“Along the western coast, English is extensively taught, as also the

French, German and Portuguese, where these nations have colonies and

trading posts.

“(4) Lack of _native help_, at first, made progress slow. The white man

was alone amid millions. His ways were all strange and inimitable. He was

dressed, while they were naked. He read books, while they had none. He

worshiped _God_, while they trusted in idols and charms. He seemed far

above them and the idea of reaching his plane, hopeless.

“But, with great patience and unwearied perseverance, the pioneers toiled

on, teaching, preaching, learning languages, writing elementary books,

instructing children and youth, to prepare native helpers.

“To-day, there are about 8,000 ordained and unordained native preachers,

and thousands of teachers and hundreds of thousands of pupils who are

being prepared for future helpers——an army of native workers——and many

are running to and fro and knowledge is being increased.

“Modern missionaries can now obtain interpreters for almost all parts of

Africa, and this is a great help, which calls for heartfelt thanksgiving

and praise to God who has wrought these favorable changes.

“I will mention but one more obstacle: (5) The _sickly climate_. During

the first fifty years of missionary life in West and East Africa, the

mortality was fearful. Probably 500 missionaries have died in the

missions on the west coast. Nearly twenty died in the Mendi Mission where

I labored. The Church Missionary Society lost fifty-three in the first

twenty years. Three English Bishops died within eight years.

“In the Basle Mission, on the Gold Coast, in fifty-eight years,

ninety-one missionaries died. And so it has been in Liberia, in Lagos,

Gaboon, and in many other places. All societies have lost many, so that a

book written by an Englishman was entitled “The White Man’s Grave.” The

last three years I was in Africa I buried four white missionaries.

“But, thank God, it is different now. They have better houses and more

comforts and have learned better how to take care of their health, so

that the mortality in these same places is not half so much as it used to

be.

“And missionaries can now reach the healthy high lands where they can

live as well as here. So we will ‘Thank God and take courage.’

“In the same line more might be mentioned, but enough has been noted to

show that there is no good cause for discouragement in the glorious work

of saving Africa, to whom we owe such an unspeakable debt.

“With so many obstacles removed, and so many helps now prepared to our

hand, while vast fields are opening and loud calls are wafted to us

on every breeze, we may well be encouraged to put forth more vigorous

efforts to give the Gospel to that people in _this_ generation.” REV.

GEO. THOMPSON.

STANLEY ON THE GOMBE.

On his way to Ujiji to rescue Livingstone, Stanley passed through the

lands of the Manyara, which are plains stretching for a distance of 135

miles, well cultivated, thickly strewn with villages, and abounding in

game, which finds a haunt amid the tall grasses. He had never seen such a

hunter’s paradise as that on the river Gombe, which waters the country.

Buffaloes, zebras, giraffes and antelope, roamed through the magnificent

parks of the section, affording excellent sport for the natives, and

inviting the traveler to halt for a time in order to enjoy the thrill of

a hunt.

The antelope of this section is large and powerful. It goes by name

of “springbock,” because it takes tremendous leaps of ten to twelve

feet when running. When pursued, it is pleasing and curious to see the

whole herd leaping over each other’s heads, and looking back while they

are in the air. They are exceedingly swift, and cannot be overtaken

by a horse. They migrate annually from the interior toward the coast,

and after remaining in the lowlands for two to three months, begin a

gradual journey toward the interior. During these inward journeys their

gregarious instincts are in full sway, and herds of hundreds may be seen

on the grassy plains.

When travelling thus in large herds, they are the victims of beasts of

prey, as lions, leopards and hyenas, which attack them at every favorable

opportunity and seldom fail to secure rich feasts. Their flesh is

excellent eating, and the springbock, together with other varieties of

the antelope species, furnishes the venison of the African continent.

As he continued his way along the course of the Gombe, feasting his

vision upon the beautiful scenes before him, he came suddenly upon a

scene which he says “delighted the innermost recesses” of his soul. Just

before him were “ten zebras switching their beautiful striped bodies,

and biting one another.” Of these he succeeded in killing one, and then,

content with the result of the hunt, he retired to camp. Before doing

so, however, he thought he would take a bath in the placid waters of the

river. He says: “I sought out the most shady spot under a wide-spreading

mimosa, from which the ground sloped, smooth as a lawn, to the still,

clear water. I ventured to undress, and had already stepped to my ankles

in the water and had brought my hands together for a glorious dive,

when my attention was attracted by an enormously long body which shot

into view, occupying the spot beneath the surface which I was about to

explore by a ‘header.’ Great heavens! it was a crocodile! I sprang back

instinctively, and this proved my salvation, for the monster turned away

with a disappointed look, and I was left to congratulate myself upon my

narrow escape from his jaws, and to register a vow never to be tempted

again by the treacherous calm of an African river.”

[Illustration: LEOPARD ATTACKING A SPRINGBOCK.]

CHRISTIAN HEROES IN AFRICA.

“My subject is not so much Africa, its people, its customs and its

misfortunes, as the Christian pioneers and their work. The United

Moravian brethren at Herrnhut in Germany, more than a century and a half

ago, were stirred up to send out a missionary to the poor Hottentots,

who were treated as dogs by the Dutch colonists. George Schmidt at once

offered himself to go out, and suffered hardship with a persecuted race,

and, having been blessed by the conversion of a few, was forbidden

to baptize them, and summarily sent back to Europe by men who called

themselves Protestants, and who were jealous of their own liberty. Fifty

years later (1792), the United Brethren sent out three more missionaries,

who founded the illustrious mission of Genádendál, or Vale of Grace, on

the very walls of the ruined house of George Schmidt, seven years after

the great patriarch of African missions had been called to his reward,

dying, like Livingstone and Krapf, on his knees.

“The London and Wesleyan societies, the Established Church of England,

the Free Church of Scotland, and the American Board of Foreign Missions,

took up a share in the blessed work amidst other races of South Africa,

and out of their ranks by faith Moffat undertook to translate the Bible

into the language of the Be-Chuána, Wilder into the language of the Zulu,

and Boyce, Appleyard, and others, into the language of the Ama-Xosa,

or Káfir——languages deemed at the time to be incapable of expressing

simple ideas, but which, deftly handled, proved to be apt exponents of

every variety of human thought, with an unlimited vocabulary, and an

unsurpassed symmetry of structure.

“Moffat’s son-in-law, Livingstone, abandoned his home, his chapel, and

his school, and started off on his great missionary progress, which was

destined to illuminate all Africa south of the Equator. By faith he bore

up under the perils, the fatigues, the opposition and the bereavement

of his dear wife, who sleeps on the shore of the Zambesi. He worked his

way to Benguéla, on the west coast, Kilimáni on the east, and Nyangwé

on the River Congo to the north, discovering new rivers, new lakes, new

tribes, and new languages. From the drops of sweat which fell from his

limbs in those great travels have sprung up, like flowers, Christian

missions, founded by men of different denominations and different views

of church government, but united in the fear of God, love of Africa, and

veneration for Livingstone. To the impulse, given by this great apostle,

must be attributed the missions of the Established Church of Scotland at

Blantyre, the Free Church of Scotland at Livingstonia, the London Society

on Lake Tangányika, and the Universities Mission at Zanzibar. But to this

servant of God it was not conceded to see one single fruit of his labors.

He saw no mission spring up; like Moses, he only beheld the promised land

from Pisgah; he died without knowing of the secret of the source of the

Nile and the Congo.

“Krapf and Rebman sat year after year at the watch-tower of Mombása,

waiting till the day should dawn, calling to each other: ‘Watchman, what

of the night?’ writing home descriptions of vast lakes, and snow-capped

mountains on the Equator, causing themselves to be derided, both as

missionaries and geographers; yet they lived to be honored in both

capacities, they lived to see the day dawn at last, to hear of Frere-Town

being established as a station for released slaves at Mombása, to hear

of those internal seas being navigated, and that snow-capped mountain

being visited. In his old age Krapf in tearful gratitude read Henry

Stanley’s challenge, which rang with trumpet-sound from the capital of

Uganda, and was gallantly answered by the Church Missionary Society, and

he lived to hear of the great Apostle’s Street, which by faith he had

suggested, being carried out from Zanzibar to the Great Lakes, to be

extended westward down the Congo, until hands are shaken with the Baptist

missionaries working up that river from the west.

“The good Baptist Society established themselves in the island of

Fernando Po, and, driven thence by the intolerance of the Spaniards, they

crossed over to the mainland, and found what seemed once, but, alas! is

no longer, a more enduring inheritance in the Kamerún Mountains. By faith

here Saker lived, labored and died, translating the Holy Scriptures into

the language of the Dualla, but leaving his work to be revised by his

young daughter, opening out a new field for the talent and zeal of women.

Hence in fullness of time by faith Comber started to conquer new kingdoms

of the Congo, making, alas! the heavy sacrifice of the life of his wife

at San Salvador, before he reached Stanley Pool, with the great heart of

Africa open to his assault; for in their hands the Baptist missionaries

had carried gentle peace, and their vessel with that name still carries

them onward on their blessed and peaceful enterprise.

“Our good brethren in North America were among the first to send out

their agents to West and South Africa, to pay back the debt which they

owed, and to atone for the wrong which their forefathers had inflicted.

The sun was thus taken back to the east, to lighten those sitting in

darkness. Each and every one of their churches have vied in the desire

to found strong missions, translate the Holy Scriptures, and to press

forward the work of freedom, education, civilization and evangelization.

“The holy and humble-hearted Protestant churches on the continent of

Europe, less amply endowed in material resources, but more richly in

intellect, industry and self-consecration, have sent forth a golden

stream of missionaries from the centers of Basle and Canton de Vaud in

Switzerland; of Barmen, Breman, Berlin, Herrnhut and Hermannsburg in

Germany; from Norway, Sweden, Finland and France, to hold the fort in

the most exposed situations, to suffer imprisonment, to achieve great

literary works, to found living churches, and attract to themselves the

affections of the African.

“Samuel Crowther was rescued from the captivity into which he, like

Joseph, had been sold by his brethren, was restored to his country, to

be no longer a slave, but a teacher, a leader, a benefactor, and an

example; he was set apart to give the lie to the enemies of the African,

to stultify the idle taunt, that a negro is incapable, by his nature, of

culture, piety, honesty, and social virtues; he was raised up to mark an

epoch in the sad chronicle of his persecuted race, and to be the first

fruit of the coming harvest of African pastors and evangelists. His son

Dandison, Henry Johnson and James Johnson were blessed with the great

grace of being allowed to tread in his footsteps.

“If any of my readers desire to know the real worth of the African

missionary, let them read the lives of Mrs. Hinderer at Ibadán, and Mrs.

Wakefield at Ribé, and of many other noble men and women, of whom this

self-seeking world was not worthy, who left comforts at home to labor

among the Africans; who, in spite of overpowering maladies, have been,

like Hannington, unwilling to leave the country of their choice, and

determined to return in spite of the warning voice of their doctor, or

who, like him, have died as good confessors.

“Time would fail me to tell of Schlenker, and Reichardt, and Schön; of

Goldie and Edgerley; of Casálls, Mabille and Coillard; of James Stewart,

of Lovedale, and his namesake on the Nyassa; of Grant and Wilson; of

Ramseyer and Christaller; of Mackensie, the Bishop who died on the

River Shiré; and of Steere the Bishop who sealed up the translation

of the last chapter of Isaiah ready for the printer, and then fell

asleep at Zanzibar; of Parker, the Bishop, wise and gentle, holy and

self-restrained, who was called to his rest on the southern shores of

Victoria Nyanza; of Wakefield and New; of Stern, Mayer and Flad; of

Southon, the medical missionary, who died at Urambo; of dear Mullens, who

could not hold himself back from the fight, and who sleeps in Usagára; of

many a gentle ladies’ grave——for women have never been found wanting to

share the honor and the danger of the Cross.” ROBERT N. CUST, L. L. D.

THE BOILING POT ORDEAL.

Mr. Arnot says of the Zambesi Valley: “A small company gathered in front

of my hut, and began an animated discussion, which grew hotter and

hotter, and shortly a large fire was kindled, and a pot of water set

on it. I was told that this was a trial for witchcraft, and that the

two persons charged had to wash their hands in the water, and if after

twenty-four hours the skin came off, the victims were to be burnt alive.

First one, then the other, dipt his hands into the fiercely-boiling

water, lifting some up and pouring it over the wrist. Twenty-four hours

told its tale, and I saw the poor fellows marched off to be burned before

a howling, cursing crowd. Such scenes, I afterward found, were almost of

daily occurrence.

“I proposed to the king to require both the accuser and the accused to

put their hands into the boiling water. The king is strongly in favor of

this proposal, and would try any means to stop this fearful system of

murder, which is thinning out many of his best men, but the nation is so

strongly in favor of the practice that he can do nothing. An old friend

of mine, Wizini, who took quite a fatherly care and interest in me, was

charged with witchcraft. He pleaded earnestly to be spared the terrible

trial, and was reprieved because of his years, but he was banished from

his people and country for life, for no other reason than that a neighbor

had an ill-feeling against him. Had he been first to the king with his

complaint, he might have seen his neighbor burned or banished instead of

himself. I much missed this old man.

“When manners and customs are referred to, the particular district must

be borne in mind. Africa is an immense continent, and there is as much

variety in the customs of the different tribes as in their languages.

Certain tribes take delight in cruelty and bloodshed; others have a

religious fear of shedding human blood, and treat aged people with every

kindness to secure their good-will after death. By other tribes the aged

would be cast out as mere food for wild animals.”

THE ADVENTURES OF A SLAVE.

A lad who was recently baptized at the Baptist mission on the Congo,

relates a strange story of his adventures. His name is Kayembe. When he

was 10 years old an Arab caravan passed through the district in which

he lived with his parents. His people lived in terror for nearly two

months, part of the time in the jungle. One morning, the slavers came

with drums and singing. Kayembe’s father, after throwing a spear at an

assailant, was shot dead, and his hand cut off as a trophy. Kayembe fled

to the jungle, but was caught by some Nyangwe men, who took him with them

and went from town to town killing men and little children and catching

the women. Children who tried to follow their mothers were beaten back.

Finally Kayembe was taken to Stanley Falls, where he was sold to a state

soldier, a Zanzibari. This man, when he was taken sick, sold him to a

Hausa soldier, who, when his time was up, took him to Leopoldville, at

Stanley Pool, and the lad fell into the hands of the mission as the

personal boy of Mr. Biggs. After Mr. Biggs died, Kayembe manifested great

grief and came under Mr. Bentley’s care, and a year ago professed to

have given his heart to the Savior. He was not more than thirteen years

old then, and his baptism was delayed, but both by his words and his

life he has shown himself to be a Christian, and in March last he was

baptized. His capture and the death of his father are a terrible memory

to him, though he is full of thankfulness that he has come to learn of

the Savior. He has chosen a small town, about an hour from Wathen, which

he regards as his field for Christian work; thither he often goes to find

an audience of fifteen or twenty.

ARAB CRUELTIES IN AFRICA.

Letters to the secretary of the Free Church Missionary Society, from

East Central Africa show that the power of the Arabs in the region is

rather decreasing, but they still continue formidable. Many of the

native supporters of the Arabs are deserting to the missionaries. These

latter and the agents of the African Lakes Company, with the assistance

of friendly negroes, have been successful in keeping the Arabs somewhat

in check, but the Arabs still destroy a number of the negroes. Many

instances are recorded of the Arabs lying in ambush and shooting down

natives as they make their way to and from their gardens. About three

months ago the slavers, assisted by the Chief Merere, made a raid and

destroyed a number of native villages at Ukume, killing, burning and

plundering wherever they went. Many of the inhabitants escaped to the

hills. Some thirty young women were taken captive, and afterward sold,

the children crying for their murdered parents. Some of them were clubbed

and others thrown into the flames from the burning huts. Much anxiety is

felt regarding the fate of the white men on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

A LION HUNT.

Col. Baker thus describes a lion hunt in the Shooli country: “The grass

had been set on fire by the natives, but as the wind was light the game

advanced at an easy pace. Presently I saw a splendid buck antelope

advancing toward me. Just as I was going to fire, a long yellow tail

suddenly rose, and an instant later a fine lion flashed into view,

disturbed by the approaching flames. The lion and antelope crossed paths.

Both seemed startled, but soon the antelope bounded away, leaving the

lion with his head toward my position.

“Not wishing a closer acquaintance, I aimed directly at his chest and

fired. The lion rolled completely over, roared tremendously, and turned

three successive somersaults, but to my astonishment appeared to recover.

I immediately fired my left-hand barrel. Quick as a flash he bounded

toward me, and charged on my two native companions. I quickly snatched

one of their guns and stepped out from behind the ant-hill which I had

used for a cover. The beast appeared to be diverted from his charge by

the suddenness of my movement, and turned as if to retreat. I let him

have a full charge of back-shot in his hind-quarters, and he continued

his retreat into the high grass.

“Groans now issued from the grass, and the natives proposed to attack the

beast with spears if I would back them up with my rifle. We approached

the spot and soon found the beast within the grass. I would not let the

natives approach near enough to use their spears, but fired the right

barrel of my rifle, at a distance of twenty yards. The immediate reply

was a determined charge, and the infuriated beast came bounding toward us

with mouth agape and roaring furiously. The natives threw their spears,

but missed. I fired my left-hand barrel, but nothing was equal to the

task of stopping that deadly charge. We all had to run for our lives,

back to the protection of the ant-hill, where our reserve fire arms were.

Snatching up a rifle, I fired directly into his heart, just as he had one

of the natives fairly within reach. This sent him reeling backwards, and

he beat a retreat to his original cover.

“I now quickly reloaded, and, ordering every one to keep out of the way,

I walked cautiously toward his cover. There I saw him sitting on his

haunches, and glaring savagely in a direction opposite to the one in

which I was approaching. I aimed directly for his neck, at a distance

of twelve yards, and must have broken it, for the beast fell over

stone dead. It was a fine specimen, and had certainly afforded enough

excitement for one day’s hunt. On cutting the beast open we discovered in

its stomach the freshly eaten remains of an antelope calf, simply torn

into lumps of two or three pounds each. The natives regarded this as too

dainty a morsel to let escape, and so divided it among themselves for

supper.”

[Illustration: A LION HUNT.]

MOHAMMEDAN INFLUENCE.

Lieutenant Wissmann’s contribution to the “Proceedings of the Royal

Geographical Society,” throws light on the question of Mohammedanism and

missions in West Central Africa. The writer’s experience of Mohammedan

influences upon the native populations is in direct contrast with the

assertion that the creed of Islam is that best suited to their needs.

He gives a graphic account of two visits to Bagna Pesihi, and certain

villages of the Bene Ki, a division of the Basonge, in Central Africa,

before and after the arrival of a gang of Arab traders on the scene.

On the first occasion, he was welcomed by a prosperous and contented

tribe, whose condition and occupations bore ample evidence to the

existence of its villages for decades in peace and security, free

from the disturbing elements of war and slave-hunts, pestilence and

superstition. The huts of the natives were roomy and clean, fitted with

shady porches, and surrounded by carefully kept fields and gardens, in

which were grown all manner of useful plants and fruits including hemp,

sugar, tobacco, sweet potatoes, maize, manioc and millet. A thicket of

bananas and plantains occupied the back of each homestead, and shady palm

groves supplied their owners with nuts, oils, fibers and wine. Goats,

sheep and fowls abounded, and no one seemed afraid of thieves. The people

all had a well-fed air, and were anxious to trade, their supplies being

plentiful and extremely cheap. A fowl could be purchased for a large

cowrie shell, and a goat for a yard of calico. Everywhere the visitors

found a cheerful, courteous and contented population, uncontaminated by

the vices of civilization, and yet not wholly ignorant of its arts.

Four years later Lieutenant Wissmann chanced to be in the same district,

and after the privations of a toilsome march through dense, inhospitable

forests, rejoiced as he drew near to the palm groves of the Bagna Pesihi.

A dense growth of grass covered the formerly well-trimmed paths.

“As we approach the skirt of the groves we are struck by the dead silence

which reigns. No laughter is to be heard, no sign of a welcome from our

old friends. The silence of death breathes over the lofty crowns of

the palms, slowly waving in the wind. We enter, and it is in vain we

look to the right and left for the happy homesteads and the happy old

scenes. Tall grass covers everything, and a charred pole here and there,

and a few banana trees are the only evidences that a man once dwelt

here. Bleached skulls by the roadside, and the skeletons of human hands

attached to poles tell the story of what has happened here since our last

visit.”

It appeared that the notorious Tippoo Tib had been there to “trade,” and

in the course of that process had killed all who offered resistance,

carried off the women, and devastated the fields, gardens and banana

groves. Bands of destroyers from the same gang had returned again and

again, and those who escaped the sword perished by the small-pox and

famine, which the marauders left in their train. The whole tribe of

the Bene Ki ceased to exist, and only a few remnants found refuge in a

neighboring state.

Such must be counted amongst the results of Arab “trading” in Africa,

and if it is at such cost that the blessings of Mohammedan civilization

are purchased by the native races, it is no wonder that they are not

considered a desirable acquisition. Even if it be true that Christianity

is sometimes tardy of operation in its beneficent effects upon the

blacks, Christian missionaries and Christian traders can at least boast

that they have not wittingly acted otherwise than beneficently towards

them.

A VICTIM OF SUPERSTITION.

The following incident is related by Bishop Crowther: “A slave who lived

at Alenso was decoyed to a neighboring village under the pretence that he

was appointed to offer a goat as a sacrifice to a dead man. On arrival

at the house where the corpse was laid out, the goat was taken from the

slave, and he was at once pounced on by two stalwart men and bound fast

in chains. The poor man saw at once that he himself, not the goat, was

to be the victim. He calmly addressed the people around, saying he was

quite willing to die and need not be put in chains. A pipe was brought

to him, which he smoked, a new cloth replaced his rags, and while he was

having his last smoke the daughter of the deceased chief stood before him

and began to eulogize her dead father, telling of his former greatness

and achievements. The address was directed to the victim, that he might

repeat the same to the inhabitants of the spirit world when he arrived

there.

“The news of the intended sacrifice was soon circulated. It reached

the ears of the missionary, Rev. J. Buck, who, with some Sierra Leone

friends, hastened to the spot. A large hole had been already dug; the

poor man was led into it, and ordered to lie on his back with his arms

spread out. The missionary and his friends used all possible arguments,

entreaties, and pleadings for his release, but in vain. They offered to

give bullocks for sacrifice instead of the man, but these were flatly

refused; and while they stood entreating, the corpse was brought and

placed on the poor slave. He was then ordered to embrace it, and obeyed.

The missionary and his friends turned away from the horrible sight as

the grave was being filled, burying the living _as a sacrifice_ with the

dead.”

HEROIC WOMEN.

While great praise has been bestowed on certain heroic missionaries and

explorers who have braved the dangers of Africa, little has been said

concerning the women who have endured equal hardships amid the same

hostile tribes and inhospitable climates. Mrs. Livingstone laid down

her life while accompanying her husband on his second great tour in

Africa. Mrs. Hore made her home for several years on an island in Lake

Tanganyika. Mrs. Holub was with her husband when he was attacked by the

natives and robbed of everything, and endured with him the hunger and

fatigue of which they both well-nigh perished. Mrs. Pringle traveled

in a canoe several hundred miles up the Zambesi and Shiré rivers to

Lake Nyassa. Lady Baker was travelling companion to her husband when he

discovered Albert Nyanza. And now we are told that three ladies will

accompany Mr. Arnot and his wife as missionaries to Garenganze, and to

accomplish the journey they will have to be carried in hammocks for

hundreds of miles. Women who accompanied Bishop Taylor have shown a

degree of courage in venturing into the perils of Africa which promise

well for their heroic enterprise. “White women have certainly had their

full share of the hardships and sufferings of pioneer work in Africa.”

MARY MOFFAT’S FAITH.

In the life of Robert Moffatt, first edited by their son, we are reminded

that for ten years the early mission in Bechuana Land was carried on

without one ray of encouragement for the faithful workers. No convert

was made. The directors at home, to the great grief of the devoted

missionaries, began to question the wisdom of continuing the mission.

A year or two longer the darkness reigned. A friend from England sent

word to Mrs. Moffat, asking what gift she should send out to her, and

the brave woman wrote back: “Send a communion service, it will be sure

to be needed.” At last the breath of the Lord moved on the hearts

of the Bechuanas. A little group of six were united into the first

Christian church, and that communion service from England, singularly

delayed, reached Kuruman just the day before the appointed time for the

administration of the Lord’s Supper.

TATAKA, LIBERIA.

“A word from Tataka Mission, this beautiful June day (June 6, 1889),

may be interesting. A shower of rain has just fallen and everything

looks refreshed, and as I sit on our veranda and look around I wish I

could have some of my friends look at the fair picture. All nature is

beautiful, but these darkened minds, as dark as their skins, can see no

beauty in it. They never gather flowers, for their beauty; at times they

bring in a few leaves and roots for medicine.

“At my right hand is a woman cutting wood. This is part of the women’s

work, and they have learned the art of using their cutlasses so well,

that, in a short time, they cut and carry on their heads more than I can

raise from the ground.

“At this season the sounds of drum and dancing can be heard most every

night in merry-making. After crops have been gathered, these poor

creatures, to whom enough to eat is their all, spend their strength in

dancing out their joy.

“The people recognize there is a God, but only in severe illness do

they call on Him. Then their pitiful wail of ‘Oh, Niswa! Oh, Niswa!’ is

touching. The devil is really their god and to him they pay rites and

ceremonies and of him they are terribly afraid. We talk to them of God

and heaven, of wrong and right, and they say: ‘Yes, it be good, but that

be white man’s ‘fash,’ we be devil-men.’ They haven’t a desire beside

their pot of rice and palm butter and mat to sleep on.

“Our little farm looks nicely now; 500 coffee trees just set out, a new

lot of edoes and sweet potatoes and yams coming on, with plenty of rice

in the house. Meat we seldom see, fish occasionally can be bought from

the natives, but they catch but few and want them for their own ‘chop.’

“The laws and customs of this land are very loose. A man has just done

another a foul wrong. He found he was to be called to account, and ran

to another town to beg some of the ‘_big_’ men to go to his town and beg

him off. As they say in English: ‘Please, I beg you, do your heart good;

I beg you let it pass.’ And they are so persistent with their ‘m-ba-ta’s’

(I beg you), that you are glad to let them go. Thus evil goes unpunished.

“Another custom, that of buying women, is the most dreadful to us. A girl

is chosen for a boy when he is still a growing lad. When he is a man and

she about 15 to 17 he wants to take her to his house as his woman. He

has to pay the whole price settled on: usually two bullocks, two goats,

with some cloth, pots, etc. Then if he does not have the means to pay

he goes to any man in his family, that is a ‘head man,’ and demands

pay for his woman. Just this week one of our big men had to sell his

little five-year-old daughter to get money to give his nephew to pay for

his wife. Sometimes this is very hard for the parents to do, but their

country fash demands it. Some one had to do the same for them. A second

or third woman is bought by their own earnings or comes to them by the

death of their brothers. When a man dies his women are divided among the

nearest relatives, and are their women thereafter. The first one is head

woman, and occupies the big house; each of the others has a small house.

“Every day’s experience shows us how difficult it is to do any real good

among this Taboo people. They will shake you by the hand and smile in

your face, but behind your back do all they can to overthrow the mission.

The green-eyed monster jealousy lives here. A man cannot come out and

say, I will do this or that; if he did, he would soon die.

“They will tell you with a good deal of pride, ‘We be devil-men.’” ROSE

A. BOWER.

A NATIVE WAR DANCE.

When Baker arrived in the Obbo country, he found the people in a great

state of excitement owing to the presence of a marauding band of Arabs

who had announced a raid on the neighboring Madi people. While it was

plain that the proposed raid was wholly for booty in slaves and ivory,

the Obbo people were easily influenced, and found in it an opportunity to

revenge themselves for some old or imaginary grievance.

They are a fine, athletic people, and somewhat fantastic, as things go

in Central Africa. As nothing is ever done among them without a grand

palaver, the chief called the tribe into consultation, which turned out

to be a very formal affair. The warriors all appeared fully armed with

spear and shield, and their bodies painted in various patterns with

red ochre and white pipe clay. Their heads were ornamented with really

tasteful arrangements of cowrie shells and ostrich feathers, the latter

often hanging down their backs in graceful folds.

The consultation proceeded for some time with due regard to forms and

with an apparent desire to get at a majority sentiment, when of a

sudden it ended with an outburst from the warriors, and then filing

away into sets or lines, each line indulging in pantomimic charges upon

an imaginary enemy, and going through all the manœuvers of a fierce

contest. Their activity was simply wonderful, and if they could have

brought that show of vigorous athleticism and that terrible determination

of countenance to bear upon their Madi enemies they must have carried

consternation into their ranks. The exhilarating and ostentatious

ceremony proved to be the national war-dance of the tribe, which takes

place as a ratification of the results of a tribal palaver, when the

sentiment has been unanimous for war.

[Illustration: NATIVE WAR-DANCE.]

It was a pity to see these fine fellows so imposed upon by the wily

Arabs, but they seemed to be wholly under their influence, for no sooner

had the war-dance ended, which it did more through the exhaustion of the

participants than through a desire to stop, than the chief arose and

delivered a most voluble and vehement address, urging upon his warriors

to assist the Arabs in their proposed raid and to beat the Madi people

at all hazards. Several other speakers talked in a similar strain, with

the effect of arousing the greatest enthusiasm. The result was that the

Arab leader started on his raid with 120 of his own armed followers,

surrounded and supported by the entire warlike force of the Obbos.

AFRICAN GAME LAWS.

Eastward of Lake Albert Nyanza is the Shooli country. In the midst

of this tribe Col. Baker established Fort Fatiko. While awaiting

reinforcements, he cultivated the friendship of the natives and soon

found himself on excellent terms with them. The grass was fit to burn

and the hunting season had fairly commenced. All the natives devote

themselves to this important pursuit, for the chase supplies the Shooli

with clothing. Though the women are naked, every man wears an antelope

skin slung across his shoulders, so arranged as to be tolerably decent.

All the waste tracts of the Shooli and Unyoro country are claimed by

individual proprietors who possess the right to hunt game therein by

inheritance. Thus in Africa the principle of the English game preserve

exists, though without definite metes and bounds. Yet a breach of their

primitive game laws would be regarded by the public as a disgrace to the

guilty individual, precisely as poaching is a disgrace in England.

The rights of game are among the first rudiments of property. Man in a

primitive state is a hunter, depending for his clothing upon the skins

of wild animals, and upon their flesh for his subsistence; therefore

the beast that he kills upon the desert must be his property; and in a

public hunt, should he be the first to wound a wild animal, he will have

gained an increased interest or share in the flesh by having reduced the

chance of its escape. Thus public opinion, which we must regard as the

foundation of _equity_, rewards him with a distinct and special right,

which becomes _law_.

It is impossible to trace the origin of game laws in Central Africa, but

it is nevertheless interesting to find that such rights are generally

acknowledged, and that large tracts of uninhabited country are possessed

by individuals which are simply manorial. These rights are inherited,

descending from father to the eldest son.

When the grass is sufficiently dry to burn, the whole thoughts of

the community are centered upon sport. Baker, being a great hunter,

associated with them. Their favorite method of hunting is with nets, each

man being provided with a net, some 30 feet long and 11 feet deep. A

council was called and it was decided that the hunt should take place on

the manors of certain individuals whose property was contiguous.

At length the day of the hunt arrived, when several thousand people

collected at a certain rendezvous, about nine miles distant from Fatiko,

the best neighborhood for game. “At a little before 5 A.M.,” says Baker,

“I started on my solitary but powerful horse, Jamoos. Descending the

rocky terrace from the station at Fatiko, we were at once in the lovely,

park-like glades, diversified by bold granite rocks, among which were

scattered the graceful drooping acacias in clumps of dense foliage.

Crossing the clear, rippling stream, we clambered up the steep bank on

the opposite side, and, after a ride of about a mile and a half, we

gained the water-shed, and commenced a gradual descent towards the west.

We were now joined by numerous people, both men, women, and children, all

of whom were bent upon the hunt. The men carried their nets and spears;

the boys were also armed with lighter weapons, and the very little

fellows carried tiny lances, all of which had been carefully sharpened

for the expected game. The women were in great numbers, and upon that

day the villages were quite deserted. Babies accompanied their mothers,

strapped upon their backs with leathern bands, and protected from the

weather by the usual tortoise-like coverings of gourd-shells. Thus it

may be imagined that the Shooli tribe were born hunters, as they had

accompanied the public hunts from their earliest infancy.

“As we proceeded, the number of natives increased, but there was no noise

or loud talking. Every one appeared thoroughly to understand his duties.

Having crossed the beautiful Un-y-Amé river, we entered the game country.

A line of about a mile and a half was quickly protected by netting, and

the natives were already in position.

“Each man had lashed his net to that of his neighbor and supported it

with bamboos, which were secured with ropes fastened to twisted grass.

Thus the entire net resembled a fence, that would be invisible to the

game in the high grass, until, when driven, they should burst suddenly

upon it.

“The grass was as dry as straw, and several thousand acres were to be

fired up to windward, which would compel the animals to run before the

flames, until they reached the netting placed a few paces in front, where

the high grass had been purposely cleared to resist the advance of the

fire. Before each section of net, a man was concealed both within and

without, behind a screen, simply formed of the long grass tied together

at the top.

“The rule of sport decided that the proprietor of each section of netting

of twelve yards length would be entitled to all game that should be

killed within these limits, but that the owners of the manors which

formed the hunt upon that day should receive a hind-leg from every animal

captured.

“This was fair play; but in such hunts a breach of the peace was of

common occurrence, as a large animal might charge the net and receive a

spear from the owner of the section, after which he might break back, and

eventually be killed in the net of another hunter; which would cause a

hot dispute.

“The nets had been arranged with perfect stillness, and the men having

concealed themselves, we were placed in positions on the extreme flanks

with the rifles.

“Everything was ready, and men had already been stationed at regular

intervals about two miles to windward, where they waited with their

fire-stick for the appointed signal. A shrill whistle disturbed the

silence. This signal was repeated at intervals to windward. In a few

minutes after the signal, a long line of separate thin pillars of smoke

ascended into the blue sky, forming a band extending over about two miles

of the horizon.

“The thin pillars rapidly thickened, and became dense volumes, until at

length they united, and formed a long black cloud of smoke that drifted

before the wind over the bright yellow surface of the high grass. The

natives were so thoroughly concealed, that no one would have supposed

that a human being besides ourselves was in the neighborhood. The wind

was brisk, and the fire travelled at about four miles an hour. We could

soon hear the distant roar, as the great volume of flame shot high

through the centre of the smoke.

“Presently I saw a slate-colored mass trotting along the face of the

opposite slope, about 250 yards distant. I quickly made out a rhinoceros,

and I was in hopes that he was coming towards me. Suddenly he turned to

my right, and continued along the face of the inclination.

“Some of the beautiful leucotis antelope, here known as gemsbock, being

of a small variety, now appeared and centered towards me, but halted when

they approached the stream, and listened. The game understood the hunting

as well as the natives. In the same manner that the young children went

out to hunt with their parents, so had the wild animals been hunted

together with their parents ever since their birth.

“The leucotis now charged across the stream; at the same time a herd of

hartebeest dashed past. I knocked over one, and with the left-hand barrel

I wounded a leucotis. At this moment a lion and lioness, that had been

disturbed by the fire in our rear, came bounding along. I was just going

to take a shot, when, as my finger was on the trigger, I saw the head of

a native rise out of the grass exactly in the line of fire; then another

head popped up from a native who had been concealed, and rather than risk

an accident I allowed the lions to pass. In one magnificent bound they

cleared the stream, and disappeared in the high grass.

“The fire was advancing rapidly, and the game was coming up fast. A

small herd of leucotis crossed the brook, and I killed another, but the

smoke had become so thick that I was nearly blinded. It was at length

impossible to see; the roar of the fire and the heat were terrific, as

the blast swept before the advancing flames, and filled the air and eyes

with fine black ashes. I literally had to turn and run hard into fresher

atmosphere to get a gasp of cool air, and to wipe my streaming eyes. Just

as I emerged from the smoke, a leucotis came past, and received both the

right and left bullets in a good place, before it fell.

“The fire reached the stream and at once expired. The wind swept the

smoke on before, and left in view the velvety black surface, that had

been completely denuded by the flames.

“The natives had killed many antelopes, but the rhinoceros had gone

through their nets like a cobweb. Several buffaloes had been seen, but

they had broken out in a different direction. I had placed five antelopes

to my credit in this day’s sport.”

VIVI, ON THE CONGO.

“Vivi could be made a beautiful place, if we only had water, but this

is a big _if_, and yet I think not impossible. Last Sabbath I went to

the villages and preached to one king and some of his people. He seemed

interested and said I must come again. Then we went to another village,

where they were having a palaver over a sick man. There were many men,

women, boys, and even babies present.

“Their _ngongo_ (or doctor) was seated in the midst, with the sick man

near by. The doctor had a cloth spread out in front of him on the ground,

that contained nearly everything——vegetable, mineral, animal, birds’

claws, chickens’ feet, goats’ feet and hides, teeth and claws of wild

animals. There were also roots, nuts, dirt and many other things. There

were some leaves lying on top of this collection, with something on them

that reminded me of a cow’s cud, half-chewed, which he fixt up as a dose.

“He divided the cud in three parts, placing one part in a wooden dish

with some leaves. Then he cut off bits of roots or something, and put in

each of these three piles, taking at the same time a little of each in

his mouth. After chewing it quite thoroughly, he spit several times on

each pile. After water had been poured on it, the dish was surrounded

by the women. Then he squeezed the juice out of the little heaps in the

dish. At two different times the sick man took a swallow of the juice.

Then the doctor took a sharp knife and cut his own tongue, till it bled

freely. The blood ran down on a staff and a green leaf that lay in front

of him; then he took up the leaf and staff and rubbed the blood on

different parts of his body. This, with much more nonsense, was carried

on, when I tried to get a hearing, but nothing of this kind could be done

till the palaver was over, and the sick man was finished.

“I like Vivi, and as we must have a receiving and transport station here,

I am doing what I can to make it a success. In addition to repairing

the buildings already here, I am going to put up some stone buildings.

They will not be expensive, as stone is abundant, and much more durable

than wood for building, being fire and ant-proof. I am also trying to do

something in the way of self-support by getting around me some cattle,

sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, pigeons, etc.; and growing such native

fruits and produce as do well here at Vivi. This will be convenient in

the event of war, smallpox or famine——I mean such famine as might occur

from not being able to get supplies from home or here, at the time we

need them. Mr. McKitrick, a gentleman of the A. B. M. U. Mission, called

a few days ago, saying they could not buy a goat or chicken on the south

side of the river. In the past few days the Baptists and traders have

been over here buying chickens. Soon, unless some one turns his attention

to raising these things, there will be none to buy. They bring now one

piece and a half (thirty to fifty cents) for one fowl.

“The chief wanted to buy 100 fowls from me a few days ago. With a ready

sale for all the sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, etc., can you not see

self-support in the future for Vivi?

“Nearly every steamer brings many Europeans, State men, and missionaries,

and they are paid salaries, and expect to buy their living instead of

producing it. They cannot depend on the natives for supplies; they must

be raised by some one else or be imported. Now these are my reasons why

I think self-support should not be lost sight of.

“All our live stock is doing well, though this is the hard pull for them,

if there is any; for we have had no rain for about four months, and will

have none for about three months more. Sheep and goats do well here. This

is no experiment. The calves, I may soon say cattle, are doing finely. If

two will do well here, twenty or thirty will do the same, as there is an

immense range for them to graze over.

“My father keeps a herd of nice wild cattle about a half day’s walk from

here. He has already given me two whole bullocks since I came to Vivi,

and also two large deer as big as mules, and a good deal better. I really

think shipping meat from America or England will soon be a thing of the

past.

“The buffalo and deer here are likely to last a good while, for though

they are frequently shot at, few are killed. A buffalo I killed a few

days ago had in it two slugs, shot by the natives, I suppose. They are a

sturdy animal, willing to defend themselves and their young to the death,

and desperate when at bay.

[Illustration: BUFFALO DEFENDING HER YOUNG.]

“This country will produce an abundance, but white men must show the

natives how to do it. It is here now as it used to be in California. The

last ten years of my life were spent on the Pacific Coast, when thousands

of people returned from there, abusing the people and the country. I have

met train after train of returning emigrants, who said: “Go back! go

back! go back to God’s country! People are starving; all are lies about

California and Oregon being good countries; on all the Pacific Coast

there are no places for poor people.”

“But all this did not stop the emigration west, and the Pacific slope

has proved a rich country. Persons come to Africa, and return giving

bad reports; still they come, and will come, for this country has great

advantages.” REV. J. C. TETER.

RUM ON THE CONGO.

Bishop Newman has presented to Congress a memorial from the World’s W.

C. T. U. praying that immediate and decisive steps be taken to suppress

the liquor traffic in the Congo Free State and the basin of the Niger.

The memorial shows that during 1885 more than 10,000,000 gallons of the

cheapest and vilest spirits ever manufactured were sent from the United

States, Germany, Holland, England, France, and Portugal to the natives of

Africa. The quantities contributed by the different nations were:

United States, 737,650 gallons; Germany, 7,823,000 gallons; the

Netherlands, 1,099,146 gallons; France (“pure alcohol”), 406,000 gallons;

England, 311,400 gallons; Portugal, 91,524 gallons.

The memorial, continuing, says that abundant evidence proves that this

deadly rum has developed in the natives an alcoholic passion almost

without parallel, and has sunk them into a state of degradation lower

than they occupied before they had contact with our commerce and

civilization. The march of commerce will soon place the rum traders in

communication with over 50,000,000 of savages, and unless the traffic

is totally suppressed, the result will be most disastrous to the cause

of humanity, a reproach to the Christian nations who supply it, and an

outrage second only to the slave trade itself.

The purposes of the memorial and of the arguments made by Bishop Newman

and Mr. Hornady are to bring about such a revision of the General Act of

the Berlin Conference as shall completely suppress the liquor traffic

in the territory in question; to obtain a law from Congress prohibiting

the exportation of liquor from this country to any part of Africa, and

to persuade the United States Government to use its influence to induce

other governments to co-operate.

PALAVERING.

The council, consultation, or palaver, is one of Africa’s fixed

institutions. We have unfortunately, and unfairly, adopted the word

“palaver” to express our notion of what the natives regard with all

seriousness, and what is, in their polity, as necessary as an American

deliberative body or a treaty-making power are to us. A “palaver” is

an idle talk. An African palaver may appear to be very idle to us, and

considering its length——sometimes days and even weeks——it is a terrible

bore to white people who have to wait till it ends.

The palaver is universal in Africa. Every village has its council place,

its assembly hut or its palaver tree. Palaver proceedings are always

formal and deliberate. There must be a palaver in order to declare war

and make peace. When one tribe, or chief, asks anything of another, it

must be granted or refused, through a palaver. Visits of white people to

a tribe, the right to remain, to trade, to build, to preach, and to go

away again, are all subjects requiring a palaver. Bishop Taylor has found

it to be a capital way of making a Christian impression on the minds of

his African auditors, to call them together in sacred palaver, and he

secures their assent to such doctrines as they accept, as results of a

palaver rather than as individual professions.

When parties of native travelers meet in desert, plain or forest, there

is always a consultation, or palaver. Notes are compared in this way,

intentions are expressed, views are made known. The palaver, or council,

is thus the parliament and newspaper of Africa. It runs all through the

country, just as do the traveling paths, which extend from ocean to

ocean. You meet it in Bechuanaland, on the Zambesi, at Bihè, on Nyassa,

Tanganyika, Victoria Nyanza, the Nile, Congo, Niger, Gambia. Sekhomo of

Kalihari, squats with his council on burning sands. Mtesa of Uganda,

holds a council as lordly as the Shah of Persia. Iboko of the Congo,

palavers for nine days over the landing of a little steamer.

Irksome as the palaver must prove to white people, it ought not to be

forgotten that natives enjoy it, and its sessions are valves for the

escape of passions which otherwise might result in great harm.

EMIN PASHA AT ZANZIBAR.

For weeks after the arrival of Stanley and his rescuing party at

Zanzibar, the life of Emin Pasha, on account of his severe accident, was

despaired of. Indeed, not until a very late period has he been able to

communicate with any one. Meanwhile, rumors of difference between him and

Stanley became current, and the opinion was entertained that Emin would

not go to Europe at all, but only awaited an opportunity to return again

to his abandoned provinces.

[Illustration: SEKHOMO AND HIS COUNCIL.]

One of his first visitors, after his illness, was an American journalist,

who secured the following points:

“The American people would very much like you to say, in plain language,

Pasha, so that all may fully understand, why you left your post and came

out with Mr. Stanley?”

“Well, you see,” replied Emin, “Mr. Stanley brought orders from the

Khedive of Egypt for me to return with him. I am an Egyptian officer,

and have no option but to obey the Khedive’s orders. I did not wish to

leave, and if the Khedive should order me back again to-morrow, and would

provide me with men and means to maintain my position, I would return

with the greatest pleasure.”

“Do you wish the American public to understand, then, Pasha, that you

could have maintained your position and were under no necessity of coming

away with Mr. Stanley, had you not received orders from the Khedive to do

so?”

“I think if Mr. Stanley would have consented to wait, much could have

been done. Things had got to be very bad, however, and Mr. Stanley would

not wait. He seemed only anxious that I and my people, the Egyptians,

should go as quickly as we could with him to the coast.”

“Were you and your people in great need of assistance when Mr. Stanley

reached you, Pasha?”

“We were very glad to have Mr. Stanley come to our relief, of course, and

we all feel very grateful to the people of England for the great interest

they have taken in us; but we were in no great need of anything but

ammunition. Food was very plenty with us.

“The soldiers had gardens, cows, wives, and plenty of everything to eat.

They were much better off than they ever had been in Egypt or the Soudan.

They had come to regard the province as their home and had no wish to

ever return to Egypt. They considered that they were fighting for their

homes, and so fought well and bravely so long as there was a chance of

success and the hope of assistance from our friends without. It was only

when there was no longer anything to hope for, and when we read to them

the message that they must leave with Mr. Stanley or never expect any

more assistance from the Egyptian Government, that they began to waver in

their allegiance to me. Poor fellows, what could they do? They didn’t

wish to leave; the Khalifa’s forces were advancing up the Nile, they

now had everything to gain and nothing to lose by turning against me.

I do not blame them; they are but Africans, and nothing else was to be

expected of them.

“Mr. Stanley was in such haste to go, he would not wait. If Mr. Stanley

had consented to wait we might have pushed forward stations to the

northeast corner of the Victoria Nyanza, and there we could have met

the English Company’s caravans. I do not know Mr. Stanley’s reasons for

being in such a hurry to leave. Perhaps he himself will tell you this.”

(Mr. Stanley had already said that after getting Emin and as many of his

people who wanted to go, together, at Kavalis, his great concern was to

get them safely to the coast. As for attempting to open new roads with a

crowd of helpless women and children in his charge, he couldn’t think of

such a thing, etc.)

“It was rumored that you had vast stores of ivory in hand, Pasha; what of

that?”

“Ivory! I had collected for the Government more than 6,000 fine large

tusks since our communication had been cut off. I had ivory enough, if I

could have got it to market, to have paid off all the back salaries of

my people, and have had a handsome surplus besides.” (Six thousand fine

large tusks would weigh in the neighborhood of 200 American tons, worth

in Zanzibar about $6,000 per ton. The value in Emin’s stations would, of

course, in no wise approach this great sum of value——$1,200,000. Emin

told the writer that he valued his stores of ivory, as they lay in his

stations, at about £70,000.)

“We couldn’t bring it with us,” the Pasha continued, “so I threw most of

it into the Nile to prevent the enemy from getting it. Some, however, in

outlying stations I intrusted to the care of friendly native chiefs, not

knowing what chances and what opportunities time might bring.”

THE SAS TOWN TRIBE OF WEST AFRICA.

“The officers of this tribe are as follows:

“The ‘town master’ is really emperor, as in him is vested the power of

life and death. If the tribe wishes to disobey a town master’s commands,

they must kill him first. This is done in so many instances that few town

masters die a natural death.

“The ‘ground king’ is their weather prophet, and he is supposed to

manufacture the weather. He may be king for only a month or two, seldom

long, as the weather he makes may not suit.

“Their ‘soldier king’ answers to our general in the army.

“They have three ‘butchers,’ who do all the killing for the feasts.

“Their ‘town lawyer’ answers to our attorney-general.

“The duty of their ‘peace-maker’ is what his name indicates.

“They have thirty old men or chiefs, whose duties are to watch the town

and people, and to act as the king’s cabinet.

“The laws of the tribe are made by the king and his cabinet. Some of them

are curious, and sometimes severe. For instance, one law forbids the town

master and the butchers from ever leaving the town, on pain of death.

Another is that when a person is accused of witchery, he or she must

drink the deadly saswood, or have their brains knocked out. This tea is a

potion from the saswood tree, which grows all over this country and is a

deadly poison. To make sure of its full effect, the suspected person is

made to drink a copious draft. As this is likely to produce emesis, the

large quantity is often their salvation.

“These people are so superstitious that they will not leave a hole in

their house open at night for fear of being witched.

“Here polygamy has all the evils of that life. If a wife is dissatisfied

with her husband, she can run away to any man she chooses, and he must

receive her, and pay to her former husband the price he paid for her.

This may put the second man to quite a disadvantage, often giving him

more wives than he can pay for. The lot of a wife is very hard. She must

make the farm, grow all the rice, carry all the wood, seven or eight

miles, on her head, and do all the cooking. Besides this she must stand

all the ill-temper of her jealous husband, and this, perhaps, with a baby

strapped on her back.

“When a man thinks one of his wives is unchaste, he gets a pan of

palm-oil, and heating it as hot as he can, he makes the wife put her hand

in and pick up a stone from the bottom of the pan; his theory being,

that, if his charge be true, the oil will catch fire and burn her hand.

If this does not satisfy him, the poisonous draught of the saswood is

resorted to.

“These people eat nearly everything that grows, animal or vegetable.

I have seen them eat elephant lungs, green ants, chicken heads and

intestines. When they kill a bullock, they eat all of him, even cooking

the hide with the hair on. As I said, everything goes for food, even

rotten bananas. But with all of their rotten chop, they are healthy,

strong and vigorous men, women and children.

“Their only garment is about four feet of cloth, for all those above

sixteen years of age; those younger go entirely naked.

“They all sleep on the bare ground with a stick for a pillow, and of

course, skin diseases are quite prevalent.

“They are a kind people to one another. I have stood at the spring, when

the women were coming after water, which they carry in four-gallon pots

on the top of their head, and one always helps the other to lift her load

up, and so it is in everything. If a party of natives are together, and

you give them a banana, it is divided between every one of them. I very

seldom hear a baby cry; and I must say that here babies have a chance to

live, as they are not weaned for two years, and are humored in every way.

“The Sas-Town tribes work hard for the white man, for very little pay. I

have seen a woman carry a box, weighing 120 pounds, two and a half miles

for two leaves of tobacco, worth one and one-eighth cents.

“These people are ignorant, but willing and quick to learn. They have

some natural orators among them, as I have seen at their ‘palavers.’” C.

E. GUNNISON.

AN INTERRUPTED JOURNEY.

When Livingstone was marching down the valley of the Zambezi, and had

crossed its great northern affluent, the Loangwe, he found himself and

party of carriers in the midst of a dense forest. All of his riding

oxen had been killed by the tsetse fly, except one, and this had been

so reduced in strength as to be unable to carry the traveler more than

half the time. Therefore such a thing as forced journeys were out of the

question. There was nothing to do but to proceed leisurely, and this the

party were doing,——pushing now through thick clumps of forest, and now

through tangled bush, as best they might.

While thus threading their way through a forest clump, there was a rush

and a roar off to the left, and almost instantly three huge buffaloes

made their appearance, running as if they been badly frightened in

the direction whence they came. As the bush was thick and high, they

evidently did not see that their course was directly athwart that of the

traveling party, and so they rushed right into the midst of the carriers,

before they had time to clear the way. Livingstone’s ox, frightened at

the unexpected dash, made a plunge forward, nearly throwing its rider

off, but thereby escaping the fury of the charging buffaloes. When he

turned, he saw one of his carriers flying through the air at a height of

twenty feet, having been tossed by the foremost of the animals, whose

fright seems to have been turned into rage at sight of human beings.

[Illustration: AN INTERRUPTED JOURNEY.]

The buffaloes rushed by and Livingstone hastened to his carrier,

expecting to find him dead or badly gored. But strange to say he was

only bruised and frightened, and was quickly able to resume his load. On

inquiry, Livingstone found that the carrier had drawn his misfortune on

himself. Instead of doing as the others had done, making for a friendly

tree, he had thrown down his load, and as the leading buffalo was dashing

by, he had given it a vicious stab in the side, whereupon the beast had

savagely turned upon him and sent him high into the air.

IN MONROVIA.

“The heathen that leap out of the vices and degradation and superstition

and the deep darkness of their former lives, into active, working,

intelligent Christians, are, I am inclined to think, the product of

a facile pen from an overhopeful brain. It is not easy to shake off

lifetime habits, customs hoary, and to them venerable, because their

ancestors as far back as can be traced, have practiced them, and at once

ascend into the region of a sublime faith, and from visible objects and

ceremonies whereby wrath of the great demon power is averted, and his

favor propitiated, turn to the King, invisible, immortal.

“The cerements of old superstition enwrap them. Neither can we ‘loose him

and let him go’ the moment the new desires are born in him. His efforts

are something like a child that is just learning to walk; he takes a step

or two, wavers and drops back into some past habit, but like a child he

is helped up and put on his feet again. I went down to Krutown last week

to school. I heard tom-toms and saw the people on one street out for a

gala day——all ‘dressed up,’ The women were painted with different kinds

of clay, and had a great quantity of leopard teeth around their wrists

and neck, plenty of brass anklets and armlets, and a towel or breakfast

shawl thrown loosely and gracefully over one shoulder. Quite a number

had on a cloth extending nearly to their feet, but all their bodies were

bare to the hips; a great many held silk umbrellas over their heads,

and all had a self-conscious air of being ‘well dressed.’ I went on and

opened school. One of my Bible scholars was absent, a man of 40 or 45,

who had learned to read, and showed such a meek and quiet spirit. I named

him Fletcher. I asked where Fletcher was. ‘Him got a new wife, you no

see that big play? Well that be him friends making for him.’ Next day

he was in his place as usual. I asked why he took another wife. ‘Mammy,

the woman done run away from him husband and come to me, and I no fittee

send him back; I take him.’ That was all there was, no feeling of having

done wrong. Polygamy is the greatest obstacle one meets in this part of

Africa. The women are ashamed to belong——yes, belong, for the man buys

her——to a man who is so poor he cannot buy more than one or two wives.

It is not the patriarchal system some think, for the women are every

now and then running away to some other man. Some never say a word, but

let the man have his wife, others demand the amount the husband paid

for her, others again make a big palaver. A court is called and after

several hearings, which sometimes last two and three weeks, the wife

is restored or returned to her husband, and both seem satisfied. It is

almost impossible to do any teaching or evangelistic work when one man’s

wife runs away to another man——the latter’s friends make merry by beating

tom-toms, singing, dancing and drinking rum.

“These are some of the things that a missionary has to meet, and which

greatly retard the work. Then time has no value to them. Plenty of

_chop_, and not a desire and not an emotion beyond that. Like the

prostrate figure in Peale’s Court of Death, the head and feet touch the

waters of oblivion. So with the heathen here; the past and the future are

alike impenetrable, incomprehensible.” MARY SHARP.

A SAMPLE SERMON.

The following is a sample sermon in Kru English which has been found well

adapted for the comprehension of the Cavalla river natives:

Niswa make many worlds. Most of the stars are worlds much larger than

this world, and I believe Niswa has plenty good people in all of them.

The devils once had “their habitation” in one of those great worlds.

They were good spirits then, and very strong, but they live for make bad

and fight against Niswa, and were driven away from their home, and “fell

like lightning from heaven,” and they hide away in the dark caves of our

world. They be fit to live in this world till it finish. Then all the

devils that come down from their great world, and all the bad people of

this world will be condemned at Niswa’s judgment seat and be sent down

to hell——“the place prepared for the devil” and all his followers. There

they will all be locked in forever.

This world is one of the little worlds that Niswa made, and for people

for this world he made one man and one woman, and join them together as

man and wife. The man and his wife were clean and pure like Niswa.

One fine day the chief devil of all the army of them came and make

palaver with the woman, and she make palaver with her husband, and the

man and woman got bad, and join the devil in his rebellion against

Niswa. As soon as they turned against Niswa and joined the devil’s army

to fight against Him, the devil-nature struck right through them. Then

they were called to answer at the bar of justice before the great King,

and were found guilty and condemned to die. Their bodies be fit to rot

in the ground, and their spirits to be turned with all the devils into

hell forever. The Saswood cup of death and hell was put into the hands

of the man and woman to drink. Niswa has one Son just like himself. Not

a son born of a mother. Niswa no be born of a woman. He be Niswa without

“beginning of days or end of life.” So His Beloved Son, just like Him, be

without “beginning of days or end of life.” Niswa and his Son look at the

man and woman and their cup of death and feel very sorry for them. Then

the Son pray, “O Father, let me ransom this man and woman and all their

seed.” Then Niswa and his Beloved Son have palaver, and make agreement

about the man and woman. The Father agree to give His Son a ransom for

them. The Son agree at a set time to join himself to a son born from “the

seed of the woman” and live with her children, and show them the mind,

the light, the love of Niswa; and teach them all Niswa’s good ways, and

then drink their Saswood cup of death——to die for them, and the third day

after to rise again from the dead, to be forever their living redeemer,

their lawyer in Niswa’s court, and their doctor to heal them.

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA.

The extent of European territorial annexation of Africa, provisional,

protective or positive, is quite surprising even to those who have kept

pretty close watch of it. Of the eleven millions of square miles in

Africa, six and one-half millions are attached to some European power;

and of the four and a half unattached parts, half lie within the desert

of Sahara.

That, therefore, is to say that all the continent of Africa that is

habitable, except about two million square miles, is under European

domination. Europe has annexed Africa. The “British East African Company”

is practically another European State in Africa, for it is granted full

powers to levy taxes and customs and to maintain an armed force. Whether

another generation will look upon all this as civilized brigandage,

or whether it is any better than free-booting of any other type, does

not materially affect the facts in the case. The British government,

through its colonial or foreign office, nevertheless has authorized this

company (new State) to carry on high piracy of much of the finest land

in Central Africa filled with an industrious population, said to number

about Lake Nyanza alone twelve millions of people. We are told that the

company is composed of philanthropic gentlemen in London, and we have no

doubt but that the ultimate result will be good——“the Earth will help the

woman”——but it is nevertheless difficult to detect any under-lying moral

principle above

“He may take who has the power

And he may keep who can.”

And while the lion and the lamb in this millennial reign lie down

together in peace, it is because the lamb is inside of the lion.

But Great Britain is not alone in this missionary zeal that “out of

the eater shall come forth meat and out of the strong shall come forth

sweetness,” though her “sphere of influence” is a million square miles

of the Dark Continent. France exercises the sweet charities of modern

politics over 700,000 square miles, and Germany seeks to convert, _en

bloc_, if not to Christianity, at least to modern German trade-gain,

200,000 square miles, about which she now disputes, to add to the 740,000

she has without debate already. Meanwhile the king of Portugal takes

“military occupation” of a tract of land north of Loanda and creates an

“attachment” for it to the king of Portugal; and the British government

“annexes” that part of the Gold Coast between Cape Coast Castle and the

delta of the Niger; and what with treaties, “military operations” and

“protectorates,” Africa becomes rapidly a sort of “country store” run by

European merchants.

Barring the radical ethical question in the case, perhaps we may rejoice

in the bare hope that all this is “casting up the highway for the

progress of Christianity;” but if what with rum and gunpowder these races

are to be “civilized off the face of the Earth,” as we have done with our

native American races, it would seem that there must nevertheless be a

great reckoning day with the Christian powers, that they could find no

better way of developing Africa than by fertilizing her soil with the

carcasses of her sons.

LIONS AND A GIRAFFE.

The lions of Africa are night prowlers. Very few have ever seen them

seize their prey in the day-time. Capt. Anderson once witnessed such a

scene. Late one evening he badly wounded a lion, and on the following

morning set out with his attendants to track the game and complete the

capture. “Presently,” he writes, “we came upon traces of a troop of

lions and a giraffe. The tracks were thick and confusing, and while

we were trying to pick out those of the wounded lion, I observed my

native attendants suddenly rush forward, and the next instant the jungle

resounded with their shouts of triumph.

“Thinking they had discovered the object of our search, I hurried

forward; but imagine my surprise when, emerging into an opening in the

jungle, I saw, not the dead lion, as I had expected, but five living

lions——two males and three females——two of whom were engaged in pulling

down a splendid giraffe, the other three watching close at hand, and with

devouring look, the deadly strife.

“The scene was of so unusual and exciting a nature that for the moment I

quite forgot I carried a gun. The natives, however, in expectation of a

glorious feast, dashed madly forward with the most piercing shrieks, and

their yells compelled the lions to beat a hasty retreat. When I reached

the giraffe, now stretched at full length on the ground, it made a few

ineffectual attempts to raise its head, fell over, heaving and quivering

throughout its entire body, and at length straightened itself out in

death. An examination showed several deep gashes about the breast and

flanks, made by the claws of the fierce assailants. The strong and tough

muscles of the elongated neck were also bitten through in many places.

All thought of further pursuit of the wounded lion was now out of the

question. The natives now gathered about the dead giraffe, and did not

desist from feasting upon it till its entire carcass had been devoured. A

day or two afterwards, however, I came upon the bloody tracks of my royal

antagonist, and had the pleasure of finishing him with a well directed

bullet from my rifle.”

[Illustration: LIONS PULLING DOWN A GIRAFFE.]

KILIMANJARO.

In passing southward from Lake Albert Nyanza, Stanley and the rescued

Emin, together with their large party, skirted a lofty range of

mountains, whose highest peak is Kilimanjaro, which has lately been

ascended for the distance of 16,500 feet, to the snow line, by two German

scientists and explorers, thus giving it a distinct place in geography,

and setting it forth as one of the most interesting of natural objects.

The region is south of the great Uganda and Unyoro tribes, and had, up

to Stanley’s trip through it, never been visited by a traveler of note

except Thomas Stevens and Dr. Abbott, who thus narrate what they saw:——

“First we determined to pay a visit to the chief of Machawe in order

to make purchases of food, and besides, we anticipated much pleasure

in visiting a chief who had never yet set eyes on a white man. Our

way led through a very charming plain country, very African in its

appearance. The gently undulating plains were dotted with small cones

of a hundred feet, or thereabout, in height, so small, symmetrical and

uniform in shape as to suggest bubbles floating on the green waves of

the plain. Rhinoceri, giraffes, antelopes, buffalo and zebra abounded

in great numbers, roaming over the free, broad plains like herds of

cattle. Whenever we knocked over any of these, it was very refreshing

and soothing to the spirits to see the very men who but yesterday had

declared ‘the nyama was not food’ fling down their loads and quarrel

violently over big chunks of that very article. As we neared the

approaches to Machawe, we came upon a party of Masai women and donkeys,

wending their way towards Sigarari with loads of vegetable food, which

they had purchased at the former place or at Kibonoto. These were the

first real Masai women we had seen. They were not such as to give

us a very favorable idea of their sex in Sigarari. All were old and

atrociously ugly, it being customary, for obvious reasons, to send the

ancient dames of the clan on these food-purchasing expeditions, rather

than the possessors of youth and beauty.

“Even though the Masai and their agricultural neighbors may be at war,

and the men of either side would, if caught, be brutally speared, it

is the custom to let the women pass back and forth unmolested to trade.

Africans, even the Masai, who are supposed to be chiefly devoted to war

and raiding for cattle, are above all else commercial in their instincts.

It appears that, with all their savagery, choice scraps of wisdom are to

be picked up among these people here and there. Who could imagine the

armies of two European countries proceeding against each other while the

trade across the frontier flourished unimpaired in the care of their

women?

“We camped near a swamp, in which we found abundant signs of elephants,

but saw none of them, and in the morning proceeded to Machawe. Machawe is

the largest and most populous of the Kilimanjaro States, and, with its

neighbor, Kibonoto, occupies the western extremity of the cultivatable

plateau that distinguishes the mountain on its southern slopes. Though

the largest, it is the least known to Europeans, and so we looked forward

to a novel and interesting visit to its Sultan and people.

“The approaches to Machawe consist of the usual narrow, tortuous paths,

leading through dense thickets of scrubby and thorny vegetation, and

instead of gates the defenses by this route are deep, narrow ravines,

which have been trimmed down and deepened into big trenches. A pole

thrown across one of these ditches forms a bridge, which the natives,

sure of foot as monkeys, cross over and, in times of war, remove.

“Crossing these obstacles with no little difficulty, we at once found

ourselves in the proximity of banana groves, and objects of more than

usual interest to swarms of bronze-skinned warriors who had in a

remarkably short time collected on the adjacent ridges. We wondered

where they had all come from so quickly. They were by no means certain

of our intentions, and for some time held aloof, watching us with the

keenest interest. At length we managed to make them understand that

our intentions were commercial only, and a few of the more venturesome

individuals came and pointed out a place for us to camp. After much

talkee-talkee with an ancient and exceedingly peaceful-looking savage in

a greasy goat-skin toga and anklets of the same material, we sent off a

present to the Sultan and stated our intention of paying him a visit next

day.

“Our delegation was hospitably entertained by the chief, with a goat

and big jars of pombe, but the men were kept in the royal boma until our

appearance next day; this as a guarantee, so we afterwards understood,

that we would keep our promise and come to see him. He was most anxious

to receive us, and particularly requested that the entire caravan might

be brought to his residence.

“We had no idea how far it was nor how difficult might be the way. It

turned out to be up hill and down dale for many trying miles, through

banana plantations of astonishing area and across clear, cold mountain

streams that nearly swept us off our feet.

“The country was lovely, a chaotic jumble of narrow hills and dales and

the whole sloping gently up towards Kibo and clothed with luxuriant

vegetation of every shade of green. Everywhere could be heard the music

of mountain streams coursing over rocky beds at the bottom of the cañons

or leaping and tumbling over cataracts or down rapids. Between the banana

plantations stood little patches of primeval forest, and about them, so

characteristic of Chaga, were the charming little parks we have noted in

Marangu. The groves are believed to be peopled with the shades of their

ancestors, and native offerings are placed before the trees. Troops of

big reddish baboons also make the groves and the little parks their homes.

“Irrigating ditches were everywhere, and narrow lanes of dracæna hedges

divided the plantations. At length we came to a halt on a strip of

sward, at the brink of a formidable cañon several hundred feet deep,

down which coursed one of the largest streams we had yet encountered.

Our guides wanted to conduct us across this, but we had grown tired of

the interminable slippery paths and the ascending and descending steep

ravines, and so decided to form camp on this extremely interesting spot.

No more charming situation could be imagined. Five hundred feet below us

a torrent, clear as crystal, cold and fresh from the glaciers of Kibo,

tumbled and foamed over the rocks or raced along with gurgling tones.

Immediately beyond the chasm a broad table-land of parks and groves and

banana plantations stretched away with a slope of one in twenty. The

variegated shades of green in the irregular patchwork of forest, park

and field, made a most delightful study in colors. Nor was this all

nature had to show our wondering eyes in Machawe. Hundreds of warriors,

with spear and shield, their naked forms the only dark objects in the

landscape, showed out in bold contrast and picturesque relief against

the green ground-work of their surroundings as they stood and squatted

in dense groups or stretched in long, irregular lines along the opposite

brink of the cañon. Beyond all this was a dense mass of cloud that

rested on the farther reaches of the green table-land and hid almost the

whole of Kilimanjaro. But not all, for the higher strata of the clouds

sometimes broke and revealed the eternal wreath of snow on Kibo, at whose

very base we now seemed to be standing. Some day an artist will come and

paint this picture I have feebly attempted to describe and make himself

famous.

“Our first impression of the Sultan, or chief, was not very favorable.

He was a young man of medium stature, under thirty, but he looked like a

drunkard and debauchee and a decided expression of brutishness marked his

face. His voice was thick and husky, but whether from extreme indulgence

in pombe, or from an attack of laryngitis, was not then apparent. There

was, however, small room for doubt about his being a constant worshiper

at the shrines of the twin deities, before which every chief in Chaga,

and well-nigh everyone in Africa, bows the knee. But whatever he might

ordinarily be, he seemed determined to make as good an impression as he

knew how upon his rare visitors, and before we left Machawe we voted him,

notwithstanding first impressions, a very good sort of a fellow.

“Knowing that we had visited Miljali and intended visiting Mandara, both

of whom were to the native mind possessed of many wondrous things from

Europe, the Sultan of Machawe, ashamed of his poverty, seemed reluctant

to take us inside his boma. He seemed bewildered and over-awed by the

importance of the occasion. Anxious to do anything he could think of

to please his visitors, he and all his elders were too ignorant of the

white man’s character and requirements to know just what to do. The whole

assembly appeared to be in a profound puzzle. We, on our part, made him

the customary present of cloth, beads and wire. We showed him his own

bloated features for the first time in a mirror, and amazed him with the

ticking of a Waterbury watch. After much discussion among themselves,

he and his elders seemed to make up their minds that the proper thing

would be to take us into the royal boma, poverty or no poverty. The boma

itself was a poor affair. It consisted of a small stockade of planks set

on end, which had been laboriously hewn from big logs with native tools.

Inside the stockade were several houses of very neat construction and of

a pattern that is peculiar to Machawe. Instead of the bee-hive houses of

Marangu and Taveta, the Machawe hut is of an exaggerated bell-shape.

“Just outside this boma was an inclosure of quite another sort——the kraal

in which were kept the royal cattle. This was a remarkable affair, and

strong enough to be a pretty good sort of a fort. Young trees had been

planted in a ring to form a fence. They were planted in such numbers,

and so close together, that as they grew up, they formed a living wall

of tree trunks several feet thick, and so compact that one could not see

through it.

“To our astonishment the king’s boma seemed to contain no women, a most

extraordinary state of affairs, and when we asked the question as to the

number of wives he had——always a complimentary piece of curiosity at an

African court——he smiled and shook his head.

“‘What, none!——why. Miljali, of Marangu, has fourteen, and Mandara, of

Moschi, many more than that.’

“Our looks of surprise and incredulity set the chief and all his elders

to laughing. There was evidently a ‘nigger in the fence’ somewhere. This

full-blown, sensuous-faced young potentate without a harem? Impossible.

And then one of us remembered that, contrary to our experience elsewhere

in the country, the fair sex in Machawe had kept themselves well out

of sight as our caravan passed their houses. They were too timid and

superstitious to let themselves be seen by the white strangers, who

might, for all they knew, take it into their heads to assail them with

their mysterious powers of _ichawi_ (black magic) which everybody knew

they possessed to an alarming degree. The Sultan had wives, then——a

goodly number, no doubt——but all had scampered off and hid themselves at

our approach, fearful of _ichawi_.

“Bacchus seemed to have rather the upper hand at Ngamini’s primitive

court. I doubt if anything weaker than millet pombe is ever drunk inside

the royal boma. During our visit that beverage flowed as freely as beer

in a brewery. A huge jar of it was lugged in and placed in the middle

of the assembly, and men ladled it out and passed around the gourds

continually.

“The Sultan was opulent enough in the matter of pombe, if not in European

goods, and so did his best to win our approval of his immense resources

in that product. He took us into his brewery, a smaller inclosure

that formed an annex to his resident kraal, and enjoyed immensely our

astonishment at the vast size of the vats. These were earthenware jars,

of bulbous shape, eight in number, and each capable of holding two

hundred gallons or more of liquor. I had seen wine jars as large, though

of different shape, in Persia, but never expected to find such giant

pottery in a Chaga state.

“In brewing pombe the millet, or wimbi, is first pounded with stones to

break the grain, then boiled in earthen kettles until it resembles thin

cereal soup; the whole is then emptied into the big jars, covered with a

cowhide and allowed to ferment. When dipped out for use the sediment is

stirred up from the bottom, as also when dipped from smaller vessels to

be passed around. Pombe in this condition is a solid tipple, which comes

as near being both food and drink as anything of an intoxicating nature

can be, and many an African chief all but lives on it. It has a pleasant

twang to it, and the European soon comes to like it almost as well as the

native boozer does. It goes to the head, too. A pint puts a white man

in a joyous frame of mind and sets a negro, who effervesces easier than

his white brother, to singing and whooping. The chiefs, however, are as

a general thing animated pombe sponges, constantly soaked and with the

gourd seldom out of reach.”

A HUNT ON THE ZAMBESI.

The accounts of all African travelers agree, that both vegetable and

animal life in Africa is rankest and noblest on the banks of the Zambesi.

Volumes might be written of thrilling adventures in this extensive

region. “One night,” says a noted traveler, “while journeying up the

Zambesi, and just as we had fixed our tents for a good night’s rest, a

native came rushing in with the news that two lions had been seen in

the vicinity. The men wanted to go out and look for them immediately,

but I dissuaded them from encountering the dangers of a night hunt, and

promised that I would accompany them on the morrow.

[Illustration: HUNTING LIONS.]

“Early next morning the men were astir and busy with their preparations

for a grand hunt. We had dogs with us, and when all was ready, these were

let loose. A guide led the way to where he had seen the lions on the

previous evening, but long before we had gone so far, and while making

our way up a ridge, a noise like muttering thunder reached our ears from

the valley beyond the ridge. The guide stopped, listened for a moment,

and then, half in fear and half in astonishment, gasped, “The lions!”

“He refused to pilot us further, but sought the nearest tree and took

refuge amid its branches. The rest of the party pushed on, and on peering

over the top of the ridge saw an immense lion lying in the edge of a

jungle. Our dogs scented him and made a dash toward him. The beast arose

with a bound, and rushed out into the open. This was too much for the

dogs, and they beat a hasty retreat.

“In a moment more the lion was joined by his mate, and both were now in

plain sight, both crouching and beating the ground with their tails, as

if about to make an attack. I took a position a few steps in advance of

our party, aimed deliberately from a kneeling posture, and sent a bullet

into the side of the male lion just behind the foreleg. Being so close

and so deliberate in my aim, and my weapon being of a superior kind, I

expected to see the beast turn over in the agonies of death. But instead,

he made two or three desperate bounds toward our party, and in his last

leap, which was a dying spasm, fell directly on the body of Shumi, one

of our native employes. The poor fellow was frightened almost to death,

and shrieked as though the lion’s fangs and claws were actually rending

his flesh. But in a moment we all saw that no harm was coming to Shumi,

for the lion had simply made his last supreme effort, and had fallen in a

quivering, helpless mass upon the object of his attack.

“We now turned our attention to the lioness. Two shots were fired at her,

which sent her wounded and growling into the jungle. Our party formed a

front, and marched cautiously toward the jungle, prepared to fire, at

first sight of the game. Our precautions proved to be unnecessary, for

we soon discovered the beast too far advanced in her dying throes to be

capable of harm to us. Both shots had taken effect in mortal parts. We

secured, that day, two of the handsomest lion’s skins I ever saw.”

OPENING A KRU-COAST MISSION.

“At Sas Town, Monday morning, April 11, 1887, we had a big palaver. It

broke up abruptly in a storm of passion amid the thunder of stentorian

voices——a half a hundred big men all talking at once and shouting

‘batyeo! batyeo!’——same as ‘suno! suno!’ in Hindustani——or in English,

‘listen! attention! attention!’ all shouting for a hearing and no

listeners.

“So the king said, ‘We will go away, and when they cool down I will call

them together again.’

“When we met again I re-stated our proposals to found a school for

book-study and hard work with the hands of teachers and scholars, and to

make mission for God palaver, according to the terms of our agreement, as

stated in our written articles.

“They responded with great unanimity, ‘Yes, we want you to come and make

school and mission, and when your carpenters come we help them to make

house.’

“I suspected a reservation in their minds in regard to the no-pay

condition, so I asked Nimly to re-state and explain, so they could not

misunderstand our terms. He made a clear explanation and an eloquent

speech in the Kru language——a commanding, fluent speaker is Nimly.

“The king replied, ‘Our people won’t work without pay.’

“‘That is right,’ I replied, ‘and we give them big pay. Instead of a

few leaves of tobacco, which they would burn the first day, I give them

missionaries, and make school and mission which will be of great value to

you, to your children, grand-children, and on through all the generations

of coming years. But if you are not willing to carry lumber and help us,

you can wait a year till I come again and we will have another palaver.’

“They shouted unanimously, ‘No! no! we want school and mission now, and

we will do all that you have said and written,’ So the kings and chiefs,

by their _mark_, signed the articles of agreement.

“Their names were all hard, yet much easier to get on with than the men

they represented. Only one of the long list of kings and chiefs came up

to his contract, and he very kindly supplemented his labor by that of his

wives. The mission house was built, and in 1889 contained twenty-five

native worshipers.” WM. TAYLOR.

A DESPERATE SITUATION.

Henry Drummond, while pushing his way from Lake Nyassa toward Tanganyika,

thus writes: “Buffalo fever still on me. Sallied forth early with Moolu,

a large herd being reported at hand. We struck the trail after a few

miles, but the buffaloes had moved away, passing up a deep valley to the

north. I followed for a time, till the heat became too oppressive. Moolu

with one other native, kept up the pursuit.

“They returned in a few hours announcing that they had dropped two bulls,

but not being mortally wounded they had escaped. Late in the afternoon,

two more of my men came rushing in, saying, that one of the wounded

buffaloes had attacked their party and wounded two of them severely. They

wanted assistance to bring them home.

“It seems that five of the men, on hearing Moolu’s report about the

wounded buffaloes, and being tempted by the thought of fresh meat, had

gone off without permission to try to secure the game. It was a foolhardy

trick, as they had only spears with them, and a wounded buffalo bull is

the most dangerous animal in Africa. It charges blindly at anything,

and even after receiving its mortal wound has been known to kill its

assailant.

“The would-be hunters soon overtook one of the creatures, a huge bull,

lying in a hollow, and apparently wounded unto death. They walked

unsuspectingly up to it, and when quite close the brute suddenly roused

itself and dashed headlong toward them. They ran for their lives, but

were quickly overtaken, and one of them was trampled in a twinkling

beneath the feet of the enraged brute. A second man was caught up a few

paces further on and was literally impaled on the animal’s horns.

[Illustration: A DESPERATE SITUATION.]

“The first man was able to hobble into camp, but the second had to be

carried in, more dead than alive. He had two frightful wounds, one

through the shoulder, the other beneath the ribs. I dressed them, and

set two natives to watch him through the night, lest he should bleed to

death. When I came in, on my last visit before retiring, I found the

nurses busy blowing on the wound. Their conception of pain was that it is

due to evil spirits, and they were exorcising them by blowing. As they

were doing no harm, I permitted them to indulge in their work through the

night. The patient had a hard siege of it, but finally got well. He did

not readily forget his adventure with the buffalo bull.”

STANLEY AND EMIN.

The London _Spectator_ brings Henry M. Stanley and Emin Pasha into

strong contrast in its discussion of the celebrated rescue. It chooses

to regard the rescue as of greater psychological than of historic or

scientific interest to the world, and says. “The revelation it affords

is the radical difference in character between the two great African

adventurers. For years past, Emin Pasha has seemed to be the greater

of the two, a man who actually ruled, and in a degree civilized, great

African provinces, who had by his character alone maintained his

ascendency over a body of successful Mohammedan troops, and who had

earned, if not the love, at least the respect and regard, of millions

of black subjects. It now appears that some part of all this success

must have been accidental. The trusted troops revolted on their first

great opportunity——as, we must in justice remember, did also our own

Sepoys——the obedient blacks proved equally obedient to the new Arab

authority; and Emin himself stood revealed as a thoughtful man of

science, patient and unfearing, but with little either of the energy or

the decision which make the true man of action. It may be that in his

long sojourn at Wadelai, surrounded by Egyptians and blacks, possibly

taking native wives, for we hear of a young daughter named Ferida, and

conforming to the ritual of an Asiatic faith, Emin may have become

Africanized; but no change of conditions could deprive him of the power

of recognizing men, had he originally possessed it. That he erred in

his judgment of his agents is clear, for they mutinied against and

imprisoned him; his hope that they would follow him to the coast, and

thence to Egypt, turned out as baseless as the hope of many an old Sepoy

officer that his ‘children’ at least would never mutiny; and to the last,

one native officer, if Stanley’s account may be trusted, deluded the

experienced Viceroy like a child.

“One suspects, though perhaps the suspicion may be unfair, that he owed

much of his apparent success to his profession of Mohammedanism——which

up to the very last induced his followers to draw a distinction between

the Pasha, who was only led away, and Jephson and Casati, who are called

wicked Christians, and suspected of designs against their own Egyptian

soldiers——and of his reputation in Europe to his feeling for science

and civilization, a cause which also produced the much too favorable

estimate of the Emperor of Brazil. On the other hand, the more the true

man of action is tried, the stronger he appears. Perhaps no man that ever

lived had his energy and endurance more taxed than Henry M. Stanley,

who for years on end has suffered all that any great African explorer

has suffered, with the addition of heavy responsibility to and for

others, and who through it all has steadily grown greater in himself as

well as in the world’s eyes. Statesmen would now trust the lad from the

Welsh workhouse with African kingdoms to govern, and the new sovereign

companies, who claim such immense districts, will compete with each

other for his aid. He has the qualities which make rulers, and it is

in the end on these, and not on amiability and feeling for science, or

even a perplexed devotion to doubtful duty, that statesmen must rely. We

shall do nothing in Africa by passing and repassing through its endless

forests. We must govern, organize, and above all train its people, before

anything is accomplished; and for that work we need the service of men

who, like Stanley, know that the one cure for savagery is discipline, and

can enforce it to the end.”

[Illustration: DINING ON THE BANKS OF THE UPPER SHIRE.]

* * * * *

TRANSCRIBER’S AMENDMENTS

Transcriber’s Note:

Blank pages have been deleted.

Some illustrations have been moved. The order of entries in the list of

illustrations has been corrected.

The publisher’s inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have been

corrected.

The following list indicates any additional changes made. The page number

represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext

except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been moved.

Key: {<from>}[<to>]:

Page Change

11 rum in Africa; {palavaring}[palavering]; Emin Pasha at

14 FORDING THE {CHUCHIBI}[CUCHIBI] 364

14 BINKA CATTLE HERD {715}[515]

25 which the sun of civilization is, sooner {of}[or] later,

25 Europe has a need for African {acquition}[acquisition] and

26 which throw Europe in the {foregrond}[foreground].

27 scientific and {philanthrophic}[philanthropic] enterprise

29 Great {Britian}[Britain] had possessed the Niger delta;

29 Ogowai, Muni, {Camaroom}[Camaroon], Oil, Niger,

38 The time consumed had been about five {mouths}[months]

52 rubber trees, tamarinds, {boabab}[baobab], bombax,

52 is a nabob after {}[the ]modern pattern

53 the sad expanse of {grossy}[grassy] plain,

56 was through the land of {}[the ]Nkuku, a trading people.

68 terrible fighters who {harrassed}[harassed] Stanley

69 Their bodies are cross-marked and {tatooed}[tattooed].

74 They were averse to a journey up the{ the}[] Aruwimi,

74 described by {Scheinfurth}[Schweinfurth],

78 NIAM-NIAM {MINSTRAL}[MINSTREL].

81 to show {consisent}[consistent] affection

81 which is the{ the}[] original of every native tongue

81 They always consult {augeries}[auguries] before going to war.

83 and the {maurauders}[marauders] had retreated

83 evidence that the {maurauders}[marauders] had managed

94 The {Mayuemas}[Manyuemas] are a fierce race;

94 This {gruesom}[gruesome] anecdote

99 imprisonment which {Stanly}[Stanley] had inflicted.

100 The natives were {peacable}[peaceable] and ready to trade,

102 and stopped off {}[at ]the town of that name, which

106 France, Great {Britian}[Britain],

107 Portugal on the {Alantic}[Atlantic] coast,

107 there are at present but few {ligitimate}[legitimate] traders

108 {Eurepean}[European] powers had been permitted to {sieze}[seize]

108 powers had been permitted to {sieze}[seize] all the coasts

108 geology, zoology, and {resourses}[resources], and many

108 formed under French auspices in { in}[] February 1887,

111 French, English, Portuguese, and {Belgium}[Belgian] capitalists

116 into public law, {while}[which] in its turn will remove many

120 and religious tolerations are expressly {guarteed}[guaranteed]

123 taxes to be {caclulated}[calculated] on the expenses

123 with any duties {fur}[for] harborage stoppages

125 {It}[If] the Consular agent considers

126 in accordance with the requirements {ments }[]of international

128 service of such {estabments}[establishments], shall be treated

130 expenses of construction, {maintainance}[maintenance] and

130 freedom of navigation {anunciated}[annunciated] in Articles

154 was reached and a plantain patch {bursts}[burst] into view

155 chiefs and Bonny were {callen}[called] to a council.

165 the {southermost}[southernmost] station in Emin’s boundaries.

168 the entire {equatoral}[equatorial] section of its European

176 arrival of Lieut. {Sairs}[Stairs], Selim,

178 objective being Zanzibar, on the {west}[east] coast of Africa.

187 The alphabet, if it was constructed in {Phenicia}[Phœnicia]

188 the Hebrew {ceremonical}[ceremonial] worship,

188 saved them from {absorbtion}[absorption] by the hardy tribes

206 his stone {sarcopagus}[sarcophagus] and its wooden cover,

207 red granite {sarcophugus}[sarcophagus] is there,

209 towering above the palm {treees}[trees].

209 now in the Place de {}[la ]Concorde, Paris.

213 (1200 B.C. {}[to ]1133 B.C.)

248 But how {}[to ]make it?

249 He was left with a {compliment}[complement] of Baker’s small

257 if on {}[the ]Nile the first mariner tried his bark on water

267 resists the influences of {absorbtion}[absorption], evaporation

267 unhealthy spot can hardly {he}[be] imagined.

271 {menacled}[manacled] to their late enemies, are soon floating

275 is a small lake——Lake No.<Numeral omitted by publisher.>

286 and each house is fortified by a {stokade}[stockade].

289 The beast does not give up {pursu}[pursuit]

289 to curse their goats or {whither}[wither] their flocks.

290 threatens to pour {lightening}[lightning], storm and rain

292 but a swarm of {babboons}[baboons] spy him

292 One of the {babboons}[baboons] was shot.

308 Before reaching the {northermost}[northernmost] point of the lake

310 language of the Uganda. “Mena<The word Mena is obscured.>” means

318 the Ten Commandments for daily {persual}[perusal]

325 contributes more water {then}[than] flows out of the lake

335 on the Chobe, or {Cuaudo}[Cuando] River,

338 are universally {acknowleged}[acknowledged].

356 flinging them into the {the }[]river above the rapids.

359 beneath a giant baobab tree {reposes}[repose]

367 of Ujiji, the {rendevouz}[rendezvous] of all expeditions,

377 they practised {canibalism}[cannibalism], but could

372 <Caption has added words: TOP, LEFT, RIGHT, BOTTOM.>

401 Uledi, the {coxwain}[coxswain] of the “Lady Alice,”

403 By {Feburary}[February] 8, Rubanga,

408 natives, who {has}[had] picked him up

410 Uledi swam to him, {siezed}[seized] him,

412 Poor Safeni, {coxwain}[coxswain] of the “Lady Alice,”

414 Uledi the {coxwain}[coxswain], manned a lighter

416 and at length {tyranical}[tyrannical].

417 where they are sorted, {seived}[sieved], and closely examined

431 one of the {principle}[principal] scenes

436 He trumpeted, staggered {foward}[forward], tripped

436 and there receiving {other}[another] two shots,

451 and the {Ethiopions}[Ethiopians] or Abyssinians

453 Bari of {Goudokoro}[Gondokoro] and the Waganda

466 palm-nut, rubber, {gum-opal}[gum-copal], orchilla,

466 crossing the {Epuator}[Equator] twice.

467 It is {densly}[densely] peopled and some of the

468 In many places it {constitues}[constitutes] the entire

468 is the {india}[India] rubber plant.

473 areas of the {maufacturing}[manufacturing] world.

475 classify them as an {indispensible}[indispensable] resource,

478 and {supplimenting}[supplementing] them with camels,

480 whose older right has been forfeited by {non-user}[non-use].

483 strong {servicable}[serviceable] cotton cloth.

485 frequently sank to 64° {degrees }[]at night

500 set eyes on Lake {Baugweola}[Bangweola].

500 weaving their {cotten}[cotton] or knitting

501 run clear even when {swoolen}[swollen].

503 from Bangweola to {Casembe}[Cassembe] gave him

508 but often gets {disembowled}[disemboweled] in the attempt.

511 The {Manyuama}[Manyuema] on the left bank of the Lualaba,

525 the enterprising {merchantile}[mercantile] factor

525 to instil {}[in ]the dull mindless tribes the sacred germs

527 to the {wierd}[weird] adventures and sad fates of the school of

527 fair and {pernament}[permanent] participants,

528 {throughont}[throughout] the same extent, and Hamburg

530 now from the Nile, with its impenetrable {suds}[sudds],

531 {Moveover}[Moreover], it was one to which all could

534 the {the }[]graceful zebra occupied the foreground

536 surrounded by a comfortable {dwellings}[dwelling],

538 dreams of glory, wealth and {humantarian}[humanitarian] good.

539 liver shows a deadly {abcess}[abscess]

539 Then why did it not {effect}[affect] all alike?

543 sending them to a {sanatarium}[sanitarium] in the pine-woods

544 Yet there must be {engagment}[engagement] of body and mind,

547 such an article becomes an {indispensible}[indispensable] luxury

554 propagandist of a {a }[]faith, warrior for the sake

554 he had adaptation {superier}[superior] to that

555 commercial and {Christain}[Christian] England afterwards

562 the {Portugese}[Portuguese] have built a short railroad

565 and the church itself was well {equiped}[equipped]

565 Its {fomula}[formula] was calculated to impress

566 both church and state {contenanced}[countenanced] the crime

566 might have been easily {forseen}[foreseen].

566 entire western and {on}[on a] great part of

568 the return of his dead {boby}[body] to Zanzibar,

571 felt the power of that {consecreted}[consecrated] life,

578 A band is forming in {Ayershire}[Ayrshire], Scotland,

579 {Mohammedianism}[Mohammedanism] and paganism of the negroes

584 singing hymns of {deliverence}[deliverance].

593 directors of the {the }[]society were greatly perplexed,

595 COOMASSIE THE {CAPITOL}[CAPITAL] OF ASHANTI.

607 {Ferdando}[Fernando] Po is one of the most important islands

608 On the mainland opposite {Fenando}[Fernando] Po,

615 Mr. {Edgerley}[Edgerly] had told his tale,

631 The natives themselves {becomes}[become] in many cases messengers

633 They were {Revolutinary}[Revolutionary] patriots

635 he entered the {Brazillian}[Brazilian] country,

650 Robert {Shield}[Shields], a young missionary

655 writes that {}[the ]station has been nearly self-sustaining

661 leaving one {Kabindas}[Kabinda] with Dr. Summers

663 proceed with their big load to {Nhanguepeppo}[Nhanguepepo].

663 many of whom {}[were ]from a distance of five

674 years of experience in {Massachusettes}[Massachusetts],

676 built for their {accomodation}[accommodation].

677 much more rapidly and {acurately}[accurately]

678 almost as {dextrously}[dexterously] as I used to see

678 Some of them were greatly {interterested}[interested],

685 fitting up for school and chapel purposes {}[of ]the unfinished

686 bears from the {vernanda}[veranda] facing the street,

686 the brethren {perferring}[preferring] to do it themselves

692 We bought the {sight}[site] of the old capital,

715 {MOFFIT’S}[MOFFAT’S] COURAGE.

722 The {survivors}[survivor], Mr. Mackay, after being held

725 such of his own subjects {}[who ]opposed the missionaries

735 we reached a little {villiage}[village] in the forest

741 (Capt. {Coquilhart}[Coquilhat] says about twelve years old.)

741 crocodile seize his mother and drag her out {}[of ]the canoe.

750 new field for the {talant}[talent] and zeal of women.

762 pantomimic charges upon an {imaginery}[imaginary] enemy,

764 The {exhiliarating}[exhilarating] and ostentatious ceremony

769 (thirty to fifty cents) for one {foul}[fowl].

784 But Great {Britian}[Britain] is not alone

788 Our delegation was {hostipably}[hospitably] entertained

789 narrow lanes of {dracoena}[dracæna] hedges

790 many {wonderous}[wondrous] things from Europe,

798 greater {psycological}[psychological] than of historic

800 devotion to doubtful duty, that statesmen {muss}[must] rely.

* * * * *