more african studies.—masai land.—early history of the mombasa coast.—mount kilimanjaro.—its discoverers and explorers.—rebmann's umbrella.—thomson's expedition and its object.—frere town and mombasa.—journey to masai land.—hostility of the natives.—narrow escapes.—masai warriors and their occupations.—manners and customs of the people.—thomson as a magician.—johnston's kilimanjaro expedition.—height and peculiarities of the great mountain.—mandara and his court.—slave-trading.—masai women.—surrounded by lions.—bishop hannington.—story of his death in uganda.
it was mentioned in the first chapter of this volume that frank and fred had provided themselves with a parcel of books which were to constitute the reading-matter for the voyage, "through the dark continent" being of the number. transatlantic travellers generally carry four or five times as many books as they can possibly read during their transit over the ocean, and our young friends were no exceptions to the rule. they were so absorbed with the readings which have just been described, and the presence of mr. stanley on the steamer, that they gave little attention to books other than the interesting volume under consideration.
tattooing among the coast natives.
but they were not to be thwarted in their determination to inform[pg 411] themselves about africa, and, after the voyage was over, devoted all the time they could spare to the perusal of the books which had been left unopened during the voyage. frank busied himself with "through masai land," a journey of exploration among the snow-clad volcanic mountains and strange tribes of eastern equatorial africa, while fred perused the life of bishop hannington and the account of his mission to the people of uganda. as for doctor bronson, he contented himself with keeping an eye on the progress of the youths in their readings and in turning the leaves of "the kilimanjaro expedition," a volume which describes the work of an expedition of the royal geographical society for the study of the region around mount kilimanjaro in eastern africa, between the indian ocean and the victoria nyanza.
doorway of a house at mombasa.
"what can you tell us about masai land?" said the doctor to frank, one morning while they were at breakfast.
"it's a remarkable country," was the reply, "and though one of the parts of africa earliest known to travellers, so far as its coast is concerned, it was one of the latest to be explored. the routes from zanzibar to lakes tanganika, victoria, and nyassa, and the zambezi country are now pretty well known and almost as familiar to the reading public as the road from london to brighton, but masai land was until very recently practically unknown."
[pg 412]
"please tell us exactly where masai land is," said the doctor, "so that we shall know what you are describing."
"it is that part of africa east of the victoria nyanza," was the reply, "and of a line drawn through that lake perhaps a hundred miles each way north and south of it. vasco di gama, who first sailed around the cape of good hope, landed on the coast of this region and was near being wrecked on the reefs of mombasa, which is its principal port. the place is mentioned in a portuguese book published in 1530, and a curious fact is that there was even at that early date a rumor of the existence of the snow-clad mountains that were never seen by a white man until 1848. in fact, from the time of vasco di gama down to 1842 hardly anything was added to our knowledge of that part of the world."
"are you sure about the mention of the high mountains in that portuguese book?"
"entirely so," was the reply. "mr. thomson, the author of 'through masai land,' quotes from it as follows: 'west of mombasa is the mount olympus of ethiopia, which is exceedingly high, and beyond it are the mountains of the moon, in which are the sources of the nile.' the mount olympus which is thus mentioned is quite likely kilimanjaro; the mountains of the moon are not yet easy to locate, as they have not thus far been found by explorers. they may possibly exist in some of the hitherto untraversed regions on the southern borders of abyssinia."
fred wished to know who was the first white man to find the snow-clad mountains of central africa.
"a german missionary named krapf came to mombasa in 1842 in search of a way to open eastern africa to christianity. he began studying the tribes and people in the neighborhood, and was aided in that work by his colleague, mr. rebmann. in 1847 the latter, accompanied by only eight men, made an expedition from the coast as far as the desert region beyond the rich littoral belt, and reached the broken country in the direction of kilimanjaro. in 1848 he made another journey and for the first time saw the famous mountain, though he was compelled to turn back when still forty miles from its summit. the good man was accompanied by only nine porters, and his only weapon was an umbrella."
"only an umbrella!" exclaimed fred, in astonishment.
"yes, only an umbrella, as he thought it quite enough for a peace-loving missionary to carry. but he seems to have changed his mind[pg 413] later on, as we find him arming his porters with guns and increasing their numbers, though he still adhered to the old weapon of his first trip. in one part of his journal, on his third expedition, he says: 'it often rained the livelong night, with myself and people lying in the open air without any other shelter than my solitary umbrella.' but it is noticeable that as soon as he began to arm his men he got into trouble, as his third expedition was robbed of everything it possessed and rebmann was forced to retreat in great distress to the coast.
heads of coast natives.
"this is the last we hear of rebmann in exploration," continued frank, "but his work was followed up by his companion, dr. krapf. the latter started in 1851 to found a mission in the interior, but was driven back with a narrow escape from death. he tells how at one time he was attacked by robbers who did not stop at the gunshots fired at them. they pressed on and on, and finally, when the situation was becoming desperate, the doctor opened his umbrella, which so frightened the scoundrels that they fled in terror.
"several explorers, missionaries, and others penetrated into the country as far as kilimanjaro, but rarely beyond it, in the thirty years following 1851, and each of them found the journey more difficult than had been the case with his predecessor, on account of the hostility of the natives and the arab traders. in 1882 the royal geographical society[pg 414] sent an expedition under command of mr. joseph thomson, who had recently returned from central africa, where he had made some extensive explorations. the object of the expedition was purely geographical, mr. thomson being instructed to ascertain if a practicable direct route for european travellers could be found from any one of the ports of east africa to lake victoria, to examine mount kenia, to gather all possible data for a map of the region, and obtain general information concerning the country and its character, people, animal and vegetable life. the story of what he did on this expedition is told in 'through masai land.'"
"of course he went first to zanzibar," said fred; "that seems to be the starting-point for nearly every expedition for exploring eastern africa."
view of mombasa.
"yes," was the reply, "he not only went first to zanzibar, but he outfitted his expedition at that point and hired most of his porters among the zanzibaris. then he went up the coast to mombasa, which he made his starting-point for the land journey; he took a few of the coast natives from mombasa as porters, but did not find them as satisfactory as the zanzibaris. among the head men that he engaged for his expedition were several who had served with stanley in his journey across the continent, including manwa sera and kachéché, the detective. he was greatly disappointed with the former, as he proved altogether lazy and indifferent to his duties; he prided himself so much on his service with stanley that he regarded himself as a purely ornamental personage while with mr. thomson. kachéché was somewhat better, and as chief of the commissary department he did very well. mr. thomson's chief assistant was a maltese sailor named james martin, who was unable to read or write, but he had a liberal amount of common-sense that served him in place of education. during the whole journey there was never a single unpleasantness between mr. thomson and martin, which is an exceedingly rare thing in african travel."
"how did they go from zanzibar to mombasa?" fred inquired.
"they went in arab dhows," frank answered, "and had a very uncomfortable voyage. but as the distance is only one hundred and twenty miles, or two degrees of latitude, it did not last long, and the whole party was landed safely. mombasa is on an island; on the other side of the creek which separates it from the mainland is a settlement known as frere town."
"i've read about that place," said fred. "it was founded in accordance with a suggestion of sir bartle frere, when he went to zanzibar in[pg 415]
[pg 416] 1873 to try to suppress the slave-trade. the church missionary society of england supplied the money, and the station was established and put in charge of several missionaries. liberated slaves taken by british cruisers along the coast were sent to frere town, and in less than a year after the settlement was made not less than five hundred had been sent there. the natives of the neighborhood were attracted to the place, the population increased, and frere town may now be considered the principal station of the church missionary society in africa. at least that's what i've read in the life of bishop hannington."
"you're quite right," said frank, "and mr. thomson received more help from the missionaries in setting out for masai land than he did from the arab authorities of zanzibar. several of the men that he hired at zanzibar had failed to appear when the expedition started, and he managed to fill their places with men from frere town. in addition to his assistant, head men, cooks, and personal attendants, he had one hundred and thirteen porters laden with the goods and belongings of the expedition. twenty-nine carried beads, thirty-four iron, brass, and copper wire, fourteen cloth, fifteen personal stores, nine books, boots, etc., six scientific instruments, photographic apparatus and the like, and ten were laden with tents and tent furniture, cooking utensils, and articles for the table. then there were ten askari, or soldiers, and several boys who were expected to be useful in various ways.
"he had the usual trouble with his porters for the first few days on the road, and his soldiers were very busy hunting up deserters and keeping the lines in order. the men engaged at mombasa and frere town were worse than the zanzibaris, the latter being more accustomed to this kind of work, and besides they were already a good distance from home. every morning the bugle was sounded and the procession started, the english flag being carried in front to denote its nationality to all whom they might meet on the way. at night the camp was made in open ground, where no one could leave without being seen, and the guards had orders to shoot any one who should try to get away. these orders were given in a loud voice in the hearing of all the porters, with the object of frightening them rather than with any intention of killing them. the order had a good effect, and the men were kept under control."
"i can't understand how it is," said fred, "that men will engage to go on an expedition and then run away from it at the first chance. of course i know there are timid persons who are brave at a distance and cowardly when danger is near, but this wholesale desire to desert i cannot comprehend."
[pg 417]
camp of an english explorer in africa.
[pg 418]
"evidently that is peculiar of africans more than of any other people," the youth replied, "since all explorers tell the same story. you remember how it was with mr. stanley, both when he left zanzibar and later when he started from ujiji and nyangwé. in the first place many scoundrelly fellows enlist solely to get the advance pay and not with any intention of keeping their agreement. then, secondly, all sorts of wild stories are told by the natives of the towns and villages through which a caravan passes, or where it stops for a day or two, so that the fears of the ignorant men are wrought upon. in mr. thomson's case the people at mombasa and frere town filled the heads of his porters with the most horrible stories of the cruelties of the inhabitants of masai land, and said they were going to certain death. this alarmed them very greatly, and even a white man would have had good reason to hesitate. it is a fact that most of the arab caravans that had ventured into the interior for the ten years previous to this expedition had met with disaster; all of them had lost men or been robbed of at least a portion of their goods, and one caravan lost no less than one hundred men, or one third its entire strength.
"mr. thomson found that the masai warriors came quite near the coast in their marauding expeditions, and several of the wa-kamba villages in the region back of frere town had been plundered. the wa-kamba people have large herds of cattle, goats, and sheep; they drive these herds into zeribas or stockades, at night, to prevent their capture, in raids by the masai. the stories of these raids continued to alarm mr. thomson's porters, and, in spite of all his watchfulness, two of his men managed to get away. the attempts at desertion were effectually stopped by the circulation of a report that the masai had occupied the road in the rear, so that all stragglers and deserters would meet certain death. from that time forward the men were kept in their places through fear of being massacred, if once out of protection of the fighting-men of the expedition."
frank paused a few moments, and gave fred an opportunity for another question.
"you remarked," said fred, "that the early explorers of the country in the direction of mount kilimanjaro met with little opposition, rebmann being accompanied by only eight porters and weaponed with an umbrella. how does it happen that later travellers have found the country so much more difficult of access?"
slave caravans on the road.
"i forgot to explain that part of it," was the reply. "when rebmann and krapf made their journeys the arabs had not penetrated the[pg 419]
[pg 420] country with their slave-hunting expeditions, and consequently the people had not been called to practise the art of war. in the last thirty years the arabs have pushed far into the interior of masai land, just as they have pushed beyond lake tanganika and down the valley of the congo. they have made war upon the natives, burning their villages, devastating their fields, killing those who opposed them and carrying their captives into slavery. the terrible scenes described by dr. livingstone, in the accounts of his work and travels, have been repeated over and over again in the region which has mombasa for its seaport, and thousands of slaves have been shipped from that place to points where they could find a market. the english cruisers along the coast keep a sharp watch for the arab slave-dhows, and when any slaves are liberated they are taken to frere town, as you already know."
"the arabs set the various tribes to warring against each other," said the doctor, who had been a listener to the colloquy between the youths, "and were always ready to buy prisoners no matter from which side they were taken. it was estimated that for every slave that reached a market, at least four persons were killed or perished in one way or another. many were killed in the attacks upon the villages, many of those who escaped captivity perished of hunger in the forest or deserts where they fled for refuge, and of those carried away as slaves, not half ever reached the coast. they died on the road, of hunger or fatigue, or were killed by their owners in consequence of their inability to travel."
"did the arabs sometimes leave the weak and sickly ones by the roadside, when they were unable to keep up with the caravans, or did they always kill them?" fred inquired.
"sometimes they left them to die or recover, as best they might, and dr. livingstone tells how he saw groups of dying people with slave-yokes about their necks, near the road where he travelled. some of the slave-traders were tender-hearted enough not to take life wantonly, but this was not always the case. those who looked upon the dreadful traffic purely in the light of business made it a rule to kill every slave who could not keep up with the caravan. they did so not from any special delight in the killing, but because it spurred the survivors on to endure the hardships of the march, and never to yield as long as there was power to drag one foot before the other. sometimes they tied the unfortunate ones to trees and left them to perish; dr. livingstone came frequently upon instances of this barbarity of the arab slave-dealers."
slaves left to die.
"the people had thus a double incentive to learn how to make war,"[pg 421]
[pg 422] the doctor continued, "as soon as the arabs began to come among them. they endeavored to capture each other, as a matter of gain, and then they wanted to defend their homes and themselves. they became very jealous of the advent of strangers, and thus it came about that travellers needed much larger escorts than formerly. strange to say, they had no particular desire to stop the slave-trade, and they readily listened to the arabs, who told them that the presence of englishmen in the country would interfere with the traffic. of course the weak and small tribes suffered most by the arab devastation; the strong tribes found the slave-trade profitable, and thus all the influence was in favor of its continuance. along the coast towns of africa, and in the interior districts, you will find many a chief who mourns the day when the foreigners put a stop to the slave-trade, and thus interfered with an industry which he had found profitable.
"and now," he remarked, "we will return to mr. thomson and his journey into masai land. frank has the floor."
thus appealed to, frank went on with his story.
"after passing the fertile belt along the coast, the expedition entered a desert region where the sun was so hot, shade so scanty, and water so scarce, that it was necessary to make all the marches during the night. the men suffered terribly from thirst, as the most of them, with characteristic african improvidence, drank up in an hour or so the supply of water which had been intended for two days. one night mr. thomson started out to find water, as his people were in a desperate condition. he found no water, but lost his way and was unable to return to camp. he says it was the first time he was ever lost in the desert; a feeling of awe took possession of him and he saw lions in every bush. very soon he heard the roar of a lion, and then his sensations were exceedingly uncomfortable. he wandered aimlessly about; he fired his gun repeatedly, but heard no response. at last he was about to lie down, in despair, when he heard the sound of a gun to which he responded with his last remaining cartridge. following the direction whence the sound came, he met a search-party that had gone to find him. when he reached camp he had been eighteen hours on his feet, without food and with very little water."
"and what did his people do without water?" fred inquired.
"water was found the next day," frank explained, "but not until some of the men had so broken down that they could not go farther, and it was necessary to send water to revive them. after passing the desert belt they entered a mountain region, where water was abundant and[pg 423] the natives were friendly. it is the region of the wa-teita, and consists of a series of slopes around the ndara mountain. the wa-teita have herds of cattle, sheep, and goats, they raise indian corn, sugar-cane, bananas, sweet potatoes, and similar articles, and have been able to resist the attacks of the masai, chiefly through the security of their position and their skill in the use of the bow and arrow. the church missionary society has a station among this people, and the natives appear to take kindly to his instruction.
a spring in the desert.
"mr. thomson gives an interesting account of the wa-teita women, who anoint themselves with oil, from head to foot, and would consider their toilet incomplete without it. they pull out their eyelashes and eyebrows, file their teeth into points, and then cover their necks with string upon string of beads, so that they can hardly turn their heads. on neck, shoulders, and waist, a belle of the wa-teita carries from twenty to thirty pounds' weight of beads, and it is needless to say that beads are an important article of commerce among the traders who go from the coast to that country.
"when a man of the wa-teita wishes to marry he arranges the preliminaries with the girl's father, and agrees to pay a certain number of cows. as soon as the bargain is completed the girl runs away, and hides among distant relatives until such time as her betrothed can find her hiding-place, and catch her. then he engages some of his friends,[pg 424] who carry her home on their shoulders, with a great deal of singing and dancing. when they reach home the bridal couple are shut up in their house for three days, without food; at the end of that time the bride is carried to her father's house by a party of girls, and after a while returns to the home of her husband and the ceremonies are over.
a wedding-dance.
"leaving this region, the expedition passed through a belt of forest, and came, at length, near the base of mount kilimanjaro, the famous mount olympus of africa, already mentioned. perhaps doctor bronson will tell us something about it, as he has been reading mr. johnston's book, describing the exploration to it."
"a very interesting book it is, though less so to the general reader than to the scientific one. mr. johnston is, as you know, a naturalist, and the principal part of the book is devoted to his special line of study. the english royal geographical society paid the expenses of the expedition, and instructed mr. johnston to reside in the vicinity of the mountain for at least six months, and make collections of the floral, animal, and other products of the region, as close to the snow-line as was conveniently possible."
"from that i suppose that the mountain is capped with snow," fred remarked, as the doctor paused a moment.
"yes," was the reply, "kilimanjaro has an elevation of 18,880 feet, and is covered with snow throughout the year. the mountain has two peaks; kibo, the higher of these peaks, has the elevation i mentioned,[pg 425] while the other—kimawenzi—attains an altitude of 16,250 feet. these peaks are in the centre of a mass of surrounding mountains, but none of the others reach above the snow-line. both kibo and kimawenzi are the craters of extinct volcanoes, and the whole region round about was evidently thrown up by volcanic or earthquake action, ages and ages ago. in a direct line the great mountain is about one hundred and seventy-five miles from the coast, but by the tortuous lines of african travel the distance is considerably more than two hundred miles.
"mr. johnston arrived in zanzibar on his way to kilimanjaro in april, 1884, and after some delay in outfitting his expedition took the route by way of mombasa. his troubles with porters and natives were similar to those of mr. thomson, so that a repetition of his story is unnecessary. he relates that on several occasions his camp was surrounded with lions at night, and though the brutes did no damage, they kept up a tremendous roaring which effectually prevented all sleeping. one night the roar was continuous, and the voices of no less than ten of these animals were counted; on the next morning the tracks in the soft earth around the camp indicated that a whole troop of lions had been present. mr. johnston noticed that whenever a lion was approaching the camp, and before he had given warning of his presence by a roar, the birds in the trees set up a nervous twittering. the approach of other wild beasts at night was notified in the same way.
"the slopes of kilimanjaro between the elevations of three thousand and seven thousand feet are occupied by an agricultural people; their chief is called mandara and the name of the country is chaga. through his intimacy with the arab slave-dealers mandara had become avaricious, and exacted a heavy tribute from mr. johnston, as he had from previous visitors. the explorer described the monarch as about five feet eleven inches in height, of dignified bearing and fine figure. he looked more like a north american indian than a native-born african, as his cheek-bones were high and his nose hooked, while his mouth was broad and thin-lipped and his chin rounded and resolute. the lobes of his ears had been bored and distended so that each contained a ring of wood three or four inches in diameter. the custom of boring the ears and subsequently distending them prevails in chaga, and very often the distended lobe almost touches the shoulder of its owner.
"mr. johnston purchased a site for his plantation after some bargaining, and then settled down to work. mandara presented the stranger with a cow and some goats and sheep, the zanzibari porters built houses, a kitchen garden was started with a great variety of seeds of the tropical[pg 426] and temperate zones, and before a week had passed the explorer was eating a salad of his own growing. at first he was greatly annoyed by the attendants of mandara's court, who came daily to him on begging excursions. he suspected that they were sent by the chief, but assumed in an interview with that dignitary that such was not the case. by a little diplomacy he managed to win the monarch's favor, at least for a time, and compel his annoyers to stay away.
mandara's left ear.
"he found the nights cool at the elevation where his plantation was situated; at daylight the temperature was a little above fifty degrees, but it rose steadily with the sun as the day advanced. the air was pure and dry, and mr. johnston says that but for the occasional troubles with his neighbors the life on the mountain slope would have been delightful. on certain days the natives held markets, at which he bought various supplies for his people; he rarely did any purchasing himself, but left the business to his head men, as the natives invariably sought to cheat him in bargaining.
"mr. johnston had brought two men from zanzibar to assist him in collecting birds and plants, but they proved of no use, and had to be discharged and sent back to the coast. consequently all the labor of collecting fell upon himself, and he was very actively employed during every day of his stay in chaga. he had a great deal of trouble with mandara, who begged constantly for anything he wanted, and would have soon reduced his visitor to a condition of beggary. at one time he cut off all supplies of food, forbidding his people to sell anything to the strangers, and placing a cordon of fighting-men around mr. johnston's settlement to make sure that his orders were obeyed. he finally became so troublesome that the explorer moved his camp to another district, where the chief was more amiable, though not less inclined to beg."
a corner or mr. johnston's settlement.
"did he get to the summit of the mountain?" one of the youths inquired.
"no," said the doctor, "he was unable to ascend to the top, but on[pg 427]
[pg 428] two occasions he reached the snow-line, at a height of 16,315 feet, which was higher than any of the natives had ever been. as the height by survey is estimated at 18,880 feet, he was within about twenty-five hundred feet of the desired point. vegetation ends at 15,000 feet, and from that point to the snow-line the mountain consists of large boulders, broken rocks, and sand. mr. johnston says the ascent as far as he went is quite easy when compared with that of other great mountains of the world, but he was not properly equipped for the effort, and his men were unwilling to tempt the demons that are supposed to occupy the peak. he was bitterly disappointed at his inability to gaze into the extinct crater of kilimanjaro, and was obliged to leave that honor for some future traveller.
"by the end of six months in the country around the great mountain he was out of funds, and, as money is needed for living in africa quite as much as in any other part of the world, he was obliged to return to zanzibar. on the road to the coast he encountered a band of the dreaded masai warriors, and for a short time was in great danger of an attack. how he prevented it is best told in his own words:
"they called on two or three of our men to advance and confer with them, so kiongwé, ibrahim, and bakari went. after asking various questions as to who i was, where i came from, and whither i was going, the masai leader inquired, 'had we any sickness?' this query aroused a happy but sadly unveracious thought in my mind. 'tell him,' i said to kiongwé, in swahili, a language the masai do not understand, 'tell him we have small-pox.' kiongwé grasped the idea and said to the masai captain, with well-feigned vexation, 'yes, we have a man suffering from the white disease' (the masai name for small-pox). 'show him,' the leader replied, at the same time moving several yards off. i immediately dragged forward an albino, who was a porter in my caravan—a wretched pink-and-white creature, with tow-colored hair and mottled skin. the masai at once exclaimed, 'oh, this is a bad disease—look! it has turned the poor man white!' then he shouted out that he had no wish to interfere with us, nor would they take anything from our infected goods. one concession alone they asked, and this we readily granted, which was that we would not follow too closely on their footsteps lest they might get our 'wind' and catch the disease. and with this they turned around, rejoined their fellows, called up their herd of cows and donkeys, and slowly wended their way up the hilly path. in half an hour's time the last masai had disappeared, and we saw no more of them."
"and now," remarked the doctor, "as we have seen mr. johnston safely on his return from the exploration of kilimanjaro and the ascent of that famous mountain, let us return to mr. thomson and his journey to masai land."
under this hint frank proceeded:
[pg 429]
view of kilimanjaro.
[pg 430]
"we left mr. thomson among the wa-teita people near the base of mount kilimanjaro," said the youth, "and from there he went to chaga and to the court of the chief mandara. very unwisely he showed his property to mandara, who immediately coveted nearly everything, and managed to squeeze out a great deal by way of tribute. the explorer did not tarry long with this exacting ruler, but pushed on as speedily as possible in the direction of the masai. on the threshold of their country he met a band of warriors and, somewhat to his surprise, was hospitably received, though not until he had gone through an elaborate ceremony by which he and the chief of the band were made blood brothers. the amount of tribute he was to pay was then negotiated, and, unhappily for him, it proved very heavy.
"the good feeling only lasted a short time, as the news was received that a german expedition which had entered the country a few days before had had a fight with the masai, and blood had been shed on both sides. the whole country rose in arms against the englishman, and he was forced to retreat across the border. in the middle of the night he left his camp, his men moving in perfect silence and very fearful lest one of their donkeys should bray and thus show that the caravan was stealing away. fortunately the animals followed the silent example of their masters, and the retreat was safely accomplished.
camp scene.
"leaving his men in camp in a safe place, mr. thomson returned to[pg 431] the coast to obtain a fresh stock of goods with which to attempt again a journey through masai land. on his return he had the good-fortune to find a large caravan belonging to some coast traders who were going in his direction, and after a little negotiation he arranged to join his forces with theirs. thus he was comparatively secure from danger of attack by the masai, but on the other hand his movements were dependent on those of the traders, who are never in a hurry as long as there is anything to be made by remaining in camp. on such occasions he devoted himself to hunting, and as the country abounded in game he found enough to do. elephants, zebras, several varieties of antelopes, lions, leopards, and smaller game fell before his rifle, together with several rhinoceroses and buffaloes. he emphatically avows that he shot these animals only for food and not for the mere sport of killing. the meat thus obtained frequently kept his camp supplied for days and days together.
"mr. thomson," fred continued, "is enthusiastic in his description of the masai warriors whom he first encountered. the elders of the tribe came fearlessly into camp notwithstanding that in the previous year they had attacked nearly every caravan that entered the country, and on one occasion stabbed about forty porters without the least provocation. he says they were magnificent specimens of their race, considerably over six feet in height, and with an aristocratic dignity that filled the englishman with admiration. they referred to the attacks upon the caravans as the most trivial circumstances, and said it was only because the young warriors wanted to taste blood just to keep themselves in practice. their language was equivalent to the old adage that 'boys will be boys, and their wild oats must be sown.' the debate ended peacefully and, luckily for the strangers, nearly all the fighting-men were at that time away on a cattle-stealing expedition.
"the masai people had a great horror of being photographed, as they supposed the camera was a bewitching machine which would work them great harm. mr. thomson came near getting into trouble by shooting a marabout stork which he saw near the camp. it seems that storks and adjutants are looked upon as sacred; as they, along with the hyenas, are the grave-diggers, or rather the graves of the masai. these people do not bury or burn their dead, but simply throw out the corpses to be devoured, in much the same way as the parsees of bombay carry their dead to the towers of silence on malabar hill to be eaten by vultures.
"the hunting was so good in the neighborhood of this camp that in one day our friend 'bagged' four rhinoceroses, one giraffe, four zebras,[pg 432] and four antelopes, all within six hours. he saw the tracks of elephants and buffaloes, but did not kill any; though a hunter from the traders' camp managed to kill an elephant whose tusks weighed a little short of two hundred pounds. the masai people proved to be inveterate thieves, and, in spite of the greatest precautions, not a day passed without the loss of more or less property which the light-fingered scoundrels managed to lay their hands on. mr. thomson was looked upon as a wonderful worker of magic, but even the respect that was due him as a magician did not prevent the people from stealing his goods.
african adjutants.
"on the road the masai used to rush up to the caravan singly or in twos or threes and attempt to carry off the loads from the porters' heads; if they failed no effort was made to punish them; and if they succeeded they were not pursued to any great distance, as their friends would be sure to come to their rescue. at night the camp was surrounded by a stockade or a fence of thorns, and several times the masai attempted to enter the stockades and stampede the animals belonging to the caravan. hostile demonstrations were numerous, and escapes from fights exceedingly narrow.
a well-stocked hunting-ground.
"at a convenient point on the road mr. thomson left the caravan temporarily, to make a flying trip to mount kenia with a selected party of his best men. he kept up his character of magician, and, by an ingenious ruse with his teeth (two of which were false), he carried conviction with his assertion. 'come to me,' he said to one of the wondering warriors, 'and i will cut off your nose and put it on again. just look at my teeth; see how firm they are,' and as he said so he tapped them[pg 433]
[pg 434] with his knuckles. 'now i turn my head and, see, the teeth are gone;' and the crowd shrank back in dismay and was on the point of seeking safety in flight. 'hold on a moment,' said the white magician, and with another turn of the head he put the teeth in place and stood smiling before the petrified spectators.
"he says his artificial teeth were perfect treasures to him, and doubtless to their aid he owed his safety. but he was obliged to keep up his exhibition so frequently that it soon became a nuisance. his man martin pretended also to be a magician, and told one of the masai women that he could cut off his finger and restore it immediately. as he extended the finger the woman suddenly seized it and half bit it off, which raised a howl from martin, and caused him for the future to make no further boasts of his magical skill.
plain and mountains in masai land.
"the expedition reached the foot of mount kenia, but all thought of ascending it had to be given up, as the masai were very troublesome and food was scarce. the mountain is thought to be a little more than eighteen thousand feet high, and its summit is covered with snow. like its great neighbor to the south, it is believed to be an extinct volcano. in fact, the proofs of its former character are clearly shown in beds of lava and frequent traces of volcanic action. up to a height of fifteen thousand feet its slope is very gentle, but after that it rises in a sharp cone almost like a sugar-loaf, and would be exceedingly difficult of ascent. the slope of the peak is so steep that the snow slides off in places and reveals the rocks, and to this circumstance kenia owes its masai name of donyo egéré or 'speckled mountain.'
"with various adventures and narrow escapes mr. thomson pushed his exploration to the shore of the victoria nyanza, which he reached[pg 435] about forty miles to the east of the outlet of the lake. near the lake he found a people unlike the masai, as they had a decidedly negro type of countenance. the masai have very little to identify them with the negro, and mr. thomson says they can in no sense be called negroes. in their cranial development, as in their language, they are widely different from the natives of central and southern africa, and occupy a far higher position in the scale of humanity.
"the masai people are divided into some ten or twelve tribes, and these tribes or clans have many smaller divisions. some are more aristocratic than others, and there is hardly a time when two or more of them are not indulging in war. some of these wars have resulted in the almost complete destruction of the defeated tribes, and the expulsion of the remnant from the country; the defeated ones becoming peaceful and orderly, and the victors more insolent than ever. the boys in all the fighting tribes are trained to war; they live apart from the families and are under the control of a leader who is elected by ballot, has the power of life and death over his subjects, settles disputes, and may be turned out of office whenever he becomes unpopular with the majority.
"the clothing of a masai boy consists of a coating of grease and clay rubbed over his skin. when he becomes old enough he is equipped with a bow and arrows with which he practises upon small animals, and occasionally upon his playmates. great care is taken in the distension of the lobes of his ears, which are nursed as carefully as the budding mustache of more civilized lands. a slender stick is thrust through the lobe, then a larger one is inserted, and the process is continued until a piece of ivory six inches long can be inserted endwise.
"when the boy blossoms into a warrior he is equipped with a spear having a blade thirty inches long, a short sword, and a knob-stick; the latter intended for throwing at an advancing enemy, or crushing the skull of a disabled one on the ground. all these weapons are made by an inferior tribe that lives in the land of the masai, and is compelled to do their menial work; from another tribe of the same low grade the masai purchase their shields, as they never make their own. the markings and adornments on a shield show to what tribe or clan its owner belongs.
"when going to war a masai removes the stretchers from his ears and substitutes a tassel of iron rings, or something of the sort; covers his shoulders with a mantle of kite's feathers; winds a strip of cotton about his neck, and allows it to wave behind him as he runs; places his sword and knob-stick in his belt; anoints his body with grease and clay; decorates his legs with streamers of the long hair of the colobus monkey,[pg 436] so that he suggests the winged mercury. on his head is a remarkable contrivance formed of ostrich feathers, stuck into a band of leather and fastened around the face in an elliptical shape. his armament is completed by his spear and shield, and thus arrayed he is ready for business, and a very troublesome fellow he is, according to all accounts.
ear-stretchers and ear-ornaments.
"making war, stealing cattle from other tribes, plundering caravans, and similar predatory performances make up the life of a masai warrior. when a man marries he gives up fighting and settles down into domestic ways, and thus it happens that all the warriors in masai land are single men. mr. thomson says the masai women are the handsomest of their sex in all africa; they are slender and graceful, and distinctly ladylike both in manner and physique. they are dressed in bullock's hides, from which the hair has been scraped; their heads are shaved smooth, and sometimes their faces are painted white."
"i have read somewhere," said fred, "that they wear great quantities of wire, the same as did the women of chumbiri described by mr. stanley on the congo."
a masai warrior.
"that is true," frank replied, "and the amount of wire worn by the masai women is something wonderful. telegraph wire is coiled around the lower limbs from the knees to the ankles, and around the arms both above and below the elbow. round the neck more wire is coiled; it is arranged in a horizontal shape, so that the head seems to be sticking up[pg 437]
[pg 438] through an inverted platter. the wire is put on when the women are young and is never removed, consequently the limbs present a withered appearance, the legs being of a uniform size from the ankle to the knee. the weight of iron wire worn by a masai woman varies from ten to thirty pounds; in addition to this, she carries great quantities of beads and iron chains around her neck.
masai married woman, with painted face.
"it seems almost a wonder," frank continued, "that mr. thomson with his small party was able to make his way safely through masai land and back to the coast, as he did."
"perhaps it is a greater wonder," said fred, "that bishop hannington, whose life i have been reading, a man of the most amiable disposition, went through masai land unharmed, to meet his death at the hands of mwanga, the king of uganda."
"how did it happen that he ventured there?"
"because," was the reply, "he had been once to uganda by the same route that mr. stanley followed, and the bishop found that route very unhealthy, and became so ill that he was sent back before reaching rubaga.[pg 439] when he started again for uganda, in the early part of 1885, he decided upon going through masai land, as the route was much shorter and the country far less swampy and pestiferous. the only perils were from the terrible masai; they repeatedly barred his way, and several times were on the point of attacking his caravan, but, by a determined but gentle bearing, he managed to prevent actual hostilities. some of his property was stolen in spite of all watchfulness, but there was no bloodshed on either side.
"when the caravan was within fifty miles of lake victoria and all danger was supposed to be passed, bishop hannington decided to leave the caravan in camp and proceed with fifty of his followers to the lake, whence he would send word to the king of his approach. when he was near the ripon falls of the victoria nile he was imprisoned by a band of armed men and kept a close prisoner in a hut until word could be sent to the king. after an imprisonment of eight days he was killed in compliance with the king's orders."
"why did the king wish to put him to death?" frank inquired.
"the king, who had but recently succeeded to the throne of his father mtesa, was only eighteen years of age, and easily swayed by his councillors. the latter were afraid of the influence of the europeans, as they foresaw the ultimate destruction of their power through the advent of the strangers; they worked upon the young king and aroused his jealousy, and easily persuaded him to take severe measures. the natives who had become converted to christianity were put to death or otherwise maltreated, no less than thirty being bound together and placed on a pile of wood where they were burned alive on account of their religion. the missionaries were imprisoned, all teaching of religion was prohibited, and the prospect was gloomy.
"the old king, mtesa, was always opposed to the exploration of masai land, and did not like the idea of europeans coming to his dominions from that direction. his son and all the councillors had the same feeling, and it is now known that when mr. thomson reached the shore of the lake by that route he was in greater danger than he had supposed. the chief of the region bordering the lake was severely reprimanded and removed from office because he failed to bind the white man and send him a prisoner to rubaga.
"just as the bishop was approaching uganda by the masai route, news came to the king that the germans had seized some ports on the east coast of africa and were about to take possession of all the country up to the shores of lake victoria. this information created great alarm,[pg 440] as it foreboded an advance of the white men in that direction; while it was under discussion bishop hannington reached the shore of the lake, and notice of his arrival was sent to the king.
"from the ugandan point of view all white men were alike, and all were at that time dangerous to the liberties of the country. after a short deliberation with his councillors the king gave orders that the bishop should be put to death; he had advocated sending him back to the coast, but was easily persuaded to the severer course.
"the manner of his death is thus told by his biographer:
"he was conducted to an open space without the village, and found himself surrounded once more by his own men. with a wild shout the warriors fell upon his helpless caravan men, and their flashing spears soon covered the ground with the dead and dying. in that supreme moment we have the happiness of knowing that the bishop faced his destiny like a christian and a man. as the soldiers told off to murder him closed round he made one last use of that commanding mien which never failed to secure for him the respect of the most savage. drawing himself up he looked around, and as they momentarily hesitated with poised weapons he spoke a few words which graved themselves upon their memories and which they afterwards repeated just as they were heard. he bade them tell the king that he was about to die for the b-a-ganda, and that he had purchased the road to buganda with his life. then, as they still hesitated, he pointed to his own gun, which one of them discharged, and the great and noble spirit leaped forth from its broken house of clay and entered with exceeding joy into the presence of the king."
uganda head-dress.
"the death of bishop hannington and the imprisonment of the missionaries at the capital of uganda has by no means stopped the work of the london mission societies," the doctor remarked, as fred concluded the reading of the foregoing quotation. "for a time it has been suspended in uganda, but the effort at christianizing africa is being vigorously pushed elsewhere. new stations are being opened every year, and i have just read in a newspaper that a small steamboat will soon be placed on the victoria nyanza. it is to be called the james hannington, in memory of the hero missionary, and will no doubt be of great use in bringing the people of central africa to a knowledge of the ways and works of civilization."
[pg 441]
place where bishop hannington was imprisoned and killed.
