CASS LIBRARY OF AFRICAN STUDIES

MISSIONARY RESEARCHES AND TRAVELS No.8

General Editor: ROBERT I. ROTBERG

FIGHTING THE SLAVE-HUNTERS IN CENTRAL AFRICA

A RECORD OF TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE ROUND THE GREAT LA~ES and of The Overthrow of Tip-Pu-Tib, Rumaliza and other great Slave-Traders

BY ALFRED J. SWANN

SECOND EDITION With a new Introduction by NORMAN R. BENNETT

FRANK CASS & CO. LTD. Published by FRANK CASS AND COMPANY LIMITED This edition published by Routledge - 2012 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

First edition 1910 Second edition 1969

Transferred to Digital Printing 2005

ISBN: 978-0-203-04241-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-136-25681-3 (hbk) TO THE MEMORY

OF

BRAVE MEN & WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS

WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES IN AFRICA

THAT AFRICANS MIGHT LIVE GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE

LFRED J. SWANN of the London Missionary Society was A a lay missionary who spent most of his time on or in the environs of Lake Tanganyika. He sailed the Society's small ships and sought to spread the Gospel to the peoples who lived on islands in the lake or around its shores. And like so many other late nineteenth-century missionaries, he had secular commitments to which he tended to devote much of his time. He was particularly well-acquainted with the more important Arab merchants based on or near Lake Tanganyika, and his knowledge of them and their problems was full. S"vann dealt with them on behalf of the Society, gained their confidence, and later acted to curb their influence during the growth of European hegemony in East Africa. Despite his institutional affiliations, he served the interests of British imperialism loyally, and later became a colonial administrator. The importance of this, Swann's only book, indeed stems more from his secular involvements with the Arabs and the forces of imperialism than from any portrayal of evangelical developments. Professor Norman R. Bennett of Boston University is an authority on nineteenth century East Africa. He has published numerous articles on Arabs and missionaries in the interior and has here provided a fresh and exhaustive introduction both to this book and to the period about which Swann wrote.

4 December 1967 R.I.R. INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION

URING the years between 1885 and 1894 the regions D around Lake Tanganyika became the centre of a peaceful but acrimonious struggle among Europeans ofseveralnationalities, and of actual hostilities between Europeans and Arabs. Alfred J. Swann, mariner and lay missionary for the London Missionary Society, participated in the activity, developing a particular relationship to the Arabs and their leader, ~Iuhammad bin Khalfan (or Rumaliza), that led him to play an equivocal role in the events leading to the final European domination of Lake Tanganyika's shores. Swann's society, the London Missionary Society, had decided in 1876 to take up what they considered the legacy of Livingstone and to establish a station at Ujiji, the scene of the meeting between Livingstone and Stanley, as a centre for missionary endeavour around the lake.! The first missionary expedition reached Ujiji in August 1878; among the party was Edward C. Hore, destined to be the dominant member of the mission, and a predominant influence upon Swann, until he left Africa in 1888. 2 The chosen location for L.M.S. activities, Ujiji, was then the principal centre of Arab3 settlement on the lake shores, with the indigenous Ha people accepting and profiting from the Arab presence. 4 The resulting powerful Arab influence did not make Ujiji a very suitable choice for Christian endeavour-Hore described the town as a place for" only Arabs, Wangwana, and their slaves & hangers on "-but initial Arab hostility to the VIII NEW INTRODUCTION removal of the unwanted Europeans from under their scrutiny kept the missionaries there. 5 They ,vere soon joined, in January 1879, by rival Christians, the French Roman Catholic White Fathers. Hore optimistically observed, "I do not think they ,vill hinder us much," later concluding that the White Fathers were " quite unfit and unprovided for this work." Nevertheless the French missionaries remained to become formidable rivals of the L.M.S.6 The two groups generally managed to live on outwardly friendly terms, but the subsequent active role of the White Fathers in opposing the Arabs later became a main stimulus to Swann's opposite conception of the proper European reaction to Arab strength around Lake Tanganyika. The lake region where the British and French missionaries operated was then becoming an area of increasing activity for the Arabs. The principal route from the coast to the eastern Congo went through Ujiji, the principal lake port, with, from the mid­ 1860's, growing numbers of Arabs and their followers passing on their way to gain the plentiful ivory ofthe politically ,veak peoples to the west. Other Arabs, most of \vhom ackno,vledged the leadership of Mwinyi Kheri, who dominated the Ujiji community and the northern shores of the lake, remained in the profitable, but less exploited, lake region, some raiding and trading for ivory and slaves, others supplying the caravans passing to and from the Congo. The African groups around the lake offered a good field for the relatively small Arab community of Ujiji. Only to the north, in Burundi, was there an African state successfully able, at least away from the lake, to withstand Arab incursions. Most of the other African peoples did not have centralized governments; this, added to the continual hostilities among the Africans themselves, allowed an increasing role for Arab raiders. It is often asserted that the trade route serving Lake Tan­ ganyika and the Congo was not a primary route for the exporta­ tion of slaves; it "yas rather the principal ivory-exporting route for East-Central Africa. Although it is certainly true that the Ujiji route ,vas the principal ivory road, and that the routes leading across southern Tanzania to Kilwa and other nearby ports carried most of the slaves exported, the role that slaves NEW INTRODUCTION IX

played on the route from Ujiji should not be underestimated. 7 The British representative in Zanzibar, John (later Sir John) Kirk, could report in 1876 that slaves from Lake Tanganyika, Manyema, and Urua (the Baluba country) were not known in Zanzibar,8 but there were sufficient reasons for their absence. Slaves taken around the lake and in the Congo were bartered to Africans for ivory along the route to the coast; there were also local slave markets, such as at Tabora and Ujiji. 9 Once Euro­ peans became settled on the routes to the coast, frequent reports confirmed a minor, but busy, slave business.!o Kirk recognized this fact, while still affirming that most slaves did not reach Zanzibar since those not traded along the route were absorbed into the Arab-run plantation economy around the northern Tanzanian coastal centres.!l Reports of the 1890's indicate that many more- slaves must have arrived in Zanzibar, and especially in Pemba, than were noted,l2 while Hore at the lake earlier indicated that there was a larger local slave trade than he had originally reported.l3 In any case, raiding for slaves did go on around Lake Tanganyika; it increased during the years ofSwann's missionary career, thus providing a clear indication that the markets from the lake to Zanzibar absorbed the growing numbers of slaves taken from the area of Swann's missionary endeavours. The raiding for slaves naturally meant that the Europeans were in a potentially dangerous position, practising their work in a region increasingly dominated by Arabs. Both the French and the British, however, recognized their lack of power and concen­ trated on their own missionary work, leaving to the future the suppression of the slave trade. Within this context there was at first little direct missionary rivalry, the two societies, according to the L.M.S., even concluding a rough sphere-of-influence agreement that gave to the White Fathers the area to the north of a line drawn across the lake from Ujiji to Mtowa in Uguha.!4 Both missionary groups maintained good relations with the third European organization on Lake Tanganyika, the International African Association, founded in 1876 at Bruxelles under the direction of Leopold II of Belgium. The first Association expedition to East Africa had founded a station at Karema, to x NEW INTRODUCTION the south of Ujiji, in 1878, and its officers were soon in regular contact with the missions.15 As one L,M.S. missionary said: " The philanthropic efforts of these gentlemen are very praise­ worthy, and without being too widely separated we shall be one united power to civilize the tribes to the west of the Tanganyika."16 Meantime, to the south on Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi), other mission stations had been founded by the Free Church of Scotland and the established Church of Scotland. To help the spread of Christianity in the great lakes' region, James Stevenson of the Free Church in 1878 founded the African Lakes Company to carry supplies to the missionaries and to introduce a legitimate trade for the ivory ofthe Arabs. In 1881 Stevenson went further, offering £4,000 for the development of a road between Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika, with guarantees of regular communica­ tions between the two by the Company, on the condition that the L.M.S. and the Free Church open stations on the route.17 The original plan of the L.M.S. had been to place a steamer on Lake Tanganyika, and, reacting to the difficulties of their missionaries at Muslim dominated Ujiji, and at Mtowa (founded in 1879), the L.M.S. decided to co-operate with Stevenson and open a station on the southern shores of the lake.Is There the Company could deliver over the new road the parts of a steamer for construction by the L.M.S. Hore was given command of the first steps toward this scheme, which initially involved the placing of a European sailing vessel on the lake, necessary for the first regular communication between Ujiji and the south. While organizing his expedition in Britain, Hore advertised for an experienced seaman to aid the venture. Alfred J. Swann, with twelve years' service at sea, plus the required certificate of a chief officer in the merchant marine, applied and was accepted into L.M.S. service. The new member was a vigorous individual, born in 1855 at Shoreham, who was willing and ready to push to the utmost in the joint task of spreading Christianity and ending the slave trade.19 Swann's tasks for the immediate future were to act as the second-in­ command of Hore's caravan, and subsequently to be employed NEW INTRODUCTION Xl

in the L.M.S. vessels on Lake Tanganyika. He also was to join others in the construction of the new steamer when its various components arrived at the south of the lake. Swann's first African venture proved both interesting and challenging. The problem of transportation from the coast to the interior was as yet unsolved, with African manpower re­ maining the only feasible way of carrying goods. Hore proposed to transport the heavy sections of his new vessel, weighing from 230 to 300 pounds each, on carts drawn by Africans. The carts had much the same difficulties with the narrow paths of East Africa as had earlier wheeled experiments,20 but man could survive the tsetse fly where cattle could not, and in February 1883, after a 103 day journey, Hore's caravan arrived successfully at Ujiji. The exuberant leader proclaimed: "We only want a newspaper reporter to make it the greatest work yet done in Central Africa." 21 Swann, as Hore had been before him, was captivated with the busy port of Ujiji, with its dignified Arab notables and its crowds of Africans, all busy with the products that they brought from the various sections of the Lake Tanganyika region for sale or exchange in the bustling markets of the Ha town. With only minor friction from the Arabs, the new vessel, the Morning Star, was assembled and then launched on May 21, 1883. 22 Swann's active career as the" London Missionary Society's Admiral on Tanganyika "23 had begun. The possession of a dependable sailing vessel allowed the L.M.S. missionaries to make their long-delayed decision to move to a lake port free from Arab influence. There was some dis­ cussion about an Association proposal to make Karema the base for materials arriving from the coast,24 a step that would have allowed the missionaries to move directly to a new working centre which could be supplied from Arab-free Karema until the steamer was afloat. 25 But Hore opposed the abandonment of the scene of his early labours, particularly since he feared that the White Fathers might move into the vacated Protestant position. Thus the move was to Kavala Island, near Mtowa on the west coast of the lake, which allowed Ujiji to remain the supply centrp, xii NEW INTRODUCTION

for the mission. 26 The decision was made, at least by Hore and Swann, with regret. Swann said: "I was very sorry the [Lake Tanganyika] Committee found it advisable to forsake Ujiji as people were so tractable & perfectly at ease with us; ~n fact I thoroughly believe more success in Missionary vvork can be obtained amongst them, than in any other country around Tanganyika." 27 The L.M.S. work at Ujiji since 1878 belied this judgement, but Swann, then as in the future, was a prey to opinions disavowed by his more realistic colleagues in Central Africa. After the move to Kavala the search for a suitable place for the construction of the steamer began. The location chosen was Liendwe, on the Lofu River, among the Lungu people. The explorer Joseph Thomson had earlier described it as " with the exception of Ujiji, the most important if not the most populous port on Lake Tanganyika," and he had conveyed this opinion to the L.M.S.28 Since Thomson's visit, however, the Lungu had been hard hit by Arab and African raiders;29 consequently, for the first time, the L.M.S. missionaries came into direct contact with the ravages left by the slave trade. The British had arrived just in time to observe the actions of Hassan, the Baluchi, better known as Kabunda, who after a ten-year stay in the Lofu Valley, had changed his hitherto peaceful relationship \vith the Lungu by raiding to gain slaves to help carry his abundant stock of ivory. The sight of yoked and chained Africans made a deep impression on the European party, as did the subsequent famine, which stemmed from the raids, in the region. 30 Significantly enough, this first experience of Swann with the slave raiders of Central Africa was in an area unconnected with the Arabs of Ujiji. Hore had earlier noted that the trade route passing this southern. lake region came from Tabora, and Kabunda, as it turned out, was in some way dependent upon the most famous of interior Arabs, Tippu Tip.31 This separation of the Ujiji Arabs from the new L.M.S. location, where Swann was to spend much time, perhaps aided the lay missionary to maintain his attitude (which will be discussed below) of consistent friendship to Rumaliza, the Ujiji leader. NEW INTRODUCTION XIII

Despite the physical and mental hazards of their position, Swann and his cohorts, James Roxburgh and Arthur Brooks, went on with the assembling of the steamer, the first sections ofit arriving in October 1883. 32 The process was a long one. All depended upon the African Lakes Company which had formidable obstacles to overcome in meeting the needs of the L.M.S. To the Tanganyika missionaries, however, all was blamed on the in­ efficiency of the Scots company. Hore, with his patience at an end, said with high emotion: "I would briefly say that the Good News [the steamer] contract would be characterized amongst commercial men as a complete swindle." Swann was similarly caustic, especially when he had to begin making rivets for the vessel-none ever arrived.33 This criticism was somewhat unfair in face of the problems involved, but the missionaries, full oftheir own problems, understandably did not take the moderate view of the L.M.S. authorities in Britain. 34 The chagrin of Swann and the other builders was notably increased when the Association profited from the delay of the Good News' vital parts to place the first working steamer on Lake Tanganyika. The Gambier had arrived two years previously at Karema, but breakage and lack of spare parts had prevented its effective completion. When the Belgian commander at Karema, Storms, heard of the Liendwe group, he brought ,the vessel to them for completion. The L.M.S. men obligingly put it into operation, but they were unanimous that the" little toy of a steam launch (22 feet long) " was in all ways inferior to their unfinished Good News. 35 Inferior or not, the Gambier was the first steamer on Lake Tanganyika~a fact Swann does not acknowledge in his book-while the L.M.S. had to wait until late 1885 for the last loads necessary for completing the Good News. 36 While Swann and his compatriots "worked and waited, they began to notice increasing signs of Arab activity around them. Contacts with the Arab leaders, notably Rumaliza and Tippu Tip, became frequent for Swann, and he began to enter into a new phase of his career, that of being the European closest to the Arab leadership of the lake. Tippu Tip, as he usually did with Europeans, created a favourable impression. He told Swann that xiv NEW INTRODUCTION he planned to build several large dhows for trading on the lake; he also promised to quiet the disorders created by Kabunda and the Bemba around Liendwe. Tippu Tip's reasons for this interest were not clear to the missionaries; he did not claim to be represent­ ing the ruler of Zanzibar, but he appeared, Hore thought, to be acting "at least under the cognisance" of Sultan Barghash. Hore continued that this was" a suspicion I am encouraged in by the information from Zanzibar that the Sultan is showing symp­ toms of considerable jealousy of the advance of Europeans into the interior." Hore also warned of a possible renewal ofthe slave trade "or a large extension of the Sultan's influence and do­ minion in the interior." Swann echoed this: "There is a great stir amongst the Arabs in the Interior, large caravans are scouring the country, bringing all under subjection to their rule." But he also could not decide if the stir was a move to " formal posses­ sion " or not. 37 All doubts soon vanished, however, and the report spread that Tippu Tip and others had been commissioned by Barghash to take possession ofall ofthe lake'ssurrounding regions, a theory also backed from Zanzibar where the French representa­ tive described Tippu Tip'S large new inland venture-ostensibly for trade-as a move against Europeans. 38 The significance for the Lake Tanganyika area of these Arab developments is not clear. 39 The activities of Stanley in the Congo-he had met the Arabs at Stanley Falls in November 1883-were known to Barghash. Tippu Tip, with his large expedition, did have a role to play in the Congo: it was said that he was ordered to chain and lead to Zanzibar all Arabs who sold to Europeans.40 But the situation around Lake Tanganyika was very different. The Arab community there had a recognized leader, Mwinyi Kheri, who had formally accepted the overlord­ ship of Barghash as recently as 1881. 41 Despite this, there then appeared on the scene, for the first time in a position of import­ ance, the Arab Muhammad bin Khalfan-Rumaliza-with, according to some informants, a mission to open a new road to Manyema from the northern lake region. He also began to levy taxes on the African populations of the Ubwari peninsula and Masanze, on the western shore ofthe lake, claiming that Barghash NEW INTRODUCTION xv had given him the region to govern. 42 Perhaps Rumaliza had concluded an agreement with Mwinyi Kheri, but without further information the exact relationship between the two leaders must remain uncertain. Mwinyi Kheri remained the formal governor of the Ujiji-based Arabs until his death in 1885. The vigorous Arab activity paralleled developments in Europe that led to the assertion of European claims to the lands around Lake Tanganyika. Leopold II attempted to push his claims for a Congo state as far to the east as possible, although the moderate opposition of Bismarck caused Leopold in 1884-1885 to settle for the west coast of Lake Tanganyika. The settlement of boundaries to the north of the lake was less clear, but German indifference let the uncertainty remain. One of Swann's major ventures in the interior later stemmed from this unresolved issue. 43 Such decisions made in distant Europe did not immediately create an official European presence in Central Africa. Never­ theless change would come, when Swann, now enjoying the great mobility provided by the L.M.S. steamer, was brought increasing­ ly into the heart of the various European and Arab schemes for the lake region. For the moment, however, Swann's thoughts and energies remained fixed on the problems of his mission and upon the slave trade. In particular, his helplessness before the latter began to trouble him. Swann's feelings erupted when his Lungu neighbours began to return to their former homes, in part due to the security hopefully stemming from the L.M.S. presence. " Alas, it is not so," lamented Swann. "After struggling through last fine season they have lately hoed up the ground & planted crops. Just as it was fit to be gathered down swooped the followers of Arabs connected with' Tip-pu-Tip' (well known to Sir John Kirk H.C. Zanzibar) & as I write this they are passing along the opposite bank of the Lofu loaded with the crops ofthese poor Walungu." Swann concluded with a plea: " it needs but to be made known to Sir J. Kirk (who is well known by , Tip-pu. Tip ') & he could by a word inform that' Arab' of his wishes & that of United Britain. This Arab is the man & no other, who can bring those heart breaking scenes to a close near our XVI NEW INTRODUCTION vicinity,"44 Swann's sincerity is apparent, although he over­ estimated the power of Consul-General Kirk and "United Britain " to act in the interior, especially since the vicissitudes of the partition ofAfrica led Britain to refrain from advancing major claims to the lake area. The unpleasant fact, to Swann, of his country, at least at first, not supporting the L.M.S. in its chosen sphere, was another major determinant of his future actions. The general feeling of insecurity caused by Arab raiding, coupled with the recurring loss of missionary life from disease and the apparent failure to make any Christian headway with the African people they worked among, led to a revision of the L.M.S. position on Lake Tanganyika. A meeting of the local Committee in February 1885 brought decisions to give up the station at Mtowa in Uguha and to concentrate missionary work to the south away from the shores of the lake.45 Hore strongly protested the decision,46 with Swann as usual suporting the senior L.M.S. mariner, expressing his opinions in a manner that explained both his personality and his attitude towards mission work. Swann began with the statement that he had played no part in the decision of the Committee, " of course, not being eligible [due to his subordinate lay position in the mission], but as I have now seen more of the Lake than any member (Capt. Hore excepted) I thought you might be interested to know a Lay worker's opinions." Swann firmly set out his opposition to the withdrawal of the mission from the lake, arguing that there were many healthy places on Tanganyika's shores, and that most of the mission deaths since his arrival were due to "very special circumstances," not to any" unhealthy climate." This of course was Hore's long-standing view. Swann concluded with his thoughts on the running of a mission, thoughts that he would attempt to put into practice in the future. He asserted" that the great & only hope of success is in the children. Missionaries should have power to obtain them & provide for them entirely (the cost would be almost nil) until they were able to make the Station self supporting. This could be easily accomplished. In this manner Misionaries would be always surrounded with life NEW INTRODUCTION XVII and cheerfulness, instead of living a life of comparative isolation -an enemy to be dreaded in Africa more than the fatal dysentcry."47 Swann's opinions were only that, however, and the decision of the Committee, particularly influenced by the high death rate, was final. 48 This decision was all the more galling to Hore, the founding member of the mission on Lake Tanganyika, since the rival White Fathers were expanding as the L.M.S. contracted. Leopold, ,vith his interest now centred on the Atlantic side of the continent, had asked the White Fathers to occupy the Associa­ tion's lake stations of Karema and Mpala, the latter founded by Emile Storms in 1883 in Marungu on the western coast ofthe lake. The White Fathers took over the stations, much to the regret of Storms, in July 1885. 49 Hore ruefully watched the transfer, stating somewhat hopefully, "I can not believe in the ability (if they have the desire) of the French missionaries to hold these places or sustain the responsibilities thus entailed; if they do attempt it there certainly will be disaster, especially at Karema."50 The stations did involve the White Fathers in ne'v difficulties, but the French priests were determined to hold them, and they continued to do so despite increasing Arab hostility. Reacting to these circumstances, Hore stood out against the Committee's decision by maintaining the station at Kavala, being particularly motivated by his opinion of the White Fathers' future. Hore naturally feared that any such disorder would be harmful to L.M.S. interests, and more important, it confirmed to Hore a judgment which he had been developing concerning the Arabs-a judgment that \vould later influence Swann. Hore had concluded that the Arabs desired an effective occupation of the region, a process which it might not be wise to challenge, since, in view of the local circumstances, Arab victory appeared inevitable. Moreover, Hore thought, this victory might even be beneficial because it would bring the endless disorders stemming from political fragmentation to an end; there could then be a respon­ sible Arab authority to treat with, one possessing control over much of the lake territory. In Hore's eyes, Tippu Tip was the one Arab individual who could accomplish this task; the mission- XVIII NEW INTRODUCTION ary was convinced that the Arab leader was farsighted enough to see the advantage of working with a European government for the successful commercial development of Central Africa. 51 This was not an unrealistic hope-Tippu Tip later served the Congo Independent State-but Swann's future uncritical acceptance of the proposed policy of working with the Arab leaders later led to disunity among the various Europeans established around Lake Tanganyika. Hore'~ views won out for the moment; the I.J.M.S. directors, with urging from Hore's active correspondent, I{irk, ruled that Kavala should continue as a marine station until a final move to the south was accomplished. 52 The transfer of Karema and Mpala to the White Fathers had meanwhile turned out to be an event of primary significance in the relationship between Arabs and Europeans. Storms had left African armed troops on the stations, a force that the vVhite Fathers determined to maintain. Leopold Louis Joubert, a former papal zouave, who had already served the White Fathers in East Africa for five years, was appointed, following some minor hostilities around the new positions, to command the African soldiers. Joubert enrolled 300 of Storm's former men, thus creating a formidable and well-led military force fully capable of controlling the usual disorders of Marungu. 53 Joubert went on to become, in the words of one Frenchman, " a kind of Catholic Gordon,"54 who remained the mainstay of the v\7hite Fathers until the Congo Independent State was ready to assume responsibility for the west coast of the lake. Hore and his L.M.S. companions thought that all of these actions were very unwise in view of what they considered to be the overwhelming power of the Arabs; Hore's view was that Tippu Tip and his followers were" fully capable of suppressing slavery or establishing peaceful rule and passage from Zanzibar to Banana!!"55 But despite the thoughts of the L.M.S. that co­ existence was the most realistic policy, the White Fathers, in response to threats to their position throughout Central Africa, and notably in Buganda, advanced a more vigorous solution. The able and dynamic Cardinal Charles Lavigerie, head of the White Fathers, memorialized the European powers with interests NEW INTRODUCTION xix in east central Africa, stressing the dangers to Europeans, particularly missionaries, and asserting that the disorders of the slave trade were the primary cause of trouble. Lavigerie, echoing the L.M.S. interpretation, was sure that the ruler of Zanzibar had an influence on all of the recent unrest. The Cardinal therefore proposed that the European nations involved in the region should issue a collective statement declaring that the responsibility for all hostile acts would fall upon the Sultan of Zanzibar. Lavigerie was a realist; he recognized that the recent German acquisition of territory behind the East African coast was also a stimulant to Arab hostility. But this fact could not be discussed in public. He proceeded by approaching the German Consul in Tunis with his scheme, since in his mind the Germans were primarily responsible for the problem. This step caused the prelate some embarrassment with the French government, which reacted unfavourably to his initial advance to a rival power. Lavigerie's defence was that the decisions of the Berlin Con­ ference had not dealt with the regions between Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, and Nyasa and the Indian Ocean, between 4°N. and 15 0S. latitudes, an area he described as occupied by weak African states, and thus left to the Arabs. The Cardinal could speak out against Germany here, passing full blame on German acts in East Africa as a stimulus to the Arabs. Lavigerie con­ fessed that he feared that the Arabs were planning a general massacre of Europeans, using the examples of the Buganda difficulties and the murder of Bishop James Hannington of the Church Missionary Society to uphold his argument. As for Lake Tanganyika, the Cardinal continued, the White Fathers had endured hardships caused by the Ujiji Arabs, and since there was a German member among his missionaries, he had approached Germany. Lavigerie affirmed that Germany alone (a French official inserted the following aside to this part of the text­ "! ") could make the Sultan respond to pressure, particularly since France, which had earlier turned down an offer of a pro­ tectorate in Buganda, was pursuing an inactive policy in East Africa. Now, however, explained the Cardinal, he was asking the French, in their historic role of the protector of Roman Catholic xx NEW INTRODUCTION

missionaries, as well as of their own nationals, to join Germany in acting to provide security against the Arabs. 56 The Germans were interested in the French reaction to the Cardinal's memorial, a situation which displeased the French. France was then a member of the three-power commission investigating the Sultan's claims to dominion in East Africa and the French diplomats not unnaturally feared that Bismarck might use Lavigerie's proposal for German political advantage. With this attitude the French foreign ministry officials concluded that Lavigerie probably had exaggerated fears for the safety of his missionaries, and furthermore, even if the Cardinal was not overly anxious, there were doubts whether a collective ,varning would have any usefulness in territory so distant from Zanzibar. A perhaps decisive opinion came from William H. Waddington, the French ambassador in London. He cogently observed that the French could not use their influence in the manner requested in territory where France had no political interests: France certainly would not let any other power do so in territory claimed by her. And Waddington thought that any action would be futile since no effective force could reach Lake Tanganyika. Thus, he concluded, France had better remain inactive and recognize that her protection of Catholic missionaries did not apply to central Africa. Rather, he believed, Leopold's Congo State should act for the western side of the lake, and the Germans for the opposite coast. Therefore, in February 1887, a first decision was made that no action would be taken on the Cardinal's memorial; the decision was never reversed. 57 The British reply to Lavigerie's note, which had been for­ warded to London from their representative, R. L. Playfair, at Tunis, was equally disappointing to the French missionary. The only appreciable difference in this message to Britain was that the Cardinal asserted that only Britain had the power to force the Sultan ofZanzibar to protect Europeans in the interior. Kirk, then in London, commented that" it would be quite imprudent to get up a correspondence with the Cardinal," while he described Lavigerie's assertions regarding the Sultan's role of responsibility for actions in the interior as " absurd" and" ridiculous." Kirk NEW INTRODUCTION XXI counselled that the British should let the matter drop since pursuance would only allow" the final success of the [German] filibusterers" in East ..Africa. 58 Kirk's opinions were accepted. Thus the White Fathers, despite Lavigerie's efforts, were left to their own resources. Britain and France would not act in an area where they had little political interest, while the Germans were too involved on the East African coast to admit of any action on the distant Lake Tanganyika. Swann meantime was preparing to return to Britain at the close of his first five-year term in Africa. He had decided to devote his life to Africa, but he wanted to return with a partner: " Having seen the remarkable influence a Christian woman can exert over these people (to say nothing of the benefit to the Missionary himself) & believing it will be the greatest blessing to myself & this work, I wish to return married."59 Swann left Lake Tanganyika in September 1886, travelling via the Lake Nyasa-Zambezi route. The trip, as recounted in Swann's book, was without serious incident, although there were some exciting episodes. Its chief interest was Swann's introduction to the future British territory of Nyasaland, where he would spend the latter years of his African life. Swann arrived in Britain in January 1887, and soon completed his quest for a wife. He married Jane E. Housden in June. Swann and his family­ including an infant son-arrived in Zanzibar in July 1888 and proceeded inland just before open warfare began bet\veen the Germans and the coastal population. 60 During S,vann's absence the initiative for events on Lake Tanganyika remained with the White Fathers, unaided by any European government, and the Arabs. The stations of Karema and Mpala, buttressed by Joubert's military organization, flourished, ,vith African populations moving into the sphere of safety that they provided. During 1886, 6,000 Africans were claimed to be in formal or informal relations with the Catholic missionaries. 61 But while Karema and Mpala enjoyed this period of quiet, the Catholic stations to the north experienced Arab pressure. Rumaliza in 1886 met with defeat in a campaign in Burundi; his forces were, however, more successful against other xxii NEW INTRODUCTION weaker African groups. During 1886 many of the hitherto independent peoples-particularly on the Ubwari peninsula­ had to accept some form of Arab control. 62 In 1887 Arab pressure around the lake increased. The German explorer, Hermann von Wissmann, found the Arabs and their allies, the Bemba, "very bold and aggressive" in the region between Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa,63 but the main Arab activity of concern to the European presence remained in the central and northern lake areas. Rumaliza continued unsuccessful in his efforts against the Rundi;64 more importantly his forces began to threaten the territories dependent upon the White Fathers. In August a band of raiders attempted to pass close to Mpala, on their way to Urua, through lands protected by Joubert. When one of Joubert's African dependents was attacked, the French soldier went to his defence and defeated the Arabs. 65 To the north, at the White Fathers' Kibanga station, trouble came in December when African refugees from Arab raiders began fleeing to the station. The White Fathers found it necessary to drive off an advancing Arab band. The affair went no farther, since the Arab leader claimed that his men had violated orders in moving against the Europeans-he asserted that Barghash had sent orders to leave the missionaries alone­ but this act did not decrease the fears for the future of the White Fathers at Kibanga. 66 By 1888 Arab-European tension had increased even more because of the beginning of the long struggle between these rival groups at the north end of Lake Nyasa. 67 Hore of the L.M.S. judged that there was no connection between this affair and the Arabs of Tanganyika; he found the latter Arabs unaware of the hostilities until he so informed them. The evolution of Hore's Arab policy, which Swann would continue to share, was sharpened by the Nyasa events; Hore considered that the Europeans of Nyasa had erred by trying to drive out the Arabs, a policy which he concluded was harmful to missionary interests. Hore said of the Arabs: "These small traders and settlements form the only oases of peace and prosperity to the natives and are a cementing power to keep society together." The slave trade, of course, had NEW INTRODUCTION XXIII to be suppressed, continued Hore, but he thought open warfare was not the best means of accomplishing this aim. All in all, Hore thought, the Arabs, apart from their ideas on slavery, and their somewhat objectionable religion, were the source of much good. He concluded: "Far better these people than the South African colonial process."68 Also in 1888 the L.M.S. finally decided to leave the lake and to make their main centre in the lands to the south of Lake Tanganyika. The ordained missionaries had moved to Fwambo, about fifty miles from the lake, in 1887-much to Hore's disgust­ and in 1888 the L.M.S. directors formalized the change with resolutions affirming that the idea of a lake mission had been a mistake. The decision taken was that Kavala ,vas too limited for useful missionary work and that it should be maintained only until a usable harbour was found on the southern coast. 69 Hore left the mission for good in June; with the influential pioneer of the Tanganyika mission gone, a clear field remained for the continued evolution of a J..J.M.S. mission away from the lake. S,vann arrived at Ujiji in October 1888 to take up his work in the mission. 70 Swann recounts in his book (below, 171-172) the cool reception that his group received from the Arabs and how, when he met Rumaliza, he learned that the Arab leader had saved the missionaries from disaster. Rumaliza claimed Tippu Tip had learned that the Ujiji Arabs planned revenge for Arab losses elsewhere by striking at Swann's caravan. Tippu Tip immedi­ ately informed Rumaliza to hurry to Ujiji to prevent, by force if necessary, any incident. 71 Rumaliza's apparent protection naturally impressed Swann; it would set the pattern for the future relationship between the missionary and the Arab. Rumaliza had become the protector of the L.M.S. on Lake Tanganyika; impressed with the supposed power of the Arabs, Swann would henceforth base most of his decisions on the need to keep this power working to protect his mission. Proceeding to Kavala, Swann participated in the prepara­ tions for the move to the south and in a general reorganization of the mission. One decision made was to begin dismissing the Muslim individuals in L.M.S. employ as part of a plan to end all XXIV NEW INTRODUCTION

Muslim influences within mIssIonary establishments. Swann, accompanied by Alexander Carson, made two voyages to locate a new lake port to the south: by the beginning of 1889 Niamkolo island had been chosen and the missionaries left Kavala. 72 While the L.M.S. changed its Lake Tanganyikan position, Cardinal Lavigerie undertook a new tactic to safeguard his Central African missionaries. In May 1888 the Cardinal an­ nounced, in the White Fathers' periodical, a plan for a " crusade" against the slave trade of Central Africa. He did this on the authority of the Pope, Leo XIII.73 Lavigerie followed the announcement with a speaking tour that brought him to Paris, London, and Bruxelles in July and August. Lavigerie's essential proposition was that private action against the slave trade had become a necessity since governments were not yet able to act. Thus the Cardinal proposed that a small European group of resolute men-l00 would be enough, with African support­ should strike against the slave traders by blocking their routes to the Indian Ocean ports. Lake Tanganyika would be a vital link in this scheme; a steamer, with armed camps at both ends of the lake, would close it to slavers. 74 The speeches, full of moving examples of the horrors brought by the slave trade, and with imaginative calls for the founding of a new organization similar to the Knights of Malta or the Teutonic Knights, drew immediate response. About 700 Belgians and 2,000 Frenchmen were reported to have volunteered to join in the work within a few days.75 Lavigerie, however, was experienced enough to realize that more than public support was necessary for success. When he visited London the Cardinal met with Waddington, the French ambassador, to further his scheme. Before his public speech he obtained an interview with Lord Salisbury. The French diplomat reported that it was a friendly and useful exchange. 76 Lavigerie's speech was reported favourably; it was hoped favourable results would follow. Waddington, with some Gallic asperity, added of the British Anti-Slavery Society: "This society possesses numerous adepts, and often, among them, fanatics, such as one encounters frequently enough in England for all humanitarian causes." 77 NEW INTRODUCTION xxv

The British reaction to Lavigerie was less enthusiastic than on the Continent. An Anti-Slavery Society reaction was less than overwhelming: "While unable by the very constitution of the Anti-Slavery Society to endorse his scheme ..., we no[not] the less urge him to preach such a crusade among the nations of Europe, and especially among his own countrymen."78 But the Cardinal gained one important supporter. The explorer, Verney L. Cameron, stimulated by Lavigerie's speech, came forward with a plan to develop a line of stations and steamers between the Shire River and Emin Pasha's Sudan territory which would cut the main Central African slave routes. Cameron unsurprisingly considered that the British, since he thought that they got on better with Africans than any other Europeans, were the best qualified to act. Therefore Cameron proposed a form of associa­ tion which by charter or Parliamentary act would be entrusted with powers of government over Central Africa, and which could draw revenues from taxes Africans would pay for the protection offered and from trade, therefore guaranteeing some return to investors. 79 The official reaction to Cameron's plan was cool. The explorer approached John Kirk about the" agitation" he was starting, but the former representative in Zanzibar entirely opposed the venture. He dourly said: " There is no use crusading in a country you cannot keep after you have conquered it, and no use driving a slaver out unless you put something better in." He added that there was little use in fighting the Arabs in any case since the Africans themselves all participated heavily in slaving activities. The British government took all of the information about Lavigerie's and Cameron's ideas under consideration. Salisbury was of two minds about these bold schemes, stating that "a public impulse" was necessary for any government action, but even so he could only be suspicious of a volunteer organization which might act as "the Elizabethan freebooters who pursued the Spaniards in the West Indies and the Pacific." His final opinion was that if a European power did act, it should be Belgium, due to Leopold's interests, and that an even better xxvi NEW INTRODUCTION decision would be the calling of a conference at Bruxelles to discuss the problems of the slave trade.80 The Lavigerie­ Cameron initiatives thus achieved little among British private individuals and groups. Stanley's judgement was shared by many; Lavigerie was an " enthusiast" and the British would wait for more practical schemes. 81 The response to Lavigerie's speech took a different turn in Belgium. There was initially a greater chance of success, due to Leopold and the Congo Independent State, but favourable government reception was not automatic. Leopold and his advisors immediately turned to a scheme that might bring them badly needed resources, especially one that might result in the sending of a steamer to Lake Tanganyika where the Independent State was as yet powerless to act.82 But Leopold was wary of Lavigerie, fearing that the prelate, if acting outside of Independ­ ent State control, might somehow draw in other European powers to profit from the absence ofState control. Another fear was that Lavigerie's plans might antagonize all of the Congo Arabs, leading to hostilities that Leopold then did not have the strength to contain.83 Still, the humanitarian impulse that Lavigerie had unloosed was too full of potential to let pass. The Belgian anti. slavery movement which the Cardinal had created was, in effect, absorbed by Leopold; it would be exclusively Belgian, concentra­ ting its activities in the Congo Independent State. All measures were to be taken with government approval, particularly any involving the use of force. 84 As it turned out, Leopold gave the new organization little support, but the ruler of the Congo soon profited from its creation. 85 In large measure this " crusade" stemmed from the convic­ tion that, since the mid-1880's, a sharp break had occurred in the Arabs' attitudes towards Europeans in Central Africa. The British representative to Zanzibar, for example, said he had reason to believe there was " a plan of organized action among all Arabs in the interior."86 There had been recent support for this conviction, with suggestions of " central planning" from Zanzi­ bar, since the Arab pressure on Europeans occurred over such widely separated areas in a relatively short time. 87 NEW INTRODUCTION xxvii

But the existence of a sharp break in the Arab attitude to political control in Central Africa in the years after 1884 can be questioned. Before that date an analysis of Arab-African relationships at various east central African locations demon­ strates that Arabs had already succeeded in gaining forms of political control, as among the Nyamwezi of Tabora from the 1860's to 1881, and especially in the eastern Congo where Tippu Tip had wide and effective control before the arrival of the representatives of the Congo Independent State. And on Lake Tanganyika Mwinyi Kheri had secured an effective domination by political and economic co-operation with Africans-backed by the threat ofsuperior force. 88 Thus it is probable that the attempt to gain outright political domination around Lake Tanganyika, as observed by Swann and others, was merely a stage in a con­ tinually developing process among the east central African Arabs. In the lake region, under this hypothesis, the original Arab position was far enough advanced by the mid-1880's to allow the attempt to imitate the more thorough pattern of domination already established by Tippu Tip in the Congo. After all, was not the moving force in this movement the close associate of Tippu Tip, Rumaliza? The essential difference for the Europeans resident around Lake Tanganyika was that their presence, previously not a great hindrance to the Arabs, had become a block to Arab evolution. The same situation occurred in other regions of East Central Africa. Each local Arab leader had to evolve a policy to deal with the Europeans in his orbit, a policy depending on the type of European establishment facing the Arabs, and on the regional Arab-African relationships. Such a process required no central planning; indeed, the weak nature of the Arab political system of Zanzibar and the mainland would appear to rule out any attempt to control the largely independent Arabs of the interior. An additional deterrent t.o planning from 1888 was the death of Sayyid Barghash; Sayyid Khalifa, his successor, the last inde­ pendent Arab ruler of Zanzibar, lacked the prestige of his predecessor,89 and there is no evidence of his concern for far­ distant adventures. xxviii NEW INTRODUCTION

Thus instead of considering Arab activities around Lake Tanganyika as part of a concerted Arab plan, the situation can be viewed as the result of two expanding local forces, European and Arab, increasing their efforts for control at the same time. Neither side actually desired an all out war, but Rumaliza's weak control over his armed followers-the normal Arab situation­ made conflict inevitable since the White Fathers had, by 1886, determined to maintain their stations, by force if necessary. When hostilities began, matched by other disorders in Buganda, on northern Lake Nyasa, and elsewhere, Cardinal Lavigerie could understandably justify the call for a "crusade" to combat the Arab threat, but such a European reaction led directly to an increase in the armed forces ofone ofthe contending parties and made the final conflict all the more certain. Arab conspiracy or not, Rumaliza now began to, pursue a policy designed to bend the Lake Tanganyika Europeans to his own ambitions. It may be significant that Rumaliza visited Tippu Tip in the Congo for discussions in May 1888. Tippu Tip, with his greater experience of European methods, suggested that his close associate should pursue a policy of co-operation in his Lake Tanganyika sphere. 90 After his return to the Lake, Rumaliza called at Kavala island, then still held by the L.M.S., where he asked for transport to Ujiji. Alexander Carson took him on the L.M.S. steamer-Swann was ill. Rumaliza informed Carson that he had learned that the Ujiji Arabs wished to raid Kavala and to kill the missionaries as revenge for German-Arab hostilities on the East African coast, but that he, the most powerful Arab of the region, would not allow it. 91 Rumaliza had, of course, already claimed to have saved Swann's life, along with his associates, at Ujiji in October 1888. Rumaliza advanced a similar claim when the caravan of Mgr. Leonce Bridoux of the White Fathers arrived at Ujiji in January 1889. 92 The price to the L.M.S. for this protection was a special mail to Zanzibar requesting the British Consul-General to use his influence with the ruler of Zanzibar to secure for Rumaliza an appointment as governor ofthe Lake Tanganyika region. Swann's reaction was: " If an Arab is to be in charge I am sure this one is NEW INTRODUCTION xxix the best of a bad lot & as he is in partnership with Tippu Tip & desires to be one with the English we have asked for his advance­ ment to this post as at present everyone is master & no one takes the responsibility." Swann was all the more conscious that some such policy should be developed towards the Arabs since news of Lavigerie's movement had reached the lake. Swann declaimed heatedly: The crusade being preached by the Popish Archbishop is in motive excellent, in practice impossible, & I hope if ever 300 or 3,000 volunteers start for Tanganyika on such a mad errand, some power will stop them from leaving Zanzibar, for their own sakes & ours. To suppress slavery by force in the interior is too absurd a proposition to seriously consider. Such work must commence at the coast & work inwards & the whole coast line must be in possession of slave hating Powers, & last but not least, Zanzibar, the sink of cruelty & the home of men hunters, the haven of heavy laden dhows and hiding place of wholesale murderers, Zanzibar the black spot in the present civilized world, a curse to Africa & disgrace to Britain ought to be swept clean of its vermin & if not ,villing to relinquish their fiendish traffic, banished to the deserts of wild Arabia from whence they came, & the :British Ensign should no longer be held aloft over those vile Indian subjects who with money & influence, assist these Arab scourges to devastate this beautiful land. 93 Swann's tirade was sincere, although his support of Rumaliza would come to be considered by some of the Tanganyika Euro­ peans as inconsistent with his fulminations against the slave trade. Swann was aware of the incongruity of his relationship with the leader of the Arab community, taking pains to point out to his society that Rumaliza " has ... been a friend of mine for some reason although I have never scrupled to assure him of my detestation ofthe slave trade," and that, " he calls me his Brother but in some senses the relationship is not complimentary."94 Swann could not avoid the fact that Rumaliza had apparently saved his life on several occasions; however he justified his relationship on less personal grounds. He said of Rumaliza: " He xxx NEW INTRODUCTION is powerful as being one of a large concern in which Tippu Tip is leading member & as they are now sending all ivory to the Congo from Ujiji it is plainly their best policy not to side with the Marima [inhabitants of the East African coast] as they do not care a jot for Zanzibar & they dare not displease or injure the Whites or they are ruined financially."95 Despite the support of the L.M.S. Rumaliza was unsuccessful in his application to Zanzibar. Euan Smith, British Consul­ General, commented that Rumaliza'g life-saving assertions could well have been a ruse to frighten the missionaries into supporting his nomination, but in any case the Sultan of Zanzibar no longer had the power to appoint governors in the interior. The most he could do for the missionaries, Euan Smith concluded, was to request that the Sultan should ask Rumaliza and the other Tanganyika Arabs to aid and protect all Europeans, especially the British. The Sultan complied, carefully stipulating that if anything did happen to the missionaries he was not to be held responsible. 96 The L.M.S. agents were unimpressed; they knew that the Tanganyika Arabs would continue to act according to their own dictates. The refusal did not harm the relationship of Swann and his colleagues with Rumaliza since the Arab leader still hoped for a change of policy in Zanzibar favourable to his interests. Besides, he had nothing to gain by attacking the small and powerless L.M.S. group. Therefore Rumaliza came forward again to report that Tippu Tip had sent renewed orders to continue defending his British friends-with force if necessary. 97 The White Fathers did not enjoy the luxury of Rumaliza's protection. While the L.M.S. lived in safety at their southern stations, where Rumaliza on occasion even supplied them in person with goods at reasonable rates,98 the Roman Catholics faced increasing pressure. The Kibanga station was endangered in 1888 by the establishment of a camp by some of Rumaliza's followers near the mission; during 1889 the missionaries lived unharmed, but the threat of a conflict was always present. 99 To the south, minor hostilities continued, with rumours of the Arabs founding a new post in territory under mission protection. Jou- NEW INTRODUCTION XXXI bert and the White Fathers resolved to fight if the establishment occurred.10o These events served to stimulate Lavigerie's European anti­ slavery movement. The Cardinal requested the French anti­ slavery group to assist their fello,,! countryman, Joubert. The French society formed plans to send reinforcements to their embattled compatriot, a plan that soon drew the ire of Leopold, who wanted no foreign influence on his unoccupied territory. The French society perforce withdrew and limited its action to despatching needed military supplies to Joubert.101 The French soldier had to wait for Leopold to perfect his plans; he had not long to wait. Meantime, while the Belgian anti-slavery plans were under­ way, Swann and the L.M.S. continued to oppose forward action. In Europe R. W. Thompson, Foreign Secretary of the Society, had concluded that the Belgian moves were not "entirely disinterested" and could be of danger to his missionaries. Therefore when the Belgians asked him to sell them the mission steamer, the Good News, the request was refused since the mission had decided to avoid any connection with the oncoming hostili­ ties.!02 Swann completely agreed with these conclusions-they had long been his own. With his steamer, which as part of L.M.S. policy he kept in active service so that his society could keep open claims for any potential developments in the future on the lake shores,103 Swann now came to the forefront of events. He continued to remain close to the Arabs, becoming increasingly convinced that he had great influence with them, and that without his efforts the White Fathers had little hope of a con­ tinued presence on the lake. Swann's conception of his role is expressed in his report of 1890: " At the present time it is just in the balance whether the French shall be exterminated or not, because having become a little strong, they have lost their senses. Mohamid [Rumaliza] only a few days ago after reading me their letter said, 'speak & I will act.' He actually said shall I strike or not. I arbitrated & arranged that the Superior should come face to face with him & say ,vhat were his intentions." XXXII NEW INTRODUCTION

Swann concluded: "I tell you this in order that you may place at its true value my influence with this man who commands hun. dreds of thousands of men, & lacs of rupees, in fact a Madi of this part."104 Into this situation, where Swann thought that he possessed great influence with the Arabs of Lake Tanganyika, came a representative of the European partition of Africa. The irre­ pressible Henry Hamilton (later Sir Harry) Johnston, British Consul at Mo<;ambique, arrived at the L.M.S. station of Niamkolo with treaty forms to be signed by the African and Arab political leaders of the south lake region. According to Swann (below, 190 if), the several Lungu leaders had already ceded their territory to the mission.l05 Johnston decided that new treaties were necessary; with Swann's willing assistance the British official visited the various local leaders and concluded them.106 Johnston also concocted an audacious scheme to visit the northern area of the lake to secure what he considered unclaimed territory. Swann, well aware of the society's rules forbidding political activity, wrote to his superiors: "I am doubtful if you would sanction such a proceeding, although it might be very beneficial for the Society & Africans & so wait to hear from you." But Swann decided that he could not wait. Johnston, following news of a Portuguese threat to his rear, had left the lake before attempting a northern move, but he now sent treaty forms and a personal representative, the Swahili Ali Kiongwe, to Swann. When the local L.M.S. mission committee ruled unanimously against any involvement, Swann decided to act on his own, " believing them to have taken a course prejudicial to the general interests at stake in Central Africa." The decision was under­ standable; Swann, with his own firmly British views, had readily been won by Johnston. When that official said he, the only available person, had to "go at once," in order to anticipate German moves, there seemed no time for delay.l07 Swann in principle merely accompanied Kiongwe on the voyage to Ujiji and the north, but it is clear that to Rumaliza and the Arabs he was the important man. Since Rumaliza controlled the northern lake shores, Swann had to visit him to NEW INTRODUCTION xxxiii secure his consent. But once arrived at Ujiji, Swann was soon under Rumaliza's spell. Swann warned: "Europeans know little of the power of these men in their own territory & if anyone is led away by such mad brained ideas as those of Cardinal Lavigerie with his 300 or so men (or 30,000 it makes no difference) they will find their mistake soon enough. If you estimate the force which they can bring into guerilla warfare as 1,000,000 you will certainly be under the mark, & the Soudan war would look like child's play to the fight for Manuema, Tanganyika, & the Congo & the Lualaba territory; you will not do it by force, of that I am certain, by diplomacy, possibly." Thus Swann went on to diplomacy, speaking to Rumaliza of the Congo Independent State and German claims to the lake regions. Rumaliza not unnaturally replied by requesting the British flag, since he doubt­ less felt Swann was leading the conversation in that direction. Swann had to admit that this was impossible, instead bringing up the north. Rumaliza quickly answered that Swann could take it. With this approval, Swann and Kiongwe had an easy time concluding the treaties desired.los The government's reception of the Johnston-Swann treaties was not encouraging. Johnston was, as usual, somewhat ahead of official thinking; Salisbury soon informed Johnston that treaties covering territory north of II0 north latitude encroached upon land already left to Germany. As for the north of the lake, the German-British treaty of 1890 awarded the territory to Germany. Johnston complained, by telegram, about the loss of the south " where our merchants and missionaries are as fully established as on Shire highlands," continuing that" our government does not, I fear, fully realize strong hold we possess on South end Tanganyika and magnitude of interests involved," but the British policy remained unchanged.lo9 Along with official disfavour came the disapproval of the L.M.S. at Swann's joining" in the making of history in Central Africa," although the Foreign Secretary clearly said Swann would not be censured for his action. When Swann later ex­ pressed concern at this disapproval, the secretary admitted: " The feeling here, with most of us at any rate, was that if we had been XXXIV NEW INTRODUCTION

in your position we should have been inclined to do as you did. "110 Swann accepted the society's mild rebuke with good grace, but he was careful to observe that the French-" men whose pluck, perseverance & activity I admire but their religion I detest "­ were .planning to take advantage of the British failure. Swann closed with his constant theme: the Arabs " confide in me & ask advice & I have been able to restrain their impetuous natures to a great extent, but they tell me plainly their patience is well nigh exhausted."111 Swann's ties with the Arabs led him to intervene in the quarrel between Stanley and an old acquaintance-now des­ cribed as " perhaps the vilest wretch Africa ever saw"-Tippu Tip. The quarrel stemmed from the alleged conduct of Tippu Tip towards Stanley's rear guard, and with Tippu's supposed violation ofa contract to supply men for the rear guard. With the approval and advice of Euan Smith, suit was brought against Tippu Tip in the Zanzibar courts for a claim of £10,000 "for damages arising from breach of contract and for compensation for losses from death of followers of the expedition." With the Sultan's approval, Tippu Tip was directed to return to Zanzibar within six months; in the meantime all the Arab's assets in the hands of British Indians were impounded pending the settlement.112 Stanley also had other things in mind in initiating this case. He remained in frequent contact ,vith Zanzibar from Cairo, where he was writing In Darkest Africa, indicating that the potential hold over Tippu Tip through the Arab's financial resources might give the British the lead over the Germans in using the influential Arab for imperialist purposes. Euan Smith was extremely interested, telegraphing for more details; Stanley's reply en­ visaged using the Arab in an effort to secure the British position on the great inland lakes.1l3 Swann, after talks with Tippu Tip, decided that the case might stimulate the Arabs to strike out against all Europeans. Swann so advised Euan Smith, remarking that it was impossible for Tippu Tip to reach Zanzibar within six months.114 Swann had good reason for justifying his intervention; nevertheless there had previously appeared a strong anti-Stanley current in his letters, NEW INTRODUCTION xxxv particularly about the Emin Pasha expedition, that doubtless aided his decision. He said in January 1889 that the Emin Pasha venture was an expedition which I always considered unnecessary & cruel in the extreme. Had it been & if it still is, a success, nothing but shame & guilt can rest on the man who knowingly plunged into the midst of African tribes & poured lead & powder wholesale amongst them, who has caused hundreds of foul murders & left blood, devastation, & misery in every footprint & introduced hordes of blood thirsty men headed by the vilest creatures Africa knows, into the 'Regions Beyond' & what was once well peopled countries, now is the home of the hyena & the most promin­ ent milestones Stanley has left behind are the bleached skeletons of men & women who fought for their liberty & died maybe cursing the Pale Face of a Christian Race. & all this from what1 Some say to relieve a white man & his people-but for what1 ... I trust if ever we get shut up here, no such wholesale murder will be permitted to relieve us. Rather let us perish & the name of Englishmen remain in the minds ofthese people as something to be remembered with pleasure & admiration.ll5 Thus it was easy for Swann to conclude, when the Tippu Tip affair began, that Stanley ,vas proceeding in a way to " utterly ignore the white people out here who have to meet these Arabs & by tact & patience manage to exist in peace."ll6 Others fearful of Tippu Tip's wrath joined S,vann in com­ batting Stanley's action. Both Johnston and Kirk (to ,vhom Swann had ,vritten) effectively opposed the court action, resulting in the Foreign Office informing Euan Smith that Salisbury thought that it was best for him not to interfere in the dispute. The case remained on the docket, ho,vever, until the Emin Pasha Relief Committee, advised that Tippu's counter claims against Stanley were so telling that the Arab might actually win, allowed the case to be dropped.ll7 Tippu Tip had arrived in Zanzibar in July 1891, before the affair had ended, seizing the first opportunity to present himself xxxvi NEW INTRODUCTION

as a wronged friend of the Europeans. The Arab leader had been preceded by a letter which he sent to Euan Smith recounting all the aid his associate Rumaliza had given to Swann on the treaty expedition to northern I.~ake Tanganyika.lls All this activity, with Swann involved intimately in it, led to the revival of a plan once suggested by Kirk for Hore-the use ofa L.M.S. Tanganyika resident as a British agent. The British in Zanzibar now thought of it as part of a general effort to stabilize the lake region. In recommending an unpaid agent to watch over and report on British interests, Euan Smith, obviously acting on information provided by Johnston, informed the Foreign Office that Swann was available, and, more important for the cautious London officials, he said that Swann was so popular with the Arabs he needed no special protection. The Foreign Office was not, however, interested.119 Meantime, in Central Africa, the currents of Europe's effective occupation were beginning to converge on Lake Tanganyika. The first indication came from the Germans when Emin Pasha, on a mission for the German government, wrote to Rumaliza from Tabora offering him the position of governor of Ujiji for the German administration on the same easy terms which had just been accepted by the Arabs of Tabora. Rumaliza replied by mail that he agreed, and invited Emin to Ujiji. Emin, however, finding it necessary to proceed to Lake Victoria, left Rumaliza on his own, although the Arab leader now flew a German flag sent by the German official.l20 Rumaliza was shaken by this indication of approaching European hegemony. The Arab leader's men could tell Alfred Sharpe, Johnston's assistant, that Rumaliza would resist the German attempts to occupy the country, although they affirmed that he would welcome the British,121 but Rumaliza himself was not so convinced. When Bridoux and Fran<:ois Coulbois of the White Fathers visited Ujiji in September they found Rumaliza, and Tippu Tip who was en route to Zanzibar, especially friendly. Bridoux reported that Rumaliza was "nearly at my feet" in pleading for a recommendation to Emin Pasha, who was still thought to be on the way to Ujiji. Rumaliza even apologized for NEW INTRODUCTION XXXVII

the actions of his men against the White Fathers, explaining that he was unable to make them obey his orders. Nevertheless, he said, he did his best to protect the White Fathers. To Bridoux " the wolf appeared converted into a lamb," and the prelate was ready to forget the past if Rumaliza maintained his new attitude. The White Fathers were sceptical that he would.122 The French missionaries were hopeful of a change since 1890 had for them been a troubled year. Near Mpala, a dramatic confrontation occurred in mid.1890. News came of an Arab band wishing to pass through territory under Joubert's control, where a small group of hitherto quiet followers of Rumaliza had settled. The newcomers alleged that they were en route to Urua, but Joubert and the missionaries were suspicious, fearing they wished to settle in mission territory, thus duplicating the problem already present at Kibanga. Bridoux therefore gave Joubert freedom to act as he thought necessary; the mission leader fully recognized the danger of war, but felt that the Arabs could not be allowed to undermine the mission position around Mpala. Towards the end of May, Joubert learned that the threatened movement had begun when an Arab group moved to cross the Lukuga River, north of Mpala. Joubert hastened to confront the threat, with minor hostilities beginning between African mission forces and the Arabs before his arrival. As the White Fathers prepared for the worst, the Arabs attempted to separate Joubert from the priests, promising safety to the mission if they were left alone to fight Joubert. Bridoux was not anxious for war, but he answered that the missionaries would not abandon any of their people. He counselled the Arabs to negotiate with Joubert before serious fighting occurred. Joubert also remained firm, refusing any talks on his part until the Arabs left mission terri. tory. Fortunately for the White Fathers, just as hostilities appeared imminent, a providential storm destroyed a vital part of the Arabs' lake flotilla. Lacking sufficient war supplies the Arabs withdrew after additional inconclusive negotiations, during ,vhich the Arab leader affirmed that Rumaliza had given definite orders to leave the missionaries alone.123 xxxviii NEW INTRODUCTION

Joubert remained the soul of opposition to the Arabs, a devoted believer in the existence of a general Arab conspiracy against Europeans in Central Africa, and, largely because of Swann, sure that Britain was supporting the Arabs. He had heard that the British had supplied Rumaliza with funds to accomplish this domination. Joubert's conclusion, confirmed by Swann's treaty trip to the north, was that Rumaliza was attemp­ ing to occupy as much land as quickly as possible, thus securing a strong position as the chief of all of Lake Tanganyika in any negotiations that followed. An additional burden for Joubert was the appearance of Tippu Tip with Congo Independent State flags for distribution along the western side of the lake. Joubert received one, leading him to declaim ardently that he would refuse to submit to a slaver, even if the Congo government had author­ ized their Arab lieutenant to act.124 Swann, apprehensively observing the Catholics and Arabs, was passing to a more active role in the south. The stations of Fwambo and Niamkolo were fortified and the L.M.S. missionaries were ready to repel raiders. Moreover, in 1890, Swann, with the support of two men of the African Lakes Company, carried out a successful assault on the minor Arab leader, Kakungu, whose people had been guilty of sundry acts of violence against Africans protected by the Europeans. Such action was against L.M.S. policy, Swann not reporting it to London until 1894, when his proceedings were condemned.125 But if Swann was prepared to support the use of force on his own part, he became increasingly unhappy with the activity of the White Fathers. New Catholic mission efforts to the south of Lake Tanganyika led to this lament: " Now I feel almost desperate when thinking that a few years ago we might have been in full possession of all." When Rumaliza came to visit Swann in August 1891, as usual presenting his version of events, Swann concluded that" it is evident to my mind we are on the eve of a great change out here. I do not wish to anticipate trouble but the future presents anything but a path of roses." Swann's continued apprehension of European pressure on the Arabs led Swann to warn: " These Arabs up to the present (the powerful ones) have shown a desire to meet the NEW INTRODUCTION XXXIX

Europeans & are exercIsIng considerable patience. They are waiting to hear the result of Tip-pu Tip's intervie\" with the Europeans at Zanzibar. On that hangs the future of Central Africa." For the anti-slavery effort, Swann's resentment ran full course: "We have other & better means that C. Lavigiere's idiotic plan of an armed occupation at many points & in fact he has hoodwinked protestants by posing as the Champion of antislavery, all the while obtaining means & an army of practical, zealous, cunning Jesuits, whom he has insinuated into every open channel thro this continent, to do their best to tear up every protestant mooring. "126 In 1891 there were sonle peaceful Arab-White Father contacts. Pere I. Moinet visited Ujiji in January, finding a friendly Rumaliza flying the German flag. The Arab leader talked of his waiting for the Germans to arrive to take possession, and of plans to visit the East African coast in the near future. 127 But Rumaliza's attitude did not signify any lessening ofJoubert's troubles. Marungu remained disorderly, with Joubert attempting a defensive role realistically grounded on his limited forces and their even more limited munitions. Swann entered this scene in April 1891 with a letter from Rumaliza to Joubert. Rumaliza spoke of a recent skirmish, blaming everything on his unruly men whom he could not always restrain. Then came the heart of the communication; Rumaliza asked Joubert to define his status on the lake, to explain whether he served the Congo government or the White Fathers. Joubert was not prepared to answer such a question; it was, he said, " a little indiscreet"" Could he not ask Rumaliza a similar question, Joubert thought1 The Arab leader, he observed, flew at various of his lake ports the Zanzibari, German and British flags; who therefore was his master1128 Later, Swann met Pere Mathurin Guilleme of Mpala and gave some words of warning. The British missionary feared that the Arabs would fight the Germans unless the latter pursued a very careful policy. In view of this, Swann advised the White Father to build up his defences in case serious hostilities followed. Joubert's evaluation of the situation on the lake up until June 1891 was that the White Fathers' position remained dangerous, xl NEW INTRODUCTION

with the exposed Kibanga station handicapping him taking any offensive measures in territory dependent upon his own forces. The French soldier's decision was to remain on the defensive until a more favourable time.129 The long-delayed response to Cardinal Lavigerie's crusade brought about this change. Leopold and the Belgian anti-slavery organization had finally agreed on effective action, despatching reinforcements to Lake Tanganyika under the command of Captain Jules Jacques, a Belgian officer with previous service in the Congo.130 Jacques' expedition left Zanzibar in July 1891; after a somewhat difficult journey131 the anti-slavery group reached Karema on October 16,1891. The news of the arrival­ one missionary described the effect on the Arabs as that of a " thunderbolt "-lead to an immediate cessation of Arab raids, including a rumoured planned attack on Joubert.132 Jacques had been immediately preceded at Karema by another expedition, led by the Nova Scotian Captain William Grant Stairs, who in the service of Leopold was aiming for Katanga, another decisive reason for the change in Arab attitude. Stairs, carrying letters to Swann from friends in Britain requesting aid, wrote to the L.M.S. missionary requesting the use of the mission vessel in ferrying his men across the lake. Swann sent a friendly reply, but said that he could not come in the steamer, since he was alone at his station, unless Stairs sent a man to replace him. The answer arrived too late for Stairs to send the replacement and he was left to rely on the White Fathers; they gave full support. Swann had also said that he would come only if Stairs promised not to aid Joubert, the missionary as usual attempting to avoid offending the Arabs. Swann's advice to Stairs was to visit Rumaliza, though avoiding Joubert, to prevent any difficulties on his march to Katanga.133 Needless to say, the anti-slavery and Catholic forces had their own interpretation of Swann's refusal. Once arrived, Jacques, now commanding the western shores of the lake in the name of the Congo Independent State, began to set European affairs in order. He had dual instructions: from Leopold to uphold his authority while acting in a peaceful manner; from the anti-slavery society to found a new station. NEW INTRODUCTION xli

J oubert, receiving a letter granting him Congolese citizenship, was incorporated into the service of the Congo Independent State. Jacques left Joubert, after ordering him to remain on the defensive, in his own district; the Belgian officer went to the north, and after avoiding hostile Arabs at his originally planned location at Mtowa, founded in January 1892 what became Albertville. While so doing Jacques cleared some minor Arab bands from the southern bank of the Lukuga River and executed three raiders guilty of recent crimes.134 A roughly simultaneous arrival of Belgian White Father's reinforcements to take the main burden of mission service on the western shore of the lake completed the newestablishment.135 Jacques' presence led soon enough to hostilities with the Arabs. The Belgian captain had included in his orders the duty to impose a fifteen per cent export tax on ivory leaving Congo Independent State territory. This measure, hitting at the heart of Arab interests, immediately led to unrest and to rumours of an even higher ivory tax. Jacques later claimed that he had taxed only one caravan, and that the significant difficulties followed the unauthorized taxing in his name of an Arab caravan by a group of Holoholo inhabitants of Marungu.136 Jacques therefore set off for Ujiji in March 1892 to talk with Rumaliza; he carried letters from Tippu Tip recommending him to the Arab leader. The meeting was very unsatisfactory, the Arabs meeting Jacques with coolness-Jacques later claimed he barely escaped an assassination plot-with nothing of significance being decided.137 Jacques returned to the opposite coast of the lake where he escaped unharmed from an Arab attack, arriving at his station to learn that one of Rumaliza's chief lieutenants, Kalonda, had already begun hostilities nearby. Answering an African call for aid, a Belgian-led group set out under the leadership of Lt. Gustave Renier-Jacques was ill-to give battle. One Belgian, Alexis Vrithoff, was killed, and the anti-slavery forces had to retreat, although before the fighting had ended Kalonda had also lost his life. The Belgians, now convinced of Arab treachery, were left in a difficult position and in serious need of reinforce­ ments to overcome the Arabs.I 38 xlii NEW INTRODUCTION

Swann entered the scene after this affray in an effort to bring an end to hostilities. He was no,v sure of his destiny on Lake Tanganyika-" God has given TIle the privilege of standing between the Arabs & the whites."139 Swann considered that Jacques had lost a chance for peace by not immediately utilizing the letters of introduction which the Belgian officer bore to the British missionary-Swann forgot his answer to Stairs' letter. By relying upon the advice of Joubert and the White Fathers, instead of his own, Jacques, in Swann's view, had gone on to inevitable "disaster & defeat." Nevertheless, Swann decided to help Jacques: "I clearly saw the critical situation & it was obvious that with Capt Jacques' defeat, all the Algerian missionaries must go, together with Capt Joubert & the whole native population of West Tanganyika who have thrown in their allegiance to the ,vhites." The missionary carried a message from Rumaliza to Jacques who, according to Swann, "after I had enlightened him concerning the gigantic & impossible task being accomplished," requested Swann to continue the negotia­ tions at Ujiji. Remembering his previous visit, Jacques refused to accompany Swann to the Arab port. Again meeting Rumaliza, Swann secured a fifteen-day truce and a promise, since he was returning to his station, that an Arab delegate be sent to Jacques to conclude final terms. The Arab negotiator never came; when Swann spoke to Rumaliza about the failure later in the year, " the reply was an evasive one, but it practically meant I desire peace but not at any price."140 To his fellow L.M.S. missionary Alexander Carson, Swann, thoughout these negotiations, was coming close to giving the impression that he sympathized with the Arabs over the Europeans.l41 Swann would have protested this interpretation, but not Jacques and his compatriots. In Jacques' mind, the Arabs used the negotiations to consoli­ date their lake position, the most significant step being the erection of a fort commanding his position at Albertville. Jacques sent for Joubert and his forces to aid in expelling the Arabs; the opportune arrival of a Belgian exploring party, led by Alexandre Delcommune, further strengthened his forces. Yet the fight for the Arab fort in August 1892 resulted in another Belgian NEW INTRODUCTION xliii defeat.l42 Jacques' position had now, in his opinion, become untenable unless reinforcenlcnts calne.l43 The Lake Tanganyika region ,,'as at danger point, S\\Tann agreed: communications to the East African coast ,rare cut, vvhile news arrived of the general hostilities beginning n,gainst the Congo Independent State to the west. Rllll1aliza had finally hauled down his German flag and spoke of fnll scale "Tar against Jacques. The Arab leader's terms for peace ,yere apparently too drastic now, even for S,Yann, since the luissionary refused to carry them to the embattled Belgian captain.l4 -1 Fortunately for Jacques, reinforcements from Belgium began arriving near the end of 1892 to tip the balance in the favour of the anti-slavery forccs.l 45 S\vann, however, did not remain on Lake Tanganyika for the ultimate confrontation between Arab and European. On nledical advice he left the lake in early 1893 via the Nyasa-Zanlbezi route. He went with regrets at the state of the L.M.S.' maritime future, placing the mission vessels" on the stocks" since only "amateurs" remained to sail them. More important, Swann travelled with letters from Rumaliza to Tippu Tip, the Sultan of Zanzibar, and the British Consul­ General-letters important enough in his view to lead to the conclusion: " much depends on what is decided in Zanzibar as to whether Peace or War will follow next year."146 Swann continued to serve in his self-appointed role as mediator between Arab and European during his trip to the African coast. He met a German anti-slavery expedition, under Wissmann's command, which was attempting to place a steamer on Lake Tanganyika. (The difficulties of the route later caused the Germans to leave the vessel on Lake Nyasa.) Swann met Wissmann, a man of great charm and a devoted enemy of the slave trade,147 who obviously wanted news of the road which he might follow. Swann's high opinion of the German, as expressed in his book, was perhaps due to the reception of Swann's words: "he has adopted my advice & entirely changed his plans concerning Ujiji in consequence of our interview." Wissmann, also according to Swann, agreed to appoint Rumiliza governor of Ujiji subject to confirmation by the colonial government in Dar xliv NEW INTRODUCTION es Salaam.148 With or l'vithout S"Tann, the difficulties of travel between Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika were enough to prevent the Germans reaching Lake Tanganyika. Rumaliza never received his German appointment.149 Swann also looked with anticipation to meeting the leader of a Belgian expedition bringing aid to Jacques, thinking" I may alter their plans in the interest of peace providing they are open to reason." The anti-slavery leader Georges Descamps, an experienced African hand, was not much interested in Swann's counsel; he instead attempted to secure the use of the L.M.S. steamer. Swann said, "That I took pains to prevent," adding understandably, "of course he could not quite understand our policy." And well they could not, since Swann then, in talks with British officials in Nyasaland, was passing the blame for hostilities on to Jacques, and affirming that the Arabs were for peace, declaring" their willingness to pay fair duties and abide by just laws." Descamps continued on to provide effective support for Jacques, despite Swann's disclaimer that" the Arabs, through me, have given him a good warning." Continuing on to Zanzibar, Swann still had hopes for peace, despite Descamps, anticipating that, with the letters from Rumaliza he carried, "I may keep them from cutting up the Belgians & Priests on Tanganyika in the meantime by sending back word that the final word must come from Leopold, as they promised not to go for them until I replied or came back." The news of the Congo Arab war did not disturb Swann's faith in the Arab strength, despite Arab defeats, since it was" only the commencement & is not to be considered the defeat of Sefu & Moharra [the Arab leaders] " who had after all, he noted, been defeated away from their main locations of power.150 To the L.M.S. Foreign Secretary Swann's, reporting was sound; he found Swann's views" painfully interesting" and approved his actions on the lake. The secretary added that when, earlier, the Belgian anti-slavery group had contacted him about use of the mission steamer, "I expressed my opinions so plainly & energetically that they have not thought it worth while to consult me since." The more correct attitude came from th~ NEW INTRODUCTION xlv mIssIonary, Carson: "The Arabs are exceedingly crafty people & I think have too much influence upon Mr. Swann's amiable disposition & that he believes too much what they say" Carson reported that the Arab position was "becoming very straightened" and that their defeat was not far distant,151 Swann reached Zanzibar in May 1893, delivering his Arab messages and reporting his own views,152 but what Swann thought was no longer of great importance. Jacques had received his needed reinforcements, and after abortive negotiations, passed on to the offensive against Rumaliza. The Arab leader in late 1893 went to the aid of the Congo Arabs, suffering a decisive defeat in January 1894. Rumaliza managed to escape the Arab debacle; he spent the rest of his life as an unimportant Arab resident in Zanzibar and the East African coast. The Belgian forces from the Lake and the Congo met in February 1894 and the Arab domination of Lake Tanganyika soon came to an end.153 The Germans arrived in Ujiji in August 1895, finding a broken Arab community ready to accept whatever terms were offered. The Germans were too involved elsewhero to act ,vith full energy for some time, but the launching of the first German steamer on Lake Tanganyika in 1900 sealed the Arab decline.154 Swann, even before he left Lake Tanganyika, had entertained thoughts of leaving the L.M.S., mentioning in 1892 "tempting offers " from Johnston in Nyasaland. On the journey through Nyasaland Swann looked into another career, reporting: "It is the duty ofall L.M.S. men to be loyal to the society. My influence in the Interior has now opened up spheres of work outside your borders & I am conscious of being drawn rapidly & danger­ ously near to work which is decidedly objectionable to our Society & this I must avoid."155 Swann's decision was difficult, after eleven years of service to the L.M.S., but he resigned from the mission society in 1894, soon after entering the service of John­ ston's British Central Africa Protectorate. With no one to direct the lake steamer, on a lake no longer of interest to the L.M.S., the Good N eW8 was sold and the Lake Mission of Hore, Swann, and others was ended.156 Th'a remainder of Swann's career in Africa lacks the interest xlvi NEW INTRODUCTION of hi& L.M.S. service (278 out of 354 pages of the present book are devoted to Lake Tanganyika). S,Yann was no longer in the forefront of events-in Nyasaland he dealt with the more mundane tasks of a colonial administrator-and there was no longer a Rumaliza to speak for.1 57 Swann rose to the rank of Senior Resident Magistrate in Nyasaland, retiring from the service sometime before 1910. He died in Britain in 1928.1 58

In the foregoing pages the present writer has presented Swann as a sincere Christian lay missionary, labouring to spread his creed in the territories around Lake Tanganyika during the years of the Arab domination of the lake. Swann came to his mission field in the wake of Edward C. Hore, a dominant figure in L.M.S. Central African annals, soon imbibing most of his judgements on African matters. Hore, cut off from European sources of political po,ver, developed a mental picture of the overwhelming po,ver of the Arabs. Swann accepted Hore's view, basing most of his future efforts on the need to live and ,york with this Arab po,ver. Any effort to combat it he judged would lead to the destruction of the L.M.S. position on Lake Tanganyika. This decision ,vas understandable for an isolated missionary, but it was soon threatened by the decision of Cardinal Lavigerie, and a reluctant Leopold, to break this predominance. Swann, with an inherent Protestant distrust of Roman Catholics, and an equally inherent British distrust of non­ British-led ventures, could not accept that the Arabs might succumb to the largely Belgian anti-slavery forces. In his effort to mediate between the Belgians and White Fathers on the one hand, and the Arabs on the other, Swann chose unwisely, actually in the later stages of the conflict interfering with the defeat of the slave raiders. A predecessor of Swann's once said: " It is too deeply rooted in the minds of these Arabs that we are emissaries of the British government."159 Swann, interfering to aid Johnston in signing treaties, merely confirmed the Arabs' im­ pression. Rumaliza and his allies thus used Swann for their own aims as much as possible. The Arab diplomacy of course did not succeed. Swann's claim to a special role between Arab and NEW INTRODUCTION xlvii

European on Lake Tanganyika was swept away by the victorious forces of the Congo Independent State. Therefore, despite the title of Fighting the Slave-Hunters in Oentral Africa, Swann played practically no role in the hostilities against the slavers of Lake Tanganyika. And, because of the lapse of years between the events and the writing of his volume, Swann often advances interpretations that his contemporary letters belie. Swann, for example (below, 180), has nothing but praise for Captain Jacques, praise that was singularly lacking when both served on Lake Tanganyika. Swann was also not a remarkably acute observer of the Africans surrounding him, perhaps because Africa ,vas to him "a land of superstition, ignorance, and savagery" (below, 22). We must rather turn to his fellow-missionary, Hore, who in his various writings160 provides a most useful description of the Africans of the lake region, or to various members of the Association, particularly to the often unjustly neglected Jerome Becker.161 Nevertheless, Swann in his volume portrays his career as a pioneer missionary and as a confidant of the Arabs of Lake Tanganyika. His account, ,vith all its imperfections, ensures Swann's book a pern1anent place in the literature of the region.

November 1967 NORMAN R. BENNETT ABBREVIATIONS

BSAF Bulletin de la Societe Antiesclavagiste de France. CCZ Correspondance Commercial, Zanzibar, Archives des Affaires Etrangeres, Paris. CMS Church Missionary Society Archives, London. GTSM Ghronique Trimestrielle de la Societe des M ission- naires de Notre-Dame des Missions d'Afrique. F.O. Foreign Office. LMS London Missionary Society Archives, London. MA Le Mouvement Antiesclavagiste. MAE Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres. Miss. Af. Bulletin des Missions d'Afrique (d'Alger). MP Mackinnon Papers, Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. MRAC Archives, Musee Royale de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren. PRO Public Record Office, London. PZ Politique, Zanzibar, Archives des Affaires Etrangeres, Paris. TNR Tanganyika (now Tanzania) Notes and Records. UMCA Archives of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, Archives of the United Society of the Propagation of the Gospel, London. ZA Zanzibar Archives. REFERENCES

See Roland Oliver, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London, second ed., 1965), 42-44; A. J. Hanna, "The Role of the London Missionary Society in the Opening up of East Central Africa," Tran­ sactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5 (1955), 41-59. Hore told his story in Tanganyika. Eleven Years in Central Africa (London, 1892). The term" Arab" in this study includes the Muslim members of the Afro-Arab communities of Zanzibar and the East African coast. 4 The Arab-Ha relationship is given in Norman R. Bennett, " Mwinyi Kheri," in Norman R. Bennett (ed.), Leadership in Eastern Africa. Six Political Biographies (Boston, 1968). Hore to Mullins, September 17, 1878, LMS. Stanley had advised the L.M.S. " to avoid Ujiji altogether as ... it is overrun by wild young scamps of Arab descent, and is also very unhealthy." Norman R. Bennett (ed.), From Zanzibar to Ujiji. The Journal of Arthur W. Dodgshun, 1877-1879, entry of November 29, 1877 (forthcoming). Hore to Mullins, April 16, 1879; Hore to Whitehouse, July 20, 1880; LMS. Hore later added that one L.M.S. man was worth two White Fathers, " and sometimes more." Hore to Thompson, December 23, 1881, ibid. See the review by Roland Oliver in Zaire, 13 (1959), 644. Kirk to Derby, June 27, 1876, FO: 84/1453, PRO. Kirk to FO, March 15, 1877, Q-18, ZA; Hore to Mullins, April 16, 1879, LMS. See Oskar Baumann, Durch Masailand zur Nilquelle (Berlin, 1894), 237, for a notice of the many slaves, especially from Manyema, around Tabora. 10 Mpwapwa served as a particularly good observation point. See, for example, Baxter to Wright, April 18, 1878, C.A6/05, CMS; Baxter to Hutchinson, March 18, 1881, G3.A5/01, ibid. 11 Kirk to FO, August 22, 1879, Q-22, ZA. For the coast plantations, see G. Meinecke, "Pangani," Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 7 (1894), 154-155. 12 Oskar Baumann, Der Sansibar A rchipel. I I. Die I nsel Sansibar und Ihre Kleineren Nachbarinseln (Leipzig, 1897), 21; III. Die Insel Pemba und Ihre Kleineren Nachbarinseln (Leipzig, 1899), II. See also W. H. Ingrams, Zanzibar (London, 1931), 32. 18 Hore to Kirk, February 25, 1880, N-7, ZA. NEW INTRODUCTION

14 Griffith to Mullens, October 1879; Hore to Mullens, October 20, 1879, LMS. There is no reference to this agreement in Roger Heremans, Les Etablissernents du l'Association Internationale Africaine au Lac Tanganika et les Peres Blancs. Mpala et Karema, 1877-1885 (Tervuren, 1966). Heremans utilized the archives of the White Fathers in Rome. 16 There is a summary account of the Association in East Africa in Heremans, Les Etablissements. 16 Griffith to Thompson, May 6, 1881, LMS. Griffith was speaking specifically of the efforts of Popelin and Roger. 17 A. J. Hanna, The Beginnings of Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia 1859-95 (Oxford, 1956), 20-23, 45; Thompson to Dineen, May 25, 1883, LlVIS. 18 Thompson to Griffith, October 21, 1881, ibid. For the steamer plans, The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society (London, 1876),45-50. 19 There is a brief biographical note on Swann in the LMS annotated copy of James Sibree, A Register of Missionaries, etc. from 1796 to 1923 (London, 1923), 108. 20 See Norman R. Bennett, " Philippe Broyon: Pioneer Trader in East Africa," African Affairs, 62 (1963), 158. 21 Hore to L.M.S., March 4, 1883, LMS; see also Hore to L.M.S., February 25, 1883, ibid. 22 Griffith to L.M.S., March 25, 1883; Hore to L.M.S., May 25, 1883: ibid. 23 "Report by Mr. H. H. Johnston ... on the Nyasa-Tanganika Expedition: 1889-9.0," FO print 403/127, PRO. 24 Griffith to L.M.S., March 25, 1883, LMS. A British employee of Leopold had previously suggested L.M.S.-Association co-operation, also to no avail. Carter to Hore, March 29, 1880, ibid. 25 Jones to L.M.S., May 29, 1883, ibid. 26 Hore to L.M.S., June 18, 1883, ibid. The White Fathers formally abandoned Ujiji in 1884. Moncet's journal, January 9, 1884, CTSM (ler Trimestre de 1885), 260. 27 Swann to Whitehouse, October 30, 1883, LMS. 28 Joseph Thomson, To the Central African Lakes and Back (Boston, second ed., 1881), II, 16; Boustead, Ridley and Co. to L.M.S., July 19, 1880, LMS. New edition, Cass, 1968. 29 Roy G. Willis, The Fipa and Related Peoples of South- West Tanzania and North-East Zambia (London, 1966), xiii, 39-46. 30 Hore to L.M.S., September 14, 1883; Griffith to L.M.S., September 14, 1883; Swann to Whitehouse, October 30, 1883: L.M.S. See also Frederick L. Maitland Moir, "Eastern Route to Central Africa," The Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1 (1885), 110. 31 Hore to L.M.S., April 12, 1880, LMS. For Kabunda and Tippu Tip, Norman R. Bennett, " Captain Storms in Tanganyika: 1882-1885," TNR, 54 (1960), 55. 32 Roxburgh to L.:,J..S., October 14, 1883, LMS. Victor Giraud, Les TJacs de l'Afrique Equatoriale (Paris, 1890), 432-435, gives a descrip­ tion of the L.M.S. at work amongst all these difficulties. NEW INTRODUCTION Ii

33 Hore to Whitehouse, July 14,1884; Swann to Whitehouse, January 8, 1884, March 21, 1884, October 28, 1884: LMS. The L.M.S. were not alone in their complaints. A U.M.C.A. man said: "The terrible incapacity of the African Lakes Co paralyses all our efforts to get on with our work." Swinny to Penney, September 27, 1886, A.I. VI, UMCA. 34 See Whitehouse to Hore, January 29, 1886, LMS. 35 Hore to L.M.S., April 23, 1884, ibid.; Bennett, " Storms in Tangan­ yika," 59. Structural defects prevented the Cambier from becoming of great use to the LA.A. Charles Lemaire, "On the Congo: The Belgian Scientific Expedition to Ka-Tanga," The Scottish Geographical Magazine, 17 (1901), 550. There is an illustration of the Cambier in Paul Masson, Marseille et la Colonisation Franyaise (Marseille, 1906), opposite p. 456. 36 Hore's letter noted in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 8 (1886),328-329; The Good News had been launched on March 3, 1885. Swann to Thompson, March 7, 1885, LMS. 37 Hore" to L.M.S., April 23, 1884; Swann to Whitehouse, August 9, 1884: ibid. 38 Jones to L.M.S., December 2, 1884, ibid.; Ledoulx to MAE, July 21, 1884, PZ 6. 39 See below, p. xxvi. 40 Guillet's letter of May 8, 1884, Miss. Af. (1883-1886), 236-238. 41 Bennett, " Mwinyi Kheri." 42 Guillet's undated letter, Miss. Af. (1883-1886), 298-299; Randabel's letter of November 4, 1884, CTSM (ler Trimestre de 1885), 302-303. 43 William Roger Louis, Ruanda-Urundi 1884-1919 (Oxford, 1963),4-8; Jean Stengers, "Quelques observations sur la correspondance de Stanley," Zaire, 9 (1955), 925-926. For Swann's later role see below, p. xxxii. 44 Swann to Thompson, January 1, 1885, LMS. 45 Jones to Thompson, March 17, 1885, ibid. Jones had had a difficult time at Mtowa; see for example Jones to Thompson, February 10, 1885, ibid. 46 Hore to Thompson, March 21, 1885, ibid. 47 Swann to Thompson, June 20, 1885, ibid. Swann was evidently basing his thoughts on the White Fathers' methods. 48 Jones to Thompson, June 20, 1885, ibid. 49 Heremans, Les Etablissements, 57ff; J. Perraudin, "Le Cardinal Lavigerie et Leopold II," Zaire, 12 (1958), 39-52. 50 Hore to Thompson, June 22, 1885, LMS. 51 Hore to Thompson, June 22, 1885, September 7, 1885, March 21, 1885, November 28, 1885: ibid. 52 Kirk to L.M.S., August 31, 1885; Whitehouse to Hore, October 16, 1885: ibid. 53 Josset's undated letter in Miss. Af. (1888-1889), 482-484; J. Cussac, Un Geant de l'Apostolat. Le Cardinal Lavigerie (Paris, n.d.), 133. See also T. L. Houdebine et Marcel Boumier, Le Capitaine Joubert (Namur, n.d.). Iii NEW INTRODUCTION

54 E. de Mandat-Grancey, Souvenirs de la C6te d'Afrique (Paris, 1892), 125. 55 Hore to L.M.S., July 24, 1886, LMS. 56 Courcel [?J to de Freycinet, July 9, 1886, with enclosure, Allemagne, t. 71, MAE; Mgr. Baunard, Le Cardinal Lavigerie (Paris, 1912), II, 348-351; Miss. Af. (1883-1886), 485. General French policy is discussed in Norman R. Bennett, " Some Notes on French Policy in Buganda and East Africa, 1879-1890," Makerere Journal, 6 (1962), 1-17. 57 Note pour l'Ambassadeur d'Allemagne a Paris, July 23, 1886, Allemagne, t. 71; de Freycinet to Herbette, January 3, 1887, Allemagne, t. 73; Note pour l'Ambassadeur d'Allemagne a Paris, February 1, 1887, Allemagne, t. 75; de Freycinet to Waddington, March 18, 1887, .L'....ngleterre, t. 822; Waddington to de Freycinet, August 4, 1887, Angleterre, t. 824: MAE. 58 Playfair to Lister, September 3, 1886, E-95, ZA; Kirk's note, Sep- tember 8, 1886, F.O. 84/1775, PRO. 69 Swann to Thompson, January 25, 1886, LMS. 60 Swann to Thompson, January 25, 1887, ibid.; Sibree, Register, 108. 61 Charbonnier's letter of August 16, 1886, Les Missions Catholiques, 19 (1887), 110-111. 62 J. M. M. Van den Burgt, Un Grand Peuple de l'Afrique Equatoriale (Bois-Le-Duc, 1903), 65; Josset's letter of November 1, 1886, Les Missions Catholiques, 19 (1887), 327-328; Kibanga journal, December 18, 1886, January 18, 1887, CTSM (3me Trimestre de 1887), 612, 618. 63 Hawes to F.O., July 11, 1887, FO 84/1829, PRO. 64 Charbonnier to Deguerry, February 8, 1887; Josset's letter of Decem­ ber 19, 1887: Miss. Af. (1887), 77, 149. 65 Joubert's report in MA, 1 (1888), 57-59. 66 Franc;ois Coulbois, Dix Annees au Tanganyka (Limoges, 1901), 173-176; Moinet's journal, December 3-5, 1887, Miss. Af. (1888­ 1889), 300-305. 67 See P. T. Terry, "The Arab War on Lake Nyasa 1887-1895," The Nyasaland Journal (now The Society of Malawi Journal), 18, 1 (1965), 55-77; 18, 2 (1965), 13-52. 68 Hore to L.M.S., February 11, 1888, LMS. 69 Hore to L.M.S., September 20, 1887; Thompson to Carson, May 18, 1888: ibid. Life on Kavala station is discussed in Oskar Lenz, Wanderungen in Africa (Wien, 1895), 73 ff; Annie B. Hore, To Lake Tanganyika in a Bath Chair (London, 1889), 174 ff. 70 The Swanns' son died on the trip; two more of their children would die before the Swanns retired from service on the lake. 71 Swann did not mention this danger in the letter reporting his arrival in Ujiji. Swann to Thompson, October 18, 1888, LMS. 72 Swann to Thompson, October 14, 1888, December 13, 1888, January 30, 1889: ibid. 73 Miss. Af. (1888-1889), 15, 277-278. Coulbois, Dix Annees, 105-107, claimed the hostilities at Kibanga, mentioned above, caused Lavi­ gerie's decision. Leo XIII gave 300,000 francs in October to help aid Lavigerie. BSAF (1888-1889), 3-7. NEW INTRODUCTION liii

74 The speeches are in Le Cardinal Lavigerie, Documents sur la Fondation de l'Oeuvre Antiesclavagiste (St. Cloud, 1889), 45 ff. The Cardinal also stimulated German Catholic groups by letter. See Audisio to Goblet, October 31, 1888, Allemagne, Depeches politiques des consuls, Breme etc., t. 13, MAE. 75 Marius Ary Leblond, Lavigerie et les Peres Blancs (Tours, 1939), 97; Vibian to Salisbury, August 16, 1888, August 25, 1888, F.O. 123/244, PRO. 76 Waddington to Goblet, July 31, 1888, Angleterre, t. 832, MAE. To avoid diplomatic complications Waddington eschewed any official role in these dealings. Waddington himself feared that the scheme, although excellent in motive, might cause international difficulties. His pessimistic views were shared by France's representative in Zanzibar-Lacau to MAE, September 8, 1888, CCZ 6. 77 Waddington to Goblet, August 7, 1888, Angleterre, t. 833, MAE. 78 Sturge's letter to The Times, in Jusserand to Goblet, September 20, 1888, ibid. 79 Waddington to Goblet, November 28, 1888, Angleterre, t. 835, MAE; Cameron's speech of November 9, 1888, Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society, 4 (1888), 302-306. It is of interest that Hore in 1880 spoke of creating " an almost impossible barrier " from Cairo to Quelimane, using steamers etc. Hore to Kirk, February 25, 1880, N-7, ZA. 80 Cameron to Kirk, August 24, 1888; Kirk to Hill, August 27, 1888; memoranda of Ferguson, August 27, 1888; Lister, August 29, 1888; Salisbury, September 1, 1888; Salisbury to Vivian, September 17, 1888: Correspondence . .. Relative to the Slave Trade (Printed for the use of the FO, 1888), ZA. 81 Henry M. Stanley, In Darkest Africa (New York, 1890), I, 230-231. See also Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society, 4 (1888), 320; Central Africa, 4 (1888), 121. Cameron did receive some support; see Horace Waller, " The Two Ends of the Slave Stick," The Contemporary Review, 55 (1889), 533-537. 82 Jean Bruhat, " Leopold II," in Ch. A. Julien et al., eds., Les Politiques d'Expansion Imperialiste (Paris, 1947), 97. See Gosselin to Salisbury, December 15, 1888, F.O. 123/244, PRO, for the financial response to the Cardinal's speech. 83 Auguste Roeykens, "Le Baron Leon de Bethune et la politique religieuse de Leopold II en Afrique," Zaire, 10 (1956), 227 ff. 8~ MA, 1 (1888), 29; Louis Delmer, "La Belgique et l'Oeuvre Anti­ esclavagiste," ibid., 41-56. 86 P. Ceulemans, La question arabe et le Congo (1883-1892) (Bruxelles, 1959), 290-299. 86 Euan Smith to FO, March 18, 1889, March 20, 1889, E-II0, ZA. See above, p. xiv. 87 See especially Roland Oliver, " Some Factors in the British Occupa­ tion of East Africa, 1884-1894," The Uganda Journal, 15 (1951), 52­ 54. Information from L.M.S. men, including Swann, is used to support this thesis. See also the cogent criticisms of Oliver's hypothesis, as liv NEW INTRODUCTION

presented in his Missionary Factor, in H. B. Thomas' review, ibid., 17 (1953), 96. 88 For Tabora, Norman R. Bennett, "Isike of the Nyamwezi," un­ published paper; for the Congo, Maisha ya Hamed bin Muhammed el Murjebi yaani Tippu Tip (Supplement of the East African Swahili Committee Journals Nos. 28/2, 29/1), especially p. 101, where Tippu declared, "All authority was mine ... I was really the Paramount Chief "; for Lake Tanganyika, Bennett, " Mwinyi Kheri." 89 Euan Smith to Salisbury, July 2, 1888, F.O. 84/1908, PRO. Even Barghash had lost much prestige by his treaties with Europeans. See Hermann von Wissmann (trans. Minna J. A. Bergmann), My Second Journey through Equatorial Africa (London, 1891), 250. 90 Mrs. James S. J arneson, The Story of the Rear Column of the Emin Pasha Expedition by the Late James S. Jameson (N.Y., n.d.), 284; Maisha ya Tippu Tip, 155. 91 Carson to Thompson, January 7, 1889; Swann to Thompson, January 30, 1889: LMS. 92 Joubert's letter of January 23, 1889, BSAF (1888-1889), 639-640; " Adrien Atiman. By Himself," trans. and arranged by L. B. Lane, TNR, 21 (1946), 58. See also Kibanga journal, January 8, 1889, CTSM (4me Trimestre de 1889), 162, for Rumaliza's similar claim to have saved Kibanga from attack. 93 Swann to Thompson, January 30, 1889, LMS. 94 Swann to Thompson, August 14, 1889, ibid. Rumaliza also had some personal charm. In Hore, Tanganyika, 87, he was described as "an educated and liberal-minded man, free from many of the prejudices of the half-castes and others who have not 'seen the world.' " 95 Swann to Thompson, August 14, 1889, LMS. 96 Euan Smith to FO, March 4, 1889, E-II0, ZA. 97 Carson to Thompson, August 15, 1889; Carson to Thompson, Septem­ ber 9, 1889: LMS. Carson to Euan Smith, September 10, 1889, in Euan Smith to Salisbury, February 2, 1890, unmarked volume, ZA. 98 H. H. Johnston, " British South-Central Africa," The New Review, 3 (1890), 111-112. The former Liendwe raider, Kabunda, who had returned to live peacefully in the area, also gave no trouble. Carson to Thompson, June 27, 1889, LMS; "Report by H. H. Johnston," FO print, 403/127. 99 Coulbois to Lacau, November 12, 1888, in Lacau to MAE, April 15, 1889, CCZ 6; Bridoux' letter of June 9, 1889, BSAF (1890), 77-82. 100 Moinet to Deguerry, March 20, 1889; Joubert to his brother, January 23, 1889; Joubert to Lavigerie, June 8, 1889: ibid., 90, 640. 101 Ibid. (1888-1889), 227-228, 554-555; Perraudin, "Lavigerie et Leopold," 282. 102 Thompson to Swann, June 25, 1889; Thompson to Wright, February 25, 1889: LMS. 103 Thompson to Swann, February 21, 1890, June 20, 1890, LMS. Thompson said: " We must not give the impression to the world that our Mission has shrunk into the southern corner of the lake." NEW INTRODUCTION Iv

104 Swann to Thompson, August 1, 1890, ibid. 105 There is no reference to this cession in Swann's letters, although Swann had noted that Africans were flocking to the L.M.S. stations for protection, where they would be defended if necessary. Swann to Thompson, February 25, 1890, June 19, 1890, ibid. 106 Johnston's relationship with Swann is discussed in Roland Oliver, Sir Harry Johnston and the Scramble for Africa (New York, 1958), 166-172; Ake Holmberg, African Tribes and European Agencies. Oolonialism and Humanitarianism in British South and East Africa 1870-1895 (Goteborg, 1966), 269-273. See also Harry Johnston, British Oentral Africa (London, 1897), 95-97, where Swann is des­ cribed as " heart and soul" for Johnston's plans. 107 Swann to Thompson, June 20, 1890, August 2, 1890, LMS. 108 Swann to Thompson, August 2, 1890, ibid.; Swann to Euan Smith, August 10, 1890, in Euan Smith to Salisbury, December 31, 1890, F.O. 84/2066, PRO-this despatch also includes the statement of Ali Kiongwe, December 29, 1890; Umar bin Taba to Johnston, 18 EI Haj 1307, in Euan Smith to Johnston, December 27, 1890, B-9, ZA. The treaties signed are given in Johnston to Salisbury, December 5, 1890, F.O. 84/2052, PRO. Another account ofthe trip to Ujiji is given in Fred. L. M. Moir, After Livingstone (London, n.d.), 152 ff. 109 Salisbury to Jonston, January 31, 1890, F.O. 84/2050, PRO; Louis, Ruanda-Urundi, 13-14, 18-29; Hanna, Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia, 164-166; Johnston to Euan Smith (telegram), March 7, 1890, E-126, ZA. 110 Thompson to Swann, May 30, 1891, October 24, 1891, LMS. 111 Swann to Thompson, May 30, 1891, ibid. 112 Euan Smith to Mackinnon, December 30, 1889, Box 4, MP; Euan Smith to F.O., December 26, 1889, E-113, ZA; Mathews to Smith, December 23, 1889, E-118, ibid. 113 Euan Smith to Salisbury, January 28, 1890, unmarked volume; Baring to Euan Smith, April 3, 1890, April 4, 1890; Euan Smith to Baring, April 3, 1890: E-125: ZA. 114 Swann to Euan Smith, August 10, 1890, in Euan Smith to Salisbury, December 31, 1890, F.O. 84/2066, PRO; Swann to Euan Smith, August 6, 1890, B-I0, ZA. 115 Swann to Thompson, January 30, 1889, LMS. Swann's feeling extended to other explorers besides Stanley, especially since they received much publicity, while missionaries did not. He said: " An unscrupulous explorer riding roughshod through this continent exacting the biggest tragedy of the century [Stanley]. Another who scales a mountain and raises a bit of bunting on its summit with a shout [Hans Meyer] or a woman who has more folly than sense tramping a few miles into this country [Mary French-Sheldon] get the immediate attention of the masses." Swann to Thompson, July 10, 1891, ibid. 116 Swann to Thompson, January 1892, ibid. 117 Anderson's note on Euan Smith to Salisbury, December 31, 1890, F.O. 84/2058, PRO; Johnston to Euan Smith, February 17, 1890, lvi NEW INTRODUCTION

E-126, ZA; Currie to Euan Smith, March 4, 1890, F.O. 84/2058, PRO; Euan Smith to Salisbury, April 3, 1890, enclosing Euan Smith to Tippu Tip, April 3, 1890, unmarked volume, ZA; Portal to Salisbury, October 9, 1891, F.O. 84/2149, PRO; Kirk to Mackinnon, September 9, 1891, Box 25, MP; Swann to Thompson, January 1892, LMS. Stanley opposed the first Johnston effort to drop the case. Baring to Euan Smith, February 17, 1890, Euan Smith to Baring, February 17, 1890, February 18, 1890, E-126, ZA. See also J. M. Gray, " Stanley versus Tippo Tib," TNR, 18 (1944),11-27. 118 Tippu Tip to Euan Smith, September 22, 1890, B-I0, ZA; Smith to Salisbury, July 20, 1891, F.O. 84/2148, PRO. 119 Euan Smith to Salisbury, March 4, 1890, with enclosure, April 4, 1890, unmarked volume; Lister to Euan Smith, April 1, 1890, E-123: ZA. 120 Franz Stuhlmann, Mit Emin Pasha ins Herz von Afrika (Berlin, 1894), 71; Emin's letter of February 1, 1891, Mittheilungen aus JustU8 Perthes' Geographischer Anstalt ... von Dr. A. Petermann, 37 (1891), 160; Wilhelm Langheld, Zwanzig Jahre in deutschen Kolonien (Berlin, 1909), 55. 121 Sharpe to Johnston, September 8, 1890, in Johnston to Salisbury, May 6, 1891, F.O. 84/2114, PRO. 122 Bridoux' letter of September 6, 1890, Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, 62 (1890), 277-278; Coulbois, Dix Annees, 177-181. 123 Bridoux to Lavigerie, July 6, 1890, BSAF (1890), 362; Joubert to de Charette, June 27, 1890, MA, 3 (1890-1891), 20-23; Guilleme's undated letter, Miss. Af. (1891-1892), 18-23. 124 Joubert to Lavigerie, October 8, 1890, ibid. (1891-1892), 84-87. The rumours of British financial support for Rumaliza may have stemmed from efforts to compensate the Arab leader for aiding the Swann treaty venture. See Euan Smith to Johnston, January 29, 1891, Johnston to Euan Smith, January 29, 1891, E-137, ZA. John­ ston said, " please make much of him." 125 Hanna, Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia, 48-49. See also Robert I. Rotberg, Christian Missionaries and the Creation of Northern Rhodesia 1880-1924 (Princeton, 1965), 32-33, for another example of L.M.S. violence. 126 Swann to Thompson, July 10, 1891, with addenda of August 31, 1891, LMS. The anti-Catholic views of Swann were typical; another L.M.S. missionary said the new White Fathers would do all possible to injure the L.M.S. since such acts were" the principal article of their creed." Jones to Thompson, September 16, 1891, ibid. 127 Moinet's letter of January 1891, Miss. Af. (1891-1892), 175; Kibanga journal, January 17, 1891, ibid., 292. 128 A British flag, brought by Swann, continued to fly at one of the northern lake ports where Swann had concluded a treaty for Johnston. Kibanga journal, January 31, 1891, ibid., 293. 129 Joubert's letters of May 3 1891, May 10, 1891, June 2, 1891, June 3, 1891, MA, 4 (1891-1892), 68-72. 130 For these developments, Ceulemans, La question arabe, 290-299. For NEW INTRODUCTION Ivii

Jacques, Jozef K. M. Verhoeven, Congoheld Jacques de Dixmude (Bruxelles, 1930). 131 The Jacques' caravan did not suffer" practical annihilation" as is asserted in R. W. Beachey, " The Arms Trade in East Africa in the Late Nineteenth Century," The Journal of African History, 3 (1962), 459. 132 Jacques' letter of October 17, 1891, MA, 4 (1891-1892), 83; Randabel to Storms, September 22, 1891, in "De Zanzibar au Katanga, Journal du Capitaine Stairs (1890-1891)," Le Congo Illustree, 2 (1893), 142; Van Oost's undated letter, Miss. Af. (1891-1892), 387. 133 Stairs' letter of October 28, 1891, Le Mouvement Geographique, 9 (1892), 16; "Journal du Stairs," 26, 134-135. In a later speech Jacques stressed Swann's failure to send his steamer. See the sum­ mary in Bulletin de la Societe Royale Belge de Geographie, Compte­ Rendu des Actes de la Societe, 19 (1895), 46-50 (seances of March 28 and April 6, 1895). 134 Prouvot's letter of October 15, 1891, Gott will es!, 4 (1892), 204-211; Joseph A. Moloney, With Captain Stairs to Katanga (London, 1893), 132; Jacques' letter of February 16, 1892, MA, 4 (1891-1892), 111­ XVIII, 233. See also Jacques to Delcommune, undated, in Alex. Delcommune, Vingt annees de Vie africaine. Recits de Voyages, d'Aventures et d'Exploration au Congo Belge 1874-1893 (Bruxelles, 1922), II, 484-494, where Jacques describes his Lake Tanganyika activities. 135 Ottavi to Ribot, August 1, 1891, PZ 14; Perraudin, "Lavigerie et Leopold," 403; Mgr. Roelens, "Les Peres-Blancs au Congo," in Louis Franck, Le Congo Belge (Bruxelles, n.d.), II, 198-201. 136 Ceulemans, La question arabe, 222, 332; Rodd to Rosebery, January 31, 1893, March 5, 1893, F.O. 107/2, PRO; Delcommune, Vingt annees, II, 485, 487. 137 Jacques' letter of April 21, 1891, MA, 4 (1891-1892), XXIV-XXVII; Jacques' letter of August 10, 1892, ibid., 5 (1892-1893), 42-44. Rumaliza gave his view in Rumaliza to Tippu Tip, March 24, 1892, in Portal to Salisbury, May 4, 1892, F.O. 84/2231, PRO. 138 Jacques' letter of April 21, 1892, MA, 4 (1891-1892), XXVII-XXX; A. M. de Saint-Berthuin, Alexis Vrithoff (Lille, 1893), 151 ff. The death of a Belgian spread wide and exaggerated rumours as far as Kasongo. See Lippens and DeBruyne's letter of October 6, 1892, Dhanis Papers, MRAC. 139 Swann to Thompson, February 10, 1892, LMS. 140 Swann to Thompson, November 4, 1892, ibid.; Delcommune, Vingt annees, II, 489-490. 141 Carson to Thompson, December 13, 1892, LMS. 14,2 Jacques' letter of September 8, 1892, MA, 5 (1892-1893), 52-54; Delcommune, Vingt annees, II, 465-476. 143 Jacques' telegram of November 23, 1892, MA, 4 (1891-1892), 350. 14,4 Swann's report of his visit to Ujiji, September 1892, LMS; Sharpe to Johnston, December 17, 1892, F.O. 2/54, PRO. 145 See MA, 4 (1891-1892), 117 ff, for the various new expeditions. Iviii NEW INTRODUCTION

146 Swann to Thompson, April 11, 1893, LMS. See Muhammad bin Khalfan to Holmwood, February 21, 1893, B-24, ZA. 147 The recent description of Wissmann on this expedition as "a dis­ tinguished but neurotic explorer" is comprehensible only in the light of the author's ignorance of German sources. See Hanna, Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia, 216. Compare Oskar Karstedt, Hermann v. Wissmann (Berlin, c. 1933), especially p. 215. 148 Swann to Thompson, May 17,1893, June 21,1893, LMS. 149 The course of Wissmann's expedition is given in Deutsches Kolonial­ blatt, 4 (1893), 148-151, and passim; 5 (1894), 109-111. 150 Swann to Thompson, May 17, 1893, June 21, 1893, LMS; Sharpe to Rosebery, May 16, 1893, F.O. 2/56, PRO. The British were united in their distrust of the Belgians, Johnston claiming their aim was "the seizing of all the valuable points of the Territory which by Treaties with the native chiefs belongs to Great Britain." Johnston to Rosebery, September 25, 1893, F.O. 2/55, ibid. Swann also gave advice to the French explorer, Decle, who supported the British missionaries' views once he had visited Rumaliza. Lionel Decle, Three Years in Savage Africa (London, 1898), 287 ff. 151 Thompson to Swann, March 10, 1893; Carson to Thompson, August 13, 1893, LMS. 152 Swann to Thompson, August 23, 1893, ibid. See also The Gazette for Zanzibar and East Africa, September 13, 1893, November 29, 1893. 153 Jacques to the Congo Independent State Resident at Kasongo, January 17, 1893, Dhanis Papers, MRAC; Jacques' letters of January 5, 1893, February 10, 1893, March 25, 1893, MA, 5 (1892-1893), 314­ 326, 347-350, 410-418, and other despatches in this journal by Belgian officers; Lieutenant Henri, De K iroundou au Tanganika (Bruxelles, 1896). For the end of Rumaliza's career, G. F. Scott Elliot, A Naturalist in Mid-Africa (London, 1896), 285 ff; E. D. Moore, Ivory Scourge of Africa (New York, 1931), 142; German Consul to Sultan of Zanzibar, October 5, 1899, F -2, ZA; Richard Kandt, Caput Nili (Berlin, 1914), I, 29; Heinrich Brode, Tippoo Tib (London, 1907), 249-250. 154 A. Leue, Dar-es-Salaam (Berlin, 1903), 265 ff; Fr. Waechter, "Die Tanganyika-Dampferexpedition 1898-1901," Beitriige zur Kolonial­ politik und Kolonialwirtschaft, 4 (1902-1903), 456-462, 467-473; Hauptmann Ramsay, "Uber seine Expedition nach Ruanda und dem Rikwa-See, Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde zu Berlin, 25 (1898), 303-323. 155 Swann to Thompson, February 10, 1892, May 17, 1893, LMS. 156 The Second Decennial Report of the C. African Mission, 1890-1900, p. 37, LMS. 157 For some account of Swann's Nyasaland work, see E. H. Lane Poole, " Mpeseni and the Exploration Companies, 1885-1898," The Northern Rhodesian Journal, 5 (1962-1964), 223; Jailos Chingota, " An Auto­ biography," The Nyasaland Journal, 14, 2 (1961), 20; W. A. Elmslie, Among the Wild Ngoni (Edinburgh and London, 1899), 291-294; NEW INTRODUCTION lix

Robert Laws, Reminiscences of Livingstonia (London, 1934), 152, 156; Johnston, British Central Africa, 144; Oliver, Johnston, 268. 168 Times Literary Supplement, March 31, 1910; Rotberg, Christian Missionaries, 191. See The Colonial Office List (1907), 606, for a summary account of Swann's official career. 159 Rutley to L.M.S., February 11, 1881, LMS. 160 See especially, " On the Twelve Tribes of Tanganyika," The Journal of the A nthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, XII, (1882), 2-21. 161 La Vie en Afrique (Bruxelles, 1887), 2 v. H. H. JOHNSTON'S INTRODUCTION

HE Africa about which Mr. Swann writes-as I think, T with such absorbing interest-has already passed into history, the history which is least read because it is that of yesterday. 'l-'he conditions of East Africa twenty-five to twenty years ago are so extraordinarily different to the appearance and conditions of life in that region at the present day, that it might almost be thought Mr. Swann was writing not of experiences within the limit of the life of a man of middle age, but of some remoter period coeval with Livingstone and Cameron. Indeed, the East Africa first seen by Mr. Swann (and by the writer of this preface) was not a whit changed from the East Africa through which Burton, Speke, Grant, and Thomson struggled to find great lakes, vaguely rumoured rivers, and in their quest first beheld many a strange beast and extraordinary human tribe new to science. We have too easily and readily forgotten the East Africa known to Livingstone, and the Arab slave-trade has become a vague legend, possibly disbelieved in to a great extent by the somewhat cynical white men who now swarm over Tropical Africa and say to us weary ones of those pioneer days: "I can't see what you beggars made such a fuss about. The Arabs seem to me a devilish good lot of people, quite easy to get on with; and if they did come down rather hard on lxii INTRODUCTION the nigger for not working, why, it was all for the nigger's good. And I don't call it half a bad kind of country­ splendid shooting-why, I got such and such a bag in so many days with my (quoting the latest invention in rifles and soft-nosed or explosive bullets). Talk of dying of thirst in such and such a desert! What rot! Why, there's an artesian well at the principal rest-house, and you can get awfully good iced drinks and perfect lager beer at all the stores in Unyamwezi. Besides, how can you be much bothered by this particular piece of route when you can bicycle sixty luiles in a day ill the dry season, to say nothing of motoring. '\Thy you should ever have been ill, I can't think. ... Absolute pleasure trip to me." And so forth, and so on. Perhaps Mr. Swann's book (which I &incerely hope may be widely read) may enable people who care to follow closely the history of African development to realise in the first place what the Arab slave-trade was like, and why it so concerned the minds of Livingstone, of the early missionaries, of several consuls, and of trading associations like the African Lakes Company, which could not wholly divest themselves of human feelings. Mr. Swann's book will also give you the ronlance of East Africa before it became tourist-trodden and vulgarised. This quality is irrecoverable. Just as the once beautiful English scenery is passing away under our eyes in favour of corrugated iron, paper-strewn roads and lanes, red-brick villas, pollarded beeches, incongruous rhododendron shrubberies, excellent but ugly factories, flashy hotels in lieu of old-world inns, and asphalt esplanades in place of a pleistocene shingle, so the Africa of Mr. Swann's days, with its unlimited and even dangerous wild beasts, its Inen and women just emerging from the Age of Stone, the Nyika innocent of eucalyptus groves, dense forests scarcely altered since the Miocene, Man at his 1xiii most barbarous and most heroic (this last applies to the white pioneers) has disappeared in favour of railways, motors, telegraphs, negroes that are drilled in European fashion, prosperous mission-schools and technical institutes, the bang, bang, bang of the slaughtering British sportsma.n, the lisping accents of the lady traveller who is trying to write a book about Africa in a four months' tour (lapped in luxury as she passes from one hospitable station to another), the Africa of the cinematograph and the gramophone records, of fashion­ able diplomacy, highly trained a.dministrators, royal guests, and banished malaria. Of course, the real truth is that Africa is becoming more interesting than ever, the problems more cOlnplex, the history of its past-its distant past-better and better known, the condition of its native inhabitants far, far and away happier than in the times of which Mr. Swann writes. His own part in bringing about that bappiness has been considerable. He took an even larger share than he relates (of his modesty) in curbing the Arab slave-trade round about the shores of Tanganyika. He believed-and I think with justification-that a British Protectorate over many of these regions would be of vast benefit to the indigenous people. Therefore, when I met him on the south shore of Lake Tanganyika in 1889, and told him that I was prevented by serious complications in Nyasaland from pursuing my original plan of carrying the British flag (allied ,vith the necessary treaties) right through from the north end of Tanganyika to Uganda (so as to complete the Cape-to-Cairo route), Mr. Swa.nn agreed, when furnished with the necessary authority, to complete this section. With the assistance of my Swahali head-man, Ali Kiongwe (who is now living on a small Government pension at Zanzibar), he completed the scope of British trea.ties at the north end of r:ranganyika, which, had lxiv INTRODUCTION they been all ratified by the British Government, would have given to the British Empire (without robbing anybody else) a continuous all-British route from Cape Colony to Egypt, on the assumption, of course, that the waters of Tanganyika were free to all nations. H. H. JOHNSTON. AUTHOR'S PREFACE~

HE following pages contain my recollections of twenty­ six years spent in Africa. They have been written at T the repeated request ofcolleagues ofvarious nationalities, with whonl, in the years 1889l-1909, I travelled and laboured in Central Africa, co-operating with them in the work of undermining, and finally destroying, the Slave-Trade around the great lakes. 'I'he thrilling stories of explorers and nlissionaries had appealed to my natural love of travel and adventure, and fired me with a.n ambition to follow such men as Livingstone, Stanley, Burton, Sch,veinfurth, and others, and to help in healing what Livingstone called "Africa's open sore." When I went out in 1889l the great partition of Africa had not taken place, and the hideous trade was at its worst. Caravans from the interior brought thousands of slaves to the East Coast, and left thousands dead upon the road. Lakes Nyasa, Tanganyika, and Victoria Nyanza were in the hands of Arab and native slave-traders, and beyond a patrol­ admittedly unsatisfactory-of portions of the East Coast, nothing much was being done to crush the accursed traffic which was eating out the heart of Africa. For twenty-six: years I was able to take part in the determined efforts for its suppression which were then made, and to fill a place in the ranks, of those African pioneers whose deeds had kindled my ambition. I earnestly hope that my experiences may bring encouragement to some whom a love of justice and liberty is spurring on to fresh exertions on behalfofthose tribes in Africa which have not yet been delivered from the curse of slavery. lxvi AUTHOR'S PREFACE So many years of labour and anxiety have naturally been diversified by many adventures, both of travel and sport, the narratives of which may not, I hope, be found unin­ teresting. At the close of llIy career in Africa, I should wish to place on record nly great admiration for other pioneers, American, German, French, Belgian, and Portuguese, whom I met, and with whom I worked, and who vied with my own countrymen in a healthy, courteous, and vigorous cOlnpetition to advance civilisation in their respective Spheres of Influence. All the photographs here reproduced are copyright, and my grateful acknowledgments are due to the owners for their permission to use them. In preparing these pages for the press, I have been most ably assisted by Miss Bennett of Tarring, Worthing, without whose co..operation the task would not have been undertaken, and to whom sincere thanks are rendered. A. J. S.

WORTHING, SUSSEX, January 1910. CONTENTS

PAGE ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR-PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY 19

CHAPTER II

PORTERS AND THEIR LOADS-THE LONG MARCH TO LAKE TANGANYIKA COMMENCED-AN AMUSING I NCIDENT-THE CHARM OF AFRICAN LIFE-INSIGHT INTO NATIVE CHAR­ ACTER 35

CRUELTIES OF THE SLAVE-THADE-MAJOR VON WISSMANN­ DIFFICULTIES OF THE ROAD-a PAY OR FIGHT"-LOYAL SERVICE-A NARROW ESCAPE-THE MIGHTY l\tIIRAMBO- NATIVE AND LION. 48

A GREEDY Ji'ERRYMAN-FETISH-UJIJI AND LAKE TANGANYIKA -LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEy-A WHITED SEPULCHRE­ IVORY AND SLAVES-LAUNCHING A CANOE-THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAIN 68

OPPOSITION OF THE NATIVES-LAUNCH OF THE "MORNING STAR"_rrIP-pu-TIB-THE LOFU RIVER-BUILDING A STEAM VESSEL-A TRAGEDy-RUGARUGA BULLIES • 81

FIRE AND SWOHD-A SCEPTICAL NATIVE-AN ANGRY HIPPO­ POTAMUS-LAUNCH OF THE "GOOD NEWS "-MEDICINE AND SURGERy-A CRUEL PUNISHMENT-A NATIVE DUEL: ITS TRAGIC RESULT 98 lxviii CONTENTS

CHAPTER VII PAGE A DIPLOMATIC SCRAMBLE-MANNA-THE AMAMBWI-UNPLEA- SANT VISITORS 115

CHAPTER VIII

NAVIGATING THE SHIRE RIVER-BLANTYRE-RAMAKUKANE- GAME AND FISH-SHUPANGA • 135

CII~L\.PTER IX

A VISIT TO ENGLAND-A SAILOR'S BLOW-CHARLES STOKES­ GERMANS AND ARABS-ENCOUNTER WITH MASAI-WHITE MAN'S MEDICINE-WARNINGS. 150

CHAPr.!'ER X

SHOOTING GIRAFFES-A COOL RECEPTION-A VISIT TO RUMA­ LIZA-l"IP-pu-TIB-ANGER OF RUMALIZA-HoSTILITIES COMMENCED-CONGO STATE OFFICIALS-EMIN PASHA 167

CAPTAIN TRIVIER - GAME PITS - AN ANNEXATION - THE W ALUNGU MARRIAGE CUSTOMS - THE CURSE OF THE PEOPLE • 185

MAKING TREATIES-HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS-BOILING SPRINGS - REI~IGIOUS VIEWS -A NUGGET - SCENERY OF LAKE TANGANYIKA-A NATIVE REGATTA 203

CHAP'~rER XIII

THE PEOPLE OF THE TANGANYIKA - THE CANNIBAL - THE WARUNDI-A CONJURER-THE FAUNA OF THE RUSIZI­ ATTACKED BY LEOPARDS-A STORM ON THE LAKE- SWAMPED 221 CONTENTS lxix

CHAPTER XIV PAGB SALVING THE BOAT-A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT-TROUBLE WITH THE' ARABS-A MISCHIEVOUS MONKEy-AN ACT OF REVENGE • 239

CHAPTER XV

GENERAL UNREST - STORMING STOCKADES - RUMALIZA THE SLAVE-TRADER 255

CHAPTER XVI

THE POTENTIALITIES OF THE AFRICAN-SUPPRESSION OF RAID­ ING-CHILDREN'S GAMES-ANALYSING THE NATIVE CHAR­ ACTER • 275

CHAPTER XVII

BIG-GAME HUNTING - A WILD TRIP ACROSS NYASA - AN ECLIPSE-A MEMORABLE INTERVIEW 291

CHAPTER XVIII

BISHOP MAPLES-CAPTURE OF MWASI'S STRONGHOLD-INFANTILE MORTALITY • 309

WONDERFUL INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT • 323

CHAPTER XX

TRAITS OF CHARACTER-RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY 339

INDEX II 355 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

HEAD-DRESS OF AEMBA GIRL. Frontispiece PAGJI THE AUTHOR 27

PORTERS ENCAMPED 87

A DUG-OUT CANOE 51

A METHOD OF SECURING SLAVES 51

AFRICAN MIMICRY • 63

IN THE VVAKE OF THE SLAVE-RAIDERS • 63

FETISH IDOLS 71

AN AFRICAN PATH THROUGH HIGH GRASS 71

A SLAVE-DHOW • 83

THE "MORNING STAR II AT ANCHOR 88

A CANNIBAL. 93

A THOROUGH SCOUNDREL 98

SSe "GOOD NEWS II 108

TROPICAL CREEPERS AND AN ELEPHANT PATH 103

A MEDICINE MAN AT VVORK log

A VILLAGE IN MAKING. 117 LIST OF ILLUS'fRATIONS lxxi

PAGE AEMBA MUTILATIONS 117

A MEDICINE MAN 125

A POT OF BEER • 125

A GAME-TRAP 131

NATIVE PORTERS • 131

A VILLAGE BELLE. 139

A VILLAGE IN THE OPEN COUNTRY 155

POUNDING MAIZE INTO FLOUR 181

A MARRIAGE PROCESSION 195

MALE AND FEMALE FASHIONS IN HAIR-DRESSING . 199

LAKE FISHERMEN AND CANOES 209

A NATIVE SMELTING FURNACE 213

AN ELABORATELY CARVED PIPE 223

DRYING FISHING NETS ABOVE THE SAND 223

BLACKSMITHS AT VVORK • 227

ELABORATELY CARVED DRUMS 251

A WELL-KEPT VILLAGE. 257

A TYPICAL AFRICAN STOCKADE 263

GATHERING HONEY 267

GIRLS AT PLAY 285

BRICK MAKING 285

MASTERLY INACTIVITY • 293

WICKERWORK BASKETS FOR CATCHING FISH • 305 lxxii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGB BUILDING A FORT. • 325

A BEAUTIFUL NATIVE-BUILT CATHEDRAL · 325

BASKET-WORK · 335

THE DAWN OF CIVILISATION • • 335

DEATH IN THE FAMILY. · 345

FIGHTING THE SLAVE-HUNTERS IN CENTRAL AFRICA

CHAPTER I

ARRIVAL 4T ZANZIBAR-PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

" WHO WILL VOLUNTEER FOR CENTRAL AFRICA?" T was in May, 1882, that I read the above words in a journal published by the British and Foreign Sailors' I Society. The question was addressed to the public by Captain Hore of the London Missionary Society. He was about to proceed to Lake 'l"anganyika with a steel life-boat, which he intended to transport in sections through East Africa, on carts specially constructed for so great an undertaking; for it is 820 miles from the coast to Lake Tanganyika. 'I'here are no roads, and the native paths leading from village to village are too narrow for carts. However, it was not my business to question the Captain's ability to overcome the innumerable difficulties familiar to anyone acquainted with the writings of Livingstone and Stanley. My work was to respond to the appeal if I wanted to take a hand in the opening up of this part of Africa. Applicants were required to possess a Board of Trade certificate as chief officer in the Mercantile Marine, and to be willing to submit to an examination before the rather formidable Board of Directors of the London Missionary Society. Having spent twelve years at sea on both steam and sailing vessels, and possessing the necessary certificate, I at once wrote 19 ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR and offered my services. In due course they were accepted by the Society, and I \vas appointed second in command of the expedition to Lake Tanganyika; afterwards to act as chief officer in the marine department which we were going to establish on the Lake. 1.'he London Missionary Society had received a large dona­ tion from a supporter for the express purpose of commencing mission work around the great Lake. As the undertaking was certain to be an expensive one, it was decided to utilise the more economical transport by water in order to get into close contact with the tribes living along a coast line of 900 to 1000 miles. Our expedition was organised to enable the Society to occupy these regions. Captain Hore and myself were instructed to transport the small life-boat and to build the S.S. Good News as soon as it could be sent to us; to survey the Lake, and to organise and maintain a regular mail service between the Mission Stations and Zanzibar. Captain Hore did not scruple to place before me the pros and cons of travelling in Africa. I had but a vague idea of the Interior. In one's schooldays the lessons on geography (when they happened to be about Africa) were illustrated by a camel, a palm tree, mountains of the moon {whatever they might be no one seemed to know), with the Nile, Zambezi, and Congo Rivers, vaguely depicted as rising somewhere in the heart of the great Unknown. Living­ stone, Stanley, and others had, on the part of Britain and America, made known to us the great facts that the In­ terior was not a desert, but inhabited by a large population of coloured people-some more or less hostile to Europeans, but the majority quite ready to respond to civil treatment by strangers. The great partition of Africa by the European Powers had not yet taken place, and not one of the now great Protectorates of East Africa, Uganda, and Nyasaland had become a part of ~O ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR the British Enlpire. 1.'he whole of the East Coast and the Interior was either in the hands of native chiefs, Arabs, or l\farima half-castes who had all one object, and whose ambition was to sell and transport to the coast as many of the inhabitants as they could possibly capture. It is true that commanders of British gunboats and British officials at Zanzibar did their utmost, with the limited powers at their command, to bring pressure to bear on the Sultan of Zanzibar, and to check the slave trade at the coast; but none knew better than themselves how inadequate were their combined efforts. At best they only touched the very fringe of the disease, which had its raluifications all over Equatorial Africa, and its great centres far away up-country at Tabora, Ujiji, Uganda, Kotakota, and the Upper Congo. My youthful enthusiasnl had been fired ,vhen I learned the facts of slavery as set forth with noble humanity by Living­ stone, with manly disgust by Stanley, and pathetic emphasis by the author of "Uncle 1.'om's Cabin," and I resolved, if ever the opportunity offered, to join with my countrymen in an endeavour to crush the slave-trade. My chance had arrived, and May 17, 188~, found me on board a British-India Company's vessel bound for Africa. It was in October of this year that Mr. (now Sir) Harry Johnston first visited the Congo, and practically commenced his long and well-known African career. Little did I imagine how very much we should be thrown together in after years, or that I should be privileged to take part in his successful adminis­ tration of Nyasaland. Stirring events were taking place in North Africa as we passed through the canal, for preparations were being made to bombard Alexandria; the great men-of-war, like huge birds of prey, were circling around the entrance to the Suez Canal. We luckily passed through before the actual firing of the SO-ton guns of H.M.S. Inflexible began; both ship and guns are now practically obsolete. ~l My fellow-passengers included Bishop Hannington, Ashe, and Gordon of Uganda, each of thenl destined to play so conspicuous a part in opening up Uganda to civilisation. Ho,v well I recall Hannington! His delightfully buoyant spirits and optimistic character made all on board happy. I little thought, as we played at chess together, that those eyes, then so full of laughter, ,vould soon be dimmed by tears shed, not for himself, but for those very Africans to whose benefit he had deternlined to devote his life and who, in their ignor­ ance, so cruelly imprisoned and murdered him. Such are the perils to which the pioneers of civilisation are exposed in a land of superstition, ignorance, and savagery, that not even the attractive qualities of Hannington could save him from a fate which has for ever stained the throne of Uganda, by the sacrifice of one who would have been her best friend and champion. The Buganda have long since realised the great crime committed by their king. Tens of thousands of her sons and daughters are to-day endeavouring to lead lives which the great martyred rnissionary would have blessed. In addition to the Church of England missionaries, there ,vere on board several belonging to the London l\Iissionary Society, most of whom ultimately lost their lives in the Interior by disease, which has taken such a heavy toll amongst the ranks of pioneers. One other of our company met a violent death during the great struggle between European and Arab for predominance in Africa. This struggle was about to commence in real earnest when we arrived at Zanzibar in June 188~. Wild as our project appeared to many residing in Zanzibar, who frankly told us we should never tramp that 8~O miles to Tanganyika, much less drag on wheels our steel life-boat through roadless forests and plains, yet 1\lrs. Hore, who had determined to accompany her husband, was not to be frightened; she declared tha.t wherever it was prudent for her husband to go, she saw no reason why she should be considered fl~ ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR unfit to accompany him. Brave words indeed-but bravel deeds followed their utterance; for her patient, tactful per­ severance never failed through innumerable trials, incon­ veniences, dangers, and sickness, and this brave Englishwoman will be remembered as the first woman to make that wonderful journey in Africa, and with her little son to reach the historic shores of far-away Tanganyika. It was at Zanzibar I first realised that Great Britain was doing all she could to undermine the cruel slave-trade. Although our eyes beheld men and women in chain-gangs walking and working on the public roads, we knew that they were not slaves, but in reality criminals who, for various offences, were being punished in this manner; and that in such a hot climate it was by far the most sanitary method of dealing with prisoners, as they were permitted to enjoy the open air and good exercise. Still, the sight of human beings in neck-chains was, to say the least, repulsive to everyone of us who, no doubt, were too full of our mission of emancipation to be capable of impartially analysing the loca.l conditions which influenced the rulers of this eastern island. Zanzibar has been described so often that I will not weary the reader by entering into details, except to say that, so far as slavery was concerned, although it was not a legalised custom to buy and sell slaves in the open market, yet thousands were undoubtedly bought and sold both at Zanzibar and on the East Coast. In fact, during our stay on the island, a pinnace of H.M.S. London (which was then the Port guard­ ship) cut out and captured as a prize a large slave-dhow which had anchored under the very shadow of the British Consulate­ so daring were the Arabs at this exceedingly profitable game. We found Sir John Kirk pulling the strings of British policy at Zanzibar, and so deftly were they handled that not only "Tas legalised slavery in the Sultan's dominion successfully suppressed, but the valuable island was prevented from passing into the hands of other Powers. ~3 ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR We heard much criticism of the manner in which Sir John attacked the curse of Africa; but people did not then realise as they do now that, unless the matter had been handled with great skill, the astute Arabs, with their natural love of intrigue and avarice, might at any moment have foiled all Sir John's attempts to get our flag established on the island, and that there was nothing to prevent the Sultan handing over his dominions to another Po,ver. We were initiated into some of the delicate phases of this political game, and thus somewhat put on our guard and prepared for dealing with the powerful Arab lieutenants of the Sultan who reigned supreme in those regions, far away from either British diplomacy or British guns, to which we were proceeding. In the midst of their vile operations it was our fixed determination to live, and, in time, to undermine or destroy their diabolical trade in human souls and bodies. Looking back after a long struggle with the Arabs I can understand and appreciate the enormous difficulties Sir John Kirk had to overcome, and I can now measure more accurately the services rendered to the Empire by the astute British representative at the Sultan's Court in those early days. We found real empire-building in progress at the coait. To lay foundations for more work of the kind at the sources of the slave-trade around the great lakes of the Interior was our earnest intention. It was our greatest stimulus and sup­ port to know that behind us was the man who had been a close companion in travel of the imnlortal Livingstone. No one realises better than myself, that it is upon Sir John's solid foundations that much of the present magnificent super­ structure has been erected. There was little time for indulging in sentiment, no inclination on anyone's part either to exaggerate the task before us or to minilnise its difficulties. Whilst engaged in the difficulties of preparing for a three months' tramp through a more or less rough country, one became unconsciously 24 PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY impregnated with ideas of caravan life. Our days were spent in packing and repacking all kinds of collapsible utensils, too often omitting fronl our calculations the stern fact that it was not upon railway trucks our boxes were to be transported, and therefore we Inust not think it of no consequence how heavy they weighed; for black men would have to plod along day by day through dense grass, over mountains, through rivers and swamps, with all these precious loads on their heads. Our keen-eyed leader was not slow to bring us to our senses by quietly asking us to try the weight ourselves. It has been said, and with great truth, that one cannot spend too much time in the careful preparation for a long African journey, for so many valuable lives have been lost for \vant of real necessaries. The most difficult matter to us seemed to be to solve the problem of carrying our cash, as in this instance it meant not really cash (which of course was ofno use to Central Africans!) but calico, beads, brass, wire, salt, &c. &c. We found it would be necessary to supply each porter with two yards of unbleached calico per week in order that he might buy food. Now, considering that we had to engage about nine hundred porters, and that we should be at least three months on the journey, it will be obvious that the commissariat for the men alone amounted to a considerable SUlll, and must form a large number of loads, each weighing 60 lbs., which is about the full load a man can carryover a long distance, although the Wanyamwezi will often carry 75 lbs. of dead weight. It is astonishing how they do it day after day-plodding on apparently without undue exhaustion under the tropical sun. In addition to this formidable equip.. ment, we had to convey a year's provisioni and the Morning Star life-boat. ':rhis, being buHt of steel, was divided into sections and laid bottom upwards on specially constructed hand-carts, light and yet strong, made narrow in order to minimise the cutting down of trees. 25 PREPARA1"IONS FOR THE JOURNEY As the Captain and myself were sailors by profession, we naturally considered there was nothing like good rope for wear and tear, and ,ve forthwith spliced sets of harness to fit three men to drag the carts, one man being in the shafts. The first touch of African humour enlivened us here, as we harnessed our team of men for a trial run. 'I'hey were standiTJ.g ready to move on with the yokes around their necks when~ a wag, who was in the shafts, turned towards the crowd of onlookers and, without a smile on his countenance, exclaimed: "Kweri; sasa mimi Punda," or, as we should put it, "Yes! there is no mistake about it, I am a donkey at last!'" '-.fhe whole of us burst into fits of laughter; whilst the little black urchins, who had assembled to see the fun, rolled over and over in the sandy soil, imitating the well-known laughter of our four-footed friends. I could see by the man's face in the shafts that the ludicrous situation in which he found himself had suddenly dawned on his mind; but, beyond the above exclamation, he was like the costermonger who had "no words for it.'" To one totally unacquainted with African porters and travel as I was, nearly the whole of our preliminaries at Zanzibar were, to say the least, extremely novel as well as fascinating. Those Europeans who to-day land at Mombasa, purchase a railway-ticket, tip a porter, and jUlnp into an express train for Uganda with scarcely a thought about their huge packages which are s,vung by cranes on to the trucks in the rear, will scarcely realise what it meant to start on such a journey then. I can even now see the energetic Hannington literaJly jumping on the content~ of his box, so as to compel it to go into a space which his mathell1atical mind could have easily proved with a few figures to be a physical impossibility. One could hear the various Europeans addressing to thelnselves such questions as the following:- "Must I really shave? No !I can leave this dressing­ case and use a waterproof bag! " 26 _._ .., PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY "Boots? Ah! must have good boots, but those gaiters are not necessary." "Happy ma.n! "" says the transport agent. "I hope you may never want them; but don't load yourself up with that huge book! Why, it must weigh several pounds.")" """That is it? Oh !I must take it, even if I have to carry it myself. It's a lot of back numbers of Punch." A roar of laughter went up from his comrades. One more grave than the rest suggested that "only light and necessary articles ought to be carried.")") "I don"t care,"") replied the owner. "I contend that P~tnch itY exceedingly light and trifling." With this appropriate repartee the British Jester was jammed into the box; and as I think of isolated calnps, lonely voyages, bitter disappointments, intense longings to hear my own native tongue and to see a happy civilised face, I know the young pioneer was right, and that he had packed the best literary tonic, one which has hundreds of times brought me back to my own land, and lifted HIe out of that desponding state into which frequent attacks of malaria are at times apt to plunge the most hardened traveller in the 'I'ropics. What I have just said will serve to emphasise the fact that in those days every pound of weight had to be studied, as, besides the actual expense of porterage, the number of men had to be reduced to a minimum, seeing that for three months we had to be responsible for their food, at times no little tax on the meagre resources of the small native villages, in places many miles distant from one another. '!'he first great disappoint­ ment came to us as we learned that part of our vessel had been left at Aden, and at least one month must elapse before the next British-India vessel was due. However, as our party consisted of missionaries proceeding to stations up-country, and as it was only possible to travel in the dry season, it was deemed advisable to make a start at once, and the sailors, Captain Hore and myself, could "come back from Mamboia,")") 29 PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY which was said to be about 160 miles inland, and at that time in charge of a missionary and his wife. " Conle back again? '), I replied, as I heard the decision. " Don')t come back! ')') SOlne one shouted to me years before, in London, as I went out to face the Board of rrrade Exalniner at '-rower Hill. I was returning at the time, having forgotten something in my excitement. "It')s unlucky,'" he continued, "to come back.'" Was this coming back a good or bad omen? I experienced neither good nor bad luck at '!'ower Hill; but a very salt old sea-captain of the Black Ball Line very much impressed me with the stern fact that a practical knowledge of duty was the only passport to success, and, having succeeded in that instance, I had no dread of ill-luck on the present occasion. 1.'he eventful Inorning arrived when, with the hundreds of black porters and our baggage, we were packed into large dhows (vessels used for carrying slaves and merchandise), somewhat like herrings in a barrel, and so parted from the scene of our first contact with Arabs and slavery. British officers on the deck of H.M.S. London gave us a polite salute, and a Jack Tar standing forward shouted, " So long! ." 'The old and to me familiar send-off of that British sailor was very cheering, and, as we sailed past the great ship, we returned the salute almost under the shadow of the St. George's ensign which floated proudly from her stern. One of my comrades asked: "What does' so long' mean? ." I replied: "It is used by sailors, and means, ' Until we meet again.''''' "What a strange expression!',) he said. "It seems to imply a certainty of meeting.')' My mind was too full of the actual going to dwell on the possibilities of coming back; but the eyes of the questioner were then gazing for the last time on the· Naval Flag of Britain. Even at that moment he was almost within sight of 30 PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

the spot where years afterwards, ~Then returning home and ahllost out of Africa, he fell mortally wounded, shot by a treacherous half-caste Arab. At the time of addressing the question to me he was surrounded by comrades; at his death he wa.s alone, and Africa never so much as provided him with a grave. " So long! " I hear that sailor's voice even now; it was almost like a requiem over no less than three others of nlY comrades, who, sitting by my side at that moment, had their faces towards their last resting-place in Africa. The old dhow took but a few hours to cross the ~5-mile strip of water which separates Zanzibar from the mainland, and, running close into the shore, we dropped anchor. " Rukeni! Rukeni majina upesi ! .,., cried the Suahili cap­ tain. "Jump quickly into the water, all of you!"" and if you can picture two or three hundred schoolboys tumbling out of a London barge into the Thames on a sunny day, you have a fairly good idea of our porters landing for their 8~0-lnile tramp, knowing they had each to carryon their heads a load weighing 60 lbs. Yet every man of them was a slave, even the head-men were slaves, and part of their three-months" advanced wages had already gone into the hands of their 'masters at Zanzibar. They were just a merry, happy lot of laughter-loving grown­ up boys-no care, no thought of the morrow, no repining at their lot! "Come-a-day, go-a-day, God-send-Sunday,"" ,vas their for­ mula and rule of life, and experience has revealed to me that these words accurately describe the outstanding natural charac­ teristics of coloured races in Central Africa. These romping, excitable men, gambolling in the sea around the old Arab dhow, with no worldly possessions beyond a yard or two of calico, had engaged to transport "white men"" through a country quite unknown to many of them, though they knew 31 PREPARA1'IONS FOR THE JOURNEY from those who had previously travelled that there were many real hardships and dangers to be encountered before reaching Lake 'l'anganyika. As I tried to realise what this meant, what a demonstration it afforded of loyal service of black to white men, I could only hope that ··no want of patience, knowledge, or tact on our part might have the effect of jeopardising the realisation of what at times appeared but a dream. Dreams, however, had to give place to solid hard work in the shape of tent-pitching, stacking of loads, preparing to pass the first night in camp not far from the calm water of the Indian Ocean, and what was still more necessary, providing and cooking our own dinner. We were to shift for ourselves at last, with state cabins, stewards, and general luxury a thing of the past­ "outward bound," as sailors call it-and if we were ever to see the waters of distant Tanganyika one thing was essential, we must not make n1a.rtyrs of ourselves, not even for Africans. We must take every reasonable precaution against malaria, and above all attend most scrupulously to our diet, and not only live on the best food to be procured in the country, but make ample use of those proved digestible foods which science has enabled us to bring in metal tins. I say without hesitation that a nlissionary or traveller who fails to Iive as well as possible whilst exposed to the tropical sun and malaria is certain to become prematurely a most expensive, if not alto­ gether useless, servant to any government or philanthropical society. And, even with every precaution, none wholly escape; whilst many fall victims to the deadly microbes now known to be conveyed to the human blood by a species of mosquito. We were soon initiated into the art of making our tents comfortable, and, as the sun disappeared behind some lofty cocoa-nut palm trees, insect life swarmed out to enjoy the cool air. Then commenced those choruses of sounds from pool, bush, and tall rank grasses, which never cease to serenade African travellers from sunset to sunrise. 3~ PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY Mosquitoes in great numbers were buzzing around our ears, stinging the ankles (a favourite spot), neck, face, and hands. At first we tried to pass the whole thing off as a joke, or at most a temporary annoyance; but first one, then another, European had business in his tent, until all were found safely in bed under their mosquito-curtains. At that time it was generally thought the deadly malaria. was more or less contained in stagnant pools underneath decaying vegetation, or closely connected with tall rank grasses. The mosquito was not suspected by us of being the direct channel through which the poison entered our blood, hence our attention was directed towards avoiding the supposed malarial deposits, and the mosquito evaded simply because it was a persistent nuisance. We have travelled far since then, with the assistance of science, and know it is one of the species of mosquito which injects the malaria-microbe into the blood as it inserts its proboscis through the skin. I lay awake that first night listening to the hoarse croaking of the bull-frog, and to myriads of insects I had never seen, which kept up a perpetual humming sound both inside and outside my tent. "I'he Indian Ocean joined in the lullaby as its waves broke on the sand, whilst I could hear in the distance the never-ceasing hum of our porters' voices which now and then broke forth into rollicking choruses ~ but the refrain was, of course, quite unintelligible to me at that time. Later on, as I became acquainted with the language they spoke, I realised that my ignorance at the coast had not caused me to lose anything of an edifying nature. My own private servants were sitting around an open fire not far away from the tent, one playing a stringed instrument; its soothing and seemingly pathetic appeals were at intervals answered by the player's voice, and, in perfect time and harmony, one after another of his conlpanions joined in the song, each taking a separate part. After a 33 PREPARATIONS }~OR THE JOURNEY slight pause the wailing string issued its final appeal, and the whole of the singers mingled their voices in a chorus which, if it was not of a classical nature, was delightfully soothing to one who had just taken leave of the busy, bustling, civilised world of hUlnanity, and was being hushed to sleep for the first time in the land where

"Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands Inourn."

34 References

Copyright Page

4 The Arab-Ha relationship is given in Norman R. Bennett, " Mwinyi Kheri," in Norman R. Bennett (ed.), Leadership in Eastern Africa. Six Political Biographies (Boston, 1968). Hore to Mullins, September 17, 1878, LMS. Stanley had advised the L.M.S. " to avoid Ujiji altogether as ... it is overrun by wild young scamps of Arab descent, and is also very unhealthy." Norman R. Bennett (ed.), From Zanzibar to Ujiji. The Journal of Arthur W. Dodgshun, 1877-1879, entry of November 29, 1877 (forthcoming). Hore to Mullins, April 16, 1879; Hore to Whitehouse, July 20, 1880; LMS. Hore later added that one L.M.S. man was worth two White Fathers, " and sometimes more." Hore to Thompson, December 23, 1881, ibid. See the review by Roland Oliver in Zaire, 13 (1959), 644. Kirk to Derby, June 27, 1876, FO: 84/1453, PRO. Kirk to FO, March 15, 1877, Q-18, ZA; Hore to Mullins, April 16, 1879, LMS. See Oskar Baumann, Durch Masailand zur Nilquelle (Berlin, 1894), 237, for a notice of the many slaves, especially from Manyema, around Tabora.

10 Mpwapwa served as a particularly good observation point. See, for example, Baxter to Wright, April 18, 1878, C.A6/05, CMS; Baxter to Hutchinson, March 18, 1881, G3.A5/01, ibid.

11 Kirk to FO, August 22, 1879, Q-22, ZA. For the coast plantations, see G. Meinecke, "Pangani," Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 7 (1894), 154-155.

12 Oskar Baumann, Der Sansibar A rchipel. I I. Die I nsel Sansibar und Ihre Kleineren Nachbarinseln (Leipzig, 1897), 21; III. Die Insel Pemba und Ihre Kleineren Nachbarinseln (Leipzig, 1899), II. See also W. H. Ingrams, Zanzibar (London, 1931), 32.

18 Hore to Kirk, February 25, 1880, N-7, ZA.

29

30

23

28

21 22

27

20

18

16

19

17

14 Griffith to Mullens, October 1879; Hore to Mullens, October 20, 1879, LMS. There is no reference to this agreement in Roger Heremans, Les Etablissernents du l'Association Internationale Africaine au Lac Tanganika et les Peres Blancs. Mpala et Karema, 1877-1885 (Tervuren, 1966). Heremans utilized the archives of the White Fathers in Rome.

16 There is a summary account of the Association in East Africa in Heremans, Les Etablissements. Griffith to Thompson, May 6, 1881, LMS. Griffith was speaking specifically of the efforts of Popelin and Roger. A. J. Hanna, The Beginnings of Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia 1859-95 (Oxford, 1956), 20-23, 45; Thompson to Dineen, May 25, 1883, LlVIS. Thompson to Griffith, October 21, 1881, ibid. For the steamer plans, The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society (London, 1876),45-50. There is a brief biographical note on Swann in the LMS annotated copy of James Sibree, A Register of Missionaries, etc. from 1796 to 1923 (London, 1923), 108. See Norman R. Bennett, " Philippe Broyon: Pioneer Trader in East Africa," African Affairs, 62 (1963), 158. Hore to L.M.S., March 4, 1883, LMS; see also Hore to L.M.S., February 25, 1883, ibid. Griffith to L.M.S., March 25, 1883; Hore to L.M.S., May 25, 1883: ibid. "Report by Mr. H. H. Johnston ... on the Nyasa-Tanganika

Expedition: 1889-9.0," FO print 403/127, PRO.

24 Griffith to L.M.S., March 25, 1883, LMS. A British employee of

Leopold had previously suggested L.M.S.-Association co-operation, also to no avail. Carter to Hore, March 29, 1880, ibid.

25 Jones to L.M.S., May 29, 1883, ibid.

26 Hore to L.M.S., June 18, 1883, ibid. The White Fathers formally abandoned Ujiji in 1884. Moncet's journal, January 9, 1884, CTSM (ler Trimestre de 1885), 260.

Swann to Whitehouse, October 30, 1883, LMS.

Joseph Thomson, To the Central African Lakes and Back (Boston, second ed., 1881), II, 16; Boustead, Ridley and Co. to L.M.S., July 19, 1880, LMS. New edition, Cass, 1968.

Roy G. Willis, The Fipa and Related Peoples of SouthWest Tanzania and North-East Zambia (London, 1966), xiii, 39-46.

Hore to L.M.S., September 14, 1883; Griffith to L.M.S., September 14, 1883; Swann to Whitehouse, October 30, 1883: L.M.S. See also

Frederick L. Maitland Moir, "Eastern Route to Central Africa," The Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1 (1885), 110.

31 Hore to L.M.S., April 12, 1880, LMS. For Kabunda and Tippu Tip,

Norman R. Bennett, " Captain Storms in Tanganyika: 1882-1885," TNR, 54 (1960), 55.

32 Roxburgh to L.:,J..S., October 14, 1883, LMS. Victor Giraud, Les TJacs de l'Afrique Equatoriale (Paris, 1890), 432-435, gives a descrip tion of the L.M.S. at work amongst all these difficulties.

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53 Hore to Whitehouse, July 14,1884; Swann to Whitehouse, January 8, 1884, March 21, 1884, October 28, 1884: LMS. The L.M.S. were not alone in their complaints. A U.M.C.A. man said: "The terrible incapacity of the African Lakes Co paralyses all our efforts to get on with our work." Swinny to Penney, September 27, 1886, A.I. VI, UMCA. See Whitehouse to Hore, January 29, 1886, LMS. Hore to L.M.S., April 23, 1884, ibid.; Bennett, " Storms in Tanganyika," 59. Structural defects prevented the Cambier from becoming of great use to the LA.A. Charles Lemaire, "On the Congo: The Belgian Scientific Expedition to Ka-Tanga," The Scottish Geographical Magazine, 17 (1901), 550. There is an illustration of the Cambier in Paul Masson, Marseille et la Colonisation Franyaise (Marseille, 1906), opposite p. 456. Hore's letter noted in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 8 (1886),328-329; The Good News had been launched on March 3, 1885. Swann to Thompson, March 7, 1885, LMS. Hore" to L.M.S., April 23, 1884; Swann to Whitehouse, August 9, 1884: ibid. Jones to L.M.S., December 2, 1884, ibid.; Ledoulx to MAE, July 21, 1884, PZ 6. See below, p. xxvi. Guillet's letter of May 8, 1884, Miss. Af. (1883-1886), 236-238. Bennett, " Mwinyi Kheri." Guillet's undated letter, Miss. Af. (1883-1886), 298-299; Randabel's letter of November 4, 1884, CTSM (ler Trimestre de 1885), 302-303. William Roger Louis, Ruanda-Urundi 1884-1919 (Oxford, 1963),4-8; Jean Stengers, "Quelques observations sur la correspondance de Stanley," Zaire, 9 (1955), 925-926. For Swann's later role see below, p. xxxii. Swann to Thompson, January 1, 1885, LMS. Jones to Thompson, March 17, 1885, ibid. Jones had had a difficult time at Mtowa; see for example Jones to Thompson, February 10, 1885, ibid. Hore to Thompson, March 21, 1885, ibid. Swann to Thompson, June 20, 1885, ibid. Swann was evidently basing his thoughts on the White Fathers' methods. Jones to Thompson, June 20, 1885, ibid. Heremans, Les Etablissements, 57ff; J. Perraudin, "Le Cardinal Lavigerie et Leopold II," Zaire, 12 (1958), 39-52. Hore to Thompson, June 22, 1885, LMS. Hore to Thompson, June 22, 1885, September 7, 1885, March 21, 1885, November 28, 1885: ibid. Kirk to L.M.S., August 31, 1885; Whitehouse to Hore, October 16, 1885: ibid. Josset's undated letter in Miss. Af. (1888-1889), 482-484; J. Cussac, Un Geant de l'Apostolat. Le Cardinal Lavigerie (Paris, n.d.), 133. See also T. L. Houdebine et Marcel Boumier, Le Capitaine Joubert (Namur, n.d.).

72

67

58

54 E. de Mandat-Grancey, Souvenirs de la C6te d'Afrique (Paris, 1892), 125.

55 Hore to L.M.S., July 24, 1886, LMS.

56 Courcel [?J to de Freycinet, July 9, 1886, with enclosure, Allemagne, t. 71, MAE; Mgr. Baunard, Le Cardinal Lavigerie (Paris, 1912), II, 348-351; Miss. Af. (1883-1886), 485. General French policy is discussed in Norman R. Bennett, " Some Notes on French Policy in Buganda and East Africa, 1879-1890," Makerere Journal, 6 (1962), 1-17.

57 Note pour l'Ambassadeur d'Allemagne a Paris, July 23, 1886, Allemagne, t. 71; de Freycinet to Herbette, January 3, 1887, Allemagne, t. 73; Note pour l'Ambassadeur d'Allemagne a Paris, February 1, 1887, Allemagne, t. 75; de Freycinet to Waddington, March 18, 1887, .L'....ngleterre, t. 822; Waddington to de Freycinet, August 4, 1887, Angleterre, t. 824: MAE. Playfair to Lister, September 3, 1886, E-95, ZA; Kirk's note, September 8, 1886, F.O. 84/1775, PRO.

69 Swann to Thompson, January 25, 1886, LMS.

60 Swann to Thompson, January 25, 1887, ibid.; Sibree, Register, 108.

61 Charbonnier's letter of August 16, 1886, Les Missions Catholiques, 19 (1887), 110-111.

62 J. M. M. Van den Burgt, Un Grand Peuple de l'Afrique Equatoriale (Bois-Le-Duc, 1903), 65; Josset's letter of November 1, 1886, Les Missions Catholiques, 19 (1887), 327-328; Kibanga journal, December 18, 1886, January 18, 1887, CTSM (3 me Trimestre de 1887), 612, 618.

63 Hawes to F.O., July 11, 1887, FO 84/1829, PRO.

64 Charbonnier to Deguerry, February 8, 1887; Josset's letter of December 19, 1887: Miss. Af. (1887), 77, 149.

65 Joubert's report in MA, 1 (1888), 57-59.

66 Franc;ois Coulbois, Dix Annees au Tanganyka (Limoges, 1901), 173-176; Moinet's journal, December 3-5, 1887, Miss. Af. (18881889), 300-305. See P. T. Terry, "The Arab War on Lake Nyasa 1887-1895," The Nyasaland Journal (now The Society of Malawi Journal), 18, 1 (1965), 55-77; 18, 2 (1965), 13-52.

68 Hore to L.M.S., February 11, 1888, LMS.

69 Hore to L.M.S., September 20, 1887; Thompson to Carson, May 18, 1888: ibid. Life on Kavala station is discussed in Oskar Lenz, Wanderungen in Africa (Wien, 1895), 73 ff; Annie B. Hore, To Lake Tanganyika in a Bath Chair (London, 1889), 174 ff.

70 The Swanns' son died on the trip; two more of their children would die before the Swanns retired from service on the lake.

71 Swann did not mention this danger in the letter reporting his arrival in Ujiji. Swann to Thompson, October 18, 1888, LMS. Swann to Thompson, October 14, 1888, December 13, 1888, January 30, 1889: ibid.

73 Miss. Af. (1888-1889), 15, 277-278. Coulbois, Dix Annees, 105-107, claimed the hostilities at Kibanga, mentioned above, caused Lavigerie's decision. Leo XIII gave 300,000 francs in October to help aid Lavigerie. BSAF (1888-1889), 3-7.

87

78

79

77

81

74 The speeches are in Le Cardinal Lavigerie, Documents sur la Fondation de l'Oeuvre Antiesclavagiste (St. Cloud, 1889), 45 ff. The Cardinal also stimulated German Catholic groups by letter. See Audisio to Goblet, October 31, 1888, Allemagne, Depeches politiques des consuls, Breme etc., t. 13, MAE.

75 Marius Ary Leblond, Lavigerie et les Peres Blancs (Tours, 1939), 97; Vibian to Salisbury, August 16, 1888, August 25, 1888, F.O. 123/244, PRO.

76 Waddington to Goblet, July 31, 1888, Angleterre, t. 832, MAE. To avoid diplomatic complications Waddington eschewed any official role in these dealings. Waddington himself feared that the scheme, although excellent in motive, might cause international difficulties. His pessimistic views were shared by France's representative in Zanzibar-Lacau to MAE, September 8, 1888, CCZ 6. Waddington to Goblet, August 7, 1888, Angleterre, t. 833, MAE. Sturge's letter to The Times, in Jusserand to Goblet, September 20, 1888, ibid. Waddington to Goblet, November 28, 1888, Angleterre, t. 835, MAE; Cameron's speech of November 9, 1888, Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society, 4 (1888), 302-306. It is of interest that Hore in 1880 spoke of creating " an almost impossible barrier " from Cairo to Quelimane, using steamers etc. Hore to Kirk, February 25, 1880, N-7, ZA.

80 Cameron to Kirk, August 24, 1888; Kirk to Hill, August 27, 1888; memoranda of Ferguson, August 27, 1888; Lister, August 29, 1888; Salisbury, September 1, 1888; Salisbury to Vivian, September 17, 1888: Correspondence . .. Relative to the Slave Trade (Printed for the use of the FO, 1888), ZA. Henry M. Stanley, In Darkest Africa (New York, 1890), I, 230-231. See also Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society, 4 (1888), 320; Central Africa, 4 (1888), 121. Cameron did receive some support; see Horace Waller, " The Two Ends of the Slave Stick," The Contemporary Review, 55 (1889), 533-537.

82 Jean Bruhat, " Leopold II," in Ch. A. Julien et al., eds., Les Politiques d'Expansion Imperialiste (Paris, 1947), 97. See Gosselin to Salisbury, December 15, 1888, F.O. 123/244, PRO, for the financial response to the Cardinal's speech.

83 Auguste Roeykens, "Le Baron Leon de Bethune et la politique religieuse de Leopold II en Afrique," Zaire, 10 (1956), 227 ff.

8~ MA, 1 (1888), 29; Louis Delmer, "La Belgique et l'Oeuvre Antiesclavagiste," ibid., 41-56. P. Ceulemans, La question arabe et le Congo (1883-1892) (Bruxelles, 1959), 290-299. Euan Smith to FO, March 18, 1889, March 20, 1889, E-II0, ZA. See above, p. xiv. See especially Roland Oliver, " Some Factors in the British Occupation of East Africa, 1884-1894," The Uganda Journal, 15 (1951), 5254. Information from L.M.S. men, including Swann, is used to support this thesis. See also the cogent criticisms of Oliver's hypothesis, as

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97 presented in his Missionary Factor, in H. B. Thomas' review, ibid., 17 (1953), 96. For Tabora, Norman R. Bennett, "Isike of the Nyamwezi," unpublished paper; for the Congo, Maisha ya Hamed bin Muhammed el Murjebi yaani Tippu Tip (Supplement of the East African Swahili Committee Journals Nos. 28/2, 29/1), especially p. 101, where Tippu declared, "All authority was mine ... I was really the Paramount Chief "; for Lake Tanganyika, Bennett, " Mwinyi Kheri." Euan Smith to Salisbury, July 2, 1888, F.O. 84/1908, PRO. Even Barghash had lost much prestige by his treaties with Europeans. See Hermann von Wissmann (trans. Minna J. A. Bergmann), My Second Journey through Equatorial Africa (London, 1891), 250.

90 Mrs. James S. J arneson, The Story of the Rear Column of the Emin Pasha Expedition by the Late James S. Jameson (N.Y., n.d.), 284; Maisha ya Tippu Tip, 155. Carson to Thompson, January 7, 1889; Swann to Thompson, January 30, 1889: LMS. Joubert's letter of January 23, 1889, BSAF (1888-1889), 639-640; " Adrien Atiman. By Himself," trans. and arranged by L. B. Lane, TNR, 21 (1946), 58. See also Kibanga journal, January 8, 1889, CTSM (4 me Trimestre de 1889), 162, for Rumaliza's similar claim to have saved Kibanga from attack. Swann to Thompson, January 30, 1889, LMS. Swann to Thompson, August 14, 1889, ibid. Rumaliza also had some personal charm. In Hore, Tanganyika, 87, he was described as "an educated and liberal-minded man, free from many of the prejudices of the half-castes and others who have not 'seen the world.' " Swann to Thompson, August 14, 1889, LMS. Euan Smith to FO, March 4, 1889, E-II0, ZA. Carson to Thompson, August 15, 1889; Carson to Thompson, September 9, 1889: LMS. Carson to Euan Smith, September 10, 1889, in Euan Smith to Salisbury, February 2, 1890, unmarked volume, ZA. H. H. Johnston, " British South-Central Africa," The New Review, 3 (1890), 111-112. The former Liendwe raider, Kabunda, who had returned to live peacefully in the area, also gave no trouble. Carson to Thompson, June 27, 1889, LMS; "Report by H. H. Johnston," FO print, 403/127. Coulbois to Lacau, November 12, 1888, in Lacau to MAE, April 15, 1889, CCZ 6; Bridoux' letter of June 9, 1889, BSAF (1890), 77-82. Moinet to Deguerry, March 20, 1889; Joubert to his brother, January 23, 1889; Joubert to Lavigerie, June 8, 1889: ibid., 90, 640. Ibid. (1888-1889), 227-228, 554-555; Perraudin, "Lavigerie et Leopold," 282. Thompson to Swann, June 25, 1889; Thompson to Wright, February 25, 1889: LMS. Thompson to Swann, February 21, 1890, June 20, 1890, LMS. Thompson said: " We must not give the impression to the world that our Mission has shrunk into the southern corner of the lake."

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117 Swann to Thompson, August 1, 1890, ibid. There is no reference to this cession in Swann's letters, although Swann had noted that Africans were flocking to the L.M.S. stations for protection, where they would be defended if necessary. Swann to Thompson, February 25, 1890, June 19, 1890, ibid. Johnston's relationship with Swann is discussed in Roland Oliver, Sir Harry Johnston and the Scramble for Africa (New York, 1958), 166-172; Ake Holmberg, African Tribes and European Agencies. Oolonialism and Humanitarianism in British South and East Africa 1870-1895 (Goteborg, 1966), 269-273. See also Harry Johnston, British Oentral Africa (London, 1897), 95-97, where Swann is described as " heart and soul" for Johnston's plans. Swann to Thompson, June 20, 1890, August 2, 1890, LMS. Swann to Thompson, August 2, 1890, ibid.; Swann to Euan Smith, August 10, 1890, in Euan Smith to Salisbury, December 31, 1890, F.O. 84/2066, PRO-this despatch also includes the statement of Ali Kiongwe, December 29, 1890; Umar bin Taba to Johnston, 18 EI Haj 1307, in Euan Smith to Johnston, December 27, 1890, B-9, ZA. The treaties signed are given in Johnston to Salisbury, December 5, 1890, F.O. 84/2052, PRO. Another account of the trip to Ujiji is given in Fred. L. M. Moir, After Livingstone (London, n.d.), 152 ff. Salisbury to Jonston, January 31, 1890, F.O. 84/2050, PRO; Louis, Ruanda-Urundi, 13-14, 18-29; Hanna, Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia, 164-166; Johnston to Euan Smith (telegram), March 7, 1890, E-126, ZA. Thompson to Swann, May 30, 1891, October 24, 1891, LMS. Swann to Thompson, May 30, 1891, ibid. Euan Smith to Mackinnon, December 30, 1889, Box 4, MP; Euan Smith to F.O., December 26, 1889, E-113, ZA; Mathews to Smith, December 23, 1889, E-118, ibid. Euan Smith to Salisbury, January 28, 1890, unmarked volume; Baring to Euan Smith, April 3, 1890, April 4, 1890; Euan Smith to Baring, April 3, 1890: E-125: ZA. Swann to Euan Smith, August 10, 1890, in Euan Smith to Salisbury, December 31, 1890, F.O. 84/2066, PRO; Swann to Euan Smith, August 6, 1890, B-I0, ZA. Swann to Thompson, January 30, 1889, LMS. Swann's feeling extended to other explorers besides Stanley, especially since they received much publicity, while missionaries did not. He said: " An unscrupulous explorer riding roughshod through this continent exacting the biggest tragedy of the century [Stanley]. Another who scales a mountain and raises a bit of bunting on its summit with a shout [Hans Meyer] or a woman who has more folly than sense tramping a few miles into this country [Mary French-Sheldon] get the immediate attention of the masses." Swann to Thompson, July 10, 1891, ibid. Swann to Thompson, January 1892, ibid. Anderson's note on Euan Smith to Salisbury, December 31, 1890, F.O. 84/2058, PRO; Johnston to Euan Smith, February 17, 1890,

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130 E-126, ZA; Currie to Euan Smith, March 4, 1890, F.O. 84/2058, PRO; Euan Smith to Salisbury, April 3, 1890, enclosing Euan Smith to Tippu Tip, April 3, 1890, unmarked volume, ZA; Portal to Salisbury, October 9, 1891, F.O. 84/2149, PRO; Kirk to Mackinnon, September 9, 1891, Box 25, MP; Swann to Thompson, January 1892, LMS. Stanley opposed the first Johnston effort to drop the case. Baring to Euan Smith, February 17, 1890, Euan Smith to Baring, February 17, 1890, February 18, 1890, E-126, ZA. See also J. M. Gray, " Stanley versus Tippo Tib," TNR, 18 (1944),11-27. Tippu Tip to Euan Smith, September 22, 1890, B-I0, ZA; Smith to Salisbury, July 20, 1891, F.O. 84/2148, PRO. Euan Smith to Salisbury, March 4, 1890, with enclosure, April 4, 1890, unmarked volume; Lister to Euan Smith, April 1, 1890, E-123: ZA. Franz Stuhlmann, Mit Emin Pasha ins Herz von Afrika (Berlin, 1894), 71; Emin's letter of February 1, 1891, Mittheilungen aus JustU8 Perthes' Geographischer Anstalt ... von Dr. A. Petermann, 37 (1891), 160; Wilhelm Langheld, Zwanzig Jahre in deutschen Kolonien (Berlin, 1909), 55. Sharpe to Johnston, September 8, 1890, in Johnston to Salisbury, May 6, 1891, F.O. 84/2114, PRO. Bridoux' letter of September 6, 1890, Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, 62 (1890), 277-278; Coulbois, Dix Annees, 177-181. Bridoux to Lavigerie, July 6, 1890, BSAF (1890), 362; Joubert to de Charette, June 27, 1890, MA, 3 (1890-1891), 20-23; Guilleme's undated letter, Miss. Af. (1891-1892), 18-23. Joubert to Lavigerie, October 8, 1890, ibid. (1891-1892), 84-87. The rumours of British financial support for Rumaliza may have stemmed from efforts to compensate the Arab leader for aiding the Swann treaty venture. See Euan Smith to Johnston, January 29, 1891, Johnston to Euan Smith, January 29, 1891, E-137, ZA. Johnston said, " please make much of him." Hanna, Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia, 48-49. See also Robert I. Rotberg, Christian Missionaries and the Creation of Northern Rhodesia 1880-1924 (Princeton, 1965), 32-33, for another example of L.M.S. violence. Swann to Thompson, July 10, 1891, with addenda of August 31, 1891, LMS. The anti-Catholic views of Swann were typical; another L.M.S. missionary said the new White Fathers would do all possible to injure the L.M.S. since such acts were" the principal article of their creed." Jones to Thompson, September 16, 1891, ibid. Moinet's letter of January 1891, Miss. Af. (1891-1892), 175; Kibanga journal, January 17, 1891, ibid., 292. A British flag, brought by Swann, continued to fly at one of the northern lake ports where Swann had concluded a treaty for Johnston. Kibanga journal, January 31, 1891, ibid., 293. Joubert's letters of May 3 1891, May 10, 1891, June 2, 1891, June 3, 1891, MA, 4 (1891-1892), 68-72. For these developments, Ceulemans, La question arabe, 290-299. For

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145 Jacques, Jozef K. M. Verhoeven, Congoheld Jacques de Dixmude (Bruxelles, 1930). The Jacques' caravan did not suffer" practical annihilation" as is asserted in R. W. Beachey, " The Arms Trade in East Africa in the Late Nineteenth Century," The Journal of African History, 3 (1962), 459. Jacques' letter of October 17, 1891, MA, 4 (1891-1892), 83; Randabel to Storms, September 22, 1891, in "De Zanzibar au Katanga, Journal du Capitaine Stairs (1890-1891)," Le Congo Illustree, 2 (1893), 142; Van Oost's undated letter, Miss. Af. (1891-1892), 387. Stairs' letter of October 28, 1891, Le Mouvement Geographique, 9 (1892), 16; "Journal du Stairs," 26, 134-135. In a later speech Jacques stressed Swann's failure to send his steamer. See the summary in Bulletin de la Societe Royale Belge de Geographie, CompteRendu des Actes de la Societe, 19 (1895), 46-50 (seances of March 28 and April 6, 1895). Prouvot's letter of October 15, 1891, Gott will es!, 4 (1892), 204-211; Joseph A. Moloney, With Captain Stairs to Katanga (London, 1893), 132; Jacques' letter of February 16, 1892, MA, 4 (1891-1892), 111XVIII, 233. See also Jacques to Delcommune, undated, in Alex. Delcommune, Vingt annees de Vie africaine. Recits de Voyages, d'Aventures et d'Exploration au Congo Belge 1874-1893 (Bruxelles, 1922), II, 484-494, where Jacques describes his Lake Tanganyika activities. Ottavi to Ribot, August 1, 1891, PZ 14; Perraudin, "Lavigerie et Leopold," 403; Mgr. Roelens, "Les Peres-Blancs au Congo," in Louis Franck, Le Congo Belge (Bruxelles, n.d.), II, 198-201. Ceulemans, La question arabe, 222, 332; Rodd to Rosebery, January 31, 1893, March 5, 1893, F.O. 107/2, PRO; Delcommune, Vingt annees, II, 485, 487. Jacques' letter of April 21, 1891, MA, 4 (1891-1892), XXIV-XXVII; Jacques' letter of August 10, 1892, ibid., 5 (1892-1893), 42-44. Rumaliza gave his view in Rumaliza to Tippu Tip, March 24, 1892, in Portal to Salisbury, May 4, 1892, F.O. 84/2231, PRO. Jacques' letter of April 21, 1892, MA, 4 (1891-1892), XXVII-XXX; A. M. de Saint-Berthuin, Alexis Vrithoff (Lille, 1893), 151 ff. The death of a Belgian spread wide and exaggerated rumours as far as Kasongo. See Lippens and DeBruyne's letter of October 6, 1892, Dhanis Papers, MRAC. Swann to Thompson, February 10, 1892, LMS. Swann to Thompson, November 4, 1892, ibid.; Delcommune, Vingt annees, II, 489-490. Carson to Thompson, December 13, 1892, LMS. Jacques' letter of September 8, 1892, MA, 5 (1892-1893), 52-54; Delcommune, Vingt annees, II, 465-476. Jacques' telegram of November 23, 1892, MA, 4 (1891-1892), 350. Swann's report of his visit to Ujiji, September 1892, LMS; Sharpe to Johnston, December 17, 1892, F.O. 2/54, PRO. See MA, 4 (1891-1892), 117 ff, for the various new expeditions.

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157 Swann to Thompson, April 11, 1893, LMS. See Muhammad bin Khalfan to Holmwood, February 21, 1893, B-24, ZA. The recent description of Wissmann on this expedition as "a distinguished but neurotic explorer" is comprehensible only in the light of the author's ignorance of German sources. See Hanna, Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia, 216. Compare Oskar Karstedt, Hermann v. Wissmann (Berlin, c. 1933), especially p. 215. Swann to Thompson, May 17,1893, June 21,1893, LMS. The course of Wissmann's expedition is given in Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 4 (1893), 148-151, and passim; 5 (1894), 109-111. Swann to Thompson, May 17, 1893, June 21, 1893, LMS; Sharpe to Rosebery, May 16, 1893, F.O. 2/56, PRO. The British were united in their distrust of the Belgians, Johnston claiming their aim was "the seizing of all the valuable points of the Territory which by Treaties with the native chiefs belongs to Great Britain." Johnston to Rosebery, September 25, 1893, F.O. 2/55, ibid. Swann also gave advice to the French explorer, Decle, who supported the British missionaries' views once he had visited Rumaliza. Lionel Decle, Three Years in Savage Africa (London, 1898), 287 ff. Thompson to Swann, March 10, 1893; Carson to Thompson, August 13, 1893, LMS. Swann to Thompson, August 23, 1893, ibid. See also The Gazette for Zanzibar and East Africa, September 13, 1893, November 29, 1893. Jacques to the Congo Independent State Resident at Kasongo, January 17, 1893, Dhanis Papers, MRAC; Jacques' letters of January 5, 1893, February 10, 1893, March 25, 1893, MA, 5 (1892-1893), 314326, 347-350, 410-418, and other despatches in this journal by Belgian officers; Lieutenant Henri, De K iroundou au Tanganika (Bruxelles, 1896). For the end of Rumaliza's career, G. F. Scott Elliot, A Naturalist in Mid-Africa (London, 1896), 285 ff; E. D. Moore, Ivory Scourge of Africa (New York, 1931), 142; German Consul to Sultan of Zanzibar, October 5, 1899, F -2, ZA; Richard Kandt, Caput Nili (Berlin, 1914), I, 29; Heinrich Brode, Tippoo Tib (London, 1907), 249-250. A. Leue, Dar-es-Salaam (Berlin, 1903), 265 ff; Fr. Waechter, "Die Tanganyika-Dampferexpedition 1898-1901," Beitriige zur Kolonialpolitik und Kolonialwirtschaft, 4 (1902-1903), 456-462, 467-473; Hauptmann Ramsay, "Uber seine Expedition nach Ruanda und dem Rikwa-See, Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde zu Berlin, 25 (1898), 303-323. Swann to Thompson, February 10, 1892, May 17, 1893, LMS. The Second Decennial Report of the C. African Mission, 1890-1900, p. 37, LMS. For some account of Swann's Nyasaland work, see E. H. Lane Poole, " Mpeseni and the Exploration Companies, 1885-1898," The Northern Rhodesian Journal, 5 (1962-1964), 223; Jailos Chingota, " An Autobiography," The Nyasaland Journal, 14, 2 (1961), 20; W. A. Elmslie, Among the Wild Ngoni (Edinburgh and London, 1899), 291-294;

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161 Robert Laws, Reminiscences of Livingstonia (London, 1934), 152, 156; Johnston, British Central Africa, 144; Oliver, Johnston, 268. Times Literary Supplement, March 31, 1910; Rotberg, Christian Missionaries, 191. See The Colonial Office List (1907), 606, for a summary account of Swann's official career. Rutley to L.M.S., February 11, 1881, LMS. See especially, " On the Twelve Tribes of Tanganyika," The Journal of the A nthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, XII, (1882), 2-21. La Vie en Afrique (Bruxelles, 1887), 2 v.

H. H. JOHNSTON'S INTRODUCTION

T HE Africa about which Mr. Swann writes-as I think, with such absorbing interest-has already passed into history, the history which is least read because it is that of yesterday.

'l-'he conditions of East Africa twenty-five to twenty years ago are so extraordinarily different to the appearance and conditions of life in that region at the present day, that it might almost be thought Mr. Swann was writing not of experiences within the limit of the life of a man of middle age, but of some remoter period coeval with Livingstone and

Cameron. Indeed, the East Africa first seen by Mr. Swann

(and by the writer of this preface) was not a whit changed from the East Africa through which Burton, Speke, Grant, and Thomson struggled to find great lakes, vaguely rumoured rivers, and in their quest first beheld many a strange beast and extraordinary human tribe new to science. We have too easily and readily forgotten the East Africa known to Livingstone, and the Arab slave-trade has become a vague legend, possibly disbelieved in to a great extent by the somewhat cynical white men who now swarm over Tropical

Africa and say to us weary ones of those pioneer days: "I can't see what you beggars made such a fuss about. The

Arabs seem to me a devilish good lot of people, quite easy to get on with; and if they did come down rather hard on lxii the nigger for not working, why, it was all for the nigger's good. And I don't call it half a bad kind of country splendid shooting-why, I got such and such a bag in so many days with my (quoting the latest invention in rifles and soft-nosed or explosive bullets). Talk of dying of thirst in such and such a desert! What rot! Why, there's an artesian well at the principal rest-house, and you can get awfully good iced drinks and perfect lager beer at all the stores in Unyamwezi. Besides, how can you be much bothered by this particular piece of route when you can bicycle sixty luiles in a day ill the dry season, to say nothing of motoring.

'\Thy you should ever have been ill, I can't think. . . .

Absolute pleasure trip to me." And so forth, and so on.

Perhaps Mr. Swann's book (which I &incerely hope may be widely read) may enable people who care to follow closely the history of African development to realise in the first place what the Arab slave-trade was like, and why it so concerned the minds of Livingstone, of the early missionaries, of several consuls, and of trading associations like the African Lakes

Company, which could not wholly divest themselves of human feelings.

Mr. Swann's book will also give you the ronlance of East

Africa before it became tourist-trodden and vulgarised. This quality is irrecoverable. Just as the once beautiful English scenery is passing away under our eyes in favour of corrugated iron, paper-strewn roads and lanes, red-brick villas, pollarded beeches, incongruous rhododendron shrubberies, excellent but ugly factories, flashy hotels in lieu of old-world inns, and asphalt esplanades in place of a pleistocene shingle, so the

Africa of Mr. Swann's days, with its unlimited and even dangerous wild beasts, its Inen and women just emerging from the Age of Stone, the Nyika innocent of eucalyptus groves, dense forests scarcely altered since the Miocene, Man at his 1xiii most barbarous and most heroic (this last applies to the white pioneers) has disappeared in favour of railways, motors, telegraphs, negroes that are drilled in European fashion, prosperous mission-schools and technical institutes, the bang, bang, bang of the slaughtering British sportsma.n, the lisping accents of the lady traveller who is trying to write a book about Africa in a four months' tour (lapped in luxury as she passes from one hospitable station to another), the Africa of the cinematograph and the gramophone records, of fashion able diplomacy, highly trained a.dministrators, royal guests, and banished malaria. Of course, the real truth is that Africa is becoming more interesting than ever, the problems more cOlnplex, the history of its past-its distant past-better and better known, the condition of its native inhabitants far, far and away happier than in the times of which Mr. Swann writes. His own part in bringing about that bappiness has been considerable. He took an even larger share than he relates

(of his modesty) in curbing the Arab slave-trade round about the shores of Tanganyika. He believed-and I think with justification-that a British Protectorate over many of these regions would be of vast benefit to the indigenous people.

Therefore, when I met him on the south shore of Lake

Tanganyika in 1889, and told him that I was prevented by serious complications in Nyasaland from pursuing my original plan of carrying the British flag (allied ,vith the necessary treaties) right through from the north end of Tanganyika to Uganda (so as to complete the Cape-to-Cairo route), Mr.

Swa.nn agreed, when furnished with the necessary authority, to complete this section. With the assistance of my Swahali head-man, Ali Kiongwe (who is now living on a small

Government pension at Zanzibar), he completed the scope of

British trea.ties at the north end of r:ranganyika, which, had they been all ratified by the British Government, would have given to the British Empire (without robbing anybody else) a continuous all-British route from Cape Colony to Egypt, on the assumption, of course, that the waters of Tanganyika were free to all nations. H. H. JOHNSTON. AUTHOR'S PREFACE~

T HE following pages contain my recollections of twentysix years spent in Africa. They have been written at the repeated request of colleagues of various nationalities, with whonl, in the years 1889l-1909, I travelled and laboured in Central Africa, co-operating with them in the work of undermining, and finally destroying, the Slave-Trade around the great lakes. 'I'he thrilling stories of explorers and nlissionaries had appealed to my natural love of travel and adventure, and fired me with a.n ambition to follow such men as Livingstone,

Stanley, Burton, Sch,veinfurth, and others, and to help in healing what Livingstone called "Africa's open sore."

When I went out in 1889l the great partition of Africa had not taken place, and the hideous trade was at its worst.

Caravans from the interior brought thousands of slaves to the East Coast, and left thousands dead upon the road. Lakes Nyasa, Tanganyika, and Victoria Nyanza were in the hands of Arab and native slave-traders, and beyond a patrol admittedly unsatisfactory-of portions of the East Coast, nothing much was being done to crush the accursed traffic which was eating out the heart of Africa. For twenty-six: years I was able to take part in the determined efforts for its suppression which were then made, and to fill a place in the ranks, of those African pioneers whose deeds had kindled my ambition. I earnestly hope that my experiences may bring encouragement to some whom a love of justice and liberty is spurring on to fresh exertions on behalf of those tribes in Africa which have not yet been delivered from the curse of slavery.

So many years of labour and anxiety have naturally been diversified by many adventures, both of travel and sport, the narratives of which may not, I hope, be found unin teresting. At the close of llIy career in Africa, I should wish to place on record nly great admiration for other pioneers, American,

German, French, Belgian, and Portuguese, whom I met, and with whom I worked, and who vied with my own countrymen in a healthy, courteous, and vigorous cOlnpetition to advance civilisation in their respective Spheres of Influence. All the photographs here reproduced are copyright, and my grateful acknowledgments are due to the owners for their permission to use them. In preparing these pages for the press, I have been most ably assisted by Miss Bennett of

Tarring, Worthing, without whose co..operation the task would not have been undertaken, and to whom sincere thanks are rendered. A. J. S.

WORTHING, SUSSEX, January 1910.