General Character of the Country Traversed--The Huts--The
Geology--Productions--Land of Promise--Advice to Missionaries--Leave
Ulekampuri--Return of the Expedition--Register of Temperature--Wages
and Kit.
24th August.--During the last four days we have marched fifty-eight
miles, and are now at our old village in Ulékampuri. As we have now
traversed all the ground, I must try to give a short description, with
a few reflections on the general character of all we have seen or
heard, before concluding this diary.
To give a faithful idea of a country, it is better that the object
selected for comparison should incline to the large and grander scale
than to the reverse, otherwise the reader is apt to form too low an
idea of it. And yet, though this is leaning to the smaller, I can
think of no better comparison for the surface of this high land than
the long sweeping waves of the Atlantic Ocean; and where the hills are
fewest, and in lines, they resemble small breakers curling on the tops
of the rollers, all irregularly arranged, as though disturbed by
different currents of wind.
Where the hills are grouped, they remind me of a small chopping sea in
the Bristol Channel. That the hills are nowhere high, is proved by the
total absence of any rivers along this line, until the lake is
reached; and the passages between or over them are everywhere gradual
in their rise; so that in travelling through the country, no matter in
which direction, the hills seldom interfere with the line of march.
The flats and hollows are well peopled, and cattle and cultivation are
everywhere abundant. The stone, soil, and aspect of the tract is
uniform throughout. The stone is chiefly granite, the rugged rocks of
which lie like knobs of sugar over the surface of the little hills,
intermingled with sandstone in a highly ferruginous state; whilst the
soil is an accumulation of sand the same colour as the stone, a light
brownish grey, and appears as if it were formed of disintegrated
particles of the rocks worn off by time and weathering. Small trees
and brushwood cover all the outcropping hills; and palms on the
plains, though few and widely spread, prove that water is very near
the surface. Springs, too, are numerous, and generally distributed.
The mean level of the country between Unyanyembé and the lake is 3767
feet; that of the lake itself, 3750. The tribes, as a rule, are well
disposed towards all strangers, and wish to extend their commerce.
Their social state rather represents a conservative than a radical
disposition; their government is a sort of semipatriarchal-feudal
arrangement; and, like a band of robbers, all hold by their different
chiefs from feeling the necessity of mutual support. Bordering the
south of the lake there are vast fields of iron; cotton is also
abundant, and every tropical plant or tree could grow; those that do
exist, even rice, vegetate in the utmost luxuriance. Cattle are very
abundant, and hides are found in every house. On the east of the lake
ivory is said to be very abundant and cheap; and on the west we hear
of many advantages which are especially worthy of our notice. The
Karagué hills overlooking the lake are high, cold, and healthy, and
have enormous droves of cattle, bearing horns of stupendous size; and
ivory, fine timber, and all the necessaries of life, are to be found
in great profusion there. Again, beyond the equator, of the kingdom of
Uganda we hear from everybody a rapturous account. That country
evidently swarms with people who cultivate coffee and all the common
grains, and have large flocks and herds, even greater than what I have
lately seen. Now if the N'yanza be really the Nile's fount, which I
sincerely believe to be the case, what an advantage this will be to
the English merchant on the Nile, and what a field is opened to the
world, if England does not neglect this discovery!
But I must not expatiate too much on the merits and capabilities of
this part of inner Africa, lest I mislead any commercial inquirers;
and it is as well to say at present, that the people near the coast
are in such a state of helplessness and insecurity, caused by the
slave-hunts, that for many years, until commerce, by steady and
certain advance, shall in some degree overcome the existing apathy,
and excite the population to strive to better their position by
setting up strong constitutions to protect themselves and their
property, no one need expect to make a large fortune by dealing with
them. That commerce does make wonderful improvements on the barbarous
habits of the Africans, can now be seen in the Masai country, and the
countries extending north-westward from Mombas up through Kikuyu into
the interior, where the process has been going on during the last few
years. There even the roving wild pastorals, formerly untamable, are
now gradually becoming reduced to subjection; and they no doubt will
ere long have as strong a desire for cloths and other luxuries as any
other civilised beings, from the natural desire to equal in comfort
and dignity of appurtenances those whom they now must see constantly
passing through their country. Caravans are penetrating farther, and
going in greater numbers, every succeeding year, in those directions,
and Arab merchants say that those countries are everywhere healthy.
The best proof we have that the district is largely productive is the
fact that the caravans and competition increase on those lines more
and more every day. I would add, that in the meanwhile the staple
exports derived from the far interior of the continent will consist of
ivory, hides, and horns; whilst from the coast and its vicinity the
clove, the gum copal, some textile materials drawn from the banana,
aloe, and pine-apples, with oleaginous plants such as the ground-nut
and cocoa-nut, are the chief exportable products. The cotton plant
which grows here, judging from its size and difference from the plant
usually grown in India, I consider to be a tree cotton and a
perennial. It is this cotton which the natives weave into coarse
fabrics in their looms. Rice, although it is not indigenous to Africa,
I believe is certainly capable of being produced in great quantity and
of very superior quality; and this is also the case with sugar-cane
and tobacco, both of which are grown generally over the continent.
There is also a species of palm growing on the borders of the
Tanganyika Lake, which yields a concrete oil very much like, if not
the same as, the palm-oil of Western Africa; but this is limited in
quantity, and would never be of much value. Salt, which is found in
great quantity in pits near the Malagarazi river, and the iron I have
already spoken about, could only be of use to the country itself in
facilitating traffic, and in maturing its resources.
These fertile regions have been hitherto unknown from the same cause
which Dr Livingstone has so ably explained in regard to the western
side of Africa--the jealousy of the shortsighted people who live on
the coast, who, to preserve a monopoly of one particular article
exclusively to themselves (ivory), have done their best to keep
everybody away from the interior. I say shortsighted; for it is
obvious that, were the resources of the country once fairly opened,
the people on the coast would double or triple their present incomes,
and Zanzibar would soon swell into a place of real importance. All
hands would then be employed, and luxury would take the place of
beggary.
I must now (after expressing a fervent hope that England especially,
and the civilised world generally, will not neglect this land of
promise) call attention to the marked fact, that the missionaries,
residing for many years at Zanzibar, are the prime and first promoters
of this discovery. They have been for years past doing their utmost,
with simple sincerity, to Christianise this negro land, and promote a
civilised and happy state of existence among these benighted beings.
During their sojourn among these blackamoors, they heard from Arabs
and others of many of the facts I have now stated, but only in a
confused way, such as might be expected in information derived from an
uneducated people. Amongst the more important disclosures made by the
Arabs was the constant reference to a large lake or inland sea, which
their caravans were in the habit of visiting. It was a singular thing
that, at whatever part of the coast the missionaries arrived, on
inquiring from the travelling merchants where they went to, they one
and all stated to an inland sea, the dimensions of which were such
that nobody could give any estimate of its length or width. The
directions they travelled in pointed north-west, west, and south-west,
and their accounts seemed to indicate a single sheet of water,
extending from the Line down to 14° south latitude--a sea of about 840
miles in length, with an assumed breadth of two to three hundred
miles. In fact, from this great combination of testimony that water
lay generally in a continuous line from the equator up to 14° south
latitude, and from not being able to gain information of there being
any land separations to the said water, they very naturally, and I may
add fortunately, put upon the map that monster slug of an inland sea
which so much attracted the attention of the geographical world in
1855-56, and caused our being sent out to Africa. The good that may
result from this little, yet happy accident, will, I trust, prove
proportionately as large and fruitful as the produce from the
symbolical grain of mustard-seed; and nobody knows or believes in this
more fully than one of the chief promoters of this exciting
investigation, Mr Rebmann. From these late explorations, he feels
convinced, as he has oftentimes told me, that the first step has been
taken in the right direction for the development of the commercial
resources of the country, the spread of civilisation, and the
extension of our geographical knowledge.
As many clergymen, missionaries, and others, have begged me to publish
what facilities are open to the better prosecution of their noble ends
in this wild country, I would certainly direct their attention to the
Karagué district, in preference to any other. There they will find, I
feel convinced, a fine healthy country; a choice of ground from the
mountain-top to the level of the lake, capable of affording them every
comfort of life which an isolated place can produce; and being the
most remote region from the coast, they would have less interference
from the Mohammedan communities that reside by the sea. But then, I
think, missionaries would have but a poor chance of success unless
they went there in a body, with wives and families all as assiduous in
working to the same end as themselves, and all capable of other useful
occupations besides that of disseminating the Gospel, which should
come after, and not before, the people are awake and prepared to
receive it. As that country must be cold in consequence of its great
altitude, the people would much sooner than in the hotter and more
enervating lowlands, learn any lessons of industry they might be
taught. To live idle in regard to everything but endeavouring to cram
these negroes with Scriptural doctrines, as has too often been and now
is done, is, although apparently the straightest, the longest way to
reach the goal of their desires.
The missionary, I think, should be a Jack-of-all-trades--a man that
can turn his hand to anything; and being useful in all cases, he
would, at any rate, make himself influential with those who were
living around him. To instruct him is the surest way of gaining a
black man's heart, which, once obtained, can easily be turned in any
way the preceptor pleases, as is the case with all Asiatics: they soon
learn to bow to the superior intellect of the European, and are as
easily ruled as a child is by his father.[72]
25th.--We left Ulékampuri at 1 A.M., and marched the last eighteen
miles into Kazé under the delightful influence of a cool night and a
bright full moon. As the caravan, according to its usual march of
single file, moved along the serpentine footpath in peristaltic
motion, firing muskets and singing "the return," the Unyanyembé
villagers, men, women, and children, came running out and flocking on
it, piercing the air with loud shrill noises, accompanied with the
lullabooing of these fairs--which, once heard, can never be mistaken.
The crowd was composed in great part of the relatives of my porters,
who evinced their feelings towards their adult masters as eagerly as
stray deer do in running to join a long-missing herd. The Arabs, one
and all, came out to meet us, and escorted us into their depôt.
Captain Burton greeted me on arrival at the old house, and said he had
been very anxious for some time past about our safety, as numerous
reports had been set afloat with regard to the civil wars we had had
to circumvent, which had impressed the Arabs as well as himself with
alarming fears. I laughed over the matter, but expressed my regret
that he did not accompany me, as I felt quite certain in my mind I had
discovered the source of the Nile. This he naturally objected to, even
after hearing all my reasons for saying so, and therefore the subject
was dropped. Nevertheless, the Captain accepted all my geography
leading from Kazé to the Nile, and wrote it down in his
book--contracting only my distances, which he said he thought were
exaggerated, and of course taking care to sever my lake from the Nile
by _his_ Mountains of the Moon.
It affords me great pleasure to be able to report the safe return of
the expedition in a state of high spirits and gratification. All
enjoyed the salubrity of the climate, the kind entertainments of the
sultans, the variety and richness of the country, and the excellent
fare everywhere. Further, the Beluches, by their exemplary conduct,
proved themselves a most efficient, willing, and trustworthy guard,
and are deserving of the highest encomiums; they, with Bombay, were
the life and success of everything, and I sincerely hope they may not
be forgotten.
The Arabs told me I could reach the N'yanza in fifteen to seventeen
marches, and I returned in sixteen, although I had to take a
circuitous line instead of a direct one. The provisions, too, just
held out. I took a supply for six weeks, and completed _that_ time
_this_ day. The total road-distance there and back is 452 miles,
which, admitting that the Arabs make sixteen marches of it, gives them
a marching rate of more than fourteen miles a- day.
The temperature is greater at this than at any other time of the year,
in consequence of its being the end of the dry season; still, as will
be seen by the annexed register of one week, the Unyamuézi plateau is
not unbearably hot.
Thermometer hung in a passage of our house showed--Morning, Noon,
and Afternoon respectively--
6 A.M. 9 A.M. Noon. 3 P.M. 6 P.M.
73° 75° 84° 86° 84° Mean temperature during
first week or seven days
of September 1858.
71° --- --- 88° --- Extreme: difference, 17°
of variation during 12
hours of day.
Thermometer suspended from ridge-pole of a one-cloth tent pitched
in a close yard:--
6 A.M. 9 A.M. Noon. 3 P.M. 6 P.M.
65° 85° 108° 107° 80° Mean temperature.
63° --- --- 113° --- Extreme: difference, 50°
of variation.
List of Stores along this Line.
Rice is grown at Unyanyembé, or wherever the Arabs settle, but is not
common, as the negroes, considering it poor food, seldom eat it.
Animal.
Cows, sheep, goats, fowls, donkeys, eggs, milk, butter, honey.
P.S.--Donkeys are very scarce; only found in a few places in the
Unyamuézi country.
Vegetable.
Rice, jowari, bagri, maize, manioc, sweet potatoes, yams, pumpkins,
melons, cucumbers, tobacco, cotton, pulse in great varieties, chilis,
bénghans, plantains, tomatoes, sesamum.
The Quantity of Kit taken for this Journey consisted of--
9 Gorahs merikani; 1 Gorah or piece of American sheeting, = 15
cloths of 4 cubits each.
30 Do. Kiniki; 1 Gorah Kiniki, a common indigo-dyed stuff, = 4
cloths of 4 cubits each.
1 Sahari, a coloured cloth. | These cloths are more expensive being of
1 Dubuani, a coloured cloth. | better stuff, and are used chiefly by the
2 Barsati, a coloured cloth. | sultans and other black swells.
20 Maunds white beads = 70 lb.
3 loads of rice grown at Unyanyembé by the Arabs.
Expenditure for the Journey from 9th July to 25th August 1858.
Value.
10 Beluches' wages, 150 shukkas, or 4 cubits apiece
merikani, 100 dols.
10 Beluches' rations, given in advance, 30 lb. white
beads, 5
15 Pagazis' wages, 75 shukkas merikani, 50
26 Men, including self, rations, 60 lb. white beads, 10
2 Pagazis, extra wages, 7 shukkas of merikani and
kiniki mixed, 5
6 Sultans' hongos or presents, 22 shukkas of merikani and
kiniki, mixed, 16
6 Do. Do. Do. 2 barsatis, 2
Total expenditure, 188 dols.
Or £39, 3s. 4d.
The Indian Government also very generously authorised me to pay, on my
last expedition, those poor men who had carried our property down from
Kazé to Zungoméro; but unfortunately for them, as well as for our own
credit, I could not find one man of the lot.
The End.
Notes
[1] Without exception, and after having now shot over three quarters
of the globe, I can safely say, there does not exist any place in the
whole wide world which affords such a diversity of sport, such
interesting animals, or such enchanting scenery, as well as pleasant
climate and temperature, as these various countries of my first
experiences; but the more especially interesting was Tibet to me, from
the fact that I was the first man who penetrated into many of its
remotest parts, and discovered many of its numerous animals.
[2] Lieutenant Burton received £100 from the Royal Geographical
Society to cross Africa from west to east, and whilst attempting that
journey he got drifted off with the flood of pilgrims to Mecca. See
his book.
[3] I had then mapped Tibet, and had laid down several new districts
which even to this day have not been trodden by any European but
myself.
[4] _Wadi_, river or nullah.
[5] It is questionable whether or not these Christians were driven
south, fought at Mombas, were repulsed, and since have crossed the
Nile to where we now find them, under the name of Wahuma. People may
argue against the possibility of this, as the Wahuma do not keep
horses; but the only reason, I believe, why they do not, is simply
because horses won't live in those rich regions.
[6] Lieutenant Cruttenden, in his geographical treatise, describes the
Darud family as being divided into four tribes, and, in addition to
the three of which I heard, places the fourth or Murreyhan in his map
to the southward of the country of Ugahden, lying between his Wadi
Nogal and the Webbe Shebéli river.
[7] The Somali, in their own country, consider the Arab's gown and
trousers effeminate; so on return to Africa they throw off the Arab
costume again.
[8] This proved a great mistake. By having both men of the same tribe
for my entire dependence, they invariably acted in concert against me
like two brothers.
[9] Akil, _plural Okál_--chief or elder.
[10] The sultan has four sons.
[11] This gazelle is slightly different from the Dorcas, and, I
believe, has never been obtained before.
[12] In talking of white men or Europeans, the Somali always say
English French, those two branches of the European community being all
they are acquainted with.
[13] Tobe, properly _thobe_, the dress used by Somali of both sexes.
It consists of a white cloth, eight cubits long, frequently adorned
with gaily-coloured edges; by the men it is worn loosely round the
body with the end thrown over the shoulder, very much like the Roman
toga. The women gather it in folds round the waist, where it is
confined by a string, and both ends are fastened in a knot across the
breast.
[14] It may appear strange that these men would not accept anything
from me in payment except such things as they were accustomed to; and
many of the pretty baubles which I brought from Calcutta, and
considered would allure them by their beauty, proved of no use here as
a medium of exchange.
[15] Tug, in the Somali language, signifies a periodical river, or
water-course, the same as Wadi in Arabic, and Nullah in Hindustani.
[16] _Durbar_--Eastern Court.
[17] Lions, as well as other large animals, are said to come into the
Nogal during the rainy season, when water and grass are abundant.
[18] Unfortunately, when sent on this mission, I was not furnished
with a chart, and had never seen any works written on the subject.
[19] For the advancement of future investigations, I would here notice
the reported existence of a large reptile like the armadillo--probably
a Manis--which the Somali think a very remarkable animal. It is said
by them to be common in Haud, is very slow in motion, has a hard scaly
exterior coating, invulnerable to their spears, and capable of
supporting the weight of a man without any apparent inconvenience to
the creature who bears it.
[20] From the presence of these crosses, it would appear as though in
ignorance they had adopted the emblem of their Christian predecessors.
[21] _Ras_ means point or headland.
[22] This interesting little animal has since been compared by Mr
Blyth, curator of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, and determined to be
a new genus, and was named by him _Pectinator Spekei_.
[23] Then changed to Colonel Coghlan.
[24] These notes were reported in an Appendix in the 'First Footsteps
in East Africa,' by Lieutenant Burton, with his other reports of this
expedition.
[25] To say the least of it, this was a very dangerous policy to play
with a people who consider might right, and revenge to death.
[26] Since this was written I have asked Lieutenant-Colonel Playfair
his opinion on this matter, and the subjoined is the reply:--"In this
Lieutenant Burton erred; and this was the _termina causa_ of all the
mishaps which befell the expedition. The institution of Abbanage is of
great antiquity, and is the representative amongst a barbarous people
of our customs laws, inasmuch as every trader or traveller pays to his
Abban a certain percentage on the merchandise he buys or sells, and
even on the food he purchases for his own use.
"A traveller who hopes for success in exploring a new country must
accept the institutions he finds in existence; he can hardly hope, by
his simple _fiat_, to revolutionise the time-honoured and _most
profitable_ institutions of a people, amongst whom precedent is a law
as unchangeable as that of the Medes and Persians."
[27] Siyareh, a fort and small village belonging to the Makahil branch
of the Habr Awel, is the watering-place of Berbera, and derives a
small revenue from the boats which touch there _en route_ to, and
returning from, the Berbera fair. During this year it attained an
unenviable notoriety as the rendezvous for the slaves intended for
export to the Persian Gulf. Many of these were free Somali girls, sold
by their relatives or kidnapped by their friends. Colonel Playfair
wrote to me that one hundred and forty boys and girls were rescued
here in the early part of this year by H.M.S. Lady Canning.
[28] Colonel Playfair thinks 20,000 men nearer the right number.
[29] I must here notice, although I have endeavoured to stick as
closely as possible to the narration of my own story in these pages,
that I saw Herne, who had been guarding the rear, opposed to the whole
brunt of the attack, fighting gallantly with his sable antagonists;
and from the resolution with which he fired at them, he must have done
some damage.
[30] Articles of peace and friendship concluded between the Habr Owel
tribe of Somali on the one part, and Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan,
Political Resident at Aden, on behalf of the Honourable East India
Company, on the other.
"Whereas, on the 19th of April 1855 (corresponding with the 1st of
Shaban 1271), a treacherous attack and murder were perpetrated at the
port of Berbera by a party of Habr Owel tribe, upon a party of British
officers, about to travel in that country with the consent and under
the protection of the elders of the tribe, in consequence of which
outrage certain demands were made by the Government of India, and
enforced by a blockade of the Habr Owel coast; and whereas it has
become apparent that the said tribe has fulfilled these conditions to
the utmost of its ability, and has prayed to be relieved from the
blockade; therefore it is agreed,--
"1st, That the elders of the Habr Owel will use their best endeavours
to deliver up Ou Ali, the murderer of Lieutenant Stroyan.
"2d, That, until this be accomplished, the sub-tribe Esa Moosa, which
now shelters, and any other tribe which may hereafter shelter,
harbour, or protect the said Ou Ali, shall be debarred from coming to
Aden.
"3d, That all vessels sailing under the British flag shall have free
permission to trade at the port of Berbera, or at any other place in
the territories of the Habr Owel; and that all British subjects shall
enjoy perfect safety in every part of the said territories, and shall
be permitted to trade or travel there under the protection of the
elders of the tribe. In like manner shall the members of the Habr Owel
tribe enjoy similar privileges at Aden, or in any other part of the
British possessions.
"4th, The traffic in slaves through the Habr Owel territories,
including the port of Berbera, shall cease for ever; and any slave or
slaves who, contrary to this engagement, shall be introduced into the
said territories, shall be delivered up to the British; and the
commander of any vessel of Her Majesty's or the Honourable East India
Company's navy shall have the power of demanding the surrender of such
slave or slaves, and of supporting the demand by force of arms, if
necessary.
"5th, The Political Resident at Aden shall have the power to send an
agent to reside at Berbera during the season of the fair, should he
deem such a course necessary, to see that the provisions of this
agreement are observed; and such agent will be treated with the
respect and consideration due to the British Government.
"6th, That on a solemn promise being given by the elders of the Habr
Owel, faithfully to abide by the articles of this agreement, and to
cause the rest of the tribe to do so likewise, and to deliver up to
the Political Resident at Aden any party who may violate it, the
blockade of the Habr Owel coast shall be raised, and perpetual peace
and friendship shall exist between the British and the Habr Owel.
"Done at Berbera this seventh day of November, one thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six of the Christian era (corresponding with the
eighth day of Rabea-el-Owel, one thousand two hundred and seventy-two
of the Hejira).
(Signed) MAHOMED ARRA'LEH, \
(Signed) AHMED ALI BOOKERI, | Ayal Yoonus.
(Signed) NOOR FA'RRAH, /
(Signed) AHMED GHA'LID, \
(Signed) MAHOMMED WA'IS, | Ayal Ahmed
(Signed) MUGGAN MAHOMMED, /
(Signed) ROOBLIE HASSAN, \
(Signed) ATEYAH HILDER, | Makáhíl.
(Signed) FARRAH BENI'N, /
(Signed) AWADTH SHERMARKIE, Ayal Hamood.
"Signed in my presence at Berbera, on the 7th November 1856.
(Signed) R. L. PLAYFAIR, Assistant Political Resident, Aden.
(Signed) W. M. COGHLAN, Political Resident.
"Aden, 9th November 1856.
"Ratified by the Right Honourable the Governor-General of India in
Council, at Fort William, this 23d day of January 1857.
(Signed) CANNING.
And Five Members of Council of India."
[31] I was first blinded by ophthalmia when a child, which had ever
since rendered reading a very painful task; and again I suffered from
snow-blindness whilst crossing over the Himalayas into Tibet.
[32] The cheque, I found, after my arrival in England, was not
credited in my account, so I had, after all, to pay my own passage.
[33] I must add here, to show that the generous hospitality of the
Indian navy was now as strong in force as ever it was, that the
wardroom officers, not being aware of the intended generosity of the
Government to supply us with messing gratis, had laid in an extra
store of provisions for the purpose of making us their guests.
[34] Banyans are the only class of coloured men who have the ability
to be accountants. They fill this office properly, and are therefore
always selected for it.
[35] On starting to the rescue, my companion complained of the shock
his nerves had received since the Somali encounter, and this appeared
to affect him during the whole of this journey.
[36] Caravans have also reached the shores of the N'yanza at 1° S.
lat., and entered Usoga, rounding its north-east corner.
[37] See further description of this, page 185.
[38] See Bombay's history, page 210.
[39] In future I shall call this fringe or mountain-chain the East
Coast Range, in contradistinction to the same hill-formation on the
western coast of Africa; for it must be remembered that there are
three great leading features in the geographical formation of
Africa--viz., a low exterior belt of land, or margin to the continent,
varying in breadth according to circumstances, which is succeeded by a
high belt of mountains or rugged ground, separating the lowlands from
a high interior plateau, lying like a basin within the fringe of
hills.
[40] The officers of state cannot receive a present without the
sanction of the government.
[41] The murderers of Dr Boscher were sent to Zanzibar by the chief of
their tribe, and were executed by orders of the Sultan.
[42] To save repetition, I may as well mention the fact that neither
Captain Burton nor myself were able to converse in any African
language until we were close to the coast on the return journey.
[43] Another question suggests itself. How did Ptolemy hear of the two
lakes which he considered were the sources of the Nile? It is obvious
he could not have done so by the channel of the Nile, for the
Anthropophagi barred all communication in that direction. Here,
however, the route from Zanzibar to the Tanganyika Lake and the
Victoria N'yanza, in all probability, was kept open by the trading
"Men of the Moon;" and thus two lakes were heard of situated east and
west of one another, just in convenient situations to fit on to the
two branches of Ptolemy's Nile.
[44] _Khambi_--Encampment.
[45] The Babisa purchase ivory at Luwemba for the Kilua merchants, and
are met there by the Kazé merchants.
[46] I have since heard from Colonel Rigby (Colonel Hamerton's
successor) that Hamed and all his slaves were murdered on their
journey to Uruwa, and their property was seized by the natives.
[47] Here is the confusion again of the Nile and the lake as one
water. The Nile was in reality five marches east of Kibuga, and the
boundary of the lake one march to its southward. Snay obviously meant
it so, for it was the river he thought was the Jub, but I did not
understand him.
[48] See Dr Beke's paper on 'The Sources of the Nile,' printed 1849.
[49] _Kirangozi_--leader of a caravan.
[50] Sheikh Said has since declared, in "the most solemn manner, that
Captain Burton positively forbade his going." This happened when we
were at Usenyé, and immediately after I first asked the Sheikh.
[51] Captain Burton started with two huge elephant-guns, one double
rifle, one pea-rifle, one air-gun, two revolving pistols, and a
cross-bow, all of which he used for display to amuse the Arabs.
[52] Sukuma means north, and the Wasukuma are consequently northmen,
or northern Wanyamuézi.
[53] _Barsati_--a coloured cloth.
[54] One dhoti = 2 shukkas; 1 shukka = 4 cubits, or 2 yards, merikani
(American sheeting).
[55] _Kiniki_--a thin indigo-dyed cloth.
[56] _Boma_--a palisade. A village or collection of huts so fortified
is called so also.
[57] This, I maintain, was the discovery of the source of the Nile.
Had the ancient kings and sages known that a rainy zone existed on the
equator, they would not have puzzled their brains so long, and have
wondered where those waters came from which meander through upwards of
a thousand miles of scorching desert without a single tributary.
[58] This magnificent sheet of water I have ventured to name VICTORIA,
after our gracious Sovereign. Its length was not clearly understood by
me, in consequence of the word Sea having been applied both to the
Lake and to the Nile by my local informants; and there was no recent
map of the Nile with the expedition by which I might have been guided.
[59] I now think the breadth is over one hundred miles.
[60] Mahaya said he was of Wahinda extraction, or from the princes of
the Wahuma; but this I do not believe, for his features bore the
strongest possible testimony against him.
[61] The King of Uganda has sent presents by boat to Machunda, Sultan
of Ukéréwé, coasting along the western shore of the lake. Mtésa told
me this himself, and asked me if I knew Machunda personally.
[62] The Waganda also send boats for salt to the Bahari (Lake) Ngo, at
the north-east corner of the lake.
[63] On my return to England I constructed a map representing this
view, and lectured on the same in presence of Captain Burton, who then
raised no objections to what I said.
[64] In England geographers doubted this; and after it was printed, Dr
Petermann had reason to change his opinion. However, Knoblecher was
not far wrong, as I have since made the latitude of Gondokoro 4° 54'
north.
[65] The rising of the Katonga still puzzles me.
[66] Kibuga means palace.
[67] There are three cataracts between the N'yanza and Gondokoro: 1.
from Ripon Falls to Urondogani; 2. from Karuma Falls to Little Luta
Nzigé; 3. from Apuddo to near Gondokoro.
[68] Captain Burton, by way of having a special Lunæ Montes of his
own, calls these mountains a "mass of highlands, which, under the name
of Karagwah, forms the western spinal prolongation of the Lunar
Mountains." See his 'Lake Regions,' vol. ii. p. 144.
[69] There are exceptions to the rule in the instance of the Waganda,
who are of an earth-red colour; for these men never fight excepting in
overpowering numbers.
[70] The history of the Wahuma has been given in 'The Discovery of the
Source of the Nile.' The Watuta also have been alluded to, for they
were fighting on my line of march. I heard then of the arrival of a
recent detachment from the west of the Nyassa, and subsequently I
heard they had invaded Usui.
[71] The Wahuma are a link between the Masai and the Kafirs, so far as
I can judge of the common origin of this migratory pastoral race. The
ethnologist ought to look well into this matter, and treat it without
regard to change of language or names, as time will efface and create
both anew.
[72] Since writing this, as I have had more insight into Africa by
travelling from Kazé to Egypt down the whole length of the Nile, I
would be sorry to leave this opinion standing without making a few
more remarks. Of all places in Africa, by far the most inviting to
missionary enterprise are the kingdoms of Karagué, Uganda, and Unyoro.
They are extremely fertile and healthy, and the temperature is
delightfully moderate. So abundant, indeed, are all provisions, and so
prolific the soil, that a missionary establishment, however large,
could support itself after the first year's crop. Being ruled by kings
of the Abyssinian type, there is no doubt but that they have a latent
Christianity in them. These kings are powerful enough to keep up their
governments under numerous officers. They have expressed a wish to
have their children educated; and I am sure the missionary need only
go there to obtain all he desires on as secure a basis as he will find
anywhere else in those parts of Africa which are not under the rule of
Europeans. If this was effected by the aid of an Egyptian force at
Gondokoro, together with an arrangement for putting the White Nile
trade on a legitimate footing between that station and Unyoro, the
heathen would not only be blessed, but we should soon have a great and
valuable commerce. Without protection, though, I would not advise any
one to go there.
Now, for the use of commercial inquirers, I may also add, that it may
be seen in my 'Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile,'
that the kings of these three countries were all, more or less,
adverse to my passing through their countries to the Nile; but they
gave way, and permitted my doing so, on my promising to open a direct
trade with this country and theirs by the channel of that river. I
gave them the promise freely, for I saw by the nature of the land,
subjected as it is to frequently recurring showers of rain all the
year round, that it will be, in course of time, one of the greatest
nations on the earth. It is nearer to Europe than India; it is far
more fertile, and it possesses none of those disagreeable elements of
discontent which have been such a sharp thorn in our sides in India--I
mean a history and a religion far anterior to our own, which makes
those we govern there shrink from us, caused by a natural antipathy of
being ruled by an inferior race, as we are by them considered to be.
These countries, on the contrary, have no literature, and therefore
have neither history nor religion to excite discontent should any
foreigners intrench on their lands. By this I do not wish it to be
supposed that I would willingly see any foreign European power upset
these Wahuma governments; but, on the contrary, I would like to see
them maintained as long as possible, and I seriously trust some steps
may speedily be taken for that most desirable object. Should it not be
so, then in a short time these kingdoms will fall into the hands of
those vile ruffian traders on the White Nile, in the same way as Kazé
has been occupied by the Arabs of Zanzibar. To give an instance of the
way it most likely will be effected, I will merely state that the king
of Unyoro begged me repeatedly to kill some rebel brothers of his, who
were then occupying an island between his palace and the Little Luta
Nzige. I would not do it, as I thought it would be a bad example to
set in the country; but some time afterwards I felt sorry for it, for
on arrival in Madi, where I first met the Nile traders, I found that
they were in league with these very rebels to dethrone the king. The
atrocities committed by these traders are beyond all civilised belief.
They are constantly fighting, robbing, and capturing slaves and
cattle. No honest man can either trade or travel in the country, for
the natives have been bullied to such an extent that they either fight
or run away, according to their strength and circumstance. That a
great quantity of ivory is drawn from those countries I must admit,
for these traders ramify in all directions, and, vying with one
another, see who can get most ivory at the least expense, no matter
what means they employ to obtain their ends.
At the same time, I have no hesitation in saying that ten times as
much merchandise might be got at less expense, if the trade were
protected by government means, and put on a legitimate footing. Those
countries teem with cattle. The indigenous cotton is of very superior
quality. Indigo, sugar-cane, coffee, tobacco, sesamum, and indeed all
things that will grow in a tropical climate, may be grown there within
3° of the equator, in luxurious profusion, and without any chance of
failure owing to those long periodical droughts which affect all lands
distant more than 3° from the equator.
When I was sailing down the Nile, I could not help remarking to all
the pashas I visited how strange it appeared that men so civilised as
they were should be living in such a barren, hot, and glaring land as
Egypt, when the negroes on the equator were absolutely living in the
richest and pleasantest garden in the world, so far as nature has made
the two countries.
Now, though I have dwelt so markedly on the surprising fertility of
Uganda and Unyoro in particular, I do not wish it to be supposed that
I consider those countries alone to be exclusively rich, for I believe
there is a continuous zone of fertility stretching right across Africa
from east to west, affected only by the nature of the soil. In
advancing this argument, I hold that the greatest discovery I have
made in Africa consists in my positive knowledge regarding the rainy
system of Africa; and to exemplify it irrespectively of my
meteorological observations, I will state emphatically that as surely
as I have determined the source of the Nile to lie within 3° of the
equator, and that it cannot emanate from any point farther south,
because all the lands beyond that limit are subject to long periodical
droughts--so certain am I that the Tanganyika is supplied from the
same source, or rainy zone, though draining in the opposite direction.
Again, to its west also, from the same source of supply, the
head-waters of the Zambézi take their origin. Still farther west, the
fountains of the Congo must have their birth. Again, farther west
still, the Chadda branch of the Niger can alone be thus supplied, and
the same must be the case with the Gaboon river.
To carry this argument still farther, I would direct attention to the
periodical conditions of the Blue Nile and Niger rivers. Both of these
rivers rise in high mountains on the coast-range, at about 10° north
latitude, but on opposite sides of the continent. They are considered
large rivers, but only in consequence of their great floodings, when
the sun, in his northern declination, brings the rains over the seats
of their birthplaces; for when the sun is in the south they shrink so
low that the waters of the Blue river would never have power to reach
the sea were they not assisted by the perennial stream of the White
Nile.
The most important exploring expedition that any one could undertake
now, would be to cross Africa from east to west, keeping close to the
first degree of north latitude, to ascertain the geological formation
of that parallel. Within the coast-ranges, in consequence of the great
elevation of the land, the temperature is always moderate, and it is
proved to be much more healthy than any of those parts of Africa
subjected to periodical seasons. Next to this scheme, I would
recommend this fertile zone to be attacked from Gondokoro on the Nile,
and from Gaboon (the French port) on the equator. The Gondokoro line,
being known to a considerable extent, is ready for working, and only
requires government protection to make it succeed; but the other line
from the Gaboon should first be inspected by a scientific expedition.