{UAH} History - How they planned with missionaries. Invasion of Afrika

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TRAVELS,
KESEARCHES, AND MISSIONARY LABOURS



IN EASTERN AFRICA.



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TRAVELS,



KESBAKCHES, AND MISSIONARY LABOURS,

SUBIHO AK

EiOHTEEN TEABS' BESIDENOE IN EASTEBN AFRICA.

TJOBTHBB WITH

JOUBNEYS TO JAGGA, USAMBABA, UEAMBANI, SHOA, ABESSINIA,
AND EHABTUM j AND A COASTINa VOYAGE FBOM
MOJklBAZ TO CAPE DEL0ADO.

BY THE REV. DR J. LEWIS KRAPF,

SBCKBTABT OF THB CU8HOKA iHBTRUTB AT BA8XL, AVD LATS MUSIOITABT IH THB BBBTXCB OB
TUB CHITBCH 1II88XOVABY 80CXXTT DT ^ABiMEM AVO XQVAtOBIAI. AVBICA, BTO. BIO.



Mit\ n ^i^pnVn



BKSPHCnNa THE SNOW-GAPPED MOUNTAINS OF EASTEBN APBICA) THE 80UBCB8
OP THB NILE; THE LANQUAGES AND UTBaATlTBE OP ABE88INIA

AND EASTEBN APBIGA, ETO. ETC.

k OONCUB ACCOUVT Of OEOOBAPHICAL BESC ARCHES IN EA8TCSN AYBICA UP TO TIIK
DI8COTBBT OF THE UTEKTESI BT DB. UYINOffTONE IN SBPTEMBEB LAST,

BY B. O. BAYENSTEIN, F.B.G.S.



WITH POBTKAIT, MAM, ABB ILLUBTBAtlOBt OB BCBKXBT AMD COBtVMB.



LONDON:
TRUBNER AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW.

1860.



J)cNv. (a< Racic.t^^/j? ULcu^



^tM^



^5.



6 MAR 1930



LONDON:

WXLLUM WKVMt , FSOmB, 37. BZU YAMD,



TO
FEBLB MASSHALy HIS ROTAL HIGHinESS

THE PEINCE CONSORT,

FRANCIS ALBSBT AUGUSTUS CHARLES BMANUEL,
DxncB ov flAXSy PBnrox 07 sazb cobttbo akb gotha,

KHI6HT 07 THB MOST NOBLB OBDEB 07 THB GABTBB,

ORAITD MA8TEB 07 THB MOST HOITOTJBABLB OBDEB 07 THB BATH,

GHAKGELLOB 07 THE ITNIYEBSITT 07 CAMBBIDGEi

BSC, xvo.,

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07 AI2. LTEEEABT AJTl) SOIESTUTXC PB0GBB8S,

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THIS HABfiATITB 07
lOBSIOirAmT TBAYBL AND BBSIDBBfCE, AKB GSOGBAPHICAL DI6C0YEBY

Df THB XPSnOXaWV BEGZOKS 07

(Buitxu ^fxisji,

IS nreoBiBiD, bt sfeolu rzBxaaiov,

BT HIS OBUeXD AJTB OBBBIXirT SBXTANT,

J. L. KEAPP.



THE PUBLISHERS' ADYERTISEMENT.

fTlHE name of the Rev. Dr. Krapf has long been
"^ before the public in honourable connection with
tiie attempts to introduce civilization a^d Christianity
into the benighted continent of Africa, no less than
as a pioneer of important geographical discoveries,
and a most successful labourer in the field of Hametic
philology.

His earlier missionary labours were printed in
1843, and related chiefly to Abessinia and Shoa.
The present volume, although also touching upon
both, is chiefly confined to the terra incognita of our
maps, the Eastern coast and the equatorial sections
of Africa, the land of his boyish aspirations, as we
glean from the interesting autobiographical memoir,
which forms its first chapter. The Appendix gives
details of languages, hitherto but oral, which he and
his colleagues at Rabbai Mpia have reduced to form



viii THE PUBUSHEBS' ADVEBTISEMENT.

and writing, and thus brought within the scope of
fotore miflsionary efforts for the conversion of the
heathen.

Whilst Dr. Livingstone was proceeding fix>m the
south towards the coast of Mozambique, Dr. Krapf
and Mr. Rebmann were advancing from the north
to the same point. The discoveries of Dr. Living-
stone no less than those of Dr. Exapf may almost
be said to have formed a junction at Cape Delgado.
Indeed the travellers appix)ached each other within
five degrees, the small section of the coast not
visited by either, being confined within 10^ and
15^ Southern latitude.

Hence Dr. ElrapPs original map, though not laid
down with the extreme accuracy of geographical
science, becomes a most important document in con-
nection with ihat science; and as such, it has been
considered advisable to give it without altering the
spelling of the names. To obviate, however, all
difficulty which this might occasion the English
reader, a small map of East-Afiica has been added
by Mr. Bavenstein, F.R.G.S., compiled from pub-
lished and unpublished documents in the possessum
of the Royal Greographical Society, and showing the



mmm^m



THE PUBUSHEBS' ADYEBTiaEMENT. ix

latest didooveries up to the present time, in which
the names are given according to the English me-
thod, the vowels being sounded like the Italian, and
the consonants as in. English. That gentleman haa
also furnished by way of introduction to the labours
of Dr. Krapf, " A Concise Account of Geographical
Discovery in Eastern Afiica up to the discovery of
the Uyenyesi by Dr. Livingstone in September
1859/' to which he has appended a few remarks
upon the Commerce of AMca, and the influence
which the proposed Suez canal is likely to exercise
upon its development ; and a sketch of recent politi-
cal events in Abessinia and Madagascar.

Upon the small map have been laid down not only
the routes of Dr. Erapf and Mr. Rebmann, but also
those of Major Burton and Captain Speke, of Mr.
Petherick and Dr. Livingstone; thus giving, at a
single glance, a perfect sketch of all the recent African
explorations.

The plates have been carefully executed, extreme
accuracy of delineation both aa regards tiie romantic
scenery, and the costume of the natives having been
constantly kept in view, no less than the ethnological
dififerences of races.



X THE publishers' ADVERTISEMENT.

The collection towards a history of the literature
of Abessinia and the nations of Eastern Africa^ has
been compiled fix>m the memoranda of Dr. Krapf
and other sources, and claims to be little more than
the bringing together such information on the sub-
ject as cannot fiedl to interest the student of ethno-
logy and linguistic science.

TRUBNER & CO.



60, Patebkoster Bow,
UtMay, 1860.



CONTENTS.




INTRODUCTION.

PAGE

1. A CoircisB AccoiTNT OF Geographical Disco yebt dt

Eastebn Afbica, etc. By E. G. Eayekstein, F.R.G.S. xxv

2. Reasons fob Publication — ^Design and Plan . . zlv



PART I.



RESEARCHES AND MISSIONARY LABOURS.
EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS.



CHAP. I.

autobiographical.

A Providential gnidanoe in fhe life of a man 1

CHAP. II.

TO ADOWA AND ANKOBEB.

Commencement of the jonmey — Storm off Candia — ^Alexandria and
Cairo—The Red Sea and its navigation — The Canal of the Isthmus
of Suez — Jidda — Arab navigation — Massowa — The Shohos —
Initiation into the dangers of AMcan travel — ^Rescne — ^Entry
into Abessinia — ^Arrival at Adowa, the capital of Tigre and seat
of the Abessinian mission — ^Interview with the Prince of Tigre—
Native hostility to the mission — ^Arrival of Roman Catholic priests
and its consequences — ^The author and his companions have to quit
Tigre — ^Return of the missionaries to Cairo— The author resolves
to penetrate to Shoa — ^Return to Cairo— A missionary sheilch and
his slaves — ^Tajuira — ^The **Afer" and Ophir — ^Re-entry into
Abessinia — ^The Desert of Adal — ^Narrow escape from ahyeona —
Arrival at Ankober, the capital of Shoa .13



xii CONTENTS.

CHAP. m.

BBSIBENCE IN SHOA.

Beception by the King of Bhoa — Bis promises and character — ^The
missioiiaries open school — ^Departure of Isenberg — ^The Gallas
— ^The somces of the Hawash, and M. Eochet's veracity — ^The
anther's participation in the king's expeditions against the Gallas,
and its fruits — ^The rebellioos Gallas and their country — Journey
to Debra Libanos and geographical notes — ^Arrival of Major Harris
and the "Rngliah mission — ^The author's relations with the king
and the envoy — Success and fiEulure of the mission — ^Major
Harris's '^ Highlands of Ethiopia" — The advantages of a connec-
tion between England and Shoa — ^The king, and his other's
dream — ^What might have been and may yet be . .23

CHAP. IV.

SHOA AND THE SHOANS.

Shoa proper and E&t — ^Limits and contents of the two divisions-
Population and some physical characteristics — ^Form of govern-
ment — ^Religion and priesthood — ^Literature and sacred books —
The monophysitiBm of Shoa — ^Doctrine of the three births, and
civil war arising out of it — Conquest of Shoa by King Theo-
dorus — ^Immorality of Shoa — Concubinage, marriage, and mar-
riage laws — Slavery — Superstition — ^The "detective" system of
Shoa • - . .34

CHAP. V.

THE UNEZPLOEED COUNTBIBS TO THE SOUTH OF SHOA.

Ghrifltian remnants— Ourague and the dove trade — ^Kambat —
Wolamo— Kuoh»**The Golds negroes— Susa — Junction of the
Gojob and Omo — ^Beported snow-mountain —Traces of Chris-
tianity in Susa Cuiious transfer of episcopal breath for oon«
eearation — Dilbo on the Dokos, a nation of pigmies — ^Account
of the DokoB — ^Are they the pigmies of Herodotus ? — ^An alleged
Doko seen by the author^— Concurrent testimony to the ezist-
enoe of a nation of pigmies— Eaffa and its Queen, BalU — ^Abun-
dance of cotton and cotton dotliing — Salt and its value— Hero-



•••



CONTEVTB. Zlli

dotus and the early Troglodytes — ^The Gk>job and Bilbo's
account of it — Identity of the Gojob and the Jub — ^River
syBtem of those countries — ^Enarea, its king, religion, &c. ; yalue
as a coffee-producing country — ^Its commercial importance if
the Ckjob should be found navigable— The ciyelrcat, &c. —
Senjero — ^Female slavery and its origin — ^Human saGrifice^ —
Evidences of an early civilization in the regions watered by the
Gojob ....... 44



CHAP. VI.

ORMANIA AND THE GALLA8.

Position, number and migration of the Qallas — ^Their probable mis-
sion in the providential scheme — ^Their appearance, dress, dc.
— ^The true Galla type to be found near the Equator — Country,
climate, and occupation — ^Field for European emigration — ^Their
priests, prayers, and exorcists — Ideas of a ^ture life — ^Theories
as to their notions of Christianity — Characteristics of their religion
— ^No idols in Eastern AMca — ^Their notions of a divinity and sub-
ordinate deities— Days of restr-The WoUo-Gallas— The " Wo-
daja ** — ^Mohammedanism of the "WoUo-Gallas — ^Power of Mo-
hammedanism in Eastern AMca — Coming conflict between Chris-
tianity and Mohammedanism .72

CHAP. VII.

FAOM ANKOBER TO MASSOWA.

Success of the author's nussionary efforts in Shoa — ^Reasons for
lepaiiing to the coast — ^The king's fEurewell and offer of an official
post— Departure from Angolala — ^Interesting interview with the
king^s mother — Peelings on entering the WoUo country — ^Adara
Bille and his apparent friendliness — A young Imam — English
drill, and ludfer matches — ^Alarm on the road — Eetreat to Adara
Bille — ^His treachery — ^Imprisonment and robbery of the author —
Subsequent adventures and liberation — ^Toilsome pilgrimage to
the Shoho frontier — Singular offer of vengeance — Arrival at
Massowa — Arrival at Harkiko — Kindness of the Prench consul —
To Aden — ^Marriage in Egypt — Eetum to Aden — ^The author's
and his feUow-labourers' Abessinian projects . 85



XIV COKTBKTS.

CHAP. VIII.

FBOM ADEN TO ZANZIBAR.

Prohibition of the Abesfiiniaa mission — ^French intrigue : M. Eochet
and his book — Final attempt and its failure— The Abessinian mia-
sion abandoned — ^The author resolves to proceed to the south-eastern
coast of Africa, and found a mission among the Ghdlas — ^Departure
from Aden and forced return — Second voyage— -The Somali coast —
If ukdisha — ^Breach of Slave Trade treaty with England — ^Barava
— ^The Jub— Christmas day spent on the GaUa coast — Stay in
Takaungu — ^Native complaints of England's refusal of the Protec-
torate of If ombaz — ^The Southern Gallas — ^The Dana — ^The disap-
pointment of the first voyage providential — Mombaz and its recent
history — ^The Wanika — ^Tanga — ^The Pangani and its mouth —
The Waseguas and the Slave Trade — ^Arrival at Zanzibar — The
importance of a Galla mission — ^Presentation to the Sultan — ^Extent
of his rule — ^Brief description of Zanzibar . . 107

CHAP. IX.

MOlfBAI — EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND.

Lamu — ^Mombaz — Study of the native languages — Sea trip-— Hindu
and Mohammedan feUow passengers — ^Astronomy of the Koran —
Translation of the Bible into Suahili — ^Death of the author's
wife and daughter — ^Visions of missionary enterprise — ^Excursion
to Old Babbai — ^Makarunge — The houses of the Wanika — ^Kamba
and its chief — ^The Mohammedans and their proselytism — ^The
aoimal and vegetable worlds: elephants and ivory — ^Wanika
Atheism — Abdallah and his friendship — ^A Wakamba village—
Relations of the Wanika and Wakamba — Characteristics of the
Wakamba — ^Preaching in a Wanika village; fidlure and its
causes — Babbai Mpia, its situation and -suitability for a mis-
sionary station — ^Missionary interview with the elders of the vil-
lage — First sight of the snow-mountain Eadiaio— The ensuing
twelvemonth, voyages, journeys, and illnesses — ^Arrival of Beb-
mann — Yisit to Babbai Mpia and selection of it for a missionary
Btation — ^The chiefs — Our removal to Babbai Mpia — ^Fever and
house-building difficulties — ^Public worship kad discouragements
—The Wanika .126



GOlfTSNTS. XV

CHAP. X.

BABBAI MPIA — EXTBACTS F£OM JOURNALS.

Betrospect of the past year, and hopes for the ^ture — ^The women's
Mnonsa — ^Wanika self-conceit — The Mnansa ; nature of the impos-
ture and its political uses — ^Trip to Zanzibar and interview with
the Sultan — ^Liverpool speculation on the East coast — ^Antimony
mines and their tipsy owners — ^Wanika and Zulus — Grardening
begun — The god of the Wanika — Eemonstrant chiefs and the
author's successful protest against their superstition — ^Bain-making
and rain-makers — ^A Wanika Dream- woman — Stories of canni-
bals and pigmies in the interior — ^Theory of their origin, and com-
parison with Abessudan fables — ^Yiew of Kilibassi and Kadiaro—
A Kinika Primer — ^Trial by ordeal among the "Wanikar— Curious
details — ^The begging habits of the Wanika and savages in general
— ^The author's advice to missionaries — The Koma : Wanika belief
in a continuance of being after death — ^Attack on a Mnika by a
Mkamba: condolence-custom of the Wanika — ^Betrospect of a
year at Babbai Mpia — ^Mercies and achievements — ^Projected visit
to Kadiaro — Suahili notion of the end of the world and its pro-
bable origin — An intelligent Mohammedan : his request for wine
refused — ^Bebmann's journey to and return from Kadiaro—
Public worship and Einika hymn — ^Besults of civilization ''pure
and simple" — ^Betrospect of another year : difficulties and hopes.

161

CHAP. XII.

EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS CONTINUED.

Ck)mpletion of Suahili and Einika Dictionary — ^A Wanika-exorcism
— Undue denunciation — Bebmann's journey to Jagga ; the author
left alone — ^Mringe the cripple awakened to the Gbspel — ^Tre-
mendous storm, and Wanika infanticide — ^Appearance of two
French naval officers — ^Bebmann's safe return from Jagga — ^Main
results of his journey — Comparison of the East-AMcan and West-
AMcan missions — The sea-serpent — Traditional origin of the
Ghdla, Wakamba, and Wakuafi — ^Mringe's new hut and persecutions
— ^Wanika name-giving — ^A neighbour of Mringc's awakened —
Mringe's reception of the Gospel — ^Honour of the missionary
office — Wanika belief in metempsychosis — A Portuguese image



XVI CONTBITTS.

converted into a pagan idol — The ^'ii^ee and independent" "Wa-
nika — Boso-festival — ^Arrival of Erhaidt and Wagner — ^Illness
and recovery of Erhardt ; Wagner's death — His funeral a strik-
ing lesson to the Wanika — Journey to Ukambani, and return to
Eabbai Mpia ...... 187

CHAP. XUL

CLOSE OF RBamENCl IN EASTERN APBTCA : — RETURN HOME.

First return to Europe — ^The Church Missionary Society reinforces
the East- African Mission — ^Betum to Babbai Ifpia — ^Death and
sickness among the missionary band — Miinge and his successor
— Colonizing aspects of the Mission — ^The author's journeys into
the interior — Second return to Europe — Bishop Gobafs Abes-
sinian scheme — The author's latest visit to Abessinia — The
way to Shoa closed: Betum to Egypt — ^Farewell to AMca —
Betum home — Sympathy and offers of the Church Missionary
Society ....... 209



PART II.



TBAVELS IN EASTEBN AFBid down the routes to Ukambani
and Jagga approximately, and in doing so were under the necessity
of greatiy reducing the distances as given on the missionary maps.
Dr. Erapf, in his original map, placesYata in Ukambani, at a distance

* HonTy C. Arc Angelo in 1847, and Captain Short in 1849, olaun to have
ascended the Biver Jab for a considerable distance. K. Goillain, who in 1847
lodged in the yery room at Merka previonslj ooonpied by Angelo, heard from
his host that that traveQer ascended the river for a few miles merely. In
&ct, the lower Jnb is not considered navigable at all by the Arab merchants,
who carry their merchandise overland to Ganana, above which the river is
navigable for a considerable distance. (See GniUain, " Doonments sor T Afriqne
Orientale," n. 181).

t In an Itinerary to Ejknyn, by way of Ukambani, given by M. GniUain (11.
289), we find a very high mountain in Kiknyn described as ** being of a white
colour, wooded at the foot, bnt entirely barren near its smnmit." This is
undoubtedly Krapf s Kenia^ Kegnia or Eirenia. We refer to p. 544 of this
Yolume for further remarks, by Dr. Krapf, on the " Snow-oovered Mountains
of Eastern Africa."



GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOYEBY. X&VU

of 270 miles firom the coast. He spent fifteen days on the average
in travelling to or firom that place, and on his return journey in
1851 only ten days. In the latter he would consequently have
travelled at the rate of twenty-seven miles a-day, or at least thirty-
five miles of actual travellings tiie above distance being given in a
direct line. Assuming Dr. Erapf to have travelled at the rate of
ten miles a day (on his last journey fifteen miles), Yata would be 150
miles distant from the coast, and this we have adopted on our map.
At Kitui, a village four days in a northerly direction from Tata,
the snow mountain Kenia could be seen from an eminence during
dear weather, and its distance would appear to be at least 100 miles ;
the Kilimanjaro could be seen from the same locality, towards the
S.W. The approximate position of these two mountains we believe
to be as follows : —

Kenia. ... I*' 45' S. lat. 86° E. long.
Kilimanjaro . 3° 30' „ 37° „

In addition to the valuable information afforded by the Mission-
aries with regard to the coimtries which came under their personal
observation, we are indebted to them for a mass of information about
the interior, collected from native sources, which the Bev. J. Beb-
mann and Bev. J. Erhardt incorporated in a map, first published in
the Proceedings of the Boyal Geographical Society (1856), and the
most striking feature of which is a vast lake of a curious shape, ex-
tending through twelve degrees of latitude. Dr. Krapf has now
published some frirther information with respect to the countries
east of ITkambani, in his work on Eastern Africa, here presented to
the public.

The maps of the Missionaries, though open to criticism, as are
more or less all compilations of this kind, at once attracted the atten-
tion of geographers, and the Boyal Geographical Society, aided by
government, resolved to send out an expedition to test the accuracy
of the data furnished. Major B. Burton, a man well experienced
in Eastern travel, and favourably known by his "Pilgrimage to
Medina and Mekka," and a visit to Harar, was intrusted with
its direction, and, having been joined by Captain Speke, his former
companion, set out for Zanzibar, where he arrived on the 20th of
December, 1857. After a visit to the Bev. J. Bebmann, at his mis-
sionary station at Kisuludini, and a preparatory journey to !Fuga, the



XXVIU INTBODUCTIOK.

capital of Usambara, they set out for the interior on the 26th June,
1858. Traversing a mountainous tract, which begins about a hun*
dred miles from the coast, and nowhere exceeds 6000 feet in height,
they reached the great inner plateau of Uniamesi, which at Kazeh,
an Arab trading post, has an elevation of 8400 feet. Thence west-
ward the country fonns a declined plane, and the elevation of the
lake of Takanyika, or Uniamesi, which our travellers reached the 3rd
of March, is 1843 feet. The lake extends for about 300 miles to
the north of TTjiji, as ascertained by actual examination, and is in-
closed there by a crescent-shaped chain of mountains, which Captain
8peke looks upon as identical with the Imwb Mantes, Ptolemy's
Mountains of the Moon. This assumption we believe, however,
to be premature ; Ptolemy had no personal knowledge of the coun-
tries of the Upper Nile, and can scarcely be supposed to have been
acquainted with the crescent-Hke shape of the mountains in question.
We would therefore rather, with Dr. Beke, claim this appellation for
the snow-capped Kenia and Kilimanjaro, as £ir as we know the highest
mountains in that part of AMca. According to native information,
the lake extends towards the south to 8^ of latitude, where it termi-
nates, communicating perhaps, during the rainy season, with the
Bukwe lake.* The information obtained by Dr. Livingstone from an
Arabmerchant, whom he met on the Liambye, tallies satisfactorily with
that obtained by Captains Burton and Speke. That merchant skirted
the southern shore of the lake on coming frx>m the coast, and places
Cazembe's Townf at ten days* journey to the 8. *W. of it. A SuaheK
whom Dr. Beke had interrogated at Mauritius (vide ** Athenaeum,"
12th July, 1856), gave similar information, and describes the Tagan-
yika as being distinct from the more southerly Niassa. In spite of this
apparently conclusive evidence regarding the disconnection of the
two lakes, Mr. W. Desborough Cooley, than whom no one has done
more for the elucidation of the geography of Central South Africa,

* Perhaps identical with the Kalagwe mentioiied by Livingstone as oom-
munioating with the Taganyika.

t The approximate position of Cazembe's Town (Lnnda or Lncenda) is
known from the expeditions of Lacerda (1792) and Monteiro and Gamitto
(1832, see page 564). The former made astronomical obserrations at
Chama (Moiro Aohinto) a village 150 miles to the S.E. of it. The Boapnni
river, which passes close to it, according to Dr. Livingstone, enters the
Liambye, and the elevation of Cazembe*8 Town could not therefore be assumed
at less than 5000 feet, or more than 3000 feet above the Taganyika.



GEOQRAPinCAL BISCOYEBT.

still adheres to his opinion regarding their connection. To our know-
ledge, however, not a single instance of either Arab or native having
navigated such a lake lengthways has been adduced in support of
this assumption.

On their return from the Taganyika, Captain Burton remained at
Kazehy to recruit his &iling health, whilst Captain Speke proceeded
northward to explore the Victoria Kyanza, Lake Yictoria, or lake
of Ukerewe, which he reached on the 3rd of August, and ascertained
to be 3738 feet above the sea. A river is said to debouch from its
northern extremity, and to flow into the Nile. Assuming the lake
to extend to 1^ north latitude, and the development of the river to
be equal to twice the direct distance to Gondokoro, the altitude of
which is 1606 feet,* such a river would have a ML of Ave and a half
feet per mile, a current which would render it quite impracticable
for navigation.

The first information regarding the Upper KUe, or Bahr el Abiad,
is due to the three expeditions sent out by the Egyptian government,
between 1839 and 1842. Private travellers, such as MM. Brun
Bollet, Malzac, and Y ayssi^res, but especially the Boman Catholic
missionaries at GK>ndokoro since 1849, have considerably added to
our knowledge. The visit of a traveller capable of making reliable
astronomical observations is, however, urgently required to clear up
the doubts regarding the true position of the Upper Kile. The
position of Janker Island is variously stated by different observers : —

Selim Bimbashi, Commander of

second Egyptian Expedition . 4? 35' N. lat. 32** 25' E. long.
M. d'Amaud, Member of two

Egyptian Expeditions . . 4*^ 42' N. lat. 31^ 88' E. long.
M. Knoblecher, Eoman Catholic

Missionary . . . . 4° 37' N. lat. 28^ 40' E. long.

Unfortunately, the final results alone of M. Ejioblecher's observations
have been given, and we are not, therefore, in a position to judge of
the degree of confidence to be attached to them. The information

* The altitude of Gtondokoro has been dednoed fro-m barometrioal observa-
tionB by Dovyak, oontianed dming thirteen months. The same observer
makes Khartnm 882 feet above the sea ; acoording to Bnsseger it is 1625
feet, and acoording to Captain Feel 1286 feet.



IKTBODXrCnOK.

obtaiiied by Captain Speke regarding the Kibiri river (the Bahr el
Abiady above Jaoker Island, is caUed Tibiii, spelt Tubiri by the
French), which is said to flow towards the north-west on leaving
the Nyanza, would speak in fistvour of the greater accuracy of
M. Enoblecher*8 observations.

[For proceedings of the Eoman Catholic Missionaries on the Upper
Nile, see the " Annual Reports of the Society of Mary for Promoting
Catholic Missions in Central Africa," Yienna, since 1 851 . MM. Dov-
yak's and Enoblecher's observations have been reprinted from the
"Annals of the I. B. Institute for Meteorology and Terrestrial
Magnetism," Yienna, 18*59. Other Missionaries established in
Abessinia (as L^on des Avanchers and Miani) have published some
information in the Journal of the Paris Geographical Society.]
' After Captain Speke's return from the Nyanza both travellers
went back to Zanzibar, whence they embarked for Europe in March,
1859. Captain Speke is about to proceed again to the scene of Ms
late discoveries, accompanied by Captain Grant.*

In the mean time a German traveller. Dr. A. Boscher, has made
several attempts to penetrate into the interior, but hitherto his
endeavours have been foiled by almost constant illness. In February
1859 he made a journey by land along the coast frt)m opposite Zan-
zibar to Kiloa, examining on the way the lower course of the Lufiji.
It was his intention to proceed from Kiloa to Lake Niassi, but in
October he had not yet left the coast, and the Arabs refrised to take
him inland, fearing he might die.

The Kiassi or Nyanja, by older authorities called Lake of the
Maravi, from a tribe occupying its westers shore, was laid down on
Portuguese maps as early as 1546 and 1623. In 1518, even, a
large lake in the interior is mentioned by the Spaniard Fernandez
de Enciso. Manoel Godinbo, in his travels to India, in 1663, gives
some more precise information, obtained frx>m a Portuguese who had
actually visited the country. He places the southern extremity of
the lake under 15^ 50' S. lat., and the Biver Zachaf (Shire) connects
it with the Zambezi below Sena.

* Uajor Bmton'B aoooimt of the expedition is in the press. In the mean
time we refer for farther details to " Blackwood's Magazine " (Feb. to May 1858,
and Sept. to Nov. 1859), and to vol. XYIU. of the ** Jonmal of the Royal
Geographical Booieiy."



OEOGBAJPHICAL DISCOYEUY. ir-yn

Gamitto (1831) states the lake to haye a breadth of eighteen
Fortogaeee miles, (thirty-three English,) but owing to the strong
current it took two to three days to cross it, the canoes being
pushed along by poles. According to him, the Shire or Little
Nyanja had no communication with the lake. Dr. Livingstone,
in his '' Missionary Travels in Southern AMca," tells us of a
Senhor Candido, long a resident of Tete, who had visited the
Nyanja lake. Travelling through the country of the Maravi, that
gentleman came upon the lake in the country of the Chiva. It took
thirty-six hours to cross the lake to the coimtry of the Mujao
(Wahiao). In the middle of its southern end is a mountain island,
called Kurombo or Murombola, i,e. ''where the waters divide.''
Of two rivers which leave the lake, one is the Shire, and enters the
Zambezi, th.e oth^, he says, flows towards the sea under another
name.* Similar information was given to Captain Bedingfield
(1858) by Colonel l^unee, at QuilHmane, who considered, however,
the Nyanja as a chain of lakes. «•

From native sources we have obtained a number of routes leading
to the lake, from Eiloa, Xisanga, and Mozambique. From Xiloa
the distance is stated at firom thirty to sixty days' journey, from
Mozambique at thirty days. All routes agree in traversing near
the lake the country of the Mujao or Wahiao (Hiao), and several
pass through Lukelingo (Xeringo), the capital of that country. At
the southernmost ferry persons on opposite ddes can speak with
each other, and it was probably here where Silva Porto crossed in
1854. At Mjenga, a little further north, the opposite shore can
just be seen. Opposite to Moalo is a mountain-island, called Mbaazura
on Erhardt and Eebmann's map, possibly the Murombo Island of
Senhor Candido. At Gnombo (Ngombo) the opposite shore only
appears after three hours' rowing, and still l^irther north the passage
of the lake requires from two to three days. Nothing reliable is
known regarding the extent of the lake further north : the Mission-
aries and Mr. Cooley believe it to communicate with the Taganyika
or Lake of Uniamesi; Captain Burton and Speke think that it
terminates at about 10 S. lat., and Mr. MacQueen (''Proceed.

* Both L^n des Avanohers and Dr. Erapf were told that the river
Baviuiia took its rise from the large inland lake. See p. 419.



zzzu nrxBODncnoN.

E. G. S./' Yol. lY., No. 1) looks upon the Njanja as a laige river,
the head stream of which is a river passing near Cazembe's town.

These various conjectures we may confidently expect to see cleared
up at an early date, by the labours of that inde&tigable traveller
Dr. Livingstone. That gentleman returned in 1858 to the Zambezi
in the character of British Consul, and after a minute examination
of the river up to the Kabrabesa rapids, he ascended the Shire, and,
leaving the steamer at 16^ 2' S. lat., continued his journey by land
to the Shirwa lake, the existence of which had not hitherto been
known to Europeans. This lake has an elevation of 2000 feet ; it is
surrounded by mountains, and said to be separated firom the l^yanja
or Nyenyesi (Star Lake) by a narrow strip of land, only six miles
wide; its waters are bitter, but drinkable. Later in the year
Dr. Livingstone traced the Shire river to the point where it flows
from the Lake Nyenyesi (Nyanja or Niasse), 14^ 23' S. lat.,
35^ 30' E. long. Prom that point the lake appeared to stretch
towards the N.N.W., and upon<»it8 horizon appeared an island,
which may be identical with the mountain island mentioned above.
According to native testimony the lake subsequently turns towards
the sea.*

OomcEBCE OF Afbica.

Thb geographical configuration of AMca is not favourable to the
development of commerce. Few rivers are navigable from the coast,
and even those which are, are only so during part of the year. There
are not many good harbours ; the climate along the coast is inimical
to European constitutions ; and moreover, the continent is split up
into innumerable independent communities, almost constantly at war
with each other, and offering little security to the acquisition of pro-
perty or encouragement to enterprise.

We need not, therefore, be surprised to find that the whole com-
merce of that vast continent does not exceed in amount that carried
on by Hamburg alone. In the following table we have attempted

* Dr. Krapf was told at Eiloa that the lake might be reaehed in ten days,
thna ooiroboiating the information obtained by Livingstone ; for, in order to
reach its sonthem extremity in that time, a daily joomey of some forty miles
in a direct line wonid be required.



COUMEJKCB OF AFRICA.



XZXUI



to giye a statement of Hob commeroe, as far as the Custom House
returns of the various sea-faring nations enable us to do this.



To


Northern
Aftica.*


Imports from

AfHcan Cape and
lalandt. Natal.


Batt and
WeatCoaaU.


ToUl.


United Kingdom . .
WnBCb ....
Bpain, Pnrtngal. andi
If edit. ConnOries . /
Remainder of Europe .
America ...
Britifth India . . .
Remainder <tf Asia

Total . .


£
6,300,000
2»748,000

1,600,000

43,000
10,000


£
1,600,000
1,900.000

46,000

92,000

62,000

166,000

100,000

600,000


£

1,463,000

140,000
186,000

61,000
6,000

12,000


£

1,900,000
800,000

66,000

161,000
806,000
226,000
300,000


£

11,263.000
4,0^,000

1,701,000

446,000
662,000
432,000
406,000
612,000


10,696,000


3,845,000


1,866,000


3,847,000


20,263,000



From


Northern
AMca.*


ISzpo

African
lalaads.


rtsto

Case and
Natal.


Eaatand
WestCoaats.


Total.


United Kingdom . .
France ....
Spain, Portogal, andi
Medit. Comitriea . /
Remainder of Borope .

Britiafa India* . ' . !
Remainder of Asia
Anstnlaaia (Britiah) .

Total . .


£

2,104,000
6,212,000«

1,100,000

63,000
80,000


£
000,000
1,000,000

16,000

43,000

06,000

210,000

700,000

400,000


£

2,041,000

6,000

84,000
806,000
77,000
61.000
16,000


£

970,000
786,000

162,000

46,000
680,000
120,000
800,000


£

6,016,000
6,908,000

1,276,000

286,000
1.060,000

407,000
1,061,000

415,000


8,660,000


3,364.000


2,601,000


2,064,000 .


17,468,000



Assuming the population of Africa to be 150,000,000, the exports
would arerage 2$, Sd. per head; in Great Britain they amount to 86«.,
in the United States to 54«., in France to 41$., and in Bussia to 7«.
But eren this amount of 28., small though it be, would give an
exaggerated idea of the proportionate exports of AMca. For Korthem
Africa the exports amount to Bi. per head of the population, for the
African Islands to 96«., for Cape Colony and Katal to 75«., but for
the whole west and east coast, including Madagascar, to 9d. only.

The materials at our disposition have not enabled us to separate
the commerce of the west coast from that of the east ; one third,
perhaps, of the total may appertain to the latter. At all events, the
direct exports to Europe are trifling ; Prance and the Hanse towns
take the largest share ; the Americans carry on a considerable trade,

* TnasH tiA Sues (chiefly speoie) not included. The French exports to
Northern Africa inohide £4,620,000 to Algeria.



INTBODrcnON.



and Great Britain indirectly takes part in the commercial moyement
through BritlBh India. The east coast of Africa in many respects
is preferable to the west coast : the climate is superior, and fevers
scarcely ever proye fcital ; there are many good harbours, and a great
part of the coast is in the hands of regular goTeruments. The chief
drawback, however, is to be looked for in the greater distance from
Europe; for, while a sailing vessel may reach the coast of Guinea in
fifty days from Liverpool, it takes ninety days to get to Zannbar.
Nor would Hie opening of the Suez Canal, supposing that scheme
capable of being carried out, materially shorten the passage to Zan-
zibar as regards sailing vessels. The following table shows the
average passage in days from Southampton, by way of the Isthmus
of Suez and round the Cape of Good Hope.





Bound tlieCtlM.


By way of Sues.


aowthtmptOB.


Dtotftoee


Ava«fftPwmg»


DirtMMe


Avenw^Pui


-•




Id


InSerow


In SftHlnc VeMelt.


in


[nSerew


In Sidling YeMela.




Xltea.


StaMMT.


Oat.


UOOA.


XUsn.


it«uB«r.


Out.


Homn.


Aden . .


10,800


■sisr


•W


^^


Dafi.
•108


4,100


»isr


"^


"«•


Bombay


1OJ90O


•66


107


■76"


104


'83


6,000


20


•76


•86


Oalcatta . . .


11»M0


•60


110


"as"


lis


'88'


7,600


86


•98


•108


Hong Kong .


13,800


•68


134r


14'


120


'90'


9,800


48


•184


•122


Melbnume . .


11.600


60


82


61


83


'61


11,000


68


•112


•114


MMiritiaB


8,100


•4B


79


■60'


88


'61'


6,700


80


•80


•90


Natel . . .


6,700


89


68


'48"


72


:^:


8,000


•86


•92


•102


gMl«itliM»


8,600


•48


81


'66'


90


[64


6,200


•28


•74


•84



The above table has been compiled chiefly from the ''passage
table " in the '' Meteorological Papers," published by authority of
the Board of Trade, No. 2, 1858. The average passage to Alex-
andria (2960 miles) takes 35 days : the quickest has been made in
23 days ; the passage home requires on an average 45 days, or at the
least 31 days. We have allowed one day for steamers, and two days
for sailing vessels, to reach Suez firom Alexandria. The navigation
of the Bed Sea being rather difficult for sailing vessels, we have
assumed the voyage from Suez to Aden (1300 miles) to occupy 20
days, but believe this to be rather below what would be required
ordinarily. The passage from Kossier to Jedda, for instance
requires from 10 to 20 days, and considerably more in Arab
boats. Beyond Aden we assumed 90 to 100 miles as the daily



* Baaed partly on eatiiiiates. The figures in brackets [ ] indioaie the
quickest passage on record.



POLITICAL BTXNT8. XZXY

progress of a sailiiigYeesely tm estimate entiielj ill &voiir of the Sues
route. With regard to steam yesBelB, the saving in point of time is
Yeacy oonaiderable ; bat on account of their small stowage room, and
the expense of foely their use is restricted to the carrying of mails,
of passengers, qwcie, andoffewarticlesof merchandise of small bulk,
and fbr that purpose the railway between Suez and Alexandria
soiBoes. In the trade with Aden, Bombay, and Calcutta, sailingyessels
by the caaal in nuMui would have an advantage of 40, 20, or 12
days respectively ; but we doubt whether tlus would enable them to
pay the proposed passage dues, of 10 francs per ton. Hong Kong,
(and the whole of Eastern Asia), Mauritius, and Zanzibar would not
gain in point of time; Melbourne and Katal would actually lose.

Mr. MacLeod, late H. B. M. Consul at Mozambique, proposes th6
estabtishmant .of a line of steamers in connection with Aden, and
touching at the principal places along the east coast, down to NataL
The time required to reaob Natal, either by way of Suez or the Cape,
being nearly alike (36 and 39 days respectively), the present line to
the Cape, extended to Natal, might be profitably maintained. Simul-
taneously, eonsular officers would have to be appointed to the prin-
cipal ports. The fiicilities for postal intercourse with Europe, thus
offiared to merdhants settled at Zanzibar and elsewhere, could not &il
to be highly conducive to the growth of legitimate commerce, and
the slave-trade, which is still being carried on actively, might thus
be gradually and effectually checked.

Our' space will not permit us to enter into details regarding im-
ports and exports, and we refer regarding these to the work of M.
Guillain, and to Mr. MacLeod's '< Travels in Eastern Africa." The
latter gentleman most kindly volunteers to supply merchants with
any particulars they may require regarding suitable cargoes, &c.

Political Evshts nr AaBssurii., akd Mabaoascab.

Easexrh Afbica, unlike the West Coast, is fbr the greater part
occupied or claimed by foreign powers, and the native states, except-
ing Abessima and Madagascar, are of littie or no importance. The
Turks occupy several places on the Bed Sea, the principal of which
is Massowa, and appoint the governor of Zeila. The dominions of
the Loiam of Zanzibar include the whole of the coast and neighbour-

e2



XZXYl UTTEODUCTIOir.

mg islandfl, from about 5^ N. latitude to bejond Cape Delgado ;
many parts of the coast are, however, virtually mdependent. The
Portuguese claim extends from Gape Delgado to Belagoa Bay ; but
they occupy in reality only the country along the lower Zambezi,
and some isolated towns along the coast. Great Britain possesses
Perim, a small island at the entrance of the Bed Sea ; the island
liusha, opposite Tajurra, the natural outlet for the commerce of
Shoa and Southern Abessinia ; the island of Socotra, not at present
occupied ; the southern half of Delagoa Bay, and the Bay of Santa
Lucia, on the coast of Kafi&aria ; and lastly, Natal, a country destined^
frt>m its &vourable position and climate, to eclipse Cape Colony as
an agricultural settlement. The French have lately acquired die
port of Zula, south of Massowa; they also claim the whole of
liadagascar^ but at present hold but a few insignificant islands on
its shore, and Mayotte, one of the Comoros.

Of Massowa, Abessinia, and Madagascar we shall speak more in
detail under separate headings ; but, before doing so, we would refer
in a few words to the political bearings of the Suez Canal scheme.
Engineers of eminence and respectability* have pronounced against
the practicability of such a canal. Nevertheless, the enterprise is
being persevered in under the auspices of the French government,
or rather, the isthmus has been occupied within the last few weeks
by a party of armed ouvriers. It is the avowed design of France to
found in the eastern sea an empire to rival, if not to eclipse, British
India, of which empire Madagascar Ls to be the centre. Across the
Isthmus of Suez leads the shortest route from southern France to
Madagascar (and India) ; its possession by a power desirous to extend
her dominions in that quarter, and capable of availing herself of its
advantages, would therefore be of the utmost consequence. The
mere &ct of the isthmus being part of the Turkish empire, or of
Egypt, would not deter France frx)m occupying it; for scruples of
conscience are not allowed by that nation to interfere with political
'' ideas." Zula has been chosen as the second station on the route to
Madagascar, and while the occupation of Suez may at will frimish

* We say ** respectability" advisedly. No doubt many supporters of the
fioheme are sincere in believing it feasible. Such, however, can scarcely be
the opinion of its actual promoters, otherwise they would have been more
conscientious with regard to statements made, or fiusts omitted.



POUnCAL EVENTS. XXXYU

a pretext for seizing upon Egypt, that of Zula may open Abessinia
to French conquest. Fortonately there is a power which can put
a veto upon those plans of aggrai^dizement in North-etotem AMca,
and that power is Great Britain. Gibraltar, Malta, Peiim,* and
Aden, form a magnificent line of military and naval stations on the
route to India, and perfectly command it. Only after having con*
▼erted the last three into French strongholds, and thus striking a
decisive blow at the naval supremacy of Great Britain, could France
ever hope to carry out her designs.

1. — ^Massowa and Abessinia.

Massowa in former times constituted part of the Abessinian Empire,
and was governed by the Bahamagash, or Prince of the Sea, who
had his residence at Dixan. It was occupied at the commencement
of the 17th century by the Turks, in whose possession it has remained
ever since. The Belaw, Vrho inhabit the island and neighbouring
coast, were the first to embrace Islamism, and from amongst them the
pasha of Jidda nominated as vice-governor of the mainland, the ''naib,"
f . 0. substitute, a dignity since confined to the members of one family.
The naibs, by stratagem or force, acquired a considerable influence over
the neighbouring tribes, and their authority was recognized by the
Shoho, Beduan, and Habab. The two former, being the earliest
subjects, merely promised a contingent in time of war. The naibs
also successfully restricted the commerce of Abessinia to Massowa ;
and when, about fifby years ago, caravans were known to frequent
Ait, a port situated further south, war was made upon that place,
and its chief compeUed to swear upon the Koran not to receive any
more caravans.

Bepeated complaints of the arbitrary conduct of the naib at last in-
duced the pasha of Jidda to give orders for his deposition. The
governor of Massowa with his Turkish troops crossed over to Arkiko,
Ihe residence of the naib, destroyed that place, and built a fort which
he garrisoned with 200 men. The naibs subsequently might have

* Perim at present is destined merely to bear alight-house. Properly for-
tified, it would oommand the entrance to the Red Sea even more effectually
than Gibraltar does that to. the Mediterranean.



zzxyiii iktbodvction.

regained their former influence! for the governor's conduct towards
the Sohos and Belaw, firom whom he demanded taxes, was by no
means judicions ; family disputes, howerer, prevented this. In 1 863
the Shohos and Belaw were in open rebellion, but they at once
returned to their former allegiance when, towards the close of 1854,
a new naib aiiived fbom Jidda, where he had successfully prosecuted
the claims of his branch of the fionily to that dignity. He was in-
vested with plenary powers as f^ as the mainland was concerned,
and thus rendered almost independent of the Turkish pasha, who has
since 1850 resided at Massowa.

At the present time the Turks have a garrison of 250 Begnlars and
150 Bashi-bozuks at liassowa ; fifty Bashi-bozuks occupy the fort at
Arkiko, and, since July 1857| twenty-seven have occupied Ait.

The claim of Turkey to the west coast of the Bed Sea, and specially
to that part of the coast extending between Massowa and Ait, how-
ever slight her authority, appears to us to be clearly established by
the mere &ct of her nominating the naibs, and this for a period of
nearly 300 years. Abessinia still prefers a claim to these territories,
but has never been able to expel the Turks, and as late as 1848,
when Ubie, the Eegent of Tigre, attempted to do so and sent anflnny
of 20,000 men against Arkiko, he was compelled to retire after having
burnt a few villages and made a raid upon some cattle. Still, the
claim of Abessinia to the coast offering the sole maritime outlet to her
commerce, and formerly part of her territory, might be allowed, were
she in a position to enforce it. It must, however, cause surprise to
hear of France, a European power, at amity with Turkey, purchas-
ing firom the Urgent of Tigre, who never held the slightest authority
there, the port of Ait, and subsequently that of Zula.

The endeavours of France to gaina footing upon the Bed Sea may
be traced back for a number of years, li. Combes, who in 1835
visited Adoa, purchased f]^)m TJbie, the regent of Tigre, the port of
Ait for £300, obviously for the purpose of attracting to it the com-
merce of Abessinia, then, as now, carried on through liassowa. A
French vessel sent there by a Bordeaux house was not, however, able
to open commercial intercourse ; they neither found purchasers for
their ill-assorted wares, nor the expected caravans with ivoiy and
gold-dust. For a long time afterwards French interests in Abessinia
were intrusted to the Bomish missionaries, and to a consul, who took



POUnCAL XYSNTS. icitiiMC

hiB reddaiioe at Massowa, a port with whioh Fraace had no inter-
come whateyeo. In 1840 the naib ceded to the consul a small plot
of ground at M oknUn, close to Massova, upon which the Misaionaries
built a chapel in 1848, and tiiey also extended their operations to a
Christian tribe of the. Shohos, dwelling aboye Znla, and to the Bogos
to the JioeQi .of Abessinia. The consul gave the Turkiah governor
much trouble, and has of late inristed upon considering the mainland
as independent. When Siasaai. had succeeded in making himself
master of Abessinia^ and a prospect of a stable goyemment was at
hand, France, -who in this most probably saw the down&U of her
own sdiemes, sowed disunion by rendering her support to Ubie, and
subsequently to Yeh, the opponents of Kassai in Tigre. At the
dose of 1857, the French consul, accompanied by a priest, trayeUed
to Adoa for the purpose of inducing Yeh to occupy the coast. The
result of this journey has perhaps beoi the so-called cession of Zula,
a port situated upon Arniesley Bay, and only about twenty-fiye miles
south of Massowa.* Zula fbrmerly was a place of great commercial
importance ; its trade, however, has been removed to Massowa, which
is more &yourably situated, and at the present day it merely consists
of a few huts of fishermen and camel-drivers. Its importance as a
naval statian is but slight, and the assertion of French writers that
it commands the route to Aden ia absurd, cut off, as the place would
be, fiom receiving any support whatever in case of hostilities with a
naval power like Great Britain, holding in Aden and Perim the keys
to the Bed Sea. It might, however, serve as a stepping-stone to further
conquests in Abessinia; but is France in a position to find fbnds for
the conquest of a second Algeria?!

Abessinia hais for a ntmiber of years been a prey to intestine wars;
which we had hoped to see terminated by the usurpation of the
throne by Kassai whose eneigy may even now enable him to. gain
the object of his desires — ^the re-establishment of the Abessinian

* Aooording to Frenoh papers this cessibn was made by Ubie (Onbieh)
Onr infonxiaition regarding lato political events in.Abeesinia is yeiy fragmen-
taiy ; we nereiiheleBS have reason to suppose tw Ubie has left the field of
political action.

t Tbe revenues Algeria at the present day covers the expenses of the
civil administratioii (£8 to 900,000) $ the maintenance of the military eetu-
Uiahment reqniree, however, an outlay of above £2,000,000 more.



xL ISTRODUCIION.

Empire. Kassai ifl a native of Euara, a small province of Western
Abessinia, the limits of which had been extended by his &ther and
elder brother, Komfu, to the Abai and Lake Tsana. He wrested by
conquest the province of Dembia from the mother of Bas Ali,
(Governor of Gondar, thns carrying his boundary to within a few
miles of the capital. His desire of independence, and refusal to pay
the customary tribute, soon brought him into hostile collision with
the Eas, and the latter, in 1850, conferred the greater part of the
provinces held by Eassai upon Bum Ooshu, Prince of Gojam, a more
loyal satrap. Eassai, with his scattered forces, retired before the
large army sent against him, to Euara, where he made active pre-
parations to reconquer his lost territories. When his adversary had
quietiy settied down in Dembea, he broke forth f]^)m his mountains
and defeated him in a sanguinary battie near the lake, Burn Groshu
himself being amongst the slain. Bas Ali fled from GK>ndar, but,
aided by Ubie of Tigre, and other Abessinian princes, collected a large
force ; but he was also defeated in 1853 near Qorada, and obliged to
seek safety amongst his Mohammedan relations. Eassai next turned
his victorious arms against Ubie, whom he defeated and took prisoner
in 1855;* he then appointed a relation of Sabagadis, the fetmer
rightful sovereign of Tigre, as vice-governor: and by consenting to
expel the Bomish priests, who had greatiy interfered with the in-
ternal management of the church, he induced the Abuna to remove
from Adoa to Gondar, and to anoint him as Theodore (Tadruss),
I^egus or Emperor of the Abessinian Empire. In 1856, Shoa was
added to the dominions of Eassai. He was not, however, long to
enjoy his conquests.

We glean from disjointed information obtained subsequentiy, that
fresh opponents arose against Eassai in Tigre, and at the close of
1858, the fate of the empire had not yet been decided by battie. It
is, however, to be hoped in the interests of humanity, that Eassai,
who is still a young man, may triumph over his enemies, and thus
carry out the reforms he contemplated.!

* Ubie sabseqaently appears to have been liberated on payment of a ran-
som of £10,000.
t Compare Dr. Eraprs Trayels, p. 440.



FOUTICAL BTEKTS xU



2. — ^Madagasgab.

MASAeAflCAB first attracted the attention of the French in 1642,
when LouiB XIII. granted the island to the Companie de rOiient.
Their first vessels arrived in 1643, and possession was taken of the
island Ste. Maiie and of Antongil Bay, and a small colony estab-
lished at Ste. Luce, which soon afterwards was removed to Fort
Dauphin. The new settlement was but badly supported by France ;
the governors treated the natives with execrable cruelty, and even
sold them to Dutch slave-dealers, conduct which brought about the
massacre of the French colonists when celebrating a midnight mass
on Christmas eve, 1672. Only a few made their escape to the
island of Bourbon.

The next attempt at settlement was directed towards the island
Ste. Marie in 1750, but conduct similar to that pursued at Fort
Dauphin caused a second massacre, four years after the arrival of
the colonists.

Fort Dauphin was again temporarily occupied in 1768, but up to
1 774, when Count Benyovski arrived with his expedition in Antongil
Bay, France was represented on the island merely by a few inde-
pendent traders. The count, having lost most of his people in
battle or by disease, returned to France to vindicate his conduct.
The Government did not, however, think fit to intrust him with
the conduct of a second expedition, and, stung with disappointment,
he went to the United States, where he collected a band of adven-
turers, with whom he landed in Madagascar with a view of conquer-
ing that island on his own account, but fell in defence of a small
fort in 1786, against a French force sent against him from Mauritius.

In 1810, when Great Britain took possession of Mauritius, French
agents were found estabHshed at Tamatave and Foulepointe, and
Burrendered to the British squadron. By the treaty of Paris, of
1814, Mauritius with its dependencies was ceded to Great Britain,
induding, of course, any settiement which might have been made in
Madagascar; France, however, subsequently refused to acknowledge
this claim. In 1815, a tract of land was purchased from native
chie& at Port Luquez, and a small settiement founded, which was,



ylll



INTBODUCnON.



however, finally abandoned in 1817, when Qxeat Britain acknow-
ledged the claim of Badama to the whole island.

The Erenchy however, continued their efforts at colonization ; in
1819 they reoccupied Ste. Marie and Tintingue, and sent a few men
to garrison Fort Banphin; native chiefs in 1821 ceded Ihe coast
between Peneri£9 and Antongil Bay. Badama protested against
this aggression, and in 1822 expelled the French from the main
Lmd, and occupied Fort Banphin in 1825.

In 1829, another expedition was sent to Madagascar; the French
occupied Tintingue, burnt Tamatave, but were ingloriously defeated
by a much inferior number of Hovas at Foulepointe. The former
place was again evacuated in IBSl, and up to the present day the
French settlements en the east coast have been restricted to the
small island of Ste. Marie.

Seeing their efforts in this quarter unavailing, they now directed
their attention to the west coast. In 1840 they prooured from
native chiefr the ''cession" <^ Nossib^ and some neighbouring
islands, together with the main land facing them ; they were not,
however, able to prevent l^e Hovas from occupying the latter, nor
did they resent their destroying, in. 1856, a French fort btdlt near
Bavatuka Bay, thirty miles from ^N'ossib^, where a Freneh company
worked some coal-mines, and from which they carried away five
guns as trophied'of victory: The superintendent of the coal-mine,
and others, were killed, and the labourers, about 100 in number,
taken prisoners to Tananarive.

In 1841 the French also took possession of Mayotte, one^f the
Comoro Islands, a position equally useless as a naval station or
commercial entrep^."*^

A more daring attempt upon Madagascar has been made recently,
and reflects little credit upon the government which sanctioned it.
M. Lambert, in 1855, visited Tananarive avowedly for comm^x^
purposes, but obviously with the object of organizing a conspiracy
in conjunction with Laborde and several native chiefs. This
Laborde was formerly a slave-dealer, and, at the time. Great
Chamberlain at the court of £mim^. His preliminary arrangements

•

* This island was not ** ceded" by the native prince, bat oocnpied onder
protest Vide ^Madagascar Past wnd Pretent^ &y aHeauZmit ; London 1847,"
p. 222.



POLITICAL BYSKTS. xllii

being made, M. Lambert started for France, and after two interviews
with the emperor retnmed to Madagascar, taking with him presents
to the amonnt of £2000, and accompanied by P^re Jean, Apostolic
Yiear of Madagascar, disgiiised as a trader, and by Madame Ida
Pfeifer, who, we hope, was ignorant of the pniport of the mission
The conspirators arriyed at Tananariro in 1857. It was liieir
intention to depose the qneen, and place upon the throne a natiye
prince, who, in case of snccess, promised to acknowledge himself a
Y^kssal of France, and to introduce the Boman Catholic religion.
The plot, however, was discoyered, and the chief conspirators .were
expdled the isknd ; and many others are supposed to have soffered
death in consequence of their participation in it.*

Still more recent is the acquisition of a large tract of land near
Bali Bay. A French vessel, the ** Marie Angelique," engaged in
the so-called Free Immigration Scheme, had been plimdered there
by the nataves, and the govenmient agent on board of her killed.
On the news of this disaster reaching Bourbon, the ftigate ^' La
CordeHire," was at once sent to the spot ; the villages in which the
eolpable parties were supposed to reside were destroyed; the chief
of the territory, a female, was deposed, and her lands given to a
neighbouring chief, who, ** rec<^;nizing the ancient rights of France
to the territories occupied,'' made a cession of the whole. We do
not know whether the territory thus acquired has actually been
settled, but beUeye not.

The present state of the French settlements near Madagascar is not
at all commensurate with the pains taken in their fermation during
the two last centuries. Ste. Marie, in 1856, had a population of
5743 souls. The population of Nossi Be, and the smaller islands in
its vicinity, was 22,577 in 1856 ; the imports amounted to £24,000,
the exports to only £5400. Mayotte, iu 1853, had 6829 inhabitants,
and its exports and imports amounted, in 1856, to £30,740. The
island of Bourbon, or B^union, in 1858, had 143,600 inhabitants,

• Vide '*MaoLeod'B Travels in Eastern AfHca." Barbi^ de Booage, in his
work on Madagascar (Paris 1869), makes no mention of M. Lambert's share
in this conspiracy. He merely gives an extract from the ** Fatrie " newspaper
(p. 276), according to which a '* Catholic ** party had been formed in opposition
to the queen's goYemment, and the disooTeiy of which led to the massacre
of2000indiTidiuJs.



Xliv DfTBODUCTION.

amongst whom were 93,000 immigrant labourers. The imports of the
island amounted to £1,133,000, in 1856, the exports to £1,187,000.

Eeunion has a garrison of 1200 European troops, a company of
native Sappers and Miners, 150 men strong, besides an organized
miHtiiEi of 5000 men. The other possessions mentioned are garrisoned
by some 200 Europeans and 250 Africans. Kone of these possess
a harbour desirable as a naval station, and the loss of Mauritius,
with its safe and well-defended anchorage, and unique position at
almost equal distance from Aden, British India, and the Gape, could
never be adequately compensated, even by their occupying the whole
of Madagascar. Nor are these settlements calculated to become of
importance as commercial entrepots ; the French can never hope to
see Mayotte the rival of Zanzibar, though no doubt these colonies
may become important by the establishment of sugar and coffee plan-
tations. Mauritius, at the present day, depends for its supply of
cattle almost exclusively upon Madagascar; for out of 8711 head
imported in 1857, 485 only came fix>m other countries. Besides
these, 6584 cwt. of lice and a little tobacco were imported from that
island, the total imports amounting to only £43,000. During the
same period the value of cereals and flour imported from British
India and others of our colonies amounted to £494,000. Should the
French at some friture period be able to stop the export trade of
Madagascar, which they could only do by subjecting the whole of
that island to their sway, Mauritius might draw the whole of her
supply of cattle fix>m our &st-growing colony of Natal,} and as long
as Great Britain maintains her naval superiority, no fear need be
entertained of that island being ever reduced by famine.

In &ct, the designs of France upon Madagascar need cause no
apprehension ; in case of war, that island would prove a source of
embarrassment rather than of strength. No doubt commercial opera-
tions might be extended, and this without prejudice to British enter-
prise, which will find much more profitable emplo3rment in the
colonization of Natal, and ultimately of the whole of Kaffiaria.

London, Mat/, 1860.

* The distance from Manritias to Natal is abont 1740 miles. Occasion-
ally cargoes of cattle have been imported from Mombas or Brava, a much
greater distance. Hitherto Natal has not exported anj cattle.



RFAS0N6 F0& PUBLICATION. zIy



n. — ^The Author's Bjeasoks foe Publication — Design and Plan.

Soon after my return from East Africa in 1855, I was urged by
many of my friends to publish a connected account of my travels in
that region ; but it was not until I had prepared a brief sketch of
Dr. livingstone's researches in South Africa for the German reader
in 1857, that the idea of accieding to their wishes occurred to me,. as
upon a review of Dr. livingstone's trayels, I was led to believe that
my own might form a useful supplementary volume upon the
geography of Africa. Dr. Livingstone's travels, commencing at the
south and west, terminated on the coast of Mozambique, to which
^ I had penetrated from the north as &r as Gape Delgado, and a
comparison of my map with that of Dr. Livingstone wiU show Ihe
relative positions in which our researches stand to each other.

After a diligent perusal of my manuscript journals and papers,
written on the spot during my residence in Abessinia and Equatorial
Africa, I published in German the result of those labours which, in
consequence of the publication of Dr. Livingstone's long promised
narrative of his discoveries, it has been deemed advisable to present
to the English reader in a somewhat new and altered form, and with
numerous important additions and pictorial illustrations of the regions
described.

ICy calling, in which through all perils I have been so mercifully
preserved and upheld, enables me to set forth in their true light the
moral misery and d^;radation to whidi the heathen nations of East
Africa have fallen, and to point out the various routes by which these
benighted populations may be approached, and the means for their
elevation to Christian truth and Christian civilization be conveyed
to them. A vast area of country has been explored by myself, as
well as by my esteemed colleagues Messrs. Bebmann and Erhardt ;
hitherto unwritten languages have been reduced to writing, and the
way prepared for the establishment of missions ; the geographical
portion of our task in East Africa has been, as it were, all but
accamplished ; but, in the memorable words of Dr. Livingstone,
'Hhe end of the geographical feat is but the commencement of
missionary operations."

To some extent the labours of a missionary pioneer must ever form



xlyi nrTBODrcTioK.

a coatribiitioa to geographical and ethnologic^ science, if as should
always be the case, those missionarieB who enter unexplored wilds
become at the same time promoters of geographical knowledge by
carefdlly inTcatigating their relative positions, the course of rivers,
the altitode of mountains, dimate, and other essential peculiarities,
and more especially those whidi appertain to natural science and the
development of the human race.

In the case of East AMca such investigations cannot fiul to be the
forerunners of the most important changes, both in a commercial and
political point of view ; and at the present moment there is scarcely
any section of the less frequented portions of the globe so fdll of
interest as that to which these pages are devoted, abounding as it
does in natmal resources infinitely beyond those of other countries
into which European eommeroe and immigration have canied civil-
isation and the arts of peace. It ia true that the preebus metals
may be more abundant elsewhere; but what has the discovery of the
gold fields of Australia and America produced to make us regret
that, instead of these East AMca produces iron and coal, the surest
and most productiTe of mines in any country; is rich and fertile,
overflowing with milk and honey ; produces with but little toil rich
cereal crops; has cattle, poultry, eggs, in abundance; and coflee^
sugar, and tropical fruits — all almost for the gathering.

The great naval powers of the world are the first to recognise the
importance of these discoveries as connected with the Eastern coast
of AMca. At present the surface is tranquil, and peace prevails.
Win it remain so? A French squadron is talked of for Jedda or
Sonakin, and a line of transport steamers for the Bed Sea has long
been building. Egypt swarms with Frenchmen; every branch of
the Administration is Aill of them; and French influence, oonse*
quently, preponderates. The B<nnhaf €Um$tt$ reports — evidently
upon sufficient authority-- <tiiat a French missicm is on its way to
Gondar, and is even now in the Tigie country, to establidi the
claims of Franoe to the territory around Annesley Bay, or the Bay
of Adulis, said to have been ceded to her, if with no other and
less obvious object.

It was an opinion among the ancients that the coast of East AMca
was connected with that of India. Erroneous as this was, there is
certainly a great political truth involved in the supposition, inasmuch



DESieir AND PiJiK. xlvii

as the possessor of East AMca will have gained a first step towards
the dominion of India. Any farther knowledge, therefore, obtained
respecting East AMca, cannot fedl to interest Englishmen, as it may
be that the fitte of India itself will some day haye to be decided in the
burning solitades of AMoa, no less than in the rich plains of Asia.
IXo true TSngliftliniRn can henceforth be an indifferent spectator of
what is passing upon the eastern coast of Afiica, from the Isthmus
of 8ue2 to the Cape of Good Hope.

It would be quite prepofsteroua to urge that thereis no real political
danger to be appreheoded from the possession of these regions, be*
cause East AMca presents for.tbe most part, nothing bnt a barren,
harbonrless, and savage ooaat^nottobeinvadedwith prudence by any
goYeniment of Europe. It is true that AMca wears on all her coasts
a.f<nbidding aspect, Pfovidenoe having fuznished her weak nations
by this gnm phyaLognemy with the only weapon of strength which
they can oppose to the dominant Japhetic and Semetic races. But
we may be sure that no coast-baixier will ultimately prevent the
former from possessing the inland regions, in many places not inferior
infertility, beauty, aud healthfiilngss to any country upon the &ce of
the globe.

In claiming the reader's indulgence as to the style in whi<^ the
work is writtoQ, it may only be neceteary.to state that my^ joumab
and diaries were composed entirely for my own eye, in order to
enable me to place before the Churdi Missionary Society with-which
I waathen eouneeted, sueb details of the progress of the missicm at
Rabbai Mpia as could not Ml to interest the large and influential
class (^persons who, to England's g^ory, are to be numbered through-
out the land amongst the supporters of missionary endeavour to con-
vert the heathen. I believe, in.esohewing all desire to shine solely
as a literary man, to which I here make no pretenee, my narratiye
will gain in accuracy what it may thus lack in word painting,
that plastie el^;ance of diction which has of late distinguished the
writing! of modem traarellers.

In a £onner work,* published some years, ago, a full account was

* Jonmala of the Ber. Messrs. laenberg and Krap^ detailing their Fft>-
oeedxngB in the Kingdom of Shoa, and Jonmejs in other parts of Abyssinia,
in the years l6d9— 42, with a Geogpraphical Memoir of Abyssinia and South-
eastern Africa, by James MN}iieen, Bsq. London, 1^48. Pp. 529.



Zlviii IKT&ODrCTION.

given of the misaioiiary labours of my dear Mend and fellow-labourer
Missionary Isenberg and myself in Abessinia, to which Mr. McQueen
prefixed a geographical essay, which enables me to devote the more
space in the present volume to such facts as afterwards fell under my
own observation in Equatorial AMca, in regions previously untrodden
by any European. In doing this I have not deemed it necessary
to confirm, correct, or enlarge upon what )ias been brought together
by the Portuguese, who occupied the immediate sea-shore from lat.
2^ N. to lat. 20° S., any more than upon what has been recorded by
Captain Owen, who surveyed the East Afiican waters in 1 824 by order
of Government, or upon what has been communicated by M. Guillain,
who has described many parts of the eastern coast with great dili-
gence and accuracy. M. Guillain surveyed the east coast of AMca
in 1846 — 1848, by order of the Erench Government, and published
the results of his survey in 1857-1858, in which he brought for-
ward a vast amount of historical iacts connected with the ancient
history of the East A&ican continent, of which I have availed my-
self in the concise historical essay given by way of appendix.

Whilst these sheets were passing through the press news reached
me of the return of Major Burton and Captain Speke firom the inte-
rior of AMca to Europe, and some intelligence of their most inter-
esting discoveries will be found in ** Blackwood's Magazine,'' and in
the ** Proceedings of the Boyal G^graphical Society of London,"
preparatory to the publication of the entire narrative in a separate
form. The accounts of these courageous, persevering, and scientific
travellers bear in some important points very materially upon the
statements which I obtained in 1851 M)m the natives at TJkambani.
It is very remarkable that Captain Speke should have seen the great
lake which Eumu wa Xikandi, a native of Uemba, near the snow-
capped mountain Eegnia, mentioned to meunder the name '' Baringu,"
the end of which cannot be found, " even if you travel a hundred
days' distance along its shores," as my informant expressed himself.
Is is further remarkable that Captain Speke very properly name^ it
Victoria Nyanza, in honour of Her Majesty, after the mountain in
Mberre which, as will be found by subsequent travellers, presents
the nearest approadi from the coast of Mombaz to that lake, had been
called by me " Mount Albert," or Albertino, in honour of His Boyal
Highness the Prince Consort Thus, the one may be said to mark



COVCLXTDTSQ BBMA&KS. zlix

the spot, the other the nearest way by which it can be reached, on
which the greatest geographical problem of Africa, the discovery of
the sources of the Nile, will probably be solved under the auspices of
the English Grovemment.

It is most satis&ctory to fund that the reports of the natives made
to my fellow-labourers Eebmann and Erhardt, as to the existence of
a large inland ''bahari" or sea, are fully confirmed by the discovery
of the Yictoria Nyanza, or Ukerewe ; and although there is not
alone one *' bahari," or lake, but several, in Central South Africa —
the Tanganyika, the Niassa, and the Shirwa, the latter discovered
by Br. Livingstone— the presence of these great lakes proves the value
of the information thus obtained, even though, to the less critical
observation of the natives, aU these waters may have appeared as
filming one great and connected whole, as repres^ited in Erhardt's
chart. In reference to this £Bct I cannot do better than quote the
words of Captain Speke ; not a mere theorist, and drawer of maps,
caiiied away by some one cherished idea, but a man of practical
experience : —

"I must call attention to the marked &ct that the Church
missionaries residing for many years at Zanzibar are the prime and
first promoters of this discovery. They have been for years past
doing their utmost with simple sincerity to Christianize this negro
land, and promote a civilized and happy state of existence for these
benighted beings. During their sojourn among these blackamoors,
they heard from Arabs and others of many of the fiicts I have now
stated; but only in a confiised way, such as might be expected in
information derived fix)m an uneducated people. Amongst the more
important disclosures made by the Arabs was the constant reference
to a large lake or inland sea, which their caravans were in the habit
of visiting. It was a singular thing that at whatever part of the
eoast the missionaries arrived, on inquiring from the travelling
m^xchants where they went to, they one and all stated to an inland
sea, the dimensions of which were such, that nobody could give any
estimate of its length or width. The directions they travelled in
pointed north-west, west, and south-west, and their accounts
seemed to indicate a single sheet of water extending from the lane
down to 14^ 8. lat., a sea of about 840 miles in length, with an
assumed breadth of 200 to 800 miles. In fact, from this great oom-

d



1 IirTEODUCnOK.

binatiaii of testimony that water lay generally in a continuouB line
from the Equator up to 14^ S. lat., and from not being able to gain
information of there being any territorial separations to the said
water, they naturally and, I may add, fortunately, created that
monster slug of an inland sea which so much attracted the attention
of the geographical world in 1855-1856, and oaused onr being sent
out to Africa. The good that may result from this little but happy
accident will, I trust, prove proportionately as large and fruitful as
the produce from the symbolical grain of mustard seed ; and nobody
knows or believes in this more frdly than one of the chief promoters
of this exciting investigation, Mr. Eebmann.''

In concluding these remarks I may be permitted to record several
wishes which I have much at heart, in the first place expressing my
warmest thanks to the Church Missionary Society, and especially to
its excellent secretary, the Eev. Mr. Yenn. As long as I was con-
nected with that Society, from 1837 to 1855, its committee treated me
most kindly and liberally, and with the greatest sympathy, under
all circumstances. I also wish to offer my sincerest thanks to Charles
Yoimg, Esq. of London, for the assistance he has given to the East
African Mission in various ways, and particularly do I publicly
thank the Eeverend Mr. Olive of St. Lawrence Bectory, Welwyn,
for the handsome provision he made for me during a period of six
years.

I would recommend my dear colleague, Mr. Bebmann, who, with
his noble-hearted wife, continues labouring in solitude among the
crooked and perverse generation of Wanika, at Babbai Mpia, to the
prayers and sympathies of missionary friends m England. Accord-
ing to the latest intelligence received from him, his missionary hopes
and prospects are more reassuring than they were some years since ;
his labours of faith, love, and patience, cannot be lost, and He who
has asked of the Father to give him the heathen for an inheritance,
and who died once unto sin an offering for the whole world, and
now liveth unto God, the Mediator for all, will in due time lay the
Wanika also prostrate before His cross by the instrumentality of the
Gospel, unceasingly preached to the heathen.

I would strenuously recommend Bishop Gobat's Mission in Abes-
sinia, as well as the objects of the so called Aposties' Street, which I
have specified in pages 133 and 214. But last, and above all, I



COKCLVDING BBMABKS. 11

would urge the searching out of the numerous Christian remnants,
scattered over several countries in the south of Abessinia, as in
Guragne, Eambat, Wolamo, EafGei, and other places. I am indeed
so much interested in this great object, that, had I a sufficiency of
piivate means, or were I supported by a private individual, or a
Missionary Society, I would to-morrow give up the com&rts of home
and the duties of my new and agreeable office, would reach down
once more my pilgrim's staff, and return again to the wilds of Eastern
AMca. Having the advantage of a knowledge of the Abessinian
language and those of Equatorial East AMca, and knowing the
habits and condition of the people, as well as the various routes
leading to those scattered Christian tribes, I have not the least
doubt that» with the blessing of Providence, success would attend
the undertaking. What a glorious object would it be, if those un-
fortunate and benighted fellow Christians, who are closed in in their
mountains by barbarous tribes, could be sought out, revived by the
pure Word of Gfod, and be rendered the centre of light to the surround-
ing heathen. Would not these revived tribes become spiritual rivers
to irrigate the arid wastes of surrounding heathenism ? Who among
the wealthy Christians and among the Mends of missions and science
wiU take this special object to heart? Who will stretch out his
helping hand to rekindle the dying lamp of the faith of our fellow
Christians in the interior of AMca ? Who will lay down his sub-
stance, not to say his life, for our brethren perishing from want of
the saving knowledge of the Gospel ?

With a fervent prayer for the spread of the Gospel throughout the
world, I bid the reader God speed.

The Aitthob.



BxHEK, vjBAS Basel,
IH May, 1860.



PART I.



RESEARCHES AND MISSIONARY LABOURS.



EXTRACTS FROM JOTIENALS, ETC.



RESEARCHES AND MISSIONARY LABOURS.



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS.



CHAPTER I.

ACTOBIOOBAPHICAL.

A PBOVIUJUTIAL fiUISAirCB IX IHB UR OV HAIT.

WE trace, it is said, the impressions, yiews, and
teachings of the child in the after-career of the man
influencing his pursuits and giying them a fixed
direction. In my case, at least, this was no paxa-
doxy and by way of illiDstratioii I woidd place before
the reader a short sketch of my early life before I
became attached to the East African Mission.

My father^ whose circumstances were easy, followed
farming and Hved in the village of Derendingen,
near TiLbingen, where I was bom on the 11th of
January ISIO, and baptized by the name of
Ludwig, the wrestler, no inapt appellation for one
who was destined to become a soldier of the Cross.
Many were my providential escapes in childhood



a AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.

fcom dangers which beset my path, from falling into
the mill-stream which flowed through the village,
from accidents with fire-arms, or falls from trees in
the eager pursuit of birds' nests. The inborn evil
nature of the child was somewhat held in check by a
nervous susceptibility, and the consequent dread I
experienced in witnessing the contest of the elements
in storms, or which shook my frame at the sight of
the dead and the grave, or even when reading or
listening to the narratives of the torments of the
wicked in hell. On these occaaions I secretly
vowed to lead a pious life for the friture ; though,
childlike, I soon forgot the promise when the exciting
cause had passed away, as is ever the case through-
out life with the natural, unregenerated heart of
man. Thus, but for an apparently trivial event in my
boyhood, though in it I grateftdly recognise the
chastening Hand of the great Teacher, the evil of
my nature might have choked the good seed with its
tares, or destroyed it altogether. When eleven
years old I was so severely beaten by a neighbour
for a fault which I had not committed, that it brought
on a serious illness of six months' duration. Left to
myself my thoughts dwelt much upon eternity ; and
the reading of the Bible and devotional books became
my delight, particularly such portions of the Old
Testament as recorded the history of the patriarchs
and their intercourse with the Creator ; and when I
read of Abraham conversing with the Almighty, an
earnest desire arose in my breast that I too might be
permitted to listen to the voice of the Most High,



AUTOBIOGSAPHICAL. 3

even as did the prophets and apostles of old. If this
reading resulted in nothing better, at all events it
made me desirous to master the historical portions
of the Bible. Nor was this knowledge thrown
away; for in the autumn of 1822, during the
period of mj conyalescence, I was in the habit
of repeating to the reapers many of the stories
of the Bible, so earnestly and vividly, that more
than one of them would say to my parents, ^^ Mark
my words, Ludwig will some day be a parson."
Chance, some might suggest, soon led the bias of
my mind in that direction, if it were possible for
a moment to deny a Providential guidance in the
events of our lives, quite compatible with man's free-
will ; and in my career this guidance is the more
evident, because just such trifling and seemiagly
unimportant circumstances have governed its whole
course. In the early part of the year 1823, on going
to Tiibingen to buy a new almanack, my sister,
miiBtaking the house, instead of that to which she had
been directed for the purpose, called at the dwelling
of the widow of a former vicar, whose son attended
the grammar-school of the city. Of kindly disposi-
tion, and having no false pride the lady entered into
conversation with her lowly visitor, and amongst
other things inquired if she had any brothers and
sisters ; and learning that besides two elder brothers
she had one younger, then in his thirteenth year, she
asked if he had any knowledge of arithmetic. To this
my sister could reply with a safe conscience in the
affirmative; upon which the widow said at once,

B



4 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.

^^ I should very much like to see the lad ; he may be
able to teach my son arithmetic, go to the grammar-
school, and perhaps in time study for the Church/'
My sister replied that she would bring me to
see the lady, but added, " We are only simple
&xmers; so a« to grammar-school, and studying
for the Church, I think there will be but little
chance of ^at." "Never mind," said the lady,
"farmer or no farmer, Adam himself was a fjax-
mer ; let me see your brother and talk to him my-
self." Full of the bright prospect which she saw
opening for her yoimg brother my sister returned
home, and after a while the consent of the whole
family was obtained to the proposition; whilst in
the joy of the moment I promised to labour night
and day with zeal and industry, and prove to them
all that I was not unworthy of so much love and
aflFection. Accordingly, a day or two afterwards, I
accompanied my sister to the house of the clergy-
man's Vidow who, pleased wiA my boyish a^L
to her questions, urged again strongly the import-
ance of my being sent at once to the grammar-
school. My father, involved in some law proceed-
ings, saw as it were in his mind's eye, in his son a
rising lawyer capable of bringing these suits to a
successful issue. With that ambition he took me
with him to Tiibingen in order to be examined by
the rector of the Anatolian School. The rector
Kaufinann gave me a Latin book to read, to test my
familiarity with the characters of the language,
which I had taught myself during my six months'



AUTOBIOOBAPHICAL. 5

illness, and pleased with the performance promised
to place me at the bottom of the school, adding by
way of encouragement that something might be
made of me, if my father would countenance the
scheme of my going to college. ^^ Let him come to
school at eight o^clock to-morrow morning," he
said, ^^ and bring with him a Latin grammar and
the other books put down on this list, and we will
make a beginning." The books were bought before
we left Tubingen that day, and as a proof of earnest
zeal, after our return home I learnt the first declen-
sion, mensay and rose as early as three o'clock in the
morning to master the second, reaching the school
long before eight o'clock, and was placed by the
under-master on the lowest form, along witii boys
but nine years old, which to a great boy of thirteen,
Bs I then was, coidd not fail to make me feel a little
abashed and to experience a morbid shame at my
ignorance. But this very shame stood me in good
stead by making me the more desirous to l^am, to
be placed in the class above me with boys of my
own age. The early morning always found me on
my road to Tubingen with satchel on my back, in
which besides my books were a bottle of sweet
must and a great hunch of bread, which were to
constitute my simple mid-day's jneal, and which
I quickly consumed between twelve and one o'clock,
under the willows on the banks of the Neckar, in
order more leisurely to devour my Latin grammar
and Scheller's vocabulary, which I soon learnt by
heart. In doing this, I was impelled by a desire to

B 2



6 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.

imprint as many words as possible on my memory ;
and in after-trmes, when I wished to acquire any
new and hitherto unknown tongue, I found this
by far the most desirable method of proceeding.
For a time this was my daily cotirse ; but such a
frugal way of life could not long endure without in-
jury to my health, and it was then arranged that I
should return home daily to a hot dinner. This
necessitated a threefold journey, morning, noon,
and eyening, from Derendingen and back again,
but it laid the foundation of that strong health which
during my career as a Missiontoy I enjoyed for so
many years.

My diligence met its reward, and at the end ot
six months I was at the head of my class; and
before the close of the year was placed on the
third form, the rector not considering it necessary
that I should remain longer in the lower school.
I was becoming a good Latin scholar, and speedily
removed to the fourth form, where I became a
Grecian, and rose to be top boy of the class, my
teachers expressing themselves well pleased with my
general conduct and progress. Yet even while every-
thing on the surface seemed bright and frdl ot
promise, how joyless, how void of peace the heart !
Such perishable knowledge lQ sufficed to hold my
self-love, vain glory, and ambition in check; to
yield true peace, or to regenerate a heart whose
chief craving was after the imperishable — after its
long-cheiished desire of immediate intercourse with
God ! His countenance was still obscured and kept



AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL* 7

from me notwithstanding all my resolutions, as I
wandered daily backwards and forwards between
Derendingen and Tubingen, always to walk spotless
in His sight, and to keep His image ever before me I
Whilst I was still on the lowest form, my father
bought me an atlas of the world, and well do I
recollect wondering why there should be so few
names of places put down in the districts of Adal
and Somali in the map of Eastern Africa, and I
said to myself, ^^ Is there then so great a desert
yonder, still untrodden by the foot of any European ?
What, too, if it is full of hyaenas ?" for of these I
had just been reading in an odd volimie of Brace's
Travels, which had been lent me by a bookseller in the
town. How curious that such a thought shoidd have
been instilled into the mind of a child, who in man-
hood was to be the means of expanding the know-
ledge of those very regions of which then so little
was known! My desire for travel was greatly
fostered by the study of geography, and by reading
voyages and travels, and when in my fourteenth
year my future course of life was discussed in the
fEunily circle, I expressed an ardent desire to
become " the captain of a ship, and to visit foreign
lands." Much as my father would have preferred
my being either a lawyer or a clergyman, he
respected the evident bias of his child, and made
the necessary inquiries as to the cost of apprentice-
ship and outfit, only giving up the scheme upon
finding that the expense would be greatly beyond
his means. This was a great disappointment to me.
Neither law nor physic were to my mind ; divinity



8 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.

wajs less objectionable ; but I dreaded tbe learning of
Hebrew with its repulsive-looking characters and
unfsimiliar sounds. I still continued zealously the
study of Greek and Latin and of general know-
ledge, adding to these also the commencement of
French and Italian.

Whilst so engaged again a seemingly unimportant
circumstance helped to fix m^ future career. When
I was in my fifteenth year the rector read an essay
to the whole school on the spread of Christianity
amongst the heathen, in which it was explained what
missions were, how they were conducted, and what
great good they had achieved in various parts of the
world since the beginning of the present century.
It was the first time I had heard of missions amongst
the heathen, and the idea assumed a definite form in
my mind, so that, boy-like, I asked myself, " Why
not become a missionary, and go and convert the
heathen?" But then qidckly arose the inquiry,
^^ How can he preach the Gospel to the heathen, upon
whose heart its seeds have fallen as upon stony places?"
Oft and oft would the words of the parable of the
sower pass through my mind, impelling me to read the
Bible with greater earnestness, and to pray for a quick-
ening knowledge of it. It was the earnest prayer of
one who knew not yet how to pray, but it was not
uttered in vain. The Eaater holidays of 1825 were
at hand, and as I walked homewards fix)m Tubingen
the thought arose in my mind with the force of a com-
mand, ^^ to go to Basel and announce myself willing
to devote my life to the labours of a missionary."
The matter was discussed at home and met with the



AUTOBIOGBAPHICAL. 9

ready approval of my mother and sister, and, fitr-
nished by the former with a letter of introduction to
Missionary Inspector Blimihardt, whom she had
known and respected when he was vicar of Deren-
dingen, I made the journey to BmcI by way of
Schafihausen on foot, and returned home in the
same manner taking the road through Freiburg.
The Inspector kindly recognised my zeal; but
pointed out to me the first requisite for the calling
of an evangelist, the renewal of the heart, as still
wanting ; yet added, by way of encouragement, that
as I wa» yet too young to be received into the
Missionary College, I should return home for the
present, continue my studies, and cidtivate the
acquaintance of Christian Mends in Tubingen and
its neighbourhood ; and above all, let the search after
gospel truth and a knowledge of my own heart be
my chief care, waiting patiently till I shoidd receive
a call to enter the Missionary Institute as a labourer
in the Lord^s vineyard. I resolved to be guided by
this sage counsel ; but previous to my return home I
obtained permission to spend a week at the Institute,
and here it waa that for the first time in my life I
became acquainted with true Christians, who upon
their knees prayed beside me, and some of whom
became my special firiends, in whose subsequent cor-
respondence with me after my return to Tubingen I
found the greatest solace and blessing.

In 1826 I entered the fifth and highest form of the
Anatolian School, and privately devoted myself to
the study of Hebrew with such diligence that before



10 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.

long I had read the greater portion of the Old
Testament in the original. During that period I
made the acquaintance of a dear friend and thorough
Christian, to whose intercourse I perhaps owe it,
that after my return from Basel I did not become a
backslider from the earnest desire I had to render
myself worthy to be a missionary. It is a true
saying that ^^ man can only become man amongst
his fellows;" but it is also no less true that ^^a
Christian can only be formed amongst Christians."
It is amongst them that a yomig Christian first
becomes conscious of his own spiritual wants by
witoessing the feith, patience, and constancy of aged
persons in the various trials of life; and to such
society I was introduced by the friend to whom I
owe so much, and by that intercourse I was in a
maimer better qualified to accept the summons to
the Missionary College at Basel, which when it
reached me in 1827 fiUed me with inexpressible joy.
At first my father wa^ opposed to his son "being
buried alive," as he said, " in a foreign land ;" but
he gave way at length to my earnest pleading,
backed as it was by my mother and sister, who
plainly saw in all the finger of God pointing out the
course I was to pursue, and he himself accompanied
me to Basel. There I remained for two years,
during which I made a stealthy acquaintance with
the forbidden writings of such mystics as Madame
Guion and Jacob Behmen, which took such a hold
upon my excited imagination and so imbued me with
their fanatic enthusiasm, that I abandoned the idea



AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 1 1

of becoming a missionary and returned home,
intending to give up study, and to labour with my
hands as more conducive to happiness and a truly
religious life, according to the pernicious doctrines
I had imbibed. My parents and family combated
the notion, not on religious grounds, of which they
were incapable of judging, but on account of the
cost of my education and the disgrace it would be
to the whole family, if having been brought up with
reference to a learned profession, I were to sink
again to the level of a mere tiller of the soil. Much
against my will I returned to college, completed my
studies, and was ordained; then entered upon the
curacy of Wolfenhausen, but which in consequence of
a sermon, in which I had represented the world to be
in the last quarter of its twelfth and final hour,
giving imibrage to the Consistory, I resigned for
a private tutorship. So it is, gold is purified by fire ;
and those were years of severe and painfiil struggle ;
but they brought with them at its close the restora-
tion of my former healthy tone of mind, and the
dismissal fix)in it of the doubts which had so long
threatened its peace.

It was about this period that I again met my
friend the missionary Fjelstadt, with whom I
had been intimate at Basel, and who was but
just returned from Smyrna, where he had been
stationed as a missionary. He pleaded the cause of
the missions, urging me to accept that at Smyrna,
and enter again upon the course of life which I had
abandoned in 1829. I took time to reflect, calling



12 AUTOBIOGEAPHICAL*

prayer to my aid, and arrived at the joyful convic-
tion that I ought again to dedicate myself to the ser-
vice of missions, and find in the starting-point of my
career its goal and resting-place. Fjelstadt was
delighted with my decision, and brought me into
commmiication with the English Church Missionary
Society with which he was himself connected. The
wish of the Society was that I should remain for a
time in the Missionary College, and await the
further orders of the committee. In the autumn of

1836 Mr. Coates, the secretary, came to Basel, and
during his stay at the Mission-house tidings were
received that Missionary Knoth, who was to have
accompanied Blumhardt to Abessinia, had died sud-
denly at Cairo. The vacant post was offered to me,
and having accepted it I gave up the study of
Turkish and modem Greek, which I had commenced
during my second residence in Basel with a view-to
Smyrna, which Fjelstadt had originally indicated
as my destination, and applied myself to iBthiopic
and Amharic, and above all to the perusal of the
history of Ethiopia by Ludolf, who has not inaptly
been called the Strabo of Abessinia. In February

1837 I set out on my long and difficult journey to
Abessinia, the land of my youthful dreams and aspi-
rations ; ^et it waa not witW tears at parti^^
with fear and trembling, that I took up my pilgrim's
staff, and bid adieu to many and dear Mends and to
the home of my childhood.



13



CHAPTER IL

TO ADOWA AND ANEOBEB.

CoTiimenceinent of the journey — Storm off Candia — ^Alexandria and
Cairo — ^The Eed Sea and its navigation — The Canal of the Isthmus
of Suee — Jidda — Arab navigation — Massowa — The Shohos —
Initiation into the dangers of AMcan travel — ^Rescue — ^Entry
into Abessinia — Arrival at Adowa, the capital of Tigre and seat
of the Abessiiiian mission — ^Interview with the Prince of Tigre—
Native hostility to the mission — ^Airival of Boman Catholic priests
and its consequences — The author and his companions have to quit
Tigre — ^Betum of the missionaries to Cairo — The author resolves
to penetrate to Shoa — ^Return to Cairo— A missionary sheikh and
his slaves — ^Tajuna — ^The "Afer'* and Ophir — ^Re-entry into
Abessinia — The Desert of Adal — ^Narrow escape £rom a hysena —
Arrival at Ankober, the capital of Shoa.

My ultimate destinatioii was Adowa, the capital of
Tigre, and seat of the Abessinian mission conducted
by my Mends Isenbei^ and Blumhardt. Reaching
Malta from Marseilles I embarked in an Austrian sail-
ing vessel for Alexandria, and when off Candia a storm
arose of greater violence than our captain declared
he had experienced for forty years. Unaccustomed as
I was to the sea I consoled myself with the thought
that the greatest of all missionaries, the apostle
Paul, had been exposed to similar peril in those
waters and had been preserved by the mercy of



14 TO ADOWA AND ANKOBEE.

God. I cast myself on His protecting power with
child-like and trusting prayer, which so strength-
ened me that I was enabled to sustain my terrified
fellow-voyagers, among whom was a French actress,
greatly by reading aloud the narrative of the pro-
phet Jonah, and of the disciples of our Lord when
they were in danger on the Sea of Galilee* The
impression produced by the Word of God in the
hour of need on one of my fellow-voyagers was first
made known to me thirteen years afterwards. When
I WM residing in London in 1850 after my first
return fi:om Africa, a gentleman one day entered my
room and addressing me, said : " Do you remember
that storm on our way to Alexandria, and your read-
ing out of the Word of God to your fellow-voyagers ?"
I answered in the aflSrmative, and the stranger, who
had been a doctor of laws at Malta, then told me
that after his return fi:om Egypt he had procured a
Bible, and feeling the power of the gospel on his
heart, he had been impelled to hold prayer-meet-
ings in Malta, which had brought upon him persecu-
tion at the hands of the Romish priests, and forced
him to leave that island, from whence he had come
to England.

Proceeding from Alexandria to Cairo I was
hospitably received at the latter place by the mis-
sionaries Kruse and Lieder, with whom I remained
until September, preparing for my Abessinian jour-
ney chiefly by the study of colloquial Arabic, in
which I made such progress during those few months
that in the autumn I was able to continue my journey



TO ADOWA Am) ANKOBER. 15

to Habesh* without an interpreter. What most gra-
tified me even among the many sights in Egypt, was
the flourislnng missionary school at Cairo in which
many Coptic, Armenian, and Mohammedan children
were receiving instruction. From Cairo to Suez there
was in those days neither road, pubKc conveyance,
nor railway, and I travelled Arab fashion on a cameL
Striking, too, is the contrast between the Suez of fif-
teen years later with those days when steam com-
munication with Bombay was yet in its infancy.

No navigable river flows into the Red Sea, which
is fiill of sunken rocks and sand-banks, that are in-
creasingthroughthegrowthofcoralreefs. Thenavi-
gation is difficult and dangerous, and of the many
harbours but few are safe, so that in most cases ships
of large burden must anchor far out at sea. I do
not think, therefore, that the Red Sea will attain
more importance, even through the much-talked-of
canal across the Isthmus of Suez. In my opinion
the great advantage to be derived from the success
of this scheme will not be so much in the acqui-
sitions which commerce may derive from the Red
Sea and the countries on its shores, as in the ex-
tension of European polity and civilization to Arabia,
Abessinia, and the whole of South-Eastem Africa.
It will weaken Mohammedanism in the land of its
birth, Arabia, and on the African coast; tend to sup-
press the Arabian slave-trade, and subjugate East-
African heathenism by Christianity and its civiliza-
tion; and finally, open up immense and noble regions

* Abessinia.



16 TO ADOWA AND ANKOBER.

in southern Abessinia and among the Galla^i to thou-
sands of European emigrants when America, Aus-
tralia, and Tasmania cease to attract them.

From Suez I sailed in an Arabian vessel to
Jidda, one of the most flourishing ports of the Red
Sea, with large, lofty and solid houses, and many
rich inhabitants, which since the English occupa-
tion of Aden, has thriven by the Arabian and Indian
trade, while Mokha has declined. I was at first
much struck by the Arabian practice of halting on
the vo3rage during the night, and laying-to in some
haven or anchoring place ; but was soon convinced
of the necessity of the step, which is caused partly
by the many rocks in the Red Sea, partly and
chiefly by the unskilfulness of the Arab sailors, which
is, indeed, so great, that it is always hazardous to
trust one's self in an Arabian vessel. I have had good
reason to note that £a>ct in my many voyages
during eighteen years on both shores of the Red Sea,
as well as on the south coast of Arabia, and on the
east shores of AMca, as &x as the tenth degree of
southern latitude, for often have I been in danger of
shipwreck and destruction ! On the other hand, the
Arabian mode of voyaging has, it must be confessed,
its advantages, the chief of which is that the
traveller can continually visit and become acquainted
with new regions. Reaching Jidda in twenty-two
days, I embarked thence for Massowa, an island
and chief sea-port of the Abessinian coast, where
I arrived in December, 1837. Before prosecuting
my journey into Abessinia I had, according to



TO ADOWA IlSB AKKOBER. 17

the usual custom, to repair to Harkiko or Dohono,
the chief place of the Mohammedan Shohos of the
main-land, whose Naib reqxdred the propitiation of
a present before leave was granted to traverse his
dominions* The Naib is appointed by the Governor of
Massowa and rules the nomadic and pastoral Shohos,
nominally as the representative of the Porte. A bar-
gain was struck and I received an escort of four
soldiers to conduct me through the Shoho country
to the foot of the mountain Shumfeito. At first all
went well ; but when the camels which had carried
my baggage had set out on their return to Har-
kiko I was obliged to hire thirty-one oxen from
the Shohos of the mountain to transport my
effects over the Shumfeito, six thousand feet in
height. Then began the tumult which was to initiate
me into the mysteries of African travel ; the savage
Shohos demanded a much larger than the stipulated
sum, and when I refused to pay it they withdrew
with the chiefs to their mountains, reckoning on
my helpless plight. On the third day a terrible
war-shout was heard from the heights, and the
Shohos, descending in great numbers, ranged them-
selves in battle array a himdred paces in front
of our tents. I was rather alarmed, and the soldiers
of the Naib showed the white feather, and asked for
powder and ball. A couple of shots in the air kept
the enemy from approaching nearer our extempore
fortificationis of piled-up chests, behind which we
calmly awaited their onslaught. At the moment
of the greatest danger^ however, there suddenly



18 TO ADOWA AND ANKOBEB.

appeared upon the scene a Wiirtemberg officer, Herr
Kielmaier, with sixty Abessinians sent by my dear
fellow-labourer, Missionary Isenberg, to meet me at
the foot of the Shumfeito, and to bring my ba^age
to Adowa. Haying struck a bargain with the Shohos,
at length we reached Halai, the first Christian
village on the Abessinian frontier. The entry into
Abessinia had a singular effect on me ; the bracing
air which I was breathing on a height 6000 feet
above the sea, the noble prospect eastward and
westward, the consciousness of being again in a
country, Christian, it may be only in name, the
thought that I should soon be at the end of my long
and toilsome journey, and reach the place in which I
was to labour for the kingdom of God, aU com-
blued to rai«e my spirits in an exixaordinaxy degree.
On the way from Halai, indeed, all was not smooth,
obstructions being thrown in our path by the enemies
of the Protestant mission at Adowa, who were an-
noyed by the arrival of another Protestant mission-
ary. But I escaped these troubles in some measure by
having hastened forward in advance of my party to
greet as soon as possible my fellow-labourers, Isenberg
and Blumhardt.

Soon after my arrival in Adowa I accompanied my
friends Isenberg and Blumhardt to pay a visit to
Ubie, the Prince of Tigre, who received me very
kindly, and gave me promises of protection, which
were not kept. The priests and chief men of Tigre
disliked the Protestant mission, partly from bigotry,
partly from unsatisfied gfjeed. Before my arrival



Ta ADOWA AND ANKOBER. 19

Isenberg, the senior of the mission, had begun to build
a new house which he thought necessary. In digging
for the foundation and for building materials a deep
excavation was made, and the enemies of the mission
asserted that we were maJdng a subterranean pas-
sage, through which English soldiers and guns were
to be brought for the conquest of Abessinia. But the
ultimate cause of our expulsion was the arrival of two
Frenchmen, the brothers D'Abbadie,* accompanied
by two Roman Catholic priests. The hostility of the
latter strengthened the hands of the chief priest
of Adowa, who requested from Ubie the expulsion of
the Protestant missionaries, and the retention of
the Roman Catholics, these having asserted that they
were of the same family of Christians as the Abes-
sinians themselves. We might have remained had
we chosen to offer the prince a present greater than
that which he had received from the Roman Catholics ;
but such a course we deemed an unworthy one, and
after a residence of scarcely two months, I had to
quit the land in which I would so willingly have
striven to spread the Gospel. Many of the Bibles
which I had brought to Adowa were destroyed by the
Abessinian priests, undoubtedly at the instigation
of the Roman Catholics ; but many which had been
distributed among the other provinces of Abessinia,
it was out of their power to destroy. The new
mission-house remained tmfinished, and graduaUy

* MM. D'Abbadie were personally obliging and Mindly toward
tihe missionaiies, who highly yalued and readily acknowledged their
intellectual gifts and zeal for AMcan discoTery.

C



20 TO ADOWA AND ANKOBER.

fell into decay ; but its habitable portion was taken
possession of by the Alaka, or chief priest^ who had
long regarded it with a covetous eye.

It was in the March of 1838, that we quitted Adowa,
reaching Massowa in safety. There we took counsel
as to our future movements, and Isenberg and Blum-
hardt resolved on returning to Cairo to await the de-
cision of the committee in London. I determined on
penetrating to the Christian kingdom of Shoa, whose
friendly ruler, Sahela Selassie, had formerly sent
a messenger to Isenberg inviting him to visit his
dominions. My original intention was to journey
from Zeila, a town on the Somali coast, to Shoa;
but circumstances led me to modify my plan. Pro-
ceeding with my friends to Jidda, I sailed thence
in a Persian ship to Mokha. On board this Persian
vessel I had ample opportunities of studying the mode
in which the Mohammedans force on their new slaves
the religion of their prophet. A sheikh kept show-
ing some Galla boys the bowings and genuflexions of
Mohammedan prayer, and, in fact, the whole mechan-
ism of his worship. When the poor slaves, who
scarcely understood a word of Arabic, *did not ape
to his satisfaction the forms shown them the sheikh
broke out in abusive language, or boxed their
ears. At Mokha I foimd that the proper landing-
place from which to penetrate to Shoa was Ta-
jurra on the Adal coajst. Severe illness, how-
ever, compelled my return to Cairo, and it was not
imtil the early spring of 1839 that I reached, in
the company of my fellow-labourer, Isenberg,



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TO ADOWA AND ANKOBER. 21

my new starting-point, Tajurra, or Tagun«, which
lies in a great plain on the shore of a beau-
tiful bay stretching inward from the village itself,
and separating the countries of the Somali and the
Adal. Since Aden has been occupied by the English
the inhabitants have added a slight timber trade to
their traffic with Arabia and Shoa. TiU very lately,
this was a place whence many slaves, especially
Gallas and Christians from Grurague, were sold and
shipped to Arabia. The old Sultan of Tajurra
who, after consultation with his vizier, had given us
permission to land, affected to be the king of all the
Adal tribes, but his sovereignty was at the best of
a mere nominal kind. The Adal call themselves
in their own language ^^Afer," reminding us of
the Hebrew Ophir. Adal is the Abessinian name,
and Danakil, the Arabic designation for the Afer
nation.

I was detained nearly four weeks at Tajurra,
negotiating the cost of transport with the natives.
At last on the 27th of April 1839 we set forth,
and I was about to become personally acquainted
with the country which I had found so barren and
empty in the map in my boyhood. As we pene-
trated the Adal desert we suffered much from heat
and want of water, and saw few hmnan beings or
habitations. Besides gazelles and ostriches there
were few wild animals; yet once we were disturbed
by elephants, of which camels are dreadfully afraid.
On the 29th of May we crossed the river Hawash
and bivouacked in the open air on its woody bank

c 2



22 TO ADOWA AND ANKOBER.

where there are many wild beasts. While we were
all asleep, even the watchers, a hyaena glided so
near oiir resting-places that we might have grasped
it with our hands. It was in the morning we first
noticed that it had been there by the foot-prints
left in the sand, and we thanked God for His re-
markable mercy. On the 31st of May we reached
Dinomali on the frontier, where the customs officers
and frontier governors inspected our luggage. A
report was forthwith despatched to the king of
Shoa announcing that the two " Gypzis," as Euro-
peans are called in Abessinia, had arrived. No
foreigner is allowed either to enter or to quit Shoa
without the permission of the king ; so, until it came
we remained in'Ferri at the foot of the moimtain-
land. When the requisite permission had arrived
we began to traverse the hill-region of Shoa on the
2nd of Jime, and on the 3rd we ascended the lofty
mountain on which lies the capital, Ankober.



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23



CHAPTER III.

RESIDENCE IN SHOA.

Eeception by the King of Shoa — ^His promises and character — ^The
missionaries open school — ^Departure of Isenberg — The Gallas
— ^The sources of the Hawash, and M. Eochet's Teracity — ^Thq
author's participation in the king's expeditions against the Gkdlas,
and its fruits — The rebellious Ghdlas and their country — Journey
to Debra Libanos and geographical notes — ^Arriral of Major Harris
and the English mission — ^The author's relations with the king
and the envoy — Success and failure of the mission — ^Major
Harris's " Highlands of ^Ethiopia" — The advantages of a connec-
tion between England and Shoa — ^The king, and his father's
dream — ^What might have been and may yet be.

On the 7th of June we had an audience of the
king, Sahela Selassie, who gave us a very friendly-
reception, and to whom we explained the purely
religious purpose of our mission, and on the 6th
of July accompanied him by his own express
desire to Angolala, the second capital of Shoa,
which lies in the immediate neighbourhood of the
Gralla tribes. He promised to give us in accord-
ance with our request six boys to educate; but
afterwards retracted his word, on the pretext
that he did not need spiritual teachers so much as
doctors, masons, smiths, &c. He was so fond of
artisans that he often visited the workshops of the
weavers, gun-makers, and smiths, to watch their



24 RESIDENCE IN SHOA.

operations, which had to be altered if not pleasing
to him. In July we repaired by the king's com-
mand to Ankober, where we were to take up our
abode. After we had long vainly entreated Sahela
Selassie for boys to educate, we determined to re-
ceive any one who should voluntarily oflFer himself.
Several boys soon presented themselves, and amongst
them one, Guebra Greorgis by name, who had capa-
city and took delight in learning. I read with
him the Amharic Bible and instructed him besides
in Geography and History to his great deUght.
On the 12th of November Isenberg left us with
the intention of returning to Cairo and Europe,
to prepare Amharic works for the press, and to
superintend the printing of them in London. His
departure made a very sad impression on me, then
the only surviving missionary in Shoa. Shortly
before his departure, M. Rochet arrived in Shoa and
brought with him a powder-mill and other valuable
presents, which made his visit very acceptable to
the king. Of this gentleman more hereafter.

On the 13th of November the king returned from
his campaign against the Gallas in Muger. On a
mountain he had found Christians and Churches,
severed by the Gallas in the lowlands from the
Church of Shoa. Christian remnants of the kind
are to be met with here and there in the Galla
countries. After the departure of Isenberg I began
to learn the Gttlla language in the hope of visiting
as soon as possible a people so widely spread in
Africa, and of foimding a mission among them. - As



RESIDENCE IN 8H0A. 25

the Romanist missionary said, ^^ Give us China
and Asia is ours;" so may we say, "Give us the
Gallas and Central Africa is ours." In translating
the New Testament into the Galla language I made
use of the Roman alphabet, which gave great dis-
pleasure to the Abessinians, who would have pre-
ferred my selection of the JEthiopic. From the com-
mencement of my residence in Shoa I made particular
inquiries respecting everything connected with the
Gallas, their religious notions, manners, and cus-
toms, their geographical extension, &c., and I ac-
companied the king on several military expeditions
against the tribes in the South. The first cam-
paign which I thus made in January and February
1840 led me into the territories of the tribes of
the Abeju, Woberi, G^lan, Dembichu, Finfini,
where there are hot springs with much sulphur
in them, and of the Mulofalada, Metta Robi, Wogidi,
Metta and Kuttai, all Gallas.

In the country of the last-named tribe, M. Rochet
and I who accompanied the expedition made in-
quiries of the king respecting the source of the river
Hawash, asking whether he would not extend the
expedition to that point. The king answered, that
so &r as he knew, there was between the Galla
tribes Soddo, Becho, Woreb, and Mecha, a boggy
country in which the river takes its rise ; but that
his men would not on that occasion press so
for forward. And, indeed, on the very same day
the king gave orders for a return to Angolala by
another route, so that M. Rochet and I were deprived



26 RESIDENCE IN 8H0A.

of the satisfection of mating an important discovery.
In spite of this, in the book of travels which he after-
wards published M. Rochet asserted that he had
seen the som*ces of the Hawash, and that the king
had sent an escort to accompany him thither. Both
assertions are completely false. Alas! such uncon-
scientious statements are too common on the part of
travellers, who huddle up a book and obtain honours
and emoluments at the expense of geographical
truth. M. Rochet once said to me in the course of
that expedition, "M. Ej:tipf, we must assert that we
have seen the sources of the Hawash." When I re-
plied that that would not be true, and that we had
not seen them, he rejoined with a smile, "Oh! we
must \>Q philosqphea ! "

Our participation in these expeditions of the king,
which lasted from two to three weeks, and thus
Oid not cause me to be long absent from my
school at Ankober, was useftd in various ways, as I
became more intimately acquainted with the South-
em GaUas, and formed a friendship with some of
them — ^for instance, with the brave Chara, son of
the queen of the tribe Mulo£alada, and specially
noted three places where a Gulla mission might be
founded ; — one, on the mountain Yerrer, on the road
between Angolala and Gurague; a second, among
the tribe Mulofalada with Chamie, the mother of
Chara; and a third, in Muger in the vicinity of
Debra Libanos not far from the Blue River. Beyond
this, during these expeditions I became acquainted
with high and low in ^oa and Efat, and often ad-



RESIDENCE IK SHOA. 27

dressed large numbers of men touching the Word of
God and other edifying matters, besides obtaining
great practice in the Amharic language, and being
able to observe closely the ways of the Shoan popu-
lation. Finally, my health was benefited, and the
friendly demeanour of the king to me was manifested
to all his subjects. Of course, my connection with the
king's expeditions did not arise out of a hostile or
martial spirit, but simply fi-om a wish to become ac-
quainted with regions partly unknown, and mainly
to promulgate the Gospel among the thousands of
soldiers whom the king takes with him in these ex-
peditions, which he is in the habit of undertaking in
January, June, and October, to levy the tribute due
by the Gallas, and to make further conquests. Wide-
spread devastations follow the fi^equent refiisals to
pay the tribute by the Galla tribes, who are very
foolish in provoking these calamities, as they
might secure themselves by moderate payments in
cattle and grain, were it not that their pride and
passion for freedom lead to continual revolts and
defeats. Pity that those beautifid countries are
not turned to better accoimt ! The Gallas possess
regions so fruitful, so rich in water and pasturage,
and suitable both for tillage and for cattle, that
Europeans can scarcely imagine their beauty. The
climate, too, is as mild and healthy as that of
Italy or Greece. The districts of Mulofalada, Ada-
berga, Metta, and Mecha, are particularly so, where,
moreover, there are many and noble trees, among
whidi the juniper deserves particular mention.



28 RESIDENCE IN SHOA.

In the May of 1840, I made a tour to Debra
Libanos, the most sacred place of the Shoans, four
days' journey to the north-west of Ankober. The
greatest saint of Abessinia, the famous Tekia Hal-
manot, is said to have lived there in the twelB;h
century and to have raised up a miracle-healing
weU by his pmyers. In the neighbourhood of
Angolala I crossed the river Chacha, which flows
fix)m the province of Bulga and from Angolala
in a deep glen towards the north-west, and which,
near Kum Dengai, in the province Shoa Meda,
unites with the Beresa and some other rivers and
forms the Adabai, flowing at last under the name
of the Jamma into the Blue River, the so-called
Abai, or Abessinian Nile. The Ghacha, Adabai,
and Jamma, form a natural dyke against the in-
cursions of the GraUas from the south, who, therefore,
can never entirely subdue or even overrun the
kingdom of Shoa, especially since King Sahela
Selassie founded Angolala at a point where the
Grallas might otherwise have been able to break in.
On the road to Debra libanos I also passed Sena
Markos, the second most holy locality of Shoa and
which lies on a very steep rock, easily drfensi-
ble. From this place you can overlook the whole
north and west of Shoa. Before you ascend the
mountain on which Debra Libanos lies you must
cross the river Segawadam (^^ Flesh and Blood'')
in which the pilgrims bathe and purify th^n-
selves. I returned home towards the end of May,
and devoted myself again to the instruction of my



RESIDENCE IN 8H0A. 29

pupils of whom there were ten in the house^ with-
out reckoning the others who came and went irre-
gularly. A scholar asked me for instruction in
Hebrew, which many of the Abessinian priests are
fond of, as they fancy that they can discover deep
secrets in the Hebrew words and names. The boys
I instructed chiefly in biblical, universal, and natural
history, in geography and arithmetic, delivering to
them and my household on Simdays a short dis-
course. There came daily, too, many persons,
priests and laymen, to whom I had thus an oppor-
tunity of proclaiming the Gospel.

At this time Sahela Selassie conceived the notion
of sending letters and presents to the East India
Company, in order to bring about friendly relations
with them. On the 6th of July 1840 he despatched a
messenger with letters to Aden to be delivered to the
governor. Captain Haines. A year elapsed, how-
ever, before the letters and presents were reci-
procated by the mission of Major Harris, who, on
the 16th of July 1841 arrived at Dinomali, on
the frontier of Shoa, and with his suite and presents
was received and treated by the Shoans with a
great deal of mistrust. It was mainly the bigoted
priests and monks who tried to inspire the king
with a distrust of foreigners. The priests were angry
with me especially, because they thought that I
had induced the king to allow the admission of the
English and their presents, although it was the
king's own decision to send a messenger to Aden, as
he knew, among other things, that since the occu-



30 KESIDENCE IN SHOA.

pation of Aden the power of England was nearer
to him than that of France, which M. Rochet had
lately represented in Shoa. I kept aloof from all
political relations, and only when the king or Major
Harris asked for advice or aid did I express my
opinions; for it was natural that I should be de-
sired to act as interpreter for the English envoy,
at least in important negotiations, as Major Harris
and his suite did not understand Amharic. The
king, too, had said to me from the very commence-
ment : " You know the customs of my country and of
your own ; you must advise me in my dealings with
Major Harris, that I may not offend him and Queen
Victoria of England. K things go wrong, I shall
hold you responsible." In this way, I was obliged
often to express myself openly against the king, as
well as against the English envoy. Major Harris, who,
from the first, treated me in the most friendly manner,
as, indeed, did all the members of the mission,
Captain Grraham, Dr. Kirk, Dr. Roth, Herr Bematz,
&c. Major Harris in his dealings with the king
showed himself intent on accomplishing the object of
his mission, which was by the establishment of a
friendly connection between England and Shoa to
pave the way for an increase of their commercial
intercourse, for the due protection of travellers, and
for the abolition of slavery — an object which, to say
the truth, was attained only upon paper, but not in
reality, by the signature of a treaty, or convention,
consisting of fifteen articles.

The English envoy soon discovered that there



RESIDENCE IN SHOA. 31

were not in Shoa any important articles of commerce,
and that consequently there could not be a profitable
trade between it and Aden. The difficulties attend-
ing the iransit of commodities through ihe sandy
Adal country were very evident, and the envoy soon
gave up caring for the execution of the fifteen articles,
content to have them to show when he returned
home, as a proof at least of the nominal success of the
mission, and he openly avowed to me his conviction
of aU this, and that he should now look to his own
interests, as little was to be gained for his government.
And, in truth, the envoy acted in this spirit, endea-
vouring to gain the best possible acquaintance with
the country and its inhabitants in order afterwards
to be able to write a voluminous book on both. I
myself was entreated by him to communicate every
notice which my experience and knowledge could
furnish, and willingly gratified this desire, and Major
Harris interwove these communications into the text
of his well-known work of three volumes, " The
Highlands of ^Ethiopia.'' I gave up much time and
thought to the cause of the embassy, and wished for
its prosperity and success, as likely to promote the
spread of the Gospel, as well as the prosperity
of Shoa itself. To Shoa the connection with a
Christian power could only exercise a wholesome
influence, which jfrom thence would be extended to
the unknown countries of the South. I was convinced
that there could be no permanence in the mission to
the Gallas, in Gurague and Kambat, so long as Shoa
was not connected with the coast. On that account



32 RESIDENCE IN 8H0A.

I wished heartily for the establishment of friendly re-
lations between that cotintry and England, and so &r
as I could with propriety I did my utmost to forward
them. Sahela Selassie seemed favourable to such rela-
tions, perhaps because he still remembered the dream
of his father who had predicted that in the time of
his son, Sahela Selassie, red people (so the whites are
caUed in Abessinia when the term gypzi— that is,
Egyptians — is not applied to them) would arrive
and teach the Abessinians aU arts and knowledge.
Now, since 1836, Europeans, Combes and Tamisier,
Martin, Dufey, Isenberg, and myself. Rochet,
Airston, Dr. Beke, and finally, the English envoy
had rapidly followed each other, and Sahela Selassie
was naturally led to see in this the fulfilment of
the dream, and being, to a certain extent, en-
lightened and eager for improvement, he could not
but feel it desirable to form a connection with such
a nation as the English of whom he had heard so
much from the Danakil. It is only a pity that the
connection established was not a closer one, and
more productive of blessings to Africa. Yet it hatf
had the e£kct of making this and the neighbour-
ing regions better known to geographers at least.
This knowledge will bear fruit in the future when
Shoa shall have a wiser ruler than Sahela Selassie.
He had, indeed, great good nature, delighted in im-
provement, and possessed a sense of justice, and many
good qualities ; but he was too much led away by
the superstition of the priests, the narrow prejudices
of his chie&, the desire for personal enrichment,



RESIDENCE IN 8H0A. 33

and the oriental habit of accumxdating dead trea-
sures. Had he rightly tinderstood and employed
the opportunity which was aflforded him of establish-
ing a connection with England, he might have be-
come sovereign not only of Abessinia, but of the
whole of Inner Africa. But such is man. In his
ignorance, he casts away the greatest treasures
for this world and the next — ^treasures, which, if
he knew how to use them, would secure him tem-
poral no less than his eternal well-being.



34



CHAPTER IV.

SHOA AND THE 8H0ANS.

Shoa proper and Efat — Limits and contents of the two divisions— «
Population and some physical characteristics — ^Form of govern-
ment — Religion and priesthood — Literature and sacred books —
The monophysitism of Shoa — ^Doctrine of the three births, and
civil war arising out of it — Conquest of Shoa by King Theo-
dorus — ^Immorality of Shoa — Concubinage, maniage, and mar-
riage laws — Slavery — Superstition — ^The "detective" system of
Shoa.

Shoa, in its widest sense, includes the whole of the
JSthiopian highlands which axe bounded on the east
by the Adal desert, on the south by the Hawash,
on the west by the Abai (Blue River), and on the
north by the tribes of the Mohammedan Gallas. In
a more limited sense, it comprises the western por-
tion of those highlands, which eastward in the di-
rection of the Adal desert has received the name of
E&t. This eastern section of the mountain-land
comprises the provinces Bulga, Fatigar, Menchar in
the south, Argobba in the east, and Geddem and
Efiu in the north. Argobba includes the low lands,
which spread themselves out towards the Adal
desert, and are inhabited by Mohammedans, partly
under Shoan rule, partly as in the north, under
that of the WoUo-Gallas. Shoa (or the western high-



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SHOA AND THE BHOANB. 35

lands) in its narrower sense, comprises the pro-
vinces and districts of Tegulet, Slioa Meda, Mora-
bietie, Mans and Geshe. It seems that this division
into Shoa and E&tt takes its rise from the mountain
chain which stretches from Fatigar through Bulga
to Ankober and as far as Geshe, and thence still
further into the interior of Abessinia. ^

Both these sections of the country are tolerably
populous, a circumstance which is aided by the
fertility of the soil, the excellence of the climate, and
the external tranquillity of the country, which for a
long time has seen no enemy within its boundaries.
The population of the kingdom of Shoa may be esti-
mated at upwards of a million if the subjugated
Gallas of the south are included : in extent from
west to east, from the Adal desert to the Blue
River, it is nearly two degrees, and about the same
length from south to north, from the river Ha-
wash to the fortress Dair. The country is rich
in springs, brooks, and rivers, and lakes axe not
wanting. There are none of the nobler metals in
abundance, but in one locality (in the vicinity of
Debra Berhan) the existence of a gold field is sus-
pected. There is plenty of iron, sulphur, and pit-
coal; the latter being chiefly found in the eastern
part of Shoa, but the inhabitants have not yet learned
to turn it to account.

The form of government in Shoa is an absolute
monarchy. The king is the only lord and master of
the country, to whom belong the bodies, lives, and
possessions of his subjects. He has no standing army,

D



36 SHOA AND THE SHOANS.

but only a few hundred body-guards, armed with mus-
kets. When war breaks out every district-governor
must supply a contingent. The whole army may
muster from 30,000 to 50,000 men, of whom about
1000 are armed with muskets, the rest being
equipped with spears, shields, and swords. The
soldiers are mostly cavalry, moimted on horses or
mules. Art and science are still in a state of infancy
in Shoa.

The mass of the population is Christian a^fter
the form of the Coptic church in Egypt, on which,
as is well known, the Abessinian church is de-
pendent. In the east, however, there are many
Mohammedans, and in the south, tribes of heathen
Gallas, subject to the ruler of Shoa. In ecclesias-
tical constitution Shoa, as also Abessinia in general, is
episcopal. The Coptic patriarch in Egypt has been
since about a.d. 1280 in the habit of nominating
the chief bishop of Abessinia, who is styled Abuna,
^^ Our father." This prelate ordains all priests and
deacons ; he also consecrates the king and governs the
church by the aid of the Echege, the supreme head
of the monks, who are very numerous and influential.
Those who wish to be ordained must be able to read
and to repeat the Nicene Creed, whereupon the Abuna
breathes on the candidate, laying on hands blesses
him, and bestows on him the sign of the cross,
receiving then two pieces of salt as ordination fees.
After ordination deacons and priests cannot marry,
but must not part with the wives whom they may
have married before ordination. The duties of



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■ .tirieJ bel^jro ordiiialion. 'I'ln: Jatios "f



»,..



SHOA AND THE SHOAKS. 37

the priest are to baptize, to admiiiister the Eucharist,
and on Sundays to read and sing the long litanies
for three or four hours. They must also know by
rote all the psalms and the book of hymns — ^a task
which occupies many years. Preaching ia not com*
manded and is seldom heard in Abessinia. There
is no ordination of the Debtera, who form the
Uterary dass, instruct in reading and writing, copy
books upon parchment, and assist, too, in the
churches. Unordained, also, are the Alakas, the
superintendents of churches, who exercise a com
trol over them, and are intermediate between
church and state. They enjoy great power and
emoluments, and are often the most influential of
persons, before whom the priests themselves must
bow.

The literature of the .AJ)essinian8 comprises from
one hundred and thirty to one himdred and fifiy
books, of which many are only translations of the
Greek fetthers. These books are divided into four
sections or ^^gabaioch." The first consists of the
Old Testament, and the second of the New ; — ^the
third, of the books of the Liks, or perfect masters
(Chiysostom, Fethanegest, Abushaker, &c.); and
the fourth comprises the writings of the monks and
saints. The Abessinians possess the Old and New
Testament in the old iBthiopic, and in the Amharic
or popular idiom as well ; the former version being
ascribed to Frumentius, who was ordained bishop of
iBthiopia by St. Athanasius in 331, and is said to
have first preached the gospel in the city of Axum.

D 8



38 8H0A AND THE SHOANS.

The Abesslnians place the Apocrypha on the
same footing with the canonical books, and deem
the traditions of the church of equal authority
with that of the apostles and prophets. The
reading of the Old and New Testaments is not
forbidden to the laity, only most of the priests
desire that the Scriptures should be read in ^thiopic,
which they consider the primeval language — not in
Amharic, which they regard merely as a Targum, or
translation-^just as if the favoured text were not
also a translation from the Greek, with which
they are not acquainted. One scholar in Shoa
maintained that the Jews had &lsified the Hebrew
Scriptores, which had remained uncoirupted only
till the time of Abraham.

In a general way, the Abessinians are acquainted
with the chief truths of the Bible, with the Trinity,
and the nature and the attributes of God ; with the
creation, the fall of man and his redemption by
Christ ; with the Holy Ghost, the angels, the church,
the sacraments, the resurrection and the last judg-
ment ; with rewards and punishments, and everlast-
ing life and torment; but aU these articles are
so blended with, and obscured by merely himian
notions that they exert little influence on the heart
and life. The mediatorial function of Christ, for in-
stance, is darkened and limited by a belief in the
many saints who, as in the Romish and Greek
churches, must mediate between the Mediator and
man. Especially a great office is assigned to the
Virgin Mary, of whom it is maintained by many



SHOA AND THE SHOANS. 30

that she died for the sins of the world and saved
144,000 souls! In the Abessinian point of view
the means to expiate sin are alms-giving, fasting,
monastic vows, and reading, or rather gabbling, the
Psalms, &c. The Holy Ghost they consider pro-
ceeds only from the Father, not from the Son, who,
in the presence of the Father recedes into the back-
ground, just as before the Father and the Son the
Holy Ghost almost dwindles into nothin^ess.

^regard, the dooWne of the two rZ« of Ckrirt
the Abessinians are extreme Monophysites, for they
admit only one nature and one will in him. For sixty
years the Abessinian church has been rent by great
controversies arising out of the dogina of the three
births of Christ, broached by a monk at Gondar, and
which consists in the assertion that the baptism or
consecration of Christ with the Holy Spirit in Jordan
constituted his third birth. According to some the Son
of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (first
birth), became man in time (second birth) and was bap-
tized in Jordan (third birth) ; but according to others,
Christ in the Virgin's womb was already anointed,
prayed, fiusted, and so forth, and that they call his
third birth. After a long war with the opposite
party, which acknowledges only two births of Christ,
this doctrine, which evidently harmonises with the
rigid monophysitism of the Abessinians, was elevated
into a dogma of the National Church by the decision
of the king, Sahela Selassie, who had received it from
a priest many years before. Although in the year
1840 a royal ordinance had deposed all priests who



40 SHOA AKD THE 8H0AN6.

did not believe in tlie three birthB, yet it was only
on the 24th Nov^nber 1841 that the victoriouB
party was able to put the ordinance in execution
against its rivals. Amid song and acclamation
the zealots rushed into the churches and purified
them fix>m the presence of the heretics, among whom
were many upright men, such as Alaka Melat,
Wolda Hanna, and others, with whom I had been on
the friendliest footing. The victorious party pressed
for a more rigid veneration of the Virgin Mary and
of the Saints. Generally, its members departed on
many points further from the Scriptures than did
the conquered party, which now turned to the
Abuna in Gondar, who took them under his pro-
tection and summoned the king to drive out the
triumphant party, and to re-instate all the expelled
priests who believed in the two births, as this was
the genuine doctrine of St. Mark of Alexandria.
(They believe that their church was founded by the
Evangelist Mark.) As Sahela Selassie would not
submit, the Abuna menaced him with war— a me-
nace which he has been able to carry into execu-
tion against Shoa only since Theodoras has become
King of Abessinia. This prince invaded Shoa and
some years ago made it subject to himself, and
obedient to the Abuna. For the present, therefore,
the doctrine of the two births seems to be the ruling
one throughout the whole of Abessinia; but it is
nevertheless branded with the nickname, ^^Karra
Haimanot," t\^.. Knife-faith, because this fietith has
cut off the third birth of Christ.



SHOA AND THE SHOANS. 41

No Christiaji people upon earth are so rigid in their
&sting as the Abessinianeu They fast, in all, nine
months out ct ihe twelve ; every Friday and Wed-
nesday ihrougfaout the year, then again forty days
befixre Easter, twenty-five dajrs after Trinity, four-
teen days in August, twenty-five days before Advent,
and on other occasions* Yet, in spite of this, and
of a dose conformity to the outward observances of
a severe ritual, the wx)eful departure firom the pure
teaching of the Gospel and a complete absence of
culture and knowledge have produced, generally
and individually, a sad social condition in Abes-
sinia. Immorality is the order of the day, and
even priests and monks break the seventh com-
mandment. Monogamy, it is true, is established by
the Church, but concubinage is habitual and general,
the king and his five hundred wives leading the
way with a bad example ; for whenever a beautiftd
woman was pointed out to him he sent for her. The
daughters of many grandees must in this way serve
to effect political alliances, and Sahela Selassie actu-
ally wished for an English princess to consolidate his
aJliance with Great Britain! In Abessinia mar-
riage is seldom consecrated by the Church ; it is
simply a civil contract between the parento and
relations of the bride and bridegroom, wiih the
sanction of the local governor or any other per-
sonage of position, and can be at any time dis-
solved. Slavery, too, has done much to demoralize
the Christians of 4oa. Christians, indeed, are
not allowed to export slaves, but they may im-



42 SHOA AND THE SHOANS.

port them for their own use. In this, the king's
example leads the way, and he has many thousands
of slaves employed as hewers of wood, drawers of
water, bearers of burdens, cowherds, agricultural
labourers, &c., and the free subjects must do feudal
task-work.

The superstition of the Abessinians is immeasur-
ably great, and its workings pervade every act of
their daily life. Very noticeable and peculiar are
the means employed in Shoa for the detection of
thieves. The Lebashi (thief-catcher) is much feared,
and belongs to the servants of the state. When
a theft has been committed the sufferer gives
information to this official, upon which he sends
his servant a certain dose of black meal, com-
pounded with milk, on which he makes him smoke
tobacco. The servant is thrown into a state of
frenzy, in which state he goes irom house to house,
crawling on his hands and feet like one out of his
mind. After he has smelt about at a number of
houses, the Lebashi all the time holding him tight
by a cord fiustened round the body, he goes at last
into a house, lays on its owner's bed, and sleeps
for some time. His master then rouses him with
blows, and he awakes and arrests the owner of the
house, who is forthwith dragged before the priests,
and they make the victim of the robbery swear
that he will not assess at more than the real value
the articles stolen. The person into whose house
the entry was made is regarded as the thief, and
is forced to pay, whether he be innocent or guilty.



6H0A AND THE 8H0ANS. 43

No wonder that the population trembles when the
Lebashi is seen in the street, and that everybody
tries to be on good terms with him, as there is no
saying when he may make his appearance in a
house. The King of Shoa is said to have convinced
himself of the truth of this matter by ordering one
of his pages to steal a garment of his own, and to
conceal it in the house of an inhabitant of Ankober,
where the Lebashi is reported to have discovered it.
On the 3l8t of July 1841 I had an opportunity of
watching closely this operation of thief-catching in
the streets of Ankober.



44



CHAPTER V.

THE UNEXPLORED COUNTRIES TO THE SOUTH OF SHOA.

Christian remnants — Gnrague and the edave trade— Kambat —
Wolamo-^Kucha — ^The Golda negroes — Susa — Junction of the
Gojob and Omo^Beported snow-monntain —Traces of Chris-
tianity in Susa — Curious transfer of episcopal breath for con-
secration — Dilbo on the Dokos, a nation of pigmies — ^Account
of the Dokos — ^Are they the pigmies of Herodotus ? — ^An alleged
Doko seen by the author — Concurrent testimony to the exist-
ence of a nation of pigmies — Eaffa and its Queen, Balli — ^Abun-
dance of cotton and cotton clothing — Salt and its value— Hero-
dotus and the early Troglodytes — ^The Gojob and Dilbo's
account of it — ^Identity of the (jk)job and the Jub — Biver
B3rstem of those countries — ^Enarea, its king, religion, &c. ; ralue
as a coffee-producing country — Its commercial importance if
the Gojob should be found navigable — ^The civet-cat, &c. —
Senjero— Female slavery and its origin — ^Human sacrifices —
Evidences of an early civilization in the regions watered by the
Gt)job.

Hating given a slight general sketch of Shoa and
the Shoans, I proceed to speak of the hitherto unex-
plored regions to the south ; and firstly, of the scat-
tered remnants of Christians severed by the Grallas
firom Abessinia. Four days' journey from Angolala
through the Gralla land subject to the princes of
Shoa, you come to the river Hawash, which flows
round Shoa in an easterly direction and into the



UNEXPLOBED OOUNTBIES SOUTH OF SHOA. 45

Adal country* With the south bank of £his stream
begins the country of Gurague, which lies under
the eighth degree of north latitude and is mostly in-
habited by Christians, who preserre from old^i times
«,me oarmection with AbLuua, and have xnain-
tained themselyeB on their mountains against the
Gallas. The name of this conntry signifies " to the
left — on the le& hand," and was given it when the
Ab«sinian Idngs had stiU their head-quarters on the
lofty mountain Endoto, to the left of which Gurague
lay when they looked westwards. Formerly the
whole country round tiie Hawash was inhabited
by Christians,and even now a Christian remnant is
said to survive in the district of Korchass to the
south of the Soddo-Gulla& The first Christian yxI-
li^ reached after the passage of the Hawash is
AimeUele, which is in some measure dependent on
8hoa, and the priests of this place often yisited me
and begged me to come to them. South-east of
Aimellele is the large lake Zuai, called by the
people of Gurague " Jilalu/' and by the Gallas,
^^Lagi." In this lake are said to be fiye islands,
tenanted by Christian monks, and on one of
which it is reported, are many ^thiopic books,
which in the time of Gragne, who invaded Shoa
from the Adal country, were sent thither by King
Nebla Dengel as to a place of security. A Shoan,
named Aito Qsman, told me that he had seen these
books. In Gurague itself the monks do not live in
monasteries as in Shoa and the rest of Abessinia,
but in iheir own houses, holding life in common to



46 UNEXPLORED COUNTRIES SOUTH OP SHOA.

be hurtful. Gurague is not governed by a single
prince, but every town and village has an inde-
pendent staiu8 ; the cause of many convulsions and
civil wars, most of the districts being al war with
one another. This state of things has made travel-
ling here very insecure, and has much encouraged
the slave-trade ; the vanquished in these civil wars
being sold to the Mohammedan merchants, and by
them despatched to the Adal-land and Arabia.
Hence it has come to pass that many of the Grura-
guans have repeatedly entreated the King of Shoa to
take possession of their country ; but he has refiised
the invitation, because, according to his own avowal,
he would be deprived of the supply of slaves from
that quarter; for in a country belonging to him he
would be obliged to prohibit the mating of slaves,
though he and the Shoans cannot do without them.
It may be estimated that annually about three
thousand slaves, mostly Christians, are exported from
G^rague. M^y on aei. way W one .aUge to
another are stolen and sold by their own relations,
and houses are frequently set on fire at night and the
inmates, in endeavouring to escape, are seized and
sold into slavery. Sometimes children are stolen at
night from their homes, while their parents are
asleep, and, as a precaution against this, many pa-
rents lay thick stakes over their children. In the
south Ghirague appears to be inhabited chiefly by
Mohammedans.

Leaving Grurague and proceeding southward you
come to the territory of the Adia-Gallas, and thence



UNEXPLORED COUNTRIES SOUTH OF SHOA. 47

into the little mountain-land of Kambat, where
a small nation of Christians with fifteen churches
and monasteries, is said to have retained its exist-
ence. It is sometimes visited by the Christian
priests of Ghirague, who undergo many perils
exposed as they are to the Adia and Alaba-Gallas,
during the seven days' journey which is neces-
sary to be made, for the most part by night when
the moon aflFords her Ught. The language of Kambat
appears to be very different firom that of Gurague,
which latter again differs in important respects
from the Amharic, and with that of Tigre greatly
resembles the old iBthiopic. I regret that a little
vocabulary which I composed of the Gurague lan-
guage has been lost. The capital of Kambat is
Karemsa, the residence of King Degoie, a worthy
and powerfol chief, very weU aflFected to strangers.

To the south-east of Kambat lies Wolamo, a
smaU and very mountainous independent Christian
state. The slave-dealers bring many slaves from
this country to Shoa, who have a handsome appear-
ance, and speak a language which is not under-
stood there. The capital of Wolamo is said to be
called Wo£Ema, and the great river Omo appears
to flow through the country, which is surrounded
by the districts Senjero, Dumbaro, Mager, Mugo,
Ktdlu, Worata, Jimma and Asu. From Wolamo
you come into the kingdom of Kucha, which is
inhabited by negro-like Gallas, who have many
horses. The king of this hot but fruitful country is



48 UHEXPIiORED COUNTRIES SOUTH OF SHOA.

said to be veory powerful^ and to liye in considerable
state. White people, which must mean Arabs and
Somalis from the east coast of Barawa and Marka,
are said to come here in boats, bringing blue
cloths, pepper, tobacco, copper, &c., and canying
back in return slaves, ivory, and spices, to the coast,
which lies llurty days' journey dLtexi;. Fnmxthe
informatioa^h I received at Barawa respecting
the interior I am led to conclude that the people of
that place penetrate as &r as Kucha, not however
up ihe river Jub from its moutti, but from Ba-
rawa through the Somali country as £ur as Bardera
and Ganana, and thence into the country of Liven ;
where tiiey first take boat, and reach Kucha, where
the Jub which, in its upper coiurse is called the
Gojob receives the stream Torikh.

To the west of Kucha lies the country of the
Golda negroes, who are said to go naked — a cir-
cumstance which clearly indicates that they ap-
proximate to those Afirican populations whom I
became acquainted with in my journeys to Ukam-
bani, and who also go almost in that state, as we
shall see afterwards.

Westward from the Goldas, between the fourth
and fifth degrees of north latitude, and to the south
of KfiSa, lies the powerftd kingdom of Susa, where
the Omo has its source* The Gojob, which
appears to rise in a vast wilderness, between Kb££bl
and Enarea, receives a large volume of water firom
the Omo at Dumbaro, at .which point the united



UKEXPLOBED COUNTBIES 80UTH OF SHOA. 49

Streams form a cataract which is heard from a£u-.
The rainy season in Sitsa is said to be very severe,
the air rery cold, and the land very high; nay,
beyond this country there are reported to be momi-
tains eoTered with eternal snow, a report which
I can easily believe^ as I saw from Ukambani a
^.„„^4> in tb* ™iMty of the e.r..«r. The
mhabitants of Susa are said still to retain some-
thing of Abessiniau Christimuty ; they axe re-
ported not to work on the Sabbath, to observe the
festivaLs of Michael, George, and Grabriel, and to
have churches and priests, and a written language,
which, however, is neither Amharic nor .ZElthiopic.

The reader will remember that the priests of
Shoa are ordained by the Abuna, or chief bishop of
Abeaunia, who breathes on the candidate for ordina-
tion. They have a tradition that when Cyril was
Abnna in Gondar certain priests came from Susa with
a leathern bag, which the Abuna inflated for them
with his breatii, in order that they might ordain
priests with it in their own country, Susa being so
distant from Gondar, and the journey by Kaffa and
Enarea both difficult and dangerous. I told this
circumstance to a friend on my return to Europe in
1853, who smilinirly remarked that such ordination
™;»yHkeabo^^<rf^»ke. The pre^t Ki^ of
Susa I heard, was called Beddu, and is the brother
of Bali, the Queen of Kafb. The capital, it is said, is
Bonga, where Beddu reigns after the fashion of the
Abessinian kings* By the marriage of his. daughter
Shash to the King Abba Bogibo of Enarea he is re-



50 UNEXPLORED COUNTRIES SOUTH OP SHOA.

ported to have established friendly relations with
the latter, and so to have made possible a connec-
tion with Gondar. Mohammedan merchants are said
to arrive from a distance, which is yery possible
when the position of the river Maro or Pokomoni is
considered, as it flows into the Indian Ocean above
Malindi, and on it the Snahilis and Pokomos journey
far into the interior in their boats. It would, there-
fore, be easy to accept as a fact that travellers might
reach from this river the Christians in Susa; and
that it would also be possible to journey from
Barawa to Kucha, and to the Christian renmants in
Wolamo and Kambat. Had there been an energetic
government on the Suahili coast these East-African
countries, still so imknown and yet so important to
Christianity, would long ago have been opened up
to Christian civilization and commerce; but while
power is left in the hands of the lazy and jealous
Arabs a knowledge of these countries wUl long have
to be waited for. In any case a good distance far
in the interior may be traversed by water, even
though it cannot be employed directly from the
coast, since the rivers of those regions are not deep
at their mouths.

Noteworthy are the reports which in the year
1840 were communicated to me by a slave from
Enarea, who, by order of the King of Shoa, was
charged with the care of my house in Angolala
during my residence in Ankober. His name was
Dilbo, and he was a native of Sabba in Enarea. As
a youth he had made caravan-journeys to Kaffa



UKEXPLOBED COUNTRIES SOUTH OF 8H0A. 51

and accompanied the slave-htuiters from Kaffa to
Tuffie, in a ten days' expedition, where he crossed
the Omo some sixty feet wide, by means of a wooden
bridge ; reaching from thence Kuilu, in seren days,
which is but a few days' journey from the Dokos, a
pigmy race of whom Dilbo told ahnost £a,bulous
8torie8. Afterwards when in his eighteenth year
during an attack on Sabba he was made a pri-
toner, and passed frt>m Enarea into slavery at Nono,
whence he was taken by the slave-dealers to
Migra, and thence to Agabja where he was sold for
forty pieces of salt. From Agabja he was taken
to Gonan in the comitry of the Soddo-Qallas where
he was sold again for sixty pieces of salt. From
Gonan he was conveyed to Roggie where his value
was raised to eighty pieces of salt, and he was then
marched to Grolba in the Gulla district of Abeju,
and there sold for one hundred pieces. At last
he reached Aliwamba where a Mohammedan bought
him for twelve dollars. Next a widow in Ankober
purchased him for fourteen dollars, and at her death
he passed into the hands of her brother who, how-
ever, was disinherited by the King of Shoa for some
offBnce, and in this way Dilbo became the property
of the king. He told me that to the south of Kaffa
and Susa there is a very sultry and humid country
with many bamboo woods, inhabited by the race
called Dokos, who are no bigger than boys of ten
years old ; that is, only four feet high. They have
a dark, olive-coloured complexion, and live in a
completely savage state, like the beasts; having

£



52 UNEXPLORED COUNTRIES SOUTH OF SHOA.

neither houses, temples, nor holy trees, like the
Gallas, yet possessing something like an idea of a
higher being called Yer, to whom in moments of
wretchedness and anxiety they pray — not in an erect
posture, but reversed with the head on the ground,
and the feet supported upright against a tree or
stone. In prayer they say: ^^Yer, if thou really
dost exist, why dost thou allow us thus to be slain ?
We do not ask thee for food and clothing, for
we Hve on serpents, ants, and mice. Thou hast
made us, why dost thou permit us to be trodden
underfoot ?" The Dokos have no chief, no laws, no
weapons; they do not hunt, nor till the ground,
but live solely on fruits, roots, mice, serpents, ants,
honey, and the like, climbing trees and gathering
the fruits like monkeys, and both sexes go com-
pletely naked* They have thick, protruding Kps,
flat noses, and small eyes; the hair is not woolly,
and is worn by the women over the shoulders. The
nails on the hands and feet axe allowed to grow like
the talons of vultures, and are used in digging for
ants, and in tearing to pieces the serpents which they
devour raw, for they are unacquainted with fire.
The spine of the snake is the only ornament worn
round the neck, but they pierce the ears with a
sharp-pointed piece of wood.

The Dokos multiply very rapidly, but have no
regular marriages, the intercourse of the sexes
leading to no settled home, each in perfect inde-
pendence going whither &ncy leads. The mother
nurses her child only for a short time, accustoming



UNEXPLORED COUNTRIES SOUTH OP 8H0A, 63

it as soon as possible to the eating of ants and
serpents ; and as soon as the child can help itself, the
mother lets it depart whither it pleases. Although
these people live in thick woods, and conceal them-
selves amongst the trees, yet they become the prey
of the slave-hunters of Susa, Kaffa, Dumbaro, and
Kulla ; for whole regions of their woods are encircled
by the hunters, so that the Dokos cannot easily escape.
When the slave-hunters come in sight of the poor
creatures they hold up clothes of bright colours,
singing and dancing, upon which the Dokos allow
themselves to be captured, without resistance, know-
ing from experience that such resistance is fruit-
less and can lead only to their destruction. In this
way thousands can be captured by a small band of
hunters ; and once captured they become quite do-
cile. In slavery the Dokos retain their predilection
for feeding on mice, serpents, and ants, although
often on that account punished by their masters, who
in other respects are attached to them, as they are
docile and obedient, have few wants, and enjoy
good health, for which reasons they are never sold
as slaves beyond Enarea. As diseases are unknown
among them, they die only of old age, or through
the assaults of their enemies.

It cannot be decided whether these Dokos are the
pigmies who, according to Herodotus, were dis-
eovered near a great river in the Tidnifrjr of Central
A£rica by two youths despatched by Etearch, king
of the Oasis of Ammon ; yet I can bear witness that
I heard of these little people not only in Shoa, but

£ 2



54 UNEXPLOBED COUNTRIES SOUTH OF 8H0A«

also in Ukamboni two degrees to the soudx, and in
Barava a degree and a half to the north of the
Equator. In Barava a slave was shown to me who
accorded completely with the description of Dilbo*
He was four feet high, very thick-set, dark-corn-,
plexioned, and lively, and the people of the place
assured me that he was of the pigmy race of the
interior. It is not impossible, too, that circum*
stances, such as continual rains from May to January
and other means, may contribute to produce a dir
minutive people of stunted development- in the
interior of Africa. A priori^ therefore, the reports
collected from different and mutually independent
points of Africa cannot be directly contradicted;
only care must be taken to examiue with caution
the fietbulous element mixed up with what may be
true by native reporters. In the SuahiH dialect
^^dogo" means small, and in the language of
Enarea, ^^doko" is indicative of an ignorant and
stupid person.

To the north of the land of the Dokos, and to the.
north-east of the kingdom of Susa, Hes the important
region of ELaffa, a name which has figured in the
maps ever since the Portuguese priest Fernandez
and his companions vainly attempted to penetrate
from Abessinia through Enarea and Kaffa to the
coast of Malindi, which formerly belonged to the
crown of Portugal. Incontestably it must have been
reported in Malindi that there was thence a way to
Abessinia, and into the interior of Africa. Had that
attempt succeeded, and had a way been opened



ITNEXPLORED COUNTEIES SOUTH OP 8H0A, 65

firom Malindi into the interior the African travels of
discovery in the nineteenth century would have
shaped themselves otherwise, and the sources of the
Nile would have been long ago discovered, not in
the forest of Babia in Enarea under the eleventh
degree of north latitude, as M, D'Abbadie will have
it, but in the regions of the Equator somewhere
about the latitude of Malindi.

According to the fabulous etymology of the Mo-
hammedans the name ^^ Kaffa" is derived from the
Arabic word "YekaflS," it is enough. A priest,
Mahomed Nur by name, is said to have conceived
the design of wandering from the East toward
Western Africa in order to extend the religion of
the prophet, and when he came into the regions
where Kaffiei lies, Allah is reported to have appeared
to him and to have said:— "It is now enough; go
lio further.^' Since that time according to tradi-
tion the country has been called KafGa. Just as
little can assent be given to the notion of those
who believe that the country takes its name from
Kahava, or Kahoa, which in Arabic means, pre-
pared coffee ; for the wiw coffee, the coffee-bean, is
called bun, in the Gralla language, bunna. Accord-
ing to the Arabian tradition the civet-cat brought
the coffee-bean to . the mountains of the Arusi and
Itta-G^as where it grew and was long cultivated,
tOl an enterprising merchant carried the coffee-plant,
five hundred years ago, to Arabia where it soon be-
came acclimatised.

The capital of Kaffsi is called Suni and lies on a



56 UNEZPLOBED OOUNTSXES SOUTH OF SHOA.

mountam of the same name, and it is said not to be
so large as Ankober. The houses, too, are not so
good as those in Abessinia, where they are mostly
romid and built of wood, the roo& being thatched
with a grass called Qiiasa. Other important
places, where the king sometimes resides are Nagoa,
Gobi Bura, Alexa Sehija, and Sunge Woda. In
extent this country is thought to be larger than
Shoa, and the king endeayouxs to extend his rule
even further to the south, west, and east. Though
Kaffa lies between the fifbh and seventh degrees
of north latitude its influence probably reaches to
the countries lying between the third and fourth
degrees. It does not lie so high as Enarea, but has
several high mountains ; and in the villages the heat
is so great that the traders from Enarea always
desire to return to their own cooler country.

Queen Balli was sovereign when Dilbo, my in-
formant, was in KsSk. After the death of her
husband. King Halalo, she seized the rebellious
chiefs and proclaimed herself ruler of the kingdom
to the sound of the state-herald's drum. Foreign
afBairs she left to be managed by her brave son
Gomarra, who leads the army to battle while the
queen remains at home discharffinfi" iudicial and
other civil functions. She JZ appears out
of the capital ; but when she does so her subjects
are bound to spread clothes in her path. Gomarra
always refams victorious from his campaigns, laden
with male and female trophies. The enemy's men
are killed or mutilated, and the women either



UHEXPLOBED COUNTRIES SOUTH OF SHOA. 57

killed or savagely disfigured* When I expressed
some doubts as to the accuracy of Dilbo's state-
ment respecting the spreading out of clothes on
Queen Balli's path he observed^ that owing to
the quantity of cotton in Kaffa clothes are ex-
tremely cheap, and the natives do not care much
about lodng them if thereby they can do honour
to their queen. The. chief articles brought from
Kaffit by the traders of Enarea are slaves and
cotton cloths. In return they take thither pieces
of salt, copper, horses, cows, coloured clothing,
stujBGs, and in general everything that is sold in the
Gondar market. Homed cattle are rare in Kaffa,
on which account in cultivating the fields the
inhabitants do not employ the plough, but break up
the soil with staves, a custom which reminded me
of the tribes in the interior, to the south of the
Equator, who prepare the ground by means of
pointed pieces of wood. The internal portion of
the kingdom is orderly ; but on the frontiers there
is always a great deal of fighting going on with
the neighbouring tribes, which the vaHant Gomarra,
however, soon sets to rights. Strangers who visit this
kingdom for trading purposes are much esteemed and
their persons and property protected. The people of
Kaffa are partly Christian, though after a very super-
ficial and degenerate fashion, and they practise cir-
cumcision, do not work on Fridays and Sundays,
and observe the festivals of Saints. Incredible
and fiibulous appears the statement which Dilbo
made to me req>ecting the relation between husband



58 VNEXPLOBED OOUNTBIE^ SOUTH OF SHOA.

and wife, which was to the effect that there is a pubGc-
resort set apart for the husband, where no woman is
permitted to appear, and where no wife must eat or
drink with her husband under penalty of three
years' imprisonment. Husband and wife see each
other only at night, never meeting during the day.
The wife remains in the inmost portion of the house,
the husband occupying the other part. Such a sepa-
ration of the sexes is unknown in Abessinia, and
would presuppose that the inhabitants of Ka& axe
Mohanmiedans, with whom the isolation of their
women is the rule.

Salt is very dear in Elaffa, and five pieces have
the same value as twenty pieces (one dollar) in
Shoa. The salt comes from Senjero and Enarea,
and those countries receive it from Abessinia. The
language of Kafe is neither ^thiopic nor Amharic,
nor Galla ; it is allied, however, to those of Gobo,
Tuffte, and Dambaro. The Ka>ffans have a tradi-
tion according to which the primeval father of
their race was called Busase and lived in a cave.
The same thing is also told of the first of the
population of Enarea; and from this it would
seem as if the earliest inhabitants of those countries
lived in caves, and thus were Troglodytes as Hero-
dotus reports, until through contact with other
tribes they became acquainted with house-building.
There are said to be many caves in both these
places.

Proceeding fix)m ELaJOGa. to the north it is necessary
to cross the great river Gojob, of which something



UlJlEXPIiOEED COUKTRlEd SOtTTH OF SHOA. 59

has' to be said, before we pursue our course to the
northern countries, Mancho, Jimma, Senjero and
Enarea.

' It was in the October of 1840 that I journeyed
from Ankober to Angolala in order to pay my
respects to the King of Shoa, and to express to him
my wish to be aUowed to accompany him in his
expedition into the Galla land. The king acceded
to my request ; but at the same time commanded me
to remain for a few days in Angolala until the
forces of Shoa were collected. During this time of
expectation I often conversed with Dilbo, the
Enarean aheady referred to. Among other things,
I asked him whether there were rivers in his
country and what information he could give re-
specting the countries to ihe south. Later (on the
29th of May 1841) I was in Angolala again along
with Dr. Beke ; and in the company of that gifted
traveller, whose knowledge of Amharic however
was then scanty, I again conversed with Dilbo, who
reiterated and e^dar^upon his fonner statements.
Thus, when I inquired whether there was any river
in Enarea like the Hawash, on the southern fron-
tier of Shoa, Dilbo replied at once: — *'In Enarea
and beyond Enarea there are more than one
river ; there are the Eibbe, or Gibbe, the Dambese,
the Dirdesa, and the Gojob. This last is the
largest of them aQ, and neither rises in Enarea
nor flows through that country ; but comes from the
great desert Gobi which lies to the south-west of
Enarea. The Gojob flows between Kaffia. and



60 UK£XPLOBED €X>UNTBIE8 SOUTH OF SHOA.

Moncho to Senjero^ and past it towards the rismg
of the sun.^^ This was, ahnost word for word, the
statement of Dilbo in the years 1840 and 1841 ;
but it was only in 1841, that I attached import-
ance to it, when Dr. Beke pointed attention to its
harmony with Herodotus, who had heard from a
priest of the Temple of Minerva in Thebes, that one
half of the Nile flowed towards the North and the
other half towards the South. This remark of Dr*
Beke made me inquire minutely respecting this
river which is quite distinct from the Eabbe, the
latter having its source in the forest of Babia, near
Kossa and Genua in Enarea, whence it unites with
the Dirdesa which rises near Jeresa in Jimma;
when uniting with the Dambese, which comes from
Wosager in Enarea, it empties itself into the Blue
River, or Abessinian Nile. To the question, whether
he had ever seen the Gojob DUbo replied that
he had twice crossed it with a relative, who was in
the habit of making every year the journey from
Enarea to Kaffist, in company of other traders.
From his birthplace Sabba, he had journeyed
always in a south-westerly direction, through
Jimma and Mancho, Gtdla districts, dependent
on Enarea, and had then come to a great desert
where the Mancho people waylay travellers, till
at last he reached the bank of the great river
Gojob, the volume of whose waters so terrified
Tiini that he wished to return to Enarea, fearing
tiiat while crossing the river, he should lose his life
either through the many crocodiles which he saw



UKEXFLOSED €X>UNTBIES SOUTH OF SHOA* 61

in the water, or through the great waves which he
thought would sink rafts made of the trunks of trees.
To the further question how broad the river was^ he
said, ^^the Gojob is, from one bank to another
as &r as Angolala to the Gallas village Cherkos,"
the distance between the two latter places being
about two English miles. They had to search the
forest for the terrified Dilbo and bind him with
cords to prevent him from running away in a
fright. Sometimes travellers take time to hoUow
out the trunk of some huge tree ; but generally they
bind six or seven trunks together, and thus trans-
port over the river from thirty to fifty people, with
horses, mules, asses, cows, &c. As I £emcied that
Dilbo had no right notion of either a boat or a
rait I made him construct them by way of illustration
witi> reed, m «y ho^e; whence U . perfect
raft with rudders, so that I could no longer be
scepticaL The Shoans do not know anything either
of boats or rafts, so that Sahela Selassie got a model
of one made for the British envoy, when he was
about to proceed in the direction of Gurague to the
Lake Suai (Zwai).

As it was difficult to ascertain the geographical
positions of the countries spoken of by DUbo, I made
him attempt a map in sand, which showed the source
of the river towards the west, to the north of Enarea.
In the desert of Gobo there are, it seems, many
elephants, giraffes, and wild beasts generally, and
beyond the desert there are black people. To a
question respecting the mouth of the river DUbo
replied : — ^' I know that it flows towards the rising



f

62 UNEXPLOHED COUKTRIES iaOUTH OP 8H0A.

Bun; but I do not know its end. I only know that
I have heard the Mohammedans say, that on this
river they go into the comitry of the Arabs," At
the time I could not rightly understand this state-
ment of DUbo ; but it all became clear to me when,
in 1843 I became acquainted with the mouth of the
Jub and with the general relations of the eastern
coast under the Equator, and I am convinced
that the Gojob is no other river than the Jub, as
it is called by the Arabs.

After the Gojob, as Dilbo reported, has flowed
onward with great rapidity to Kaffia. it takes its way
through a lake, and then further to the east receives
the large river Omo, which rises in the south-west
of Susa. Near the confluence of the two rivers the
Gojob appears to have a cataract, which Dilbo
called Dmnbaro, and which he said makes so tre-
mendous a noise that it is heard at a very great
distance. Probably the river here is barred by
rocks, which arrest its flow and make its waters
furious. Now, as regards the origin of the two
rivers, the Gojob and the Omo, it may per-
haps be simply explained by the supposition that
those of the mountains of Enarea which seem to
run from south to north contribute their eastern
waters to the Elbbe, whilst the south-western
ranges send theirs into the Gojob. In Enarea
therefore there would be a separation of the streams
running eastward and westward. So likewise may
the south-eastern streams of Kaffii and Susa form
the Omo, whose original source however may be
in snow-mountains and marshes, which certainly



PKEXPLO]RKD C0UKTBIE9 60UTH OF SHOA. 63

coiild exist to the north of the Equator, as well
as those seen by me to the south of it. How im^
portant it would be if the explorations of Aiture
travellers were directed to the regions of the equa-
tor, that one section of them shoidd proceed through
Enarea and Eaffa to Susa, while another section
should pursue the same goal onwards from Barava
or Malindi. The western waters of Susa and Kaffit
flow beyond doubt into the Bahr-el-Abiad ; from
which, after all, the interior of Africa both eastward
and westward can more easily be explored, as travel-
ling from the western and eastern coasts of Africa is
extremely difficult, expensive, and dangerous ; while
the passage of the NUe is practicable with tolerable
security to the fourth degree of north latitude ; and
even the bars of rock there may be surmounted at the
right ti»e of Ae yea. when the ™.«i. high. The
countries of Kaffa and Susa can be scarcely three
degrees of latitude distant from the Bahr-el-Abiad ;
and it ought therefore to be possible to reach the
yiciBity of Ka& by ihe Sobat, which comes from the
east, and flows into the Bahr-el-Abiad, without any
necessity for a considerable journey by land. I can-
not doubt that all these problems will be solved by the
next expedition which may penetrate into the regions
of the upper course of the Bahr-el-Abiad, and that
every contributory stream as &x as navigable will
be explored. But this is an enterprise which will
require several years to be satisfisu^torily conducted to
its close.

I now proceed with the further description of



64 JJKEXFSJOBSD CX)UNTBIES SOUTH OF BHOA*

the southem countries of Abessinia. When the
traveller has crossed the Gojob, and proceeds
through the country of the Mancho and Jimma
Gallas, in from twelve to fifteen days he will
reach Enarea, which lies much higher than Kaffiu
Dilbo spoke of five lofty mountains in Enarea the
names of which are, MenjiUo, in the centre of
Enarea, Sasala, Grabana, Mutekossa, and Jejilla.
The capital of Enarea is Saka with a population
of about 12,000, where the Sappera, or king, gene-
rally resides and where the caravans coming from
Gt)ndar stop for trading purposes. According to
Bilbo there are also the following cities and vil-
lages : — Santo, Lake, Genna, Kossa, Geruke, Affate,
Sabba, Sigaro.

Dilbo informed me that the reigning King of
Enarea is AbbaBogibo, abrave warrior and good ruler,
who administers justice publicly in his capital, and to
whom every one has easy access. On such occasions
he sits on a wooden throne over which a skin is
spread. His people do not bow the upper portions of
the body, nor prostrate themselves to the ground,
as is the custom of the Abessinians in their inter-
course with kings and great men ; they simply kiss
his hand after the fashion of the Mohammedans.
The sons of the t^Tig axe not imprisoned either, as
at one time was the case with the sons of the
kings of Abessinia, that ihey might not stir up in-
surrections against their &thers. In Enarea the
son of the king's chief wife generally becomes
his successor, and he then nominates his brothers to



mnsxFWBXSD ooxtktbies south of shoa. 65

the governorships of provinces. The king places
himself at the head of his troops in the expeditions
which he undertakes annually against the Gallas of
Gtuna, Nemo, and Linmiu, to the north-east of Enarea.
The Guderu tribes, too, in the north, as well as
the Jimmas and Manchos in the south, and the
Shankala^ in the north-west, are sometimes visited.
The kuig'p influence extends from Enarea as far as
the Macha and Soddo GtiUas. The campaigns last
at the most from ten to fifteen days, and are carried
<„ by trcp, in »ngle di™» J operating in dif-
ferent directions ; and the king, acting in the centre,
has cognizance of their movements by the smoke
of tiie yillages they 8et on fire. Children and
women are neither slain nor mutilated, but sold
into slavery to Gondar and Shoa; this practice
however may have ceased since the slave trade
was forbidden by Theodoras, the new and ener-
getic King of Abessinia, some years ago.

The King of Enarea possesses a small number of
matchlocks which he obtained iroixx the merchants
in Gondar, and from Goshu, the former governor
of Gojam. Abba Bogibo is a Mohammedan, his
&ther, Bofii Boku, having accepted that creed from
his uncle Mutar, and frx)m the Mohammedan traders
from Gt)ndar, who with trading always com-
bine religious objects, and with that view take
Mohammedan priests with them. A large section
of the people of Enarea have been converted to
Islamism, and the language is Galla, but differs some-
what from the dialects of the other Gktllas.



66 UNEXPLORED OOUKTBIES BOtTTH Of SHOA.

The necessaries of life are cheap in Enarea ; for
a piece of salt) worth not more than a groat, you
may buy fix)m sixty to seventy pounds of coflFee-
berries, and at the same price three great pitchers of
honey, or several sacks of wheat * are procurable.
Pieces of salt are however rare. like the Abessi-
nians the Ehareans drink beer and mead. The
coffee-tree grows wild in the woods to the height of
from twelve to fourteen feet, and its wood is used for
fuel in the cold parts of the country ; and in Enarea
there is said to be more coffee than in KbSa* What
a pity that there should be so much difficulty in
communicating with countries like these, from
which so valuable an article of commerce could be
procured I What results would arise if the Gojob
were found to be navigable, or if the river Sobat
should conduct to these coffee countries I And how
much more important still would this be for the
extension of Christianity in Inner Africa I The
traders from Gondar carry to Enarea the following
articles of commerce: — pieces of salt, glass-beads
of various colours and sizes ; coloured stu£&, espe-
cially blue calico; copper, knives, scissors, nails;
weapons, cooking-ware, black pepper, &c. ; and
receive in exchange coffee, civet, slaves, horses and
the skins of lions and leopards, especially of the
black leopard {Gessela).

Civet is dear, even in Enarea, as it is considered a
good medicine for the head-ache and other maladies ;
and is procured from the civet-cat which is as large
as a young dog. This cat lives in the woods, where



UNE2LPL0BED COUNTRIES SOUTH OF 8H0A. 67

it is caught in traps, and is Aen kept in cages in front
of which a fire is burnt daily to make it perspire.
It has in its hinder parts a little sack or bladder in
which the precious material collects, and this is
emptied with a spoon from time to time, and put
into a horn which with its valuable contents is sold
to the traders.

Among the animals of Enarea is the Worsamesa,
which from the description appears to be the giraffe,
and is found in greai numb^in the wildei^of
Bakko in the west of Enarea, whence you go into the
land of the Blacks. This wilderness is fiill of wild
animals, and is the hunting-gromxd of hmiters of
Enarea. Elephants are particularly numerous in it ;
and amongst these the white elephant, whose hide
is like that of a leper ; but it must not be killed ;
for it is considered an ^^Adbar," that is, a pro-
tector of man, and has religious honours paid to it.
Any one who should happen to kill a white elephant,
which is smaller than the common one, would have to
atone for the act with his life ; for so their heathen
superstition decrees ; and here I may take the oppor-
tunity to note, that white elephants are said to be
extant in the interior also on the coast of Lamu,
as Bana Kheri, my Suahili caravan-conductor, assured
me. In Enarea there are said to be white buffaloes
too, which are likewise sacred and may not be
attacked ; and indeed in general the. white colour is
sacred.

The original founder of the race which inhabits
Enarea is called limmu, and Uke the founder of Kaffit

p



68 UNiaCPLORED COUNTRIES SOUTH OP SHOA«

is said to have been a troglodyte and to have dwelt
in caves.

To the south-east of Enarea lies the powerful
kingdom of Senjero, which formerly consisted of
sixteen provinces, but is now, it appears, depend-
ent on Enarea, as Abba Bogibo in conjunction
with Limmu and Jimma, is said to have invaded
it and made it tributary. A slave from Sen-
jero with whom I became acquainted at An-
kober gave me the following information respect-
ing this imknown country. The capital of Sen-
jero which stands upon a hill is called Anger. The
name of the king of the country is Amo, and he is
a great friend to his soldiers, but not to the poor
people. The succession to the throne is hereditary,
and not dependent on the flight of a vulture or a bee,
as according to the report of a priest of Gurague I
had been led to imagine. It was the custom in Sen-
jero after the death of a king, he said, for the chief
men of the kingdom to sussemble outside the city in an
open field, and wait till a vulture or an insect settled
on one of the assembly ; and he to whom this hap-
pened was imanimously elected king. As these Afri-
can races attach great importance to birds and their
cries, such a custom would have been within the
limits of possibility. The people of Senjero have to
fight on all sides, with Wolamo, Enarea, Goma, and
with the GaUas. The river Elbbe is said to mark
the boundary, and to be even larger than the Hawash.
The natives do not eat the flesh of goats and fowls ;
for like the Gallas and other South African tribes, they



UNEXPLOREr) CX)UNTKIES SOUTH OF SHOA. 69

look upon the latter as a species of the vnlture tribe.
Traders from Gurague repair to Senjero, and dur-
ing their stay are aUowed '' dirgo," or daily rations
from the kingy just as is the custom in Shoa. The
population is said to have been Christian^ but to have
relapsed into heathenism. Sunday is a day of rest,
and they keep the feasts of Eidana Meherat and St.
Michael, but they have no fast-days, and circumcision
prevails.

In Senjero only females are sold into slavery,
because once a wife cruelly murdered her husband
at the request of the king of the country. At first
Ihe king is said to have desired the husband, who was
of high rank, to kiU his wife and bring him a piece
of her flesh, which had been indicated by the sooth-
sayers as a sore cure for the sick monarch. The hus-

ing to obey the royal command. The king therefore
commanded the wife to murder her husband which she
did without hesitation. Since that time it had been
the custom to sell women into slavery into other
countries ; but when male slaves are transported be-
yond Senjero, they are said generally to commit
suicide by hanging themselves.

The people of Senjero offer up human beings
as sacrifice to their gods. The slave-dealers always
throw a beautiful female slave into the lake Umo,
when they leave Senjero with their human wares ;
and many families, too^ must offer up their first-
bom sons as sacrifices, because once upon atime, when
summer and winter were jumbled together in a bad

p 2



70 UNEXPLORED COUNTRIES SOUTH OF SHOA*

season, and the fruits of the field would not ripen,
the soothsayers enjoined it. At that time a great
pillar of iron is said to have stood at the entrance
of the capital, which by the advice of the soothsayers
■waa broken down by order of ite king, upon which
the seasons became regular again. To avert the recur-
rence of such a confiision of the seasons the soothsayers
are reported to have enjoined the king to pour hiunan
blood once a-year on the base of the broken shaft of the
pillar, and also upon the throne. Since then certain
families are obliged to deliver up their first-bom sons,
who are sacrificed at an appointed time. Although the
existence of an iron pillar, the broken shaft of which
however is said to be stUl extant, may be doubted,
the statement just given will not be wondered at by
those acquainted with the gross superstition of the
Africans, especiaUy as it is manifested in seasons
of calamity ; or by those who consider the craft of
the influential magiciauB and soottwayers, who often
give the most inhuman counsel in order to pre-
serve intact their own importance. In Uie interior
Imyselfwas once in great danger of being sacrificed,
because it had not rained for a long time, and the
absence of rain was ascribed to me, as if I could
have hindered it from falling; and again with no less
haste, I was all but deified, when after a long
drought there was a sudden fall of rain, which was
ascribed to my walking on the soil. Salt, which gene-
rally passes current in all the countries south of Abes-
sinia, is also the small currency of Senjero. Only
in Abessinia do we still find the Maria Theresa



UNEXPLORED COUNTRIES SOUTH OF SHOA. 71

dollar wliich, however, must have a peculiar stamp
to be accepted in payment. The seven dots at top,
the star in the middle, and the S. F. below, must
be distinctly impressed if the dollar is to be considered
a female and not a male one^ which is a few pieces
of salt less valuable than the other.

In Senjero there aie said to be good smiths
and other artisans. Very probably the countries
along the Gojob possessed in earlier times a
higher state of civilization, which they received
from Arabia or India, by means of the water-com-
munication afforded by the river. The iron pillar
and the existence of artisans, may be sufficient war-
rant for this supposition. The Medinat-el-Nahas, too,
that is, the copper city, or city with walls of copper,
of which I heard on the Suahili coast, leads one to
infer a higher state of civilization, as having existed
in the countries watered by the Gojob.



72



CHAPTiJR VL

ORMANIA AND THE GAULAS.

Position, number and migration <^ the Gallas-^Their probable mis-
fiion in the providential sclieme— Their appearance, dress, &c
— ^The tnie Ghilla type to be found near the Equator — Country,
climate, and occupation — ^Field for European emigration — ^Their
priests, prayers, and exorcists— Ideas of a Aiture life— Theoiies
as to tbeir notions of Christianity — Characteristics of i^eir religion
— No idols in Eastern Africa — ^Their notions of a divinity and sub-
ordinate deities— Days of rest— The WoUo-Gallas— The " Wo-
daja" — ^Mohammedanism of the WoUo-Gallas — Power of Mo-
hammedanism in Eastern Africa — Coming conflict between Chris-
tianity and Mohammedanism.

I CONCLUDE my notices of the southern countries of
Abessinia with a brief description of the Gallas, a
nation to which during my residence in Shoa I
paid particular attention, as I consider them destined
by Providence after their conversion to Christianity
to attain the importance and ftiMl the mission which
Heaven has pointed out to the Germans in Europe.

In the course of time the Gallas have taken
possession of a large section of Eastern Africa.
Separated into many tribes independent of each
other they extend, so to say, from the eighth
degree of north to the third degree of south latitude,
numbering, in the whole, from six to eight millions,
an amount of which scarcely any other African
race can boast. When in the sixteenth century
Mohammed Graga overran and destroyed the land,



THE GALLA& 73

Coming from the south with their inntimerable
horsemen the Grallas seized on some of the finest
portions of Abessinia. This movement may have
been part of a more general one in the centre of
Africa, which drove the tribes of the interior towards
the coast, the Gallas migrating towards the north and
east ; and it would seem to have been providentially
ordained by Ihis migration of the Gallas to oppose a
barrier to the onward rush of the Mohammedans
from Arabia, and so at one and the same time to
punish the abominable heresies of Christian Abessinia,
and the wild fanaticism of the Mohammedans. Had
not Providence brought the Portuguese by sea to
the eastern coast in the fifteenth century, and
afterwards impelled the Gallas forward from the in-
terior, the fiery and proselytizing Mams would pro-
bably have overrun equatorial Africa from east to
west, as they once threatened to overrun Europe.
The name ^^ Gallas " in their own language means
immigrants, and has been given them by the Arabs
and Abessinians. They call themselves ^^Orma,"
or " Oroma," strong, or brave men ; and their lan-
guage they call ^'Afan Orma," the mouth of the
Ormas; so as the Gallas have no general name to
indicate their nationality or its seat, I propose to in-
clude both under the designation of Ormania.

I have heard several very different accounts given
of the origin of the Gallas, or, as I would call them,
the Ormas; but, whatever it may have been, it is
certain that on their first appearance ia Abessinia
ihey were a very wild and warlike people, who



74 THE GALIAS.

tinited under one head might have conquered not
only Abessinia, but the whole of Africa. After
having occupied, however, the finest provinces of
Abessinia, they began to make war upon each other,
which checked their further progress, and made it
easy for the Abessinians to subjugate one tribe afber
another. With their horsemen, notwithstanding
their numbers, the Gallas found it difficult to conquer
the mountainous highlands of Abessinia.

In general the Gallas have a manly appearance ;
are large and powerfully built, but with savage fea-
tures, made still more savage-looking and fierce by
their long hair, worn like a mane over the shoulders.
They are principally of a dark-brown colour, by
which, no less than by intellectual capacity and
teachableness, they are so advantageously distia-
guished from all other East-Afiicans, that the Galla
slaves, especicdly the young women, are much
sought after by the slave-dealers, and in Arabia
fetch from 100 to 150 dollars each. Their bodies,
and long upper-garment in form like the Roman
toga are besmeared with a thick crust of butter,
giving an unpleasant odour, which strangers scent
from afar. The women wear a short gown of leather
fiistened round their loins by a girdle, on the
skirt of which a number of pieces of coral are hung
by way of ornament. The more wealthy wear also
a large upper-garment over this gown, which gives
them the appearance of European women. The
weapons of the Gallas are a spear, sword, and shield,
and they all ride on horseback; even the women



THE GALLA8. 75

gallop beside or beldnd their husbands ; for among
them it is coDBidered degrading to go on foot.

The Gralla horses are very small, but beautiM in
colour, and extremely swift, though horse-shoes ore
unknown. The Grallas in the neighbourhood of
Abessinia are tillers of the soil as well as breeders
of cattle, while their brethren under the Equator are
merely pastoral and lead a nomadic life. Those of
the Equator, moreover, have no horses and are alto-
gether &r behind the others, presenting the genuine
type of the original Gallas, especially in their reli-
gious notions. Where the Gallas follow agriculture,
the men plough, sow, and reap, while the women look
after the oxen, cows, horses, sheep, and goats, and
take care of the house and its concerns. Rye, wheat,
barley and Indian com, grow in such great abundance
in the Gulla countries, that for a dollar you may buy
almost more barley or rye than a camel can manage
to carry. The climate of most of these counties
is remarkably beautiftd and healthy ; titie average
temperature being 66 deg. Fahrenheit — ^the high-
est 70 deg., and the lowest, 46 deg. The Gallas
occupy vast and noble plains which are verdant
almost all the year round, and afford nourishment
to immense herds of cattle. Their houses or huts
are round and cone-shaped, covered with roofs
of grass and mostly inclosed by a low stone wall
for security against sudden attack. The villages
or hamlets are for the most part in groves or
woods, on heights, or on the sides of mountains and
rivers. The land is rich in springs and brooks, well



76 THE OALLAS.

supplied by the tropical rains wHch last for three
months ; besides which there is a second short rainy
season. Wooded moimtains and hills also abound,
which serve for places of reftige to the inhabitants in
time of war; and the tall juniper is among the
most remarkable of the trees which adorn these
forests. What a noble land would Ormania be if
it were under the influence of Christianity and
European culture ! What a pity that the course of
our emigration is not directed to those regions!
No doubt the time will come, when the stream of
European enterprise which now flows towards Ame*
rica and Australia shall be exhausted. Abessinia
will then attain the cosmopolitan standing to which
it is entitled by its geographical position.

Like most sayage tribes the GaUas are great tcdkers,
and for hours together they can make speeches, with
an expression and play of gesture which are yery
amusing to a European. The language is very
harmonious and reminds one of Italian. On the
whole, five chief dialects may be distinguished in
Ormania, although the difference between them is
not so great that the most southern Gralla can-
not pretty easily understand his most northern
brother.

The Grallas have priests, called Lubas, as dis-
tinguished from the KaUjas, who are their magi-
cians, exorcists, and medicine-men. As in the case
of most heathens, so with these people, a tree has an
important place in their religious ceremonies. Under
the shadow of the Woda sacrifices and prayers are
offered up; a higher spirit even is supposed to



THE GALLAS. 77

dwell within it, on which account the Woda is
esteemed holy, and no one dare feU or harm it with-
out losing his life. Of the greatest sanctity is the
tree Worka {Ficus dyeamoms)y Woda Nabi, by the
river Hawash, where the Gallas every year offer
up a great sacrifice, and pray to their highest
deity, Waka, sacrificing oxen and sheep to him,
and drinking plenty of beer and smoking tobacco.
In their prayers, which have no fixed formula,
they say, " Wak, give us children, tobacco,
com, cows, oxen, and sheep. Preserve us £rom
sickness, and help us to slay our enemies who make
war upon us, the Sidama (Christians), and the
Islama (Mohammedans). . Wak, take us to thee,
lead us into tibe garden, lead us not to Setani, and
not into the fire." On this occasion, the Lubas, or
prieste, augur from the entrails of goats whether
victory or defeat is to accompany the Grallas in the
coming year. The Luba lets his hair float wildly,
carries a bell in his hand, and a copper frontlet en*
circles his brows when he performs tins rite, which
reminds one of that of the ancient Romans. If the
entrails are very red the Gallas are to be conquered
by the Sidama. The Kalijas cast out spirits and
devils from the sick, every malady being ascribed
to an evil spirit. The number of evil spirits is eighty-
eight, which are governed by two chie&, each of whom
has forty-three under his orders. An evil spirit is
called Sar. The Kalija hangs dried entrails of the
goat round his neck, carries a bell and a whip in
his hand^ offers a sacrifice to a serpent which is



78 THE GALLAJS.

being fed in title house on milk, rubs grease on the sick
man, smokes him with aromatic herbs, cries aloud
with a horrible noise, gives him at the same time
some smart strokes with the whip, and thus en*
deavours to cast out the evil spirit and to cure the
patient.

Lake the . Abessinians the Grallas live on meat
and bread, and drink beer and mead as much as
they choose. They do not eat fish nor fowls, con-
sidering the former to be of the seipent, and the
latter of the vulture species. The serpent, as already
mentioned, is considered sacred by the Gallas, and
milk is set before it. The Grallas have honey in
superabundance ; and when the bees swarm the peo-
ple set up a shout to make them settle; and the
interior of the hive is smeared with fragrant sub-
stances that the bees may be enticed not to abandon it.

K a Galla kills a-man of his own tribe Hxe man-
slayer must pay a fine of one thousand oxen ; if a
woman is killed, the penalty is only fifty oxen, an
ox being estimated at fix>m one to two dollars.
As respects the abode of the dead the Gallas
believe that Christians, Mohammedans and Ormas
go to separate places in the lower world, where
each is rewarded by Waka or punished by fire.
They consider Waka to be an invisible and beau-
tiful being. It is, however, difficult to discover the
original religious notions of the Gfallas, as in the
neighbourhood of Abessinia they have heard many
scriptural conceptions, so that a laborious inquirer
like Dr. Beke is inclined to consider them dege-



THE GALLAS. 79

nerate Christians^ a theory to which I cannot assent.
Even the most degenerate of the Christians of Abes-
sinia retain baptism and the Lord's Supper, religious
services in church and elsewhere, the Holy Scrip-
tures and many ordinances and blessings founded on
the Bible, all which are entirely wanting to the
Ghdlas. Dr. Beke bases his opinion on informa-
tion received fix)m a Guderu Galla, to the effect
that the Gallas are acquainted with the Abessinian
names of saints, &c., and pay them great venera-
tion; for instance, Maremma (Maria), Balawold
(Jesus Christ), Sanbata (Sunday), Kedami (Satur-
day), Maddin (Saviour of the world) Selassie (the
Trinity), Girgis (St. George), Dablos (the Devil)
who torments the possessed, Sintan or Setani (Sa-
tan), who brings death, disease, and misfortune,
Ac. Ac. The Virgin Mary they call Wakaiu, the
Mother of God. It is certainly true that the Gtillas
who live in the neighbourhood of Abessinia are
acquainted with these names, at least with some of
them; but it by no means follows that we are to
consider the Grallas as Christians, even of the most
degenerate kind. Among the southern or equatorial
Gullas there is no trace of these names and ideas ;
at most, therefore, it can be only the Gallas border-
ing on Abessinia who deserve to be regarded as de-
generate Christians, and not the Gallas in general.

Great care must be taken to avoid any attempt to
identify the peculiar and genuine religious concep-
tions of the race with those of the GaUa-slayes re-
siding in Mohanmiedan countries, whose stock of



80 THE GALLAS.

ideas is already so Mohammedanized, that if we were
to consider their notions as of Ormaic origin, a
great error would be committed. The true Or-
maic faith is to be discovered only where (as in the
interior of the equatorial regions) the heathen Gallas
have no intercourse but with heathens/ the Wanika,
for example ; but not with Mohammedans or Chris-
tiansy and where they are not subjected to a foreign
yoke. This much is certain, that the Ormas have
£ar more expanded and purer ideas of religion
than other heathen tribes of Eastern AMca ; and it
is also certain that they, like the others, have no
visible idols; for throughout the whole of Eastern
AMca such are unknown. This circumstance, on
the one hand, presupposes a v^ry ancient paganism,
and on the other, shows that the East-Africans
are more occupied with temporal than with spiritual
wants and interests. They are so devoted to the
service of the beUy, as not to trouble themselves
much about gods and their worship. The fear
of evil spirits is not wanting among these heathen
nations; and this has led them to the idea of
the necessity for an atonement, and to the cere-
monial of sacrifice. It is certain, also, that these
nations in general maintain the idea of a Supreme
Being, whom they universally distinguish by the
name " Heaven " (Waka, Mulungu), since by their
own conceptions and without a higher revelation
they cannot ascend beyond the sky, the loftiest
and most exalted of created objects, nor lift up
their eyes to contemplate the One almighty and



THE GALLA8. 81

living God. They made an approach, it is true,
towards such a conception ; but stopped short of it
when they halted at a material heaven, and could
at most only dimly foreshadow the existence of a
Supreme Being. So certain is it that man, left to
himself without the aid of revelation, can never attain
to the knowledge of the One true God*

It has abeady been noticed, that the Gallas pay
great reverence to the serpent, which they regard
as the mother of the human race. Now, since the
worship of the serpent was a prominent feature in
the old Ethiopian idolatry, as we find from, the
statement of the Abessinians, that before their con-
version they worshipped a large serpent, it may
be conjectured that the religious conceptions of the
Ormas are connected with those of the ancient
Ethiopians ; and thus the fSsdth of the Gallas may
throw some light upon that older creed. Under
Wak, as the Most Supreme Being, stand two su-
bordinate divinities, a masculine, Oglie, and a femi-
nine, Atetie. They sacrifice cows and sheep to Oglie
between the months of June and July ; to Atetie,
they sacrifice in September. She is the goddess
of fecundity, and women are her especial votaries.
At these festivities they ask for numerous progeny,
good harvests and victory over their enemies ; in other
respects, giving themselves over entirely to that
sensual enjoyment, which is generally inseparable
firom heathenism. It is evident that the procreative
and fructifying power of nature is expressed by the
idea of these two divinities, as was the case with the



82 THE GALLAS.

ancient Egyptians who had similar notions. At the
beginning of the rainy season nature germinates, and
brings fruit at its close. I mentioned formerly that
many of the GaUa tribes show great respect for
Saturday and Sunday on which days they do not
work in the fields. They call Sunday "Sanbata
gudda" (greater Sabbath), in contrast to the " San-
bata kenna" (lesser Sabbath). I could detect no-
thing of this distinction among the Gallas of the
Equator ; but I satisfied myself as to the non-exist-
ence of it by the &ct, that the Gallas of the
Equator are mostly nomads, for whom there is
no necessity to single out certain days for rest, since
they can rest any and every day, while it is quite
otherwise with the agricultural tribes. A similar
circumstance is remarked among the Wanika, the
Masai, and Wakuafi. The Wanika rest firom their
labours every fourth day, whilst the nomadic Masai
and Wakuafi know no distinction of days, solely be-
cause firom their point of view they do not think
that any particular day of rest is required.

The Wollo-Gallas, composed of seven tribes and
occupying the countries between the north and
south of Abessinia, are very fanatical Mohamme-
dans, and the Moslem creed has still more corrupted
the originally corrupt nature of the Gallas. In
faithlessness and lust of plunder scarcely any
nation exceeds the WoUos, despite their external
show of Mendliness and civility* But they are
not given to slaying strangers, although they
plunder them without compunction. The heathen



THE GALLAS. 83

Gallas, on the contrary, murder every one who has
not become a ^^ Mogasa," that is, a £Etyourite of their
Heyu, or chief, whose term of office is for seven
•year8, another being then chosen in his place by one
or more of the Galla tribes. The Heyu commands
in time of war, and is judge in time of peace.

It is the custom among the WoUo-Gallas for their
chief men to meet early on Thursday and Friday
mornings for prayer, when they have coffee and
Chat, a sort of tea, and smoke tobacco ; and their
priests must not absent themselves on these oc-
casions, which are called "Wodaja,'' Unions, or
preservatives of friendship. They liueve thai at
the Wodaja they receive spiritual revelations in
reference to military expeditions and other matters,
and at it they pray especially that they njay be
blessed with increase of cows, clothes, &c., and that
Allah will bestow gold and silver on their chief, and
increase his power and dominion. It was at such a
Wodaja that a priest attached to Adara Bille, the
chief of Lagga Gora, pretended in 1842 to receive
a revelation that I ought to be plundered of every-
thing in my journey through the Wollo-land, a
scheme which, as will be hereafter seen, was really
carried out, and nearly cost me my life.

The WoUos are said to have been converted to
Mohammedanism by an Arab, named Debelo. Since
the time of the great Guksa this tribe has possessed
considerable influence in the politics of Abessinia.
Guksa was the son of the chief Merso, and father
of Ali Allula, who was the £a,ther of Ras Ali.

G



84 THE GALLAS.

Has AK for a long time governed western Abeasinia,
and inclined towards Mohammedanism ; but in 1853
he was vanquished in battle by King Theodorus,
and obliged to seek refuge among his Mohammedan-
relatives, with whom it would appear he is still resi-
dent, waiting for an opportunity to dislodge the
conqueror. Should he succeed Christianity in Abes-
sioia will be in great danger ; for the Mohammedans
who nourish a strong hatred to King Theodoras, on
account of his abolition of the slave trade, would be
sure to take signal vengeance on the Christians.
Indeed Mohammedanism is still most powerful in
Eaatem Africa, aad it is even yery doubtfal whether
before long it wiU not become still stronger, and the
heathen and Christian populations be involved in a
mighty conflict with it.



85



CHAPTER VII.

FROM ANKOBER TO MASSOWA.

Snccess of the author's missionary efforts in Shoa — ^Reasons for
repairing to the coast — ^The king's ftrewell and offer of an offldal
post — ^Departure from Angolala — ^Interesting interview with the
King's mother — ^Feelings on entering the Wollo country — ^Adara
Bille and his apparent friendliness — ^A young Imam — English
drill, and lucifer matches-^Alarm on the road — Betreat to Adara
BiUe — ^His treachery — Lnpiisonment and robbery of the authoi^*-
Subsequent adventures and liberation — ^Toilsome pilgrimage to
the Shoho frt>ntier — Singular offer of vengeance — Arrival at
Massowa — ^Arrival at Harkiko — ^Kindness of the French consul —
To Aden — ^Marriage in £g3rpt — Betum to Aden — ^The author's
and his fellow-labourers' Abessinian projects.

Bt the beginning of 1842 I found that my mis-
sionary residence in Ankober had been &ur fix>m
imfraitfiil ; for I had distributed 1000 copies of the
Scriptures, and many of the priests of Shoa had been
awakened to a knowledge of the truth, and to a con-
sciousness of the corrupt state of their church. My
little school of ten boys, whom I fed, clothed, and
educated at home, was prospering. The king had
bestowed on me a silver sword which gave me the
rank of a governor. At the period mentioned I
had thoughts of no longer confining my activity to
the Christians of Shoa ; but of establishing several
missions among the heathen Gallas, and one in Gura:

o 2



86 FROM ANEOBEB TO MASSOWA.

gue, with its perishing church, priests of which had
often yisited me in Ankober. This scheme was
baffled, partly by an insurrection of the Grallas in
Yerrer, rendering the road to Gurague unsafe, and
occasioning a hostile expedition of the king against
the rebels; but chiefly by the receipt of intelli-
gence that my new fellow-labourers, Muhleisen- Ar-
nold* and Miiller had arrived at Tajurra, and found
great difficulties thrown by the Adals in the way of
their farther progress to Shoa, which induced me
therefore to proceed to the coast rather than to the
interior, in order to facilitate the journey of my
friends through the Adal-land. I had besides a
personal interest which impelled me to this journey,
the intention of marrying Rosine Dietrich, a maiden
lady of Basel, who had been betrothed to mission-
ary Ktihnlein, who died in 1837 at Marseilles. In
leaving Europe I had not harboured the slightest
idea of marriage, but my experiences in Abessinia
0<»™eednt » ^LriSou^ioo.^ culdnot
eventually prosper. There were other inducements,
too, which led me to choose the route by Massowa
and Gondar, instead of the direct way to Tajurra,
one of which was to make the acquaintance of the
new Archbishop, or Abuna, who had arrived in Abes-

* My former colleague. Dr. Miihleiseii- Arnold, is the author of
" Ishmael ; or, A natural History of iBlamism, and its Belation to
ChiistiaDity." Every lover of general knowledge, but more espe-
cially every missionary proceeding to Mohammedan countries, should
possess this most valuable book, the entire proceeds of the publication
of which will be given towards founding ** a Society for propagating
the Grospd among the Mohammedans/'



FROM AKKOBEB TO MASSOWA. 87

dma in 1841, and to ascertain his sentiments towards
the Protestant missionaries; whilst another was to
investigate the state of things in Adowa, and see if
it might not be possible to re-establish the missionary
station, given up in 1838 ; and a third, to become
acquainted with the new route, in case that through
the Adal-land should hereafter be interrupted. I
thought I might undertake the journey with safety
as the treaty of 1841 between England and Shoa
provided for the security of British subjects during
their sojourn in Abessinia, but how greatly I was
mistaken will appear in the sequel.

On the 10th of March 1842 I bid ferewell to my
household, after prayer and scriptural meditation,
and provided with a considerable number of ^thiopic
and Amharic Bibles I proceeded from Ankober to
Angolala to take leave both of the king and of the
British envoy. On the 11th the king bade me a
hearty farewell, and presented me with a mule and
other most useful things for the journey, and even
offered me an official situation, for which the pre-
sentation of the silver sword had paved the way.
When I had declined it as altogether inconsistent
mth my nuBsionaiy calUng, he expressed his regret
that in negotiations with the British agent, he should
no longer have an adviser who tmderstood the cus*
toms of England as well as those of Shoa. On the
12th of March I left Angolala and journeying in a
north-easterly direction passed through Debra Ber-
han where the king resides during some part of the
year, and so to BoUo Workie where every week a



88 FROM ANEOBER TO MASSOWA.

great maxket is held, to which the GhUlas bring their
horses, aaaesj grain, &c. resting at night in the
village Logeita, near the famous monastery of St.
Abbo, the monks of which used at one time to con-
vert many Gallas to Christianity. My retinue, I
may add, consisted of ten armed servants, partly to
wait on me, and partly for protection on the road.

In the afternoon of the following day, the 13th, we
reached Salla Dengai, the capital and residence of
Senama-Work, the mother of King Sahela Selassie.
We were hospitably received, and the next day I
was presented to the king's mother, who, next to the
king, is the most powerful personage in the comitry,
n rule, in ».p.«irm^eooe ne^;
half of Shoa in the name of her son. She is an
elderly and venerable woman, apparently more than
sixty years of age, and wore a large white Abessinian
dress. She received me in a pleasant little room,
where she was seated on an Abessinian bedstead,
covered by a piece of carpet, surrotmded by a num-
ber of female attendants, whilst her male ones, with
several priests and counsellors, stood at some dis-
tance. Both men and women were well dressed, and
when I entered all were talking &miliarly with their
mistress, who had a lively and a youthful appear-
ance for her years, and seemed to be at once an
intelligent and energetic personage, and easy of
access. She received my presents — a shawl of many
colours, a pair of fine English scissors, a looking-
glass, an .iSthiopic New Testament, and a complete
Amharic Bible, in a very firiendly way, often repeat-



FROM AKKOBEB TO MASSOWA. 89

ing the words " God reword you,'^ and the books
appeared to give especial delight. She asked me
many questions^ — among others^ how my country-
men had come to be able to invent and monu-
fecture such wonderful things? I repKed, that
Gtod had promised in His Word not only spiritual
but temporal rewards to those who obeyed His
commandments; that the English^ Germans, and
Europeans in general, had once been as rude and
ignorant as the Gallas, but after their acceptance
of the Gospel God had given them with science
and arts wondrous blessings of an earthly kind ;
and that if Sahela Selassie went on imitating the
enlightened princes of Europe, and above all im-
proving the moral condition of his subjects, Shoa
would be able to produce the wonderful things which
nowBurpriaedher. Upon my taking leave she unshed
me a prosperous journey, and promised to send one
of her servants to introduce me to the Governor
of Geshe, on the northern frontier of Shoa, and
bid him promote my further journey.

On the 14th March I left Salla Dengai where it
was tolerably cold. Crossing the river Mofer, which,
joining the Kaskash, flows into the Jumma, after
forming the boundary between the provinces Tegulet
and Mans, we had to ascend a very steep mountain,
where the temperature was much colder, taking the
direction to north-north-west. Mans is the largest
province in Shoa, and is considered by the king's
widow as her dower. The inhabitants try to pre-
serve their ancient independence, yet live in a state



90 F&OM ANEOBEB TO BiCASSOWA.

of feud with each other for want of the strong hand
of authority to keep them in check. I found them
most inhospitable, so much so indeed, that though I
had a servant of the king and also one of his mother
with me, the head man of the most insignificant vil-
lage would give me neither a night's shelter in his
dwelling, nor the most trifling assistance. The climate
harmonizes with their disposition ; for when the east
wind blows it is so cold that one can scarcely fency
one's self in the interior of Eastern Afiica,

In the afternoon we crossed the rivers Qurmengne
and Sanafilasfakh, putting up for the night in the
hamlet of W<5kan, and next day crossing the rivers
Retmat, Igum, and Aftanat, all flowing westward
into the Nile. Further on we crossed the rivers
HuUadeha, Qedambo, and Aganja, and on the way
our caravan was joined by a number of Shoans,
young lads and youths, from eight years old to four-
ond-twenty, going up to the new Abuna, for ordina-
tion, and who hoped under our protection to arrive
more safely at Gondar. On the 16th, we quitted
the village of Amad-Washa, where we had slept,
and distributed a number of Amharic books in a
district of Shoa, to which as yet none of the publi-
cations of the Mission had found their way. From
the heights of Amad-Washa we had now to descend
some 3000 feet into the defile, through which flows
the river Kacheni, separating Mans fix)m the province
of Greshe. The place where we crossed often exposes
the traveller to danger firom the attacks of the Wollo-
Grallas who live on the other side of the river. Into



FROM ANEOBEB TO MASSOWA. 91

the province of MauB itself they cannot penetrate ;
for it is impossible to ascend those steep heights so
long as the governor of Geshe is faithful to the King
of Shoa, and so long as they are defended by a
handful of soldiers, who by rolling down stones can
bar the passage of a whole army. The governorship
is intrusted only to a most devoted subject of the
king, and yet all his actions are narrowly watched
and reported on by paid spies.

From the ravine of the Kacheni the road still
ascends until the foot of the hill of Dair is reached, on
which is the hill fort of the governor of Geshe. I
stayed a few days in Dair to prepare myself for my
passage through the coimtry of the WoUo-Gallas by re-
packing my effects ; and here the Shoans who wished
to travel to Gondar with our caravan left me. Their
road lay through the country of the WoUo chief Abie,
with whom the King of Shoa was at war ; mine through
the district of Lagga Gora, with whose chief, Adara
Bille, the king was on friendly terms, and to whom
by the king's orders the governor of Geshe was
to send a soldier with me recommending me to his
protection. On the 18th of March I quitted Dair
with sensations, more readily experienced than de-
scribed ; for a difficult and dangerous journey lay
before me, and had I not been powerfully strength-
ened by perusing the 91st Psalm, I should per-
haps have returned to Ankober. On the 19th of
March the little caravan crossed the boundary of
Shoa and the Wollo coimtry, and entered the dis-
trict of the Wollo tribe, Lagga Gora. The same



92 FROM ANKOBEB TO MASSOWA.

day we arrived at Gatira, the residence of Adara
Bille, who received me hospitably and at onf inter-
view asked several questions, which, believing in
the friendliness he expressed, I answered fearlessly.
He appeared pleased with my presents, and provided
a guide as far as the district of Worra Himano.
Very different was his treatment on my second visit !
On the 20th of March I left Gatira, and after two
threatened attacks from which I was preserved only
through the fear inspired by the bayonets of my ser-
vants, reached Tanta, the residence of the Imam
Liban, the ruler of Worra Himsmo, and to whom I
was recommended by Adara Bille, on the 22nd. He
was a youth of fifteen and received me in a friendly
manner ; both he and his guardians putting an infinite
number of questions about the men and things of
Europe. At his request I made my people go through
the military exercise which they had learned from the
English artillerymen at Ankober. The men shotd-
dered arms, loaded and fired qidckly and with regu-
larity, so that the youthful prince was greatly
astonished, covered his face with his garment and
exclaimed, ^^ No Abessinian army can stand against
a few himdred soldiers of the Franks." He stated
however to my great regret, that the road to Gon-
dar was made very unsafe by numerous predatory
bands, who were hovering about the river Checheho
and plundering travellers; but kindly added, that
he would order the governor of Daimt to secure me
a safe passage over the river ; and as the son of this
personage was in the room the friendly Imam di-



FROM ANKOBER TO MASSOWA, 93

rected him to repair next morning to his father, and
give the necessary orders for my safe transit. On
March 23, 1 took leave of the young Imam, offering
some presents, among which was a box of lucifer-
matches, with which he was particularly delighted.

As my little caravan could not keep pace with the
son of the governor of Daunt, he went forward to
deliver the message as soon as possible. In the
evening we bivouacked supperless on the bank of
the river Bashilo, and ascended a steep mountain,
on the top of which lies the great plain Dalanta, in
the morning, whence the road runs in a south-
westerly direction into a lower-lying region in
which is the town of Daunt. On a sudden cries of
wailing were heard from that quarter, and fugitives
brought the alarming tidings that the governor
had that morning been killed, and his son taken
prisoner by Berru Aligas, the chief of Wadela,
who had made an incursion into the territory of the
Imam Liban. I was proceeding, notwithstanding,
when a few hundred paces further on we were met
by a tall lady, a relation of the Imam, who con-
firmed the news and begged us to accompany her
to him. Whilst I was speaking to her there came
other fugitives, warning us against proceeding fur-
ther ; so a retreat was decided on, and we passed the
night in a village near Dalanta, expecting to hear
further tidings on the morrow. The population of
the whole plain was in the greatest consternation,
every one removing his property to a place of safety.
In the morning came the news that the enemy was



94 FROM ANKOBER TO MAS80WA.

approaching, so the best plan seemed to be to return
to the Imam and ask his advice. He advised me to
go back to Shoa, or to take reAige in a fortress
defended by his vizier Ynsuf, but it was fortunate
that I did not follow this latter piece of advice ; for
that very stronghold was afterwards assaulted and
taken by Berru Aligas. I decided on returning to
the friendly Adara Bille, taking my way through the
territory of the Worra Himano, and at its southern
frontier had a magnificent view over almost all
the countries of the Wollo-Gallas. Mountain ranges
stretch from the south or south-east towards the
north and north-west ; every motmtain range being
separated from the others by a plain, river, or
stream, and inhabited by a different WoUo tribe, just
as is the case in the Galla-land to the south of Shoa,
where rivers form the boundaries of the tribes.

On the 28th of March, we reached Gatira again,
and I was received by Adara Bille not only with
friendliness, but with emphatic expressions of sym-
pathy with my disappointment, and congratulations
upon my escape and safe return to Gatira ; yet when
two days afterwards I wished to leave, he desired
me to remain until he received permission from
the governor in Dair to send me back to Shoa,
as the King of Shoa had only ordered him to
send me forward to Gondar, but not back. Vain
were protests. Meanwhile, however, I was plenti-
frilly supplied with meat and drink, and sent a mes-
senger and a letter to Dair; but, as I afterwards
heard, neither reached their destination, as my



FROM ANKOBEB TO MASSOWA. 95

nxessenger was thrown into prison at the fix)ntier.
I made several presents to Adara Bille, thinking
that perhaps this was what he wanted, which were
accepted; but when on the 31st of March I again
sought permission to leave Gatira, he replied that
I was not to say another word upon the subject
until the return of his messenger. The next day
the chief held a Wodaja, at which as I learned
afterwards the priest Tahir pretended to have re-
ceived a revelation that the traveller had much gold,
which the chief ought to take.

Adara Bille, who had removed my mules and
horses into his own stables, now set a watch upon
me; and wherever I went, a soldier dogged me,
and when I was going to buy anything would
ask, "Why this extravagance?" A beggar asked
for a dollar, and when I refused it rejoined, "You
do not know whether you will leave this place a
happy man, or a beggar like myself." I began to
have my suspicions, thought of flying by night, and
consulted with some of my Abessinian servants, who
treated my fears as grotmdless. It appeared after-
wards that Adara Bille had received from one of
them a hint of my intentions, and gave me in conse-
quence more marked demonstrations of friendship to
lull my suspicions, by sending every hour to ask if
I wanted anything, and supplying provisions in
abundance.

On the following day the blow long threatened
was struck. In the forenoon the messenger returned
from Dair, but without definite instructions respect-



96 FROM ANKOBEB TO BfASSOWA.

ing my return. I was surprised to learn that
my messenger had been imprisoned, and to hear
one of Adara Bille's counsellors say : ** You have no
Mend or kinsman here, save God." I packed up
all my valuables, and resolved to steal quietly out f

of the house at midnight, and if possible to reach
the frontier of Shoa by daybreak. During the *

day I explored the roads in the environs ol ,

Gratira. Through my jfiaithless servant, probably, *

Adara Bille received information of our intended |

flight, and sent for me, telling me that the governor |

of Dair had nothing to object to my return to
Shoa, and that I might depart next morning early. »

I was led away by this apparent frienjdliness, and
remembered, too, that my servant who was im-
prisoned at the frontier was ill. Scarcely had I
quitted the Chiefs house, when he cunningly sent
a fr^sh supply of provisions for the journey to
Shoa, to strengthen me in the belief of my approach-
ing departure. I went soon to bed that I might rise
very early in the morning, and was already asleep
when I was suddenly awakened by a servant of the
Chief, with the command to repair immediately to
Adara Bille, who wished to bid me farewell. This
late invitation rather startled me; but I complied
without delay hoping to have done, once for all,
with the annoyance. At the same time, all my
servants, including the treacherous one,* who waa

* This treacherooB servanty who accompanied the British enToy
to Aden, afterwardB went mad, and there tried to cut his own throat
with a razor.



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FROM ANKOBEB TO MASSOWA. 97

to take care of the baggage, were summoned to the
Chief's. When Adara Bille saw me enter his
chamber he bowed, and said that he was very
glad that I had complied with the invitation. He
had smnmoned me so late, he said, only because
on the morrow he should have a great deal of busi-
ness on hand, and thus could not personally bid
fiarewell to his departing friend, whose conversation,
too, he desired once more to enjoy. He then
wanted to try on my spectacles; but could not
see with them, as his sight was good. The cunning
rascal, too, wished to know what was in my boots,
and asked me to draw off one, which I did, not
to offend him by a refusal. The conversation was
then prolonged, and meat and bread set before us.
At last I grew tired of the farce and was rising to
say " good night," when Adara BiQe rejoined : " Go
not yet, my Father, I have not yet sufficiently
enjoyed your conversation; nor have you eaten
and drank enough." After a brief interval I stood
up, determined to go home. The chief, too, now
rose, went into a little closet behind his bedstead
upon which he had been sitting, and that very
moment the soldiers fell upon me and my people.
One seized me by the arm and said: "You
are a prisoner; give security that you will not
escape ! " At first I thought that it was a practical
joke of Adara Bille to test my courage; but I
soon saw that the Wollo-chief was in earnest. I
was taken into the little room beside the dwelling
of the Chief, and my servants were thrust into a small



98 FROM ANKOBEB TO ICASSOWA*

separate hut^ which I could see for a moment. In
the prison all my clothes and the contents of my
pockets were demanded. As I hesitated, the guards
declared that they had orders to kill me forth-
with, and my Abessinian cloak waa torn from oflFmy
back. Upon appealing to Adara Bille's justice
and friendship I was answered derisively with the
exclamation : " Out with your treasures ! Death
if you conceal the smallest of your goods ! " The
female slaves, who were grinding com in a comer
of the room, began to shriek, thinking that the
foreign man was about to be murdered. I had to
submit to an examination of my pockets. A single
dollar, a trunk-key, and a knife were found, and im-
mediately taken away ; and an English Testament
and my note-book were also wrested from me. As
it was very cold and the little fire in the room
difPused but a small amount of warmth, I ventured
to ask for the return of my cloak. A soldier com-
municated the request to the Chief, and he had
pity enough left to send it back. From the
com-gnnding female slaves, who were not allowed
to speak with me, I learned this at least, that
neither I nor my servants were to be murdered.
Wearied out and full of the saddest thoughts I
lay down on the ground to sleep, but sleep fled
my eyelids until after midnight. Out of the
depths of my soul I called on the Good Shep-
herd, the God of all help, who knows the cares
and sorrows of his servants, and who had ever
been my trust and support I Aftier the soldiers had



FKOM ANKOBEB TO MASSOWA. 99

conveyed the stolen baggage into safe custody, they
came again into the prison and lay down on both
sides on the ends of my cloak to prevent my escape ;
on the outside, too, the prison was surrounded.

On the 3rd of April I awoke with the conscious-
ness of being a prisoner, yet still one whose life had
been preserved by the mercy of Providence. As I
waa being led from tixe prison to my former dwelling
many of the villagers came to greet me, and to ex«
press sympathy. Even the soldiers, who had treated
me so barbarously the night before, expressed their
disapproval of Adara Bille's conduct, and his chief
wife, Fatima, herself sent consolatory messages. I
was told that Adara Bille had set off in the morning
to visit the governor of Dair, and upon his return in
the evening I was taken back to my prison. The
next day I requested an interview, as also leave
to depart and necessaries for the ioumey ; but he
would neither see me, nor grant a^ythin^; sending
me word that he did not care if I had to beg
my daily bread. At length, however, he sent me
three dollars and my worst mule, which I had to
dispose of on the road to purchase food and shelter.
So, too, my manuscripts — an Amharic dictionary
and my diary — ^as well as my English Testament,
were restored. The paper which was not written
upon was retained by him, along with 140 dollars,
five mules, several pistols, ten muskets furnished
with bayonets, a rifle, my watch, the compass, and
many other valuable things, which I had received
from the British envoy.

H



100 FBOM ANKOBEB TO MASSOWA.

On the monujQg of the 5th of April I was told
that I and my servants were to be conducted beyond
the frontier by six soldiers of the chief ; but the route
and the direction were not mentioned. In silence
and unarmed we followed the men, who had spears,
shields, and swords. Almost the whole population
of Gatira was collected; some wept, others wished
us a happy journey, nobody said a word for the
Chief, and not a few predicted that Heaven would
punish the country where the stranger had been so
wronged.

I and my people followed the soldiers at as quick
a pace as permitted; for in my feax lest I should
be recalled I would have flown if I could out of
Gtitira. From the position of the sun — ^for I had
no compass left to guide me, the route seemed to
be north-eastward in the direction of Tehuladere;
but whatever the way it was a matter of indajQTer-
ence to me, as I had nothing more to lose, and in any
case, had to journey by a route nerer before traversed
by European. I consoled myself with the thought
of Abraham, to whom God had promised to show
the way that he should go, and to be his shield.
In the afternoon by whom should we be accosted
but by the very priest Tahir, who had pretended
that a revelation from heaven ordered me to be
plundered. He greeted me with smiles, and in-
vited me to his village and house, where he would
give me something to eat. I accepted the invita-
tion, and certainly the godless priest behaved with
a friendliness which I had not expected, lighted



t



FROM AKKOBEB TO MASSOWA. 101

a fire as it was cold and ramy, and brought me
food and drink, which were very acceptable. When
leaving on the 6th I thanked him for his hospitality ;
but remarked that I had nothing then with which to
recompense him ; upon which Tahir answered, ^^ It
does not matter, I have ahready had my share;''
and laughing, went hk ways.

Leaving Adara Bille's country, but still closely
guarded by the soldiers, we entered the noble
valley of Totola intersected by the river Gerado,
where a fiunous market is held which is visited by
traders from all parts of Abessinia. On both sides of
the valley are mountain-ranges covered with juniper-
trees ; and on these lulls you see villages and hamlets.
There is scarcely to be found a lovelier district in aU
Abessinia, and I wished to stop several times to con-
traiplate the beautiful scene, but the soldiers drove
me forward with the words, ^^ You are our cattle, we
can do with you what we please." About noon,
before we reached the river Berkona which flows
eastward into the Hawash« we met by Providential
gaidance a merchant con^ from Totola, who waa
surprised to see a white man on foot and without
baggage. I told him what I had suffered at the
hands of Adara Bille, adding that I had heard the
orders of the soldiers were to take me to Ali Gongul,
the governor under Amade, chief of the Wollo tribe
Tehuladere, whose territory began on this side of
tiie Bedkona. It struck the merchant as singular
that Adara BOle should send us to the governor
and not to the chief^ Amade, himself. He therefore

H 2




102 FROM AinCOBEB TO ICASSOWA.

adyified us not to go with the soldiers to Ali Glrong^l,
who had no right to dispose of strangers without
the knowledge of his master. If the soldiers would
not take us to Amade, he advised us to set up a
loud cry^ on which the people in the fields would
come to our aid, and conduct us themselves to
their prince^ who lived in Mofa on a high hill^
tram which the lake Haik could be seen. We fol-
lowed this excellent advice; and when we were
about half a league trom Mofet, observing firom the
way some country people in a field, we sat down
and told the soldiers that we wished to be taken
to A made, and not to Ali Grongul. The soldiers
were furious and brandished their swords ; but we
called the peasants, and told them the story of our
robbery by Adara Bille, and after some resistance
the soldiers were obliged to give in, and, with the
peasants, we aU repaired to Amade. After listening
to our story he was angry that Adara Bille should
send soldiers through his territory, and ordered
them to turn back immediately, or he would throw
them into prison. Amade gave us permission to go
whithersoever we chose, and we were immediately
set free. From Mofa the path which we took had
a steep descent, and at nightfall we reached a
Christian village, where a Christian merchant from
Grondar gave us a fiiendly reception and hospitable
shelter.

Journeying in a north-easterly direction as &r as
Antalo, and thence in a north-westerly direction,
seventeen days elapsed before we reached Tekunda,



FROM ANEOBEB TO MASSOWA. 103

the fix)ntier village of Tigre, on the borders of the
Shoho land, and fipom which the route proceeds to
Massowa. The way lay through every description
of country; fruitful valleys and plains, mountain
heights, past desert wildernesses; sometimes amid
dense populations, sometimes where no human soul
was to be found; and for the most part, we had to beg
for food and shelter. Occasionally a Mohammedan
would receive us hospitably, occasionally a Chris-
tian ; in the latter case the motive frequently was
to receive an amulet against illness, or some magical
cure from the white man ; for it is a common belief
in Abessinia that all white men come from Jerusa-
lem, where they think there is no sickness, and all
is plenty and splendour. When I contradicted these
superstitious notions, we would sometimes be hus-
tled out of the Christian's house, as Mussulmans in
disguise, sent to sleep in the open air and the cold,
and ordered to depart before break of day. A few
horse-beans grudgingly given were often all that we
had to subsist on, and once, even to procure them I
had to sell the girdle of my chief servant. In the
province of Tigre especially the grudging inhospi-
tality of the Abessinians reached its acme, and we
longed, day after day, for our arrival at the coast.

At last, on the 29th of April, after unspeakable
perils, sufferings and fieitigues, we reached Tekunda,
where my miserable and beggarly condition made no
very &vourable impression on the Governor. On
hearing, however, that I was an English subject,
and acquainted with Bishop Gobat, he became a



104 FROM ANKOBER TO BiASSOWA.

Kttle more friendly, bringing me and my people
some bread and horse-beans. He listened with
great apparent sympathy to the recital of our rob-
bery by Adara Bille, and when it was concluded, he
showed me some Mohammedan pilgrims who had
come from Mecca, and who were subjects of Adara
Bille: "Take these," he said; "revenge yourself
on them, and spoil them of their clothes." But I
declared that as a Christian and a messenger of the
Gospel, I could not repay evil with evil, especially
on that day. Good Friday, which reminds the Chris-
tian that Christ, the Son of God, died for all — ^the
unjust no less than the just, in order to reconcile them
to God, and to bestow on them the spirit of love
and peace. The Governor assigned to me a spacious
dwelling and provisions, so that after long suffering,
privation, and severe exertion, I enjoyed a little
repose, and could solemnise the holy day in tran-
quillity. After considerable difficulties on the score
of payment which I could not maJke, but only
promise, we quitted Tekunda under the care of
a Shoho guide; for, as mentioned in a former
chapter, the Shohos do not allow any traveller to
proceed through their coimtry without a guide.
In about three hours after leaving Tekunda, we
arrived at the spot where the road joins that from
Halai. I immediately remembered the place as
that where, four years ago, I had to chaffer and
dispute for three days with the savage Shohos. At
last, after intense fsttigue and several menaces frt>m
the surrounding savages, we arrived at Harkiko



FBOM ANEOBEB TO MASSOWA. 105

about nine o'clock on the morning of the Snd of
May.

Although half lame with the march, I haatened
to the house of the Naib, whom I met in the street.
When I had told him my adventures he ordered his
servants ^' to give the weary traveller an apartment,
and to make everything comfortable for him." With
joyfiil and grateful feelings towards Gk>d for his
manifold and wonderful protection, preservation, and
aid, during this toilsome and difficult journey, I
laid myself down on a bed in the house of the Naib
Hassan. Afiter I had rested for some time, I inquired
whether there was not an English ship bound for
Aden, lying at anchor in the harbour of Massowa,
and was told that an English schooner which had
brought a Mr. Coffin finom Aden had left the har-
bour three days before. When I heard the name
of Coffin and was informed that he was staying in
Harkiko, I immediately went to him and received
all sorts of interesting news from Europe and Egypt.
I was particularly sorry to hear that my friends,
who were to have penetrated from Tajtirra to
Ankober in order to strengthen the missionary
establishment there, had returned to Egypt because
of the impossibility of travelling safely tiux>ugh the
Adal-land.

On the 4th of May I set out for Massowa along
the coast, till I approached near the island upon
which it stands. My feet were swollen, so I adopted
the Abessinian fashion of going barefooted. At Mas-
sowa I went to the house of the agent of Mr. Coffin,



106 FKOM ANKOBEB TO MASSOWA.

but left it when the French congul, M. de Goutin,
gave me a friendly invitation to stay at the Consular
House. Without having seen me and without ask-
ing to what nation I belonged, or knowing whether he
could trust me, he offered me as much money as I
needed for my journey to Aden. It is true, however,
that the Consul had heard of me from a Frenchman,
who hadbeen plundered in Sokota, and who afterwards
had gone to Shoa, where he received much kind-
ness from me, and he wished, therefore, by friendly
treatment to reciprocate the kindness shown to his
countryman. Our subsequent voyage from Massowa
to Aden lasted fifteen days ; and from Aden I pro-
ceeded to Suez by the next steam-boat, in which I
received a free passage, on account of the services
rendered by me to Major Harris in Shoa. I remained
in Egypt up to the time of my marriage with
my wife, Rosine Dietrich, in the autumn of 1842,
when I returned with my colleagues, Isenberg and
Muhleisen-Amold, to Aden. Our purpose was then
to penetrate through the Adal Desert to Shoa, and
thence to commence missionary operations among
the Gallas, and to visit the dispersed Christian rem-
nants in Gurague, Kambat, and Kaffa, spreading
among them the Bible, of which we had thirty chests
ftdl, having plentifully supplied ourselves with the
sacred volume in Cairo.



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>r.-. nile — Hiiel dL-\i|>li«i of / t

< 'N my arrival at TajiuTa "'Ith - »v •• ... !
leag^dBon the 20tb of NoverjilxT 1 •* ■ . - :; * . ; t -.
tion ot proceedinj^ t^> »Sii«M. \v<: u^- ••' .Mitir\^'; Uy r^'
Sultaii of Taj'U'ra tlittt r* h,i«' v.* .-••» i •'• u »•• ion op.!'\7>
fro-- *' Kiag" of Slioa tu un ut ij.i ^^ •'..;'f t.t *tn
onti ,• into the iaterior. "11 <» . p rr.sts o'U».
ii. iV'\ ami wo repairo,] to /• * ;, •. ^-t-'-'i^ to alteirpt
a 1 '-u- rout-e i<* Sli.ij *]ir(»'."^ii r'-.. ^.-nptrv of ^!.r

80liUiiI> \'\) lo th*- Mui.-^ (>i 1 ^ 4.i ^^ J \\-i\ .
U'«Aiatui^»* thf* teirn^ of rr-'isit i\'Mh 'Ik* Sv^n.n,; , \ . tn.
mIivM^ J roiHMV*. (1 a 1«'V« r tVoH' ^^•vn ILiril. .'jii:<»ai «*.
^- :^ 'he ileparUire of the Hritiah !uir.r.\in Som t:^Mn...



107



CHAPTER VIII.

FROM ADEN TO ZAKZIBAB.

Probibition of the Abessmian mission — ^French intrigue : M . Eochet
and his book — ^Final attempt and its fEdlnre — ^The Abessinian mis-
sion abandoned — ^The anthor resolves to proceed to the sonth-eastem
coast of Africa, and found a mission among the Qallas — ^Departure
from Aden and forced return — Second Toyage — The Somali coast —
Kukdisha — ^Breach of Slaye Trade treaty with England — ^Baraya
— ^The Jub— Christmas day spent on the Ghdla coast — Stay in
Takaungu — ^Native complaints of the abandonment of Mombaz
by the English — ^The Southern Oallas — ^The Dana — ^The disap-
pointment of the first Toyage providential — Mombaz and its recent
history — ^The TVanika — ^Tanga — ^The Pangani and its mouth —
The TVaseguas and the Slave Trade — ^Arrival at Zanzibar — ^The
importance of a Ghdla mission — ^Presentation to the Sultan — Extent
of his rule — Brief description of Zanzibar.

On my arrival at Tajurra with my wife and col-
leagues on the 20th of November 1842 with the inten-
tion of proceeding to Shoa, we were informed by the
Sultan of Tajurra that he had received written orders
from the King of Shoa to grant no European an
entrance into the interior. All our protests were
in vam and we repaired to Zeila, thinking to attempt
a new route to Shoa through the country of the
Somalis. Up to the March of 1843 we were ne-
gotiating the terms of transit with the Somali chiefe,
when I received a letter from Major Harris announc-
ing the departure of the British mission from Shoa.



108 FROM ADES TO ZANZIBAR.

and the decided refusal of the Ung to allow us to
return. Major Harris ascribed the king's new mood
to the fianaticism of the Abessinian priesthood; but
it was mainly due, I believe, to M. Rochet, the
Frenchman, who had succeeded in prejudicing the
Queen of Shoa against me and the Protestant mis-
sionaries generally. Since 1854, when he died as
French consul at Jidda, M. Rochet has been re-
moved from aU human tribunals, and it is not, there-
fore, for me to pronounce a verdict on one to whom
while he was in Shoa I showed great kindness, and
gave much information, which he embodied in his
book on Abessinia, but in such a way that what I
contributed is ignored. M. Rochet once told me, that
when he became king of Abessinia he would make
me minister of public worship : perhaps, if this was
more than a joke, he may have dishked the presence
of a European in the country who could not but dis-
dain to be the minister of a rebel. The King of Shoa,
too, no longer needed me, a^ what he had coveted from
the English mission was now obtained ; and besides
it would not have been pleasant for him to be con-
scious of the presence of a European, who could
observe and report on his breaches of the treaty with
England. Under these eurcomstances the question
arose, "What were we to do?" Isenberg and
Mfihleisen- Arnold resolved to proceed through Tigre
to Gi>ndar, and see whether nothing could be done
in the west of Abessinia, since failure had attended
our efforts in the east anjd south. On the other
hand, I wished as in the year 1838, to betake myself



FROM ADEN TO ZANZIBAR. 109

to the south, haying heard that the Gallas, whose
conversion I had had at heart since the commence-
ment of my residence in Shoa, extended as &r as
the Equator. Yet I had many scruples respecting
the prosecution of missionary enterprise in the south,
especially as I had not received the sanction of the
London Committee of the Church Missionary So-
ciety ; nor could I bring myself to take a final fare-
weU of AbesBinia before a Lt experiment had been
tried in the west* At Aden I resolved, therefore, to
proceed to Massowa to rejoin my colleagues, and
arrived there on the 14th of May 1843, and had
forthwith to receive the painfol intelKgence of the ob-
stacles which had opposed themselves to their efforts
in Adowa. Our old enemy, Eidana Mariam, still
lived in Adowa, and laboured hard to influence Ubie
whose favourite he was against the Protestant mis-
sionaries, and not only to prevent them fix)m
proceeding to Gondax and the Abuna, but to force
them to quit Tigre at once and to return to Mas-
sowa. I did not allow myself to be daunted by the
bad news which I had heard in Massowa ; but pro-
ceeded with my wife through the Shoho land to the
frontier of Tigre, with a large supply of Amharic
and JBthiopic Bibles and testaments. On the way,
we had to submit to the probation of a severe trial ;
for in the Shoho wilderness my beloved wife was
prematurely delivered of a little daughter, whom I
christened ^^Eneba,'' a tear. I had to bury the
dear child, for she lived only a few hours, under
a tree by the wayside, and her mourning mother



110 FROM ADEN TO ZANZIBAR.

was obliged to prosecute her journey on the third
day after her confinement^ as the Shohos would not
wait any longer, and there was no village in the
neighbourhood where she could have enjoyed re-
pose. We arrived safely at the fi"ontier of Tigre,
and busied ourselves distributing the Bibles, which
were much sought after in the circumjacent villages
of Hamassien, until we were joined by our friend
Mtihleisen- Arnold, and later by Isenberg ; when we
returned together to Massowa. The last attempt to
work in Abessinia had also failed through the hos-
tility of the priesthood of Adowa, led on beyond
doubt by our European foes already mentioned.
It is true the Abima in Grondax had written to
Ubie not to molest the Protestant missionaries,
but they had akeady begun the return journey,
when the Abuna's letter arrived. The Abuna's op-
position to our enemies was, moreover, so feeble,
and his intervention on our behalf so timid, that
we could not reckon on him with certainty. Ubie
worked so strenuously in the interest of Rome, that
the Abuna could not prevail upon the Prince even
to cherish the Abessinian church to which he be-
longed. It was therefore evident that the Protestant
mission mnst entirely abandon Abessinia and seek
elsewhere for a sphere of labour ; and such was the
result. Isenberg and Miihleisen- Arnold j oumey ed to
Egypt, whence they were afl^erwards sent by the com-
mittee to the East Indies ; but my wife and I returned
to Aden, and thence, with the approbation of my
superiors, imdertook the voyage to the south-east of



FROM ADEN TO ZANZIBAR. Ill

Africa. In any case, the missionaries had the conso-
lation of knowing that, during their last attempt in
Abessrnia, they had distributed nearly 2000 copies
of the Scriptures, and from first to Icust, nearly 8000.

Haying sought preparation for the long sea-voyage
by prayer and meditation, I set sail with my wife
from Aden on the 11th of November 1843, our desti-
nation being Zanzibar. After being nearly ship-
wrecked we landed at Aden again on the 15th, and
saQed once more from it on the 23rd in another
ship, the captain of which was a native of Mombaz,
and knew the Suahili coast well. I could not but see
that the disaster of the first voyage was under Provi-
dence made serviceable to me ; for had I made the
voyage with the Arab captain of the first ship, he
would have sailed direct from Arabia to Zanzibar,
after the maimer of his counteymen, without run-
ning into any port, and I should have lost the op-
portunity of personally exploring the pla^^es on the
coast from Mukdisha to Zanzibar.

Skirting the Arabian coast very slowly, partly
because the winds were against us, partly because
we were often becalmed, we arrived on the 5th of
December at Makalla, and on the 13th at Sihut,
whence we steered for the East- African coast in the
direction of Socotra, and on the 18th sighted Cape
Guardafui, the Has Gerdaf of the Arabs, From
this point to the Equator the coast is inhabited by
the Somalis, who, as fisur as Mukdisha, are much
dreaded, as they plunder the crews of shipwrecked
vessels, and sell them for slaves into the interior.



112 FBOM AD£N TO ZANZIBAB.

The Somali coast from Cape Guardafui southwards,
is designated by the Arabs ^^Dar Ajam" not
^^Ajan/' as the m£q)s wrongly have it — because no
Arabic is spoken in it. So, too, they designate
the Abessinian and Persian coasts; for the word
^^ ajam," or i^ ayam," corresponds to the Greek
^^ barbaros," applied to every person not a Greek.
On the 23rd we passed the towns Mukdisha, the
Magadoxo of the maps, and Marka, each of which
has some 5000 inhabitants, who trade with the
Ghdla countries in the interior, fetching frx>m them
chiefly gum, ivory, horses, slaves and hides. From
Mukdisha, southward, the appearance of the coast
improves; and you see, here and there, trees and
bushes, which is not the case to the north, where
mere sand, red earth, and rocks, offer themselves
to the eye. It must be confessed that this bar-
ren and sultry coast is much healthier than that
south of the Equator, where the vegetation is very
rich, but the climate unhealthy, especially after Hie
rainy season. Since 1847 the slave-trade is for-
bidden to the north of Barava, England having
concluded a treaty with the Sultan Said-Said at
Zanzibar, in virtue of which no slaves are to be
exported beyond the tenth degree of south, and
the second of north latitude ; the traffic to be tole-
rated, however, withm the twelve degrees of the
SuahiU coast. But in spite of this prohibition,
on my second visit to Mukdisha in the year 1853,
I saw twenty Arabian ships employed in smuggling
slaves to Arabia.



If'ROM AD£N TO ZAKZIBAS. 113

On the 24th of December I yisited Baraya, an
important town on the Suahili coast^ and which was
long in the possession of the Portuguese. The popu*
lation amounts to something like 3000, among whom
are many slaves brought from the interior and the
Suahili coast. The people of Barava go northwards
as &r as Adari or Harrar, and make trading jour-
neys also to the Gralla tribes, Wardai, Korei, Ren-
dille, Boren and Liban. On the other side of the
teiritory of the Boren-GaUas is said to be a country
named Gonsi, inhabited by Amhara, that is, by
Christians. Whether this be Kambat or Wolamo,
or whether it be some other Christian country of
which I had heard nothing in Shoa, is uncertain* Ten
days' journey to the north-west of Barawa lies the
town of Bardera on the Jub, whence caravans pro-
ceed along the river to the important tradiog town
of Gkuiana or Ganali. The district round Barava
is composed of red sand and day, turned to accoimt
in the manufacture of pottery; and journeys from
here into the interior are made upon camels or asses.
The people of this place grow cotton, Diura, pump-
kins, &c.^ and provisions are cheap, a cow costing
from three to five dollars, and a score of fowls a dol-
lar ; twenty raw hides are sold for thirteen dollars.

B.especting the river Jub, as it is called by the
Arabs — ^the SomaHs call it Govin, and the Suahilis
Wumbu — ^I heard from the Barava chief Dera, that
it is a branch of a great inland liver from which the
Oai and the Pangani take their rise« The Arabs
believe that this great inland river is an arm of the



114 FROM ADEN TO* ZANZIBAR. i



»



Nile, as I often heard them repeat along the Suahili
coast. On the 25th of December we sailed past the
mouth of the Jub, which colours the sea for the
distance of a league with its reddish water; and
the liyer is there but a few feet deep, so that it is
only at high tide that boats of any size can run into
it; but further up it is said to be deeper ; whilst from
the niunber of trees and bushes, the breadth of the
mouth can scarcely be calculated. In the afternoon
we anchored in the harbour of the island of Eoama,
which lies a few hundred paces from the main-land,
and is some eight leagues distant from the Jub.
The people of Eiama are Suahilis and trade with
the Gallas, who bring rhinoceros-horns, tusks of
elephants, hippopotamus-hides, and cattle, receiving
in Kiama clothes, copper-wire, beads, &c. ; and
here I saw and spoke to some GraUas. The thought
that exactly on Christmas-day we had arrived at
the Galla coast upheld and strengthened us, and we
prayed fervently to the Lord that He would open
up to us a way to convert these heathen whom we
had journeyed to this distant shore to bring into
His fold.

On the 28th of December we landed at Takaungu,
as our captain had to return home with the ship in
which we had come, and we were to proceed in a
smaller one to Zanzibar. Accordingly we remained
at Takaungu until the 3rd of January, 1844. The
inhabitants were most hospitable to my wife and
myself, giving us the only stone house in the village
to lodge in. Takaungu is fruitful, and being beau-



FROM ADEN TO ZAKZIBAB. 115

»

tifiilly situated, it forms one among many localities
admirably suited for the residence of Europeans.
The inhabitants of Takaungu complained to me that
the English had left the Masrue in Mombaz in the
lurch, and not protected them against the Imam of
Muscat ; of whom and his conduct to these people, I
shall have to speak again. They inveighed bitterly
against him for his treacherous behaviour to their
chief men, averring that the English had done wrong
in giving over the people of Mombaz to his rule, as
they had voluntarily become the subjects of England,
and been mildly governed by the English for three
years. I was vexed to have to listen at my first
arrival to such complaints, and could only reply
that I had nothing to do with political matters, and
recommend them to submit to the dispensations of*
Providence. At Takaungu I saw some Gallas, be-
tween whom and the people of the place there is
Mendly intercourse as they come at certain periods
into the neighbourhood to sell ivory, cattle, &c. ;
and I found that these southern Grallas differed from
those of the north in their political system, no less
than in their religion, not worshiping the serpent, the
Atetie, nor the Oglie, and knowing nothing of the
Maremma (Virgin Mary), a proof that the northern
Gtdlas have imbibed many notions from the Abes-
sinians. But Kalija and Wato, priests and ex*
orcists, exist among the southern as well as among
the northern Grallas. In cruelty and inhumanity
those of the south exceed the northern, murder-
ing every stranger whom they meet by the way;

I



116 FROM ADEN TO ZANZIBAS. t

a chaxacteristic which their wandering life contri-
butes to strengthen ; however all the Gallas of the
south are not nomadic. I have not hitherto mentioned
that to the south of the Osi there is another import-
ant riyer, the Dana^ flowing into the bay of Formosa,
called by the Gallas, Maro, and by the heathen
Pokomo tribes who dwell upon its banks, the
Pokomoni. Its mouth is not deep, and can only be
entered at high tide by boats of large size; but
inland the stream is said to have a depth of
from twelve to twenty feet. Along its banks dwell
Gtdlas, Pokomos, and other tribes who are not so
savage as the nomadic GallaB, being both agri-
culturists and traders. The Dana has its source
in the Bnow-moTintam Kegnia, or Kenia, in Hie
noiih-west of TJkambani, where in the year 1851 1
drank of its waters as wiU afterwards be seen. On
the maps this river figures as the Quilimansi, a
name with which the natives are acquainted only in

tain with streams.

At Takaungu I was told for the first time of the
heathen Wanika of whom I there saw several be*
longing to the tribe Kauma, and heard with great
interest that they were accessible to strangers,
were agriculturists and traders, and that a stranger
might travel among them without any special danger,
provided he were furnished with a guide and com-
panion from the SuahiliB of the coast. Here,
too, I met with the first mention of the country
Jagga in the interior, to the south-west of



FROM ADEN TO ZAKZIBAS. 117

Mombaz, as well as of the cotuitry of Usambara,
and the inner African tribes of Uniamesi, in whose
tenitory there is a great lake. In short I acquired
during my residence in Takaungu a brief know-
ledge of East-AMcan geography and ethnography,
as &r as Mozambique and Madagascar* These geo-
graphical data were, it is true, rather confused ; but
they were extremely usefiil as points of departure in
subsequent journeys and inquiries. I could not
help feeling that it was under the guidance of
Providence that I had not been permitted to proceed
at once to Zanzibox, but had been carried in the
second ship to Takaungu. In Zanzibar I could not
have learned, heard, or seen nearly so much ; and my
moyements on the coast would have shaped themselyes
quite di£ferently ; nor would the establishment of the
mission station have had Mombaz for its starting
point.

On the 3rd of January 1844 I left the hospitable
village of Takaungu in a small boat, called a ^^ Daw''
by the Suahilis, which is the smallest sea-going vessel
In it you are but afew feet above the water ; but have
the advantage of beinig able to sail over rocks and
sand-banks, and always close to the shore. From
Takaungu southward the coEust is very low, as,
indeed, it is almost continuously from the Jub to
the Malindi, lying in general only from twenty to
thirty feet above the sea, and stretching some leagues
back into the interior, where there are chains of moun-
tains, 800 to 1200 feet in height. The undercliff is,
for the most part, in the hands of the Mohammedan

I 2



118 FBOM ADEN TO ZAKZIBAS.

SuaMliB, who cultiyate rice, Indian com, millet, cassia,
red pepper, &c., but the higher regions are in the
occupation of heathen tribes, likewise agriculturists.
From Takaungu to the islands Wcussin and Tanga
extend the Wanika, who may number from 50,000 to
60,000, and are divided into twelve tribes. South
from these are the Wasegechu, Washinsi, and
Wasegua, and to the west of the Washinsi are the
Wasamba, or Wasambara, who are governed by King
Kmeri, or Kimeri. From Takaungu we reached the
isle of Mombaz, which has a harbour capable of con-
taining ships of a tolerably large size. This island
is several leagues in circumference, but is only very
partially cultivated; yet mangoes and cocoa-nuts,
oranges and limes, and in parts, the cinnamon-tree,
are indigenous, whilst wild swine, introduced by ihe
Portuguese, abound. I soon found out that the
people here were well acquainted with the English,
and it was at once apparent that the governors of the
Suahili coast were dependent on a ruler, who, as
was the case with Said-Said, Sultan of Zanzibar or
Imam of Muscat, was well affected towards Europeans,
a disposition which of course was reflected by the
conduct of his subordinates, as I experienced from
the governor of the fortress, whose guest I was. The
capital of the island contains from 8,000 to 10,000
inhabitants, who are mostly Suahilis ; but there are
also many Arabs, and some thirty or forty Banians,
who have in their hands the chief trade of the place.
There are houses of stone, but the majority are
wooden huts. A tolerably large fortress commands



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FROM ADEN TO ZAKZIBAB. 119

the harbour and the town, and is garrisoned by
400 Beluchesy who are in the pay of the Sultan
of Zansdbar. The fortress exhibits a Portuguese in-
scription, put up by Xeixas de Cabreira, the governor,
in 1639, giving the date of 1635 as that of its erec-
tion, at which time Mombaz, as well as Malindi, was
in the hands of the Portuguese, who were driven out
of the island by Sheikh Sef, the Imam of Muscat.
When Sef died the ancestors of Said-Said took pos-
session of Muscat and the island of Zanzibar ; while
the Masrue family, which was of Persian origin,
kept possession of Mombaz up to the year 1823,
when they delivered it over to the English, fearing
that it would otherwise fall into the hands of the
Imam of Muscat. The Imam claimed it as having
belonged to his forefathers, upon which the English
withdrew, when he sent a fleet, bombarded the town,
and brought it imder his rule. Had England
recognised the importance of the place, she would
not have parted with it so easily ; but the trade with
the Suahili coast had not then received its present
development, and she wished to oblige the Lnam
who was devoted to her, and whom she recognised
as ruler of the whole coast, from Mukdisha to
Mozambique, in order to prevent foreign powers
from taking up a position on the East-African coast.
The unhealthy climate of the place and of the coast
in general, may also have made her less disposed
to retain the island ; so she contented herself with the
stipulations respecting the slave-trade already alluded
to. The people of Mombaz trade with the Wanika



120 FROM ADEN TO ZANZIBAB.

and Wakomba of the snrromidiiig cotuitry, and
sometinies their caravans go even as far as the moun-
tain-land of Jagga, bringing thence cHefly ivory
and slaves. The Wanika tribes are nominally de-
pendent upon Mombazy and are governed by four
Snahili sheikhs who live in Mombaz ; but the con-
nection between the town and these tribes is ex-
tremely loose and undefined; rendered more so^
indeed, by the barbarous conduct of the people of
Mombaz towards these heathen tribes, especially in
time of femine, when they purchajse the children of
the Wanika, or make off with them as slaves in return
for provisions ftimished to the parents. Things wiU
never progress on this coa^ so long as the Arabian
rule is maintained in its present state, as it not
only makes no improvements, but often destroys
what good has descended from the olden time.

On the 4th of January we quitted the island of
Mombaz, which is only a few hundred yards distant
from the main-land, and next day reached the little
island of Tanga, where there was an abimdance of
cocoa-nut trees, rice plantations, beans, red pepper,
millet, bananas, oranges, limes, pine-apples, figs, &c.
I could not refrain from the thought that this spot
waa well suited for a preliminary missionary station,
whence progress might be made into the interior ;
but the reflection that my missionary efforts must
begin with the Gallas nipped that idea in the bud.
On the 6th, we reached the mouth of the Pangani
river, which has its main source in the snow
mountain Kilimanjaro, in Jagga, recalling to us



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FBOK ADEN TO gANZiTBAR. 121

the burmng of his ship by Vasco de Gbtma, in the Bay
of Tangata^ into which it flows^ when after doubling
the Cape in 1497, his crew fell a prey to disease on
the east coast of AMca on his return fix>m Calicut.
To the south of the Pangani is the territory of the
heathen Wasegua tribes, the great centre of the slave
trade. The Arabs on the island of Zanzibar come
here and promise the Wasegua chiefs a number of
muskets^ with powder and shot, for a certain number
of slaves ; so when a chief has entered into the con-
tract he suddenly falls upon a hostile village, sets
it on fire^ carries off the inhabitants, and thus is
enabled to fulfil the terms of the agreement. The
Waseguas being Kofiar, i. ^., unbelievers, the Moslems
thinJc that they are acting mercifully in selling them
into dayery, in which state they must become
Mohammedans. The river Pangani, I may add, is
at its mouth some hundred and fifty yards broad,
from twelve to fifteen feet deej>, and is navigable
into the interior for small boats, for several days'
journey. From its mouth there is a good view of *
the mountain-land Usambara, which I visited in the
years 1848 and 1853, as will be noticed hereafter.

At two in the afternoon of the 7th of Jannary we
dropped anchor in the safe and spacious harbour of
the capital of the island of Zanzibar, where we were
to repose for a time, after am long and jGatiguing
voyage, while I deliberated on my further plans
and consulted my Mends respecting them. We
were hospitably received by Major Hamerton, the
English consul, and until we could erect a dwell-



122 FROM ADEN TO ZANZIBAR.

ing we Kved in the house of Mr. Waters, the
American consul, who wbjb a zealous friend to the
mission. He wished me to remain in Zanzibar,
preaching on Sundays to its few Europeans ; working
amongst the Banians from India, of whom there are
seven hundred in Zanzibar ; founding schools for the
instruction of the native Suahilis and Arabs ^ and
preparing books in the languages of the main-land
for friture missionaries ; but I could not abandon
my original design of fomiding a mission in the
Gralla land, which, so far as I know at present,
extends to the fourth degree of south latitude. I felt
that their conversion would produce the greatest
impression on the whole of Eastern Africa, although
it might be more difficult to found missions among
them than among the Wanika, Wakamba, and
Waseguas. To my mind Ormania is the Germany
of Africa. If the Gallas were not gathered into the
Christian Chinrch, it seemed to me they would fall
into Islamism, (wWch ha. made great pro^ among
them on the borders of Abessinia) and must in that
case'&rm a strong bulwark against the introduction
of Christianity and true moraUty into Africa; for
the GraUas when once they have embraced it hold
very firmly to Islamism, as is seen in the case of the
Wollos.

On the second day after my arrival in Zanzibar I
was presented by the English Consul to the Sultan
Said-Said, commonly called by Europeans by his
other title, the Imam of Muscat. His palace Ues
outside the city, and its exterior reminds the visitor



FROM ADEN TO ZANZI6AB. 123

of a German or Swiss mamifactory. When the
consul appeared with me at the entrance of the
palace^ the Sidtan accompanied by one of his sons
and several grandees came forth to meet us, dis-
playing a condescension and courtesy which I had
not before met with at the hands of any oriental
ruler. He conducted us into the audience-chambery
which is pretty large and paved with marble slabs ;
American chairs lined the walls^ and a stately chan-
delier himg in the middle of the room. The Sultan
bade us be seated^ and I described to him in Arabic,
his native language, my Abessinian adventures, and
plans for converting the Gallas. He listened with
attention and promised every assistance, at the same
time pointing out the dangers to which I might
be exposed. Althoufi^h advanced in years he looked
veryU and wT Most friendly U eo„n.nni.
eative. Sultan Said-Said ascended the throne in
1807, and lived at Muscat up to the year 1840,
when he removed the seat of government to Zanzi-
bar, chiefly on account of its trade. He was early
broiight ito coimection with the English, who L
1819 helped him against the fanatical Wahabis, in
Arabia, and the pirates of its waters; hence his
devotion to that people. He claims in Arabia the
whole coaat from Aden to Muscat, and from Muscat
to the Persian Gulf, with its islands ; and, in Africa,
asserts supremacy over the coaat from Cape Guar-
dafiii to Cape Delgado, in the proximity of the
Portuguese possessions of Mozambique., Hitherto
no foreign power has contested the right to these



124 FBOM ADEN TO ZAKZIBAS.

enormous possessions ; whilst the Arabs and Africans
submit to his nominal pretensLons, so long as their
own old arrangements are not too stringently in-
terfered with. They receive the Sultan's goyemora
and pay the dues which he levies from their ports ;
but beyond that Said-Said seems to have no hope
of their frirther obedience and subjection.

The island of Zanzibar lies under the 6th d^ree
of south latitude, is from six to seven leagues dis-
tant from the main-land, and has a length of six to
seven leagues from north to south, and a breadth of
about six. The climate is not so unhealthy as on
the main-land; but eveiy one who arrives for the
first time must, sooner or later, submit to a period
of often dangerous fever. The capital, which lies,
6^ 10^^ south on the western shore, is somewhat
healthier than the interior. The population of the
island amounts to about 100,000, the greater num-
ber of whom live in the capital. The majority
are Suahilis, the richer and more influential classes
are Arabs, and about twenty Europeans mostly
engaged in trade have established themselves here.
The chief European exports from Zanzibar are
ivory, copal-gum, cloves, hides, cocoa-nuts and
cocoa-oil, semsem (an oil plant), aloes, &c. The
imports consist mainly of a white calico, called
by the natives Americano, glass beads of every
Idnd, fire-arms, brass and copper wire, glass and
pottery, cutlery, swords, and all articles suitable for and couched
in the following terms:—" This comes from Said-
Said Sultan; greeting all our subjects, friends^
and governors. This letter is written in behalf of
Dr. Krapf, the German, a good man who wishes to
convert the world to God. Behave well to him, and
be everywhere serviceable to him." We touched at
the island of Pemba, which lies five degrees south of
the Equator, where the governor received me kindly,
and warned me not to proceed to Lamu, as now
the Kus, the south wind, was beginning to blow
and would prevent my returning to Zanzibar be
fore the end of November. He asked me many
questions concerning the politics and religion of
Europe, and expressed a wish for an Arabic Bible.
This I sent him afterwards through M?:. Waters,
the only European who before my arrival had
given Bibles and tracts to the natives. In accord-
ance with the advice of the friendly governor I
gave up the idea of proceeding to Lamu, but wished
before returning to Zanzibar to make a little sea trip
along the coast, and accordingly arranged with a skip-
per for a passage to Tanga. The voyage was a very
slow one through the ignorance and unskilfrdness of
the captain and the laziness and indifference of the
crew, who were slaves and would not obey him.
The more he rated them, the more they laughed at



123 MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE HAIK-LAIO).

him. ItiBveryBadtoseehowobstructiyelydayery
influences all the a<;tiYity of the natiyes, and so long
as that evH remains in those countries, there is
no hope of improving their social condition. There
slaves must do everything; they till the fields,
conduct trade, sail vessels, and bring up the children
of the house ; while the free people eat, drink, and
are idle, run into the mosques to pray, or enjoy
themselves with their many wives. No wonder that
a curse rests on all they undertake. The slaves per-
form whatever they have to do under compulsion,
lazily, unwillingly, and mechanically. On the 1 1th
of March I arrived at Tanga. The hut which the
friendly governor gave me for a lodging was soon
surrounded by hundreds of men, but alas I I could
not speak to them not having then mastered the
Suahili language.

On the 13th of March I arrived at Mombaz,
where I was hospitably received by the governor of
the city, Ali ben Nasser, who had been twice in
London as representative of the Sultan of Zanzibar, on
a poUtical mission to the English government. In
the streets of Mombaz I saw some heathen Wanika,
who had come from the neighbouring mountains.
The inhabitants of Mombaz, too, visited me in great
numbers and were very friendly. Then, all at
once, the thought came upon me that Mombaz
would be best suited for the establishment of a mis-
sionary station, especially as the Ghdlas are to be
met with a few days' journey to the north of it,
when they go to the market of Emberria, a village



MOHBAZ — EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND. 129

of the WaniJbu The longer I remained in Mombaz^
the more evident it became to me that it seemed the
will of Gfod to make the Grallas acquainted with
the Gospel through the Wanika; and that, there-
fore, the &ret missionary station on this coa^t should
be established among the Wanika whom I could
easily reach from Mombaz. The Imam was at war
with Patta, so that I had to forego the intention of
establishing myself at Lamu. I was strengthened in
^y growing conviction by the friendliness of the
people and officials of Mombaz towards Europeans,
especially the EngUsh ; by the proximity of this place
to the neighbouring pagan tribes, a proximity so
close that a missionary can visit their villages
during the day and return to Mombaz at night;
and by its healthiness and the conveniences which
it offered in the way of living and residence. I
resolved, therefore, to return to Zanzibar for my
dear wife, and then to take up my abode in Mombaz,
studying the SuahiU language, making excursions
among the pagan Wanika, and becoming acquainted
with the condition of the interior, where I intended
to preach the Gospel as soon as I was majster of the
language.

After I had engaged a teacher of the Suahili and
Kinika languages I quitted Mombaz on the 18th of
March, some of my fellow-passengers being natives
of Arabia and India, and among them a Hindu
of the Rajpoot caste who had attended a missionary
school at Bombay. The acquaintance of this person
convinced me that a great influence is exerted on



130 MOMBAZ — ^EXCUKSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND.

the cliaracters of heathens by attendance at our
schools, even although it may Isist but a short time
and they do not at once become Christian. When
I spoke to him about the idol- worship of the Indians
he said : " There is only one Creator of heayen and
earth, who is everjrwhere present, and sees and knows
everything, even the thoughts of the human heart."
An Arab chief from Lamu who saw me reading the
Psalms asked me for the book, and being much
pleased with it begged for a complete Bible.
Arabic tracts would have been eagerly welcomed by
these people, especially such as treat of geography
and history. When I explained to a Mohammedan
sheikh from Lamu the round shape of the earth and
its motion round the sun, he became very indignant,
and warned the passengers against doctrines like
these, which contradicted the Koran. The Hindu
already referred to, who had learned something of
geography at Bombay, took my part and said to the
sheikh : " The Frank can prove his statements, but
your only confutation of them is that they contradict
the Koran." The sheikh then turned to the passen-
gers and treated them to some of the fables of Moham-
medaa cosmography and geography.

I reached Zanzibar on the 24th of March, and
returned to Mombaz with my wife at the begin-
ning of May, where I had to put up with seve-
ral personal annoyances more or less trying. My
greatest difficulty, however, lay in my want of
a knowledge of the Suahili language, and in the
absence of any help in the study, neither a gram-



MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LANP. 131

mar nor a dictionary of it having yet been com-
piled by any European. With the aid of Arabic,
I surmounted this hinderance by degrees ; but found
in it, however, peculiarities which at first gave me
immense trouble, but which also were converted into
a source of delight, when I was at length able to
cry " Eureka !" Now that I had settled down at
Mombaz engaged in the study of the Suahili and
Eanika languages, I sought the acquaintance of
the Wanika chie& who came to the island. On the
8th of June, 1844, I began the translation of the
First Book of Moses with the aid of Sheikh Ali
Ben, Mueddin of Barava, who was the Kadi (Judge)
of Mombaz. I always considered this day as one of
the most important of my life ; but scarcely had I
commenced this important work, and began to con-*
gratulate myself on the progr^ of my mieaionary
labours, when myself and &mily were subjected to
a very severe trial. The rainy season at Mombaz
had been one of unusual severity, and the native
inhabitants had been afflicted by aU sorts of sickness,
especially with fever and headache. On the 1st of
July I was attacked by the fever ; on the 4th I was
somewhat better again, but the next day, my wife
was attacked by it severely, and the attack was aU the
moie serious that she was every day expecting her
confinement, which happened on the 6th, when she
gave birth to a healthy daughter. But on the 9th
of July after midnight she became, delirious, and
when she recovered her senses was fully convinced
that she would soon be removed from my side. So

K



132 MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND.

Strong was this conviction that aha took faxeweU of
me and the servants in touching accents, especi-
ally recommending them (they were Mohamme-
dans) to place their trust in Christ, not in Moham-
med, as neither in life nor death could he bestow
help, whereas Christ, the Son of God, gave her
now indescribable peace. One of her last and most
pressing requests was that I should not praise her
in my report, but merely say to her Mends at home
that the Saviour had been merciful to her as to a
poor dirner. In these trying momente I lay on
my couch beside her death-bed, so prostrated by
fever that only with the greatest effort could I rise
up to convince myself that she was really dead.
Lying in agony I could not rightly, at the moment,
estimate the extent of this great loss. She was bu-
ried opposite to Mombaz on the main-land, in the pre-
sence of the Governor, the Kadi, and some Suahilis,
by the way-side leading into the Wanika territory.
Afterwards Mr. Waters and his friends in Bombay
erected a stone monument over the grave, so that it
might always remind the wandering Suahilis and
Wanika, that here rested a Christian woman who
had left father, mother, and home, to labour for the
salvation of Africa. It was only with great exertion
that I managed to be present at the funeral, and had
scarcely returned home when symptoms of the malady
were shown by the dear child. They became fetal
on the Idth, and I was obliged by the climate to
conduct this second victim of the king of terrors to
the grave of my beloved Rosine as soon as possible.



MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND. 133

After seyeral weeks my health was restored and
I betook myself with fresh zeal to the study of
Suahili) and planned frequent excursions to the
Wanika-land. In those days in my zeal for the
conversion of Africa I used to calculate how many
missionaries and how much money would be required
to connect Eastern and Western Africa by a chain
of missionary stations.* I estimated at some 900
leagues the distance fr^m Mombaz to the river
Grabun in Western Africa, where the Americans,
before the occupation of the French, had founded a

* The reader may like to be informed^ that sinoe this was written,
I have been appointed the secretary of a special committee (con-
nected with the Missionary Institution at Chrishona, near Basel)
for the purpose of locating twelve mission-stations along the banks
of the Nile from Alexandria to Gk>ndar, the capital of Abessinia,
whence other stations will be hereafter established toward the south,
east, and west of AMca, as it shall please Proyidence to show the way,
and point ont the requisite means. This line of twelve stations will
be termed the " Apostles' Street/' as each station, which is to be fifty
leagues distant from the other, will be called by the name of an
apostle-— for instance, the station at Alexandria will be named that
of St. Matthew ; the station at Cairo, of St. Mark ; at Assuan, St.
Luke ; and so on. Thus the African continental mission chain will
be started frx>m the north instead of from east to west, as I had
originally contemplated. I may also remark, that a Christian lady
in England has on learning of this scheme kindly promised the gift
of £100 for every station, in each case of its actual commencement; that
his Majesty the King of Wurtemberg has graciously released from
military service the first missionary, whom (in connection with two
others) the committee have chosen to commence the first station at
Cairo. The missionaries are requested, as much as their direct
missionary labour will allow, to devote themselves to agricultural
and commercial pursuits, to support themselves in a measure, and to
enable the committee to establish the whole mission chain within the
shortest period of time. Knowing what a glorious field this will

K 2



134 MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LANDr

mifuslon and laboured successfully. Now, if stations
with four missionaries were established at intervals
of 100 leagues, nine stations and thirty-six mis-
sionaries would be needed, probably at an annual
expense of fix)m £4000 to £6000, K eVery year
progress were made both from west and east, I
calculated that the chain of missions would be
completed in from four to five years. I thought
then of Dafeta (in Jagga) as the locality where the
first eastern station in the interior should be esta-
blished. After I had forgotten these ideas, they were
re-awakened in the years 1849 and 1860 during my
visit to England, when the committee listened atten-
tively to my statements on this subject, and sought
to realize them by strengthening the Eas1>Afncan
mission. I had already, too, begun to think that
England might profitably establish on the east coast
a colony for liberated slaves like Sierra Leone on the
western coast, and that they might be employed as
aids in the conversion of the Inner- African races. For
such a colony, Malindi, or Mombaz and ite environs,
would be the best site. K more attention were given
to the formation of a chain of such missions through
Africa, the fall of slavery and of the slave-trade
with America and Arabia would be quickly and
thoroughly effected. Till diristianity becomes the
ruling fiiith in Africa, however great and noble may
be the exertions of the Government of Great Britain,

open, I would urge all Christian Mends of Africa to giye effectual
aid to this important undertakings which aims at hringing about
the scriptural promise^ Psalm Ixviii. 31 : " Ethiopia shaU soon
stretch out her hands unto Qod."



MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIOKS ON THE MAIN-LAKD. 135

and hoAveyer liberal its expenditure in sending out
squadrons to intercept slaye-ships, the slave-trade
will continue to flourish. Christianity and civiliza-
tion ever go hand in hand; brother will not sell
brother; and when the colour of a man's skin no
longer excludes him from the office of an evangelist,
the traffic in slaves will have had its knell. A black
bishop and black clergy of tiie Protestant Church
may, ere long, become a necessity in the civilization
of Africa.

On the 191^ of August, I made an excursion to
the village Eabbai Ku, Ghreat Rabbai, or Old
Rabbai, partly to see whetiier the locality was
suited for a missionary station. When we landed
at four in the affcemoon I was received by a crowd
of heathen Wanika, who lifted me out of the
boat and bore me on their dhoulders to the land
with singing, dancing, brandishing of arrows, and
ev^y other possible mode of rejoicing. Ascending
from the ahore across a graasy aoil we arrived at a
wood of lofty trees. The narrow footpatii in the
wood led to three entrances in a triple palisade which
encircled the village ; which with its wretdied cone-
diaped huts lies quite in the wood. We saw only two
men, who beat upon great drums in honour of the
visit, and I was sorry not to have seen the chief and
people of the village. In the evening I returned
to the house of Abdalla-Ben-Pisila, who gave me
shelter for the night, the chief sending a message
that he would Tisit me early in tiie mommg, to
which I replied that my departure would be early



136 MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND.

on account of the tide. The Wanika had made a
fiivourable impression on me; for they were both
quick and well behaved, but wore extremely little
in the way of clothes, even the women not being
sufficiently clad ; yet on leaving Rabbai I was not
quite convinced of its suitability for a missionary
station.

On the 3rd of September I left Mombaz with a
guide, and after a sea-trip of a couple of hours or
so we anchored before the hamlet of Makarunge,
where I was very kindly received by the Moham-
medan Sheikh, Ibrahim, who offered me a bed for
the night and sent off a messenger to the neigh-
bouring Waoika, to announce the arrival of a
Msungu, or European. With sunrise I left Maka-
runge accompanied by the sheikh, and towards
noon reached the outermost gate of the village
of Ribe, where we were to await the chiefe and
iheir retinue. They arriyed, welcomed me, and
conducted us through three entrances in the palisades
into the village, amid cries of rejoicing, dancing, and
brandishing of swords and bows. In the vil-
lage the noise was still greater as young and old,
men and women, streamed forth to pay the European
the same honours which are paid to a great man
from Mombaz, when he visits the Wanika ; whenever
any one only stood and looked on, he was driven
by the chiefs into the crowd, to dance and shriek
with his neighbours. As I entered the house of the
first chief the people, especially the younger ones,
cleared the way. The houses of the Wanika look



MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND. 137

like haycocks in Europe. Stakes are thrust into
the ground, and from top to bottom there is a com-
plete covering of grass, so that wind and light
cannot enter ; in the centre there is a thick stake,
which supports and strengthens the whole structure.
Through the low door you can only enter by stoop-
ing very much ; and if you wish for light a fire must
be kindled. At night, the inhabitants of the hut
lie round the fire on cow-hides, and do not trouble
themselves about the smoke, the heat, and ver-
min, such as fleas, lice, and bugs, being only afiraid
of serpents. These huts stand so close together,
that when one takes fire, the whole village is soon
in flames. Lofty cocoa-palms surround them and
serve, so to speak, as their immediate wine cellars,
whence the Wanika fetch their £Etvourite drink, the
Uji (in Suahili, Tembo) and cocoa-nuts. In th^
trees they hew a kind of steps by which they can
ascend quickly and readily.

Whilst I remained in the hut of the chief the
crowd dispersed, only the elders and the boys re-
■..WngTho beha^ deooroudy and «»pe<iLly.
Some looked very intelligent, had clear complexions,
and were not so black and ugly as the Wanika,
whom I had seen at Takaungu. When I de-
clared to the chie& that I was not a soldier, nor
a merchant who had come there to trade, but
a Christian teacher who wished to instruct the
Wanika and the Galla in the true knowledge of
God, they looked at me with something of a
stupefied expression, and could hot rightly under-



138 MOMBAZ — lEiamSlOSB ON THE MAIN-IiAND,

stand, but assured me of their friendly disposition.
They gave me some cocoa-nuts, after which I went
out and inspected the village, estimating the popu-
lation at about 600 to 700 souls. After I had
taken leave of the elders of the village of Ribe,
and of Sheikh Ibrahim, who was returning home,
I joumeved ftirther eastward on the chain of hills,
Jd on Z way «w ««ne fine field, «f rice ^
maize ; and when I had gone some little distance I
was met by the chief of EAmbe and his people,
come out to escort me into the village. The chi^
had on his holiday clothes, and ostrich feathers on his
head. In shaking hands he first grasped my hand
and pressed his thumb against mine, as is the cus-
tom of the Wanika on such occasions; he was
stately, but received and treated me very respect-
fully, speaking a little Galla ; but the tumult of the
joyful reception given was still noisier in the vil-
lage of Kambe than in Ribe. 1 soon formed the
idea ihat this large village was very suitable
for a missionary station. I did not, however,
remain long in it being desirous of spending the
night in the house of my guide who had a planta-
tion in the village of Magombani, which lies at
the foot of the mountain Jibana, and is inha^
bited by Mohammedans, who here have a monopoly
of the copal-gum trade, cultivate rice and maize,
and out of the noble forest-trees get planking for
ships, which they sell to the Arab ship-builders.
These people craftily possess themselves by de-
grees of the lowlands of the Wanika, and con^



MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE liAIK-IAND. 139

structing small villages, here and there, along the
motmtain range, people them with their slaves, gain
over the Wanika by trifling presents, and purchase
their produce very cheaply. In the course of time new
settlers arrive and bring a sheikh, who deals with
the religious wants of the heathen. Thus they com-
bine missioBary-work witii tawiing speculations, and
when soft words are of no avail they use force, or
try to excite one tribe against another, so that
they may be called on to act as mediators. In
times of famine, which often occur, many Wanika
fire glad to become Mohammedans in order to save
themsdives firom starvation ; but throw off their new
creed as soon as they have enoug^h to eat. From this
it may b. »ea i.wW", poMe,, and trade .re
combined in the case of the followers of Mahomet^

From Magombani I had to continue the ascent a
league and a half, until I reached the village Ji*
bana. The road was very steep and rough, and led
through woods of sumach, the copal-tree, which
reached a height of from sixty to seventy feet, with
thin and small leaves and a white bark. I saw many
teees mth incisions in them made by ihe natives, tiiat
the sap might flow to the ground and crystallize by
mixing with the earth, and the Mohammedans
make yearly a great deal of money by this valuable
varnish, which is sent to India and Europe. There
are few wild beasts in these woods, but they abound
with beautiftd birds. There are said to be ele^
phants in the Galla land, in the neighbourhood of
Embenia ; but in the Wanika territories there are



140 HOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND. ^

no longer any of these animals to be found, as they
recede more and more into the large forests, and to
the rivers of the interior, owing to their being so
much molested since European commerce with Zan-
zibar has produced so great a demand for ivory.
If it be true that yearly about 6000 elephants' tusks
are brought to the Suahili coast, it can easily be
understood how quickly these animals diminish,
and why they recede ever further into the interior
of Africa.

On the 7th of September I arrived again at
Mombaz, being on the whole well pleased with
my journey, having only to regret that the Wanika
villages were so remote from the bay, as in conse-
quence many difficulties must arise for the transport
of baggage to the missionary station. Most of all,
however, I was grieved in witnessing the drunkenness
and sensuality, the dulness and indifference, which I
had observed among the Wanika ; the chief of Kambe
said openly, ^^ There is no Grod since he is not to be
seen. The Wanika need trouble themselves about
nothing except Tembo (cocoa-wine), com, rice,
Indian com (Mahindi), and clothes ; — these are their
heaven. The Watsumba" (Mohammedans)he added,
" were fools to pray and fast so much." Meanwhile,
with the view of settling down among the Wanika I
remained in Mombaz, prosecuting with great zeal
the study of the Suahili language, into which by
degrees I translated the whole of the New Testa-
ment, and composing a short grammar and a dic-
tionary, continuing likewise my geographical and



MOMBAZ-r-£XCUBSIONS ON THE MAIK-IAND. 141

etihnogTaphical studies in the certain conviction
that the time wonld come when Eastern AMca, too,
would be drawn into European intercourse, and
these introductory studies would be made available,
even if for the present no great missionary result
were to be attained.

In my next excursion I derived great advantage
from the acquaintance of Abdalla Ben-Pisila, whose
devotion I had secured by a loan of ten dollars,
which rescued him from prison in Mombaz. He
offered voluntarily to accompany me to the Wa-
nika and Wakamba with whom he was a great
fitvourite, having received from the chie& of Old
Rabbai a piece of ground by the creek, where he
had settled down to traffic with both these tribes*
The friendship of such a man was of great con-
sequence for the commencement of a mission, and
I gladly accepted his invitation to make a temporary
home of his house in the vicinity of Great Rabbai.
On the 30th of January 1845 I set out in Abdalla's
company from his plantation for Endila, to mate
the acquaintance of the Wakamba of whom I had
heard much in Mombaz. After a three hours' walk
we reached the village of Endila, which consists of
only some eight or ten huts. The elders were sit-
ting under a tree, and I felt rather strange on behold-
ing these naked savages, who said scarcely any-
thing when I appeared, and did not even stand up,
but looked sadly and gloomily on the ground, often
gazing at me as if I were a higher being. The
chief went at last into his hut and fetched a bowl of



142 MOMBAZ — ^EXCURSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND.

milk, mixed with blood as I afterwards foxmd ; for
they believe that thus taken, blood helps to nourish
their natural strength. Like most savages they are
very fond of ornaments, especially of beads and cop-
per wire. Their legs and arms, necks and hair, were
covered with white and blue beads, which in com-
bination with their nudity gave them a striMBg and
singular appearance ; for many of the men were per-
fectly naked, whilst others wore a mere rag in imita-
tion of the fig-leaf of sculptors, and even the women
had a very scant covering below the waist, being
otherwise completely naked ^m head to foot.
Behind, a kind of leather caudal appendage was
worn, fastened round the loins with a thong. No
wonder then that people say " there are people with
tails in the interior of Africa I'' In general, the
Wakamba appear to be a finer and more powerful race
than the Wanika, but their huts are more wretched
than theirs. The Wakamba in the vicinity of the
coast are immigrants who since the great famine of
1836 have settled down on the tOTiitory of the
Wanika, being driven by hunger fix)m the interior
and receiving permission from the original possessors
of the land to pasture their cattle on the grassy plains.
By degrees, they acquired wealth by the breeding
of cattle, and the ivory trade with the interior, and
soon began to till the ground.

The Wanika liked l^em at first, because they
derired many advanteges from their presence ;
but the Wakamba threatened to take the upper
hand and broils and feuds arose. These were



HOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND. 143

always however amicably settled, as the Wa-
kamba accustomed to the cocoa-wine and other
luxuries of the coast did not care to return to their
own counlory in the interior, and the Wamka imbibed
too great a liking for their cows, sheep, &c. to let
them depart. For all this the Wakamba and the
Wamka do not in a general way blend with each
other, but retain each their aboriginal habits. The
Wakamba do not intermarry with the Wamka, yet
the intercourse of the former with the coast has
produced changes among them^ Thus, for instance,
the Wakamba of the interior do not bury their dead,
but throw them into fields or woods axxd cover them
with stones and grass, yet those on the coast aUow
the dead to be buried by the Wanika, who make the
grave, and charge a cow for their trouble. The Wa-
kamba, too, put on a little clothing when they go
to Mombaz, or to a Wanika village. But with a
little good they have likewise learned from the
Wanika much that is bad. They are ardently fond
of Tembo (cocoa-wine), and as they have the means
of indulgence they go to still greater lengths than
their teachers. With their carousals they combine
dancing, which they have learned from the Wanika.
Uganga and Utawi, too (exorcism and incantation),
they have adopted from the Wanika and Watsumba
(Suahilis). No less have these latter tribes acquired
much that ia bad from the former, particularly the
habit of going naked, at least when not observed
by the inhabitants of the country, especially on
journeys.



144 MOMBAZ — ^EXCURSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND.

The Wakamba go in caravans of fixnn 200 to
300 persons into the interior to fetch ivory, and
form in a general way the commercial medium
between the coast and the interior, into which they
journey a distance of from 200 to 250 leagues. I
therefore regarded this people as an important
element in relation to future missionary designs in
Eastern Africa. On these journeys the Wakamba
are often attacked by the tribes of the interior, espe-
cially by the Galla, who, however, are as often stoutly
repelled and beaten. As with most East- African tribes
circumcision is prevalent with the Wakamba. Their
language belongs to the great SouA-African division,*
extending from the Equator to the Kaffers in South
Africa, and which I have named the Orphno-Hamitic
(dark-brown Hamitic, as distinguished from the
negro Hamitic). The Wakamba live chiefly on milk
and animal food, and cultivate maize, are not nomads,
but have fixed dwelling-places. I may observe, by
the way, that the prefix " wa" denotes the concrete
plurality of a tribe or race, while the prefix " m," or
" mu," denotes the singular, and " u" the tribe or race
in the abstract. Thus, ^ ^ Wakamba" means * ^ the Wa-
kamba race ;" " Mkamba,'' " one of the Wakamba f
"Ukamba," or " Ukambani," the land of the Wa-
kamba; " Wanika," the Wanika; " Mnika," one of
the tribe; and " Unika," the domain of the Wanika.

From Endila I wended my way towards Old Rab*

* For much curious information on the languages of South Afiica,
the reader is referred to the introduction and notes to Sir Qeorge
Grey's Taluable catalogue, published by Trtibner and Co.



HOHBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND. 145

bai by a route hitherto imknown to me. On entering
the first gate I saw a few huts fix)m three to four
feet high, and on asking for what purpose they
served, was told that this was the Jumba ja Mulungu
— that is, the house of Mulungu, which stands in the
fix)nt of every village, and where the Wanika perform
religious services, sacrifice, exorcise evil spirits, and
where, too, they lay whatever they do not wish to
bring into the village, &ncying that it is secure in
that sanctuary and will not be stolen ; and the graves
of the Wanika are generally in the vicinity of
ihis place, and there, too, the living eat, drink, and
dance at burials and on other occasions. Over
the last gate of the village, I saw a cocoa-nut
hanging, an Uganga (a charm) which at the in-
stance of the Waganga (magicians) was hung up,
that the cocoa-nuts might not be stolen while the
people were away on their plantations. This chann
is supposed to be effectual in keeping thieves and
robbers at a distance fi:om the trees and the village,
and many Wanika suq)end a similar Uganga before
the doors of their huts ; it is a kind of ^^ cave canem ;"
for nobody dares to enter so long as it is not removed.
When I had arrived at Abdallah's I received a
visit firom the elders of Rabbai, to whom I explained
that I was neither a soldier nor a merchant, nor an
official employed by the Arabian or English govern-
ments, nor a traveller, nor a Mganga nor Mtawi,
physician, exorcist, or enchanter; but was a
teacher, a book-man, who wished to show the Wa-
nika, the Wakamba, the Galla, and even the Wat-



146 MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND^

Bumba (Mohammedans) the right way to salvation in
the world to come, and was answered, " Our land,
our trees, houses, our sons and daughters, are all
thine." How far they kept their word the sequel will
show. The nezt morning I sailed back to Mombaz.
The ensuing few weeks were spent partly in
excursions, partly at my residence in Mombaz. On
the 17th of March I made an excursion to Likoni
and some villages to the south of it. It happened to
be a market-d^y in the place and the Wanika
women were purchasing meat from a Mohammedan,
who had slaughtered a cow. As the people paid no
great attention to my words respecting eternity
and the life to come, I went into another hamlet
furi;her south where the whole population were
dancing roimd a Mohammedan, who was beating a
drum, and wished to work Uganga (magic). When
they saw me they became suddenly silent, and young
and old listened to the discourse. But, after a time,
one after another slipped away imtil only a few men
and women remained. Perhaps they did not rightly
understand my Suahili„ or perhaps I failed to ex-
press myself with sufficient imagery, and spoke too
plainly ; for abstract notions are not understood by
Javages! ai^d everything muKt be expressed inlxopi
and figures, and then rendered into the intelligible
language of daily life. The Wanika, and many
other East-AMcan tribes, have a custom of repeat-
ing the last words of the speaker, or at least of
uttering an assenting sound. It is a kind of wild
response, which is certainly troublesome to Euro-



HOBfBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE liAIN-LAND. 147

peans, but has its advantage, and shows him whether
he is understood or not. After I had spoken of the
lore of God to man in sending. His only begotten
Son into the world, in my address, I asked the chief
of the place to show me the way to the scattered
villages. He was quite ready to do so, but warned
me not to visit the village Yumbo, because the Wa-
nika were celebrating their Ugnaro there. This is
a horrible sport, practised fix>m time to time by the
young people when they have reached a certain
age. They smear the body, especially the £EU)e,
with white and grey earth, so that they cannot be
recognised, being also almost in a complete state of
nucUty; upon which they remain in the wooda
until they have killed a man, after which they wash
themselves and return home, where they then feast
and carouse to their hearts' content. It is not
iherefore advisable to journey at such times Ihrough
these places, as solitary travellers, especially slaves,
are their &vourite prey. A wise government in
Mombaz would long ago have suppressed this
abomination. Before quitting the scene I may add,
another reason for the want of attention of the people
to my address, that they mistook me for a Moham-
medan, not having as yet become acquainted with
any other religion ; and that they are very hostile
to Mohammedanism ; as also that their drunkenness
and materialism have completely blunted their
perception of everything connected with spiritual
religion.

On the 2dth of March I made an excursion fix)m



148 MOilBAZ — ^EXCUKSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND.

Abdallah's plantation to Rabbai Mpia (New or
Little Rabbai) a village consisting of some twenty
to twenty-five huts. The sun was very hot when we
left the plantation, but the sky presently clouded
over, and a heavy thunderstorm followed soon after;
At first our way lay through a wood, upwards, by
means of the bed of a mountain stream, then along a
well-trodden footpath, to the right and left of which
the ground was covered by thom-bushes and tall
grass; till having ascended for several hundred
yards, we came to the hill itself on which the
village of New Rabbai is built, and where the more
abrupt ascent really began ; for the village, with the
cocoa-nut wood in which it stands, seemed to lie
straight up above our heads, so steep was Ihe rock
which we had to mount upwards and upwards till
we foimd ourselves in the cocoa-nut wood in which
Rabbai Mpia lies* Before the rain came on we had
found shelter in a hut, and it was a favourable bir^
cumstance that it rained just when the white man
entered the village for the first time. The Wanika
imagined that it was my foot which brought the
welcome rain ; and, against my wishes, for I would
never turn superstition to account, Abdallah strength-
ened them in that conviction. Eastward there was
a magnificent view of the sea, of Mombaz, and the
level country ; and to the nortii and west stretched
far away the plains of the Wanika and the
Wakamba ; whilst to the south was wood connect-
ing this peninsular hill, as it were, with the level
country ; and right and left a deep ravine, forming the



^i



MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-L&ND. 149

hill itself into a noble natural fortress, which art might
greatly improve. I felt at once the impression that
this would be just the place for a missionary station.
Dimng the rain the elders were convoked in the
house of Jindoa^ who is regarded as the Sheha
(Sheikh) of Rabbai Mpia, and who happened to be
somewhat unwell. The elders were very Mendly
and, what pleased me very much, did not beg. I
explained to them that the object of my visit was to
teach them the words of the book (the Bible) which
I held in my hand. One of the elders asked whether
I was an enchanter, who could tell him out of the
book how long he was to live ; or whether I could
heal the sick chief by a prayer from it. I answered
that this book could make them live in everlasting
joy, if they accepted and believed what was read to
them ; that they would be cured of the worst of mala^
dies, sin, if they believed in the Son of Gk>d. I then
narrated to them some of the chief facts in the life
of Christ, and pointed out in conclusion that God
so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. One of the elders
said that it was really true that God loved men, for He
gave the Wanika rain, tembo, and clothes. I rejoined
that these were certainly great proo& of Divine love,
but that, after all, they were only earthly gifts, and
would not avail them, if God had not taken care for
their souls, and had not sent his Son to free them
from sin and Satan. Another elder, .who seemed to
understand me better, repeated my whole address,

L 2



150 MOMBAZ — ^EXCURSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAND*

and that with tolerable accuracy. After the rain had
ceased they all dispersed quickly, to go and sow
their rice, but heartily shook me by the hand and
offered me a goat by way of gift. I reftised it, how-
ever, being determined to hold aloof from the system
of giving and taking, the receipt of a present among
these people always entailing the bestowal of one..
On the whole, I could not avoid seeing that the people
were somewhat shy of me for fear that I should
convert them to Mohanunedanistn ; for they could
not draw ajiy distinction between Christianity and
Islamism. Mothers removed their children as soon
as they saw me in the streets of the village, a practice
not uncommon among the Wanika, arising out of the
apprehension that strangers merely come to steal the
children to sell them into slavery.

From Rabbai Mpia I went in a south-westerly
direction towards the Wakamba-land. Close to Mutsi
Muvia, New Rabbai, I passed some graves, and
saw an empty cocoa-nut shell l3mig on one of them.
On asking the meaning of it, I was told that from
time to time it was filled with tembo, because the
Wanika beUeve that after death the Koma or
shade of the dead person cannot exist without that
drink; and for a similar reason, rice and maize are
laid upon the graves; all which proves, at least, a
belief in a continued existence after death. In
another Wakamba village which we traversed, the
women and children again ran away when they saw
me, and even the men appeared to be frightened.
Especially were my shoes, which they took for



HOMBAZ — ^EXCfUBSIONS ON THE IIAIN-LAND.: ^51

iron^ my hair, which seemed to them like the haii;
of the ape, and my spectacles^ objects of astonish*
ment and ridicule. I read to them some passages
out of my translation of the Gospel of St. John into
Wakamba, but they could not understand me, nor
could I express myself sufficiently in their own lan-
guage, and they did not imderstand SuahOi. The
women were half-naked, but partly covered with
beads and copper-wire.

On my way back I had the pleasure of seeing for
the first time the mountain Kadiaro, which is distant
about thirty-six leagues from Rabbai Mpia, and
rises some 4000 feet above the level of the sea.
The sight of this mountain gave me great delight,
and in imagination I already saw a missionary-
station established in that cool climate for the
spiritiial subjection of the countries of the interior.
On the whole, these first visits to the Wanika-land
stimulated and quickened my missionary yearnings ;
the vicinity of the Wakamba, the level country,
with its scattered hamlets, the high and healthy
situation of Rabbai Mpia, the fipiehdly disposition of
the inhabitants, the proximity of an arm of the sea,
Abdallah's plantation, and, last not least, Kadiaro,
all led me to think of Rabbai Mpia as a most suit-
able missionary station.

The ensuing twelvemonth was a period of varied
experience and suffering. After the rainy season,
in March 1845, I left Mombaz on a trip to Taka-
ungu, exploring the coast and its immediate interior



152 MOMBAZ — ^SXCUBSIONS OK THE UAIK-LAND.

at tihe same time, yisitmg Embema in August,
and Kambe and Jibana in September. At the
beginning of October I had a violent attack of fever,
brought on by exposure to the sun, while I was
engaged on the flat roof of my house at Mombaz
in superintending the construction of a room des-
tined for my colleague, the missionary Rebmann,
whose arrival from England was daily expected. On
the 1st of December, being a little recovered, and
having formerly felt the good effects of the sea air,
I took a trip to Zanzibar, where I received much
kindness from the English consul, Major Hamerton.
Three months later I took another sea trip, and
explored among other places the ruined and de-
serted town of Malindi, which might again be a
populous and flourishing port, serving as an im-
portant missionary centre, were the English to occupy
it as they have done Aden. At last on the 10th
of Jime 1846 my dear and long-expected fellow*
labourer, Rebmann, arrived at Mombaz. A native of
Gerlingen, in Wtirtemberg, he had gone through the
preparatory studies for the missionary vocation.
After a few days he, too, was attacked by fever, but
soon recovered sufficiently to accompany me to
Rabbai Mpia, to receive the assent of the elders to
the establishment of a missionary-station there.

When we arrived at Rabbai Mpia twelve chiefs
were immediately summoned to a Maneno or pa-
laver. They seated themselves on the ground, as
did Rebmann and myself, along with Abdallah ; and



MOBiBAZ^^EXCUBSIONS ON THE MAIN-LAKD. 153

I then iBixoduced my beloved fellow-labourer to the
chiefe^ and aaked for the same Mendly reception for
him which had been given to myself, wbich was
promised with pleasure. I then explained the object
of the nussion, remarking that I had now visited
the whole of the Wanika-land, and was convinced
that we should be welcomed in every village. To
this they assented. But, I continued, Rabbai Mpia
seemed to me the place best suited for our object ;
and that as here I had met with more kindness
than anywhere else I asked them whether they
would consent to our establishing ourselves among
them. Immediately and without any stipulation,
even without asking after African fashion for a
present, they responded, " Yes !" and truly with one
heart and mouth. They gave us the strongest assur-
ances of friendship ; the whole country should be
open to us; we night journey wHi/ersoever we
pleased; they would defend us to the uttermost;
we should be the kings of the land, &c. When
we then spoke of dwelling-places, they replied:
*^The birds have nests, and the Wasungu (Euro-
peans) too, must have houses." I mentioned to
them two huts, which at that very time were un-
inhabited, and aaked them to repair and improve
them, until we were ready to remove from Mombaz
to Rabbai, and this was assented to most will-
ingly. " It was wonderful," says Rebmann, in a
letter to the committee, " to see how Krapfs labours
have not been in vain ; for this willingness, though
little less than a direct manifestation of God in the



154 MOMBAZ — ^EXCURSIONS ON TH£ MAIN-LAND.

wildemeds, must also, in some measure, be considered
as the fruit of his exertions."

Scarcely had we returned to Mombaz, when we
were both attacked by fever, and a whole month
elapsed before Rebmann was conyalescent. In the
interval I visited the chie& of Rabbai Mpia to see
how they were getting on with the house ; no pro-
gress, however, had been made, the chie& excusing
themselves on account of the labours of the field. At
last on the 22nd of August I sailed with my dear
fellow-labourer for Abdallah's plantation, but was im-
mediately on my arrival attacked by fever. The
chie£3 of Rabbai Mpia visited us in the evening, and
fixed on the 25ih as the day of our entry into
the village. On the morning of that day, I had
another severe attacjs of fever, but it did not keep
me from journeying thither. Whether the result be
life or death, I said to myself, the mission must be
begun; and with this resolve, and an inward prayer
for succour, I tottered along by the side of Rebmann,
who was likewise very weak and could scarcely walk.
We therefore determined to ride by turns on our
single ass, but after some time I was quite unable to
go on foot and obliged to monopolize the beast.
With much pain I ascended the steep hill, which
even without a rider the ass could scarcely have
mounted, and Rebmann, also, could only clamber up
by the most painful exertion. Scarcely ever was a
mission begun in such weakness; but so it was to
be, that we might neither boast of our own strength,
nor our successors forget that in working out His



HOMBAZ— EXCUBSIONS OK THE MAIN-LAND* 155

purposes, God sanctifies even our human infirmities
to the fiilfihnent of His ends.

It was surprising how my physical strength in-
creased the higher I ascended. The cool air was a
genuine stimulant. Arriyed at the summit, I felt my-
self, nevertheless, quite exhausted, and was obliged
at once to lie down on a cow-hide in the house of
the chief Jindoa, where I slept for several hours.
The sleep was so refireshing that I awoke with the
consciousness and strength of convalescence. The
chiefe then came in a body to greet us and to fix
the day for the commencement of the building.
They wished themselves to build, and we were to
give in return a present of fixed amount* Some
days afterwards, they brought building materials,
but the business went on so slowly that they had
to be reminded of the promise; for the house in
which we remained during the interval was so damp
and smaU, that we feared we should not be able to
make a long residence in it. At last on the 16th of Sep*
tember the new house was roofed in, and thus the work
of the Wanika ended. We were now obliged to do
the rest of it mostly with our own hands. The Wanika
indeed removed the bushes and grass fix)m the
ground ; but they merely wished to stick the stakes of
the walk only iB a superficial maimer into the soU,
which by no means suited our views, and so we had
ourselves first to dig a foundation, breaking up the
ground for nearly two feet, that we might fix the
poles more firmly. As in places there were blocks
of stone under the slight soil, these had first



156 MOMBAZ — ^EXCUBSIONS OK THE UAIK-LAND,

to be dug out or broken into pieces, and in the heat
of the sun, in our weak, state of health, this was no
slight toil. The house was twenty-four feet long,
and eighteen feet in width and height; the walls
were plastered with mud within and without, the
roof being covered with Makuti, i.e., the plaited
leaves of the cocoa-nut tree. Our new home lay in
a grove of these trees, fix)m 800 to 1000 feet above
the sea, and from which the fortress of Mombaz and
the ships in the harbour are visible. The excellent
air, as well as the healthful work of breaking the
stones and felling and hewing the trees, had a good
effect on the feverish health of both of us, and so &r
it was well that we were obliged to take the labour
of building into our own hands; for all that the
Wanika would have done would have been done
wretchedly and superficially. If any one had seen
us then and there in dirty and tattered clothes,
bleeding from wounds caused by the thorns and
stones, flinging mud on the walls in the native &shion
and plastering it with the palm of our hands,
he would scarcely have looked upon us as clergy-
men. But a missionary must not let trifles put
him out ; he must learn to be high and to be lowly
for the sake of his Master's work ; and with all this
toil our hearts were made glad, even more so than
in quiet times, before and afterwards. During every
interval of rest, I persevered with the translation
which I had begun, though often dtiring the renewed
attacks of fever, the thought would arise that even
before the commencement of my proper missionary



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HOMBAZ^— EXCUESIONS ON THE MAIK-LANI). 157

labours I might be summoned into etermty. At
such times I consoled myself with the reflection, that
the Lord, even if it should please Him to take me
hence, had given me a fidthful fellow-labourer by
whom the good work would be continued. Mean-
while; I often prayed fervently for the preservation
of my life in Afiica, at least imtil one soul should be
saved ; for I was certain that if once a single stone
of the spiritual temple were laid in any country, the
Lord would bless the work, and continue the struc-
tore, by the conyemon of those who were now
sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to whom our missionary labours were but as the
dawn of the day-star from on High .•

After the erection of the house we had to attend
to many other little building matters — kitchen,
stable, store-house, oven, and especially a hut for
public worship, were all to be provided. All this
went on slowly ; for the elders were very dilatory in
bringing the bmlding materials, although well paid.
On the first Sunday after the erection of the hut for
pubKc worship some twelve to fifiteen Wanika
assembled in it, and I explained to them the pur-
pose for which it had been built and invited them
to come again every Sunday, and listen to God's
holy word. When I had finidied my address a

* That I was not mistaken or disappointed in this fenrent hope and
belief will be seen from a communication of my fdend Bebmann dated
Zanzibar, December 15, 1858, in which he writes to the committee,
that on his return to Babbai Mpia six Wanika were ready to become
Christians through the instrnmentality of Abbe Gnnya, the first con-
Texi.—V4d0 the Church Missionary Beoord, July, 1859, pp. 218-217.



1



158 HOMBAZ — EXCUBSIOKg ON THE BCAIN-LAND*

Mnika, Abbe Kondi by name, from Jembeni, asked
what we woidd give the Wanika to eat, if they
were to come here every Siku ku (great day,
Sunday). If the Wanika received rice and a cow,
they would alwajrs come; but if not, they would stay
away; for no Mnika went to a maneno (palaver)
without eating and drinking. This was rather a
humbling experience for the day of our little
church's consecration ; but we consoled ourselves with
the thought that the Jews preferred to look upon
our Divine Master rather as upon an earthly king,
than as upon the King eternal, the only wise God.
I therefore found it necessary to make house-to^
house visits to prepare the Wanika for public
worship, and to announce to them the day on which
Christians keep their Sabbath. Every Sunday
morning, I gave a signal by firing off a gun once or
twice, and afterwards by ringing a small bell which
had been sent us £ix)m London to Rabbai Mpia.
Besides this, we tried to fiuniliarize the people with
the Christian Sunday by buying nothing on that day ;
by not allowing our servants to do any work on
it; and by wearing holiday clothes on it to en-
hance the significance of the day. In this way the
Wanika attained by degrees a notion of Sunday,
and an insight into the fact that Cliristians do not
pass that holy day in eating and drinking like Mo-
hammedans and heathens, but with prayer and
meditation on the word of God in peaceful quiet
and simplicity.

After the work of building was over I began to



MOlfBAZ-HBXCURSIONS OK THE MAIN-LAND* 159

visit the neiglxboufing hamlets and plantations of
the Wanika to speak to them about the salvation of
iheir souls, and to open up to them the kingdom of
Heaven. My dear fellow-labourer Rebmann had to
leam the language, and to look after much that wm
needful in the house, arrangements ; on which ac-
count it was only later that he could enter upon the
sphere of direct missionary labour. When he could
speak the language tolerably he undertook the in-
struction of some boys, among whom was the son
of our chief, Jindoa, a lad of ten, who learned to
read fairly, and to write a little. But, alas ! he gave
up learning as he grew older because we would
or could not satisfy his desire for clothing and
other visible and material things. In my own ex-
cursions from Rabbai Mpia among the Rabbai tribe,
which altogether does not amount to more than
4000 souls, I was in the habit of visiting hamlets
and plantations with a collective population of
perhaps about 3000. The number of all the Wanika,
forming twelve tribes, may amount to about 50,000,
in which are included some 30,000, composing the
Wadigo tribes to the south of Mombaz. In the
course of time it became ever more evident to us,
impressing itself upon us with all the force of a posi-
tive command, that it was our duty not to limit our
missionary labours to the coast tribes of the Suahili
and Wanika, but to keep in mind as weU the
spiritual darkness of the tribes and nations of Inner
Africa. This consideration induced us to take those
important journeys into the interior, a detailed



160 H0MBAZ-^£XCUBSI0N9 ON THE HAIN-LAND:

narratiye of which will be found in the second por*
tion of the present volume. But before I conclude
this firat part, I would give Bome extt«5ts fix>m my
journals as calculated to throw light partly on the
district of Rabbai Mpia and the surrounding country,
and partly on the manners and customs of the Wanika
and Suahili.



161



CHAPTER X.

RABBAI MPIA — ^EXTRiLCTS FROM JOUBNAU.

Betrospect of the past year, and hopes for the future— The women's
Moansa — ^Wanika self-conceit — ^The Mnansa ; nature of the impos*
tore and its political uses — ^Trip to Zanzibar and interview with
the Sultan — ^liyeipool speculation on the East coast — ^Antimony
mines and their tipsy owners — ^Wanika and Zulus — Gardening
beg:un — The god of the Wanika — Bemonstrant chie& and the
author's successful protest against their superstition — ^Bain-making
and rain-makers — A Wanika Dream-woman — 8tories of canni-
bals and pigmies in the interior — ^Theory of their origin, and com-
parison with Abessinian fables — View of Eilibassi and £adiaro— *
A Kioika Primer — ^Trial by ordeal among the Wanika — Curious
details — ^The begging habits of the Wanika and savages in general
— ^The author's advice to missionaries — ^The Eoma : Wanika belief
in a continuance of being after death — ^Attack on a Mnika by a
Ifkamba: condolence-custom of the Wanika — ^Betrospect of a
year at Babbai Mpia — ^Mercies and achievements — ^Projected visit
to Kadiaro— Suahili notion of the end of the world and its pro-
bable origin — ^An intelligent Mohammedan : his request for vrine
refused—- Bebmann's journey to and return from Kadiaro—
Public worship and Einika hymn — ^Besults of ciyilization "pure
and simple" — ^Betrospect of another year : difficulties and hopes.

January^ 1847. — At the begiiming of this year, I
find the following remarks in my diary : —

During the past twelvemonth I have suffered much,
and have been often and dangerously ill. On the
other hand, I have had much to be grateful for in the
arriyal of my beloved fellow-labourer, the missionary



162 BABBAI MPIA — ^EXTRACTS FROM JOUBNADS.

Rebmann, and in the establishment of a missionary-
station at Rabbai Mpia, which I pray and hope may
become a Zion, whence the law of the Lord wiU
dawn on the benighted African. May the Lord,
during the new year, enable us to increase the nuim-
ber of souk ancerely seeking after Cbristl Above
all, may my communion with God be quickening
and inmost, so that I may not, like those we are told
of in Scripture, be building a Noah's ark for others,
while I myself perish. Amen.

To-day there were many Wanika here, especially
of the tribe Kiriama. I devote particular attention to
strangers, and endeavour to implant in them a know-
ledge of the Word of God as comprehensive as possi-
ble, because they are in a position to publish in dis-
tant regions what they hear £ix)m the missionaries.

15 th January. — ^Last night heathenism showed itself
again and strikingly in its most gloomy and im-
moral colours. The women of Rabbai Mpia and
its environs assembled towards evening in. the vil-
lage ; went in procession along the roads and sang,
danced, and played on the women's Muansa the
livelong night, so that the noise was over only with
daybreak. The women presented themselves before
each house and asked for a present ; but when they
came before our door, I told them that if they
were doing any good work we woidd gladly give
something ; but it went against our conscience, and
the object of our settlement among them, to reward
the works of darkness ; adding, that they knew full
well that we should recompense them if they would



KABBAI MPIA — ^EXTRACTTS FROM JOURNALS. 163

dear the Tillage of the withered grass which might
cause a conflagration.

Nominall 7^ no men are allowed to be present at
these festivals of the women, but the immoralities and
abominations practised on such occasions in the
neighbouring wood are well known to eyeiy one.
Among the Wanika every age and sex has, at
appointed times, certain festivities which begin and
end with gluttony and drunkenness. First, the chiefs
have their feasts, then the young men, and, lastly, the
boys ; and it is the same with the women, old and
young. It would seem that these festivities bind the
people together; for no one may be absent £x>m
these festive meetings but at the risk of being fined
a goat or a cow ; and thus they form strong bul-
warks against missionary labour.

17 tA January. — To-day I had a visit from a
Mnika, whom I reproved for saying that he had
done a good work in pouring some palm wine over
the grave of his &ther. When I spoke of sins and
transgressions he said, ^^We are good people,
who is it has been defaming us to you?" I read
Romans i., and showed him that most of the sins
mentioned there are rife among the Wanika, a posi-
tion which he could not deny»

2nd February. — To-day the chief and some other
Wanika advised us to close the doors of our house,
as the Muansa was to roar. I reproved them for
their superstition, and their deceit in leading the
people to believe that the Muansa is a wild beast
making a noise in the wood, whereas it is in reality

M



164 RABBAI MPU — ^EXTfiACTS FBOM JOURNALS*

nothing but the stem of a tree hollowed out, which
is made to give forth a frightful sound by rubbing.
I could not, I told them, be silent at such sinful
doings, and would leave my house-door open to
show that I was not afraid of their superstitions and
evil spirits.

4^ February. — ^In the afternoon after the women
had cleared the grass, &c. from the pathways of
the village the elders made their appearance with
strange musical instroments, which gave out a sound
very similar to that of a weaver's spool thrown
backwards and forwards. We left the doors of
our house open ; so when the procession of the elders
came near, one of them suddenly approached and
shut the door to, which I immediately re-opened,
protesting against their works of darkness; upon
which they tl^en betook themselves to the Moroni, or
council-house, where the Muansa-wa-Kurri had al-
ready begun to play, or rather to bellow. At
night&U the shrieking, dancing, singing, and shout-
ing of the elders, with the bellowing of the
Muansa, made up a frightful noise; and this wild
tumult lasted aU night, so that we were often
awakened from our sleep, when the blind and mad
servants of the Muansa passed the house. As may
be expected, they fortified themselves, from time to
time, with large draughts of pahn-wine, which
rekindled their flagging powers, and rendered them
more uproarious.

On my asking what the Muansa really was and
what it meant a Mnika answered, that he could not



BABBAI IIPIA — ^EXTBACTS FROM J0UBKA18. 165

say ; for no one not an elder was allowed to see the
instmm^at. If children or women were to see it
they would immediately fiJl down dead, or the
women, at least, would not bear any more children.
As soon, therefore, as those who are not summoned
hear the bellow of the Muansa, which is always
played in the forest, even firom a distance, they must
hide in the wood or in a house, and whoever neg*
lects to do so has to pay the penalty of a cow or
a couple of oxen. It is evident that the elders use
this instrument to retain the people in fear or sub-
jection; for the Muansa forms the centre of their
civic and religious life; and when the Wanika
sacrifice and pray for rain, or are going to strangle
a mis-shapen child in the wood, or promulgate any
new laws, it is always brought into play. Only cer-
tain individuals are initiated into the mystery of
the Muansa, and the initiation is accompanied by a
plentifol donation of rice, pahn-wine, meat, &c., made
by the person who wishes to be initiated. The
instrument itself can be purchased by any Mnika
who is willing to be at the expense for the sum oi
from three to four dollars; or he may get a car-
penter to make one for that sum. The possessor of it
enjoys the privilege of participating in all carou-
sals, and altogether becomes a person of import-
ance and influence among his republican fellow-
countrymen, with whom those alone rank high who
are distinguished by wealth, generosity, the power
of eloquence, or by some deed or other of self-s6U)rifice.
The Muansa is said to have been introduced by the

M 2



166 RABBAI MPIA — ^EXTRACTS FROM JOUBNAI^

southern Wanika, the so-called Wadigo; and the
Wakamba, Wateita, Wajagga, and other tribes, are
not acquainted with it and its solemnities.

llt/i March. — On the 6th, we had received letters
from Europe, India, and Zanzibar, by the arrival of
the ship Anne from Liverpool, commanded by Cap-
tain Parker, and on the 7th, we set sail from Mombaz
in an Arabian vessel for the latter place ; my friend,
Rebmann, and I thinking that the voyage would do
good to our health, which was still impaired by recent
attacks of fever. We reached Zanzibar on the 9th,
and to-day we waited upon the Sultan, who, as usual,
was very friendly. He said that the Wanika were
bad people, and that we ought, therefore, to reside
in Mombaz rather than in the Wanika-land. I re*
marked that the inhabitants of the South Sea islands
had been still worse than the Wanika, who were not
cannibals, like them. European teachers had gone
to these cannibals, had taught them out of the Word
of God, and they were now quite different men.
The Sultan rejoined : ^^ If that be so, it is all right ;
you may stay among the Wanika as long as you
choose, and do whatever you please."

15tA March. — ^As Captain Pain, of the Prince of
Wales, of Liverpool, offered us a passage in his ship
to Mombaz, we availed ourselves of the opportunity
to return home to Rabbai Mpia. On the voyage
we met Captain Parker in the ship Ann, and he
induced Captain Pain to return to Zanzibar. (Cap-
tain Parker was the agent of a commercial company
in Liverpool with a capital of £70,000, which



RABBAI MPU — ^EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS. 167

wished to trade with Eastern Africa, but was soon
obliged to give up the enterprise with loss as quite
unprofitable, which information was given me by
Europeans at Zanzibar some time after.)

19 ti March. — ^Yesterday, after Captain Parker had
finished his business in Zanzibar he came to us on
board the " Prince of Wales," just as Captain Pain
was about to sail to Mombaz ; and to-day, we ar-
rived at the island. Captain Parker wished me to
accompany him to the Wanika and Duruma, where
he intended to purchase from the chiefs the mines of
antimony which exist there, and to pave the way
for working them ; but as I foresaw that the enter-
prise would displease the Sultan of Zanzibar ; that
the Wanika chiefe would suspect the missionaries of
wishing to sell their country to the Europeans ; and
also that the powder and shot which he thought of
disposing of to the Suahilis would do no good, I
declined his proposal.

23rrf March. — Mr. P. paid a visit to the Duruma
chiefs, but found them so tipsy that he could do
nothing with them. He was so frightened by their
demeanour and savage appearance, that he gave
them at once the presents which he had brought
for them, and then quitted them without ftirther
parley. He said that he thought the Wanika were
fifty times worse than the Zulus in South Africa,
with whom he had become acquainted ; and certainly
as regards drunkenness, this opinion may be the
true one, but in every other respect the Wanika
are far superior to the Zulus.



168 RABBAI HPIA — VSTRXCTB FBOM JOUBKIU.

31^^ March. — ^After our return to Rabbai we began
to lay out a garden, in doing which we had to bum
a great many weeds, and this gaye me occasion
to show to our Wanika visitors, how the weeds of
the heart, too, must be destroyed, if the heart is
to become a garden and fitting abode for God's Spirit*

14:th April. — To-day my fellow-labourer, Reb-
mann, planted a number of potatoes, and sowed seeds
of different kinds received fi*om Europe and India.

22nd April. — The Wanika offered to-day a Sadaka
or sacrifice, partly to obtain rain, and partly for the
sake of a man who had died. A black sheep was
slaught^^ ; the blood was spilt on the grave, whilst
the spiller ejaculated : — ^^ May there soon be rain ;
may the dead man enjoy repose; may the sick be
healed,^ &c.

To the question, what precise meaning the Wa^
nika attach to the word Mulungu? one said that
Multmigu was thunder ; some thought it meant hea-
ven, the visible sky ; some, again, were of opinion
that Mulungu was the being who caused diseases ;
whilst others, however, still held fast to a fiseble
notion (rfa Supreme Being as expressed by that word.
Some, too, believe that every man becomes a
Multmgu after death.

30^A April. — ^To-day, several chiefs came to ask
us why we did not shut our doors when the Muansa
passed our house; even the Mohammedans shut
their doors, why did we not act like they did ? We
relied that we are not Mohammedans who, like the
Wanika, love the works of darkness ; that we have



SABBAI ICPU — EXTRACTS FBOM JOURNALS. 169

oome to the Wamka^land to give a testunony against
the works of darkness, and to exhort the Wanika to
torn to the living God ; that we are not afraid of the
Muansa, because we know that it is only a piece of
wood, which the sooner they bum the better;
and that it would be more pleasing to God,
if after burning the Muansa, they were to build a
school-house, and admonish the children to come to
us to be taught. Further, that the chiefe ought to
be the first to set a good example, and allow them-
selyes to be instructed in the gospel; their doing
which would bring a blessing upon the country, so
tiliat ihey would no longer find it necessary to rule
over the people by means of deception. Whoso
honours God, God will honour ; and the people would
obey them better and more sincerely than now, when
they are obliged to compel obedience by supersti-
tious and sensual practices. Whilst speaMng thus
earnestly and solemnly, one of the chie& said to me :
<' You are a true magician," by which he meant,
<*We cannot resist your eloquence." The chiefs
then announced, repeatedly, that they would make
an exception in our case and would not punish us
when we looked at the Muansa, but the Wanika
should be punished if they did not shut up their
huts when it passed by.

10th Jtfog^. — ^ * * Noteworthy is the fitith of
the Wakamba in rain-makers, who every where play
a promment part in Eastern Africa. Among tibe
Wanika there arecertein femiKes which lay daim to
a power of causLog it to rain, and maintain that



170 RABBAI HFU — ^EXTRACTS FROM J0UBNA1J3.

this great secret can be transmitted £x>ni &ih6r to
son. This hereditary dignity of rain-making gives
them great importance among the people, which
naturally leads them to do their utmost to encourage
the belief. Observing carefully the state of the
weather, and knowing from long experience about
the time when the earliest rain is to &11, they forth-
with call upon the chie6 to offer up a sacrifice.
These again command the people to make a Zansi,
f. e.y to contribute to the purchase of a cow or a
sheep for the rain-sacrifice. If the rain comes, it is
of course ascribed to the power of the rain-maker ;
but if it does not, the cunning rain-maker manages
to get up another sacrifice; but fixes on such a
colour for the sacrificial animal, that some time must
elapse before a suitable one can be found. Mean-
while the rain comes down, and the cheat has got
out of the difficulty. The rain-makers seem, too, to
have a kind of thermometer made of a peculiar wood,
which they place in the water; and observe, moreover,
the course of the clouds, which are generally drawn to
the summits of the mountains. There are, however,
many Wanika who look upon rain-makiiig as mere
Mateaoj or artifice ; and as a tradition without the
least foundation in reality. The Wanika attach great
importance to the song and flight of birds, and
undertake or neglect much in accordance with both,
paying special attention to birds when undertak-
ing a journey. The medicine men (Waganga) dili-
gently observe the nature of grasses, plants, &c., but
envelope the healing art in superstitious ceremonies.



BABBAI MPIA — ^EXTBACTS FROM J0UENAL8. 171

11th May. — I went into the plantations of the
Wanika to read the Word and to preach, but found
only a few persons there. I heard from a woman of
the name of Amehari Pegue, that she often ordained
sacrifices for the dead, and for other events requiring
ihem. She is said suddenly to set up a cry at night,
ajid tell the people that the Koma, or spirit, of this or
that dead person has appeared to her in a dream and
ordered the offering up of a sacrifice for some certain
individual, or for some threatened calamity coming
upon the land. Those present ask the dreamer of
what the sacrifice is to consist, and she replies, per-
haps, that it must be a red or black sheep, or a cow.
The order is conmnmicated next morning to the
chie£9, or to the relations of the deceased, and the
sacrifice must forthwith be made. As a matter of
coursethe dreamer, the Alosaye, receives, as well as the
chiefe, her share of the sacrificial meat. The woman,
who is probably hysterical, is said to eat and drink
but seldom ; but no doubt there is a great deal of
deception in the background. The chiefs have not
power enough to procure respect for the laws, and,
therefore, put into the mouth of the dreamer what she
is to announce to the people as the revelations of a
Koma. The chie& are oft;en himgry and long for a
feast, and then the holy woman must come to
their aid, and help to levy a sacrifice on the people.

13ft May. — ^* ♦ ♦ Our servant Amri told us
some fabulous tales of the Wabilikimo, that is, of
the pigmies, and cannibals in the interior. There
is said to be a tribe in the interior by whom human



172 BABBAI IfPU — ^EXTRACTS FROM J0UBNAU3,

beings axe fattened for slaughter. A Mnika, it appeaiiis,
once escaped from a house, where he was to have been
slaughtered for dinner. The Wabilildmo in the inte-
rior, it would seem, place low seats for their stranger*
guests, which by the pressure fiz themselves to the seat
of honour, and hinder them from rising. I conjecture
that these stories have been invented by the Wa-
kamba and the caravan leaders, in order to deter
the inhabitanto of the coaat from journeying into
the interior, so that their monopoly of the trade with
the interior may not be interfered with. In
Abessinia, too, I used to hear similar stories of
cannibals, invented by the slave dealers, to terrify
the slaves with the fear of being eaten up if they
were to loiter on the road or run away.

22nd May. — To-day, Rebmann and I made an
excursion to the Wakamba in the neighbourhood.
We saw quite distinctly the mountains, Kilibassi
and Kadiaro, which rise out of the plain towards
the south-west, some four da3rs' journey from this.
The Wakamba cany on a trade in cattle, and a
lucrative one in ivory with the interior, and have
begun, too, to cultivate the soil and to grow rice,
Indian com, cassia, &c.

2Mh May. — ^I began to prepare a primer in the
Kiuika language. Many Wanika looked in to speak
to us, and we discoursed with them on the one thing
necessary for salvation.

26tt JwM. — To-day, we received the following
details respecting the oaths and ordeals in use among
the Wanika : —



RABBAI MPU — ^EXTRACTS FROM JOUBNALS. 173

1. Kirapo ja Zoka^ "Qie ordeal of the hatchet.
The ma^cian who adminiBters the oath, and per*
forms the other ceremonies in connection with it,
takes the hand of the supposed thief, or criminal, and
makes him repeat as follows : ^^ If I have stolen the

property of Coaming tiie person), or committed

this crime, let Mulungu (Heaven) respond for me ;
but if I have not stolen, nor done this wickedness,
may he save me.'' After these words, the magician
passes the red hot iron four times over the flat hand
of the accused ; and the Wakamba believe that if he
is gmlty, his hand will be burnt, but if innocent,
that he will suffer no injury. In the former case,
the accused must undergo the punishment for the
alleged crime, whether he confess it himself, or not,
Mulungu having responded by means of the ordeal.

2. Kirapo ja jungu ja Gnandu^ the ordeal of
the copper kettle. The magician takes an empty
copper kettle, makes it red hot, and casts into it
a stone called Mango, which emits sparks. He
then adds the ^^ Raha ya Gnonsi,'' a portion of a
slaxightered goat, saying to the accused, ^^ Heia
lomborera," come, say thy prayer; to which the
latter responds : ^^ May God let me have justice."
Then the suppliant reaches with his hand into
the kettle, and tak^ out the glowing stone; and,
if guilty, his hand and face are burnt ; if innocent,
no harm happens to him.

3. Kirapo ja Sumba^ the ordeal of the needle.
The magician takes a thick needle, makes it red
hot, and draws it through the lips of the alleged



174 RABBAI MPIA — ^EXTRACTS PROM JOURNALS.

criminal. If guilty, a quantity of blood will flow
from the wound, but none if innocent.

4. Kirapo ja KikahCj the ordeal of the piece
of bread. The accused has to eat a piece of bread
which has been poisoned. K innocent he will swal-
low it without trouble : if guilty, it will stick in his
throat, and can only be ejected with considerable pain
and loss of blood. Instead of bread, rice is often used.

On such occasions, the magician receives a piece
of clothing from the accused and from the accuser
by way of recompense.

29th June. — ^In the coxirse of the day, we learned
that the chiefe had punished a boy for not hiding
himself as the Muansa passed by. I told our chief,
who made me a call, that they had condemned
an innocent person, and that the lad had done
nothing wrong. The chief replied that the young
people would take to our "Ada,'' or customs, but
that the others were too old. Furthermore he
observed that he would call together the other chie&
and put an end to the Muansa if they were willing
to do so ; but of himself he could do nothing. I
regarded these remarks simply a« complimentary,
though I believe he would abrogate these feasts
and much more if he had the power, or if the
other chiefe would aid him. I censured his
nephew for his laziness and drunkenness, as well
as for the constant habit of begging, which made
him extremely burdensome to us; for no one
who has not personally experienced it, can imagine
what annoyance is caused to missionaries by



RABBAI MPIA. — ^EXTRACTS FROM JOUBNALS. 175

these begging propensities of the heathen, who beg
every thing they see. If a Mnika, or Mkamba,
or Suahiliy wants anything, he says : ^^ I am going
to the Msungu (European) and will ask it of him ;
he will not refuse it me." So it often came about
that our house was like a shop where there are
customers in abundance, except that in our case they
were customers who wished to have every thing for
nothing. One wanted a hatchet, another a garment,
a third needles, a fourth a dollar, a fifth salt or
pepper, a sixth physic, and so in one day we some-
times had fifteen or twenty applicants, all begging,
and often after a very cunning fashion. How is one
to act in such a case ? A missionary cannot give to
all, but neither can he reftise all. Were he to be
guided only by a sense of what is right, there would
be an end to his useftdness ; for the heathen would say :
^^ He does not himself practise what he preaches to
us ; he preaches love and self-denial, and he does not
practise them ; let the Msungu show us a good life,
then we may believe that his doctrine is good also."
As the result of many years' experience, I would
advise every missionary, no less for the sake of his call-
ing thanfor his own, to bear this persecution patiently,
and to give as much as he can, letting wisdom and
prudence be his guide. What is given is not lost
if it be given from love, and for his Master's sake.
A missionary has not the gift of miracles like the
' apostles ; but love, humility, patience, and self-
denial all work wonders, which, even in our day,
have a mighty power of attraction for the heathen.



I



176 RABBAI MPIA — ^EXmiCrS FROM JOUBNAUS.

They ask themselves and each other : ^^ How comes
it that this man denies himself so much for our sake,
and does us so much good? His book, which
teaches him thus to act must be good ; let us there-
fore also seek to become acquainted with it."

^th August — ♦ ♦ ♦ It is clear that the Wa-
mka ascribe a higher nature and power to tiie
Koma, the spirits or shades of the dead, just as the
Romanists do to the saints ; but the Wamka have no
image or idol of tiie Koma, nor indeed of any kind
whatsoever. The Koma, they say, is at one time
in the grave, then above the earth, or in thunder
and lightning as it lists ; it cannot, however, be seen,
although it receives the giflts which are offered to
it, and is appeased by them and rendered friendly
to the living. The chief resting-place of tiie Koma
is in or about the Kaya, the central point or chief
town of the tribe, where a hut is erected for its
habitation ; and in that hut, all property deposited
by the people is safe, for a Eirapo, talisman, is sus-
pended in it, which prevents the approach of thieves.
As the Koma dwells in preference at the Kaya, the
people often bring their dead from a great distance
thither ; and even disinter them in distant localities,
and transport them for reinterment to the grave-
yard at the Kaya, thinking that they find there
greater repose — so great is the longing of man's
nature for rest after deatii. It is clear from this
£aith in the Koma, that the Wanika have some idea
of a ftiture state after death, and that idea gives a
missionary a common point to start from; whilst



S&BBil MPU — ZSLT&kOTB FEOM J0UBKAL8. 177

heathenism which affordB none such would be a y«i7
difficult one for missionaries to contend with; but
there is none of that sort in Eastern Africa.

llth August — Last night our store-room was
entered by thieves, and a quantity of victuals, along
with tools, nails, &c., stolen ; for as the Wanika had
never yet robbed us of even the smallest article, we
had not thought it necessary to lock it up. The
Wanika have many bad habits, but are seldom or
never thieves; and, indeed, whatever we have
happened to leave out of doors, has always been
honestly returned to us by the finder. (It turned
out afterwards, that the robbery had been committed
by Suahili.)

22nd August — To*day a circumstance happened
which* might easily have led to very serious conse-
quences. A Mkamba had for a long time been
on terms of hostility with the son of one of our
chiefe of Rabbai Mpia. This morning the Mkamba
saw the latter in his plantation, when he rushed
upon him and gave him a sabre-stroke over the head,
ears, and shoulders. As soon as the young men of
Rabbai heard the news, they seized their anns and
proposed to attack the neighbouring village of the
Wakamba, the inhabitants of which were already
beginning to fly ; but the Rabbai chiefs interposed,
and pacified the yomig waxriors, by telling tiiem
that the Kaya, or chief-town of Rabbai, ought first
to be placed in a state of defence, and the firuits of
the field brought home, before war was waged on the
Wakamba ; and this produced the desired effect.



178 RABBAI MPIA — ^EXTBACTS FBOH JOUBNAIJB*

It was a lucky thing that the wounded man was
not killed ; for now, as soon as he is well again, the
matter will be peacefully arranged by the payment
of four or five coins to the wounded man by the
Mkamba. For the present, he has sent a sheep,
whose blood was poured out in the presence of the
wounded Mnika, which is a preliminary act of recon^
ciliation, and a token that the culprit seeks the
pardon of his victim, and is ready to pay such a fine
as will restore peace between them.

25 th Auffust. — ^It is a year to-day since we arrived
here; How much grace and mercy has the Lord
shown to His senrante during this yearl How
mightily has He preserved us within and without !
By His aid we have had access to this people ; have
built a habitation to dwell in, and above all, have
raised a humble fEtne, though but a poor hut, for
worship ; have laid out a small garden, and opened
a school. We have made tolerable proficiency in
the language, prepared books for the people,
preached the Gospel to many Wanika, Wakamba,
and SuahiU, and become acquainted with the man-
ners md customs, ihe prejudices, and, in short, with
the good and evil qualities, as well as the geographical
relations of these tribes, by which means our allotted
task in Eastern Africa has become clears to us, and
in our hearts, too, we have had many blessed expe-
riences. Viewing aU these things, we are fiill of
thankfulness, and take courage for the fiiture I

In the afternoon, we were visited by five men
from the mountain Kadiaro, in Teita, who brought



9ABB4I MPIA — miTBAGTS FROM JOUBNALS. 179

some Mtungu or Hanja, as the Suahili call it,
a resin which the Wanika mix with castor-oil, and
use as a scent of which the people of Baraya are said
to be very fond. The five men gave us some
information respecting the people of Teita. When
they had left, I told our chief that we wished to
yisit Kadiaro ; upon which he inquired at once, what
we wanted to buy there ? I expressed my surprise
at such a question, and asked if he did not know,
us better, and had not yet discovered that we
were not traders, but preachers of the Word, whQ
desired to spread the Gospel throughout the whole of
Africa; addingthat we had, indeed, settled down in;
the Wanika-land and made it our head-quarters;
but still desired to see other tribes to show them
the way to everlasting life.

29th Atiffust-^AB the Wanika live £icattered about on
iheir plantations, and take but little pleasure in listen^
ing toihe worcUof the preacher, we had few hearers
to-day, Sunday ; but many came into the village, not
so much for our sake as to visit the wounded Mnika^
the son of our neighbour. It is a custom with this
people for the relations. Mends, and in general thq
men of the same tribe, to come from a great distance
to visit a sick person and condole with him i and to
neglect to offer such condolence would be a great
breach of good manners in the eye of a Wanika.
Most of the visitors came afterwards to us, and so
it was ordered that the very event which might have
plunged the country in war, served to make several
Wanika acquainted with the Gospel.

N



180 BIBBAI MPIA — ^EXTRlCrS FROM JOUBKALS.

IQth September. — ^According to our serrant, Amri,
the SuahiU haye the foUowing curious notion of the
end of the earth. They belieye that the earth
finishes in a great mori in ite west.of AMca,
that it is, as it were, buried there, and that is the
end of the world ; so they call it " Usiko wa nti " —
burial of the earth. Probably this idea has arisen
from the spectacle of a great marshy lake, or boggy
country, seen by the fathers of the present race
during journeys into the interior. Before the Galla
and Wakoafi had shut out all iiigress to the in^
terior the people of the coast were certainly bett^
acquainted with Inner and Western Africa tiban they
are at presait ; but their descendants haye only tra*
ditions from which, in all probability, the aboye-
mentioned notion has taken its rise.

2^d September. — To-day, we made arrangements
respecting the journey to Kadiaro, whither we had
been inyited by the Teita people who recently yisited
us. Brother Rebmann is to undertake the journey
whilst I remain behind at our head-quarters in Rab-
bai; and we haye hired six Wanika to accompany him
and carry his things, each man to receiye three
dollars, the smn aaked and agreed upon.

26th September. — ^Rebmann intended to set off to-
morrow, and I was to accompany him a part of the
way; but unexpectedly, at nighl&rll, two chiefs of Great
Rabbai called upon us, and declared that the house of
eyery Mnika who went to Kadiaro should be burnt.
I rejoined, in few words, that I would lay the whole
matter before the Gh>yemor of Mombaz, who would



RILBBAI HPIA — ^EXTBACTB FROM JOUBNAI^. 181

find out the author of the prohibition* (I deemed it
necessary to haye this matter examined into by the
proper authorities, to secure ourselves against similar
vexation and aimoyance in Aiture, by showing the
Wanika and Suahili that ve are protected by the
government of Mombaz. Obsia principUs is my
motto.)

2%th September. — We went to the Mohammedan
village of Jumfu yesterday, whence we reached
Mombaz by boat, and to-day complained of the con-
duct of the chiefis of Great Rabbai to the Governor,
and asked him to remove the obstacles thrown in the
way of our journey. He promised to grant the
request and gave us a letter, and soldiers who are
to commmucate his orders to the chiefs. He wrote
also to Sana Eheri, the SuahiU leader of a caravan,
which was on the point of leaving for Jagga.

SOth September. — We discovered to-day the author
of the opposition which had been formed against us
in Rabbai to be Emshande, one of the chiefs of
the village of Jumfii, who considers himself the
king of the Wanika, and who for the gratification
of his greed sought to interpose between us and
the Wanika, so that we might employ him as a
middleman and give him a handsome present. He
had incited the Wanika not to allow us to depart
until we had made a present to him and to the chi^
of Great Rabbai.

4ith October. — There was a party of Wanika with
us, to whom we narrated and expounded the parable of
the rich man (Luke xvL). Another party arrived

N 2



182 RABBAI MPIA — ^EKTRACTS FBOH JOURNALS.

afterwards, and with them we discoursed on the
prodigal son.

11th October. — We received a visit fipom Bana
Hamade, an intelligent and influential Suahili, chief
of Mombaz, who gave us a great deal of important
information respecting the geography and history of
this coast. According to him, Shunguaya, now a
decayed place on the coast of Patta, was the original
home of the Suahili, who driven thence by the
Q-alla fled to MaUndi. After being driven from.
Malindi they fled to the Bight of Kilefi; and finally
to Mombaz. The Galla, it seems, formerly ruled as
far as Tonga and Usambara, and the Wamka came
firom Rombo in Jagga; but the fierce Masai and
Wakuafi are now the ruling population of the interior.
T^he fore&thers of the Wanikartribe, Kiriama, are.
said to have lived in Mangea on the river Sabaki,
and to have been driven thence by the Gtilla.

Bana Hamade afterwards sent his slave to ask for
some bottles of wine, which we refiised, because as a
Mohammedan he was not permitted to drink wine,
and we did not, like some Europeans, deem it meri-
torious to seek to convert Mohammedans by making
them acquainted with wine and brandy. If Bana
Hamade, we said, were to give up not only a bit, but
the whole of his Mohammedan doctrine, and drink
wine not merely in secret but freely and openly, then
we might give him a bottle or two, but we would not
encourage him to be a hypocrite, doing in secret
what he would not do in public. We had a small
store of wine which we husbanded for the benefit



BABBAI BfPIA — ^EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS. 183

of our own health. It is singular how the Arabs
and Suahili have begun to relish wine and brandy,
since they have become acquainted with Europeans
in Zanzibar and other places. It will produce at
last a reaction of the rigid Mohanunedans against all
that is European, and resuscitate the old fanaticism*

ISth October. — ^Bana Kheri paid us a visit, to put
himself right with us respecting the opposition of
the Wanika, as well as to make our friendship,
and to offer his services on the journey to Jagga ;
here again it was so ordered that the opposition of
Emshande resulted in good ; for Bana Eheri is the
very man to be usefiil as a guide in our contemplated
journeys into the interior. He said, that to the west
of Uniamesi there were Mohammedans, and to the
west of them again, Europeans, which may very pro-
bably refer to the Portuguese on the west coast.

14tt October. — ^ * * This evening Rebmann
set forth on his journey to Kadiaro. We read Isaiah
xlix., and prayed together, asking a blessing upon
our work, and beseeching that this journey might be
made effectual towards the extension of the Gospel
in the interior.

25th October. — ^I had the pleasure of welcoming
the return of my beloved fellow-labourer Rebmann
from Kadiaro in good health. He was the bearer of
much valuable information, and stated that the Teita
people in Maquasini, the first village on the mountain
Kadiaro, had given him a friendly reception with
permission to dwell among them, and to preach the
Gospel in their land.



184 JUlBBAI MPU — ^EXTRACTS FROM JOUBNAIil.

2Sth October. — ^My dear brother Rebmann's reports
of his journey so powerfully raised my spirits to-day,
that I thought earnestly and deeply upon the exten-
sion of our missionary labours. There ought to be
IL missionary settled among the northern Wanika
in Kambe or Jogni, another on the mountain
KadiorOy a third in Jagga, a fourth in Usam-
bara, and a fifth in Ukambani. Oh, that we had
men and means enough for the noble field which is
opening upon us ! A missionary often shares in com-
mon the desires and aspirations of a great conqueror,
only of a yery different kind; for he wrestles not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powei^, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.

14th Jfavember. — ^At the commencement of public
worship to-day, there were some twenty persons
present, who left, us, however, as soon as we had
finished the singing, which Rebmann accompanied
on the flageolet. The harvest is small, yet we will
not despond, but trust to Him who can animate the
dead and awaken them to a new and better life!
Eebmann had also composed a hymn in the Kinika
language, which we sang during the service* The
following is one of the verses : —

JesuB ChiiBtos, fania JesuB Christ, make

Koyowanga mavia ; My heart new ;

Uwe mnokosi wanga, Thou art my Saviour,

XJzi uBBa maigangu Thou hast forgiren me my sLdu

Jesus Christos, fimia Jesus Christ, make

Moyowangu muvia. My heart new.



JtAJSBAI HPLL — ^EXTRICTS FROM JOUBNAIS. 185

21ai Deoember.^—"^ # ♦ ♦ What horrors and
sios would be made manifest if ivory, copal, and
articles of commerce generally, imported fix>m Africa
ii^to Europe, could speak I How many slaves, how
many women, how much palm-wine, how many
objects for the gratification of lust and vanity, ar6
purchased by the GaUa, Wanika, Wakamba, and
Suahili, with the ivory which they bring to the
coast I In truth, these tribes could not bear greater
affluence and prosperity ; they would sink to the level
of mere beasts of the field, and the luxuries which
civilization brings with it would soon make them
extinct, unless the misuse of them were to be
controlled by the spread of Christianity I

31^^ D^ember. — ^In a retrospect of the past year I
am specially grieved by the indifference of the Wa-
nika to the means of salvation through the Saviour,
which have been so often offered to them during
the last twelve months. How joyfully would we
have assembled them to hear the Word ; and how
gladly would we have instructed the young ; but
the darkened and worldly-minded people remain
deaf to all exhortation! My dear fellow-labourer
Rebmann' had at one time collected a flock of chil-
dren at Bunni, a hamlet in the vicinity of Rabbai
Mpia, and begun to teach them ; but they soon dis-
persed. We have often exhorted the chiefs and
parents to allow the children to be taught, and though
they approve of our proposal, they let the matter rest
there, and never seriously exhort the young to come
to school ; fearing that the Ada or customs of the



186 RABBAI MPIA — ^EXTRACTTS FROM JOURNALd.

•

Wanika will be destroyed, that the young people
will conform to the Ada of Europeans, and that
the Koma or spirits of the dead wiU be angry, with-
hold the rain, and send diseases. Nevertheless, we
WiU seek to imitate David, who strengthened himself
in hi, God, and p»ti«>% .nd Jtu^y continued
to bear his sorrows, until Grod should be pleased to
help him to the promised kingship. We will seek
comfort in the promise that His Word, wherever it
is preached, shall never come back empty ; and so we
look forward with courage and confidence to continue
in the new year the work which we have begun,
casting the bread of life upon the waters, hoping
still to find it again after many days I

Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord !



187



CHAPTER XII.

EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS CONTINUED.

Completion of Suahili andEinika Diotionarj — A, Wanika-exorcism
— ^Undue dennnciation — Eebmann's journey to Jagga; the author
left alone — ^Mringe the cripple awakened to the Gbspel — ^Tre-
mendous storm, and Wanika in&nticide — ^Appearance of two
French naval officers — ^Bebmann's safe return from Jagga — ^Main
results of his journey — Comparison of the East-AMcan and West-
African missions — The sea-seipent — Fancifril origin of the Galla,
Wakamba, and Wakuafi — ^Mringe's new hut and persecutions —
Wanika name-giying — A neighbour of Miinge^s awakened —
Hiinge's reception of the GK>spel— Glories of the missionary
state — Wanika belief in metempsychosis — A. Portuguese image
converted into a pagan idol — The " free and independent '' Wa-
nika — ^Boso-festival — Arrival of Erhardt and Wagner — ^Illness
and recovery of Erhardt ; Wagner's death — ^His frineral a strik-
ing lesson to the Wanika — Joutney to Ukambani, and return to
Babbai Mpia.

1st Januarffy 18i8. — ^The promise, " Fear not, Abram,
I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward,"
has been very consolatory to me at the beginning of
this year. I spoke with our chief c^ these words to-
day, and read with his son, Shehe, Luke ii. 42, and
foUowing verses, exhorting him with the new year
to increase in wisdom and grace. In the afternoon
there arrived the other boys who had formerly re-
fused to come, fancying that we ought to pay them



188 EXTRACTS FBOM JOURNALS.

for coming to school, just as we pay our servants
for their services ; so that we had to make it known
that we would give nothing to any one for attending
the school, and that those who sought such a recom-
pense, had better stay away.

Srd January. — I continued the translation of
Dr. Berth's "Bible Stories'' into the Kinika lan-
guage.

5 th January . — Our neighbour was busy with
Uganga for the supposed benefit of his daughter,
whose painfol boils, he imagined, were caused by
an evil spirit. It was of no use to denounce the
magical ceremony ; no one would listen to me, even
for a minute ; but one and all clapped their hands,
drummed, danced about in a circle, and worked
themselves into such a state of excitement that like
furies they alternately bellowed, shouted, groaned,
and laughed.

ll^A January.— To^y the completion oi my
English-SuahiU and Kinika Dictionary closes a long
and troublesome labour. My task will now be,
(1) to make a copy of this dictionary; (2) to con-
tinue my translation of the New Testament, and of
Dr. Earth's '' Bible Stories ;" (3) to make, daily,
an excursion to the plantations of the Wanika, and
preach to them ; (4) to instruct such Wanika chil-
dren as wish for instruction; (5) to address the
Wanika of the district, and to devote myself to
those who visit us at our home from fax and near;
and (6) from time to time to make journeys into
the interior, in order to become acquainted with its



EKTBICTS FROM JOURNAXS. 189

geographical and ethnological peculiarities and lah-*
guageSy preaching the Grospel as far as can be done
on these journeys, and thus pave the way for the
mission in the interior, when we shall haye received
more fellow-labourers from Europe.

2Sth January. — We visited to-day a Wakamba
hamlet. On our homeward way, we came upon a
band of Wanika, who informed us that they were
bent on expelling an evil spirit from a sick person.
In the centre of the throng stood a wooden mortar
fiJled with water ; near the mortar stuck into the
ground was a staff, which they call Moroi, about
three feet long, and of the thickness of a man's
finger, painted black and ornamented with white
and blue glass beads and a red feather. The
Wanika believe that the evil spirit loves these
beads, and that his attention becomes gradually
drawn to them, until he at last completely forsakes
the sick person and fetstens upon the beads. From
time to time a boy kept dipping twigs into the
water, and sprinkling the head of the sick man, while
the throng danced about him, drumming and making
a fiightfrd noise. It was impossible for me to
attempt a word of warning to. the maddened crowd ;
even when they were obUged at last to rest for very
^^rearmew, they tried to recruit themselves by drink-
ing palm-wine, and then the shrieking, dancing,
and drumming began anew, completely drowning
every expostulation I essayed to make.

20th Fehruaty. — ^In the evening I received a visit
from the mfiere (eldest) Sahu, one of those Wanika



190 EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS.

who will not so much as listen to the Word of Promise.
It is he, too, who presses and drives the Wanika
to offer sacrifices, and to get up carousals, so that
we have called him, not inappropriately, the Master
of the Ceremonies for Rabbai. I exhorted him ear-
nestly, to think of the salvation of his soul, when he
said, that he would first drink palm-wine and have a
sleep ; to-morrow he would come and speak to me
about these matters. When told that he ought to
speak now about the salvation of his soul; for
he did not know whether Grod would not this
night require it of him," and place him at the bar of
judgment, he went away, saying, ^^Grod will not
pimish me." It is astonishing what a power of
darkness rests upon the heathen who have become
the leaders and teachers of heathen customs and
Ceremonies to others. I lately heard from Rebmapn,
that this stiff-necked scoffer was massacred by the
Masai in the spring of 1857, when those wild robbers
fell upon and decimated the Rabbai tribe.

9th March. — This morning, two old Wanika wo-
men, as self-righteous as any persons in Europe can
be, paid me a visit. When I spoke of the evil heart
of man one of the women said : " Who has been slan-
dering me to you ? I have a good heart, and know of
no sin." The other woman said : "I came to you
to ask for a garment, and not to listen to your
Manens (discourse)." A Mnika said : " If I am to be
always praying to your Lord, how can I look after
my plantation ? "

17 th March. — It was inwardly made manifest to mo



EXTRACrrS FBOM JOUBKAIJS. 191

to-day, that for some time past I have attacked too
fiercely the heathen customis and superstitions of the
Wanika, the sight of the abomination^ moving me
to indignation ; and that I ought to preach more the.
love of the Redeemer for His sheep lost, and gone
astray, or taken captive by Satan. I must bring
them closer to the cross of Christ ; show more com-
passion, and let my words be full of commiseration
and pity ; looHiig fomard eamesfly and prayerfoUy
for the conversion of this hard people more fix)m
Grod's blessing upon the work than from my own.
activity. It is neither the gifls nor the works,
neither Ae words nor the prayers and feelings of
the missionary, but the Lord Jesus alone who can
convert a human being I It is He who must say :
<< Lazarus, come forth,'' and though bound hand and
foot, the dead man will come forth from the grave
of sin and death^ and live !

I completed the Einika version of the ^^ Bible
Stories" of Dr. Barth.

The indijSerence and dulness of the Wanika to*
wards the Grospel often depress me.

14tt April. — ^We spoke with Bana Eheri about the
journey to Jagga.

I9th to 2lst April — ^I went to Mombaz to forward
Rebmann's journey to Jagga, and to purchase
necessaries for it. The governor of the fortress
was somewhat dubious on the subject, and was
unwilling that Rebmann should undertake the jour«
ney, on the ground that it was exposed to many
dangers from Galla, Wakuafi, Masai, as well as wild



192 £XTRACr8 FROM JOUBNAIJS^

beasts. In any eaae, said he, he must not ascend
the mountain Kilimanjaro, because it is full of evil
spirits (Jins). For, said he, people who have
ascended the mountain have been slain -by the
spirits, their feet and hands have been sti£fened,
their powder has hung fire, and aU kinds of disasters
have befallen them. I did not then know that there
was snow upon the mountain, and therefore merely
said, Ihat Rebmann would take core not to go too
near the fine sand, which, as I then supposed, must
have caused the destruction of the people.

27th April. — ^To-day, my dear brother Rebmann
began his journey to Jagga, and I accompanied
hi^ *«rt way, ^mmi^hin to the p«>Lion
of Ahnighty God. The feelings which overpowered
me at parting are not easUy to be described to friends
at home. To have been for several years bound up
with a beloved fellow-labourer, and now all at once
to see him depart and ^ter upon an unknown and
dangerous route into the midst of the heathen world
of Africa, with mere liars and knaves for his com-
panions, who are destitute of any thought but of
self, is no smaU pain to him who undertakes the
journey, no less than to him who remains behind.
Rebmann turned his face towards the south-west,
while I returned to the lonely hut to bear him in
my prayerful heart, and wish him God speed I

29th April. — ^A letter from Rebmann, written fi*om
Engoni, at ihe entrance into the great wilderness
which leads to Jagga and Ukambani, was a welcome
sight to me to-day.



EXTBACrS FBOM JOUBNAIfi. 193

. 8^^' May. — ^I began to read aloud to the Wanika
vlio Tisited me the " Bible Stories " which I had
translated into Kinika.

Wth May. — ^In Muihani I came upon some ten
persons to whom I discoursed upon John iiL A
cripple named Mringe wondered^ like Nicodemus,
when I said^ that man must be bom again. He
asked, how that could be ? He thought that God
ought to do something special for him, as he had
to suffer so much in this life.

21^/ May. — -After midnight there arose a tempest
with thunder and%htmng,8uclia8lhadnotmtnefl8ed
since my residence on the Suahili coast. * It seemed
as if the wrath of God were to be manifested on the
abominations which the Wanika were to transact
this morning, and as if the Ahnighty wished to show
the hardened' and merciless sinners that He could
and would destroy them, because they showed no
««cyioapo«er4t»reomei,<™nkM. Awc^u.
in Muelle, as it happened, had given birth to two
children, one of whom had six fingers but * neither
nose nor lips. In conformity with the custom of the
Wanika the parents took the misHshapen child to
the chiefe, dedaring the while, that as it was a
Rogo, or a mis-birth, and would therefore be a
criminal, they refused to nurture it, and brought it to
the chie& that it might be strangled and buried in
the wood. In conformity with this declaration the
chiefiB pressed its neck until it was suffocated;
then burying it, and making the Muansa play, they
offered up a Sadaka (sacrifice) that no harm might



194 EXTBACrS FROM JOUBKAI^.^:

come upon the land because a Rogo was bom.
This I leamt afterwards from the chiefs brother j for
though I had heard the Muansa play in the midst
of the storm, I did not understand what wa& meant.
In a general way many horrors happen among the
heathen of which a missionary hea« nothing, or
only by the merest chance, and he is therefore often
disposed to think better of them than he other-
wise might be led to do. Thus, the Wanika often try
to conceal from us a great deal of what is going on,,
because they know well that we should condemn
it out of the Word of Grod.

As soon as it was day and the rain had ceased
I went into the plantations, and made the abomina-
tion of child-murder by the Wanika the chief
subject of my discourse.

22»d^ May. — I spoke against child-murder on every
occasion, and to all the Wanika who came to me.

%^rd May. — I was in Kijembeni and spoke
against infanticide. A woman set up a great shout
of laughter when I touched upon this point ; but
another, on the contrary, showed more sensibility,
and said : ^^ It is true, the strangling of mis-shapen
children is a bad practice ;" though another rejoined :
" We will adhere to our Ada (custom)."

%^th May. — ^Whilst engaged in breaking stones
near my hut' two Europeans approached, and I
found that they were officers from a French ship of
war which was exploring the haven of Mombaz.
One of them was a good botanist, and both were very
friendly.



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS. 195

27th May. — * ♦ ♦ j heaxd with much sorrow
that a French sailor had entered the house of a
Mnika, and had attempted to take liberties with his
wife. The Mnika wanted to lodge a complaint
with me, but desisted when he heard that the
French did not belong to my Elabila, my tribe or
people.

^l8t May.—ThB cripple Mringe called upon me
to^y in Rabbai-Mpia for the first time. I told him
that we must acknowledge and worship Grod, as
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. These were memor-
able words to him, and made an extraordinary im-
pression.

Qth June. — The cripple Mringe called again upon
me, and I explained to him a portion of the history of
the passion of Christ, whilst another Mnika listened
with attention to the discoiu*se. I sometimes think
that there will soon be a change among these people,
though I am so often disappointed in this anticipation ;
for I seem but to sow the seed upon stony places ;
yet have I joy in hope, hope in beUeving, and work
on with trust; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord to
the best of my ability, and patiently waiting His
own time for the blessing!

%th June. — The savage Masai are occupying the
route to Jagga, so that Rebmann will be obliged
to go to the coast from the Pangani, or wait in
Jagga until the way is clear again. When I
consulted with the elders about the despatch of a
messenger to Kadiaro or Jagga, they said that
I must wait for three or four days more. I took

o



196 EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS.

this opportunity to protest earnestly against infiin-
ticide, and implore the chiefe to abolish that horrible
custom. They said that they would not repeat it ;
but the future alone can show whether they will
keep their word.

9 th June. — To-night I was very anxious respecting
my feUow-labourer, Rebmann, and could do nothing
but commend him to the protection of the Almighty.
If any calamity should befall him, the heathen would
say, " Where is now thy God ? "

lO^A June. — ^While explaining Matthew x. to the
chief we heard suddenly sounds of rejoicing and
piping, and soon received from the men who had
returned from Jagga tidings that Rebmann had
arrived safely at Kadiaxo from Ja^ga, and that he
intended to return thence by Shimba to Mombaz.
A portion of his diary was delivered to me.

11th June. — ^Rebmann's diary makes it clear that
there is a noble country in the interior, weU fitted
for cultivation; that as Mount Kilimanjaro is
covered with perpetual snow Jagga has plenty
of water; and as the climate is good the whole
land can be made use of for the growth of vege-
table productions. Slavery is a great curse in
Jagga; the chie& and tribes wage war with each
other, and sell their prisoners to the coast. He
adds that the Arabs and Suahili have described
us Emropeans as cannibals ; that the power of the
chie& is absolute and despotic ; and that they and
the people are great beggars. The route, it would
seem, is at present free from Wakuafi, but may



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAI^. 197

at any moment be endangered hj Masai and Galla ;
and that the chie& will allow a missionary to dwell
among them.

12th June. — ^I went to Mombaz, to greet my dear
fellow-labourer upon his return from Jagga, and to
hear the details of his journey.

ISth June. — ^We returned to Rabbai. Abdallah,
who came to see us, said that the Wanika had been
incensed against the French, because the latter,
on visiting them, had asked at once where the
boundary of the country was. " What boimdary ?"
said the Wanika, ^^ give us first a heshima,'' (a
present.) It is unwise in a stranger to begin with
geographical questions, as he is then sure to be
taken for a spy sent by the king of his country.

20th June. — ^We wandered to the Wakamba ham-
let, Endenge wa Kingodo, where we wished to
make the acquaintance of the &mous Wakamba
chief, Kivoi of Kitui in Ukambani; but he was
not at home. I visited, too, the Mnika Heba whom
I wished to engage as a guide for my journey to
Usambara to visit king Kmeri.

26th June. — I thought to-day a great deal on the
question whether it wotdd not be possible to obtain
a number of missionaries who could support them-
selves by the labour of their own hands.

2nd September. — ^I began my translation of the
Gospel of St. John into the Kinika laaguage. The
foUowing is a comparison of the EaslrAMcan with
the West- African mission : — Our brothers in Western
Africa can labour in compact hamlets and large

o 2



198 EXTRACTS FEOM JOURNALS,

towns, whilst we in the east, live amid a dispersed
population. They have a difficult struggle to maintain
with slavery, and the evil influence of the white
people, but find the heathen inquisitive respecting the
Gospel of Christ, which is not the case among the
Wanika on this coast, as the people here are entirely
worldly, and do not trouble themselves about spi-
ritual matters. It is not easy, either, to find a
large number of them together, and the establish-
ment of schools is especially diffictdt.

21st September. — ^I completed the translation of
the Gospel of St. John into the Kinika language.

5th Novefmber. — Mringe came to me and remained
till the evening, giving me some information re-
specting several customs of the Wanika. When
eating or drinking they place a Utde meat or drink
on the ground, as a gift to the Koma, a custom
which I had observed on several occasions, but
did not understand its meaning till now. The
heathen in Polynesia do the same. The Wanika
believe that every tree, especially every cocoa-nut
tree, and every spring or marsh where water is
found, has its Shetani Mugo, its good Satan, or
good spirit. They distinguish between Shetani
Mudzo and Mui, good or bad spirits. The destruc-
tion of a cocoa-nut tree is regarded as equivalent
to matricide, because that tree gives them life and
nourishment, as a mother does her child.

lO^A November. — The chief told me of a great
serpent which is sometimes seen out at sea, reach-
ing from the sea to the sky, and which appears



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS. 199

especially during heavy rain, I told him this was
no serpent, but a water-spout, which corresponded
to the whirlwind on dry land. I conversed with
Mringe on Romans ii.

16tA November. — ^According to the mythology of
the Wanika, the Galla, Wakamba, and Wakuafi, had
one common father whose eldest son was called Galla,
who plundered another tribe of its cattle; upon
which his brothers, Mkuafi and Mkamba, asked for
a share of the booty ; but were refused by their
brother, Galla; whereupon Mkuafi robbed Galla,
and he, again, was robbed by Mkamba, and vice versa;
and from that time arose a deadly enmity among the
three brothers which has had no end.

\9th November. (Sunday.) — ^I visited Muihani;
and wherever I found people at work I spoke on
the observance of the Sabbath.

Mringe said he wished to buy a hut, in which
he might be alone and gather people round him ; so
I gave him half a dollar, and with this he got
a hut built, in which I visited him. It was
impossible for this sick and suffering, but God-
seeking man longer to remain in the confined hut
of his mother, who had begun to hate him b& soon
as he commenced to love the Word. His relations,
too, despise him, anjd yet this poor man cannot work
and earn his bread.

27th November. — On my way to Muihani I met
many Wanika, to whom I discoursed. Afterwards I
visited the eldest Abbe Mamkale, who has a great
deal of wit and intelligence, but is a sad toper,






200 EXTRAcrrs from journals,

going from him straight to Mringe, who is evidently
upheld by grace from Above. Afterwards I went
to the hut of a Mnika who shortly before had lost
a little child by death. He said, that when next
a child was bom him he would call it " Rebmann;"
for the Wanika have a custom of giving their chil-
dren names in accordance with the circumstances
or events of the time at which they are bom.
Because Rebmann was just then on his way to
Jagga the parents wished to choose his name;
and in like manner a Mnika-mother once bestowed
on a child the name " Msungu," European, because
it was bom during my stay in Kambe.

28th JVavemher. — ^In Muihani Mringe made me
acquainted with his neighbour Ndune who in sick-
ness had listened attentively to Mrin£:e's discoiirse
respecting the gospel of Ckrist. ffiT superstitious
mother had wished the sick man to rely upon the
Uganga, but he protested against such foolish prac-
tices.

Mringe's mother asked me whether a man must
be always sitting over his book and reading. I
replied, a Christian reads his Bible in the morn-
ing, says his prayers, and then goes to his daily
labour; in the evening, he does the same, and
while working, thinks on God and upon that which
he has read.

2dth November. — ^Mringe was with me during the
night. We discoursed towards midnight about the
world to come and the City of God ; about the occu-
pations of the blessed, and the incorruptible body of



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS. 201

our future state, and many other things. My poor
cripple devoured the words as they fell from my
lips ; and I saw that they made an impression on
him, and felt happy, indeed, for it is at moments like
these that one feels the importance of a missionary's
calling. A missionary who feels the working of the
Spirit within him, and is upheld in its manifestation
to others, is the happiest being upon earth. In his
sight what are royal and imperial honours compared
with the office of a preacher in the bush or lonely
hut ? And sure it is, that unless a missionary feels
ennobled by his calling, he will forsake his post, or
become an unprofitable labourer in the vineyard.

I at December. — ^Mringe told me that the Wanika be-
lieve that the spirit of a dying person goes into a
child unborn, and that thus every one is bom b
second time. This was the first time that I had
heard of the transmigration of souls as a beUef
among the Wanika, and I think that only a few
of them are acquainted with the idea, which, per-
haps, has been learned from the Banians in
Mombaz, or fix>m the Mohammedans, who may have
heard of it in their intercourse with the Hindoos.
As children tolerably resemble their parents the
Wanika believe that one of the deceased fore£Eithers
of the fiimily has entered into the child, and that,
therefore, this child resembles him (Utsihalanah).
Probably it is this idea of transmigration which
has decided the Wanika to kill misshapen children,
in the belief that they can only become criminals,
because they have been so in a former state.




'^ffa.^^H



202 £XTBACrS FROM JOUBNALS.

Whilst I was speaking about Christ with the
young Endaro who had often listened to me, he
asked, ^^ Who is Christ?" The question came upon
my heart like a thunder-bolt; for I had thought
that Endaro had long known whom I meant by
Christ. My feelings were like those of Dr. Carey in
India, when told by a native who had often listened
to him, that he did not understand his discourse,
while the spealcer had fancied that after so long a
residence in India he was perfectly understood by
the natives.

15 th December. — * ♦ ♦ In Great Rabbai there
is said to be a Kisuka, a little devil, a. e., an image
probably of a saint which the Portuguese left be-
hind them after their expulsion from Mombaz, which is
now reverenced by the Wanika as a kind of war-god,
and is borne round in procession before the out-
break of a war to rouse the warriors to heroic deeds.
This is the only idol I have heard of in Eastern
Africa, and it remarkably enough comes from an
idolatrous Christian church.

25 th December. — ^A number of Wanika collected in
the Kaya, to call the chief to account, for having
permitted the Sheikh Gabiri of Mombaz to cut
down more trees for ship-building than had been
allowed by the elders. The powerless chief was
obliged to buy himself oflF by giving his people a
cow. Such is the liberty and equality prevalent
here, and indeed, in a general way, these African
republics have long ago completely possessed what
is still stru^led for by those of Europe and America.



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS. 203

Among the Wanika and Wakamba every one is " free
and independent" and yet, so controlled by his neigh-
bour that freedom and dependence go hand in hand.
In fact, our own civilized, republics have still much
to leam from those of uncivilized Africa.

28th December. — ^I visited Mringe and Ndune.
The latter as well as the former begins to love the
truth, though still much afraid of his drunken com-
rades, who threaten to get him punished if he aban-
dons them altogether.

Mringe told me, that several chiefs had said to him,
he might follow me if he pleased. There are now
only wanting some to make a beginning, when many
Wanika would be converted by the Word, so I urged
Mringe, that he and Ndune should take the lead.

\Qth Febmaryj 1849. — Rebmann returned to-day
from his second journey to Jagga; it appears
desirable to extend our journeys of exploration by
way of Jagga to Uniam^, and thence to the
western coast of Africa ; and Rebmann resolved to
enter on the long, difficult, and dangerous journey
with thirty men, at the commencement of next
April, after I have paid a prelinunary visit to Zan-
zibar to purchase the necessaries for the expedition.

l%th Felruary. — To-day the Wanika celebrated
their Boso festival, or the festival of the young
people, who come to the Kaya to dance, shout,
eat, and carouse. This time, however, not many
children came; and several visited me just when the
old Saha happened to be with me. When I was
going to speak to the children about Christ, and



204 EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS.

to show them the folly of the feast^ that hardened
sinner who tries on all occasions to keep the Wanika
back from the gospel said to them : " Go on with
your dancing, that is yonr business." I had great
difficulty in restraining myself from being angry with
him, and could not help telling him that the Saviour
had said that ^^ whoso shall offend one of these
little ones that believe in me, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and
that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." The
obdurate chief replied : " We Wanika will not quit
our own ways ; let you talk to us of Christ as you
please." He was afterwards killed by the Masai;
and similar, too, was the end of another Mnika who
once said to me : ^^ As little as you can make my
finger when cut off grow again to my hand, just so
little will we abandon our customs." This man, in
a state of drunkenness set fire to a quantity of
powder which burnt him dreadfully, so that he died
in great pain.

5th April. — ^Rebmann entered on the journey to
Uniamesi accompanied by me to the foot of the
mountain Kadiaro, whence I returned on the 15th
to Rabbai with five, men.

16th to 18th April. — ^I rested from the toils of the
journey; the heavy marches had terribly fatigued me.

28tt April — ^I planned to-day a journey to Ukam-
bani, so that the north-east, too, might be explored,
and preparations made for the erection of fiiture
missionary-stations ; for the missionaries in Rabbai-
Mpia must be the pioneers of Eastern Afiica.



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS. 205

Since the begiimmg of this montli it has been
raining steadily, and I do not remember such a
wet season on this coast. This and other reasons
induced me to give up the loumey to Lake Niassa,
which U, it«Z, felf ten Ijs' joLney fron. miU.
The Suahih make the journey when the south wind
begins to blow at the commencement of the rainy
season, that they may meet with water on the way.

This afternoon I spoke seriously with the chief
respecting Ihe indifference of the Wanika, who
will not learn even now, after we have procured
them books at a great cost ; for some time ago we
received 600 printed copies each of my Kinika
version of the Gospel of Luke, of the Heidelberg
Catechism, and of a primer from Bombay, where
they had been printed at the expense of the Church
Missionary Society.

Read and expoimded to the Wanika Abbe Sindo,
Abbe Kunde, Muandoro, and Jwaha, the parable of
the sower.

10th June, — ^I received intelligence of the arrival
of our brothers Erhardt and Wagner in Mombaz.

11 th June. — ^I went to Mombaz to welcome my
brethren, and foimd Erhardt very ill, and advised
him to proceed to Rabbai as quickly as possible,
that he might benefit by the cooler climate.

15 th June. — Poor Erhardt came to Rabbai in quite
an exhausted state, and I feared that the fever
would terminate fatally; for he was in a much
worse plight than Rebmann and myself in 1846.

20th June. — ^Erhardt is still very ill. I com-



206 EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS.

menced with our servant Amri the study of the
Kikamba language. Wagner has also been at-
tacked by fever ; against my advice, he would clothe
himself too lightly, and caught cold in the cool air
of Rabbai; for the rainy season is not over, and
the winds from the sea in this direction are high
and cold. I had hoped to find my burden lightened
by the arrival of new fellow-labourers, but the care
of the sick produces quite a contrary result. Our
Portuguese servant, Anthony, whom Erhardt has
brought with him from Bombay, is also unwell, and
my house has become a complete hospital.

27th June. — To-day Rebmann came back from
Jagga. The Lord has preserved him from many
and great dangers.

Ist Jviy. — The crisis of Erhardt's fever is over,
and he is progressing towards convalescence ; Wag-
ner, on the contrary, is worse.

^rd July. — ^It seems to me necessary, for the sake
of future missionaries, that I must learn the Eokamba,
Eliteita, Jagga, and Eosambar^t languages.

Xst August. — Our dear brother Johannes Wagner
ended his sufferings yesterday, and was summoned
into a better world by the Lord and GKver of life,
who in the midst of life hath placed us in death !
Incomprehensible at first appeared to us this guid-
ance which so quickly took from us our newly-
arrived fellow-labourer; but his very death has
brought a blessing to the Wanika, and although
dead, he still speaks to them; for they have now,
for the first time, seen the death and burial of a



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNALS- 207

Christian, whose joyful hope is in Christ, the life
and the resurrection. After I had read the funeral
service of the English liturgy, translating it into
the Kinita language, I spoke to those present and
those who had dug the grave, on 1 Thessalonians iv.
13, and finally we sang some verses of a hymn.
From all this the natives were enabled to recognize
the marked distinction between Christianity and the
horrible wailing and other dark practices of heathen-
ism ; and so in this way, our departed friend did not
come in vain into this benighted land.

18th September. — To-day I arranged with a troop of
Wanika for my journey to Ukambani, promising
each eight dollars for the journey to Kakunda, the
village of Kivoi, the chief of the Wakamba tribe
Kitui.

31*^ October. — The second chapter of Haggai
strengthened me greatly, as regards my impending
journey.

The chiefe of Duruma came to-day and demanded
a present, so that I might be allowed a passage
through their territory; asking, too, that I would
take half of my baggage-bearers from Duruma, and
only half from the Rabbai tribe. Everj^where
nothing but greed and mendicancy opposed them-
selves to my journey 1 Our friends in Europe can
scarcely conceive what obstacles a missionary has
to meet and to overcome who wishes to travel into
the interior, independent of the difficulties in the
interior itself, before he can set forth from the coast.

Ut November to 2l8t December^ 1849;:^i3joumey to

^^^ r

♦OXFORD



208 EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAI^.

Ukamboni^ and thence back to Rabbai. After my
return from Ukambani I continued for a few weeks,
as formerly, my daily wanderings among the Wanika
in the neighbourhood of Rabbai, preaching the gos-
pel, and bidding all to the feast prepared, even the
kingdom of Heaven; scattering the seed, not dis-
heartened though so little had fallen upon good
ground, and in Mringe alone has sprung up with a
promise of bearing fruit an hundredfold, hopeful and
trustful to the end !



209



CHAPTER XIII,

CLOSE OF BESIDENCE IN EASTERN AFRICA*. — ^RETURN

HOME.

First retain to Europe— The Church Missionary Society re-inforces
the East-AMcan Mission — Betnm to Babbai Mpia — ^Death and
sickness among the missionary band — ^Miinge and his successor
— Colonizing aspects of the Mission — ^The author's journeys into
the interior — Second return to Europe — Bishop Gobat's Abes-
sinian scheme — The author's latest visit to Abessinia — The
way to Shoa closed: Betum to Egypt — Farewell to AMca —
Betum home — Sympathy and offers of the Church Missionary
Society.

Partly for the improvement of my health, and
partly for the welfare of the East-AMcan miflaion, I
decided in the spring of 1850 on returning to
Europe, which I had not seen since 1837. I was
unwilling, however, to leave AMca without exe-
cuting a project which I have cherished for years,
which was to inspect the whole coast southward
from Zanzibar as far as Cape Delgado, where the
possessions of the Sultan of Zanzibar cease and
those of the Portuguese commence, and in the com-
pany of my fellow-labourer, J. Erhardt, the voyage
was performed in the February and March of 1850.
After my return from this exploration I began in



.



210 CLOSE OF RESIDENCE IN EASTEEN AFRICA.

April of the same year, my homeward journey
by way of Aden and Egypt, reaching Europe in
June.

After a short stay in Bfisel and Wiirtemberg, I
proceeded to London, to advocate in person with
the Committee of the Church Missionary Society, my
scheme of an African chain of missions to be esta-
blished through the whole breadth of the land, from
east to west, in the direction of the Equator, and
to obtain their consent to the printing of my SuahiU
grammar, and a comparative vocabulary of six Ea^t-
African languages. This latter was assented to
with the utmost readiness, and the Committee en-
tered so far into the scheme of the chain of mis-
sions, as to resolve on founding without delay two
new stations — one in the kingdom of Usambara,
and the other in Ukambani, or in Jagga. With
that object, two missionaries, PfeflFerle and Dihlmann,
were to be despatched with myself to Eastern Africa,
accompanied by three lay brothers, Hagemann, Kai-
ser, and Metzler, of whom the first was a carpenter,
the second an agriculturist, and the third a smith,
so that with the Gospel the Africans might be of-
fered the blessings of Christian civilization. Improved
in health and with fresh courage and faith, and re-
newed strength for missionary work, I started on my H
return journey at the beginning of 1851, by way of '
Trieste, Smjrma, and Alexandria, and reached Mom-
baz in April. Scarcely had our new fellow-labourers
(with the exception of Dihlmann, who left us at
Aden, and returned to Europe) been fourteen days



I






r



CLOSE OF BESIDENCE IN EASTERN AFRICA. 211

at Rabbai Mpia, when they were one after another
attacked by fever. Missionary Pfefferle, who during
the tedious voyage had endeared himself to all of us.
by his devotion and humility, and by his hearty faith
and prayerful spirit, no less than by his determined
zeal Ld puiposT, w^ promising mu^^
African mission, we had to bear to the grave before
long, whilst the speediest possible return to Europe
seemed the most desirable course for our two brothers.
Kaiser and Metzler, uxdess they, too, were destined
to a like fate. On my return from Europe I found
the mission much as I had left it, with the excep-
tion that poor Mringe had departed in peace, in faith
in Christ, and had been baptized by Rebmann before
his death. His place, however, was filled by another
Mnika of the name of Abbe Gunja, with whom I
had become slightly acquainted before my departure
in the April of 1860, through the introduction of
Mringe, as one who wished to learn the book of the
Europeans. After my departure, he was instructed
by Rebmann, and has since given gratifying proofs
of a renewed heart.

Another change, too, had been effected by the
purchase made by my two feUow-labourers, Rebmann
and Erhardt, of a considerable piece of land in
Easuludini, on which they had begun to build a new
house for two missionary families. It was purchased
from the chiefs of Rabbai Mpia for thirty dollars,
and was to serve partly as a place of settlement
for the converted Wanika, and partly by cultivation
to render invitingly apparent to the Wanika, Wa-

p



a



^v im



J



212 CLOSE OF BESIDENOE IN EASTERN AFRICA.

kamba^ and Suahili, the blessings of agriculture and
home life^ or, in other words, the benefits of ciyiliza-
tion. My instructions from the Committee were to
proceed with Pfefferle to XJkambani, and to found
a new station there; but as Pfefferle was dead I
undertook the journey to Ukambani by myself on
the 11th of July, 1851. On the heights of Yata,
some 1 10 leagues fix>m Mombaz, I intended to estar
blish a missionary station, but the attempt £Edled, as
wiU be seen heLfter, in the namtiye of iis
difficult and dangerous journey. AAer my return
on the 3()th September 1851 to Rabbai from my
Ukambani journey I continued, as formerly, to visit
the scattered Wanika and to preach the. Gospel to
them. In October of that year Rebmann went to
Egypt, to marry an amiable English lady, who had
already proved her aptitude for missionary life
amongst the heathen whilst residing with the wife of
missionary lieder at Cairo. JSoon afterwards I
resolved to visit Usambara a second time, being
desirous of knowing whether king Kmeri was
disposed to fulfil the promise made by him in the
year 1848, and at what place he would allow the
station to be established. This second expedition
was carried out in the period between the 10th of
February and the 14th of April, 1852. On my
return from Usambara I had the pleasure of greet-
ing my dear fellow-labourer Rebmann and his
wife. Erhardt had meanwhile pretty well finished
the building in Easuludini, so that the two mis-
sionaries could now occupy their pretty residence







■f



'V



CLOSE OF BB8IDENCE IN EASTERN AFRICA. 213

<

ihere^ while I remained in the old hut in the Kaya^
making fix>m it daily excursions to the Wanika. I

I endeavoured, moreover, to organize in the Kaya

itself a regular congregation, which was joined every
mommg by some neighbouring femiUes and my ser-

I vants, when after prayers I explained to them the

gospels according to the order in which they are to
be read in the Church.

It was late in the autumn of 1853 that I was
compelled to leave Rabbai, and to return to Europe
for the restoration of my health. Rebmami and his
wife were now alone at the station, as Erhardt was in
Usambara, and on the 25th of September I took leave
of my dear friends from whom I had experienced
so much love- Leaving Momba2s in October I
sailed to Aden, thence to Suez, and from Alexandria,
in an Austrian steamer, to Trieste. Travelling
thence by Vienna and Dresden, I reached the dear
fisttherland, Wurtemberg, about C!hristmas^ but in a
very enfeebled condition. As soon as my health
permitted it I proceeded in the year 1854 to make
my report to the Committee on the Rabbai-mission,
and to receive feuiher instructions. It was resolved
to reinforce the mission by a new missionary in the
person of our dear Brother Deimlw from Bavaria.
About the same time the Bishop of Jerusalem had
formed the plan of sending to Abessinia a number of
brethren, brought up as mechanics, who had received
some missionary instruction at the Institute of St.
Chrishona,* his object being, if possible, to revive

* The Misaionary Institate at St. Chrishona, near Basel, waa

p 2



214 CLOSE OP RESIDENCE IN EASTERN AFRICA.

the mission to that country which had fallen through
in the year 1843. I accordingly offered to visit Abes-
sinia on my way back to Rabbai, and in the com-
pany of one of these brothers to pave the way for the
contemplated mission. The Committee approved of
my plan, and in the November of 1854 I left
Trieste, after having published at Tiibingen my
Wakuafi Dictionary, and the English Liturgy in
the Suahili language. On my arrival at Jerusalem
I waited upon Bishop Gobat respecting the Abes-
sinian mission, and received from him the necessary
instructions, with which early in 1855 I paid my
last visit to Abessinia, an account of which is given
in Part III. Arrived at Gondar, the capital of
Abessinia, we found the road to Shoa completely

founded in 1840 by Heir SpitUer, the well-known Christian philan-
tliropisty and originator of most of the Christian institutionsy
wliich have flourished in and near Basel, since the banning of the
present century. The purpose of the Missionary Institution at St.
Ohrishona is to combine theological instruction with agricultural
and mechanical training, in order to enable the missionaries to
support themselYes by their own hands in cases of necessity. The
fixed number of the students wiU in future amount to thirty; and
these, having finished their theological course of four yean^ are to be
transferred to any missionary society that may ask the committee
for any number of missionaries. The committee of the St. Chrishona
Institution has, up to the present time, selected no mission-field abroad,
except Abessinia and Egypt, where it is about to found the Apostles'
Street, as it is to be called, mentioned at page 133, a chain of twelve
stations connecting Gondar with Jerusalem. Most of the missionaries
from St. Chrishona have been sent to IXorih America for the German
immigrants, to Western AMca, Turkey, Eussia, Abessinia, and one
to Patagonia. The Chrishona Institution must not be confounded
with the great missionary seminary which was founded in 1 81 6, in the
town of Basel, and which aims at a more extensive theological training.



CLOSE OF RESIDENCE IN EASTERN AFRICA. 215

closed by the war which the new king, Theodoras,
WM waging against that country ; so it seemed the
best plan under the circumstances, to return to
Egypt, forward a,, report to Bishop Gobat, and then,
by way of Cairo and Aden proceed to Rabbai by
sea. Fever, sun-stroke, and fatigue on the return
journey nearly killed me, and I quite expected to have
found a grave in the Nubian Desert. On my arrival
at Cairo it became clear to me that I could not go
on to Rabbai in this suflfermg condition, nor indeed
any longer endure the climate of Afiica or pre-
sent way of life, and that therefore my work in
Africa was at an end. So, with deep sorrow in
August 1855, I bade farewell to the land where
I had suffered so much, journeyed so much, and
experienced so many proo£a of the protecting and
sustaining hand of God ; where, too, I had been
permitted to administer to many souls the Word
of Life, and to name the Name of Jesus Christ in
places where it had never before been uttered and
known. God grant, that the seed so broad-cast may
not have fiEdlen only on stony places, but may spring
up in due season, and bear fruit an hundredfold !

In the September of 1855 I reached Stuttgaxdt,
and resided for a time at Kornthal till my friture
career of usefrdnesisi should develop itself. The
Committee of the Church Missionary Society in
London manifested a kind sympathy with my suf-
ferings, and expressing a hope that I might soon
be so £Bur recovered as to be able to continue my
labours in Africa in a better climate, proposed



216 CLOSE OF RESIDENCE IN EASTERN AFRICA.

to me to go to the Maxiritius, and seek out such
natives of Eastern Africa a« had formerly been tiienoe
sold into slavery, but were now residing in the island
as free men, who might be willing to learn ; and to
instruct them sufficiently to become catechists, with
a view of ultimately sending them back to Africa in
that capacity, a plan which had been attended with
much success at Sierra Leone in Western Africa. At
the Cape of Good Hope, too, the Committee was of
opinion that such persons were also to be met with.
Agreeable and inidting aa was this proposal, much
as I approved of it, having regard to its important
results, I could not persuade myself to return to
Africa for some years to come, as I wished first for
the complete restoration of my health, and for time
to review my whole life, especially my missionary
life in Africa; an occupation for which, out there,
I had never yet found sufficient time or leisure.

Our mercifrd Father, who hath hitherto so wonder-
fully upheld me, and rendered my path in life plea-
sant to me, even amidst care and toil, hath been
pleased to bestow upon His servant an helpmeet for
Imn in the daughter of senator Pelargus, of Stutt-
gardt, my beloved wife Charlotte, whose Christian
experiences, joined to a perfect disregard of self and
an affectionate nature, have been my greatest support,
both in the calling in which I labour, and in the
shattered state of my health ; for, indeed, she has
proved herself to me the best and truest human sup-
port, alike for body and soul !

Full of trust in His hands do I leave the ftiture of



CLOSE OF RESIDENCE IN EASTERN AFRICA. 217

my life on earth, whether of activity at home, or in
the former field of my labour amongst the heathen
of A£rica ! To Him would I render, as is most due,
all honour and praise, worshipping Him in time and
eternity, being thankful to Him, and blessing His
Name for all His mercies bestowed upon me firom my
youth upwards, especially in the trials and perils of
Ly «,jL> amo.^ iheLdgh.«l Wte, <rf Eastern
Afirica!



END OF PART I.



PART 11.



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA.



ZADIAEO— JAGGA— USAMBARA.— UKAMBANI.



221



CHAPTER L
rebmann's journey to kaduro.

Depetrtoie by moonlighi^Enduiiga : the wildemeBs— The mi^c
staves and missionary resistance — ^ELora and &nna of the wilderness
— ^The Baschi ; pig and ass — Sunday evening in the wilderness;
missionary disconrs&^Eadiaro— Magoasini^— I*irst greeting of a
Teita funily; oomporison with a Wanika reoeption^-Feazs of tiie
Teita people — ^The missionary fortress — ^Pare people and native
tobacco-pipes — ^Dress and ornaments in Teita — ^Its geography and
popnlation-^Mission prospects — ^Betom jonmey to Babbai Mpia
— European shoes and native sandals— Bnrden-beaiing — JLfrica
and her children.

Befote I attempt to describe mj more extended traTcSs in Bastem
AfHoa» I would introdnoe some nanatiyes of travel by my Ibnaer feUow^
labourer, KiiwimiKry Bebmann. It was he who iDangorated the oommenoe-
ment of our joomejrs of eaqdoratioa ; firtt^ by hit eKcnnion to ihe momitain
Kftdiaroi in the Teita-oomitiyi some thirty-six leagues firom the sea-ooast of
Homfaac s and then by his jommeys to Jagga, about one hundred leagues
in the iateriar of the Afrioaa nain-laad. My dear fdeod dwcribss his
jonmey to Kadiaio in the following pleasing manner.



On the night of the 14th of October 1847 just as
the moon was appearing above the horuson I began
my journey being accompanied by sik Wanika
and two Mdbammedans. During that night I pro-
ceeded about one league and a half; and in the
morning after daybreak we journeyed through a
tolarably level and rich pasture country for about a
league and a half, till we came to a tract mc«t> undu-



222 rebmann's journey to kadiabo.

lating in appearance, covered with bushes and a few
stunted trees rather than grass, and nowhere cul-
tivated, yet serving the Wanika for grazing-land.
We bivouacked under a tree in the forest near the
Wanika village of Engoni ; and the next day, after
a march of more than four leagues over stony ground,
with little vegetation and completely uncultivated,
we reached Endungu, the name of the whole eastern
boundary of the wilderness, which stretches westward
from hence to Teita, for a breadth of ftdl twenty
leagues; and which forms a great plain, which is
somewhat imdulating in its eastern half, while the
western half presents a dead level. As Endungu
stands some hundred feet above the outstretched
plain, it afforded me a splendid view over its whole
extent from west to east, with the mountains of Teita
rising to a height of from 4000 to 5000 feet in the
background.

This desert, or more properly speaking, this
wilderness, has of late years become infested with
Wakuafi and Galla, and consequently it cannot be
traversed in safety, which has led both Moham-
medans and heathen to invoke the supposed superior
protection of the powers of darkness in many ways,
of which superstition my own people were about to
give me a specimen. As we descended the slope
from Endunguni we found two magic-staves stuck
in the ground by the way-side, about two feet long,
burnt black, and wreathed round at the top with
the bark of a tree. My people wished these to be
carried with us through the wilderness, nor would they



sebmann's joubnet to kadiabo. 223

stir at my command without them, so I tore the bark
off one of them and threw them away as far as I
could ; but they still demurred, and wanted to turn
back and search for them, and only after a long con-
troversy would they consent to proceed without
them ; for they told me what my Bible was to me
the staves would be to them, a preservative against
wild beasts and robbers. My caravan-driver, too,
held back, evidently determined to recover the one
from which I had not torn the talismanic bark ; but
I was determined that whilst the men served me
they should use none of these magic Uganga, and
told him so, stating that on arriving at Teita, whither
we were then journeying, the first thing I should
do would be to teach the Teita the Gospel, and by
its means destroy their Uganga, telling them that
magic was sinful in the sight of Him who had sent
His only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save all
sinners, Europeans and Africans, Suahili, Wamka,
Galla, and Wakuafi, if they would only believe and
be baptized.

Descending into the wildemess, our narrow foot-
path soon wound, for a short way, through a thicket,
in which many sorts of Euphorbia were to be seen.
The circumstance that even where no path has been
made, the wildemess is at once easily permeable and
affords bush enough to conceal an enemy, has made
the journey of the caravans very insecure. The soil
appeared to me in many places very favourable for
culture. Among the wOd animals which are very
numerous, gazelles, antelopes, and giraffes, are par-



224 bebmank's jottbnet to kadiabo.

ticularly observable. Another species of animal
which we often met with, and which the natives
called Baschi, I was not acquainted with. The
young are very like swine, on which account the
Mohammedans do not eat them, while the old ones
have more the form of an a« and are of a grey
colour. Late in the evening of the 16th of October
we reached Kurundu, and spent the night in the
bush a little fi:irther on. Next morning we recom*
menced our journey, and contmued it until the setting
of the sun, when my people again looked about for
a place suitable for a bivouac, which must always
be in some measure surrounded by bush* It was
Sunday evening; some of my people named the
Name of Christ, and I profited by the opportunity
once more to bear testimony to Him. I told them
of His miracles; spoke especially of His atomng
death, and that He had died to discharge us of our
sins ; mine as weU as theirs. On the third day,
on Sunday, the first day of the week. He had risen
again ; therefore, in the land of my home, Sunday
was kept holy. He who believed in Christ, received
forgiveness of his sins, with life and blessedness. I
told them that they must seek to obtain new hearts,
and then all would go right ; their coimtry too, would
become new. Our £sithers and countrymen had once
been Hke them and theirs, and our coimtiy like
theirs, bog and wildemess ; but since we had be-
lieved in Christ, our land had been transformed
into a garden of God. They asked, " Who, then,
told you of Christ ? " I replied : People who came



hbbmaiik'b jousney to kadiabo. 225

to us firom other coimtrieB) as now we come to you,
and brought with them the book of God ; our &ther8
received it, aad amce then everything has gone weU
with us. Sucb a statement always makes some im-
pression upon them. Already at the commencement
of this conversation the leader of our little caravan
had said, they had given up their magic staves, and
would like now to become acquainted with my book.
When they became acquainted with the Bible, I
rejoined, they would see for themselves in what
estimation to hold their magicians and their spells.

Next day at noon, after a march of between three
and four hours we reached Kadimu, which is an out-
post of the mountains of Teita, consisting of enormous
masses of rock, towering more than 100 feet above
each other, and almost destitute of vegetation. Here
is it, above all, that the QuUa and Wakuafi lie in wait
for the caravans, and surprise them all the more
easily as the passes through these ranges are ratiier
narrow. Afl;er bivouacking for the last time in
the wilderness we reached next morning, the 19th of
October, that part of Teita which is called Kadiaro.
It is a solitary mountain-mBss, stretching about one
league and a half from south to north, and near
its centre reaching its highest summit which consists
of an enormous mass of rock and is, for the most
part, completely perpendicular. After ascending
the mountain for more than a league we reached
the village Maguasioi, containing about fifty huts,
which are built among enormous rocks protruding
from the mountain, with broken masses lying scat-



226 sebmann's joubney to eadiabo.

tered around. On such a rock it was that I greeted
one of the elders of the village with his large family,
as the first assemblage of Teita people which I had
met. The quiet and more earnest character of this
mountain people preyented them ftom maJdng a
great deal of fuss in the reception of the first
European whom they had seen in their midst, as is
the custom of the Wanika, who always, when you
come for the first time into one of their yiQages,
set up dancing and singing in honour of the
stranger. Here there was hothing of the kind ; but
on the other hand, they immediately asked whether
I had come to build a fortress on their mountain ?
a question which, as it seemed to me, had been
put into their heads by my own people. I
answered that the only fortress which I had come
to Md for fam, ™ one in whi* they might
escape the wrath of God ; for I had come to preach
to them Christ, who had released all men fi*om the
power of sin, and fi-om the wrath of God, and
who had become our Saviour. In this and other
ways I sought to sow the seed of the Divine Word
in their hearts, and the maimer in which they listened
to me induced me to believe that I had not laboured
in vain.

At Maguasini I saw also two men of the tribe
of Pare, which lies two days' journey to the south-
west of Teita. They were clothed in skins, and
used perfectly formed tobacco-pipes manufectured by
themselves. The bowls were of clay and the sticks
of a kind of bamboo, ornamented with wire. From



bebmann's joubnet to kadiabo. 227

the Teita people I heard that their ancestors had
come thirty days' journey from the North, and the
structure of their huts quite coincides with this
tradition, which after the Cushion of Abessinia have
mostly a circular, and here and there, too, an oval
form ; nor do the roofe, like those of the Wamka,
reach down to the floor, but spring at a rise of
four feet above the ground. The clothing of the
men is very simple; they only throw a piece of
cloth round them, the arms and ears being more
or less hung with brass wire. By their strange
adornment the females are completely disfigured,
encircling as they do the neck with whole
loads of beads, such as the Romanists use for their
rosaries, and winding them round the feet. Then
they wear two leather aprons, one in front and one
behind, which with garnish of beads they gird
round their loins, covering even the edges with
rimilar ornaments. It rarely happens, and when it
does merely ou account of the cold, that they throw
a piece of cloth round the upper part of their bodies
and their bosoms, the latter being generally bare.
On their arms, like the men and even more so, they
wear brass wire, which is the ornament in use among
all the tribes of these regions. Amongst the natural
productions is the sugar-cane of good quality, from
which the people of Teita prepare a favourite bever-
age, which perhaps may resemble that of Pompey's
dark followers mentioned by Lucan.

The Teita-land forms a Delta, or triangle, the
southerly point of which is the mountain Kadiaro,



228 bebmank's joubhet to kadiaso.

already described, aad the northerly and north-
westerly points are formed by the mountain chains
of Endara and Bura, which both stretch in one
direction from south-west to north-east for a length
amounting to about three days' journey « Endara
itself, to the east of Bura, is a day's journey, some
ten leagues, and Bura two days' journey from
Kadiaro. With the Teita-laiid I had hoped to
ascend a second terras of the African highlands;
but in place of this between the Kadiaro and the
two northern mountain chains of Teita the same
table-land extends, to which the ascent is formed by
the downs which run along the coast, ajud which con-
stitute the plain inhabited by the Wanika tribes. As
to population, there seem to be in Kadiaro, the
southern section of the Teita-land^ only eight villages,
with a population, including that of the village of
Maguasini, of about 200Q souls. The Bura moun-
tains^ sometimes called Eilima Kibomu, may cqntain
500, and the Endara 100 villages; an estimate
which, if not exaggerated, would give a population
of about 152,000 for the whole Teita-land.

As regards a mission to this people, up to this date
we can only say that it is very feasible and very
desirable. The way is clear ; but when it shall take
place cannot be foretold. Let us hope that the time
is not tax distant when the messengers of peace, pro-
ceeding from east and west, will make their voices
heard, imtil they meet together in the centre of the
African continent.

Oix the morning of the third day after my arrival



bebmank's joubn^ to kadiaro. 229

in Teita (22n(l of October) I began my retum-
joumey through the wilderness. We passed again
the same stations as on the journey to Teita, and
after a tough march of three days, during which I
walked mostly only in my stockings, as my shoes
hurt me, I reached our missionary-station at Rabbai
Mpia, safely, on the morning of the 25th of October.
I bore up tolerably against the heat of the sun,
although during the day its rays fell perpendicu-^
larly on our heads ; and my only trouble arose firom
my shoes, on which account I was often tempted to
envy the natiyes, who go barefoot ; and if on a long
journey tiiat manner of walking becomes painful, or
the thorns compel them to change it, they wear a
simple sort of sandal, which every one makes for
himself out of a Utde piece of leather. During a
journey they carry their loads on their heads, not
as we do, across the shoulders. If the load is heavy
they are obliged to bend forward to some extent,
that it may rest as much as possible on the back.
Singularly enough they then present a figure pre-
cisely like that of the massive and monotonous
continent of Africa whose children they are, and
wMch, as if in strict haimony wiih ite painful history,
wears the appearance of a huge monster-slave bent
down by his burden, and looking despondingly
towards America.



q2



230



CHAPTER n.
bebmann's fibst journey to jagga.

To Bnra — ^Forced resideiice near Tawia — ^Timidity of the Teita,
and its caases — ^Beantifdl scenery ; reminiscenoes of home — ^The
Chief Muina — Onward again — ^Astonishment of the guide —
The trap-pits of the Teita — ^First view of £[ilimanjaro, the
snow-mountain — The country between Teita and Tagga —
Arrival in KQema — ^Distinct view of SHimanjaro; contrasts
of scenery — ^King Masaki — ^The Kishogno— Mntoal present-
giving — ^Yisit from the king — ^His appearance — Strange use of a
forkT— The king's cordiality — ^Ascent of a mountain ; extensiye
prospect — ^The return — ^Notes on Jagoa akd Mibsioks — Geo-
graphical conformation, and civil economy — ^Politics and society
in Jagga — Its habitations — Substitute for salt — ^Native expe-
dition to Kilimanjaro — ^Advantages of Jagga as a mission-station
— ^Argument for the establishment of missionary colonies in
Eastern AMca.

About noon on the 27th of April 1848, having com-
mended ourselves to the gxddance of Providence, I
began my journey with nine men to carry the bag-
gage, necessary for a passage through such great
wastes ; and for seven days our way lay through a
wilderness, for the most part perfectly level. From
Kadiaro we struck north-westward, reaching Bugada,
a mountain covered with wood, but having no inha-
bitants, on the 1st of May. To make way was very
difficult, on account of the thick and thorny jungle,
through which our guide had missed the path. On



m -■•■■<



BEBMANN's first J0UBNE7 TO JAGGA. 231

the 3rd of May we passed the little river Madad^,
which flows jBrom the east foot of the Bura firom north
to south, gathering in its course the other waters of
the Bura, when, after assuming the name of Gnaxo,
it absorbs the river Jiarbo, and finally empties
itself into the sea at Wassin. When we had crossed
the river we were in the Bura territory, and encamped
at a spot on its bank in the forest, sending at once
three men to Mbosa, the chief of the nearest village,
Jawia, which lies on the top of the moimtain, to
amiounceourairivalandtosummonhimtous. But
before they returned, several Teita arrived from the
neighbourLg plante4ons, bringing sugar-cane, bana-
nas, and Indian com, which my people enjoyed very
much, our own provisions having come to an end.

Constant rain, and the illness of one of my ser-
vants, kept me in the neighbourhood of the village
Jawia until the 6th of May. The inhabitants
and their chie& appeared so stupid and fearful, that
it would have required a long stay on my part to
have gained their confidence, so as to induce them
to hearken to the glad tidings of the Gospel. The
women and children were especially afiraid of me, so
much indeed that in one of the villages I felt com-
pelled to say, "Why are you afiraid of me? You
are many, and at home ; I am not afi*aid, although I
am alone, and a stranger among you.'' The causes
of this timidity are twofold ; the poor people, with
their faith in magic, look upon Europeans as magi-
cians; and the lying Mohammedan traders for
purposes of their own seek to alienate the natives of



332 BEBMANN'fi FIB8T J013BNET TO JAQGA.

the interior from Europeans, by ascribing to the latter
all sorts of crimes, and cannibalism among the rest.
On the 7th of May -we took our way westward
through the most luxuriant grass and undergrowth,
alternating with noble trees, first ascending and
then descending the mountain, at the foot of wHch
we had encamped, till after an hour's journey we
descended into a narrow valley, through which a
clear brook murmured on its way, and on whose
banks sugar-cane sprang up indigenously. Some
Teita came ; but, stupid as the rest of thabr race,
they scarcely looked at us. How diffa:ent from the
Wakamba, those nomads and traders of all Eastern
A£rica, who, when they see a European crowd from
all sides and wonder at everything they see I From
the valley we ascended again, and had a noble pro-
spect, particularly towards the south and south-west.
How splendid tbe whole landscape, with its rich
variety of mountain, hill, and dale, covered by the
most lumrioos vegetation! I could have fimcied
myself on the Jura monniaiBs, near Baad, orin &e
r^on about Cannstatt in the dear fatherland, so
beautiM was the country, so delightful the dimate.
Our way was across the bed of a mountain stream,
over hill and dale, through plantations of Indian com
and beans, past small herds of cattle belonging to the
Teita, then along fields of sugar-cane and banana,
till we descended into the valley, wiili its rich pasture-
lands. What a pitv tiiat this luxuriant growth of
gra„ year alter ^ must periA ».^rAn im-
measurable tract of the richest land stands here open



bebmann's fibst joubnet to jaooa. 233

to the church of Christ. ^ ^ The meek shall inherit the
earth." The destiny of these noble regions must be
a great one. We halted in the vicinity of the village
Muasagnombe, where I had again to give some pre-
sents, American calico and beads, to two chie&,
through whose country I had wandered, and had
still to pass. The people here showed rather more
4$uriosity, and I explained to the Chief Maina and
his brother Lugo, as wdl as to soma other people,
the reason for my journey.

Maig 7th (Sunday). — A lovely morning. It seemed
to me as if Nature were celebrating with me the
Sabbath. Mountains and all hills ; fruitful trees ;
beasts and all cattle; creeping things, and flying
fowl with the varied melody of their song, praised
their Creator with me. In the morning I had again
an opportunity to explain to some people the great
olject of my journey. I generally do this by show-
ing them my Bible, and telling them that it is the
Word of G-od, which points out to us the way to
heaven ; that I would translate this book into their
language, and by and by seek to make old and young
acquainted with its contents. Our fathers, I teU
them, were made happy by this book. Little, how-
ever, is to be done with these people during short
visits ; if they are to become really acquainted with
the Gospel we must dwell among them.

Jtffly 8. — ^After a short excursion I fcmnd the
chief, Maina, with another Teita, sitting under a
tree. He asked me some questions, and a Mnika
who was with me, translated for him my statement



234 REBMAin^^S FIRST JOURKEY TO JAQGA.

of the chief articles of our fedth. He did not
encourage my wish to converse on religious matters
with him; yet the more serious character of the
Teita showed itself however in this, that Maina
did not laugh, as the Wanika are in the habit of
doing, when he heard of the resurrection. On
the 9th of May, when I was to take leave of Maroa,
to continue my journey to Ja^a, he first pre*
sented- me with Jofi, a beverage which i9 pre-
pared firom sugar-cane, the ^^ tenera dulcis ab arun-
dine succus" of the poet of Cordova, and the half of
a heifer, which he ordered to be slaughtered. The
libations and semi-religious ceremonies with which
he accompanied the leave-taking I refused to par-
ticipate in, although he assured me that there was
no question of Uganga. After my people had
prepared the flesh of the heifer for the journey by
smoking it, we departed about four o'clock: in the
afternoon, and bivouacked by the river Gnaro,
After another day's journey through thick jungle
and the forest we bivouacked under a large tree,
a little after sunset. Here my guide looked at me
with astonishment, saying : " You are here with
nothing but an umbrella, and formerly we needed
five hundred muskets, so dangerous was the spot
where we are; for this was one of the chief encamp-
ments of the plundering Wakuafi." I replied : " It
is the work of God ; He has opened a way for his
Gospel." As my people had a good deal of meat
with them, in the night we heard several hyenas
quite close to us, attracted by the scent.



BEBMANN^S FIBST JOURNEY TO JAGGA. 235

On the lOih of May we left the Gnaro at day-
break and proceeded through a pathless wilderness,
as my guide had quarrelled with the king of Dufeta,
and waa afraid to cross his country, although it is
the ordinary route from Teita to Jagga. This
circumstance made the journey more painful, as
the kind of gra^s over which we went was full
of pointed leaves and burs Hiat wounded my
feet severely, as I did not wear boots, but only
shoes. After we had travelled some leagues, we
came to a place where the Teita had prepared
a number of pits in which to catch elephants,
buffaloes, and all sorts of wild animals. The
wilderness between Teita and Jagga appears
to be richer in elephants, than that to the east
of Teita, whence these animals have mostly
disappear;d and mAdrawn into the interior, h.
the course of the day we saw many herds of
giraffes and zebras, and in the evening a rhinoceros.
There is great uniformity in the characteristic gran-
deur of this country : always repeating itself— great
plains, then suddenly, again, ^i^ monotonous
mounWmasses.

May 11. — In the midst of a great wilderness, full
of wild beasts, such as rhinoceroses, buffaloes, and
elephants, we slept beneath thorn-bushes, quietly
and securely under God's gracious protection ! This
moiiiing we discerned ihe mountains of Jagga more
distinctly than ever ; and about ten o'clock, I fancied
I saw the summit of one of them covered with
a dazzlingly white cloud. My guide called the



236 bjbbmank's fibst jousnet to jagoa.

white which I saw, merely ^' Beredi,^^ cold ; it wm
perfectly clear to me, however, that it could be
nothing else but snow. Besting for a while soon
afterwards under a tree, I read in the English Bible
the cxith Psalm^ to which I came in the order
of my reading. The promise made a lasting im-
pression upon me, in sight of the magnificent snow-
mountain; for the sixth verse expresses so majes-
tically and clearly tiiat c{ which I had only noted
down the presentiment in my journal on Saturday
last*

The whole country round between Teita and
Jagga has a sublime character. To the west, was
the lofty Mount Kilimanjaro with its perpetual snow;
to the south-west was the massive and monotonous
Ugano; to the north-west, the extended moun-
tain-chain of Eikumbidia; and to the east, the
chains of the Teita-mountains with their highest
summit, called Yeruga, which (with the exertion
of Kilimanjaro) rise 4000 to 6000 feet above tibe
plain surrounding them. In the course of the day
I had also a faint view towards Kaptei (or Kaftei),
as the country proper of the Wakuafi is called,
lying to the north of Ja^a.

Maif 12. — We crossed the river Lumi or Lomi
at seven in the morning. The nearer we approached
the mountains of Jagga the richer was the vege-
tation; here and there we met with large and
magnificent trees, such as I had not seen since I left

* " He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he
may give them the heritage of the heathen."



BEBMANK's FIB8T JOUBNEY TO JAGiGA. 237

the coast, till at last we entered a noble valley,
thickly g;mn 0T«r witii graas THiidx reached ^ to
our middle. Abundant pasture-land for thousands
of catde I Oh, what a noble country has God reserved
for Ids people I Between four and five in the after-
noon we reached the beautiM and sparkling river
Gona, which has ite source in the snowy sunmut of
Kilimanjaro. A irreat tree served as a most un-
«rt»&e«».7 bridged it, »>d ,,»n r«»>lm« Oe
<«^ LTf enjoyed' . reZung l»fl.f the
extreme coldness of the water plainly showing that
its source can only be in ilie snow-monntain. The
coast portion of the journey to the river had been
TBry stony, and much obstmoted by jungle.

Mdi^ 13. — A&esc biTOuaddng on the bonk of ihe
Gona for the night, we recommenced our journey at
eight o'clock this morning, and after a painful mardi
of many hours through thick jungle, reached the first
trendi which surrounds the little kingdom of Eikma.
Grosnng the ditoh on a very shaky bridge, con-
sis^f a slim tree, we wL agl on pasture-
land, where we could see the plantations of Kilema,
but not tiie dwellings hidd^i in them. About a
quarter of an hour afterwards we were met by a
nmnber of soldiers of Masaki, ihe King of Xil^,
whose only clothing was some fringed hides, hang-
ing very loosely about them. We sat down for a
while under the shadow of a large tree, where we
had to wait for about an hour. I gazed on the
lovely country, which seemed to be bursting with
plenteousncss, and presented in a comparatively



238 s£bmann's febst joubnet to jaqoa.

small extent the most striking contrasts. In our
immediate vicinity was the beautiful river Gona;
and on its banks, as well as on the foot of the
mountains around, the richest vegetation of a perfect
dark green of perpetual summer ; and when I raised
my eyes I beheld, apparently only a few leagues
distant, but in reality from one to two days' journey,
Kilimanjaro, covered with perpetual snow and
ice. When I was summoned to Masaki my guide
put grass into my hand after the custom of the
country, that I might so greet the king, who had,
likewise, some in his. In conformity with their
usage I gave my hand to him and to his ministers.
There was nothing to distinguish him, while some
of his chief men wore caps made out of skins, and
long garments. Our salutations over a sheep was
slaughtered in order to present me with the Ki-
shogno, token of friendship, which consists of a
little bit of skin, from the forehead of the animal,
which the king fastened on my middle finger.
In a little hutj in the midst of a whole forest of
bananas, and which completely shut out any view,
I afterwards delivered to the yoimg king my pre-
sents, consisting chiefly of calico and beads, a knife,
fork, scissors, needles, and thread, and some other
trifles, worth, altogether, from ten to twelve dollars ;
receiving in return, as provisions for myself and
my little caravan, a cow and several sheep and goats.
The wounds on my feet prevented me from leav-
ing my hut until the 20th of May. The king's
vizier and other chief men of the land visited me



REBliAKN's FIBST J0UBNE7 TO JAGOA. 230

seyeral tunes almost eyery day. On the 14th I
was asked by some of them, with the aid of what
weapons I had come thither ? To which my guide
at once replied, that I had nothing with me but my
umbrella; but I added, pointing to Hearen, that
^^ I had come, trusting in God, the Christians'
*Eruwa,' alone I"* They rejoined: "In Eruwa
alone I " " Yes," I said, " for He alone is all and
everything, and wild beasts, as well as wicked men,
are in His hand." They could scarcely believe,
much less understand, how I could have made so
long a journey without spear and shield, or with-
out the use of powerM enchantments.

On the 16th the king himself visited me, ac-
companied by his vizier and brother-in-law. Every-
thing I had on and with me attracted his attention,
even the buttons on my trousers. When his curiosity
was a Uttle satisfied I took my Bible in my hand,
and said to him that we Europeans had to thank this
book for everything that he had just seen. To visit
his country was of small moment to me ; but to teach
him and his people the contents of this book was
what I desired above all. Our fathers had once lived
on as ignorant as all the people in these countries,
until they had obtained this book. On this MasaM
took my Bible boldly into his hands, and amused
himself by turning over the leaves. He is a lively
young man, with a bearing no less intelligent

* All the time of my reddence in Jagga it rained in toirents
almost every ni^t, on which account the sun is welcome to the
inhabitants, and is their god ; — ^Eruwa s= sun, heayen, fod.



24Q kebkakn'b first joubnxy to jaqcul

than worthy of a king ; so that, without wearmg
any external mark of hiB rank, he is easily distin-
guifihable fix»a his subjects. He yisited me again
on the Idth for a few mhaut^ having a fork,
(which along with a knife I had presented to him),
in his hair as an ornament I I explained to him
the use of it ; be laughed^ but did not seem to
understand.

May 24^ — The king visited me otnce more with
scxne of hia chie&. I assured Huem again, and
earnestly, that I had no other aim and occupation
than to teach what was written in my book. This,
and a great deal mcnre about my mission and myself
was excellently interpreted to them by my guide,
Bana Kheri, so that they understood me very well.
By and by they went ant of the little hut and
consulted with my guide^ who then told me that the
king would reoeiye me or my brother as a teacher,
and that we were to go into no othisr country. Before
returning to the coast I was to stay for three days
longw, having full permissian to make exeursions
when and whither I chose, the best possible sign of
llie king's confidence in me.

Moji 25. — ^I ascended to-day a mountain about
two thousand feet high, from which I had a most
extensLve view in almost every direction. To the
south-east, there wa« an open prospect almost to the
sea-coeat, and I could clearly distinguish the summit
of the lofty mountain Yombo in the Wanika-land, in
the neighbourhood of Wassin ; and on that moun-
tain, as my guide told me, you can see, at one and



BEBMAHm's FDEBBT JOUBNZT TO JAGGA. 241

ihe same time, Zanzibar and the KiliTnaiijaro, an .
interesting geographical &ct. To-day Kiliman*
jaro was yeiled in elonds,. otherwise I might have
seen it invested with the silver crown, by which
it seems to daim the title of king of the mountains
of Eastern Africa. Before I descended from lixe
noble momitain on which I had enjoyed so grand
a view, I prayed from the depths of my heart, as
regards all the populations around, — ^^ Thy kingdom
come." On the way back to my gloomy hut we
visited several of the kmg^s residences, which were,
however, nothing more than the usual African huts
covered with withered grass and impenetrable to
light and air. This evening I heard that the peoj^e
of Ja^a, too, pray to the souls of the dead, which
Ihey call Warumu; but instead of rice and pahn-
wine, like the Wanika, they place milk on the
graves. This custom, diffused far and wide in Eastern
Africa, proves a strong yearning after life in a future
state.

On the 26th of May Rehani, the king^s vizier,
came to me early, and asked me all sorts of questions
respecting my supposed supernatural gifts ; and as the
rain kept him with me, I had time to lay before him
the chief articles of our fidth, so Ihat the name of
Christ has at least been named in this country, and the
people know that I am His servant, and not a trafficker
or dealer in magic and lies. At noon on the 29th,
Rehani with the king's uncle and one of his brothers
came to bid me fieurewell in the king's name, as he
himself^ it appeared, eould not come on account of



mmm



- — I



242 rebmakn's fibst joubnet to jagga.

the sickness of a chad. They brought a goat as pro-
visions for the three days' march through the wilder-
ness to Teita, after which we could again procure
food. In taking leave of me, they asked me to return
soon a«am to their counfay and reside in it, and not
go to any other.

In the evening I began at last my journey back.
At first, walking was painful, for the wounds on my
feet were not yet healed, and the vegetable world of
the wilderness seems to have conspired to make the
way difficult for us poor wanderers. The journey
back to Bura was accomplished safely in three d&jif
hard walking. During it, we found a fine antelope
in one of the pits dug by the Teita to trap elephants
and other animals. We reached Kadiaro on the 7th
of June. As I had already travelled three times the
route from Kadiaro to Rabbai, I took that by Shimba
to Mombaz. Shimba is the southern continuation of
the mountains on the coast inhabited by the Wanika,
and is a day's journey distant from Rabbai. Imme-
diately to the west of it I saw a most magnificent
country, intersected by numerous streams, and bear-
ing on its face every proof of fertility, but lying
almost wholly unused ; — ^land enough for thousands
of families, while the spacious and lofty plateau of
the Shimba itself offers to the settler the finest and
healthiest situation, with an extended view over the
Indian Ocean, and with continuous enjojnnent of
the firesh sea-air ! On the 10th of June, I camped
out for the last time on my retum-joumey ; and on
the 11th I reached Mombaz, safely ending under



JEtEBllANN's FIB8T JOURNEY TO JAGGA. 243

God's protection and blessing my six weeks' life of
wandering.

NOTES ON JAGGA AND MISSIONS.

It is their form of government which chiefly dis-
tu^e, a.e iJ^bitaat, of J.gga tJ the
Wateita, Wakamba, and Wanika. It seems as if
there were a harmony between the physical con-
formations of those coimtries and their political con^
stitutions. Among the Wakamba in their plains^
there is a uniform level, so that scarcely any indivi-
dual is clothed with any degree of authority and
mastership. The JaggM go to the other extreme ;
they exalt a single individual to such a political
height above themselves, that they are almost slaves,
just as ihen snow-crowned Kilimanjaro lifts its
head so high above the clouds, that the other moun-
tains around it are almost reduced to comparative
insignificance.

The greatest delight of the Mangi lies in the birth of
a Msoro. As soon as they can do without a mother's
care aU male children axe compelled to Kve together,
to be trained early to serve the king as guards, and
their country as engineers, in the construction of
water-courses and in keeping up the trenches of
defence. The greater part of domestic and field-
labour devolves upon the women, whose toil is much
increased by the useful practice of stall-feeding.
The Wasoro work very littie, their business being to
guard their king and country, for which purpose
they almost always carry spears and shields, the

R



244 REBMANN's FlfiST JOtlBMEir TO JAGGA.

latter prettily elaborated out of elephants' and buffii-
loes' hides. In spite of the richness of the soil,
from their ignorance of agriculture and want of
markets for their produce^ the inhabitants are ex-
tremely poor. They shaie their dwellings with
their cattle, yet they must not be accused of want
of cleanliness, for they wash and bathe frequently,
and the Jagga are a very robust and powerful race,
which is partly to be attributed to the healthiness of
the climate.

There are in Jagga no compact villages or towns,
but only isolated inclosures, separated from each
other by open spaces extending about the eightii of
a mile, and always covered with banana-trees. Each
yard is occupied by a single family, in several huts,
protected by hedgerows of growing bushes, or of
dried branches, which serve as a defence against
wild beasts, more especially hyenaa. Here again on
a small scale the Jagga typify the habits <tf the
entire races of East Africa, which never commingle
with one another, but, as it is with the families of
Jagga, are separated from each other by inter^^
stices. But just as traffic brings many of the power-
fid tribes into frequent contact, so do the Jagga
often meet together at their Sangaras, or market-
places, with their nearest neighbours, the Dafeta,
the Ugono, and the Kahe, which cannot but afford
a missionary excellent opportunities of preaching the
Gospel. A peculiar article of trade with them^ is
Emballa, which is found in the Kahe-land to the
south of Jagga, and is a kind of earth which they



bebmakn's febst joueney to jagga. 245

dissolve in water, using the liquor for admixture
with their food instead of salt, which they have
not. The taste of this water is brackish, and re-
minded me immediately .of the mineral water of
Bahlingen. They give it also as a beverage to their
sick cattle, and every way its bitter seems to be
advantageous to health. The Jagga are apt work-
men in the manufacture of implements of war and
of articles for domestic use, and the women by means
of knitting ornament their leather clothing with small
beads.

Rungua, king of Majame, the father of Mam-
kinga, once sent a large expedition k> investigate the
nature of snow. He hoped it might prove to be silver,
or something of the kind ; but only one of the party
survived, and with frozen hands and feet announced
to the king the melancholy &te of his companions,
who had been destroyed not only by the cold, but
by fear and terror; for in their ignorance they
ascribed the effects of the cold to evil spirits, and
fled away, only to meet with destruction in severer
frost and cold. My guide told me that he had seen
the poor man, whose frost-bitten hands and feet were
bent inwards by the cold, and that he had heard from
his own lips the story of his adventures.



preat obstacle to the establishment of
Ja^a exists in the shocking state
hich leads to it. In other respects

R 2



246 bebmann's fibst journey to jaqoa.

sionary will find there &cilities denied him among
the Wakamba, Wanika, and Wateita. Let him once
secure the friendship of the king, and all else will
quickly follow ; for the king will then provide both
dwelling-place and school, and call the people
together to hear the gospel preached. To sustain
the friendly feeling of the king, he should be ac-
companied by a good doctor and some useful
mechanics, whose presence would be profitable to
the king. Indeed, in a general way, a missionary
to Eastern Africa should always be similarly ac-
companied, and by married men and their families
in preference to unmarried ones. These tribes, at
once sensual and destitute of all the conveniences of
life, should have Christianity presented to them not
only in sermons and teaching, but realized and
embodied ; exercising its influence on every-day life,
especially in the married state and in the bringing
up of children. People out here do not believe us,
or at least not rightly, when we tell them iliat in
our country the land is so much better cultivated
than theirs, that their cultivation of it appears by
contrast a mere nothing. When we tell them that
with us oxen and cattle are used in the tillage of the
soil, they know not what to make of it. They must
be led to see with their own eyes that the people
who follow the Christ whom we preach to them,
really understand better than they how to cultivate
the soil, and can do a great deal else that is not less
desirable for them to know. Families, families--^
Christian families, really converted fathers and



BEBMANN's FIB8T JOURNEY TO JAQGA. 247

mothers^ with well-nurtured children, are the tools
which are chiefly needed for missionary work in
Eastern Afiica. Once surround the missionary with
families who present in living and visible reality
" muscular'^ Christianity in life and death, in labour
and repose, in marriage and education, in public
worship, in common prayer and psalmody, in devout
listening to the Word of God, — ^then will our poor and
careless Wanika easily and clearly understand to
what a blessed condition out of their present desti-
tution, to what life out of death, to what light out of
darkness, to what joy in the Holy Spirit out of
present dread of evil spirits, to what love out of
selfishness, to what genuine peace out of worldly
security, we are helping them. The problem solved
by such Christian communities would be to render
not only themselves, but missionaries independent
of society at home in regard to outward support;
but, to effect this, these little communities must be
prepared to sacrifice all that they possess ; for in the
service of Christ we must be content with food and
raiment, which will never fail us, if first we seek
the kingdom of God and His righteousness ; for He
has promised that then all these things shall be
added imto us.



248



CHAPTER m.

rebmann's second journey to jagga.

Change of plan — ^Airiyal at Kilemar— Setentian by Maaaki, and lis
motive — ^Airival of escort from the king Mamkinga — Jouinej
to Majame — Strange ceremony — The sorcerers and the
production of rain — Interview with the king — His jfiriendly
reception and disinterestedness — Invitation to remain — Journey
homeward — The mountains of Jagga — Kilimanjaro and its
meaning — Snow, and the natives of Jagga — Snow demon-
strated to the Suahili mind — ^Arrival at Rabbai.

With Bana Kheri once more for my guide and
fifteen other Suahili to carry my baggage, armed
partly with muskets and partly with bows and
arrows, I started from Hombaz on ihe 14th of
November 1848, and reached Bura on the 26th.
My original plan of a visit to Kikuyu and Mbelete
was altered by circumstances, so I resolved to
content myself with a journey to Kilema and
Majame in Jagga. On the 4th of December I
started again for Jagga, and after three days'
march of about 80 English miles through the wil-
derness arrived safely in Kilema, and met with a
friendly reception from Masaki. By and by, how-
ever, when he found that I was bent on prosecuting
my journey and visiting the king of Majame, he
began to throw difficulties in the way. He did not



jubbmann's second joubnet to jaqga. 249

wish the calico and beads, which I had with me for
my further journey , to take their departure and
become the property of another than himself. Pro-
bably I should not have succeeded in getting far
from Kilema, westward to Majame, had there not
been fortunately for me with Masaki some soldiers
of King Mamlunga, who is the greatest of the
kings of the Jagga-land. I told them of my
plan, and Masaki could not now altogether thwart
it without provoking the anger of Mamkinga,
on whom he is virtually dependent. The soldiers
of Mamkinga told me, that I should be well received
by their master, who had lately thought of sending
to the coast for some European to remain with him
as one of his sorcerers, a class of whom he is
extremely fond. At last, Masaki sent messengers to
Mamkinga to inform him of my wish, and to request
MT^Zfor me if he deared a ™H ftom m™ He
did send a troop of soldiers under ihe command of
his brother Kilewo, in whose company on the 4th
January 1849 I began my journey towards Ma-
jame, much impoverished by the shameless men-
dicancy of Masaki and his relatives. We traversed
an often undulating country, ascending as we went
for some two or three leagues north-westward right
towarda KiUmaajaro, to which we came so near
that J could distinctly see, even by night, in the
light of the moon, ita majestic snow-clad summit.
It was as cold as in Germany in November, and we
were very glad to sleep in a hut warmed by a good
fire. Further upward the country was uninhabited,



250 eebmakn's second journey ax> jaooa.

and unfit for the cultivation of the banana, the chi^
food of the population of Jagga. On the 5th of
January we continued our journey for some leagues
north-westward, till we had reached a height of
about a thousand feet above the place where we had
slept. Thence descending for some five or six
leagues we reached again the inhabited country,
and the region of the banana. At noon we halted,
and received some bananas and honey sent us by
Mawishe, who rules over a portion of the little
territory of Uru. Next day, we continued our journey
westward, crossing some very deep valleys and
descending always towards Majame. From Uru
I had a good view westwards towards Majame,
which lies considerably lower, stretching between
the south-western foot of Kilimanjaro and the
north-eastern foot of Shira, which is also some-
times covered with snow. On the 6ih, our way
led us first into a deep valley, firom which, after
a steep ascent we reached a table-land. After
a march of twenty minutes we had to descend
into a still deeper valley, ascending from the other
side of which we reached a large elevated plain, ex-
tending some three or four miles fix>m east to west.
Here we crossed the river which separates Uru from
the district of Lambongo, and leaving it behind us,
we proceeded onward for several leagues, the ground
covered with banana-trees, the firuit of which was
rotting, for there was no one to gather it, and to such
an extent that the very air was foetid. Afl;er crossing
two other rivers our route led us downward into the



bebhann's second joubnet to jagga. 251

level country, which stretches through the southern
part of Jagga, and which appeared never to have
been cultivated, being covered with impenetrable
jungle. Here I found some raspberries, of which I
ate. Journeying some four or six English miles
forther, crossing several rivers, which at this time
of the year would have been dried up had not
their sources been in the region of perpetual
snow, we reached the little territory of Kimdi,
separated by a small river fix>m the district of
Kimbo. From Kimbo we had still to travel
through a fine open champaign for about three miles,
till at length we reached the river Veriveri about
four in the afternoon. This fine river which serves
as a barrier against every enemy forms the eastern
boundary of Majame, where we had now arrived.
I was obliged to remain on the bank of the river
until a goat had been brought, and the Kishogno
ceremony gone through, without which no stranger
can enter the country of Jagga. After the
ceremony Eolemo conducted me to one of his huts.
Next day, and again on the 8th of January I
received visits firom Muigno Wessiri, a Suahili, who
has lived in Jagga for six years, and has been
appointed by the king his medicine-man and sor-
cerer, personages identical in savage countries. He
came to inspect the presents which I was to ofier to
the king, who had heard that most of my things
had been given away during my long residence at
Kilema ; yet the king sent me a hearty welcome, as
it was myself, not my goods, he desired. For a per-



252 bebmann's second joubnet to jagga.

sonal interview with the king I had to wait until
the 12th of January. The sorcerers were the cause
of this delay. I was told, that on the arriyal of a
stranger a medicine must be compounded out of a
certain plant, or a tree fetched from a distance^
mixed with the blood of the sheep or the goat, from
which the king himself makes the Kishogno for his
guest. And what is done with this mixture ? The
stranger is besmeared or besprinkled with it, before
he is allowed to come into the presence of the king.
So it happened, when, on the evening of that day»
the king appeared with a great retinue, that, instead
of receiving at once the long-wished-for audience,
I was commanded to remain in my dark hut, whilst
out of doors the victim was being strangled, not only
for my behoof, but to serve in the production of rain.
And in very deed it so fell out that the sorcerer had
scarcely completed his ceremonial, when amid thun-
der the rain began to fall in torrents, and the
deluded spectators were excited to honour the
fortunate magician with the words : ^^ Hei muanga
wa Mangi ! hei muanga wa Mangi ! " — ^Well done,
sorcerer of the king I Muanga (sorcerer) is a title
of honour in Jagga. That the rain would fidl just
at the right moment, had no doubt been calculated on
by the crafty and practised sorcerer, for these muangas
usually combine a knowledge of natural phenomena
with their delusive art. In no country can the &11 of
rain be known beforehand more easily than in Jagga,
where the whole process of cloud-formation can be
daily perceived. As soon as the sun begins to be a



rebmank's second journey to jagga. 253

little hot, thin vapours are seen floating hither and
thilher over the snow, and these by degrees form
tiiin clouds, so tiiat about noon thunder is mostly-
heard. With a little practice in dafly observation,
and with the study of the seasons, the muanga is
soon enabled to predict rain an hour before its &11.
When the rain began to £all I was summoned to
leave my hut, and while I stood beneath its lower
opening, the sorcerer without asking my permis-
sion bespattered my face and the front part of my
body with his filthy mixture, using a cow's tail for
the purpose. It was as well that my leave had
not been asked, for I should have absolutely refused
it. After the rain was over I was summoned to the
king, as he wished to present me with the Eishogno
in person. Upon this I had to return once more to
my hut, whither the king and his chiefs followed
me to receive his presents, and to hear what I had
to say ; but it was evident that he cared more about
myself than about my presents. I stretched out my
Bible towards him, and told him my only business
was with this book, which contained the word of
God, and which we wished to teach to all nation^.
The design of my journey was not to buy slaves nor
ivory, but to form a friendship with him, and to ask
him whether he did not wish persons like ourselves
in his country. If this were the case I would com-
municate in writing his wish to those who had sent
me, and who would take care that it should be grati-
fied ; but I could not say how long a delay might
elapse, as our countrywas very distant. The king was



254 bebmann's second jouknet to jagoa.

very mucli pleased, and said, ^^ How can I refiise this
man's wish?" He then examined the few things
which I had still to give him, and among them a
certain kind of bead, and a white flask, appeared to
please him particularly. After he had ordered me
dming my stay in Majame to reside with Muigno
Wessin, who stood nearer him than his brother
Kilemo, he retired to his hut. The following
day, the 13th of January, he made me a present
of a sheep, and promised to forward my speedy
return. Again on the 16th I had an audience of
the king, who would not allow me to depart until
the 29th. Although disappointed of finding a
sorcerer in me, he assured me firequently of his
great affection for me, and would have kept me
much longer with him, had I not entreated 'him to
allow me to return. Indeed, he would have been
well pleased if I had at once settled down at Ma-
jame, in which event he would have given me his
own son for a pupil.

During the return-journey, which was performed
in the hot season, when the mountains are not en-
veloped in clouds as in the rainy season, I was able
for the first time to see distinctly the lofty summits
of the mountains of Jagga and the outline of their
connection and separation. There are two principal
summits placed upon a basis some ten leagues long
and as many broad, so that the space between them
forms as it were, a saddle, which extends three or four
leagues from east to west. The eastern summit is
lower, and pointed, whilst the western and higher



sebmank's second joueney to jagga. 255

one presents a fine crown, which, even in the hot
season, when its western and lowlier neighbour can
no longer support its snowy roof, remains covered
by a mass of snow. The snow of Kilimanjaro is
not only the perpetual source of the many rivers
(twenty, at least) which proceed firom it, but even
in the hot season, and indeed then more particularly,
it is a continual source of rain, as may be daily ob-
served, and as I have ah*eady described in alluding
to the use made of the phenomenon by the sorcerers.
The Suahili of the coast call the snow-mountain
Eolimanjaro, ^^ mountain of greatness;" it may
also mean ^^ mountain of caravans" (Kilima, moun-
tain, — Jaro, caravans), a landmark for the caravans
seen eyerywhere from afar ; but the inhabitants of
Jagga call it Kibo, snow. On my first journey
my guide had misinformed me, when he said that
the people of Jagga had no word for snow ; but
when I asked the natives of Jagga themselves,
their various statements, — ^for example, that the
Kibo when put into the fire turns into water, — con-
vinced me that they not only knew it as " Eabo,"
but knew no less well its nature and properties.
They assented, too, when I told them that the
river flowing by had ite source in Kibo. I showed
the Suahili that the white covering could not be
silver, as they could see with their own eyes that
on the one mountain it appeared and disappeared
with the seasons, while on the other it increased and
decreased, which could not be the case if it were
silver. I pointed also to the many rivers which



256 bebmann's second journet to jaqqa.

descend from the mountam as a testimony of the
£Etct that the white coyering is only another fonn of
water. My gidde was completely conyinced^ and
said that the people of Jagga would not buy from the
Suahili the armlets of lead worn by the latter as
ornaments, if they had in their territory such a mass
of sUver. This much is known, moreover, that at
times people ascend the mountain, and descend again
in safety, if they but choose the right season ; of
which, indeed, they are mostly ignorant, and hence
many have perished in the attempt.

Journeying by way of Kilema, Bura, and Ka-
diaro, I arrived at Kabbai in safety on the 16th of
February.



267



CHAPTER IV.

REBMANN^S THIED JOURNEY TO JAGGA.

Journeying in the rainy seaaon — Enooimter with a rhinoceros —
Masaki once more — Eain-making and rain-preventing — Ex-
temporized hut — Obstinacy of the bearers — ^Necessity pulls down
the hut — Agreeable disappointment — Arrival at Majame—
Altered demeanour of King Mamkinga — ^Extortion and pernecu-
tion — ^Missionary-tears misinterpreted — ^Eing Mamkinga's ivory —
Heathen hypocrisy — Ceremonial of leave-taking — ^Mercenary fare-
well — Speedy departure — ^Masaki evaded — The native axe in
the jungle — ^Extemporized bridges and their dangers — ^Entrance
into the Wildemess-^A feast of fledglings — ^Nearing home —
Arrival at Eabbai — Concluding reflections.

King Mamkinga had as mentioned in the previous
chapter shown himself friendly, and promised to
aid me in prosecuting further journeys from his
country. Accordingly, after my return from my
second journey to Jagga, it was resolved, upon
mature deliberation, that I should return again to
Jagga and endeavour to penetrate to Uniamesi at
least. We considered it to be our duty to make
Christians at home acquainted with the unknown
countries of the African interior, that they might be
stimulated to promote the Gospel more energetically
than hitherto in that part of the world. In any
case, we wished to pave the way for evangelizing



258 rebbiann's third journey to jagga.

Eastern Africa by making ourselves acquainted with
its unexplored countries, their manners, modes of
thought, languages, government, &c., by at least
naming the name of Christ where it had never been
named before, and by explaining to the natives the
general character of our objects.

On. the 6th of April 1849 I started once more,
well provided with articles of various kinds for
presente, and having hired thirty men, chiefly
Wanika, as the meditated journey to Uniamesi was
a long one. The rainy season had just commenced,
which made my journey from Jagga to Kadiaro
very difficult ; for it often rained the livelong night,
with myself and people lying in the open air, with-
out any other shelter than that of my solitary um-
brella. The rivers of Jagga, too, were swollen.
On the 19th of April we crossed the Ltmii, close to
which, at a distance of from ten to fifteen paces, we
came upon a rhinoceros which had been concealed
by the bushes. Only one of my people was in ad-
vance of me ; the rest, who were all behind me, threw
down their loads and ran away, while the one in front
retreated to my rear. As I was so near I wished
now to see distinctly the animal, and therefore only
retreated slowly a , few paces. The mighty creature
seemed to have the same wish ; for it stood motion-
less for about a minute, staring at us ; when all at
once as if terror-stricken by the number of people,
it sprang away at a quick trot. In their super-
stition my bearers believed that the Bible which
I carried in my pocket had put the beast to



BEBMANN's THIBD JOnSNET TO JAOOA. 259

flight,' and considered tiiis a proof that my book had
magical power.

I would willingly have avoided Kilema and gone
on straight to Majame ; but want of provisions
and the continual rain forced me into the lion's den
once more. After experiencing from MasaJd the
annoyances which I had expected, I succeeded in
being allowed to continue my journey, his kingship
previously to my departure causing his troops, con-
sisting of some four or five hundred men, to defile
past me, doubtless by way of convincing me that
he, too, was a great king. On the 15th we were
overtaken by night when within a league of Ma-
jame, and then I had to pass a rainy night indeed,
although among the Jagga people who were with
us there was a rain-maker, who now vnshed to show
off as a rain-preventer also. He had himself an-
nounced that during our journey he would control the
rain ; but the poor fellow was now fairly disgraced.
The Jagga erected a hut of banana-leaves ; but it
would contain only ten persons, and with some others
I passed the night in the rain, sheltering myself a little
by the aid of my imibrella. At break of day I wished
to push forward, as I knew that a league further on
we should find our best shelter from the rain in
the huts of Majame; but such of my people as
were in the hut wished to wait till the rain was over.
The rain increased rather than decreased, and in
spite of my repeated summons, they still would
not go forward, but continued their wild chanting,
so that I saw nothing for it but to knock down their



260 BEBMAKN^S THIRD JOURNEY TO JAGOA.

hut and let them find a damper in the rain. In
order to force them to go on. Instead of being
angry they laughed, for they knew that I was in
the right in desiring to go forward, and thus get shel-
ter from the rain, and so we went onward, and cross-
ing the Weri-weri reached Majame, where huts were
immediately placed at our disposal.

It was on the 25th of May that king Mamkinga
first came to see me, and to receive the presents
intended for him. From this time forward he began
to deyelope his treacherous character promising, in
the hope of presents, to promote my journey to
Uniamesi, while all the while he had resolved to
prevent it. Extortion, too, followed upon extortion,
his magician, Muigni Wessiri, speaking and acting
in the king's name. I saw the stock of goods
which I had intended for Uniamesi gradually melt-
ing away, and when by order of the king I was
obliged to part with piece after piece of the calico
which I had reserved for my further journey, I
could not suppress my tears. The king observed
them and asked the cause ; Muigni Wessiri replied
that I wept because of the loss of my goods ; when I
rejoined, that I was not weeping on that account,
but because the things had been given me by good
people at home, who wished to send the Book of
life to all Africans, with which object I had made the
journey; whereas I was now deprived of my property
and the good design of my friends was defeated.
The king replied that he was not robbing me, as he
would give me ivory in exchange, a promise which



rebicann's thibd journet to jagga. 261

naturally was not very consolatory to me. Other
persecutions were added to robbery, and my health as
well as my spirits gave way under the influence
of the cold and wet weather, and the smoke with
which my miserable hut was filled. I was attacked
both by fever and dysentery; so now wished, of
course, to return to the coast as soon as possible,
a wish which my people shared with me ; for they
as well as myself were plundered and threatened.
We could not depart, however, without a formal
leave-taking of the king or his representative, and
this was put off from day to day. Of course the
promise of ivory proved to be a delusion ; Ihadbeen
told at first, that the king would give me three great
elephants' tusks, which if sold at Mombaz for about
120 doUars, might have met the cost of my com-
pulsory presents. But when at last on the 6th of
June I received fi^m the king leave to depart, his
brother said, that as Manajuoni, t. ^., son of the
book, or teacher of the Word of God, I ought not to
wish for ivory. I was further told that the king
desired very much to have his children instructed,
and that, therefore, I should be welcomed by him at
any time; but if I wished for ivory, of which the
king had plenty, I was to come again and bring
another stock of goods to exchange for it. An old
tusk of little worth, however, was given me, that I
might buy food on the road. I replied : ^^ It is all
right now, I have no other wish than to retmm.'
Their greed was displayed even at the moment of
our leave-taking, which was accompanied by the

s 2



262 REBMANN^S THIRD JOURNEY TO JAGGA.

usual ceremony of expectorating upon the departing
stranger, and repeating the words " Gk) in peace."
For this dirty expectoration with which, first the
Wanika, then the Suahili, and last of all myself, were
favoured, a special payment was exacted from each.
My Wanika had nothing but a handful of beads,
which I had given them for the purchase of their
daily food ; but one of the Suahili wore a rather bet-
ter garment, as is the custom of the Mohammedans,
and this was demanded of him in the rudest man-
ner, and so he was obliged to take it off, and pay
with it the price of the saliva of peace. After the
leave-taking my Wanika could no longer be re-
strained, and would not even wait for the Jagga
soldiers who, at my desire, were to have accom-
panied us to Eilema. They broke up in the greatest
haste on the 7th of June, so I was obliged to
follow ; and in truth, I was right glad to exchange
the company of such people, for the wilderness itself.
Out of fear of Masaki we resolved to avoid all
chance of contact with him, and to return through
the wilderness, which stretches along the south of
Jagga. Crossing the Weri-weri, we were shown by
a native a footpath in the desired direction; but
it soon led us into thick jungle, and after several
hours it seemed to be taking us back to Jagga.
We quitted it accordingly, and resolved to hew our
way through the jungle with our axes, an operation
which lasted for several days. The first night in the
forest was dark and rainy, and we had neither fire
nor water ; for our water-carriers, calculating upon



bebmann's thibd journey to jagga. 263

the vicinity of the river, had brought none with
them. Next night we reached a brook, and cooked
some beans which we had brought from Majame.
During the next two days we had to cross unford-
able streams by means of trees which we felled, and
formed into extempore bridges for «.e purpose! and
Ming from one of them I was nearly carried away
by the stream ; so that the next, I straddled, instead
of walking across it. At length on the 17th of
June we reached the Lomi after a seven days^
journey firom Majame, which with a tolerable path
we might have performed in three. From this
point the wilderness was all but a desert, no rivers
flowing through it. On the first day of our journey
in it we found wild honey and many nests of young
birds, and the latter were much relished by my
Wanika; many of the trees were almost covered
with nests, which hung apparently loosely, but
securely firom the smallest twigs. I thanked God for
this food, our store of beans being almost exhausted,
while a journey of two or three days through the
desert was still before u& In the night of the
15th we had no water 'In which to boil our
beans, and could only roast them. While praying
amongst the brushwood of the wilderness my heart
melted within me at the remembrance of how I
had experienced on this journey the depravity of
these heathen Africans no less than that of my own
heart. Although I was deprived of all the comforts
of this life, I have seldom felt so happy as when
this outburst had soothed the repinings of my heart.



264 rebmann's tuikd journey to jagga.

On the morning of the 17th we entered the district
of Maina, chief of Bura, and rested till the 19th.
On the 21st, we reached Kadiaro, where we rested
again, and purchased beans and Indian com, start-
ing on the 23rd to perform the last section of our
difficult journey. For want of proper nourishment my
strength, owing to the continued toHs of the journey,
began to fail me. I wrote therefore on the 26th to
Dr. Krapf, to send me a bottle of wine and some
biscuits; and I ordered the greater portion of my
people to precede me to Rabbai, while I followed
slowly with a couple of attendants. Contrary to my
expectation I reached on the same day the end of
the wilderness, and arrived at the Duruma territory,
where I passed the night in the village Ngoni. My
host provided me with better food than I had en-
joyed for a long time, and I felt myself strong
enough next day to continue my journey without
waiting for the restoratives, which my dear fellow-
labourer was to send from Rabbai. In a short time,
however, I met our servant Amri, whom Dr. Krapf
had sent to meet me with supplies, and after a
further march of three or four leagues, I reached
our hut in Rabbai safely. I found our family in-
creased by two new members. Missionaries Erhardt
and Johann Wagner. They had arrived a few
weeks before from Europe, and immediately on
their arrival had been attacked by fever, which in
the case of Wagner assimied a fatal character, and
ended in his death on the 1st of August.

As a specimen of the languages of Eastern Africa,



BEBBiANN's THIRD JOURNEY TO JAGOA. 265

in which the words always end with a vowel, I have
chosen a portion of the petition or prayer of Maina,
which he uttered upon my taking leave of him on
the 9ih of May, when he presented me with the
sweet beverage called Jofi, as mentioned at page
234. There is so much natural piety and simplicity
in the words, that it cannot fail to strike the reader
as hopeful, that when Christianity shall have taken
root amongst these benighted people, it will be
upheld and cherished by them.

Mgeni hu atoka koao, adsha kuangu: ^^Maina,

Btnmger this went out from Ms, came tome: " Maina,

tugore, tupatane !" Mimi nai : " tuseme tukizeka ;

let us tciUc^ let us wiUte !*' I to Jwm : "let us speak (as) joyous friends ;

tu soye Mulungu pamenga nti ipoe !" Ukongo*

let us prwy (to) Heowen together the land to bless f* Sxchaestf^

usume muzi wangu ! Mgeni hu huko aenendako

depart from viUage mine ! Stranger this wheremvto he goes

asione kindu endiani; asikomoe na

(may) he not see a/n/ythvng in the woAf ; not kept hack hy

miba; asikomoe na kisiki; asionane na enzosu;

ihoimsi not kept hack hy long grass; meet not with elephants;

asionane na mbea ; asionane na emmessa !

meet not with rhinoceroses ; m^et not with enemies !

Akisika Ejrima Wa-Eorima wa-m-zeke ! Mimi

When he reaches Jagga People cf Jagga pleasure hvm! I

natereva Koma endeo-wangu, na sa mayo-

pray the Spirit of father mMie^ and of the mother

wangu m-fisheni! Mundu hu, tudshe, tuonane

mine hvm to leit arrwe ! Man this^ may he come^ may we meet

mimi nai tuzeke !

I with him to r^oiee !
* There was dckness in the place at the time.



266



CHAPTER V-

THE author's first JOURNEY TO USAHBARA.

Inducements to the journey — King Eimeri — ^Mtongwe — Lungoma —
Plain of Shimba — ^Ewale — Pipes and tobacco — Bundini — ^Musket-
firing and evil spirits — ^Teaching Wadigo boys their A, B, —
At home in the wilderness — ^Description of the country — ^Flora and
Fauna — ^Wild beasts and their habitaU — Gonja — Kusi — ^Way-
side sermon — Mohanmiedan haughtiness rebuked — 'King Kmeri's
daughter — ^The Washinsi — ^Trustftilness of the people : democracy
and despotism — ^Forward towards Fuga — ^Mountain-scenery: the
one thing wanting — ^Fuga — Salla — ^Interview with king Kmeri —
Attitude of the people — ^Kmeri's harem — ^Interview with the
king — ^Betum-joumey — ^Astonishment of the Suahili — ^Pfayer and
thanksgiving — ^Zanzibar, the Sultan and Kilimanjaro— Arrival at
Eabbai.

After Rebmann's return from his first journey to
Jagga, extending to some hundred leagues or more
into the interior, it was determined between us that
I should visit the countries to the south and south-west
of Mombaz^ to preach the Gospel in a region near to
Zanzibar, and to explore its capabilities for being
made the seat of missionary-stations. As regarded
Eaneri, or Kimeri, king of Usambara, I knew well that
he would soon learn to respect any European mission-
ary, and give him leave to reside in his country ;
adopting such measures for his protection, that he
would always have access to him by way of Tanga



FIKST JOUKNEY TO USAMBARA. 267

and Pangani, bo£h in his dominions, without fear of
molestation from the Snahili, an object of the greatest
importance for spreading the Gospel in East Africa.
Accordingly on the 12th of July 1848 I left Mom-
baz haying engaged Bana KJieri, Eebmann's guide
to Jagga, for the sum of fifteen dollars, as guide
on my journey to Usambara, and seven Suahili as
baggage-bearers at the rate of five dollars per man.
I had with me also the needful articles : calico, beads,
knives, &g. for presents, and for the purchase of
provisions. We left the harbour of Mombaz at 9 a.m.
and landed at the Mohammedan village of Mtongwe,
to the south of Mombaz. Ascending the higher
ground we reached the hamlet Lunguma, inhabited
by the Lungo tribe, a branch of the Wadigo tribes
of the Wanika. The Wanika, who live to the south
of Mombaz, are called, as formerly mentioned,
Wadigo, and their country Udigo; those to the
north-west and north-east axe called Walupanga.
Muaje Kuku, the chief of Lunguma, gave us a
friendly reception and presented us with fresh cocoa-
nuts, the pleasant milk of which revived me much.
Next day, we presented the chief with twenty ells of
American calico manufactured at Lowell, in re-
turn for his hospitality; and proceeded on our
way, gradually ascending as we went. Our road
became now steeper and more difficult for the ass
which I had brought with me from Mombaz. After
continuing the ascent for about three leagues we
reached the fine plain of Shimba, where I felt so
cold that I longed for warmer clothing. The pro*



268 FIBST JOURNEY TO USAMBARA.

spect towards the lowlands, towards Mombaz and its
bays, and towards the western mountain-chain of the
Wanika-land, was magnificent. After a march of
two leagues over the plain we came to the jungle in
which the village Kwale lies, the chief of which,
Mualuahu, gave us a very friendly reception. The vil-
lage contains about seventy huts, of which very few
are inhabited, as the people generally reside upon
their plantations. At Kwale I was not a little as-
tonished to see men and women, old and young, smok-
ing tobacco and making use of a pipe not unlike our
European ones, the bowl being neatly constructed out
of clay and fastened to a stick some feet in length.
Not only do the Wadigo grow a great deal of tobacco,
but also buy it in quantities in Usambara, in small,
round, dried cakes, which they dispose of in Kiriama
and Emberria, to be sold to the Galla. . As regards
rdigion the Wadigo appear to be as indifferent and
dull as the Walupangu, and to this their intercourse
with the deceptive Mohammedans has much con-
tributed. Nevertheless, I had sometimes interesting
conversations with Wadigo people, who at first took
me for a Mohammedan.

Jwly 14<A. — Our direction was at first to the south-
west, and when in the Panba district, about half
a league from Kwale, we began to descend into
the Wakuafi wilderness, which from the coast, from
Wassin to Tanga as well as from the Wanika-land,
stretdies as an immeasurable plain into the interior
of the African continent, with only here and there
an isolated mountain, or a mounWma^, where



FIB8T JOURNEY TO USAMBARA. 269

you meet with human inhabitants to whom the
Grospel has still to be preached. At ten we passed
the little Mto wa Pemba (river of Pemba), qnd about
noon saw distinctly the mountains Eladiaro and
KiHba^. At one in the afternoon we arrived at
the village Bundini, whose chief, Guedden, gave us
a friendly reception, and forthwith called upon one of
my musket-men to fire off his gun by way of ex-
pelling evil spirits fix)m the village. I spoke a^st
this superstition, indicating to him the right mode
of expelling evil spirits firom the human heart, not
by the application of powder and shot, but by true
repentance of our sins, and by faith in the Lord Jesus,
proclaimed in the book, the Bible which I held in
my hand. When I told the chief, that in Rabbai we
instructed young people according to our book, he
said, " Then take these boys," of whom five or six
sat beside him, ^^ and instruct them.^ I wrote
down immediately on a little bit of paper a Kinika
alphabet, and began to teach them the letters one
by one. The boys did not seem to be either dull
or unsusceptible, but capable of receiving instruc-
tion.

July \bth. — ^This morning my people prepared
sandals for the thorny journey through the wilder-
ness out of the skin of a jackal, and when they had
purchased the necessary provisions for the journey
we started about ten from Bundini. The right
direction would have been south by east, by which
we should have arrived at Usambara, in the vicinity
of Daluni; but instead of that we went almost



270 FIKST JOURNEY TO USAMBABA.

continuously eastward towards the coast of Wassin
and Tanga, a route which was very circuitous.

The country which we traversed to-day was for
the most part level, covered with grass, acacias, and
other trees and shrubs. I soon felt myself at my
ease in the wilderness, as there I always travel with
pleasure, because I meet with no greedy and bicker-
ing begging kings or chie& ; because the air is so
wholesome and strengthening; because the stillness
and quiet of the night beside a blazing fire does
one the greatest good ; and because, no less perhaps,
I can give myself up undisturbed to my reflections
on religious and geographical subjects, and find a
Bethel under every tree or bush. The constant
experience of Divine protection against wild beasts
and savages is also most encouraging. In short, in
spite of all the sufferings of hunger and thirst;
in spite of weariness and the relentless thorns,
which destroyed my clothes; in spite of dangers
from robbers from within and without, in the
wilderness, I have always felt as happy as few kings
and princes can feel in the midst of all their glory
and splendour. The one disadvantage is that,
except one's own attendants, there is no one in the
wilderness with whom one can commune, no one to
bring into the way of truth!

Jfdy 17th.' — ^Our night-fire was fed with ebony,
of wHch the wilderness is foU. The country con-
tinned level during this day's march, excepting here
and there where it was slightly undulating, being
also sometimes covered with high grass and thick



FIBST JOUBNET TO USAMBABA. 271

wood, whilst at many places were pools, much
frequented by wild elephants, and in places the soil
was of red sand and pebbles. This is the general
character of the wilderness through which we tra-
yelled ; the tall grass and the thick wood in-
creasing as we proceeded, and the soil becoming
moister, and therefore more fitted for cultivation.
I do not doubt that a botanist who might investigate
the flora of the Wakuafi-wildemess, would be richly
rewarded and discover much that is new.

In the afternoon, the way was so impeded by
euphorbia, or spurge, and wild aloe, that I was
unable to ride my ass. As before nightfall we could
not emerge from the thicket, we hewed away the
wood and made ready our encampment, kindling a
great fire as protection against wild beasts, traces of
whom, especially of the rhinoceros, we had observed
in the thick jungle. The rhinoceros frequents
places covered with euphorbia, aloe, and acacia, and
thus rendered impassable ; whilst the elephant prefers
more marshy ground, where there is plenty of tall
grass, and forest at hand into which he can retreat.
The buffitlo chooses more open ground, where he can
have tender grass for provender, and thin acacia-
bushes, behind which he can conceal himself.
Thus, every beast has his own locality assigned
to him ; and I could always tell my people before
hand, from the nature of the ground what kind
of wild beasts we should probably meet with;
and, vice versa, I could define the character of the
country fix)m the animals inhabiting it. Thus, the



f
II
272 FIBST JOURNEY TO USAMBARA.

wilderness is extremely instructive to the thoughtful
traveller,

Jidy 18. — ^To-day, in the midst of an alarm
caused by the appearance of a rhinoceros, I lost my
ass; for whilst I stood with gun presented shotdd
the enemy approach, Bana E^heri fired at random,
and startled the poor beast, who set off saddled and
bridled, and was lost in the wilderness. In the
course of the day we emerged firom the jungle and
came upon meadow-land, where we saw giraffes (tia
or tiga, in Suahili) in groups of from eight to ten.
They allowed us to come within about three hundred
paces of them, when they started off with the speed
of the wind. As we had marched the whole day
without interruption I felt quite wearied, and I
would now have been gladly mounted on my ass ;
but I was to experience the hardships of the
wfldemess on foot, and not merely on the back of
a beast.

July 19. — ^At noon we came to the river Leni,
and on its bank we cooked our mid-day meal. I cut
a great cross and the date of the year on a tree near
the spot ere we crossed the river ; we next came to
a Wadigo hamlet, whence for a few beads a native
conducted us to the chief of Gonja, a Wadigo
village on the river Umba.

July 20. — ^Mua Muiri, the chief of Gonja, in
return for a gift of eight ells of American calico ac-
companied us to the large village of Nugniri, where
a daughter of king Ejneri rules a portion of the
Washinsi-land. The soil of Gonja is very fruitful,



FIRST JOURNEY TO USAMBARA. 273

and the natires cultiyate Indian com, rice, cassaye,
beans, &c.

Jvibf 21. — Before I left Gonja this morning a
native asked me seriously whether the Europeans
were cannibals. If nothing more our journeys serve
to dissipate the prejudices of the natives and the slan-
ders of the Mohammedans.

After crossing the Umba, we soon came to the
brook Jubba. On the way a Mnika asked me among
other things, whether we, too, had slaves. When I
told him that Europeans had no slaves, neither
buying nor selling them, he turned to the Suahilis,
and said, " Why do you then make slaves ?" He
was very much pleased to learn that Europeans had
abolished slavery, and hospitably gave us a good
dish of boiled cassave, which we enjoyed heartily
in the midst of a pouring rain.

^^nd Juhf. — ^After we had crossed several streams
and passed through several villages, we reached, about
noon, the great village Kusi, where the Wadigo chief
Muhensano gave me a Mendly reception, present-
ing me with a sheep for which I paid him a dollar.
Scarcely had I seated myself under a tree, when a
crowd of old and young Wadigo assembled round me,
who behaved themselves very decorously and respect-
fully and never once so much as begged. I nar-
rated to them the fall of Adam, and spoke of the atone-
ment through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When
they asked me whether we ate pork and the flesh of
beasts slaughtered by the Wanika I was obliged to
answer in the affirmative ; upon which Bana Kh^



274 FIRST JOURNEY TO USAMBARA.

was SO provoked thai he called me a Mkafiri,
Tinbeliever, like the Wanika, so by way of reproof
of this and his attempts to ride rough-shod oyer my
Wanika, I told him that in many respects the Suahili
were worse than the heathen. I then showed him
that Mohammed was an impostor, who had stolen
from the Bible of the Christians everything good
taught in the Koran, and who had spread his re-
ligion by the sword. The Wanika, who listened
attentively were delighted that I had thus driven
the proud Mohammedan into a comer.

July 23. — We passed several large villages, and
crossed the river Engambu, sleeping in the village Mu-
hesa at the house of our guide's brother, Mua Muiri.

July 24. — With the village Fumoni we entered the
territory of the king of Usambara, and after passing
through several other villages of the Washinsi, we
arrived before the gate of the large village Nugniri,
the residence, as already mentioned, of a daughter
of king Eoneri. We were conducted to a hut in the
vicinity of the one she inhabited, whither her slaves
brought us water, wood, and provisions. Late in the
evening, she came with her husband, Bana Emsangasi,
to greet us. There is little to distinguish her from
other women of the Washinsi, as she works with her
own hand8 and herself prepares the foodfor her femUy,
although she has many female slaves around her.

The tranquillity and respect with which the people
accosted me, not one of them begging anything,
soon showed me that in the territory of king Emeri
there must reign such order as is sought for in yain



FIRST JOURNEY TO USAMBARA. 275

among the republican communities of the Wanika
and Wakamba.

July 25. — * * * By their brown colour the
Washinsi are easily to be distinguished from the
Suahili and Wanika, who are much darker. They
cultivate rice, Indian com, millet, cassave, &c-, and
as they have no cocoa-nut trees, they cannot give
themselves up to drunkenness like the Wanika.
Tobacco-smoking is universal among the Washinsi
and Wasambara.

By degrees the people of Nugniri became so
trustful that they often called me out of my hut
to talk with them ; and when I went in again they
would say, "0, there, he is going in again!" As
already indicated, I found no begging among them ;
but whether in the course of a longer residence
this would have always remained the same, is an-
other question : yet my belief is, that missionaries
have L to «ker from that ^rtem in a deq»tic
than in a repuhUcan country, it being p^snp^sed
that they have somewhat appeased at their first com-
ing, those greatest of beggars, their kings and chiefs.

The number of Washinsi subject to king Kmeri
may amount in the plain to 30,000, and in the
mountains to 60,000, souls ; but his whole empire in-
cludes, at least, half a million of subjects, from the
coast to the Pare mountains, some six or eight good
days' journey from east to west. The boundaries of
Usambara are, to the south the river Pangani, to
the north the Wakuafi wilderness and the Wadigo-
land.



276 FIEST JOURNEY TO USAMBABA.

Jidy 26. — To-day I delivered to the king's daugh-
ter and her husband my presents of clothes and beads,
worth about two dollars, which they hid very
cleverly under their clothes, so that no one might
gee and inform the king what they had received
from me; for otherwise, 2a they told me, they
would lose their heads as everything belonged to
him. From this time all the mistrust ceased of
which I had observed some symptoms before, and
both she and her husband now visited me fre-
quently, and sent me provisions for my caravan of
seven men.

July 28. — ^Yesterday evening a messenger ar-
rived from Fuga, the residence of the king, with
orders that I should proceed forthwith to the capital.

We started, therefore, and journeyed for some
leagues over a plain to the foot of the mountain
Pambire, which rises 2000 feet above the level of the
sea. I would recommend this mountain as the first
missionary-station in Ushinsi and Usambara, as it
is distant from the coast only from fifteen to seven-
teen leagues.

July 30. — Our way lay westward of Pambire, with
a slight inclination towards the south, up lull and
down dale continually, which was very feitiguing.
Scarcely had we reached the top of a hill, when we
had to descend on the other side, and to cross, at a
depth equivalent to its height, some stream or glen.
In this East- African alpine land moimtain succeeds
to mountaLQ, stream to stream, glen to glen. The
marsh-land at the foot of the mountains is used as



FIBST JOUBNEY TO U8AMBATU. 377

rice-plantations^ the hills are covered with excellent
sugar-cane and banana-trees, and the woods con-
tain superior available timber. It will be a noble
land, when Christian culture shall hallow it I
Crossing the river Emgambo we soon found our-
selves in a deep valley, from which our way lay up
Mount Makueri, which is at least 3000 feet high, and
the higher we went, the cooler and more pleasant
was the air. The cool water trickling from the
granite rocks, the Httle hamlets rising above the
mountain-ridges, the many patches of Indian com,
rice, bananas, and sugar-cane, the numerous cas-
cades, the murmur of the river Emgambo, the moun-
tain masses in the distance, — ^all tend greatly to
elevate the spirits of the wanderer.

July 31. — ^We saw many dogs, something of the
jackal species, reddish-brown and white, which the
Wasambara make food of. Bana E^heri told me that
he had journeyed through the land of Wasegua to
Engu, Fuju, Karague, Kinalomegera, Usagarra, and
Kuiwa, the way being from Jagga across Usuma,
Kahe, Arusha, Donio Nerok, Koyo, Jajuru, Itan-
du, Ramba, and hence through Ukimbu to Yoggo
where Uniamesi commences. He took shipping, if
it may so be termed, and sailed for eight days on
the waters of the great inland sea Uniamesi, lay-
ing to every night and landing upon some island.

On the western shore is Usambiro, the territory of

«

king Lebue. He says that wild asses and iron are
plentiful in Koyo.

August 7. — ^After one day of rest, and five of

T 2



278 FIRST JOURNEY TO USAMBARA.

weary pilgrimage up hiU and down dale aaid across
rivers, we reached yesterday afternoon the foot of
the mountain on which Kes Fuga, the chief capital of
king Kmeri ; and to-day I was questioned as to the
object of my journey by the king's representative,
king Kmeri being absent in Salla, his second capital,
when my replies and presents were deemed satis-
factory.

Atigust 9. — To-day I reached Salla, which I
entered with a heavy heart, as I did not know how
the Simba wa Muene, " the independent lion," or
'' the only true lion," as Kmeri is called by his sub-
jects, would receive me. If he takes me for a spy
and a magician my life wiU be in danger. Yet at
the beginning of the journey I had the words of
1 Peter, iii. 22,* to strengthen me, why should I be
afraid, knowing whose servant I am ?

August 10. — The king sent for me to-day to ascer-
tain the object of my journey, and to receive my
presents. His abode was guarded by soldiers. When
I stepped into the audience-chamber he raised him-
self a Uttle from the bedstead on which he was
lying, with a fire burning before it, round which
his chief men were seated, and I was bidden to sit
upon a bedstead opposite the king.

I told him first that I had been in Abessinia and
among the Gallas to teach them my book, which
contained the revealed Word of God; that I had
afterwards come to Rabbai, and had there built a

* " Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of Ood;
angels and authorities and powers heing made subject unto him."



FIBST JOURNEY TO USAMBABA. 279

house and begun to instruct the Wanika from it.
With the same object, my Brother Rebmann, had
been to Jagga, and the kings there had received
him kindly and invited him to remain in their
country, and to instruct their people. With this
view, I, too, had come to Usambara to ask the king
whether he wished for teachers of the glad tidings,
which that book made known ? In the event of his
wishing for them, I, or one of- my friends, would
come and remain in his coimtry. The king at
once expressed his desire for such teachers, and ob-
served that he would afterwards talk with me on
that matter. He then said he wished to receive the
presents; and having inspected them aQ, he sent them
to his treasury. He would have been glad if I had
given him more beads, cloth-stuffs, and writing-
paper for despatches, and as he cannot himself write,
he has always Suahili about him who write his
letters for him. He has two sons, also, who have
become Mohammedans, and have learned to read
and write. Their fsither threw no obstacle in their
way, when they resolved on abandoning heathenism.
When the people of Salla saw that the king had
received me graciously they came to visit me ; but
previously no one would come near me, or speak to
me. Even the king^s wives, of whom Ejneri is said
to have several hufidred, now peeped fix)m behind
their inclosures to see the strange man. Each of
them has her own hut, her own plantation, and her
own female slaves. Their dwellings are on a hill,
where no one is allowed to set foot, and they are



280 FIBST JOURNEY TO USAMBARA.

veiled like the Mohammedan women. This large
harem swallows up a large portion of the king's
revenues.

Auffust 11. — ^As I had expressed a wish to return
as soon as possible to Rabbai the king sent for me
to bid me farewell. I told him once more of the
object which had led me to him, and tried to fami-
Harize him with the chief doctrines of Scripture,
describing the fall of man, and then showing the
necessity of the atonement by Jesus Christ, both
God and man. When the Mohammedans were
about to interrupt me, the king said : ^^ I see what
his words are ; they are words of the Book." He
then asked me whether I would accept ivory, slaves,
and cattle, as he had nothing else to give me. I
replied, that I should wish him to let me have five
boys, whom I could instruct at Rabbai. To this he
rejoined, that his people did not understand these
things and that parents would think their children
were to be made slaves of and sold ; but if I would
return to his country he would intrust me with
yoimg persons to instruct; but he could not send
them out of the country. He wished, too, for skilled
people, especially a good medical man. Then he
asked repeatedly whether I would return in three
or four months ? but I could not answer this question
definitively, as I had first to consult with my
brother at Rabbai, and to write to my fiiends in
Europe, which would require a long time. He also
told me that in fixture I was to perform my journey
to him fi:om tlie Pangani, and he ordered a Mo-



FIEST JOURNEY TO USAMBABA. 281

hammedan who was in attendance to accompany
me, and finaUy gave me five goats for the return
journey, because I would accept neither ivory nor
slaves.

On the whole I had reason to be very well satisfied
with the king, especially when I considered the
pains taken by the Mohanunedans to injure me in
his estimation. They advised him, it would seem,
not to allow me to come into his presence, and at
once to send me back to the coast : but to this, I
was told, he replied, that I was his guest whom he
would protect. It is obviously his wish to enter
into closer relations with Europeans ; when he has
once become acquainted with them, the intriguing
Suahili will soon fall into disgrace.

August 13. — ^At leave-taking the king asked me
again how soon I would return ? He then gave me
two soldiers who were to accompany me to the
Pangani and protect me. At the close of the inter-
view, he said: ^^ Kua heri, Baba!" — "Fare thee
well, fether!"

I returned homeward by Bumbarri, and on the

«

19th of August reached the Pangani village, where
I was kindly received by a fiiendly Banian. The
Suahili marvelled greatly when they heard that I had
reached Usambara from Mombaz by land, and could
scarcely believe that my journey was a fait ac-
compli. I sought out a solitary place where I could un-
disturbed give hearty thanks to my God and Saviour
for all the protection and help which He had so
bounteously vouchsafed me on this toilsome journey.



282 FIBST JOUBNEY TO USAMBARA.

On the 20th of August I dismissed my Wasam-
bara attendants, and sailed to Zanzibar where, owing
to the light winds, I did not arrive tiQ the 22nd,
and met with a friendly reception and hospitable
shelter from the English consul. Major Hamerton.
On the 24th, I had the pleasure of seeing the Sultan
of Zanzibar, and of thanking him for the kindness
which he had formerly showed to my dear col-
league, Rebmann, and myself. He asked me a
great deal about the mountain Kilimanjaro,
which Rebmann had been the first to visit. I
told him that the white crown which the Suahili
took to be silver, was nothing but snow, and that
the evil spirits at whom they were terrified, were
merely the frost and cold consequent on the .great
height of the mountain. On the 29th I set sail for
Mombaz; and on the 1st of September I rejoined
Rebmann at Rabbai. We encouraged each other
anew to pray and to labour for the conversion of
Eastern Africa, where in so many places the portals
stood open for us to begin the blessed work.



283



CHAPTER VI.

FIRST JOUBNEY TO UKAMBANI.

Aim of the journey — Jimction with a Wakamba caravan — War
and peace — The wilderness and its perils — ^Yiew ftom. the monn*
tain Manngu — Yiew of Kilimanjaro — Theories and facts — No
water — ^Arrival at the Tzawo— Merciftil deliverance — ^Arrival at
Kikumbnliu: astonishment of the Wakamba — Commencement
of missionary effort — ^FaU of rain ; taken for a magician and rain-
maker — ^The Adi — ^Yiew in Yata — ^Wakamba hospitality — Giraffe
and elephant's flesh — ^Nearing Eitui — Strike of the bearers —
Further dangers — Onward again — ^Arrival at Zivoi's village —
Interview with the chiefs — ^The navigation of the Dana —
Identity of the Dana and Quilimansi — Beception — ^Missionary
instruction— FareweU-interview with Kivoi— Eetum journey—
The wilderness, a type — ^Arrival at EabbaL.

From the first establishment of our missionary sta-
tion at Rabbai Mpia it had been our wish to visit in
the interior those Wakamba tribes who, traversing
as they do for trading purposes a large section of
East AMca, may well claim the most serious atten-
tion of a missionary. After Rebmann's third journey
to Jagga, and Erhardt's arrival from Europe, it
was our unanimous decision that I should visit the
Wakamba in the interior, some 100 leagues from
Rabbai, make the Gospel known among them, and
inquire whether there might not be a route from
Ukambani to Uniamesi, to the sources of the Nile^



284 FIBST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

and to those still suryiving Christian remnants at
the equator of whom I had heard in Shoa.

Accordingly I hired some Suahili as attendants
and baggage-bearers for the distant and, perhaps
too, dangerous journey, the immediate aim of which
was to penetrate as far as Kitui and the Wakamba
chief, Kivoi, with whom we had become acquainted
at Rabbai in the July of 1848, whence I purposed,
with Eivoi's help to reach the river Dana. I
promised each bearer eight dollars as far as Kitui,
and two dollars further to the Dana, which as I
already knew separates Ukambani on the north and
east fiim the other tribes of the interior. Afterwe
had commended each other in prayer to the mercy
and protection of Heaven, I started with eleven
bearers from Rabbai on the Ist of November 1849.
Rebmann accompanied me for about a league, as
far ajs the plantation of the Mnika, Mana Zahu,
whom I had selected as the leader of my little
caravan. Early next morning he returned to Rab-
bai, whilst I continued my further journey in a
westerly direction. After our leave-taking I was
depressed at heart for several hours, until I was
strengthened by the 91st Psalm: — "I will say of
the Lord, A^ is my refuge and my fortress: my
God; in him will I trust, ^^ and could go on my
way rejoicing. Crossing the river Muaje we pro-
ceeded over a sandy and rocky country covered
for the most part with acacia, and spent the night
at the little village of Abbe Gome, where we re-
mained during the whole of the next day. The day



FIBST JOUBNEY TO UKAMBANI. 285

after we recommenced our march; and I had to
yield to the importunities of my people, and give
them a cow ; when scarcely had it been slaughtered,
partly divided, partly eaten, and partly prepared for
the journey through the desert, when we heard all at
once the sound of a war-horn, and from twenty-five
to thirty fellows marched in martial array towards
us, remaining, however, at a distance from us of
about a hundred paces. As I knew the cowardice of
the Wanika I remained quietly sitting on the ground
for some time, and watched their manoeuvres. My
leader went up to them and spoke to them; but
their mutual shrieks were so violent and so blended,
that I could not understand the purport of their
wild converse, yet deduced this much, that it had
reference to a Heshima, or present. As my leader
seemed unsuccessful I went up to them alone and
unarmed, and quietly observed that I wished to
travel in peace through their country, and had paid

onward without molestation, upon which they be-
came somewhat more quiet, but still asked for a
present. I then told them that I would return to
Rabbai and abandon the journey, and ordered my
bearers to take up their loads, and return again.
When the Durumas saw this, they held a council.
At the same time the village people begged me not
to turn about, but to wait for the appearance of
the head men of the place, who were then absent.
At last one of the hostile party came to us and
stated that they would be content with a piece of



286 FIRST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

cloth of the value of half a dollar, and would let us
proceed. I gratified their wish, after which they
became friendly and allowed us to pursue our way
in peace. We bivouacked for the night in the forest
of Kumbulu from which we should soon have to
enter the wilderness.

November 6. — The leader of a little Wakambd
caravan which had joined our party, sang songs in
honour of his tribe in the interior, and prayed to
Mulungu (Heaven) to protect his person, his beads,
and the other property which he had with him.
Throughout the day we had a good level path to
travel on, the ground on both sides being covered
with wood.

November 7. — To-day we frequently progressed
through ZaJia— woods of acacia, euphorbia, and
other trees, the boughs of which obstructed our
progress and tore our clothes, so that we had often
to creep on hands and feet through the thicket|
and a beast of burden would have been here quite
useless.

November 8. — ^About noon we reached the plain
of Kadidza which travellers are always afraid of, as
the GaUas hide themselves in the neighbouring wood,
in order to waylay and plunder them. Ajfter cross-
ing the plain we entered the forest again, and en-
camped at a place called Muangeni, very much
wearied, for we had marched at least eleven hours
imder a hot sun.

November 9. — A&&t we had started from Muangeni
we presently crossed a good and broad path, rmi-



FIEST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 287

ning from north, southward or south-westward, made
by the Galla and Wakuafi on their plundering and
devastating expeditions. We had scarcely passed
it when we met with some Wakamba, who gave us
the unwelcome tidings that three days before the
Masai had been seen near the river Tzawo; that
they had killed several Wakamba, and had made an
incursion into the Galla-land. Towards noon we
reached the foot of the mountain Maungu, an im-
portant point for travellers^ as between Ukambani
and the coast, the mountain Ndara excepted, there
is no other place where provisions can be obtained.
From Maungu the view was magnificent ; to the east,
lay the Galla-land ; to the north-west and west, the
Endara and Bura; to the south-east, Kadiaro and
the moimtains of Pare. Our direction was north-
by-west, and the road up the mountain was in some
places very steep.

November 10. — This morning we had a beautiful
distant view of the snow-mountain Kilimanjaro,
in Jagga. It was high above Endara and Bura,
yet even at this distance I could discern that its
white crown must be snow. All the arguments
which Mr. Cooley has adduced against the existence
of such a snow-mountain, and against the accuracy
of Rebmann's report, dwindle into nothing when
one has the evidence of one's own eyes of the fact
before one ; so that they are scarcely worth refuting.
At two o'clock we left Maungu, and afterwards en-
camped at the foot of the Wa, where we found water
in the rock, and tarried for the Wakamba caravan



288 FIBST JOUBNEY TO UKAMBAKX.

which had remained behind^ looking after a bearer
who had run away.

Nwember 11 — 13. — ^Two days of weary wander-
ing, the fetigue of wHch^waa aggravated by the
want of water. On the night of the 13th we en-
camped at the foot of the Kangongo in a thicket ;
some of our party ascending it to fetch .mter, whilst
I with five men guarded the encampment.

November 14. — At sunrise the water-seekers
returned, but without a drop of water! Our per-
plexity was great, for our stock of water was nearly
exhausted, and the river Tzawo was fourteen leagues
off. We started, therefore, in haste and journeyed
as fast as we could; though the sun soon became
burning hot. At noon, whilst we were resting a
little under the shade of a tree, one of my Moham-
medan bearers became so fretful oyer the annoyances
of the journey, that he exclaimed angrily : " Am I
to receive only eight dollars for this journey ? " and
became so frantic that he levelled his gun at a
Wanika, who endeavoured to quiet him.

Towards two in the afternoon the heat became
almost unbearable, and the more so, as we were stiU
without water, and far from the Tzawo. The Mo-
hammedan already mentioned was again the first
to txim restive, declaring that he was not in a con-
dition to continue the journey. I now exhorted the
others to put forth all their strength to reach the
river before night£all, and as they hesitated, I called
upon all who would volunteer to accompany me ;
when six men offered themselves for the arduous ex-



FIBST JOURNEY TO UEAMBANL 289

pedition; for we were all extremely weary and
thirsty, and the river was still distant. The sun
™. U »«bg when w. perc«i™d «,Me tre» of
the pahn family, called Mikoma, in the Wanika
language. I redoubled my pace in the sure con-
viction that the trees seen must be on the bank of
the Tzawo ; and so it proved ; for after a brief in-
terval, we were standing on the bank of that noble
river, and refreshing ourselves with its cool water.
On the soft soil we observed fresh footprints of men
and goats, and also the remains of fires, which my
people took to be the traces of the savage Masai,
who shortly before our arrival had been at the river.
The delay at the Maungu occasioned by the fugitive
Mkamba had been, in the hands of Providence the
means of preserving us from a meeting with the
Masai; and from this apparently trifling circum-
stance I derived the important lesson, to be patient
in every conjuncture which we cannot alter; for
God may have so ordered it for our preservation,
although at the moment, we cannot comprehend
His ways. At the time I had been very discon-
tented and impatient, and would have started earlier
from Maungu, if my people would have followed
me ; now I saw my folly, and was gratefrd for our
preservation I

November 16. — ^A hard day's march yesterday;
yet we started again early this morning. As the air
became dear we could see quite distinctly the
whole of the eastern side of the Jagga-land and its
enormous mountain mass; as well as the transparent



290 FIRST JOUKNEY TO UKAMBANI;

white crown on the dome-like summit of Kiliman-
jaro.

November 17. — ^When we reached Kiknmbuliu
the Wakamba soon surromided me, and looked at
me as if I were a being from another world. Hair,
hat, shoes, and umbrella, excited their liveliest atten-
tion, and they hopped about me like children. They
often asked if rain would £el11, and whether I could
not make it come, as I was a ^^mundu wa mansi
manene," a man of the great water (the sea-coast),
and had with me ^^ niiunba ya mbua," an umbrella.

November 19. — ^As We rested yesterday and to-day
by the reservoirs in Idumuo many Wakamba came
to see me. From morning to evening I was sur-
rounded by them, and every one wished to converse
with me, and to touch my clothes ; and some even
wished us to fire off our guns. I narrated to them
stories from the Bible, especially the history of the
Saviour, and also told them many thin^ about the
cuseoou of n.y ccon,^. • . .

November 20. — To-day the first rain fell in Ki-
kumbulia^ which placed me in great fevour with the
Wakamba, although I tried to counteract their
superstitious notions, and to a^ribe all to God.
My people would have gladly made the Wakamba
believe that they had brought a European rain-
maker into the country, as they hoped, in return, to
receive a sheep or an elephant's tusk. After we
had left Idimiuo, aft;er a league we came to the little
river Majijio ma Anduku, encamping at night at
MavenL



IIBST JOUHNEY TO UKAMBANI. 291

November 21. — ^After a very rainy and uncomfort-
able night, which we had passed under the open canopy
of heaven, we started at dawn, and marched some
six leagues mostly through woody country, until we
had descended gently to the bed of the river Adi,
which forms the south-western boundary of Ukambani
proper. We now began to ascend the mbuntain-chain
which stretches from Endunguni along the Galla-
land to Ukambani, . and then on to BjUkuyu. The
whole district is called Yata, and when we had arrived
at the top, we had a splendid view in every direction.
To the north and north-west we saw the serpent-like
windings of the Adi, and the hills and plains of the
Wakuafi; to the south and south-west, the moun-
tains Julu, Engolia, Theuka ; and to the east, the
mountains of Mudumoni, which separate Ukambani
from the Gallas. The banks of the river Adi rising
to upwards of twenty feet, are covered with noble
trees, and the stream which is somewhat sluggish
is one hundred and seventy feet wide ; but at this time
the bed was dried up till within sixty feet, and the
water was little more than eighteen inches deep.

We took up our quarters for the night in one of
the many little villages of the Wakamba, who were
very friendly towards iu3, and offered us the meat of
giraffes and elephants, as well as fowls for sale. I
enjoyed my giraffe steak very much; but I found the
flesh of the elephant too hard and tough, and although
roasted, it had a peculiar and unpalatable flavour.
My Mohammedans were most indignant at this meat
of the ^^unbelievers," as they called it, and asked for

u



292 FIBST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

beads to buy fowls with, wHch for ihe sake of peace
I did not refiise them.

November 22. — ^We journeyed on for a league across
the plain of Yata, and then ascended into the exten-
sive wilderness of Tangai which is totally umnhabited^
and stretches as far as the Mudiunoni moimtains
and the Galllt-land towards the east and south-east.
After we had left the Tangai wilderness behind us
our route lay through Ukambani proper, and we
had no longer to traverse thick jungle, as between
the coast and Kikumbuliu. About three o'clock, we
reached the river Tiva which is said to rise in Ulu,
the north-western province of Ukambani ; but which
is dried up in the hot season, and it is only on re-
moving the surface sand that water can be obtained.

November 23. — ^About ten o'clock we rested at
Mbo, a water-station, after traversing a red and
sometimes black soil, and at four o'clock we encamped
in Mbandi under a large tree. To-day Kilima-
njaro was seen frequently; indeed we were con-
stantly in view of the snow-mountain, wherever the
ground was somewhat elevated and afforded a look-
out into the distance.

November 24. — We halted in the afternoon at
Nsou, and in the evening encamped at Hangilo.
The whole of this district is more beautiftd and richer
in grass and trees, than any we had yet seen during
ol^j. W, were Lw in iLab^ Z!
which at the coast I had often heard descnbed as a
beautiftd country.

November 25. — ^I passed a night of trouble. As



PIEST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 293

my people knew that to-day we would reach Kivoi
and that our journey was drawing to its close, they
asked with the greatest insolence for an' increase of
pay; and now demanded thirteen instead of the
eight dollars which had been agreed upon at Rab*-
bai. They said that three dollars had been abeady
consumed by iheir wives and children, and had been
received in advance before leaving Rabbai ; and now
they insisted on receiving ten dollars more. Besides
this they demanded all the ivory which Kivoi
might give me in return for my presents. Should I
refuse compliance^ they threatened to abandon me
forthwith; and throughout they were so fiirious^
that had I used the slightest offensive word in reply,
they would infallibly have killed me on the spot.
I therefore remained quiet all the night through,
and allowed them to shriek and bawl. At length
I promised them the ten dollars without more ado,
and even the thirteen dollars " if the demand were
recognized as a just one by the authorities at the
coast ; but here, in the wilderness, there was no proper
tribunal to judge between us." This declaration
appeased them at last, so that they departed from
Ilangilo and proceeded to the village of Bavoi.

November 26 — On reaching Kivoi's village we
seated ourselves under a tree and waited till he
should come to us. He came at last out of his little
village, accompanied by his chief wife who carried
in her hand a magic-staff which was coloured black.
The chief gave me a friendly greeting, and said
that when I spoke to him at Rabbai about a journey

u 2



294 FIRST JOURNEY TO TJKAMBANI.

to Ukambani, he had thought I was not speaking the
truih^ as he could not imagine that I should ever
perform so distant a journey ; but now he saw that I
had spoken the truth I was very welcome to his
country. He then ordered a lodging to be pre-
pared for me in the hut of one of his wives, who
was forced to leave it, whilst the Wakamba ran
together in crowds to see and to wonder at the
Musungu, European.

After I was somewhat settled in my new abode
I visited the chief, and spoke to him respecting the
object of my journey, which was to learn whether
the Wakamba would receive Christian instructors,
who would teach them the way to true happiness
through the knowledge of God and His Son Jesus
Christ. I told him further that I wished to extend
my journey as far as the river Dana, and would
therefore ask him for an escort for the execution of
my plan. I did not ask for any ivory in return for
my presents ; I asked for nothing more than my
daily sustenance so long as I remained with him.
The chief replied: "I understand your object, and
you shall receive all that you desire. You will
remain with me till next month, when I am going
to Muea, in the Wandurobo country, and also to
Kikuyu, to fetch ivory thence, and you can go
with me to all these districts. After my return I
shall make a journey to the coast to sell my ivory,
in some four or five months, when you can go with
me ; but you must send away your Wanika, for I do
not like them, because they rob me of my ivory when



FIRST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANL 295

I go through their country." Upon this he brought
a cow, which was slaughtered by my Mohammedans,
and divided between me and Kivoi's family. He
would not give anything to the Wamka, especially
when he heard that they had behaved badly to
me at Hangilo. In another conversation Kivoi ex-
pressed the wish that the governor of Mombaz would
send boats up the river Dana, always navigable, to
bring away his ivory by water, as its transport to
Mombaz by land was very difficult. This and
other communications on the same subject, pleased
me very much, for I had long wished to see set on
foot the navigation of the so-called Quilimancy,
which may be, probably, equivalent to Kilimansi,
or Kilima ja mansi — ^mountain of the water. This
Qmlimancy is, therefore, nothing else than the river
Dana, which is formed by the snow-water of Kegnia,
and in its further course receives many rivers, for
instance, the Dida, Kingaji, and Ludi.

November 27. — This morning Kivoi introduced
me to his chie& and relatives. He made use of
my presence to raise himself up in their eyes. He
said: "Did I not tell you that I would bring a
Musungu to you ? Now he ia here ; am I not a man
of note since a Musungu has come to me into my
country?" They all cried out with one voice:
" Truly, Kivoi is a great man, and has spoken to us
the truth ! " They then looked comteously at me,
and took delight in inspecting my shoes, hair, hat,
clothes, and especially my umbrella, which was often
opened and shut up. They then began to quaff uki.



296 PIKST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

a drink prepared out of sugar-cane. Kivoi repeated
his former promise to siccompany me wheresoever I
wished, although I had ahready resolved to return
to the coast. I felt unwell, having had no proper
food since I left Kikumbuliu, and the rain now pre-
vented my journey to the Dana. If I sent away
my Wanika, I should be entirely dependent on
Kivoi for my return to Rabbai, and I had reason
to trust the Wakamba even less than the Wanika.
These were among my reasons for wishing to return.
After I had pa^ssed some time with the Wakamba
chiefs, who sat perfectly naked on their little stools,
I returned to my hut, where a number of people
assembled again, to whom I endeavoured to pro-
claim the Gospel, even though I wad not yet master
of the Wakamba language. Kivoi arrived after-
wards and asked me for the presents I had brought
for him, and which I then gave to him.

November 28. — ^Eavoi mentioned the existence of a
Volcano in the vicinity and to the north-west of
Kegnia, the fire-plains of which are dreaded by the
hunters as dangerous ground. During my stey in
the villas a dance was performed by some natives
of Kiku^, which consisted in each person springing
as high as possible into the air, and upon his reach-
ing the ground again, stamping with all his might
with his feet and shouting out "Yollel YoUe!"
when after moving backwards a little the whole
body of dancers came forwards in a ring; upon which
the dance was several times repeated. These
Kikuyu were by no means repulsive-looking, in-



FIRST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 297

deed they were handsomer than even the dwellers
along the coast^ and their language is evidently a
mixture of Eikamba and Kikaufi^ as indeed is that
of the tribes of Mbe and Uimbu, which also dwell in
the vicinity of Kegnia, and Uke them their chief
articles of trade are ivory and tobacco.

December 3. — ^The wives of the chief prepared meat
for our journey to the coast.

In the afternoon, we took leave of Kivoi, who
delivered the following long address to me and to
my people: — *^I wished the Musungu (European)
to remain with me, and go next month with me to
Kikuyu, where the river Dana can be crossed ; but
the Musungu wishes to return to the coast. He can
go if he pleases ; I will not prevent him. I wished to
bestow upon him one elephant's tusk four feet long,
another three feet and a half in length ; for what he
has is mine, and what I have is his; but here I have
no ivory, it is at Kikuyu. I will go and fetch it,
and then I will travel to the coast, and bring with
me two elephants' tusks for the Musungu ; and if his
brother at Rabbai will go with me to Ukambani, he
may go with me, but ivory here have I none. I will
go to Kiku3ru and to the Andulobbo and fetch it
next month. I am a man of note; I do not use
many words, but I will keep my promise. And you
Wanika, listen to me ; I have a word to say to you
also. You are not to give any annoyance on the road
to the Musungu ; for he is my friend. You are to
take him in safety to his house at Rabbai, that my
anger may not be provoked against you. And now



298 FIRST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI,

here are 170 strings of beads and a ^^doti'^ (four
yards) of calico ; this will suffice you to buy food in
EjUkumbuliu, and to reach the coast. And now I
have told you my whole heart. Salute Tangai, the
governor of the fortress of Mombaz."

Tangai was personally known to the chief, as he
is in the habit of buying ivory of him when Kivoi
goes to Mombaz. After this address we started
accompanied by Kivoi, who went with us a few
hundred paces. In the evening we bivouacked in the
village of one of his relatives.

December 1 1 . — ^Yesterday we reached the first place
in Kikumbuliu, our route having lain by Nsam-
bani (on the 4th), Ilangilo (the 5th), Nsou (the 6th),
Mbo (the 7th), the river Tiwa (the 8th), and the Adi
(the 9th).

On pur homeward journey we met with no pax-
ticular adventures, only we were often troubled
for want of water and by the fear of enemies. On
the 20th of December we. reached Mount Ndungani,
whence we looked ba.ck once more on the great
wilderness which we had traversed. I thought of
the toils, privations, and dangers which we had sur-
vived in the days just past. They were all over now j
but the many proofe of the protecting power, mercy,
and companion of my God can never be forgotten
by me, but must be a continual stimulus to grati-
tude and to zeal in prayer and in labour for the
furtherance of His kingdom in the darkened regions
with which I have become acquainted. This look-
ing back ixito the wilderness reminded me, too, of



FIEST JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 299

the dying Christian standing upon the hill of death,
looking for the last time backwards upon the wilder-
ness of this world, contemplating his conflicts with sin
and the world, and after a well-fought battle approach-
ing the repose which his God and Saviour has merci-
fully prepared for him in heaven. Strengthened
by this thought, I recommenced my march once
more and journeyed the whole day, until in the
evening we reached the dwelling of our guide,
Mana Zahu, where (only a league from Rabbai) I
spent the night, his wife providing me with whole-
some food in abundance. On the morning of the
21st I had the pleasure of rejoining once more my
dear fellow-labourers, Rebmann and Erhardt, and of
telling them what I had seen and heard in the past
fifty-one days, and what the Father of all mercies
had done for me.



300




CHAPTER VII.

SEOOND JOUBNET TO UKAMBAKI.

Contemplated missiosary-statioii at Yata — ^Advantages of the loca-
lity — ^Departure — The wildemesa : " silence 1" — Rohhers ahead —
Ko water — Forward towards the Tzawo— Onslaught of the rohbers
— ^Fortunate deliverance — ^A felse alarm — ^Arrival at Yata —
Friendly reception from the chiefs — No house, and its incon-
veniences — ^Threatened desertion of the Wanika, and flight of the
author's only servant — House-building operations : unsatifl&ctory
results — ^Annoyances from the Wakamba — ^Yisit to Kivoi resolved
on — ^Departure — Sickness — ^Too swift an escort — ^Arrival at Kivoi's
— ^Uki — ^War with the Atua — The deserted village — Kivoi's
return and promises — ^Peace-rejoicings — ^Expedition to the Dana —
Under way again — ^Poison-wood, its commerce and manipulation —
Unexpected venison — ^Nearing the Dana.

The immediate object of my second journey to
Ukambani was, in accordance with the decision of
the Committee of the Church Missionary Society,
to found a missionary-station in Ukambani, and thus
actually to commence the chain of missions through
Africa formerly spoken of. If the Ukambani-mission
succeeded, it was hoped that then a further mis-
sionary-station might be established in the neigh-
bourhood of the snow-mountain situated on the
high ground of Yata, some 110 leagues from Rabbai
in the village of a Mkamba, Mtangi wa Nsuki, a
man of great influence in the district of Yata, and



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UKAMBANI. 301

which being visited by all the caravans which
journey either from Ukambani to the seacoast, or
•from the latter to Ukambani, a missionary stationed
there would have frequent opportunities of corre-
sponding with his brethren at Rabbai* The village
lies in a plain, which is at least 2000 feet above the
level of the sea and contains many Wakamba
villages* As the Wakamba-land proper begins with
Yata a missionary stationed there could make excur-
sions in every direction, and as at the same time
many Wakamba from Yata were settled at Rabbai
Mpia, in constant intercourse with their friends and
relations in the interior, the Yata people would be
obliged to be carefiil in their treatment of the
stranger. If they maltreated him the authorities oi
the coast would in accordance with the East-African
custom, retaliate on the settlers from the interior in
their power,

I engaged thirty Wanika as burden-bearers and
escort, Mana Zahu being the leader of the little
caravan, which was joined on the way by about
100 Wakamba, who were returning to their homes.
Our departure from Rabbai took place on the 1 1th
of July. The disorder, insane chatter, drunken-
ness, gluttony, and disobedience of my people
were great, and gave me much pain, until on
the 14th of July we left behind us the inhabited
country and reached, the great wilderness at Ndun-
guni, when the Wanika were obliged to be quiet
and silent. On the 15th we were met by a caravan
of Wakamba coming from the interior with ivory to



302 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

the coast, and to some of them, who seated themselves
on the groimd beside me, I explained the object of
my journey ; after which, a Mkamba told me that
in his youth he had travelled to MbeUete, and had
then proceeded into the coimtry of the Wabilikimo,
or * kittle people" (pigmies). The distance between
Ukambani and Ubilikimoni was greater than that
between the former and Mombaz ; the Wabilikimo
had long feet, but short bodies, and on their backs
a kind of hump ; and nobody understood their Ian-
guage. The Wakamba made friends with them by
offering copper rings, for which honey was presented
in return; they were good, harmless people, and
there were many elephants in their country. At
our night bivouac the Wamka and Wakamba were
quarrelling over the division of a slaughtered
goat, whereupon a Mkamba made a long speech
in which he exhorted the people thenceforth to
observe silence, and on the march not to leave the
caravan, as the way was dangerous. After a very
fiettiguing march of two days we reached Moimt
Maimgu, where we met a number of Wamka o f the
Kiriama tribe, waiting for ivory caravans from
Ukambani. They gave us the unwelcome intelli-*
gence that the day before a large band of GaUas
had been seen in the neighbourhood of Kadiza,
evidently with the design of attacking and plimder-
ing the ivory-caravans of the Wakamba. On the
18th of July we determined to rest for a little at
Maungu. The Eliriama people surrounded me
almost the whole day putting questions, or trying



SECOND JOUBNEY TO tlKAMBANI. 303

to inspect the things which I was taJdng to Ukam-
bani. With a few of them I had some talk upon
religions matters, and they asked who was Jesus
Christ, and what had He done ? To-day the leaders
of the Wakamba caravans made their people
swear, that in case of an attack by the Gallas or
Masai, they would not run away but would defend
themselves. My leader, too, was obliged to be
present at the oath-taking. I took no notice of the
circumstance, but in the course of the journey I
foimd that the caravan-leaders had shown very
proper forethought. A European ought not alto-
gether to despise the reports and fears of the natives ;
but because the people had babbled so much about
the dangers of the journey to Ukambani, and I had
performed my last journey thither in safety, I looked
on their tales and terrors as fanciful. However I
was later forced to acknowledge that the natives had
good ground for their anxieties and precautions.

We started again on the morning of the 19th of
July, our route lying more to the north and our
path being level and sandy. Leaving Moimt Ndara
on the left we marched some six leagues till we
reached the river Woi, where we bivouacked. On
the 20th we crossed the Woi, and noticed on the
bank fresh traces of elephants ; and upon entering the
noble prairie, free of thorns and jungle, with which the
eastern range of the Bura mountains terminates, we
saw here and there a shy zebra, or a giraffe, which my
people vainly endeavoured to capture. At noon we
reached Kangongo ; but, as had . been the case two



304 SECOND JOUKNEY TO UKAMBANI.

years ago, we found no water there, and so pushed
forward to reach the Tzawo. On the 2l8t we started
before dawn to reach the Tzawo as soon as possible, as
our stock of water was nearly exhausted, and about
nine we ascended a small hill, and sat down in the
vicinity of a thick wood. How little did I suspect
that lurking enemies were surrounding and watching
us ! During the march, I had been ruminating upon
the various petitions of the Lord's Prayer, and
almost every word of it had impressed itself bm
a blessing to me. Till now the Wakamba caravan
which kept company with us, had preceded us during
the whole journey, but when we resumed our march
it remained, I know not why or how, behind my
people. Just as I had entered with my Wanika
a large thicket where it was dilBicult to move to the
right or to the left, we heard suddenly a loud cry
which proceeded from the Wakamba, who formed the
rearguard. They cried "Aendi! Aendi! Aendi!" —
Robbers ! Robbers ! Robbers ! (literally hunters). A
frighted confusion now arose among my people ; they
threw do wn their loads, and would have fled into the
wood, but found it difficult to penetrate the bushes.
One called out this, another that ; several shouted,
*^ Fire off the guns, fire off the guns 1" I wished to
do so, but the man who carried my double-barrelled
one had fled, and I was quite unarmed. I got
hold of him and it at last and fired in the air,
on which the Wanika set up a dreadfiil war-cry, and
the others who had guns then fired three or four
shots in succession* Whilst this firing was going on



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UEAMBANI, 305

at our front, the Wakamba were discharging their
poisoned arrows at the Aendi, who had shot theirs
at them, from the hill I have mentioned. The
Wakamba who were furthest behind, threw down
their loads at the sight of the enemy, allowing them
to come and put them on their shoulders, whereupon
the Wakamba fired and shot three of the robbers
dead; and we had one Mkamba wounded. When
the enemy saw that the Wakamba made a stand
.ad he«d o.. firing, they retreated to their hidh^.
place, upon which my scattered Wanika collected
again, took courage, and joined the Wakamba, who
had been exposed to the greatest danger. Had the
conflict lasted longer we should have been in a very
perilous plight, as in the confusion I lost my powder-
horn, and one of my people burst the barrel of his
gun by putting too large a charge into it. The
ramrod of another was broken, through his being
knocked over by a Mnika in the confusion, just as
he was going to load ; whilst the gun of another
missed fire altogether. I saw clearly that it was God
who preserved us, and not our own sword and bow.
After the rearguard of the Wakamba had got up to us,
we hurried on to escape from the inhospitable thickets ;
but we had not gone far, when those in front cried,
"Aendil Aendil" ^< Robbers! Robbers T We fired
at once in the air ; but we soon discovered our mis-
take, and got off with the mere alarm ; as it turned
out to be the caravan expected at Maungu, consisting
of three to four himdred Wakamba, who were coming
from the interior with a number of elephants' tusks,



306 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

and whom our yanguard had taken for robbers.
Fortunately the travellers at once recognized our
Wanika, and cried to us, " Do not fire, we are trad-
ing people !" Some of these Watamba came fix)m
one side through the thicket, and as I still took
them to be robbers I pointed my gun at them, but
waited a moment, till they should begin the attack.
Fortunately the Wanika called out to me : " Do not
fire, they are fiiends !" Fear was succeeded by sud-
den joy; evidently the robbers had intended to
attack the expected caravan, but on the principle of
a bird in the bush, thought it better to plunder
us as first comers, and we had thus prepared the way
for the large caravan. It was fortunate for me that
the first attack had been made on the Wakamba,
for they defended their property, while my people
cared neither for me nor for my baggage, but were
anxious about their own lives alone.

We reached the Tzawo in safety, and, continuing
our journey on the 22nd, arrived on the 24th after
a two day«' very toilsome march at KikumbuUu,
where we rested for a day. At last, on the afternoon
of the 26th, we crossed the Adi and began to ascend
the high land of Yata, my destination as a mis-
sionary. On the way, I besought earnestly in my
heart the Father of all mercies to guide and help me
to make a commencement of missionary work in this
country. Arrived at the plain on the top we pro-
ceeded to the nearest village, and inquired aft;er the
Mkamba, Muilu wa Kiwui, with whom I was first to
reside. We were told that he had quitted the



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UEAMBANI. 307

village; in consequence of a famine from which the
country was suffering through want of rain. We
then betook ourselves to Mtangi wa Nsuki, another
Wakamba chief, who gave us a friendly reception ;
and in a short time there was an assemblage of
the other chiefs to whom I explained the object of
my journey. They declared that they would will-
ingly permit me to reside among them, build a
hut, and do whatever I pleased, assuring me of
their protection. After this declaration I delivered
to them my present which consisted of eight ells of
calico and some four pounds of beads; for which
they presented me in return with a goat. I made a
special present to Mtaugi wa Nsuki, as it was within
his enclosure that I was to erect my hut, and as he
had offered me his particular protection. Thus far
at starting everything had gone satisfactorily, so that
I took courage and thanked God for His powerful
protection and assistance.

July 27. — ^In the course of the day I was visited
by many Wakamba, who wished to see me and my
baggage, which I was obliged to leave lying in the
open air, whilst for want of a proper dwelling-place
I too was forced to camp out, with no other
shelter than that which my imibrella afforded me
against the heat of the sun during the day ; whilst at
night a cold wind was blowing from the south from
Kilimanjaro and Yulu; and even in the morning
at 10 o'clock the glass stood at 68^, and did not reach
beyond 72^ at midday. It was most unpleasant to
me to have no habitation, however small, in which

X



808 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

I could rest from the fatigues of the journey and be
sheltered from the intrusion of the Wakamba. I felt,
consequently, rather low spirited, and this mood was
somewhat aggravated by the declaration rf my
Wanika, that next day they intended to return to
Rabbai with a Wakamba caravan which was jour-
neying towards the coast. I reminded them of their
undertaking to build me a dwelling-place before they
returned to the coast, which they did not deny,
and at once set to work with it. In a few hours
they had put together, with stakes fetched from the
wood, a miserable hencoop, scarcely six feet high,
and about as many feet broad and long, but with
which I was fain to be content as my things were
lying in the open air, and I had neither shelter by
day from the heat of the sun, nor by night from
the cold of the bitt^ bla^ s;eeping in W the
southern mountains.

July 28. — My Wanika started this moming with-
out ftoishing the roofing in of tiie hut mth graas;
and the single servant whom I had brought from
Rabbai ran away, although I had always i^ated
him with particular aflfection and kindness. I could
not trust the Wakamba ; my conscience forbade me
to buy a slave ; and yet I was obliged to have some
one who could look after my things, and to whose
care I coidd entrust my hut, and I saw that I must
have a tolerable servant and a better dwelling-place,
if I was to settle in Yata. In my hencoop I could
neither write, nor read, nor sleep, and was conti-
nually besieged by the Wakamba, who by day, even



HECOND JOUBNEY TO UEAMBAKI. 309

before dawn, did not leave me a moment alone.
If I wifihed to read, they aaked if I was trying to
spy into their hearts, or whetiier I was looking for
rain and inquiring after diseases; when I wrote,
they wanted to know what I had written, and
whether it contaiQed sorcery. Every one of my
movements was sharply observed. Many came to
beg this or that, to see new things, or to buy
wares, as they took me for a merchant; others
brought a few eggs or a little meal, and then asked for
twice or three times a^ much as their presents were
worth; whilst others, again, wished merely to be
amused. My hut had not even a door, so that I could
not close it, and by night I was safe neither from
thieves nor from wild beasts.

Julff 30. — ^Meditating this morning on my painful
position, I came to the conclusion, on the one hand,
that I ought not to abandon Yata, as the people, on
the whole, were friendly, and part of them listened
with attention when I strove to make them ac-
quaiated with the Word of God ; on the other hand,
it was clear to me that I could not remain if my two
Wanika were to forsake me now, or at the close of two
months ; for on the flight of my servant (who was
afraid to stay in Ukambani by himself), these two had
offered their services, very highly paid, for two months
only, at the end of which I was either to return with
them to the coast, or remain by myself in Yata. I
therefore resolved to make use of the interval in
visiting the interior of Ukambani as far as the river
Dana, and first of all to repair to my old friend

X 2



310 SECOND JOUBNEY TO UKAMBANI.

Kivoi, with whose help I might attain my object,
K I were then obliged to quit Ukambani I should^ at
leasts have added to my knowledge of the country,
and have promulgated the gospel in it, here and there.
After I had decided on journeying to Kivoi I asked
Mtangi wa Nsuki for a small escort, which he
readily granted, giving me, however, to understand
that I was to return to him, and remain with him.

August 1. — I awoke this morning in a very feverish
state, caused partly by the cold at night, partly by
the unwholesome air of my hut ; but, nevertheless
set out on the journey to Kivoi, accompanied by four
Wakamba and one of my two Mnika servants, leav-
ing the other to look after my things. The Wakamba
moved on so swiftly that I could not keep pace with
them ; it was more like jumping than walking. In
the villages which we passed through, I had often to
stop and allow myself to be gaped at by the people
like an ape or bear in Europe. In the evening we
reached the river Tiwa.

August 2. — On waking this morning I was so
unwell that I would have returned to Yata, if my
servant and the Wakamba would have allowed me.
My servant hoped to receive a piece of ivory from
Kivoi, which was the reason why he would not return
to Yata. So on we went, the Wakamba running so
fast that I could not keep up with them, and our way
lay through an iminhabited and uncultivated country.

August 4. — ^About noon we reached the village of the
chief, Kivoi, who was absent. When he came home
he greeted me in a friendly manner, and observed



8£CK)ND JOURNEY TO UEAMBANI. 311

that he should have taken it very ill, if I had not
come to him. He told me, among other things, that
he had at present a feud with the Wakamba-tribe
Atua, which had destroyed the house of his relative,
Ngumbau, because the wife of the latter, who is
reputed a witch, had been suspected of casting a
spell upon the cattle of the Atua.

August 5. — To-day Kivoi introduced me to Rumu
wa Kikandi, a native of the tribe Uembu, whose terri-
tory lies five or six days' journey to the north-west
of Kitui, quite close to the snow-mountain Kirenia
(Kenia). He told me that he had fi-equently been
to the mountain, but had not ascended it, because
it contained Eirira, a white substance, producing
very great cold. What the Jagga people call Kibo,
snow, is caUed by the natives of Uembu, Kirira,
which brings to mind the Ethiopic word kur, or
kuir (coldness). The white substance, he added,
produced continually a quantity of water, which
descended the mountain and formed a large lake,
fi-om which the river Dana took its rise.

Auffusl 7. — * * * * In KivoPs hut, I saw a
quantity of Magaddi, a dried earth of whitish hue,
which has a sour but aromatic odour, and is found
in Jagga as well as in Udeizu and in the north-
eastern Wakamba-land. It is made into a powder by
the Wakamba and Wanika, and mixed with snuflF,
of which the East-AMcans are passionately fond.

August 9. — To-day, Kivoi had a quantity of Uki
prepared for the banquet which he was to give to
his tribe to induce them to accompany him on an



312 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

expedition against the Atua, if a reconciliation with
the latter turned out to be impossible. This beverage
is thus prepared from sugar-cane : first, the bark of
the cane is cut away; then the cane is cut into
small pieces and put into a wooden mortar, which
is made firm in the earth; after it has been poimded
into a pulp it is put into a pit, when being covered
over with a cowhide and pressed down, the juice
rises through to the top. The expressed juice, which
is very sweet, is then poured into calabashes, and
these are placed near a fire, to be made hot. When
this process is over, the beverage is ready for use.

Aicffust 13. — ^Many Wakamba were here to-day;
they sat in groups in Blivoi's yard, where I had an
opportunity of becoming acquainted with many of
them, and of speaking to them respecting the salva-
tion of their souls.

August 14. — To-day, aboiit 200 men appeared in
Kivoi's village. They came singing, dancing, and
piping, and seated themselves in a semi-circle on
the ground outside the village. Kivoi asked me to
accompany him, with my telescope in my hand;
which I did, and when perfect quiet was restored,
Kivoi marched up and down within the semi-circle,
and delivered a long address. On his head he wore
a kind of hat decorated with ostrich-feathers ; in his
hand he carried a club, and by his side hung his
swordand powder-horn; his body was perfectly naked,
with the exception of a scanty piece of cloth. He
stated in his address that he wished to recover firom
the Atua the cattle of which his relative had been



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UKAMBANI. 313

robbe^^. If they would not assist him he should
depart out of the land, and then they would never
again see a stranger like me. After the people had
promised obedience and assistance, they started on
the expedition with Kivoi at their head.

The population of the village was now reduced to
females only; it did not contain a single male,
except myself, my servant, and Ngumbau, whose
wife was said to have bewitched and destroyed the
cattle of the Atua. The people were in great terror
of an attack of the Atua by night, who might easily
have taken and burned the village. Ngumbau came
during the night trembling into my hut, and asked
me to look through my telescope and see whether
friends or foes were coming ; my servant, too, was
in great terror, and wished to return immediately to
Yata and the seacoast ; I commended myself to the
protection of Ahnighty Qt)d, and laid down in tran-
quillity on my bed.

August 17. — Kivoi returned after having peace-
fully arranged his quarrel with the Atua, the latter
having promised to restore the cattle which had been
stolen. Both parties had slaughtered an animal,
eaten certain portions of it, and sworn, to observe the
treaty of peace. I spoke to Kivoi respecting that true
peace which the world cannot give nor take away.

August 18. — ^When I informed the chief to-day of
my wish to return to Yata, he said I was not to do
so as he would soon accompany me to the river
Dana and to Mbe. He would afterwards go with
me to Mombaz; there I was to hire some Sualuli,



314 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

who could build me a substantial dwelling in Ukam-
bani ; he would then help me to visit all the co\m-
tries round about, and I might do with him what
I pleased. I had no doubt that Kiyoi could and
might execute all these intentions, yet I feared his
great greed, which would lead him to try to make
capital out of me. He was well acquainted with
Europeans, Suahili, and Arabs ; he possessed great
influence, too, on the coast and in the interior ; but
I felt no impulse to throw myself into his arms, and
to enter into his schemes. I was still of the opinion
that Yata was the best place for a missionary-station.

August 19.' — Kivoi's whole village rejoiced and
danced in consequence of the restoration of peace.
The chief had a quantity of uki prepared for our
approaching journey to the river Dana. Early in
the morning, whilst walking up and down in his
enclosure, he gave each of his female slaves a
quantity of Indian com to grind.

August 20. — ^A little caravan arrived yesterday
from Mbe with tobacco, which the Mbe people wished
to sell in Ukambani.

August 24. — ^We started on our much-talked-of ex-
pedition yesterday evening, our route being to the
north and north-west, mostly through very fine
country, well suited for tillage and grazing. In the
evening we bivouacked by a brook which flows to-
wards Kitui. In the open and grassy wilderness,
through which we wandered, there was here and
there an acacia-tree to be seen; but otherwise the
country was completely without wood.



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UKAMBANI. 315

Augtist 25.' — ^We broke up early, and after a short
march we came upon four rhinoceroses grazing ; but
as we did not disturb them they remained quietly
where they were. I used to have a great dread of
those ugly and clumsy creatures, but by degrees
I grew accustomed to them. All day we were
gradually ascending; there was not a single tree
to be seen, nothing but grass. We observed great
herds of antelopes; and at one time we saw a
flock of vultures flying upwards and then descend-
ing to the ground again ; upon which the Wakamba
immediately threw down their loads, and ran to the
spot, where to their joy they found a great piece of the
flesh of Ngtmdi, a kind of large antelope. Every-
where on our road Kivoi set fire to the grass,
which did us mischief subsequently, as the fire
informed the enemy of our onward march. We
passed soon afterwards the brook Andilai, the water
of which was very salt, on the banks of which I
remarked a stratiun of crystallized salt, which, how-
ever, was mixed with earth; but KivoPs wives
collected a quantity of it for our use on the road.

August 26. — ^We started very early. The little
caravan of Uembu people, whose leader was my
Mend Rumu wa Kikandi, carried a quantity of the
wood of the poison-iree which grows in Kikam-
buliu, Mberria, and Teita, in pieces of fi'om three
to four inches thick. The wood is pounded, and
then boiled, and the point of the arrow is besmeared
with the black, thick paste, which is the result of
the operation, the strength of the poison being first



316 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

tested on animals. The people on the other side of
the river Dana exchange tobacco and ivory for this
wood, which does not grow in those regions, and in
Kikumbuliu I saw whole caravans conveying heavy
loads of this wood to Ukambani. Our way led us first
up and thmi over a hill, a continuation of the Data,
from the top of which there is a magnificent view
towards Kikuyu and the valley of the Dana. To
the south-west are Mounts Iweti and Nsao Wi, and
beyond them the lofty Muka Mku and the Kanjallo,
whichmark the beginning of the highlands of Kikuyu,
It seems probable that the chain of mountains which
stretches from Ndungnai to Yata, and so on to Elan-
jaUo, may lose itself in Kirenia. When we had
descended it on the other side, we halted by a
brook, and while we were restiog, the Wakamba
saw again a immber of vultures flying upward and
downward. My servant ran immediately to the
spot and found a great piece of a fallow-deer, which
had been seized and partly devoured in the morning
by a lion, whose footpriuts were apparent. I was
glad of this roasting-joint, as Eivoi had. but indif-
ferently fulfilled his promise of ftrniishing us with
provisions during the journey, and on the first day
we had had nothing but bananas. After we had
enjoyed our venison, we continued our journey.
Again we saw the high mountain Muka Mku, past the
eastern foot of which the river Dika is said to flow,
falling in Muea into the Dana, the Dana itself flow-
ing to the west of Muka Mku.



317



CHAPTER Vm.

SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI CONTINUED.

Bobbers — ^Parley — ^Attack in eamelbtr-^Dispersion of Kivoi's 'psrty —
The author's flight — Subsequent adventures, perils, and sufferings
— ^Rencounter with a Wakamba pair — ^Arrival at a village — ^At
Kitetu's — ^Murderous deigns of Kiyoi's kinsmen — ^The author's
flight from Kitetu's hut — ^Wanderings in the wilderness — ^Arrival
at Eivoi's village — ^Reception by his kinsfolk — ^Plundered and
sil^iced — To Tata — Reception — Farewell to Tata — Return
homewards — ^Elephants — ^Wild beasts as path-makers — Arrival
at Rabbai Mpia — ^Results of the journey — The Ukambani-mission
to be defeiredy not surrendered — Conditions necessary for its
success — ^The Wakamba — ^TheWakuafl and Masai tribes.

Anffust 27. — ^Last night we had encamped in a
grassy wilderness; I felt much disquieted, and
awoke several times. Once the wind drove the fire
to our encampment ; another time, I thought I heard
people running about. In the morning, we had no
water for cooking purposes, so that there was but
little enjoyment of our meal. When we reached the
isolated Mount Kense, which rises up out of the great
plain leading to the Dana, some twenty-five of
Eivoi's people who had left Kitui after us joined our
caravan, which now comprised fi-om fifty to fifty-five
persons. Not far firom Kense, where we had halted,
Kivoi lost the handle of my umbrella, which I had



318 SECOND JOURNET TO UKAHBANI.

given him. After an hour and a half, he first dis-
covered the loss, when he immediately commanded a
halt, and returned with a troop of people to look for
the missing article. This unimportant circmnstance
irritated me not a Httle, a« I was hungry and
thirsty, and wished to reach the river as soon m pos-
sible; and being thus discontented with the behaviour
of Kivoi, who troubled himself about such a trifle as
the loss of an umbrella-handle, I went forward alone
hoping that five or six Waikamba would follow me, and
hasten onward to the river. But not one of them
moved an inch because, as they said, Kivoi had
not ordered them to break up the encampment, and
was still a good way firom us ; so I had to stomach
my ire as best I might, and was after all obliged to
remain for several hours with the caravan, till Bavoi
returned with the recovered umbrella-handle. As
soon as he had arrived, we broke up and journeyed
onward ; when after a short march, one of KivoPs
wivesfomidin the gra^ a quantity of ostrich-feathers,
upon which he again commanded a halt to make a
search for more feathers. He seated himself on the
ground, and had the feathers found brought to him,
not allowing any one to share them with him.
When we were again, in motion, and were within
a good league of the Dana, Kivoi's slaves on a
sudden pointed towards the forest towards which
we were marching fi-om the grassy and treeless
plain. I ran to Kivoi's side, and saw a party of
about ten men emerging fi-om the forest, and soon
afterwards came other and larger parties fi-om



SECOND JOURNEY TO T7KAMBANI. 319

another side, evidently with the object of surround-
ing us. Our whole caravan was panic-stricken, and
the cry, " Meida," they are robbers, ran through our
ranks, upon which Kivoi fired off his gun, and bade
me do the same. After we had fiired thrice the rob-
bers began to relax their pace, probably because they
had heard the whistling of our bullets through the air.
In the confusion and the hurry of loading I had
left my ramrod in the barrel of my gun and fired it
off, so that I could not load again. Whilst we were
firing and our caravan was preparing for a conflict,
Kivoi ordered one of his wives to open my um-
brella, when the robbers immediately slackened their
speed. They were also obstructed by the grass,
which Kivoi had set on fire that the wind might
blow the flames in their faces. When at last they
had come within bow-shot of us Kivoi called to
them to stop, and not to approach nearer. He then
ran towards them, and invited them to a parley upon
which they ran up and down, brandishing their swords
and raising a shout of triumph. After a few minutes,
Kivoi succeeded in persuading three of them to
come into our encampment, where we had seated
ourselves in rank and file upon the ground. The
enemy likewise seated themselves. Kivoi now made
a speech, telling them who he was and whither he was
going; and after he had finished his address the
spokesman of the opposite party laughed and said :
" You need not be afraid ; we have no hostile design ;
we saw the grass on fire, and only wished to know
who the travellers were that had set it on fire.



320 SECOND JOUBNEY TO U«:AMBANI.

You can now go forward to the river; we wiU
follow at once, and yonder settle our business
with you.'' The robbers then remained seated, and
took counsel with each other, while we continued
otir journey.

On the way Kivoi was much troubled, and said
that the interview had been unsatisfactory, and that
the people were robbers. At last we entered the
forest, the pathway on either side being inclosed by
trees and bushes. Whenever our caravan rested for
a little the robbers were seen following us from the
plain, so I took advantage of one such interval to cut
myself in haste a ramrod, and to load my gun.
Meanwhile some five robbers came to us and said :
" This is the way to the rivOT ; follow us." We fol-
lowed them, I marchijag with the Uembu people, the
front men of our caravan, while Kivoi remained
behind. Suddenly the robbers in front wheeled
round, set up a war-shout, and began to discharge
their arrows at us, and the robbers in the rear sur-
rounded Kivoi. A great confusion arose ; our peo-
ple threw away their burdens, and discharged their
arrows at the enemy, begging me implcHingly to
fire as quickly as I could. I fired twice, but in
the air ; for I could not bring myself to shed the
blood of man. Whilst I was reloading a Mkamba
rushed past me wounded in the hip, a stream of
blood flowing from him. Right and left fell the
arrows at my feet, but without touching me. When
our people saw that they could not cope with an
enemy 120 strong they took to flight. Rumu wa



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BEOOKD JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 321

Kikandi and his people ran away and left me qxdte
alone .

I deemed it now time to think of flight, especially
as in the conAision I could not distinguish friend
from foe; so I set off at a run in the direction
taken by Rnmu and his people ; hut scarcely had I
gone some sixty paces, when I came to a trench or
rather the dried-up bed of a brook, some ten feet
deep, and from four to five in width. The Uembu-
people had thrown their loads into it, and leapt over
the trench ; but when I made the attempt I fell into
it, breaking the butt-end of my gun and wounding
my haunches in the fall ; and ajs I could not<^limb up
the steep bank of the brook I ran on along its bed
until I came to a place where I could emerge from
it. When I had gained the bank I ran on as &gt
as I could after the Uembu-people, pursued by the
arrows of the robbers which reached the brook;
but as I -could not come up with the former, my
gun and the heavy ammunition in my pockets im-
peding my progress, I remained behind all alone
in the forest; all my people had disappeared from be-
fore my face, and not one of them was to be seen. I
may mention, that when I first took to flight, and be-
fore I reached the trench, I heard a heavy fall on
the ground, and at once it occurred to me that Eavoi
must have fallen, and this as I aft;erwards found
out was really the case. I now ran on as quickly
as I could by the side of the brook into the forest.
All at once I came to a glade where I saw a number
of men, some 300 paces in front of me. Thinking



\






322 SECOND JOUENEY TO UKAMBANI.

them to be my people, recovered fix)m their terror
and collected again, I crossed the brook to reach
them. Suddenly it came into my head that they
might be the robbers, so I took my telescope, looked
through it, and discovered to my horror that they
were indeed the robbers, who were carrying off the
booty plundered from otir caravan. I noticed parti-
cularly one man with ostrich-feathers on his head,
whom I recognized as one of the band when we first
met with it ; so I retreated immediately across the
brook again, without being observed by the Meida,
although I could see them with the naked eye. As I
was re-entering the wood two large rhinoceroses met
my view, which were standing quietly in front of me,
some fifteen to twenty paces from me, but they soon
turned aside and disappeared in the forest. For eight
or ten minutes I resumed my flight at a run, till I
thought I was out of the robbers' track, and emerged
again into an open and grassy plain where I laid down
beneath a tree, first of all giving thanks to the Father
of mercy who had preserved me through so great a
danger. I then reflected on my critical situation
and the possibility of returning to Klivors village ;
then thought that I would repair to Mberre and
seek our people there, to accompany me back
again. But how was I to pay them and buy
food, my servants having thrown away all that
belonged to me, and fled towards the Wakamba-
land ? Besides, I was not certain whether I might
not meet again with the robbers, or even whether
I might not be murdered by the people of Mberre,



SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 823

to which a portion of the robbers belonged,
added to which I was quite alone, and had but
a slight acquaintance with the dialect of Mberre.
On the other hand, how was I without a guide,
without food, and without a knowledge of the
water-stations, to make a retum-joumey of thirty-
five or thirty-six leagues to Kivoi's village? In
this difficulty I remembered that Heaven had yester-
day caused a lion to fiimish me with food ; I was
now one of God's poor, for whom he could and would
provide; "man's extremity is God's opportunity P'
Most of all was I strengthened and comforted
by the previous day's experience of the lion
sent to provide us with food in the wilderness.
My most pressing and immediate want was water ;
for I was extremely thirsty, and had not had anything
to drink all day. I knew that the Dana was near at
hand, and seeing at some distance very lofty trees, I
coniectured that the bed of the river was there.
I saw, too, the mountein paat the foot of which, a.
Bavoi told me yesterday, the river flows, and so I
determined to press forward to the river, towards
which I was not now impelled by geographical
curiosity, but by extreme thirst. As the country
through which I was wending my way was without
either trees or brushwood, I was afiraid of being seen
by the robbers ; yet the river had to be reached at any
cost. After a short march I came to a trodden path-
way which I followed, and soon saw the surface of the
river gleaming through the trees and bushes on its
banks with a pleasure which no pen can describe,

Y



324 SECOND JOUKNEY TO UKAMBANI.

and wluch none but those who have been similarly
placed can realize. The path led me oyer the high
bank down to the water's edge ; ^^ Praise and thanks
be to God," I exclaimed, "now I can slake my
thirst and have water in plenty for the retmn-
joumey!" The water was cool and pleasant; for
the banks were steep and lofty ; and when I reached
the river there was a pool, which led me to think
that the river had an ebb and flow. After my thirst
was satisfied, for want of water-bottles I filled the
leather case of my telescope as well as the barrels
of my gmi, which was now useless to me ; and I
stopped up the mouths of the gun-barrels with grass,
and with bits of cloth cut off my trousers.

After I had attended sufficiently to my animal
wants I made a slight exploration of the river which
was about 150 feet in width, and from six to seven
feet deep. But this cannot be its normal depth during
the hot season, for Kivoi, and Bumawa Kikandi,
both told me distinctly that then it only reached to
the neck ; and this was the reason why Elivoi had
fixed on the hot season for his journey, in order to
cross the Dana when its water was low ; for in the
rainy season the Wakamba cross the river on raft».
Its course, so far as I could see, is serpentine, run-
ning towards the east ; but I do not doubt that it
makes great detours before it arrives at the Indian
Ocean. If its source in the lake at Kirenia is 6000
feet above the level of the sea, it must certainly
take a very circuitous course, or we must suppose it
to form lofty cataracts before it reaches the level



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UKAMBAIO; 325

of the sea. Important lesults might be attained if
Emx^peans would explore this river more fully^ and
discover whether it is navigable, and if so, to what
distance. In the Mberre-land on the other side of
the river, I saw a lofty mountain, which I named
Mount Albert, in honour of the audience accorded to
me by the Prince Consort at Windsor, in 1850.

Revived by the water of the Dana, I began again
to think of my return-journey, and as it was still
day it did not appear advisable to proceed any
further at present, so I concealed myself behind the
bushes, and waited for night&ll ; and then as may
be supposed, I could not see the path in the deep
darkness, but followed as much as possible the course
of the wind }. for as it was in our backs when w6
came, I judged rightly that returning I should
always have it in my fece. I weud«i on my way
through thick and thin, often tumbling into little
pits, or over stones and trunks of trees; but the
thorns and the tall grass impeded me most of all,
and I was troubled, too, by thoughts of the many
wild beasts known to be in the neighbourhood of the
Dana. I was so impeded and wearied by the tall
grass that I determined to lie down and sleep, even
if I were to die here in the wilderness ; for it seemed
as if I never should reach the coast again ; but then
I thought, straightway, that in no situation should
man despair, but do the utmost for self-preservation
and put his trust in God as to the issue. I called to
mind Mungo Park who had been in a similar strait
in Western Africa. So, taking courage I znarched

Y 2



326 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAHBANI.

forward again as swiftly aa I could, and in due
course emerged from the jungle and reached the
great plain in which Eiyoi had set fire to the grass*
I now felt in better spirits, as I could proceed more
quickly and with fewer obstructions. About mid.
night I came to a mountain which we had noticed
in the course of our journey hither. As it had no
name, I called it Moimt William, in memory of
the audience granted me in 1850, by his Majesty
jFrederick William IV* of Prussia* This moun-
tain commands a view of the whole region of the
Dana, and serves as a landmark for the caravans
which journey towards Ukambani, or towards Kikuyu
andMberre* BeUeving myself on tiie right track,
I lay down behind a bush ; for I was so wearied
out that I could scarcely keep my feet, and for
protection against the keen wind which blew over
the plain, I cut some dry grass and spread it over and
under my body* Awaking after a few hours I saw
to the east a hiU, as it were on fire, the flames
lighting up the whole coimtry round* It occurred
to me immediately to bend my steps towards that
hill, fearing at daybreak to be met or noticed in
the plain by the robbers, while I hoped to pursue my
course unobserved in the mountain-jungle, which
I should' be sure to find there. The result proved
that I was in the right; for as I afterwards heard the
robbers kept up the pursuit of the fljong Wakamba
during the ensuing day*

Aiier I had started again, I felt the pangs oi
hunger and thirst ; the water in my telescope^case



SECOND JOURNET TO UKAMBANI. 327

had run out, and tliat in the barrels of my gun which
I had not drunk, had been lost on my way to
Mount William, as the bushes had torn out the grass
stoppers, and so I lost a portion of the invaluable fluid
which, in spite of the gunpowder-flavour imparted to
it by the barrels, thirst had rendered delicious* My
hunger was so great l^at I tried to chew leaves, roots,
and elephant's excrement to stay it, and when day
broke to break my fast on ants. The roar of a lion
wotdd have been music in my ears, trusting he would
provide me with a meal. A little before daybreak
I did hear a lion roar, and immediately afterwards
the ery rf ax, «umd which, however, La ee«ed,
for no doubt, the lion had seized his prey ; but the
direction from which the cry came was too distant
for me to risk leaving my route and to descend into
the - plain. For some tune I marched along the
barrier formed by the burning grass. It was a
grand sight, and the warmth was very acceptable
in the coohiess of the night.

Auffusf 28. — When day dawned I saw that I was
a good way from tiie Dana. I thanked God for his
preservation of me during the night Just gone by,
and commended myself to his protection for the
coming day. I found that I was taking the right
direction, although not on the same track which we
had travelled when coming hither. Indeed, it often
seemed as if an invisible hand guided my steps; for
I had in^riabty a *oag ^nsTn that 12 ^^
wrong, whenever, by chance, I deviated from the
right direction. Soon aft;er daybreak I saw four



328 SECOND J0URNE7 TO UEAMBANI.

immense rhinoceroses feeding behind some bushes
ahead ; they stared at me but did not moye, and I
naturallj made no attempt to disturb them. On
the whole I was no longer afraid of wild beasts, and
the only thought that occupied me was how to reach
Kitui as soon as possible. Coming to a sand-pit with
a somewhat moistish sur&ce, like a hart pantingfor
the waterbrooksy I anticipated the existence of the
precioTJB fluid, and dug in the sand for it, but only to
meet with disappointment ; so I put some of the moist
sand into my mouth, but this only increased my thirst.
About ten o'clock a.m. I quite lost sight of the Dana-
district and began to descend the mountain reaching
a deep yalley about noon, when I came upon the
dry and sandy bed of the river, which we must
have crossed more to the south-west a few days
before. Scarcely had I entered its bed. when I
he»l the chaLmg <rf ,^^ a Met joyM
sound, for I knew that there must be water wher-
ever monkeys appear in a low-lying place* I fol-
lowed the course of the bed and soon came to a pit
dug by monkeys in the sand, in which I found the
priceless water. I thanked God for this great gift, and
having quenched my thirst I first filled my powder-
hoTtyi-g up the ^^ in my handkeS, end
then my telescope-case, and the barrels of my gun.
To stiU the pangs of hunger I took a handful of
powder and ate with it some young shoots of a tree,
which grew near the water ; but they were bitter,
and I soon felt severe pain in my stomach. After
climbing the mountain for some way, all of a sudden



SECOND JOUKNEY TO UKAMBANI. 329

I observed a man and woman standing on a rock
which projected from it, and tried to conceal myself
behind a bnsh, but they had seen me and came to-
wards me. By aid of my telescope, I discovered
that these people were Wakamba. They called me
by my name, and I came out of my hiding-place and
went towards them, recognizing Ngumbau and his
* wife, who had been accused of witchcraft by the
Atua, and doomed to death. Both had been afraid
to remain behind during Kivoi's absence, and on
that account had accompanied us to the Dana ; but
on the onslaught of the robbers they had fled and,
like myself, been journeying through the night. We
were heartily glad to see each other, and ihey in-
quired anxiously about Kivoi and our caravan, but I
could only teU them of what had be£allen myself. The
woman who saw at once that I was fiamished gave
me a bit of dried cassave about the size of my
thumb. Reaching the more open and less, wooded
portion of the mountain we came upon three rhi-
noceroses, which frightened the Wakamba terribly,
while I, for my part, had lost all fear of them not
having found them by any means so dax^rous and
Buch enemies to man as they are described to be
inho»k. To e«»pe obeerviion we jou^eyed a.
much as possible over ground covered with trees or
bush and about three in the afternoon we reached
the foot of the Data, where we took shelter in the
bush to avoid crossing the open plain by daylight*
I -soon feU asleep, and when I awoke, the Wakamba
wanted to start again ; but I thought it too early



330 SECOND J0UBNE7 TO UEAMBAKI.

and wished first to search for water in the sandy
bed of the river, so we waited tin the approach of
night when after a search of half an hour without find-
ing water, we continued our journey over the plain.
Every now and then the views of the Wakamba
were opposed to mine, so that I often wished to be
alone again and allowed to follow my own judg-
ment. I wanted to go more to the south, while
they insisted on taking an easterly direction ; they
wished to sleep by night and to travel by day,
while I preferred the very contrary. After we had
journeyed till midnight I felt so tired out that I im«
plored the Wakamba to rest for a while and we slept
for a few hours ; but when I wished to start, they said
the wind was so cold that they could not bear it, so
I entreated them to leave me to go on alone, but they
would not separate from me. About eight in the
morning we saw in the distant open and budiless
plain some people in a south-easterly direction.
Taking them for robbers we lay down on the
ground and concealed ourselves in the grass; but
seeing that they did not come towards us we pro-
ceeded onward. In this wilderness a man who is
not swift of foot cannot easily escape, and I walked
literally in agony, but was to experience the keeping
of the Grod of Israel. My Wakamba ran on so &8t
that I could not keep pace with them. The pangs of
hunger and thirst returned, and my tongue cleaved to
the roof of my mouth so that I could not articulate.
How great was the relief when at last, about noon,
we came to a brook, where we found deliciously cool



SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANL 331

water I After a few hours we reached the brook on
the bank of which we had bivouacked on ihe first day
of our journey with Kivoi ; so now, for the first time,
we cheered up and considered ourselves safe. After
a short march we met two men of Ulu, who told
us they had heard that Kiyoi and the Musungu, as
they called me, had been kiUed. In the evening
we reached the plantations of the Wakamba and
with nightfiedl arrived at the village of Umama, a
relation of Kiyoi'8. I was now so weary, that after
I had eaten a few bananas I fell asleep immediately
in spite of the cold, which was here more penetrat-
ing than in the wilderness, as for covering I had
nothing but the tattered clothes I wore. From
Umama we heard that many fiigitives had already
returned, but that four Wakamba, with Kivoi and
one of his wives, had been killed. I heard, too,
that my Mnika servant had returned in safety.

Auffust 30. — The Wakamba have been extremely
cold in their demeanour towards me. One or two
bananas and a few beans were all that they gave
me for break£eusrt although I was very himgry;
and some of them visited Umama, and said openly,
"The Musmiga is a Munde Muduku," the Eu-
ropewi is a wicked man, for not having protected
Kivoi and his caravan, whilst several were of opinion
that I ought to be punished by death. Knowing
the superstitious and capricious character of the
people, I had little doubt of some homicidal attempt
and, therefore, resolved to escape the following night.

August 31. — ^In the afternoon two Wakamba made



332 SECOND JOUBNET TO UKAMBAKI.

flieir appearance, and carried me off to the village
of Kitetu, before mentioned^ and on the way, I was
forced to halt in the middle of a village because the
whole population wanted to stare at me. In the
evening Kitetu slaughtered a cow to entertain the
villagers ; first the feet^ then the mouth of the beast,
were bound ; the nostrils were stopped up, and so the
poor animal was sufibcated. I had not known that
this was the usual way in which the Wakamba
slaughtered their cattle. The people waited for
about a quarter of an hour, when they cut off the
head and collected the blood in a great calabash.

September 1. — The people kept coming the live-
long day to look at me; my little English New
Testament, my paper, pencil, and telescope, were all
regarded as connected with sorcery. When I heard
that my Mnika servant was in the neighbourhood,
I sent for him ; but he would not come, fearing
lest the Wakamba should kill both of us.

September 2. — ^Kitetu would not allow me to start
either for Yata or for Kivoi's village, and I heard from
some Wakamba that Kivoi's relations intended to
kill me, asking why I had gone to the Dana, since, as
a magician, for which they took me, I ought to have
known that the robbers were there. In any case,,
they said, I ought to have died along with Kivoi ; so
it was now clear to me why Kitetu detained me so
long in his house.

September 4. — ^I was yesterday convinced of the
murderous designs harboured against me by Kivoi's
relatives, and resolved to escape by . night from



SECOND JOUBKET TO TJEAMBANI. 333

Kitetu's house. Yesterday, too, I had heard that
the fifteen trading-people, who arriyed at Eiyoi's
village before our Dana journey, had been slain by
his relatives merely because they were from Mbe,
to which country our robbers were said to have
belonged. In the same way a few years before a
caravan of Eikuyu people had been put to death in
Ukambani, because some Wakamba people had been
murdered in Kikuyu, on which occasipn as soon as
the news reached Ukambani, a search was made for
Kikuyu people and they were put to death. Such
is sanguinary revenge in Inner Africa.

Remembering that I let slip the best time for
flight, when in 1842 I was amused from day to day
by Adara Bille, the WoUo-GhJla chief, I resolved
to put my purpose in execution without a moment's
delay. Designing to escape this very night, before
I lay down in the evening I put some food and a
calabash with water all ready for my flight. After
midnight, about two in the morning, I rose from
my hard couch and not without a beating of the
heart- opened the door of the hut. It consisted of
heavy billets of wood, the Wakamba having no
regular doors but piling up logs above each other
in the aperture of the habitation. Kitetu and his
fEonily did not hear the noise necessarily made by
the displacement of this primitive door, and after I
had made an opening in it sufficient to creep out
I gained the exterior of the hut and hung the
cowhide, on which I had been sleeping, over the
aperture, lest the cold wind, blowing into the hut



334 SECOND J0UBKE7 TO UKAHBANI.

shotild awaken its inmates before the usual hour,
and fortunately there were no dogs in the inclosure.
After leaving Kitetu's hut behind me I had to
pass another in which a woman was nursing her
child before a fire ; but she did not notice me. I came
then to two thorn-hedges over which I jumped with
difficulty. Meanwhile the moon was disappearing
behind the mountains of Kikuyu, as I now bent my
steps in a south-westerly direction towards a village
which I had noticed the day before ; as for several days
previously, I had been inquiring ^r the route pi
paratory to my flight to Yata. When I had reached
the viUage in question I saw a fire in an inclosure
and heard the people talking and the dogs barking,
upon which I struck immediately aside into the fields
and ran on as fisust as I could along the grassy
plaiQ. When day dawned I sought concealment upon
the slope of a hill, which was covered with grass
and bushes, and though my hiding-place was not far
from a village, for I could hear the Wakamba talk-
ing, I lay the whole day hidden in the grass.

Sy>ten^er 5. — ^At nightfiedl I quitted my hiding-
place and contiaued my journey towards Yata. I
had an additional reason to reach it as quickly as
possible, in the fear that my people might have
seized upon my property, on hearing as was
very probable that I had been killed. The tall
grass and the thorns sadly obstructed my path, and
made my progress slower than I could have wished.
Often in the darkness I fell into pits or over
stones, and the thorns, those relentless tyrants of the



SECOND JOUBNET TO UKAMBANI. 335

wilderness, made sad havoc with my clothes. Wish-
ing to husband my little stock of provisions I
plucked as I passed through the plantations of the
Wakamba green Mbellasi, a kind of bean and
thrust them into my pockets. About midnight I
stumbled on the sandy bed of a forest brook, and
became hopeful of finding water, so I followed its
course, and was oveijoyed to meet with it in a
sandpit, which, no doubt, had been dug by wild
beasts* Thanking God for this mercy I drank
plentifully, and then filled my calabash. On leaving
the bed of the brook I re-entered thorny and grassy
land, full of holes which the grass prevented me
fi*om seeing, and so, wearied out by my exhausting
night-journey I laid me down under a tree and slept
for about an hour. On waking I ran on, forget-
ting to take my gun with me ; but after some time,
I noticed my oversight, and returned ; though in the
darkness I could not discover the place where I had
slept, so I did not care to waste precious time in
further search, especially as the weapon was broken
and might have been only a burden to me on the
journey; and continued my onward course. My
treasure of food and water was of more importance
than the gun. Afier a while I came to marshy
ground, where I noticed a quantity of sugar-cane,
a most welcome discovery. I immediately cut off a
number of canes and, after peeling them chewed some
of them, taking the remainder with me. The hori-
zon began soon to blush with the crimson of morn-
ing, and warned me to look out again for a hiding-



336 8E00ND JOUBNET TO UKAMBAKI.

place ; 80 as I saw at a little distance a huge tree,
the large branches of which drooped till they touched
the grassy ground beneath, I concealed myself under
it at daybreak. When it was quite day I climbed
the tree to ascertain my whereabouts; and great
was my astonishment to find myself so near Mount
Kidimui ; so that there were yet thirty-six leagues
to be trayersed before I could reach Yata.

Towards noon I was very nearly discoyered by
some women who were gathering wood only nJy
paces from my hiding-place ; for one of ihem was
making straight for the tree under which I was
lying, when her child which she had put on the
ground some sixty paces off of it, began to cry
bitterly, which made her retrace her steps to quiet
it. A^rlhad been kept in suspense foian hour,
oscillating between fear and hope, the women took
their loads of wood upon their backs and made haste
to their village. My flight from the Dana to Kidi-
mui was very different from the present one ; then
I traversed a coimtry both level and. uninhabited,
and could journey by day as well b» by night ; but
now I could progress only by night, and in a region
fiill of thorns, holes, and villages, liable to be dis-
covered at any moment and to be put to death as a
magician, or detained in captivity until a ransom
came from the coast.

September 6. — Hearing throughout the day the croak
of frogs I anticipated the vicinity of water. With
nightfall I recommenced my journey, and soon came
to a bog where I procured water, and at a little dis-



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UEAMBANI. 337

tance from it I came again upon sugar-cane^ which
I relished with a gusto which only such an outcast
as I then was can understand. But as I proceeded
I found myself so entangled in the high grass, and
obstructed by thorns, pits, and brushwood, that I
began to despair of ever reaching the goal of my
journey. Throughout the night I kept losing my
course, having to go out of my way to avoid bogs
and holes, and the darkness made my compass of
no avail. About midnight, I came to a tolerable
path, which seemed to run in a south-westerly
direction, and followed it until I came to a ravine,
round which I had to wind. After I had hurried
round it I came upon a large plantation, where I
suddenly saw a fire only a few paces in front of me,
upon which I immediately retreated, and had scarcely
concealed myself in the bush, when the Wakamba set
up a loud cry, thinking, no doubt, that a wild hog
had broken into the plantation. I waited till all waa
quiet, and then leaving the plantation behind me, I
got upon a good path which I followed as quickly
as I could, fearing to be shot down by the watchers
of the plantation, who might suppose that I was a
wild hog, with felonious designs on the cassave
and other crops. The path conducted me at last
to a flowing brook, out of which I drank and
filled my calabash; but having crossed it, found
on the other side so many footpaths, that I was
fedrly puzzled which to follow, and so went straight
on. At last I felt so utterly weary that I lay down
under a tree, and slept till about three in the mom-



333 SECOND J0UBNE7 TO UKAMBANI*

ing, when I awoke and recommenced my journey,
finding myself anew in the meshes of the forest-
jungle. The day dawned, and I was still uncertain
as to my course, and seeing the rock Nsambani some
three or four leagues to the east of the place where I
was, I fdt at once the impossibOity of reaching Yata
by night-marches ; for in the course of three nights
of hard walking I had scarcely gone six leagues
forward; and so thought it best, at any risk,
.„ ^rrender n.y»lf toll™?, Knrfolk, J place
myself at their mercy* I did not, howeyer,
choose to return to Kitetu, but selected as my
destination Kiyoi's village where I had left i^me of
my things. Early in the morning I met a Mkamba,
who knew of my flight from Kitetu's hut, and
I asked him to show me the way to Kiyoi's village,
which he did at once.

On my way thither it occurred to me to visit and
to inform Kaduku, an influential Mkamba whose
son had settled in the district of Rabbai on the
coast, of my position. Thus, I thought, if Kiyoi's
kinsfolk put me to death the news would at least
reach Rabbai, that I had not been murdered by the
robbers at the Dana, but that I had returned in
safety to Ukambani, and then and there been
slain by Kivoi's relations. Kaduku gave me a
friendly reception and told me that my servant,
Muambawa, had arrived in tibe neighbourhood, and
intended to journey to Rabbai with a small caravan
of Wanika, intelligence which was truly, gratifying.
Kaduku's wife gave me something to eat, upon



SECX)ND JOUENEY TO UKAMBANI. 339

which I proceeded in the company of a Mkamba
to the village where my servant was reported to be.
On our way a Mkamba accosted me and strove to
hinder me from going any frirther, because^ he said,
I intended to fly out of the country. My com-
panion, however, pleaded energetically in my behalf,
and I was allowed to proceed. On reaching the
village we were told that my servant and the
Wanika had left, and when I wished to return again
to Kaduku, the Wakamba refiised permission, so
there was no alternative but to proceed to Kivoi's
village, which was close at hand. I was obliged to
wait before the gate until Kivoi's brother was in-
formed of my arrival ; but he soon came out to meet
me, in the company of Kivoi's chief wife who, like
all his deceased brother's wives, now belonged to him,
and he showed much apparent compassion for the
disaster which had be&llen me at the Dana. I then
told him the whole story from the beginning, and
mentioned my flight from Kitetu's house, a step
taken, I said, because I had been prevented from
going straight to Eavoi's village. I made, likewise,
the remark that I had heard Kivoi's relations
wished to put me to death ; so if they harboured that
design, I was now in their hands; they could do
with me what ihey pleased, but, I added, they would
have to take the consequences which would affect
all their tribe ; for the Governor at the coast would
certaroly not allow my violent death to go un-
punished. If on the other hand they would remain
my friends and escort me to Yata, I would present

z



340 SECOND JOUBKEY TO UKAMBANI.

them with a portion of the things which I had left
there. Muinda, Kivors eldest brother, replied that
they had formed no design to kill me, and that it was
an arbitrary €tct of Kitetu's to detain me, induced
by his desire to appropriate to himself alone my
property at Yata ; so seeing that they were diqiosed
to allow me to proceed to Yata, I held my peace. I
felt in a very feverish state, and was glad^ therefore,
to get hold of a cowhide on which I could lay me
down and enjoy a few hours' repose, although the
unfeeling Wakamba at first allowed m^ no rest by
surrounding me, and tormenting me with their in-
quisitiyeness. Woman is always kind and compas-
sionate in sickness ! Kiroi's chief wife gare me some
milk, which refireshed me so greatly that I £^11 asle^,
when it induced a perspiration, so that upon my awak-
ing, the feverishness was gone. I was now in a painful
plight ; one, so to speak, rejected of men, and foroed
to be content if I escaped with my life, and had to
ask for every thing like a mendicant. Nobody
would procure me any food, or even fetch me water,
or kindle me a fire. When I ajsked for the things
which I had left behind on setting out for the Dana^
only my shoes, my air-bed, and a little rice, were
restored to me ; all the more important article were
kept back; and when I inquired after the duef
Kivoi's wives bade them tell me, that if I laid any
stress on the discovery of the author of the robbery
they would have me murdered ; and so I thought it
best to say no more <m the subject.

September 7. — This morning I felt again feverish ;



^^



SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 341

and suffered much firom my left foot, which had
been injured in one of my night-journeys by my
falling over the trunk of a tree, and from a wound in
the middle filiger of my right hand which had been
almost torn off by the thorns in the darkness.
The Wakamba watched all my movements, and this
roused my suspicions anew.

September 8. — ^I felt very weak from the conse-
quences of my last flight, and still more from want of
proper nourishment, and therefore asked Muinda very
pressingly for an escort to Yata, threatening him with
secret flight if he prevented my departure. He said
that to-morrow he and Kitetti would go with me and
take some of their people to fetch the articles which I
had promised to Kivoi. It was now clear that Kivoi's
kinsfolk had given up all intention of murdering me
but, on the other hand, had resolved to get out of me
as much of my property at Yata as possible.

September 9.-^Kitetu having arrived, I was allowed
to set forth. Muinda himself did not go with
us; but sent some of his people, who, however,
took with them but a scanty stock of food for the
journey.

lOth-llth September. — I suffered much from thirst,
as the Wakamba were too lazy to carry water in
their calabashes, and at several stations the reservoirs
were dried up ; Kitetu too, had given me nothing
to eat but some hard grains of Indian com, which
I could not masticate* When I complained the
Wakamba only laughed at me, and spoke of my
property at Yata, with which I could there pur-

z 2



342 SECOND JOURNEY TO .UKAMBANI.

chase food for myself. The people whom we met
on the way were surprised to see me still alive, the
general impression being that I was dead.

ISth September. — ^We reached Yata in safety, and
the whole population of the village was in a state of
excitement and came forth to see and greet me,
some Wakamba who had come from Kitui, having
spread the news that I had been killed along with
Kivoi.

I was very glad to find in Yata the Wamka of
whom I had heard, but had at once to receive the
unsatis&ctory tidings that the Wakamba of Mudu-
moni had plundered them of their ivory and goats,
and even of their very water-jugs.

Entering my hut I foimd n\j servant Muambawa
busy opening a bag containing beads, which he
intended for the purchase of food for lumself and
the eleven Wanika who had been plundered. He did
not seem rejoiced at my safe return to Yata, having
thought me slain and himself the inheritor of my
property. Kitetu now saw that I had not without
reason, pressed for a speedy return to Yata to pre-
vent the misappropriation of my goods.

l^th September. — ^To-day, I handed over to Kivoi's
kinsmen a portion of my things, as a reward for
their escort of me to Yata ; but they were not content
and would have liked to have had the whole, though
in the end they were obliged to depart with what
they had got, as they could not use force in a dis-
trict not their own.

16th September. — ^As both my servants insisted on



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UKAMBANI. 343

returning with the Wanika to Rabbai, and I could
not trust the Wakamba either as servants or burden-
bearers on a journey, no choice was left me but to
return in the company of the Wanika, if I did not
desire to place myself entirely in the hands of the
capricious and imcertain Wakamba. Eavoi, the only
influential Mkamba who had been my friend, was
dead ; Mtangi wa Nsuki of Yata had not yet been
tested ; my knowledge of the Wakamba dialect was
very defective; I could not dwell in a straw-hut
without injury to my health ; and what was to be-
come of me in sickness without a feithftd servant ?
Can I be blamed if I renounced for the time the
Ukambani mission, and returned to the coast, whilst
an opportunity was still afforded me ? The Wanika
needed my aid for their support during the journey,
and I needed their assistance in the way of escort,
and for transporting my effects to the coast.

The people of Yata, and especially Mtangi wa
Nsuki made objections at first to my return, wishing,
as they did, that I should remain among them longer.
At length, however, they gave in, and let me depart
not only in pesu^e, but with honour, the head men of
Yata presenting me with a goat m a symbol of their
friendly feelinir towards me. From Mtangi and his
&mly, too, I^ in Menddup and peaoefand they
promised to take good care of the things which I had
left behind imtil my return. At parting, the chiefs
took some water in their mouths, and ejected it
upwards, with the words : — " We wish thee a pros-
perous journey — ^may Mulungu protect thee, and may



344 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

rain soon fall upon oiir land T' My servant Muam-
bawa, without my sanction, also took water in his
mouth, ejected it towards the elders, and wished
them happiness and prosperity. I gave to them and
to Mtangi my farewell-present, and then all was ready
for the journey.

17th September.— I quitted Yata with painful feel-
ings. It grieved me not to have been privileged to
make a longer missionary experiment in Ukambani,
as I could not feel satisfied that a mission in this
country would not succeed, as the people of Yata
had behaved with friendliness towards me ; yet, situ-
ated as I was, my further stay was impossible.

Crossing the river Adi, at the foot of Yata, I
found its volume of water much smaller than in
July, it being now the rainy 8ea«>n neither in Kikuyu
nor in Ukambani.

19th September.^ — ^We encamped in the inclosure of
Ndunda, a chief in Kikumbuliu, in whose village we
purchased provisions for the journey. The people
kept asking me if I did not know whether it was
going to rain, and if 1 could not make the rain fall.
I replied, that if I had that power I should not buy
calabashes for the transport of water on the journey ;
but their questioning gave me the opportunity to
speak to them of the Creator of all things, whose
will it was to bestow on us through His Son Jesus
Christ the most precious of gifks for time and for
eternity.

20th September. — To-day, we left Eakumbuliu,
and on the way met some children &om Mount



SECOND JOUBMEY TO UKAMBANl. 345

Ngolia caaiyiiig tiie flesh of giraffes^ which their
parents, had hunted down* We procured a quan-
tity of it in exchange for salt which is valuable
in UkajnbanL The children: took us at first for
robbers, and were rmming^ awaj after throwing
down their loads ; so I made them a present of some
salt to giTe them confidence. At night we encamped
in Mdido wa Andei.

2l8i September. — Onward for several hours through
a well-wooded country; tiien as we were resting
at noon under a tree we were joined by three Wa-
kamba carrying a huge elephant's tusk, who reached
us just at the right time, as we had resolved to
pursue our journey through the forest to avoid the
robbers of Kilinnta-Kibomu, and hs my people did not
Imow the way well the Wakamba served us as guides.
I thanked Grod heartily for this gracious providence.
What truth in the English saying, ^^ Man^s extremity
18 God's opporbmityl" Truly, it is no pleasure-
trip to wend one's way, or rather to crawl through
an African ^^Tssakka," thorn-wood, when, besides
hunger and thirst, perils from wild beasts and savage
men menace the traveU^, let alone the weary £ELtigue
of the journey on foot !

22nd Sq^tember. — Onwaxds again through the
dense and thorny wood, and as our stock of water
was consumed, and the great heat had made us
very thirsty, we exerted ourselves to the utmost to
reach the river Tzavo. At noon, we came to the
red hUls which separate the Galla-land from the
wilderness, and which are a continuation of the



346 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

Ndimgani-range. This time I crossed the noble
river much more to the east than on former occa-
sions, and at a place where the banks were not very
steep ; and though at a time when there had been
no rain either in Jagga or in the surrounding
country, its stream was as deep as on these oc-
casions; but I could explain this phenomenon by
my knowledge of the fact that the eternal snows
of Kilimanjaro form its source. After we had
crossed the Tzavo we entered -a still larger wood,
where my people would have lost their way com-
pletely had they not climbed tall trees, froia which
they could discern the summits of the Kilima-
Kibomu and Ndara.

2Srd September. — As we were journeying this morn-
ing through a somewhat open wood my people all
at once threw down their loads and fled in all direc-
tions, without telling me the cause of iheir hasty
flight ; so I speeded after them thinking they might
have seen robbers, for I could not suppose that they
would run away from wild beasts. After they had got
about 300 psu^es a Mnika stopped and said, ^^ Stop !
they must be gone now." I asked, " who must be
gone ?" and he replied, " the elephants." " How
absurd and silly 1" I said, "to run away for such
a cause ; had I but known what it was I should not
have troubled myself to run after you." In running
I lost the bullets for my gun and my pocket-knife;
my water-jug, too, fell from my hand, and the calabash
of my servant Muambawa was broken. I reco-
vered the buUets, but the knife was not to be found ;



SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 347

it was the loss of the water, however, which vexed
me most. The Wakamba were much more courageous
than the cowardly Wamka ; for the former merely
went on one side and allowed the animals to pass by.
I did not see the elephants at all. In running a sharp
piece of wood pierced through the soles of my shoe
and enteredmy foot, giving me great pain and forcing
me to limp hs I proceeded. At night we reared a
thorn-fence round our encampment, and having
cooked our suppers, put out tiie fire to avoid being
noticed by robbers. We were then about five leagues
distant fi*om Eilima-Eibomu, but qidte close to tibe
GuUa-land.

24:th September. — Our path lay this morning over
a rich black soil only slightly clothed with trees and
shrubs, so that we might have been easUy seen by
robbers, the consciousness of which made us march
in the greatest haste. About ten, we entered the
large forest, which surrounds the river Woi; and
finding no water in the sandy bed of the river, we
resolved to send a party to Mbuyuni, at the foot of
the mountain Ndara, where there is water all the year
roimd ; but it was first necessary for us to discover
the beaten track (so to speak) to Ukambani. In
quest of it we traversed a wood which would have
been quite impenetrable by man, had not elephants
and rhinoceroses made a way for us. How useful are
these large animals in such places ! Their total de-
struction or removal would be a pity ; for they are
the true path-makers of these forest wildernesses!
After we had found the track and drawn water we



I



348 SECOND JOUKNEY TO UKAMBANI.

continued our journey in the hope of reaching
Mount Kamlingo before nightfall, which however was
impossible. Towards four in the afternoon the sky
was covered by dark clouds, and soon afterwards rain
fell heavily forcing us to eicamp for the night, when
fortunately, we found a large dschengo, thom^inclo-
sure, close by which must have been recently formed
by a caravan. We had no longer to r^ret the want
of water ; the kindling a fire was our difficulty, all the
wood and grass being wet; but at last we found
some dry elephant's dung, with the aid of which we.
soon lighted a fire.

27th September. — Hunger and thirst drove us for-
ward on our journey at a very early hour. When
day had fiedrly dawned my people saw a buffiilo,
which so terrified them that they hastily threw down
their loads and climbed up trees ; but this time I did
not allow myself to be hurried away by theis idle
panic, and merely went on one side of the paHi^ For
a long time after the buffiedo had disappeai^ the
people remained in the trees, and would not descend
until I went forward by myaelf , on which they fol-
lowed me; the cowardice of the Wanika rai any suddea
alarm is ajstonishing. About eleven we reached the
wat^-station, Nsekano, where we cooked our fore-
noon meal, which consisted of a kind of bean. The
district round about Nsekano was fresh with verdure,
as rain had fallen some time before; but iiie rains W
the coast extend only to Nsekano, or at fiirthest to
Maungu and Ndara.' This district may, therefore, be
fresh and green, whilst in the interior it is quite dry



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UKAMBAKI. 349

and parched; and, on the other hand also, verdure may
cover the interior while aridity reigns on the coast.
On the coast the second rainy season, which how-
ever is very irregular, is in September and October ;
in the intenor its period is the months of November
and December ; the first or chief rainy season begins
.t Mo»b» ^y iB April; iu Ae interiorfl
May or June.

In the evening we reached Ndunguni where we
bivouacked. I was now so exhausted and ill from
the forced marches that, i^ truth, I must have,
succumbed had the journey lasted a few days more.
The Wakamba quitted us here, fearing to be robbed
of their elephant's tusk if they went openly through
the Duruma district. They would have been plun-
dered are this by my Wanika, if the latter had
not been in my service, because the Wakamba in
Mudumoni had robbed the Wanika, as abready men-
tioned. Cvery outrage that the Wakamba per^
petrate in the interior is revenged on the coast in
this way, and vice versd^ the Wakamba in the in-
terior revenge themselves on the Wanika, when the.
latter harm their countrymen on the coast.

28th September. — ^We broke up early from Ndun-
guni and journeyed eastward through a part of the
bmnma country which hitherto TmisiTaiy had
trodden. It is a noble district, formerly cultivated
by the Duruma tribe, but afterwards abandoned
by them. We crossed a brook the water of which
was as salt as that of the sea, and whence the Wanika
could furnish themselves with salt without being



350 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

obliged to buy it from the Arabs. At ten, we
reached Mxifumba, the first inhabited village which
we had seen since we quitted Kikumbuliu ; when the
chief of the place gave me a large calabash of milk,
and a " sima," porridge, made of water and Indian
corn-flour ; and as I partook rather too heartily of
these dainties, my stomach suffered in consequence.

In the evening, weary and worn, I reached my
hut in Rabbai Mpia where I found my friends well
with the exception of Kaiser and Metzler, who were
still ill with fever, as I had left them in July. It had
long been given out on the coast that. I was dead, so
the joy of my fiiends, as well as of the Wanika, was
proportionately great when they saw me arrire aUve.

The facts and results of this journey to Ukambani,
in its relation to the missionaries and their opera-
tions, may be summed up as follows : — As the route
to Ukambani is an extremely dangerous one, partly
on accoimt of the Gallas and partly and chiefly on
accoimt of the robbers of Kilima-Kibomu, and as the
gross superstition and, stiU more, the lawlessness and
anarchy, the faithlessness, capriciousness, and greed,
of the Wakamba are very great, a permanent
residence among them must be a very unsafe and
doubtfrd enterprise. Further, as the distance fsxnn
the coast to Yata is at least 110 leagues, and thus
the keeping up a commimication with Rabbai in
the absence of an intermediate station would be rather
difficult, it seems that an intermediate station should
be established in Kadiaro or in Ndara, or on Mount
Burn, before a Ukambani mission is undertaken.



SECX)ND JOURNEY TO UEAMBANI. 351

This mission^ so long at least as there are not more
missionaries in Rabbai, ought to be postponed^ but
not giyen up; since the Wakamba are connected
with very many tribes in the interior, who are only
to be come at through Ukambani. It is true that
there is no direct route from Ukambani to Uniamesi
as I had formerly thought there was, but Ukambani
opens to us th« route to many other tribes, and, it
seems probable, precisely to those which inhabit the
regions about the sources of the Nile. There ap-
pears to be a possibility, too, in Elikuyu, whither
the route through Ukambani leads, of coming into
contact with the Wakuafi, as in many localities in
that region the Kikuyuans appear to live in com-
panionship with the Wakuafi. No doubt, a journey
to Ukambani and still more a residence in it,
inTolyepaiBM and toying self^iemal on the part of
a missionary; but let us bear in mind the great
daring of the Wakamba, and the dangers to which
they expose themselves on their journeys and
hunting expeditions, merely for the sake of earthly
gain. Shall their love of lucre be allowed to put to
shame the zeal of a missionary who has the highest
of all objects at heart — Hie greatest of all gain — ^the
regeneration of the heathen ! I would add that he
should be able to take with him into the interior
trusty servants £ix>m the coast, and, if possible, some
native Christian catechists, and if tibe latter could
be found in Rabbai, so much the better. If thejf are
to be trained, however, for their functions at Bombay
or at the Mauritius, among the many East Africans to



353 SECOND JOUBKET TO UKAMBANI.

be found there, use rnuBt be made of their instru-
mcntality, should the other alternative fail.



In concluding the narrative of my joiimey to
Ukambani, I would here throw together the most
interesting facts which I have gathered respectmg
the manners and customs of the WTakamba, and of
the Wakuafi and Masai^ to whom I have so often had
occasion to refer.

THE WAKAMBA.

As regards the origin of the Wakamba called by
the Suahili, Waumanguo, they are said to have
come from the south-east in the vicinity of
Jagga. Probably they were driven forward by
the advance of the Wakuafi and Masai towards the
north and east, where there stood open to them
land more mountainous, which those savages con-
tinue to esteem lightly, as they look out solely for
grass-plains where they can pasture their nu-
merous herds, and expel weaker tribes from such
localities. At first the country which they now
inhabit was taken possession of by small parties of
Wakamba ; but by degrees came larger hordes. Here
the Wakamba could not live an exclusively pastoral
life, and were forced to cultivate the soil; yet,
although they relinquished their nomadic habits, and
accustomed themselves to permanent locations, they
did not give up their intercourse with those tribes
with whom they had stood on a friendly footing



SIiXX)NI> JOCTBNET TO UKAMBAKl. 353

befoTO th^ expulsion, but visited them from time to
time as traders, offering such commodities as ^re
acceptable to them. In a general way they sought
intercourse with all tribes who were not so savage as
the Masai and GaJIa, and so at hist they found access
to the coast of Mombaz, where they settled down in
the territory of the Wanika, devoting themselves to
agriculture and- the breeding of cattle, and, above
aU, engaging in trade with the coast as well as the
interior, by which Aey have attained consideiable
opulence, as the commerce in ivory is chiefly in their
hands. Their homed cattle^ sheep, goats, and grease,
are purchased by the Suahili and the Wanika : the
latter tribes hav4g a liking for the Wakamba! and
the Wakamba also recognizing the advantages of their
connection with the coast. The Suahili purvey to
the Wakamba cottcm-fabrics (Americano), blue calico,
glass beads, copper and brass wire, ruddle, black
p^per, salt, luaha, blue vitriol (zinc), &c., and receive
in exchange, chiefly cattle and ivory.

The features of the Wakamba are not what can be
called ugly, and in no case do they belong to the
Negro race. Their lips are somewhat protruding,
their eyes tolerably large, the chin rather pointed, the
beard scanty or altogether wanting, the teeth white
and artificially pointed, the skin smooth and blackish ;
the forms, both of men and women, are slender ; ani
their hair is either shaved off, or curled with wire.

TheWakaiiiba go almost completely naked, having,
it is true, clothes, but do not usually dress themselves,
contenting themselves with a single rag wound round



•_



354 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKiLMBANI.

their loins. The women wear pieces of peltry, which
are profusely decorated with beads, by way of aprons,
while the upper part of their bodies and their feet are
left in a state of complete nudity. The Wakamba
smear their bodies with butter and ruddle, by which
their natural colour is disguised, and to their hair
which they twist like small twine, they often attach
a quantity of white beads. On their necks, and on
their loins and ankles, they w^ar small copper chains,
or strings of beads of difiPerent colours. These chains
are very small, and neatly made by the Wakamba
smiths. In general, they suspend from their bodies
every object which delights them ; they even pierce
dollars through with this design ; for there is a strong
love of ornament among aU the African natives I have
seen, as indeed generally amongst all savages.

The Wakamba marry as soon as youths and
maidens come to maturity. The bridegroom must
give the parents of the bride a number of cows,
and must then carry off the bride by force or stra-
tagem, the parents and kinsfolk not surrendering
her without a struggle ; so he has often to lie in wait
for the bride in the fields, or to pounce upon her
when she goes to draw water. The Wakamba
marry, if so disposed, more than one wtfe ; but she
who is distinguished by beauty, intelligence, ex-
perience, and attachment to her husband, or who has
most replenished her husband's quiver with Heaven's
best heritage, is considered the chief amongst them.
The wives have to grind com, fetch wood, cultivate
the soil, and attend to all household duties.



SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 355

The Wakamba are very talkative^ noisy, treacher-
ous, and greedy ; on the coast they have the repu-
tation of being thieves ; in any case they are great
^ggs^^ ^^^ great liars; but, on the other hand,
they can often act with magnanimity. On their
himting expeditions and on journeys they are cou-
rageous and enterprising, and can bear great hard-
ships ; in general, they are very lively and amusing,
gaping at strangers, and dancing about them like
children; but, although they appear harmless, it
takes but little to excite them, and in such a mood
they do not hesitate to fight other tribes even to the
slaying and murdering of their enemy. The con-
sciousness of their wealth and iheir independence
makes them proud and vehement, and they hold
poorer tribes than themselves in great contempt.

In number they amount to about 70,000 soids,
and have no king or chief recognised as such
by the whole nation ; nor have they any laws uni-
versally binding. In connection with the elders of
the place the head of every fiimily village rules
ihe people who belong to him, in accordance
with the old customs and usages of the country.
Wealth, a ready flow of language, an imposing per-
sonal appearance, and, above aU, the reputation of
being a ma^cian and rain-maker, axe the surest means
byl^MehTMk^ata can attain' p^ and unpor.
ance, and secure the obedience of his countrymen.
Kivoi possessed all these qualities in a high degree ;
hence his great influence in Ukambani.

The gross superstition of the Wakamba is evi-

A A



356 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

denced chiefly in their sorcery, whereby some pre-
tend to be able to injure others by destroying their
cattle and other property, or eyen their health ; in
their rain-making, the ma^cian claiming power over
winds and clouds ; in their ^^ Eolito/' the wearing of
rams-horns, in which a rare and secret spell is sup*
posed to be concealed, affording protection against
enemies on a journey ; in their belief in bird-augury,
by consulting of which enterprises are undertaken
or stayed ; and, finally, in their dread of evil spiritSi
to whom they offer sacrifices. Lake the other East-
AMcan tribes the Wakamba have a feeble idea of
a Supreme Being, whom they call Mulungu, and like
those other tribecr, too, they have no idols, and are
not degraded to Fetish-worship ; but as they have
no religious requirements they are wholly sunk in
materialism, and have but few notions of religion
itself. In this, as in so many other respects, the
nations of Western AMca are much superior to those
of Eastern Afirica; and for the fact that the East-
AMcan heathen have not completely lost their feeble
conception of a Supreme Being, the Mulungu, they
have to thank Mohammedanism, with which commer-
cial intercourse has brought them in contact for
centuries.

The food of the Wakamba consists chiefly of milk
and meat, and of a thidc porridge which they make
out of Indian corn-flour by boiling it in water.
They prepare their beverage partiy from the juice of
the sugar-cane, and partly from millet. Whilst the
women look after the house and field, the men



• SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 367

squat idly in little knots drinking, laughing, and
talking together.

The houses or huts of the Wakamba are built of
wood, short stakes being thrust into the ground so aa
to form a circular waU, and oyer these a circular roof
of poles is fastened, which is covered with grass, and
made firm by a thick post in the centre, and as the
door of the hut is very low and narrow, you have
almost to crawl into it. In this hut they keep their
scanty furniture and implements, such as earthen
pots and calabashes for water; their com, which
they grind between two stones on which the pot is
placed ; their bedstead of bamboos, or wooden poles,
resting on two posts above and below ; their sacks,
which ihey make out of the fibres of the b«k of
trees ; their hatchets or axes, used by them in hew-
ing wood, and which ihey construct out of hard
iron; their knives and long swords, which they
forge themselves ; their tobacco*pipes and tobacco ;
their staves of hard wood, with which they break up
the ground before they put the seed-corn into it ; and
finally, their bows and poisoned arrows, their dnuns
and war-horns, which they use for summoning the
warriors together.

Recently slavery has made great way among the
Wakamba. In the interior they buy slaves in Mbe,
and on the coast from the Suahili, who give slaves
in exchange for cows, goats, ivory, &c., the slaves
bom the interior being mostly prisoners of war. It
is mudi to be feared that the growing prosperity of
the Wakamba will increase slavery , as the Suahili can

A A 2



358 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

sell slaves at a low price now^ as they are no longer
allowed to export them to Arabia.

The more precious metals have not yet been fomid
in Ukambani ; but there is an abundance of iron of
excellent quality, which is preferred by the people of
Mombaz to that which comes from India, as they
deem it equal to the " Suez" iron (which probably
refers to that of Sweden), and is indeed little inferior
to it in hardness.

THE WAKUAFI AND MASAI TRIBES.

The«Wakuafi and Masai, who call themselves
"Orloikob," or ^^Loikob," "loigob" (in the singu-
lar, ^^ Orloiksbani), that is, possessors of the land,
similar to the Greek word autochthonosj aborigines,
primeval inhabitants, occupy large plains in the
interior of Eastern Africa, which extend from about
two degrees north of the Equator to about four degrees
south of it. The names " Wakuafi" and " Masai"
are given them by the tribes of the coast. Their
language difiFers widely from that of the great South-
African section, which I have called the Orphno-
Hamitic, but has, on the contrary, regarded linguis-
tically, some affinity to a very ancient Arabic termed
the Cushite Arabic. Their manner of life is nomadic,
and where they find water and grass, there they en-
camp often for months together. They live entirdy
on milk, butter, honey, and the meat of black cattle,
goats, and sheep, and on game which they hunt down ;
having a great distaste for agriculture, believing
that the nourishment afforded by cereals enfeebles,



SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI. 359

and is only suited to the despised tribes of the
mountains; while to feed on meat and milk gives
strength and courage. When cattle £bli1 them they
make raids on the tribes which they know to be
in possession of herds. They say that Engai
(Heaven) gave them all that exists in the way of
cattle, and that no other nation ought to possess any.
Wherever there is a herd of cattle, thither it is the
call of the Wakuafi and Masai to proceed and seize it.
Agreeably with this maxim they undertake expedi-
tions for hundreds of leagues to attain their object,
and make forays into the territories of the Wgkamba,
the Galla, the Wajagga, and even of the Wanika
on the sea-coast. They are dreaded as warriors,
laying all waste with fire and sword, so that the
weaker tribes do not venture to resist them in the
open field, but leave them in possession of their
herds, and seek only to save themselves by the
quickest possible flight.

The weapons of the Masai and Wakuafi consist of
a spear, a large oblong shield, and a club round and
thick at the top, hurling which with the greatest
precision, at a distance of from fifty to seventy
paces they can dash out the brains of an enemy;
and it is this weapon above all, which strikes terror
into the East-Afiicans, the Suahili with their mus-
kets not excepted. The Wakuafi shelter themselves
behind their long shields until they come close
enough to the enemy to make good use of their
clubs. They conquer or die, death having no
terrors for them.



360 SECOND JOUBNEY TO UKAMBANI.

As to the origin of these truculent savages, they
have a tradition that Engai — Heaven, or Rain —
placed in the beginning of time a man named
Neiterkob, or Neitemkob, on the Oredoinio-eibor
(White Mountain, Snow Moimtain, the Kegnia of
the Wakamba) who was a kind of demi-god ; for he
was exalted above men and yet not equal to EngaL
Tidings of this extraordinary being dweUing on
the White Mountain reached a man named Niemasi
En^uner. ixJ^bitbg with hi, wife Ss^ J lofty
mountain Samba, which lies to the south-west of
Oredoimo-eibor, but is now covered with perpetual
snow. Through the intercession of Neiterkob the
woman Samba gave birth to a number of children,
the progenitors of the Wakuafi and Masai. Neiter-
kob taught Njemasi Enauner among other things,
how to tame the wild cattle and buffejoes which
roamed in countless numbers round the foot of the
White Mountain. Thus was implanted in the Wa-
kuafi the habit of that pastoral and nomadic life,
which is retained by them to this day. Neiterkob
suddenly disappearing from the White Mountain,
Njemasi returned again to the mountain Samba,
which became thenceforward the chief seat of the
Masai. The Wakuafi, the brothers of the Masai, on
the other hand, look upon the White Mountain as their
primeval home, and to this day wend their way to
it from a far distance, when they wish to bring
sacrifices to Engai, and to pray for rain, health,
cattle, and so forth. Th^ broad, level, pasture land
which stretches to the south-east of the White Moun-



SECOND JOUKNBY TO UKAMBAKI. 361

tain, is oalled Elaptei or Kaputei, and there the
primeval Wakuafi tribes abide. They thus possess
the entire country which lies between Kiliman-
jaro and Kegnia, in the midst of which are the
sources of the White River, just as the savage Ayans
wander round the sources of the Blue River. Never-
theless, the two Hndred tribes, the Wakuafi and
Masai, hate each other mortally, which is, however,
a fortunate circumstance for the weaker AMcan
tribes ; since, were they united and ruled by one
supreme head, there would soon be an end to the
existence of the other East-African tribek, who could
not possibly resist them, the savage Gallas them-*
selves not excepted ; for the latter fly before the
Wakuafi and Masai, and at the most only prove
dangerous enemies to them by stratagem and cun-
ning, but never cope with them in a fair and open
field.

As regards the physical conformation of the
Masai and Wakuafi, their forms are tall and slender,
with handsome and rather light-complexioned fea-
tures« Thdr greatest resemblance is to the Somali,
who are considered Mohammedaniised Gallas, and
who, divided into many tribes, inhabit the eastern
coast of Afirica from the river Jub northward, to
the Bay of Tajurra. From their beauty of form the
Masai and Wakuafi slaves, especially the young
females, are much sought after by the Arabs and
Suahilis of the coast ; and they become much attached
to their Mohammedan masters, provided always
th«t i^e lat^ do not require from them .ny kind of



362 SECOND JOUBNET TO UKAMBANI.

labour which is repugnant to their habits, such as
tilling the soil and similar occupations.

The Wakuafi and Masai as pastoral tribes con-
sider themselves the exclusive possessors of the plains
and wildernesses with their springs and rivers,
and they do not attack the inhabitants of the moun-
tains, so long as they confine themselves to their
mountains, and refi^in from descending into the
level country to turn it to agricultural or pastoral
purposes. It is said, however, that very recently
they have resolved to take possession of the moun-
tain Kadiaro to facilitate their freebooting expedi-
tions against the Gulla, Wanika, and Suahili, and
to exclude these tribes of the coast from access to
the interior.

Where the Masai and Wakuafi abide for any
length of time, they build a large town or Orlma-
mara — a smaller is called Engany, and a settlement
which promises to be important and is large, is
styled Enganassa — in which they construct huts,
covered with cow-hides or gra^, and surrounded
by thorn hedges and ditches for protection against
an enemy's attack. The town is guarded by the
Elmoran, the young men of fix)m twenty to twenty-
five, who form a standing army, as it were, ever
ready to ward off the attack of an enemy, and to
make incursions into the territories of stranger-tribes.
At their head stands the Oilkibroni, or chief, who
must be distinguished by wisdom, fluency of speech,
valour, pastoral riches, &c., and in conjunction with
the Oilebon, magician, medicine-man, soothsayer,



SECOND JOUBNEY TO UKAMBANI. 363

and augoTy he conducts the affidrs of the Wakuafi
and Masai republics ; but his dignity is not hereditary ,
for he can be deposed, and even put to death, if he
is often defeated by the enemy.

The subdivisions of age are more numerous with
the Wakuafi and Masai than among the Wanika and
other tribes. The children, Engera, remain with
their mothers and old people, who tend the cattle and
do the household work ; the youths, Leiok, from four-
teen to twenty, devote themselves to the national
games and the pursuits of the chase ; the young men,
Elmoran, from twenty to twenty-five, who among
the Wanika form the association of the Kambe, are
the warriors ; those older who are married and are
designated Khieko, partly engage in war, partly
in hunting elephants, buffaloes, &c. ; whilst the aged
men, who are termed Eekiilsharo or Eekiminsho,
remain at home, and with their wisdom and ex-
perience enlighten their juniors, who pay them great
respect. Maidens only marry when they have come
completely to maturity, and the women are clad in
dresses of leather, which descend below their knees.
The Wakuafi and Masai marry several wives, whom
the bridegroom purchases from the parents by the
paym^it of a number of black cattle. Each family
recognises ite herd by particTilar marks with which
the cattle are branded.

like all East-Africans the WaMiafi and Masai
are passionately fond of tobacco, but use it more as
snuff than for smoking, and procure it principally
firom Kikuyu, Jagga, and Usambara, countries with



364 SECOND JOUBNET TO UKAMBANI.

which they have some connection. They also ob«
tain tobacco^ as well aa dothea^ glass beads, copper
wire, &c. from the SuahiU traders, who, in caravans
from 600 to 1000 men, strong, and mostly armed
with muskets, venture into the countries of the
Wakuafi and Masai to fetch ivory, but are often
nearly all slain.

Ofanarua, hydromel, or honey-water, is a &vourite
beverage of the Wakuafi and Masai, who have honey
in abundance. Their household-gear consists chiefly
of calabashes, leather-bags, baskets, and pots, which
are carried by the women, or borne on asses when
the tribe wanders from one place to another.

In the countries of the Masai and Wakuafi, there
are many lions, elephants, bufiGaloea, rhinoceroses,
leopards, hyamas, wild boars and swine, giraffes,
jackals, zebi^, monkeys, many varieties of the ante-
lope, crocodile, and hippopotamus.

Towards beggars, blind men, and strangera of
their own nation, the Wakuafi are said to act very
liberally and kindly; but towards "Olmagnati,"
people of other races, they evince at once suspicion
and hostility; the Suabili traders therefore when
they go near them have both to e:(ercise caution,
and to appear in superior force. The Wakuafi and
Masai do not make slaves of their prisoners, but kill
men and women alike in cold blood, sparing only
very young giils, and consequently do not traffic in
slaves ; but there are tribes in the interior, such as
the Wandmoho, Elkonono, and Waman, who stand
in the same relation to the Masai and Wakuafi, as



SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAHBANI. 366

the Dahalo do to the Galla on the coast of Malindiy
who are forced to hunt elephants for the Masai and
Wakoafi, and to perform other labour, such as the
manu&cture of spears, swords, and kniyes.

In burying the dead the Masai and Wakuafi do
not appear to get up the howling, tumult, and
dancing as is the custom of the agricultural tribes of
Eastern Africa ; nor have they, it is said, any special
days of rest like the Wanika for instance, who do
no work upon every fourth day, but spend it in
feasting and carousing. Circumcision appears to be
practised among the Wakuafi and Masai, as among
the other tribes of Eastern AMca, where it has be-
come the universal custom.

As regards the religious notions of the Masai and
Wakuafi they appear, like other East-Afiicans, to
have a vague idea of a Supreme Being, whom they
call Engai, as mentioned at page 359. This Su-
preme Being dwells on the White Mountain, whence
comes the water or the rain, which is so indis-
pensable to their meadows and herds. But, accord-
ing to the notion of the Wakuafi, there is an inter-
mediary being between Engai and themselves, the
Neiterkob, who is, as it were, the mediator between
Engai and man ; and it is, therefore, to him that the
Wakuafi first turn to gain a hearing firom Engai,
when, as we have seen, they pray for rain, health,
victory, or cattle. What notions they entertain of
eyil spirits, and how fer their souls are subjugated
by a fear of these, I have not been able to learn,
though probably they do not difier much fi*om other



366 SECOND JOURNEY TO UKAMBANI.

Africans in this respect ; for the dread of evil spirits
is the invariable accompaniment of the worship of
Baal, and of fiillen man, as long as he does not
learn to recognise a reconciled God and Father
through Christ. Man mnst fear and serve the evil one
as long as he does not strive to become an habitation
of Grod through the Spirit. May it soon be granted
to our Protestant Church, to send missionaries to the
millions of Wakuafi and Masai, to proclaim to them
the Word which preaches reconciliation, so that
these worst of heathen, ^^ a nation scattered and
peeled, a people terrible from their beginning
hitherto," may be brought as an acceptable offering
in the sight of the Lord God of Sabaoth to Mount
Zion, and taught to know, to love, and to honour
the true Neiterkob, " the shining light of the world,"
and cease to murder and to extirpate their fellow-
men. The Wakuafi may be reached by missionaries
most easily and expeditiously from Usambara, where
they are in communication with the tribes of the
coast in the district of Masinde.*



* Those desirous of farther information respecting the Masai and
Wakuafiy will find a more elaborate description of them in the article
which I contributed in 1857 to the " Ausland/'



367



CHAPTER IX.

SECOND JOUBNET TO USAMBARA.

MotiYes for the Journey — Comparison between Shoa and Usambara
— ^The Pangani district — ^Forward towards Fnga — ^A daughter of
king Emeri's — The mountain-land of Usambara — ^Kmeri and his
dynasty — ^The European trade in fire-arms and its consequences —
Arrival at Fuga — ^The capital — Kmeri's friendly messages — ^The
cannibal Wadoe— Interview with Kmeri — ^Anti-missionary in-
trigues of the king's sorcerers — ^Emeri receives his presents —
The Ala- African aborigines — ^The king consents to the establish-
ment of a missionary station — ^Interview with a son of Kmeri —
Departure from Fuga — ^A new route to the coast — ^The Pangani
people and their Mohammedanism — ^Punishment and pardon of a
young thief — ^Results of the journey — ^Exposition of missionary
policy — ^Advantages of Usambara as a mission-field — The climate.

Hayikg remained at Rabbai Mpia for a few months
after my return from Ukambani^ I determined on a
second journey to Usambara to procure a renewal
and confirmation of the permission given me by its
king in 1848 to found a missionary settlement in
his territories. My last journey to Ukambani had
convinced me that it led to Uniamesi as little as
Ja^a^ the true route to which must be found in
Usambara, and the countries to the south of it.
If a chain of missions were to be established
throughout Southern Africa, and the two ends of the
chain were to meet in Uniamesi, Usambara then
must be the spot in which the first station should



368 SECOND JOUKNEY TO USAMBAKA.

be founded. Resolying this time to penetrate to
Usambaxa from the mouth of the river Pangani, not
as on the last occasion through the Wakuafi wilder-
ness, I hired a boat in Mombaz, and made straight
for Tanga to obtain the goyemor's permission for
the journey ; but as he declined to grant it without
written orders of the Sultan Said-Said, I told the
skipper to put the ship about and to proceed at once
to the mouth of the river Pangani, which we reached
on the evening of the 1 1th of February. I landed
without delay to visit my friend Minjie-Minjie, and
after I had found him I requested him to further
the progress of my messengers to Fuga, hearing an
Arabic letter in which I explained the object of
my journey; and as Minjie-Minjie was himself
about to proceed to the king he willingly took my
people with him. In the interim I purposed to pro-
ceed to Zanzibar, and to return to the Pangani in
ten or twelve days, by which time my messengers
woxdd have returned. On the 13th I reached Zanzi«*
bar ; but as Major Hamerton had left for Muscat^
where there were political differences to be adiusted.
I ^ in some pjplexiiy a« to a lodging; buTwal
however soon relieved W it by the^W-master,
Jeran, who handed me the keys of the British con*
sular residence.

M. de Belligny, the French consul, also kindly
invited me to take up my abode in the French
consulate during my stay, and I experienced like-
wise much civility fit>m his wife and from Mr.
Kuhlmann, his secretary. This gentleman had a



SECOND JOUKNET TO USAMBARA. 369

love, kindred to my own, for ell that is in any way
connected with the geography and history of Eastern
AMca, which made my stay at Zanzibar a pleasant
little episode in my life's history.

As I did not wish to spend my time idly in the
island till I should be able to journey to the river
Pangani, I made a little trip by sea to the village
Kipumbui in the coimtry of the Was^ua, which
Hes right over against the island of Zanzibar upon
an arm of the sea which stretches inland to the
mountain Gendagenda, upon which are the chief
dwelling-places of the Wasegua, and which is well
adapted for a missionary station.

On the 20th of February I returned again to
the Pangani, and had at once the satisfaction of
finding my messengers waiting for me on its banks.
They told me that in the course of their journey
to Fuga, they had been stopped on the 13th of
February in the hamlet of Jumbi by the Go-
vernor Muigni Hatubu, who informed them that
along with the Mdoe, or royal vizier, and the
Mboki, or military chirf, he was himself about to
proceed to the village of Pangani to collect tribute,
and to escort in person the European who pur-
posed to journey to Ejneri. Minjie-Minjie who
came on board our vessel confirmed this intelli-
gence. As it was now dark I did not care to
land, but sent my salutations to the Mdoe, as well
as to Muigni Hatubu and to Abdallah, the governor
of Dofa. The two latter are ihe sons of Kmeri,
who have embraced the Mohammedan religion with-



370 SECOND JOURNEY TO USAMBARA.

out hinderance from their royal parent, as previously
noticed.

2l8t February. — ^Accompanied by Minjie-Minjie,
I paid a visit to these three dignitaries and met
with a most friendly reception from them, the Mdoe
at once assuring me that he would accompany
me to Kjneri, who was at Fuga. Never before had
a journey been made so easy for me ; the whole
matter was settled in five minutes ; I had no trouble
either with the chie& of the Pangani village, or about
baggage-bearers ; the Mdoe of his own accord pro-
mising to have my luggage txansported by lu8 soldiers.
I saw at once, that I was in a country where much
better order reigns than in the lawless republics
of the Wanika and Wakamba. Only in the kinc:-
domof ShoahadI««nanytWri«>ilir; andindj,
physically and politically, Shoa offers many points
of resemblance to Usambara. In both countries the
king is the only lord of the land and its inhabitants,
and a foreigner who enjoys his favour need never be
at a loss for the transport of his effects. In both,
the movements of the stranger must be made in
accordance solely with the will of the king, and he
can neither enter nor leave the land without the per-
mission of the sovereign. In both, moreover, it is
expected that the traveller should offer the king a
present. In Shoa, as in Usambara, all property
of the people is subject to the king, "Gieta," in
Amharic, "Bana," in Suahili, for he is the soul
of the whole country. The very women belong
to him, and a woman regards it as a gracious conde-



SECOND JOUBNET TO USAMBARA. 371

scension when her beauty so attracts the king that
he prizes her and takes her to himself, " Why," say
the Africans, ^^ is he king, if he is not absolute and a
kind of * Mulungu'?^ " True he does not always exer-
cise his power to the utmost, just as the lion is not
always fierce and seeking whom he may devour,
but rests in his den when his appetite is sated. So
is it with the Usambaric Simba wa Muene, the only
true lion, as he is called by way of contrast to the
governors of districts, who as smaUer Hons dwell
on the moimtains of Usambara. He mostly demeans
himself gently towards his subjects, but only to
make them bear with his despotism all the more
patiently*

I have not done with the comparison between
Shoa and Usambara yet. Both countries are very
moimtainous, though the formations of their moun-
tains are very different^ The moimtains of Shoa
are much higher, and haye extensive plains on ttieir
summits, which yield plenteous crops of wheat
and other cereals, whilst the mountains of Usambara
are steep and gable-shaped, and their summits do not
afford room for many inhabitants or for much culti-
vation, and only small villages, groves, and at most,
on their summits plantain-plantations axe to be found.

As regards civilization Christian Shoa has cer-
tainly made greater progress than heathen Usam-
bara ; still it may be doubted whether much has been
gained for true Christian civilization. At all events
the calling of a missionary is much more arduous
in Shoa than in Usambarai inasmuch as in the

B B



3Z2 SECOND JOURNEY TO USAMBARA.

former country he hajs to cope with, a fanatfijeal priest*
hood, whilst in Usambora his only opponents are
the magicians, who, however, as counsellars of the
king may do him great injury, especially if they
ore Mohammedans. In Usambara, as elsewhere, the
kingdom of God can be established only amidst much
affliction ; and missionaries, no less than future ChrifH
tians of that country, must be content to attain the
goal by a painful road, I had something like a pre*
sentiment of this this morning before I went on shore.
After midnight I had slept but little^ and was sub^
jected to a seyere mental struggle in considering
the question : ^' Shall I proceed to Usambara or not ?
Is or is not the time ripe for a mission to that
country ? Ought I not to go elsewhere ?" It was
not till the words of our Lord^ ^' The Son of man
is come to save that which was lost." spoke to my
spirit, that I felt l^quillized Z. x^Uired cou-
rage, and determined to land« In the life of an apos-
tle of peace there are often ezperienoes like those
recorded in Genesis zxxii, 24,* and xv. 12 ;t for
the opening of a new mission is often only brought
about amidst great agony and conflict in the soul of
a missionary !

23rd Februar^.-^TheTe waa a heavy &11 of rain to^
day, although the proper rainy season ia not looked
for until towards the end of Mardu The people

* '* And Jaoob was left tlone ; and there wi^esUed a Twa with
him until the breaking of the day."

f " And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon
Abram ; and lo, an hozror of groat darkness fell upon lum."



I



SECOND JOURNEY TO USAHBARA. 873

kept asking me the cause of my journey to Usam-
bara^ and I told them explicitly that I desired
to spread Christianity throughout the land. The
Pangani villages are inhabited altogether by Mo-
hammedans, who, howeyer, are not fanatics, because,
in the first place, they* are ruled by a pagan prince ;
in the second, because they are very ignorant and
understand little or nothing of the Koran; and
lastly, because, by means of their many slaves and
in their trade they are closely connected with heathen
men. They procure their slaves from Uniamesi,
from Ngu, from the Wasegua, and other tribes, who
dwell to the south of ihe river Pangani. The popu-
lation of the four villages at the mouth of the Pangani
amounts to about 4000 persons, and they are in rather
ill odour from their sensuality, their idleness, and
their propensity to deal in slaves. The Pangani
people, who are now subjects of the King of Usam-
bara, have constructed little villages along the river
and brought the very fruitfril soil into cultivation, by
which they have obtained great influence among the
heathen in this district ; indeed, to such an extent
that they have Compelled the Mkafiri (heathen) to
dispose of their produce^ rice, Indian com, homed
cattle, sheep, goats, ivory, slaves^ &c., to Moham*
medans only, and not to trade direct with Zanzibar,
the course preferred by the tribes of the interior,
to whom the SuahiH sell clothes, copper-wire, beads,
gunSy &c. A large quantity of rice and Indian
com is thus yearly exported frt>m the Pangani
district ; and the ivory which is brought into that

B B 2



374 SECOND JOURNEY TO USAMBABA.

market; comes from "die land of the Masai and
Wakuafi, from Pare^ Ugono, Eosungu, ^g^7 ^^^
generally from the comitries lying to the west and
south of Usambara«

The Pangani yillages are only a little above the
level of the river, so that during the heavy rain
season they are inimdated and the inhabitants
suffer severely. The whole of the level country,
forming the lowlands, a kind of undercliff from the
coast to the foot of the mountain-ranges, extends
some twelve to eighteen leagues from east to west.
Although naturally very fertile the greater portion
of these lowlands is a perfect wilderness, partly in
consequence of the incursions of the Wasegua,
partly from the indolence of the inhabitants. The
L Jtain which Uee nearest to the coast, and to
the northern bank of the Pangani, is Tongue, the
district round which is said to be extremely fertile.
Twelve years ago, it seems, there were about and on
this mountain numerous villages and plantations,
which, however, were destroyed by the Wasegua, and
the inhabitants consequently retreated more to the
north, to the mountains Mringa and Pambire. The
Wasegua appear to have procured fire-arms in Zan-
zibar, where newly opened European and American
commerce had introduced them in large numbers,
and to have surprised the Wasambara, ignorant until
then of such weapons. Abandoned, this district of
Tongue soon became a forest and the abode of
elephants and buffaloes ; but its old inhabitants
meanwhile have not forgotten their fertile plains,



^^m



SECOND JOUBNEY TO USAMBARA. 376

and abide their time when they may with safety
return again to Tongue. A large wood with noble
trees, as well as suppUes of water, are to be foimd
on the mountain. No wonder that Minjie-Minjie
recommended it to me for a missionary settlement,
where for the greatest part water was attainable.

23rd Februari/.*-^At break of day the war-horn
sounded, and a soldier ran up and down the vil-
lage shouting with a loud voice, " Get ready, ye
Wasambara soldiers, the Mazumbe the kings (the
vizier and the two governors), are about to depart."
The whole village was at once in motion; for the
people were glad of their departure, the soldiers hav-
ing behaved to them with violence, and robbed
them of poultry And other things, and the owner
of the house in which I was had buried his valuables
out of fear of the soldiery. The tribute paid on this
occasion by the Pangani people to king Kmeri was
not very large, consisting of 200 yards of Americano,
Lowel calico, of the value of from fifty to sixty
dollars. This tribute is exacted only once in every
two or three years, when the vizier comes to the
coast.

Ere the departure of the Mazumbe I was informed
that they were about to proceed to Madanga, a village
some three leagues fi*om the coast, there to levy
tribute, and that the day aft^er to-morrow they
would proceed to Fuga ; and I was therefore asked to
meet them at Madanga. After their departure num-
bers of people came to visit me, to put questions
about my journey, to talk over religious matters, to



376 SECOND JOURNEY TO USAMBARA.

quarrel^ and to beg all sorts of things. My Mnilca,
Abbegunja, who takes delight in the Word of
God, was a great help to me. Under such circum-*
stances, it is a priceless blessing to have even a
[|ingle person who can understand the missionary,
and pursue the same object as he does. The Moham^^
medans were angry, and would not believe that a
Mkafiri, heathen, had embraced the Engil (Gospel) ;
yet now they saw us pray together, and read and
expound the Bible together in our dwelling.

25tk Fehruary.^^^ * * Late in the evening,
I reached Madanga, where the Mazumbe gave me a
friendly receptiop, and made every arrangement for
my comfort iin the way of food and lodging. Cer^
tainly a monarchy is thrice as good as a republic,
whether it be savage or civiHaed I

2Qtk IWrttaiy.-^With dawn of day the war-horn
annoimced the marching orders of the Kdoe^ who
was about to quit Madanga. We journeyed at first
through a flat, grasdng, and well-wooded country,
along a well-trodden path, and at 10 o'clock the heat
of the sun became almost imendurable. At five in
the afternoon we reached the large village of
Jumbi, the residence of Muigni Hattibu, the gover-
nor of Pambire, where a number of people ooUected
to see me ; but their demeanour was so courteous,,
modest, and quiet, that I was agreeably surfunsed ;
for not one of them made himself offensive by beg-
ging, or by touching my clothes or my person. The
governor killed a cow for myself and the vizier, who
was stiU behind me on hia way. The great differ^



BEOOKD JOURNEV TO USAMBABA. 877

ence between monarchical Usambaia and the un-
bridled republicanisms of the Wanika and Wakamba
struck even my two Wanika servants, who could not
sufficiently extol the order prevailing in the land.

27 ih February. --^ThB large ants tormented me
sadly last night* Many Washinsi came to-day to
inquire about the object of my journey. Abbe-
gunja prayed aloud in the presence of the Mo*
hammedanS; of whom there are many in Jumbi.
It is fortunate for the Washinsi that they have very
few cocoa-nut trees, if any, so that ihey cannot get
intoxicated like the Wanika.

28tt Fehruarp. — ^I set off from Jumbi without
the Mdoe, who had fallen ill ; and keeping to the north
of the lofty mountain Mringa we crossed a brook
called Mruka, which flows into the river Mgambo.
While we were sitting on its bank we were joined
by a son of Emeri, who holds a small official post
in the neighbourhood, and who asked me to give
him a flint for his gun. The request was so modest
that I gikve him two, and he was extremely satisfied
with the i»:esent. ^^ What a difference," I thought
to myself, '^between this country and Abessinia,
where the most trumpery village official is a mendi*
cant, and is scarcely content with a donation of five
or six dollars ! " Never have I travdled anywhere
so comfortably as in Usambara ; for here I am not
tormented by the monsteor mendicancy ; or, at least,
it assumes a very modest i<xtii ; whilst as regards
security, I do not beKeve thai 01:1^ could be safer in
any European country than in Usambara, provided



378 SECOND JOUBHEY TO USAMBABA*

the country is not in a state of war. Round about
the Mruka it is extremely romantic, and reminded
me of many parts of Switzerland and the Black
Forest, the riyer flowing through a deep rock-rayine,
clad on either side by noble woods. After refresh-
ing ourselyes with bananas, meat, and the cool
water of the brook, we proceeded through a beau-
tiftd wood, in which we rested for a while at noon ;
when imprudently l3nng down and going to sleep on
the damp ground, without a cowhide or mat beneath
me, I awoke with an attack of feyer, but soon droye
it away by a seyere march which threw me into a
perspiration. In the eyening we reached the yillage
of Kadango, which lies upon a hill, and is ruled by
Mbikiri, a daughter of Kmeri, who is so like her
£Ekther in size and appearance, that there can be no
doubt as to her parentage. She gaye me forthwith
a sheep, and some porridge of Indian com, in return
for which I presented her with an Americano (piece
of caKco), though she would haye much preferred a
Bersati (coloured dress) worth half a dollar. As at
Jumbi, so at Kadango, the demeanour of the peo-
ple towards me was yery respectful, and nobody
attempted to beg. They speak pure Kishinsi,
which is the chief dialect of Bondei, or of the dis-
trict between the sea-coast and the yalley of Kerenge
in the west, and has most affinity with the language
of the Wasegua tribes, while the proper language
of Usambara is more allied to that spoken in Pare
andNga. A missionary in this country has a heavy
linguistic task before him, as he must learn Kishinsi^



SECOND JOURNEY TO USAHBARA. 379

Kisambara, and Eisegua, and then Kipare and
Kingu. It is not possible to compile a truly compre-
hensiye dictionary of the South- African family of
languages, until you haye mastered the majorily of
their dialects, as one dialect explains and expands
another. For example, I neyer knew how to explain,
in Snahili, the phrase, ^^yuna wasinm — he is mad,"
nntil I learned that in Kisambara, ^^ wasinm''
denotes spirits and, emphatically, eyil spirits; there-
fore, he has evil spirits, he is possessed, is tantamount
to he is mad, he has lost his wits.*

29th February. — To-day, we ascended the lofty
Kombora, 4000 feet high, and which is, in fact, a
mountain-range stretching from north to south.
ELitherto, we had crossed only smaller hills, from
600 to 800 feet in height ; now we began to ascend
the alpine region of Usambara. At first Kombora
is not very steep, but towards the middle of the
ascent the path became extremely difficult and slip-
pery, so that at every thirty or forty paces I was
fisdn to lie down on the ground and take a rest, as
my chest and feet gave me great pain, so that I
was inclined to say to myself: "Better two journeys
to Jagga and Ukambani, than one across this pre-
cipitous mountain-land." The natives, indeed, think
little of this moimtain-climbing, to which they are

* On these Sonth-AMcan languages and dialects flie yery inter-
esting essay by Mr. W. H. J. Bleek, which is prefixed to Sir Oeorge
Grey's catalogue of philological books, iUustratiTe of the languages
of Sonthem AMca, is at once complete and satis&otory. The Cata-
logue is published by Messrs. Tnibner and Co.



380 SECOND JOURNEY TO USAMBARA.

accostomed from their childhood ; but with their loads
upon their heads Aey dimb up the rocks like monkeys,
and they make game of the lowlanders, to whom
journeying on the heights is laborion* and painful.

About six in the erening we reached the summit
of Ibe Kombora, where we were rewarded for our
exertions by a magnificent view of the sea, and the
lofty mountains and valleys in the neighbourhood. I
was very glad to find quarters for the night in a
half-finished hut in tihie Washinsi village, Hingo,
for I was weary and hungry. The poor people had
nothing to give us but a Httle Indian com and
mahuta, bananas; yet, notwithstanding their hard
fare, how simple and tranquil is their life on their
lofty, cold, and isolated mountains I You heajr no
wailing, no quarrelling; you see no drunkenness,
no idolatry; each goes his own way quietly, and
tends his cattle or tills the soil, seemingly harmless
and happy; but seemingly only, for how can we
call a man *^ happy'^ who passes life away without a
knowledge of God, and of his Saviour and Redeemer;
without hope of everlasting life, in the darkness and
shadow of spiritual death, and in total estrangement
fi-om that life which is in Christ ? When the gospel
reaches these people^ it will be seen whether they
are as susceptible of truth as their simplicity anct
harmlessness seem to promise. Perhaps their ^per-
stition, and their fear of evil spirits, may throw as
great oI»tacIes in the way of L ^I for a time,
^^ the M^ idoLy of LZ ^^ m
it shall please the Lord by His light to dispd the



fiEOOND JOUBNEY TO USAKRARA, 381

•

doucLi of darkiiesa from this xnoimtaiii-popnMion,
now sundered as it were from the rest of the woild.
Then the sonnd of the Sabbath-bell will be heard
from mountain to momitain; and from Talley to
vallejy calling together the inhabitants to praise and
worship the living Grod I Then will first be made
manifest the bright destiny and rank of this wonder-
frd alpine land, which will one day bring to light
trea^rores; both animate and inanimate, long hidden
frx)m yiew, from out of the soil itself no le»B than
from the depths of its vast wilderness*

1^/ Mareh.'-^We quitted early the village of Hingo,
which is inhabited by Wasegejxu In the feud
between the Wadigo and the Was^eju a por-
tion of the latter left the valley of Kerenge, whence
some frtmilies came to the mountain Kombora, and
founded the village Hingo. I always feel great com-
miseration for the surviving remnants of scattered
or worn-out races, and nourish a belief that God
in Hia own time will reveal to such His mercy and
His goodness, no less than His justice and judgment.
The Wanika, Wakamba, Wandurobbo^ Wasegeju,^
and several other tribes, are fragments of the kind
referred to, all driven from their primeval homes by
a succession of dominant races*

Ascending and descending we reached at last
the village of Elisara, on the top of the lofty
mountain, whence a son of Kmeri rules the country
around* From its height we had a majestic view
of the valley of Kerenge, and the lofiy moimtainB
of Usambara. The governor told us that only a



382 SECOND JOUBNET TO USAMBABA.

few days before some 800 Masai had passed throtigli
the yalley on their way to carry off the cattle of the
Wasegua ; for as the Wasegna are enemies of king
Kmeri he does not prevent the Masai from trayersing
his comitryy although I suspect this permission is
giyen more from fear than policy; for no East-
African nation dares to offer resistance to the Masai
and Wakuafi*

2nd March. — ^We remained to-day at Elisara, aa
my people wished to wait for the sick Mdoe^ who
had promised to follow us slowly. For this reason
his soldiers had conducted us through the steepest
and most mountainous regions, in order to gain time
for the recovery of their master, who was to follow
by the best route, as he wished to haye the honour
of personally presenting me to Kmeri.

To-day Minjie-Minjie gave me some informa^
tion respecting the dynasty of king Kmeri, who
is the fourth monarch who has ruled oyer Usam-
bara since it became a kingdom, it haying been
founded by his great-grandfather, who came from the
mountains of Ngu, three or four days to the south-
west of Usambara. The first two kings possessed
Usambara merely as far a« Bondei, a district con-
quered by Kmeri's frtther. In his younger days
Kmeri himself was a great warrior, who made jour-
neys of inspection through his whole realm as &r as
tiie PangaT Formerl^ his kingdom was more ex-
tensive, before he lost a portion of the Wadigo land
and other territories. In the Wasegua land, too, he
lost his influence through European traffic, which



SECOND J0UBNE7 TO USAMBARA. 383

brought fire-arms to Zanzibar, and these the Wa-
segua were the first to make use of and to turn
against the armies of the king. The East-Afiican
trade in fire-arms will have at least the effect of
making it eyen more and more dilBcult for the popu-
lation of the coast, including of course the Suahili,
to penetrate into the interior; for when the inha-
bitants of the interior once have fire-arms, trayelling
will be much impeded. But, if the Suiahili can no
longer fetch iyoiy finom the interior, what will the
Europeans do at Zanzibar ? They will discoyer too
late that they would haye done better, if they had
foregone the quick profit made in the traffic in fire-
arms, and had only brought harmless articles of
commerce into the East-African market* Oh I that
the world would but beUeye that in politics, as in
trade, eyery crooked and peryerse course wiU in
time bring down its own j^xdgment upon it, and

been committed I But the children of this world
do not recognise the unfailing fact; they wish to
be wiser than the Word of God, which teaches the
teue principles which ought to guide us in every-
thing, in trade as well as in the goyemment of
nations! God, indeed, allows self-seeking men to
play iheir own game for a time, and to make a
temporary profit, but He takes care, eyentually, to
turn them to mockery and shame ; He suffers them to
execute and carry out their principles until by their
own sufferings they are forced to see that God's Word
alone is the only true light for time and eternity I



384 BECOND JOUBNEY TO USAMBASA.

Oh! how the world's progress will yet justify the
revealed Book of God, and put to shame the book of
man's vaunted reason, and its selfishness ; for history
will always be the best apology for the Bible, and
for Christianity I

In the course of the day I remarked something
that gave me fresh insight into the superstition oi
the Suahili. My servant Hassein, from Zanzibar,
sat on the ground in the house where I lodged and
was scraping the sand with his hands like a mad-
man, whilst he uttered some unintelligible words. I
allowed him to go on for some time, but at last
interrupted him by asking what such folly meant.
He replied that he was looking in the sand for a
star, from which he oould predict whether we should
meet with ihe MasaL

The Wasambaca call the Suahili ^^ Waunguana,"
free people, in contradistinction to themsdves.
They look upon themselves as slaves* in comparison
with the Mohammedans of the coast, who are, indeed,
subjecte of Kmeri, but axe allowed much more free-
dom than the Waahhisi and Wasambara. The
latter may ride neither horses nor asses, nor wear
costly garments, nor travel into distant coimtries,
while all this is permitted to the Suahili. Kmeri
knows perfectly well that the Suahili, through thcdr
connection with the Arabs, might become dangerous

* I onoe asked a native Msambara whether in his country there
were any liberated slaves ? His reply was :— '^ With ns no one can
free a dave; for w« are all dares at the Znmbe (king), wh^ m oar
>£nlun^a.''



SECOND J0UBNE7 TO CSAMBAKA> 885

to him if he were to treat ihem with similar rigour^
Here, again, we may compare Shoa with UsaiQbara ;
for whilst the king of Shoa permits his Mohammedan
subjects to travel to the coast, he stringently pro*
hibits his Christian subjects from doing so. Nor can
the latter wiihout his special permission use silver
or gold, or wear costly garments, or even so much as
manufstcture hydromel or honey-water, which the
Mohammedans are not prevented from doing. like
the Shoans the Wasambara do not care to amass
riches ; for in doing this ihey would live in constant
dread of provoking the jealousy and covetousness of
the king and his governors. However the social
condition of Usambara would be a critical one, if
its inhabitants were not ruled by the iron hand of
their monarch ; for every petty magistrate or chief
would revolt upon his mountain, and strive to be
independent ; and so all intercourse with the coun-
try would become impossible* It were well if those
quarrelsome and drunken republicans, the Wanika
and the Wakamba, could feel, at least for a time, the
power of an African Uon-kingI

Srd March. — ^As we were about to leave Eisara
there arrived a messenger from the vizier with
orders for the soldiers who were with me to return
immediately to Jumbi, where their assistance was
needed in the subjeeticm of a rebellious Washinsi
village. The soldiers obeyed, and started off im-
mediately, fer a disobedient soldier in Usambara
is sold into slavery. After their departure, we per-
formed a toilsome journey to Utindet, which lies on



386 SECOND JOUBNET TO UflAMBARA.

the summit of one of the loftiest momitains of Bondei,
upon a soUd block of granite, which rises abruptly-
like a perpendicular wall, and forms an impreg-
nable natural fortress. From this point I surveyed
almost the whole of Kmeri's dominions, and I do
not remember to have met with a grander prospect
in any African country. I could not approach the
edge of this rock without feeling giddy, and had
to turn away from it very soon. It is quite other-
wise with the natives, who run about the brink of
the frightful precipice, and even pasture on it their
black cattle, sheep, and goats. The district of
Utinde is governed by a son of Kmeri, who by no
means resembles his father; and as the ^^ Little
Lion " gave us nothing but bananas to eat, we did
not care to remain long with him.

4tth March. — So sparingly dieted by the governor
we left Utinde, but were soon recalled by some
people, who told us that the vizier would arrive
to-day, and that the governor would increase our
rations. Although we had reason to doubt the
correctness of the information, yet we resolved
to wait until to-morrow, and so returned to the
village. ♦ ♦ ♦

5 — 6th March. — The vizier not arriving, and the
provisions given us being still scanty, we quitted
Utinde and reached yesterday evening the large
village of Jain, where we discovered to our sur-
prise that we might have come from Utinde by a
much less mountainous path, but that the soldier of
the vizier had purposely led us by a worse route in



SECOND JOURNEY TO USAMBARA. 387

order to delay us till his master could reach us ; so
to-day we rested in the hope that the vizier would
arrive. The repose was in other respects very
welcome, as I suffered much in my feet from the
fatigues of the journey. I employed this leisure in
reading and meditating with Abbegunja, who has
been of great service to me on this journey.

7th March. — ^Afiter we had left Jain, we had
again to mount upwards, and the rays of the sun,
hot even when it rose, considerably aggravated the
exertion of climbing the mountain. Day after day
I grew more and more weary of this exhausting
journey, and longed for its close. My people, too,
suffered much from the continual windings and
ascents and descents of this singular country. Here
we skirted a precipice, there we had only a shrub or
some tufts of grass to hold by in clambering up the
precipitous path; in ascend^ ihe tendoi^ of my
Lui in deLnding my kZf ».d 1^, pained J.
Nor could we journey as we pleased, as we had to
direct our course in accordance with the distances and
the positions of the villages where we might find food
and shelter for the night ; for in Usambara any one
found by night in the woods, or absent from a village,
is taken up for a robber ; but independent of this the
cold and other circumstances would not permit it.
We passed to-day several brooks, and plantations of
sugar-cane and banana-trees; and at one place I
noticed the Mkinda-tree, which resembles the date-
tree and bears an edible fruit. Its stem is very
straight and long, but not thick.

c c



388 SECOND JOUBNET TO USAMBABA.

I often looked on in astonishment at my Wasam-
bara baggage-bearers, who ascended and descended
the mountains with the greatest ease. In a few
minutes they would shoot far ahead of myself and my
Wanika, when they would lie down on the ground
and wait till we come up, and then dart forward once
more to halt again in the same way* The Wasambara
are in general of the middle size, the colour of their
ddn ia yeUowidi, and their framea atrong eDOUgh for
them to carry burdens. Their mode of life is of die
simplest; the banana roasted or boiled is all that they
require, and aU that in many places they possess
beside their herds* The cool mountain-air and the
sin^licity of their mode of life contribute apparently
to the excellent health which they enjoy ; for, except
in the shape of rheumatism and cutaneous disorders,
illness is apparently unknown to them.

The working men have not in an ordinary way
more than one wife apiece ; not that they are for*
bidden to have more, but they are too poor to be
polygamiate. From ita mountainoaa character Uaam-
bara is a poor country, much poorer than Bondei and
the lowlands, the inhabitants of which would be
rich if they were more induaiiioua. Eyen tixe
Waaambara might be better off, if they knew how to
avail themaelvea of the natural reaouroea of fiieir
country. How many milla and fectoriea might be
driven by the numerous atreama of this region! Wood,
indeed, is often scarce, so that in many places dried
cowdung has to be used for fuel, as in Abessinia and
other parts of Africa.



SEOOITD JOURNEY TO USiJfBABA. 3$9

The sugar-cane which we came upon to-day was
particularly excellent, being extremely sweet and
juicy. It is found in deep and moist dells, never on
the summits or on the roof-shaped mountain-sides^
In the evening we reached the village of Pombe,
governed by one of Ejneri's daughters; and we
were obliged to content ourselves with shelter in
a hot, smoky, and filthy hut, where men and beasts
herded together, the entrance or door to which was
made only for goats and calves, and human beings
were forced to crawl in literally on their hands and
knees.

8th March. — ^We started from Pombe and jour*
neyed in great haste, Emen's daughter having
treated us very shabbily in the matter of provisions.
She asked for a cotton-print, which I refosedwith
the remark that my baggage was in the hands of the
vizier, and that what I had with me was intended as
a present for the king.

The nearer we approached to the capital the less
savage was the appearance of the mountains; we
had no longer to descend into deep ravines, but
could march over tolerably level ground; which
however became at the same time barer and more
destitute of grass, shrub, and tree. The soil looks
quite red, so that here the Wakamba have no need to
colour themselves with ruddle ; as they have only
to squat on the ground to have their clothes and bodies
assume its colour; for wherever I sat down my clothes
and hands were immediately coloured red. Here
and there I saw tobacco, banana, and sugar plan-

c c 2



390 SECOND JOUBNEY TO USAMBABA.

tations ; otherwise, these mountains are bare, un-
fruitful, and uncultivated. They are like the yolk
of a hard egg, or the cupola of a tower. On these
cupolas stand the huts of the natives, and it is on
such a cupola-shaped hill that the capital Fuga, itself^
is built.

A large brook flows towards Fuga, whence turning
to the south it runs through the valley of Ke-
renge. Before we reached the foot of the hill on
which Fuga lies, we passed the hill Muhesa, where
Kmeri has recently begun to build a little village, and
as we passed the place my people fired a salute in
honour of the king, which his musketeers replied to
in a similar fashion. As we reached the foot of
the hill of Fuga we were met by a troop of soldiers,
who fired off their pieces in honour of me, and then
conducted us to one of the many huts, which are con-
structed in Suahili feshion for the use of strangers.
The door of the hut was tolerably high and wide,
so that there was light enough within ; and a bed-
stead was forthwith procured, and, in a general way,
everything done to lodge me comfortably, Mbereko,
the captain of the king's body-guard, appeared soon
afterwards with a sheep and other provisions, which
were intended for our use ; for he adds to his military
functions that of providing foreigners and visitors
with food and drink, whether the king is in Fuga or
absent fi:om it ; in which, again, there is a resemblance
between Shoa and Usambara. After some time
we were visited by Bana Osman, a Mohammedan
of Zanzibar, who fills the offices of king's physician.



SECOND JOUBKET TO USAMBA&A. 391

chief-magician, and court-jester ! Several years before,
he had been summoned by Kmeri from the island
Ki8ima,ni on the riyer Pangani, to compose powerful
talismans agaLast Kisuma, the chief of Mafe, who
gave the king at that time a great deal of trouble.
Ofionan is an intelligent man, and I had pleasure
in his conversation. He comprehended the object
of my journey. Usually these magicians are fiill
of pride and pretension, nothing of which I re-
marked in Osman, high as he stands in favour with
the king.

9th March. — ^Mbereko and Minjie-Minjie went to
Muhesa to inform the king of my arrival, and
to ask when I could see him. The captain soon
came back with word that the king had expressed
great pleasure at my return to Usambara, and would
gladly permit me to form a settlement at Tongue ;
the king's physician, Osman, had long before
petitioned for Tongue as the site of a hamlet for
tnde and tillage, but the king would give that
mountain to no one but the Musungu (European).
This news was very cheering. At the same time,
Mbereko informed me that I was to remain where I
was until the vizier arrived with my baggage, when
the king himself would come to Fuga.

11th March. — ^Another magician arrived yesterday
from Buyeni, a Mohanunedan village on the Pangani.
These impostors teach the people to write talismans,
and employ the opportunity thus afforded them to
attempt the conversion of the ignorant heathen to
Mohammedanism. Many people came to me to ask



392 SECOND JOUBKET TO USAMBARA.

•

for writing-paper, on which they wished the Moham-
medan magicians to scribble magic formiQas. I
roundly refused their requests, and declared all
magic to be a sin against God.

I was much interested to-day in hearing some-
thing fiiriher respecting the Wadoe tribes, who dwell
to the south of the Wasegua land, and who are in
bad odour on account of their cannibalism. The
Wadoe are said to have ruled at one time oyer all
the country to the south of the Pangani, aa &r as the
Ngu mountains in the west, at which time, it seems,
the Wakamba inhabited Shikiani, near Sadan, oppo-
site the island of Zanzibar, and waged continual wars
with the Wadoe. But when the Wadoe were found
to drag into the forest the Wakamba whom they
had taken prisoners, and even the bodies of the slain,
and to cook and devour them, the Wakamba con-
ceived such a horror of the Wadoe that they
migrated from their own country, and sought a
new home in the regions abandoned by the GuUaBy
who are now in the interior, the neighbours of tte
Wakamba. This tradition, I may add, harmonizes
with the information which I received in Ukambani,
— ^that the Wakamba had come from the south. My
informant remarked that the Wadoe at this day
drink out of the skulls of men whom they some-
times devour.

At the height of their power the Wadoe perpe-
trated great cruelties against the Mohammedans of
the coast, upon which all the Moslems united, and
in a decisive battle so completely vanquished the



SECOND JOUfiNEY TO UflAHBABA. 393

cannibals that the latter have never since recoTcred
their former steength. In warfere Aey ai« said to
make use of shields of such size that five or six men
can conceal themselves behind one, a statement to
which I can scarcely give cred^ice. The king of the
Wadoe. I was told, at one time surpassed Kmeri
in power, and his officers were placed in legolar
gradesi and great order prevailed among them. I do
not doubt that at an earlier period there were
greater monarchies in East Africa Aan any we find
there at this day . Probably the kingdom of iEthiopia
extended to the Equator, and in its decline gave the
Afirican rulers a model of power and strength. Out
of the ruins of the Mien state some of the chief
fiimilies founded monarchies of their own, which
kept their ground for a time, until, becoming more
and more feeble, as no individual of mark again
stepped forth to grasp the sceptre, they sank into the
republics of modem times. In our own day a dis-
integtating process is ever spreading among the
nations of Eastern Afirica, and the East- Africans
themselves avow that things went better with them
in their fitth^rs' time ; that greater kings and chie&
existed then than now, and that a new element must
be introduced among them. The descendants of
£[am have outlived themselves ; it is, therefore, evi-
dent that the descendants of Japheth must steer the
vessel by the might of Christianity, the only safe
rudder for East- Africa, as for all other continents. The
Gospel alone can save Africa fi*om complete destruc-
tion. This is the impression which cannot frdl of



394 SECOND JOUBKEY TO USAMBASA.

suggesting itself to others as it did to me in all the
countries which I visited.

One of the earlier kings of the Wadoe is said to
have formed the design of conquering the realm of
Usambara; but when he arrived in the vicinity of
the first mountain of the country, he is reported to
have observed a dense fog on it, which he took for the
smoke of tobacco-pipes. On this he concluded that
the number of the enemy must be so large that the
Wadoe army could effect nothing, and therefore it
would be wiser not to disturb these countless hosts
of tobacco-smokers upon their mountains.

13th March. — To-day Ejneri sent a large ox for
myself and followers. In a general way we receive
daily either a sheep or a goat, so that we have no
lack of food. As the vizier has arrived to-day I shall
soon be able to see the king ; for without a present
to offer a stranger may not appear before the Simba
wa Muene ; and the main portion of my baggage,
containing the presents intended for the king, had
been left behind at Jumbi in the hands of the
vizier.

14:th March. — In the course of the afternoon
Kmeri came on foot to Fuga, preceded by a number
of soldiers who fired off their muskets, which
awoke a powerftd echo among the hills. I stationed
myself by the side of the road to greet the king
in passing; and as soon as he* saw me he stood
still and looked at me without saying a word, and
then went into the hut of his chief medicine man,
Osman. He wore over his ordinary dress a Boshuti,



SEOOND JOUBNEY TO USAMBARA. 395

or a thick cloak of black cloth, to protect him against
rain and cold, and, like most of the African potentates
whom I have seen, he went barefoot. After he had
seated himself on a bedstead in the hut -he took,
without saying a word, a tobacco-pipe, and began to
smoke with great gravity, which in savage life is
immistakable evidence of monarchical dignity.

A number of people from Fuga and other places
came and addressed their sovereign with the words,
" Simba," or " Shimba wa Muene," Lion of heaven,
or, as the expression may be also translated. Thyself,
thou art the lion ; to which his only reply was a
humming ^^ M,'' and those who had thus saluted him
retired to make room for another party ; so that, after
all, but for the more formal ceremonial, the levee of
a black king bears a strong affinity to that of his
white brother.* This ceremony being over, and only
a few courtiers with the chief medicine man, Osman,
surrounding him, I explained to the king why I had
not been able to fulfil the promise which I had made
in 1848 to return to him at an earlier period. I told
him that I had been twice to Ukambani, that then I
had visited my Mends in Europe, and that I had been
prevented by my labours at Rabbai from returning
earlier to Usambara. The king appeared to be satis-
fied with this explanation, and I retired to my hut.
Kmeri looked much older than in 1848, but he had the
same piercing eye as then. He is a large stout
man, in appearance very like Kivoi, whom I have

* When ike king coughed, the conrtierB ezdaimed, '' Muisa."



396 S£COKD JOUBNET TO USAMBABA,

mentioned in the account of my journey to IJkam-
bani.

1 5^ MarcK—rl heard to-day that the Mohammedan
magicians, Osman and Manioka, had adyised the
king to refiide me permission to reside in Usambara,
on the pretext that wherever a European onoe plants
his foot, the whole country must soon fall into his
hands. I gave my informants to understand that if
the Mohammedans continued to intrigue against me, I
would denounce them to the English consul at Zanzibar,
and have them pmiished in an exemplary manner.

The king sent for me to tell me that he would
arrange every thing to my satis&ction as soon as he
had received the tribute brought by the vizier fix>m
the coast, consisting of 200 pieces Americano, and a
number of oxen and sheep. Of the 200 pieces of doth
the king retained 100 for himself and his wives,
giving forty-two to the vizier and his soldiers,
thirty-three to the head men of Fuga, and twenty-
five to Mbereko and his servants. Afier his majesty
had completed this important financial operation he
proceeded to sit in judgment on the relatives of a
criminal who, when the vizier was collecting tribute
in the village of Mringano, had shot three of his
soldiers, and taking to his heels had fled into the
forest, where he had not yet been discovered. His
relatives, however, were apprehended and brought
before the king, who, after hearing the report of the
vizier, pronounced the following sentence : — -" The
kinsmen shall be confined in the state-prison imtil
the criminal is discovered and slain; and his children



SBOOND JOUBNET TO USAMBABA. 397

who have been apprehended shall be sold as slates.'^
When the Simba wa Muene had pronounced this
sentence the soldiers twisted their garments into the
semblance of thidk ropes, witli which they bound
the prisoners, who were carried off to the state-
dungeon. At the same time messengers were des-
patched to all the governors, ordering a search to be
made for the criminal, who, when found, was to be
despatched to Fuga.

16th March. — ^The presents which I delivered this
morning to the king consisted chiefly of knives,
beads, Americano, and some coloured articles fix>ni
Muscat. The coloured caps pleased him most.
Whilst the presents lay spread out before him a
heavy shower began to &11, penetrating the roof and
forcing the king to get the things hurriedly packed
away. I feel always sad when I am called upon to
bestow merely earthly gifts on a heathen. If the
heathen sought first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, they would no longer ask a missionary
for earthly gifts; but so long as they only say,
^^What shall we eat? What shall we drink? or
Wh^ewithal shall we be clothed?" — so long as no
higher motives induce them to aUow missionaries
ingress to their country, — so long must he accommo-
date himself to circumstances, until they come to prize
the spiritual treasures which he has to bestow, — and
then their craving for mere earthly gifts will cease of
itself. The great matter in commencing is that
the missionary be admitted into and received in the
country, that he be allowed to dweU among the



398 SECOND JOUBNEY TO USAMBARA.

heathen^ and to begin his spiritual labours. But thin
can only be attained in a heathen land by his making
the friendship of its king or chie& ; and such friend-
ship, in accordance with the notions of an African
ruler, cannot exist unless the friend bestows on him
a suitable present. A missionary has, therefore, to
choose between two courses : either he gives a pre-
sent and is admitted into the coimtry, or he refrises
a present, and is consequently excluded from it, thus
closing at once the avenue to his sphere of useful-
ness ; for with the mendicant princes and chiefe of
Africa there is no third course.

I was sad at heart as I contemplated the old king,
lying on his bedstead, reverenced and flattered by
his courtiers and magicians, complacently surveying
his presents, or taking them in his hands and turning
them over; for I was compelled to note his utter indif-
ference to the message of peace and of eternal happi-
ness which I would so gladly have offered him by
bearing testimony to the gospel of reconciliation.
Sitting at his feet and sighing inwardly, I waited
anxiously for the moment when it might be possible
for me to engage the king in a conversation on spiritual
matters ; but the chattering of the people around him,
and his own love for the things of this world, did not
allow me to do more than to explain in a general way
the chief duties of a missionary. How bowed down
and penitent will these poor benighted rulers of this
darkened land be when they discover that they have
put off the day of salvation, and have despised the
offer of the great mercy which God has made them



BECOm> JOUBNEY TO USAMBARA. 399

through the least of his servants ! During the moments
which I passed at Kmeri's feet he might have received
what is of more value than his whole kingdom ; he
might have listened to words of everlasting life, which
would have laid the foundation of his true temporal
and spiritual happiness. And, besides, he might have
been instnunental in procuring the salvation of mil-
Uons of souls in his own kingdom and in Eastern
Africa, I cannot, indeed, say that Kmeri refused
me the chief boon directly in question— the esta-
blishment of a missionary in his country; but it
pained me that he would not enter into any personal
relation witli the Truth which, as a missionary, I
wished to testify to him. The more comforting it
was therefore to me when I was visited afterwards
by many of the people of Fuga, with whom I could
converse more explicitly and impressively than with
their prince, respecting the salvation of their souls.

I was much interested by what I heard of the
Ala, a dispersed little tribe which inhabit the forests
of the wilderness, and live by the chase. The Wa-
sambara call these people Wassi ; and the Wakuafi,
who look upon them as their slaves, call them Wan-
durobbo. A number of these Ala are said to dwell
in the vicinity of the Wakuafi in Masinde, and the
Pangani people repair to tliem continually to pur-
chase ivory. It seems as if the Ala were a surviving
remnant of the aboriginal inhabitants of Eastern
Africa; they are found in the interior and on the
coast, in Shimba, in the Wanika-land, and at Da-
luni and Bondei; and are neither agricultural nor



400 SJBOOKD JOUSNET TO USAMBARA.

pastoral, but live in the woods on the produce of
the chase; so that wherever they kill an elephant or
other wild beast they remain until it is consumed.
They are said to speak a language which no other
East- Africans understand; and the Arabs maintain
that the Ala came originally from Aiubia, and
therefore they will neither buy them nor seU them
as slaves. The Wanika of the Duruma tribe call
the Ala, Masaka, and are reported to have sold
many of them into slavery in the time of Boaxcity.
It would be interesting to know these people and
iheir language more closely, and it would be weU
if some fSeunilies of them could be induced to settle
among the miflrionaries, rince history gho^ that
outcast, despised, and poor races, have accepted the
Gospel sooner than the powerAil and wealthy.

17 th March. — ^Mbereko, the captain of the king's
body-guard, informed me by command of the king,
that Kmeri had placed my afl&urs in his hands, and
that I need not doubt the bestowal of Tongue, Mringa,
or Pambire on me by the king, for a missionary
station. I expressed my gratitude for this kindness,
but requested that the king would conjBrm the assur-
ance with his own lips. Mbereko replied, tiiat this
would be done when Kmeri bade me &xewell.

18^ March. — I repaired this morning to the king,
to take my leave, representing to him that I was
in haste to return before the rainy season set in,
when the rivers could no longer be passed, and
the ground would be extremely dippeiy. After
a short paugOj. using a kind of form, the king




CDBOOND JOUBNEY TO U8AMBARA, 401

said: ^^I grant the European his request without
reservation, and I commission thee, O Mbereko, to
carry out my will." Mbereko then took the king's
right hand and pressed it against the king's body,
which is done to denote a kind of adjuratory assur-
ance. By this act Mbereko became my Mlaw, or
guide and intermediary; for every governor, even
although he be the son of the king, must have a
Mlaw at the court of Fuga to whom he communi-
cates all his affidrs, and who lays them before the
king. Mbereko is the Mlaw of ilie Pangani and
the Tongae districta. Here, again, there is an
affinity between the customs of Usambaia and Abes-
sinia, as in the latter country, too, a sixanger re-
quires to have a Balderaba, an introducer and int^>
mediary near the king.

After the king had finished the affairs of Tongue,
he ordered Mbereko to accompany me to the coast,
and then to give me an elephant's tusk and two
slaves; and before starting I was to receive three
sheep for the journey. I accepted the offer of the
sheep, but declined that of the ivory and the slaves.
Before I left Fuga the king asked me for a final pre-
sent in the shape of an emetic, as he felt unwell ; so
I gave him twenty-seven grains of ipecacuanha,
which had the desired effect; but I complied with his
wish rather reluctantly, fearing the consequences if
anything went wrong with him ; for the chief Mabewa
put a physician to death whose treatment of his wife
had been such that she expired under it.

I9th March — 6th April — To avoid, as much as



404 SECOND JOUSNET TO USAMBASA.

foUowed him in a few days, arranging before I
started for a boat to take tbe Mbereko back to the
Pangani. He was very grateful for all the kind*
ness shown him, and promised to do his utmost for
the gratification of my wishes. He had brought
with him to Zanzibar some elephants' tuaks, but,
on account of their small size, did not meet with a
purchaser in the French merchant, whom he expected
to buy them. As in conformity with Kmeri's orders,
he sought to form connections with the European
merchants at Zanzibar, so as to obviate the necessity
of disposing of the products of Usambara through
the agency of the cheating Suahili, I furnished him
with the names of some European and American
mercantile firms to which he might apply, and forth-
with the envy and malice of the Suahili made use
of this circumstance to traduce me to the sultan and
the English consul at Zanzibar, to whom they repre-
sented that I had been conducting political intrigues
in Usambara ; a calumny for which they could not
offer the shadow of a proof. I was naturally a thorn
in the side of the Suahili, because I had taken a
Alkafiri (imbelieyer) to Zanzibar, where he could see
with his own eyes things as they were, and report
accordingly to his master at Fuga. In this way an
exposure was made, once for all, of the deception
practised by the Suahili, who do their utmost to
prevent the inhabitants of the interior from knowing
what is going on at the coast, as well as Europeans
from coming personally in contact with the natives
of the interior, because they fear that such inter-



SECOND JOUBNEY TO USAMBARA* 405

course would give a blow to their monopoly of the
trade with the interior, from which it would never
recover.

The following are among the results of this and
my former journey to Usambara : —

(1.) It is certain that the king of Usambara is now,
as previously, disposed to admit missionaries to his
country, and wiU allow them to select their own
locations.

(2.) Usambara is a country with many and large
villages, where a missionary can address masses of
people when he is once master of the language.

(3.) The natives are accustomed to order and to
obey their superiors. They are peaceable, and not
without intelligence, or a wish for self-improvement.
Drunkenness, mendicancy, and violence, are much
less common among them than among the repub-
Ucan tribes.

(4.) In time of peace a missionary can safely
roam about the country everywhere if he has but
secured the friendship of the king.

(5.) It is, however, indispensable that missionaries
should conduct themselves towards the king with all
respect, and carefrdly avoid the slightest semblance of
political interference in the affairs of the country.
It is also necessary for them to transmit to the king
occasionally a suitable present as a token of respect
and gratitude for benefits received: the provision,
for instance, made by the governors for their food,
lodging, the transport of their effects, &c. A
missionary must not suppose that because his is a

D D 2



'^'^^^^^^^^-■^~*- -~--— - — ^ - -TT^^^T^^



406 SECOFD J0USNE7 TO UBAMBABA.

spiritual Yocation^ and he preaches the gospel to
the natives gratuitously, he is therefore to accept
the bene&ctions of the king without rendering
an equiyalent* That were a folly of which he
would have to repent the consequences* On the
contrary, he must be grateful for eyesrythingy even
for the smallest trifle ; and he must distinctly show
his gratitude by deeds^ True, he is not to court the
favour and friendship of the great and powerful of
the land ; but wherever their friendship £Edls to his
lot he is not to throw it away by &iling in respect
and gratitude. Europeans oflten commit the &ult
of not paying sufficient respect to a native ruler,
because they find in his demeanour to them that he
is coarse, given to begging, selfish, suqpicious, and
unrefined ; so that it is, indeed, difficult to pay him
always proper respect ; but a missionary must make
it a principle in that case, as in every other, to deny
himself for the sake of the Master whom he serves.
He must resolutely battle with and conquer every
tendency to show, in word or act, anger towards an
African ruler, be he great or small* And whilst he
must not expect much from the great and powerful
of the land, with regard to the salvation of their
souls and to the rendering by them of genuine
assistance in the promulgation of the gospel— for
^^not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called " (1 Cor. i. 26)
— ^yet he must not let any opportunity slip of bring-
ing the gospel nigh unto them, as a testimony against
them in the day when the secrets of all hearts shall



S£001ID JOUBSTET TO UBAMBABA. i07

be made known. Our Sayiour himself had little
to do with the rulers of his age. He searched outthe
poor y the sick, and sinners, and they yearned towards
him. Therefore I would advise a missionary in
Usambara not to remain too long in the vicinity of
the king, in the hope or with the design of first con-
verting him and those who surround him. On the
contrary, he must keep as &x as possible firom kings
and courts, and rather turn with his glad tidings
to the common people; unless the king should
express a wie^ for him to instruct himself and his
sons out of the Word of God. The Jesuits have a
maxim that it is well to work first on the prince of
a country, and through him to influence his subjects.
In his book upon Shoa M. Rochet has urgently
recommended this principle to the Bomish mission-
aries ; but a Protestant missionary must act in strict
antagonism to it. He must appeal to the heart
and conscience of every man as he finds him, in the
conviction that the poorest and most insignificant
when they truly believe in Christ and are bom of
God, are more worthy, and contribute more to the
extension of Chri«tianity by their prayeiB and reU-
gious life, than is possible in the case of any ruler
who simulates Christianity from worldly motives, and
seeks by mere force to spread ite doctrines.

(6.) As regards the means of transport available
to missionaries in this country, my journey to it
proves that there are no great difficulties to be over-
come. In the first place, the governors are bound
to have the effects of a traveller transported by their



408 SECOND JOUBNEY TO USAMBARA.

peasants or soldiers; in the second place, eyen
were this not the case, and a missionary should prefer
.0 travd t hi, o™ e.pen», he eanlway,, for half
a dollar or a dollar, hire people to go a tolerable
distance.

(7.) All personal necessaries required by a mis-
sion^r, /not to be had in tiie counixy, caa be
procured from Zanzibar, which is nearer than Rabbai
and Mombaz to Bondei and Usambara*

(8). No country can be better suited than Usam-
bara for the extension of the gospel in the interior.
Missionaries can proceed from it to the Wasegua,
to Pare, Jagga, Ngu, Unguenu, Uniamesi, and eyen,
starting from Masinde, to the savage Wakuafi.

(9.) In the Alpine country, the climate cannot
be other than fitvourable to the constitution of
Europeans, although they must be prepared for an
attack of fever of longer or shorter duration ; for as
yet, no European in any African country what-
ever has wholly escaped the attacks of fever, and it
is, once for all, an inevitable ingredient in the cup
which must be drunk by every missionary in East
Africa, who wishes to preach Christ, and him
crucified.



END OP PART II.



PART III.



GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY,

AND HISTORY.



THE SOXJTH 8UAH1LI COAST— ABESSINIA—EEBMANN
IN ITNIAMESI— ERHAKDT ON THE WANIKA. LAND-
SKETCH OF THE HISTOET OF EASTEEN AFEICA.



411



CHAPTER I.

VOTAOE FROM MOMBAZ TO OAPE BELGADO.

Importance of the Voyage — ^Under way — ^Tiwi — ^Wanika fisher-
men — Palm wine — Narrow escape firom drowning — ^Magugu
misdonaiies and Mohammedans — ^TangaBay — ^Yiew of the Usam-
bara mountains — A travelled Bnahili — ^Tangata and its Divani —
Buyeni — ^The coast southward and its inhabitants — Msasani —
Mtotana — Caravan from TTniamesi — Maisan and his murder —
Sinda — Jole — The cowrie trade — The Banian's sandbank —
Eik>a Kibenje — Slave-catching in the int^or— The Kiassa
country — Xiloa Eisiwani — Eisueri — ^Muania — Mkindaui — The
Lufuma— To Zanzibar again — ^Betum to Europe.

Befobb returning to Europe and re-visitmg my
native country, which I had not seen since 1837,
in February 1850 I wished to survey personally the
whole of the coast south firom Mombaz as far as the
Portuguese settlements at Mossambique. With the
coast from Mombaz to Zanzibar I had long been
iamiliar ; but from iSiat island to Kila and Cape
Delgado or Tungue, where Arab rule ceases and that
of Portugal begins, the coast had not been visited by
me ; and yet it is most important that the friends
of missionary labour, who are seeking to encircle the
whole of Africa with missions in order to bring this
great continent under the rule of the Gospel, should
also obtain some knowledge of this unexplored por-
tion of the Ekusft-African coast, and thus become



412 VOYAGE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELOADO.

better acquainted with the various routes by which
messengers of the Gospel may press forward to some
common centre, which in my opinion is Uniamesi,
the great country of the interior, towards which
missionaries from east, west, and south should con-
verge ; as from Uniamesi they can reach the innume-
raUe tfbe. oCC^iM Aino. by water i. aU dW
tions.

On the 2nd of February I made arrangements at
Mombaz with the skipper of a small Suahili vessel
to take my fellow-labourer Erhardt and myself to
all the unportant havens and towns, or villages,
south of Mombaz as far as Cape Delgado. On the
4th of February we sailed with a feivourable wind
from the harbour of Mombaz, and in accordance
with our agreement our Suahili captain was to hug
the shore as closely as possible, so that we might
survey the entire line of coast. Skirting a portion
of the shore of the Wadigo-land, with its abundant
groves, shrubs, and palm-trees, we sighted the
Kinika village Niali, lying almost concealed in a
grove of cocoanut-trees, and made for the haven of
Tiwi, where we were to pass the night. Seeing on
the shore a number of Wanika of the Wadigo tribe
catching fish, partly with nets, partly with long and
broad pieces of cloth which they dexterously and
quickly drew together in the water by the four
comers, I told our skipper to launch our canoe,
consisting of the trunk of a tree hollowed out which
served as a boat, and to pidl me to the natives, while
Erhardt remained on board-sliip. After some diffi-



• I



VOYAGE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELGADO. 413

culiy, our M bark having to contend with a heavy
surf, whilst I had to lie on my back while a Suahili
sailor paddled, we reached land, where I was soon
surrounded by the Wanika, who listened for some
minutes attentively to what I had to say, till I asked
ihem to conduct me to the chief of their village,
which lies half a league to the west " of the shore ;
upon which one of them inquired what my presents
for the chief were, and what reward I would give
the guide? I replied that I was the bearer of
heavenly treasures to the chief and his people,
pointing to the Bible, which I held in my hand.
The effect produced by this declaration was, that
some of the people ran away, a few continued to
listen, and others forthwith remarked that it was
now time to drink tembo, palm-wine, and they
must go home. As they would not conduct me to
their village, and finding the tide coming in so as to
render the lagune leading to the village impassable,
I resolved to return to the ship ; but wind and waves
were against us, and just when we were nearing her
we were driven back towards the shore, not far fit)m
which the boat capsized, and I fell backwards into
the sea. Fortunately the water was not very deep,
otherwise probably I should have been drowned, as
I cannot swim. We tried again to reach the vessel,
but the rain and the wind and waves drove the
firail bark always back towards the shore ; so there
was no help for it but to wait till midnight, when
the wind generally abates. Near the shore lay a
large boat, in which we took refuge to shelter our-



414 VOTAQE FBOM HOMBAZ TO CAPE DELQADO.

selves from the chills of eTening, which I felt all
the more aa my clothes were wet. Erhardt, how-
eyer, who was very anxious ahout me, got the skipper
to despatch a largw boat fox me after dusk, which
entered the haven during the evening, when I got
into it and reached our vessel safely , and gave thanks
to God for my preservation.

On the morning of the 5th of February we set
sail again, hugging the shore as closely aa possible.
The coacrt here is very low and woody, and much
honey-combed by the sea. In general the East- African
coast southward from the Equator has been very much
worn by the sea ; whence the many islets and coral-
ree&, which though in some respects commodious for
coasting vessels are at the same time very dangerous.
In the afternoon we ran into the bay of Wassin,
where we saw distinctly Kirugu, Mrima, and Jombo,
all inhabited by Wadigo-Wanika ; and our thoughts
naturally led us to people these mountains witli
converts to Christianity rejoicing in the truths of
the Gospel. In the evening we anchored in the
little bight of Wanga and Magugu, two Mohamme-
dan villages which are only a few feet above the
level of the sea, and in the morning we paid the
villages a visit. In Magugu we found some relatives
of Bana Kheri, who had formerly been my gnide,
and who had accompanied Rebmann more than
once to Jagga, all of whom had heard long before
that Bana Kheri had been killed on his last jour-
ney from Ja^a. I tried to engage the people of
Magugu in religious conversation ; but it was with



VOTAG£ FSOH MOMBAZ TO CAPS DHLC}AIK)« 415

them as it is always with Mohammedana ; for a8 »ooa
aa mention was made of the diyinity of Christy they
began to wrangle and to say, ^^ God has no son ;
neither is He begotten nor begets.'' In the vicinity
of Wanga dwell Wasegeju, who are for the most
part at war with the Wadigo- Wanika ; and the
people of Wanga have much intercourse with the
interior, with the Wanika, Wasegeju, Waschinsi,
Wasambara, and even go as far as Dafeta and
Jagga to trade and hnnt.

On the 7th we weighed anchor very early, and by
noon arrived at the noble bight of Tanga, where we
landed. It was wi& peculiar thoughts aad feelings
that again I trod this soil. It was in the year 1844
that for the first time I saw this coast and the lofty
mountains of Usambara, those ramparts of East-
AMcan heathenism; then it all lay obscure^ and
unexplored before me ; but now I sailed pest with
very different sensations. The consciousness that
my feet had penetrated yonder, that my heart had
prayed to the Lord on the heights of Usambara, and
had commended the whole heathen world around to
His mercy ; that my lips had been permitted here
and there to announce the message of peace both
elevated and upheld me.

Before we landed we received a visit from a
Suahili soldier who had visited England, and could
thus speak a little English. He had been to London
in a trading vessel belonging to the Sultan of
2ianzibar, and during two years of illness he had
spent a considerable portion in the marine hospital



416 VOYAGE FBOM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELQADO.

there, until an Englishman took him to Bombay,
whence he had returned to AMca. Whilst we were
talking with him we heard a noise of shouting and
fire-arms discharged in the villages Kiumbageni
and Mkokoani, which at first rather startled us.
We soon ascertained, however, that a caravan of
traders had arrived from the country of the Masai
in the interior ; having made a circuit round Usam-
bara, eastward, northward, and westward, journey-
ing to Dafeta, and thence to the mountain Mlozo,
which is occupied by the Masai, and in the vicinity
of which there are elephants in abundance. From
our friend the Suahili sailor we learned that the
people of Tanga give the ivory-bearers who go to
Mlozo ten dollars for their services, and for this,
each bearer carries there and back again a heavy
load of fifty-four pounds, and is often absent for
six months. At Tanga, too, I heard that king
Kmeri was anxiously expecting me.

On the 9th of February, we sailed for Tangata,
or Tagnata as it is often called, and on landings
met with a fiiendly reception firom the harbour-
master. A Banian immediately summoned the
Divan, who paid me every respect. Divani (man
of the divan) is the title of a head-inan or governor,
appoiQted by Eoneri to uphold his influence among
the Suahili on the coast, whom he considers to be
his subjects. If any one wishes to become a Divani
he must make the king a suitable present and, over
and above, be recognised and confirmed by the
Sultan of Zanzibar, who makes the candidate a



VOTAGE FROM MOMBAZ TO CABE DELGADO. 417

present that he may not lose sight of the sultan's
interests should they run counter to those of the king
of Usambara. Thus the Diyani must receive the
assent of the sovereign by sea, as well as of the
sovereign by land, when he alone may do what is
allowed to no one else, wear a particular kind of
sandal, carry a state-umbrella, and have musicians
going in procession before him. At Tangata I waB
again asked when I intended to return to Emeri,
a question which perplexed me not a little. We
also heard there that the ivory-traders have to pay
two dollars by way of duty on every &rasala
(equivalent to thirty-six pounds weight) that comes
from the Wadigo-land ; and that if it comes from
J^g^ c^d Usambara the duty is four dollars;
if from Uniamesi, twelve dollars. In Mombaz the
import-duty levied upon ivory amounts to three
dollars per fiurasala. These duties go to the Sultan
of Zanzibar, who, in a general way, does not trouble
himself about this coast except in so fex as regards
its trade.

On the 10th of February we left Tanirata and
reached tiie mouit of the river Pangani affour in
the afternoon. Here, too, I was asked, on landing,
when I would return to Kmeri, and what answer
I wished taken to the king at Fuga respecting
my journey thither. I sent greetings and a message
that I was now journeying to Mgau, and should
then proceed to Europe ; but that after my return
from home my best thoughts should be devoted to
him.



418 YOTAGE FROM MOUBAZ TO CSAFE DELQADO.

In the village of Buyeni to the south of the Pan-
gani, I visited the governor, who aaked, among
other things, why the English attempted everywhere
to put down the slave-trade. I replied, that their
prohibition of it was based upon the divine com*
mand, ^^ Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyselE"
The governor then asked me whether the English
consul in Zanzibar protected only Serkali people,
that is, his fellow-counttymen, or whether other
persona came also wiiMn Ids jiirisdidion and imd«
his protection ; to which I answered that every consul
had to protect all the subjects of his sovereign;
and that, therefore, the En^ish consul took under
his protection the Banians also, because, though not
his omi countrymen, they were subjecte of the
British crown* This reply delighted ihe Banian
who was seated by the governor's side.

On the 11th we sailed £ix>m the mouth of the Pan-
gani along a coa^t with which I had been hitherto
unacquainted. The section of it which we were
now to skirt is inhabited by the following tribes: —
First, there are the heathen Wasegua, who begin
at the south bank of the Pangani, and cease with
the Suahili village, Sadan, which is opposite to
Zanzibar, and form several sub-divisions* Second,
south from the Wasegua are the Wadoie, who are
said to be cannibals, but this is scarcely credible ;
third, to the south of the Wadoie follow the Wa-
seramu ; then, fourth, the Wakatoa ; fifth, the Wat-
umbi ; sixth, the Wagnindo ; seventh, the Wamuera
at Kiloa Kilenje ; eighth, the Makonde ; and ninth^



YOTAOE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELQADO. 419

the Makua, with whom begins the portion of the sea-
coast belonging to the Portuguese. With all these
tribes the Suahili inhabiting the seaboard main-
tain friendly relations; all of them are, if not
directly, more or less indirectly, subject to the rule
of the Sultan of Zanzibar ; and heathen and Moham-
medan find it their interest to live on peacefol terms
with each other. The Wasegua-coast is very low,
and does not possess a single good harbomr. Among
these tribes the slave-trade has flourished hitherto
to a frightful extent, chiefly owing to the encourage-
ment of the Arabs of Zanzibar.

12th Februaty. — The violence of the north wind
forced us to remain all day in the harbour of Msa-
sami, where we had anchored yesterday evening.
Our skipper, who belonged to the WamuQra-tribe
and was bom at Ealoa, told us that many years ago
he had journeyed with a caravan from Kiloa to
the coimtry of the Wahiau, near Lake Niassa.
The route into the interior was good and level, and
from Kiloa he came to lingabura ; then to Kiturika,
places in the territory of the Wamuera; then to
Jipera, Mbuemkurro, Mkura, Mkarre, Lujanda (a
river), and, finally, to Eeringo and Ripeta, where
the caravan procured slaves and ivory, the latter
being brought by the Waniassa from the western
side of the lake. The Waniassa construct light but
water-tight boats of the bark of trees, in which they
cross the lake to buy ivory fix>m the Mawisa-tribes.
They make clothes, too, out of the bast of a tree.
The river Lufuma or Rufimia is said to have its

E £



420 VOYAGE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELOADO.

source in the Niassa, which must mean in the eastern
shore of the lake.

13^ Ibbruaty. — ^At four in the afternoon we an-
chored in the haven of the villa^ Mtotana, where we
met a large caravan of people belonging to the tribe
Ukimbu in Uniamesi. These people who came
with their wives and children from the interior and
lived in small huts by the seashore, told me that
they had spent three months on the journey; and
had brought slaves and ivory. Their figures and
featurea were by no means nnai^dy; indeed many
were of tall stature. I could und^nrtand a good deal
of what they said, which proves that their language
belongs to the great South-African £smiily. One of
them said that he had been in SofEda, and brought
copper thence ; and they seem also to be acquainted
with the west coast of Africa. The great lake in
Uniamesi, they said, ebbs and flows, a remark which
struck me, as it must others, as important. They
asked me whether it was true, as they had heard
from the Suahili in the interior, that Europeans were
cannibals ? so I explained to them that the Suahili
calumxiiated Europeans to the tribes of the interior,
in order to prevent any direct intercourse between
the two, which would tend to destroy the Suahili
monopoly of trade. I was anxious and took pains to
give the Uniamesi people an accurate notion of Chria-
tianity and of Europeans ; and told them that one of
these days I would visit Uniamesi, when they said I
had only to come, and I should be well treated.
At Mtotana I saw a Suahili formerly in the



VOTAQE FBOM MOMBAZ TO CAPS DELQADO. 421

service of M. Maisan, a Frenchman, who was mur-
dered by the WashinBi some three days' journey
firom the coast in the year 1847, in the course of an
expedition to Uniamesi, whOst proceeding into the
interior by way of Buyani. When he had reached
the chief of the Washinsi, that petty ruler thought
fit to covet the chests of the traveller which he
fimcied were filled with dollars ; so he surrounded
by night the house in which M. Maisan lodged, and
first attacked his servants. Roused by the cries of
the dying M. Maisan discharged his gun at the assail-
ants, but at the same moment fell pierced by their
q)ear8. Then the chief set fire to the house, upon
which three of the murdered man's servants who
survived took to flight. When the Sultan of Zan-
zibar heard of this atrocious crime he sent 200
soldiers to arrest the chief, who it seems had made
his escape, and so one of his kinsmen vras seized in
his stead and carried to Zanzibar.

lith February. — There was but little wind, so we
got no fiirther to-day than to the small island of
Sinda, and here we met again with many trading
people firom Uniamesi who build little huts on the
strand, and stay in them until they return homeward.
The Uniameri caravaBB consist generaUy of from
three to four thousand men, that they may be strong
enough to defend themselves on the way firom the
attacks of hostile tribes. These people had been here
for several months ; for they leave Uniamesi in Sep-
tember, and arrive in December at the coast; and
return home again in March and April.

E E 2



422 VOTAGE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELGADO.

16th February. — We passed the small islands of
ShungimbiK and Niovro, probably the same wHch
are called on the maps ^^ Latham's Islands/' contain-
ing guano, which our skipper told us was most
abimdant though much spoilt by the rain. The
coast opposite is very low, but fertile, the sight of
which led one of the sailors to shout, ^^ Hindi Bas-
tani Belad ya Baniani," India is a garden and
the land of the Banians. Li the afternoon we
reached the island Mafia, wrongly named Monfia on
the maps, and anchored at Kisiman Mafia.

\7fh February. — ^In the harbour of Kisiman Mafia
was a ship j&om Kiloa with thirty slaves, who were
beiQg carried to Zanzibar. The captain of the ship
wished to buy rice fix)m us, as his slaves had nothing
to eat ; but we were in the same predicament, and
very glad to reach the noble island of Jole, where
water-melons, cassave, rice, Indian com, cocoanuts,
and many other good things were procurable. In
Jole there has lately sprung up an important
trade in cowries, of which there is an abundance on
this coast, these shells beinir bought by traders
from Z.n^1»r, who dkpT^f th^ to E,m>p«u»
there, by whom they are sent to the west coast of
Africa where, as is weU known, they form the
currency. We were told that two measures of cow-
ries were given for one measure of rice.

\9th February. — ^At noon we passed the islands
Songosongo and Pumbaiu, and then the sandbank
called ^^ Fungu ya Baniana," Banian's Sandbank, so
named firom a Banian who perished there, having



YOTAOE FBOM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELGADO. 423

been landed on it from an Arabian sbip in order to
prepare his food, as no one wbo does not belong to
their caste must look on during the preparation of
their food by their Banians. The captain, however,
set sail during the process and abandoned the un-
happy Banian to his fate.

At four in the afternoon we arrived at the har-
bour of Kiloa Kibenje, the most important town
on the coast between Mozambique and Zanzibar,
with from twelve to fifteen thousand inhabitants, the
centre of the trade of those regions, and the con-
fluence, as it were, of the two streams of wealth
flowing from north and south. It drives a very con-
siderable trade in ivory, rice, copal, tobacco, and es-
pecially in slaves, which are brought from Uniamesi,
and from the regions of the lake Niassa. From ten
to twelve thousand slaves are said to pass yearly
a^«gh El« on ftei w «o the wiL pL It
the Suahili coast and to Arabia, and we saw many
gangs of from six to ten slaves clWnedtoeach oAer,
and obliged to carry burdens on their heads. In
this country the life of a man is of small moment,
and one would almost be led to wonder why God in
His mercy affixes no limits to such horrors and such
violations of the laws of humanity, if in the remem-
brance of what horrors these slaves would have
had to submit to in their own coimtry, we did not
see cause to acknowledge, even in this vile traffic,
how by human agency, alone. He works out His in-
scrutable purposes.

The Wahiau, who are in the habit of coming to



424: YOTAGE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELGADO.

Ealoa, are said often treacherously to sell each other
to the Suahili. One kinsman will send another to
the house of a Suahili^ on the pretence that there is
something there for him to fetch back^ when the
Snahili^ with whom the bai^ain has ahready been
struck, closes the door upon the victim and chains
him, and keeps him so chained imtil there is an
opportunity of selliBg him and shipping him to Zan-
zibar or Arabia* Although the Sultan of Zanzibar
has prohibited the slave-trade with Arabia, yet
many slayena^hips proceed there annually, starting
from KUoa and saiKng round Zanzibar on L eastern
side of the island, so as to evade the sultan's police ;
and slaves are often smu^led to Arabia by the aid
of a declaration of the captain that they are sailors.
Many a Wahiau and Waniassa, returning fix>m Kiloa
to his own country, is caught at night in a snare,
laid in the way by the Wamueraa to entrap travellers
after dark, when the captive has a forked-like piece
of wood placed round his neck, and his handfi bound,
and so the poor wretch is taken to EHoa. The
Waniassa are placed on shipboard with their hands
boimd, nor are they unloosed until the ship is out at
sea, far from shore, lest accustomed as they are at
home to swimming in their lake Niasaa, they might
attempt to escape by plunging into the sea. The
caravans start in March from Kiloa for the Niassa
country, which is still the chief seat of the East-
African slave-trade, and they return again in Novem-
ber. They must, however, be strong enough to de^
fend themselTeson tiie way against the various chiefe



VOYAGE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELOABO. 425

and tribes. From Eiloa you can reach the lake
Niafisa^ commonly termed on the maps Morawi, it
seems in fifteen or twenty days (even in ten days,
according to some.) May Heaven soon grant to the
friends of missionary teaching opportunities of spread-
ing the Gospel throughout the benighted regions
round lake Niassa, and of establishing one missionary
station after another I From that central region the
Gospel might soon penetrate farther, southward, west-
ward, and northward, and for this tibe navigation of
the lake itself cannot but afford great fietcilities.

On the 21st we left Kiloa Kibenje, and sailed
to Kiloa Kisiwani, or Kiloa-island, the other £aloa
being on the mainland, Kiloa Kisiwani rising just
above the level of the sea, which is encroaching
more and more upon the island: We noticed that a
portion of the little fortress had been thrown down
by the force of the ocean, and that the £sJl of one of
the towers was hourly threatened, though when the
fort was first built the sea must have been a good
distance firom its foundations, but now the walls,
to a height of four or five feet, are splashed by its
waves. In 2jansdbar, likewise, the encroachment of
the sea and the submersion of the dry land are ob-
servable. The East-African coast is, as it were,
emblematical of the social condition of llie people ;
both are in a state of decadence. A new element
must be introduced on it creating a new life and
sweeping away the mouldy and rotten old.

I visited the commandant of the fort, an elderly
and venerable Beloochee, whose demeanour was very



426 VOYAOE FBOM MOMBAZ TO CAFE DELQADO.

courteous, and who inquired earnestly whether the
English had defeated the Sikhs and annexed the
Punjaub to their Indian empire. The fort is a good
square stone building with a tower at each comer,
and room for a considerable garrison ; but it is now
garrisoned only by a few Beloochees in the service
of the Sultan of Zanzibar, who claims this island
which belonged formerly to the Portuguese. In 1505
the Portuguese admiral, Francisco d' Almeyda, landed
with 700 men and conquered and burnt the town
upon the island ; and a fort was subsequently built on
it by the Portuguese, but not long retained, the un-
healthy climate sweeping off its European garrisons.
After the departure of the Portuguese the Eliloans
had governors of their own until these were sup-
planted by the Imam of Muscat, who took possession
of the island in the course of last century, at the time
when the French thought of making Eiloa a slave-
dep6t.

I vrandered for awhile through the ruined city,
where I was particularly attracted by the remains of
an old and large mosque built in the Egyptian style.
In the time of its prosperity the island is said to have
contained 300 mosques, which naturally suggests a
very numerous population ; but in the way of inhar
bited buildings, it now contains only some huts
tenanted by Suahili. This is all that remains of the
once great Eiloat-el-Muluk, Eiloa the Mistress, as the
Arabs call her. Undoubtedly she had been for-
merly, like Ealoa Kibenje, a metropolis of the
slave-trade, but now she has become herself a slave



VOYAGE FBOM MOMBAZ TO CAPE DELGABO. 427

and dwindled into a wretched place, whose former
glories have all departed for ever. The best thing
that could be done with Kiloa-island would be to
establish on it a colony like that of Sierra Leone ;
as in such a colony, slaves captured at sea by the
English might be settled, instructed, and made
usefiil in aiding the civilization of Eastern Africa.

22ndy 2Srd February. — ^Yesterday we anchored in
the fine bay of Kisueri, and to-day in that of lindi,
which is still larger and more romantic than that of
Kisueri; in &ct, south of EHoa the coa^ begins to
be altogether very interesting. We anchored facing
Muitinge, a village which had been burnt a year
before by command of the Imam to punish the
inhabitants for having, contrary to the law of 1847,
entered into relations with a Portuguese slave-ship,
when the governor of Eiloa was commissioned to de-
stroy the village through the instrumentality both of
a land and of a sea force. The bights and bays of
this coast generally look as if they had been pur-
posely constructed to harbour slave-ships, and for-
merly they must here have carried on their horrible
traffic undisturbed and unseen. But now their occu-
pation, at least in so £eu: as regards European slavers,
has been destroyed by the influence of the English,
though the Suahili may continue the traffic in slaves
without let or hindrance, provided they do not carry
it on south or north, in the limits of the jurisdiction
of the Sultan of Zanzibar, or with Europeans and
Americans, but merely with AMcans, according to the
provisions of the Anglo- Arabian convention of 1847.



428 yOTAOE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAFE DELQADO.

On the 24tli we sailed to the bight of Mnania
where we met numbers of people. Some of them
asked ns inmiediately whether we did not wish
to visit lake Niassa, as they would be happy to
gxdde UB to it. Others asked whether we would not
buy cowries. The governor of Muania said, " Re-
main here; build a house and do whatever you
please; you will be welcome to me." I had told
him that we were travelling about to announce to
the people the Word of Grod, as we do at Rabbai.
The people of Muania had heard of us before, and,
indeed, along the whole coast our residence at Mom-
baz was talked of; so we needed no letters of recom-
mendation to the governors in that quarter.

It was melancholy to notice at all these places
the evil influence which the trade with Europe,
centred at Zanzibar, had begun to exert on the
people. Brandy was everywhere asked for by the
natives, even by the governors and their soldiers ; for
the love of brandy has spread rapidly among these
Mohammedans. It is French brandy mainly that is
imported into this region. What if this increasing
love of ardent spirits should eventually break up the
false religion of their prophet, and so great good
come out of the evil ? On the other hand, European
commerce with the coast has done a great deal of
good by introducing more life and activity among
the Suahili, who at last must arrive at the- conclusion,
that they have a great deal more to gain by legiti-
mate commerce than by the slave-trade.

On the 25th we reached the great bight of



YOTAOE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAPS DELOADO. 429

Mkindani) sorroimded on both sides by hamlets. We
anchored near the village of Pemba on the north
side, which is scarcely above the level of the sea.
The people soon gathered round ns in large niun-
bers, and I had some religious conversation with
them. Those of Mkindani often journey to the lake
Niassa, and declared themselves ready to accompany
us to it if we would give them brandy.

On the evening of the 26th we reached the bight,
which forms the estuary of the river Lufuma. The
coast round its mouth lies very low, and there seem
to be rocks at the entrance of the river ; but as the
wind ceased to blow just when we arrived, we could
not go closer and run up the mouth of the river. There
are no inhabitants in the neighbourhood, which seems
to indicate that the river at its mouth is of no im-
portance. In the dry season it is said to be but a few
L d«^, but .juiruop««bl, iu .h, nony »«on.
Our skipper assured me repeatedly that this river had
its source in Lake Niassa : and if so, it is very desir-
able that the Lufuma should be explored by a small
steam-boat as fiir as it is navigable. To the south of
the river is Cape Delgado, apparently called Suahu
by the Suahili in latitude 10^ 41' 2" south, and
longitude 40o 34' 6" east. In its vicinity is the vil-
lage of Tungue which belongs to the jurisdiction of
the Sultan of Zanzibar ; but the region lymg farther
south is under the rule of the Portuguese in Mozam-
bique. We had now completed our voyage, the con-
clusion of which we were heartily glad of, as day after
day we had felt more and more the hardships of our



430 VOTAGE FROM MOMBAZ TO GAPE DELGADO.

life on board ship, as our food became more scanty
and poorer, and the increasing rain was a source of
continiial annoyance. Yet no less heartily did we
feel the desire that this first visit of the messengers
of Peace, proclaiming here and there but a syllable
of the Word of Life, might herald the dawn of a
brighter day, so that these regions may become not
only better known to the geographer, but gradually
more and more lighted up by tibe truths of the Gospel.

On GUT return-voyage we saw at Kisueri two
ships filled with men. We were told that they were
only sailors, but it was clear that they were slaves,
who, imder this pretext, were to be transported to Mo-
zambique. Another Arabian ship had, it was said,
forty chests of brandy on board, bought on the coast,
to be carried to Mozambique ; but I was told, that
at Mozambique slaves were often brought on board
ship packed in chests, to escape detection by the
police of the harbomr.

On the 5th of March we reached again Kiloa
Eabenje, where the governor, who tried to make
himself agreeable to us in every possible way, gave
us a capital dinner in the Arabian &ishion. He told
us that, even if we arrived at night, the gates of the
town would be opened to us, since the English and
the Sultan of Zanzibar we Ite verybest.of firiends.
He also told us of a Suahili, who had journeyed
from Ealoa to the lake Niassa, and thence to Lo-
ango on the western coast of Africa.

In the afternoon of the 12th of March after a
tedious passage we arrived at 2janzibar, where Major



YOTAOE FROM MOMBAZ TO CAFE DELQADO. 431

Hamerton, the English conHal^ received us with his
usual hospitality. On the 16ih we quitted Zan-
zibar, arriving on the 20th at Mombaz, and on the
23rd at Rabbai, where we found our poor Rebmann
suffering from wounds in the feet, caused by the
thoughtlessness of a Mnika, who had poured boiling
water on them. I then made my preparations for
my journey to Europe, and started on the 10th of
April, arriving on the 26th safely at Aden, and on
the 10th of June I landed at Trieste.



432



CHAPTER n.

FBOH JEBUSAIxEM TO GONPAR.

Bishop Gobat and the Abessinian mifision— JenuaLem — Cairo-*
Tor — Greek ChnstiaoB in Arabia — Jidda — Mohammedan pil-
grims — The author's servant, Wolda-Gabriel — Storm and fire—
Massowa — The new king Theodoras — ^News from Abessinia —
Dohono — Shumfeito — ^A Bomish missionary- — ^Halai — ^The Za-
ranna wildetnessj — ^Adowa — ^Axom — ^To Gondar — Jan Meda —
The king's camp— Conference with the Abima — ^Interriew with
king Theodorus — ^Back to Gondar — Notes on the city.

It had long been the wish of' Bishop Gbbat of
Jerusalem, as well as of Mr. Spittler of Basel, to
send some of the pupils of the Chrishona Missionary
Institute to Abessinia, in order to revive missionary
labours in that country which had been interrapted
in the year 1838, and to resume them in such a
way as should lead to very different results from
those that followed that formerly pursued. The new
missionaries were to be laymen and handicraftsmen,
who were to follow their secular callings, but, at the
same time, by their Christian walk and conversation,
to make their light shine before the Abessinians, and
to circulate the Bible among them. Accordingly, in
the year 1854 six of the pupils were tent to Jeru-
salem, there to be prepared for the office imder



FBOM JEBUfiAIiEM TO GONDAB. 433

Bishop Gobat^s finipermtendence^ and in due course
to proceed to Habesh ; for Bishop Gobat, as is well
known, had formerly himself been a missionary in
Abessinia, and, in spite of all his painful experiences
in it, that comitry was still dear to him. Asithap-
pened that at that very time I was about to return to
Eastern Africa and to my home at Rabbai Mpia I
ofTered my »rno», pro^ i. pr<«eed ftL to
Jerusalem, and thence to take with me one or more
of these missionary pupils, and to inrestigate the
actual state of thii^s in Aiessinia; in shoTto take
them to that country, and show them the way,
making them acquainted with the condition of
Abessinia and the neighbouring states, before the
whole of the pupils should proceed to Habesh.
After completing this my desire was to penetrate
from Gondar to Shoa and thence to Gurague, with
the view of making an exploratory visit to the scat-
tered Christian reLants L Ka^
and, if possible, to reach the coast of Marka and
Barawa in the vicinity of the equator, whence I
could proceed by sea to Rabbai.

In conformity with this plan, and accompanied
by my fellow-labourer Beimler (from Bavaria),
who had been appointed to the Rabbai mission, I
set out for Jerusalem, where we arrived in De-
cember 1854; and upon Bishop Gobat selecting
brother Martin Flad (from Wiirtemberg) as my com-
panion to Habesh, we proceeded forthwith to Gairo,
where we ^rejoined byayoungAbessinian, named
Maderakal, who had been educated for four years in



434 FBOM JERUSALEM TO GONDAR.

the English College at Malta, and wishing to retom
to his native country bore us company to Suez,
whence he could take shipping for Abessinia. At
Suez Deimler took the steamer for Bombay, where he
was to study Arabic for a time, and then to cross
over to the East- African coast. On the 20th of
January, 1855, accompanied by Flad, Maderakal,
and my servant Wolda Grabriel (firom Shoa), I em-
barked in an Arabian vessel for Jidda.

On the 21st we reached the port of Tor on the
Arabian coast, where there are some ten or twelve
poor feunilies of Greek Christians, who receive their
priest from Mount Sinai, and live by trade and
fishing. With the exception of the monks on Mount
Sinai, these are the only surviving Christians tole-
rated in Arabia. Two of them visited us and asked
anxiously after the progress of the war between
Russia and Turkey; their opinion being that the
Czar must be victorious, because he was the pro-
tector of the true faith.

23rrf January. — ^We passed with a tolerably feir
wind Cape (Ras) Mahomed, the bight of Akaba,
and the anchorages of Etzbe, Bogos, Shabane,
Yambo, and Jar. During the passage, on the
whole a plecusant one, I read the Amharic New Tes-
tament with Flad and our Abessinian, and o£Pered
up our morning and evening prayers mostly in
Amharic, which I had neither heard nor made use of
since 1843.

\%t and 2nd Febmary. — ^We arrived yesterday at
Jidda, where Mr. Cole, the English consul, gave



FBOM JERUSALEM TO QOKDAB. 435

US a Mendly reception, and at once introduced us
to an Arabian captain, who agreed for a small sum
to take us to Massowa, the chief port of the Abes-
sinian .coast. Mr. Cole, who by his prudent and
friendly demeanour has made himself much beloTed
by the inhabitants of Jidda, not only entertained
us hospitably in his house, but gave us every assist-
ance in our preparations for the voyage to Massowa.
People at home little know how much good can be
effected by a consul abroad, when he combines true
morality with necessary official abilities and qualifi-
cations. Notwithstanding their official power im-
moral and incapable persons, occupying a consular
position, do immeasurable mischief.

Srd February. — On board our ship were a great
number of Mohammedan pilgrims coming from Mecca,
and returning to Abessinia. Some were from Mas-
sowa and Tigre ; others belonged to the Wollo tribe
Tchuladere, on Lake Haik. I heard from these
pilgrims that Adara Bille, the chief of Lagga-gora
who plundered me in the year 1842 was dead,
and that his son ruled in his place. They were
very bigoted, and there soon arose a quarrel between *
them and our servant, Wolda Gabriel, who rather
acrimoniously defended Christianity against the
attacks of the WoUo-Gralla. Let me give a brief
history of this Wolda Gabriel. He was bom in
the town of Makhfiid in Shoa, and asserts that in
his boyhood he saw me at Ankober. From Shoa he
went to Gondar with a priest, who had busitiess
with the Abuna ; when this was settled the priest

• F p



436 FROM JERUSALEM TO QONDAR.

resolved to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the
company of Wolda Gabriel and another youth of
Shoa. The latter fell iU on their arrival at Jidda,
and Wolda Gubriel tended him in his illness. One
day Gabriel went to the well to draw water and on
ulr^ fo^d hi. .ick ooMp^uon lying dead
upon the ground and the priest away, when on
inquiry it turned out that the latter had carried off
the effects both of the dead youtii and of Gabriel
himself, and had sailed from Jidda. The owner
of the house, a Mohammedan, seized upon the sur-
viving youth and sold him into slavery to Mecca,
where he was sold again as a slave to Medina. The
priest, no doubt, had sold the lad to the Mohamme-
dan to raise funds for his journey to Jerusalem.
Grabriel was now forced by actual violence to become
a Mohammedan. After he had been about a year
in Mecca and Medina his new master took him to
Jidda, where he became acquainted with a Mo-
hammedan merchant from Massowa, who advised
him to make his escape from Jidda and to come
on board hiB ship, whew he would appoint him o^-
seer of the slaves, whom he purposed to seU at
Suez. Gabriel followed the advice, and reached
Suez safely with the slave-dealer, where the lying
rascal sold him as a slave to a rich Mohammecbn at
Cairo, by whom he was sent to school. One day, at
Cairo he was accosted in tihe street by an Abes-
sinian Christian priest who addressed him in Am<»
haric, and a£^ed who he was and whence he came,
Gabriel told tiie priest his story, and by tiie priest






FROM JEBUSALEM TO GONDAB. 437

it was repeated to the Coptic patriarch, who brought
the matter before the Egyptian authoritiei^ and tiie
youth was restored to freedom. He then jour^
neyed with a caraTaU of AbessiniaH pilgrims to
Jerusalem, where he became an inmate of the Abes^
sinian monastery. DissaiMed Miih monastic Ufe
he quitted the monastery, and entered the service
of lrion»y Oe^geB Z Jeru«U», who ™ em-
ployed in tiie conversion of the Jews, and throiigh
him Gabriel became acquainted with the Bible
tmd the Protestant faith. On tny arrival at Jeru-
salem he heard of my intended journey to Gon-
dar and Ankober, and offered me his services^
which I gladly accepted. This youth knew how to
read and write, was a clever disputant, and could
defend pure Christianity against Mohammedans and
bigoted Ohristians of the Greek, Romish, and Abes-
sinian churches ; but, in spite of all his intellectual
acquirements, his heart was still unrenewed and un-
regenerate. He afterwards fell ill at AdoWa, and
could not acciompany us to Gondar.

12th Ihbruarif.^---We were overtaken by a terrible
storm, with thunder and lightning. Wind aUd rain,
and it was with difficulty that we gained the open
harbour of Birket, on the Arabian coasts In hiti
dread and alarm our poor skipper kept crying out,
"YaRabb! Ya Rabb I ^^— " O God I OGodl"

16tt, 16th TebfUaty. — ^The storm and rain con-
tinued. The saUoriEf threw out four anchorisl to
steady the ship. Had we been driven on the coast
inhabited by the fanatical Asedr Arabs, and Ihere

F p 2



438 FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAR.

been wrecked, we " dogs of Christians " would hare
been plundered and killed beyond all doubt. The
violent rain falh'ng on the open boat soaked our
luggage, and spoilt a portion of the provisions des-
tined for our land-journey, whilst the little cabin, too,
was far from impervious to the rain. May I never
forget from what dangers the mercy of God has
preserved me during the lieust three days and nights !

18^^ February. — ^Last night the man at the helm
having gone to sleep at his post, the flame of the
binnacle light, which was burning in a little wooden
box, caught the paper which surrounded the ship's
compass. The flame then fastened on the sails which
were lying on deck near the sleeper. Luckily he
awoke before it reached the powder-bag, which the
sailors had foolishly laid just over the cabin in
which we slept. This merciful preservation of Gt>d
showed us anew how necessary it is to commend
ourselves with earnestness, day and night, to his
mercy and protection.

20^ February. 'T'^O'd^Y we arrived safely at the
island of Massowa. Signer Baroni, an Italian, secre-
tary to Mr. Plowden, the English consul, who
happened to be absent, hospitably received us into
his house, and told us the important news that
Ubie, the ruler of Tigre, had been routed by
Dejesmaj Elassai. We also had an interview
with the young Abessinian, Guebru, who was
educated at Bombay with his brother Mirja by
Dr. Wilson, and sent to Tigre to open a school
in Abessinia. Guebru told us that after his first



FROM JEEUSALEM TO GONBAB. 439

return from India, he and his brother had opened
a school at Adowa, but they had met with great
opposition from the Alaka Kidana Mariam who
in 1838 had received a hundred dollars from the
Romish priests, as a bribe to procure the expul-
sion of the Protestant missionaries from Abessinia.
As the two brothers could not establish the school,
they employed a priest from Waldubba, and pro-
Tided him with the neceeflary means ; butunfortu-
nately the smallpox broke out at Adowa and carried
off the priest and some of the scholars, and so the
school was shut up.

26th Fdnmary. — ^Mr. Plowden, the English consul,
returned to-day to Massowa. He thinks that we
may proceed with safety to the frontiers of Tigre,
but that we should halt there until the government
of the new king, Theodoras, (just mentioned by the
name of ELassai), shall be consolidated, and to allow
of the dispersion of the bands of robbers, whi^h
every political revolution in ill-fated Abessinia is sure
to call into being ; for as soon as the new king is
proclaimed in the chief market-places of the coun-
try tranquillity will be restored. Mr. Plowden's
opinion is, that the condition of Abessinia wilX
be materially improved by the new monarch, whom
he knows personaUy. The Abessinians (according
to Bishop Grobat) have a book, called ^^Fakera
YasuB'' (Love of Jesus), which declares that a certain
Theodoras will arise in Greece and subject the
whole world to his rule, and that from his time
forward Christianity will prevail throughout the



440 FBOM JEBUSAUSM TO OONDAR*

worlcL The Falafiha have alab a notioa that the
Messiah will appear aa a great conqueror^ under the
iiame of Tbeodorw, and it Ut poasibl j out of regard
to thin saying) that iKaasat adopted hi3 new name.

1^^ Marck.'^We received to-day, fiiesh and certain
tidings fix)m Abeasinia. Ubie has been com-
pletely defeated by Theodorua, taken captive, and
impri|K)ned^ Sici brave son, Shetu, fell in battle;
his two other sons, Kaasai and Gongal, have sor-
rendered to ELassai ; and the latter, under the name
of Theodoras, has had himself crowned ^^ King of
the kings of Ethiopia.'' Theodoras teK>k 7000
niuskets, 60,000 dollars, and many other valuables
from Ubie, who has tq pay besides 40,000 doUan
before be will be set &ee« Balgadarqia, a relation
of Basi Wolda Selassie and Sabagadis, and a friend
to Europeans, has been appointed viceroy of Tigrew
The Romish missionaries have been expelled from
Tigre, and are not to return to it. Upon the
receipt of this news the conisul encouraged us to
prosecute our journey to Abessinia«

etf^lOffi March.— On the 6th we, sailed to Har^
kiko, or Dohono, and leaving it on the 7th we
^mounted our camels, and arrived on the 9th at the
Shumfeito, whence the camels had to return, and
oxen had to carry our baggage up the mountain
to Halai, the first Christian village in Tigre,
where we arrived on the 10th, and met with a
friendly reception fri>m Aito Habtai and his brother
Wolda Michael, both friends of the English oonsuL
12th March. — The Romish missionary, ftther



FBOM JERUSAJLBH TO QONDAB, 441

Jakobis, arriyed to-day from the interior. He had
fled from Gondar, and performed the journey in dis-^
goise. What a wonderAil change in the state of
things I When Jakohis and his companions came six-
teen years ago to Abessuna, Isenberg, Blumhardt^
and I, were obliged to leave the connlayy while we
are now permitted to return to it, and the Roman-
isis must depart. The Bomish missionaries hare
had a long period allowed them for action, and for the
pronmlgation of their doctrines ; but no such period
was vouchsafiBd to us to work in. The Romanists
made converts in Halai, Dixan^ Kaich, Kur, and in
oiher places, on the frontiers of Tigre; as many
priests in the interior played into their hands. Then
too, to swell the number they re-baptized their
Abessinian converts, and ordained priests a second
time. They committed oxur Bibles to the flames, or
locked them up in chests, so that nobody should

procure the removal of the present Coptic Abuna,
or Primate, who is un£Eivourably disposed towards
the Romish faith. They strove earnestly to en-
courage an exaggerated Mariolatry, and to make the

* A Jesmtmiflaonaiy toldme onceilmttheaposfieBbadnatbeen
eommaiLded to write, but odI j to preacli the gospel ; and that, con*
aequently, there was no occasion to read what they had written.
When I showed him Eeyelation i. 3 ^ Blessed is he that readeth^
and they that hear the words of his prophecy, and keep those
thing? which are written thereiQ : for the time is at hand"), and
Terse 19 of the same chapter (" Write the things which thou hast
seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be here-
after''), he had not a word to say, unless it were to scoff at the
Bibliolatry of Protestants.



442 FROM JERUSALEM TO OONBAB.

veneration of the Virgin the chief object of their
activity in Abessinia. Ubie, the ruler of Tigre,
patronized the Romanists in every way, and they
gave him, from time to time, valuable presents to in-
fnire his protection against the Abessinian opposition.
Indeed, fiekther Jakobis is said even to have promised
him the presence and aid of foreign troops, if Ubie
would make him patriarch of the whole of iBthiopia.
But all these successes and plans were rendered
nugatory on the day when Kassai conquered Ubie,
and had himself proclaimed sovereign of Abessinia.
13th — 18^ March. — ^Many Abessinian priests and
others, visited us at Halai, and I had abundant
opportunities of bearing testimony to the Word of
God at this place. I received the visit of some boys,
too, who had received instruction from Father Jako-
bis, who wore copper crosses romid their necks, which
had been given ihem by him as symbols of their
Christianity, and they maintained that devils could
do them no harm so long as they wore these crosses.
Then, too, ihey insisted that the Virgin Mary must
be worsliipped as the queen of Heaven, and when
I asked them for a proof from the Bible of this idle
dogma, they could only appeal to an apocryphal
work, ^^Dersana Mariam" (History of the Virgin
Mary), a fisivourite work in Abessinia, and one
which father Jakobis is said to have made a
handbook when instructing the people. Whai I
adduced the passage, 1 Timothy ii. 5, "There is
one God, and one Mediator between God and men^
the man Christ Jesus," they could say nothing in



FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAK. 443

reply, and scampered off. I afterwards heard that
Jakobis had forbidden the boys to visit me again.
We were visited thrice a day by an Abessinian
priest, eyidentiy with the ded^ to spy out whether
any Abessmians with Romish tendencies came to
see us. His son was a priest in the s^rice of the
Romanists. I did not engage in any formal refuta-

expounded the Bible, the surest recitation of all
errors, whether they come from Rome or from any
other church.

20tA—26th March.— JLearmg on the 20th from
Mr. Coffin, who had been resident in Abessinia for
some forty years, that the way to Adowa was tole-
rably safe, and that the new sovereign had been pro-
claimed king in the market-place there, we set forth
at once. On the 22nd, we quitted Halai, and, tra-
versing the Tzaranna wilderness (ordinarily infested
by robbers), we reached Adowa in the afternoon of
the 26th, where we became occupants of the house
of Mr. Plowden, whose servants paid us every atten-
tion in his absence. ^

29th Mareh.^-^hi the course of the day, we received
a visit from Mirja, the son oi Aito Workie, and
brother of the two youths, Guebru and Mirja,
formerly mentioned. He confirmed the news that
the king had prohibited the slave-trade and expelled
the Romish missionaries, and we now learned that
he had forbidden polygamy among his soldiers, and
that he had sent an envoy to the Emperor of Russia
to form an alliance with his Imperial Majesty,



444 FBOM JERUSALEM TO GOBTDAR,

probably with a yiew to the extirpatioii of tibe
Mohammedansy whom he had ordered either to
become Christians in two years, or to quit the
oonntry.

In the afternoon, I visited Aito Wolda Ru&el^ in
whose house Isenberg and. Bishop Qobat had for-
merly lived as missionaries. He and his wife told
me that since our expulsion from Abessinia they
had had a great deal to suffer, and began asking
whether now, after the removal of Ubie and all the
other opponents of our cause the Protestant mis-
sionaries would not return a^ain. I inquired after
the Amharic Bibles whidi we had left behind us in
1838, and Ru&^ told me that they had been partly
sold, partly ^yen away, and liiat only fifty copies
remained undisposed o£.

' From RufstePs house I went to the brook HasBam,
on the bank of which are the buildings which our
sudden expulsion in 1838 prevented us from com-
pleting. The little stone house in which Blumhardt
and I used to live, was still in tolerable rq)air, and
in tenanted by a priest. But Isenberg^a unfinished
house and the walls which surround it have fallen
into decay ; and some priests of Adowa have built
wretched huts on the site.

On my return I received a visit from Debtera
Matteos, who had assisted Isenberg in translating
the Old and New Testaments into the language
of Tigre. He inquired earnestly whether Isenberg
would not now return to Adowa, as King Theo-
dorus and the viceroy would restore the house



FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAB. 445

to my misfidonaiy friend if he wished fin* it. I
did not go into tljie subject, although I believe that
much good might be effected in Tigre bj a Euro-
pean misfidonarj, with the aid of the joung men
Maderakal, Miija^ Gruebru, and Berru (the latter
still in the Institute at Malta), and with the literary
assistance of Debtera Matteos, who knows ^thiopic
well and speaks Arabic. It would, indeed, be a pity
if such Abessinian aids were to be lost to the cause
of Protestant missions.

I advised Maderakal to open a school, and also to
compile a dictionary of the Tigre language, which
might be useful to friture missionaries. Bis mother
is possessed of some property, and is a pious
woman after the Abessinian &shion, praying a
great deal, and behaving liberally to the poor, the
priests, the m<mks, and the churches. As a boy,
Maderakal himself qidtted his native dty, Adowa,
and went to France with M. Lefevre, a French naval
officer, and traveller in Abessioia. There he was
presented to M. Guizot, who was then minister,
and by him to the King Louis Philippe, who had
the youth educated with the view of making him
afterwards a French agent in Abessinia. After
he had spent four years in a French school he
intended to return with Lefevre to Abessinia, but
in Cairo they separated, and Maderakal became a
pufHl in the school of Missionary Lieder. There
he was made acquainted with the Bible and the
Protestant fedtfa, which had so many attractions for
him, that, to gain a more profound knowledge of the



446 FROM JERUSALEM TO GONBAR.

Word of God, he aaked to be admitted into ihe
Protestant College at Malta where he spent four
years, until a strong desire awoke in him to return
to his native country, and there diffuse a knowledge
of the Bible, which he had learned to love.

SOth March. — I had a delightful conversation with
Salekh, Mr. Plowden's upper servant, or Bellata. He
was a thoughtM man, fond of reading the Bible, and
of comparing the ^thiopic text with the Amharic.
We talked of fasting, the forgiveness of sins, the
worship of the saints, and other points of the Abes-
sinian theology. As Salekh was so fond of reading
Amharic, I gave him an Amharic Psalter.

In the evemng I had a conversation with Pakha
Seino on the chief points of Mohammedanism. As he
could not contradict me, he cut the discussion short
by remarking, " To-morrow I will bring a learned
Mohammedan with me, whom you will not be able
to confute."

Slst March. — ^Neither Pakha Seino nor the pro-
mised learned man made his appearance. We
prepared for our journey to Gondar, bujong two
mules and hiring bearers for the transport of our
things.

2nd April. — ^We left Adowa at eight in the mom-
ing, and in about four hours reached Axum, the
former capital of jiEthiopia. We were hospitably
received in the house of Agau Deras, who respects
white people, and who personally knew and valued
Bishop Gobat. His chief inquiry was as to the rea-
son why the English had prohibited the slave-trade,



FROM JERUSALEM TO GOKDAB. 447

in whicli he was formerly engaged. I referred him
to the command, ^^ Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself/' and to the self-sacrifice of the Redeemer on
the cross, who became the servant of all that he
might save all. In the evening, we went out to see
the church and obelisks of Axum,* some of which
are still standing, but most of them have fidlen;
and it seems to me that the largest obelisks have been
hewn out of the granite hill which stood to the east
of Axum, and the broken stone and rubbish removed,
when the pillar naturally remained standing alone.
On the base of more than one of the obelisks we saw
the figure of a dish distinctly cut, which seems to
indicate that sacrifices were here offered to heathen
divinities, and that Axum was, perhaps, the central
seat of ^thiopic paganism. To the east of the
obelisks there is a large pond from which the priests
in attendance on the idols procured their water, and
in which they performed their lavations. To the
present day, the people of Axum fetch their water
from this reservoir, which is supplied by rain-frH.
In all probability the large stone church in Axum
was originally a pagan temple which, when the

* The AbewriniaTiB say that the three sons of Noah separated, and
each took np his abode in one of three divisions of the world, setting
up a pillar in his own division : — Shem in Asia, Japheth in Eu-
ropej and Ham in AMca ; the pillar of the last is that at Axum.
The common people say that it was made by the devil, as it conld
not have been the work of a man. According to tradition, Cnsh,
the son of Ham, begat twelve sons in Aznm, and one of these was
^thiops, the progenitor of the Abewrinians.



448 FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAB.

formed into a Christian church by the aid of Greek
or Egyptian architects of the Byzantine Empire.*
Perhaps it is on this account that the Abessinianif
say this church was built by the devil; wishing
thereby to indicate that it was erected in the time
of paganism, which is justly regarded in the
Bible as the religion of Baal, Beelzebub, or the
devil. The Abessinians assert, moreover, that their
first kings were serpents ; and Sando, t. e. an enor*
mous serpent, formerly ruled over Tigre and Ha-*
massen. This evidently refers to the pagan and
despotic kings of JEthiopia< T)i6 church of Axum
stands in great need of repairs, but no one thinks of
restoring it, though it is an inviolable place of refuge, f
There is an enormous Worka, or sycamore-tree^
in the vicinity of two of the obelisks, still standing.
When the people saw us inspecting the obelisks they
asked us whether we had come to search for gold under
their bases. The tallest of these obelisks is some
sixty-five feet high. Axum must once have been a

* This church is called Hedar Tsion. In it, aocoiding to Abes-
Binian tradition^ is preserved the ark of the covenanty which Menelek,
the son of Solomoii by the Queen of Sheba fitole when he vetumed
firom Jeruflalem to Abessiziia, where he founded the Solomonic dy«
nasty. The person intrusted with the guardianship of the ark of the
covenant at Axum, is called Nabrid. He is governor of Axum and
of Tigre proper at the same time.

t The chief places of refuge in Abessinia are Axum, 'Waldubba,
CKmdigundiy Debra Damo, Debra Abai. The existence of places of
refuge forms another point of resemblance between Abessinia and
TJsambara. In the latter country, there are four such sanctuaries —
Puga, Manga, S^in^i, and Shieni — ^where a man-dayer is safe ftom
pursuit. These cities remind one of the six cities of tefage men-
tioned in the thirty-fifth chapter of the book of Numbers.



FROM JEBUSALEM TO QOKDAB. 449

great city, and it is a pity that Theodoras has not re*
stored it to the dignity of metropolis. A noble plain
stretches from it, towards the south and south-east.

We saw a number of priests in the city, but they
seemed careless and indifferent as to religious mat-
ters ; for not one of them came to converse with us,
either out of curiosity or otherwise, on such topics.

Srd — 8^ April. — ^We left Axum on the 3rd our
route to Gondar lying through the province of
Shirre, Yesterday evening we arrived at the village
of Heida, where we spent the night, and have re-
mained to-day, as it is the day on which the Abes-
sinians celebrate Easter this year, and upon which
a™, forty day fi«t oome, I «> end. I tri«l (»
awaken Easter thoughts in my people by reading
and expounding the narrative of the resurrection;
but the worldly-minded men had only thoughts
for their feast of goat's flesh, their beer, and for idle
gossip. It is painful to see the indifference of these
so-caUed Christians ; and yet there is a great differ-
ence between them and the Mohammedan and
heathen; for low as is the state of Christianity in
Abessinia, yet a missionary has one thing at least,
a creed in conmion with the Abessinians, which only
needs a reformation and revivification, whilst the
heathen are greatly removed from him, both in
theory and practice, for they are without all know-
ledge of God and Christ in the world.

9th — 15th April. — From Heida to Gondar our
journey occupied nearly five days, and during it we
were very roughly handled by more than one go-



450 FBOM JERUSALEM TO GONDAB.

yemor and customs-office. On arriying at Grondar
yesterday we proceeded to Kedus Grabriel, as the
part of the city is called in which the Abuna has
his seat ; and, after some delay we were admitted
into the archiepiscopal palace. To-day has been
one of the most anxious that I have spent in Abes-
sima. We heard that the king, with the Abmia and
the army, was approaching the country of the hos-
tile WoUo-GaUas, so that it became necessary for
us to hurry forward to reach him, before he should
come into collision with the enemy. This was a diffi-
cult enterprise, as the royal camp was some twenty-
five to thirty leagues distant from the capital We
required not only a guide, but luggage-bearers for
the journey; and in this dilemma we were aided by
Haji Eher, an Egyptian priest and old acquaint-
ance, who gave us some of his people, as nobody in
Gondar would enter our service ; whilst a great man
of Kedas Gabriel offered himself as our guide, who,
as we afterwards discovered, entertained the wish to
proceed to Jerusalem with us on our return.

I6th — ISth April — ^We left Gondar at ^ht in the
morning, and proceeded in a south-easterly direction
towards Lake Tzana. From Efak, a town of consider-
able commercial importance, which we reached on the
17th, we journeyed on the 18th through the fertile
valley of Foggara, which might support thousands of
inhabitants. The little province of Foggara is bor-
dered on the east by Lake Tzana ; its principal places
are Lamge, Nabaga, Terita, and Efak. Near Nabaga
the river Ereb flows into Lake Tzana, the shores of



FROM JEBUSALEM TO 60NDAB. 451

which (in the district of Bag^esa) are inhabited by
heathen Figen who are held in great horror by the
Abessinians, who accuse them of sorcery and a love
of mtirder j and on this account they dare not venture
to come to Gondar. They Kve chiefly by the chase ;
selling their ivory to the Agows and to the inhabit-
ants of Dembea and Kuara; and they probably
belong to the savage and nomadic tribe of Fuga,
who are very much dreaded in Gurague, making
use of poisoned arrows, and eating everything that
Christians reject. Perhaps they are a kind of Shan-
kela, under which designation the Abessinians com-
prehend all the black heathen, who inhabit forests
and marshes. To the Fuga, who are reported to
have horrible customs, and to dwell in caves, belong
also the heathen Woito, who live near Lake Tzana,
as well as the Wato on the Hawash, the source of
which river I may add, appears to be a marsh close
by the moimtain Encheti, between the Galla-tribes
Msetscha and Bechoworeb.

19th April. — ^About ten, we arrived at Debra
Tabor, the residence of Has Ali, the former ruler of
Western Abessinia. The town, if it deserves the
name, lies upon a lull, at the foot of which spreads a
beautiful meadow, indispensable for an Abessinian
ruler, who has to keep a number of horses.

We made all possible haste to reach the royal
camp at Jan Meda, as it was said that the king
was about to break it up, and move forward.
Reaching the camp at noon we proceeded forthwith
to the tent of the Abuna, and as soon as he heard

o a



452 FBOM JERUSALEM TO GONDAB*

who we were, he come to meet us and bade us
heartily welcome upon which I delivered to him the
letters of Bishop Grobat and of Cyrillus, the Coptic
patriarch at Cairo. After he had made us take our
places on an outspread cow-hide, he ordered his
servant, who had formerly been in the service of
Isenberg at Adowa, to set bread and wine before
us, and in the meantime he perused the letters.

This done, the archbishop entered into conver-
sation with us as heartily and confidentially as if
we had been his equals in rank and importance.
He remembered to have seen me at Missionary
Kruse's school in Cairo in the year 1837, during
my first journey to Abessinia. We spoke in Arabic
and Amharic. E[is chief object seemed to be to give
us a correct notion of the actual state of things in
Abessinia. He told us that king Theodoras was
one in heart and soul with him; that in every
possible way the king supported the Church, which
had neither been done by Sas Ali nor by Ubie ; that
his Majesty's wish was to conquer the temtories of
the Mohammedan and heathen Gullas, as well as Shoa;
to re-establish one great iBthiopian empire, as there
was of yore; and to make tiie ChnBtian religion
the ruling one. He added, that the king went regu*
larly to church and has partaken as regularly of the
Lord's supper ; that he read the Bible in Amharic,
while his Ittegie, or Queen, who is an only daughter
of Ras Ali, read it in iBthiopic ; that the king had
prohibited polygamy and the slave-trade, and had
ordered the Mohammedans within a fixed period to



I



FROM JERUSALEM TO QONDAB. 453

embrace Christianity. When, upon this, I hinted
that it was not in harmony with the spirit of the
gospel to make people Christians by force, the Abima
replied that the king wished, first of all, to conquer
the country of the Grallas, to send priests among them,
and to establish churches and schools for the conver-
sion of those who were not Christians. I then told
him that Bishop Gobat proposed to send Christian
artizans to Abessinia, whose primary occupation
would be to work at their trades ; but who at the same
time would be the means of spreading the gospel
both by precept and example. The Abuna rejoined
that the king would be glad to receive skilled work-
men, and that his Majesty had purposed to write to
England, France, and Germany for such persons.
He promised to read Bishop Gobat's letter to the
king, and to reconmiend its contents to his Majesty's
consideration and approval.

The Abuna then spoke on the subject of the Bo*
mish missionaries. ^^ So long as I live," he said ^^ I
will not allow them to retmn to Abessinia; for they
have intrigued against me and endeavoured to expel
me fi^om Gondar; they have further interfered
with my government of the church, by procuring a
second baptism and a second ordination of their
converts, as if our Abessinian baptism and ordina-
tion were of no value. I would not have disturbed
them had they been content to teach, or if they had
merely converted and baptized the Gallas ; for I wish
ihe Gallas to become Christians. The Romish mis-
sionaries cannot complain if I dismiss them fi*om

G G 2



454 FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAB.

Abessinia ; for the Pope would in the twinkling of an
eye drive out of his dominions any priest or teacher
of another communion found promulgating its dog-
mas in Rome. The Protestant missionaries do not
injure the Abessinian Church ; for they circulate the
Bible, and that only, I shall be delighted to receive
men like Ejruse and Lieder ; but the Romanists shall
never return to Abessinia,"

As to-day was the monthly festival of St. Michael
on which the king distributes alms, the Abuna could
not at once introduce us to the sovereign, I heard
afterwards that his Majesty had distributed 3000
dollars, and numbers of mules, asses, horses, and
quantities of clothing among the poor, sick, and lame
priests, monks, &c. When we quitted the tent of
the Abima, he ordered his servant to give us an ox
and some hydromel for our present sustenance.

In the evening we received a visit fix)m Mr. Bell,
an intelligent Englishman, who has resided here for
many years, and in language and habits has be-
come a complete Abessinian. The king has made
him his adjutant and Loka Mankuas, i. ^., wearer of
regal clothing in battle. There are four Lika Man-
kuas, who have to clothe themselves exactly like
his Majesty, so that the enemy may not be able to
distinguish the king. It is an honourable but
dangerous post, for filling which Mr, Bell has re-
ceived considerable estates to support his Abessinian
wife and children. The Abima had conmoissioned
Mr, Bell to tell us that we were not to say anything
to the king about the religious vocation of the persons



FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAK. 455

whom Bishop Gobat proposed to send to Abessinia,
but to dwell on the known and seciQar character
of the mission^ as religions matters belonged to the
jurisdiction of the Abima who was our friend, and
would protect and support Bishop Gobat's people
so far as he had it in his power. I told Mr. Bell,
that Bishop Gobat cared not merely for the tempo-
ral weal and civilization of Abessinia, but principally
and above all things, for the religious regeneration
of the country, by establishing schools, distributing
the Bible, and promulgating the pure faith of the
Gospel. Mr. BeU replied : " Very true, this is right
and good, and the Abima knows it to be such ; but
he bids me tell you not to speak about it to the king,
but only about the artizans ; for the religious aspect
of the matter you will have to arrange with the
Abuna himself."

20th April. — ^About eight in the morning we were
conducted by the Abrma to the king, whose hand-
some tent was already struck, as he is about to
move forward with the army. When the king saw
the Abuna he went to meet him, and led him to
a kind of bedstead covered with a beautiiul Persian
carpet, and bid him place himself on it, while we
were motioned to a similar carpet on the floor at
his Majesty's feet. His Majesty wore the crown
upon his head, and a magnificent upper gaiment.
After the introduction the Abuna read the letters
from Bishop Gobat and the Coptic patriarch. The
king immediately asked, ^^ Is Gobat well ? His
letter" his Majesty continued, ^^ pleases me, aad I



456 FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAR.

wish ^iTn to send me for the present only three arti-
zans, a gunsmith, a builder, and a letter-press printer
(by which last, however, according to more recent
intelligence received, his Majesty must have meant
a die-sinker or seal-engraver); I will pay them
well, and if they are content with what I give them
and satisfy me, I wiU ask Gobat for more work-
men.'' When the king had said this, the Abuna
observed : " Your Majesty, however, will not inter-
fere with their religion, but will allow them to live
in their own belief." To this the king replied:
"I will not interfere with matters of belief; that
is your business. In regard to that, I will do what-
ever you advise me." Upon this, I spoke of our
retum-joumey through Matamma to Sennar, Khar-
tum and Cairo. I remarked that the rainy season
was now at hand when fever is rife in the low-
lying districts of the country, and that on that ac-
coimt we wished to expedite our return. The king
then said that we could surely remain in Gondar
at least to the close of the rainy season ; but that he
would not interfere with our return to Egypt.
When we took our leave his Majesty ordered an
officer to provide us with two good mules, a soldier,
and by way of food on the journey, with two oxen,
fifty loaves, three pitchers of wine, and other neces-
saries.

After this audience the king set forth immediately
with his army which was already in motion. It is
said to be 40,000 strong, and to be destined to
receive an addition of from 20 to 30,000 men on its



FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAR. 457

march towardb the WoUo-GaUa-cotmtiy ; for the
divisions from Gojam and Tigre had not yet
arriyed. The king is about thirty-five years old (the
same age as the Abima), a handsome man, dark-
brown complexion, middle stature, and keen glance.
Although friendly and condescending towards those
about him he never forgets his kingly dignity. What-
ever he does, is done with the greatest quiet and
circumspection. His judgment is quick, his replies
brief but decisive. He is friendly to Europeans,
to whose advice and information he willingly listens.
To the poor, the priests, and the churches, he is
extremely liberal. In judicial matters he is exact
and just, often giving decisions adverse to the
opinions of his counsellors learned in the law ; and
hence he is continually besieged by people from
all parts of Abessinia, who Lve law-suite pend-
ing. Passing the night in the camp we heard as
early as two in the morning, the people shout-
ing, "Janhoil Janhoi!"*— "Oking! king!"
With this cry they were attempting to procure an
entrance into the royal tent, to lay their plaints
before the king. He at once answered through the
Kal Hazie, the Mouth of the King, or State-
herald, and from two till eight in the morning, one
party after another retired to make way for others,

* It was this title, used bj the Abessiniaxis in addieesmg their
kings, which, in the fifteenth centoiy, when the Fortugaese first
came to the Western coast of Africa, led to the report of a great
king, Frester John^ ''Jan'', ruling in Eastern AMca. It was
afterwards discovered that it referred to the Khan of Tartary.



458 FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAB.

and eacli party received an answer and the king's
decision. Besides this the king conducts all war-
like operations, so that it is incomprehensible
how he can endure the labours which he must
undergo by night and by day. When his cour-
tiers seek to lessen the toil of this strict dispensing
of justice, he is in the habit of saying : " If I do
not help the poor, they will complain of me to
God; I myself have been a poor man," His
mother is said to have been a vender of kosso, the
weU-known medicine against the tape-worm, at
Gondar, while his father, a kinsman of Dejaj
Comfu who, as governor of Dembea, several times
defeated the Egyptian troops marching forward
from Sennar, occupied an official post in the province
of Kuara in the west of Abessinia. Kasai, as
King Theodorus was formerly called, learned to
read and write at Gondar, and became afterwards
a soldier in the army of Dejaj Comfu, who
recommended him to his master, Ras Ali. The
latter soon recognized E^ai's prudence and valour,
gave him his daughter in marriage, and an official
appointment rmder the superintendence of the fiunous
Waisoro Mennen, the mother of Ras Ali. Easai soon
quarrelled with Waisoro Mennen, defeated her army,
took her prisoner, and conquered her fine province
of Dembea on Lake Tzana, which he retained, set-
ting however the lady herself at liberty. Ras
Ali recognizing the danger that threatened made
over Dembea to the Dejaj Berru Goshu, the
governor of Gojam, who drove Kasai back to-



FBOM JERUSALEM TO GONDAR. 459

wards Kuara in the year 1850. Elasai, however,
with a band of trusty foUowers made an incursion
into Dembea in 1852, surprised the camp of Berru
Groshu, shot him dead himself, and defeated his
army between Dembea and Jangar close to Lake
Tzana. Ras Ali now became imeasy, and marched
in 1853 against Kasai, but lost a decisive battle and
was obliged to fly to the GaUas, while Kasai re-
mained master of the whole of Amhara, consisting
of the whole conntry west of Takassie as fisu* as the
Blue River. After these successes Kasai sent for the
Abuna, Abba Salama, who then resided at Adowa
in Tigre, his plan being to form an alliance with
the head of the church before he attacked Ubie.
The Abima returned for reply that he would not
come to Gondar so long as the Romish priests were
tolerated there ; which led Kasai to expel the priests,
and then the Abuna appeared in Gondar, and
formed an alliance with him for the restoration of
the Abessinian Church and empire. Kasai's next
step was to summon Ubie, the ruler of Tigre, to
pay tribute as subject to the Prince of Amhara*
Ubie refused and rushed to arms, but lost at the
battle of Debruski in Semien, both his kingdom and
his liberty, for he was taken prisoner. After this
victory KasSf^vas has been already mentioned,
under the name of Theodorus, caused himself to
be proclaimed King of the kings of ^Ethiopia;
clearly with a reference to the old Abessinian
tradition that a king of the name of Theodorus
would arise who should make Abessinia great and



460 FROM JERUSALEM TO GONDAR.

prosperous, and destroy Mecca and Medina, the two

chief cities of the Mohammedans in Arabia.

«

24:th — 2Sth April. — ^After we had taken leave of
the Abuna we conunenced our return-journey to
Gondar, which we reached in safety. To-day
Mr. Plowden arrived in Gk>ndar. He intended to
accompany the king during his campaign against
the Gallas, and to give him good advice respect*
ing the improvement of his country. We took leave
of Mr. Plowden, who has shown us much kindness
and hospitaUty.

Srd May. — To-day we quitted Gondar, which^
with the exception of Axum is the most important
city in the whole of Abessinia. It contains some
10 to 12,000 inhabitants, but was formerly much
more populous, as may be gathered from the num«
ber of houses in ruins which meet the eye on every
side. The streets are extremely crooked, nanx)w,
and often very steep and filthy, as the city lies upon
a rising groimd north and south. The houses are
circular, and almost all built of stone, frequently
of two stories, and with thatched roofs. The
Christians Uve at the top of the hill, near the
royal palace, built by Portuguese architects and
builders. There are a number of churches and
monasteries, and some places of refrige, as well
as a large market-place, in the Christian quarter.
The Mohammedans who amount to several thousands,
and who live chiefly by trade, inhabit the south-
western slope of the city. The Falasha, or Jews,
who in Gondar are artizans, most of the »niths,






J



FBOM JERUSALEM TO GOKDAB. 461

carpenters, and masons, belonging to their fraternity,
are settled in a little village in the valley of Gaha,
at some distance from Gondar. A market is held
weekly, where you can buy lard, salt, honey, com,
cattle, coffee-beans, &c. I may mention that the
Abessinians have three kinds of coffee-beans (they
call coffee in the berry bun, or bunna ; afterwards,
when manufactured into the bean, as in Arabic, it
is designated kahawa): 1, the coffee-bean, grown
near Lake Tzana, of a very inferior quality ; 2, a
better quality, produced in Harrar, to the east of
Shoa ; and 3, the best quality of all, which comes
from Enarea and Kaffa, probably the native coimtry
of the coffee-plant. The last two sorts are exported
to Arabia, and frequently sold as genuine Mocha.

During our short residence in Gondar I was par-
ticularly struck by the circumstance that so few
priests and laymen engaged in religious conver-
sation with us, although it was in this very Gondar
that Bishop Gobat, when a missionary in Abessinia,
had found his chief field of active utility. The
principal cause of this apparent anomaly must have
been that the people were afraid that we were
Roman Catholic missionaries, who had recently been
banished and excommunicated.



,462



CHAPTER m.

FROM GONDAB TO CAIRO.

Departore-^Lake Tsamburu — Singular Telegraph — ^Boch — Custom
of eating raw flesh — ^The Alaka Selat ; controversies with priests
— Gunter and the river Kuang — ^The Western Abessinians less
indifferent to religious matters — Bomish missionaiies at Kaffa
' — ^Emmanuel — ^The Camant — The Salane — Cotton, and the
cotton district — ^Wekhne, and its importance as an emporium —
Cotton again — ^Matamma and its market — ^Abessinian penitence —
Egyptian order and hospitality — Doka — Slave smuggling —
Asser, and its hospitality — Sennar — ^A Roman Catholic priest at
Fedasi — Coptic school — General drunkenness — ^Departure itom
Sennar — Former diffusion of Christianity — WasaHe — Coptic
scribes — ^The Coptic communities and their possible future — Suf-
fering^ in the desert — Ehartum — ^Visit to the Roman Catholic
mission, and details respecting it — ^Fever — ^Invitation to explore
the Sabat — Opening for Protestant missions—^hendi — ^Egypt's
past and present — ^What Mehemet Ali has done — ^Berber and the
Barabra — The desert again: anticipations of death — ^The pure
air of the desert medicinal — Camel-drivers and camel-driving —
Joyful arrival at Eorusko — Assnan, the Syene of the ancients :
its quarries and obelisks — Cairo — Kindness of Dr. lieder —
Return to Europe— Bishop Gobat's dispatch of missionary pupils
to Abessinia ; their arrival, reception, and activity — Latest from
Abessinia.

Srd May. — ^Leaving Gondar behind us we took
at first, a south-westerly direction to reach the
village of Boch, where Aito Engeda, the gover-
nor of Dembea^ was to receive us, and whence he
was to give us an escort to Wekhne. On the way a



FROM GONDAR TO CAIRO. 463

Mohammedan who had been in Ka£b joined our
little caravan. He told me that on the other side
of the coimtry of Worata, which lies to the south-
east of Kaffa, there is a large lake called Tsamburie,
which is probably the large lake Tsamburu, of which
I had heard from the Wakamba in Rabbai Mpia.
He mentioned a singulax kind of telegraph by
means of drums which is used in KaflFa. At given
distances drummers are placed near a tall tree^ any
one of whom upon sighting an enemy immediately
climbs the tree, and signals the event by so many
beats of the drum, which is taken up by the next
drummer also mounting his tree for the purpose,
and so on to the end of the line. They have various
other signals all well understood. Late in the even-
ing we reached the village of Boch, where we
were received in the friendUest manner by Aito
Engeda. After a plentiful meal, consisting of raw
meat, pepper-soup, bread, beer, and wine, some
priests asked religious questions, which I answered
conformably to Scripture. The Abessinians call
raw flesh Brundo. When they eat it, they take
most delight in the Shaluda the double or geminus
muscle, of a cow. The practice mentioned by Bruce
of the Abessinians cutting a piece of flesh from a
living cow, and covering up the place again I never
witnessed in any part of the country ; but with my
own eyes I saw some Christian soldiers of Shoa, on
an expedition against the Gallas, cut off the foot of
a live sheep, and then leave the animal to its &te.
The foot was forthwith devoured raw. It is true



464 FROM OONDAB TO CAIRO.

that they were in a great hurry, and had not time
to slaughter the animal in the regular way.

4ith May. — ^Before our departure the governor in-
troduced us to the AlakB Selat who had been per-
sonally acquainted with Bishop Gobat, and inquired
earnestly after him. I was charmed by his modest,
enlightened, and tolerant character. The priests,
deacons, and laymen who were about him paid him
great respect. The priests soon began with religious
discussions and I had a long controversy with them,
chiefly on the nature of Christ ; they were adherents
of the monophysitic doctrine, and I did my best to
confute them from Scripture. The old Alaka listened
to me patiently and without anger, merely sa3nng :
^^ though we differ, still let us love one another; for
love is the greatest of all virtues." I have not seen
a more amiable man in Abessinia, more forbeaxing,
more reflective, and better acquainted with the Bible
than this Alaka, who bade us greet Bishop Globat
heartily from him.

At five in the afternoon we reached the village of
Gunter near the river Kuang, chiefly inhabited by
priests, monks, and deacons. We were sorry that we
could iot give them Amharic Bibles, for which some
of them expressed a desire ; for these western Abes-
sinians seem to take more interest in religious mat^
ters than the people of Tigre, and more Bibles
should be distributed among them. It was for this
reason chiefly that I selected the route from Gondar
to Sennar for our return-journey, to become person-
ally acquainted with the condition of this part of



FROM GONDAB TO CAIBO. 465

Abessinia, where no Proteistant misedonaiy had
hitherto travelled. The Abnna had proposed to pro«
cure U8 an escort to the sources of the Blue River^
in the Agaw-country, said to be twelve days' journey
from Gondar. When I talked to him of the journey
to Ka£h^ he said that the Gallas would not allow
white people to visit it, especially if they were pro-
vided with fire-arms. In spite of this some Romish
missionaries seem to have succeeded in reaching
KbSelj where they are said to have been very well
received by the king of the country.

5thy 6th May. — ^Proceeding yesterday morning from
Gunter down into the valley^ we passed the river
Kuangy said to have its rise in Dembea near Lake
Tsana and to join the Atbara. On the western bank
we di«ov«.d coal, the «» of which i. rtiU «»kno™
to the Abessinians. We encamped in the evening
at the village of Emmanuel, and to-day we had to
ascend and descend in a mountainous country for
several hours. We left to the right the country of
the Camante who iohabit the mountainous region
from Enchiet Amba to Mount Waha, which forms,
in the vicinity of Wekhne, an impregnable natural
fortress. It is the duty of the Camante to guard
the mountain-passes from the lowlands into the high-
lands, and thus into Abessinia proper; they are
a»«fbre held in »mo .^ ^Z Abelien
rulers. They are baptized, have priests, and receive
the sacrament of the Lord's supper ; but, in spite of
this, the Abessinians look upon them as heathen.
They perform their religious ceremonies in dense



466 FROM GONDAB TO CAIRO.

forests, where they are said to pay particular reve-
rence to the Cactus, ascribing to it a reasonable
soul, and belieying that the human race sprang from
it. Here and there we met a family of the heathen
Salane, who wander from place to place, leading a
pastoral life. They have to pay the sovereign of
Abessinia a tribute of oxen, in return for which they
are allowed to roam about Western Abessinia. They
seem to me to be harmless people, who understand
Amharic, indeed, but use among themselves their
own Kuara language.

7th May. — ^Leaving the village of Sebaskie, where
we had spent the night, we descended into the deep
valley of the Lagnat, and reached the Senkoa at
noon. On our way we met many dealers bring-
ing cotton on asses from Wekhne to Gondar and
Gojam. The cotton is grown in the province of
Kalabat, which forms the western boimdary of Abes-
sinia, dividing it from the Egyptian district of
Sennar belonging to Soudan. Up hill and down
dale, and after many windings through a wild and
uninhabited country, we reached the village of
Wekhne, consisting of a number of straw huts,
erected among groups of noble trees. The inhabit-
ants are mostly Christians and chiefly traders. As
all articles imported from Sennar and Khartum, or
exported from Abessinia, must pass through Wekhne,
the importance of the place is manifest. Cotton,
coffee, hides, ivory, daves (only on the sly, just now,
as Theodorus has forbidden the slave-trade), beads,
coloured stuffs, and other Egyptian and European,



FROM OONDAB TO CAIRO. 467

BA well as Abessinian products, pass through the village
of Wekhne which lies at the foot of a mountain range.

9th May. — ^We rested at Wekhne and laid in a
£resh stock of provisions for our further journey;
Several Abessinians begged us to take them with us
to Jerusalem, a pilgrimage thither being considered
by the priests a meritorious work, bringing rest and
peace to the soul. I showed them the true source
of peace in Christ, and warned them against being
deceived by their own thoughts and ways.

10/A May. — ^We left Wekhne, keeping along the
foot of the mountain, and found ourselves in an
undulating plain to which we could see no end.
On our way we met with bamboo-canes, of which
we had seen none since we left the deep defile formed
by the river Takassie. These deep defiles with
terraces, are called ^^KoUa" in Amharic, and are
firom 1000 to 6000 feet above the level of the sea,
and 3000 feet is about the level of Wekhne. The
higher grounds, called ^^ Daga," comprise all that
which is above 6000 feet above the level of the
sea, and in some places rise to an altitude pf 14,000
feet, as on the Abba Yared, Bewahit, and Amba
Hai. In these "KoUa" are foimd elephants, rhi-
noceroses, bufiPaloes, lions, antelopes, and other
animals, as well as luxurious vegetation, tamarinds,
the terebinth or turpentine-tree, frankincense, bam-
boo, ebony, cotton, olives, grapes, coffee, &c., besides
sycamores, adansonia or sour-gourd, willows, and
other trees and shrubs.

It is by no means improbable that the Ethiopian

H H



468 FROM GONDAR TO OAISO.

" vessels of bulrushes," mentioned in the eighteenth
chapter of Isaiah, were made out of bamboo, con-
veyed to Meroe, the then centre of -Ethiopian com-
merce, by the waters of the Takassie and oth(^
rivers. Before noon, we crossed the Abai (not to
be confounded with the great Abai, the Bahw-el-
Azrak, the ^^ Blue river" of the Arabs), and the
Gendoa. In the evening we met 300 camels and 100
asses, carrying cotton £rom Matamma to Wekhne.

1 1 th^ 12th May. — ^After a journey yesterday through
a wooded wilderness, with numbers of antelopes and
guinea-fowls we reached a Mohammedan village,
where we stopped for the night. To-day we arrived at
Matamma, where the new Sheik Ibrahim, a governor
appointed by Theodorus, has charge of the frontier
between the territories of Egypt and Abessinia. He
is a Mohammedan, like most of the inhabitants, and
gave us a friendly reception, providing us imme-
diately with a hut to lodge in.

At Matanmia we met with people of all nations,
who come here for trading purposes, Abessinians,
Arabs, Tagruri, and others ; for it is even more of
a commercial centre than Wekhne, The population
is about 1500, more dependent upon Abessmia than
Egypt, paying, however, tribute to the rulers of
both countries. The inhabitants are partly Dabeina
Arabs, partly Tagruri, who came hither long ago
from Darfiir. They cultivate Indian com, barley,
cotton, tobacco, &c., and have horses, asses, camels,
sheep, and black cattle, whilst honey, wax, musk,
and ivory are plentiful in their markets.



I



FROM QONDAB TO CAIRO. 469

ISthy 14:th May. — ^We rested yesterday waiting for
the camels which were to take us to Doka. To-day
was market-day in Matamma. We saw in the
market, cotton, beads, wax, honey, mirrors, razors,
nails, drinking vessels, coffee, coffee-cups, salt,
onions, durra, stibium, horns, coloured fabrics, sheep,
goats, black cattle, camels, and many other things,
which one would scarcely have sought for, or
expected to find in the wilderness of Kalabat. Our
servant Darangot, who had offended us yesterday
and run away in consequence, returned to us to-day
with a large stone upon his head, and asked us to
forgive him.*

16<A May. — ^We started this morning from Matam*
ma, and in the evening reached the village of Etteb,
where we were hospitably received. We were at
once provided with a hut, bedsteads, water, and
food ; indeed we met with a similar reception at most
places in the course of our journey to Sennar, which
gave us a good impression of the order introduced
into these distant countries by the Egyptian govern-
ment. In Abessinia, for the most part, there . is
a great deal of wrangling and bluster before a
lodging and the needful provisions can be obtained,
so different from this.

17<A, 18tt May. — ^We travelled yesterday, as the
day before, over a level country, frequently covered

* Concenung this Abessiman custom in ivbich a person, conscious
tbat he has done wrong and seeking forgiveness, places a stone upon
his head or neck, see Bp. Oobat's ''Journal of Three Years'
Residence in Abessinia,'' p. 359.

H H 2



470 PEOM GOKDAB TO CAIRO.

with acacias. At noon to-day we reached the
village of Doka, where we met with a very Mendly
reception both from Muallem Saad, the government
official, a Coptic Christian, as well as from the Kashif,
or Judge, Muhammed Kurd-el-Kuttli, though one
would hardly have expected so much friendliness and
order in this out-of-the-way nook of the globe. Doka
was formerly an important centre of the slave-trade,
carried on by the Jibberti between Abessinia and
Sennar. It is now contrary to law, but the
Jibberti nevertheless still transport slaves in disguise
through Doka by night. The slave-dealers can
easily conduct their secret traffic, as there are no
European consuls here to receive information and
make tiie necessary representations to tiie authorities.
The Mohammedans of Gondar are said to keep their
slaves concealed in cellars under their houses, whence
they bring them forth at night and send them to
Chelga with their mouths stuffed with rags, so that
the poor wretches cannot cry out and appeal to any
one on the road. From Doka they are conveyed
to Sennar and other places on the Blue River.

20thy 2l8t May. — ^Yesterday we reached Asser, the
chief place of the district El Gadarif, and were hos-
pitably entertained by the son of Muallem Saad.
When we quitted Asser to-day, the governor fur-
nished us with a soldier and two camels for which
he himself paid. He seemed to wish us to proceed
to Sennar with favourable impressions. Our Coptic
host provided us with provisions, and accompanied
us mth his people a part of the way, giving the kiss



•O^BW^V"



FEOM GONDAB TO CAIBO. 471

of peace when he bade us farewell. Such cordial Hos-
pitality we had never before experienced. Our Abes-
sinians were so touched, that they exclaimed : " These
people are kings and Christians indeed, compared with
our greedy Abessinian countrymen." We promised
to send them Arabic Bibles and tracts from Cairo.

22ndy 28th May. — ^Eight days of painfal progress,
sometimes losing our way, and once narrowly escaping
by night with the loss of a leather bag containing
our cooking utensils, from the clutches of a hyaena.
We slept on the 22nd at the village of Bela, on the
24th at that of Kummer, on the 25th, after crossing
the Rabat, we bivouacked under a tree, on the 26th,
we rested in a village on the Rabat, which we had
reached again, as it has a very winding course, and,
on the 27th, we spent a most uncomfortable night at
Daud in a hut, full of soldiers and their wives,
where there was not room enough for us to spread
out our cow-hides to sleep on. This morning the
chief constable of the place, who had forced us to
accept this wretched lodging, came before our de-
parture to apologize for his treatment of us, fearing
lest we might complain of him to the governor at
Sennar. In about three hours we reached the vil-
lage of Abbas, on the Blue River. We repaired to
the house of a Coptic Christian, named Georgis, who
is clerk to the resident Egyptian governor. The
privations and difficulties of the Abessinian journey
were over, and we had now to face those of Nubian
travel.

29tt May. — To-day we arrived at Sennar, and



472 FROM GONDAR TO CAIRO.

took Up our abode in the house of the Komos Theo-
dorus— in the Coptic church, Komos is the next
dignitary to the bishop — ^who officiates as priest and
schoohnaster in his Kttle community of some fifiy
souls. He gave us a friendly reception, and a
chamber where we could repose from the fatigues
of our journey. Most of the Copts in Sennar are
government officials ; others are merchants.

The rectangular houses of Sennar are built of
lime-bricks as there is no stone here, and have flat
roofe with covered balconies. These bricks are simply
dried in the sun, so that the houses often coUapse
when the rainy season is unusually severe. The town
occupies a considerable extent of ground, but I doubt
whether the population amotmts to more than 12 or
15,000 souls. The Egyptian garrison consists of
from 4 to 500 disciplined black soldiers. There is a
weekly market where aU sorteof Abessinian, Egyptian,
and European articles are sold. Caravans proceed
from Sennar in all directions, towards Abessinia,
Fazokli, and the White River in the West, The
Blue River is navigable as far as the seventh cataract
at Roseres in the province of Fazokli, which is the
limit of the Pacha's sovereignty towards the south.
The rocks at Roseres prevent boats from proceeding
further up than Sennar.

SOth May. — Upon calling upon the governor of
Sennar, and asking him for a boat to Khartum, we
learned that the boats had not yet arrived fit)m
Fazokli, so that we must proceed by land to Wad
Medine and Eliartum. This was very disagreeable



FSOM GONDAB TO CAIBO« 473

news, as we had come to Sennar partly on purpose
to journey by water to Khartum. Some time ago
an Italian priest is said to have penetrated to Gezan,
which is apparently twelve days' journey south of
Sennar^ and thence to haye proceeded to Fadasi,
the chief place of the tribe Bene-Shongol. He
seems to have purposed to reach Enarea and Kaffa,
where there are some Romish missionaries, who
went to Kaffa from Abessinia. As the priest could
not proceed further than Fadasi, he appears to
haye remained there for some time, during which
he gained the favour of the prince by curing his sick
son. The Romish missionaries therefore are about
to found a missionary station in Fadasi in connec-
tion with Khartum, hoping so to rea^h Enarea,
Kaffa, and the nations of Central Africa, whose con-
version they consider to be the goal of the Roman
CathoUc mission.

The Coptic priest, Theodoras, has a little school
in which he educates Coptic boys, who are very
quick, attentive, and desirous to learn; more the
pity that the mode of instruction is merely me-
chanical. It is sad for us to see the addiction of
the Copts here to brandy drinking ; indeed drunken*
ness is prevalent among both Christians and Mo-
hammedans, and has been greatly spread by the
Egyptian soldiers.

1*^ June. — To-day, we visited the chapel which
has been built by the Copts with the consent of the
Pasha, at Sennar; but were pained by the noisy
and unmeaning ceremonie'S, which the priests per-



474 FROM GONDAE TO CAIBO.

formed in a very mechaxdcal manner, and ther^
seemed to be no end to the bowing, the burning of
incenise, and the lighting of candles. One part of
the lessons was read in Arabic, and the other in
Coptic, although they do not imderstand a word of
the latter ; but the present Copts wish to restore the
use of Coptic, or at least to write Arabic in Coptic
characters. Komos Theodoras asked me why we
did not establish a school in Sennar, as Missionary
Lieder has done in Cairo ; and as he had only one
Arabic Bible in his school, and that imperfect, we
promised to send him Biblea fix>m Cairo.

2nd June. — ^We left Sennar, where the heat both by
day and night is very great. To the south-west of
Sennar we saw a hill in the vicinity of the White
River, on which the komos told us there are the
ruins of a Christian church. Doubtless, Christianity
was once diffused over the peninsula between the
White and the Blue Rivers, and it is possible that
there are still Christian remnants to be found in
the south, just as in the Galla-countries, where in
many places the Christians withdrew to steep
moimtains, and have since lived isolated from the
whole of Christendom. The conquests made by the
Egyptian government along the White and Blue
Rivers, may under Providence pave the way for the
extension of the Gospel to the heart of Africa.

Srdy ^th June. — ^Last night we slept at the village
of Wasalie, and leaving it this morning, reached at
noon the town of Wad Medine, which appears to
be larger than Sennar. The houses are built like



FROM GONDAR TO CAIRO. 475

those of Sennax, and the language of the people is
Arabic. We lodged at the house of a Copt, a
goyemment official. Coptic clerks are found every-
where at the chief seats of government, which is glad
of their services. Wherever such an official is
stationed, he soon induces his relatives and friends
to settle and trade, and thus, by degrees, there is
formed a Httle community of Coptic Christians, who
build a chapel and appoint a priest to it ; for they
are now allowed to build chapels where they please ;
and when in Kenne,* in Upper Egypt, the Mo-
hammedans pulled down the Coptic chapel, the
Pasha commanded the Cadi to rebuild it at the ex-
pense of the Mohammedan population. Who can
tell to what importance these little colonies of Copts
may yet attain? Supposing there were to be a
thorough revival and awakening among these
nominal Christians, would not such little communi-
ties become noble centres of light, diffusing it
amongst the heathen and Mohammedan ?

5th — 1 1 th June. — ^We could not find at Wad Medine
any boat for Khartum, and so set off again on the
6ih, and reached the viUage of Dengai in the evening,
where we lodged in a house, like an Arab Caravan-
sarai, set apart expressly for travellers, the townspeople
providing us with water and food. We stopped the



* The town of Kenne is famous for the manufacture of a porous
kind of terra-cotta vessels, used in Egypt for cooling water. Every
year bands of Mohammedan pilgrims centre there on their way from
Kossir to Mecca. I^o wonder that the town has become so fimatical
and demoralized.



476 FHOM QONDAB TO CAIBO.

next night at Mot Ferun. The excessive heat and the
simoom-like wind were unbearable. The gale did
not last more than a few minutes at a time, but it
was as hot as if it came from an oven. Never yet
had I experienced any thing of the kind, although I
had suffered much from the heat in Arabia and in
the Adal-desert. I cannot express what I suffered
on this journey, and how I longed for its close : for
more than once my sensations were as if fire had
passed through my brain, and first maddened and
then paralyzed it. Our journey was made at the sea-
son of the greatest heat, when even the natives keep
as much as possible within doors. Resting at the
village Matadib on the evening of the 9th, we slept
in the open air ; but on the night of the 10th, there
arose all at once so cold and violent a sand-wind, that
we had not time to roll our bed clothes over us;
and the consequence was a cold, laying the founda-
tion of a fever which attacked me at Khartum,
where we arrived at noon. We met with a friendly
reception and hospitable shelter from Mr. Bender,
the Austrian Vice-Consul.

The town of Khartum lies on the Blue River,
which joins the White River a little fisu^ther to the
north. It contains about 20,000 inhabitants. Khar-
tum is the seat of the Governor of Sudan, and all
civil and military ofiScers are under his orders. He
is the greatest person after the Pasha himself, and
is the ruler of Egypt, Nubia, and Sudan.

13th June. — ^We visited Messieurs Kirchner and
Gossner, the German Roman Catholic missionaries,



FROM GONDAE TO CAIBO. 477

who received us with much courtesy. Mr. Gossner
was prostrate with fever ; but Mr. Kirchner had the
kindness to show us the extensive garden, which the
lay missionaries have laid out and planted with all
kinds of tropical plants and trees ; it is surroimded
by a wall, and is watered from the Blue River.
Mr. Kirchner showed us, also, their church and
school, in which instruction is imparted to thirty
boys, collected from different tribes in the interior,
most of whom have been liberated from slavery.
When their period of instruction is completed they
will be sent back to their countrymen. He told
us that since the establishment of the mission at
Khartum, no less than ten missionaries had died,
notwithstanding the many European comforts which
they are enabled to procure from Europe and Cairo.
The mission derives great assistance from its lay
brothers, art«.n,, »J^, carpenter,, &e., who en
joy better health than the fathers themselves. The
sedentary life of the latter, and their good living
and want of exercise does not quite agree with them
— at least, so one of the lay brothers told us. At
present an extensive and massive two-storied mis-
sionary-house is being built of stone, intended also
to serve as a block-house, in case of an attack by the
tribes which live on the banks of the Blue and
White Rivers. As soon as the large building is
completed there will bo an accession of priests and
laymen, accompanied by nuns and sisters of charity.
The mission at Khartum is governed and supported
by the Marien-Verein at Vienna, and the mission-



478 FROM QOKDAB TO CAIRO.

aries are mostly Germans from the Austrian Tyrol
and Bavaria, Jth a few Italians. Khaxtam is the
central point of their missionaxy-stations on the
White River ; but they have a station in the Bari-
country, four degrees north from the equator, and
another among the Kiks-tribe, seven degrees north
of it. The chief importance of the station at Khar-
tum is as a central point and connecting link between
Europe, the missions in Central Africa, and that de-
signed for Abessinia, Sennar, and the countries both on
the Blue and White Rivers. At Eliartum itself, the
missionaries can effect little, as the inhabitants are all
Mohammedans, with the exception of a few Coptic
Christians who have a church and bishop of their own.

Mr. Kirchner was good enough to show me a
dictionary of the Bari language, and, also, a vocabu-
lary of twelve languages spoken on the White River,
several of which have a mutual affinity. As far as I
could perceive, the Bari language does not belong to
the great South- African family ; but rather approxi-
mates somewhat to that of the Wakuafi, spoken about
the Equator.

IS th January. — ^A renewed and severe attack of
fever forced me to call to my aid Doctor Kenet, the
French military surgeon, who has ah'eady spent
many years at Khartum.

At Khartum, we also became acquainted with
Mr. Petherick, the English consular agent*, who has
a commercial house in Khartum as well as one at

* Mr. Petherick is now Her Majesty's consul for Sondan, and is
interesting himself to promote the exploration of the countries



FROM GONDAB TO CAIEO. 479

Kordo£ein. His boat, some time before, had sailed
up the Sobat, which is a tributary of the White
River, and seems to have its source in the neigh-
bourhood of Kaffa or Enarea. Mr. Petherick asked
me to sail with him up the White River, if possible
to its source, in October when the temperature is
cool, the White River full, and the winds blow from
the north. Gladly as I would have accepted his
invitation it was quite impossible for me to entertain
it under the circumstances.

19th June. — Taught by experience that there is no
better remedy for fever than change of air, I re-
solved to leave Khartum as soon as possible. Mr.
Petherick offered us for 600 piastres a vessel from
Khartum to Berber. As I quitted Kliartum I re-
flected how desirable it would be to establish Pro-
testant mission-stations in these countries, now so
providentially laid open by the power of Egypt.
How easy by means of the White River and its many
tributaries to reach the nations of Central Africa,
which the friends of Protestant missions will do well
to bear in mind.

21st June. — ^We reached about noon the point
where the bed of the Nile becomes narrower, and
forces itself along through hills. At the risk of seem-
ing ungrateful, I must say that the change of air
and the coolness of the river did me more good than
the doctor's medicine.

around Lake Nyanza, the region of the supposed sources of the
Nile, about to be undertaken by Captains Speke and Grant, by the
employment of boats from Khartum, as I perceive by a letter from
him in the *' Times '* of the 5th of April, in the present year, 1860.



480 FROM QONDAS TO CAIBO.

22nd June. — We reached the town of Shendi,
where we passed the night How diflferent the
aspect of this region from that which it wore in 1811,
when Burkhardt travelled through the regions of the
Nile ! How great then was the insecurity at Shendi
from which he was obUged to return to Cairo, aban-
doning his plan for the discovery of the Niger 1
How much reason have travellers to be gratefal to
Mehemet Ali, by whom the numerous independent
little potentates on the banks of the Nile, comporting
themselves like sidtans, have been removed with iron
hand and his own rule substituted for theirs.

25 th June, — ^At noon we reached the town of Ber-
ber, whence we could proceed no fiirther, as the
water of the Nile was then too low for us to sail
safely over its rocks and rapids. The right time
is in September and October Since leavi^ Khar-
turn we had heard only the language of the Berber,
in the plural, Barabra.* They are active, courageous,
enterprising, and very different from the timid and
slavish Nuba of Senni.

26th June. — ^We procured camels for our land
journey from Berber to Abu Hamed, and thence
through the eastern Nubian desert to the village
Korusko on the Nile. As I was suffering severely
from fever, and felt extremely weak, I could not
conceal from myself and my dear companion Flad,

* The language of these Berbers, of which I could not under-
stand a word; is not the Tema-ahirh-t of the Tarki, or Benegates, of
the Arabs, the Berbers more properly so called, which is spoken
throughout the greatest part of Western Sahara, &c.



FROM GONDAB TO CAIBO. 481

that I feared the most seriouB results from this
long and toilsome journey through the desert ; for
I expected nothing less than to find a grave in the
desert of Atmor.

27th Jtme—4:th Jultf.—We left Berber on the 27th,
The journey from Ehor to Abu Hamed was a
painful one to me; as the camel drivers paid no
regard to the state of my healthy and only wished
to finish the journey as quickly as possible. We
left Abu Hamed yesterday, the 3rd.

5th — 14:th July. — ^For some days we travelled over
a level plain, where right and left we saw only here
and there hills in the distance. The more we pene-
trated into the wilderness the purer became the
air, so that I felt myself wonderftdly strengthened.
The dry air of the more elevated de«ert is eyidently
more healthfrd than the atmosphere on the banks
of the Nile ; and although the heat was great I did
not suffer from it so much as between Sennar and
Khartum. My greatest sufferings were caused by
camel riding, and the sand-wind which inflamed
my eyes ; our guide often growled and grumbled at
the slowness of our progress, but for poor sick me,
the pace was always too great.

It was with joy that we greeted our arrival at the
little village of Korusko, where we fortunately found
at once a boat to take us to Assuan on the 16th.
During our river voyage we frequently wondered at
the narrow slips of land, which are all that the
mountains and the rivers have left the inhabitants



482 FROM GONDAB TO CAIRO.

for cultivation, which axe often scarcely 60 to 100
feet wide, realizing the words of Isaiah : " A nation
meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers
have spoiled ! " The Berbers or Barabra who inhabit
the banks of the Nile live chiefly on durra and dates ;
and we found groves of date-trees everywhere along
the river. Cows and goats are not very numerous
between Korusko and Assuan, the latter being the
Syene of the ancients, and remarkable for the Syenite
terraces, consisting of a reddish granite containing
particles of hornblende. Here are the quarries
from which the obelisks and colossal statues of the
Egyptian temples were dug, and an obelisk partially
formed, and still remaining attached to its native
rock, seems to bear out the conjecture I ventured to
throw out at page 447, whilst also bearing testimony
to the toilsome and persevering efforts of ancient
art. These terraces, shaped into peaks cross the bed
of the Nile, which rolls its mighty waters majestically
over them. It was at Assuan that Eratosthenes made
the first attempt to measure the circumference of the
globe, and it is here likewise that Strabo places the
well which marked the summer solstice ; for on the
day when the style of the sun-dial cast no shade at
noon, the vertical sun shot his rays to the bottom of
the well. Our boat could not proceed further than
the island Philae, from which we had to proceed
by land on asses, for the distance of a league, to
Assuan, where we hired a boat to Cairo.

17th — 28th July. — I had hoped that my health
would have been much improved by the river-voyage



FROM GONDAB TO CAIRO. 483

firom Assuan to Cairo ; but this was not the case.
I was, however, glad and grateful to reach Cairo
alive, after seeing before me at Abu Hamed, nothing
but death and the grave. The oft-tried hospitality
and aid of Dr. Lieder, the missionary at Cairo,
essentially contributed to such a partial restoration
of my health, as allowed . me soon to undertake
the voyage to Europe, where I arrived in September.
The dear companion of. my toils, Martin Flad,
proceeded to Jerusalem, to make his report respect-
ing our journey to our excellent Mend, Bishop Grobat,
The bishop felt induced to send four pupils of the
Chrischona Institute at Basel, to Abessloia, where,
aft;er a severe struggle with hardship and sickness,
they arrived in April 1856, and. were well received
by king Theodoras. They forthwith set to work to
distribute the Bibles, which they had brought with
them, chiefly in western Abessinia, and particularly
to the Falashe, who are especially desirous to
possess them, and among whom the brothers think
of settling, although they would almost have pre-
ferred to have found a settlement among the Gallas.



In concluding this chapter devoted to my latest
journey in Abessinia I may add that, accordinc^ to in-
W"« recently reoeivi by raeft... that L.i^.
king Theodoras has defeated king Haila Malakot
in Shoa, and has taken possession of his dominions.
Malakot died suddenly, on which the army sub*

I I



484 FBOM GONDAB TO CAIRO.

mitted to the conqueror, who made the son of
Malakot Gk)yemor of Shoa. He is to make him
Viceroy in due time. Several tribes of the Wollo-
Gallas have been completely routed by Theodoros ;
and among them that of Adara BiUe, whose whole
fitmily was put to the sword, and whose town,
Gatira, was burnt. Mr. Bell, the king^s adjutant,
directed in person the burning of the town, on
which occasion he said, he had not forgotten that
there a European had been plundered and his mis-
Bionary kbours interrupted, a crime now so 8ign^
visited upon its perpetrators. In Ankober the king
is reported to have foimd Amharic Bibles still re-
maining, which I had left behind in my house ; and
to have had them distributed, as for the future he
wishes the Bible to be read only in Amharic, the
language of the people, and no longer in the old
^thiopic, which the people do not understand.



485



CHAPTER IV-

CONCLUSION,

Christianity at Babbai — ^Geograpbical restilts of the xnisEdon — ^Beb-
MAinr ov XJinAXBsi — ^Reports of the iyory traders as to a great
inlaiid-sea — Bebmann's servant, Salimixii — ^Erhardt's map of the
interior — The lakes, mountains, and rivers of Eastern Africa —
Details respecting the great inland-sea — Salimini's country —
Future missionary labours in Central Africa — ^Ebhahdt ok ths
WAKixA-LAin>— Besourees and products of the Wanika-land —
Hints for the improvement of the Wanika and their country —
Taxation — ^Hints to Missioitabiss.

It is pleasant in drawing this yolume to a close to
be able to announce that the power and mercy of God
have revealed themselves anew at Rabbai Mpia.
The wife of Abbegonja, whom the reader may pro^
bably recollect, begins to pray, and he himself is
diffusing Christianity among his countrymen. A
single Christian £Eunily among a heathen people is of
signal value. Qod allows great things to arise out
of smaU and insignificant beginnings, as He has pro-
mised : — ^^ A little one shall become a thousand."

If less important, still no less interesting are the
geographical results which have proceeded firom our
missionary labours in Eastern Africa. The follow-
ing extract from a communication of my friend
Kebmann, dated ^^Mombaz, 23rd April, 1855,"

I I 2



486 CONCLUSION.

points out the source of some recent expeditions
and discoveries, made by English travellers in
Eastern AMca, which are just now being brought
prominently before the notice of the public.



"During my friend Erhardt's six months' resi-
dence at Tanga to study the Kisambara language,
he had often nolens volens to listen to narratives of
journeys, introduced into the conversations held by
him with the ivory-traders of that place. They
represented to him that the Sea of Uniamesi was
simply a continuation of the Lake Niassa, the latter,
according to them, striking out westward fit)m its
northerly direction, and then spreading itself out
even to a greater expanse than hitherto, so as to
approach the mountains whi^h pass through the
centre of the continent, and form a most important and
impenetrable barrier and water-shed. The northern
side of this barrier contains the sources of the Nile,
of Lake Tsad, and of the river Chadda, while the
south side sends its waters partly to the Atlantic
Ocean, by the river Congo or Zaire, partly to the
Indian Ocean by the Jub, Dana, and Osi, and also,
as I think highly probable, to the great lake of the
interior itself.

^^ Ab we must regard all such accounts of the natives
necessarily as very vague and inaccurate, Erhardt
was not at first inclined to give unqualified credence
ta this statement ; but one circumstance could not fSul



CJONCLUSION. 487

to strike him as remarkable, that persons journey-*
ing into the interior from very different starting
points, such as Uibo, Ealoa, Mbuamaji, Baga-
moyo, Pangani, and Tanga, a tract of coast ex-
tending some six degrees of latitude, all represent
themselves, at very varying points of distance from
the coast, as arriving at a Baheri or inland-sea.*
This, however, did not necessarily prove to him
that the Lake of Uniamesi is a continuation of that
of Niassa, and that both thus form but a single large
lake, or rather sea, in the centre of the continent.
" After Erhardt's return to Rabbai we naturally

* The chief carayan routes which lead from the Suahili coast to
the great inland-sea are the following : —

1. The route from the island of Tanga, upon which the Suahili
irory-traders cross seyeral isolated mountain-masses, and among
them the snowy Kilimanjaro and Doinio Engai, and upon which
also travellers haye to pass through the leyel pasture-land of the
Masai tribes to Burgenej. This journey occupies fifty-fiye days,
and is performed at the rate of about seyen leagues a day. From
Buigenej the route lies for eight days through the yery populous
coimtry of the Waniamesi, and then suddenly reaches the inland-sea.
The Masai are sayages, but breeders of cattle ; the Waniamesi, on
the contrary, are quiet and well-disposed, and cultiyate the soiL
Thus the distance from Tanga to the inland-sea would appear to
be about 400 or 450 leagues.

2. The second route is from Mbuamaj, south of Zanzibar, to
XJjiji, a town in Uniamesi. This loute is almost as long as the
first, and is used by numerous carayans journeying with beasts
of burden, horses, asses, &c., to fetch slaves, ivory, and copper
ore. The country through which it passes is quite level with the
exception of the Ngu range of hills, which is not far from the coast.

8. The routes from Kiloa or Kirimba to the ferries of Gnombo
and Mdenga, which are used partly by the Portuguese slave-
dealers, partly by the Arabs.

Ujiji is the point from whence large row-boats cross the lake



488 CONCLUSION-

eonversed now and then upon this subject, but could
come to no other conclusion than that one of these
days a European visiting the localities themselYes
would alone be able to clear the matter up. Curious
enough, however, a man named Salimini had been
in my service for a year whose home is but two or
three days' journey to the west of Lake Niassa, and
who had formerly told me .that in his country most
of the rivers flow to ti.e north, and ttiat going from
his home, Kumpande, at two and a half days'
journey eastward, and three days' journey north-
ward, you reach Lake Nianja, as it is tiiere called.

^^ In the meantime Erhardt had begun to mark
down all these geographical data, obtained firom one
source or another, on a large map, and by this
process he exhibited the inland-sea, when drawn in
accordance with the statements of the ivory-dealers,
in that position towards the rivers, all of which an
old English map represented as flowing from the
south, so that there could then hardly remain a
doubt as to their emptying themselves into it. At
last it happened that as we were one November day
discussing the matter together, and comparing what
we knew of it with the physical conformation of
Africa in the south and north, and in the east and

to the west. In five days these boats reach the momitaiiioas
island of Kavogo. It takes another twentj«five days before they
reach the western shore, where they purchase copper. The shores
of the sea are low, sandy, and shelving. Only at its south end are
there lofty mountains. The waves of the lake are often very high ;
it consists of ftesh-water, and is full of fish. Its shores are, for the
most part, inhabited.



CONCLUSION. 489

west, at one and the same moment the problem
flashed on both of us as solved by the simple sup-
position that, where geographical hypotheses had
hitherto supposed an enormous moimtain-land, we
must now look for an enormous yaUey and an in-
land sea. With this solution the statements of our
African informants completely harmonized, not only
with what had been correctly given on former maps
as previously discovered, but with what we knew
of the conformation of the country from our own
observation, extending over no small sur&ce. K
the centre of Africa were an elevated mountain-
land, how could there be a flow towards the north
of the whole series of rivers which the Portuguese
cross on their route from east to west ? And why
have we not, flowing frt>m the south side of the
so-called Mountains of the Moon, a river similar
to the Congo in the west, and the Dana and Jub
in the east, which could not be much inferior to
ihe Nile or the Chadda? Both these questions
axe completely solved by the supposition of an
inland-sea in Central Africa. The chief features
then of the geographical conformation of Central
Africa would thus be a very decided declivity fr*om
the north-west and south, forming an enormous
basin in ihe centre; but towards the east an ex-
tensive plain upon which, however, there is a very
remarkable series of sinirle and perfectly isolated
n^oimteim and mountZgroupe, some of wHch the
all-wise Creator and Architect of the earth has
crowned with perennial snow, jnat where it is hottest,



490 CONCLUSION.

close to the Equator^ to cool and refresh the earth,
which seem to form the links of a chain running
from south to north to join the so-called Mountains
of the Moon, just where we have to look for the
more eastern sources of the White Nile. Its western
sources are probably close together in the neighbour-
hood of the Shary, which flows into the Tsad,
and of the Chadda which joins the Niger. K so
the Arabian writers of the middle ages, as well as
European geographers up to the middle of the last cen-
tury, would be quite correct in their assertion that the
Niger by means of its tributary, the Chadda, rises
near the sources of the Nile, and pursuing a westerly
course through the continent pours its waters into
the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain-groups referred
to, in so far as we ourselves have seen them,
fi*om south to north, are chiefly the following: —
Ngu, Usambara with Pare, BuCra with Ndara aiid
Kadiaro, Kilimanjaro with Shira, Eisongo with
Ugono, the snow-mountain Kenia (Kegnia), seen
by Dr. Bj»pf in the distance, along with Eikuyu*
That none of these mountains form'terraces wHch
lead to more elevated lands, and that Kilimanjaro
is not, as Dr. Kiepert figures it in his Atlas, a
mountain-range, or part of mountain-chain, but acom-
pletely isolated mountain-mass, merely surrounded
by smaller and likewise isolated mounteins, we
have convinced ourselves with our own eyes. The
moxmtain-range, some 1500 feet high, and only some
four leagues fix)m the coast which stretches from the
bay of Eolefi to Usambara, and is inhabited by the



CONCLUSION. 491

Wanika, is the only approach to such a terrace. A
section of it lying inland from Mombaz is nothing
else than our own Rabbai, with Rabbai Mpia and
Elisuludini where we are stationed. From Kilefi
to Ras Ngome there is also a smaller mountain-
ridge in the Galla-land. But thence, as far as Cape
Gerdaf the land rises very gently and imperceptibly
W the coast towaxdB the inLior. In gTnerd
the country to the south of Usambara as far as
Cape Delgado or Mgau presents the same character.
It is well worthy of remark that the small elevated
land which is borne, as it were, on the shoulders
of the Wanika-moimtains, rather sinks than rises
as you go further inland ; indeed at a good day^s
journey from our station you have to descend a
declivity some 150 feet deep, called ^Ndunguni,'
which forms a semicircle from Usambara to Ukam-
bani, so that, on his journey to Ukambani Dr. Ejiapf
had first to descend, and then at Yata to ascend
the heights again. So little do the moxmtains of
Teita form a terrace, that on the journey to
Jagga you would leave them altogether on the one
side, were it not that you have to purchase food
from tiieir inhabitants. Then again, the counfay
slopes gently towards the foot of Kilimanjaro,
and in the west of it, as well as round about it,
I saw to my surprise the same plain again spreading
out no higher than to the east of it, like the smooth
surface of the sea« Our African informants, too,
who proceed from the various points of the coast
already mentioned in a south-westerly, westerly, or



492 OONCLUSION.

north-westerly direction, to the great inland-sea, are
all unanimous in declaring that any one who main-
tains that there are mountaiuB to be traversed in
their journeys, is neither more nor less than a liar.
Certainly there are mountains, but these are, they
say, like houses, which you do not climb over but
go round as you proceed. Only in the immediate
proximity of the lake, which is called Niassa, the
traveller has to cross ^ a pretty high mountain-range
stretching along its eastern shore, and the depth of
his descent on the western side corresponds with
the height of his ascent on the eastern* This
mountain-range which is, as it were, a wall and
water-shed to the lake, and which, according to my
servant from Eumpande has in the west a similar
and corresponding elevation, is probably joined in
the north by other separate and isolated mountains,
mountain-chains, and mountain-groups, where the
not unimportant rivers Lufiji and Rufuma have
their sources, until we come to the Ngu group, from
which the farther continuation of the chain as &r as
the Equator is known to us from personal survey.

^^ To come to frirther details respecting this inland-
sea shut in on three sides, at first its southern
opening, according to our African informants, is so
narrow that people on the opposite shores can call
to each other ; and here seems to be the first ferry,
called * Zandinge,' — come and fetch me. The next
ferry, finilier northward, lies between the village
Msauka, on the western shore, and Mjangga on the
eastern, between which a boat crosses only twice



CONCLUSION. 493

or thrice a day. The next ferry has an intermediate
station, the island of Mount Mbaazuru (height).
Passengers stop there the first day of their passage
across, spend the night on it, and go on the next
day. Still further to the north is the ferry between
Zenga on the western, and Gtxombo on the eastern
shore, where it takes the boat the whole day to make
the passage, or according to the A&ican mode of
reckoning, from cockcrow to Aeretam of the fowls
to their roosts. This passage is considered so dange-
rous, that it is only attempted when there is not a
breath of wind and when, therefore, sails are not
necessary, and merely oars are used. Nor do father
and son, or two brothers, ever go together in the
same boat, in order that they may avoid a common
death. To ascertain beforehand the complete ab-
sence of wind they drop thrice during the same
day meal fit>m their hands upon the earth. If the
meal falls every time straight to the ground the
passage is undertaken next day. This is called,
^ Ku demba Nianja,' examination of the Niassa. K
ihey return in safety from crossing this ferry, they
hold a joyftd feast, called Kirosi. Any one who
never attempts to cross, is nick-named * Kiwerenga
Masira,' egg-counter — ^perhaps somewhat equivalent
to the English stay-at-home term, * Mammy's apron-
string.'

" The eastern shore of the lake is inhabited by the
Wajania, a tribe of Wahiaos, who are spread out
for a considerable distance towards the sea-coast,
and are called Wanguru by the tribes who live to



494 CONCLUSION.

the west of the lake. Along the western shore we
find the Wamaravi first, whose district is called
Marayi, whence the lake has been wrongly designated
Marovi on some old maps. The Wamaravi (people
of Maravi) inhabit partly the plain, which extends
for about half a day's journey westward fix)m the
lake, and partly also the eastern declivity of the
elevated mountain4and, which meets us here. Such
of them as live close by the shore of the lake are
also called Wanianja (people of Nianja or Niassa).
On the elevated mountain-land itself, we find the
Wakamdunda, literally highlanders, to whom our
servant fi:om Kumpande belongs. Besides these
there are Wamuera and Wakumbodo (or Wam-
bodo), that is, south and north countrymen, clearly
appellations derived from the Lake Niassa, and the
suitability of which becomes more striking, when
it is known that where the Wakumbodo begin
the lake forsakes its northern direction, bends round
to the north-west and west, and so receives the rivers
coming from the south, the Roanga, the Zambezi (not
to be confoimded with the other Zambezi, which
flows eastward, and is also called Eilimani), the
Murusura, the Roapura, the Mufira, the Guarava^
and the Rofoe. The large stream Bua flows some
two days' journey northward from the country of
my Kumpande servant, and receives the smaller
rivers, Zaru, Pfubui, Mde, Mdede, Kakuyu. When
the lake, as already mentioned, bends round to the
west, it seems to be so broad that ho communica-
tion takes place between the opposite shores ; and



CONCLUSION. 495

on their fiflhing expedition^ the Wakumbodo are
said not to go beyond the nearest islands* To what
extent westward this collection of waters stretches,
before it again bends round to the west ; of its extent
northward, and the probable breadth of the Ukerewe,
as the inland-sea there is called ; and, finaUy , as to
the position of the wonderful island. Mount Kavogo,
said by the natives to touch the skies, and on which,
according to tradition, the deity who owns the
Ukerewe dwells, and manifests his mercy and his
wrath in various ways; are points to which the
reader is referred to the elaborate and admirably
executed map of my dear fellow-labourer, Erhardt.*
" My informant, Salimini, told me further that in
his country the year has only two divisions, Mu-
amfu, the hot, and Zinja, the cold or rainy season.
The cold there reaches a point at which the leaves
fall from the trees, and all the grass withers ; and
even the water freezes where it is standing in small
quantities. The soil seems to be extremely fer-
tile and the inhabitants would live in the greatest
comfort, if they had not been induced by the Por-
tuguese slave-traders to hunt and sell each other.
The Portuguese, who are called Wakogunda, have
two settlements in that country in the vicinity of
Kumpande, the one called Kubale, the other Kum-
koma."

Thus far my friend Rebmann, the chief facts con-

* Erhardt's Map was published in " The Proceedings of the Boyal
Geographical Society/' and " The Church Missionary Intelligencer "
of 1866.



496 CONCLUSION.

tained in whose interestiiig commimication have been
confirmed and elucidated by the explorations made
by Major Bnrton and Captain Speke in their expe-
dition from Zanzibar to Uniamesi in 1857.*

As regards myself, so feur back as the period oi
my arrival in Eastern AMca in the year 1844, I
heard of an inland-sea in Uniamesi as well as of the
Lake Niassa. The inland-sea of Uniamesi was desig-
nated to me under the name of Tanganika, the name
by which it was known in the part where my in-
formant had seen it. When in Ukambani in 1851
toO; I had heard of a mighty inland-sea, the end of
which was not to be reached even after a journey of
100 days. Of the existence of an enormous lake in
the interior I had long been convinced ; but whether
the Lake Niassa is connected with that of Uniamesi
may be doubtful, more especially as I heard from
several AMcan travellers, such as Bana Kheii, that
the lakes were completely separated from one another.

I join heartily in the wish expressed by my dear
Mend Rebmann, and in his longing for l^e time
when the messengers of peace shall sail on the Kile,
and that arm of the Niger, the Chadda, from the
north, and on the Zambezi or Kih'mani from the
coast to the Ukerewe sea, and after a longer or
shorter land journey in the heart of Africa, proceed
to proclaim the merciful year of lie Lord and the
day of salvation to the teeming millions on its shores.

* Another expedition, to explore the sources of the Kile, is at
present about to proceed to the countries bordering on Laike IfiaaBa,
under Captains SpejLe and Grant.



CONCLUSION. 497

I am persuaded that the work which in our great
weakness we have commenced in Eastern Africa
will not be allowed by the Lord to pass away ; but
that He will stir up His people to continue it with
energy, and to complete it with glory. But our own
too sanguine expectations, — ^the flesh, ever anxious
to rejoice in its own acHevements, must first perish;
so that we may render all the glory not to ourselves,
but to the Lord, who at His own appointed season
and hour will also establish His kingdom in Eastern
Africa.



In conclusion, I cannot refrain from adding to
Bebmann's important communication, the following
interesting memoir from my dear fellow-labourer
Erhardt, on

THE KESOUBCES AND PRODUCTS OP THE WANIKA-LAND.

^^ Two things are necessary to the attainment of a
correct idea as to the resources of this country, in so
far as they serve for the maintenance of the natives
or admit of extension, or as the means of promoting
a hopefiil intercourse with other nations. The first
is a thorough investigation of products actually
existing, whether they belong to the animal or
vegetable systems; the other, a survey of the re-
sources that can be opened up by the increased
diligence of the natives, in cultivating these products,
as well as by the introduction of foreign animals
and plants suited to the climate. Add to this a



498 CJONCLUSION.

glance at the means of taxation, in order to render
more clearly the nature of the intercom^e which may
eventually be looked for between Europe and these
distant countries*

^^ That the present period of interference on the part
of Said-Said, Sultan of Zanzibar, with the affairs of
these coast-tribes is of great importance for our mis-
sionary labours is not to be denied; and we must
above all things make perfectly clear the mode in
which we can best urge on the work confided to us,
for lie benefit of our Wanika people. No doubt^
our great mission is to preach Christ and Him
crucified; but as there is no spiritual development
possible without a worldly one — ^as no man after
being awakened by the light of the Gospel, can re-
main in the debased state to which heathenism has
confined him, it becomes our duty so to labour that,
with ite light the temporal blessings of Christiamty
may be diffused among these uncivilized tribes ; or
as Mr. Moffat, the missionary, has very forcibly said:
^ Instead of sinking to the low stage of existence
occupied by the natives, a descent to which there
are great temptations, we must always labour to
raise our converts to our own level." K riches
come without Christianity, they are poison to the
soul, instead of a benefit ; but if they follow as the
result of Christianity, they entwine around the
Gospel, and identify themselves with the missionary.
From this often proceeds an appeal for the presence
of a missionary ; the heathen seeing that it brings
temporal benefits with it. The influence to be in



GONCLUSION. 499

future exerted on the interior of Afirica by an or-
ganized misdoni will be manifested just as it has been
manifested in South and Western AMca. Commer-
cial intercourse, too, will then not only receive a new
impulse, for Christian commerce and Christian teach-
ing go hand in hand, but as resulting from the
teaching, what is much more important for us,
tidings of the Book of the Europeans wiU be borne
into the interior and indirectly pave the way for our
missionary labours. But so long as our missions
are not embodied into a commimity, however small,
so long will Christianity be unable to reveal itself
in its complete form, and produce that impression
which has always hitherto attracted the heathen.

"It is very remarkable to observe how of late
Mohammedanism has been forced to assume a pro-
tecting attitude towards missionary effort in Egypt
and the Turkish empire, and as it seems, even now
in this land of outer darkness. Under this pro-
tection, however feeble, it is clearly our duty to
prosecute our work with unceasing diligence. When
Christianity has once taken root, though the secular
arm is not powerful enough to protect it, there is
ever One at hand to watch over it.

" The sources of the food of a people are not only
such as it cultivates and maintains, but also those
which nature and the pecuUar circumstances of the
country spontaneously offer to man. Among the
former are the breeding of cattle and tillage of the
land ; among the latter, wild animals and wild frxdts,

" The sources of animal food are sustained by the

K K



500 CONCLUSION.

breeding of cattle ; and by the war man wages vniii
wild animals, or game, by shooting, fowling, hmit-
ing, and fishing.

^' The animals existing among the Wanika are the
following : —

a. Cattle and poultry : —

Gnombe, black cattle ; Kondo, sheep ; Mbnsi,
goats; Punda, donkeys; Knku, fowls ; andBata,
ducks.

b. Wild animals :

^^ K we consider the ntimber of destrudiTe animalfl
found in the vicinity, we may easily picture to our-
selves ihe lazy, listless life in which the natiyes
pass away their days. Nature rules so perfectly un-
controlled, that even land capable of cultivation is
surrendered to monkeys, apes, and wild swine, aad
left to run wild as part of the wilderness.

^^In the following list of animals I have confined
myself to such as are met within the Babbais, and
their neighbourhood : —

Embawa mke, Euro (dog), Niati (bofialo),

Funo, Lobe, Niumbn,

Kemga mume, Mala, Fa (a kind of

Kongoni, Mbununba, antelope),

Kuagna-sa, Ngawa (civet cat), "Witungule (harea).

" Among the beasts of prey : — Simba (lion), Gala,
Tui (leopaxd), Fisi (hyaena), Kiboko (crocodile)
Kiniegere (Fel. Lynx).

" Among birds (besides the birds of prey, whicli
include a great variety of the £Edcon tribe) are the
Kanga, Kororo, Kuinsi, Ninga, and Ndiwa (pigeon).



CONCLUSION. 601

" The second chief source of nourishment on which
man depends is the soil.

"In the Wanika-land is no soil which is absolutely
incapable of cultivation^ and its products might be
increased at least sixty-fold, when there would still
remain pasture and forest-lLxd sufficient to provide
for all the wants of the inhabitants. The firuits of the
field and of trees which we see cultivated are in-
considerable in quantity, because there is an absence
of the necessary energy to till the ground, and also
because the inhabitants have no markets for the
surplus.

" The cereals and edible vegetables are ; —

Mpnnga (rice), Mbasi, ^ Hadango,

Mtama(tafted maize), Knnde, j ' Tungudsha,

Hahindi (Indian Eiwi (beans), WinnunTmia,

com), Fiasi (sweet potatoes), Nduniasa,

Mnhogo (oassaye), Fiacd manga (yam), Ndu mawe,

XJwxmbi, ^ . I^disi (bananas), Mandano.

MueUe, ) ' Eimanga, Mbono (Thidnns).

Podsho,

" The oleaginous plants are the following : —
Mbono, Mafuta tanga, Tondo, Kweme, Nasi.

"Resin and gum are contained in: — Handsha,
copal.

Amongst the fruits cultivated will be found : —



tree),
Makuadsha (Tama-
rinde).


Huembe (mango),

Hpera (guava),

HsambaiBO,

Mgandshn,

Mkomamunga,

Mtomoko,

Mnanaai (pine-apple).


Mjungua (orange-
tree),
Mlimau (citron-tree),
Mdimu (lime-tree)y
Mpapaju,

Mgrufli (clove tree),
Msufi.

K K 2


If na (sugar cane)^
Mbamba (cotton
plant),



/ :r




502 CONCLUSION.

"Among the many trees growing wild which bear
fruit, we may mention : Mkmiasi, Mgunga, Mbungo,
Vitoria, Vipo, Futu, &c.

"The useful forest trees which produce wood
suited for houses and ships, or are sulapted for
cabinet-makers' work, are: — Mfiile (of a reddish
colour, and well suited for planks and boards),
Mbambakofi, Muafi, Mdshe, Mdshani, Mkoko,
Mgnambo, Mtiwa shibili, Mdshje, Mgurure (teak),
Mismari, Mkuaju, Mfunda, Mpingo (ebony), Mbawa,
Kikuata {Acacia vera^ producing gum arabic), Mtondo,
Msikundasi, Mkomafi, Msandarisi (producing copal :
its wood is hard, resinous, and used for the masts
of ships).*

" Looking at the multiplicity of the products of
the country enumerated above, and at its unciJ-
tivated condition, it is clear that there is no necessity
for the introduction of foreign products, if an im-
provement can be made in the cultivation of those
which already exist in the country.

" With such a list before us, it is not a difficult
matter to answer the obvious question: What can
and shoidd be done to benefit the interior of this
great continent ?

" The influence which one people exerts upon
another is, in general, regulated by its wealth. If

* Other forest trees found on the East-ooast are : Mkomasi (a red
wood), Mgomsi (a very hard wood for beams), Msimbati, Mgniemsu,
Mleha, Mnaninga (a hard, yellowish red wood), Mkalambaki (the
wood has a pleasant odour, is blackish, and takes a good polish), and
Mtata.



CONCLUSION. 603

a people becomes impoverished, its influence abroad
will decrease in proportion to the decrease of its
internal prosperity. The social reasons on which
such a dogma is based, always presuppose that
" worldly prosperity follows in the wake of Chris-
tianity." It is, consequently, certain, that if
the tribes of the coast are to influence those of
the interior, they must first be eleyated in the
social scale. Our duty and self-proposed labour as
missionaries should thus be to rouse the natives
to be more diligent in agriculture, and in cattle-
breeding; to impress upon them the advantages of
both; to point out to them such articles as are most
profitable; and finally, to place within their reach
such animals and seeds as can be usefully introduced
for their benefit.

" The breeding of cattle and poultry should first
have attention paid to it, and should be increased in
an extraordinary degree. A more extensive breeding
of oxen, cows, goats, sheep, asses, fowls, ducks,
geese, and turkeys (the two last, as yet, quite un*
known), would add to the prosperity of the natives
both at home and elsewhere. Pekry, too, including
the skins of wild animals, should go hand in hand
with the trade in ivory and horns ; for example, in
the case of bufiGEdoes and rhinoceroses ; nor should
the profit to be derived firom the Ngawa, civet-cat,
be overlooked.

^^ As regards new animals, it might be desirable
to introduce the domestic hog and Egyptian sheep,
the latter of which would yield not only a very



604 CJONCLUSION.

quick, but a very profitable return. Wool and
cotton are two articles which are in constant de-
mand in England, and which, if cultivated to any
extent, would ultimately contribute to bring these
countries under European protection ; and the east-
em coast of AMca could almost produce cotton
enough to satisfy the demands of the whole of
England, and thus in promoting the growth of
sheep and cotton a powerful blow would foe dealt
to the American slave-trade.

^^ As regards, in the second place, agriculture and
planting, ' it is questionable whether this country
could ever be a granary for other lands; however
enough might be produced to meet the demands of
the interior. Of the following productions a sale
might be anticipated abroad : —

^^1. Munga, Mlimau, Mdimu (oranges, limes,
lemons, which, on account of their juice, are used
in great quantities by the English navy).

^^2. Ukuadshu (tamarindes, exported in cafiks,
after hot syrup has been poured over them).

" 3. Mua (sugar-cane).

" 4. Grafii, Dellasini, Mandano.

"6. Bamba, cotton, and Sufii — (both of them cul-
tivated and growing wild; the latter growing on
high trees, and used as a substitute for cotton and
feathers in stuffing beds).

*^6. Uwanga (arrow-root, grows wild in large
quantities),

" 7. Kauma (calamus, or sweet-flag).
^* 8. Various kinds of oils :—



CX)NCLUSIOK. 505

a. Mbono (Pabna Ckrisii).

h. Mafuta ya nasi (cocoanut-ofl).

c. Mafuta Tanga, which has lately come into
nse.

d. Tondo and Kweme, only important as being
oleaginous.

e. Semsem.

^^ As regards the products of the interior, all long
known, of most importance, are :—

a. Ivory.

b. Horns of the Eifismi (rhinoceros).
e. Horns of the Niati (Buffalo).

d. Tusks of the Mamba (Hippopotamus).

e. Horns of different Antelopes.
/. Ostrich-feathers.

^^As these nations rise in the social scale, the
mineral productions of the soil will also be made
available. 'Amongst these coal and iron are the
most important; the former, the use of which is stUl
unknown to the natives, is met with in many parts,
and the latter, more particularly in Ukambani and
Jagga. Antimony is found in Daruma; cornelians
and other precious stones in Wabilikimo; and the
natives manufacture various articles, such as pretty
mats, all of which might be made available as means
of spreading tiie Gospel amongst a nation meted out
and trodden down.

^^ As regards taxation, the condition of the people
and of their property must be clearly kept in view;
from which it is evident that a king would be imable
to levy taxes in kind, a« to do so would require



506 CONCLUSION.

beforehand an extended and organized administra-
tion, which would dost more than could be drawn
from the poor Schamba, or plantations, of the Wanika ;
and consequently such an impost would degenerate
into violence and extortion. Taxation of this kind
would not only be useless to the king, but directly
injurious to the Wanika.

"As all the Wanika individually, in point of
wealth, are on & tolerable equality one with an-
other, a poll-tax would suit them best. Ivory might,
perhaps, be indirectly taxed as an article of export,
and other indirect taxation levied for a time upon
all articles exported or imported. After the general
productive powex of the nation shall have increased,
and the Wanika become more removed from one
another in point of income, each branch of productive
and remunerative industry might be taxed, and the
poll-tax abolished ; but it is desirable that at first all
industry should not be checked by heavy taxation.
To tax a marriageable young man two dollars a
year would not be too much; for he could easily
raise his two doUaxs without being oppressed, by
collecting copal, rearing goats, or from the sale of
cocoanuts and palm-wine, Indian-corn, &c. He
would, indeed, require to be somewhat more indns*
trious than he usually is, and to be less addicted to
drinking ; but that is just what is to be wished for in
the case of every Wanika of them all.^^



And now that I have communicated these two
most interesting and important contributions of my



1



C50NCLUSI0N. 607

dear friends Rebmann and Erhardt to the geography ,
natural history, and social economy of Ea^m Africa,
my work draws to a close ; but I would first impress
the following points on the attention of missionaries
who are destined to labour in that region of the con-
tinent : —

1. Resist with all the power of faith, of prayer and
of truth, that mood of despondency and faint-hearted-
ness, which is disposed to say with the men sent to
spy out the land of Canaan, ^^ We be not able to go
up against the people ; for they are stronger than
we." The state of the East- African heathen, their
indifference towards all that is spiritual, or to any
progress in mere human affairs, (they are, as Reb-
mann rightly says, ^^ profitable in nothing either to
God or to the world,") may easily beget in the heart
of a missionary a mood of disappointment, in which
he would say with Isaiah, ^^ I have laboured in yain ;
I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain."
At times, you may be assailed and tried by this
mood, in order that you may be made mindful of
your own utter want of power^ and of complete de-
pendence on the Lord, lest you shoidd think that
the heathen are given to you, and not to Him, as an
inheritance. But this casual desponding must not
become habitual, otherwise you will be cast down
and numbered amongst the faint-hearted who stand
without the gates of the city of God. Labour
on courageously, fidthfrdly, patiently, and believ-
ingly ; for ^^ to continue labouring in patience," says
our venerated prelate (Ettinger, ^^is in itself vie-



508 CONCLUSION.

tory." Examine yourself at the same time to discover
whether your present want of confidence, and your
despondency, do not arise from a foregone self-
confidence -an egotistical self-sufficiency, which
sought to proceed only according to its own thoughts
and plans. Or perhaps you have entered upon the
fight without due preparation, and have imagined
that you could soon lead a great host of these heathen
to the Cross ; and because this has not happened you
look upon it as too difficult, and deem that nothing
is to be done for the great cause. Let your first care
be to convert the heathen within your own heart,
your self-confidence, your self-love. Be modest, but
not faint-hearted, and the Lord will show you His
mercy!

2. Seek in East-Afiica to root out all longing for a
life of ease and comfort, and accommodate yourself
to the lowliest.

Many a young missionary when he axrives from
Europe, wishes forthwith to make himself stationarv
in son.; heaAen disteict, and to settle down com-
fortably behind bolt and bar at some place on the
coast, instead of moving about for five or six years,
^ta aae Wta of hi, £ Wnake ■* neeJ^ to
exchange his provisional arrangement for a more
fixed dwelling-place. The wish to settle down as
comfortably as possible and to marry entangles a
missionary in many external engagements which may
lead him away from his Master and his duty. This
wish naturally prompts him to trouble himself about
irrelevant or subordinate matters, such for instance,



CONCLUSION. 609

§s house-building, all sorts of colonizing schemes,
and scientific labours ; till by degrees he puts the
chief matter of all, the promulgation of the Gospel, on
the shelf. He goes no more, or less firequently,
among the heathen ; does not seek them out in their
huts ; but thinks, " They know where I live ; if they
care for the salvation of their souls they can come to
me to my house, where I have more room than in
their narrow, smoky, gloomy, vermin-breeding huts."
Do not allow anything to keep you from your true
field of action; go and seek the heatiben, speak to
them respecting the salvation of their souls, and in
time there wiU come a blessing on yourself, upon your
labours, and upon them. But at the seune time do
not become a mere rolling-stone, but choose head-
quarters whence you may go forth, and whither you
may return to collect your thoughts and refresh your
frame.

3. Be not either wearied by or anffry at the
«M»ying n.e«di«a.cy of the mtive..^pUy ™
unnecessary outward splendour, lest the people re-
gard you as wealthy and consider themselves justified
in begging ever3i;hing they can from you. Deny
yourself, that you may be able to give so much the
more to the sick, l^e poor, and the stranger-guest of
the people, among whom you live. Do not expect to
receire aa a maiter of course fiom the bounty of tiie
people and its chiefs such things as water, wood, shel-
ter, &c. ; but be grateftJ for ever3i;hing, and show
that gratitude by plentiful acts of love, which in the
sight of God are as acceptable, and no less efficacious



610 CONCLUSION.

as any miracle worked by the immediate followers c^
our Lord. Let your life be the embodiment of your
teaching, otherwise your teaching among the heathen
will become a burden; you will grow weary and long
to be away iroxn a barren soil, where your self-
idolatry finds neither nourishment nor satisfoction.
Think of the missionaries in Labrador, in Green*
land, and in the islands of the South Seas, who must
toil and deny themselyes much more than you have
need to do. Remember that capital inyested in tiie
conversion of the heathen will be repaid with in-
terest when they are converted. They will then
give to the Missionary-fond instead of taking fi^m
it.* But guard yourself fi'om thinking that giving
is an artificial means by which the heathen may be
attracted to Christianity. That were the Jesuits*
principle of driving out one devil by anotiier. Who-
ever thinks to convert the heathen by merely external
means, is himself stiQ a heathen, and knows not the
power of God. Give yourself up in love daily to
your God and to heathen fellow-men, so shall you
learn the right mode of giving outwardly without
covetousness and without prodigality.

4. Respect an old and experienced missionary,
even although he should take little heed of yoiur
thoughts and suggestions as those of a novice. But
do not accept imconditionally everything that he
BSijs or does, when either his sayings or his doings

* At home, you are every day accosted by beggars and asked for
alms. And you yourself are a beggar; for men beg for you, that
they may hare the mean» of sending you to couTert tiie heathen.



CONCLUSION. 511

appear at variance with the revealed Word of God.
If, at the commencement of his course, a young mis-
sionary can humble himself among others, good will
come of him ; but if, at starting, he insists on
criticising everything, and on having everything
done according to his own fency, he wiU bring
ruin upon himself and the Mission together. No
wonder that God arrests many a one in his course
by an early death. Better death than a fall, or
backsUding, and a slackening of his pace in his
spiritual career. This may happen, too, because the
iLon desired to carry out £ own wishes ex-
clusiyely, and would not remain at home in some
hmnbler station, bearing his cross in simplicity
and truth, and seeking to concert himself. If you
will not uproot your own self-will at home, God
may lead you out into the world of the heathen,
and there allow you to die, and after death you
will vainly repent that you did not pay greater heed
to the will of God, but by the obstinacy of your own
self-will became your own murderer. Search your
heart, therefore, to see whether your own or God's
spirit calls you to the heathen. Many a one need
not have died, and many a one could have died
more blessed, if he could have separated himself
from himself, and have committed himself to the
mercy and power of Gk)d ; in one word, if he could
have made his Ego to disappear so that Cihrist might
have dwelt within him. If any one repairs to the
heathen wiih over-wrought spiritual ideas, ideas,
therefore, not conformable to Scripture, he is sure



512 CONCLUSION.

soon to become carnal and worldly, because he
aimed at being too unworldly. Therefore firee your-
self more and more from all that is not conformable
to God's truth. If any one has a call to go into the
heathen world, aud, from a love of comfort or any
other impure motive, does not go forth, he will lose
luB Christianity as certainly as he who has gone forth
only to gratify his self-wiU. Yet if both become
sobered in time, recognising the error of their ways,
and hiunbling themselves before God, then all may
have been for the best and may help to further them
on their way; for God is willing to convert our
faults into blessings, if we repent us of the same, and
the very circumstance which made us stumble, can
and will serve to raise us up again, provided we do
not keep ever brooding over the &ult, but cast our
care upon the Lamb of God, who careth for us, and
both can and will save and snatch us out of all
trouble. Only do not look merely upon your sin
and sorrow, nor desire to be unaided help to yourself,
but trust to the power, love and mercy of Grod in
Christ Jesus, who can and is willing to raise up them
that fall, and to blot out every sin.

6. Expect nothing, or very Uttle, from poUtical
changes in Eastern Africa. As soon as you begin to
anticipate much good for missionary labour from
politics, you will be in danger of mixing yourself up
with them. Do not think that because the East-
Africans axe ^^ profitable in nothing to GK>d and
the world," they ought to be brought under the
dominion of some European power, in the hope that I



OONGLUSION* 513

they may then bestir themselves more actiyely and
eagerly for what is worldly, and, in consequence,
become eventually more awake to what is spiritual
and eternal. On the contrary, banish the thought
that Europe must spread her protecting wings oyer
Eastern Africa, if miasionaiy work is to prosper in
that land of outer darkness* Europe would, no doubt,
remove much that is mischievous and obstructive
out of the way of missionary work, but she would
probably set in its place as many, and perhaps, stiU
greater checks. It is a vital error to make the result
of missionary labour dependent on the powers that
be. Accept the development and the condition of
the heathen as you find them. Be not led away
either by the low or high condition of their culture ;
by the dulness or the enthusiasm of any heathen
people. Assail the heathen only with the sword of
the Spirit, with the Word of God, and the right
hand of the Lord will vanquish at laat, if only at
first as with us at Rabbai Mpia, by the conversion
of a single soul. The great thing is for you to
recognise that the Lord has called you to be a soldier
of the Cross. I am assured that it was through
the guidance of the Lord that I went to Eastern
Africa, and found myself among the Wanika and
Wakamba; therefore I am no less certain that the
Word of God will be victorious among them, if
it is preached to them with energy, without in-
terruption for years. Whether Europeans take
possession of Eastern Africa or not, I care very
little, if at all ; yet I know fiiU well, that missionary



614 CJONCLUSION.

labour has its human phase, and that it cannot, as
if by magic, without any outward preparation of the
people for its reception, grasp the life of a nation.
But many persons vastly overrate this human phase
of our work and, like the Jew, wish to see the
bottom of the water before they cross the river. In
Eastern Africa the presence of Europeans, especially
of the English in Mombaz, has done quite as much
in this way as a missionary can wish. It is not
missionaries, but those who are not missionaries,
who see impossibilities in the way of the regeneration
of Eastern Africa. " Where there is a will," says the
English proverb, ** there is a way," and this saying
is worthy of that self-reliant people, and the key to
that indomitable perseverance which is their great
characteristic. Prosecute your missionary work along
the whole coast from Barava to Cape Delgado, and
you will find everywhere an opening; but be not
led astray by the heathen materialism of Eastern
Africa, nor by human rea^n, nor by the long appa-
rent barrenness of your labours. Keep in mind that
St. Paul, when the Son was revealed within him,
^^ that he might preach among the heathen, conferred
not with flesh and blood, but went into Arabia," and,
as he did, preach Christ crucified to the Heathen.



515



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER.

NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY.

The Arabs of the coast and Eastern Africa— The Hamiaritic Kings,
Solomon and the Phoenicians— Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, and
the Phoenician king, Hiram — The East- African coast, the Ophir of
the Bible — ^Proofs philological and Scriptural — ^Notices of Eastern
Africa, in ancient writers — ^The Periplus of Arrian — ^Ptolemy —
Cosmas — ^New era in the history of Eastern Africa : — ^the Mo*
hammedan Arabs — Arab settlements on the coast — Portuguese
conquest of Eastern Africa — ^Decline of the Portuguese power
and its causes — ^The princes of Oman and Eastern Africa — Said-
Said and the Msara of Mombaz — ^Long struggle for supremacy
over Mombaz and the East- African coast — ^Mombaz adopts the
Protectorate of England — ^Befrisal of GoTemment to sanction the
arrangement — Said-Said's career, character, and death — ^Europe
and Eastern Africa.

Among the most important phenomena in the early
history of Eastern AMca must have been the
intercourse kept up with it by the inhabitants
of the Arabian sea-board. The southern coast of
Arabia must fix>m the earliest period have been
necessarily connected with Eastern Africa by the
wants of its inhabitants. From Eastern Africa the
Arab of the coast derived his com, his rice, his
Durra, his wood, his ivory, and especially his slaves.

L L



f*^



516 NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN mSTORY.

It is SO to-day, and it must have been so from
inmiemorial antiquity. Such being the case, it is
extremely probable that when the Hamiaritic kings
and the Arabs had thus recognised their dependence
upon it, and had once established commercial relations
with Eastern Africa, and obtained a footing on its
coast, they would desire to exclude all other nationsi
especially the Egyptians, from a share in this com-
merce ; and that with this design, more especially to
keep the power of Egypt in check, these South- Arabs
would be disposed to form a close connection with
the greatest ruler of Western Asia, King Solomon.
According to this theory it may have been in part
a political connection which was formed between
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who was at once a
South- Arab potentate and sovereign of Abessinia,
and ruler of the coast of Eastern Africa lying south-
ward. The policy of the king of commercial
Phcenicia would naturally coincide with that of these
two great sovereigns. The Phoenicians had probably
attempted to establish a direct intercourse with the
Red Sea and the Arabs by means of Egypt ; but the
Egyptians were not fond of the sea ; their monarchs
were too haughty, self-seeking, and exclusive ; nor,
had it been otherwise, would the Arabs have been
disposed to allow the energetic Phoenicians to com-
pete with them on the seas of the south. All the
more welcome then to the Phoenicians must have
been the alliance which Solomon contracted with
their King Hiram, in accordance with which they
received a port in Idumea on the Eed Sea, appa-



NOTES ON EAST- AFRICAN tflSTOBY. 517

rently, amongst other things, for the purpose of
teaching the Israelites both shipbuilding and naviga-
tion. Hence we read in 1 Kings ix. 26—28 : " And
king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-Geber,
which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea,
in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy
his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea,
with the servants of Solomon. And they came to
Ophir, and fetched fix>m thence gold, four hundred
and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon."
And again, in 1 Kings x. 22, we read: ^^For the
king had at sea a navy at Tharshish with the navy
of Hiram : once in three years came the navy of
Th<«hiA, bri.^ gold, and diver, ivory, andYpe,,
and peacocks." That the Ophir of the Bible is to
be sought for on the eastern coast of AMca is evident
from two circumstances. One is, that right opposite
to Arabia Felix there is to be found a people who
call themselves ^^ Afer," the Danakil, called by others
Adals, or Danakil, from their chief tribe " Ad Alii,"
but whose designation in their own language is
" Afer." In the second place, it must be considered
that Ophir beyond a doubt means gold-dust ; for in
Job xxviii. 6, the words " dust of gold " in Hebrew
are " Ophirot Sahab." Now it was chiefly gold
that the Arabs, as well as the Phoenicians and
Israelites wished to discover ; so the word Ophir was
thus made to comprise two thipgs, the name of a
people and of a substance; and the land of the
people called Afer was simply the land where JEfer
Sahab, gold-dust, was found. Although the Adal-

L L 2



518 NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HI8T0BT.

land was not precisely the gold-dust country, yet it
formed the commencement of the line of coast on
which, as in SofEila, gold of the purest quality was
found in large quantities. That Ophir cannot have
been Arabia-Felix,* nor the coast of Malabar, or the
island of Ceylon, as has been maintained, is easily
demonstrated from the nature of the objects which
are said to have been brought irom it. Neither in
Arabia, nor in India, is there either gold or silver in
sufficient quantity for export. Ab there is acaroely
enough for the wants of themselves, how could the
Arabs or Indians have been in a position to export
gold in the quantities indicated in 1 Kings ix. 28? As
to ivory, there is none at all in Arabia ; and that of
India is much less usefiil than that of Africa. There
are, it is true, apes in abundance, both in Arabia
and India; but then the question arises, what kind
of ape is alluded to ? Very probably Solomon as a
naturalist was desirous of obtaining Uving specimens
of the fine ape Guresaf (Colobus)y of which, as fax
as I know, no Hving specimen has hitherto been
brought to Europe. This family of the ape is found
in Abessinia, chiefly in Shoa, in the vicinity of the
Adal or Afer country. It is true that peacocks are

* The locality Da£ar in Southern Arabia has been fixed <m by
some as the Ophir of the Bible ; but no dangerous voyage of three
years would hare been needM to reach it, and from it all articles
of commerce might have l^n brought by land on camels; just as
the Queen of Sheba, to whom Da&r certainly belonged, went to
Jerusalem by land.

t The guresa has fine black hair on its back, and white on its
stomach.



NOTES ON EA8T-AFBICAN HI8T0BY. 519

not met with in Eastern AMca, but it may be ques-
tioned whether the Hebrew word '^ Tukijim'^
means precisely peacocks, or whether it may not
rather be taken to denote the guinea-hen, which
abounds in Eastern AMca and especially in Abes-
srnia.

Passing oyer the various references in ancient
writers to the alleged circumnavigation of Africa, we
come to the Periplus of the Erythraean sea, ascribed
to Arrian, and the date of which is referred by none
to a period posterior to A. n. 210. The account
given in the Periplus of the voyage along the East-
African coast is most interesting to Miy one who haa
a knowledge of the localities ; and in reading it, I
feel as if the author had lived in our time and been
a modem traveller. We find him quitting Egypt in
July, sailing in August or September along the
Somali coast, and reaching Cape Guardafui in the
middle of October. On his way he ran into the
chief havens, after the present fieushion of the natives.
With the aid of the north-east wind he sailed in
November from Cape Guardafui along the eastern
coast, which he calls A-zanie, and which afterwards (in
the sixth century) was called Zingium, or coast of the
Sendsch, whence Sendschibar or Sanguebar, Zanzi-
bar, country of the blacks or slaves. From Zanzibar
he seems to have reached the mouth of the river
Lufidschi, which I take to be meant by the Rhapta of
his narrative. The chronicle abounds with details
which can be verified by any traveller in our day.
In his description of the East-African coast the



620 NOTES ON EAST-AFBICAN HISTORY,

great geographer, Ptolemy,* fells fex short of lie
author of the Periplus, either, perhaps, because he
wrote before the latter, or because he wrote, not as an
eye-witness, but as a compiler fix>m the accounts of
others. With the decay of the Roman empire the
Greeks and Romans ceased from enterprises in distant
lands; and we hear consequently little afterwards
from them about Eastern Africa. From the des-
cription given of it in his " Topographia," by
Cosmas, in the sixth century, we see how little the
Greeks and Romans knew of it four hundred years
after Ptolemy and the Periplus. No wonder then

* He tells that '' a certain pilot of the name of Dioscoms makes
the distance from Ehapta to Cape Prasum about 5000 stadia,"
which would place Prasum somewhere near our Mosambique.
Diogenes, the voyager, was driven by a north wind in twenty- five
days to the marshes on which the ^ile has its source, and these
marshes were to the north of Cape Bhaptum. Ptolemy enumerates
the following as the chief places on the East-AMcan coast : — ** In
the first gulf is the village of Pans, a day's journey from Aromata,
and the market town of Opone is six days' beyond the village.
Close to Opone is another gulf, just where Azania begins, at the
entrance of which are the promontory Zingis and Mount Phalaigis,
with its triple summit. This gulf is called Apokopes, and it takes
two da3rs and two nights to sail across it, when the shore is formed
into two divisions, one three days in length and the other five, and
adjoining the latter is another gulf, on which is the market town of
Essina, which is reached by water in two days and two nights. In
twenty-four hours after leaving the gulf of Essina the harbour of
Sterapion is reached, and thence begins another gulf, at the entrance
to which is the conmiercial town of Niki, and by means of which in
three days and three nights Bhapta is approached. Into Cape
Ehaptum flows a river upon which the capital of the country is
situated, both having the same name. Along the coast which
stretches from Rhapta to the promontory of Prasum, forming a
large shallow gulf, dwell none but savage, naked cannibals."



I



NOTES ON EAST-AFBICAN HISTORY. 521

that the Arabs resumed their original monopoly
without molestation, as barbarism gained the upper
hand in Europe, Egypt, and Asia Minor, upon the fall
of the Roman Empire. Their supremacy became
fixed by the rise and growth of Mohammedanism,
which gave them political unity, and sent them forth
as conquerors in every direction. Of course, so
long as they were pagans they founded no regular
states and kingdoms in Eastern AMca ; nor were its
law-givers conquerors or colonizers, but merely
traders with commercial establishments. The reason
of this lay in the fact that in Arabia itself there was
then no political unity ; the inhabitants being divided
ruto a number of republican tribes, generally at war
with each other, which rendered it impossible for
them to pursue a career of conquest elsewhere. All
this was altered by the rise of Mohammedanism, and
with it we come to a new era in the history of the
East-African coast ; the Arabs re-appear on it, as
disciples of Islam, and founders of small indepen-
dent states.

It is well known that the Mohammedan Arabs,
during the first period of their history, for 150 years,
overran a large section of Asia, Africa, an^ Europe,
and that soon after the death of their prophet Mo-
hammed they fell a prey to political and reli^ous
dissensions, and the defeated party resolved to aban-
don the land of their birth. Where was a better
home to be found than in the fiTiitftJ strand of Eastern
Africa ? There they were already known, and would
be safe from the pursuit of their fanatical con-



522 NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTOBT.

querors. It seems that the first settlements of the
kind were made in various points of the East-Afirican
coast in the year 740 by the Emosaids, or adherents
of Said, a great-grandson of AK, the prophet's cousin
and son-in-law. Said, proclaimed Caliph by the
rebels, was defeated and slain, on which his ad-
herents had to seek safety by flight ; and it was in
East Africa that they found refiige. In the works
of various Arabian historians and geographers for
several centuries afterwards we find interesting
notices of these Arab settlements. From all these
notices it is to be gathered that the Mohammedan
Arabs founded political and religious states or towns
in Eastern Africa, and that their migration to that
region was sometimes voluntary, sometimes forced
upon them. Among these Arabian states and towns
the most prominent are (1) Mukdisha; (2) KHoa;
(3) Barava, Malindi, and Mombaz. Mukdisha was
supreme in the north, while Kiloa was queen of the
south, from Zanzibar to So£ala. With the dedining
power of these two states and towns, Malindi and
Mombaz, situated midway between them, appear to
have increased in influence and importance. Muk-
disha seems to have been founded between a.d. 909
and 951 ; and Eliloa between a.d. 960 and 1000.
It is likely from the narrative of the famous Ibn-
Batuta, who visited Mombaz about 1330, that the
Wanika had not then settled in the vicinity of the
coast. Probably they first migrated from the interior
after the disappearance of the savage Zimbos, who
devastated the coast in 1 588.



NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY. 523

These Arabian cities and communities were pros-
perous and in some degree civilized ; but ihey were
deficient in mflitary organization. They bad not
been founded by conquerors; but by traders, emi-
grants, and exiles, who behaved peaceably to the
natives, and so developed and established their
influence and power slowly, but at the same time
the more surely. They were pacific colonists, and
by the trade and commerce which they originated
the natives of the interior could not but recognize
the advantages of peaceful intercourse with the
strangers, and be glad of their presence. If feuds
arose occasionally and the natives of the main-land
attacked the settlers, the Arabs could easily protect
themselves behind the walls of their towns with the
aid of their match-locks and small cannon. But the
Arabs were not to remain for ever in exclusive
possession of the knowledge, the commerce, and the
power of Eastern AMca, a possession which would
have ultimately led them to rule and to convert the
whole of Southern Africa. Providence interposed,
and at the right time led into those waters and to
that coast a Christian power, to check the progress
and weaken the influence of Mohammedanism.

It was Vasco de Gkuna's discovery of the route to
India by the Cape that led to the establishment of
Portuguese and Christian influence on the eastern
coast of Africa. During his first voyage he touched
at Mozambique, Mombaz, and Malindi, on the whole
meeting with a friendly reception. The Portuguese
soon saw the advantage of the East-African coast to



/



624 NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY.

ships proceeding to India, and in 1500 Pedro Alvarez
Cabral was despatched by king Emmanuel of Portu-
gal to extend his influence in that region.

He set sail with eleyen ships and fifteen hundred
soldiers, but only six of the ships reached Mozam-
bique, the others having been lost or wrecked on the
passage. From Mozambique Cabral proceeded to
the island of EJloa, where he entered iato a treaty
of allegiance with Sheikh Ibrahim, a crafty and in-
triguing chief, whose dominions extended as far as
Sofala ; but who, upon the departure of the Portu-
guese Admiral, threw off his allegiance and attached
himself to the interests of the Arabian princes. To
punish his perfidy Vasco da Qama was despatched
a second time to East Africa in 1502, where, after
haviQg reached the coast of So&la, he proceeded to
Mozambique and Kiloa, and compelled Sheikh Ibra-
him to acknowledge the supremacy of Portugal, and to
pay a yearly tribute. But Vasco da Grama did more
than found the sovereignty of Portugal in East
Africa ; for, proceeding from Eiloa to India, he over-
took a ship laden with treasures and pilgrims on its
way to Mecca, and, haviQg made himself master of
it, he destroyed all on board, except some twenty
children, and committed the ship to the flames, thus
laying the foundation of that internecine war which
afterwards raged so fiercely between Cihristians and
Mohammedans in the Indian Ocean and Arabian
sea, and which ultimately stayed the progress of
Islamism towards the south, and destroyed the
shipping trade of Arabia.



NOTES ON EAS'r-AFRICAN HISTORY. 525

The great naval hero, Alphonso D' Albuquerque,
followed Gama and Cabral ; and Zanzibar, surrender-
ing to Captain Navasco, whose ship had been sepa-
rated from the admiral's squadron in a storm, became
tributary to Portugal. This was followed bjr the sur-
render of Barava, and gradually, after long and
protracted struggles, Portuguese supremacy was esta-
blished along the whole East- African coast. Mombaz
was the place that gave the Portuguese the most
trouble, and it was only after they had taken and burnt
it for the second time under Nuno da Cfunha in 1528,
that Portugal could rest for a time, and claim undis-
puted sway over the whole coast from Barava to
Cape Corrientes. In 1586 there was a general
insurrection along the coast against the Portuguese,
promoted by Ali Bey, who suddenly appeared in
those waters and claimed the sovereignty for the
Turkish sultan, upon which Mukdisha, Lusiwa,
Lamu, and Patta soon fell into his hands, and
Mombaz and Kalifi joined in the revolt, when the
Portuguese commandant, Thomas de Suza Cutinho,
arrived with twenty ships before Mombaz, took
Ali Bey prisoner, when driven into the sea by the
truculent Wasimba, and sent him to Lisbon, where
he embraced Christianity and died. While the
Portuguese conmiandant was besieging rebellious
Mombaz the savage Wasimba, pressing forward from
the south, arrived in the neighbourhood of Mombaz,
and promised the islanders that, if they were admitted
into the city, they would aid them to shake off the
Portuguese yoke. The people of Mombaz opened



^?^



526 NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY.

their gates to them ; but no sooner were the savages
admitted, than they turned indiscriminately upon
Mend and foe, and murdered every one they met.
The inhabitants took reAige firom their allies in the
sea, where they were massacred by the Portuguese.
The Wasimba came from the banks of the riv^r
Kuama in the interior, spreading northward alon^
the coast, devouring in their progress man and beast
alike ; for they were cannibals, and are said to have
eaten in Kiloa alone no fewer than three thousand
Mohammedans I Mombaz was afterwards burnt, and
the rebellious sheikhs of the coast at Lamu, Patta,
Pasa, and Mandra surrendered, after the Portuguese
had inflicted on those places exemplary punishment.
The sovereignty of the Portuguese was thus re-esta-
blished, and the Turks, completely defeated, did not
venture to return.

The supremacy of Portugal in Eastern Africa
as in other parts of the world, gradually declined,
in spite of the revenues which flowed into her
treasury fr^m every quarter, but which could not but
become exhausted by the numerous fleets and armies
which she had to despatch in every direction. Battles
by sea and by land, and deadly climates swept off
soldiers and officers by thousands; governors and
high officials became more and more unfit for the
discharge of their duties, as their only wish was to
become quickly rich, and to enjoy their ill-gotten
wealth at home ; added to which luxury came with
the spoils of other lands into the mother-country,
and gradually enervated and corrupted the Portuguese



NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY. 527

as a nation. Those in authority abroad became
unjust and tyrannical towards those subjected to their
rule, and what wonder then that there grew up a spirit
of discontent among subjugated princes and states
which was sedulously encouraged by the Moham-
medans in Asia and Africa, the fiercest enemies of
the Portuguese then, as they now are of the English.
The original enthusiasm which impelled men of all
classes in Portugal to adventure in foreign countries
died away, satiated by the immense achieyements
and acquisitions of the past; whilst the war of
succession which broke out between Portugal and
Spain in 1580, compelled the goyemment of the
former country to recall its troops to Europe, so that
her colonial goyemors had to fall back upon the
services of native troops, and thus the great weakness
of her rule could no longer be disguised. Nor was
it a rule which any friend of humanity could have
wished to see perpetuated. In East-Africa, for
instance, Portugal enriched herself by levying tribute
and taxes, in addition to her enormous gains from
the gold-mines of Sofisda; but East-Africa received
nothing in return. She ruled the East-Africans
with a rod of iron, and her pride and cruelty had
their reward in the bitter hatred of the natives. In
Eastern Africa the Portuguese have left nothing
behind them but ruined fortresses, palaces, and eccle-
siastical buildings. Nowhere is there to be seen a
single trace of any real improvement effected by them.
No wonder that the Portuguese rule was of short
duration, and that it fell as quickly as it had risen.



528 NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN mSTOEY.

^ John rV. had, indeed, restored independence to
Portugal in 1640 ; but he could no longer save his
colonies. In 1620 Portugal had already lost the
island of Ormuz in consequence of the alliance
between the Shah of Persia and the English ; and
its loss was the more felt, because it gave the Arabs
in Oman courage and leisure to extend and to
strengthen their influence in the Persian Ghilf and
in Eastern Africa. Portugal had no longer men,
like Albuquerque, capable of restoring the faUing
influence of their country in those seas. All were
now alike corrupt and incapable. In India and its
waters England and Holland had appecured upon the
stage, and with their appearance the star of Portugal
had to sink to the horizon.

We have still to show how the authority of the
Arabian princes of Oman first arose, and gradually
replaced that of the Portuguese along the East*
African coast. Oman comprises the north and
south-eastern portions of Arabia, which lay on the
Gulf of Persia and the Indian ocean. In the year
1624, afker great disorders and dissensions Oman
and its inhabitants became subject to the rule of a
sagacious and energetic Imam, Nassar Ben Murjed, the
Yarebite. After he had established his sovereignty
in Oman he planned the complete expulsion of the
Portuguese from their Arabian and African possessions ;
indeed their supremacy had already begun to decline
with the loss of Ormuz, and with the alliance between
England and Persia. His victories over the Portu-
guese were continued by his cousin and successor,



NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY. 629

Sultan Ben Sef-Ben-Malek, who took Muscat In 1658^
leaving the Portuguese then no sea-port of any
consequence on the coast of Arabia. His second
son. Sultan Sef, who had defeated his brother Belareb
and usurped the throne, at the request of the people
of Mombaz sent a fleet to Eastern Africa and captured
Mombaz, Zanzibar, and Kiloa, and laid siege to
Mozambique in 1698. He placed a governor in
Mombaz, who w;as nominally subject to Oman.
After the fall of Mombaz the Portuguese on the
East-African coast were everywhere massacred or
expelled ; and there was an end to their sovereignty
from Cape Delgado to Cape GuardaM. Even the
town of Mukdisha, which had retained its inde-
pendence during the period of Portuguese rule,
placed itself under the protection of the prince of
Oman. The subjection of the African coast to the
rulers of Oman was, however, rather nominal than
real. The princes of Oman found plenty to occupy
them in Arabia, and had but little time to devote to
the affairs of their African possessions, contenting
themselves apparently with having expelled the
infidel Christians.

Notwithstanding several declarations of iadepen-
dence to the contrary, we stiQ find this nominal
sovereignty of the Imams of Muscat over the East-
Afirican coast in existence in the year 1785. In the
year 1806 Sultan Said-Said, so often mentioned in
this volume, became Lnam of Muscat. The governor-
ship of Mombaz had previously become, in some
measure, hereditary, and confined to the family of



530 NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY.

the Msara ; and when the office was assumed in 1814
by Abdallah Ben Akhmed, the son of Akhmed Ben
Muhamed Ben Osman^ he formed the design of
rendering Mombaz completely independent of Muscat.
Accordingly on assuming his office he sent Said-Said
a little powder and shot, with a shirt of mail, and
a kebaba, or small measure for com, instead of ^e
usual valuable present. Said-Said understood what
was meant, but made no comment; and Abdallah,
knowing very weU what he might expect from the
Sultan of Oman, went to Bombay and gained the
friendship of the Anglo-Indian govermnent, by whom
he was well received. He reduced Barava to depend-
ence on Mombaz ; but lost it again in 1822, when
Said-Said sent a fleet against it and brought it into
subjection. Abdallah was unsuccessAil in his attempts
to support the anti-Muscat party in Patta, and to
preserve the island of Pemba; an expedition to
recover which commanded by his brother, Mbarak,
signally fiedled. He died in 1822.

In due course Abdallah's brother, Salem, would
have succeeded as governor of Mombaz, but Mbarak
opposed him. To avoid a civil war Soliman Ben
Ali, who had been governor of Pemba, was made
provisionally Sultan of Mombaz ; but he was an aged
and feeble man, quite incapable of making head
against Said-Said, who had already become master of
Patta, Barava, Lamu, Zanzibar, and Pemba, and
now threatened to attack Mombaz itself. In this
emergency Soliman Ben Ali resolved to appeal for
aid to the English, who were then exploring the



NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTOBY. 531

waters of the East-Afirican coast under Captain Owen,
On the 3rd of December 1823, accompanied by a
nimiber of influential persons, Mbarak went on board
the English ship of war Baracouta, and requested
Captaru Yidal to plant the English flag on the
fortress and town of Mombaz to which Captain
Yidal consented; and when soon afkerwards Said-
Said's fleet imder Abdallah Ben Selim appeared
before Mombaz, and was about to blockade the
harbour, the inhabitants hoisted the English flag.
On the 7th of February 1824 Captain Owen came
himself in the frigate Leyen ; he entered into a con-
vention with the islanders, subject to the approval of
the English Government at home, in conformity
with which Mombaz and its dependencies, Pemba
and the whole of the coast between Malindi and
the river Pangani, were to be imder the protec-
torate of Great Britain. The government of the
whole was to remain hereditarily vested in the
family of the Msara, but an English agent was to
reside in Mombaz to look after the execution of the
convention. One half of the public revenues was to
be paid to the English, the other half to the Msara ;
and the English were to be entitled to trade with
the interior and, finally, the slave-trade was to be
abolished in Mombaz.

Abdallah Ben Selim to whom Captain Owen com-
municated this convention, promised to observe its
stipulations, provided his master at Muscat assented,
and quitted Mombaz with his fleet. Mbarak forth-
with resumed the occupation of Pemba, whither

M M



532 NOTES ON EAST-AFBICAN HISTORY.

Captain Owen conveyed fifty soldiers from Mombaz,
leaving a lieutenant behind at Mombaz with three
sailors and a corporal to train the native soldiery.
From Pemba Captain Owen proceeded to 2ianzibar
to induce the governor^ Said Ben Muhamed Ben
Akhabiri, to a voluntary surrender of Zanzibar to
the Msara ; but the governor referred him to Said-
Said at Muscat ; upon which Captain Owen proceeded
to the Mauritius with Mbarak, who was well received
by Mr. Cole, the English governor, who sent a report
of the whole affair to London, while Mbarak retamed
to Mombaz, in the hope that the English Government
would sanction the convention. In November 1824
Captain Owen returned to Mombaz where in the
meantime Lieutenant Emery, as English Agent had
been called upon to give animportant judicial decision,
in the case of an Arab who, contrary to the conven-
tion, had smuggled slaves to Mombaz. Lieutenant
Emery took the slaves from him, and settled th^n on
a tract of land which had been presented to the
English, and which he sent them to cultivate ; and
the owner of the slaves was transported to the
Seychelles, in 1825. Captain Owen proceeded to
Mukdisha, the inhabitants of which had been at
variance for a year with Said-Said. The Engliah
captain hoped that they would voluntarily place
themselves under the protection of England, but he
was disappointed ; the inhabitants of Barava, how-
ever, accepted at once the English protec-
torate, and placing themselves under the government
of Mombaz promised to give up the slave-trade.



N0TE8 ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY. 633

The people of Mombaz could breathe freely again,
and their commerce received anew a fresh im-
petus ; but at the same time with the remoyal of the
pressure from without their internal dissensions
revived. Mbaxak insisted that the provisional
governor, Soliman Ben Ali, should resign in favour
of his brother Salem, and when Soliman refused he
and his sons were imprisoned, and in 1826 Salem
became the ruler of Mombaz, the English agent
assenting to the arrangement. And now a new and
important event occurred; for this state of things
was not destined to last. The English government
refused to sanction Captain Owen's convention,
declined the protectorate, and withdrew its agents
from Mombaz, which was again abandoned to itself.
After the withdrawal of the English permitted
Said-Said to take steps against Mombaz, he com*
menced opemtiom wiibout delay, seeing very
clearly that his hold on Eastern Africa would
always be a dubious one, as long as Mwita*, the
contumacious, was not completely subdued. His first
proceeding was to write and summon Governor
Salem to submit, which the latter declined to do, but
sent envoys to Muscat in 1827 with a view to open
negociations, into which Said-^Said, however, refrised



* Mwita is the native name for Mombaz. Tlie Kabila tribe of
the Wamwita comprehends the original inhabitants of Mombaz.
There are eleven other tribes besides which contribute to the
population of Mombajs, many are the remnants of Arabian and
native tribes dispersed or destroyed in the course of time, espe-
cially during the rule of the Portuguese.

M M 2



634 NOTES ON EAfiT-ATRICAN HISTORY.

to enter. The following year Said-Said arriyed in
person before Mombas with 2000 soldiers^ a ship of
war, the Liverpool of seventy-four guns, the frigate
Shah-Allum of sixty-four guns, two corvettes, and
seven smaller vessels. .He anchored outside the
harbour of Mombaz opposite Serakupa, and sent a
negociator to Salem who would not hear of peace;
and so, after three days, Said commenced hostilities
against the island. The battery Serakupa, and ihe
town, were bombarded first ; then Said himself ran
his largest vessel into the harbour, and sent for the
two Msaxa, Salem and Mbarak, who, however, de-
clined the invitation until they had received two
hostages of the sultan's own femily as a pledge
for their safety. By a secret compact between them
and Said-Said it was settled and sworn to on the
Koran, 1. that the fortress should be surrendered to
the Sultan, and garrisoned by fifty Henaui soldiers ;
2. that Salem and his posterity should govern Mom-
baz in the name of the Imam of Muscat; and 3. that
the revenues should be shared between the two con-
tracting parties, and be sent to Muscat by a collector
of the sultan's.

This agreement, however, was broken by the
sultan a few days after he had gradually introduced
200 soldiers into the fortress ; when he ordered Salem
to evacuate it and withdraw into the town. Aware
of Said-Said's superior strength the two Msara,
Salem and Mbarak, complied, and at the end of three
weeks Said-Said departed, leaving a garrison of three
hundred soldiers, Belochees, Seidgali, and Arabs, in



r^i^K^^-saasv



NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY. 535

the fortress. He sailed to Zanzibar where he gave
orders for the construction of a palace^ intending
henceforth to take up his residence in Africa, being
wearied of the begging propensities and turbulence
of his aristocracy at Muscat. In the course of three
months, however, he was obliged to return to Arabia
to repress a rebellion which had broken out in his
absence ; and he was followed thither by his admiral,
who on his way to Muscat bombarded Mukdischa,
and compelled it to surrender.

Soon after the departure of Said discord arose
between Mombaz and Muscat. Nasser Ben Soliman,
Grovemor of Pemba, coveted the governorship of
Mombaz, * and accused the Msara to Said-Said of a
design to rebel against him. Proceeding to Mombaz
Nasser demanded in the name of the Imam, that
Salem should resign into his hands the government
of the island. Salem and Mbarak asked for his
written credentials ; but Nasser replied that he was
his own credentials, whereupon Mbarak ordered him
to quit the island in four-and-twenty hours, as a person
not entitled to represent even the sandals of Said-Said.
Withdrawing into the fortress Nasser opened a can-
nonade upon the town; but it was unsuccessful.
Attacked in turn he and the garrison had to
capitulate through want of provisions; and Nasser
was thrown into prison and strangled there. Upon
this Said-S^d sent his admiral with a miKtary force
and the frigate Shah-Allum, but they came too
late; the people of Mombaz had dissolved their
connection with Muscat ; and therefore to restore it,



536 NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY.

he next year headed in person an expedition against
the island ; but his bombardment of it this time
fidling in its object, he had to return discomfited to
Muscat, where new troubles had broken out. In

1833 he made another unsuccessfial attack upon
Mombaz and, on its failure, once more returned to
Muscat.

At last, however, his ambition was gratified. In

1834 the town of Siwi revolted against him, and
the rebel-leader having appealed to Salem at Mombaz
for help, the latter went to the aid of the Siwians
with a number of soldiers ; but on the blockade of
Siwi by Said-Said he had to return to Mombaz,
where he died in March 1835, the death of his
brother Mbarak having occurred some time prevously.
Upon this there arose a violent contest ia Mombaz
respecting the succession to the governorship, which
was not ended by the selection of one of the Msara
£amily in the December of 1836. Muallem Shafei,
the Sheikh of Kilendini (a crafty personage who often
tried to draw me into politics), and many Suahili
were altogether disaffiBcted to the family of the Msara,
and were not disposed any longer to recognize a
member of it as governor. These traitors repaired
to Muscat and asked the sultan, who at the very time
was preparing an expedition against Mombaz, to aid
them against their native city. Said-Said came with
a fleet and soldiers, who were disembarked at Kilin-
dini where the traitors welcomed them ; and the
Suahili of Gavana, or Mji wa Kale or Har-el-Eladama,
(Old Town — so called because its site was said to



NOTES ON EA8T-AFBIGAN HISTOBY. 637

hare been that of the town of Mombaz formerly),
also went over to Said-Said. The Wanika tribes
were likewise won over to him by Muallem Shafei
and the sultan's liberal presents. The Msara seeing
with dismay that they were deserted by their own
people^ offered terms to Said-Said^ consenting to his
stipulations that ihey should evacuate the fortress,
Jde in Hie town, and conform to ihe axtides of the
former Ireaty. Some misunderstanding arising with
ihem afterwards Said-Said listened willingly to the
insinuations of some Suahili, that the island would
never be tranquil so long as the family of the Msara
remained at the belmi and were thus in a position to
rebel. He sent forthwith one of his sons to Mombaz
with a eorvettOi to seize secretly the chiefe of the
Msara. The attempt succeeded, and twenty-five of
them were seized in one night, carried on board the
vessel, transported to Zanzibar and thence to Arabia,
where most of them died firom the effects of the
severe captivity in iron chains to which they were
subjected. Those who were not captured fled
on the night of the surprise with their wives and
children, leaving behind them all their property,
and took refuge in the Wanika-land, in the north of
which they afterwards settled at Takaunga, near
Malindi, and in the south at Grassi, and there they
still remain. After recovering his sovereignty over
Mombaz Said-Said had along the coast, from Muk-
discha to Cape Delgado, no enemies of any im-
portance with the exception of the people of Siwi in
Patta, at whose hands he had suffered several de-



538 NOTES ON BABT-AFRICAN HISTOBY.

featSy and whom he has never been able thoroughly
to subdue.

Thus it happened that Said-Said had attained his
long-cherished wish in February 1837 — ^the rery
month and year in which I started on my journey
from Europe to Abessii^a. How little could I
suppose, when beginning my journey, that in the
distant south of Africa an Arabian prince was pre-
paring for me a way to the heathen ! Yet, so it was ;
for without the conquest of Mombaz by a prince as
well inclined as the Lnam of Muscat to Europeans,
and especially to the English, the establishment of a
missionary station in the Wanika-land could nerer
have been effected. There are two circumstances
which seem likely to secure the Prince of Oman the
possession of Eastern Africa ; the one, that his High-
ness imposes but few taxes on his African subjects,
least of all on those towns and districts which are
most quickly roused to revolt, and the reconquest of
which from the nature of the ground would be
attended with great difficulty to the ruler ; and the
other, the fear entertained by the natives of the Eng-
lish, French, and Americans, nations which are on the
friendliest footing with the Imam of Muscat, and which
would and must support him. In the first place thb
commercial relations of these nations with Eastern
Africa could not allow of any lengthened disturbances,
and in the second, it woidd not suit their policy to
permit the disintegration of Eastern Africa into a
number of small states, since, in such an event, one
of these three powers might be tempted to iaterfere



NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN HISTORY. 639

•and to appropriate to iteelf a portion of the coast;
while^ on the contrary, so long as a single prince is
the recognized sovereign of the coast, any annexation
of the kind is virtually prevented.

The excellent climate of Zanzibar, its increasing
commerce, the wishes of the Europeans, the general
importance of his AMcan possessions, the peculiar
state of Patta and Mombaz, and his desire to escape
firom the mendicancy and turbulence of the leading
men of Mascat, constituted the circumstances which
induced Said-Said to transfer his court, and the seat
of his sovereignty from Muscat to Zanzibar in 1840.
After the transfer foreign consuls were appointed at
Zanzibar-the American was the first, the English
.followed in 1843, and the French in 1847. Foreign
commercial houses were also established, and drove
a trade which was extremely lucrative from the first.
It would lead me too far to chronicle the subsequent
history of Said-Said; I shall only add that on his
voyage back from Muscat, towards the close of 1856,
this remarkable man died of dysentery, a disease
to which he had long been subject. His son
Majed succeeded him in the government of his
African dominions ; whilst another of his many sons
has possessed himself of the sovereignity of his Asiatic
provinces, and has his residence at M^at.

Hitherto, the more recent relations of Eiuropeans
with Eastern Africa have been always of a peaceM
kind, and calculated to efface the bad impressions
which the conduct of the Portuguese in earlier
times had left behind. The natives are pleased



540 NOTES ON EAST-AFRICAN mSTOBT.

with, and desirous of European intercourse, and if
Europeans deal with them honourably and justly,
it will never be otherwise. In Eastern Africa a
very great deal depends on the consuls of foreign
countries. If these are sagacious, energetic, heedful
of the interests of the natives as well as of those of
their own countrymen, and most important of all, if
they are men of Christian disposition, the respect

will be ever more and more convinced that the
Wasungu, Europeans, are really what the name
implies, wise and capable people, — ^^not slothful in
hxmn^i fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."



END OF PABT m.



^



APPENDIX.



THE SNOW-CAPPED MOTINTAINS OF EASTERN APEICA.

THE SOURCES OF THE BAR EL ABIAD, THE WHITE
RIVER, OR KLLE.

THE PRESENT LITERATURE OF ABESSINIA ; AND LAN-
QUAGES OF EASTERN AFRICA.



APPENDIX.



Thb Skow-cappbd MoinrTAiKs OF Eastebk Afkica. — Pbobabi^

SOVBCES OF THE BaHB BL AbIAD, THE WhITE EiYEB, OB NiLE.

Abbssikian Litebatube. — Laitguaoes of Eastebn Afbica.



I. — ^Thb Skow-capfed MouiTTAiKs OF Easteket Afbica.

When first the missioiLaries of the Church Missionary Society at
Babhai Mpia mentioiied the existence of snow-capped mountains in
Eastern AMca, they were at once attacked by many European
geographers, and it was asserted that they had mistaken for snow
the calcareous earth, or rocks, coTeiing the summits of the moun-
tains in question, and presenting at a distance the appearance of
snow. It may therefore not be out of place to put on record the
simple facts of the case.

Mr. Rebmann, on his first journey to Jagga in 1848, saw on
the 11th of May for the first time the snowy peak of Mount
Kilimanjaro, or l^'dshaio, as the Teita people call the mountain,
Kilima meaning simply mountain ; and on subsequent journeys to
Jagga he saw it again. On the 10th l^'ovember 1849, upon my
first journey to TJkambani I also b^eld it first near Mount Maungu,
thirty-six leagues from Mombas, and afterwards in XJkambani,
whence from every elevation the silver-crowned summit of the lofty
mountain was plainly visible. On my second journey to TJkambani
in 1851 the mountain Njaro was not only easily discernible with
the telescope, but also with the naked eye. In addition to this
Mr. Rebmann slept at the base of the mountain, and even by moon-
light could distinctly make out snow. He conversed with the
natives in reference to the white matter visible upon the dome-like
summit of the mountain, and he was told that the silver-like stuff,
when brought down in bottles proved to be nothing but water



544 A]ppsi!n>ix.

that many who ascended the mountain perished from extreme cold,
or retained with frozen extremities, which persons nnacqnainted
with the real cause ascribed to the malignant influence of dahins or
evil spirits.* After all these corroboratiye circumstances what
doubt could longer remain in our minds respecting the existence of
snow in Eastern Africa ?

The second snow-capped mountain bears yarious names among the
native tribes. The Wacamba call it Kima ja Kegma, Mount of
Whiteness, Snow-white libanon; other tribes Kirenia, or Kdur
Kegnia; the Wakuafi, Orldoinio eibor. White Mountain; it baa
only been seen by myself. Scarcely had I arrived at Eitui, on the
26th of November 1849 in company with Ihe chief Kivoi, when he
told me that he had been to Jagga, and had seen the Kima ja
Jeu, Mount of Whiteness, the name given by the Wakamba to
the Kilimanjaro, in oontradistinction to the Kegnia ; and also stated
that there was a still greater mountain six days' journey from Kitui,
which was called Kimaja Kegnia, adding that if I would ascend
the hill a little above his village, if the sky were dear I should be
able to see the mountain. As the rainy season had already set in
the region about the Kegnia was enveloped in clouds, and in addition
to this the Kilimanjaro is usually visible only about 10 a.x. as
the sun's progress envelopes it in clouds during the rest of tlie
day. However, it happened that on leaving Kitui on the 3rd of
December, 1849 I could see the Kegnia most distinctly, and ob-
served two large horns or pillars, as it were, rising over an enoimooB

• Mr. Oool^, in his *' Inner Africa Laid Open," pabliahed in 1852, qnoiiiig
from the first Yolnme of the ** Missionary Intelligencer," in which the
discoveries of the missionaries at Babbai Mpia were recorded, treats the
statement of Mr. Bebmann respecting snow seen by him on the Bmnmit of
Ejlimai^jaro, as ** a most dehghtfal mental recognitioii only, not soppoKted by
the evidence of his senses,'* andsneersatthenarrativeof the natives as to the
frostbitten explorers, noticed above, as a fireside tale. Had Mr. Gooley been
acoostomed to weigh and sift evidence more closely, he would have aigned
differently from that very hot s for by its own law evideiioe is alway*
strengthened by the record of trivial and immaterial oironmstaaoea. ThB
candid reader of Mr. Cooley's objections will not fidl to see that in attempting
to prove too mnoh, he has managed to place himself oat of conrt, and the
presence of snow-capped monntaans in Sqnatorial Africa will be credited,
notwithstanding the implied and open discredit which he attempts to oast
npon the narratives of the missionaries of Babbai Mpia.



SNOW-CAPPED 11017NTAIN8. 546

mountain to the north-west of tibe Kilimanjaro^ ooyefedwxth a white
sabstanoe.

On my second journey to TIkambani in 1851 Kiyoi repeated his
statement respecting the Kegnia, and the mountain of smoke, yoI-
cano, which he said was in the Ticinity of the snow-capped moun-
tain. This time I did not see Mount Kegnia owing to the doudy
sky which lay continuously oyer the region in which I had formerly
ohseryed the mountains ; but Xiyoi's statement was folly borne out
by the people from Mb§ and Uembu, whom I met with at his yiUage,
Bumu wa Kikandi, a natiye of TTembu, positiyely stating that the
Kegnia was six days' jouniey from Kitui ; that his tribe was near
the white mountain; that he had often been at the foot of it^
but had not ascended it to any great altitude on account of the
intense cold and the- white matter which rolled down the mountain
with a great noise, which last would seem to indicate the eadstenoe
of gladers. The people from Kikuyu confirmed these reports, and a
ICnika from Eabbai also, who had been at Kikuyu mentioned to me a
mountain, the 'summit of which was coyeored with a substance
resembling white flour.

From personal observation, therefore, which conflnned the repeated
infonnation of the natiyes of diflferent tribes, I became firmly con-
yinced of the existence of at least two snow-capped mountains one
of which, the Kegnia, was larger than the other, the Kilimanjaro,
the first haying peaks at its summit, while the second possesses a
dome-like shape, andissitnated to the south-east of the former.

That both mountains are coyered with perennial snow is proyed
by the multitude of riyers rising amidst them. Of these l£r. Beb-
mann has counted more than twenty flowing from the heights of
Mount Kilimaigaro, and among them two considerable ones, the
Ckma and tibe Lumi, forming the main streams of the riyer Lufr^ or
Pangani. I myself passed the riyer Zawo, which at the dryest
season was two feet and a half deep and flows, I was informed, from
the Lake Luaya, the northern receptacle of the waters which descend
from the snowy Kilimanjaro. In like manner I yisited the riyer
Dana at the dry season and found it six or seyen feet deep. Itsmain
source was reported to haye its rise from a jyaru, or lake, which was
the receptacle of the waters of the snowy Kegnia, and besides the
river Dana there are more than fifteen rivers running from the



546 APPENDIX.

west and nortih of the K^;iiia. One of these, the Tumbixiy is Teiy
large and flows, according to the report made to me by Rumu wa
Kikandi, in a northerly direction to the great lake Bazinga, by which,
in the phrase of my informant, yon may travel a hundred days along
its shores and find no end. To this lake, or chain of lakes, as it
has been found to be, I have referred in the introduction. The great
river Tnmbiri is evidently identical with the river Tubiii, mentioned
by Mr. Weme as being a name of the White Eiver, Bahr el Abiad, at
four degreea north latitude from the Equator.

How are we to explain the phenomenon of such a multiplicity of
rivers flowing from both mountains, unlesswe are to admit theeadstenee
of snow ? I have seen the mountains of Usambara, of Pare, Kadiaro,
Bura, Theuka, Julu, and Mr. Eebmann has seen the mountains of
Agono, Usance, Eisungu, and Mloso, but neither of us found that
any river of magnitude flowed from these mountains. The Woi and
Madade, rising from the Bura group, are rapidly exhausted after the
rains, and although the rivers Mgambo, Umba, Mkuliunus, in Usam-
bara are perennial, they are very small and shallow during ihe dxy
season, whereas the €K>na, Lumi, Zawo, and the Dana, are considerable
streams even at the driest season. Snow existing in considerable
masses among these mountains can alone explain this hypothesiB in
a satisfactory manner.

And why should the existence of snow in Equatorial Africa be
doubted when there is snow under the Equator in America ; when there
is snow no less sometimes on the Cameroons of Western Africa ; when
snow is frequentiy observed upon the heights of Moimt Amba Hai,
in Abessinia, being situated 16,000 feet above the level of the sea;
and when there is snow in the south of Kaffiei, as Bruce has positively
stated?* On my first arrival at Mombaz in 1844, I had not the
least idea of the " silver matter," as it was called, reported to exist
in the interior, being snow. I regarded the silver and the jins or
evil spirits of Kilimanjaro as some kind of impalpable white sand
which, as the Arabs told me, exists in Southern Arabia, where the
sandy baher-el-safl forms a kind of whirl-pit, swallowing up everytfaing
that approaches it. I was not then aware that Ptolemy had alluded
to a mountainous country, and that these mountains were covered

• Braoe*8 Travels, Vol. VII. p. 106.



SNOW-CAPPBI> HOUKTAINS. 547

with pereimial anow, and considered by him as the real sources of
the Kile. The western branch of the White Biver, according to
him, runs from a lake in six degrees of south latitude, and the
eastern branch from another lake in seven degrees of south latitude,
uniting at two degrees south latitude. All this was unknown to me
on my first airiyal.

The existence of equatorial snow also will be doubted by no one if
it is borne in mind that sandy deserts do not exist under the Equator;
but on the other hand that, for huntlreds of miles, there extends a
region of rich vegetation and forest land, absorbent of the fiery sun-
beams, while the north-east and south-west winds are cooling
Eastern Africa throughout the year, producing less heat in Equa-
torial Africa than would naturally be supposed to be the case frx>m
the proximity of the Equator.

It may be urged, however, that on the recent journey of Major
Burton and Captain Speke to the lakes Tanganyika and TTkerewe,
they did not see the snowy mountains mentioned by the missionaries.
The reason is obvious. The route of these gentlemen lay &r to the
south and west of the snow-capped mountains; nor can their
summit be observed except when there is a very clear sky. 19'either
of these travellers object to the existence of such snow-capped
mountains; on the contrary, as Dr. Petermann rightly observes,
they seem to take them for granted, as though their existence were
not a matter of dispute. Major Burton, when engaged at Tanga in
very strict researches about Kilimanjaro, admits that the cold upon
that mountain must be very intense.

In like manner Dr. Petermann very properly states that the fact
of Dr. Livingstone having seen in latitudes 12^ and 13^ S. mountains
covered at the summit with white stones, is no argument against the
contemporaneous existence of snowy mountains in the Equatorial
region. The same learned authority states that, since the reports of
the Missionaries have been confirmed by Messrs. Burton and Speke
in their essentials, reliance may be placed upon the accounts of the
former relative to the existence of such mountains.



N N



548 APPENDIX.

n. Thv pbobablb SointcBS of thb White BiyeBi oe Niue.

Whilst correcting thcBC pages fi>r press I receiyed the ''Pro-
ceedings of the Bojal Geographical Society of London," yoi. iiL,
No. iv., 1859, and "Blackwood's EdinbxughlCagaziney^S^tember,
October, and November, 1859.

In both these publications allusion is frequently made to me in oon-
nection with the grand problem of the sources of the Nile. Captain
8peke, the discoverer of Lakes Tanganyika,* and Ukerewe, which
hitter he styled Yictoiia Nyanza, Lake Yictoiia, ranaiks that he
must be mistaken if the Ukerewe does not ultimately turn out to be
the real source of the Nile ; whilst Mr. McQueen, the weU-known
geographer, thinks that the Nile has nothing to do with the lake,
or, in &ct, with any river or lake south of the Equator, nor with
the snow-capped Kilimanjaro ; that the swelling of the White Biver
is caused by the tropical reins of the northern tonid zone, as Julius
CsBsar was told by the Egyptian priest Amoreis, two thousand years
ago. Captain ^>eke, on the contrary, asserts that the swelling of
the Nile is caused, not indeed by snow-water, but by the tropical
rains swdling the Victoria Nyaasa, from the Manias jMma, the
Mountains of the Moon, or mountains rising in the west of the
lake to the height of 6000 feet, and in part from waten flowini^
fh>m the snow-capped Mount Kegnia, on the eastern dune of Lake
Nyanza.

My own opinion remains the same as that which I recorded in
1854 in my '* Wakuafi Yocabulary," p. 128, and in my pra&oe to
Mr. Erhardt's ^^ Yocabukry of tiie Masai language," p. 4 : — ** There
can be no question but that the opinion of the ancients, who believed
the Caput NtU to be in JBtbiopia, is truly conect; for the Wakuafi,
whose language is of .SSthiopico-Semetic origin, are in possessioiL of
the countries which give rise to that river. The real sources of the
Nile appear to me to be traceable partly to the woody and marshy
land of the Wamau people, about 2^ or 3^ south of the Equator, of
whom Bumu wa -Kikandi told me in TJkambani, in 1851.'*

As to the marshy land of theWamau people, the reader may com-
pare Seneca's description, given in his '' Quaestiones Naturalea,"
lib. vi. — '^ Ego quid^n centuriones duos, quos Nero Caesar ad inves-
tigandum Caput Nili miserat, audivi narrantes, longum illoe iter



SOTTRCES OF THE NILE. 549

peregisfle, qQum a rege ^thiopisB instracti aazilio, commendatiquie
prozimui regibus, penatrasaeiit ad ulteriora. Equidem, aiebanty
perrenimufl ad immAnafm paludes, quanun ezitnim neo incolte
noyerant, nee ^rare quiaquam potest, ita implicitflB aquis herbie
santy et aquB nee pediti elnotal^ileBy nee navigio, quod nisi parvmn
et nnius d^Mix, limosa et obsita palus non ferat. Ibi, inquity
Tidimns duas petras, ex quibus ingens yis fluminis ezcidebat. Sed
sive caput ilia, sive aceessio est Nili, sire tone nascitor, sive in terras
ex priore lecepta oorsa redit : nonne ta credis, iUam, qnidquid est,
ex magno terramm lacu ascendere ? Habeat enim oportet plnribus
locis sparsum bumorem, et in imo ooaotum, ut eructare tanto impeta
possit."

It may be that the Lake Ukerewe of Captain Speke is identical,
either with the bog in TJmau, or with the Baringa, mentioned by
Bumn wa Eikandi. In either case, Captain Speke has the hononr
of having almost solved the great geographical problem of AMoa, the
discoyery of the Caput NUL At all events, he has been nearest to
the spot where tiiat caput mnst be sought. Nothing, however, can
be definitely determined till some i^entific trav^er, capable of
making reliable astronomical observations, as suggested at page
zzix, fhmishes accurate data as to the relative level of the coun-
tries to the north of the Yictoria Nyanza.

Though somewhat figurative and poetioal; did not the difficulty in
relation to this measurement exist, I should at once recur to Colonel
Sykes's view, communicated in the '^ Proceedings of the Boyal Geo-
graphical Society of London,'^ in May, 1859, (vol. iii., No. iv.,
p. 213.) : — ''He illustrated his observation by a practical reference
to the human band and arm ; supposing the latter to be the main
stream, the fingers might form the sources, all converging at the wrist
to one great whole, the Yictoria Lake. The only question was»
which of those branches should be considered the diief source of the
river ? But each might be equal in size and of equal distance from
the point of junction. The fact was, they were aU sources."

'' Captain Speke described a range of mountains running, not from
east to west, but from north to south across the Equator. T^ range
had necessarily a double watershed to the east and to the west. The
rivers observed by Dr. Krapf ran down to the eastward, but other
rivers mentioned by him ran also down to the westward. Con-

N N 2



550 APPEimix.

sequendy, there were two directionB in whicli liie waters ran in
exactly the same locality. What, therefore, could be more reaaon-
able than to suppose that the water, parting to the westward, should
run into the lake mentioned by Captain Speke ? And as this lake
was at an eleyation of 4000 feet aboTe the sea, and the depressioii
of the country was from the lake towards the nortii generally, as
indicated by the course of the Nile, which had been traced up to H^
of the Equator, it is more than probable that the lake was one of the
chief sources of the Nile, and that other neighbouring sources would
be found in the snow peaks of Kilimanjaro and Kegnia, forming part
of the range of mountains spoken of by Captain Speke."

To this statement of the gallant colonel I will only remark, that
no river known to me or to Mr. Bebmann runs from Kilimanjaro to
the west. We nerer heard of any, nor can it run in that direction^
owing to the very mountainous country of Kikuyu, which lies neariy
west of Sjlimanjaro. But rivers do run from the north and west of
Mount Xegnia, and these doubtless form Lake Yictoria, if it is one
of the true sources of the Nile, which can in no way flow from a
lake alone, no great river ever doing so, but coming from beyond
such lake, as the Abai in Abessinia, and the Bhine in Europe deaiiy
prove. Mr. McQueen is therefore quite right in asserting that the
Nile has nothing to do with the Kilimanjaro, but in regard to the
Kegnia he is undoubtedly wrong. Ho is also quite correct in main-
taining that the sweUing of the White Biver is caused by the tropical
rains in the nortih of the Equator ; and, in like manner. Captain
Speke is correct in stating that it would be highly erroneous to
suppose that the Nile could have any great fluctuations frt>m any
other source than periodical rains. Were the Nile supplied by snow
alone its perennial volume would ever be the same— there would be
no material fluctuations observable in it. In proof of the Nile's
inundation not being caused by the tropical rains south of the
Equator, as Captain Speke seems to suppose in contradistinction to
Mr. McQueen, the latter refers to the expedition of the Pasha of
Egypt in 1840, which reached the island of lanka, in 4^^ N. in the
month of January, when the waters of the White Nile were rapidly
subsiding, so that the expedition was compelled to return as it could
not pass the south cataracte of the Bari land. The rains south of the
Equator begin in November; consequently, if they produced the



S0UBCK8 OF THE KILE. 551

inundation, the water would not haye Embeided in January, and the
expedition would not haye been compelled to return. Mr. McQueen
is therefore quite right in this respect, but he goes too far in
asserting that, in oonsequence of this phenomenon, the sources of the
Nile do not exist south of the Equator, as Captain Speke and myself
aigne. His assertion does not mark the distinction between ioureea
and immdaiion of the riyer; for why should not the source of the
l^ile be situated south of the Equator, and yet the inundation of the
liyer be caused by the tropical rains in the north, where they begin
in May and June, so that the Nile b^^ to rise at Cairo in July.*
There are many lakes and ponds which are oyerflowed in the rainy
season, and the riyer Sobat or Telky is yery large and carries a great
yolume of water into the White Nile. Besides these there are many
oilier tributaries flrom the west and east.f

I haye neyer suggested that the inundation of the Nile is caused
by snow, but only that snow is the chief sustaining source of that
riyer, keeping it fresh throughout the year, preyenting the lake into
which it runs, if it runs into any, from stagnation. Captain Speke
himself appears to agree with this yiew, when he states that the
water of Lake Y iotoria is fresh and sweet, and that the natiyes prefer
it to the water of the Tanganica. As to the inundation, I folly
belieye that neither the snow nor the tropical rains south of the
Equator would be sufficient causes for producing it. Hence Mr.
McQueen appears to be more correct than Captain Speke in one
point, but the latter is right in another— the origin of the Nile south
of the Equator.

Another statement of Captain Speke's I can confirm. He says : —
'^ There must be some insurmountable difficulties between the east
of Kiftiga and Kikuyu, whither the Arabs go trading yia Mombaz

* The Nile rises at Cairo about the beginning of Jnly, inoreases during 100
days, till the middle of October, then subsides and reaches its lowest lerel
near the end of April. It wonld fiedl earlier if the southern equatorial rains,
from November to February, did not strengthen it a little. The prevailing
winds from March to November are northerly, from December to February
chiefly southerly.

t It is very probable that the White River receives also considerable part
of its water from the lake Ufole or Zamburie, which lies near the Doko coun-
try, where a great mountain range seems to run from south to north, to-
wards the countries Worata, Susa, and Caffa.



562 APPBNBIX.

firom Zannbar ; for if a passage were open by wbich they oould get
to Kikuyu, exactly one third of the distance which they now traTci
via Uniamuezi to Zanzibar would be saved." Now the reason of
this is because the south and west of Kikuyu are infested by Waknafi
savages who have their head quarters in the vicinity of Kiknya ;
besides which many tribes of Kikuyu and its vicinity are hostile to
the Arabs, which hostility arises chiefly from the Wakamba, who
consider themselves entitled to the monopoly of the trade of the inte-
rior coastwards, in the direction of Mombaz. Nor will they allow
the SuahiU and Arabs to trade with Ukambani, Kikuyu, Mberre^
ITembu, TJdakay and other inland countries. By every means in
their power they induce the inhabitants to keep off the Arabs, unksa
the latter have guides of the Wakamba nations. Once a oaravan of
Suahali penetrated into the territory of Wakambani and Kiku3ru«
but it was instantly repulsed and driven back. A few tribes of
KikuyUi it is true, would like the traders of the coast, but they are
prevented by the jealous Wakamba, whose influence extends as tsr
in a westerly and northerly direction, as it does eastward to Hombas.
A traveller, therefore, wishing to see the Eegnia and Lake "Victaria
or Buringu, must engage Wakamba, in addition to some Wanika,
Buahili, and others from the tribes beyond Ukambani, unless he is
backed by a strong body able to force its way timmgh the latter
place and the adjacent country. No doubt llombaz or Malindi
preseiited in ancient times the readiest route to the sources of the
Nile, and to the Mountains of the Moon, which latter term Captain
Bpeke has very ably explained, whilst Dr. Beke and myself had
previously attempted to account for it. Captain Speke has actually
Seen a crescent-shaped mountain* to the northward of the Tanganyika^
due west of the snow-capped Kilimanjaro and K^;nia, and west
beyond TJniamesi, or the country of the Moon. The Waniamea
tribes have at all periods visited the eastern coasts of Africa ; hence
these hills, lying beyond their Moon-coimtry, may have given rise
to the term Mountains of the Moon. The Greek merchants, <^
course, translated it literally opoc lifc ScX^fiic-

In conclusion, I would add some late remarks of Dr. Petermann om
the sources of the Nile : — " In spite of the glorious discoveries of

* See page xzyiii, ante.



80U2CE8 OF THS KILE. 553

Captain Speke we have not yet reached the grand centre of all the
geographical reaearcheB of equatorial AMca, — the decision regard*
ing the site of the Bonroee of the l^ile; for it is not yet ascertained
whether the l^ile really has its rise from the lake discovered by
Captain Speke. We readily helieye that Captain Speke's yiew is
founded on yarions and careM researches ; but the ultimate solution of
the question can only be expected by ikrther researches made on the
spot. This shows that the solution of the old problem of the Nile's
sources wiU yet require a good deal of labour ; but in consequence
of the trayels and researches made by Captain Speke and the
Protestant missionaries in the south, and by the Egyptians and the
Boman Catholic missionaries, the region yet unsuryeyed and in
which the sources of the Nile must be situated, is so much circum-
scribed, that probably a single journey of a scientific trayeUer
proceeding from Zansibar to Gondokoro, or vtce vend, would suffice
to sdye definitely this fiimous geographical problem ; and that such
a journey will soon be accomplished is evidenced by the projects of
Br. Boecher, Friths, and especially by the Anglo-Indian expedition
under lieut^oant J. D. Kenelly, at the recommendation of Lord
Elphinstone, and which will proceed towards the scene of Majov
Burton and Captain Speke's discoyeries, in order to circumnavigate
and survey the whole of ^' Lake Yictoria.''

My countryman Dr. Boschet* will proceed by way of Xitui, a
route first trayersed by me in 1849, which will doubtless proye to be
the nearest route from the coast to Yictoria Nyanza, and to the final
solution of the Nile problem, though it may be attended with some
difficulties and perils from hostile tribes in the occupation of those
r^ons. Should the Xitui route proye an abortive one, the route of
Barava, 1^° N. of the Equator, must be selected. This route, besides
the discoyery of the sources of the Nile, will enrich our knowledge
with much information respecting the Christian remnants existing in
the countries south of Abessinia. By it we shall also derive much
information respecting the Ghdla tribes, and in many ways new dis-
coveries will reward the undertaking. Of this I feel so fully assured
that, wero I equipped and fiiznished with the requisite means, I
should haye no hesitation in entering upon such an enterprise at a few
days' notice.

* See Introdaction, page



554 APPENDIX.

The ''Proceedings of the Boyal Geographical Society" contain some
curiotis and important information connected with the latter route,
furnished hy a French missionary, the Pere B. P. Leon, dated Zan-
zibar, August, 1858. This missionary has been in "RTumw- He
states that there is a frequented route from Barava on the sea-coast
to Kaffiei, the journey occupying twenty-four days ; the estimated dis-
tance being 360 geographical miles. Twelve days' journey south
of Kaffa, he mentions a people nearly white, called Amara, who
possess written books, and speak a language different both from tfao
Ethiopic and Arabic. They build houses and villages, and cultivate
the soil. These are conjectured to be the remains of the Christian
nations which in early times spread far to the south of Abessinia,
until they were overrun, massacred, or scattered, by the savage
Gkdla. Pour days' journey fr^m the Amara there is a lake whence
flows one of the tributaries of the White l^ile. M. Leon supposes
this to be the source of the Sobat, but it is more probable that it
is the main stream of the NUe. The Amara, he says, dwell
between 2^ and 3° N. lat. and to them are subject some tribes of
copper-coloured people, who dwell near the Equator. No Mussul-
man dare venture into that country.



555



THE PRESENT UTEEATFRE OF ABESSINIA.

The literature of Abessiiiia has been sKghtly referred to at page 37.
Ihiring my residence in Africa, I collected most of the following works,
the greater part of which still exist only in manuscript.



1. The Bible : the Old and New
Testament, with the Apocrypha —
both in Ethiopio and in Amharic.
The Amhario is the text of the
Bible Society. It is printed in
4to i there is an edition of the
New Testament with the Psahns
in 8vo. Dr. Angnstna DiDmann
is now publishing the Ethiopia
text of the Old Testament in
4to. ; and the Bible Society has
printed the Ethiopia text of the
New Testament also in 4to. For-
tions of the Scriptnres have been
printed at various times, both in
Ethiopia and in Amharic, and the
oorions reader is referred to the
Gatalogae of Mr. David Nntt, of
tiondon, for such as are more
easily obtainable. The Psalter in
Ethiopia was published in 4to by
Ludolf at Franckfort in 1701, (see
No. 118) and in his history of
Ethiopia he gives the history of
the Bible of the Abessinians,
pointing out its sonroes and con-
tents, and exhibiting specimens of
it with a Latin translation. The
Amharic text, as issued by the
BiUe Society, was the translation
of an Abessinian monk, Abu
Bohh, or Abu Komi, a native of
Go4Jam.

2. Haiicakot Abav (the BeU^ of the
Fathers) or the Dogmas of the
Abessinian Church, consisting of
extracts trom the Bible, from the
Canons and Decrees of Synods
and Councils, and from the writ-
ings of the Fathers of the Church,



partioolarly from Clemens of Alex-
andria, TheophiluB of Antioch,
John and Dionysius of Antioch
(? John of Damascus, and Diony-
sius of Alexandria) Cyrill of Alex-
andria^ John Chrysostom, and
others. This book is said to have
been compiled, or translated by
Maba Zion, the son of Bas Amdu
in the reign of Nebla Dengel.

3. Betua Haivanot, the Orthodox
BeUef.

4. Amada Mittea, Pillars of the Mys-
teries of Faith, in Amharic, treat-
ing of the Holy Trinity, the Man-
hood of Christ, of Baptism and
the Holy Communion, and of the
Besurrection.

5. KiKiLLOS, a dogmatic treatise by
St. Cyrill of Alexandria.

6. Masgaba Haimanot, the Treasury
of Faith, a dogmatic treatise.

7. Mazhapa Tevhert, the Book of
Doctrine, another dogmatic trea-
tise.

8. Aya Wosk, Golden-tongue or
Chrysostomus, a life of St. Chiy-
sostom, with his Exposition of the
Epistle to the Hebrews. Anbakom,
a native merchant of Arabia Felix
in the time of king Naod, and of
Tekla Haimanot is said to have
rendered several treatises of St.
Chrysostom into Ethiopia.

9. SiMODOs, the Canons and Constitu-
tions of the Holy Apostles. (This
book has been printed in LudolTs
History of Ethiopia.)

10. Fatha Nkgcct, the King's Court
or Book of Laws, said to have



556



PKESENT LITXSA.TUBS



fidlen firom Heaven in the time of
the Emperor Constttntme, and to
have been rendered into Ethiopio
by Petros Abd Essaid, a natiTe of
Tigre, in the reign of Sara Jacob,
about 1434—1468.

11. Kebka Nxoeot, Honour to Elings,
an historicflbl work written in
praise of the kings of Ethiopia.

12. Sebata Bieta Gheistun, Bnles
and Orders of the Ohoroh of
Christ.

18. Abushakes, the Abessinian Ca-
lendar, (printed in Lndolfs His-
tory of Ethiopia.)

14. KBDABi£,the Liturgy of the Church
of Abessinia.

15. Aboahon (Hours of the Yirgin).

Prayers and Hymns of Praise to
the Virgin Mary.

16. Abdeet, the last Words of Christ
to the Apostles before his Ascen-
sion.

17. BiEKA Fetbat, History of the
World before the Flood, deUyered
to Moses on Mount SinaL

18. Seena Aihud, Sacred and Profime
History connected.

19. Genbet, the Bnrial of the Dead,
said to have been written by St.
Athanasins, and discovered by the
Empress Helena at the finding of
the Cross.

20. Aklementos, Discourses of St.
Clement of Alexandria.

21. MAZHA7A FiLASPA, Aphorisms of
ancient Philosophers.

22. Mazhapa Enok, the Book of
Enoch, (printed by Dr. Angnstus
DiUmann, in 1851.)

23. Fakeba Jasus, the Loye of Jesns.

24. Fekabie Jasus, Christ's Prophe-

cies relating to the End of the
World.

25. SiNKESAB, Saints' Calendar, like
the MencBtun of the Greek Chnrch,
divided into 365 sections, to be
read daily in the Churches.

26. KuPALiE, Hidden Secrets revealed



to Moses on Mount Sinai, noi eon-
tained in the Pentafcencb.

27. Amtiaeos, a Dialogue between

St. Athanasius and Awtfairj^^ a
nobleman.

28. Mazhapa Tomab, a Letter written
by the Saviour.

29. Tomab Kopbianos, Letter of (?)

St. Cyprian, or Koprian.

30. Mkelad, a dogmatic book.

31. Mazhapkb Mistbb, Bzpoeition of
early Heresies.

82. Mazhapa Abui^ the BolemaiEatioa
of Matrimony.

33. Mazhapa TiKBAT, the Minisbntaon
of Baptism.

V Bee, No, 19, Onnar, Burial of the Dead.

34. Mazhapa Faues Manpazavi, the
Book of Spiritual Medicine.

35. Mazhapa Gbagn, an Amharie ac-
count of the life of Gn^^ the
fianatic king of AdaL

36. Kalata Abau, the Council of Nice
(with the opinions of the 818 pre-
lates who attended it.)

37. SuASo, an Amharie Grammar and
Dictionary (of little value).

38. Degua, a book of Hymns, which
St. Jared is said to have oompiled
and set to music three hundred
years ago. The saint is still sop-
posed to be in the flesh, and to lire
somewhere the life of a ledhise.

39. Lepapa Zesek, Prayers and Szor^
oisms against evil spirits, a book
much prized by the Abesainana,
and often buried with their deftd*

40. Mazhapa Dobho; 41 . Anbobitos s
42. Fabetsh ; 43. LiB TAjreBL ;
44. GebaMoie; 45. EpxPHAinoe s

46. AXIKABOS; 47. SaVSBOB; 4&.

Mazhapa Buni ; 4Q, Didaskaua ;
50. TeklaZion.

51. Tambba Jasus, the Mizadea oT
Christ.

52. Mevaset, Dirges.

53. Ekajcbani, Prayer-book.

54. Gebmama, Exorcisms against er3
spirits.



OF ABSSSIlflA.



557



65. Debsaha SAintAT, Life of St. San-
bafc.

56. YuoABiE Ahlak^ the Fraise of

God.

57. TuiGUAMis FiDSL (in Amhario.)

58. Melka Mikael^ Prayers to St.

MiohaeL
59« Melka Gabris£| Pmyen to St.
Gabriel.

60. Melka Jesus, Frayen to Christ,
and the Virgin Mazy.

61. Zklota Mubie, the ezoroismB of
Moses against the Spirits of Evil.

62. ZoxA Degua, Fast-hymns.

68. Kal Kidan, Words of the Cove-
nant.

64. AuDA Neoest, Book of Magio.

69. Mazhapa Jai; 65. Egsiabhae
Neoes; 66. Mazhata Shekenat ;
67. Baetos} 68. Dionasios.

70. MAZHAP A BSBHANAT,B0(^0f Lights

(Prooft.)

71. Maala Salat, Hours and Hymns.

72. Mazhapa Kedeb, Instmction for
Benegates.

78. Gebba Haimaitot, Lessons fer Pas-
sion-week.

74. VuBASiE Mabiam, Praise of the
Virgin Mary.

75. Nagaba Mabiak, Woida of the
Virgin Mary.

76. Naia Mabiam, Life of the Virgin
Maiy.

77. Tameba Mabiam, the Mirades per-
formed fay the Virgin, whilst ibr
three years and a half in Abea-
nnia with the Infimt Jema.

78. Dbbsana Mabiam, History of the
Virgin Mary.

79. Gbobois WoldaAmu); 80. Mak-

SHAK.

81. Gadela KEDusANy LiTeB of the



82. Min?BASAiiAi,MysteiyofHeaTen*

83. SisxA Abau, Liyee of the Fathers.

84. ABAOATiMANVABAYiyfor thenseof
the Monks.

85. Zelota MoNAKOSAT, Prayers of the
Monks.



86. Debsaka Mahajtati, History of the

Giver of Life.

87. Felikisos, for the use of the
Monks,

88. Debsana Gabbiel, History of the
Angel GabrieL

89. Zelota Musadod. Prayers against
the Spirits of EviL

90. Tebaba Tabiban, Wisdom of the
Wise, Hymns npon the Old and
New Testament.

91. Gadela Havabiat, Lives of the
Apostles.

92. Gadela Mikael, Life of St. Mi-
chael.

98. Gadela Lalibala, Life of King
Lalibal% who lived in the oom-
menoement of the thirteenth oen-
tniy after the fiiU of the Jewish
dynasty Falaslus and is said to
have oonceived the notion of turn-
ing the bed of the Nile in order
to destroy the Mohammedans in
Egypt, who exercised great omelty
towards the Christians.

94i Gadela Sena Mabkos, Life of St
Mark.

95. Gadela Gibba Mantas Kedus,
Life of Gibra Manfas Kedns, one
of the nine saints of Abessinia.
Nine Greek Apostles are said to
have arrived in Abessinia in the
reign of King Ahamada, in the
fifth centoiy, and to have spread
Christianity farther in the land,
which had first been preached by
FnrmanatoSjOr Fmmentiaa, during
the reigns of Abreha and Axbeha,
towards the middle of the fenrth
centnry. Fmmentios, who is
called Abba Salama in Abessinia,
translated the New Testament
into ^thiopio, the Old Testament
already then existing in that lan-
guage, as king Meneldc, the son
of Solomon by the Qneen of
Sheba, had brought, according to
tradition, the Pentateuch and the



558



PBESEITT UTSBATURE



Psalms to AksTim, and the bro-
thers Sakri and Panli had trans-
lated the books of the Prophets
after the birth of Christ. He was
the first Bishop of Abessinia.
These nine Grreek Apostles were
called : Panteleon, Likanos, Abba
Asfie, Abba Sehema, Abba 6a-
rima, Gtebra IVfanfas Kedns,
Abba Gnbba, Aragavi, and Alef. In
place of Grebra Man&s, St. Imata
is sometimes inolnded in the list
of the nine Apostles of Abessinia.

96. Gadela. Tekla Hajjcanot, History
of the g^reat Abessinian Saint
Tekla Haimanot, a native of Shoa,
in the thirteenth oentmy, who
was the founder of the celebrated

I convent of Debra Libanos in Shea.
He decreed that all fhtnre pri-
mates (Abnna) shotdd be Egyp-
tian Copts and not Abessinians ;
and that one-third of the entire
revenues of Abessinia shonld go to
the Chnrch, for the support of the
Abnna^ the clergy, convents and
churches. Ho alsQ prevailed ni>on
the Jewish dynasty Segue, under
their King Naakueto Laab, to ab-
dicate in favour of the Solomonian
dynasty imder king Jekuenu
Amlak, by which the original
fiunily were again raised to the
throne, and the usurpation of the
IVtIash brought to an end.

97. Gadxla Aduc, History of Adam.

98. Gadela Samuel, History of Samuel,
who rode upon lions.

99. Gadela Medhanalek, Life of the
Redeemer.

100. Gadelos Kieos, Life of St. Kiros.

101. Gadela A&aoavt, or alao, Saki-
CHAL, the Histoxy of Aragavi, one
of the nine Apostles of Abessinia,
who at first took up their abode
at Aksum for twelve years, and
then spread themselves into the
various provinces of the land.



Abba Aragavi reached Agimw in
Tigre, and foimded a oonv e nt
upon the lofty rook of Damo, to
the summit of which, acoordingto
the legend, he was drawn up by a
large serpent whose tail he had
clutched. He is said to have eon-
verted the Prince of DarkneaB,
and to have prevailed upon him
to wear a monk's hood for forty
years. Like Jared (in No. S7),
he, too, is now Hving somewhere
in the flesh the life of a redufle.

102. Gadela ToHAia, the Life of St.
Tohani.

103. Gadela Amtoniob, Life of Anto-
nius, the Monk.

104. Gadela Gbokois, life of the
celebrated Saint Gemgis.

105. Gadela Sannbl*; 106. Gadela
Ijoh ; 107. Gadela AmwigABo ;
106. Gadela Ahd; 109. Gadela
Naked Yolab — ^Lives of five Abes-
sinian Saints*

110. Gadela Gebba Chsistos, Life of
Gebra Chriistos, the son of the
Emperor Theodosius. (?)

111. Maahafe Havi

Of these writings I picked up about
eighty in Shea, either in manuacript or
copied expressly for me, all of which I
sent to Europe. No doubt, many worica
of similar character are scattered <yrer
other parts of Abessinia, with the titles
of which I em not acquainted ; but in
all there is such a preponderanoe erf*
dross, and so little pure gold, that tbe
labour and fetigne of perusal have bat
a sorry reward, unless one is pos-
sessed of the indomitable perseveraiiee
and learning of a Ludolph, who two
hundred years ago earnestly desired to
see the Protestant and the AhyssiiiiaB
Churches united, and whose writinira
are even to this day the prin cipal i
of information respecting
I may as well enumerate the most
usefol of these :



OF ABESSIl^Ii..



559



112. Luoouri (sEu Leut-holf Jobi)
HisTORiA. Ethiopica, Bive breyis
et saodnota Descriptio Begni Ha-
beflsmomni, qnod vnlgo male
Frasbyterl Joaimis vocatnr; sive
de Natura et Indole Begionis et
Incwlamm ; de Eegimine ; de
Stata Eodeeiastioo, Initio et Pro-
gressa Beligionia Christians ; de
Rebns privatiB ; de Literatnra,
etc. Francofwiii ad Ifomitm,
1681, folio.
This Tolome was translated into
English and into French.

lis. Lin>oLPHi (Jobi) Coxmentabius
ad snam Historiam JSthiopioam
in qno pneter Bee iBthiopioas
mnlta S. SoripturcB looa deola-
nmtor, et Antiqnitates Eoolesias-
tioiB ilhistrantnr, etc. Fra/nco-
furU ad Ifceiwm, 1681, folio.

114. LuDOLPHi (Jobi) Appxndix ad
Historiam ^thiopioam iniasqne
Conunentariimi ez nova Belatione
de hodieme Statu Habeeainise ez
India nnper allata j Franeofwrti
ad Mammif 16d8, folio.

115. LimoLPHi (Jobi) Appendix Se-
CUNDA ad Historiam ^thiopioam
oontinens Dissertationem de Lo-
onstis ; FrwneofwrH ad ICcmmmh,
1694, foUo.

These four works form his complete
histoiy of Ethiopia^ in the compilation
of which Laddf received great assist-
ance frtjm Abba Gtregorins, the Amharic
Fatriarch, whose portrait is prefixed
to the second, and who resided with
him for a short time at the court of the
ancestor of H.B. H. the Prince Consort,
Dnke Ernest of Saxe Gotha. His own
portimit is given with the first, and
with the third, the portrait of Ghilanel
Gabas Khan ; besides which, there are
plates of natoral histoiy, costnme and
antiquities scattered through all. In
the first, amongst mattem inrndentaOy
alhided to, is the correspondence of the
Abessiiuan princes with the kings of



Spain. The same volume also contains a
very interesting catalogue of Ethiopio
manuscripta, with specimens and trans-
lations, including much curious litur-
gical matter, prayers and ceremonies
of the Church, in Ethiopic and Latin,
&c. In the second he gives the Canons
of the Apostles (see No. 9, ante) ;
the Abessinian Calendar (No. 18) ; a
curious Computus EoclesioQ, and a most
valuable dissertation upon the ancient
language of Egypt and Northern Africa^
with the names of animals, Ao. in
Ethiopic, Amharic, and Latin, and spe-
cimens of the Ethiopic, Amharic, and
Galla dialects.

In 1683 he published :— 116. Epistola,
iEthiopice, ad universum Ha-
bessinorum gentem ; which was
followed, in 1688, by the Epistoloo
BamoflitaayB ad Johwn LudoJffwm^
with a Latin version. And here
may be mentioned his : —

117. Fasti Eccleslb ALSXANDRiNiE ;
and his treatise de BeUo Twrcieo
feliciter confidendo,

118. LuDOLFi (Jobi) Gramxatica Lin-
gun iEthiopiosB, Framcojwrti ad
Mam/um, 1702, folio.

119. LuDOLFi (JoBi) Lexicon ^thi-
opico- T<atinuTO, FramcofiMii ad
Moennnhj 1699, folio.

Nos. 116 and 117 were originally
printed at London, in 1661. The
Franokfort editions are much en-
larged.

lao. Psaltebiux .SiThiopicuk ; acce-
dunt Hymni et Orationes aliquot,
Canticum Canticorum, iBthiopice
et Latine cura Jobi Ludolfi ; .FVcm-
cafwrti ad MoBvywn^ 1701, quarto.

121. Ludolfi (Jobi) Gsakkatica Lin-
gun AmharicBB, quea vemaculaest
Habessinorum ; FrwMofwrti ad

' McBTium, 1698, folic.

122. Ludolfi (Jobi) Lexicon Amha-
rico-Latinum cum Indice Latino
copioso I Francofurti ad Mtmwm^
1698, folio.



560



UTEBATUIOS OF ABBSSDnA.



In the oompilatioii of his Amharic
Grammar and Diotsionary, he waa as-
aisted by Abba Gregorina, the patriarch
of Abeasmia^ a native of Makana-
Selasse, in Shoa.

I do not enumerate the writings of
Braoe, Salt, Biippel, Gobat, Katte,
Lefevre, Combes, Thonasier, Boohet,
Harris, Johnstone, Beke, Mansfield,
and other modem travellers, whose
works necessarily contain mnoh illns-
tratiTe both of the literature and lan-
guages of Northern Afiica. The
librarjr of His Exoellenpy Sir George
Grej, SLG.B. is rich in all works ap-
pertaining to a knowledge of African
lingnistic development % and the
second part of the first volmne of his
catalogue is devoted to the languages
and dialects north of the Tropic of
Capricorn (see No. 170).
123. IssNBBBo's (C. W.) Gbammab of
the Ambario Langoage ; Londorij
1842, royal 8vo.

124. l8BNBSBO*S (C. W.) DlCnONAKT

of the Amharic Langfoage ; in two
parts, Amharic and English, and
Bnglisb and Amharic; London^
1841, qnarto.
This work of my dear firiend, the
Missionary Isenberg, incorporates the
manuscript Amharic vocabnlary of
Missionary Blnmhardt, winch was
begnn in 1837, at Adoa, and finished
at Malta in 1889. It contains all the
words which ooonr in the Bible.
126. YATEicsHEaTMATAXARY A, a Spell-
ing and Beading-book in Amha-
ric, by the Bev. C. W. Isenbxro ;
Lcndony 1841, 8vo.

126. Katsohisxob, the Heidelberg
Cateolnsm in Amharic, translated
by the Bev. C. W. IssNBEae ; Jkm-
dtmy 1841, 8vo.

127. The Book ov Cokkon Prater,
&a of the Chnrch of Bngland and
Ireland, in Amharic, translated
by the Bev. C. W. Isenberg, 8vo.

128. Baabna Bawald, Begni De| in



Terris Hiatoria, AwiK^^a-^^^ in
dnabns partibas s inde Adami
lapsn ad Hieroeolymitemm Dde-
tionem; et de Bebns Eoclesias-
ticis a S. Joannia Morte ad Tem-
pora nostra. Anctore C. Guil.
Isenberg $ London, 1841, 8to.
129. Ta AALAMTARiK, Admnbratio Hia-
torifld Mnndi, Amharioe. Anotoxe C.
Guil. Isenberg; London^ 1842, 8vo.

180. GEWOORAf ITA YaXEDBR TRUE*

HERT, a book of Geography in

Amharic; by tiie Bev. C. W.

Isenberg; LondotL, 1841, 8vo.
Beaidea these works ennmenied
above my dear firiend laeaborg trans-
lated the Fsalma, and the fixirGUi^iels
into the language of Tigro, but thia
version has not yet been printed.
131. An Ajiharic Yogabulart, pre-

paxed for my own use, in nana*

script.
I may here mention the eaiatesioe
of a Dictionary of the Bori language,
which the Boman Catholic IGasian-
aries at Khartum have prepared, and
which, npon my visit to the Misaion-
honse in 1856, Mr. Kiiohner, aa men-
tioned at page 478, wad kind enough
to place in my hands. By what I
saw of it, the JBori language does not
appear to belong to the Sonth-AlKcaa
itaniSj, bat rather to incline to tiie
Wakanfi, which is spoken in theBqn^
torial regions. Mr. Eirofaner alao
showed me a Vooabnlaxy of tw^ve
dialects, which axe more or leaa oofb>
neoted, and are spoken on the banks
ofthe White Nile.

In the aecondvohime of the Pro^
eeedings of the London PkOologicaX 8o»
eiety is an Essay on the Lsagnagea of
AbesnMOf by Beke.

Besides the Old IVstomeNi, now pul^
lisUng, mentioned at p. &66, and the
Booh of Enoch (No. 22.), Dr. DiUmanB
has published an Sihiopie G r a mmar,
in 1857 ; and the lAberlvbOmrmm, in
1859,



561



BOOKS ELLTTSTRATIVE OF THE LANGUAGES OP

EASTEEN AFRICA.



L KI-SUAHILI.

182. OnTLime of ths ELEHEim oy
THE Ki-BuAHiLi TAngnage^ with
special raferenoe to the Kimka
Biateot, by the Bev. Dr. J. L.
EjtAPTj Tfi&ifii70fs 1850, 8to.

183. Balla. 8A iabuci na jioni sasai.-
LIWASO Katika Kiriaki ja Kisn-
glese sika Bothe aa mnaka, Morn-
ing and Evening Prayers said in
the Chnroh of England, daily
throngfaoat the year, translated
into Ki-8uahiU by the Bev. Dr.
J. L. £■▲»{ TUbingeti^ 1854,
18aio.

184. Thube Chaptisbs ov Gxkssib
tnnslBted into the Sooahelee
{Ki-SuaMUi Langoage, by the
Bev. Dr. J. L. Kkaff, with Intro-
dnotion by W. W. Greeoongh,
printed in the Jovrnal qf the
AmeriecM Oriental Society in 1847
(▼oL i p^. 259—274).

185. Ths sktiee Nkw Tbstaiixnt in
Ki-StidhiU, by the Ber. Dr. J. L.
Kbafv I stfll in mannscript.

186. OOMPLRH DiCnOHAAT Of THS

Ki-SuAHiLi ToNeuB, bytheBei^.
Dr. J. L. KxAFT ; still in mann-

mnmtmtt

sonpv.

187. YOCASULAST OY THS SoAHILI

(Ki-SuahiU)^ by Sahubl K.
Masubt, printed in the Memoirs
qf the Afneriean Acadamy^ Cwn^
hridge, Maes., 1845.
188. DsHvo DSHA HsBKAL, an Aooonnt
of the Wan of Mohammed with
Aslca^ Governor of Syria to the
Greek Emperor Heraolios, in
rhyme} a manosoript in ancient
Ki-BwiMi, written in Azabio oh*-



189. D8H170 BSHA Utenbi, Pooms
and Mottoes in rhyme ; a mann-
soript in wneient Ki-SudMUj writ-
ten in Arabic dharacters.

For an aooonnt of these onrioos lin-
gnistio treasures, in the dialect for-
merly spoken in the islands of PM^ta
and Lamn, see the Jowmal of the Orien-
tal Society of HolZtf, vol. viii. pp. 667 —
687. I presented these manuscripts
to the librazy of that Society.

The Ki-Snahili langoage is spoken
by some 800,000 or 400,000 SnahOi, in
the islands of Kiama, Tola, Patta^
Lama, Kan, Mombaa, Tanga, P6mb%
Zanzibar, Eiloa, and all places on the
mainland which are inhabited by the
Mahommedans, tcom Barava to Gape
Delgado.

n. KI-NIKA.
140. Thb BsQiKNiNa ov a Spsllino-
BOOK of the Kimka Language,
accompanied by a translation of
the Heidelberg Catechism, by the
Bev. J. L. Kbapv, D.Ph., and the
Bev. J. Bebhann j Bombay, 1848,
12mo.

141. EVANOEUO ZAAVIOANDIKA LUEAS,

translated into Kin/ika by Dr. J.
L. Keafv } Bombay, 1848, 12mo.
The Einika language is spoken by

from 60,000 to 60,000 Wanika, between
the third and Ibnrth degrees of sonth-
em latitude, about fifteen to twenty
miles inland, at an altitude of 1200 to
2000 feet above the level of the sea.
See No. 172 for the Wanika Diotionaiy
of Missionary Bebmann.

ttt. ki-kamba.

142. Etanoelio ta tunaolete Mal*
ffosi, the Gospel according to Sc.



«tt



mm



562



LAITGFAQES OF



«



Hark, translated into the Kikamba
language by the Bev. Dr. J. L.
Kbapf ; Tuhing&n, 1850, 8yo.

143. EVANGELIO TA TUNAOLETS MaT-

TBOS, the Gospel according to St.

Matthew, translated into the £t-

kaniba language by the Bev. Br.

J. L. Kkapf ; still in manuscript.

The Kikamba language is spoken

by some 70,000 to 90,000 Wakamba,

about 400 miles distant from the sea,

in the rear of the Wanika.

rV. HiNZUA,

144. A Gkammab and Yocabulabt or

THE HlNZUAN LANGUAGE, by the

Bey. William Elliott, of the Lon-
don Missionary Society, written
during a residence in the Island
of Johana, one of the Comoro
Islands j still in manuscript.

V. SiDI.

145. In Majob Burton's Sindh, and
the Baoes that inhabit the Valley
of the Indus, published at London

' in 1851, Appendix IV., is a Vocor
hulo/ry of the Sidi Language, the
language spoken by the slaves
imported from Zanzibar, and other
parts of the East* African coast,
pp. 372 — 374, and passim, 253 —
257.

VI. Galla.

146. Tentaxsn imbedllum Translo-
tionis Evangelii Joannis in Lin'
gVfO/m Galla/rum, Auotore J. L.
Kbap?, Missionorio, auziliante
Berkio, viro ex stirpe Gallarum,
quam Gelon vocant, oriundo. In-
ceptnm' in urbe Ankober, qusa
regni Shoonorum capitalis est,
1839; Londmi, 1841, fcap. 8yo.

The first five chapters of St. John's
Gh>speL

147. Eyangsliux Matthaei transla-
turn in Linguamf^ QaiUarwn, Auo-
tore J. L. Kbapf, Missionorio



Ankobari, regid Shoanomin capi-
talis. 1841 ; Tw imprint ; fcap.
8vo.

148. Genesis in Lingua GbBamm, J.
L. Keapp, Missionorio, inter-
prete ; not yet printed.

149. An Impeefect Outline of the
Elements of the QaUa Language,
by the Bev. J. L. EIeapp. Pre-
ceded by a few Bemarks oonoera-
ing the nation of the Gallas, eta,
by the Bev. G. W. Isenbxbg;
London, 1840, 12mo.

150. VOCABULABT OF THE GaLLA LAN-
GUAGE, by the Bev. J. L. Krapf ;
together with an English- QaUa
Vocabulary, prepared from a MS.
Grollo- German Vooabnlory of Dr.
Krapf, by the Bev. C. W. IssN-
BEBG ; London, 1840, 12mo.
151. A Gbaxmab of THE Galla Lan-
guage, by Chablbs Tvtschek,
edited by Lavrrenoe Tutechek,
M.D., Munich^ 1845, 8vo. The
Grammar is followed by oome
notive prayers and letters, in
Galla and English (pp. 84—92).
The Grammar was written in Ger-
man, and the translotion is fay
Mr. J. Smeod, of Bichmofnd, Tii^
ginio.
In the third volume of the Proceed'
ings of the London PhUologieaX Society
is an Essay on Qalla Verbs, by New-
man ; and in the Trcmsactiona of the
same Society for 1859, on Bssay by
Hensleigh Wedgwood, Esq., ** On
Coincidences between the GaUa and
different Evropean Languages^*

152. DiCTIONABT OF THE GaLLA LAN-
GUAGE, composed by CHAmLcs
TuTSCHEK, and published by Law-
rence Tutschek; (GoDo-EngUsh
and German) 8 parts, Jftmid^
1844—5, 8vo
In the Catalgoue of Sir Geor^ Grey's
Library (vol. i. p. 253), Mr. Bleek stotea
that both the Grammar and Dictioiuuy



\



EASIBBSr AFBICA.



563



of Tutscbek " are chiefly the firnit of
an interoonrse in G^ermany with three
GaUaB, one of whom was, together
with an Umale, a Darfnrian, and a
Denlsa, intmated hy Duke ItfaTimilian
of BaTsria to the care of Dr. Charles
Tntschek from 1838 to 1848, when the
Doctor died, and Dr. Lawrence Tnts-
chek, supplied his place, and edited
these posthumous workaof his brother.
The Dictionary is dedicated to H. B. H.
Maximilian, Crown Prinoe of Bavaria i
and the Qrammar to Sir Thomas Dyke
Adand, Bart., who assisted materiaUy
in these publications." In the third to-
Inme of the Proceedings qf the PhUologi'
cal Society qf London^ is an Essay by
Dr. Tutschek on the Tumali lan-
guage.

Kespecting the people who speak
the CraUa language, consult pp. 72 — 8i,
ante.

VII. Dankali.

153. A Small Vocabulaby of the Da»-
kali Language, in three parts,
Dankali and English, English and
Dankali, and a selection of Dan-,
kali sentences, with English trans-
lations, by the R&v. C. W. Isen-
BERG ; JLondon, 1840, 12mo.
Compiled chiefly during a stay at
Ta^jurra. Dankali is spoken between
Abeesinia and the Bed Sea, to the
South of the Habab, and by the people
of Arkiko, and tribes north of the
Somal and the Ittu Gallas, from 11 —
58<^ Northern latitude at Tadjurra, to
15 — *0^ at Arkiko } by numerous
tribes of the Danakil or Affer, — the
Shoho, Hazaorta, and Teltal in the
North, and in the South by the Ad
Alii, Burhanto, Dinsarra, Debeni, Wee-
ma, Galeile, Tak'eel, Meshaich, Gidoso,
and Mndiato.

VIII. Somali.

154. ASf OtTLIKB OP THE SOIUVLI



■ Lakouaoe, with Vocabulary, by

Lieutenant 0. P. Bioby, will be

found in the ninth volume of the

Transdctions of the Bombay Geo*

graphical Societnf, (pp. 129 — 184),

1850, 8vo.

156. De Azakia Afiicae Uttore Orien*

tfdi, Geokoitjs Bunbbn Bomanus

scripsit ; BotmcB, 1852, with a map

of Ancient Azania, 8vo.

The Somali is spoken in tlie whole

Eastern Horn, firom Cape Guardaihi

nearly to Cape Babelmandeb to the

north, "where," says l£r. Bleek, "it

is bounded by the dialects of the

Danakil or AiFer, and Ittoo Gfdlas,

whilst to the south it ranges to the

Suahali country, and westwards to a

few miles of Harar.

IX. Haraei.

156. FiBST FoafSTBPS IN East Apbica ;
or an Exploration of Harar; by
(Major) BicHARS Burton j (with
a Grammatical Outline, Dialogfues
and Sentences, Specimens of
Poetry, Names of months and
measures, and English-Hariri Vo-
cabulary), London, 1856, 8vo.

The Hariri language is confined to
the walls of the city of Harar, which
is surrounded on all sides by the Gkiilas.

X. Il-Oioob : 1. Kaufi, or Ki-Kauti.

157. Vocabulary op the Engutuk
Eloikob, or Language of the Wa-
kaufi Nation in the Interior of
Equatorial Africa, compiled by
the Bev. Dr, J. L. Krapp (in the
Island of Mombaz, with the help
of Lemasegnot or Merduti, a native
of the Enganglima tribe). — It con-
tains an English-Kaufi Vocabulary,
a specimen of a translation of St.
John, a froe translation of Genesis
iv., dialogues on Wakaufi stories,
salutations, materials for gram-
mar, etc., with Introduction of 28
pages. — Tubingen^ 1854;, 8vo.

o o



Y''



564



XiAireXTAGES OF



Beepecting the Waikaiifi, see p. 858,
amJt>e, They call themselves Brc^oh^
and are niokziamed by the Masai Im-
bcwrounoo, or "BmAiWQfmiiM,

2. MA8A.I.
168. VOCABULAET OP THE ENOUDTTK

Iloigob, as spoken by the Masai*
tribes in East Africa, compiled by
the Ber. J. Ebhabot (edited by
the Eev. Dr. J. L. Kiapp), in two
parts (Masai-English, and English-
iriTnAfl«.ij with a song of the Masai,
with a literal translation) — lAt^
vrigshwrg, 1857, post 8vo.
Bespeoting the Masai, see p. 858,

XI. MoziivBiquB.

169. Thb Lanouaoes op Mozak-
BiQUE : Yocabnlaries of the Dia-
lects of Lonrenzo Marqoes, In-
hambane, So&la, Tette, Sena,
Quellimane, Mozambique, Cape
Delgado, Anjoane, the Maravi,
Madsan, &o. Dra¥m np from the
Manuscripts of Dr.W. Peters, and
from other materials, by Dr. W.
H. J. Bleer. London, 1856, 8yo.
These dialects are spoken in the
Portogaese possessions by a popula-
tion of some 280,000 to 800,000 sonls,
inhabiting the country between 10 deg.
sad 26 deg. sonthem latitude, from
Cape Delgado to Delagoa Bay, and
stretching considerably inland. The
chief towns are Mozambique, on an
island at the entrance of Mesaril Bay,
Inhambane, So&Ja, Luabo, Quilimane
and Ibo.

The materials for these Yocabularies
were collected by Dr. Peters, during
his stay in the Portuguese settlements
of Eastern Africa in 1842 — 48, and
were arranged by Dr. Bleek in 1858 —
54, and seen through the press by
Mr. Norris, Dr. Bleek having left Europe
before three sheets were printed. The



book was printed at the expense of the
Foreign Office. This work inooipo-
rates, with the exception of some
doubtful words, the Vocabvlary cf
Ca^toMi White of the i/nhes inKahiimg
Delagoa Bay at the dose of the last
century, which is contained in pp. 65
— 70, Ac. of his Journal of a Voyage
performed m the Lion Sxtrct, Indiamuim^
from Madras to CoUimho, and Da Lagoa
Bay 0^ the Eastern Coatit of Africa^ m
17d8 ; Lcmdon, 1800, 4to., the words
so omitted being given in Sir George
Grey's Catalogue, vol. i, p. 163.

160. Alphabetical Index of the Eng-
lish words in the Yocabnlaiy of
the Langvjogee of Mozamhiqm.
Compiled by Dr. W. H. J. Bleei,
Cope Toton, 1858, 4to. in Jfoiit*-
script,

161. Specimens of the Conjugations
OF THE Verbs in the Langtiaget of
Mozamhique (Inhambane, Sofiifas
Tette, Sena, Maravi, Makna, and
Suaheli), collected by Dr. W.
Petebs; foUo. In Manuscript

162. Gkajimatischb Tabellen dor
Nomina, Pronomina, und Adjek*
tiva im Idiom Ton Seii&. Axis
Dr. W. Petebs Papieren so-
sammengetragen von W. H. J.
Bleek ; 1853, folio; in Ma/w-
script Noe. 160, 161, and 168
are in the Collection of Sir €ieoige
Grey, as are also the three ioK
lowing : —

163. O MuATA Cazembb e oe po^^os
Maraves, Cheva8,MuizaSf Muembas,
LundaSy e outros da Africa Aus-
tral. — Diario da Expedi^ F6rta-
gueza conunandata pelo Majob
MoNTEiBO, Ac., redigido pefe
Major A. C. P. Gamitto. Lisboa^
1854, 8yo.

Account of the Portuguese expedi-
tion of 1831—2 to the Caiembe.
App. in. and IV. contain Vocabolariss



mm



«MMrtM<M»



EA9TEBN AFBICA.



565



of the dialeots of Tette, Moiza, Ma-
shona, Ba-rotse, Maravi, and other
tribes of the interior. The enljects of
the Casembe are Aninda, who, like
other African tribes, cultivate cassave
as their chief food; and the articles
they trade with are copper-bars, peltry,
ivory, salt, and slaves. The oonntiy is
fertile, sad rain is reg^nlar and plenti-
ftil ; bat though they possess hoilied
cattle in abundance, cow's milk and
batter are Inxnriee still onknown to
them.

164. CoLLBcnoNS OP Words in the
Langaages ofBa-rotse and of Tette,
by the Eer. Dr. Liyinostonb,
18^5 — 66. 4to. In Maamscript.
Containing also words of the Zam-
bezi generally, collected at Quil-
limane, and MdlagcLsse words, col-
lected at St. Aagostine's Bay,
26th July, 1856.

165. YocABVLART of the Langaage of
the Mashona; by the Bey. B.
MoppAT ; 4to. In ManAiscript.

Perhaps, in addition to these, it may
not be oat of place to mention Mr.
C. J. AnderB8on*a ^* Journey to Lake
Ngami, and a/n Itinerary of the primr
dpal routes leadiihg to it from the
Coast" &c., published in 1854, at Cape
Town, which contains, at pp. 20 — 26,
a comparative Table of Otjiherero,
Ba-yeye, and ChjUimanse^ the latter
spoken on some part of Zambezi, or
Kilimansi. The Lake itself is nearly
equidistant from the Eastern and the
Western Coasts.

XII. MlSCELlJlNZOUS.

166. Analtsb d*un Mevoirs de M.
EroEXS DE 'Frobertille Bur les
Langaes et les Baccs de TAfrique
Orientale au sad de FEquateur
(Extraite du Ma/uricien, 4 pp.)
Port-Louis lie Maurice^ 1846, 4to.

167. YocABULART of 6ix East- African



Languages {Ki-SuahiU, Kx-nika^
Kifhamba, Ki-pokomo, Ki-hiau,
Ki-QaZla,) Composed by the Bev.
Dr. J. L. Krapp, Missionary of the
Church Missionary Society in
East Africa : TGittvngen, 1860, 4tD.
168. On certain recent Additions
to Africwn Philology, by B. G.
Latham, Esq., 2 parts; in the
TrwnsactUms of the London PhUo-
logieaZ Society for 1855, 8vo.

169. COINCIDBNCBS IN THE BoOTS of

African and European Langaages,
by Hbnsleigh Wedgwood, Esq. ;
in the Trcmsactions of the L<mdon
Philological Society for 1858, 8vo.
See also note to No. 151.
170. The Library op His Excellency
Sir George Grey, K.C.B.— Phi-
lology, Vol. I. Part 2. Africa,
North of the Tropic of Caprioom,
by Dr. W. H. J. Bleek. London,
Trnhner ^ Co., 1858, 8vo.
The following portions of this highly ,
interesting Catalogue of Books, illus-
trative of the languages of Africa,
Madagascar, Polynesia, Borneo, New
Zealand, Australia, &c., are now com-
plete : —

Vol. I. Part 1. South Africa, within
the limits of British influence;
title-page and table, pp. 1 — 186.
(Dr. W.H.J.Bleek.)
Vol. I., Part 2. Africa, North of the
Tropic of Capricorn; title-page
and table, pp. 191—261. {Dr. W.
H. J. Bleek.)
Vol. r.. Part 3. Madagascar ; title and
pp. 1 — 24. (J. Cameron cwwi Dr.
W. H. J. Bleek.)
Vol. IL, Part 1. Australia; title-page
and table, pp. 1 — 44. (Dr. W. H.
J. Bleek.)
Vol. II., Part 2. AustraZia and Poly-
nesia, Papuan Languages of the
Loyalty Islands and New He-
brides; pp. 1 — 12. (Sir George
Orey,K.C.B.)



566



LANeXJAGES OV SASIEBN AtElCA.



Vol. II., Fa&t 8. Feji Idamds cmd Bo-
tunuL, etx)., titla-page aad pp. 13 —
32, and leaf not numbered. (9vr
Q, Grey wnd Dr. W. IT. J. Bleek.)

Vol. it. Part 4. ^ew Zealand, the
Chatham Islands^ <md, A%ekiUi/nd
Islands ; title page and table, and
pp. •>•— 76, (Sir George Qrey and
Dr, W, H, J. Bleek.)

Vol. II. Past 4 (Continiiation). Poly-
nesia and Borneo s title-page, II.



and pp. 1 — 164 {no name (^ eofit-

The work is printed at the Gape of Good
Hope, and is an elegant qpeciinen of
Colonial ^pograjdiy.

171. D£ LiN&u JK JBSruioPicjt cum €oo*

NATM LllTGUIS COJIPABAT^ IkDOLK

UNiVBBSA. iiuctore £. Schbaoxr.
1860, 4to.



Prepared for Prest.

172. A Complete Dictionary op the Wanira and WaNiassa Language,- by the
BeT. J. Bebmann.

In Progress.

173. A Tkanslation of the HsaiUiUECHLEiN into Amharic, by the Bev. D&. J. L.
Kkapp.

Just Published.

174. A Catalogue of a large Absbmblagb of Books, appketainino to Loi-
6UI8TIC Literature, Ancient and Modem ; on sale by Trubnbr & Co. ;
(African Languages^ pp. 10 — ^15.) Londo/n, 186(^ Svo.




THE END.



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