Arrival of H.M.S. "Gorgon"--Dr. Livingstone's new steamer and Mrs.
Livingstone--Death of Mrs. Livingstone--Voyage to Johanna and the
Rovuma--An attack upon the "Pioneer's" boats.
We anchored on the Great Luabo mouth of the Zambesi, because wood was
much more easily obtained there than at the Kongone.
On the 30th, H.M.S. "Gorgon" arrived, towing the brig which brought Mrs.
Livingstone, some ladies about to join their relatives in the
Universities' Mission, and the twenty-four sections of a new iron steamer
intended for the navigation of Lake Nyassa. The "Pioneer" steamed out,
and towed the brig into the Kongone harbour. The new steamer was called
the "Lady of the Lake," or the "Lady Nyassa," and as much as could be
carried of her in one trip was placed, by the help of the officers and
men of the "Gorgon," on board the "Pioneer," and the two large paddle-box
boats of H.M.'s ship. We steamed off for Ruo on the 10th of February,
having on board Captain Wilson, with a number of his officers and men to
help us to discharge the cargo. Our progress up was distressingly slow.
The river was in flood, and we had a three-knot current against us in
many places. These delays kept us six months in the delta, instead of,
as we anticipated, only six days; for, finding it impossible to carry the
sections up to the Ruo without great loss of time, it was thought best to
land them at Shupanga, and, putting the hull of the "Lady Nyassa"
together there, to tow her up to the foot of the Murchison Cataracts.
A few days before the "Pioneer" reached Shupanga, Captain Wilson, seeing
the hopeless state of affairs, generously resolved to hasten with the
Mission ladies up to those who, we thought, were anxiously awaiting their
arrival, and therefore started in his gig for the Ruo, taking Miss
Mackenzie, Mrs. Burrup, and his surgeon, Dr. Ramsay. They were
accompanied by Dr. Kirk and Mr. Sewell, paymaster of the "Gorgon," in the
whale-boat of the "Lady Nyassa." As our slow-paced-launch, "Ma Robert,"
had formerly gone up to the foot of the cataracts in nine days' steaming,
it was supposed that the boats might easily reach the expected meeting-
place at the Ruo in a week; but the Shire was now in flood, and in its
most rapid state; and they were longer in getting up about half the
distance, than it was hoped they would be in the whole navigable part of
the river. They could hear nothing of the Bishop from the chief of the
island, Malo, at the mouth of the Ruo. "No white man had ever come to
his village," he said. They proceeded on to Chibisa's, suffering
terribly from mosquitoes at night. Their toil in stemming the rapid
current made them estimate the distance, by the windings, as nearer 300
than 200 miles. The Makololo who had remained at Chibisa's told them the
sad news of the death of the good Bishop and of Mr. Burrup. Other
information received there awakened fresh anxiety on behalf of the
survivors; so, leaving the ladies with Dr. Ramsay and the Makololo,
Captain Wilson and Dr. Kirk went up the hills, in hopes of being able to
render assistance, and on the way they met some of the Mission party at
Soche's. The excessive fatigue that our friends had undergone in the
voyage up to Chibisa's in no wise deterred them from this further attempt
for the benefit of their countrymen, but the fresh labour, with
diminished rations, was too much for their strength. They were reduced
to a diet of native beans and an occasional fowl. Both became very ill
of fever, Captain Wilson so dangerously that his fellow-sufferer lost all
hopes of his recovery. His strong able-bodied cockswain did good service
in cheerfully carrying his much-loved Commander, and they managed to
return to the boat, and brought the two bereaved and sorrow-stricken
ladies back to the "Pioneer."
We learnt that the Bishop, wishing to find a shorter route down to the
Shire, had sent two men to explore the country between Magomero and the
junction of the Ruo; and in December Messrs. Proctor and Scudamore, with
a number of Manganja carriers, left Magomero for the same purpose. They
were to go close to Mount Choro, and then skirt the Elephant Marsh, with
Mount Clarendon on their left. Their guides seem to have led them away
to the east, instead of south; to the upper waters of the Ruo in the
Shirwa valley, instead of to its mouth. Entering an Anguru slave-trading
village, they soon began to suspect that the people meant mischief, and
just before sunset a woman told some of their men that if they slept
there they would all be killed. On their preparing to leave, the Anguru
followed them and shot their arrows at the retreating party. Two of the
carriers were captured, and all the goods were taken by these robbers. An
arrow-head struck deep into the stock of Proctor's gun; and the two
missionaries, barely escaping with their lives, swam a deep river at
night, and returned to Magomero famished and exhausted.
The wives of the captive carriers came to the Bishop day after day
weeping and imploring him to rescue their husbands from slavery. The men
had been caught while in his service, no one else could be entreated;
there was no public law nor any power superior to his own, to which an
appeal could be made; for in him Church and State were, in the
disorganized state of the country, virtually united. It seemed to him to
be clearly his duty to try and rescue these kidnapped members of the
Mission family. He accordingly invited the veteran Makololo to go with
him on this somewhat hazardous errand. Nothing could have been proposed
to them which they would have liked better, and they went with alacrity
to eat the sheep of the Anguru, only regretting that the enemy did not
keep cattle as well. Had the matter been left entirely in their hands,
they would have made a clean sweep of that part of the country; but the
Bishop restrained them, and went in an open manner, thus commending the
measure to all the natives, as one of justice. This deliberation,
however, gave the delinquents a chance of escape.
The missionaries were successful; the offending village was burned, and a
few sheep and goats were secured which could not be considered other than
a very mild punishment for the offence committed; the headman,
Muana-somba, afraid to retain the prisoners any longer, forthwith
liberated them, and they returned to their homes. This incident took
place at the time we were at the Ruo and during the rains, and proved
very trying to the health of the missionaries; they were frequently
wetted, and had hardly any food but roasted maize. Mr. Scudamore was
never well afterwards. Directly on their return to Magomero, the Bishop
and Mr. Burrup, both suffering from diarrhoea in consequence of wet,
hunger, and exposure, started for Chibisa's to go down to the Ruo by the
Shire. So fully did the Bishop expect a renewal of the soaking wet from
which he had just returned, that on leaving Magomero he walked through
the stream. The rivulets were so swollen that it took five days to do a
journey that would otherwise have occupied only two days and a half.
None of the Manganja being willing to take them down the river during the
flood, three Makololo canoe-men agreed to go with them. After paddling
till near sunset, they decided to stop and sleep on shore; but the
mosquitoes were so numerous that they insisted on going on again; the
Bishop, being a week behind the time he had engaged to be at the Ruo,
reluctantly consented, and in the darkness the canoe was upset in one of
the strong eddies or whirlpools, which suddenly boil up in flood time
near the outgoing branches of the river; clothing, medicines, tea,
coffee, and sugar were all lost. Wet and weary, and tormented by
mosquitoes, they lay in the canoe till morning dawned, and then proceeded
to Malo, an island at the mouth of the Ruo, where the Bishop was at once
seized with fever.
Had they been in their usual health, they would doubtless have pushed on
to Shupanga, or to the ship; but fever rapidly prostrates the energies,
and induces a drowsy stupor, from which, if not roused by medicine, the
patient gradually sinks into the sleep of death. Still mindful, however,
of his office, the Bishop consoled himself by thinking that he might gain
the friendship of the chief, which would be of essential service to him
in his future labours. That heartless man, however, probably suspicious
of all foreigners from the knowledge he had acquired of white
slave-traders, wanted to turn the dying Bishop out of the hut, as he
required it for his corn, but yielded to the expostulations of the
Makololo. Day after day for three weeks did these faithful fellows
remain beside his mat on the floor; till, without medicine or even proper
food, he died. They dug his grave on the edge of the deep dark forest
where the natives buried their dead. Mr. Burrup, himself far gone with
dysentery, staggered from the hut, and, as in the dusk of evening they
committed the Bishop's body to the grave, repeated from memory portions
of our beautiful service for the Burial of the Dead--"earth to earth,
ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the
resurrection of the dead through our Lord Jesus Christ." And in this sad
way ended the earthly career of one, of whom it can safely be said that
for unselfish goodness of heart, and earnest devotion to the noble work
he had undertaken, none of the commendations of his friends can exceed
the reality. The grave in which his body rests is about a hundred yards
from the confluence of the Ruo, on the left bank of the Shire, and
opposite the island of Malo. The Makololo then took Mr. Burrup up in the
canoe as far as they could, and, making a litter of branches, carried him
themselves, or got others to carry him, all the way back to his
countrymen at Magomero. They hurried him on lest he should die in their
hands, and blame be attached to them. Soon after his return he expired,
from the disease which was on him when he started to meet his wife.
Captain Wilson arrived at Shupanga on the 11th of March, having been
three weeks on the Shire. On the 15th the "Pioneer" steamed down to the
Kongone. The "Gorgon" had been driven out to sea in a gale, and had gone
to Johanna for provisions, and it was the 2nd of April before she
returned. It was fortunate for us that she had obtained a supply, as our
provisions were exhausted, and we had to buy some from the master of the
brig. The "Gorgon" left for the Cape on the 4th, taking all, except one,
of the Mission party who had come in January. We take this opportunity
of expressing our heartfelt gratitude to the gallant Captain I. C. Wilson
and his officers for innumerable acts of kindness and hearty
co-operation. Our warmest thanks are also due to Captain R. B. Oldfield
and the other officers from the Admiral downwards, and we beg to assure
them that nothing could be more encouraging to us in our difficulties and
trials, than the knowledge that we possessed their friendship and
sympathy in our labours.
The Rev. James Stewart, of the Free Church of Scotland, arrived in the
"Gorgon." He had wisely come out to inspect the country, before deciding
on the formation of a Mission in the interior. To this object he devoted
many months of earnest labour. This Mission was intended to embrace both
the industrial and the religious element; and as the route by the Zambesi
and Shire forms the only one at present known, with but a couple of days'
land journey to the highlands, which stretch to an unknown distance into
the continent, and as no jealousy was likely to be excited in the mind of
a man of Bishop Mackenzie's enlarged views--there being moreover room for
hundreds of Missions--we gladly extended the little aid in our power to
an envoy from the energetic body above mentioned, but recommended him to
examine the field with his own eyes.
During our subsequent detention at Shupanga, he proceeded as far up the
Shire as the Upper Cataracts, and saw the mere remnants of that dense
population, which we at first had found living in peace and plenty, but
which was now scattered and destroyed by famine and slave-hunting. The
land, which both before and after we found so fair and fruitful, was
burned up by a severe drought; in fact, it was at its very worst. With
most praiseworthy energy, and in spite of occasional attacks of fever, he
then ascended the Zambesi as far as Kebrabasa; and, what may be of
interest to some, compared it, in parts, to the Danube. His estimate of
the highlands would naturally be lower than ours. The main drawbacks in
his opinion, however, were the slave-trade, and the power allowed the
effete Portuguese of shutting up the country from all except a few
convicts of their own nation. The time of his coming was inopportune;
the disasters which, from inexperience, had befallen the Mission of the
Universities, had a depressing effect on the minds of many at home, and
rendered a new attempt unadvisable; though, had the Scotch perseverance
and energy been introduced, it is highly probable that they would have
reacted, most beneficially, on the zeal of our English brethren, and
desertion would never have been heard of. After examining the country,
Mr. Stewart descended the Zambesi in the beginning of the following year,
and proceeded homewards with his report, by Mosambique and the Cape.
On the 7th of April we had only one man fit for duty; all the rest were
down with fever, or with the vile spirit secretly sold to them by the
Portuguese officer of customs, in spite of our earnest request to him to
refrain from the pernicious traffic.
We started on the 11th for Shupanga with another load of the "Lady
Nyassa." As we steamed up the delta, we observed many of the natives
wearing strips of palm-leaf, the signs of sickness and mourning; for they
too suffer from fever. This is the unhealthy season; the rains are over,
and the hot sun draws up malaria from the decayed vegetation; disease
seemed peculiarly severe this year. On our way up we met Mr. Waller, who
had come from Magomero for provisions; the missionaries were suffering
severely from want of food; the liberated people were starving, and dying
of diarrhoea, and loathsome sores. The Ajawa, stimulated in their slave
raids by supplies of ammunition and cloth from the Portuguese, had
destroyed the large crops of the past year; a drought had followed, and
little or no food could be bought. With his usual energy, Mr. Waller
hired canoes, loaded them with stores, and took them up the long weary
way to Chibisa's. Before he arrived he was informed that the Mission of
the Universities, now deprived of its brave leader, had retired from the
highlands down to the Low Shire Valley. This appeared to us, who knew
the danger of leading a sedentary life, the greatest mistake they could
have made, and was the result of no other counsel or responsibility than
their own. Waller would have reascended at once to the higher altitude,
but various objections stood in the way. The loss of poor Scudamore and
Dickinson, in this low-lying situation, but added to the regret that the
highlands had not received a fair trial.
When the news of the Bishop's unfortunate collisions with the natives,
and of his untimely end, reached England, much blame was imputed to him.
The policy, which with the formal sanction of all his companions he had
adopted, being directly contrary to the advice which Dr. Livingstone
tendered, and to the assurances of the peaceable nature of the Mission
which the Doctor had given to the natives, a friendly disapproval of a
bishop's engaging in war was ventured on, when we met him at Chibisa's in
November. But when we found his conduct regarded with so much bitterness
in England, whether from a disposition to "stand by the down man," or
from having an intimate knowledge of the peculiar circumstances of the
country in which he was placed, or from the thorough confidence which
intimacy caused us to repose in his genuine piety, and devout service of
God, we came to think much more leniently of his proceedings, than his
assailants did. He never seemed to doubt but that he had done his duty;
and throughout he had always been supported by his associates.
The question whether a Bishop, in the event of his flock being torn from
his bosom, may make war to rescue them, requires serious consideration.
It seems to narrow itself into whether a Christian man may lawfully use
the civil power or the sword at all in defensive war, as police or
otherwise. We would do almost anything to avoid a collision with
degraded natives; but in case of an invasion--our blood boils at the very
thought of our wives, daughters, or sisters being touched--we, as men
with human feelings, would unhesitatingly fight to the death, with all
the fury in our power.
The good Bishop was as intensely averse to using arms, before he met the
slave-hunters, as any man in England. In the course he pursued he may
have made a mistake, but it is a mistake which very few Englishmen on
meeting bands of helpless captives, or members of his family in bonds,
would have failed to commit likewise.
During unhealthy April, the fever was more severe in Shupanga and Mazaro
than usual. We had several cases on board--they were quickly cured, but,
from our being in the delta, as quickly returned. About the middle of
the month Mrs. Livingstone was prostrated by this disease; and it was
accompanied by obstinate vomiting. Nothing is yet known that can allay
this distressing symptom, which of course renders medicine of no avail,
as it is instantly rejected. She received whatever medical aid could be
rendered from Dr. Kirk, but became unconscious, and her eyes were closed
in the sleep of death as the sunset on the evening of the Christian
Sabbath, the 27th April, 1862. A coffin was made during the night, a
grave was dug next day under the branches of the great baobab-tree, and
with sympathizing hearts the little band of his countrymen assisted the
bereaved husband in burying his dead. At his request, the Rev. James
Stewart read the burial-service; and the seamen kindly volunteered to
mount guard for some nights at the spot where her body rests in hope.
Those who are not aware how this brave, good, English wife made a
delightful home at Kolobeng, a thousand miles inland from the Cape, and
as the daughter of Moffat and a Christian lady exercised most beneficial
influence over the rude tribes of the interior, may wonder that she
should have braved the dangers and toils of this down-trodden land. She
knew them all, and, in the disinterested and dutiful attempt to renew her
labours, was called to her rest instead. "_Fiat, Domine, voluntas tua_!"
On the 5th of May Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone started in the boat
for Tette, in order to see the property of the Expedition brought down in
canoes. They took four Mazaro canoe-men to manage the boat, and a white
sailor to cook for them; but, unfortunately, he caught fever the very day
after leaving the ship, and was ill most of the trip; so they had to cook
for themselves, and to take care of him besides.
We now proceeded with preparations for the launch of the "Lady Nyassa."
Ground was levelled on the bank at Shupanga, for the purpose of arranging
the compartments in order: she was placed on palm-trees which were
brought from a place lower down the river for ways, and the engineer and
his assistants were soon busily engaged; about a fortnight after they
were all brought from Kongone, the sections were screwed together. The
blacks are more addicted to stealing where slavery exists than elsewhere.
We were annoyed by thieves who carried off the iron screw-bolts, but were
gratified to find that strychnine saved us from the man-thief as well as
the hyena-thief. A hyena was killed by it, and after the natives saw the
dead animal and knew how we had destroyed it, they concluded that it was
not safe to steal from men who possessed a medicine so powerful. The
half-caste, who kept Shupanga-house, said he wished to have some to give
to the Zulus, of whom he was mortally afraid, and to whom he had to pay
an unwilling tribute.
The "Pioneer" made several trips to the Kongone, and returned with the
last load on the 12th of June. On the 23rd the "Lady Nyassa" was safely
launched, the work of putting her together having been interrupted by
fever and dysentery, and many other causes which it would only weary the
reader to narrate in detail. Natives from all parts of the country came
to see the launch, most of them quite certain that, being made of iron,
she must go to the bottom as soon as she entered the water. Earnest
discussions had taken place among them with regard to the propriety of
using iron for ship-building. The majority affirmed that it would never
answer. They said, "If we put a hoe into the water, or the smallest bit
of iron, it sinks immediately. How then can such a mass of iron float?
it must go to the bottom." The minority answered that this might be true
with them, but white men had medicine for everything. "They could even
make a woman, all except the speaking; look at that one on the figure-
head of the vessel." The unbelievers were astonished, and could hardly
believe their eyes, when they saw the ship float lightly and gracefully
on the river, instead of going to the bottom, as they so confidently
predicted. "Truly," they said, "these men have powerful medicine."
Birds are numerous on the Shupanga estate. Some kinds remain all the
year round, while many others are there only for a few months. Flocks of
green pigeons come in April to feed on the young fruit of the wild fig-
trees, which is also eaten by a large species of bat in the evenings. The
pretty little black weaver, with yellow shoulders, appears to enjoy life
intensely after assuming his wooing dress. A hearty breakfast is eaten
in the mornings and then come the hours for making merry. A select party
of three or four perch on the bushes which skirt a small grassy plain,
and cheer themselves with the music of their own quiet and
self-complacent song. A playful performance on the wind succeeds.
Expanding his soft velvet-like plumage, one glides with quivering pinions
to the centre of the open space, singing as he flies, then turns with a
rapid whirring sound from his wings--somewhat like a child's rattle--and
returns to his place again. One by one the others perform the same feat,
and continue the sport for hours, striving which can produce the loudest
brattle while turning. These games are only played during the season of
courting and of the gay feathers; the merriment seems never to be thought
of while the bird wears his winter suit of sober brown.
We received two mules from the Cape to aid us in transporting the pieces
of the "Lady Nyassa" past the cataracts and landed them at Shupanga, but
they soon perished. A Portuguese gentleman kindly informed us, _after_
both the mules were dead, that he knew they would die; for the land there
had been often tried, and nothing would live on it--not even a pig. He
said he had not told us so before, because he did not like to appear
officious!
By the time everything had been placed on board the "Lady Nyassa," the
waters of the Zambesi and the Shire had fallen so low that it was useless
to attempt taking her up to the cataracts before the rains in December.
Draught oxen and provisions also were required, and could not be obtained
nearer than the Island of Johanna. The Portuguese, without refusing
positively to let trade enter the Zambesi, threw impediments in the way;
they only wanted a small duty! They were about to establish a river
police, and rearrange the Crown lands, which have long since become Zulu
lands; meanwhile they were making the Zambesi, by slaving, of no value to
any one.
The Rovuma, which was reported to come from Lake Nyassa, being out of
their claims and a free river, we determined to explore it in our boats
immediately on our return from Johanna, for which place, after some delay
at the Kongone, in repairing engines, paddle-wheel, and rudder, we sailed
on the 6th of August. A store of naval provisions had been formed on a
hulk in Pomone Bay of that island for the supply of the cruisers, and was
in charge of Mr. Sunley, the Consul, from whom we always received the
kindest attentions and assistance. He now obliged us by parting with six
oxen, trained for his own use in sugar-making. Though sadly hampered in
his undertaking by being obliged to employ slave labour, he has by
indomitable energy overcome obstacles under which most persons would have
sunk. He has done all that under the circumstances could be done to
infuse a desire for freedom, by paying regular wages; and has established
a large factory, and brought 300 acres of rich soil under cultivation
with sugar-cane. We trust he will realize the fortune which he so well
deserves to earn. Had Mr. Sunley performed the same experiment on the
mainland, where people would have flocked to him for the wages he now
gives, he would certainly have inaugurated a new era on the East Coast of
Africa. On a small island where the slaveholders have complete power
over the slaves, and where there is no free soil such as is everywhere
met with in Africa, the experiment ought not to be repeated. Were Mr.
Sunley commencing again, it should neither be in Zanzibar nor Johanna,
but on African soil, where, if even a slave is ill-treated, he can easily
by flight become free. On an island under native rule a joint
manufacture by Arabs and Englishmen might only mean that the latter were
to escape the odium of flogging the slaves.
On leaving Johanna and our oxen for a time, H.M.S. "Orestes" towed us
thence to the mouth of the Rovuma at the beginning of September. Captain
Gardner, her commander, and several of his officers, accompanied us up
the river for two days in the gig and cutter. The water was unusually
low, and it was rather dull work for a few hours in the morning; but the
scene became livelier and more animated when the breeze began to blow.
Our four boats they swept on under full sail, the men on the look out in
the gig and cutter calling, "Port, sir!" "Starboard, sir!" "As you go,
sir!" while the black men in the bows of the others shouted the practical
equivalents, "Pagombe! Pagombe!" "Enda quete!" "Berane! Berane!"
Presently the leading-boat touches on a sandbank; down comes the
fluttering sail; the men jump out to shove her off, and the other boats,
shunning the obstruction, shoot on ahead to be brought up each in its
turn by mistaking a sandbank for the channel, which had often but a very
little depth of water.
A drowsy herd of hippopotami were suddenly startled by a score of rifle-
shots, and stared in amazement at the strange objects which had invaded
their peaceful domains, until a few more bullets compelled them to seek
refuge at the bottom of the deep pool, near which they had been quietly
reposing. On our return, one of the herd retaliated. He followed the
boat, came up under it, and twice tried to tear the bottom out of it; but
fortunately it was too flat for his jaws to get a good grip, so he merely
damaged one of the planks with his tusks, though he lifted the boat right
up, with ten men and a ton of ebony in it.
We slept, one of the two nights Captain Gardner was with us, opposite the
lakelet Chidia, which is connected with the river in flood time, and is
nearly surrounded by hills some 500 or 600 feet high, dotted over with
trees. A few small groups of huts stood on the hill-sides, with gardens
off which the usual native produce had been reaped. The people did not
seem much alarmed by the presence of the large party which had drawn up
on the sandbanks below their dwellings. There is abundance of large
ebony in the neighbourhood. The pretty little antelope (_Cephalophus
caeruleus_), about the size of a hare, seemed to abound, as many of their
skins were offered for sale. Neat figured date-leaf mats of various
colours are woven here, the different dyes being obtained from the barks
of trees. Cattle could not live on the banks of the Rovuma on account of
the tsetse, which are found from near the mouth, up as far as we could
take the boats. The navigation did not improve as we ascended; snags,
brought down by the floods, were common, and left in the channel on the
sudden subsidence of the water. In many places, where the river divided
into two or three channels, there was not water enough in any of them for
a boat drawing three feet, so we had to drag ours over the shoals; but we
saw the river at its very lowest, and it may be years before it is so
dried up again.
The valley of the Rovuma, bounded on each side by a range of highlands,
is from two to four miles in width, and comes in a pretty straight course
from the W.S.W.; but the channel of the river is winding, and now at its
lowest zigzagged so perversely, that frequently the boats had to pass
over three miles to make one in a straight line. With a full stream it
must of course be much easier work. Few natives were seen during the
first week. Their villages are concealed in the thick jungle on the hill-
sides, for protection from marauding slave-parties. Not much of interest
was observed on this part of the silent and shallow river. Though
feeling convinced that it was unfit for navigation, except for eight
months of the year, we pushed on, resolved to see if, further inland, the
accounts we had received from different naval officers of its great
capabilities would prove correct; or if, by communication with Lake
Nyassa, even the upper part could be turned to account. Our exploration
showed us that the greatest precaution is required in those who visit new
countries.
The reports we received from gentlemen, who had entered the river and
were well qualified to judge, were that the Rovuma was infinitely
superior to the Zambesi, in the absence of any bar at its mouth, in its
greater volume of water, and in the beauty of the adjacent lands. We
probably came at a different season from that in which they visited it,
and our account ought to be taken with theirs to arrive at the truth. It
might be available as a highway for commerce during three quarters of
each year; but casual visitors, like ourselves and others, are all ill
able to decide. The absence of animal life was remarkable. Occasionally
we saw pairs of the stately jabirus, or adjutant-looking marabouts,
wading among the shoals, and spur-winged geese, and other water-fowl, but
there was scarcely a crocodile or a hippopotamus to be seen.
At the end of the first week, an old man called at our camp, and said he
would send a present from his village, which was up among the hills. He
appeared next morning with a number of his people, bringing meal, cassava-
root, and yams. The language differs considerably from that on the
Zambesi, but it is of the same family. The people are Makonde, and are
on friendly terms with the Mabiha, and the Makoa, who live south of the
Rovuma. When taking a walk up the slopes of the north bank, we found a
great variety of trees we had seen nowhere else. Those usually met with
far inland seem here to approach the coast. African ebony, generally
named _mpingu_, is abundant within eight miles of the sea; it attains a
larger size, and has more of the interior black wood than usual. A good
timber tree called _mosoko_ is also found; and we saw half-caste Arabs
near the coast cutting up a large log of it into planks. Before reaching
the top of the rise we were in a forest of bamboos. On the plateau
above, large patches were cleared and cultivated. A man invited us to
take a cup of beer; on our complying with his request, the fear
previously shown by the bystanders vanished. Our Mazaro men could hardly
understand what they said. Some of them waded in the river and caught a
curious fish in holes in the claybank. Its ventral fin is peculiar,
being unusually large, and of a circular shape, like boys' playthings
called "suckers." We were told that this fish is found also in the
Zambesi, and is called Chirire. Though all its fins are large, it is
asserted that it rarely ventures out into the stream, but remains near
its hole, where it is readily caught by the hand.
The Zambesi men thoroughly understood the characteristic marks of deep or
shallow water, and showed great skill in finding out the proper channel.
The Molimo is the steersman at the helm, the Mokadamo is the head canoe-
man, and he stands erect on the bows with a long pole in his hands, and
directs the steersman where to go, aiding the rudder, if necessary, with
his pole. The others preferred to stand and punt our boat, rather than
row with our long oars, being able to shove her ahead faster than they
could pull her. They are accustomed to short paddles. Our Mokadamo was
affected with moon-blindness, and could not see at all at night. His
comrades then led him about, and handed him his food. They thought that
it was only because his eyes rested all night, that he could see the
channel so well by day. At difficult places the Mokadamo sometimes,
however, made mistakes, and ran us aground; and the others, evidently
imbued with the spirit of resistance to constituted authority, and led by
Joao an aspirant for the office, jeered him for his stupidity. "Was he
asleep? Why did he allow the boat to come there? Could he not see the
channel was somewhere else?" At last the Mokadamo threw down the pole in
disgust, and told Joao he might be a Mokadamo himself. The office was
accepted with alacrity; but in a few minutes he too ran us into a worse
difficulty than his predecessor ever did, and was at once disrated amidst
the derision of his comrades.
On the 16th September, we arrived at the inhabited island of Kichokomane.
The usual way of approaching an unknown people is to call out in a
cheerful tone "Malonda!" Things for sale, or do you want to sell
anything? If we can obtain a man from the last village, he is employed,
though only useful in explaining to the next that we come in a friendly
way. The people here were shy of us at first, and could not be induced
to sell any food; until a woman, more adventurous than the rest, sold us
a fowl. This opened the market, and crowds came with fowls and meal, far
beyond our wants. The women are as ugly as those on Lake Nyassa, for who
can be handsome wearing the pelele, or upper-lip ring, of large
dimensions? We were once surprised to see young men wearing the pelele,
and were told that in the tribe of the Mabiha, on the south bank, men as
well as women wore them.
Along the left bank, above Kichokomane, is an exceedingly fertile plain,
nearly two miles broad, and studded with a number of deserted villages.
The inhabitants were living in temporary huts on low naked sandbanks; and
we found this to be the case as far as we went. They leave most of their
property and food behind, because they are not afraid of these being
stolen, but only fear being stolen themselves. The great slave-route
from Nyassa to Kilwa passes to N.E. from S.W., just beyond them; and it
is dangerous to remain in their villages at this time of year, when the
kidnappers are abroad. In one of the temporary villages, we saw, in
passing, two human heads lying on the ground. We slept a couple of miles
above this village.
Before sunrise next morning, a large party armed with bows and arrows and
muskets came to the camp, two or three of them having a fowl each, which
we refused to purchase, having bought enough the day before. They
followed us all the morning, and after breakfast those on the left bank
swam across and joined the main party on the other side. It was
evidently their intention to attack us at a chosen spot, where we had to
pass close to a high bank, but their plan was frustrated by a stiff
breeze sweeping the boat past, before the majority could get to the
place. They disappeared then, but came out again ahead of us, on a high
wooded bank, walking rapidly to the bend, near which we were obliged to
sail. An arrow was shot at the foremost boat; and seeing the force at
the bend, we pushed out from the side, as far as the shoal water would
permit, and tried to bring them to a parley, by declaring that we had not
come to fight, but to see the river. "Why did you fire a gun, a little
while ago?" they asked. "We shot a large puff-adder, to prevent it from
killing men; you may see it lying dead on the beach." With great
courage, our Mokadamo waded to within thirty yards of the bank, and spoke
with much earnestness, assuring them that we were a peaceable party, and
had not come for war, but to see the river. We were friends, and our
countrymen bought cotton and ivory, and wished to come and trade with
them. All we wanted was to go up quietly to look at the river, and then
return to the sea. While he was talking with those on the shore, the old
rogue, who appeared to be the ringleader, stole up the bank, and with a
dozen others, waded across to the island, near which the boats lay, and
came down behind us. Wild with excitement, they rushed into the water,
and danced in our rear, with drawn bows, taking aim, and making various
savage gesticulations. Their leader urged them to get behind some snags,
and then shoot at us. The party on the bank in front had many
muskets--and those of them, who had bows, held them with arrows ready set
in the bowstrings. They had a mass of thick bush and trees behind them,
into which they could in a moment dart, after discharging their muskets
and arrows, and be completely hidden from our sight; a circumstance that
always gives people who use bows and arrows the greatest confidence.
Notwithstanding these demonstrations, we were exceedingly loath to come
to blows. We spent a full half-hour exposed at any moment to be struck
by a bullet or poisoned arrow. We explained that we were better armed
than they were, and had plenty of ammunition, the suspected want of which
often inspires them with courage, but that we did not wish to shed the
blood of the children of the same Great Father with ourselves; that if we
must fight, the guilt would be all theirs.
This being a common mode of expostulation among themselves, we so far
succeeded, that with great persuasion the leader and others laid down
their arms, and waded over from the bank to the boats to talk the matter
over. "This was their river; they did not allow white men to use it. We
must pay toll for leave to pass." It was somewhat humiliating to do so,
but it was pay or fight; and, rather than fight, we submitted to the
humiliation of paying for their friendship, and gave them thirty yards of
cloth. They pledged themselves to be our friends ever afterwards, and
said they would have food cooked for us on our return. We then hoisted
sail, and proceeded, glad that the affair had been amicably settled.
Those on shore walked up to the bend above to look at the boat, as we
supposed; but the moment she was abreast of them, they gave us a volley
of musket-balls and poisoned arrows, without a word of warning.
Fortunately we were so near, that all the arrows passed clear over us,
but four musket-balls went through the sail just above our heads. All
our assailants bolted into the bushes and long grass the instant after
firing, save two, one of whom was about to discharge a musket and the
other an arrow, when arrested by the fire of the second boat. Not one of
them showed their faces again, till we were a thousand yards away. A few
shots were then fired over their heads, to give them an idea of the range
of our rifles, and they all fled into the woods. Those on the sandbank
rushed off too, with the utmost speed; but as they had not shot at us, we
did not molest them, and they went off safely with their cloth. They
probably expected to kill one of our number, and in the confusion rob the
boats. It is only where the people are slavers that the natives of this
part of Africa are bloodthirsty.
These people have a bad name in the country in front, even among their
own tribe. A slave-trading Arab we met above, thinking we were then on
our way down the river, advised us not to land at the villages, but to
stay in the boats, as the inhabitants were treacherous, and attacked at
once, without any warning or provocation. Our experience of their
conduct fully confirmed the truth of what he said. There was no trade on
the river where they lived, but beyond that part there was a brisk canoe-
trade in rice and salt; those further in the interior cultivating rice,
and sending it down the river to be exchanged for salt, which is
extracted from the earth in certain places on the banks. Our assailants
hardly anticipated resistance, and told a neighbouring chief that, if
they had known who we were, they would not have attacked English, who can
"bite hard." They offered no molestations on our way down, though we
were an hour in passing their village. Our canoe-men plucked up courage
on finding that we had come off unhurt. One of them, named Chiku,
acknowledging that he had been terribly frightened, said. "His fear was
not the kind which makes a man jump overboard and run away; but that
which brings the heart up to the mouth, and renders the man powerless,
and no more able to fight than a woman."
In the country of Chonga Michi, about 80 or 90 miles up the river, we
found decent people, though of the same tribe, who treated strangers with
civility. A body of Makoa had come from their own country in the south,
and settled here. The Makoa are known by a cicatrice in the forehead
shaped like the new moon with the horns turned downwards. The tribe
possesses all the country west of Mosambique; and they will not allow any
of the Portuguese to pass into their country more than two hours'
distance from the fort. A hill some ten or twelve miles distant, called
Pau, has been visited during the present generation only by one
Portuguese and one English officer, and this visit was accomplished only
by the influence of the private friendship of a chief for this Portuguese
gentleman. Our allies have occupied the Fort of Mosambique for three
hundred years, but in this, as in all other cases, have no power further
than they can see from a gun-carriage.
The Makoa chief, Matingula, was hospitable and communicative, telling us
all he knew of the river and country beyond. He had been once to Iboe
and once at Mosambique with slaves. Our men understood his language
easily. A useless musket he had bought at one of the above places was
offered us for a little cloth. Having received a present of food from
him, a railway rug was handed to him: he looked at it--had never seen
cloth like that before--did not approve of it, and would rather have
cotton cloth. "But this will keep you warm at night."--"Oh, I do not
wish to be kept warm at night."--We gave him a bit of cotton cloth, not
one-third the value of the rug, but it was more highly prized. His
people refused to sell their fowls for our splendid prints and drab
cloths. They had probably been taken in with gaudy-patterned sham prints
before. They preferred a very cheap, plain, blue stuff of which they had
experience. A great quantity of excellent honey is collected all along
the river, by bark hives being placed for the bees on the high trees on
both banks. Large pots of it, very good and clear, were offered in
exchange for a very little cloth. No wax was brought for sale; there
being no market for this commodity, it is probably thrown away as
useless.
At Michi we lose the tableland which, up to this point, bounds the view
on both sides of the river, as it were, with ranges of flat-topped hills,
600 or 800 feet high; and to this plateau a level fertile plain succeeds,
on which stand detached granite hills. That portion of the tableland on
the right bank seems to bend away to the south, still preserving the
appearance of a hill range. The height opposite extends a few miles
further west, and then branches off in a northerly direction. A few
small pieces of coal were picked up on the sandbanks, showing that this
useful mineral exists on the Rovuma, or on some of its tributaries: the
natives know that it will burn. At the lakelet Chidia, we noticed the
same sandstone rock, with fossil wood on it, which we have on the
Zambesi, and knew to be a sure evidence of coal beneath. We mentioned
this at the time to Captain Gardner, and our finding coal now seemed a
verification of what we then said; the coal-field probably extends from
the Zambesi to the Rovuma, if not beyond it. Some of the rocks lower
down have the permanent water-line three feet above the present height of
the water.
A few miles west of the Makoa of Matingula, we came again among the
Makonde, but now of good repute. War and slavery have driven them to
seek refuge on the sand-banks. A venerable-looking old man hailed us as
we passed, and asked us if we were going by without speaking. We landed,
and he laid down his gun and came to us; he was accompanied by his
brother, who shook hands with every one in the boat, as he had seen
people do at Kilwa. "Then you have seen white men before?" we said.
"Yes," replied the polite African, "but never people of your quality."
These men were very black, and wore but little clothing. A young woman,
dressed in the highest style of Makonde fashion, punting as dexterously
as a man could, brought a canoe full of girls to see us. She wore an
ornamental head-dress of red beads tied to her hair on one side of her
head, a necklace of fine beads of various colours, two bright figured
brass bracelets on her left arm, and scarcely a farthing's worth of
cloth, though it was at its cheapest.
As we pushed on westwards, we found that the river makes a little
southing, and some reaches were deeper than any near the sea; but when we
had ascended about 140 miles by the river's course from the sea, soft
tufa rocks began to appear; ten miles beyond, the river became more
narrow and rocky, and when, according to our measurement, we had ascended
156 miles, our further progress was arrested. We were rather less than
two degrees in a straight line from the Coast. The incidents worth
noticing were but few: seven canoes with loads of salt and rice kept
company with us for some days, and the further we went inland, the more
civil the people became.
When we came to a stand, just below the island of Nyamatolo, Long. 38
degrees 36 minutes E., and Lat. 11 degrees 53 minutes, the river was
narrow, and full of rocks. Near the island there is a rocky rapid with
narrow passages fit only for native canoes; the fall is small, and the
banks quite low; but these rocks were an effectual barrier to all further
progress in boats. Previous reports represented the navigable part of
this river as extending to the distance of a month's sail from its mouth;
we found that, at the ordinary heights of the water, a boat might reach
the obstructions which seem peculiar to all African rivers in six or
eight days. The Rovuma is remarkable for the high lands that flank it
for some eighty miles from the ocean. The cataracts of other rivers
occur in mountains, those of the Rovuma are found in a level part, with
hills only in the distance. Far away in the west and north we could see
high blue heights, probably of igneous origin from their forms, rising
out of a plain.
The distance from Ngomano, a spot thirty miles further up, to the Arab
crossing-places of Lake Nyassa Tsenga or Kotakota was said to be twelve
days. The way we had discovered to Lake Nyassa by Murchison's Cataracts
had so much less land carriage, that we considered it best to take our
steamer thither, by the route in which we were well known, instead of
working where we were strangers; and accordingly we made up our minds to
return.
The natives reported a worse place above our turning-point--the passage
being still narrower than this. An Arab, they said, once built a boat
above the rapids, and sent it down full of slaves; but it was broken to
pieces in these upper narrows. Many still maintained that the Rovuma
came from Nyassa, and that it is very narrow as it issues out of the
lake. One man declared that he had seen it with his own eyes as it left
the lake, and seemed displeased at being cross-questioned, as if we
doubted his veracity.
More satisfactory information, as it appeared to us, was obtained from
others. Two days, or thirty miles, beyond where we turned back, the
Rovuma is joined by the Liende, which, coming from the south-west, rises
in the mountains on the east side of Nyassa. The great slave route to
Kilwa runs up the banks of this river, which is only ankle-deep at the
dry season of the year. The Rovuma itself comes from the W.N.W., and
after the traveller passes the confluence of the Liende at Ngomano or
"meeting-place," the chief of which part is named Ndonde, he finds the
river narrow, and the people Ajawa.
Crocodiles in the Rovuma have a sorry time of it. Never before were
reptiles so persecuted and snubbed. They are hunted with spears, and
spring traps are set for them. If one of them enters an inviting pool
after fish, he soon finds a fence thrown round it, and a spring trap set
in the only path out of the enclosure. Their flesh is eaten, and
relished. The banks, on which the female lays her eggs by night, are
carefully searched by day, and all the eggs dug out and devoured. The
fish-hawk makes havoc among the few young ones that escape their other
enemies. Our men were constantly on the look-out for crocodiles' nests.
One was found containing thirty-five newly-laid eggs, and they declared
that the crocodile would lay as many more the second night in another
place. The eggs were a foot deep in the sand on the top of a bank ten
feet high. The animal digs a hole with its foot, covers the eggs, and
leaves them till the river rises over the nest in about three months
afterwards, when she comes back, and assists the young ones out. We once
saw opposite Tette young crocodiles in December, swimming beside an
island in company with an old one. The yolk of the egg is nearly as
white as the real white. In taste they resemble hen's eggs with perhaps
a smack of custard, and would be as highly relished by whites as by
blacks, were it not for their unsavoury origin in men-eaters.
Hunting the Senze (_Aulacodus Swindernianus_), an animal the size of a
large cat, but in shape more like a pig, was the chief business of men
and boys as we passed the reedy banks and low islands. They set fire to
a mass of reeds, and, armed with sticks, spears, bows and arrows, stand
in groups guarding the outlets through which the seared Senze may run
from the approaching flames. Dark dense volumes of impenetrable smoke
now roll over on the lee side of the islet, and shroud the hunters. At
times vast sheets of lurid flames bursting forth, roaring, crackling and
exploding, leap wildly far above the tall reeds. Out rush the terrified
animals, and amid the smoke are seen the excited hunters dancing about
with frantic gesticulations, and hurling stick, spear, and arrow at their
burned out victims. Kites hover over the smoke, ready to pounce on the
mantis and locusts as they spring from the fire. Small crows and
hundreds of swallows are on eager wing, darting into the smoke and out
again, seizing fugitive flies. Scores of insects, in their haste to
escape from the fire, jump into the river, and the active fish enjoy a
rare feast.
We returned to the "Pioneer" on the 9th of October, having been away one
month. The ship's company had used distilled water, a condenser having
been sent out from England; and there had not been a single case of
sickness on board since we left, though there were so many cases of fever
the few days she lay in the same spot last year. Our boat party drank
the water of the river, and the three white sailors, who had never been
in an African river before, had some slight attacks of fever.