
tropical vegetation, in which the baobab is conspicuous. Dhows at
present come in with ease by the easterly wind which blows in the
evening, and leave next morning, the land wind taking them out.
While the camels and other animals are getting over their fatigues
and bad bruises, we are making camels' saddles, and repairing those of
the mules and buffaloes. Oysters abound on all the rocks and on the
trees over which the tide flows: they are small, but much relished by
the people.
The Arabs here are a wretched lot physically--thin, washed-out
creatures--many with bleared eyes.
_29-30th March, 1866._--- This harbour has somewhat the shape of a
bent bow or the spade on a playing-card, the shaft of the arrow being
the entrance in; the passage is very deep, but not more than 100 yards
wide, and it goes in nearly S.W.; inside it is deep and quite secure,
and protected from all winds. The lands westward rise at once to about
200 feet, and John, a hill, is the landmark by which it is best known
in coming along the coast--so say the Arabs. The people have no
cattle, but say there are no tsetse flies: they have not been
long here, _i.e._ under the present system; but a ruin on the
northern peninsula or face of the entrance, built of stone and
lime--Arab-fashion, and others on the north-west, show that the place
has been known and used of old. The adjacent country has large game at
different water pools, and as the whole country is somewhat elevated
it probably is healthy. There is very little mangrove, but another
enclosed piece of water to the south of this probably has more. The
language of the people here is Swaheli; they trade a little in
gum-copal and Orchilla weed. An agent of the Zanzibar custom-house
presides over the customs, which are very small, and a jemidar
acknowledging the Sultan is the chief authority; but the people are
little superior to the natives whom they have displaced. The jemidar
has been very civil to me, and gives me two guides to go on to Adondé,
but no carriers can be hired. Water is found in wells in the coral
rock which underlies the whole place.
_4th April, 1866._--When about to start from Pemba, at the entrance to
the other side of the bay one of our buffaloes gored a donkey so
badly that he had to be shot: we cut off the tips of the offender's
horns, on the principle of "locking the stable-door when the steed is
stolen," and marched. We came to level spots devoid of vegetation, and
hard on the surface, but a deposit of water below allowed the camels
to sink up to their bodies through the crust. Hauling them out, we got
along to the jemidar's house, which is built of coral and lime. Hamesh
was profuse in his professions of desire to serve, but gave a shabby
hut which let in rain and wind. I slept one night in it, and it was
unbearable, so I asked the jemidar to allow me to sleep in his
court-room, where many of the sepoys were: he consented, but when I
went refused; then, being an excitable, nervous Arab, he took fright,
mustered all his men, amounting to about fifteen, with matchlocks; ran
off, saying he was going to kill a lion; came back, shook hands
nervously with me, vowing it was a man who would not obey him, "it was
not you."
Our goods were all out in the street, bound on the pack-saddles, so at
night we took the ordinary precaution of setting a guard. This excited
our dignitary, and after dark all his men were again mustered with
matches lighted. I took no notice of him, and after he had spent a
good deal of talk, which we could hear, he called Musa and asked what
I meant. The explanations of Musa had the effect of sending him to
bed, and in the morning, when I learned how much I had most
unintentionally disturbed him, I told him that I was sorry, but it did
not occur to me to tell him about an ordinary precaution against
thieves. He thought he had given me a crushing reply when he said with
vehemence, "But there are no thieves here." I did not know till
afterwards that he and others had done me an ill turn in saying that
no carriers could be hired from the independent tribes adjacent. They
are low-coast Arabs, three-quarters African, and, as usual, possess
the bad without the good qualities of both parents. Many of them came
and begged brandy, and laughed when they remarked that they could
drink it in secret but not openly; they have not, however, introduced
it as an article of trade, as we Christians have done on the West
Coast.
_6th April, 1866._--We made a short march round to the south-west side
of the Lake, and spent the night at a village in that direction. There
are six villages dotted round the inner harbour, and the population
may amount to 250 or 300 souls--coast Arabs and their slaves; the
southern portion of the harbour is deep, from ten to fourteen fathoms,
but the north-western part is shoal and rocky. Very little is done in
the way of trade; some sorghum, sem-sem seed, gum-copal, and orchilla
weed, constitute the commerce of the port: I saw two Banian traders
settled here.
_7th April, 1866._--Went about south from Kindany with a Somalie
guide, named Ben Ali or Bon Ali, a good-looking obliging man, who was
to get twenty dollars to take us up to Ngomano. Our path lay in a
valley, with well-wooded heights on each side, but the grass towered
over our heads, and gave the sensation of smothering, whilst the sun
beat down on our heads very fiercely, and there was not a breath of
air stirring. Not understanding camels, I had to trust to the sepoys
who overloaded them, and before we had accomplished our march of about
seven miles they were knocked up.
_8th April, 1866._--We spent the Sunday at a village called Nyañgedi.
Here on the evening of the 7th April our buffaloes and camels were
first bitten by the tsetse fly.[5] We had passed through some pieces
of dense jungle which, though they offered no obstruction to
foot-passengers, but rather an agreeable shade, had to be cut for the
tall camels, and fortunately we found the Makondé of this village
glad to engage themselves by the day either as woodcutters or
carriers. We had left many things with the jemidar from an idea that
no carriers could be procured. I lightened the camels, and had a party
of woodcutters to heighten and widen the path in the dense jungle into
which we now penetrated. Every now and then we emerged on open spaces,
where the Makondé have cleared gardens for sorghum, maize, and
cassava. The people were very much more taken up with the camels and
buffaloes than with me. They are all independent of each other, and no
paramount chief exists. Their foreheads may be called compact, narrow,
and rather low; the _alae nasi_ expanded laterally; lips full, not
excessively thick; limbs and body well formed; hands and feet small;
colour dark and light-brown; height middle size, and bearing
independent.
_10th April, 1866._--We reached a village called Narri, lat. 10° 23'
14" S. Many of the men had touches of fever. I gave medicine to eleven
of them, and next morning all were better. Food is abundant and cheap.
Our course is nearly south, and in "wadys," from which, following the
trade-road, we often ascend the heights, and then from the villages,
which are on the higher land, we descend to another on the same wady.
No running water is seen; the people depend on wells for a supply.
_11th April, 1866._--At Tandahara we were still ascending as we went
south; the soil is very fertile, with a good admixture of sand in it,
but no rocks are visible. Very heavy crops of maize and sorghum are
raised, and the cassava bushes are seven feet in height. The bamboos
are cleared off them, spread over the space to be cultivated and
burned to serve as manure. Iron is very scarce, for many of the men
appear with wooden spears; they find none here, but in some spots
where an ooze issued from the soil iron rust appeared. At each of the
villages where we spent a night we presented a fathom of calico, and
the headman always gave a fowl or two, and a basket of rice or maize.
The Makondé dialect is quite different from Swaheli, but from their
intercourse with the coast Arabs many of the people here have acquired
a knowledge of Swaheli.
[Illustration: A Thorn-climber.]
_12th April, 1866._--On starting we found the jungle so dense that the
people thought "there was no cutting it:" it continued upwards of
three miles. The trees are not large, but so closely planted together
that a great deal of labour was required to widen and heighten the
path: where bamboos prevail they have starved out the woody trees. The
reason why the trees are not large is because all the spaces we passed
over were formerly garden ground before the Makondé had been thinned
by the slave-trade. As soon as a garden is deserted, a thick crop of
trees of the same sorts as those formerly cut down springs up, and
here the process of woody trees starving out their fellows, and
occupying the land without dense scrub below, has not had time to work
itself out. Many are mere poles, and so intertwined with climbers as
to present the appearance of a ship's ropes and cables shaken in among
them, and many have woody stems as thick as an eleven-inch hawser. One
species may be likened to the scabbard of a dragoon's sword, but along
the middle of the flat side runs a ridge, from which springs up every
few inches a bunch of inch-long straight sharp thorns. It hangs
straight for a couple of yards, but as if it could not give its thorns
a fair chance of mischief, it suddenly bends on itself, and all its
cruel points are now at right angles to what they were before.
Darwin's observation shows a great deal of what looks like instinct in
these climbers. This species seems to be eager for mischief; its
tangled limbs hang out ready to inflict injury on all passers-by.
Another climber is so tough it is not to be broken by the fingers;
another appears at its root as a young tree, but it has the straggling
habits of its class, as may be seen by its cords stretched some fifty
or sixty feet off; it is often two inches in diameter; you cut it
through at one part and find it reappear forty yards off.
[Illustration: Tomahawk and Axe.]
Another climber is like the leaf of an aloe, but convoluted as
strangely as shavings from the plane of a carpenter. It is dark green
in colour, and when its bark is taken off it is beautifully striated
beneath, lighter and darker green, like the rings of growth on wood;
still another is a thin string with a succession of large knobs, and
another has its bark pinched up all round at intervals so as to
present a great many cutting edges. One sort need scarcely be
mentioned, in which all along its length are strong bent hooks, placed
in a way that will hold one if it can but grapple with him, for that
is very common and not like those mentioned, which the rather seem to
be stragglers from the carboniferous period of geologists, when
Pachydermata wriggled unscathed among tangled masses worse than these.
We employed about ten jolly young Makondé to deal with these
prehistoric plants in their own way, for they are accustomed to
clearing spaces for gardens, and went at the work with a will, using
tomahawks well adapted for the work. They whittled away right
manfully, taking an axe when any trees had to be cut. Their pay,
arranged beforehand, was to be one yard of calico per day: this is not
much, seeing we are still so near the sea-coast. Climbers and young
trees melted before them like a cloud before the sun! Many more would
have worked than we employed, but we used the precaution of taking
the names of those engaged. The tall men became exhausted soonest,
while the shorter men worked vigorously still--but a couple of days'
hard work seemed to tell on the best of them. It is doubtful if any
but meat-eating people can stand long-continued labour without
exhaustion: the Chinese may be an exception. When French navvies were
first employed they could not do a tithe of the work of our English
ones; but when the French were fed in the same style as the English,
they performed equally well. Here the Makondé have rarely the chance
of a good feed of meat: it is only when one of them is fortunate
enough to spear a wild hog or an antelope that they know this luxury;
if a fowl is eaten they get but a taste of it with their porridge.
_13th April, 1866._--We now began to descend the northern slope down
to the Rovuma, and a glimpse could occasionally be had of the country;
it seemed covered with great masses of dark green forest, but the
undulations occasionally looked like hills, and here and there a
Sterculia had put on yellow foliage in anticipation of the coming
winter. More frequently our vision was circumscribed to a few yards
till our merry woodcutters made for us the pleasant scene of a long
vista fit for camels to pass: as a whole, the jungle would have made
the authors of the natty little hints to travellers smile at their own
productions, good enough, perhaps, where one has an open country with
trees and hills; by which to take bearings, estimate distances, see
that one point is on the same latitude, another on the same longitude
with such another, and all to be laid down fair and square with
protractor and compass, but so long as we remained within the
vegetation, that is fed by the moisture from the Indian Ocean, the
steamy, smothering air, and dank, rank, luxuriant vegetation made me
feel, like it, struggling for existence,--and no more capable of
taking bearings than if I had been in a hogshead and observing through
the bunghole!
An old Monyiñko headman presented a goat and asked if the sepoys
wished to cut its throat: the Johannees, being of a different sect of
Mahometans, wanted to cut it in some other way than their Indian
co-religionists: then ensued a fierce dispute as to who was of the
right sort of Moslem! It was interesting to see that not Christians
alone, but other nations feel keenly on religious subjects.
I saw rocks of grey sandstone (like that which overlies coal) and the
Rovuma in the distance. Didi is the name of a village whose headsman,
Chombokëa, is said to be a doctor; all the headmen pretend or are
really doctors; however one, Fundindomba, came after me for medicine
for himself.
_14th April, 1866._--To-day we succeeded in reaching the Rovuma, where
some very red cliffs appear on the opposite heights, and close by
where it is marked on the map that the _Pioneer_ turned back in 1861.
Here we rested on Sunday 15th.
_16th April, 1866._--Our course now lay westwards, along the side of
that ragged outline of table-land, which we had formerly seen from the
river as flanking both sides. There it appeared a range of hills
shutting in Rovuma, here we had spurs jutting out towards the river,
and valleys retiring from a mile to three miles inland. Sometimes we
wended our way round them, sometimes rose over and descended their
western sides, and then a great deal of wood-cutting was required. The
path is not straight, but from one village to another. We came
perpetually on gardens, and remarked that rice was sown among the
other grain; there must be a good deal of moisture at other times to
admit of this succeeding: at present the crops were suffering for want
of rain. We could purchase plenty of rice for the sepoys, and well it
was so, for the supply which was to last till we arrived at Ngomano
was finished on the 13th. An old doctor, with our food awaiting,
presented me with two large bags of rice and his wife husked it for
us.
_17th April, 1866._--I had to leave the camels in the hands of the
sepoys: I ordered them to bring as little luggage as possible, and the
Havildar assured me that two buffaloes were amply sufficient to carry
all they would bring. I now find that they have more than full loads
for two buffaloes, two mules, and two donkeys; but when these animals
fall down under them, they assure me with so much positiveness that
they are not overloaded, that I have to be silent, or only, as I have
several times done before, express the opinion that they will kill
these animals. This observation on my part leads them to hide their
things in the packs of the camels, which also are over-burdened. I
fear that my experiment with the tsetse will be vitiated, but no
symptoms yet occur in any of the camels except weariness.[6] The sun
is very sharp; it scorches. Nearly all the sepoys had fever, but it is
easily cured; they never required to stop marching, and we cannot make
over four or five miles a day, which movement aids in the cure. In all
cases of fever removal from the spot of attack should be made: after
the fever among the sepoys, the Nassick boys took their turn along
with the Johannees.
_18th April, 1866._--Ben Ali misled us away up to the north in spite
of my protest, when we turned in that direction; he declared that was
the proper path. We had much wood-cutting, and found that our course
that day and next was to enable him to visit and return from one of
his wives--a comely Makondé woman! He brought her to call on me, and I
had to be polite to the lady, though we lost a day by the zigzag. This
is one way by which the Arabs gain influence; a great many very
light-coloured people are strewed among the Makondé, but only one of
these had the Arab hair. On asking Ali whether any attempts had been
made by Arabs to convert those with whom they enter into such intimate
relationships, he replied that the Makondé had no idea of a Deity--no
one could teach them, though Makondé slaves when taken to the coast
and elsewhere were made Mahometans. Since the slave-trade was
introduced this tribe has much diminished in numbers, and one village
makes war upon another and kidnaps, but no religious teaching has been
attempted. The Arabs come down to the native ways, and make no efforts
to raise the natives to theirs; it is better that it is so, for the
coast Arab's manners and morals would be no improvement on the pagan
African!
_19th April, 1866._--We were led up over a hill again, and on to the
level of the plateau (where the evaporation is greater than in the
valley), and tasted water of an agreeable coldness for the first time
this journey. The people, especially the women, are very rude, and the
men very eager to be employed as woodcutters. Very merry they are at
it, and every now and then one raises a cheerful shout, in which all
join. I suppose they are urged on by a desire to please their wives
with a little clothing. The higher up the Rovuma we ascend the people
are more and more tattooed on the face, and on all parts of the body.
The teeth are filed to points, and huge lip-rings are worn by the
women; some few Mabeha men from the south side of the river have
lip-rings too.
_20th April, 1866._--A Johanna man allowed the camels to trespass and
destroy a man's tobacco patch: the owner would not allow us after this
to pass through his rice-field, in which the route lay. I examined the
damage, and made the Johanna man pay a yard of calico for it, which
set matters all right.
Tsetse are biting the buffaloes again. Elephants, hippopotami, and
pigs are the only game here, but we see none: the tsetse feed on
them. In the low meadow land, from one to three miles broad, which
lies along both banks, we have brackish pools, and one, a large one,
which we passed, called Wrongwé, had much fish, and salt is got from
it.
_21st April, 1866._--After a great deal of cutting we reached the
valley of Mehambwé to spend Sunday, all glad that it had come round
again. Here some men came to our camp from Ndondé, who report that an
invasion of Mazitu had three months ago swept away all the food out of
the country, and they are now obliged to send in every direction for
provisions. When saluting, they catch each other's hands and say, "Ai!
Ai!" but the general mode (introduced, probably by the Arabs) is to
take hold of the right hand, and say, "Marhaba" (welcome).
A wall-eyed ill-looking fellow, who helped to urge on the attack on
our first visit in 1861, and the man to whom I gave cloth to prevent a
collision, came about us disguised in a jacket. I knew him well, but
said nothing to him.[7]
_23rd April, 1866._--When we marched this morning we passed the spot
where an animal had been burned in the fire, and on enquiry I found
that it is the custom when a leopard is killed to take off the skin
and consume the carcase thus, because the Makondé do not eat it. The
reason they gave for not eating flesh which is freely eaten by other
tribes, is that the leopard devours men; this shows the opposite of an
inclination to cannibalism.
All the rocks we had seen showed that the plateau consists of grey
sandstone, capped by a ferruginous sandy conglomerate. We now came to
blocks of silicified wood lying on the surface; it is so like recent
wood, that no one who has not handled it would conceive it to be
stone and not wood: the outer surface preserves the grain or woody
fibre, the inner is generally silica.
Buffaloes bitten by tsetse again show no bad effects from it: one mule
is, however, dull and out of health; I thought that this might be the
effect of the bite till I found that his back was so strained that he
could not stoop to drink, and could only eat the tops of the grasses.
An ox would have been ill in two days after the biting on the 7th.
A carrier stole a shirt, and went off unsuspected; when the loss was
ascertained, the man's companions tracked him with Ben Ali by night,
got him in his hut, and then collected the headmen of the village, who
fined him about four times the value of what had been stolen. They
came back in the morning without seeming to think that they had done
aught to be commended; this was the only case of theft we had noticed,
and the treatment showed a natural sense of justice.
_24th April, 1866._--We had showers occasionally, but at night all the
men were under cover of screens. The fevers were speedily cured; no
day was lost by sickness, but we could not march more than a few
miles, owing to the slowness of the sepoys; they are a heavy drag on
us, and of no possible use, except when acting as sentries at night.
When in the way between Kendany and Rovuma, I observed a plant here,
called _Mandaré_, the root of which is in taste and appearance like a
waxy potato; I saw it once before at the falls below the Barotsé
Valley, in the middle of the continent; it had been brought there by
an emigrant, who led out the water for irrigation, and it still
maintained its place in the soil. Would this not prove valuable in the
soil of India? I find that it is not cultivated further up the country
of the Makondé, but I shall get Ali to secure some for Bombay.
_25th April, 1866._--A serpent bit Jack, our dog, above the eye, the
upper eyelid swelled very much, but no other symptoms appeared, and
next day all swelling was gone; the serpent was either harmless, or
the quantity of poison injected very small. The pace of the camels is
distressingly slow, and it suits the sepoys to make it still slower
than natural by sitting down to smoke and eat. The grass is high and
ground under it damp and steamy.
_26th April, 1866._--On the 25th we reached Narri, and resolved to
wait the next day and buy food, as it is not so plentiful in front;
the people are eager traders in meal, fowls, eggs, and honey; the
women are very rude. Yesterday I caught a sepoy, Pando, belabouring a
camel with a big stick as thick as any part of his arm, the path being
narrow, it could not get out of his way; I shouted to him to desist;
he did not know I was in sight, to-day the effect of the bad usage is
seen in the animal being quite unable to move its leg: inflammation
has set up in the hip-joint. I am afraid that several bruises which
have festered on the camels, and were to me unaccountable, have been
wilfully bestowed. This same Pando and another left Zanzibar drunk: he
then stole a pair of socks from me, and has otherwise been perfectly
useless, even a pimple on his leg was an excuse for doing nothing for
many days. We had to leave this camel at Narri under charge of the
headman.
_28th April, 1866._--The hills on the north now retire out of our
sight. A gap in the southern plateau gives passage to a small river,
which arises in a lakelet of some size, eight or ten miles inland: the
river and lakelet are both called Nangadi; the latter is so broad that
men cannot be distinguished, even by the keen eyes of the natives on
the other side: it is very deep, and abounds in large fish; the people
who live there are Mabiha. A few miles above this gap the southern
highland falls away, and there are lakelets on marshes, also
abounding in fish, an uninhabited space next succeeds, and then we
have the Matambwé country, which extends up to Ngomano. The Matambwé
seem to be a branch of the Makondé, and a very large one: their
country extends a long way south, and is well stocked with elephants
and gum-copal trees.
They speak a language slightly different from that of the Makondé, but
they understand them. The Matambwé women are, according to Ali, very
dark, but very comely, though they do wear the lip-ring. They carry
their ivory, gum-copal, and slaves to Ibo or Wibo.
_29th April, 1866._--We spend Sunday, the 29th, on the banks of the
Rovuma, at a village called Nachuchu, nearly opposite Konayumba, the
first of the Matambwé, whose chief is called Kimbembé. Ali draws a
very dark picture of the Makondé. He says they know nothing of a
Deity, they pray to their mothers when in distress or dying; know
nothing of a future state, nor have they any religion except a belief
in medicine; and every headsman is a doctor. No Arab has ever tried to
convert them, but occasionally a slave taken to the coast has been
circumcised in order to be clean; some of them pray, and say they know
not the ordeal or muavi. The Nassick boys failed me when I tried to
communicate some knowledge through them. They say they do not
understand the Makondé language, though some told me that they came
from Ndondé's, which is the head-quarters of the Makondé. Ali says
that the Makondé blame witches for disease and death; when one of a
village dies, the whole population departs, saying "that is a bad
spot." They are said to have been notorious for fines, but an awe has
come over them, and no complaints have been made, though our animals
in passing the gardens have broken a good deal of corn. Ali says they
fear the English. This is an answer to my prayer for influence on the
minds of the heathen. I regret that I cannot speak to them that good
of His name which I ought.
I went with the Makondé to see a specimen of the gum-copal tree in the
vicinity of this village. The leaves are in pairs, glossy green, with
the veins a little raised on both face and back; the smaller branches
diverge from the same point: the fruit, of which we saw the shells,
seems to be a nut; some animal had in eating them cut them through.
The bark of the tree is of a light ash colour; the gum was oozing from
the bark at wounded places, and it drops on the ground from branches;
it is thus that insects are probably imbedded in the gum-copal. The
people dig in the vicinity of modern trees in the belief that the more
ancient trees which dropped their gum before it became an article of
commerce must have stood there. "In digging, none may be found on one
day but God (Mungu) may give it to us on the next." To this all the
Makondé present assented, and showed me the consciousness of His
existence was present in their minds. The Makondé get the gum in large
quantities, and this attracts the coast Arabs, who remain a long time
in the country purchasing it. Hernia humoralis abounds; it is ascribed
to beer-drinking.
_30th April, 1866._--Many ulcers burst forth on the camels; some seem
old dhow bruises. They come back from pasture, bleeding in a way that
no rubbing against a tree would account for. I am sorry to suspect
foul play: the buffaloes and mules are badly used, but I cannot be
always near to prevent it.
Bhang[8] is not smoked, but tobacco is: the people have no sheep or
goats; only fowls, pigeons, and Muscovy ducks are seen. Honey is very
cheap; a good large pot of about a gallon, with four fowls, was given
for two yards of calico. Buffaloes again bitten by tsetse, and by
another fly exactly like the house-fly, but having a straight hard
proboscis instead of a soft one; other large flies make the blood run.
The tsetse does not disturb the buffaloes, but these others and the
smaller flies do. The tsetse seem to like the camel best; from these
they are gorged with blood--they do not seem to care for the mules and
donkeys.
[Illustration: Carved Door, Zanzibar.]
FOOTNOTES:
[3] Dhow is the name given to the coasting vessel of East Africa and
the Indian Ocean.
[4] The Commander of H.M.S. _Pioneer_ in 1861.
[5] Those who have read the accounts given by African travellers will
remember that the bites inflicted by two or three of these small flies
will visually lay the foundation of a sickness which destroys oxen,
horses, and dogs in a few weeks.
[6] Dr. Livingstone was anxious to try camels and Indian buffaloes in
a tsetse country to see the effect upon them.
[7] This refers to an attack made upon the boats of the _Pioneer_ when
the Doctor was exploring the River Rovuma in 1861.
[8] A species of hemp.