Seyyid Barghash—His prohibition of slavery, character and reforms—Treaty
with British Government by Sir Bartle Frere—Tramways the need of
Africa—Arabs in the interior—Arabs in Zanzibar—Mtuma or Mgwana?—The
Wangwana, their vices and virtues—A Mgwana’s highest ambition—The
Wanyamwezi “the coming race.”
_Oct. 1874._—The foot-note at the bottom of this page will explain all
that need be known by the general reader in connection with the
geography of the Island of Zanzibar.[4] Any student who wishes to make
the island a special study will find books dealing most minutely with
the subject at all great libraries. Without venturing, therefore, into
more details than I have already given in ‘How I found Livingstone,’ I
shall devote this chapter to the Sultan of Zanzibar—Barghash bin Sayid—
the Arabs, the Wangwana, and the Wanyamwezi, with whose aid the objects
of the Anglo-American Expedition were attained.
It is impossible not to feel a kindly interest in Prince Barghash,
and to wish him complete success in the reforms he is now striving
to bring about in his country. Here we see an Arab prince, educated
in the strictest school of Islam, and accustomed to regard the black
natives of Africa as the lawful prey of conquest or lust, and fair
objects of barter, suddenly turning round at the request of European
philanthropists and becoming one of the most active opponents of the
slave-trade—and the spectacle must necessarily create for him many
well-wishers and friends.
[Illustration: SEYYID BARGHASH.]
Though Prince Barghash has attributed to myself the visit of those ships
of war under Admiral Cumming, all who remember that period, and are
able, therefore, to trace events, will not fail to perceive that the
first decided steps taken by the British Government for the suppression
of the slave-trade on the east coast of Africa were due to the influence
of Livingstone’s constant appeals. Some of his letters, they will
remember, were carried by me to England, and the sensation caused by
them was such as to compel the British Government to send Sir Bartle
Frere in the _Enchantress_, as a special envoy to Zanzibar, to conclude
a treaty with Prince Barghash. When the Prince’s reluctance to sign
became known, the fleet under Admiral Cumming made its appearance before
Zanzibar, and by a process of gentle coercion, or rather quiet
demonstration, the signature of the Prince was at last obtained. One
thing more, however, still remained to be done before the treaty could
be carried into full effect, and that was to eradicate any feeling of
discontent or sullenness from his mind which might have been created by
the exhibition of force, and this I was happy to see, was effected by
the hospitable reception he enjoyed in England in 1875. There was a
difference in the manner and tone of the Sultan of 1874 and of 1877,
that I can only attribute to the greater knowledge he had gained of the
grandeur of the power which he had so nearly provoked. We must look upon
him now as a friendly and, I believe, sincere ally, and as a man willing
to do his utmost for the suppression of the slave-trade.
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[_To face page 32._
[Illustration:
VIEW FROM THE ROOF OF MR. AUGUSTUS SPARHAWK’S HOUSE.
Frank Pocock. Frederick Barker. A Zanzibar boy. Edward Pocock.
Kalulu.
Bull-terrier “Jack.” “Bull.” Retriever “Nero.” Mastiff
“Captain.” Prize Mastiff “Castor.”
(_From a photograph by the Author._)
]
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The philanthropist having at last obtained such signal success with the
Prince, it is time the merchant should attempt something with him. The
Prince must be considered as an independent sovereign. His territories
include, besides the Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia islands, nearly 1000
miles of coast, and extend probably over an area of 20,000 square
miles, with a population of half a million. The products of Zanzibar
have enriched many Europeans who traded in them. Cloves, cinnamon,
tortoise-shell, pepper, copal gum, ivory, orchilla weed, indiarubber,
and hides have been exported for years; but this catalogue does not
indicate a tithe of what might be produced by the judicious investment
of capital. Those intending to engage in commercial enterprise would
do well to study works on Mauritius, Natal, and the Portuguese
territories, if they wish to understand what these fine, fertile lands
are capable of. The cocoa-nut palm flourishes at Zanzibar and on the
mainland, the oil palm thrives luxuriantly in Pemba, and sugar-cane
will grow everywhere. Caoutchouc remains undeveloped in the maritime
belts of woodland, and the acacia forests, with their wealth of gums,
are nearly untouched. Rice is sown on the Rufiji banks, and yields
abundantly; cotton would thrive in any of the rich river bottoms; and
then there are, besides, the grains, millet, Indian corn, and many
others, the cultivation of which, though only in a languid way, the
natives understand. The cattle, coffee, and goats of the interior await
also the energetic man of capital and the commercial genius.
First, however, the capitalist must find means of carriage, otherwise he
will never conquer African difficulties. Cutting roads through jungles,
and employing waggons, are mere temporary conveniences, requiring great
outlay, patience, and constant reinforcement of work and energies.
Almost as fast as the land is cleared, it is covered again—so prolific
is the soil—with tall wild grasses of the thickness of cane, and one
season is sufficient to undo the work of months of the pioneer. Cattle
die, tormented out of life by the flies or poisoned by the rank grasses;
natives perish from want of proper nourishment, and, while suffering
from fatigue and debility, are subject to many fatal diseases.
A tramway is one thing that is needed for Africa. All other benefits
that can be conferred by contact with civilisation will follow in the
wake of the tramway, which will be an iron bond, never to be again
broken, between Africa and the more favoured continents.
However energetic the small merchant may be, he can effect nothing
permanent for the good of a country that has neither roads nor navigable
rivers, whose climate is alike fatal to the starved hamal as it is to
the beast of burthen. The maritime belt must first be crossed by an iron
road, and another must tap the very centre of the rice-fields of the
Rufiji valley, in order to insure cheap, nutritious food in abundance.
To a company, however, which can raise the sum required to construct a
tramway, East Africa holds out special advantages. The Sultan himself
offers a handsome sum, five lakhs of dollars or, roughly, £100,000, and
there are rich Hindis at Zanzibar who, no doubt, would invest large
sums, and thus the company would become the principal merchants along
the line. The Sultan has also poor subjects enough who would be only too
glad of the opportunities thus afforded to work for reasonable pay, so
that very little fear need be entertained of lack of labour. Besides,
there are natives of the interior who, after two or three bold examples,
would soon be induced to apply for employment along the line.
Those whom we call the Arabs of Zanzibar are either natives of Muscat
who have immigrated thither to seek their fortunes, or descendants of
the conquerors of the Portuguese. As the present Sultan calls himself
Barghash the son of Sayid, the son of Sultan, the son of Hamid, so all
Arabs, from the highest to the lowest of his subjects, are known by
their proper names—Ahmed, or Khamis, or Abdullah, as being the sons of
Mussoud, of Mustapha, or of Mohammed. Some of them boast of unusually
long pedigrees, and one or two I am acquainted with proclaimed
themselves of purer and more aristocratic descent than even the Sultan.
The Arab conquerors who accompanied Seyyid Sultan, the grandfather of
the present Seyyid Barghash, took unto themselves, after the custom
of polygamists, wives of their own race according to their means,
and almost all of them purchased negro concubines, the result of
which we trace to-day in the various complexions of those who call
themselves Arabs. By this process of miscegenation the Arabs of the
latest migration are already rapidly losing their rich colour and fine
complexions, while the descendants of the Arabs of the first migration
are now deteriorated so much that on the coast they can scarcely be
distinguished from the Aborigines. While many of the descendants of
the old settlers who came in with Seyyid Sultan, still cling to their
homesteads, farms, and plantations, and acquire sufficient competence
by the cultivation of cloves, cinnamon, oranges, cocoa-nut palms,
sugar-cane, and other produce, a great number have emigrated into the
interior to form new colonies. Hamed Ibrahim has been eighteen years
in Karagwé, Muini Kheri has been thirty years in Ujiji, Sultan bin Ali
has been twenty-five years in Unyanyembé, Muini Dugumbi has been eight
years in Nyangwé, Juma Merikani has been seven years in Rua, and a
number of other prominent Arabs may be cited to prove that, though they
themselves firmly believe that they will return to the coast some day,
there are too many reasons for believing that they never will.
None of the Arabs in the interior with whom I am acquainted ever
proceeded thither with the definite intention of colonisation. Some were
driven thither, by false hopes of acquiring rapid fortunes by the
purchase of slaves and ivory, and, perceiving that there were worse
places on earth than Africa, preferred to remain there, to facing the
odium of failure. Others borrowed large sums on trust from credulous
Hindis and Banyans, and having failed in the venture now prefer to
endure the exclusion to which they have subjected themselves, to
returning and being arrested by their enraged creditors. Others again
are not merely bankrupts, but persons who have fled the vengeance of the
law for political offences, as well as ordinary crimes. There are many
who are in better circumstances in the interior than they would be on
their own island of Zanzibar. Some of them have hundreds of slaves, and
he would be a very poor Arab indeed who possessed only ten. These
slaves, under their masters’ direction have constructed roomy,
comfortable, flat-roofed houses, or lofty cool huts, which, in the
dangerous and hostile districts, are surrounded by strong stockades.
Thus, at Unyanyembé there are sixty or seventy large stockades enclosing
the owner’s house and storerooms, as well as the numerous huts of his
slaves. Ujiji, again, may be described as a long straggling village,
formed by the large tembes of the Arabs; and Nyangwé is another
settlement similar to Ujiji. Many of the Arabs settled in the pastoral
districts possess large herds of cattle and extensive fields where rice,
wheat, Indian corn, and millet are cultivated, besides sugar-cane and
onions, and the fruit trees of Zanzibar—the orange, lemon, papaw, mango,
and pomegranate—are now being gradually introduced.
The Arabs of Zanzibar, whether from more frequent intercourse with
Europeans or from other causes, are undoubtedly the best of their race.
More easily amenable to reason than those of Egypt, or the shy,
reserved, and bigoted fanatics of Arabia, they offer no obstacles to the
European traveller, but are sociable, frank, good-natured, and
hospitable. In business they are keen traders, and of course will exact
the highest percentage of profit out of the unsuspecting European if
they are permitted. They are staunch friends and desperate haters. Blood
is seldom satisfied without blood, unless extraordinary sacrifices are
made.
The conduct of an Arab gentleman is perfect. Indelicate matters are
never broached before strangers; impertinence is hushed instantly by the
elders, and rudeness is never permitted. Naturally, they have the vices
of their education, blood, and race, but these moral blemishes are by
their traditional excellence of breeding seldom obtruded upon the
observation of the stranger.
After the Arabs let us regard the Wangwana, just as in Europe, after
studying the condition and character of the middle classes, we might
turn to reflect upon that of the labouring population.
Of the Wangwana there will be much written in the following pages, the
outcome of careful study and a long experience of them. Few explorers
have recorded anything greatly to their credit. One of them lately said
that the negro knows neither love nor affection; another that he is
simply the “link” between the simian and the European. Another says,
“The wretches take a trouble and display an ingenuity in opposition and
disobedience, in perversity, annoyance, and villainy, which rightly
directed would make them invaluable.” Almost all have been severe in
their strictures on the negro of Zanzibar.
The origin of the Mgwana or Freeman may be briefly told. When the Arabs
conquered Zanzibar, they found the black subjects of the Portuguese to
be of two classes, Watuma (slaves) and Wangwana (freemen). The Freemen
were very probably black people who had either purchased their freedom
by the savings of their industry or were made free upon the death of
their masters; these begat children who, being born out of bondage, were
likewise free. Arab rulers, in classifying their subjects, perceived no
great difference in physique or general appearance between those who
were slaves and those who were free, both classes belonging originally
to the same negro tribes of the interior. Thus, when any of these were
brought before the authorities convicted of offences, the question
naturally asked was, “Are you a Mtuma, a slave, or a Mgwana, a freeman?”
A repetition of these questions through a long course of years
established the custom of identifying the two classes of Zanzibar
negroes as Watuma—slaves—and Wangwana—freemen. Later, however, came a
new distinction, and the word Watuma, except in special and local cases,
was dropped, for, with the advent of the free native traders direct from
the mainland, and the increase of traffic between Zanzibar and the
continent, as well as out of courtesy to their own slaves, the Arabs
began to ask the black stranger, “Are you Mgwana, a freeman, or Mshensi,
a pagan?” In disputes among themselves the question is still asked, “Are
you a slave or a freeman?” but when strangers are involved, it is
always, “Are you Mgwana, a freeman or a native of Zanzibar, or a
Mshensi, a pagan or an uncircumcised native of the mainland?”
It will be thus seen that the word “Wangwana” is now a generic, widely
used, and well understood for the coloured natives of Zanzibar. When,
therefore, the term is employed in this book, it includes alike both the
slaves and the freemen of Zanzibar.
After nearly seven years’ acquaintance with the Wangwana, I have come to
perceive that they represent in their character much of the disposition
of a large portion of the negro tribes of the continent. I find them
capable of great love and affection, and possessed of gratitude and
other noble traits of human nature; I know too, that they can be made
good, obedient servants, that many are clever, honest, industrious,
docile, enterprising, brave and moral; that they are, in short, equal to
any other race or colour on the face of the globe, in all the attributes
of manhood. But to be able to perceive their worth, the traveller must
bring an unprejudiced judgment, a clear, fresh, and patient observation,
and must forget that lofty standard of excellence upon which he and his
race pride themselves, before he can fairly appreciate the capabilities
of the Zanzibar negro. The traveller should not forget the origin of his
own race, the condition of the Briton before St. Augustine visited his
country, but should rather recall to mind the first state of the “wild
Caledonian,” and the original circumstances and surroundings of
Primitive Man.
Louis Figuier says: “However much our pride may suffer by the idea, we
must confess that, at the earliest period of his existence, man could
have been but little distinguished from the brute. His pillow was a
stone, his roof was the shadow of a wide-spreading tree, or some dark
cavern, which also served as a refuge against wild beasts.”
And again, in his chapter on the ‘Iron Epoch,’ he notes how “From the
day when iron was first placed at man’s disposal, civilisation began to
make its longest strides, and as the working of this metal improved, so
the dominion of man—his faculties and his intellect—real activity—
likewise enlarged in the same proportion.” And at the end of a most
admirable book, he counsels the traveller, “Look to it, less thy pride
cause thee to forget thy own origin.”
Being, I hope, free from prejudices of cast, colour, race, or
nationality, and endeavouring to pass what I believe to be a just
judgment upon the negroes of Zanzibar, I find that they are a people
just emerged into the Iron Epoch, and now thrust forcibly under the
notice of nations who have left them behind by the improvements of over
4000 years. They possess beyond doubt all the vices of a people still
fixed deeply in barbarism, but they understand to the full what and how
low such a state is; it is, therefore, a duty imposed upon us by the
religion we profess, and by the sacred command of the Son of God, to
help them out of the deplorable state they are now in. At any rate,
before we begin to hope for the improvement of races so long benighted,
let us leave off this impotent bewailing of their vices, and endeavour
to discover some of the virtues they possess as men, for it must be by
the aid of their virtues, and not by their vices, that the missionary of
civilisation can ever hope to assist them. While, therefore, recording
my experiences through Africa, I shall have frequent occasion to dilate
upon both the vices and the virtues of the Wangwana as well as of the
natives of the interior, but it will not be with a view to foster, on
the one hand, the self-deception of the civilised, or the absurd
prejudices created by centuries of superior advantages, nor, on the
other hand, to lead men astray by taking a too bright view of things. I
shall write solely and simply with a strong desire to enable all
interested in the negro to understand his mental and moral powers
rightly.
[Illustration:
COXSWAIN ULEDI, AND MANWA SERA, CHIEF CAPTAIN.
(_From a photograph._)
]
The Mgwana or native of Zanzibar, who dwells at Ngambu, is a happy,
jovial soul. He is fond of company, therefore sociable. His vanity
causes him to be ambitious of possessing several white shirts and
bright red caps, and since he has observed that his superiors use
walking-sticks, he is almost certain, if he is rich enough to own
a white shirt and a red cap, to be seen sporting a light cane. The
very poorest of his class hire themselves, or are hired out by their
masters, to carry bales, boxes, and goods, from the custom-house to
the boat, or store-room, or _vice versâ_, and as a general beast of
burden, for camels are few, and of wheeled vehicles there are none.
Those who prefer light work and have good characters may obtain
positions as doorkeepers or house-servants, or for washing copal and
drying hides for the European merchants. Others, trained as mechanics,
obtain a livelihood by repairing muskets, manufacturing knives, belts,
and accoutrements, or by carpentering and ship-building. There is
a class of Wangwana living at Ngambu, in the small gardens of the
interior of the island, and along the coast of the mainland, who prefer
the wandering life offered to them by Arab traders and scientific
expeditions to being subject to the caprice, tyranny, and meanness of
small estate proprietors. They complain that the Arabs are haughty,
grasping, and exacting; that they abuse them and pay them badly; that,
if they seek justice at the hands of the Cadis, judgment, somehow,
always goes against them. They say, on the other hand, that, when
accompanying trading or other expeditions, they are well paid, have
abundance to eat, and comparatively but little work.
But the highest ambition of a Mgwana is to have a house and _shamba_
or garden of his own. The shamba may only be large enough to possess
a dozen cocoa-nut-trees, a dozen rows, thirty yards long, of cassava
shrubs, half-a-dozen banana plants, half-a-dozen rows planted with
sweet-potatoes, and two or three rows of ground-nuts; nevertheless,
this would be _his_ garden or estate, and therefore of priceless
estimation. At one corner of this tiny but most complete estate, he
would erect his house, with an exclusive courtyard, which he would
stock with half-a-dozen chickens and one goat, which last he would be
sure to spoil with kindness. Three hundred dollars would probably be
the total value of house, garden, chickens, goat, domestic utensils,
tools, and all, and yet, with this property, he would be twice married,
the father of four or five children, and even the owner of a domestic
slave or two. If such be his condition, he will snap his fingers at the
cruel world, and will imagine himself as prosperous, well-to-do, and
comfortable as any Arab in Zanzibar. But he is seldom spoiled by this
great prosperity. He is a sociable, kindly-disposed man, and his frank,
hearty nature has won for him hosts of friends. Beer made of fermented
mtama or Indian corn, wine of the palm or cocoa-nut milk, or the
stronger _eau de vie_ sold by the Goanese in the town at twenty-five
cents the bottle, serve to diffuse and cement these friendships.
It is to the Wangwana that Livingstone, Burton, Speke and Grant owe, in
great part, the accomplishment of their objects, and while in the employ
of these explorers, this race rendered great services to geography. From
a considerable distance north of the Equator down to the Zambezi and
across Africa to Benguella and the mouth of the Livingstone, they have
made their names familiar to tribes who, but for the Wangwana, would
have remained ignorant to this day of all things outside their own
settlements. They possess with many weaknesses, many fine qualities.
While very superstitious, easily inclined to despair, and readily giving
ear to vague, unreasonable fears, they may also, by judicious
management, be induced to laugh at their own credulity and roused to a
courageous attitude; to endure like Stoics, and fight like heroes. It
will depend altogether upon the leader of a body of such men whether
their worst or best qualities shall prevail.
There is another class coming into notice from the interior of Africa,
who, though of a sterner nature, will, I am convinced, as they are
better known, become greater favourites than the Wangwana. I refer to
the Wanyamwezi, or the natives of Unyamwezi, and the Wasukuma, or the
people of Usukuma. Naturally, being a grade less advanced towards
civilization than the Wangwana, they are not so amenable to discipline
as the latter. While explorers would in the present state of
acquaintance prefer the Wangwana as escort, the Wanyamwezi are far
superior as porters. Their greater freedom from diseases, their great
strength and endurance, the pride they take in their profession of
porters, prove them born travellers of incalculable use and benefit to
Africa. If kindly treated, I do not know more docile and good-natured
creatures. But the discipline must not be strict, until they have had
opportunities of understanding their employer’s nature and habits, and
of comprehending that discipline does not mean abuse. Their courage they
have repeatedly proved under their Napoleonic leader Mirambo, in many a
well-fought field against the Arabs and Wangwana. Their skill in war,
tenacity of purpose, and determination to defend the rights of their
elected chief against foreigners, have furnished themes for song to the
bards of Central Africa. Tippu-Tib has led 500 of these men through
distant Bisa and the plains of Rua: Juma Merikani has been escorted by
them into the heart of the regions beyond the Tanganika: Khamis bin
Adallah commanded a large force of them in his search for ivory in the
intra-lake countries. The English discoverer of Lake Tanganika and,
finally, I myself have been equally indebted to them, both on my first
and last expeditions.
[Illustration: NEW CHURCH ON SITE OF OLD SLAVE MARKET, ZANZIBAR.]
From their numbers, and their many excellent qualities, I am led to
think that the day will come when they will be regarded as something
better than the “best of pagazis;” that they will be esteemed as the
good subjects of some enlightened power, who will train them up as the
nucleus of a great African nation, as powerful for the good of the Dark
Continent, as they threaten, under the present condition of things, to
be for its evil.
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# 4:
“The fort of Zanzibar is in S. lat. 6° 9′ 36″ and E. long. 39° 14′
33″.”—_East African Pilot._