AfiENGANZE 

WEST AND EAST 






21 YEARS PIONEERING 



IN THE 



HEART OF AFRICA 



81650 



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TORONTO 



Return to 




MRS. S. IT. E. MOODtB 

flft ?.-*.-,? r - ??:. M ^t 



GARENGANZE: 

and 



A Review of 
Twenty-One Years Pioneer Work 

in 
The Heart of Africa. 



BY 

F. S. ARNOT. 




GLASGOW: 

PICKERING & INGLIS, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS. 

LONDON : A. HOLNESS, 14 PATERNOSTER Row, E.G. 

And through most Booksellers and Depots. 

CAVEN LIBRARY 

KNOX COLLEGE 

TORONTO 



81^50 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. To THE BAROTSE VALLEY .... 9 

II. To THE GARENGANZE KINGDOM . . 28 

III. 18891891 5 2 

IV. 18921894 71 

V. 18951896 99 

VI. 1897 1902 H5 

DIAGRAM MAP .... Facing Title 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

NAROBOTO 13 

A BREAKDOWN .... 23 

BALOJOASHE 3 1 

A LUVALE FETISH MAN . .... 39 

GROUP OF CHIBOKWE CHILDREN ... 43 
" THE DAY OF THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE 

CHILD S LIFE" . ..... 47 

OVIMBUNDU PORTERS ON THE MARCH . . 53 

" WILD AND MOUNTAINOUS " ... 55 

SKELETON OF MURDERED SLAVE ... 61 
MRS. BIRD CROSSING RIVER IN A BARK 

CANOE . ... 69 

MR. SWAN S BRICKYARD 77 

SOUTH BEND OF LUAPULA 80 

A BALUBA VILLAGE 83 

LUBA WOMAN 89 

TIMBER HEWN OCHILONDA BIHE ... 94 

BEDSTEAD MADE BY NATIVE CHRISTIANS . 95 
WEAVING COTTON PLAIDS, AND PLAITING 

BASKET-WORK WALL OF HUT ... 97 

KAFWIMBI 107 

A STREET IN LUANZA 1 1 1 

NJIMBI . 116 

THE LATE CHIEF SAKAUMBU AND His Two 

WIVES 127 

MR. CRAWFORD S STEEL BOAT LYING OFF 

LUANZA, LAKE MWERU 131 



PREF 




TE. 



COMPLYING with the wishes of many friends. 
I have tried to put together in a connected way 
and within I hope, the reach of all an 
account of more than twenty years work 
carried on by a succession of servants of Christ 
in Central Africa. 

It is a relief to me to have this oppor 
tunity of omitting much of the earlier history 
of the work that appeared in " Garenganze " 
of 1889; for in this way I have been able to 
bring its history down to the present year, 
and at the same time to reduce the bulk of 
the original volume. 

F. S. A. 

15, Clifton Vale, 

Bristol, Aug. 1902. 



- 



GARENGANZE: 

WEST AND EAST. 

A Review of Twenty-one Years Pioneer Work in 
Central Africa. 

CHAPTER I. 

TO THE BAROTSE VALLEY. 

FROM the day of my conversion when 
quite a boy, I had cherished the 
desire to take some share in carrying the 
Gospel into Central Africa ; and, having 
been advised by the late Major Malan to 
prefer the longer route from the south, to 
the shorter and more difficult east or 
west coast routes, I landed in Natal in 
August, 1 88 1. After a little delay on 
account of the first Boer war, which was 
brought to a close that year, I took 
" passage " by a company of transport 
waggons bound for the Transvaal. We 



io Garenganze West and East. 

travelled so slowly that I was able to visit 
many of the Boers living in the Orange 
Free State and the Western Transvaal. 

Leaving the Transvaal, I crossed into 
Kama s country and made for Shoshong 
the chief town (now deserted). This 
" stronghold " was built at the mouth 
of a deep ravine containing the only 
permanent spring of water found in the 
country for miles around. Here Kama 
had been able to resist repeated attacks 
of Matebele warriors from the north, 
and here also he had made an equally 
resolute stand against the drink traffic, 
coming as it did as an enemy from the 
south ; for Kama was in advance of the 
Colonial Government in defending the 
natives of the interior against the ravages 
of " fire water." After helping me to 
learn the Sechuaria language, Kama 
placed at my disposal his own waggon 
and a full span of trained oxen to take 
me on as far as the Tsetse fly would 
allow, for wherever this insect is found the 
ox, horse, and the European dog die from 



To the Barotsc Valley. 1 1 

M 

the effects of its bite, although human 
beings and wild animals do not suffer. 
Donkeys too are supposed to be immune. 
Kama s waggon was big, and the mis 
sionary s belongings were few. At 
first it hardly seemed right to accept the 
chief s kind offer, but as soon as a start 
was made all such misgivings were dis 
pelled for the big waggon soon began to 
fill up. First one then another appeared 
by the side of the road with bundles and 
bags of food and supplies for the journey. 
The half-coloured butcher of the town 
had been up all night making sausages, 
and stood at his door with a heavy bag 
on his back. " They will keep," he said, 
as he rolled his load into the waggon ; 
" they are well spiced ; " so I hung them 
in bunches over my head, and every day 
for six weeks or so, I cut down two 
sausages for dinner. 

The long zigzag course it was necessary 
to take across the Kalahari desert was 
very trying, water was scarce, and the 
cattle suffered much. In the Kalahari, 



12 Garenganze West and Easr. 

or " white sand desert," wandering bands 
of Basarawa or Bushmen, Bakalahari, 
and Bakalaka are found ; all " run-away " 
remnants of tribes and races living in 
the countries adjoining. Certainly these 
wild men appear to us to be in a very 
degenerate condition, but their faculties 
and senses are sharpened to a remark 
able degree. As they move about they 
allow nothing to escape their notice ; 
they " read " the path, and can tell not 
only the name of an animal that may 
have crossed it during the night, but the 
time of night that it happened to pass. 

They seem to know instinctively where 
water is likely to be found. One. 
Bushman saved the lives of my party 
by scooping out a hole in the sand, and 
then sinking still further into the ground 
a long hollow reed through which he 
sucked a supply of water. And although 
the frothy liquid had passed through the 
little man s mouth, it was life to me and 
my Bechuana. 

Tsetse flies were encountered in the 




[Photo by M. Coillard. 

NA-ROBOTO, KING LIWANIKA s OLDEST COUNSELLOR, IS STILL 
ALIVE. HE WAS THE FRIEND AND ENTERTAINER OF ALL 
STRANGERS. WHEN A YOUNG MAN HE MET MRS. LIVING 
STONE, AND~ COMPLIMENTED HER- BY TAKING HER NAME. 
(" NA-ROBOTO " BEING MRS. LIVINGSTONE S NATIVE NAME.) 



To the Barotse Valley. 1 5 

Mababi district to the north of Lake 
Ngami ; so Kama s waggon had to return, 
and I travelled on with a few Bushmen 
and three pack donkeys. At last to my 
great joy and relief we arrived at the 
Chobe river, a tributary of the Zambesi. 
My men soon got over their joy, however, 
at having more water than they could 
drink, and longed to be back to their 
desert life again. " Did not the maraud 
ing Barotse live across the river ? if they 
should happen to see our fires would 
they not come over and kill us all ? " 
We found lions also to be very trouble 
some along the banks of the Chobe, and 
a leopard charged right through the 
midst of our camp one night and caught 
up my little dog, a faithful companion 
and night watch. 

Herds of antelope, buffalo, and giraffe 
lined our path, and a troop of baboons 
brought us to a complete standstill for 
some hours. Following down the course 
of the Chobe we arrived at the Zambesi, 
and from the junction of the two rivers 



1 6 Garenganze West and East. 

we turned south, first to the deserted 
trading station of Leshuma, and then 
to Panda-ma-tenka where I paid off my 
Bechuana and Bushmen, and was able to 
get some information as to the best way 
of travelling to the capital of the Barotse. 

Returning to the Zambesi, I pushed on 
to Shesheke in the face of many diffi 
culties, and found the headman willing 
to listen to all I had to say and to allow 
me to travel up the Zambesi to King 
Liwanika s capital ; meanwhile he pro 
vided men and boats to return with me 
for my baggage which had been left at 
Panda-ma-tenka. 

On arriving at the trading station I sold 
my three donkeys, and packed all my 
belongings in loads suitable for the 
shoulders and sticks of my native carriers, 
who in this district divide the load they 
carry into two equal parts fastening them 
on to the two ends of a stick, in Chinese 
fashion. 

When travelling back to the junction 
pf the Zambesi with the Chobe, a dis- 



To the Barotse Valley. 17 

tance of seventy miles, I was attacked 
with my first African fever. My men 
had gone on far ahead with the supply 
of water and food, and did not return. 
I was compelled at last to lie down in a 
very helpless condition, and having only 
one little lad with me, I sent him back 
to the trading station. After a weary 
wait of nearly three days, help came and 
I was carried back to Panda-ma-tenka. 
In a few weeks the fever subsided and 
I was able, although very weak, to reach 
the Zambesi ; soon my boatmen gathered 
from their villages and we continued our 
journey to Liwanika s town. 

I was now in the hands of the raw 
Zambesi native, the noisy, drum-beating 
laughing, quarrelsome forest and river 
negro ; so different from the quiet and 
stealthy Bushman, or the more thought 
ful Bechuana, whose one business it is 
to mind sheep and cattle. Although 
these river men have a bad character, 
and are fond of blackmailing and plunder 
ing, yet again and again one or other 

2 



1 8 Garenganze West and East. 

brought me milk, meal, or some such 
delicacy, from a distant village when 
they saw that I could hardly eat the 
boiled corn, dried elephants flesh, and 
putrid meat stolen from the crocodiles 
larders, which was our usual fare. 

Lialui (the place of the river,) was 
reached on the I9th of December, 1882. 
The Barotse call themselves Balui (the 
people of the river), a very suitable name 
since what is known as the " Barotse 
Valley" is for about four months in the 
year a great lake one hundred and fifty 
miles long by forty wide. The people then 
betake themselves to villages built on 
artificial mounds and to the forest-clad 
shores. 

The king sent a horse for me, and a 
company of men to carry my bundles to 
my hut, a long low grass hovel rather 
damp and gloomy. Firewood was very 
expensive, so that my recollections of 
these first months at Lialui are all of 
damp, mildew, fever, rats and snakes. 
The third day after my arrival I was 



To the Barotse Valley. 19 

shocked to see a trial for witchcraft 
carried on right in front of my door. 
First one, and then another poor wretch 
had to dip his hands into a pot of boiling 
water, and lift three stones that lay at 
the bottom. If the skin came off his 
hands within twenty-four hours the man 
was pronounced guilty. I put in a plea 
on behalf of these " witches," and urged 
that the accuser should be tested in the 
same way as the accused. The king 
owned that it was a cruel and unfair 
trial, and promised to put it down when 
he had more power. 

Liwanika seemed at this time to be in 
a very unsettled state of mind ; he had 
many enemies in his own country, and 
some powerful rivals. My coming did 
not satisfy him for I could not teach 
his people to make guns and powder 
and it seemed mockery to bring " mere 
words " to a man who needed " strong 
friends." Sepopo, his uncle, had been 
killed by an uprising among the Barotyc ; 
Mwanawina, his cousin and predecessor, 



2O Garenganze West and East. 

had also succumbed to the spear of an 
assassin. Lobengulo, the King of the 
Matabele, had sent to Liwanika offers of 
friendship, with presents of shields and 
spears if he would join him in opposing 
the steady advance of the white man 
from the south. Liwanika was greatly 
delighted with the shields, and inclined 
to accept Lobengulo s advances, but I 
advised him strongly to seek rather the 
friendship of Kama the Christian chief. 
So a letter was sent to him, in which the 
King asked for Kama s daughter and a 
black dog as proof of his friendship. 
Kama replied by sending a horse in 
stead of his daughter, giving Liwanika 
to understand at the same time that he 
must join with him not against the 
white man, but against the white man s 
drink if he wished to be Kama s friend. 
All this time the King stoutly refused 
to listen to my " talk about God," he had 
rross-questioned the boatmen who had 
brought me up the river, and had gathered 
trom them that it was " all children s 



To the Barotse Valley. 21 

talk," and not worth listening to. But 
when I took him at his word and asked 
him to let me have his children, he con 
sented and sent his son Litia to my hut 
every day with a few other sons and 
nephews and their little slaves. 

Liwanika s love of state and show was 
quite in advance of anything known 
among the South African chiefs, he had 
not only a full array of officers of state 
answering roughly to our cabinet minis 
ters, but a high priest, a state barge, 
made of several sides of canoes sewn 
together in a wonderful way, and a city 
of refuge. The Barotse had great faith 
in his power to bring rain, and to protect 
his people from the lightning. When a 
severe thunderstorm broke over the town 
all came into the King s enclosures and 
preferred to sit there in the rain, rather 
than go to their own huts. Laws con 
nected with circumcision and purifica 
tion, in vogue among the Barotse, give 
support to the theory that the Bantu 
tribes now scattered over Central and 



22 Garenganze West and East. 

South Africa came from a country nearer 
to Palestine, where their ancestors were 
strongly affected by Jewish customs. 

On the 2Qth of April, 1884, a letter 
arrived from M. Coillard telling of his 
arrival at the Zambesi with a company 
of missionaries. I read it to Liwanika 
who was looking forward to the coming 
of this devoted servant of Christ, and 
from that time I felt free to go on with 
my original plan of reaching the hilly 
country to the north of the Zambesi. 
Liwanika was not in favour of any white 
man going to those whom he called at 
that time " his dogs," so I decided to 
visit Benguella, a Portuguese port on the 
west coast, and return to the interior 
with fresh supplies, by a route to the 
north of the Barotse. 

Before closing this chapter the follow 
ing reminiscences and tales of Dr. 
Livingstone are perhaps worth record 
ing. The older men often said to me, 
" you are not like the ( Great Doctor/ 
you cannot perform miracles as he did, 



To the Barotse Valley. 25 

he showed us his relatives, and the spirits 
of his forefathers, did we not see them 
walking across the shadow of the sun ! " 
They referred no doubt to the magic 
lantern exhibitions Dr. Livingstone gave 
when on his first journey across the con 
tinent. 

The young men who guided me to the 
Victoria Falls told me how the " Great 
Doctor " had actually taken wings and 
flown down to the bottom of the chasm. 
Dr. Livingstone in his journal speaks of 
tying a stone to the end of a string and 
letting it over the cliff, and finding that 
he quickly lost sight of the stone, he 
tied a sheet of paper to it ; we can easily 
understand how the sheet of paper grew 
to be a bird, as the story went the round 
of the kraals, and then that the " Great 
Doctor " himself became a bird and flew 
down. 

One day an old blind minstrel came 
singing into my yard, and finding his 
song, flattering the " White man " was not 
appreciated, he changed his tune and, 



26 Garenganze West and East. 

to my surprise gave in Sechuana a sermon 
on the " last judgment." This old man 
afterwards told me that before losing his 
sight he had acted as cook to Dr. Living 
stone, and had heard this sermon so often 
that he had learned it bv heart. 



CHAPTER II. 

TO THE GARENGANZE KINGDOM. 

I EAVING Lialui with a caravan of 
^ Bihe traders, my mode of travel 
ling was changed for the fourth time. 
Ox-waggons, pack-donkeys, canoes, now 
gave place to porters. 

Seeing that the tribes living between the 
Barotse Valley and Bihe still remain un- 
evangelised, we owe them a great debt, 
and I make no apology for describing the 
greater part of this journey in the words 
of my journal written at the time. 

May i$th. A tedious journey through 
a dense forest, hanging with moss and 
lichen. Camped at Ka-kinga on the 
river Ninda, a tributary of the Zambesi, 
where the Ambuella, a small tribe of the 
Bambunda, are living. 

2Oth. A wild-looking company of Bam 
bunda hunters came to the camp ; they 
27 



28 Garenganze West and East. 

dress their hair to imitate the horns 
of wild animals, and one had a stick 
through his nose. 

21 st. Since leaving the Barotse valley 
we have been constantly ascending, so 
that now we are travelling through 
hilly country, very cold at night, with 
sharp touches of frost, but during the 
day the sun is strong. 

2 3rd. Crossed the hills and reached the 
source of the river Shulongo, tributary 
to the Kumbule, which again is tributary 
to the Quando river. Following the 
Shulongo we came to the Kumbule, a 
large, beautiful stream, which seemed to 
dance along over a bed of silver sand. 
Orange, green, and other bright-coloured 
water-weeds were growing in abundance. 
All the rivers and little streams have the 
same bright appearance in this part of 
the country. " Afric s sunny fountains " 
is no mere poetic dream ; but the sands 
are silver, not " golden," as in Heber s 
hymn. 

. Crossed hilly country, densely 



To the Garenganze Kingdom. 29 

wooded, and reached the river Shikolui, 
running south through a valley. 

May 30^. When camping on the 
river Kushibe I decided to visit the line 
of small towns on its banks belonging 
to the Bakuti, a people akin to the Bam- 
bunda. My interpreter and I procured a 
boat and paddled up the stream, stopping 
at all the huts and small villages. The 
people showed much frankness, and said 
how glad they were to see an " English " 
for the first time. I asked them to 
gather together at their chief town in 

o o 

two days time, and then I would speak 
to them. 

June ist. In the afternoon a large 
company had assembled to be spoken to, 
all men, for everywhere in Africa the 
women are the most conservative and 
the most difficult to persuade into re 
ceiving anything new, and here they had 
shut themselves up in their huts. Speak 
ing through my interpreter, I told them 
of God the Creator, of man s departure 
from Him, of the sending of God s Son 



3O Gar en game West and East. 

as a Saviour, and of His now sending 

9 o 

messengers throughout the world to call 
men back to Himself. The close atten 
tion I received made me feel that the 
Spirit of God was blessing the word, and 
at the end all expressed their thanks by 
clapping their hands. The chief then 
said that they could not tell how happy 
they were that I had spoken in that way 
to them, he had believed in a great God 
who had made all things, but he wanted 
to know that God, that he might pray to 
Him at all times. 

The Bakuti live in square houses built 
close to the Kushibe, which forms their 
highway ; each person possesses a boat, 
and, as there is a continual traffic going 
on, the river presents a very lively appear 
ance. Their hair receives more attention 
than their bodies, the men wear a skin 
before and behind from the girdle, but 
the women use calico for their clothing. 
They have blankets also, made of the inner 
bark of the wild fig tree, beaten soft. 

4th. One man showed great interest 



To the Garenganze Kingdom. 33 

and said afterwards, " This day T am a 
child of Jesus Christ ; now I will pray 
to God alone." Some wished me to 
return to-morrow, hut the chief said, 
" No, we shall tire the white man by his 
coming so far ; we will go to his camp." 

i$th. Started early in the morning, 
the main body of the carriers being 
behind. We passed several villages of 
Balojoashe safely, the people only coming 
out to look at us ; but when we reached 
one of their larger towns they gathered 
round in great numbers dancing, shout 
ing, and yelling to us to stop, and swing 
ing their weapons over our heads. 

i^th. Reached the town of Herero, 
who is headman of the district. He 
proved as disagreeable as his people ; 
demanding from us an ox and some 
tiger-skins. 

i$th. After climbing a long steep hill, 
we descended to the river Kuvangui, a 
rapid and deep stream, which I crossed 
by a frail wooden bridge, the carriers 
going further up to a ford. Keeping by 

3 



34 Garenganze West and East. 

the Kuvangui for four hours, we passed 
Kankanga s, and then camped at the 
town of Kashima s daughter. I speak of 
" towns ; " hut though the people are in 
considerahle numbers, gathered close to 
gether under their chief, their huts are 
so hidden and scattered in dense wood, 
that to a passer-by the only signs of the 
presence of human beings are certain 
narrow and winding footpaths here and 
there. 

The regular camping places are gener 
ally on the edge of forests, where the 
porters can cut down poles to erect their 
rude huts. We were busy getting our 
camp into order when some Balojoashe 
came along, evidently bent upon mis 
chief. Getting nothing for their im 
pudence they left us. In a short time, 
however, we saw that the long grass on all 
sides of us was on fire. My men turned 
out, and beating down the flames as 
they approached our camp, they suc 
ceeded in stamping out the fire. I 
then called all together and discovered 



To the Garenganze Kingdom. 35 

that eight of our number were missing, 
so that our worst suspicions concerning 
these Balojoashe were confirmed. They 
had set fire to the grass around our camp 
to distract attention while they carried off 
all the stragglers they could catch. I 
started off with some thirty men, and after 
a weary ten miles journey over the hills we 
came upon the robbers and found they 
were ready to fight with us, as they only 
thought we had come to recover by force 
the stolen men. I made every effort to 
get between my own men and the Balo 
joashe, and, as a sign of my peaceful 
intentions, I held up one of their native 
stools in front of the threatening crowd 
and then sat down upon it, urging them 
to sit down and talk with me. The old 
chief, seeing the younger men fall back, 
began to chide them for being afraid, 
and rushing forward he levelled his gun 
at me, ready to fire, but the young men, 
fearing that their old chief would bring 
mischief upon them if he shot me, laid 
hold of him, took his gun from him, and 



36 Garenganze West and East. 

marched him off to a hut close by, with his 
hands behind his back. At last one by one 
they came near and sat down, and we 
talked the matter over. They said they 
were not embittered against us, but 
against others, who were their enemies, 
and they promised to bring down the 
eight captives next day to camp. They 
kept their word, and the stolen men were 
brought back ; presents were exchanged, 
and thus ended what had been to me a 
very trying ordeal. 

June 22nd. Left the Kuvangui valley, 
crossed a high range of hills, and reached 
the Kuandc River (Livingstone s Chobe] 
in the afternoon. 

23rd. As we go up the Kuando the 
scenery becomes more beautiful. The 
hills on each side are high and wide 
apart, and covered on the tops with 
dense forest. Bright, rapid streams run 
down every valley. It is strange to find 
the streams in this part of the country 
full in the dry season : during the rains 
thev are low. The hills here seem to be 



To the Gar en game Kingdom. 37 

one mass of sand, firm though very 
porous. 

2^th. Our camp was soon crowded 
with people to-day; I told one of the 
fathers of the tribe something of my 
mission, and of the God whom I served. 
The old man ran off excitedly to bring 
some other old men, who greeted me 
with clapping of hands, and to them he 
retailed with great energy what I had said 
to him. My old friend wanted to know 
exactly when I would come back, and 
wished me to show with my hand the 
height that the corn would be above the 
ground when he might look for my 
return. 

June 2$th. Crossed the Kutau and 
Biseque ; camped at Kambuti, at the 
head of the latter river. The Biseque 
joins the Kutau, which falls into the 
Lungeungo, a tributary of the Zambesi. 

zjth. Reached the Kansambe River, 
and camped at Brutwe. 

?&th. Crossed a high range of hills, 
and camped by the Kambimbia, flowing 



38 Garenganze West and East. 

west, its waters go by the Nyonga and 
Kuito to the Okovango river, which flows 
into Lake N garni. 

2<:)th. Crossing the Nyonga river we 
camped on the right-hand bank of the 
Bembe. 

The tribes we have passed through 
seem to have one common religion, if it 
can be called by that name. They say 
there is one great spirit, who rules over 
all the other spirits ; but they worship 
and sacrifice to the spirits of ancestors, 
so far as I can learn, arid have a mass 
of fetish medicines and enchantments. 
The hunter takes one kind of charm with 
him ; the warrior another. For divining 
they have a basket filled with bones, 
teeth, finger-nails, claws, seeds, stones, 
and such articles, which are rattled by 
the diviner till the spirit comes and 
speaks to him by the movement of these 
things. When the spirit is reluctant to 
be brought up, a solemn dirge is chanted 
by the people. All is attention while the 
diviner utters a string of short sentences 




A LUVALE FETISH-MAN IN 

DEPARTED SPIRIT. 



[Photo by Mr. Edward Sanders. 
A DRESS INTENDED TO REPRESENT A 



To the Garenganze Kingdom. 41 

in different tones, which are repeated after 
him by the audience. 

July 2nd. Following the course of the 
Onda river, we passed through a fine 
open country, crossing a running stream 
of water every half hour, some large, 
some small, but all rapid streams. 

July 4/7?. Spent four hours in cross 
ing the Kuanza river, and after a long 
day s journey lodged at Chikoma s town, 
the same who found Cameron far in the 
interior in very destitute circumstances, 
and brought him out to Bihe on his way 
to Benguella. 

The natives here were dressed well- 
The men wear hats and coats and rather 
a long cloth kilt ; the women wrap them 
selves in cotton cloth from the arm-pits 
downwards. Their houses are square and 
well built, with hinged doors and native- 
made iron locks, all, of course, in imi 
tation of the Portuguese. Their gardens 
are large, well-tilled, and neatly furrowed, 
not unlike our fields at home. 

Continuing my journey to Benguella 



42 Garenganze West and East. 

I arrived at Bailundu and found that 
the station of the missionaries of the 
American Board had been plundered by 
the natives a few weeks before, and all 
the missionaries driven to the coast. I 
took up my quarters in one of the ruined 
houses, and had the joy before long of 
welcoming Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Sanders 
back to their work and station. 

Arriving at Benguella I was able to 
purchase from Portuguese merchants all 
that was required in the way of provisions 
and trade goods, to cover cost of a few 
years service in the interior. 

Hearing of the Garenganze country 
from a company of natives that I hap 
pened to meet on my return journey, and 
seeing that it seemed from their account 
to lie to the north of the Barotse king 
dom, I decided to make for it, believing 
that God would " direct my steps " day by 
dav and if such were His will, I was 

j y 

prepared to stop short in any of the 
intervening countries. 

From Bihe the regular trade route 



To the Garenganze Kingdom. 45 

to the interior was taken, it follows the 
Zambesi-Congo watershed the greater 
part of the way. Crossing the Kuanza 
I travelled a few days through the country 
of the Baluimbi, who seemed to he 
much more industrious than the Ovim- 
bundu living in Bihe and Bailundu, 
although not so enterprising. They divine 
with the skull of a small antelope poised 
on a stiff grass-stem. The hilly, well 
wooded country of the Bachibokwe 
came next; they seemed to be more ad 
vanced in all legal matters. Their faculty 
for picking faults and making charges 
against travellers being proverbial. They 
are also very ingenious in the way they 
attract bee-swarms to their cleverly made 
bark hives, and a few years ago, without 
any help from Europeans, they discovered 
a rubber-yielding root and developed a 
large and successful trade with the 
Portuguese. Next to them come the 
Baluvale or Baluena, living along the 
margin of the rivers and marshes that 
form the north-west feeders of the 



46 Garenganze West and East. 

Zambesi. They are a fishing tribe, and 
like all river and water-folk have many 
superstitions. Na-Kandundu or Na- 
Katolo, the Queen-mother of the tribe, 
proved a friend in need, for when some 
of my men turned back she supplied me 
with a few carriers and housed the rest 
of my things until I was able to send for 
them. Further mention will be made 
of her later, and some detail given of 
the route from Bihe to the Garenganze, 
when extracts are made from the diaries 
of the missionaries who have travelled 
backwards and forwards many times 
since this first journey. 

The Balunda and the Basamba lie 
between the Luvale country and the 
Lualaba river which is known as the 
western boundary line of the Garenganze 
kingdom. 

The history of this country is no doubt 
typical of the history of many Central 
African kingdoms and perhaps a brief 
outline, at the close of this chapter will 
not be out of place. 




[Photo by Mr. Crawford. 

THIS IS " THE DAY OF THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE CHILD S LIFE ; " HE 
HAS CUT HIS FIRST TOOTH IN A RIGHT AND PROPER WAY, AND THE 
PARENTS CARRY HIM ROUND AT THE HEAD OF A JOYFUL PROCESSION, 
UECAUSE HE IS NO LONGER IN DANGER OF BEING CLAIMED BY THE 
" DOCTORS " FOR SACRIFICIAL PURPOSES. 



To the Garenganze Kingdom. 49 

Msidi, a copper trader from the east 
of Lake Tanganyika, on one of his periodi 
cal expeditions to the Katanga mines, 
was informed that the Baluba from the 
north had invaded the country around 
belonging to the Basanga, and Msidi 
having in his party four muskets joined 
with the Basanga and drove off their 
enemies. The effect of p the dreadful 
sound of the guns was so complete, that 
he vanquished both friend and foe. 
Mpanda, chief of the Basanga, laid his 
omande shell (African crown) at the feet 
of Msidi, who took full advantage of the 
power thus placed in his hands of en 
larging the Basanga kingdom into what 
was afterwards known as the Garenganze 
empire. He also collected a large store 
of ivory, for which it was necessary to 
find a market, and when his own trade 
route to the east coast had been cut off 
by the Lunda general Kazembe, he was 
compelled to look for help from the west 
coast. With this end in view he sent 
his nephew Molenga in that direction in 

4 



50 Garenganze West and East. 

charge of a peaceful expedition laden 
with ivory. In leading the caravan, 
Molenga seems to have exercised great 
tact and wisdom, making friends with 
the subordinate Lunda chiefs and having 
endless palavers with the quarrelsome 
Chivokwe people. At last he met with 
a nat ve trader from Umbaka, who led 
him to the station of the Portuguese 
trader Silva Porto in Bihe. This was 
the beginning of very important trade 
communications between Bihe and 
Garenganze, and formed a link between 
the west and the east coast, which 
owed in this way its existence entirely 
to native enterprise. It was along this 
route that I had travelled, and when 
still several hundreds of miles from Msidi s 
capital, the mention of h s name was a 
passport for me. They said " If we inter 
fere with this white man, who is travelling 
to Msidi, he will some day come and cut 
off our heads." 

Msidi was very slow to receive me, 
and for ten days I had to remain at a 



To t/ie Garenganze Kingdom. 5 i 

distance until he had called for his 
diviners to discover if my heart was as 
white as my skin. All their tests turned 
out in my favour and I was invited to 
the capital and received by the King, 
who introduced me to his five hundred 
wives. Many thousands of people lined 
the route and filled the square in front 
of his house. 



CHAPTER III. 
1889-1891. 

BY this time I had become attached to 
my Bihe carriers and they to me, 
so I sent them back to their own country 
with letters to Mr. W. E. Sanders, of the 
American Mission, asking him to send in 
my letters by these men, as well as 
supplies of calico and clothing. Mean 
while all unknown to me, Mr. C. A. Swan 
of Sunderland, and Mr. P. Scott of 
Liverpool were giving up good business 
appointments and preparing to come 
out to help occupy this vacant field. Mr. 
Scott was not able to proceed beyond 
Bihe, but Mr. Faulkner from Canada 
arrived in time to accompany Mr. 
Swan, and together they succeeded, 
as soon as they had heard of my where 
abouts in pushing their way in to the 
Garenganze to my great surprise and 
delight. " Two are better than one " and 
52 



1889-1891- 



53 



" a three-fold cord is not quickly broken." 
We may say then that December 1887 
marked the real beginning of missionary 
work in the Garenganze. 




OVIMliUNUU I ORTERS ON THE MARCH. 

I returned to England the following 
year, and after proving the truth of Prov. 
xviii. 22, I had the joy of acting as guide 
early in 1889 to a large party of brethren 
and sisters, most of whom had been 



54 Garenganze West and East. 

exercised for some time concerning the 
needs of Central Africa. 

There is no direct route from England 
to Benguella. Portuguese mail steamers 
run regularly from Lisbon ; the out-going 
party therefore started for that port by 
different routes and steamers. After 
leaving Lisbon we called at several Portu 
guese West African islands and ports, 
and all felt impressed with the destitu 
tion, from a Christian s point of view, of 
the Cape Verde group, the Islands of 
St. Tome and Principe and all the 
Portuguese ports south of the Congo- 
Mr. R. J. Johnston, the most experienced 
evangelist of the party, took every oppor 
tunity of landing at the different ports, 
tract-distributing. But he caught the 
coast fever, and died as the steamer 
entered Benguella Bay. 

Once at Benguella our real difficulties 
began. The only way of travelling 
from that port into the interior is on 
foot, along bridle paths. The mission 
ary s baggage and supply of cheap calico 



1889-1891. 55 

(instead of money) hav to be carried on 
the heads or shoulders of native porters, 
and the country for the first hundred 
miles is wild and mountainous. 




"WILD AND MOUNTAINOUS." 

At the time of our arrival, carriers 
were very scarce ; it was impossible to 



56 Garenganze West and East. 

engage any at Benguella,so Mr. F.T.Lane, 
my wife and I started off with pack 
animals for Bailundu to canvass the vil 
lages. After some time I was able to 
return to the coast with one hundred 
and fifty men, and succeeded in bringing 
all inland. 

For the first two weeks everything 
went well as we travelled on. Suddenly 
however an epidemic of fever broke out, 
and of the four who were laid down 
together, two (Mr. T. Morris, the life and 
hope of the party, and Mr. Gall) were 
taken from us. We had hoped that Mr. 
Morris would have been long spared to 
the work, but God had planned other 
wise. A few days before he was taken 
ill he made an effort to use the little 
Umbundu he had learned, while I stood 
by to help him over the difficult words. 
" Eternal life," said Mr. Morris to the 
carriers as they gathered round, "Eternal 
life is what we bring to you in the Gospel." 
At this one of the men stepped for 
ward and challenged the preacher. " You 



1889-1891- 57 

offer to us Eternal life," he said; "but you 
have not got Eternal life yourself, for 
you will die just the same as the black 
man." " Yes,".said Morris, "that is true; 
my body, this flesh, will go down to the 
earth," and taking hold of the flesh of the 
one hand with the thumb and fore-finger 
of the other, he continued : " This flesh 
of this hand will rot in the ground, but 
my soul will not die, it will go up to God," 
and here Mr. Morris pointed up, and 
looked up with convincing energy. A 
few days after, the same men stood 
around Mr. Morris s grave. And thus 
God taught them and us this costly 
lesson, that we must make much of our 
message and nothing of the messenger. 
Mr. Morris s first and last African sermon 
seemed to throw a new light on the 
Apostle Paul s first recorded sermon to 
the Gentiles, Acts xiv. 15, "We also 
are men of like passions with you." We 
all sympathised keenly with Mrs. Morris, 
whose only thought now was to return 
and care for her four fatherless children 



58 Garenganze West and East. 

Mr. Geo. Fisher and Miss Davies accom 
panied her. Messrs. H. B. Thompson, 
F. T. Lane and A. Munnoch, Miss Gil- 
christ, Dr. W. Fisher, my wife and I 
pressed on to Bihe, where we were joined 
by Mr. D. Crawford who had preceded us. 
Guided by Senhor Silva Porto, the 
Portuguese Capitao Mor of Bihe, we 
pitched our camp at Kuanjulula, in the 
district of Tulumba. The size of our 
party, however, gave Chindunduma, the 
paramount chief of the country, a great 
fright. Neither did the Portuguese trust 
us ; they feared some political intrigue, 
and sent a number of native soldiers 
to Bihe disguised as porters to watch 
the movements of the " English mission 
aries." A large and influential trader at 
the coast had also sent a message to 
Chindunduma with a present of rum, 
advising him to be on his guard and see 
that " too many white men," were not 
allowed into his country. The crisis 
was reached one morning when a com 
pany of the King s " young men " after 



1889-1891. 59 

a long .night march, arrived at our camp 
with their guns loaded and ready to fire 
on us if we did not obey the King s 
orders and leave his country. Having 
met some of the leaders of this " war 
party " in the interior, I was able to 
persuade them to return to the chief with 
a message and a present. By this time, 
however, the secret of the soldiers dis 
guised as porters came out, and Chin- 
dund.uma turned his attention to the 
Portuguese, and insisted on driving them 
out of the country. The soldiers fled in 
the night, and my old friend Senhor 
Silva Porto committed suicide by blowing 
himself up with gunpowder. 

Of course the Portuguese government 
had to punish the natives of Bihe, and 
naturally they suspected that the 
" English missionaries " had had some- 
th ng to do with the revolt. This made it 
impossible for me to think o going on 
to the Garenganze at once, as my inten 
tion had been, so we all joined in helping 
Messrs. Thompson, Lane, and Crawford 



60 Garenganze West and East. 

to go to the relief of Messrs. Swan 
and Faulkner. The British representa 
tive at St. Paul-de-Loanda, hearing of 
the suspicion that rested upon us, offered 
to take up our case ; he kindly sent two 
British gunboats tol Benguella to make 
enquiries, but we refused to take our 
affairs in any way out of the hands of 
the Portuguese. A military expedition 
arrived, which, with the help of a few 
Boers from Mossamedes, soon subdued 
the natives. Afterwards, when the 
Commander began to enquire into the 
cause of the revolt, he found among the 
King s papers information that directed 
him to the real source of the trouble and 
freed us from all suspicion. 

While all these troubles and anxieties 
were occupying those of us who remained 
in Bihe, Messrs. Thompson, Lane, and 
Crawford were making steady progress 
towards the Garenganze country. Of 
course they met with the usual difficulties, 
for between lazy and deceitful carriers, 
and greedy chiefs and toll collectors, they 






* \ 



** 



[PAo/o 6j jVf r. Edward Sanders. 

SKELETON OF MURDERED SLAVE LYING BY THE SIDE OF TRADE-ROUTE. 

THE MARK OF THE FATAL BLOW IS SEEN ON THE SKULL. THE LEFT 

HAND HAD EVIDENTLY BEEN LUTED IN SELF-DEFENCE. 



1889-1891- 6 3 

were often at their wits end. These 
troubles are things of the past, but some of 
their notes on the sufferings of poor slaves 
are not out of date. On the 26th of 
August Mr. Crawford wrote : " Although 
I make this entry with the setting sun- 
I have still vividly before me a sad, heart, 
rending sight, a slave caravan on the 
march. It numbered perhaps eight 
hundred all told. This traveling mass 
of humanity had been months on the 
road An hour ago I could not have 
trusted myself to have written of the 
harrowing sights. There were aged men 
and women whose poor shrivelled forms 
told of the welcome release awaiting 
them. Mothers with babies on their 
backs, one just born this morning, and 
tall strongly built young women and 
girls, some of them with fine features 
carrying heavy loads. One had fallen 
behind seemingly quite unable to carry 
the load that had been given to her, I 
appeared on the scene just in time to 
see her inhuman master beat her un- 



64 Garenganze West and East. 

mercifully on the head with a club, 
yelling out a threat with every stroke. 
Saddest sight of all were the scores of 
little children crawling along naked, many 
of them not above four years of age. 
Smile to them as one might, these dear 
little children would dart into the brush 
wood fear-stricken." 

Mr. Crawford writes again of how 
during their stay at Nana Kandundu, 
" their porters from Bihe were carrying 
on in secret an infamous traffic in 
slaves, and among the purchased was 
one young girl about ten years of age. 
Poor little soul." He continues, " I used 
to watch her brooding over her ill-fortune, 
with as touchingly sad an expression on 
her face as it was possible for face to 
assume. Her history, hitherto unknown 
to her owner, came to light to-day. It 
appears that in the Luvale raids she had 
been carried off from her home, which 
is somewhere on the other side of the 
Zambesi, near where we visited. At our 
last camp one of the Lunda visitors 



1889-1891. 65 

recognized in her the daughter of his 
friend, and he at once bore the news to 
her father, who crossed the Zambesi to 
day, and redeemed her with two slaves, 
twelve fowls, and a gun. He was only 
a poor man, but the shrewd Bihean had 
no mercy on him. While the redemp 
tion price was being struck, the girl 
hugged her father, sobbing, and the 
father caressed her assuringly, saying, 
1 Never mind, my child, although I 
have to borrow, I will have you home 
with me to-day. 

When the travel-worn party arrived 
in the Garenganze, November jth, 1890, 
they found Mr. Swan well and active, 
but Mr. Faulkner was in very poor 
health ; he had suffered for over a year 
irom a painful malady, and Mr. Thomp 
son kindly offered to escort him to Bihe. 
Mr. Swan had fought on bravely since 
February 1888, when I left him for 
home. In spite of the extra strain of Mr. 
Faulkner s illness, he had made a very 
fair beginning at the Luba-Sanga 

5 



66 Garenganze West and East. 

language, and had sought to spell out 
the A. B.C. of the Gospel message in and 
around Msidi s town. Political troubles, 
however, of a very serious character 
were threatening the peace of the 
country. Msidi was like a lion growing 
old, and not able to hold his own with 
so strong a hand. A rising among his 
Basanga subjects proved very obstinate, 
and three Belgian expeditions were 
converging upon him. Listening to the 
advice of the missionaries, however, 
Msidi decided to receive the Belgians in 
a friendly way ; but misunderstandings 
arose, and a young officer connected 
with Capt. Stairs expedition shot Msidi 
in his own court. In the midst of these 
troubles Mr. Swan left on a visit to the 
lower Congo, and the little garrison in 
the Garenganze country was again re 
duced to two, Messrs. Lane and Craw 
ford. 

The death of Msidi would under 
ordinary circumstances have thrown the 
country into great confusion, but the 



1889-1891. 6; 

Congo Free State force was sufficient to 
keep order, and to secure the peaceful 
accession of Msidi s son, Kalasa, who has 
since taken his father s name. But 
Msidi II s power is greatly curtailed and 
here as elsewhere in Central Africa, the 
European protectorate has put an end 
to the old time African despot. 

Returning to Bihe, I must just add, 
before closing this chapter, that as soon 
as our troubles with the natives and 
Portuguese were over we had the joy of 
welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Bird from 
Canada, Mr. F. Schindler and Mr. J. Lynn 
from London, Miss Darling (now Mrs. 
W. Fisher) from Ireland, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Murrain from Georgetown, British 
Guiana. As matters have since turned 
out our two friends from the West Indies 
have proved pioneers of a movement of 
much value to the work in Central 
Africa. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bird and Mr. Schindler 
were ready to begin work in the Luvale 
country. They hoped that in addition to 



68 Garenganze West and East. 

reaching a needy tribe with the Gospel 
their station would prove a half-way 
house for the missionaries in the Garen 
ganze. 

I, acting as their guide, led the way to 
the town of Na-Kandundu, the Queen 
mother of the Baluvale referred to in my 
last chapter, distant about five hundred 
miles from Bihe. 

The old Queen, African-like, was very 
cautious about trusting herself to 
strangers, and before she would allow 
me to leave, an ox had to be procured, 
and I was asked to shoot the animal 
while the Queen stood by, with her hand 
resting on my shoulder. This ceremony, 
in some way or other, that I cannot 
quite understand, satisfied her that all 
was in good faith and that no harm 
would come to her and her people through 
these missionaries building among them. 

On my way back to Bihe I picked up 
Ngoi a poor little waif that some slave 
traders were hawking round ; they were 
willing to accept a kid or even a hen 



1889-1891. 



6 9 



for the child. He could hardly stand, 
much less walk, so I carried him on my 
mule clinging to my back with his sinewy 
little arms much as he had clung to his 




MRS. BIRD CROSSING A RIVER IN A BARK CANOE. 

mother a few months before. Ngoi after 
wards became attached to Mr. Campbell, 
when he returned with Mrs. Campbell 



/o Garenganze West and East. 

and took up his work again in the 
Garenganze country. From him Ngoi 
has heard and believed the Gospel, and 
has been referred to in letters as 
having grown to be a strong man, and 
as being " a pillar in the Church." It is 
encouraging to think of the child at one 
time so worthless as to be a burden to his 
captors, becoming a source of strength 
to others. 



CHAPTER IV. 

1892-1894. 

FROM this t me, apart from occasional 
itinerations, the Bihe, Luvale, and 
Garenganze countries became the chief 
spheres of the labours of our brethren 
and sisters in Central Africa ; so in 
this and the following chapters, I will 
try and keep the story of the work in 
each country separate, while combining 
them in successive chapters as three 
strands in one cord. 

BIHE. 

Through the breakdown of my own 
health, my wife was compelled to give 
up her promising school in Bihe, and 
return home with me after three happy 
years of African life and service. 

Mr. Swan, who had paid a short visit 
to England, returned with Mrs. Swan 
(nee Davies), to Kuanjulula where he was 
71 



72 Garenganze West and East. 

joined by Mr. F. T. Lane from the Garen 
ganze. 

The Station at Kuanjulula being just 
within the radius of the ramble of the 
soldiers from the Portuguese fort, was 
moved to Ochilonda a few miles further 
north. Mr. and Mrs. Murrain built 
further off still at Owhalondo where 
there were many native villages. 

By this time the constant village and 
school work in Bihe was hearing fruit, and 
our brethren had the joy of seeing a 
few cases of conversion. One, Sanje, a 
big strong porter, had gone to the 
interior with Messrs. Bird and Schindler s 
caravan. He had often heard the Gospel 
message by the camp fires, but it was not 
until he was recovering from a severe 
attack of smallpox through which our 
brethren had nursed him along with 
many other bad smallpox cases, at great 
personal risk, that his heart seemed 
softened and open to receive the truth. 
Miss Gilchrist, who had accompanied 
Mrs. Bird, was helpful to him, and on 



1892-1894- 73 

his return to Bine he openly professed 
Christ and was baptised by Mr. Swan. 

Another, Njimbi, was an older man, and 
like the " son " in the Gospels he " oft- 
times fell into the fire and oft into 
the water." Mr. Campbell, who had just 
come out from home, went to stay 
at Njimbi s village to learn Umbundu, 
and there with a stammering tongue he 
interested the afflicted man in the words 
of Christ. In his case conversion meant 
life, and deliverance too from the fits to 
which he had been subject. 

Mr. Joseph Lynn s short but promising 
career closed about this time. He was 
the first to take up the book and store- 
keeping work at Bihe ; thus freeing 
others for language learning and village 
preaching. In this same spirit of self- 
forgetfulness Mr. Lynn took hold of and 
tried to strangle a mad dog that had 
invaded the village. The dog bit him 
severely and he died from the effects 
of it. Mr. F. T. Lane succeeded him in 
his work. 



74 Garenganze West and East. 

LUVALE. 

Dr. and Mrs. Fisher desiring to put 
their medical knowledge to the best 
advantage decided to follow up the little 
group who were " breaking ground " in 
the I.uvale country, battling with severe 
types of fever and other ailments, which 
often assume strange and obscure forms 
in districts new to the white man. 
While an elementary knowledge of 
medicine and nursing may be sufficient 
to treat some fevers described in the 
medical books, only a fully qualified 
doctor can tackle with success these 
obscure and difficult forms of malarial 
fever, and their subsequent develop 
ments, that are to be met with in the 
far interior. 

But Dr. Fisher could not procure 
carriers for love or money. The 
rubber trade was in a very prosperous 
condition and all the men had gone off 
trading Mr. Schindler however, hear 
ing of Dr. Fisher s intention, kindly came 
out to meet him with what carriers he 



1892-1894- 75 

was able to collect among the Balu- 
vale. 

Dr. and Mrs. Fisher and family arrived 
at Kavungu, January 1894, after an 
arduous journey along the usual winding 
forest paths. In spite of all they had 
seen and heard of the slave trade nearer 
the coast, the travellers were surprised 
and shocked with what they saw inland 
of this inhuman traffic carried on chiefly 
by native traders from Bihe. Dr. 
Fisher wrote in his journal, Jan. 4th " We 
met a large caravan coming from the 
Luba country. It contained at least 
four hundred slaves, many of them mere 
children, some had their loads of rubber 
or ivory tied to them and others were 
themselves tied together in groups." 

Again he says Jan. 10. " One cara 
van passed us yesterday, the native 
traders having nothing but slaves for sale." 

They found Mr. Bird and Mr. Smith 
busy building, and Mr. Smith being 
a good carpenter, they had attempted 
something more in keeping with our 



76 Garenganze West and^East. 

home ideas of a house. Usually the mis 
sionaries have to be content with little 
better than improved huts in the early 
days of station life. In any case toilsome 
weary days have to be spent cutting poles 
in the forest, pinning the frame together 
with wooden trenails. The rafters gener 
ally give most trouble, as everywhere in 
Africa the roofs of the buildings are the 
great concern : tornadoes, tropical rains, 
white ants, thatch-loving rats, have all 
to be reckoned with. One night after 
a weary day battling with rafters and 
fever, our dear brother Bird dreamt that 
he took a walk out around Kavungu and 
was surprised to come across a row of 
cottages all ticketed " To Let ! " " What 
a fool I am," he thought in his dream, 
" to waste time building when here close 
by I can hire a nice cottage ! " but 
morning light dispelled his lovely vision 
and brought him back to the hard facts 
of life in the centre of the great houseless, 
shopless continent. 

The language of the Baluvale is called 



1892-1894- 79 

Ciluena, from Baluena, another name for 
the tribe The great work that occupied 
our brethren at this early stage was, 
of course, that of learning and writing 
down this language ; and those who are 
prepared to do so in any country are the 
real pioneers of the Gospel. The raw 
African native does not understand words 
as we do ; he speaks in sentences. The 
names of places, and the names he gives 
his own children, are sentences with a 
meaning, shortened perhaps in daily 
use. It takes time to analyse these 
sentences and to break them up into so 
many words that can be written down 
as equivalent to our English words. At 
first of course many mistakes are made, 
and often weak words have been used 
in published translations of Scripture. 
Let us suppose, for instance, a foreigner 
lands on the British Isles, finds all in 
heathen darkness and proceeds at once 
to learn our language and to translate 
the Scriptures into our tongue. He 
would be on the look-out for words 



8o Garenganze West and East. 

for use in certain passages. One day, let 
us suppose, he hears a drowning man 
calling for " help ; " heconcludes that that 
word must be forcible, seeing that it was 
used by a drowning man, and thinks that 
it would be a good one to use in trans 
lating Romans x. 13, and so writes: 
" Whosoever shall call upon the name of 
the Lord shall be helped." A longer stay 
in the country and better knowledge of 
the language would show him that saved 
would be the correct word to use in this 
important text, and that the drowning 
man had not chosen the strongest word, 
but the word that carried furthest when 
shouted out at the pitch of his voice. 




SOUTH BEND OF LUAPULA, OR EASTERN LUALABA, NEAR 
TO SPOT WHERE LIVINGSTONE DIED. 



1892-1894- 8 1 

GARENGANZE. 

Let us pass on however from the Luvale 
plains, drained by the north west feeders 
of the Zambesi, to the mountainous 
Garenganze country. Here the East and 
West Lualaba rivers rise and, after mark 
ing out the boundaries of Msidi s kingdom, 
gradually converge to form the great 
Congo. 

In Garenganze, 1893 an ^ 1894 were 
years of peculiar trial to our brethren 
Thompson and Crawford, who had been 
privileged to continue the work at 
the Lufoi station near to Msidi II s chief 
town. A period of prolonged uncer 
tainty and confusion had followed the 
death of the great Msidi. Many of 
the Bagarenganze looked upon the con 
quest of their country as a very clever 
piece of deception and generalship from 
the time of the arrival of the first mis 
sionary in the country to the cutting off 
of Msidi s head ; for the Zanzibaris 
attached to Capt. Stairs expedition would 
not rest until they had performed this 

6 



82 Garenganze West and East. 

barbarous act on the once great enemy 
of the Arab trader. The only hope for 
the servants of Christ lay in living 
down these suspicions, not in reasoning 
them down. And as time went on the 
natives began to see, by the self-denying 
kindness of our brethren and their 
willingness to visit them unarmed in 
their forest and mountain retreats, that 
they were their true friends. The 
name given to our brother Crawford 
from this time was Konga Vantu, "The 
gatherer of the people." 

Itinerating work was carried on for 
months on a very large scale. The 
Lufira valley north and south, the Sanga 
and the Lamba countries, the villages 
along both banks of the Luapula as far 
as Ilala and Chitambo, where Dr. Living 
stone s heart lies buried, were visited. 
(Mr. Crawford might be called the 
guardian of Livingstone s grave, as he 
was the first to clear the ground around 
and to build a strong fence to protect it.) 
Mr. Thompson also extended these 



1892-1894- 8 5 

journeys far into the Luba country to 
the north, and thus in many villages 
and in several tongues the Gospel was 
told out. However, work on this scale 
could not be continued with so few to 
help, and Mr. Crawford decided on form 
ing a station at Lake Mweru, where the 

o 

people could come to hear the Gospel 
not once in a lifetime, but morning, noon, 
and night. In July, 1894, he wrote that 
he was moving slowly on to the Lake 
with about one hundred and thirty men, 
women, and children who intended build 
ing with him this city of refuge. Chi- 
pungu was their first site, as it was well 
placed and safe from risk of a surprise 
from the Arab raiders living on Kilwa 
Island who plundered the villages on the 
mainland. Mr. Crawford hoped too, that 
by moving to Lake Mweru he would be 
nearer the trading stations on Lake 
Tanganyika seeing that the scarcity of 
carriers out west had for the time being 
prevented his brethren in Bihe from 
forwarding to the Garenganze the 
supplies they so sorely needed. 



86 Garenganzc West and East. 

It was a severe discipline to me to 
remain a passive observer of all these 
heroic efforts, and in spite of doctors 
warnings I decided to do something 
towards reaching the Garenganze by the 
east coast route with supplies of provi 
sions and calico,, and when a com 
panion was provided (Mr. B. Cobbe of 
Athlone, Ireland), I set out, August 1894, 
via the Cape and Natal. 

Arriving at the mouth of the Zambesi 
in September, we changed from the 
ocean steamer into a small stern-wheel 
two-decked river-boat, belonging to the 
African Lakes Corporation. Knowing 
something of the vastness of the country 
drained by the Zambesi, it was very 
disappointing to find that our shallow 
draught steamer was constantly running 
aground. The captain employed about 
twenty tall men whose business it was 
to spring into the water and push us off 
the sand banks. 

We passed the grave of Mrs. Living 
stone and, turning up the Shire river, 



1892-1894- 8 7 

viewed the Morambala mountains where 
Bishop Mackenzie, guided by Dr. Living 
stone, sought to establish the first 
mission station on the Shire Highlands. 
Further on we came to the villages of 
the Makololo who followed Livingstone 
on his famous journey across Africa and 
who preferred building here to returning 
to their homes on the Upper Zambesi. 
About sixty miles land journey, via 
Blantyre, brought us to the navigable 
reach of the Shire above the Murchison 
Falls. Here we found another steamer 
awaiting us, and again we changed into a 
larger vessel as we entered Lake Nyassa. 
Passing Cape McClcar we recalled the 
name of Dr. Black and others of the 
Livingstonia Mission, who lie buried 
there. Our steamer touched at Bandawe, 
where we went ashore and were en 
couraged with what we saw of the pro 
gress of the work in Dr. Law s hands. 
Landing at Karonga our overland journey 
to Lake Mweru began. Mr. Cobbe had 
already suffered a good deal from fever 



88 Garenganze West and East. 

when passing through the low-lying 
river-ways ; but now that we were on 
land again, with more exercise and 
a high plateau to cross, he began to re 
cover. The few months spent in com 
pany with dear Cobbe travelling to Lake 
Mweru were all too short. His Christ- 
like thoughtfulness for others, even when 
he was down with a burning fever, wonder 
fully softened the daily jars and frettings 
of a long African journey. 

At Lake Mweru we were surprised and 
delighted to find that Messrs. Thompson 
and Campbell had come to pay a visit 
to Mr. Crawford. They were all in need 
of supplies, and seeing Mr. Cobbe and 
I had been able to bring with us a fair 
amount of calico, beads, and some pro 
visions, our arrival was opportune. 

I recognised quite a number of old 
faces among the natives that had built 
at Mweru. One young man, who had 
been a faithful friend to Crawford, was 
one of Msidi s junior executioners. He 
had often heard the Gospel, and had 




LUBA WOMAN. HER HEADGEAR IS OF BASKET \VOKK 
INTERWOVEN WITH HER HAIR. WHEN VIEWED FROM THE 
FRONT IT HAS THE APPEARANCE OF A HALO J WOULD 
THAT IT WERE ! 



1892-1894- 9 1 

grown very hard and indifferent to it, 
but the gentle words of a woman dying 
under his cruel hands as she pleaded 
with him to " deal kindly with her child/ 
impressed him in this way, " What the 
missionaries say about me is true, I am 
indeed a very wicked man." At one of the 
many happy meetings we had with the 
natives on Lake Mweru shore, this young 
man stood up tremblingly and con 
fessed Christ. He said that he had often 
attempted to do so before, but that 
Satan had snatched the words out of 
his mouth, by telling him that if anyone 
had sins he had, and that it was all very 
well for the white man to talk about the 
blood of Jesus cleansing from all sin, but 
such a black sinner as he was could 
never say so, but that now he knew that 
the blood of Jesus was equal in strength 
to the washing away of his sins as well 
as those of the white man s. The after 
life of Mishe-mishe proved that this 
confession by the lake was real. The 
story too of how he got over the difficulty 



92 Garenganze West and East. 

of having five wives as told by Mr. 
Crawford is most interesting. Finding 
that Mr. Crawford was not prepared to 
advise him as to what he should do, 
and only persisted in assuring him 
that God knew, and by His Holy 
Spirit would enlighten him, he went 
home and did not come again for advice. 
Calling his wives together he said that 
if one were willing to remain with him 
he would divide all his property between 
the four. One chose to abide as a poor 
man s wife, and the others gladly carried off 
their portions to their paternal villages. 
Mrs. Crawford taught Mishe-mishe the 
elements of ambulance work, and of 
cleansing and doctoring ulcers, so with 
a linen bag over his shoulder, he 
visited the many villages around, re 
minding the people of what he was at 
one time, when they would have fled 
from him, but now that he was a Christ 
ian he was willing to wash out and bind 
up their sores. 

Chipungu, Mr. Crawford s first camp- 



1892-1894- 93 

ing ground by Lake Mweru, was too 
small for those who had come to build, 
so he accepted the invitation of the chief 
of a small fishing tribe further up the 
lake shore, and built along the Luanza 
rivulet which comes down from theKunde- 
lungu range, crossing a fertile second 
plateau, and falling into the lake one 
hundred and fifty feet below. The 
Kundelungu, as its name implies, is a 
vast elevated tableland, too cold for the 
natives to live comfortably, but a safe 
refuge for the European. Before the 
camp was removed from Chipungu to 
Luanza I had, I am sorry to say, to leave 
for home, my dear friend and com 
panion Cobbe remaining with Crawford, 
and D. Campbell kindly coming out 
with me as far as Lake Tanganyika. At 
first I was against his doing this, and felt 
quite able to travel the paltry hundred 
miles alone ere reaching the first white 
man s village. It so happened, however, 
that an old illness returned with increased 
severity, and, but for Brother Campbell s 



94 Garenganze West and East. 

help and doctoring, I don t know what I 
should have done or how I could have 
pulled through it. 

The journey from Lake Tanganyika to 




TIMBER HEWN AND BROUGHT INTO STATION fiY NATIVE 
CHRISTIANS AT OCHII.ONDA, HIIIE. 

the mouth of the Zambesi was quite 
uneventful. 

When passing Cape Town the late Mr. 
Cecil Rhodes sent me an invitation to 



1892-1894- 95 

meet him. He had many questions to 
ask about the Garenganze country, and 
hoped that the brethren there would 
be willing to train young men as tele- 




BEDSTEAD MADE BY NATIVE CHRISTIANS AT OCHILONDA. 

graph clerks, etc., so that they might 
earn good wages and be useful to the 
large commercial companies and European 
governments. It was not very easy for 
me to explain to him that we were rather 



96 Garenganze West and East. 
4 

hoping to find ways and means of teach 
ing the native boys trades that would 
keep them at home. The African native 
cannot be employed on trading stations 
and government posts without develop 
ing a strong inclination to pick up the 
white man s vices ; and even when 
congregated in mining compounds, or 
on plantations under the best control, 
they are still exposed to what might be 
called " barrack life " temptations. The 
natives can weave, and work in metals 
as well as farm, all of course in a rough 
way. Our ambitions, therefore, I explained 
to Mr. Rhodes, lay rather in the line of 
stimulating these industries, and in pre 
serving African village life. 



ioo Garenganze West and East. 

day. Their occupation, however, keeps 
them at home, and this is a great con 
sideration when choosing a centre for 
missionary work, as it is often very 
disappointing to find that the natives 
around you are away trading or hunting 
perhaps for the greater part of the year. 

The two native converts, Njimbi and 
Sanje, were beginning now to take some 
share of the work in Bihe with their 
white brethren ; and Mr. Lane wrote 
of having overheard Njimbi praising 
God for " another man on his knees." 

Sanje is gifted as a preacher and seems 
to have power in attracting the people 
to listen to his message. He has also 
shown a good deal of intelligence, and 
ability to choose his^ own path without 
being dependent on the missionaries at 
every turn for guidance, as the following 
incident will show. 

A lady wrote to Sanje from Scotland 
offering to give him so much money if 
he would devote his whole time to the 
preaching of the Gospel. Sanje, it seems, 



1895-1896. 

had no difficulty in at once refusing 
this kind offer, as he saw that his message 
would be greatly weakened in the eyes 
of his own people. Mr. Swan and Mr. 
Lane were both struck with his straightfor 
ward answer, and thought that seeing 
he had refused a stated salary, they 
would be justified in sharing with him 
any gifts that they themselves received. 
One day they gave him the present of 
sixteen yards of calico to clothe his family 
with, but the young man did not feel 
very happy about taking it, and asked 
time to consider the matter, promising 
to let the brethren know on the morrow. 
On his way home Sanje shot an antelope, 
which, when cut up and sold, brought 
in exactly the value of sixteen yards of 
calico. This to him was a final and 
decisive answer, and without any hesi 
tation he returned the gift to Mr. Swan, 
saying that " it was God s will for him 
that he should preach Christ to his 
people without even the appearance of 
taking pay from the white man." 



IO2 Garenganze West and East. 

The fact that the native rubber trade 
was flourishing during this period, and 
that all the strong young men were 
" massing fortunes/ fully accounts for the 
long continued scarcity of carriers. No 
other means of transport had as yet 
been found, and men had to be searched 
for in remote villages, and from among 
those who might be classed in this 
country as "undischarged bankrupts." 
But one or two trips to the coast would 
set the poorest of them on their feet again, 
and off they would go rubber trading. 

The question of introducing the South 
African ox waggon into West Central 
Africa has, of course, been discussed 
again and again ; and a number of cattle 
were bought at one time both in the 
Bihe and Luvale districts in the hope 
that they would increase and that cattle 
posts would be found for the supply and 
replenishment of teams of oxen. But 
cattle in Central Africa are subject to 
many diseases ; and the result of these 
experiments proves that when more than 



1895-1896. 

ten or twelve are herded together one 
or other of these many diseases breaks 
out and carries off the best of the stock. 
The natives preserve their oxen by dividing 
the herds up into very small groups. 

LUVALE. 

Passing on to the Luvale country, 
we have to record within this period 
the sad break up of Mr. Bird s health, 
and his early death. Advised by 
Dr. Fisher to go home for a change, Mr. 
and Mrs. Bird had reached Benguella 
safely and in better health, so Mr. 
Bird, with his usual utter self-forget- 
fulness, at once determined to retrace his 
steps and take up his work again at 
Kavungu. But it was not to be for long^ 
and after a short, severe illness, he fell 
asleep February I2th, 1896. Mrs. Bird 
bravely decided to remain on at Kavungu, 
but her health broke down and she was 
compelled to return to Canada. Mr. D. 
T. Smith, who had been a true yoke- 
fellow r to Mr. Bird, had to return to 



IO4 Garenganze West and East. 

London after being laid low no less than 
five times with the dreaded blackwater 
fever. 

Two sisters in Christ, Miss Irwin from 
Belfast, and Miss Skinner from Bristol ; 
also a couple from Demerara, Mr. and 
Mrs. O Jon, had meanwhile been added 
to the number of the Luvale workers. 
Miss Skinner was the honoured instru 
ment in connection with what appeared 
at the time to be a very real movement 
of the Holy Spirit among a number of 
the young people at Kavungu, and al 
though comparatively few of those who 
then professed faith in Christ remained 
steadfast, the circumstances connected 
with the movement are most instructive, 
and must ever remain " to be spoken of as 
a memorial of her " who soon followed Mr. 
Bird to heaven and home. One evening" 

o 

Miss Skinner was thinking over the four 
years of in her eyes unprofitable 
service that were just completed, and 
lamenting the fact that the Lord had 
not used her to bring one African to 



1895-1896. 105 

Christ. So she gave herself to prayer, 
and was able to continue in prayer the 
whole night through. About six in the 
morning she gathered her girls together 
and began the usual morning reading 
with singing and prayer, when almost to 
her own surprise, first one girl arid then 
another spoke of being under some con 
viction of sin, and before the day closed 
nearly all the young people in the station 
had come under the influence of the 
movement, some shedding tears and 
confessing to having sinned in different 
ways. 

In connection with this early stage of 
the work in the Luvale district, two 
cases of conversion stand out brightly. 
The first, Pokanwa, was originally in 
the employment of an Arab trader, and 
was himself a strict Mohammedan. He 
was sent by his master to Benguella to 
buy guns and powder. When he arrived 
in Bihe he found the country " hot " 
with war, so he and his companions 
took refuge beside our missionary en- 



io6 Garenganze West and East. 

campment until the roads were safe 
for travellers. After a delay of some 
months Pokanwa sold his ivory, but 
when on his return journey to the Garen 
ganze with guns and powder, he was 
attacked by the natives living along the 
Lualaba river, who claimed the right to 
stop all supplies of powder. He managed 
to escape with his life, and hearing that a 
white man was camped close by, fled to 
him for refuge, and found himself in 
our brother H. B. Thompson s camp and 
for the second time under the protecting 
care of a Christian. Mr. Thompson could 
not protect Pokanwa for long, however, 
and advised him to flee to Kavungu, 
which he did. He remained true to his 
Mohammedan superstitions for some 
time, but at last the light of the Gospel 
began to dawn upon him. He was bap 
tised at Kavungu along with Kapusu 
shortly after dear Mr. Bird s body was 
committed to the grave, and his course 
has been singularly steadfast ever since. 
Another case of conversion that 



1895-1896. 109 

encouraged our Luvale friends at this time 
was that of Mwewa, who is now Pokanwa s 
wife. She was the daughter of King 
Msldi. When her father was killed, she 
happened to he visiting her mother s 
relatives in the Sanga country. The mother 
and child fell into the hands of Msidi s 
enemies, and Mwewa was sold as a slave 
to a company of Bihe traders, like Joseph 
of old. The poor child, unused to hard 
work and long marching, soon fell ill, 
and her owner, seeing that she could not 
survive the journey to the coast, took 
her to the missionaries at Kavungu. 
When they heard her story they decided 
to redeem her, although some thought 
that perhaps they were being taken in ; 
her story turned out, however, to he 
quite true. Mwewa recovered from the 
effects of her hardships, and her con 
version some time afterwards seems to 
have been very real, for it has stood the 
test. 

In May 1896, Mr. Schindler wrote 
from Kavungu : " The Sunday School 



1 1 o Garenganze West and East. 
gives continual satisfaction. Some of 

o 

the converts are anxious to hear the 
Word. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thurs 
days are set apart for visiting the native 
villages around. Kapusu and Pokanwa 
help in this work. They have also 
classes in the Sunday School." 

GARENGANZE. 

From this time Luanza, Mr. Crawford s 
station at Lake Mweru, appears as the 
most important centre of work in 
the Garenganze country. By the end 
of 1896 the village had increased to the 
dimensions of a town with streets of 
over a mile in length. Two native chiefs 
had been duly installed by the Congo 
Free State to judge all minor cases, the 
more important disputes being referred 
to the Congo Free State post at Mpwetu. 

About this time, Mr. Dyke, a young 
gunsmith from Fnfield, had so set his 
heart on going to Central Africa that he 
saved up 100 from his weekly wages, 
and started off alone to attempt the east 



1895-1896. H3 

coast route ; all went well until he reached 
the Shire, where he succumbed to repeated 
attacks of dysentry. and lies buried near 
Chiromo. 

Mr. B. Cobbe, who had proved a true 

yoke-fellow to Mr. Crawford, wrote under 

date of July, 1895, "Pray that we may 

be upheld in serving the Lord in this 

land where He has so few witnesses and 

where the voice of God has not been 

heard for centuries or even millenniums. 

God is able to multiply our seed sown 

and to cause fruit to appear after many 

days, not according to our feeble effort 

but according to His own purpose of 

grace. We have quite a large family of 

young people and most of them have 

made fair progress in learning to read. 

Truly the work is great and the labourers 

are separated one from another on the 

wall." Only nine months later and Mr. 

Crawford had to make the following 

entry in his journal of May 2nd, 1896. 

" By this mail it is my sorrowful duty 

to ask the African Lakes Corporation to 



H4 Garenganze West and East. 

cable across the sea the one sad code 
word untouched/ which will tell that 
our best and godliest is gone. Rest was 
the heritage of Cobbe s soul. The whole 
country side is coming in, chiefs and 
commoners and hundreds of women are 
bewailing their dead." 

Sorrow soon gave place to joy, however, 
at Luanza over the coming via the east 
coast route of Messrs. Gammon, George and 
Pomeroy and Mr. Crawford s fiancee, Miss 
Tilsley, of Bath. Mr. Crawford met the 
party at Blantyre. My old Barotse boy 
Dick, and his wife Dilunga, removed from 
Bihe to Luanza. 



CHAPTER VI. 

1897-1902. 

A ND now, not to weary my readers 
** with too many chapters, I will 
close with this brief summary of the last 
six years service in the three districts, 
the chief advantage of which I hope will 
be that it will leave my readers in the 
position of being able to follow in a more 
intelligent way the accounts of the work 
that appear fortnightly in Echoes of 
Service ; * and I hope too, that the interest 
of some will lead them to write direct to 
the missionaries in the field, that they may 
learn from their own letters of their 
welfare. 

BIHE. 

The story of the death of the native 
convert and preacher Njimbi makes a 
sad beginning to this chapter. He had 
gone to the Ondulu country to try and 

* Edited by Dr. Maclean, 10, Widcombe Crescent, Bath. 



1 1 6 Garenganze West and East. 

fill the gap left there by the return of 
Mr. and Mrs. H. Nicholls to England on 
account of Mrs. Nicholls health ; and 
had gathered a number of young men 
together one evening, to read the 
Scriptures to them, when the lamp that 
he was using exploded, setting fire to 
the thatch of the native hut they had 
met in. Something, too, had gone wrong 
with the door and Njimbi had to force 
it open with an axe, but he succeeded in 
getting all his visitors out in time. 
Njimbi and his servant were the last 
to leave the burning hut, so badly 
burned that both died shortly after. 
Only a short time before, this dear brother, 
hearing of the death of Mr. O Jon at 
Kavungu whom all loved, proved to be 
a source of cheer and encouragement to 
all by repeating in the prayer meeting 
the Lord s words to the tempest-tossed 
disciples " It is I, be not afraid." We 
may rest assured that he was not for 
saken when, like a true hero, he stood by 
the door and saw the rest safelv out. 




NJIMI3I. 



1897-1902. H9 

Through the arrival of Mr. E. Sanders 
from Liverpool. Mr. and Mrs. Lane, after 
ten years service on Mr. Lane s part, 
were able to take a much needed rest 
and change ; and the following extract 
from a letter written by him on his 
way to Benguella gives us a general 
review of the work in Bihe up to the 
spring of 1899. 

" Persecution is not openly carried on, 
but that it does exist, and also bitter 
opposition to the Truth, we have evi 
dence among our own lads. Kapinala, an 
Ocikumbiboy, and a true believer, judging 
from what we have seen of him, has had 
much to pass through from his relatives. 
Another young lad, named Lupili, has 
been threatened with banishment by 
selling, if he continued to speak the words 
which he had heard at Ochilonda. A 
wee little fellow, who has come recently 
to the village, says his uncle (his rightful 
owner according to Umbundu law) has 
done all he could to stop his coming, 
but the boy steadfastly replied, You 



120 Garenganze West and East. 

may tie me up, you may sell me, but I 
will go and learn about the words of 
God. " 

" One of our young men heard a con. 
versation at his own village between two 
little lads, unknown to them. One said 
to the other, The words of God are 
good words, and I will go and learn to 
read, that I may know more about them. 
They tell me they will beat me, but what 
if they do ? They cannot take the words 
out of my heart. This lad is now going 
with us to the coast, and wants to 3 emain 
at our village instead of going back to 
his own people on his return." 

" Another young lad from the same 
village was handed over to the chief, 
Chinguangua, put into chains for some 
time, and made the object of shame and 
ridicule, because he had said he wanted 
to come to our school. I could weep, as 
I tell you of these things. And here we 
are going home, leaving them all in their 
sin and misery. We feel like reproach 
ing ourselves at times. Oh that we may 



be built up and blessed in our own souls, 
aarl quickly return with other helpers. 
Meantime we beg you to join in earnest 
prayer for our fellow-labourers left behind, 
and for the natives, that they may be 
kept." 

A year later Mr. and Mrs. Hill (nee 
Ronaldson) were compelled to return to 
Mr. Hill s home in Canada, owing to 
repeated attacks of some serious affection 
not understood at the time, which also 
seemed to baffle the best London physicians. 
Mrs. Hill had not been long in the country, 
but she had proved herself well fitted 
for it, and it is not easy for readers to 
understand her keen disappointment. 

Miss Richards from British Guiana 
joined Mr. and Mrs. Murrain in 1899; 
and Mr. Phillips, also from the West 
Indies went out a year later. (He being 
a certificated schoolmaster gives part of 
his time to teaching missionaries children). 
Also Mr. Frank Figg, from Dover. 

And so the work has continued, with 
here and there droppings of blessing on 



122 Garenganze West and East. 

the preaching of the Gospel, but in 
January of 1901, when Mr. Swan was 
returning from a visit to Dondo, as he 
was thinking over the words, " They 
that sow in tears shall reap in joy/ a 
letter was brought to him from his wife 
telling of the conversion of six natives 
at Ochilonda. At the same time Miss 
Atkinson wrote : " We have been praying 
for this and are encouraged to expect 
still greater blessing." 

In July of the same year Mr. Lane 
was able to speak of this work as " A 
wave of blessing affecting all the stations 
in Bihe," and to say that Mr. Murrain at 
Ohwalonda was sharing it, after years of 
patient sowing night and day. 

Some of the young native converts had 
gone off visiting and preaching among the 
villages, and of the Ochingangu group 
Mr. Swan wrote : " Over twenty have pro 
fessed conversion through the preaching 
of these young men. One remarkable 
feature of the work has been the number 
of slaves who have taken their stand for 



1897-1902- I2 3 

Christ. One slave owner threatened to 
hang his Christian slaves to a tree and 
pour boiling water over them." 

Conversion is only the beginning of 
things in Africa as at home ; these 
poor converts from heathen darkness 
have no small task before them, and 
have much to put right with God s 
help. Mr. Murrain mentions how when 
one Sangeve was converted he told 
his wives that he no longer wanted to 
live as before, and he advised them to 
come and hear the good news ; they did 
so, and it is encouraging to note that 
three of them are now rejoicing in Christ. 
" Kantanya was the first to follow in her 
husband s footsteps," (continues Mr. 
Murrain), " and since her conversion 
more than sixty persons have professed 
faith in our Lord, of whom twenty are 
in Sangeve s village." So that although 
the polygamy question is too hard for us 
to settle, the simple faith and joy of this 
young convert, in God s name solved the 
difficultv. 



124 Garenganze West and East. 

LUVALE. 

Passing on to the Luvale field we find 
that there have been several changes since 
our last chapter. 

Mr. O Jon died and was buried beside 
Mr. Bird, but Mrs. O Jon with her three 
children has gone on bravely seeking to 
do the work her husband would gladly 
have done. 

Miss Trwin from Belfast, one of the 
brightest and most useful of the pioneer 
band married Mr. George and removed 
to the Garenganze whence she has since 
gone home to her rest and reward. 

Mr. J. Copithorne of Dublin accom 
panied Dr. Fisher on his return to Africa 
in 1898. He got quickly to work, accom 
plished much in two short years and 
then passed on leaving his fever-stricken 
body to be added to the number lying 
under the crooked tree at Kazombo, 
until the morning of the resurrection. 
One incident connected with his death 
ought not to be forgotten. An English 
officer attached to an exploring expedi- 



I2 5 

tion happened to be staying at the time 
with Dr. Fisher, and " the house of 
mourning " proved to be to him a place 
of blessing. Little May Fisher happened 
to say in his hearing, " Our Mr. Copi. 
thorne is not in that box ; our Mr. 
Copithorne is in Heaven," and so con 
vincing was the child s joy and confidence 
that this officer became an inquirer, 
and left the station according to his own 
confession " a changed man." A few 
months later he joined his regiment in 
South Africa and w r as killed in action. 
Mr. and Mrs. Harwood also belonged 
to the 1898 party. At no small cost 
they had broken up their home at Black 
burn and gone forth, but repeated 
attacks of fever so affected Mrs. Har- 
wood s health that they were com 
pelled to return after two short years 
service. They had the joy, however, of 
leaving behind them Mr. and Mrs. 
Cunningham, also from Blackburn, who 
have been able to remain, and after 
acquiring the Luena language were 



124 Garenganze West and East. 

LUVALE. 

Passing on to the Luvale field we find 
that there have been several changes since 
our last chapter. 

Mr. O Jon died and was buried beside 
Mr. Bird, but Mrs. O Jon with her three 
children has gone on bravely seeking to 
do the work her husband would gladly 
have done. 

Miss Trwin from Belfast, one of the 
brightest and most useful of the pioneer 
band married Mr. George and removed 
to the Garenganze whence she has since 
gone home to her rest and reward. 

Mr. J. Copithorne of Dublin accom 
panied Dr. Fisher on his return to Africa 
in 1898. He got quickly to work, accom 
plished much in two short years and 
then passed on leaving his fever-stricken 
body to he added to the number lying 
under the crooked tree at Kazombo, 
until the morning of the resurrection. 
One incident connected with his death 
ought not to be forgotten. An English 
officer attached to an exploring expedi- 



I2 5 

tion happened to be staying at the time 
with Dr. Fisher, and " the house of 
mourning " proved to be to him a place 
of blessing. Little May Fisher happened 
to say in his hearing, " Our Mr. Copi. 
thorne is not in that box ; our Mr. 
Copithorne is in Heaven," and so con 
vincing was the child s joy and confidence 
that this officer became an inquirer, 
and left the station according to his own 
confession " a changed man." A few 
months later he joined his regiment in 
South Africa and was killed in action. 
Mr. and Mrs. Harwood also belonged 
to the 1898 party. At no small cost 
they had broken up their home at Black 
burn and gone forth, but repeated 
attacks of fever so affected Mrs. Har- 
wood s health that they were com 
pelled to return after tw f o short years 
service. They had the joy, however, of 
leaving behind them Mr. and Mrs. 
Cunningham, also from Blackburn, who 
have been able to remain, and after 
acquiring the Luena language were 



126 Garenganze West and East. 

able to relieve Mr. and Mrs. Schindler, 
allowing them to return home for much 
. needed rest. 

Dr. and Mrs. Fisher with the help of 
the sisters, Misses Carlile and Brayshaw 
and Mrs. O Jon, opened a new station 
at Kazombo on the bend of the Zambesi 
river, thirty miles to the south of 
Kavungu. Many villages are found 
along the far upper reaches of the 
Zambesi, fairly get-at-able from Kazombo, 
and a better knowledge of the language 
and the translation of portions of the 
Scriptures seemed to justify more broad 
cast sowing. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis from 
British Guiana, joined them there, also 
Mr. Cuthbert Taylor. These have all 
been a help and strength to the work, 
although Mr. Taylor s health is not good. 
The people came in numbers, and regu 
larly to the preaching services, attracted 
largely by Dr. Fisher s skill in " opening 
blind eyes " (removing cataract) and in 
many other ways in which he has been 
able to help the natives in their sickness 



127 

and troubles. Of this, the incidents con 
nected with the death of the local 
chief akaumbu have given touching 
proof. 




[Photo by Dr. W. Fisher. 
THE LATE CHIEF SAKAUMBU AND HIS TWO WIVES. 

When he realised that the sickness which 
finally carried him off was serious, 
Sakaumbu started at once for Dr. 
Fisher s house, saying he would now 



128 GarenganzeWest and East. 

prefer to live with him. However, Dr. 
Fisher thought it better that he should 
return to his own town and people ; 
but he went with him and remained 
for two days until he died. When kings 
die the usual custom in that part of 
Africa is to dislocate the joints of the 
arms and legs of five wives and five 
young men, who altogether are buried 
alive with the chief s body, so that he 
should not lack company in the next 
world. But Dr. Fisher was able to 
prevent this, and Sakaumbu was buried 
decently in a coffin made by the mis 
sionaries. In this connection I may 
mention that the British Administrator, 
Mr. Codrington, in his official report for 
1900, speaks of the amount of order and 
respect obtained at Kavungu and 
Kazombo by the moral influence and 
example of the missionaries. 

Mr. and Mrs. Schindler have been able 
to return to Africa this year with their 
youngest child; two young men Messrs. 
McKinnon and Edwards, preceding them 



I2 9 

and three sisters, Misses Ing, Vincent, 
and Devonish, accompanying them. Mr, 
Schindler took with him the first 
edition of the Gospel of John published, 
in the Luena tongue, and printed 
chiefly from MS. sent home by Dr. 
Fisher. He was also able to take a 
small printing press and a supply of 
type in order to print the remaining 
Gospels, and portions of Scripture on 
the spot, as Mr. Schindler feels strongly 
the need of issuing small editions, allowing 
thus of the constant revision of the text. 

GARENGANZE. 

Our last review of the Garenganze 
field closed with the arrival of Messrs. 
George, Gammon, and Pomeroy at 
Luanza. The marriage of Mr. Crawford to 
Miss Tilsley at Blantyre tollowed. This 
party had taken with them a steel sailing 
boat in ribs and plates, a gift from Mr. 
Crawford s friends in Greenock ; so their 
first business was to put the little vessel 
together and hammer away at the 



1 30 Gar en game West and East. 

thousands of rivets that were to hold 
all snug and watertight. The day 
the " Ntume-Wa-Imane " was launched 
into the waters of Lake Mweru was a 
great day to the fisher-folk living along 
its shores who but a few years before 
had sung, 

" Ingeresa wa lala pa nava. 
Ka mu sekerera, a ti di na vikondo, 
Ka mu sekerera a ti di na vikondo ! 
(Livingstone, he slept by the wave [of 

the lake] 

Welcome him, he has no toes. 
Welcome him, he has no toes !) 

Wm. George joined D. Campbell at 
Mwena station, which is really the old 
Lufoi station moved a few miles nearer to 
Msidi II s town. The work here has 
been slow, many of the more promising 
of the listeners to the Gospel preferring 
to move off to Luanza. The Congo Free 
State magistrate has his head quarters 
in this district, which of course makes 
Mwena an important station, and Msidi 



II. is very friendly and inclined to listen 
to the Gospel, and has built a large meeting 
and schoolroom. Mr. Gammon remained 
at Luanza. Like our brother Copithorne, 
he made much of his time, endearing him 
self to all as a true servant of Christ, 
but after a severe attack of fever, when all 
were hoping that he would yet recover, his 
strength failed him, and he passed away 
full of joy and thankfulness for ever 
hav ng been permitted to come to Africa. 
1898 witnessed a further reinforcing 
of this field, followed by the usual testing 
and sifting so peculiar to early stages 
of work in Central Africa. Mr. J. Wilson 
of Kilmarnock was one of these. He 
gave great promise of future usefulness 
and ability to learn the many languages 
spoken, but the dread malarial fever laid 
him low, and he, too, lies buried beside 
Messrs. Cobbe and Gammon. Other 
members of that party had to return 
home for health s sake, but Mr. and Mrs. 
Higgins from Demerara, British Guiana, 
were able to remain on at Luanza to the 



134 Garenganze West and East. 

great comfort of the Crawfords, although 
Mrs. Higgins has since died of smallpox. 
Still others, in answer to much prayer, 
have been raised up to fill the many 
gaps. Messrs. Clarke and Lammond, both 
from Glasgow, travelled via the west 
coast, and arrived at the Garenganze in 
August, 1901, after gaining much ex 
perience of missionary work at the Bihe 
and Luvale stations. And our sisters, Miss 
Prentice from Wishaw and Miss Merry 
from Kilmarnock, reached Luanza via the 
east coast. 

Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell 
were led to open a third station at 
Johnston Falls on the Luapula river. 
Mr. Campbell had been on the look out for 
a site for building an industrial station 
where he could teach the native young 
men " honest trades ; " and Johnston Falls, 
selected by Messrs. Crawford and Pomeroy 
on the right bank of the Luapula, being 
on British territory and near to a market 
for the sale of wood work for building 
purposes and other produce of his pupils, 



seemed to him most suitable. He had 
the joy too, on his arrival, of baptising 
two of his young men, Mitonga and Ngoi. 

The latest news from Luanza has 
been very encouraging. In spite of all 
the trials of the way, our brother Craw 
ford has held valiantly on at his post 
without a break for fourteen years. 
And only last December he had the joy 
of writing the following letter : " You 
know Ham of old, with his tongue far 
in advance of his heart. Now please 
God we see the heart silencing the 
tongue. I will lay my hand upon my 
mouth is the language of several. We, 
on our part, have too long thought that 
God would only sow by us and not reap, 
yet here are His stately goings amongst 
us ; here are men and boys of many 
years acquaintance who propose to 
renounce all the dead past and live with 
us in the fellowship of Christ." 

Two young men, Mr. W. White from 
Queensland, Australia, and Mr. James 
Anton of Glasgow, have taken the east 



136 Garenganze West and East. 

coast route this year, hoping to strengthen 
the hands of our Garenganze brethren. 
We may well pray for them. 

The present year (1902) has not passed 
without its full measure of trial of faith 
and patience in West Central Africa. A 
native rising in Bailundu has affected 
a large area. Several Portuguese traders 
have been murdered, and their stores 
plundered. The missionaries, however, 
have been protected, and their stations 
taken advantage of by the Portuguese 
colonists as " Cities of Refuge " for their 
wives and children. The Captain of the 
fort in Bihe sending his wife to Mr. 
Swan s care at Ochilonda. Mr. Lane 
pushed his way through the troubled 
district to bring up supplies and recruits 
from Benguella, and after returning 
to Bihe, he started at once for Loanda 
with Mrs. Fisher and party. (Dr. Fisher 
remained at his post in the Luvale 
country.) Loanda was safely reached by 
a route that may prove to be better than 
the Benguella road. But, unfortunately, 



a Portuguese government regulation had 
been issued meanwhile, prohibiting 
Europeans from entering the disaffected 
area, so that Mr. Lane, writing from 
Loanda, August 25th, says that he feels 
very much the prospect of not being 
able to return to his family and work 
for several months, but adds, " Rest in 
the Lord and wait patiently for Him ; 
it is good to have the privilege of enduring 
these trials for the Gospel s sake." 

Before closing this record of some of 
the principal events connected with the 
work of the Gospel in Central Africa, 
I feel I ought to give one more instance 
of God s care of His servants and of His 
power to deliver them that call upon Him. 
When passing through the Chibokwe 
country, Mrs. Fisher found on arriving 
in camp one day that the forest around 
was infested with armed war parties 
bent on attacking the Portuguese traders. 

Suddenly the boy herding her few 
cows came running in great distress, 
to say that the Bachibokwe had driven 



138 Garenganze West and East. 

the cows away. Messrs. Cunningham 
and Taylor, after calling a prayer meet 
ing, at once started off to find the cows, 
as their milk was sorely needed for the 
children. The two brethren had not gone 
far, when they were met by an armed 
company marching in regular order, 
and with a great display of war paint, 
and feathers, and spears. The mission 
aries were soon surrounded, the chiefs 
in charge of the war party did not 
recognise our two brethren, and refused 
to believe their story. They said, " No, 
you are traders come out to spy our 
movements, we will kill you with the 
rest of the whites." However, Messrs. 
Cunningham and Taylor insisted that 
they were missionaries, men of peace, 
and that they only wanted to find Mrs. 
Fisher s cows. At last, after some dis 
cussion, the Bachibokwe decided to put 
the matter to the test, and said, " Well, 
if you are missionaries, and belong to 
the same company as So-and-so, (naming 
several) you will be able to sing and to 



1897-1902. i39 

preach as they do, so please sing and 
preach to us here and now." Mr. Cun 
ningham and Mr. Taylor, each in turn 
sang and preached the Gospel to the 
armed throng. The chiefs were per 
fectly satisfied, they wanted no further 
proof, our brethren s lives were spared, 
and the cows at once restored. 



THE END. 



HUNT, BARNARD 4 CO., LONDON, W., AND AYLESBURY. 



INDEX OF PROPER NAMES. 



PAGE. 

Anton, James, Mr. ... ... ... j,,- 

Atkinson, Miss ... 

Arnot, Mrs ?I 

Bird Cydl ^^ late) Ml " " 6 7 75 * 3 4 

Black, D r r. (the late) . . . . . . . . . . .; ^ ^ 

Cameron, Commander (the late) ... 4I 

Campbell, D., Mr. and Mrs 60" 88 L 

Carlile, Miss ... ... ... f 

Chindunduma ... 

Chitamba .. 2 

Clark, J., Mr ^ 

Cobbe, B., Mr. (the late) 86 q z ^ 

Codrington, Mr. I2 g 

Coillard, M. 

Copithorne, J., Mr. (the late) " . . . " . 124,125 

Crawford, D., Mr. and Mrs. 58,63,82,85,92 no in 

Cunningham, H., Mr. and Mrs. 125 

Devonish, Miss 

Dick 



129 



Dyke, Mr. (the late) ... 

Edwards, Mr I2g 

Faulkner, Mr . . . " 6 6 

Figg, F.,Mr "^ 

Fisher, G., Mr. ... ... o 

Fisher, W., Dr. and Mrs. . . . " 5 8 67" 7 1 ) 12-5 i?6 

Gall, Mr. (the late) 5 ^ 

Gammon, Wm., Mr. (the late) !i 4 

George, Wm., Mr. and (the late) Mrs. ii 4 124 

Gilchrist, Miss ^g 2 

Harwood, R., Mr. and Mrs. ... jL 

Higgins, Mr. and (the late) Mrs 

Hill, T., Mr. and Mrs . . . . . . " * 



INDEX. 



Ing, Miss I2 9 

Irwin, Miss (the late) 104,1: 

Johnston, R. J., Mr. (the late) 54 

Kalasa ... " " 

Kama, King 10, n, 2c 

Kapusu 

Kazembe 

Lammond, Wm.,Mr : 34 

Lane, F. T., Mr. and Mrs. ... 5 6 - 59, 73, IO1 - "9 

Laws , Dr 

Lewis, Mr. and Mrs. ... 

Livingstone, Dr." . . . . . . ...22,26,82,87,130 

Livingstone, Mrs < 

Liwanika, King 

Lobengulo, King 

Lynn, Joseph, Mr. (the late) 

Maclean, Dr 

McKinnon, Mr. I28 

Malan, Major (the late) 

Merry, Miss T 34 

Mishe-mishe 

Mitonga T 35 

Molenga 49 

Morris T., Mr. (the late) and Mrs 5. 57 

Msidi, King, (the late) ... 49.66,81,109 

Msidi, II., King 

Murrain, G., Mr. and Mrs. ... 99, I22 

Mwewa 

Na-Kandundu 4 

Ngoi 68lI 35 

Nicholls, H., Mr. and Mrs 99- "& 

Njimbi 73, 100,115 

O Jon (the late), Mr. and Mrs 124, "6 

Phillips, Mr I21 

Pokanwa 

Pomery, H., Mr 

Porto Silva, Senhor (the late) 5- 5. 59 



INDEX. 

PAGE 

Prentice, Miss 

Rhodes, Cecil, Mr. (the late) 

Richards, S., Miss 

Sanders, Edward, Mr. and Mrs 

Sanders, W. E., Mr 

Sangeve 

Sanje 

Schindler, F., Mr. and Mrs 

Scott, P., Mr. (the late) ... .. . 

Skinner, Miss (the late 

Smith, D., Mr .. ... 

Stairs, Capt. (the late) ... . 55 

Swan, C A Mr. and Mrs 52 , 6o , 65, 71, 101 

Taylor, C., Mr I26 g 

Thompson, H. B., Mr g 2 88 x 6 

Turner, H., Mr. 

Vincent, Miss 

White, Wm., Mr 

Wilson, J., Mr. (the late) ... . . . . . . \\\ j 




KNOX COLLEGE LIBRARY