TO THE ALBERT NYANZA A SECOND TIME.
Difficulties with the steel boat--African forest craft--Splendid
capture of pigmies, and description of the same--We cross the Ituri
river--Dr. Parke's delight on leaving the forest--Camp at
Bessé--Zanzibari wit--At Nzera-Kum-hill once more--Intercourse with
the natives--"Malleju," or the "Bearded One," being first news of
Emin--Visit from chief Mazamboni and his followers--Jephson goes
through the form of friendship with Mazamboni--The medicine men,
Nestor and Murabo--The tribes of the Congo--Visit from chief
Gavira--A Mhuma chief--The Bavira and Wahuma races--The varying
African features--Friendship with Mpinga--Gavira and the
looking-glass--Exposed Uzanza--We reach Kavalli--The chief produces
"Malleju's" letter--Emin's letter--Jephson and Parke convey the
steel boat to the lake--Copy of letter sent by me to Emin through
Jephson--Friendly visits from natives.
On the 2nd day of April, 1888, after a drizzly rain had ceased to fall,
we filed out at noon with a view to attempt a second time to find the
Pasha, or to penetrate the silence around him. We had now our steel boat
in twelve sections, and the stem and stern being rather beamy we
discovered very soon that a good deal of cutting with axes and bill-hooks
was required to permit them to pass between the trees. The caravan in
single file, laden with boxes, bales, and baggage, would find no
difficulty; the narrower sections two feet wide passed through without
trouble, but the plough-shaped stem and stern pieces soon became jammed
between two colossal trees which compelled a retreat and a detour through
the bush, and this could not be effected without clearing a passage. It
was soon evident that our second trip to the Nyanza through the forest
would consume some days.
The advance guard scanning the track, and fully lessoned in all the
crooked ways and wiles of the pigmies and aborigines, picked up many a
cleverly-hidden skewer from the path. At some points they were freely
planted under an odd leaf or two of phrynium, or at the base of a log,
over which, as over a stile, a wayfarer might stride and plant his foot
deep into a barbed skewer well smeared with dark poison. But we were too
learned now in the art of African forestcraft, and the natives were not
so skilled in the invention of expedients as to produce new styles of
molestation and annoyance.
The dwarfs' village at the crossing was our next resting-place, and
Indémwani was reached on the 4th. The next day we moved to another
dwarfs' village, and in the neighbouring plantain grove Saat Tato and a
few friends, while collecting a few of the fruit, made a splendid capture
of pigmies. We had four women and a boy, and in them I saw two distinct
types. One evidently belonged to that same race described as the Akka,
with small, cunning, monkey eyes, close, and deeply set. The four others
possessed large, round eyes, full and prominent, broad round foreheads
and round faces, small hands and feet, with slight prognathy of jaws,
figures well formed, though diminutive, and of a bricky complexion.
"Partial roast coffee," "chocolate," "cocoa," and "_café au lait_" are
terms that do not describe the colour correctly, but the common red clay
brick when half baked would correspond best in colour to that of the
complexion of these little people. Saat Tato reported that there were
about twenty of them stealing plantains which belonged to the natives of
Indepuya, who were probably deterred from defending their property by the
rumour of our presence in the woods. The monkey-eyed woman had a
remarkable pair of mischievous orbs, protruding lips overhanging her
chin, a prominent abdomen, narrow, flat chest, sloping shoulders, long
arms, feet turned greatly inwards and very short lower legs, as being
fitly characteristic of the link long sought between the average modern
humanity and its Darwinian progenitors, and certainly deserving of being
classed as an extremely low, degraded, almost a bestial type of a human
being. One of the others was a woman evidently a mother, though she could
not have seen her seventeenth year. No fault could be found in the
proportion of any one member; her complexion was bright and healthy; her
eyes were brilliant, round, and large; her upper lip had the peculiar cut
of that of the Wambutti noticeable in the woman at Ugarrowwas, and the
chief's wife of Indékaru, which is the upper edge curving upward with a
sharp angle and dropping perpendicularly, resembling greatly a clean up
and down cut with a curl up of the skin as though it had contracted
somewhat. I believe this to be as marked a feature of the Wambutti as the
full nether lip is said to be characteristic of the Austrian. The colour
of the lips was pinkish. The hands were small, fingers delicate and long,
but skinny and puckered, the feet measured seven inches and her height
was four feet four inches.
So perfect were the proportions of this girl-mother that she appeared at
first to be but an undersized woman, her low stature being but the result
of premature sexual intercourse or some other accidental circumstance,
but when we placed some of our Zanzibar boys of fifteen and sixteen years
old by her side, and finally placed a woman of the agricultural
aborigines near her, it was clear to everyone that these small creatures
were a distinct race.
Three hours beyond this great Mbutti village we reached Barya-Kunya amid
a drizzly rain.
On the 8th we reached Indepessu, and two days later we travelled from the
base of Pisgah, along an easterly path, a new track which led us through
the little villages of Mandé to the Ituri river. The natives had all fled
from Mandé and the slopes of Pisgah across the river with their movable
property, and the men were awaiting events on the left bank, confident
that they were beyond reach. As we emerged into view on the right bank I
was quite struck with the light brown mass the warriors made against the
blackish green of the vegetation behind them. Had they been of the colour
of the Zanzibaris they would have formed an almost black mass, but they
resembled in colour the ochreous clay banks of this river. They shot a
few arrows amongst us across the 150 yards wide stream; some fell short
and others hurtled harmlessly by us several yards. In our turn we replied
and a general scamper occurred. Ninety minutes later the Expedition was
across the Ituri by means of the boat. The vanguard picked up a ten-pound
packet of clean native salt which had been dropped by the natives in
their flight. Salt was a condiment greatly needed, and we were greatly
rejoiced at the prize. We were now in the territory of the Bakuba, near
the clearing of Kande-koré, which was one of the richest clearings in the
forest of the Upper Congo basin. On the edge of the bank we were 3,000
feet above the sea.
Three-and-a-half hours' march from the Ituri, we issued out of the
forest, and again the change from perpetual twilight to brilliant
sunlight, and a blue sky was astonishing, and we all smiled to witness
its effects on the nerves of our gentle friend and companion, the first
son of Erin who had ever viewed the grass lands of these regions. This
was the 289th day of Dr. Parke's forest life, and the effect of this
sudden emergence out of the doleful shades in view of this enlarged view
from the green earth to the shining and glowing concave of Heaven caused
him to quiver with delight. Deep draughts of champagne could not have
painted his cheeks with a deeper hue than did this exhilarating prospect
which now met him.
On the road just before leaving the bush we passed a place where an
elephant spear had fallen to the ground, and buried itself so deep that
three men were unable to heave it up. Such a force, we argued, would have
slain an elephant on the instant.
While sketching Pisgah Mountain in the afternoon from our first camp in
the pasture land, I observed a cloud approaching it from the N.W., and
all the forest beyond was shaded by its deep shadows, while the rolling
plains still basked in hot sunshine. Presently another cloud from the
S.E. appeared round the southern extremity of Mazamboni's range, and as
it advanced, spread over the blue sky, and became merged with the cloud
over the forest, and then rain fell.
At an altitude of 3,200 feet above the sea the village of Bessé is
situated, seven hours' march from the Ituri. Though it was yet early
forenoon we camped, the abundance of good ripe bananas, corn, fowls,
sugar-cane, and banana wine being very tempting, and the distance to
other villages east being unknown. Quite an active skirmish soon occurred
while we were engaged making ready our quarters. Fetteh, the sole
interpreter to the tribes of the plains, was grievously wounded over the
stomach. The Babessé attempted various means to molest us as the long
grass favoured them, but by posting sharpshooters in the native lookouts
in the trees the knowledge that their tactics were supervised soon
demoralised them.
We had some speech by means of a native of Uganda with one of these
natives, who among his remarks said, "We are quite assured that you black
men are creatures like ourselves, but what of those white chiefs of
yours? Whence do they come?"
"Oh," our man replied, with wonderful facility for fraudful speech,
"their faces change with the birth of each moon, when the moon is getting
full their colour is dark like our own. They are different from us, as
they came from above originally."
"Ah, true, it must be so," responded the astonished native, as he brought
his hand up to his mouth from politeness, to cover the mouth that
expanded with surprise.
The more we understand the language of these natives, the more we are
struck with the identity of a common origin. How could such as these
people have ever heard of such a thing as wit. I heard one native say to
a Zanzibari who had met more than his match when he burst out so
impatiently at one who had staggered against him,
"Such a fool as thou wast surely never seen elsewhere?"
To which the native replied, with a benevolent smile,
"Ay, it is my lord, who is the sole possessor of wisdom."
"Ah, but you are wickedness itself" (personified).
"I must not deny it, for all goodness is with thee."
It is a common reply among a certain class of white folks when one is
accused of being naughty, to reply to the accuser that he is a gentleman,
but it must be admitted that the African reply is not inferior in
politeness.
A little east of Bessé we lost the native track, and were obliged to
strike across country, steering straight for Undussuma Peak which now
began to lift itself into view, over the swells of grass-land that spread
in great waves towards its foot. The sun was fearfully hot, and as the
march was mainly through tall grass, we were greatly fatigued. In the
afternoon we reached a wooded hollow near a pellucid cool stream, which
had its birthplace somewhere among the slopes of Undussuma Range now
distant about five miles.
On the 14th, after a march of six hours, we were camped on the spur of
Nzera-Kum-hill, and before us was the same scene which on the 10th and
11th of December witnessed our struggles for mastery with Mazamboni and
his tribe. So far our experiences on this journey were very different. We
saw no leaping exulting warriors, nor heard a single menace or war-cry;
but, as we intended to halt here a day, it was necessary to know what to
expect, and we despatched our Mganda interpreter to hail the natives, who
were seated afar off on the hilltops looking down upon us. At 5 P.M.
after several patient efforts, they were induced to descend and approach,
and they finally entered our camp. The process of establishing a
friendship then was easy. We could look into one another's faces, and
read as in a book what each thought of the other. We mutually exchanged
views, wherein they learned that we only needed a free passage to the
Lake unmolested, that we had not appeared as enemies, but strangers
seeking a halting-place for the night, to pursue our road the next day
without disturbance. They pleaded, as an excuse for their former
behaviour, that they were assured we were Wara-Sura (soldiers of Kabba
Rega) who periodically visited their country, devastated their land, and
carried off their cattle.
When we were both convinced that friendship was possible, that our former
misunderstanding should not interfere with our future relations, they
heard the mystery of our presence explained, that we were only travelling
to discover a white chief, who years ago was reported to be somewhere
near the sea of Unyoro. Had they ever heard of such a man?
They answered eagerly, "About two moons after you passed us--when you
came from the Nyanza--a white man called '_Malleju_,' or the _Bearded
One_, reached Katonza's in a big canoe, all of iron.
"Mother! however could she float; and in the middle of it there rose a
tall black tree, and out of it came smoke and sparks of fire, and there
were many many strange people aboard, and there were goats running about
as in a village square, and fowls in boxes with bars, and we heard the
cocks crow as merrily as they do among our millet. _Malleju_ with a deep
deep voice asked about you--his brother? What Katonza said to him we do
not know, but _Malleju_ went away in the big iron canoe, which sent as
much smoke up into the air as though she was on fire. Have no doubt you
will find him soon; Mazamboni shall send his runners to the Lake, and by
to-morrow's sunset Katonza shall be told of the arrival of _Malleju's_
brother."
This was the first news we had heard of Emin Pasha, and it was with the
view of this news spreading abroad, and for preparing the natives for the
irruption of strangers out of the unknown west, that I had sent couriers
from Zanzibar in February, 1887. Had Emin, who expected us December 15th,
but taken the trouble to have sent his steamers a nine-hours' steaming
distance from his station of Mswa, we should have met with his people
December 14th, been spared five days' fighting, a four months' loss of
time, and on or about the 15th of March I should have been within the
palisades of Yambuya in time to save Barttelot from his assassin,
Jameson from his fatal fever attack, Troup from the necessity of being
invalided home, Ward from his wholly useless mission to St. Paul de
Loanda, and Mr. Bonny from days of distress at Banalya.
The next day was a severe one for me. All the talking was levelled at me,
and I was imprisoned in my chair from dawn to dusk by crowds of Bavira
agriculturists and Wahuma shepherds and herdsmen, chiefs and slaves,
princes and peasants, warriors and women. It was impolitic to stir from
the close circle which the combined oligarchy and democracy of Undussuma
had formed around me. What refreshments were taken were handed to me over
the heads of nobles and serfs five deep. My chair was in the centre,
three umbrella bearers relieved one another--the sun ran his course from
east to west; it glowed at noon hours with the intense heat known in
torrid deserts, from three to five it scorched my back, then it became
cooler, but until the circles broke and were dissolved by the approaching
cold accompanying the dusk, I was a martyr to the cause of human
brotherhood.
At a very early hour Mazamboni appeared outside of the zeriba with an
imposing retinue of followers. He was escorted to the middle of the camp
with every mark of respect, officers gracefully bowing their welcome,
Zanzibaris and Soudanese, who had chased him and his legions over the
hills in December, looking as innocent as though they had never tasted
meat and smiling a summer greeting. Our best mats were spread under a
sickly dwarf tree for the convenience of the august guest, ivory horns
gave forth mellow blares, reminding me of the imperial court of the
Ramessean autocrat of Uganda, Usoga, and the island archipelagoes of the
Victorian Sea. Nothing was omitted that experience with a thousand chiefs
of dark Africa had taught me was necessary for lighting up a swarthy face
with humour, pleasure, content, and perfect trust. Mazamboni accepted
every attention as his by right Divine, but no smile or word greeted us.
Was the man deaf and dumb? No; he spoke briefly and low to his
sub-chiefs, and his satellites roared with bull voices, as though I
needed an auricular trumpet to hear, and the sounds stunned me as though
they were rung with a trip-hammer.
"My friends," said I, "my head will crack if you go on thus; besides, you
know wisdom is precious. Why should the herd hear State policy?"
"Ah, truly!" said one sage with a beard as white as the father of the
Commons ought to have. Nestor lowered his voice, and garrulously
rehearsed the history of the land, described the effect created upon it
by the column's approach in December, the hasty councils that were held,
and the rash resolution they had adopted, confessing that when they heard
there were white men with the strangers they suspected they were wrong in
continuing their hostile attitude, but the youthful warriors had been too
impetuous and overruled the cautious counsels of the ancients of their
tribe; that when they had seen us return from the Nyanza and depart in
peace towards the forest, they then knew that the Wara-Sura, as we were
believed to be, would never have returned so soon from their own Lake,
but would have crossed the Semliki to their own country, and then, when
they had heard of _Malleju_, the white chief of the iron canoe, was
seeking for us, they were convinced they had been all wrong. "But never
mind," said we, "the strangers will return from the Kivira (forest), and
we shall make it up with them. If they seek our friendship they shall
have it, and Mazamboni's blood shall mingle with that of their chief; and
we shall be one people, and lo! you have come, and the dreams of our wise
men have become real facts. Mazamboni sits as a brother by the side of
the white chief; let us see the blood mingle, and never a cloud shall
come between you while you are in the land; the belongings of Mazamboni
are yours, his warriors, wives, children, the land and all that stands on
the face of it are yours. Have I said well, oh, warriors?"
"Well and truly you have spoken," murmured the circles.
"Shall Mazamboni be a son of 'Bula Matari?'"
"He shall."
"Shall there be true peace between us and the strangers?"
"Yea," came in an emotional shout from the mass.
Then the mutual right hands of my son, Mr. Jephson, who volunteered to be
sacrificed, were clasped crosswise over the crossed knees, the native
Professor of Medicine made a slight incision in his arm until the red
blood dyed it. My Professor of Secret Ritualism caused the dark red blood
of Mazamboni to well out of the vein, and as the liquid of life flowed
and dropped over the knees, the incantations were commenced by the sage
with the white beard, and as he shook the pebbles in the magic gourd at
the range of the peak opposite, and at the horse-shoe range yonder in the
plains, and to eastward and westward of the valley, he delivered his
terrible curses from the summit of Nzera-Kum, and all men listened unto
him with open lips:--
"Cursed is he who breaks his plighted vow.
"Cursed is he who nourisheth secret hate.
"Cursed is he who turneth his back against his friend.
"Cursed is he who in the day of war denieth his brother.
"Cursed is he who deviseth evil to his friend whose blood has become one
with his own.
"May the itch make him loathsome, and the hair of his head be lost by the
mange; may the adder wait for him by the path, and the lion meet him on
his way; may the leopard in the darkness besiege his house, and his wife
when she draweth water from the stream, be seized; may the barbed arrow
pin his entrails, and the sharp spear be dyed in his vitals; may sickness
waste his strength, and his days be narrowed with disease; may his limbs
fail him in the day of battle, and his arms stiffen with cramps," and so
on, invoking every evil and disease most dreaded, and the Zanzibari
Professor of Secret Ritualism, somewhat dumbfounded at first at the
series of curses delivered so volubly by Nestor, seized his magic gourd,
and shook it at the hills and the valley, at the head of Mazamboni with
awful solemnity; at Nestor himself, and the awe-struck following around,
and outdid Nestor, from perverted ambition, by frenzy, voice, and
gesture, in harmony with it; his eyes rolled wildly, foam came from his
lips; he summoned every blight to fall upon the land and its productions,
every damnable agency in his folk-lore to hound Mazamboni for ever; every
dark and potent spirit out of the limbo of evil imagination to torture
him in his waking and sleeping hours, until his actions were so
fantastic, his denunciation so outrageous, his looks so like one
possessed with a demon, that everyone, native and Zanzibari, broke out
into uncontrollable laughter, which caused Murabo, our "medicine man," to
sober instantly, and to say in Swahili to us, with a conceited shake of
the head,
"Ay! master, how do you like that style for high acting?" which reminded
me of nothing so much as Hamlet out-ranting Laertes.
Mazamboni, though undoubtedly paramount chief of Undussuma, seems to be
governed by an unwritten constitution. His ministers also are his
principal kinsmen, who conduct foreign and home policy even in his
presence, so that in affairs of government his voice is seldom heard.
Most of the time he sat silent and reserved--one might almost say
indifferent. Thus this unsophisticated African chief has discovered
that--whether from intuition or traditional custom it is hard to say--it
is best to divide government. If the principle has been derived from
custom, it proves that from the Albert Nyanza down to the Atlantic the
thousand tribes of the Congo basin spring from one parent tribe, nation,
or family. The similarity in other customs, physiognomy, and roots of
languages, lend additional proofs to substantiate this.
We discovered that the chiefs, as well as the lesser folk, were arrant
beggars, and too sordid in mind to recognise a generous act. Though a
peace was strenuously sought by all, yet the granting of it seemed to
them to be only a means of being enriched with gifts from the strangers.
Mazamboni, even after a long day's work, could only be induced to give
more than a calf and five goats as a return for a ten-guinea rug, a
bundle of brass wire, and ivory horns from the forest. The chief of
Urumangwa and Bwessa, that flourishing settlement which in December had
so astonished us with its prosperity, likewise thought that he was
exceedingly liberal by endowing us with a kid and two fowls.
Among our visitors to-day were Gavira, the chief of the Eastern Bavira,
who proclaimed from a hill that the land lay at our feet when we were
returning from the Lake; and also a Mhuma chief, who wore unblushingly
the fine scarlet cloth of which we had been mulcted in December to buy
peace. He never offered a return gift so long deferred.
[Illustration: ONE OF MAZAMBONI'S WARRIORS.]
We discovered that there were two different and distinctly differing
races living in this region in harmony with each other, one being clearly
of Indo-African origin, possessing exceedingly fine features, aquiline
noses, slender necks, small heads, with a grand and proud carriage; an
old, old race, possessing splendid traditions, and ruled by inflexible
custom which would admit of no deviation. Though the majority have a
nutty-brown complexion, some even of a rich dark brown, the purest of
their kind resemble old ivory in colour, and their skins have a
beautifully soft feel, as of finest satin. These confine themselves
solely to the breeding of cattle, and are imbued with a supercilious
contempt for the hoemen, the Bavira, who are strictly agricultural. No
proud dukeling in England could regard a pauper with more pronounced
contempt than the Wahuma profess for the Bavira. They will live in the
country of the Bavira, but not in their villages; they will exchange
their dairy produce for the grain and vegetables of the hoemen, but they
will never give their daughters in marriage but to a Mhuma born. Their
sons may possess children by Bavira women, but that is the utmost
concession. Now in this I discover the true secret of the varying
physiognomies, and the explanations in the variation of facial types.
We have the true negroidal cast of features in the far-away regions of
West Africa, with which this proud high-caste race could not possibly
come in contact during many centuries; we have the primitive races of the
forest, the Akkas, Wambutti, Watwa, and Bushmen, of which the Wambutti
are by far the handsomest; have the Zulus, the Mafitte, Watuta, Wahha,
Warundi, Wanya-Ruanda, semi-Ethiopic; we have the Ethiopic, slightly
degraded, except in the aristocratic families, as in the Wahuma, or, as
they are variously called, Waima, Wachwezi, Wawitu, and the Wataturu, who
represent two human streams, one coming from Ethiopia by way of
South-East Galla into Unyoro and the high pastoral lake regions, and the
other flowing direct south. The Victoria Lake lies between these sections
of superior African humanity.
A Bavira chief complained to me of the haughty contempt with which the
Bavira were regarded by the Wahuma, in just such words as these: "They
call us hoemen, and laugh to scorn the sober regularity with which we,
tilling the dark soil, live through our lives in honest labour. They
sweep round on foraging excursions, and know no loved and fixed home;
they settle down wherever they are tempted (by pasture), and when there
(is trouble) they build a house in another spot."
But to my narrative, as I may deal with the subject further in a special
chapter. On the 16th, furnished by Mazamboni with twelve guides, escorted
by Gavira and fifty warriors, accompanied by a long line of new friends
behind the rear guard, assisted by more than a hundred carriers, we
marched to the territory of Gavira, to the village where we had rested in
the naked hill-village, after a terrible day of excitement, on the 12th
of December. We were now a peaceful procession, with somewhat of a
triumphal character. For at every village we appeared the warriors came
out and hailed us with friendly greetings, and at Makukuru, the name of
the village which we already knew, the women lu-lu-lued. From this
settlement in Uzanza we enjoyed an extensive view, embracing all eastward
to the brow of the high land overlooking the gulf of the Albert Lake
westward as far as Pisgah, six marches distant northward to the cones of
Bemberri, southward the hills of the Balegga rose, a mile off.
The Chief of the Bavira is known as Gavira--an hereditary title, though
his name is Mpinga. He was a pleasant little man, but stingy; and when
not engaged in State councils, talkative. He and his tribe begged for
friendship similar to that which was established with Mazamboni; we were
only too willing to accede--the conditions being that he should be
hospitable to the Expedition on its journeys through his country. Having
halted one day at Mazamboni's, it was necessary that we should do equal
honour to Gavira; and as this place was only two short marches, or one
long march, to the Nyanza, we agreed.
In the evening, two natives arrived from Mbiassi, of the tribe Ba-biassi,
chief of the district of Kavalli, which extended, in a broad strip, down
to the Nyanza, who informed me that their chief possessed a small packet,
covered with dark cloth, for me, which had been given him by Mpigwa, of
Nyamsassi, who had received it from a white man known to them as
_Malleju_.
We were surrounded on the next day by hundreds of friendly people, who
seemed unable to gaze sufficiently at us. They therefore placidly
squatted on their haunches, quietly contemplating our movements; the
younger members were deputed by the old to gather fuel and sweet
potatoes, and to bring millet grain to camp. For trifling gifts, the
Zanzibaris obtained their most devoted service for building their huts,
and carrying water and attending to their fires, grinding their millet
grain into flour; while our men contentedly sat down, encouraging them to
hard labour with a friendly nod and bland smile, some bit of iron-work, a
pinch of beads, a cowrie or two, or a wristlet of brass wire. Every man
picked up a warm-hearted, and ingenious brother; and, excepting in
cooking, the natives were admitted into the privilege of fast
friendship.
The chief Gavira was robed, in the afternoon, in bright scarlet cloth of
first-class quality, and escorted around the camp, with all honour, by
our headmen, who introduced him to the various messes with high tribute
to his good disposition. He was afterwards shown a mirror, at which he
and his elders expressed extraordinary astonishment and fright. They took
the reflection of their own faces to be a hostile tribe advancing from
the earth towards them, and started to run to a safer distance; but
instinctively they halted, as they saw that we did not stir. They then
returned on tip-toe, as if to ask what that sudden vision of black faces
could possibly have been; for the mirror had been dropped on its face
into the case. In answer to their mute appeal, it was opened again, and
they gazed at it fixedly. They whispered to one another--"Why, the faces
resemble our own!" They were told that what they saw was a reflection of
their own remarkably prepossessing features; and Mpinga, with pride,
blushed darkly at the compliment. Perceiving that he could be trusted
with it without shock to his nerves, it was put into his hand; and it was
amusing to see how quickly personal vanity increased; his elders crowded
around him, and all grouped around and were pleased to note how
truthfully the mirror reflected each facial characteristic. "See that
scar--it is just and exact; but lo! look at your broad nose, Mpinga;
why, it is perfect! Ay, and look at that big feather; it actually waves!
It is too--too wonderful! What can it be made of? It is like water; but
it is not soft by any means; and on the back it is black. Ah, but we have
seen a thing to-day that our fathers never saw, eh?"
Uzanza exposed, and open to every blast from each quarter of heaven, will
be remembered for a long time. As the sun set, the cold winds blew from
lakeward, and smote us sorely; we were so accustomed to the equable
temperature of the forest, and so poor in clothing. One officer armed
himself with his waterproof; another put on his ulster; and still the
wind penetrated to the marrow; and there was no warmth but in the snug
beehive huts of the Bavira--whither we retired.
Instead of pursuing along our first course to the Lake, we struck
north-east to the village of Kavalli, where the mysterious packet was
said to be. The grass was short cropped by numerous herds of cattle, and
covered every inch and made it resemble a lawn, save where the land
dipped down into the miniature cañons, which had been scooped out by
centuries of rain.
As we traversed the smiling land, hailed, and greeted, and welcomed, by
the kindly Bavira, we could not forbear thinking how different all this
was from the days when we drove through noisy battalions of Bavira,
Babiassi, and Balegga, each urging his neighbours, and whooping and
hallooing every one to our extermination, with the quick play of light on
crowds of flashing spears, and yard-long arrows sailing through the air
to meet us; and now we had 157 Bavira actually in front of the advance
guard, as many behind the rear guard, while our 90 loads had been
distributed among voluntary carriers who thought it an honour to be
porters to the same men whom they had hounded so mercilessly a few months
previous.
Soon after the arrival of the now numerous column before the thorny
zeriba of Kavalli, the chief, a handsome young Mhuma, with regular
features, tall, slender, and wonderfully composed in manner, appeared, to
show us where we might camp. To such as chose to avail themselves of
shelter in his village he accorded free permission; and on being asked
for the packet of _Malleju_, he produced it; and, as he handed it to me,
said that only his two young men, of all the country, knew that he
possessed it; and anxiously asked if he had not done an excellent thing
in keeping the secret safe.
[Illustration: KAVALLI, CHIEF OF THE BA-BIASSI.]
Untying the cover, which was of American oil-cloth, I found the following
letter:--
Dear Sir,--
Rumours having been afloat of white men having made their
apparition somewhere south of this Lake, I have come here in quest
of news. A start to the furthest end of the Lake, which I could
reach by steamer, has been without success, the people being
greatly afraid of Kabba Rega people, and their chiefs being under
instructions to conceal whatever they know.
To-day, however, has arrived a man from Chief Mpigwa, of Nyamsassi
country, who tells me that a wife of the said chief has seen you at
Undussuma, her birthplace, and that his chief volunteers to send a
letter of mine to you. I send, therefore, one of our allies, Chief
Mogo, with the messenger to Chief Mpigwa's, requesting him to send
Mogo and this letter, as well as an Arabic one, to you, or to
retain Mogo and send the letter ahead.
Be pleased, if this reaches you, _to rest where you are_, and to
inform me by letter, or one of your people, of your wishes. I could
easily come to Chief Mpigwa, and my steamer and boats would bring
you here. At the arrival of your letter or man, I shall at once
start for Nyamsassi, and from there we could concert our further
designs.
Beware of Kabba Rega's men! He has expelled Captain Casati.
Believe me, dear Sir, to be
Yours very faithfully,
(Signed) Dr. Emin.
Tunguru (Lake Albert).[L]
25/3/88. 8 P.M.
The letter was translated to our men, upon hearing which, they became mad
with enthusiasm; nor were the natives of Kavalli less affected, though
not with such boisterous joy, for they perceived that the packet they had
guarded with such jealous care was the cause of this happiness.
Food poured in gratuitously from many chiefs, and I directed Mbiassi to
inform the districts around that a contribution from each tribe or
section would be gladly received.
On the 20th, I despatched Mr. Jephson and Surgeon Parke, with 50 rifles
and two native guides of Kavalli, to convey the steel boat, _Advance_,
down to Lake Albert. I am informed by the guides that Mswa station was
distant two days only, by boat sailing along the western shore. Mr.
Jephson was entrusted with the following letter to Emin Pasha:--
_April 18th, 1888._
Dear Sir,--
Your letter was put into my hands by Chief Mbiassi, of Kavalli, (on
the plateau), the day before yesterday, and it gave us all great
pleasure.
I sent a long letter to you from Zanzibar by carriers to Uganda,
informing you of my mission and of my purpose. Lest you may not
have received it, I will recapitulate in brief its principal
contents. It informed you first that, in compliance with
instructions from the Relief Committee of London, I was leading an
Expedition for your relief. Half of the fund necessary was
subscribed by the Egyptian Government, the other half by a few
English friends of yours.
It also informed you that the instructions of the Egyptian
Government were to guide you out of Africa, if you were willing to
leave Africa; if not, then I was to leave such ammunition as we had
brought with us for you, and you and your people were then to
consider yourselves as out of the service of Egypt, and your pay
was to cease upon such notification being given by you. If you were
willing to leave Africa, then the pay of yourself, officers and
men, was to continue until you had landed in Egypt.
It further informed you that you yourself was promoted from Bey to
Pasha.
It also informed you that I proposed, on account of the hostility
of Uganda, and political reasons, to approach you by way of the
Congo, and make Kavalli my objective point.
I presume you have not received that letter, from the total
ignorance of the natives at Kavalli about you, as they only knew of
Mason's visit, which took place ten years ago.
We first arrived here after some desperate fighting on the 14th
December last. We stayed two days on the shore of the Lake near
Kavalli, inquiring of every native that we could approach if they
knew of you, and were always answered in the negative. As we had
left our boat a month's march behind, we could get no canoe by fair
purchase or force, we resolved to return, obtain our boat, and
carry it to the Nyanza. This we have done, and in the meantime we
constructed a little fort fifteen days' march from here, and stored
such goods as we could not carry, and marched here with our boat
for a second trial to relieve you. This time the most violent
natives have received us with open arms, and escorted us by
hundreds on the way. The country is now open for a peaceful march
from Nyamsassi to our fort.
Now I await your decision at Nyamsassi. As it is difficult to
supply rations to our people on the Nyanza plain, I hope we shall
not have to wait long for it. On the plateau above there is
abundance of food and cattle, but on the lower plain, bordering the
Nyanza, the people are mainly fishermen.
If this letter reaches you before you leave your place, I should
advise you to bring in your steamer and boats, rations sufficient
to subsist us while we await your removal, say about 12,000 or
15,000 lbs. of grain, millet, or Indian corn, &c., which, if your
steamer is of any capacity, you can easily bring.
If you are already resolved on leaving Africa, I would suggest that
you should bring with you all your cattle, and every native willing
to follow you. Nubar Pasha hoped you would bring all your
Makkaraka, and leave not one behind if you could help it, as he
would retain them all in the service.
The letters from the Ministry of War, and from Nubar Pasha, which I
bring, will inform you fully of the intention of the Egyptian
Government, and perhaps you had better wait to see them before
taking any action. I simply let you know briefly about the
intentions of the Government, that you may turn the matter over in
your mind, and be enabled to come to a decision.
I hear you have abundance of cattle with you; three or four milk
cows would be very grateful to us if you can bring them in your
steamer and boats.
I have a number of letters, some books and maps for you, and a
packet for Captain Casati. I fear to send them by my boat, lest you
should start from your place upon some native rumour of our having
arrived here, and you should miss her. Besides, I am not quite sure
that the boat will reach you; I therefore keep them until I am
assured they can be placed in your hands safely.
We shall have to forage far and near for food while we await your
attendance at Nyamsassi, but you may depend upon it we shall
endeavour to stay here until we see you.
All with me join in sending you our best wishes, and are thankful
that you are safe and well.
Believe me, dear Pasha,
Your most obedient servant,
Henry M. Stanley.
Commanding Relief Expedition
His Excellency Emin Pasha,
Governor of Equatorial Provinces, &c., &c., &c.
[Illustration: MILK VESSEL OF THE WAHUMA.]
During our halt at Kavalli several hundred natives from the districts
round about paid us friendly visits, and the chiefs and elders tendered
their submission to me. They said the country was mine, and whatever my
commands might be, would be promptly done. By the ready way food was
brought in, there was no reason to doubt their sincerity, though as yet
there was no necessity to take it too literally. So long as we were not
starving, nothing could happen to disturb the peaceful relations
commenced with Mazamboni. According to my means each chief received a
present of cloth, beads, cowries, and wire. Mbiassi furnished me with a
quart of milk daily in a wooden bowl of this pattern.
-----
[L] When, after reaching Zanzibar, I read Emin Pasha's
letter to the Editor of Petermann's 'Mitteilungen' (see
No. 4 of the 'Gotha Geog. Journal'), dated 25th March,
1888 (the same date that the above letter was written),
which concluded with the significant words: "If Stanley
does not come soon, we are lost," most curious thoughts
came into my mind which the intelligent reader will find
no difficulty in guessing. Happily, however, the Pasha
kept his own secret until I was far away from Bagamoyo,
and I was unable to inquire from him personally what
were his motives for not coming to Kavalli, December
14th, 1887, the date he expected us; for remaining
silent two months and a half in his own stations after
that date, and then writing two such letters as the one
above and that to Petermann's Magazine on the same
date.