UDWIG
KRAPF
ifornia
)nal
ity
KRETZMANN
John Ludwig Krapf
The Explorer-Missionary of
Northeastern Africa
BY
PAUL E. KRETZMANN
COLUMBUS. OHIO
THE BOOK CONCERN
Made in U. S. A.
Stack
Annex
3 1/
WOOz.
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
CHAPTER I
THE DARK CONTINENT
The name "The Dark Continent" was given
to the great continent of Africa by Henry M.
Stanley. This newspaper man was sent out
by the New York Herald to find the missionary
David Livingstone, who had gone into the wil-
derness of central Africa and had not been heard
from for several years. Stanley himself found
it a very difficult matter to locate the great
missionary, but he finally found him in a little
town on Lake Tanganyika. Stanley had ample
opportunity to study Africa at first hand, and
the term which he applied to the great conti-
nent is most fitting from several points of view.
In the first place, a very large part of Africa
is inhabited by negro races, most of whom are
very dark-skinned. Then also, the great in-
terior of this great continent was practically
unknown to white people till a little more than
fifty years ago. Even today there are large
sections, fully as big as some of the states of
the American union, which have hardly been
seen by white people. And, in the third place,
the races of the interior of Africa may be said
ef JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )s-
to be in the very deepest and densest darkness
as far as religion is concerned. Most of these
tribes, as found by the white man, were entirely
without sacred writings and systems of wor-
ship. All their customs were saturated with
superstition and devil worship, so that the
greatest part of Africa was in the densest
blackness of spiritual and moral darkness.
Few people realize just how large the con-
tinent of Africa is in extent. As a matter of
fact, it is the second largest of the continents,
Asia alone exceeding it in area. It contains
close to twelve million square miles. That
means that Africa is fully three times as large
as Europe, about one and one-half times as
large as either North or South America, and
that it contains nearly one-fourth of the total
land area of the world. From north to south
Africa measures about five thousand miles, and
its greatest width, from east to west is about
four thousand five hundred miles.
If we look at a map of Africa, we find that
it looks something like a pear, with the larger
end toward the north and a deep dent on the
west side. The equator cuts across Africa just
a little south of the larger end, and the conti-
nent extends a little more than thirty degrees
in either direction from the equator. The large
gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }>-
northern part of Africa is occupied by the great
Sahara Desert and other half-desert sections.
On either side of the equator lie the tropical
forests and jungles. The southern part of
Africa extends into the south temperate zone,
therefore its general nature approaches that
of the south and southwestern portion of the
United States.
If we take up a physical map of Africa, we
find that the continent looks something like an
inverted saucer. The rim of this saucer is
along the lowlands, near the ocean, what is
known as the coast strip. Beyond this strip lie
the mountain ranges, with an average height
of two to three thousand feet. The center of
the inverted saucer within the raised circle is
the great central plateau of Africa, somewhat
lower in the middle.
In the center of Africa are found the great
lakes, from which flow the mighty rivers which
drain the whole continent, with the exception
of the northwestern part. The largest lakes
are in east central Africa, Lake* Victoria, Lake
Tanganyika, and Lake Nyasa being the most
important. On the southern border of the
Sudan is Lake Tchad, one of the largest of
several lakes which have no outlet to the sea.
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]-
The rivers of Africa are known, at least by
name, in every part of the world. The Nile
has been written about for scores of centuries,
and it is still one of the most romantic streams
of the world. Its basin is two thousand five
hundred miles in length, and it has seen the rise
and decay of more civilizations than possibly
any other river in the world. The Congo flows
through the very heart of Africa. Its volume
of water is second only to that of the Amazon,
and its entire system includes at least ten thou-
sand miles of navigable streams. Over in south-
eastern Africa is the Zambesi, where we find
the great Victoria Falls, almost three hundred
and fifty feet high, and therefore much greater
and more wonderful than Niagara Falls. The
Niger River rises in the southwestern Sudan
and drains a very fertile section of Africa
before flowing into the Gulf of Guinea.
All the river basins of Africa contain dense
forests, with the exception of the valley of the
lower Nile. Stanley's account tells of jungles
so dense that the sun can never penetrate to
the ground, while the luxuriance and beauty
of the vegetation is equalled only by that of the
Amazon valley in South America. Among the
trees that grow in this part of Africa are red
and brown mahoganies, some of which are up
{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF jg*
to twelve feet in diameter and fully two hun-
dred feet in height. In these jungles we also
find the great rubber trees, whose output has
become more valuable as the automobile in-
dustry has grown. On the great plateaus of
southern Africa are immense prairies or
savannahs, where big game is still to be found
in large quantities.
It seems strange that there should be moun-
tains in Africa, almost beneath the equator,
whose foot hills are covered with the palms
and the jungles of the tropics, while their sum-
mits are covered with everlasting snow. This
fact caused the American poet Bayard Taylor,
to write his celebrated description of Mount
Kilimanjaro :
"Hail to thee, monarch of African mountains,
Remote, inaccessible, silent and lone
Who, from the heart of the tropical fervors,
Liftest to heaven thine alien snows,
Feeding forever the fountains that make thee
Father of Nile and creator of Egypt!
I see thee supreme in the midst of thy co-mates,
Standing alone 'twixt the earth and the heavens,
Heir of the sunset and herald of morn.
Zone above zone, to thy shoulders of granite,
The climates of earth are displayed as an index,
Giving the scope of the book of creation.
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
There in the wandering airs of the tropics
Shivers the aspen, still dreaming of cold:
There stretches the oak, from the loftiest ledges,
His arms to the far-away lands of his brothers,
And the pine looks down on his rival, the palm."
Of the products of Africa the best known
are the costly hardwoods of the tropics and the
gems of south Africa, particularly the diamonds
of the great fields near Kimberley and Pretoria.
But this does not exhaust the resources of the
continent. We find that the countries along the
Mediterranean raise grapes, olives, and figs.
The great forests of the Atlas Mountains yield
cork oak, and the northern part of Africa
furnishes dates in great abundance. In the
valley of the Nile fine cotton is grown, as well
as various products of the more temperate
climate. The great prairie lands of south
Africa are well adapted to the raising of cattle,
and the ostrich culture is still a prominent
industry. Among the products of the tropical
section of Africa are to be named cassava,
coffee, sugar, palm oil, ebony, and ivory. In
short, the great continent of Africa holds vast
possibilities for the future, and the term "Dark
Continent" should lose its significance in a very
short time, also with regard to the change
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
which ought to come concerning the spiritual
condition of its native population.
A very great factor in the mission work
in Africa is that of the climate. When we study
the map, we find, first of all, that a large part
of Africa lies in the torrid zone, and may there-
fore be expected to have a fairly hot climate.
Of course, the temperature varies according to
the elevation. As we have seen, there are
mountains almost directly at the equator, whose
summits are crowned with eternal snow, while
their foot hills are covered with dense jungles.
Along the entire coast of the continent the
climate is hot and dry, and it is possible for
people from Europe and America to become
accustomed to this heat. In Egypt one part
of the year is fairly pleasant, but when the hot
winds are blowing from the desert, the heat is
almost unbearable for one who has not grown
up in the country. Along the western coast we
find a great deal of low, marshy soil. Here the
heat is almost unbearable, and millions of in-
sects carry various diseases. It is to be ex-
pected that malaria is very prevalent, and the
death rate among white people is very high.
Since the disease has now definitely been con-
nected with the anopheles mosquito, it is pos-
sible for white people to adopt certain measures
( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
against infection. This has somewhat improved
the situation, although it is not always possible
to employ the proper safeguards. Another
very dangerous illness is caused by the bite of
a small tick, and white people have found it
almost impossible not to be infected by this
pestilent insect. Possibly the most dreaded
affection is the sleeping sickness, found mainly
in the Congo basin and in the so-called Uganda
territory. This sickness is caused by a germ
carried by the tsetse fly. Although steps have
been taken to meet this emergency, there will
always be the difficulty of having the remedy
at hand when it is most needed.
The natives of Africa, have, in some meas-
ure, met the situation in various ways. Much
of the treatment given by the witch doctors is,
of course, without significance. On the other
hand, recent investigations have shown that
the natives us a bitter medicine containing
quinine to combat the deadly malaria. They
also know that the mosquito is the bearer of this
sickness, and they take measure to keep them-
selves safe from the bite of the insect. With
regard to many other diseases they have dis-
covered ways of making themselves immune or
partly so, and many centuries of contact with
the specific diseases of their country have
10
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF g*-
hardened the natives to such an extent as to
make them virtually safe from the attacks of
these dread enemies. But the white man com-
ing into the country for the first time is often
not able to meet the situation as successfully,
in spite of the fact that he makes use of every
convenience which medical science has dis-
covered.
Fortunately the higher regions of the in-
terior are both more temperate and more
healthy, so that white people have little trouble
about establishing themselves on these plateaus.
South Africa, that is, the section outside the
tropics, has a climate very agreeable to Euro-
peans, and therefore work in this part of Africa
is not attended by the same discomforts as
elsewhere.
The study of the inhabitants of Africa and
of their languages causes the greatest difficulty.
According to various accounts there are on this
continent more than five hundred distinct
languages to which we must add more than
three hundred dialects. It seems that tribes
living only a few miles apart are unable to
communicate with each other by means of the
spoken language, and are therefore obliged to
use the sign language of the interior, one which
is known throughout the length and breadth
ll
s{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
of Africa and south of the Sudan. All this
makes the classification of Africa's native pop-
ulation extremely difficult. According to one
authority we must distinguish the following
chief divisions of the people now living in
Africa: 1. The Berbers, who are the abor-
igines of the countries along the Mediterranean
Sea and of the Sahara, most of them being
Caucasian in origin and physically of a very
fine type, although their skin is dark; 2. The
Arabs, tribes originally coming from Western
Asia and now constituting a great part of the
population of Egypt and other sections of North
Africa; 3. The Negroes, mainly in the great
Sudan, from the Nile westward to the Atlantic
coast, the purest type being found along the
coast of the Gulf of Guinea, characterized by
receding foreheads, high cheek bones, broad
and flat noses, thick lips, kinky hair, and coal-
black skin ; 4. The Bantu, including practically
all the tribes south of the Equator, the Kaffirs,
the Zulus, the Basutos, the Bechuanas, and
others, closely resembling the Negroes, but with
more regular features, and usually not so black
in color; 5. The Pygmies, the Bushmen, and
the Hottentots, scattered through the Bantu
section of Africa, small in stature, nomadic in
12
ig{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
habits, and lowest in the scale of African
humanity.
In a recent volume by W. C. Willoughby,
which has been called the most authoritative
book on the subject, the inhabitants of Africa
are divided into six great races, which, however,
are so mingled that, though all are distinct in
parts, each is blended with the others in some
parts. These races are as follows: "The
Semite (the Arab and Negroid Arab who has
influenced Africa for at least 2000 years) ; the
Hamite, a tall, sinewy, broad-shouldered, red-
dish-brown, straight-nosed, thin-lipped trader
and wanderer; the Negro, a burly, long-armed,
short-legged, black, woolly-haired, broad- and
flat-nosed man with projecting lips and jaws;
the Bantu, a mixed race (probably a fusion of
Hamites and Negroes) by far the greatest of
the African peoples; the Bushman, a merry,
very primitive, music-loving soul, about five
feet high, slim, sinewy, with broad forehead,
flat nose, and wide mouth and rusty wolly tufty
hair ; and the Hottentot, the real South African
(with a Bushman strain and probably some
Hamitic blood in him) some five feet six
inches tall, ranging in color from tawny to dark
brown, woolly-haired, with broad flat nose and
Negro lips."
13
~gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }
The religions of Africa are another great
problem for any one who wishes to become ac-
quainted with the difficulty of missionary work
on this great continent. One of the greatest
authorities in the field, Dr. C. H. Patton, taking
the total population of Africa as 130,000,000,
makes the estimate that of this number 18,-
000,000 are Pagans, 14,000,000 Mohammedans,
and 10,000,000 Christians. But we must not
forget that these 10,000,000 Christians include
some 7,000,000 members of the Abyssinian,
the Coptic, and the Roman Catholic Church, of
which the former two have decidedly lost their
specific Christian character. Only about 3,-
000,000 of Africa's inhabitants are Protestant
Christians, and therefore the continent chal-
lenges the world with more than 120,000,000
people who do not know the way of salvation
in Christ.
The situation is all the more difficult because
of the nature of Mohammedanism and of the
African Paganism. The outstanding feature
of Mohammedanism is its fanaticism, and while
the religion is no longer spread with fire and
sword, it is the greatest menace to missions in
Africa, its missionaries being extremely active
far beyond the boundaries of the Sudan and
rapidly conquering sections of Africa south of
14
~-sf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }>~
the equator. The Paganism or Fetishism which
is the native religion of a large part of Africa
is a form of Animism or the worship of spirits.
It is a religion of almost unbelievably terrible
darkness. It believes in numerous horrible
demons, and the Pagan native of Africa thinks
of these as surrounding him on every side,
continually seeking to do him injury and to
bring about his death. These demons are sup-
posed to inhabit every object, whether pos-
sessing life or not, plants, trees, rocks, rivers,
reptiles, birds, beasts, and also deceased rela-
tives. To escape the harm wrought by these
evil spirits, the native will resort to various
charms or fetishes, which usually consist of
strangely carved figures or curious natural ob-
jects, such as heads of birds, teeth of lions,
leopards, and serpents, pieces of glass, strange-
ly formed pebbles, human bones and various
other objects, which he wears on his body to
give him protection against the spirits.
The strange religion of Africa has given
rise to a number of horrible practices. It has
undoubtedly led to human sacrifices, in order to
supply the needs, to win the favor, and to avert
the vengeance of the spirits. It has been re-
sponsible for the practice of burying the wives
of a chief with his dead body, as bad as the
sf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
suttee of India. It has even resulted in canni-
balism, of which it is believed that the practice
originated as a sacrificial feast. Above all, this
belief in spirits has caused the practice of
witchcraft and of trials for witchcraft, the
fiendish system which has taken countless lives,
who become victims of the witch doctor's
poisoned cup. One careful observer estimates
that 4,000,000 people have been killed in one
year in the endeavor to discover witches. Some-
times entire districts have been depopulated by
witch trials. No wonder that the same man
makes the following summary concerning the
religious conditions in Africa: "Delicacy per-
mits but the most guarded references to the
revolting brutality and nauseating licentious-
ness which are the legitimate offspring of
Pagan gods and religion. To be consistent with
his perverted conceptions of religion the
African cannot be other than he is. ... The
Pagan African is what he is because of his
religion. . . . The religion of the African
is a religion of terror and hate. In the things
which pertain to God he lives in abysmal dark-
ness. When most religious, he is most fiendish."
So far as mission work in Africa is con-
cerned, it is most remarkable that efforts were
made at a very early date to win sections of the
16
-<$ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
great continent for Christ. Some authorities
believe that the Eunuch of Queen Candace of
Ethiopia established Christianity in the country
south of Egypt. It is certain that the Christian
religion was here established by the fourth
century, the work being usually ascribed to
Frumentius. In Egypt Christianity was estab-
lished before the middle of the first century,
the Evangelist John Mark being named as the
one who founded the first Christian congrega-
tion at Alexandria. By the end of the first
century large parts of Egypt and Lybia had
been Christianized, and the Gospel was grad-
ually carried westward and southwestward as
far as the Atlantic coast, and to the southern
boundary of the Sahara Desert. By the middle
of the fourth century there were hundreds of
bishops in the Christian Church of Africa, and
by 411 the number of Christian bishops from
Northwestern Africa alone, meeting in the city
of Carthage, was 565. All these churches were
swept away when the Mohammedans invaded
Africa between the seventh and the tenth
century.
Modern missions in Africa began in the
southern part, and the most successful work
has been done in the section south of the tropics.
17
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )
Here the names of George Schmidt, Robert
Moffat, David Livingstone, Samuel Crowther,
and others are notable. Every one of these men
is worthy of special notice, and books contain-
ing their biographies will prove of great value
in stimulating missionary interest.
The difference between the conditions in
Africa before and after the coming of the mis-
sionaries is well pictured by Vachel Lindsay in
his poem on the Congo. His description is, in
part, as follows :
"A roaring epic, rag-time tone
From the mouth of the Congo
To the Mountains of the Moon.
Death is an Elephant,
Torch-eyed and horrible,
Foam-flanked and terrible.
BOOM, steal the pigmies,
BOOM, kill the Arabs,
BOOM, kill the white men,
HOO, HOO, HOO. . . .
Then along that river, a thousand miles
The vine-snared tress fell down in files.
Pioneer angels cleared the way
For a Congo paradise, for babes at play,
For sacred capital, for temples clean,
Gone were the skull-faced witch-men lean.
There, where the wild ghost-gods had wailed
A million boats of the angels sailed
18
gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fa-
With oars of silver, and prows of blue
And silken pennants that the sun shone through.
Twas a land transfigured, 'twas a new creation.
Oh, a singing wind swept the negro nation
And on through the backwoods clearing flew:
'Mumbo-Jumbo is dead in the jungle.
Never again will he hoo-doo you.
Never again will he hoo-doo you'."
In the present study we are especially in-
terested in Abyssinia, formerly known as
Ethiopia, where Frumentius labored. We are
told that an Ethiopic translation of the Bible
was completed before the end of the fourth
century. For about ten centuries the religion,
as thus established, spread slowly throughout
the country. At the end of the fifteenth cen-
tury Jesuit missionaries, with the help of
Portuguese soldiers, tried to win over the
Abyssinian Christians to the Roman Catholic
Church, but the attempt was a failure. The
result was the same in 1621, and afterward in
1750. Abyssinian Christianity is a strange
mixture of Christianity, Judaism, and Moham-
medanism, and it is hard to imagine how a
change can be brought about from within. Our
story concerns itself chiefly with a modern
attempt to win Abyssinia for the truth and to
19
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }-
establish mission stations throughout Central
Africa, from the Indian Ocean to the Gulf of
Guinea. For the man who began this work
and whose impetus is felt to this day, was John
Ludwig Krapf .
20
CHAPTER II
THE EARLY TRAINING OF KRAPF
CHAPTER II
THE EARLY TRAINING OF KRAPF
John Ludwig Krapf, pathfinder and pio-
neer among the explorer-missionaries of Africa,
was born at Derendingen, near Tuebingen, on
January 11, 1810. This was just three years
before another great explorer-missionary was
born, namely David Livingstone, and it is a
remarkable fact that Henry M. Stanley became
acquainted with both of these missionaries in
the Dark Continent. The little village of
Derendingen is located in the foothill district
of the Schwarzwald, or Black Forest, one of the
most beautiful sections of Wurttemberg. His
people were farmers, his father being regarded
as wealthy. Incidentally he was most interested
in giving his son as good an education as he
could afford.
When John Ludwig had finished the village
school, he was sent on to the Latin school at
Tuebingen. He was then only thirteen years
of age, and the grammar school interested him
greatly, as well as the classical languages, Latin
and Greek, with which he became acquainted in
this school. But his greatest interest was in
maps and geography. While other boys pre-
ferred to read stories or to play games, little
23
gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
Ludwig would be sitting in some corner poring
over a precious map which some teacher had
given him, and he was soon acquainted with
every continent, especially by the water routes.
He often played a game with himself, according
to which he would visit some foreign country,
starting out from one of the harbors of Ger-
many and then making the voyage through the
various bodies of water. He knew the chief
harbors of the world so thoroughly that he was
able to tell just what kind of shipments one
might expect from any one of them. He became
acquainted with a book of geographical descrip-
tion by Bruce, the title of which was "Journeys
in Abyssinia." This he devoured with a great
deal of concentration, so that he was familiar
with every part of the African country long
before he ever thought of visiting Abyssinia in
the capacity of missionary.
At the age of fourteen Ludwig expressed
the decided wish to become a captain of a great
ocean ship, and thus see other countries. His
father was ready enough to entertain this sug-
gestion, but when he made further inquiries
concerning the expenses connected with naval
training, he found that he would, after all, not
be able to help his boy in gaining his heart's
desire, and so the idea had to be given up.
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )-
It was about at this time that a peculiar
incident turned the thoughts of the boy to the
work of the missionary. The head master of
the school in Tuebingen one day read to his
boys a pamphlet on missionary work and on
the spread of Christianity among the heathen.
The pupils were afterwards to embody the chief
points of this pamphlet in an essay. Ludwig
had never before heard anything about mis-
sions, but the earnest appeal made by this
teacher so impressed him that he began to think
about becoming a missionary.
When young Krapf had finished this work
at the grammar school, the question was natur-
ally raised what he wished to study next, upon
entering the university. The discussion turned
to medicine and to law. But the boy stated
that he preferred theology, his only fear being
that he could not pass in Hebrew. Meanwhile
he had been asking himself a very serious
question, one which young people in any teach-
ing position might well ask themselves, "How
can I think of teaching others when I know
so little of my Savior myself?" Thereupon he
made up his mind to begin a very careful and
systematic study of the Bible. All this served
to keep him in contact with the Church and its
work, and there can be no doubt that he was
25
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }
a true Christian at that time. More and more
the determination grew in him to become a
foreign missionary, to bring the Gospel to
people who had never yet heard of their Savior.
When young Krapf was seventeen years old,
he went to Basel, in Switzerland, to be trained
as missionary. In many respects the choice of
this school was to be commended very highly.
As early as 1780 there had been an organization
in Basel which had in mind the encouragement
of pure doctrine and of true piety. Among the
publications of this organization was a little
paper or periodical called "Collection for Lovers
of Christian Truth," and the purpose of the
little magazine was to bring reports from the
foreign mission field, in order to awaken the
interest of its readers for work in heathen
countries. At first all the gifts for missions
were sent to Halle, Herrnhut, and London, but
in 1815 Blumhardt and Spittler, who had been
the secretaries of the organization, founded a
school for the training of mission workers. At
this time the institution did not yet send out
missionaries.
In 1816 these indefatigable workers
founded the "Magazine for Missions" of Basel,
in which they reported on the mission work of
the day in every part of the world. So clear,
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF g*
thorough, and interesting were the reports
made in this manner, that gifts came in not
only from every part of Switzerland and Wurt-
temberg, but also from the most distant parts of
Germany. Many mission societies were formed
in cities and villages, and the interest in the
work grew by leaps and bounds. In consequence
of this awakened interest a great many young
men who where interested in foreign missions,
came to Basel, in order to be trained for their
great vocation. While the institute was not
confessional and did not offer a complete semi-
nary training, it did much to arouse the interest
of its students, and the practical side of the
training was distinctly valuable.
In this school Ludwig Krapf soon felt at
home. The rules of the school were very severe,
and in some ways they were not altogether
wise. In keeping with the pietistic trend which
was found in the school, the reading of all
literature of the so-called mystics was forbid-
den. The chances are that a tactful explanation
of the reason for this prohibition might have
kept the students from reading this literature.
But since such explanation was not given, the
natural result was that many of the students,
including also Ludwig Krapf, were eager to find
out just what mysticism offered.
27
g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
One can readily see that the study of this
field would appeal to the young man in the
circumstances in which he found himself. For
mysticism, in the sense in which we use it here,
is applied to that state of mind according to
which some people have been said to become
spiritually, and even physically, united with
the Godhead. People who are given to this
strange form of religious ecstasy insist that
they have practically lost their physical being
when engaged in thinking about the beauty of
God. They have stated that they were com-
pletely submerged in the divine being, that they
received revelations beyond experience of men,
and that they were directly inspired by God.
Wherever there is a state of pietism, or wher-
ever people have been influenced by pietism,
they have readily yielded to some form of
mysticism, feeling themselves united with God
or with Christ and being filled with the most
extravagant ecstasy. The experiences of people
in such states have been dictated by them to
others, or have been written out by them in
various volumes, this literature having a pecu-
liar appeal for men and women, and especially
young people, who are not sound in their belief
in the objective relation of the Word of God.
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }
Such was the literature which Ludwig
Krapf began to study. The mystical writings
of a certain Madame Guyon and of the German,
Jacob Boehme, finally so filled his mind that he
felt he could not with a good conscience remain
any longer in the institution at Basel, which
was conducted at the expense of the mission.
When he reached his decision, as he himself
stated because he was convinced of his inner
unworthiness and inability to take up the call
of a missionary, he was honest enough to lay
before the school authorities the reasons for his
decision. And so he left the school in 1829,
two years after he had entered it. The ex-
perience which he thus had, unfortunate though
it was at the time, undoubtedly had its value in
the training of Ludwig Krapf, and his practical
mind soon got away from the tendencies which
were suggested by the forbidden literature.
He now returned to Tuebingen, and once
more faced the question as to the training which
he wanted to take up at that time. The Univer-
sity at Tuebingen in those days had an ex-
cellent reputation. The school had been founded
in 1477, by Count Eberhard, the purpose being,
as its charter puts it, "To help dig the founda-
tion of life, out of which consoling and saving
wisdom might be drawn from all ends of the
29
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }
world, for the quenching of the destructive fire
of human lack of reason and blindness." The
institution in its early years, had been strength-
ened by the addition of another similar organ-
ization which had been located at Sindelfingen.
During the century of the Reformation the
University engaged the teaching of such men
as Camerarius and Brenz. As a result of their
labors the first building of the institution had
to be enlarged, in the year 1560. Since that
time the University of Tuebingen had been
known for its conservative theology, although
the influence of pietism became strong during
the second half of the seventeenth century. On
the whole, the institution was still evangelical
in its general character when Krapf entered,
although some of the teachers then in office later
became known for their critical position over
against the Bible.
It seems that the impression gained during
his stay at Basel kept Ludwig Krapf from ac-
cepting statements concerning the Bible which
did not agree with his earlier high opinion of
the inspired Word. He passed his University
examination with good success, and in 1834
finished the course in theology.
Meanwhile his thoughts had often turned
to mission work, for he could not get rid of his
3U
-~if JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }
interest in foreign countries and in the great
needs of pagans in every part of the world. All
this was once more brought home to him when
a cousin of his, bearing the same name, entered
the missionary institute at'Basel. Nevertheless
the young candidate for the ministery deter-
mined to take up the work of preaching in his
home country, after he had occupied the posi-
tion of tutor not far from his home town. His
argument was that he would be able to carry
on work similar to that which his cousin would
take up in non-Christian lands. Evidently he
was not yet firmly decided ; his mind was still in
a state of uncertainty. He accepted a call to a
charge at Wolfenhausen, where the neglected
condition of his parish and the work which he
was obliged to do once more called his attention
to conditions where the Gospel had never been
heard. He began his work earnestly enough
and seems to have been faithful in the discharge
of his duties. But that he was still thinking of
the foreign work is apparent from a letter
which he wrote at this time. The following
statements reveal to us just what he thought
of the situation about the year 1835. He wrote :
"The inducements to mission work appear to
me in a new light. In the needs of my congre-
gation I recognized those of non-Christians in
31
g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]--
a measure which affected me very deeply; in
their sorrow I recognized the wretchedness of
the heathen; the cry for help from my own
congregation seemed an echo from heathen
lands. The grace which I myself enjoyed, and
which I commended to my own people was, I
felt, for the heathen as well, but there may be
no one to proclaim it to them. In this country
every one may without difficulty find the way
to life; in those lands there may be no one to
show the way. Here, in almost every house the
Holy Scriptures may be found; there, the
Scriptures are only scantily distributed. This
seems to me a powerful incentive to think
seriously of missionary work."
The crisis came in 1836. At this time Krapf
met a missionary by the name of Fjellstedt.
At about the same time certain utterances
which he made from his pulpit gave offense to
the church authorities, and he was told that he
must give up his charge at Wolfenhausen. At
about the same time, also, the secretary of the
Church Missionary Society of England made
a trip to southern Germany, and also to Basel.
His purpose was to look for young men as
recruits for his society, since the Basel Mission
Institute, in the early days, supplied quite a
few missionaries to that great English society.
32
-i{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPP
We regret exceedingly that the truth was not
completely upheld in many of the transactions
of this kind, although we recognize fully the
great value of the work done by some of these
staunch workers in the mission fields. For
among men who at that time went out into
heathen countries were workers like Pfaender,
whose work concerned missions among the
Mohammedans, Schoen, who worked in the
tropics of Western Africa, and Klein, who was
a pioneer missionary in Northern Africa.
Krapf met the secretary of this society, and as
a result he once more entered the mission in-
stitute, if he had not even before this made
application for admission, and in the following
year he entered the service of the society. It
so happened that a former student of the mission
institute at Basel had been selected by the
Church Missionary Society to go to Abyssinia,
but he had died in the meantime, and so Krapf
was asked if he would go instead. Since he was
now stronger in every respect and better equip-
ped for the work than ever, he declared his
willingness to go wherever his services might
be needed, and so John Ludwig Krapf received
his commission as missionary to Abyssinia, in
Northeastern Africa. This was early in 1837.
33
CHAPTER III
THE FIRST YEARS IN AFRICA
CHAPTER III
THE FIRST YEARS IN AFRICA
Abyssinia was our missionary's goal, and it
seemed fortunate that he had, on account of
his youthful interest in this country, gathered
so much information concerning it. Undoubt-
edly he looked forward to some wonderful ex-
periences in this country, for it is a land of
strange and interesting contrasts. The most
outstanding physical features of the country
are those of its vast series of table lands. These
plateaus are themselves of great elevation, and
from them rise numerous ranges of high and
rugged mountains, some of them of very singu-
lar forms, and strewn over the surface of the
country in apparently the wildest confusion.
Some of the most remarkable and loftiest sum-
mits occur in the center of the northern part
of the country. The Ras Dashan is more than
15,000 feet high, and is capped with perpetual
snow. Other mountains, like Abba Yared and
Buahit, are said to be even higher. Along the
entire eastern side of the country, where it
borders on Eritrea and on French and British
Somaliland, extends a mountain range or es-
87
-- ig{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }*>-
carpment forming a natural barrier or rampart,
with an average elevation of seven to eight
thousand feet for a distance of some six hun-
dred miles. No volcanoes are known to exist
at present, but there are many evidences of
volcanic action in the past. From the moun-
tains flow inexhaustible supplies of water,
which pour down into the deep canyons and
ravines of the country, thereby giving to the
plains and valleys of the lowlands a wonderful
fertility, rich in the most valuable products of
the soil. The principal river of Abyssinia is
the Tacazze (Takkazye), which flows through
the northern part of the country. The Blue
Nile has its origin in Lake Tsana. This river
is called the Abbay in its upper portion. In the
earlier part of their courses, as long as the
rivers of Abyssinia are flowing over the com-
paratively level surface of the table lands, they
are not much more than -muddy brooks, almost
disappearing in the dry season. But during
the rains they overflow their banks and set the
plains for miles under water.
From the sea level to a height of about 3,000
feet the plants are mainly tropical; from that
point to a little more than a mile in height the
subtropical plants are found ; and between
6,000 and 9,000 feet high the vegetation of
38
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fa-
temperate climates is everywhere in evidence,
the principal grains being wheat, barley, maize,
and teff . Of the last grain two crops are ob-
tained yearly, the seed being sown in one field,
while harvesting is going on in the next.
Among other vegetable products of the country
may be mentioned ebony, coffee, gum, balsam,
incense, and various medicinal plants.
The description of some travellers a few
years ago will be of value in understanding the
topography of Abyssinia and the character of
its inhabitants. Speaking of the great plateau
of the country, one of them says : "The plateau
over which we were to travel for the next two
months slopes upwards from the low plains of
the Sudan, rising gradually higher and higher
until the extreme eastern edge is reached. At
this point the plateau breaks abruptly into a
great escarpment, the first drop of which is
one of fully 5,000 feet. Its surface is cut by
streams, the larger of which flow through
canyons of great extent and of forbidding
depths. The aspect of the country is extremely
mountainous, and the canyons present great
difficulties to the traveller. They necessitate
either very hazardous descents and climbs or
detours of many miles, in either case much
39
~g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )s
time being lost. The trails, as far as possible,
follow the high ground."
The people of Abyssinia present one of the
greatest problems to the student of ethnog-
raphy. In the northwest we find tribes who are
of Caucasian stock, with some mixture of
Nubian tribes which were driven to this country
in early times. Farther south are the Falashas,
who profess a somewhat ancient form of
Judaism, and may be descendants of some
Jews who settled in southern Egypt before
the Christian era. In addition there are
some Hamitic tribes, most of whom have been
under the rule of Semites with whom they have
mingled to some extent. To the southwest are
the Amharas, whose language is used in litera-
ture, as well as in commerce and diplomacy.
The larger part of the southern section of
Abyssinia is occupied by the Gallas, a powerful
tribe with whom our missionary became well
acquainted.
Of course Ludwig Krapf was familiar not
only with the general description of the country,
but he was also fully aware of the strange re-
ligion which he would find in Abyssinia. As
we learned in Chapter I, Christianity was in-
troduced into the country at an early date, but
it was soon mixed with other religions and lost
-~gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fr-
its purity. One of its characteristic doctrines
is the so-called Monophysite teaching, which
denies the human nature of Christ. The whole
aspect of its Christianity has now been changed
to the mixture of Judaism, Christianity, Mo-
hammedanism, together with pagan customs.
The churches, usually small and poorly con-
structed, are arranged in a manner similar to
that of the Jewish temple. The Virgin Mary
is regarded very highly, and the number of
saints is large.
The same traveller who has given us a pen
picture of the general aspect of Abyssinia also
describes certain religious features and customs
of the country with which he became acquainted
during his stay. We read in his account: "I
visited the two churches at Ankober, which
stood in the approximate center of the country.
The first was quite new, the decorations being
unfinished at the time. The typical church
building of Abyssinia is circular, but this one
was a many-sided structure. In all churches
of this type the central part of the building is
occupied by a second circular structure con-
taining many sacred objects and books. During
church services the priest performed their
ceremony in this inner structure, the public
being admitted only to the corridor which
41
# JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )--
encircles it. The floor of the corridor is usually
covered with a sweet-smelling grass which is
fragrant even when dry. This building evi-
dently superseded an older one, since two kings
were buried within a few yards of it.
"The second church, on the other side of
Ankober Hill, was one of the most interesting
that I found in the entire country. It may have
been a hundred years old; it was circular in
form, and it was decorated in the most gaudy
of modern Ethiopian paintings. The outer wall
of the inner sanctuary was covered with a great
many paintings representing Biblical scenes, at
least in part. But it must be confessed that the
artist includes Abyssinian history and added a
few fancies of his own. The colors were the
brightest that can be gotten from aniline dyes.
They were assembled rather than mixed, and
as a collection of pigments the work was a huge
success. Beside the Biblical scenes there were
processions of Ethiopian kings, ocean sail boats
without any apparent purpose, and, in one case,
a cannibal sitting before a human body care-
fully cut apart for his meal. Before the doors
leading into the sanctuary were the ceremonial
drums,one of these being of silver . . . An
aged priest escorted me through the building,
and at the conclusion of the tour I presented
g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
a small donation to the church. There followed
a scene which afterwards became familiar to
me, but which was at that time quite novel.
He stopped me and all the natives nearby and
offered a long series of prayers for my safe
return to my country."
We also have descriptions of the great
Abyssinian festivals, just as they have been
conducted for many centuries, and as Krapf
saw them, partly to his great disgust. Almost
a hundred miles north of Ankober is the town
of Lalibela, which is known as the Jerusalem
of Ethiopia. Of this town a recent traveller
says : "Our visit to Lalibela was the most in-
teresting single incident of our trip. It seems
unbelievable that a city which is so important
in the religious life of a country could be so
little known, for it is, in a way, the religious
center of Abyssinia, to which also all the pil-
grims of the Amharas regularly come.
"The Christmas celebrations are the climax
of the Coptic pageantry of Ethiopia, and thou-
sands of believers come from the various prov-
inces, camping about the hills until every avail-
able site is occupied . . . When we arrived
near Lalibela thousands of pilgrims were
gathered before the villages and the high priest
awaited us on the open hillside, with scores of
43
e( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fr~-
his priests as a background, all of them dressed
in their most elaborate costumes blue, red,
purple, and other colored cloth embroidered in
gold. Gold and silver crosses of large size
abounded and there were dozens of bright
colored parasols with gold fringes. After the
preliminary songs, greetings, and prayers for
our safety were over, the priests danced for us,
as their predecessors probably did in Palestine
before the Christian era.
"Lalibela's Christmas morning came. The
festivities began early. The crowds had as-
sembled long before we arrived, but space was
reserved for us on the wall of the partitions
surrounding Mascali Jesus, the church where
the celebration was to take place. The pro-
cession of priests, dancing and singing, was to
encircle the wall, while a second detachment
marched through the tightly packed courtyard
about the church. Of the 30,000 pilgrims who
came to see the rites not more than 1,000 were
able to see them all, though the lines of
encircling priests must have been visible from
all parts of the village. When the procession
started, the walls where the priests were to go
were jammed with spectators. At the head of
the procession marched three young men carry-
44
-<e{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fa-
ing long leather whips, with which they cleared
the way.
"The people could do little more than move
back closely to the walls, as there were court-
yards of other churches behind them. They did
pack themselves solidly, and the procession
slowly advanced, stopping for minutes at a
time when songs were sung and dances were
performed. The costumes were even more
gorgeous than on the day of our arrival. Every
costume in the possession of the churches was
worn by some one, and every sacred object was
carried out for the public to look upon. The
procession took fully two hours to encircle the
church.
"When the music stopped I made hasty
adieus and rushed to my mules to get out of
town ahead of the crowd. Thirty thousand
Abyssinians had the same idea. We had sent
our caravan on ahead, and we galloped down
the mountainside after it, catching up after
about three hours. We passed many more
people than it seemed possible could have been
in the town. With a glass I watched others as
they came, like ants, swarming along every
road leaving Lalibela. In the afternoon there
was an occasional break in the lines, and these
interruption grew more frequent toward
45
-{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
night. Occasionally lepers stopped to beg.
Usually they were on muleback, since it was
the custom to mount the sufferers when they
could no longer walk. Hundreds of people
camped beside us that night, and for days we
saw them on the road, but most of them soon
outstripped us, since they travelled light."
Such were the conditions which Krapf faced,
as he well knew even before he left Germany.
It was on February 6, 1837, that Ludwig Krapf
said farewell to his native land. He travelled
by way of Marseilles and Malta to Alexandria
in Egypt. At this point he took a river boat
to Cairo, where he wanted to gain further in-
formation concerning routes and equipment for
the continuation of his journey. Leaving Cairo
he went eastward to Suez at the head of the
gulf of the same name. Here he found a boat,
on which he took passage for Massowa, an
island off the coast of Eritrea, and the logical
starting-point for Abyssinia.
He had arrived in Alexandria in April, and
in Cairo he had gotten his first glimpse of
Africa's great curse at that time, the slave
trade. In the slave market he found the poor
creatures from the interior lying on the bare
earth, without the slightest pretense at comfort.
By day they had to faint in the burning rays
46
tg{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]g~
of the sun ; at night they were placed in a stable
without any covering except, at the most, a few
rags around their loins. There they lay, young
and old of either sex, often in unspeakable filth
and misery, to be examined by buyers like
cattle. That their could not even be the faintest
pretense at morality under such conditions may
easily be imagined.
This first experience of slavery gave Krapf
a new impulse to do everything in his power for
the spread of the Gospel in the Dark Continent,
as the most effective remedy for the miseries
of its people. As he travelled from Suez to
Massowa and met further sights of a similar
nature, he was most deeply affected, while his
determination to continue his missionary labors
was strengthened from day to day. Leaving
Massowa as soon as possible, he travelled to the
highlands of Abyssinia, joining Isenberg and
Blumhardt, at Adoa (Adua, Adowah) . It was
the hope of these three men that their united
labors would bring new life to the Abyssinian
Church, so that there would be a reformation
and a purification, whereby it would become a
missionary church. As was to be expected, the
priests of the Coptic Church were not at all
interested in having their customs and their
religion changed. All the pleading of Krapf
47
g JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
and his companions availed them nothing, for
priestly jealousy so influenced the ruling prince
as to cause him to issue an order that the mis-
sionaries were to leave his territory at once
and go back to their own land.
Since the work in northern Abyssinia
seemed to be definitely stopped, Krapf now re-
solved to make an attempt in the southern part
of the country, in the province of Shoa. But a
sudden illness compelled him to return to Cairo
for a short time. After a time he made a second
attempt to reach Shoa, arriving there in June,
1839. Isenberg was with him at this time, but
he returned to Egypt in a few months, leaving
Krapf to labor alone. Although the king of
this province now favored his work, the pro-
gress in Shoa was very slow and discouraging.
As a matter of fact, the tribe of the Gallas, who
lived somewhat south of Shoa seemed to be
more ready to accept the Gospel than the
nominal Christians of Abyssinia.
After about two years of work, Krapf was
again compelled to leave the field of his labors,
since there seemed to be no hope for the future.
It was not that he was entirely discouraged, for
he himself writes at that time that he could
never stand before the judgment throne of God,
if he would not make an earnest effort to bring
48
8( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fy-
the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its purity to
this part of Africa.
It seems strange that the faithful work of
Krapf was not viewed with any degree of favor
by the more intelligent men of Abyssinia, and
that he did not receive stronger support in his
ventures from the men who had encouraged
him to make the great sacrifice. Nevertheless
he occasionally found a bit of satisfaction in
hearing that missionaries in other parts of the
world were received in an entirely different
fashion, sometimes almost with eagerness, and
that their work was appreciated. Thus we find
that a heathen made the following statement
about the work of the missionaries :
"I have watched the missionaries, and I have
seen what they are. What have they come to
this country for? What tempts them to leave
their parents, their friends, and their country,
and to come to this, to them, unhealthy clime?
Is it for gain or profit that they come? Some
of us, country clerks in government offices, re-
ceive larger salaries than they. Is it for an
easy life? See how they work and then tell me.
Look at this missionary ! He came here a few
years ago, leaving all, and seeking only our
good. He was met with cold looks and suspi-
cious glances, and he was shunned and ma-
49
g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
ligned. He sought to talk with us of what he
told us was the matter of most importance in
heaven and earth, but we would not listen.
.... Now what is it that makes him do all
this for us? It is his Bible ! I have looked into
it a good deal, at one time or another, in the
different languages I chance to know it is just,
the same in all languages. The Bible f There
is nothing to compare with it, in all our sacred
books, for goodness, and purity, and holiness,
and love, and for motives of action. Where did
the English people get all their intelligence and
energy and cleverness and power? It is their
Bible that gives it to them. And now they
bring it to us and say, 'That is what raised us ;
take it and raise yourselves.' They do not force
it upon us, as did the Mohammedans with their
Koran, but they bring it in love, and translate
it into our languages, and lay it before us and
say, 'Look at it, read it, examine it, and see if
it is not good.' Of one thing I am convinced ;
do what we will, oppose it as we may, it is the
Christian's Bible that will, sooner or later, work
the regeneration of our land."
50
CHAPTER IV
THROUGH DEPTHS OF SORROW
CHAPTER IV
THROUGH DEPTHS OF SORROW
Krapf's first work in Abyssinia had prac-
tically been without results. While the king of
this province was at that time not opposed to
the work of the missionaries, the priests of the
Coptic Church succeeded without much trouble
in having their people ignore the missionaries
or in making their work impossible. When
Krapf left Shoa, he had two objectives in mind.
He had been given to understand that two
further missionaries had been commissioned to
join him, having now arrived on the Abyssinian
coast. His second reason for leaving Shoa at
this time was to meet his future wife in Egypt.
Due to various circumstances, Krapf made the
journey down to the coast on foot, which was
in itself a very hazardous undertaking, because
the roads down the eastern escarpment in all
parts of Abyssinia are steep and dangerous.
But Krapf, with his customary energy, suc-
ceeded in making his way down to the place
where he hoped to find his fellow missionaries.
He suffered from robbery, from hunger, and
from the fatigues of travel, all of which left
53
-- g( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
him undaunted. But when he arrived at his
destination on the coast, expecting to find
Muehleisen and Mueller there, he learned that
these. two men had returned to Egypt. They
did not possess the undaunted spirit of Krapf,
but were like John Mark on Paul's first mis-
sionary journey, for we are told that this young
man also forsook Paul and Barnabas when they
were facing the perils of a mountain journey
through a hostile country, returning to the com-
forts to which he had become accustomed.
Under the circumstances, and quite apart from
his private concerns, Krapf found it necessary
to visit Egypt, in order that he might, if possi-
ble, bring back the two brethren who had fled
from the difficulties of their position.
Men who have been missionaries in foreign
countries for many years have remarked that
this feature is the most difficult part of the
work. It seems more a mental state than an
actual facing of dangers. Young men arriving
in the field find conditions different from those
to which they have been accustomed at home.
It does not necessarily follow that these condi-
tions are less bearable than those to which they
have been accustomed all their lives, but it is
the novelty of the situation which opposes them.
If they once overcome the natural timidity
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
caused by the situation and fit themselves into
new conditions, the result is usually very favor-
able to their successful work in the mission.
In fact, many a young missionary, and many a
young wife of a missionary, having once ad-
justed themselves to conditions as they find
them, have enjoyed their work immensely, and
not in the sense of a personal sacrifice either.
The fact that Krapf was to meet the woman
who had promised to become his helper in the
great work caused his spirits to be buoyant
and his mind to become even more keen and
eager than usual. His marriage was frankly
undertaken in the interest of his work, for he
found that he could hardly do justice to certain
features of his missionary labors unless he had
a wife by his side. Rosine Dietrich had been
engaged to another missionary by the name of
Kuehnlein, but this man had died at Marseilles
in 1837. Krapf had never seen her, but he had
every reason to believe that she was full of
courage and devotion to the cause. For this
reason he wrote to her quite frankly, explain-
ing the circumstances and appealing to her to
join him in the great work. Miss Dietrich
looked upon the entire situation in the same
light as Krapf, and therefore agreed to meet
him in Egypt. Accordingly they were married
55
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
in Alexandria, in September 1841, and Rosine
Dietrich proved to be a loving, faithful, and
steady helpmeet in all the difficulties and dan-
gers of his career. Here name may well be
placed beside some of the other great women in
the annals of missions, such as Isabella Tho-
burn, Irene Petrie, Eliza Agnew, Ann Hassel-
tine Judson, Rebecca Wakefield, Mary Slessor,
Pandita Ramabai, and many others.
It was after but a short furlough that Krapf
and his wife set their faces southward to return
to the field of labor which the Lord had given
them. Just what it meant to travel through
this section of Africa, up the Nile and into the
wilderness, at that time, may be seen from an
account which speaks in a very vivid way of the
difficulties which beset the traveller. We read
of a journey through this section of Africa:
"After the first five days up the Nile we ap-
proached the big game country. Hundreds of
hippos splashed in the shallows of the river.
Whenever we rounded a bend in the river we
were apt to see dozens of pink noses and pig-
like faces turn toward us. They would sink
almost immediately, then rise and peek at us;
then sink again, rise and shake the water out
of their ears and eyes, and peek and sink once
more. One frolicsome fellow hurled himself
56
-( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]
clear of the water and dove like a fish. Con-
sidering his bulk this was no bad show of
agility. And as for ourselves, we became more
and more convinced that shooting these fat and
inquisitive animals could not be called hunting.
"Water bucks, gazelles, and antelopes dotted
the landscape. There was an infinite variety
of horned animals. On every bank we saw
crocodiles sunning themselves, lazy, deliberate
fellows, who reminded us of pre-historic mon-
sters. They were twice as large as our imagi-
nation had pictured them beforehand, and when
we ran across them farther inland, they stood
up on really long legs and wabbled away with
a good deal of speed. When they were near
the water, they slid in with scarcely a splash.
We saw storks and cranes, herons and hawks
and eagles, and many varieties of ducks,
pelicans, and scores of other birds for which
we had no name. All day long flights or birds
were passing overhead, and feathered conven-
tions were assembling along the shores.
"The country so far was flat and dotted with
trees. The soil was black and rich, and the
natives evidently lived an easy life. No one
has yet found a plan by which the native
Africans may be induced to work. They seem
to wish for nothing that is not free and under
57
-if JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
their hands. They wear practically no clothing,
live in grass and mud huts, and find amuse-
ments in hunting, fishing, singing, frolicking
about, and decorating their bodies. They have
evolved a school of arts and decoration for the
human body which certainly excites wonder.
The variations are so plentiful as to amaze the
newcomer to the country. They wear teeth and
bone bracelets, metal anklets and nose rings,
curious amulets and charms, and odd bits
carved from ivory. Meanwhile the land and
civilization languish.
"I never saw so many nor such a variety of
insects. We observed two or three families of
mosquitoes ; white ants, black ants, red ants, and
flying ants ; spiders from the size of a pin head
to the size of a dollar; large green flies, cattle
flies, horse flies, and other flies ; gnats and sand
flies which were so small that they could easily
pass through a mosquito net, when they
promptly burrowed in one's flesh ; dragon flies,
big buzzers, aeroplane stingers and darning
needles on wings ; gnats and ticks and a dozen
varities of grasshoppers. They blew in from
the marshes and covered the decks and us.
There was no way to keep them off except by
wearing puttees or riding boots; in addition
one had to wear gloves and keep his face
58
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
covered with a heavy veil. The natives did not
bother to any extent. At night they held a
torch over a hole in the ground. The light
promptly attracted thousands of flying ants,
which were scorched an then dropped in. When
the hole was filled, the feast began, for the
natives ate the insects.
"We passed still farther up the river into
the high grass country, in whose swamps grow
the papyrus grasses from which the writing
material of the ancient Egyptians was made.
These papyrus thickets once blocked the channel
of the Nile and made navigation impossible.
To this day great islands break away from the
banks and occasionally obstruct the channel.
"In this high grass we encountered a herd
of some twelve wild elephants, within thirty
yards of the boat. Then we found out how fast
an elephant can travel. When they saw our
boat they lifted their trunks and started to
amble off in a leisurely fashion. Within a few
minutes they were mere specks on the horizon.
Hunters do not dare to go after these big beasts
in this region, for if wounded the elephant may
charge, and when this happens it is advisable
to have solid footing or some substantial place
of refuge.
"Going up the Nile is an adventure in nav-
59
-- ig[ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
igation, for there are numerous sandbars, and
between trips they change from one side of the
river to the other. Once a day, at least, we ran
aground solidly, although our boat drew only
four feet of water. They we would churn the
water back, go forward, turn left, turn right,
and after a certain length of time the soft
mud would be ironed out and we would be free
to go forward again. Once or twice a day we
ran directly into the bank while attempting to
make a short turn. In this part of its course
the Nile winds a good deal, and to hold the
channel we would keep to the extreme outside
of each bend. There the water was deeper
perhaps. When we reached a native village we
simply plowed into the mud and put out a gang
plank."
Krapf and his wife, together with Isenberg
and Muehleisen, were fully determined to get
back to the province of Shoa. Mrs. Krapf was
not in the least daunted by the prospect of
spending her life among the rude people of
Shoa, nor did she flinch from the dangers of
the way. But the party found it, after all, im-
possible to return to Shoa, for when they ar-
rived at Tajurrah (Tajara) in French Somali-
land, they received a message from the ruler
of Shoa forbidding Krapf to enter his domin-
60
( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }>-
ions. This act, like the expulsion from Adoa,
was due to priestly interference. Isenberg and
Muehleisen now traveled back to Massowa,
their intention being to reach Gondar, the old
Portuguese city in northern Abyssinia. Krapf
and his wife now went to Aden, at the southern
end of the peninsula of Arabia. They had no
intention of retreating without first making one
more supreme effort to get into Abyssinia from
the south. If nothing else, Krapf wanted to
reach the land of the Gallas, for it had seemed
to him that there was a little more chance of
interesting these people than those in the north-
ern provinces. But this proved to be imprac-
ticable, so he determined to follow his two
fellow laborers, and he was careful to take along
with him a number of copies of the Ethiopic
and Amharic Scriptures, so that he might at
least, by spreading the Bible in the language of
the people, do what he could for the spiritual
welfare of Abyssinia. Crossing the Red Sea
once more, he landed at Massowa, and he and
his wife began their journey to the interior, in
company with a trading caravan, their destina-
tion being the province of Tigre, in northwestern
Abyssinia. Mrs. Krapf would not think of
leaving the side of her husband, although she
was in delicate health, and although she knew
61
$ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF jg-
that they were to pass through some rough and
desolate country. As a matter of fact, their
journey took them through a great sand plain,
with only here and there a clump of trees, the
great Shoho Desert. As they proceeded on their
way, the great waste space came together in a
rocky defile through which ran a river. At this
point Mrs. Krapf , overcome by the heat and the
fatigue of the way, prematurely gave birth to a
daughter having no medical aid, or even the
assistance of one of her own sex. The baby
lived but one hour, but it was at once baptized
by its father, who gave it the name Gneba
(Eneba), which means tears. The little one
was buried that same evening at the foot of a
tree close to their traveling tent, the father
conducting the funeral service in the Amharic
language. It was only by the greatest effort
that Krapf succeeded in obtaining three days
rest for the young mother, for the wild Shoho
tribesmen, with whom they were travelling, in-
sisted on continuing their journey, and so she
was hurried along with the caravan. Moreover
it was only by giving the Shoho men a cow and
a dollar a day that Krapf could persuade them
to remain for even such a short while.
And, after all, their journey was in vain,
as was the mother's sacrifice, for when they
62
gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPP }*
reached the boundary of Tigre, Isenberg and
Muehleisen met them with the distressing news
that the ruler of Tigre had adopted the same
policy as the prince of Shoa, definitely forbid-
ding the Europeans to enter his territory. Thus
every attempt to establish the Gospel in Abys-
cinia was frustrated. The door was closed at
Adoa in the north and at Ankober and Shoa in
the south, while they could not reach Gondar,
the place where Europeans had lived for more
than a century. But even then Krapf did not
lose heart. His faith rose above all discourage-
ment, and he wrote home in the following deter-
mined declaration : "Abyssinia will not soon
again enjoy the time of grace she has so shame-
fully slighted. Meanwhile we will not cease to
pray for that unfortunate land, especially com-
mending to the Lord the many copies of His
precious Word, that He would bless them and
make them witnesses of His truth. It is a con-
solation to us and to dear friends of the mission
to know that over eight thousand copies of the
Scriptures have found their way into Abys-
sinia. They will not all be lost or remain with-
out a blessing. . . . Faith speaks thus:
Though every mission should disappear in a
single day and leave not a trace behind, I would
still cleave to mission work with my prayers,
63
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
my labors, my gifts, with my body and soul;
for there is the command of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and where that is there is also His
promise and His final victory."
The Krapfs now returned to Aden and,
without losing further time, made preparations
for an expedition into the country of the Gallas
proper, at that time barely tributary to the
Abyssinian princes. Krapf understood the
language of this tribe, and felt that he would
surely have success if he undertook to preach
the Gospel in their midst. They sailed in an
Arab vessel in November 1843. But strong
headwinds and a heavy sea compelled them to
return to harbor. It seemed as though the
forces of nature were leagued against them.
Their boat sprang a leak in the storm, and they
barely kept themselves afloat by baling with
the saucepans and bowls with which Mrs. Krapf
intended to start housekeeping. When they
reached the entrance to the harbor of Aden, the
land wind drove the vessel back toward the open
sea. There was no use trying to launch the
lifeboat, for it could not carry twenty-five per-
sons in a rough sea. When they were in the
utmost extremity, and Krapf and his wife had
retired to the small cabin for a last prayer to-
gether, another boat hove in sight, and Krapf
64
gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }>-
asked its captain to take them on board. This
he at first declined to do, and it was only by
promises and threats that Krapf at last induced
him to take him and his companions off the
sinking vessel. No sooner had they been trans-
ferred than their own boat capsized, and after
a half hour it sank. So they were once more in
Aden.
It was then that Krapf carried out a com-
mission to go to East Africa and begin work
in that section of the continent. It was only
eight days after his last distressing experience
that Krapf and his wife set out from Aden
again. After about five or six weeks of slow
sailing around the eastern cape of Africa, from
the Gulf of Aden to that of the Indian Ocean
which is known as the Azanian Sea, they ar-
rived at Takaungu, a small town north of the
city of Mombasa. The British consul at Zanzi-
bar welcomed Krapf and his wife and imme-
diately set out to get them a letter of intro-
duction to the coast chiefs from the Sultan of
Zanzibar. It was a very quaint letter which
served as his credentials, for it read as follow :
"In the name of God, the most merciful and com-
passionate, this letter comes from Said the Sultan. To
all our friends, governors, and subjects, greeting. This
letter is written for a Doctor Krapf, who is a good
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
man and desires to convert the world to God. Treat
him kindly: serve him what you can, and everywhere.
This is written by order of your master."
Krapf decided to make Mombasa his head-
quarters, and that in spite of the fact that this
section of Africa at that time had a terrible
reputation. The natives were reported as law-
less, cruel, and violent. But Krapf was not to
be dissuaded from his purpose. His wife cheer-
fully went with him to Mombasa, and they chose
a spot from which the first attempt to penetrate
into the interior could be made. Unfortunately
the season was an exceptionally bad one, and
there was an unusual amount of fever during
the rainy season. Krapf himself was very ill,
and it took all the will power which he had to
fight his way back to health. Barely had he
recovered when, in July, 1846, his wife fell ill.
The fever was all the more serious, as she was
daily expecting to become a mother. A daugh-
ter was born, but a renewed attack of the fever
brought her very low. In prospect of death
she was very much depressed in her mind, and
she pleaded with her husband for some assur-
ance that she was really and truly a Christian.
She prayed: "Oh my Savior, I am unworthy
to have any place in Thy Paradise, but have
pity on me, and give me a small corner at the
{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]g
edge of Thy glory, that I may be with Thee."
Her husband's words about the grace of God
had a very consoling effect upon her, for he
gave her the assurance: "Christ is as surely
thine, as thou art mine and I am thine. Do not
give way to temptations of the Evil One. It is
time to flee to the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sins of the world." With such and
other words she was greatly strengthened. She
said : "I have obtained grace and mercy from
the Lord; He has looked upon me; I feel His
presence as I have never felt it before." She
then prayed aloud for East Africa, for the
Sultan, for the natives and the mission work,
and for her relatives. Again and again she
asked God to incline the heart of the ruler, so
that he might promote the eternal welfare of
his subjects.
The next day she appeared much better, but
the following day she was once more in a very
bad condition, and her husband himself was
so weakened by fever as to be obliged to leave
her care almost entirely to servants. When
Krapf had watched with her from midnight till
dawn, he begged her to rest. But she said:
"No, there is plenty of time for rest. Now it is
time for work." She called her servants, told
them that she was dying, and that in the face
67
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]-
of death she had only this to say to them that
if they followed their Mohammedan doctrines
they trusted in a delusion. "He cannot help
you in the hour of death, but Christ can and
does." Then she turned to her husband and
said: "Do not forget to speak to every one
whom you meet about the great truths. Even
if your words have no effect at the moment,
they will come to their remembrance in the
hour of death. Do not sorrow because of me,
but work while it is day. She asked that her
letters and diaries should not be published, for
there was too much of self in them. She also
asked her husband not to praise her in his
letters home, because she was not worthy of
praise, but to say that she, a poor, miserable
sinner, had received forgiveness through the
unmerited grace of Jesus Christ.
Shortly after her fever rose to such a point
that her mind began to wander. On July llth,
she was somewhat better, and husband and
wife could pray together. But on the 12th her
fever rose once more. Krapf himself had a
very severe attack, and only now and then could
he drag himself to her bedside. Her end was
one of great peace and of perfect submission
to the divine will. So brave and steadfast was
she in her last hours, that her husband was
08
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF g*--
strengthened and confirmed in his purpose to
devote his entire life to the missionary con-
ditions. She asked him to bury her right here
on the mainland of Africa, in order that the
sight of her tomb might constantly remind the
passersby of the great object which had brought
the servants of the church of Christ to their
country. "Thus," wrote her husband, "she
wished to be preaching to them by the lonely
spot which encloses her earthly remains." On
the morning of July 13th she breathed her last.
Krapf himself could hardly get up from his
bed. He saw her growing stranger to him
every moment, her glassy eyes and chilling
body, like a garment left behind, telling him
only too well that she had gone. The future
lay dark before him, and he would only too
gladly have followed her.
On the next morning, a Sunday, they buried
her. Krapf just managed to struggle over to
the graveside. On his return, he found that his
baby daughter also was ill. She passed away
during the night, and was laid to rest by her
mother's side. But Krapf, even in the midst
of all these trials, found the strength to write,
in a letter to the secretary of the Church Mis-
sionary Society: "Tell the committee that in
East Africa there is a lonely grave of one mem-
--( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]g
ber of the mission connected with your society.
This is an indication that you have begun the
conflict in this part of the world ; and since the
conquests of the church are won over the graves
of many of its members, you may be all the
more assured that the time has come when you
are called to work for the conversion of Africa.
Think not of the victims who in this glorious
warfare may suffer or fall ; only press forward
until East and West Africa are united in
Christ."
The loss of Krapf's wife was for him a
heartrending experience, but of vast importance
for his future life, which now became fully
consecrated to the service of God. The grave-
stone of his wife became one of the great cor-
nerstones of the temple of God in Africa. As
he recovered his strength, he continued his
work, occasionally making short journeys from
Mombasa to the mainland among the Wanika,
anxious to establish a mission station among
this people, but especially to open the way into
the interior of Africa, a thought which was
always very prominent in all his plans.
70
CHAPTER V
TRANSLATING THE BIBLE
CHAPTER V
TRANSLATING THE BIBLE
That Krapf was full of energy and persever-
ance must surely be evident to every one who
has followed this narrative up to the present
point. Some men have a great deal of courage
in attacking a problem, but they are also easily
discouraged. They are willing enough to under-
take some great mission, and they may even
succeed in getting it established, but afterwards
they are just as apt to leave the work when it-
is only half finished and begin somewhere else.
Krapf 's perseverance, at the same time, was
not mere foolhardiness, a stubbornness which
is not controlled by common sense. He surely
tried hard enough to open up Abyssinia to the
Gospel, and even when he found that his under-
taking was hopeless, so far as personal endeavor
was concerned, he saw to it that the Scriptures
were given to the inhabitants of this country
in the language which they actually understood.
Work of this kind, like the actual missionary
labors, was not an easy matter. Those who
know the field thoroughly tell us that the work
of translating the Bible into the so-called mis-
sionary versions is one of the most difficult
73
gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }--
undertakings that men know of. It is true that
the Bible, as a whole or in parts, has been
translated into 835 languages and dialects, as
the American Bible Society has reported in its
recent bulletin. This is a wonderful achieve-
ment and may well cause us to rejoice. On the
other hand, we must remember that Africa
alone has about 500 distinct languages and
about 300 additional dialects, and the number
of scholars who are working in the field is in-
adequate for the immense task which is before
them. It is a fascinating undertaking, that of
translating the Bible into a strange tongue,
and there are undoubted mental and spiritual
compensations for the tremendous toil involved,
toil extending perhaps over twenty years or
more of the best part of a man's life. It would
be labor enough to bring the Bible within the
narrow grasp of the African tribes-man; the
greater and more necessary labor is to enlarge
his grasp.
Let us consider for a few moments the ex-
ceeding difficulty of much of this work of Bible
translation. It is not an easy task even when
the languages under consideration are well-
known, when they are spoken by civilized
people, when they have been put down in writ-
ten form, when there are grammars and diction-
74
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
aries. This is true, at the present time in the
Arabic, the Persian, and the Chinese language,
also in the greater languages of India, like Hindi,
and Bengali, and Tamil. But the difficulty is
far greater in countries where the language
has not become thoroughly fixed, where there
is no written language, where the people have
no written letters or characters at all, and
where there are, of course, no grammars or
dictionaries. It is not much of a task to learn
French or Spanish or German, with modern
grammars and textbooks; but what should a
person do if he were suddenly put down in a
Spanish village, where no one knows one word
of English, where there was not a printed
Spanish book available nor any help to assist
in learning Spanish ?
Many a missionary has found himself in a
position just like that. It was true in the case
of Ulfilas, the Apostle of the Goths, in the fourth
century, who was obliged to create a written
language for his people before he could trans-
late the Bible into Gothic. So missionaries
during the last century have been compelled to
pick up the language bit by bit, often by ear
only. Some missionaries have offered little
prizes or presents for every new word which
they heard and understood, such as a biscuit
75
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )-
or a few beads. If we listen to a native speak-
ing, his language is very often nothing but a
meaningless jabber. Usually we cannot tell
where one word ends and another begins, and
even when we have managed to separate them,
how are we to tell which is a noun and which
a verb and which an adjective and which a
preposition? One can manage in reasonable
time to catch simple words like boy or girl, or
man or woman, or day and night, or go and
come, or eat and drink. But this in itself does
not yet mean that one is able to teach the Gospel
in the new language, and still less does it mean
that a person is able to translate the Bible.
If missionaries find no written language,
and are therefore obliged to put the new tongue
into writing for the first time, they usually
employ our Roman letters. But if there are
written languages in use, as in India and China,
the Bible must be printed in the letters or
characters already used. This means that the
missionary must not only learn the spoken
language, but must master the written or
printed language as well, again a task which is
by no means small.
Nor does the difficulty end here, for we are
obliged to think a little of the difficulties of
translation. Quite a few tribes in various parts
76
- 6( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }-
of the world have never seen a sheep. How
can a missionary make these people understand
the words of Jesus about the good Shepherd in
John 10, who lays down His life for the sheep?
How are such people to understand the wonder-
ful parable of the lost sheep? How may they
be taught the 23rd Psalm, with its glorious
assurance : "The Lord is my Shepherd . . .
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures,
and leadeth me beside the still waters?" And
how can a missionary, under such circum-
stances, explain the glorious truth of the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world?
When the old Saxons were in this position, the
first translator of the New Testament into their
language, in the wonderful poem called the
Heliand, struck this difficulty in the story of
Christ's birth, he simply substituted horses for
sheep, and caused the shepherds to become
men who watched their horses by night. In
New Guinea there are no sheep, but there are
pigs; so the missionary shows his charges the
picture of a sheep, tells them it is about the
same size as a pig, and makes them learn the
English word sheep then they get some sort of
an understanding. They know from experience
that pigs sometimes wander away and are lost ;
and the people go and search for them, and
77
ig( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )>-
when they find them they bring them home on
their shoulders, or carry the little ones in their
arms. In this way the natives are gradually
given the understanding of Bible words and
Bible pictures.
It is said that there are tribes in Asia,
especially in the mountain country west of
China, who had no word for father, nor for
son, nor for hand, nor for feet. They have
words or signs which stand for "my father"
and "your father" and "his father"; also for
"my feet" and "your feet" and "his feet." They
say that every father must be somebody's father
and every hand must be somebody's hand, and
so their language immediately tells whose
father or whose hand they are talking about.
But how is it possible to explain in their lan-
guage the terms "God the Father" and "God the
Son?" This difficulty is about as great as
another one spoken of by Dr. Frierson, for he
says that some of the mountain tribes have
only one idea of a feast and of being merry,
and that is to get hopelessly drunk. How can
these people be told the parable of the prodigal
son? Or how could we explain to them the
Feast of the Passover ?
The situation becomes still worse if we think
of some of the special Bible terms which are
78
g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
peculiarly significant in the great Christian
doctrines. There are a great many barbarous
and ignorant tribes who know of no such words
as regeneration, justification, and sanctification.
In Romans 5, 1 we are told that we have peace
with God. But certain cannibal tribes who are
always in the midst of war can think of peace
only as an agreement to quit fighting for a
little while; the idea of faith is altogether
strange to them, for they never trust one an-
other or anybody, and the notion of being justi-
fied is absolutely foreign to their thinking.
When work was first begun on the islands of
the South Seas, it was found that some tribes
had as many as forty words for murder, but
not one word for love. How can one make clear
to such people the fundamental fact of the
Gospel that God so loved the world that He
gave His only-begotten Son?
Let us now look somewhat more closely
at Africa, the continent in which we are espec-
ially interested. The following account taken
from a recent bulletin of the American Bible
Society will speak for itself. Go among the
Bulus, for example, and witness the work of
the translators as described by one of them,
Dr. Melvin Fraser. "It is as hard to put into
Bulu certain rich portions of the Scriptures,"
79
-Hg{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]
says Dr. Fraser, "as it is to run a six-inch
stream through a four-inch pipe. Either the
stream must be reduced or the pipe enlarged."
The latter expedient was chosen.
The Bulus had no word for God. They had
a word, "Zambe," signifying an immortal spirit
that created man and the gorilla, then went far
off and left them so shift for themselves. So
this name was used for "God" in the transla-
tion. The wisdom, power, holiness, justice,
goodness, truth and mercy of the Supreme
Being as revealed in the Bible gave to "Zambe"
a new and larger personality, "and the Bulu
soon came to recognize and appropriate a new
spiritual entity under the old name." Thus was
the four-inch pipe enlarged to take the full
stream of the Word.
Since the Bulus had no equivalent for
"saints," the translators simply said bot ya
Zambe, people of God, and these common words
began to acquire an enlarged meaning. They
had no term for "conscience." They did have
a quaint expression, mone mot ya nlem, "little
man of the heart." So these pointed words are
used in the Bible translation, and the Bible
gives the little man of the heart an authority
over daily conduct that he never before
possessed.
80
-~gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }>-
Think of the difficulties of translation when
the native language contains no word for
"book," no word for "bread," none for "church"
or "wolf" or "moth" since these things them-
selves are unknown ! The words, "Their hearts
are as wolves" would mean nothing to the Bulu r
but he immediately understands when you say,
"Their hearts are as leopards." He is not
troubled by moths, and it would be beside the
point to warn him not to lay up treasures
where moth and rust corrupt. But the bibiam,
hard little insects equipped with tweezers, do
destroy his property, and the lesson immediate-
ly goes home when it reads, "Do not lay away
goods where bibiam and rust eat." Thus ex-
treme literalness, while strictly adhered to in
most cases, must sometimes be sacrificed in the
interest of fidelity to the real significance of
the text.
A curious example of how misleading a
literal translation can be occurs with reference
to the word "serpent." "When a son asks for
a fish, will his father give him a serpent?" in-
quires Jesus. Our mental answer is a horrified
"No!" The translators knew, however, that
the Bulus eat snakes and regard them as a
great delicacy. "A Bulu boy," says Dr. Fraser,
"would be more pleased at receiving a snake
81
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }-
from his father than at receiving a fish; for
thus he would not be bothered by bones and
scales, would get more meat from a snake than
from a fish of the same size, and would enjoy
the meat and skin fully as well as those of a
fish. The point and force of the illustration
obviously require that the earthly father shall
be represented as giving his son something
good not only good, but better than some other
thing which he avoids giving, else God's willing-
ness to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask
would not be set forth. A fish, as we have seen,
is not better than a snake, to the Bulu; but it
is better than a centipede. Accordingly,
nsanelette, 'centipede,' instead of nyo, 'serpent,'
is used in the translated text, and the Bulu at
once understands, reading or hearing thus, that
as a father gives his loved son a fish, not a
centipede, so, and much more than so, God is
willing to give his Holy Spirit to those who
ask."
These few examples may slightly suggest
the immense labor that is necessary wise,
patient, loving labor before millions of homes
are opened to the Bible.
The same thing, which is so vividly de-
scribed, is true of about a score of other African
languages, into which the whole Bible has been
82
gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
translated, beside the thirty or more into which
the New Testament has been translated, and
smaller portions in over eighty others. In
South Africa, for example, the great mission-
ary Robert Moffatt translated the whole Bible
into the language of the Bechuanas. This grand
old veteran spoke at a meeting in London and
in the middle of his speech he stopped, and
seemed unable to go on. Finally he said:
"Friends, do forgive me; I am thinking in
Bechuana and translating my thoughts into
English as I go along; and I cannot remember
what the English word is for a Bechuana word
which I have in my mind!" He had been in
Africa for over fifty years, and the language
which he had learned to speak there had become
almost a mother tongue to him.
In West Africa a large part of the trans-
lation of the Bible into the language of the
Yourbas was done by Samuel Crowther, the
negro who had been a slave boy and afterwards
became the first black bishop. In East Africa
it was an English bishop by the name of Steere
who made the complete version in the language
spoken on that coast, and in Uganda, one of the
latest and most fruitful mission fields, the work
was done chiefly by two laymen. Mackay of
Uganda made the first attempt to translate the
83
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
Gospel of Matthew into Luganda, and printed
it on the spot with his own hands, while the
great part of the whole Bible was done by
George Pilkington, another African missionary.
These versions, and many others, are supplied
by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
These few paragraphs will give us some
idea of the difficulties with which John Krapf
had to labor when he began his work in Abys-
sinia, and later in East Africa. It is character-
istic of the man that he had hardly gotten to
Abyssinia when he began to collect valuable
Ethiopic manuscript, which he sent on to
Europe. For this work the University of
Tuebingen, about the time when Krapf was
refused entrance into Abyssinia for the last
time, conferred the degree of Doctor upon him.
It is just as characteristic of the man that he
had been in East Africa hardly six months
when he began his translation of the Bible into
the widely-spoken East African trade language,
the Suahili, and for two years he did little else
but translation work. He became acquainted
with many of the languages and dialects of
East Africa, and he was able to do extensive
work in various dialects of the Wanika and of
the Kinika.
But the work for which Krapf is mostly
84
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
noted is that connected with the Abyssinian
version. As we have seen, there is a form of
Christianity in Abyssinia, and one of the ver-
sions made in ancient times, probably in the
fourth century, was in Ethiopic, the language
of that country. But as time went by, the
mother tongue of this people came to be
Amharic, and Ethiopic was known only by those
who studied it, as Latin and Greek is with us.
In this way it came about that the people of
this church could not read their own Scriptures.
This was just as great a misfortune for the
people of this church as it would be for us if
we had the Bible only in Hebrew and Greek,
and only the learned men could understand it.
But about one hundred years ago there lived in
Egypt an old Abyssinian monk, whose name
was Abu Rumi. This man's life had been saved
by the French consul in Abyssinia,' and the old
monk considered himself under special obliga-
tion to his benefactor. The consul hit upon
the happy idea of having this old man make a
translation of the ancient Ethiopic version into
modern Amharic, as spoken by the Abyssinian
people today. Every week for ten years they
sat together for two days, working at this im-
mense task, comparing with the Ethiopic ver-
sion the original Hebrew, beside the Syriac and
85
B{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }>-
the Arabic translations. The version which
they produced in the modern Amharic language
filled 9,539 pages, all written out by the old
monk. This translation was seen by a scholar
by the name of Jowett, of Cambridge, England.
Realizing that this version might be of great
importance for Abyssinia, the manuscript was
purchased for over $7,000, to be used by the
British Bible Society. In consequence of this
wisdom and forethought, a great many copies
of the Scriptures were sold in Abyssinia by the
missionaries of the early days. One of these,
of whom we shall hear a little more, was Samuel
Gobat, afterwards bishop of the Church of Eng-
land at Jerusalem, and another was John Lud-
wig Krapf . Sixty years later that same Krapf ,
whose life we are studying, was, in his old age,
employed by the Bible Society to revise this
version. The work was completed in 1879, the
printing being done at the Missionary Press of
St. Chrischona, a missionary institute near
Basel. We shall find that Krapf also assisted
many other translators and revisers who were
attemping to render the Bible or parts of the
Bible into languages and dialects of East
Africa.
86
CHAPTER VI
FURTHER WORK IN EAST AFRICA
CHAPTER VI
FURTHER WORK IN EAST AFRICA
After the death of his wife, Krapf plunged
into the work which he had undertaken with
all the energy of his consecrated mind. Abys-
sinia lay behind him, a bitter experience, but
not without blessing. East Africa was as yet
an experiment. In the southern part of the
continent work had been done with intermis-
sions for about a century, and on the edge of the
Black Belt Robert Moffat was even then estab-
lishing his base for futher progress into the
interior of the Dark Continent. Krapf was all
alone for a time on the Zanzibar coast. Men
like Rebmann became his faithful assistants
in the difficult work, and their loyalty deserves
a special chapter. East Africa extended no
special invitation to the missionaries, and, as
a matter of fact, the missionary labors of Krapf
were not very successful in the first years.
For a long time his only convert was a cripple
of the tribe of Wanika, and he could do little
more than barely explore the coast.
This part of Africa rises from the Indian
Ocean to the highlands of Ukamba, Kenya, and
89
-g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }
Uganda. Farther up on the plateau is Lake
Victoria. To the north is Lake Rudolf, to the
west extends a string of lakes, with Lake
Albert as the northernmost, then Lake George,
Lake Edward, Lake Kivu, and finally Lake
Tanganyika. There is a description of this
country by a traveller who had the opportunity
of seeing it from every angle. He writes, in
part: "The country here is of red soil, gor-
geously beautiful to the eye. Occasionally we
passed coffee shambas, where white men were
attempting to carve a living out of the jungle.
. . . . One day at Masindi in the Uganda
territory, we amused ourselves in throwing
Australian boomerangs. The strange char-
acteristic of this weapon made the natives
think it was bewitched, and they scattered in
wild disorder. For generations these black
people have been victimized by their witch
doctors, and as a consequence anything that is
unusual is an object of terror to them.
"The town of Jinja rests on the hills of the
Buganda country, overlooking Lake Victoria.
This lake is quite a large body of water, some
250 miles long, second only to Lake Superior
in size, and the source of the River Nile. While
we were dining, we could hear the roar of
the river as it broke away for its journey down
90
e{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }-
into Egypt, for the Ripon Falls were only a
little less than a mile away. Kisumu, on the
eastern shore of Lake Victoria, is some 3700
feet above sea level, while Nairobi, in the higher
mountain country to the east, is nearly 5500 feet
high. Therefore, when we left Kisumu on the
little railroad leading down to Mombasa, we at
once began to climb. The train mounted the
Kikuyu escarpment, with an elevation of 8000
feet, and we began to experience arctic cold,
although this railroad is only a few degrees
south of the equator. Nairobi is the largest
town in east central Africa, and a seat of the
British government. It is very desirably sit-
uated, and rather pretends to be a city after
the tropical design, although there is nothing
tropical about the Kenya colony in which it is
located. The adjacent country is mountainous.
The naked native blacks seem out of place. The
English had very strenuously attempted to
make the region civilized and productive, with
the result that it is the best of the so-called
white man's country in Central Africa. Though
Kenya Colony is located on the equator, such is
its altitude that the European residents have
winter sports, skating, tobogganing, and skiing.
"There is a distinctive kind of native in
Kenya Colony. In and around Nairobi the
91
-Hg{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
women shave their heads and pierce and
distend their ear lobes to almost unbelievable
limits. When the ears are free of decorations,
these mutilated lobes hang down in loops, but
usually pieces of wood or metal jewelry fill the
spaces. These decorations assume the propor-
tion of saucers. Under the ear chrysanthemums
of copper wire, wrapped in bright-colored silk,
give a color contrast to the dusky complexion.
Arms and legs are decorated with bracelets and
anklets of copper wire. Over parts of their
bodies they wear a single garment of tanned
skin, of a soft brown color, draped like a Ro-
man toga. Most of the women carry burdens
slung on their backs, held in place by a strap
passed over the foreheads. They stoop as they
walk. One sees thousands of these bent, shuff-
ling, barbaric figures.
"The country east and southeast of Lake
Victoria is inhabited by the Masia tribe, still
the most war-like and most feared of all
African tribes. They are a cattle-owning
people. They live on cow's milk and cow's
blood. They consider agricultural work a dis-
grace. The little flour and other additional
foods which they require they get by trade.
Incidentally there is cattle tick and cattle fever
among their great herds, so there is a quaran-
92
6{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
tine station on the edge of the Masai country
to keep their cattle and the consequent con-
tamination out of Kenya."
If such is the condition of the country today,
we may well imagine what it was like eighty
years ago, when the intrepid missionary began
his labors in this wilderness of East Africa,
for his work was largely in the Kenya Colony,
along the coast, in the Ukamba territory, and
westward into the mountainous section, of
which we shall hear more in the next chapter.
Krapf was ever restless and energetic, enter-
taining far-reaching plans. He even saw in
imagination a chain of mission stations across
the entire continent, thus connecting East and
West Africa. When Rebmann joined Krapf,
they decided to establish a mission station at
Rabbai Mpia, a Wanika village not far from
the seacoast. In October of the same year they
had so far finished a house as to allow their
living in it, and Krapf remarked in a letter:
"Every true friend of Christ's kingdom must
rejoice over this mission, for it is the first step
in the way to the heart of Africa. We have
secured a position whence the unexplored
regions of the interior can be reached and the
ancient bulwarks of Satan assailed by the
messengers of Christ."
93
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
It was not an easy matter to bring Chris-
tianity and civilization to the natives of East
Africa. Though the people seemed keenly alive
to the material advantage of having Europeans
among them, they were perfectly indifferent
to the truths which these men taught. The
natives were inveterate beggars; the mission
house constantly looked like a shop filled with
customers, of whom none, however, had any
intention to pay. The missionaries quite natur-
ally felt the difficulty in dealing with the re-
quests of the people. If they consented to give
them everything they asked for, the result
would be an increase in avarice. Besides it
looked too much like bribing the natives to
become Christians. On the other hand, if they
refused every request, it would lead the heathen
to conclude that, although the white teachers
spoke a great deal of love and self-denial, they
themselves did not practice these virtues.
Krapf was inclined to be liberal in his gifts,
because he argued that, although the mission-
ary cannot ordinarily heal the sick and raise the
dead, he can at least perform deeds of love,
humility, patience, and self-sacrifice, so that
the natives would almost be obliged to ask
themselves: "How is it that the missionary
94
{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]g
submits to so much on our account, and does us
so much kindness?"
Like many other missionaries, Krapf in the
early period of his work thought it necessary
to spend much time it attacking the false be-
liefs and superstitious practices of the people.
As a consequence, the simple presentation of
Christian truth and the salvation through
Christ was somewhat pushed into the back-
ground. With regard to this point he himself
says : "I have a conviction that for some time
past I have argued too much against the
heathen customs and practices of the Wanika,
for their abominations excited my indignation ;
but I ought to preach to them more of the love
of Jesus for the lost and erring slaves of Satan.
I must pity them more and speak to them more
pitifully, and sympathizingly." When the first
convert was made, this served as an encourage-
ment, for the poor cripple gave evidence that
the Christian truth was a real power in his
life. And what is more, the poor cripple was
the means of bringing to the missionaries an-
other native, who eventually became a true
Christian worker among his countrymen.
Krapf was not the man to rest long in one
station and to be contented with a gradual
building up of one congregation. He had
95
gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPP
ambitious plans for the extension of mission
work in Africa, and he attempted several times
to penetrate farther into the interior. He
visited Usambara, to the southwest, in 1848, and
the land of the Wakamba the following year.
In both places he received a friendly welcome
from the chiefs and the natives, and everything
seemed favorable for the extension of mission
work.
When twelve years of labor in Africa had
passed away, broken by occasional trips to
Europe, Krapf thought the time was come to
make a longer visit in the home country, partly
for rest and change, and partly to arouse a
greater interest in African missions. During
his stay in Europe, he secured the promise of
three further missionaries and three artisans
to strengthen the African mission station. With
the missionaries he hoped eventually to place
two stations farther into the interior, and by
the aid of the artisans he intended to carry
out a plan which he had long had in mind, the
establishment of a Christian colony. When he
left Europe, the outlook for mission work in
East Africa was at its brightest. With him
were two missionaries, Pfefferle and Dihlmann,
together with three mechanics. But on reaching
Aden, Dihlmann who had scruples about con-
-gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )-
necting himself with the Church Missionary
Society, remained at Aden. The next blow
came when the little company of men arrived
at Rabbai, for Rebmann and Erhardt, who had
previously fully agreed to Krapf's plans, were
found to be opposed to further extension, with-
out first laying a firm base of operations on the
coast. In theory they were undoubtedly right,
but Krapf thought that a disinclination to meet
dangers and hardships was the chief factor in
their opposition to his forward movement.
There also grew up an unbrotherly estrange-
ment between Rebmann and Erhardt on the
one side, and the three mechanics, on the other,
resulting in much trouble to Krapf, who found
it a difficult task to deal with both parties. It
was not long before the three artisans, together
with Pfefferle were stricken with fever; of
which the latter died after an illness of a few
weeks ; thus trouble upon trouble seemed to fall
on the head of Krapf. Yet he wrote to Dr.
Barth in June, 1851, the following noble, even
prophetic words : "And now let me look back-
ward and forward. In the past what do I see?
Scarcely more than the remnant of a defeated
army. You know I had the task of strength-
ening the East African Mission with three
missionaries and three handicraftsmen; but
97
JOHN LUDWIG RRAPF }*-
where are the missionaries? One remained in
London, as he did not consider himself ap-
pointed to East Africa ; the second remained at
Aden, in doubt about the English Church; the
third, Pfefferle, died on May 10th of nervous
fever, into which the country fever had devel-
oped. As to the mechanics, they are ill of fever,
lying between life and death, and instead of
being a help to me and to Brothers Rebmann
and Erhardt, look to us for help and attention ;
and yet I stand by my assertion that Africa
must be conquered by missionaries ; there must
be a chain of mission stations between the east
and west, though thousands of the combatants
fall upon the left hand and ten thousand on the
right. . . . From the sanctuary of God a
voice says to me, "Fear not ; life comes through
death, resurrection through decay, the establish-
ment of Christ's kingdom through the dis-
comfiture of human undertakings. Instead of
allowing yourself to be discouraged at the de-
feat of your force, go to work yourself. Do not
rely on human help, but on the living God, to
whom it is all the same to save by little or
much. Do what you can in the strength of God,
and leave the result in His hands. Believe,
love, fight, be not weary for His name's sake,
and you will see the glory of God.'
98
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
"Now when I heard this voice I could ac-
company my departed brother to the grave in
the conviction that in spite of this the Lord's
work in Africa must and will advance. . . .
It does not matter if I fail entirely ; the Lord is
King, and will carry out His purpose in His
own time."
Soon after the death of his assistant Krapf
made a journey to Ukambani, about 100 miles
from Rabbai, to establish a further station;
but the journey ended in disaster. While he
was travelling in company with a friendly chief,
a superior force attacked the chief's party. The
chief himself was slain, his followers scattered,
and the missionary found himself abandoned
by friend and foe. There was nothing left for
him to do but to retrace his steps, and after
much suffering from hunger and thirst, he at
last reached one of the villages of the Wakamba
in the state of complete exhaustion. He sus-
pected that the villagers had designs upon his
life, and so he stole away at night to travel to
Yata, but the difficulties of the way, in which
he advanced only six miles in three nights,
determined him to return to the Wakamba
village and to surrender to the natives. "Kill
me if you will," he said, "but you must take
the consequences." On the other hand, if they
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }>-
allowed him to live in peace, he promised to
give them a portion of the property he had left
behind at Yata. To this they agreed, and,
after Krapf had reached Yata and made good
his promise, he returned to the coast with some
men of the Wanika tribe, arriving at Rabbai
after nine days' travelling, to the great joy of
his fellow-laborers, to whom reports of his
death had been brought. The following year he
paid another visit to Usambara, but, war hav-
ing broken out, he was compelled to return with-
out accomplishing anything toward the estab-
lishment of a mission.
Since his health now made another visit to
Europe necessary, Krapf left Africa in 1853
for his native land. At this time he also visited
England, bringing to the committee of the
Church Missionary Society glowing accounts
of the lands through which he had travelled,
and telling of the need of missionary work and
of its possibilities. He declared that, while
the East coast was unhealthy, the plateau coun-
try father to the west had a delightful climate,
and the tribes were friendly. He urged that
the work of the mission should be extended
further afield.
In the same year Krapf, on his way to East
100
-if JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fr-
Africa, visited Jerusalem to confer with Samuel
Gobat, who was now the Anglican bishop in
that city. When these two men, during their
conversation, got out their maps of Africa,
and when Krapf gave the older man some
account of his experiences among the Abys-
sinians, Gobat, who was very well acquainted
with Abyssinia himself, made the remark,
"Why not link up Jerusalem with Gondar and
build a road of mission stations named after
the apostles ?" So it was planned, and so it was
done, this being the beginning of the under-
taking which resulted in the "Apostle Street"
to Abyssinia. This is what Krapf himself said
about the plan :
"I have been appointed the secretary of a special
committee connected with the missionary institution at
Chrischona, for the purpose of locating twelve mission
stations along the banks of the Nile, from Alexandria
to Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia, whence other sta-
tions will be established towards the South-East and
West of Africa, as it shall please Providence to show
the way and point out the requisite men. This line of
twelve stations will be termed 'The Apostle Street,' as
each station will be fifty leagues distant from each
other, and will be called by the name of an Apostle.
For instance, the station at Alexandria will be named
after St. Matthew, the station at Cairo St. Mark, at
Assuan St. Luke."
101
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
In accordance with the plan thus made, the
institute of St. Chrischona sent out numbers of
men, and it was not long before some eight to
ten stations were actually established, namely
at Alexandria, at Cairo, at Assiut (Asyut), at
Luxor, at Berber, at Khartum (Khartoum),
and at Beni Shongul, close to the border of the
Abyssinian mountains. But Krapf's plan went
even farther than this, for he intended to link
up this chain of mission stations with a second
chain extending from Mombasa to the Niger
River in West Africa. This was to be the great
cross of mission stations, and Krapf had cor-
rectly concluded that such a chain of stations
would be necessary if the Christian mission-
aries were to hold back the progress of the
Mohammedan invasion. The wisdom of Krapf's
plan has become increasingly evident, and it is
a fortunate thing that the stations of the var-
ious missions are now found from Kenya and
Uganda on the east to Belgian Congo and
French Equatorial Africa on the west, extend-
ing even to the Gold Coast, to Sierra Leone, and
to Senegal.
When Krapf left Palestine, he set out for
East Africa, taking Abyssinia on his way. His
purpose was by an interview with the king to
revive the mission in that country. A new
102
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )-
companion had joined Krapf in his journeys,
namely Martin Flad of the St. Chrischona In-
stitute. When these two men journeyed across
the desert that lies between the Nile and Abys-
sinia, under the hot tropical sun, mounted on
their camels, with their Arabs singing by their
side, Flad would call out from time to time,
"Say, Krapf, see yonder that convenient bush !"
They would slip down from the backs of their
camels, and while the caravan journeyed on-
wards, they would kneel and pour out their
hearts in prayer to God that the good news of
the Savior might before long be carried to the
many peoples in the heart of Africa who had
never heard of Him.
In Krapf's writings on Abyssinia, the fol-
lowing notes are among the most interesting.
"Jan hoi! Jan hoi! (0 King! O King!) is the call
with which the natives of Abyssinia approach their
ruler. It was this title (Jan hoi) which in the 15th
Century, when the Portuguese first came- to Western
Africa, led to the report of the great king Prester
John (Jan) ruling in East Africa."
The quaint ideas of the Abyssinian priests
and their interpretations of Scripture are
exemplified in these quotations:
"Alaca Wolda Hann gave me some proofs of their
skill in explaining Scripture. 'The foxes have holes
103
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }--
and the birds of the air have nests' (Matt. 8, 20) he
explained. 'Those foxes are kings and governors who
seek earthly things, but the birds are the priests and
bishops who fly to heaven in their prayers and holy
functions.'
"Furthermore (Matthew 5, 29) 'If thy right eye,'
etc. Of this he said, 'The eye is the wife, the hand the
servant and the right eye the child.' When I told him
the way in which we explained this passage he replied,
'That is one sense. We are fond of many senses of
Scripture.' I then showed him the foolish and bad
consequences of their explaining the Word of God, and
that God would become displeased with them if they sub-
stituted two or more senses, just as the King of Shoa
would become angry if his people were to give some
other meaning to his orders.
"No Christian people upon earth are so rigid in
their fastings as the Abyssinians. They fast in all
nine months out of twelve every Friday and Wed-
nesday throughout the year, then again forty days
before Easter, twenty-five days after Trinity, fourteen
days in August, twenty-five before Advent, and on
other occasions.
"Many of them believe that the Virgin Mary died
for the sins of the world, and saved 144,000 souls.
From the Abyssinian point of view the means to ex-
piate sins are alms-giving, fasting, monastic vows,
reading sermons, etc. They are extreme monotheists,
for they admit only one nature and one will in Christ."
"A great discussion has been going on among the
church leaders in that country concerning the threefold
birth of the Son of God:
104
~*i JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
"(1st Birth) Begotten of the Father before all
the Worlds,
(2nd Birth) Became man in time,
(3rd Birth) Was baptized in Jordan."
The attempt to open up Abyssinia at this
time again resulted in failure, and Krapf, in-
stead of returning to Egypt by way of the Red
Sea, chose the road by the Nile Valley. This
journey so told upon his weak health that, on
arriving in Egypt, he had to embark for
Europe. Although he was barely forty-five
years old, the tropics had so affected his health
that an immediate return to East Africa was
not to be thought of. As a matter of fact,
Krapf now remained in Europe for several
years, and his later journeys to Africa did not
keep him there for many years at a time.
105
CHAPTER VII
FURTHER JOURNEYS OF KRAPF AND SOME
EXPLORATIONS IN THE MOUNTAIN COUNTRY
CHAPTER VII
FURTHER JOURNEYS OF KRAPF AND SOME EX-
PLORATIONS IN THE MOUNTAIN COUNTRY
One cannot study the life of Krapf and his
associates without taking into account the im-
mense amount of travelling which was done
by these men under conditions which were far
from comfortable, and in no way measured up
to the travelling with conveniences to which
we have become accustomed. For one thing
Krapf made many journeys between Europe
and Africa. In 1848 to 1849 Krapf made his
third journey to the Dark Continent. It was
at this time that he became acquainted with
some of the possibilities of exploration in the
interior, of which we shall speak at some length
in this chapter. In 1851 to 1852 Krapf made
his fourth journey, and this time he extended
his travels to the Tanganyika country, and also
to Galaland. In his book on "Travels and
Missionary Labors in East Africa" he describes
some of his experiences in the interior. He
writes: "I was once in great danger of being
sacrificed because it had not rained for a long
time, and the absence of rain was ascribed to
109
( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fr-
me, as if I could have hindered it from falling,
and again, with no less haste, I was almost
deified when, ater a long drought, there was
a sudden fall of rain. It was ascribed to my
walking on the soil." Of Krapf's visit to Eng-
land, in 1854, we have already heard. The
journey in 1857 was the fifth time that he
visited East Central Africa. He was there
twice more, from 1861 to 1865, and then again
from 1866 to 1868. Thus he was in Africa
seven separate times, and on the last trip he
journeyed with the British Expedition from
Suakim to liberate the missionaries then im-
prisoned by Thodorus, the Menelik of Abys-
sinia. His real reason for being in East Africa
at this time, was because the Methodist Free
Churches had requested him to accompany
their missionaries Woolner and Wakefield, to
Africa, and to assist them in starting a mission.
He consented, and after seeing Wakefield settled
at Ribe, the new station, after illness had driven
Woolner back to Europe, Krapf also went back,
his health not permitting a long stay. Of the
new station he remarked: "The station Ribe
will in due time celebrate the triumph of the
mission in the conversion of the Wanika, though
I may be in the grave. The Lord does not allow
His word to return to Him void, although often
no
~gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }s
our own despondent hearts and the unbelieving
opponents of mission will say, You are laboring
in vain." We have here one of the unionistic
utterances which are occasionally found in
Krapf 's writings.
When Krapf joined the British Expedition,
as an interpreter, their object was to reach the
capital of Abyssinia. As a matter of fact, the
campaign was successful in its military object.
But a military expedition to save Christian
missionaries has never yet done any good. It
may save the lives of the men concerned, but
it closes the door to the hearts of the people.
As a result of this expedition, which Kraft was
obliged to leave on account of ill health, before
it had reached its destination, the missionaries
were withdrawn ; the fanaticism of the Moham-
medans undermined the work in Egypt, and
thus, with the main purpose gone in Abyssinia,
one after another of the stations along the Nile
was abandoned. Krapf's plan was too arti-
ficial at that time, and some of his stations have
not been re-opened to this day. An atlas and a
map are not sufficient guides for spiritual work,
just as no spiritual experiences can be bought
with all the riches in the world. After the
campaign the ancient country of Prester John
was closed to foreign missions, and it was many
ill
6f JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
years before any advance in this neighborhood
could again be made, as we shall see in the last
chapter.
One of the most interesting features of
Krapf's labors, as indicated by his extensive
journeys, was his work as explorer and geog-
rapher, a work for which he inspired other men
as well. It was in April, 1848, that Rebmann,
a faithful associate of Krapf in his work in
East Africa, started for the distant region of
Jagga, of which strange rumors had come to
the ears of the missionaries. To penetrate the
wilderness at that time meant to leave behind
even the last vestige of civilized conveniences,
but the plan of Krapf to explore the interior
for a chain of mission stations was like a
driving force in all his work. On May llth,
when Rebmann was still a day's journey from
the village of Taveta, he made the following
simple entry in his diary: "This morning, at
ten o'clock, we obtained a clearer view of the
mountains of Jagga, the summit of one of which
was covered by what looked like a beautiful
white cloud. When I inquired as to the dazzling
whiteness, the guide merely called it 'cold,' and
at once I knew it could be neither more nor less
than snow. . . . Immediately I understood
how to interpret the marvellous tales Dr. Krapf
112
<e{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]i~
and I had heard at the coast, of a vast moun-
tain of gold and silver in the far interior, the
approach to which was guarded by evil spirits."
Rebmann was so overcome by the magnif-
icent view that he fell down on his knees and
reverently prayed the 14th Psalm. He could
well understand the superstition of the natives,
because the peculiar nature of this great pile
of mountains rendered it practically inacces-
sible to all but the must hardened mountaineers
at that time. Few people in the neighborhood
ever had a sight of the summit itself, because
for the greater part of the day it is usually
wrapped in a thick mantle of clouds. As for
the early morning, when the peak is often
visible with its cover of snow and ice, the
natives were afraid to talk about it, for they
honestly believed that the white color indicated
silver, and their fear of evil spirit kept them
away from the volcanic upheaval.
As Rebmann continued his journey toward
the territory of Jagga, in which the great
mountain is located, he says that every time he
raised his eyes, he saw "the eternal ice and
snow of Kilimanjaro, apparently but a few
miles distant, but in reality separated from him
by about a couple of day's journey."
"Content for the time being with this dis-
113
JOHN LUDVVIG KRAPF
covery, Rebmann returned to Rabai in June, but
in November of the same year set out again for
Jagga. Proceeding through Kilema to Majame,
he 'came so close to Kilimanjaro' that at night
the grand old head of the snow-capped moun-
tain 'could be seen gleaming like silver in the
bright moonlight,' and he thought that the foot
of Kibo was 'distant only some three or four
miles. . . . There are two main peaks/ the
diary goes on to say, 'which arise from a com-
mon base measuring some twenty-five miles long
by as many broad. They are separated by a
saddle-shaped depression, running east and
west for a distance of about eight or ten miles.
The eastern peak is the lower of the two, and is
conical in shape. The western and higher
presents the appearance of a magnificent dome,
and is covered with snow throughout the year,
unlike its eastern neighbor, which loses its
snowy mantle during the hot season. ... By
the Swahili at the coast, the mountain is known
as Kilimanjaro (Mountain of Greatness), but
the Wa-Jagga call it Kibo, from the snow with
which it is perpetually capped/ All Rebmann's
observations are correct, with the exception of
his estimate of the extent of the mountain, and
his interpretation of its name as 'Mountain of
Greatness/
114
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
"Returning to Rabai in February 1849,
the indefatigable missionary immediately set
about preparations for a third and yet more
extended journey 'into the heart of Africa.'
Despite the approach of the rainy season, April
saw him once more on the road to Jagga, 'armed
only with an umbrella,' and accompanied by a
caravan of thirty porters. Following his old
route through Kilema and Uru to Majame, he
reached a point, in his opinion, 'so close to the
snowline that, supposing no impassable abyss
to intervene, I could have reached it in three or
four hours.' Unfortunately, illness and priva-
tion compelled him to turn back, but the unfin-
ished work of exploration was taken up by his
colleague, Dr. Krapf, and in some measure suc-
cessfully accomplished.
"In November 1849, Krapf organized an
expedition to Ukamba, a district lying to the
northeast of Kilimanjaro, and on the 10th of
the month obtained from the mountains of
Maungu 'a magnificent view of the snow-moun-
tain Kilimanjaro in Jagga, which loomed up
from behind the ranges of Ndara and Bura.
. . . Even at this distance I could make out
that the white substance crowing the summit
was certainly snow.' On three other occasions,
in the course of this journey, Krapf had an
115
~gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )*-
opportunity of assuring himself of the reality
of the snow-cap, his testimony thus placing the
accuracy of Rebmann's reports beyond a doubt.
The altitude was estimated at 12,500 feet."
The immediate results of these explora-
tions were rather interesting. Since mountains
always have a great attraction for people who
have been brought up among them, Krapf's
stories about the Switzerland of Africa and the
snowy peaks at the equator created a great
sensation when he was home in Switzerland in
1850. Not only was the institute at Basel very
much interested in the new country, but the
branch school which had been established at
St. Chrischona, not far from Basel, as a train-
ing school for home evangelists, caught the
enthusiasm, and young men began to volunteer
from that institution to go out as missionaries
to Africa. The fame of the explorers spread
far and wide, causing the eyes of hundreds of
men to be turned to Africa.
When Krapf visited Africa again, he took
occasion to extend his trips, also into Ukamba,
where Mount Kenya is situated, and into the
country about Lake Victoria. Although he does
not seem to have reached the country south of
Lake Albert, where Stanley later discovered the
116
g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
magnificant Mount Ruwenzari (16,794 feet),
with its perpetual mantle of snow, he came into
direct contact with all the country in the neigh-
borhood. Sir Harry Johnston says of Krapf
and Rebmann: "They had gathered up the
reports of Lake Nyassa, Tanganyika, and the
Victoria Nyanza, and had imagined these
separate sheets of water to be only parts of a
huge slugshaped lake as big as the Caspian Sea.
These stories they illustrated by a map pub-
lished in 1855. Their story of snow mountains
in equatorial Africa only drew on them for the
most part the ridicule of English geographers,
among whom was a wearisome person, Mr. Des-
borough Cooley, who published fine-spun theo-
ries based on a fantastic interpretation of
African etymology; but their stories were
believed in France, and they were awarded a
medal by the Paris Geographical Society. . . .
These stories from the missionaries revived the
interest in Ptolemy's geography. The Nile
lakes were once more believed in, especially as
the discovery of Kenya and Kilimanjaro ap-
peared to confirm the stories of the Mountains
of the Moon. This idea indeed was additionally
favored by the fact that the missionaries often
referred to their hypothetical lake as the Sea
of Unyamwezi, which name they explained as
117
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
meaning (we know not why) the 'Land of the
Moon'."
Although some of the information gained
by Krapf was not complete, the opposition of
Cooly was, in the course of time, exhibited as
thoroughly ridiculous, for since 1860 one ex-
plorer after the other has gone out to East
Africa, and their accounts have fully confirmed
every really important statement in the early
reports of Krapf. The great mountain Kili-
manjaro is really a cluster of mountains, the
highest peaks of which are Mawenzi, in the
east (16,270 feet), and Kibo, in the west
(19,320 feet), with a wide saddle connecting
the two summits. Men like Von der Decken,
New, Thomson, Johnston, Meyer, Speke, Grant,
Sir Samuel Baker, MacQueen and others have
thoroughly explored the entire neighborhood of
the mighty region, and a number of men have
reached the top of the highest peak in Africa.
According to their description, we are dealing
with a most stupendous region of Mountains.
In a description of an ascent which came with-
in several hundred feet of reaching the highest
point, Hans Meyer has the following para-
graphs.
"We continued our way upwards along
ridges of weathered lava and obsidian, display-
-=<{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
ing all the colors of the rainbow in marvel-
lously beautiful combinations. Slowly but
surely we approached the ice-cap, and at last,
at half -past seven, arrived at its lower limit at
an altitude of 18,910 feet. Immediately above
us was the great notch on the eastern side of the
crater ; to the left, 600 or 700 feet below, was the
wall of ice which had effectually barred my
progress in my former attempt to reach the
summit from this side. To the right the ice
extended in an unbroken line towards the north,
presenting a slightly overhanging series of
massive cliffs of nearly uniform height.
Pausing only to get our ice-tackle in order,
we commenced the ascent of the ice-cap, which
at first proved so slippery and so steep that
once more we are obliged to have recourse to
the tedious process of hewing steps. About ten
minutes of this work brought us to the notch,
whence, from a different standpoint, we again
had a full view of the crater. Here projecting
points and bosses of rock were visible through
the ice, and everything seemed to promise such
easy progress that Purtscheller gave it as his
opinion we should reach the cone at the bottom
in an hour, and be back in camp by midday.
A little experience of the nieve penitente sur-
face of the ice ahead soon caused us to modify
119
-gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
our sanguine expectations, and presently we
were beset by a series of obstacles which suf-
ficiently proved the wisdom of the pithy adage
which forbids the counting of chickens before
they are hatched.
"The ice-sheet stretched in a compact mass
to the foot of the small central cone below, and
its surface was tremendously weathered by sun
and wind. Without wasting much time in re-
flection, we plunged into our difficulties forth-
with, and soon became involved in a chaos of
ruts and rents and jagged points, amid which
it was next to impossible to find a footing.
Often, when we thought we had succeeded in
doing so, the brittle crust gave way beneath
us, and we found ourselves up to the armpits,
struggling to extricate ourselves from the jaws
of a crevasse. Needless to say, our hands were
soon bruised and bleeding, and, in spite of warm
gloves, our fingers were perfectly benumbed."
In a description taken from the diary of
Mr. MacQueen, who made a trip of exploration
into this section from 1908 to 1909, we find the
following paragraphs.
"Between five and six last night the clouds
parted, the mist drifted down into the valley
and Kilimanjaro, the grandest peak in a whole
continent, showed its white forehead. From our
120
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF -
cots in the tent we could see this glowing
wonder of eternal snow amid the eternal green.
On the west gleamed the waning sun in a bed
of old rose and amber, amid the scarred rocks of
Mount Meru, eight miles away. To the east
the piled-up clouds were below us. At one place
they were like castles in the air ; at another like
cities of jasper amid walls of gold; ending in
one high mountain peak which leaned close
against the Southern Cross and seemed to be
the throne of God Himself. Then slowly, softly,
faded the pink and amber and chrysoprase, and
the light left hill and forest and cloud and far
off fortifications and missions of the white man ;
and the sky paled and then became aglow with
the splendor of the moonlight, and all around
was darkness over the land except where the
proud Kilimanjaro on her silver throne shone
silent and alone, the queen of all the Afric land.
"We retired about 7 o'clock and were well
wrapped, but we shivered all night, having come
from 86 to 22 in two days. I was clothed
thus : four pairs of socks, one pair of trousers,
one pair of puttee leggings, one jersey- woolen,
one woolen blue shirt, one negligee shirt, a suit
of underwear, a khaki coat, a mackintosh, a
skating cap and two blankets, and yet I was
121
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )-
'acold.' Shall put on a pair of boots up to my
knees tonight.
"We shall probably make the final attempt
to reach the summit tomorrow. The height of
Kibo is nearly twenty thousand feet. There is
a ridge running from Mwenzi Mountain to
Kibo. The saddle is sixteen thousand feet.
Mwenzi and Kibo are the twin peaks that form
the Kilimanjaro. We will get our guides up to
the saddle and leave the rest of the men here.
We hope by moonlight to walk all night and
reach a point near the top of Kibo by daylight."
Just as interesting, in a way, as the descrip-
tion of Kilimanjaro, which is given in Mac-
Queen's book from his own diary, is the de-
scription of the Kenya district, as quoted by the
same author from the diary of his companion
on the trip. We quote from the entries of two
days.
"December 5th : Scene at sunrise in a Masai
zareba at the foot of Mount Kenya. The zareba
is built of thorny shrubs to protect the cattle
from lions, leopards, hyenas, and other carniv-
orous beasts. The Masai live in these flat
roofed dwellings built of tree branches and then
plastered over with mud mixed with dry grass
and cows' dung. There is only one opening to
go in, and a perfect darkness reigns inside to
122
g[ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )
keep out the millions of flies that swarm in
every Masai zareba. .Here one may say that
cattle, sheep, goats, a few dogs, and human
beings live together like one big family, display-
ing a good deal of affection for one another.
At sun down, from all points of the compass,
men with their herds and flocks return from
pasture and fill the zareba as compact as sar-
dines in a tin.
"December 7th : Placed camp at the lower
timber line at the West side of Mount Kenya,
whence numerous streams flow to the plains,
feeding the great river Guaso Nyiro, which
empties itself into the Indian Ocean. Took a
picture, as the sun rose, of the snow-clad peak ;
for later in the day this virgin forest is con-
stantly hidden by clouds. Elephants, rhinoc-
eroses, wild buffalos, bush-bucks, colobus mon-
keys, leopards, and several species of birds live
in this jungle. The men of the plains dread it,
thinking that the forest is infested with evil
spirits. Being nine thousand feet above the
sea the cold at night and the torrential rains
keep the superstitious aborigines out of it.
"Just as the sun rises the Masai shepherds
let their herds of cattle, goats, and sheep walk
out of the zareba into the open plain to bask
themselves in the warm sun after the chills in
123
-tg JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF -
the night, for night is rather cold on these
highlands of East Africa. All the men, women
and children sun themselves too. About 7:30
A. M. the herds move on to feed in the plains
while women folk go to the zareba for their
daily routine of work. This plain is situated
to the southwest of Mount Kenya and is within
fifteen miles of the lower timber line, the home
of the El-Moran (Masai warriors)."
And as for Uganda, the reader will get a
very good idea of the situation in this wonder-
ful section of Africa from a description given
by Mr. MacQueen in his recent book entitled
"In Wildest Africa." We read there as follows.
"The islanders raise crops of bananas,
beans, potatoes, wild coffee, maize and tobacco,
and many fowls. There are no carnivorous
pests, and the hippopotamus and crocodile are
the only dangerous beasts. The Basesse go
decently dressed, even the women wearing
ample robes of bark cloth, which, however,
generally leave the bust and shoulders un-
covered.
"The scenery among the Sesse Islands is
remarkably beautiful when viewed from the
steamer's deck and, when seen from an em-
inence like Mount Bagola, presents a vista of
124
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
blue water, reflecting bold headlands, shaded
creeks and lagoons and wooded islets, stretch-
ing away in almost limitless variety to the
horizon and gradually softened and attenuated
by the glories of dawn, the splendors of the
setting sun or the soft haze which, even in the
hottest tropical day, gives a magical charm to
distant scenery.
"The people of Uganda as a rule seem to
live very happily. They are always laughing
and smiling, and the men and women go about
hand in hand. They have good homes; they
live in villages where every hut has its garden,
growing bananas, sweet potatoes, and other
vegetables.
"The houses are of different sizes. Those
of the chiefs are quite large and are elaborately
made. Those of the ordinary people are made
of reeds with thatched roofs, the latter being
upheld by poles. Even the poorest house has
two apartments, one to the front and the other
at the rear. The rear apartment has bunks
around the wall upon which the people sleep.
"Such huts have but little furniture : two or
three stools, a half dozen earthenware pots,
and some wicker or grass basins constitute a
complete outfit.
125
$ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
"As to food, the chief staple is the banana.
There are many varieties of these in Uganda,
and they are more important to that country
than wheat and corn are to ours. The banana,
which serves as the chief food, is much longer
than any that come into our markets. It is a
sort of plantain. It is sometimes made into
pembe, a delicious cider. It is eaten green, the
fruit being first peeled and then cooked with
a little water in an earthenware pot. After it
steams some time the flesh softens and soon
becomes a solid mass of mush. When done it is
taken off the fire and turned out upon some
fresh banana leaves. These serve as a table-
cloth.
"The family now gathers around and gets
ready for the meal. Each first washes his
hands and gives them a shake to get off the
superfluous water. The father then takes a
knife and divides the pile of banana pulp into
as many divisions as there are members at the
board. In the meantime a bowl of soup or fish
gravy has been placed inside the ring. This is
used in common.
"In the fields grow Indian corn, peas, and
sweet potatoes. Chickens, sheep, and goats are
raised. The people do not seem fond of eggs,
and the women are not allowed to eat them
126
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
after they are married. They are not permitted
to eat chicken or mutton, such viands being
reserved for the men of the family. They may,
however, eat beef or veal. The eating of
chickens is supposed to render the women bar-
ren. The Baganda, however, are beginning to
laugh at such superstition and everybody will
soon be eating chickens.
"The Baganda also have fish from Lake
Victoria and from their numerous streams.
They eat locusts, and are especially fond of
white ants. The ants are caught by smoking
their hills about night-fall and trapping them aj3
they come out. They are eaten both raw and
cooked.
"Now in Uganda the farmers are growing
sugar cane. They are growing tomatoes and a
green vegetable much like spinach. I saw little
fields of tobacco here and there. The soil is as
red as that of Cuba, and the plants grow with-
out much cultivation. The tobacco is used for
smoking, and is consumed by both men and
women. They gather coffee from the wild trees
and chew the pulp, but so far have not learned
to use it as a drink."
Thus was Krapf vindicated in the accounts
of his exploration. And he it was who opened
up East Africa, in the districts of which we
127
-~g( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
have read short descriptions, to Christian mis-
sions, so that the Gospel is slowly but surely
marching onward through the wilderness, and
the authorities are recognizing its value in in-
creasing measure, as a real factor in the de-
velopment of the country. But in all this our
chief interest lies in the fact that the Gospel of
salvation is made known to these descendants
of cannibals, and Christian congregations are
replacing the bands of marauders and mur-
derers which formerly infested this entire
section of Africa.
128
CHAPTER VIII
THE MISSIONARY'S ASSOCIATES
CHAPTER VIII
THE MISSIONARY'S ASSOCIATES
Many a man's success in life is due as much
to the influence of his associates as to his own
personal efforts. On the other hand, the man-
ner in which a person chooses his associates
often indicates a large amount of careful char-
acter study, for so much depends upon har-
monious working together. If a relationship is
continually hampered by friction and misunder-
standings, the chances are that such a com-
panionship will not be able to produce a great
amount of good. The truth of these statements
is generally accepted in business circles. It
would obviously be foolish for the manager of
a large firm to choose as his associates men with
whom he felt himself out of sympathy, with
whom he could not possibly agree. At the same
time, one can very well conceive of a partner-
ship or a corporation in which talents of various
kinds, showing themselves in various directions,
would work together under one leader or
manager.
All this applies also, with the proper reser-
vations, with regard to the work of the Church,
131
ef JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF jg~
whether at home or abroad. The Bible says
that the gifts of the Spirit are bestowed upon
every Christian to profit withal. One worker
in the field may have unusual administrative
ability, another may have the faculty of attend-
ing to small details with the greatest success,
a third may have a special talent for expound-
ing the Scriptures in a clear and practical way,
and thus the various talents and faculties of
the Christians, as bestowed upon them by the
Spirit of God, are put to use in the Church. To
a certain extent these facts are even more
prominent in the mission work of the Church.
When men and women are far away from the
home base working among people of a different
race, and very often with an inferior state of
education and culture, they will naturally seek
the companionship of men and women of their
own race, in fact, they will be dependent to a
large extent on such companionship. It is at
such a time that it becomes necessary for Chris-
tian workers to subordinate every personal
consideration to the needs of the work as they
present themselves. Those who hold associate
positions ought to recognize without question
the authority of such as hold executive offices,
and the latter, in turn, ought to appreciate the
talents of their associates, realizing that the
132
-{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }--
various members of a body must work together
in the interest of the souls that are to be gained.
If personal animosities are once permitted to
gain the upper hand, the chances are that the
work will soon suffer. Not only will the per-
sonal Christianity of the workers themselves be
in danger of becoming lost, but the people
among whom the work has been undertaken
will readily sense a state of dissension and will
become suspicious of the message brought by
people of this character.
In the biography of Krapf it is notable that
he appreciated his associates very much and
that, considering the wide difference in talents,
he worked together with them in splendid
harmony. Even when some of the later mis-
sionaries were found to be opposed to the plans
as conceived in the first place, Krapf did not
permit such a difference of opinion to interfere
with the preaching of the Gospel. Wherever
he could do this without surrendering a prin-
ciple, he yielded to others. To this fact, in a
large measure, the success of his undertakings
must be attributed.
The foundation for this method of work had
been laid even before Krapf left Europe. When
he was associated with Blumhardt at Basel, the
older man showed a wonderful amount of tact
133
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
in directing the energy of his young associate.
Even if we discount the somewhat peculiar
pietistic trend of the school, we must admit the
eminently practical side of the training along
these lines. Krapf and Blumhardt spent a great
deal of time together between 1827 and 1837,
and the younger man received impressions
during this association which directed his later
efforts in a large measure.
Nor may we overlook the influence of Isen-
berg, another man from the institute at Basel.
He had entered the school in 1824, apparently
intending to get as much information as pos-
sible, without considering the practical side of
the school. Somewhat later he studied in Ber-
lin, returning to Basel in 1830 as a teacher of
Greek, a language which was studied in the
institute on account of its importance for the
understanding of the New Testament. Before
the end of this year he was induced to go to
England, and from there he was sent, in 1833,
to Abyssinia. When Krapf joined him, in 1838,
the two men worked together very well until
the great difficulties in the mission began, when
the jealousy of the priests caused the mission-
aries to leave Adoa. When Isenberg, a few
years later, tried to reach Gondar, he was again
in full accord with the plans of Krapf, for it
134
-- g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )g~
was he, together with Muehleisen, who made
an appeal to the prince of the country, and it
was he who informed Krapf and his wife that
the prince of Tigre would not permit the
European missionaries to labor in his territory.
Isenberg then returned to Egypt, in the year
1843, from where he was sent to Bombay, in
India. Here he did mission work till 1852.
During this entire time his interest in the
missions of Abyssinia and East Africa did not
lag. As early as 1840, upon the occasion of a
visit in London, he had published some books
in the Amharic language, his object being to
stimulate interest in the work in Ethiopia.
When he returned from Bombay, in 1852, he
settled near Basel, devoting his time to the
training of the mechanics who where to leave
for the foreign field, so that they might .be
familiar with the fundamentals of the Amharic
language. After 1854, he labored for approx-
imately another ten years in Bombay.
Another man who is important in the mis-
sionary history of Abyssinia and came into
touch with Krapf upon various . occasions, is
Samuel Gobat. He was fully eleven years older
than Krapf, and he entered the institute at
Basel as early as 1821. After completing the
course in missions, he went to Paris, in order
135
-ig( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]g
to study the Arabic language under one of the
most learned men of the day. When his train-
ing was finished, he went to England, where he
was commissioned as the first Evangelical mis-
sionary in Abyssinia. Like Krapf, he had long
taken a particular interest in this country, hav-
ing studied the stories of missions as under-
taken by the Jesuits in the sixteenth century.
He started out from Europe in 1826. When he
reached Cairo, circumstances compelled him to
remain in Egypt for about three years. This
delay, at first very provoking, proved to be a
blessing in disguise, for Gobat had an opportun-
ity to study the Orient, and especially the Near
East, at first hand. When he reached the
province of Tigre in Abyssinia, in the year
1829, he was received in a very pleasant manner
by the prince, Saba Gadis. Settling in Gondar,
he began his missionary labors, soon developing
a most blessed activity. Apparently the Coptic
priests were at this time not yet aware of the
influence which Gobat's labors might have upon
their people, and therefore they did not inter-
fere with his work. Gobat held many meetings
in his own house, which was often filled from
morning till evening with people who were
eager to learn the truth. His object was to
cause a reformation of the Coptic Church, with
136
{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fa-
the movement coming from within. But his
hopes were not fulfilled, as the story of Krapf 's
life shows us. Still the spirit of love which
filled his heart, the unselfishness which he ex-
hibited in dealing with the Abyssinians, and the
entire example of his character proved to be an
inspiration for all later workers, and it gave
his name a popularity in many sections of Abys-
sinia, which had not waned after several
decades. In 1832, the tribe of the Gallas in-
vaded the province of Tigre, so that Gobat was
compelled to flee to a monastery in the hills.
But the year 1836 once more found him busy
with his work in Abyssinia, with his wife as
a true helpmeet. Unfortunately he was unable
to endure the rigors of the climate, and there-
fore had to leave the country shortly before
Krapf was sent down from England. But even
now he was not idle. As soon as his health
permitted work, he devoted his time to the
spread of the Scriptures, finally even taking up
his residence among the Druses on Mount
Lebanon. From here he was called to Jerusa-
lem, as bishop of the Church of St. James.
From 1846 to his death in 1879, he was bishop
of Jerusalem, but his interest in the mission
work of Abyssinia and East Africa remained
unchanged, so that Krapf, upon the occasion
137
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }-
of his visit to Jerusalem in 1854, had the in-
spiration of his suggestions and the example of
his successes to spur him on. The grave of
Gobat is under an olive tree on Mount Zion.
The name of Martin Flad is associated with
that of Krapf on account of the attempt which
was made to open up the mission in Abyssinia
shortly after the middle of the 19th century.
He was a student trained at St. Chrischona, and
he was inspired by the work of Krapf. After
his training was completed, he was sent to
Abyssinia, and he had the very delightful ex-
perience of travelling from the Nile, through
the desert and up to the highlands of Ethiopia,
in the company of Krapf. Flad was a very
devout man and, although his effort at the time
also proved unsuccessful, the light which was
kindled in his soul by his contact with the work
never left him.
But the name which is most often associated
with Krapf 's is that of Rebmann, who was sent
out to join Krapf in East Africa in 1846. He
also was a native of Wurttemberg and had been
trained at Basel. When Krapf reported that
a door had been opened to him among the
Wanika near Zanzibar, Rebmann became his
helper. In one respect he was the very opposite
of Krapf, who was ten years older than Reb-
138
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }<>
mann. While the older man was restless and
energetic, with wonderful plans for the future,
Rebmann was of a quiet disposition, but with
a great tenacity of purpose. In spite of the
great dissimilarity in their natures, the two
men were at once drawn to each other, and
Krapf, after two years of lone work, appre-
ciated the presence and help of a fellow-laborer
very highly. Whenever Rebman accomplished
an unusually bit of fine work, Krapf was only
too glad to give him the full credit for his
achievement. Rebmann was particularly in-
terested in the establishment of schools, but
although he made some very strong attempts,
his success along this line was not very great.
It was for this reason that Rebmann consented
in a measure to the plans of Krapf, also in
making the trip to Jagga in 1848, on which he
first saw the snow-covered summit of Mount
Kilimanjaro. When Krapf was compelled to
leave East Africa on account of his health, Reb-
mann remained in the country, even though the
success of his labors was not very great. When-
ever the natives were at war, he was compelled
to flee. But just as soon as peace once more
settled in the country, he returned to his sta-
tion. When the outward success of his mission
work was not in keeping with the labor ex-
139
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }g
pended, he devoted himself with all the greater
energy to the study of the languages of this
part of Africa. He also translated a part of
the Bible into various languages and dialects,
beside publishing dictionaries of the language
which he had studied. As time went on, he
finally had the pleasure of gathering a small
congregation and of kindling the fire of spir-
itual life all along the coast. But he had the
misfortune of becoming totally blind, a fact
which made it necessary for him to resign his
charge. He returned to Germany in 1875, and
died the following year in the village of Korn-
thal near Stuttgart.
Thus was the work established in East
Africa, and one might very well apply to the
labors of Krapf and his associates the words
which Livingstone sent out into the world when
,his career came to an end. His great mission-
ary admonition read : "Do you carry on !" That
is the great duty which the Church has, that is
the great challenge which comes to the Church,
namely to continue the work of spreading the
Gospel. Every unconverted soul in foreign
countries is a challenge to us to work while it
is day, because the night cometh when no man
can work.
140
CHAPTER IX
THE LAST YEARS OF KRAPF
CHAPTER IX
THE LAST YEARS OP KRAPF
Krapf had worked in Africa quite steadily
from 1838 to 1855. Subsequently, as we have
found, he was in East Africa from 1861 to 1865,
and then from 1866 to 1868. He would have
stayed longer in each case, but his health had
been undermined, and so he found it necessary
to return to Europe in each case, lest he sacrifice
himself needlessly. But this does not imply
that Krapf was idle during that portion of the
last twenty-six years of his life that he spent
in Europe. His interest in the work of missions
was not reduced for a moment. Besides, his
evident ability in studying languages was a
talent that could not lie idle. Since he had
gained the knowledge of African languages and
dialects, he felt constrained to use this talent
in the interest of the work. He made his home
at Kornthal, near Stuttgart, and there he pro-
ceeded with his literary labors with only such
interruptions as have been indicated above.
Literary labors of this kind, while exceed-
ingly interesting, are by no means to be re-
garded as play. The longer a scholar is in the
143
g( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )
work, the more careful and cautious does he
become. In the case of Krapf, his natural
energy and eagerness gave him a stimulus
which carried him well through the drudg-
ery of these labors. This meant that he often
had to make short trips to the libraries at
Tuebingen and at Stuttgart. One can often
not wait to have certain references verified. It
is best to go in person and to look up things for
oneself. Thus many an interesting hour was
spent in examining records of all kinds, in
making comparisons, in verifying references.
All this material must then be assimilated,
analyzed for special purposes, brought into
order, and prepared for the press. Conve-
niences like typewriters were not to be found
in Krapf's study, and he was glad when he
could have the assistance of some young men
who would relieve him of mechanical details.
To this must be added the work connected
with a large correspondence. Krapf was not
a man to withdraw from others. He needed the
stimulus which comes to an active man by con-
tact with minds having similar interests. He
was regarded highly in the world of letters by
men not only on the continent, but also in Eng-
land and in the Orient. His name was men-
tioned with respect in Tuebingen, in Stuttgart,
144
-e( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF fa-
in Berlin, in London, in Jerusalem, and in
Cairo. He had a large correspondence, and this
he attended to in person. He needed informa-
tion on many points connected with the Oriental
language ; other scholars applied to him for in-
formation along similar lines. Besides, his
direct interest in missions and his connection
with the field in East Africa caused many let-
ters to be written. When the controversies
concerning his geographical discoveries and
explorations grew strong, he could not remain
silent. When his great work appeared, in two
volumes (1858) entitled "Travels in East
Africa," it caused the greatest excitement. As
we have seen, the English geographer Cooley
tried to ridicule the entire description, insisting
that Rebmann and Krapf were gifted with a
strong imagination. He boldly asserted that
ice and snow could not be found in the neigh-
borhood of the equator, even on mountains of
that height. All these facts caused Krapf much
extra correspondence.
His correspondence with learned societies
also grew with the years. He was a linguist,
he was a missionary, and he was an explorer.
In France his discoveries were regarded so
highly that he and his associates were given a
medal, as we have seen above. Learned soci-
145
e( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPP fr~
eties in England hesitated about accepting his
findings. But this again made it necessary to
write many letters and to prepare many papers.
He was invited to address societies and classes.
Upon one occasion he performed this task with
such notable success as to have fifty out of
fifty-five men declare their willingness to join
the East African mission.
To all this we must add the actual physical,
mechanical labor connected with seeing manu-
scripts through the press. Very few authors
succeed in producing altogether clean copy for
the printers. Many men find it necessary to
make corrections and emendations even on the
last manuscript which is intended for the prin-
ter. The difficulty is increased ten-fold and
hundred-fold where foreign languages are
concerned. In many cases the author is the
only man who can properly read copy. The
printers must depend upon him for every cor-
rection in the foreign language which he is
describing or with which he is dealing. When
the first proofs come from the press, they are
made on long sheets of paper, commonly called
galleys. Over these galleys Krapf was obliged
to labor for many long hours. Every error in
printing had to be most carefully noted ; every
correction had to be included and at the same
146
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )
time the text had to be so manipulated as -to
keep the lines in perfect harmony. In short,
the work of Krapf during the last decades of
his life, when he was busy with his descriptions
of East Africa, with his revision of the Amharic
Version of the Bible, with his labors in the
translation of the Bible into other Oriental
languages, and with the thousands of other
details connected with this work, was of a most
prodigious kind, exciting our admiration even
today. And while he was taking his Oriental
manuscripts through the press, while he was
busy in various attempts for the spiritual good
of others, the mission work in general, and
especially that of East Africa, was still dear to
him, and he had the joy of hearing from time
to time of the progress of missions, and partic-
ularly that the work which he had begun in
East Africa had not proved unfruitful.
The closing scene came on the first Sunday
in Advent in the year 1881. During the after-
noon of that day Krapf had said to a friend:
"I am so penetrated by the feeling of the near-
ness of the Lord's coming that I cannot describe
it. He is indeed near ; Oh ! we ought to redeem
the time and hold ourselves in readiness, so that
we may be able to say with a good conscience,
Yea, come, Lord Jesus, as it will be glorious
147
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }-
when our Savior appears as a conqueror, and
His enemies have become His footstool. Then
shall we both be permitted to see that our work
for the Lord has not been in vain." He spent
the evening until 9 o'clock in correcting proofs
which had come from the printer, and then,
after family devotion, visited his sick wife,
leaving her with the words, "Good-night, dear
mamma; the dear Savior be thy pillow, thy
canopy, and thy night-watch." Then, with a
loving good-night to his daughter, he retired to
his room and, as was his custom, he locked the
door. When he did not appear at his usual hour
in the morning, his daughter called him. When
she received no answer, the fears of the house-
hold were aroused, and, when they made their
way into the room, they found that he had
passed away, as had Livingstone not many
years before, while engaged in prayer on his
knees. Such was the death of this great ex-
plorer-missionary of East Africa.
148
CHAPTER X
FURTHER WORK IN ABYSSINIA AND
EAST AFRICA
CHAPTER X
FURTHER WORK IN ABYSSINIA AND EAST AFRICA
It was one of the great disappointments of
Krapf's life that the work in Abyssinia could
not be established. Gobat had tried it and had
not been permanently successful. Isenberg and
Krapf had tried it, and they had been refused
admission to the country after having laid a
small foundation. Gobat had been the church
statesman, whose tact and energy maintained
the cause of his divine calling before the supe-
rior authorities of the church and before the
mighty in the land. Isenberg had been the
plodding German man of letters, whose chief
joy was the study of foreign languages, the
writing of grammars and school books, and
laying the foundation of a Protestant literature.
Krapf had been the man of bold projects, full of
brilliant ideas and far-reaching plans. He had
fascinated the Protestant public by his scheme
of the Apostle Street, and later by his similar
plan of establishing a chain of stations right
across Africa. All three of these men were
later led by God in a most marvelous way.
Gobat developed the full weight of his personal-
151
-&{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )-
ity as bishop of Jerusalem; Isenberg devoted
his talents to further study and to educational
work in India; Krapf became the enthusiastic
pioneer of the missionary route from the east
coast of Africa into the trackless interior. But
Abyssinia remained for them all their first love,
the country of romance in their missionary work.
The following is the literary results of the
thirteen years' work done by the Church Mis-
sionary Society when these three men made
their attempts in Abyssinia. Isenberg published
his Amharic grammar, his English-Amharic
and Amharic-English dictionary, his Amharic
handbooks of geography, history, and religion,
and his biography for Samuel Gobat. The
diaries of Gobat were published in the Evan-
gelical Missions-Magazin. Isenberg and Krapf
published their journals in 1843, giving details
of their work in the kingdom of Shoa. The next
year Isenberg published a book entitled "Abys-
sinia and the Evangelical Missions."
The second period of mission work in Abys-
sinia began with the work of Martin Flad, who,
with three other young brethren met with a
friendly reception at the court of King Theo-
dore. But the men soon found that the ruler
of Abyssinia was not nearly so much interested
in the message which they might bring as in
153
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
their ability as craftsmen. He wanted above all
else to have them cast cannon, repair rifles, and
make gun-powder for him. If they wanted to
do a little school teaching on the side, he would
not hinder them. But he saw to it that they
had neither the time nor the opportunity for
any thorough work of Gospel preaching. The
unfortunate missionaries became royal rifle
manufacturers, and their condition grew worse
as the wild passions of the African despot
gained the ascendency.
Thereupon the missionaries attempted work
among the Falasha, who were Abyssinian Jews.
The London Society, induced by the reports of
Flad, sent a man by the name of Stern to Abys-
sinia, together with a young assistant. The
Scottish Jewish Mission sent two Chrischona
brethren, Staiger and Brandeis. The success
of these men among the Falasha was astound-
ing. In a little more than five years there was
a company of 212 converts, among whom there
were some splendid characters who, for the
sake of their newly found faith, bravely faced
severe persecutions. But the storm clouds were
gathering over Abyssinia. King Theodore
developed a most ferocious character. As he
laid his own country waste, so he let his anger
loose on the Europeans living in his dominions.
153
6f JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF
All of them, including the Chrischona brethren,
were thrown into prison, were they languished
miserably for years. It was at this time that
Krapf was asked to be the interpreter for the
English army under Sir Robert Napier, when
the fortress at Magdala was stormed and the
prisoners relieved. When the English army,
after this victory, left the country, all the
Europeans who had lived there, including the
missionaries, joined it, to leave behind them the
ghastly experiences in which they had taken
part.
But Martin Flad held fast most faithfully
to the Falasha mission. No fewer than eight
times after the reign of terror in 1868 he under-
took the tedious and dangerous journey to
Abyssinia, to see if the door would not be
opened to him again. But even when he came,
five years later, as the bearer of an official letter
from the Queen of England, he could not receive
the permission to settle in the country. But
he did not give up his work. As the new Am-
haric Version of the Bible appeared, the work
in which he assisted Krapf, he took a camel-
load of newly printed books to the boundary of
Abyssinia every other year. The result was
that in 1884 the number of converts was be-
tween eight and nine hundred.
154
-- g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )-
Once more a series of storms swept over
the tender congregation. The Jesuits incited
King John to destroy all Protestant books, and
shortly afterwards the Mohammedan dervishes
laid waste the country in which the mission had
gained a footing, so that only a small remnant
remained.
Upon the advice of Dr. Krapf the Swedish
National Missionary Society began work among
the Galla tribe, and subsequently in the Kunama
country, in northwestern Abyssinia, their chief
station being Tendur. In 1870 they were forced
to retire to Massowa, where they opened a
school. Subsequently they founded stations
further inland, and three natives who had been
trained by the missionaries pushed straight
across the country to the Galla tribe in the
province of Jimma, where they commenced the
work of evangelization. Since 1882 much work
has been done in the colony of Eritrea, where
the inhabitants have for ages been members of
the Abyssinian Church. In some villages the
Gospel has become a power among the people.
After the English had occupied the Somali
coast, the Swedish missionaries approached the
Galla tribe from the south, up the Juba River,
but as yet the expectation of Krapf that the
Galla tribe would offer a promising field for
155
8( JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }-
mission work has not been fulfilled. The coun-
try of Abyssinia, on the whole, still remains in
the darkness of its strange mixture of religions.
But the work in East Africa has made good
headway from the beginning. Even if the con-
gregation left by Rebmann was small, it proved
the nucleus for further missionary work, and
at present Kenya colony, the Tanganyika ter-
ritory, Uganda, and the upper reaches of the
Belgian Congo have quite a number of mission
stations.
In connection with Uganda the name of
Alexander Mackay is very important. As in
the case of other missionaries, Mackay had
been deeply affected by the last message of
Livingstone, and when Stanley called on the
Christians of Great Britain to send mission-
aries to Uganda, Mackay offered himself for the
work. He arrived on the east coast of Africa
in 1876, and he actually built a road from
Mpwapwa two hundred and thirty miles inland.
In November, 1878, Mackay entered Nteba, the
harbor of Uganda, and five days later was in
the capital of the country, which is now known
as Mengo. Here his real life work began, and
he did not draw back until death himself called
a halt, in 1890. In 1896, another missionary,
by the name of Pilkington, had the following to
156
g{ JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF )g
say about Uganda: "A hundred thousand
evangelized half able to read for themselves;
two hundred buildings for worship; two hun-
dred native evangelists and teachers supported
by the native church; ten thousand copies of
the New Testament in circulation ; six thousand
souls eagerly seeking daily instruction; the
power of God shown by changed lives."
And as for the entire situation in East
Africa, nothing can be more characteristic
than an entry from the diary of a recent ex-
plorer, Mr. MacQueen, from whom we quote
the following statement:
"July 19th, Sunday: Lutheran Mission,
Moschi, 4800 ft. It was a calm and restful day
to me after an exciting week. Dr. Fassman
and I had breakfasted together. Then to
church. Two hundred clean, well-dressed
Wachaga went to service. Seemed glad to go to
the House of God. Singing good and vespers
sounded sweetly in the quiet Sabbath hush. In
the afternoon I looked for signs of my camp
followers from the mountain, but they came not.
Slept again. In the evening looked over the
scene. Very striking one. Sun sets over Mount
Meru, 12,000 feet in elevation. Plain is very
green after the rain. Small volcanoes on the
plains and the Parri mountains in a blue haze
157
JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF ]>-
on the horizon. Streams flow, birds sing before
they repair to rest. The Wachaga cattle graze
peacefully. Glorious are the streams of light:
tints of brightness, blues, mauves, opalescent,
glistening. Garden smells of wild flowers.
Chirp of insects. Great Kibo covered up in
mist. I hear songs of praise from German
church. The whole scene sings itself into my
memory for ever. Limes, pears, nasturtiums,
bananas, the pawpaw. Respectful attitudes of
the people. Mission folk look better than other
natives.
"Sun comes out. Sinks and it is night. In
no romance of olden travel was this scene ever
surpassed. A railway to Tanga will make this
Moschi province one of the great lands of the
future."
Thus the work of Krapf and his associates
goes on. And we, who derive inspiration from
their life and labors, are constrained to think
of the words of the Bible: "There remaineth
yet much land to be possessed." It will be
possessed and the Gospel will be victorious, if
we Christians, by the mercy and in the strength
of the Lord carry the banner of the cross
forward.
158
-~gf JOHN LUDWIG KRAPF }-
BIOGRAPHY
1810, January llth. Born at Derendingen, near
Tuebingen in Wuerttemberg.
1827. At Basel Mission School.
1829-1834. Tuebingen. At the university in
Tuebingen.
1836. Pastor in Germany.
1837. Left Basel for East Africa, reaching Mass-
owa in December.
1842. Furlough in Egypt.
1843. Back in Massowa.
1844. In Zanzibar.
1846. Wife and child die.
1848-49. In the interior of East Africa.
1850. Furlough in Europe.
1851. Return and further travels.
1853. Second furlough.
1854. Meets Bishop Gobat in Palestine.
1855. In Switzerland.
1868. British expedition to Abyssinia.
1881. Died at his home in Germany, on his knees,
November 26th.
159
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