T H E F A L L T H E C O N G O A R A B S S ID NEY LANG F ORD H I ND E ’ CHEV ALIER DE L O R DR E ROYAL D U LION M B HONO AI A SOCIETE B EO A HI EM RE R RE DE L ELGE DE G GR P E M ICA O IC O TH INT IO B ITISH AST A ICA ED L FF ER F E ER R, R E FR AT CA TAIN CONGO STAT O C S L E P . FREE E F R E M E T H U E N c o . 6 E X S T R E E T c . 3 E S S , w. L O N D O N 1 8 9 7 C O N T E N T S I NTRODUCTI O N CHAPTER I I ntroductory CHAPTE R I I fl — Arrival at Banana Description of a Caravan Journey from — the Coast I nland Ski rmish with Natives of Interior CHAPTER III — Bangala Cannibals Voyage up the Kasai and San uru — — k Rivers Arrival at Lu sambo Defeat by Commandant ’ hanis of Ti u i s S ave- raidin ent on o D pp T b l g Ag , G g — Lutete Basongo Cannibals CHAPTE R IV Proposals of Peace and Alliance With the State Forces from C on o Lutete - i sit to on o Lutete at his a ita g V G g c p l , ’ — N Gandu The Little People of the Forest vi CONTENTS CHAPTER V PAGE Ara s and a ies hi se Gongo Lutete finally leaves the b ll m lf — i a at a inda a ita of with the State Forces Arr v l b , c p l K — u un u reat Chie of the Ba u a Move ents of L p g , G f l b m ’ — ded Ti u i s son Se u re ara the Enemy hea by pp T b , f P p tions for an Encounter CHAPTER VI — First E ncounter with the Arabs Capture of two of their Forts CHAPTER V II — Skirmishes with the Enemy Return of Sefu to the Attack 1 26 CHAPTER V III — More Arab Defeats The Commandant d ecides to take the ’ initiative and to lead an Attack upon Sefu s Forces CHAPTER IX The tate For es a o osite the town of an we on S c c mp pp Ny g , — the other side of the River Lualaba Description of the - — Water people Surprise Encounter with two columns of advancing Arabs CHAPTER X Account of the Fall of Nyangwe CHAPTER XI rri f — A val o Ambassadors from Sefu with offers of Peace The Co andant — mm postpones his March on Kasongo Rein or e en of he — f c m t t State Forces March on Kasongo : its CONTENTS vii — PAGE Fall Des cription of the Luxuries found in the Town — Reli cs of E min Pasha Insubordination in the conquered town of Nyangwe CHAPTER XII — The State Forces settle down at Kasongo Superstitions of the Natives their Habits and Mod e of Livi ng CHAPTER XII I Our a Gon o Lutete a used of Trea her and ex e uted lly, g , cc c y c ’ — at N Gandu Arrival at Kasongo of five Offi cers from — — Eu rope Continued E ncounters With the Enemy The A ra s de a ro the town of tanle Fa s eavin b c m f m S y ll , l p — g it at the mercy of the State Troops The State Forces are oined Ca tain Lothaire ro Ban a a and o ow j by p f m g l , f ll the ra s u the River—A ter severe Fi htin the River A b p f g g , cleared of Arabs and th eir Hordes as far as Nyangwe — Reverses of the State Forces Attack by Commandant ’ ’ hani s on Rumaliza s Fort ei ht hours ar h ro D , g m c f m K asongo CHAPTER XIV Transferen ce of the State For ces from K asongo to Bena — Musua The Commandant divides hi s Forces in order — to cut off th e Arab Communi cation E xtra Forces stationed at Bena uia on the ain road to a a G , m K b m ari at Bena a un a and at Bena Musua—Rein or e b , K l g , f c — ment of the Enemy The State Troops form a semicircle round the Arab Forts and cut off th eir Food Supply Ar rival of Captain Lothaire with contingent of Soldiers — — from Bangala E xplosion in the Arab Camp Capitula — — tion of th e Enemy The Taki ng of Kabambari Arab Chi efs made Prisoners by Lothaire CONTENTS CHAPTER XV PAGE Description of E xpedi tion to explore the Upper Waters of the Lualaba River CHAPTER XV I The Return Journey to the Coast Note on Cannibalism ’ Note on Gongo Lutete s B od yguard Note on E xploration of section of Lualaba River by Captain Hinde l Vmce nt Br ooks DA 81. So n th , y I I NTR OD UCTI ON THE year 1 892 marks the crisis of a struggle in Central Africa between the conflicting forces of the t . re re Eas and the West Between these forces , p sented on the one hand by the Arabs fr om Zan zibar , and on the other by the Europeans from o the mouth of the Congo , a collision had l ng been pending ; and since each was bent upon supre W macy ithin the same area , it was evident that the extinction of one power or the other could alone solve the problem . A body of Arab traders , hunters of slaves and ivory , had long striven to gather to Zanzibar the entire trade of Central Africa ; while the Belgians of the Congo Free State , later in the field , sought to divert the commerce of the Interior to the Congo mouth , and thence , ultimately , to Europe . 2 THE FALL OF THE CONGO ARABS During the present century , many circumstances have combined t o make the Zanzibar Arabs the most noted slave -hunters and slave- dealers in the Of world . their earlier history little is definitely n know , beyond the fact that already in the tenth century there were Arab settlements along the East Coast of Africa . Aft er the discovery of the Cape Road to the Indies, most of these settlements were conquered re by the Portuguese , and were then gradually conquered in the eighteenth and beginning of the of nineteenth centuries by the Imams Muscat . Of this second Arab dominion the most im portant centres were the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba ; and from these islands , as the result of the mingling of Arab and negro blood , a race of black Yet Arabs has sprung. , despite their long occupa tion of the Zanzibar coast and neighbouring dis tricts r , it is only within recent times that the A abs have advanced into the Interior. Some two generations ago the island of Pemba - developed into a great clove plantation , worked by slaves in the manner of the cotton and sugar I NTRODUCT ION 3 of A plantations America . little later , certain of merchants Zanzibar, becoming involved with t o to their creditors , migrated Central Africa f prospect or ivory . Owing to the destruction of their beasts of burden by the tsetse fly , they found it necessary t o employ the natives as porters and thus it arose that blacks were shipped to the - b - of Zanzibar slave market , as a y product the v - i ory trade , at the very time when there was a strong demand for their labour in the clove - planta tions of Pemba . The supply of slaves ultimately became such as to permit of a large export across the seas to the Mohammedan countries of Asia . o to Many of the iv ry and slave hunters , failing o make their f rtunes , or drawn by the spell of a o nomadic life , remained in the Interi r ; and hence there grew up a system o f Arab trade - ro utes and - o o - trade centres, c ntr lled by certain well known o and Arab chiefs . It was along these r utes , with o o the aid , or at times the bstructi n , of the Arabs , o o L o that the Eur pean expl rers of the ake c untry , o the and of the sources of the C ngo and Nile , - travelled , Thus the great trunk route from Baga 4 THE FALL OF TH E CONGO ARABS Un an moyo (opposite to Zanzibar), by Tabora in y yembe , to Ujiji on Tanganyika , was followed L successively by Burton and Speke , ivingstone n and Sta ley , Cameron , and , in part, by Speke . r and Grant An extension of this route f om Ujiji , across Tanganyika , led through the Manyema o Kabambari n c untry , by and Kasongo , to Nya gwe on the Lualaba River. i l So far, European d scovery had fol owed in the track of the Arabs from Zanzibar as a basis . But the serious occupation of Central Africa by the ’ Europeans began with Stanley s expedition under n the International Associatio , from the mouth of the Congo up the river ; and from that moment was a conflict, however postponed , certain . Nor was it less certain in what region , and along what strategical lines , the struggle would take place .