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THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT.
[Illustration:
H. M. STANLEY.
TAKEN BEFORE HIS DEPARTURE, 1874. TAKEN ON HIS EMERGING FROM
AFRICA, 1877.
]
THROUGH THE
DARK CONTINENT
OR
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE
AROUND THE GREAT LAKES OF EQUATORIAL AFRICA
AND DOWN THE LIVINGSTONE RIVER
TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
BY
HENRY M. STANLEY
AUTHOR OF “IN DARKEST AFRICA,” “HOW I FOUND LIVINGSTONE,”
“MY KALULU,” ETC.
MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS
WITH A NEW PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR, WRITTEN FOR THIS EDITION.
VOL. II.
LONDON: GEORGE NEWNES, LIMITED
SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND
1899
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
CONTENTS.
———●———
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Ujiji, its scenery, residents, market, and vicinity—Arab 1
rivals—The circumnavigation of the Tanganika—Commander
Cameron and the outflowing Lukuga—The encroaching
waters—The legend of the Lake—Evening
CHAPTER II.
The _Lady Alice_ afloat again—Her mate and crew—Anxiety on 14
her behalf—-On hallowed ground—Unwelcome visitors: in the
haunts of the Ruga-Ruga—The aborigines’ last retreat—A
scene of blood—The robbers of the Lake, and their tutelary
spirits—A geological problem: were there once two
lakes?—Rising waters—The abode of the genii—A storm—Forest
fires—At the mouth of Cameron’s “outlet”—The Lukuga creek
CHAPTER III.
Back in camp—An epidemic of small-pox—Panic of 48
desertion—Kalulu’s disloyalty—Livingstone’s
lenience—Imaginary terrors—Hairdressing _ad
absurdum_—Ruanga’s opinion of white men—A village
sketch—The villagers of Uhombo—_In puris naturalibus_—A
touch of human nature—On Livingstone’s traces—What is
there in feathers?—The Manyema: their life and manners—Our
ass astonishes the natives—Bloodless wars—Nicknames—A
tribe with beards but no wives—The confluence of the Luama
and the Livingstone
CHAPTER IV.
At a swinging pace—Tippu-Tib, the Arab trader—News of 73
Cameron and his difficulties—The river that flows North
for ever—In Dwarf-land, fighting the dwarfs—Tippu Tib’s
conditions—Friends in council—Heads or tails—Kalulu’s
accident at Nyangwé—Its residents and market—A muster of
the Expedition
CHAPTER V.
Tippu-Tib’s henchmen—In the primeval forest, a wilderness of 98
trees—Primitive furniture—Our sufferings in the pagans’
forest—Tippu-Tib breaks down—A village blacksmith—Soko
skulls; the missing link—Professor Huxley’s opinion
thereof—THE LIVINGSTONE—A day dream—The road to the
ocean—Timid counsels—“The Wasambye!”—“Ooh-hu! ooh-
hu!”—Successful diplomacy
CHAPTER VI.
“Mama, the Wasambye!”—The fight in the Ruiki—The lost 122
found—Dangerous disobedience—In the nick of time—A savage
captive—Music hath charms—In the haunts of Nature—A town
of one street—Deserted villages—Organizing a hospital—An
island wasted by lightning—“The people of the filed
teeth”—Primitive salt-making—Hostages captured—At close
quarters—Raining arrows—“Bo-bo, bo-bo, bo-bo-o-o-oh!”—A
desperate affair and opportune reinforcements—Cutting the
canoes adrift—Tippu-Tib deserts me—My appeal to the “sea
children”—Christmas Day among the cannibals—“Victory or
death!”
CHAPTER VII.
Farewell to Tippu-Tib—Attacked from both banks—The fat 153
savage makes a bad shot at me—In the home of the
elephants—Insect life—In covert—The Lowwa river—A storm on
the river—New Year’s day—Bullets against
spears—“Sennenneh!”—Tempting the female mind—The reward of
a good deed—A river armada: crocodile boats—Betwixt
cataracts and cannibals
CHAPTER VIII.
Fighting betimes—Blazing a path—We take an island by storm—A 174
desperate dilemma—Road-making under fire—A miraculous
escape—A terrible march—Peace by stratagem—Below the Fifth
Cataract—Our cannibal captives—Fighting the Wana-
Rukura—The Wana-Rukura islanders—Approaching the Seventh
Cataract—A deserted island—The Seventh Cataract of the
Stanley Falls—The first of the Cataracts—Clear of the
Stanley Falls
CHAPTER IX.
Again in open water—Frank Pocock feels the position—The 200
Mburra or Yaryembi—A running fight—“Ya-Mariwa! Ya-
Mariwa!”—Our tactics of capture—Monster spears—Growing
weary of fighting for life—The power of laughter—Fish
creeks—A wasp swarm of canoes—Another invincible armada—A
village of ivory—Relics of cannibal feasts—The Wellé of
Schweinfurth—Hunted to despair—Their “meat” escapes the
cannibals—Wild nature—Among friendly natives—The Congo!
CHAPTER X.
High art in tattooing—Suspicious friendliness—Friends or 222
foes?—A treacherous attack—The fauna of the
Livingstone—Among the “Houyhynyms”—The “Yaha-ha-
has”—Frank’s courage and narrow escape—Our fight with the
Bangala—The mirage on the river—The great tributary of the
Livingstone—Among friends
CHAPTER XI.
Running the gauntlet—Kindly solitudes—Amina’s death—The 241
humanizing effects of trade apparent—“The most plausible
rogue of all Africa”—The king of Chumbiri; his
hospitality, wives, possessions, and cunning—Making up a
language—Pythons—The Ibari Nkutu or the Kwango—Treacherous
guides—The Stanley Pool—Chief Itsi of Ntamo—We have to
give up our big goat—River observations
CHAPTER XII.
The struggle with the river renewed—Passing the “Father”—In 260
the “Cauldron”—Poor Kalulu!—Soudi’s strange adventures—At
the “Whirlpool Narrows”—Lady Alice Rapids—Our escape from
death—“Isles of Eden”—Thieves amongst us—The Inkisi
Falls—The canoes dragged over the mountain—Trade along the
Livingstone—Ulcers and entozoa—An artful compound
CHAPTER XIII.
Glorious timber—Cutting canoes—Frank suffers from ulcers—The 283
episode of the fetished axe—Rain-gauge readings—The rise
of the river—“Goee-goees”—The _Lady Alice_ breached for
the first time—A painful discovery: Uledi’s theft—His
trial and release—The burning of Shakespeare—The bees of
Massassa—Local superstitions—Frank’s cheery character
CHAPTER XIV.
Leaving Mowa—The whirling pools of Mowa—The Jason swept over 305
the falls—The “Little Master” drowned—Too brave!—“Ah,
Uledi, had you but saved him!”—The sympathy of the savages
CHAPTER XV.
Mutiny in the camp—Again among the cataracts—Frank’s body 317
found—The fall of the Edwin Arnold river—Tired
out!—Wholesale desertion—More cataracts—“Good-bye, my
brother; nothing can save you!”—Rushing blindly on—Saved
again!—The _Jason_ found
CHAPTER XVI.
Final warnings against theft—Humiliating a 328
protectionist—Kindly tribes—Five of the Expedition
abandoned to slavery for theft—Safeni goes mad from
joy—Goaded to crime—Ali Kiboga’s adventures—The cataract
of Isangila—Only five marches from white faces!—Staunch to
the death—Rum—My appeal to Embomma—The forlorn hope—The
“powerful man” insults us—Struggling on—“We are saved,
thank God!”—“Enough now; fall to”—My letter of
thanks—Approaching civilization—Amongst whites; Boma—The
Atlantic Ocean
CONCLUSION.
Kabinda—San Paulo de Loanda—Simon’s Bay—Cape 362
Town—Natal—Zanzibar—Joy of the returned—The martyrs to
geography—Reverie—Laus Deo!
INDEX 375
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
———●———
FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
NO.
1. UJIJI, LOOKING NORTH FROM THE MARKET-PLACE, VIEWED _To face 1
FROM THE ROOF OF OUR TEMBÉ AT UJIJI. (_From a page_
photograph by the Author_)
2. THE “HIGH PLACES” OF THE SPIRIT MTOMBWA: VIEW OF ” 28
MTOMBWA URUNGU
3. IN COUNCIL: THE COURTYARD TO OUR TEMBÉ AT UJIJI. ” 49
(_From a photograph by the Author_)
4. A VILLAGE IN SOUTH-EAST MANYEMA ” 64
5. THE DESPERATE SITUATION OF ZAIDI, AND HIS RESCUE BY ” 178
ULEDI, THE COXSWAIN OF THE BOAT
6. THE FIGHT BELOW THE CONFLUENCE OF THE ARUWIMI AND THE ” 212
LIVINGSTONE RIVERS
7. THE ATTACK OF THE SIXTY-THREE CANOES OF THE PIRATICAL ” 240
BANGALA
8. VIEW OF THE RIGHT BRANCH, FIRST CATARACT, OF THE ” 262
LIVINGSTONE FALLS, FROM FOUR MILES BELOW JUEMBA
ISLAND
9. AT WORK PASSING THE LOWER END OF THE FIRST CATARACT OF ” 264
THE LIVINGSTONE FALLS, NEAR ROCKY ISLAND
10. “LADY ALICE” OVER THE FALLS ” 274
11. CUTTING OUT THE NEW “LIVINGSTONE” CANOE ” 292
12. PASSING NSÉTO FALLS ” 296
13. THE CIRCUMNAVIGATORS OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA AND LAKE ” 300
TANGANIKA, AND EXPLORERS OF THE ALEXANDRA NILE AND
LIVINGSTONE (CONGO) RIVER
14. THE MASSASSA FALLS, AND THE ENTRANCE INTO POCOCK ” 304
BASIN, OR BOLOBOLO POOL
15. GROUP OF MR. STANLEY’S FOLLOWERS AT KABINDA, WEST ” 356
COAST OF AFRICA, JUST AFTER CROSSING THE “DARK
CONTINENT.” (_From a photograph by Mr. Phillips, of
Kabinda_)
16. THE RECUPERATED AND RECLAD EXPEDITION AS IT APPEARED ” 358
AT ADMIRALTY HOUSE, SIMON’S TOWN, AFTER OUR ARRIVAL
ON H.M.S. “INDUSTRY.”
17. WOMEN OF THE EXPEDITION ” 360
——————–
SMALLER ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
18. A NATIVE OF RUA, WHO WAS A VISITOR AT UJIJI 2
19. KUNGWÉ PEAKS. (_From a sketch_) 18
20. THE EXTREME SOUTHERN REACH OF LAKE TANGANIKA 27
21. KAPEMBWA 29
22. MOUNT MURUMBI 34
23. ~X.12~ AND UGUHA HEAD-DRESS 40
24. UGUHA HEAD DRESS 40
25. A WOMAN OF UGUHA 41
26. UHYEYA HEAD-DRESS 41
27. THE SPIRIT ISLAND 45
28. M’SEHAZY HAVEN AND CAMP, AT THE MOUTH OF M’SEHAZY RIVER 50
29. NATIVES OF ~X.19~ 54
30. A NATIVE OF UHYEYA 55
31. ONE OF THE WAHYEYA OF UHOMBO (_back view_) 56
32. A YOUTH OF EAST MANYEMA 64
33. A MANYEMA ADULT 64
34. A YOUNG WOMAN OF EAST MANYEMA 64
35. KITETÉ, THE CHIEF OF MPUNGU 71
36. NATIVE HOUSES AT MTUYU 72
37. “HEADS FOR THE NORTH AND THE LUALABA; TAILS FOR THE SOUTH AND 88
KATANGA”
38. A CANOE OF THE WENYA OR WAGENYA FISHERMEN 90
39. UREGGA HOUSE 104
40. STOOL OF UREGGA 104
41. SPOONS OF UREGGA 104
42. UREGGA SPEAR 105
43. CANE SETTEE 105
44. BENCH 105
45. AN AFRICAN FEZ OF LEOPARD-SKIN 106
46. A FORGE AND SMITHY AT WANE-KIRUMBU, UREGGA 110
47. BACKGAMMON TRAY 113
48. WAR HATCHET OF UKUSU 125
49. STOOL OF UKUSU 125
50. VIEW BETWEEN THE RUIKI AND NAKANPEMBA 126
51. STEW-POT OF THE WAHIKA 131
52. A HOUSE OF IKONDU 133
53. CANOE SCOOP 146
54. SCOOPS 146
55. “TOWARDS THE UNKNOWN” 153
56. WAR DRUMS OF THE TRIBES OF THE UPPER LIVINGSTONE 156
57. MWANA NTABA CANOE (THE “CROCODILE”) 171
58. A BASWA KNIFE 178
59. STYLE OF KNIVES 178
60. BASWA BASKET AND COVER 178
61. CAVERN NEAR KABOMBO ISLANDS 189
62. THE SEVENTH CATARACT, STANLEY FALLS 194
63. PIKE, STANLEY FALLS 195
64. FISH, SEVENTH CATARACT, STANLEY FALLS 196
65. FISH, STANLEY FALLS 196
66. PALM-OIL JAR AND PALM-WINE COOLER 198
67. MOUTH OF DRUM 198
68. WOODEN SIGNAL DRUM OF THE WENYA OR WAGENYA AND THE TRIBES ON THE 198
LIVINGSTONE
69. DRUMSTICKS, KNOBS BEING OF INDIA-RUBBER 198
70. SHIELDS OF ITUKA PEOPLE 204
71. MONSTER CANOE 211
72. PADDLE OF THE ARUWIMI CANNIBALS 214
73. KNIVES, RUBUNGA 223
74. DOUBLE IRON BELLS OF URANGI 226
75. THE KING OF CHUMBIRI 246
76. GREAT PIPE OF KING OF CHUMBIRI 247
77. ONE OF THE KING’S WIVES AT CHUMBIRI 249
78. SON OF THE KING OF CHUMBIRI 251
79. OVER ROCKY POINT CLOSE TO GAMPA’S 263
80. DEATH OF KALULU 265
81. THE NKENKÉ RIVER ENTERING THE LIVINGSTONE BELOW THE LADY ALICE 273
RAPIDS
82. THE NEW CANOES, THE “LIVINGSTONE” AND THE “STANLEY” 286
83. VIEW FROM THE TABLE-LAND NEAR MOWA 292
84. IN MEMORIAM: FRANCIS JOHN POCOCK 315
85. FALL OF THE EDWIN ARNOLD RIVER INTO THE POCOCK BASIN 319
86. THE CHIEF CARPENTER CARRIED OVER ZINGA FALL 324
87. CAMP AT KILOLO 337
88. MBINDA CEMETERY 350
89. AT REST: MY QUARTERS AT KABINDA BY THE SEA. (_From a photograph_) 362
90. EXPEDITION AT KABINDA. (_From a photograph_) 363
[Illustration:
UJIJI, LOOKING NORTH FROM THE MARKET-PLACE. VIEWED FROM THE ROOF OF
OUR TEMBÉ AT UJIJI.
(_From a photograph by the Author._)
]
THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT.
——————
CHAPTER I.
Ujiji, its scenery, residents, markets, and vicinity—Arab rivals—The
circumnavigation of the Tanganika—Commander Cameron and the
outflowing Lukuga—The encroaching waters—The legend of the
Lake—Evening.
_June._—The best view of Ujiji is to be obtained from the flat roof of
one of the Arab tembés or houses. A photograph which I took of the view
north from my tembé, which fronted the market-place, embraced the square
and conical huts of the Wangwana, Wanyamwezi, and Arab slaves, the
Guinea palms from the golden-coloured nuts of which the Wajiji obtain
the palm-oil, the banana and plantain groves, with here and there a
graceful papaw-tree rising amongst them, and, beyond, the dark green
woods which line the shore and are preserved for shade by the fishermen.
South of the market-place are the tembés of the Arabs, solid, spacious,
flat-roofed structures, built of clay, with broad, cool verandahs
fronting the public roads. Palms and papaws, pomegranates and plantains,
raise graceful branch and frond above them, in pleasing contrast to the
grey-brown walls, enclosures and houses.
The port of Ujiji is divided into two districts—Ugoy, occupied by the
Arabs, and Kawelé, inhabited by the Wangwana, slaves, and natives. The
market-place is in Ugoy, in an open space which has been lately
contracted to about 1200 square yards. In 1871 it was nearly 3000 square
yards. On the beach before the market-place are drawn up the huge Arab
canoes, which, purchased in Goma on the western shore, have had their
gunwales raised up with heavy teak planking. The largest canoe,
belonging to Sheikh Abdullah bin Suliman, is 48 feet long, 9 feet in the
beam, and 5 feet high, with a poop for the Nakhuda (captain), and a
small forecastle.
Sheikh Abdullah, by assuming the air of an opulent shipowner, has
offended the vanity of the governor, Muini Kheri, who owns nine canoes.
Abdullah christened his “big ship” by some very proud name; the governor
nicknamed it the _Lazy_. The Arabs and Wajiji, by the way, all give
names to their canoes.
The hum and bustle of the market-place, filled with a miscellaneous
concourse of representatives from many tribes, woke me up at early dawn.
Curious to see the first marketplace we had come to since leaving
Kagehyi, I dressed myself and sauntered amongst the buyers and sellers
and idlers.
[Illustration: A NATIVE OF RUA WHO WAS A VISITOR AT UJIJI.]
Here we behold all the wealth of the Tanganika shores. The Wajiji, who
are sharp, clever traders, having observed that the Wangwana purchased
their supplies of sweet potatoes, yams, sugar-cane, ground-nuts, oil-
nuts, palm-oil and palm-wine, butter, and pombé, to retail them at
enormous profits to their countrymen, have raised their prices on some
things a hundred per cent. over what they were when I was in Ujiji last.
This has caused the Wangwana and slaves to groan in spirit, for the
Arabs are unable to dole out to them rations in proportion to the prices
now demanded. The governor, supplied by the Mutwaré of the lake district
of Ujiji, will not interfere, though frequently implored to do so, and,
consequently, there are frequent fights, when the Wangwana rush on the
natives with clubs, in much the same manner as the apprentices of London
used to rush to the rescue or succour of one of their bands.
Except the Wajiji, who have become rich in cloths, the rural natives
retain the primitive dress worn by the Wazinja, Wazongora, Wanyambu,
Wanya-Ruanda, Kishakka, Wanyoro, and Wanya-Nkori, Wasui, Watusi, Wahha,
Warundi, and Wazigé, namely, a dressed goat-skin covering the loins, and
hanging down to within six inches above the knees, with long depending
tags of the same material. All these tribes are related to each other,
and their language shows only slight differences in dialect. Moreover,
many of those inhabiting the countries contiguous to Unyamwezi and
Uganda have lost those special characteristics which distinguish the
pure unmixed stock from the less favoured and less refined types of
Africans.
Uhha daily sends to the market of Ujiji its mtama, grain (millet),
sesamum, beans, fowls, goats, and broad-tailed sheep, butter, and
sometimes oxen; Urundi, its goats, sheep, oxen, butter, palm-oil and
palm-nuts, fowls, bananas, and plantains; Uzigé—now and then only—its
oxen and palm-oil; Uvira, its iron, in wire of all sizes, bracelets, and
anklets; Ubwari, its cassava or manioc, dried, and enormous quantities
of grain, Dogara or whitebait, and dried fish; Uvinza, its salt; Uguha,
its goats and sheep, and grain, especially Indian corn; rural Wajiji
bring their buttermilk, ground-nuts, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, bananas
and plantains, yams, beans, vetches, garden herbs, melons, cucumbers,
sugar-cane, palm-wine, palm-nuts, palm-oil, goats, sheep, bullocks,
eggs, fowls, and earthenware; the lake-coast Wajiji bring their slaves,
whitebait, fresh fish, ivory, baskets, nets, spears, bows and arrows;
the Wangwana and Arab slaves bring slaves, fuel, ivory, wild fruit,
eggs, rice, sugar-cane, and honey from the Ukaranga forest.
The currency employed consists of cloths, blue “Kaniki,” white sheeting
“Merikani” from Massachusetts’ mills, striped or barred prints, or
checks, blue or red, from Manchester, Muscat, or Cutch, and beads,
principally “Sofi,” which are like black-and-white clay-pipe stems
broken into pieces half an inch long. One piece is called a _Masaro_,
and is the lowest piece of currency that will purchase anything. The
Sofi beads are strung in strings of twenty Masaro, which is then called
a _Kheté_, and is sufficient to purchase rations for two days for a
slave, but suffices the freeman or Mgwana but one day. The red beads,
called Sami-sami, the Mutunda, small blue, brown, and white, will also
readily be bartered in the market for provisions, but a discount will be
charged on them, as the established and universal currency with all
classes of natives attending the market is the Sofi.
The prices at the market in 1876 were as follows :—
Sheeting cloths
of 4 yards long.
Ivory per lb. 1
1 goat 2
1 sheep 1½
12 fowls 1½
1 bullock 10
1 potful—equal to 3 gallons—of wine 2
1 ” ” ” of palm oil 4
60 lbs. of grain—Mtama 1
90 lbs. ” Indian corn 1
½-gal. potful of honey in the comb 1
1 slave boy between 10 and 13 years old 16
1 ” girl ” ” ” 50 to 80
1 ” ” ” 13 and 18 ” 80 to 200
1 ” woman ” 18 ” 30 ” 80 to 130
1 ” ” ” 30 ” 50 ” 10 to 40
1 ” boy ” 13 ” 18 ” 16 to 50
1 ” man ” 18 ” 50 ” 10 to 50
The country of Ujiji extends between the Liuché river, along the
Tanganika, north to the Mshala river, which gives it a length of forty-
five miles. The former river separates it from Ukaranga on the south,
while the latter river acts as a boundary between it and Urundi. As
Ujiji is said to border upon Uguru, a district of Uhha, it may be said
to have a breadth of twenty miles. Thus the area of Ujiji is not above
nine hundred square miles. The Mtemi, or king, is called Mgassa, who
entertains a superstitious fear of the lake. His residence is in a
valley amongst the mountains bordering upon Uguru, and he believes that
in the hour he looks upon the lake he dies. This superstitious fear may
have some connection with the Legend of the Lake, which I shall give
later.
I should estimate the population of the country to be very fairly given
at forty to the square mile, which will make it 36,000 souls. The Liuché
valley is comparatively populous, and the port of Ujiji—consisting of
Ugoy and Kawelé districts—has alone a population of 3000. Kigoma and
Kasimbu are other districts patronised by Arabs and Wangwana.
The Wajiji are a brave tribe, and of very independent spirit, but not
quarrelsome. When the moderate fee demanded by the Mutwaré of Ugoy,
Kawelé, and Kasimbu is paid, the stranger has the liberty of settling in
any part of the district, and as an excellent understanding exists
between the Mutwaré and the Arab governor, Muini Kheri, there is no fear
of ill-usage. The Mgwana or the Mjiji applying to either of them is
certain of receiving fair justice, and graver cases are submitted to an
international commission of Arabs and Wajiji elders, because it is
perfectly understood by both parties that many moneyed interests would
be injured if open hostilities were commenced.
The Wajiji are the most expert canoemen of all the tribes around the
Tanganika. They have visited every country, and seem to know each
headland, creek, bay, and river. Sometimes they meet with rough
treatment, but they are as a rule so clever, wide-awake, prudent,
commercially politic, and superior in tact, that only downright
treachery can entrap them to death. They have so many friends also that
they soon become informed of danger, and dangerous places are tabooed.
The governor of the Arab colony of Ujiji, having been an old friend,
was, as may be supposed, courteous and hospitable to me, and Mohammed
bin Gharib, who was so good to Livingstone between Marungu and Ujiji, as
far as Manyema, did his best to show me friendly attention. Such
luxuries as sweetmeats, wheaten bread, rice, and milk were supplied so
freely by Muini Kheri and Sheikh Mohammed that both Frank and myself
began to increase rapidly in weight.
Judging from their rotundity of body, it may fairly be said that both
the friends enjoy life. The governor is of vast girth, and Mohammed
weighs probably only two stone less. The preceding governor, Mohammed
bin Sali, was also of ample circumference, from which I conclude that
the climate of Ujiji agrees with the Arab constitution. It certainly did
not suit mine while I was with Livingstone, for I was punished with
remittent and intermittent fever of such severe type and virulence that
in three months I was reduced in weight to seven stone!
Muini Kheri’s whole wealth consists of about 120 slaves, male and
female, eighty guns, eighty frasilah of ivory, two tembés, or houses, a
wheat and rice field, nine canoes with oars and sails, forty head of
cattle, twenty goats, thirty bales of cloth, and twenty sacks of beads,
350 lbs. of brass wire, and 200 lbs. of iron wire, all of which,
appraised in the Ujiji market, might perhaps realise 18,000 dollars. His
friend Mohammed is probably worth 3000 dollars only! Sultan bin Kassim
may estimate the value of his property at 10,000 dollars, Abdullah bin
Suliman, the owner of the _Great Eastern_ of Lake Tanganika, at 15,000
dollars. Other Arabs of Ujiji may be rated at from 100 to 3000 dollars.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Gharib is the owner of the finest house. It is about
100 feet long by 25 feet in width and 14 feet in height. A broad
verandah, 10 feet wide and 40 feet long, runs along a portion of the
front, and affords ample space for the accommodation of his visitors on
the luxurious carpets. The building is constructed of sun-dried brick
plastered over neatly with clay. The great door is a credit to his
carpenter and his latticed windows are a marvel to the primitive native
trader from Uhha or Uvinza. The courtyard behind the house contains the
huts of the slaves, kitchens, and cow-house.
By his Arab friends Sheikh Mohammed bin Gharib is regarded as an
enterprising man, a good friend, but too liberal to his slaves, for
which reason they say he is on the verge of bankruptcy. He is so much in
debt that he has no credit at Zanzibar.
There is a good deal of jealousy between the Arabs of Ujiji, which
sometimes breaks out into bloodshed. When Sayid bin Habib enters Ujiji
trouble is not far off. The son of Habib has a large number of slaves,
and there are some fiery souls amongst them, who resent the least
disparagement of their master. A bitter reproach is soon followed by a
vengeful blow, and then the retainers and the chiefs of the Montagues
and Capulets issue forth with clubs, spears, and guns, and Ujiji is all
in an uproar, not to be quieted until the respective friends of the two
rivals carry them bodily away to their houses. On Arabs, Wangwana, and
slaves alike I saw the scars of feuds.
Abdullah bin Suliman and his partisans are settled in Kasimbu, because
Muini Kheri’s hot-headed young Arab relations, Bana Makombé and Muini
Hassan, are for ever endangering the peace by their insolence. The feud
began by a slave of Abdullah’s having attempted to stab Bana Makombé,
because the haughty young Arab had spurned him once with his foot. Only
a few drops of the bluest blood from the aristocracy of Sa’adani were
drawn in the happily abortive attempt, but the aristocrats mustered in
force. The coast Arabs residing at Kigoma advanced towards Ujiji with
300 guns, and called upon the governor to arm, to avenge the blood that
had been shed. The governor, however, called upon the Mutwaré, and the
Wajiji swarmed by the hundreds to attack Abdullah bin Suliman.
Fortunately Abdullah was prudent, and met them with only a few men. But
though he mildly expostulated with them that it was a drunken slave who
was the cause, he was condemned to lose his right hand, from which fate,
however, he was saved by the governor relenting and demanding instead
the head of the murderous slave.
It will be manifest, then, that the safety of a European at Ujiji would
be but precarious. Any of his people, inspired by pombé or native wine,
might, at any moment, in drunken fury, mortally wound an Arab or
Mswahili of the coast, the result of which would be that the European
would either have to forfeit all his goods or his life, or decamp with
his people immediately to save himself.
Life in Ujiji begins soon after dawn, and, except on moonlight nights,
no one is abroad after sunset. With the Arabs—to whom years are as days
to Europeans—it is a languid existence, mostly spent in gossip, the
interchange of dignified visits; ceremonies of prayer, an hour or two of
barter, and small household affairs.
There were no letters for either Frank or myself after our seventeen
months’ travels around and through the lake regions. From Kagehyi, on
Lake Victoria, I had despatched messages to Sayid bin Salim, governor of
Unyanyembé, praying him to send all letters addressed to me to Muini
Kheri, governor of Ujiji, promising him a noble reward. Not that I was
sure that I should pass by Ujiji, but I knew that, if I arrived at
Nyangwé, I should be able to send a force of twenty men to Muini Kheri
for my letters. Though Sayid bin Salim had over twelve months’ time to
comply with my moderate request, not a scrap or word of news or greeting
refreshed us after the long blank interval! Both of us, having eagerly
looked forward with certainty to receiving a bagful of letters, were
therefore much disappointed.
As I was about to circumnavigate the Tanganika with my boat, and would
probably be absent two or three months, I thought there might still be a
chance of obtaining them, before setting out westward, by despatching
messengers to Unyanyembé. Announcing my intentions to the governor, I
obtained a promise that he would collect other men, as he and several
Arabs at Ujiji were also anxious to communicate with their friends.
Manwa Sera therefore selected five of the most trustworthy men, the
Arabs also selected five of their confidential slaves, and the ten men
started for Unyanyembé on the 3rd of June.[1]
Footnote 1:
My five trustworthy men arrived at Unyanyembé within fifteen days, but
from some cause they never returned to the Expedition. We halted at
Ujiji for seventy days after their departure, and when we turned our
faces towards Nyangwé, we had given up all hopes of hearing from
civilisation.
Before departing on the voyage of circumnavigation of Lake Tanganika,
many affairs had to be provided for, such as the well-being of the
Expedition during my absence, distribution of sufficient rations,
provisioning for the cruise, the engagement of guides, &c.
The two guides I obtained for the lake were Para, who had accompanied
Cameron in March and April 1874, and Ruango, who accompanied Livingstone
and myself in December 1871 to the north end of Lake Tanganika.
The most interesting point connected with this lake was its outlet.
Before starting from Zanzibar, I had heard that Cameron had discovered
the outlet to Lake Tanganika in the Lukuga river, which ran through
Uguha to the west, and was therefore an affluent of Livingstone’s great
river.
In Commander Cameron’s book, vol. i. p. 305, the following sentences,
bearing upon what he personally saw of the Lukuga, are found:
“In company with the chief, I went four or five miles down the river,
until navigation was rendered impossible, owing to the masses of
floating vegetation. Here the depth was 3 fathoms, breadth 600 yards,
current 1½ knots, and sufficiently strong to drive us well into the
edge of the vegetation. I noticed that the embouchures of some small
streams flowing into the river were unmistakably turned from the lake,
and that the weed set in the same direction. Wild date-palms grew
thickly down the river.”
In opposition to this statement of Cameron’s was the evidence taken by
me at Ujiji.
Para, his guide, said that the white man could not have seen the river
flowing towards Rua, because it did not.
Ruango, the veteran guide, declared that he had crossed it five times,
that it was a small river flowing into the Tanganika, and that if I
found it to flow in a contrary direction, he would return me all his
hire.
Natives from the Lukuga banks whom we found in Ujiji asserted positively
that there were two Lukugas, one flowing into Lake Tanganika, the other
into Rua.
Muini Kheri, governor of Ujiji, Mohammed bin Gharib, Muini Hassan, Bana
Makombé, and Wadi Safeni, all of whom had travelled across this Lukuga
river, also declared, in the most positive manner, that during the many
times they had crossed the “Lukuga,” they either passed over it on dry
land or were ferried in canoes across the entrance, which appeared to
them only an arm of the lake; that until the white man had come to
Ujiji, they had never heard of an outflowing river, nor did they believe
there was one.
The positiveness of their manner and their testimony, so utterly at
variance with what Commander Cameron had stated, inspired me with the
resolution to explore the phenomenon thoroughly, and to examine the
entire coast minutely. At the same time, a suspicion that there was no
present outlet to the Tanganika had crept into my mind, when I observed
that three palm-trees, which had stood in the market-place of Ujiji in
November 1871, were now about 100 feet in the lake, and that the sand
beach over which Livingstone and I took our morning walks was over 200
feet in the lake.
I asked of Muini Kheri and Sheikh Mohammed if my impressions were not
correct about the palm-trees, and they both replied readily in the
affirmative. Muini Kheri said also, as corroborative of the increase of
the Tanganika, that thirty years ago the Arabs were able to ford the
channel between Bangwé Island and the mainland; that they then
cultivated rice-fields three miles farther west than the present beach;
that every year the Tanganika encroaches upon their shores and fields;
and that they are compelled to move every five years farther inland. In
my photograph of Ujiji, an inlet may be seen on a site which was dry
land, occupied by fishing-nets and pasture ground, in 1871.
I proceeded to Bangwé Island, before setting out on my voyage, and
sounded the channel separating it from the mainland. Between a pebble-
covered point of Bangwé and the nearest tongue on the mainland, I
dropped my lead thirteen times. In mid-channel I found 18, 21, 23, 24,
25, 22, 23, 20, 19, and 17 feet.
The Wajiji lake-traders and fishermen have two interesting legends
respecting the origin of the Tanganika. Ruango, the veteran guide, who
showed Livingstone and myself the Rusizi river in 1871, and whose
version is confirmed by Para, the other guide, related the first as
follows:—
“Years and years ago, where you see this great lake, was a wide plain,
inhabited by many tribes and nations, who owned large herds of cattle
and flocks of goats, just as you see Uhha to-day.
“On this plain there was a very large town, fenced round with poles
strong and high. As was the custom in those days, the people of the town
surrounded their houses with tall hedges of cane, enclosing courts,
where their cattle and goats were herded at night from the wild beasts
and from thieves. In one of these enclosures lived a man and his wife,
who possessed a deep well, from which water bubbled up and supplied a
beautiful little stream, at which the cattle of their neighbours slaked
their thirst.
“Strange to say, this well contained countless fish, which supplied both
the man and his wife with an abundant supply for their wants; but as
their possession of these treasures depended upon the secrecy which they
preserved respecting them, no one outside their family circle knew
anything of them. A tradition was handed down for ages, through the
family, from father to son, that on the day they showed the well to
strangers, they would be ruined and destroyed.
“It happened, however, that the wife, unknown to her husband, loved
another man in the town, and by-and-by, her passion increasing, she
conveyed to him by stealth some of the delicious fish from the wonderful
well. The meat was so good, and had such a novel flavour, that the lover
urged her to inform him whence and by what means she obtained it; but
the fear of dreadful consequences, should she betray the secret of the
well, constrained her to evade for a long time his eager inquiries. But
she could not retain the secret long, and so, in spite of all her awe
for the Muzimu of the well, and her dread of her husband’s wrath, she at
last promised to disclose the mystery.
“Now one day the husband had to undertake a journey to Uvinza, but
before departure he strictly enjoined his wife to look after his house
and effects, and to remember to be silent about the fountain, and by no
means to admit strangers, or to go a-gadding with her neighbours, while
he was absent. The wife of course promised to obey, but her husband had
been gone only a few hours when she went to her lover and said, ‘My
husband is gone away to Uvinza, and will not be back for many days. You
have often asked me whence I obtained that delicious meat we ate
together. Come with me, and I will show you.’
“Her lover gladly accompanied her, and they went into the house, and the
wife feasted him with Zogga (palm wine) and Maramba (plantain wine),
Ugali porridge made of Indian corn, and palm-oil, seasoned with
pepper—and an abundance of fish meat.
“Then when they had eaten the man said, ‘We have eaten and drunk, and we
are now full. Now pray show me whence you obtain this wondrous white
meat that I have eaten, and which is far sweeter than the flesh of kid
or lamb or fowl.’
“‘I will,’ said she, ‘because I have promised to you to do so, and I
love you dearly; but it is a great secret, and my husband has strictly
warned me not to show it to any human being not related to the family.
Therefore you, my love, must not divulge the secret, or betray me, lest
some great evil happen to me and to us all.’
“‘Nay, have no fear of me; my mouth shall be closed, and my tongue tied,
lest danger should happen to the mistress of my heart.’
“So they arose, and she took him to the enclosure, jealously surrounded
by a tall thick fence of mateté cane, and taking hold of his hand she
led the impatient lover within, and showed him what appeared to be a
circular pool of deep clear water, which bubbled upward from the depths,
and she said—
“‘Behold! This is our wondrous fountain—is it not beautiful?—and in this
fountain are the fish.’
“The man had never seen such things in his life, for there were no
rivers in the neighbourhood except that which was made by this fountain.
His delight was very great, and he sat for some time watching the fish
leaping and chasing each other, showing their white bellies and
beautiful bright sides, and coming up to the surface and diving swiftly
down to the bottom. He had never enjoyed such pleasure; but when one of
the boldest of the fish came near to where he was sitting he suddenly
put forth his hand to catch it. Ah, that was the end of all!—for the
Muzimu, the spirit, was angry. And the world cracked asunder, the plain
sank down, and down and down—the bottom cannot now be reached by our
longest lines—and the fountain overflowed and filled the great gap that
was made by the earthquake, and now what do you see? The Tanganika! All
the people of that great plain perished, and all the houses and fields
and gardens, the herds of cattle and flocks of goats and sheep, were
swallowed in the waters.
“That is what our oldest men have told us about the Tanganika. Whether
it is true or not I cannot say.”
“And what became of the husband?” I asked.
“Oh, after he had finished his business in Uvinza, he began his return
journey, and suddenly he came to some mountains he had never seen
before, and from the top of the mountains he looked down upon a great
lake! So then he knew that his wife had disclosed the secret fountain,
and that all had perished because of her sin.”
The other tradition imparted to me by the ancients of Ujiji relates that
many years ago—how long no one can tell—the Luwegeri, a river flowing
from the east to the lake near Urimba, was met by the Lukuga flowing
from the westward, and the united waters filled the deep valley now
occupied by the Tanganika. Hence the Luwegeri is termed “The mother of
the Lukuga.”
Still another tradition relates that the Luwegeri flowed through the
plain by Uguha, and into the great river of Rua, but that when the plain
sank the Luwegeri flowed into the profound gulf caused by the sudden
subsidence of what had once been a plain.
The Waguha have also their legend, which differs slightly from that of
the Wajiji. They say that at a very remote period there was a small hill
near Urungu, hollow within, and very deep and full of water. This hill
one day burst, and the water spread over a great depression that was
made, and became the lake we now see.
I made many attempts to discover whether the Wajiji knew why the lake
was called Tanganika. They all replied they did not know, unless it was
because it was large, and canoes could make long voyages on it. They did
not call small lakes Tanganika, but they call them Kitanga. The lake of
Usukuma would be called Tanganika, but the little lakes in Uhha
(Musunya) would be called Kitanga. Nika is a word they could not explain
the derivation of, but they suggested that it might perhaps come from
Nika, an electric fish which was sometimes caught in the lake.
A rational definition of Nika I could not obtain until one day, while
translating into their language English words, I came to the word
“plain,” for which I obtained _nika_ as being the term in Kijiji. As
Africans are accustomed to describe large bodies of water as being like
plains, “it spreads out like a plain,” I think that a satisfactory
signification of the term has finally been obtained in, “the plain-like
lake.”
The people of Marungu call the lake Kimana, those of Urungu call it
Iemba, the Wakawendi call it Msaga, or, “the tempestuous lake.”
Westward from Ujiji the lake spreads to a distance of about thirty-five
miles, where it is bounded by the lofty mountain range of Goma, and it
is when looking north-west that one comprehends, as one follows that
vague and indistinct mountain line, ever paling as it recedes, the full
magnificence of this inland sea. The low island of Bangwé on the eastern
side terminates the bay of Ujiji, which rounds with a crescent curve
from the market-place towards it.
On very clear days the eyes may trace the eastern shore to the south
beyond the mouth of the Liuché, curving to the Ulambola hills, and then
rounding slightly eastward, reappearing in the imposing mountain heights
of Cape Kabogo.
Very pleasant are the idle hours of evening at Ujiji, watching the
clouds of sunset banking themselves above dark Goma, and observing the
lurid effects of the brilliant red on their gloomy masses and on the
ever ruffled waves, tinging with strange shades the gorgeous verdure of
the eastern shore, and the lofty mountain ridges which enfold the deep-
lying lake. To the ears are borne the sonorous moan and plaint of the
heavy waves, which, advancing from the south-west in serried foam-capped
lines, roll unceasingly upon the resounding shore.
At this hour, too, the fuel-laden canoes from Ulambola are hurrying
homeward, with oar and sail. The cattle, lowing to expectant calves, and
the goats bleating for their kids, are hurrying from the pastures in
advance of the tiny herd-boys, the asses’ feet clatter as they go,
bearing their masters home from Kigoma or Kasimbu, the loud hailing of
native friends announces the evening meal ready, and the spiral columns
of blue smoke ascend from many wood-fires, as we sit here to observe the
advance of the evening shades, and to take a last look at the daylight,
as it wanes and fades over the shores of the Tanganika.